ã€ŠLord of All Realmsã€‹


 Chapter 1: An Unstable Situation

    ck Cloud City. The Nie n.

    As night fell, the inly dressed Nie Qian leaned against the windowsill and stared at an artificial hill outside her window as her mind wandered.

    Inside the room, Nie Tian, who just turned one, impatiently pushed away his wet nurse. Mouth stained with milk, but eyes fixed on Nie Qian, he mumbled, ¡°Meat, must eat meat...¡±

    His wet nurse, Zhou Ma, became embarrassed and chuckled, ¡°Miss, look...¡±

    Nie Qian snapped back to reality and gave the adorable yet strong Nie Tian an intense re before she jokingly taunted, ¡°This little bastard has already had two bowls of ground meat today but shows no interest in his milk. Now he wants more meat. I don¡¯t even know if he can properly digest it.¡±

    ¡°Meat, need meat...¡± Nie Tian was still jabbering with a smile on his face.

    Nie Tian¡¯s charming smile reminded Nie Qian of herte younger sister. Feeling a bit soft-hearted, she nodded to Zhou Ma.

    Zhou Ma then brought out a bowl of finely ground meat andid it on the table. Nie Tian¡¯s ink-ck pupils immediately shed. Then he grabbed a spoon and started deftly digging in, his chubby little face filled with satisfaction.

    Hearing Nie Tian eating caused Nie Qian to feel bothered for no apparent reason. ¡°Little Yue, how many kids are going to attend the drawing of lots tomorrow?¡±

    Nie Qian popped the question abruptly.

    The servant girl, Han Yue, who was standing by the door, hesitated and softly replied, ¡°Miss, all the one-year-old babies in the Nie n surnamed Nie will attend. Once every five years, immortals from Cloudsoaring Mountain will bring spiritual tools to reward the Nie n for their hard work over the years. No parent of a one-year-old child would want to pass up that opportunity.¡±

    The Nie n was notable in ck Cloud City. However, this world respected the powerful Qi warriors above all else. Almost every mortal n offered service to them. The Nie n was no exception.

    The Qi warrior sect that the Nie n clung to was the Cloudsoaring sect, which was located on Cloudsoaring Mountain not far from ck Cloud City. At the heart of Cloudsoaring Mountain, there was an abundance of Fire Stones, which were a low-ranked type of spiritual material that Qi practitioners used to improve their cultivation. The Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect were busy with cultivation all year long, and thus, unwilling to waste time on extracting the low-ranked Fire Stones themselves, they had members of the Nie n do it for them.

    Generation after generation, the Nie n had offered the extracted Fire Stones as tribute to the Cloudsoaring sect in exchange for their protection.

    Additionally, other than protecting the Nie n from oppression from other families in ck Cloud City, Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect would also bring low-ranked spiritual tools to the Nie n every five years in order to test the cultivation potential of the Nie children through the drawing of lots.

    Upon birth, every child would possess a somewhat special attribute, like metal, wood, water, fire, or earth. Some children would carry rare attributes, like lightning, electricity, wind, cloud, or frost. Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect would bring a number of low-ranked spiritual tools that possessed the different attributes.

    The children and spiritual tools that shared the same attributes would be drawn to each other. In this way, a child¡¯s attribute could be determined, and then his parents could provide well-directed assistance and help the youngster achieve twice the result with half the effort.

    Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect would trade those low-ranked spiritual tools for the Nie n¡¯s loyalty, so all the spiritual tools brought to lot drawing would be gifted to the children with matching attributes.

    Though useless to the Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect, those low-ranked spiritual tools would be of great help to the Nie children¡¯s cultivation and be a suitable spiritual tool for a long time.

    That was why the whole Nie n would seethe with excitement at the lot drawings that would only happen once every five years. Every parent with a one-year-old child would consider it to be the most significant moment of that child¡¯s life, and would be drawn to the event like a vulture to flesh.

    This time was no different.

    Nie Qian frowned. ¡°Answer me, how many kids are going to attend this time?¡±

    ¡°Seven,¡± Han Yue replied softly, bowing her head deeply.

    ¡°Little Tian is exactly one year old and is surnamed Nie,¡± Nie Qian said coldly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t anyone inform me to bring Nie Tian to this lot-drawing convention?¡±

    ¡°Miss...¡± Han Yue forced a smile as she looked up at Nie Qian and said in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian is the child of your younger sister, but she is... just like you, a girl, and she didn¡¯t mention who Nie Tian¡¯s father was before she passed away.¡±

    ¡°ording to the rules of the Nie n, only the children of legitimate sons have the right to attend the lot-drawing conventions every five years. Children of the daughters of the n have no such right.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about those rules,¡± spat Nie Qian. ¡°My father is still the head of this n. I¡¯m gonna go reason with him right now!¡± Then she stormed out of the room.

    As Nie Qian left, Han Yue murmured to herself, ¡°Your father is currently the head of the n, but his position...isn¡¯t stable!¡±

    A momentter.

    Nie Qian barged into Nie Donghai¡¯s pavilion and yelled indignantly, ¡°Father, Nie Tian is ...¡±

    She suddenly stopped.

    Inside the dimly lit room, Nie Donghai, the current head of the n, had nothing but exhaustion written across his pale, yellow face. His originally mighty body had turned into a bag of bones. He was currently stooped against the wall, his eyes focused on a red medicinal pill in his left hand. He seemed to be wavering back and forth regarding something important.

    Nie Qian¡¯s outraged heart was suddenly filled with sadness.

    ¡°Father, don¡¯t,¡± she said gently.

    She recognized the medicinal pill in Nie Donghai¡¯s hand with a single nce. It was a Soul Restoration Pill. With its help, a Qi warrior would appear to be full of spiritual energy and vigor for a short period of time, but it was merely temporary.

    Soul Restoration Pills would drain a Qi practitioner¡¯s potential and longevity, and the user would be greatly damaged physically and mentally afterwards.

    Generally, a Qi warrior would only resort to taking it when it was a matter of life and death. No one dared to use it under normal circumstances.

    Nie Donghai, who had been staring at the Soul Restoration Pill in his hand, saw Nie Qiane in. He forced a smile and said bitterly, ¡°Ever since I was seriously wounded by the Yun n and the Yuan n, my sea of Qi was damaged and my spiritual energy has started leaking faster than I can rece it. There is no chance of my cultivation base reaching Anterior Heaven level. Even my current cultivation level... well, I¡¯m not sure how much longer I can maintain it.

    ¡°Second Brother and Third Brother have been after my position as head of the n for a long time. I¡¯ve thought this through. The Cloudsoaring sect is going to send people over tomorrow. If they saw such a drop in my cultivation, then with Second Brother and Third Brother stirring up the situation, I¡¯m afraid I would have no choice but to hand over my position.¡±

    ¡°Father, I¡¯d rather you retire than drain your longevity to keep your position as head of the n.¡± Nie Qian¡¯s eyes welled up with tears.

    ¡°What do you know?!¡± Nie Donghai gave her a hard look, with seriousness and anger written all over his face. ¡°We¡¯ll only have a chance to seek justice for the ill treatment you¡¯ve received from the Yun n if I¡¯m the head of the Nie n! Also, regarding the person who tricked your sister, it is only possible to find out his identity when I have the Nie n¡¯s power under mymand!

    ¡°If I step down, there is absolutely no way that Second Brother and Third Brother will avenge you and your sister! I have to keep this position till the day I die, for you and Jin¡¯er!

    ¡°What does it matter if I live a few years less? Once I step down, I will no longer be able to fight for you. How is that different from dying?¡±

    ¡°Father!¡± Nie Qian choked on her own tears.

    ¡°Alright. Don¡¯t behave like an immature child. Tell me. Why were you in a hurry to find me?¡± Nie Donghai took a deep breath and restored his firm look.

    ¡°Father,¡± Nie Qian pleaded. ¡°Tomorrow¡¯s lot-drawing convention is of great importance. Since you gave Little Tian the family name ¡®Nie¡¯, I hope that Little Tian can participate. If he could find a suitable spiritual tool on the lot-drawing convention, it would greatly benefit his future cultivation. With its help, he might be able to reach the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage by the age of fifteen and be admitted to the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°About this matter...¡± Nie Donghai seemed to be in a dilemma. ¡°How could I not be aware of the situation? I talked to Second Brother and Third Brother about this long ago, but they were fixed on the fact that Little Tian wasn¡¯t a legitimate son of the Nie n and insisted on refusing to allow him to participate, which is in ordance with n rules.¡±

    ¡°Father, you are reaching the end of your cultivation path. Little sister is no longer with us. And as for me... my life has no hope of changing for the better.¡± Our branch of the n is not well popted, and with Little Tian being the only male, I hope you can fight for him.¡± Nie Qian¡¯s eyes were filled with tears.

    Nie Donghai remained silent for a while before he nodded. ¡°I understand. Go. Take Nie Tian to attend the lot drawing tomorrow.¡±

    Although Nie Qian¡¯s eyes glistened with tears, they also showed a hint of happiness before she bowed and left.

    As she stepped out of the room, Nie Qian heard Nie Donghai swallowing the Soul Restoration Pill and letting out a long sigh.

    Nie Qian felt a heart-wrenching pain, knowing her arrival helped Nie Donghai make up his mind. She couldn¡¯t bear to look back and rushed away as quickly as possible.

 Chapter 2: Lot-drawing Convention

    The next day....

    The great hall of the Nie n was full of excited people, and the atmosphere was quite bustling.

    Liu Yan, from the Cloudsoaring sect, was surrounded by a crowd of Nie n members of all ages. They showed great concern for him by asking about his well-being, hoping to win his favor and thus giving their children or grandchildren a slightly better chance of being admitted to the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Liu Yan was wearing a grey robe, and a hint of smile could be seen at the corner of his mouth. He was in the seat of honor, chatting to nearby Nie n members with a bit impatience in his eyes.

    From the start to the end, Liu Yan never stood up; the surrounding members of Nie n kept bowing in an extremely humble manner.

    One by one, members of the Nie n brought in their one-year-old children through the gate of the hall.

    Everyer would take their child to greet Liu Yan and make a introduction to him with their face full of smiles. Only after that would they greet and pay respect to the three elders of the Nie n, who were seated beside Liu Yan.

    Nie Donghai, together with his second brother Nie Beichuan and third brother Nie Nanshan, didn¡¯t try to tter and please Liu Yan due to their special status. But every time they met his gaze, they would also wear their brightest smiles.

    Unlike the day before, Nie Donghai looked radiant and energetic, with absolutely no evidence of injuries.

    ¡°Nie Qian? What did you bring Nie Tian here for?¡± These sudden, ill-timed words came from Nie Lan, who had introduced his son to Liu Yan moments ago. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked unhappily towards the gate of the hall.

    Nie Lan was Nie Beichuan¡¯s son. While he was the oldest among the second generation of the Nie n, his cultivation talent was quite poor. He had only reached the ninth level of Qi Refining and hadn¡¯t been able to break through the bottleneck and enter the Lesser Heaven stage.

    For this reason, he had long since given up his own cultivation and ced all his hope in his three sons.

    At present, his first son, who was only eleven years old, had reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. As long as he could reach the ninth level in the next four years, he would win the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s favor and be their disciple. With the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s help, he would eventually be able to reach the Lesser Heaven stage and live a bright future.

    His second son, who was six, also showed outstanding cultivation talent by achieving the fourth level of Qi Refining. A promising future was in store.

    Today he brought his third son Nie Hong, who had just turned one.

    The births of his three children had been carefully calcted so that every one of them happened to be at the proper age to attend the quinquennial lot-drawings. Both of the elder sons had made remarkable gains during thest two lot-drawings.

    It was Nie Hong¡¯s turn this time.

    As Nie Lan spoke, all the eyes of the Nie n members inside the hall became fixed on Nie Qian and Nie Tian, who had just passed through the gate.

    ¡°Eldest brother,¡± Nie Qian said loudly. ¡°I¡¯ve brought Nie Tian to attend this year¡¯s lot-drawing convention.¡±

    Nie Tian was standing by her side, as adorable and strong as a tiger cub. Not only was he taller than the other children in attendance, but he also seemed more muscr.

    In spite of the volume of her voice, Nie Qian looked a bit uneasy under everyone¡¯s scalding stares.

    Nie Tian, on the contrary, was full of smiles,pletely unaware of the all the eyes ring at them with ill intentions. Instead, he seemed to be enjoying being the center of attention, and didn¡¯t flinch an inch.

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡± Nie Lan snorted disdainfully. He didn¡¯t look very happy. ¡°His family name is Nie, but it is only because we have no idea who his father is. In fact, he isn¡¯t a true Nie at all. ording to the Nie n rules, a daughter¡¯s son shouldn¡¯t be qualified to attend lot-drawing conventions. Don¡¯t make trouble out of nothing. Just take Nie Tian and leave. Stop wasting Mr. Liu Yan¡¯s and everybody else¡¯s time.¡±

    Nie Qian immediately turned to Nie Donghai. ¡°Father!¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who my son-inw is,¡± Nie Donghai replied forcefully. ¡°Jin¡¯er said before she died that Nie Tian¡¯s father was willing to take our surname and join our n, hence Nie Tian is a descendant of the Nie n.¡±

    ¡°Eldest brother,¡± Nie Nanshan said with a dark smile, ¡°As far as I remember, you itched to eat that man alive. You used to talk all the time about killing him at all costs once you found him. Howe you¡¯ve changed your attitude all of a sudden and admitted his status as your son-inw? Plus, to take our surname... well, rules have to be followed, don¡¯t they? I don¡¯t recall that guy ever taking a vow in our ancestral shrine.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. Without taking a vow in the ancestral shrine and finishing the ritual, a man can¡¯t be counted as a son-inw who is qualified to take our surname.¡±

    ¡°nmaster, you can¡¯t be so eager to take a man you harbor deep hatred with as your son-inw, just to qualify Nie Tian¡¯s attendance to the lot-drawing. You have to remember that Nie Jin¡¯s death was all because of him!¡±

    ¡°Even though you are the nmaster, you can¡¯t disregard the family rules and act recklessly, right?¡±

    ¡°... ¡±

    Inside the hall, both immediate members and extended members of the Nie n who had brought their children started yelling in dissatisfaction and using Nie Donghai of acting recklessly.

    Every additional child participating in the lot-drawing would mean a reduction of their own child¡¯s opportunities, so naturally, people weren¡¯t happy about that.

    If it were before Nie Donghai had been seriously wounded, he would have more authority, and people wouldn¡¯t dare to act this way.

    However, they knew about Nie Donghai¡¯s condition and the fact that he might have to hand over his position as nmaster soon due to his degrading cultivation level, so they no longer felt the need to give him face.

    Nie Beichuan sat straight in his chair and listened to the noisy crowd with no intention to break the tumult.

    As the yelling grew louder and louder, Liu Yan from the Cloudsoaring sect coughed softly.

    All of a sudden, everyone shut their mouths.

    Even Nie Nanshan, who was about to question Nie Donghai one more time, stopped immediately and turned to Liu Yan with a smiling face.

    Liu Yan, his face smooth and jade-like, had a slight change in his expression as he looked towards Nie Tian, who stood next to Nie Qian. ¡°This is... the son of my junior martial sister?¡±

    While he talked, a twinge of subtle pain shed in his eyes.

    His words suddenly reminded everyone that Nie Jin had the most amazing talent among the second generation of the Nie n. She managed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining at the age of ten, and thus was acknowledged by the Cloudsoaring sect and became one of their disciples.

    Liu Yan was her eldest martial brother.

    ¡°Sir, Nie Tian is my poor sister¡¯s only son,¡± Nie Qian said sadly.

    Liu Yan gently nodded as he looked at Nie Tian with aplex and profound expression, before he warmly said, ¡°This time, I¡¯d originally nned to provide five small toys. However, my junior martial sister and I go way back, so for Nie Tian, I will take the initiative and add two spiritual tools from my own collection. How does this sound?¡±

    He turned around to look at Nie Beichuan and Nie Nanshan.

    ¡°Since Mr. Liu has said so, of course we will agree,¡± Nie Beichuan replied in a hurry.

    Nie Nanshan also nodded at once with a smiling face while saying,¡±Whatever Mr. Liu says.¡±

    None of the rest of the crowd dared to object.

    ¡°With that settled, the lot-drawing convention will now begin.¡± Liu Yan cut to the chase. He waved his left hand, sending seven streaks of mysterious light flying out of his sleeve.

    The seven streaks of light, each a different color, lit up the Nie n¡¯s great hall, illuminating everything around them.

    The lights fell on the stone floor in center of the great hall and turned into seven tools glistening with spiritual light, namely, a sword, a saber, a fan, a glove, a wooden staff, a bead, and a piece of animal bone.

    Every member of the Nie n, whether young or old, voluntarily cleared out of the center of the great hall as soon as they saw the seven spiritual toolsnding on the ground. Immediately after that, they gathered around the tools.

    Everyone¡¯s gaze was immediately fixed on the seven exquisite spiritual tools, and none of them bothered to give Nie Tian another nce.

    Nie Donghai and his two brothers stood up subconsciously and emanated spiritual fluctuations to sense the attributes and ranks of the seven spiritual tools.

    Many members of the Nie n, eyes shining with eagerness, also tried to use their inner spiritual energy to judge the spiritual tools.

    Cyan, purple, red, and blue colored spiritual energy emerged from the seven spiritual tools under the power sensing of the Qi warriors of the Nie n.

    ¡°Elementary grade five!¡±

    Nie Lan¡¯s wide-open eyes were fixed on the cyan bead that Liu Yan had brought outst, as his breathing grew slightly rapid.

    ¡°Oh, heavens. Is it really of grade five?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t all the spiritual tools supposed to be of Elementary grade three ording to the traditions? A spiritual tool of the fifth grade, even at Elementary level, is still of great value. It is usually something awarded to their own disciples, but this time...¡±

    ¡°How generous of Mr. Liu!¡±

    The cyan bead seemed to have strands of lightning flickering inside it under the influence of everyone¡¯s spiritual energy, which made it especially rare. Therefore, everyone¡¯s eyes turned red and glittered with greed.

    Nie Beichuan fixedly stared at the bead as a strange light shed in his eyes.

    Nie Lan was his son, which meant Nie Hong was his grandson. Long before Nie Hong was born, he used secret magics to test Nie Hong¡¯s talent.

    Due to the low level of his cultivation base, he relied on the help of an extraordinary medicinal pill to be seventy percent sure that Nie Hong had the inner attribute of lightning.

    That Elementary grade five cyan bead was clearly lightning-attributed, making it a spiritual toolpletelypatible with Nie Hong¡¯s cultivation.

    Nie Beichuan¡¯s attitude changed slightly as he faced Liu Yan. He bowed gratefully and said, ¡°Thank you so much for your generosity, Mr. Liu Yan.¡±

    The rest of the crowd followed Nie Beichuan¡¯s lead and expressed their gratitude to Liu Yan for being so generous.

    Liu Yan waved his hands to quiet down the crowd and said, ¡±From now on, no one shall use their spiritual energy to sense the spiritual tools; that could disturb the aura of the tools. As of now, it¡¯spletely up to these eight children to determine their own destinies.¡±

    ¡°Let the eight children in!¡± Nie Donghai said in a low voice.

    ¡°Go ahead!¡± Nie Qian felt a bit of relief and let go of Nie Tian.

    The moment those seven spiritual toolsnded on the ground, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shined with eagerness and impatience, as he wanted to rush into the central area immediately. Were it not for Nie Qian, who had been tightly sping his arms, he probably wouldn¡¯t have waited for everyone to finish talking before he rushed into the central area.

    When she let go, Nie Tian, as she expected, opened his arms in a manner as if to embrace the whole world, and rushed into the central area.

 Chapter 3: The Vilest Event in the History of Nie Clan!

    BANG!

    A kid who was in Nie Tian¡¯s way got knocked off his feet from the powerful impact he received from Nie Tian.

    That kid was Nie Nanshan¡¯s grandson, Nie Yuan. The moment he fell to the ground, he immediately burst into a fit of tears.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t look at Nie Yuan, or even circle around him; instead he directly stepped over Nie Yuan.

    Moreover, Nie Tian¡¯s right footnded on Nie Yuan¡¯s hand as he rushed forward, making Nie Yuan cry even more heavily.

    Nie Nanshan strove to calm himself, and Nie Yuan¡¯s father, Nie Qiu, could almost feel his son¡¯s pain. The faces of both men immediately turned sullen.

    Considering that it was quitemon for kids to run into each other during the lot-drawing, Nie Nanshan and Nie Qiu suppressed their anger for the moment.

    ¡°Nie Tian, be careful!¡± Nie Qian shouted anxiously.

    However, it seemed Nie Tian didn¡¯t hear Nie Qian¡¯s call as he stepped over Nie Yuan and ran toward the spiritual tool closest to him.

    At this time, another child of the Nie n, with glittering small eyes, stared at the glove, which was emitting misty red light. When he reached out his hand towards the glove, his fingertips also emitted rays of red light.

    Obviously, the child¡¯s cultivation attributepletely matched the spiritual energy contained in the glove.

    A extended member of the Nie n got emotional and worked up, crying out, ¡°That¡¯s destined for Liang¡¯er!¡±

    At first sight, Liu Yan and the whole Nie n could tell without a doubt that the glove, glowing red light and all, was the tool Nie Liang needed.

    Liu Yan nodded softly and said to himself, ¡°Fire attribute...¡±

    Everyone saw that Nie Liang¡¯s unsteady small hand was on the verge of touching the glove.

    However at that moment, Nie Tian came running over and knocked Nie Liang to the ground before he reached out to grab the glove.

    Before the confused Nie Liang could make a sound, Nie Tian already grasped the glove in his hand and burst into a loudughter.

    As Nie Tian wasughing with his mouth wide open, Nie Liang realized what had happened and started to cry out loud, ¡°Wah, wah! Mine, mine...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was filled with satisfaction and pleasantughter, while in contrast, Nie Liang was scared and in tears.

    ¡°Bastard!¡± growled Nie Liang¡¯s father, an expert from an extended branch of the Nie n. ¡°That glove doesn¡¯t agree with Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation attribute. There wasn¡¯t even a smidgen of energy fluctuation from Nie Tian¡¯s body that agreed with the spiritual tool, so why should he get it?¡±

    Liu Yan of the Cloudsoaring sect smiled as he watched Nie Tian reach out to take the glove.

    Liu Yan had to hold back fromughing. Right when he was going to say a few words in constion, he discovered that Nie Tian, after enjoying forcibly taking the glove, had rushed to another nearby spiritual tool.

    While Nie Liang was still crying, Nie Tian donned the red glove and dashed toward the blue sword.

    Meanwhile, another child of the Nie n was holding the blue sword, his tiny face filled with smile.

    While he held the sword, waves of blue light immediately emerged from both the sword and the child¡¯s flesh that came into contact with the sword.

    As he grinned joyously and prepared tough out loud, Nie Tian swooped in like the wind.

    Relying on his superior strength, Nie Tian snatched the blue sword out of the other child¡¯s grip,ughing the whole time.

    The child who just lost his spiritual tool stood in confusion for a moment before he tried to recapture the sword from Nie Tian¡¯s hand, but he ended up being pushed to the ground.

    ¡°Wah, wah!¡±

    Another child¡¯s ear-piercing cries rang through the Nie n¡¯s great hall.

    ¡°How impudent! This little bastard is too impudent!¡± Fuming, another extended member of Nie n could hardly hold back from immediately rushing into the court.

    Nie Tian, who was apparently addicted to robbing, paid no attention to him and continued on his rampage in the court, totally disregarding the crowd. In a short period of time, Nie Tian managed to forcibly grab the remaining saber, fan, animal bone, wooden staff, bead.

    Many members of the Nie n present at the lot-drawing were struck wide-eyed and tongue-tied, looking at Nie Tian as if he was some kind of devil.

    The cries of the seven children and cursing of their fathers went on and on, filling the great hall.

    Nie Tian¡¯s two hands could barely hold the seven spiritual tools he had taken, so he put them in a pile as he squatted on the ground and yed with them one by one, his face filled with a smile and his eyes filled with satisfaction.

    However, everyone could clearly see that none of the tools showed any sign of energy fluctuations as heid his chubby little hands on them.

    That meant none of the spiritual tools he had taken from the other children agreed with his cultivation attribute.

    He was basically breaking the rules simply because he felt like it!

    The seven children who had their spiritual tools stolen from them were currently crying nonstop, and naturally gathered around Nie Tian, enviously and helplessly staring at the spiritual tools that matched their respective cultivation attributes and made themfortable and rxed. They even tried, in vain, to get them back.

    ¡°Mine, all mine....¡± Nie Tian turned around to face them as he made threatening gestures while mumbling something.

    Greedily looking at the cyan pearl, Nie Hong approached, step by step, hoping to cross Nie Tian and snatch the cyan pearl back.

    POW!

    Nie Tian swung his chubby fist and unceremoniously hit Nie Hong in the face. As a result, Nie Hong was thrown to the ground and started to cry louder than ever.

    The other six children had nothing but fear on their faces after witnessing Nie Tian¡¯s demonic actions. Their helpless eyes were still fixed on the spiritual tools which should had been theirs, yet no one dared to go for them any more.

    ¡°How savage! I¡¯ve been present for numerous lot-drawings, but I¡¯ve never seen such a savage and presumptuous child!¡±

    ¡°The little hoodlum! None of the seven spiritual tools agreed with his cultivation attribute, yet he forcibly snatched all of them, not sparing even one. Our n has never seen such a vile event!¡±

    ¡°n members should be brothers. We love and help each other. One must never take all the benefits! Now look at him. Not only does he want to eat the meat, but he won¡¯t even share a sip of soup with others. He simply defies all principles and doesn¡¯t follow any of the rules!¡±

    Listening to the crying and cursing inside the hall, Nie Beichuan and Nie Nanshan¡¯s faces were as dark and gloomy aske water.

    Nie Qian, standing by the gate, looking at theughing Nie Tian and became a little worried. She even secretly hated that he had been so reckless, offending the whole Nie n.

    She turned to Nie Donghai with a pitiful face, but was met with Nie Donghai¡¯s bitter smile.

    Embarrassed and with his head aching, he didn¡¯t know how to handle this situation either.

    ¡°Well...¡±

    Having watched the whole scene, Liu Yan spoke softly. The noise-filled hall resumed silence as he spoke.

    The angry members of the Nie n looked away from Nie Tian and refocused on Liu Yan.

    Liu Yan gently coughed as he looked at the crowd, then he said, ¡±Horsey between kids... is amusing. As for the seven toys, in my opinion, Nie Tian shall not take all of them. How about this: we¡¯ll let Nie Tian keep one and the rest will go to the other children. Then we can call an end to this incident, what do you say?¡±

    Seeing the tension being eased, Nie Donghai secretly exhaled, and said, ¡°We will do as Mr. Liu says. Nie Tian, you shall behave and choose just one from the tools! Return the rest to your brothers and don¡¯t ever act so rudely again!¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡± Liu Yan faced towards the rest of the Nie n members.

    Under his gaze, the previously shouting Nie n members, who had demanded that Nie Tian be punished, had no choice but to nod, agreeing to his arrangement.

    ¡°Good.¡± Liu Yan smiled and gently nodded his head before he looked Nie Tian deep in the eye while tenderly saying, ¡°Okay, listen to Uncle Liu¡¯s words. You can take any spiritual tool you like, but give the rest back to your younger and older brothers.¡±

    Nie Tian pouted unwillingly, and even nced stealthily at Nie Qian.

    Nie Qian gave him a hard look and said, ¡°If you dare to act unruly, watch what I¡¯m going to do with you!¡±

    Nie Tian cringed, as if he feared no one but Nie Qian. Without even looking down, he casually reached his hand to the pile of spiritual tools and pulled out the piece of animal bone, then left immediately.

    His indifferent attitude made everyone well aware that he seemed to have little interest in these seven spiritual tools from the start.

    What he enjoyed seemed to be... merely the process of taking them from others.

    Watching him taking the lowest ranked animal bone, many of the Nie n members¡¯ faces brightened with surprise. As they secretly mocked his stupidity, the gloomy looks on their faces faded slightly.

    The moment he got out of the way, the rest of the Nie n kids, unable to contain their excitement any longer, rushed forward to seize the spiritual tools they had their eyes on long ago.

    ¡°Wahh!¡±

    ......

 Chapter 4: Liu Yans Confusion

    Afternoon.

    Nie Qian berated Nie Tian as he ate and drank his fill, but then he fell asleep, so she finally stopped.

    Nie Tian had been holding that animal bone in his hand ever since he got back from the lot-drawing, and yet Nie Qian couldn¡¯t find any spiritual energy connections between Nie Tian and the bone.

    ¡°What a dummy...¡± Nie Qian murmured. ¡°He had so many high ranked spiritual tools to choose from, yet he picked this thing....

    Suddenly, Nie Donghai¡¯s voice came from outside. ¡°Whatever... Even if he obtained the highest ranked bead, it would also be useless to him. None of the seven spiritual tools were suitable for him. I should have known from the start that having him participate in the lot-drawing wouldn¡¯t be productive.¡±

    As Nie Qian turned around to look, she found that Nie Donghai and Liu Yan of the Cloudsoaring sect hade together. ¡°Father. Mr. Liu.¡±

    Nie Donghai nced lovingly at Nie Tian, who was sound asleep, lying on his back with his limbs widely spread. Then he sighed softly, frowned, and said, ¡°A while ago, I secretly tested him in hope of determining the attribute of his inner spiritual energy. However...¡±

    After a pause, he continued, ¡°Perhaps due to my insufficient cultivation base, I failed to sense any fluctuation of spiritual energy in him. I knew by then that even if he did participate in the lot-drawing he would most likely not gain much.

    ¡°That was the reason I didn¡¯t push so hard to get him into the lot-drawing convention.¡±

    Nie Qian was both shocked and confused. ¡°But father, after I begged you for this opportunity, you did help after all... ¡±

    Nie Donghai forced a smile. ¡°Deep down, I was still unwilling to give up. I wished for a miracle to happen. From the look of it, I¡¯ve put in too much hope into the matter.¡±

    ¡°It was my fault.¡± Nie Qian med herself.

    By then, she realized Nie Donghai loved Nie Tian just as much as she did and he would even get in a conflict with everyone in the Nie n again, just to fight for a shred of opportunity for Nie Tian.

    Even though he knew all his efforts could have been in vain, he did it anyway.

    ¡°Let me take a closer look.¡± While he talked, Liu Yan walked to window and stretched out his hand over the sleeping Nie Tian.

    White aura swirled out of Liu Yan¡¯s left palm. Its misty and bright apperarance made his hand white like jade.

    Liu Yan gently ced his hand onto Nie Tian¡¯s lower abdomen as he narrowed his eyes in concentration. Shreds of spiritual energy as thin as hair emerged from his hand and entered Nie Tian¡¯s lower abdomen, gradually seeping into his limbs and bones.

    Nie Tian seemed to befortable in his sleep, as a smile had emerged on his chubby little face. He even snored a bit, as if he was having a sweet dream.

    The warm, jade-like light gradually covered the surface of Nie Tian¡¯s body, as if he were a porcin doll in the light of antern.

    However, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian gazed at Nie Tian with worried looks.

    They were fully aware that the jade-like gloss came solely from Liu Yan¡¯s spiritual energy.

    The spiritual energy triggered no change after roaming around in Nie Tian¡¯s body, which meant Nie Tian¡¯s body didn¡¯t contain any spiritual energy waves.

    Quite a whileter, Liu Yan gently retrieved his hand before turning to Nie Donghai and shaking his head.

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian looked on, aghast.

    Liu Yan was also confused. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be like this. I¡¯m familiar with junior martial sister¡¯s natural talent. Forget ck Cloud City as a whole, even in the Cloudsoaring sect her talent was among the best. Even married to apletely talentless mortal, her child should have inherited part of her talent. It shouldn¡¯t be this way.

    ¡°I did a thorough search in Nie Tian¡¯s body, but I really felt no trace of spiritual energy fluctuations.¡±

    ¡°Huh... ¡± Nie Donghai let out a deep sigh and looked frustrated.

    Liu Yan frowned and said, ¡°However, Nie Tian¡¯s Qi and blood is extremely vigorous. I could see at the lot-drawing that he was much stronger and more powerful than his peers. His muscles and bones are tough and resilient. If it were a contest of pure strength and force with no spiritual energy involved, probably no one in his generation of the Nie n couldpete with him.¡±

    ¡°How is that useful?¡± Nie Qian said bitterly, ¡°Those children are still young. When they grow older and begin to understand the words of adults, they will start to cultivate spiritual energy. Spiritual power is the key to measure the strength of a Qi warrior. It is also the source of real strength. How far can he go solely relying on his physical strength?¡±

    ¡°This is also what I worry about the most.¡± Nie Donghai added, ¡°Those children who have special spiritual energy attributes in their bodies can practice spiritual methodspatible with their inner attributes. One by one, they will progress rapidly, establishing their foundation early on. Only those children would have the hope of reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining at the age of fifteen, therefore earning the favor of the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°Because Nie Tian has not clearly shown his cultivation attribute, he may have to go tread a slower cultivation path. That means he almost has no hope of reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen, and ordingly, the door to Cloudsoaring sect would close for him permanently. Not being able to enter the Cloudsoaring sect, he would be stuck in the Nie n his whole life.¡±

    Liu Yan came to Nie Donghai¡¯s side, patted him on the shoulder, and said sincerely, ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing for him not to enter the Cloudsoaring sect. Among the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s young and talented, many died premature deaths. On the way to seeking the peak, every step could be deadly. To be able to cross those tribtions unharmed, one must have an impressive fate.

    ¡°To live a life safely and peacefully like Nie Tian can also be a blessing.¡±

    Liu Yan¡¯s words reminded Nie Donghai of histe daughter Nie Jin, before he felt a pain in his heart and waspletely at a loss for words.

    ¡°Since matters here have been sorted out, I will now return to the Cloudsoaring sect. Back when junior martial sister was practicing cultivation in the sect, I acted as her mentor, so I was extremely fond of junior martial sister and ced great importance on her. Brother, you may rest assured. I¡¯ll make every effort to find the one who killed her. Whenever there is news, I will let you know.¡±

    Liu Yan gently patted on Nie Donghai¡¯s shoulder before strolling out of the room.

    ¡°Mr. Liu, thank you so much for everything,¡± Nie Donghai said gratefully.

    Nie Qian echoed Nie Donghai¡¯s words and quickly said, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Liu.¡±

    They intended to see Liu Yan out, but by the time they got to the door, Liu Yan¡¯s pace had increased to such a level that he was already disappearing off into the distance.

    ¡°Mr. Liu has been so kind to us,¡± Nie Donghai muttered with a frown, ¡°If it were not for him, the n members... probably wouldn¡¯t have let Nie Tian off so easily.¡±

    ¡°After Little Tian and I left, did those guys...?¡± Nie Qian said with hatred.

    Nie Donghai nodded in assent. ¡°Of course they made a scene. Every one of them dwelt on the fact that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t a true grandson of the Nie n, and also that he made a mess at the lot-drawing convention. They insisted on punishing him. Fortunately, Mr. Liu helped and spoke up, so they didn¡¯t dare to question me further, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t have been able to protect him.

    ¡°Unfortunately, Mr. Liu has left and won¡¯t return frequently in the future.¡± Nie Qian sighed.

    ¡°As long as I¡¯m still head of the Nie n, I won¡¯t tolerate their impudence!¡± Nie Donghai said with a cold harrumph.

    ¡°I fear... I fear that you can¡¯t keep that position for long, father.¡± Nie Qian smiled bitterly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep it until the day I can¡¯t. I must seek justice for you and Jin¡¯er!¡± Nie Donghai¡¯s face was firm and determined. After speaking these words, he also stepped out of the room.

    Watching his formerly-heroic figure disappearing into distance, Nie Qian sat in front of the door with a deste face, and her mind drifted away.

    Inside, Nie Tian was still deep asleep, but the threads of spiritual energy Liu Yan left on his body during his analysis lingered.

    Because of the flowing spiritual energy, Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and skin began to ripple slightly. It almost looked like tiny waves flowing across water.

    Every time his flesh and skin gently trembled, the spiritual energy would be somewhat dimmer, as if his flesh and blood was greedily absorbing and refining the spiritual energy.

    Neither Liu Yan, Nie Donghai, nor Nie Qian knew anything about this.

    Usually, Nie Tian would only nap for an hour at noon.

    But today, he slept for four hours, which was very surprising. When it reached the point that there wasn¡¯t a single shred of spiritual power left on his body, he finally stretched his limbs infort and woke up.

    ...

 Chapter 5: Undefeated Record

    Time ran like a river. Nine years passed in a sh.

    Early in the morning, as the sun was just beginning to rise above the horizon, numerous junior members of the Nie n gathered in a public square. Some were sitting cross-legged, inhaling and exhaling the faint spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, while others were working on their fighting techniques, exchanging blows that sent sts of air out in all directions.

    In a corner of the spacious square, a bunch of 10-year-old children of the Nie n were hatefully looking down the stone road to their east, with their fists clenched.

    ¡°He¡¯s only at the third level of Qi Refining. I don¡¯t believe that he can win every time! Having made another breakthrough yesterday, I¡¯m going to teach him an extremely memorable lesson today!¡± After nine years, the ten year old Nie Hong, by virtue of the bead that he had obtained in the lot-drawing nine years ago, had already sessfully cultivated to the sixth level of Qi Refining. The fingertips of his left hand flickered with a hint of an electric aura as he ground his teeth in anger.

    ¡°Brother Hong,¡± Nie Yuan said, ¡°knowing about your recent breakthrough, he shouldn¡¯t dare to show up today, right?"

    Nie Hong shook his head. ¡°No, he¡¯lle for sure. I know him!¡±

    A guest elder of the Nie n, Wu Tao, was leading a group of young boys and girls from the Nie n in cultivation. Most of the youngsters were around fourteen or fifteen, and every member of the group would asionally cast curious nces in the direction of the part of the square where Nie Tian was expected to appear.

    Suddenly, from the long, narrow stone path leading to the east, the sonorous voice of a young man could be heard. ¡°Nie Yuan, were you the one who said I wouldn¡¯t dare toe just now?¡±

    Nie Tian appeared, who was by now significantly taller than his peers.

    ¡°Here hees!¡±

    ¡°Knowing the fact that Nie Hong has reached the sixth level of Qi Refining, he still dares toe... He¡¯s got some balls!¡±

    ¡°Interesting!¡±

    Upon hearing the familiar voice, other boys and girls of the Nie n who were slightly older became cheerful and excited.

    Those who were cultivating gradually stood up. Those who were practicing their fancy physicalbat moves suddenly stopped. One after the other, they all turned to stare at Nie Tian.

    In their eyes Nie Tian was different.

    Nine years has passed since that lot-drawing convention, yet Nie Tian hadn¡¯t shown any special cultivation attribute. The animal bone he had won failed to resonate with his spiritual energy.

    On the contrary, Nie Hong, Nie Yuan, and the others, having determined the attributes of their spiritual power, started to cultivate specific spiritual incantations. With the help of the spiritual tools they had obtained from the lot-drawing convention, their cultivating speed had progressed swiftly and violently. Meanwhile, Nie Tian... was still cultivating using the most basic Qi Refining Incantation.

    Nie Tian¡¯s slow cultivation advancement made him a target of secret ridicule among people. Neither the nmaster Nie Donghai nor Nie Qian could do anything to help.

    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, Nie Tian¡¯s body grew stronger and stronger, which allowed him to fight children of a simr age without being at a disadvantage because of his low Qi Refining level.

    On the contrary, in the past nine years, every peer who had fought Nie Tian ended up losing.

    Up to this day, Nie Tian had maintained an undefeated record.

    The reason why they paid close attention to Nie Tian¡¯s battles was that they wanted to know when his advantage of tremendous physical strength would disappear.

    Nie Hong, who had advanced to the sixth level of Qi Refining yesterday, carried a mighty lightning force in his inner spiritual power. Everyone was confident that Nie Tian¡¯s undefeated record would end in today¡¯s battle.

    Therefore, they secretly looked forward to this fight.

    Nie Tian walked up to them, and as he took a side nce at Nie Yuan, he challenged, ¡°Nie Yuan, it was you who previously taunted me, right? How about the two of us give it a go right now?¡±

    Nie Yuan¡¯s cultivation had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, yet facing Nie Tian¡¯s re, he suddenly seemed somewhat timid.

    He took half a step back subconsciously. Threatening in manner but cowardly at heart, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, your opponent for today is brother Hong. If you can still stand after your battle with brother Hong, then I¡¯ll fight you myself."

    ¡°Shameless," whispered Nie You, a girl with with her hair wrapped up in a braid on top of her head.

    ¡°Fine, whatever..." Nie Tian said with total indifference and disdain. ¡°To fight you, I don¡¯t even need to bring out my best."

    ¡°You!¡± Nie Yuan¡¯s face was filled with anger.

    ¡°Get out of the way, all of you!¡± Nie Hong shouted out loud, signaling the other children to move further away. Meanwhile, his right fist was already covered in threads of cyan lightning.

    Upon hearing Nie Hong¡¯s words, all the children around him stepped back, making room for him and Nie Tian.

    In center of the square, Wu Tao, along with the Nie n¡¯s older teenagers, could see that the fighting was about to start. All of them began to converge on that particr corner,ughing and chatting about the matter.

    Nie Donghai was standing on the balcony of a high stone pce, with both of his hands on the stone wall, as he looked down at the square.

    During the past nine years, Nie Donghai took advantage of the power he had as head of the Nie n and tried every possible way to gather information about the man who got Nie Jin killed.

    Unfortunately, so far, he had not received a single word regarding that man¡¯s whereabouts.

    It was as if the man had shown up out of nowhere and then disappeared into thin air.

    The only thing he had left was Nie Tian, who was about to fight Nie Hong in this very square.

    On the other hand, Nie Donghai¡¯s physical condition had been deteriorating by the day. His once tall and mighty body had now turned into a bag of bones. Even the least observant person could tell with a single nce that his time was running out.

    Watching Nie Tian winning battles against his peers again and again from the high balcony became one of his few joys.

    But he also understood that, because Nie Tian had a poor cultivation base and could rely only on physical strength, he would eventually be defeated someday.

    He also knew that once Nie Tian was defeated, it would mark the end of his physical strength being his advantage.

    From then on, the gap between Nie Tian and his peers would grow bigger and bigger, as those children¡¯s cultivation base would improve much more rapidly.

    ¡°Will it be today?...¡± Nie Donghai muttered to himself.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    A strange sound emanated out from Nie Hong¡¯s fist, which was shing with an electric aura. Then Nie Hong let out a loud shout, before suddenly rushing towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Well, he is indeed a bit faster and fiercer than before." Nie Tian smiled at Nie Hong, who was swooping at him with all his power. However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have the slightest intention to dodge.

    He suddenly lifted his hand and took a bold step forward, before he ruthlessly met Nie Hong¡¯s right fist with his significantlyrger fist.

    BANG!

    The sh of the two fists made a muffled sound, before Nie Hong¡¯s surging momentum suddenly came to a stop.

    Nie Tian took two steps back, shaking his fist and grimacing in pain. As he swung his arm, a trace of the electric aura sputtered away from his fist.

    The crowd took a close look on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand and saw distinct ck burns.

    ¡°While the sixth level of Qi Refining is only one level higher than the fifth level, there is an essential difference. The sixth level allows spiritual power to be released outside of the body, and the lightning power contained in his spiritual power is able to prate the opponent¡¯s body." Nie Xian, a fourteen year old from a branch of the Nie n who already cultivated to the eighth level of Qi Refining, looked at Nie Tian deeply before he shook his head and continued, "With each collision of their two fists, Nie Hong will leave lightning damage by releasing his spiritual power into Nie Tian¡¯s body. Lightning will paralyze his muscles, making his whole body sore and numb, therefore he will have to spare some of his energy to resist the erosion caused by the residual lightning in his body.

    ¡°If this goes on, it won¡¯t be long before he loses his fighting capacity and falls prey to Nie Hong¡¯s humiliation.

    ¡°Fighting someone in the sixth level of Qi Refining head-on, while only being in the third level, is definitely not a wise move.¡±

    The Nie n¡¯s guest elder, Wu Tao, briefly nodded before he took a side nce at Nie Xian with a look of admiration and said, ¡°Nie Tian has been relying on his physical strength to fight over the years. Now he is used to fighting head-on since he hasn¡¯t suffered a loss doing so. But he doesn¡¯t know that being in the sixth level of Qi Refining, one can release their spiritual power out of their body. Not knowing that, he is bound to suffer greatly today. His unbeaten record... is probably going to end with this battle.¡±

    ¡°Put bluntly, it is all because of his poor talent,¡± Nie Xian said. ¡°If he also had a unique attribute in his spiritual power like Nie Hong does, he would be able to defeat Nie Hong effortlessly.¡±

    ¡°Did you feel it?¡± Lightning once again shed around Nie Hong¡¯s fists as he coldly stared at Nie Tian¡¯s waving arms. "That little bit lightning power I left on your fist has already spread to your arms, hasn¡¯t it? How does it feel? That arm of yours has be sore and numb, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°A tad." Nie Tian grinned, though he was obviously in pain, "But I¡¯m okay. It¡¯s not really affecting me."

    ¡°Still want to y tough?" Nie Hong looked very excited, after being defeated consecutively for nine years, he finally saw a sliver of hope in this battle, ¡°Not affecting you, huh? Take a few more then!"

    BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG!

    Nie Hong¡¯s fists came like cannon shots. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dodge; he allowed them to m into him endlessly, and just like before, he kept fighting back head-on.

    After ten rounds, Nie Hong stopped, breathing heavily, as he looked at Nie Tian in a ferocious manner.

    Both of Nie Tian¡¯s hands were as ck as charred coals, with little lightning sparks constantly flying out of his arms.

    Everyone could tell that his arms had be rather stiff as he waved them.

    However Nie Tian¡¯s eyes showed an unprecedented high-spirited will to fight. Like a young ferocious beast who had finally awakened, he roared towards Nie Hong, "Keep theming! Why did you stop? Come on, don¡¯t stop!"

    It seemed as if he was the one who had the upper hand.

 Chapter 6: An Unknown Force

    ¡°You¡¯re not scared of dying, huh?¡± Nie Hong said.

    Wu Tao shook his head slightly and thought, ¡°With his cultivation three levels higher... Nie Hong¡¯s inferior physical strength has already beenpletely neutralized. His overflowing spiritual power has left lightning waves that have been unceasingly battering Nie Tian¡¯s flesh. There¡¯s no need to continue this battle, otherwise... ¡±

    Nie Xian frowned and said, ¡°If this continues, Nie Tian will probably end up severely injured or even handicapped for the rest of his life. Even though we encourage battles within the n, they are only allowed on the condition of not being too excessive. Mr. Wu, do you... do you think we should put a stop to their fight?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Wu Tao. ¡°If they insist on fighting, I¡¯m afraid Nie Tian will get terribly hurt.¡± Just as he was about to continue speaking, he felt someone in the distancey eyes on him.

    Subconsciously, he traced the source of that look.

    Nie Hong¡¯s grandfather, Nie Beichuan, had appeared in the south-west corner of the square without being noticed by anyone.

    He stood there with his hands folded behind his back, gazing at Wu Tao with a profound expression, as if he knew he was going to try to stop the fight.

    Wu Tao¡¯s expression flickered. His opened mouth didn¡¯t make a sound; instead he sighed inwardly.

    He was the Nie n¡¯s guest elder who had been, by chance, recruited by Nie Beichuan. He clearly understood that Nie Donghai¡¯s time was limited and that Nie Beichuan would rece him in the near future.

    He knew that if he still wished to continue working for the Nie n, he had to understand the situation and do the smart thing.

    Nie Xian quickly followed his gaze and saw Nie Beichuan standing not too far away.

    ¡°Mr. Wu?¡± he said softly.

    ¡°There are certain matters that... neither you nor I can do anything about.¡± Wu Tao gently patted Nie Xian¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Build up yourself. I hope you can break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining as soon as possible and gain the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s favor. At the end of the day, you¡¯re merely a descendant from a branch of the Nie n. Only when you be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect will you have a say in the Nie n.¡±

    A look of disgust could be seen on Nie Xian¡¯s youthful and immature face, but he nodded and refrained from saying anything further.

    On the high tform in the stone temple, Nie Donghai¡¯s face suddenly turned very grim as he noticed second brother Nie Beichuan, and quickly realized why Wu Tao didn¡¯t stop the fight, as subtle as it was.

    ¡°Just because I haven¡¯t given up my position?¡± Nie Donghai said to himself, hatred seething inside.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Seeing the silver lining of victory, Nie Hong¡¯s spirits soared. Once again he attacked Nie Tian, and glittering cyan lightning continued to pass from his fist into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Nie Tian¡¯s hands both turned as ck as iron, and plumes of ck smoke even emanated out from between his fingers.

    His sleeves were sted into pieces and threads of lightning that resembled tiny cyan snakes danced around his naked arms.

    More and more threads of lightning infiltrated his body, where they gathered together and built up into cords.

    THUMP THUMP!

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but step back. Under Nie Hong¡¯s ferocious attack, every time he raised his hands to defend, his movements turned even stiffer and more powerless.

    He totally forgot about the pain in his arms, even though his forehead was covered in sweat. His eyes were like a bright, shining star in the night sky, brimming with deep mysteries.

    ¡°You¡¯re finished! Haha!¡± Nie Hongughed excitedly as his lightning-wreathed fists prated Nie Tian¡¯s sluggish defense, ruthlessly bearing down on his chest.

    ¡°No!¡± Wu Tao shouted subconsciously.

    Nie Xian also couldn¡¯t help but cry out, ¡°Nie Hong, stop!¡±

    On the high tform, Nie Donghai¡¯s face was covered in sweat, panting nonstop, as if he was even more exhausted than Nie Tian.

    His eyes were cold likeke water as he red at the calm andposed Nie Beichuan, hoping to hear him call off this fight.

    Yet Nie Beichuan didn¡¯t say a word.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heartbeat grew faster and stronger. As he saw Nie Hong¡¯s fist rapidly approaching his chest, he felt that there was some sort of power in his body, just on the verge of bursting out.

    However, when he wanted to draw support from that power, he couldn¡¯t locate it.

    All he could feel was pain and numbness all over his body. Suddenly, anger and despair took over as he realized that the power was refusing to cooperate.

    THUMP THUMP! THUMP THUMP!

    Overwhelmed by outrage and desperation, his heartbeat once again sped up!

    He didn¡¯t realize it, but his heart had begun racing twice as fast as usual in between those sts of lightning!

    Just at that moment, it seemed as if a cheering voice rushed out from his flesh and organs! As of then, he was no longer affected in the least by the residual lightning left inside of him.

    All of a sudden, a barbaric strength exploded out madly from within his flesh!

    WHOOSH!

    Before Nie Hong¡¯s deadly fist could smash into his ribcage, he swiftly reached out his hands and grabbed Nie Hong¡¯s wrist with great precision.

    Nie Hong¡¯s hand stopped only half an inch away from Nie Tian¡¯s torso and couldn¡¯t move forward at all!

    With his fist being stopped abruptly, Nie Hong¡¯s excited face was immediately taken over by confusion, as if he couldn¡¯tprehend what just happened.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian lifted his leg and kicked Nie Hong hard in the abdomen.

    BANG!

    Nie Hong¡¯s hand was still being held tightly, making it impossible for him to escape. Under the impact of Nie Tian¡¯s powerful kick, Nie Hong¡¯s lower body was thrown into the air like a swing.

    As Nie Hong¡¯s flying lower body swung back down due to gravity, Nie Tian retracted one of his feet before he forcefully smashed Nie Hong¡¯s lower ribcage with his knee.

    KAH CHA! OWWW!

    A bone-cracking sound was heard, along with Nie Hong screaming like a pig being ughtered.

    Only then did Nie Tian release his grip on Nie Hong¡¯s wrist. He froze, and a strange look appeared on his face as he tried to calm himself and search for the source of that sudden and wild strength.

    However, with the crisis being relieved and his inner world bing calm again, his pounding heart also quickly returned to normal.

    That surging force seemed to have instantly dissipated into his limbs and flesh, and could no longer be sensed.

    ¡°Strange...¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t even nce at Nie Hong. Knitting his brows, he seemedpletely absorbed in his own world.

    Nie Hong was curled up on the ground, spasming like a human-sized prawn and letting out ear-piercing cries that hurt everybody¡¯s eardrums.

    ¡°Uh...¡± Nie Xian¡¯s face was full of astonishment.

    ¡°How can it be?¡± Wu Tao, startled and confused, stared at both Nie Tian, who was deep in thought, and Nie Hong, who was unceasingly screaming in pain.

    Every Nie n youngster who witnessed the fight was overwhelmed by the sudden reversal of the situation, and had had no idea what to do.

    Nie Yuan, who had mored to teach Nie Tian a lesson after Nie Hong, was now looking at the iparably miserable Nie Hong. His eyes quickly filled with fear, and he began to cower back quietly.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s fists were pitch ck, with dark smoke rising from the gaps between his fingers, he stood there unwavering like a mountain. In distinct contrast, Nie Hong was lying on the ground, filling the air with loud cries.

    At this moment, it seemed Nie Tian had left a permanent scar in the depths of Nie Hong¡¯s heart.

    On the high tform of the stone temple, Nie Donghai almost copsed after experiencing such a huge reversal. His skinny body was barely managing to stand as he leaned against the stone railings.

    His eyes, bright like thest rays of the setting sun, stared at Nie Tian and glowed with a special light.

 Chapter 7: The Price of Victory

    ¡°How impudent!¡±

    Seeing his grandson getting severely wounded and falling to the ground, Nie Beichuan couldn¡¯t help bolting towards them.

    Like a sh of lightning, he rushed over and crouched down next to Nie Hong, then propped him up with hisrge hands. Next, he pressed his hand against Nie Hong¡¯s sternum.

    Nie Hong felt a warm flow of spiritual energy swirling near his sternum, relieving much of his pain. Voice filled with grief, he said, ¡°Grandfather...¡±

    Nie Beichuan lifted his head and coldly eyed Nie Tian, who was still standing in confusion and trying to sense that unknown power within him.

    ¡°Bastard!¡± Ni Beichuan said. ¡°We don¡¯t ban battles between n members, but who allowed you to make such vicious strikes?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could respond, Nie Beichuan threw a malicious re at Wu Tao, who seemedpletely embarrassed.

    ¡°And what about you?¡± yelled Nie Beichuan. ¡°As our guest elder, what are you doing here?! You clearly saw Nie Tian striking to kill. Why didn¡¯t you stop him immediately? Did we recruit you to do nothing?"

    ¡°Well...¡± Wu Tao smiled bitterly.

    Nie Xian couldn¡¯t bear to simply look on, and tried to defend Wu Tao. ¡°Second grandfather, it was Nie Hong who struck first. It wasn¡¯t Mr. Wu¡¯s fault.¡±

    He witnessed the whole thing, down to the smallest detail. When Nie Hong was going to smash against Nie Tian¡¯s heart, Wu Tao looked at Nie Beichuan to find out his opinion, but at that time Nie Beichuan hadn¡¯t said a word and clearly wasn¡¯t going to stop the fight.

    Later, when Nie Tian suddenly exploded, as if he had obtained a godly power, everything happened so fast that Wu Tao simply didn¡¯t have enough time to stop it.

    After all, Nie Xian was young. Even though he knew defending Wu Tao would result badly, he couldn¡¯t talk himself out of it.

    ¡°Who said you were allowed to speak?¡± Nie Beichuan let out a cold harrumph, ring at Nie Xian with rage-filled eyes. ¡°Who do you think you are? You are nothing but the child of an extended n branch. If you want to have the right to speak in the n, wait until you break into the ninth level of Qi Refining and join the Cloudsoaring sect. Only then will you be allowed to speak to me!"

    Hearing these words, Nie Xian¡¯s childish face flushed with a bit of anger.

    However, he thought it over and refrained from talking back, because he knew that, just as Wu Tao had said, until he became a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, he had almost no influence within the Nie n..

    That was especially so considering that Nie Beichuan would very likely take Nie Donghai¡¯s ce and be the head of the Nie n in a year or two.

    Many innocent and right-minded youngsters of the Nie n had been about to follow Nie Xian and speak the truth. Nie Xian was the most talented among them all and he had the most promising future. Seeing him getting deterred by Nie Beichuan to the point where he didn¡¯t dare to speak any further, they all kept their mouths shut with aggrieved faces.

    Nie Tian finally awoke from his confusion. Suddenly understanding the current situation, he straightened his chest and shouted with a righteous tone, ¡°Second grandfather, well... Nie Hong challenged me himself. He was the one who took the initiative tounch strikes at a vital spot, with no regard for n rules.¡±

    Nie Hong gritted his teeth in fury as he red at Nie Tian and argued, ¡°Grandfather, I was just trying to scare him. It wasn¡¯t my intention to hurt him badly. I restrained my power and wanted to pull back before my fist reached his chest. I absolutely could never have expected him to take advantage of the opportunity to try to murder me just when I was about to hold back.

    ¡°Shameless!¡± That was what many of the Nie n children shouted in their hearts, feeling deep disdain toward Nie Hong for twisting the truth.

    They all saw with perfect rity that Nie Hongunched thest attack with eyes full of excitement and ecstasy. Where, in the least bit, was his intention of stopping?

    Nie Hong nned to wash off his terrible record against Nie Tian over the years by severely injuring him. Therefore he attacked with full force. How could he possibly give up midway?

    ¡°You know exactly what you intended to do!¡± Nie Tian shouted.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Nie Beichuan called out in a deep voice and interrupted Nie Tian, before he threw a cold look at Wu Tao and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what happened in the process. The result is Nie Tian, with total disregard of n rules, maliciously wounded Nie Hong. Mr. Wu, you are a guest elder of the Nie n. How should we punish Nie Tian ording to n rules?¡±

    ¡°He should be banished to the mine in the Cloudsoaring Mountain for three years.¡± Wu Tao replied in a low voice, although his heart was filled helpless bitterness and his eyes full of apologies.

    All the Nie n youngsters, who were originally too afraid to make a sound, couldn¡¯t help but start yelling again upon hearing the punishment, even though many of them had never been overly fond of Nie Tian to begin with.

    ¡°Nie Tian is only ten years old!¡±

    ¡°Being exiled to the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s mine at the age of ten means that he would waste the next three years. His cultivation has already been slow. Squandering three years couldpletely kill off his chance of being favored by the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°Being banished to the mines at ten, for three years, Nie Tian is really finished.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there will be no hope of him reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of 15 and bing a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. People die from time to time in that mine. Nie Tian is only ten. He might not even be able to live and get out of there in three years!¡±

    ¡°This is too harsh, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°... ¡±

    Nie Beichuan looked over at them calmly. ¡°What are you all getting so excited about? What? Do you all want to spend three years in the mine like Nie Tian?¡±

    The indignant youngsters all quieted down after hearing his words, although their faces were full of silent outrage.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go!¡± Nie Tian shouted recklessly. ¡°Three years it is then. No big deal!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wu, punish him ording to n rules!¡± Nie Beichuan said indifferently.

    At that moment, Nie Donghai finally arrived after rushing down from the high tform of the stone pce. ¡°Second Brother, Nie Tian is still young and naive. Do we really need to do this?¡±

    In the past, he would have been able to take a leap and drop to the square the moment he heard Nie Beichuan announcing the punishment.

    But now he had to walk step by step and spend significant time and energy to arrive on the scene before the situation got out of hand.

    ¡°nmaster,¡± Wu Tao respectfully said.

    Seeing his arrival, many children secretly let out sighs of relief and started yelling.

    ¡°Eldest Grandfather.¡±

    ¡°Eldest Grandfather, it¡¯s great that you are here. You have to take the lead in delivering justice.¡±

    ¡°Eldest Grandpa, we saw everything, and that wasn¡¯t the truth.¡±

    Nie Beichuan frowned. Looking very serious, he said, ¡°Eldest brother, a state has its statews, and a n also needs n rules. Even though Nie Tian is young and you are the nmaster, n rules should not be broken.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m no longer the nmaster,¡± Nie Donghai said softly.

    As soon as these words came out, everyone in the square was suddenly astonished.

    Nie Beichuan also got confused, but there was obviously a hint of ecstasy in his eyes, and he said, ¡°Eldest Brother! What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m tired. I don¡¯t have the energy to manage the Nie n any more. Even you know about my condition. Early on, I wanted to make use of the n¡¯s power to seek justice for Qian¡¯er and Jin¡¯er, so I was reluctant to give up my position.¡± Nie Donghai looked despondent. ¡°But I¡¯ve thought it through and I want to give up. In the future... the Nie n will rely on you, Second Brother.¡±

    ¡°Eldest Brother, how can you do this? You are of noble character and high prestige within the n, I... ¡± Nie Beichuan spoke the opposite of his heart¡¯s desire.

    Nie Donghai waved his hand and interrupted him with a determined tone, ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind. I will make an announcement to all the elders. I think they will understand.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Nie Beichuan said slowly, his voice full of affectation. ¡°If Eldest Brother insists, I won¡¯t stand in the way. Please rest assured, Eldest Brother, that I will spare no effort to help Qian¡¯er and Jin¡¯er. I see them as my own children and I will find a way to seek justice for them.¡±

    Nie Donghai looked at him deeply and nodded his head, ¡°Nie Tian is still young, I hope...¡±

    ¡°Forget it,¡± Nie Beichuan said with a smile. ¡°I have to give face to Eldest Brother. I will not continue to pursue this matter any further.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled.¡± Nie Donghai, exhausted both physically and mentally, turned his head and told Nie Tian, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    As he finished talking, he took the lead in leaving the square. As he walked away, he looked extremely bleak, like a hero past his prime.

    Watching him walk away, Wu Tao and the Nie n¡¯s youngsters knew in their hearts that the era of Nie Donghai hade to an end today.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word. He simply followed Nie Donghai silently, a grim expression spreading across his face.

    Right before he disappeared from the square, he paused, turned around, and looked at the high-spirited Nie Beichuan, before secretly clenching his fists.

    At the age of ten, his mind was already rather mature. He clearly understood that Nie Donghai voluntarily gave up his position to save him.

 Chapter 8: Outbreak of a Strange Disease

    After leaving the square, they came to a pavilion in a garden. The moment Nie Donghai stopped, Nie Tian softly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, grandpa.¡±

    Nie Donghai turned around and softly patted Nie Tian¡¯s head. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said affectionately. ¡°Grandpa is tired and it¡¯s time for me to have a rest.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa,¡± Nie Tian quietly muttered, ¡°if I didn¡¯t mess up, you could have...¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Nie Donghai knew what he was going to say. He shook his head and exined warmly, ¡°Even if that didn¡¯t happen, I nned to step down anyways. All these years, I¡¯ve been blinded by hatred and spent too much energy seeking revenge. Unfortunately, the Nie n isn¡¯t a strong and powerful n. Even though I have wielded all the n¡¯s power, I still couldn¡¯t track down that bastard.¡±

    After a pause, Nie Donghai let out a deep sigh and added, ¡°Even if I could find him, perhaps, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything. I know too well how the Yun n treated your aunt, and yet the Yun n is in ck Cloud City, so what can I do?

    ¡°I¡¯m old, and my health... is also getting worse. Rather than wasting energy on useless things, I would like to spend more time with you.¡±

    ¡°Grandpa,¡± Nie Tian said firmly, ¡°I¡¯ll be more thoughtful in the future and I won¡¯t fight Nie Hong anymore. When I be stronger, I¡¯ll personally seek justice for auntie from the Yun n!¡±

    Nie Donghai smiled and nodded as he looked deeply at him for a moment. Then, his expression changed and asked, ¡°Just now, you were clearly on the verge of losing. How did you suddenly obtain the strength to make Nie Hong suffer a big loss?¡±

    ¡°I also have no idea what exactly happened.¡± Nie Tian was quite confused himself. ¡°Just when I thought that I was finished, it seemed... as if a violent and powerful force emerged from my flesh and blood. When that force rushed out, the lightning energy Nie Hong left in my body waspletely wiped clean. Thanks to that, I had the strength tounch a counterattack.¡±

    Nie Donghai excitedly pressed his hand onto Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen and cast his senses inside.

    A faint scrap of spirit power roamed within Nie Tian¡¯s body like drifting silk. After examining every corner of his body, Nie Donghai couldn¡¯t find anything.

    However to his surprise, as Nie Tian said, he found absolutely no trace of the lightning power left by Nie Hong.

    ¡°Strange...¡± He retracted his hand, confused, and asked, ¡°Did you sense that force again after the fight?¡±

    ¡°I did try hard to sense it after battle, but I couldn¡¯t find any trace of it.¡± Nie Tian thought for a moment and said, ¡°But I¡¯m certain that the force resides within me. It seems I¡¯m unable to fully control it yet and it onlyes out at the most dangerous moments.¡±

    Nie Donghai remained silent, his eyes full of thoughts. After a long time, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t mention this to anyone else.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded obediently. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Everything¡¯s settled then. Go find your aunt. Remember, from tomorrow on, I will no longer be the head of Nie n. After today... don¡¯t be too naughty. Next time you have a conflict with a child of our n, do not strike too hard.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Afterwards, Nie Donghai went straight to the Nie n¡¯s library and buried his head in books. He dug out numerous rare books about cultivation practices in hope of finding the reason why Nie Tian¡¯s body experienced that strange phenomenon.

    Unfortunately, after going through more than a dozen books, he still wasn¡¯t able to find a clue.

    That night, Nie Qian¡¯s maidservant Han Yue was in aplete panic as she rushed around looking for Nie Donghai. When she found him, she hurriedly exined that Nie Tian, for no apparent reason, hade down with a high fever.

    Nie Donghai immediately left the library and followed Han Yue to Nie Tian¡¯s room. As soon as he entered, he saw an anxious Nie Qian standing by Nie Tian¡¯s bed, holding a cloth bag of ice on Nie Tian¡¯s forehead to help him fight the fever.

    Seeing Nie Donghai¡¯s arrival, Nie Qian immediately called out like a drowning person spotting a rescue boat, ¡°Father! I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong! Little Tian started to burn up after dinner and his body temperature has been rising higher and higher. I¡¯m worried to death! I don¡¯t know what I should do. ¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. Let me see.¡± Nie Donghai rushed forward and put his big, rough hand on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    ¡°So hot!¡± Nie Donghai couldn¡¯t help but exim as soon as he touched Nie Tian¡¯s skin. His face suddenly tightened and said, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. His body temperature is so abnormally high!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s got to be Nie Hong!¡± eximed Nie Qian. ¡°With his cultivation reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining, he was able to release spiritual power from his body, yet he shamelessly fought Little Tian! It must be the residual lightning he left in Little Tian¡¯s body that caused the fever. Yet, second uncle had the nerve to denounce Little Tian, which led to father giving up his high position as nmaster. I¡¯ll go and get even with them!¡± Nie Qian wanted to pour her towering rage on Nie Beichuan.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere!¡± Nie Donghai shouted.

    ¡°Father!¡± Nie Qian yelled back. ¡°They bullied Little Tian and took advantage of your condition, because they knew that you were wounded and your cultivation was degrading! All these years, they have been pushing you little by little. They didn¡¯t truly respect and treat you as the nmaster so they acted unruly. Today, they even used a conflict between children to make you leave your position! This is outrageous! I can¡¯t simply swallow it!¡±

    ¡°Curing Little Tian¡¯s fever is our most important task at the moment!¡± Nie Donghai red at her and said, ¡°All other matters need to be put on hold. You need to go find the best doctors in ck Cloud City now. I need them to bring down Nie Tian¡¯s fever as quickly as possible. I can tell that his temperature is still climbing!¡±

    ¡°What? His temperature is still rising?¡± Nie Qian panicked and forgot about finding Nie Beichuan to settle their dispute. Sounding very anxious, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll go right away!¡±

    Saying these words, she rushed out of the Nie n, her heart tearing apart from anxiety.

    Two hourster, three renowned doctors from ck Cloud City were gathered around Nie Tian.

    The three famous doctors tried various methods including medicine decoction, acupuncture, and icepresses, all in the hopes of bringing down his fever.

    Soon it was midnight, yet Nie Tian¡¯s high fever didn¡¯t show any signs of improvement.

    Even though the three reputable doctors had already exhausted all of their methods to bring down his fever, Nie Tian¡¯s body temperature didn¡¯t reduce in the slightest.

    ¡°Good-for-nothing!¡± Nie Donghai cursed, so enraged that he was panting. ¡°None of you can cure a simple fever. How dare you call yourselves reputable doctors!¡±

    The doctors didn¡¯t dare to disagree and left the Nie n in shame.

    The following afternoon.

    Both Nie Donghai and Nie Qian¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as they watched another doctor from ck Cloud City pick up his medicine chest and walk out of Nie Tian¡¯s room, likewise unable to do anything.

    Nie Donghai hadn¡¯t shut his eyes at all that night. He gently caressed Nie Tian¡¯s forehead and discovered that his body temperature was still at a dangerously high level.

    ¡°Spread the word,¡± Nie Donghai shouted. ¡°whoever can bring down Nie Tian¡¯s fever, from ck Cloud City or not, will receive a handsome reward from me!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± came the reply.

    Another day passed.

    Every renowned doctor in ck Cloud City and other nearby cities came upon hearing the news. They all spared no effort in their attempts to bring Nie Tian¡¯s temperature down in exchange for the significant reward from Nie Donghai.

    However, night fell and Nie Tian¡¯s fever hadn¡¯t gotten any better.

    Hearing that Nie Tian suddenly got sick, Nie Beichuan and other elders in the Nie n had alsoe to visit. However they didn¡¯t push Nie Donghai to give up his position at that moment.

    Deep into the night.

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian helplessly looked at Nie Tian, whose body had turned red due to the fever, their faces filled with despair.

    Nie Qian sobbed as she mumbled from time to time, ¡°My poor little sister wouldn¡¯t be able to rest in peace if she knew that I failed to take care of Little Tian. Little Tian is only ten. If anything happens to him, I don¡¯t want to live either. Those n members want us to suffer anyways, we might as well die together... ¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Nie Donghai raged. ¡°If you dare say another ominous word, watch me p your mouth!¡±

    ¡°Father, you have to think of a way to save him!¡± Nie Qian yelled.

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m doing!!¡± Nie Donghai said with a dark look. ¡°Over the years, I could say that I¡¯ve dedicated myself to the Cloudsoaring sect. Now that I am old and ready to step down, the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s immortals might give me some face and save Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°You get ready, we take Nie Tian to the Cloudsoaring sect now. I¡¯ll kneel in front of the sect¡¯s gate and plead for their help!¡±

    ¡°Very well. I¡¯ll make arrangements immediately!¡± Nie Qian¡¯s eyes suddenly burned with hope.

    She knew very well that the advanced Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect possessed incredibly divine abilities. If they were willing to spend some energy to help Nie Tian, he might live.

    Just as Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were about to leave for the Cloudsoaring sect, the maidservant Han Yue barged in and yelled loudly, ¡°nmaster! nmaster! There¡¯s another docter here who ims to be able to save Little Tian!¡±

 Chapter 9: A Foreign Doctor

    ¡°Father, let¡¯s go to the Cloudsoaring sect. All those other doctors failed, I refuse to believe this new one can help!¡±

    Nie Qian was in a state of utter desperation. Deep down, she believed only the lofty and powerful Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect could cure Nie Tian¡¯s strange disease.

    Nie Donghai was also full of hesitation.

    It had been three days. Not only had all the reputable doctors in ck Cloud Citye, but also the famous doctors from other nearby cities. They had all utilized the best methods possible to try to get that substantial reward. In the end, Nie Tian¡¯s condition didn¡¯t improve in the slightest.

    Nie Donghai had always respected the supremely capable Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect, therefore he also believed that only the Cloudsoaring sect could help Nie Tian.

    As Nie Donghai stood there, brows furrowed and lost in thought, Han Yue timidly continued, ¡°nmaster... That doctor seems to be a neer. He said that if he failed, he would let you dispose of him at will, nmaster.¡±

    ¡°Dispose at will?¡± Nie Donghai¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Knowing every doctor before him failed, he dared to talk so big? Perhaps, this man truly has a special method?

    ¡°Pass word down. Tell him toe as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Han Yue rushed out.

    Before long, a short and dark-skinned old man slowly walked in with a small medicine chest on his shoulder.

    The old man had a narrow scar stretching from his lower jaw to the middle of his chest, which made him seem horrifying.

    His eyeballs were covered with white spots and his pupils were extremely small. Together with the horrible scar, they made the old man seem even more spooky and fearsome.

    rmed, Nie Donghai secretly probed the man with his spiritual power. However he found no fluctuations of spiritual energy inside of him. It seemed he wasn¡¯t a Qi warrior.

    ¡°I¡¯m Hua Mu and nothing but an old man,¡± the doctor said, ¡°I spend most of my time searching for medicinal herbs in the depths of mountains. Today, as I was passing through ck Cloud City, I heard that your noble child was having a terrible fever. I¡¯ve been a doctor for many years and I¡¯ve quite a bit of experience dealing with rare diseases. I believe I can bring down the child¡¯s fever. Please allow me a try, nmaster.¡±

    As he talked, Hua Mu looked from Nie Donghai and Nie Qian over to Nie Tian, who was lying in the bed off to the side.

    When he looked at Nie Tian, a strange light of excitement shone in his bizarre eyes, which were almostpletely white, the pupils being only tiny dots

    ¡°Do you indeed have the confidence to cure him?¡± Nie Donghai said with a dour expression. ¡°All of the well-known doctors from the surrounding area have already tried, but every one of them has failed. My grandson is still suffering from the fever. If we cannot cure him soon, I fear that he won¡¯t be able to make it. I was about to leave for the Cloudsoaring sect and I do not wish to waste our valuable time if you are ipetent.¡±

    Hua Mu looked back at Nie Donghai. He inhaled briefly, closed his eyes, and then opened them again suddenly. ¡°If I can¡¯t cure him,¡± he said decisively, ¡°then I¡¯ll part with my head!¡±

    ¡°Very well!¡± Nie Donghai replied, looking shocked.

    ¡°Enough chit-chat!¡± Hua Mu said. ¡°Fetch me a big wooden barrel and fill it with hot water!¡±

    ¡°As you wish!¡± Nie Donghai nodded forcefully and instructed servants to do as Hua Mu says.

    Servants of the Nie n, who had been waiting anxiously outside the door, immediately started to bustle about.

    Shortly after, under the maidservant Han Yue¡¯s direction, several servants carried a big wooden barrel full of hot water to the center of the room.

    ¡°nmaster Nie, I need everyone to leave the room, including you. There can¡¯t be anyone else in this room except for the child and me.¡± Hua Mu tilted his chin up, looking more than a bit arrogant. ¡°My unique secret method can¡¯t be seen by anyone. It is my means of survival, so please forgive me, nmaster Nie.¡±

    ¡°Father, how can we allow this?¡± Nie Qian protested in dissatisfaction. ¡°I need to watch Little Tian at all times!¡±

    Hua Mu rolled his eyes and said coldly, ¡°I gave you my word: if I fail to cure him, I¡¯ll leave you my head! This is the Nie n. I¡¯m a foreigner and not a Qi warrior. If I had evil intentions, how could I manage to walk out of the Nie n alive?¡±

    ¡°Listen to him,¡± Nie Donghai said after pondering for a moment. Then he bowed deeply to Hua Mu. Eyes filled with supplication, he said, ¡°I, Nie Donghai, offer thanks to Dr. Hua Mu. As long as Little Tian is healed, I will definitely offer a handsome reward!¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, but he gave a slight nod.

    ¡°Follow me out!¡± Nie Donghai shouted.

    Under hismand, everyone, including Nie Qian, had to exit the room temporarily.

    CREAK!

    Nie Donghai slowly closed the door and sat down in front of it. He constantly tried to adjust his mental state by inhaling and exhaling as he waited there anxiously.

    **

    Nie Kan cautiously entered one of the secret rooms in the Nie n to report in to Nie Beichuan, who was in the middle of cultivation. ¡°Father, another doctor hase to save Nie Tian.¡±

    Nie Beichuan had his back against an ice-cold ck jade pir, and was surrounded by frosty air. Face dark and cold, he said, ¡°It surprises me that someone seeks a reward that small.¡±

    After a moment, he pressed his lips into a line and said disdainfully, ¡°Nie Donghai is going downhill. How can it be easy to have our n members help him find the right doctor? Over the years, he has been spending his savings to track down Nie Tian¡¯s birth father. How much can he have in reserve?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Nie Kan let out a chuckle. ¡°He doesn¡¯t know that you have one of the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s Soul Replenishing Pills, father. A Soul Replenishing Pill is a precious item. Nie Tian¡¯s minor illness would be easily wiped out if he took it.

    ¡°Nie Hong is my real grandson. If Nie Hong caught this strange disease, I would have already given him the pill.¡± Nie Beichuan had nothing but indifference on his face. ¡°Back when Nie Donghai and I fought for the position of nmaster, he was in his prime. In order to win the position, he didn¡¯t give me, his younger brother, the slightest bit of face. However, times change. His time has passed and it is now my turn to take advantage of the momentum and rise up.¡±

    Nie Kan frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve always felt there¡¯s something special with that little punk Nie Tian,¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t seem to stop worrying about him. He managed to beat Hong¡¯er, despite having a significantly lower cultivation base. He is indeed different. It¡¯s good news that he caught that strange disease. Otherwise... he could be a hidden trouble for us in the future.¡±

    Nie Beichuan¡¯s eyes burned with excitement. ¡°If Nie Tian dies of this disease, I guess my eldest brother¡¯s only remaining mental support would copse. Before long, he would be gone as well. Then I¡¯ll have no more obstacles within the n.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long. In my opinion, you won¡¯t have to wait much longer, father.¡± Nie Kan also became high-spirited and vigorous.

    ¡°I think so too,¡± Nie Beichuan agreed, his head held up high.

    On the other side of the n....

    After Nie Donghai and others left the room, the mysterious doctor Hua Mu immediately pulled numerous containers out of his small medicine chest, one after another.

    Those bottles and jars were filled with liquids of various colors. All kinds of strange odors escaped through the corks of the bottles and jars.

    Some of them gave out fragrant scents, some of the jars gave out sour scents, while others gave out pungent scents.

    If Nie Donghai hadn¡¯t left, the namesbeled on those medicine bottles would have driven him crazy.

    Every single one of them was among the rarest treasures, whose value was far beyond the reward he had offered.

    Hua Mu swiftly popped open a bottle and poured the blue medicinal brew into the big wooden barrel filled with hot water.

    ¡°Nie Donghai, your so-called handsome reward is not even as valuable as three drops of my refined Netherworld Water.¡± Hua Mu emptied the entire bottle of Netherworld Water into the wooden barrel.

    After thest drop of Netherworld Water fell into the barrel,yers of dazzling blue light lingered in the air before slowly sinking down into the hot water.

    Without pausing for a moment, Hua Mu emptied more medicine bottles into the wooden barrel, one after another.

    All the brews inside those bottles were of the same level as the Netherworld Water. Some were even more precious items rarely found in this world.

    However, Hua Mu didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest, and generously poured all of them into the barrel.

    He briefly let out a sigh of relief, before walking to Nie Tian¡¯s side and examining him closely, with strange green lighting out of his eyes.

    Hua Mu¡¯s face grew more serious as he carefully reached out with his palm and ced it under Nie Tian¡¯s back. Then he gently lifted the unconscious and feverish Nie Tian, fearing that he would feel any difort.

    He was so nervous it seemed as if he were holding a rare treasure instead of a boy.

    He moved to the barrel and gently lowered Nie Tian into it little by little.

    BLUB BLUB BLUB.

    As soon as Nie Tian entered the barrel, the hot medicinal water mixed by Hua Mu began to boil, as though it had suddenly reached a boiling point.

 Chapter 10: The Fever Subsides

    Soaked in the water, the unconscious Nie Tian¡¯s exposed skin turned red and kept growing darker.

    BLUB BLUB.

    One by one, bubbles floated to the water surface before they burst and let out a light green mist.

    The whole room gradually filled with a medicinal aroma. The surface of the boiling water also shone with a strange green luster under the flickering candlelight.

    ¡°Ugh...¡± Nie Tian unconsciously groaned in the boiling water. It seemed that pores all over his body were being forcibly opened up and greedily sucking in the medicine in the water.

    Unexpectedly, his body, stronger than a normal child¡¯s, bulked up gradually as if it were being inted with air.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Strange sounds came from his bones and internal organs. It almost seemed like his whole body was cheering and shouting.

    Next, Hua Mu created a faint, flickering shield, in the shape of a sphere that enveloped Nie Tian and the barrel, with himself at the center.

    ¡°Ow!¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but start screaming out loud. However, his sharp cries seemed unable to prate thatyer of light.

    Ripples could be seen on the shield, as if it was a liquid surface. The shield had blocked all forms of sounds, and as a result, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian didn¡¯t notice a thing, despite being just outside of the room.

    Hua Mu stared at Nie Tian attentively, with an expression of both excitement and respect. His focused eyes seemed like two balls of green, ghostly fire.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Traces of colorful lights kept entering and exiting Nie Tian¡¯s pores. Nie Tian continued to cry out as the murky water slowly turned clear.

    It was as if all the precious medicine Hua Mu poured into the water had been absorbed by Nie Tian, through his pores and into his blood and flesh.

    As the water cleared up, Nie Tian¡¯s temperature also gradually cooled down.

    After a while, Nie Tian¡¯s body gradually stopped aching and he no longer screamed out in pain. Meanwhile, the faint shield created by Hua Mu turned into streams of light that flew back into Hua Mu¡¯s body and disappeared.

    The boiling water also became calm. Nie Tian, after being in aa for three days, finally opened his eyes. The fever was gone.

    At that moment, the strange light in Hua Mu¡¯s eyes vanished.

    He knelt down next to Nie Tian and calmly said, ¡°I am Hua Mu. I¡¯m here to cure your fever at your grandfather¡¯s request."

    Nie Tian had yet to recover his thoughts. He only nkly asked, ¡°How long did my feverst?¡±

    ¡°Three days,¡± Hua Mu replied calmly.

    ¡°Three days!¡± Nie Tian turned pale with fear. He grabbed onto the sides of the barrel in order to leap out of it.

    KAH CHA!

    The sturdy wooden barrel couldn¡¯t withstand his power and shattered into pieces.

    WHOOOOSH!

    Water sshed all over, startling Nie Tian, who then watched all the fragments of the wooden barrel scatter everywhere.

    Hua Mu remained calm, as if he knew this would happen. Voice cool, he said, ¡°Your special disease is notpletely cured yet. You will have to continue to bathe in my medicine for six more days.¡±

    Nie Tian lifted his hands and randomly stretched his arms. Instantly, he felt he could draw much more power from his body than before.

    ¡°I feel great,¡± Nie Tian said nonchntly. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to have another fever.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the doctor here,¡± Hua Mu said in tone that offered no argument. ¡°I cured your special disease after everyone else failed. So believe me when I say that you have to continue the treatment!¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Nie Tian scratched his head.

    Nie Donghai, who had been waiting outside the room in desperate anxiety, couldn¡¯t restrain himself any longer after hearing the wooden barrel cracking and the sound of Hua Mu and Nie Tian talking. ¡°Mr. Hua, I... Can Ie in now?¡±

    ¡°Enter!¡± Hua Mu said calmly.

    SLAM!

    Nie Donghai shoved the door open and barged into the room with Nie Qian, who looked just as worried.

    Upon entering, he went to Nie Tian¡¯s side and reached out his hand to feel Nie Tian¡¯s wrist. Discovering that Nie Tian¡¯s fever was gone and that his body temperature was back to normal, his face immediately filled with joy.

    Before Hua Mu could say anything, Nie Donghai called out loudly, ¡°Han Yue, present the rewards to Mr. Hua!¡±

    The maidservant Han Yue soon came in with a bag filled with gold, silver, and other valuables, together with some spirit stones and medicinal ingredients, and respectfully handed it over to Hua Mu.

    Hua Mu grabbed it arrogantly, not even sparing it a nce as he stuffed it into his medicine chest. It almost seemed as if he couldn¡¯t care less about the rewards.

    ¡°No words can express my gratitude for your great kindness,¡± Nie Donghai said. ¡°Mr. Hua, you simply must spend a few more days in the Nie n as my honored guest.¡±

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°He is not fully cured yet. I¡¯lle at this time of the day for the next six days. You just need to prepare a wooden barrel filled with hot water, and I¡¯ll apply the same approach to permanently cure your grandson of this odd disease."

    Nie Donghai¡¯s face tightened. ¡°He isn¡¯tpletely cured?"

    ¡°No need to worry. He will be fine.¡± Hua Mu raised his chin slightly and confidently added, ¡°I told you I could save him and I did. Now that I¡¯ve proved myself, you should have a little faith.¡±

    ¡°Of course! Of course!¡± Nie Donghai replied immediately before he bowed with his hands sped in front as a sign of respect. ¡°Sorry to burden Mr. Hua with this for the next few days. Mr. Hua, since it is your first time in ck Cloud City, I bet you haven¡¯t found a ce to stay, right? Why don¡¯t you stay in the Nie n? Please rest assured. I¡¯ll see to it that you get the mostfortable guest room we have and no one will dare to neglect your demand."

    ¡°There¡¯s no need of that. I personally like things quiet. I¡¯ll just attend to some of my own personal affairs in the city.¡± Hua Mu seemed to have lost interest in talking to Nie Donghai. After speaking those words, he strode outside.

    After Hua Mu had left, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Grandfather, who is this man? And how did I end up with a high fever for three days?"

    ¡°You foolish child!¡± Nie Qian said, heart aching. ¡°After your battle with Nie Hong, you contracted a fever that very night. By the time I found out, you were already unconscious. We called all the renowned doctors in and around ck Cloud City for you, but none of them could cure you. Just as we were getting ready to take you to the Cloudsoaring sect, Mr. Hua unexpectedly showed up...¡±

    She exined the whole course of the incident in detail, before she asked, ¡°Well? How do you feel? Do you feel weak?"

    ¡°No, not weak.¡± Nie Tian shook his head as an odd expression appeared on his face. ¡°On the contrary, I feel... good. No, I mean perfect!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Donghai was astonished.

    ¡°After my fever subsided, I felt that I had endless power and strength, as if I was stronger than ever.¡± Nie Tian was careful with his selection of words. ¡°The spiritual power in my dantian hasn¡¯t changed much. However, I can feel that my physical strength must have improved significantly."

    ¡°That¡¯s odd.¡± Nie Donghai looked at him deeply, his face clouded by suspicion.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re fine.¡± Nie Qian didn¡¯t bother to overthink the matter. ¡°Try to avoid fighting Nie Hong as long as possible. His cultivation base is three levels higher than yours and his spiritual power can flow outside of his body, and yet you chose to fight him anyway. I bet the reason behind your fever was that fight between the two of you. If you can¡¯t beat him, just give up. You¡¯re of a much lower cultivation level. Losing isn¡¯t too bad. Don¡¯t be so stubborn.¡±

    ¡°I believe if I were to fight Nie Hong again, I would easily defeat him this time!¡± Nie Tian said, grinning with radiant confidence.

    ¡°You still want to act tough! I don¡¯t want to see you pass out from a high fever ever again! We were lucky that Mr. Hua was in ck Cloud City, otherwise...¡± With these words, Nie Qian started to sob again. ¡°If anything bad really happened to you, I couldn¡¯t bear to keep living... I would be too ashamed to face your mother in the underworld after I died!"

    ¡°Okay, okay, I get it,¡± Nie Tian said, sounding a bit annoyed. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t mess around.¡±

    ¡°Stay at home for the next couple of days,¡± Nie Donghai lectured sternly. ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere!¡±

    Nie Tian had no other option than to nod his head. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Meanwhile, inside Nie Beichuan¡¯s cultivation room.

    Nie Kan walked into the room with a gloomy face and said in a pitiful tone, ¡°Father, that foreign doctor managed to cure Nie Tian¡¯s high fever.¡±

    After channeling a strand of frost Qi into his dantian from the ck jade pir against his back, Nie Beichuan opened his eyes. ¡°Now that Nie Tian is fine, I¡¯ll go talk to my eldest brother,¡± he said grimly. ¡°He should havee clear with the n¡¯s elders and handed over his position as nmaster yesterday as he promised.¡±

    ¡°He should have done that long ago,¡± Nie Kan said vigorously. ¡°With him as head of the n, it is very inconvenient for us to make any moves. But from now on... things will be better.¡±

    ¡°Although it¡¯s a littlete, I don¡¯t think he has slept yet.¡± Nie Beichuan rose to his feet and left the secret room to talk to Nie Donghai.

 Chapter 11: The Miraculous Dreamland

    That night...

    Knowing Nie Tian had suffered far too much during the past several days, Nie Qian convinced him to go to bed early, then followed Nie Donghai out of the room.

    In the dead of night, Nie Tian still couldn¡¯t fall asleep. He sat up on his bed and started to practice the Qi Refining Incantation, absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to enhance his cultivation.

    As Nie Tian started his breathing exercises, strands of faint spiritual Qi around him were absorbed and channeled into his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    All his awareness concentrated inwardly, Nie Tian could clearly feel some changes as those strands of spiritual Qi entered his dantian.

    Before, when he practiced the Qi Refining Incantation, he would find that the majority of the spiritual Qi scattered and dissipated into his flesh and limbs instead of gathering into his dantian.

    But this time, it seemed as if his flesh and internal organs had already absorbed enough strength, and thus didn¡¯t forcibly take the spiritual Qi that had been brought into his body.

    As he focused on practicing cultivation, he could faintly hear what seemed to be the sound of his flesh and blood cheering.

    ¡°This is strange...¡±

    He felt confused, and redirected his spiritual awareness to his flesh and blood, instead of his dantian.

    There, he perceived a strange aura brooding, which quietly began to glow.

    In a split second, his soul seemed to be forcefully dragged into his blood, and his mind became increasingly blurry.

    BOOM!

    After a rumbling sound, Nie Tian, who originally was in the middle of cultivation, suddenly fell into an ancient dreand!

    It was apletely unknown world, a ce that flourished with ancient trees and mountains peaks which reached high up into the clouds. In the distant sky was a void where giant, terrifying figures were only partly visible.

    Groups of giants carried gigantic, pitch-ck tree trunks that were hundreds of meters long on their shoulders. They strode with their heads held up high, as they sang ancient, deste tunes to each other.

    An enormous snake with glistening silver scales was wrapped around a mountain that was thousands of meters high. At first nce, it seemed as if the snake was actually part of the mountain.

    The huge snake was breathing in spiritual energy and bathing in the light of the bright moon and the countless stars which hung high in the sky. The bright and shiny aura of the moon and stars poured down on the snake like a river, then melted into its giant body.

    Further up in the sky, a splendid pce rested among thick clouds and shing lightning bolts.

    From the depths of the earth came sounds of furious snarling. Suddenly, the earth cracked open, creating a bottomless trench.

    Dark-purple smoke, full of vicious ghouls and spirits, plumed up from the bottom of the trench.

    One by one, a group of human figures in the distant horizonunched themselves into the sky. Each of them had a pair of huge, gray wings, a single p of which could propel them hundreds of kilometers.

    One unbelievable image after another shed in front of Nie Tian in his dream.

    It seemed as if Nie Tian had been pulled into a mysterious ancient world and overlooking the miracles in this Heaven and Earth as a spectator.

    WHOOH! WHOOH!

    After an unknown period of time, Nie Tian violently woke up from the dream and started panting heavily.

    His entire body was soaked with sweat. He felt so extremely exhausted physically that he could barely move his fingers.

    ¡°What a miraculous dream! What a stupendous world!¡±

    He stared at the flickering candle me, his eyes glittering like bright stars. At the same time, his face disyed an expression of iparable aspiration and excitement.

    He never felt a smidgen of sleepinesster that night, as if he waspletely fascinated by that dream and was reluctant to stop thinking about it.

    When the night had passed and the roosters crows signaled the start of the morning, he finally experienced a sudden exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

    Early in the morning, Nie Donghai gathered all the elders of the Nie n in the meeting hall. Under the presence of all the immediate and extended members of the n, he dered that he was no longer as energetic as before, and would thus retire from his position as head of the n.

    ¡°Eldest Brother, you can trust me,¡± Nie Beichuan said in great confidence. Under mymand, the Nie n will definitely return to its prime!¡±

    ¡°I believe you are capable of achieving that,¡± Nie Donghai said with a nod of his head. Then he slowly walked out of the meeting hall under the whole n¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Father...¡± Seeing himing out of the hall, Nie Qian wished tofort him, but held back after a moment of thought.

    She could see the intense reluctance in Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes as he left the hall.

    Having been tortured by his condition for years, Nie Donghai had already lost his majestic and powerful body. Now that he had stepped down from the position of nmaster, it seemed as if he had suddenly aged several years and became extremely spiritless and weak.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Nie Donghai forced a smile onto his face. ¡°My heart is exhausted. Those n elders have lost their patience with me long ago. If I keep hogging the position, it will only bring us more trouble. This is good. I¡¯ll get to spend all my energy on Nie Tian.

    ¡°I only hope that Nie Tian can win the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s favor and get admitted before I die.

    ¡°That would be myst extravagant wish.¡±

    Inside the hall, numerous members of the Nie n mored to congratte to Nie Beichuan.

    Listening to Nie Beichuan¡¯s proudughter and the ttering from the n elders, Nie Qian grew increasingly annoyed, and whispered to herself, ¡°Every one of these n elders used to treat father the exact same way before he got wounded. The times have changed. Now that father has stepped down, not even a single one of them bothered to console him.¡±

    Nie Donghai shook his head in frustration. ¡°Such is life. I¡¯ve seen through it already. When you are powerful, people naturally gather around you. Once you lose your power, people will instantly distance themselves from you, with birds being your only visitors. Come on, forget about them. Let¡¯s go see Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°I just hope Nie Tian can make something out of himself!¡± Nie Qian said bitterly.

    She clearly understood that Nie Donghai had already ced all of his hope on Nie Tian.

    If Nie Tian were able to disy extraordinary talent in his future cultivation, it would be possible for Nie Donghai to regain his hope. Even though it would be unlikely for him to make any more achievements in his own cultivation, as long as he could watch Nie Tian be stronger on a daily basis, Nie Donghai might be able to hang on to a proper life.

    Nie Tian was now the only thing keeping him going mentally.

    When Nie Donghai and Nie Qian got to Nie Tian¡¯s room, they discovered that Nie Tian¡¯s snores were sky-rending, and that he was sound asleep.

    ¡°He suffered a great deal over the past few days,¡± Nie Donghai said quietly, looking down attentively at Nie Tian. ¡°The kid... has gone through a lot. Let¡¯s not wake him.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Nie Qian said with her heart aching.

    As the night sky gradually darkened, Hua Mu appeared, just as they had agreed.

    ¡°Mr. Hua,¡± Nie Donghai said respectfully, ¡°the barrel and hot water are ready. Please work your magic and root out the child¡¯s illness.¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Hua Mu nodded. ¡°You may vacant the room now. No need to wake him up.¡±

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian walked out as they were told, just like the day before, and quietly waited outside the room.

    After they left, Hua Mu duplicated his actions from the day before. He took bottles and jars out of his small medicine chest, then poured the medicinal brews into the barrel full of hot water.

    Everything set and ready, he picked up the sleeping Nie Tian again and carefully ced him into the barrel.

    As soon as Nie Tian sank down into the hot water, it instantly reached its boiling point and began to seethe again.

    Nie Tian¡¯s entire body turned as red as a cooked shrimp and once again he couldn¡¯t help but wake up and start screaming in pain.

    The strange thing was that although he didn¡¯t have a fever today, the moment he entered the wooden barrel, he lost consciousness anyway.

    Hua Mu summoned a shield to inste the sound, then quietly observed Nie Tian, eyes flickering with green, ghostly fires.

    By the time the murky water inside the barrel became clear again, Hua Mu¡¯s expression had returned to normal and the light shield disappeared. Gradually, Nie Tian woke up.

    The moment Nie Tian opened his eyes, he felt his body was brimming with strength, without a single trace of fatigue. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Hua.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯lle back tomorrow.¡± Then he shouldered his medicine chest and walked straight out of the Nie n, without responding at all to the thanks offered by Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    In the following days, Nie Tian practiced cultivation every night, and every night he fell into that mysterious dreand. In that unknown world, Nie Tian would observe all kinds of unimaginable miracles.

    Every time he woke up, he was alwayspletely depleted of strength, yet only at dawn would he be able to fall asleep again.

    Meanwhile, Hua Mu came every night at the agreed time and made Nie Tian experience a hellish pain with his magical medicinal brews.

    Time flew, and soon it was thest day.

    Nie Tian jumped out of the barrel of now clear water, his whole body red, and respectfully expressed his gratitude to Hua Mu.

    Expression cid, Mu Hua asked, ¡°Have you been dreamingtely?¡±

    ¡°How did you know?¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Hua Mu pondered something for a moment, and then lowered his voice. ¡°I know the origin of your strange illness. But you must not speak of the matter to anyone, not even your grandfather or your aunt.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked, confused.

    ¡°Do not ask why,¡± Hua Mu replied with a straight face. ¡°As long as you promise me that, I¡¯ll give you a medicinal pill which can guarantee your grandfather ten more years of life.¡±

    Nie Tian immediately agreed. ¡°Deal!¡±

    He didn¡¯t need to hear it from others. Just by seeing Nie Donghai¡¯s current state, he knew that Nie Donghai didn¡¯t have much time to live.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s deteriorating health had always been his greatest concern. Nie Tian had already promised himself long ago that once he became strong and powerful, the first thing he would do would be to find the best medicines that could help Nie Donghai.

    ¡°You have to understand that the medicinal pill won¡¯t heal your grandfather,¡± Hua Mu exined, ¡°It will only prolong his life.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath as he clenched his fists and solemnly said, ¡°Ten years! I¡¯ll exert all my effort to help him get better in ten years!¡±

    ¡°You have such a resolve. Very good.¡± Hua Mu reached out his hand and gently patted Nie Tian on the shoulder, before he said profoundly, ¡°We¡¯ll meet again.¡±

 Chapter 12: The Inconstant Nature of People

    ¡°Grandfather, Mr. Hua has left us a medicinal pill, which... supposedly could give you ten more years of life.¡± Nie Tian handed the dark-green medicinal pill over to Nie Donghai.

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Qian eximed. Excited, she turned and rushed out, hoping to catch up to Hua Mu and express her gratitude.

    However, Hua Mu was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°A medicinal pill that can prolong my life by ten years?¡± Nie Donghai also cheered up a bit. He took the pill from Nie Tian¡¯s hand, took a deep sniff off of its intense medicinal scent. ¡°If this is true, the value of this medicinal pill alone would far surpass the value of the rewards that we have paid him!¡±

    Nie Qian was both shocked and happy. ¡°Why would Mr. Hua Mu make such an unfavorable deal with us? Who is he?¡±

    ¡°He said...¡± Nie Tian hesitated and concocted a white lie. ¡°That he and I were destined to meet.¡±

    ¡°Destined?¡± Nie Donghai briefly frowned. ¡°How strange. Both of you stay here. I¡¯ll go look for him in the city. No matter what, I want to thank him in person. He has been far too kind to the both of us.¡±

    Having said that, Nie Donghai took the initiative and left with the medicinal pill in hand.

    Unfortunately, after searching in ck Cloud City for two straight days, he was unable to find any trace of Hua Mu. It seemed as if Hua Mu had disappeared into thin air, the same way he had appeared out of nowhere in the first ce.

    Nie Donghai was suspicious at first and observed Nie Tian for several days. Seeing that he no longer burst into high fevers, Nie Donghai waspletely convinced that Hua Mu had no malicious motives.

    He also believed that the medicinal pill Hua Mu had left him would most likely not harm him.

    Therefore, he put his mind at ease and consumed the unnamed medicinal pill. In the next moment, he felt that his spirit and energy had indeed improved significantly.

    Now that Nie Tian had recovered from the fever, whenever he cultivated using the Qi Refining Incantation, he could clearly feel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that he channeled into his body no longer continued to flow into his blood, muscles, and bones.

    Apparently his robust body had already absorbed enough strength and no longer required extra nourishment to grow.

    Three monthster, Nie Tian finally broke through the third level of Qi Refining. After being stuck in the third level for so long, he sessfully entered the fourth level of Qi Refining.

    Meanwhile, it was almost Nie Tian¡¯s eleventh birthday.

    These days, Nie Tian no longer went to the square to train early in the morning in order to avoid causing any trouble for his grandfather or getting involved in new conflicts himself.

    Most of the time, he would train hard in his own room instead, and would asionally take walks in ck Cloud City with his aunt Nie Qian.

    One morning, he heard a loud uproaring from the square when he was cultivating by himself.

    The mor grew so loud that he wasn¡¯t able to focus on his cultivation. Finally, he couldn¡¯t resist the temptation, and walked over to the square.

    As he approached, he saw numerous Nie n elders gathering in the square. Every one of them was radiant with joy, as if it was the New Year¡¯s festival.

    Wu Tao, who was in charge of teaching the Nie n children, also had a heartfelt and sincere smile on his face as he kept repeating the same sentence over and over, ¡°Nie Xian has sessfully broken through into the ninth level of Qi Refining!¡±

    ¡°Fourteen years old! The ninth level of Qi Refining!¡± Nie Tian was also shocked, and secretly felt happy for Nie Xian.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t been close to Nie Xian, on many asions where he had conflicts with Nie Hong or Nie Yuan, Nie Xian had sided with justice, unlike other members of the n, who only supported and protected Nie Hong and Nie Yuan.

    For that reason, he actually secretly thought highly of Nie Xian, although they weren¡¯t exactly good friends.

    Knowing Nie Xian had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining at the age of fourteen, Nie Tian was sincerely happy for him.

    He knew very well that the youngsters of the Nie n who could reach the ninth level of Qi Refining before the age of fifteen, and therefore had the opportunity to pursue their cultivation in the Cloudsoaring sect, were all outstanding elites.

    Nie Hong¡¯s two elder brothers, Nie Han and Nie Tai, both showed extraordinary talent when they were young, and had made great gains after their lot-drawing conventions.

    However, Nie Tai had failed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by fifteen, and thus got rejected by the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Only his eldest brother, Nie Han, had managed to break through into the ninth level when he was exactly fifteen and became a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    ording to the rumors, Nie Han did quite well after spending several years in the Cloudsoaring sect. Actually, a number of people in the Cloudsoaring sect believed he would have a bright future.

    Nie Beichuan being able to get the support of Nie n¡¯s elders and sessfully seeding as the nmaster was due to a number of reasons. Besides the fact that Nie Donghai was injured and his cultivation base kept degrading, Nie Han... was also a very important factor.

    ¡°Excellent! Good Job!¡± Nie Beichuan stood amongst the crowd and threw an appreciative look at Nie Xian, then said in a loud voice, ¡°I¡¯ve told all of you that since I¡¯ve be head of the n, I would spare no effort to make the Nie n great again! Nie Xian being able to make such a breakthrough and be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect is a good omen that our n is on its way to prosperity!¡±

    Arge number of Nie n members congratted Nie Beichuan, their faces full of smiles, as if it was his meritorious service that resulted in Nie Xian reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s all because of the nmaster!¡±

    ¡°The moment you took over, Nie Xian managed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining. Obviously, you are the reason the Nie n is thriving!¡±

    ¡°In your hands, the Nie n will absolutely reach new heights and crush the Yun n and the An n in the near future!¡±

    ¡°... ¡±

    Being in center of the square, Nie Xian was also surrounded by people who congratted him. However, he kept calm and did nothing but politely express his gratitude. He didn¡¯t appear to be very excited.

    Nie Beichuan, however, continued to attempt to win over people¡¯s hearts. ¡°Nie Xian, although you are from an extended branch of our n, due to your sess, your mother and younger sister shall move into the Nie n mansion, effective immediately. You only need concentrate on your cultivation in the Cloudsoaring sect. With regards to other matters, you don¡¯t need to burden yourself, as I¡¯ll personally make all the appropriate arrangements.¡±

    Nie Xian had a mother and a younger sister. Being from an extended branch and women, they technically shouldn¡¯t have the right to live in the Nie n mansion.

    ¡°Many thanks, nmaster,¡± Nie Xian said softly.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. You¡¯ve earned it.¡± Nie Beichuan filled his face with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ve already informed the Cloudsoaring sect of your sessful breakthrough into the ninth level of Qi Refining. In the afternoon, your eldest brother Nie Han, together with others from the Cloudsoaring sect, will take you to the Cloudsoaring sect. Once you arrive there, all you have to do is follow Nie Han. He has already made all the arrangements for you.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Xian nodded his head.

    Nie Tian stood by himself in a corner of the square as he watched Nie Xian, who was being praised by everyone, and Nie Beichuan, who was proud and full of ambitions.

    In that moment, Nie Tian made a promise to himself. ¡°The ninth level of Qi Refining! People from the Cloudsoaring sect will take me to their mountain too, one day!¡±

    At some point, Nie Qian had appeared next to him. ¡°Why are you here?¡± she said quietly. ¡°This has nothing to do with you. If you want to enter the Cloudsoaring sect, you must work extra hard. You¡¯re almost eleven. Although you¡¯ve made a breakthrough recently, you¡¯ve only reached the fourth level. You cannot waste too much time on irrelevant matters.¡±

    ¡°Auntie, I¡¯ll catch up in the future,¡± he replied, full of confidence.

    ¡°It¡¯s nice you have such confidence.¡± Nie Qian smiled. ¡°You¡¯ve already been distracted. It will be very noisy in the Nie n today. People like us, who aren¡¯t wee here, shouldn¡¯t stay in the n and be eyesores. Come on, let¡¯s take a walk in the city.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian nodded obediently.

    Then he followed Nie Qian out of the Nie n. They had lunch at a restaurant in ck Cloud City, andter in the afternoon, they went to the biggest jewelry shop in the city to purchase some jewels and essories.

    Just as Nie Tian and Nie Qian walked out of the jewelry shop, the sharp, mean voice of a woman entered their ears. ¡°Yo! Isn¡¯t this the Nie n¡¯s eldest sister who has been divorced by my husband Zhiguo?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s keen perception allowed him to notice that Nie Qian shivered upon hearing the words.

    Nie Tian traced the source of the voice and found a man, a woman, and a boy about his age walking towards them. Clearly, they nned to enter the same jewelry shop.

    The man was dressed in white, and his face was like a piece of warm jade. His overall appearance was rather elegant and handsome.

    The woman had her long hair coiled up and wore a perfectly fit green overskirt. She looked elegant and extraordinary, with a face as pretty as a flower.

    The boy, whose hands were held by the couple, seemed to have inherited merits from both his parents. Despite being so young, he was already very good looking.

    The man looked a bit guilty when he saw it was Nie Qian, and he tried to pull his wife away.

    ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± said young woman, ring at the man. ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me that you still have feelings for her!¡±

    ¡°Cut the nonsense,¡± the man retorted.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought!¡± The woman snorted and focused on Nie Qian again. After a derisiveugh, she said, ¡°You¡¯re the Nie n¡¯s eldest sister, but I heard that your father has lost his position as head of the n. Howe you still have the kind of money to shop for jewelry? Hehe! What precious jewels have you bought? Can I have the honor to take a look?¡±

    ¡°Auntie, are they...?¡± Nie Tian said angrily.

    He wasn¡¯t a child any more. Even though neither Nie Donghai nor Nie Qian had exined the specifics, he had heard many rumors and gossip from other n members about what happened to his aunt, Nie Qian.

    Just like the Nie n and An n, the Yun n was a big n in ck Cloud City. The Yun n and the Nie n had once been close.

    Because of that, both families decided to arrange a marriage for their mutual benefit and had Nie Qian marry the Yun n¡¯s Yun Zhiguo.

    However, their marriage didn¡¯tst long, as Yun Zhiguo met Yuan Qiuying while traveling.

    Yuan Qiuying was the daughter of the head of the Yuan n, the most powerful n in Frost Stone City, who were much stronger than the Nie n.

    Because of the aggressive affections of Yuan Qiuying, and secret push of the Yun n, Yuan Qiuying eventually became Yun Zhiguo¡¯s wife.

    Yun Zhiguo¡¯s original wife, Nie Qian, was framed for a crime she didn¡¯tmit, and they were divorced.

    It was an utter humiliation to the Nie n. Outraged, Nie Donghai had forced his way into the Yun n over the matter, but was terribly wounded by the powerful experts of the Yun n and the Yuan n. After that, he was never able to recover from his injuries.

    Both ns were backed by extremely strong Qi warrior sects, so even the Cloudsoaring sect was unwilling to go to war for the Nie n. Eventually, the Nie n reluctantly swallowed the bitter result.

    Although Yuan Qiuying had sessfully forced Nie Qian out of her way, she still couldn¡¯t let go of Yun Zhiguo and Nie Qian¡¯s past. Every time she ran into Nie Qian, she would mock and taunt her, without ever saying a single pleasant word.

    Nie Qian grabbed Nie Tian by his arm and tried to pull him away from Yuan Qiuying. ¡°Ignore them. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t leave!¡± Nie Tian said, standing there as unmoving as an iron spear nted into the ground.

 Chapter 13: Another Conflict

    ¡°Don¡¯t cause trouble,¡± Nie Qian said, ring at him. ¡°We still have things to do. Don¡¯t waste our time on these annoying people. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    As she spoke, she pulled harder on Nie Tian¡¯s arm, trying to get him away from the jewelry shop as soon as possible.

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave so fast,¡± Yuan Qiuying said with an overtly vicious smile. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since we¡¯vest met. Us sisters gotta catch up. What¡¯s to be afraid of? Is this the fatherless Nie Tian? Haha, didn¡¯t I hear days ago that he was dying? How pitiful is it to be a child both fatherless and motherless. Actually, living a life like that is a joke.¡±

    Nie Tian wrinkled his nose in disdain and snorted. ¡°Old woman! You do have a mother and a father, but they failed at educating you! Only a shameless shrew would force a man to marry her, knowing he already has a wife!¡±

    Yuan Qiuying almost exploded with anger. ¡°Little bastard! Where did you learn to talk like that? How dare you insult me!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s words perfectly poked at her weak spot. All these years, what she hated most was when people used this matter against her.

    She knew that stealing Yun Zhiguo from Nie Qian wasn¡¯t exactly honorable, and she was also well aware of the fact that numerous people in ck Cloud City had been talking about it and deemed her shameless.

    However, since she came from the powerful Yuan n, nobody dared to speak of the matter to her face.

    She originally nned to humiliate Nie Qian for fun, but Nie Tian¡¯s words had lit up the anger in her, and she instantly lost her temper.

    ¡°I was just stating the truth,¡± Nie Tian said with a snort. ¡°Everyone knows what you¡¯ve done. What? You can do it, but can¡¯t bear to hear people talk about it? You¡¯re afraid of people talking, yet you shamelessly stole someone else¡¯s husband? Have you no shame? Don¡¯t you care about losing face?¡±

    ¡°Little Tian!¡± Nie Qian called out anxiously.

    What Nie Tian had said was exactly what she had been wanting to say, and hearing it did bring her pleasure, but she knew Yuan Qiuying well and she was afraid that she might snap in front of others.

    ¡°You fatherless, motherless bastard! I¡¯ll teach you some manners today!¡±

    Yuan Qiuying¡¯s eyes were filled with burning mes of rage as she raised her left hand, ripples of purple spiritual energy emanating out from her palm.

    Yun Zhiguo hurried to stop her. ¡°Qiuying! We are in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion. Don¡¯t lower yourself to the kid¡¯s level. People wouldugh at us!¡±

    By this point, arge number of passersby had sensed the mutual hostility, and had gathered nearby, keenly interested in whether or not open conflict would break out.

    The onlookers even started to discuss the matter amongst themselves as they backed slowly away from Yuan Qiuying and Nie Qian.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s people from the Nie n versus people from the Yun n.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re about to put on a good show!¡±

    ¡°Yun Zhiguo¡¯s wife is acting as arrogant and rampant as always!¡±

    ¡°Her father is the master of Frost Stone City¡¯s Yuan n. She can afford to behave that way.¡±

    ¡°Well... the Nie n is really unlucky to have gotten involved with this Yuan n¡¯s unreasonable twat. It was because of her that Nie Donghai got terribly injured, which resulted in him losing his position as nmaster. Absolutely tragic.¡±

    ¡°... ¡±

    Among the crowd was a young girl with a delicate face, who curiously looked on with her hand held by a burly middle-aged man with a square jaw.

    The little girl was about Nie Tian¡¯s age. She was wearing a yellow dress and had numerous bright silver bracelets on her pale-skinned wrist. Her bright eyes flickered with wit and intelligence, and she just so happened to be munching on some sunflower seeds.

    ¡°Uncle Fan, what¡¯s happening over there?¡± the little girl asked with great interest.

    The burly man with the square jaw looked at the domineering Yuan Qiuying. Frowning briefly, he proceeded to exin all the details to the girl in a low voice.

    Having heard the whole story, the girl seemed shocked. ¡°Howe the woman surnamed ¡®Yuan¡¯ is so arrogant and rampant after stealing someone else¡¯s husband?¡±

    ¡°Because herst name is ¡®Yuan¡¯ and her father is Frost Stone City¡¯s Yuan Fengchun.¡± The burly man let out a sigh. ¡°Generally speaking, the Nie n is attached to us, and Nie Donghai can be considered to have done years of hard work. Moreover, what happened wasn¡¯t the Nie n¡¯s fault, so we should have stepped up and delivered justice, however...¡± The big man shook his head, his eyes showed a bit of shame.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to protect those who depend on us?¡± the little girl said angrily.

    The burly man¡¯s expression turned somewhat grim as he said, ¡°Nie Donghai¡¯s second daughter was named Nie Jin. If she was alive, she would have been your elder martial sister ording to seniority. She had an extremely outstanding cultivation talent just like you, so in the sect, she was treated as a ¡®seed¡¯, and an excess amount of cultivation resources were spent on her. Our sect had really high expectations of her.

    ¡°However... she made a terrible mistake in the prime of her life. She had a baby with a man whose identity hasn¡¯t been revealed to this day and she passed away shortly thereafter. All the precious materials our sect had spent were wasted. Many in our sect thought that Nie Donghai failed to educate her, thus they secretly resented him.

    ¡°The Yuan n and the Yun n were also well aware of this, and knew that Nie Donghai had lost our favor.

    ¡°It was because of this that Yuan Fengchun and Yun Meng dared to mess with him.

    ¡°Also because of this that those in our sect who had high expectations of Nie Jin and had ced significant stakes on her simply ignored what happened.¡± The burly man quietly exined all the reasons behind it in detail.

    After hearing the whole exnation, the little girl looked at the distant Nie Qian and Nie Tian and murmured, ¡°That family really has bad luck. ¡°

    Meanwhile....

    As Yuan Qiuying was being held back by Yun Zhiguo, she noticed therge group of onlookers gathering around them. She suppressed her rage with great effort, and as she coldly red at Nie Tian, she said, ¡°Fine! I won¡¯t lower myself and bully a young kid!¡±

    ¡°Yun Song!¡± she called out to her son. ¡°Go! Teach that little bastard a lesson on behalf of your mother!¡±

    Upon hearing his mother¡¯s words, Yun Song, who had already found Nie Tian an eyesore, immediately rushed out like a swift leopard.

    Seeing this, people madements, but no one dared to actually step up and administer justice, since they were all in fear of the Yuan n.

    ¡°I heard that Yun Zhiguo¡¯s son had broken through into the seventh level of Qi Refining three months ago. On the other hand, Nie Tian... seems to have barely entered the fourth level of Qi Refining after his high fever. The seventh level versus the fourth level is too ill-matched. This ispletely an act of bullying!¡±

    ¡°That woman is always bullying people. What¡¯s there to fuss about?¡±

    ¡°Good point.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, don¡¯t fight him. Let¡¯s go!¡± Nie Qian¡¯s heart was torn with anxiety.

    The recent battle between Nie Tian and Nie Hong had left her heart still fluttering with fear. Though Nie Tian had won the fight, he had burst into a high fever that very night. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Hua Mu happened to be in ck Cloud City, Nie Tian would probably have already died.

    Hua Mu had left ck Cloud City days ago, and his current whereabouts were untraceable. If Nie Tian had another outburst, who would be able to save him?

    Just as she yelled, hoping to stop Nie Tian, Nie Tian suddenly broke free from her grasp and recklessly dashed towards Yun Song, without any regards to danger.

    The square-faced man in the crowd looked on with glittering eyes. ¡°Apudable courage,¡± he murmured to himself. ¡°Unfortunately, the gap between their cultivation levels is toorge. Courage alone simply isn¡¯t enough.¡±

    The little girl by his side seemed to enjoy battling by nature. The moment she saw Nie Tian and Yun Song beginning to fight, she immediately got excited and couldn¡¯t stop cheering.

    BOOSH! BOOSH!

    One after another, fireballs flew out of Yun Song¡¯s clenched fists, like burning stones, and smashed directly towards Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Those balls of me were one step ahead of Yun Song¡¯s fist, which was drawing near to Nie Tian!

    The seventh level of Qi Refining! Spiritual power breakaway!

    This was a higher and better way ofmanding spiritual power than the spiritual power overflow of the sixth level.

    The spiritual power overflow of the sixth level could only allow spiritual power to flow from the dantian¡¯s spiritual sea to the surface of the cultivator¡¯s body. However, the spiritual power wouldn¡¯tpletely leave the body, and could only wreath the arms and fists.

    It was the breakaway spiritual power of the seventh level that would allow spiritual power to break away from the body and fly out of the fist before it directly hit the enemy.

    Power at this level was terrifyingly stronger than the power of Nie Hong¡¯s lightening-covered fists!

    POW! POW! POW!

    Numerous reddish-orange fireballs rained down onto Nie Tian¡¯s forehead and back.

    Nie Tian¡¯s clothes and hair instantly ignited as the mes tried their best to prate his skin to get to his flesh. The pain was so unbearable that he had to cry out.

    Just as Yun Song¡¯s fist was about to reach him, he dropped to the ground and started to roll, extinguishing the mes on his body and hair.

    When he got up again, there was a big, round hole burnt into the back of his shirt, and his hair was pluming ck smoke. He didn¡¯t look good.

    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡±

    Seeing him in such sore straits, Yun Song didn¡¯t rush to make the next move, but instead burst intoughter.

    He nned to take his time to humiliate Nie Tian.

 Chapter 14: Reappearance of the Strange Power!

    The Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s burly man shook his head and sighed as he said, ¡°His cultivation base is far too poor. This kid must be ten years old now, yet he¡¯s merely reached the fourth level of Qi Refining. What a pity! His father must have been mediocre, otherwise... his talent shouldn¡¯t be like this.¡±

    ¡°That elder martial sister of mine, was her talent really that amazing?¡± the little girl asked curiously.

    ¡°She reached the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of ten,¡± exined the burly man. ¡°In a ce like the Nie n, such talent could be counted as outstanding.¡±

    The little girl was instantly filled with respect, and she said, ¡°That¡¯s truly impressive.¡±

    Although she had also reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, she clearly understood her current achievement was very much because of her family background.

    Only with the help of numerous precious materials and magical tools did she manage to reach her current cultivation level. Those things had yed a crucial part.

    Nie Jin had been from the Nie family, which was only a vassal of the Cloudsoaring sect, and certainly didn¡¯t have the ess to the numerous precious medicinal ingredients like she did.

    Considering Nie Jin managed to achieve the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of ten, there could be no other exnation than her extraordinary talent.

    Normally, Nie Tian, being Nie Jin¡¯s son, should have inherited his parents¡¯ talents to some extent.

    Even if Nie Tian¡¯s father was merely a mortal, solely relying on his mother¡¯s talent, Nie Tian should not be so weak.

    ¡°Little Tian! Come home with me. If you push things too far you could get hurt!!¡± Seeing Nie Tian take so many heavy blows, Nie Qian was getting rattled. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to avenge me! Come back with me, quickly!¡±

    ¡°Once the battle has begun, it can¡¯t be stopped!¡± Yuan Qiuying said, her expression cold and indifferent. She blurred into action and shed to Nie Qian¡¯s side, emanating waves of spiritual power, a clear sign that she was attempting to stop Nie Qian from interfering with the battle. ¡°That¡¯s my son fighting the little punk, so it can¡¯t be considered me bullying a young child.

    ¡°They are peers. If he loses, you just have his poor cultivation base to me, not me.¡±

    Yuan Qiuying looked down her nose at Nie Tian, who still had smokeing out of his hair. Secretly, she felt relieved. She couldn¡¯t wait for her son tounch more vicious strikes at Nie Tian and make him look more bedraggled.

    Nie Tian¡¯s earlierments had hit her right in her sore point, and now the deep hatred she felt towards him was rooted in her bones.

    Yun Song wasughingcently; obviously he could read his mother¡¯s intentions. Seeing that Yuan Qiuying had quietly blocked Nie Qian¡¯s path, and was even hinting for him to strike to kill, he attacked again.

    BZZZ BZZZ!

    One ball of orange me after another flew towards Nie Tian as Yun Song switched to another spiritual incantation.

    It seemed those balls of fire suddenly could move ording to Yun Song¡¯s will after leaving his palm. They gathered into groups of three, forming vertical triangles which flew off and chased Nie Tian down from different directions.

    After his shirt and hair were burnt by the fireballs, Nie Tian was well aware of how powerful they were, so this time he didn¡¯t try to fight it directly, but instead he constantly moved around to dodge them.

    ¡°Ha ha!¡± A grin filled Yun Song¡¯s little face as he continued to release more mes, then shoot them out in the form of fireballs.

    Dozens of fireballs were flying about, pinning down Nie Tian, each of them like a small sun.

    Waves of burning heat emanated from those fireballs, making the area where Nie Tian stood more and more unbearably hot.

    Surrounded by the fireballs, Nie Tian could only dodge them as best he could and try to avoid being burnt.

    As Yun Song released more and more fireballs, the space left for Nie Tian to move about in grew smaller and smaller.

    Having deliberately released numerous fireballs and spent considerable mental power on controlling them, Yun Song also had sweat on his forehead, due to his significant consumption of spiritual power and energy.

    ¡°Fancy, but unpractical!¡± The little girl with a delicate jade-like face stopped eating her sunflower seeds andpletely focused her attention on Yun Song and Nie Tian¡¯s battle. She gently frowned and said, ¡°He¡¯s condensed too many fireballs and spent too much energy on controlling them, so they are rather pleasant to watch, but not very effective.

    The burly man beside her nodded beforementing, ¡°That Yun n kid¡¯s battling techniques are indeed too shy. With his seventh level of Qi Refining cultivation base, if he had concentrated on controlling three fireballs, their speed and agility would have been two levels higher.

    ¡°If there were only three fireballs, that Nie n kid would have been hit long ago. He might have already lost the battle by now.

    ¡°He¡¯s been spreading his energy too thin, causing all of his numerous fireballs to move a bit slower. Because of that, the Nie n kid still has the time and space to move about.¡±

    After a brief pause, the man continued, ¡°However, due to the increasing amount of fireballs, the Nie n kid has less and less room to move about. Losing is just a matter of time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fundamentally because of the huge gap between their cultivation bases,¡± the little girl said, sounding a bit sad.

    BANG!

    Just at that time, a fist-sized fireball hit Nie Tian right on the chest, right before he could dodge it.

    Once again, Nie Tian¡¯s shirt was immediately set on fire and threads of me power seized the chance to enter his body.

    The pain left Nie Tian staggering. As arger swarm of fireballs flew his way, it seemed he was on the verge of being overtaken.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Nie Qian let out a shrill cry, preparing to stop the fight despite Yuan Qiuying¡¯s obstruction.

    The burly man from the Cloudsoaring sect, who had been standing among the onlookers, didn¡¯t look very happy either.

    Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was merely in the fourth level of Qi Refining, while the power contained in the fireballs were from Yun Song, who was in the seventh level.

    If all of the fireballs eventually hit Nie Tian, he would surely suffer from severe injuries, and would be lucky to make it out alive.

    The burly man was with the Cloudsoaring sect and since Nie Tian was a member of the Nie n which was affiliated with the Cloudsoaring sect, he absolutely couldn¡¯t watch the Yun n child kill Nie Tian in front of him.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart started to race at this desperate moment.

    But just then, he felt a mysterious force, that had been hidden deep in his flesh, burst out without even the slightest hesitation!

    The me power that Yun Song had left in Nie Tian was instantly wiped out, and it seemed he was no longer influenced by the residual fire damage.

    He threw himself in face of the fireballs and swooped towards Yun Song with his eyes filled with killing intent, like a ferocious monster.

    BANG! BANG!

    One after one, fireballs rained on Nie Tian, yet he didn¡¯t feel any pain.

    The burning spiritual power contained in those fireballs vanished the moment it reached his skin. Not a single bit of the me power could prate into his body through his pores.

    He had sessfully broken through the storm of fireballs!

    The burly man from the Cloudsoaring sect had been just about to intervene, but now his mouth hung open and the word ¡°stop¡±y on the tip of his tongue. After what had just urred, he swallowed that word right back in.

    SCHHWAFF!

    Nie Tian¡¯s figure traveled like a sh, and he arrived at Yun Song¡¯s side in a split second.

    BOOM!

    Yun Song was thrown high into the air before he fell heavily onto the ground.

    In the next second, Nie Tian was standing where Yun Song had been, ring aggressively at Yun Song, who was five meters away, and yelled, ¡°Come on! Get up and continue!¡±

    The moment Yun Song opened his mouth, he couldn¡¯t help but start to cough violently, with blooding out of the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°Song¡¯er!¡± screamed Yuan Qiuying and Yun Zhiguo, rushing forward to check Yun Song¡¯s injuries. They ran so quickly that they almost left a trail of mes behind them.

    The numerous onlookers were also confused. Observing Nie Tian and the dispirited Yun Song from a distance, they continued to discuss the matter loudly.

    ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°What just happened?¡±

    ¡°Am I seeing right? Why is the Nie n kid standing, while the Yun n kid is lying on the ground?¡±

    ¡°What exactly happened just now? I, I didn¡¯t see it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s weird! So weird!¡±

    However, the burly man from the Cloudsoaring sect caught every detail of the fight. He saw that after Nie Tian burst through the cluster of fireballs, he smashed into Yun Song¡¯s chest like a raging war chariot, knocking Yun Song right into the air.

    After checking her son¡¯s wounds and finding that two of Yun Song¡¯s ribs were broken, Yuan Qiuying immediately went crazy. ¡°Little bastard! How dare you injure my precious Song¡¯er. I¡¯m going to kill you right now!¡±

 Chapter 15: Interloper

    The burly man from the Cloudsoaring sect walked out from the moring crowd to stand next to Nie Tian. Brow slightly furrowed, he looked over at Yuan Qiuying and her husband and said, ¡°Grown-ups shouldn¡¯t interfere in the scuffles of children, right?¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Yuan Qiuying asked, growing increasingly angry. ¡°How dare you lecture me?¡±

    Yun Zhiguo took a close look at the burly man before his expression flickered subtly, and he subconsciously pulled on Yuan Qiuying¡¯s garment. ¡°Li Fan?¡±

    Li Fan gave a loud harrumph. ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s me, Li Fan.¡±

    The anxious Nie Qian seemed to have heard of his name. The moment she learned the burly man in front of her was Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect, her eyes instantly glittered with joy.

    ¡°Mr. Li, please administer justice!¡± she pled.

    Li Fan nodded and casually said, ¡°You go ahead and take the boy home. I¡¯d love to see if anyone dares to stop you!¡±

    As domineering as Yuan Qiuying had always been in ck Cloud City, after hearing that this was Li Fan, she immediately cooled down.

    She didn¡¯t have the courage to argue with someone like him. Instead, she red at Nie Qian and Nie Tian with cold and resentful eyes.

    ¡°Little Tian, let¡¯s go.¡± Nie Qian grabbed Nie Tian and quickly dragged him away from the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion, without giving him any opportunity to speak.

    As he was being pulled away, Nie Tian kept turning his head back to look at Yuan Qiuying, Yun Zhiguo, and Li Fan.

    ¡°Auntie, who is that Li Fan?¡± he asked. ¡°Why do that evil woman and all those people from the Yun n fear him?¡±

    ¡°Li Fan is a disciple of the master of Cloudsoaring sect,¡± Nie Qian exined quietly, ¡°and is also a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior. Even if the head of the Yun n, Yun Meng, was here, he wouldn¡¯t dare to mess with him either.¡±

    ¡°The Greater Heaven stage!¡± Nie Tian eximed in his heart.

    Based on his knowledge, Yun Meng of the Yun n had only just entered the Greater Heaven stage.

    Having reached that stage, he had already be one of the most influential persons in ck Cloud City, which was why the Yun n currently overshadowed the Nie n in ck Cloud City.

    As a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior and a disciple of the master of the Cloudsoaring sect, Li Fan had a huge edge over Yun Meng in both status and strength.

    Yun Zhiguo obviously didn¡¯t dare to let Yuan Qiuying do anything rash in face of such status and strength, so he could only give in.

    ¡°This time, it¡¯s really our good fortune that Mr. Li happened to be here. Otherwise, Yuan Qiuying would definitely not have let this go so easily. I know her too well.¡± Nie Qian secretly rejoiced. ¡°You naughty boy, always getting into trouble. If Yuan Qiuying wants to bitch about me, just ignore her and leave her be. Over the years, she has said every possible mean thing she could to me, but I¡¯m still here, aren¡¯t I?

    ¡°It¡¯s not like words can cause actual damage. Endure it momentarily and then it¡¯s over.

    ¡°You should focus your energy on cultivation. Only if you can break through into the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen, and be a real disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, will you have a chance to seek justice for all the humiliation I¡¯ve received.¡±

    ¡°Auntie, please rest assured,¡± Nie Tian replied firmly. ¡°I won¡¯t let you down!¡±

    Smiling, Nie Qian said, ¡°Auntie has faith in you. However, the way you talked back to that slut Yuan Qiuying was actually quite delightful to hear.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Nie Tian also burst intoughter.

    Just as Nie Qian and Nie Tian were leaving, the little girl who had been standing by Li Fan caught up with them and stared at Nie Qian closely, her shrewd eyes glittering brightly. ¡°Hi, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    Having just defeated Yun Song, Nie Tian was in a good mood, so he answered casually with a smile on his face. ¡°My name is Nie Tian.¡±

    The little girl with bright eyes and white teeth immediately offered her own name. ¡°I¡¯m Jiang Lingzhu. How did you beat that boy?¡±

    Nie Qian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Family name ¡®Jiang¡¯ and given name ¡®Lingzhu¡¯...¡± she thought. Her eyes glittered strange light as she cast another nce at the little girl.

    ¡°You mean that little punk named Yun Song?¡± Chuckling, Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°Nothing special. He¡¯s too weak. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s too weak?¡± Jiang Lingzhu alsoughed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the weak one? His cultivation base is higher than yours by three full levels!¡±

    ¡°Who said the one with a higher cultivation base would surely win a battle?¡± At first, Nie Tian seemed surprised, but then turned his chin up arrogantly. ¡°Ever since I was little, my opponents have always had higher cultivation levels, but eventually I knocked every single one of them to the ground.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s pretty incredible!¡± Jiang Lingzhu became even more interested. ¡°So, you¡¯re definitely going to enter the Cloudsoaring sect, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± replied Nie Tian, full of confidence.

    Jiang Lingzhu smiled. ¡°Hahaha, hopefully you can be invited into the Cloudsoaring sect like Nie Xian.¡±

    ¡°You bet I will.¡± Nie Tian wasn¡¯t modest in the slightest.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite the character Nie Tian. I¡¯ll remember you.¡± Jiang Lingzhu waved goodbye and skipped back toward Li Fan. As she did, she turned to look back at Nie Tian and said, ¡°My name is Jiang Lingzhu. Keep that in mind. We¡¯ll meet again some time.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian said nkly.

    ¡°Jiang Lingzhu, the girl with Li Fan...¡± Nie Qian watched as the little girl left, her thoughts drifting.

    ¡°Auntie, shall we go?¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Oh, right. Let¡¯s go.¡± Nie Qian¡¯s wandering mind was suddenly pulled back to reality. She didn¡¯t say much to Nie Tian before taking his hand and leaving.

    In the Nie n, there were colorfulnterns and streamers everywhere, as well as happily chatting people.

    When Nie Tian and Nie Qian returned from the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion, they found everyone in the n smiling broadly.

    On his way in, Nie Tian heard a variety of words of admiration regarding Nie Han from numerous members of the Nie n.

    ¡°The eldest young master is back from the Cloudsoaring sect. He managed to reach the middle-stage of the Lesser Heaven stage after merely a couple of years of cultivation there. With the eldest young master in a stable position in the Cloudsoaring sect, our n will definitely prosper.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Li Fan, a disciple of the master of the Cloudsoaring sect, came back with our eldest young master. Young master sure earned a lot of face because of that!¡±

    ¡°That means our eldest young master has been doing well in the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    ¡°... ¡±

    When they finally found a moment of privacy, Nie Qian said, ¡°Today, the whole n will focus on Nie Han and Nie Xian, so it has nothing to do with us. I hope one day every member of the Nie n will cheer for you, too.¡±

    ¡°That day wille,¡± Nie Tian said, full of aspiration.

    ¡°You go back. I have something to talk to your grandfather about.¡± That said, Nie Qian headed off alone towards Nie Donghai¡¯s residence.

    Since Nie Donghai had given up his position of nmaster, he had already moved out of the main mansion of the Nie n, and was now living in an unimpressive stone house.

    When she arrived, Nie Qian saw Nie Donghai standing by the window, facing the direction of the main mansion, lost in his thoughts.

    Numerous elders of the Nie n were gathered in the mansion, and joyfulughter rang out from their direction.

    It wasn¡¯t hard for Nie Qian to imagine the scene of the crowd of n members ttering Nie Beichuan, Nie Han, and Nie Xian in the main mansion at this moment.

    The joy andughter in the mansion had nothing to do with Nie Donghai and Nie Qian. Ever since Nie Donghai had moved out of the mansion, other n members rarely paid him visits.

    ¡°Father, Nie Tian and I ran into Yuan Qiuying at the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion just now,¡± Nie Qian said softly.

    Nie Donghai immediately turned around and inquired with a grim face, ¡°What? You had to endure that vile woman¡¯s verbal insults again?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Nie Qian shook her head. ¡°Little Tian talked back for me, and he also taught Yuan Qiuying¡¯s son a lesson.¡±

    Nie Donghai was shocked, ¡°That kid named Yun Song? His cultivation talent is even better than Nie Hong¡¯s, which I heard has reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. How was Nie Tian capable of teaching him a lesson?¡±

    Nie Qian told the whole story to Nie Donghai, not holding back a single detail.

    Then she said worriedly, ¡°That woman has never been kind. She didn¡¯t dare to lose control in front of Li Fan, but I¡¯m worried that after Li Fan is gone, she won¡¯t let this go so easily and will seek revenge. Times have changed. You¡¯re no longer head of the Nie n. If she were to cause trouble, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°You just keep an eye on Nie Tian,¡± he replied calmly. ¡°Don¡¯t take him out of the Nie n for the time being. As long as he is on Nie n property, the Yun n won¡¯t dare to make a move.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Nie Qian apologized in a low voice. ¡°I failed to hold Little Tian back.¡±

    ¡°Some things are unavoidable. You shouldn¡¯t me yourself.¡± Nie Donghai sighed.

    Meanwhile....

    Nie Tian had cast all the mor out of his head. The moment he got back to his room, he started to practice cultivation, a sense of urgency rising up in his heart.

    He could still remember a strange force rising from his body during hisst battle with Nie Hong, which had resulted in himself suffering from a high fever.

    This time, he beat Yun Song with the help of that same unknown force. So with that in mind, he secretly observed the urrences in his body while cultivating.

    After an unknown period of time, he gradually felt a burning sensation on the left side of his waist.

    Worried it was a sign of another high fever, he instantly focused his attention on the left side of his waist.

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    He suddenly saw the source of the heat wasn¡¯t from his body, but instead it was from the piece of animal bone he had obtained from the lot-drawing convention.

 Chapter 16: The Fire-consuming Animal Bone

    Nie Tian had obtained that piece of animal bone at the lot-drawing convention when he was one.

    Ever since he chose it, his grandfather and aunt had hoped that one day his spiritual energy would resonate with that piece of animal bone.

    Unfortunately, there hadn¡¯t been any sort of interaction between him and the bone till now, and he had already given up.

    Yet he always had the animal bone with him. Sometimes, deep into the night, he would take it out and fiddle with it, hoping to sense any miracles that were hidden within.

    Over the years, nothing seemed have happened to the bone.

    However, something was different today.

    He took a closer look at it, and saw the animal bone seemed to be emanating rays of red light.

    His waist, where the animal bone was located, started to feel an increasingly strong burning sensation. As the red light flickered, the heat grew more and more unbearable.

    ¡°Strange...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was full of confusion as he put the animal bone in his palm and began to probe it with his inner spiritual power.

    As he examined it with his heart and awareness, he saw numerous fragmented red fireballs, which radiated reddish-orange mes inside the animal bone. It seemed as if it were burning on the inside.

    His expression flickered. ¡°Reddish-orange mes! When I was fighting Yun Song, didn¡¯t he condense fireballs of the same color?¡±

    By this point, he had temporarily retracted his awareness from the animal bone and refocused on the details of the fight between him and Yun Song.

    It suddenly came to him that when he broke through those reddish-orange fireballs, mes had exploded out of most of them.

    However, those which hit the location of the animal bone, didn¡¯t explode at all.

    From the look of it, part of the mes were permanently stuck there...

    ¡°Could it be that those reddish-orange mes were absorbed by the animal bone?¡± Nie Tian gradually had a clearer grasp of what happened.

    As he was specting, the animal bone grew more and more scalding hot, and changed from its original dark-brown color to a bright red. The entire bone was now glowing like a piece of hot steel.

    The unusually high temperature hurt his palm, forcing him to stand up and drop the animal bone onto the stone table.

    As he looked on with wide eyes, he realized that the bone was apparently being forged, with bright mes shing inside every now and then.

    The miraculous state didn¡¯tst long. A momentter, the animal bone once again turned dim and lifeless, as if the me contained inside it had run out.

    Only after it cooled down, did Nie Tian dare to reach out his hand and touch it with his finger.

    He shut his eyes to probe it closely, but he could only perceive a few remaining mes flickering inside.

    A whileter, the those few mes also disappeared, and the animal bone returned to its normal color, as if nothing had happened at all.

    Nie Tian kept fiddling with it for a while in hope of grasping its secrets, but he found nothing.

    No new changes urred with the bone after quite some time, so he reluctantly gave up and put it away.

    However, after that incident, he generally paid much closer attention to it.

    In the following days, Nie Tian was strictly forbidden to leave the Nie n because Nie Donghai had found several unfamiliar Qi warriors wandering around their household.

    Nie Donghai was sure that those unidentified Qi warriors were either sent there by the Yun n or guest elders who answered to Yuan Qiuying.

    Even the Yun and Yuan n didn¡¯t dare to openlyy their murderous hands on Nie Tian in ck Cloud City.

    All they could do was to find some new faces to do their job, then wash themselves of the evidence bymanding those men to leave ck Cloud City for good afterwards.

    In order to keep Nie Tian out of danger, Nie Qian watched his back all day long and prohibited him from taking even one step out of the Nie n.

    As the result, Nie Tian didn¡¯t leave the Nie n for the following three months. During this period, he concentrated on practicing the Qi Refining Incantation, hoping to make further improvements in a short time.

    Three monthster, those strangers gradually retreated from the Nie n after failing to find any opportunity to make a move.

    ¡°I¡¯m so exhausted.¡± Nie Qian¡¯s face was full of fatigue as she walked into Nie Tian¡¯s room and casually threw a cloth bag on the table. ¡°After three days of hard work, I¡¯ve finally finished a thorough ounting of the mecloud gems the n has mined over the past few months, and presented most of them to the Cloudsoaring sect as tribute. Anotherrge portion of the remaining mecloud gems was shipped to the n storeroom, so I only got this many for myself.¡±

    Nie Tian returned to reality from his cultivation as the red light of the sun setting shone into the room through the opened door. ¡°Are those mecloud gems?¡± Nie Tian curiously looked at the handful of gems that rolled out of the cloth bag.

    ¡°Yeah, these are mecloud gems, spiritual materials of the fourth Elementary level.¡± Nie Qian picked up a fist-sized gem and tossed it to Nie Tian. ¡°Spiritual materials are special objects used to refine spiritual tools or form spiritual formations. Qi warriors start to work with them when their cultivation base reaches one of the three Heaven stages. Come, have a look.¡±

    Nie Tian extended his hand and caught the mecloud gem with great precision, then looked down to study it closely.

    The mecloud gem was the size of a fist, with a dark-red luster on the outside, and red, cloud-like vein patterns running through it. Apparently, it contained fire-attributed power.

    Nie Tian examined it for a while, then as an idea suddenly struck him, he took out the animal bone.

    While Nie Qian watched, he slowly moved the mecloud gem closer to the animal bone, attempting to channel the me power contained in the mecloud gem towards the animal bone.

    Last time, when the me power of Yun Song¡¯s fireballs entered the animal bone, itter caused a miraculous change to the bone. He kept that in mind.

    He wanted to see if the bone could continue to absorb the me power likest time.

    BZZZ BZZZ!

    When the animal bone touched the mecloud gem, sparks immediately erupted out from the point of contact, and the dark-brown bone turned the same red color as the mecloud gem.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes wide as he sensed rays of me power flowing from the mecloud gem into the animal bone.

    Clusters of the red clouds in the mecloud gem vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye.

    ¡°Eee?!¡±

    Nie Qian also perceived the anomaly and hurried over to Nie Tian¡¯s side, observing the animal bone with great curiosity.

    All the red clouds in the mecloud gem disappeared in a short period of time.

    She knew very well that those small clusters of red clouds were the me power embodied in the mecloud gem.

    KAAA! KAAA!

    After its red cloudspletely vanished, the fist-sized mecloud gem suddenly cracked open.

    As it split into smaller mecloud gems, the pieces went from being dark red to a lifeless pale white, as if they had be normal stones.

    On the other hand, the dark-brown animal bone gradually turned bright red, like a heated piece of steel ready to be forged. It grew so scalding hot that Nie Tian quickly let go of it.

    ¡°Little Tian, you...¡± Nie Qian burst into ecstasy, as her bright eyes glittered with excitement. ¡°Have you started to resonate with the spiritual power of the animal bone? Is your cultivation attribute fire?¡±

    She had always been anxious about the fact that Nie Tian had neither showed any kind of unique cultivation attribute, nor resonated with the animal bone.

    Seeing the bone turningpletely red today made her think that Nie Tian had caused it, and thus she instantly became overjoyed.

    ¡°It has nothing to do with me.¡± Nie Tian shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°If it was I who caused the bone to change and my inner spiritual power had the fire attribute, I should have been able to hold on to it.¡±

    ¡°Then...¡± Nie Qian asked after being disappointed. ¡°What was that?¡±

    ¡°It was the mecloud gem that caused the animal bone to change.¡± Nie Tian exined the details of the unusual changes in the animal bone the night after his fight with Yun Song and said, ¡°This animal bone appears to be able to absorb power of fire. I wasn¡¯t so sure before, but after this experiment, with the mecloud gem¡¯s me power drained by the animal bone, I am quite certain of it.¡±

    As they spoke, the bright, fiery animal bone lost its energy and once again turned dark-brown.

    ¡°Why did it change back again?¡± Nie Qian asked curiously.

    Nie Tian said, ¡°When it finishes absorbing the fire energy it will regain its original look. It needs to continue to consume more fire energy in order to change again.¡±

    ¡°Let me see.¡± Nie Qian grew more interested.

    She picked up the cloth bag of mecloud gems from the table, took out a bigger mecloud gem, and passed it to Nie Tian. ¡°Try again.¡±

    ¡°OK.¡± Nie Tian did as she said and made another attempt.

    BZZZ BZZZ!

    The moment the animal bone touched the mecloud gem, sparks erupted out, and the bone turned bright and red.

    Once more, in front of Nie Tian and Nie Qian¡¯s eyes, therger mecloud gem had its me power rapidly drained by the animal bone, before it cracked open.

    Dots of fiery light, like tiny red stars, shed out of the animal bone one after another.

    Nie Qian had been eager to touch it. She gradually reached out her hand and gently touched the animal bone with her translucent white fingertip, wishing to discover the secrets within.

    ¡°Ouch!¡± The moment Nie Qian made contact with the bone, she let out a shout and retracted her hand in a sh.

    Her finger was unexpectedly burnt in that split second.

    By the time she gathered her water-attributed spiritual power and tried to touch the animal bone again, it had returned to its normal state and became ordinary again.

    ¡°One more time!¡± Her curiosity was aroused, so she took out another mecloud gem and ced it on the animal bone. The animal bone once again turned red.

    This time, she condensed her water-attributed spiritual power onto her fingertip and touched it again.

    PTSSS! PTSSS!

    Strands of steam rose from the contact point between her fingertip and the animal bone. She only managed to hold on for three seconds before she no longer could bear the burning temperature of the bone, and retracted her hand.

    ¡°Come on!¡± Nie Qian tried again and again. One by one, all of the mecloud gems cracked after their me power was drained by the animal bone.

    Every time, she couldn¡¯t bear to press her finger on the bone for more than a few seconds. She always had to retract her hand, just as her spiritual sense permeated the animal bone.

    Before long, all of her mecloud gems had turned into a pile of pale-white gravel.

    Nie Qian¡¯s forehead was covered in sweat as she looked at the animal bone, somewhat disheartened. She shook her head and sighed, ¡°This thing is a bit weird.¡±

    Perhaps, because it had absorbed a vast amount of fire energy, the animal bone didn¡¯t immediately return to normal after thest mecloud gem cracked. Instead, it remained bright and red, like a piece of steel ready to be hammered.

    ¡°Let me have a try.¡± Nie Tian extended his hand towards the animal bone abruptly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t! It¡¯s too hot! You¡¯ll get burnt!¡± Nie Qian yelled, and tried to stop him.

    After numerous attempts, she was absolutely certain that the more me power the animal bone absorbed, the hotter it got. Therefore, after the first few attempts, she could no longer bear the increasing heat, even though she had condensed a huge amount of water spiritual power on her fingertip.

    At this moment, the animal bone must be at its hottest, after absorbing me power of all the mecloud gems, so Nie Tian was asking for trouble by touching it.

    However, Nie Tian reached out his hand faster than she thought.

    By the time the warning came out of her mouth, Nie Tian¡¯s finger had already reached the animal bone.

    ¡°Stop!¡± She cried out loud.

    Yet, Nie Tian didn¡¯t shriek and retract his hand as she expected.

    Surprisingly, Nie Tian had his finger on the animal bone, with absolutely no sign of pain. Instead, his eyes became bright, as if he had made a shocking discovery.

 Chapter 17: A Drop of Blood

    Normally, if Nie Qian couldn¡¯t bear the heat, Nie Tian shouldn¡¯t be able to endure it either.

    Moreover, as Nie Tian said himself, his spiritual power didn¡¯t resonate with the animal bone. Earlier, when the temperature of the animal bone gradually rose, Nie Tian did let go of it, which meant Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a way to endure such a high temperature.

    But now, Nie Tian dared to touch it with his hand, even after the animal bone had absorbed so much me power and its temperature had be so unbearably high that even Nie Qian couldn¡¯t stand it.

    That, in and of itself, was already a surprise to her.

    But more surprisingly, by this point Nie Tian¡¯s finger had already been pressed against the animal bone, not moving a bit.

    For the first time, Nie Qian felt she that she didn¡¯t understand her nephew at all.

    PTSSS! PTSSS!

    Nie Qian watched closely as the contact point between Nie Tian¡¯s finger and the animal bone began giving off sparks of fire.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian¡¯s mind had drifted away, and his eyes glittered with a peculiar light.

    ¡°Has he found something?¡± Nie Qian murmured and then quickly shut up, fearing that she would disrupt Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian sensed little drops of fire, like tiny red stars, floating about in the animal bone, voluntarily moving and gathering at a point inside the animal bone.

    The red spot grewrger andrger. Inside of it, strands of peculiar light mingled and shed, as it grew even more mysterious.

    He concentrated all his spiritual sense and tried to discover its secret.

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, his mind shook violently, and he found himself in a grotesque and variegated world.

    The entire world was covered in a reddish color; innumerable sparks of me twinkled and strands of red light interweaved. They wriggled like snakes and kept forming different incredible patterns by the second.

    Inside those sparks of me and ever changing formations of red light, there seeminglyy the true essence of the me power.

    His spiritual awareness seemed to be swimming in a mysterious sea of fire, exploring the profound truths and mysteries thaty within.

    Hepletely immersed himself into it.

    After an unknown period of time, he felt as if he himself had turned into a fire spirit and soared across an unknown fiery heaven and earth.

    Gradually, the bright red animal bone turned dark and lifeless again.

    BANG!

    The mysterious world of fire suddenly copsed and exploded, causing millions of fiery sparks and strands of red light to fly off in every direction.

    Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual awareness was then violently pulled away from the miraculousnd and back into the animal bone.

    He saw a drop of crimson blood inside the animal bone, which then split into numerous tiny mes that dispersed into every corner of the animal bone.

    Momentster, those tiny mes died out, one after another, and before long, the animal bone returned normal.

    Nie Tian gradually retracted his spiritual sense and refocused on the rough texture where his finger met the animal bone.

    HUFF!

    He exhaled deeply, and as he pulled his finger from the animal bone, he kept his eyes fixed on it and said, ¡°A drop of blood...¡±

    After restraining herself for so long, Nie Qian immediately asked, ¡°What happened?! What was going on? What did you do? How could you have withstood the high temperature of the bone?¡± She popped out a series of questions.

    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure.¡± Nie Tian said as his mind became lucid and clear again. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I just felt that I should touch the animal bone. When I touched it, I wasn¡¯t hurt by the scalding heat, instead... I found something strange inside of it.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?!¡± Nie Qian was absolutely intrigued.

    ¡°The animal bone might have absorbed enough me power, thus innumerable fragments of me gathered inside of it, forming what seemed to be a small drop of blood. That drop of blood itself was like a mysterious universe of fire. Then my mind spun as I seemed to enter that bizarre world of fire, and even move about inside of it.

    ¡°However, it seemed to me that that drop of blood was notpletely formed.

    ¡°After a while, when the animal bone returned to normal, the drop of blood unexpectedly split into numerous little mes again, which disappeared into the bone.

    ¡°I have a feeling that the animal bone... hasn¡¯t consumed enough me power toplete the condensation of that drop of blood. Far from it in fact.¡±

    ¡°A drop of blood?¡± Nie Qian was full of questions. ¡°How could there be a drop of blood inside the animal bone? And what¡¯s more, the drop hasn¡¯t beenpletely formed? This is too odd.¡±

    Nie Tian spread his hands and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened exactly either.¡±

    Nie Qian pondered for a moment before she said, ¡°I¡¯ve run out of mecloud gems, but your grandfather should still have some. Wait here. I¡¯ll go find your grandfather right now!¡±

    With these words Nie Qian left the room.

    A whileter, Nie Donghai entered the room together with Nie Qian, carrying an evenrger cloth bag full of mecloud gems. He handed the bag over to Nie Tian, and said, ¡°This is my entire collection of mecloud gems.¡±

    mecloud gems were low-tier spiritual materials, and after years of mining, the Nie n naturally had significant caches built up.

    However, only those who had inner attributes of fire would be able to cultivate using the help of mecloud gems. Neither Nie Donghai nor Nie Qian had fire attributes, therefore they didn¡¯t save up a huge reserve.

    Nie Qian¡¯s eyes glowed as she said, ¡°Try again.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Nie Tian nodded his head.

    Then, one after another, he channeled the me power of the mecloud gems into the piece of animal bone.

    The animal bone soon turned thoroughly red, with its internal spots of me visible to the naked eye.

    After the bone absorbed the spiritual me power from several mecloud gems, and was burning hot, Nie Donghai reached out his hand and tried touching it. ¡°Let me see!¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    A streak of me shot out of the animal bone. Nie Donghai screamed in pain and retracted his hand with an embarrassed look on his face.

    Even for him, the temperature of the animal bone was too high to endure, hence he had to let go of it.

    Completely astonished, he asked, ¡°Did you say just now that Nie Tian could touch it?¡±

    Nie Qian nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, be careful and show me,¡± Nie Donghai said with a serious expression.

    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Nie Tian briefly shook his head and said. ¡°It seems that we still need to wait. Only when the tiny mes inside the bone start to converge, will I be able to touch it.¡±

    ¡°Let it absorb more fire energy from the mecloud gems then!¡± Nie Donghai instructed.

    ¡°Sure.¡± One by one, Nie Tian took the mecloud gems out of the cloth bag andy them next to the animal bone, channeling me power of the mecloud gems into the bone.

    KAH CHA!

    Every one of the mecloud gems, after being drained of me power, cracked and turned into pale-white normal stones.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes glittered as he keenly watched the animal bone and nced at Nie Tian from time to time, anticipation written across his face.

    He had always wanted to determine whether or not there was a unique cultivation attribute hidden in Nie Tian, and he also secretly prayed that Nie Tian would reveal an amazing cultivation talent one day.

    In his opinion, that piece of animal bone could be the breakthrough point.

    At this point, Nie Tian noticed that the tiny mes inside the bone were once again starting to gather together at a single point. ¡°It¡¯s ready!¡±

    He reached out his hand without any hesitation, and pressed his fingertip on the animal bone.

    In a split second, it appeared that his spiritual sense had been sucked into the animal bone.

    He sensed hundreds of sparkling mes, like tiny burning stars, racing to gather together.

    In the blink of an eye, a drop of blood was formed again, and his spiritual awareness suddenly re-entered the unknown fiery dimension.

    He immediately fell into a trance, however, his eyes glittered.

    ¡°He was like this before!¡± Nie Qian said in a low voice.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s expression flickered, and his breaths grew increasingly rapid, as he appeared to be trying to suppress the excitement in his heart.

    Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sense started to roam about in that drop of blood, probing that world of ever twisting and changing formations of red light.

    This time, he felt as though the mysterious world was vaster than before; the floating mes and interweaving red lights also became clearer and easier to catch.

    It appeared that the mysterious, unknown space was reaching itsplete form, after absorbing enough me power.

    From the ever moving bright spots and red strands, he vaguely discovered a mysterious fire incantation, the profound true essence of me power.

    However, even though it had absorbed fire energy from all their mecloud gems, the mysterious space still wasn¡¯t in itsplete form.

    Hence, when he tried toprehend its secrets, he could sense that there were still things missing.

    After a while, the mysterious world of fire once again copsed, and his spiritual sense returned to his body.

    Once more, he witnessed the drop of blood separate into numerous tiny mes, which gradually vanished into the animal bone, while the animal bone slowly regained its original state.

    ¡°How did it go?¡± Nie Donghai asked with a serious look.

    Nie Tian concentrated his mind and deliberated over his choice of words, then said, ¡°That drop of blood needs more me power to fully form. I felt that there is either a mysterious incantation of fire was hidden in the drop of blood, or a secret regarding the power of me.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Nie Donghai was full of excitement. ¡°I¡¯ll get you more mecloud gems! During this time, you must pay close attention to the changes in the animal bone, and carefully memorize any anomaly!¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian said.

 Chapter 18: A Bottomless Pit

    Nie Donghai was true to his word.

    In the following days, he continued to give mecloud gems to Nie Tian so that his animal bone could absorb their me power.

    Nie Qian did exactly the same.

    However, the animal bone was like a bottomless pit; after absorbing the power of me from numerous mecloud gems, it still hadn¡¯tpletely formed that drop of blood.

    Later on, Nie Tian discovered that the number of mecloud gems his grandfather and aunt brought was growing fewer and fewer.

    Sometimes, Nie Qian woulde to his room, leave two or three mecloud gems, and immediately rush out, seemingly disturbed, apparently afraid that Nie Tian would find out something was wrong.

    Nie Tian was no fool. He had noticed much earlier that the jewelry Nie Qian wore had begun to disappear one after another.

    As time went by, Nie Donghai stopped showing up. Only Nie Qian would asionallye over and drop off one or two mecloud gems, then look at the animal bone with her eyes full of expectation, before leaving with a grim look on her face.

    Two young girls of the Nie n were talking to each other as they passed by Nie Tian¡¯s room. Given the volumes of their voices, it was hard to say whether or not they intended for Nie Tian to hear them.

    ¡°I heard that eldest aunt had a big fight with uncle Nie Ping, who¡¯s in charge of the storehouse. Eldest aunt imed that Nie Ping intentionally ripped her off, and the jewelry she traded in were well worth three mecloud gems, while uncle Nie Ping only gave her one in exchange.¡±

    ¡°Second grandfather is our current nmaster. Uncle Nie Ping became supervisor of the storehouse after second grandfather assumed his position. Uncle Nie Ping only reports to second grandfather, so he surely won¡¯t bother to consider eldest aunt¡¯s feelings.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. It seems eldest grandfather and eldest aunt have taken all their valuables to the storehouse and traded them for mecloud gems.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, eldest grandfather even traded in the medicinal pills for his injuries. God knows what is wrong with him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the same with eldest aunt. She doesn¡¯t have a single presentable piece of jewelery on her now.¡±

    ¡°... ¡±

    Inside the room, Nie Tian clearly overheard their conversations. He had originally been concentrated on his cultivation, but the girls¡¯ words distracted and upset him, and his little face filled with a sullenness somewhat inappropriate for a child his age.

    Disturbed by this thought, he subconsciously reached for the animal bone and took it out of the pocket on his waist. He stared at it and suddenly found it iparably troublesome. ¡°Are grandfather and aunt trading in all their assets to get me more mecloud gems?¡±

    In that exact same moment, Nie Qian¡¯s voice sounded from outside the room. ¡°Little Tian!¡±

    She shoved the door open, her eyes filled with exhaustion. It appeared as if she waspletely drained mentally because of the events of the past days.

    ¡°Here you go.¡± Arriving by Nie Tian¡¯s side, she casually tossed a mecloud gem over, whichnded at Nie Tian¡¯s side. Staring in anticipation at the animal bone, she said, ¡°Quickly, let the animal bone absorb its me power.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°In my opinion, this animal bone is a bottomless pit. No amount of mecloud gems will be enough to fill it.¡±

    Nie Qian put on a straight face and said angrily, ¡°Are you telling me that you n on giving up like this? Do you have any idea what your grandfather has gone through to get you these mecloud gems?¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with agony. ¡°I also know that you have sold your valuable jewelery at low prices to get me more mecloud gems.¡±

    Nie Qian was startled. She immediately realized that her nephew had grown up, and he had already perceived what was going on from the trivial clues he had found.

    She pondered the matter for a moment and then reassuringly said, ¡°Money and valuables are merely possessions. As long as you can reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen, and be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, all of our investment will be well paid off.¡±

    With these words, her expression grew grim again and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid your grandfather¡¯s injuries won¡¯t get better. His road of cultivation is reaching its end.¡±

    ¡°As for me, my cultivation talent has been poor since I was child. I¡¯ve merely reached the early-stage of Lesser Heaven, which is nothingpared to your mother¡¯s achievement. Back then, if I had managed to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen and became a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, the Yun n definitely wouldn¡¯t have dared to treat me like they did, despite the fact that our n was weak!

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to end up like me! You are already eleven years old, which means you only have four years left. You have to enter the ninth level of Qi Refining in four years!

    ¡°Your current cultivation level is too low. That animal bone might be your only chance at a breakthrough!

    ¡°So no matter what, you must persist and see if the animal bone can bring you a miracle! You are thest hope for your grandfather and I. Don¡¯t act like a child and waste your grandfather¡¯s and my efforts!¡± Nie Qian¡¯s lecture was delivered with great authority.

    Nie Tian remained silent as he listened closely. He waited for Nie Qian to finish, then said, ¡°I understand. I won¡¯t fail you.¡±

    With these words, he ced the mecloud gem onto the animal bone.

    After a few breaths worth of time, the mecloud gem was drained of me power and turned into gravel.

    Perhaps the me power in the mecloud gems was too sparse, and thus the mes in the animal bone showed no sign of gathering.

    Nie Tian and Nie Qian stared at the animal bone from beginning till end. Seeing the animal bone be dark and lifeless again, they were full of disappointment.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be depressed, I¡¯ll think of something else.¡± Nie Qian suppressed her disappointment with great effort, and said. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the mines tomorrow. There are plenty of mecloud gems waiting to be mined. If I work harder and longer, I can surely bring you more mecloud gems!¡±

    Nie Tian bounced up and said. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Nie Qian replied forcefully. ¡°Due to our excessive mining of mecloud gems, copses happen in the mines from time to time. It¡¯s too dangerous. You absolutely can¡¯t go!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s voice was full of certainty as he said, ¡°I believe that even with several dozen more mecloud gems, the animal bone won¡¯t necessarily be filled. Only if I bring the animal bone with me and let it absorb from those unmined mecloud gems, would we have the chance to fill it up, and thereforepletely form the blood drop.¡±

    ¡°Let the animal bone absorb directly from the raw ore?¡± Nie Qian was surprised by his idea.

    She also thought Nie Tian¡¯s suggestion made sense. It wasn¡¯t easy to mine the numerous mecloud gems.

    Even if she worked there, she wouldn¡¯t be able to mine arge amount of mecloud gems in a short period of time. Moreover, she would have to keep record of the mined mecloud gems when she left the mines. A portion of them would go to the Cloudsoaring sect; a portion of them would go to the Nie n¡¯s storehouse; the portion she could actually leave with would be only about twenty percent.

    She had already calcted that to get several dozen mecloud gems, she probably would have to spend more than half a year in the mines.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian was already eleven, so time was what hecked the most.

    ¡°Let me go,¡± Nie Tian pleaded. ¡°I can¡¯t just sit around and wait. I need to fight for myself. Going to the mines would also be a type of training for me.¡±

    Nie Qian considered carefully, before she finally nodded her head. ¡°Remember. When we are out of ck Cloud City, you must follow my orders, and never act without my permission!

    ¡°Of course! Of course!¡± Nie Tian immediately promised.

    Having been strictly confined to the Nie n for months, he had been bored to death long ago. Now that the strangers who had lingered around the Nie n had long since disappeared, he wanted to find an opportunity himself and go out.

    Nie Qian said, ¡°Tomorrow morning, I¡¯ll take you out of town!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, aunt!¡± Nie Tian rejoiced.

    The next morning before dawn, Nie Tian was already standing at the gate when Nie Qian came.

    At dawn, the two of them quietly left ck Cloud City, and marched towards Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Inside the Yun n.

    Yuan Qiuying and Yun Song finished their breakfast. They were rinsing their mouths when a man entered the room and softly said, ¡°Mistress, Nie Qian and the little punk Nie Tian left ck Cloud City this morning and headed towards Cloudsoaring Mountain.¡±

    ¡°The turtle has finallye out of its shell!¡± Yuan Qiuying¡¯s expression flickered as she gritted her teeth and said viciously. ¡°That bitch and that fatherless and motherless little bastard, I¡¯ll see if they can break free from my grasp this time!¡±

    She had never let go of her grudge against Nie Qian and Nie Tian.

    Although she had recently called off the guest elders she sent to the Nie n, she had still been secretly watching the gates of ck Cloud City.

    She knew that Nie Qian and Nie Tian would eventually run out of patience and have to get out of the city.

    Yuan Qiuying said ferociously, ¡°They dared to leave ck Cloud City? The heavens must be helping me. I would have had to think twice before making a move inside the city. Now that they are out of the city, they shall never go back alive!

    ¡°That bitch must have gone to the Nie n¡¯s mines in Cloudsoaring Mountain! Don¡¯t beat the grass and scare the snake (see note1), so don¡¯t make a move on their way to the mines. She will undoubtedly pay extra attention on their way to the mines. You just wait for them toe out of the mines and kill them on their way back to the city!¡±

    ¡°Understood, Mistress. I promise they won¡¯t make it back to ck Cloud City alive!¡±

    ¡°Alright. Make it clean and leave no traces. After it¡¯s done, order those guys to leave ck Cloud City and never return, so as to avoid the Cloudsoaring sect from getting any information that can be used against us.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    Note:

    beat the grass and scare the snake -- it¡¯s a Chinese idiom which means to act rashly and alert the enemy

 Chapter 19: Mine #73

    Cloudsoaring Mountain was to the southeast of ck Cloud City. People called it Cloudsoaring Mountain, but what they were actually referring to was the mountain range formed by several mountains of different heights.

    The highest peak, Cloudsoaring Peak, was thousands of meters high, reaching into the clouds, with spiritual Qi swirling around it.

    The other surrounding peaks werepletely dwarfed by it.

    The spiritual energy surrounding Cloudsoaring Mountain was quite rich and thick, thus every mountain peak in it had their own unique features.

    Some mountain peaks were seeded with arge number of spirit nts and guarded by disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Inside of other mountain peaks, numerous high-level spiritual materials were hidden away. These mountain peaks were also managed and mined by disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    The mountain peak in which the Nie n mined mecloud gems was actually the least impressive among all the smaller mountain peaks.

    It waste in the afternoon when Nie Tian and Nie Qian finally arrived at that very mountain peak.

    At the mouth of the mountain mine, Nie Xiang, a keeper of the Nie n, looked at Nie Qian and the child with her, suspicions bubbling up in his mind. ¡°Eldest sister, it¡¯s not yet time to audit the mecloud gems again. Why are you here?¡±

    Nie Qian answered with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m not here to audit the mecloud gems. I¡¯ve brought my nephew here to help him gain experience.¡±

    ¡°Come to the mine to help him gain experience?!¡± Nie Xiang looked stunned, and even more confused than before.

    The mine wasn¡¯t safe, therefore over the years, only the children who hadmitted serious vitions of n rules would be sent there to the mine.

    Hence, Nie Xiang was deeply confused by Nie Qian, who imed to have brought Nie Tian there to help him gain experience.

    Nie Qian didn¡¯t give a more detailed exnation. After greeting Nie Xiang, she went straight into the mine, holding Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Nie Xiang immediately blurted out some warnings. ¡°Eldest sister, the kid... he¡¯s too young. If something happens to him in the mine, I can¡¯t ept responsibility.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Nie Qian dered. ¡°If something bad happens to him, I¡¯ll take full responsibility.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Xiang didn¡¯t say another word and allowed Nie Tian and Nie Qian to enter the mine.

    Inside the mine, Nie Tian nced around curiously as they walked along. ¡°mecloud gems are mined here?¡±

    ¡°In the depths of the mine they are.¡± Nie Qian took a deep breath, her eyes filled with worry. ¡°Remember, you have to follow my instructions and walk alongside me at all times. Due to overmining, many areas of the mine has be almostpletely hollowed out, although you can¡¯t tell by looking at them. Every now and then, those areas copse when earthquakes strike. I know which areas are safe and which are dangerous. You must never leave my side.¡±

    Nie Tian looked up at the rhombus-shaped rocks that hung five or six meters above. Then he started to nod vigorously.

    Each of those rocks weighed more than five hundred kilograms; if they fell, he would be instantly reduced to a meat patty.

    ¡°Follow me.¡± Nie Qian grabbed him by the arm and walked down the endless, dim stone path.

    Nie Tian followed Nie Qian wordlessly, gazing around with great curiosity. He also walked with more care and caution.

    As they walked deeper, a lot of extended members of the Nie n, together with hiredborers, greeted Nie Qian respectfully the moment they saw her.

    ¡°Good day, eldest sister. What brought you here?¡±

    ¡°Be careful, eldest sister. It¡¯s not safe in there. Some areas copsed just a couple of days ago.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, eldest sister.¡±

    Nie Qian nodded and smiled back to every one of them. She also urged them to be extra cautious and prevent idents by all means.

    Nie Tian could see those who worked in the mine paid heartfelt respect to Nie Qian.

    ¡°These people, who mine mecloud gems in the mine, live hard lives. Every and each one of them knew what they were facing when they came in.¡± Nie Qian sighed briefly when she saw no one was around. ¡°Little Tian, if you fail to be epted by the Cloudsoaring sect when you are fifteen, you will probably be sent to this ce by your second grandfather to mine mecloud gems.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t only the extended members of the Nie n supposed to be sent here?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°That used to be the case, but it might change.¡± Nie Qian shook her head, her eyes somewhat dim. ¡°In the mine, the mortality rate is rather high. People die here. The main mission of the Nie n is to mine mecloud gems for the Cloudsoaring sect. No other matter in the n is more important.

    ¡°In recent years, mecloud gems closer to the surface began to run out, so we had no other choice but to dig deeper, which made it more and more dangerous.

    ¡°All the elders of the extended families of the n have used every possible method to avoid having their descendants sent to the mine.

    ¡°However, this ce is the foundation of the Nie n. People fear death. Without the supervision of our n members, thoseborers we have hired won¡¯t be willing to mine at such a depth. Meanwhile, we have to pay sufficient amounts of mecloud gems as annual tributes to the Cloudsoaring sect. Once we fall short, the Cloudsoaring sect will probably stop caring about our n.

    ¡°The truth is, without the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s protection, it will be extremely difficult for our n to maintain our foothold in ck Cloud City.

    ¡°Therefore, this mine is of the utmost importance to our n. Around the clock, n members have been appointed here for supervision purposes. Now that your second grandfather hase to power, he has promised to make changes, so it is very possible that members of direct families also be assigned here.¡±

    With these words, Nie Qian paused for a second, and then said profoundly, ¡°Because your grandfather has been losing power and influence in the n for a long time, I was appointed to manage the mine before he retired. Now we are even weaker. If you can¡¯t make yourself a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, we definitely won¡¯t be able to escape the destiny of being assigned here.¡±

    Nie Tian bowed his head and reflected on what she said. Soon after, he nodded and said, ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Nie Qian kept marching deeper.

    After a while, Nie Tian discovered that the stone path leading into the belly of the mountain became increasingly narrow; the distance between his head and the ceiling of the tunnel was getting shorter and shorter.

    He also noticed the number ofborers grew fewer as he went further down, and thoseborers appeared to be skinnier and more spiritless.

    A dark-skinned, skinny, middle-aged man suddenly showed up at an intersection of stone tunnels and warned, ¡°Eldest sister, it¡¯s dangerous up ahead. You¡¯d better not go any further. Merely eight days ago, Mine #73 witnessed a copse, and two people were killed. We¡¯ve only just cleared the rubble.¡±

    Nie Qian immediately stopped. She hesitated for a moment and said with an serious face, ¡°Thank you for the warning. We¡¯ll take a brief look ande back soon.¡±

    ¡°If so, you must be absolutely careful. I... I¡¯ll leave you be.¡± The man¡¯s voice was full of fear.

    Nie Qian nodded. ¡°Sure, please go ahead with your work.¡± The dark-skinned, skinny man vanished.

    Nie Qian fell into silence for a while, and continued, ¡°The further inside, the higher the mortality rate. Hence, everyborer who works here seems lifeless, because they never know which day will be theirst. They are all unfortunate people from ck Cloud City. In order to earn a living for their wives and children inside the city, they are willing to take the risk toe here.¡±

    ¡°Qi warriors of the Cloudsoaring sect all have extraordinary abilities,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Let¡¯s say they were in here. Even if it copsed, they wouldn¡¯t be hurt, right?¡±

    Nie Qian gently nodded, and patiently said, ¡°Cultivating to the Heaven stage would allow a person to do as he wishes inside the mine, absolutely fearless of sudden cave-ins. However, why would Qi warriors of the Heaven stage waste time toe here for mecloud gems that are only an elementary grade four material?

    ¡°Those powerful Qi warriors are the most heartless!

    ¡°The Nie n is nothing in their eyes. They would never care about a few random lives, let alone the lives of the unfortunateborers the Nie n has hired!

    ¡°Real Qi warriors are high above the masses. ns like ours can only serve them.

    ¡°In the same way, mortals of the ck Cloud City also serve our n. This world is cruel by nature. Neither you nor I can change it. There is only one way to be above others, one way to be free from being enved.

    ¡°And that is to be one of them!¡± Nie Qian said.

    Nie Tian nodded forcefully with a tight face. ¡°I promise I¡¯ll be a powerful Qi warrior!¡±

    Nie Qian also grew determined. ¡°Good! Let¡¯s go to the bottom of Mine #73!¡±

    Before long, Nie Tian, under her lead, arrived in a vast area at the bottom of the mine.

    The moment he went in, he noticed there were red spots on the walls glittering faintly with red light.

    ¡°mecloud gems!¡± Nie Tian suddenly felt enlivened.

    Nie Qian urged in a loud voice. ¡°This ce is dangerous. Don¡¯t waste time. Hurry and absorb the me power from these unmined mecloud gems using that animal bone of yours! We¡¯d better not stay for long. We¡¯ll leave as soon as the blood drop in the animal bone is fully condensed. Any dy means trouble.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Nie Tian immediately got to work.

 Chapter 20: Collapse

    Chapter Twenty: Copse

    Upon hearing Nie Qian¡¯s orders, Nie Tian quickly took out the animal bone and put it on top of a protruding mecloud gem.

    A flickering spark of fire immediately shot out from the animal bone.

    Nie Tian focused with rapt attention, his face lit up with joy. "The animal bone has started absorbing the power of the me!"

    "Brilliant!" Nie Qian said, equally ted.

    That meant that the animal bone, as they had expected, was absorbing the me power.

    Obviously, whichever unmined mecloud gems the animal bone came into contact with, would darken rapidly.

    Within a very short time, a half-embedded mecloud gem splintered and turned into ordinary gray stones after its me power was drained.

    "There!" Nie Qian barked, pointing to arger mecloud gem. "Be quick about it!"

    Following her instruction without any hesitation, Nie Tian affixed the animal bone to arger mecloud gem formation.

    Nie Qian continued to exuberantly locate new targets, even before the me power was drained by the animal bone. "There! Over there! An even bigger piece! "

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The mecloud gems cracked, one after another.

    The animal bone had already absorbed a huge amount of me power, and soon became red and translucent, releasing an odd, me-like luster.

    Sparks appeared on the animal bone. In the dark, they were like stars, shining brightly.

    FIZZ!

    Nie Tian came to notice that those sparks were converging, in great number, on a single point.

    "Here! " Nie Qian said, pointing to a conspicuouslyrge mecloud gem.

    Nie Tian ced the animal bone on the gem, face joyful. "The mes are condensing once again! "

    POP!

    A red me red up in the center of the animal bone.

    Nie Tian probed the active me with his spiritual awareness, and found that it was the very drop of blood in the middle of condensing.

    Then, he felt an unusual attraction generated by the drop of blood.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    It seemed all the mecloud gems in Mine #73 were starting to crack, and they altogether let out a horrifying sound.

    At the same time, sparks that looked like millions of fireflies suddenly flew out of the mecloud gems and into the animal bone.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Even more horribly, the rumbling could also be heard in other mines on the hillside.

    Along with the rumbling, the sparks that sshed out from the millions of mecloud gems flew towards Mine #73, where Nie Tian was located, as if they were attracted by a unique ma.

    The extended members of the Nie n and the otherborers, who were in the middle of their mining efforts in the various mines, all began to shout in rm.

    "What¡¯s going on?"

    "What¡¯s happening?"

    "The mine is copsing! We have to get out of here!"

    "Everybody get out of the mine, now!"

    "A catastrophe is upon us! "

    "..."

    People ran wildly from their workces and bolted in horror towards the exit of the various mines one after another.

    Nie Qian also panicked. "Gosh, Little Tian! This animal bone is much too frightening. It absorbs the me power too fast! This mine is crumbling!"

    However, Nie Tian still held that piece of animal bone in his hand, as if he did not hear a single word of her cry.

    It seemed that his spiritual sense waspletely wrapped up in the animal bone. His sparkling pupils were replete with arcane profundity.

    BOOM!

    In the blink of an eye, the entrance to Mine #73 waspleted blocked by fallen rubble.

    Intending to dissuade Nie Tian from channeling the me power into the animal bone and take him out of the mine, Nie Qian suddenly realized that they had no chance of getting out through the entrance.

    Nevertheless, an array of sparks infiltrated the rubble in the blocked mine and converged at the animal bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    The animal bone continued to greedily absorb the me power within the entire mountain and showed no sign of cessation!

    In the meantime, Nie Tian¡¯s awareness and spirit had already drifted into the burning drop of blood, and he entered the mysterious world of fire.

    In the unknown dimension, he saw the whole sky aze with ever-changing lights and balls of scorching me converging into a giant ming dragon.

    WHOOSH!

    Outside of the mine, the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth surrounding Cloudsoaring Mountain also quietly wafted to the unimpressive peak, although no one could tell why.

    The white spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth seeped through the entrance and into Mine #73.

    The anxious Nie Qian suddenly felt that every breath she took contained an abundance of spiritual Qi.

    Considering how concentrated it was, she found that the amount of spiritual Qi around Nie Tian was staggering. It seemed that the dense spiritual Qi in the mine was being infused into his body through his pores.

    Her wide eyes were fixed on Nie Tian, gleaming with ecstasy, perplexity, and astonishment.

    She was overwhelmed by the changes in the mine, floundering over what she should do, and how she could help Nie Tian.

    Though the entrance had been sealed up by the fallen rubble, an ocean of me energy streamed through the gaps among the rubble and converged into the animal bone.

    She knew that she could not get out of the mine for now, and had to ept everything in front of her eyes.

    At the same time...

    Behind Cloudsoaring Peak was another mountain, the height of which was second only to Cloudsoaring Peak, allowing it to look out over all the other mountains. Inside of it, a skinny old man wearing sackcloth was refining a spirit tool in a stone chamber. Suddenly, he dropped the spiritual tool and muttered, "Strange. Why is the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth abruptly undergoing such tremendous changes?" He instantly assumed the lotus position, and gradually closed his eyes.

    A blurry shadow drifted out of the top of his skull and flew away from the stone chamber like a ghost.

    The vague shadow flickered in the air as if it were a reflected image on the water. Unreal as it looked, it made its way to the mountain of the Nie n by following the flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    The vague shadow flew deep along the stone tunnel of the mine.

    Soon after, it arrived at the bottom of Mine #73, where Nie Tian was, and snuck in by flowing through the gaps among the rocks.

    After entering, the vague shadow became more transparent, making it even harder to be seen by the naked eye.

    Staying in the shadows in the corner, the vague shadow looked around and then shifted all of his attention onto Nie Tian and the animal bone in his hand.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Nie Qian, who was standing by Nie Tian, was obliviously unaware of its existence.

    RUUUMBLE!

    It seemed that the entire mountain was shaking. As a result, huge rocks hanging overhead shattered and rolled down from the top of the mine where Nie Tian and Nie Qian were positioned.

    The vague shadow hiding in the dark lifted its head and flicked the falling rocks out of its way.

    Seeing the falling rocks approaching them, Nie Qian was horrified and wailed inwardly in despair.

    To her surprise though, the huge rocks, which were clearly on their way to crush Nie Tian and Nie Qian, were pushed off their original trajectory by some unknown force, and fell to the other the side of the mine.

    Nie Qian, who should have been crushed, was still standing next to Nie Tian, safe and sound, as if they were safeguarded by the Heavens.

    After a long time...

    me power stopped converging from all directions, as if the me power of the mecloud gems in the entire mountain had been dried up by the animal bone.

    Still holding the animal bone in his hand, Nie Tian, unaware of the tremendous changes in the mine, was still in a dream state.

    The longsting vibration in the mine ground to a halt while the fallen rocks were piled up high around the two of them.

    In contrast, the ce where they stood was void of even a single piece of gravel. Nie Qian found it incredible and inwardly extended her gratitude to the ancestors of the Nie n for their protection.

    It took a long time for the animal bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand to return to a dark-brown color.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian gradually awoke from his reverie. When he opened his eyes, the first words he uttered were, "The drop of blood in the animal bone has at longst fully congealed!"

    Hearing these words, the blurry shadow fluttered slightly, like ripples on water, its mindpletely shaken.

 Chapter 21: Advancing by Leaps and Bounds

    Chapter Twenty-one: Advancing by Leaps and Bounds

    Also at this moment, Nie Qian observed that the dense spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that had previously been gathering in the mine was dissipating at a fast pace.

    It almost seemed as if its sole purpose was to be absorbed by the animal bone. When the animal bone returned to its regr status and Nie Tian¡¯s soul emerged from it, the spiritual Qi also dispersed.

    "Oh!"

    With the animal bone in hand and a happy expression on his face, Nie Tian said, "Auntie, I... I have reached the sixth level of Qi Refining!"

    "Really?!" Nie Qian eximed.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, squinted his eyes and carefully analyzed his spiritual Qi umtion. Then he confirmed, "The umtion of the spiritual Qi in my dantian and spiritual sea is as rich as those who have reached the sixth level of Qi Refining!"

    "Really? Are you sure?" An incredulous expression appeared on Nie Qian¡¯s face.

    Nie Tian nodded his head again.

    "It must be the ancestors of the Nie n who offered help!" Nie Qian rejoiced, pointing to the heaped-up rocks by their side, "During the copse, rocks were falling everywhere except the ce where we stood. This defiesmon sense. You gathered a stupendous amount of spiritual Qi simply by probing the animal bone in your hand. In the end, you advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining. In addition to the extraordinary magics the animal bone had disyed, your immense advancement must be the result of blessing of our ancestors."

    "Maybe." Nie Tian smiled, disregarding Nie Qian¡¯s superstition.

    The vague shadow hid itself in the dark ce of the mine and quietly listened to what they had said, but his eyes were glued to the animal bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    RUUUMBLE!

    It was at this time that another thunderous vibration filled the mountain.

    The me energy of the mecloud gems in the whole mountain had been drained by the animal bone, triggering drastic changes and destabilizing the structure of the entire mountain.

    Watching the blocked entrance, Nie Qian suddenly awoke from her reverie. The euphoria in her eyes faded away, and fear began to simmer. "Oh, dear!¡± she blurted. ¡°We have to get out as quickly as we can or we¡¯ll be buried in the belly of the mountain!"

    The sight of the rubble-blocked entrance unnerved Nie Tian, stripping him of any desire to properly study the drop of blood in the animal bone.

    "Hurry!¡± Nie Qian said. ¡°Move this rubble away, we have to get out of here as quickly as possible!"

    Nie Tian nodded and prepared to act immediately.

    RUUUMBLE!

    Another loud noise rose up from the other mines. Nie Qian and Nie Tian looked at each other for a moment, knowing that other mines must have undergone great changes and they would die if they stayed inside any longer.

    As they prepared to leave, they heard another roar, and felt the entire mountain quivering.

    In the dark, the vague shadow that not even Nie Qian could detect also noticed the precarious situation.

    The shadow looked toward the entrance and began to move its hands in a strange fashion, as if it were adjusting something.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that had been streaming outwards along the rock floor, followed the shadow¡¯s movements as if it was suddenly being manipted.

    KAKAKA!

    The rubble blocking the entrance to the mine was pulled sideways by an invisible force, and then burst outwards.

    In a very short period of time, a passage through the blocked entrance was cleared out.

    Nie Tian and Nie Qian gazed at the entrance, suddenly acutely aware that the challenge facing them had inexplicably been cleared up.

    "Auntie..." Nie Tian scratched his head suspiciously. "Are we really being protected by our ancestors? "

    ording tomon sense, there was no way that the vibration of mountain could so precisely push away the rubble from the entrance.

    Even Nie Tian, who was by no means superstitious, couldn¡¯t help but waver a bit because of the recurring abnormal phenomena.

    "Absolutely!" Nie Qian¡¯s eyes gleamed with confidence, and she added, "Quit standing there, get going, quickly!"

    As soon as she finished and before Nie Tian even gave his reply, she took hold of his arm and strode towards the entrance along the magically opened passageway.

    Together, they made their way through the passageway, walking along a space that had been mysteriously cleared to amodate two people passing side by side.

    Their escape proceeded surprisingly smoothly, and the mountain was still shaking even as they emerged.

    Seeing Nie Qian and Nie Tian racing out of the entrance covered with dust, Nie Xiang, the keeper of Nie n, stammered, "M-m... miss, how did you two get out?"

    Having seen Nie Qian and Nie Tian rushing out of the mine, many anxious members of the Nie n, along with numerous frightenedborers, spoke their heartfelt congrattions.

    "Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable!"

    "We all thought that you would end up buried alive in the mine! "

    "God bless you, eldest sister!"

    "..."

    Nie Qian was quite relieved to have escaped. Dragging Nie Tian far away from the rumbling mountain, she said, "It was all thanks to our ancestors."

    "I think so too." Nie Xiang had a weird expression on his face. In his heart, he felt that the fact that Nie Qian and Nie Tian could make it out alive was simply a miracle. After echoing Nie Qian¡¯s view, he put on a bitter expression, saying, "Dozens of Nie n members died, and countlessborers will sleep in the mines for all eternity. This is a huge catastrophe."

    His words resonated with Nie Qian, who gravely said, "This incident... will have a significant impact on the n."

    Nie Xiang nodded with a bitter smile, "The main task of our Nie n is to help the Cloudsoaring sect mine mecloud gems in this mountain. Such enormous changes will disrupt mining efforts for some time. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to collect enough mecloud gems to hand over to the Cloudsoaring sect this year. They¡¯ll definitely me us for this."

    Many surviving members of the Nie n were flustered, perplexed, andpletely taken aback.

    "What should we do?!"

    "How can our n keep a foothold in ck Cloud City without the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s protection?"

    "Severe misfortune is imminent. The new nmaster just took office. With such a serious incident, he will definitely punish us heavily!"

    "Oh, no!"

    Nie Xiang stared in chagrin at Nie Qian. "Eldest sister, what do you think?"

    As an extended rtive of the Nie n, Nie Xiang hade into his position because of Nie Donghai. Now that Nie Beichuan had be the nmaster, he was bent on recing him with one of his cronies.

    For some time now, Nie Beichuan had been trying to pick a fight with him and thuse up with a good excuse to fire him, but had never seeded in his efforts. Because of this disaster though, he would most likely be able to remove Nie Xiang from his post and even impose a severe punishment on him.

    "It was a natural disaster,¡± Nie Qian said consolingly. ¡°It has nothing to do with you. I will faithfully recount the process when I go back. You do not have to be worried much."

    ¡°Easier said than done..." Nie Xiang sighed.

    He knew well the ession of Nie Beichuan had left the father and daughter team of Nie Donghai and Nie Qian in a very perilous position in the n. Bent on making a ssh, Nie Beichuan would never forgo this golden opportunity.

    Nie Xiang was sure that he would be punished as an example to warn others.

    "Nie Tian and I will go back now,¡± Nie Qian said, ¡°but rest assured, I will try my best to help you."

    ¡°Fine." Nie Xiang helplessly nodded his head.

    "You must not take reckless actions within this period,¡± Nie Qian continued. ¡°You have to wait until the vibrationspletely fade away. Then you can get the dead bodies out of the mines, re-open the stone tunnel, and resume the mining of mecloud gems.¡±

    Even she did not know that all the dramatic changes were caused by the animal bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    She also did not know the me power of all the mecloud gems in the whole mountain had been drained by the animal bone.

    With one hand in his pocket, gently stroking the animal bone, Nie Tian looked up at the vibrating peak, a stern expression on his face.

    Only he could sense that after this incident, all the mecloud gems in the whole mountain had turned into nothing more than ordinary and useless rocks.

    "Let¡¯s go back." Nie Qian said. With some parting words to Nie Xiang, she turned with Nie Tian to head back to ck Cloud City.

    Not long before she and Nie Tian had left, a rippling shadow had slipped out of the entrance and gazed towards her and Nie Tian for a while before drifting back toward the mountain behind Cloudsoaring Peak. Not a trace was left behind of its passage.

 Chapter 22: An Impasse

    It was evening, and the tenacious glow of the setting sun pierced through the luxurious canopy of trees to cast light onto the rocky forest floor.

    Nie Tian and Nie Qian were on their way back to ck Cloud City. After some time passed, Nie Tian broke his long silence and finally gave voice to the suspicion in his heart. "Auntie, I feel... from now on, I am afraid that our n can no longer harvest mecloud gems from those mines."

    Hearing his words, Nie Qian abruptly stopped in ce.

    Looking suspiciously at Nie Tian, and her eyes gradually turned serious and solemn. "What did you say? The mecloud gems in the mines have been mined by our n for many years. ording to the Qi warrior who surveyed the mine recently, it should be several decades before the mine runs dry given our current mining speed, so how could it be drained now?"

    The mecloud gems in the mines could be said to be the lifeblood of the Nie n, which traded their mining services for the protection of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Once the Nie n could no longer mine mecloud gems, it would be useless to the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Even though she and Nie Donghai had been ill-treated after Nie Beichuan became the master of the n, she definitely did not want to see the whole n be tossed aside by the Cloudsoaring sect.

    "I¡¯m sorry." Nie Tian bowed his head, took out the animal bone, and said, "It was all because of this. All the me power consumed by the condensation of the drop of blood was from all the mecloud gems in the mines! It took all of that power to condense the drop of blood! I¡¯m pretty sure that all the mecloud gems have turned to regr rocks which cannot generate a scrap of me power."

    Nie Qian gasped with astonishment. "The condensation of a single drop of blood absorbed all the me power of the mecloud gems, this... how is this possible?"

    "I don¡¯t know, but that¡¯s what happened." Nie Tian put on a wry smile.

    "Impossible, it¡¯s absolutely impossible!" Nie Qian shook her head repeatedly, with a look of disbelief on her face.

    "If you don¡¯t believe me then just forget about it," Nie Tian said, looking irritated.

    "Now isn¡¯t the time for arguing. It¡¯s getting dark and we should try to get back to ck Cloud City as soon as possible." Nie Qian surveyed the path ahead. "A serious ident has urred in the mines. I have to inform your grandfather of the situation so that he will be ready for any consequences."

    "Fine." Nie Tian spoke no more.

    With that, they ceased arguing and continued on toward ck Cloud City.

    A quarter of an hourter, Nie Qian suddenly froze.

    "What¡¯s wrong?" Nie Tian asked, puzzled.

    Nie Qian looked around grimly, her breathing in ragged pants. Waves of spiritual power were rippling out from Nie Qian, fluctuations too noticeable to be ignored even by Nie Tian.

    RUSTLE!

    Suddenly, the leaves of the trees stirred, despite theck of even the slightest breeze.

    "Nie Tian,¡± she shouted, ¡°get to Cloudsoaring Mountain as quickly as you can!"

    CLATTER!

    The silver bracelets she wore on her arm instantly flew out towards the two trees in front of her, shining with silvery spiritual light.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    The sound of nking metal could then be heard from behind the trees, apanied by oddughter.

    In response, Nie Tian¡¯s face fell, and he instantly realized that something was wrong.

    With a muffled groan, Nie Qian looked back at Nie Tian, her eyes glittering with trepidation and anxiety.

    "Go! " she urged.

    WHOOSH!

    The silver bracelets she had thrown out were now spinning back towards her at a high speed.

    They were followed by two men dressed in blue, with greasy smiles stered across their faces.

    One of them gave Nie Tian a cold nce. "Run? Where can he run to?"

    BANG!

    In that moment, the silver bracelets mmed into a water shield that Nie Qian had formed moments ago with spiritual power.

    Nie Qian immediately staggered backward several steps. The silver bracelets didn¡¯t immediately fall onto the ground, but stuck on the water wall like two pendants.

    She slowly reached out and retrieved the silver bracelets one by one, her face pale. Then, she looked at the two men and said, "I¡¯ve seen you two before in ck Cloud City!"

    She remembered clearly that the two in front of her were among those strangers who had been seen wandering around the Nie n a few months ago.

    She soon realized that the appearance of these two people here must have something to do with the altercation with Yuan Qiuying in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion.

    "You¡¯ll be dead soon anyway,¡± the other man said with a grin. ¡°We aren¡¯t afraid to tell you that we were sent by Mrs. Yuan to kill you!"

    "As I expected!" Nie Qian replied, gnashing her teeth.

    One of the men had a thin scar at the corner of his eye. His lips curved up in an odd smile as he said, "Second brother, you kill the kid. As for this woman... I¡¯ll take care of her. We were ordered to torture her well and good before killing her. Considering how much we¡¯re being paid, we have to satisfy Mrs. Yuan."

    The other man smirked knowingly, then nodded and said, "Big brother, I¡¯ll join you after I kill the kid."

    "How considerate! Hahaha!"

    Considering their brazen banter, it was obvious how much they looked down on Nie Qian and Nie Tian. In their eyes, they were already dead.

    "He¡¯s still a child! Please let him go!" Nie Qian begged. "Trust me, we have plenty of treasure back in the Nie n. I¡¯ll triple what Yuan Qiuying offered!"

    The initial engagement left her well aware that these two men in blue had at least middle-stage Lesser Heaven cultivation bases, as well as an overt killing intent. Clearly, they were not the type of Qi warriors who were engrossed in cultivation, but rather, professional killers who were born to ughter.

    She knew too well that she was no match for either of them.

    "We have benefited from the grace of Yuan n, and are grateful that we have this opportunity to pay them back." The man with the scar at the corner of his eye rubbed his chin and chuckled. "By the way, I happen to think you¡¯re quite pretty. You¡¯d might as well just resign yourself to fate.¡±

    Nie Qian knew that she was unlikely to survive the day. She couldn¡¯t help but shriek, "Nie Tian! Run!"

    CLANK!

    Swinging her arms through the air, she mmed the silver bracelets into each other, which created an ear-piercing whistle. The bracelets then whizzed rapidly towards the two men.

    "They say that the Nie n is on the decline. Today, I find it is true." The man in charge shook his head. As the silver bracelets shot towards him, he added, "You¡¯re the eldest daughter of the Nie n and the ex-wife of Yun Zhiguo, but the spiritual tool you use is unexpectedly only of Elementary grade."

    Sneering, he raised a bronze prismatic shield.

    WHOOSH!

    Reddish-yellow light radiated from the surface of the shield, which was rapidly filled with bright, intricate patterns.

    "Gravity upheaval!" he said, snorting coldly.

    Subsequently, the gravity around him seemed to sharply increase by several-fold.

    The silver bracelets flopped down onto the ground due to the enormous gravity transformations!

    "Second brother, even though we ensured that there were no passersby, we still have to finish them as soon as possible to prevent any unexpected developments!"

    "Alright, big brother, I¡¯ll kill this brat now!" The other man suddenly rushed towards Nie Tian.

    "Nie Tian, run!" Nie Qian yelled wildly.

    However, even as the man closed in with lightning speed, Nie Tian remained in ce, his eyes burning with mes of rage.

    The man running towards Nie Tian wore a merciless expression as he derisively said, "His cultivation base is merely at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Considering my brother¡¯s Mystic Amber Shield exerts a fivefold gravitation field, it would be a miracle for him to escape!¡±

    His words pushed Nie Qian further into despair, and caused her to wail hysterically, "I¡¯ll hunt you down even if I be a ghost!"

    WHOOSH!

    Breathing heavily, Nie Tian rapidly concentrated his spiritual power into both of his legs in an attempt tobat the strengthened gravity.

    Unfortunately, the ground beneath his feet seemed to have be a giant ma, inexorably pulling him downward.

    He unleashed his full strength, yet still failed to shake off the gravity. His feet could not move an inch; it almost felt as if there was a huge rock weighing them down.

    The feelings of despair, unwillingness, and frustration inside of him grew more and more intense as the man approached.

    It was also at this moment that he suddenly felt the animal bone in his hand turn burning hot.

 Chapter 23: Not Leaving a Single Trace

    As the man dressed in blue walked towards Nie Tian, he slowly lifted his hand. "Resign yourself to your fate, brat!"

    CRACKLE!

    Tremendous frost spiritual power suddenly gathered, seemingly freezing his hand.

    Bone-biting coldness emanated out, making Nie Tian, who was three meters away from him, feel as if he had fallen into an ice cer.

    WHOOSH!

    From a distance, he pointed his hand towards Nie Tian, and cold, white streams of mist slithered towards Nie Tian, like long, slender snakes.

    Due to the powerful gravitational force affecting him, Nie Tian was in an increasingly dangerous situation as the cold mist struck.

    Not far away, the sound of nking metal echoed out, along with a cold guffaw from the man with the scar.

    Nie Tian had no need to look over to understand that Nie Qian¡¯s situation was just as precarious as his.

    "Power!¡± Nie Tian cried in his heart. ¡°I need power!"

    Apparently, some invisible force from another world heard his cry. First, he felt the animal bone in his hand grow burning hot.

    In the next moment, the scorching heat emitting from the animal bone spread from his palm to the rest of his body.

    He clearly felt the heat waves, as staggeringly hot as magma, suddenly fly along his meridians to his feet.

    He was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange sensation, as if he now existed inside of a monstrous me.

    ROAR!

    A growl erupted in his mind, the source being none other than the drop of blood within the animal bone.

    Suddenly, the terrifying gravity from the depths of the earth seemed to be renderedpletely powerless.

    Moments ago, he had been pinned in ce, but now, he took two steps back.

    The man in blue clothes was stretching his frozen hand out toward Nie Tian¡¯s chest. When he suddenly found that Nie Tian could move freely, he couldn¡¯t help but murmur, "What?!"

    But then, streams of white mist flowed around his fingers and roared towards Nie Tian.

    To Nie Tian, those streams resembled dozens of white frost snakes eager to devour him.

    As the white frost snakes slithered through the air, the extremely cold spiritual power filled the area around Nie Tian, making it a world of ice and frost.

    FIZZ!

    Yet, a momentter, the icy cold seemed to be consumed by a ball of heat, transforming it into more white fog.

    "Oh..." Nie Tian suddenly whispered, subconsciously ncing down at the animal bone.

    The animal bone became as hot as a burning piece of iron, making it impossible to hold onto any longer.

    The drop of blood hovered in the animal bone as if it were a small sun spouting raging mes.

    ROAR!

    The roar from the drop of blood was only audible to him, and seemed to be filled with impatience and irritability.

    However, Nie Tian seemed to be able to understand the meaning behind the roar.

    Hoping for the best, he flung the animal bone mercilessly towards his opponent.

    As soon as the animal bone left his hand, it transformed into a long trail of crimson mes, in the vague shape of a dragon, which whizzed rapidly towards the man in blue.

    FIZZ!

    The white frost snakes strangely dissipated into white fog when they collided with the crimson mes created by the animal bone.

    Seeing the icy snakes dissipating one after another, the man in blue couldn¡¯t prevent his expression from flickering.

    However, the mes created by the animal bone left him no time to make any defensive moves, and were in front of him before he could even react.

    With his eyes fixed on the man, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but notice thatrge amounts of water vapor had begun to emanate out from him.

    Nie Tian also clearly noted the fear and despair in the man¡¯s eyes.

    BANG!

    The animal bone mmed directly into his chest, sending sparks shing out, which instantly transformed into another cluster of crimson mes, mes which seemed to be alive and conscious as they rampaged through his whole body.

    The man even did not even have time to utter a heart-rending cry before he was devoured. His body instantly melted down like a piece of ice thrown into a stove, and he dissipated without leaving a single drop of blood behind.

    The man had seemedpletely ferocious only a few seconds ago, but now he had vanishedpletely.

    The ce where he stood was devoid of any trace of him whatsoever; both his bones and blood hadpletely disappeared as if he had never even existed.

    The only thing remaining behind was a red, buring animal bone.

    The crimson mes that were scattered everywhere returned to the animal bone as if they had a consciousness.

    At the same time, the area surrounding the animal bone, which had possessed a gravitational force five times that of normal, seemed to have been forcibly normalized.

    Nie Tian gazed at the terrifying animal bone and subconsciously licked his lips.

    A Qi warrior who excelled in using the frost power of the middle-stage of Lesser Heaven had been burned alive by the mes from the animal bone until not even a single hair was left. The ferocity demonstrated by the animal bone made him unable to believe what he had seen.

    He had been sure that the animal bone was very unique, and that affirmation grew particrly intense when he realized that the drop of blood inside of it could not be congealed until all the mecloud gems in the mountain had been absorbed.

    However, it wasn¡¯t until this moment that he realized that he had underestimated the terrifying power of the animal bone.

    PUFF!

    Even as Nie Tian stood there in a daze, not far away, Nie Qian coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. Her spirits were rapidly dropping.

    The man with the scar smiled as he approached her with his shield held out in front of him.

    Nie Qian had backed up into a tree, and was holding a silver bracelet in each hand. Despite the danger she was in, she couldn¡¯t help but turn her head to look toward Nie Tian.

    "Little, Little Tian..." she murmured, fearful he might already be dead.

    When she saw that he had somehow survived while the man hunting him had vanished somehow, relief filled her heart.

    Seeing her strange expression, her opponent also looked curiously at Nie Tian.

    Stunned, he raved, "Second brother, I told to you to hurry up, so where the hell are you?"

    He had previously been focused on dealing with Nie Qian and spared little attention for Nie Tian. As far as he was concerned, Nie Tian was locked in ce by the fivefold gravity, and should have fallen prey to instant ughter. It was impossible for something to go wrong, so there was nothing interesting to see anyway.

    The man who cultivated frost spiritual power had been burned up in a few seconds after being hit by the animal bone, without a drop of blood being left behind.

    Therefore, when his brother looked over but failed to spot him, he simply assumed that his brother had walked away.

    After a moment of shock, Nie Qian quickly regained herposure and once again cried out. "Little Tian! Run while you have the chance! Get to the Cloudsoaring sect immediatley!"

    She had no idea what had happened either. But from her point of view, the sudden disappearance of that man was the only chance for Nie Tian to escape.

    With a gloomy face, the man in the leading position looked around and grew impatient. "Second brother, where the fuck are you?"

    "He had a stomacheache and went off to take a crap,¡± snapped Nie Tian. Walking over to the animal bone, he reached down slowly to pick it up. It was now dark-brown in color.

    As he picked up the bone, he meticulously avoided the sparks, which he knew could devour him.

    The horrifying scene of the previous man¡¯s death cast a cloud over his heart, making him fearful of the recurring changes of the animal bone.

    Fortunately, the restored animal bone showed no sign of such changes.

    Once the animal bone returned to his hand, a strong confidence suddenly arose inside of him somehow.

    He suddenly had the feeling that he was capable of controlling the animal bone!

    "Hurry and run!" Nie Qian cried.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian¡¯s act was reckless and blind. Since the assant was absent, Nie Tian ought to hurry up and escape. Every second he wasted, his chance of survival would be diminished.

    But instead of running away, he decided to have a war of words with the leading assant. She was so anxious that she wanted to drive him to his senses by pping him in the face.

    "I won¡¯t run." Clutching the animal bone, Nie Tian walked towards her step by step, a surprisingly calm expression on his face.

    The man with the scar at the corner of his eye finally realized that Nie Tian was free from the restriction of the gravitational field and had begun to advance in his direction. "Where is my second brother, brat?"

    He was not stupid. Nie Tian¡¯s calmness and unusual escape from the gravitational field drove him to the realization that somethingpletely inexplicable must have urred.

    If that was not the case, his second brother would never have disappeared for no reason.

    "Like I said, Uncle,¡± Nie Tian answered seriously, ¡°he ran off into the bushes because he had the squirts."

    "You bastard! Cut the crap!" The man¡¯s face darkened. Shifting hisplete attention from Nie Qian to Nie Tian, he said, "No matter what parlor tricks you yed, I¡¯ll smash your bones into pieces once I get ahold of you. Then I¡¯ll find out exactly what just happened!

    "Tenfold gravity!"

 Chapter 24: Burned to Ashes

    CRACK!

    Tree branches in the grove suddenly snapped and fell down to the ground.

    A passing bird took a nosedive and mmed into the ground under the irresistible force of gravity.

    With the man in blue at the center, a 50-meter circle formed that instantly became like a giant ma, trapping all solid objects.

    Even as Nie Qian backed up against the tree, the powerful gravitational force dragged her down toward the ground.

    "Tenfold gravity!"

    She looked over at Nie Tian with both shock and anxiety, secretly angered by his recklessness.

    The blue-garbed man with the Mystic Amber Shield closed in on Nie Tian step by step, grinning the entire time. "What are you going to do now, punk?!"

    Nie Tian had been able to move freely before, but because of the tenfold gravity, he was now unable to.

    He frowned before he realized that a warm current was currently converging at his feet.

    Plumes of heat from the animal bone he sped in his hand were flowing along his meridians toward his feet.

    The animal bone had been restored to its original state, but was now starting to heat up again.

    As the animal bone became hot, Nie Tian¡¯s confidence was somehow bolstered and the advancement of the man in blue did not fluster him at all.

    Instead of rushing into action though, he calmly looked at the man and then clenched his hand down onto the animal bone, gripping it so hard that blue veins bulged out.

    "Where the hell is my second brother?!" the man cried, forcibly swinging the Mystic Amber shield at Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    WHOOSH!

    The Mystic Amber shield left his hand and flew, with great force, towards Nie Tian¡¯s head, sailing through the air in a perfect arc.

    An even stronger gravitational field emanated from that Mystic Amber shield, making the space around Nie Tian sink sharply.

    "Little Tian!" Nie Qian shrieked.

    Also at this moment, the animal bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand became as red as hot iron and unleashed an unruly me power.

    Nie Tian suddenly threw the animal bone in the air. "Go!"

    When the animal bone whizzed out, the heat gathered around his feet burst out in spectacr fashion.

    The terrifying gravity pulling from below suddenly became bearable. As his feet regained the ability to move, Nie Tian darted to the side and evaded the Mystic Amber shield

    ROAR!

    A raging howl, only audible to Nie Tian, seemed to have burst out from his own soul. He clearly saw the animal bone suddenly transform into a congration and swallow the man in blue.

    The tenfold gravity that was able to restrain everything in the world waspletely dispelled!

    CLANK!

    Without the steady support of its owner, the Mystic Amber shield flopped down on the ground behind Nie Tian.

    The owner of the Mystic Amber shield was promptly consumed by the raging mes.

    It only took a few seconds for the man to be devoured by the towering column of fire, vanishing without a trace.

    Everything, including his clothes, body, and breath, was burned to ashes.

    Within a very short time, all his belongings in this world had been wiped out, while the animal bone rapidly condensed its fiery mes and eventually returned to a dark-brown color.

    Standing not far away, Nie Qian, who was previously in despair, stared in disbelief at what had happened.

    She could not help but rapidly blink so as to get a better view of the the scene in front of her.

    After several moments, she saw that Nie Tian was standing there tall and straight, whereas the malicious assassin had vanished without a trace.

    She remained bewildered for a moment before gradually regaining her senses and murmuring, "Is that man, dead...? Burned to death? Scorched to ashes? "

    THUMP THUMP!

    After the gravity returned to normal, Nie Tian ran up to the animal bone and crouched down to retrieve it.

    ¡°Oh, my precious,¡± he eximed as he happily stroked the animal bone.

    Not until that moment did Nie Qian utterly awake from befuddlement and cry out in horror, "Watch out for that animal bone!"

    Nie Tian looked up and held the animal bone up in the air. He said with a smile, "Auntie, it is my precious, how could it hurt me? "

    "Your precious? Can you ... control it?!"

    Nie Tian nodded his head. "Of course!"

    After a pause, he pointed behind him and exined, "The second brother of that man was also burned to death; not even a drop of blood was left behind. Not until then did Ie to understand why everybody was eager to obtain a spiritual tool. A powerful spiritual tool can turn the tables in battle!"

    Previously, he was less interested in painstakingly pursuing a spiritual tool like a Qi warrior would.

    That was because he was physically strong and his sturdy body enabled him to win fights with Nie Hong time and time again. Thus, he thought he only needed to focus on enhancing his physical strength.

    In the past, he thought that a suitable spiritual tool would not y a crucial role in fighting.

    However, the animal bone had helped him kill two people in a row when he was on the verge of death. Thus, his previous line of thinking did an about-face.

    He suddenly realized that it was incredibly fortunate to have an extraordinary spiritual tool.

    "Put it away!¡° Nie Qian took a deep breath. The shock remained on her face while calmness had appeared again in her eyes. "It¡¯s not safe here. I don¡¯t know whether that bitch Yuan Qiuying has another card up her sleeve or not. We can take time to study the animal bone when we arrive back home. Now we have to leave!"

    "Okay," Nie Tian replied obediently.

    "Are there any belongings of the two assassins left other than the Mystic Amber shield?" Nie Qian asked.

    Nie Tian shook his head and answered, "No, everything was burned up and nothing was left."

    "How powerful that spiritual tool is!" Nie Qian eximed in shock. Then she mumbled pitifully, "What a pity that I¡¯m in such a tight space with money. It would have been nice to find more loot to pawn."

    She rose to her feet and stuffed the Mystic Amber shield into her pocket before saying, "Let¡¯s head home!"

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Nie Tian, who had killed two men with the animal bone, was not rattled at all by his first killing, but in fact so delighted with it that he took out and yed the bone from time to time on his way home.

    Every time Nie Qian looked back and found him ying with the animal bone, she would tense up and subconsciously walk a few steps away from him.

    In the eyes of Nie Qian, the animal bone could transform into a raging me any time, which would unscrupulously consume all living things.

    Before sunset, Nie Tian followed Nie Qian into the city and they soon returned to the Nie n.

    Back at home, Nie Qian exhorted Nie Tian not to use the animal bone on purpose, and went to Nie Donghai without resting, debriefing him on the what they had experienced in the mine and on their way home.

    Hearing they met a mishap on their journey, Nie Donghai trembled with rage, and his eyes bristled with raging mes. "Yuan Qiuying. It is too presumptuous of her to try to kill you and Little Tian just because of a scuffle! I will absolutely pursue this matter till the end!"

    Nie Qian shook her head andforted him, "It doesn¡¯t matter. The two assassins are dead anyway. After this incident, that woman will refrain from acting recklessly. Dad, you aren¡¯t the head of the n anymore. The mining disaster will plunge all of us into chaos in a short period of time. Let¡¯s forget about Yuan Qiuying and focus on how to handle the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°How long will it be before we can return the mine to normal operation procedures?" Nie Donghai breathed.

    "I do not know. " Nie Qian forced a smile. "It was my fault. I would never have expected that Little Tian¡¯s animal bone would be able to cause such a tremendous change in the mine. In my opinion, it¡¯s impossible to resume mining for the next two months. This year, we definitely won¡¯t be able to collect sufficient mecloud gems for the Cloudsoaring sect."

    Nie Donghai also seemed to be somewhat restless. "Many people saw you and Little Tian in the mine. Your second uncle will have no choice but to shift all of the me onto the two of you. Unfortunately, I am no longer the head of the Nie n. For this matter, I will have to give him some sort of satisfactory exnation."

    "Dad, I¡¯m so sorry for causing you trouble again." Nie Qian dropped her head in guilt.

    "To me, nothing is more important than the fact that Little Tian was able to increase his cultivation to the sixth level of Qi Refining in the mine!" Looking serious, Nie Donghai added, "The strange animal bone in his possession that was able to unleash such a staggering power is worth all these troubles. "

    "But that animal bone is really too domineering! I am afraid that Little Tian cannot control it..." Nie Qian seemed truly worried.

    "I believe that he can!" Nie Donghai breathed.

    Also at this time, Nie Tian was sitting straight up on the bed in his room, engrossed with the animal bone in his hand.

    "Yee?!"

 Chapter 25: A Different Place

    FIZZ!

    The condensed drop of blood in the animal bone red up when Nie Tian¡¯s mind drifted into it.

    In the blood, his saw strands of fire suddenly twisting and interweaving with each other, forming a strange animal pattern.

    The pattern was in the shape of a dragon, but it was constantly changing and full of mystery.

    "Whoah!" Nie Tian exhaled softly and tried to calm his mind.

    It was as if a secret switch had been activated. The animal bone flew from his palm and quietly floated up in front of his chest, emanating scorching mes.

    His mind instantly returned from the animal bone to reality, however his eyes were still focused on it.

    WHOOSH!!

    Strands of mes started to swirl around the animal bone and seemingly produced a terrifying gravitational force.

    After a few seconds, the animal bone and the lines of fire evolved into a me vortex.

    CRACKLE!

    The formation of the me vortex was followed by a strange sound from the surroundings, where numerous colorful spatial rifts appeared.

    Surrounding objects within his room, such as the tea set on the stone table and the clothes on the bed, were forcibly sucked into the spatial rifts, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

    A momentter, even the stone table and the stone b on the ground were sucked into the rifts.

    CREAK! CREAK!

    The bed Nie Tian was sitting on began to buckle because of the immense suction, as if it was also about to fly into the spatial rifts with him in tow.

    Suddenly, fear sprang up in his heart, as if he were suddenly aware that he might never see his grandfather and Nie Qian ever again..

    Even as fear overwhelmed him and he was about to cry out for help, the me vortex became like the mouth of a ferocious monster and gulped him down.

    Then, the me vortex drastically shrank down into a grain-sized spark of fire.

    The spark of fire flickered a few times, and then disappeared into thin air.

    WHOOSH!

    The gravitational force increased dramatically and the shing spatial rifts swallowed everything in the room before closing up one by one.

    Only after the me vortex and the oddly shing spatial rifts vanished, was the small room suddenly peaceful once again.

    However, the stone table, stone chair, wooden bed, and everything else was gone along with Nie Tian.

    Shortly, the voice of Nie Qian came from outside. "Little Tian, are you sleeping?"

    Nie Donghai, despite having voiced his belief that Nie Tian could control the animal bone, was still worried about him, especially after being told of the terrifying qualities of the animal bone by Nie Qian. As such, he hade along with Nie Qian. He wanted to use his experience and vision to explore the secret of the animal bone again.

    Nie Qian called a few times, but when she got no response, forced Nie Tian¡¯s door open.

    "Ah!" she screamed as she stepped into the room, finding everything in the room was gone.

    Blue veins bulged on Nie Donghai¡¯s forehead. "How dare the Yuan n kidnap Little Tian from our home!" he raged, not even taking the time to think about the situation.

    He instantly assumed that Yuan Qiuying, after discovering that her two assassins were missing, had sent other powerful experts to take Nie Tian away.

    ¡°Father, what should we do?¡± Nie Qian shouted in a state of utter stupefaction. ¡°What should we do to get him back!?"

    ¡°The Yun n and Yuan n must immediately release Little Tian! I am going to talk to my second brother who is the master of the Nie n. If he is unwilling to stand out and protect Little Tian, I will never spare him! Nie Donghai left in a rage and rushed to find Nie Beichuan in the hope of freeing Nie Tian as soon as possible.

    ¡°Yuan Qiuying, should anything untoward happen to Little Tian, I will go after you till myst breath!¡± Nie Qian swore in sadness.

    ...

    In the unknown world, the density of the spiritual energy defied any imagination.

    Eight dragon skeletons could be seen, each around a thousand meters long. They were arranged in an octagonal pattern, with their heads all pointing toward an old, dpidated altar, a structure stained with blotches of blood that made it seem as if it had been mercilessly eroded by time.

    A spark suddenly gleamed from within the heart of the altar, which rapidly swelled into a fireball.

    BANG!

    The figure of a child could be seen flying out from the fireball down onto the ground.

    CLANK!

    Then, the gigantic fireball shrunk into a small piece of bone and dropped down near the foot of the kid.

    Nie Tian, dizzy and racked with pain all over, was lying with his back on the altar and limbs spread wide.

    Gazing at the overcast sky with his wide eyes, he gradually came to his senses. ¡°What the hell is this ce?¡±

    A few seconds ago, he was in his room. He only remembered that the animal bone had transformed into a me vortex and then gulped him down.

    Then, he was here.

    Despite lying on the altar, he could immediately detect that the gravity here was even stronger than the tenfold gravity field generated by the Mystic Amber Shield!

    Hey there, his back tightly pressed against the cold, hard stone b. Finally, he rose up to a sitting position, an effort which required all the strength he could muster.

    ¡°The amount of spiritual energy here is ten times thicker than Cloudsoaring Mountain!¡±

    In the middle of breathing, he felt the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth in the air trickling down into the spiritual sea of his dantian.

    ted, he looked around curiously.

    Almost immediately, he caught the sight of the eight huge, hill-like dragon heads surrounding him. ¡°Dragon heads! There are eight huge dragon heads there!¡±

    The eight dragon heads were bereft of any flesh or blood, leaving them as nothing but bare, bleached bones.

    The dragon¡¯s eyeballs had long since ceased to exist. All of the empty sockets were facing him as if they were quietly analyzing him, which made his blood run cold.

    He quickly shifted his view to the distance and realized that the eight huge dragon skeletons stretched a thousand meters away.

    Further in the distance, numerous mountain peaks sat under the murky-gray sky, each of them as tall as Cloudsoaring Peak.

    After carefully studying them, he waspletely overwhelmed by astonishment to find that the objects, that had at first resembled mountain peaks, were in fact huge arms!

    The huge arms were dark-yellow. Some had fists tightly clenched, as if they were unleashing endless fury; some fingers were widely opened as if to sp the sky; some palms were imprinted with what seemed like the supreme theory of Heaven and Earth.

    In the distance, those huge arms looked like giant mountain peaks towering up into the sky.

    The other side of the arms were like the roots of towering old trees, buried deep into the earth.

    It was as if the real bodies of the huge arm¡¯s owners were within the earth, attempting to rid themselves of the burial and fly up into the sky!

    Just the arms exposed outside were as enormous as mountains, Nie Tian could not imagine how colossal the bodies were of the owners were who were buried under the earth!

    ¡°One, two, three... thirty-two!¡± He counted and found that there were at least 32 huge arms visible.

    That meant that there were at least 16 colossal creatures buried deep in the earth!

    ¡°Eight huge dragons and also at least sixteen terrifyingly colossal creatures,¡± he thought. ¡°What is this ce? Am I dreaming?¡± Then, he bit his tongue suddenly and felt an excruciating pain.

    ¡°I¡¯m not dreaming? This is different from my previous experience, so it must not be a dream!¡±

    He still remembered that after he battled Nie Hong, he had a high fever for quite a long time and frequently fell into different dreams.

    The unknown world he saw in his dream was somewhat simr to the sight in front of him.

    However, he always knew that all those dreams were simply dreams, not realities.

    But this time, he was not in a dream but rather a real world, which waspletely unknown to him.

    WHOOSH!

    The animal bone that brought him into this ce was lying at his side, flickering with plumes of me.

    He subconsciously looked at it.

    For an unknown reason, he felt an infinite sadness from within those mes.

    The glowing mes seemed to be recounting something...

    ¡°Dragon?¡± Prompted by his memory, he recalled that his inner awareness had seen this strange world in the drop of blood condensed from the animal bone when he was in Mine #73.

    That world bristled with countless raging mes that converged into a colossal dragon of me.

    On their way back to ck Cloud City, the animal bone had transformed into a dragon-shaped me when he threw it at the two men dressed in blue.

    After carefully thinking for awhile, he came to realize that the animal bone was from a great fire dragon.

    At the side of the altar, there were eight great dragons with only skeletons left. He spected that they used to be fire dragons as well, belonging to the same species as the one from which the animal bone was taken.

    ¡°I should go around and have a look,¡± he thought to himself. ¡°This world must be bigger than what I have seen. There might be more secrets in this ce beyond my view.¡±

    As he attempted to stand up, he found that the gravity of the earth had pinned him down to the ground.

    He couldn¡¯t even rise to his feet!

    ...

 Chapter 26: The Epiphany

    ¡°I can¡¯t even stand up....¡±

    Nie Tian felt somewhat depressed as he sat there unsteadily on the altar, but it took him only a second to realize that he could make use of the wonders of this world for training purposes.

    The stronger the gravity, the more burden was ced on the body, which made it a perfect ce to train in physical strength.

    Ever since he was young, he had known that he was much stronger physically than other children. He had made up for his poor cultivation base with his powerful physique, allowing him to win in fights against Nie Hong and others.

    ¡°Wheww!" He took in arge gulp of air and tried to move his arms about under the terrifying gravitational force.

    Compared to moving his entire body, it required considerably less effort to just move his arms under the influence of the strong gravity.

    Just as he expected, although waggling his arms was more difficult than usual, at least he was able to move them.

    Sitting straight up on the broken altar, he raised one of his arms with great effort, doing his best to point it towards the sky and to feel the influence of the gravity on the arm.

    In the meantime, he continued to examine his surroundings.

    "Well?!" Staring at the giant arms in the distance and watching them stretching out of the earth to the heavens, his mind flickered with enlightenment.

    Every one of them pointed to the heavens with a different gesture, as if each of them contained different emotions.

    Being able to do nothing but hold his arms up, Nie Tian felt bored at first. However, after noticing the various gestures formed by the giants¡¯ hands, he opened up his mind and started to imitate them.

    The first one he imitated was an arm that pointed to the sky with a tightly clenched fist and bulging veins.

    His eyes were fixed on the mountain-sized arm, and soon he vaguely felt a wave of rage and begrudging emotion hidden inside the giant hand.

    For unknown reasons, just by watching it, an unexpected surge of fury started to rise up in his heart, until his pupils were filled with a sea of rage. It all happened before he even realized what was going on.

    The expression on his face grew feverish and angry, and a raging desire rose up to destroy the heavens and break all the shackles that had been formed in his heart.

    After imitating the gesture of that giant arm, his mentality seemingly changed along with it, and his hand was filled with a new kind of power.

    He could actually feel the spiritual power rushing out from his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea and rapidly flowing along his meridians into his raised hand.

    In his arm, every meridian seemed full of raging mes, and the spiritual power that was flowing in his meridians also seemed to have been vested with wrath.

    HISSSS!

    All of a sudden, a white and misty spiritual aura formed on the back of his lifted fist!

    Strands of the white spiritual aura were wrapped around his fist. It was an aura which contained unrestrained anger, and seemed to have strengthened his spiritual power.

    ¡°The sixth level of Qi Refining! Spiritual power overflow!¡±

    Entering the sixth level of Qi Refining allowed him to channel his inner spiritual power to the surface of his body and infiltrate an enemy¡¯s body with his own spiritual power merely by touching them.

    Back when he fought Nie Hong, who was in the sixth level of Qi Refining, Nie Hong had sent his lightning-charged spiritual power into Nie Tian¡¯s body as their fists met.

    In the same way, every time their fists collided, more lightning power was left behind in his body, filling him with unbearable pain.

    Not long ago, he had somehow stepped into the sixth level of Qi Refining in Mine #73, but he never had the chance to test the wonders of overflowing spiritual power.

    Today, in this unknown heaven and earth, he almost effortlessly grasped the essence of spiritual power overflow of the sixth Qi Refining level.

    This hadpletely exceeded his expectations.

    Because, ording to Nie Qian, after breaking into the sixth level of Qi Refining, one would have to make quite a few attempts before they could freely overflow their spiritual power to the surface of their body and retract it back inside.

    However, in a surprising turn of events, he seeded with merely one attempt.

    Moreover, he could clearly sense the rage contained in the spiritual power that was wrapped around his fist.

    Emotions were not attributes of spiritual power. They shouldn¡¯t contain extra strength, but he believed that the rage attached to his spiritual power had its own secrets.

    Unfortunately, Nie Hong wasn¡¯t here. Otherwise, he would be able to throw him a punch and see if the rage could provide extra strength.

    ¡°Yee?!¡± Just as his thoughts were beginning to wander, his mentality changed again, and he was no longer full of wild rage.

    The spiritual power that had previously converged into his raised arm rapidly flowed back to his spiritual sea. Before long, there was no spiritual power left in his arm at all.

    He immediately understood why: his mind had drifted, so he had failed to maintain his mentality of rage and frenzy.

    When the rage disappeared and he became calm again, the miraculous sensation on his fist, that was pointing to the sky, also vanished. As the spiritual power returned to his dantian, everything went back to normal.

    ¡°Mentality! Mentality is the key!¡±

    After the epiphany, he refocused his mind andid his eyes on the mountain-like giant arm in the distance.

    He put his heart into analyzing the giant hand that was balled up in a fist, and he felt all the monstrous rage hidden in it. As he gradually submerged himself in it, he once again found himself influenced by the emotion and his heart grew more and more angry.

    When his heart was full of rage, he imitated the gesture of the giant arm and thrust his clenched fist into the sky.

    Strands of spiritual power once again surged out of his spiritual sea as he extended his arm. Those strands were instantly injected into the meridians within his arm, and roared their way into his fist.

    HISSS!

    As expected, the light, white spiritual aura, full of rage, reappeared on his fist.

    ¡°This is it!¡± A sense of joy rose in his heart. In the meantime, the rage that he had tried so hard to build up, suddenly vanished.

    In a sh, the amazing power he had just recovered left him again.

    However, through this attempt, he had found the secret to the trick, and then he practiced it over and over again.

    In hister practices, whenever he was able to maintain a raging heart, the special feeling of his fist being filled with rage would always be there.

    Meanwhile, he also found that he could only cultivate the rage in his heart when gazing at the distant giant arm.

    When he didn¡¯t look at the giant arm and tried to make the punch by channeling his own rage, that mysterious sensation wouldn¡¯t appear.

    It seemed that he had to fully understand the begrudging rage contained in the giant hand, so as to truly grasp the essence of that punch.

    After realizing this, he calmed himself and stopped wasting his energy, and instead, once again fixed his eyes on the giant arm, trying to truly feel the mental status of its owner when they threw that punch.

    He waspletely submerged in his thoughts and lost track of time; he forgot about the environment he was in and even forgot himself.

    When he forgot about his physical form, he entered a trance in which he had the sudden feeling that he was the owner of the giant arm, that he feared no rules or restrictions, and that he dared to fight the heaven and earth.

    PTSSS! PTSSS!

    After an unknown period of time, the animal bone by his feet suddenly spewed tiny mes.

    It seemed the drop of blood in the animal bone had been consuming its me power. Now, after it had consumed a certain amount, the animal bone began to change.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, clusters of me shot out of the animal bone, dragging Nie Tian out of his thoughts.

    At first nce, Nie Tian found that the drop of blood in the animal bone had shrunk considerably,pared to when it was fully formed.

    He instantly realized, without knowing it, that he had consumed a considerable amount of the me energy.

    Even as he was in a state of bewilderment, the animal bone continued to change and once again transformed into a bright vortex of me.

    Seeing the formation of the me vortex, he suddenly understood the me power left in the animal bone was now only enough to open the portal to home.

    Otherwise, as the me energy continued to run out, there wouldn¡¯t be enough power left in the animal bone to form the me vortex and send him back.

    Looking at those mountain-like giant arms, he was extremely reluctant to leave, as he had just discovered part of the secrets contained in them. ¡°I have no choice but to leave for now?¡±

    However, the animal bone didn¡¯t give him any time to think before he was swallowed by the bright vortex of me.

 Chapter 27: A Major Stir

    Meanwhile, back in the Nie n...

    During the ten days in which Nie Tian had been missing, Nie Donghai had forced Nie Beichuan to go to the Yun n with him and to demand them to release Nie Tian.

    On the other hand, the Yun n insisted that Nie Tian¡¯s disappearance had nothing to do with them.

    In the past, the Cloudsoaring sect seldom showed interest in Nie Donghai¡¯s matters, due to their resentment towards him.

    However, for unknown reasons, this time the Cloudsoaring sect unexpectedly arranged for Li Fan to assist Nie Donghai the moment Nie Donghai informed them of Nie Tian¡¯s situation.

    Li Fan led Nie Donghai to the Yun n, turning it upside down in a search for Nie Tian. They didn¡¯t give even the slightest face to the Yun n.

    Unfortunately, they found nothing.

    Yet, Li Fan didn¡¯t stop there. He went to the Yuan n in Frost Stone City and made another thorough search in their territory.

    However, that search was also in vain.

    Ten dayster, Li Fan continued to stay in the Nie n and search for Nie Tian¡¯s whereabouts in other nearby cities, using the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s power.

    Obviously, the Cloudsoaring sect was truly concerned with Nie Tian¡¯s disappearance this time, leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to find him.

    As the current nmaster, Nie Beichuan secretly gloated at the sight of the Cloudsoaring sect going through all that trouble to search for Nie Tian, and yet he still provided full cooperation.

    It was early at dawn when Nie Qian and Nie Donghai came to Li Fan¡¯s guest room, asking whether the Cloudsoaring sect had news about Nie Tian.

    Upon seeing Li Fan shake his head, Nie Qian said with weak voice, ¡°Mr. Li, Little Tian is ourst remaining emotional support. He... is all we have. Please, you must find him.¡±

    ¡°Please make extra efforts, Mr. Li!¡± Nie Donghai pleaded with bloodshot eyes.

    In the past ten days, he hadn¡¯t slept well for even a single night, and was looking more frail than ever.

    Nie Tian¡¯s disappearance almost crushed him. Like a person gued by sickness, he had softly called for Nie Tian in the night, hoping Nie Tian might hear his calling and suddenly return.

    ¡°I¡¯ve asked arge number of friends within a 50 kilometers radius to look for information of Nie Tian¡¯s whereabouts. Once he shows up, I will be informed.¡± Li Fan frowned, looking a bit puzzled. ¡°Frankly, it may be true that... neither the Yun n nor the Yuan n have anything to do with it. We have people in their ns that have close ties with our sect, and I¡¯ve collected information from them. It seems they truly have no knowledge of Nie Tian¡¯s disappearance.¡±

    Nie Qian was on the verge of breaking down. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t the Yun Family or the Yuan Family, then who could it be?¡±

    The significance the Cloudsoaring sect had attached to this incident had deeply touched Nie Donghai and Nie Qian. They knew the Cloudsoaring sect had tried their best.

    If the Cloudsoaring sect had failed to find Nie Tian after spending so much effort and pulling so many strings, it would be almost impossible for the Nie n to find him.

    ¡°Please rest assured. As long as Nie Tian is alive, there will be a way.¡± Li Fan tried tofort them.

    The next moment, Li Fan¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. After a quiet expression of surprise, he dashed out of the room.

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian also followed him out.

    The moment Li Fan stepped out of the room, he pointed in certain a direction, and said with a serious look on his face, ¡°Over there! The fluctuations of space over there are totally abnormal! A spatial rift is forming!¡±

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian looked into the direction that Li Fan had pointed, and the three of them heard a loud noiseing from the air above Nie Tian¡¯s room.

    ¡°It¡¯s Little Tian¡¯s room!¡±

    Nie Qian and Nie Donghai dashed over as fast as they could, panting heavily.

    As Li Fan realized it was the room that Nie Tian had disappeared in, he instantly got very excited and great interest appeared on his face.

    SHEW!

    Li Fan shed into action and beat Nie Qian and Nie Donghai to the scene.

    When Nie Qian and Nie Donghai arrived momentster, Li Fan called out in a deep voice, ¡°Don¡¯t step any closer!¡±

    Members of the Nie n had also perceived the anomaly and were arriving from every direction.

    Before long, more than a dozen Nie n members had gathered around Nie Tian¡¯s room.

    CRACKLE!

    Under the crowd¡¯s gaze, Nie Tian¡¯s small stone residence suddenly filled with rifts.

    One by one, bright rifts appeared, forming a crisscrosswork above the stone house, as if the space was being slit open by a knife.

    Strange light surged out of the rifts, like meteors, and shed across the unknown space inside the rifts.

    The space in the surrounding area became extremely unstable and the maic field became disordered, all while colorful sparks kept sshing out of the spatial rifts.

    The moment those sparks touched solid objects, they immediately exploded, creating violent shock waves.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s stone house finally exploded into fragments, and at the same time, those spatial rifts twisted and became more and more unstable.

    ¡°Everyone back off!¡±

    Li Fan was overwhelmed by the scene. With a loud shout, he warned the members of the Nie n to immediately leave the vicinity of the site.

    ¡°Stay away! Everyone keep their distance!¡±

    Nie Beichuan, who had just rushed to the site, also lost hisposure and loudly warned the crowd.

    Feeling the danger, the members of the Nie n all vacated the vicinity upon Li Fan and Nie Beichuan¡¯s orders.

    When they were about a hundred meters away, they felt somewhat safe, and thus turned around to refocus on the spatial disorder.

    Several observant members of the Nie n shouted out, their voices full of excitement and disbelief.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is in the rubble!¡±

    By that point, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had also noticed that a figure of a child was rising to their feet within the pile of rubble.

    Shockingly, that figure was Nie Tian!

    Nie Tian stood up straight up in the debris of the house, his face full of bewilderment. It seemed he was still confused and disoriented, unsure of what was happening.

    He raised his head, looking up at the twisting, wiggling spatial rifts above his head, then he subconsciously crouched down, fearing that hee into contact with those spatial rifts.

    ¡°Nobody move!¡± Li Fan warned in a loud voice as he stared at Nie Tian with burning eyes. ¡°Nie Tian! You too. Stay where you are and don¡¯t move!¡±

    ¡°Okay," Nie Tian said with the nod of a head.

    Li Fan took a deep breath before he took out a jade que and spoke excitedly into it, ¡°Master! A spatial disruption zone has formed in the Nie n!¡±

    A dignified and awe-inspiring voice came from within the jade que. ¡°Stay put! Don¡¯t do anything and I¡¯ll be there soon!¡±

    Upon hearing the voice, everyone including Nie Donghai and Nie Beichuan was shocked.

    They could distinctly tell the speaker was the master of the Cloudsoaring sect, Jiang Zhisu.

    The Nie n was merely one of the mortal ns that served the Cloudsoaring sect, and thus Jiang Zhisu had never visited.

    Even as nmasters, neither Nie Donghai nor Nie Beichuan had ever had the privilege to see Jiang Zhisu in person on the asions during which they had visited the Cloudsoaring sect.

    This time, Jiang Zhisu was actually going toe to the Nie n personally. This news shocked every member of the n.

    ¡°Everyone leave, except the nmaster!¡± After pondering for a moment, Li Fan pointed to Nie Donghai. ¡°You stay too. Everyone else leave! And keep your mouth shut about this! Don¡¯t you let out a word about the spatial disruption zone appearing in the Nie n!¡±

    ¡°What are you waiting for?!¡± Nie Beichuan yelled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear Mr. Li? Leave! Now!¡±

    Upon his order, the crowd of Nie n members who had gathered around the ce left the scene, even though they still had many questions and doubts in their hearts.

    Even Nie Qian, who had been worrying so much about Nie Tian, dragged her feet and left reluctantly upon Nie Donghai¡¯s urging.

    After the crowd had all left, Li Fan spoke, his expression very serious. ¡°This is a matter of great importance. My master is going to arrive soon. We¡¯ll wait for him here.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Nie Donghai and Nie Beichuan didn¡¯t know what to do, but nodded their heads to indicate they understood.

    However, just as they were waiting and preparing themselves to greet Jiang Zhisu, the mysterious spatial rifts that had appeared out of nowhere, gradually began to close up for no apparent reason.

    ¡°This is...¡± Nie Beichuan was shocked to his core.

    In a very short period of time, all the spatial rifts had disappeared into thin air.

    In addition, the distorted maic field slowly returned to normal, and the odd scenery in the sky also disappeared without leaving a trace.

    ¡°How could this be possible?¡± Li Fan was at a loss of words.

    But seeing the spatial rifts vanish, Nie Donghai put on a joyful look.

    Because he knew that meant Nie Tian were safe.

    Cringing in the pile of rubble, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t stop thinking about how all the anomalies had been caused by the animal bone in his hand. ¡°Spatial disruption zone, ripped-open space...¡±

    He bowed his head low and wondered how he was going to exin all this, while his eyes glittered with a strange light. ¡°The secrets of the animal bone must not be known! The mysteries of that mysticalnd must be gradually dug up by me and me alone!¡±

    Soon, he made up his mind and came up with an exnation in his head.

 Chapter 28: The Sectmaster Visits!

    Even as Nie Tian was lost in thought, the angry roars of Nie Nanshan, Nie Kan, and the others rang out from off in the distance.

    ¡°Who dares to trespass in the Nie n?¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Li Fan¡¯s expression flickered briefly, as if he knew the anomalies here had attracted the attention of some powerful expert.

    ¡°Scram! You stupid guards!¡± The charming voice of a woman rose up the distance, and soon after that, a red-garbed figure suddenly appeared in front of them.

    It was a tender and charming woman dressed in fiery red garments. Her earrings, the heart-shaped pendant hanging from her snow-white neck, and the bracelet on her slender jade arm all reflected precious lights of various colors.

    She was incredibly beautiful to begin with, but with the addition of all the precious jewelry, she seemed even more graceful and elegant.

    The moment the charming red-garbed womannded and saw Li Fan of the Cloudsoaring sect, she couldn¡¯t help but grin. ¡°Li Fan? Why are you here?¡±

    Li Fan snorted. Sounding irritated, he replied, ¡°This is the Nie n, one of our subordinate ns. Isn¡¯t it normal for me to be here? This isn¡¯t the An n. Howe you¡¯vepletely ignored the owner¡¯s defenses and barged in?¡±

    Nie Tian was astounded as he subconsciously fixed his eyes on that charming women in red. ¡°An Shiyi?¡±

    Having lived in ck Cloud City for so many years, he could instantly identify all of the powerful figures of the three major ns in ck Cloud City: the An n, the Nie n, and the Yun n.

    Over the years, the weakening of the Nie n had allowed theparative strength of the Yun n to grow. Now they ranked second among the three major ns of ck Cloud City.

    However, the An n had always been the strongest, and it was they who managed the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion in ck Cloud City.

    Just like the Cloudsoaring sect, the Spiritual Treasure sect was a powerful Qi warrior sect, and also the owner of the jewelry shop known as the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion. The An n represented them in ck Cloud City.

    ording to the rumors, it was all because of An Shiyi that the An n could maintain such a position in ck Cloud City.

    Supposedly, the reason that the woman held such an important post in the Spiritual Treasure sect was that not only did she possess extraordinary power, but she was also very good at sect politics and had made numerous contributions to the Spiritual Treasure sect. Hence, she was highly regarded by the sectmaster.

    Ever since she stepped out of the An n and be an important figure in the Spiritual Treasure sect, she had scarcely visited ck Cloud City.

    Nie Tian was surprised by the fact that one of the biggest names in ck Cloud City had suddenly showed up right there in front of him.

    Feeling Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, An Shiyi intentionally ignored Li Fan. Instead, she immediately smiled at Nie Tian and threw him a flirtatious wink. ¡°Am I pretty, young man?¡±

    Nie Tian, who was about to walk out of the debris, was stunned for a moment. He took a closer look at An Shiyi, before he grinned and said, ¡°Big sister, if I marry a woman in the future, I¡¯ll marry one exactly like you."

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± An Shiyi chuckled charmingly. ¡°You¡¯ve such a mouth on you! If I haven¡¯t married anyone by the time you¡¯ve grown up, then I¡¯ll marry you.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t think before promising.

    Nie Donghai stared nkly at Nie Tian, finding their conversation ridiculous and Nie Tianpletely imprudent.

    ¡°Watch yourself!¡± Nie Beichuan said with a harrumph.

    ¡°Miss An!¡± Li Fan reminded her, ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question yet!¡±

    An Shiyi still didn¡¯t bother to look at Li Fan. Instead she took out a crimson dagger from her pocket and threw it toward Nie Tian, saying with a flirtatious smile, ¡°It¡¯s yours now!¡±

    As the crimson dagger arced through the air toward him, it suddenly burst out in mes.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to catch it. He let the dagger drop to the ground, and then waited for the mes to go out. Then he winked at An Shiyi and said, ¡°Thank you for the token of love, big sister!"

    ¡°Hahaha! Such an interesting kid!¡± An Shiyi turned to Nie Donghai and smiled. ¡°Consider that dagger my token of apology for trespassing into the Nie n."

    Nie Donghai¡¯s face turned grim. Shaking his head, he said, ¡°I¡¯m no longer the master of the Nie n.¡±

    ¡°Oh." An Shiyi gently nodded, and then began to mutter in a voice that waspletely audible to Nie Beichuan. ¡°After so many secret moves, someone has finally got what he wanted. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be able to keep his position for long. He¡¯s too narrow-minded..."

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Nie Beichuan said angrily.

    An Shiyi nced at him with a face full of disdain and slowly said, ¡°I meant that the Nie n may never prosper again with you as their master.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Nie Beichuan fumed, his eyes ring. However, in fear of An Shiyi¡¯s status, he didn¡¯t dare to do anything further.

    ¡°Alright, enough jokes.¡± An Shiyi raised her eyebrow and finally looked over at Li Fan. Expression serious, she said, ¡°Some things can not be hidden. I noticed the the strong fluctuations and the ring spatial rifts from far away. Also, the maic field here is still obviously abnormal, so an unstable space disruption zone must have been formed here.

    ¡°Both you and I understand what it means when a space disruption zone is formed.

    ¡°If the Cloudsoaring sect intends to take it as their own and explore it by themselves, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be that easy!

    ¡°Anyone who sees it should have a share of it, so we, the Spiritual Treasure sect, demand our share!¡±

    ¡°This is the Nie n!¡± Li Fan replied indignantly. ¡°And the Nie n belongs to us. Since the space disruption zone showed up here, it ought to belong to us, the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    ¡°The Nie n is also a part of ck Cloud City,¡± An Shiyi argued. ¡°Since it showed up in ck Cloud City, the An n should obviously have the right to part of it!¡±

    As of this moment, Nie Tian had already extracted himself from the pile of rubble and walked over to Nie Donghai¡¯s side, holding the dagger An Shiyi had gifted him.

    Nie Donghai didn¡¯t pay any attention to the quarrel between Li Fan and An Shiyi. Instead he pulled Nie Tian closer and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    He didn¡¯t ask Nie Tian where he had been, but asked whether he was alright. Clearly, all he cared about was Nie Tian¡¯s safety.

    ¡°Grandpa, sorry for making you worry about me,¡± Nie Tian replied quietly. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Nie Donghai nodded and held back from asking any more questions, refocusing his attention on Li Fan and An Shiyi.

    At this moment, the greetings of Nie Nanshan and other members of the Nie n came from the distance.

    ¡°Sectmaster Jiang!¡±

    ¡°Greetings, sectmaster!¡±

    Hearing that Jiang Zhisu had arrived, An Shiyi instantly stopped arguing with Li Fan, and her expression grew calm yet serious.

    Nie Donghai turned to Nie Tian. Voice low, he said, ¡°The sectmaster is here. Think twice before you speak.¡± Nie Tian nodded.

    In a few seconds, the green-garbed Jiang Zhisu, apanied by Nie Nanshan, appeared right there in front of Nie Tian.

    As the master of the Cloudsoaring sect, Jiang Zhisu appeared to be only around forty-years-old, with a righteous face and a in expression that probably wouldn¡¯t change under any pressure or difficulty.

    Looking over at An Shiyi, he calmly said, ¡°So, you¡¯re here too, kiddo.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, uncle Jiang.¡± An Shiyi smoothed away all her sharp edges when facing him and pretended to be modest and virtuous. ¡°I happened to be in ck Cloud City when I sensed the changes caused by the spatial rifts appearing in the Nie n. That¡¯s why I decided toe over and see what was going on.¡±

    After pondering for a moment, she continued, ¡°Before I arrived, I didn¡¯t expect your honorable disciple Li Fan to be here. I was worried that members of the Nie n wouldn¡¯t understand the dangers of the spatial rifts, and might make unadvised moves to hurt themselves. I¡¯m only here to help.

    ¡°Fortunately, the space disruption zone wasn¡¯t fully formed. Apparently my worries were unfounded.¡±

    After hearing her exnation, Jiang Zhisu nodded. ¡°I also happened to overhear what you just said to Li Fan. If a space disruption zone were to bepletely formed in this ce, our Cloudsoaring sect would surely invite the Spiritual Treasure sect to explore it with us.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, uncle Jiang.¡± An Shiyi bowed to express her gratitude, and then she smiled at Nie Donghai. ¡°Sorry to have disturbed you.¡±

    After finishing these words, she winked at Nie Tian again and then left without a moment¡¯s hesitation.

    It seemed all she had been waiting for was Jiang Zhisu¡¯s promise. After getting it, she simply walked out of the Nie n, her mind settled.

    Jiang Zhisu looked at Li Fan and asked, ¡°Tell me what you¡¯ve seen, and don¡¯t leave out any details.¡±

    Li Fan held nothing back, thoroughly exining all the anomalies that he had witnessed in the Nie n.

    After he finished, Jiang Zhisu closed his eyes in thought for a while. Then he suddenly turned to Nie Tian and ordered, ¡°This child stays. All the other members of the Nie n may leave us for now.¡±

    Upon his order, Nie Donghai and his two brothers all bowed and then left, each with their own thoughts.

    After all of them were gone, Jiang Zhisu gazed at Nie Tian and asked with a warm tone, ¡°Child, I heard that you disappeared for ten days. Where were you during that time?¡±

    Nie Tian took a breath and answered with a serious face, ¡°Ten days ago, some simr spatial rifts appeared just like they did today. Then, I was sucked into one of them..."

    ¡°Sucked into it?¡± A strange light shed in Jiang Zhisu¡¯s eyes. ¡°Then what? What did you see? And how did youe back?¡±

    Nie Tian described everything with a fascinated look on his face, as if he were immersed in a dream. ¡°I saw a sky full of dazzling lights, as if there were countless meteors flying past me. It seemed like a magnificent dreand, with sparks of light everywhere, and raining meteors of various colors. It felt like I stayed there for a long time, but at the same time it also felt like I was there only for a short while.

    ¡°Then, for unknown reasons, I was dragged out and returned to the Nie n.

    ¡°I would¡¯ve never expected that ten days would have passed. It¡¯s all so weird.¡±

    Nie Tian had confusion written across his face, as if he truly had no idea of what had happened to him.

    Jiang Zhisu looked at him and listened to his story carefully. After quite a while, he nodded and gently said, ¡°Alright, you may go to your grandfather now.¡±

    Nie Tian awkwardly mimicked Nie Donghai¡¯s previous actions, bowing towards Jiang Zhisu, and then left.

    ¡°Master, do you think the child told the truth?" Li Fan asked.

    Jiang Zhisu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°That little punk dared to lie to you?¡± Li Fan said angrily. ¡°I¡¯ll call him back right now!¡±

    Jiang Zhisu shook his head, a strange look in his eyes. It seemed he also felt that Nie Tian had some guts. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if he was telling the truth. What matters the most is that something extraordinary indeed happened to him, right here."

    ¡°If we don¡¯t find out the truth, what should we do next?¡± Li Fan said indignantly.

    Jiang Zhisu rubbed his chin in thought and added, ¡°If it really was a space disruption zone that was on its way to being formed, it will show itself in the future. If it wasn¡¯t, then... there has to be something unusual about that child. I actually hope it was the child."

    ¡°What?!¡± Li Fan said, puzzled.

    Jiang Zisu continued to exin, profound meaning filling his words, ¡°Someone in our sect has already spotted him. Sooner orter, Nie Tian will be admitted into the Cloudsoaring sect. If it really was something on him that triggered the change, then after he bes a disciple of our sect, he will naturally be a powerful asset. In the following period of time, you will stay in the Nie n and see whether any more anomalies ur."

    ¡°I understand,¡± said Li Fan.

 Chapter 29: Strike With Anothers Power

    After bidding farewell to Jiang Zhisu, Nie Tian calmly went to find Nie Donghai.

    Arge number of Nie n members were gathered at one of their major pavilions. Not only were Nie Donghai and his brothers there, but even members of the second generation were there, including Nie Qian and Nie Kan.

    The moment Nie Tian arrived, he discovered that his grandfather looked rather grim and Nie Qian¡¯s face was full of grievances. It appeared that they had been arguing with Nie Beichuan.

    Nie Kan turned his head and saw Nie Tianing their way, and then immediately announced, ¡°Nie Tian is here.¡±

    In a instant, all gazes were fixed upon Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian, has sectmaster Jiang left?¡± Nie Nanshan asked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Nie Tian nodded. ¡°He asked me a few questions, talked to Mr. Li, and then left.¡±

    Hearing that Jiang Zhisu had left, every member of the Nie n seemed to have a huge burden lifted off their shoulders and suddenly felt relieved.

    Jiang Zhisu was so widely respected and feared by the Nie n that whenever he was around, nobody even dared to speak in loud voice.

    ¡°What did the sectmaster ask you?¡± Nie Beichuan said with a straight face.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t hesitate a bit to repeat Jiang Zhisu¡¯s questions and how he answered.

    ¡°You were sucked into a spatial rift and somehow magically returned to our n?¡± Nie Beichuan had a strange look on his face, and was staring at Nie Tian with doubtful eyes, as if he hoped to find a loophole in the story from Nie Tian¡¯s expression alone.

    Under his gaze, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word, and actually appeared quiteposed.

    After gazing for a while, Nie Beichuan failed to find anything, then suddenly said, ¡°The dagger An Shiyi gave you was a token of apology for trespassing on the Nie n¡¯s property, thus it should be turned over to the storehouse.¡±

    Nie Donghai let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Second brother!¡±

    Nie Qian also angrily said, ¡°She clearly stated that it was a gift to Little Tian, so it should belong to Little Tian. Why should he turn it in?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment. However it only took a moment before he realized what Nie Qian had been arguing with Nie Beichuan about.

    Nie Beichuan raised his voice and held his head high, ncing around at certain other n members. ¡°I am the master of the Nie n! An Shiyi must atone for barging into the Nie n¡¯s property regardless of our defenses, and she said herself that the dagger in Nie Tian¡¯s hand was the atonement!¡±

    The majority of the n members who he looked at chimed in.

    ¡°The nmaster is right.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a reasonable solution.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only fair!¡±

    Only a small percentage of n members seemed to support Nie Donghai. But knowing Nie Beichuan¡¯s power has been gradually increasing, even if they were dissatisfied inside, not a single one of them dared to speak up.

    Nie Qian bit her lip, her bright eyes filled with rage and resentment.

    Nie Donghai was utterly disappointed in the n members. He sighed and prepared to persuade Nie Tian to hand over the dagger.

    ¡°Just now...¡± Nie Tian gradually lifted his dagger-holding hand and while smiling said, ¡°After answering sectmaster Jiang¡¯s questions, I took out the dagger, told him it didn¡¯t belong to me, and said that I wanted to hand it over to Mr. Li.

    ¡°However, sectmaster Jiang said that since it was gifted to me, I should keep it and protect it, not letting down An Shiyi¡¯s good intentions.

    ¡°But...¡± He halted briefly, and looked at Nie Beichuan. ¡°Since the nmaster says the dagger needs to be turned in, I¡¯ll turn it in.¡±

    With these words, he spread open his hand, waiting for Nie Ping, the person in charge of the storehouse, toe and collect it.

    However, right after he finished hisments, those n members who previously mored and demanded him to hand over the dagger, suddenly all shut up.

    Even Nie Beichuan had various expressions shing across his face.

    The truth was that he couldn¡¯t tell whether Nie Tian was telling the truth.

    If it was true, and Jiang Zhisu really had said those words, then he... absolutely didn¡¯t dare to contradict his will.

    Not to mention that Jiang Zhisu had already left; even if he was still in the Nie n, Nie Beichuan wouldn¡¯t dare to go to him to verify Nie Tian¡¯s im.

    He even wouldn¡¯t want to seek proof from Li Fan, in case Li Fan might think less of him.

    The dagger almost immediately became a bit of an eyesore to him.

    Nie Beichuan remained silent with an unreadable expression. Nie Tian raised his hand and waved the crimson dagger, shouting, ¡°Uncle Nie Ping?¡±

    Nie Ping was one of Nie Beichuan¡¯s trusted aides. Recently, he had deliberately set up obstacles for Nie Qian when she traded for mecloud gems, and had deducted many mecloud gems from Nie Qian¡¯s transactions.

    However, when Nie Tian simply stood there waiting for him to collect the dagger, he suddenly didn¡¯t know what to do.

    He couldn¡¯t help but looked timidly at Nie Beichuan.

    Seeing that Nie Ping didn¡¯t dare to collect it, Nie Tian voluntarily stepped forward and shoved it into his hands with a smile. ¡°Here you go. Later, I¡¯ll go tell Mr. Li that I¡¯ve turned that dagger over to the Nie n¡¯s storehouse. After all, I¡¯m too young, and how unseemly would it be if I were to hold such a high-ranked spiritual tool, right?¡±

    Even though he didn¡¯t know much about the ranking system of spiritual tools, he knew that this dagger from An Shiyi was an extraordinary object.

    ¡°What? No!¡± The moment Nie Ping heard that Nie Tian was going to inform Li Fan, he shivered with terror. It was as if the dagger had suddenly turned into a scalding hot item of trouble. Without any hesitation, he shoved it back into Nie Tian¡¯s hands as fast as he could.

    Then, he turned and looked at Nie Beichuan with a helpless look on his face, as if he were about to cry.

    Nie Beichuan was also shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s action. He took a deep look at Nie Tian, and with no other choice, he said, ¡°Since sectmaster Jiang told you to keep it, then you¡¯d better take good care of it.¡±

    ¡°Oh, alright then,¡± Nie Tian said indifferently. ¡°Thanks a lot, nmaster.¡±

    Before, he had always addressed Nie Beichuan as ¡°second grandpa¡±, but after Nie Beichuan had assumed nmaster, he became more and more excessive. Thus, he no longer addressed Nie Beichuan that way, but rather called him ¡°nmaster¡±, as an outsider would.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s heart, Nie Beichuan no longer deserve to be called ¡°grandpa¡±.

    Nie Donghai let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Can we go now?¡±

    Nie Beichuan didn¡¯t say a word.

    Nie Donghai then turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. You stay with me for the next few days.¡±

    As they spoke, Nie Donghai led Nie Tian away, towards the quiet stone pavilion that he currently lived in. Holding her chin high, Nie Qian caught up with them, feeling quite content.

    After arriving at the stone pavilion, Nie Donghai closed the door before he stroking Nie Tian¡¯s head affectionately. Smiling, he said, ¡°Smart kid.¡±

    Nie Tianughed softly, well aware that Nie Donghai had seen through his trick of deliberately pressuring Nie Beichuan with Jiang Zhisu.

    Nie Qian was eager to ask Nie Tian what had happened during the past ten days. ¡°Little Tian, during the time you were gone...¡±

    Nie Donghai threw her a fierce re, stopping her from finishing her question. Then, he led them to the study, where he grabbed a brush pen and started to write rapidly on a piece of paper.

    On the paper, Nie Donghai wrote with vigorous strokes, ¡°Never tell anyone about what you¡¯ve actually experienced or witnessed over the past ten days. With the sectmaster¡¯s cultivation base, even though we are five thousand meters apart, he is still able to hear every single word you say if he wants to. This includes even your whispers! Plus, we don¡¯t have the ability to seal off our voices.¡±

    Seeing these words, Nie Qian suddenly became vignt, and didn¡¯t dare to say another word.

    Nie Tian also gently nodded his head.

    As of this moment, he realized that,pared to his grandfather, Nie Beichuan had been extremely stupid.

    Since Jiang Zhisu was able to overhear their conversations from far away, he could also hear what Nie Beichuan had said to Nie Tian as long as he wanted to.

    As intelligent and experienced as Jiang Zhisu was, it was very likely that he had secretly paid attention and got truthful answers to his questions.

    Perhaps, Jiang Zhisu was eavesdropping on their conversation right now...

    Nie Beichuan didn¡¯t realize this, and thus acted narrow-mindedly. If Jiang Zhisu did hear his words, it would undoubtedly have left Jiang Zhisu with a sour taste in his mouth.

    In fact, it had.

    At this very moment, outside ck Cloud City, Jiang Zhisu smiled to himself. ¡°What a smart boy.¡±

    After these words, he waited no more. Blurring into action, he flew towards the Cloudsoaring Mountain like a red bolt of lightning.

    It was impossible for him to waste too much energy on the Nie n.

    Since he couldn¡¯t easily determine what had truly urred, he could only leave temporarily and dig up the truth bit by bit in the future.

 Chapter 30: Li Fans Incitement!

    Li Fan spent the following three months in the Nie n, observing the area where the spatial rifts had opened up.

    Unfortunately, after three months of waiting, Li Fan failed to witness any reappearances.

    However, the news of a space disruption zone appearing in the Nie n quietly spread throughout the whole of ck Cloud City. Quite a few foreign Qi warriors began to show up, one after another, to wander the perimeter of the Nie n.

    Because Li Fan had been staying in the Nie n, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian seldom went to talk to Nie Tian. They intentionally showed little interest in Nie Tian¡¯s situation.

    Both of them understood that as long as Li Fan was in the Nie n, any conversations they had with Nie Tian would very likely be overheard.

    Nie Tian himself understood the degree ofplexity of the situation. For three whole months, he spent most of his time in his residence, not daring to further study the profundity of the one punch he had learned from that mysteriousnd.

    He was worried that Li Fan might pick up on some inkling of the matter from the most subtle details.

    Meanwhile, inside the An n...

    Three Qi warriors from the Spiritual Treasure sect returned from the Nie Family veryte at night to find An Shiyi.

    They were led by a short, chubby fellow named Qiu Heng, whose face was filled with a warm, perpetual smile. He was An Shiyi¡¯s martial uncle, and he knew a thing or two about the mysteries of spatial force.

    After a moment of pondering, Qiu Heng said, ¡°Kiddo, that space disruption zone hasn¡¯t showed up again for three months. During that time, I secretly approached and investigated the area, but found no anomalies of space movement. In my opinion, I¡¯m afraid it was an ident and another space disruption zone will probably not appear.¡±

    One of hispanions added, ¡°We¡¯ve taken turns and waited for three months now. We can assure you that nothing abnormal has urred in that area during this time.¡±

    The three of them had been taking shifts to closely watch the Nie n. If any anomalies popped up, they would have definitely caught them.

    After such a long time, with not even the slightest of unusual activities urring, they had privately begun to believe that spatial disorder which appeared in the Nie Family was perhaps merely an ident.

    Each of them were in high posts and had important duties in the Spiritual Treasure sect, thus it was impossible for them to stay for an extended duration in ck Cloud City.

    Finding An Shiyi today and making thesements, they clearly intended to leave.

    ¡°It seems we need to think about things from a different angle.¡± The curvaceous and alluring An Shiyi sank back into the soft couch. With one hand propping up her delicate chin and her beautiful eyes glimmering with intelligence, she smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s a child from the Nie n called Nie Tian, who mysteriously disappeared for ten days before the incident had urred. During the ten days he was gone, the Cloudsoaring sect put in a surprisingly concerted effort to find him. Even Li Fan himself pulled a lot of strings.

    ¡°Both the Yun n and the Yuan n were turned upside down.

    ¡°This is no coincidence.¡±

    ¡°I got to the site immediately after detecting the abnormal fluctuations in the Nie n, and that kid instantly caught my eyes.

    ¡°At first I didn¡¯t know that he was the same Nie Tian who had disappeared for ten days.

    ¡°After vanishing for ten days with no exnation, he happened to reappear in the Nie n exactly when space was ripped open. I have reason to believe that he must have entered a mysterious dimension through a spatial rift.

    ¡°What¡¯s more, living creatures can obviously remain alive within the dimension. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to make it back alive.¡±

    With these words, An Shiyi suddenly recalled her conversation with Nie Tian in the Nie n three months ago, and couldn¡¯t help but snort withughter.

    The three powerful Qi warriors from the Spiritual Treasure sect had originally been focused on her spections. However, the dim room seemed to be suddenly lit up by her sweet and charming chuckle.

    As they watched An Shiyi, they appeared to have somewhat drifted off and momentarily lost themselves in her astonishing charm.

    Qiu Heng was the first to regain his senses. ring at her, he rebuked, ¡°Quit ying and finish what you¡¯re saying!¡±

    An Shiyi stuck out her tongue, smiled, and said, ¡°Since nothing unusual has happened in the Nie n, perhaps we should focus on that kid Nie Tian and figure out where he had been during the ten days that he was missing.

    ¡°I have a hunch that the the abnormal activity in the Nie n is most likely rted to that kid.¡±

    ¡°You think it was caused by the boy?¡± Qiu Heng¡¯s expression flickered, as if he were considering something. He nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s indeed a possibility. Some people with special inner attributes, or those who possesses miraculous items, could indeed trigger a disorder of space. But that kid... is merely a teenager. With such a low cultivation base, could he have truly caused something like that?¡±

    ¡°Martial uncle, please stay for a few more days,¡± An Shiyi pleaded. ¡°I¡¯ll make a n and set something up to see if we can get the truth from Nie Tian.¡±

    Qiu Heng nodded in agreement. ¡°Okay then.¡±

    An abrupt appearance of an unknown space disruption zone was of great significance, which could possibly change the destiny of a Qi warrior¡¯s sect.

    Due to this reason, upon hearing about the anomaly in the Nie n, they had rushed from the Spiritual Treasure sect to this location, hoping to get a share of the profits from the hands of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Having discovered no trace of any unusual activities after waiting for three months, they were rather embarrassed to report back to the sect leaders, therefore they would rather help An Shiyi carry out her new n.

    ...

    At the same time, back in the Nie n, Nie Kan anxiously barged into Nie Beichuan¡¯s ice-cold cultivation chamber with a grim look on his face. Apparently, he didn¡¯t care at all that it was the dead of night. ¡°Father! Something big has happened!¡±

    "What¡¯s wrong?" Nie Beichuan let out a mouthful of frost mist, looking somewhat irritated by the sudden intrusion. ¡°Why the panic? What happened exactly? Li Fan is here, isn¡¯t he? He wouldn¡¯t just sit around and let things get out of control.¡±

    Nie Kan continued, ¡°I just got the news that after months of relentless hard work, we¡¯ve finally clear the blockage and reopened the mine.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it supposed to be a good news?¡± Nie Beichuan asked, confused.

    The lifeline of the entire Nie ny in the mecloud gem mine. After thest copse, they had taken advantage of the opportunity and forced Nie Xiang to abdicate, arranging for another n elder on their side to manage the mine exploitation.

    That n elder hired a huge amount ofborers from ck Cloud City to clear the fallen stones in the mine, in order to exhibit his capability.

    It should have taken longer to clear up the blocked mine, but it was reopened ahead of time under their unrelenting efforts.

    ¡°The thing is... apparently there are no more mecloud gems in the mine!¡± Nie Kan¡¯s voice trembled slightly.

    Nie Beichuan sprung to his feet and yelled, ¡°It¡¯s impossible! Not long ago, the Cloudsoaring sect sent a Qi warrior, an expert in mineral surveying, to examine that mine. ording to him, with our mining speed, we should be able to continue mining for another several decades. How could he have been mistaken?¡±

    Expression bitter, Nie Kan said, ¡°They performed a thorough investigation, but couldn¡¯t find even one more mecloud gem.¡±

    ¡°Impossible! How could that be possible?!¡± Nie Beichuan appeared to be at aplete loss.

    He clearly knew the only reason the Nie n was epted and sheltered by the Cloudsoaring sect over the years was that they had always mined for the Cloudsoaring sect.

    If the Nie n were to lose the mine, they would very likely be abandoned by the Cloudsoaring sect, and thus lose their protection.

    It would be extremely hard for a n to maintain its foothold in ck Cloud City without someone to rely on. At that time, the An n and the Yun n would be able to treat the Nie n without the slightest scruple.

    Nie Beichuan panicked. ¡°Lock down this news temporarily. I need to personally visit the mine to confirm whether or not it¡¯s true!¡±

    The next day...

    After realizing that he was waiting in vain, Li Fan decided to leave. He didn¡¯t talk to Nie Beichuan before he left, but instead he went to Nie Donghai¡¯s small, five-floored pavilion.

    Upon arrival, he also had Nie Donghai call Nie Tian to the first floor.

    Soon after, Nie Tian came down from the third floor and saluted Li Fan, ¡°Greetings, Mr. Li.¡±

    Li Fan seemed a bit unhappy, and yet he said, ¡°No need to be so courteous. Call me uncle Li from now on.¡± Ever since learning from his master Jiang Zhisu that Nie Tian had dared to spin such a huge lie to his master, he had always considered him to be a little punk full of vile tricks.

    Therefore, seeing Nie Tian again, he couldn¡¯t help but hold a little grudge against him. He naturally put on a long face.

    ¡°Very well,¡± Nie Tian replied obediently. ¡°Uncle Li.¡±

    Li Fan didn¡¯t spare Nie Donghai a nce. He stared at Nie Tian and said, ¡°It¡¯s been three months. There still haven¡¯t been any unusual or special activities. I can¡¯t stay in the Nie n permanently, so I¡¯ll return to the Cloudsoaring sect today. You were pulled into that space rift, so some level of panic and confusion are inevitable. Perhaps some things slipped your mind due to excessive fear...¡±

    After pausing for a moment, he continued, ¡°If you ever remember anything, you can alwayse to the Cloudsoaring sect and tell me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve said all that I can say,¡± Nie Tian replied in a low voice.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, really.¡±

    Li Fan¡¯s mouth twitched. After a moment of thought, he suddenly burst intoughter. ¡°Well then. I won¡¯t burden you with more questions today. If you think of anything in the future, remember toe find me in the Cloudsoaring sect.

    ¡°If you remember something that turns out to help the Cloudsoaring sect, it will be considered an act of meritorious service on your part.

    ¡°You know that we¡¯ve always been generous towards those who make huge contributions. With such a significant contribution, you won¡¯t have to wait till you are fifteen or till you reach the ninth level of Qi Refining; you would be directly epted by the Cloudsoaring sect and be a true disciple!¡±

    Upon these words, Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. Nie Tian¡¯s heart was also secretly shaken.

    Bing a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect had always been the ultimate goal for the young generation of the Nie n, and Nie Tian was no exception.

    Li Fan¡¯s remarks made him understand that all the so-called rules werepletely subject to the interpretation of the rule makers!

    For decades, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen had been the condition for the Cloudsoaring sect to ept children of the Nie n as their disciples.

    Members of the Nie n had never dared to even think about breaking the rule.

    However, as the rule makers, the Cloudsoaring sect could change the rules that had been around for decades and immediately make him a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, all with a few mere words!

    Truth be told, such incitement... was extremely appealing to him!

    Seeing that both Nie Donghai and Nie Tian were tempted, Li Fan chuckled and added, ¡°Not only that. If your contribution was great enough, I can assure you that your grandfather will be made head of the Nie n again! Even your grandfather¡¯s injuries are notpletely incurable. Because of you, your grandfather may regain the hope of making a breakthrough in his cultivation!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the gaunt Nie Donghai briefly quivered, and his eyes glittered with the light of hope.

 Chapter 31: Unswayed

    To break the rules and directly be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect!

    To help his grandfather reim the position of nmaster; to fully heal his injuries and give him the chance to continue treading path of cultivation!

    What Li Fan had offered was so appealing to Nie Tian that he was on the verge of revealing the truth in exchange for all the benefits.

    However, just when he was going to open his mouth, he suddenly thought of the miracles within that miraculous world.

    The eight huge fire dragons, the ancient, dpidated altar, and the giant arms that pointed to the heavens were all extremely fascinating, and had been haunting his mind day and night.

    He had the vague feeling that,pared to the wonders of that mysterious world, Li Fan¡¯s offer was not even worth mentioning.

    However, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t bear to see Nie Donghai keep struggling in his current state, with injuries that had been dragging him down for years. He wanted to relieve his grandfather of his miseries by telling the truth.

    He ached over the tough choice, and couldn¡¯t help but look over at Nie Donghai, as if begging to be rescued.

    He noticed that Nie Donghai had taken in a deep breath to calm himself, and was now wearing an unwavering expression.

    ¡°What? Did you remember something?¡± Li Fan threw an inciting nce at Nie Tian while simultaneously thinking to himself, ¡°How can a little kid like you not be moved by such temptations?¡±

    He truly believed Nie Tian was about to spill the truth.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t remember anything.¡± Nie Tian shook his head bitterly. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll think of something in the future. Once I do, I¡¯ll definitely go find you, uncle Li.¡±

    ¡°Little bastard!¡± Li Fan cursed in his heart. Finally giving up, he said, ¡°Ok, never mind. You¡¯d better take care of yourself and be extra careful. If you¡¯re abducted again, we¡¯d have to send out a lot of people to look for you all over the world again.¡±

    With these words, Li Fan didn¡¯t pause for a second before leaving.

    After he stepped out of the gate, Nie Donghai looked Nie Tian in the eye, signaling for him to remain silent for the moment.

    A quarter-hourter, when Nie Donghai was convinced that Li Fan was long gone, he finally said, ¡°We¡¯re good now.¡±

    Nie Tian felt guilty and was eager to exin. ¡°Grandfather, I...¡±

    Nie Donghai waved his hand and said, ¡°You¡¯re no longer a child. I trust your judgement. Considering you didn¡¯t tell Li Fan the truth, I can well imagine that the wonders you encountered must have been beyond my imagination.¡±

    Nie Tian bowed his head and said in a low voice, ¡°I feel like if I make full use of my miraculous encounters, then even if I can¡¯t enter the Cloudsoaring sect, I should be able to make extraordinary achievements. I also believe that someday, I can personally help you reim the position of nmaster and heal your injuries.

    Nie Donghai was deeply moved. More certain than ever that Nie Tian had experienced some very unusual encounters, he said, ¡°From now on, you have to seal that secret up tight! Don¡¯t reveal it to anyone before you are strong enough to keep it safe personally! Including me! And your aunt!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded his head resolutely. ¡°I understand.¡±

    He secretly vowed that in the future he would make up for the things Nie Donghai had missed because of him keeping the secrets of that mysterious world. In fact, he would pay him back in double.

    At that moment, Nie Qian walked in with a pink envelope in her hand, and stared at Nie Tian with a strange expression. Turning to Nie Donghai, she said, ¡°Father, the An n has sent us a letter. I can¡¯t believe that An Shiyi wants to invite Little Tian to their n.¡±

    ¡°An Shiyi?¡± Nie Donghai frowned and said, ¡°Tell the messenger that Nie Tian has fallen ill, and he won¡¯t be able to leave his residence.¡±

    "Okay." Nie Qian nodded her head and red at Nie Tian. ¡°Well this is what you get when you try your hand at flirting when so young! Happy now? It won¡¯t be long before that temptresses knocking.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled embarrassedly, lowering his gaze.

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Nie Donghai harrumphed coldly. ¡°That girl never does things without nning ahead. Considering how she rose up in ck Cloud City, and managed to be so popr in the Spiritual Treasure sect, what do you think she¡¯s been relying on?¡±

    Before Nie Qian could open her mouth, Nie Donghai grimaced and continued, ¡°After failing to observe another anomaly, she must want to dig into Little Tian and ask where he was during the ten days he went missing.¡±

    Nie Qian was also curious about the truth. ¡°I noticed that Mr. Li just left, so...¡±

    ¡°From now on, you aren¡¯t allowed to ask any more questions regarding that matter!¡± Nie Donghai said sternly.

    ¡°Fine," Nie Qian replied, clearly not very happy.

    ¡°Go respond to the An n.¡± After instructing her to leave, Nie Donghai turned back to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Remember, stay away from An Shiyi. She is the most terrifying character in ck Cloud City. Several years ago, the Yun n attempted to challenge the An n¡¯s position in ck Cloud City. The results were that arge number of them were either killed or severely injured.

    ¡°From what I know, most of those members of the Yun n died by her hands.

    ¡°Her path to the Spiritual Treasure sect was also soaked in blood. That woman never shows mercy. She has even killed more than a few Qi warriors of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°You might not know it, but after she returned to ck Cloud City, the Yun n suddenly became obedient again. Compared to her, Yuan Qiuying is nothing.¡±

    From the way he talked, it was obvious that Nie Donghai feared An Shiyi, and was worried that Nie Tian might unwittingly offend her.

    Nie Tian was secretly shocked. ¡°I¡¯ll do as you say.¡±

    He knew that An Shiyi was fierce, but he didn¡¯t expect her to be so fierce that even his grandfather considered her to be the most terrifying character in ck Cloud City.

    Nie Donghai tousled his hair and said, ¡°Alright. No need to worry too much. In that woman¡¯s eyes, you, and in fact the entire Nie n, are nobodies. And after all, we have the Cloudsoaring sect to back us. As long as you stay in our n, she will have to give face to the Cloudsoaring sect, and won¡¯t dare to act recklessly. Li Fan is gone. You don¡¯t need to be so cautious from now on. Why don¡¯t you try and study the dagger An Shiyi gave you? Plus... whatever matters you were avoiding earlier, you may try and engage with them now.¡±

    After making thesements, he seemed to have remembered something all of a sudden, so he added meaningfully, ¡°However, it would be better if strange things like spatial rifts do not reappear in our n ever again, so that we could avoid new troubles.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Nie Tian clearly understood what his grandfather meant.

    ¡°You may take your leave now." Nie Donghai waved his hand.

    Nie Tian immediately went back to the third floor.

    During the past three months, he had feared that Li Fan might notice something, hence he didn¡¯t dare to touch the animal bone.

    He even didn¡¯t dare to take the liberty to touch the dagger An Shiyi had given him as a gift, which ording to Nie Donghai was a Medium grade spiritual tool.

    Spiritual tools were divided into five grades: Elementary, Medium, Premium, Spirit Channeling, and Immortal. There were seven levels in each grade.

    Cultivation bases of Qi warriors were divided into ten stages: Qi Refining, Lesser Heaven, Heaven, Greater Heaven, Worldly Realm, Profound Realm, Soul Realm, Void Domain, Saint Domain, and God Domain. (I changed the Mortal Realm into Worldly Realm and Mystery Realm into Profound Realm to better fit the original meaning.)

    Normally speaking, a Qi warrior of the Qi Refining stage or Lesser Heaven stage would be able to fully exhibit their power with a Elementary grade spiritual tool.

    A Qi warrior should at least reach the Heaven stage to be able to fully disy the power of a medium grade spiritual tool.

    In the entire Nie n, Medium grade spiritual tools were extremely rare.

    That was the reason why Nie Beichuan didn¡¯t care about losing face and demanded the dagger when he realized that what An Shiyi had gifted was a Medium grade spiritual tool.

    ¡°A Medium grade spiritual tool,¡± Nie Tian murmured. ¡°That woman... was indeed generous with treasures.¡±

    He took out the forearm-length crimson dagger, stroking his finger down the shiny, smooth surface and trying to use his spiritual power to trigger it to change.

    BZZ!BZZ!

    One after another, thin but dense threads of crimson me instantly appeared from the dagger.

    As the crimson dagger released me energy, its tip started to emanate powerful mes!

    By this point, the animal bone in his waist pocket seemed to have suddenly started to interact with the dagger, and became scorching hot.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t bear the heat and took the animal bone out from his waist pocket.

    A strange attractive force was suddenly generated around the animal bone, as Nie Tian could clearly see the originally straight strings of light emanating from the tip of the dagger being bent into arches and trapped by the animal bone.

    In the next moment, he saw the strings of red light emanating from the tip of the dagger being absorbed.

    Dense strands of crimson me were vanishing from the sides of the dagger at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye.

    Soon the previously mysterious dagger was reduced to an ordinary item, dark andpletely lifeless.

    PUFF!

    Atst, a strange sound came from within the dagger, as if some restrictive spell werepletely destroyed.

    At the same time.

    An Shiyi received the message that Nie Donghai explicitly rejected her invitation on behalf of Nie Tian.

    PUFF!

    A strange sound that was identical to that of the one emitted by the dagger rang out from something within her sleeves, and she couldn¡¯t help but make a ¡°Hum?!¡± sound.

    ¡°The Nie n is so poor and weak now, so they definitely wouldn¡¯t destroy a medium grade spiritual tool for no reason. The Crimson Sun Dagger was in that kid¡¯s hands, and now it ispletely destroyed. This is interesting.

    ¡°I am truly intrigued.¡±

 Chapter 32: A Style of Punching!

    ¡°It¡¯s destroyed...¡±

    Inside the room, Nie Tian stared nkly at the dagger, which was already dark, lifeless, and drained of spirit. He suddenly felt somewhat depressed.

    There were only a few spiritual tools of Medium grade in the entire Nie n. His grandfather used to have one, but he sold it at a low price several years ago, and used the money to try to find a cure for his disease.

    Nie Tian also understood that the only reason An Shiyi had generously gifted him this Medium grade spiritual tool was that Jiang Zhisu had been present at that time.

    It was such a precious item, and he had lost it to the animal bone before he could properly explore its secrets.

    ring at the animal bone with intense hatred, he couldn¡¯t hold back from cursing. ¡°What a waste! What a waste!¡±

    BZZZ!

    Little fragmented mes started to spark in the animal bone, swiftly gathering in its center, and then rushing towards the drop of crimson blood.

    ¡°Yee?!¡± He eximed as he pressed his finger on the animal bone, which had be scalding hot again. He quickly discovered that the shrunken drop of blood was now growingrger again.

    He immediately understood that he had just replenished the energy of the animal bone, which had been consumed when it split space and brought him to that mysteriousnd.

    ¡°It won¡¯t trigger another spatial disorder, will it?¡± he thought nervously.

    Li Fan had spent three whole months waiting for another spatial rift to open up. Now, even though Li Fan was gone, there were still numerous unidentified Qi warriors wandering about outside of the Nie n.

    All of them had gathered there because of the unusual spatial fluctuations that emerged in the Nie n.

    If another spatial rift reappeared in the Nie n now that Li Fan had returned to the Cloudsoaring Mountain, those Qi warriors would probably rush into the Nie n and explore the secrets of the spatial disorder, regardless of the price they might end up paying.

    As powerful as they were, the Nie n would be totally incapable of stopping them, and the secrets to his animal bone might also be exposed in the process.

    He pressed his finger closely on the animal bone, calling out in his heart and praying for nothing to happen. ¡°Don¡¯t! Please don¡¯t!¡±

    Although he wished to visit that mysteriousnd again to explore its profound secrets, this wasn¡¯t the time. Once the animal bone caused a spatial disorder, he would immediately fall into a maelstrom of huge troubles.

    As the animal bone grew hotter and hotter, it almost seemed as if it could hear his inner cries.

    The change he feared might happen didn¡¯t ur. After converging all the me power from the Crimson Sun Dagger into the drop of blood, the animal bone once again became quiet.

    As anxious as he was, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to probe the drop of blood with his spiritual awareness, therefore he quickly put it back into his waist pocket.

    After a while, when not a single bit of heat was emanating from the animal bone, and no change had urred, he felt a bit of relief.

    Then he frowned deeply. ¡°This won¡¯t do,¡± he thought. ¡°As long as I¡¯m in the Nie n, I won¡¯t be able to freely explore the wonders of the animal bone. I have to think of an alternative.¡±

    However, after thinking long and hard, he failed toe up with a good solution.

    He was still too young, and his cultivation base was merely in the sixth level of Qi Refining. Between ck Cloud City and the Cloudsoaring Mountain was a vast and dense forest, and Qi warriors from the Cloudsoaring sect or ck Cloud City constantly roamed it. If he triggered an unusual spatial disorder, those powerful Qi warriors would very likely notice.

    If he were then found by the Qi warriors from the Cloudsoaring sect, he would probably be safe; however the mysterious item on him would undoubtedly be hard to keep concealed.

    If it were Qi warriors from the An n or the Yun n that found him, he doubted that he would return to the Nie n alive.

    Furthermore, there were spirit beasts constantly foraging in the wildnds to the north of ck Cloud City. Exploring the secrets of the animal bone there would ensure that his chances of getting killed would be even higher.

    ¡°After all, I¡¯m not strong enough...¡± After pondering for awhile, he decided that leaving ck Cloud City and entering the deste and uninhabitednd would not be a wise idea. Hence, he had to give it up for the time being.

    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll try to grasp the essence of that fist strike. I¡¯ll wait until I¡¯m powerful enough, then I¡¯ll go out of ck Cloud City to explore the miracles of the animal bone.¡±

    With these thoughts, he adjusted his breathing and tossed any thoughts of the animal bone out of his head. After calming down, he tried to fill his heart with rage.

    All of a sudden, a force of anger and frenzy, as well as a begrudging mood, started to build up in his heart.

    As he recalled the gesture of the giant hand reaching into the heavens, he gradually lifted his arm and pointed to the ceiling, imitating the gesture.

    After his wrath was umted to a certain degree and his eyes seemed to be filled with burning me of rage, he suddenly felt the spiritual power in his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea flowing uncontrobly towards his own raised arm.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    He couldn¡¯t help but howling out loud as a force of rage poured into his meridians and converged into his spiritual power.

    A wild and ancient aura was released from his body. As of this moment, it seemed as if he had suddenly be the reincarnation of an ancient giant spirit, full of the courage to battle against the heaven and earth.

    The spiritual power violently rushed into his fist. An intense urge to unleash the wild and uncontroble power spurred him to explode into action!

    He sensed that he had to let off the furious spiritual power fluctuations gathered in his fist!

    His clenched fist violently smashed down on the stone table in front of him, and all of the suppressed power instantly found an outlet.

    CRACKLE!

    All of a sudden, the door-sized table was shattered into small pieces, and the fragmented stones shot out in every direction, filling the entire room.

    After the blow, he was surprised to discover that he waspletely drained of spiritual power!

    The spiritual power in his spiritual sea appeared to be emptied, not leaving a slightest bit!

    Totally depleted of strength, he copsed to the ground and his face grew pale due to overexertion.

    He was surrounded by countless shattered stones. After his strike wasplete, therger stones continued the process of fracturing, breaking up up into even smaller pieces.

    The room was filled with the intense emotion of rage which he had attached to his fist!

    It wasn¡¯t until some time had passed that the rage finally dissipated into the heaven and earth.

    Looking at stone fragments falling to the floor and the gravel-filled room, Nie Tian let out a bellow of rage. ¡°What a violent power!¡±

    The stone table had been crafted from an extremely solid b of green rock!

    Even though green rocks were not considered spiritual materials, the formidable ns in ck Cloud City all used it as a construction material, due to its toughness.

    A rock was a rock, and was definitely tougher than the body of a Qi warrior with a low cultivation base.

    ording to Nie Qian, Qi warriors who had just entered Lesser Heaven stage would need to use spiritual power to strengthen their body, so as to match the hardness of the green rock.

    Strengthened by their spiritual power, Qi warriors with a mid-stage orte-stage of Lesser Heaven cultivation base could be tougher than the green rock.

    However, before reaching the Lesser Heaven stage, even if they wrapped himself in spiritual power, a Qi warrior wouldn¡¯t be able to match the toughness of the green rock.

    Since his rage-filled fist strike could shatter a piece of green rock, in the event that he struck a Qi warrior¡¯s body, that Qi warrior would only be able to survive if his cultivation base had reached or surpassed Lesser Heaven.

    Qi warriors who had just entered the Lesser Heaven stage might be killed instantly by a single blow.

    And those with a simr cultivation base to his own, Qi warriors of the ninth level of Qi Refining or lower, would die beyond the shadow of a doubt!

    ¡°The explosive power is terrifying. However, it is also terrifying to have consumed all my spiritual power with one punch! With a single strike using up all my spiritual power, I would have no more strength to fight back afterwards, leaving me at theplete mercy of my enemy.

    ¡°This style must be used with extreme caution!¡±

    After the initial ecstasy, he gradually came to realize this style of punch was a double-edged sword by nature. If he couldn¡¯t kill his opponent with a single strike, he could only wait to be killed.

    However, he also had the feeling that the power of this fist strike hadn¡¯t been disyed to its full extent.

    At present, with his poor cultivation base, a single punch managed topletely drain the spiritual power in his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea. Obviously, that wasn¡¯t its ultimate limit.

    He was sure that with a better cultivation base and arger amount of spiritual power, the power of this fist strike may possibly rise to a whole new level!

    ¡°In the mysterious world, there were a total of 32 giant hands reaching into the heavens. Every one of them was the embodiment of a style of striking that was as domineering as this one! If I manage toprehend the essence of all those 32 styles, then...¡±

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes emanated a feverish light of excitement.

    As of this moment, he firmly believed that resisting Li Fan¡¯s temptation and not revealing the secrets of the animal bone was the smartest choice of his entire life!

    By this point, Nie Donghai walked in, looked at the messy floor, and asked, ¡°What happened here?!¡±

    ¡°I was trying toprehend a fist strike,¡± Nie Tian smiled joyfully.

    ¡°A fist strike?¡± Staring at the floor full of rubble, Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes shed a hint of astonishment. In the next moment, he nodded his head and said, ¡°That woman from the An n has tried every means to get the secrets of the spatial rift from you. The offer she made this time... was too hard to reject. I¡¯ve already epted it on your behalf.¡±

 Chapter 33: A Command Medallion From Out of Nowhere

    As he spoke, Nie Donghai pulled out a palm-sizedmand medallion from his breast pocket and handed it to Nie Tian.

    When it touched Nie Tian¡¯s hand, it gave off the feeling that it had been carved out of a single piece of frosty jade.

    A jewel-bedecked pavilion was engraved on the front of themand medallion, on the eaves of which hung arge number of fine spiritual tools. When he turned it around, Nie Tian saw ¡°Spiritual Treasure Sect¡± in huge block characters.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Nie Tian asked confusedly.

    Nie Donghai pondered for a moment, and borated, ¡°This is themand medallion to the trial. As you know, there are six other cities in the vicinity that are around the same size as ck Cloud City. They are Bone Shatter City, Thunder p City, Dim Star City, Frost Stone City, Cold Moon City, and Yellow Sand City.

    ¡°In the other six cities, there are many ns like ours, each of which cling to different Qi warrior sects like we do.

    ¡°Among the mountains and rivers in between these seven cities, there exist four formidable Qi warrior sects, the Cloudsoaring sect being one of them.

    ¡°Other than the Cloudsoaring sect, there are the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Grayvale sect and the Mystic Mist sect.

    ¡°In ck Cloud City, our n serves the Cloudsoaring sect, the An n relies on the Spiritual Treasure sect, and the Yun n... clings to the Grayvale sect.

    ¡°The ns in the other six cities are mortal ns like ours. They also serve the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Cloudsoaring sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect, by mining in the mountains, growing spirit nts, or taking care of mortal world affairs for them.

    Nie Tian listened attentively and nodded along. ¡°I see.¡±

    Nie Donghai continued, ¡°It¡¯s said that the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Cloudsoaring sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect belong to the same Qi warriors¡¯ alliance. Ostensibly, these four Qi warrior sects work together, but they actually secretlypete with each other, and fights often break out between their juniors.

    ¡°Competition is the necessary path Qi warriors must tread in order to train themselves.

    ¡°Rulers of the four great Qi warrior sects purposely allow their juniors to fight amongst themselves. In their eyes, the best way to continuously improve the cultivation base and disy remarkable talent is to go through such a process.

    ¡°They themselves surpassed their peers step by step and achieved their current aplishments in the same way.

    ¡°In order to train the juniors, the four sects often intentionally create conflicts and unique environments to allow them to grasp the essence of their spiritual powers through battle, and toprehend the profundity of different stages.

    ¡°Of course, they operate these events in a way to make sure everything is under their control.

    ¡°Like this one...¡±

    With these words, Nie Donghai halted, giving Nie Tian a moment to digest what he had just said.

    Nie Tian reflected for a while, and soon understood the intentions of the four great Qi warrior sects. He nodded his head and indicated for Nie Donghai to continue.

    ¡°In our vast expanse, there exists numerous mysterious dimensions. These dimensions may be parallel to the ce we are in, but each of them has their own wonders.

    ¡°Some of the dimensions are extremely deadly, and remain unconquered to this day.

    ¡°There are also mysterious dimensions which have been fully explored and researched by the four great sects, thus leaving behind no further secrets.

    ¡°The Spiritual Treasure sect is in control of a mysterious dimension named ¡®Green Illusion¡¯, which has beenpletely conquered. I heard that when the Green Illusion dimension was first discovered, not only were there high-level spirit beasts, but also fierce, savage alien species.

    ¡°However, under the power of the alliance of the four powerful Qi warrior sects, the fierce tribes and the high-level spirit beasts of the Green Illusion dimension were all wiped out.

    ¡°The premium quality spiritual materials, corpses of the spirit beasts, and secrets of the savage tribes in the Green Illusion dimension were long ago split up between the four major sects.

    ¡°However, the Green Illusion dimension still exists.

    ¡°For purpose of training their juniors, the four major sects intentionally spared the lives of the low-level spirit beasts there. Once every few years, they arrange for juniors of the Qi Refining stage to participate in trials in the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°There, they fight spirit beasts of simr levels to refine their battling techniques, strengthen their hearts, andprehend the profundity of their stages.

    ¡°Due to the fact that the Green Illusion dimension belongs to the Spiritual Treasure sect, they usually have fifteen slots for every trial.

    ¡°On the other hand, the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect each have ten slots.

    ¡°It will be the same with this trial. The four major sects are going to arrange a total of forty-five juniors of Qi Refining stage.

    ¡°I¡¯ve also just heard recently that Nie Xian is going to be among the ten juniors of the Cloudsoaring sect. Nie Xian has reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, and is only one step away from stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage. The Cloudsoaring sect hopes that he can use this chance to properly understand the essence of how to wield spiritual power and eventually break into the Lesser Heaven stage.

    ¡°The entire Cloudsoaring sect only has ten slots, and some of them went to a few sect elders¡¯ grandchildren. The rest of the slots have been gifted to ns who rely on the Cloudsoaring sect just like ours.

    ¡°However, the Nie n is not among them.

    ¡°Since we don¡¯t have any slots, I... didn¡¯t mention it to you before.¡±

    With these words, he took a deep look at themand medallion in Nie Tian¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that woman from the An n to send you amand medallion as a gift.

    ¡°Obviously, she intends to admit you into the Green Illusion dimension by giving you thismand medallion, and deploy members of the An n to keep a watch on you while you are in there, in hope of learning the secrets of the spatial rifts that appeared in the Nie n.

    ¡°Even though I understand her intentions, this is just too rare an opportunity, so I have decided to let you participate in the trial.¡±

    Actually, before he entered the room, Nie Donghai was still on the fence about whether he should let Nie Tian to go to the Green Illusion dimension.

    Those juniors who were entering the Green Illusion dimension would be disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect, Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, Mystic Mist sect, together with talented youngsters from the major ns of the seven cities.

    Most participants would be in the sixth level of Qi Refining or higher, while many of them would be in the ninth level of Qi Refining, just one step away from entering Lesser Heaven stage.

    In the Green Illusion dimension, any kind of fight was allowed, as long as there was no killing.

    Under such circumstances, battles would take ce extremely frequently, and it was permitted to seriously injure one¡¯s opponent.

    He originally worried that it wouldn¡¯t be safe for Nie Tian to go to the Green Illusion dimension with his sixth level Qi Refining cultivation base, and wanted to give it up.

    However, as he walked in, he noticed that the green rock table had been reduced to a floor full of gravel...

    At that point, he changed his mind.

    Nie Tian clenched his hand down tightly onto themand medallion that An Shiyi had sent him, looking radiant and full of fighting spirit. ¡°Grandfather! I must go to that Green Illusion dimension! Please rest assured, I won¡¯t let anyone walk over me!¡±

    For no apparent reason, the thought of being able to fight juniors of his own age made him seethe with excitement, and he couldn¡¯t wait one more second to rush into action.

    It seemed he was born to fight!

    ¡°Good!¡± Nie Donghai also felt Nie Tian¡¯s fighting spirit. ¡°Thismand medallion came from the Spiritual Treasure sect, so you have to enter together with the people from the Spiritual Treasure sect. First thing tomorrow, the Spiritual Treasure sect will send people over to pick you up at our n and take you to the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°You¡¯d better find a ce to hide the object that can cause spatial disorders, and not carry it into the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°What¡¯s more, I believe the Spiritual Treasure sect people will keep an eye on you while you are in there, so be smart.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Nie Tian nodded his head.

    He knew that An Shiyi would definitely not gift him amand medallion to the Green Illusion dimension for no reason. An Shiyi¡¯s men would definitely be watching him all the time, hoping to solve the mystery behind the spatial disorder through him, so that they could find and control a more mysterious and more powerful secret dimension.

    Therefore, he decided not to bring the animal bone to the Green Illusion dimension with him.

    ...

    At the same time, in the Yun n...

    Yun Zhiguo wore an ecstatic look on his face while he returned to his house, humming a little tune.

    Inside, Yuan Qiuying, her son Yun Song, and several trusted followers that she had brought along from the Yuan n were all waiting anxiously.

    Seeing Yun Zhiguo returning with a face full of smiles, Yuan Qiuying suddenly be enlivened, and blurted, ¡°How did it go? Do you have it?¡±

    Yun Zhiguo burst intoughter. ¡°Only eleven years old, and our Song¡¯er has already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. He is undoubtedly the most qualified in the entire Yun n to go to the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll say!¡± Yuan Qiuyingughed charmingly. ¡°Even if they don¡¯t give face to our family, they must give face to my n. Ours is the most powerful n in Frost Stone City, and even among the many ns that rely on the Grayvale sect, our n is still the most powerful one. I¡¯ve already lowered myself to marry you, so your n had better give face to my father.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, no doubt about it.¡± Yun Zhiguo gave a loudugh. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t married you, I¡¯m afraid that this slot would probably haven¡¯t been given to Song¡¯er. This is all thanks to you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand that.¡± Yuan Qiuying was quite satisfied with his attitude.

    Just as she was about to say more, a man rushed into the room with a strange look on his face. It was the old servant that had been assigned the task of killing Nie Qian and Nie Tian.

    ¡°Mistress, I¡¯ve just learned that An Shiyi sent amand medallion to Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Yuan Qiuying opened her eyes wide as the memory of her humiliation by Nie Tian in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion rushed back to her. With rage filling her heart, she said, ¡°Song¡¯er! You are going to enter the Green Illusion dimension with your older cousin Yuan Feng this time, who I¡¯ve always cherished since he was little. He already reached the ninth level of Qi Refiningst year, and was officially epted into the Grayvale sect.

    ¡°Follow Little Feng when you are in the Green Illusion dimension,¡± she instructed viciously. ¡°Once youe across that little punk Nie Tian, exert all your means to destroy him and make him a useless person!¡±

    ¡°Please rest assured, mother. I know what to do!¡±

 Chapter 34: The Trial

    The Green Illusion dimension trials took ce once every ten years, and involved the four sects and twenty-five ns of the seven cities.

    There were a total of twenty-five ns in the seven cities that were simr with ck Cloud City. Those ns that had recently demonstrated their worthiness would be rewarded with slots by the four sects, and would choose their most talented juniors to enter the Green Illusion dimension together with the young and talented juniors from the four sects.

    This Green Illusion dimension trial was imminent, hence the twenty-five ns of the seven cities had been getting ready and doing their best to pour their resources in the direction of those juniors who would participate in the trial.

    Some of the juniors were gifted the highest level spiritual tools within the n, while others were gifted with precious medicinal pills. Every one of them was prepared to disy their talents in the Green Illusion dimension.

    However, all Nie Donghai could give Nie Tian was concern and advice, due to the poor condition he had been in over the years.

    The next day...

    Early in the morning, Nie Donghai led Nie Tian to the front gate of the Nie n, where they waited.

    ¡°Although An Shiyi is cruel and merciless, the woman has her principles,¡± Nie Donghai said calmly, ¡°She has her bottom lines, so she definitely won¡¯t lower herself to the level of harming you. I feel safe putting you in her hands. All you have to do is to be careful in the Green Illusion dimension and don¡¯t expose your secrets.¡±

    Nie Tian gently nodded. ¡°Consider it done, grandpa. I¡¯ll take good care of myself.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Nie Donghai squinted his eyes and gazed into the direction where the An n was located. ¡°Yun Zhiguo¡¯s son Yun Song is also going to attend this trial in the Green Illusion dimension. That shrew Yuan Qiuying hates your guts, so I¡¯m afraid she¡¯ll instruct Yun Song toy murderous hands on you in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    ¡°Yun Song?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s mouth twitched with disdain. ¡°I managed to beat him until he puked blood when I was in the fourth level of Qi Refining. It¡¯s only been several months. He should still be in the sixth level of Qi Refining. I, on the other hand, am now also in the sixth level of Qi Refining. Humph, he better pray not to bump into me in the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    Nie Donghai¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°It¡¯s not him that I worry about. It¡¯s Yuan Feng from the Yuan n of Frost Stone City. He and Yuan Qiuying have always been close, and that kid is truly a fierce character. Yuan Feng broke through into the ninth level of Qi Refining a year ago and has already been officially epted by the Grayvale sect. Moreover, he is regarded highly in the Grayvale sect, and was appointed as leader of the Grayvale sect in this trial!

    ¡°Yuan Feng is older than you, and his cultivation base is higher than yours. As leader of the Grayvale sect in this trial into the Green Illusion dimension, every Grayvale participant will take orders from him.

    ¡°Remember, you must always stay with the other participants from the Spiritual Treasure sect, and try not to get separated from their group.

    ¡°In case you identally stray, go find Nie Xian and team up with the participants from the Cloudsoaring sect, if possible. You will enter with the Spiritual Treasure sect, but after all, the Nie n is subordinate to the Cloudsoaring sect, so their leader ought to admit you into their group.

    ¡°Teaming up with others is very important. Your individual power is extremely limited. Keep that in mind!¡±

    Nie Tian listened attentively and kept nodding along, growing increasingly expectant regarding the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial.

    By his very nature, he enjoyed this kind ofpetition!

    Looking at Nie Tian, who was full of fighting spirit, Nie Donghai secretly nodded his head, and had the sudden feeling that the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial could possibly let Nie Tian shed away his old self and take on a new identity, truly understanding the cruelty and dangers of the Qi cultivation world.

    He vaguely felt that Nie Tian would be able to adapt to the Green Illusion dimension.

    An He, the An n¡¯s overweight old servant, came in a horse carriage from the silent morning roads and arrived in front of them. ¡°Master Nie, our mistress has sent me here to take Nie Tian to the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    ¡°Thank for going through all the trouble.¡± Nie Donghai said, then nced at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Come, greet uncle An.¡±

    Nie Tian quickly bowed down. ¡°Uncle An!¡±

    An He nodded expressionlessly towards Nie Tian, then signalled for him to get in the carriage.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t waste any time, and entered the carriage under Nie Donghai¡¯s concerned gaze.

    After Nie Tian was in, An He told Nie Donghai, ¡°Master Nie, don¡¯t you worry. With me escorting Nie Tian to participate in the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial, we surely won¡¯t be secretly attacked. That kind of dirty move is not something I will allow.¡±

    An He thew a meaningful nce in the Yun n¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± Nie Donghai sped his hands.

    Clearly, he knew An He¡¯s status and power in the An n, therefore he seemed quite relieved.

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring Nie Tian back safe and sound in half a year.¡± With these words, An He said no more. Snapping his whip, he sent the majestic ck horse galloping forward with great force.

    The sound of horse hooves shing against ground rang out in the silent morning street. Before long, the carriage disappeared from Nie Donghai¡¯s vision.

    ...

    Three dayster, in the deste and uninhabited marsnd outside of Thunder p City...

    The marsnd waspletely covered by swaths of peat moss. By the side of a clearke, An Shiyi, who was feeling hot and stuffy, cooled herself with a paper fan as she exined the rules of the Green Illusion dimension to fourteen well-dressed young boys and girls.

    Those young boys and girls were from the Spiritual Treasure sect and the ns that clung to the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Most of them were in the seventh level or eighth level of Qi Refining, with only three in the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    Those three were dressed in bright yellow robes, with the character ¡°Treasure¡± conspicuously sewn to the chest, which made them stand out from the rest eleven youngsters.

    They had already been admitted as disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Among the three of them, there were two boys and one girl, with the beautiful girl being their leader.

    The girl resembled An Shiyi to some extent. As young as she was, she already had a delicate, curvaceous physique. The way she behaved wasposed and rxed. Apparently she was used to calling the shots.

    The girl¡¯s name was An Ying. Looking very impatient, she said, ¡°Alright. Alright. You¡¯ve said too much. Don¡¯t you think you are being superfluous?! The sect elders have already given us the warnings and advice that you are giving us now. There is no need for you to repeat it again.¡±

    ¡°Then howe you¡¯re the only oneining?!¡± An Shiyi said with a re.

    An Ying chuckled, a sound as pleasant as bird singing. ¡°You are my sister. What are you gonna do about it? Besides, they¡¯re all cursing you inwardly. Since they don¡¯t dare to say it out loud, I have to.¡±

    Before An Shiyi could scold her, An Ying quickly said, ¡°When will the kid from the Nie n arrive? He¡¯s not even from our sect, but has kept all of us waiting for him. He really thinks he is a big deal!¡±

    An Ying¡¯s cultivation base had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining and she had been a disciple of the Spiritual Treasure sect since long ago. Furthermore, she was the one who would lead the participants from the Spiritual Treasure sect in this trial.

    Three days ago, when An Shiyi returned to the Spiritual Treasure sect, she specifically found her and told her that the An n had given their only slot to a boy named Nie Tian from the Nie n.

    An Shiyi had instructed her to keep a close watch of Nie Tian in the Green Illusion dimension and pay attention to every single unusual thing about Nie Tian.

    Actually the An n had fought hard for that trial slot, and they originally had intended to let An Ying¡¯s younger brother use it to enter the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial.

    Therefore, An Ying was very dissatisfied when An Shiyi gave the slot to Nie Tian.

    Although she realized that An Shiyi must have arranged for Nie Tian to enter the Green Illusion dimension for a reason, An Ying was still rather upset about it.

    Because of that, she hated Nie Tian before they even met, all for taking her brother¡¯s slot.

    The trial was about to begin soon, but Nie Tian still hadn¡¯t shown up. The fact that he made all these people wait this long fueled her hatred towards him even further.

    An Shiyi knew An Ying held a grudge against Nie Tian, so she didn¡¯t argue with her. ¡°Well, ck Cloud City is far away. I expected him to be a littlete. Don¡¯t worry. They should be here soon ording to my calctions. Little Ying, although Nie Tian isn¡¯t a member of our Spiritual Treasure sect, since I gave him themand medallion and invited him to enter the Green Illusion dimension, you should be more magnanimous and try not to give him a hard time.¡±

    ¡°Someone as broadminded as me wouldn¡¯t stoop to his level.¡± An Ying let out a harrumph and nced at the two boys in the ninth level of Qi Refining who were also from the Spiritual Treasure sect. ¡°As for the others, I won¡¯t be able to control their actions.¡±

    Under An Ying¡¯s gaze, those two youngsters both briefly raised their chins, their faces full of arrogance.

    ¡°You little rascal!¡± said An Shiyi.

    She clearly knew those two boys from the Spiritual Treasure sect had always admired and followed An Ying¡¯s orders.

    As long as An Ying showed a smidgen of dissatisfaction towards Nie Tian, they would exert all means to give Nie Tian a hard time.

    They were Zheng Rui and Pan Tao. Both of them were grandchildren of Spiritual Treasure sect elders, so even An Shiyi wouldn¡¯t be able to control them.

    ¡°Since he dares to enter the Green Illusion dimension with the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯smand medallion, he should already be prepared to be a target...¡± Finally, An Shiyi gave up, knowing her persuasion wouldn¡¯t work.

    ¡°Rx, sis,¡± An Ying said reassuringly, ¡°I will ¡®take good care of him¡¯ in the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    At that moment, An Shiyi suddenly raised the end of her eyebrow and looked into the distance. ¡°Here hees.¡±

    An He from the An n was leading Nie Tian, as their figures slowly became clear on a distant muddy road, striding in An Shiyi¡¯s direction.

 Chapter 35: The Surging Undercurrent

    Even though Nie Tian was still tens of meters away from theke where An Shiyi was, he could already feel numerous unfriendly gazes converging upon him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was still firm and determined as he followed An He, walking over in aposed manner.

    Once within earshot, he put on a bright smile and called out to An Shiyi, ¡°Beautiful sister, we meet again.¡±

    An Shiyi smiled andughed. ¡°I¡¯d hoped to meet you in ck Cloud City a few days ago. Unfortunately, you had suddenly fallen ill. Otherwise, I might have personally escorted you here.¡±

    ¡°That was my fault,¡± Nie Tian said, sounding a little embarrassed. ¡°I understand that you¡¯ve been kind to me. The slots in the Green Illusion dimension trial are so precious that our n doesn¡¯t even have one. However, you gave a valuable slot to me. I¡¯ll remember your kindness forever in my heart. In the future, should you face any trouble, as long as it¡¯s within my power to help, I¡¯ll spare no effort to aid you, elder sister!"

    Before An Shiyi could reply, An Ying snorted and said, ¡°What a sweet-talker! Should anything happen to my elder sister, how could you possibly help her? Your n is the weakest in ck Cloud City, andpletely overshadowed by the Yun n. What makes you think you are capable of helping my sister?¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking surprised.

    The one to answer the question was An Shiyi. Smiling, she said, ¡°She¡¯s my sister An Ying, who¡¯s also from ck Cloud City. You¡¯ve probably heard of her.¡±

    ¡°An Ying...¡± Nie Tian was inwardly shocked. Nodding, he continued, ¡°Of course I¡¯ve heard of her.¡±

    An Ying was actually An Shiyi¡¯s cousin, and the most promising star among the younger generation of the An n. A year ago, she managed to break through into the ninth level of Qi Refining at the age of twelve, and thus emerge from the An n, bing a disciple of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    It was said that her cultivation talent was even more outstanding than An Shiyi¡¯s.

    The whole An n secretly believed that in the future, she might even surpass An Shiyi!

    As Nie Tian thought back to the wonders he had encountered in the mysterious dimension, he confidently said, ¡°You¡¯re right. My cultivation base is not very high at the moment, and the Nie n is not the strongest among the ns. But time can change all things. Who knows will happen in the future? Perhaps one day, when elder sister is in trouble, I will be able to help her!"

    ¡°In that case, I¡¯d like to thank you in advance,¡± An Shiyi said jokingly, casting a re at An Ying. ¡°It¡¯s about time I summon the other three sects."

    With these words, she took out amand medallion from her sleeve pocket and pressed a slender jade finger down onto it.

    A misty spiritual aura immediately flowed out of her fingertip and filled the wholemand medallion.

    The next moment, a light ring sprang out from within.

    Nie Tian took a close look at themand medallion, and noticed that it wasn¡¯t made of jade, but rather, some sort of strange metal.

    Obviously, An Shiyi¡¯smand medallion was different from the one he had been given.

    An Ying looked at Nie Tian and said in a domineering tone, ¡°Since you will enter the Green Illusion dimension holding ourmand medallion, you must listen to everything I say once we¡¯re inside. Whatever I tell you to do, you must do!"

    Nie Tian¡¯s only reply was a cold chuckle.

    Seeing his nonchnt attitude, An Ying tilted her chin up a bit and dered, ¡°I don¡¯t care what you think now. I¡¯ll see to it that you obey me when we¡¯re in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    All the youngsters by her side followed her lead, casting unfriendly nces in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    Nie Tian ignored them.

    Before long, Li Fan appeared from a distant copse, followed by the participants from the Cloudsoaring sect.

    ¡°Uncle Li...¡± Nie Tian mouthed. Considering that Li Fan had spent so much time in the Nie n, he felt a bit embarrassed. Ducking his head down, he sidled over to join the group of teenagers next to An Ying.

    After all, he was a member of the Nie n. Showing up here with people from the Spiritual Treasure sect would seem somewhat strange, and he was afraid that Li Fan might read too much into it. An Ying almost instantly noticed what he was doing. Laughing loudly, she grabbed his arm and dragged him forcefully out of the crowd. ¡°What are you hiding for? Even though the Cloudsoaring sect doesn¡¯t have a slot for you, we, the Spiritual Treasure sect, are wealthy enough to gift you one. What¡¯s the big deal? Come. Let Mr. Li have a good look at you!¡±

    Her hand wasn¡¯t veryrge, but the force she exerted when she grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s arm was considerable, allowing her to easily pull him out into the open.

    Nie Tian looked embarrassed, but deep down was astounded by her strength. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t help but take a deep look at An Ying, deeming her as a major opponent.

    He was sure that when An Ying pulled him, she didn¡¯t apply her spiritual power. Although he didn¡¯t react instantly, he did subconsciously resist her once he realized what she was doing.

    Although he didn¡¯t use his full strength, it was enough that a normal woman would never be able to force him to move.

    And yet, An Ying seeded!

    Before he could recover from his shock, Li Fan¡¯s eyes shed with a strange light, and he said, ¡°Nie Tian? What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Greetings, uncle Li,¡± Nie Tian said with a sheepish smile. Aware that he couldn¡¯t extricate himself from the situation, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully. ¡°Elder sister An gave me amand medallion, granting me the opportunity to enter the Green Illusion dimension. I didn¡¯t mean to hide anything, uncle Li, it¡¯s just..."

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to exin.¡± Li Fan looked over with a frown at the smiling An Shiyi. ¡°You held nothing back, did you?¡± The moment he saw Nie Tian, he immediately understood An Shiyi¡¯s intentions.

    Looking asposed as ever, An Shiyi smiled and said, ¡°Nie Tian and I hit it off, and I believe he has a bright future. Since our sect has many slots to the trial, and I have the right to distribute them, giving a slot to him wasn¡¯t a big deal."

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian happened to notice that Jiang Lingzhu, the same girl he had met in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion was standing behind Li Fan, waving at him.

    There were nine people clustered around her, one of whom was Nie Xian, who had just recently been epted into the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Nie Xian looked back and forth between Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Tian, his face full of confusion.

    ¡°Nie Tian, it¡¯s me,¡± Jiang Lingzhu called out. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember me?¡±

    Nie Tian had been so surprised to see Nie Xian that he forgot to acknowledge Jiang Lingzhu. Only when he heard her yelling did he snap out of his daze.

    Waving back, he said, ¡°Oh, hey, you¡¯re here, too!¡±

    Nie Xian¡¯s expression grew even more confused.

    Even An Ying turned to stare in surprise at Nie Tian. ¡°How do you know Jiang Lingzhu?¡± she asked. ¡°With her help, you wouldn¡¯t even need my sister to get amand medallion for yourself.¡±

    ¡°She could do such a thing?!¡± Nie Tian asked in surprise.

    ¡°She¡¯s the daughter of the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s sectmaster, and leader of the trial participants from the Cloudsoaring sect. If she made the request, she could surely have gotten you into the Green Illusion dimension."

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°She¡¯s Jiang Zhisu¡¯s daughter!?¡±

    Although he had met Jiang Lingzhu once, he waspletely unaware that she had such a powerful background.

    He used to think that Jiang Lingzhu was a child of another n that served the Cloudsoaring sect, simr to Nie Xian. He didn¡¯t expect her to be from such a lofty family.

    Even as Nie Tian stood there in shock, the participants from the Grayvale sect and the Mystic Mist sect also arrived.

    The Grayvale sect participants were led by a gray-garbed old man. Behind him was a teenager, who stood as straight and sharp as a spear!

    Yun Song, who had once fought Nie Tian, was standing next to him, pointing at Nie Tian and whispering something to him.

    A momentter, that teenager¡¯s fierce gaze pierced the wind and flew towards Nie Tian like a sword.

    Nie Tian met his gaze, and immediately felt stabbing pain in his eyes. His expression darkened.

    He instantly realized that this teenager was Yuan Feng, whom Nie Donghai had mentioned, leader of the the Grayvale sect trial participants.

    Nie Tian was already on guard against Yuan Feng, knowing that he would be one of his greatest enemies in the Green Illusion dimension. ¡°A year ago, he broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining,¡± he thought, ¡°and hence was officially epted by the Grayvale sect. I can see already that he is worthy of his reputation.¡± As for the Mystic Mist sect, an olddy led their trial participants, and arrivedst.

    The second they arrived, she barked, ¡°You! Girl from the An n. Hurry and open the gate to the secret dimension! I have important matters to attend to after sending these kids into the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± An Shiyi said, smiling.

    She subsequently took out the samemand medallion which she had previously used to summon the other three sects. After she filled it again with her spiritual power, it instantly became as splendid and gorgeous as the moon.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, themand medallion left her palm and flew to the center of theke, where it floated above the crystal-clear water, releasing ripples of shockingly strong energy.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Beams of silver light sttered out from within the medallion, and then converged into the center of the quietke, which then began to ripple with waves. The waves grewrger andrger, and a vortex gradually formed that led to the bottom of theke.

    Momentster, the vortex was fully formed.

    ¡°An Ying, you take the lead,¡± An Shiyi instructed. ¡°Jump into that vortex with participants from Spiritual Treasure sect, and enter the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± An Ying¡¯s seemingly tender and delicate frame suddenly bolted up into the air, flew into the vortex, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    The other two disciples from the Spiritual Treasure sect, who had also reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, followed her by leaping into the air, disappearing into the vortex a momentter.

    An Shiyi rushed the rest of their participants from various major ns to do the same. Under her direction, they all threw themselves into the vortex, one after another.

    When they had all entered, Nie Tian alsounched up into the air and shot into the vortex like a bullet. An Shiyi watched him closely the entire time.

    ¡°Strange,¡± she thought. ¡°He didn¡¯t cause the space to change in the least bit. Am I wrong?¡±

    An Shiyi, who had been staring at Nie Tian all the time, grew suspicious after sensing no anomalies at all when he waspletely lost in the vortex.

    ¡°Is it our turn yet?¡± Li Fan called out.

    ¡°Yes,¡± An Shiyi replied in a disappointed tone. ¡°Participants from the Cloudsoaring sect may enter now.¡±

    Li Fan leaned over to Jiang Lingzhu and quietly said, ¡°Go ahead. In case you run into Nie Tian in the Green Illusion dimension, remember to watch out for him. If he stays with people from the Spiritual Treasure sect, he¡¯ll be targeted for sure. If possible, include him in your group. After all, he¡¯s from the Nie n, and we¡¯re supposed to take care of him.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu looked at Yuan Feng out of the corner of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m afraid he might encounter those from the Grayvale sect before we meet. I¡¯ve noticed that guy has reeked off murderous intentions ever since he identified Nie Tian."

    ¡°Be more careful then.¡±

    ¡°Sure. "

    Soon afterwards, participants from the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect all jumped into the vortex in the middle of theke.

 Chapter 36: Green Illusion Dimension

    It was a green and misty evening, and numerous mountains jutted up from the greenish-ck earth.

    There were broken stones scattered all around the foot of one particr mountain, within which could be seen the ash-covered skeletons of dead spirit beasts.

    They had been low-grade spirit beasts in life, but after years of erosion, their spiritual power had long since been drained away. Therefore, they were no longer useful for equipment forging, and were nothing that would catch the interest of anyone who saw them.

    BUZZZ!

    All of a sudden, bright light started to shoot out of a smooth stone wall, emanating strong spatial fluctuations.

    The stone wall immediately turned into a shiny mirror, within which numerous flickering figures could be seen.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The figures suddenly shed out of the stone wall tond momentster at the foot of the mountain.

    Participants from the Spiritual Treasure sect stood still, staring at the green dome-like sky above their heads and yelling excitedly.

    ¡°The Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    ¡°This is the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re finally here!¡±

    Nie Tian stood among them, gazing around curiously to examine the Green Illusion dimension. When no one was paying any attention, he drew upon the Qi Refining Incantation to sense the spiritual Qi of the Heaven and Earth.

    Just for a moment, he realized the spiritual Qi here was even weaker than in ck Cloud City, not to mention the rich spiritual Qi in Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    ¡°No wonder...¡± He murmured to himself, finally understanding why the Cloudsoaring sect, Spiritual Treasure sect, Greyvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect hadn¡¯t left people behind to practice cultivation in the Green Illusion dimension after conquering it.

    The reason was because the ce wasn¡¯t suited for Qi warriors to practice long term cultivation.

    Every Qi warrior wanted to cultivate in a ce with rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. A blessednd with rich and pure energy could enhance a Qi warrior¡¯s cultivation speed to arge extent.

    Therefore, due to the faint spiritual energy here, powerful Qi warriors would never select the Green Illusion dimension as a ce to cultivate.

    What¡¯s more, the high-grade spirit beasts and ferocious tribes that used to live here had already been wiped out by the four sects. All precious spiritual materials had also been mined, leaving behind a location of little value or use.

    Hearing the neers moring on and on, An Ying couldn¡¯t help but shout. ¡°Everyone, be quiet!¡±

    The enthusiastic crowd of young men and women gradually calmed down.

    Next, she picked a direction and began to move. ¡°Come with me!¡±

    Zheng Rui and Pan Tao from the Spiritual Treasure sect gave simr orders. ¡°Hurry up, and follow her!¡±

    Before departing, all the teenagers from the ns that clung to the Spiritual Treasure sect had been urged by their n elders that once they were in the Green Illusion dimension, they must listen to the disciples from the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    It was due to this reason that every one of them behaved rather obediently under the domineering demands of An Ying and her two sect brothers.

    Stroking themand medallion An Shiyi had given him, Nie Tian looked back at the smooth stone wall for a moment, then followed the group and marched forward silently.

    Earlier, when he jumped into the vortex in theke, he distinctly sensed the unique fluctuations of spiritual power emanating from themand medallion in his hand.

    That confirmed to him that only those who carried themand medallion would be able to pass through theke vortex to enter the Green Illusion dimension.

    Thatmand medallion was literally the key to get inside.

    In six months, he would have to use the same method to go through the mirror-like Secret Dimension Gate behind him and return to the marsnd.

    As he followed An Ying and the group further and further away from the Secret Dimension Gate, he couldn¡¯t resist turning his head back and checking a few more times.

    Before long, he saw Jiang Lingzhu, Nie Xian, and the others shing out of the mirror-like stone wall.

    After stepping into the Green Illusion dimension, Jiang Lingzhu looked around, and soon caught sight of Nie Tian, a few hundred meters away, walking further away with An Ying.

    Nie Tian put on a bright smile, and nodded his head. Then, he turned around and caught up with the Spiritual Treasure sect group.

    Jiang Lingzhu stood at the foot of the mountain, watching Nie Tian disappearing off in the distance. She felt a bit confused, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder what Nie Tian was thinking. ¡°He actually started to run faster after seeing me. Could it be that he... doesn¡¯t wish to go with us?¡±

    A hourter...

    After leaving the mountain peak where the Secret Dimension Gate was located, An Ying led Nie Tian and the others to a silent and deste wildnd.

    Dead tree branches and dried up beast bones were scattered about everywhere, with the ruins of stone houses visible here and there.

    Everyone could tell that the stone houses had been shabby and ill-designed even before they were destroyed.

    Upon a careful nce, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t find anything of note in the cold, greenish-cknd other than scattered bones and wrecked stone houses.

    An intense sense of loneliness and wildness rose from his heart. Looking at the rubble and bones, he realized that this piece ofnd had once been home to several intelligent tribes.

    Even as he pondered the subject, An Ying swept a pile of dry bones off of a millstone-sized ck rock with her feet, and then sat down.

    Then she signaled that the trial takers should gather around; clearly she had had something to brief them about.

    Nie Tian ignored her arrogant manner. Curious about what she had to say, he followed everyone else as they approached her.

    After all of the fourteen trial takers had gathered by her side, she cleared her throat and said in a charming voice, ¡°The ferocious tribes and high grade spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension were wiped out long ago. The area we are standing in now was one of their living districts. I heard that the four sects suffered great casualties topletely eradicate them.

    ¡°Fortunately, it¡¯s all over now, and the Green Illusion dimension has be the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s private property.

    ¡°There are no tribes left in the Green Illusion dimension, and the only living things here should be the low grade spirit beasts.

    ¡°Before I came, the sect elders told me that there are still many first grade spirit beasts left in the Green Illusion Dimension now. However, there are four second grade spirit beasts!

    ¡°Those four spirit beasts have the strength and abilities of Qi warriors at the Lesser Heaven stage, and they are our main targets in this trial.

    ¡°The four sects have each prepared a reward for the winners. Our Spiritual Treasure sect has put forward a Heaven Comprehending Pill. The Heaven Comprehending Pill can allow warriors of the Qi Refining stage to experience andprehend the state of mind at the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages, which will enable us to enter the Lesser Heaven stage much more effortlessly.

    ¡°Not only that, the enlightenment from the Heaven Comprehending Pill will also be significantly helpful for us when we enter the Heaven stage and the Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°A Heaven Comprehending Pill is extremely valuable to us. Even in the entire Spiritual Treasure sect, they are extremely rare. As the host of this trial, our sect has indeed spared no cost.¡±

    Trial takers from the affiliated ns all began to seethe with excitement, eyes filled with fiery light. Only Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were already aware of the information, and remainedposed.

    ¡°A Heaven Comprehending Pill! I can¡¯t believe the reward is a Heaven Comprehending Pill!¡±

    ¡°It appears the four sects have indeed attached great importance to this trial. A Heaven Comprehending Pill is undoubtedly the most precious treasure for us Qi Refining stage cultivators!¡±

    ¡°This is terrific!"

    Nie Tian was also shocked at heart.

    He had heard of a Heaven Comprehending Pill before, and knew that it could allow Qi Refining stage warriors to temporarily experience andprehend the state of mind at the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages.

    For a cultivator to enter the Lesser Heaven stage from the ninth level of Qi Refining stage, one couldn¡¯t merely rely on the umtion of spiritual power; a matching state of mind was required.

    It was the same with entering the Heaven stage from the Lesser Heaven stage, or entering the Greater Heaven stage from the Heaven stage. The right state of mind was needed, and simply relying on the pureness and depth of spiritual power wasn¡¯t enough.

    A single Heaven Comprehending Pill would benefit Qi Refining level cultivators all the way through the following three Heavenly stages. It was needless to say how rare and valuable it was.

    Seeing the whole crowd getting excited, An Ying nodded and continued, ¡°The most valuable reward is undoubtedly the Heaven Comprehending Pill provided by our sect. Other than that, the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect have also put forward three Medium level spiritual tools. Compared to the Heaven Comprehending Pill, those three spiritual tools are inferior, but if they match your cultivation attributes perfectly, they may also be of great value to you.

    ¡°The heads of the four remaining second grade spirit beasts¡¯ heads can be used to get those four treasures. Beheading a second grade spirit beast and taking its head out of the Green Illusion dimension enables one to exchange it for a treasure.

    ¡°The strongest of the four is a Frost Python. Only its head could be used to exchange for the Heaven Comprehending Pill!¡±

    An Ying tilted her chin, her little face full of arrogance. ¡°As the host of this trial, the Spiritual Treasure sect has the most participants, and thus the task our sect has given us is to get the python¡¯s head.

    ¡°However, what I want is not only that python¡¯s head, but all of the second grade spirit beast¡¯s heads!

    ¡°I¡¯d like us to ughter all of the four second grade spirit beasts in this trial. If we can¡¯t, we¡¯ll go and snatch them from others. We must obtain all of the heads!

    ¡°Of course, the Heaven Comprehending Pill will be mine. Don¡¯t even think about trying toy hands on it!

    ¡°But I¡¯ll distribute the three spiritual tools to those of you with good performances.

    ¡°Remember! Only when we¡¯ve obtained the heads of all the second grade spirit beasts will you be qualified to get the three spiritual tools!¡±

 Chapter 37: The Ghost Sect and Blood Sect

    500 kilometers south of Mystic Mist Pce...

    A poisonous miasma of various colors floated in mid-air like ayer of thick clouds.

    Dried bones had been piled up into an entric altar. In front of it could be seen a ghastly woman, as ugly and horrifying as a ghost, waving her sharp, ck fingernails through the air, and simultaneously mumbling something under her breath.

    Five tunic-d young boys and girls, all of whom had rtively dark skin, were listening silently.

    Eyes emanating green light, the woman said coldly, ¡°The Spiritual Treasure sect, Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect ruined our major n several days ago. We have to do something about it. There is only one goal during your journey into the Green Illusion dimension, and that is to kill all the junior disciples from the four sects. They are all in the same stage as you are, so not a single one must be left alive!¡±

    A skinny young man licked his upper lip like a blood-thirsty beast. ¡°Lady Night Ghost,¡± he said, ¡°please rest assured. By the time we leave the Green Illusion dimension, all those juniors from the four sects will be dead.¡±

    The young man¡¯s name was Mo Xi, a disciple of the Ghost sect, who was in the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    On his neck hung a ne made of human thumb bones, which came from the numerous enemies he had ughtered.

    Whenever a Ghost sect disciple killed an enemy who was at the same level of cultivation, they would chop off the enemy¡¯s thumb, and string them together.

    As for the rest of the four Ghost sect disciples, they had only collected enough thumb bones to make bracelets.

    Mo Xi had killed so many more opponents that he was the only one who was able to craft a ne.

    Clearly, he was the most powerful and dreadful of the five.

    ¡°Yes, with you as the leader, I can rest assured.¡± The old woman they referred to as Night Ghostughed in an evil, ghost-like manner before continuing. ¡°The people from the Blood sect have also arrived.¡±

    As of this very moment, a burly man with disheveled red hair arrived at the altar of bones, followed by five teenagers from the Blood sect.

    His hair was as red as blood, and the loose strands which dangled down his wide forehead initially seemed like streams of blood.

    Every one of the five boys and girls behind him reeked of a strong smell of blood, as if they had just attended a feast of gore in which they drank their fill of fresh blood.

    Their leader was a properly dressed girl, who was so beautiful that it seemed as if she hade from a painting. However, she had an extremely cold look on her face, as if she was trying to scare off anyone who dared to get near.

    The instant Mo Xi caught sight of her, he eximed, ¡°Yu Tong!? You¡¯re going to lead the team from the Blood sect?! Aren¡¯t you supposed to be working on your breakthrough into the Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± Yu Tong said, snorting coldly. ¡°In the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    The old woman from the Ghost sect gave a low-pitched, terrifying chuckle. With a nod, she continued, ¡°It seems the four sects really angered your Blood sect. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t appoint Yu Tong to enter the Green Illusion dimension. This is wonderful. With only Mo Xi in a leadership position, I wasn¡¯tpletely sure, but with Yu Tong there too, there won¡¯t be any problem.¡±

    The burly man from the Blood sect looked at the disciples from his sect and chuckled. ¡°The mission for those trial takers from the four sects is to ughter the four second grade spirit beasts. Yours is to ughter all of the trial takers, not the spirit beasts!

    ¡°You are the real hunters!

    ¡°The four main targets are An Ying from the Spiritual Treasure sect, Jiang Lingzhu from the Cloudsoaring sect, Yuan Feng from the Grayvale sect, and Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect!

    ¡°They are viewed as core disciples of the four sects. Kill them and bring me their heads, then you¡¯ll receive a handsome reward!

    ¡°A debt of blood must be paid in blood.¡± The burly man from the Blood sect harrumphed coldly. ¡°The four sects dared to ruin our major event, so they should not me us for destroying the foundation of their future!¡±

    The old woman from the Ghost sect took out a piece of bone and threw it into the bone altar. ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±

    A momentter, a portal of dark-green light gradually formed in the center of the bone altar.

    As she opened the portal, the old woman warned, ¡°Remember, the Green Illusion dimension is not ours; we¡¯ve gone through a lot to create this ess point to the Secret Dimension Gate. Remember, you must finish the job and return in six months. Those who can¡¯t return in time, or who get caught by the four sects, can simply wait for death to meet them in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    The responses from the disciples were immediate.

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°We only need three months to finish the job. Those who can¡¯t return in time deserve to die inside!¡±

    ¡°The gate is open!¡±

    The ghastly old woman nced over all of the eleven trial takers from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, and then said, ¡°Go!¡±

    ...

    In the Green Illusion dimension...

    Since Nie Tian wasn¡¯t from the ns that clung to the Spiritual Treasure sect, no one talked to him the entire time.

    Actually, he feltfortable that way, and didn¡¯t try to start conversations with any of the other teenagers. He intentionally trailed behind, following from a distance.

    An Ying had apparently received some tips from the elders of the Spiritual Treasure sect, as she would take out a map every now and then, examine it, and then point in a certain direction.

    From the look of things, she had already identified the location of the python, which could be used in exchange for the Heaven Comprehending Pill.

    Under An Ying¡¯s leadership, the trial takers from the Spiritual Treasure sect continued to march through the cold and silent wastnds.

    There were no sun, moon, or stars in the Green Illusion dimension. There were no days or nights. In fact, without a special device that could be used to mark time, it would be hard to determine the exact date and time.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t possibly have such a device, since he was from the Nie n. Therefore, he had no clue of how long they had been wandering in the wastnds.

    However, based on his judgement, he was fairly certain that they had traveled in the cold and silence for at least two days.

    During that time, they didn¡¯t run into any spirit beasts; all they saw were a handful of spirit beast skeletons.

    At one point, An Ying suddenly stopped in ce and gestured to the vague shadows of some distant ciers. ¡°We¡¯ve almost reached the border of the wastnds,¡± she exined. ¡°Those ciers in front of us are our destination. That frost python could be lurking in them. From now on, everyone must be careful.

    ¡°The wastnds were originally the domain of several fierce tribes, but they were wiped out long ago. That¡¯s why we have been safe along the way.

    ¡°However, once we leave the wastnds and enter the ciers, we should prepare ourselves for possible encounters with the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s spirit beasts. Those spirit beasts only exist in the Green Illusion dimension, and they regard all outsiders as enemies. Once they see us, they will immediately attack.

    ¡°After all, they are smart enough to know that all of the high grade spirit beasts have been killed by cultivators from our sects.

    While talking, An Ying suddenlyy her eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian stared nkly at her, not sure why she suddenly focused her gaze on him at that point.

    An Ying smiled. ¡°From now on, we maye across spirit beasts at any moment, and they will most likely attack those who walk in the forefront. Thendscape of the cier area is veryplicated, so it will be hard to know where the spirit beasts are hiding, and from which direction they willunch attacks.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Zheng Rui and Pan Tao¡¯s faces immediately filled with unfriendly intentions.

    An Ying squinted and snickered. ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re not a member of our sect, yet you¡¯ve taken one of our sect¡¯smand medallions to get here into the Green Illusion trial. Therefore, you owe us something in return. The task of finding the path ahead naturally falls upon you.¡±

    All of a sudden, every trial taker¡¯s gaze converged on Nie Tian.

    When those boys and girls from various ns stared at him, their eyes were full of malice.

    Obviously, they took it for granted that Nie Tian, as the outsider, should be the one to take the risk and explore the road ahead of them.

    Nie Tian smiled wryly. ¡°Can I say no?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± An Yingughed again, and this time it seemed more sincere than before. ¡°You¡¯re wee to disobey my orders. As long as you¡¯re ready to part ways with us and travel alone in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed his nose and nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    A wise man knew when to bend himself. Considering his ignorance regarding the Green Illusion dimension, he knew that if he left the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s group, he would be no different than a blind man.

    Moreover, An Ying had a map that could lead them to the four second grade spirit beasts, that being another important reason for him to stay with the group.

    Once he left An Ying, he would be like a headless chicken, unable to find directions in the vast Green Illusion dimension.

    He might not even be able to find his way back, and thus end up getting stuck in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Therefore, even though he knew perfectly well that An Ying was targeting him, he could only bear with it temporarily, and pay her back in the future.

    ¡°Good boy,¡± said An Ying with a content smile. ¡°Go on ahead and lead us into the ciers. Show us whether the spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension are as ferocious as the sect elders have told us.¡±

    Nie Tian acted obediently. ¡°Sure"

    He stepped up his pace, and had soon walked from the very back of the group to the front.

    Under An Ying¡¯s urging gaze, he strode out into the vanguard position. An hourter, they were out of the wastnds, and had reached the border of cier area, which was the turf of the spirit beasts.

    ROOOOAR!

    The minute they entered the cier area, angry roars of the spirit beasts started to ring in their ears.

    ROAR! HOWL!

    All of a sudden, one after another, numerous spirit beasts jumped out from behind jade-like frozen trees. Hatred shed in their eyes as they abruptlyunched attacks and threw themselves towards Nie Tian at the same time.

 Chapter 38: Fierce Fight!

    The world was vast and full of resources of all kinds. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth filled every corner of the world, and was what made Qi warriors so powerful.

    Since spirit beasts also breathed spiritual Qi, they too could cultivate and be more powerful.

    Just like Qi warriors, when spirit beasts strengthened themselves with spiritual power, they could be graded ording to their level of strength.

    Spirit beasts were divided into ten grades which corresponded to the Qi warrior¡¯s ten stages. A first grade spirit beast¡¯s strength was equivalent to that of a Qi refining cultivator.

    The first grade spirit beasts were the lowest ranked. They were usually physically strong, and had tough bones. However, they weren¡¯t able to release their internal spiritual power in any form.

    Despite being able to wield only external strength, they were big threats to Qi warriors who had just started along the path of cultivation.

    RAARGH!

    One after another, spirit beasts roared, bolting out from the cier region to dash towards Nie Tian, who stood at the forefront of the group.

    Considering that this was the first time he had encountered spirit beasts, it was no surprise that his jaw dropped in shock.

    However, a mere momentter, he calmed himself.

    ¡°One, two, three... eleven, there are eleven spirit beasts!¡± By the time he confirmed their numbers, the beast leading the pack, a Frost Armor Rhino, was already closing in.

    It was about three meters long and covered in silver-colored frost armor. As it ran along, a terrifyingly cold mist puffed out of its mouth and nose.

    A one-meter long, razor-sharp horn jutted out from its snout, which emanated sparkling and translucent cold light.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart tightened as he watched the Frost Armor Rhino speeding toward him faster and faster, its horn aimed directly at his chest. He felt as if his body had been infiltrated by the ice-cold wind, and was almostpletely convinced that no matter how strong he was, once that horn pierced his chest, he would suffer severe injuries.

    Behind the Frost Armor Rhino were numerous other spirit beasts, eyes emanating the cold light of hatred as they charged in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    ¡°Heads up!¡± he said, chuckling as he backed away from the charging Frost Armor Rhino.

    Considering the insane behavior of the eleven spirit beasts, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have the slightest hope of killing them by himself.

    He had to share the burden with trial takers from the Spiritual Treasure sect, and let everyone face the spirit beasts¡¯ rage together.

    The sudden appearance of the spirit beasts caused all of the other trial takers¡¯ hearts to pound, and they began to shout.

    ¡°Eleven spirit beasts!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve only just reached the edge of cier area, and there are already eleven spirit beasts. It seems there are a lot more spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension than we thought!¡±

    ¡°Be careful, everybody! Prepare to fight!¡±

    An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao dashed out to stand in front of the other youngsters, although Nie Tian was still in the process of retreat.

    An Ying was the mostposed of all, seeminglypletely calm as she unsheathed a long, crescent moon-shaped saber from her back.

    Even as the saber left the sheath, tongues of scorching fire began to pulse off of the tip of the de..

    She raised the saber above her head and then gracefully swept it out in an arcing sh as she cried, ¡°Assume formation!¡±

    The trial takers had all trained with her previously, and immediately grouped together in a tight formation.

    Within seconds, a cone-shaped battle formation appeared, with An Ying being at apex. By this time, Nie Tian reached them, and cried out. ¡°I¡¯ve lured out the spirit beasts. The rest is up to you guys. Hey, I only came to the Green Illusion dimension to broaden my view and gain experience. I don¡¯t want to die in the first skirmish! I¡¯m only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, far weaker than you all, so it¡¯s only fair that you take care of those monsters.¡±

    With these words, he passed by An Ying and arrived at the center of the formation, the safest point of all.

    The Frost Armor Rhino had already locked onto Nie Tian, and thus continued to run in his direction. However, when it saw him merging into the group, it shifted its attention to An Ying, who was now at the forefront.

    Considering that the Frost Armor Rhino was almost upon them, An Ying didn¡¯t have the time to argue. Bracing herself, she spat, ¡°What a wuss!¡±

    From the moment the spirit beasts appeared and rushed towards Nie Tian, her focus had remained on him, mainly because she had been given the task of checking to see if there was something strange about Nie Tian or not.

    When one¡¯s life was on the line, no one would hold back their secret weapon.

    She had hope that Nie Tian would spare no effort to fight the Frost Armor Rhino, and that under her attentive observation, he would expose his secrets.

    However, she could never have imagined that he would simply turn and run the instant he faced danger.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t intend to fight the Frost Armor Rhino at all. Instead, he diverted its attention to her.

    Although she knew that Nie Tian¡¯s decision was the smartest one, she still held a grudge towards him for stealing her brother¡¯s trial slot, and continued to berate him for using cowardly and timid methods.

    ¡°What a coward!¡± she snapped. Then, she clenched her fist down onto the hilt of her saber, causing a one-meter-long de of fiery light to burst out..

    ¡°Half-moon sh!¡±

    The one-meter-long de of light then sped through the air toward the Frost Armor Rhino, a graceful crescent-moon shape backed by deadly power.

    CRACK!

    Shockingly, when the de light shed into the top of the the three-meter-long Frost Armor Rhino¡¯s head, its body was instantly ripped open, causing blood to spray out in all directions!

    Furthermore, the Frost Armor Rhino¡¯s surging momentum couldn¡¯t be stopped, and its own momentum carried it forward so quickly that it waspletely cut in half!

    It wasn¡¯t until its horn was about half a meter away from An Ying that the two halves finally came to a stop and copsed with a loud crash.

    An intense smell of blood immediately rose up from the corpse, filling the entire battlefield.

    From his position in the center of the group, Nie Tian watched An Ying¡¯s every move. Seeing that she managed to split the Frost Armor Rhino in half with just one sh, he felt deeply shocked. ¡°What a fierce woman!¡±

    Although the Frost Armor Rhino was a first grade beast, he was well aware that because of its thick skin and strong muscles, coupled with theyer of icy, translucent armor that covered its body, its defenses were even more solid than steel.

    The fact that An Ying could ughter the Frost Armor Rhino, with a single strike at the ninth Qi Refining level, left Nie Tian deeply shocked.

    His eyebrows twitched as he looked at her saber and murmured, ¡°Such formidable power definitely doesn¡¯t stem solely from her spiritual power, but rather...that spiritual tool. That saber is at least a Medium grade spiritual tool, which ispletelypatible with her cultivation attribute. It must have apanied her for many years.

    ¡°That¡¯s the only way she could unleash the full power of the saber, and at the same time,pletely release her own spiritual power!¡±

    Aftering to this conclusion, Nie Tian¡¯s gaze turned slightly more grim.

    In that same moment, An Ying cried, ¡°Watch out! The spirit beasts are spreading out to nk us!¡±

    Nie Tian had also noticed that after An Ying killed the Frost Armor Rhino in a single blow, the other spirit beasts behind it seemed to be terrified of her.

    Instead of madly dashing towards her, they circled around to the sides of the formation tounch attacks on other trial takers.

    ¡°These spirit beasts are pretty smart,¡± murmured Nie Tian.

    He still didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of fighting. Instead, he continued to examine the chaotic fighting going on between the spirit beasts and the trial takers, secretly assessing the bnce of power between the two sides.

    From his point of view, as long as An Ying was on their side with her powerful saber, the trial takers would undoubtedly win the battle.

    There was no need for him to risk his life in the fighting.

    The saber-wielding An Ying was apparently stronger than the spirit beasts, strong enough to determine the course of the battle.

    Each and every one of the trial takers from various ns roared and brought out various spiritual tools that sparkled with precious light, while simultaneously preparing bizarre spiritual incantations and techniques of all kinds.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    ¡°Menial spirit beasts! How dare you attack us?! Die!¡±

    ¡°Kill them all!¡±

    There was one young man with the same cultivation attribute as Nie Hong, but with a cultivation base at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

    He wielded a dark-green metal ball, which caused thunderps to boom as it erupted with bolts of green lightning. His opponent, a huge silver spider, struggled in agony as they fought.

    A baby-faced young woman let out a nervous whistle as she swung her sword, sending sharp wind des into the fray.

    Her target was a snow ape. Under her ferocious storm of wind des, numerous chunks of flesh and fur were cut off of the ape¡¯s body.

    As he watched attentively, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°As expected, the ns they are from must be much more powerful than the Nie n. These trial takers all have Medium grade spiritual tools with them. Every one of them has something extraordinary that conforms with their attribute. It seems... this battle really isn¡¯t mine to fight.¡±

    He noticed that Zheng Rui and Pan Tao, who were also from the Spiritual Treasure sect, had been fighting effortlessly beside An Ying. Apparently this battle was extremely easy to them.

    ¡°From the look of it, the safest option would be to stick with them until they run into the second grade python. ¡±

    After gaining a clearer understanding of the situation, Nie Tian seemed to rx a bit. He shrunk back into the cone shaped battle formation, refraining from uttering even a single word, as he deliberately tried to make the other trial takers forget about his existence.

    However, not everyone forgot about him...

    Zheng Rui, who was fighting beside An Ying, unexpectedly withdrew to the center. ¡°Nie Tian! This battle puts all of us in danger. Do you really want to stand around doing nothing?!¡±

    With a cold nce at Nie Tian, he kicked his foot towards Nie Tian, hoping to force him out of the center of the formation to face the spirit beasts on the other side.

    Before they had all entered the Green Illusion dimension, Zheng Rui already understood An Ying¡¯s implication, and began to resent Nie Tian, the outsider.

    When everyone was fighting, he saw Nie Tian hiding and observing unconcernedly in the center of the group. Therefore, he felt increasingly annoyed, and didn¡¯t want it to be so easy for him.

    ¡°We¡¯re fighting an intense battle, and you think you can just sit back and watch? Get out there!!" Pan Tao also lifted his foot and threw a kick towards Nie Tian.

 Chapter 39: The Inner Conflict!

    Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were no ordinary disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect. Their parents and grandparents were high ranking officials of the sect.

    Being mere disciples in that sect was enough for them to show off their strength amongst the trial takers, let alone the fact that they had powerful seniors supporting them.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian was an outsider, not even from the ns that were affiliated with the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Both Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were too powerful and lofty to spare Nie Tian a second nce.

    Therefore, they had no qualms about berating and ordering him about.

    Having actedpliently up to this point, Nie Tian finally showed his true colors.

    ¡°Talk if you want,¡± he said from his position about three meters behind An Ying, ¡°but keep your hands and feet to yourselves!¡±

    With that, he lifted his foot in a sh.

    BANG! BANG!

    Nie Tian¡¯s foot met Zheng Rui¡¯s and Pan Tao¡¯s feet in quick session, causing muffled booms to ring out.

    Zheng Rui and Pan Tao immediately felt a tremendous force spreading up their legs.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    To their surprise, both of them were sent back several steps, causing them to stagger into a crowd of spirit beasts.

    In distinct contrast, Nie Tian only shuddered slightly before standing there as still as a rock.

    However, Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were disoriented as they were suddenly thrown into the fray, and had to immediately deal with the two spirit beasts that had jumped onto them. After they forced the two spirit beasts into retreat, they immediately glowered at Nie Tian with bloodshot eyes.

    Zheng Rui¡¯s eyes and face were immediately filled with surging fury. Looking almost as if he intended to eat Nie Tian alive, he shouted, ¡°How dare you fight back!¡±

    After fighting off his enemy, Pan Tao also red at Nie Tian with an expression of disbelief. ¡°You freaking dare to get physical with us?¡±

    The rest of the trial takers also diverted part of their attention, continuing to fight the spirit beasts, yet looking over to see what was going on between the three of them.

    When they saw Nie Tian responding strongly to Zheng Rui and Pan Tao¡¯s provocative actions, all of them were shocked and looked at Nie Tian as if they were looking at a freak.

    Even they, members of the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s subordinate ns, dared not disobey the orders of Zheng Rui and Pan Tao. All of them had served the two cautiously so far, fearing that the slightest fault could cause trouble.

    As for Nie Tian, he was nothing but a member of the Nie n from ck Cloud City, which ording to the rumors... had really gone downhill in the recent years.

    Even these trial takers from other ns didn¡¯t take Nie Tian seriously, and had been trying to find an opportunity to make fun of him.

    They didn¡¯t believe that Nie Tian would dare to rebel against them, much less have the audacity to insult Pan Tao and Zheng Rui. Despite the inherent danger of the situation, he even responded to them with direct brute force.

    ¡°So what if I feel like fighting back?¡± Nie Tian said, ncing at the two of them out of the corner of his eye. Without the slightest bit of respect, he continued, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to sister An¡¯s help that I¡¯m here in the Green Illusion dimension. She¡¯s the only one I owe anything to. When Miss An Ying said unpleasant things to me, I didn¡¯t bicker with her out of respect for her sister.¡±

    ¡°Who the hell are you two? Why do I have to give you face?¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian waved his hands, and recklessly continued, ¡°I came to the Green Illusion dimension to broaden my view. I don¡¯t care a bit about the spirit beasts and the Heaven Comprehending Pill. Come on. If you want to resolve things, just bring it on then! So what if you¡¯re in the ninth level of Qi Refining? I actually do want to see for myself how good you are!¡±

    This wouldn¡¯t be his first time fighting with those who had a superior cultivation base.

    As a matter of fact, he had fought opponents with superior cultivation bases his whole life!

    Nie Hong and Nie Yuan from the Nie n, and Yun Song from the Yun n, all of them were eventually beaten soundly by Nie Tian.

    Nowadays, after having been baptized by the dense spiritual energy of the mecloud mine, he had already entered the sixth level of Qi Refining, and had always firmly believed in his physical strength.

    Moreover, he hade to understand that unique raging fist strike from the mysteriousnd, which made him confident enough to face an opponent in the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    Therefore, he felt no fear of Zheng Rui and Pan Tao!

    All the surrounding trial takers couldn¡¯t help but mor.

    ¡°How arrogant of him!¡±

    ¡°Is this guy really from the Nie n?¡±

    ¡°He dares to provoke a fight with Zheng Rui and Pan Tao from the Spiritual Treasure sect. Does he want to die?¡±

    Every one of them, thanks to their precious spiritual tools, had significant advantages when fighting the spirit beasts, and because of that, they were able to divert part of their attention to watch the quarrel between Nie Tian, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao, and even makements. As if it weren¡¯t chaotic enough.

    As teenagers, not only did they do nothing to stop the conflict, they actually hoped the scene would grow bigger.

    The main reason was that the spirit beasts were too weak to threaten their safety.

    As the leader, An Ying had long since noticed the conflict between the three, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    She had originally assumed that the pressure from Zheng Rui and Pan Tao would have convinced Nie Tian to fight the spirit beasts with the rest of the group.

    Never did she expect that Nie Tian would not only rebel, but fight back violently.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that either Zheng Rui or Pan Tao used their inner spiritual power. I¡¯m only not sure about Nie Tian, though. If he didn¡¯t either...¡± She nced over at Nie Tian, wondering about his true strength and what was about to happen next.

    She didn¡¯t consider any of the low-grade spirit beasts around her as worthy opponents; in her view, even without the group of three, the rest of the trial takers were capable of killing all the spirit beasts.

    Having such confidence, as themander, she didn¡¯t stop them, but rather let the situation continue to develop.

    Zheng Rui let out a bellow, and backed off from his fight with the spirit beast. ¡°Brother Tao, go ahead and help them kill off these annoying spirit beasts. I¡¯ve had enough with this punk!¡± Step by step, he walked slowly towards Nie Tian.

    As of this moment, An Ying could tell that Zheng Rui had be truly mad, and thus warned him, ¡°There are rules in the Green Illusion dimension. One cannot take another¡¯s life.¡±

    However, although her words seemed like a warning, they actually served as an incitement.

    ¡°Of course, I know the rules!¡± Zheng Rui said, grinning. ¡°Rx, I won¡¯t kill him! But mark my words. His trial in the Green Illusion dimension hase to an end!¡±

    Apparently, Zheng Rui intended to seriously injure Nie Tian.

    ¡°That depends on how good you are!¡± said Nie Tian with aposed smile.

    He truly doubted that Zheng Rui was strong enough to hurt him.

    At this very moment, the ground beneath the feet of the young man with the dark-green metal ball suddenly rose up into the air!

    As soon as the ground started trembling beneath him, he subconsciously looked down at the ground, and then immediately let out a sharp shriek.

    A giant, grayish-brown lizard suddenly scuttled out from the ground under his feet!

    Before the young man couldunch any lightning attacks with the metal ball, the lizard had already swallowed his legs with its huge mouth.

    CRUNCH!

    An extremely loud and cracking sound echoed out from his legs.

    Even as a wail of pain escaped his mouth, the lizard¡¯s bit upwards at his waist.

    Instantly, blood spurted out of his waist and abdominal area, and the light in his eyes began to fade.

    The dark-green metal ball fell to the icy ground beside him, as his grip weakened and finally grewpletely ck.

    The surrounding teenagers¡¯ eyes went wide, and they howled madly, waving spiritual tools as they attempted to bombard the lizard.

    ¡°Qin Shun!¡±

    Shockingly, after killing the young man with its deadly bite, the lizard shrunk down and disappeared into the ground again.

    As themander, An Ying¡¯s eyes suddenly turned bright red. With a mad hack of her saber, she split apart the nearest first grade spirit beast and yelled, ¡°The Lurker Lizard! That was the second grade Lurker Lizard! Why did it show up here?¡±

    She knew very well that there were only four second grade spirit beasts left in the entire Green Illusion dimension, and that the Lurker Lizard was one of them!

    However, the cier area where they were standing had always been the Frost Python¡¯s turf, whereas the Lurker Lizard¡¯s territory was normally the desert beyond the cier area.

    Their original n was to ughter the Frost Python in the cier area, and after a few days of rest and reorganization, they would then proceed to the desert to hunt down the Lurker Lizard.

    An Ying definitely wasn¡¯t prepared to confront the Lurker Lizard in the cier area.

    ¡°Zheng Rui! Pan Tao!¡± she called out anxiously. ¡°Put your personal grudges aside for the moment and help me kill the Lurker Lizard!¡±

    She was afraid that the Frost Python, another second grade spirit beast, was also in the vicinity.

    The four second grade spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension had formidable strength that wasparable to Qi warriors at the early stage of Lesser Heaven. If there were only one of them, she had the confidence to kill it with Zheng Rui and Pan Tao¡¯s help.

    However, if they had to deal with the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard at the same time, she had no idea what might happen.

    By this point, she could no longer afford to let Zheng Rui test Nie Tian¡¯s secret. All she wanted was to finish off the Lurker Lizard as quickly as possible, in case the Frost Python appeared.

    Unfortunately, it was at this point that her worst fears came true.

    HISSS!

    The python¡¯s call came from behind a strangely-shaped, translucent, ice-covered tree.

    The python was more than ten meters long, as thick as a man¡¯s waist, and silvery-white in color. Almost as soon as its hiss echoed out, it appeared in front of everyone

    "Oh, no!" An Ying¡¯s expression changed drastically.

 Chapter 40: First Display of Talent

    Unexpectedly, the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard showed up at the same time!

    The moment those young trial takers heard the hissing sound of the Frost Python, their faces all turned pale.

    Even Zheng Rui and Pan Tao also panicked.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression turned grim, and he became more focused than ever, no longer in any sort of mood to quarrel with Zheng Rui.

    After Qin Shun¡¯s death, the sudden emergence of the Lurker Lizard, and the appearance of the Frost Python, Nie Tian realized his journey to the Green Illusion dimension would not be as simple as he had pictured it.

    An Ying took a deep breath to calm down, and then said decisively, ¡°Zheng Rui! Pan Tao! You deal with the Lurker Lizard! As for the Frost Python... leave it to me!¡±

    Everyone could hear theck of confidence in her voice.

    ¡°No way!¡± shouted Zheng Rui. ¡°You definitely can¡¯t handle the Frost Python alone!¡±

    ¡°Zheng Rui and I will kill the Frost Python,¡± Pan Tao chimed in. ¡°You handle the Lurker Lizard!¡±

    Long before they embarked upon their journey, they had heard from their seniors that the Frost Python was the most powerful spirit beast in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Otherwise, its head wouldn¡¯t be the only item that could be used to exchange for the Heaven Comprehending Pill.

    Both Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were fully aware that An Ying was slightly stronger than them.

    However, they were all at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and cultivators from the Spiritual Treasure sect, so they knew very well that An Ying was only stronger by a bit. If they coborated, they would be able to defeat An Ying.

    By telling them to fight the Lurker Lizard, and facing the stronger Frost Python herself, An Ying was clearly putting herself in great danger.

    They couldn¡¯t ept such a n!

    In the middle of their conversation, Zheng Rui and Pan Tao exchanged nces and instantly agreed to overtake An Ying and fight the Frost Python, which had just appeared.

    ¡°I am themander! Do as I say!¡± An Ying, cried, sounding both furious and charming at the same time. She raised her long saber high in the air, stopping the two from approaching. ¡°I know I can¡¯t kill the Frost Python, but at least I can stall it! I will buy enough time for the both of you to kill the Lurker Lizard!

    ¡°Once the lizard is dead, you cane over and help me ughter the Frost Python!

    ¡°If we switch targets, none of us will be able to finish the battle in a short time. If the fight drags on, none of us will be able to make it out of the Green Illusion dimension alive!¡±

    ¡°But, it¡¯s not fair for us to let you stall the Frost Python on your own,¡± Zheng Rui said anxiously. ¡°You¡¯ll probably...¡±

    What An Ying said next was spoken with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron, ¡°If you truly worry about my safety, hold nothing back! Kill that Lurker Lizard as fast as possible! As long as it dies quickly, I¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± shouted Pan Tao, eyes reddened. ¡°We¡¯ll follow your instructions!¡±

    The baby-faced girl clenched her short sword in hand and looked over at An Ying. ¡°Elder sister Ying,¡± she said on the verge of tears, ¡°you... you must be careful!¡±

    She had been good friends with Qin Shun, who had died right next to her. The moment he was killed by the Lurker Lizard, she panicked.

    All the teenagers who were attending the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial looked slightly older than their actual age, due to the fact that they had started cultivation at early ages. At first nce, they seemed like a group of fifteen-year-olds or sixteen-year-olds.

    However the truth was that they were only twelve or thirteen.

    In fact, that girl had just turned twelve this year. In her n, she had always been protected like a princess, and this was her first time to experience such a cruel battle.

    Obviously, she hadn¡¯t adapted.

    Other than the three from the Spiritual Treasure sect, the rest of the trial takers from the various ns had all quieted down after Qin Shun¡¯s death.

    Their eyes all flickered with the light of fear and anxiety, especially after the Frost Python showed up.

    In fact, the appearance of the Frost Python turned the fear in their eyes into desperation!

    The only exception was Nie Tian, who had argued with Zheng Rui earlier.

    Several months ago, Nie Tian had went through an even more desperate situation outside of ck Cloud City.

    He would never be able to forget that experience for the rest of his life. Back then, he eventually burned the two powerful experts to ashes with the animal bone¡¯s frightening power.

    Nie Tian had long since surpassed his peers in terms of resilience, and after killing those two, had be even more resolute and unwavering.

    Although he could do nothing to win the battle in front of him, he did not panic, nor did he show fear.

    Fearless, he managed to keep a clear mind and concentrate his attention.

    This was the reason that he was the first to discover an abnormal change!

    Next to the baby-faced girl, a level stretch ofnd began to bulge upward slightly.

    Overwhelmed by fear, the girl was staring nkly at An Ying,pletely unaware of such a subtle change in the ground.

    She couldn¡¯t possibly have expected the Lurker Lizard would emerge so close to her again, after it had just killed Qin Shun right next to her.

    She was stillpletely focused on An Ying¡¯s words of constion.

    At this moment, Zheng Rui and Pan Tao, who previously attempted to overtake An Ying, had just stopped their argument with An Ying and had yet to turn around.

    ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Nie Tian bellowed, startling everyone, who immediatelyy their eyes on him.

    Under everyone¡¯s astonished gaze, Nie Tian shot up into the air like a human rocket!

    The spiritual power in his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea instantly converged into his right leg!

    Nie Tian flew high up over the girl¡¯s head, and like a plummeting meteor, mmed with full force onto that bulging piece of icynd beside the her!

    BOOM!

    A muffled sound of a collision came from the icy ground. To Nie Tian, it felt as if he had exerted all his strength to stomp onto a giant rubber ball.

    Afterwards, his momentum reversed, and he actually sprung up high into the air.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    All of a sudden, a fierce growl exploded from underground, a cry that clearly came from the Lurker Lizard.

    ¡°Ahhh!!!!¡± Only at this moment did the baby-faced girl understand what was happening.

    Rattled, she lurched forward and attacked with her sword, creating sharp wind des that pierced into the icy ground beside her.

    CHING! CHING!

    Streaks of bright light suddenly shot out from the icy ground, emanating in all directions.

    Suppressing their terror, the entire group howled and dashed towards the spot where the Lurker Lizard was about to emerge.

    ¡°The Lurker Lizard!¡±

    ¡°It was the Lurker Lizard again!¡±

    ¡°The kid from the Nie n found its trail!¡±

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for him, Jiang Miao would already be dead in the jaws of the Lurker Lizard, just like Qin Shun.¡±

    However, after its attack was foiled, the Lurker Lizard vanished into the earth once again.

    When the trial takers reached Jiang Miao¡¯s side, they discovered nothing.

    On the other hand, afternding back on the ground, Nie Tian panted heavily and said, ¡°Are you people really that scared? If you think we can¡¯t win, why don¡¯t you just kill yourselves so that you don¡¯t get eaten by the Lurker Lizard and the Frost Python¡±

    Surprisingly, no one had a single thing to say in response to his rebuke.

    All the trial takers suddenly became silent, staring at Nie Tian, who was already adjusting his breaths, preparing for another strike.

    Fortunately, due to the appearance of the Frost Python, the spirit beasts that had been attacking them previously weren¡¯t in a hurry tounch another round of attacks.

    Moreover, the Frost Python seemed surprisingly patient, and was taking its time to approach them.

    Because of that, the crowd had the time to process Nie Tian¡¯s words and reassess the dangerous situation they were in.

    ¡°He is right.¡± An Ying said, breaking the silence. ¡°The situation we are in might be the worst we¡¯ve ever met in our lives! However, the purpose of this trial was to train ourselves, and we should have the courage to face a desperate fight!

    ¡°Rx, everyone! A second grade spirit beast isn¡¯t as formidable as you think!

    ¡°As long as I can keep the Frost Python upied while Zheng Rui and Pan Tao kill the Lurker Lizard, we can turn the situation around and eventually defeat the Frost Python!

    ¡°I have full confidence that I can buy them enough time!

    ¡°What¡¯s more, I want you to kill off those first grade spirit beasts as fast as possible, and take some burden off of Zheng Rui, Pan Tao, and me afterwards.

    ¡°Please trust me! And trust yourselves!¡±

    Nie Tian immediately noticed that the fear in the trial takers¡¯ eyes was slowly reced by courage and bloodlust, all thanks to the inspiration provided by An Ying.

    He couldn¡¯t help but cast an admiring nce in her direction.

    At the same time, to his surprise, An Ying nced back at him from afar, a simr expression in her eyes.

    Grinning, he waved and called out, ¡°Good luck.¡±

    ¡°You too,¡± answered An Ying.

 Chapter 41: Iceclaw Monkey

    The baby-faced girl was still seized by shock. Clutching her sword tightly, she timidly said, ¡°Thank you, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°My name is Jiang Miao. I¡¯m from Dim Star City, which isn¡¯t far from ck Cloud City. Whenever you¡¯re in town, I¡¯d love to show you around.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned back at her. ¡°You¡¯re at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and that sword of yours... is also a rare tool. As long as you focus on fighting and pay close attention to what¡¯s happening beneath your feet, you should be able to detect the movement of the Lurker Lizard. You¡¯d better be more careful from now on, and don¡¯t let your mind wander any more.¡±

    Jiang Miao nodded her head vigorously. ¡°Yes, I will.¡±

    HISSS!

    At this moment, another strange sound rang out from behind the Frost Python.

    Pan Tao¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°I can¡¯t believe there are more spirit beasts!¡±

    As he spoke, ten more first grade spirit beasts showed up from behind the Frost Python, one after another.

    They were mostly snake-type spirit beasts that likely appeared because of the summons from the Frost Python.

    The moment they appeared, Nie Tian understood why the Frost Python had been taking its time to make a move.

    It was waiting for the arrival of itsckeys!

    Originally, the trial takers had outnumbered the first grade spirit beasts in this region. Furthermore, the juniors from various ns all had outstanding spiritual tools in their hands, which had given them the upper hand in the fighting.

    That was why they were able to spare some attention to watch the conflict between Nie Tian and Zheng Rui.

    However, the appearance of this additional wave of spirit beasts meant that they would all have to face two to three first grade spirit beasts.

    In that case, no matter how powerful their spiritual tools were, they wouldn¡¯t be able to finish the fight within a short time.

    The mere appearance of the Frost Python had ensured that the trial takers would lose their advantage.

    Their only hope had been that An Ying could keep the Frost Python upied while the rest of them finished off their opponents, and that they could subsequently help An Ying ughter the Frost Python.

    However, with another wave of spirit beastsing, it seemed theirst remaining hope was gone.

    HISSSSS!

    The Frost Python hissed, and cast them an ice-cold re, which... appeared to be filled with a gleam of ridicule.

    After waiting patiently for so long, the moment the snake-kind spirit beasts gathered around it, it finally decided to make a move.

    An Ying now clearly understood the situation, and knew that their cowardice and hesitation had cost them their best opportunity.

    ¡°Dammit! We should have attacked earlier!

    ¡°We can¡¯t wait any longer!¡± She looked down anxiously at the ice-cold ground. ¡° For all we know, there are even more spirit beasts rushing over from other regions!¡±

    ording to her knowledge, the Lurker Lizard, being a second grade spirit beast, also possessed the ability to summoning low-ranking spirit beasts, although she was unsure of whether it had actually done so yet.

    Perhaps, spirit beasts from the desert... were charging toward them at this very moment.

    She didn¡¯t dare to waste any more time.

    WHOOSH!

    Clusters of burning mes suddenly shot out from within her crimson curved de. Once they left the de, they continuously altered their shape in the midair, and eventually turned into a stream ofva-like me.

    In a sh, six streams of me formed in front of An Ying.

    Emitting a zing fire, they intertwined with each other, forming a faint yetplicated pattern of me.

    ¡°me Stream Formation!¡±

    All of a sudden, An Ying raised her long saber high up in the air, and then pointed its tip towards the Frost Python.

    WHOOSH!

    The intertwined pattern of raging mes that had been floating in midair suddenly flew towards the Frost Python.

    As it began to move, An Ying dashed forward, holding her long saber in hand.

    The ten-meter-long Frost Python cast a cold re at her, before throwing its head back and opening its gigantic mouth.

    Suddenly, a beam of light as thick as the python¡¯s body shot out of its mouth, straight up into the air, where it mmed into the enormous me formation.

    The moment the frost power met the me power, they immediately sent millions of sparks flying out in all directions, filling up the entire sky.

    Also at that very moment, Nie Tian let out another shout. ¡°Everyone, attack! She¡¯s buying us time!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the mesmerized trial takers suddenly snapped back to reality.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, didn¡¯t waste his time watching the battle between An Ying and the Frost Python, but instead dashed towards the spirit beast that was closest to him, his face grim.

    It was an Icew Monkey, which had a pair of sharp ws and silver fur covering its entire body.

    The Icew Monkey was a first grade spirit beast, known for its agility, but possessing only a pair of sharp ws, which emanated a cold light, as its weapons.

    Its favorite target was the neck and face area, and especially the eyes!

    EEK! EEK!

    Upon seeing Nie Tian running madly towards it, the Icew Monkey let out a sharp screech before it blurred into action, snaking across the battlefield towards Nie Tian.

    It didn¡¯t move in a straight line, but rather in a serpentine motion.

    Right before it was about to engage with Nie Tian, it stabbed its sharp ws into the ground, and then raised them violently up a momentter.

    Numerous chunks of ice and snow were thrown into the air, which broke into even smaller fragments, forming a cloud of ice shards, and temporarily blocking Nie Tian¡¯s line of sight.

    A momentter, a silver shadow suddenly appeared behind Nie Tian. When the shadow became clear, it was the Icew Monkey.

    With full force, it stabbed its razor-sharp ws towards the back of Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    The neck is one of the most vulnerable part on a human body, and were it to be pierced by ws, it would result in almost instant death for most people.

    Clearly, the monkey knew the weak spots of the human body very well.

    EEK! EEK!

    In the moment before its sharp ws were on the verge of making contact with Nie Tian¡¯s neck, it finally let out a sharp,cent screech.

    ¡°Looking to die?!¡±

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. It almost seemed as if he had grown a pair of eyes on the back of his head; he reached both hands behind him and grabbed the Icew Monkey¡¯s furry wrists with iparable precision.

    The Icew Monkey shrieked as it was forcefully swung over Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Nie Tian clenched its wrists tightly, stopping it from making another vicious attack. Then, he kicked the Icew Monkey in the chest.

    With this kick, not only did he use his full physical force, but he also drew power from his spiritual sea.

    BANG! CRACK!

    The Icew Monkey¡¯ torso was immediatelyunched into the air, without its arms!

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t bother to look at the screaming Icew Monkey, but instead turned the skinny and shriveled monkey arms around to examine them.

    With the sharp ws facing outwards, he then decided to use them as weapons on the nearest spirit beast!

    He knew after losing its arms, the Icew Monkey would no longer be a threat.

    Even if it was still alive, it wouldn¡¯t be able to have an impact on the oue of the battle.

    WHOOSH!

    Once again, the Lurker Lizard suddenly emerged from under the ground.

    At this time, a young man named Zu Fang was caught up in the middle of a fierce fight with a giant spider, and thus when the Lurker Lizard emerged and attacked again, he wasn¡¯t able to respond.

    KA! CHA!

    The Lurker Lizard shattered his leg bones with one bite. Because of the intense pain, he no longer had the strength to handle huge spider. A momentter, the spider¡¯s sharp ws pierced through his chest and abdomen.

    Pan Tao and Zheng Rui, who had been searching for the Lurker Lizard, immediately dashed in his direction, yelling his name. ¡°Zu Fang!¡±

    Unfortunately, they were toote.

    By the time they arrived by his side, Zu Fang had already stopped breathing; the spider, knowing that it was no match for two new enemies, immediately took to flight.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Pan Tao¡¯s eyes turned red. ¡°The Lurker Lizard hides itself beneath the surface, yet it can perceive the course of the battle, andunches sneak attacks on us when we are distracted by our enemies! As long as it lurks underground, we won¡¯t be able to locate it and kill it!¡±

    Irritated, Zheng Rui shouted, ¡°We must think of a way, fast! An Ying... won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer!¡±

    Noticing one more person had died, Nie Tian didn¡¯t panic. Instead he checked An Ying¡¯s situation, while simultaneously listening in on Zheng Rui and Pan Tao¡¯s conversation.

    His expression immediately turned very grim.

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t look good!¡±

 Chapter 42: Were I Wrong, Take My Life!

    The enormous me formation above An Ying¡¯s head had beenpletely shattered by the frosty light beam!

    Nie Tian noted that the rich, white frost mist in the surrounding area had been gradually gathered to that beam of frosty light.

    This was the cier area of the Green Illusion dimension, the habitat of the Frost Python. With its second grade cultivation, the Frost Python was even able to draw power from the freezing spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth to increase the power of its beam of frosty light.

    Because of the freezing spiritual energy, the beam was bolstered, growing longer and thicker!

    On the other hand, An Ying became more and more exhausted because of the wastage of power and energy.

    HISSSSS!

    After destroying An Ying¡¯s me formation with its frosty light beam, the Frost Python slowly slithered towards her.

    Even though Nie Tian was a hundred meters away, he was able to see the frustration and fear in An Ying¡¯s eyes.

    It seemed she knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able tost much longer.

    She had ced all her hope in Zheng Rui and Pan Tao, and yet they hadn¡¯t found any trace of the Lurker Lizard.

    Nie Tian had a clear understanding of the situation, and he knew that the key to surviving this fierce battle was An Ying sessfully stalling the Frost Python.

    If An Ying died, and the Frost Python crashed into their battle formation, the trial takers who had been fighting the first grade spirit beasts would all be killed instantly.

    If it came down to that, Nie Tian himself would have no hope of escaping, and would also fall prey to the spirit beasts.

    ¡°This won¡¯t work.¡± With a grim look in his eyes, he racked in his brain for a way to turn the extremely dangerous situation around.

    Of course, from the moment the Frost Python showed up with the Lurker Lizard, he realized that in order to live, he had to cooperate with An Ying and others.

    For this reason, he didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest to jump in and save Jiang Miao.

    Although he still detested Zheng Rui and Pan Tao, he also knew that they were of great importance in this battle.

    Zheng Rui and Pan Tao were the strongest besides An Ying, and could take the pressure off of the rest of the group so that the Lurker Lizard wouldn¡¯t dare to go around and kill more of them.

    Nie Tian suddenly said, ¡°The pressure on An Ying is too great. One of you has to go help her!¡±

    Pan Tao was puzzled and froze for a moment. ¡°Are you talking to us?¡±

    Zheng Rui grew irritated and said angrily, ¡°Who do you think you are? Our task is to kill the Lurker Lizard. We know exactly what to do. No need for you to worry!¡±

    ¡°Kill the Lurker Lizard?¡± Nie Tianughed coldly. ¡°You can¡¯t even find it. How can you kill it? You are only wasting your time here! If it doesn¡¯te out, are you just going to continue waiting until An Ying gets killed by the Frost Python?!¡±

    Zheng Rui was about to retort when Pan Tao waved his hand, signaling him not to argue with Nie Tian. ¡°Do you have any better suggestions?¡±

    Nie Tian understood that An Ying had been in an extremely dangerous situation, and therefore said as quickly as he could, ¡°Zheng Rui, you go help An Ying. Pan Tao, you stay here and defend. If the Lurker Lizard dares to emerge again, Zheng Rui can alwayse back and help. I believe that when the Lurker Lizard appears, I¡¯ll be able to shoulder some of the burden for you, and buy us enough time for Zheng Rui to return.

    ¡°Time is of the essence, An Ying won¡¯t be able tost much longer. You need to make up your mind now!¡±

    Unlike Zheng Rui, Pan Tao was able to look at the bigger picture, and make the wisest decisions at critical moments.

    Therefore, Nie Tian addressed him alone.

    Pan Tao took a deep breath and firmly said, ¡°Zheng Rui, listen to him. Go help An Ying! Don¡¯t worry about me. If that Lurker Lizard dares to emerge, I can hold out for at least five or ten minutes!¡±

    Just as Zheng Rui was deliberating, Nie Tian bellowed, ¡°Do you think An Ying can afford for you to waste any more time?!¡±

    As they spoke, Zheng Rui snuck a nce at An Ying, and realized that An Ying couldn¡¯t hold off the Frost Python¡¯s raging attacks any longer. He gritted his teeth, red at Nie Tian, and said, ¡°If anything happens to Brother Tao, I won¡¯t let you off!¡±

    Finally, he bolted towards An Ying at the fastest speed possible.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian had long since stopped fighting the first grade spirit beasts.

    He knew very well that the crucial factors in turning the situation around were the Lurker Lizard and the Frost Python.

    Especially the Lurker Lizard!

    Ever since it burst out from under the ground and killed Zu Fang, the trial takers¡¯ moves had be somewhat hesitant.

    They would constantly look down at the ground beneath their feet, afraid that the Lurker Lizard might suddenly emerge and kill them.

    Although the Lurker Lizard hadn¡¯t showed up for a while, it was still like a ticking time bomb beneath the ground that could go off any moment.

    With such a huge threat lurking in the shadows, every one of the trial takers moved as if they were fighting on thin ice. They all feared that they could be the next Zu Fang.

    ¡°Calm down. We have to find the Lurker Lizard.¡±

    Nie Tian kept adjusting his breathing. After mentally casting aside the life-threatening nature of the situation, he concentrated on the icy ground beneath his feet.

    ¡°Calm down, calm... down...¡±

    He forced himself to rx so that he could better detect any unusual movement underneath the ground.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP...

    He didn¡¯t even realize that during the process, his heart rate had be slower and slower.

    Even his body temperature had dropped significantly.

    Shortly after, he found that his entire body had be cold, and his blood flow had be extremely slow, just like his heartbeat.

    However, his senses had been augmented significantly, enabling him to perceive the changes in the surrounding spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, the fluctuations of the trial takers¡¯ spiritual power, and every breath of the spirit beasts.

    Whenever the trial takers or the spirit beasts moved, their feetnded on the ground, creating vibrating waves that he could sense through the soles of his feet.

    He was secretly surprised by his newly-discovered enhanced perception. In order to get a better feel for the slight vibrations, he took off his shoes and socks and stood barefoot on the cold and hard icynd.

    Shedding the twoyers of obstruction and standing there barefooted enabled him to feel every vibration of the ground even more clearly.

    On the intense battlefield, he suddenly closed his eyes, focusing all his psychic power onto his feet.

    He focused his heart on sensing even the most trivial vibrations.

    All of sudden, he experienced a mysterious sensation, as if his soul were transcending his body and going out into the open.

    It seemed as though strands of his psychic awareness had prated the ground from the bottom of his feet, and started to roam about in the underground world.

    In that moment, he felt as though there were a dozen versions of himself cutting through the dark space underneath the ground.

    It felt like his hands were reaching out into pitch-ck darkness, trying to find something...

    When his psychic awareness wandered to where the trial takers and the spiritual beasts were, he was able to hear the ear-piercing sounds of their footfalls.

    The sounds should have been weak and hard to perceive, but with his psychic awareness, they became as loud as thunderps.

    Moreover, he could quickly tell which sounds came from the trial takers and the spirit beasts.

    Therefore, his psychic awareness filtered out those sounds and continued to search in other directions.

    He searched with great patience...

    Pan Tao, who was constantly shifting about to observe the icynd around them, quickly noticed his strange behavior.

    It was the most crucial moment of the battle, yet Nie Tian didn¡¯t join them, but rather took off his shoes and socks, closed his eyes, and adopted an attitude that seemed as though he was courting death.

    Pan Tao took a closer look, and then subconsciously moved closer to him, fearing that he would be killed by the nearby spirit beasts.

    Right after Nie Tian had saved Jiang Miao and provided some reasonable suggestions, Pan Tao hade to view him as a true member of the team.

    Since he trusted that Nie Tian would never jeopardize their safety, and that he must be helping the team in his own way, Pan Tao viewed protecting Nie Tian as his responsibility.

    ¡°What a strange dude!¡± grumbled Pan Tao, yet he kept watch for Nie Tian, secretly preparing himself to fight off the spirit beasts that had been wandering near them.

    As of this moment, strands of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness, which had been roaming the underground world, suddenly sensed a strong sign of life!

    ¡°The Lurker Lizard!¡±

    Nie Tian violently opened his eyes, and aimed at a spot ording to his previous probing.

    Just as he was about to make a move, he was suddenly taken over by fatigue, and discovered that he had beenpletely depleted of energy, as if he hadn¡¯t slept in seven days.

    He immediately realized that he had drained his energy by channeling his psychic awareness underneath the ground and searching for a trace of the Lurker Lizard.

    Clearly he was now in no position to effectively fight the Lurker Lizard and make it pay.

    He pointed at a teenager who was fighting a Frost Armor Rhino, and shouted urgently at Pan Tao, ¡°Pan Tao! Over there! Behind Tong Hao! The Lurker Lizard is beneath the icynd one and a half meters behind him! Go! Attack that piece of icynd with full force! Please trust me!¡±

    Pan Tao was shocked. ¡°Are you sure?!¡±

    With a pale face, Nie Tian nodded vigorously and urged again, ¡°I¡¯ll kill myself if I¡¯m wrong!¡±

    Pan Tao was stunned.

    ¡°Hurry up!¡± Nie Tian roared.

    Pan Tao hesitated no more. He hefted his long golden spear in hand, blurring into action, and arriving behind Tong Hao in blink of an eye.

    His long spear suddenly emanated a brilliant golden light, so bright that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but close his eyes!

    POOFF!

    After closing his eyes, he heard the sound of the spear piercing into the ground.

    In the next moment, the Lurker Lizard¡¯s mad cry came from underneath that piece of icynd.

 Chapter 43: Settling The Victory

    Dark-green blood spewed violently out from the crack the golden spear had opened up in the ground.

    At the same time, the Lurker Lizard¡¯s ear-piercing shriek rang out from the depths below.

    Thend began to shake violently; clearly, the Lurker Lizard¡¯s thirst for blood had been spurred, and it was about to tear through the ground to the surface.

    Pan Tao had more battle experience than Jiang Miao and others. The moment he saw the blood spilling out from under the ground, he knew that Nie Tian¡¯s judgement had beenpletely correct!

    Ecstasy stretched across his face, and at the same time, his ck pupils suddenly turned dark-gold!

    His hands suddenly exploded with a wave of enormous spiritual power fluctuations as he pulled out the spear and vigorously pierced it back into the earth.

    The long spear once again shed with golden light, forcing Nie Tian to close his eyes.

    CHING!

    The spear¡¯s earth-piercing sound rang out again, and the pained howls of the Lurker Lizard could once again be heard.

    ¡°Haha! Finally, I¡¯ve got you!¡±

    Pan Tao, after seeding in both his attacks, grinned from ear to ear. More confident, he pulled out the spear one more time and prepared for a third attack.

    However, after being hit twice, the Lurker Lizard finally realized that its whereabouts had been exposed.

    Wounded, it immediately sank further down into the earth, sapped its will to fight Pan Tao.

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    Pan Tao¡¯s face was full of disbelief as looked at the bulge in the ground rapidly making its way off into the distance.

    The second grade Lurker Lizard was intelligent enough that it wouldn¡¯t dare to continue fighting after having its body pierced twice.

    Although Pao Tao had been prepared for the opposite, the Lurker Lizard actually fled!

    Pan Tao got extremely excited, cheering loudly while brandishing his golden spear. ¡°Zheng Rui! You don¡¯t have toe any more. The Lurker Lizard has fled! Hahaha! It actually fled!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, all the teenagers who had previously feared that the Lurker Lizard might sneak up on them from under the ground, were immediately filled with strength and spirit.

    Without the threat of the Lurker Lizard, they no longer had to worry about attacks on their nk, and finally became full of courage!

    Nie Tian noticed that none of them were looking down anymore, and instead went all-out against the spirit beasts in front of them.

    ¡°What! The Lurker Lizard has fled?¡± Zheng Rui, who had gone to help An Ying fight the Frost Python, grew excited as well. ¡°Brother Tao! Well done! If we can escape death this time, it will be all thanks to you! Hahaha, you¡¯re so awesome, bro! Respect!¡±

    After Zheng Rui had joined her, An Ying was no longer in sore straits, and actually could spare some time to take a nce at Pan Tao.

    Even though she didn¡¯t know what exactly had happened, she was confident that Pan Tao wouldn¡¯t lie, and since he said the Lurker Lizard had fled, it must be true.

    The fact that Pan Tao was able to defeat the Lurker Lizard totally surpassed her expectations, and she was sincerely happy that he had managed to do that.

    ¡°Pan Tao, I didn¡¯t know you had it in you. Good job!¡± She was quite generous with her praises.

    Jiang Miao¡¯s cheek blushed with excitement. ¡°Big Bro Pan! You are amazing! It¡¯s all thanks to you if we win!¡±

    ted, the rest of the teenagers also started shouting out, praising Pan Tao in every possible way.

    ¡°You are truly worthy of being a disciple of the Spiritual Treasure sect, Biggest Bro Pan! Much respect!¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Big Bro Pan!¡±

    "..."

    Immersed in an earful of praises, Pan Tao smiled in embarrassment, and subconsciously cast a nce at Nie Tian.

    He knew more than anyone that Nie Tian had yed the most crucial role in this, and it was only because of him he was able to severely wound the Lurker Lizard.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t provided an urate location, he would never be able to catch the Lurker Lizard off guard and inflict such incalcble damage on it, forcing it to escape.

    The Lurker Lizard also didn¡¯t think someone would be able to locate it, so it had let its guard down.

    Pan Tao took it by surprise in the same manner it hadunched sneak attacks on Qin Shun and Zu Fang. Otherwise, if it hade out of the earth and fought Pan Tao openly, it wouldn¡¯t had suffered such a great loss.

    After all, it was fundamentally stronger than Pan Tao.

    Somewhat shamefaced, Pan Tao looked at Nie Tian from afar, only to find that Nie Tian had extended his arm high in the air and stuck out his thumb, making a gesture of praise towards him.

    Pan Tao could find no traces of ridicule in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, only heartfelt congrattions.

    Nie Tian also understood that although locating the Lurker Lizard had been the key, they couldn¡¯t have wounded it without Pan Tao¡¯s decisive attacks. He himself had been too depleted to strike early on.

    As a matter of fact, both he and Pan Tao had yed important roles in this battle.

    The Lurker Lizard had previously been hiding in the dark and unleashing murderous attacks on the trial takers. Now that it had fled the battlefield, the whole situation immediately turned around.

    Nie Tian had almost copsed due to overconsumption of his power, but now that the Lurker Lizard had fled, he could finally catch a breath and regain his strength, knowing that the crisis had passed.

    After seeing recognition in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, a faint smile could be seen on Pan Tao¡¯s face, which was... one of heartfelt admiration and pleasure. ¡°Hahaha.¡±

    He nodded at Nie Tian, and the both of them exchanged a look of tacit mutual understanding.

    At that time, Zheng Rui reminded him in a loud voice. ¡°Brother Tao! Don¡¯t just stand around. Come and help us get rid of this Frost Python!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Pan Tao said,ughing.

    However, just as he was about to rush towards them, his eyebrow twitched, and he noticed that Nie Tian was in a poor state.

    Face serious, Pan Tao instructed. ¡°Tong Hao! Don¡¯t bother with the spirit beasts any more. Go to Nie Tian¡¯s side and guard him for a while. He seems to be under the weather.¡±

    Tong Hao was the only one whose spirits didn¡¯t rise after the Lurker Lizard fled. He was still standing there looking stunned.

    He knew very well that if Pan Tao hadn¡¯t jumped in to fight off the Lurker Lizard, he would have been its next victim, and he... would have surely been killed.

    As of this moment, he was still seized by fear.

    Upon Pan Tao¡¯s order, he nced at Nie Tian, and found that Nie Tian was sitting on the ground with a pale face, and appeared to have lost all his spirit. He furrowed his brows and seemed to be somewhat unwilling to take action.

    He wasn¡¯t aware that it was Nie Tian who had really saved him.

    While everyone else was bathing in blood, Nie Tian, on the other hand, was sitting on the ground...

    That made him feel that it was a bit unfair.

    He thought Nie Tian did nothing to help.

    ¡°Tong Hao! Did you hear me?!¡± Pan Tao red at him.

    Only then did Tong Hao respond. ¡°Yeah, got it. I¡¯m on it.¡±

    From his point of view, it was Pan Tao who had saved his life, and he was in his debt.

    Therefore, as long as Pan Tao instructed him to do something, he had to follow it, regardless of whether he was willing or not.

    Soon, he arrived to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you okay?¡± he asked indifferently.

    ¡°It was nothing major, but I¡¯m a little weak.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t exin, so as not to make Pan Tao, who had been incessantly praised by everyone, feel embarrassed. ¡°Thank you for protecting me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee. I¡¯m just following big brother Pan Tao¡¯s orders.¡± With an unconcerned look on his face, Tong Hao sized up Nie Tian, before putting on an enigmatic expression, saying, ¡°You¡¯re quite the talker. Moments ago, you told us to cast aside our fears, but now... look at you!¡±

    Truth be told, Nie Tian¡¯s poor state and pale face did add up to the image that he was scared.

    He took it for granted that Nie Tian had been scared to death, seeing no hope of surviving the fight with the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard.

    Nie Tian let it pass and didn¡¯t argue, since he didn¡¯t have the energy to waste on a person like him.

    ¡°As it turns out, you¡¯re nothing but a talker,¡± Tong Hao murmured, looking at Nie Tian again with his eyes full of disdain.

    All of a sudden, the other teenagers started to cheer.

    ¡°The Frost Python has also fled!¡±

    ¡°The rest of the spirit beasts are all retreating back into the depths of the cier area!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! We¡¯ve won! We¡¯ve fought them away!¡±

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and only then did he realize that the Frost Python, at an amazing speed, had indeed fled to the deepest parts of the cier area.

    After losing assistance from the Lurker Lizard, it was forced to face An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao together. Apparently it understood that once the three of them joined forces, it would be almost impossible to defeat them, and thus it left decisively.

    The moment it left, the remaining spirit beasts certainly didn¡¯t dare to linger around, and scattered in all directions.

    ¡°Do we chase them?¡± Zheng Rui asked, trying to conceal his excitement.

    An Ying stood there holding her long saber, panting heavily, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. ¡°No, we don¡¯t. I¡¯ve consumed too much of my spiritual energy dealing with the Frost Python. I don¡¯t even have thirty percent of my spiritual power remaining in me. I have to recover as quickly as possible, and only then can we march further into the cier area.

    ¡°Who knows if there are more second grade spirit beasts there.¡±

    Pan Tao agreed. ¡°Right. To be safe, we¡¯d better recuperate for a bit.¡±

    The trial takers, having just escaped death, wanted to chase the spirit beasts, but after hearing An Ying and Pan Tao¡¯sments, they all quickly gave in.

    After this battle, every single one of them looked at Pan Tao differently.

    In their eyes, it was Pan Tao who had severely wounded the Lurker Lizard that had been hiding in the dark. He had single-handedly made the greatest contribution to this battle!

    Pan Tao was the one who hadid the groundwork for their victory.

    Without him, the Lurker Lizard would be a huge threat to everyone, and Zheng Rui and An Ying wouldn¡¯t have been able to force the Frost Python to flee.

    Even though they didn¡¯t say it publicly, but after going through such a tribtion, everyone hade to view Pan Tao as a leader, just like An Ying.

    They even began to muse that Pan Tao should be the one to give orders.

    Pan Tao had earned respect and stateliness for himself with his performance in this battle.

 Chapter 44: Yuan Feng From the Grayvale Sect

    The battle was over.

    The trial takers gathered around An Ying and her sect brothers, ttering Pan Tao and praising An Ying for undertaking the heavy responsibility of holding off the Frost Python.

    It seemed the deaths of Qin Shun and Zu Fang hadn¡¯t affected their mood. After all, no one had been very close to them before entering the Green Illusion dimension together.

    Seeing that the Lurker Lizard and the Frost Python had fled, Tong Hao, who had been guarding Nie Tian, left to join the crowd.

    Nie Tian actually enjoyed being able to have some time to himself. He sat on the ground by himself, ignoring the moring crowd.

    Instead, he narrowed his eyes, looking around as he pondered the unusual and strange urrences that had urred earlier.

    ¡°Psychic awareness traveling under the ground...¡±

    Normally speaking, being in the sixth level of Qi Refining, his psychic awareness shouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to prate deep into the earth, not to mention search underground for a long time.

    However, when he calmed himself earlier, and tried to sense the movements of the Lurker Lizard, his psychic awareness unexpectedly managed to leave his body.

    As far as he knew, only Qi warriors who were much stronger than him would be able to do that.

    Ever since he was young, he had been aware that he was special.

    Because he had always been taller and stronger than his peers, none of them could defeat him by relying on physical strength alone.

    But he had only been aware that he was physically stronger than his peers, not that his psychic power... was also superior.

    With this battle, he had gained a better understanding of himself.

    ¡°It almostpletely drained my energy for my psychic awareness to leave my body a single time. I should avoid using this skill as much as possible.¡±

    As he was thinking to himself, an intense sleepiness struck him. He felt as if he needed to sleep for a very long time to fully restore the energy he had consumed.

    Since there was no more threat from the spirit beasts, he let his guard down, became rxed, and gradually closed his eyes.

    Not too far away....

    Pan Tao was still beingplimented by everyone, and from several dozens of meters away, he snuck a nce at Nie Tian.

    When he noticed that Nie Tian had already started recuperating immediately after the battle, he came to have a higher opinion of him.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian had already be one of the most important members of their team, his importance only second to An Ying¡¯s.

    He even attached more importance to Nie Tian than Zheng Rui.

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Seeing that Nie Tian was already resting, he could no longer stand the noise of the people around him. ¡°Let¡¯s all stop here and rest! Nobody knows whether the spirit beasts we¡¯ve just scared off will return or not.¡±

    ¡°Everyone, rest and reorganize where you are. Get your strength back as quickly as possible!

    ¡°We have to make sure our battle prowess is always at a high level!¡±

    An Ying nodded and instructed, ¡°No talking until your spiritual power is recovered. You all talk a lot, but are unable to help when the situation is critical.¡±

    She also took a nce at Nie Tian from afar.

    Early on, when everyone was taken over by fear and didn¡¯t know what to do, it was Nie Tian who had stepped up.

    She had no idea of what happened to him after that, and why he looked so exhausted now, but Nie Tian¡¯s calmness and wits at that crucial moment had left a deep impression on her.

    Like Pan Tao, she also secretly deemed Nie Tian as an important team member, even though she said nothing.

    Hearing Pan Tao¡¯s and An Ying¡¯s orders, the trial takers, who were still immersed in excitement, finally quietened down, and sat down in a circle with An Ying and Pan Tao in the center.

    Each and every one of them reached into the cloth pouches that hung by their waists, and one after another, took out glittering, translucent spirit stones.

    Eyes closed, they clenched their hands tightly onto the spirit stones and absorbed the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth from within them, thus quickly restoring the strength they had consumed.

    Before entering the Green Illusion dimension, their n¡¯s seniors had told them that the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth in the Green Illusion dimension was much poorer than that of the world they lived in.

    Without help, restoring their strength would be an extremely slow process.

    Therefore, every one of them was given spirit stones by their n seniors before they entered the Green Illusion dimension so that they would be able to restore strength at a higher speed.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t take anything with him, due to the fact that the Nie n was already in decline.

    When everyone closed their eyes and started absorbing spiritual power from their respective spirit stones, Pan Tao left the crowd quietly.

    He went to Nie Tian¡¯s side. Seeing Nie Tian sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, he thought Nie Tian was sleeping, so after a moment of hesitation, he chose not to disturb him, but rather took out two pieces of jade-like spirit stones and ced them on the ground in front of him, before sitting himself not far from Nie Tian.

    Even though An Ying¡¯s eyes were closed, she had been secretly paying attention to the sounds and movements around them, in case the spirit beasts returned.

    She noticed Pan Tao¡¯s abnormal behavior and slightly opened her eyes, observing Pan Tao¡¯s every move, then whispering to herself, ¡°Howe this guy has changed so drastically?¡±

    Even though she was confused, she didn¡¯t pursue the questions in her mind. Instead, she closed her eyes again and went back to recuperation.

    Time passed quickly and soundlessly.

    After an unknown period of time, while everyone was still recovering their spiritual power, they suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

    One after another, they all opened their eyes nervously, thinking it must be the spirit beasts, returning to kill them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not the spirit beasts.¡± Looking in the direction where the sounds hade from, An Ying said, ¡°The sound of the footsteps doesn¡¯t belong to the spirit beasts, and it¡¯s noting from the depths of the cier area. If my spections are correct, it should be a group of trial takers from the other sects.¡±

    An ice-cold voice suddenly rang out. ¡°Good job, An Ying!¡±

    In the next moment, Yuan Feng from the Grayvale sect showed up.

    Soon after he appeared, Yun Song and the other trial takers from the Grayvale sect also revealed themselves.

    ¡°The Grayvale sect!¡± Zheng Rui furrowed his brows and stood up.

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Yuan Feng arrived in front of them. His cold eyes nced up and down every one of them, before he stepped closer and took a look of the corpses of the spirit beasts as well as Qin Shun and Zu Fang who had died in battle. He then said, ¡°From the look of it, you¡¯ve just gone through a bloody battle. What is it? Did you run into the Frost Python?¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was awakened from his deep sleep by Yuan Feng.

    He knew that he couldn¡¯t have slept for long.

    However, even though it wasn¡¯t a long sleep, he could clearly feel that he had recovered most of his strength.

    Before he had time to look at Yuan Feng, he noticed the two spirit stones in front of him.

    In the next moment, he saw Pan Tao, who was sitting the closest to him.

    He immediately realized that the spirit stones were from Pan Tao, hence he thanked him, smiling.

    ¡°If you consider me as a worthy teammate, then keep those two spirit stones.¡± Pan Tao said with a sincere face.

    Nie Tian nodded his head, picked up the spirit stones, and put them into his waist pouch.

    The reason he felt exhausted wasn¡¯t that he had overly spent his spiritual power, but rather that he had drained his psychic power. Hence, he didn¡¯t need spirit stones to recover.

    However, since Pan Tao had given them to him, he certainly wouldn¡¯t refuse.

    The trial of the Green Illusion dimension was far from over. It was still hard to know whether or not they would encounter more dangerous situations.

    Whenever he drained his spiritual power in the future, with the help of those two spirit stones, he would be able to recover in a much shorter time. That would also serve to increase his chances of winning.

    Zheng Rui said, ¡°Not only did we run into the Frost Python, but we also came across the Lurker Lizard! Dammit!... But fortunately, we¡¯re strong enough. Although we weren¡¯t able to kill the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard, at least we forced them to retreat. If it were you guys, having to deal with the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard at the same time, I¡¯m afraid none of you would be able to survive.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± An Ying called out to him.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Yun Song from the Yun n chuckled as he said, ¡°Cousin! They must have used up their spiritual power fighting off the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard. Look, they¡¯re all using spirit stones to recover their strength. This means they currentlyck battle power.

    ¡°What¡¯s more, two of them are dead!¡±

    Yun Song¡¯s eyes shed with a strange light, before he finally cast his ill-intentioned gaze towards Nie Tian.

    The moment he saw Nie Tian, his face turned cold, and his eyes filled with vicious intent.

    It was only until now did Zheng Rui suddenly realize that his words had revealed the fact that their battle power waspromised.

    He secretly hated himself for talking too much. Not daring to say another word, he cast a fierce re at Yun Song.

    ¡°Yuan Feng, the purpose of our journey to the Green Illusion dimension is to kill the four second grade spirit beasts.¡± An Ying remained a sound mind. ¡°The Frost Python must have consumed a lot of its energy fighting us. You can leave us, catch up to it, and kill it before it restores its full strength.¡±

    ¡°That can wait.¡± Yuan Feng¡¯s tone was cold and indifferent as he lifted his hand, pointed at Nie Tian, and said, ¡°This young man isn¡¯t a member of the Spiritual Treasure sect. I need you to give him to me. If you do, I¡¯ll leave, and hunt the Frost Python down in the deepest parts of the cier area.¡±

    ¡°You want Nie Tian?¡± An Ying asked, stunned.

    Pan Tao was also taken aback.

 Chapter 45: A Feud Begins

    An Ying was quite confused. ¡°What did Nie Tian do to anger you? I don¡¯t recall the two of you having a conflict. What do you need him for?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to exin to you why,¡± Yuan Feng said, leaning forward aggressively. ¡°Just give him to me, and we¡¯re gone. We¡¯ll go hunt down the Frost Python and kill it.¡±

    After a pause, he snorted threateningly and said, ¡°Otherwise, don¡¯t me me for taking advantage of your condition and attacking you guys before you have recovered!¡±

    An Ying¡¯s face turned grim. ¡°What? You want to start a fight now?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Yuan Feng replied coldly.

    An Ying furrowed her brows.

    After the deaths of Qin Shun and Zu Fang, there were only 13 of them left, and they had just narrowly escaped a bloody battle.

    An Ying herself had only recovered seventy percent of her spiritual power after recuperating for a while, and in her current condition, she wasn¡¯t confident that she could defeat Yuan Feng.

    The rest were in even poorer condition than she was. If it really came down to a fight, there was an eighty to ny percent chance that they would lose.

    Weighing the advantages against the disadvantages in her mind, she hesitated, looking over at the distant Nie Tian, and wondering whether he was worth her putting everyone in danger.

    Zheng Rui, who had only remained silent for a moment, came to An Ying¡¯s side and said in a low voice, ¡°An Ying, Nie Tian... isn¡¯t from the Spiritual Treasure sect. Is it really necessary that we go all out to save him? No killing is allowed in the Green Illusion dimension, so even if Yuan Feng were to capture Nie Tian, he would never dare to kill him. So why don¡¯t we...?¡±

    Eyes glittering, not a single one of the other trial takers with the Spiritual Treasure sect said anything.

    However, when Zheng Rui made the above statement, expressions of agreement appeared on their faces.

    Apparently, they didn¡¯t think it was worth fighting the Grayvale sect for an outsider, especially when they had just experienced a bloody battle and had yet to recover.

    If they were to fight the Grayvale sect now, they would definitely be on the losing side.

    Among all of them, only Jiang Miao, who had been previously saved by Nie Tian, appeared anxious and looked sympathetically at An Ying while shaking her head non-stop.

    The other exception would be Pan Tao, whose face turned grim, as he was clearly trying to suppress his anger.

    ¡°Do you have a feud with Yuan Feng?¡± he whispered next to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian said calmly, ¡°I have a feud with a woman from the Yun n named Yuan Qiuying in ck Cloud City, and she is Yuan Feng¡¯s aunt.¡±

    Pan Tao nodded his head and suddenly stood up with the intention to back Nie Tian up. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    At this very moment, Nie Tian also sprung to his feet, ring violently at Yuan Feng. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much,¡± Yuan Feng said coldly. ¡°Just to cripple you.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, his eyes suddenly filled with ferociousness. ¡°Bring it on then!¡±

    He decided that if Yuan Feng dared toe over, he would immediately strike him with the style of furious punching that he had learned in the mysterious world.

    Besides, after the short rest, he had regained most of his energy, and was confident that he could deliver the punch.

    Although he knew that after that punch he wouldn¡¯t have any strength left to attack again, he still believed that with that one punch he would be able to kill Yuan Feng!

    He had never shied away from fights, especially when others attempted to force him into a corner. He had never backed down one bit from a conflict.

    Yuan Feng looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and arrogantly said, ¡°Who the hell do you think you are? Do you have what it takes to fight me one-on-one? Only when you reach the ninth level of Qi Refining will I consider you as an opponent worth killing.¡±

    ¡°So you don¡¯t dare?¡± Nie Tian said, intentionally provoking him.

    Yuan Feng didn¡¯t even respond to Nie Tian. Instead, he looked at An Ying and impatiently said, ¡°You¡¯re their leader. You aren¡¯t going to risk everyone¡¯s safety just for this reckless outsider, are you?¡±

    Pan Tao suddenly said, ¡°Yuan Feng! If you want to touch Nie Tian, you will have to go through me!¡±

    Yuan Feng was stunned for a moment. ¡°You?¡±

    Nie Tian turned his head and looked deeply at Pan Tao, who was standing beside him, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    However, Pan Tao¡¯s attitude obviously had an impact on An Ying.

    Moments ago, An Ying was torn with indecision, but upon hearing his words, she immediately clenched her jaw, and strode over stand next to him.

    Standing next to Nie Tian and Pan Tao, she pointed her long saber at Yuan Feng, and firmly dered, ¡°You want to fight? Then let¡¯s fight! We aren¡¯t scared of you! If it¡¯s a war you want, we¡¯ll be happy to oblige!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Zheng Rui thought, deeply confused. However, since An Ying and Pan Tao had already stated their intentions, he could only support them, so slowly and reluctantly, he went over to their side.

    Although none of the other trial takers wanted to get in another fight, after seeing that An Ying and Pan Tao had made up their minds, they all knew that they should support their leaders, so they also hurried over.

    ¡°An Ying, are you sure you¡¯ve thought this through?¡± Yuan Feng said with a grim face.

    ¡°Yes, I have,¡± An Ying replied loudly.

    Yuan Feng questioned again, ¡°You really think it¡¯s worth it to let everyone bear the consequences for one outsider?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care which side he¡¯s on outside of the Green Illusion dimension. Now that he¡¯s here with us, it means he is one of us now!¡± An Ying brandished her long saber, and nced at all of her teammates behind her. ¡°If any of you gets bullied, I¡¯ll do the same for you!¡±

    Appealing loudly to the crowd, she cried out, ¡°Fight to thest drop of our blood!¡±

    Spurred by her statement, all the trial takers responded with even louder and fiercer shouts.

    ¡°Fight them!¡±

    ¡°Fight to thest drop of our blood!¡±

    ¡°Fight them to the end!¡±

    Yuan Feng¡¯s expression slightly flickered. When he carefully examined An Ying, Pan Tao, and the rest of the trial takers with the Spiritual Treasure sect, there was no longer even the slightest hesitation and fear in their eyes.

    He didn¡¯t realize that these people had just gone through a bloody battle, and were still immersed in the fierceness of it.

    The reason why they dared to ept the challenge wasn¡¯t Nie Tian, but rather the way Yuan Feng had talked to An Ying. Therefore, they wanted to fight for An Ying.

    ¡°Cousin...¡± Yun Song murmured in a low voice. He had caught sight of the thirst of blood in the eyes of An Ying and the others, and their willingness to fight to the death. All of that made him anxious, so he was the first to lose his nerve.

    Yuan Feng¡¯s expression flickered as he weighed the pros against the cons in his head. Soon after, he nodded. Staring at Nie Tian, he said ¡°You have a good leader. Lucky for you, I¡¯m going to let it go this time, punk.¡±

    With these words, he waved his hand, pointed at the deepest part of the cier area, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    With that, he took the lead and left.

    The trial takers with the Grayvale sect secretly let out sighs of relief, and quickly caught up with him.

    Soon, the ten trial takers with the Grayvale sect passed by An Ying¡¯s group, and disappeared into the cier area.

    Only by this point did An Ying and everyone loosen up their tightened nerves, and finally rx.

    As soon as Yuan Feng was out of sight, they began making arrogant and rampantments in loud voices, denouncing him for bluffing, and forcking the courage to actually start a fight.

    ¡°That¡¯s all they¡¯ve got?! They¡¯re pretty good at talking, but don¡¯t have the courage to fight!¡±

    ¡°Yuan Feng is really full of hot air. Does he really think we¡¯re scared of him?¡±

    ¡°That asshole! If we hadn¡¯t just fought the Frost Python and the Lurker Lizard, I would be in the middle of killing them right now!¡±

    ¡°If I ever see him again, I¡¯ll definitely teach him a lesson. That son of a bitch thinks a lot of himself.¡±

    On the other hand, An Ying let out a deep breath. Sounding exhausted, she said, ¡°Actually, that was close. That Yuan Feng... you don¡¯t know him. He¡¯s a maniac, and he¡¯s capable of doing anything. Even I myself felt quite nervous. I was truly afraid that he might fight us at all costs.¡±

    Pan Tao and Zheng Rui had a simr feeling.

    Unlike the other trial takers, the three of them had long since heard about Yuan Feng¡¯s deeds after he entered the Grayvale sect.

    They all knew that Yuan Feng was a cruel and merciless figure. The reason he didn¡¯t actually fight them this time was most likely because he didn¡¯t wish to consume his group¡¯s power so early on. He also feared that the Cloudsoaring sect and the Mystic Mist sect might swoop in while they were fighting.

    As the focus of this incident, Nie Tian expressed his gratitude to Pan Tao and An Ying, before he sat back down.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said.

    After he sat down, he immediately closed his eyes, forcing himself to sleep.

    He knew that as long as they were in the Green Illusion dimension, no one would be able to tell what they would face in the next moment.

    The only thing he could do was to fully recover his strength as fast as possible, so that he could face the conflicts that could break out at any time.

    ¡°We¡¯ve just saved you, and this is it?¡± Tong Hao said in a discontent tone.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t even twitch his eyelids.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to thank everybody before you go and recover?¡± Tong Hao continued indignantly. ¡°We almost risked our lives fighting the Grayvale sect for you just now!¡±

    Looking at Nie Tian, who had already closed his eyes and was falling asleep, the rest of the teenagers also had their faces filled with discontent.

    Zheng Rui¡¯s expression was especially cold and grim.

    Pan Tao said angrily, ¡°Tong Hao, shut your pie hole will you?!¡±

    He was the only one who knew that Nie Tian was the real reason why Tong Hao was still breathing.

    However, Tong Hao,pletely unaware of what had truly happened, had taunted Nie Tian over and over again, which made Pao Tao so mad that he itched to punch Tong Hao in the face and smash his teeth into pieces.

    ¡°Oh, okay, I¡¯ll just listen to you, Brother Tao.¡± Grievances spread across Tong Hao¡¯s face

    ¡°All of you, stop wasting your time and start recovering,¡± An Ying said in a berating tone.

    Only then did the crowd quiet down once again.

 Chapter 46: Is There More?

    With the help of the spirit stones, it took a while, but everyone eventually recovered, after which they rose to their feet.

    Soon, cries of, ¡°I¡¯m starving!¡± began to rise up, and eventually, all eyes came to rest on the corpses of the spirit beasts.

    With Pan Tao and Zheng Rui taking the lead, the group set up a bonfire. After cutting the meat off the bones, they made skewers with tree branches and then began to grill the meat above the fire.

    Before long, the meat had been roasted into a deep brown color, and emanated an enticing aroma.

    The hungry trial takers could no longer resist the temptation and started gulping downrge chunks of spirit beast meat.

    They sat around the bonfire, devouring the chunks of meat, fat dripping down their chins, and their faces filled with satisfaction.

    ¡°This is so delicious!¡±

    ¡°This is much fresher, more tender, and more delicious than the food back at home!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to have a meal of spirit beast meat. We¡¯re blessed to have such a feast!¡±

    At this moment, only An Ying and Nie Tian were still in deep, recuperative sleep, and thus could not enjoy the delicious food.

    As Pan Tao ripped huge bites off of a greasy beast leg, he said, ¡°We have more than enough dead spirit beasts. Roast some meat for An Ying and Nie Tian, so that they can wake up to a good meal.¡±

    ¡°Sure," people responded.

    Zheng Rui was cutting meat into small pieces with a knife, and eating in a graceful manner. ¡°Brother Tao, what¡¯s going on with you? Why are you looking after that punk all the time? Have you forgotten that we almost got into a fight with him?¡±

    The rest of them were also confused about why Pan Tao had been looking after Nie Tian. Therefore, upon hearing Zheng Rui¡¯s words, they all cast their nces towards the two.

    ¡°Things changed,¡± Pan Tao said with a upright expression. ¡°When the Lurker Lizard sneaked up on Jiang Miao, he was the first one to notice it, and he saved Jiang Miao¡¯s life. From that moment on, he had already truly be one of us.¡±

    ¡°No matter who he is outside of the Green Illusion dimension, in here, I want you all to treat him as our teammate.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s possible that we maye across even greater dangers in the future. If we all have different thoughts and don¡¯t trust each other, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to get out of here alive.¡± There was a sense of righteousness in his words.

    At that moment, An Ying opened her eyes, took over, and said, ¡°Pan Tao is right.¡± Eyes full of admiration, she looked at Pan Tao, and then started to rebuke Zheng Rui, ¡°You ought to learn from Pan Tao and stop focusing on the petty things. This journey to the Green Illusion dimension has opened my eyes to the fact that Pan Tao can be trusted with important missions. He has far exceeded my expectations.¡±

    Pan Tao gently lowered his head, looking a bit guilty as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t say that. I just believe that the most important thing is for us to unite.¡±

    After being lectured, Zheng Rui grumbled to himself in irritation, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you who hinted for us to give Nie Tian a hard time in the Green Illusion dimension?¡±

    Around this time, the baby-faced Jiang Miao noticed that Nie Tian had also opened his eyes. ¡°He¡¯s awake.¡±

    ¡°Go give him something to eat,¡± ordered An Ying.

    Then, she reached out her small, jade-like hands, snatched a huge piece of meat from Zheng Rui¡¯s hand, and shoved it into her mouth in an unconstrained manner. She bit out a chunk and started munching, while simultaneously mumbling, ¡°Zheng Rui, why are you eating like a sissy? This is the Green Illusion dimension, not the Spiritual Treasure sect. Do you really have to eat so gracefully and use a knife and a fork?¡±

    Upon hearing An Ying¡¯sment, Zheng Rui immediately felt embarrassed, and gave up on his graceful usage of the short knife.

    Meanwhile, Jiang Miao grabbed a piece of Frost Armor Rhino meat and walked over to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Jiang Miao handed it over to Nie Tian timidly. ¡°This is for you.¡±

    Nie Tian had just awoken and was still a little dizzy.

    ¡°Oh, thanks,¡± he said, grabbing the meat and immediately wolfing it down.

    That piece of meat weighed at least 2.5 kilograms, but Nie Tian inhaled it down in the blink of an eye, not leaving a single scrap behind.

    After witnessing this, Jiang Miao stood there aghast.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel satiated in the least bit, and was still iparably famished.

    He looked at Jiang Miao. ¡°Do we have more?¡±

    Jiang Miao nodded and quickly replied, ¡°Yeah! There¡¯s still plenty left!¡±

    With these words, she rushed to where An Ying and the others were sitting, and took an even bigger piece of meat, this one over four kilograms.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t hold anything back. He grabbed the meat and wolfed it down as fast as lightning.

    A warm current gradually began to build up in his abdomen. When Nie Tian focused his mind on it, his eyes suddenly shone with bright light.

    Apparently that surge of warmth originated from the piece of meat that he had consumed, which came from a first grade spirit beast.

    Unlike the meat he usually ate back in ck Cloud City, these spirit beasts had refined the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth and turned it into the nutrients for their robust beast bodies.

    The meat clearly contained rich spiritual power.

    Moreover, he was able to absorb the power and disperse it to his internal organs, thus strengthening his fleshly body.

    He had never experienced anything like that before when he ate normal kinds of meat...

    ¡°Get me some more, please,¡± he said to Jiang Miao, his spirits high. ¡°Bring over more this time. I¡¯ve got a big appetite, and I can pack away more food than the five of those other kidsbined. Look at me. We¡¯re at the same age, but I¡¯m taller and more robust than they are, aren¡¯t I? That¡¯s because I eat more than they do.¡±

    ¡°Your appetite is definitely astonishing,¡± Jiang Miao murmured, before she obediently returned to where An Ying was sitting to fetch more meat.

    When Jiang Miao seized another sizable piece of meat that he had just cooked, Tong Hao looked at her, eyes wide, and couldn¡¯t help but yell, ¡°No way! You are giving him too much. Can he eat all that?¡±

    Jiang Miao exined, ¡°He already finished the pieces I gave him erlier.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, everyone started to examine Nie Tian with a strange light in their eyes.

    They hadn¡¯t paid attention to Nie Tian before, and thus weren¡¯t aware that he had already consumed enough meat servings to feed at least four people.

    Their eyes widened as they watched Jiang Miao put 5 kilograms of roasted meat into Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, ignored their gazes, and rapidly tore the shockinglyrge piece of meat into shreds, gulping it down almost instantly.

    ¡°Does this guy know anything other than eating?¡± Zheng Rui said, sounding shocked.

    An Ying and Pan Tao were also shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s appetite, and their faces filled with disbelief.

    Jiang Miao, somewhat intrigued, stared at Nie Tian, an expression of curiosity on her face. ¡°So? Are you full? Do you want more?¡±

    Nie Tian replied weakly, ¡°How about... just a little more?¡±

    Jiang Miao and An Ying eximed at the same time. ¡°Ah?!¡±

    The way the others looked at Nie Tian had also changed drastically, since now they thought of him as a monster in human shape.

    ¡°Is there more?¡± Nie Tian asked again in a low voice.

    Under everyone¡¯s scorching gaze, he began to feel slightly embarrassed, but he truly wasn¡¯t full yet...

    He didn¡¯t know why, but after he had drained his psychic awareness, he became surprisingly hungry, and his appetite grew significantlyrger than before.

    More shocking than that was that after he consumed all of the spirit beast meat, he could clearly feel more strands of power building up in his abdomen, before it gradually dispersed to his muscles, blood, bones, and internal organs.

    Merely after eating vigorously for a while, he had a strange yet wonderful feeling that his body was growing stronger.

    He didn¡¯t wish for that feeling to stop.

    ¡°Yes, there is!¡± It wasn¡¯t Jiang Miao who replied to him, since she was already bbergasted by his appetite. It was Pan Tao.

    Pan Tao, who had already ate his fill, strode towards him with a huge piece of meat in his hand, and under everyone¡¯s disbelieving gaze, he handed over to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian took it and started munching again. ¡°Um, thanks.¡±

    However this time, unlike before, he didn¡¯t wolf down the whole piece of meat that was asrge as the previous one.

    Halfway through with it, he finally slowed down his pace.

    Yet, the piece of meat, which was horrifyinglyrge in everyone else¡¯s eyes, eventually disappeared little by little into his mouth...

    Nie Tian forced out a dry smile, and avoided looking at everyone¡¯s disbelieving face. ¡°I¡¯m pretty much full. And tired too. You guys do what you have to do, I¡¯ll get some more sleep.¡±

    Admiration stretched across Pan Tao¡¯s face. ¡°What an amazing appetite!¡±

    Face filled with shock, An Ying whispered to herself, ¡°Does his amazing appetite count as the strange thing that big sister talked about?¡±

    Eyes shut, Nie Tian held his breath, and with rapt attention, he started to gradually adjust his breathing. Having totally ignored the others¡¯ strange gazes, he began to thoroughly investigate the unusual experience he felt within himself.

    It had be his habit that whenever he calmed down and meditated with rapt attention, he would always operate the Qi Refining Incantation to absorb the spiritual Qi around him.

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    The moment he started operating the Qi Refining Incantation, he discovered that the strands of warmth in his abdomen seemed to have been driven by the internal force that had been generated by the Qi Refining Incantation, converging wildly into his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea.

 Chapter 47: Days of Incomparable Satisfaction

    The Qi Refining Incantation was the most basic spiritual incantation.

    Juniors from the Nie n weren¡¯t the only one to practice cultivation with it; almost every child in the Qi Refining stage started out using it.

    It was simple, easy to understand, and mostmonly used to help children build a solid foundation.

    The young cultivators from the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Cloudsoaring sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect all cultivated the Qi Refining Incantation before they entered the Lesser Heaven stage.

    Normally speaking, such a simple andmon incantation wasn¡¯t anything very miraculous.

    However, when Nie Tian used it this time, he felt strands of warmth converging into the spiritual sea in his dantian.

    After a sound sleep, he had already fully recovered his energy and power. When he examined himself with his psychic awareness, he could clearly feel that his spiritual sea... was expanding, slowly but surely!

    When examining the spiritual sea with his psychic awareness, it seemed like a muddled cloud.

    Inside the cloud, he could see pure spiritual power swirling about. Whenever he needed it, he could channel it out of the spiritual sea, through his meridians, to any part of his body. Thus, he could cast all kinds of spiritual techniques.

    The spiritual sea was a fuel source for a Qi warrior. It was the fundamental reason why Qi warriors were powerful, and also the biggest difference them and regr mortal beings.

    At the Qi Refining stage, a Qi warriors¡¯ cultivation routine would be to continuously channel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into his spiritual sea, enabling the muddled, cloud-like spiritual sea to gradually expand.

    The spiritual sea could be viewed as a vessel that stored spiritual power.

    Naturally, therger the spiritual sea, the more spiritual power it would be able to contain, and in turn, the more power a Qi warrior would be able to channel.

    In general, the only way a Qi warrior would be able to upgrade that vessel would be topletely fill it up to capacity, and then force more spiritual power into it. Only then could ite to contain a greater amount than before.

    Normally, when a Qi warrior absorbed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to expand and upgrade their spiritual sea, they wouldn¡¯t feel the actual change, not even in the slightest.

    The amount of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that could be refined in one single session was extremely limited, and therefore, so was the expansion of the spiritual sea.

    Under normal circumstances, one would be able to feel a slight increase in the capacity of his spiritual sea only after a month of exhausting practice.

    The primary unit usually used to measure time in terms of cultivation practice was a year. For a Qi Refining cultivator, it would usually take at least one year to make a small breakthrough.

    As for those who didn¡¯t work very hard, or had a poor talent, it would usually take them years to achieve such small breakthroughs.

    Originally, Nie Tian would only be able to see the changes in his spiritual sea after a month of practice.

    But now, just by channeling that surge of warmth into his spiritual sea, all of a sudden, he could sense that his cloud-shaped spiritual sea was extending outwards bit by bit.

    His spiritual sea was obviously in the process of upgrade and expansion!

    Moreover, to his surprise, he was able to clearly perceive the process.

    That was something he had never experienced in his whole life.

    ¡°The spirit beast meat contained spiritual power! The spirit beasts must have absorbed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, refined it into pure spiritual energy, and dispersed it into their blood and muscles.¡±

    ¡°The power it contains is after refinement, therefore much purer and richer than the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here!¡±

    ¡°The spirit beast meat is practically a godsend! Not only can it help me strength my physique, but it can also help me upgrade and expand my spiritual sea, boosting my cultivation to a great extent!¡±

    After gaining a clear understanding of the process, he immediately started to channel the power he had absorbed from the spirit beasts¡¯ meat from his abdomen into his spiritual sea.

    After an unknown period of time, when he could no longer feel new power being generated in his abdomen, he stopped his cultivation.

    To his surprise, with that single session, he actually managed to expand his spiritual sea by ten percent!

    He was currently in the sixth level of Qi Refining. Based on his normal cultivating speed in the Nie n, he probably would¡¯ve needed one and a half months to get such a result.

    To break through into the seventh level of Qi Refining, he would need to expand his current spiritual sea to twice its original size, which would enable it to contain twice as much spiritual power as it could now.

    If he had stayed in the Nie n, even if he practiced cultivation day and night, he would still need a year and a half to enter the seventh level.

    However, after doing nothing more than having a feast of spirit beast meat today, and then practicing cultivation for a single session, he managed to expand his spiritual sea by ten percent.

    ¡°Green Illusion dimension. I made the right decision bying here!¡±

    Beforeing to the Green Illusion dimension, he didn¡¯t have a clear purpose, and merely considered this journey as another experience.

    At first, he thought the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Green Illusion dimension was faint, and he would have to fight different spirit beasts on a regr bases. Hence, the amount of spiritual power in his spiritual sea would be constantly at a low level.

    Never would he have imagined that he could possibly improve his cultivation base in the Green Illusion dimension.

    It wasn¡¯t until this moment, when he discovered that he could utilize the spirit beast meat to greatly improve his cultivation base, did he finally acquire a direction, and realize what a great boon the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial was to him.

    **

    After recuperating and reorganizing, An Ying and her team set off to the depths of the cier area, hoping to find and kill the Frost Python.

    Unfortunately, it seemed that the Frost Python had hidden itself. After ten days of arduous searching, they still failed to track it down.

    During that period of time, all they hade across were a few scattered first grade spirit beasts, each and every one of which they besieged and ughtered.

    Their fresh, tender, and delicious meat became food for the trial takers, shared by everyone.

    Usually, a Frost Armor Rhino could weigh several hundred kilograms. However, after losing Qin Shun and Zu Fang, they only had thirteen people left.

    The thirteen of them could consume about fifty kilograms worth of beast meat at the utmost.

    They couldn¡¯t possibly carry fifty kilograms worth of meat while searching for the Frost Python.

    Plus, every once in a while, they would run into new spirit beasts.

    Because of all that, Nie Tian devoured more than enough beast meat every day with his frightening appetite.

    Having realized the spirit beast meat could help him improve his cultivation, Nie Tian¡¯s already frightening appetitepletely erupted.

    Each day, he would eat spirit beast meat equivalent to the amount eaten by the other twelve put together!

    What he had been doing in the recent days was to finish off the spirit beast meat that the others couldn¡¯t.

    As for the meat he couldn¡¯t finish, he carried as much as he could, so that he would be able toe back to it when they couldn¡¯t find new spirit beasts to kill.

    However, An Ying and the others showed no interest in carrying arge amount of spirit beast meat with them, because they probably could harvest more in the next battle.

    Without a doubt, if they were to experience bad luck and couldn¡¯t find more spirit beasts in a day or two, they would still need food.

    As a result, Nie Tian naturally became the one who carried the spirit beast meat for everyone.

    It was also at this time that Nie Tian¡¯s shocking strength and ability to carry the heavy load became gradually known to everyone.

    With several hundred kilograms of spirit beast meat on his back, Nie Tian didn¡¯t even break a sweat following the team, and more surprisingly, he could still run like a hare.

    Without knowing the reason behind Nie Tian¡¯s behavior, everyone was quite content with his hardworking attitude, feeling that having someone like him to handle their supplies and carry several days worth of food for everyone... was actually not a bad thing.

    When they felt hungry after failing to find a spirit beasts after a few days, even Tong Hao and the others, who had previously harbored resentment towards Nie Tian, changed their attitude towards him.

    Every day, immersed in unprecedented joy, Nie Tian said to himself, ¡°This is awesome!

    ¡°This journey to the Green Illusion dimension is probably the best experience of my entire life!¡±

    ¡°Today, my spiritual sea has expanded by ten percent again, and that adds up to a ny percent expansion since I first entered the Green Illusion dimension!

    ¡°Two more days! I just need two more days to break through into the seventh level of Qi Refining!¡±

    He could feel himself improving on almost a daily basis!

    Furthermore, carrying several hundreds kilograms of spirit beast meat itself was valuable training for his physical body.

    He understood that it happened to be the best way to improve his physical strength to bear such a heavy load.

    On one hand, he had been building up his physical strength by carrying a huge load. On the other, he had been upgrading his spiritual sea by eating the spirit beast meat. Over these days, he had truly been happy and satisfied.

    He even wished to live like this forever.

    The Frost Python, the Lurker Lizard, the Green Illusion dimension¡¯ trial, the rewards, none of these mattered to him any more.

    Because he had been able to see himself getting stronger by the second!

    One day, An Ying and the others were resting around the bonfire, talking with eloquence, while Nie Tian was sitting ten meters away from them, operating the Qi Refining Incantation. All of a sudden, Nie Tian¡¯s body shuddered, and he violently opened his eyes that were filled with ecstasy.

    ¡°The seventh level of Qi Refining!¡±

 Chapter 48: Traces of the Ghost Sect

    Having searched in the cier area for ten days, yet failing locate the Frost Python, An Ying finally started to grow anxious.

    Apparently, the thirteen of them searching for the Frost Python together wasn¡¯t the smartest choice.

    They had already killed almost of all the first grade spirit beasts in the cier area. In the recent days, it had already be very difficult for them to encounter any low grade spirit beasts at all.

    In order to improve their efficiency, An Ying made a bold decision: they would split up and search.

    Like her, Pan Tao and Zheng Rui were from the Spiritual Treasure sect, and thus all had re sticks in their hands.

    If they released a signal, anyone within a five kilometer radius would be able to see it.

    Therefore, after discussing the matter with Zheng Rui and Pan Tao, An Ying decided that each of them would led a team to conduct an inch-by-inch search for the Frost Python within a five kilometers radius.

    Zheng Rui, the weakest of the three, picked four team members, while Pan Tao and An Ying chose three each.

    Nie Tian, Jiang Miao, and a teenager named Guo Qi were in Pan Tao¡¯s team.

    With Pan Tao in the lead, they picked a direction and parted ways with An Ying¡¯s and Zheng Rui¡¯s teams.

    As usual, Nie Tian still carried a mountain of spirit beast meat on his back, and ate like a mad person every day while following Pan Tao.

    Whenever there was time to rest, he¡¯d immediately start using the Qi Refining Incantation to expand his spiritual sea.

    In a period of about ten days, he had made a huge leap in his cultivation, from the sixth level of Qi Refining into the seventh. This had enabled him to enjoy the sweet taste of sess.

    To advance from the seventh level to the eighth level, he would need to again double the size of his current spiritual sea.

    He had set a goal for himself, to enter the eighth level of Qi Refining within two months, with the help of spirit beast meat help.

    By now, he hadpletely lost interest in searching for the Frost Python; all he cared about was his daily cultivation.

    Pan Tao led them in thorough searches of each and every cier and ice cave they saw. Finally he nced at a time measuring device, a disheartened expression on his face. ¡°It¡¯s been a day and a half,¡± he said. ¡°We should be about 3.5 kilometers away from An Ying¡¯s team now. I can¡¯t believe we haven¡¯te across a single low grade spirit beast.¡±

    ¡°Brother Tao,¡± said Guo Qi, ¡°perhaps there simply aren¡¯t any spirit beasts left in this region.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how things are going with sister An Ying and brother Zheng Rui,¡± Jiang Miao said softly.

    At this moment, the four of them sat at the foot of a small cier. Failing to make any progress, they all seemed discouraged.

    ¡°I bet they haven¡¯te any closer to finding the hidden Frost Python than we have,¡± Pan Tao said. Sighing, he shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ve wasted way too much time in the cier area. The Cloudsoaring sect and the Mystic Mist sect might have already killed the other two second grade spirit beasts already.¡±

    ¡°Brother Tao,¡± Guo Qi said, ¡°Yuan Feng from the Grayvale sect entered the cier area before us. We have already wandered around for more than ten days, but we haven¡¯t run into any one of them. Isn¡¯t it a bit strange?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about?¡± Pan Tao shook his head. ¡°The cier area is actually a vast area. If Yuan Feng and his group have been searching for the Frost Python together just like we did, the odds of us running into them should be very small. Unless... they also split up and search in different regions. That¡¯s the only way we might even have a chance of running into each other.¡±

    Guo Qi pondered for a while, and then nodded. ¡°Good point.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, do you have any good ideas?¡± Pan Tao suddenly inquired.

    Nie Tian, who had been eating meat silently beside Pan Tao, raised his head, mouth stained with grease. ¡°If you can¡¯t find it, how could I?¡± he answered in azy and unconcerned manner.

    Ever since he realized that the spirit beast meat could greatly boost his cultivation, he hadpletely lost interest in searching for the Frost Python.

    Pan Tao and the other two had all noticed Nie Tian¡¯sckadaisical attitude.

    Among the three of them, Jiang Miao had been saved by Nie Tian, and Pan Tao knew Nie Tian had special talent, and thus they didn¡¯t say anything.

    Only Guo Qi had expressed his dissatisfaction towards Nie Tian multiple times, demanding that Pan Tao talk to Nie Tian, so that Nie Tian would not idle along like that, only caring about eating.

    However, Pan Tao did nothing other than smile and ignore the requests.

    Pan Tao pointed in a direction. ¡°You two, search over there, and I¡¯ll have a word with Nie Tian.¡±

    Guo Qi¡¯s eyes shone, thinking that Pan Tao must want to reprimand Nie Tian in private. He chuckled sinisterly, and pulled Jiang Miao away.

    After they had left, Pan Tao came to Nie Tian¡¯s side, forced out a smile and said, ¡°Nie Tian,e on and help me.¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned.

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m from the Spiritual Treasure sect, but my days in the sect aren¡¯t as pleasant as you would think.¡± Pan Tao put on a sour face. ¡°In the sect, people like me and Zheng Rui are actually not well received. No matter how hard we work, people will always say that we are who we are because of our parents or grandparents.

    ¡°Those old ones in the sect all admire people like An Ying, who made their way up from the subordinate ns, and were finally admitted into the sect.

    ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯ve always been looked down upon and never been taken seriously.¡±

    It took a moment for Nie Tian to respond, ¡°Everyone has their own difficulties. You don¡¯t want people to talk about you like that. But do you understand how hard it is for me to get admitted to ces like the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Pan Tao nodded his head. ¡°But your hard work and efforts will be acknowledged. But me? No matter how hard I work, my achievements will be only deemed as the result of the help that I¡¯ve received from my parents and grandparents, rather than of my own efforts.

    ¡°This Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial is very important to me. I must make some aplishment, so that they will have a whole new level of respect for me!¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said with a shrug. ¡°How do you want me to help you?¡±

    Pan Tao suddenly seemed thrilled. ¡°You were able to locate the Lurker Lizard even when it was under the ground, so can¡¯t you do the same thing again?!

    ¡°From my point of view, the Frost Python must be hiding in a secret ce that we are unable to see, just like the Lurker Lizard was.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that we can find it by solely relying on our eyes. I hope that you can apply the method you¡¯ve used to locate the Lurker Lizard to search for that Frost Python.¡±

    Nie Tian smile bitterly, but after a moment of hesitation, he said, ¡°The cier area is such a vast area. If we can¡¯t roughly locate it, it¡¯s going to be very hard for me to find it. Alright, since it¡¯s you, I¡¯ll give it a shot. But if it doesn¡¯t work, you can¡¯t me me for it.¡±

    ¡°Of course! Of course!¡± Pan Tao said in a hurry.

    Soon after, Nie Tian calmed himself, adjusted his breathing, and started to unleash his psychic awareness.

    With him as the center, strands of his psychic awareness extended out in every direction.

    Those strands of psychic awareness were like invisible tentacles, traveling further and further away from him, covering a radius of forty meters.

    Momentster, he opened his eyes, tired, and shook his head towards Pan Tao, saying, ¡°It¡¯s not here.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s change for another location then!¡± said Pan Tao.

    ¡°Let me... have a rest first.¡± Nie Tian put on a wry smile.

    ¡°Okay! I¡¯ll wait for you!¡± Pan Taopletely listened to him.

    In the following period of time, Nie Tian worked very hard with Pan Tao and the other two, probing the surrounding regions with his psychic awareness.

    Every time he consumed his psychic awareness, he would feel iparably exhausted, but after a deep sleep, he would be able to recover shortly.

    Gradually, he discovered a pattern in that every time he drained his spiritual awareness, and recovered, his psychic awareness would be slightly enhanced.

    At the very beginning, his sensing range could merely reach forty meters.

    Later on, as his psychic awareness gradually strengthened, the range he could sense had already expanded to over fifty meters.

    He was extremely reluctant to help Pan Tao locate the Frost Python at first, but after such discovery, he found the job worth doing.

    He started to deem the bitter job of helping Pan Tao locate the Frost Python as a part of his cultivation: the cultivation of psychic power.

    Guo Qi and Jiang Miao knew nothing about the agreement between Nie Tian and Pan Tao. Every time they arrived at a new location, Nie Tian would close his eyes and reopen them shortly after. Whenever Pan Tao saw Nie Tian shake his after reopening his eyes, they would immediately give up that region and move onto a new one.

    Both Guo Qi and Jiang Miao felt rather confused, not knowing what those two had been doing. They asked Pan Tao about it, yet he told them nothing other than that they had been thinking too much.

    Soon, it came to the point that even Nie Tian and Pao Tao had gradually lost their faith and became increasingly less confident in finding the Frost Python.

    One day, Nie Tian was once again probing around with his psychic awareness...

    An extremely weak fluctuation of life suddenly reflected into his soul. He suddenly opened his eyes.

    Pan Tao, who had been losing his confidence, had absolutely no anticipation when he looked at Nie Tian once again, but unlike the hundreds of times before this, Nie Tian didn¡¯t shake his head this time.

    He asked, voice trembling, ¡°What? Have you discovered something?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not the Frost Python. It¡¯s something else.¡± Nie Tian rose to his feet and pointed in one direction. ¡°It¡¯s most likely... humans.¡±

    Apparently, Pan Tao seemed somewhat disappointed, but he still led the four of them and rushed to the position based on Nie Tian¡¯s guidance.

    A strong smell of blood came from behind a grove of ice trees. When they passed through the ice trees, they caught sight of the bodies of two youngsters from the Grayvale sect, both of them lying in pools of blood.

    One of them had a short sword stuck in his neck and appeared to have died long ago.

    The other had countless interweaving cuts on his torso, which still oozed with fresh blood.

    Furthermore, frothy blood spilled continuously out of his mouth. Clearly he had been bleeding excessively for some time, and was on the verge of dying.

    Upon Pan Tao¡¯s arrival, the young man¡¯s zed and lifeless eyes lit up for a second, before theypletely lost their glow.

    ¡°He¡¯s dead.¡± Pan Tao¡¯s face was grimmer than ever.

    He approached the man, and looked down to examine him more closely. At first nce, he noticed that both of them had their thumbs chopped off.

    Face aghast, Pan Tao suddenly lost hisposure. Under the huge shock, his voice even became strange. ¡°The Ghost sect! This is the Ghost sect¡¯s doing! Dammit, how did the Ghost sect¡¯s people get into the Green Illusion dimension?¡±

    Nie Tian said with a puzzled expression, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Pan Tao didn¡¯t answer him. Instead, he carefully nced around, and said in a cautiously low voice, ¡°Go back the way we came, now!¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay." Nie Tian was starting to get nervous. Quietly and carefully, they followed Pan Tao back to the road where they came from.

    Pan Tao¡¯s face had been grim the entire time, as he hurried his way without saying a word.

    After walking anxiously for a long time, he believed they were safe, and thus lit up the re stick.

    The re stick shot up a re into the sky, which turned into a straight line of pitch-ck smoke that retained its form for a very long time.

    Half a dayter, An Ying and Zheng Rui rushed towards him excitedly.

    ¡°Pan Tao! You¡¯ve found the Frost Python?¡± An Ying couldn¡¯t conceal her joy, and shouted out to him from afar.

    When they got closer, Pan Tao shook his head, face ghastly. ¡°We didn¡¯t find the Frost Python, but we found traces of the Ghost sect!¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡± Zheng Rui blurted. ¡°That¡¯s totally impossible!!¡±

    An Ying¡¯s face also turned pale. ¡°Pan Tao! Are you kidding?! This is the Green Illusion dimension, a secret, private dimension that belongs to the Spiritual Treasure sect! Plus, we¡¯re in a trial. How could people from the Ghost sect possibly enter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m dead serious!¡± Pan Tao barked back.

    Upon hearing his words, both Zheng Rui and An Ying¡¯s faces filled with terror.

 Chapter 49: One More Casualty

    ¡°The Ghost sect...¡±

    Nie Tian quietly observed An Ying and Zheng Rui¡¯s faces, his brow furrowed and his heart clouded with suspicions.

    This was the first time that he had ever been out of ck Cloud City for so long.

    All his life, he had practiced cultivation in the Nie n in ck Cloud City, and most of the fascinating stories he had heard were about the Cloudsoaring sect.

    To him, the Ghost sect was a new, unheard-of name.

    He knew nothing about the Ghost sect, and didn¡¯t understand why the three disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect became so scared and anxious after learning that they had entered the Green Illusion dimension.

    Just like him, most of the teenagers from the seven major cities also knew nothing of the Ghost sect, and puzzled expressions could be seen on their faces. Only two of them seemed to have heard about the Ghost sect from their respective n elders.

    As for those two, the moment they heard that Ghost sect disciples had alsoe to the Green Illusion dimension, their faces immediately turned pale, and their eyes filled with terror.

    Apparently, the two of them were more scared of the Ghost sect than An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao!

    Pan Tao looked over at Nie Tian with a very serious look in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he said, ¡°Many of you have probably never heard of the Ghost sect, so I should probably give you a brief introduction. Our sect, together with the Cloudsoaring sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect, belong to the same Qi warriors¡¯ alliance. The Ghost sect, the Blood sect, and the Hell sect, on the other hand, belong to the enemy alliance.

    ¡°The power of the Ghost sect, the Blood sect as well as the Hell sect isn¡¯t inferior to ours, not even in the slightest.

    ¡°For several hundred years, our four sects have fought them countless times over the rights to mysterious dimensions and spiritual material mines, both overtly and covertly.

    ¡°Over such a long time, we have never truly defeated them. Both sides are pretty much equally strong.¡±

    After pausing to let the information sink in, Pan Tao continued, ¡°Although our sects secretly fight with each other from time to time, those fights are under control. Normally, there won¡¯t be mass casualties. However, every time our sects go to war with them, there are always tremendous casualties! Not only low stage disciples like us, even powerful sect elders from the four sects may be killed in those battles!

    ¡°The two sides are now as ipatible as fire and water. Upon encountering each other, both sides will fight to thest man!

    ¡°Since people from the Ghost sect have shown up in the Green Illusion dimension, I guess their goal is to kill us all!

    ¡°Only when we¡¯re killed off will they retreat from the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, every trial taker, including Nie Tian, became silent.

    Everyone¡¯s face grew grimmer than ever. Due to the appearance of the Ghost sect disciples, the Green Illusion dimension seemed to have suddenly turned into a bloody battlefield.

    Jiang Miao suggested in a timid voice, ¡°Elder sister An Ying, how about... we return to the Secret Dimension Gate and inform your elder sister that people from the Ghost sect have entered the Green Illusion dimension?¡±

    All the teenagers were trembling with fear upon the news of the Ghost sect¡¯s arrival, and hurried to nod in agreement with Jiang Miao¡¯s proposal.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work for us go back.¡± An Ying shook her head, and killed their hope with one sentence. ¡°After everyone entered, the Secret Dimension Gate was temporarily sealed, to prevent people from cheating by sneaking into the Green Illusion dimension to provide assistance.

    ¡°Only when the trial is over and the allotted half year is up will the Secret Dimension Gate be reopened.

    ¡°In the meantime, we¡¯repletely sealed off from the outside world. We can¡¯t get out, and they can¡¯t get in.

    ¡°Whatever happens in the Green Illusion dimension, we¡¯ll have to survive these six months.¡±

    ¡°Then, we¡¯re screwed, aren¡¯t we?¡± Guo Qi said in desperation. ¡°No one knows how many of them came here and what cultivation stage they¡¯re at. If they¡¯re all Lesser Heaven and Heaven stage experts, they can definitely kill us all in half a year. If that¡¯s the case, none of us will be able to get out of here alive. Instead, we¡¯ll all be tortured and murdered by those people from the Ghost sect.¡±

    Although An Ying secretly despised his cowardliness, she had tofort the crowd. ¡°You¡¯re worrying too much. People from the Ghost sect, the Blood sect and the Hell sect are blood-thirsty, brutal, and merciless, but they¡¯re also extremely arrogant. They know that the trial takers our sects send to the Green Illusion dimension are in the Qi Refining stage.

    ¡°Since they always have a high opinion of themselves, those they¡¯ve sent to the Green Illusion dimension should also be juniors, probably in the same stage as us.

    ¡°Perhaps they have more battle experience than we do, and have been baptized by blood. However, as for strength... we should be equally strong.

    ¡°As long as we are not outnumbered, we might not necessarily end up being killed!¡±

    Guo Qi was stunned. ¡°Do you mean that the guys the Ghost sect has sent here are also in the Qi Refining sage?¡±

    An Ying nodded. ¡°I believe so.¡±

    Guo Qi heaved a sigh of relief, and even built up a bit of courage. Snorting, he said, ¡°If we¡¯re in the same cultivation stage, why do we fear them? Elder Sister An Ying, I saw your expression just now, and figured powerful experts of the Lesser Heaven and Heaven stage hade for us. Hahaha, it¡¯s the three of you that have frightened us.¡± He pretended to be worry-free.

    Hearing Guo Qi¡¯sments, everyone else seemed to loosen up.

    Even Nie Tian, who had initially been nervous, soon calmed down and thought to himself, ¡°If they are all in the Qi Refining stage, then those from the Ghost sect may not be so deadly.¡±

    Only An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Rui didn¡¯t rx in the slightest. They exchanged a nce, and understood the bitterness in each other¡¯s eyes.

    They were the only ones who truly understood how terrifying the Ghost sect, the Blood sect, and the Hell sect actually were.

    Killing and bloodbath had apanied the growth of every disciple of those three sects. They all viewed ughtering people asmon as everyday affairs like eating and sleeping.

    Even though An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao had been cultivating in the Spiritual Treasure sect, they were far from adequate in the aspect of realbat, and only could make it up with their powerful spiritual tools.

    As for those from the subordinate ns, like Guo Qi, once they engaged in battle with the Ghost sect¡¯s disciples, they would most likely be scared so badly by their enemies¡¯ bloody and ruthless means that they would have a mental breakdown.

    These trial takers had grown up like flowers in the greenhouse. Not one of them had ever passed through the storm of realbat.

    The reason the four sects organized the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial was to hammer them like steel, to ready them for possible bloody battles in the future.

    Who would have guessed that before the Green Illusion dimension trial even ended, they would have to face the blood-thirsty disciples from the Ghost sect.

    This was indeed overly cruel for them.

    An Ying didn¡¯t go on and tell the others more about the dreadfulness of the Ghost sect, for fear of frightening everyone else so much they would lose the will to battle.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    It was at this very moment that the sounds of footsteps suddenly rang out in distance, and drew nearer and nearer.

    Suddenly, An Ying¡¯s expression flickered. She patted her head and regretfully said, ¡°Damn! I forgot to leave this ce first!¡± She looked up into the sky.

    Nie Tian looked up and saw the ck smoke in the sky, which still hadn¡¯t dissipated, and immediately understood.

    The signal Pan Tao had released was a line of ck smoke that shot up into the clouds. Since An Ying and Zheng Rui had seen it, so could others.

    In a five kilometers radius, whoever looked up at the sky would be able to see the thick, lingering smoke.

    After An Ying and Zheng Rui¡¯s teams had assembled with Pan Tao¡¯s team, they only focused on talking about how frightening the Ghost sect was, andpletely forgot to leave that location as soon as possible. This was a huge mistake!

    ¡°People from the Spiritual Treasure sect! It¡¯s you!¡±

    A gray-garbed, blood-soaked teenager, ran towards them in a panic, a thin, broken sword held in his hand. From the way he dressed, he was clearly from the Grayvale sect.

    He had fear and bitterness written all over his face. The moment he saw An Ying and her group, he seemed to have found his savior, and immediately cried out with ecstasy.

    ¡°Help me! We were attacked by the Ghost sect. Two of my teammates are dead, and I¡¯m the only survivor!¡± As he ran madly towards them, he kept looking behind him from time to time, as if the people from the Ghost sect were just behind him.

    ¡°How many Ghost sect disciples are after you?¡± An Ying shouted.

    ¡°Three! They were right behind me. You guys be careful. They¡¯reing!¡±

    The gray-garbed teenager staggered by An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao, who had been in the forefront, and rapidly made his way to the center of group where Nie Tian and the others had been.

    By this point, everyone had been shocked by his words, gazing nervously into the direction which he hade from.

    It seemed as if three disciples from the Ghost sect would dash out from that direction, and head their way in the next moment.

    Suddenly, Nie Tian shouted, ¡°Something is wrong!¡±

    Without the slightest hesitation, he attacked the teenager from the Grayvale sect, condensing arge amount of spiritual power into his fist and unleashing a punch.

    BOOM!

    The teenager was instantly forced to back away. At the same time, the fear and anxiety vanished from his eyes, and was reced by a look of deceit.

    ¡°Nie Tian! What are you doing?!¡± Guo Qi, who had been standing right next to that teenager, suddenly changed his attitude, and red at Nie Tian. ¡°I know that you harbor hatred towards Yuan Feng, but now that people from the Ghost sect have showed up, you¡¯d better put aside your hatred! He has already been badly injured. Do you want to take the opportunity and kill him now? Do you have no shame?¡±

    ¡°What the hell do you know?!¡± Nie Tian replied furiously. Once again, he threw himself towards the teenager from the Grayvale sect. ¡°Guo Qi! You almost got fucking killed!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s gonna get killed!¡± Guo Qi said angrily.

    At that very moment, the teenager from the Grayvale sect dodged Nie Tian¡¯s attack, shifted to another person¡¯s side, and suddenly thrust the broken sword in his hands forward.

    That other person waspletely confused and unguarded, looking at the teenager from the Grayvale sect and not doing anything in response.

    When he finally realized the danger, the teenager from the Grayvale sect had already pierced through his chest with the broken sword.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    The Grayvale sect teenager¡¯s face twisted with a ferocious smile. With a brief nce at Nie Tian, he bolted away like lightning.

    It was not until this moment that everyone realized what had happened, and started to shriek.

    ¡°Huang Ye is dead!¡±

    ¡°He killed Huang Ye!¡±

    An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Rui had focused all their attention in the direction that the Grayvale sect teenager hade from, waiting for the three Ghost sect disciples to appear, expressions serious.

    When they heard the quarrel between Guo Qi and Nie Tian, and turned around to see what had happened, it was already toote.

    Huang Ye had already been killed!

    ¡°He¡¯s a disciple of the Ghost sect!¡± Pan Tao finally awoke to the fact.

    ¡°Haha!¡± That teenager taunted arrogantly while running away like a sh. ¡°A bunch of naive dumbasses! Don¡¯t imagine any of you can walk out of the Green Illusion dimension alive! You¡¯ll see. We¡¯ll ughter every one of you! Next time you see me, I won¡¯t be alone!¡±

    SHEW!

    Like a gray sh, he shifted his position among a grove of ice trees, until he disappeared into the distance.

    ¡°I, I...¡±

    Guo Qi had been terrified and soaked in sweat. He looked at Nie Tian¡¯s ice-cold face, not knowing what to say.

    However, he knew in his heart that he had been standing right next to that teenager, and if it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, that teenager would haveid his murderous hand on him first.

    It was exactly like Nie Tian had said, moments ago he... almost died.

    Nie Tian said, face cold, ¡°It was precisely because of the hatred between Yuan Feng and me that I memorized every one of his men¡¯s faces when they were demanding you to hand me over! I engraved every single one of their faces in my head and prepared to settle with themter! That person was clearly not one of them!¡±

    Guo Qi bowed his head down. ¡°Sorry, I, I was wrong.¡±

 Chapter 50: Another Layer of Shadow

    Now that it was clear what had happened, the outraged Tong Hao sped off in the direction in which the Ghost sect disciple had fled.

    ¡°Dammit! There¡¯s only one of him, yet he dared to act so brazenly! Let¡¯s chase him down and kill him to avenge Huang Ye!¡±

    It seemed the two trial takers standing next to him had been close with Huang Ye. Filled with grief, they followed along after Tong Hao.

    ¡°Don¡¯t chase him!¡± An Ying cried. ¡°Get back here, all of you!¡±

    Tong Hao turned around, and for the first time, talked back to An Ying. ¡°Why? Huang Ye was just cut down right in front of us. Are we really going to sit back and do nothing?!¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to catch up,¡± Pan Tao interjected. ¡°The Ghost sect disciples are experts in escaping and hiding. They can travel like ghosts. Even if An Ying and I were to chase after him, we wouldn¡¯t be able catch him, let alone you guys.¡±

    Frustrated, An Ying said ¡°First things first. Let¡¯s give Huang Ye a proper burial.¡±

    Only by disguising himself with the robes of the Grayvale sect did the Ghost sect disciple sessfully deceive them all.

    If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, who had memorized the faces of everyone from the Grayvale sect, and thus immediately attacked the murderous imposter, two people would have been killed instead of just one.

    As the leader, An Ying¡¯s failure to notice something peculiar about the situation directly led to Huang Ye¡¯s death, hence she med herself.

    ¡°Listen to her,¡± Pan Tao urged Tong Hao and the other two. ¡°Focus on burying Huang Ye, not on rushing off carelessly. You don¡¯t know the Ghost sect well enough. If you were to chase after him and get separated from us, I fear that...¡±

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t want Tong Hao and the other two to follow Huang Ye into death.

    Nie Tian, face grim but calm, looked off in the direction the Ghost sect disciple had appeared from. ¡°The people from the Grayvale sect were probably killed over there,¡± he said, ¡°where that young man came from.¡±

    ¡°I suppose so,¡± replied Pan Tao. ¡°He was wearing the Grayvale sect¡¯s robes.¡±

    ¡°How about we go take a look?¡± Nie Tian proposed.

    Pan Tao¡¯s expression flickered, and then he nodded. Looking at An Ying, he said, ¡°Nie Tian and I will go take a look. Whatever we find, we¡¯ll head back soon. There probably aren¡¯t any more disciples from the Ghost sect in the vicinity. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have attacked us alone.¡±

    An Ying pondered the situation for a moment before saying, ¡°Alright. But be careful!¡±

    ¡°Okay, we won¡¯t go too far,¡± Pan Tao promised.

    After that, both of them left the group and headed in the direction that the Ghost sect disciple hade from.

    Immediately after they left, Jiang Miao said, ¡°Nie Tian... is actually quite nice. At first we all thought he didn¡¯t care about anything but eating, but he managed to detect the smallest anomalies when the crucial moment arrived. Without him, we probably would have been killed back when we encountered the Lurker Lizard.¡±

    Then she looked over at Guo Qi. ¡°And he just saved Guo Qi¡¯s life.¡±

    Guo Qi bowed his head in embarrassment and said, ¡°It was my bad. I wronged him.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± An Ying muttered and nodded. ¡°His perception is indeed better than all of ours. This is undeniable. If it weren¡¯t for his warning, that Ghost sect disciple could have killed one or two more of us.¡±

    ¡°It seems it was the right decision to not give him to the Grayvale sect,¡± said Jiang Miao. ¡°He has truly helped us.¡±

    The rest of them all had a shameful look on their faces. It appeared only then did they have a fair opinion of Nie Tian.

    Even as they discussed Nie Tian, he was carefully searching the area where the Ghost sect disciple hade from.

    Because the Ghost sect disciple deliberately created the false impression that he had been blood-soaked from a fierce battle, his wild charge toward An Ying¡¯s group left a lot of fresh blood on the ground.

    By tracking that blood, Nie Tian and Pan Tao effortlessly found the ce where the battle had taken ce.

    The battlefield was in a snowy valley, about five hundred meters away from the location of the rest of the group. Within that valleyy two trial takers from the Grayvale sect, who had clearly died tragic deaths.

    One of them was a young woman around fourteen or fifteen years old, who waspletely naked.

    As soon as Pan Taoid eyes on the scene, his face turned very grim and cold. ¡°She must have been raped by that Ghost sect disciple before she was killed.¡±

    A dour gleam could be seen in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he averted his gaze. ¡°These guys from the Ghost sect all deserve to die!¡±

    ¡°Their thumbs have also been chopped off. It¡¯s clearly the Ghost sect people¡¯s doing.¡± Pan Tao sighed and went forward, digging out a pit in the ice and burying the two corpses.

    After finishing the job silently, Pan Tao frowned and said, ¡°There were a total of ten people from the Grayvale sect who entered the Green Illusion dimension, but ording to what we¡¯ve seen, four of them have already died. There may even be more casualties, people we haven¡¯te across yet. The Grayvale sect has suffered some serious losses. I wonder if Yuan Feng is dead or not.¡±

    After a momentary hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°One Ghost sect disciple showed up in the cier area, and that means the rest of them are also here. In my opinion, we need to join forces with people from the Mystic Mist sect and the Cloudsoaring sect, and deal with the Ghost sect disciples together. We have no idea how many of them are wandering in the cier area.¡±

    Pan Tao also agreed to his suggestion. ¡°You¡¯re right. Now that the Ghost sect has appeared, the mission of killing the second grade spirit beasts is no longer a priority. Let¡¯s go back, tell An Ying what we¡¯ve found, and get out of the cier area as soon as possible. Along the way, we can think of a way to join forces with people from the Mystic Mist sect and the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°That would be the best choice.¡±

    Having reached an agreement, the two of them went back the way they hade, and soon got back to where An Ying and the rest were.

    ¡°Any findings?¡± Zheng Rui asked urgently.

    ¡°We¡¯ve found two more dead bodies in a snowy valley. ¡± Pan Tao said to An Ying with a grim face, ¡°Those two suffered even more miserable deaths, and I¡¯ll spare you the details. Nie Tian and I have talked. We agree that it isn¡¯t safe to remain in the cier area, considering we don¡¯t know how many of them are here.¡±

    An Ying nodded her head. ¡°You want to join forces with people from the Mystic Mist sect and the Cloudsoaring sect, right? We had a discussion while you two were gone, and we¡¯ve made the same decision.¡±

    ¡°Everybody, prepare yourselves. We¡¯re going to pass through the cier area and proceed to the desert, where the Lurker Lizard should be.¡±

    ¡°The Mystic Mist sect and Cloudsoaring sect disciples probably have no idea that the Lurker Lizard showed up in the cier region, and would have gone to the desert to kill it. That¡¯s where we¡¯ll find them.¡±

    Everyone instantly chimed in with her. ¡°Alright!¡±

    The deaths of Huang Ye and the other four trial takers from the Grayvale sect had made them harbor great fear towards the Ghost sect disciples.

    None of them knew how many of them were in the area, but they knew that if they were unlucky enough to run into arge group of them, they could all be ughtered.

    The wisest decision of all was definitely to join forces with the other three sects, and fight the Ghost sect together.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± An Ying ordered, her disposition somewhat downcast.

    From that point on, the group didn¡¯t dare to split up. Sticking closely together, they walked in the direction that An Ying had pointed out, which headed directly towards the desert.

    Walking in the lead position of the group, Zheng Rui was the first to locate the corpse of a young woman, who had been impaled to an ice tree with a long spear. ¡°There¡¯s another dead body over there! It¡¯s another Grayvale sect disciple!¡±

    She was also stripped of all clothes, and the fact that she was frozen and covered in a thinyer of ice indicated that she must have died some time ago.

    Shockingly, dried up blood could be seen around her pubic region.

    Her eyes were wide open, her face full of fear and desperation; anyone would be able to tell at a nce what had happened to her before she died.

    ¡°Goddamn Ghost sect!¡± Jiang Miao cursed with a trembling voice. ¡°They should all die! Die a thousand times!¡±

    The other girls in the group also looked at the ice-cold body, shivering from either anger or fear.

    ¡°Bury her properly,¡± An Ying said with a grim face and gritted teeth, ¡°then we march on. We can¡¯t stay here for long, but I assure you, we¡¯ll be back! When we do, we¡¯ll avenge her and ughter all the Ghost sect disciples!¡±

    Pan Tao remained silent while he buried the girl.

    After that, they continued marching towards the desert, with no one in the mood to talk anymore.

    Nie Tian could feel their deep-rooted hatred towards the Ghost sect, and knew that they would sooner orter vent it all out by offering the blood of those Ghost sect disciples to memorialize those who had died tragically .

    After an unknown period of time, they finally passed through the cier area and entered the scorching hot desert.

    The two areas were both part of the Green Illusion dimension, and not far from each other. However, they were as different as heaven and earth.

    The moment the trial takers arrived in the desert, they started to trickle with sweat. It felt like the sandy ground under their feet was baking them.

    They only traveled for a short while before Pan Tao yelled, ¡°There¡¯s a dead body over there!¡±

    Nie Tian ran forward and saw a young man in the robes of the Cloudsoaring sect lying on a sand dune,pletely dried up.

    There didn¡¯t seem to be even a single drop of blood left inside his body. He waspletely drained, like a desated corpse.

    ¡°This... this is...!¡± After bending over to examine the body, Pan Tao turned back violently, looking An Ying in the eye. ¡°The Blood sect! This is the work of the Blood sect!¡±

 Chapter 51: Signal for Help

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Blood sect also sent people into the Green Illusion dimension.¡± An Ying looked down at the dried up corpse. ¡°I seems the Ghost sect, the Blood sect, and the Hell sect all have their eyes on us. I just don¡¯t know if the Hell sect... has also sent forces here. If so, I¡¯m afraid the odds are going to be even more stacked against us.¡±

    The appearance of the Blood sect¡¯s disciples had sapped An Ying¡¯sst remaining confidence regarding the journey into the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Zheng Rui said, clearly worried. ¡°How about we find a remote corner of the dimension and hide there for six months? If we haven¡¯t emerged by then, our sect elders will surelye and check on us. We¡¯ll be safe then.¡±

    The rest of the trial takers, on the other hand, didn¡¯t say a word.

    Beforeing to the desert, they focused on the idea of joining forces with the other three sects, returning to the cier area, and killing every Ghost sect disciple.

    However, the first thing they saw when they stepped into the desert was evidence that disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect were being ughtered by the Blood sect.

    It was human nature to fear death. Seeing the Cloudsoaring sect disciples, who they had originally thought to rely on for help, now in a difficult situation themselves, An Ying and her group were visibly shaken.

    An Ying fell into silence as she pondered Zheng Rui¡¯s suggestions.

    All of a sudden, Pan Tao pointed to the distant sky, deeper into the desert. "There!"

    Eyes squinting, Nie Tian discovered a line of dark-red smoke reaching into the clouds, like a dragon charging into the heavens.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s signal for help!¡± An Ying eximed.

    Pan Tao thought for a moment, and said, ¡°The Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s people must have gotten into trouble, and are most likely battling with the Blood sect! Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s strength is extraordinary. If it were the Lurker Lizard alone, she shouldn¡¯t have given out the signal for help. Moreover, I wounded the Lurker Lizard in the cier area. It couldn¡¯t havepletely recovered in such a short time.¡±

    Various expressions shed across Zheng Rui¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s possible that the Cloudsoaring sect is being ughtered by the Blood sect. When we get there they... may already be dead. If they¡¯re facing the Blood sect and the Hell sect together, they¡¯ll be killed off even faster. Once we get there, we might have to deal with the Blood sect and the Hell sect at the same time. What do you guys think?¡±

    ¡°You... you guys call it,¡± Guo Qi said weakly.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian saw fear and cowardice, and couldn¡¯t be more clear about what Guo Qi was thinking.

    ¡°I think...¡± said Nie Tian.

    Surprisingly, the moment he spoke, everyone¡¯s eyes became fixed on him.

    ¡°What do you say?¡± said Pan Tao.

    ¡°Since we know the people from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect are here in the Green Illusion dimension, we should consider us and the other three sects as a single group. We live and die together. The more disciples from the other three sects are killed, the worse odds we get. It¡¯s totally imaginable that once the other three sects die out, the Ghost sect and the Blood sect will exert all means to find and kill us.

    ¡°The earlier they die, the more time the Ghost sect and the Blood sect will have to search for us.

    ¡°And when they find us, we will have to single-handedly fight the Ghost sect and the Blood sect. There will be no one to help us.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian threw a deep look at An Ying, and said gravely, ¡°If you don¡¯t have the confidence to keep the Ghost sect and the Blood sect from finding us in the Green Illusion dimension, we should get to where the Cloudsoaring sect has sent out the signal as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°I, I...¡± An Ying stammered. After a moment of hesitation, she said somewhat disheartedly, ¡°The Green Illusion dimension isn¡¯t as big as you¡¯d think. And the Blood sect is famous for their expertise in tracking people through the use of blood. I don¡¯t think we can escape from their search just by hiding.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Guo Qi and the others¡¯ faces suddenly turned pale from the unexpected blow.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then what are we waiting for?¡± Nie Tian countered.

    Staring firmly ahead, An Ying finally made up her mind, and called out, ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s head over there now and see what exactly they¡¯ve run into!¡±

    SHEW!

    The second she finished talking, Nie Tian shot forward like a sharp arrow that had been released from its string.

    This time, he didn¡¯t try to hold anything back. Spiritual power exploded inside of him, and with his sturdy physique, Nie Tian rapidly whizzed forward at a speed that made even An Ying feel amazed.

    He knew Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian were traveling with the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s group.

    Jiang Lingzhu was the beloved daughter of the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s master, Jiang Lingzhu. He had only met her once in ck Cloud City, but she left him a good impression.

    Nie Xian, on the other hand, was one of the few nsmen that Nie Tian thought highly of.

    Even if it were only for Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t sit back and watch the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s people getting ughtered.

    Not to mention that he knew better than anyone that the more trial takers of the Cloudsoaring sect they could save, the better odds of survival they would have fighting the Ghost sect and the Blood sect in the Green Illusion dimension.

    He was always able to make a rational analysis of the situation in crucial moments, and thus understand how to save himself.

    He knew very well that helping the Cloudsoaring sect meant helping themselves!

    In the middle of the desert, by ake...

    Six trial takers from the Cloudsoaring sect, including Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian, were engaged in fierce fighting against Yu Tong and other four disciples of the Blood sect. Numerous streams of blood-colored light were passing quickly over the battlefield.

    Off to the side, two trial takers from the Cloudsoaring sect were lying in pools of blood, dead.

    Closer to theke, therey a few badly mutted spirit beast corpses, and shockingly, the Lurker Lizard was among them.

    Not long ago, Jiang Lingzhu and her group had found the Lurker Lizard in this area, and after a hard-fought battle, they eventually ughtered it.

    Just when they were about to severe the Lurker Lizard¡¯s head, five Blood sect disciples suddenly showed up, with Yu Tong as their leader.

    It seemed that the Blood sect disciples had been waiting in the dark for their battle with the Lurker Lizard to end.

    One side had exhausted all their strength while the other side was full of vigor. The battle had been skewed from the start.

    After a short fifteen minutes of fighting, two of the Cloudsoaring sect disciples had died by the hands of the Blood sect disciples.

    With merely six people left, the Cloudsoaring sect were at an absolute disadvantage facing the five Blood sect disciples. Therefore, they had to release the signal for help, hoping people from the other three sects were in the vicinity and could rush over upon seeing the signal.

    WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH!

    Countless blood snakes, as thick as a thumb and five to six meters long, slithered along by Yu Tong¡¯s side, making sounds that sounded like the cracks of a whip.

    They emanated the pungent odor of blood, within which pulsed a strange power that could make people lose control of their own blood.

    During her fight with Yu Tong, Jiang Lingzhu was forced to spare some attention to suppress the strange movement of her blood. She was in a terrible situation.

    WHOOKSH!

    A long blood snake suddenly emerged from the sand behind Jiang Lingzhu, viciouslyshing Jiang Lingzhu on the back with its tail.

    Sensing the burning pain, Jiang Lingzhu let out a muffled groan, and staggered several steps forward.

    WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH!

    Under Yu Tong¡¯s control, even more blood snakes targeted Jiang Lingzhu and shot toward her with the intention of ripping her into shreds.

    ¡°Cloud Illusion Shield!¡±

    Numerous cloud clusters suddenly emerged from the silver shield that Jiang Lingzhu held in her hand, which turned into a shield of clouds thatpletely enveloped her.

    WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH!

    One whipping sound after another rang out, as the blood snakesshed their tails onto the thickyer of clouds.

    Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s face suddenly turned pale, apparently from having consumed arge amount of spiritual power. Rage filling her heart, she said, ¡°Despicable! If I hadn¡¯t lost some of my spiritual power because of killing the Lurker Lizard, you wouldn¡¯t be able to hit me even once!¡±

    ¡°Whatever," Yu Tong said indifferently, continuing with her deadly attack.

    WHOOKSH!

    In this very moment, a figure suddenly appeared from behind a sand dune.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± eximed Nie Xian, even as he staggered backward because of the attack of a Blood Sect disciple. By this point, he had almost been pushed into theke itself.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Jiang Lingzhu cried out in joy. Enlivened, she asked, ¡°Where¡¯s An Ying? Are they behind you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, they¡¯ll be here shortly,¡± Nie Tian shouted.

    Upon hearing the news that the forces from the Spiritual Treasure sect would arrive soon, the desperate Cloudsoaring sect disciples suddenly seethed with excitement.

    ¡°Everyone, hang on for a little longer!¡±

 Chapter 52: The Might of One Punch!

    Upon arrival, Nie Tian didn¡¯t immediately join the battle, but rather observed the situation for a moment.

    He almost immediately noticed Yu Tong.

    From her looks, she was fifteen or sixteen years old. Well dressed and with a curvy body, she had blood snakes slithering beside her.

    She was using the Blood sect¡¯s secret magic, Blood Snake Dance, which almost seemed like an enticing dance that entuated her curvaceous form. Her movements were so alluring that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but nce at her a few times more.

    Since her opponent was Jiang Lingzhu, it meant she was the strongest of all the disciples of the Blood sect who had been sent to the Green Illusion dimension.

    After realizing this, Nie Tian immediately viewed her as his target, and prepared to start fighting her.

    Seeing Nie Tian¡¯s appearance, and knowing that the trial takers from the Spiritual Treasure sect were also going to arrive, Yu Tong seemed overtly anxious.

    It seemed that she knew that, with conventional means, she couldn¡¯t possibly kill everyone from the Cloudsoaring sect before the Spiritual Treasure sect had arrived, so she had to pay some price to do that.

    It only took a second of hesitation before she made the painful decision, and yelled, ¡°Forbidden Blood Technique: Blood Shadows!¡±

    Instantly, her pupils turned blood-red.

    An intense bloody aura started to build up in her exquisite body. She bit the tip of her tongue and formed an incantation with both her hands, as if she was drawing something towards the earth.

    It was also in this moment that her glowing, red cheeks suddenly turned pale.

    It appeared that she had consumed so much of her power to cast this single incantation that she almost copsed.

    ¡°Finish off your opponents, now!¡± she shouted sternly.

    Nie Tian, who was about tounch an attack, looked over with rapt attention, and his expression abruptly flickered.

    In front of his very eyes, blood spewed violently out from the scattered spirit beast corpses and the two dead disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect!

    Unbelievably, the blood spiraled up into the sky and started converging together!

    In an extremely short period of time, the blood had formed into ten blood shadows!

    They floated about in midair,pletely uninfluenced by gravity. They were like devils made of blood, which swooped threateningly towards Nie Xian and the others.

    ¡°Forbidden Blood Technique - Reverse Blood Flow!¡±

    Upon Yu Tong¡¯smand, the other four Blood sect disciples also let out frightening shouts.

    In a sh, their pupils also turned as scarlet as blood, making them appear extremely malevolent and frightening.

    A strange maic field was generated within their bodies, which rapidly expanded out in every direction.

    PUFF!

    Nie Xian, who had been forced backwards, became enveloped by the maic field, and as soon as he did, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and fell into theke.

    Under the influence of the strange maic field, the rest of the Cloudsoaring sect disciples also fell back, their faces as red as if they had been struck hard by an unknown force.

    Gradually the strange maic field reached Nie Tian.

    ¡°Huh?!"

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also suddenly flickered when it struck him, because the moment he was struck by the maic field, his blood actually started to flow in reverse!

    The reversing of his blood flow caused disorder in his spiritual sea, making him unable to gather his spiritual power.

    At that time, he immediately understood why when the four Blood sect disciples cast the Forbidden Blood Technique: Reverse Blood Flow, Nie Xian and the others instantly lost battle power, and could only stagger backwards.

    Yu Tong coldly ordered, ¡°Seize this opportunity and kill them all!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Under the influence of the Forbidden Blood Technique, Jiang Lingzhu didn¡¯t dare to fight her head on, and immediately retreated.

    However, the blood shadows floating in the air violently threw themselves at the crowd, like vicious demons.

    An anxious look stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face, and he couldn¡¯t help but turn his head to check if An Ying and the others had arrived.

    Unfortunately, they were still more than a hundred meters away, with Tong Hao and the rest even farther away.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait any more!¡±

    Desperately anxious, his eyes emanated malicious light, and wrath brewed in his heart.

    In this very moment, he was amazed to find that the the reversed flow of his blood had stopped.

    It seemed that he had dispelled the effects the Forbidden Blood Technique had on his blood very quickly.

    Rage seethed Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. Without another thought, he gathered all his strength and bolted towards Yu Tong.

    ¡°Raging punch!¡±

    Pure, rich spiritual power instantly streamed into his arm.

    He raised his hand high into the air, his clenched fist shining with an aura as bright as a torch!

    Endless rage was generated in his heart and channeled to his fist, making it burn with tremendous waves of anger, and its momentum was also extremely astonishing.

    Even before he approached Yu Tong, she could sense that something strange was going on, and her expression suddenly flickered.

    For unknown reasons, Yu Tong had the bizarre sensation that the power of rage in Nie Tian¡¯s fist was something that could kill her with merely one punch.

    Fear stretched across her face.

    ¡°Blood shadows, return to master!¡±

    In a split second, each and every malevolent blood shadow blurred into action, as if they had turned into motes of blood-colored light.

    In the next second, seven blood shadows arrived in front of Yu Tong.

    The seven of them lined up in a row, facing Nie Tian, before they sessively threw themselves at him.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    Nie Tian let out an explosive roar, throwing out his punch, which was filled with spiritual energy and raging fury.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Under the destructive power of Nie Tian¡¯s punch, each and every blood shadow exploded, sshing about and filling the sky with a bloody mist.

    Even lined up in a row, the seven blood shadows failed to stop the momentum of the punch, and werepletely destroyed.

    The power of the punch wasn¡¯t weakened in the slightest, and continued to barrel towards Yu Tong.

    At this moment, Yu Tong¡¯s flickering red eyes turned grim as her delicate fingers shifted to another incantation. ¡°Forbidden Blood Technique - Blood Shield!¡±

    Upon her words, her blood seemed to have been sucked out of her, and that exquisite and curvy body of hers suddenly shriveled up.

    WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH! WHOOKSH!

    Arge amount of blood light suddenly shot out, turning into a small blood shield right in front of her.

    It was exactly when the blood shield took form that Nie Tian¡¯s punch arrived.

    BOOM!

    The next moment, the blood shield exploded with a loud crash, sshing specks of blood-colored light around.

    Yu Tong let out a muffled coughing sound, and blood spilt out from the corners of her dark-red lips.

    SHEW!

    She turned into a blood shadow herself, and retreated through air like a floating ghost.

    However, she could only remain in the air for a moment. Afternding on the ground, she ran off into the distance without looking behind her. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here! "

    The moment they heard Yu Tong¡¯s order, the other four Blood sect disciples also left the battlefield. They knew that even if they could fight for a little longer, they would still be unable to kill all the Cloudsoaring sect disciples.

    Likewise turning into four blood shadows, they fled along with Yu Tong.

    After consuming all of his spiritual power with his one punch, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but drop to the ground, panting heavily.

    Nie Xian and others were still influenced by the forbidden technique, Reverse Blood Flow, and could only watch Yu Tong and the other four leave.

    BANG!

    When Yu Tong disappeared in the distance, the remaining three blood shadows also exploded, turning into pools of blood that fell to the ground.

    It was only then that An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Rui finally arrived.

    ¡°Where are they?¡±

    ¡°Where are the Blood sect¡¯s people?¡±

    ¡°That way!" Jiang Lingzhu pointed towards the direction that Yu Tong had escaped. ¡°Chase them! They¡¯re hurt. Do your best to kill them!¡±

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± An Ying asked concernedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine! Go! Chase them down!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said anxiously.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Knowing Tong Hao, Guo Qi, and the rest of the group were right behind them, An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Rui decided to go after the Blood sect disciples.

    After they left, Jiang Lingzhu, who had just broken away from the forbidden technique Reverse Blood Flow, blinked and looked at Nie Tian with a burning gaze in her eyes.

    It wasn¡¯t just her. Nie Xian, who had just crawled out from theke, was also staring at Nie Tian with iparable astonishment in his eyes, as if this was the first day that he came to know this n brother of his.

    Also from the Cloudsoaring sect, Ye Gumo, who had escaped death moments ago, looked nkly at Nie Tian before asking Jiang Lingzhu, ¡°He¡¯s the Nie Tian you talked about?! The one who uncle Li asked us to look after in the Green Illusion dimension?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu felt somewhat embarrassed, nodding briefly. ¡°Yes, he is.¡±

    ¡°He needs us to take care of him?¡± Ye Gumo said with aplicated expression, ¡°As I was retreating in defeat just now, I clearly saw that he destroyed the evil woman¡¯s seven blood shadows with one single punch, and even shattered her blood shield. He was the one who fought off that evil witch with one strike of his fist. He... really needs us to take care of him?¡±

    After a brief moment of silence, Ye Gumo shook his head, and joked, ¡°Junior martial sister, you probably heard wrong. Perhaps, uncle Li meant for him to take care of us in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhuughed and finally rxed. ¡°Hahaha, I might have heard him wrong then.¡±

 Chapter 53: The Energy Is Seven Times Richer!

    It wasn¡¯t until now that Guo Qi, Tong Hao, and the others who had beengging behind, finally arrived.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s brother Tao and the others?¡± asked Guo Qi.

    ¡°They went after the people from the Blood sect.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took out a huge piece of spirit beast meat and threw it to Jiang Miao, saying, ¡°Help me roast this up, please.¡±

    It had been some time since theyst ran into any spirit beasts, and thus there wasn¡¯t much meat left strapped to Nie Tian¡¯s back.

    Now, he only had several dozen kilograms worth of spirit beast meat left, barely enough for himself.

    However, just as he handed the piece of meat to Jiang Miao, an idea suddenly came to him, and he slowly turned to look at the spirit beasts which had been killed by the Cloudsoaring sect disciples, especially the Lurker Lizard!

    The Lurker Lizard was a second grade spirit beast. After suffering from severe wounds, it had fled to the desert, but somehow had been located by Jiang Lingzhu and her team, and after a fierce battle, they finally ughtered it.

    The Lurker Lizard¡¯s head had already been chopped off, yet its body was still lying by thekeside.

    Compared to first grade spirit beasts, second grade spirit beasts were stronger by arge extent. Therefore, the energy contained in their meat was also much richer.

    Having drained his spiritual sea with his raging punch, Nie Tian urgently needed to recover spiritual power.

    The Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat was without doubt the best supplement for him at the moment.

    After a moment of hesitation, he looked furtively at Jiang Lingzhu and asked, ¡°I don¡¯t want the Lurker Lizard¡¯s head, but can I have some of its meat...? I¡¯m a little hungry.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, even if you want its head, I¡¯ll give it to you, not to mention its meat.¡± Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s bright eyes glittered charming light as she smiled. Then, she turned to Ye Gumo and said, ¡°Eldest Brother Ye, Nie Tian is hungry and wants some cooked Lurker Lizard meat.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll roast it for him myself!¡± Ye Gumo answered heartily.

    With these words, Ye Gumo stretched out his arm and gave Nie Tian a thumbs-up, before he went to cut off meat from the Lurker Lizard and roast it.

    By that time, two of Nie Tian¡¯s acquaintances, Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian, arrived by his side.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Jiang Lingzhu asked concernedly.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve spent a lot of energy, so I¡¯m extremely weak at the moment. All I need is some rest though.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, you... what cultivation stage are you in?¡± Nie Xian asked curiously.

    Previously, he saw Nie Tianpletely crush Yu Tong¡¯s blood shadows and shatter the shield that she had formed by drawing upon all of her blood power.

    As a result, the injured Yu Tong had no choice other than to retreat once she saw Pan Tao and the others about to arrive.

    The power of Nie Tian¡¯s punch had left an extremely deep impression on Nie Xian. As a matter of fact, he didn¡¯t even believe his own eyes.

    ording to his memory, when he left the Nie n and was received by Li Fan of the Cloudsoaring sect, Nie Tian had only been in the fourth level of Qi Refining

    Back then, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t stood out in any aspect, except that he had a strong and robust body.

    Who could have imagined that a yearter, Nie Tian would be able to fight off Yu Tong with one punch?

    Nie Tian answered, ¡°Well... I just broke through into the seventh level of Qi Refining a few days ago.¡±

    ¡°From the fourth to the seventh level in a year¡¯s time...¡± Nie Xian murmured, gazing at Nie Tian as though he was looking at a monster.

    Jiang Lingzhu also stared at him in shock, while her jaw almost dropped to the ground. ¡°How could you have possibly done that?!!¡±

    She had personally witnessed Nie Tian and Yun Song¡¯s battle in ck Cloud City, and was positive that he was only in the fourth level of Qi Refining at that time.

    Although she was experienced and knowledgeable in the Cloudsoaring sect, the fact that Nie Tian had leaped from the fourth level to the seventh level in a year¡¯s time left her bbergasted.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been lucky.¡± Nie Tian chuckled.

    While they were talking, An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Rui returned, looked disheartened.

    ¡°Those Blood sect disciples weren¡¯t even a bit slower than those of the Ghost sect,¡± An Ying said. Arriving by Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s side, she sighed, and said, ¡°I thought we could find you in the desert, and with your help go back and kill the Ghost sect disciples. I didn¡¯t expect that Blood sect disciples had also entered the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, each and every trial taker from the Cloudsoaring sect revealed expressions of shock.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°You ran into disciples from the Ghost sect?¡± Jiang Lingzhu eximed.

    ¡°Well, we can be considered the luckier ones.¡± Pan Tao said with a bitter smile, ¡°It was the Grayvale sect that suffered tragic loss. Only from what we¡¯ve seen, five of them were killed by the Ghost sect, and they were ughtered in ways... I can¡¯t even bear to see.¡±

    ¡°They also killed one of ours,¡± Zheng Rui said in a low voice.

    ¡°The Blood sect, the Ghost sect...¡± Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s brows twisted, and her small face seemed to be clouded by a haze. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea what¡¯s going on with the Mystic Mist sect. I hope they aren¡¯t as unfortunate. From now on, we¡¯d better stick together and find the disciples from the Mystic Mist sect and the Grayvale sect as soon as possible. Only united will we be able to contend with the Blood sect and the Ghost sect.¡±

    ¡°Our n was to find you guys in the desert, so that we can go back together to the cier area to kill the Ghost Sect disciples,¡± An Ying exined.

    ¡°Once the Ghost sect and the Blood sect find out that we¡¯ve joined forces, they¡¯ll also cooperate,¡± said Pan Tao.

    Jiang Lingzhu thought for a moment, and continued, ¡°The trial of the Green Illusion dimension has just be ten times more dangerous than I thought it would be. We need to recover our strength as soon as possible, so that we can be ready for any uing battles. Let¡¯s get started.¡±

    ¡°Everybody hurry and use your spirit stones to recover!¡±

    With Ye Gumo being the only exception, all the survivors of the Cloudsoaring sect stopped talking and sat down cross-legged.

    Every one of them had grim looks on their faces and didn¡¯t dare to rx for one more moment.

    They originally thought that after joining hands with the Spiritual Treasure sect, Yu Tong and the other Blood sect disciples would no longer be a threat to them.

    However, they could never have expected the Spiritual Treasure sect disciples would enter the desert to ask for their help to deal with the Ghost sect.

    The news of the Ghost sect entering the Green Illusion dimension had made them feel that the road ahead was going to be much more difficult. With the corpses of their two teammates lying beside them, the survivors all knew that they had to be alert at all times if they didn¡¯t wish to end up dead too.

    An Ying and her group also lost their interest in talking, and became caught up in their thoughts.

    About this time, Ye Gumo arrived by Nie Tian¡¯s side with a dozen kilograms worth of meat. He handed the meat over to Nie Tian, thinking it must be more than enough. ¡°Here you go. The Lurker Lizard meat you wanted.¡±

    After Nie Tian took it over, Ye Gumo went back to sit down next to Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian, and also took out a spirit stone to recover.

    ¡°That piece of meat is far from enough for him,¡± Pan Tao mumbled. ¡°We¡¯ve been on the run for a while, and haven¡¯t had the time to eat a proper meal. There is more than enough spirit beast meat here. Since we didn¡¯t participate in the battle just now and don¡¯t need to recover, let¡¯s enjoy a good meal.¡±

    He strode to the Lurker Lizard.

    Ye Gumo didn¡¯t know how big Nie Tian¡¯s appetite was, and thought a piece of meat more than ten kilograms should be more than enough for him.

    Having spent so much time with Nie Tian, Pan Tao knew very well that Nie Tian still needed at least five times more spirit beast meat to fill up his stomach. Therefore, he was actually scraping up a good meal for Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian, this is the meat I¡¯ve roasted for you.¡± Jiang Miao walked towards him with a thick tree branch in her hand, which had a piece of cooked meat on it that was more than ten kilograms.

    Nie Tian took it into his hands, and expressed his gratitude.

    However, Jiang Miao didn¡¯t leave, but rather watched him eat with an expectant look in her eyes.

    Seeing that Nie Tian first ate the meat that she had roasted for him, instead of the lurker Lizard¡¯s meat, she put on a sweet smile and said, ¡°I¡¯ll roast some more for you.¡± With these words, she hopped away happily.

    Immediately after the meat was down his throat, Nie Tian closed his eyes.

    It was just a moment before he sensed a warm current swirling in his abdomen. When he used the Qi Refining Incantation, the strands of warm energy were channeled into his spiritual sea at a speed even faster than usual.

    It was only an hourter that his drained up spiritual sea was filled by ten percent.

    Moreover, no more warm current was generated in his abdomen. It seemed all the energy provided by the piece of meat had beenpletely absorbed in such a short time.

    When he opened his eyes, he saw sticks of spirit beast meat strung ontorge branches stuck into the sand by his side.

    He looked around, and saw An Ying, Pan Tao, and the others were gathered together, eating and talking.

    It seemed they knew that he would need a period of time to process the food after he had eaten, and thus intentionally left him alone. Thoserge sticks of spirit beast meat were the work of Jiang Miao and Pan Tao.

    He deliberated for a moment before picking up the piece of Lurker Lizard meat that Ye Gumo had roasted a while ago, and started munching.

    Momentster, more than ten kilograms worth of Lurker Lizard meat went down his throat.

    A slightly scorching current gradually appeared in his abdomen, and then energy several times richer than before suddenly dispersed out into his flesh and bones.

    His eyes glittered, as he instantly started to practice the Qi Refining Incantation to direct the iparably vigorous energy.

    Strands of energy merged into warm streams before surging along his meridians towards his spiritual sea.

    It was only a quarter of hourter that he found his spiritual sea had replenished by forty percent.

    By this point, however, more energy was still being generated in his abdomen!

    The power contained in the Lurker Lizard meat was clearly yet to to be absorbed!

    In good spirits, he concentrated again on gathering and absorbing the energy that had been dispersed into his body, before channeling it into his spiritual sea.

    After an unknown period of time, when there were no more warmth in his belly, he discovered that his spiritual sea had been replenished by as much as eighty percent!

    ¡°Seven times!¡± He was shocked at heart.

    With the same size, a piece of Lurker Lizard meat had generated seven times more energy than the first grade spirit beast meat!

    He only had one piece of Lurker Lizard meat, and almostpletely recovered all the spiritual power that he had previously consumed to throw the raging punch!

    ¡°Second grade spirit beast!¡±

    Nie Tian stared at the corpse of the Lurker Lizard, that was more than a hundred meters away from him, and his eyes suddenly shone with a light of greed.

 Chapter 54: Help From The Heavens

    Nie Tian stared silently at the corpse of the Lurker Lizard.

    It was after a long time that he finally retracted his gaze and pulled the skewers of Lurker Lizard meat out of the sand.

    This time, he didn¡¯t rush to practice the Qi Refining Incantation and absorb the energy from the meat, but instead focused on simply devouring the meat.

    Only after he ate several dozens of kilograms and couldn¡¯t force down another bite, did he finally stop, close his eyes, and sense the warm current flowing out from within his abdomen.

    A surge of energy, several times richer than before, dispersed from within his stomach. However, when he practiced the Qi Refining Incantation, he found that he could no longer channel all of the power to his spiritual sea.

    Before long, his spiritual sea went from being eighty percent full to beingpletely full to the brim.

    As he continued to channel spiritual power into his spiritual sea, he found that the power was actually once again causing his spiritual sea to experience growth.

    ¡°Second grade spirit beasts have seven times the power!¡± His face remained expressionless; however, inwardly he was filled with ecstasy.

    Originally, he nned to use two months to break through into the eighth level of Qi Refining, with the help of the spirit beast meat.

    However, after discovering the meat of the second grade Lurker Lizard could provide energy that was seven times richer, he suddenly found a new goal!

    ¡°If I can consume the Lurker Lizard all by myself, it would only take ten days to make a breakthrough to the eighth level of Qi Refining!¡±

    Seized with ecstasy, he soon discovered that since his spiritual sea was already full, arge portion of the energy was starting to disperse into his flesh and bones.

    The energy contained in the Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat that he had just consumed was too much for him to quickly absorb and channel into his spiritual sea.

    He suddenly felt like his body was like a giant sponge, greedily absorbing the dispersing energy.

    Before he realized it, his body temperature had risen to the point where he was like a giant, human-shaped furnace.

    Soon, he was soaked in sweat, and even his surroundings seemed to be affected, as the temperature around him also rose rapidly.

    They were in the desert, a ce which was already extremely hot. It was only natural for the trial takers to be sweating.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s temperature wouldn¡¯t stop rising, giving him a terrific headache as turning his skin bright red.

    ¡°This....¡±

    It was only at this point that he recalled how he had been afflicted by a high fever for several days after his battle with Nie Hong.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t let something like thest time happen!¡± he thought, starting to get worried.

    At this very moment, Zheng Rui, who had been talking eloquently with the others, suddenly blurted, ¡°Ughh! My stomach¡¯s feeling a bit upset, I think I need to go relieve myself.¡±

    With that, he rushed away, an embarrassed expression on his face.

    Not long after he left, Pan Tao suddenly clutched his stomach, and then also left with an odd look on his face.

    Just as An Ying was about to mock the two of them, she suddenly trembled.

    Trying to act as casual as ever, she said, ¡°Eh, well, you guys guard the people from the Cloudsoaring sect, in case the Blood sect disciplese back. I¡¯ll go check the perimeter.¡± With that, she sprang to her feet and walked off.

    In the blink of an eye, An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Pan Tao left sessively, each of them sporting a weird expression.

    Some timeter, Zheng Rui returned, the first of the small group to do so. The moment he sat down and was about to say something, his expression flickered again.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Brother Zheng?¡± Guo Qi asked, looking concerned.

    ¡°The runs,¡± Zheng Rui replied, rushing away with a bitter look on his face.

    Not long after he was gone, Pan Tao returned, only to rush away momentster, face twisted with an odd expression.

    An Ying never returned. Apparently she¡¯d left for a long-term scouting operation.

    An hourter, the three of them finally returned, looking so exhausted that they appeared to be on the verge of copse.

    ¡°You also had the runs?¡± Pan Tao asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± replied An Ying. ¡°You too?¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Zheng Rui eximed, his face pale. ¡°You guys also had the runs?¡±

    ¡°Elder sister An Ying, you guys... ate the Lurker Lizard meat,¡± Jiang Miao said, trying to refrain fromughing, ¡°Everybody else said the Lurker Lizard meat was too bitter, so no one wanted it. Only the three of you said that second grade spirit beast meat was the most delicious, and insisted on eating.¡±

    Pan Tao was stunned. ¡°It was the Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat?¡±

    It seemed as if something suddenly urred to him; struggling to his feet, he looked at the distant Nie Tian.

    ¡°That guy had the most!¡± An Ying apparently recalled the same thing..

    All of a sudden, every trial taker¡¯s gaze converged onto Nie Tian.

    They discovered that Nie Tian¡¯s skin was very red and his entire body was dripping sweat, as if he was being baked on the shelf in an oven.

    ¡°His.. his symptoms seems to be different from yours,¡± said Tong Hao.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go check on him.¡± Eyes full of worry, Jiang Miao rose to her feet and walked towards Nie Tian.

    Pan Tao followed right after her. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    As they approached, Nie Tian finally finished cultivating and opened his eyes.

    He could no long feel energy being generated in his belly, indicated that the Lurker Lizard meat had been fully digested.

    He was still dripping sweat all over and experiencing dizziness from the high temperature.

    However, he didn¡¯t pass out this time.

    To his surprise, he noticed that the sweat that hade out of his pores was murky, as if it was carrying his inner filth.

    As his inner filth was expelled together with the sweat, his excruciatingly high temperature finally began to drop.

    By the time Jiang Miao and Pan Tao arrived by his side, his skin, originally as red as a cooked shrimp, had already returned to its normal color.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The sound of Jiang Miao and Pan Tao¡¯s footsteps seemed much louder than they actually were.

    When he looked up at Pan Tao, he was able to acutely detect even the fine hairs on the corners of his mouth with a single nce.

    ¡°My hearing and vision have been greatly enhanced!¡± he thought, shocked by his discoveries.

    When he rose to his feet, he felt as light as a bird andpletely refreshed, as if his body had just undergone a mysterious transformation.

    ¡°Are you okay, Nie Tian?¡± Pan Tao asked with a wry smile, as he subconsciously touched his belly. ¡°Do you feel any difort?¡±

    ¡°I had a fever just now, but I¡¯m fine now,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Pan Tao continued asking, ¡°You don¡¯t feel any difort in your stomach? No urge to relieve yourself?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head, puzzled. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    Pan Tao forced a smile. ¡°An Ying, Zheng Rui, and I. We all had the runs after eating the Lurker Lizard meat. I even had difficulty walking. It really took a lot out of us.¡±

    ¡°Shut up, Pan Tao!¡± An Ying said, cheek flushed.

    After all, she was a girl. When this kind of thing happened to her, it was natural that she became embarrassed and didn¡¯t want others to talk about it.

    Pan Tao smiled and winked at Nie Tian. ¡°You ate ten times as much Lurker Lizard meat as the rest of usbined. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t feel anything!¡±

    ¡°You guys all had the runs?¡± Nie Tian was more happy than shocked. Looking very concerned, he asked, ¡°Are you alright? You¡¯re not like me. I¡¯m strong enough to fully digest the Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat. But you¡¯re all noble and delicate. You¡¯d better be more careful, and don¡¯t harm yourselves by eating the wrong stuff.¡±

    The moment he had discovered that the energy the Lurker Lizard meat could provide exceeded the first grade spirit beasts¡¯ by seven times, heid his eyes on the Lurker Lizard.

    Just recently, he had also discovered that the dispersed energy that he hadn¡¯t been able to refine into his spiritual sea flowed into his flesh and bones, also bringing him major benefits.

    Therefore, he secretly made up his mind that even if he couldn¡¯t do anything else in the next two days, he would eat as much Lurker Lizard meat as possible.

    He originally nned to eat more of the second grade spirit beast meat than everyone else by relying on his iparablyrge appetite, so as to improve his strength as fast as he could.

    However, the fact that An Ying and the others actually had diarrhea after eating the Lurker Lizard meat went beyond his expectations.

    He couldn¡¯t help but exim in his heart, ¡°Heaven is helping me!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you are fine.¡± Pan Tao looked at him out of the corner of his eye while thinking to himself, ¡°This guy is a monster...¡±

    The three of them only had about a kilogram of the Lurker Lizard meat before they couldn¡¯t take it anymore, and were struck with terrible diarrhea.

    However, the amount Nie Tian had was ten times more than the three of thembined. Although he looked a bit ufortable earlier, right now he seemed to be brimming with energy again.

    Pan Tao had no choice but respect Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness.

    As of this moment, Jiang Lingzhu had finally recovered her strength with the help of spirit stones, and woke up. She called out towards where An Ying and her group was, ¡°Elder Sister An Ying, let¡¯s talk about what to do next, shall we? Nie Tian, youe as well.¡±

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go,¡± Pan Tao said.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m beat. I need more rest. You guys go ahead and talk.¡± Nie Tian shook his head, and smiled at Jiang Miao, who had concern written all over her face. ¡°I¡¯m okay now. Thanks for your concern.¡±

    Jiang Miao hurriedly answered, ¡°Um, it¡¯s good that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    After rejecting the invitation, Nie Tian silently sat back down with his eyes closed.

    No longer sweating, he now felt more energetic and powerful than ever. This made him suddenly want to try out the perception range of his spiritual awareness.

    When he had calmed his heart and concentrated his mind, he gradually released his psychic power outwards in every direction.

    After ten breaths of time, his eyes snapped open, glittering with the bright light of excitement.

    ¡°Seventy meters of coverage!¡±

 Chapter 55: Reversal of the Wheel of Fate

    ¡°Seventy meters!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with a bright light as he sat there upright, trembling slightly with tion.

    Not long ago, when they were searching for the Frost Python in the cier area, the range of his psychic awareness was merely fifty meters.

    That was the best he could achieve after several significant upgrades, as well as after exhausting his psychic power several times in a row.

    Clearly, he didn¡¯t expect that after eating the Lurker Lizard meat and strengthening himself he would have such a significant improvement in psychic power.

    ¡°Good stuff! It¡¯s absolutely good stuff!¡±

    As soon as he remembered that An Ying and others had diarrhea after having the Lurker Lizard meat, he couldn¡¯t help but start cheering in his heart.

    The second grade spirit beast meat could not only speed up his cultivation, but it could also strengthen his fleshy body.

    The strength of his fleshy body, on the other hand, could benefit his psychic power, enabling him to holistically increase his strength!

    As of that moment, he suddenly felt much more excited about the Green Illusion dimension trial, as if the Ghost sect and the Blood sect weren¡¯t the terrifying entities he¡¯d thought them to be.

    As for the discussion between Jiang Lingzhu and An Ying, he hadpletely lost interest. All he wanted to do was consume all the Lurker Lizard meat as fast as possible.

    ¡°But the weather in the desert...¡±

    Looking over towards the distant corpse of the Lurker Lizard, his brows furrowed as a question urred to him.

    The desert was different from the cier area, where he was able to carry raw spirit beast meat on his back without any trouble.

    Because of the cold weather there, spirit beast meat could remain fresh for a long time before it spoiled.

    In the desert, however, it was burning hot. Without special processing, meat would rot fairly rapidly in a short time, making it inedible.

    ¡°From the look of it, I need to air-dry the meat. Only in this way will I be able to carry it with me and consume it over a longer period of time.¡±

    With these thoughts, he stood up and took a step towards the Lurker Lizard corpse.

    Seeing him rise to his feet, Jiang Miao didn¡¯t think twice before hurrying to catch up. Curious, she asked, ¡°Nie Tian, what do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to make some Lurker Lizard jerky!¡± he answered.

    ¡°Let me help you!¡± said Jiang Miao.

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°Do you know how?¡±

    ¡°Nope.¡± Jiang Miao replied honestly. ¡°But you can teach me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how either,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling wryly.

    ¡°Ahhh?!¡± Jiang Miao turned to look at Guo Qi who was sitting not far from them. ¡°Eldest Brother Guo, do you know how to make jerky with spirit beast meat?¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Guo Qi replied.

    ¡°We may not run into more spirit beasts in the desert, and we¡¯ll still need to eat,¡± Jiang Miao said. ¡°Since elder sister An Ying and those guys are in discussion, and we don¡¯t have much else to do, why don¡¯t we make jerky out of the spirit beast meat?¡± Said Jiang Miao.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m in,¡± Guo Qi said, nodding.

    When they were in the cier region, and the Ghost sect disciple had suddenly showed up wearing the Grayvale sect¡¯s clothes, Guo Qi had nearly been ambushed and killed. Thanks to Nie Tian¡¯s acute perception, and the immediate attack heunched upon the Ghost sect disciple, Guo Qi had narrowly escaped.

    No matter how he used to think of Nie Tian, now that Nie Tian had saved his life, he nodded in consent, even though he wasn¡¯tpletely willing.

    Ye Gumo from the Cloudsoaring sect smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll help you guys, too.¡±

    He didn¡¯t participate in the discussion among Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and the others. As soon as he had finished recovering with his spirit stones, he sat down at a ce not far away from Nie Tian, secretly observing him.

    He caught every word of the conversation between Nie Tian and Jiang Miao, and realized that making spirit beast jerky would provide sufficient food for everyone to eat for a long time.

    Since they were grouped together now, and wouldn¡¯t split up in their future endeavors, they needed to work together. Therefore, he stepped up.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Ye Gumoughed out loud and said, ¡°You¡¯re wee, we¡¯re doing it for everybody.¡±

    While talking, Nie Tian and Jiang Miao started cutting meat off the spirit beasts with Ye Gumo and Guo Qi¡¯s assistance.

    After discussing for a while, it seemed that An Ying and the others had finally reached an agreement.

    When they saw that Nie Tian and hispanies were making jerky, they also realized that it could solve their future food problem, so they all pitched in.

    However, before getting started, Pan Tao released another signal into the air.

    A pitch-ck line of smoke shot up into the heavens, distinctly visible in the desert sky.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve restored our full strength, even if the evil witch returns, we won¡¯t fear her any more.¡± Pan Tao arrived by Nie Tian¡¯s side and said, ¡°Although the Grayvale sect¡¯s Yuan Feng is a troublemaker, he isn¡¯t stupid. Since he has been attacked by the Ghost sect in the cier area, he won¡¯t dare to stay there any more.

    ¡°As long as Yuan Feng is alive, he¡¯ll definitelye to the desert like we did.

    ¡°Perhaps Yuan Feng has already led the Grayvale sect¡¯s survivors into the desert. It¡¯s hard to say.

    ¡°This signal is intended for Yuan Feng and his group,¡± Pan Tao exined to Nie Tian while cutting meat off the Lurker Lizard. ¡°I hope they can find us the way we found the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s people.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to return to the cier area?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Pan Tao was very frank. ¡°No, we¡¯re not. The people from the Blood sect are currently here in the desert. If we were to head over to the cier region, the Blood sect and the Ghost sect would very quickly join forces. Therefore, we made the decision to wait for a short while to give the Grayvale sect a chance to find us.

    ¡°The signal has been released. If they don¡¯t show up any time soon, it probably means that they are dead.

    ¡°In that case, if we make a rushed decision and go back to the cier area, we would possibly have to face the Ghost sect and the Blood sect with just our two sects¡¯ forces.

    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be the wisest move.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised by his words. ¡°Do you n to set up camp in the desert?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Pan Tao shook his head. ¡°Whether Yuan Feng and him group can find us or not, we¡¯ll leave the desert, and go look for Zheng Bin of the Mystic Mist sect in the volcano area. Upon entering the Green Illusion dimension, Jiang Lingzhu and Zheng Bin already had an agreement that Jiang Lingzhu would lead her group to the desert, while Zheng Bin would led his group to the volcano area.

    ¡°The Grayvale sect has suffered great casualties. Even if Yuan Feng is still alive, he won¡¯t have many left in his group.

    ¡°They won¡¯t be able to provide much help. Plus, for all we know, the Ghost sect might be going after them.

    ¡°So, for everyone¡¯s sake, we¡¯ve decided to look for Zheng Bin of the Mystic Mist sect in the volcano area.

    ¡°We figured they shouldn¡¯t be in any worse state than the Grayvale sect. If they haven¡¯te across people from the Hell sect, their group should still be intact.

    ¡°With their help, we¡¯ll be be a lot stronger.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian understood that because the Grayvale sect had lost too many people, they already considered the Mystic Mist sect as their best choice. Besides, there was still an unknown number of Ghost sect disciples hovering about in the cier area.

    The signal Pan Tao had released was thest chance for Yuan Feng and his men. If he failed to show up after the smoke dissipated, they wouldpletely give up on him.

    That was cold, yet the wisest decision. Deep down, Nie Tian agreed to it.

    The ck smoke hung high in the desert sky, while everyone worked as one under the guidance of the experienced members, like Pan Tao and Ye Gumo, to process the spirit beast meat into jerky.

    After learning that An Ying and her group had diarrhea after eating the Lurker Lizard meat, the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s disciples all voluntarily distanced themselves from it.

    The trial takers of the Spiritual Treasure sect had witnessed An Ying¡¯s misery, and also didn¡¯t dare to even touch the Lurker Lizard meat.

    As the result, after the second grade Lurker Lizard jerky was processed, all of it went into Nie Tian¡¯s backpack.

    After floating in the sky for a long time, the ck smoke eventually dissipated.

    An Ying said with a in face, ¡°If Yuan Feng saw the signal right before it disappeared, he should be able to arrive here in an hour. We¡¯ll wait for another hour. If they don¡¯t show up in an hour, then there will be no use for us to keep on waiting.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu agreed. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s wait for one more hour then.¡±

    Zheng Rui snorted and said with a hateful tone, ¡°That Yuan Feng guy was a real asshole. It wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing if he actually died. Back when we were in the cier area, he almost started a war with us over Nie Tian. Even if that guy survived, I¡¯m afraid he will bring us more trouble in the future.¡±

    Puzzled, Jiang Lingzhu asked, ¡°Why did he demand Nie Tian from you?¡±

    ¡°Ask him yourself.¡± Zheng Rui pointed at Nie Tian.

    Jiang Lingzhu thus looked over towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was busy dealing with the Lurker Lizard meat when he heard them. He said, ¡°Do you still remember the battle between me and Yun Song in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion the other day?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I do.¡±

    ¡°Yun Song is Yuan Feng¡¯s cousin.¡±

    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    ¡°The Yuan n...¡± said Nie Xian, eyebrows furrowed, face cold. ¡°They live far away in Frost Stone City, yet constantly used underhanded ways to cause trouble for our n. It would be the best if Yuan Feng died in the cier area, so that I won¡¯t need to look at him any more!¡±

    As a member of the Nie n, he clearly knew that because of Yuan Qiuying, the Nie n had been suppressed by the Yuan n for years.

    Moreover, Nie Donghai had been injured by powerful experts of the Yun n and the Yuan n. This had fueled his hatred towards Yuan Feng even further.

    ¡°I heard something!¡± Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s expression flickered, as she looked in the direction of the cier region. ¡°Be careful everyone. If it¡¯s Ghost sect disciples, immediately attack and kill them all!¡±

    ¡°Very well!¡± Everyone chimed in with her.

    ¡°It¡¯s Yuan Feng!¡±

    Soon, Yuan Feng and Yun Song appeared in the distant horizon.

    At first nce, both of them seemed to have lost a lot of weight, and their tattered clothes were covered in bloodstains.

    It was hard to tell whether those bloodstains were their own or from Ghost sect disciples.

    Faces pale and eyes spiritless, they hadpletely lost their previously imposing aura.

    As soon as they approached and saw the trial takers from the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect, Yuan Feng¡¯s eyes glittered with the light of hope.

    ¡°Finally, we¡¯ve found you!¡± Yun Song cried out loud. ¡°We ran into Ghost sect disciples in the cier area! Everybody was killed. My cousin and I are the only survivors!¡±

    He was trembling with the excitement of a drowning person who had just caught sight of a rescue boat. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that you guys are here! Hurry. Let¡¯s go back to the cier area and kill each and every one of them!¡±

    An Ying cast a cold look towards Yuan Feng. ¡°We¡¯ve waited for you for a long time. Let¡¯s go. Don¡¯t waste our time. We¡¯re heading to the volcano area to find Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect.¡±

    Yun Song yelled, ¡°Why do we go find them? We should return to the cier area to kill off the Ghost sect disciples, and then continue with our trial!¡±

    ¡°Shut the hell up!¡± Zheng Rui put on an unfriendly expression. ¡°We¡¯ve already taken a huge risk by waiting for you. I don¡¯t care how many of you died! As long as you¡¯re with us, you¡¯ll take orders from us. You¡¯re in no position to tell us what to do!¡±

    ¡°Cousin.¡± Yun Song looked piteously at Yuan Feng.

    Yuan Feng¡¯s swept everyone with his bleak gaze, and after a moment of silence, he said coldly, ¡°Listen to them.¡±

    If he still had his team, Yuan Feng would never fear the Spiritual Treasure sect or the Cloudsoaring sect. However, times had changed. The only people who remained on his team were himself and Yun Song. They could only listen to the other two sects.

    ¡°We have a lot of spirit beast jerky,¡± Nie Tian mentioned. ¡°Somebody has to carry it for us. Why don¡¯t we let them do it? What do you guys say?¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡± An Ying nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s only fair!¡± Zheng Rui chiming in.

    Jiang Lingzhu agreed. ¡°Yeah, they have to do something.¡±

    Yun Song said angrily, ¡°We haven¡¯t had the chance to recover yet!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°We don¡¯t need people who don¡¯t work.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll do it!¡± said Yuan Feng, voice cold and firm.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll do it, too.¡± Yun Song had no choice but act obediently.

    ¡°Good, now this is the way to behave,¡± said Nie Tian, with a foxy smile.

 Chapter 56: Leaving The Team

    In a deste corner of the desert...

    Yu Tong and four other Blood sect disciples were sitting on a sand dune. It seemed as if they were waiting for something.

    Dressed in red garments, Yu Tong was holding an ocarina in her slender, jade-like hands, and blowing into it with her plump red lips.

    However, not a sound came from within the ocarina.

    In the meantime...

    Several miles from her, Mo Xi from the Ghost sect was also holding a simr ocarina, and held it to his ear from time to time, seemingly listening attentively to something.

    From the look of it, he was trying to determine a direction.

    After a long time, he led the other four Ghost sect disciples to where Yu Tong was.

    By that point, Yu Tong had long since stopped ying the ocarina.

    After arriving, Mo Xi instructed the others to find a ce to sit, and then walked to Yu Tong¡¯s side, looking at her, his eyes brimming with unruly desire.

    A strong desire was hidden in the depths of his eyes. ¡°How did your battle turn out?¡±

    ¡°The Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s trial takers were in the desert, hunting for the Lurker Lizard,¡± Yu Tong stated in a cold voice. ¡°We killed two of them before they ran into the Lurker Lizard, and killed two more after their battle with it. The Cloudsoaring sect still has six people left, we... should¡¯ve been able to kill them all.¡±

    ¡°Something went wrong?¡± Mo Xi asked with a frown.

    ¡°Right at the crucial moment, the people from the Spiritual Treasure sect got there.¡± Yu Tong snorted. ¡°The Spiritual Treasure sect came from the cier area. Because you didn¡¯t finish your job, we failed in ours.¡±

    Huffing, Du Kun from the Ghost sect said, ¡°Yu Tong! Not only did we run into the Spiritual Treasure sect in the cier area, but we also encountered the disciples of the Grayvale sect!¡±

    If Nie Tian was present, he would be able to tell with a single nce that Du Kun was the one who had disguised himself as a Grayvale sect disciple and attacked them.

    Mo Xi waved his hand, signaling Du Kun not to interrupt, and said, ¡°We ughtered eight of the ten Grayvale sect disciples. Only Yuan Feng and his younger cousin managed to escape. We also killed one of the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s people. It was a pity that we spent too much time chasing after Yuan Feng, and thus didn¡¯t have the time and energy to finish off the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡±

    ¡°Whatever," Yu Tong said indifferently. ¡°Now the Spiritual Treasure sect and the Cloudsoaring sect have joined hands, and I even noticed that they¡¯ve headed out toward the volcano area.

    ¡°The people from the Mystic Mist sect should be hunting in the volcano area. We should strike the Spiritual Treasure sect and the Cloudsoaring sect as soon as possible, before they join forces with the Mystic Mist sect.¡±

    After a moment of thinking, Mo Xi said, ¡°The Cloudsoaring sect has six people alive. If Yuan Feng and his cousin joined them, they would have eight people. When Du Kunst met the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s people, there were thirteen of them. Du Kun killed one, so that leaves them twelve people.

    ¡°If the Spiritual Treasure sect didn¡¯t suffer from more casualties, together with the Cloudsoaring sect and the Grayvale sect¡¯s guys, there should be a total of twenty of them now. We, on the other hand, have a total of ten.¡±

    With these words, he grinned viciously. ¡°But among those twenty, many have zero battle experience. As long as we can catch up to them, it should be pretty easy to kill all of them.¡±

    He kept stroking his thumb bone ne as he spoke.

    Yu Tong nced at him, and found that the bone ne around his neck seemed to have gotten longer, which meant that he had killed several more opponents of his cultivation stage in the cier area.

    ¡°There was a punk named Nie Tian on the Spiritual Treasure sect team,¡± Yu Tong said suddenly. ¡°Do you know anything about him?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡± Mo Xi shook his head, looking puzzled. ¡°No, I¡¯ve never heard of him. Why?¡±

    A cold light shed in Yu Tong¡¯s eye. ¡°He wounded me.¡±

    Mo Xi looked at her, confused. ¡°With your strength, even An Ying would fall prey to you. A kid we¡¯ve never heard of could hurt you? Were you being sloppy?¡±

    Face long, Yu Tong didn¡¯t respond.

    It was then that Du Kun spoke up, his voice soft. ¡°I have a bit of an impression of this Nie Tian.¡±

    Mo Xi and Yu Tong both turned to look at him.

    Du Kun¡¯s eyes narrowed until his expression waspletely ferocious. ¡°I wore the robes of the Grayvale sect to get close to the group from the Spiritual Treasure sect. I wanted to catch them off guard and kill them one by one. But Nie Tian noticed something was wrong, and attacked me before I even made a move. If it weren¡¯t for him, I would have been able to kill at least three of the Spiritual Treasure sect brats.¡±

    ¡°This Nie Tian guy... is pretty interesting.¡± Mo Xi nodded briefly, memorizing his name, and then turned to Yu Tong. ¡°When we catch up to them, I¡¯ll personally capture that Nie Tian, and let you use your blood refining technique to refine every drop of his blood, so that you can vent your anger.¡±

    Yu Tong wasn¡¯t grateful at all. ¡°Those I want to kill, I¡¯ll kill them myself. I won¡¯t bother you with it.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Mo Xiughed. ¡°Whatever. I¡¯veid my eyes on Nie Tian anyways. I¡¯ll capture him before you do. When thates, if you don¡¯t want him, I¡¯ll just tear him apart myself.¡±

    ¡°Stop wasting time,¡± Yu Tong said, her face expressionless. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ve got to catch up to them before they leave the desert, otherwise they might join hands with those from the Mystic Mist sect.¡±

    ...

    At this time, somewhere else in the desert...

    Nie Tian was indulging himself in eating again.

    It had been two days since Yuan Feng and Yun Song joined them and they set out as arge group.

    For the past two days, everyone had been marching at a fast pace with very limited resting time, hoping to leave the desert and meet with Zheng Bin and his group in the volcano area as soon as possible.

    Since there wasn¡¯t enough time for cultivation, Nie Tian¡¯s n to use the Lurker Lizard meat to enter the eighth level of Qi Refining within ten days would very likely end up down the drain.

    Now that they finally stopped to rest, Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to waste any time, so immediately, he took out some Lurker Lizard jerky, and began eating it at the fastest speed possible.

    Only after he had stuffed several dozens kilograms of meat down his throat and couldn¡¯t eat another bite, did he finally stop.

    Without any dy, he started to practice the Qi Refining Incantation.

    While he was upgrading his spiritual sea with the Qi Refining Incantation, the energy that couldn¡¯t be absorbed once again dispersed into his flesh and bones.

    Before long, he was burning up again, sweat pouring out from his pores.

    And just likest time, the sweat that poured out of his body was mixed with murky filth.

    After a long while, he opened his eyes. When he concentrated his mind and examined himself, he found that his spiritual sea had expanded by another ten percent.

    Without any hesitation, he spread out his psychic power in all directions, with him as the center, and discovered that the range of his psychic power had enhanced to a seventy-eight meter radius.

    ¡°The improvement this time isn¡¯t so great.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, he went over the whole cultivating process in detail, before realizing that the energy generated in his belly this time was weakerpared tost time.

    ¡°The energy contained in the spirit beast meat must be decreasing. Energy contained in freshly killed spirit beast meat should be at its peak, and also can be absorbed the most easily.

    ¡°After a spirit beast dies, the energy in its meat will gradually vanish as time goes by.

    ¡°Also, by turning the spirit beast meat into jerky, I must have lost some of the energy in the blood.¡±

    ...

    He peeled away the onion, searching for the reason thaty within.

    As a matter of fact, back in the cier area, he already had the feeling that the energy contained in the spirit beast meat decreased as time went by.

    However, it was extremely cold in the cier area, and therefore the spirit beast meat could remain fresh for a long time, making the energy loss in the meat less obvious.

    It was natural that he felt the sudden rise in the energy loss rate of the spirit beast meat after they entered the desert.

    Moreover, when everyone had turned the spirit beast meat into jerky, it seemed to have sped up the energy loss.

    After having a clear understanding of the reasons behind it, he stared at the hundreds of kilograms of Lurker Lizard meat jerkies that he had been carrying, and suddenly felt somewhat distressed.

    He realized that in order to make the best out of the Lurker Lizard meat, he would have to consume it all at the fastest speed possible.

    In addition, he would need to stop traveling, and practice cultivation day and night.

    Only in this way would he be able to make full use of the Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat and improve his cultivation base to the eighth level in a short time.

    The more time passed, the less benefit he would be able to gain from the Lurker Lizard meat.

    However at this time, everyone, with Jiang Lingzhu and An Ying as the leaders, wanted to leave the desert, and join forces with the Mystic Mist sect as soon as possible.

    It would be impossible for them to slow down their pace, just for Nie Tian to cultivate.

    Either he left the group, found a remote corner in the desert, and while bearing the risk of being found by the Ghost sect and Blood sect, cultivated day and night to break through into the eighth level at the fastest speed possible.

    Or he missed out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and kept traveling safely with the group.

    His face shifted between various expressions, and after a long pondering, he sprung to his feet, saying, ¡°Sorry guys, I won¡¯t be able to travel with you and search for the Mystic Mist sect¡¯s guys any more.¡±

 Chapter 57: Risky Cultivation

    Despite the fact that everyone urged him to stay, Nie Tian still chose to leave the group.

    The reason he gave was that the desert was more suitable for his cultivation.

    Of course, Jiang Lingzhu and Pan Tao didn¡¯t believe that for a minute.

    After all, only Qi warriors with a me cultivation attribute would be able to rapidly enhance their cultivation bases in the desert.

    However, so far there hadn¡¯t been any sign that Nie Tian had such a cultivation attribute.

    Even if Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation attribute was indeed me, the volcano area, where Zheng Bin and other Mystic Mist sect disciples were, should be a better ce for him to cultivate.

    Therefore, everyone was sure that it was merely an excuse. However, they still couldn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian chose to leave while they were facing the double threat of the Blood sect and the Ghost sect.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t give them a reasonable exnation. He simply parted with the group while carrying hundreds of kilograms of Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat on his back.

    Having parted ways with the group, Nie Tian walked alone for half a day beforeing to find a secluded sand dune. Then he started to devour the Lurker Lizard¡¯s meat non-stop, as he proceeded with his cultivation.

    He didn¡¯t want to waste any more time. He only wished to consume all the meat before the energy that it containedpletely faded away.

    The only reason why he had risked his life and left the group was that he wished to break through into the eighth level of Qi Refining with the help of the Lurker Lizard meat as soon as possible.

    He didn¡¯t dare to waste another second.

    During the next two days, all he did was wolf down the meat and cultivate around the clock!

    As the result, it only took him two days to expand his spiritual sea by another thirty percent.

    Since he was no longer marching at a fast pace, and not worrying about anything else for that matter, he used all of his time to cultivate. In this way, his cultivation improved even faster than he had anticipated.

    Not only did his cultivation base improve significantly, but as his fleshy body grew stronger, the range of his psychic power reached as far as ny meters!

    He enjoyed the process, and the result of seeing improvement every day. The feeling of himself bing more powerful every day made him go all out with his heart and soul.

    ...

    On the other hand, in the desert...

    Yu Tong of the Blood Sect held a dark-redpass in her hand. She bit her fingertip and dripped a drop of fresh blood onto its surface, whereupon it turned into countless thin strands of blood which swam about in thepass, as if they were alive.

    Then, a misty blood aura was released from thepass, making it look more mysterious than ever.

    Soon after, the thin strands of roaming blood lines gradually permeated thepass, disappearing one after another.

    ¡°Appear!¡± eximed Yu Tong.

    Instantly, tiny, blood-colored lights emerged from thepass, flickering and wiggling slowly.

    Mo Xi of the Ghost Sect, as well as everyone else, began to slowly edge closer. ¡°The Blood Searching Compass of the Blood sect really is magical and true to its name!¡± Mo Xi said with sincere admiration.

    He knew that each and every blood-colored light on thepass represented the fluctuations of Qi and blood, symbolizing living beings.

    Arge number of blood-colored lights gathered in one spot, and moving unceasingly, meant that a group of people were traveling together.

    Eyes fixed his on thepass, Du Kun said, ¡°Neen blood-colored lights represent neen people. If I¡¯m correct, those are the trial takers from the Spiritual Treasure sect and the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°Yee?!¡± He reached out his hand, pointing at a solitary blood-colored dot on thepass. ¡°Howe there¡¯s one person here?¡±

    Mo Xi looked over with rapt attention, and found that there was quite a distance between that light and the other neen lights. Obviously, they weren¡¯t in the same ce.

    The group of lights were on the move, while the single light didn¡¯t move at all and instead remained at its original spot.

    ¡°I guess this person... has been kicked out of the team.¡± Du Kun from the Ghost Sect giggled. ¡°That guy must be a trouble maker. They knew perfectly well that we would chase after him, yet kicked him out anyways. Clearly, they didn¡¯t care if he died. Only a guy who displeases everyone would be removed from the group in a situation like this. Pathetic.¡±

    At this time, Yu Tong put the Blood Searching Compass away, and pointed in a direction. ¡°That way. Fifteen kilometers from here, there¡¯s someone all alone.¡±

    Brow furrowed, Mo Xi turned to Du Kun, ¡°Our main target is the group of disciples from the Cloudsoaring sect and Spiritual Treasure sect. It isn¡¯t worth it for all of us to change direction just for one person. Whoever this guy is who got kicked out of the group, it can¡¯t possibly be Jiang Lingzhu or An Ying. With your strength, you can kill whoever it is, as long as it¡¯s not one of those two.¡±

    Du Kun understood immediately. ¡°I¡¯ll go kill him.¡±

    ¡°Okay, regroup with us once you get rid of him,¡± said Mo Xi. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    Du Kun followed the direction that Yu Tong had indicated, and left the group.

    Mo Xi called out, ¡°Move faster guys, we have to catch up to them and kill them in the desert. We can¡¯t allow them to get into the volcano area.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ...

    Nie Tian sat there cross-legged, surrounded by numerous sand dunes, the five fingers of his right hand spread out.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless strands of spiritual light emanated from his fingertips.

    They followed the fluctuations of his mind and coiled around his fingers like slender, electrical snakes, weaving back and forth between the gaps of his fingers.

    ¡°The seventh level,¡± whispered Nie Tian. ¡°Spiritual power breakaway.¡±

    At this time, he had just consumed a huge amount of dried spirit beast meat. The meat was still being digested, and the energy within hadn¡¯t dispersed yet.

    Before practicing the Qi Refining Incantation, he attempted to practice the spiritual power breakaway of the seventh level of Qi Refining.

    To his surprise, it went perfectly well. When his spiritual power flowed along his meridians into his fingers, strands of spiritual power wasn¡¯t met with any kind of obstacle, and effortlessly broke away from his fingertips.

    Soon, he made another shocking discovery: the embodiments of spiritual power actually left his fingertips in form of strands of bright light, and he could sense them and even control them with his psychic power!

    Looking at the strands of spiritual light dancing around at hismand, Nie Tian had nothing but joy on his face.

    Faintly, he had a feeling that the stronger his psychic power, the more urately he would be able to sense and control his spiritual power.

    Plus, he was born with his psychic power stronger than others. While he strengthened his fleshy body, his psychic power had also improved by the day.

    Now, his psychic awareness was already able to cover a radius of one hundred meters!

    This meant his psychic power was skyrocketing, far surpassing other Qi warriors at his cultivation stage.

    With a stronger psychic power, he would have a bettermand of his spiritual power. When strands of his spiritual power left his body, he would be able tomand them to vary their form, exactly ording to his will.

    ¡°Awesome!¡± he dered,ughing, his spirits high.

    As of this moment, the spirit beast meat he had wolfed down moments ago had already been digested, and gradually started to generate power.

    Nie Tian quickly calmed his joyful heart, and without any hesitation, started to practice the Qi Refining Incantation.

    He believed that if he managed to consume the hundreds of kilograms of meat before the energy it contained degraded significantly, he would soon be able to break through into the eighth level of Qi Refining.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The clear sound of footsteps suddenly rang out, which grew louder and louder.

    Nie Tian only desired to practice cultivation when he heard the sound. His expression suddenly flickered, and without much thinking, he once again released his psychic awareness to sense the anomalies in the vicinity.

    He knew that the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s disciples must be rushing towards the volcano area at maximum speed. They couldn¡¯t be here.

    What were approaching him must be either disciples of the Ghost sect or the Blood sect, or spirit beasts that roamed the desert.

    The reason he released his psychic awareness was actually to determine the number of them, so that he could decide whether to flee at the first possible moment.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one!¡±

    In the next moment, he retracted his psychic awareness, and gradually rose to his feet in an unhurried manner.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The sound of footsteps grew even louder. It seemed that the man wasn¡¯t worried at all that Nie Tian might flee. Instead, he was trying to scare him with his imposing manner.

    Nie Tian had a calm expression on his face. After he was sure that there was only one in the vicinity, not only did he stop worrying, he actually became quite excited.

    Momentster, Du Kun appeared on top of a sand dune.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you!¡± he said, sounding a bit disappointed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t run!¡±

    As soon as Du Kun showed up, Nie Tian recognized him and grinned. ¡°You again? There¡¯s only one of you? What, you expected me to run or something? Where are the rest of your friends? Running to catch up?¡±

    ¡°The others?¡± Du Kun said, sneering. ¡°Ha! Who do you think you are? You really think our entire group would change ns just to chase after a loser like you, someone who got kicked out of his group?¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Nie Tian said, clenching his fist. ¡°Well now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t even dream about leaving!¡±

    And that was when Nie Tian attacked.

 Chapter 58: Battle of Psychic Power!

    ¡°You dare to fight me?¡±

    Du Kun had never felt even the slightest bit of respect for Nie Tian. Seeing Nie Tian dashing toward him in this way, he didn¡¯t even bring out a spiritual tool to fight with.

    He waited until Nie Tian was about ten meters away, thenughed in a deep voice and stretched out his fingers.

    At first, his fingers were the same color the rest of his skin, a seemingly unhealthy, waxy yellow.

    But when he extended them, his palms and fingers suddenly turned as ck as ink.

    At first nce, it almost looked as if he had put on a pair of ck gloves, which then sent numerous ck aura strands out of his fingertips.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    With a swing of his hands, he sent finger-thick beams of ck light shooting out. They were like sharp, pitch-ck swords, piercing ferociously towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    From within those ck light beams, there also came surges of intense coldness. When they were about to reach Nie Tian, he even heard the weeping sound of evil ghosts.

    ¡°Wail of the Ghost!¡± shouted Du Kun. Face cold, he took the bracelet of human thumbs off his wrist and clenched his fist around it.

    A momentter, strands of ck smoke flowed out of the bracelet and rapidly transformed into distorted ghost heads..

    Next, the sound of the wailing ghosts grew even louder and more heart-quivering!

    The chorus of weeping was like a hail of sharp thorns, piercing into the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    A momentter, the beams of light stabbed into Nie Tian¡¯s chest, causing piercing pain to fill his mind.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Not only was his dashing momentum towards Du Kun stopped, he even staggered backward several steps because of the excruciating pain.

    When he finally struggled to a stop, he looked down to discover that he had more than ten bloody holes drilled into chest.

    The sight of the fresh blood flowing out from each hole caused him to cry out involuntarily.

    After the dust settled, Du Kun looked at Nie Tian, totally stunned.

    ¡°You¡¯re still alive?¡±

    All of the five disciples that the Ghost sect had sent into the Green Illusion dimension were Qi warriors at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    Du Kun had reached that level a year ago, and had already ughtered seven opponents at the same stage as himself.

    Those seven people were all at the ninth level of Qi Refining. However, when they were hit by his ten light beams, their bodies had all been pierced, killing them instantly.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, had been sent staggering backward, and was bleeding profusely, but still stood strong and tall.

    These abnormalities left Du Kunpletely puzzled. He quickly put aside any feelings of contempt towards Nie Tian, and started to examine him all over again.

    Looking down at the ten holes in his chest, Nie Tian¡¯s face turned grim, and an intense fighting spirit gradually filled his bright eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m wounded...¡±

    This was the first time that he had ever been truly hurt in battle.

    Before, when he fought juniors of the Nie n, they were forbidden to use spiritual tools, hence he had never sustained a serious injury.

    The worst thing that ever happened was that he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, but nothing more.

    However, in this battle with Du Kun, it was only the first exchange, and already he had more than ten bloody holes drilled into his chest.

    Were it not for his exceptionally strong physique, Du Kun¡¯s first strike might have already killed him.

    At this time, even though he was wounded, and hurting iparably in the chest, he showed no fear.

    On the contrarary, he was somewhat excited!

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    Even as he shook out his arms and legs, preparing for his counterattack, he suddenly felt the warm currents in his abdomen madly converging onto the bloody holes in the front of his chest.

    Only at that time did he remember that he had consumed arge amount of spirit beast meat before Du Kun showed up.

    Originally, he was going to use the spirit beast meat to continue strengthening his flesh and bones, as well as expanding his spiritual sea.

    However, due to the abrupt outburst of battle, he didn¡¯t have the chance to calm down and cultivate. At this moment, the spirit beast meat that he had previously consumed started to generate power.

    He could sense that the power neither merged into his flesh, nor flowed to his spiritual sea, but rather converged onto the bloody holes in his chest.

    When he looked down to check his wound again, he discovered to his surprise that the bleeding hadpletely ceased!

    Moreover, the iparable pain had also been significantly reduced.

    It was as if the bloody holes pierced into him by Du Kun¡¯s finger sts weren¡¯t even affecting him at all.

    Du Kun had been staring at Nie Tian the whole time. Therefore, he also noticed the incredible anomalies and the astounded expression on his face.

    Brow furrowed and expression even grimmer, Du Kun suddenly recalled what Yu Tong had said earlier.

    ¡°This Nie Tian guy... seemed to have injured Yu Tong before.¡±

    Then, he took in arge gulp of air, and blew vigorously at the numerous ghost heads floating above the bone bracelet.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Seven ghost heads seemingly transformed into a stream of ck smoke. Letting out ear-piercing shrieks, they suddenly flew towards Nie Tian.

    At the same time, Du Kun¡¯s stretched-out fingers were once again covered in a ck aura.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Ten finger sts shot out from his fingers, as fast and sharp as an arrow.

    This time, their target was Nie Tian¡¯s eyes!

    WOO! WOO! WOO!

    The chorus of the ghosts¡¯ wailing cries also rang out loud again.

    Nie Tian, who had just calmed himself, and was just getting ready to make his move, was once again inundated by the ghost cries, and illusions began to haunt his mind.

    As of this moment, the seven floating and shrieking ghost heads had seemingly transcended the physical world, and suddenly appeared in his mind.

    ¡°A psychic power attack!¡±

    Having suffered from the first round of attacks, Nie Tian immediately understood the situation. Squinting, he released his increasingly powerful psychic power.

    In his mind, he forged his psychic power into numerous lightning-wreathed des.

    These embodiments of his psychic power followed hismand, shing towards the ghost heads that had inexplicably appeared in his mind.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Completely contrary to what he had expected, the ghost heads in his mind couldn¡¯t withstand a single blow, and exploded under the attack of his des of psychic power!

    ¡°Yes! Psychic power can actually be used in this way!¡± Heughed out loud.

    No longer influenced by Du Kun¡¯s psychic power attack, he had a clear vision of the iing ten beams of ck light, and thus effortlessly avoided them.

    The ten finger sts missed their target, and disappeared soon after passing Nie Tian.

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    After having dodged the finger sts, he looked over with rapt attention to find that the seven shrieking ghost heads had all disappeared.

    ¡°Could it be that those ghost heads I killed with my psychic power des were actually real?¡± He was confused.

    He had been under the impression that the fight just now only took ce in his head, and was a mere illusion.

    Moments ago, the seven floating ghost heads had appeared to be quite a distance away.

    However, after he mentally ughtered them with psychic power, they vanished from the real world as well.

    Over the years, he had always practiced cultivation in the Nie n, and had never been guided by a Qi warrior with profound knowledge.

    He had been teaching himself how toprehend and wield spiritual and psychic power.

    Up to now, his application of psychic power was still limited to sensing lives and movements within a one hundred meters radius.

    PUFF!

    Just as Nie Tian was lost in thought, Du Kun suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, as his eyes grew dimmer.

    ¡°You! Howe you have such strong psychic power?!¡± Shock stretched across Du Kun¡¯s face.

    Ghost sect disciples were experts in the art of psychic power, and every one of them possessed psychic power stronger than disciples of the other sects. The spell Du Kun had cast just now, Wail of the Ghost, was one of the Ghost sect¡¯s secret psychic magics. It was so powerful and deadly that it could exterminate the soul of their opponents!

    Only the Ghost sect disciples possessed the ability to use their psychic power to skillfully attack their opponents minds.

    And only those who had iparable determination and resilience would be able to resist such techniques.

    From the time he had begun practicing cultivation to now, Du Kun had nevere across someone who could repulse his Ghost Weep spell and injure him!

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why I have such strong psychic power either,¡± Nie Tian said indifferently before suddenly charging in Du Kun¡¯s direction.

    Actually, he didn¡¯t quite understand what had happened, but could tell that Du Kun had somehow be dispirited. Clearly, something was wrong with him.

    Therefore, he wished to seize this perfect opportunity, and kill him when he was in a poor state!

    ¡°You¡¯re different!¡± Du Kun¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°You don¡¯t know how to cast psychic power spells, but your psychic power is unbelievably strong! It was because your psychic power was far stronger than mine that you were able to repulse my Wail of the Ghost and injure me! Nie Tian! I¡¯ll remember you!¡±

    With these words, Du Kun turned around and fled like a swift ghost.

 Chapter 59: Slash!

    ¡°He ran, just like that?¡±

    Nie Tian stared nkly at Du Kun¡¯s fleeing figure.

    He had no idea that, for the Ghost sect disciples, injuries to the soul and mind were far more serious than physical injuries.

    They were most skilled at attacking their enemies¡¯ psychic world with their superior psychic power. In that way, they would be able to gain an advantage in battles.

    However, if their psychic attack failed, or their opponents possessed stronger psychic power, the rest of their tactics would usually not yield good results.

    In this case, Du Kun was already convinced that Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power was far stronger than his.

    He failed to seriously wound Nie Tian using a psychic weapon that he was quite adept with, and even suffered major injuries from Nie Tian¡¯s counterattack.

    Therefore, he decided to y it safe and quit the fight with Nie Tian. The main thought in his mind was getting away as quickly as possible, and then healing the injuries to his soul.

    WHOOSH!

    Bent on escaping, Du Kun turned into a constantly shifting shadow, which fled at an extremely high speed.

    Nie Tian finally snapped out of his thoughts, and snorted coldly. ¡°You can¡¯t get away.¡±

    He then shed into action, chasing after him.

    By this point, the pain in his chest was gone, and the ten wounds caused by Du Kun¡¯s finger sts has long since stopped bleeding.

    Energy was still being generated from his belly, dispersing and roaming about in his entire body. This allowed him to feel full of energy, as though he would never be tired.

    Du Kun, on the other hand, had been unceasingly drawing spiritual power from his spiritual sea, so as to run faster into the desert.

    Nie Tian scanned the area with his psychic power, ensuring that whenever Du Kun vanished behind the sand dunes, he was still able to urately locate him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s acute sensing ability was evenparable to Yu Tong¡¯s Blood Searching Compass, and could detect all signs of life within a one hundred meter radius.

    Therefore, Du Kun couldn¡¯t possibly lose Nie Tian by simply taking advantage of the terrain and the shielding of the sand dunes.

    No matter what skills he used, or how skillfully he used the terrain, Nie Tian was always able to pinpoint his location.

    Du Kun used every secret movement art and escaping skill he had learned from the Ghost sect, but they turned out useless, only resulting in greater waste of strength.

    After he realized that Nie Tian could always locate him, he grew more and more anxious.

    He didn¡¯t move in a straight line, but rather, a serpentine motion.

    By doing that, he consumed almost twice as much spiritual power as he would have running in a straight line. By the time he discovered that Nie Tian was repeatedly closing in on him, he had already unwittingly consumed sixty percent of his inner spiritual power.

    Realizing that all the tricks he used on Nie Tian had failed, he finally stopped resorting to trickery.

    He started to dash in a straight line towards Mo Xi and Yu Tong¡¯s direction, hoping Nie Tian wasn¡¯t fast enough to catch him.

    Once again, Nie Tian showed up five meters behind him, mocking him while moving rapidly. ¡°ept your fate already. I can tell that you¡¯ve consumed too much spiritual power. I can also see in your eyes that you¡¯recking psychic power. Does it mean... that your soul is also injured?

    ¡°Ha! With your soul injured, and having overly consumed your spiritual power, you can try to run away, but I¡¯ll tire you to death in the end.

    ¡°You might as well stop and have a honorable fight with me.

    ¡°At least you¡¯ll die with honor.¡±

    Due to the fact that Nie Tian had consumed arge amount of spirit beast meat, he was full of energy the whole time while he was chasing Du Kun. In fact, the energy he drew upon came almostpletely from the spirit beast meat, and not his spiritual sea.

    Despite having chased Du Kun for so long, he hadn¡¯t used much of the spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    ¡°Mypanions from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect are just ahead!¡± Du Kun said, not even looking back at Nie Tian. ¡°Go on and chase me! You¡¯ll soon realize that you¡¯re seeking death! Wait till I reunite with them; no matter how mysterious your skills are, Yu Tong will refine everyst drop of your blood!

    ¡°She has already considered you as her target! As long as you appear in front of her, she¡¯ll definitely drain your blood with her blood refining technique, and you¡¯ll be a dry corpse!¡±

    ¡°Oh really?¡± Nie Tian replied with a firm expression. ¡°I¡¯m guessing they¡¯re currently chasing after the trial takers of the Cloudsoaring sect and Spiritual Treasure sect, whom I parted with quite a few days ago. They should be reaching the edge of the desert by now. I assume your people should have been pursuing them for about two days already. Am I right?

    ¡°You came by yourself, and it probably took you a day to get here, right? They must have been chasing after my people when you split up with them and came after me. So that adds up to a very long distance between them and us.

    ¡°From my rough calctions, I can tell that it¡¯ll take at least one day for you to reunite with them.

    ¡°In such a long time, you¡¯ll easily use up all of your spiritual power, and I¡¯ll kill you effortlessly after that.¡±

    Nie Tian took his time to give voice to his analysis.

    Du Kun was still running with his back towards Nie Tian. However, as soon as he heard Nie Tian¡¯s analysis, his face suddenly turned bleak.

    He knew perfectly well that all the things Nie Tian had said were urate, and he would indeed need more than one day to catch up with Mo Xi and Yu Tong.

    And that would be if his soul hadn¡¯t been injured and he was full of spiritual power.

    In his current state, he definitely couldn¡¯t dash forward over a long period of time. Actually, he desperately needed to rest and stabilize the anomalies of his soul with the Ghost sect¡¯s secret magics.

    However, he also knew that once he stopped he would face Nie Tian¡¯s storm of attacks.

    There was no way that Nie Tian would give him even the slightest chance to recover.

    Soul injured, spiritual power overly consumed, he no longer had the confidence to win against the inexhaustible Nie Tian.

    However, he ignored Nie Tian¡¯s taunting. Tight-lipped, he focused only on dashing ahead, not wishing to waste his energy arguing with Nie Tian.

    At this time, the closely pursuing Nie Tian also became slightly agitated, because he had noticed that, just like An Ying had said, Du Kun truly had a way with escaping.

    Dashing forward at full speed, Du Kun seemed weightless, and the way he moved was extremely unpredictable and swift.

    Nie Tian had already resorted to using his own spiritual power, but still failed to shorten the distance between him and Du Kun. He could only follow far behind him.

    The closer they got to the Ghost sect and the Blood sect disciples, the more unsafe he became. The fact that Du Kun was able to pinpoint his location meant that they had an expert or some sort of magical instrument that could detect signs of life.

    The truth was that if they could detect that someone was chasing another, they would probably send people to check. In that case, it would be quite dangerous for him.

    ¡°No! I can¡¯t waste too much time and energy on this guy. I still need to use the spirit beast meat to break through into the eighth level of Qi Refining as soon as possible!¡±

    Teeth clenched and eyes glittering, Nie Tian pondered how to finish off Du Kun in a short time.

    ¡°His soul is injured...

    ¡°Clearly, the damage to his soul was inflicted by me... Was it because I killed the seven ghost heads in my mind with the des forged by my psychic power?

    ¡°He was able to morph his psychic power into ghost heads and invade my brain, so can I use the same measure against him?

    ¡°He¡¯s sixty meters away from me, and that¡¯s out of the attack range of my spiritual power. But sixty meters is within my psychic power¡¯s attack range! So, can I use my psychic power to attack him?

    ¡°Plus, his soul is already injured!¡±

    Having thought of that, Nie Tian immediately stopped in ce.

    He squinted and locked his cold gaze on the fleeing Du Kun. A formidable psychic power was instantly unleashed!

    His psychic power traveled at a speed far exceeding the fleshly body. It was only a split second before his psychic power arrived by Du Kun!

    ¡°sh!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a bellow.

    In his head, his psychic power, which had already locked onto Du Kun, suddenly morphed into countless sharp des and shed toward Du Kun.

    The moment he shouted ¡°sh¡±, he had a miraculous feeling that his psychic power des had pierced into Du Kun¡¯s mind!

    BAM!

    Eighty meters away, Du Kun¡¯s light and ever-shifting body suddenly fell onto the ground with a loud crash as if he had taken a heavy strike.

    After hitting ground, Du Kun vomited white foam as his whole body spasmed. The life in his eyes gradually faded away!

    Receiving a shockingly good result with one strike, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Ahhh?!¡±

    The moment he loosened his concentration, the surging waves of psychic power he had just gathered vanished into thin air.

    Du Kun, on the other hand, remained motionless on the ground.

 Chapter 60: A Tremendous Crisis

    Somewhat puzzled, Nie Tian approached Du Kun, hoping to find out what had urred.

    Du Kun was still twitching on the ground, blood streaming out of the corner of his eyes.

    ¡°Already lost your fighting power?¡± Nie Tian murmured as he crouched down. Then, he grabbed Du Kun¡¯s neck with one hand.

    CRUNCH!

    A disturbing cracking sound echoed from his neck, then his head sagged down as he died instantly.

    ¡°It seems Ghost sect disciples are experts of psychic magics. I wonder if he has those kinds of incantation scrolls on him.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes glittered as he started to search Du Kun from head to toe, hoping to obtain secret techniques regarding the cultivation of psychic power from him.

    Nie Tian knew that Du Kun¡¯s psychic power far surpassed those with a simr cultivation base to his own.

    Just now he managed to paralyze Du Kun with a single strike, which helped him to fully realize how amazing psychic power could be.

    Unfortunately, he had been cultivating in the Nie n his whole life, and never had the chance to obtain knowledge regarding psychic power.

    If he looted something from Du Kun that could help him get a better understanding of psychic power, he was sure that his battle prowess would rise to another level.

    ¡°Hmm. No information of any kind on him.¡±

    After searching Du Kun from head to toe, Nie Tian failed to find any information regarding incantations for psychic power cultivation. As such, he felt greatly disappointed.

    The only things he found were about ten spirit stones, along with a Ghost sect identity medallion, all of which were in the cloth pouch on Du Kun¡¯s waist.

    After taking the spirit stones and the medallion, he squinted his eyes, looking in the direction that Du Kun wished to escape in, and fell into deep thought.

    He knew perfectly well that Mo Xi, Yu Tong, and the other disciples of the Blood sect and the Ghost sect were currently chasing after An Ying and her alliance at full speed.

    He wasn¡¯t sure if An Ying and the others could join forces with Zheng Bin in the volcano area before Mo Xi and Yu Tong caught up to them.

    ¡°I killed this guy and weakened the Ghost sect all by myself. I suppose this also counts as helping them. With me gone, they have 19 people on their end, so they should be able to just barely contend against the people from Ghost sect and Blood sect.

    ¡°Once they meet with Zheng Bin of the Mystic Mist sect, the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s mission in the Green Illusion dimension will fail.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to the Green Illusion dimension to train and build up myself, so I¡¯d better consume the spirit beast meat as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would be a huge waste.

    ¡°The only thing that I can do to help them is to stay here and cultivate, hoping that after the Ghost sect and the Blood sect realize that this guy has died, they will assign others toe and kill me.¡±

    With these thoughts, he sat down next to Du Kun¡¯s body, eyes closed, and started cultivating.

    ...

    In the depths of the desert.

    The Blood sect¡¯s Yu Tong once again took out her Blood Searching Compass to detect An Ying and herpanions¡¯ location.

    Mo Xi stared down at the dots of blood-colored light on thepass, and grinned.

    ¡°They¡¯re right ahead of us!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to catch up to them in a day. Then we¡¯ll kill them all before they leave the desert!¡±

    ncing at a corner of thepass, he found a single blob of blood-colored light, and said, ¡°There¡¯s only one blob of light left. Du Kun must have seeded already.¡±

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± Yu Tong said with furrowed brow. She shook her head. ¡°That that blob of light isn¡¯t moving. If Du Kun really seeded, he definitely wouldn¡¯t stay in one ce.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, not only Mo Xi, but other Blood sect and Ghost sect disciples were also seized with shock.

    ¡°What?! Are you saying... Du Kun is the one who¡¯s dead?¡± Mo Xi¡¯s face turned grim.

    Yu Tong said expressionlessly, ¡°I don¡¯t want to believe Du Kun would fail either, but the facts are in front of us.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Mo Xi suddenlymanded, ¡°Song Heng! Head over there and take a look!¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Yu Tong said calmly. ¡°Considering that Du Kun was the one who died, Song Heng going by himself wouldn¡¯t necessarily be safe. However, if we send more people over, we¡¯ll be short handed. Even if we managed to catch up to those from the Spiritual Treasure sect and Cloudsoaring sect, we wouldn¡¯t be able to guarantee a victory.¡±

    Mo Xi shouted, ¡°But he killed Du Kun! He has to die!¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Yu Tong nodded. ¡°I¡¯m saying that we have to make priorities. We should finish off those 19 people first. After we do, returning to kill him will be a piece of cake.¡±

    ¡°Since he remains in the desert, as long as we have the Blood Searching Compass, there¡¯s no way that he can escape.¡±

    Mo Xi pondered over it for awhile, and realized that her decision was a wise one. ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll let him live for a few more days!¡±

    ...

    After killing Du Kun, Nie Tian had always been meticulous while using the spirit beast meat to cultivate.

    Every once in awhile, he would release his psychic awareness to detect the fluctuations of life in the surrounding area, and prepare himself for battles that could take ce at any time, in case more people from the Ghost sect and Blood sect mighte for him.

    However, during the following two days, not a single enemy showed up.

    In the meantime, he had consumed arge proportion of the Lurker Lizard meat, leaving behind only about a quarter of the original amount.

    His spiritual sea had also expanded by as much as eighty percent. Given three more days, he believed he would be able to break through into the eighth level of Qi Refining stage!

    ¡°The eighth level!¡±

    The thought of him being able to leap into the eighth level from the sixth level made him suddenly seethe with excitement.

    As long as he could reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen, he would be epted by the Cloudsoaring sect and be their disciple!

    Once he became a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, his grandfather¡¯s status in the Nie n would also rise ordingly.

    Perhaps all the humiliations and injustice that his aunt had endured through all the years could finally be met with justice.

    ¡°I promised my aunt that I¡¯ll be a Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s disciple! When I get out of the Green Illusion dimension, it won¡¯t be long before I honor my word!¡±

    He munched even harder on the spirit beast meat before starting another round of refinement and upgrading of his spiritual sea.

    Time gradually passed by...

    Three days went by in the blink of an eye, and all of the remaining spirit beast meat was gone.

    Sitting with his eyes closed, Nie Tian was practicing Qi Refining Incantation, channeling the energy to reform the spiritual sea in his dantian.

    Although focused on his cultivation, he continued to maintain focus on the surrounding area. He suddenly sensed that the stuffy heat of the desert seemed to have faded away.

    His hair seemed to quietly stand up on end due to the change in the temperature.

    Having sensed the anomaly, he ceased his work with his spiritual sea, and released his psychic awareness, extending it out in every direction.

    His first thought was that someone from the Ghost sect or the Blood sect hade for him.

    Waves of extremely vigorous life fluctuations suddenly reflected into his soul. Expression flickering, he looked off in the direction of the disturbance.

    Soon, his psychic awareness detected a powerful life form, something that clearly didn¡¯t belong to a human being!

    ¡°Spirit beast! A second grade spirit beast just like the Lurker Lizard!¡±

    He sprung to his feet, eyes locked on the direction that had been determined by his psychic power detection, ready for a fierce battle.

    He was right!

    About ten secondster, a giant figure appeared from the direction that he had been staring in.

    ¡°The Frost Python!¡± Nie Tian stood aghast.

    Previously, when his group went through the enormous trouble to search for it in the cier area, it seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Now, however, it had actually appeared in the desert!

    The Frost Python was the most powerful spirit beast in the entire Green Illusion dimension, moreover it seemed to possess impressive intelligence.

    Upon seeing the Lurker Lizard getting injured, the Frost Python immediately fled the cier area.

    It seemed to know that everyone was hunting for it. Hence, it had concealed itself ever since, not leaving a single trace of its whereabouts.

    Unlike the Lurker Lizard, it hadn¡¯t been injured by An Ying or Zheng Rui. It had only consumed a little proportion of its strength, which should have long since recovered after such a long time.

    This meant the Frost Python that Nie Tian was facing now was at its peak!

 Chapter 61: Ancient Underground Palace

    The Frost Python slowly glided towards Nie Tian.

    It examined him silently, yet didn¡¯t try to kill him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s attention was more concentrated than ever as he stared wide-eyed at the Frost Python. He secretly circted his spiritual power, preparing to react at any moment.

    ¡°Scales...!¡± Nie Tian was shocked inwardly.

    As it approached, he noticed that the more than ten-meter-long silver python had actually grown silver, crystalline scales!

    Days before, when he was still traveling with Pan Tao and others in the cier area, searching for the Frost Python, he learned many of its secrets from Pan Tao.

    ording to Pan Tao, in the second grade, Frost Python should be silver in color from head to tail, butpletelycking in scales.

    However, once scales appeared on the Frost Python, it would mean that it had sessfully broken through into the third grade.

    Third grade spirit beasts could be as powerful as Qi warriors with a Heaven stage cultivation base, their formidable power increasing by several times!

    The Frost Python in front of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes had already grown dozens of ice-like scales after hiding for a long time, which meant after a period of hiding, it had already be a third grade spirit beast!

    If it was still in the second grade, he might still have the audacity to fight it, and perhaps, he could kill it with the rage punch.

    However, now that the Frost Python had stepped into the third grade, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t even have a ten percent chance to win, even with the rage punch.

    With that fist strike, he could only kill Qi warriors of the Lesser Heaven stage, whose strength was far inferior to third grade spirit beasts.

    No matter what, it would be impossible for him to kill this third grade Frost Python. Engaging in battle with it meant death!

    After having a clear understanding of the situation, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to hesitate any more, and started fleeing at the fastest speed possible.

    SHEW!

    He blurred into action, dashing toward the direction of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect people, without wasting one second.

    He knew perfectly well that he couldn¡¯t possibly contend against the Frost Python alone.

    The only possible way to kill the Frost Python would be with the help of the Cloudsoaring sect, the Spiritual Treasure sect, and maybe even the Ghost sect and the Blood sect.

    HISSS! HISSS!

    The sound of the Frost Python slithering across the sand could be heard from behind him. But then, after only about ten seconds, it surpassed him, and was silently waiting for him on the sand dune in front of him.

    After reaching the third grade, it was faster than him by a great margin!

    Seeing that the Frost Python had surpassed him and was now waiting there in front of him, staring at him oddly, Nie Tian¡¯s scalp began tingling so hard it felt like his head might explode.

    Without any further thought, he immediately turned around and dashed in the opposite direction.

    SSS! SSS!

    After about ten seconds, the Frost Python surpassed him again, and yet again came to a stop in front of him.

    bbergasted by what was happening, Nie Tian once again turned around, madly drawing power from his spiritual sea and fusing it with the energy roaming within his body to run at full speed.

    However, the Frost Python was still much faster than him!

    No matter how hard he ran, the Frost Python could always easily surpass him, and wait up ahead for him.

    After a few more tries, Nie Tian was still unable to get rid of it, and thus gave up.

    He finally understood that there was no way that he could escape from the third grade Frost Python.

    ¡°Bring it on!¡±

    After giving up on running, Nie Tian assumed a battling posture, since he had no other option.

    To his surprise, despite his battle posture, the Frost Python didn¡¯t make a single move.

    Its eyes flickered with intelligence, as though it were contemting some n it had hatched.

    Since it didn¡¯t move, Nie Tian also didn¡¯t dare to move. All he could do was stare at it with rapt attention, in case itunched an attack.

    After a long moment, the Frost Python¡¯s eyes suddenly flickered, and it turned and slithered off toward the depths of the desert.

    Before long, it stopped and turned around to look at Nie Tian, seemingly waiting for something...

    Nie Tian was full of confusion.

    HISS! HISS!

    The Frost Python kept flickering its forked tongue and making hissing sounds, while simultaneously looking back.

    Staring at it, puzzled, Nie Tian suddenly read from its eyes what it wanted to express: follow me.

    Nie Tian was stunned.

    The Frost Python actually wanted him to follow it?

    HISS! HISS!

    The Frost Python kept making hissing sounds, which were now filled with impatience, as if it was urging him to get moving.

    It took a moment for Nie Tian to react, and followed obediently with a wry smile.

    He wasn¡¯t sure what trick it was ying, but he knew for sure that if he engaged in battle with it, he would definitely be the one to die.

    Having reached the third grade, the Frost Python was definitely not something he could handle. He had already had a clear understanding of that from the way that the Frost Python had easily outrun him.

    If he were to run away, he wouldn¡¯t be sessful. If he were to fight, he would die beyond a shadow of a doubt.

    In this situation, behaving obediently was definitely the smartest choice.

    Even though he was full of reluctance, in order to survive, he could only follow the Frost Python into the depths of the desert.

    Time flew by... it felt as if he had already followed the Frost Python for quite a long time.

    During this time, he knew that the Frost Python had been intentionally moving at a speed that he was able to keep up with.

    Whenever he stopped or had reservations, the Frost Python would always look back at him.

    Under its frightening gaze, he would usually force a smile and continue to move forward, abandoning any ns to escape.

    With the Frost Python in the front and Nie Tian behind it, they marched forward silently at a fast pace.

    After an unknown period of time, the Frost Python suddenly halted, so Nie Tian also stopped.

    He adjusted his breathing, and stealthily observed the surrounding area, wishing to know why the Frost Python had stopped here.

    It was a tiny oasis with a smallke, which was filled with mysteriously green-colored water that emitted a fishy smell.

    On the perimeter of the oasis, there grew arge number of short nts which were sparsely spread, and from the look of them, they were on the verge of dying.

    Soon after the Frost Python stopped, it slowly swam to the center of theke.

    Suddenly, it raised its tail high into the air, and drops of blood seemed to be forced out of the end of its tail.

    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

    As soon as its blood dripped into theke, the pungent, fishyke water started to ripple.

    A misty, green aura then rose above the surface of theke, which looked quite frightening.

    PUFF!

    The raised tail pierced violently down towards the bottom of theke like a sharp awl.

    Observing with rapt attention, Nie Tian discovered that the python¡¯s tail had pierced through the ground at the center of theke, and kept going downwards.

    Its ten-meter-long body followed its ground-piercing tail, and sunk smoothly into the earth.

    When it only had its giant head above the water, it looked over toward Nie Tian, eyes conveying the message same as before: Follow me!

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered, intending to escape.

    However, it seemed that the Frost Python could read his mind as it sprang its mostly submerged body violently out of the earth.

    Then, at the bottom of theke, a giant tunnel leading downwards appeared as the python retracted its body. However, for some reason, the water didn¡¯t flow into it.

    It moved aside, giving Nie Tian a clearer look at the tunnel, and indicating with its gaze that it wished for him to enter.

    Realizing that his intentions had been discovered, Nie Tian smiled wryly and nodded before entering theke, swimming slowly to the center.

    When he reached the center of theke, he discovered that the water level only reached his chest. He heaved a sigh, and looked at the tunnel leading downwards, before closing his eyes to jump in.

    It felt like he was sliding towards the center of the earth, and along the way down, everything was filled with a pungent, fishy smell.

    BAAAAAM!

    After a long while, he fell heavily into a pool of water.

    He quickly opened his eyes.

    There was a enormous stone pce in the deep underground region of the desert!

    In the middle of the stone pce, there stood numerous giant stone statues of spirit beasts.

    Apart from the statues, there were also numerous stone columns, which had life-like stone dragons wrapped around them!

    He was in a corner of the stone pce floating inside a crescent-moon-shaped well, observing the ancient stone pce from the mouth of the well.

    WHOOSH!

    At this very moment, the gigantic Frost Python suddenly fell from the heavens.

    He immediately looked up.

    He saw a big stone tunnel mouth at the top of the stone pce which seemed to be the link between this ce and theke above it.

    When the Frost Python fell, it wiggled in midair and avoidednding on Nie Tian, insteadnding in the empty space in the middle of the stone pce.

    After hitting ground, the Frost Python took a look at one of the stone columns, and then looked over towards Nie Tian, giving orders with its eyes again.

    Following the Frost Python¡¯s gaze, Nie Tian also looked over towards the stone column, and immediately noticed that there was a splendid me dragon coiled around it.

 Chapter 62: Drastic Turn of Events

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered when saw the me Dragon; he had already guessed to some extent the reason why the Frost Python didn¡¯t kill him.

    His guess was that there was a hint of the me Dragon¡¯s aura on him.

    Perhaps, his animal bone was originally from a me Dragon...

    Even though he didn¡¯t bring it into the Green Illusion dimension, he had probed the wonders of the dragon bone with his psychic awareness on more than a few asions. Moreover, his soul had entered the drop of blood inside the bone a few times, traveling into an unknown zing world.

    He had studied it every day in an attempt to further understand its wonders, which perhaps caused him to absorb some of the me Dragon¡¯s aura.

    Nie Tian was also convinced that the reason he possessed such strong psychic power was because of him constantly probing the dragon bone and sending his soul into that mysterious zing world.

    Several days ago, when he feared that the Ghost sect or the Blood sect might send people over again to kill him, he constantly extended his psychic awareness to detect any movement in the surrounding area.

    It was very likely that the Frost Python had detected the aura of me Dragon in the psychic power that he had released to examine the vicinity.

    Having a rough idea of the Frost Python¡¯s intentions, Nie Tian climbed out of the crescent-moon-shaped well, and walked towards the central area of this immeasurably wide stone pce.

    He soon arrived in the front of a stone column that had a me Dragon coiled around it. He examined it closely, before turning around and checking the other nearby columns.

    One thing that was immediately noticeable was that every single one of the twelve stone columns had a different dragon coiled around it.

    Six of them were zing me Dragons.

    The other six stone columns featured life-like dragons whose silver scales were identical to the type sported by the Frost Python.

    ¡°Frost Dragons?¡±

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian¡¯s mind drifted as he pondered what Pan Tao had told him earlier.

    ording to Pan Tao, the Frost Python was an ancient species, and it was possible that some of them carried the bloodline of ancient Frost Dragons.

    As long as a Frost Python possessed the blood of ancient Frost Dragons, no matter how faint, there would be a possibility that the Frost Python could awaken its bloodline and eventually turn into a Frost Dragon.

    ording to the legends, Frost Dragons were one of the most formidable types of giant dragons in the ancient era, simr to me Dragons.

    ¡°I have a me Dragon¡¯s aura on me, and this Frost Python, on the other hand, probably has a Frost Dragon¡¯s bloodline within. Furthermore, it must have awakened its bloodline when it reached the third grade.

    ¡°It must have brought me here to help it with something, presumably by means of the me Dragon¡¯s aura.

    ¡°Otherwise, it would have killed me long ago, instead of wasting so much energy to bring me here.¡±

    Pondering the situation, Nie Tian continued to study his surroundings in search of an answer.

    All of a sudden, he noticed that there was a prismatic altar in the middle of the twelve stone columns.

    The altar was made out of dark-brown stones that were piled up together. Numerous grooves could be seen on the altar, each of which was filled with sparkling, translucent dragon bones.

    The dragon bones emanated rays of bright light, illuminating the central area of the dim stone pce.

    Obviously, those dragon bones werepletely different from the ones Nie Tian had seen in the past.

    He knew very well that only the bones of high level spirit beasts would be translucent like jade and unceasingly emanate bright light, which was due to the abundant energy they carried.

    Dragon bones that could emanate light must contain surging waves of energy within, and were thus extremely useful.

    The numerous grooves on the altar were aligned in a particr way, with the dragon bones inside radiating light of various colors.

    Light implied energy.

    ¡°Twelve stone columns, an altar in the middle, and dragon bones brimming with energy...

    ¡°This is an inter-spacial teleportation portal!¡±

    Nie Tian had a sudden epiphany: this prismatic altar was actually an inter-spacial teleportation portal.

    The twelve stone columns carved with Frost and me Dragons, the altar, and the dragon bones brimming with energy, were all part of the inter-spacial teleportation portal!

    In the next moment, he guessed the Frost Python¡¯s intent: to use this inter-spacial teleportation portal to get out of the Green Illusion dimension!

    ¡°Yes, that must be it. All the powerful spirit beasts in the Green Illusion dimension were wiped out by the four sects. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here is also gradually drying up. All of these make this ce no longer suitable for any living beings to practice cultivation for long periods of time.

    ¡°The Frost Python probably also realized that the only reason why it¡¯s still alive is that the four sects deliberately spared its life.

    ¡°Lingering on in the Green Illusion dimension, not only will it be impossible for it to continue to evolve, but there is also a possibility that it will be killed by the trial takers of the four sects. This is simply a dead end for it.

    ¡°Fully aware that staying in the Green Illusion dimension means death, the Frost Python must wish to leave.

    ¡°And this inter-spacial teleportation portal hidden beneath the desert is the key. The reason it had led me here must be that it wants me to activate it.

    ¡°Otherwise, it would have escaped from the Green Illusion dimension long ago, and headed off to a new dimension that is more suitable for it to continue evolving.¡±

    A series of thoughts popped up in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. Following the right direction, he got increasingly closer to the true answer.

    HISS! HISS!

    At this moment, the Frost Python hissed and shot out rays of ice shards mixed with mist from its mouth.

    Six rays of ice shards were shot at the six dragon-coiled stone columns, which instantly froze, bing as translucent and sparkling as cold jade.

    The moment the Frost Dragons on the columns were struck by the ice shards, they all seemed to have been activated.

    They began to pulse with a powerful, freezing aura, making Nie Tian, who was standing nearby, cold to the point that his teeth were chattering.

    The temperature in the stone pce was plummeting at a frightening speed, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

    His bones, blood, and even his thoughts seemed to have been affected by the coldness.

    In shock, he looked over towards the Frost Python.

    It was looking back at him, and in its piercing gaze, he saw nothing but coldness.

    From the look of it, if he couldn¡¯te up with a solution, he would bepletely frozen and turned into a ice sculpture by the surges of extreme coldness that kept emanating out of the stone columns.

    ¡°It¡¯s pushing me!¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly understood that the Frost Python was forcing him to release his power in its own way.

    The only thing that could resist the frost waves were mes. Without them, he would soon be frozen to death!

    He cast a look at the stone column beside him; he knew that only by activating the me Dragon on that stone column, causing it to release surging mes from that stone column, would he be able to survive.

    As the frost aura in the stone pce grew increasingly denser, he found that his ability to think even seemed to bepromised.

    If he failed to find a solution quickly, he might soon lose the ability to ponder.

    He reached out one hand, and thrust it violently towards the stone column.

    The psychic awareness, that he had exerted all power to cultivate recently, flowed like a river out of his soul and into the stone column that had a me Dragon coiled around it.

    The moment his psychic awareness flowed into the stone column, he saw wisps of crimson mes started shing from within the me Dragon on it.

    In the next moment, a raging surge of mes exploded from within!

    BOOM!

    In the blink of an eye, iparably furious mes were unleashed from within the entire stone column, causing the temperature in the stone pce to rise considerably.

    Coiled up by the foot of another stone column not far from him, the Frost Python¡¯s eyes shone with the light of iparable excitement.

    Shortly thereafter, however, surges of even more bone-piercing coldness emanated from within the six stone columns that had Frost Dragons coiled around them.

    Nie Tian immediately realized that only activating one stone column wouldn¡¯t be enough to resist the coldness filling the stone pce.

    With no time to think, he sent his psychic awareness charging towards the other five stone columns with me Dragons.

    His psychic awareness was like a lighter. The moment it made contact with the stone columns, the me Dragons on them seemed as if they hade to life.

    BOOM! RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

    With a faint tremble, the stone columns also burst into mes.

    As such, there were six ice columns that were emanating cold auras, and six fire columns that were emanating zing mes.

    Two drastically different forces, one cold and the other hot, were shing inside the stone pce, before suddenly merging and pouring into the altar in the middle.

    As of that moment, the translucent and sparkling dragon bones ced inside its grooves immediately exploded into fragments!

    Countless sparks of me sshed out from within the dragon bones, which instantly converged back onto the altar.

    Soon after, a grotesque and variegated light screen took shape on top of the altar, distorting and changing unceasingly, like a mysterious gate.

    HISSS! HISSS!

    Only until then did the Frost Python finally slide forward and rush towards the colorful light screen.

    Arriving in front of the light screen, the obviously intelligent Frost Python took one final nce at Nie Tian before jumping determinedly into the light screen.

    BOOM!

    The moment it entered, the strange light screen exploded into pieces, forming a sky full of various colors.

    After it exploded, the twelve stone columns that had previously been unleashing the power of me and frost, also became still again.

 Chapter 63: The Eighth Level of Qi Refining!

    The Frost Python left the Green Illusion dimension through the inter-spatial teleportation portal, ending up in parts unknown.

    The light screen exploded, sending millions of sparks flying out in all directions, filling up the entire dome. In the briefest of moments, the twelve stone columns ceased to emit frost and me.

    As Nie Tian stood there underneath the stone pir, he decided that he might as well explore the secrets of the stone pce.

    However, he soon realized that the sparks of light floating in the air might still contain considerable energy.

    Eyes lit up, he immediately released his psychic power to probe the air, and discovered that the entire stone pce was filled with unprecedentedly rich power.

    He then realized that the power was from the high grade dragon bones, the same power which had been used by the inter-spacial teleportation portal.

    The Frost Python must have spent countless hours and incredible effort to amass such arge collection of dragon bones. They were the key to its escape.

    Now, although all the dragon bones had been shattered, the energy they had contained still lingered in the stone pce, and was dissipating at a slow speed.

    ¡°What a formidable power!¡±

    Nie Tian immediately dismissed the idea of exploring the rest of the stone pce, and sat down cross-legged to practice the Qi Refining Incantation.

    His spiritual sea thrummed as it began to madly absorb the ever-fading energy, as if it had transformed into an enormous ma.

    Strands of silver-colored mist, together with sparks of light, started converging onto him from all directions, like a band of moths drawn to a me.

    A momentter he sensed that his spiritual sea was brimming with spiritual power!

    There were a total of nine levels in the Qi Refining stage. From the first level to the ninth level, a Qi warrior would only need to unceasingly reform and upgrade their spiritual sea to enter the next level.

    However, when a Qi warrior was trying to break through into the Lesser Heaven stage from the ninth level of Qi Refining, merely the umtion of spiritual power and expansion of their spiritual sea wouldn¡¯t be enough.

    This was where the bottleneck appeared.

    After a period of constant consumption of the Lurker Lizard meat and upgrading of his spiritual sea, Nie Tian was already on the verge of a breakthrough.

    If he hadn¡¯t run into the Frost Python, he might have been able to enter the eighth level of Qi Refining with a single session of cultivation.

    This time, the concentrated energy pouring violently into his spiritual sea pushed him to the brink of his goal: the eighth level of Qi Refining!

    Cross-legged, he continue to cultivate with rapt attention.

    After an unknown period of time, he suddenly trembled slightly.

    Then, he opened his eyes, face full of ecstasy as he yelled, ¡°I¡¯ve done it!¡±

    He had sessfully entered the eighth level of Qi Refining!

    Instead of springing to his feet, he once again probed the surrounding area his psychic power, and discovered that the energy inside the stone pce, although having thinned out a bit, was still quite abundant.

    He sensed that the energy had only faded by a limited extent.

    ¡°This is such a rare opportunity. It¡¯s still hard to say if I wille across another second grade spirit beast in theing days. Without the help of more second grade spirit beast meat, it won¡¯t be easy for me to rapidly improve in the eighth level of Qi Refining.

    ¡°The energy here is from those high grade dragon bones. Plus, it¡¯s quite easy to absorb.

    ¡°I need to take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and expand my spiritual sea as much as I can before the energypletely dissipates into the heaven and earth!¡±

    With these thoughts, he snapped out of thecence of reaching the eighth level of Qi Refining, and calmed himself once again.

    Then he began to practice the Qi Refining Incantation, and started another session of cultivation.

    Before he knew it, several days passed...

    Sitting in the center of the stone pce, obsessed with the upgrade of his spiritual sea, Nie Tian hadpletely lost track of time, and had even forgotten about eating and sleeping.

    Only when he could no longer refine power from inside the stone pce did he finally stopp.

    He opened his eyes and discovered that there wasn¡¯t even the tiniest bit of energy left in the silent stone pce.

    He soon realized that the fading energy inside the stone pce, after a period of dissipation, had alreadypletely disappeared.

    Even still, he managed to expand his spiritual sea by thirty percent after entering the eighth level of Qi Refining with another session of cultivation.

    As a matter of fact, expanding the spiritual sea by thirty percent in the eighth level required an immense amount of energy.

    Were it not for the pure energy in the stone pce, he would probably need to cultivate in the Nie n for half a year or longer to make such an achievement.

    The energy in the stone pce had sped up his cultivation by at least ten times, but possibly even more!

    Nie Tian knew that the energy hadpletely vanished and there would be no point in continuing his cultivation. Therefore, he stood up and started to carefully examine the stone pce.

    He circled the ce three times, discovering nothing but the inter-spacial teleportation portal.

    As he looked closer at the walls of the pce, he found many ancient and entric engravings on the walls. Some of them were images of spirit beasts, and others were some kind of writing.

    From the look of it, those writings were created by high level spirit beasts after they had gained outstanding intellect and wisdom.

    Apparently, they carried deep meaning, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t read the words and could only let out sighs.

    With the dragon bones gone, it appeared that the altar in the middle of the twelve stone columns had lost its value.

    After a thorough examination, he failed to discover anything else. However, he was fairly sure that the six stone columns that had been carved with me Dragons might continue to be of great help to him.

    Even though the me Dragons on those stone columns were not the skeletons of real dragons, only stone engravings, he could feel that within those six dragonsy terrifyingly rich me energy.

    Evidently, the dragon bone he possessed was also from a me Dragon, thus his demand for me energy was never-ending.

    His dragon bone had absorbed all the energy of the entire mecloud gem mine before condensing that one drop of blood.

    After the blood was fully condensed, the dragon bone seemed to have mutated. On their way back to ck Cloud City, Nie Tian easily used it to burn the two powerful experts into nothing more than ashes.

    Furthermore, soon after he returned to the Nie n, the dragon bone even ripped open space, and took him to a mysteriousnd.

    That was where he saw numerous wondrous things, andprehended the rage fist strike.

    However, the dragon bone needed a massive amount of me power to transfer him in and out of the mysteriousnd.

    If he wished to use the dragon bone to rip open the space and enter that mysteriousnd again, he would need to fill it with more me power.

    The six stone columns with me Dragons on them were precisely what could provide that tremendous amount of me power!

    ¡°What a pity! I didn¡¯t bring the dragon bone with me. Otherwise, it might have been able to drain the me power that lies within the six stone columns.¡±

    Full of regret, Nie Tian made a even more thorough examination of the stone pce, leaving no stone unturned.

    After failing to discover anything else, he climbed to the top of the stone column that was the nearest to the mouth of the tunnel. From there he leaped into the tunnel, which was the only connection between theke and the stone pce.

    The tunnel wall was made up of sand from the desert, so when he stabbed his hand into it, he was able to hold on firmly.

    Pulling himself up with his hands, he gradually climbed up the tunnel. An hourter, he finally emerged from the hole at the bottom of theke.

    Standing in the middle of theke, he immediately noticed that theke surface was shimmering gently with a mysterious light.

    Meanwhile, the hole that had been drilled by the Frost Python started to heal, bit by bit.

    As soon as he emerged from the water, and looked back towards the center of theke, he couldn¡¯t find any trace of the hole, as if nothing had ever happened.

    ¡°The stone pce is right beneath theke. If I can enter the Green Illusion dimension again in the future, I¡¯ll definitely take the dragon bone and drain the me power in the six stone columns with it.¡±

    Narrowing his eyes, he examined and memorized every single detail of that ce, including the surrounding terrain and the color of theke water, hoping that the next time he entered the Green Illusion dimension, he would be able to find this location urately.

    ¡°I must have spent a long time down there. I wonder whether An Ying¡¯s group has met up with Zheng Bin¡¯s group yet. The Ghost sect and Blood sect probably caught up with them long ago. I hope they are still alive.¡±

    He had consumed all the spirit beast meat, and refined all the energy in the underground stone pce.

    As of this moment, not only had he sessfully broken through to the eighth level, but also expanded his spiritual sea by thirty percent. There was not much left to do.

    ¡°I can go find those guys and help them kill disciples from the Ghost sect and Blood sect.¡±

    After looking around and getting a hold of his bearings, he headed off towards the direction in which the Frost Python had previouslye.

    He walked alone in the desert.

    About ten hourster, he was starting to get tired. Hence, he stopped and took out a spirit stone from the cloth pouch on his waist to recover some spiritual power.

    A momentter, he heard a loud sound. Throwing away the drained spirit stone, he stood up, brow furrowed.

    ¡°Hmm? Who might that be?¡±

    He released his psychic awareness.

    ¡°There are two of them. One has stronger life fluctuations, while the other seems weaker. Who could they be?¡± He blurred into action, dashing towards the area where he had sensed the fluctuations of life.

    Two gray-garbed men entered his sight. With blood covering their chest areas, they hurried forward, whispering to each other.

    ¡°Yuan Feng! Yun Song!¡±

 Chapter 64: Kill!

    Yuan Feng and Yun Song saw Nie Tian the moment he appeared.

    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    Yun Song was stunned, and for a moment, he thought he was mistaken. After all, Nie Tian had parted with the group for a long time, and they all believed he should have died already.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nie Tian asked in confusion. ¡°Howe you aren¡¯t in the volcanic region with Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect? What are you doing here?¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Yuan Feng¡¯s face dropped instantly.

    Yun Song gave a wry smile. ¡°We originally nned to go to the volcano area, but that ship has sailed. We ran into disciples from the Ghost sect and Blood sect right before we got out of the desert. They blocked our way forwards and killed several of us, so we could only split up and run.

    ¡°Now, we only want to go to return to the Secret Dimension Gate, sit out this trial, and get out of this hellhole at the first possible moment!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A lot of you were killed? How many people did the Ghost sect and Blood sect have?¡±

    ¡°Nine. There were just nine of them.¡± Yun Song¡¯s eyes were brimming with fear. ¡°But that witch Yu Tong broke into the Lesser Heaven stage in the middle of the battle! She cast numerous secret magics of the Blood sect. No one could contend against her! She single-handedly dealt with An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and my cousin at the same time.

    ¡°Then a guy named Mo Xi from the Ghost sect swooped in, taking advantage of the opportunity to kill many of the rest of us. We could only flee.

    ¡°It¡¯s over. The trial in the Green Illusion dimension is over! I just hope that people on the outside will realize what the Ghost sect and the Blood sect have done, and get in here as soon as possible.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°Yu Tong had a breakthrough during the battle?¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap!¡± Yuan Feng snorted coldly, looking at Nie Tian with an unfriendly expression. ¡°Hand over your spirit stones. We need to recover our spiritual power as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Yun Song yelled, unting his cousin¡¯s power. ¡°Hand them over and we¡¯ll let you live, at least as long as we¡¯re here in the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian subconsciously looked down at the cloth pouch at his waist before saying with a strange smile, ¡°We¡¯re in such a dangerous situation, and you still want to rob my spirit stones? Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are!¡± Yun Song said coldly. ¡°Do you really think we would have let you off if we hadn¡¯t run into the Ghost sect disciples in the cier area early on? Days ago, when we joined the group with the Spiritual Treasure sect and the Cloudsoaring sect, you dared to made things difficult for us. Do you think you would still be able to leave safe and sound after meeting us here?¡±

    Yuan Feng began to walk toward Nie Tian. ¡°There may be disciples from the Blood sect and Ghost sect chasing after us,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste my energy on you. The trial is over. If you¡¯re lucky enough to get out of the Green Illusion dimension alive, I¡¯ll kill you outside.

    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll let you live a bit longer. Now, be a goodd and hand over your pouch!¡±

    After a narrow escape from the Blood sect and Ghost sect, Yuan Feng had fled at full speed for quite some time, causing a substantial consumption of his spiritual power.

    He also wasn¡¯t sure whether the Blood sect and Ghost sect had sent someone after them.

    In that situation, he wasn¡¯t willing to waste hisst remaining strength on Nie Tian, so he just asked Nie Tian to hand over his spirit stones.

    After all, in his eyes, Nie Tian was just a nobody with a poor cultivation base from the Nie n.

    Considering Yuan Feng¡¯s status and power, as long as he wished to, he could kill Nie Tian any time in the future.

    Nie Tian took the pouch from his waist and held it in his hand.

    Looking over quietly at Yuan Feng for a moment, he said, ¡°ording to your words, even if I give you the spirit stones, you¡¯ll still kill me after the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s trial ends?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! You¡¯re lucky enough that I¡¯m gonna let you live for a while longer.¡± Yuan Feng didn¡¯t even try to conceal his intentions.

    Nie Tian nodded, and grinning, dropped the cloth pouch by his feet.

    With a nce at the pouch, he took one step back, indicating that Yuan Feng and Yun Song shoulde and get it.

    ¡°You¡¯re in luck!¡±

    Without the slightest hesitation, Yun Song leaped to Nie Tian¡¯s side, and bent over to fetch the pouch.

    At that moment, a strong killing intent emanated from Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Yuan Feng called out.

    Just as Yun Song reached downwards, beams of light suddenly shot out from Nie Tian¡¯s fingertips.

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d do that!¡± Yun Song snorted, as if he had been prepared for the attack, and immediately straightened up.

    Instead of grabbing the pouch, he unleashed his internal me power, clenching his fist and punching towards the five light beams.

    One after another, numerous clusters of me shot out of his fist, submerging Nie Tian¡¯s light beams.

    BANG! BANG!

    With a loud sh, the light beams and the me clusters exploded and vanished together into the air.

    After neutralizing Nie Tian¡¯s attack, Yun Song¡¯s face suddenly turned grim. ¡°Spiritual power breakaway. You have actually broken through to the seventh level of Qi Refining!¡±

    Back when he fought Nie Tian in front of the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion, Nie Tian was only at the fourth level.

    And that was how long ago?

    After their battle in ck Cloud City, he was well aware of Nie Tian¡¯s fierce temperament, and the fact that he would never give in.

    But after all, he knew that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was poor, so even though he knew that Nie Tian would unleash murderous attacks, he wasn¡¯t afraid in the slightest.

    Completely contrary to what he had expected, Nie Tian had reached the seventh level, and possessed the ability to release his spiritual power out of his body!

    If he hadn¡¯t been prepared, Nie Tian¡¯s five finger st probably would have doomed him!

    Right as he was rejoicing that he was smart enough to have anticipated Nie Tian¡¯s attack, Yuan Feng called out to him again, and immediately began to rush over. ¡°Yun Song! Get back here!! He¡¯s now at the eighth level!¡±

    ¡°Toote,¡± Nie Tian said with a cold smile, unleashing his formidable psychic power to attack Yun Song.

    Having savored the sweet taste of killing Du Kun, he realized that his unusually strong psychic power was a perfect weapon!

    From his point of view, he was single-handedly fighting Yun Song and Yuan Feng. If he couldn¡¯t use special tactics to finish one off, once the two of them nked him, he wouldn¡¯t necessarilye out victorious.

    Ever since Yuan Feng clearly stated that he would spare no effort to kill him at the first possible moment even if he got out of the Green Illusion dimension alive, he had made up his mind to kill them.

    He had to kill both Yuan Feng and Yun Song while in the Green Illusion dimension, otherwise, they would bring him endless trouble in the future!

    Furthermore, with the disciples of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect in the picture, he could easily find excuses for the trial takers¡¯ deaths: killed by the Ghost sect and Blood sect!

    Having figured out an excuse, he brought out his trump card without the slightest scruple.

    Facing the unexpected psychic attack, Yun Song felt as if he were being possessed by a demon.

    ¡°Ahhhh!!"

    Feeling the intolerable stabbing pain in his head, he held his head, wailing in anguish.

    Nie Tian took advantage of the opportunity and reached out his hand with the speed of lightning. Clenching Yun Song¡¯s neck, he then tightened his grip.

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of bone cracking rang out from within Yun Song¡¯s neck, and simultaneously, his head drooped down in an unnatural way.

    Yuan Feng opened his eyes so wide that they almost bled. ¡°You! You killed him! You actually killed him!!¡±

    Everyone who participated in the Green Illusion dimension trial had to abide by the rules and regtions set by the four sects, which included no killing between trial takers.

    Even though Yuan Feng held a grudge against Nie Tian, back when he demanded that An Ying hand him over, he only wished to disable him; he didn¡¯t have even the slightest intention of killing him.

    He had never expected him to unleash murderous attacks towards Yun Song in the Green Illusion dimension.

    After all, if he ever got out of the Green Illusion dimension and revealed this matter to others, Nie Tian would inevitably be executed by the four sects!

    ¡°If I don¡¯t kill him in the Green Illusion dimension, I probably won¡¯t have another chance after returning to ck Cloud City.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face was cold and grim. ¡°If I see him causing me trouble in ck Cloud City after we get out, I¡¯ll regret that decision every day. So, in order to have no regrets in the future, I can only kill him in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll be executed by the four sects!¡± yelled Yuan Feng.

    ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡± Nie Tian grinned cruelly. ¡°I¡¯ve also nned for your death... As long as you¡¯re dead, no one will ever know the truth. I¡¯ll tell them that you two were killed by the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, and that I had nothing to do with it.¡±

 Chapter 65: The Real and Unreal Yuan Fengs

    After witnessing Yun Song being killed, Yuan Feng, who was in the middle of dashing forward to attack Nie Tian, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

    Standing there five meters away from Nie Tian, he probed his true strength with a grim look in his eyes.

    However, upon hearing that Nie Tian intended to silence him by killing him, he couldn¡¯t suppress his fury.

    ¡°You want to kill me, too?¡± Yuan Feng smiled furiously.

    In response to Yuan Feng¡¯s question, Nie Tian nodded seriously. When he spoke, it was as if killing Yuan Feng was the most normal thing in the world. ¡°If you leave the Green Illusion dimension alive, won¡¯t people know about me killing Yun Song? Well, what¡¯s done is done. There¡¯s no point in saying anything else. It¡¯s either you or me. Of course, I n to make sure the person who ends up dead is you.¡±

    The moment he finished, Nie Tian once again gathered his psychic power, and his eyes turned as cold as a star on a winter night.

    Psychic power could move significantly faster than the fleshly body and spiritual power.

    In a split second, his psychic power was forged into countless sharp des which exploded towards Yuan Feng¡¯s mind.

    BOOM!

    Yuan Feng shook violently; his expression distorted and his eyes filled with shock and fear.

    ¡°What formidable psychic power!¡±

    As of this moment, he finally understood how Nie Tian managed to kill Yun Song in a second.

    Yun Song was at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Normally, with a cultivation base slightly inferior to Nie Tian, he shouldn¡¯t have suffered such a quick loss.

    The fact that Nie Tian managed to kill Yun Song with just his second attack defiedmon sense.

    It was exactly because he was skeptical about the way Yun Song had died, that Yuan Feng refrained from acting rashly when he approached Nie Tian.

    As a matter of fact, he also feared that Nie Tian might have some sort of secret weapon at his disposal.

    Only when Nie Tian¡¯s formidable psychic power transformed into sharp des and suddenly pierced towards his mind, did he finally have an epiphany: Nie Tian possessed unusually extraordinary psychic power!

    Yuan Feng let out a cold harrumph, and immediately unleashed a secret magic of the Greyvale sect.

    ¡°Soul Reinforcement Incantation!¡±

    When Nie Tian¡¯s sharp de of psychic power reached Yuan Feng¡¯s mind, he discovered that Yuan Feng¡¯s mind had be like an impregnable fortress.

    The numerous sharp des seemed as if they had mmed onto a piece of solid rock, and were unable to inflict any damage on Yuan Feng¡¯s soul.

    Seeing that his psychic attack had failed, Nie Tian decisively retracted all of his psychic power.

    ¡°The Ghost sect disciples were the most skilled at attacking with psychic power. As a member of the Greyvale sect, I fight with the Ghost sect all the time. Do you really believe that I don¡¯t have a way to respond to that?¡±

    After learning how Nie Tian had managed to kill Yuan Feng in an instant, Yuan Feng¡¯s heart actually settled down a bit.

    Defending his soul with the Soul Reinforcement Incantation, he took his time walking towards Nie Tian.

    Increasingly strong waves of spiritual power kept emanating from within his body as he got closer and closer.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned especially grim as he realized that Yuan Feng, who had been viewed by the Greyvale sect as a seeded disciple, was indeed different from Yun Song.

    Yun Song was only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, far from enough to be epted by the Greyvale sect. Furthermore, even if Yun Song was officially epted by the Greyvale sect, with his cultivation talent, he surely wouldn¡¯t be picked as a seeded disciple.

    Not being able to enter the Greyvale sect meant that he¡¯d never had the chance to learn certain magical incantations, such as the Soul Reinforcement Incantation. Therefore, it was understandable that Yun Song couldn¡¯t withstand a single blow of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power.

    However, it suddenly came to him that the fact that he was able to kill the Du Kun from the Ghost sect so effortlessly was because he had been injured from the bacsh.

    If it weren¡¯t for the bacsh caused by the death of the seven evil ghosts, Nie Tian¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t have been able to prate Du Kun¡¯s defense, and Du Kun wouldn¡¯t have suffered such a tragic defeat.

    Once he figured out how tounch another round of attack, Nie Tian realized that he couldn¡¯t win every time by simply sting away with his psychic power.

    He adjusted his breathing and tried to calm himself. No longer daring to underestimate Yuan Feng, he secretly prepared for a bloody battle.

    ¡°Gray Shadow Incantation!¡±

    Yuan Feng let out a ferocious shout, and two gray shadows suddenly flew out from the thrumming spiritual power in his body.

    It seemed that those shadows were the manifestation of his spiritual power, which then swooped toward Nie Tian.

    Simultaneously, Yuan Feng, smiling, took a gray banner from his pouch.

    Instantly, the banner fluttered in the wind, and at the same time, various twisting and bizarre images appeared on its surface, which appeared to be infused with strong spiritual power.

    As soon as he waved the banner in his hands, those two originally vague gray shadows immediately became clearer.

    ¡°They¡¯re two Yuan Fengs!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he watched the gray shadows morphing into two Yuan Fengs in front of his eyes.

    Moreover, he could clearly sense that the two shadows of Yuan Feng actually emanated fluctuations of spiritual power and life!

    Not only did the two shadows have fleshly bodies, but they were also given souls and lives with a wave of the banner. Now it was almost impossible to discern between them and the real Yuan Feng.

    ¡°Spiritual tool! He used his spiritual tool!¡±

    Without thinking too much, Nie Tian hurriedly avoided the attacks of the two shadows, declining to engage in a head-on fight with them.

    By this point, Yuan Feng had already put his banner away and was dashing towards Nie Tian with a vicious grin on his face.

    A momentter, Yuan Feng joined his shadows, and the three of them blurred back and forth until it was impossible to differentiate which one was real.

    They all had flesh and blood, were dressed in gray garments, and even had the same expression on their faces. It seemed truly impossible to tell which was the real Yuan Feng.

    However, Nie Tian knew perfectly well that the key to winning was determining which of them was the real Yuan Feng!

    Once he killed the real Yuan Feng, the other fake ones would instantly disappear, and no longer be able to pose a threat to him.

    After joining the two shadows, Yuan Feng shifted positions silently, attacking Nie Tian over and over.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, failed to find the real Yuan Feng with his psychic awareness. Therefore, all he could do was keep dodging, and fight back when he was forced into a corner.

    BANG!

    He threw a fist strike towards Yuan Feng, hitting him in the chest. However, he felt no sense of counterforce, almost as if he was hitting the air.

    He immediately realized that he had struck nothing more than a shadow of Yuan Feng, a shadow created by the Grayvale sect¡¯s secret magics.

    Just as he was sighing inwardly, and even as his fist sailed through the air, he suddenly experienced an explosion of pain in his back.

    He was hit by a punch, and staggered forward from the strong impact.

    When he turned around to look, he saw another Yuan Feng bolting toward him, grinning viciously.

    He immediately readied his fists to meet the attack.

    BANG!

    However, right as his fist met Yuan Feng¡¯s palm, once again it felt as if he was hitting the air.

    Since he received no counterforce, he immediately lost his bnce, staggering forward.

    At this moment, yet another tremendous force smashed directly into his back.

    He immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    At the same time, he realized that the moment he turned around earlier, Yuan Feng, who had sneakily attacked him from the back, had already exchanged positions with one of his shadows at the speed of lightning.

    Therefore, after turning around, he was always faced by a fake Yuan Feng, while the real Yuan Feng was actually behind him!

    After two sessful attacks, Yuan Feng and his shadows all backed away to keep a distance from Nie Tian.

    This time, the real Yuan Feng stepped closer, shaking his head towards Nie Tian, looking a bit disappointed.

    ¡°What a pity! You have such strong psychic power, but no relevant skills, and therefore can¡¯t make full use of it orunch any powerful attacks.

    ¡°Also, since you haven¡¯t formally joined the Cloudsoaring sect, it seems that you don¡¯t have any incantations or techniques to fully disy your spirit power.

    ¡°Worst of all, you don¡¯t even have a proper spiritual tool to work with.

    ¡°Even though you possesses extraordinary psychic power and decent spiritual power, all you can do now is to wait for death.

    ¡°You can only me yourself for entering the Green Illusion dimension with an insufficient cultivation base, and that you were unlucky enough to run into me too early.

    ¡°If you ended up in the Cloudsoaring sect, cultivated some profound incantations and techniques, and were bestowed with a powerful spiritual tool, you might have be a big pain in my neck.

    ¡°Whatever... you have to nothing left to do but die.¡±

    After these words, Yuan Feng no longer spoke, but instead blurred into three figures, swiftly shifting positions.

    At this time, Nie Tian could no longer wrap his head around which was which.

 Chapter 66: Like an Unwavering Mountain

    Yuan Feng and his two shadows had Nie Tian surrounded, and were constantly shifting positions, like ghosts.

    Unable to identify the real Yuan Feng, Nie Tian stood there unwavering, pondering his next move.

    All of a sudden an idea struck him.

    It was only the real Yuan Feng who had inflicted damage on him. Thus, the other two, being shadows, could be ignored.

    The shadows could never possess power as strong as the real person!

    After realizing that, Nie Tian decided that the smartest move was to remain still and wait for an opportunity.

    Once again, a Yuan Feng smashed his fist towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest. Nie Tian, on the other hand, didn¡¯t even blink,pletely ignoring that attack.

    BANG!

    The punch fell heavily on Nie Tian¡¯s chest. He felt the spiritual power contained within it, but after a slight wobble, he remained still, as a pained expression shed across his face.

    Compared to the former two strikes, this punch that Nie Tian had received was many times weaker,pletely bearable for his robust physique.

    ¡°It¡¯s fake!¡±

    After taking the hit, Nie Tian could now easily tell by the difference in the might of the strike that this Yuan Feng was fake.

    Squinting and with a calm face, he remained still in his original position, bracing himself for another of Yuan Feng¡¯s attacks.

    The second attack came from the right side as Yuan Feng¡¯s fingerstched onto Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder like hooks.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The clothing covering Nie Tian¡¯s right shoulder was immediately torn into shreds. A momentter scorching pain radiated out from his naked right shoulder.

    However, the pain level was bearable.

    ¡°This is also a fake one!¡±

    Still calm, he remained as motionless as a statue, waiting to see what wasing next.

    BOOM! BANG! BANG!

    The two fake Yuan Fengs repeatedly attacked Nie Tian with their fists and ws.

    Soon he had endured close to over ten rounds of attacks. The shirt covering his upper body had already been ripped to pieces. Thin wounds criss-crossed his skin.

    However, he stood there like an unwavering mountain, his face expressionless.

    After hovering around and attacking him for a while, the expressions of the three Yuan Fengs appeared to be increasingly anxious. Other than the criss-crossed wounds, Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to have sustained any major injuries.

    Unlike Nie Tian, Yuan Feng had been marching at a fast pace after escaping from the Ghost sect and Blood sect.

    In order to lose them, he hadn¡¯t dared to stop and rest at all before reaching this point, and thus he never had a chance to replenish his spiritual power.

    Moreover, he had long since consumed all of his spirit stones, way back in the cier area.

    Because he had consumed too much energy, and didn¡¯t have spirit stones to help recover, when he encountered Nie Tian this time he had only demanded Nie Tian¡¯s spirit stones, in order not to waste his strength.

    As a matter of fact, Yuan Feng was actually totally exhausted.

    If he couldn¡¯t finish off Nie Tian in a short time, he wouldn¡¯t be able to afford to keep wasting spiritual power on the Gray Shadow Incantation.

    Furthermore, he also feared that the Ghost sect and Blood sect mighte for them.

    Seeing that his shadows were incapable of killing Nie Tian, Yuan Feng could no longer refrain from personally attacking.

    After observing for a while, he noticed that Nie Tian had been silently taking blows from his shadows. It was then that Yuan Feng stealthily made his move.

    BANG!

    Yuan Feng¡¯s fist strikended heavily on Nie Tian¡¯s chest!

    The power in this punch was so explosive that Nie Tian spit out another mouthful of blood.

    However, Nie Tian had long since been prepared. Enduring the piercingly acute pain with much difficulty, he suddenly pounced towards the Yuan Feng who had just attacked him, and knocked him to the ground.

    ¡°Here you are!¡±

    Hepletely ignored the frantic attacks of the two fake Yuan Fengs behind him, as he hooked onto Yuan Feng¡¯s neck with both his hands, continuously exerting his power, hoping to crush Yuan Feng¡¯s neck.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Muffled sounds of impact continuously rang out from Nie Tian¡¯s back as the two fake Yuan Fengs did their utmost to strike him.

    ¡°DIE! NOW!¡±

    Jaw clenched and eyes full of killing intent, Nie Tian¡¯s hands seemed like a lock, fastening tighter and tighter.

    After sensing vigorous fluctuations of spiritual power from Yuan Feng¡¯s neck, he realized that he had already concentrated all of his spiritual power on his neck.

    Nie Tian was unable to crush Yuan Feng¡¯s neck bone!

    Knowing that he only had one chance to kill him, Nie Tian concentrated his psychic power and shot it ferociously towards Yuan Feng¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Psychic attack!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As his gaze met Yuan Feng¡¯s, the explosive impact of their psychic power caused strange sounds to ring out in the air.

    Experiencing difficulties in breathing, a sense of terror gradually rose in Yuan Feng¡¯s mind, and at the same time, he found it hard to continue using his Soul Reinforcement Incantation.

    From such a short distance, Nie Tian poured all of his tremendous mental strength into Yuan Feng¡¯s mind, immediately causing him to fall into a bewildered state.

    As Yuan Feng was no longer able to concentrate his attention, the spiritual energy he had gathered in his neck suddenly scattered.

    CRUNCH!

    Finally, the crisp sound of cracking bone rang from within Yuan Feng¡¯s neck.

    As soon as Nie Tian heard that sound, his nerves instantly rxed.

    Yuan Feng was dead!

    The ceaseless punching and scratching pain on his back also vanished.

    Nie Tian rolled off of Yuan Feng¡¯s dead body to lie on the ground. As he did, he saw the two shadows of Yuan Feng dissipating like clusters of thick smoke blown away by a gust of wind.

    ¡°He¡¯s finally dead.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t stop panting, as he took his time to calm down and examine himself.

    He almost didn¡¯t consume any spiritual power while fighting Yun Song, considering he had killed him in almost an instant.

    However, the process of killing Yuan Feng had been unexpectedly dangerous.

    By this point, his exposed upper body was covered in a bloodywork of wounds that had been inflicted by Yuan Feng¡¯s shadows.

    Those bloody wounds were only flesh deep; they looked frightening, but were not actually serious.

    The only serious injuries were caused by the three attacks from the real Yuan Feng, each of which had left him vomiting blood. It seemed as though even his internal organs had been knocked out of their original positions.

    Staring at the gray, cloudy sky, he sorted out his train of thoughts and concluded his reflections.

    ¡°Yuan Feng, Grayvale sect seed disciple, at the ninth level of Qi Refining... when he found me here, his spiritual power was probably not even half of his peak amount. Even so, he almost killed me!

    ¡°However, his previousments about me held water. I haven¡¯t been admitted into the Cloudsoaring sect and don¡¯t understand how to make full use of my strength. Hence, I¡¯m unable to turn my enormous psychic power into deadly attacks.

    ¡°Plus, I don¡¯t understand different kinds of exquisite incantations and techniques, nor do I possess a proper spiritual tool. I¡¯m at too much of a disadvantage when fighting.

    ¡°After I get out of the Green Illusion dimension, I¡¯ve got to quickly enter the ninth level of Qi Refining, so that I¡¯ll be able to learn profound incantations and techniques, and obtain a spiritual tool of a higher grade.¡±

    ...

    After a long while, when the pain was mostly gone, he got up in an anguished and slow manner, and went over to search the corpses of Yuan Feng and Yun Song.

    He didn¡¯t find a single spirit stone on Yuan Feng and Yun Song. Yun Song was especially shabby; he didn¡¯t have a single item in his possession at all.

    Nie Tian found and took the peculiar banner from Yuan Feng. Apart from that, there was also a map of the Green Illusion dimension, which must have been drawn up by someone from the Grayvale sect, in order to facilitate Yuan Feng¡¯s search for the second grade spirit beasts.

    He didn¡¯t know how to make use of the banner, so it wasn¡¯t of much help to him for the moment, but that map of the Green Illusion dimension, on the other hand, was extremely helpful.

    After storing the banner and map in his pouch, he took out two spirit stones from it, and started to absorb their energy to recover.

    Before long, he had fully recovered his spiritual power. However, his injuries still needed time to heal.

    It was at this point that an icy voice belonging to a woman caught Nie Tianpletely off guard. ¡°Killing your own people?! You really are ruthless. Nie Tian, is it? I remember you.¡±

    Yu Tong, dressed in bright red clothes, suddenly emerged from behind a tall sand dune like a ghost.

    The truth was that she had been following Yuan Feng and Yun Song with the help of the Blood Searching Compass. When they ran into Nie Tian, she was still more than five kilometers away from the three of them.

    As she gradually gained on them, and used her Blood Searching Compass to scan the surroundings, she was surprised to find that there was only one bright blob remaining.

    She thought it was someone from the Ghost sect who had beat her to their location, and killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song.

    However, when she rushed to this ce, the person she found was Nie Tian!

    As a trial taker of the four sects, he actually killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song, even though he was perfectly aware that the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s disciples were also in the Green Illusion dimension.

    She didn¡¯t know exactly how unforgivable the hatred between them was. However, since Nie Tian was now alone, she believed that it was time for Nie Tian to pay his debt.

    She waved her hand violently towards Yuan Feng and Yun Song¡¯s bodies. In the next second, blood flew out of them and swirled up in a hurricane-like motion.

    As she continued to cast the spell, the blood soon morphed into two blood shadows.

    ¡°Blood Shadows!¡±

    The moment the blood shadows formed, a light shed across Yu Tong¡¯s eyes, and the blood shadows pounced towards Nie Tian.

 Chapter 67: Giant Shadow in the Void!

    In Yun Song¡¯s and Yuan Feng¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian was nothing. Therefore, they had underestimated him when they started fighting.

    However, Yu Tong was different.

    Nie Tian had defeated her once, shortly after she entered the Green Illusion dimension. Hence, she had long sincee to view Nie Tian as a worthy opponent, every bit as capable as An Ying and Yuan Feng.

    That was especially true now, when she found out that Yuan Feng and Yun Song had both died by his hands. As of this moment, she regarded Nie Tian as the most formidable opponent from the four sects in the Green Illusion dimension!

    Therefore, her first move was to cast one of the Blood sect¡¯s secret magics: Blood Shadows.

    The two blood shadows, formed from the blood of Yuan Feng and Yun Song, sent out ear-piercing screams as they swooped toward him like two sinister demons, emanating an overwhelmingly bloody smell.

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve broken through to the Lesser Heaven stage, you evil witch. Is that true?¡±

    As he spoke, he secretly released his psychic awareness to examine the two blood shadows.

    He could only sense strong Qi and blood, but he didn¡¯t find any soul fluctuations. This meant that the two blood shadows had no independent wills, and were pure manifestations of Qi and blood.

    As the blood shadows attacked, he swung his arm and punched out toward them with full force.

    BANG BANG!

    With two loud booms, the blood shadows were reduced to a bloody rain, which fell down onto the sand below. However, Yu Tong¡¯s secret blood magic summoned them back, and they reformed again!

    WHOOSH!

    Two new blood shadows rose up into the air and then dashed towards him again.

    However, after the process of being destroyed and reforming, the Qi and blood in the shadows were obviously weaker than before.

    Simrly, when they dashed over, their speed was considerably reduced.

    BANG BANG!

    Grinning, Nie Tian swung his arm, shattering the two blood shadows in quick session.

    After exploding, the blood shadows reformed, and dashed towards him yet again. The process repeated over and over.

    However, every time they exploded, the power contained in them would significantly decay.

    Despite that, the coquettish Yu Tong remained in ce, cold eyes glittering with devilish, bloody light as she continued to form the blood shadows.

    Soon, Nie Tian realized that Yu Tong only needed to consume a slight amount of power to manipte the blood shadows, whereas he was expending significantly more power to shatter them.

    Yu Tong¡¯s n was obvious: she wanted to wear him out with the blood of Yuan Feng and Yun Song, forcing him to consume some of his spiritual power before the actual fight began.

    When the shattered blood drops once again converged into two blood shadows, Nie Tian finally stopped fighting them.

    Instead, he dashed towards Yu Tong!

    ¡°Forbidden Blood Technique - Reverse Blood Flow!¡±

    Splendid, gorgeous, blood-colored light suddenly appeared in Yu Tong¡¯s dark-red pupils, as strong fluctuations of Qi and blood started to ripple outwards with her as the center.

    Nie Tian, who was madly dashing towards her, suddenly felt something like a powerful shockwave m into his strong and well built body.

    At this very moment, Yu Tong, who hadn¡¯t moved a bit since the battle started, suddenly turned into a ray of swift and fierce bloody light.

    The next moment, Nie Tian saw streams of red bloody light surging towards him one by one, as though they were numerous streams of blood floating in mid air.

    A momentter, he was besieged within a world of blood-colored light, and Yu Tong could no longer be seen.

    Stream after stream of floating blood rivers twisted in the air and grew longer and longer, looking devilish and yet simultaneously beautiful.

    Surrounded by the countless blood streams, Nie Tian, with a grim face, tried with great difficulty to suppress the unusual movements of the blood within himself.

    He could keenly sense his blood being affected, as if it yearned to fly out of his body, as though it wished to join the surrounding rivers of blood.

    ¡°The Blood sect¡¯s secret magic is truly worthy of its fame!¡± Nie Tian was secretly shocked.

    He had a feeling that the reason Yu Tong had been avoiding fighting him head on was that she feared his rage fist strike.

    Last time the two of them fought, he had burst seven of Yu Tong¡¯s blood shadows with a single blow, and had even injured her.

    In Yu Tong¡¯s eyes, the might of that fist strike was far beyond ordinary. Even though she had entered the Lesser Heaven stage, she still didn¡¯t wish for Nie Tian to use that raging fist against her.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to defeat her with my raging fist if I can¡¯t locate her. Meanwhile, the blood in me is getting increasingly violent and aggressive... soon, I¡¯m going to lose control of it.¡±

    Nie Tian could only desperately restrain the unusual movements of his blood. When his psychic power was unable to prate the barrier created by the blood streams and lock onto Yu Tong, he started to feel somewhat anxious.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    At that time, the two blood shadows which he had repeatedly shattered, suddenly appeared from within the streams of blood.

    Logically, they had been shattered many times and the power in their Qi and blood should be next to none, so it was unlikely that they could hurt him.

    This time, however, they were emanating terrifying Qi and blood for unknown reasons.

    As he looked over with rapt attention, the numerous blood streams appeared to be merging into those shadows.

    The blood shadows were originally the same size as normal humans, but under his gaze, they expanded rapidly, and soon became two gigantic blood demons!

    Waves of unparalleled power emitted from the two giant blood demons, causing Nie Tian¡¯s heart to tighten with shock.

    All of a sudden, one of them reached out its giant, blood-colored arm, and attempted to grab Nie Tian.

    At the same time, the other one let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar, pouncing towards Nie Tian while radiating a raging bloody smell.

    Yu Tong, who had vanished for some time, was now sitting on the shoulder of the roaring blood demon, her ripe lips so red that it seemed as if they were about to explode with blood!

    Now, her pupils hadpletely taken on the color of the blood, while her body was emitting an extremely dangerous aura.

    In her left hand, she was holding an eyeball-sized bead, which kept giving out blinding blood-colored light.

    At first nce, Nie Tian realized that the blood bead in Yu Tong¡¯s hand was an extraordinary spiritual tool.

    ¡°Spiritual tool!¡±

    He could faintly feel that the forming of the blood streams, the merging of them and the giant blood demons, and even the movements of the two giant blood demons, were all affected by that bead.

    Yu Tong must have been using that blood bead to cast the Blood sect¡¯s secret magics!

    ¡°My blood demons have fully formed, I¡¯m afraid you...¡± Yu Tong licked her bright red lips with an expression as if she had already won. It seemed she was finally confident enough to insult Nie Tian.

    However, before she could finish her words, she abruptly stopped, looking shocked.

    The source of her surprise was that Nie Tian¡¯s chest suddenly started to echo out with vigorous heartbeats, which were so rapid and loud that she could hear them perfectly clearly from a distance.

    Moreover, just as that unbelievably strong heartbeat echoed out from within Nie Tian¡¯s body, she suddenly realized that her Forbidden Blood Technique - Reverse Blood Flow was no longer affecting him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll defeat you with the same method!¡± Nie Tian bellowed, as he shot straight forward like a sharp arrow.

    A surge of unlimited rage suddenly generated in his heart and spread throughout his body, filling every drop of his blood and every pore with burning wrath!

    ¡°What is that!?¡± Yu Tong looked shocked.

    At this moment, she vaguely sensed that an invisible figure, huge enough to support the sky, rose up above Nie Tian¡¯s head!

    She immediately closed her eyes, and unleashed her psychic awareness to discover that Nie Tian¡¯s raging anger appeared to have summoned a terrifying giant, which was currently floating above his head!

    She also felt that the giant devil, which could only be felt by her soul, was emitting an overwhelming anger that seemed mighty enough to destroy the entire Green Illusion dimension!

    Inparison, Yu Tong¡¯s two giant blood demons seemed like powerless little worms, not even worth mentioning.

    Yu Tong was shocked to her core.

    However, she also discovered that the giant figure only existed for a moment before vanishing into thin air. It seemed as if it were from a space far far away, projecting itself into the Green Illusion dimension for only a second.

    ROOOOAR!

    In the next moment, the blood demon Yu Tong had been riding, together with the other one of its kind, fell to the ground, wailing out of control.

    Just as she sensed that something was wrong, Nie Tian¡¯s raging fist strike arrived!

    ¡°Blood Shield!¡± Nie Tian shrieked.

    Instantly, the wailing blood demons morphed into two streams of blood, swirling up from the ground, and in the next moment, forged into a gigantic blood-colored shield.

    BOOM!

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s fist made contact with the freshly formed blood shield, his fist actually drilled through the shield, and smashed vigorously onto Yu Tong¡¯s ample chest!

    POOH!

    Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Yu Tong¡¯s curvaceous body fell from midair, andnded heavily onto the ground.

 Chapter 68: Blood Cocoon Incantation

    BANG!

    Nie Tiannded heavily onto the ground as the burning rage in his eyes faded away.

    With a cold face, he red at Yu Tong, who stood ten meters away from him, while adjusting his breathing and secretly assessing his current condition.

    ¡°Oh, no..." After a brief examination, Nie Tian gave a bitter, inwardugh as he realized that the situation was anything but good.

    Just as he had expected, the raging fist strike hadpletely drained the spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    By this point, there was not even a smidgen left for him to use!

    Not only that, but the single, full-strength punch that he had unleashed had also consumed a considerable amount of his mental fortitude, leaving him in an extremely terrible mental state.

    He stretched his arm, and quickly found that it had be immeasurably heavy. That one punch just now seemed to have exhausted all of his physical strength, which waspletely different from thest time he used that style of punching!

    Last time he struck with it, only his spiritual energy had been drained, apanied by minor difort, but his psychic power had remained plentiful.

    However, after throwing the punch this time, his body seemed to bepletely drained of power of all sorts, leaving practically nothing behind.

    Now, even the simple act of walking was iparably difficult for him.

    He knew perfectly well that he currently had zero power to engage in battle; in such a poor state, even an ordinary person who didn¡¯t understand a thing about cultivation could hurt him right now.

    He should have immediately sat down cross-legged to recover his strength with the help of the spirit stones in his pouch.

    However, he didn¡¯t.

    After all, Yu Tong, who had just taken a hit from him, was still standing right there in front of him.

    He knew that she must have sustained injuries, but was unsure about her condition. If she were to discover his poor state, as long as she still had some residual strength, she would definitely take the opportunity to kill him.

    Yu Tong must not find out about his true condition and that he was actually weaker than ever!

    ¡°How does it feel, bitch?¡± he said,ughing loudly as he stepped toward Yu Tong.

    He was absolutely sure that as long as he put on a show of being strong and domineering, Yu Tong wouldn¡¯t dare to act rashly!

    The ten meter distance between them felt unbelievably vast. When he finally arrived in front of Yu Tong, all he wanted to do was to drop to the ground and rest.

    However, he chose not to. Instead, he stood in front of Yu Tong, looking down upon her despite the exhaustion and difort which gripped him.

    His eyes were filled with a cold, fierce look.

    Weak and limp, Yu Tongy on the ground, her face pale, and the bloody glow fading away from her eyes. The corner of her scarlet lips still had specks of blood on them.

    They were the size of grains of rice, like tiny flower petals glistening with dew as they stretched from her lips down her pure white neck. Overall, they made her lookpletely pitiful and helpless.

    Yu Tong clenched her lips and calmly looked Nie Tian in the eye, not saying a single word.

    Lying on the ground, a faint blood-colored aura surrounded her, seemingly protecting her from any further harm.

    The truth was that her current state wasn¡¯t any better than Nie Tian¡¯s.

    The huge, mysterious shadow that resulted when Nie Tian abruptly struck her frightened her all the way down into her heart and soul.

    Even though she hastily condensed a blood shield, it failed to stop Nie Tian¡¯s attack. His fist went through the blood shield, and finally smashed violently onto her chest.

    The mighty fist strike inflicted serious damage on her fleshy body. Even her psychic awareness, which enabled her to detect that huge, mysterious shadow, had taken a huge blow and then dispersed.

    The blood shield had been forged with her spiritual power and blood. Therefore, when it shattered, her spiritual power and blood also sustained serious injuries. Under such desperate circumstances, she could only cast another of the Blood sect¡¯s secret magics: the Blood Cocoon Incantation.

    It could not only stabilize the disturbed Qi and blood in her body, enabling her to slowly recover, but it could also protect her to a certain extent.

    However, while using it to recuperate, she was incapable of moving or talking. The only thing she could do was look Nie Tian in the eye.

    She did her utmost to appear calm, not revealing a hint of fear, hoping that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see through her act, that he wouldn¡¯t discover the urgent sense of concern buried in her heart.

    With a cold and fierce gaze, Nie Tian looked down at her andughed. ¡°Howe you¡¯re not talking? I heard that you wanted to drain me and refine my blood? Now that I¡¯m here,e and take it.¡±

    Waves of fury began to surge out from Yu Tong¡¯s eyes, yet she still didn¡¯t speak.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he secretly sized Yu Tong up. After a moment, his gaze left her face and swept over the rest of her body.

    The blood aura that covered her delicate and curvaceous frame seemed like a thin, crimson coloredyer, which protected her from any further harm.

    However, considering Nie Tian¡¯s current condition, even if she didn¡¯t have that blood aura to protect her, it would still be almost impossible for him to kill her.

    He knew perfectly well that even if he recovered a bit of spiritual power, it would still be impossible for him to break through thatyer of protection and kill Yu Tong.

    After silently examining her for a while, Nie Tian rubbed his chin in thought, and said, ¡°Is it that you don¡¯t want to talk? Or that you can¡¯t? You haven¡¯t even moved your finger once. Does it mean that... you¡¯re injured so badly that you can¡¯t move at all? Well, if that¡¯s the case, I can do whatever I want with you. Am I right?¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian finally saw fear in Yu Tong¡¯s bright eyes.

    ¡°Ha ha!¡± Relieved, he grinned and slowly crouched down next to her.

    Looking her in the eyes, he reached out his right index finger towards her elegant chin.

    Panic and indignation filled Yu Tong¡¯s eyes.

    As his finger carefully approached her chin, the first thing that he touched was actually that thinyer of blood aura, which felt like ayer of soft skin.

    Nie Tian, who was secretly on guard, realized that nothing strange had happened to it, nor did it burn his finger.

    He didn¡¯t know that the blood aura that had been formed by the Blood Cocoon Incantation would only generate a counterforce when it detected fluctuations of spiritual power.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had already drained his spiritual power. The finger he used to touch Yu Tong¡¯s chin didn¡¯t carry a smidgen of spiritual energy, and thus didn¡¯t cause the blood cocoon to fight back.

    ¡°Wow, interesting.¡±

    Laughing, Nie Tian pressed his finger harder downward. As his finger went downward, the thinyer of blood aura gradually gave in and he finally made contact with Yu Tong¡¯s chin.

    Even though she was isted by theyer of blood aura, his finger had actuallynded on Yu Tong¡¯s chin.

    When he realized that it wasn¡¯t harmful, he gently pressed his palm onto her face.

    Sneering broadly he looked into her eyes and gently stroked her cheek with his palm.

    Yu Tong¡¯s eyes emanated a light of bone-piercing hatred. She was so angry that she was on the verge of going mad. If she weren¡¯t in the cocoon, she would tear Nie Tian into pieces at all costs.

    Nie Tian put away his smile, and put on a grim face. ¡°What? Are you angry? Yuan Feng told me that those trial takers from the Cloudsoaring sect and Spiritual Treasure sect all died by your hand. Amongst them were good friends of mine and also possibly... my nsman.

    ¡°You killed them. Yet, I am only touching your face. What right do you have to be angry?¡±

    With these words, his hand that had stroked Yu Tong¡¯s cheek suddenly trailed along Yu Tong¡¯s slender, long neck and moved downwards.

    Yu Tong¡¯s wide eyes were now filled with shock and terror. Lying on the sandy ground, her alluring body seemed to be trembling with terror.

    Nie Tian gazed into her eyes as his hand slowly roamed onto her firm breasts, then he squeezed them vigorously a few times.

    Yu Tong finally could no longer bear the humiliation, and snapped her eyes shut.

    A devilish yet beautiful blood-colored flush gradually appeared on her snow-white cheeks.

    However, Nie Tian, who was inches away from her, suddenly felt somewhat uneasy when he discovered that Yu Tong was going through a change that he didn¡¯t understand.

    Therefore, he suddenly removed his hand from Yu Tong¡¯s breasts, and moved downwards before ripping a leather pouch away from her waist.

    He opened it and saw several kilograms of dried meat, along with a bottle of drinking water.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    With a final look at Yu Tong, he took out the dried meat and started gulping down huge mouthfuls of it, along with the water.

    Knowing that the blood aura ensured that it was impossible to actually kill Yu Tong, he simply humiliated her to the fullest extent and then left, leaving her with nothing more than the wave of a hand.

    Four hours after Nie Tian left, the blood aura that had been covering Yu Tong suddenly exploded.

    Yu Tong¡¯s hysterical scream resounded throughout the desert, as if the burning hatred it contained could fill up the entire universe.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

 Chapter 69: Back to the Starting Point

    Soon after leaving Yu Tong, Nie Tian felt warm currents being gradually surging out from his stomach. Yet, he had only consumed several kilograms worth of dried meat from Yu Tong¡¯s leather pouch!

    ¡°Wow, such strong surges of power! This must be second grade spirit beast meat!¡±

    Only the meat of a second grade spirit beast would be able to produce such copious amounts of energy. Perhaps, this second grade spirit beast was even more formidable than the Lurker Lizard!¡±

    He suddenly came to a realization.

    When they first arrived in the Green Illusion dimension, there had been four second grade spirit beasts. The Frost Python had been the most powerful, and had recently reached the third grade, whereupon it teleported out of the dimension.

    As for the rest of them, the Lurker Lizard had already been ughtered by Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s group, and Zheng Bin¡¯s group had probably killed another one in the volcano area.

    If he guessed right, the dried meat inside Yu Tong¡¯s leather pouch should be from thest of the second grade spirit beasts.

    At that moment, currents of warmth started to disperse to every corner of Nie Tian¡¯s body. Under the nourishment and replenishment of the energy, his exhausted body rapidly recovered.

    Since he had been marching on at a fast pace, he didn¡¯t have a chance to sit down and quietly channel the energy into his spiritual sea.

    However, the energy that had dissipated into his blood and muscles filled him with vigor to the point where he no longer felt the heaviness in his steps.

    He knew very well that once Yu Tong recovered the ability to move, she would hunt him down at all costs. Therefore, he didn¡¯t dare to stop and replenish his dried up spiritual sea with spirit stones.

    Every once in awhile, he would take out the map he had obtained from Yuan Feng, set a direction, and rush forward, regardless of anything else.

    He had already given up on heading towards the border between the desert and volcano area to meet An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others. He only wished to return to the entrance of the Green Illusion dimension.

    He knew that it was very possible that the disciples of the Ghost sect and Blood sect were still frantically chasing and killing survivors from the Cloudsoaring sect and Spiritual Treasure sect in the depths of the desert. If he headed in that same direction, it was very likely that he would encounter the Ghost sect and Blood sect disciples.

    After forcibly using the rage punch, he was still in a poor condition. His spiritual sea was empty, and he feared that if he were to run into people from the Ghost sect and Blood sect, he would easily be ughtered.

    Furthermore, Yu Tong would also go all out in pursuing him once her condition stabilized and she recovered the ability to move.

    He would definitely not choose the path of certain death.

    Relying on the scant amount of dried meat that he had obtained from Yu Tong, Nie Tian gradually recovered his physical strength, but he didn¡¯t dare to stop and rest, and kept marching on.

    After an unknown period of time, he saw numerous ciers in the distance, and knew that he would be leaving the desert soon.

    ¡°I¡¯m almost there,¡± he thought to himself. ¡°I¡¯ll recover my power with the spirit stones when I enter the cier area!¡±

    Two hourster...

    He finally dragged his depleted body out of the desert and into the bitterly cold cier area.

    As soon as he arrived at the bottom of the first cier, he found a secluded valley and covered himself with a pile of snow, before starting to recover his strength with spirit stones.

    Without the spirit stones, and only relying on the faint spiritual Qi in the Green Illusion dimension, it would probably take Nie Tian quite a few days to fully recover the spiritual power that he had consumed.

    But spirit stones, even the low grade variety, carried pure and refined spiritual power.

    Therefore, with their help, the process of recuperation could be sped up by a great extent!

    Strands of pure and refined spiritual power were channeled from the spirit spirit stones into his spiritual sea. That pleasant feeling almost made Nie Tian cheer out loud.

    ¡°No wonder those guys all had spirit stones with them when they entered the Green Illusion dimension. Cultivating with the spirit stones¡¯ help truly is so much smoother and more rxing!¡±

    Before long, one spirit stone was drained of its spiritual power, and cracked as it was reduced to an ordinary stone.

    He immediately took out another.

    In only an hour, he drained seven spirit stones, and his formerly dried up spiritual sea once again brimmed with spiritual power.

    As soon as hepletely recovered, he regained his confidence, knowing that he would no longer fall prey to anyone.

    However, he didn¡¯t dare to return to where he hade from, mainly because he didn¡¯t wish to face Yu Tong again.

    After a few minor adjustments, he crawled out of the pile of snow, and marched on forward.

    He only wished to return to the gate of the Green Illusion dimension, and wait for other survivors there.

    With the Frost Python gone, the cier area was no longer dangerous. The scattered first grade spirit beasts had been killed by the disciples from the Spiritual Treasure sect and Grayvale sect.

    Originally, he nned to capture a first grade spirit beast, and expand his spiritual sea with its meat, but as it turned out, he couldn¡¯t find a single spirit beast along his way.

    Time flew...

    One day, Nie Tian finally passed through the cier area and returned to the entrance, thanks to the guidance provided by Yuan Feng¡¯s map.

    At the foot of the unknown mountain, ash-colored bones sat in the midst of a pile of rubble.

    Next to a smooth stone wall sat nine white-garbed young men and women, who were gathered in a huddle, munching on spirit beast meat while simultaneously talking andughing with one another.

    ¡°White clothes... The Mystic Mist sect...¡±

    With a single nce from afar, Nie Tian was sure that those nine people were trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect.

    However, seeing them made Nie Tian both ted and worried.

    He was ted because, with those nine to help him, even if Yu Tong were to follow him here, he wouldn¡¯t fear her.

    With Zheng Bin and his group as his backup, Nie Tian, who had recovered his strength, would definitely be able to beat Yu Tong if she were toe to this ce by herself.

    He no longer needed to worry about his own safety.

    However, them showing up here meant that An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and their group must have failed to meet with them at the border of the desert and volcano area.

    With only An Ying and Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s power, he feared that they wouldn¡¯t be able to match up to the Ghost sect and the Blood sect. He didn¡¯t know how many of them had already been killed.

    While he was deep in thought, a pretty girl from the Mystic Mist sect spotted him.

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    To this point, he still remained unclothed from waist up, and there were also numerous thin wounds crisscrossed across his body, which had long since formed into scabs.

    Moreover, he had been on the run, and thus didn¡¯t have the chance to take care of his appearance. His ash-covered face, together with the wounds, that after forming into scabs resembled thin snakes, gave him a sinister look.

    Zheng Bin sprung to his feet and stared coldly at him from afar. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    The white-garbed Zheng Bin was born with a handsome face and had grown into aposed young man, who now,pared to the bedraggled Nie Tian, seemed to be radiating rays of sunlight.

    Three girls in the group had their beautiful eyes fixed on Zheng Bin the entire time he talked, their eyes filled with adoration.

    However, when they shifted their gazes onto Nie Tian, their faces suddenly turned grim, and the adoration in their eyes was immediately reced by aversion.

    Nie Tian walked rxedly towards them as he answered, ¡°I¡¯m also a trial taker. I entered the Green Illusion dimension with An Ying.¡±

    A girl with an oval-shaped face suddenly became interested. Eyes glittering, she said, ¡°Are you from the Spiritual Treasure sect? Did you guys ughter the Frost Python in the cier area?¡±

    Upon hearing her words, the other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect also grew intrigued.

    The cier area, the desert, and the volcano area weren¡¯t located in a straight line.

    That was why the Mystic Mist sect¡¯s disciples didn¡¯t pass the desert and cier region to return to this ce after killing their target spirit beast in the volcano area.

    They had taken a different route to return.

    Months had passed, and they knew that even if they had gone to the cier area and the desert to kill the Frost Python and Lurker Lizard, they wouldn¡¯t be sessful, so they gave up long ago.

    However, the Green Illusion dimension¡¯s rules only prohibited killing, but not battles among themselves. The reason they came back early was to replenish their power and snatch the spirit beast head from the other three sects.

    The way they saw it, since Nie Tian was with the Spiritual Treasure sect, he had just served himself up as prey bying alone.

    ¡°No, we didn¡¯t.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. Just as he was about to tell them about the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s disciples, Zheng Bin snorted coldly and said with an indifferent face, ¡°Tie him up and search him. We don¡¯t want him to join the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s force to fight us when they arrive.¡±

    The girl with the oval-shaped face agreed. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it as we nned.¡±

    After that, two white-garbed boys of the Mystic Mist sect sprung to their feet excitedly, and dashed forward to capture Nie Tian without saying a word.

    They assumed that since Nie Tian had shown up, An Ying and others from the Spiritual Treasure sect must be right behind him.

    They wanted to capture Nie Tian at the first possible moment, so that he wouldn¡¯t be able to assist An Ying in the future.

 Chapter 70: The Chance to Talk

    ¡°Surrender immediately! As long as you behave, we won¡¯t give you a hard time.¡±

    The first to arrive in front of Nie Tian was a robust teenager. He didn¡¯t have any killing intent; all he wanted to do was to tie Nie Tian up, and prevent him from helping An Ying and her group.

    From his point of view, since Nie Tian had appeared, An Ying and others from the Spiritual Treasure sect must be right behind him.

    ¡°Ignorant fools!¡± Nie Tian cursed. He had approached with the desire to exin the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s appearance to them. However, he was now infuriated, and thus wanted to teach them a lesson first.

    ¡°Hand over your belongings, and let us tie you up,¡± the other boy said loudly. ¡°Then everything will be fine.¡±

    They were both from subordinate ns of the Mystic Mist sect, in the eighth level of Qi Refining, with strength by no means weak.

    However, seeing Nie Tian¡¯s bedraggled state, and that he came alone, they didn¡¯t even bother to bring their spiritual tools out when they stepped forward.

    Approaching Nie Tian on the right and left, they reached out to grab his arms and restrain him.

    The other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect wereughing as they enjoyed the show,pletely unaware of the fact that the Ghost sect and Blood sect had already entered the Green Illusion dimension and ughtered many other trial takers.

    Clearly, they weren¡¯t in the same mental state as Nie Tian, who had engaged in several fierce battles with the Ghost sect and Blood sect starting from almost the very moment he entered the Green Illusion dimension.

    Later, he fought with Yuan Feng, Yun Song, and Du Kun, and even had a bloody battle with Yu Tong.

    At this moment, a cold expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face, and the murderous aura in his eyes suddenly became prominent.

    ¡°Li Xi, Jian Xuan, be careful!¡± yelled Zheng Bin.

    He sensed danger from the change in Nie Tian¡¯s expression, and suddenly had the feeling that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t as ordinary as he seemed.

    However, his warnings came toote!

    Before Li Xi and Jian Xuan could join forces in offense, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, and shot out, whooshing towards Li Xi like a sharp arrow.

    Then, he raised his hand and smacked Li Xi¡¯s shoulder.

    BANG!

    Before Li Xi realized what was happening, he was struck and then was sent staggering backwards.

    Afterunching a lightning-quick attack, Nie Tian turned to face Jian Xuan, who was only inches away from him.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist pounded onto Jian Xuan¡¯s upraised arm.

    Jian Xuan, who was about to use his spiritual technique, felt a sudden pain and sorenessing from his arm, as his arm suddenly lost support and dropped down.

    Eyes filled with rage, he intended to mobilize his spiritual power andunch a violent counterattack.

    At this very moment, Nie Tian moved like a ghostly shadow, ramming into Jian Xuan¡¯s chest with a loud bang.

    Jian Xuan felt like he was hit by a raging war chariot. With a muffled groan, he staggered several steps backwards.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, took advantage of Jian Xuan¡¯s unbnced body and attacked again, hooking his neck with one hand.

    Nie Tian was considerably taller and stronger than his peers. Although Jian Xuan was two years older, he was still shorter than Nie Tian by a few inches.

    After hooking onto Jian Xuan¡¯s neck, Nie Tian exerted his strength, and actually raised Jian Xuan high up in the air.

    Jian Xuan, with his feet dangling half a meter above the ground, had difficulty breathing, and due to that, his whole face turnedpletely red.

    Jian Xuan grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s hand with both hands, exerting all of his strength, attempting to pry Nie Tian¡¯s hand away from his neck and break away from this humiliating position.

    ¡°Urgh! Grrr!¡±

    He kept struggling as his legs unceasingly kicked about.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s hand was locked onto his neck as tightly as an iron vice. No matter how violently Jian Xuan struggled, he was still unable to break free.

    With cruel and fierce look in his eyes, Nie Tian red at Jian Xuan. ¡°Behave! Otherwise, I¡¯ll snap your neck!¡±

    He even tightened his grip a bit.

    As he did, Jian Xuan couldn¡¯t even groan any more. Staring at Nie Tian, fear suddenly mounted within Jian Xuan¡¯s heart.

    Even though he knew that killing wasn¡¯t allowed in the Green Illusion dimension, he felt that if he didn¡¯t behave, Nie Tian was really going to snap his neck.

    Having understood the situation, he immediately quieted down, and no longer dared to struggle about, fearing that he might anger Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Li Xi charged towards Nie Tian with torrential waves of anger, holding an axe that glittered with silvery light in his hands.

    ¡°Let Jian Xuan go!¡±

    Nie Tian turned around to face him, while still holding Jian Xuan up, and said calmly, ¡°Do you want him dead?¡±

    Li Xi suddenly discovered that Jian Xuan, with his face dark-red, was speaking with his eyes, telling Li Xi not to act rashly.

    He immediately stopped.

    ¡°Stay your hand!¡± Zheng Bin called out.

    With a cold snort, Nie Tian slightly loosened his hand, so that Jian Xuan could finally start breathing again. ¡°Moments ago, I wanted you to stay your hand, but you guys didn¡¯t give me a chance, and immediately rushed over to attack me.¡±

    However, he didn¡¯t release Jian Xuan, but still held him high up in the air and said, ¡°Can we have a proper talk now?¡±

    Zheng Bin replied in a hurry, ¡°Let go of Jian Xuan, and we¡¯ll talk.¡±

    The girl with the oval-shaped face glowered at Nie Tian as she berated him angrily, ¡°Are you nuts? You almost killed him! We only wanted to capture you so that you can¡¯t help An Ying. We weren¡¯t going to hurt you. Is it necessary for you to react so violently?¡±

    Then, the other boys and girls joined her, pointing at Nie Tian and loudly cursing him for attacking too harshly.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t talk back. Instead, he swept his ice-cold gaze through every one of them.

    One after another, they shut their mouths.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was still holding Jian Xuan up in the air. Due to his exertion of power, Nie Tian¡¯s contracted muscles made the scars on his bare upper-body seem especially malevolent.

    The interwoven wounds, together with his stern face, made Nie Tian seem as though he had turned into a man-eating beast, his entire body emitting a suffocating aura.

    BANG!

    When everyone quieted down, Nie Tian nodded and dropped Jian Xuan to the side.

    Relieved, Jian Xuan doubled over, inhalingrge gulps of air, not daring to attack Nie Tian again.

    However, Li Xi¡¯s eyes glittered with the desire to attack Nie Tian again after seeing that Jian Xuan was safe.

    ¡°Let it be, Li Xi,¡± said Zheng Bin, frowning.

    ¡°Since he let Jian Xuan go, we¡¯ll give him face and attack when the Spiritual Treasure sect guys arrive.¡±

    Li Xi said anxiously, ¡°This guy is by no means ordinary. He¡¯ll be a great assistance to the Spiritual Treasure sect. If we don¡¯t...¡±

    Zheng Bin stopped him from finishing his sentence, and stared coldly at Nie Tian while saying, ¡°One person can¡¯t change much. I have my principles. Since you released Jian Xuan, I¡¯ll let you off the hook for now. However, your actions just now have already angered me! I¡¯ll make a move on you and seek justice for Jian Xuan when your allies from the Spiritual Treasure sect arrive!¡±

    The other teenagers also urged Zheng Bin to bring Nie Tian under control.

    ¡°Elder Brother Bin, you¡¯re being too aboveboard!!¡±

    ¡°A guy like him doesn¡¯t deserve it. We should capture him now. He¡¯s too dangerous. We can¡¯t let him join hands with those from the Spiritual Treasure sect!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, Elder Brother Bin. Don¡¯t be so pedantic. The Spiritual Treasure sect went to the cier area. They might have already ughtered the Frost Python! Only the Frost Python¡¯s head can be traded for the Heaven Comprehending Pill. Isn¡¯t that your ultimate goal for this trial?¡±

    ¡°Be quiet!¡± Zheng Bin shouted impatiently.

    Seeing that he had grown angry, the trial takers finally sealed their lips, glowering at Nie Tian.

    The way the three girls who adored Zheng Bin red at Nie Tian was especially unfriendly.

    Despite being red at by the crowd, Nie Tian appeared surprisingly calm. He first sat down, and then pointed at the cooked spirit beast meat behind them, saying, ¡°I¡¯m hungry. Get me something to eat first. We¡¯ll talk while we eat.¡±

    ¡°How shameless are you!? You¡¯ve just injured Jian Xuan. As soon as your people from the Spiritual Treasure secte, you¡¯ll be our enemy. We¡¯re not on the same side, okay? How dare you ask us for food?!¡± The girl with the oval-shaped face was taken back for a moment, after which she immediately pointed towards Nie Tian and started scolding him, as though she had never seen such a shameless person before in her entire life.

    ¡°Enemy?¡± Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°If I treated you as enemies...¡±

    He looked back at Jian Xuan, and then continued, ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have gotten off so easily. Even though I wouldn¡¯t have killed him because of the rules, I would have surely left him crippled for a few months.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the girl¡¯s expression flickered.

    Zheng Bin looked deeply at him, and after a moment of pondering, he said, ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡±

    Finally, Nie Tian was given the chance to talk. He put on a wry smile and sighed. ¡°I really envy your luck. Only one of you is dead, and you¡¯ve hunted down and killed that second grade spirit beast from the volcano area.¡±

    He had long since spotted the gigantic wolf head behind the crowd, which apparently belonged to the Ghostly Fire Wolf.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s face turned grim, as heartache shed in his eyes. ¡°Are you making fun of us? During our fight with the Ghostly Fire Wolf, a brother died for being too sloppy. It was only one second grade spirit beast. With our strength, we should have finished it off easily. There shouldn¡¯t have been any casualties.

    ¡°I know that if there are no mishaps, with Yuan Feng and An Ying¡¯s strength, they¡¯re definitely able to kill their respective targets with no casualties.

    ¡°Unlike us, suffering one death. I don¡¯t even know how to report to the sect elders after we get out.¡±

    Nie Tian noticed that while he was speaking, the other teenagers from the Mystic Mist sect all seemed sad and grim, as if they were secretly ming themselves.

    He suddenly realized the rtionships among the Mystic Mist sect disciples were probably the most harmonious of the four sects.

    However, he had to reveal the cruel reality to them.

    ¡°You should consider yourselves lucky.¡± He said coldly. ¡°The Grayvale sect¡¯s disciples have been wiped out. None of them survived.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s expression flickered, and couldn¡¯t refrain from eximing. ¡°It¡¯s impossible!!¡±

    Nie Tian continued, ¡°The Grayvale sect wasn¡¯t the only one. The Spiritual Treasure sect and Cloudsoaring sect have also suffered great casualties. I don¡¯t know how many of them are still alive, and when they¡¯ll be able to get here.

    ¡°It¡¯s also possible that they¡¯ve all died, and none of them will show up here.

    ¡°This is all because disciples of the Ghost sect and Blood sect have also entered the Green Illusion dimension!

    ¡°They¡¯re also here for a trial. Only their mission was slightly different from ours. We¡¯re here to kill spirit beasts. They¡¯re here to kill us.¡± Nie Tian said in a solemn and powerful tone.

    Every boy and girl from the Mystic Mist sect was taken aback by his words, as their faces suddenly turned pale.

 Chapter 71: Seizing the Opportunity to Cultivate

    Every trial taker from the Mystic Mist sect was silenced, and not a single voice could be heard.

    None of them questioned the truthfulness of Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t captured Jian Xuan in such violent fashion, perhaps they would have thought that he was making it up to frighten them, in order to avoid being captured.

    However, Zheng Bin had already made clear his intentions with Nie Tian, that they would temporarily ignore him and start the battle when the others from the Spiritual Treasure sect arrived.

    That meant Nie Tian was momentarily safe.

    In such a situation, it was absolutely unnecessary for Nie Tian to lie to them or attempt to frighten them.

    Upon hearing the news that the Ghost sect and Blood sect were also in the Green Illusion dimension, those teenagers clearly grew distressed and helpless.

    ¡°The Ghost sect, the Blood sect...¡±

    The Ghost sect and the Blood sect were like two immense mountains that were ced on their chests, making it almost impossible for them to breathe, especially when they learned that everyone from the Grayvale sect had been killed.

    They knew that Yuan Feng from the Grayvale sect was extremely hard to deal with, and the Grayvale sect¡¯s trial takers were by no means weaker than them.

    Even they had been wiped out. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that they were lucky enough to have not encountered any Ghost sect and Blood sect disciples in the volcano area, it would be hard to say how many of them could have survived to this day...

    They didn¡¯t even have the courage to think further.

    A long moment passed, after which Zheng Bin was the first to snap back to reality. He took a deep breath and ordered, ¡°Go get him some spirit beast meat.¡±

    Li Xi waspliant this time. He walked back to their camp wordlessly and picked up a sizable piece of cooked spirit beast meat, before walking back to Nie Tian with aplicated expression and handing him the meat.

    Nie Tian nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything. He took it and started tearing it apart with his teeth and gulping downrge chunks.

    The trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect looked silently at him as he ate, and the atmosphere grew exceptionally grim.

    They automatically gathered together by Nie Tian¡¯s side, waiting quietly.

    The pretty girl who had been the first to spot Nie Tian, looked at his unclothed upper body, and after a moment of hesitation, took a white garment from a bag beside the Ghostly Fire Wolf¡¯s head and threw it gently to Nie Tian.

    Momentster, Nie Tian had devoured the five kilograms worth of spirit beast meat. The only reason he didn¡¯t ask for more was that he didn¡¯t want to scare the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect.

    He picked the white garment up and put it on. Only then did he say, ¡°What do you guys want to know?¡±

    ¡°Everything you¡¯ve been through!¡± Zheng Bin said in a deep voice.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Nie Tian nodded, and without holding anything back, ryed the few, small-scale battles that he had fought against the disciples from the Ghost sect and Blood sect, not leaving a single detail.

    As for Yuan Feng and Yun Song¡¯s deaths, he naturally med them on the Blood sect¡¯s Yu Tong.

    He believed that even if Yu Tong showed up and pointed out that it was him who had killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song, given Yu Tong¡¯s status as a Blood sect disciple, it would be impossible for the trial takers to believe her.

    Actually, he even doubted that Yu Tong would bother to refute the assertation.

    If the fact that he had killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song was exposed, Nie Tian would inevitably have to bear the wrath of the four sects.

    However, to Yu Tong, it was her very mission to kill Yuan Feng and other trial takers. It was unforgivable for Nie Tian, but honorable for Yu Tong.

    Actually, Yu Tong might even be willing to take the me.

    After he had told them everything, the girl with the oval-shaped face stared at him with disbelief. ¡°You¡¯ve killed a Ghost sect disciple, and escaped from Yu Tong? And Yu Tong... broke into the Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    ¡°Liar...¡± Li Xi muttered.

    The other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect also seemed to be doubting the authenticity of his words, suspecting that he was merely bragging.

    In their eyes, if Yu Tong had truly broken into the Lesser Heaven stage, she would have possessed unparalleled strength in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Even Yuan Feng died by her hands. How could a nobody like Nie Tian be able to escape from her?

    They would never have expected that not only was Nie Tian able to escape Yu Tong¡¯s pursuit, but he also managed to inflict serious damage on her twice.

    Nie Tian continued with a firm expression, ¡°Oh, perhaps I wasn¡¯t clear enough. After Yu Tong killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song, she sustained injuries, and consumed most of her power. Only because of that was I able to escape from her pursuit and flee here.¡±

    He only wanted for the Mystic Mist sect¡¯s trial takers to believe that it was Yu Tong who killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song.

    However, from the look of it, they didn¡¯t buy the first version of his exnation. Thus, he made a supplementary exnation which made his story more reasonable.

    Sure enough, the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect believed him after hearing the additional details.

    They assumed that there had been something wrong with Yu Tong. Otherwise, with Yu Tong¡¯s Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base, she wouldn¡¯t possibly spare Nie Tian¡¯s life.

    Face grim, Zheng Bin turned to his team members and said, ¡°Even if Yu Tong was injured, and wore out her strength, the fact that you¡¯ve survived from her pursuit is enough evidence that you¡¯re no ordinary individual. Many of you might not have heard of Yu Tong of the Blood sect, and you don¡¯t know how frightening that woman is.

    ¡°Let me put it this way. Even if she was at the Qi Refining stage, I would still be no match for her.

    ¡°If she has indeed entered the Lesser Heaven stage, and I fought her, I wouldn¡¯t have even the hope of escaping alive, let alone winning.¡±

    With a solemn expression on his face, Zheng Bin didn¡¯t exaggerate his strength in front of everyone, but rather stated what he believed was true.

    ¡°Then we¡¯re screwed, aren¡¯t we, Elder Brother Bin?¡± Li Xi said with a sour face.

    Apparently, the girl with the oval-shaped face was quite rattled. ¡°What should we do? The Blood sect and the Ghost sect are so powerful. Perhaps they have already targeted us, and they could appear at any moment!¡± She subconsciously nced around as she spoke, as if the Ghost sect and the Blood sect¡¯s disciples would rush out in the next second.

    Zheng Bin also couldn¡¯te up with a solution. ¡°I suppose now we can only cross that bridge when we get to it. I just hope that An Ying and Jiang Lingzhu survived, and can get here as soon as possible.¡±

    While they were talking, Nie Tian felt those warm currents gradually rising up from within his stomach.

    He realized that the spirit beast meat that he had just consumed was now releasing energy after a period of digestion.

    ¡°I¡¯ve marched long and fast. I¡¯m exhausted, and need to recover. I¡¯ll leave you guys alone.¡± After notifying Zheng Bin, he closed his eyes, and started to use the Qi Refining Incantation to channel the energy to expand his spiritual sea, as well as restore his physical strength.

    Zheng Bin nodded. ¡°Alright, let me know if you need anything. We¡¯ll do our best to amodate your needs.¡±

    Nie Tian immediately said, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can I have some more spirit beast meat? I¡¯ve been starving for a very, very long time. I need more food to recover my strength.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Zheng Bin was very straightforward as he prompted Li Xi to fetch more cooked spirit beast meat for Nie Tian.

    After wolfing down the meat, Nie Tian expressed his gratitude to Zheng Bin in a low voice, and immediately after, he closed his eyes and started cultivating.

    In the following few days, he practically didn¡¯t move an inch away from his spot. Every time he finished cultivating, he would then request for more food from the Mystic Mist sect disciples.

    After devouringrge quantities of spirit beast meat, he would immediately close his eyes and start his cultivation, not conversing with any of the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect.

    At the beginning, Zheng Bin and the others thought he ate a lot because he was iparably hungry.

    However, as Nie Tian requested for more and more spirit beast meat, they gradually realized a fact: Nie Tian¡¯s appetite was shockinglyrge all the time!

    They had already started to call Nie Tian a ¡°bottomless pit¡± behind his back.

    However, since they had more than enough spirit beast meat lying around, no one bothered to say anything. Every time, they would satisfy Nie Tian¡¯s request by offering enough meat for ten people to eat.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, knew that Yu Tong would never let him off so easily, and thus always had his guard up. Now that he had the Mystic Mist sect disciples to protect him while he was cultivating, as well as a sufficient spirit beast meat supply, he surely wouldn¡¯t miss such an exceptionally good opportunity.

    He kept consuming the spirit beast meat, and using the power within to expand his spiritual sea, so as to prepare himself for possible future battles.

    One day, he woke up from his cultivation and examined his spiritual sea, discovering that after days of painstaking practice, his spiritual sea had only expanded by fifteen percent.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that the energy first grade spirit beasts can provide is quite limited.¡±

    The energy stored in second grade spirit beast meat was seven times more than that of first grade spirit beasts, which meant if he used first grade spirit beast meat to cultivate, the speed of his improvement would be seven times slower.

    Unsatisfied with his speed of improvement, Nie Tian cast a nce at the Ghostly Fire Wolf¡¯s head. ¡°The Ghostly Fire Wolf is also a second grade spirit beast. I wonder if they brought its meat with them to this ce.¡±

    Just as he was about to inquire about the wolf meat, a sound rang out from the distance. Before long, Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian appeared from behind a pile of rubble.

    ¡°It¡¯s been five days.¡± Li Xi said excitedly. ¡°Finally, someone hase!¡±

    ¡°Jiang Lingzhu!¡± Zheng Bin suddenly became enlivened.

    As Jiang Lingzhu approached, she spotted Zheng Bin at first nce, and looking extremely excited, she said, ¡°Zheng Bin! I can¡¯t believe that you are here! This is great!! We thought we were doomed!¡±

    She sounded like a drowning person who had just caught sight of a rescue boat. With the newly found hope to survive, she instantly became full of spirit.

 Chapter 72: Patching A Lie

    Seeing that Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian had arrived, Nie Tian temporarily abandoned any notions of asking about the Ghostly Fire Wolf meat.

    He rose to his feet after sitting quietly for a long time, looking at the two from afar.

    The green-garbed Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian seemed distinctively thinner than before.

    Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s eyes were still bright and flickering, but she was covered in dirt, and her green robe was in tatters. From the holes he could see at the corners, Nie Tian could tell they had been caused by sharp weapons.

    Meanwhile, Nie Xian, who was also from the Nie n, looked even worse. His sect-issued green robe seemed as if it had been torn to pieces and then sewn back together.

    At first nce, he looked like a beggar from the gutters of ck Cloud City, extremely dirty and disordered.

    ¡°Zheng Bin, water!¡± Jiang Lingzhu shouted as she approached, ¡°Get us some water! Howe you guys are here? Did you run into the Hell sect¡¯s disciples in the volcano area?¡±

    Aftering closer, she suddenly caught sight of Nie Tian, and couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Ah! Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± An incredible expression appeared on Nie Xian¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re... you¡¯re still alive?!?!¡±

    As far as Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian were concerned, Nie Tian should have been dead already.

    Wandering around in the desert by himself, how could he possibly escape from the Ghost sect and Blood sect?

    When Yu Tong and Mo Xi had caught up to them, Yu Tong had told them about the Blood Searching Compass and that wherever they escaped to, she would be able to ferret them out.

    It would be impossible for Nie Tian to hide all traces of himself from Yu Tong¡¯s Blood Searching Compass.

    When they found him, how could he possibly escape from the Blood sect and Ghost sect disciples, much less single-handedly defeat them?

    Therefore, both of them believed that Nie Tian had long since died, and had never expected to meet him here.

    ¡°Long time no see,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile. ¡°I can finally rest at ease now that I know the two of you are alive.¡±

    ¡°Jian Xuan!¡± Zheng Bin barked. ¡°What are you waiting for? Go get them some water!¡±

    Jian Xuan, who was still in a near-daze after the near-death experience from several days ago, snapped back to reality and quickly grabbed two water canteens, then ran over and handed them to Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian.

    Casting away her usualdy-like manners, Jiang Lingzhu gulped down water as fast as she could, resulting in her straight, elegant neck being covered in sparkling drops of water.

    Nie Xian virtually inhaled the water, and it wasn¡¯t until he finished the entire canteen that he finally stopped and sat down weakly on the ground. Puzzled, he asked, ¡°Nie Tian, did the Ghost sect and Blood sect find you?¡±

    ¡°A Ghost sect disciple found me, but I killed him,¡± Nie Tian exined in a low voice.

    Nie Xian stared deeply at him for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Well done.¡±

    Ever since Nie Tian showed up and fought off Yu Tong, saving them from a perilous situation, he started to have a new level of respect for this n brother of his.

    He had a vague feeling that some sort of iprehensible miracle must have happened to Nie Tian, making his true strength unfathomable.

    Therefore, he hade to believe that Nie Tian, who had previously forced Yu Tong to retreat, would have the ability to kill him, if he had only encountered one Ghost sect disciple.

    After finishing her canteen of fresh water, Jiang Lingzhu began to describe the fight between them and the Ghost sect and Blood sect, under the inquisitive gazes of Zheng Bin and the others.

    Just as they had been about to emerge from the desert and enter the volcanic region, the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s disciples had caught up with them. A battle immediately broke out.

    During the battle, Yu Tong from the Blood sect stepped into the Lesser Heaven stage, causing her strength to skyrocket. With numerous powerful forbidden techniques, her unparalleled, godly strength wasn¡¯t something they could match.

    They hadn¡¯t been able to see even a shred of hope of victory.

    Their only option was to spread out and run, so that Yu Tong and the others wouldn¡¯t be able to trap everyone in one spot and kill them all.

    After escaping from the battlefield, Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian exerted all effort to lose Mo Xi, who had been chasing them persistently, until they finally arrived at this ce, lookingpletely bedraggled.

    Ever since splitting up, they never saw Ye Gumo from the Cloudsoaring sect again, and had no idea what happened to him.

    Neither did they encounter An Ying and her people, and were thus unsure about their fate as well.

    After listening to their encounters, Nie Tian felt relieved, ¡°If Mo Xi chased after you, then there should be quite a few survivors from the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu looked confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked. ¡°Since Mo Xi went after us, An Ying and her group should have been targeted by Yu Tong. She¡¯s even more terrifying than Mo Xi. How can you be sure that An Ying will make it here alive?¡±

    ¡°Because Yu Tong went after Yuan Feng and Yun Song,¡± Nie Tian said with a calm and rxed tone. ¡°After killing them, that witch... targeted me next. Without her in the picture, those handful of Blood sect disciples couldn¡¯t have possibly killed An Ying and Pan Tao all by themselves.¡±

    ¡°What? Yu Tong tried to kill you?!¡± Jiang Lingzhu was greatly shocked. ¡°How did you make it here alive?¡±

    Nie Xian was also taken aback, his expression flickering as he looked over at Nie Tian.

    Unlike the Mystic Mist sect disciples, they had personally witnessed Yu Tong¡¯s formidable power. Even to this day, they would still tremble with fear upon hearing her name.

    It was safe to say that it was because of Yu Tong stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage that they had no other choice but to split up and flee the battlefield.

    Yu Tong had crushed their defenses practically single-handedly!

    If such a frightening Yu Tong had locked her gaze onto Nie Tian, it was practically impossible for him to survive.

    At that time, Li Xi exined on Nie Tian¡¯s behalf, ¡°It was only because Yu Tong had sustained injuries and lost her battle prowess after killing Yuan Feng and Yun Song that he managed to survive.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu nced at him, furrowed her beautiful brow, and said, ¡°What do you know?!¡±

    Li Xi looked confused.

    Jiang Lingzhu looked over at Nie Tian, the suspicion clear on her face. ¡°When we split up and fled, both Yuan Feng and Yun Song had sustained different degrees of injuries and consumed even more power than Yu Tong. They didn¡¯t have the slightest bit of fighting spirit. However, when Yu Tong started to chase after everyone, she was at her peak. Considering Yu Tong¡¯s strength, I don¡¯t think that killing them would consume much of her energy.¡±

    ¡°As for injuring Yu Tong...¡± She shook her head and said. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have a chance.¡±

    ¡°Did you lie to us?¡± Zheng Bin¡¯s face turned grim as he asked Nie Tian. ¡°Did you or did you not run into Yu Tong? Did she really chase after you?¡±

    ¡°Liar!¡± cried Han Xin, the girl with the oval-shaped face.

    The other Mystic Mist sect disciples also started to cast unpleasant nces towards Nie Tian.

    After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Lingzhu continued in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian, I really can¡¯t fathom your strength... I do believe that you would have been able to run away from Yu Tong if she hadn¡¯t broken through into the Lesser Heaven stage. But after stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage, she was indeed extremely deadly! It would be almost impossible for you to escape from her control and make it here alive.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly at heart, thinking to himself that it was indeed hard to cover up a lie without leaving the faintest trace.

    There was no way that he would tell Jiang Lingzhu about how powerful the raging fist strike that he had picked up from the mysteriousnd was.

    Therefore, after remaining silent for a while, heughed somewhat embarrassedly and said, ¡°Well, I did run into Yu Tong. However, she actually came across the Frost Python after she killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song. The Frost Python is the strongest spirit beast in the Green Illusion dimension, and during her fight with it she identally got injured.¡±

    He knew that the Frost Python had gotten out of the Green Illusion dimension and would probably never show up again. As a second grade spirit beast, it also possessed formidable power. Hence, ming Yu Tong¡¯s injuries on it seemed the most reasonable.

    ¡°Oh, the Frost Python showed up. It makes sense then.¡± It seemed that Jiang Lingzhu finally bought his story. ¡°That Frost Python was really something. It somehow possessed exceptional intelligence. From the look of it, it won¡¯t be long before it enters the next level. It would be impossible for Yu Tong to single-handedly ughter it without paying a heavy price.¡±

    ¡°You should have told us the truth,¡± Zheng Bin said coldly.

    Voice full of disdain, Han Xin said, ¡°So the real reason that you¡¯re alive is because Yu Tong consumed considerable energy after killing Yuan Feng and the Frost Python sessively. I really believed that ... you possessed outstanding power.¡±

    Li Xi joined the criticism. ¡°By not telling us about the Frost Python, he hoped to fool us into thinking that he was capable and beyond ordinary.¡±

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, stroked his nose, and ignored theirments.

    After that, Zheng Bin continuously inquired Jiang Lingzhu about the details of their battle with the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, wishing to get a full understanding of their strength, and at the same time, perhaps find a way to handle them.

    After being mocked by the Mystic Mist sect disciples, Nie Tian didn¡¯t think it was a good time for him to ask about the Ghostly Fire Wolf¡¯s meat. Therefore, he just sat beside Nie Xian.

    Although Nie Xian was full of questions, he chose not to ask Nie Tian at that time. Instead, he took out the spirit stone that the Cloudsoaring sect had bestowed upon him, and started recovering.

    Before long, Jiang Lingzhu finished her conversation with Zheng Bin. She didn¡¯t immediately start recuperation, but rather pointed towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ve got something to say to you.¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian froze for a moment. Seeing that Jiang Lingzhu was already headed towards the other side of the stone wall, he could only rise to his feet and silently catch up to her.

 Chapter 73: Youre the Worst!

    Before long, Jiang Lingzhu stopped at a secluded location, and turned around to look at Nie Tian.

    Hydrated, Jiang Lingzhu had finally restored most of her strength, and her bright eyes glittered with rays of intimidating light again.

    Nie Tian waspletely confused by the way she stared at him; it seemed that she was examining him from head to toe.

    Nie Tian stopped and looked over his shoulder. He quickly realized that they had already reached the other side of the mountain, and that the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect had disappeared from his sight.

    ¡°Well...¡± she said, then hesitated for a moment. ¡°You killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but his face didn¡¯t change a bit, then he asked in a surprised tone, ¡°You¡¯re frightening me a bit, senior martial sister. Why would I possibly kill Yuan Feng and Yun Song?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu was the precious daughter of the Cloudsoaring sectmaster Jiang Zhisu, and a core disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect. Nie Tian, on the other hand, was from a subordinate n, and might only possibly be epted into the Cloudsoaring sect in the future. Therefore, due to seniority, he had to address Jiang Lingzhu as senior martial sister.

    He had the confidence to be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect by the age of 15, and thus he addressed her as such in advance.

    ¡°How could you dare to do such a thing?!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said with a re. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if you only killed Yun Song, since he wasn¡¯t a big deal. But that Yuan Feng was viewed as a seeded disciple of the Grayvale sect. Many elders from the Grayvale sect believed he¡¯d have a promising future. Once they find out about you killing him, even the Cloudsoaring sect won¡¯t be able to protect you.¡±

    Nie Tian looked hurt. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it.¡±

    ¡°You can fool Zheng Bin, but you can¡¯t fool me!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said, looking even more irritated.

    ¡°What proof do you have?¡± Nie Tian said with aposed expression.

    Jiang Lingzhu stared meaningfully at him for a moment before bursting intoughter. ¡°You... I can¡¯t believe you can still actposed. Nevertheless, I do admire you for being able to kill Yuan Feng and Yun Song with a inferior cultivation base, whether they were injured or not.¡±

    Nie Tian continued to quibble. ¡°I really didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You still won¡¯t admit it!?¡± Jiang Lingzhu said with a snort. ¡°Yuan Feng had a banner on him which is now in your pouch, right?¡±

    bbergasted, Nie Tian was struck speechless.

    ¡°That banner is of the fourth level of Medium grade. When we were besieged by the Blood sect and Ghost sect, he fought with it. To this day, I still have a deep impression of the spiritual power fluctuations that banner emanates. I can¡¯t be wrong.¡± Eyes wide, Jiang Lingzhu cursed in a low voice, ¡°Idiot... a spiritual tool at that grade is by no means ordinary. Even if they¡¯re not activated by spiritual power, if not stored in special containers they will still give out faint fluctuations.

    ¡°I can cast a special incantation which allows me to perceive even the slightest fluctuations of spiritual power. It was when I got near you after my conversation with Zheng Bin that I was able to detect the faint fluctuations that came from the banner.¡±

    Without giving Nie Tian time to exin, Jiang Lingzhu continued analyzing, ¡°ording to you, it was Yu Tong who killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song. If that was the case, it would have been impossible for you to obtain Yuan Feng¡¯s banner. Furthermore, if you obtained it before Yu Tong arrived, Yuan Feng should have been alive, and how on earth would he be willing to give you that fourth level Medium grade spirit weapon?

    ¡°Only if he was already dead before Yu Tong appeared would you have been able to obtain that banner from him.

    ¡°So, you must have killed him before she showed up, and looted everything he owned and ced it into your pouch.¡±

    With these words, Jiang Lingzhu looked at him with acent smile on her face, as if to say, <i>Let¡¯s see how you argue with that</i>.

    Realizing that Jiang Lingzhu had seen through his lies, Nie Tian put on a bitter smile. With a shrug, he said, ¡°You¡¯re good, senior martial sister.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu threw her head back. ¡°Of course!¡±

    Nie Tian tried to exin. ¡°When Yuan Feng and Yun Song met me, they were like mad dogs, insistent on killing me. I had no other choice, so...¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Jiang Lingzhu waved her hand to stop him and said, ¡°I¡¯m not interested in why you did it. I¡¯m also tired of those two. You killed them. So be it. But you need to be careful and don¡¯t expose it. Remember, you have to insist that it was Yu Tong from the Blood sect who killed them.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Oh, okay."

    Jiang Lingzhu reached out her hand and said, ¡°Gimme that banner and all of Yuan Feng¡¯s belongings. You can¡¯t carry them on you.¡±

    After knowing that the banner would release faint fluctuations and that it would probably put him in danger, Nie Tian unhesitatingly handed her the banner, as well as the map that he had looted from Yuan Feng.

    Jiang Lingzhu took the banner and the map and pressed them against the jade bracelet on her wrist. In a split second, they both vanished.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    Jiang Lingzhu exined casually, ¡°This is an item of a much higher grade than that cloth pouch of yours. If not for my father, I also wouldn¡¯t be able to have ess to a bracelet of holding. The cloth pouch you used to store the banner and the map can¡¯t seal off the minute energy fluctuations of the banner. When you emerged from the Green Illusion dimension, the disciples of the Greyvale sect would have instantly detected the banner in your cloth pouch. If that happened, you wouldn¡¯t be able to talk your way out of the situation no matter what lies you came up with¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he earnestly said, ¡°Many thanks, senior martial sister.¡±

    ¡°Sooner orter, you¡¯re going to be a member of the Cloudsoaring sect. It¡¯s a given that I help you.¡± Jiang Lingzhu narrowed her eyes, and with a smile she said, ¡°Also, you actually managed to kill Yuan Feng! Seriously, how many secrets do you have? Tell me, now.¡±

    Nie Tian quickly shook his head. ¡°I really don¡¯t have any secrets.¡±

    ¡°Hmm! Do you take me for an idiot or something?¡± Jiang Lingzhu nced at him out of the corner of her eye. Huffing, she said, ¡°The other day, my father came back from the Nie n and said an extremely audacious kid dared to lie to his face. Later, I found out from Uncle Li Fan that it was you!¡±

    Nie Tian bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯m being serious. How could I dare to lie to the sectmaster? I was only scared to the point that I couldn¡¯t remember much!¡±

    ¡°Save it. I¡¯ve seen through you. You¡¯re the worst among the entire Nie n!¡± Jiang Lingzhu seemed angry, but actually she wasn¡¯t. From her point of view, since Nie Tian was a member of the Nie n, he would naturally be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect in the future.

    Such an audacious, fierce, and resourceful young man, who was currently only ten years old, could turn out to be a great fortune for the Cloudsoaring sect in the future.

    She had already decided that if they could both make it out of the Green Illusion dimension alive, she would plead for her father to immediately ept him into the sect, even if it meant that they would have to break the rules.

    She had the feeling that the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s An Shiyi, as well as An Ying and Pan Tao, also had high opinions of Nie Tian.

    She feared that the Spiritual Treasure sect might beat her to it.

    In that moment, Han Xin¡¯s voice echoed out from the other side of the mountain. ¡°People from the Spiritual Treasure sect! People from the Spiritual Treasure sect are here!¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all I have to say,¡± Jiang Lingzhu said in a low voice. ¡°I¡¯ll return the banner to you when youe to the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, senior martial sister,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    He understood that if it weren¡¯t for Jiang Lingzhu keeping that banner in her bracelet of holding, then when he left the Green Illusion dimensionter on, it was very likely that the Grayvale sect would expose his lies, and subsequently, bring fatal disaster upon him.

    He was quite smart, however, he knew nothing about high grade spiritual tools and special containers, and because of that, almost fell into a huge trap.

    After unveiling the truth, Jiang Lingzhu didn¡¯t me him for killing Yuan Feng and Yun Song. Instead, she actually helped him to cover it up. He would take that to heart.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and see who¡¯s returned,¡± said Jiang Lingzhu.

    Nie Tian nodded. Without further ado, they returned to the campsite where everyone else was waiting.

    ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re still alive!¡± Upon catching sight of him, Pan Tao immediately rushed forward gave him an amiable thump on the chest. ¡°I thought you were dead!¡± Redness could be seen in Pan Tao¡¯s eyes. Clearly, he was in a very emotional state.

    No one in the Spiritual Treasure sect admired Nie Tian more than he did. He knew about Nie Tian¡¯s exceptional abilities, and considered him as a fellow fighter.

    When Nie Tian left despite everything, Pan Tao was the one who had exerted all means to persuade him to stay, and after failing, he hoped that nothing would happen to Nie Tian.

    After finding that Pan Tao, An Ying, Zheng Rui, and Jiang Miao were all safe and sound, Nie Tian gave a heartfelt smile. ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s nice that everyone is fine.¡±

    ¡°Not everyone.¡± An Ying¡¯s eyes dimmed. ¡°The four of us are the only survivors. Tong Hao, Guo Qi, and the others are all dead.¡±

    Upon hearing the bad news, Nie Tian heaved a sigh and fell into silence.

 Chapter 74: The Blood Sects Earth Web

    The trial takers from the three sects waited silently by the Secret Dimension Gate.

    Unfortunately, no other survivors arrived in the following days.

    It was only half a month away from the conclusion of the Green Illusion dimension trial. Logically speaking, if there were other survivors, they would have arrived already.

    Even though no one said anything, everyone was sure that those who hadn¡¯t arrived had most likely been killed by the Ghost sect and the Blood sect.

    During that period of time, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t obtain enough spirit beast meat to cultivate at a high speed.

    His daily allotted portion of spirit beast meat wasn¡¯t even one tenth of what he had gotten in the past. He wasn¡¯t even able to get enough to sate his hunger.

    Han Xin took small bites of the spirit beast meat in her hand as she red at Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s all because of that Nie Tian,¡± she said. ¡°If he hadn¡¯t eaten so much earlier, we wouldn¡¯t be left with so little rations of food now.¡±

    The other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect also glowered at Nie Tian while roasting the spirit beast meat.

    Sitting beside Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and their group, Nie Tian pretended that he hadn¡¯t heard their whispers.

    The spirit beast meat the Mystic Mist sect had brought to this ce was originally more than enough to support them until the gate reopened, so when Nie Tian had requested spirit beast meat earlier, Zheng Bin wasn¡¯t stingy at all and had amodated his need as much as possible.

    However, with the arrival of Jiang Lingzhu, Nie Xian, An Ying, and the others, food stores immediately ran low.

    Due to the pursuit of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and the others were forced to travel light, and as a result most of their spirit beast meat had been discarded along the way.

    Although Jiang Lingzhu possessed a bracelet of holding, due to herck of experience, she hadn¡¯t thought to stock up on food.

    The food that they had been carrying had been consumed long before they arrived at the gate.

    Furthermore, there weren¡¯t any spirit beasts near the Secret Dimension Gate, and they didn¡¯t dare to travel too far to hunt, for fear the Blood sect and the Ghost sect mightunch an assault on them. Therefore, they had no choice but to ask for food from the Mystic Mist sect.

    Yet, Nie Tian alone had devoured arge proportion of the Mystic Mist sect¡¯s meat stock during the past few days.

    There was still half a month left until the Secret Dimension Gate would open, and unfortunately, they were already seeing the bottom of the spirit beast meat storage.

    Without a better solution, they could only eat less and live frugally, hoping that they could rough it out till the day the gate was reopened.

    However, whenever the Mystic Mist sect disciples felt starving, they would think of Nie Tian, the ¡°bottomless pit¡±.

    In the same way, whenever it came time to distribute food, they would stare at Nie Tian resentfully, and whisper curses.

    Knowing that he wouldn¡¯t win in an argument, Nie Tianpletely ignored their grumbling and pretended he heard nothing.

    Grrr.

    After swallowing a small piece of spirit beast meat, a loud sound rumbled out from Nie Tian¡¯s belly. With a bitter expression, he rubbed his belly and murmured, ¡°Just hang in there for a few more days.¡±

    Now that they had a food shortage, Nie Tian was being rationed just as much as everyone else.

    Even those who had small appetites couldn¡¯t get full, not to mention him.

    At this moment, Jiang Miao, who was sitting next to Nie Tian, handed her ration of spirit beast meat to him. ¡°Here, take it,¡± she whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t eat much, and I¡¯m not hungry anyway.

    ¡°Well, look what we have here!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said with a tauntingugh.

    An Ying nced over, but said nothing as she quietly went back to her share.

    Pan Tao chuckled.

    Jiang Miao¡¯s face immediately flushed. Embarrassed, she lowered her head, not daring to look at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian froze for a moment, looking at Jiang Miao, confused. Soon, he noticed that the baby-faced Jiang Miao was clearly thinner than before.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t reached out to grab the meat, but rather stood up and said, ¡°Thank you, but actually I¡¯m not that hungry. I¡¯ll go take a look in the vicinity to see if I can find stuff to eat.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t go out there!¡± Jiang Miao replied hastily. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous!¡±

    A bit farther away, Nie Xian¡¯s face grew grim. ¡°Don¡¯t do it, Nie Tian. People from the Blood sect and the Ghost sect could show up at any moment. If you identally run into those devils, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to return to us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I won¡¯t go far,¡± Nie Tian promised. ¡°If anythinges up, I¡¯ll return immediately.¡±

    Pan Tao rose to his feet. ¡°I¡¯m a little bored myself. I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°Me, too,¡± said Jiang Lingzhu, standing up and grinning. ¡°I could use some walking and stretching.¡±

    Their conversation and actions were immediately noticed by Zheng Bin, who came over and asked about the situation.

    After realizing what they nned to do, Zheng Bin turned to Jiang Lingzhu, expression dour as he said, ¡°No one knows when the disciples of the Ghost sect and Blood sect will appear, or how many people they have. If you all go, we¡¯ll fall short on battle power. If by chance the Ghost sect and Blood sect raid us while you¡¯re gone, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to hold our own.¡±

    With a shrug, Jiang Lingzhu sat back down. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll stay.¡±

    Inwardly, she knew that Zheng Bin¡¯s words made sense; if she left the crowd at this time, it would put her, Zheng Bin, and everyone else in danger. Therefore, she looked at the bigger picture and chose to stay.

    ¡°What about us?¡± Pan Tao asked. He didn¡¯t look very happy, and was apparently disgruntled at being controlled by Zheng Bin.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s gaze shifted between Pan Tao and Nie Tian, and after a moment of hesitation, he said, ¡°If it¡¯s just the two of you, I¡¯m okay with it.¡±

    Pan Tao let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Are you saying that we don¡¯t matter?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not looking for an argument,¡± Zheng Bin replied. ¡°But I hope you two will take my advice and stay put. It would be better for everyone.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Pan Tao replied. ¡°I don¡¯t like being told what to do.¡± With that, he turned and left.

    Nie Tian smiled and caught up with him.

    ...

    Meanwhile...

    Seven disciples of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, under the leadership of Yu Tong and Mo Xi, were standing on a pile of dried bones. As for Yu Tong, she was in the middle holding the Blood Searching Compass.

    After a moment passed, she put it away. Her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed as she said, ¡°Sixteen people, only five hundred meters away from us. Those who escaped from the palm of our hands should have merged with those from the Mystic Mist sect. They¡¯re right at the Secret Dimension Gate, waiting for it to reopen. We only have half a month left.¡±

    ¡°Sixteen?¡± Mo Xi grinned. ¡°Last time we ran into them at the border of the desert, they had more people. Didn¡¯t we ughter many of them and send the rest fleeing? What are you hesitating over, Yu Tong? You¡¯ve broken through into the Lesser Heaven stage. Who could match your strength?¡±

    Heart seething with hatred, Yu Tong murmured to herself, ¡°There¡¯s one...¡±

    She took a deep breath, and a blood-colored light shed in her pupils, ¡°Seven against sixteen. We¡¯re too outnumbered. In order to be safe... I¡¯m going to use the Earth Web!¡±

    ¡°The Earth Web!¡± Mo Xi and the others eximed at the same time, looking at her with faces full of disbelief.

    With a grim expression, Mo Xi said, ¡°The Earth Web is a dangerous forbidden technique. Only Qi warriors with Heaven stage or higher cultivation bases should be able to use it. Plus, even if a Heaven stage Qi warrior were to use the Earth Web, that person would inevitably sustain a vital injury afterwards! You just entered the Lesser Heaven stage. You won¡¯t be able to use it. And you shouldn¡¯t exert yourself!¡±

    ¡°I can wield it with the help of the Blood Bead,¡± Yu Tong said firmly, as she took out a eye-shaped, blood-colored bead from her bracelet of holding.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± she bellowed inwardly.

    A Blood sect teenager said anxiously, ¡°Senior martial sister, even if you manage to use the Earth Web with the Blood Bead¡¯s help, you¡¯ll suffer from the bacsh yourself.¡±

    ¡°Yu Tong, you¡¯re very important to your sect,¡± Mo Xi continued, ¡°much more important than the result of this trial. I hope you understand this. I¡¯ve gone on missions with you before. You¡¯ve always been rational and don¡¯t force yourself beyond your limits. I bet you know that if your sect learns about you using the Earth Web to kill those guys, and hurting yourself in the process, they will punish you instead of rewarding you, right?

    ¡°What happened to you? Some of them truly infuriated you, didn¡¯t they? Howe you¡¯re so reckless now?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re in no ce to criticize me for my decisions!¡± Yu Tongshed out.

    She didn¡¯t give Mo Xi or others the opportunity to say more before suddenly pressing her hand onto her bracelet of holding. The next moment, several buckets of blood flew out of it and poured onto the ground beneath her.

    In a sh, an intense, bloody reek filled the air, as a scarlet blood aura gradually emitted from within her.

    Under the influence and control of her Blood Bead, the enormous amount of blood seeped into the ground and extended out in every direction like veins as they closed in on Zheng Bin and the others.

 Chapter 75: Early Detection

    After leaving the campsite, Nie Tian and Pan Tao randomly picked a direction and walked for a period of time before stopping.

    Staring off into the distance, Pan Tao said, ¡°If we want the food from the Mystic Mist Pce tost until the Secret Dimension Gate opens, everyone will have to go hungry in the following days. It¡¯s partly our fault, too. We were just focused on getting here as quickly as possible, and tossed away a lot of food along the way.¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian said, ¡°Well, actually it¡¯s because of me. Before you guys showed up, Zheng Bin believed that their food supply was more than enough, so he let me have as much as I wanted. He never thought you¡¯d be in such a sorry situation, and arrive empty-handed.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t have much of an opinion of Zheng Bin, either good or bad.

    After spending a while with the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect, he came to realize that the atmosphere among them was extremely harmonious under his leadership.

    Moreover, Zheng Bin wasn¡¯t a stingy man. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have amodated Nie Tian¡¯s request for such arge amount of food.

    ¡°Yep, although I haven¡¯t worked with Zheng Bin before, I heard that his reputation was pretty good.¡± Pan Taoughed. ¡°Although, he clearly doesn¡¯t think much of the two of us, considering that he agreed for us to leave the group.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, it¡¯s not that big a deal. As long as we can find things to eat and keep everyone from starving, it¡¯ll count as us repaying his kindness.¡± With these words, Nie Tian gradually closed his eyes, and unleashed his powerful psychic awareness to detect the signs of life in the vicinity.

    Pan Tao saw what Nie Tian was doing, and stopped talking.

    A whileter, Nie Tian opened his eyes and shook his head. ¡°There aren¡¯t any living beings nearby. Let¡¯s switch to another location.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The two of them roamed in the vicinity of the Secret Dimension Gate. From time to time, Nie Tian would use his psychic power to scan the area for fluctuations of life.

    Unfortunately, there seemed to be no spirit beasts in the vicinity.

    They switched from ce to ce, searching for signs of life, but they still couldn¡¯t find anything.

    Once again, Nie Tian probed about with his psychic power, eyes closed. It was at this point that he suddenly detected unusual fluctuations of Qi and blooding from the deepest parts of the earth.

    He suddenly became enlivened, assuming that there was a spirit beast simr to the Lurker Lizard, hiding somewhere in the depths of the earth. He immediately gathered his psychic awareness and sent it underground to search for it.

    As soon as he did, he found that there were countless blood streams slowly flowing deep under the ground they were standing on.

    The strange thing was that he felt somehow familiar with those blood streams...

    ¡°They¡¯re from Yu Tong!¡±

    All of a sudden, his expression changed as he concentrated even harder to sense the movements in the earth.

    He could clearly detect that there weren¡¯t any soul fluctuations in the blood streams, yet they were extending slowly and furtively towards the ce where Zheng Bin and the others were.

    They interweaved with each other, forming a dense and enormous web that seemed to be able to trap all living beings.

    His eyes snapped open as he turned to Pan Tao, who was ncing around to keep guard, and said, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong! There are countless blood streams flowing in the deepest parts of the earth! I believe that those blood streams were released by Yu Tong! And their target is Zheng Bin and the others!¡±

    ¡°Countless blood streams from Yu Tong?¡± Surprised by Nie Tian¡¯s words, Pan Tao started to ponder as his brow slowly furrowed.

    Momentster, Pan Tao¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°The Earth Web! It¡¯s the Blood sect¡¯s forbidden technique: Earth Web! People from the Blood sect and Ghost sect can¡¯t be far from us! They¡¯ve already locked onto us with the Blood Searching Compass! Damn! Nie Tian, we have to go back, now!¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What¡¯s an Earth Web?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no time for that,¡± Pan Tao replied. ¡°We have to get back as soon as possible!¡±

    Nie Tian was affected by Pan Tao¡¯s nervousness and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell them that I sensed the abnormality underground. Please help me keep it a secret.¡±

    Pan Tao nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Even before they entered the Green Illusion dimension, Pan Tao had guessed that it was because of some hidden agenda that An Shiyi arranged for a child from the Nie n to participate in the trial with them.

    After An Ying repeatedly implied for him and Zheng Rui to test out Nie Tian, he became even more certain about that.

    However, deep down, he had already considered Nie Tian as an indispensable battlepanion. In order to not lose Nie Tian, he knew perfectly well what to do.

    Before long, the two returned to the area where everyone was gathered.

    ¡°Any findings? Did you find any spirit beasts?¡± Seeing that they returned so early, Han Xin from the Mystic Mist sect prompted the question in a ridiculing tone, ¡°I¡¯ve told you already. There simply aren¡¯t any spirit beasts in the area. Yet, you had to go and put yourselves and everyone in danger. Are you happy now?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Pan Tao let out a cold shout.

    Han Xin instantly exploded with anger. ¡°Who are you talking to? We provided you with food and water. And now you¡¯re yelling at me?!¡±

    Many other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect also sprung to their feet, glowering at Pan Tao, as if they were ready to fight the moment the situation worsened.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression turned grim. ¡°Pan Tao, what are you doing? You should apologize to Han Xin!¡±

    ¡°If apologizing can solve the problem, then I¡¯ll apologize!¡± With a dour expression, Pan Tao didn¡¯t bother to look at Zheng Bin, but rather turned to An Ying and Jiang Lingzhu, and said, ¡°We¡¯re in big trouble. Not only are the Blood sect and Ghost sect nearby, they¡¯ve also used the Blood sect¡¯s forbidden technique, Earth Web!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Jiang Linghzu blurted in astonishment. ¡°The Earth Web!?¡±

    ¡°How could that be possible?!¡± An Ying eximed. ¡°Yu Tong just entered the Lesser Heaven stage. She doesn¡¯t have enough strength to use the Earth Web yet.¡±

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression changed drastically, and he stopped speaking out for Han Xin. ¡°The Blood sect¡¯s forbidden technique, Earth Web?! Are you sure that it¡¯s the Earth Web? How did you discover it?¡±

    At that time, Nie Tian, who came back with Pan Tao, secretly grew worried.

    As group leaders, Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and Zheng Bin were core disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect, Spiritual Treasure sect and Mystic Mist sect.

    They had all learned about the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s forbidden techniques from their respective sect elders.

    Obviously, they knew what the Earth Web meant for them.

    Upon hearing that the Earth Web had been set up by the Blood Sect, their expressions all changed drastically. This was sufficient proof of how terrifying the Earth Web was.

    ¡°Pan Tao, are you sure that it¡¯s the Earth Web?¡± An Ying asked with a straight face.

    By this point, everyone, including Han Xin, who previously bickered with him, nced over towards Pan Tao, faces pale with anxiety and terror.

    Pan Tao nced at Nie Tian. Seeing that Nie Tian¡¯s face was calm as usual, without the slightest doubt, he nodded vigorously. ¡°I¡¯ll use my head to vouch for it!¡±

    Once these words were uttered, An Ying¡¯s doubts vanished. She immediately said, ¡°We need to locate people from the Ghost sect and Blood sect before the Earth Web forms! We can¡¯t just sit and wait for death!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the only option!¡± Jiang Lingzhu agreed.

    Soon, Zheng Bin also realized how dangerous the situation was, and nodded. ¡°Everyone spread out and search for the traces of the Blood sect and Ghost sect. Once you have an idea of where they are, immediately shout out to inform the others. Since Yu Tong has only entered the Lesser Heaven stage recently, even with the help of a powerful spiritual tool, the coverage of her Earth Web won¡¯t be veryrge!

    ¡°She¡¯s definitely not far from us! As long as we can locate her and attack her, and stop her from fully forming the Earth Web, then we¡¯ll be able to avoid being held down by it!¡±

    An Ying said decisively, ¡°Let¡¯s spread out and find them!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pan Tao said. ¡°You go with me. I¡¯ve got a special tool that can detect the movements of the Earth Web! We have the highest chance of finding them!¡± With that, he suddenly bolted away, not wishing to waste even one second.

    He knew very well that he had to separate Nie Tian from the others, so that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t expose his magical sensing ability.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Nie Tian rushed out after him.

    In a moment, the two of them were the first ones to run off into the distance.

    ¡°He¡¯s got a special tool...¡± Zheng Bin¡¯s expression flickered as an idea struck him. Then he called out, ¡°Since he can locate them, there¡¯s no need for us to split up! Let¡¯s just follow them!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!"

    As of this moment, trial takers from the three sects had all discarded their former differences, and stopped bothering about Pan Tao¡¯s unkind words. Like arrows, they shot towards the direction that Pan Tao and Nie Tian had left in.

    It only took a while for Nie Tian to catch up with Pan Tao. Every once in awhile, he would release his psychic awareness to determine the source of the blood streams.

    Pan Tao, on the other hand, kept calling out to the trial takers behind them, ¡°Keep your distance from us! Your fleshy aura will disrupt my searching device!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the trial takers, who had been gaining on them, gradually slowed down their pace to keep a sizable distance from them.

    After that, Nie Tian no longer worried about being discovered by the others. Using his psychic awareness to follow the blood streams, they gradually closed in on the source: Yu Tong.

 Chapter 76: The Blood Constraint!

    Yu Tong stood in the middle of the pile of dried up bones, holding the Blood Bead in her hand, casting her spell silently. A thick blood mist wreathed her curvaceous body.

    Blood strings shot out in every direction from beneath her feet, spreading out into the blood mist around her, causing scarlet-colored ancient scripts to appear within the aura that had been enveloping her.

    Moments ago, ten wooden barrels had flown out of her bracelet of holding, and had already been emptied onto the ground.

    The fresh blood within those wooden barrels was from second grade spirit beasts, and had also been meticulously refined through the use of the Blood sect¡¯s secret magics.

    Yu Tong used the Blood Bead to control the movement of the blood she had sent underground,pelling the blood streams to flow through the deepest part of the earth, towards the location of the Secret Dimension Gate.

    Face serious, Mo Xi, together with five disciples of the Blood sect and Ghost sect, were waiting for her to fully form the Earth Web.

    PUFF!

    All of a sudden, Yu Tong, who was in the midst of casting her spell, spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.

    The moment the blood made contact with the blood mist that had been swirling around her, it seemed to have be weightless, floating in the midst of the blood mist.

    One after another, the bloody characters were like shoals of flesh-eating fish that had sniffed out an bloody smell, converging and boring their way to the mouthful of fresh blood.

    In a second, the blood became translucent and sparkling, like a blood diamond, emanating deadly but beautiful lights.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself too far, Yu Tong!¡± Mo Xi eximed anxiously.

    Eyes narrowed, Yu Tong nced coldly at Mo Xi with her devilish, bloody pupils, but didn¡¯t open her mouth to speak.

    WHOOSH!

    The Blood Searching Compass suddenly flew out of her bracelet of holding,nding on the palm of her unupied hand.

    A blood-colored aura emerged from the tips of her slender fingers, pouring into the Blood Searching Compass, lighting up its dark-red surface.

    The blood spots, which represented the fluctuations of the flesh of living beings, were like stars in the night sky, sparkling into appearance on thepass one after the other.

    Yu Tong¡¯s eyes graduallyy on thepass. Instantly, the expression on her iparably gorgeous face changed drastically.

    ¡°They¡¯reing towards us!¡±

    Hearing her words, every one of the Blood sect and Ghost sect disciples were seized with nervousness, and immediately looked towards the surface of the Blood Searching Compass.

    Numerous blood spots were like tiny stars, slowly advancing on where they were standing.

    ¡°How did they find us?¡± Mo Xi asked angrily in a low voice.

    A Blood sect disciple said anxiously, ¡°Dammit! Senior martial sister is casting the spell, and now she¡¯s reached the most crucial moment. She definitely cannot be disturbed!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there isn¡¯t enough time for the Earth Web to fully form.¡±

    Begrudging hatred could be seen in Yu Tong¡¯s eyes.

    After a moment of hesitation, she took out three thumb-sized medicinal pills from her bracelet of holding.

    The color of the pills was dark-red, just like the Blood Searching Compass. The moment they showed up, the bloody scent surrounding Yu Tong became even more pronounced.

    ¡°Blood Strengthening Pills!¡± Mo Xi was shocked.

    ¡°No!¡± Other Blood sect disciples yelled to stop her.

    However, before they could do anything about it, Yu Tong had already swallowed them with lightning speed.

    Suddenly, something sinister could be seen on her beautiful face.

    At that moment, the Blood Bead she held tightly in her hand, as well as the blood she had spat out, simultaneously released an astonishing, bright, blood-colored light.

    ¡°We can only strike in advance!¡± Yu Tong bellowed, wrath filling her voice.

    ...

    Also at this moment, Nie Tian retracted his psychic awareness and quietly pointed in a direction for Pan Tao. ¡°They¡¯re over there. I can¡¯t be wrong.¡±

    Pan Tao felt assured before asking in a low voice, ¡°No need to hide it from the others?¡±

    Nie Tian briefly nodded his head.

    Pan Tao stopped for a moment, as he turned his head around, facing Zheng Bin, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others, and then pointed towards the direction that Nie Tian had indicated, shouting at the top of his lungs, ¡°I¡¯m certain that they are over there!¡±

    ¡°Hurry!¡±

    ¡°Go stop the witch¡¯s spell!¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t let her finish the Earth Web!¡±

    Everyone shouted out together, with the loudest being Zheng Bin, who couldn¡¯t wait any longer and suddenly surpassed Pan Tao and Nie Tian. He was the first to dash towards the location of Yu Tong.

    Li Xi from the Mystic Mist sect called out energetically, ¡°Kill the witch while she¡¯s casting the spell! As long as she¡¯s dead, the others won¡¯t be a threat!¡±

    After Yu Tong¡¯s location had been pinpointed, everyone grew excited, believing that as long as they could seize the opportunity to kill Yu Tong, they would then be able to eliminate the other Ghost sect and Blood sect disciples.

    As of this moment, the trial had already lost its priority. As long as they could kill Yu Tong, Mo Xi, and the others, they would definitely receive handsome rewards from the four sects.

    With bloodshot eyes, everyone shouted, ¡°Kill them! Kill them all!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, strange sounds resounded from the depths of the ground.

    In the next moment, countless blood strings, each one as thin as a hair, pierced out of the ground.

    It seemed as if rivers of blood were flowing out from under their feet. The pungent smell of blood suddenly pervaded the air.

    A strange, bloody maic field enveloped everyone as soon as those scarlet blood strings shot out from the earth.

    It was at that moment that Nie Tian sensed that his blood seemed to have stopped flowing.

    A strange, indescribably painful feeling burst out of every part of his body, making him feel as though he had sustained a heavy blow and couldn¡¯t move a bit.

    Astonished, he looked over towards An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, Pan Tao, and the others. Their faces all changed drastically as panic filled their eyes.

    He instantly realized that everyone on his side was just like him, influenced by the bloody maic field and held down by a strange force!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One after another, numerous blood strings pierced towards everyone, like sharp steel needles.

    Li Xi was the one who yelled the loudest. Nie Tian looked over and saw him staring at the approaching blood strings with wide eyes and a flushed face, yetpletely incapable of moving.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Three strands of blood prated into his chest, and shot out of his back.

    Li Xi¡¯s wide eyes lost their radiance as he died instantly.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A dozen more blood strings shot out from the earth, jabbing towards Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen.

    ¡°NO!¡±

    Nie Tian let out an explosive roar, like a wild beast, and his heart, which had previously seemed to stop beating, finally began to pump violently again.

    Momentster, he discovered that his previously stopped blood flow had returned to normal.

    SHEW!

    With a swift shift of his body, he narrowly dodged the blood strings that were piercing towards him.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    After his narrow escape from death, Nie Tian nced around and saw three more disciples of the Mystic Mist sect pierced through the torso by the blood strings.

    ¡°The witch has unleashed the Blood Constraint in advance!¡±

    Eyes extremely wide and red, Zheng Bin roared out as though he had gone mad, while tears seemed to be sshing out from his eyes.

    After breaking free from the strange forces that had been affecting his blood, Nie Tian suddenly heard Jiang Miao¡¯s cry. He turned to his side and saw four strands of scarlet light stabbing towards the back of Jiang Miao¡¯s neck.

    ¡°S-save me!¡±

    Without thinking, Nie Tian dashed to Jiang Miao¡¯s side at the fastest speed possible, and pulled her away before the strands of scarlet light could pierce into her neck.

    ¡°Save those around you!¡± Jiang Lingzhu cried out.

    An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Bin, who had also recovered their ability to move, rushed through the battlefield to help their fellow fighters to break free from the Blood Constraint.

    After saving Jiang Miao, Nie Tian studied the battlefield with rapt attention and a grim face, and found that everyone who had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining had already managed to break free from the Blood Constraint.

    He was the only one who was at the eighth level that managed to struggle free.

    In a sh, Li Xi and three other trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect had died by the countless blood strings.

    Only five of the Mystic Mist sect disciples were lucky enough to survive with Zheng Bin, An Ying, and Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s help.

    With a gaze filled with praise, An Ying looked deeply at Pan Tao, and said, ¡°Pan Tao! Your judgment was correct! This really is the Blood sect¡¯s forbidden technique: Earth Web! We¡¯re lucky you detected it beforehand! Otherwise, if the Earth Web was fully formed, none of us would be able to escape from the Blood Constraint!¡±

    It was exactly because the Earth Web was not yet fully condensed that Nie Tian, Jiang Lingzhu, and others had only been affected by it for a moment.

    Once it was fully formed, everyone who was enveloped within it would be bound by it permanently, except those whose cultivation level was higher than the person who had cast the spell.

    However, the one who had cast this spell was the witch, Yu Tong, a Qi warrior at the Lesser Heaven stage!

    In the entire Green Illusion dimension, she possessed the highest cultivation base. Not a single person was a match for her, let alone higher than her.

    This meant that once the Earth Web waspletely formed, everyone enveloped within would die tragically by her hands!

    ¡°Thank you for saving me again,¡± Jiang Miao said timidly.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to reply, An Ying yelled, ¡°Those who have escaped from the Blood Constraint, help people around you. The steel-needle-like blood strings haven¡¯t disappeared!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Just as she had expected, the strands of blood-colored light, after missing their targets, circled back and locked onto new targets, stabbing once more towards the crowd.

    The sky was filled with the interweaving scarlet strings. They took the shape of a blood in one second, and then spread out, turning into countless blood needles in the next second.

    ¡°Yee?!¡±

    All their attention concentrated, everyone was preparing to defend against the attacks of the blood strings, when their expressions suddenly flickered.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    To their surprise, all of the countless blood strings took a sudden turned and headed towards Nie Tian.

    At this moment, it seemed that Nie Tian had be their one and only target.

    Everyone was still poised and uptight, only to be bbergasted by the scene in front of their eyes.

    They didn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian was such a big threat to the extent that he had actually attracted the raging attacks of the all the blood strings to himself.

    ¡°What... What did he do to Yu Tong?¡±

    Knowing that Yu Tong was the controller of the scarlet blood strings, the same question simultaneously surfaced in the hearts of everyone present.

 Chapter 77: The Insane Yu Tong!

    As the sky-filling, scarlet blood strings pierced madly towards Nie Tian, Yu Tong suddenly let out a hysterical screech.

    ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re DEAD!!!¡±

    Knowing that her position had already been exposed, Yu Tong acted even more boldly, and with a screech, she vented out the enormous hatred she had towards him.

    By now, Nie Tian and the others were only a few hundred meters away from her.

    Those who had escaped the attacks of the blood threads suddenly experienced excruciating pain in their eardrums, as if they had been stabbed by Yu Tong¡¯s screech. Their expressions flickered as they looked at Nie Tian with an extremely strange gaze.

    Jiang Lingzhu was confused. ¡°What did this guy do to piss off Yu Tong so much that she abandoned everyone else just to kill him?¡±

    By this point, all the trial takers who hadn¡¯t reached the ninth level of Qi Refining had also broken free from the Blood Constraint.

    Jiang Miao¡¯s blood flow had also returned to normal.

    Nie Tian cursed inwardly, ¡°God damn! This woman has gone insane!¡±

    Seeing the innumerable blood strings shifting between different patterns, while simultaneously chasing after him and him alone, he could only move as fast as he could to dodge them.

    The sky-filling blood strings were like sharks that had caught a whiff of the smell of blood, swimming about in midair and chasing after Nie Tian.

    The other trial takers, on the other hand, had been nkly staring at Nie Tian, who was constantly dodging the blood strings that were hot on his tail.

    Jiang Lingzhu was the first to snap back to reality and said, ¡°What are we waiting for? Come on, we¡¯ve got to help him!¡±

    Upon these words, all the trial takers rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s side, and made every effort to cut the blood strings.

    However, they were so numerous and so tough that even though everyone drew power from their spiritual tools, it was still hard to cut even one blood thread.

    On the other side, Mo Xi from the Ghost sect called out with a dour expression on his face, ¡°Yu Tong, what are you doing?!¡±

    One of the Blood sect disciples stared at Yu Tong as if she were a ghost. ¡°Senior martial sister, what¡¯s happening? I¡¯ve never seen you hate a person so much! You haven¡¯t suffered a bacsh from the Earth Web and fallen into a state of Qi deviation, have you? Using all the blood to build up an Earth Web just to attack a single person. Isn¡¯t it a bit irrational?¡±

    The other disciples from the Blood sect and Ghost sect also felt puzzled, looking over towards Yu Tong, whose eyes were now filled with insanity.

    They couldn¡¯t fathom what Nie Tian had done to anger Yu Tong so much that the always rational Yu Tong turned into such a mad and violent person?

    ¡°It¡¯s my problem! I don¡¯t have to exin it to you!¡± Yu Tong clenched her teeth, the bloody light in her eyes zing like a torch.

    With these words, she took out another two Blood Strengthening Pills from her bracelet of holding, and recklessly swallowed them to stimte her potential.

    ¡°You¡¯re insane!¡± Mo Xi¡¯s face turned pale with fright.

    He knew perfectly clear that Blood Strengthening Pills could give a short and violent boost to a Blood sect disciple¡¯s strength, however the burden it ced on the body was too great. Every Blood Strengthening Pill she consumed would inflict a huge amount of damage to herself.

    In order to form the Earth Web as soon as possible, Yu Tong had already swallowed three Blood Strengthening Pills, which was the limit of a Lesser Heaven stage Qi warrior.

    With another two, it wouldn¡¯t be long before she sustained severe damage and copsed, losing all battle power.

    Admittedly, the Blood Strengthening Pills could enhance her Qi and power as well as the potential of her fleshy body to an astonishing extent, in a very short period time. However, the price... would be half a year of secluded meditation!

    As of this moment, Mo Xi gradually realized why Yu Tong had insisted on fighting despite their significant disadvantage in numbers. The reason she spared no cost to gather power and form the Earth Web was definitely not just to fulfill the trial mission.

    Her true motive was to kill Nie Tian!

    The trial and the mission had already lost all meaning. The only thing in her head now was the desire to ughter Nie Tian!

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± With a loud and furious roar, Mo Xi bolted forward from Yu Tong¡¯s side. ¡°All of you, stay here and protect Yu Tong!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless scarlet blood threads flew about in the empty sky, like blood-colored meteors that plummeted towards Nie Tian.

    The dreadful smell of blood suddenly surged up in the air around Nie Tian, making him want to vomit with every breath he took.

    At the same time, a bloody maic field seemed to have gradually formed again, identical to the previous one.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Blood Constraint again?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed slightly as he realized that Yu Tong had given up on binding everyone with the Earth Web. Instead, she was now concentrating all of her power on him alone.

    Apparently, Yu Tong no longer cared about the others¡¯ lives; she only wished to kill Nie Tian before he could leave the Green Illusion dimension.

    Jiang Lingzhu brandished her thin, dark-golden sword, shing apart one blood string after another as she tried to approach Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian! Be careful! That witch can¡¯t use the Blood Constraint to bind all of us since it wasn¡¯tpletely formed. However, if she uses the Blood Constraint on you alone, it will still work.¡±

    However, there were simply too many blood strings chasing after Nie Tian. Even adding in An Ying and the others, the blood strings that they had destroyed weren¡¯t even ten percent of the total number.

    WHOOSH!

    In an instant, the spread-out blood strings once again interweaved with one another, morphing into a gigantic scarlet.

    The intersection point of the blood strings released brilliant, blood-colored light, and when the enormous scarlet swooped towards Nie Tian, scarlet inscriptions appeared inside the mesh of the.

    It was at this very moment that Yu Tong bellowed from hundreds of meters away, her voice full of hatred, ¡°Blood Constraint!!!¡±

    Nie Tian, who was attempting to escape from the scarlet, suddenly felt an abnormal change in his blood flow. Instantly, he was held down where he stood, no longer able to move a single step.

    The scarlet web of blood seized the opportunity and swooped down, wrapping Nie Tian up.

    Affected by the Blood Constraint, Nie Tian could only watch the as it trapped him.

    In the next moment, a heart-wrenching pain spread out from every single piece of flesh on him.

    He instantly realized that the giant was contracting unceasingly, as the numerous blood strings that constituted the began to slice into his skin and flesh.

    It felt like innumerable arrows piercing his heart. He could actually feel the blood strings cutting into his flesh and prating his veins.

    His blood was being pulled at by a great suction force, streaming into those blood threads.

    It seemed as if the countless blood strings had turned into bloodsucking leeches, drinking his blood greedily, and his robust physique gradually shriveled due to massive blood loss.

    Pan Tao let out an explosive shout. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    As An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others rushed over to help him, they were met with frantic attacks from the scattered blood strings that roamed around him.

    After tearing apart a few blood strings, Zheng Bin suddenly stopped.

    ¡°He¡¯s totally trapped this time! Yu Tong is using the Blood Sect¡¯s blood refining art to refine his blood!¡±

    Eyes fill with pity, he stared at Nie Tian and said calmly, ¡°He¡¯s dead for sure. With our cultivation base, we won¡¯t be able to stop the blood refining spell. Instead of wasting our energy on him, we might as well track down the source of the spell, and kill that witch as quickly as we can, to stop her from hurting others.¡±

    Without waiting for the others to give their consent, Zheng Bin instructed the survivors from the Mystic Mist sect, ¡°Follow me! Let¡¯s take advantage of this moment and kill that witch to avenge Nie Tian. Get her while she¡¯s distracted from using the blood refining spell!¡±

    With these words, he abandoned Nie Tian and charged forward.

    All the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect took orders from him, thus upon hearing his orders, they could only look sadly towards Nie Tian before dashing off.

    ¡°Help him!¡± Pan Tao cried. ¡°He can be saved!¡±

    However, Zheng Bin and the others from the Mystic Mist sect simply ignored him.

    Even An Ying looked deeply at Nie Tian, who was gradually wasting away, before shaking her head. ¡°Zheng Bin is right,¡± she said softly. ¡°Nie Tian... won¡¯t make it. We shouldn¡¯t waste too much energy on him. Yu Tong is the crucial factor that determines whether we win or lose.¡±

    With these words, she also stopped chopping at the blood strings, and dashed after the Mystic Mist sect disciples.

    Seeing her leaving, Zheng Rui also departed without uttering a word.

    Only Jiang Lingzhu, Nie Xian, Jiang Miao, and the outraged Pan Tao stayed by Nie Tian¡¯s side, sparing no effort to sh the scarlet blood strings, still hoping to save his life.

 Chapter 78: Begrudging!

    Unfortunately, the unyielding effort of Pan Tao and the other three didn¡¯t seem to be of much help to Nie Tian.

    The countless blood strings were packed like dense, tenacious weeds, and they were also iparably tough. Even if Zheng Bin and the others had helped, it would still be hard to cut apart all of them.

    Besides, seeing that Nie Tian had no hope of surviving, Zheng Bin and the others had already left decisively.

    Wrapped up in the Earth Web, Nie Tian was gradually drying up. Even his pupils... gradually turned empty and dark.

    The blood strings, on the contrary, seemed to be increasingly thicker and brighter after absorbing more and more of his blood.

    ¡°Save him!¡± Jiang Miao sobbed. ¡°Hurry and save him!¡± Her sharp sword shed through the air as she spared not the slightest effort to cut apart the blood threads.

    Nie Xian, who was also from the Nie n, didn¡¯t say a word. His expression was grim as he hacked away like a machine.

    From the look of it, he also believed that Nie Tian didn¡¯t have much time left, and he was only doing his best clear his conscience and remain guilt-free in the future.

    Meanwhile, Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s face was filled with pity. In her opinion, if the outstanding Nie Tian died in the Green Illusion dimension, it would be a huge waste.

    She nned to bring out all she had, and leave everything else to the heavens. Truthfully, she didn¡¯t hold her hopes very high either.

    After all, she knew how terrifying the Blood sect¡¯s blood refining art was.

    It was at this moment that the shouts of An Ying and Zheng Bin echoed out from not far away, as they met the angry Mo Xi halfway along their charge towards Yu Tong.

    ¡°Mo Xi!¡±

    ¡°You actually dare toe over!!¡±

    ¡°Kill Mo Xi first!¡±

    The two parties immediately engaged in fierce battle.

    Hearing the sounds of the battle, Jiang Lingzhu frowned and looked deeply at Nie Tian. With a sigh, she said, ¡°We really are losing him.¡±

    By this time, Nie Tian already looked horrifically shriveled, as if he had beenpletely drained of blood and liquid.

    At some point along the line, he had closed his eyes, and had even stopped breathing. Other than the faint heartbeat echoing out from his chest, he was no different from a dead man.

    The blood strings, however, grew increasingly thicker and more radiant.

    Face dour, Jiang Lingzhu shook her head. ¡°Pan Tao, let¡¯s not wait any more. I also want to save him, but he¡¯s... he¡¯s dying. With our strength, we can¡¯t stop Yu Tong¡¯s blood refining art. If you really want to save him, kill Yu Tong, the spellcaster. That¡¯s the only way. If we can kill Yu Tong soon enough, perhaps... he¡¯ll still have a chance to live.¡±

    With bloodshot eyes, Pan Tao gritted his teeth and yelled, ¡°Yu Tong! Let¡¯s kill her!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go!" Nie Xian eximed.

    Jiang Lingzhu also nodded her head. Finally, she chose not to waste more time, and led Pan Tao and Nie Xian to join Zheng Bin and the others.

    By doing that, Jiang Lingzhu had actually dered Nie Tian¡¯s death in her heart.

    She knew perfectly well that Nie Tian might only have half a minute to live, and there was absolutely no way that they could kill the Blood sect¡¯s Yu Tong in such a short period of time.

    After Pan Tao, Nie Xian, and Jiang Lingzhu left, Jiang Miao was the only one who stayed by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Jiang Miao had also stopped cutting away the blood strings. She just stood close to Nie Tian, trying her best to refrain from sobbing, as she stared nkly towards him.

    She knew that her strength was limited. Even if she followed Pan Tao and the others, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to provide much help.

    She might as well just gaze at Nie Tian quietly before he died.

    But then, Jiang Miao suddenly let out a soft cry, and covered her mouth. ¡°Ah!¡±

    After everyone had left, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open, and the desire to live suddenly shot out from within them!

    THUMP THUMP!

    His originally extremely weak heartbeat suddenly grew iparably vigorous, and the desire to live in his eyes gradually turned into begrudging violence!

    He was unwilling to die in such a ce!

    THUMP THUMP! THUMP THUMP THUMP!

    As Nie Tian¡¯s heartbeat became increasingly strong, Jiang Miao watched him open his mouth, as if he were roaring soundlessly.

    Wrath filled his face, as he seemed to be forcing something inside of him to burst out.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    For no apparent reason, the blood strings that had cut into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh suddenly started to twitch.

    After absorbing Nie Tian¡¯s blood, they had be powerful and thick, but now they were shrinking down at a speed visible to the naked eye!

    Nie Tian¡¯s shriveled body seemed like an inting balloon, expanding rapidly!

    ROOOOAR!

    A berserk howl escaped from Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. He threw his head back and inhaled air inrge gasps, as if he was going to swallow the entire sky into his belly.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The mesh of the Blood Web which had trapped him, suddenly split apart, and the blood strings that had cut into his flesh seemed to have detected something, and attempted to retract from his body.

    ¡°This is....¡±

    Jiang Miao, who was staring nkly at Nie Tian, didn¡¯t know what was happening. It seemed like those blood threads were scared of something.

    Moments ago, the blood strings covering Nie Tian¡¯s entire body had been as thick as a finger, but now they suddenly shriveled down to their original size, and became as thin as a hair.

    SHEW!

    A blood string that had been strangling Nie Tian seemed to be pulled by a mysterious force, and suddenly disappeared into his neck!

    Shock stretched across Jiang Miao¡¯s face.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Secondster, more blood strings, that had originally cut into Nie Tian¡¯s skin, disappeared into his flesh.

    It was as if countless invisible hands were pulling every single one of the blood strings into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Meanwhile, Jiang Miao was taken aback by the incredible scene, as she wondered what was happening to Nie Tian.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The scarlet blood strings that hadn¡¯t cut into Nie Tian madly twisted while letting out shrieking sounds, as if they were trying to break away from Nie Tian.

    At that moment, the previously savage and terrifying blood strings seemed to have seen a ghost, as they only wished to flee.

    However, Nie Tian was still roaring and taking inrge gulps of air.

    With his inhtions, the blood strings that were attempting to break free from him seemed to be forcibly held down by an enormous ma, and were stuck firmly to his body.

    They seemed to be continuously tightening under the formidable suction, as they gradually cut into Nie Tian¡¯s skin.

    However, after piercing into Nie Tian¡¯s skin, the blood strings seemed to slowly melt down and merge with his flesh.

    The blood threads, which had previously bared their fangs and brandished their ws as they madly attacked everyone, were now screaming as they tried to struggle free at all costs.

    However, as Nie Tian breathed, the blood threads seemed to be ruthlessly sucked inward and absorbed into his body, one by one.

    Very quickly, not only did Nie Tian¡¯s body return to normal, but he also glowed with a red light, and seemed even stronger than before.

    At the same time, an intense bloody scent spread out from him, making Jiang Miao, who was standing beside him, tremble in fear.

    ¡°What... What happened to you?¡± Jiang Miao asked timidly.

    At this moment, a scarlet, bloody aura was unleashed from Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, which condensed and took form of two bloody, sharp swords.

    He nced at Jiang Miao and blurted, ¡°Guard me and don¡¯t tell anyone about what you saw.¡±

    ¡°Oh, okay." Jiang Miao replied hastily.

    WHOOH! Nie Tian took a deep breath.

    Thest remaining blood strings around him were pulled into his body and forcibly absorbed.

    By this point, the blood strings that Yu Tong had refined with the second grade spirit beasts¡¯ blood, had beenpletely absorbed into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh.

    POOH!

    It was also at that moment that Yu Tong, who was being guarded by the Ghost sect and Blood sect, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and passed out.

    Upon seeing that Yu Tong went unconscious, the disciples from the Ghost sect and Blood sect immediately gave up on the idea of continuing to stay in the Green Illusion dimension, and their expressions changed drastically.

    ¡°Senior martial sister!¡±

    ¡°Yu Tong suffered from the bacsh of the forbidden technique, Earth Web!¡±

    ¡°Dammit! From now on, she¡¯ll be of no help at all, and in fact, a big burden!¡±

    ¡°By now, our mission in the Green Illusion dimension has trulye to an end.¡±

    ¡°Tell Mo Xi to retreat! Otherwise, we¡¯re all going to die here!¡±

 Chapter 79: Youre Still Alive?!

    The moment they saw their strongest leader, Yu Tong, pass out, the disciples from the Ghost Sect and Blood Sect lost their fighting spirit.

    They also shouted loudly to inform Mo Xi to return.

    At this time, Mo Xi was still under siege, with numerous sinister and terrifying ghost shadows hovering around him, as he continuously attacked An Ying and the others.

    Mo Xi originally nned to break through the defenses of An Ying and the others, and then kill Nie Tian. However, he quickly found out that he couldn¡¯t possibly aplish the job single-handedly.

    When he heard the urgent criesing from behind him, he realized that Yu Tong had suffered from a bacsh, and could no longer help them secure victory.

    As a matter of fact, he had long since realized that, regardless of whether Yu Tong could kill Nie Tian or not, she wouldn¡¯t be able to quickly recover after consuming five Blood Strengthening Pills, and would inevitably drag them down.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you all next time!¡± Mo Xi bellowed, causing the sinister ghouls around him to suddenly expand, split up, and bite towards Zheng Bin and the others.

    Mo Xi¡¯s figure flickered quickly, as if he had morphed into a weightless ghost, floating rapidly back to where he hade from.

    When he rejoined his group, he saw that a disciple of the Blood Sect had already hefted Yu Tong onto his back.

    Without even the slightest hesitation, Mo Xi gave the order and led the remaining disciples from the Ghost sect and Blood sect towards the cier area.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! "

    Soon after he was gone, the ferocious ghouls that had been biting towards the crowd gradually turned fuzzy, and secondster, vanished into thin air.

    ¡°Chase them down!¡± Zheng Bin said, gritting his teeth.

    An Ying also called out, ¡°The witch from the Blood sect must be in trouble. If not, Mo Xi would never retreat! Let¡¯s take the opportunity and kill them while Yu Tong can¡¯t fight, and avenge our fallen teammates!¡±

    ¡°Kill them all!¡±

    They soon reached an agreement and ran after Mo Xi and his group, hoping to annihte all the disciples of the Ghost sect and Blood sect in the Green Illusion dimension.

    On the other hand, Jiang Miao was still staring at Nie Tian with aplicated look in her eyes.

    Wordlessly, Nie Tian sat down on the ground, and closed his eyes. In the next moment, raging fluctuations of Qi and blood emerged from within him.

    His skin continuously emanated a bloody aura, which was like a dense mist of blood that enveloped him, making him appear somewhat unfathomable.

    He almost looked like a balloon, constantly inting and deting. He would growrge in one second, and shrink down in the next.

    Jiang Miao had no clue about what was happening to Nie Tian, but she knew for a fact that even Yu Tong¡¯s Earth Web had failed to kill him.

    Nie Tian, who had been deemed doomed by An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others, was now breathing evenly with a heartbeat that was stronger than ever.

    He was actually emanating a life force that was even more vigorous than before he was trapped by the Earth Web!

    ¡°Such a strange guy...¡± Jiang Miao whispered.

    At this time, Nie Tian suddenly felt incredibly hot, as if he had turned into a furnace. Every single meridian and vein inside of him seemed to be violently expanding and contracting.

    Even he didn¡¯t understand what was going on. He only knew that when he had been on the verge of being drained of all his blood by those scarlet blood strings, his heartbeat suddenly elerated.

    And at that moment, he had begrudgingly attempted to reverse the desperate situation by forcibly stopping the outflow of his blood.

    He had actually done it!

    When his heart began pounding in a violent and unfathomable way, he suddenly sensed that an unknown force had surged up within his heart.

    The moment that force was unleashed, his blood, together with the blood that he had absorbed from the scarlet blood strings, seemed to have suddenly reached a resonance with his heart.

    It was at that time the blood that had previously been sucked out of him was pulled fiercely back into his veins.

    Not only that, even the scarlet blood strings themselves were also dragged into his body.

    He wasn¡¯t aware of how much Yu Tong had gone through to create the scarlet blood strings. She used the Blood sect¡¯s unique Blood Refining Technique to refine the blood of a second grade spirit beast, and after several days of unrelenting effort, she eventually formed a deadly weapon that carried rich Qi and blood.

    He only knew that those countless blood strings contained copious Qi and blood, which was currently being forcibly channeled into his veins, and merging with his blood!

    As he took multiple deep breaths, his blood vessels expanded, and his body bulked up, which seemed to have been caused by the fact that his blood had greedily absorbed the blood and Qi in those scarlet blood strings.

    Soon, his body seemed to have turned into a giant melting pot, and started to refine the considerable amount of blood and Qi contained in the blood of the second grade spirit beast. After numerous rounds of refinement, theypletely merged with his own blood, and started to nourish his body.

    During this process, he used his psychic awareness to examine himself, and found that some mysterious, unknown symbols were shing within his blood. However, only a secondter, they disappeared.

    Then he could faintly sense that his blood waspletely out of the ordinary!

    However, the secrets within seemed to be concealed extremely deeply, and wouldn¡¯t be unveiled unless Nie Tian was in a desperate situation.

    His cultivation base was still poor, and he was still far from strong enough to explore the secrets in his blood.

    From the look of it, what had happened inside of him was merely the first step in unlocking the secrets inside of him.

    Even though he harbored doubts in his heart, he didn¡¯t interfere with the unusual urrence inside of him. Instead, he opened up his mind and let his body operate in such a unique way.

    Meanwhile, he himself seemed to have be an outsider, as he used his soul to quietly observe what was going on.

    After an unknown period of time, he gradually realized that the blood and Qi that had originated from the blood strings hadpletely disappeared into his blood.

    His exceptionally fast heartbeat returned to normal, and he no longer released a misty, bloody aura.

    He secretly examined himself again, discovering that the blood that was flowing inside of him had already calmed down, and he no longer experienced any anomalies.

    The spiritual sea in his dantian hadn¡¯t changed at all due to the fact that it received none of the energy that hady within the scarlet blood strings.

    Neither had his psychic strength be enhanced because of it. However, he knew that something had changed in his blood.

    Only, he couldn¡¯t tell what had changed after his heartbeat returned to normal.

    After another thorough examination, he was convinced that everything was back on track, so then he opened his eyes.

    Jiang Miao was staring at him, confusion and curiosity written across her face. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake!¡± It seemed that she was waiting for him to give a reasonable exnation.

    ¡°Thank you for guarding me,¡± he said with a smile.

    Jiang Miao was somehow embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s only fair for me to do that. You saved me twice, yet I did nothing of the kind. The only thing I could do was to stay by your side and watch over you. I thought...¡±

    She was going to say, I thought you wouldn¡¯t make it, and only wished to have one more nce of you before you died. However, seeing how radiant Nie Tian was now, like nothing had ever happened, she snapped her mouth shut.

    It was only at this point that Nie Tian took a serious look at Jiang Miao for the first time.

    She had a baby face, and a pair of big bright eyes. Her garments were dark green, and she always sounded timid when she spoke, as if she were a rabbit that might be scared off at any moment.

    Jiang Miao¡¯s appearance was only slightly above average, not as outstanding as An Ying and Jiang Lingzhu. However, she was very good-natured, unlike the other two, who always hid their intentions.

    Although Jiang Miao was probably older than him by a year, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but view her as an innocent little sister.

    ¡°It¡¯s all because of the different living environments...¡± he sighed inwardly.

    Ever since he was little, he had always lived under the shadow of the internal struggles of the n. He was there when Nie Donghai lost his power; he knew how much his loving aunt had suffered; he pulled through when Nie Hong, Nie Yuan, and other n members picked on him...

    Compared to his peers, he was much more mature. He had long sincee to understand that Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had ced great hopes on him.

    From the start, he had always worked hard when no one was watching, silently harboring the hope that he could cure his grandfather¡¯s injury and seek justice for his aunt one day.

    Jiang Miao, on the other hand, had been a flower raised in a greenhouse, who had always been cherished and protected by everyone, and had never experienced the ugly side of human nature.

    To her, the Green Illusion dimension trial was the biggest blow she had received in her entire life.

    Her cozy environment of the past had turned her into a sheep. Perhaps she would gradually change after the trial and learn how dangerous the world really was.

    Nie Tian weighed over his choice of words before calmly saying, ¡°I¡¯m fine. It seems that the witchcked power at the crucial moment, which caused her to suffer from a bacsh. And then, the blood that was originally sucked out of me suddenly returned. So I used my own method to slowly channel it back into my limbs. I¡¯m fully recovered now.¡±

    Jiang Miao nodded. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s good that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    However, she knew very well that the exnation Nie Tian had given was absolutely not the truth.

    Even though she was convinced that he was hiding something, and was extremely curious about what it was, she chose to be smart and not inquire further.

    The two of them chatted there, waiting for An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others to return.

    After a long time passed, Pan Tao, An Ying, and the others appeared on the distant horizon.

    Pan Tao caught sight of him from hundreds of meters away, and immediately let out an incredulous shout.

    ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re still alive?!¡±

 Chapter 80: The Trial Ends

    ¡°He¡¯s still alive?!!¡±

    Zheng Bin stood there, staring aghast at Nie Tian.

    An Ying and Jiang Lingzhu seemed as if they had seen a ghost, and could scarcely believe their own eyes.

    The Lesser Heaven stage Yu Tong had clearly used the Blood sect¡¯s forbidden technique, Earth Web, to trap Nie Tian and start to refine his blood.

    When they left, Nie Tian was already on the verge of dying. In fact, he hadn¡¯t even been breathing. The only thing that was standing between him and death¡¯s door was his weakening heartbeat.

    How could Nie Tian have survived a situation like that?!

    Every one of them found it hard to believe.

    Pan Tao was the first to rush to Nie Tian¡¯s side. He circled around Nie Tian a few times, examining him carefully. After confirming that there was nothing wrong with him, he punched his shoulder heartily and blurted, ¡°You little brat, how did you survive?!¡±

    That was the the question that everyone wanted to ask.

    At that time, everyone who had run after the people from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect had returned to Nie Tian¡¯s side, and were staring at him with eyes wide, waiting for him to give an exnation.

    Nie Tian forced augh and said, ¡°The witch proved to be her own undoing.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Pan Tao.

    ¡°She seemed to have suffered from a bacsh when she was casting the blood refining technique.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression was the same as ever. With a calm tone, he continued, ¡°If she had managed to pull through, every drop of my blood would have been drained and refined. However, using the Earth Web with her Lesser Heaven cultivation base seems to be a bit beyond her.

    ¡°I sensed that when she was refining my fresh blood, something suddenly went wrong, and then she immediately lost all power.

    ¡°Since she could no longer continue with her spell, the blood that had been removed from my body gradually flowed back inside of me. Those countless scarlet blood strings also exploded into pieces, turning into a bloody mist as they slowly dissipated.¡±

    As Nie Tian spoke, Jiang Miao, who was standing next to him, had a subtle, strange look in her eyes, since this exnation of his was clearly different from the one he had given her.

    ording to him, those scarlet blood strings had exploded, but Jiang Miao had clearly watched as the numerous blood strings, which contained rich blood and Qi, had actually disappeared into him, where they seemed to have been refined by Nie Tian.

    Fortunately, Jiang Miao harbored gratitude towards him, and thus didn¡¯t expose his secrets.

    After he gave the exnation, thoughtful expressions could be seen on everyone¡¯s faces. Some believed him, while the others... secretly doubted the authenticity of the words. Among thattter group were An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, Pan Tao, and Zheng Bin.

    Those who truly understood the profound mysteries of the Blood sect¡¯s blood refinement technique all knew that once the technique was started, even if Yu Tong had indeed suffered from a bacsh, it still wouldn¡¯t stop.

    Even if Yu Tong had died, the blood refinement technique would stillst long enough for Nie Tian to die tragically due to excessive blood loss.

    At the very least, it was impossible for the fresh blood that had been previously extracted from Nie Tian to flow back on its own.

    In short, it was definitely impossible for him to havee out unscathed. Even if he somehow survived, he shouldn¡¯t be as radiant as he was now.

    Seeing that everyone remained silent, with some of them looking at him with puzzled expressions, Nie Tian hurriedly changed the subject. ¡°How about you guys? Did you catch up to them and kill them all?¡±

    Pan Tao smiled bitterly. ¡°No. Mo Xi, the witch, and two others escaped. We chased them for a while and killed three of the rear guards.

    ¡°The weird thing is that Mo Xi and the others seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

    ¡°If we could have killed Mo Xi and that witch, at least we would be able to justify ourselves to our elders after we leave the Green Illusion dimension.¡± With that, he sighed regretfully.

    Yu Tong sustained severe injuries, leaving Mo Xi as the only powerful enemy, but still they failed to take them out in spite of that. This left them all with a sour taste in their mouths.

    The others also felt that they were useless, thus no one spoke to defend themselves.

    Finally, An Ying spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s about time to go. Let¡¯s head to the Secret Dimension Gate. ording to my calctions, the trial is going to end soon. We¡¯ll only need to rough it out for a few more days. Let¡¯s feast when we¡¯re out of the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    Everyone nodded in assent.

    It was at this point that Zheng Bin suddenly turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°We... thought you¡¯d die for sure, and only then did we leave. We didn¡¯t know you could make it. Otherwise, we would have stayed and helped you.¡±

    An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and Nie Xian also looked at him with apologetic looks on their faces.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, didn¡¯t take it seriously. He knew that Zheng Bin and the others¡¯ decision was a wise one. If not for his inexplicable uniqueness, it would have been absolutely impossible for him to survive.

    They knew nothing about it, therefore abandoning a doomed person and trying to turn the situation around by killing Yu Tong wasn¡¯t wrong in the slightest.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°I won¡¯t me you guys. You did nothing wrong.¡±

    Pan Tao patted him on his shoulder and amiably said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you survived. Haven¡¯t you be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect yet, you little punk?¡±

    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said truthfully. ¡°My cultivation base isn¡¯t good enough yet.¡±

    Pan Tao nodded and chuckled, a meaningful look in his eyes.

    Jiang Lingzhu was sizing Nie Tian up as she listened in on Nie Tian and Pan Tao¡¯s conversation. Her expression flickered, as though she had understood the meaning behind Pan Tao¡¯s words. She instantly said in a loud voice, ¡°Don¡¯t even think about trying to recruit Nie Tian! Pan Tao, let me assure you, Nie Tian is joining the Cloudsoaring sect, if not sooner, then definitelyter. You¡¯d better give up your little scheme!¡±

    Pan Tao rubbed his nose. ¡°Your sect sets the rules and insists that disciples from the subordinate ns should reach the ninth level of Qi Refining before they can be admitted. Our sect, however, isn¡¯t that rigid. Nie Tian is like a brother to me now. We survived many desperate situations together. I¡¯ll definitely rmend him to the Spiritual Treasure sect after we leave the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way you can seed!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said, her voice firm and tough.

    Pan Tao burst intoughter. ¡°Haha, let¡¯s see.¡±

    The Secret Dimension Gate would be opened in a few days. Yu Tong had sustained severe injuries, and only three disciples from the Ghost sect and Blood sect were still in fighting condition.

    From the look of it, the Ghost sect and the Blood sect could no longer pose a threat to them.

    Convinced that they would be able to make it out of the Green Illusion dimension, Pan Tao loosened up, and had already started to think over the matters regarding after they had left the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°Yeah, we will see!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said, not willing to back down in the slightest.

    For the next few days, Nie Tian and the trial takers from the three sects remained by the Secret Dimension Gate, quietly waiting for it to open.

    Since the gate was about to open and there weren¡¯t any spirit beasts in the vicinity, they chose to simply endure the hunger.

    Five days passed...

    Everyone was pale, skinny, and feeling dizzy from starvation. But then, strong waves of spiritual power fluctuations emanated from within the stone wall on the mountain.

    ¡°The gate is open!¡± Excitement spread out on everyone¡¯s face.

    Soon, the smooth stone wall turned into a bright mirror.

    ¡°Everybody, let¡¯s leave in orderly fashion!¡±

    Upon An Ying¡¯smand, the starving crowd followed one another into the Secret Dimension Gate.

    Beside theke in the marsnd...

    An Shiyi from the Spiritual Treasure sect, Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect, Sang Bing from the Grayvale sect, and Dowager Weng were chatting as they looked towards the vortex in theke center.

    Sang Bing tilted his chin up and said to An Shiyi, ¡°Assuming there were no mishaps, the Frost Python most likely was ughtered by Yuan Feng. If that¡¯s the case, don¡¯t you be petty, kid. That Heaven Comprehending Pill must be handed over ording to the rules.¡±

    A charming smile appeared on An Shiyi¡¯s face. ¡°How do you know that Yuan Feng killed the Frost Python?¡±

    Sang Bing chuckled up. ¡°Neither your sister An Ying, nor Zheng Bin or Jiang Lingzhu, have truly gone through trials and hardships. But we¡¯ve trained Yuan Feng with harsh circumstances. We even brought him with us when we battled with the Ghost sect. He has been baptized by blood. The Green Illusion dimension trial will have been a piece of cake for him.¡±

    ¡°Oh really,¡± replied Li Fan, sounding a bit sarcastic. ¡°Then I very much want to see whether he can bring back the Frost Python¡¯s head.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Sang Bing sounded full of confidence.

    ¡°They¡¯reing out!¡± said Dowager Weng.

    With her words, Zheng Bin and the trial takers from the Mystic Mist sect emerged from within the whirlpool.

    After them were Jiang Lingzhu and Nie Xian. An Ying, Pan Tao, Nie Tian, and Zheng Rui were thest to walk out.

    ¡°Those whoe outst always have the greatest gains.¡± Face joyful, Sang Bingughed out loud, as if Yuan Feng was going to walk out of the whirlpool in the next second, with the Frost Python¡¯s head in his hand.

    However, afterughing for awhile, he realized that after everyone had gone ashore, Yuan Feng still hadn¡¯t showed up.

    He immediately packed away hisughter. Brow slightly furrowed, he said, ¡°Could it be that Yuan Feng and his group didn¡¯t get to the stone wall when the Secret Dimension Gate opened?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu went over to Li Fan and said, ¡°Yuan Feng is noting back. He¡¯s not the only one. No one from the Grayvale sect will being back either..¡±

    "What?!" Sang Bing¡¯s face changed drastically.

 Chapter 81: Temporary Departure

    ¡°The Ghost sect and the Blood sect invaded the Green Illusion dimension...¡± Jiang Lingzhu said with a sigh. ¡°We¡¯re the only survivors.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, the faces of An Shiyi, Li Fan, Sang Bing, and Dowager Weng all fell.

    ¡°The Ghost sect!!! The Blood sect!!!¡± Sang Bing let out a raging roar that could shake Heaven and Earth.

    Yuan Feng had been treated as a core disciple of the Grayvale sect. They had poured a huge amount of medicinal pills and spiritual tools on him, and raised him to be the future leader of the Grayvale sect.

    In their eyes, Yuan Feng was far more important than Yun Song and the other eight participants!

    Yuan Feng¡¯s death was absolutely uneptable to them!

    Standing among the crowd, Nie Tian felt guilty as he looked over at the howling Sang Bing.

    Then, he quietly nced at Jiang Lingzhu, his heart full of gratefulness.

    He knew that if Jiang Lingzhu hadn¡¯t taken that banner, Sang Bing from the Grayvale sect would have sensed its existence the moment he stepped out of the Green Illusion dimension.

    The more furious and violent Sang Bing became, the clearer he understood, if the secret of him killing Yuan Feng was exposed, what kind of wrath he would have to bear from the Grayvale sect.

    That wasn¡¯t even mentioning that he wasn¡¯t an official disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect yet. However even if he was, he still couldn¡¯t possibly escape his doom.

    ¡°An Ying, where are the people from the Ghost sect and Blood sect now?¡± An Shiyi asked hurriedly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± An Ying said with a wry smile. ¡°We chased and killed some of them right before the gate opened, but the rest... somehow disappeared. And we couldn¡¯t find any trace of them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll make them pay!¡± Roaring, Sang Bing bolted into the whirlpool, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    After hearing about the appearance of the Ghost sect and Blood sect in the Green Illusion dimension, Dowager Weng from the Mystic Mist sect also lost herposure. ¡°Young Miss An,¡± she said to An Shiyi, ¡°you stay here and take care of them. I¡¯ll go with Sang Bing to search the Green Illusion dimension. Hopefully we can still capture the stragglers!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go, too!¡± said Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Faces clouded by haze, the two of them followed Sang Bing into the whirlpool.

    Before long, An Shiyi from the Spiritual Treasure sect had be the only senior leader that remained beside theke, despite the fact that Dowager Weng apparently didn¡¯t even remember her name.

    Ignoring that, she turned to the others and grimly said, ¡°Tell me everything!¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, Pan Tao, and Zheng Bin went on to exin in great detail everything that had happened in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian stood beside them wordlessly, waiting for them to finish.

    At that time, he noticed that An He, the old servant from the An n, was also waiting beside An Shiyi.

    It was An He who had escorted him to this ce from ck Cloud City. Now, he had showed up here after the trial ended. He was probably here to pick him up and take him home.

    When he looked at An He, An He happened to be looking at him. He put on a wry smile and hurriedly bowed towards An He out of respect.

    An He nodded briefly back at him, then turned to An Shiyi. ¡°Miss, why don¡¯t I take Nie Tian back to ck Cloud City first?¡±

    ¡°Sure, go ahead,¡± An Shiyi said, waving her hand. ¡°Take him and leave.¡±

    Originally, An Shiyi nned on interrogating An Ying to get a full understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s performance in the Green Illusion dimension, and whether there was anything special about him.

    However, the Ghost sect and the Blood sect had showed up, and too many trial takers had died because of it. She was no longer in the mood to ask about Nie Tian.

    A heaven-shaking mishap had happened in the Green Illusion dimension, and the Spiritual Treasure sect was the host. As the person in charge of the event, she was currently under too much pressure, thus she had no time to bother with Nie Tian¡¯s trivial issue.

    An He waved his hand. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian replied, walking toward him as calmly as ever.

    It was at this moment that Pan Tao walked up to him and gave him a bear hug. ¡°I¡¯ll go find you in ck Cloud City in a couple of days, bro,¡± he said quietly. ¡°I hope we can fight together again.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback by his words.

    Grasping Nie Tian by the shoulders, Pan Tao winked and mysteriously said, ¡°I¡¯ll bring someone with me.¡±

    Nie Tian was quite confused, not sure what Pan Tao meant.

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡± Pan Taoughed and pushed him away, saying, ¡°Go, return to ck Cloud City. We¡¯ll meet again.¡±

    ¡°Alright." Nie Tian didn¡¯t read too much into it.

    ¡°Pan Tao...¡±

    After witnessing the exchange between Nie Tian and Pan Tao, An He had a strange look in his eyes. He was unclear about what had happened between Pan Tao and Nie Tian.

    However, he could tell that Pan Tao had already considered Nie Tian as a brother that he shared life and death with. The sincerity in Pan Tao¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t lie.

    Pan Tao was the grandson of the grand elder of the Spiritual Treasure sect, Pan Hongzhen, whose status in the Spiritual Treasure sect was only second to the sectmaster.

    Even though the An n of ck Cloud City was highly regarded by the Spiritual Treasure sect because of An Shiyi, it was still only a subordinate n of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Pan Hongzhen¡¯s status in the Spiritual Treasure sect wasn¡¯t something that An Shiyi or the An n couldpare to.

    Seeing the way Pan Tao had treated Nie Tian, An He was shocked inwardly. Originally, he had thought Nie Tian to be a weaselly young man who had used some underhanded method to curry favor with Pan Tao.

    Jiang Lingzhu gave Pan Tao a hard look and then called out, ¡°Nie Tian! I¡¯ll also go find you in ck Cloud City in a couple of days!¡±

    Pan Tao rubbed his nose andughed, but declined toment.

    ¡°Jiang Zhisu¡¯s precious daughter...¡±

    An He was bbergasted. Eyes full of suspicion, he looked Nie Tian up and down before ncing over towards Pan Tao and Jiang Lingzhu, even more curious than before.

    ¡°This Nie n kid seems good at cultivating rtionships. I can¡¯t believe that Pan Tao and Jiang Lingzhu both have grown fond of him.¡±

    Previously, when they traveled to thekeside, An He didn¡¯t have much interest in starting a conversation with Nie Tian, as he didn¡¯t take Nie Tian seriously. All they did was march on at a fast pace.

    Actually, An He had some unpleasant feelings towards Nie Tian back then.

    The spot An Shiyi had given Nie Tian for the Green Illusion dimension trial was originally meant for a child of the An n. As a member of the An n, An He secretly frowned upon the arrangement.

    Because of this, he didn¡¯t talk to Nie Tian the entire way to thekeside, and only considered him as a kid who had somehow struck it lucky.

    But now, the appearance of the disciples of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect in the Green Illusion dimension trial resulted in many people getting killed. The Grayvale sect even had all of their trial takers ughtered.

    He was secretly d that the kid from the An n didn¡¯t get to enter the Green Illusion dimension, and had thus escaped from the cmity.

    Now, without that issue weighing on his mind, and adding in that Pan Tao and Jiang Lingzhu had suddenly grown so close with Nie Tian, An He couldn¡¯t help but change his attitude towards him and regard him more favorably.

    With an amiable expression, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Your grandfather and the others have been waiting for you. Since the Nie n is going through a rough patch, it¡¯s better that you return soon.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean rough patch?¡± Nie Tian frowned.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on the way,¡± An He said gently.

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian also felt the sudden and drastic change in An He¡¯s attitude towards him.

    Before long, Nie Tian followed An He to the same carriage that they hade in, and they slowly drove out of the marsnd.

    Meanwhile, An Shiyi and the others were still gathered by theke, waiting for Sang Bing, Li Fan, and Dowager Weng to return.

    A day passed, and Li Fan finally walked out of the whirlpool, holding the pale, skinny, and close to death Ye Gumo with one hand.

    ¡°Brother Ye is still alive?!¡± Jiang Lingzhu eximed with joy.

    Li Fan dropped the almost unconscious Ye Gumo at her side, and said, ¡°This kid is lucky. He hid by himself in the volcano area, and I when found him, he was on the verge of dying from starvation.¡±

    Ye Gumo¡¯s head was still drooped, as he looked up at Jiang Lingzhu. He forced a smile and said weakly, ¡°It¡¯s good that you guys are fine.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Li, where are Sang Bing and Dowager Weng?¡± An Shiyi asked hurriedly.

    With a sigh, Li Fan said, ¡°They should be out soon. We turned the whole Green Illusion dimension inside out, and still couldn¡¯t find the disciples from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect. They probably left long ago.¡±

    This was, of course, to be expected.

    Shortly after, the grim-faced Sang Bing and Dowager Weng walked out of theke together.

    Sang Bing didn¡¯t say a word before striding away.

    Dowager Weng shook her head towards An Shiyi and said, ¡°We found nothing. The Green Illusion dimension trial is truly over now. Let¡¯s go back, and discuss the uing issues another day.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s all there is to do,¡± An Shiyi said bitterly.

    Thereupon, the leaders of each sect led their respective juniors away.

 Chapter 82: Arriving Home

    Three dayster, in ck Cloud City. Dusk...

    Nie Tian was sitting in the carriage as An He drove through the city gate.

    After entering the city, the front curtain of the carriage had already been lifted, as An He would asionally nce at Nie Tian.

    On their way to the Green Illusion dimension trial, the curtain of the carriage had never been lifted. During those three days, An He had practically ignored Nie Tian, and they had traveled in silence.

    However, on their way back, An He took the initiative to pull up the curtain, and had friendly conversations with Nie Tian along the way, spelling out the conflicts between ck Cloud City¡¯s three ns in detail.

    Nie Tian also had a clear feeling that An He¡¯s attitude towards him had undergone a fundamental change.

    From An He, Nie Tian learned that there had been internal disputes within the Nie n in recent months, with the focus being the mecloud gem mine.

    Nie Beichuan had confirmed that they would no longer be able to mine mecloud gems from it.

    He, who had just ascended to the position of nmaster, panicked. He had interrogated every single one of the miners, and found out that Nie Qian had taken Nie Tian into the mine, then med Nie Qian for everything that urred.

    Since he couldn¡¯t figure out a way to exin what had happened to the Cloudsoaring sect, he had deliberately made things difficult for Nie Qian, and had repeatedly urged Nie Donghai to take Nie Qian to the Cloudsoaring sect and admit to causing the mining ident.

    In Nie Beichuan¡¯s eyes, Nie Donghai didn¡¯t have much time left anyways. He might as well sacrifice himself and shoulder the wrath of the Cloudsoaring sect together with Nie Qian, and thus bring peace and safety back to the Nie n.

    His decision won the assent of many n elders, whoter joined him in rebuking Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    ¡°Uncle An, did the Cloudsoaring sect do anything after learning that the mine could no longer produce mecloud gems?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Driving the carriage slowly towards the Nie n, An He frowned and said, ¡°Quite strangely, no. ording to what I know, it seems the Cloudsoaring sect hasn¡¯t made any statements or held your n ountable.¡±

    ¡°Then why did they insist on making my grandfather and aunt admit the guilt?¡± Nie Tian asked, his voice cold.

    After a moment of hesitation, An He exined, ¡°Because they¡¯re scared. The Cloudsoaring sect assigned that mine together with the job of mining it to your n. The reason that your n had been acknowledged and protected by the Cloudsoaring sect all these years was that your n has been working for them.

    ¡°Some drastic change urred, ensuring that a mine which should have been able to produce mecloud gems for another ten years went dry overnight. Before the Cloudsoaring sect raised any questions, your second grandfather already started to panic.

    ¡°Monumental changes struck the mine which the livelihood of the entire Nie n relies on, all when he took power. How could he not be scared?¡±

    Nie Tian snorted and said, ¡°He doesn¡¯t deserve to be my second grandfather!¡±

    An He turned to look at Nie Tian. After a moment of pondering, he said, ¡°When your grandfather was in his prime, he severely injured Nie Beichuan during their fight for the position of nmaster. After that incident, the two brothers became estranged. Your grandfather controlled the Nie n and overshadowed Nie Beichuan for many years after that. Now that your grandfather has finally lost his power, Nie Beichuan surely won¡¯t bother to consider the brotherly love between them.¡±

    ¡°My grandfather will reassume the position of nmaster one day!¡± Nie Tian said in a firm, low voice.

    An Heughed. With a meaningful look in his eyes, he nced at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Perhaps so.¡±

    If it were before, An He probably would ridicule him a bit, and tell him that he didn¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth.

    But now, An He felt that it might not be impossible for Nie Tian to help Nie Donghai regain his former position if he kept his upheaving momentum.

    Pan Tao and Jiang Lingzhu were two extremely important third generation disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect and Cloudsoaring sect. The powers backing those two would even put An He in awe.

    As long as Pan Tao and Jiang Lingzhu continued to support Nie Tian, he would definitely gain benefits from the rise of Pan Tao and Jiang Lingzhu in their respective sects.

    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    An He pulled on the reins and stopped the carriage.

    Nie Tian jumped out and thanked An He respectfully. After that, he prompted, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll head off now, alright Uncle An?¡±

    An He nodded and smiled. ¡°Go on, now. Don¡¯t worry. If Nie Beichuan makes it too hard for you, you cane to our n. Since the miss regards you so highly, you¡¯re weed to visit anytime you want. Nie Beichuan¡¯s power may be enough to turn the heavens in the Nie n, but he¡¯s just amoner in the eyes of our n.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, uncle An. I got it.¡±

    An He nodded, signaling for Nie Tian to go in. With ash of his horsewhip, he drove the carriage back in the direction of the An n.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, and with a calm mind, he finally stepped towards the entrance of the Nie n.

    At the entrance, the guard Jin Jiang saw him, and was suddenly given a start. ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡±

    Jin Jiang wasn¡¯t a true member of the Nie n, but rather a guest-member. However, people like him had a knack for gathering information.

    It took three whole days for Nie Tian and An He to return to ck Cloud City from the marsnd, yet it only took one day for the news of the horrible incident in the Green Illusion dimension to reach ck Cloud City.

    Members of the three major ns in ck Cloud City had been all talking about it the whole day.

    Among the many trial takers who participated in the Green Illusion dimension trial, Nie Tian was the most unremarkable one. Thus, none of the news that hade from the four sects regarded him.

    The Yun n, on the other hand, had already been filled with wailing and despair after hearing about the annihtion of the entire Grayvale sect group in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Earlier this morning, when Jin Jiang walked past the Yun n, he could just barely hear the shrill weeping sounds of Yuan Qiuying. It was at that moment that the Yun n had received the news that Yun Song, whom they ced such high hopes upon, had died in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Jin Jiang also heard that the Grayvale sect wasn¡¯t the only one that had suffered great casualties. The other three sects had also lost many juniors.

    In his opinion, Nie Tian, who was unluckily invited to the Green Illusion dimension trial by An Shiyi, was probably the weakest of all, and his status wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning. He should¡¯ve long since died in the Green Illusion dimension.

    He had never expected him to return alive, especially after knowing that Yun Song had died in there.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Nie Tian furrowed his brow.

    Jin Jiang snapped out of his reverie and smiled embarrassedly, ¡°We all thought you had died in the Green Illusion dimension just like Yun Song from the Yun n... Nie Tian, your grandfather and aunt abandoned all hope after hearing about the enormous events that urred. You¡¯d better go see them right away.¡±

    He was not a member of the Nie n, so Nie Tian¡¯s life or death didn¡¯t exactly affect him.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The news of the incidents in the Green Illusion dimension has already reached ck Cloud City?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Jin Jiang nodded. ¡°The news can be spread via many ways, so it beat you back. You¡¯d better go. Your grandfather locked himself in his house and hasn¡¯te out since. Your aunt seems to have spent the day crying. You¡¯d better go relieve them now.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± Nie Tian rushed through the n gate.

    On his way in, every n member who caught sight of him was greatly surprised by his unbelievable return.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°No way! Nie Tian is still alive?!¡±

    ¡°Yuan Feng and Yun Song died, but he returns alive?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s really lucky!¡±

    ¡°..."

    Under the astonished gazes of everyone, Nie Tian ran to the remote pavilion where his grandfather Nie Donghai lived.

    Before even reaching the door, Nie Tian shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°Grandpa, I¡¯m back!!¡±

    Inside the room, Nie Donghai, who was drowning in desperation with all the windows shut, felt a strong shock and suddenly became enlivened.

    He subconsciously wiped away the tears from the corners of his bloodshot eyes, and thrust the door open.

    ¡°Little Tian! Is that you? Did I just hear Little Tian¡¯s voice?¡± Not far away, Nie Qian¡¯s sobbing voice echoed out, as she dashed out from a small pavilion.

    ¡°Grandpa, auntie, I¡¯m fine,¡± Nie Tian said loudly. ¡°I¡¯m back from the Green Illusion dimension!¡±

    As soon as those words were uttered, he caught sight of Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, who were staring at him ecstatically.

    In that moment, he suddenly realized that those two had ced all of their hopes and love on him.

    He was their everything!

    Happy Qixi Festival!

    Today is Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day), so I¡¯ve decided to introduce you to this very important Chinese Festival.

    Most of the stuff here is from wikipedia, check there if you want to get more info.

    Qixi Festival

    Also called: Qiqiao Festival

    Observed by: Chinese

    Date: 7<sup>th</sup> day of 7<sup>th</sup> month on the Chinese lunar calendar

    2016 date 9 August

    2017 date 28 August

    2018 date 17 August

    2019 date 7 August

    Rted to Tanabata (in Japan) Chilseok (in Korea)

    The Qixi Festival (Chinese: ÆßÏ¦¹), also known as the Qiqiao Festival (ÆòÇÉ¹), is a Chinese festival that celebrates the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in Chinese mythology. It falls on the 7th day of the 7th month on the Chinese calendar. It is sometimes called the Double Seventh Festival, the Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day, the Night of Sevens, or the Magpie Festival.

    The festival originated from the romantic legend of two lovers, Zhin¨¹ and Ning, who were the weaver maid and the cowherd, respectively. The tale of The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival since the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to over 2600 years ago, which was told in a poem from the ssic of Poetry (Chinese: Ê«¾­). The Qixi festival inspired the Tanabata festival in Japan and Chilseok festival in Korea.

    Mythology:

    The general tale of The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd is about a love story between Zhin¨¹ (the weaver girl, symbolizing Vega) and Ning (the cowherd, symbolizing Altair). Their love was not allowed, thus they were banished to opposite sides of the Silver River (symbolizing the Milky Way). Once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month, a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for one day. There are many variations of the story. A variation follows:

    A young cowherd, hence Ning (Å£ÀÉ; "cowherd"), came across a beautiful girl¡ªZhin¨¹ (¿—Å®; "weavergirl"), the Goddess¡¯s seventh daughter, who had just escaped from boring heaven to look for fun. Zhin¨¹ soon fell in love with Ning, and they got married without the knowledge of the Goddess. Zhin¨¹ proved to be a wonderful wife, and Ning to be a good husband. They lived happily and had two children. But the Goddess of Heaven (or in some versions, Zhin¨¹¡¯s mother) found out that Zhin¨¹, a fairy girl, had married a mere mortal. The Goddess was furious and ordered Zhin¨¹ to return to heaven. (Alternatively, the Goddess forced the fairy back to her former duty of weaving colorful clouds, a task she neglected while living on earth with a mortal.) On Earth, Ning was very upset that his wife had disappeared. Suddenly, his ox began to talk, telling him that if he killed it and put on its hide, he would be able to go up to Heaven to find his wife. Crying bitterly, he killed the ox, put on the skin, and carried his two beloved children off to Heaven to find Zhin¨¹. The Goddess discovered this and was very angry. Taking out her hairpin, the Goddess scratched a wide river in the sky to separate the two lovers forever, thus forming the Milky Way between Altair and Vega. Zhin¨¹ must sit forever on one side of the river, sadly weaving on her loom, while Ning watches her from afar while taking care of their two children (his nking stars ¦Â and ¦Ã Aque or by their Chinese names H¨¨ Gu 1 and H¨¨ Gu 3). But once a year all the magpies in the world would take pity on them and fly up into heaven to form a bridge (ùo˜ò; "the bridge of magpies") over the star Deneb in the Cygnus constetion so the lovers may be together for a single night, which is the seventh night of the seventh moon.[citation needed] However, sometimes in the year, there is no stars regarding to the mythology appearing in the sky.

    Traditions:

    Girls take part in worshiping the celestials (°ÝÏÉ) during rituals. They go to the local temple to pray to Zhin¨¹ for wisdom. Paper items are usually burned as offerings. Girls may recite traditional prayers for dexterity in needlework, which symbolize the traditional talents of a good spouse. Divination could take ce to determine possible dexterity in needlework. They make wishes for marrying someone who would be a good and loving husband. During the festival, girls make a disy of their domestic skills. Traditionally, there would be contests amongst those who attempted to be the best in threading needles under low-light conditions like the glow of an ember or a half moon. Today, girls sometimes gather toiletries in honor of the seven maidens. (Apparently, none of the girls I know do it, so this is possibly false.)

    The festival also held an importance for newlywed couples. Traditionally, they would worship the celestial couple for thest time and bid farewell to them (ÞoÏÉ). The celebration stood symbol for a happy marriage and showed that the married woman was treasured by her new family.

    During this festival, a festoon is ced in the yard. Single and newlywed women make offerings to Ning and Zhin¨¹, which may include fruit, flowers, tea, and face powder. After finishing the offerings, half of the face powder is thrown on the roof and the other half divided among the young women. It is believed that, by doing this, the women are bound in beauty with Zhin¨¹. Tales say that it will rain on this fateful day if there¡¯s crying in heaven. Other tales say that you can hear the lovers talking if you stand under grapevines on this night.

    On this day, the ancient Chinese gaze to the sky to look for Vega and Altair shining in the Milky Way, while a third star forms a symbolic bridge between the two stars. It was said that if it rains on this day that it was caused by a river sweeping away the magpie bridge or that the rain is the tears of the separated couple. Based on the legend of a flock of magpies forming a bridge to reunite the couple, a pair of magpies came to symbolize conjugal happiness and faithfulness. (Actually, me and my wife got a pair of coushions made when we got married, and they had magpies sewed on them.)

    Here¡¯s a video of the tale

    https://youtu.be/ZrXx-6cacG4

 Chapter 83: The Strife Inside the Clan

    Inside the room, Nie Tian briefly described his experience in the Green Illusion dimension to Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    The Green Illusion dimension trial had exerted an immense influence on him, not only on his cultivation base, but also on his wisdom.

    Compared to half a year ago, he was now much more mature, as he knew what to tell and what not to tell Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    He intentionally concealed the fact that he had killed Yuan Feng and Yun Song, and that he had encountered the Frost Python in the desert.

    He had also avoided talking about his shes with Yu Tong, as well as the great boost in cultivation that he had received from the spirit beast meat.

    However, he was honest about the fact that he had broken through to the eighth level of Qi Refining from the sixth level.

    He understood that those were the kind of things that Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were most concerned with.

    As expected.

    ¡°What?! You¡¯re now at the eighth level of Qi Refining?¡± Nie Qian immediately grew excited.

    Nie Donghai was also secretly moved. A bright gleam exploded out from his eyes as his body even slightly trembled with excitement.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Yes. If there are no mishaps, I believe I¡¯ll be able to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of 15, and be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrific!" Nie Qian was ted.

    Nie Tian was only eleven years old. Reaching the eighth level of Qi Refining at this age made her realize that the hope she had ced on Nie Tian was definitely achievable.

    Ever since Nie Tian was young, Nie Qian had repeatedly imparted upon Nie Tian one idea - only by bing a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect would he be able to change his fate.

    All the efforts she had put in over the years had been dedicated to making him a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Every child of the Nie n regarded entering the Cloudsoaring sect as the ultimate honor, and also the only way to change their families¡¯ fates.

    The reason for Nie Beichuan to be able to assume the position of nmaster, was partly because Nie Donghai had sustained serious injuries, but more importantly because of Nie Han¡¯s achievement.

    As Nie Beichuan¡¯s eldest grandson, Nie Han had sessfully stepped into the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of 15, and thus been received by the Cloudsoaring sect.

    As long as he could achieve a steady growth in the Cloudsoaring sect, the Nie n would be able to benefit because of that. If Nie Han were to be a high ranking official in the Cloudsoaring sect one day, then the Nie n... would undoubtedly be an important part of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Simrly, back when Nie Donghai had a firm control over the Nie n, Nie Tian¡¯s mother Nie Jin had yed an indispensable role.

    Now that Nie Tian was only 11 years old and had already entered the eighth level of Qi Refining, Nie Qian believed he might even be able to enter the Cloudsoaring sect at a younger age than Nie Han.

    Perhaps Nie Tian would be able to step into the Cloudsoaring sect in a year or two, and thuspletely turn his fate around.

    ¡°Grandfather, when I returned, I heard that our n is going through a major internal disturbance?¡± Nie Tian probed.

    Nie Donghai briefly frowned, and said calmly, ¡°Compared to your entering the eighth level of Qi Refining, they are only small things. Don¡¯t you bother about the trivial matters within the n. I will handle them. All you need to do is focus on your cultivation.¡±

    ¡°I... I want to help,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to do much for now.¡± Nie Donghai shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ll only have a say in the n when you be a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    When it came to the matters within the n, Nie Qian suddenly fell silent, and her face turned grim.

    Nie Tian wished to help, but didn¡¯t know how to stop Nie Beichuan and the n elders from punishing Nie Qian and Nie Donghai.

    ¡°Status...¡± he thought. ¡°My status is too low...¡±

    ¡°Rest well today,¡± Nie Donghai said consolingly. ¡°And from now on, don¡¯t think about anything else, just concentrate on your cultivation. You¡¯ll have a say in the n affairs when you¡¯re officially epted by the Cloudsoaring sect. But now is not the time.¡±

    ¡°I see," Nie Tian said with a nod.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Beichuan was discussing matters with several n elders in the great meeting hall.

    Soon, they reached an agreement that they would force Nie Donghai and Nie Qian to admit to the Cloudsoaring sect that it was their fault that the mine experienced such drastic changes, and that they were willing to ept the punishment.

    Now they only needed to force Nie Donghai and Nie Qian toply.

    Before long, the news of Nie Tian returning spread to the great meeting hall, and the n elders were all bbergasted.

    ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s really in luck! Even Yuan Feng from the Grayvale sect and Yun Song from the Yun n died tragically in Green Illusion dimension. I can¡¯t believe the he actually returned safe and sound.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, who would have thought?¡±

    In fact, they had never considered Nie Tian as a true member of the Nie n.

    After all, Nie Tian¡¯s father, whom Nie Tian had never met, didn¡¯t bear the family name ¡®Nie¡¯.

    In their eyes, only children whose father bore the family name ¡®Nie¡¯ were to be deemed as true members of the Nie n.

    Nie Tian wasn¡¯t one of them.

    Therefore, when they learned about the fact that Nie Tian returned alive, they were only shocked, but not a bit relieved.

    ¡°That brat is really lucky!¡± said one of the n elders, Nie Yaozu, sounding slightly surprised. A momentter, though, he cast Nie Tian¡¯s return aside, and said, ¡°Trial takers from the four sects were massacred in the Green Illusion dimension. Many Cloudsoaring sect elders must be in a sour mood at this tragic moment. If we don¡¯t make a gesture and admit our dereliction of duty as soon as possible, it will only fuel their rage.¡±

    Face grim, Nie Beichuan said, ¡°Exactly, we can¡¯t afford to dy any more!¡±

    Another n elder named Nie Feiyun wore a dour expression as he cold-heartedly said, ¡°Since Donghai¡¯s injuries seem to be incurable in the little time he has left, he won¡¯t be able to help the n much in the future. In order for the Nie n to tide over the crisis, he has to make sacrifices. Besides, it was Nie Qian who caused this ident!¡±

    Nie Feiyun had always been a firm supporter of Nie Beichuan. Moreover, Nie Donghai had feuded with him when he was still the nmaster. It was expected that he didn¡¯t treat this incident lightly.

    Even though some of the n members didn¡¯tpletely support the decision, they still nodded briefly.

    After all, they understood that someone would have to atone for the ident that had happened in the mine. Since everyone pointed their fingers towards Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, for the n¡¯s benefit, they chose chime in.

    ¡°Let¡¯s summon them here tomorrow, and convince them to undertake the guilt,¡± Nie Beichuan said coldly.

    ...

    That night...

    Nie Tian quietly retrieved the hidden dragon bone from behind one of the bricks on the wall, and started to fondle it admiringly.

    With a strand of psychic awareness, he reached out to the drop of blood inside the dragon bone. He immediately felt peace at heart.

    Having parted with the dragon bone for half a year, he found that it hadn¡¯t changed at all. When he held it closely in his hand, he could just barely sense that dragon bone had also missed him.

    He didn¡¯t think much about it, and soon fell into a rxed slumber.

    The next morning, he got up and started his assiduous cultivation, just like before.

    In the afternoon, a knocking sound suddenly rang out while he was cultivating.

    Wondering who it was, he went down stairs to open the door. Seeing it was the guest elder, Wu Tao, standing in front of the door with aplicated expression on his face, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Mr. Wu, why are you here?¡±

    Wu Tao nced around and made sure no one was around. Only then did he say in a low voice, ¡°The nmaster and the n elders havee to a decision in the great meeting hall this morning, that they will have your grandfather and aunt confess to the Cloudsoaring sect. Your grandfather and aunt are probably already at the main gate and are about to set out.¡±

    Nervousness could be seen on Wu Tao¡¯s face as he added, ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone that I came by or that we met.¡±

    Finishing rying the situation, Wu Tao left in a hurry, not daring to stay any longer.

    ¡°Nie Beichuan!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes brimmed with rage.

    He thought that with his grandfather¡¯s prestige, as well as the contributions that he had made to the n over the years, Nie Beichuan wouldn¡¯t dare to be so impudent, and so he believed that Nie Donghai would be able to handle this matter well.

    Never had he expected for Nie Beichuan to make such a cold-hearted move only a day after his return.

    With a grim face, he dashed towards the n gate.

    Many members of the Nie n saw him and whispered with one another, as they felt that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything even if he made it to the gate in time.

    ¡°Yee? Is that Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°How did he get the word?¡±

    ¡°Why? Does that matter? He¡¯s not a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect. Yeah, he managed to walk out of the Green Illusion dimension, so what? Will he be able to overturn the decision that the nmaster and the elders agreed upon?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not Nie Xian. The elders won¡¯t consider his feelings.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

 Chapter 84: A Talent Scout Comes Knocking

    At the Nie n¡¯s main gate, all the nsmen, led by Nie Beichuan, were looking at Nie Donghai and Nie Qian with all kinds of expressions.

    Nie Beichuan¡¯s face was cold and expressionless. A hint of a cold smile could be seen at the corner of n elder Nie Feiyun¡¯s mouth, as if he was secretly pleased.

    Some of the other n elders, however, hadplicated looks in their eyes, as if they felt guilty inside, but still couldn¡¯t say anything.

    Most of the nsmen were here to see them off, after learning that Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were about to go and beg for forgiveness from the Cloudsoaring sect. Their gaze was somewhat indignant and helpless as they looked towards the father and daughter.

    Having realized that the result was certain, Nie Donghai behaved very calmly, and didn¡¯t start a fight with Nie Beichuan and his flunkies in front of all the nsmen.

    The oldest n elder Nie Yaozu pondered for a bit and said, ¡°Donghai, don¡¯t you worry too much about this trip to the Cloudsoaring sect. You¡¯ve done a good job working for the Cloudsoaring sect for all these years. They... may not necessarily punish you for the ident at the mine.¡±

    Nie Yaozu believed that the vanishing of all the mecloud gems in the mine could have just been an ident and probably had nothing to do with Nie Qian.

    However, since someone had to atone for the ident to the Cloudsoaring sect, he had also deemed Nie Donghai to be the most suitable man to take the me, considering that he was no longer the nmaster, and probably wouldn¡¯t be able to make any more contributions to the Nie n with his degrading health.

    But actually, deep down, he felt somewhat sorry towards Nie Donghai and Nie Qian. Only because of that did he say a few words of constion.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Donghai nodded briefly and said. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Cloudsoaring sect to beg for their forgiveness. But Nie Tian is still young. If I were to receive punishments and can¡¯t return, I hope you can take care of him for me, considering what I¡¯m doing for the n today.¡±

    ¡°You can be assured of that.¡± Nie Yaozu promised.

    With nothing more to say, Nie Donghai turned around, and was about to set off with Nie Qian.

    At this very moment, Nie Tian bolted out of the n gate, yelling.

    ¡°Grandfather!¡±

    Under the nsmen¡¯s gazes, he stopped in front of Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, blocking their way, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take full responsibility of the ident at the mecloud gem mine and go beg for forgiveness from the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    ¡°Little Tian!¡± Nie Qian snapped. ¡°What are you doing? You¡¯re not helping. Go back, now!¡±

    Nie Donghai gave him a hard look and berated, ¡°The reason I didn¡¯t go to see you was that I didn¡¯t want you to be distracted. Don¡¯t behave so immaturely!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t back down because of their words. Instead, he stood straight like a mountain, raised his chin towards Nie Beichuan, and said, ¡°nmaster, my grandfather is in his old years, and won¡¯t be able to withstand the anger of the Cloudsoaring sect. Moreover, I happened to be there when the mining ident urred. If the n needs to find a scapegoat for it, I¡¯ll go!¡±

    ¡°How impudent!¡± Nie Beichuan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°What do you mean ¡®find a scapegoat¡¯? Sure, you were there with Nie Qian when the changes urred in the mine, however, on what ount do you think that you caused the changes? Plus, what are you? How old are you? Wouldn¡¯t it be a humiliation to the Nie n if we give you to the Cloudsoaring sect? Wouldn¡¯t the Cloudsoaring sect think that we¡¯re taking them as fools?¡±

    A few n elders joined Nie Beichuan, and berated Nie Tian harshly.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Cut the nonsense! You shouldn¡¯t be here!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! It¡¯s a joke to send a child to the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    ¡°Get out of here, now!¡±

    They had just gone to great lengths to persuade Nie Donghai and Nie Qian to take the me. How could they allow Nie Tian to tamper with their n?

    The way they saw it, Nie Tian¡¯s words were merely a joke.

    Only Nie Tian himself knew that the changes that had urred in the mine were indeed caused by him.

    He could never tell them that it was his dragon bone that had drained every wisp of the me power of every mecloud gem in the mine, reducing them to rubble.

    Yet, there was no way that he could sit back and watch his grandfather and aunt bear the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s anger because of something he had caused.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s third brother, Nie Nanshan looked incensed as he ordered his son to take Nie Tian back inside. ¡°Nie Qiu! Take Nie Tian back! Don¡¯t let peopleugh at our n!¡±

    At that time, a lot ofmoners of ck Cloud City had heard the disturbance, and quietly converged on the main gate of the Nie n.

    In just a few moments, dozens of people were gathered by the gate.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Get back inside!¡± Nie Donghai said with a stern face.

    ¡°NO!¡± Nie Tian shook his head and blurted. ¡°I¡¯ll take the me from the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    With these words, he strode outward before Nie Qiu could grab him.

    At that time, Pan Tao¡¯s voice echoed out from behind the crowd of people.

    ¡°Nie Tian! What the hell are you doing? I¡¯vee all this way from the Spiritual Treasure sect. You won¡¯t leave just like that without even greeting me, will you?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback, and looked in confusion in the direction that Pan Tao¡¯s voice hade from, searching for him.

    ¡°Give way!¡± An explosive shout echoed out from behind the crowd.

    All of a sudden, the crowd burst into mor. At the source of Pan Tao¡¯s voice, many onlookers stepped back, clearing out a wide path.

    ¡°It¡¯s the master of the An n, An Rong!¡±

    ¡°The master of the An n is here!¡±

    In the next moment, Nie Tian saw Pan Tao and a middle-aged man with simr looks pace towards him under the escort of the master of the An n, An Rong.

    An Rong was in his sixties, tall and with a long beard. He was now wearing a long face, looking formidable without being angry.

    After giving way to him, manymoners of ck Cloud City briefly bowed and greeted him with ttering smiles on their faces.

    ¡°Greetings, Master An.¡±

    ¡°Good day, Master An.¡±

    ¡°Long time no see, Master An.¡±

    An Rongpletely ignored everyone¡¯s greetings as he respectfully led the middle-aged man beside Pan Tao towards the ce where the Nie n members were gathered.

    Among the three major ns in ck Cloud City, the strength of the An n had always ranked first, a ranking that had never changed for decades.

    In the eyes of most people in ck Cloud City, An Rong was actually the master of ck Cloud City, and therefore the most powerful person there.

    Everyone was puzzled to see that he hade to the Nie n, and even more so when they saw him leading the way for a stranger.

    ¡°An Rong, what are you doing here?¡± Nie Beichuan¡¯s words sounded somewhatcking in confidence. However, from their titles, he was actually on equal footing with An Rong.

    The bad-tempered An Rong immediatelyshed out. ¡°Nie Beichuan, is ck Cloud City your personal property? Do I have to inform you beforehand every time I take a walk in ck Cloud City?¡±

    Nie Beichuan simmered with rage, yet he could do nothing about it. ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t invite you here!¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go to your shithole n even if you did invite me!¡± An Rong sneered. ¡°Ever since your brother got injured, your n has been in aplete mess! Endless internal disputes. You find that interesting, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business!¡± Nie Beichuan retorted.

    ¡°Hahaha, who said I give a damn!¡± An Rong replied tauntingly. ¡°I heard that you people ruined the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s mine? Well, I¡¯m going to have so much fun watching how that turns out! The moment you became the nmaster, that mine copsed! That¡¯s a pretty bad sign!

    ¡°Your n¡¯s livelihood depends on that mine. Now that it has copsed, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before your position copses with it.¡±

    An Rong burst out intoughter, as he only attacked Nie Beichuan¡¯s sore points without giving him any face.

    Many of the surrounding onlookers pondered over his words, and thought he actually made some sense.

    Even some members of the Nie n secretly agreed with An Rong, and started to suspect that it was because of Nie Beichuan¡¯s bad luck that the mine had suddenly copsed immediately after he had be the nmaster.

    ¡°Cut the nonsense!¡± Nie Beichuan fumed with anger, ring furiously. Yet, he couldn¡¯t find a way to refute.

    At that time, the middle-aged man and Pan Tao had already walked to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    ¡°Nie Tian, this is my father.¡± Pan Tao pointed at the man beside him, and smiled as he introduced him. After that, he pointed at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Father, this is my good bro Nie Tian.¡±

    Nie Tian quickly bowed. ¡°Nice to meet you, Uncle Pan.¡±

    Pan Bai smiled, and with a gentle tone, he said, ¡°The moment Little Tao returned to the Spiritual Treasure sect, he urged me toe to ck Cloud City with him. On our way here, he told me how you two fought shoulder to shoulder and went through desperate asions together in the Green Illusion dimension. He really has a high opinion of you.¡±

    Someone in the crowd, who had his eyes fixed on Pan Bai the moment Pan Bai showed up, finally remembered his identity.

    ¡°Pan Bai!¡± the man cried out. ¡°He¡¯s the Pan Bai from the Spiritual Treasure sect! Years ago, it was he who came to take An Shiyi to the Spiritual Treasure sect! And he¡¯s the son of the great elder Pan Hongzhen!

    ¡°He¡¯s in charge of recruitment for the Spiritual Treasure sect. He seems to be at thete-stage of Heaven stage!

    ¡°Howe he¡¯s in ck Cloud City?

    ¡°Pan Bai!¡±

    Every member of the Nie n, including Nie Donghai was suddenly enlivened. Eyes filled with disbelief, they simultaneously gazed toward Pan Bai.

    As of that moment, they finally understood why An Rong was so respectful towards this person.

    Even with An Shiyi in the Spiritual Treasure sect, the An n was still a subordinate n. However, Pan Bai was one of the core figures in the Spiritual Treasure sect, whose father¡¯s status was only second to the sectmaster.

    An Rong stopped ridiculing the long-faced Nie Beichuan, turned to Nie Donghai and solemnly said, ¡°Nie Donghai, you¡¯re in luck. Mr. Pan hase to ck Cloud City for Nie Tian. Mr. Pan is in charge of recruiting promising youngsters for the Spiritual Treasure sect. As long as he has his eyes on the child, he doesn¡¯t need to be at the ninth level of Qi Refining to be admitted as a disciple.

    ¡°He¡¯s here is to take Nie Tian to the Spiritual Treasure sect, just like when he admitted An Shiyi from our n.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, every onlooker, including the members of the Nie n, immediately burst into an uproar.

 Chapter 85: Fighting over a Disciple!

    ¡°Personallying to admit Nie Tian to the Spiritual Treasure sect? Isn¡¯t the Nie n the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s subordinate n?¡±

    ¡°What a lucky kid...¡±

    ¡°Normally, Pan Bai wouldn¡¯t personally take someone back to the Spiritual Treasure sect. Those whom he had his eyes on all disyed remarkable talent in the Spiritual Treasure sect, and none of them turned out to be mediocre.¡±

    ¡°Years ago, he came and took An Shiyi from the An n to the Spiritual Treasure sect. Now look at her. She is already an influential figure in the sect.¡±

    ¡°This man is famous for his eye for talent. Those who managed to get his attention all turned out to be important figures.¡±

    ¡°What does he see in Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°..."

    After realizing why Pan Bai hade here, the onlookers immediately fell into an uproar.

    Meanwhile, everyone from the Nie n was bbergasted, and couldn¡¯t wrap their minds around what Nie Tian had done in the Green Illusion dimension to make Pan Bai set his eyes on him.

    ¡°Spiritual Treasure sect! Spiritual Treasure sect!¡± Nie Qian slightly trembled as her eyes glittered with bright lights. Years of endurance had finally paid off.

    Nie Donghai breathed deeply, struggling to calm himself. Finally pacified, he nervously looked towards Pan Bai as he carefully asked, ¡°Mr. Pan, is what An Rong said true?¡±

    Nie Tian regained hisposure after a moment of bewilderment. He looked at Pan Bai, unable to make heads or tails of the situation.

    At this time, it rushed back to him that when he parted with Pan Tao days ago, Pan Tao had told him that he would bring someone to see him in ck Cloud City.

    Now he knew who Pan Tao had been talking about.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Pan Bai smiled and said, ¡°In the entire Spiritual Treasure sect, I¡¯m the most famous for being a good judge of talent. All these years, those disciples that I¡¯ve brought back to the Spiritual Treasure sect have all proved their abilities not long after they were admitted.

    ¡°Not only am I a good judge of talent, but so is my son.¡±

    As he spoke, he looked towards Pan Tao, who confidently stuck out his chest upon hearing his father¡¯s words.

    ¡°I trust my son¡¯s eye for people, and I trust my judgement.¡± He looked profoundly towards Nie Tian, and with a serious face, he finally brought out what everyone was waiting to hear, ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯vee to ck Cloud City for Nie Tian. I hereby officially invite Nie Tian to continue his cultivation in the Spiritual Treasure sect as a disciple!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s serious!¡± Nie Yaozu was taken aback.

    Upon hearing Pan Bai¡¯s words, the other Nie n members all looked towards Nie Tian with extremely strange gazes in their eyes.

    Nie Beichuan, on the other hand, didn¡¯t say a word. With a dour face, he seemed to be bothered by something.

    Even as the crowd mored, amoner of ck Cloud City moved close to An Rong¡¯s side and loudly said, ¡°Master An, you were herete and missed a good show. Let me tell you what happened...¡±

    He then went on to ry how Nie Tian had interrupted Nie Beichuan and the others as they attempted to force Nie Donghai and Nie Qian to go to the Cloudsoaring sect to beg for forgiveness.

    An Rongughed loudly. ¡°Nie Beichuan, you sure are resourceful! The moment you assumed your position, the mine copsed. You don¡¯t examine what you¡¯ve done wrong. Instead, you force your eldest brother to take the me. Howpetent are you!?¡±

    ¡°Shut the hell up, An Rong!¡± Nie Beichuan roared, enraged.

    An Rong didn¡¯t seem to be the least bit concerned. ¡°What? You can do it, but can¡¯t hear people talk about it? As I see it then, you don¡¯t need to remain in such and of trouble.¡±

    Nie Donghai didn¡¯t respond, yet his face turned dark and grim.

    However, Pan Bai frowned and said, ¡°Mr. Nie, you and Nie Tian¡¯s aunt can also go to the Spiritual Treasure sect. I¡¯ll make arrangements for the both of you.¡±

    ¡°What?! Even Nie Donghai and Nie Qian will be epted by the Spiritual Treasure sect as well? No way...¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they think so highly of Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re willing to ept Nie Tian and two others as tagalongs? What could possibly be going on?¡±

    Everyone was shocked by Pan Bai¡¯s words.

    Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Nie Tian suddenly became enlivened, and at the same time, cast incredulous gazes towards Pan Bai.

    Pan Bai gently nodded his head.

    The previously depressed Nie Donghai was clearly moved by Pan Bai¡¯s offer. His eyes flickered, as indecision appeared on his face.

    The Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s offer was so irresistible that he was actually consideringpletely breaking away from the Nie n and taking Nie Tian and Nie Qian to the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Brimming with excitement, Nie Qian called out, ¡°Father!!¡±

    Since she had already secretly made up her mind, she anxiously urged Nie Donghai to ept the offer, in case Pan Bai went back on his word.

    To them, Pan Bai¡¯s offer was practically a pie falling from the heavens. It seemed too good to be real.

    Over the years, she and her father had constantly been targeted within the Nie n, which made their life extremely tough.

    The moment she learned that Pan Bai was here to ept them to the Spiritual Treasure sect, she inwardly agreed a thousand times over to break away from the Nie n, the home of her heartache.

    It was also at this time that Li Fan¡¯s voice echoed out from afar. ¡°Mr. Pan, the Nie n is the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s subordinate n. It¡¯s not exactly appropriate for you to so openly take from us, is it?¡±

    ¡°Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    ¡°Howe he¡¯s also here? They¡¯re about to put on a good show!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a little crowded in ck Cloud City today, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Apanied by the mor of the crowd, Li Fan, disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s sectmaster Jiang Zhisu, led Jiang Lingzhu as they walked closer.

    The moment Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu appeared, Nie Beichuan and numerous members of the Nie n, who originally felt inferior, seemed to suddenly gain confidence, as they looked over towards Li Fan one after the other.

    ¡°Mr. Li, you have to administer justice!¡±

    ¡°Those from the Spiritual Treasure sect are trashing our n!¡±

    ¡°Nie Donghai and his daughter caused the mine to copse, and now they actually want to break away from the n. This is simply unforgivable!¡±

    Helplessness filling their eyes, they stared at Li Fan as they made criticalments, wishing for him to overshadow Pan Bai.

    ¡°Pan Tao!¡± Jiang Lingzhu cried out, pointing at him angrily. ¡°You bastard! I knew you¡¯de to the ck Cloud City to stir things up! I already told you in the Green Illusion dimension that Nie Tian is going to join the Cloudsoaring sect. Don¡¯t you even think of trying to win him over!¡±

    With a shrug, Pan Tao said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t your sect have a rule that only those who reach the ninth level of Qi Refining will be eligible to be a disciple? Nie Tian doesn¡¯t meet the requirement, therefore you guys won¡¯t admit him to your sect anyways. Is it a problem that we¡¯re willing to admit him while you aren¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°Who said that we¡¯re not willing to ept him?¡± Jiang Lingzhu ced her hands on her hips, assuming a domineering posture. ¡°I talked to my father as soon as I came back from the Green Illusion dimension, and he immediately gave permission. The reason Uncle Li and I are here is to bring Nie Tian back and officially admit him as a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± someone blurted shrilly. ¡°Did I hear that right? The Cloudsoaring sect wants Nie Tian too? How lucky could that kid be for the Spiritual Treasure sect and the Cloudsoaring sect to scramble for him?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Cloudsoaring sect have harsh rules towards their subordinate ns? Only those who can enter the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of 15 should be eligible to be an official disciple?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the Cloudsoaring sect is breaking the rules for Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±

    After realizing that Li Fan¡¯s purpose was the same as Pan Bai¡¯s, every single one of the onlookers were bbergasted.

    The moment Nie Donghai and Nie Qian heard Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s words, and realized that the sectmaster was willing to break the rules for Nie Tian, they were at aplete loss of words.

    ¡°Mr. Li, you... are you really here for Nie Tian?¡± Apparently, Nie Beichuan was somewhat flustered.

    With a brief nod, Li Fan said seriously, ¡°It¡¯s my master¡¯s wish.¡±

    ¡°But for decades, the Cloudsoaring sect has only admitted youngsters with a cultivation base at the ninth level of Qi Refining. And the rule applies to all the subordinate ns, not just the Nie n.¡± Nie Beichuan seemed panicked. ¡°That has been the rule for decades, a rule set by you! How can you break it just like that?¡±

    Indifference appeared on Li Fan¡¯s face. ¡°We make the rules, so we can break the rules. As long as my master says the word, then all rules are breakable.¡±

    After pausing for a moment, he seemed to have recalled something and chuckled, saying, ¡°Well... the rule isn¡¯tpletely abolished. It¡¯ll still apply to Nie n children who wish to be admitted by the Cloudsoaring sect in the future.¡±

    ¡°So Nie Tian...¡± Nie Beichuan asked, confused.

    ¡°He is and will be the only exception!¡± Li Fan said solemnly.

    Nie Beichuan froze.

    ¡°Oh, by the way, what happened in the mine was only an ident. It was nobody¡¯s fault.¡± Brow furrowed, Li Fan continued, ¡°If you failed to unveil the true reason, then you should have made an honest report, and let us investigate it, instead of forcing your elder brother and niece to take the me.

    Nie Beichuan¡¯s face suddenly turned lifeless.

    ¡°Ever since you assumed the position of nmaster, things has been very messy, and my master has be quite displeased.¡± Li Fan looked towards the Nie n elders, and said with a grim expression, ¡°You people pick a new nmaster!¡±

    With these words, he intentionally took a nce at Nie Donghai.

    ¡°I, I, I....¡± Nie Beichuan stammered. He wanted to say something, yet couldn¡¯t utter aplete sentence.

 Chapter 86: The Result Is Now Certain

    When Li Fan uttered the words ¡°My master isn¡¯t pleased¡±, it essentially forced Nie Beichuan to resign. No matter whether he was willing to or not, he would have to give up the position of nmaster.

    Li Fan intentionally nced at Nie Donghai when he told the Nie n elders to choose a new nmaster, which was a clear implication.

    n elder Nie Feiyun, a dedicated supporter of Nie Beichuan, had a deathly pale face. His expression froze and he didn¡¯t dare to say a single word in refutation.

    The eldest n elder, Nie Yaozu, secretly heaved a sigh. He turned to Li Fan and said, ¡°We¡¯ll do as the sectmaster wishes, and choose a new nmaster.¡±

    Face indifferent, Li Fan waved his hand and said, ¡°nsmen fighting in front of their own n; what kind of image does this make of you?¡± He indicated for all the Nie n members to return to the n.

    ¡°Sorry for our poor manners,¡± Nie Yaozu responded on Nie Beichuan¡¯s behalf, and instructed the Nie n members to get inside.

    Meanwhile, Nie Beichuan seemed to have lost his soul and was dragged away from the n gate by his third brother Nie Nanshan.

    It was only a moment before all the Nie n members went inside, leaving only Nie Tian, Nie Donghai, and Nie Qian at the gate.

    ¡°Mr. Pan, Master An, shall we speak inside?¡± asked Li Fan.

    Pan Bai and An Rong also understood that it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate if they got into a fight with Li Fan in front of the whole lot of civilians. Therefore, they both nodded and followed Li Fan into the Nie n.

    ¡°Mr. Nie, let¡¯s go in,¡± Li Fan said to Nie Donghai. ¡°Shall we? I hope you¡¯ll give it some serious consideration before making your decision on whether or not you¡¯ll be leaving the Nie n to join the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nie Donghai replied.

    Soon, they all followed Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu into the Nie n.

    Seeing them leave, the crowd of onlookers lost their interest and gradually dispersed.

    However, the series of incidents that had happened at the main gate of the Nie n were exaggerated and spiced up as they rapidly spread.

    Before long, all of ck Cloud City knew about the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s fight over Nie Tian.

    As a result, the name Nie Tian became known all over ck Cloud City.

    Pan Bai from the Spiritual Treasure sect personally came for Nie Tian, and was even willing to bring Nie Donghai and Nie Qian back to the sect.

    Meanwhile, the Cloudsoaring sect forced Nie Beichuan to abdicate and hinted for the Nie n to make Nie Donghai the nmaster again. Not only did theypletely ignore the copse of the mine, they even broke a sect rule that had been around for decades by admitting Nie Tian before he reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    For decades, never had a child of the three ns in ck Cloud City received such grand treatment.

    Neither Nie Tian¡¯s mother, who was widely acknowledged as an extremely talented youngster, nor An Shiyi from the An n received such a sensational reception when they were admitted.

    Many had suspicions in their hearts, not understanding what extraordinary talent the seemingly ordinary Nie Tian had demonstrated that made the Cloudsoaring sect and Spiritual Treasure sect openly fight for him.

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation talent is really that outstanding?¡±

    Inside the Yun n...

    Having received the grievous news about Yun Song¡¯s death, Yun Zhiguo emptily dragged himself back into his room.

    Inside, Yuan Qiuying had already learned from her informants about the odd things that had happened in front of the Nie n gate.

    ¡°Song¡¯er died in the Green Illusion dimension. Howe that brat didn¡¯t?!¡± Yuan Qiuying seemed to have gone mad, as she smashed all of the vases and jars in the house.

    Face haggard, Yun Zhiguo stared nkly at her as she went out of control.

    ¡°Good-for-nothing! Everyone from the Yun n is good-for-nothing!¡± Yuan Qiuying stormed to his side and started to throw punches and kicks at him while yelling, ¡°Yun Zhiguo! If you don¡¯t have Nie Tian and that slut Nie Qian killed, I won¡¯t forgive you for the rest of my life!¡±

    Yun Zhiguo stared at Yuan Qiuying, who was baring her fangs and brandishing her ws like a crazy shrew. Suddenly, intense regret filled his heart.

    He regretted that he had divorced Nie Qian and married the shrew, under the pressure from his n.

    Without Yuan Qiuying, the Yun n and the Nie n would still be friends, and he wouldn¡¯t have had to endure this woman¡¯s abuse on a daily basis.

    Only until now did he finally realize how good Nie Qian had been to him.

    Deep down, he knew that Nie Tian would eventually choose one of the two sects, and his future path of cultivation would be bright and promising.

    For Nie Tian, Pan Bai personally came, and Jiang Zhisu broke the rules that the sect had adhered to for decades. All of this signified that there was definitely something special about Nie Tian.

    The Nie n would inevitably reverse their misfortune because of him. If the Yun n ever dared to make a move on the Nie n in the future, it would undoubtedly attract retaliation from the Cloudsoaring sect.

    ¡°Wrong... I couldn¡¯t have been more wrong...¡± he moaned inwardly.

    Meanwhile...

    Li Fan and Pan Bai were sitting in the Nie n¡¯s great meeting hall, exchanging words gracefully with teacups in their hand.

    Pan Tao stood next to Nie Tian. With a low voice, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, whatever the Cloudsoaring sect can offer you, the Spiritual Treasure sect can also offer you. Others don¡¯t know about your special talent, but I do. If you go to the Cloudsoaring sect, you might not be able to make the best use of your talent. You might as well join the Spiritual Treasure sect, so that we brothers can fight side by side again.¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed his head and forced a smile onto his face. ¡°About that... let me thank you first. But too much is going on, and I¡¯m still muddle-headed right now. Let me think about it.¡±

    ¡°Pan Tao!¡± Jiang Lingzhu moved over and gave him a fierce re. ¡°What are you saying to him?¡±

    After that, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°My father already gave his consent. All of the problems with your n will be solved. After all, the Nie n has a close connection with the Cloudsoaring sect. Don¡¯t let Pan Tao mess with your head.¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian asked, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why your father is willing to break the rules for me.¡±

    He and Pan Tao hadmunicated a lot in the Green Illusion dimension, therefore it was understandable that Pan Tao knew about his abilities and thus persuaded his father toe to ck Cloud City for him.

    However, he only disyed his strength once in Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s presence, by forcing Yu Tong to retreat.

    He didn¡¯t feel that it was possible for Jiang Lingzhu to persuade her father to break the rules just because of this.

    He had a hunch that Jiang Zhisu harbored an ulterior motive, which was why he was making an exception for him.

    In fact, Jiang Lingzhu also harbored certain suspicions. ¡°I also don¡¯t know why he made an exception for you. However, it was truly my father¡¯s wish. You don¡¯t need to worry about that. Since my father has spoken, there definitely won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled wryly and said, ¡°I need some time to think. Plus, I want to see what my aunt and grandfather think.¡±

    Although the three of them were also in the great hall, there was a distance between them and the grown-ups. Furthermore, there wasn¡¯t ce for them to sit, so they could only whisper to each other while standing.

    In the main seats, Li Fan and Pan Bai had been chatting about the monumental events which had taken ce in the Green Illusion dimension, as well as the decisions that the four sects had made regarding the revenge that they were about to take on the Blood sect and the Ghost sect.

    Nie Donghai and An Rong didn¡¯t say a word, but rather listened attentively the entire time.

    Nie Tian and the others were growing impatient by the time they finally ended the pleasantries. Li Fan and Pan Bai exchanged a nce, and then Li Fan said, ¡°About Nie Tian¡¯s issue, how about we let them decide?¡±

    Pan Bai smiled and nodded. ¡°I agree.¡±

    Only until then did Li Fan turn to Nie Donghai and say, ¡°Mr. Nie, about what happened before... because of what happened to my junior martial sister, some sect elders were discontent with the Nie n, and the things that they did were a bit excessive. However, the Nie n and the Cloudsoaring sect have worked together for so many years. We know each other. I can¡¯t promise you too much, but I can assure you that in the future, the Cloudsoaring sect will definitely be fair and impartial towards the issues in the Nie n!¡±

    With these words, Li Fan halted for a moment, his expression bing solemn and serious.

    ¡°Also... If Nie Tian chooses to join the Cloudsoaring sect, I guarantee you that the treatment he¡¯s going to receive will bepletely different from Nie Xian¡¯s and Nie Han¡¯s.

    ¡°Someone living in the mountain behind Cloudsoaring Peak had set his mind on Nie Tian, and wants to take Nie Tian as his disciple.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Jiang Lingzhu couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Ahhh?!¡±

    Nie Donghai was immediately enlivened, and ecstasy spread out all over his face. Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, he hastily nodded his head and said, ¡°Sure! Sure! You can take Nie Tian to the Cloudsoaring sect any time!¡± He seemed to fear that Li Fan might take back his words.

    Even Pan Bai¡¯s expression slightly changed after hearing Li Fan¡¯s words.

    He gazed deeply at Nie Tian, and then looked over towards Pan Tao, as he realized that his son was every bit as good as he was when it came to judging talent.

    For the person in the mountain behind Cloudsoaring Peak to make such a decision meant that there had to be something umon about Nie Tian!

    It was also at that moment that he realized it had be certain that Nie Tian would step into the Cloudsoaring sect.

    However, he didn¡¯t feel frustrated.

    He knew that even if Nie Tian didn¡¯t choose the Spiritual Treasure sect, after everything that had happened, Nie Tian would still be grateful towards Pan Tao.

    If there were no mishaps, under that person¡¯s guidance, Nie Tian would skyrocket in the Cloudsoaring sect.

    As long as Nie Tian could remember what Pan Tao had done for him, his trip would be worth it.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Nie Donghai said loudly. ¡°What are you waiting for? Thank Uncle Li!¡±

    Nie Tian bowed and said, ¡°Thank you, Uncle Li.¡±

    Li Fanughed. ¡°I¡¯ll give you three days. After three days, I¡¯ll take you to Cloudsoaring Mountain.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

 Chapter 87: The Center of Attention

    During the following three days, Nie Tian showed Pan Tao around ck Cloud City.

    After Nie Donghai decided for Nie Tian to join the Cloudsoaring sect, Pan Tao¡¯s father, Pan Bai, had returned with An Rong to the An n for a temporary visit.

    Meanwhile, Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu stayed in the Nie n to wait for Nie Tian to get ready to leave for the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Although three days was a short period of time, the efficiency of the Nie n elders was extremely amazing.

    The next day, Nie Yaozu the other elders and dered that Nie Beichuan¡¯s position as nmaster would be removed due to his dereliction of duty with regards to the mining ident.

    On that afternoon, under Li Fan¡¯s observance, the Nie n elders elected Nie Donghai to be their nmaster again.

    On the other hand, Nie Beichuan and Nie Nanshan spent the three days mostly in their rooms, totally dispirited and no longer daring to interfere with n affairs.

    Li Fan was like a giant mountain weighing down on the two brothers. As long as he was still in the Nie n, they could only follow his words obediently without the slightest thoughts of revolting.

    The Nie n members who had treated Nie Donghai and Nie Qian coldly in the past, started to fight for their favor once again. At the same time, Nie Donghai moved back into the big mansion which represented the nmaster¡¯s status.

    Pan Tao knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to turn Nie Tian¡¯s decision around. Therefore, after touring in ck Cloud City for several days with him, he went back to the An n to prepare for his return with his father to the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    This morning, just as the first cracks of light emerged, Nie Tian went to the square where the n members trained.

    On the square, many Nie n youngsters were sitting cross-legged with their hands on their knees, breathing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Others were moving their fists and bodies as they practiced spiritual techniques.

    Nie Hong and Nie Yuan were also sitting there, cultivating quietly.

    However, unlike before, the other Nie n youngsters now intentionally kept their distance from these two, and chose other spots to cultivate at.

    If it were three days ago, wherever they went, the other youngsters would automatically gather around them, attempting to gain their favor.

    Nie Tian had nevere back to the square again since he had injured Nie Hong.

    Now that he suddenly appeared, many of the cultivating Nie n youths were shocked, and gazed towards him with a mixture of surprise, envy, and respect.

    ¡°All of you, go back to your cultivation!¡± Wu Tao shouted with his low-pitched voice.

    The agitated youngsters gradually quieted down after hearing his rebuke.

    However, their eyes were still locked onto Nie Tian, who walked towards Wu Tao.

    In merely three days, Nie Tian¡¯s name had spread to every corner of ck Cloud City.

    Even in the nearby Dim Star City, Frost Stone City, and Bone Shatter City, many people were talking about him.

    Because of him, Pan Bai from the Spiritual Treasure sect had personallye to the Nie n; because of him, the Cloudsoaring sect had broken a rule that had stood for decades, and took him in before he had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    To every one of the Nie n youngsters in the square, Nie Tian was a legend.

    They couldn¡¯t understand how Nie Tian, who, a year ago, used to train with them on the same square and fight with Nie Hong and Nie Yuan all the time, could improve so drastically, and attain such a miraculous sess in such a short time.

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully towards Wu Tao. ¡°Mr. Wu, thank you for taking care of me all these years. I will soon be going to the Cloudsoaring sect, and I have speciallye today to say goodbye to you.¡±

    When his grandfather and aunt were being forced by Nie Beichuan and his allies to go to the Cloudsoaring sect to admit their guilt, the entire Nie n had intentionally hid it from him.

    Only Wu Tao had taken a great risk and secretly informed him.

    Furthermore, when he previously trained on the square, Wu Tao had also treated him well, unlike the other n members who had treated him coldly because his grandfather had lost his power within the n.

    Therefore, he was there to express his gratitude towards him before he left the Nie n.

    ¡°Oh, there¡¯s no need.¡± Wu Tao hurriedly went forward to help him up.

    After that, Wu Tao looked deeply into his eyes, smiled broadly, and said, ¡°I always knew that you were different, even though I couldn¡¯t figure out what exactly it was. I always felt that you would be taken in by the Cloudsoaring sect, just like Nie Xian.¡± With these words, he paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°But I underestimated you...¡±

    Both of them were children of the Nie n, and both were regarded highly by Wu Tao. Nie Xian had been formally epted by the Cloudsoaring sect after he stepped into the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    However, Nie Tian was different.

    Not only had Pan Bai from the Spiritual Treasure secte for him, but the Cloudsoaring sect even broke a rule that had been enforced for decades for him.

    Wu Tao also knew that Nie Tian was actually the reason why the Cloudsoaring sect was willing to drop the matter of the copsed mine, and why Nie Beichuan was removed from his position, allowing Nie Donghai to regain his former position as nmaster.

    Because of Nie Tian, the whole situation of the Nie n had been turned around!

    The shocking potential that he had exhibited and the changes he had caused far exceeded Nie Xian.

    ¡°Perhaps something happened in the Green Illusion dimension...¡± Wu Tao spected inwardly, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

    Nie You, who had her hair wrapped up in a braid on top of her head, curiously looked at him and asked with a naive voice. ¡°Elder Brother Tian, what stage are you at now?¡±

    The innocent Nie You had always stood by Nie Tian, and had used Nie Hong and Nie Yuan for being shameless every time they battled Nie Tian.

    ¡°The eighth level of Qi Refining,¡± replied Nie Tian, smiling.

    ¡°Ahhh?!¡± Nie You eximed.

    A lot of the other youngsters also seemed astonished after hearing his answer.

    They could still remember that Nie Tian was at the third level of Qi Refining when he fought with Nie Hongst time.

    It had only been a year, but Nie Tian had already exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations and reached the eighth level. Such a rapid advancement was simply unimaginable.

    ¡°Elder Brother Tian, you¡¯re so awesome!¡± Nie You¡¯s face was full of admiration. ¡°No wonder the Cloudsoaring sect would make an exception for you.¡±

    A lot of young girls and boys of the Nie n cast amazed looks at him, as they chatted and sighed in admiration.

    ¡°From the third to the eighth level in a year... This kind of progress is way too terrifying.¡±

    ¡°Well, it seems that there is a reason why the Cloudsoaring sect made an exception for him.¡±

    ¡°It might be that they value his potential.¡±

    Only Nie Yuan and Nie Hong were still sitting off in the distance, looking rather grim.

    They didn¡¯t say a word, assuming that Nie Tian hade especially to humiliate them.

    Sure enough, Nie Tian began to walk slowly towards them after thanking Wu Tao.

    All of a sudden, everyone in the square fell into silence.

    The expressions on their faces seemed as if they were expecting a good show.

    Both Nie Hong and Nie Yuan lowered their heads and gritted their teeth, not daring to meet Nie Tian¡¯s gaze.

    Since their fathers had already warned them against starting conflicts with Nie Tian, then no matter how Nie Tian insulted them, they could only bear it; they absolutely weren¡¯t allowed to resist.

    Nie Tian was obviously different from the other disciples that had been admitted by the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Nie Tian¡¯s sess was already immutable.

    Nowadays, not a single person in the entire Nie n would dare to mess with Nie Tian, not to mention those two youngsters.

    After all, if they were to be admitted by the Cloudsoaring sect in the future, and Nie Tian were to target them after they joined the sect, their life would be miserable.

    For sake of their own future, they could only endure whatever wasing.

    Therefore, they had already prepared themselves for Nie Tian toe over and humiliate them.

    Meanwhile...

    On top of the high pavilion that represented the status of nmaster, Nie Donghai and Li Fan, who had been conversing, suddenly stopped.

    They were leaning against the stone balcony, overlooking the square underneath, before their attention was caught by Nie Tian.

    ¡°Hmm...¡±

    They saw Nie Tian arriving in front of Nie Hong and Nie Yuan.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°The conflicts between our grandfathers have nothing to do with us. Although we¡¯ve been battling over the years, I¡¯ve never considered you two as my enemies.

    ¡°I¡¯ll continue my cultivation in the Cloudsoaring sect. I hope, however, that our matches won¡¯t stop because of that, and that they won¡¯t be limited to within the Nie n.

    ¡°I hope that I¡¯ll soon see the both of you in the Cloudsoaring sect. By that time, I¡¯ll ept your challenges at any time.

    ¡°Thanks for honing me for all these years. Because of you, I strove to get stronger, and eventually earned the chance to enter the Cloudsoaring sect.

    ¡°I hope the two of you can also be disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    ¡°By that time, we will fight in the Cloudsoaring sect, instead of the Nie n.¡±

    What he said was true. He had never hated Nie Hong or Nie Yuan. They were also only eleven, the same age as Nie Tian, and they actually hadn¡¯t been tainted by the despicable minds of Nie Beichuan and Nie Nanshan yet.

    Without the countless battles they had fought against each other, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have been able to improve unceasingly, and he wouldn¡¯t have been sharpened into a treasured de that emanated brilliant light.

    All of the people who were watching, waiting for Nie Tian to humiliate Nie Hong and Nie Yuan, let out exmations of surprise. ¡°Huh?!¡±

    Wu Tao also looked greatly surprised.

    Even Li Fan and Nie Donghai, who were high up on the balcony, appreciated Nie Tian¡¯s behavior with surprised expressions on their faces.

    Nie Hong and Nie Yuan, who had nned for the worst-case scenario, raised their heads to stare nkly at Nie Tian, bbergasted by his words.

    They didn¡¯t see the least bit of a sneer in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, or the intent to inflict humiliation that they thought to be there. All they saw was sincerity.

    A momentter, Nie Hong snapped out of his daze, as the issues that had been weighing on his mind were instantly lifted. He waved his clenched fist towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°You¡¯ll see! I¡¯ll definitely make it into the Cloudsoaring sect. By that time, I¡¯ll defeat you, and let you know that I¡¯m not a bit weaker than you!¡±

    ¡°So will I!¡± Nie Yuan said loudly.

    With a grin, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good. I¡¯ll wait for you in the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    ¡°Just wait for us!¡±

    Then, Nie Hong said in a low voice, ¡°Congrattions...¡±

    Nie Tian put on a heartfealt smile.

    On the stone pavilion, Li Fan turned to Nie Donghai and said, ¡°You taught him well.¡±

    ¡°Yes, all the things that I have done over the years finally paid off.¡± Nie Donghai no longer hid his feelings and his face was filled with pride.

    Li Fan nodded slowly, and spoke while seemingly thinking to himself, ¡°I wonder what happened to him in the Green Illusion dimension. But from the look of it, what he got from the Green Illusion dimension was way more than just the progress in cultivation. It seems his mind and the way he handles issues also transcended... That kind of growth is even more preciouspared to the growth in cultivation.¡±

    Nie Donghaiughed gently, feeling as if the pressure that he had endured for many years had beenpletely been lifted today. Now, he felt iparably light.

    Face solemn, Li Fan said with a serious tone, ¡°From now on, the Nie n will sorrow as he sorrows, decline as he declines. It will rejoice as he rejoices, and soar as he soars.¡±

 Chapter 88: Walking on the Clouds

    Deep into the night.

    The majestic Cloudsoaring Mountain stood tall and erect, like a gigantic stone pir piercing into the clouds.

    At the foot of the mountain, Nie Tian looked up at it, breathing deeply and filled with emotion.

    ¡°Lingzhu, you go ahead,¡± Li Fan said casually.

    Jiang Lingzhu turned around to look at Nie Tian. With aplicated expression, she said, ¡°What about him?¡±

    Li Fan answered, ¡°Master has instructed me to bring him directly to the back of the mountain.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu was taken aback. ¡°Really?¡±

    Li Fanughed bitterly. ¡°I wish he was kidding. Ahh... the idea of having such a young martial uncle also bothered me...¡±

    ¡°You lucky dog!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said, ring at Nie Tian. Sounding annoyed, she continued, ¡°I don¡¯t care. I won¡¯t call you martial uncle no matter what. You¡¯re not even my age!¡±

    With these words, she went along the long and narrow stone steps towards the top of the Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Nie Tian scratched his head, looking confused. ¡°What¡¯s going on, uncle Li?¡±

    ¡°You can call me uncle Li today, but from tomorrow on, I¡¯ll be your martial nephew.¡± Helplessness appeared on Li Fan¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t exin anything more in detail. Instead, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, to the back of the mountain.¡±

    Full of questions, Nie Tian followed along.

    An hourter, the sky had turnedpletely dark, and a bright, round moon gradually rose up into the night sky.

    Behind Cloudsoaring Mountain, Nie Tian and Li Fan appeared at the foot of a mountain that was slightly shorter than Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Li Fan pointed to a stone path which led towards the mountaintop, and said to Nie Tian, ¡°This is as far as I can go. You just have to follow this stone path and walk to the end of it. Someone will be waiting for you at the mountaintop. And that person will be your master in the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Why does he live in the back, and not on Cloudsoaring Mountain? From what I¡¯ve heard, new disciples are supposed to attend some kind of ceremony, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re different.¡± Li Fan exined, shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯ll see. Many rules of the Cloudsoaring sect won¡¯t apply to you.¡±

    His words left Nie Tianpletely confused.

    ¡°Go ahead. Follow the stone path to the mountaintop. Soon, you¡¯ll understand how lucky you are, kid.¡± Without another word, Li Fan turned and left.

    Under the moonlight, Nie Tian¡¯s gaze followed the long, rugged stone path upwards to the top of the peak, his heart filled with all kinds of emotions.

    After stewing in his thoughts for a while, he still couldn¡¯t figure out what was waiting for him, thus he just followed Li Fan¡¯s instructions and walked along the stone path up the mountain, bathed in moonlight.

    The stone path was long and rugged, and he spent the entire night climbing. By the time he got to the top, it was already daybreak, and he was exhausted.

    At the end of the stone path was a stretch of glossy stone ground, atop which were a few thatched cottages.

    Completely worn out, Nie Tian breathed deeply to calm himself. Before he could examine the surroundings carefully, a voice echoed out from within one of the thatched cottages, ¡°You¡¯re here.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°Come.¡± The person¡¯s voice was filled with tranquility, as if he had just woken up. ¡°Watch your step.¡±

    Subconsciously, Nie Tian looked towards the glossy stone ground under his feet.

    He saw dots of bright light floating out, which quickly stretched into lines and interweaved into a gigantic grid.

    In the next moment, waves of soul-shaking fluctuations were unleashed from within the grid, causing Nie Tian¡¯s expression to flicker.

    Then he noticed that the clusters of clouds floating near the mountain peak were being attracted as they converged rapidly onto the stone ground under his feet.

    Before long, the clusters of clouds seemed to have turned into an ash-gray carpet, spreading out and covering the entire stone ground, with the only visible thing being a carpet of clouds.

    At that moment, he felt as if he was standing on top of a sea of clouds, in the highest of the heavens.

    ¡°Take your time, and walk to me step by step.¡± Submerged in the dense clouds, the voice that echoed out from the thatched cottage sounded even more ethereal.

    Nie Tian nced around. All he could see was a sea of thick clouds and a thatched cottage that seemed to be floating on top of it, with no mountains or ground visible any longer.

    This was something he had never experienced before, and thus he instantly grew iparably cautious.

    No longer able to locate the stone ground beneath his feet, he feared that he might fall from the clouds into the heart of the mountain and die.

    He stared closely at the thatched cottage and pondered for a while with his eyes narrowed. Convinced that the stone ground was still there between him and the thatched cottage, he finally took his first trembling step forward.

    BOOM!

    The moment his footnded, a surge of energy fluctuations entered his body through the bottom of his foot, which then turned into millions of strands of energy that swam upwards along his legs.

    He immediately experienced soreness and numbness all over. When he unleashed his psychic power to examine his body, he discovered that those strands of energy seemed to have found an outlet and rushed forth into his mind.

    Shortly after, he felt muddleheaded as he started to lose his bnce and stagger.

    Every muscle and meridian inside of him seemed to be invaded by the strange, fine strands of energy, and gradually, he started to feel a rise in his body temperature.

    ¡°Second step.¡± The voice once again echoed out from within the thatched cottage.

    Muddleheaded and dizzy, Nie Tian followed the person¡¯s instructions and slowly took his second step.

    BOOM!

    Another surge of energy rushed into his sole, reaching every one of his bones and limbs and filling his entire body.

    His body suddenly expanded out like a inted balloon, just as what had previously urred in the Green Illusion dimension when he had tried to refine the blood he had absorbed.

    A heart-wrenching pain came from within each and every one of his pores, which grew increasingly unbearable and eventually made him cry out loud. ¡°Ahh!¡±

    While he was roaring wildly, sweat started spilling out from his pores, which... was mixed with filth that was being discharged from within his body.

    ¡°Continue!¡± The voice rang out again.

    Nie Tian struggled to resist the acute pain. Jaw clenched, he took another step forward.

    With every step he took, astonishing energy would break out from within the clusters of clouds beneath his feet, rush inside of him without meeting any obstacle, and wander about in his flesh and bones, as if it was attempting to stimte him!

    When he took the seventh step, the pain built up to the point where he was on the verge of losing consciousness.

    His legs felt as heavy as mountains, and he found it almost impossible to take even one more step forward.

    Therefore, he stopped.

    Surprisingly, the voice that had kept urging him didn¡¯t echo out, as if it was waiting for something.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Nie Tian panted heavily, as if the most effortless action of breathing had now be too consuming for him.

    By this point, he felt as if his body didn¡¯t belong to him any more; he was so muddleheaded that he could no longer feel the existence of his body.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    It was also at that very moment that he experienced an anomaly in his heartbeat, which was growing increasingly strong and rapid!

    Standing among the clouds, Nie Tian eximed inwardly, fearing that his secret was about to be revealed. ¡°Oh, damn!"

    This kind of situation had only urred to help him reverse a desperate situation, allowing him to battle on with an new, unknown strength.

    It was no exception this time!

    He had been exhausted to death and on the verge of passing out, but as his heart pounded increasingly vigorously, he resumedmand of his own body.

    It seemed as if his body was reactivated by a new kind of strength!

    Having stopped for a while, the voice suddenly rang out once again. ¡°Continue!!¡±

    However, this time, Nie Tian could clearly identify excitement in that voice.

 Chapter 89: Tempering the Self

    Cloudsoaring Mountain...

    Standing on the mountaintop, surrounded by a boundless white fog, the master of the Cloudsoaring sect, Jiang Zhisu, was gazing at the back of the mountain, his green robes fluttering against the wind.

    Jiang Lingzhu and Li Fan stood beside him, and just like him, they were also looking at the back of the mountain, their eyes filled with disbelief.

    ¡°The flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth seems to have changed...¡± said Jiang Zhisu.

    After staring for a while, Li Fan said, ¡°Based on my calctions, Nie Tian ought to have reached the top already.¡±

    Jiang Zhisu said gently, ¡°It¡¯s begun.¡±

    ¡°Father, why did martial granduncle chose Nie Tian?¡± Jiang Lingzhu asked, puzzled.

    Li Fan furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Actually, I find it quite strange myself. I failed to spot any special cultivation talent on him. Pan Bai of the Spiritual Treasure sect is well-known for his ability to recognize talent, and since he set his mind on Nie Tian, he must have something unique. But, even if that was true, it was still very unlikely for martial granduncle to pick him, right?¡±

    Jiang Zhisu shook his head and said, ¡°I also have no idea why. In martial uncle¡¯s entire life, he has only taken in a total of three disciples, with Nie Tian being the third. You probably have heard of the first two, and know what cultivation stage they¡¯re at and their current status.¡±

    Li Fan¡¯s heart was filled with veneration upon hearing these words.

    Jiang Zhisu remained silent for a while before saying, ¡°Martial uncle hasn¡¯t made a breakthrough in years, and his time... is about to run out. If there are no surprises, Nie Tian is very likely hisst disciple. Actually, I originally assumed that he wouldn¡¯t take in any more disciples; who would have thought that he would set his eyes on Nie Tian. However, it¡¯s our sect¡¯s fortune that martial uncle has taken in a new disciple.¡±

    ¡°I wonder how many steps he¡¯ll be able to take.¡± Curiosity was written across Li Fan¡¯s face.

    Eyes narrowed, Jiang Zhisu used his soul to sense the flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the vicinity of the Cloudsoaring Mountain. ¡°The first two of martial uncle¡¯s disciples both turned out to be more sessful than their master. I hope that Nie Tian will too. After today, we¡¯ll have a clearer understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s potential.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, both Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s eyes brimmed with admiration, as if they knew what Nie Tian was experiencing at that moment.

    ...

    On the back of the mountain...

    Having walked seven steps, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t move his legs even the least bit.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Just as he was catching his breath, rapid and vigorous heartbeats once again sounded out from within his chest.

    Nie Tian, who was on the verge of losing consciousness, remained where he was and used his soul to sense the changes inside of him.

    He discovered that countless strands of unknown energy were roaming about inside of him, carrying pure and refined power, as they constantly entered and exited his flesh, bones, and internal organs.

    He no longer forced himself to take steps forward, but rather attempted to use the Qi Refining Incantation to control the strands of energy.

    As soon as he started, he could keenly feel the numerous strands of energy frantically surging forth into his spiritual sea.

    In only a sh, his spiritual sea was brimming with spiritual power, but the mighty spiritual energy in him was much stronger than the energy he had acquired from the spirit beast meat in the Green Illusion dimension!

    When he tried to use the Qi Refining Incantation to expand his spiritual sea, he discovered that his spiritual sea seemed to be ripped apart and sewn back together, expanding rapidly.

    Not only that, but along with the eleration of his heartbeat, he gradually gained control of the strands of energy that were originally rampaging uncontrobly in his flesh, bones, and internal organs.

    Before long, he sensed that the energy was disappearing at an astonishing speed.

    He was actually absorbing it!

    Before long, he snapped out of the muddleheaded state he had been in, and regainedmand of his own body, even though he was still feeling iparably sore and painful.

    ¡°Continue!¡± The urging voice once again echoed out from within the thatched cottage.

    Nie Tian gritted his teeth and took another step forward.

    The moment he stretched out his leg, he felt drops of murky sweat flowing out from his body, dripping down as he moved along.

    THUMP!

    When his footnded on the ground, another surge of energy flowed into him through his sole.

    As soon as it entered Nie Tian¡¯s foot, the surge of energy once again split into countless strands of energy, dispersing into every corner of his body.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    He took another two steps in quick session, and the energy which rushed forth into his body once again became frantic and disorderly.

    He had just restored rity to his mind, and yet was once again thrown into bewilderment as a flesh-rending pain burst out within him, causing him to stagger to the point where he almost fell over.

    It was at that point that he realized that the amount of energy that his body was able to bear had once again reached its limit!

    He stopped moving again, and then used the Qi Refining Incantation to pull the abundant energy inward.

    CRACKLE!

    A strange sound rang out from his bones, as if his joints were cheering, his blood was surging in high spirits, and his internal organs were roaring wildly!

    Soon, he discovered that the energy, which had filled his spiritual sea to the brim, seemed to havepletely transformed his spiritual sea after a violent upheaval.

    After examining himself with rapt attention, ecstasy appeared on his face. ¡°The ninth level of Qi Refining!¡±

    He had spent a very long time to expand his spiritual sea bit by bit in the Green Illusion dimension before eventually reaching the eighth level of Qi Refining. At that time, he was fully aware that there was still a very long road ahead, and it could be months before he would reach the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    He never expected that simply by taking a few steps within the sea of clouds, his spiritual sea would finish upgrading, and he would step into the ninth level of Qi Refining just like that!

    CRACKLE!

    All of his bones continued to make cracking sounds, and at the same time, huge amounts of sweat mixed with filth continued to pour out of his pores.

    Along with the outflow of the sweat, he suddenly felt his muscles, meridians, and veins grow more powerful and resilient, his bones be as hard as steel, and his internal organs fill with endless strength.

    Surprised and ted, he released his psychic awareness in an attempt to probe the surroundings.

    His psychic power was like tentacles stretching out from his soul, traveling at an unimaginably high speed, extending into every direction to cover a 150 meters radius!

    Within the range of 150 meters, the flow of the wind, the surging power within the clouds, the swaying reeds on top of the thatched cottages, and the ice-cold moisture of the stone ground all became clear to him.

    At the same time, a terrifyingly strong life fluctuation, which pulsed in the thatched cottage in front of him, was reflected into his mind!

    Closing his eyes, he used his soul to sense it...

    Within that thatched cottage, there seemed to be an entity that resembled a zing sun, releasing heaven-shaking and earth-shattering life fluctuations.

    He immediately felt dwarfed by such a formidable power. He also felt that with a look or just a thought, that life within the thatched cottage would be able to instantly reduce him into nothing more than g.

    Back in the Green Illusion dimension, he had also used his unique psychic awareness to detect the Lurker Lizard and Frost Python. The fleshly aura and signs of life of those two spirit beasts had been slightly stronger than Yu Tong¡¯s, yet they had already made him feel immeasurably weak.

    However,pared to the life fluctuations within the thatched cottage, they seemed ridiculously insignificant, as if they were bugs and this was a dragon, as if they were fireflies and this was the sun.

    ¡°It¡¯s so powerful!¡± he eximed inwardly. ¡°Is that... really a human being?¡±

    ¡°Yee?!¡± A muttering sound echoed out from within the thatched cottage, ¡°Such considerable psychic power at the Qi Refining stage... Not bad...¡±

    After halting for a moment, the man in the thatched cottage called out, ¡°Focus, keep going!¡±

    Upon hearing the words, Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power instantly returned to his soul, as if it was pushed back by a formless, giant hand.

    With a shock to his soul, his snapped out of his psychic activities and realized that it wasn¡¯t the time to observe that person.

    However, after experiencing a period of bewilderment, his body seemed to have be adapted again and the strands of energy that had rushed forth into his body seemed to have been consumed by more than half.

    Therefore, he took another step forward.

    Just like that, he walked and stopped. Step by step, he gradually moved towards that thatched cottage.

    He didn¡¯t pay attention to how long it had been, or how much energy he had absorbed. He even forgot how many steps he had taken.

    In the end, when he reached the door of the thatched cottage, he raised his head, and realized that a full moon already hung high in the sky.

    ¡°Come in!¡± the voice echoed out again.

 Chapter 90: The Ninth Realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars

    Below Nie Tian¡¯s feet, the clouds rapidly dissipated, and soon he was able to see the stone ground again.

    Standing in front of the thatched cottage, he could feel that there were still countless strands of energy roaming about inside of him, yet his pounding heartbeat had returned to normal.

    Staring at the thatched cottage, he suddenly felt somewhat nervous, and thus stood there in hesitation.

    Previously, he perceived that the person inside the thatched cottage... was an existence whose strength incredibly strong, the likes of which he had never met before.

    ¡°Come in,¡± the person urged once again.

    Hearing his words, Nie Tian didn¡¯t hesitate any further. He lifted the cottage¡¯s curtain and strode in.

    Upon entering, he immediately knelt and kowtowed three times, saying, ¡°Greetings, master.¡±

    When he previously arrived at the foot of the mountain, he had learned from Li Fan that the person he was going to meet would be his future master in the Cloudsoaring sect.

    By urging him to step towards the cottage, that person had bestowed millions of strands of energy upon him, which were clearly an enormous fortune to him.

    If by now he didn¡¯t understand that this person had good intentions, then he would be undeserving of the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s breaking of the rules for him, much less the favor of this mysterious person.

    ¡°Smart kid.¡±

    Within the humble thatched cottage, an old man that resembled a bag of bones sat quietly on a prayer mat with both of his hands tucked up in the opposite sleeves, sizing Nie Tian up with intense interest.

    The old man was in looking. No matter his clothes or his figure, there was nothing eye-catching about him.

    Only his eyes were different, which seemed to be brimming with the thirst for knowledge, constantly pondering certain profound questions, and diligently and tirelessly chasing after the answers.

    ¡°Raise your head,¡± the old man said softly.

    After hearing his words, Nie Tian slowly lifted up his bowed head and finally summoned enough courage to look the old man in the eye.

    With a brief smile, the old man said amiably, ¡°My name is Wu Ji. From today on, I¡¯ll be your master. Including you, I have a total of three disciples. When you reach a certain level, you¡¯ll naturallye to know about your two senior martial brothers. There¡¯s no need for me to tell you about them.

    ¡°The only thing I¡¯ll say about them is that they have already surpassed me.

    ¡°I hope that like them you will too, one day, step out of this heaven and earth to go and pursue the things that I once longed for.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°Step out of this heaven and earth?¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s face was calm. ¡°By stepping out of this heaven and earth, I don¡¯t mean through an inter-spacial teleportation portal. I¡¯m talking about soaring across the river of stars by relying on your own strength. The heaven and earth in which we reside is just an insignificant realm in the vast gxy. Its name is the Realm of me Heaven, which is the ninth realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°The ninth realm? The Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Confusion stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right, thend that we¡¯re standing on is the ninth realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars. And within Domain of the Falling Stars, there are altogether nine realms which are simr to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s jaw dropped as he stared at Wu Ji wide-eyed.

    With merely a few sentences, Wu Ji had practically overturned everything Nie Tian knew about this world, and shook his beliefs to an incredible extent.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Face serious, Wu Ji continued, ¡°telling you about all these things right now is indeed a bit too early. But I have faith that your future will not be limited to the Realm of me Heaven. I¡¯m telling you all these things because I want you to know that the unmeasured vastness of the entire gxy far exceeds your imagination.

    ¡°One day, you¡¯ll step out of the Realm of me Heaven and travel freely between the realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, just like your two senior martial brothers.¡±

    Immediately, a longing was born in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Just like the Realm of me Heaven, each and every one of the realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars is inhabited by numerous powerful Qi warriors. However, the number of Qi warriors in the Realm of me Heaven is far fewerpared to the other eight realms.

    ¡°In the entire Realm of me Heaven, there are only seven Qi warrior forces that can be considered worth mentioning.

    ¡°You probably know about them. They are the Spiritual Treasure sect, Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, Mystic Mist sect, Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect.

    ¡°These seven forces are split up into two alliances, with the Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect on one side, and the Spiritual Treasure sect, Grayvale sect, Mystic Mist sect, and us on the other.¡±

    Inside the thatched cottage, Wu Ji¡¯s ethereal voice unceasingly drifted about. He didn¡¯t talk too much about the Domain of the Falling Stars and the other eight realms, but rather focused on matters of the Realm of me Heaven.

    Nie Tian listened attentively, engraving everything Wu Ji had said in his mind.

    Wu Ji had opened a brand new door for him, allowing him to gradually understand about his insignificance and the fact that the Realm of me Heaven he was in was merely the ninth realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    During that day, Wu Ji didn¡¯t give any introduction regarding cultivation, but only exined to him in detail the distribution of realms, theplicated rtionships between different forces, as well as the conflicts between individual Qi warriors.

    A very long time passed...

    Wu Ji stopped and said, ¡°Go and think over what I have said today. Also, have a good rest to let your body recuperate, and then, observe and learn about the changes in you.

    ¡°In the future, I¡¯ll exin to you the rtionship between a Qi warrior and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, as well as other basic knowledge.

    ¡°I won¡¯t impart any spiritual techniques for cultivation before you enter the Lesser Heaven stage. For now, you can just continue to use the Qi Refining Incantation to cultivate your spiritual sea.¡±

    ¡°Got it." Nie Tian nodded obediently.

    Wu Ji examined him silently for a while before asking, ¡°Someone has refined your flesh, blood, and bones before me. Who was he?¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned. Then he contemted over Wu Ji¡¯s question, trying to figure out what he meant.

    ¡°I heard you once had a high fever and lost consciousness for a few days?¡± Wu Ji¡¯s eyes glittered with bright light.

    Nie Tian suddenly remembered and said, ¡°Yes, I did.¡±

    ¡°A foreign doctor treated your fever for seven days, right?¡± asked Wu Ji.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, he did.¡±

    ¡°What is his name?¡±

    ¡°I believe it¡¯s Hua Mu.¡±

    ¡°Hua Mu?¡± Wu Ji frowned as he drifted away in thought. After a while, he shook his head and said, ¡°I have never heard this name before. Either it¡¯s a fake name, or... he¡¯s not from the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°There are only a handful in the entire Realm of me Heaven who are able to do what he did and practically give you a brand new body.

    ¡°I know every one of them and none are named Hua Mu.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°That foreign doctor helped me refine my flesh, blood, and bones? Is he really... that incredible?¡±

    ¡°Of course, he is.¡± Wu Ji nodded. ¡°But I don¡¯t know what motivated him to spend so much energy to help you refine your flesh, blood, and bones. That person is definitely beyond ordinary. If he is indeed from one of the other eight realms, then...¡±

    Wu Ji suddenly stopped and started to examine Nie Tian again, as if he was trying to find an answer on Nie Tian.

    After a while, he waved his hand, signaling for Nie Tian to leave. ¡°From today on, the third thatched cottage to the left belongs to you. You can go and rest now.¡±

    ¡°Yes, master.¡± Nie Tian rose to his feet, bowed, and walked out of the room.

    Wu Ji¡¯s words were a bit overwhelming for him, and he needed time to digest such arge amount of overturning information.

    Furthermore, he was fairly exhausted, and felt the urgent need to get some good sleep.

    Inside the room, Wu Ji was still muttering to himself, ¡°Hua Mu...

    ¡°It seems like I have to ask a few friends to go investigate in the other eight realms, and see if there is actually a person named Hua Mu... Since this Hua Mu was willing to go through so much trouble to help refine Nie Tian¡¯s body, there must be a reason.

    ¡°Could it be that he also saw the potential in Nie Tian and wanted to take him in as a disciple?

    ¡°But if he did, howe he didn¡¯t take Nie Tian with him?

    ¡°Strange, it¡¯s truly strange.¡±

 Chapter 91: Half a Year Passes

    Nie Tian spent the next few months cultivating under Wu Ji¡¯s guidance on the back mountain of Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Every morning, Wu Ji would instruct him about the origins of Qi warriors and the differences between realms, and also impart to him various secrets and anecdotes of the Realm of me Heaven.

    From Wu Ji, Nie Tian also learned that the period before one hundred thousand years ago was referred to as the ancient era.

    During that time, a variety of races had been established in countless realms. Titans, ancient beasts, and the monarchs of various special races were the overlords of their separate realms.

    Humans, on the other hand, were just sheep waiting to be ughtered, controlled by the stronger races, and were reduced to the powerful races¡¯ offerings to the heaven and earth.

    Only when the ancient Qi warriors figured out a way to cultivate, and learned how to channel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into their spiritual sea, did the human race finally break free from envement and rise to prominence.

    Wu Ji told him that all living being in this universe had unique talents.

    The titans and ancient beasts had been the favored ones from the moment they came to exist, the reason being that unimaginable, frightening strengthy within their flesh and blood.

    As for the monarchs of the various powerful races, they possessed bloodlines that were iparably strong. Some bloodlines allowed them to interact with theva from the earth¡¯s core, some allowed them to cause great changes to thunder, some contained the profound mysteries of death, and some bloodlines carried endless life.

    There were also special races that had been born with mysterious souls, allowing them to float through the dark holes of space like ghosts.

    ording to Wu Ji, any living creature was able to possess three types of strength, which were spiritual power, bloodline power, and soul power.

    Some strong races had the secretws of heaven and earth within their bloodlines. They would mainly cultivate their bloodline power, and the life force within their flesh and blood would be as strong as the mountain and as abundant as the ocean.

    Some other strong races had powerful souls, and their cultivation would be mostly soul-rted.

    There were also other races that mainly focused on the cultivation of their spiritual sea and spiritual power.

    Spiritual power, bloodline power, and soul power were just different manifestations of strength. They all contained boundless mysteries, and possessed the ability to reshape the heaven and earth.

    As for the human race, they usually started their cultivation path by cultivating their spiritual power. When they reached a certain stage, they would be able to sense the existence of the soul power and start toprehend its profundity, and thus start to refine their souls.

    Of course, nothing was for sure. Some people were able to keenly sense the existence of psychic power at a very early age.

    Psychic power was the earliest form of soul power.

    As one¡¯s psychic power gradually congealed and became stronger, then by slowly nurturing and refining the soul with it, one would be able to gain a clear understanding of his or her own soul, and from there, begin the path of soul power cultivation.

    Due to the special nature of the incantations cultivated by the Ghost sect, they would usually greatly value a person¡¯s soul power when they picked disciples.

    It was also for that reason that the Ghost sect disciples would often possess outstanding psychic power.

    As they proceeded further with their cultivation, they would usually put more emphasis on the cultivation of their souls. Therefore, the Ghost sect always required their disciples to possess a strong psychic power from the very beginning.

    Every morning, Wu Ji would teach Nie Tian about the ancient Qi warriors, the different major races, and the difference between the three types of strength.

    Every afternoon, Wu Ji would lecture about the ancient symbols and the scripts of the titans and the ancient beasts; he told Nie Tian that he would find them useful sooner orter if he was to travel outside of the Realm of me Heaven.

    The ancient symbols were thenguage the ancient Qi warriors used in ancient times tomunicate with the heaven and earth.

    The titans¡¯ and ancient beasts¡¯ scripts were two differentnguages.

    ording to Wu Ji, when he had the chance to step out of the Realm of me Heaven in the future and visit other realms, he would definitely get to see those two type of scripts and maybe even... encounter titans and ancient beasts.

    By that time, his knowledge about those twonguages woulde in handy and help him make the best out of the situation.

    At the very least, he would be able tomunicate with those terrifying beings.

    Actually, Wu Ji found it surprising that Nie Tian never resented the idea of learning about the scripts of the titans and ancient beasts.

    Wu Ji didn¡¯t know that when he had introduced the ancient beast script to Nie Tian, the writings reminded him of the stone pce underneath the desert in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Every wall and stone column in the stone pce had been engraved with the mysterious writings.

    If he had grasped the meanings of the script back then, he would have understood what the writings engraved at the stone pce were talking about.

    As for the titans¡¯ script...

    The first time Wu Ji had told him about the titan¡¯s script, he was one hundred percent certain that those mountain-like arms pointing up into the sky in the mysteriousnd he had been taken to by the dragon bone, belonged to the titans!

    Under the ground of the mysteriousnd must lie quite a few titans that had disappeared from this world for who knew how long.

    He had learned the rage punch from one of them. If only he had known thisnguage back then, he would have been able to uncover many, many more secrets..

    Therefore, when it was time to study thenguages of the ancient beasts and titans, not only did he not have a problem with it, he was even extremely eager learn about them.

    Wu Ji was quite pleased with his hard-working attitude.

    During the day, he would learn from Wu Ji about thenguages of the two great races, as well as why Qi warriors existed, and the applications of the three types of strength.

    In the night, he would cultivate diligently using the Qi Refining Incantation to expand his spiritual sea. In the process, he would take advantage of the spirit stones that Wu Ji had bestowed upon him.

    Every few days, a Thunder Beast would descend from the sky and throw him a second grade spirit beast as food.

    As soon as it left the food, it would swoop back into the sky before vanishing into the clouds in a sh.

    It had been extremely difficult for him to get the meat of a second grade spirit beast in the Green Illusion dimension.

    However, aftering to this ce, second grade spirit beast meat had be his everyday meal.

    Following Wu Ji¡¯s instructions, he didn¡¯t use the energy produced by the second grade spirit beast meat to expand his spiritual sea.

    Instead, he allowed it to naturally disperse into his flesh and merge into his bones and inner organs.

    That was because the low grade spirit stones which he used to cultivate during the night already contained enough spiritual energy of the heaven and earth for him to use to gradually expand his spiritual sea.

    Time flew... In the blink of an eye, he had already cultivated under Wu Ji¡¯s instructions for half a year.

    By now, his spiritual sea had expanded to the limits of the ninth level of Qi Refining!

    He was only one step away from breaking through the bottleneck and entering the Lesser Heaven stage.

    After consuming the meat of second grade spirit beasts for half a year, he had grown taller and even more robust. Moreover, the fluctuations of life within him had be significantly more vigorous than cultivators at the same stage as himself.

    His psychic power could now cover a range of 300 meters.

    One morning, following his usual routine, Nie Tian once again nned to go to Wu Ji¡¯s cottage to listen to him exin matters pertinent to breaking through from the Qi Refining stage into the Lesser Heaven stage.

    During the past three days, Wu Ji no longer talked about the respective features of spiritual power, bloodline power, and soul power, but rather focused on instructing him how to break through the bottleneck and step into the Lesser Heaven stage.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, Wu Ji walked out of his thatched cottage, and said to him, ¡°I¡¯ve already told you everything there¡¯s to say about the transition from the Qi Refining stage into the Lesser Heaven stage. For the rest, you¡¯ll have to explore by yourself.

    ¡°This is the first bottleneck you¡¯ll encounter on your path of cultivation. You¡¯ll meet many more in the future. You can¡¯t make the breakthrough by cultivating blindly. Instead, you¡¯ll need to draw upon your own experience andprehension.

    ¡°You¡¯ve stayed here for half a year already. It¡¯s time that you went out and explored. You¡¯ll benefit from it.

    ¡°The Spiritual Treasure sect is holding a grand convention. I¡¯ll have the Thunder Beast take you there. Here, take thismand medallion. Show it to them at the Spiritual Treasure sect and they¡¯ll let you take up to three items; you can choose anything you like.

    ¡°Before you reach the Lesser Heaven stage, there is no need to learn about spiritual tools. Due to your current insufficient cultivation base and spiritual power, there is absolutely no way for you to bring out the full potential of a spiritual tool.

    ¡°You can learn how to wield them when you enter the Lesser Heaven stage.¡±

    With these words, Wu Ji waved his hand towards the sky.

    A low-pitched cry echoed out from within the clouds, and in the next moment, a giant eagle-like Thunder Beastnded in front of them.

    It was dark-green in color, wreathed in numerous fine lightning bolts, and within its deep, green eyes, lightning flickered from time to time.

    With a p of its wings, the lightning that covered its entire body entered into its body like little snakes.

    ¡°Go,¡± said Wu Ji. ¡°It¡¯ll take you to the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡±

    Nie Tian took themand medallion, which had the ¡®Ji¡¯ character carved into it, and carefully climbed onto the Thunder Beast¡¯s back.

    The Thunder Beast seemed to be somewhat unwilling and slightly twisted its body. That small movement almost shook Nie Tian off its back.

    With a cold snort, Wu Ji looked towards the Thunder Beast and said, ¡°Don¡¯t feel wronged. You¡¯ll need Nie Tian¡¯s help one day!¡±

    The Thunder Beast¡¯s eyes glittered with light of intelligence. After hearing Wu Ji¡¯s words, it seemed to be slightly puzzled, unable toprehend what he meant.

    ¡°Take Nie Tian to the Spiritual Treasure sect,¡± Wu Ji said with a scolding tone. ¡°You¡¯d better not cause trouble on your way there, or I won¡¯t let you off easily!¡±

    The Thunder Beast let out a discontented bellow and stopped moving around, waiting for Nie Tian get a firm hold. Only then did it p its wings and soar up into the sky.

 Chapter 92: It Felt Like Centuries Have Passed

    Somewhere in the Scarlet me Mountain Range...

    Three sparsely vegetated mountain peaks rose up in three directions like the points of a triangle. In between them all was a huge valley, which was the home of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Numerous stone pavilions stood tall in the valley, and streams of people walked along the wide stone paths.

    On the three mountain peaks surrounding the Spiritual Treasure sect wererge numbers of caves, with people from the Spiritual Treasure sect constantly going in and out of them.

    Those caves belonged to the sect¡¯s equipment forgers.

    When they entered the caves, they were all well-dressed, and their bearings were confident and elegant, but when they walked out from the cave, their appearance was always messy, their hair disheveled and their faces dirty.

    Of those who walked out, some held spiritual tools in hand and cheered loudly, while others held their head down, disheartened, looking almost as if their parents had just passed away.

    The main gate of the Spiritual Treasure sect stood high at the north entrance of the valley, and often saw luxurious carriages passing through, carrying travelers from distantnds.

    An Shiyi stood at the gate, dressed in fine red garments, her delicate and beautiful face filled with a smile. Whenever she saw someoneing, she would step forward to greet them and arrange their amodations.

    She wore a silver bracelet on her jade-like wrist, and a heart-shaped pendant could be seen hanging around her snow-white neck. Her every single movement showed off the most beautiful side of a woman, provoking deep desire in every man who saw her.

    However, under her seemingly evesting smile, there appeared to be sorrow deeply hidden in her eyes.

    In the past, her status in the Spiritual Treasure sect had ensured that she would never be entrusted with a menial task like receiving guests.

    However, as the representative of the Spiritual Treasure sect and person in charge of the Green Illusion dimension trial, she had failed to notice the actions of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect, which directly led to the annihtion of the entire Grayvale sect team, as well as heavy casualties to the other three sects. Because of this, her status in the Spiritual Treasure sect had greatly dropped.

    In order to appease the other three sects, An Shiyi had received severe punishment, and had descended to a point where she had to greet guests in front of the sect¡¯s main gate.

    Over the years in the Spiritual Treasure sect, everything had gone her way. She had been highly regarded by the sectmaster and had never met such a huge setback before.

    Thanks to the sectmaster¡¯s high regard, the old men within the sect who harbored evil intentions towards her had all hidden their intentions and not dared to act imprudently.

    However, ording to the rumors, due to her dereliction of duty regarding the Green Illusion dimension trial, the sectmaster seemed to have raised doubts regarding herpetence, and thus had removed her status as a deacon.

    Therefore, the old ones who had been drooling over her beauty immediately grew restless.

    Recently, each and every one of them had sent people to test out her intentions, expressing their wish of bing partners with her.

    After rejecting them a number of times, she had discovered that her situation in the Spiritual Treasure sect had be more and more difficult.

    An Shiyi thought to herself, ¡°There must not be any ident at this convention. Otherwise... things will be even more difficult in the future.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Panting sounds rang out as three Gold Horn Beasts dragged a huge carriage from the north.

    On the carriage, Sang Bing from the Grayvale sect looked coldly at An Shiyi, his face grim.

    Next to him sat Yuan Xian, who, at the first sight of An Shiyi, said unpleasantly, ¡°An Shiyi, how do you still have the face to receive us? If it wasn¡¯t for you, my Feng¡¯er wouldn¡¯t have died in the Green Illusion dimension! Because you failed to detect the Ghost sect¡¯s and Blood sect¡¯s actions, my precious Feng¡¯er is dead!¡±

    Yuan Xian was the sister of Yuan Fengchun, master of the Yuan n from Frost Stone City.

    Yuan Feng, who had led the Grayvale sect¡¯s disciples into the Green Illusion dimension, had been Yuan Fengchun¡¯s grandson. Yuan Xian, who had never married in her entire life, had always treated Yuan Feng as her own grandson.

    The reason Yuan Feng had been deemed as a ¡®seed¡¯ by the Grayvale sect was not only because of his exceptional talent, but also partly because of her.

    Admittedly, Yuan Fengchun was a well-known figure among the major ns of the seven cities, butpared to his sister, he wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    From a young age, Yuan Xian had disyed exceptional cultivation talent, and as of now, she was already one of the five valemasters of the Grayvale sect.

    Grayvale consisted of five vales, each of which had a valemaster. Although she was the master of the smallest vale, she was the fifth most respected person in the entire sect.

    It was because of her that the Yuan n dared to act domineeringly among all the subordinate ns of the Grayvale sect, and was also why the Yuan n was deemed as the number one n in Frost Stone City.

    As for the reason why the Yun n had gotten rid of Nie Qian and made Yun Zhiguo marry Yuan Qiuying, it was because they took a fancy to the Yuan n¡¯s loft status in the Grayvale sect.

    After all, the Yun n was merely an insignificant subordinate n.

    ¡°Senior Yuan,¡± An Shiyi smiled bitterly, ¡°it was the Ghost sect and Blood sect that killed Yuan Feng, not me, right? If you want to take revenge, you should go to the Ghost sect and Blood sect. Why make things difficult for me?¡±

    Yuan Xian¡¯s gaze was as cold as ice. ¡°Of course I won¡¯t let them off! But you have to take responsibility too! If you didn¡¯t fail at your job of discovering their ns, how would they have been able to set foot in the Green Illusion dimension? If they weren¡¯t able to enter the Green Illusion dimension, how would Feng¡¯er have possibly died?¡±

    With these words, Yuan Xian paused for a while and red at An Shiyi. Face bleak, she said, ¡°An Shiyi, if you want to rely on your pretty face to keep a foothold in the Realm of me Heaven, then you¡¯d better find someone strong to rely on. I heard that... some of the elders in your sect have quite a taste for you. I¡¯d say, obey them.

    ¡°After all, a woman like you, other than your good looks, what else do you have?

    ¡°If you marry one of them, I might have to give them face and leave you alone. But... if there is no one to protect you, then with your current status in the Spiritual Treasure sect, I have plenty of methods to use on you!¡±

    Yuan Xian was blunt about the scandals in the Spiritual Treasure sect, despite the fact that there were people around watching.

    After hearing her words, An Shiyi¡¯s face flickered. She wanted to retort, but with a second thought about her current situation, she chose to simply ept the abuse.

    At that time, she noticed that around her, many Spiritual Treasure sect disciples were now looking at her with strange gazes.

    She immediately realized that the troublesome matters that had been weighing her down recently, had already been made public before she knew it.

    ¡°Senior Yuan, please enter the sect.¡± An Shiyi bowed, indicating for Sang Bing and Yuan Xian to enter the gate.

    Yuan Xian wasn¡¯t in a rush to go in, and continued to sit on her carriage, looking down upon An Shiyi.

    ¡°After all,¡± she said coldly, ¡°the An n¡¯s foundation is too shallow. Your n doesn¡¯t even have one elder in the Spiritual Treasure sect, but rather they depend on you and your sister to maintain their foothold in ck Cloud City. Once you lose your power in the Spiritual Treasure sect, your sister and your n may all go down with you. An Shiyi, you¡¯d better think it through. Think about your sister and your n.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your concern, Senior Yuan,¡± An Shiyi replied with a frown.

    She was already quite aware of what Yuan Xian was trying to say.

    She knew perfectly clear that one of her pursuers was very close with Yuan Xian, and that those words that Yuan Xian had just said were very likely spoken in that person¡¯s favor.

    The meaning behind her words was that, as long as she submitted to that person obediently, Yuan Xian would no longer pursue her fault in the Green Illusion dimension trial.

    Otherwise, Yuan Xian would spare no means to make life difficult for her and possibly even involve the entire An n.

    However, just thinking of that person¡¯s disgusting appearance made her feel cold and gave her goosebumps.

    ¡°You should really think about it.¡± Yuan Xian gave her a cold look and waved to Sang Bing to get off the carriage and get inside.

    At that very moment, a low-pitched cry suddenly rang out from deep within the clouds.

    Upon hearing the cry, everyone at the front gate subconsciously looked up.

    Before long, they saw a spirit beast gradually appear from within the thick clouds, and rapidly draw near.

    WHOOSH!

    A gale blew past, and when it cleared, a gigantic spirit beast had alreadynded in front of the crowd.

    The three Gold Horn Beasts, which had previously been pulling the Grayvale sect¡¯s carriage, began to tremble and slowly crouch down.

    ¡°A Thunder Beast!¡±

    Seeing the spirit beast descending from heaven, everyone¡¯s faces slightly flickered.

    Even Yuan Xian and Sang Bing suddenly fell into silence upon its appearance.

    A curious voice echoed out from the back of the Thunder Beast. ¡°So this is the Spiritual Treasure sect?¡±

    Everyone looked over with rapt attention, and found that there was well-built young man sitting on the Thunder Beast¡¯s back.

    ¡°It¡¯s... it¡¯s him!!¡± An Shiyi was bbergasted.

    ¡°Yee? Big Sister An?!¡± Nie Tian looked around and immediately spotted An Shiyi. Sitting on the back of the Thunder Beast, he waved his hand towards An Shiyi. With a smile, he said, ¡°Long time no see!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only been half a year,¡± An Shiyi said, smiling.

    Sang Bing, who was still sitting on the carriage, whispered to Yuan Xian, ¡°He¡¯s that kid from the Nie n.¡±

    Yuan Xian took a deep look at Nie Tian and nodded briefly, not saying a word.

    ¡°That kid is now entric Wu¡¯s disciple,¡± said Sang Bing. ¡°He¡¯s not someone we can afford to provoke... should we tell the Yun n to dial down their actions a bit?¡±

    Yuan Xian remained silent for a while and then said, ¡°Qiuying is my niece, but a girl who marries into another n is like water that has been poured away. I would certainly not offend entric Wu because of her.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± said Sang Bing, sounding a bit relieved.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get inside,¡± said Yuan Xian.

    While Nie Tian jumped down from the Thunder Beast¡¯s back and walked towards An Shiyi, the people from the Grayvale sect took the initiative and entered the gate one after another.

    Seeing them leave, An Shiyi¡¯s mood lightened a bit.

    She understood that if it wasn¡¯t for the arrival of Nie Tian, then with Yuan Xian¡¯s harsh nature, she would mock her well and good in front of the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s main gate and there was no way that she would have let her off that easily.

    It had only been half a year since they had parted. However, aplicated expression appeared on her face as she sized up the current Nie Tian. To her, it felt like it had been ages.

    ¡°This little punk...¡±

 Chapter 93: Treasure Convention

    Compared to half a year ago, Nie Tian had not only grown stronger, but also be quite a bit taller.

    In An Shiyi¡¯s eyes, he had been nothing more than a child half a year ago. However, the Nie Tian currently in front of her had already grown into a young man.

    After the Green Illusion dimension trial, not only had Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base improved significantly, but he had also shed away his immaturity and had be more confident and calm.

    Even though An Shiyi was surprised by all the changes, what had really made her sigh with mixed emotions was Nie Tian¡¯s current status.

    He¡¯s now Wu Ji¡¯s disciple.

    She had long since heard about the name Wu Ji as well as his honorable status, not only in the Cloudsoaring sect, but even across the entire Realm of me Heaven.

    Having been chosen by Wu Ji, Nie Tian could be considered to have reached the heavens with a single bound.

    Because of Wu Ji, Nie Tian¡¯s future had be immeasurable.

    She understood that Nie Tian¡¯s identity as Wu Ji¡¯s disciple had even made the domineering Yuan Xian avoid offending him and never again dare to cause trouble with the Nie n.

    ¡°Sister An, howe you¡¯re greeting guests?¡± Nie Tian asked with a chuckle.

    An Shiyi snapped out of her reverie, forced a smile, and said, ¡°The sect has been short on handstely. Well... enough chatting. I¡¯ll arrange for people to take you to Jiang Lingzhu and the others.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s here, too?¡± Nie Tian asked in confusion.

    ¡°Of course,¡± An Shiyi responded. ¡°The Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect have alle, as well as several subordinate ns of our sect.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Oh, I see."

    ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll find you and chat when I get time,¡± said An Shiyi.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t read too much into her words. ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll head inside first.¡±

    ¡°Liu He, bring Nie Tian to the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s residence,¡± An Shiyi instructed.

    A person from the Spiritual Treasure sect hurried out of the sect gate and said respectfully, ¡±Please, follow me.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, the Thunder Beast pped its wings and took off, soaring high into the clouds.

    Knowing that Jiang Lingzhu and others from the Cloudsoaring sect were also here, Nie Tian didn¡¯t worry about the departure of the Thunder Beast.

    He believed that since Jiang Lingzhu was here, whether or not the Thunder Beast would return and pick him up after the convention, he would be able to return to his sect along with Jiang Lingzhu and the others.

    Therefore, under the guidance of the man from the Spiritual Treasure sect, he entered the main gate.

    Once he was inside, he saw numerous stone pavilions alongside the stone roads, with Qi warriors of different realms constantly going in and out of them.

    A loudugh echoed out from within a stone cave that was in the mountain peak to his left.

    ¡°I¡¯ve done it! Hahaha! It has finally been refined!¡±

    An old man with red hair and a bushy beard that still had sparks of fire shooting out of it, was waving a long sword that had rays of moonlight flowing within, as if he had gone insane.

    Nie Tian looked up towards the iparably excited old man, and asked, ¡°Equipment forger?¡±

    Liu He, the escort, nodded while smiling. With a brief bow, he said, ¡°In the entire Realm of me Heaven, we have the most equipment forgers in our sect. They all live in the stone caves in the nearby mountains, within which there are equipment forging rooms. Those unique equipment forging rooms are connected to the zing mes at the earth¡¯s core, enabling the equipment forgers to easily melt and forge items.

    ¡°A lot of rich buyers havee to this Treasure Convention, so all the equipment forgers are hoping to refine unique spiritual tools and then sell them for a good price.

    ¡°That¡¯s why they¡¯ve been rushing with their work during thest couple of days. They all want to forge high-ranked spiritual tools.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded nkly and said, ¡±Oh, so that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    He had heard his master Wu Ji talk about the Treasure Conventions of the Spiritual Treasure sect, so he knew something about them.

    Liu He didn¡¯t lie, as most of the formidable equipment forgers of the Realm of me Heaven were truly from the Spiritual Treasure sect, and the Spiritual Treasure sect was located at the heart of Scarlet me Mountain Range, which was an excellent ce for the equipment forgers to refine items.

    In order for equipment forgers to refine a spiritual weapon, they would need fierce mes to melt the spiritual materials.

    Deep under the Scarlet me Mountain Range was concealed a powerful earthme. Through special means, the Spiritual Treasure sect channeled the earth¡¯s core me to each and every one of the forging rooms within the caves, so as to facilitate the equipment forgers in refining and forging spiritual tools, as well as to improve their equipment forging skills.

    Spiritual tools forged by the equipment forgers of the Spiritual Treasure sect would usually be shipped to the seven major cities for sale.

    The equipment forgers would get spirit stones in return for selling the spiritual tools, which they would then use to buy various kinds of materials to refine spiritual tools of even higher ranks.

    However, the spiritual tools that were shipped into the seven cities often wouldn¡¯t be of premium quality or high rankings.

    The Spiritual Treasure sect would usually stock up the ones that were truly rare, had special usage, or high ratings. Then they would wait to sell them during the Treasure Conventions to the Mystic Mist sect, Grayvale sect, and Cloudsoaring sect.

    Only those three sects would be able to afford the truly high-ranked spiritual tools.

    ording to Wu Ji, not only did the tools forged by the Spiritual Treasure sect excel in the Realm of me Heaven, they were even reputable throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Wu Ji said that they had even attracted Qi warriors from the other eight realms to travel across the river of stars just to attend the Treasure Conventions held by the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Moreover, the Spiritual Treasure sect would specially supply the Qi warriors from the other eight realms with a selection of spiritual tools they had forged.

    Nie Tian pondered as he followed Liu He. Before long, they arrived in front of a six-story stone pavilion.

    ¡°All the guests from the Cloudsoaring sect have been arranged to live here.¡±

    Liu He raised his voice and asked, ¡°Is Mr. Liu here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Liu Yan¡¯s voice came from within the stone pavilion.

    ¡°Excuse me.¡± Hearing Liu Yan¡¯s answer, Liu He bowed briefly and went back along the route they had taken to get here.

    Moments after he left, Liu Yan from the Cloudsoaring sect walked out of the pavilion door.

    Liu Yan examined Nie Tian with his eyes. ¡°Are you the one who called my name?¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Mr. Liu!¡± Nie Tian greeted him in a grand manner.

    Although he couldn¡¯t remember Liu Yan¡¯s appearance, he had heard from Nie Donghai and Nie Qian that when he was one year old, it was because of Liu Yan¡¯s consent and sparing two additional spiritual tools that he was allowed to take part in the Lot-drawing Convention.

    He also knew that back then he had angered many people with his domineering actions at the convention. Had it not been for Liu Yan taking his side, he would have surely been punished by the n at the age of one...

    Furthermore, the dragon bone that had practically changed his life had also belonged to Liu Yan.

    For these reasons, he harbored gratitude towards Liu Yan ever since he had known about him. Unfortunately, because of his previously insignificant status, he didn¡¯t have the chance to go to the Cloudsoaring sect and visit him.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian spent the past half a year apprenticing to Wu Ji in the back mountain, and thus still hadn¡¯t found the chance to visit him.

    To his surprise, he finally got to meet Liu Yan, who had shown major kindness to him, during his trip to the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°Greetings...¡± Liu Yan stared at Nie Tian, who kowtowed to him with great sincerity and respect. He was confused and couldn¡¯t recall who the teenager in front of him was.

    Jiang Lingzhu blurted out from inside the room, ¡°Uncle Liu, he¡¯s Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡± Liu Yan was taken aback. After a moment he recovered from his state of amazement and said, ¡°It¡¯s you, kid! Enough with the courtesy. Quickly get up. I don¡¯t dare ept it!¡±

    He helped Nie Tian up.

    However, Nie Tian took three steps backwards, and bowed. Only after that did he raise his chin and say, ¡°Uncle Liu, I was just one year old then we met, and therefore couldn¡¯t remember what you looked like. But I heard more than a few times about you from my aunt and grandfather. I¡¯ve always been grateful for what you did, and I always wanted to visit you in the Cloudsoaring sect. Unfortunately I never had the chance to do so.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Liu Yanughed out loud. ¡°Your mom was my junior martial sister. It¡¯s only right that I look after you. You don¡¯t need to burden yourself with it.¡±

    With these words, Liu Yan stoppedughing, but instead looked deeply at Nie Tian and said, ¡°But I never thought her son would be even more outstanding than her. Back when your grandfather asked me to test your cultivation talent, I didn¡¯t discover anything.

    ¡°After all, I wasn¡¯t martial granduncle. I didn¡¯t have his acute perception, and wasn¡¯t able to see through your potential at that time.

    ¡°However, seeing what you have achieved today, I¡¯m really happy for her. I hope that you can take advantage of such a rare opportunity and rise up like your two senior martial brothers, stepping out of the Realm of me Heaven one day.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. Liu!¡± Nie Tian said respectfully.

    Liu Yan promptly shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t ept it, I really can¡¯t ept it. You¡¯re martial granduncle¡¯s disciple, so ording to seniority, I should address you as martial uncle.¡±

    ¡°So let¡¯s put seniority aside,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, how about I address you as Uncle Liu from now on?¡±

    ¡°Well, sure." An ted expression appeared on Liu Yan¡¯s face. ¡°Let¡¯s get inside. We¡¯re family now. Come on in.¡±

    Then, he led Nie Tian into the stone pavillion.

    ¡°Let me introduce you to everyone.¡± Once they were inside, Liu Yan pointed at a few people from the Cloudsoaring sect and introduced every one of them to Nie Tian. ¡°You know Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo, so I won¡¯t say more about them. This is Shi Yi, and she is Luo Xin. They are my junior martial brother and sister. My master Wu Xing brought us here, but he isn¡¯t here at the moment. He went to catch up with his friends from the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡±

    Nie Tian was about to greet them one by one. However, those who had just been introduced to him all had strange expressions on their faces as they greeted Nie Tian first. ¡°Greetings, martial uncle.¡±

    Even Jiang Lingzhu, whose face was filled with unwillingness, greeted him obediently.

    ¡°Shi Yi and Luo Xin are my junior martial brother and sister.¡± Liu Yan exined in a soft voice. ¡°Shi Yi has been a member of the sect for quite some time. When your mother was still with us, he had already be my master¡¯s disciple. Luo Xin was taken in by my master nine years ago. She never met you mother.¡±

    Nie Tian looked at the silent Shi Yi. After a moment of heistation, he said, ¡±Uncle Shi.¡±

    ¡°I dare not ept the honor,¡± Shi Yi hurriedly said.

    ¡°Luo...¡±

    He was just about to greet Luo Xin, who seemed to be only about twenty years old. The graceful Luo Xin jumped in and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you address me that way; I¡¯m only a few years older than you. You can just call me Sister Xin. By all means, don¡¯t address me as your aunt!¡±

    ¡°Sister Xin,¡± Nie Tian said with a chuckle.

    Luo Xin let out a sigh of relief. With a grin, she said, ¡°You¡¯re so lucky that martial granduncle set his mind on you, and that the sect broke the rules that had been around for decades for you. This is really something to be proud of.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a lucky kid,¡± Nie Tian said self-deprecatingly.

    Liu Yan showed Nie Tian to a seat and went back to their conversation about the Treasure Convention. ¡°Where were we?¡±

    Nie Tian could tell that they had been discussing something before he had arrived. Hence, he sat there quietly and listened.

    They had a pleasant chat.

    From their conversation, Nie Tian learned that Liu Yan knew something about equipment forging, and he had great interest in the matter. Therefore he wouldn¡¯t miss even one Treasure Convention held by the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    The seven spiritual tools that Liu Yan had brought to the Nie n years ago had been collected by him from these Treasure Conventions.

    The dragon bone that had changed Nie Tian¡¯s fate was one of them. This made Nie Tian secretly attach great importance to the convention, and at the same time, be very excited about it.

 Chapter 94: The Spiritfount Pill

    Everyone chatted for a while before the sky gradually darkened. Then, everyone went back to their respective rooms.

    The Treasure Convention would officially start the next day. Shi Yi, Luo Xin, and Jiang Lingzhu had already gone to rest in their rooms on the higher floors of the stone pavilion.

    Only Nie Tian was asked by Liu Yan to stay.

    ¡°Nie Tian, since you¡¯re here, did martial granduncle tell you to choose some spiritual tool?¡±

    Nie Tian took out themand medallion that had the character ¡®Ji¡¯ on it, and showed it to Liu Yan. ¡°He told me that I can choose up to three items that I like, and just by showing off this thing they¡¯ll let me have them.¡±

    With a brief nce at it, Liu Yan indicated for him to put it away.

    Liu Yan frowned. ¡°Years ago, your grandfather was seriously wounded in a fight with Yun Meng and Yuan Fengchun, and his spiritual sea was destroyed. Ever since, your grandfather hasn¡¯t been able to gather the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to continue his cultivation. Not only that, but because his spiritual sea was shattered, the spirit energy that he had gathered over the years faded away as time passed.

    ¡°Therefore, not only was your grandfather unable to achieve a breakthrough, but his cultivation has been on the decline.

    ¡°To a cultivator, the destruction of the spiritual sea means the end of the cultivation path. From then on, your grandfather has been living in depression. His status in the Nie n also gradually lowered, and he was eventually reced by Nie Beichuan.

    ¡°Of course, now that you¡¯ve be the disciple of martial granduncle, your grandfather¡¯s position in the Nie n is once again stable.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s hard to say if the situation willst for long. Also, this is not the way to fundamentally restore your grandfather¡¯s confidence.¡±

    Havingid the groundwork to make his point, Liu Yan continued, ¡°I heard that the Spiritual Treasure sect will be putting up a very valuable Spiritfount Pill for sale, which is a seventh level Medium grade medicinal pill. It can help a cultivator rebuild their spirit sea. Your grandfather¡¯s injury can bepletely healed by it.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind shook. ¡°Spiritfount Pill!¡±

    He had always desired to help his grandfather recover from his injury one day.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s health and longevity had always been his sore point.

    After hearing that there would be a pill that could cure his grandfather¡¯s injuries for sale at this Treasure Convention, he immediately grew excited.

    ¡°A seventh level Medium grade Spiritfount Pill is definitely a rare treasure,¡± Liu Yan said with a brief smile. ¡°If you were still the Nie Tian from the Nie n, or an ordinary disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect, there would be no way for you to obtain such a valuable item. However, now that you¡¯ve be the disciple of my martial granduncle, and are in possession of hismand medallion, you can go demand that Spiritfount Pill from the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡±

    ¡°When and where will it be sold?¡± Nie Tian asked hastily.

    ¡°Tomorrow, in the Pill Pavilion,¡± answered Liu Yan.

    ¡°Thank you for telling me this, Uncle Liu. I¡¯ll go to the Pill Pavilion first thing in the morning to get that Spiritfount Pill!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    As the two of them talked, the skypletely darkened. Many bright lights could be seen along the streets outside.

    At that moment, a female voice echoed from the door. ¡°Excuse me... is Nie Tian here?¡±

    Liu Yan was surprised. He looked at Nie Tian curiously, and said, ¡°Someone¡¯s looking for you?¡±

    Nie Tian instantly realized that voice belonged to An Shiyi¡¯s younger cousin, An Ying.

    ¡°An Ying...¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Tian replied, going on to exin, ¡°she¡¯s a friend I made in the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    Liu Yan nodded his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go back to my room. You can go to the third floorter on. There are a few vacant rooms there. You can find one to rest.¡±

    With these words, he walked up the stairs, leaving the ground floor to Nie Tian and his visitor.

    The door to the stone tower had been half-opened. After Liu Yan went upstairs, An Ying quietly stuck her head in through the gap.

    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Nie Tian said.

    It was also at that moment that An Ying saw him. Then, she cut the pleasantries and walked in.

    When she looked around and realized that Nie Tian was the only one there, she asked, ¡°Where are the others?¡±

    Nie Tian pointed to the ceiling.

    He didn¡¯t have a favorable impression of An Ying. Before they had entered the Green Illusion dimension, she had seemed to be rather resentful towards him, and when they were in the Green Illusion dimension, she had also targeted him.

    It was onlyter, due to his decisiveness and fierceness in the fight with the Lurker Lizard, that he had gained her trust to some extent.

    However, when the witch Yu Tong had wrapped him up in her scarlet blood strings, An Ying didn¡¯t choose to stay and help him. Instead, she believed that he would be killed beyond a shadow of a doubt, and thus abandoned him.

    Therefore, he only felt that he owed An Shiyi, but not An Ying.

    Now, half a yearter, An Ying had be even more elegant and beautiful, however, her beauty was still dwarfed by An Shiyi.

    An Ying was always straightforward, but now she seemed to have a faint sadness hidden in between her furrowed eyebrows. Something seemed to be weighing her down.

    She blurted, ¡°Do you still remember that you once said that you would spare no effort to help my sister if she got into trouble... assuming you had the strength to do so?¡±

    ¡°Of course I do,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°My sister... is in trouble now.¡± An Ying nced up at the ceiling, lowered her voice, and said, ¡°My sister was the person in charge of the Green Illusion dimension trial, and also a representative of the Spiritual Treasure sect. However, because the appearance of the Blood sect and the Ghost sect, Yuan Feng from the Grayvale sect was killed. There were also heavy casualties among the other three sects, including ours. Therefore, my sister¡¯s status as a deacon has been removed.¡±

    ¡°She got demoted?¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Within the Spiritual Treasure sect, the most powerful person was undoubtedly the sectmaster. Below him, there were elders. Below them were the deacons. Finally, it was the ordinary disciples.

    Deacons were mostly responsible for the affairs of the Spiritual Treasure sect in the seven cities, selling spiritual tools for the Spiritual Treasure sect and collecting spiritual materials that could be used to refine various types of spiritual tools.

    During the years she had been a deacon, An Shiyi straightened out many issues for the sect. Because of that, she was highly regarded by the sectmaster, and became quite reputable within the sect.

    However, because of the incident that had urred in the Green Illusion dimension, she was unexpectedly stripped of her status as a deacon, and now had no choice but to greet the guests at the sect gate.

    An Ying¡¯s expression turned grimmer. ¡°In the past, thanks to my sister¡¯s status as a deacon, coupled with the sectmaster¡¯s trust in her, those old guys in the sect didn¡¯t dare to act imprudently, although they secretly desired her.

    ¡°Now that my sister has lost everything, those old bastards who have been drooling over my sister¡¯s beauty saw the opportunity, and want to take her as their wife or concubine.

    ¡°One of them was especially disgusting. Just now, he sent his disciple to try to force my sister¡¯s hand yet again.¡± An Ying couldn¡¯t help but gnash her teeth.

    Nie Tian replied calmly, ¡°Where is that guy?¡±

    ¡°Probably still at my sister¡¯s ce!¡± An Ying¡¯s words were filled with hatred.

    Nie Tian rose to his feet. ¡°Take me there.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± An Ying immediately found new courage.

    Were it half a year ago, she wouldn¡¯t even havee to Nie Tian.

    However, the current Nie Tian had the glorious position of being the disciple of Wu Ji, and Wu Ji was one of the most formidable existences within the entire Realm of me Heaven.

    Actually, the reason why she came over this time was that she hoped to scare that person off with Nie Tian¡¯s status.

    In a distant, quiet courtyard within the Spiritual Treasure sect...

    An Shiyi, who had run back and forth for a whole day, had changed out of her red garments into a white silk skirt, which didn¡¯t make her look as appealing as she was during the daytime, but instead, gave her an elegant and refreshing look.

    At that moment, her ripe, round buttocks were sitting on the swing in the courtyard. Her body followed the lifeless swaying of the swing and stress filled her delicate face.

    Beside the ornamental rocks, Fei Li wore a grim expression as he toyed with a golden ball that had sparks of mes sshing out of it. He took his time saying, ¡°You are probably aware of my master¡¯s status in the sect. You¡¯re merely a girl from a subordinate n. It¡¯s your fortune that my master sees things in you. What intention do you have by avoiding my master in every possible way?

    ¡°In the past, with the sectmaster protecting you, you could do as you wanted.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve lost both his trust and your status as a deacon, do you think that you can still act the same way as before?

    ¡°The truth is that Yuan Xian from the Grayvale sect wants to target you with all means possible. Without my master to stop her, don¡¯t even dream of passing through the next few months smoothly!

    ¡°You¡¯ve also seen Yuan Xian today. She just talked to my master, and has made it perfectly clear that If you still don¡¯t submit to him, then she will make a move.

    ¡°You¡¯d better think carefully. Once Yuan Xian makes a move, what kind of damage will your n, your younger sister, and yourself suffer?

    ¡°For that Yuan Feng, she already killed many people from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect.

    ¡°Our sect holds part of the responsibility for Yuan Feng¡¯s death. The sectmaster also agreed to that. During such a sensitive period, the sectmaster won¡¯t make enemies with the Grayvale sect just for you. Therefore, if Yuan Xian makes a move, he might not interfere!

    ¡°My master has spoken. He wants an answer tonight!¡±

    With a cold face and an aggressive tone, Fei Li attempted to force An Shiyi to make a decision immediately.

    KREEEN!

    The swing suddenly stopped swaying. A sorrowful and helpless expression gradually appeared in An Shiyi¡¯s nk eyes.

    ¡°Alright... For my sister and the An n...¡± She was prepared to sacrifice herself.

    BANG!

    At that moment, An Ying shoved the door open and led Nie Tian directly to the courtyard.

    ¡°An Ying?¡± Fei Li snorted. Completely ignoring An Ying, he continued to threaten An Shiyi, ¡°Your sister is still young. If you lose your power in the sect, she will have no one to back her in the future. Well, you should know that if a little girl wants to establish a foothold in the sect, she needs to either have an unparalleled talent or a someone to rely on.

    ¡°You are her backer within the sect. However, if you lose everything you have, do you think that she still can cultivate in the sect without any trouble?¡±

    ¡°Sister An, who is this shit-talker?¡± Nie Tian asked, even though he already knew the answer.

 Chapter 95: Youre My Sister Now

    Fei Li¡¯s expression immediately darkened.

    He didn¡¯t even bother to look at Nie Tian, but rather stared coldly towards An Shiyi. ¡°Is he a junior nsman from your n?¡±

    Without waiting for An Shiyi to reply, Fei Li grinned maliciously, and nodded towards Nie Tian. ¡°You like cursing people, right? Fine! I¡¯ll let you know what punishment a disciple from a subordinate n will receive for insulting me!¡±

    Sparks of mes immediately floated out of Fei Li¡¯s fingertips, within which thrummed surges of zing spiritual energy.

    He was on the property of the Spiritual Treasure sect, with the An Sisters standing right beside him. Even so, after assuming Nie Tian was a nsman from the An n, he actually dared to make a move on him without the slightest scruple.

    ¡°You dare toy a hand on him?¡± An Ying shouted out loud. ¡°You aren¡¯t afraid that entric Wu will rip you apart!¡±

    An Shiyi had also nned to stop Fei Li, but hearing that An Ying shouted out, she stopped.

    After hearing An Ying¡¯s words, Fei Li¡¯s expression abruptly changed.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    He forcefully channeled those beams of me back into his body. He took a deep breath and asked, ¡°You are Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Nie Tian calmly answered.

    ¡°Who is An Shiyi to you?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s my sworn sister.¡±

    Fei Li clearly had a suspicious look in his eyes as he nced at An Ying, and then he realized that An Ying had an arrogant expression on her face.

    He immediately understood that it was An Ying who had brought Nie Tian to this ce. He also understood her intentions.

    ¡°It¡¯s dark already. It¡¯s inconvenient for me to stay here any longer.¡±

    With these words, he frowned and left decisively, without continuing to berate Nie Tian or demand an answer from An Shiyi.

    After he had left, only Nie Tian and the An sisters were left in the courtyard.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± An Shiyi said softly.

    ¡°You¡¯re my sworn sister from today on,¡± Nie Tian said solemnly. ¡°And I¡¯m serious about that.¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s bright eyes lit up.

    An Ying said hastily, ¡°Elder Sister, Nie Tian is Wu Ji¡¯s disciple. As long as you establish a rtionship with him, that old bastard Gan Kang definitely won¡¯t dare to be so impudent!¡±

    With great sincerity, Nie Tian said, ¡°Elder Sister An, you gave me a slot to the Green Illusion dimension trial. Whatever your intentions were, I benefited a great deal from it and for that I¡¯ll always remember your kindness. I once said to An Ying that if you were to encounter troubles one day, then given that I was capable, I would definitely help you at all costs.

    ¡°Of course, my strength is still far from sufficient. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have allowed that Fei Li to walk out of this courtyard!

    ¡°The only thing that I can do for you now is to use my status to overshadow Gan Kang, so that he won¡¯t dare to act imprudently.¡±

    Before An Ying and Nie Tian arrived, An Ying had already told him that Fei Li¡¯s Master, Gan Kang, was one of the equipment forging experts of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    The Spiritual Treasure sect was a Qi warrior sect, but wasn¡¯t exactly the same as the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, or Mystic Mist sect. The sect was divided into two parts, namely the Spiritual school and the Treasure school.

    The Spiritual school attached their importance to the cultivation of Qi, which therefore made it generally simr to the other three sects.

    The Treasure school, on the other hand, consisted of equipment forgers who focused their energy on researching the techniques of equipment refining and forging, and viewed it as their way of cultivation.

    Gan Kang was one of the highest ranked equipment forging experts in the Treasure school, and also the fifth person in the Treasure school to be able to refine Premium grade spiritual tools.

    The best equipment forging master in the Treasure school was an old friend of Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji, and was also infatuated with equipment forging and practically never paid attention to sect affairs.

    Therefore, Gan Kang and three other high-ranked equipment forging experts were left in charge of all of the affairs in the Treasure school.

    The master of the Spiritual school was also the master of the Spiritual Treasure sect. Even though he held unparalleled power in the sect, he seldom interfered with the Treasure school¡¯s internal affairs.

    Even he had to give face to the four highly ranked equipment forgers. As long as they didn¡¯t do anything over the line, the sectmaster would usually not interfere with what they did or just turn a blind eye to it.

    The reason that the Spiritual Treasure sect ranked higher than the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect, was that other than the Spiritual school, they also had the Treasure school.

    Most of the spiritual tools that the Qi warriors of the four sects used were refined and forged by the Treasure school, and thus the Treasure school enjoyed a very special position amongst the four sects.

    Generally speaking, the Spiritual school, as well as the other three sects, weren¡¯t willing to offend equipment forgers from the Treasure school.

    The reason Nie Tian was aware of Gan Kang¡¯s status, yet still had the audacity to pressure Gan Kang with his own status was, because he knew that his Master, Wu Ji, was sworn friends with the Treasure school¡¯s strongest equipment forging master, Fang Hui.

    Considering Gan Kang¡¯s status, if it was anyone else from the Cloudsoaring sect, they probably wouldn¡¯t be too willing to make enemies with Gan Kang.

    However, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t afraid.

    ¡°Elder Sister, you need Nie Tian as your nominal younger brother!¡± An Ying said in a low voice.

    An Shiyi seemed somewhat hesitant. ¡°It¡¯s very kind of Nie Tian, but I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll bring him troubles.¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t care whether you ept me or not. From now on, I¡¯ll tell everyone I see that you¡¯re my sworn sister!¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s glistening, charming eyes hesitated for a moment before she burst intoughter. Her beauty was like that of hundreds of beautiful blooming flowers. ¡°If you want an elder sister so badly, I¡¯ll be your elder sister.¡±

    ¡°Elder Sister,¡± Nie Tian called, smiling.

    An Shiyi had a joyous expression on her face as sheughed, while nodding her head. ¡°It seems that the smartest decision I¡¯ve made this year was to go to your Nie n and invite you to the Green Illusion dimension, although my heart was full of evil intentions.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, whatever your intentions were, I¡¯m grateful to you.¡± Nie Tianughed.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± An Shiyi¡¯s words sounded solemn. Shortly after, she pursed her lips into a smile, and with a wave of her hand, indicated for An Ying to take Nie Tian and leave. ¡°It¡®ste. You¡¯ll still have to choose spiritual tools together with people from your sect. You cannot stay here too long, or else people will gossip.¡±

    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m not afraid,¡± Nie Tian said.

    An Shiyi rolled her eyes at him. ¡°You might not be afraid, but I am. You¡¯re no longer a child. With the messy stuff going on between those old things and me, my reputation isn¡¯t exactly good. If you spend the night here, I¡¯m not too sure what they¡¯ll say about me.¡±

    ¡°I believe that you value your reputation very much and won¡¯t do anything to jeopardize it,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    An Ying grew impatient and pulled Nie Tian away. ¡°Alright, alright. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    An Ying red at him and warned, ¡°Nie Tian, my sister only needs you as her nominal younger brother for your status. Don¡¯t you have any other thoughts! In the future, when my elder sister gets out of all the trouble and once again wins over the sectmaster¡¯s trust, I¡¯ll need you to remove your rtionship as nominal brother and sister!¡±

    ¡°Oh? You¡¯d better talk to your sister about it then.¡± Nie Tian smirked, and continued, ¡°What? Are you worried that your elder sister may fall in love with me?¡±

    ¡°Bullshit!¡± An Ying was annoyed. ¡°You still smells of your mother¡¯s milk! How can my elder sister like a witless child like you? I¡¯m worried that you¡¯re like those old bastards, harboring vile thoughts towards my sister!¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian teased her, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m still a child. Isn¡¯t it a bit inappropriate for you to say those kind of things to me?¡±

    ¡°Save it! I¡¯ve known for a long time that you weren¡¯t honest when we were in the Green Illusion dimension!¡± An Ying retorted. She suddenly seemed to have thought of something and lowered her voice, asking sneakily, ¡°By the way, what did you do to Yu Tong to make her so mad at you? I heard that she spent three whole months to heal herself after returning to the Blood sect.

    ¡°After her strength was restored, she sent people from the Blood sect to ask around for your whereabouts.

    ¡°She spread the word that she bears ocean-deep hatred towards you, and as long as she sees you, one of you will have to die.

    ¡°That witch has never hated a person so much before. What exactly did you do to her to make her so angry that she wants you dead so eagerly?¡±

    Nie Tian paused for a moment and touched his head, saying, ¡°Nothing... Who knows what made that woman go crazy.¡±

    ¡°You must have done something to her!¡± An Ying¡¯s words were full of certainty.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°You did!¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°You definitely did!¡±

    The two argued while walking. A whileter, they returned to the stone pavilion that had been allotted to the Cloudsoaring sect. An Ying stopped bickering, and said, ¡°Even though you¡¯re a little bit annoying, you can be considered a man of your word. Thank you for what you did for my sister this time.¡±

    With these words, she didn¡¯t wait for Nie Tian to reply and walked off, looking slightly embarrassed.

    ...

    The following day, in the Pill Pavilion of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    First thing in the morning, Liu Yan led Nie Tian to the Pill Pavilion.

    The Pill Pavilion wasn¡¯t big at all. It only had three stories, with a limited collection of medicine pills stored within it.

    That was because the majority of the members of the Treasure school were equipment forgers; there was only one person who knew how to refine pills.

    Moreover, it was said that most of the medicine pills in the Pill Pavilion actually weren¡¯t refined by that alchemist, but rather acquired by the Spiritual Treasure sect through exchanging spiritual tools with the other eight realms.

    Medicine pills only yed a insignificant role in the Treasure Convention, and there weren¡¯t many medicine pills to be sold in the Pill Pavilion.

    Therefore, as long as one had sufficient spirit stones to spend, they would be able to purchase them directly, and wouldn¡¯t need to take part in auctions.

    The reason why Nie Tian arrived early in the morning was precisely that he wanted to obtain the Spiritfount Pill at the first possible moment, in case others might beat him to it.

    While he was waiting for the door to open, Nie Tian was surprised to see that Zheng Bin, Han Xin, and Dowager Weng from the Mystic Mist sect had alsoe.

    ¡°Mr. Liu, why have you suddenly be interested in medicine pills?¡± Dowager Weng asked. ¡°From what I remember, don¡¯t you only buy spiritual tools every time youe to the convention?¡±

    She knew that even though Liu Yan almost never hosted the Lot-drawing Conventions that had been held every few years by the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s subordinate ns, practically all of the spiritual tools that had been presented at the Lot-drawing Conventions had been selected by Liu Yan from the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    One of Liu Yan¡¯s major duties was to pick low grade spiritual tools and bestow them upon the subordinate ns.

    ¡°My little martial uncle has set his mind on the Spiritfount Pill,¡± said Liu Yan. ¡°If you are also here to purchase medicinal pills, I hope that you aren¡¯t aiming for it.¡±

    ¡°Little martial uncle...¡±

    Dowager Weng, Zheng Bin, and Han Xin all looked over at Nie Tian with strange expressions in their eyes.

    ¡°Long time no see, Zheng Bin,¡± Nie Tian greeted.

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Zheng Bin replied.

    After a nce at Nie Tian, Dowager Weng turned to Liu Yan and said, ¡°You can rest assured. entric Wu¡¯s disciple wants the Spiritfount Pill. Even if I wanted it, I wouldn¡¯t dare to fight over it.¡±

    With a smile, Liu Yan said, ¡°Well, many thanks then.¡±

 Chapter 96: Enemies Are Always Hard to Avoid

    The time hade and the Pill Pavilion opened.

    Nie Tian and Liu Yan were the first to enter the door. The first thing they saw were three Spiritual Treasure sect disciples standing and waiting inside respectfully.

    The moment Liu Yan and Dowager Weng entered, the three disciples recognized them, and immediately smiled and greeted them.

    ¡°Greetings, Mr. Liu! Greetings, Senior Weng!¡±

    Liu Yan nodded and asked, ¡°Which floor is the Spiritfount Pill on?¡±

    ¡°The third floor,¡± one of them answered.

    Liu Yan didn¡¯t say another word and took Nie Tian up the stairs.

    There were five counters set up on the third floor, inside every one of which could be seen a few pills stored in delicate cases.

    As soon as Nie Tian arrived on the third floor, and before he could even nce around, a deep voice rang out. ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    ¡°Fei Li...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face went grim.

    He never expected that Fei Li, who he had met in An Shiyi¡¯s courtyardst night, was overseeing the third floor of the Pill Pavilion.

    Fei Li and another female disciple of the Spiritual Treasure sect were the only ones serving as salesclerks on the third floor.

    Liu Yan cut the pleasantries, stepped forward and said, ¡°Fei Li, take out the Spiritfount Pill. My little senior martial uncle wants to buy it.¡±

    After returningst night, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t spoken to Liu Yan, but rather simply found a room and rested.

    Hence, Liu Yan had no idea that Nie Tian and Fei Li had already started a feudst night.

    ¡°The Spiritfount Pill is no longer for sale,¡± Fei Li said coldly.

    ¡°What?¡± Zhang Qin, the female equipment forger on the third floor, looked at Fei Li.

    Confused, she said, ¡°Senior Martial Brother Fei, didn¡¯t your master leave that Spiritfount Pill here for sale?¡±

    ¡°Correct, but we¡¯re not selling it now.¡± Fei Li snorted.

    Zhang Qin looked at Fei Li and then towards Liu Yan. She seemed to have sensed something was going on. Thus, she didn¡¯t say another word.

    ¡°Fei Li, what are you doing?¡± Liu Yan said, sounding irritated.

    ¡°Not selling means not selling!¡± Fei Li¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t pleasant at all.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also turned very grim.

    That Spiritfount Pill could help his grandfather rebuild his spiritual sea and also help solve the problem that had been guing his grandfather for many years.

    The moment he learned about the Spiritfount Pill, he had decided to get it at all cost.

    However, he never expected that the Spiritfount Pill... was Gan Kang¡¯s. As the owner, Gan Kang indeed had the right to stop selling it.

    If the owner didn¡¯t wish to sell, Nie Tian could do nothing about it, not even with Wu Ji¡¯smand medallion.

    ¡°Fei Li, do you have a problem with me?¡± Liu Yan furrowed his brows.

    Fei Li didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he looked over towards Nie Tian.

    Liu Yan was puzzled. He turned around and asked Nie Tian, ¡°When did you have a conflict with him?¡±

    ¡°Last night,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Liu Yan thought for a moment and understood what was going on. ¡°Because of that An Ying girl?¡±

    He was a well-informed man. Beforeing to the Spiritual Treasure sect, he had heard that Fei Li¡¯s master, Gan Kang, had set his mind on An Shiyi.

    An Ying¡¯s anxious expression when she hurried overst night, coupled with Fei Li¡¯s abnormal behaviors today, had already made the truth obvious to him.

    Nie Tian went ahead and exined, ¡°An Shiyi is my sworn sister.¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, Zhang Qin suddenly realized what was going on.

    Liu Yan smiled bitterly as he searchedboriously in his head for a solution.

    If not forst night¡¯s incident, he believed that Nie Tian could have easily obtained the Spiritfount Pill with Wu Ji¡¯smand medallion.

    However, now...

    The pill belonged to Gan Kang. They clearly couldn¡¯t force him to sell it.

    When Liu Yan was reaching the end of his wits, Fei Li took out the case containing the Spiritfount Pill from the counter. He gently stroked the delicately engraved cover of the case as he slowly said, ¡°My master acquired it from a cultivator from one of the other eight realms at the cost of a sixth level Medium grade spiritual tool.

    ¡°The Spiritfount Pill can¡¯t be considered as a rare item in other realms. However, it¡¯s rather hard to get in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Actually, this pill isn¡¯t necessarily unseble... You just need to stop meddling with others¡¯ business.¡±

    With these words, he looked coldly at Nie Tian, as if he was waiting for Nie Tian to cave and promise to stay out of it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± said Nie Tian.

    Liu Yan sighed and told Fei Li, ¡°I know who your master is. However, you¡¯d better think it through; is it worth it to offend my martial granduncle over a trifling Spiritfount Pill?¡±

    ¡°The pill is ours,¡± Fei Li said indifferently, ¡°We don¡¯t want to sell it. Is he going toe to the Spiritual Treasure sect and take it by force?¡±

    ¡°Fine." Liu Yan nodded. No longer in the mood to try to persuade him, he went downstairs with Nie Tian.

    Dowager Weng caught sight of them when they came down, and asked, ¡°Yee? Are you leaving now? Did you get that Spiritfount Pill?¡±

    Liu Yan smiled bitterly. ¡°No, they¡¯re not willing to sell it.¡±

    Dowager Weng was taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Who¡¯s the seller? I can¡¯t believe someone refused to give face to entric Wu!¡±

    Liu Yan shrugged. He didn¡¯t exin and walked out of the Pill Pavilion with Nie Tian.

    Standing outside of the Pill Pavilion, Liu Yan thought for a moment and then said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll see if I can ask for some friends to buy it for you.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Uncle Liu.¡± Then, Nie Tian exined everything that had happened the day before. ¡°I benefited a great deal because of An Shiyi. If not for the chance that she gave me to enter the Green Illusion dimension, I wouldn¡¯t be who I am today.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s nothing wrong with repaying kindness.¡± Liu Yan nodded. ¡°Although Spiritfount Pills are hard to find in the Realm of me Heaven, they aren¡¯t that rare in the other realms. Even if we can¡¯t get one this time, there¡¯ll be chances in the future. After all, you¡¯re the disciple of martial granduncle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s drop it for now and go take a look around in other ces.¡±

    Nie Tian replied, ¡°I guess I have to.¡±

    Shortly after, he temporarily suppressed the urge to purchase the Spiritfount Pill and followed Liu Yan as he roamed through the many Spiritual Tool Pavilions in the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Liu Yan knew that Nie Tian had only reached the Qi Refining stage, therefore didn¡¯t bring him to ces that sold high grade spiritual tools. Instead, he brought him to sections where they exclusively sold low grade spiritual tools.

    After covering several pavilions, Liu Yan noticed that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t bought anything, and thought he was probably dazzled by the abundant items. Finally, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Nie Tian, do you have something in your mind that you want to buy? Also, years ago I failed to detect your cultivation attribute. Your master should have been able to. Did he say anything?¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed his head and said, ¡°No, master has never brought up the issue of my cultivation attribute. He only told me to choose three ythings, anything I want. He didn¡¯t give me any specific requirement.¡±

    His words gave Liu Yan a headache. ¡°Without a category, or requirements... how am I supposed to help you chose?¡±

    Liu Yan had already showed Nie Tian around three pavilions that only sold low grade spiritual tools. Some of the shops sold armor, some sold sabers and swords, and some others sold all kinds of bizarre items for personal adornment.

    Nie Tian showed intense interest towards every single one of the items. However, he didn¡¯t buy any of them.

    Liu Yan originally thought that Nie Tian hadn¡¯te across an item that he wanted. However, after hearing what Nie Tian said, he realized that Nie Tian actually didn¡¯t have any clue about how to make his choice.

    ¡°Uncle Liu,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°you can go shop for yourself. I¡¯ll look around by myself. If I see anything I like, I¡¯ll just buy it.¡±

    Liu Yan nodded. ¡°Okay, then."

    Actually he had his business at this convention. Not only did he have to choose spiritual tools for the subordinate ns, he also had to choose suitable spiritual tools for Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, and other juniors.

    ¡°With your status, I doubt that you¡¯ll run into much trouble here. In case you get into conflict with someone, just show martial granduncle¡¯smand medallion, and there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.¡± After giving Nie Tian some advice, Liu Yan temporarily parted with him to take care of his own business.

    After he left, Nie Tian quietly took out the dragon bone. He muttered to himself while stroking the bone, ¡°If I want anything, I want something like this.¡±

    Ever since he had found out that his dragon bone had alsoe from one of the Treasure Conventions, he hoped to obtain an item like it at this Treasure Convention, because only items like it would be able to bring him unworldly opportunities that could cause heaven-shaking and earth-toppling changes to his life.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Just as he was thinking to himself and stroking the animal bone, tiny sparks of mes floated inside of the dragon bone.

    His expression flickered. He gathered his awareness and examined it. He discovered that the drop of blood within the dragon bone seemed to be gently squirming!

 Chapter 97: Flame Dragon Armor

    In a stone pavilion within the Spiritual Treasure sect that sold medium and premium quality armors...

    There were many precious suits of armor exhibited within the ss counters, every one of which had a jade tablet in front of them, giving a brief description of the armor¡¯s grade, its special uses, its agreeable users, and its price.

    Inside the pavilion, a few equipment forgers from the Treasure school were introducing several suits of armor to the people who had expressed interest in them.

    In one of the counters was a dark brown suit of armor that seemed somewhat dpidated. There weren¡¯t anyplicated or delicate designs on it either.

    Originally, a equipment forger from the Treasure school had been standing behind the counter. However, since no one had shown any interest in it, he had moved on to other counters to peddle other armors.

    A tall Qi warrior in linen garments was standing not far from the counter, all by himself.

    Ever since he hade in, he had been leaning against a stone pir. He would look towards the armor every now and then, but he never walked around, or talked to anyone else.

    In front of a counter, Luo Xin from the Cloudsoaring sect and her senior martial brother Shi Yi had their eyes set on a set of armor. It was at that moment that they noticed that tall Qi warrior and couldn¡¯t help but ask the equipment forger behind the counter.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that? I¡¯ve never seen him before. It doesn¡¯t seem like he has bought anything, has he?¡±

    The equipment forger took a nce at that person, lowered his voice and said, ¡°Oh, are you talking about Mr. Lai Yi? Have you noticed? He put that armor there for sale, but he¡¯s constantly checking it. He doesn¡¯t seem to be from our realm. He knows elder Gan Kang. Therefore, he¡¯s here to sell that armor of his.¡±

    Luo Xin was surprised. ¡°He¡¯s not a Qi warrior from the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    With a brief shake of his head, the equipment forger said disdainfully, ¡°That ¡®me Dragon Armor¡¯ of his is only valued to be a third level Medium grade spiritual equipment. However, he¡¯s selling it for nine thousand spirit stones. You guys know that nine thousand spirit stones are even enough to buy a sixth or seventh level Medium grade spiritual equipment. As soon as they saw the price, no one bothered to ask about it.

    ¡°Furthermore, appraisal masters from our sect appraised it. They all said that, although it¡¯s fairly tough, it¡¯s way too heavy.

    ¡°If Qi warriors of the three Heaven stages were to wear it, they¡¯ll even find it hard to move about. Besides, its toughness seems to be its only merit. Plus, since the armor wasn¡¯t refined and forged by our sect, no one has much of an interest to sell it. So...¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± Luo Xin said gently.

    After hearing that person¡¯s exnation, he only thought that the foreigner Lai Yi was somewhat strange, but wasn¡¯t interested in the me Dragon Armor at all.

    Meanwhile, Lai Yi was still standing in a remote corner checking on his me Dragon Armor from time to time.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, a mysterious red light suddenly emanated from within the me Dragon Armor.

    After that, the me Dragon Armor, which no one had shown any interest in, seemed to suddenly emanate an intense, bloody smell.

    However, it onlysted for a moment before the light was gone and the me Dragon Armor returned to normal again.

    The bloody smell it had released had been sealed inside of the counter, and thus no one noticed it.

    A light of excitement shed across Lai Yi¡¯s ash-gray pupils. He took a deep breath, seemingly to calm himself, as he looked around.

    At the same time...

    In a distant part of the Spiritual Treasure sect, Nie Tian was using his psychic awareness to probe the drop of blood within the dragon bone in his hand. His eyes suddenly flickered.

    When strands of his psychic awareness entered the drop of blood, he surprisingly saw a dark-brown suit of armor that appeared somewhat dpidated.

    What¡¯s more, he could just barely sense that the armor... was currently in the Spiritual Treasure sect!

    ¡°Armor that resonates with the dragon bone! It must not be ordinary!¡±

    Excitement instantly filled Nie Tian¡¯s heart. He withdrew his psychic awareness from the drop of blood, and then carefully put the dragon bone away.

    He immediately strode towards the area that was selling Medium and Premium grade spiritual tools.

    Previously, after leaving the Pill Pavilion, he had followed Liu Yan to stroll around many stone pavilions that sold low ranked spiritual tools, where he didn¡¯t see any such mysterious and slightly dpidated armor.

    Hence, he believed that, if that armor was truly in the Spiritual Treasure sect, it must be in the area that sold medium and premium spiritual equipment.

    After that, he took his time sweeping through the stone pavilions that sold medium and premium spiritual equipment, ncing at the numerous fancy armors.

    Before long, Nie Tian arrived at the stone pavilion that Luo Xin and Shi Yi were at. He once again scanned through the armor within the counters.

    ¡°That¡¯s the one!¡±

    Soon, he spotted the armor that had appeared in the drop of blood in the dragon bone, which was disyed in the unattended counter in front of him.

    He directly walked towards it.

    The moment Luo Xin saw him, she put down the armor in her hands and walked towards him. ¡°Nie Tian! Why are you here? Didn¡¯t you go with senior martial brother Liu Yan to buy that Spiritfount Pill?¡±

    Many equipment forgers as well as some people from the Grayvale sect and Mystic Mist sect cast their curious nces over after hearing that name.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    They all knew what kind of existence Wu Ji was in the entire Realm of me Heaven.

    The Cloudsoaring sect didn¡¯t hesitate in even the slightest before breaking the rule that had been around for decades to admit Nie Tian, a child from a subordinate n, into the sect in advance. Furthermore, the moment he joined the sect, Wu Ji had taken him in as a disciple.

    Nie Tian¡¯s legend had long since been spread around the four sects. All those who had known of Wu Ji were now familiar with Nie Tian¡¯s name.

    Every one of them was dying to see how special this Nie Tian guy was.

    ¡°Elder sister Xin, you guys are here too.¡±

    After greeting Luo Xin briefly, Nie Tian approached the counter that exhibited the me Dragon Armor. He waved his hand to call over a nearby equipment forger and said, ¡°I want this armor.¡±

    The eyes of the foreign Qi warrior, Lai Yi, who had been standing in the corner, suddenly lit up as he fixed his gaze on Nie Tian.

    ¡°You want this piece of armor?¡± Luo Xin walked up to him and with a frown, and she advised, ¡°This armor is too overpriced; it¡¯s not worth that much. Nie Tian, don¡¯t be so sloppy with your choice. You don¡¯t know much about spiritual tools. I think you should let senior martial brother Liu Yan take you around so that you won¡¯t be ripped off.¡±

    The other shoppers all looked over towards Nie Tian and the me Dragon Armor within the counter, their eyes filled with surprise.

    These people had also noticed the me Dragon Armor not long after they had entered. However, when they saw the grade and price of the me Dragon Armor on the jade tablet, they all immediately lost interest in it.

    Simr to Luo Xin, they also deemed that with nine thousand spirit stones, they could choose spiritual tools with a much higher grade.

    Nie Tian smiled and didn¡¯t take Luo Xin¡¯s advice. ¡°Elder sister Xin, I like it; this is exactly what I want.¡±

    He turned to the equipment forger and said, ¡°I want it.¡±

    The equipment forger was named Zu Qing, who was a disciple of the strongest equipment forging master of the Treasure school, Fang Hui.

    Not only was Zu Qing the person responsible for this floor, he also knew that his master Fang Hui and Wu Ji were old friends. Moreover, Wu Ji had granted him favors in the past. Therefore, ever since Luo Xin had called out Nie Tian¡¯s name, he had been paying special attention to him.

    ¡°This piece of item... may not fit you.¡± Zu Qing shot a nce towards Lai Yi, who was standing in the corner. He didn¡¯t intend to help Lai Yi peddle the item. Instead, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, my master and your master are sworn friends. If it was someone else, I absolutely wouldn¡¯t have said anything. However, since it¡¯s you... I¡¯ll tell you something.

    ¡°This armor doesn¡¯t belong to the Treasure school. Someone else put it here for sale. First of all, it isn¡¯t worth nine thousand spirit stones. Secondly, it¡¯s extremely heavy. Even Qi warriors at Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages will find itborious to move about in it.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t even stepped into the Lesser Heaven stage. Once you put it on, you might not even be able to move at all.

    ¡°Also, other than its exceptional toughness, it has no other merits.

    ¡°Take my advice, Nie Tian. Go check out some other armor.¡±

    Zu Qing was very sincere as he advised Nie Tian, hoping for him to not fall into the trap of purchasing that overpriced me Dragon Armor.

    Nie Tian briefly bowed towards him. ¡°So I should call you senior martial brother Zu.¡± He then rubbed his head and said with an embarrassed expression on his face, ¡°But I like do it a lot, senior martial brother. Can you just satisfy my child¡¯s temper and sell it to me?¡±

    With these words, he handed his master¡¯smand medallion over to Zu Qing.

    Face filled with helplessness, Zu Qing nodded and said, ¡°I hope you won¡¯t regret it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, senior martial brother,¡± Nie Tian hurriedly said.

    Zu Qing grabbed themand medallion and ced it onto a piece of green rock under the counter for three seconds, before returning it back to Nie Tian. After that, he took the me Dragon Armor out for Nie Tian. ¡°Here you go, see if you can carry it.¡±

    Nie Tian extended his hand and grabbed the dark-brown me Dragon Armor. He gave it a vigorous pull, only to discover that it didn¡¯t move a bit.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    With a gentle exim, he nned to summon all his strength to lift it. However, he noticed that everyone was looking at him, therefore he gave up and said, ¡°Senior martial brother Zu, would you please send this armor to my residenceter?¡±

    ¡°Child...¡± Zu Qing shook his head, as he felt that Nie Tian had wasted arge amount of his master¡¯s spirit stones on some armor that he couldn¡¯t even lift. ¡°Okay, you go ahead. I¡¯ll arrange for someone to send it overter.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, senior martial brother.¡±

 Chapter 98: Resentment at Heart

    That night...

    Liu Yan, Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, and the others had all returned to the temporary residence of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Not long after, Nie Tian also returned after he finished shopping.

    The moment Nie Tian returned, he saw Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo happily ying with their newly-bought spiritual tools, looking rather pleased.

    Ye Gumo brandished a long sword that had a silver-white aura wreathing it, giving it a rather extraordinary look. ¡°Nie Tian, how did it go? Did you get anything? We heard about what happened with the Spiritfount Pill. Even though they¡¯re hard to find in the Realm of me Heaven, considering your status, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to get one. It¡¯s just a matter of time.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu also consoled him, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. With your help, your grandfather¡¯s injuries will definitely be healed someday.¡±

    ¡°Thanks for the kind words,¡± said Nie Tian.

    Liu Yan was very frank, ¡°I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to get the Spiritfount Pill this time... I¡¯ve asked a few friends to help me buy it from Fei Li, but Fei Li seems to have guessed their intentions, and insisted on not selling it.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Uncle Liu,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I appreciate the effort.¡±

    As they were talking, Luo Xin and Shi Yi also returned. Shi Yi was holding a heavy cloth pouch in his left hand.

    As soon as he walked in, he lifted the cover of the bag, revealing the me Dragon Armor inside of it. ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯ve brought this armor back for you.¡±

    Shi Yi furrowed his brow and said, ¡°My cultivation base is at thete-stage of the Heaven stage. But, even I would have difficulty walking around in it.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Uncle Shi,¡± Nie Tian immediately said.

    Luo Xin stared at Nie Tian and said, ¡°You just won¡¯t listen. This armor clearly doesn¡¯t suit you, and it obviously isn¡¯t worth nine thousand spirit stones. Why did you insist on buying it?¡±

    Nie Tian put on a wry smile, but didn¡¯t exin.

    ¡°What?! He spent nine thousand spirit stones on some armor?¡± Jiang Lingzhu was speechless.

    ¡°Yeah...¡± Then, Luo Xin gave a brief description of what had happened earlier.

    After hearing the whole story, everyone looked at Nie Tian with an expression that seemed as if were calling him a spendthrift. They all felt that he was too young and inexperienced, and acted too rashly.

    Just as they were criticizing him, the master of Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and Luo Xin, the man named Wu Xing, returned. As soon as he entered the room, the racket ceased as everyone lowered their voices.

    Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and Luo Xin greeted him simultaneously. ¡°Master.¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo also bowed.

    Nie Tian had never met Wu Xing. He hesitated for a bit and chose not to take the initiative to greet him, but rather stood there quietly.

    Via Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and the others, he had long since learned that Wu Xing had been his mother¡¯s master, and that Wu Xing had ced high hopes on his mother.

    It was said that his mother had been Wu Xing¡¯s favorite disciple.

    However, after hearing about his mother¡¯s mysterious death, the furious Wu Xing had med Nie Donghai for it and had since disliked the Nie n.

    Afterwards, when Nie Qian had received unjust treatment from the Yun n and Nie Donghai had been wounded by Yun Meng and Yuan Fengchun, Wu Xing had stayed out of it.

    His silence had fueled the Yun n¡¯s defiance, and at the same time, made many people from the Cloudsoaring sect feel that his rage towards the Nie n might never subside.

    It was also because of this that Nie Beichuan had dared to take the opportunity to kick up a storm over Nie Donghai¡¯s injuries, and slowly ate away Nie Donghai¡¯s power, before finally recing him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s feelings towards Wu Xing were extremelyplicated...

    On one hand, he was grateful towards Wu Xing for favoring his mother when she was alive, together with everything else that he had done for her. On the other hand, he secretly hated him for his indifference towards the entire Nie n after his mother¡¯s death.

    Wu Xing was wearing green robes, his face serious. After entering the room, he immediately caught sight of Nie Tian, whereupon he began to look him over.

    Nie Tian lifted his head and finally their gazes met.

    Resentment could clearly be seen within Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, as if he wasn¡¯t even trying to cover it up...

    ¡°Gan Kang talked to me today.¡± Wu Xing stood in silence for a while and continued, ¡°He told me that if you stay out of the issue between him and that girl from the An n, he¡¯ll have Fei Li give you the Spiritfount Pill. For free.¡±

    Anger appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°An Shiyi is my sworn sister!¡±

    The moment they exchanged words, the atmosphere in the room immediately turned serious. Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo exchanged a nce and quietly went upstairs, not wishing to stay for another minute.

    As far as seniority in the n is concerned, Nie Tian, who was Wu Ji¡¯s disciple, should be considered as Wu Xing¡¯s junior martial brother.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s mother used to be Wu Xing¡¯s most valued disciple.

    Wu Xing had spared no effort to guide her, and unhesitatingly granted her almost all of his most precious medicinal pills and spiritual tools.

    Back then, Nie Jin was Wu Xing¡¯s weak spot, like the proverbial inverted scale that every dragon has. Everyone also knew what he had done for her

    After Nie Jin¡¯s death, Wu Xing had supposedly suffered a heavy blow and had spent a long time in secluded training, avoiding all visitors.

    Because his connection to Nie Jin had been so deep, he med the Nie n for her death, and had thus treated them indifferently afterward.

    As a result of his indifference, Nie Qian had been repudiated by Yun Zhiguo, and Nie Donghai had been seriously injured.

    However, now the son of his most loved disciple had a new lease on life and was unexpectedly chosen by Wu Ji, making Nie Tian his junior martial brother. This was something that Wu Xing had never expected.

    ¡°Senior martial brother...¡± Luo Xin said timidly, hinting for Liu Yan to advise Nie Tian to control his temper.

    Liu Yan smiled bitterly and waved his hand, signaling for Luo Xin and Shi Yi to go upstairs.

    Luo Xin and Shi Yi, who had felt ufortable, seemed to have received a pardon and immediately went upstairs, just like Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo had previously done.

    After they left, Liu Yan coughed and said, ¡°Master, umm... when An Shiyi was in ck Cloud City, she gave Nie Tian a spot to enter the Green Illusion dimension trial, which turned out to be a life-changing journey for Nie Tian. If it weren¡¯t for his enormous growth during the trial, martial granduncle might not have set his eyes on him, so...¡± He tried to ease the tension.

    Wu Xing nced at him and said indifferently, ¡°I¡¯m only delivering Gan Kang¡¯s message. I¡¯m not going to force him to do anything. He¡¯s my junior martial brother now, so I wouldn¡¯t dare to make decisions for him.¡±

    Liu Yan secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

    Wu Xing spotted the me Dragon Armor that was partly shown. He frowned slightly and asked, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    Liu Yan hurriedly exined everything to him.

    ¡°Nine thousand spirit stones on a third level Medium grade armor? Nonsense!¡± With these words, Wu Xing walked upstairs, long-faced, as if he despised Nie Tian for his rashness and at the same time wished if he could be more mature.

    Nie Tian muttered, ¡°You¡¯re not my master. I don¡¯t need you to teach me.¡±

    With a sigh, Liu Yan said, ¡°People always go hardest on those whom they care about. You don¡¯t know how dearly my master liked your mother. After she died, it took him a very long time to recover. The feelings that he harbored towards her... were deeper than anyone else¡¯s.

    ¡°Truth be told, I think he treated her like his own daughter.

    ¡°Perhaps he was partly responsible for the things that happened in the Nie n after that, but it was all because he couldn¡¯t let go of her. You shouldn¡¯t me him too much.

    ¡°Your grandfather¡¯s injuries can still be cured. As for your aunt Nie Qian, if that Yun Zhiguo truly loved her, he wouldn¡¯t have done something like that to her.¡± He tried his best to console Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian never said a word.

    Meanwhile...

    There was a certain manor in the Spiritual Treasure sect that was used to receive foreign guests, where Lai Yi had created a soundproof shield, inside of which he was having a secret conversation with two other foreign Qi warriors.

    In distinct contrast to his silence during the daytime, Lai Yi had an expression of ecstasy while he spoke. ¡°The Blood Core from the me Dragon Armor has surfaced! We¡¯ve searched for it for so long, and could only find out that the Blood Core had been sold over and over again before finally ending up in the Realm of me Heaven. I thought that I would only be able to bring a few high ranked pieces of spiritual equipment back during this trip to the Realm of me Heaven. I never thought that the Blood Core would show itself so quickly!

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t hold my hopes too high. Who would¡¯ve thought a youngster would buy the armor on the first day!¡±

    Excitement filled Lai Yi¡¯s face.

    The other two foreign Qi warriors also appeared quite excited after hearing about the appearance of the so-called Blood Core.

    The three of them were rubbing their hands together, as if the news of the Blood Core was like a shot of adrenaline.

    ¡°If we can get the Blood Core, it¡¯ll definitely be considered a tremendous contribution on our part!¡±

    ¡°Only when the Blood Core is reattached can the me Dragon Armor be consideredplete again, and only then will it truly disy its might!¡±

    ¡°Master will definitely reward us handsomely!¡±

    Lai Yi gradually calmed himself and said, ¡°Compared to the Blood Core, our mission on this trip is nothing and can be ignored. I¡¯ve asked around. That kid¡¯s identity isn¡¯t ordinary. If we want to keep living in the Realm of me Heaven, there would be a problem if we made a move on him. Well, it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t leave. No matter what method we have to use, as long as we can seize the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor and return to our master, we won¡¯t have anything to worry about.¡±

    ¡°So when do we make a move?¡± one of them asked.

    Beastly ferociousness could be seen in Lai Yi¡¯s eyes. ¡°If an opportunity shows itself, we¡¯ll strike in the following days. We take the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor and leave! Either that or we wait until the Treasure Convention ends and strike them on their way back to their sect!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

 Chapter 99: Nourishment from Flesh and Blood

    Nie Tian grew bored of Liu Yan¡¯s lecturing, and thus tried to change the subject. ¡°Uncle Liu, how much did you spend on the animal bone that you brought to the Lot-drawing Convention when I was one year old?¡±

    Surprised by his question, Liu Yan didn¡¯t even think before answering, ¡°Ah, that animal bone, I think it cost me several dozens of spirit stones. Why do you ask?¡±

    He had never once attached any importance to the animal bone, and had only taken it out to ensure that enough items were presented.

    ¡°Several dozens of spirit stones...¡± Nie Tian nced at the me Dragon Armor sticking out of the cloth bag and asked, ¡°Was that animal bone refined by an equipment forger of the Treasure school?¡±

    Liu Yan shook his head. ¡°Nope.¡±

    It had been too long, but after a moment of pondering, he continued, ¡°As I recall it, that animal bone seemed to share simr origins with the me Dragon Armor you bought today.

    ¡°When I bought it, the equipment forger of the Treasure school who sold it to me told me that a severely injured foreign Qi warrior showed up in our realm with men trying to hunt him down.

    ¡°He seemed to be in a desperate situation and in urgent need of spirit stones, so he sold the animal bone to the Treasure school.

    ¡°He took the spirit stones and disappeared, never to be seen again.

    ¡°However, I heard from the Qi warriors of the Treasure school that after he sold the animal bone to the Treasure school, he asked them to keep it for a while, as he woulde back to redeem the item at a higher price.

    ¡°Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t show up within the agreed time.

    ¡°Plus, that animal bone wasn¡¯t exactly valuable, so it wasn¡¯t long before the Treasure school put it up for sale.¡±

    After exining the origins of the animal bone to Nie Tian without leaving out any details, Liu Yan asked, ¡°Why do you want to know? As I recall it, your spiritual power didn¡¯t resonate with it at all. Why are you so interested in it?¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Just curious, that¡¯s all. Uncle Liu, can you please help me carry this armor up into my room?¡±

    ¡°You stubborn kid... I simply don¡¯t understand why you had to buy it,¡± Liu Yanined, as he picked up the sack holding the me Dragon Armor. ¡°It¡¯s really heavy! Such heavy armor... even I wouldn¡¯t be able to move about freely in it. Not only would it not increase my battle prowess, it would even hold me back!¡±

    After feeling the me Dragon Armor¡¯s weight, he stared at Nie Tian again and said, ¡°You¡¯d better go buy a bracelet of holding tomorrow. Otherwise you won¡¯t be able to carry things like this.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Do they also sell storage spiritual tools?¡±

    He had long since heard about the convenience of having a storage spiritual tool, but he was also aware that they were very expensive. Qi warriors with a low cultivation base would never be able to obtain such a rare item, unless they were born with extraordinary family backgrounds.

    Liu Yan thought for a moment, and then said, ¡°Yes, they do have a few. Originally, considering your current cultivation base, you wouldn¡¯t possess many items. Hence, a bracelet of holding would be a waste. However, now that you¡¯ve bought that me Dragon Armor, which you can¡¯t even carry around by yourself, you¡¯ll probably need one of those.

    ¡°Plus, after spending such a long time looking around, it appears you haven¡¯t found anything else you like. You¡¯ll need a bracelet of holding in the future anyways, so you might as well buy one now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s spirits rose immediately, and he said, ¡°I¡¯ll go buy one tomorrow.¡±

    With these words, Liu Yan helped Nie Tian carry the bag up to his room. He simply put the sack down on the ground, turned around, and left, not saying anything else.

    After he left, Nie Tian closed the door and gently opened up the sack.

    The prominent outline of the dark-brown, slightly dpidated armor gradually appeared.

    Upon taking a closer look, Nie Tian saw a hole in the central chest te of the armor, which from the look of it could fit a certain object, yet it was empty now.

    Seemingly, the hole in the armor would tantly expose the heart of the user.

    The heart was the most vulnerable part of the human body. Even though it was an amazing protective set of armor, if it couldn¡¯t protect the heart, the value of the armor would be greatly reduced.

    It seemed that if the missing object were to be reattached, it would not only make up for the deficiency, but also restore the armor to its original state.

    Only then would the armor be truly intact.

    ¡°If my spections are correct, the missing item should be the dragon bone.¡±

    After staring for a good while at the hole, Nie Tian quietly took out the dragon bone from his pocket and held it close to the hole.

    Only a momentter, he was convinced that his guess had been correct.

    He could see that the dragon bone matched the hole perfectly, not leaving the slightest crack in between. As long as he pushed it in, the armor would return to its original, intact appearance.

    He was on the verge of pressing it down when he suddenly stopped.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t...¡±

    It suddenly urred to him that just the dragon bone alone had disrupted space, and cracked open countless spacial rifts.

    If another major event happened once he made the me Dragon Armor whole, then all of the Qi warriors currently present at the Spiritual Treasure sect would instantly notice.

    Therefore, he chose to temporarily suppress his exceeding curiosity and not act rashly while he was still in the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    He stroked the dragon bone for a long time while staring at the me Dragon Armor, before finally putting the dragon bone back into his pocket. He decided to take his time to study the secrets of the me Dragon Armor and the dragon bone after returning to the Cloudsoaring sect.

    That night...

    Nie Tian sat cross-legged next to the me Dragon Armor and took out a spirit stone to start his daily cultivation.

    Before long, he felt the dragon bone in the pocket at his waist gradually be warm.

    Noticing the anomaly, he quietly unleashed his psychic awareness to scan his surroundings. Immediately, he discovered that millions of fine strands of energy, invisible to the naked eye, were dispersing from the pores all over his own body.

    When he sent out his psychic power to track down the trivial energy strands, he found that they were gradually flowing into the me Dragon Armor right next to him!

    ¡°The energy...¡±

    Silent and unmoving, hebed through his thoughts. He suddenly realized that the source of the energy was his own blood!

    ording to his master, all living creatures cultivated three kinds of power: spiritual power, bloodline power, and soul power.

    The bloodline power, also known as the flesh power, was the kind of power thaty within the blood, flesh, and bones.

    Only alien ns that possessed special bloodlines and valiant giant beings would be born with this kind of power, and be able to cultivate it to the peak.

    The vast majority of the human race would never be able to obtain bloodline power that could match those special races, even if they spent their entire life cultivating it.

    Hence, most human cultivators would prioritize their cultivation of spiritual power, and only after they had reached a certain stage would they start to study the mysteries of the soul power.

    Back when he was in the Green Illusion dimension, Nie Tian had already realized that the energy he absorbed from the spirit beast meat was different from spiritual power, since the currents of warmth had all dispersed into his flesh and bones.

    Later, after hearing his master¡¯s lessons, he was convinced that the power had definitely been flesh power.

    At this moment, the flesh power hidden deeply in every part of his body slowly surfaced and began floating into the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Dragon bone!¡±

    He suddenly realized that the dragon bone seemed to be silently urging and mobilizing his flesh power towards the me Dragon Armor.

    He was therefore even more certain that the dragon bone was a part of the me Dragon Armor!

    ¡°The dragon bone is channeling my flesh power into the me Dragon Armor. Is it good or bad for me?¡± He contemted, but couldn¡¯t find an answer. ¡°Ah, forget it.¡±

    Without reading too much into the dragon bone or the me Dragon Armor¡¯s small little trick, he continued to use the spirit stone to cultivate. Quite a whileter when he finished, he felt exhausted.

    Opening up his eyes, he looked towards the me Dragon Armor with rapt attention, and found that, after absorbing his flesh power the dark-brown me Dragon Armor was somehow more radiant, with a rosy luster appearing on its surface.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor...¡±

    He didn¡¯t take out the dragon bone, but rather extended his hand and ced it on the heart of the armor.

    The moment he made contact, he suddenly felt a wondrous feeling reflected into his heart.

    It was as if there was some kind of mysterious connection between himself and the armor...

    This waspletely new to him, as he had felt nothing but the unbearable weight when he had touched the me Dragon Armor earlier in the stone pavilion.

    ¡°Can it be that nourishing the me Dragon Armor with my flesh power enables me to resonate with it? Does it work in the same way as the dragon bone... it also requires enormous amounts of energy to disy its true power?¡±

    He suddenly remembered that when he had first encountered the dragon bone, it had also appeared as nothing but ordinary and unimpressive.

    It wasn¡¯t until the dragon bone had absorbed me power from the mecloud gems, that it started to show its miraculous features. Only after it had drained the whole mine of its me power, did the bone condense a drop of blood within itself and be even more incredible, teleporting him to an unknown mysteriousnd which ended up bringing him a great fortune.

    The dragon bone needed me power, while the me Dragon Armor seemed to need flesh power.

    He muttered, while pondering, ¡°It seems that if I want to understand the mysteries of the me Dragon Armor, a price must be paid. It¡¯s probably the best if I don¡¯t expose it very often; I really need a bracelet of holding.¡±

    Therefore, early the next morning, he went to Liu Yan to tell him that he wished to buy a bracelet of holding as soon as possible.

    Having temporarily stored the Fire Dragon Armor in Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s bracelet of holding, he was ready to move out, when he suddenly saw Pan Tao standing outside the building, looking discontent.

    ¡°Nie Tian, howe you are in the Spiritual Treasure sect and didn¡¯te see me?¡±

    Nie Tianughed embarrassedly. ¡°Umm, it¡¯s just that there¡¯s been a lot going on in the past couple of days.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I heard about you taking An Shiyi as your sworn sister.¡± With sigh, Pan Tao said, ¡°An Shiyi is An Ying¡¯s elder sister, so I also wanted to help, but...¡±

    He shook his head and stopped talking, seeing the others from the Cloudsoaring sect approach.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! I¡¯ll show you around. After all, which of them can possibly know the Spiritual Treasure sect better than I do? No matter what it is you want to buy, I know better than any of them where to find it!¡±

    Pan Tao dragged Nie Tian and left, without bothering to talk to the others from the Cloudsoaring sect.

 Chapter 100: Blood Moon in the Sky

    After leaving the Cloudsoaring sect residence, Pan Tao immediately said, ¡°Nie Tian, about the matter with An Ying¡¯s elder sister, I also wanted to help, but I didn¡¯t have the power to do so.

    ¡°Elder Gan Kang is the fifth most influential equipment forging expert in the Treasure school. The Treasure school and the Spiritual school are separate. Even my Grandfather has no power over them.

    ¡°Moreover, Elder Gan Kang is not the only one who fancies An Shiyi.

    ¡°Although my grandfather is the grand elder of the Spiritual school, he wouldn¡¯t be willing to involve the entire Pan n by standing up for An Ying, just because I like An Ying.¡±

    Pan Tao was afraid that Nie Tian thought less of him, so he exined his situation to him as soon as he got the chance, describing his helplessness.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Oh right, what stage are you at now?¡± Pan Tao asked.

    ¡°The ninth level of Qi Refining. I¡¯ve finallye to the first bottleneck.¡± Nie Tianughed. ¡°My master let mee to the Spiritual Treasure sect in hopes that I could temper myself and step into the Lesser Heaven stage on my own.¡±

    ¡°The speed of your progress is simply shocking!¡± Pan Tao said. ¡°If I remember correctly, when you entered the Green Illusion dimension, you were only at the sixth level. During the half a year we were in there, you advanced from the sixth level to the eighth level. Now you¡¯ve spent another half a year to break through to the ninth level. Considering your talent and everything, it won¡¯t take too long for you to step into the Lesser Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡± asked Nie Tian.

    Pan Taoughed heartily. ¡°Well, every single trial taker who came back alive has transcended. The Green Illusion dimension trial was so dangerous and cruel that it allowed most of us to break through our bottlenecks.

    ¡°Take An Ying, Zheng Rui, and I. The three of us were at the ninth level before we entered the Green Illusion dimension. Now, we¡¯ve all broken through to the Lesser Heaven stage, and none of us did it with the help of the Heaven Comprehending Pill!

    ¡°We aren¡¯t the only ones. Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, and Zheng Bin have also stepped into the Lesser Heaven stage.

    ¡°Only Nie Xian from your n didn¡¯t seem to umte sufficient experience from the trial. Furthermore, he had only recently reached the ninth level when he entered the trial. As such, he is still at the Qi Refining stage.¡±

    Pan Tao gave a detailed exnation, sounding as if he still cherished those dreadful days in the Green Illusion dimension. He continued, ¡°ording to my grandfather, the viler and crueler the environment gets, the better one can stimte their potential. Often only in a moment of life and death are we able to have a clear understanding of ourselves, and thereafter find the method to break through our bottlenecks.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I see,¡± said Nie Tian. ¡°Anyways, my main objective today is to buy a bracelet of holding.¡±

    ¡°Oh, follow me then.¡± Pan Tao changed directions, and soon they arrived at a stone pavilion that sold special items.

    Inside, there were many ancient documents describing spell formations, magical symbols, as well as equipment forging.

    After seeing who had entered, the equipment forgers in the pavilion said, ¡°Yee? Pan Tao? What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to help my bro choose a bracelet of holding.¡± Pan Tao gave a brief answer, and then took Nie Tian to a counter that sold bracelets of holding.

    Six storage items were disyed inside the counter, including four bracelets and two rings.

    One of the rings was red and the other was golden. Both of them were priced at ten thousand spirit stones each.

    The four bracelets of different colors were only priced at five thousand spirit stones each.

    Pan Tao exined before the equipment forger could, ¡°Nie Tian, despite the rings seeming small, their holding capacity is twice that of the bracelets. Hence, their price is also double. Since you¡¯re still at the Qi Refining stage, in my opinion, you can just choose a bracelet of holding and that¡¯ll be enough.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay, bracelet it is.¡±

    Liu Yan had also told him that a Qi warrior with a low cultivation base wouldn¡¯t need an expensive ring of holding, since it would be a waste.

    ording to Liu Yan, if he hadn¡¯t bought the me Dragon Armor, he wouldn¡¯t even need a bracelet of holding either. Simply a normal cloth bag would already be more than enough to hold his necessities.

    Moreover, he had just spent nine thousand spirit stones on the me Dragon Armor, and thus didn¡¯t want to be too extravagant, lest his master call him a spendthrift.

    Nie Tian took out Wu Ji¡¯smand medallion, and handed it over to the equipment forger behind the sales counter while pointing towards one of the storage bracelets. ¡°I want that dark-yellow one.¡±

    After grabbing themand medallion, the equipment forger took out the bracelet that Nie Tian selected and handed it over to him.

    At the same time, Pan Tao exined the usage of the storage bracelet to Nie Tian, telling him that he only needed to use a wisp of his psychic power or spiritual power to store or withdraw items.

    He put the bracelet on his arm and, following Pan Tao¡¯s instructions, stored a few spirit stones inside.

    As the wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness swam into the the storage bracelet, he realized that the inside of the bracelet was a bright, misty space that was approximately a third of the size of a stone room.

    Considering that his current belongings consisted of only a few spirit stones, a dragon bone, amand medallion, and the me Dragon Armor, the space was already more than enough.

    Even if he added in the banner that he had left with Jiang Lingzhu, they would only take up a small part of the space inside the bracelet of holding. Therefore, it could definitely satisfy his current needs.

    ¡°Here¡¯s yourmand medallion.¡± The equipment forger handed themand medallion back to him. Nie Tian grabbed it and threw it into the bracelet of holding.

    He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to leave. Curious about all of the special items that they sold in the pavilion, he started to look around.

    When he first arrived, he had assumed that they would only sell spiritual weapons during the Treasure Convention.

    Later, he realized that other than spiritual weapons, they also had spiritual armor and medicinal pills for sale.

    Only today, with Pan Tao as his guide, did he learn that they also sold books, dpidated ancient scrolls, entric spell formation pieces, as well as fragmented cultivation incantations.

    Many of the items in this building were iplete, but there was a huge variety, which allowed Nie Tian to have a new understanding of the different kinds of objects that Qi warriors would have on them.

    Wandering around in the stone pavilion, Nie Tian was pondering over what to buy as hisst purchase. ¡°I didn¡¯t get the Spiritfount Pill. All I got was the me Dragon Armor and a storage bracelet. ording to my master, I still can buy one more item.¡±

    Pan Tao was getting impatient. ¡°That¡¯s about all there is. There is nothing more to see here. A lot of the things here are defective or iplete. You wouldn¡¯t need those ancient documents, spell formation pieces, and scrolls about ancient Qi warriors, because your master is the true expert in those fields. The things here are all items that have been assessed by our sect to be of little worth.

    ¡°Even if these things wereplete and not damaged, your master still wouldn¡¯t even spare them a nce.

    ¡°He is the real expert. If you take this rubbish back, he¡¯ll scold you for sure!¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so...¡± Nie Tian nodded and finally agreed to leave. After leaving, Pan Tao dragged Nie Tian to idle about in the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°See those three mountain peaks? They form the most important part of the grand spell formation of the Spiritual Treasure sect, which protects the entire sect. It¡¯s called ¡®Heaven Burning Earth me¡¯. Under those three mountain peaks, there are tunnels that lead right to the core of the earth, constantly drawing zing mes from there.

    ¡°Once the grand spell formation is activated, raging mes will shoot up into the sky, forming a dome of raging fire that envelops the entire Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°Even Qi warriors at the Profound Realm stage would need to go through a lot of difficulty to prate thatyer of me. It¡¯s impossible for Qi warriors below the Profound Realm to go through that me ward into the valley.¡±

    ¡°..."

    Pan Tao appeared very proud as he introduced the formidable power of the grand spell formation ¡®Heaven Burning Earth me.

    The sky gradually darkened, and the two agreed to meet up again the next day to visit the stone pavilion, where the most intense auctions would be held for the most valuable spiritual items.

    After returning, Nie Tian got the me Dragon Armour back from Jiang Lingzhu and stored it into his bracelet of holding.

    Fearing that once Yuan Feng¡¯s banner was exposed, Sang Bing and Yuan Xian from the Grayvale sect might sense its faint fluctuations, he told Jiang Lingzhu to give it back to him after they left the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Moreover, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a particrly strong interest in that banner, hence wasn¡¯t in a hurry to get it back.

    Later that night, he practiced his routine cultivation with a spirit stone. He also intentionally took out the dragon bone and me Dragon Armor from his bracelet of holding and ced them next to him.

    Not long after he started his cultivation, he felt the bone growing warm, as well as his flesh power flowing towards the me Dragon Armor little by little.

    After an unknown period of time, he sensed an inexplicably oppressive feeling weighing down on his mind, and felt that it required more effort than usual to cultivate with a spirit stone.

    Then, he stopped and looked towards the full moon outside his window, feeling that the cool and clear moon seemed to have a faintyer of blood-colored mist covering it.

    It was also in this moment that Wu Xing¡¯s deep shout suddenly resounded from the sixth floor of the stone pavilion. ¡°Something is wrong with the fluctuations of space!¡±

    A momentter, Wu Xing walked down the stairs. Nie Tian, Jiang Lingzhu, and Ye Gumo also stepped out of the their rooms, and stood in the veranda, looking puzzled.

    Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and Luo Xin also came down from the fifth floor with serious expressions on their faces.

    Liu Yan took out a stone that was covered in small holes from his inner pocket, and was about to speak to it.

    CRUNCH!

    Before he could utter a word, the Sound Stone cracked into pieces.

    Immediately, fear stretched across Liu Yan¡¯s face.

    Wu Xing¡¯s face was as cold and pale as snow. He suddenly looked up towards the moon and shouted out, ¡°We¡¯re in big trouble!¡±

    Everyone followed suit and looked over toward it. The full moon, that was previously as bright as a silver te, seemed to have been smeared over by a denseyer of blood, bing scarlet and devilish.

    ¡°The Blood sect!¡± Luo Xin¡¯s voice slightly trembled.

    Wu Xing shook his head and sighed, ¡°The Blood sect would definitely not dare to invade just by themselves. The Hell sect and Ghost sect must have sent out all of their experts too!¡±

    Luo Xin couldn¡¯t help but shriek. ¡°Ahhh?!¡±

    In this moment, many experts in the other stone pavilions had also sensed the anomaly. Some of them followed one another into the street, and others shouted out loudly from their stone balconies.

    ¡°Blood moon in the sky!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Blood sect!¡±

    ¡°Oh, damn!"

    Nie Tian nced around, and realized that everyone¡¯s faces were filled with terror and anxiety.

 Chapter 101: The Sky Changes

    The moon hung high in the night sky, scarlet like blood. The blood-colored moonlight spilled to the earth, making the Spiritual Treasure sect seem as though it was immersed in blood.

    Nie Tian stood on the balcony, looking at streets that were already filled with people who were standing and looking up at the sky with terrified expressions on their faces.

    ¡°Master, what do we do? Should we leave the Spiritual Treasure sect as soon as possible?¡± Terror could be heard from Luo Xin¡¯s voice.

    Wu Xing¡¯s face was as grim as the deepest ocean. He shook his head and said, ¡°We leave, but not now. If I¡¯m not mistaken, many powerful experts from the Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect are now lurking around the Spiritual Treasure sect. If we leave now, we¡¯ll immediately be swamped.¡±

    Luo Xin was getting panicked. ¡°So we hold our ground here?¡±

    Wu Xing took a deep breath and looked at everyone, before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see. The Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s Heaven Burning Earth me formation is the most powerful and miraculous spell formation in the entire Realm of me Heaven. Even the powerful Qi warriors from the Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect won¡¯t be able to destroy it in a short period of time. Everyone will stay here before anything happens to the Heaven Burning Earth me formation. But if it shatters...¡±

    With these words, Wu Xing fell silent and seemed to be painstakingly weighing the gains and losses in his mind.

    ¡°If the grand spell formation breaks, allowing the powerful experts from the Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect to flood in, and we¡¯re unable to ward them off, we¡¯ll find a way to escape.¡±

    Liu Yan prompted, ¡°Master, how do they have the audacity to start such arge scale invasion?¡±

    Luo Xin said, ¡°Even though we battle with those three sects from time to time, it never went this far. Starting an all-out war and fighting to thest man doesn¡¯t benefit either party. Why are they doing this?¡±

    Wu Xin thought for a moment and exined, ¡°The reason why conflict of such size never broke out before was that... they never found the right opportunity.

    ¡°Recently, that Profound Realm senior from the Grayvale sect seems to be in a secluded meditation, and won¡¯te out unless hees toplete enlightenment by himself. No one else will be able to make him walk out of there.

    ¡°Rumor has it that the other Profound Realm senior from the Mystic Mist sect has left for some other realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Therefore, the only remaining Profound Realm seniors on our side would be Fang Hui of the Spiritual Treasure sect and Nie Tian¡¯s master.

    ¡°Meanwhile, the Ghost sect and Blood sectbined have two Profound Realm seniors. And the Hell sect... also has two.

    ¡°Over the past half a year, due to the huge changes in the Green Illusion dimension, our four sects have joined forces and killed many from the Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect. Those three sects have been rather quiet these days. We thought that they had conceded. Who knew that they... have been conspiring such a grand scheme.¡±

    After giving a brief exnation, Wu Xing said to Liu Yan, ¡°Protect them. I¡¯ll go ask about the situation and see whether their spacial teleportation portals still work.¡±

    With these words, Wu Xing jumped out off the balcony. It seemed he didn¡¯t even reach the ground before blurring into a green shadow, shing forward in the street, and vanishing into the distance.

    ¡°Everyone, stay here! Don¡¯t move!¡± Liu Yan shouted.

    Nie Tian, Jiang Lingzhu, and Ye Gumo stood next to each other, looking into the streets where Qi warriors from each sect were rushing about with their eyes full of terror. Their hearts grew heavy as they became influenced by themotion outside.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    A violent tremor suddenly emerged from the depths of the earth. The sixth-floor stone pavilion in which Nie Tian stood trembled with it.

    Nie Tian scanned the area with rapt attention before he suddenly realized that the three unvegetated stone mountain peaks, that stood in three directions of the valley, were gradually turning scarlet.

    They were all thousands of meters high. Now, as their color changed, streams of mes started to spurt out from the caves within them.

    Shortly after, the three stone peaks seemed to have turned into heated, red metal rods, emanating astonishing amount of heat.

    The streams of zing mes shot out from the mountain caves like reversed waterfalls, pouring straight up into the heavens.

    Not long after, a shield of zing fire enveloped the entire sky.

    Streams of mes were constantly twisting and changing irregrly on the screen of me,bining and interweaving intoplicated and mysterious patterns of mes, in which there seemed to lie the true essence of the mes as well as boundless magics.

    The sky seemed to be burning while the earth was rumbling non-stop. Even more zing streams were being channeled by the Heaven Burning Earth me formation, charging high up into the sky one after another.

    The valley where the Spiritual Treasure sect was located had always been unbearably hot. Following the activation of the Heaven Burning Earth me formation, the valley became even more blistering and stuffy.

    The sound of turmoil came from each and every direction, from the streets, from the Spiritual school, and from the numerous stone pavilions that sold spiritual weapons, armors, and medicine pills.

    The equipment forgers who had been lucky enough to flee out of their caves, were now standing at the foot of the three stone peaks, looking up at the sky with frightened expressions on their faces.

    While Nie Tian observed the surroundings, Dowager Weng hurried over, together with Zheng Bin, Han Xi, as well as a few others from the Mystic Mist sect.

    ¡°Over there!"

    ¡°Where¡¯s elder Wu Xing?¡± Dowager Weng barked.

    ¡°My master went to the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s courtyard,¡± Liu Yan replied.

    Dowager Weng seemed to have expected that. She nodded and didn¡¯t wait for Liu Yan¡¯s approval before leading the Mystic Mist sect disciples up the stairs.

    Secondster, she got to the floor where Nie Tian was, along with the others.

    Nie Tian noticed that Zheng Bin and Han Xin, as well as the few older disciples of the Mystic Mist sect all had gloomy expression on their faces. It was quite obvious that they were also worrying about the great changes that were taking ce in the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    After making it up the stairs, she spoke very frankly, ¡°We don¡¯t have many people at this convention. Our strength is rather limited. Huge changes are going to fall upon the Spiritual Treasure sect. Once the Heaven Burning Earth me formation is breached, no one from the Spiritual school or the Treasure school will be able to help us. If we stay together, we can watch each other¡¯s back, which is much better than fighting by ourselves.¡±

    Liu Yan heaved a sigh and said, ¡°No one would¡¯ve thought that such a heaven-shaking change would take ce during the Treasure Convention.¡±

    Bitterness could be seen on Dowager Weng¡¯s face. ¡°They did pick the best time to strike. Coincidentally, the powerful senior from our sect isn¡¯t currently in the Realm of me Heaven, whereas the powerful senior from the Grayvale sect is still in his secluded meditation. Only...¡±

    She looked towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Only your master can fight. However, I¡¯m afraid that he won¡¯t be able toe to the Spiritual Treasure sect. At least one of the two powerful seniors from the Hell sect will go to the back mountain of the Cloudsoaring sect to keep your master busy so that he won¡¯t be able to help defend here.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly flickered. ¡°My master...¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about him, Nie Tian,¡± Liu Yan consoled, ¡°Martial granduncle will be fine. Considering his cultivation base and strength, one senior expert from the Hell sect can only dy him from getting out. Two senior experts will only be able to stop him froming here to help us. If they wished to harm martial granduncle, the Ghost sect or the Blood sect would still need to deploy one more senior expert there.

    ¡°However, if they deployed an additional senior expert there, they would lose their advantage here.

    ¡°After all, senior Fang Hui is here.

    ¡°Hence, you should be worried about yourself instead of your master.¡±

    Face grim, Dowager Weng checked the situation outside and said, ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s right. This time, the Ghost sect, Blood sect, and Hell sect attacking together will definitely inflict serious damage to the Spiritual Treasure sect. To host this Treasure Convention, the Spiritual Treasure sect must have shipped a lot of their precious spiritual tools, that they stored away in other ces, here.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to get to keep those valuable spiritual tools. As for how many people are going to die, that¡¯ll depend on how many powerful experts the three sects sent here.

    ¡°After this war, the Spiritual Treasure sect will have definitely sustained huge losses, or even...¡±

    Dowager Weng didn¡¯t finish her sentence. It seemed that she thought the Spiritual Treasure sect probably wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the cmity.

    ¡°Look!¡± Shi Yi yelled.

    It was in that moment that everyone noticed, high in the sky, above that shield of zing mes, a figure suddenly appeared right under the blood moon.

    Upon closer examination, it appeared to be a woman sitting on a lotus seat, glittering with bloody light.

    The moment that woman appeared, Nie Tian could feel that the blood-colored moonlight that filled the sky seemed to be attracted by a strange power that came from within her, and started madly converging onto her from every direction.

    Behind the woman, a blood shadow could be seen, baring its fangs and brandishing its ws, expanding so rapidly that it would soon fill the sky.

    Even though the blood shadow was still miles away and they still had a miraculous shield of mes standing in between them, Nie Tian was gradually taken over by a oppressing, suffocating feeling.

 Chapter 102: The Ultimate Doom

    Gradually, the blood shadow beneath the blood moon expanded to the size of a mountain peak.

    The enormous blood shadow unleashed extremely frightening fluctuations of Qi and blood, making all of the guests inside the valley feel as if their Qi and blood weren¡¯t flowing smoothly.

    HISS! HISS!

    Rays of blood-colored moonlight that seemed like long, silky rivers of blood poured down in torrents from the round blood moon.

    When they approached the ground, it was as though each and every one of them had turned into a blood-colored meteor, plummeting to the earth.

    On the glittering, blood-colored lotus seat, the blurry figure of the woman seemed to be making a hand seal to activate a secret technique, before the enormous blood shadow suddenly let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar.

    The minute the roar echoed out, the plummeting blood-colored meteors became even redder and their tails became even longer.

    BOOOOM!! BOOOOM!!

    The dark-red meteors started to bombard the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s Heaven Burning Earth me grand formation.

    Countless, densely packed, ming patterns appeared on the bright, fiery shield. They exploded and shattered into pieces, but rapidly regrouped only a secondter.

    At the same time, an even more violent tremor erupted from the core of the earth. Streams of zing mes rushed straight into the sky from the three stone mountains peaks that were in three corners of the valley.

    All of the guests in the valley, together with Qi warriors from the Spiritual school and Treasure school, were looking up at the sky with intense anxiety written across their faces.

    Liu Yan was already trying to decide whether or not he should lead Nie Tian and the others to evacuate the moment the zing shield was chiseled open. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the Heaven Burning Earth me won¡¯t hold up for too much longer. That deadly woman from the Blood sect is going all out. From the look of it, the might of her spell can shake the heavens and alter the earth.¡±

    Just like Dowager Weng, he also believed that the Spiritual Treasure sect wouldn¡¯t be able to escape doom this time, and he thus started to make ns for his fellow sectmembers.

    ¡°The senior expert from the Ghost sect will probably have also made his move. Unfortunately... we don¡¯t know what means he will use to attack the Heaven Burning Earth me formation.¡± Shi Yi¡¯s gaze was shifting swiftly back and forth, as if he was searching for something.

    Meanwhile...

    At the foot of a stone peak, there was a solitary stone house, under which a dark and lengthy stone path led directly to the deepest part of the earth.

    In a vast stone pce hall, hundreds of meters under the ground, Wei Ning¡¯s expression flickered. He was the second most powerful among the equipment forging experts in the Treasure school, and one of the few experts who was able to refine Premium grade spirit tools.

    As a high-ranked equipment forger, he had recently been researching the method of refining Spirit Channeling items, and wholeheartedly focused on forging one.

    Normally, there were two ways to craft Spirit Channeling items.

    The first method was to use materials with a rich spiritual nature to make spiritual tools. During thest step of tempering, refining, and shaping, the spiritual tool would naturally be vested with spiritual nature and develop intelligence.

    Only equipment forgers at the Spirit Channeling level would be able to grab the true essence of this method.

    However, Wei Ning wasn¡¯t there yet. The means that he had adopted were to directly force a spirit to merge into an item, therefore giving the item a soul.

    In order to achieve his goal, he had gone through great pains to collect seven powerful spirits, all of which were prepared for the purpose of endowing the spiritual tool with a soul.

    Now, the seven powerful spirits were tied up by countless fine thunder chains, and confined within seven separated special containers.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The thunder chains glowed with electricity and lightning from time to time. The seven spirits seemed to be holding on to theirst breath and absolutely didn¡¯t have the intention rebelling.

    However, for some reason, the seven spirits, which were tied up by the thunder chains and confined within the special containers, seemed to have suddenly possessed a strange, formidable power.

    They went berserk and frantically rammed into the specially made containers,pletely disregarding the thunder chains that had been binding them.

    On the surface of the ss containers, delicately patterns suddenly appeared, giving rise to a strong surge of restrictive force.

    However, those seven spirits ignored the restrictive spell, and continued to ram into the containers. As the result, one of the containers suddenly cracked, forming a small opening, through which the spirit within flew out like a wisp of smoke.

    As soon as it flew out, a surge of cold, damp soul power immediately enveloped the entire stone pce.

    A confused look shed across Wei Ning¡¯s eyes, as a deadly thought suddenly floated in his heart.

    BAM! BAM!

    The moment his mind swayed, each and every one of the remaining six containers exploded into pieces.

    In blink of an eye, the remaining six spirits broke free from their imprisonment and turned into six terrifying ghosts, forcefully boring their way into his head from his ears, eyes, and nostrils.

    Only after a few seconds, Wei Ning lost all signs of life, and his soul seemed to have been nibbled away with nothing left.

    The seven spirits that had been imprisoned hundreds of meters underground, had struggled free from their bindings and suddenly appeared in the valley.

    They targeted the nearest equipment forgers as soon as they got out.

    ¡°Spirits have flown out from underground!¡±

    ¡°Those spirits are the ones that elder Wei Ning spent an enormous price on and got from other realms! They broke free of their bindings and seem to be controlled by the Ghost sect!¡±

    ¡°Elder Wei Ning is probably dead!¡±

    Some equipment forgers knew that when Wei Ning had obtained the seven spirits, they had been shipped to this ce withyers uponyers of shackles on them.

    It was because even Wei Ning himself knew that without theyers of constraint binding the spirits down, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to contend against them single-handedly.

    The spirits breaking free meant that Wei Ning, who was ranked second in the Treasure school, was very likely dead.

    The equipment forgers were howling miserably or yelling loudly while fleeing in all directions.

    The spirits, on the other hand, were swiftly floating about, pursuing and attacking people all over the valley by breaking into their minds and feeding on their souls.

    Pan Tao¡¯s father, Pan Bai, roared out angrily from within a stone pavilion quite a distance away. ¡°They¡¯re deadly spirits from the Realm of Dark Underworld. Did Wei Ning lose his mind? He actually dared to purchase spirits from the Dark Underground Realm!¡±

    Nie Tian noticed that a few Qi warriors of the Spiritual school suddenly rushed out from Pan Bai¡¯s direction to attack the seven deadly spirits from the Dark Underground Realm.

    BOOM!

    In that moment, the woman, who was sitting upright on a lotus, mounted the enormous blood shade and together viciously charged into the zing shield.

    Nie Tian was so shocked by the sound of the explosion that his eardrums hurt. He looked up and realized that the ming patterns on the protective shield had failed to immediately reform after the tremendous blow.

    Many visitors who were looking up at the sky in the streets went pale, knowing that the situation was taking a turn for the worse.

    ¡°This is not good!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s going to break!¡±

    SHEW!

    Wu Xing suddenly showed up. He rushed over and shouted out, ¡°All of the inter-spacial teleportation portal in the Spiritual Treasure sect have been affected by the abnormal fluctuations of space, and have stopped working.¡±

    ¡°So what do we do, master?¡± Luo Xin asked loudly.

    Only then did Wu Xing see that Dowager Weng was also there. He only briefly nodded in her direction before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we can¡¯t stay in the Spiritual Treasure sect any longer.¡±

    Dowager Weng agreed with him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move closer to the edge of the spell formation. If the Heaven Burning Earth Fire grand formation is breached, experts from the Ghost sect and Blood sect will swarm in. By then, we can only take the risk and try to break out of their siege.¡± Wu Xing didn¡¯t wish to perish along with the Spiritual Treasure sect, so he urged everyone to follow him.

    Under his lead, Nie Tian, Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, and the others dashed downstairs and immediately left.

    Numerous disciples from Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s subordinate ns, as well as Qi warriors from the Spiritual school and Treasure school, were moring in the streets as they all felt the iing danger.

    Pan Bai seemed to have noticed the movements of Wu Xing and the others from afar.

    He suddenly pulled his son, Pan Tao, to the side and with a voice that only Pan Tao could hear, he said, ¡°Tao¡¯er, go with people from the Cloudsoaring sect and Mystic Mist sect, and get as far away as possible from the Spiritual Treasure sect. Your grandfather and I hold important positions in the sect. We have to stay and fight, but you don¡¯t have to.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Pan Tao¡¯s eyes turned red. ¡°I want to stay with you!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± Pan Bai¡¯s voice was filled with rage. ¡°Get the hell out of here! Our sect has been struck by a sudden cmity. I don¡¯t know how many people will be killed. But I don¡¯t care about others, I just need you alive!

    ¡°Get the hell out! If you want to do something for us, then you should get out of here alive and inform the other three sects about the sudden upheaval which has urred in the Spiritual Treasure sect as soon as possible!

    ¡°If the other three sects are informed in time and send out all of their powerful experts, we might still have a chance to survive!

    ¡°Go! You¡¯re not escaping. You¡¯re bringing reinforcements and the chance to live! Now go!¡±

    Pan Bai continuously urged Pan Tao, fearing that Wu Xing and the others might have gone far enough that his son wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to them.

    Pan Tao gritted his teeth and stared deep into his father¡¯s eyes for a few seconds, before he finally nodded vigorously, and without saying a word, dashed out at the fastest speed possible to catch up to Wu Xing and the others.

    At the same time...

    In the secluded courtyard where An Shiyi and her younger sister lived, An Ying was looking at the sky, her eyes filled with terror. She had long since sunk into a state of utter stupefaction as she repeatedly asked the same question, ¡°Elder Sister, what should we do? What should we do?¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s delicate face had also turned pale. Staring nkly at the zing shield that had more and more visible cracks on it, she muttered, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to do. Guests from the Cloudsoaring sect, Mystic Mist sect, and Grayvale sect don¡¯t have the obligation to stay and guard our sect to the end. Plus, we are not like Pan Tao and Zheng Rui. We¡¯re from a subordinate n.

    ¡°If we dare to leave when the sect is going through such a heaven-shaking change, can you imagine the punishment we¡¯ll receive? We might as well die here now.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave it all to fate.¡±

 Chapter 103: Chaos

    Within the Spiritual Treasure sect, seven deadly spirits were flying about hunting down disciples from the Spiritual school and Treasure school.

    Under the blood moon, the terrifying woman from the Blood sect was using secret spells tomand the immense blood shade to repeatedly ram into the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation.

    All the guests who hade to the Treasure Convention were cursing as they secretly moved closer towards the edge of the Spiritual Treasure sect, just like Wu Xing and the others from the Cloudsoaring sect.

    They all bore the same thought: once the Heaven Burning Earth me formation broke, they would exert all means to leave at the first possible moment, since none of them would choose to stay and fight for the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°Everybody, follow me, and by all means do not get separated!¡±

    Wu Xing charged straight forward on the wide street, with Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and Luo Xin tightly following behind him. People from the Mystic Mist sect also stayed close to them.

    Nie Tian, Jiang Lingzhu, and Ye Gumo looked on grim as they secretly drew from their spiritual power, getting ready to meet enemies that could appear at any moment.

    At this moment, Pan Tao¡¯s cry came through from behind them. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    The moment he looked back, he saw Pan Tao dashing towards them with bloodshot eyes.

    Wu Xing also turned around, and when he realized that it was Pan Bai¡¯s son, Pan Tao, he was somewhat surprised.

    Pan Tao raised his voice and said, ¡°Greetings, Senior Wu, Senior Weng! I¡¯m know every corner of the Spiritual Treasure sect like the back of my hand. I can lead you out of here.¡±

    Wu Xing¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Your father... didn¡¯t want you to stay?¡±

    Pan Tao¡¯s eyes were full of sorrow as he nodded and said, ¡°He wants me to get out of here alive with you.¡±

    ¡°Good! You lead the way!¡± Wu Xing said firmly.

    He was aware of Pan Bai¡¯s status, and that Pan Tao¡¯s grandfather was the grand elder of the Spiritual school and also one of the main participants in the construction of the grand Heaven Burning Earth me spell formation.

    Having Pan Tao lead the way, not only would it save them trouble while escaping from the Spiritual Treasure sect valley, but also they perhaps could find safer routes, so as to steer clear of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect once they were out of the valley.

    Upon hearing Wu Xing¡¯s words, Pan Tao quickly made it to the forefront of the group, and pointed out the directions to Wu Xing from time to time.

    Wu Xing nodded as the group followed Pan Tao¡¯s directions, moving further and further away from the broad streets in the central area of the valley. They didn¡¯t choose to go to the main gate to the Spiritual Treasure sect, but rather marched towards one of the three stone mountain peaks.

    As they marched along, Pan Tao said, ¡°The moment the Heaven Burning Earth Fire formation is breached, the stone peaks that draw mes from the earth¡¯s core might lose their function. The three stone peaks are hollow and hold tunnels that can lead us out of the valley. Of course, there might also be people from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect lurking out there. But, I believe that there won¡¯t be a lot of powerful experts waiting over there.

    ¡°We trust your judgment!¡± said Dowager Weng.

    They all believed that since Pan Tao wanted to get out alive, he wouldn¡¯t possibly lie to them.

    Pan Tao had grown up in the Spiritual Treasure sect. Therefore, he had a far better understanding of the surroundings. He knew everything about the valley, even the grass and trees, like the back of his hand.

    Hence, under Pan Tao¡¯s guidance, the group had moved further away from other guests, who were clueless fleeing in random directions, as they gradually approached one of the stone peaks.

    CRACK!

    A huge cracking noise suddenly echoed out above their heads. Nie Tian, who was rushing forward, looked up.

    He found that a thin opening had been cracked open in the bright ming shield that enveloped the vast sky. The immense blood shadow, which had been condensed by the bloody moonlight and spiritual power of the Blood sect female expert, had shoved its burly hands into the blood-colored crack and was continuously pulling to the sides.

    In the sky, the female expert from the Blood sect, who was still sitting upright on top of her glittering, bloody lotus, suddenly snorted. ¡°OPEN!¡±

    CRUNCH!

    Following her snort, the bloody shadow forcibly ripped open arge crack.

    In the next moment, numerous red-garbed Blood sect experts came down from the sky and made their way through the crack, one after the other.

    Guests were running about in the streets, shouting in extreme fear, and dashing out of the valley through the main gate at the fastest speed possible.

    ¡°Dammit! The grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation has been breached!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    ¡°Death awaits whoever chooses to stay!¡±

    At that moment however, a host of dark figures suddenly appeared at the entrance of the valley, one after another. Numerous Ghost sect experts had been waiting at the valley entrance for a long time.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Also at that moment, numerous bloody figures descended from the sky, before immediately spreading out and starting to pursue and kill the fleeing people.

    A few extremely powerful experts, on the other hand, threw themselves at the area where the Spiritual school and Treasure school was gathered, and instantly started to fight at close quarters.

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, a gigantic bronze cauldron shot up into the sky from a crowd of Treasure school equipment forgers.

    In the air, it pulsed with a multicolored, precious light.

    The moment the precious light shone on the blood shadow that had cracked open the Heaven Burning Earth me formation, it surprisingly melted like a heated snowke!

    As soon as the Qi warriors from the Spiritual Treasure sect caught sight of therge bronze cauldron, they knew right away that their strongest expert had truly been angered.

    ¡°It¡¯s senior Fang Hui!¡±

    ¡°Senior Fang Hui has made his move!¡±

    ¡°A powerful expert in the Profound Realm!¡±

    On top of the mouth of therge cauldron stood the slight figure of an old man. Face grave and stern, he stared at the Blood sect female expert under the bloody moon.

    ¡°Earthme Gathering!¡±

    Fang Hui performed an incantation gesture with his hand, and the broken bright me shield suddenly morphed into countless zing meteors, rushing into therge cauldron.

    A momentter, even more beams of colorful lights flew out from within therge cauldron.

    It seemed as if they had turned into numerous thick greatswords, which chopped towards the woman under the bloody moon with world-shaking momentum.

    WHOOSH!

    It was also at this point that numerous blood-colored light threads gathered from all directions, and densely interweaved in front of the woman.

    Very quickly, thousands of bloody tentacles appeared in front of the woman, forming a heaven-blocking wall which constantly defended against the attacks from the gigantic swords.

    With that, the two Profound Realm experts began to fight fiercely in midair.

    Nie Tian only took a nce at their fight before continuing to dash along after Pan Tao and Wu Xing toward one of the mountain peaks.

    Along the way, Nie Tian suddenly called out, as he spotted a secluded courtyard from afar.

    ¡°Yee?¡±

    An Ying had taken him there the first day he had arrived in Spiritual Treasure sect.

    That was An Shiyi and An Ying¡¯s residence!

    ¡°Big Sister An! Are you in there?¡± Nie Tian shouted out loudly, as he quickly moved closer towards the courtyard.

    Inside, An Shiyi and An Ying were staring nkly at the battle in the sky with ash-pale faces when Nie Tian¡¯s words took them by surprise.

    ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s voice!¡± An Ying rushed out of the courtyard, and instantly saw the distant Nie Tian, as thetter was following Wu Xing and the others towards one of the stone peaks. ¡°Sister! It¡¯s Nie Tian and elder Wu Xing, they¡¯re rushing in our direction. Oh! And Pan Tao too, he¡¯s also with them!¡±

    ¡°Pan Tao...¡± An Shiyi went nk for a moment, as she seemed to have understood the reason why Pan Tao was there with Wu Xing and the others. ¡°Juste back, they want to escape through the tunnels under the stone peak. Pan Tao has his father and grandfather to protect him, even if he runs at such a crucial moment. But, we have no one.¡±

    Her expression turned grim, ¡°Don¡¯t let Nie Tian see you. I don¡¯t want to burden him...¡±

    ¡°But, he¡¯s already seen me,¡± An Ying said.

    Nie Tian shouted from afar, ¡°Where is your sister? Why are you still standing there? Be quick ande with us!¡±

    An Ying shook her head helplessly, while standing at the doorway. ¡°No, we can¡¯t.¡±

    It was at that time that three red-garbed Blood sect experts descended from the sky, and headed towards the courtyard where they were.

    ¡°Over there!"

    Wu Xing, who was at the front of the group, stopped and briefly frowned when he realized that Nie Tian had stopped to urge An Shiyi and her sister to leave with them.

    He only waited a moment before saying, ¡°You can leave with us. I can¡¯t guarantee that we¡¯ll be able to get out of here alive. But, I can guarantee that after this incident, the Spiritual Treasure sect won¡¯t hold you responsible for leaving!¡±

    Upon hearing Wu Xing¡¯s guarantee, An Shiyi, who was originally ready to die with the sect, suddenly had her eyes light up.

    She immediately made a new decision and said to An Ying, ¡°Let¡¯s go! Now that Senior Wu has given us his word, we can leave together with them!¡±

    An expert from the Blood Sect sneered before blurring into a bloody light and appearing directly in front of them. ¡°None shall leave!¡±

    ¡°Looking to die?!¡± Wu Xing snorted coldly as an enormous, bright, green lightning bolt suddenly shot out from his left cuff.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The lightning bolt continuously fluctuated in the air while releasing terrifying thunder ps and electric power, taking form of a lightning dragon in one moment and a thundering snake in the next.

    Terrified, the man from the Blood sect tried to escape. ¡°He¡¯s Wu Xing from the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    However, the lightning bolt was still hot on his tail. Only a few secondster, it caught up to him and struck him on his back.

    The man instantly fell from midair, with green smoke emitting from his ck, burnt body.

    The two other disciples from the Blood sect howled madly, informing nearby Blood sect experts toe to their aide.

    ¡°Wu Xing! Wu Xing is here!¡±

    ¡°Someone, quicklye help us kill Wu Xing from the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    Wu Xing red at Nie Tian again and said, ¡°Be quick! We need to leave!¡±

 Chapter 104: Dead End

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t spent such a long time convincing the An sisters to join them, they would have been gone long before the three Blood sect experts came along.

    If they hadn¡¯t been discovered, Wu Xing wouldn¡¯t have been forced to make a move and therefore expose their whereabouts.

    However, now that the three experts from the Blood Sect had descended into the courtyard, they would undoubtedly find the An sisters no matter what happened.

    If Nie Tian chose to leave they would be able to avoid a fierce battle, but the An sisters would most likely be killed.

    Annoyed with Nie Tian, Dowager Weng from the Mystic Mist sect whispered, ¡°Nothing is more dangerous than affection!¡±

    The remaining two disciples from the Blood sect were still yelling to their nearbypanions.

    ¡°Wu Xing is here!¡±

    ¡°Wu Xing from the Cloudsoaring sect!¡±

    The Blood sect experts in the vicinity all heard their cries. They descended from the sky and rapidly converged onto their location.

    ¡°Damn!"

    He knew that person.

    Wu Xing looked over with rapt attention and saw a burly, one-armed expert from the Blood sect in blood-colored garments.

    ¡°Liu Yan!¡± Wu Xing shouted. ¡°You lead them and take them to the ce Pan Tao talked about. Dowager Weng and I will stay behind to stop them.¡±

    Dowager Weng also made a quick decision. ¡°Zheng Bin, Han Qian, you go with them!¡±

    At that moment, the six experts from the Blood sect had already joined their tworades who had been screaming for help.

    The one-armed man from the Blood sect sneered and said, ¡°Wu Xing! Dowager Weng! Long time no see! Over the past half a year, your four sects have teamed up and killed god knows how many people from my sect! It¡¯s time that you paid your debts!¡±

    With a wave of his right hand, arge number of blood-colored discs immediately whirled out, whistling through the air.

    They let out ear-piercing whistles while emanating a suffocating bloody light. Only secondster, Wu Xing was trapped.

    After seeing their friend make a move, the other experts from the Blood sect bolted forward to besiege Dowager Weng.

    Receiving his master¡¯s order, Liu Yan didn¡¯t hesitate at all before urging the people around him to move out. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The first thing he noticed was that a few Blood sect disciples in the center of the valley seemed to have noticed their activities, and had abandoned their own targets to rapidly head in their direction.

    Liu Yan knew perfectly well that once they were surrounded, they wouldn¡¯t have any chance of making it to the foot of the stone peak.

    Shi Yi and Luo Xin were also very familiar with Wu Xing¡¯s temper. They knew that once he had made a decision, they, as his disciples, could only obey unconditionally.

    Therefore, none of them tried to stay behind and fight alongside Wu Xing. Instead, they helped Liu Yan urge the crowd to move out.

    Their unanimous decision stopped Nie Tian from having any ideas of staying and fighting to the death. Hence, he followed Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo to chase after Liu Yan and the others.

    Jiang Lingzhu was running while grumbling towards Nie Tian, ¡°Hey you! An Ying didn¡¯t even smile at you once when we were in the Green Illusion dimension. Even when you encountered great danger, she hardly tried at all to help you. Why do you care about her so much?¡±

    Ye Gumo jumped in and said, ¡°He¡¯s fallen for her. There¡¯s no other exnation.¡±

    An Shiyi and An Ying, who were trailing behind, heard the two of them berating Nie Tian. However, the two sisters didn¡¯t say anything.

    Under Liu Yan¡¯s lead, the group of people followed Pan Tao¡¯s directions and quickly left Wu Xing and Dowager Weng.

    From time to time, Nie Tian turned around to look back, and noticed that Wu Xing and Dowager Weng seemed to have been gradually surrounded by the experts from the Blood sect.

    A sudden rush of guilt bloomed in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry," An Ying approached him and quietly apologized.

    An Shiyi pursed her mouth, and didn¡¯t say anything, however her beautiful eyes were filled with apology.

    The two of them were fully aware that if it weren¡¯t for them, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have stopped in that courtyard even for a second and probably would not have been noticed by the experts from the Blood sect.

    The An sisters knew that they would have been killed beyond the shadow of a doubt, but Wu Xing and Dowager Weng wouldn¡¯t have been trapped in such a dangerous situation.

    ¡°Forget about it," Nie Tian replied without thinking, ¡°If senior martial brother Wu and Dowager Weng are killed, I will definitely avenge them, even if it takes me the rest of my life to do it.¡±

    They never stopped moving while they spoke. Every nearby expert from the Blood sect had been attracted by Wu Xing and Dowager Weng, thus none pursued them.

    In their eyes, Wu Xing and Dowager Weng were the true big fish; key figures who could change the course of the Realm of me Heaven.

    Killing the two of them would inflict great damages to the Cloudsoaring sect and Mystic Mist sect. Their value far surpassed all others¡¯.

    After they had run along for some time, Pan Tao suddenly stopped and stood beside the mouth of a cave. Flickering mes could still be seen lingering in the area.

    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡±

    Everyone else stopped after him.

    ¡°This is the cave?¡± Liu Yan asked with a suspicious expression.

    Pan Tao nodded and turned around to exin to them, ¡°Since the Heaven Burning Earth me formation has been breached, these three peaks can no longer draw out zing Earthme from the earth core. However, due to the previous attractive force of the grand spell formation, there will still be some residual mes within the stone caves.

    ¡°However, as long as we be careful and protect each other, the residual mes... won¡¯t be much of a threat.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Luo Xin asked.

    Pan Tao smiled bitterly, ¡°I¡¯m also scared of death. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have chosen to run with you guys. If the residual mes are still lethal, I¡¯ll also die in there myself.¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± After pausing shortly, in order to convince everyone, Pan Tao continued, ¡°I¡¯ll be the first to go in, and I¡¯ll lead you guys down the stone cave. Will you rest assured now?¡±

    Liu Yan nodded. ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Liu, do we wait for your master and Dowager Weng?¡± asked Zheng Bin.

    Liu Yan shook his head, and with a convincing tone he said, ¡°No need. My master will be able to follow our aura and urately find this ce. You guys can rest assured. As long as senior Weng stays together with him, they¡¯ll be able to find their way to this stone cave and follow us out to safety, even if there¡¯s no one to guide them.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then alright,¡± Zheng Bin said, rxing a bit.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go in first,¡± Pan Tao said.

    Everyone nodded.

    Pan Tao actually wasn¡¯t as confident as he appeared. He clenched his teeth, tried to summon up courage, and braced himself to charge inside.

    At that very moment, a male figure suddenly walked out of the cave entrance.

    The man had messy, red hair, and a beard so bushy that his face seem to be hidden within a pile of madly growing weeds, almost impossible to recognize.

    However, in the instant that he exited the cave, the faces of Pan Tao and the An sisters turned pale with fright.

    Pan Tao stammered, ¡°Elder... Elder Gan...¡±

    The An sisters seemed especially terrified and panicked after seeing this person.

    Aftering out, Gan Kang didn¡¯t look at Pan Tao, but instead stared at An Shiyi without even blinking, and reproached, ¡°This is as far as you go. Do you realize what kind of punishment disciples will receive for fleeing the sect during a major change like this one?¡±

    Ferociousness could be seen from his eyes, as if he would immediately unleash murderous attacks on An Shiyi if she failed to provide a good reason.

    From the sudden changes to their expressions, Nie Tian instantly realized that the old man in front of him was the fifth highest ranked equipment forger in the Treasure school, Gan Kang.

    He was the one who had continuously pressured An Shiyi to marry him!

    Anger appeared in Liu Yan¡¯s eyes as he impolitely said, ¡°Senior Gan! Are you just stopping the An Sisters, or all of us?¡±

    ¡°All of you.¡± Gan Kang put on a disdainful expression. Without giving Liu Yan the slightest face, he continued, ¡°This path to the outside world is too important! No one is allowed to use it! If the Cloudsoaring sect and Mystic Mist sect are unwilling to advance and retreat together with the Spiritual Treasure sect, then I¡¯ll have to ask you to exit through the main gate of the valley just like everyone else does!¡±

    ¡°Elder Gan, it¡¯s my father¡¯s wish that we leave through the stone tunnel!¡± Pan Tao said angrily.

    Gan Kang sneered, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t agree even if it were your grandfather¡¯s wish! The sect is undergoing a great catastrophe, so no one from the Spiritual school or the Treasure school is allowed to leave without permission! If your father told you to leave with the outsiders, then he¡¯s viting the sect rules! It¡¯s your bad luck that you ran into me!

    ¡°You can call me inflexible or unreasonable,¡± Gan Kang said righteously. ¡°No matter what, the path is closed to you all!¡±

 Chapter 105: Guests from Another Realm

    What Gan Kang said conformed to the sect rules. Therefore, even if Pan Tao¡¯s grandfather were there, he wouldn¡¯t be able to argue with him, much less Pan Tao.

    However, anyone who knew about his affection towards An Shiyi would be able to tell that everything he had said was only out of his personal desire.

    Now that the Spiritual Treasure sect had been struck by such a huge disaster, Pan Tao wasn¡¯t the only one who was attempting to escape.

    Zheng Rui and the grandchildren of a few other elders were also trying to find their way out of the sect, because they also wanted to steer clear of the cmity, instead of fighting for the sect till theirst breath.

    Gan Kang would never intentionally target Pan Tao and at the same time, let people like Zheng Rui slip away.

    His real target was Nie Tian and the An sisters!

    Liu Yan couldn¡¯t be clearer about what was going on. If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t meddled with An Shiyi¡¯s problem and taken her as his sworn sister, Gan Kang absolutely wouldn¡¯t have showed up here and blocked their way.

    An Shiyi also understood that if she had promised to marry Gan Kang, perhaps Gan Kang would have already arranged for her sister and her to leave the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Zheng Bin frowned and said, ¡°Senior Gan, our Mystic Mist sect hasn¡¯t offended you, have we? We have no intentions to interfere with the affairs between you and others. Can you let us pass?¡±

    The few people from the Mystic Mist sect stared at Gan Kang with anxious expressions in their eyes.

    At that moment, throughout the entire valley, experts from the Blood sect were chasing after guests and fighting with disciples from the Spiritual school and the Treasure school.

    Not a single corner of the valley was safe. There were battles going on everywhere.

    Arge amount of experts from the Ghost sect that had previously been lingering on the outside, also swarmed in through the sect gate, causing disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect to suffer huge casualties.

    Nie Tian¡¯s group had been trying to escape from the valley since the start. However, because of the An sisters, Wu Xing and Dowager Weng had already been trapped.

    The two of them stayed behind to buy time for Nie Tian and the others to reach this ce and use the secret tunnel within the stone peak to safely leave the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    By blocking the road and not allowing anyone to pass, Gan Kang was undoubtedly eliminating everyone¡¯s hope to survive.

    They had gone to great lengths to get to this safe exit. Zheng Bin and his sectmates knew that their hopes of leaving the Spiritual Treasure sect would be extremely small if they went back now; the exit in front of them was still their best choice.

    He secretly resented Nie Tian for minding others¡¯ business, and dragging everyone down with him, while on the other hand, he continuously begged Gan Kang.

    ¡°No means no!¡± Gan Kang¡¯s face was cold. ¡°No one passes, no matter who! Even if Wu Xing and Dowager Weng were here, I would still have the same attitude!¡±

    He waved his hand and said impatiently, ¡°If you want to leave, hurry and switch to another route and don¡¯t waste your time here!¡±

    With another nce at An Shiyi, he snorted coldly, ¡°As for you two, you two have to stay! As members of the Spiritual school, you must live and die together with the sect!¡±

    He only pointed towards the An sisters, but not Pan Tao.

    By that point, everyone could see perfectly clearly that Gan Kang was deliberately making things difficult for those two. They also realized that they would have no chance of entering the stone cave unless they forced their way in.

    SHEW!

    It was also at that moment that three figures quietly descended from the sky.

    The leader of them was none other than the person who had asked the Spiritual Treasure sect to sell the me Dragon Armor, Lai Yi. The moment hended, he nced at Nie Tian from the corner of his eye and said, ¡°Hand over the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core before you leave.¡±

    ¡°Lai Yi, what took you so long?¡± asked Gan Kang.

    Lai Yi, who came from another realm, slightly nodded towards Gan Kang and said, ¡°We got into a fight with a few guys from the Blood sect. Brother Gan, if you want that girl, I have the simplest suggestion.¡± With a grin, he said, ¡°Just take her and get out of here!¡±

    Another foreigner tried to persuade him with a sincere tone, ¡°Brother Gan! The Spiritual Treasure sect is experiencing a huge upheaval. Even if it¡¯s not annihted from the Realm of me Heaven, its power will be greatly decreased. If you stay in the Spiritual Treasure sect, you¡¯ll always live in Fang Hui¡¯s shadow, and you¡¯ll never be the best equipment forger. I¡¯d say you might as well leave the Spiritual Treasure sect and get the hell out of the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Rest assured, our master can give you everything that you now have in the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°With your attainments in the art of equipment forging, it will be even possible that we open up a brand new equipment forging sect for you when we get back.¡±

    Lai Yi jumped in and said, ¡°Brother Gan, the Spiritual Treasure sect is doomed to wither away. Leave with us, will you?¡±

    The three foreign Qi warriors didn¡¯t beat around the bush and were actually advising Gan Kang to leave the Spiritual Treasure sect in front of everyone.

    Nie Tian, Liu Yan, and the others, including Pan Tao, were suddenly dumbstruck.

    After hearing their conversation, Pan Tao instantly understood what was going on. ¡°Elder Gan! The reason that you are here is to make sure those three can safely get out through the secret tunnel! You don¡¯t allow us to use the tunnel, but you¡¯re helping those three foreign equipment forgers! And you have the nerve to lecture us about loyalty?¡±

    Liu Yan¡¯s expression also turned unpleasant. ¡°Elder Gan, no matter what, our four sects are allies. What are these foreigners to you? You are opening the door for them, but not us? What¡¯s that about?¡±

    The people from the Mystic Mist sect also joined in and berated him.

    Nie Tian now had a full understanding of the situation. However, he didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he subconsciously reached for his bracelet of holding and thought to himself, ¡°me Dragon Armor, Blood Core, what does that guy mean?¡±

    Confronted by everyone, Gan Kang¡¯s face was now especially grim, as it seemed that he was struggling in his heart.

    He wasn¡¯t struggling because of Liu Yan, Pan Tao, and the others¡¯ confrontation. Instead, he was hesitating about whether he should abandon everything in the Realm of me Heaven and take the chance to leave.

    Lai Yi turned around to check the movements of the distant Blood sect experts. He appeared slightly anxious as he said, ¡°Brother Gan! Time is of the essence here. Please stop hesitating! You should know better than anyone. After this war, the power of the Spiritual Treasure sect will significantly decline for sure. And you only rank fifth in the Treasure school of the Spiritual Treasure sect. Your authority in the Spiritual Treasure sect is far from adequate.¡±

    ¡°Only by leaving will you get the chance to delve deeper into the art of equipment refining. Besides... your way of equipment refining might not be approved by some people from your sect!¡±

    Lai Yi¡¯s voice became anxious.

    Upon hearing these words, Gan Kang, who had remained silent for a long time, seemed to have finally made up his mind. He took a deep breath and said to Lai Yi, ¡°Take that woman with us.¡±

    He pointed towards An Shiyi.

    As he spoke, he didn¡¯t even spare Liu Yan, Pan Tao, Nie Tian, and the others a nce, since he was confident that with Lai Yi and the other two foreign Qi warriors present, he would be able to do whatever he wanted.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Lai Yi nodded and pointed towards An Shiyi, indicating for the one beside him to make a move.

    ¡°Come with us!¡± That person immediately walked towards An Shiyi, with wisps of ash-colored mist swirling around in his eyes. All of a sudden, a deste icy aura, that seemed to have morphed into invisible shackles, spread out towards An Shiyi.

    Liu Yan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    It was also at this point that Lai Yi shed into action, and arrived beside Nie Tian in a split second. Without saying a word, he reached out to grab the bracelet of holding on Nie Tian¡¯s arm. ¡°I only want the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core,¡± he said indifferently. ¡°Hand it to me and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡±

    ¡°Dammit! He¡¯s at the Worldly Realm!¡± bbergasted, Liu Yan said hastily, ¡°Nie Tian! Give it to him now!¡±

    Nie Tian felt a strong st closing in on him. Lai Yi¡¯s movement was too fast for his eyes to see. Before he could react, Lai Yi was already quite close to him, and had extended his hand out to grab his arm.

    Only then did he hear Liu Yan¡¯s words.

    He was taken aback. ¡°Worldly Realm!¡± Realizing that the gap between his strength and Lai Yi¡¯s was far from bridgeable, he immediately took off the bracelet of holding and threw it to Lai Yi while taking a step backwards.

    However, in the instant that bracelet of holding left his hand, he secretly took out and gripped the dragon bone in his palm.

    ¡°Smart choice, kid.¡± Lai Yi nodded and reached out to catch the bracelet of holding.

    At that moment, Nie Tian turned around and ran into the direction they hade from at the fastest speed possible, while shouting, ¡°Gan Kang is here! The fifth highest ranked equipment forger from the Treasure school is trying to escape and go to another realm!¡±

    A few nearby experts from the Blood sect, who had been chasing after the guests, were alerted by Nie Tian¡¯s shout, and rapidly converged upon them.

    Hearing Nie Tian¡¯s shout, Gan Kang, who was already in the cave, turned grim and said, ¡°Since I¡¯m determined to leave, there¡¯s no reason for me to be afraid of offending entric Wu... Kill that brat for me!¡±

    After grabbing the bracelet of holding, Lai Yi examined it with his soul power, and then burst into a ming rage. ¡°Brat!! You dare to trick me! You¡¯re seeking death!¡±

    Attracted by Nie Tian¡¯s shout, a few experts from the Blood sect appeared one after another.

    ¡°Over there!"

    ¡°There are people over there!¡±

 Chapter 106: Returning to the Rightful Owner

    An expert from the Blood sect who was wearing a long, tattered, blood-red robe suddenly arrived. With a malicious grin, he said, ¡°Hey everyone! It actually is Gan Kang from the Treasure school! We¡¯ve caught a big fish!¡±

    A bloody, suffocating light shed across his narrowed eyes. He didn¡¯t hesitate at all before waving a dark-red magic staff and releasing one of the most deadly forbidden techniques of the Blood sect.

    ¡°Reverse Blood Flow!¡±

    In an instant, a bloody light that could cover the heavens appeared in midair, which seemed like rivers of viscous blood flowing towards the crowd.

    Several more Blood sect experts arrived after him, and also started to cast their spells.

    Layers afteryers of bloody light rapidly spread out, along with a strange maic field that could cause one¡¯s blood flow to reverse.

    A few nearby corpses of some guests who had been recently killed suddenly exploded.

    Streams of blood spurted out of them and swirled up into the air, before condensing and morphing into a group of blurry blood shades.

    Nie Tian, who was attempting to run further away from Lai Yi, suddenly felt that he had lost control of his own blood.

    However, he wasn¡¯t the only one to be affected by the forbidden technique, Reverse Blood Flow.

    The faces of Lai Yi and his friend, who was about to make a move against An Shiyi, also flushed. From the look of it, they were trying their best to restrain the abnormal movements of their blood.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Cursing in a low voice and casting a vicious nce at Nie Tian, Lai Yi was seized by the regret that he hadn¡¯t killed Nie Tian and snatched his bracelet of holding at the first possible moment.

    His original n had been to ughter everyone present as soon as he had obtained the bracelet of holding and confirmed that the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core were inside.

    The reason he didn¡¯t attack the moment they met was that he feared that the Blood Core wasn¡¯t in Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding, and that he had hid it somewhere else.

    ¡°Kill Gan Kang first!¡±

    As soon as the Blood sect experts sessfully activated the forbidden technique, Reverse Blood Flow, all of them blurred into streams of bloody light, directly shooting towards Gan Kang.

    Standing at the mouth of the stone cave, which still had residual mes sputtering out of it, Gan Kang¡¯s face was as gloomy aske water. He looked over towards Lai Yi and said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave it for you to handle things here!¡±

    With these words, he didn¡¯t spare anyone else a nce before bolting into the stone cave.

    The arrival of the handful of experts from the Blood sect had turned the situation around, since they all knew who he was and viewed him as their primary target.

    Gan Kang knew perfectly well that if he wasted too much time there, he would only sink deeper and deeper into danger.

    Therefore, he had even stopped caring about capturing An Shiyi alive. All he wanted now was to get out of there as soon as possible.

    An expert from the Blood sectughed as he was about to overtake Lai Yi and chase after Gan Kang into the stone cave. ¡°Wait, Elder Gan, have you an appointment or something?¡±

    The other two Blood sect experts quietly scanned the area and then targeted the other two foreign Qi warriors, as well as Liu Yan, Shi Yi, Luo Xin, and others who had higher cultivation bases.

    In their eyes, Nie Tian, Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, Zheng Bin, and An Ying were so weak that they didn¡¯t attach any importance to them.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you move!¡±

    With a cold harrumph, a long, thin animal bone covered in short dense fur suddenly appeared in Lai Yi¡¯s hand. The animal bone was over one meter long and seemed to be the leg bone of a spirit beast.

    The moment it appeared, a strong, rotten smell immediately filled the air.

    The expression of the Blood sect expert, who was just about to run past him, suddenly flickered as he said, ¡°You¡¯re from the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡±

    Lai Yi let out a low-pitchedugh and said, ¡°Gan Kang is one of us now. You¡¯d better stay out of our business.¡±

    The expert from the Blood sect snorted. ¡°So what if you¡¯re from the Realm of Dark Underworld? This is the Realm of me Heaven. I doubt that you can do whatever you want here with just the three of you!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Rays of bloody light shot out from the Blood Sect expert. They interweaved before suddenly condensing into a vicious, man-eating beast that reeked of blood. Without a moment¡¯s pause, it lunged towards Lai Yi.

    Lai Yi brandished the animal bone, and the fur on the animal bone stood up.

    A rotten aura started to build up on Lai Yi¡¯s palm, which seemed to be resonating with the animal bone in his hand.

    The intense, bloody odor from the bloody beast that was charging towards Lai Yi seemed to be affected by some kind of unknown rotting power. It was actually withering away.

    When it reached Lai Yi, its intense blood aura had already decayed by about eighty percent.

    Lai Yi swept the animal bone towards it, and the vicious beast turned into a cluster of blood mist that dissipated into the wind.

    At the same time, the other experts from the Blood sect began to fight with the two foreign Qi warriors as well as Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and the others.

    Not involved in the battle, Nie Tian observed and realized that everyone who had been affected by the disrupted maic field created by the Reverse Blood Flow was experiencing great difficulty as they battled.

    They seemed as if they had to spend a major part of their energy resisting the strange movement of the blood inside of them.

    The faces of Pan Tao, Ye Gumo, and the others, who hadn¡¯t been attacked, also slightly flushed. They seemed to be nailed on the ground, and using all their strength to try to get rid of the anomaly in their blood.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, had long since regained his normal blood flow after experiencing a brief influence.

    Actually, he was already free to move about!

    He whispered to himself, ¡°Strange...¡±

    As he recalled, he felt that his blood had also changed when the Reverse Blood Flow spell was activated.

    However, it had onlysted a moment before he went back to normal and was no longer affected.

    PUFF!

    While he stood there in confusion, scarlet blood strings suddenly emerged from the stone ground around him.

    They came out of the earth like madly growing weeds, slowly reaching into the air at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

    ¡°The Earth Web!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    The Blood sect witch Yu Tong had once activated this very same forbidden technique in the Green Illusion dimension and had instantly killed a few people from the Mystic Mist sect with the scarlet blood strings.

    The scarlet blood strings that were now emerging from the earth, seemed to be far denser than the ones that Yu Tong had used in the Green Illusion dimension, and the intensity of the Qi and blood within them was also far more astonishing!

    They swayed in midair for a second before suddenly shing and piercing towards everyone who wasn¡¯t from the Blood sect.

    Everyone except Nie Tian!

    He remained where he stood and didn¡¯t move a bit. However, those scarlet blood strings seemed to have either failed to detect him or intentionally ignored him.

    ¡°How is this happening?¡± After a moment of confusion, he started to use his psychic awareness to examine himself, and found that there seemed to be a weak aura of the Blood sect inside of him.

    He had an epiphany.

    When he was in the Green Illusion dimension, he had been trapped and pierced by Yu Tong¡¯s countless scarlet blood strings, and almost had his blood drained by them.

    However, he had managed to live through their attack. Even more miraculously, he had taken advantage of his uniqueness and refined those numerous blood strings.

    It was also because of that a weak aura of the Blood sect had been left inside of him.

    Those scarlet blood strings that emerged out of the ground seemed to be able to distinguish between the disciples of the Blood sect and others, as those who possessed the aura of the Blood sect wouldn¡¯t be their target of attack.

    In this way, he once again remained unscathed while everyone else was being attacked by the sky-filling scarlet blood strings.

    FIZZ!

    The foreign Qi warrior, who had previously nned to capture An Shiyi, didn¡¯t pay attention to the changes to the ground below him while he was fighting with an expert from the Blood sect, causing his left leg to be prated by a bundle of scarlet blood strings.

    He immediately let out a piercing screech.

    After he was entangled, even more scarlet blood strings converged onto him from every direction.

    Only secondster, being unable to move, he was pierced through all over by the countless scarlet blood strings.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    Nie Tian clearly saw that after those blood strings pierced into that man¡¯s body, they began to relentlessly drink his blood like bloodsucking leeches.

    His mighty body rapidly shriveled while the blood strings grew to be as thick as a finger.

    Meanwhile, Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others, who hadn¡¯t been attacked by the Blood sect experts, were being attacked by the scarlet blood strings. Squeaky cries escaped from their throats as they frantically shed at the blood strings with their spiritual tools.

    After a long time of resistance, they finally broke free from the strange movement of their blood, and could move freely again.

    Nie Tian had originally been standing quite far from Lai Yi, but now was calmly walking within the of scarlet blood strings as he quietly approached him.

    His eyes were fixed on his bracelet of holding which was now on Lai Yi¡¯s arm.

    The me Dragon Armor and the dragon bone in his hand were clearly a set. If he hadn¡¯t learned about the existence of the me Dragon Armor, he would have walked away. But, now that he knew that the me Dragon Armor was absolutely much more than an ordinary item, he couldn¡¯t suppress his desire to take it back.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor...¡±

    Staring at the bracelet of holding, he racked his brains to think of a method to regain the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor, me Dragon Armor, me Dragon Armor...¡±

    When he whispered its name in his heart while contemting, a faint aura of flesh and blood rippled out from within his body, due to some unknown reason.

    He was still dozens of meters away from Lai Yi, while the me Dragon Armor was still in the bracelet of holding. However, he suddenly had a feeling that he had established a mysterious connection with the me Dragon Armor.

    In the next moment, he noticed that the dragon bone that he had been gripping in his hand had suddenly grown iparably hot.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Lai Yi, who was fighting with a Blood sect expert, suddenly let out a maddened howl and started to violently shake his arm. The bracelet of holding on his wrist was now releasing terrifying mes.

    Terrified, he quickly tossed away the bracelet of holding that he had snatched from Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. Surprised by what had just happened, he passed through the of scarlet blood strings and picked up the bracelet of holding from the ground.

 Chapter 107: A Small Chance to Survive

    The bracelet of holding was still flickering with mes when itnded on the ground.

    It seemed that even Lai Yi, a cultivator at the Worldly Realm, had been unable to endure the heat of the mes released by the bracelet, and had no other choice but to temporarily throw it away in order to concentrate on his fight with the Blood sect expert.

    However, when Nie Tian reached out to grab it, the mes that had wreathed it suddenly went out.

    Without spending any effort, he picked up the bracelet and put it back on his wrist.

    Then he sent a strand of his consciousness into the bracelet and saw that everything was still inside the storage space, where he also found that traces of fire were being absorbed by the me Dragon Armor...

    Nie Tian immediately realized that the sudden changes that had urred to the bracelet, which had caused it to unleash zing mes, had actually been triggered by the me Dragon Armor.

    As for the reason why the me Dragon Armor had done such a thing, it was because he had been constantly calling its name in his heart, and that the dragon bone in his hand grew unbearably hot.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor, the Blood Core...¡± Nie Tian pondered for a while and suddenly eximed, ¡°The Blood Core is the key!¡±

    BOOM!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound echoed out from the sky. Everyone had been caught up in fierce battles and didn¡¯t pay attention to the changes, but rather continued fighting their respective opponents.

    Only Nie Tian raised his head to look at the sky after putting the bracelet of holding on his wrist.

    There, he saw an enormous gray figure, which seemed to have been formed by a swarm of countless evil ghosts, rising from the main gate of the Spiritual Treasure sect and charging towards the sky.

    It shot high up into the sky and immediately joined the woman who was sitting on the blood-colored lotus in attacking Fang Hui from the Treasure school.

    Standing on a giant bronze cauldron, Fang Hui¡¯s expression flicked upon seeing the enormous gray figure rise into the sky. Without any hesitation, he shouted out with a voice that everyone could hear, ¡°All disciples of the Spiritual school and Treasure school are no longer required to guard the valley! Do all you can to escape and return only when the sect regroups!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian¡¯s expression slightly flickered.

    He immediately realized that the enormous gray figure was definitely the Profound Realm expert from the Ghost sect!

    If it was only the woman from the Blood sect, Fang Hui felt that with his strength, the Spiritual Treasure sect would still have a hope to make it through the battle.

    However, the enormous gray figure soaring up into the sky made him realize that the strongest expert from the Ghost sect had also arrived.

    He knew very clearly that he had no chance of winning a fight against two Profound Realm experts. At the most, he could keep the two of them busy and prevent them from immediately starting a massacre.

    With the strongest experts from the Blood sect and the Ghost sect having arrived, it meant that the Ghost sect and the Blood sect had already yed their trump cards.

    There was no longer any possibility that the Spiritual Treasure sect could persist.

    In order to preserve the strength of the sect, he ordered all of the disciples from the Spiritual school and Treasure school to stop defending the valley and find an opportunity to escape instead.

    After hearing Fang Hui¡¯s order, many Qi warriors from the Spiritual school and Treasure school were secretly grateful and immediately changed their ns, no longer determined to die with the sect.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! ¡°

    ¡°The grand elder has spoken; no need to keep defending the sect! Let¡¯s get out first!¡±

    ¡°Retreat to the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect. They will definitelye to our aid once they receive the news.¡±

    ¡°As long as we can team up with the experts from the other three sects, we¡¯ll still have a chance to reim the valley!¡±

    ...

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Soon after Fang Hui gave the order, the numerous pirs of me that had been blocking the area between the stone peaks suddenly shot up into the sky, converging into the enormous bronze cauldron.

    Everyone, including the disciples of the Spiritual school and Treasure school and visiting guests, had noticed the changes that had urred in the valley and let out loud shouts.

    ¡°The valley has lost its protection! The Heaven Burning Earth me formation haspletely stopped working!¡±

    ¡°The grand elder has opened the gates for us!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    Nie Tian scanned his surroundings before his eyes suddenly lit up.

    There were three stone peaks surrounding the valley that the Spiritual Treasure sect was located in, and between them there were three enormous gaps.

    One of the gaps was the main gate to the valley, which was the only way to enter or leave the valley.

    The other two enormous gaps had previously beenpletely blocked by two zing walls formed by numerous me pirs. They served as gates of fire, separating the valley from the outside world.

    The advantage to having them in ce was that experts from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the valley from those two gaps.

    The disadvantage would be that disciples of the Spiritual school and Treasure school within the valley also wouldn¡¯t be able to evacuate via those two gaps.

    It was exactly because the zing gates had sealed up the nearest gaps that Nie Tian had to follow Pan Tao and try to reach the outside world through the tunnel in the stone peak.

    However, by this point, the me pirs that had formed the zing walls had been lifted up to the sky by Fang Hui¡¯s enormous bronze cauldron, making those two gaps thoroughfares that led out of the valley.

    Nie Tian noticed that after Fang Hui gave the permission to leave, many disciples from the Spiritual school and Treasure school rushed towards those two new exits.

    Now, they were very close to one of them.

    Liu Yan roared, ¡°Nie Tian! Lingzhu, Ye Gumo! Don¡¯t mind us! Just go!¡±

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± Pan Tao also shouted and took the initiative to charge towards the closest gap, noticing that currently none of the experts from the Ghost sect or the Blood sect had showed up near the gap.

    An Shiyi, An Ying, as well as Zheng Bin and Han Xin, also saw the opportunity to live, and after dodging the attacks of the scarlet blood strings, they made a run towards the opened gate of life.

    Nie Tian was never targeted by the scarlet blood strings, therefore, after hearing Liu Yan¡¯s urging, he only hesitated for a second before saying to Liu Yan, ¡°Take care of yourself, Uncle Liu!¡±

    With these words, he quickly followed An Shiyi, An Ying, and the others in dashing towards the gap.

    The experts from the Blood sect were bent on killing Lai Yi, Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and the other worthy enemies. Even though they were fully aware that Nie Tian and the others were trying to escape, they didn¡¯t care in the least bit.

    The way they saw it, the scarlet blood strings that had emerged from the ground would lock onto Nie Tian and his peers and keepunching relentless attacks on them wherever they went.

    They believed that considering the cultivation bases of Nie Tian and the others, even if they managed to temporarily leave the valley, the blood strings would still be able to catch up and kill them one after another.

    Moreover, they didn¡¯t have enough men in this region. Thus, they chose to ignore Nie Tian and his peers, and instead focused on their fight with Lai Yi, Liu Yan, and the other powerful ones.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    Earlier, when Lai Yi saw Nie Tian pick up the bracelet of holding that he had cast away, he was already fuming with rage. Now that he saw Nie Tian leaving, he immediately flew into a towering outrage. However, the expert from the Blood sect who had been fighting with him didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of letting him go.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Even more scarlet blood strings emerged from the ground, madly chasing after them.

    Unable to break free from the double attack of the annoying scarlet blood strings and the Blood sect expert, Lai Yi couldn¡¯t chase after Nie Tian. He could only curse him while madly drawing on his spiritual power.

    Even as he cursed, Nie Tian got further and further away.

    Pan Tao and An Shiyi, who had been running at the front, unceasingly urged An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and Nie Tian to keep up.

    ¡°This way!¡±

    ¡°Be quick!¡±

    Before long, they were the first ones to escape from the valley after Fang Hui had lifted the barrier.

    ¡°Follow me!¡± Pan Tao led the way for them.

    The group of people followed Pan Tao and sped away from the valley as fast as possible.

    Nie Tian asionally turned around to look back, and found that a number of red-garbed figures had gradually arrived around the gap that they had left from. Momentster, a few ck-garbed experts from the Ghost sect, wreathed in thick, ghost-like auras, also showed up as well.

    His heart sank, knowing that Liu Yan, Luo Xin, as well as the others who were still in the valley wouldn¡¯t have such an easy time passing through the gap like they did.

    While moving further and further away from the gap, Nie Tian could still hear the continuous sounds of conversation from behind.

    ¡°How many have escaped?¡±

    An ear-piercing voice echoed out from the gap behind them.

    ¡°A few juniors. Do we chase after them?¡±

    ¡°Juniors? No need for now. Block this path, and make sure those old guys won¡¯t leave the valley for all eternity!¡±

    He realized that those who hadn¡¯t been able to leave at the first possible moment would have to go through a bloody baptism if they wished to pass through.

    It would be impossible to know how many of them would manage to flee the valley and how many would die in there.

    All he could do was to follow Pan Tao and advance forward at full speed through the forest of uneven mountain peaks of the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    There was a forest of mountain peaks in the vast Scarlet me Mountain Range, with the Spiritual Treasure sect situated in between the three biggest ones. The moment they reached a rtively safe distance from the valley, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to scan the vicinity for experts from the Ghost sect or the Blood sect.

    A vigorous life force suddenly appeared in his mind, which... didn¡¯t seem to belong to a person from either the Ghost sect or the Blood sect.

    It seemed that the person was also madly running away from thend of the Spiritual Treasure sect, just like them.

    ¡°There¡¯s someone nearby.¡± Nie Tian suddenly said.

    Hearing his words, An Shiyi, who was in the forefront, also probed around with her psychic power.

    An Shiyi furrowed her delicate eyebrows. A loathing expression appeared on her charming face as she said, ¡°That¡¯s Fei Li.¡±

    ¡°Fei Li?¡± Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Sister An, how do you know that it¡¯s him?

    ¡°I can distinctly remember his disgusting aura!¡± An Shiyi clenched her teeth, suddenly remembering something. ¡°Nie Tian, I heard that Fei Li refused to sell the Spiritfount Pill to you because of me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said Nie Tian.

    An Shiyi called out with a soft voice, ¡°Let¡¯s go take it back!¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned. ¡°Snatch it from Fei Li?¡±

    An Shiyi snorted and said, ¡°Since his master, Gan Kang, decided to leave the Spiritual Treasure sect, whatever happens to the Spiritual Treasure sect in the future, his disciple Fei Li will definitely be implicated, unless he follows Gan Kang out of the Realm of me Heaven. But even if he wants to flee the realm, I¡¯ll make him cough up the Spiritfount Pill before he goes!¡±

    With these words, An Shiyi, who was advancing forward, suddenly changed her direction and charged towards that person.

    ¡°Before, Fei Li only dared to threaten me over and over again because he was backed by his lofty master Gan Kang. Without his master¡¯s protection, he wouldn¡¯t even stand a chance against me. Just watch, I¡¯ll definitely get the Spiritfount Pill for you!¡± An Shiyi sounded full of confidence.

 Chapter 108: Hunter

    Panicked, Fei Li was running for his life in a forest of ancient trees.

    When the catastrophe hit the Spiritual Treasure sect, he hadn¡¯t been in the valley. Instead, he had been instructed by his master Gan Kang to go and run some errands.

    Originally, he nned to return to the sect on the third day of the Treasure Convention, when the auction was scheduled to start.

    However, when he returned, he saw that the moon in the sky was reddened by blood from afar.

    Shortly thereafter, he heard the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sounds ofbating from the valley.

    Then, he saw the Heaven Burning Earth me formation that had been shielding the valley be torn apart, and grand elder Fang Hui rise into the sky on his enormous bronze cauldron.

    In that moment, he understood that his chances of survival would be slim if he dared to return to the mountain valley.

    Secretly d that he wasn¡¯t there when it happened, he decided to abandon the sect, and get as far away as possible from the valley.

    As for the life and death of his master Gan Kang, the Spiritual Treasure sect, as well as his martial brothers and sisters, he had already cast all of them out of his head.

    ¡°Fei Li, where are you going?¡± A fiery, beautiful woman suddenly emerged from behind a tree, coldly staring at him, her eyes full of ridicule and disdain.

    It was An Shiyi.

    An Shiyi, who was at thete Heaven stage, stood in front of Fei Li, blocking his way forward. A ming intent to fight could be seen in her charming eyes. A bunch of orange, cloud-like mes floated out from within her and wreathed around her curvy body.

    She took out a mysterious ribbon that was glittering with colorful light from her waist. With a swift waving motion, terrifying mes instantly shot out from the ribbon.

    Fire had been her cultivation attribute since a very young age. Although An Shiyi had been cultivating with the Spiritual school, she had often dreamed of winning the favor of equipment forging masters of the Treasure school, and bing a powerful equipment forger some day.

    She had once foolishly believed that Gan Kang had valued her for her talent. It wasn¡¯t until recently that she came to the realization that the only thing that he saw in her was her appearance, not her talent in equipment forging and refining.

    Fei Li¡¯s expression slightly flickered. ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    He looked around suspiciously, unsure of why An Shiyi had suddenly appeared.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    It was also at that moment that Nie Tian, Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others caught up and arrived beside An Shiyi.

    Fei Li grew even more astonished and confused. ¡°How did you all get out?¡±

    ¡°Cut the crap!¡± An Shiyi¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t pleasant at all. She extended her hand towards Fei Yi and with a firm tone, she said, ¡°Hand over the Spiritfount Pill, then you are free to go. I won¡¯t stop you. If you refuse, then don¡¯t me me for not being polite.¡±

    ¡°An Shiyi! You dare to demand the Spiritfount Pill from me?!¡± Fei Li burst into a ming rage. Obviously, he didn¡¯t have a fully understanding of the situation. ¡°Your n is only a subordinate n of the Spiritual Treasure sect! You dare to run away when the sect is in danger? Even your n won¡¯t be able to protect you from the punishment! My master is the fifth highest ranked equipment forging expert in the Treasure school. Where did you get the nerve to demand the Spiritfount Pill from me?¡±

    ¡°If Gan Kang wasn¡¯t your master, I would¡¯ve long since beaten you until every single one of your teeth fell out!¡± Old grudges and new enmities against him surged forth, filling An Shiyi¡¯s heart. She couldn¡¯t waste another second arguing with him. She immediately made a move.

    The mysterious ribbon in her hands was like a swaying rainbow of mes that instantly whipped towards Fei Li.

    WHOOKSH!

    Fei Li hadn¡¯t remained on guard, so the ribbon violently whipped him on his skinny cheek.

    Not only was half of his face instantly swollen, it was even badly burned.

    Fei Li covered his cheek as he screeched. ¡°Bitch! You dare to attack me?!¡± He had never thought that An Shiyi, who had always beenpromising, would actually make such a violent move against him.

    Pan Tao furrowed his brows. Not wishing to waste any more time on Fei Li, he exined, ¡°Elder Gan Kang hase to an agreement with several foreigners from the Realm of Dark Underworld. He¡¯s decided to leave the Spiritual Treasure sect and even the Realm of me Heaven, and follow those foreigners to the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    ¡°He¡¯s gone, and so is your backer in the Spiritual Treasure sect. As his disciple, you won¡¯t be able to talk your way out of your responsibilities after your master defects.

    ¡°Hand over the Spiritfount Pill, and run as far as you can. I¡¯d say go find your master and follow him to the Realm of Dark Underworld.¡±

    Pan Tao knew that An Shiyi¡¯s hate towards Fei Li was extremely deep, and also knew that An Shiyi was actually quite fierce, in distinct contrast to her gentle appearance.

    Now that she had the chance to retaliate, she would naturally take the opportunity to make Fei Li suffer, so much so that she might even inflict serious damage on him.

    Although Fei Li wasn¡¯t much of a fighter, he was also at Heaven stage. Once the two got into a battle, it would definitely waste everyone¡¯s time.

    The reason why Pan Tao exined the situation to him was to let him have a clear understanding of the situation he was in and not fight An Shiyi to the death.

    Fei Li was bbergasted. His eyes flickered, as he seemed to have believed them. ¡°My master... is going to the Realm of Dark Underworld? Here, take the Spiritfount Pill.¡±

    Fei Li was surprisingly decisive. As soon as he understood the situation, he took out the case containing the Spiritfount Pill from his bracelet of holding and threw it towards Pan Tao without the slightest hesitation.

    Pan Tao, who caught the case, lifted its cover and took a sniff, before tossing it to An Shiyi.

    An Shiyi took a close look at it, and gently nodded. ¡°It is the Spiritfount Pill.¡±

    Upon hearing her confirmation, Nie Tian¡¯s heart was immediately filled with joy.

    The Spiritfount Pill was extremely rare in the Realm of me Heaven. In his opinion, this pill, which could cure the injury that had troubled his grandfather for many years, was even more precious than the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Can I go now?¡± Fei Li asked.

    An Shiyi waved her hand. ¡°Go, get out of here! Now that you don¡¯t have Gan Kang to back you, don¡¯t let me see you again in the Realm of me Heaven. If I do...¡±

    Without waiting for her to finish speaking, Fei Li coldly snorted before turning and leaving.

    ¡°Here, your Spiritfount Pill.¡± An Shiyi threw it over to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian caught the case, and didn¡¯t even cast a nce at it, but went ahead and stored it in his bracelet of holding. Smiling, he said, ¡°Thanks, sister.¡±

    With a sweet smile, An Shiyi said, ¡°I finally helped you fulfill a wish.¡±

    She had always been apologetic towards Nie Tian, knowing that because of her, he had offended Gan Kang. Otherwise, the Spiritfount Pill would¡¯ve already been in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Not long ago, she and her sister An Ying had given up all hope and waited for death in that courtyard. However, it was also Nie Tian who hade to their rescue. He was even willing topromise his own chance of survival, just so that she and her sister could leave together with them.

    She also knew that the reason why Wu Xing had been willing to speak out and take on the sisters as his responsibility, was that he had given face to Nie Tian, not wishing Nie Tian to waste his time persuading them.

    It was also because of her that Gan Kang had blocked up the stone tunnel and denied entrance for everyone, preventing them from escaping at the first possible moment.

    She knew that she owed Nie Tian too much, and thus was always on the lookout for opportunities to repay him.

    Now that she had helped him obtain the Spiritfount Pill, which should have been his from the start, she finally felt a bit relieved and the smile on her face became lighter and brighter.

    ¡°Hey, we aren¡¯t safe yet.¡± Pan Tao smiled bitterly. ¡°Whatever you need to say, can you say it when we are far away from the valley and out of the range of the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s hunting?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± An Shiyi pursed her mouth into a smile.

    ¡°Okay, lead the way please,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ...

    At the exit where Nie Tian and the others had escaped from, many experts from the Blood sect were fighting fiercely with people from the Spiritual school, Treasure school, as well as Wu Xing and Dowager Weng.

    All of a sudden, Yu Tong from the Blood sect ran out of the center of the valley and arrived in front of them.

    ¡°Martial Uncle Yang Yuan, did you see some Cloudsoaring sect juniors leave?¡± she inquired the one-armed expert from the Blood sect who was currently fighting with Wu Xing.

    Yang Yuan answered without thinking, ¡°Oh, those juniors were pretty lucky. They were the first ones to escape through here.¡±

    Yu Tong, who was wearing a blood-red long dress, hurriedly asked, ¡°Do you know who they were? What cultivation stage were they at?¡±

    The expert from the Blood sect, who had previously fought with Lai Yi, was about to enter the stone cave to pursue the escaping Gan Kang and Lai Yi. After hearing Yu Tong¡¯s words, he paused and said, ¡°The leader was that An Shiyi from the Spiritual school, at thete Heaven stage. The others were all juniors who are only at the early Lesser Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Feng, can youe with me?¡± Yu Tong pleaded.

    An expert from the Blood sect who had been following her nodded and sneered. ¡°What I love the most is catching the mice that think that they¡¯ve escaped.¡±

    A bloody light shed across in Yu Tong¡¯s eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve asked around and confirmed that the disciple that entric Wu has just taken in also came here, and he should be among those juniors!¡±

    Yang Yuan was surprised. ¡°The same Nie Tian that you¡¯ve been talking about for the past half year?¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± A heaven-shaking killing intent could be heard from Yu Tong¡¯s words.

    Yang Yuan nodded and turned to the Blood sect expert behind Yu Tong. ¡°Feng Luo, that Nie Tian kid is Little Tong¡¯s mental devil which has been dragging her cultivation down. Go help her clear her mind.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Feng Luo let out a cunningugh.

    The experts from the Blood sect knew that Yu Tong had been severely injured and was unconscious when she returned from the Green Illusion dimension. She had spent a long time in recovery.

    After recovering, Yu Tong had practiced even harder, and was now stronger than ever.

    However, it seemed that she couldn¡¯t forget about a youngster called Nie Tian, and asked everywhere for his whereabouts. It wasn¡¯t until hearing that he had been epted as a disciple to Wu Ji, did she give up on the idea of going to ck Cloud City and killing Nie Tian.

    They could all see that, if Nie Tian didn¡¯t die, he would eventually be a mental barrier on Yu Tong¡¯s cultivation path. Therefore, they all supported her decision to kill him here.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Uncle Feng!¡± Yu Tong and Feng Luo ran past the people who were fighting at the exit, and bolted after Nie Tian and the others.

 Chapter 109: Nie Tians Unruliness

    Right after Yu Tong and Feng Luo left, an old woman with a wrinkled face slowly approached, supporting herself with a serpent staff. ¡°Where is Little Tong?¡±

    Upon seeing her, numerous experts from the Blood sect all greeted her with a humble attitude, one after another. ¡°Grandma Shen.¡±

    Her name was Shen Xiu, and her status in the Blood sect was only second to the sectmaster. She was also Yu Tong¡¯s master.

    The scarlet blood strings that had emerged from underground were from the Earth Web spell that she had cast. The reason why she had hurried to this ce was that she was worried that Yu Tong would act rashly.

    Yang Yuan answered without thinking, ¡°Yu Tong went after the juniors from the Cloudsoaring sect. Grandma Shen, it seems that the Earth Web... wasn¡¯t fully formed, was it?¡±

    Considering Shen Xiu¡¯s cultivation base, if the Earth Web had beenpletely formed, every Qi warrior in the valley would experience disorder in their blood for at least a quarter of an hour.

    Given so much time, the experts from Blood sects could have started a massacre and gained an overwhelming advantage.

    However, Yang Yuan had noticed that the scarlet blood strings that emerged from the ground hadn¡¯t actually bound their opponents down for very long. Furthermore, they failed to extend outside of the valley to pursue Nie Tian and his group who had escaped.

    ¡°There is ming magma and earth me running deep below the ground of the Scarlet me Mountain Range, so down there the activities of the Earth Web are quite limited.¡± With a brief frown, Shen Xiu continued, ¡°What¡¯s more, the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation seems to have reached deeply into the ground. There were evenworks of it within the boiling magma.

    ¡°Never underestimate their grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation. From what I see, this enormous spell doesn¡¯t only cover the valley where the Spiritual Treasure sect resides.

    ¡°The whole Scarlet me Mountain Range, including the extinct volcanoes on its perimeter, seems to also be within its coverage.

    ¡°As soon as my Earth Web reached deep towards the earth¡¯s core, it was immediately influenced by thework of the grand formation and couldn¡¯t fully condense.¡±

    With these words, Shen Xiu suddenly looked down beneath her feet and said, ¡°For some reason, I have a feeling that there is something odd deep below the ground of the Scarlet me Mountain Range. I can¡¯t say for sure what it is, but I keep having the feeling that the spell formation doesn¡¯t just exist to protect the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°I could also sense an aura... of suppression and sealing from thework of the mes.¡±

    Before she could finish her words, the master of the Spiritual school, Hou Zhengchen, suddenly appeared in the distance and dashed towards her. ¡°Shen Xiu!¡±

    There seemed to be a trace of anxiety and worry in Hou Zhengchen¡¯s eyes. He seemed... to not want Shen Xiu to say too much.

    The serpent staff in Shen Xiu¡¯s hands abruptly gave off an immense amount of bright, bloody light rays as she charged towards Hou Zhengchen.

    ...

    Below a short, sparsely-vegetated mountain in the Scarlet me Mountain Range...

    ¡°We should have a rest.¡± Pan Tao stopped. As the night gradually lifted, he looked at the bright and clear morning sky and said, ¡°We¡¯ve spent the entire night marching at full speed. Plus, everyone spent arge amount of spiritual power earlier dealing with the scarlet blood strings that emerged from the ground. If we keep hastening on blindly and don¡¯t stop to recover strength, we won¡¯t be able to deal with any unexpected crises that pop up.¡±

    Nie Tian subconsciously unleashed his psychic awareness to scan his surroundings. Luckily, he didn¡¯t detect any sign of life fluctuations.

    He nodded and agreed, ¡°He¡¯s right, we do need some rest.¡±

    He nced around and saw lots of caves of unequal sizes on the side of the sparsely vegetated mountain, which seemed dark and deep, their insides hard to see clearly.

    An Shiyi noticed his sweeping nce, and exined to him in a soft voice, ¡°We are still within the Scarlet me Mountain Range. There are arge number of extinct volcanoes in this area. It¡¯s said that there are still many high-ranked fire-attribute spirit stones hidden deep under them.

    ¡°Disciples from the Spiritual Treasure sect would often try out their luck in these extinct volcanoes and see if they could find some high-ranked fire-attribute spirit stones.

    ¡°That¡¯s also why they drilled open arge number of caves inside these mountains.

    ¡°Every single cave is connected to the belly of the mountain peak or even to the deepest part of the earth. Those people all dreamed of getting lucky and obtaining some high-ranked fire-attribute spirit stones. No matter whether they used them to refine spiritual tools or advance their own cultivation, they¡¯ll benefit a great deal from them.¡±

    Pan Tao added, ¡°Within the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range, the only active volcanoes that can still channel raging mes from the earth¡¯s core are the three volcanoes surrounding the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s valley. The seniors in the sect have been using the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation to restrain the three of them from erupting, as well as to take advantage of the raging mes from the earth¡¯s core to refine spiritual tools.

    ¡°After many explorations, the other volcanoes are determined to have long since grown inactive. However every one of them used to be active and violent ten thousand years ago.

    ¡°As long asva had once filled the belly of a mountain peak, its interior part might possibly produce fire-attributed spiritual materials. The majority of the spiritual materials have long since been mined, leaving behind only a very little portion in the deepest parts. It would require a lot of work as well as good luck in order for one to obtain some of the remaining pieces.¡±

    Pan Tao led everyone into a cave for a short rest while exining.

    An Shiyi raised her voice and said, ¡°We can rest here for two hours at most. In two hours, no matter how much strength we¡¯ve recovered, we¡¯ll have to head out again.¡±

    With Liu Yan, Shi Yi, and Luo Xin gone, she was the person with the highest cultivation base among everyone.

    Naturally, she became the leader of the group of juniors.

    Soon, everyone had picked a cave and hidden themselves within, using spirit stones to recover their strength.

    The caves were very close to each other. So long as one person spoke, others would be able to hear them.

    The group, bent on leaving the Scarlet me Mountain Range as soon as possible, wasn¡¯t in the mood to explore the seemingly bottomless caves. The fire-attributed spiritual materials that could possibly still be remaining in the caves didn¡¯t interest them in the slightest. Instead, all of them concentrated on regaining strength.

    Nie Tian felt the same.

    After finding a cave and hiding himself within, he took out a spirit stone and was about to restore the spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    Just as he was about to operate the Qi Refining Incantation, his expression suddenly flickered, as an idea struck him. Instantly, he took out the dragon bone and the me Dragon Armor out of his bracelet of holding and ced them on the ground next to him.

    Only until then did he calm himself and begin to absorb energy from the spirit stone.

    In the middle of practicing, he once again felt the extreme heat that the dragon bone had emanated. At the same time, he also noticed the energy within his flesh and blood secretly flowing into the me Dragon Armor.

    The iparably heavy me Dragon Armor gradually started to radiate a dark-red luster, as if it were being nourished by his flesh power.

    After a while, he realized that the animal bone was bing increasingly hot, and also started to give off a bright fiery light.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Slightly surprised, he sent out a thread of his psychic power to examine it, and immediately found that there were numerous fiery threads wriggling and twisting inside the dragon bone, gathering towards the blood drop in the center.

    The drop of blood had shrunk significantly because it had previously exhausted a huge amount of energy teleporting him in and out of the mysteriousnd.

    However, at that moment, as the fiery threads swam inside the animal bone, he could keenly feel a strange gravitational force gradually generating.

    Before long, he sensed that a growing number of fiery threads were filling up the inside of his cave.

    He closed his eyes to trace the origin of the fiery threads with his psychic awareness. He noticed that they appeared to being from the dark stone tunnel behind him, which seemed to be leading to the deepest part of the short mountain.

    As an increasinglyrge amount of fiery threads continuously gathered towards the mouth of the cave, and gradually flowed into the animal bone, he noticed that the blood drop within the dragon bone was growing.

    After observing for a while, Nie Tian snapped open his eyes, and suddenly remembered the strange incident that had urred in Nie n mine. ¡°Could it be that...¡±

    Back when he was in the Nie n mine, he had ced the dragon bone on top of a mecloud gem, and it surprisingly drained all of the me power of everyst mecloud gem in the entire mine.

    The fiery threads that were converging to this ce from deep part of the stone tunnel clearly also contained abundant me power.

    Furthermore, the me power seemed to be even purer.

    CLANG!

    Just as he was astonished by his new findings, the dragon bone suddenly flew up and embedded itself into the perfectly matching hole on the chest of the me Dragon Armor.

    All of a sudden, the me Dragon Armor released surging mes, as if it had suddenly transformed into a burning sun, and pulsed with frightening me fluctuations.

    Before Nie Tian could react, the me Dragon Armor rose up by itself and flew towards the depths of the gloomy and endless stone tunnel.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes wide. He didn¡¯t understand what had just happened, and could only stand up and quickly yell to inform An Shiyi, who was in the cave next to his, ¡°I have to take care of some urgent matter! When the timees, you guys don¡¯t have to wait for me, just leave!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! What the hell are you doing?¡± An Shiyi shouted.

    Other members of the group, who were still recovering, were also awakened. One after another they opened their eyes and recovered from their practicing state.

    Five secondster, everyone gathered in Nie Tian¡¯s cave, only to find that he was already gone.

    Nie Tian¡¯s distant voice echoed out from the deep part of the stone tunnel. ¡°I¡¯m serious! Forget about me! You guys just leave!¡±

    Zheng Bin and Han Xin, who were from the ck Mist Pce, both had unpleasant expressions on their faces while looking into the gloomy and bottomless stone tunnel.

    Han Xin couldn¡¯t hold it down in any longer andined, ¡°This guy, he always manages to get in all sorts of trouble! Throughout our whole journey, he has been wasting everyone¡¯s time! If not for him, perhaps we would have already passed through the cave that was guarded by Gan Kang and left the Spiritual Treasure sect, even before the ming gates were lifted.

    ¡°If not for him, perhaps Dowager Weng wouldn¡¯t have been trapped in such a dangerous situation!¡±

    Han Xin had repressed her emotions for a long time. Now that she saw Nie Tian causing trouble again at a crucial moment, she finally decided to say angrily, ¡°Whoever wants to wait for him, be my guest. I sure as hell won¡¯t stay here and wait for his return!¡±

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression was also grim. ¡°No matter how much he desires those fire-attributed spirit stones, he shouldn¡¯t try out his luck at such a crucial moment. Much less when the fire-attributed spirit stones here were probably long since mined by disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect. Even if there are any left behind somewhere, he won¡¯t be able to find them any time soon.¡±

    Aside from trying to find fire-attributed spirit stones, he couldn¡¯t think of any other reason that would make Nie Tian leave the group so determinedly.

    He became deeply disappointed in Nie Tian and he didn¡¯t want to waste any more of his own time. ¡°Sorry everyone, but we have to leave now.¡± With these words, both he and Han Xin took the initiative and left the group. They rushed out of the cave and headed in the direction of the Mystic Mist sect.

    Only the An sisters, Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and Ye Gumo were left standing in the cave, staring nkly at each other.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay and wait for him.¡± An Shiyi sat down on the ground and with a calm tone, she said, ¡°His unruliness is the reason that my sister and I are still alive. If it weren¡¯t for his unruliness, elder Wu Xing would have ignored us, and we probably have already been murdered by the Blood sect experts. Therefore, no matter how long it takes, we¡¯ll wait.¡±

    An Ying also sat down without saying a word.

    Pan Tao gave a bitter smile as he shook his head and also sat down silently.

    Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo exchanged a nce. She said, ¡°That little punk is our little martial uncle, so ording to the seniority in the n, we have to listen to him.¡±

    Inwardly, Jiang Lingzhu hated Nie Tian to the point where she wanted to grit her teeth. But instead of demanding to leave, she chose to sit down and wait, while cursing him in a low voice. Each and every sentence she uttered was to grumble about Nie Tian¡¯s recklessness, bad timing, and deadly greed.

    ¡°Aihh...¡± Ye Gumo let out a deep sigh as he too could only sit down and wait with the others.

 Chapter 110: Crystal Net at Earths Core

    Nie Tian headed deeper and deeper into the dark and endless tunnel as he pursued the sparks released by the me Dragon Armor.

    There had always been some kind of link between him and the dragon bone that was now embedded within the armor, so he didn¡¯t need to search for it with his psychic awareness.

    Even without the sparks given off by the me Dragon Armor, he would have still been able to urately locate its position just by relying on the subtle interactions between the dragon bone and himself.

    The stone tunnel built by the equipment forgers of the Spiritual Treasure sect seemed unfathomable. Nie Tian continued his way downwards, not knowing how much distance he had covered. Suddenly, he came to a stop.

    He didn¡¯t stop because he was tired, but rather because the me Dragon Armor had reached the end of the tunnel.

    The end of the tunnel was so narrow that only two people could stand shoulder to shoulder in it, and at the very end, there was evidence of mining here and there.

    The me Dragon Armor, together with the dragon bone in it, released raging mes while fiercely striking the stones at the end of the tunnel.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The solid stone wall at the end immediately exploded into tiny bits. It was as if the me Dragon Armor had turned into a sharp drill, unceasingly boring its way downwards.

    Nie Tian stared nkly at the me Dragon Armor as it forcefully opened up a new path using such a method.

    He was clueless about what was happening. However, he was aware that he would put himself in great danger if he were to spend too much time down there without doing anything.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor, Blood Core...¡± He called out the words in his heart over and over, hoping that the me Dragon armor would hear his voice and return to his bracelet of holding like it had before.

    He was fully aware that other people might be unwilling to wait for him. In fact, they might have already left without him. But An Shiyi would very likely stay and wait for him because of the gratitude she held towards him.

    Staying there for too long would make it really easy for experts from both the Blood sect and Ghost sect to detect their aura, and possibly put An Shiyi in a dangerous situation.

    He only hoped that the me Dragon Armor would respond to his cries, stop its exploration towards the earth core, and return to the surface with him as soon as possible.

    Unfortunately, it appeared that neither did the me Dragon Armor nor the Blood Core hear his cries. They seemed to be still drilling with all their might towards the depths of the earth.

    He felt helpless. He was fully aware that staying any longer would further endanger him, but he couldn¡¯t bear to abandon the me Dragon Armor. Therefore, he could only follow it deeper and deeper.

    CRUNCH!

    A huge amount of crushed rock was dug up by the me Dragon Armor, causing a blockage further back in the stone tunnel.

    Nie Tian would swiftly dodge the flying rocks, making his way forward before the stone tunnel was blocked. He kept a few meters away from the me Dragon Armor while proceeding downwards.

    The miraculous me Dragon Armor seemed to have gone crazy for unknown reasons, breaking out with astonishing power and madly drilling towards the earth core like a sharp awl.

    Trembling with fear, Nie Tian followed along. The further he felt he was from the surface, the more anxious he became.

    BOOM!

    After an unknown period of time, a sh could be heard as a huge stone exploded upon the strike by the me Dragon Armor, leaving a huge open space.

    The me Dragon Armor remained unmoving there, as if it were hesitating.

    Nie Tian noticed that strange gurgling sounds, coupled with a red mist, wereing out from under it.

    He could smell sulfur in air.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He slowly drew closer and observed with rapt attention. His expression suddenly flickered.

    He saw zing magma filling the bottom of the huge hole, which flowed and had enormous, ming bubbles emerging out of it, releasing a red mist.

    Nie Tian stood there aghast. ¡°Is that magma from the earth core? But, shouldn¡¯t this be an extinct volcano?¡±

    ording to Pan Tao, long, long ago, the Scarlet me Mountain Range had once been covered with numerousva-spurting volcanoes. But, as times changed, the only remaining active volcanoes on the Scarlet me Mountain Range became the three surrounding the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Furthermore, those three had been controlled by the Heaven Burning Earth me formation, and thus would never erupt zing earth mes.

    The raging magma at the earth¡¯s core below the three volcanoes had been channeled by the spell formation, flowing into the equipment forging caves and facilitating the equipment forging process.

    Whenever the Spiritual Treasure sect was hit by cmity, the defense of the grand formation would be activated; fierce magma would be drawn out from the earth core and turned into the source of energy, propelling the entire formation.

    Apart from the three of them, the rest of the peaks of the Scarlet me Mountain Range were all extinct volcanoes that hadn¡¯t erupted for countless years.

    The earth me beneath them had long since disappeared, not leaving a trace.

    However, with the continuous digging of the me Dragon Armor, deep beneath the surface of the small volcano that had been dered extinct by Pan Tao, he actually saw fiercely burning magma flowing!

    He suddenly came to a realization. ¡°Has the me Dragon Armore for the magma?¡±

    The Blood Core required a huge amount of me power in order to condense the drop of blood, and the formation of it would lead to a good deal of usage.

    The Blood Core had absorbed everyst bit of the me power contained in the mecloud gems in the Nie n to condense that drop of blood.

    The drop of blood seemed to have consumed a huge amount of energy, and had shrunk several-fold after teleporting him in and out of the mysteriousnd.

    Now, the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core seemed to be after a more intense and surging me energy. The fierce magma flowing at the earth¡¯s core seemed to be exactly what the me Dragon Armor needed.

    However, the me Dragon Armor had obviously pierced its way throughyers uponyers of the thick stones to reach this ce. Why did it now seem somewhat hesitant?

    While he was frowning in confusion, he suddenly saw the me Dragon Armor plummet towards the huge, magma-filled hole while emanating heaven-shaking mes.

    At that moment, an unusual change suddenly urred!

    The boiling magma seemed hot enough to instantly turn any living creature into a pile of blood. Within the thinyer of space above it, numerous bright, glittering ribbons suddenly emerged.

    They looked as if they were formed as a result of mixing jades and crystals, but were at the same time, long and soft like silk.

    The countless crystal-like ribbons, that reflected various colors, interweaved with each other, and like arge, elegant, covered the surface of the magma.

    At first nce, Nie Tian noticed that the crystal-like ribbons were like veins, with numerous exquisite magical symbols running along in them.

    The magical symbols each had a different color and shape. Some looked like tree leaves, some looked like stars, while some looked like wiggling, ferocious beasts. Many of them looked quite bizarre.

    Overwhelmed, Nie Tian¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°These are the ancient magical symbols that equipment forgers of ancient times used to channel the power of heaven and earth!¡±

    Recently, he had learned quite a few things regarding ancient Qi warriors from Wu Ji. He had also obtained a brief understanding of those profound, ancient magical symbols, and he was still learning.

    Evidently, the delicate and beautiful magical symbols flowing within those crystal-like ribbons were the ancient magical symbols that contained a mysterious power capable of connecting heaven and earth and reforming mountains and rivers.

    Only at that moment did he realize that the ribbons had been there all along. It was just that they had been so well hidden that they were hard to find.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, ring light shot out from the magical symbols.

    An irresistible surge of power burst forth from the mesh of ribbons, charging directly towards the me Dragon Armor.

    In the middle of its dive toward the magma, the me Dragon Armor was pushed back by the invisible force. It fell onto a piece of rock next to Nie Tian¡¯s feet.

    After its attempt had been denied by those crystal-like ribbons, the me Dragon Armor seemed less radiant.

    ¡°It seemed that they are stopping the me Dragon Armor from diving into the magma. It also seemed that they are sealing and holding down the boiling magma, preventing it from rushing out from the earth¡¯s core and spouting madly.¡± Nie Tian went nk for a while, his wide eyes full of amazement. He wondered why those densely inteced ribbons existed at the heart of the earth.

    WHOOSH!

    While Nie Tian was contemting, the me Dragon Armor once again flew out. It plummeted straight down towards the magma filling the bottom of the huge hole.

    Just likest time, the numerous, elegant, ancient magical symbols within the crystal-like ribbons suddenly lit up.

    In the next second, Nie Tian saw the me Dragon Armor once again pushed back by an enormous force, bouncing back.

    By this point, Nie Tian was convinced that the reason why the me Dragon Armor refused to return to his bracelet of holding and insisting on piercing into the earth core was to dive into the ming magma.

    However, unfortunately, the ribbons covering the magma seemed to be preventing any objects or living creatures from entering.

    Not only that, it was also stopping the boiling, violent magma from rushing out of the earth¡¯s core and making this extinct volcano zing and rampant again.

    Secondster, the me Dragon Armor once again made an attempt under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze.

    However, the result was the same.

    After three failed attempts, the ming light released by the me Dragon Armor gradually turned dim.

    It finally calmed and stopped making moves. Nevertheless, it still ignored Nie Tian¡¯s urgings and insisted on staying outside his bracelet.

    It seemed to be reluctant to give up, and waiting for something.

    Time slipped away little by little. Nie Tian suddenly noticed that the fiery mist, that had boiled out from the magma, was flowing into the Blood Core on the chest te of the me Dragon Armor.

    The mist rose from the magma in the earth¡¯s core, so it also possessed faint me power.

    After three fruitless attempts, the me Dragon Armor seemed to have exhausted its power, and it was now storing up energy using the faint, fiery mist, preparing for its next attempt.

    Deep down, Nie Tian felt extremely anxious. He wanted to leave that bloody ce as soon as possible, and get out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    However, the me Dragon Armor was still waiting. He couldn¡¯t bear to abandon the me Dragon Armor, so he had no choice but to wait.

    Until that moment, he was gradually convinced that me Dragon Armor, in itsplete form was a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool!

    Only Spirit Channeling spiritual tools would be capable of responding to the cry of his soul, establishing a mysterious spiritual connection with him, breaking away from his control, and moving about willfully.

    It was only when the spirit tool had developed its own independent will and intelligence that it would be able tomunicate with one¡¯s spirit, and thus be called a Spirit Channeling spiritual tool.

    ording to what his master Wu Ji had told him, let alone the Realm of me Heaven, even in the whole Land of Falling Stars, Spirit Channeling spiritual tools would still be as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns.

    Facing such a rare treasure, he would even put his life in danger before letting it go.

    Therefore he decided to wait till the point the me Dragon Armor gave up, and then immediately take it and get as far away from that ce as possible.

    A period of time had passed, and he was still staring nkly at the magma beneath therge hole. Suddenly, he saw the magma begin to boil more and more violently.

    This time, the me Dragon Armor showed no sign of movement. However, the ancient magical symbols within the numerous crystal-like ribbons unexpectedly became dazzling and brilliant.

    Eyes wide and filled with amazement, Nie Tian looked down at them. Suddenly, he saw that there seemed to be a vague but huge shadow moving about in the zing magma.

    Naturally, he released his psychic awareness to sense it.

    FIZZ!

    However, as soon as the strands of his psychic awareness approached the miraculous crystal-like ribbons, they were vaporized, not leaving a trace.

    ¡°ROOOOOOAR!¡±

    At that very moment, a heaven-shaking beast roar echoed out from the blurry shadow in the magma.

    BOOM!

    It caught Nie Tian off guard. He immediately experienced a mind-splitting headache, while wisps of blood flowed out from his nostrils and the corner of his mouth.

 Chapter 111: Earth Flame Beast!

    The roar of the fierce beast from the earth¡¯s core shook Nie Tian to the point that he spat out blood, while his head rumbled continuously.

    Terror started to appear in his eyes. Subconsciously, he took a few steps back, moving slightly further away from the huge hole. He stood there bbergasted.

    With merely one roar, it managed to cause slight damage to his physical body, even though he considered himself to be stronger than average. This had put a bit of fear in him.

    He couldn¡¯t imagine just how strong the blurry fierce beast was, which moved about under the magma.

    He also noticed that when the fierce beast vaguely showed itself moments ago, the ancient magical symbols that flowed within the crystal-like ribbons, suddenly became dazzling and bright.

    He remembered clearly that during the three times when the me Dragon Armor had attempted to dive into the magma, only a small part of the magical symbols within the ribbons had lit up.

    He suddenly came to a realization that the real purpose of the ribbons was to stop the fierce beast from escaping and rushing out from the earth core.

    ROOOOAR!

    Once again, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar burst out from the boiling magma within the earth¡¯s core. This time, Nie Tian, who had prepared in advance, circted his spiritual energy and tightly shielded his internal organs and eardrums. Only in that way did he manage to resist the damage.

    He saw that within the magma in the huge hole, a giant blurry figure with three long tails seemed to have swam by.

    ¡°It lives in the earth¡¯s core magma, and it has three tails!¡±

    He tried his best to calm himself and recall the formidable spiritual beasts that his master had imparted to him. Suddenly, he had an epiphany.

    ¡°Earth me Beast! It¡¯s an Earth me Beast!¡±

    Wu Ji had once told him that there was a unique kind of spiritual beast that resided in the middle of the magma of the earth¡¯s core, and was therefore known as the Earth me Beast.

    They were fire-attributed spiritual beasts that were by nature extremely vicious and violent. It was said that they possessed the bloodline of me Qilins.

    Their growth, cultivation, and advancements all greatly relied on the magma in the earth¡¯s core.

    Once they had found a suitable magmake in the earth¡¯s core, they would make it its habitat and spontaneously gather me power from the surrounding areas, and merge it into theke.

    Whatever ce Earth me Beasts inhabited, even if it were once damp and rainy, with their arrival, the ce would slowly be hot and dry, with the formation of volcanoes that frequently erupted.

    As long as they lived there, the me energy nearby would be absorbed by them and slowly flow into the magmake in the earth¡¯s core where they resided.

    Over a long period of time, the mountains within their habitat would turn into volcanoes one after another, and as they cultivated and condensed more me power, the volcanoes would be more active and erupt more frequently.

    ¡°Can it be that... this Earth me Beast has made the Scarlet me Mountain Range what it is now?¡±

    Looking at the numerous crystal-like ribbons, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered. Suddenly, he came to a realization that the most powerful experts of the Spiritual Treasure sect must have been aware of the existence of the Earth me Beast for a long time.

    Otherwise, the crystal-like ribbons wouldn¡¯t have extended so far that they covered the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    He assumed that a founding expert of the Spiritual Treasure sect must have only built their sect in the Scarlet me Mountain Range after discovering the Earth me Beast underneath it.

    As long as the Earth me Beast was there, the magmake deep within the earth¡¯s core would forever gather me energy, causing the three volcanoes to never go extinct.

    Qi warriors of the Spiritual school, who cultivated with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and equipment forgers of the Treasure school, who refined spiritual tools, were mostly reliant on the zing me energy.

    The existence of the Earth me Beast had caused the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth shrouding the Spiritual Treasure sect to carry rich me power.

    The fierce me from the earth¡¯s core could be drawn out for many uses. Some of it would be used to form the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation, while some would flow into the caves to allow the equipment forgers of the Treasure school to refine spiritual tools.

    However, the me power at earth¡¯s core wasn¡¯t infinite. Normally, the me power on thisnd would have beenpletely used up after hundreds of years of consumption by the numerous Spiritual Treasure sect disciples.

    But the Earth me Beast could change that!

    It could unceasingly draw me power from the vicinity of the Scarlet me Mountain Range and channel it into the magmake.

    Its existence would ensure that the Spiritual Treasure sect thrived among the Scarlet me Mountain Range, with an infinite supply of me energy to be used for their cultivation and equipment forging.

    ROOOOAR!

    While Nie Tian was pondering such matters, the Earth me Beast within the magma once again let out mad roars. It seemed to be attempting to break away from the restriction of the crystal-like ribbons and burst forth from the magmake in the earth¡¯s core.

    ¡°It must have also noticed the damage to the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation and want to seize the opportunity to get out. That¡¯s probably the reason why it¡¯s so violent and restless.¡±

    Shortly after everything had started, the dome of the grand spell formation had been torn open. Later on, seeing the losing momentum couldn¡¯t be reversed, Fang Hui deactivated the defense to give the mass disciples a chance to live.

    Fang Hui¡¯s decision hadpromised the formation, which gave the Earth me Beast within the magmake a sign of hope.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, the me Dragon Armor, which had remained silent for a while, once again flew out.

    ¡°Will you stop messing around?¡± With a bitter smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Even that beast can¡¯t burst out of there, so please stop wasting your energy.¡±

    From Nie Tian¡¯s point of view, all the ancient magical symbols within the glittering ribbons had now turned dazzling and bright because of the frantic behaviors of the beast.

    Compared to before, the restrictive force of the of crystal-like ribbons must have also multiplied by who knew how many times.

    If the me Dragon Armor were to give it a try now, not only would it not stand a chance, it could also use up its own me power. It might as well wait quietly for the Earth me Beast to rush out of its bindings.

    It seemed as if the me Dragon Armor had heard his call, and this time, it actually did not make another rash attempt, but rather floated motionlessly half a meter above the crystal-like ribbons.

    At that moment, he faintly felt that an odd aura started to ripple outwards from within the Blood Core on the me Dragon Armor, quietly flowing downwards like a mist.

    He realized that the me Dragon Armor was trying to determine a path with the help of its aura.

    Even though Nie Tian could feel the aura, he still didn¡¯t understand its true significance.

    However, the Earth me Beast, that had previously swam away with its three tails, appeared to have noticed the strange aura that came from the me Dragon Armor.

    It immediately stopped its frantic roaring and started to circle back towards the source of the aura.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and found that the Earth me Beast seemed to be concerned with the formidable power of the crystal-like ribbons sealing the magmake, and didn¡¯t dare to rise to the surface.

    Therefore, Nie Tian could only see an enormous, vague shadow, but couldn¡¯t get a clear look of its appearance.

    He only saw the Earth me Beast swimming back deeply under the magmake; then it stopped directly below the me Dragon Armor as if it was sensing the the aura of the Blood Core.

    Cut off by the thin but giant crystal, there was no way that Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness could perceive what it was doing under there. But, he was aware that the Earth me Beast and the me Dragon Armor weremunicating in a way that he could not understand.

    Nie Tian stared nkly at them.

    It seemed that the Blood Core in the me Dragon Armor and the Earth me Beast hade to some kind of agreement aftermunicating for a while.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian saw a perilous, raging wave rising in the magmake.

    Apparently, some kind of strange maic field was forming inside theke, changing the flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the surroundings.

    The Earth me Beast was channeling me energy into the magmake, causing the magma in the earth¡¯s core to be even more vigorous.

    By that point, the Earth me Beast appeared to have activated the talent that had been hidden in its bloodline.

    Very quickly, Nie Tian noticed that pure and rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, which contained copious me power, started to flow down along the stone tunnel to where he was.

    As soon as the threads of me power reached the end of the tunnel, they swarmed into the Blood Core within the me Dragon Armor.

    Although he couldn¡¯t get a clear look, he was sure that the blood drop within the Blood Core must be gradually strengthening.

    It had only been a short while, but arge amount of the pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had already filled the space where Nie Tian was standing, and the rough stone walls around him started to gradually heat up.

    The me aura stored within the spiritual Qi was being absorbed by the Blood Core. However, there was an evenrger amount of heaven and earth energy were floating in the stone tunnel, congealing into clusters of milky-white clouds.

    Nie Tian was seized by the amazing scene. Then, he felt that every breath that he took made him increasinglyfortable and rxed.

    Without thinking, he sat down on the ground and started to practice the Qi Refining Incantation. Immediately, he felt his spiritual sea start to ripple and soon be violent and chaotic.

    His expression flickered. ¡°The excessively rich spiritual energy seems to be pushing me to break through the bottleneck and enter the Lesser Heaven stage!¡±

    The extremely thick spiritual energy, the maic field formed by the Earth me Beast, and the changes urring to the me Dragon Armor, coupled with Nie Tian¡¯s special mental state, all seemed to be working together and causing Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea to reform.

    Just like his mental state, his spiritual sea could no longer stay calm, as if it was being warped by a strange maic field.

    He immediately understood that the bottleneck that had been holding him back was being ovee with the help of an number of extremely unusual factors. Now, it had reached a point where he simply had to break through.

    All these years of unyielding cultivation in the Qi Refining stage, apanied by his umtion of spiritual energy, were like a volcano that had been continuously storing me power.

    By the time it had reached a certain extent and met a perfect opportunity, the volcano would need to erupt.

    If it couldn¡¯t erupt from the top, it would explode underground, giving vent to the violent power surging inside of it.

    Simrly, if he didn¡¯t break through at that moment, then it was possible that his spiritual sea would explode!

    After realizing that, even though Nie Tian knew that it was not an ideal time to break through, he had no other choice.

    He forced himself to calm down, ignoring the increasingly hot stone tunnel, the changes urring to the me Dragon Armor, as well as the existence of the Earth me Beast, going all out to break through his bottleneck.

    Meanwhile...

    Near the mouth of the stone cave, An Shiyi and the others were waiting anxiously. Suddenly, a look of amazement shed across her eyes.

    ¡°Did you feel anything?¡± asked An Shiyi.

    One after another, they all stopped their cultivation and nodded their heads. Pan Tao said, ¡°The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth of the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range seems to be converging towards us.¡±

    ¡°And the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth contains rich me power.¡± An Shiyi practiced fire-attributed spiritual incantations, so she had a more acute perception of me energy. ¡°We all know that the reason why our sect chose the Scarlet me Mountain Range as our base was mostly because of the rich spiritual energy here and the intense me aura in the spiritual energy.

    ¡°But it¡¯s absolutely not normal for the flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to undergo such a big change.

    ¡°Now I can sense that the me aura within the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range is mixed in the spiritual Qi, and madly rushing towards us!¡±

    While speaking, they had also felt that the stones that they had been sitting on were slowly warming up.

    If they were to walk out of the stone cave at that moment, they would have found that the short mountain that they were at was gradually turning red, as if someone was painting it.

    After hearing An Shiyi¡¯s words, Pan Tao focused his attention to feel the changes. A momentter, he asked with a puzzled face, ¡°Where the hell is Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Could it be Nie Tian who triggered the changes to this ce?¡± An Ying said in a low voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s impossible!!¡± Pan Tao shook his head. ¡°What stage is he in? He¡¯s far from reaching the point where he can interact with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth like this. If he already could trigger such a huge change to the flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth while only being in the Qi Refining stage, wouldn¡¯t the life-long cultivation of elder Fang Hui and his master Wu Ji have be a joke? Wouldn¡¯t they have trained so long for nothing?¡±

    Worried about Nie Tian¡¯s safety, An Shiyi rose to her feet. ¡°You guys stay here, I¡¯ll head down there and take a quick look!¡±

    She practiced fire-attributed spiritual incantations, and had the highest cultivation base among everyone present. If they were to send out one person to get a clear grasp of the situation, she would be the best choice.

    ¡°Be careful, sis!¡± An Ying felt a bit worried. ¡°My right eye usually twitches in response to omens (see note 1); I have the feeling something big is about to happen.¡±

    ¡°I also have the feeling that something isn¡¯t right,¡± said Jiang Lingzhu. ¡°My Qi and blood aren¡¯t flowing smoothly, and my chest feels as if it¡¯s being pressured by a big stone.¡±

    ¡°Keep your guard up. I¡¯ll go take a look at what Nie Tian is doing, and urge him to leave!¡± With these words, An Shiyi went down the deep, gloomy stone tunnel, in an attempt to find Nie Tian.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Note:

    1. The following is a Chinese folk story rted to eye twitching:

    <i>There was once a schr who was heading to the Imperial City for an imperial examination. Upon arrival to the city, he found an inn where he could spend the night. He studied the whole night in his room, and was feeling confident about the exam. Before long, it was already dawn. The schr quickly left the inn to join the other schrs at the exam site.</i>

    <i>However, to his surprise, he realised that the questions were of a different topic than what he studied the night before. He became really worried. Due to theck of sleep the night before, his right eye started to twitch. Even though he tried his best to finish his exam, he failed.</i>

    <i>So he returned home disappointed. He wanted to have a few drinks, but he had no money. He decided to go to his father to borrow some money. Surprisingly, his father willingly gave him money for alcohol. At that moment, his left eye twitched.</i>

    <i>After a year, he took the exam again. This time, he sessfully passed the exam. He was given a government position, and he started to spread the story of his experience to the public.</i>

    <i>Hence the saying, "The twitching of the left eye signals wealth; the twitching of the right eye signals hazards."</i>

 Chapter 112: Advancing to the Lesser Heaven Stage!

    At the end of the stone tunnel, Nie Tian and the me Dragon Armor were working on their respective tasks. One absorbed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, while the other gathered me energy.

    Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea was now frantic and disordered. The spiritual energy within it was like a chaotic mist, totally out of control as it flowed about.

    He tried his utmost to gain control of the spiritual energy mist and restore calmness to his spiritual sea.

    But then he realized that the more effort he expended, the more agitated and violent his spiritual sea became, moving like a ferocious, wild beast.

    ¡°Qi Refining stage, Lesser Heaven stage...¡±.

    He forced himself to stop paying attention to his unruly spiritual sea, and instead ponder over the exnations of his master Wu Ji had given him about the Qi Refining stage and Lesser Heaven stage.

    ording to Wu Ji, once a Qi warrior had advanced from the Qi Refining stage to the Lesser Heaven stage, there would be tremendous changes to their spiritual sea.

    However, Wu Ji didn¡¯t say clearly what the changes would be, but instead told him that once he had broken through, he would naturally understand.

    Wu Ji also told him that starting from the Lesser Heaven stage, each and every advancement between realms could possibly cause different, miraculous, and unexpected changes to the body, spiritual sea, and even the soul.

    He would have to rely on himself toprehend the profundity of the changes. Only without restrictions drawn from the descriptions of others would he be able to have a true and clear understanding of the differences between one stage and another.

    ¡°Changes...¡± He whispered to himself. He tried his best to retain a calm mind and focus all his attention on the movements of the soul.

    When he stopped thinking about the bottleneck and only focused on the changes that had been taking ce in his spiritual sea, he suddenly realized that the seemingly unruly movements of the misty spiritual energy were actually notpletely chaotic.

    He sensed that the spiritual energy that was flowing about randomly actually wished toe together, and take a certain form.

    He no longer attempted to calm the rebellious spiritual energy. Instead, he gathered his psychic awareness and tried to use it to elerate the movement of the spiritual energy.

    By letting go and even boosting the seemingly casual movements, he fueled the action within his spiritual sea, making it even more raging and turbulent.

    The misty spiritual energy kept stirring and converging violently within his spiritual sea.

    Not long after, the huge amount of spiritual energy gradually gathered together and, to his surprise, formed an unstable vortex of spiritual energy within his spiritual sea.

    As soon as the vortex had taken its initial shape, the scattered, roaming spiritual energy seemed to have found a vent.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Thread after thread of misty spiritual energy rushed forth and merged into the vortex of spiritual energy from every direction.

    After the misty spiritual energy finished gathering, the spiritual vortex that had just formed, and was still unstable, began to revolve even faster and more furiously.

    A gravitational force was suddenly born from the center of the vortex.

    In that moment, Nie Tian suddenly felt that the speed at which his spiritual sea was absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had suddenly increased by many times!

    Before, he needed to continuously channel energy with the Qi Refining Incantation, so as to gradually pull the spiritual energy from the outside into his spiritual sea.

    However, now that the vortex of spiritual power was formed within his spiritual sea, everything had changed.

    The revolution of the spiritual vortex gave rise to a gravitational force, which, coupled with the Qi Refining Incantation, would allow Nie Tian to absorb the surrounding spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth at a speed several times faster than before.

    He experimented by stopping his use of the Qi Refining Incantation. Yet, he found to his surprise that the vortex of spiritual power within his spiritual sea was still revolving.

    The downside was that, without his guidance and the effect of the Qi Refining Incantation, the speed of revolution slowed down by several-fold.

    But even so, the vortex of spiritual power in his spiritual sea was still slowly taking in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    This made him realize that in the future, even without practicing Qi Refining Incantation, his spiritual sea would still unceasingly absorb the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth because of the existence of the vortex.

    No matter if he was eating, sleeping, or fighting, as long as his vortex of spiritual power didn¡¯t stop revolving, he would be able to gather and store up spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth non-stop.

    At that moment, having felt the changes himself, he seemed toe to an enlightenment without assistance from others.

    ¡°Lesser Heaven stage! Could this be the biggest difference between the Lesser Heaven stage and Qi Refining stage?¡±

    He was convinced that the formation of the vortex of spiritual power within the spiritual sea must be the fundamental difference between the Qi Refining stage and the Lesser Heaven stage.

    It could be said that once the vortex of spiritual power was formed in a Qi warrior¡¯s spiritual sea, it would mean that they had stepped into the Lesser Heaven stage from the Qi Refining stage.

    ¡°Lesser Heaven! This must be the Lesser Heaven stage!¡±

    After having reached the sudden enlightenment, he used the Qi Refining Incantation to once again guide the energy with his spiritual sea to speed up the revolution of the vortex of spiritual power.

    In a sh, he felt that the revolution of the vortex had abruptly elerated by quite a few times, thereupon increasing the gravitational forceing from the eye of the vortex by a few times.

    Also because of this, the rate of him absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had suddenly elerated.

    ¡°This is awesome!¡±

    Submerged in ecstasy, he could no longer feel any difort. He realized that because of the formation of the vortex of spiritual power, his originally quiet spiritual sea instantly became full of life force.

    With the formation of the vortex of spiritual power, his spiritual sea appeared to have been vested with a vigorous life, and the rate at which he absorbed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had increased by a number of folds.

    In the future, even when he wasn¡¯t practicing cultivation, his spiritual sea would still automatically gather spiritual energy from the surroundings.

    ¡°Can this be the biggest difference between the Lesser Heaven stage and Qi Refining stage?

    ¡°This... this is the breakthrough I¡¯ve been waiting for?¡±

    Aftering to an understanding about what was happening, he still felt a bit muddled. After channeling the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that had filled the end of the stone tunnel into his spiritual sea for some time, he suddenly experienced a strange difficulty in breathing.

    After that, he also felt that the stone beneath where he sat had turned red from heat.

    Subconsciously, he snapped open his eyes.

    He then realized that the stone wall around him at the end of the stone tunnel seemed to have be red, fiery, and crystal-like, and was emanating terrifying me power.

    He, who had been staying deeply underground, waspletely unaware of the changes that had urred outside of the tunnel. Now, he was already soaked in sweat, and gradually found the high temperature at that ce unbearable.

    He cast a look towards the me Dragon Armor, and saw that the me Dragon Armor was still floating in the air above the crystal-like, glittering ribbon, absorbing strands after strands of me power.

    He also discovered that the enormous shadow of the Earth me Beast within the magmake below was still madly attracting the me energy towards itself, using some kind of innate bloodline talent that was not known to him.

    ¡°It seems that the me Dragon Armor and the Earth me Beast have reached a mutual understanding. They are nning to join hands and attack from both sides to break the restriction of the of crystal-like ribbons. Once the restrictive seal breaks, the boiling magma within the magmake will surely spout out madly and violently into the outside world via the stone tunnel.

    ¡°I¡¯m the closest to the magmake, so if that happens I will be the first one to be burnt to death!

    ¡°Also, An Shiyi and everyone who chose to wait for me at the mouth of the cave will also be swallowed by the ragingva. None of us will have a chance to escape!¡±

    With these thoughts, his expression shifted for a while before he finally came to a decision.

    He sent a thread of psychic awareness towards the me Dragon Armor, expressing his thoughts. ¡°Please...e back to my side after you have gotten everything that you want.¡±

    After that, he finally rose to his feet and reluctantly dashed back up, following the stone tunnel.

    If he had seen some hope of getting out safely before things got out of control, and had been convinced that he would be able to provide help to the me Dragon Armor by staying, he would have chosen to stay.

    But now, from every sign that had been presented to him, he had already figured out what was going to happen if he refused to leave.

    Therefore, he decided not to wait there pointlessly.

    FIZZ!

    Immediately after he left, the me Dragon Armor, which was floating in the air motionlessly, seemed to have captured his will and suddenly gave off a zing me aura.

    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t see the change, as he only wanted to take An Shiyi and the others out of the cave and far away from the short mountain as soon as possible.

    On his way back, he discovered that some parts of the stone tunnel that had previously been drilled open by the me Dragon Armor were now once again blocked up. Luckily, the blockage was only formed by fragmented rocks and dirt. He had to use quite some effort, but somehow managed to slowly proceed within the stone tunnel towards the surface.

    After an unknown period of time, he suddenly heard An Shiyi¡¯s anxious calls.

    ¡°Nie Tian, Nie Tian!¡±

    A bit of warmth filled his heart. After determining the direction of An Shiyi¡¯s voice, he immediately sped madly towards her.

    BOOM!

    After quite a while, he broke through a wall of broken stones and suddenly saw An Shiyi standing in front of him.

    An Shiyi was startled at first, but after realizing it was Nie Tian, she let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Nie Tian! Where have you been? I came to look for you, but when I reached here I realized it was a dead end. I...¡±

    Before she could finish her sentence, Nie Tian grabbed her by her milky arm, and took her along as he ran outwards. He bellowed, ¡°Say no more. We need to leave this ce as soon as possible!¡±

    Nie Tian had recognized that the spot where An Shiyi was standing as exactly the ce where the me Dragon Armor had started to drill towards the earth core.

    The drilling motion of the me Dragon Armor had caused the tunnel behind it to clog. Therefore, An Shiyi had hurried to that ce only to find that it was a dead end. Since she couldn¡¯t find any trace of him, she could only shout loudly, hoping that Nie Tian could hear her.

    "What happened?" An Shiyi didn¡¯t resist. She let him drag her along as they dashed towards the surface.

    Her cultivation base was more profound than Nie Tian¡¯s, therefore she was able to speak while they were running at a high speed.

    However, all of Nie Tian¡¯s effort had gone to dashing to the surface as soon as possible. Running at full speed, he couldn¡¯t spare a breath to exin anything.

    After realizing that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t answer her questions at the moment, she stopped asking, and focused on rushing forward with him. From time to time, she turned her head to look at his firm and resolute profile, her eyes glittering.

    ¡°You have truly grown...¡± An Shiyi muttered softly.

    After quite some time, several beams of light could be seen, illuminating the dim stone path ahead of them.

    Pan Tao¡¯s anxious voice suddenly rang out. ¡°You guys are finally back.¡±

    Nie Tian slightly loosened up his mind. Since he had hurried back to the mouth of the cave before any sudden change urred in the earth¡¯s core, at least everyone wouldn¡¯t be swallowed by ragingva without the time to respond.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°You punk!¡± Pan Tao cursed as he walked out of the stone cave. ¡°You think that we want to stay in this crappy ce? Wasn¡¯t it all because of you?!¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo¡¯s tones weren¡¯t pleasant either. They all scolded him and called him a reckless troublemaker.

    Smiling the whole time, Nie Tian walked out of the cave and let them vent their anger and discontent.

    By that point, he had noticed that both Zheng Bin and Han Xin were no longer among the crowd.

    All these who had stayed behind, no matter how badly they cursed at him, had chosen not to abandon him. Even though they were fully aware of his unruly and reckless actions, they still chose to wait for him till he returned.

    These were the people that he truly valued and felt emotionally connected with.

 Chapter 113: One Bad Thing After Another!

    It wasn¡¯t until Nie Tian and his group were about a thousand meters away from the short mountain, that they finally came to a stop.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was grim as he turned around and looked at the mountain that was still madly gathering and absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    The others had found time to scold him again. They med him for acting of his own ord and rushing towards the belly of the mountain at such a crucial moment, which had almost caused everyone to suffer a cmity.

    An Shiyi didn¡¯t say anything, but rather looked Nie Tian up and down with full concentration. After quite a while, she asked with a soft voice, ¡°Nie Tian... have you entered the Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone else stopped bickering and began to examine Nie Tian curiously.

    They found that there were slight spiritual power fluctuations wreathing Nie Tian, despite the fact that he had his attention fixed on the short mountain and wasn¡¯t doing anything at all.

    Most of them had only recently broken through from the Qi Refining stage to the Lesser Heaven stage after the Green Illusion dimension trial. Therefore, they all knew the greatest difference between the Qi Refining stage and the Lesser Heaven stage.

    When someone was in the Lesser Heaven stage, even if they did nothing, as long as there was spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth nearby, the vortex of spiritual power in their spiritual sea would still be able to slowly take in the spiritual power and trigger subtle spiritual power fluctuations.

    ¡°He really is in the Lesser Heaven stage!¡± Shocked and curious, Pan Tao asked, ¡°You punk... You just spent four hours in the mountain belly and made the breakthrough already?¡±

    Everyone else¡¯s face also flickered.

    They were all survivors of the cruel trial within the Green Illusion dimension, and after returning to their respective sect, they had all spent a long time to gather their thoughts and seek the proper enlightenment; only then did they finally break through.

    The speed at which they advanced wasn¡¯t slow, but it definitely wasn¡¯t quick and smooth either.

    Yet, four hours ago, Nie Tian had clearly been at the Qi Refining stage and weaker than them by one stage. How could they have expected that within such a short time, Nie Tian would have managed to break through?

    ¡°Hahaha, I got lucky,¡± Nie Tian responded without thinking, confirming An Shiyi¡¯s guess. After that his face turned serious and said, ¡°Pan Tao, Sister An, did you know that the volcano which you thought was extinct, actually has a whole other world underneath it if you go deep enough?¡±

    Puzzled, Pan Tao asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s actually fierce, burning magma flowing under there!¡± Nie Tian eximed. ¡°And there is ayer of strange, crystal-like ribbons covering the magma. If my spections are correct, that of glittering ribbons is a part of the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation.

    ¡°The coverage of the grand spell formation isn¡¯t only limited to the three volcanoes surrounding the Spiritual Treasure sect. From what I can tell, the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range is within its coverage!¡±

    Pan Tao was taken aback. ¡°This... this is impossible!?¡±

    Both An Shiyi and An Ying were also surprised. They clearly weren¡¯t aware of that fact.

    Jiang Lingzhu also had an astonished look on her face as she asked, ¡°Are you sure, Nie Tian? The purpose of the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation is to protect the Spiritual Treasure sect, so how can it possibly cover such a wide range? Besides, there aren¡¯t any active volcanoes in other parts of the Scarlet me Mountain Range, so what¡¯s the point of it covering such a huge area?¡±

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯s there to seal an unusual beast.¡±

    ¡°Ahhh?!¡± An Shiyi called out softly with her mouth covered.

    ¡°What exactly did you see, Nie Tian?¡± asked Pan Tao, his voice serious.

    ¡°An Earth me Beast!¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and exined about the Earth me Beast within the magmake and the restrictive power of the of crystal-like ribbons, only leaving out the unusual behaviors of the me Dragon Armor.

    He also informed them that the Earth me Beast would very likely escape soon, since the grand spell formation had been partly damaged and deactivated.

    Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s expression flickered after hearing everything. ¡°Dear lord! I can¡¯t believe that there¡¯s an Earth me Beast within the earth¡¯s core under the Scarlet me Mountain Range! ording to the legends, Earth me Beasts possess the bloodline of me Qilins, so they are capable of gathering me aura continuously with their bloodline power! No wonder the Spiritual Treasure sect built their base in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. It must have been because of the Earth me Beast!¡±

    Unusual lights shed within An Shiyi¡¯s dark pupils. After pondering for a while, she seemed convinced.

    She trusted Nie Tian¡¯s judgment, and knew that he would never lie about that. If there really was a Earth me Beast imprisoned deep within the earth¡¯s core, it must have been a spell cast by some powerful experts from the older generation of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°The Heaven Burning Earth me formation!¡±

    It suddenly urred to her that the builder of the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation was none other than the master of Hou Zhengchen, the current sectmaster.

    Moreover, the spiritual Treasure sect seemed to have moved from other areas of the Realm of me Heaven to the the Scarlet me Mountain Range during Hou Zhengchen¡¯s master¡¯s generation.

    She immediately understood the logic behind it.

    A frightened look stretched across Pan Tao¡¯s face. ¡°That Earth me Beast is about to escape from the magmake in the earth¡¯s core?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°It won¡¯t take it very long.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone panicked, overwhelmed by the feeling that a great catastrophe was upon them.

    An Shiyi¡¯s face also turned pale as she said, ¡°Once the Earth me Beast breaks free and rushes out from the earth¡¯s core, the raging magma that has formed because of it will immediately erupt! If the earth¡¯s core deep under the Scarlet me Mountain Range is truly filled with magma, then every single one of the volcanoes in me Mountain will simultaneously erupt as soon as the Earth me Beastes out, extinct or active!

    ¡°By that time, the mountain gaps, the creeks, the stone paths, and the forest... the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range will probably be flooded with zingva!

    ¡°The magma condensed by the Earth me Beast will be at a terrifyingly high temperature. It will melt our bodies and turn us into a bloody mess!

    Pan Tao¡¯s heart was burning with anxiety. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Now! Get out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range as soon as possible!¡±

    From the look on his face, he was worried that the nearby little hill would soon spout boiling magma and engulf them in fiery death.

    Nie Tian nced at the hill and realized that it had already be as red as a heated stone.

    He also saw that dark-red, fiery mist seemed to being out from each and every cave that dotted its slopes.

    All of a sudden, he felt a vague but abrupt surge of aura, which apparently was emanated by the me Dragon Armor, even though it was still deep under the short mountain.

    He suddenly came to realize that after a period of umtion, the me Dragon Armor must have gathered up enough me energy, and it was about to cooperate with the Earth me Beast to attack the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation from inside the mountain.

    ¡°You are right, we need to leave now!¡± Nie Tian was also worried about their safety.

    Then the group picked a new direction. They no longer rushed in the direction of the Cloudsoaring sect, Mystic Mist sect and Grayvale sect. Instead, under Pan Tao¡¯s guidance, they picked the shortest route out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range, and sped away.

    Nie Tian¡¯s discoveries at the earth¡¯s core had shocked all of them and made them realize that as soon as the Earth me Beast escaped, the whole Scarlet me Mountain Range would about to be submerged by terrifying waves of burningva.

    Perhaps people with high cultivation bases would be able to survive before the enormous waves ofva spread.

    However, as for them, if they failed to leave soon, then by the time the fierceva had spread to every corner of the Scarlet me Mountain Range, they would inevitably be burned alive!

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Every one of them madly drew from their spiritual power in order to run faster. They all stopped covering up their panting and auras, as they no longer feared that pursuers from the Blood sect and Ghost sect might track them.

    By that point, they had all realized that the catastrophic results of the Earth me Beast escaping were much worse than the threat from the Blood sect and Ghost sect.

    However, they were forced to stop after running for a short while.

    In front of them, two people, a male and a female in red, were standing by a limpid river. The woman was none other than the witch, Yu Tong, who they had met in the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°Finally, here you are!¡± Feng Luo, who was standing beside Yu Tong, grinned widely and said, ¡°We couldn¡¯t find your tracks earlier and figured you must be hiding somewhere. But hey, who would have guessed that you would let down your guard and expose yourselves.¡±

    After leaving the valley, the two of them had been tracking the group via footprints and scanning with their psychic awareness.

    They had gone to great lengths to determine that Nie Tian and the rest of his party were in that area. However, when they got there, they were unable to find any trace of them.

    Since it was a quiterge area, Feng Luo could only conduct a carpet search with his psychic awareness.

    It actually was an ineffective and troublesome method.

    Just as he was having a headache searching for them, Nie Tian and his group stopped sealing their aura and showed themselves on Feng Luo¡¯s radar.

    The moment she caught sight of Nie Tian, Yu Tong let out an explosive shout, as if his appearance had lit up the barrel of gunpowder in her heart.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Suddenly, Yu Tong¡¯s eyes were wreathed by threads after threads of blood aura, which slithered about in her eyes like dragons and snakes, giving her a devilish and frightening look.

    ¡°He¡¯s Feng Luo from the Blood sect!¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s expression flickered when she saw the man beside Yu Tong. She hastily warned everyone, ¡°Be careful everyone! That Feng Luo is the junior martial brother of Yu Tong¡¯s master, Shen Xiu. He¡¯s a Greater Heaven stage expert!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    An Shiyi, who was the strongest on their side, was merely at thete Heaven stage.

    Even though Feng Luo had only recently advanced to Greater Heaven stage, everyone was well aware of how big of a difference there was between the two stages.

    If there weren¡¯t any mishaps, the Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo would be able topletely overtake An Shiyi while still having the power to fight others.

    Yu Tong, on the other hand, had stepped into Lesser Heaven stage back when she was still in the Green Illusion dimension. The rumors had it that even though she had been seriously injured when she returned from the Green Illusion Realm, after she had recovered, she had be even stronger than before.

    Technically speaking, Feng Luo and Yu Tongbined were clearly overwhelmingly stronger than Nie Tian¡¯s group.

    Perhaps it was also because of this that Feng Luo and Yu Tong had such strong self-confidence. Just with the two of them, they dared to pursue them for so long and confront them face to face, instead of sneaking up on them.

    ¡°So he is the disciple of entric Wu?¡± Feng Luo followed Yu Tong¡¯s gaze and swept Nie Tian from head to toe. With a nod, he said, ¡°Hmm... he has also advanced to the Lesser Heaven stage. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re both at the early Lesser Heaven stage. In this way, you two can be considered equally strong. After you have killed him, it won¡¯t be like you¡¯ve fought a one-sided battle.¡±

    ¡°Little Tong!¡± Feng Luo¡¯s expression became serious. ¡°Since your heart is in disturbance because of him, kill him now and eliminate the devil from your heart!¡±

    With these words, he stretched out his hands and formed a seal.

    As soon as the seal wasplete, Nie Tian and his group saw a thick blood mist emerging from the ground under their feet.

    The hard stone ground underneath immediately seemed as if it was painted by blood, with blood constantly oozing out of the clefts.

    PUFF!

    Pan Tao felt a strong shock to his body, as if he had taken a heavy blow, and even coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, as well as An Ying also staggered slightly, and their faces turned as red as blood. They all seemed to have been bombarded by some kind of invisible force.

    Their originally upright figures suddenly shook violently, as if they couldn¡¯t even get a firm foothold.

    The clean river water behind Feng Luo and Yu Tong seemed as if it were flooded with bloody water, since it had now be red and reeked of a bloody smell.

    Nie Tian and An Shiyi were the only ones who had beenpletely unaffected.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned grim. He looked down and found that there wasn¡¯t any blood flowing out of the ground under his feet. It was the same with An Shiyi.

    He instantly realized that Feng Luo¡¯s magic only targeted Pan Tao and the others, and purposely spared An Shiyi and him.

    With a casual wave of his hand, Feng Luo said, ¡°Go ahead, Little Tong. I¡¯ll deal with the An n girl. Nie Tian is yours. I didn¡¯t touch him at all, so you two can fight fair and square!¡±

    ¡°Thank you Uncle Feng,¡± Yu Tong replied softly.

 Chapter 114: A Fight That Has to Be Fought

    ¡°Nie Tian! Sister! Don¡¯t worry about us, just leave!¡±

    An Ying realized what was happening and immediately started screaming loudly. She wanted Nie Tian and An Shiyi to leave as soon as possible.

    She was perfectly aware that the strength of the Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo far exceeded her sister¡¯s.

    Since she had never witnessed a battle between Nie Tian and Yu Tong, she didn¡¯t trust that Nie Tian would win. Even if by some chance Nie Tian managed to defeat Yu Tong, there was no way he would have the strength to contend with Feng Luo.

    Instead of having everyone killed, they might as well get at least one or two people out alive.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Feng Luo gave a cold harrumph.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In the next moment, the blood that had previously emerged from the ground rapidly climbed up their legs and covered their bodies.

    The blood was like a bunch of madly growing weeds. Only moments passed before they were all wrapped in ayer of sticky blood, making them look like big, bloody cocoons.

    An Ying and several others were covered in so much blood that only their heads were left out in the open. The stinky, pungent smell of the blood took advantage of the opportunity and rushed into their noses.

    Soon, An Ying was reduced to only being able to make muffled noises, and was no longer able to speak.

    After beingpletely constrained by the blood, they could only observe with wide eyes, without being able to move or converse at all.

    With a merciless and cold-blooded smile, Feng Luo asked, ¡°Nie Tian, is it? Don¡¯t even dream of escaping. If you dare to leave my sight, I kill them instantly. So be a good boy, and go fight Little Tong. Won¡¯t it be fun to have your friends watch how you die?

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, An Shiyi, who had not spoken a word since confirming Feng Luo¡¯s cultivation base, suddenly morphed into a zing fireball and smashed towards him.

    At the same time, a flock of raging mes flooded towards Feng Luo like rolling mingnterns.

    BANG! BANG!

    The numerous fireballs burst into smaller fireballs, but turned into an evenrger swarm of mes, converging onto Feng Luo from every direction.

    However, Feng Luo, despite being besieged by mes, showed a sinister smile. He shook his head, and said, ¡°Miss An, it seems that your cultivation base is still a bit weak. I¡¯m afraid this kind of attack can¡¯t do any damage to me.¡±

    With these words, Feng Luo¡¯s eyes gradually filled with veins of blood. He suddenly shook his robust body, causing a bloody aura to emerge from his body; like a shield of blood-colored light, it isted him from the surging mes.

    Shielded the raging mes, Feng Luo walked out from the spot where the fireballs had burst, holding an unusual-looking magical ball in his giant right hand.

    Inside the transparent magical ball hovered and shed thick clusters of bloody mist that resembled numerous bloody figures.

    ¡°Blood Solidifying Technique!¡±

    Following Feng Luo¡¯s gentle shout, blinding bloody light suddenly shot out of the magical ball, and at the same time, streams of blood flew out from the rivers of blood behind him, as if they were responding to his summoning.

    The blood turned into balls before twisting and gradually morphing into five blood imps. The blood imps didn¡¯t have faces, yet carried an overwhelming blood aura. All of a sudden, they swooped towards An Shiyi.

    An Shiyi¡¯s expression flickered as a surge of spiritual power fluctuations rippled out from within the bracelet of holding on her jade arm.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Six burning fire pearls flew right out of her bracelet. Five of them flew towards the blood imps, while the remaining one went straight towards Feng Luo.

    ¡°Spiritual me Pearls...¡± With a low-pitched chuckle, Feng Luo¡¯s robust frame abruptly sank into the blood under his feet.

    In a sh, he seemed to have shed his human form and merged with the blood that had oozed out of the ground, without leaving any trace of him, not even his aura.

    As soon as he vanished, huge waves rose on the surface of the blood that covered the ground, like seawater that had been sted by strong winds.

    Waves upon waves of raging blood rolled and swept towards Yu Tong.

    ¡°Little Tong!¡± Feng Luo¡¯s voice sounded extremely distant, as if it came from deep under the ground.

    Upon hearing his voice, Yu Tong, who had been ring at Nie Tian the entire time, seemed to have finally lost control of the anger burning in her heart.

    ¡°You deserve to die!¡±

    Yu Tong crossed her milky, slender hands like a butterfly in front of her ample chest, forming various types of mystical seals and incantations.

    Countless beams of bloody aura as thick as her arm suddenly shot out from thend under Nie Tian¡¯s feet. They took the shape of beautiful girls¡¯ arms, which gestured seductively while reaching towards him.

    Not only were they tender and resilient, but they also carried a mysterious aura that could bewitch one¡¯s soul.

    Nie Tian felt somewhat dazzled looking at them, and he began to see illusions in his mind.

    In his deluded eyes, the bloody aura appeared to have actually turned into the arms of beautiful women. To him, they didn¡¯t stink of blood, but instead smelled pleasant like perfume.

    Numerous illusions constantly appeared in his mind, and he could no longer differentiate between fantasy and reality. He no longer tell if his opponent was Yu Tong or the numerous illusionary, bloody hands.

    ¡°She¡¯s using psychic domination!¡±

    He bit hard on his own tongue in an attempt to use the pain to bring him back to his senses.

    He tried his best to guard his soul and ignore all of the bewitching, bloody, hands that were swaying around him. The only thing that he focused on was Yu Tong.

    He saw Yu Tong¡¯s jade hands pulling in the air, which seemed like they were dragging and controlling something. At the same time, strong waves of psychic power rippled out from her.

    ¡°Psychic attack!¡±

    He let out a violent scream in his mind and solidified his extraordinary psychic power into a giant, invisible pir, before ruthlessly plunging it towards Yu Tong.

    Yu Tong let out a muffled snort. Her devilishly beautiful pupils shed with a strange light.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect your psychic power to be so pure and vigorous!¡± ring at Nie Tian, she swung both hands downwards. ¡°Thousand Hands Entanglement!¡±

    One after another, the countless bloody hands suddenly sped up, and before Nie Tian could react, they had already entangled his waist like numerous madly growing vines.

    As of this moment, Nie Tian could no longer smell even the slightest bit of perfume, and could only feel himself being partly submerged in a pool of thick blood.

    Little by little, he was being dragged by the bloody hands towards Yu Tong.

    Yu Tong didn¡¯t get ahead of herself just because of that. On the contrary, she observed him with even more caution, as if she was prepared for Nie Tian¡¯s counterattack.

    She had suffered losses against Nie Tian before, and was aware that Nie Tian possessed a terrifying fist strike. She believed that once Nie Tian used that fist strike, the bloody hands that were currently entangling Nie Tian would no longer be able to bind him down.

    She quietly took out a dark-red blood shield and got ready for Nie Tian¡¯s counterattack.

    The shield was different from the one she had used in the Green Illusion dimension. Unlike the illusionary shield that had been condensed by her blood-attributed spiritual power, this was an actual spiritual tool from the Blood sect.

    There were unique, fine-looking, blood-colored patterns carved on the face of the shield, which were there to strengthen the shield.

    Actually, Yu Tong had someone customize it, with the sole purpose of defending against the terrifying fist strike of Nie Tian.

    She had made many preparations just to kill Nie Tian. The blood shield was to ensure her safety.

    Although not able to speak nor move, An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others who were cocooned by the blood were observing what had been happening.

    They watched as Nie Tian was entangled by the bloody hands and slowly pulled closer and closer toward Yu Tong.

    Their eyes were filled with worry and anxiety.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian twisted his shoulders in an attempt to break free from the bloody hands, but was met with an even stronger counterforce.

    Even with his robust frame, he was unable to break free, and could only let himself be dragged closer and closer towards Yu Tong.

    He also noticed Yu Tong taking out a delicate blood shield as he drew closer, as if she was facing a formidable enemy.

    He quickly came to realize how long and hard Yu Tong had been preparing for this battle.

    He secretly took a quick nce at An Shiyi and noticed that the Spiritual me Pearls that An Shiyi had released a while ago hadn¡¯t killed off the five blood imps.

    Feng Luo¡¯s drifting, distant voice, on the other hand, could be heard from time to time.

    It suddenly became clear to him that the Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo was far from giving his best as he battled An Shiyi.

    He was only trying to trap An Shiyi temporarily, while his main focus was actually on the battle between him and Yu Tong.

    With his life on a thread, Nie Tian didn¡¯t lose his lucidity. On the contrary, he calmly read into the battlefield.

    ¡°I can¡¯t win by being so passive. The only way to turn the situation around is to capture Yu Tong alive! Only if I can use Yu Tong¡¯s life to threaten Feng Luo and force him to release the others, will we have a chance to survive!¡±

    Not only had he reached the conclusion that Yu Tong must hold a special status in the Blood sect, but he had also understood Feng Luo¡¯s intentions. This whole scheme was clearly to aid Yu Tong in annihting the devil in her heart. Moreover, Yu Tong¡¯s master was Feng Luo¡¯s elder martial sister, so surely he wouldn¡¯t watch Yu Tong die and do nothing.

    ¡°Flesh power!¡± He roared in his mind, attempting to bring forth the mysterious power that had been hidden within him, which alway followed excessive beating of his heart. He wished to forcibly turn the situation around with that savage power.

    However this time, he noticed that there was already power surging forth from within his flesh and bones before his heart even began to beat violently.

    He had spent the past half a year at the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain, feasting on the meat of second grade spirit beasts every day.

    The energy within the meat that he had eaten hadn¡¯t been channeled into his spiritual sea after it was digested by his stomach. Instead, he had let it naturally disperse into every part of his body.

    Most of the time, he wasn¡¯t able to sense the power. Yet it erupted at that very moment.

    Furthermore, it erupted in a way that was extremely violent and fierce!

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Once again, he twisted his shoulders and tried to struggle free with the new force. One after another, the countless bloody hands that had been entangling him burst into drops of blood before sshing outwards and falling into the pool of blood.

    ¡°Here ites!¡± Yu Tong was in a state of total concentration.

    ¡°What?!¡± Feng Luo¡¯s distant exim could be heard. It was exactly as Nie Tian had expected; he had been keeping an eye on the battle between him and Yu Tong.

    An Ying, Jiang Lingzhu, and the rest of the party, who had been trapped by blood, also opened their eyes wide, staring at him with rapt attention.

    They all noticed that Nie Tian was thrumming with an immense aura of flesh, as astonishing fluctuations of life burst forth from within his body.

    BAM! BAM!

    Each and every one of the bloody hands instantly burst into drops of blood as Nie Tian wriggled free.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, jumped in front of Yu Tong, his eyes full of savageness. He stared at Yu Tong and dered, ¡°Today, I will defeat you for the fourth time!¡±

 Chapter 115: Captured Alive!

    ¡°The fourth time!¡±

    Even though An Ying and the others weren¡¯t able to speak, the looks in their eyes flickered. They were clearly shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    Did it mean that... Nie Tian had already defeated Yu Tong three times in the Green Illusion dimension?

    They simply couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Meanwhile, to everyone¡¯s surprise, Yu Tong didn¡¯t refute. She appeared to have acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s words, admitting that she had lost to him three times in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Yu Tong¡¯s silence made everyone feel increasingly shocked, but at the same time, gave them some confidence in Nie Tian.

    Feng Luo¡¯s profound, distant voice came through from deep underground. ¡°Three times?¡±

    He only knew that the fact that Yu Tong¡¯s failure toplete the Blood sect and Ghost sect¡¯s trial task had a great deal to do with a kid named Nie Tian.

    However, he absolutely never expected that Yu Tong, who the Blood sect had ced high hopes on, would have actually suffered defeat three times against this Nie Tian kid.

    He finally understood why Nie Tian had be Yu Tong¡¯s mental demon, why she would always talk about Nie Tian, and why she almost left the Blood sect without permission to go to ck Cloud City and kill him.

    Yu Tong¡¯s ego would never allow Nie Tian, whose cultivation base was lower than hers and yet managed to beat her three times in a row, to live.

    Only Nie Tian¡¯s death would wash away the devil in her heart, and allow her to reim her confidence.

    Provoked by Nie Tian¡¯s words, Yu Tong remained silent for a while and slowly raised her hand.

    ¡°There won¡¯t be a next time!¡±

    FIZZ!

    One after another, numerous crescent moon-shaped sabers suddenly chopped towards Nie Tian, each of which was half an arm long with a scarlet blood aura flowing on its surface.

    The curved sabers were like a shoal of bloodthirsty fish. Almost in a sh, they had already interweaved into a bloody of des and submerged Nie Tian while giving off terrifying res.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    Thread after thread, awork of slender wounds suddenly appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s body. In the next moment, blood flowed out of the wounds that had just been cut open by the countless curved sabers.

    Nie Tian hurriedly shed here and there to dodge the attacks. However, the curved sabers followed him like shadows; they continuously tailed after him and attacked him.

    Even though Nie Tian tried his best to avoid the sabers, the wounds on his body still increased. However, he managed to shift closer to Yu Tong as he dodged non-stop.

    Unfortunately, Yu Tong had long since been prepared for him. As soon as she saw him getting closer, she immediately raised the blood shield in her hand.

    The thick blood aura filling the air suddenly rushed into the blood shield. The delicate patterns on the face of the blood shield started to wiggle like earthworms. It seemed as if the blood aura had activated the spell formation on the shield.

    Yu Tong¡¯s expression was especially fierce. ¡°I had this Blood Edge Shield customized just for you.¡± She red at him, getting ready to face his terrifying fist strike.

    PUFF!

    Nie Tian¡¯s back was once again cut by one of the crescent-moon-shaped sabers, leaving a long and narrow wound.

    He felt scorching, stabbing pain all over.

    He had already noticed that even though the crescent-moon-shaped sabers that had continuously pursued him were iparably sharp, they required Yu Tong to use her spiritual power and psychic power to exquisitely control the whole bunch of them.

    Since she needed to spare arge proportion of her mind and strength to manipte the numerous sabers urately, the power in each of the individual saber turned out to be quite limited.

    It was also because of that when they pierced and cut open his flesh one after another, they didn¡¯t actually carry excessive power.

    Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have just been his flesh that was cut open, but rather he would have been dismembered and died instantly.

    While he was moving and dodging, he was still pondering over whether he should go all out and use the rage fist strike. ¡°Rage punch...¡±

    Clearly, he was aware that the rage fist strike was the most formidable skill at his disposal.

    However, its aftermath was also terrifying.

    Once the anger fist was unleashed, regardless of whether he was able to kill Yu Tong with it or not, he would end uppletely powerless afterward.

    If he managed to kill Yu Tong with it, he was sure that Feng Luo would ughter Pan Tao, An Ying, and the others without even blinking.

    An Shiyi might not even be able to escape from his murderous hands.

    Once Yu Tong died, the enraged Feng Luo would undoubtedly kill all of them at all costs, including himself!

    And that was still thinking on the bright side.

    Right now, Yu Tong was holding a Blood Edge Shield in her hand, which was customized for her needs, and thus might be able to withstand the explosive attack of his rage fist strike.

    If it indeed managed to resist his fist strike, he would have exhaust all his flesh power, leaving him victim to Yu Tong¡¯s insult and torment, like a sheep waiting to be ughtered.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t...¡± After a brief pondering, he decided to give up on the rage fist strike. He shifted his thoughts to looking for other options.

    He continuously shed, dodging around Yu Tong. Like a school of ferocious fish, the sabers continued to increase the number of wounds on his body, while he still couldn¡¯t think of a method to instantly defeat Yu Tong, despite racking his brains.

    At that time, he very much regretted not learning exquisite spiritual skills when he was at the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain. There weren¡¯t any methods he could use at that crucial moment.

    His one and only spiritual weapon, the dragon bone, was also not with him at the moment.

    As his wounds gradually piled up, and he lost more and more blood, he had a clear feeling that the power contained in his flesh was also dissipating.

    If things continued, even if Yu Tong didn¡¯t make her move, he would also die from blood loss.

    He grew increasingly anxious.

    BOOM!

    Right at that moment, the loud, frightening sound of an earthquake came from deep below the short mountain they had run away from.

    He immediately realized that the me Dragon Armor that he had left behind deep within the earth core should haveunched its attack, along with the Earth me Beast, towards the restrictive of crystal-like ribbons.

    Actually, they were already quite distant from the short mountain by that point.

    However, in the instant that the me Dragon Armorunched its attack, an unusual image suddenly became visible in his mind.

    He seemingly saw an enormous Fire Dragon, with raging mes burning all over its body, releasing the profound power of it bloodline inside the mysterious ce that his soul had previously traveled to. It breathed out the most fearsome mes like it wanted to burn the heavens and destroy the earth.

    By this point, the originally vague link between him and the me Dragon Armor had suddenly became iparably clear.

    The most bizarre thing was that, as he carefully sensed the strange image within his mind, relying on his mysterious psychic link with the me Dragon Armor, he suddenly came to an illusion of himself turning into a Fire Dragon.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that contained rich me power seemed to have stopped moving towards the short mountain, as if it was no longer attracted by the Earth me Beast after the violent earthquake.

    The me power that had stopped flowing had lost its vent and scattered in mid-air in form of scarlet, fiery threads.

    Just at that time, the unusual image in his mind grew even clearer, and the connection between him and the me Dragon Armor seemed to have be inseparably close. Then, the fiery threads of power that were lingering in mid-air seemed to have found a new target.

    Numerous scarlet, fiery threads suddenly dove from the heavens like a pouring rain.

    At first nce, it looked as if there were numerous, unnamed, mysterious experts deep within the clouds, throwing down threads after threads of fishing lines, attempting to fish up all the living creatures in the Realm of me Heaven.

    The strange thing was that those lines shared the same destination: the area where Nie Tian was in.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The numerous crescent moon-shaped sabers, that had been pursuing Nie Tian unrelentingly, were instantly pierced by the scarlet, fiery lines.

    The bloody aura covering the curved sabers quickly turned dim, as if they had been melted forcibly by the me power.

    CLANK!

    A shaft of a curved saber instantly lost its vigor and becamepletely powerless before abruptly falling onto the ground.

    Even more curved swords that had pursued and attacked Nie Tian, one after another, dropped onto the ground and becamepletely depleted of spiritual energy.

    The crisis that had been hovering over Nie Tian was suddenly lifted via such an unfathomable and mysterious way.

    ¡°Something is going on underground!¡±

    Feng Luo, who had been lurking in the dark for a long time, slowly rose up from a pool of blood and returned to his original form.

    Face grim and eyes filled with questions, he frowned as he looked off into the direction of the short mountain, where the loud noise hade from, trying to figure out what had happened.

    On the other hand, Pan Tao and the others, who had been trapped by the blood, had fear written across their faces, as they had all guessed what had just happened.

    Even An Shiyi, who was controlling the Spiritual me Pearls, was seized by terror. With a pale face, she couldn¡¯t help but uttered, ¡°Oh, damn!¡±

    Feng Luo held his attack. He stared at An Shiyi with his wide, tiger-like eyes and said, ¡°You know what just happened?¡±

    An Shiyi snapped back from her reverie, and said in a calm tone, ¡°Let us go if you want to know. Or... we die here together in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only bluffing!¡± Feng Luo snorted. He didn¡¯t pay any more attention to her, but rather urged Yu Tong, ¡°Little Tong, make it quick. Something doesn¡¯t feel right.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Yu Tong took out a Blood Bead that looked like an eyeball and prepared to use the Blood sect¡¯s secret magic, in an attempt to murder Nie Tian, who was already covered in wounds.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Suddenly, she found that the numerous, scarlet lines that had fallen from the sky seemed to have assembled together, condensing into the blurry shape of a dragon.

    A ten-meter-long dragon, covered in blinding mes, gradually took shape right in front of Nie Tian.

    A violent and cruel aura gradually spread out from within the condensing dragon.

    Yu Tong nced at it and immediately realized that the gigantic dragon seemed to be only partly formed. It was still far from itsplete shape.

    However, even though it wasn¡¯tpletely formed, the aura that came from the dragon already made her feel extremely terrified.

    Yu Tong¡¯s expression flickered.

    WHOOSH!

    Before she could do anything, the Fire Dragon that was condensed from the scarlet, fiery lines abruptly swooped towards her.

    Face pale, she hurriedly raised the Blood Edge Shield in her hands, continuously channeling the blood-attributed spiritual power that had been spread in the vicinity by Feng Luo, and forming an enormous blood-colored light curtain in front of the actual shield.

    BANG!

    With a loud sh, the ten-meter-long Fire Dragon rammed into the curtain, shattering it savagely.

    After the head of the dragon had shattered the blood-colored light curtain, it ruthlessly crashed into the surface of the Blood Edge Shield.

    Fresh blood came pouring out from Yu Tong¡¯s mouth, as if she had just been crushed by a mountain. Meanwhile, the Blood Edge Shield flew out of her hands due to the impact.

    Also at that moment, Nie Tian suddenly swooped in. While Yu Tong was still feeling muddled from the attack, he took the opportunity and grabbed her from behind. Then he picked up a curved saber from the ground and pressed it against her slender neck.

    ¡°Feng Luo! Let them go! NOW!¡±

 Chapter 116: Soul Attack

    The Fire Dragon that had been condensed by the scarlet, fiery strings retained its form after knocking Yu Tong¡¯s Blood Edge Shield out of her hand.

    Meanwhile, even more fiery light strings fell from the sky and converged on the blurry Fire Dragon, lengthening it to twenty meters.

    At the same time, Nie Tian held Yu Tong tightly from behind.

    Pressing the curved saber up against her neck, he raised his voice and shouted, ¡°Feng Luo! Release them!¡±

    Everything happened so fast that even Feng Luo was caught off guard. By the time he sensed something was about to go wrong, it was already toote, and Yu Tong had already been captured by Nie Tian.

    PUFF!

    The blood imps that had been besieging and attacking An Shiyi, suddenly fell and melted into the blood pool under her feet.

    Feng Luo stopped attacking An Shiyi.

    He red grimly at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Let go of Little Tong!¡±

    ¡°Let her go?¡± Grinning, Nie Tian pushed the saber up against her neck and began to slowly draw it to the side.

    As he did, a long but shallow wound was cut open on Yu Tong¡¯s slender, white neck. Almost immediately, blood began to flow out.

    Standing with the back of her head towards Nie Tian, Yu Tong¡¯s face was filled with humiliation and hate. Yet to recover from her puzzlement, she couldn¡¯t remove her gaze from the Fire Dragon that was still in the middle of forming.

    She couldn¡¯t imagine how on earth Nie Tian had managed to summon a Fire Dragon out of nowhere during their battle.

    The impact of the Fire Dragon was far mightier than the fist strike that Nie Tian had used in the Green Illusion dimension.

    The Blood Edge Shield that she had specially formed to defend the fist strike hadpletely failed to hold off even one collision from the Fire Dragon, and had immediately fallen apart.

    ¡°Still don¡¯t want to let them go?¡± Ruthlessness filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, gripping the saber tightly to make another cut.

    However this time, the curved saber didn¡¯t aim for Yu Tong¡¯s neck, but rather, the smooth, fair skin of her face.

    When Yu Tong saw the curved saber moving towards her face, she finally looked scared.

    From her point of view, Feng Luo not only had An Shiyi under control, but had also trapped Pan Tao and the others. Therefore, Nie Tian would never dare to kill her. At the most, he would use her to threaten Feng Luo.

    As for the cut on her neck, she was confident that she could use the secret magics of the Blood sect to heal the wound without leaving any scars.

    That was why fear couldn¡¯t be seen on her face until now.

    However, the face was the hardest part for spiritual power to extend to. Once her face was cut, she wasn¡¯t confident that she could heal itpletely.

    Her delicate face had always been the part of her that she was most proud of. To every woman who cared about her looks, having a scar on her face was almost impossible to ept.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t see her fear-stricken face, but Feng Luo, Pan Tao, and the others all had clear views of it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Feng Luo hurriedly stopped him.

    Nie Tian held his hand still. He didn¡¯t say anything, but only stared coldly into Feng Luo¡¯s eyes.

    Feng Luo red back at him. Time passed silently... Finally, Feng Luo nodded and said, ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll release them!¡±

    With these words, he formed an unusual seal with both of his hands, and used a secret spell of the Blood sect to change the fluctuations of the blood under their feet.

    As soon as he cast the spell, Nie Tian saw the blood that had wrapped up Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and the others slowly retreat from their bodies, and once again merge with the blood pool under their feet.

    Originally, Jiang Lingzhu and the others were unable to move a muscle. When the blood retreated, they suddenly felt a sense of relief.

    Then, they realized that not only had they regained their mobility, but they were also free to speak.

    ted, Pan Tao eximed, ¡°Good job, Nie Tian!¡±

    After they were freed from the constraint, every one of them gazed at him with mixed expressions of disbelief and delight.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The Fire Dragon formed by scarlet fiery strings floated ten meters high in the air above Nie Tian¡¯s head, where it remained, gathering me power.

    They looked over towards the Fire Dragon, and then looked back at Nie Tian, guessing that it might be a powerful spiritual tool of Nie Tian¡¯s...

    ¡°I¡¯ve released them, so it¡¯s your turn now,¡± Feng Luo said calmly.

    Nie Tian still had firm hold on Yu Tong and had absolutely had no intention of letting her go. ¡°Sister An, you take them and leave. I¡¯ll catch up to youter.¡±

    Having practically drained her own spiritual energy, An Shiyi frowned slightly and said, ¡°Let¡¯s take that girl and leave this ce. We can release her when we¡¯re no longer in danger.¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s face suddenly sank. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± He glowered at Nie Tian. ¡°I¡¯ve already delivered my part. You remember the deal, don¡¯t you? If you leave with Little Tong, what¡¯s to prevent you from going back on your word and killing her? Do you take me as a fool? They can leave, but you... have to stay!¡±

    ¡°Sister An, you guys go first,¡± Nie Tian urged them anxiously. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    He knew that Feng Luo would definitely not allow them to take Yu Tong and leave as An Shiyi had suggested.

    Feng Luo would never allow Yu Tong to disappear from his sight.

    The reason why Nie Tian had the audacity to stay behind was because he could detect the aura of the drop of blood from within the Fire Dragon.

    At the moment, the me power that the Fire Dragon had gathered was already so formidable that even Feng Luo wouldn¡¯t have the confidence to defeat it.

    An Shiyi couldn¡¯t decide.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Suddenly, a world-shaking explosion rose up from the direction of the short mountain. Apparently, it hadpletely exploded and was experiencing a catastrophic transformation.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine!¡± said Nie Tian, giving An Shiyi a meaningful look to remind her that the Fire Dragon was still there.

    After hearing the distant, heaven-shaking explosion, An Shiyi took a look at the expanding Fire Dragon, and finally nodded. She said with clenched teeth, ¡°Take care of yourself!¡±

    With these words, she urged Pan Tao and the others to follow her quickly and leave that ce as soon as possible.

    Knowing that the Scarlet me Mountain Range was about to undergo a world-shaking change, everyone was worried about Nie Tian¡¯s safety. However, with a look at the Fire Dragon hovering over his head, they were almost certain that Nie Tian would be fine.

    Eventually, under An Shiyi¡¯s urgings, they chose to leave.

    One after another, they all warned Nie Tian to be careful and reminded him of the huge changes that were about to take ce in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    ¡°Be careful, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting for you up ahead. Come as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°You know what¡¯s about to happen. Don¡¯t waste time!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded vigorously. With a wide smile, he said, ¡°Rest assured, I¡¯ll be fine!¡±

    Soon, An Shiyi led the crowd and sped away from Feng Luo¡¯s and Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    Nie Tian¡¯s held his ground. He once again pressed the curved saber against Yu Tong¡¯s neck and said calmly, ¡°We will wait for half an hour. Only then will I let her go.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Feng Luo agreed.

    He knew that Nie Tian was trying to buy enough time for An Shiyi and the others, but he believed that with his strength, even if they were given a bit more time, he would still be able to catch up to them before they could leave the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    The final result wouldn¡¯t change just because Nie Tian had captured Yu Tong.

    He was just curious about why this Nie Tian, a kid whose name he had never heard of a year ago, was able to defeat Yu Tong over and over again, overshadowing the pride of their sect.

    ¡°How did a kid from the insignificant Nie n from ck Cloud City manage to cause such huge waves?¡± Brows knitted together, Feng Luo contemted. He felt the need to conduct a serious investigation regarding Nie Tian and his growing path.

    By this point, he had already begun to consider Nie Tian as the most outstanding junior from the Cloudsoaring sect. He believed that if Nie Tian could continue to make himself stronger, he would definitely be the biggest opponent for Yu Tong, Mo Xi, and the other disciples.

    ¡°Little Tong, you only failed this time because he has a powerful spiritual weapon.¡± Feng Luo was quite careful with his choice of words. Seeing that Yu Tong¡¯s eyes were filled with frustration, he said, ¡°His spiritual weapon is really weird. Even I can¡¯t tell what it is and its exact grade, but I¡¯m sure that it must have been bestowed upon him by entric Wu.

    ¡°Being defeated by such a formidable spiritual weapon is not your fault. You shouldn¡¯t beat yourself up.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that unusual spiritual weapon, this brat would have been long since killed by your des.¡±

    He feared that Yu Tong would drown in despair after this defeat. Therefore, he tried to console her by trashing Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian moved closer to Yu Tong¡¯s ears and whispered, ¡°Hey, don¡¯t listen to his nonsense. If I won because of my spiritual tool, well you... used yours too, didn¡¯t you?

    ¡°Even if neither of us had spiritual tools, I still would have defeated you with nothing but my bare fist.

    ¡°I bet you can still remember me beating you twice with my fist strike when I was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

    ¡°During our third fight, you were so reckless that you used the forbidden technique Earth Web. Yet you still failed to kill me. Quite on the contrary, you suffered greatly from the bacsh yourself, am I right?

    ¡°You will never beat me, so ept your fate already.

    ¡°No matter how many time we fight, you will lose, now and always. ¡°

    While Feng Luo was attempting to console Yu Tong, Nie Tian was also continuously attacking her with a low voice, leisurely and carefreely. He wanted to manifest a traumatic experience of defeat in her heart that would haunt her and make her feel humiliated and powerless every time she thought of him.

    His goal was to nt a seed in Yu Tong¡¯s heart that would constantly remind her that she would never beat him.

    He knew that perhaps the conflict between himself and Yu Tong wouldst for years. For such a powerful opponent, so long as he had a chance, he would attack her in every possible way.

    Repeatedly humiliated, Yu Tong¡¯s face was as cold as frost. She wished that she could turn around and kill him.

    However, whenever she wanted to make a move, Nie Tian would move the saber closer towards her delicate face to remind her that she was his captive, and also what would happen to her if she dared to make a move.

    Yu Tong¡¯s breath became rapid. Her ample, elegantly curved breasts slightly trembled.

    Nie Tian was so close to her that he was able to smell the tempting, sweet fragrance from behind her ears. When Nie Tian once again opened his mouth to speak, his eyes were caught by her rapidly rising and falling chest.

    For some unknown reason, Nie Tian seemed to be possessed by something. Dizzy and confused, he stuck out his tongue and licked Yu Tong¡¯s earlobe.

    Yu Tong¡¯s body suddenly tensed up.

    She seemed muddle-headed at first and didn¡¯t understand what had just happened.

    But merely in a sh, she came to realize what Nie Tian had just done to her.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    With no regard of the curved saber that was held close to her face, Yu Tong seemed to have lost her mind. She forcefully turned around and tried to kill him at all cost.

    Yu Tong¡¯s beautiful pupils were burning with a raging me. She was like an enraged female lion, wishing to tear Nie Tian apart and swallow him alive.

    Feng Luo saw Nie Tian¡¯s action and was also instantly enraged. ¡°You pervy little bastard!¡±

    Nie Tian had the audacity to take advantage of Yu Tong!

    Fuming with rage, he summoned countless blood shadows, together with beams of fierce blood-colored light from the blood pool under his feet, and shot them towards Nie Tian.

    Finding himself in the wrong, Nie Tian didn¡¯t cut Yu Tong when she forcefully struggled free. As Yu Tong madly turned around to attack him, a cowardly thought rose in his heart for the first time.

    After reiming his sober mind, he felt a bit embarrassed and realized what he had done to Yu Tong.

    ¡°Ahem. Umm... I don¡¯t know what happened to me just now.¡±

    Looking very awkward, he immediately stepped back while attempting tomunicate with the Fire Dragon.

    In the next moment, the Fire Dragon twisted its ming body, that was now almost forty meters long, and suddenly charged towards Feng Luo.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, turned around and, without sparing the furious Feng Luo and Yu Tong another nce, sped off in the direction of Pan Tao and the others.

 Chapter 117: A Catastrophe Looms!

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Yu Tong¡¯s sharp screech echoed out from behind Nie Tian, filled with bone-chilling hatred.

    ¡°Little bastard! You can¡¯t run away!¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s roar was like a sudden p of thunder that was filled with frenzy.

    However, Nie Tianpletely ignored him and had no ns of turning around at all. Instead, he further increased his speed to chase after An Shiyi, Pan Tao, and the others.

    ¡°That woman¡¯s fragrance is quite pleasant...¡± he secretly thought to himself.

    He also didn¡¯t understand why he had lost his sound mind and licked Yu Tong¡¯s earlobe.

    At the time, he had felt that the fragrance on Yu Tong was really quite nice to smell. His eyes had been caught by the fine curves on Yu Tong¡¯s chest and her jade-like earlobe that had only been inches away from him. All of a sudden, he had failed to control the desire in his heart and made such a preposterous move.

    After that, he also felt that it was very inappropriate. Therefore, when Yu Tong resisted with full strength, he didn¡¯t make that cut with the de.

    However, when he turned around and sped away, he tried not to dwell on the matter, and told himself that not making that sh had already neutralized the rude action that he hadmitted.

    In that way, he cast the whole thing out of his head.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    World-shaking rumbles were still echoing out from the distant short mountain. An enormous surge seemed to have started with that mountain as the center, gradually rippling outwards and affecting the surrounding mountains.

    Anxious to rejoin Pan Tao and the others, he didn¡¯t know what was happening there and didn¡¯t have the time to look back. Right now, time was of the essence.

    He also didn¡¯t know how long the Fire Dragon would be able to stall Feng Luo, or whether or not Feng Luo would catch up to him.

    He unceasingly released his mental awareness and spread it out to the surroundings as he advanced forward, looking for traces of the spiritual aura of An Shiyi and the others.

    BOOM!

    An enormous rumble suddenly came from a mountain not far from him. That short mountain shook violently, as if it were about to copse.

    CRUNCH!

    Deep, narrow gorges suddenly cracked opened below him, within which the faintly flickering glow ofva could be seen, as if smolderingva was about to flow out of them at any moment.

    ¡°This is not good!¡±

    He constantly jumped about to avoid the gradually widening gorges. Suddenly, his heart shook as he realized that an even more terrible catastrophe was looming.

    The Heaven Burning Earth me formation had been used to seal the Earth me Beast deep underground, and also to stop the eruption of magma. By joining forces and chiseling a hole in it, the me Dragon Armor and the Earth me Beast had caused great damages to the giant, underground formation, and now it was copsing!

    Only when the Heaven Burning Earth me hadpletely lost its effectiveness, would the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range undergo such drastic changes!

    The magma which existed within the depths of the earth¡¯s core of the Scarlet me Mountain Range was now no longer held back by the restrictive force of the grand spell formation, and raging mes andva were now finding their way out in every area of the mountain range!

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before all of the so-called extinct volcanoes in the Scarlet me Mountain Range became active and spewed out terrifying, burningva.

    Just as he was pondering in his reverie, An Shiyi¡¯s soft cry suddenly rang out, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    He looked into the direction which her voice hade from, and saw that An Shiyi and the others were anxiously looking at him from the foot of a sparsely vegetated mountain.

    Only after he got closer and everyone had a clear look at him, did they finally let out sighs of relief.

    However, he could still see the anxiety and uneasiness within their eyes, as if they had an even more enormous problem waiting for them.

    ¡°Why did you guys stop here?¡± Nie Tian asked with a surprised expression.

    ording to his calctions, An Shiyi and the others should have been somewhere further away by this time, not here.

    The ce they were currently at was too dangerously close to Feng Luo and Yu Tong. Once they broke free, they would be able to get to that ce within a short time.

    If Feng Luo had cast away the idea of helping Yu Tong wipe out her mental devil, and had simply gone all out to kill them, Nie Tian and his group would already be dead.

    Nie Tian said in an urgent tone, ¡°This ce isn¡¯t safe! Let¡¯s move out!¡±

    ¡°We also wanted to get further away, but...¡± A bitter look appeared on Pan Tao¡¯s face, as he walked to Nie Tian and pointed to the area in front of them. ¡°See for yourself.¡±

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and immediately understood why Pan Tao and the others had stopped.

    In front of Pan Tao and the others was a wide gorge that ran deep into the earth¡¯s core, within which boilingva was slowly surging up to the brim.

    Considering their cultivation bases, the gorge was too wide for them to cross.

    If they had tried to cross it despite the danger, they would have an eighty or ny percent chance of falling into the seethingva, and getting themselves reduced to gore.

    ¡°Instead of falling into theva and getting burnt to death, I¡¯d rather battle Feng Luo to the death. Even if we die in battle, it¡¯d still be better than dying in theva.¡± An Ying sighed.

    A scorching red mist rose from the boilingva within the gorge, making everyone feel as if they were being roasted alive. Soon they were all soaked in sweat.

    Thatva was still unceasingly rising. It seemed like it would soon spill over, flowing everywhere.

    ¡°This....¡± Looking at theva, Nie Tian was also at the end of his wits.

    Only Qi warriors who had stepped into the Profound Realm, like his master, would possess the ability to soar through the sky, and therefore be able to fly across the gorge.

    Other than them, only powerful Qi warriors who possessed spiritual tools that could carry them into the sky would be able to do the same.

    However, just by the expressions on An Shiyi¡¯s and Pan Tao¡¯s faces, he could tell that none of them had that kind of special spiritual tool.

    While they were pondering how to cross the gorge, an even more violent surge came from a bald mountain peak nearby.

    ¡°Look over there!¡± Jiang Lingzhu cried out while pointing into a direction.

    On the sides of the mountain, boilingva suddenly spewed out of a number of enormous caves. Following the shaking of that mountain, the streams ofva seemed to be controlled by some unknown force, and shot right up into the sky like a fountain. After reaching their peak, they fell loudly back to the earth like ming waterfalls.

    In an instant, that part of the sky and earth seemed to have be a sea ofva, not allowing any living creatures to survive.

    ¡°NO!¡±

    At that moment, a vague yet somewhat familiar figure jumped out from one of the enormous caves, wailing miserably.

    The second that man left the cave, boiling, redva spewed out of the cave behind him.

    Just as he reached the point that he would start to drop from the air, the surgingva caught up to him and devoured him.

    Although Nie Tian and his group were looking from quite a distance away, they saw perfectly clearly that his flesh had been instantly melted by theva.

    When that fountain-like stream ofva reached its peak and dropped towards the ground, the man was already stripped of his skin and flesh, and reduced to a melting skeleton, falling to the ground together with the smolderingva.

    They all knew that before even reaching the ground, his bones... would bepletely melted.

    ¡°That was Fei Li.¡± An Shiyi¡¯s expression wasplicated as she spoke.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t see anycence on her face, but on the contrary, he saw helplessness and bitterness since they were actually in a simr situation.

    Nie Tian knew how much An Shiyi had hated Fei Li and wished for his death. However, now that Fei Li had truly died, and in an extreme miserable way, she actually didn¡¯t feel the slightest bit of joy.

    The reason why she felt that way was because she felt that she would soon suffer same fate as Fei Li.

    ¡°Staying here isn¡¯t the way,¡± Pan Tao¡¯s eyes searched around and he suddenly said, ¡°There are some mountains nearby that haven¡¯t copsed yet. Considering the situation we are in, it would be impossible for us to get out of here beforeva fills the Scarlet me Mountain Range. Instead of staying here, why don¡¯t we go find a mountain that hasn¡¯t copsed, and temporarily hide on its peak.

    ¡°Of course, this may not change the result, and we could still die in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    ¡°However, we might be able tost a bit longer after theva covers thend of the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    ¡°Perhaps, we can find a way to escape within that period of time. Or... someone may discover us and save us.¡±

    Pan Tao looked towards the crowd and gave his suggestion, the idea that seemed wisest at the moment.

    ¡°Pan Tao is right.¡± An Shiyi was the first one to agree.

    She forced herself to calm down and observe the surrounding mountains. She spotted a stone mountain, on sides of which there weren¡¯t too many caves. Despite the violent earthquakes, that mountain was still standing tall and didn¡¯t show any signs of copsing.

    ¡°That one!¡± She pointed towards that stone mountain.

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian also noticed the tenacity of that mountain. He nodded and said, ¡°Alright! It¡¯s decided then. Let¡¯s run to the peak of that mountain at our fastest speed!¡±

    By that time, everyone had reached an agreement and tossed away their delusions of crossing the enormous gorge. They turned around and rushed towards the nearby mountain.

    CRACKLE!

    On their way to the mountain, the earth kept shaking violently, forming more and more long, narrow gorges on the ground.

    Apanied by the loud rumbles, a few nearby mountains could no longer bear the intense quakes and were about to copse, while some other ones were spewing out tons of burningva.

    ¡°Hurry!¡±

    They drew from their spiritual power and ran madly forward, crossing many long and narrow gorges, and avoiding many streams of slow-flowingva before gradually reaching that stone mountain.

    ¡°Hurry and get to the top!¡±

    Constantly helping each other, they dashed towards the peak of the mountain through the craggy stone path.

 Chapter 118: Purgatory of Burning Lava

    At the same time...

    HUFF! HUFF!

    In the middle of its fierce fight with Feng Luo, the 40-meter-long, partly-shaped fire dragon seemed to have received some kind of summoning, and suddenly flew towards the short mountain that Nie Tian had escaped from.

    It had gathered a considerable amount of power from the air, and it carried the aura of a formidable me Dragon.

    Currently, it seemed to be attracted by the me Dragon Armor. It abandoned Feng Luo and stopped attempting to buy Nie Tian more time to escape.

    The Fire Dragon had left. However, Feng Luo didn¡¯t have the slightest bit of relief on his face; quite on the contrary, it became increasingly grim.

    Moments ago, he was fuming with rage and wished to drain and refine all of Nie Tian¡¯s blood.

    As Yu Tong¡¯s martial uncle, the obscene action that Nie Tian had done to Yu Tong made him extremely angry.

    However, he had stopped thinking about the possible damage that Nie Tian could inflict on Yu Tong¡¯s soul. Instead, his eyes and all his attention were locked on the nearby trembling mountains and the unceasingly cracking earth.

    Yu Tong had also calmed down from her previous frenzied state.

    ¡°Uncle Feng, what¡¯s happening to the Scarlet me Mountain Range?¡± She sounded panicked.

    Mountains copsed and cracked open, revealingva-filled gorges that fractured the earth. All of this signified that the Scarlet me Mountain Range was undergoing a world-changing upheaval.

    Facing such a heavenly power, she was seized by a deep feeling of powerlessness, and felt that she might be destined to die there.

    That threat of death was so terrifying that it even made her temporarily forget about what Nie Tian had done to her.

    ¡°Now I know why An Shiyi would say something like that just now. They... knew what would happen, and they knew that the Scarlet me Mountain Range was about to undergo a drastic change!¡± Feng Luo took a deep breath and looked off into the direction of the Spiritual Treasure sect. His expression as dark as the deepest ocean, he said, ¡°This time, our operation against the Spiritual Treasure sect might be greatly affected by what¡¯s happening to the Scarlet me Mountain Range. Many of us may die too.¡±

    The area that they were in was already rather far from the valley of the Spiritual Treasure sect. However, he knew that because of what was happening, the most afflicted area might be the valley where the Spiritual Treasure sect was located.

    Arge group of experts from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect were there, but only two of them were in the Profound Realm, and thus possessed the ability to soar in the sky.

    The others¡¯ cultivation bases hadn¡¯t reached the stage that would allow them to fly, which meant that besides those two, all the other experts from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect would have to face the same desperate situation that Yu Tong and he were facing now.

    Perhaps they would face something even more desperate.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± asked Yu Tong.

    Feng Luo didn¡¯t answer right away, but rather took advantage of his profound Greater Heaven cultivation base and unleashed his formidable psychic awareness to scan the area and search for An Shiyi and Nie Tian.

    After a long moment passed, he opened his eyes and said, ¡°It seems that Nie Tian and his group have also run out of options. Now they are charging towards the peak of a mountain. By doing that, they may be able to dy their deaths for a period of time; it¡¯s hard to say how long it¡¯ll take for theva to reach them and if there¡¯s going to be other forms of danger. However, their choice is a wise one!¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡± Yu Tong asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ll do the same thing,¡± Feng Luo said decisively. ¡°We¡¯ll choose a mountain that seems sturdy, and go to its peak. Then we¡¯ll wait for an opportunity to present itself!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Yu Tong replied.

    The two of them adopted Nie Tian and An Shiyi¡¯s method. They looked around and found a nearby mountain that looked like it wasn¡¯t going to copse any time soon, and immediately charged over.

    On the top of another mountain...

    Nie Tian and the others were all panting heavily. They had spent so much energy climbing up the mountain that the moment they got to the top, they dropped to the ground, exhausted.

    Normally, they would take out spirit stones and use them to recover their lost energy at the first possible moment.

    However, they simply weren¡¯t in the mood to restore their strength for the moment. Instead, they all cast their desperate gazes towards the surrounding mountains and rivers below them. Panic and restlessness filled their faces.

    They heard heaven-shaking rumbles echo out from the mountains around them. They saw two of them shake violently from side to side and secondster, numerous cracks appeared on the bodies of those two mountains, indicating they were about to cave in.

    On the ground below the mountains, countless cracks were split open by the terrifying shaking.

    Lava was already flowing out of the cracks and gradually spreading out to low-lying areas.

    Many rivers were were now filled withva and had turned into zing rivers of fire. If any living thing fell inside, they would suffer the same fate as Fei Li, and be vaporized without even leaving behind their bones.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    A terrifying roar echoed out from the short mountain that they had escaped from.

    Standing on the summit of the mountain, they looked into that direction with their full attention, and discovered that the short mountain had already copsed and been reduced to many gigantic rocks which rolled out into the surrounding area.

    They saw the figure of an enormous beast that was covered in raging mes suddenly fly out of the copsed short mountain. The moment it broke free, it threw its head back and roared to vent its burning rage.

    Around the mountain that the beast had rushed out of, one short mountain after another continuously shook violently and was constantly hit by the surging magma from the earth¡¯s core.

    The beast roared for a moment, and after getting a hold of its bearings, it sped off into the distance.

    The beast was like a burning meteor with a tail of raging mes. The direction that it chose to charge in was none other than the location of the valley of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Because of the exceedingly far distance, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t get a clear look of the beast¡¯s appearance. He could only faintly see that it had a body of a lizard, with four legs, a head that resembled that of a Qilin, and three enormous, ming tails.

    The Earth me Beast was probably a hundred meters long, and the aura it released was so intimidating that it seemed to be able to suffocate humans.

    An Shiyi¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°It¡¯s at least a sixth grade spirit beast!¡±

    A sixth grade spirit beast¡¯s strength could even match that of a Qi warrior of the Profound Realm. Even Nie Tian¡¯s master Wu Ji was only at the Profound Realm.

    However, the Profound Realm cultivation base was already the pinnacle for Qi warriors in the Realm of me Heaven. The Hell sect had two Profound Realm experts, while the other sects each had one who had stepped into the Profound Realm.

    Being a sixth grade spirit beast, the Earth me Beast could be viewed as a terrifying existence across the entire Heaven Leaving Domain, as it was actually at the peak of the pyramid.

    Other than Wu Ji, Fang Hui, and the other Qi warriors at their level, anyone else who were to get in its way would definitely be drowned by theva mes that it breathed, and be reduced to a bloody mess.

    WHOOSH!

    It wasn¡¯t long before the Earth me Beast flew further and further away, and finally disappeared from their line of sight. Like a fleeting, burning meteor, it shot towards the area where the Spiritual Treasure sect was.

    ¡°Perhaps, it wasn¡¯t a bad thing that it broke out from the earth¡¯s core,¡± said Pan Tao.

    Everyone was puzzled as they looked toward him.

    With a bitter smile, Pan Tao said, ¡°If it was at another time, the escape of the Earth me Beast would doom the Spiritual Treasure sect. However, now... the Spiritual Treasure sect is being ravaged by the alliance of the Blood sect and the Ghost sect, and is already on the verge of being destroyed.

    ¡°After the Earth me Beast charged out of the earth¡¯s core, it might not only view disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect as its enemies. It¡¯ll attack every Qi warrior that it sees!

    ¡°The Earth me Beast is extremely grumpy. Having been sealed within the deepest part of the earth for decades, it definitely hates all human Qi warriors. So everyone will be deemed as targets to exterminate.¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s expression flickered and with a nod, she said, ¡°That makes sense. With its appearance, perhaps... the situation within the valley can be changed. Those from the Ghost sect and the Blood sect definitely won¡¯t imagine that there has been such a terrifying spirit beast hidden within the depths of the earth under the Scarlet me Mountain Range.¡±

    While they exchanged ideas, Nie Tian didn¡¯t speak, but rather used his soul to sense the existence of the me Dragon Armor.

    He noticed that, when the Earth me Beast charged out of the earth core and headed towards the Spiritual Treasure sect, the magical me Dragon Armor didn¡¯t go along with it.

    He could sense that the me Dragon Armor had remained in the earth¡¯s core under the short mountain... it seemed to have immersed itself deep in the ocean of magma, using the zing me power of the magma to restore something.

    He had a sudden enlightenment. ¡°The me Dragon Armor was damaged?¡±

    Pointing in a direction, Jiang Lingzhu eximed, ¡°Look! Over there!¡±

    When everyone looked over, they saw that there seemed to be two human figures on top of another standing mountain that was not very far away from them.

    An Shiyi narrowed her eyes to get a better look of the two figures, then she said, ¡°It¡¯s Feng Luo and Yu Tong. Those two are pretty lucky. I can¡¯t believe they actually survived and found a safe ce like ours.¡±

    Pan Tao felt relieved and said, ¡°That¡¯s actually good news. Lucky for us, they didn¡¯t catch up to us. If they did, and got up the mountain where we are, we would have nowhere to run.¡±

    After hearing his theory, everyone thought about it, and also let out sighs of relief.

    They all realized that the reason why they could escape from Feng Luo and Yu Tong waspletely because Feng Luo was too confident and insisted on Yu Tong killing Nie Tian herself, to help her get rid of her inner devil.

    If Feng Luo hadn¡¯t behaved so arrogantly, but instead went all out to attack Nie Tian, no matter how many mysterious tricks Nie Tian had up his sleeves, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to help everyone escape.

    Everyone talked to each other about the situation they were facing, about how grateful they were to still be alive, and about how uncertain they felt their future looked.

    However, they werepletely unaware how lucky they actually were to have a peaceful ce to stand on and the privilege of talking to each other.

    That was because, at the moment, the Spiritual Treasure sect was already full of scattered corpses. Countless experts from the Ghost sect, the Blood sect, Qi warriors of the Spiritual Treasure sect, as well as guests from other sects that hade to participate in the Treasure Convention had all suffered significant casualties.

    While they were in the middle of their fierce battles, the earth under their feet suddenly started to shake violently, and then the three volcanoes that had always stood tall in three directions of the valley, suddenly erupted with zingva.

    In a split second, the eruption of the three volcanoes turned the valley into a purgatory of burning molten rock!

    Just as everyone was shrieking with fear and speeding away in all directions, the Earth me Beast that had just broken free suddenly appeared from the sky. Like a ming meteor, it plummeted toward the mountain valley.

 Chapter 119: Great Calamities Are Always Followed by Great Fortunes

    While the Spiritual Treasure sect was being baptized by unending, bloody battles, Nie Tian and his party were quietly sitting down at the peak of the stone mountain, waiting.

    They had already used spirit stones to recover the spirit energy that they had lost earlier. Currently, they were gazing off in the direction of the Spiritual Treasure sect, unsure of what to do next.

    The low-lying ground around the mountain had already been turned into a sea of boilingva, and many mountains had copsed.

    Unless they could grow wings, there was no possibility that they could leave the Scarlet me Mountain Range, which had already turned into a purgatory of smolderingva.

    Fortunately, because of the food deficiency incident that they had endured in the Green Illusion dimension, Jiang Lingzhu and Pan Tao had both picked up the habit of storingrge amounts of dried meat in their bracelets of holding. Therefore, no one was worried about food.

    Time flew. The day passed and night descended.

    When the cold crescent moon once again rose into the night sky, the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range had already be dazzling and bright due to theva that was practically everywhere.

    Pan Tao looked off into the distance. Face grim, he said, ¡°After this battle, not only our sect, but the Ghost sect and Blood sect will also suffer great losses. They would never have thought that there was a terrifyingly strong Earth me Beast hidden within the earth¡¯s core under the Scarlet me Mountain Range. God knows how long that Earth me Beast had been confined there, and for how many years it has been gathering enough me energy to form enoughva to fill the entire Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    ¡°Admittedly, our sect will suffer disastrous losses after this battle. However, I believe that the Ghost sect and the Blood sect will also regret invading us.¡±

    An Shiyi heaved a sigh and said, ¡°If the Ghost sect, the Blood sect, and our sect all suffer great damages because of this incident, and the three Profound realm experts also sustain different degrees of injuries, this might cause a profound andsting impact on the entire Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Pan Tao seemed to have thought of something, and his expression slightly flickered.

    Curious, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What are you worrying about?¡±

    ¡°The nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars aren¡¯t exactly getting along peacefully.¡± Pan Tao frowned. ¡°If Lai Yi and his people can use the ancient inter-spacial teleportation portal to get to the Realm of me Heaven, so can others. If experts from the other eight realms learn about the ongoing turbulences in the Realm of me Heaven, and that the major sects have all taken heavy blows, perhaps they wille up with the idea of invading our realm.

    ¡°Although fights between realms are pretty rare, it doesn¡¯t mean that they have never happened before.

    ¡°No matter how bitter and fierce the internal fights are in the Realm of me Heaven, they won¡¯t be evenparable to inter-realm wars. If an inter-realm war were to break out, that would be the ultimate danger to the Realm of me Heaven. If that day actuallyes, people will be plunged into an abyss of misery. Qi warriors, mortals, mountains andkes, cultivation Blessed Lands, and spirit beasts could all disappear because of it.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°An inter-realm war!¡±

    He had also learned from his master Wu Ji that the nine realms hadn¡¯t always maintained peaceful rtions, and that wars would break out between them every now and then.

    ording to Wu Ji, even at present, two realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars were still engaged in a bloody war which had already dragged on for over a hundred years...

    In inter-realm wars, whether it was the scale, or the number of experts that participated in them, or the damages that were caused to both realms, they would all far surpass the internal wars in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Furthermore, ording to Wu Ji, there seemed to have been more than nine realms within the Domain of the Falling Stars once upon a time.

    Some realms had been gued by never ending wars and ended up damaged to a point where they were no longer suitable for any living creature to inhabit. Now, those realms were no longer part of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The most terrifying result of an inter-realm war would be an entire realm beingpletely destroyed and turned into a wastnd.

    At that moment, An Ying pointed to a river ofva and joyfully said, ¡°Sister! Look! Look what¡¯s in theva river!¡±

    Everyone looked over with rapt attention, and noticed that there were shiny, crystal-like gems in theva river. Even though they were within a river of mes, it was hard to cover up their radiance.

    They were transparent, sparkling, and reflected red res like shining stars within the burning river.

    An Shiyi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°me Crystals! Those are level two Premium grade fire-attributed spirit materials!¡±

    Surprised, Pan Tao said, ¡°It seems that, with the eruption of the magma, the me Crystals, products of the condensation of the pure power of fire, were flooded out of the depths of the earth¡¯s core. They are a true blessing. To any equipment forger, or fire-attributed cultivator, me Crystals can be considered as very rare and valuable items.

    ¡°What a waste. If only we could collect some of them. We would make a fortune out of them.

    ¡°Not only are me Crystals very hard to find in the Realm of me Heaven, they are also highly valued in the other eight realms, and can be traded for many treasures.¡±

    Those who knew about how valuable the me crystals were, all had greedy looks in their eyes, but their faces were filled with pity and disappointment.

    ¡°Over there!¡± Jiang Lingzhu extended her arm and pointed towards an enormous rock.

    That rock came from a surrounding mountain that had recently copsed. Following the copse of the mountain, it had rolled out from the belly of the mountain.

    Embedded in the huge rock, sparkling and brilliant strings of me could be seen, which were very much resembled the crystal-like ribbons that Nie Tian had previously seen in the depths of the earth¡¯s core. There were faint, mysterious patterns of me within each of them, and those patterns... seemed to be constantly flowing, as if there was some kind of profound truth about the power of fire hidden within them.

    ¡°They have me channels inside! They are... Earthme Crystal Strings!¡± An Shiyi¡¯s body shook with excitement, and a brilliant light shed across her pupils. Eyes fixed on the glittering strings of me, she excitedly said, ¡°They are level seven Premium grade spirit materials! There are me channels within the Earthme Crystal Strings, within which lie the secrets of the me power! They are indispensable materials if one wishes to forge Spirit Channeling grade fire-attributed spiritual tools!

    ¡°Even Qi warriors who don¡¯t refine spiritual tools or practice fire incantations can use the crystal channels within the Earthme Crystal Strings to gain enlightenment of the profundity of me power hidden within them!

    ¡°The depths of the earth¡¯s core under the Scarlet me Mountain Range has actually created the perfect environment to give birth to Earth Fire Crystal Strings! This is definitely thanks to the Earth me Beast!¡±

    An Shiyi was endlessly excited, and she danced about as she shouted. Her appearance suggested that she wished that she could immediately charge down to collect those Earth Fire Crystal Strings.

    ¡°God damn!¡± Pan Tao cried out. ¡°Feng Luo and that witch Yu Tong have made a move!¡±

    Nie Tian looked over toward the other mountain peak, and discovered that Feng Luo and Yu Tong were sliding down from the top of the mountain.

    At the foot of that mountain, there was also a longva river, within which arge number of me Crystals were sparkling with bright light.

    ¡°Do they want to die?¡± After a moment of silent pondering, Jiang Lingzhu continued, ¡°Wait a minute! There¡¯s actually is a way that will allow us to collect the me Crystals! As long as we put big rocks in theva river, we can step on them to gradually move closer to the side of thatva creek where we can then use our spiritual tools to fish up those me Crystals from the river!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone became thrilled and mored to get down the mountain and collect the me Crystals.

    As they knew, the me Crystals were considerably valuable, especially for disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect, since their sect might not be there when the whole thing was over. If they could gain some me Crystals, they could still use them to exchange for the spirit stones and spirit materials needed for their cultivation.

    If there was an opportunity, they could even leave the Realm of me Heaven and exchange them for high-ranked spiritual tools in other realms!

    As the saying goes, birds die for food, people die for money. Despite the fact that they hadn¡¯t truly escaped danger and their future was still full of uncertainty, every one of them was now seething with excitement due to the appearance of the me Crystals.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t expressed his stance in this, yet the group of people had already moved out, imitating Feng Luo and Yu Tong by descending from the mountaintop.

    ¡°These guys...¡± He whispered to himself.

    However, he didn¡¯t want to stay behind on the mountaintop by himself. Thus, he followed them down.

    The mountain wasn¡¯t high, and it took far less time to get down the mountain than to climb to the top. An hourter, they had all arrived at the foot of the mountain. An Shiyi and the others lifted up enormous rocks from the bank of theva river and continuously hurled them into theva.

    The huge stones continued to pile up from the bottom of the river. When everyone saw that the rocks had piled to a point where they were protruding out of theva¡¯s surface, they all became high in spirits and excitement could be seen on their faces.

    Before long, the rocks that had stuck out formed a line of stepping stones that led into the creek that contained sparkling me Crystals.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    An Shiyi lunged forward so quickly that she turned into a line of fiery light, and in the next moment, she gracefullynded on the rock that was the closest to the bank.

    She only adjusted for a moment before continuing to jump to the next rock. Using the rocks as stepping stones, she headed towards the target creek.

    Behind her, An Ying and Pan Tao followed suit and jumped forward, as they also longed for the me Crystals which they could make good use of in the future.

    Nie Tian was about to move out when he suddenly sensed the aura of the me Dragon Armor. He couldn¡¯t help but narrowed his eyes to sense it with rapt attention.

    He found that the me Dragon Armor was still quite far away from him. Apparently, it had already flown out from the depths of the earth, and was now wandering about in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Just like them, it also seemed to be collecting something.

 Chapter 120: Spirit Channeling Precious Treasure

    In a ce that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see, the me Dragon Armor flew out of the depths of the earth¡¯s core and soared into the night sky.

    At that moment, it floated in the air, emanating fierce, fiery light like a wildly burning sun.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the me Dragon Armor whistled across the sky and arrived above ake of boilingva.

    There were hundreds of stones of various sizes within it, with the smaller ones being the size of millstones and the bigger ones being as huge as tall buildings.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    As soon as the me Dragon Armor shifted there and stopped in the air over theva pool, those stones of various sizes all exploded into pieces.

    After two of the enormous rocks shattered, dazzling Earthme Crystal Strings appeared from within the rubble like slender, ming ribbons.

    In the next moment, those Earthme Crystal Strings, filled with profound essence of fire, were manipted by the me Dragon Armor and turned into beams of fiery light that suddenly shot towards the armor itself.

    The light beams were like water drops that had merged into the sea. Once they touched the me Dragon Armor, they instantly vanished into it, not even leaving a trace.

    On the other hand, fragmented ancient magical symbols appeared on the surface of the me Dragon Armor, along with delicate me patterns.

    After it absorbed all the Earthme Crystal Strings within thevake, the me Dragon Armor flew away and proceeded towards its next target.

    The me Dragon Armor, which had left Nie Tian and spent some time in the magma of the earth¡¯s core, seemed to have developed a fully independent consciousness. It unceasingly sought out Earthme Crystal Strings within the Scarlet me Mountain Range and absorbed them one after another.

    Meanwhile, Gan Kang and Lai Yi were standing inside of a vast cave that was close to the peak of a certain cave-filled mountain

    Even Gan Kang had not foreseen the heaven-shaking changes that had urred in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. He had originally nned to leave with Lai Yi and go to the Realm of Dark Underworld, but was now trapped by theva that had filled every corner of the mountain range.

    Lai Yi, who came from the Realm of Dark Underworld, was both excited and worried. ¡°Earth me Beast! There was actually an Earth me Beast deep within the earth¡¯s core under the Scarlet me Mountain Range!¡±

    He shouted at Gan Kang, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about this? Aren¡¯t you the fifth highest ranked equipment forging expert of the Treasure school? Don¡¯t tell me that...even you didn¡¯t know that it was hiding under there!¡±

    Gan Kang shook his head. With anplicated expression, he said, ¡°I really didn¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Lai Yi¡¯s eyebrows knitted together. ¡°My two friends have already been killed by experts from the Blood sect. With the Earth me Beast having broken free, the Scarlet me Mountain Range is in a state of total chaos. We need to leave this ce as soon as possible. If we stay here for too long, it will be very dangerous for us both.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how we can get out of here,¡± Gan Kang said helplessly.

    While the two of them were speaking, the me Dragon Armor, which was burning like a sun, suddenly flew over.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Numerous stones in the river below the me Dragon Armor suddenly exploded into fragments.

    The sparkling Earthme Crystal Strings within the shattered stones appeared and released an intoxicating, fiery light.

    They could faintly see many snaking, criss-crossed me channels within them, wherein seemed to lie the secret truth of me power.

    Knowing about how precious the Earthme Crystal Strings were, Lai Yi suddenly let out a screech of excitement, ¡°Earthme Crystal Strings! There are Earthme Crystal Strings over there!¡±

    However, only secondster, he found that the Earthme Crystal Strings that flew out of the shattered stones had all been absorbed by the me Dragon Armor, and after taking in the Earthme Crystal Strings, the fiery light that it emanated became even more bright and dazzling.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor...¡± Lai Yi gnashed his teeth.

    ¡°A Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool!¡± Gan Kang¡¯s expression suddenly flickered.

    He stared fixedly at the me Dragon Armor and shouted, ¡°Lai Yi, that armor that you put up for sale in the Treasure Pavilion is a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool! Why did it not show any signs of its uniqueness previously, and why didn¡¯t you tell me that it was such a rare spiritual tool?!¡±

    Gan Kang¡¯s biggest dream was to craft a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool and therefore be promoted to a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger.

    Clearly, the fact that Lai Yi possessed a Spirit Channeling grade spirit equipment but didn¡¯t let Gan Kang study the mysteries within it had made him extremely angry.

    Lai Yi snorted and said, ¡°Do you really think that I would take it out and sell it in the Spiritual Treasure sect if it was truly an intact Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool? The me Dragon Armor was iplete, and greatly damaged. Without the nourishment of those precious Earthme Crystal Strings, it couldn¡¯t possibly disy its true strength, even though it integrated with the Blood Core.

    ¡°And the Blood Core was with Nie Tian!

    ¡°If I had obtained the Blood Core from him when we were at the cave entrance and sealed the me Dragon Armor away, I would have brought it back to my master in the Realm of Dark Underworld. If I seeded, I would dly ept any kind of losses within the Realm of me Heaven, no matter how great they were.

    ¡°Unfortunately...¡±

    With these words, Lai Yi¡¯s expression turned grim and disheartened. ¡°After the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor fused, and the me Dragon Armor has slowly healed its damage by absorbing the Earthme Crystal Strings.

    ¡°Every Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool has its own soul, and now the soul of the me Dragon Armor is already fully awakened. Even I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything now.¡±

    Gan Kang was taken aback by his words. He asked, ¡°Who forged the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Lai Yi shook his head and said, ¡°I only know that itsst owner died somewhere in a wasted realm within the Domain of the Falling Stars. My master participated in that war. Afterwards, he looted the severely damaged me Dragon Armor, but couldn¡¯t find the Blood Core.

    ¡°We traveled everywhere to ask about the whereabouts of the Blood Core, and went to farthest corners of the domain to search for it. Only recently did we learn that after changing hands many times, it finally drifted to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Actually, bying to the Realm of me Heaven, we had hoped find the Blood Core, merge it with the me Dragon Armor, and bring thepleted me Dragon Armor back to our master.

    ¡°Who could have thought not only did we failed to obtain the Blood Core, but we even lost the me Dragon Armor. The only thing that I can do now is to return to the Realm of Dark Underworld as soon as possible, inform my master of the strange things that are happening here, and see how he wants to take care of it.¡±

    Gan Kang¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he¡¯ll personallye to the Realm of me Heaven for the me Dragon Armor?!¡±

    With a vigorous nod, Lai Yi said, ¡°Yes, he will! In order to get the me Dragon Armor, he will spare no cost!¡±

    ...

    Meanwhile, back near Nie Tian and his group...

    Via the line of stepping stones that An Shiyi and the others had made, Nie Tian arrived in front of the creek that had me Crystals in them, and started collecting me Crystals with the others.

    He took out the crescent de that he had obtained during his fight with Yu Tong, and used it to fish up a me Crystal that was as red as heated iron. As soon as he pulled it out of the river ofva, he quickly stored it in his bracelet of holding.

    Using this method, he managed to pick up a total of eight me Crystals from the boiling river. His heart was filled with joy.

    Jiang Lingzhu, An Ying, and the others shouted and wrangled.

    ¡°Here¡¯s another one!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! So many high-ranked me Crystals! As long as we can get out of here alive, then we will all make a good fortune out of them!¡±

    "Hurry! Get more of them!¡±

    With ted expressions on their face, they concentrated all their energy on gathering me Crystals.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows raised as he suddenly sensed the aura of the me Dragon Armor.

    He stopped with his hands, and carefully scanned the area with his psychic power. He discovered that the me Dragon Armor was rapidly closing in on him, and its speed was getting quicker and quicker.

    He immediately looked into the direction that he had detected the aura of the me Dragon Armor!

    In the next moment, the violently burning me Dragon Armor showed up in his vision, charging over towards them from the distant night sky like a ming meteor.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± An Ying stood aghast.

    One after another, everyone who had been collecting me Crystals sensed the anomaly. They all stood up straight and looked towards the source of the approaching ball of me.

    After awhile, the meteor-like me Dragon Armor came closer and stopped over an area that was rich in Earthme Crystal Strings.

    ¡°The F-me Dragon Armor!¡± Eyes wide, Jiang Lingzhu stammered, ¡°Uh... isn¡¯t that the armor that you bought in the Treasure Convention?¡± She looked towards Nie Tian, bbergasted.

    Because the me Dragon Armor had been too heavy for Nie Tian, he had once asked her to store it. She recognized it at first nce.

    ¡°It really is that armor!¡± Ye Gumo was also stunned.

    BAM! BAM!

    In the next moment, the enormous stones that had Earthme Crystal Strings inside them, suddenly exploded into pieces, and numerous strings seemed to be drawn toward the me Dragon Armor, rapidly merging into it.

    ¡°It¡¯s floating in the air and moving on its own ount! This...¡± Pan Tao was at a momentary loss of words before he suddenly eximed, ¡°It can¡¯t be a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool, can it?¡±

    At that moment, everyone forgot about the me Crystals, and stared nkly at the me Dragon Armor that was collecting the Earthme Crystal Strings, their minds in total chaos.

    ¡°A Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool!?¡±

    Throughout the entire Realm of me Heaven, the number of the spiritual tools that had reached the Spirit Channeling grade could be counted with one hand.

    At present, no one in the Realm of me Heaven was skilled enough to forge a tool of that level, not even the most powerful equipment forger of the Treasure school, Fang Hui.

    All the Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools that currently existed within the Realm of me Heaven had been in their respective sects for many years, and were considered as mystical treasures that symbolized their sects.

    The me Dragon Armor that Nie Tian had bought in the Treasure Convention for nine thousand spirit stones was actually a spiritual tool of that level!?

    They simply couldn¡¯t believe it.

    **

    Feng Luo and Yu Tong, who were on the bank of anotherva creek not far away, also stared at the me Dragon Armor that was emanating violent mes with shock written all over their faces. ¡°That¡¯s a precious treasure of the Spirit Channeling grade!¡±

    They even forgot to put the me Crystals that were in their hands into their bracelets of holding.

    ¡°Wu Ji treats this disciple of his a bit too good, doesn¡¯t he?¡± Feng Luo muttered. ¡°He actually gave such a precious treasure to the Lesser Heaven stage Nie Tian? What the hell was he thinking?

    ¡°Little Tong, it wasn¡¯t your fault that you lost. There¡¯s absolutely no need for you to dwell on it.¡±

    What he didn¡¯t know was that the me Dragon Armor was actually purchased by Nie Tian at the Treasure Convention, and not bestowed by Wu Ji.

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    Having finished absorbing all the Earthme Crystal Strings in that area, the me Dragon Armor once again whistled away and disappeared into the distance.

    However, when it flew further and further away, a wisp of a vague soul will came from the me Dragon Armor and directly reached Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    ¡°So you need the Earthme Crystal Strings.¡± Nie Tian instantly understood its intentions.

 Chapter 121: The Reappearance of the Thunder Beast

    The me Dragon Armor gradually got further and further away until itpletely disappeared into the distant sky.

    ¡°A Spirit Channeling grade precious treasure!¡±

    Caught in tremendous shock, everyone¡¯s eyes were fixed on the me Dragon Armor as it flew away.

    Nie Tian¡¯s tightly knitted eyebrows slowly rxed as he whispered to himself, ¡°It seems that after absorbing the numerous Earthme Crystal Strings, its hidden soul has finally fully awakened.¡±

    The dragon bone, also known as the Blood Core, had been in his possession since he was one year old, however, Nie Tian had nevermunicated with it before.

    Not long ago, when the blood stone drained had all of the me power within the mecloud gem mine and condensed it into a blood drop, he had only seen a few of its abnormalities. However, he never noticed any trace of the soul aura.

    Only when the me Dragon Armor abandoned him and drilled into the earth¡¯s core on its own ount, despite his calling, did hee to realize that the Blood Core might have its own consciousness.

    However at that time, he could only faintly sense some kind of connection between him and the Blood Core.

    But just a moment ago, he had clearly received a wisp of a miraculous soul fluctuation from the Blood Core.

    That soul fluctuation went straight to his soul sea, making him instantly understand that the seemingly strange behaviors of the me Dragon Armor were precisely for the purpose of collecting the Earthme Crystal Strings from the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    It seemed that the me Dragon Armor needed them to further awaken its soul and at the same time, repair the damages it had sustained.

    From the soul intent that it had transmitted to him, Nie Tian understood that the me Dragon Armor would return to his side after it had finished gathering every single remaining Earthme Crystal String in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    He immediately felt reassured.

    ¡°Hey!¡± Separated by numerous magma-filled ravines and creeks, Feng Luo was standing on top of a huge rock. He suddenly let out a cunningugh and said, ¡±entric Wu has indeed be a dotard; he actually bestowed a Spirit Channeling grade treasure upon a Lesser Heaven stage kid! Did he forget that Spirit Channeling grade treasures have their own souls?

    ¡°The soul is what truly controls the Spirit Channeling grade treasure. The souls choose those who can use them.

    ¡°How would a Spirit Channeling grade treasure be willing to be manipted by a weakling at Lesser Heaven stage?

    ¡°Now look at this! The Spirit Channeling grade treasure that entric Wu had gone through great lengths to obtain, has left on its own ount. Knowing about this, entric Wu will regret giving it to Nie Tian to the point that his intestines turn green!¡±

    To make sure that Nie Tian and his group could hear him, Feng Luo intentionally raised his voice, and yelled in a taunting tone.

    As he saw it, the departure of the me Dragon Armor was because it looked down upon its new owner Nie Tian due to hisck of strength and poor cultivation base, and deemed him undeserving to use it. As a result, it abandoned Nie Tian.

    Even though he mocked Nie Tian with his words, his eyes seemed to be fixed in the direction that the me Dragon Armor had left in, his face filled with jealousy.

    Spirit Channeling grade treasures were extremely rare in the Realm of me Heaven. He found it somewhat frustrating to watch such a precious and rare treasure slip away from in front of his eyes, while he could do nothing to stop it.

    Nie Tian turned a deaf ear towards his mockery. With a tranquil and calm face, he seemed totally indifferent.

    Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo, who knew that the me Dragon Armor had actually been bought by Nie Tian at the Treasure Convention, did not respond to Feng Luo, but instead, looked towards Nie Tian, not saying a word.

    When An Shiyi, An Ying, and Pan Tao saw that the me Dragon Armor had left, they secretly felt anxious for Nie Tian.

    ¡°Well...¡± Jiang Lingzhu hesitated for a while and asked, ¡°did you know that it was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure when you bought it?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Pan Tao and the others all became intrigued, and also cast their gaze towards Nie Tian, eyes wide.

    By that point, they had learned that the me Dragon Armor was something that Nie Tian had obtained at the Treasure Convention. However, they were all shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s perfect judgment, and his insightful eyes that were bright like a torch.

    Being capable of identifying a Spirit Channeling grade treasure and obtaining it before it showed any sign of its brilliance, that kind of ability... should be something that only the top equipment forgers like Fang Hui could possess.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t." Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°It was pure luck!¡±

    ¡°Save it!¡± Jiang Lingzhu red at him out of the corner of her eye and snorted. ¡°Uncle Liu already told me everything. He said that the me Dragon Armor had been appraised by equipment forgers of the Treasure school to be nothing but a third level Medium grade spiritual tool, which definitely wasn¡¯t worth nine thousand spirit stones! No one showed any interest in it even though it had been disyed for so long. Why did you set your mind on it and want to buy it when everyone else advised you against it and wouldn¡¯t even bother to ask about it?¡±

    ¡°Third level Medium grade?¡± Pan Tao smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Those useless morons of the Treasure school! They couldn¡¯t even tell that it was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    Among the crowd, An Shiyi was the only one who had calmly pondered for a while before saying, ¡±It¡¯s unlikely that those people in the Treasure Pavilion were mistaken. There must have been some abnormalities in the me Dragon Armor before. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been appraised as a third level Medium grade spiritual tool. Oh, right. The me Dragon Armor belonged to that foreign Qi warrior Lai Yi, who previously demanded you to hand over some Blood Core. Does the Blood Core he spoke of have anything to do with the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re pretty smart, Sister An.¡± Nie Tian smiled, but did not borate.

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, everyone was convinced that the reason me Dragon Armor didn¡¯t show any abnormalities early on must have something to do with so-called Blood Core in Nie Tian¡¯s possession.

    Ye Gumo was confused. ¡°Nie Tian, howe you don¡¯t seem sad at all? The me Dragon Armor is a Spirit Channeling grade precious treasure, and since it has abandoned you and left, shouldn¡¯t you be fuming with anger or drowning in regret?¡±

    ¡°It was something I obtained by luck in the first ce, so losing it isn¡¯t a big deal.¡± Nie Tian sounded like he didn¡¯t care at all.

    Jiang Lingzhu was the first one to voice her disbelief. ¡°What kind of fools do you take us for!¡±

    After the me Dragon Armor had left, everyone chattered on and on about it. They talked about the miraculousness of the me Dragon Armor as they went on to collect more me Crystals.

    The group of people spent half the night collecting all of the me Crystals that could be seen in theva creek.

    They saw a few me Crystals in a distantvake, glittering with sparkling, fiery light under the night sky.

    However, theke was full ofva and seemed much deeper than the creek. It would be far more difficult to fish up those me Crystals from the bottom of theke.

    Besides, theke was too far away from them, and there weren¡¯t enough fallen stones around them that they could use to make a path all the way to the pond.

    After a few attempts, they were convinced that it was indeed an impossible task, and returned to the mountain peak through the path they hade from.

    Later that night, the party returned once again to the mountaintop, where they silently checked the me Crystals that they had gathered.

    There was a small pile of me Crystals stored within Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding. He counted a total of neen pieces.

    As a Premium grade spiritual material, one me Crystal had the value of nearly a thousand mecloud gems, the kind that the Nie n used to mine. To match the value of those neen me Crystals, the Nie n would have to mine mecloud gems for about ten years.

    Nie Tian secretly sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°So the things that the entire Nie n gains for ten years of hard work could just barely match the value of a handful me Crystals.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t until then did he understand the how big of a difference there was between spiritual materials of different grades.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Deep into the night, terrifying rumbles echoed out from the direction of the Spiritual Treasure sect, which were asionally apanied by the violent howl of the Earth me Beast.

    Even though there was a significant distance between them, the thunderous roars of the Earth me Beast could still be heard, which indicated that the formidable Earth me Beast was now in a frantic state.

    Everyone at the mountain peak all had grim faces as they realized that the loud noises came from the Spiritual Treasure sect. They did not have a clue of how bad the situation was over there.

    Feeling insecure at heart, they all waited in silence.

    As the curtain of night lifted and daylight shone on the Realm of me Heaven, the thunderous howls continued to ring out from the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    It wasn¡¯t until the day gradually darkened again did the attentive crowd notice that the levels of theva that had filled the mountain range started to slowly go down as theva seeped back into the earth.

    This discovery greatly raised everyone¡¯s spirits, and let them see the hope to survive.

    It was precisely the burningva that had kept them from leaving the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Once theva seeped back into the earth and the ground reappeared, they would get the opportunity to escape from the troublesome Scarlet me Mountain Range and get somewhere safe.

    Sitting quietly on the mountaintop and gazing into the distance, Nie Tian suddenly felt a faint, unusual movement. ¡°Hmm!"

    The unusual movement came from within his bracelet of holding, more specifically from themand medallion that his master Wu Ji had given him.

    Puzzled, he took out themand medallion. He carefully examined it but did not see any abnormalities.

    However, secondster, the sharp cry of the Thunder Beast echoed out from deep within the clouds.

    ¡°The Thunder Beast!¡± Nie Tian eyes immediately glittered with light of excitement.

    Since the Thunder Beast was able to fly him to the Spiritual Treasure sect, it could also take him and soar away from the Scarlet me Mountain Range, pulling him out of this troublesome ce.

    After more consideration regarding the unusual movement of themand medallion, he suddenly realized that the Thunder Beast must have been looking for him all around the Scarlet me Mountain Range via the connection between it and themand medallion.

    There seemed be a certain effective range to the connection between them. Perhaps, the Thunder Beast had already been around in other parts of the Scarlet me Mountain Range for a long time.

    It wasn¡¯t until now that the Thunder Beast finally flew to this area and detected the aura of themand medallion.

    ¡°That¡¯s senior Wu¡¯s Thunder Beast! We are saved!¡± Pan Tao seemed overjoyed.

    The others also sprung to their feet. Everyone¡¯s spirits were lifted as they watched the Thunder Beast slowly approaching from the distant sky, with its outline bing increasingly clear.

    Not long after, the Thunder Beast arrived andnded next to Nie Tian.

    Upon touching the ground, it fixed its seemingly intelligent eyes on Nie Tian, as if it was urging him to climb up on its back.

    After pondering for awhile, Nie Tian looked into the Thunder Beast¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°All of us need to leave the Scarlet me Mountain Range as soon as possible. You¡¯ll need to let other people to climb onto your back before I do. Otherwise, I refuse to leave.¡±

    He knew that this Thunder Beast was arrogant and hard to tame. Before, it wasn¡¯t even willing to take Nie Tian to the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    It was all because of Wu Ji¡¯s deterrence that the Thunder Beast chose to submit and bring Nie Tian to the Spiritual Treasure sect, albeit reluctantly.

    The Thunder Beast¡¯s back was wide enough to take everyone and leave. However, Nie Tian feared that it wouldn¡¯t be willing to undertake such an arduous but fruitless job.

    As expected, as soon as it heard that it need to take everyone along, the Thunder Beast immediately let out a bellow, making its discontent evident to everyone present.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to continue with his persuasion, An Shiyi pursed her lips and smiled. She took out three green jade pieces that flickered with lightning from her bracelet of holding and held them near the mouth of the Thunder Beast.

    The Thunder Beast looked down at them, and its eyes suddenly lit up. It instantly swallowed all of them, as if it feared that An Shiyi would take them back.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay now.¡± An Shiyi smiled sweetly and gently fondled the neck of the Thunder Beast before taking the initiative to climb onto its back.

    Not only did the Thunder Beast not resist, it even bent forward so that it would be easier for her to get up.

    A strange expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. Eyes wide, he stared at the iparably gentle Thunder Beast and said, ¡°Now I finally understand why you were so reluctant to take me before. It was all because I didn¡¯t give you anything in return!¡±

    The Thunder Beast let out another bellow, as if it was saying to Nie Tian, you got that right.

 Chapter 122: The Knack of Creating Wealth

    ¡°Green Lightning gems!¡±

    Pan Tao eximed softly as he watched the Thunder Beast swallow the handful of green, jade-like gems. Then he looked into his bracelet of holding to see if he had simr spiritual materials with him.

    He realized that that this fifth grade Thunder Beast had already developed its own intelligence. It was its own master and was not something that could be easily deceived.

    The Thunder Beast was a lightning-attributed spirit beast, therefore its cultivation relied on the power of thunder and lightning. Even though the Green Lightning gems were just Elementary grade spiritual materials, they happened to be very suitable for the upgrade of the Thunder Beast¡¯s bloodline since they had lightning power within them.

    Pan Tao took a while to go through his belongings, yet couldn¡¯t find any lightning-attributed spiritual materials. Then he cursed inwardly, ¡°God damn! I didn¡¯t store any Green Lightning gems.¡±

    Nie Tian looked at the Thunder Beast with cold eyes, noticing that it stood up immediately after An Shiyi got on its back.

    The Thunder Beast¡¯s pupils shone with a greedy light as it stared at Pan Tao and the others, as if it were waiting for something.

    ¡°Three Green Lightning gems are not enough for you!?¡± Nie Tian scolded.

    The Thunder Beast cast a cold re at him, and then ignored him. Then it continued to stare at Pan Tao and the others, urging them along with its eyes.

    It was telling them to follow An Shiyi¡¯s example, and win its favor by offering it lightning-attributed spiritual materials. Only then would it agree to take everyone along with it.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Sitting on the Thunder Beast¡¯s back, An Shiyi suddenlyughed, turning her delicate face into a blossomed flower. Dark pupils glittering with captivating, bright light, she seemed to havee up with a good idea.

    ¡°Here!¡± She took out three more Green Lightning gems, and passed them down along the Thunder Beast¡¯s neck to its mouth.

    The Thunder Beast swallowed all of them at once and let out a satisfied low-pitched cry, a joyous expression appearing on its face.

    ¡°Her!¡± An Shiyi lifted her lily-white hand and pointed at An Ying. She said, ¡±You cane up.¡±

    An Ying went nk for a moment, but she soon realized what her sister meant and walked towards the Thunder Beast with a faint smile on her face.

    The Thunder Beast once again gently crouched low and bent forward on the ground, letting An Ying climb onto its back effortlessly.

    ¡°This spirit beast is... quite interesting.¡± An Ying smiled charmingly as she mounted the Thunder Beast and sat behind her sister, curiously scrutinizing the creature from head to foot.

    Not long after she sat down, the Thunder Beast abruptly stood up again and cast an angry look towards Pan Tao.

    Pan Tao stood next to the Thunder Beast awkwardly and gave an embarrassed smile.

    Originally, he had nned to secretly climb up the back of the Thunder Beast while An Ying made her way up. However, the Thunder Beast saw through his little scheme in time and had warned him to put a stop to his tricks.

    ¡°Brother Ye,¡± Jiang Lingzhu asked softly, ¡°do you have any lightning-attributed spiritual materials with you?¡±

    Ye Gumo shook his head and said while scratching his hair, ¡±I¡¯ve looked through all my stuff, and can¡¯t even find one thunder or lightning attributed spiritual material. Damn this Thunder Beast. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t allow us to climb up its back unless we feed it and please it.¡±

    ¡°I have long since heard about this beast¡¯s snobbishness and greed for treasure,¡± Jiang Lingzhu said in a cursing tone, ¡°but I¡¯ve never thought it would go this far! We are disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect, and it¡¯s a spirit beast reared by our martial granduncle. I can¡¯t believe that it¡¯s actually imposing its greed on us!¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s dark pupils shone with brilliant light. ¡°Well... I still have quite a few Green Lightning gems in my bracelet of holding.¡± ncing at Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and Ye Gumo from the corner of her eyes, she said with a smile, ¡°Pan Tao, we are both disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect, so I won¡¯t rip you off. You¡¯ll just need to give me three me Crystals and I¡¯ll offer you three Green Lightning gems in exchange. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°Is this the way to do business, Big Sister An?¡± Pan Tao almost sprung into the air with anger. He said, ¡°Green Lightning gems are only Elementary grade lightning-attributed spiritual materials, but me Crystals are Premium grade fire-attributed spiritual materials! You couldn¡¯t possibly be confused about the huge difference between a Premium grade spiritual material and a Elementary grade spiritual material, could you!?¡±

    ¡°One me Crystal could at least convert into seven hundred Green Lightning gems. Yet, you want to use three Green Lightning gems to exchange for three me Crystals from me. Isn¡¯t that a bit excessive?¡±

    An Shiyi pursed up her lips into a smile. Then she spread out her hands and said, ¡±So that means no deal?¡±

    The appearance of the Thunder Beast had allowed her to see the opportunity to escape from the desperate straits. She knew that since this unusual beast was here, they would be able to get out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range very quickly.

    With that in mind, she put her heart at ease and decided to take the opportunity to plunder as much loot as possible.

    ¡°No, no deal!¡± Pan Tao said with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    ¡°So be it.¡± An Shiyi showed an indifferent attitude.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, smiled widely, thinking to himself that the resourceful woman in front of him was the true An Shiyi.

    An Shiyi seemed to be born with a knack for business dealings and gaining profits. Nie Tian had heard before that the businesses that she had previously managed for the Spiritual Treasure sect had all earned abundant profits.

    Aside from her outstanding innate cultivation talent, her skill in the business field was what had caused the sect master to regard her highly.

    Today, Nie Tian had finally witnessed An Shiyi¡¯s remarkable ability to plunder wealth.

    Pan Tao stared at An Shiyi angrily. He took out a me Crystal and held it near to the Thunder Beast¡¯s mouth. ¡°These are me Crystals! They are way more precious than those Green Lightning gems. I¡¯m willing to use this me Crystal to exchange for the opportunity to leave Scarlet me Mountain Range!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Thunder Beast let out a puff of foul breath that wasced with fine strands of lightning bolts. It did not even spare the me Crystal a nce before turning its head to look towards thevake in the distance.

    There seemed to be arge number of me Crystals embedded at the bottom of thatke, glittering with bright and fiery light.

    By doing that, the Thunder Beast seemed to be telling Pan Tao that the me Crystals he had were not even worth a dime to it. Since the me Crystals could be found everywhere in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, it was far from enough to make it carry one more person.

    ¡°You foolish beast!¡± Pan Tao stamped with fury.

    However, the Thunder Beast didn¡¯t care at all, and kept puffing out foul breaths that were generated from its refinement of the Green Lightning gems.

    Calm and well-paced, An Shiyi proceeded to offer a thorough analysis. ¡°You should know that the Scarlet me Mountain Range is not safe. Nobody has any idea what the situation is over at the Spiritual Treasure sect. If the Earth me Beast is still ravaging the valley and if theva seeps back into the earth, many survivors, who were previously trapped on mountaintop like us, will all be able to move again soon enough.

    ¡°All other people aside, Feng Luo and Yu Tong are still quite close to us.

    ¡°Without the hindrance of theva-filled rivers and gorges, I believe that Feng Luo and Yu Tong would rush here without the slightest hesitation and murder everyone here all at the first possible moment.

    ¡°And this is only the situation as we know it. There could be even more experts out there that we don¡¯t know about.

    ¡°Wasting more time in the Scarlet me Mountain Range is very unwise; it would put us in even greater danger.¡±

    An Shiyi frowned slightly, and with a dignified tone, she exined to the crowd about the serious situation they were in. ¡°Plus, everyone has collected a lot of me Crystals just now. Taking out a few to exchange for an opportunity to live, from what I see, is very wise and worthy.¡±

    Nie Tian found it quite interesting to listen to her speak and see her use a scrutinizing gaze to look at Pan Tao and the others. Unknowingly, the corner of his mouth curled up into a smile.

    He had already seen through An Shiyi¡¯s n. Clearly, she had seized an exceptional opportunity to loot a few me Crystals from the hands of Pan Tao and the others.

    ¡°Fine! You win!¡± Pan Tao snorted. He obediently took out three me Crystals, waved them towards An Shiyi, and said, ¡°They are yours now!¡±

    An Shiyi put on a sweet smile. ¡°Smart choice.¡± She took out three Green Lightning gems and passed them to the Thunder Beast. After the Thunder Beast swallowed them, she pointed her finger at Pan Tao.

    As expected, after swallowing the Green Lightning gems, the Thunder Beast obediently crouched down and let Pan Tao up on its back.

    After Pan Tao climbed up, he handed the three me Crystals in his hand to An Ying, and let her pass them onto An Shiyi, who was at the front.

    ¡°So what about you?¡± An Shiyi turned to look at Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo.

    Jiang Lingzhu cursed in a low voice, ¡°Mean old woman!¡± However, she also had no other choice but to take out three me Crystals and wave them towards An Shiyi.

    With a bitter smile, Ye Gumo did the same.

    An Shiyi shook her head and with a tone that sounded as if it couldn¡¯t be more natural, she said, ¡°Sorry, three is not enough. Pan Tao and I are both from the Spiritual Treasure sect, and that¡¯s why he could exchange with me one for one. As for you guys... each of you needs to give me six me Crystals in exchange for three of my Green Lightning gems.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know if An Shiyi had long since nned for it in her heart or if she had overheard Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s curse just now. Whichever it was, An Shiyi seemed very determined.

    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Jiang Lingzhu almost burst with anger. She argued loudly, ¡°The Spiritual Treasure sect has already fallen into such sore conditions, and will probably need aid from the Cloudsoaring sect and the other two sects! And yet you want to ckmail me?¡±

    An Shiyi put away her smile and said with a in face, ¡°You¡¯re right, the Spiritual Treasure sect will suffer great damages after this cmity, and it may even disappear from the Realm of me Heaven. And that is the exact reason why I have to obtain as many precious spiritual materials as I can: so that my sister and I can have a secure future. If our sect is gone, then what will we sisters depend on to maintain our foothold in the Realm of me Heaven in the future?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Jiang Lingzhu fell into silence. She looked deeply towards An Shiyi and with a nod, she said, ¡°Fine, now I finally know how fierce you are. If the Spiritual Treasure sect is really destroyed, I¡¯ll personally ask my father to recruit you to the Cloudsoaring sect. We can really use a woman like you in our sect, even though your cultivation base doesn¡¯t stand out.¡±

    With these words, she took out three more me Crystals.

    The same went for Ye Gumo.

    An Shiyi then took out six Green Lightning gems and held it near the Thunder Beast¡¯s mouth. After swallowing them with one motion, the Thunder Beast crouched down once again, letting both Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo up on its back.

    By this point, Nie Tian was the only one standing on the ground.

    After both Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo mounted its back, the Thunder Beast once again stood up, and raised its head to look into the sky, like it didn¡¯t notice Nie Tian¡¯s presence.

    Originally, it was here to pick up Nie Tian and leave. However, since it had savored a sweet taste from others, it didn¡¯t n to let Nie Tian off.

    Looking at its arrogant andughable manner, Nie Tian realized that if he didn¡¯t want to cough up some treasure, he might have to waste a long time arguing with this asshole.

    However, just as An Shiyi had pointed out, the Scarlet me Mountain Range wasn¡¯t safe yet. He really could not afford to waste his time here.

    ¡°Sister An, I......¡± He reached into his bracelet of holding to get some me Crystals as he spoke.

    ¡°No, you don¡¯t need to pay me anything.¡± A wide smile stretched across An Shiyi¡¯s face. She smoothly tossed three Green Lightning gems to the Thunder Beast and squeezed back slightly, giving up the front spot. She waved her hand and said, ¡°Come on, get up.¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°Alright.¡± He jumped onto the back of the crouched Thunder Beast under the strange gazes of Pan Tao and Ye Gumo.

    He sat in the front spot. It was so crowded he and An Shiyi were practically stuck together. He threw a vigorous kick at the Thunder Beast and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    With a low-pitched cry, the Thunder Beast opened up its wings and soared into the sky. Under the gazes of Yu Tong and Feng Luo, they headed out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

 Chapter 123: Karma

    With Nie Tian and the others on its back, the Thunder Beast pped its enormous wings, and slowly disappeared from Feng Luo and Yu Tong¡¯s sight, heading out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    By that time, all the powerful experts who had the capability to fly out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range had long since left the disastrous location.

    Those who couldn¡¯t leave, but managed to survive the cmity, were all scattered on various mountain peaks or in caves, waiting for theva to seep back into the ground.

    Standing on top of a short stone mountain, Han Xin of the Mystic Mist sect pointed at the unusual beast in the distant sky. ¡°That¡¯s... a Thunder Beast!¡±

    Seeing that it was flying towards her, she waved her their hands at it in excitement.

    As it got closer, she caught sight of Nie Tian and his group, who were sitting on its back.

    Zheng Bing rose to his feet and looked up at the Thunder Beast, his eyes filled with astonishment. He said with surprise in his voice, ¡°They all made it!¡±

    Han Xin and him had been rather lucky. They did not encounter any trouble after parting ways with An Shiyi and the party. They had attempted to get out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range as soon as possible and then march straight towards the direction of the Mystic Mist sect.

    At first, their n went well. They were secretly d that they did not stay behind and wait for Nie Tian along with An Shiyi and the others.

    Butter, great changes urred in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. Ragingva had spouted out from the earth core. Running out of options, they too, like Nie Tian and the party, had chosen to take refuge on top of a stone peak.

    Very quickly after that, boilingva flooded the entire mountain range and numerous mountain peaks were separated from one another. Fortunately, they survived.

    For the past two days, they had been racking their brains, trying to think of ways to leave the Scarlet me Mountain Range, but none of their ideas ended up being feasible.

    Just as they were at their wits¡¯ end, the Thunder Beast soared through the sky, towards the mountain peak they were on. Having spotted Nie Tian and the others, Han Xin eagerly waved her hands in tion, hoping that Nie Tian and the others could see her and Zheng Bin.

    ¡°Take us with you, please!¡± Han Xin called out loudly.

    Face full of unquenchable excitement, she was practically bouncing with joy, as if she had finally seen a silver lining after waiting for so long.

    Zheng Bin, however, stayed silent and did not say a thing.

    Pan Tao lowered his chin as he saw Zheng Bin and Han Xin, who were standing on their toes on a mountain peak. He frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s them... What do you guys think we should do?¡±

    A few days ago, Nie Tian had sensed the me Dragon Armor¡¯s unusual changes while he was in the middle of his recuperation. After Zheng Bin and Han Xin realized that he had dashed off down into the tunnel, they had inwardly despised his recklessness, and thus chose to part ways with the group.

    To Pan Tao¡¯s surprise, they saw the two of them again when they could finally leave the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Sitting in the forefront, Nie Tian said with a in expression, ¡°It¡¯s too crowded here. We can¡¯t make enough room for two more people. Plus, the Thunder Beast may also not be able to take the weight.

    ¡°Furthermore, you have all seen that the Thunder Beast wasn¡¯t willing to take orders from me. As a matter of fact, it doesn¡¯t listen to me at all.¡±

    Sitting closely behind him, An Shiyi put both of her hands around his waist, but barely touching him. She turned her face to one side, and nced at Zheng Bin and Han Xin out of the corner of her eyes. She said with a nk tone, ¡°I have no more Green Lightning gems.¡±

    ¡°I think it¡¯s too crowded, too,¡± said Pan Tao.

    Ye Gumo said coldly, ¡°If the Thunder Beast carries too many people, I fear that it may not be able to stand the weight. What if it falls from the sky? We would all die together, wouldn¡¯t we?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu snorted and kicked the Thunder Beast¡¯s waist with her foot. She urged, ¡°Fly faster!¡±

    Although no one said it outright, they had all clearly expressed their stance on this matter, which was: No one wanted for the Thunder Beast to stop.

    Thereupon, despite Han Xin¡¯s excited shouts, the Thunder Beast whizzed by right over the peak where she and Zheng Bin were, without the slightest intention of stopping.

    ¡°They... They left...¡± Han Xin stood there bbergasted. Momentster, she suddenly gave out an ear-piercingly sharp scream, ¡°They actually abandoned us and left! Aren¡¯t the four sects supposed to be allies? How could they leave us like this?¡±

    Zheng Bin did not say anything, but rather heaved a sigh and bowed his head in silence.

    At that moment, a strong sense of regret filled his heart. He regretted the decision that he had made days ago.

    When Nie Tian had acted on his own ount and the others had no idea where he was, he and Han Xin had chosen to abandon them and march on by themselves for their own safety.

    Simrly today, when the Thunder Beast had found Nie Tian and carried the others away from the Scarlet me Mountain Range, they abandoned the two of them.

    Zheng Bin understood that they were reaping what they had sown.

    After the brief interlude with Zheng Bin and Han Xin, the crowd on the back of the Thunder Beast all fell into silence, no one starting a conversation.

    Nie Tian also did not utter a word.

    After a while, when the Thunder Beast was flying over a deepvake, Nie Tian once again sensed the aura of the me Dragon Armor.

    He was high up in the sky, while the me Dragon Armor was deep under the bottom of thevake. He could not see the me Dragon Armor with his eyes and could only faintly sense it with his psychic awareness.

    ¡°This ce is too dangerous, I am leaving.¡± He tried to convey his thoughts with his psychic power.

    Momentster, he received the me Dragon Armor¡¯s response in his soul sea.

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s response did not have any specific words, but instead, it was only a wisp of a miraculous soul fluctuation, which was already understandable to Nie Tian.

    The me Dragon Armor wanted him to leave, but also expressed that it would go and look for him in the future.

    ¡°It wille look for me in the future...¡±

    Feeling relieved, Nie Tian¡¯s expression immediately loosened up, knowing that it wouldn¡¯t take long for the me Dragon Armor to gather all the Earthme Crystal Strings in the Scarlet me Mountain Range and then return to his side.

    Pan Tao and the others didn¡¯t feel a thing when Nie Tianmunicated with the me Dragon Armor. Only An Shiyi, who was sitting closely behind him, turned her glittering eyes, and secretly looked down towards the deepvake.

    She moved closer towards Nie Tian¡¯s ear and asked softly with a voice that only the both of them could hear, ¡°The Spirit Channeling grade treasure...... is under thevake below us, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Her warm and soft voice, coupled with her plump breasts that were now pressed against his back, caused Nie Tian to feel a wave of numbing sensations throughout his body. His mind suddenly went nk along with it.

    Only after a while did Nie Tian slowly awake from his reverie. He responded, ¡°Yes.¡± His voice sounded heavy and rough.

    ¡°Just now, I sensed that a wisp of your psychic awareness, as fine as a thread, suddenly connect with another thread of soul awareness.¡± Looking at his somewhat embarrassed face, An Shiyi chuckled softly and said, ¡±You... canmunicate with it on a soul level, can¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Umm... it seems so,¡± Nie Tian mumbled.

    At that moment, An Shiyi had wrapped her arms around his lower waist. Her curvy physique was now closely pressed up against his back, while she whispered into his ear with a low and soft voice. This caused his blood to surge, making him feel confused and disorientated.

    It was the first time he had experienced something like this.

    An Shiyi made conversation with him along the way. Not knowing if she was doing it intentionally or if there was too little space on the back of the Thunder Beast, her ample breasts had been pressed against his back ever since they started talking.

    Nie Tian, who had never encountered anything like this, started to be muddle-headed, and almost couldn¡¯t make sense when answering An Shiyi¡¯s questions.

    By this point, Nie Tian¡¯s head had already been taken up by the image of An Shiyi¡¯s plump chest, their deformed outline as they were squeezed against his back, together with the raptured, wonderful sensationing from his back.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he fell into a state where he no longer knew what An Shiyi was asking and what he was answering.

    A long timeter, he felt An Shiyi gradually loosen her lily-white hands that were previously tightly wrapped around his waist. Furthermore, she slightly shifted backwards to put some distance between them, no longer pressing her body against him.

    Only at that moment did he gradually became clear-headed, and recover from the strange, bewildered state.

    ¡°Hey little punk, remove your hand from my leg...¡± An Shiyi whispered softly.

    Nie Tian was startled before he quickly realized in the next moment that his right hand had unknowingly stretched backwards andnded on An Shiyi¡¯s milky-white, slender leg.

    Despite being separated by a lightyer of muslin, he could still feel the perfect curve and tightness of her beautiful leg.

    ¡°Hurry up and remove your hand.¡± An Shiyi warned him again with a gentle voice.

    Nie Tian subconsciously turned his head to look at the part he was touching. Then he saw that An Shiyi¡¯s loose right sleeve was swaying softly like a curtain, covering her right thigh, and preventing An Ying, who was sitting behind her, from seeing what was happening.

    Nie Tian sensed that An Shiyi was quite nervous at the moment. She seemed to be afraid that An Ying would notice, misunderstood, and frown upon her sister.

    ¡°Well..." Nie Tian, who hade to his senses, understood her worries. He responded with a low voice and quickly retracted his hand.

    After that, Nie Tian didn¡¯t know why, but he actually put his hand under his nose and sniffed.

    ¡°You little jerk!¡± An Shiyi¡¯s gorgeous face was suddenly filled with a red glow. Seized by embarrassment, she bit her bottom lip, and scolded Nie Tian in a low voice.

    ¡°It smells so good.¡± Nie Tianughed quietly and foolishly.

    WHOOSH!

    Also at that moment, the Thunder Beast had finally flown out of the Scarlet me Mountain Range, speeding away in the direction of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    On the following day, at noon...

    When the Thunder Beast flew into ck Cloud City, it gradually slowed down and seemingly refused to go any further.

    It slowly descended in front of the main gate of ck Cloud City.

    Clueless, Jiang Lingzhu asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t the Cloudsoaring Mountain supposed to be our destination?¡±

    ck Cloud City was already quite close to Cloudsoaring Mountain. Considering the Thunder Beast¡¯s speed, given another fifteen minutes, they would have reached Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    However, the Thunder Beast chose to stop at this ce.

    ¡°I think...¡± An Shiyi was the first one to jump off the Thunder Beast. Looking at the vague outline of Cloudsoaring Mountain, she said, ¡°Maybe the Cloudsoaring sect is not safe.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s face turned pale.

    After a moment of pondering, An Shiyi stated her assessment, ¡°The Hell sect, Blood sect, and Ghost sect are all on the same side. However, only the Ghost sect and Blood sect invaded the Spiritual Treasure sect. The Cloudsoaring sect is rtively close to our sect. I believe that experts from the Hell sect are inying ambush around the perimeter of Cloudsoaring Mountain to prevent the Cloudsoaring sect froming to our aid.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, everyone came to realize the discouraging turn of events. Seeing that the Thunder Beast had no intent to set out again, they all jumped down one by one.

    Wu Tao from the Nie n was standing on top of the city gate. Waving his hand, he shouted, ¡°Nie Tian! The Cloudsoaring sect is not safe. The sectmaster has ordered everyone to stay in ck Cloud City, and none shall go to the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    Hearing his words, everyone instantly realized that An Shiyi¡¯s spections were correct.

    The Hell sect, the strongest among the three sects, had probably already assembled arge number of their powerful experts around Cloudsoaring Mountain, and even hadpletely sealed off the Cloudsoaring sect, so that no one would be able to get in or out.

 Chapter 124: Reappearance of the Strange Man

    ¡°Miss An! Little Ying!¡± An He from the An n shouted from the tower over the city gate, and raised his hand to greet them.

    Nie Tian looked up and discovered that it wasn¡¯t just Wu Tao and An He. Yun Zhiguo from the Yun n was also there.

    WHOOSH!

    After waiting for everyone to get off, the Thunder Beast fluttered its wings and soared into the sky. In a split second, it disappeared into the clouds.

    CREAAAK!

    The heavy city gates slowly opened, and with mood that simrly heavy, Nie Tian and his group walked into ck Cloud City.

    The great gate faced the direction of the Cloudsoaring Mountain, and normally, it would only close when it the night came.

    However, it was daytime now, yet the city gate was shut. Something was clearly amiss.

    After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian realized that they must have shut the city gate to guard against the experts of the Hell sect.

    However, the truth was that the Hell sect was much stronger than the Ghost sect and the Blood sect. If they truly wanted to breach defenses as weak as ck Cloud City¡¯s... how could they be held off?

    The moment she entered the city, Jiang Lingzhu said, ¡°My father ordered you to stay in ck Cloud City? Tell me what happened.¡±

    Wu Tao from the Nie nughed bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It seems that... Cloudsoaring Mountain has been surrounded.¡±

    ¡°Miss An, how about we head back to the n first?¡± An He asked.

    ¡°We¡¯ll go the the Nie n first.¡± An Shiyi replied. ¡°Also, tell the nmaster to go to the Nie n, too.¡±

    An He nodded. ¡°Sure, will do.¡±

    Right after that, everyone headed towards the Nie n. On their way, Wu Tao briefed them about what had happened over the past several days. ording to him, Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect suddenly came two days ago, and told everyone to not leave ck Cloud City at any time during the following few days.

    However, Li Fan didn¡¯t exin to them why. On the contrary, it was the Yun n, which was attached to the Grayvale sect, that had obtained some news, and discovered that many unfamiliar experts had been seen lurking around Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Standing on the tower over the city gate, Yun Zhiguo had aplicated expression on his face as he watched Nie Tian and the others walk towards the Nie n.

    ¡°The Thunder Beast... It seems that the kid has really been taken in as a disciple by the old immortal from the Cloudsoaring sect.¡± Yun Zhiguo heaved a sigh, knowing that because of Nie Tian, the Nie n¡¯s foothold within ck Cloud City would be more and more stable. Meanwhile, the Yun n... would no longer have the strength to contend against the Nie n.

    A whileter, Nie Tian and the others arrived at the Nie n.

    When Nie Donghai learned that Jiang Lingzhu had returned along with Nie Tian, he warmly came out to receive them, hoping to inquire about what had happened at Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Nie Qian also came out of her house to wee them.

    Before long, An Rong from the An n also rushed over to the Nie n after receiving the message from An He.

    The people of ck Cloud City hadn¡¯t received news about the enormous changes that had urred in the Spiritual Treasure sect. Powerful experts from the Blood sect and the Ghost sect had sealed off the entire Spiritual Treasure sect, causing all Sound Stones to lose effect.

    Everyone, including members of the Nie n and An Rong, assumed that Nie Tian had just returned from the Cloudsoaring sect, therefore they were curious about how they made it out of there.

    ¡°We¡¯ve escaped from the Spiritual Treasure sect.¡± An Shiyi let out a gentle sigh and exined everything in detail.

    She told them about the invasion of the Ghost sect and the Blood sect to the Spiritual Treasure sect, about the Earth me Beast crashing out of the depths of the earth¡¯s core, and about the Scarlet me Mountain Range being turned into a sea ofva.

    While she was exining these things, the elders of the Nie n also gathered around after receiving the news.

    After she finished speaking, the faces of all of the Nie n members, as well as An Rong and An He, turned extremely pale and grim.

    They had never expected that such heaven-shaking changes would ur in the Spiritual Treasure sect. The series of actions of the Hell sect, the Ghost sect, and the Blood sect had already given rise to a cruel domestic war within the Realm of me Heaven.

    Once a war like that was started, it couldn¡¯t be ended shortly, and would possiblyst for many years.

    The Nie n was only one of the subordinate ns that clung to the Cloudsoaring sect. In front of those powerful sects, which had dominated the Realm of me Heaven for centuries, the strength of the Nie n was so insignificant that it could be ignored.

    Once a realm-wide bloody war was waged, sooner orter it would drag every one of them into it.

    After considering the great bloodshed that would sweep across the peaceful Realm of me Heaven, both Nie Donghai and An Rong looked grim, fearful, and lost, all at the same time.

    Looking at the long-faced Nie Donghai, Nie Tian thought for a moment before taking out the case that contained the Spiritfount Pill.

    ¡°Grandfather, this is a Spiritfount Pill. It¡¯ll help rebuild your shattered spiritual sea.¡± With that, he passed it over.

    ¡°A Spiritfount Pill!?¡± Nie Donghai was taken aback.

    He didn¡¯t have a deep understanding regarding the grades and effects of the various types of pills, and thus hadn¡¯t even heard of the name Spiritfount Pill.

    The truth was that Spiritfount Pills rarely appeared in the Realm of me Heaven, and with his identity and status, he wouldn¡¯t ever have had a chance to even see one. Therefore, it was natural that he seemed a bit at lost.

    An Shiyi exined, ¡°This Spiritfount Pill is from the Realm of Dark Underworld. Its greatest function is to rebuild a broken spiritual sea.¡±

    Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    Nie Qian was also shocked. With a trembling voice, she asked, ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    An Shiyi gently nodded her head.

    ¡°Who would have thought... that I would live to see the day that I recover my spiritual sea and resume the path of cultivation.¡± The hand that Nie Donghai used to receive the case couldn¡¯t stop trembling, as he was already overwhelmed by excitement.

    For many years, he had been dreaming of rebuilding his spiritual sea so that he could continue to cultivate.

    Ever since his spiritual sea was destroyed, the gate to his cultivation had been closed forever. That was also why his position in the Nie n had suffered a disastrous decline, which allowed Nie Beichuan to seize the opportunity and take the position of the nmaster.

    After he lost his power, the n elders who had previously regarded him highly and supported him also gradually distanced themselves.

    He had shouldered far too much pressure during the past few years, pressure which had almost drowned him and suffocated his desire to resist.

    Were it not for Nie Tian making such great achievements and bing a disciple of the Cloudsoaring sect despite the rules, he would have lost everything.

    Nie Qian couldn¡¯t contain her joy. ¡°Father, we can take care of the matters in ck Cloud City! You should go back to your private room and use the Spiritfount Pill to rebuild your spiritual sea now!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Nie Donghai took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. After mentioning something to An Rong in private, he immediately rushed away.

    Every member of the Nie n turned to look at Nie Tian withplete and utter amazement. Many of them were deeply moved.

    Nie Tian had actually managed to obtain a precious pill from another realm during the Treasure Convention, a pill that could solve the problem that had been weighing down on Nie Donghai for many years.

    Furthermore, ording to Wu Tao, Nie Tian hade back to ck Cloud City on a miraculous, flying spirit beast.

    They only knew that Nie Tian had been epted by the Cloudsoaring sect. However, because of their insignificant status, they only heard that a mysterious expert in the Cloudsoaring sect had taken notice of Nie Tian, and didn¡¯t even know whether it was real or fake.

    Only now did they realize that the young man who previously only had brute force and no cultivation talent had already be an extraordinary figure, like a fish that had jumped through the dragon gate and be a dragon. (see note 1)

    All of a sudden, many n elders, who used to distance themselves from Nie Tian, became very generous with their praises. Faces filled with loving smiles, they rubbed Nie Tian¡¯s head to express their support and admiration.

    ¡°Hahaha! I always knew that you were beyond ordinary! Nevertheless, I never expected that you¡¯d actually get hold of such a miraculous pill for your grandfather!¡±

    ¡°Good child! The Nie n is proud of you!¡±

    ¡°Pleasee back and visit us when you have the time! All of the children in the n should take you as their role model!¡±

    It was no surprise to Nie Tian that the elders would act in such a way. After exchanging some pleasantries, he quickly made up an excuse saying that he was tired, and left the Nie n¡¯s main hall.

    An Rong wasn¡¯t as eager to leave. He and the An Sisters found a vacant guest room within the Nie n, and secretly discussed about what path the An n could follow if the Spiritual Treasure sect was truly gone.

    As for Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo, since they couldn¡¯t return to the Cloudsoaring sect, they could only temporarily stay in the Nie n and wait for news from the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Pan Tao also stayed in the Nie n.

    That night, Nie Tian, who was indeed exhausted, didn¡¯t practice cultivation in his room as he normally would. Instead, he just sat and meditated in silence.

    He pondered the sudden changes that had urred in the Realm of me Heaven, and the likelihood of the major sects waging a full-scale war with each other due to the brutal invasion that had taken ce in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Once it broke out, the war couldst years or even decades. Then, what should he do?

    Deep into the night...

    Still thinking hard but finding no answers, Nie Tian suddenly felt something and snapped open his eyes.

    Within the dark stone room, a vague figure gradually grew clearer.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    That figure seemed to have been condensed out of countless beams of underworldly light. Secondster, the mysterious light seemed to be absorbed into the figure.

    ¡°Long time no see, Nie Tian,¡± the person said with a calm voice.

    ¡°Mister Hua?¡± Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    The visitor in front of him was Hua Mu, the doctor that had saved his life several years ago.

    Hua Muughed softly. Then, without even the slightest warning, he took out two severed heads from within his sleeve, and ced them on the stone floor. He said, ¡°Do you recognize these two?¡±

    ¡°Gan Kang and Lai Yi?!¡± Nie Tian was dumbstruck.

    The human heads that Hua Mu ced on the floor clearly belonged to Gan Kang, the equipment forger of the Treasure school, and Lai Yi, the Qi warrior from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    ¡°These are the ones you know. There are a few others from the Realm of Dark Underworld who you don¡¯t know.¡± Hua Mu¡¯s expression was as calm as ever. ¡°I killed everyone who came from the Realm of Dark Underworld, so I believe the information about the me Dragon Armor won¡¯t leak out any time soon.¡±

    Note:

    ording to Chinese mythology, the Dragon¡¯s Gate is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. Many carp swim upstream against the river¡¯s strong current, but few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall. If a carp sessfully makes the jump, it is transformed into a powerful dragon. A Chinese dragon¡¯srge, conspicuous scales indicate its origin from a carp. The Chinese dragon has long been an auspicious symbol of great and benevolent, magical power. The image of a carp jumping over Dragon¡¯s Gate is an old and enduring Chinese cultural symbol for courage, perseverance, and aplishment. Historically, the dragon was the exclusive symbol of the emperor of China and the five-character expression, Liyu Tiao Long Men, was originally used as a metaphor for a person¡¯s sess in passing very difficult imperial examinations, required for entry into imperial administrative service. To this day, when a student from a remote country vige passes the rigorous national university examination in China, friends and family proudly refer to the ¡°Liyu Tiao Long Men.¡± More generally, the expression is used tomunicate that if a person works hard and diligently, sess will one day be achieved.

 Chapter 125: Heaven Gate, Realm Gate, and Domain Gate

    After recognizing that the person in his room was Hua Mu, Nie Tian didn¡¯t scream, but rather got up and bowed respectfully toward him.

    ¡°Mr. Hua, forgive me for my ignorance. Only recently did I realize how much effort you expended to save me.¡±

    By now he was already aware that Hua Mu was definitely not an ordinary person.

    His master Wu Ji had once told him, on the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain, that someone had refined his meridians and bones before him.

    ording to Wu Ji, even in the entire Realm of me Heaven, there were only a handful of people who were able to do what Hua Mu had done for him, which was practically giving him a brand new body.

    The rewards that his grandfather had granted Hua Mu in return for his kindness were so trivial that they could be ignored.

    Furthermore, back then Hua Mu had also promised to Nie Tian that he would help him heal his grandfather¡¯s scattered spiritual sea.

    Even at that time, he had realized that Hua Mu wasn¡¯t ordinary.

    Later, his master¡¯s assessment of Hua Mu had convinced him that Hua Mu was even more incredible and mysterious than he had originally thought.

    ¡°Alright, enough with the courtesy.¡± Hua Mu waved his hand, gesturing for him to cut the pleasantries and take a seat.

    After thanking him again, Nie Tian sat back down on the ground. With a puzzled face, he asked, ¡°Mr. Hua, why are you here? And why did you kill Gan Kang and Lai Yi?¡±

    Hua Mu swept his hand in the air and in the next second, Gan Kang and Lai Yi¡¯s heads disappeared.

    His deep eyes glittered with mysterious, dark-green light. ¡°Actually, it wasn¡¯t a coincidence that I showed up in ck Cloud City all those years ago.¡±

    Nie Tian was all ears.

    ¡°I came to the Realm of me Heaven to investigate the whereabouts of the Blood Core,¡± Hua Mu exined. ¡°After spending a long time gathering information, I learned that the Blood Core was obtained by Liu Yan from the Cloudsoaring sect. Then, after a series of secret investigations, I finally confirmed that the Blood Core ended up in the Nie n.

    ¡°The moment Iid eyes on you, I sensed the aura of the Blood Core.

    ¡°After realizing that the Blood Core was with you and that it seemed to have epted you as its owner, I decided to not only cure your fever, but also remove the impurities from your body.¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian said, ¡°Really? Back then, I just carried the animal bone along with me, and it didn¡¯t show any sign of its unique nature.¡±

    With a broadugh, Hua Mu said, ¡°You¡¯re right. But it was only because you were unable to feel the changes back then. As a matter of fact, it has long since epted you.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback by his words.

    ¡°Originally, the Blood Core and me Dragon Armor were a set, and I was very close to their former owner.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Hua Mu continued, ¡°Ever since their former owner died, the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor have been separated. Before the former owner died, I promised him that I would make the me Dragon Armor whole again and deliver it to the next owner that it picks.

    ¡°It turned out that the Blood Core chose you.

    ¡°The reason why Lai Yi brought the me Dragon Armor from the Realm of Dark Underworld was that I intentionally leaked the information to him that the Blood Core might have drifted to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°After collecting that information, Lai Yi obtained the me Dragon Armor from his master, hoping to use it to fish out the Blood Core.

    ¡°As of now, not only has the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core be a whole again, but it has also repaired its damage with the Earthme Crystal Strings that it collected from the Scarlet me Mountain Range after the drastic upheaval.

    ¡°Since the Blood Core chose you as its new owner, it will contact you through the link between your souls and return to your side by following your aura, after it has absorbed enough Earthme Crystal Strings.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°It was because of you that Lai Yi brought the me Dragon Armor to the Spiritual Treasure sect?!¡±

    Hua Mu slightly nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve already taken care of everyone who knows about the me Dragon Armor and Blood Core, and those who came from the Realm of Dark Underworld. I don¡¯t expect that the news of the Blood Core merging with me Dragon Armor will spread to the Realm of Dark Underworld any time soon, nor the fact that they are in your possession.¡±

    ¡°Why did you go to such great lengths to help me, Mr. Hua?¡± asked Nie Tian.

    ¡°For one thing, I did it to honor my word. I made the promise to reunite the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core, and let it choose its next owner.¡± With these words, Hua Mu remained silent for a while before saying, ¡°For another, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    ¡°A favor from me?¡± Nie Tian was aghast.

    He couldn¡¯t help but wonder to himself what a powerful expert like Hua Mu would possibly want from him. After all, Hua Mu had managed to set up a trap to lure Lai Yi to the Realm of me Heaven, and after that, kill him along with Gan Kang, as well as every foreign Qi warrior that hade for the Blood Core.

    He couldn¡¯t figure it out.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to do anything for me now because you don¡¯t have what it takes yet. However... perhaps someday you will.¡± After a brief hesitation, Hua Mu said, ¡°The Blood Core chose you for a reason. You have something on you that¡¯s very special. It¡¯s just that you can¡¯t understand it yet.

    ¡°The reason behind the Blood Core picking you as its new owner and your master taking you in as his disciple are one and the same; they both understood your uniqueness.

    ¡°As long as you can keep safe and keep up with your cultivation, some day in the future, you¡¯ll surely understand what I¡¯m talking about.

    ¡°Only when you¡¯ve reached a certain cultivation level and have the ability to fully disy the might of the me Dragon Armor, will I tell you what I want you to do.

    ¡°It¡¯s way too early now.¡±

    ¡°Alright, then." Nie Tian nodded and gave him his word. ¡°I promise you that when I¡¯m strong enough, I¡¯ll spare no effort to aplish your wish.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Hua Mu smiled, seemingly satisfied with Nie Tian¡¯s attitude, and continued, ¡°You¡¯re very lucky to have Wu Ji as your master. You can¡¯t possibly asked for a better mentor in the entire Realm of me Heaven. Wu Ji may not be the strongest cultivator in the Realm of me Heaven, but when ites to teaching, he¡¯s absolutely the most qualified.¡±

    Surprised by Hua Mu¡¯s words, Nie Tian prompted, ¡°Do you know my master?¡±

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°We haven¡¯t met in person, but I know of him.¡± Then his face suddenly turned serious as he said, ¡°Other than to kill those Realm of Dark Underworld cultivators who hade after the Blood Core, there¡¯s another reason why I¡¯m here. I need to inform you of a major event. Were it not for that, I would have left quietly after finishing off Gan Kang and Lai Yi, and I wouldn¡¯t havee to see you.¡±

    ¡°A major event?¡± Nie Tian was curious.

    With a deep breath, Hua Mu exined seriously, ¡°asionally, three gates will open in the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars. They are called the Heaven Gates, which only Qi warriors with a cultivation base of the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, or Greater Heaven stage are able to enter. Those three gates all lead to the same, wondrous dimension, where Qi warriors at the three Heaven stages can temper and train themselves.

    ¡°Aside from the Heaven Gates, there are also Realm Gates for Qi warriors of the Worldly realm, Profound realm, and Soul realm to enter.

    ¡°Last but not least, there are the Domain Gates, where only Qi warriors of the Void Domain, Saint Domain, and God Domain are able to enter.

    ¡°As far as I know, never have Realm Gates or Domain Gates ever appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Only Heaven Gates.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Heaven Gate, Realm Gate, and Domain Gate.¡±

    He had learned from Wu Ji that the cultivation base of a Qi warrior could be divided into ten stages.

    After the most basic Qi Refining stage were the three heaven stages: Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven.

    Then, there were the Worldly realm, Profound realm, and Soul realm.

    The Void Domain, Saint Domain, and God Domain were the top stages.

    It only happened every so often that the three Heaven Gates would be opened in different parts of the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and only Qi warriors of the three Heaven stages would be able to go through those gates and train.

    ording to Hua Mu, Realm Gates and Domain Gates would only appear in distant domains among the starry sky.

    As for the origins of those gates and why they would only appear every once in awhile, Hua Mu made no exnation.

    Hua Mu didn¡¯t give Nie Tian much time to digest all that information. He went on and exined, ¡°ording to the calctions and auguries of some great experts with divine abilities, one of the three Heaven Gates will open somewhere near the Hell sect in the Realm of me Heaven this time.

    ¡°Some people from the other realms have already secretly informed the Hell sect, the Blood sect, and the Ghost sect of it, with the intent to arrange for some of their cultivators of the three Heaven stages to enter the Heaven Gate which will appear near the Hell sect.

    ¡°Every Heaven Gate will only allow 100 participants. As soon as the Cloudsoaring sect, Spiritual Treasure sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect receive the message, they will undoubtedly spare no cost to arrange for their disciples of the three Heaven stages to get in there.

    ¡°By that time, if the Hell sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect were to stand in the way, fierce battles are bound to break out between the two sides.

    ¡°Therefore, knowing that war is inevitable, the other alliance decided to attack the Spiritual Treasure sect before you could receive the message. In that way, they would be able to weaken your side¡¯s strength and cripple your alliance before the war over the eligibility of entering the Heaven Gate.

    ¡°There are also powerful foreign forces backing the Hell sect, Blood sect, and Ghost sect, who don¡¯t n to allow your four sects to take any of their slots into the Heaven Gate.¡±

    After a brief pause, Hua Mu continued, ¡°However, it won¡¯t be long before the news spreads to the four sects. The Profound Realm expert from the Mystic Mist sect, who is out traveling in other realms, has already gotten the news from some foreign sources that one of the Heaven Gates will open up in the territory of the Hell sect.

    ¡°He¡¯s already on his way back to the Realm of me Heaven. With him hastilying back, either the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect will immediatelye to an end, or the battles will be even more brutal and ugly.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Realm of me Heaven will see a period of turbulence before the Heaven Gate is opened, and disciples from every sect will fight tooth and nail for the precious opportunities.¡±

    With a frown, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Is this Heaven Gate thing simr to the Green Illusion dimension trial?¡±

    ¡°The Green Illusion dimension!?¡± Hua Mu searched in his brain for a while before shaking his head and saying, ¡°No, the trial within the Heaven Gate is far more brutal and bloody than the Green Illusion dimension trial. All the participants will be Qi warriors with cultivation bases of the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages. What¡¯s more, Qi warriors from the Realm of me Heaven won¡¯t be the only ones to take part in the trial. Foreign cultivators of the three Heaven stages will also enter it through the two other Heaven Gates in the other nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°In there, you may get to see wonders that have never seen before. You may see relics from the ancient wars, or glimpse enlightenment that ancient Qi warriors drew from heaven and earth. There may be secret scripts of the alien ns carved on the mountains or in thekes. You may evene across Spirit Channeling grade precious treasures that areparable to the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°The other purpose of me seeing you this time is to inform you that the Heaven Gate is going to open up soon, so that you can pass on the news to your master in order for more people to know.

    ¡°Furthermore, I want you to do all you can to fight for an opportunity to enter the Heaven Gate.

    ¡°In that heaven and earth, you may possibly get to know the real you, and learn about the secrets you carry.¡±

    Hua Mu only said how miraculous the Heaven Gate was, but not the reason why it existed. It seemed that even he didn¡¯t know why the Heaven Gates appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After voicing the actual reason behind the Hell sect, Blood sect, and Ghost sect waging such arge-scale war, and expressing his wish for Nie Tian to inform Wu Ji as soon as possible and find a way to enter the Heaven Gate himself, Hua Mu quietly left before daybreak.

    No one in the Nie n saw him meeting with Nie Tian, much less knew anything about what he had said to him.

 Chapter 126: Reign of Terror

    The next day...

    After obtaining the Spiritfount Pill, Nie Donghai didn¡¯t waste even a second before practicing and refining with it, in an attempt to regather his spiritual sea.

    He temporarily cast all the issues within the Nie n out of his mind, and even forgot about the issue of the Cloudsoaring sect being surrounded by powerful experts from the Hell sect.

    The Master of the An n, An Rong, learned about the world-shaking changes that had urred to the Spiritual Treasure sect from An Shiyi. He spent the entire night talking to the An sisters regarding the unceasing turbulence it might bring to the Realm of me Heaven.

    When Nie Tian saw him in the next morning, he saw his long face and worried frown, which made him seem as if he had suddenly aged.

    Originally, Pan Tao had rushed to ck Cloud City bearing the hope of asking the Cloudsoaring sect to send out troops to his sect¡¯s aid. However, after learning that the Cloudsoaring sect was besieged by the Hell sect, his expression also sank, and the smiles that used to fill his face could no longer be seen.

    Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo also seemed to have worries weighing on their minds. Their worries were for the near but unreachable Cloudsoaring sect.

    Nie Tian saw a dark haze clouding everyone¡¯s faces, and understood why they were so troubled.

    ¡°Hey... have you ever heard of the Heaven Gates?¡± he asked.

    ¡°What Heaven Gates?¡±

    Everyone shook their heads, indicating that they knew nothing of them.

    ¡°That¡¯s odd...¡± Nie Tian was surprised by their response and exined to them, ¡°It¡¯s a gate that only Qi Warriors of the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages can enter. Every so often, after many years have passed, three Heaven Gates will appear within the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s said on the other side is a dimension only cultivators of the three Heaven stages are able to explore and gain experience from. How do you not know about it?¡±

    Everyone shook their head again and told him that they had never heard of such a ce.

    Nie Qian asked with a puzzled expression, ¡°Little Tian, why would you suddenly mention that?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian deliberated over his choice of words for a while before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve obtained information that a Heaven Gate will soon appear near the Hell sect in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    However, since they knew nothing of the Heaven Gate, it seemed that none of them showed any interest in it.

    Instead, they were curious about how Nie Tian had obtained the information.

    ¡°I got the message from themand medallion that my master gave me.¡± After cooking up an excuse, Nie Tian exined in detail the special features of the Heaven Gate, the fantastic world that the Heaven Gate led to, the various types of ancient mysteries, the secret scripts of the alien ns, the knowledge ancient Qi warriors had collected, the various precious materials, and Spirit Channeling items.

    Upon learning that the information was supposedly from Wu Ji, everyone was surprised inwardly. After hearing about the various wonders within the Heaven Gate, everyone¡¯s eyes glittered with strange light.

    After that, Nie Tian told them about how the Hell sect, Ghost Sect, and Blood Sect were the first to obtain the information regarding the Heaven Gate, which led them tounch such a sudden attack towards the Spiritual Treasure sect in an attempt to weaken their strength, so that they wouldn¡¯t be able to fight for the opportunities to enter the Heaven Gate.

    An Rong was dumbstruck. ¡°Is the Heaven Gate is so important and magical?! Even experts from the other realms secretly colluded with the Hell sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect for a chance to arrange for their people to enter the Heaven Gate?¡±

    ¡°My master said that he wanted for everyone to spread the word.¡± Nie Tian borrowed Wu Ji¡¯s name to spread the news.

    ¡°With your master¡¯s abilities and influence, he only needs to say a word for everyone in all thends to know about it. Why does he bother to pass the word through you?¡± Pan Tao found it hard to understand.

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian frowned. ¡°He can¡¯t do that now.¡±

    Pan Tao searched in his head for while. Shortly after, he seemed to have thought it through and said, ¡°Oh, I know. It¡¯s probably that the two Profound realm experts of the Hell sect are keeping your master busy, and preventing your master from leaving the Cloudsoaring sect! It¡¯s because of them that your master can¡¯t tell everyone himself, and thus can only inform you of it through yourmand medallion.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably the case.¡± Nie Tian echoed his words.

    ¡°I¡¯ll return to the An n and inform everyone and all those who are rted to my n.¡± An Rong sounded resolute and decisive. Then he turned around and instructed An Shiyi, ¡°Shiyi, you go to the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion in ck Cloud City and tell them to find a secretive way to notify the Spiritual Treasure sect divisions in other cities about the invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect, as well as the issue of the Heaven Gate.¡±

    An Shiyi nodded. ¡°Okay!¡±

    Soon, An Rong and the An sisters hurriedly left the Nie n.

    Jiang Lingzhu still hadn¡¯t recovered from the shock after hearing the overwhelming secret issues of the Heaven Gate. She was now discussing with Ye Gumo about how they should pass the information on to the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Pan Tao was also still caught in astonishment.

    After a while, Pan Tao sprung to his feet. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Yun n and let them know about the enormous changes that urred to the Spiritual Treasure sect as well as the issue of the Heaven Gate, and I¡¯ll ask them to inform the Grayvale sect as soon as possible!¡± With these words, he headed straight towards the Yun n.

    At that moment, Nie Tian could do nothing to stop the upheaval ravaging through the Spiritual Treasure sect, or break the Hell sect¡¯s siege of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    He felt that the only way to help them was to do as Hua Mu had asked of him and quickly spread the information of the imminent opening of the Heaven Gate, thereby revealing the real reason behind their invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect, and allowing the Cloudsoaring sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect to make preparations to deal with the uing, greater turbulence.

    He didn¡¯t go anywhere in the next two days, and only stayed within ck Cloud City, waiting for news.

    In the Grayvale sect...

    Numerous Qi warriors, who were wearing gray and white robes, were gathered within a dusky valley. The low cawing of birds could be heard here and there, as if they were waiting for orders to be passed down.

    Powerful Qi warriors from the Grayvale sect weren¡¯t the only ones filling the valley. Many experts from the Mystic Mist sect were also gathered there.

    The master of the Grayvale sect, Lu Ce, as well as the master of the Mystic Mist sect, Chu Siyun, were standing side by side.

    Behind them were more than ten third grade and fourth grade bird-type spirit beasts. Although the rank of those spirit beasts weren¡¯t as high as the Thunder Beast, they were still more than capable of soaring through the sky.

    Up till today, they had already grasped the knowledge regarding the enormous changes that urred to the Scarlet me Mountain Range and the Hell sect besieging the Cloudsoaring sect via many channels.

    Since the Cloudsoaring sect, who was the closest to the Scarlet me Mountain Range, was unable toe to the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s aid, they were now prepared to charge to the Scarlet me Mountain Range at the fastest speed possible.

    The reason why the Grayvale sect and the Mystic Mist sect struck back so quickly was not only due to the fact that they had sworn a blood oath with the Spiritual Treasure sect to be allies, but also because many of their fellow sectmembers had participated in the Treasure Convention.

    Therefore, they absolutely couldn¡¯t tolerate the Ghost sect and the Blood sect running amok.

    When they learned that the Scarlet me Mountain Range had already been turned into a sea ofva, they mobilized all their forces to gather up a troop of more than ten bird-type spirit beasts, so that they could rush over to help out their ally at the first possible moment.

    Just as they had everything prepared and were about to set off, a young man in charge of gathering intelligence for the Grayvale sect rushed forward and hastily reported, ¡°Just a moment, master! I¡¯ve just received a message from the Yun n of ck Cloud City!¡±

    Lu Ce frowned. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°The Yun n said that Wu Ji¡¯s disciple, that youngster called Nie Tian, delivered them a message from his master.¡± The young man had a solemn and respectful expression as he continued, ¡°He said that one of the three Heaven Gates is about to open up somewhere near the Hell sect in the Realm of me Heaven. The Hell sect had obtained the information earlier. That was why the Ghost sect and the Blood sect invaded the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°He also said that experts from other realms have already reached an agreement with the Hell sect, the Ghost sect, and the Blood sect, which will allow those foreign ns to send a few Qi warriors in the three Heavens stages to enter the Heaven Gate that will show up in the Hell sect¡¯s turf.¡±

    ¡°..."

    He rapidly exined everything to Lu Ce and Chu Siyun.

    ¡°The Heaven Gate!¡±

    Lu Ce¡¯s and Chu Siyun¡¯s expression flickered upon hearing him mention the Heaven Gate.

    After the young man had exined every detail, Lu Ce¡¯s and Chu Siyun¡¯s bodies slightly trembled, as if they had been shocked to their very soul.

    Jiang Lingzhu, Pan Tao, and the others didn¡¯t know about the origin of the Heaven Gate and its secrets because they were too young and their cultivation bases were too low.

    Their elders didn¡¯t expect that a Heaven Gate would open within the Realm of me Heaven in decades. Thus, they didn¡¯t exin it to them.

    However, Lu Ce, as master of the Grayvale sect, and Chu Siyun, the master of the Mystic Mist sect, surely knew about it.

    ¡°The Heaven Gate! So it¡¯s all because of the Heaven Gate!¡± Lu Ce took a deep breath and, heated with rage, he said, ¡°No wonder the Blood sect and the Ghost sect would risk starting a full-frontal internal war within the Realm of me Heaven andunch the sudden invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect! The Heaven Gate! It¡¯s all because a Heaven Gate will open up in the Realm of me Heaven! They¡¯re clearing the barriers so that more of their disciples will have the chance to enter the Heaven Gate!¡±

    Chu Siyun from the Mystic Mist sect pondered for awhile and prompted a suggestion, ¡°Even if we can hurry over to the Scarlet me Mountain Range, it might already be toote, and our efforts will be in vain. On the other hand, the Hell sect only deployed forces to seal the Cloudsoaring sect, but didn¡¯t start a massacre. So there¡¯s also no need for us to reinforce them.

    ¡°In my opinion, since our opponents have moved out to attack our allies, and the Heaven Gate is going to open near the Hell sect, why don¡¯t we...

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we directly attack the Hell sect¡¯s base!¡±

    Lu Ce¡¯s eyes lit up as he replied, ¡°Good idea! If we take the chance to attack the Hell sect when their powerful experts are deployed to the Cloudsoaring sect, we can definitely inflict heavy damage to them! In this way, not only can we weaken the Hell sect¡¯s strength, but we can also cause the Ghost sect and the Blood sect to worry about their own bases! By doing that, we¡¯ll be able to help relieve the Cloudsoaring sect and the Spiritual Treasure sect of the pressure from their respective opponents!¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled!¡± Chu Siyun said loudly and with determination.

    ¡°Compared to the Scarlet me Mountain Range, the Hell sect is even closer to us!¡± Lu Ce¡¯s voice was full of ferociousness. ¡°All sect members that are at the Greater Heaven stage or higher, immediately depart for the Hell sect! As long as youe across someone from the Hell sect, kill on sight! Since a Heaven Gate is opening in our realm, blood will flow like a river in the Realm of me Heaven, whether we like it or not!¡±

    ¡°The same goes for the disciples of the Mystic Mist sect!¡± Chu Siyun also gave hismand.

    Under themand of the two people, the strong Qi Warriors from the Grayvale sect and the Mystic Mist sect replied by filling the sky with angry roars, before they marched towards the Hell sect at a rapid pace.

 Chapter 127: The Endless Road of Cultivation

    ck Cloud City, the Nie n.

    After asking the An n, Pan Tao, Jiang Lingzhu, and the others to spread the news that one of the Heaven Gates was about to appear in the Hell sect, Nie Tian went back to his room and started cultivating whole-heartedly.

    He had been making preparations for stepping into the Heaven Gate.

    Ever since he learned from Hua Mu that one of the Heaven Gates would open up somewhere near the Hell sect, and that Qi warriors of the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages from many sects would be able to enter it together, he had been secretly readying himself psychologically.

    Cultivators of the Realm of me Heaven weren¡¯t the only ones that would step into that miraculous heaven and earth; powerfulpetitors from other realms would go through the other two Heaven Gates and also participate in the trial.

    However, he was only in the early Lesser Heaven stage, the weakest among the three Heaven stages. If he entered the unknown dimension with his current cultivation base, he would be like amb in the middle of a pack of wolves.

    Therefore, he needed to improve his strength as much and as fast as possible.

    Sitting cross-legged in the middle of his stone room, he used the Qi Refining Incantation and a spirit stone to take in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, trying to sense even the most trivial changes to his spiritual sea.

    Inside his misty spiritual sea, the vortex of spiritual power was turning slowly, unceasingly attracting and refining the misty spiritual energy scattered within his spiritual sea.

    He gathered his attention and examined the vortex with his soul. He found that after a round of refinement, the spiritual energy that had been pulled into the vortex of spiritual power seemed to have be even purer and richer.

    The newly refined spiritual energy flowed to the edge of the spiritual sea and formed a circr ribbon of thick, white mist.

    With a closer examination, he discovered that the spiritual energy was exceptionally condensed and vigorous, and the power it contained was rather formidable.

    On the other hand, the spiritual energy that hadn¡¯t been refined was also scattered around in the spiritual sea, but it was much thinner and carried much less power.

    Having learned the movements within his spiritual sea and the process of how the vortex of spiritual power refined the spiritual energy, he gained a better understanding of cultivation at the Lesser Heaven stage.

    After stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage, due to the formation of the vortex of spiritual power, the speed of gathering the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had be many times faster than in the Qi Refining stage.

    The gathered spiritual energy would initially be attracted into the vortex of spiritual power. Then, the vortex of spiritual power would refine the energy, making it purer.

    After refinement, the pure spiritual energy would disperse to the edge of the spiritual sea, forming ring of dense mist.

    In the Lesser Heaven stage, a cultivator¡¯s spiritual sea wouldn¡¯t expand at all, but instead, the spiritual energy within his or her spiritual sea would undergo round after round of refinement.

    The refined spiritual energy would flow to the furthest edge of the spiritual sea, forming circle after circle of condensed mist, gradually surging and pressing toward the center.

    Throughout the refining process, the vortex of spiritual power would also continuously attract spiritual energy from the outside world, and merge it with the spiritual energy scattered within the spiritual sea.

    He found that the unceasingly rotating vortex of spiritual power seemed like a well within his spiritual sea, which constantly gathered faint spiritual energy from the surroundings and purified it time after time.

    After multiple rounds of refining, the exceptionally rich and condensed spiritual energy would sink to the bottom of the ¡°well¡±, before soon showing up on the edge of the spiritual sea again.

    By condensing at the edge of the spiritual sea, the circr ribbon of refined spiritual energy would press the rtively sparse spiritual energy toward the ¡°mouth of the well¡±, so that it would undergo a new round of refinement.

    It was a unceasing cycle.

    Having recently entered the Lesser Heaven stage, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t finished his first cycle yet.

    After a period of concentrated practice, he had only managed to form one ring of pure spiritual energy at the farthest edge of his spiritual sea.

    He still had a long road ahead before he couldplete the first refining cycle of his spiritual sea.

    ording to his calctions, if he continued to cultivate with spirit stones, he would probably still need half a year to finish his first refining cycle.

    And that was the speed he could only reach with the help from spirit stones.

    In case there weren¡¯t a steady supply of spirit stones, and he merely relied on the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, he would very likely need to spend three to five years toplete the first refining cycle of all the faint spiritual energy scattered in his spiritual sea.

    Moreover, in order to step from the early-stage into the middle-stage of Lesser Heaven, he might need to go through more than oneplete cycle of refinement.

    His eyes snapped open. Staring off into the pitch-ck night sky, he couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. ¡°This is such a consuming process.¡±

    He had long since heard that the Qi Refining stage was merely the foundation, and only by entering the Lesser Heaven stage, one would be considered as a beginner Qi warrior.

    The difficulty of every breakthrough of the cultivation base after stepping into the Lesser Heaven stage would far exceed that of the breakthroughs within the Qi Refining stage.

    Before, he didn¡¯t have a deep understanding of it. Now that he had advanced to the Lesser Heaven stage, and understood the miraculous refining process within his spiritual sea, he finally truly realized the hardships lying in front of him.

    ¡°Even if I take advantage of the spirit stones that my master has given me, and practice day and night, I¡¯ll still need at least half a year to finish one cycle of refining the spiritual energy in my spiritual sea.

    ¡°Furthermore, one cycle is probably far from enough. I¡¯ll have to keep practicing and practicing.

    ¡°It might take years to finish several cycles, and by that time... I would only be able to reach the threshold of the next breakthrough...

    ¡°In order to make the breakthrough, I¡¯ll need to be in the right mental state, ande across proper enlightenment.

    ¡°From the look of it, I¡¯ve only made the first step in my endless cultivation path.¡±

    Numerous, mixed emotions rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Aside from practicing cultivation, a Qi warrior also needed to learn and practice spiritual incantations, try toprehend the profundity of the incantations, pick the right spiritual tool, and try to resonate with it.

    Due to their unique talents or interest, some Qi warriors chose to spend arge amount of time studying equipment forging methods, or trying to fathom profound magical symbols and spell formations.

    Each and every one of the ways to improve a Qi warrior¡¯s strength was time consuming, and required intense study.

    On the other hand, the lifespan of a Qi warrior wasn¡¯t limitless, and would only increase as his or her cultivation base rose.

    Many Qi warriors failed to break through into the next cultivation level before their lifespan ran out, and therefore passed away.

    He had the feeling that his master Wu Ji was currently facing such a thorny problem.

    Staring off into the moonless, dark sky, Nie Tian made his resolution. ¡°Only by cultivating at a high speed and advancing rapidly will I be able to constantly increase my lifespan and thus continue with my cultivation.¡±

    He was determined to enter the Heaven Gate and train himself in the bloody trial, even though he couldn¡¯t change his inferior cultivation base in the near future.

    Suddenly, a tiny ming spot appeared in the pitch-ck night sky. It seemed to be in the deepest part of the vast void, and was very dim at first, but became increasingly clear as time went by.

    ¡°It¡¯s a moonless and starless night. Howe there¡¯s a spot of fiery light in the sky?¡± Curious, he looked even harder into the night sky.

    Before long, more and more ming spots appeared in the dark sky, one after another.

    For some unknown reason, looking at the increasing number of bright spots, the sense of an imminent big event rose in his heart.

    Momentster, a corner of the sky had already been filled with countless fiery spots, every one of which was bright and dazzling, dragging their colorful tails, and dashing crossing the pitch-ck sky.

    ¡°Falling stars!¡± Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s voice echoed out from a nearby stone pavilion.

    Stepping onto the balcony, Nie Tian saw Jiang Lingzhu and Ye Gumo standing by their window. It seemed they were also attracted by the unusual scene in the sky, with their gazes fixed on those falling stars.

    Soon, the falling stars grew increasingly clear.

    Hundreds of falling stars, trailing with ming tails of different colors, seemed increasingly splendid and gorgeous, and gradually caught everyone¡¯s attention!

    Lots of children and juniors of the Nie n couldn¡¯t stop cheering with their faces filled with excitement. ¡°Meteor shower! It¡¯s a meteor shower!¡±

    ¡°Something is wrong...¡± Staring at the increasingly clear and dazzling falling stars, Nie Tian¡¯s face turned grim, as if he knew something terrible was about to happen.

    All those stars didn¡¯t sh across the sky. Instead, it seemed that their target was the Realm of me Heaven where everyone was standing!

    All of a sudden, he remembered something Hua Mu had said to him right before he left: ¡°When it¡¯s time for the Heaven Gate to open, omens will present themselves in the sky!¡±

    The thought made him nervous. He was almost certain that the falling stars had been caused by the Heaven Gate!

    ¡°Is it really the Heaven Gate that has caused this unusual change?¡±

    Only an hourter, thousands of multicolored, dazzling falling stars seemed to be almost at their fingertips.

    The originally densely-packed falling stars seemed to be suddenly influenced by some kind of unknown maic field, and sshed out in every direction, plummeting towards every corner of the Realm of me Heaven.

    About ten of them sted their way towards the Cloudsoaring sect and ck Cloud City.

    One after another, the elders of the Nie n became rmed. The streets within ck Cloud City were also gradually filled with nervous people, all of whom looked up at the sky with terror in their eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    ¡°Oh my god! Meteors are falling in our direction!¡±

    ¡°Dear lord! How can it be?¡±

    As of this moment, not only everyone in the Cloudsoaring sect, ck Cloud City, and the other nearby cities, but also the powerful experts that had been besieging the Cloudsoaring Mountain, started to look up to the heavens, trembling with fear.

    The Realm of me Heaven was a part of the Domain of the Falling Stars, where, just as its name implied, meteors streaked across the sky from time to time.

    However, those falling stars had always shed across the sky and disappeared in seconds, with very few of them actuallynding onnd they lived on.

    But tonight, it seemed that the meteor shower that had abruptly appeared in the sky had specially targeted the Realm of me Heaven!

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The ground suddenly trembled. Apparently, some meteor had already crashed into the earth in the ice-cold wilderness outside of ck Cloud City, which gave birth to a terrifying st that shook the entirety of ck Cloud City.

    Jiang Lingzhu shrieked, ¡°Cloudsoaring Mountain!¡±

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and saw that a few ming meteors, trailing by multicolored zing tails like pouring waterfalls, had crashed into the Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    RUUUUMBLE! RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

    In the adjacent ck Cloud City, loud rumbling sounds kepting from every direction, and the ground wouldn¡¯t stop from shaking. Manymoners couldn¡¯t withstand the shock wave and were killed as they slept.

    Even Nie Tian felt his Qi and blood rushing to his head, causing him to experience dizziness.

    He immediately channeled his spiritual power to shield himself while gritting his teeth, staring at the bright sky.

    SHEW!

    A meteor emanating orange mes suddenly grew incredibly huge in Nie Tian¡¯s sight, hurtling towards ck Cloud City.

    BOOM!

    Secondster, it crashed into the Yun n, sending out devastating st waves in ck Cloud City. Almost simultaneously, the desperate wails ofmoners rang out here and there within the city.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Half of the stone pavilions in the Nie n copsed due to the strong st, including the one Nie Tian was in.

    Fortunately, he had been alert and jumped out of it the moment before it was reduced to a pile of debris.

    Standing on the cracked stone ground, he saw Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, Pan Tao, and others running towards him with their faces full of fear.

    He could hear miserable wailsing from every corner of the Nie n.

    Meanwhile, outside of the Nie n, cries had filled every inch of ck Cloud City.

 Chapter 128: Meteors that Descended from the Heavens!

    Wailing filled ck Cloud City...

    The descent of the meteor caused the all the stone buildings within the city to shake violently, many of which even copsed.

    Numerous less healthy mortals were hit by the terrifying st wave in their sleep, causing them to cough up blood and die instantly.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Enormous collision sounds were still resounding from the nearby Cloudsoaring Mountain and the earth was still shaking.

    All the survivingmoners within ck Cloud City rushed out into the streets and cried out loudly.

    On the other hand, even the youngest children of the Nie n survived the st wave because they had been cultivating from very early ages and their spirit power had been protecting their bodies.

    However, there were still a few aged nsmen who weren¡¯t able to escape in time when the buildings copsed. They were crushed to death and buried under the debris.

    Face cold like deep ocean water, Nie Tian stood on the cracked stone floor as he heard the cries of his nsmen.

    Now, he was a hundred percent certain that the rain of ming meteors that descended from the sky was definitely because of the appearance of the Heaven Gate.

    Who would have thought that the opening of the Heaven Gate would actually bring such a cmity to the Realm of me Heaven?

    ck Cloud City and Cloudsoaring Mountain were both in a state of devastation, and the surrounding cities might have also suffered from the strikes of the rain of meteors.

    He noticed that right before the meteors crashed into thend, they had spread out and headed towards the Blood sect, the Ghost sect, the Hell sect, as well as the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Mystic Mist sect, and the Grayvale sect.

    He believed that cities like ck Cloud City weren¡¯t the only ces that had been devastated. Even mountainous areas that had many living creatures gathered in them also had been bombarded by the meteors.

    Arge number of people mored in the streets outside the Nie n, each and every one of them in a doomsday-like panic.

    ¡°The Yun n! The Yun n is done for!¡±

    ¡°A meteor crashed right into the Yun n! The terrifying force is more than enough to eliminate the Yun n!¡±

    ¡°Are the heavens punishing us?¡±

    Panic spread rather rapidly. Like madly growing weeds, it gave rise to a feeling of despair that made people believe there was absolutely no chance of surviving such a disastrous act of the heavens.

    ¡°Why is this happening? Why is it like this?¡± Jiang Lingzhu was like a duck in a thunderstorm.

    ¡°Father! Are you ok?¡±

    It was also at that moment Nie Tian heard Nie Qian¡¯s cries. He turned his head to discover that his grandfather, Nie Donghai, was walking out of a pile of debris with disheveled hair and a dirty face.

    Bedraggled as he looked, Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes were shining with a vigorous light.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He shook his head, while some lingering fear could still be seen on his face. ¡°Luckily, I finished refining the Spiritfount Pill and rebuilding my spiritual sea in time. Were it not for the reestablishment of my spiritual sea, which allowed me to use my spiritual power to protect myself, I...might not have escaped.¡±

    Nie Qian seemed overjoyed. ¡°You¡¯ve fully healed your spiritual sea, father?¡±

    A trace of happiness appeared on Nie Donghai¡¯s face. ¡°Yes, I have.¡± Then, he looked up towards the sky, and noticed that there were no longer ming meteors flying across the night sky.

    He tried his best to calm himself and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look in the Yun n.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Pan Tao said urgently. ¡°Let¡¯s see how the Yun n is doing after being hit by that giant meteor.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions, grandpa.¡± Nie Tian sincerely congratted him.

    Nie Donghai cracked a soft smile as he said, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to that Spiritfount Pill.¡±

    At that time, Nie Tian noticed that the frightening earthquakes and shockwaves that had been caused by the collisions were all gone.

    As for the casualties of the Nie n... he actually didn¡¯t care very much.

    Ever since he was a child, he didn¡¯t feel a strong sense of belonging towards the Nie n. As long as Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were left unscathed, the deaths of others within the Nie n wouldn¡¯t devastate him.

    Soon after, the crowd walked out of the Nie n under the lead of Nie Donghai.

    By the time they arrived in the streets, where people were rushing through hurriedly, Nie Tian surveyed his surroundings, and noticed that arge number of buildings had copsed due to the tremors. Even more terrifyingly, an enormous, long rift had been torn open in the sturdy stone floor.

    Many civilians of ck Cloud City were standing in the streets, letting out miserable wails. Beside them were the corpses that they had dragged out from under their copsed homes.

    There were also many people who had clearly been hit by the rocks that shot out when mansions copsed, their chests covered in bloodstains.

    ¡°Master Nie, do you know what happened? Why did meteorites suddenly descend from the sky? What did we do to anger the heavens and make them want to punish us like this?¡±

    Along their way, many grieving civilians saw Nie Donghai and thus approached to question him with their faces full of tears.

    Nie Donghai sighed deeply. Unable to give a proper exnation, he could only keep on walking without saying a word.

    After a long time, everyone arrived in front of the Yun n under his lead.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you are here too?¡± An Shiyi, An Yin, as well as An Rong, An He, and the other members of the An n were already gathered in front of the Yun n.

    Seeing theme over, An Shiyi heaved a sigh of relief and said, ¡°It¡¯s good that nothing¡¯s happened to you.¡± Clearly, she was talking to Nie Tian and Nie Tian alone.

    Seeing that the An sisters hade out safe and sound, Nie Tian also put his heart at ease and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go inside?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re waiting for the aftershocks to end, and also waiting to see... if any survivors will walk out of there.¡± An Shiyi sighed softly and continued, ¡°However, up till now, there hasn¡¯t been a single member of the Yun n that has walked out. The ce where the meteoritended ought to have suffered the most violent st waves. Let alone the Yun n, even the ones who lived near the Yun n couldn¡¯t take the strong st waves and died.¡±

    Only after hearing her words did Nie Tian notice that there... seemed to be no earth-shaking cries echoing out from anywhere near the Yun n.

    Through the broken main gate of the Yun n, he could only see an ash-brown meteor, which had smashed open an enormous crater in the ground, and almost took up the entire Yun n¡¯s property.

    All of the buildings in the entire Yun n had been smashed deep into the ground by the meteor. Not a single one had survived.

    The Yun n seemed to have annihted from ck Cloud City in a sh.

    The ash-brown meteor was now the only thing remaining in thend of the Yun n, with tiny fiery sparks flickering on its surface from time to time.

    As a matter of fact, the reason why the An nsmen beat others to the Yun n, but didn¡¯t dare to go inside, was that they were worried that those fiery sparks were dangerous, and thus were waiting for those fiery lights to extinguish.

    ¡°No one from the Yun n survived?¡± Nie Qian asked with a soft voice.

    An Shiyi thought for a moment and looked deeply at her as she said, ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone in there could have survived, including the Yun n¡¯s nmaster Yun Meng.

    ¡°Yun Meng also died?¡± Aplicated expression appeared on Nie Donghai¡¯s face as he said begrudgingly, ¡°I finally rebuilt my spiritual sea, and I was nning to straighten things out with him. Who could have thought that... he¡¯d suddenly die like this!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go take a look inside.¡± Before anyone could dissuade him, Nie Tian had already made his way through the Yun n¡¯s broken gate.

    As soon as he entered, he had a clear view of the whole thing. The entire Yun n had been smashed in and swallowed by an immense crater and the enormous meteor in it.

    There were many sparks of fire flickering on the surface of the ash-brown meteor, which seemed to be slowly swimming towards a mutual destination.

    As they glided, the sparks of fire left faint trails on the surface of the meteor, which... were full of twists and turns, as if they contained some kind of unknown wonder within.

    ¡°Be careful, Nie Tian!¡±

    An Shiyi, Nie Donghai, and Nie Qian loudly warned him.

    Because, at that moment, the reckless Nie Tian had actually climbed onto the meteor to pursue a moving spark of fire. Both of them were headed towards the top of the meteor.

    One after another, they charged into the Yun n and stopped in front of the meteor. With anxious expressions on their faces, they constantly warned Nie Tian not to act rashly.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian sensed that the ash-brown meteor actually wasn¡¯t dangerous at all, other than the fact that its surface was quite hot. Thus, he ignored their warnings and continued to do what his heart told him.

    Quickly, Nie Tian had pursued the spark of fire to the top of the meteor.

    There were even more sparks of fire gathered there, which had converged into a mysterious pattern.

    The pattern looked like a half opened gate that was unceasingly letting those sparks of fire inside.

    As the numerous sparks of fire that had scattered all around the meteor gradually gathered and merged into the pattern, the pattern grew brighter and brighter, and at the same time, the gate-shaped pattern slowly opened further from its half opened state...

    ¡°A gate?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he immediately crouched down to observe it with rapt attention.

    ¡°Can this pattern have something to do with the Heaven Gate? Is it here because of the Heaven Gate?¡± He spected deeply.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    While he was pondering, even more sparks of fire merged into that pattern, making the pattern even brighter!

    Shortly after, while staring at the mysterious pattern, Nie Tian discovered that everyst one of the fiery sparks that had scattered all over the meteor had already merged into the pattern.

    The light that the gate-shaped pattern emanated had be increasingly harsh and blinding, while a gentle power spread out from within the pattern.

    Subconsciously, Nie Tian extended his hand to touch it.

    The moment his left hand touched the pattern, it exploded, sending countless flickering sparks of fire flying into his palm like a rainstorm.

    Simultaneously, a numbing and scorching feeling spread out to his whole arm as he suddenly discovered that a patterned tattoo had appeared on the back of his left hand.

    It was none other than the gate-shaped pattern that he had just touched!

    At the same time, the pattern on the meteor disappeared.

    ¡°This must be the key to enter the Heaven Gate!¡± ted, Nie Tian eximed.

 Chapter 129: Snatching the Eligibility!

    Right after the gate-shaped pattern appeared on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s left hand, the same pattern that had been engraved on the meteor disappeared without leaving a single trace.

    Then the burning hot meteor rapidly turned ice-cold.

    Under the night sky, Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows were knitted together. He looked at the pattern on the back of his hand and muttered, ¡°This is a key to the Heaven Gate...?¡±

    Hua Mu had only told him that the Heaven Gate was about to appear in the Realm of me Heaven, but never exined to him that it would require a key to enter.

    Nheless, when the gate-shaped pattern shifted from the meteor to the back of his hand in the form of a tattoo, he realized that the gate-shaped pattern was precisely the special pass needed for cultivators to step into the Heaven Gate.

    He sent out a wisp of his psychic awareness to examine the gate-shaped pattern, but it was pushed back by a gentle yet formidable force.

    Therefore, he failed to pry into the profound mysteries thaty within.

    ¡°Every Heaven Gate only allows one hundred participants to enter,¡± he thought to himself. ¡°Does everyone have to obtain a key like this to enter?¡±

    There could have been as many as a thousand meteors that had fallen from the sky andnded in different parts of the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, there should only be a hundred keys, which meant that among the thousand meteors, only ten percent of them carried keys.

    If someone wanted to step into the Heaven Gate, they would need to find a meteor that carried a key and absorb the key into their own body just like he did.

    He thought it through and had a n for their next move.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± At that moment, upon seeing him unscathed after hopping onto the meteor, everyone slowly gathered towards him, under the leadership of Nie Donghai and An Shiyi.

    All they had seen was that Nie Tian had crouched down at the ce where the fiery sparks were gathered for a while before all of them suddenly disappeared.

    None of them knew what had happened.

    ¡°This meteor is from outside of the realm, and it carried a key to the Heaven Gate.¡± Nie Tian did not hold anything back. He showed the mysterious gate-shaped pattern on the back of his hand to everyone. After that, he said with a serious expression on his face, ¡°I¡¯m positive that when the Heaven Gate opens, only people who have simr patterns on their hands will be able to participate in the trial.

    ¡°Whoever wants to enter the Heaven Gate will need to find a key from one of the falling meteors and absorb it onto their hand!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone present was deeply moved, each and every one of their eyes glittering with unusual light.

    At the same time, all of them cast their gaze towards the direction of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    They saw that arge number of the meteors had fallen towards Cloudsoaring Mountain and its adjacent areas. Thus, it obviously contained the most meteors in the area.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it,¡± Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°Experts from both the Hell sect and the Cloudsoaring sect are gathered there, so it¡¯s impossible for you to obtain keys from the meteors over there.

    ¡°I saw that some meteors had fallen into the ice-cold wastnd near ck Cloud City. That is the ce where your hope resides.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Pan Tao nodded his head as he said decisively, ¡°Time is of the essence here! Presumably, others haven¡¯t figured out about the secret that lies in the outer-realm meteors yet, and therefore don¡¯t know that they carry the keys to the Heaven Gate! We need to hurry and rush to the ice-cold wastnd as soon as possible and hope that we are lucky enough to find keys to absorb.¡±

    Right after uttering these words, he hurriedly thanked Nie Tian and left.

    After a brief hesitation, the An sisters, Ye Gumo, and Jiang Lingzhu also followed Pan Tao out of ck Cloud City at the fastest speed possible.

    They all harbored the strong desire to gain the eligibility to enter the Heaven Gate!

    Having obtained the eligibility himself, Nie Tian stood on top of the meteor, which was no longer unusual, and looked off towards the distant Cloudsoaring Mountain. He said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that intense battles may have already broken out over there.¡±

    Prior to the descent of the meteors, the Hell sect had only surrounded Cloudsoaring Mountain, preventing experts of the Cloudsoaring Sect from rushing to the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s aid.

    Hence, both sides had been in a stalemate. No battles had broken out.

    However, the meteors that had fallen from the sky would very likely immediately triggerrge-scale, bloody battles in that area.

    It wouldn¡¯t matter whether they were Qi warriors from the Cloudsoaring sect or the Hell sect. As long as they were in the three Heaven stages, they would fight tooth and nail over the meteors that carried the keys, in an attempt to acquire the eligibility to step into the Heaven Gate.

    ...

    Meanwhile, on Cloudsoaring Mountain...

    With an ashen face, Jiang Zhisu looked at the grand Streamcloud Sky Soaring spell formation, which was now riddled with gaping wounds.

    The Streamcloud Sky Soaring spell formation had been formed by a sea of clouds. When the meteors fell from outer realm (a simr concept to outer space), they had prated the formation, leaving quite a few holes in it.

    In the river valley within Cloudsoaring Mountain, therey about ten huge craters that went deep into the earth. The st caused by the huge collisions shattered the nearby rocks into pieces.

    Originally, the Cloudsoaring sect had relied on the grand Streamcloud Sky Soaring spell formation to hold off the experts from the Hell sect.

    Now that the enormous spell formation that had been protecting the sect had been punctured by the meteors, the Hell sect experts who had been besieging the Cloudsoaring sect were able to swarm in.

    Jiang Zhisu saw that numerous Hell sect experts had already stepped into the Cloudsoaring sect through the openings.

    However, they didn¡¯t immediately start a war after entering.

    On the contrary, as their first act, all of the Hell sect experts rushed to the meteors that were still flickering with tiny bits of me in the river valley. It seemed as if they were collecting something with their faces filled with excitement.

    ¡°Get down there and take a look!¡± Jiang Zhisu ordered.

    Immediately after, many of the Qi warriors from the Cloudsoaring sect whizzed down from the mountaintop.

    The experts from Hell sect clearly knew about the opening of the Heaven Gate. When the meteors had descended from outside of the realm, and they saw the sparks of fire flickering on the meteors, they were able to make an informed guess regarding the secrets thaty within.

    ¡°They must carry keys to the Heaven Gate! I didn¡¯t expect the way to enter the Heaven Gate this time to be so much different from before! ording to that senior from the Realm of Earth Sieve, throughout the history, there has only been one time where eligibility was needed to enter.¡±

    ¡°Only those who had obtained the key would be allowed into the Heaven Gate!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the Heaven Gate that will appear in the Realm of me Heaven this time is so special!¡±

    ¡°Hurry! Let¡¯s snatch the keys before those from the Cloudsoaring sect realize what¡¯s going on!¡±

    As soon as they saw that the Cloudsoaring sect¡¯s grand Streamcloud Sky Soaring spell formation was punctured, they didn¡¯t waste a second before swarming in to search for the keys which would allow them to step into the Heaven Gate.

    ¡°Zhao Haifeng! Duan Yuan! Hu Qingwen!¡± A Hell sect expert shouted, pointing at three disciples from the Hell sect. He ordered, ¡°The three of you go to ck Cloud City and the wastnd to the north of ck Cloud City immediately. I noticed that some meteors fell in that direction! You three aren¡¯t strong enough to fight for keys in this ce. You might as well rush over there and look for opportunities!¡±

    They were three teenagers, who only seemed to be around fifteen-years-old, but had strong, murderous auras wreathing their body. Upon hearing that man¡¯s order, they prepared to leave.

    At the same time, the master of the Hell sect, Jiao Yang, who was as tall and sturdy as a mountain, suddenly made a harsh expression with his stone-cold face.

    Jiao Yang¡¯s cultivation base had already reached the great circle of thete Worldly realm, and he was only one step away from advancing into the Profound realm.

    There was an unwritten rule among every sect in the Realm of me Heaven. Once the masters of each of the sects had advanced into the Profound realm, they would give up on their position as master and step away from the earthly affairs to focus solely on their cultivation.

    Under the management of Jiao Yang, who was known as the strongest person in the Realm of me Heaven, the Hell sect had entered an age of prosperity and thus was deemed as the number one sect in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Jiao Yang was aggressive and relentless, and was deeply respected by his subordinates and nsmen. Even the two Profound realm experts from the Ghost sect and Blood sect also thought highly of him, and believed that he would be able to advance to the Profound realm within the next ten years. By that time, the Hell sect would have another peak expert.

    Among the seven major sects in the Realm of me Heaven, the Hell sect was the only sect that had two Profound realm experts. If they were to add in Jiao Yang as another Profound realm expert, the strength of Hell sect would only continue to rise above all of the other sects.

    By that time, with five Profound realm experts on their side, the Blood sect, the Ghost sect, and the Hell sect would surely overtake the alliance formed by the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Cloudsoaring Sect, the Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect.

    ¡°The Mystic Mist sect and the Grayvale sect have joined hands and invaded our sect!?¡± Jiao Yang, who had just received the news, looked at the disciples that were rushing towards the meteors and shouted, ¡°Get the keys to the Heaven Gate as quickly as possible, and then we¡¯ll head back to our sect immediately!

    ¡°Zhao Haifeng! You three must hurry too! You must also return to the sect immediately after getting the keys from ck Cloud City and the wastnd!

    ¡°We won¡¯t wait for you. If you waste too much time out there and get surrounded by powerful experts from the Cloudsoaring sect, don¡¯t count on us toe rescue you.¡±

    The three teenagers from Hell sect, who were about to rush towards ck Cloud City, responded loudly, ¡°Understood!¡±

    Then, at a incredibly fast speed, they dashed away.

    Also at that moment, an expert from the Cloudsoaring sect, who had descended from the mountain, shouted loudly to Jiang Zhisu, ¡°Sectmaster! The disciples from the Hell sect are collecting the fiery sparks on the meteors! Those fiery sparks seemed to have formed gate-shaped patterns on the back of their hands!¡± ¡°

    ¡°Gate-shaped patterns?¡± Jiang Zhisu went nk for a while, and then suddenly said, ¡°Snatch those patterns!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In a split second, thread after thread of blurry shadows shot down from Cloudsoaring Mountain. Like shooting stars, they all rushed towards the meteors that had sparks of fire on them.

    After a standoff of several days, Qi warriors from both the Cloudsoaring sect and the Hell sect instantly began fighting at close quarters over the keys to the Heaven Gate.

    ...

    In ck Cloud City, the gate that led to Cloudsoaring Mountain had already been shattered into pieces by the strong sts caused by the huge impacts of the meteors.

    Considering a catastrophe had killed many of the loved ones of the guards, it was no surprise that they had long since left.

    Upon seeing the meteor falling onto the Yun n¡¯s property, the few guards from the Yun n had rushed over.

    Only the Nie n guest elder Wu Tao, and two others from the An n remained on top of the city gate.

    Instead of checking on the situation out of the city gate, the three of them turned around and sighed as they looked at the wailing-filled ck Cloud City.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Three pale-gray bone spears sped through the air. Before the three of them could react, they already pierced into their backs.

    The other two had lower cultivation bases, and therefore died instantly.

    Only Wu Tao sensed that something was wrong and protected the rear part of his heart with his spiritual power. Because of that, he was only severely injured, not killed.

    Wu Tao¡¯s face seemed extremely pale as he turned around to look at Zhao Haifeng and the other two. ¡°W-who are you?!¡±

    Zhao Haifeng slightly frowned. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually survived the first strike...¡±

    With a wave of his left hand, the two bone spears, which had taken the lives of the two from the An n, pierced towards Wu Tao¡¯s abdomen and side.

    Wu Tao, who didn¡¯t have the strength to resist any more attacks, was instantly pierced through by the bone spears. He took hisst breath, and died.

    Like a wind, Zhao Haifeng dashed forward. ¡°Our sectmaster has ordered us to not waste our time here. Kill whoever dares to stand in our way.¡±

    The three bone spears that had pierced Wu Tao retracted from his body and flew after Zhao Haifeng.

    With nothing but indifference in their eyes, Duan Yuan and Hu Qingwen, who were also from Hell sect, followed Zhao Haifeng.

 Chapter 130: Contempt of the Hell Sect

    As soon as the three of them stepped into ck Cloud City, Zhao Haifeng saw that the street was packed with people.

    The copse of the stone tower had sent many falling stones rolling into the street. Coupled with the wailing crowd, the originally wide street seemed to have be iparably congested.

    Their cultivation bases were still far from allowing them to soar through the sky, so it was difficult for the people in the crowd to move along.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The three bone spears that had been closely following Zhao Haifeng turned into three pale-gray lightning bolts that pierced through three of the crying mortals.

    The momentum of the bone spears was so strong that the three mortals were brought into the air.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    All of the civilians of ck Cloud City were drowning in extreme grief. Upon seeing three of their people getting killed, their eyes immediately turned red.

    Many of them madly lunged towards Zhao Haifeng.

    ¡°Mortals...¡± Zhao Haifeng knitted his brows and whispered. The three bone spears swiftly flew out again and pierced through each and every person who attempted to attack them.

    The bloody massacre forced the civilians to rapidly quiet down. After examining the garments of the intruders, people began to shriek, ¡°H-hell sect disciples!¡±

    There was a lifelike pattern knitted on each of their chests, which resembled a roaring devil.

    ¡°Get out of our way.¡±

    Zhao Haifeng¡¯s face was cold and indifferent. With a wave of his left hand, the three bone spears that had never fallen onto the the ground once again whizzed forward.

    The citizens of ck Cloud City, who were standing in the street ahead of them, were scared to death. They all pushed their way to the sides, fighting to create a clear path for the trio.

    Zhao Haifeng briefly nodded his head and stopped his massacre, then led Duan Yuan and Hu Qingwen in the direction of the Yun n.

    Inside the Yun n...

    Nie Tian hopped off of the ice-cold meteor and joined Nie Donghai, An Rong, and the others at the main gate of the Yun n.

    A few members of the Yun n dashed past Nie Tian and ran inside. They all lost control and cried out loud as they looked at the remains of the Yun n within the huge crater created by the meteor.

    ¡°Where¡¯s the nmaster?¡±

    ¡°The Yun n is gone?! This can¡¯t be happening!¡±

    They could not believe that the Yun n, which had stood so steadily in ck Cloud City the day before, would have been reduced to nothing but ruins overnight.

    They were all unable to ept the truth in front of their eyes.

    ¡°The Yun n is gone just like that?¡± The master of the An n, An Rong, let out a sigh and shook his head. Struck by mixed feelings, he said, ¡°In front of such a catastrophe that fell right from the heavens, ns like ours won¡¯t able to survive. Only strong sects like the Cloudsoaring sect may be able to. The Yun n has stood in ck Cloud City for a long time. Who would have thought that it would be wiped out by a catastrophe in an instant?¡±

    Nie Donghai was also taken up by mixed feelings. ¡°It¡¯s a pity. It took me so much effort to rebuild my spiritual sea. I had even nned to sort things out with Yun Meng.¡±

    Standing beside him, Nie Qian had a grim expression on her face, not saying a word.

    Even though she had hated Yun Zhiguo, they were once husband and wife. During the past few years, she had watched as Nie Tian slowly grew up. Seeing that Nie Tian had gotten off to a great start, she had even nned to seek out justice with Yun Zhiguo and Yuan Qiuying one day with his help.

    She also had never anticipated that the whole Yun n would crumble to dust in the blink of an eye like that.

    ¡°It¡¯s better this way,¡± said Nie Tian. ¡°This has saved me the work of ferreting out those bastards from the Yun n and paying them back.¡±

    In his mind, once he was strong enough, he would have single-handedly entered the Yun n, and held all those who had been involved in his aunt¡¯s mistreatment ountable.

    However, the Yun n was destroyed before that day ever came.

    At that moment, frightened shouts rang out from the street where Nie Tian and the others hade from.

    ¡°Get out of the way!¡±

    ¡°Those three from the Hell sect will kill without batting an eye!¡±

    ¡°Clear out a path for them!¡±

    Nie Donghai and An Rong exchanged a nce. Both of their expressions became iparably grim. ¡°The Hell sect!¡±

    They all knew that numerous experts from the Hell sect had surrounded Clousoaring Mountain to prevent the disciples of the Clousoaring sect from rescuing the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Generally speaking, the battles between the major sects would not involve themoners from the various cities.

    The Clousoaring sect had been besieged by the Hell sect for quite a few days. However, not a single expert from the Hell sect had entered ck Cloud City to kill people.

    Now that disciples from the Hell sect had arrived in ck Cloud City, it clearly vited the unwritten rule that all sides had yed by for decades.

    ¡°Who can they be?¡± An Rong felt deeply worried.

    Nie Tian was also secretly nervous.

    When he was in Green Illusion dimension, he had witnessed the power of the disciples from the Blood sect and Ghost sect. He had even battled with the witch Yu Tong on several asions.

    He was fully aware that the disciples from both the Blood sect and the Ghost sect had more battle experience than the disciples from the four sects, but he had never encountered any disciples from the Hell sect.

    However, he had learned from Jiang Lingzhu, Pan Tao, and the others that disciples from the Hell sect were even more terrifying than those from the Blood sect and the Ghost sect.

    During the time when Jiang Lingzhu, Pan Tao, and the other trial takers thought that the Hell sect had also entered the Green Illusion dimension and targeted the Mystic Mist sect, they all had believed that no one from the Mystic Mist sect would survive.

    Including Zheng Bin!

    Clearly, they thought that the disciples from the Hell sect had posed a much greater threat than the disciples from the Blood sect and the Ghost sect.

    Nie Tian had a grim look on his face. ¡°The Blood sect and the Ghost sect each have one Profound realm expert. The Hell sect on the other hand...... has two. ording to my master, the current master of the Hell sect seems to be on the verge of breaking into the Profound realm. If the Hell sect alone has three Profound realm experts, then it will surpass all the other sects by arge margin, and be totally worthy of the title of number one sect in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    At the same time, Zhao Haifeng¡¯s voice once again rang out from the distant street. ¡°Duan Yuan and Qing Wen, you two go take a look at that meteor. If you see a key to the Heaven Gate, you guys collect it first.¡±

    Soon, he appeared in front of Nie Tian and the others, standing as straight as a sword, proud and arrogant.

    ¡°It¡¯s just three juniors...!?¡± Looking at them, An Rong went nk for a moment. Suddenly, a sense of insult filled his heart.

    Zhao Haifeng and the other two were clearly only around fifteen years old. However, they actually dared to barge into the heart of ck Cloud City and kill people everywhere with just the three of them.

    What did that mean?

    No one from the Hell sect had ever put ck Cloud City in their eyes, or attached any importance to An Rong, the Yun n, or the Nie n!

    It was as if in the eyes of the Hell sect experts, three juniors were already powerful enough to do anything they wanted in ck Cloud City.

    An Rong was the master of the An n. Everymoner in the city had inwardly regarded him as the master of ck Cloud City.

    The fact that the Hell sect sent three juniors on a task in the city had made him feel incredibly insulted.

    Right before An Rong couldsh out, Zhao Haifeng called out to his partners with a frown, ¡°Duan Yuan! Qing Wen!¡±

    The two of them stopped and looked back at him, curious of why he stopped them.

    He narrowed his eyes, and his piercing gaze, like an ice-cold, sharp sword,nded on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s left hand. He said, ¡°The key on this meteorite has already been taken by him.¡±

    Both Duan Yuan and Hu Qingwen followed his gaze and looked towards Nie Tian¡¯s left hand.

    Duan Yuan gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Cold, gruesome air wreathed around the three pale-gray bone spears as they shot out from behind Zhao Haifeng.

    The three bone spears were still dripping with blood as they flew forward.

    Zhao Haifeng took a nce at Nie Tian and said in a rxed tone, ¡°We¡¯vee for the key to the Heaven Gate, and we don¡¯t want to waste our time. We still need to find more keys in the wastnd, so...¡±

    After a brief pause, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°As long as you cut off your left hand and give it to us, together with the Heaven Gate key that¡¯s branded on it, we will leave immediately, and not waste another minute in ck Cloud City.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°You want me to cut off my left hand for you?¡±

    ¡°At least that way, you¡¯ll get to live,¡± said Zhao Haifeng.

    ¡°What if I refuse?¡± Nie Tian countered.

    ¡°Then you¡¯ll die,¡± Zhao Haifeng answered.

    SHEW!

    A messenger eagle suddenly swooped in andnded on An He¡¯s shoulder.

    An He quickly tore off the pile of papers that was attached to the eagle¡¯s leg. His face abruptly turned grim after he opened the paper and took a nce at it. He said, ¡°nmaster, the guards that we have deployed to the city gate have been killed.¡±

    Glowering at Zhao Haifeng, he added, ¡°The guest elder from the Nie n, Wu Tao, is also dead. They all died by the hands of these three!¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wu!¡± A explosive shout escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth.

    In the entire Nie n, Wu Tao was the only one besides Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, who had cared for Nie Tian.

    Deep down, he had great respect for Wu Tao. He could still vividly remember that he had even specially visited Wu Tao and expressed his gratefulness before he left the Nie n for the Cloudsoaring sect.

    He never expected that Wu Tao, who had treated him so nicely, would have been killed by the three Hell sect disciples in front of him. A raging me was instantly born in his heart. ¡°You¡¯ll die here!¡±

    ¡°Big brother Haifeng, it seems that it¡¯s time to make a move.¡± Duan Yuan grew a bit impatient.

    An Rong burst into a burning rage. ¡°You dare to run amok in ck Cloud City with just the three of you! Does the Hell sect really think that we have no talents in ck Cloud City!?¡±

    ¡°Old man, you turned me down when I ask nicely, so I guess I¡¯ll have to force it.¡± Zhao Haifeng shook his head as if he felt that their decision was very unwise. ¡°An old man like you has spent your whole life cultivating, yet can¡¯t even get admitted into the four sects. You never had the chance to learn real cultivation methods from the four sects, or to experience the most brutal and bloody baptism.

    ¡°None of you will pose a threat to us, even though your cultivation base is slightly higher than ours.¡±

    After making thatment, Zhao Haifeng held out his hand, pointed at An Rong and said, ¡°Leave him to me. You two choose whoever you would like to fight from the other two old men.¡±

    He was clearly referring to Nie Donghai and An He. In his eyes, out of all the others, only Nie Donghai and An He could somewhat pose a threat.

    As for Nie Tian, he waspletely ignored by Zhao Haifeng.

 Chapter 131: Deep-seated Strength of the Hell Sect

    Upon hearing Zhao Haifeng¡¯s words, Duan Yuan and Hu Qingwen immediately dashed towards Nie Donghai and An He.

    WHOOSH!

    Duan Yuan gestured towards his bracelet of holding, and in the next moment, a double-headed battle-axe that glittered with golden light flew out.

    The double-headed battle-axe was golden in color and emanated frighteningly strong spiritual power fluctuations under the dark sky, together with a shiny, golden aura.

    Uder Duan Yuan¡¯s maniption, the iparably sharp battle-axe shed towards Nie Donghai.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s expression flickered and he hastily dodged the attack.

    Before his spiritual sea had been shattered, his cultivation base had been in the great circle of the Heaven stage, only one step away from Greater Heaven.

    However, since over the years he hadn¡¯t been able to gather the scattered spiritual power within his spiritual sea and couldn¡¯t stop his spiritual power from seeping away, his cultivation base had already dropped from the great circle of Heaven stage to the middle Heaven stage.

    Furthermore, he had been low-spirited regarding his future and focused only on raising Nie Tian. Hence, he even secretly traded in the spiritual tool that he had used for years.

    Without a spiritual tool to use, coupled with the fact that he had just rebuilt his spiritual sea, he didn¡¯t have the confidence to win the fight against Duan Yuan, who was only in the early Heaven stage. He chose to defend himself for the moment.

    The other Hell sect junior, Hu Qingwen, was also in the early Heaven stage. ¡°Come out!¡± She sent out a wisp of will power, and in the next moment, a green, curved bow flew out of her bracelet of holding and fell into her hand.

    Holding the bow in one hand, she extended her other hand to draw an arrow that glittered with bright light, and then ced it on the bow string.

    An He was her target. As she pulled the bow taut, the arrow started to absorb the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the surroundings.

    Arge amount of intense spiritual power converged onto the sharp arrowhead, like a deadly snake that was flicking its tongue.

    SHEW!

    The arrow shot out like a shooting star, plummeting toward An He¡¯s chest.

    An He¡¯s expression flickered and he hastily used a bronze shield to defend.

    CLANG!

    Blinding sparks sshed out from the surface of the shield. With a muffled groan, An He was sent back several steps. Experiencing numbness from the web between his thumb and forefinger, his face became extremely grim.

    CLANK!

    The arrow dropped to the ground. With a frown, Hu Qingwen pulled out another arrow and once again aimed at An He.

    ¡°No matter whether it¡¯s spiritual incantations or spiritual tools, yours are far inferior to ours.¡± Zhao Haifeng wasn¡¯t in a hurry to attack. He looked at the fuming An Rong and said, ¡°I¡¯ll let you know how big the difference is between the strength of a man from a subordinate n and a core disciple from the Hell sect.

    ¡°You¡¯ll see... the cultivation base is not the only factor in measuring one¡¯s strength.

    ¡°Profound incantations, delicate techniques, and high-ranked spiritual tools also y a crucial part in one¡¯s battle prowess!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As soon as he uttered these words, the three bone spears that had been floating in the air formed a vertical triangle in the air, before shooting towards An Rong.

    Unlike how he used them to kill Wu Tao and other civilians of ck Cloud City, this time the bone spears seemed to have morphed into three icicles the moment they whizzed out.

    The pale-gray bone spears seemed to be covered in ayer of imprable ice, releasing a terrifying, bone-piercing coldness.

    The moment they shot out, Nie Tian felt that the temperature in the area had suddenly plunged, turning the hot summer night into a freezing winter night in a sh.

    ¡°Frost power!¡± These words escaped from Nie Tian¡¯s mouth.

    Obviously, Zhao Haifeng¡¯s cultivation attribute was frost, and he had a strong frost power within him. Moreover, the incantation he just used must be an exquisite frost-attributed incantation.

    Even the three bone spears had been customized to his need, which all carried a terrifying ice-cold aura.

    After he used the frost power within himself to fill the bone spears, they were finally able to disy their real might. Even with the coldness they gave out alone, they could freeze a man¡¯s blood.

    ¡°Thete Heaven stage!¡± With a strange expression on his face, An He let out an exmation; he couldn¡¯t believe the teenager in front of him could actually reach thete Heaven stage at such a young age.

    He, on the other hand, was already sixty years old, but only had a cultivation base that was in the early Greater Heaven stage.

    Zhao Haifeng was just one step away from entering the Greater Heaven and reaching his level.

    An Rong was secretly shocked. ¡°This kid might be able to step into the Greater Heaven stage before the age of twenty! This is unbelievable! This is monstrous! Is everyone from the Hell sect as frightening as him?!¡±

    Knowing that the frost-aura-wreathed bone spears that had shot in his direction were nothing ordinary, he didn¡¯t have the audacity to fight them head-on, even though his cultivation base was one stage higher than Zhao Haifeng¡¯s.

    Just like Nie Donghai, he also chose to dodge the attacks, wishing to strike Zhao Haifeng when the power of the bone spear wore out.

    Unfortunately, the three bone spears that contained raging frost power didn¡¯t show even the slightest signs of exhaustion.

    An Rong didn¡¯t know that those three bone spears had been floating in the air ever since Zhao Haifeng had appeared in ck Cloud City, as if they weren¡¯t affected by gravity.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The three bone spears radiated white, freezing auras as they circled back and dashed towards An Rong again.

    Standing in his original ce, Zhao Haifeng hadn¡¯t move a muscle; however, his pupils had shed their ck color and taken on a pale-gray color, which was the same with his bone spears.

    The ground under his feet gradually froze, and the air around him even became filled with a frosty, white mist, as if the area he was in had turned into an icy tundra, constantly unleashing surges of bone-piercing coldness.

    Nie Tian sensed with his psychic awareness, and found that wisps of white, frosty mist that were invisible to the naked eye, were secretly floating out of Zhao Haifeng¡¯s body and converging towards his three piercing bone spears.

    ¡°With one in thete Heaven stage, and two in the early Heaven stage, this is how formidable the strength of the Hell sect is!¡±

    Zhao Haifeng and his two partners seemed only four or five years older than Mo Xi from the Ghost sect and Yu Tong from the Blood sect.

    However, both Mo Xi and Yu Tong only had the cultivation bases of the ninth level of Qi Refining when they were in the Green Illusion dimension.

    As of today, the two of them had only reached the early Lesser Heaven stage, the same stage Nie Tian was in.

    Furthermore, they had been both viewed as elite disciples and regarded highly by their respective sects.

    The Hell sect, on the other hand, had sent three of theirmon juniors, and they all turned out to have Heaven stage cultivation bases!

    The leader of the three, Zhao Haifeng, had even reached thete Heaven stage, and was only one step away from advancing into the Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°The Hell sect is so much stronger than the Ghost sect and the Blood sect...¡±

    He realized that the fact that the Hell sect could be the leader of their alliance was not only because they had two Profound realm experts, but also because their deep-seated strength far surpassed the Ghost sect and the Blood sect.

    Therefore, it made sense that the Hell sect had been the party that gave orders, and the other two sects had acknowledged its leadership, obediently taking their orders.

    ¡°The Hell sect is too powerful! No wonder people from the other realms only informed the Hell sect that the Heaven Gate would appear in their territory and asked them for some spots to enter, but didn¡¯t dare toe and take them forcefully.

    ¡°Even those foreign Qi warriors feared the Hell sect¡¯s strength, so they chose cooperation over war.¡±

    By that time, he finally understood why the small group of three dared to act so recklessly in ck Cloud City,pletely ignoring the authority of the An n, Yun n, and Nie n.

    Their contempt towards others was based on their formidable strength. Every disciple of the Hell sect believed that their sect was the strongest sect in the Realm of me Heaven and its one and only true owner.

    PUFF!

    The double-headed battle-axe suddenly shot out beams of blinding, golden light in every direction. Unable to avoid them in time, several bloody wounds were cut open on Nie Donghai¡¯s left arm.

    ¡°Grandfather!¡±

    Although he knew perfectly well that his own cultivation base was inferior to Duan Yuan¡¯s by a whole stage, Nie Tian still bolted towards Nie Donghai with an angry roar.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Don¡¯te near me! There¡¯s no way you can beat him!¡± Nie Donghai shouted in an attempt to stop Nie Tian froming to his aid.

    Hearing Nie Donghai¡¯s shout, Zhao Haifeng, Duan Yuan, and Hu Qingwen all cast their gazes towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian? That name sounds quite familiar,¡± Zhao Haifeng muttered to himself.

    ¡°He¡¯s the disciple that entric Wu has recently taken in.¡± Standing beside him, Duan Yuan reminded him.

    ¡°Wu Ji¡¯s disciple!¡± Zhao Haifeng gave Nie Tian a serious nce for the first time.

    After looking Nie Tian up and down, he shook his head and said, ¡°Howe he¡¯s only in the early Lesser Heaven stage? Even those two seniors of our sect hold Wu Ji in high esteem and praise him to be one of the most miraculous people in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°His disciple shouldn¡¯t be this weak...

    ¡°That Nie Tian was only admitted as his disciple six months ago,¡± said Hu Qingwen.

    With a nod, Zhao Haifeng said, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is. Since he¡¯s Wu Ji¡¯s disciple, we¡¯ll spare his life. Capture him alive. He may be of great use to us in the future.¡± He gave the order to Duan Yuan.

    ¡°Got it.¡± Duan Yuan immediately replied.

    PUFF!

    At that time, Nie Tian had already reached Nie Donghai¡¯s side. Hit in the chest by a beam of golden light, blood instantly sprayed out, painting his shirt red.

    He had only been hit by the golden light that had been emanated by the double-headed battle-axe, but it felt as if he had been gashed by a sharp de, leaving a long, bleeding wound in his chest.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned especially grim as he realized that Duan Yuan was the strongest opponent he had ever encountered by far.

 Chapter 132: The Strongest Man in the Realm of Flame Heaven

    Meanwhile, on the back mountain of Cloudsoaring Mountain.

    Chang Sen and his wife Kong Yun, both Profound realm experts from Hell sect, had been discussing the Dao of cultivation with Wu Ji over the past few days, in the same manner they might chat about household affairs.

    As opposed to what the others had expected, ever since they came to the Cloudsoaring Mountain, both Chang Sen and Kong Yun hadn¡¯t had even the slightest intention to go to war.

    When Kong Yun found out that the experts from Mystic Mist sect and Grayvale sect had joined hands and marched towards the Hell sect, she had apologized to Wu Ji, and then soared away.

    Chang Sen stayed and continued to discuss the Dao of cultivation with Wu Ji.

    With a tall and sturdy frame, Chang Sen wore rough linen garments and no shoes. No one would have considered him to be a Profound realm Qi warrior. Instead, he looked more like a farmer who had been busy with rural activities his whole life.

    His hands and feet were big and strong, his robust body resembled that of a tiger, and his voice sounded loud and profound like a giant bell.

    Not far away from where they were, experts from both Cloudsoaring Sect and Hell sect were still fighting endlessly and fiercely over the Heaven Gate keys on the meteors.

    However, Wu Ji and Chang Sen turned a blind eye to it and went on to exchange their understandings of cultivation.

    Chang Sen hade to Wu Ji¡¯s residence when the Ghost sect and Blood sect invaded the Spiritual Treasure sect. He just sat with Wu Ji and chatted about whatever that came to mind.

    Wu Ji had known about his purpose ever since he had arrived. However, he did not point it out directly, but rather chatted with him.

    Until this moment...

    Chang Sen remained silent for a while before he suddenly said, ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving soon. Brother Wu, you are the only person whom I respect deeply in the entire Realm of me Heaven. I¡¯ve benefited a great deal from our conversations, and I¡¯ve always admired you for having taught two extremely talented disciples.¡±

    Wu Ji had a calm look on his face. ¡°It¡¯s all because they worked hard.¡±

    Chang Sen nodded in assent, and said, ¡°Brother Wu, Fang Hui and the others may not know about this, but you ought to be aware that in my eyes, the alliance between the four sects is too weak to withstand a single blow.

    ¡°If I wanted to, I could easily eliminate the four of them from the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only allowed them to exist so that they can serve as sharpening stones for disciples from the Hell sect. I¡¯ve never considered them as swords that may be as sharp as the Hell sect.

    ¡°In my eyes, the Blood sect and Ghost sect are not that different from the other four sects.

    ¡°I have to find worthy opponents for the Hell sect in the Realm of me Heaven if we want to prosper. Even though I have the strength to take over all of the other sects, I chose not to.

    ¡°Because, without opponents, our disciples would lose their sense of crisis and motivation.

    ¡°It has been my intention that the other sects persist, so that our disciples can polish themselves and sharpen their edge.¡±

    From the way he spoke, it seemed if he had wanted, the Hell sect alone would be more than capable of sweeping across the whole Realm of me Heaven and making all other sects submit to them obediently.

    Wu Ji didn¡¯t say a word to refute him.

    It seemed that he agreed with Chang Sen¡¯s assertion, and didn¡¯t think even for a moment that Chang Sen had really been speaking without thinking.

    That was because he understood better than anyone how powerful the man in front of him was.

    They were both in the Profound realm. Chang Sen, however, had already reached the great circle, and was only one step away from stepping into the Soul realm.

    He deserved the title of the strongest man in the Realm of me Heaven. He was the only one who had stepped into thete Profound realm. All the other Profound realm cultivators had only reached the early or middle stage.

    Even though there was one Profound realm expert in each of the sects among the four sects, with the exception of Wu Ji, the other three experts were all only at the early Profound realm.

    As for Wu Ji himself, he had only managed to step into the middle Profound realm not too long ago.

    He also understood that if he couldn¡¯t run into some good fortune, he wouldn¡¯t have enough years tost until he stepped into the Soul realm where he could extend his longevity.

    Chang Sen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the fierce battle at the foot of the mountain, watching the experts from both the Cloudsoaring sect and Hell sect fighting over the Heaven Gate keys.

    ¡°You never know. Even the powerful experts from the Realm of Earth Sieve didn¡¯t foresee that the Heaven Gates would have its own qualifications this time.

    ¡°If I had known about this, I would have prevented the Ghost sect and Blood sect¡¯s invasion of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    ¡°What¡¯s done is done. It¡¯s no longer necessary to continue with the battle.

    ¡°I will allow those who have already obtained the keys to enter the Heaven Gate. I won¡¯t add on anymore obstacles.

    ¡°Many from other realms have longed to enter the Realm of me Heaven for many years. In the past, there haven¡¯t been enough benefits that drove them to make efforts to step into the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°The appearance of the Heaven Gate and the Earth me Beast breaking free from Scarlet me Mountain Range heralds the changes that are going to take ce. In the future, even more strange phenomenons will present themselves in the Realm of me Heaven. By that time, powerful forces from other realms that even I am not certain if I could resist, will reveal themselves in the Realm of me Heaven one after another.

    ¡°The civil war within the Realm of me Heaven might result in the death of many disciples who are below Worldly realm, due to their insufficient strength.

    ¡°On the other hand, the civil war can also possibly motivate the weaker ones, allowing them to make breakthroughs in desperate and unfavorable circumstances and as a result, step into the Worldly realm.

    ¡°I hope that after the Heaven Gate trial, there will be more of our disciples who can advance into the Worldly realm.

    ¡°Because they will be the ones that we¡¯ll rely on to defend the Realm of me Heaven from outsiders.

    ¡°From now on, I will restrict the Blood sect and Ghost sect from instigating more fights. I also hope that you can inform the other three sects and let them understand that in no more than ten years, the Realm of me Heaven will face attacks from outsiders.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time we prepared ourselves.¡±

    Chang Sen took his time to exin in lengths his worries and the true purpose of his visit.

    Experts from the four sects had all reckoned that the Blood sect and Ghost sect had taken advantage of the fact that the Profound realm expert from the Mystic Mist sect wasn¡¯t in the Realm of me Heaven, as well as the fact that the Profound realm expert from the Grayvale sect was in his ultimate secluded mediation, to weaken the strength of their alliance.

    However, Wu Ji had always known that that wasn¡¯t the truth.

    If Chang Sen really wanted to start a war, he would have no one to fear!

    Wu Ji nodded his head. ¡°I¡¯ll inform the three sects.¡±

    Chang Sen nodded and said no more. A gale of wind blew past, and his body that had been sitting upright on the stone floor dissipated into the air like a puff of light smoke.

    As soon as Chang Sen vanished from the back mountain of Cloudsoaring Mountain, Jiao Yang, master of the Hell sect, gave the order from the foot of the mountain, ¡°Whether you¡¯ve obtained a Heaven Gate key or not, withdraw from the Cloudsoaring sect immediately!¡±

    Even though every expert from the Hell sect harbored doubts in their hearts upon hearing Jiao Yang¡¯s instruction, they could only struggle free from their fights with experts from the Cloudsoaring sect.

    Even though there were still a number of key-carrying meteors that remained untouched, the Hell sect disciples all withdrew from their fights, followed Jiao Yang, and left in an orderly fashion.

    Experts from Cloudsoaring Sect also felt puzzled, but they did not stop them from leaving.

    Before long, everyst one of the experts from the Hell sect that had surrounded the Cloudsoaring sect for many days disappeared.

    ...

    In front of the Yun n.

    Nie Tian had been stabbed by the sputtering golden light, and his chest was now covered with blood. He dodged continuously within the rain of golden light beams as he tried to get closer to Duan Yuan.

    Merely one light beam from the double-headed battle axe was already powerful enough to rip open a bloody wound in Nie Tian¡¯s chest, making him look miserable.

    This made him realize how big of a gap there was between the Lesser Heaven stage and the Heaven stage.

    FIZZ!

    Golden light shed behind Nie Donghai¡¯s back. He let out a muffled groan and staggered several steps forward.

    The double-headed battle axe revolved rapidly in the air, as if it had turned into a cluster of bright golden light, as it chased after Nie Donghai.

    Nie Tian on the other hand, was temporarily free of danger.

    After turning around, he noticed that Nie Donghai was leading the double-headed battle-axe further away from him, in an attempt to prevent him from getting hurt by the golden light that had been emanated by the axe.

    As soon as the battle-axe left, Nie Tian charged towards Duan Yuan like a fierce beast that had gone mad, without any regard for the pain in his chest.

    In that moment, a burning rage was born in his heart and soon spread all over his body.

    The spiritual power that had been surging within his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea, as well as the flesh power that had been hidden within his flesh and bones, burst out in that instant.

    ¡°Rage punch!¡± He roared violently in his mind.

    BOOM!

    In that moment, his fist that carried heaven-shaking fury gave vent to all the strength within him. Unusual space fluctuations seemed to ripple out from deep within the clouds of the Realm of me Heaven.

    A terrifying, enormous shadow abruptly appeared in the dark, night sky, which seemed to be resonating with the fearful might of the rage fist.

    Having sensed the unfavorable situation, Duan Yuan forcefully condensed all his strength and cast a secret magic of the Hell sect.

    ¡°Purgatory Gate!¡±

    Under the maniption of his spiritual power, thread after thread of malevolent devil shadows came together and formed a strange-looking gate in front of his chest, which was full of sharp thorns and curved horns.

    BANG!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist rammed furiously into the strange gate. As a result, the gate shattered in the next moment.

    PUFF!

    A mouthful of fresh blood escaped from Duan Yuan¡¯s mouth as he was sent flying backwards into the air, like he had been crushed by a mountain.

    Blood was still flowing out of the corners of Duan Yuan¡¯s mouth after hended with one knee on the ground. Slowly, he struggled to stand up from his kneeling position.

    ¡°What spiritual technique is this?!¡± he asked, face filled with shock and terror.

 Chapter 133: Fighting off the Enemy

    CLANK!

    The double-headed battle axe that had been pursuing Nie Donghai suddenly dropped to the ground, and its brilliant golden light faded away.

    CRUNCH!

    Duan Yuan was kneeling on the ground with one knee. When he attempted to stand up, the sharp, clear sound of snapping bones rang out from his chest.

    A big mouthful of blood once again spurted out of Duan Yuan¡¯s mouth. Before he could stand upright, he staggered and dropped back to the ground.

    Duan Yuan looked at Nie Tian with his eyes filled with fear and disbelief.

    Nie Tian was only in the early Lesser Heaven stage. Moments before, he had managed to cast out such a terrifying power that was like an unstoppable flood, and instantly inflicted serious damage on him, by only using some kind of strange spiritual technique and without any help from a spiritual tool.

    He examined himself with his psychic awareness and realized that Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike had fractured his bones in four ces.

    Not only that, a surge of raging me energy that hadn¡¯t faded yet, was still wandering in his body, causing constant, stabbing pain in both his muscles and meridians.

    After taking that one strike, Duan Yuan had even lost the strength to control the double-headed battle-axe, and thus was no longer able to hurt Nie Donghai.

    ¡°That¡¯s...¡±

    Both Hu Qingwen, who was about to shoot out another arrow, and Zhao Haifeng, who was manipting his bone spears, had strange expressions on their faces.

    Eyes filled with disbelief, they all cast their gaze towards Nie Tian.

    Never had they imagined that Nie Tian, who was one whole stage inferior to Duan Yuan, could have injured him.

    This didn¡¯t make sense!

    With a fierce look on his face, Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°You said yourself that the cultivation base is not the only factor to measure one¡¯s strength, didn¡¯t you? Profound spiritual incantations and exquisite spiritual techniques can make up for one¡¯s deficiency in cultivation. The reason why I was able to hurt you is because I have exquisite spiritual techniques at my disposal.¡±

    Zhao Haifeng was aghast. ¡°Are the spiritual techniques that entric Wu taught him really... really that awesome?¡±

    ¡°Return!¡± With a wave of his hand, the bone spears that were constantly hovering around An Rong blurred into three streaks of ice-cold light and flew away from An Rong¡¯s surroundings.

    After drawing her bow to the fullest, Hu Qingwen also stopped. She was still aiming An He but didn¡¯t shoot any arrows.

    An Rong and An He both heaved a sigh of relief and looked towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°How are you doing, Duan Yuan?¡± Zhao Haifeng said with a frown.

    Sitting on the ground, Duan Yuan¡¯s chest area was already covered in blood that he had coughed up.

    Duan Yuan only put on a bitter smile while sitting cross-legged, focusing all his energy on obliterating the force that was wandering within him and continuously damaging his flesh and bones.

    He couldn¡¯t even spare a breath to talk.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he injured him so badly...¡± Zhao Haifeng was increasingly astonished.

    After throwing the punch, Nie Tian was also barely able to remain standing in ce, holding on to thest of his strength.

    His state wasn¡¯t necessarily better than Duan Yuan¡¯s.

    The rage fist had practically drained all of his spiritual power and the power within his flesh.

    At the moment, he had no battle prowess left other than his only remaining psychic power.

    He acted as if nothing had happened, but couldn¡¯t stop worrying inwardly. He knew that from now on, not only was he unable to help his grandfather and An Rong, he would even be a burden to them.

    All Zhao Haifeng had to do wasy a hand on him and the tough front that he had put on would copse in an instant.

    He had been aware that by using the rage fist, it would put him in this kind of situation, but he had no other choice.

    After all, Duan Yuan was too strong, with a cultivation base that was one whole stage superior. He couldn¡¯t think of another way to seriously injure Duan Yuan besides using the raging fist, which he picked up from the mysteriousnd.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhao Haifeng said. ¡°Since he is the disciple of entric Wu, even given the fact that his cultivation base is low, he still should be considered to be a man worth killing.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The three pale-white bone spears that had been floating in the air suddenly emanated countless beams of ice-cold light, within whichy a formidable frost power.

    Apparently, Zhao Haifeng was ready to strike.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Seeing that Zhao Haifeng had targeted Nie Tian, both Nie Donghai and An Rong gathered towards Nie Tian without even thinking about it.

    Bitterness could be seen in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he stared at the bone spears thrumming with frost power without any way out.

    BOM BOM BOM!

    All of a sudden, thepletely depleted Nie Tian felt his heart start beating madly.

    At the same time, a wisp of soul will, only detectable to him, came through from afar and descended in ck Cloud City.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor...¡± Only moments passed before Nie Tian recognized it. tion filled his glittering eyes.

    After finishing collecting all the Earthme Crystal Strings from the Scarlet me Mountain Range, the me Dragon Armor had finally tracked Nie Tian down and followed his aura to ck Cloud City.

    It seemed to have sensed that he had fallen into a terrible situation. Therefore, it had begun to speed toward him even more quickly than before.

    The arriving of the me Dragon Armor reignited the hope within Nie Tian¡¯s heart, as he believed that Zhao Haifeng and his party wouldn¡¯t get to touch him again.

    Zhao Haifeng, who was about to channel the frost power within him and use it to send the three bone spears to attack Nie Tian, seemed to have been startled.

    Due to the fact that he mainly practiced frost or ice spiritual incantations, he was very sensitive to cold and hot auras.

    Even before the me Dragon Armor showed itself, he had already sensed that the temperature within ck Cloud City had begun to rise.

    The way that the temperature rose was obviously not natural. He felt an inexplicably oppressive feeling weighing down on him, which made him extremely ufortable.

    Zhao Haifeng had always been known as a decisive person in the Hell sect. After a brief scang, he rapidly turned to Hu Qingwen and said, ¡°Take Duan Yuan. We¡¯re leaving.¡±

    ¡°What!?¡± Hu Qingwen didn¡¯t understand.

    Duan Yuan also snapped open his eyes and looked towards him confusedly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Zhao Haifeng slightly frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s not our day today. As for the Heaven Gate keys, we can get them through other methods.¡±

    Even though Hu Qingwen and Duan Yuan were still full of questions, they believed that Zhao Haifeng must have his reasons.

    He had never made a move without a purpose.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Obviously, Hu Qingwen ced a lot of trust in him. She put away her bow and arrow and hefted Duan Yuan onto her back.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Zhao Haifeng told her to leave first as he cast a cold nce towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve got a key to the Heaven Gate, I guess I know where we¡¯ll meet again.¡±

    With these words, he left with Hu Qingwen under the disbelieving gazes of Nie Donghai, An Rong, and An He.

    ¡°What happened just now?¡± Their actions left An Rongpletely confused.

    Nie Donghai also shook his head in confusion. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to that kid. Considering his strength, if he kept fighting, we probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold on for long.¡±

    ¡°Those Hell sect disciples are truly terrifyingly strong.¡± An He shared a simr opinion.

    It never urred to any of them to pursue Zhao Haifeng and his party, as they all deemed that if they enraged Zhao Haifeng by chasing after his group, they would be the ones that would end up with more injuries.

    ¡°That guy sensed the crisis brought upon by the me Dragon Armor?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes glittered with a strange light.

    Only because there was a mysterious link between the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul and his own, was he able to sense its approach.

    Everyone else didn¡¯t feel a thing, even An Rong, whose cultivation base was the highest among the crowd.

    Zhao Haifeng was clearly going to make a move. However, he changed his idea at thest moment while looking around with an alerted face. He must have sensed the fluctuations in the air and noticed something from the change in the temperature.

    He probably had suspected that a powerful expert, skilled at fire-attributed incantations, was approaching ck Cloud City, and decisively retreated to avoid him.

    This person knew when to yield and when to not, and also had surprisingly good observation skills. As soon as he sensed danger, he immediately dropped everything and firmly withdrew from the situation.

    Without a doubt, Zhao Haifeng was the most intelligent among all the opponents at his age that Nie Tian had ever encountered.

    Compared to him, Mo Xi from the Ghost sect and Yu Tong from the Blood sect were clearly weaker by arge extent.

    ¡°Do you feel the rise in the temperature?¡± An He suddenly asked.

    An Rong let out a sigh and said, ¡°It¡¯s because that brat from the Hell sect left. He excelled at ice and frost magics, and his spiritual weapon was also extremely out of the ordinary. With him being here, it felt as if the area where were in had been cloaked with ayer of frost. We are only feeling the temperature in ck Cloud City going back to normal now that he¡¯s gone. That kid gave me the chills.The Hell sect¡¯s foundation truly is astonishing to be able to nurture young disciples like him.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± An He said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s because of that kid. ck Cloud City wasn¡¯t even this hot and stuffy before the three of them came.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°Then what is it?¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian looked up towards the gray night sky.

    The curtain of night was lifting. Daybreak was at hand.

    A thread of fiery light in the shape of a dragon was shooting in their direction in the gray sky.

    ¡°No way! Herees another meteor?!¡± An Rong cried out.

    The faces of Nie Donghai and An He turned pale with terror, not knowing what to do.

    Hours ago, a meteor from outer realm had turned the entire Yun n into ruins. How big of a disaster would it be if another one descended upon ck Cloud City?

    In the streets, numerous civilians of ck Cloud City started to run about aimlessly while letting out miserable wails.

    ¡°They¡¯reing again!¡±

    ¡°Oh my god!¡±

    ¡°Run everybody! Run!¡±

    SHEW!

    With an incredible speed, the shooting light closed in on the Yun n.

    ¡°It¡¯sing for the Yun n again?!¡± Nie Donghai eximed with a ghastly face.

    ¡°No.¡± Finally, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯sing for me.¡±

    Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

    On this day family get together, give thanks, eat mooncakes, and so on...

    Here¡¯s a short video to give you guys a brief introduction to the festival.

    https://.youtube/watch?v=ndknxk4v4QY&t=30s

 Chapter 134: A Temporary Calm

    As soon as Nie Tian uttered those words, the fiery shooting light that had been traveling at a high speed suddenly slowed down.

    When An Rong and the others looked up at it, it didn¡¯t seem asrge as the meteors that had descended from outer realm. Rather, it was like a surging ball of fire.

    ¡°It¡¯sing for you?¡± An Rong was taken aback by Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What is that? Did you do something to piss it off?¡± He assumed that the fireball had locked onto Nie Tian because it was going to kill him.

    ¡°It means no harm, grandpa,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    SHEW!

    The dashing ball of fire stopped steadily right in front of Nie Tian.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless wisps of me were like slithering, burning snakes, bit by bit retracting into the armor.

    Only then did the crowd finally have a clear look of the mysterious thing that had burned like a sun. It was actually a set of exquisite armor.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were fixed on the me Dragon Armor as he eagerly examined it with rapt attention.

    Compared to a few days before, the many densely-packed patterns on the surface of the me Dragon Armor had not only be a lot clearer, but even seemed to have an unusual power that resembledva flowing within them.

    He even sensed a surging fluctuation of life force merely by standing close to the me Dragon Armor.

    In his eyes, the me Dragon Armor in front of him was no longer a tool! Rather, it was a living being that had blood and flesh and even possessed a soul!

    He held out his hand and tried to touch it.

    However, before his hand could touch the me Dragon Armor, it suddenly shrunk and turned into a shooting, fiery light, disappearing into his bracelet of holding in the next second.

    A strand of aura that could only be understood by his soul came through from the me Dragon Armor.

    He instantly understood that after taking in arge amount of Earthme Crystal Strings, the me Dragon Armor hadn¡¯t had the chance to absorb and refine them yet.

    It needed time to gradually digest the benefits brought by the Earthme Crystal Strings, and it was going to finish its transformation in his bracelet of holding.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s gone?¡± An Rong was astonished.

    Nie Donghai suddenly grew excited. ¡°Little Tian, that spiritual tool... belongs to you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°It flew here and found you on its own?¡± Nie Donghai eximed. ¡°Does it possess a soul?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded again.

    An He and An Rong were both shocked to their very core. ¡°A spiritual tool with a soul! Is it a Spirit Channeling grade treasure?!¡±

    Meanwhile, many civilians carefully gathered around from the distant streets. They all wanted to see what had happened.

    Nie Tian was about to exin the origin of the me Dragon Armor before hastily shutting his mouth.

    ¡°Master An, Master Nie, did you see a fireball falling from the sky just now?¡± A panic-stricken citizen asked.

    An Rong took a nce at Nie Tian and said in a in tone, ¡°Yes, I saw it. It seemed to have fallen onto the meteor.¡±

    ¡°Ahhh?!¡±

    ¡°Master An, can we go over there and take a look?¡±

    The crowd of citizens asked earnestly.

    An Rong shrugged and said, ¡°Suit yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Little Tian, let¡¯s go back to the Nie n,¡± Nie Donghai said.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    They passed through the crowd of curiousmoners and went straight towards the Nie n, putting the issues of the Yun n aside.

    They also noticed that Zhao Haifeng and his party didn¡¯t leave in the direction of the wastnd where An Shiyi had gone.

    That meant that not only had they given up on the Heaven Gate key on Nie Tian¡¯s hand, they even gave up on the keys that might have appeared in the wastnd.

    It was also because of this that An Rong and the rest of them did not worry for the safety of An Shiyi and the people with her, and thus could return to the Nie n so calmly.

    Nie Tian was the only one who knew that Zhao Haifeng only left ck Cloud City and the nearby wastnd because he feared that an expert who practiced me spiritual incantations would descend in the region.

    By the time they arrived in the Nie n, ck Cloud City was already in broad daylight.

    Nie Tian simply exined about the origin of the me Dragon Armor to Nie Donghai, An He, and An Rong in a secluded room. He told them that he had obtained the me Dragon Armor in the Treasure Convention held by the Spiritual Treasure sect, and also urged them not to leak the information.

    Since An He and An Rong were present, Nie Tian didn¡¯t go on to exin the secret links between the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor.

    Even without that, having been assured that the me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, the three of them were all shocked to the point where they were at a loss for words.

    ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure, Spirit Channeling grade treasure...¡± Nie Donghai was immersed in great joy.

    An Rong and An He did nothing but stare nkly at him.

    They both had a thorough knowledge of Nie Tian¡¯s growth. Only a few years ago, Nie Tian¡¯s name was unknown in ck Cloud City, and he was constantly targeted and pushed aside by his own nsmen.

    Neither of them had ever imagined that Nie Tian would not only be Wu Ji¡¯s disciple, but alsoe to possess a Spirit Channeling grade treasure!

    They were all well aware of what a Spirit Channeling grade treasure meant. They knew that as long as Nie Tian could stay safe and continue to pursue his cultivation, there would definitely be a ce for him in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°You have a good grandson.¡± Mixed emotions rose in An Rong¡¯s heart.

    Nie Donghai couldn¡¯t stop chuckling.

    At this moment, the sound of a Nie n member came through from outside, ¡°Miss An is here!¡±

    Upon hearing the news, Nie Tian and the others quickly walked out of the secluded room.

    At first nce, Nie Tian saw that there was a door-shaped pattern that was identical to his branded on the back of An Shiyi¡¯s milky left hand. Her face also looked radiant.

    Jiang Lingzhu from the Cloudsoaring sect beamed as she waved her hand at the crowd with a wide smile.

    There was also a door-shaped pattern on the back of her hand, which meant that she had also acquired the eligibility to enter the Heaven Gate trial.

    On the other hand, Pan Tao, An Ying, Ye Gumo, and Nie Qian, who had also rushed there, were all wearing long faces and couldn¡¯t stop sighing. Clearly, they had made no gains.

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Nie Tian said while smiling.

    With a faint smile on her lips, An Shiyi looked at him and said, ¡°From the look of it, I¡¯ll also get to enter Heaven Gate. We can go together. I hope that we can both make some gains inside that mysterious Heavenly Gate.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Jiang Lingzhu said with a bright smile, ¡°I¡¯ve just received a message from Uncle Li, telling us to return to the sect. All the Hell sect disciples that surrounded the sect have all retreated. ording to Uncle Li, there won¡¯t be any war in the Realm of me Heaven in the near future. The Hell sect also won¡¯t try to stop those who have already obtained their keys to the Heaven Gate.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°Everything has been straightened out?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu seemed to be in a terrific mood. She nodded and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened either, but it looks like there won¡¯t be any more conflicts for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Is there any news from Uncle Liu and Sister Xin, who were at Scarlet me Mountain Range?¡± Nie Tian continued to ask.

    As soon as these words came out, Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s expression turned dim. She shook her head and said, ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Upon Nie Tian mentioning the Scarlet me Mountain Range, An Shiyi, An Ying, and even Pan Tao suddenly became silent.

    The devastating changes in the Scarlet me Mountain Range would definitely make the Spiritual Treasure sect suffer painful and significant losses. After this incident, the Spiritual Treasure sect might still persist. However, its strength would certainly be greatly undermined and surpassed by other sects.

    They were all disciples from the Spiritual Treasure sect. Before everything happened, their sect was stronger than the Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and the Mystic Mist sect, which had made them full of confidence.

    But now...

    At that time, the low-pitched cry of the Thunder Beast resounded from the heavens as it descended from the sky.

    Momentster, the Thunder Beast stopped steadily in the square of the Nie n.

    This time, its eyes were only fixed on Nie Tian.

    ¡°It¡¯s here to pick you up,¡± An Shiyi said softly.

    From the Thunder Beast¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian had also realized that the purpose of its trip to ck Cloud City was most likely to take him back to Wu Ji. Therefore this time, no matter how many Green Lightning gems An Shiyi gave it, the Thunder Beast would still not take her along.

    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll see you allter.¡±

    After saying farewell to the crowd, Nie Tian jumped onto the back of the Thunder Beast. Then, the Thunder Beast spread its wings and soared into the clouds.

    Nie Tian looked down and saw everyone slowly turning into small dots and soon disappearing from his sight.

    Before long, the Thunder Beastnded on the back mountain of the Cloudsoaring sect. He jumped off and instantly saw his master Wu Ji, who seemed to be in a daze.

    He bowed respectfully. ¡°Master.¡±

    Wu Ji snapped out of his reverie. He looked at him and with a nod, he said, ¡°Did you spread the news of the Heaven Gate with my name?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I did,¡± Nie Tian admitted, fearing that Wu Ji would scold him for it. ¡°After I found out about it, I felt that it was necessary to let everyone know about the truth. That¡¯s why I had to use your name and influence.¡±

    ¡°You did nothing wrong.¡± Wu Ji didn¡¯t mind how he handled it. Instead, he asked, ¡°But where did you get it from?¡±

    ¡°Hua Mu, the doctor who saved me once, visited me again in ck Cloud City,¡± Nie Tian said, not holding anything back. ¡°He was the one who told me about it.¡±

    Wu Ji was astonished. ¡°Hua Mu? That foreign doctor!?¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

 Chapter 135: Wu Jis Worries

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t hold anything back from Wu Ji.

    He exined everything to him in length, including what Hua Mu had said to him and how he obtained the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Even I didn¡¯t receive any information regarding the Heaven Gate until recently,¡± Wu Ji frowned and said. ¡°The Hell sect, on the other hand, only managed to get a hold of the information through a very powerful expert from the Realm of Earth Sieve. That Hua Mu person has such quick ess to this kind of information. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s far beyond ordinary.¡±

    After a brief pause, he continued, ¡°He nned for Lai Yi to take the me Dragon Armor out of the Realm of Dark Underworld. It seems that Hua Mu...¡±

    Wu Ji didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    After exining everything that had happened in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, Nie Tian patiently waited in silence for Wu Ji to give his opinion and advice.

    He knew in his heart that his master would point out the brightest path for him.

    Wu Ji remained wordless, seemingly trying to sort out the details and find an answer. Quite some timeter, he said, ¡°It¡¯s your blessing that a Spirit Channeling grade treasure acknowledged you. However, your cultivation base is still too low, and such a precious treasure is no ordinary item. Therefore, you have to bear one thing in mind: never bring it out unless you face a situation of life and death.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to cover up the fact that the me Dragon Armor is in your possession, since I fear that if such information spreads to the Realm of Dark Underworld, it will only attract more trouble.¡±

    He didn¡¯t ask for the me Dragon Armor to study it, but rather imparted to him the miraculous features of Spirit Channeling treasures. He also taught him how to get along with such precious treasures and how to use his flesh power and spiritual power to gradually strengthen the link between him and the treasure, so that he would be able to disy its true might when he became strong enough.

    Nie Tian listened with all his heart, and engraved every one of his words in his mind.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough about the me Dragon Armor.¡± After passing all his understanding and knowledge regarding Spirit Channeling grade treasures to Nie Tian, Wu Ji said, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve obtained a key to the Heaven Gate, you¡¯d better participate in the trial when the timees. But I¡¯m still a bit worried about your safety in there, since cultivators from the Lesser Heaven stage won¡¯t be the only ones to step into the Heaven Gate; cultivators in Heaven stage and Greater Heaven will also enter.¡±

    His expression looked somewhat grim as he frowned briefly. ¡°Most importantly, talented youngsters from the other eight realms will also enter through the other two Heaven Gates. Not only do they have higher cultivation bases, they also have superior spiritual incantations and techniques at their disposal. They may even possess spiritual tools that are more exquisite and of higher ranks.¡±

    He looked deeply towards Nie Tian. With a gentle sigh, he said, ¡°Although you¡¯re just as gifted as they are, the years you¡¯ve spent on cultivation are limited. Also, I never expected that one of the Heaven Gates would open up in the Realm of me Heaven. Otherwise, I would have brought you back to the Cloudsoaring sect the day I discovered you.

    ¡°The reason why I let you stay in the Nie n was that I wanted to see if you had other special traits aside from your innate talent.

    ¡°I wanted to have a more thorough understanding of you before bringing you to the Cloudsoaring Mountain, and as I¡¯ve expected you didn¡¯t let me down.

    ¡°Who would have expected that the Heaven Gate would open up at such an unfavorable time?¡±

    Wu Ji felt quite regretful.

    He understood perfectly well the fortune the Heaven Gate could bring Nie Tian. He originally thought that when Nie Tian had be strong enough, and even if the Heaven Gates didn¡¯t appear in the Realm of me Heaven, he would be able to get him a spot with his own influence.

    However, he seemedden with anxiety when Nie Tian obtained a key to the Heaven Gate all by himself...

    ording to Nie Tian¡¯s performance in the Green Illusion dimension trial, he believed that Nie Tian was mentally strong enough for the brutality and bloodiness that awaited in the Heaven Gate trial.

    He was only hung up on the fact that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was rather insufficient, and feared that powerful Qi warriors of the Heaven or Greater Heaven stage from other realms would mercilessly kill him the moment they ran into each other.

    The way Wu Ji taught his disciples was quite different from others¡¯; he wouldn¡¯t pull up seedlings to help them grow by making disciples advance in their cultivation levels with the help fromrge amounts of medicinal pills and other external forces.

    He put more value in a solid foundation. He wanted for his disciples to make breakthroughs mostly based on the enlightenment they drew from their own experience, and only with a small nudge from him.

    However, the current situation was that the Heaven Gate trial was right around the corner, and he didn¡¯t want Nie Tian to miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This was why he was so bothered.

    ¡°How can I help him...?¡± Wu Ji fell into a deep pondering.

    ¡°Master, when did you discover me?¡± Nie Tian was intrigued.

    Wu Ji snapped out of his thoughts, and a faint smile appeared on his face. ¡°It was when you used the Blood Core to absorb the me power from the mine that I sensed the unusual turbulence in the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Iid my eyes on you ever since. If it weren¡¯t for me, you and your aunt would have died in the mine when it copsed.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kindness, master!¡± Nie Tian suddenly connected all the dots.

    As he recalled, during that time when he and Nie Qian had absorbed me power with the dragon bone, it caused the mountain to tremble and the rocks over their heads to fall. However, very strangely, the rocks had showered down all around them, but not a single one hit them.

    Afterwards, when they tried to escape from the mine, the rocks that had blocked the tunnel all exploded into pieces, allowing them to get through unscathed.

    After they had emerged, Nie Qian gave the credit to the blessing and protection of the Nie n ancestors.

    Although Nie Tian didn¡¯t buy all that back then, he couldn¡¯te up with a better exnation for the miraculous, illogical phenomena, and thus half-believed that they had been favored by gods.

    Only on this day did he finallye to understand that the ¡°god¡± that had favored him was actually the elder in front of him.

    ¡°There¡¯s another secret to the Blood Core, master. During the time when I was still living in the Nie n, I used it to enter a whole other world, and I...¡±

    Realizing that Wu Ji had been protecting him and hold nothing back with him the whole time, Nie Tian wanted to reveal his biggest secret to him.

    Even though, at this point, he could still remember Nie Donghai¡¯s warning that he should never tell anyone about the fact that he had used the dragon bone to enter a mysteriousnd.

    Even Nie Donghai himself hadn¡¯t asked him about what had happened, fearing that someone might trap and capture him one day and pry the information out of him.

    However, as Nie Tian was going to exin it to him, Wu Ji waved his hand and stopped him. ¡°Say no more.¡±

    Confusion stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°I know,¡± Wu Ji said with a smile.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°You know?!¡±

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°The moment the abnormal spatial fluctuations appeared in the Nie n, I knew they were caused by you. I had knew that the dragon bone of yours was beyond ordinary back when you used it to drain the me power of the entire mine. You disappeared for a few days. I tried to search for you and couldn¡¯t find your aura throughout the entire Realm of me Heaven. By that time, I knew that you had traveled to somewhere special.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°Master, you... can search for my aura throughout the entire Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I can, but it¡¯s very draining.¡± Wu Ji gave him a positive answer and continued, ¡°I also know that you¡¯ve gained a great deal in there. Now that you have theplete me Dragon Armor, and it¡¯s gradually fixing itself with the Earthme Crystal Strings it collected, I think you can consider trying to step into that mysteriousnd again.

    ¡°Rest assured. You can feel free to use the me Dragon Armor here. No one will be able to detect the anomaly in the spatial fluctuations when I¡¯m around.

    ¡°I, on the other hand, need to think over how to help you prepare for the Heaven Gate trial in a way that can enhance your battle prowess without over-consuming your potential.

    ¡°This is it for today.¡±

    With a wave of his hand, Wu Ji hinted for Nie Tian to go back to his hut and study the me Dragon Armor, hoping that he would be able to use it to return to the mysteriousnd just like the way he had before.

    Upon hearing his instructions, Nie Tian rose to his feet and returned to his hut. After thinking for a while, he took the me Dragon Armor out of his bracelet of holding.

    FIZZ!

    A beam of light shed across in the air and in the next moment, the me Dragon Armor steadilynded on the stone floor, emanating a halo of dark-red light.

    He reached out and ced his hand on top of the Blood Core that was in the chest te of the me Dragon Armor, as he tried to use his soul consciousness tomunicate with the soul thaty within.

    He expressed his wish to step into that mysteriousnd again.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, ming light shot out from the me Dragon Armor in every direction, and once again it became like a burning sun. Together with it, a surge of strange spacial fluctuations rippled outwards from within the small hut.

    In the next moment, the me Dragon Armor seemed to have turned into a gate and engulfed Nie Tian.

 Chapter 136: Reentering the Mysterious Land!

    On the back mountain of Cloudsoaring Mountain...

    Sitting quietly on the ground, Wu Ji saw numerous fine spacial rifts appear in the sky as if they were being split open by sharp des.

    The hut that Nie Tian was in practically disappeared into thin air in a sh, together with Nie Tian.

    Multi-colored light shed within the countless spacial rifts, as if they were secret tunnels that led to numerous unknown dimensions.

    Wu Ji narrowed his eyes. With a brief movement of his soul, the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the vicinity started to converge towards the mountaintop.

    The spiritual Qi came in clusters like clouds,pletely sealing off the entire area.

    Even Jiang Zhisu, who was on the nearby Cloudsoaring Peak, couldn¡¯t detect the abnormal spatial activities in the region.

    WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous blurry shadows flew out from the top of Wu Ji¡¯s head, which seemed like manifestations of his soul.

    Each one swam into one of the spacial rifts and started exploring.

    However, the spacial rifts quickly began to shrink and close up.

    Before he could thoroughly explore the secrets within, Wu Ji sensed the unfavorable change and therefore had tomand the countless shadows to fly back.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Before long, the spacial rifts closed up one after another, and the abnormal spatial fluctuations also returned to normal.

    ¡°There are space disruptions, but no signs of a gate to another dimension. The secret dimension gate must have only taken Nie Tian in, and transferred him to that mysterious world.¡± After thinking for a moment, he closed his eyes and started his meditation.

    ...

    In the unknown, mysterious world.

    For a second time, Nie Tian appeared on the dpidated altar, facing the eight dragon skulls. Fear rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart as he looked into their hollowed eye sockets.

    A surge of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that was several times richer than spiritual Qi in the Cloudsoaring sect overwhelmed him. Sitting where he was, without practicing the Qi Refining Incantation, he felt like he could cultivate at a high speed.

    It seemed that nothing had changed. He was still enveloped by a terrifyingly strong gravitational field.

    After bringing him there, the me Dragon Armor sat right next to him on the altar, and didn¡¯t fly back into his bracelet of holding.

    Flickering with dazzling, fiery light, the me Dragon Armor seemed quite excited.

    However, only momentster, it returned normal, and be dark and gloomy again.

    There were no interactions between the me Dragon Armor and Nie Tian. It seemed that its soul had gone back to repairing itself and making the transition.

    ¡°God knows how many times faster it would be if I could practice cultivation here,¡± Nie Tian whispered to himself and attempted to stand up.

    Last time he was there, he couldn¡¯t stand on his feet, and could only barely raise his arm.

    Now that he had broken into the Lesser Heaven stage and strengthened his body by consuming arge amount of second grade spirit beast meat, the first thing he wanted to do was to see if he could stand up and walk.

    He summoned his trength andboriously rose to his feet.

    The mere act of standing up consumed quite arge portion of his spiritual power, as well as some of his flesh power.

    This made him realize that it was almost impossible for him to step very far away from the altar and explore this mysteriousnd.

    He was sure that he would use up all his strength just by walking several hundred meters from the altar.

    Therefore, he chose not to do that. Instead, he sat back down and looked attentively towards the mountain-like arms that pierced into the distant sky.

    Among them, one had its fingers stretched out, in an imposing gesture that seemed as if it was going to grab and pull down the heavens.

    Just likest time, he imitated the gesture of the giant hand and grabbed towards the sky, while staring firmly at the distant arm.

    Soon after, he vaguely sensed a mountain-consuming, domineering force being born in his arm.

    The force, which could only be detected by the soul, gradually grew and spread to every corner of his body.

    His spiritual sea moved as the force built up. Even the power thaty within his flesh and bones seemed to resonate with it. He slowly adjusted his mental state to attempt to match the gesture and the force.

    He could keenly feel that the strength from his soul and flesh was now flowing within his meridians and blood vessels very rapidly.

    The force was constantly on the rise.

    He had his eyes fixed on the giant arm, and tried his best toprehend its essence. At the same time, he constantly adjusted his spiritual sea and his body, in an attempt topletely immerse himself in the process.

    A very long time passed.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    All of a sudden, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that had filled every corner of the mysteriousnd seemed to be attracted by some unknown maic field, as it gradually converged onto Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    The white, misty spiritual energy continued toe together and condense into what seemed like clusters of clouds, which all gathered towards Nie Tian¡¯s upstretched hand.

    His hand seemed to have be the center of the maic field, as a strong attracting force kept pulling all the spiritual energy clouds towards it.

    In the palm of his raised hand, a bright, light ball of pure, condensed spiritual energy was gradually formed.

    The misty ball of spiritual energy never stopped absorbing spiritual energy from the surroundings, and little by little, the extremely rich spiritual energy within the ball began to liquefy.

    BANG!

    Suddenly, the sleeve covering his raised arm exploded and turned into flying fibers as an extremely intense surge of spiritual energy fluctuations rippled out from within the spiritual energy ball.

    Meanwhile, he suddenly felt an iparably heavy weight on his lifted hand, as the half-tangible spiritual energy ball had be as heavy as a mountain.

    Subconsciously, he yanked his hand down from the air.

    Like a ball of bright light, the spiritual energy ball left the center of his palm and fell heavily onto the stone altar.

    BOOM!

    A loud crash echoed out as the ball burst. However, the stone altar didn¡¯t show show any sign of cracking.

    ¡°What?!¡± The moment Nie Tian loosened up mentally, the force within him dispersed, and his spiritual sea and flesh and blood returned to normal.

    Despite the significant consumption in his strength, he slowly moved to the ce where the spiritual energy ball had fallen to, crouched down, and started to examine it.

    Upon a closer look, he was certain that the stone altar only had the dust that had covered it blown away, while the revealed stone surface remained intact and seemed even very smooth and glossy, without even the smallest of fissures.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t right. The spiritual power within the spiritual energy ball was so pure and strong. Logically, even the toughest rock on Cloudsoaring Mountain would have shattered upon such a powerful collision.

    ¡°The only exnation would be that the altar is built with stones whose toughness has surpassed my knowledge.¡±

    Eyes narrowing, Nie Tian pondered for a while before starting to examine himself.

    Unlike the rage punch, this technique that he had used to condense a spiritual energy ball didn¡¯t seem to consume arge portion of his spiritual power.

    Quite on the contrary, upon a thorough examination of himself, he found that the spiritual power within his spiritual sea had actually increased.

    ¡°This technique doesn¡¯t seem to be very useful. It takes a long time to condense a spiritual energy ball. No one will ever give me the time to form it in battle.

    ¡°Furthermore, it has a high requirement in the density of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. The might of this technique probably won¡¯t be disyed to the fullest if the spiritual energy in the surroundings isn¡¯t rich enough.

    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be all there is.¡±

    After thinking for quite some time, a sh of inspiration hit him.

    ¡°When the spiritual energy ballnded on the ground, not only did I not expend any of my own spiritual power, but I actually gained a bit spiritual power. What would happen if I tried to allow the ball of spiritual energy into my spiritual sea?¡±

    With these thoughts, he became enlivened. Once again, he raised his hand to imitate the gesture while fixing his eyes on the mountain-like arm that seemed to desire to rip the heavens from the sky.

    A whileter, he once again sensed the majestic force from the gigantic arm, something that could conquer mountains and devour rivers.

    It seemed his spiritual sea and body had gradually adjusted themselves to coborate with the changes that were taking ce inside of him.

    WHOOSH!

    Shortly after, spiritual energy once again slowly converged onto the palm of his raised hand.

    Momentster, a new spiritual energy ball was formed in his palm. When he found it too heavy to hold up, he immediately operated the Qi Refining Incantation, in an attempt to pull and guide the spiritual energy ball into his spiritual sea.

    The fist-sized spiritual energy ball rapidly shrank when he tried to channel it with the Qi Refining Incantation.

    Strand after strand of spiritual energy that was as smooth as a clear stream flowed rapidly into his palm, and followed his meridians straight into his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    Inside his spiritual sea, the vortex of spiritual power revolved at an astonishing speed, refining and making the spiritual energy increasingly pure and condensed.

    The speed of the process was even several times faster than when he used spirit stones to cultivate.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

 Chapter 137: Twisted Magnetic Field

    As the spiritual energy within the swirling ball was gradually channeled into the vortex of spiritual power, it began to rotate several times faster than before.

    And he hadn¡¯t even used any spirit stones to speed up the process!

    After all the energy was absorbed by his spiritual power and went through a round of refining, Nie Tian examined himself with his soul and immediately found that the outermost ringed area of his spiritual sea had been filled with pure and condensed spiritual power.

    The result of this round of cultivation was equivalent to that of several days of bitter cultivation with spirit stones.

    If he could remain in this mysteriousnd and continue to gather and condense the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into spheres like this, and then refine it into his spiritual sea, he was fairly certain that the speed of his breakthroughs in the Lesser Heaven stage would increase by seven or eight times!

    However, that was assuming he could stay here.

    Once he returned to the Cloudsoaring sect, it would be impossible for him to have such great improvement in his cultivation if he practiced with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth over there.

    The spiritual energy here was simply too dense and strong.

    ¡°Could it be that...this is a type of technique that can only be used in here? And not a explosive technique like the rage fist strike?¡± Nie Tian took his time to ponder the situation.

    At the same time, he repeatedly used the technique to refine his spiritual sea.

    Via this kind of method, he could temper his spiritual sea at an astonishing speed.

    He sensed that he managed to finish one round of refinement of his spiritual sea within only approximately five days.

    The originally faint and scattered spiritual energy within his white and foggy spiritual sea had be a lot denser and richer after a round of refinement.

    However, he didn¡¯t feel that he had reached the breakthrough point in which he could no longer expand his spiritual sea and would urgently need to improve his cultivation base to be stronger; the way he had felt when he was at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

    Thus, he realized that he would need to continue repeating the refining process of his spiritual sea.

    Perhaps, he might have to go through another one or two rounds of refinement of his spiritual sea before he could reach the bottleneck. Only then would he be able to draw from his new enlightenment and understandings of spiritual power to break through into the middle Lesser Heaven stage.

    Havinge to such a realization, he stopped refining his spiritual sea, as well as contemting the mysterious technique of condensing spiritual energy balls.

    After all, after repeatedly condensing spiritual energy balls to cultivate for some time, he believed that he had already grasped the essence of this technique.

    Next, he looked towards two other enormous arms that pointed towards the sky.

    From the look of it, those two arms likely belonged to the same titan buried deep under the ground. The palms of the two hands faced each other, while the fingers were curved into a mysterious seal.

    In between the two hands was a strange maic field which seemed to have disrupted the natural flow of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the area.

    After observing for some time, he tried to form an identical hand seal by gradually reaching out with his hands, making his palms face each other, and slightly curving his fingers.

    After the gesture wasplete, he gathered all his attention, and looked towards the two giant hands.

    Suddenly, enlightenment of a certain seal entered his mind. He didn¡¯t waste a second before putting all his heart into learning that enlightenment.

    In the next moment, his spiritual power, his flesh power, as well as his psychic power started to surge inside of him before immediately merging together and fusing into his hands.

    A twisted maic field was gradually born within the space between his palms.

    ¡°My psychic power...¡± He could acutely sense the rapid consumption of his psychic power, which was much faster and more significant than the consumption of his spiritual power and flesh power.

    One after another, countless strands of his psychic power floated out of his fingers and seeped into the twisted maic field between his palms.

    Very quickly, he sensed that even the maic field around him had be twisted and chaotic!

    All the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the vicinity began to surge in a chaotic fashion. Even the space around him seemed to fluctuate in an abnormal way, as if it had copsed.

    As the spell caster, he wasn¡¯t affected by the chaotic maic field at all, but he had a feeling that other living creatures who had stepped into it would immediately fall victims to the bizarre maic field.

    However, since there wasn¡¯t a second person present, he couldn¡¯t test out how mighty its effect was.

    The only thing he knew for sure was that the maic field had been continuously and rapidly consuming his psychic power, together with a small portion of his spiritual power and flesh power.

    He also felt that as his psychic power ran low, the maic field gradually expanded outwards, with him as the center.

    ¡°Three meters, four meters, five meters...¡± He found that as soon as he stopped infusing his psychic power, the maic field would immediately stop expanding.

    And as long as he continuously fed it with his psychic power, the maic field would keep stretching outward in every direction.

    ¡°Ten meters!¡± When the maic field reached a ten meter range, he started to experience dizziness, and thus knew that he was on the verge of overdrawing his psychic power.

    He stopped immediately.

    The moment he stopped fueling it with his psychic power, the chaotic and disruptive maic field that already covered a ten meter range stopped growing.

    However at that time, he sensed that his spiritual power and flesh power was still being drained from him, seemingly providing power to sustain the maic field.

    He was amazed by the violently surging spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, as well as the fact that even space seemed to bepressing, which formed a caving maic field around him.

    ¡°This technique also requires time to cast. Furthermore, the drain on my psychic power is extremely high. However, it seems that once it¡¯s formed, it only needs a small portion of my spiritual power and flesh power to sustain it.

    ¡°Only, since I¡¯m the only one here, and I¡¯mpletely unaffected by it, there¡¯s no way for me to know how strong its true power is.

    ¡°It seems that I¡¯ll have to learn that when I use it outside in the future. However, I must properlyprehend the essence of this technique before I leave, in order to make sure that I¡¯ll still be able to cast it when I¡¯m out of here.¡±

    After thinking for a while, he felt somewhat exhausted, therefore stopped the hand seal.

    As soon as he gave up the hand seal, the spiritual power and flesh power that had been continuously pouring out also stopped flowing outwards.

    However, the mysterious, twisted maic field didn¡¯t disappear ordingly. On the contrary, it persisted.

    Only, since there was no more energy supply, the field slowly shrank, and it seemed that it would eventually disappear as the time passed.

    ¡°One, two...¡± He silently counted in his head, and noticed that the twisted maic fieldpletely dissipated into the air after roughly three minutes.

    After the maic field disappeared, everything returned to normal. However, the psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power that he had consumed didn¡¯te back.

    The significant consumption of psychic power made Nie Tian lie on the ground with his eyes somewhat listless.

    Looking at the dusky sky, he suddenly was suddenly hit by an iparably strong sense of exhaustion, making him want nothing but to sleep.

    The drain on his spiritual power could be recovered via cultivation with spirit stones. Moreover, the intense spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this area would also greatly help with the replenishment of his spiritual power.

    The flesh power he had lost could be quickly restored via eating spirit beast meat, but the drain on his psychic power seemed hard to recover within a short time.

    The only way he knew of was to sleep, therefore he simply gave in to the exhaustion and slipped into a deep slumber.

    After sleeping for an unknown period of time, he opened his eyes and, as expected, found himself full of energy and in great spirits.

    After that, he went on to repeatedly imitate andprehend the mysterious hand seal made by the two enormous hands within the mysteriousnd. By coordinating the psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power in his body, he created the strange chaotic twisting maic field over and over again, attempting to thoroughly grasp it before leaving.

    ...

    In the Realm of me Heaven...

    Nie Tian had been gone for half a month, during which the fighting between the seven great sects had already calmed down.

    After ravaging the Spiritual Treasure sect, the Earth me Beast that had broken free from the Scarlet me Mountain Range forcefully charged into the heavens and disappeared, despite the interception of the Blood sect and the Ghost sect¡¯s Profound realm experts and Fang Hui.

    Because of the havoc caused by the Earth me Beast, as well as the magma that had spewed out of the earth¡¯s core, the Blood sect, the Ghost sect, and the Spiritual Treasure sect, who were originally in a fierce fight, had no choice but stop fighting.

    After that, ming meteors had descended from the sky, respectivelynding in the territories and surrounding areas of the seven major sects.

    The lure of the Heaven Gate keys, as well as the urging from the Hell sect, made the Blood sect and Ghost sect give up on fighting with the Spiritual Treasure sect to the death.

    With that, the bloody battle in the Scarlet me Mountain Range came to an end. The Ghost sect and the Blood sect raced back to their own turfs to fight for the keys to the Heaven Gate.

    The Spiritual Treasure sect had suffered disastrous losses, but it wasn¡¯t serious enough to reach the point of sect extermination. Therefore, as they rebuilt the sect, they also started to collect the keys to the Heaven Gate that had been branded on the meteors.

    The Mystic Mist sect and Grayvale sect gained the upper hand when they first invaded the Hell sect, but were decimated when Chang Sen¡¯s wife, Kong Yun, returned to the sect.

    If not for Chang Sen¡¯s interference, over half of the experts from the Mystic Mist sect and Grayvale sect might have been killed by his wife.

    Not long after the Qi warriors of the Mystic Mist sect and Grayvale sect had returned to their sects with dejected faces, the Hell sect spread the word to all the other sects that the Heaven Gate... would open up in seven days.

    Those who had obtained the Heaven Gate keys would be allowed to participate in the trial, no matter how they had obtained the keys or which sect they came from.

    Everyone from the seven sects who had obtained the keys to the Heaven Gate seethed with excitement, and cracked their knuckles as they prepared for the trial.

    The experts of their respective sects also spared no effort to prepare them and help them umte strength, hoping that they could make great gains within the Heaven Gate.

    At this time, Wu Ji, who had also disappeared after Nie Tian entered the mysteriousnd, returned to the back mountain.

    ¡°There are only seven days left before the gate opens. Why hasn¡¯t the childe out yet?¡±

    After returning and finding no trace of Nie Tian, Wu Ji frowned.

 Chapter 138: Deep Love!

    In the unknown mysteriousnd.

    The sky was dusky all year long; there were no suns, stars, or moons, nor any such thing as daytime or nighttime.

    Nie Tian repeated the cycle of condensing the chaotic maic field, gaining enlightenment from the two giant arms, and recuperating by sleeping after his psychic power was drained.

    He hadpletely forgotten about time.

    But then, one day he was suddenly awakened from his dreams by a jolt of pain.

    Having yet to recover his psychic power, he felt somewhat bewildered. Once again a throbbing pain appeared, and he found that it came from the gate-shaped pattern on the back of his hand.

    The tattoo-like pattern was now emanating faint light, which felt like countless fine needles piercing into his flesh.

    Before now, that tattoo-like pattern had never acted oddly.

    ¡°The Heaven Gate key...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s mind shuddered as he suddenly realized something.

    He suspected that the reason for the sudden change of the Heaven Gate key was very likely due to the fact that the Heaven Gate was about to open.

    ¡°It seems that it¡¯s time I left.¡± He rose to his feet, walked to the me Dragon Armor, reached out his hand, and ced his index finger on the Blood Core, which was embedded in the center chest area of the me Dragon Armor.

    He expressed his thoughts with his soul and passed it onto the Blood Core.

    The me Dragon Armor, which had be dull and colorless ever since entering the mysteriousnd, suddenly began to flicker with sparks of fire.

    Those sparks of fire were like roaming stars that flowed within the armor.

    FIZZ!

    In the next moment, the me Dragon Armor gave off terrifying heat and was soon immersed in a ball of surging mes.

    At the heart of the mes was a grain-sized dot of blinding light, which expanded at a rapid speed as time passed.

    A gravitational force was suddenly generated!

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian turned into a stream of light and flew into the bright dot.

    Meanwhile, on the back mountain of Cloudsoaring Mountain...

    Having been expecting Nie Tian for quite some time, Wu Ji suddenly felt something. He narrowed his eyes, and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth surrounding the mountaintop morphed into an invisible shield.

    Not even a single bit of the abnormal sounds on the mountaintop could prate such a barrier.

    CRACKLE!

    One after another, numerous spacial rifts suddenly appeared in the sky. A tiny spark of fire flickered and flew out of the rifts before turning into a tunnel of me in the next moment.

    With a loud sound, Nie Tian¡¯s figure shot out of the newly formed tunnel of me.

    CLANK!

    The me Dragon Armor, which was still radiating raging fire and a strange aura, followed Nie Tian out of the tunnel andnded on the ground with a loud crash.

    A light shed across Wu Ji¡¯s eyes as his gaze fell on the me Dragon Armor.

    The me Dragon Armor that had fallen to the ground seemed to have noticed Wu Ji¡¯s gaze, and rapidly shrunk into a small dot of fire, quickly hiding in the bracelet of holding on Nie Tian¡¯s wrist.

    ¡°It¡¯s spirituality is uncanny ...¡± Wu Ji seemed quite surprised.

    At the same time, the spacial rifts that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere rapidly shrunk and disappeared one by one.

    Traveling back from another dimension caused Nie Tian to experience a slight dizziness. After his mind cleared, he saw Wu Ji at first nce. With a brilliant smile, he said, ¡°Master.¡±

    Wu Ji nodded gently and asked in a in voice, ¡°Any gains?¡±

    Joy filled Nie Tian¡¯s face as he answered, ¡°I¡¯ve picked up two mysterious hand seals.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes lit up. He didn¡¯t ask about the details of them, but said, ¡°Howe you came back sote?¡±

    ¡°There was no day or night in that dimension, so I lost track of time. Also, I didn¡¯t know when the Heaven Gate would open.¡± Nie Tian reached out with his left hand, pointed to the gate-shaped pattern on the back of it, and continued, ¡°Thankfully, it reminded me. That was how I came to realize that the Heaven Gate was going to open soon and thus rushed back.¡±

    Last time, the Blood Core took the initiative to send him back because too much of the me power within the Blood Core had been consumed.

    However, this time, the me Dragon Armor and the Blood Core had stored copious amounts of me power after taking in arge amount of Earthme Crystal Strings from the Scarlet me Mountain Range, which had allowed him to spend as much time as he wanted inside the mysterious world.

    Wu Ji was taken aback. ¡°You could receive a call from the Heaven Gate while you were in there?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I did,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Now that it was only two days away from the opening of the Heaven Gate, all those who had obtained Heaven Gate keys had felt the piercing pain from the gate-shaped pattern.

    All of them would have known that the Heaven Gate was about to open up, even without reminders from the Hell sect.

    It didn¡¯t surprise Wu Ji that the Heaven Gate keys could remind the eligible ones that the Heaven Gate was going to open in the Realm of me Heaven.

    What was amazing was that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t in the Realm of me Heaven, but rather in a mysterious dimension, which was separated from the Realm of me Heaven by an unknown distance, and yet he still received the reminder from the Heaven Gate key...

    Wu Ji marveled at the endless secrets thaty within the Heaven Gates which appeared every so often in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    From what he could tell, every Heaven Gate key that hade from outside the realm carried mysterious spacial fluctuations so strong that they even ignored the boundless distance between dimensions!

    ¡°No wonder the Heaven Gate is considered one of the unsolved mysteries of the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Wu Ji muttered. ¡°It¡¯s almost time. All of the thirteen disciples of our sect who obtained Heaven Gate keys have already set off to the Hell sect, and the Hell sect promised that they won¡¯t set up any obstructions, and will let anyone with a Heaven Gate key step inside.

    ¡°Originally, if you hade out of there earlier, I would have exined many things to you. However, we don¡¯t have the time to do that now.

    ¡°You need to set off as soon as possible.¡±

    With these words, he let out a cold harrumph while ncing to the side. ¡°What are you waiting for? Get over here.¡±

    The low cry of the Thunder Beast, which sounded as if it felt wronged, came through from the distant sky, and soon Nie Tian could see it closing in.

    ¡°Show me themand medallion I gave you,¡± Wu Ji said.

    Nie Tian quickly reached into his bracelet of holding and fished out themand medallion that Wu Ji had bestowed upon him to enable him to choose three items from the Spiritual Treasure sect. Then he handed it over to Wu Ji with both hands.

    As soon as Wu Ji grabbed themand medallion, strong fluctuations started to ripple out from within him, as numerous dark, ghostly shadows rapidly flew out of Wu Ji¡¯s body and merged into themand medallion.

    ¡°I just imprinted issues that require your attention into it, together with three spiritual incantations. You can make the decision yourself as to whether you want to practice them together or prioritize one of them. You can examine them with your psychic power on your way to the Hell sect.¡±

    After that, Wu Ji passed themand medallion back to Nie Tian and emphasized, ¡°Besides thismand medallion, here are two spiritual talismans that I made. They can protect you from two attacks from most of the cultivators at the three Heaven stages. The method to use them is also within the medallion. You¡¯ll understand when you see it.¡±

    With these words, he handed the two triangle-shaped talismans that were made out of some kind of precious jade over to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian immediately extended his hand to receive it and said, ¡°Thank you, master!¡±

    Having two spiritual talismans that could protect him from two attacks from experts at the three Heaven stages would greatly increase his chance of survival within the mysterious dimension within the Heaven Gate.

    ¡°One thing to remember: I can¡¯t say that those two spiritual talismans will keep you unscathed without fail. Because, once you step into the Heaven Gate, the opponents you¡¯ll face won¡¯t be limited to cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°You¡¯ll also face talented youngsters from the other eight realms, who are stronger and have people like me to back them.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯ll also have special treasures at their disposal, some more, some less. If you are unlucky enough to encounter them in there, then I can¡¯t guarantee that those two talismans will keep you safe.¡±

    Nie Tian immediately said, ¡°I understand.¡±

    ¡°Here are three Ice st Pearls. Take them with you. They are one time usage items, and when they explode, they will instantly send out hundreds of small ice shards. You should be careful while using them. If you don¡¯t use them right, you could very easily hurt yourself or your friends.

    ¡°Here are some spirit stones, as well as some medicinal pills. They¡¯re for emergencies, and not for the purpose of cultivating or to forcefully stimte your potential.

    ¡°Here are...¡±

    One after another, Wu Ji took out the items that he had prepared for Nie Tian, and handed them to him while giving his advice.

    Eyes wide, Nie Tian received and put away the precious items, one after another. For the first time, he felt how lucky he was to have a powerful and loving master like Wu Ji.

 Chapter 139: The Hell Sect

    On the east of the Realm of me Heaven, in the Hell sect.

    By the side of a vastke stood a majestic city which had been made by countless huge, ck stones. It was the home of the strongest Qi warrior sect of the Realm of me Heaven, the Hell sect.

    Next to the mirror-likeke, arge number of Qi warriors were gathered and moring.

    Each and every one of them wore garments of different colors and came from the seven major sects of the Realm of me Heaven, as they waited there for the Heaven Gate to open.

    ording to the Hell sect, the Heaven Gate would open on the isle in the center of theke in two hours.

    In the area where the Cloudsoaring sect disciples were gathered, Li Fan, Liu Yan, Jiang Lingzhu, and ten other people were standing in a circle, whispering something to each other.

    Liu Yan, who had previously been trapped within the Scarlet me Mountain Range, had a grim expression on his face as he talked idly with Li Fan. It seemed that he was low in spirits.

    Luckily, both his master Wu Xing and his junior martial sister, Luo Xin, had made it back from the Scarlet me Mountain Range alive, and he ran into a meteor that carried a Heaven Gate key on his way back to the sect, therefore obtaining the key.

    However, none of that cheered him up, since his junior martial brother, Shi Yi, had died a tragic death within the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    The person who killed Shi Yi was a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Ghost sect, who was currently standing not far from him, but he could do nothing.

    Li Fan frowned and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t Nie Tian also get a key? Howe he¡¯s not here?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu shook her head and thought for a while before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know, either. After he was taken away by the Thunder Beast from ck Cloud City, he stayed on the back mountain and hasn¡¯t showed up since.¡±

    ¡°Could it be that martial granduncle... has other arrangements for him?¡± Li Fan said spectively. ¡°Maybe he doesn¡¯t want him to take part in the Heaven Gate trial?¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu thought in silence for a moment before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. My cultivation base is the same as his, at the early Lesser Heaven stage, and my father knows just as well that the Heaven Gate trial is full of danger, yet he decided to let me go with you anyways.

    ¡°Martial granduncle has such high hopes for Nie Tian and must also know what the Heaven Gate trial will bring him. I highly doubt that he would let him give up on such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.¡±

    As the Cloudsoaring sect disciples chatted with each other, An Shiyi, who was standing in a small group of Spiritual Treasure sect participants, constantly looked over, her eyes filled with anxiety.

    She was also wondering why Nie Tian hadn¡¯t showed up.

    The time until the opening of the Heaven Gate got closer and closer, and she was worried that Nie Tian would miss such a good opportunity.

    In an ce further away, Yu Tong also looked over from time to time from within a group of red-garbed experts from the Blood sect, who were continuously releasing a faint bloody aura.

    However, unlike An Shiyi, Yu Tong didn¡¯t have the least bit of concern in her eyes. Instead, her eyes were full of begrudging hatred.

    In a different way, she also hoped that Nie Tian would appear.

    Off to the other side, Zhao Haifeng, Duan Yuan, and Hu Qingwen, who had previously appeared in ck Cloud City, also had the pattern of the Heaven Gate on the back of their hands. They also constantly turned their heads to check the Cloudsoaring sect group.

    WHOOSH!

    It was at this moment when the sound of a spirit beast flying in suddenly echoed out.

    When the Thunder Beast, who carried Nie Tian, flew to the territory of the Hell sect, it seemed to be frightened by something and dropped Nie Tian off in a distant ce.

    As soon as Nie Tian jumped off its back, the Thunder Beast flew away, seemingly unwilling to stay for another moment within the territory of the Hell sect.

    When he was flying on the Thunder Beast¡¯s back earlier, Nie Tian saw the enormous city that was as big as a mountain from very far away. ¡°The Hell sect!¡±

    The city was where the Hell sect was located was pitch-ck, like a giant piece of dark, cold steel.

    When hended, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at it, and discovered that there were portraits of numerous unknown demons and ghosts carved on the city walls.

    Each and every one of them was extremely lifelike. They were either letting out fierce roars, tearing apart flesh to swallow, or killing each other.

    By nothing other than seeing the portraits of the demons on the stone wall, Nie Tian already felt repressed, as if the demons and ghosts... would break out of the constraints of those portraits at any moment, killing anything that they saw.

    A strange idea suddenly rose in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. ¡°Is it possible that they are actually alive?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! This way!¡± Li Fan waved at him from thekeside, urging him to hurry over.

    He looked over with rapt attention, and found that Li Fan was standing in a group of people, among whom were also Liu Yan and Jiang Lingzhu.

    Upon seeing that Liu Yan was safe and sound, a smile immediately blossomed on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Earlier he was directly taken to the back mountain by the Thunder Beast, and thus hadn¡¯t received any information from the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Soon afterwards, he used the me Dragon Armor to travel to that unknown mysteriousnd, where he learned techniques and cultivated.

    When he had returned, since he need to set off right away, Wu Ji didn¡¯t have the time to tell him everything, but rather only imprinted the most important issues on themand medallion and gave him a few things before sending him off.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t been clear about what happened in the Scarlet me Mountain Range after he left and how many people survived till this moment.

    Standing beside theke, Qi warriors from the other six sects all cast their gazes towards Nie Tian, all of which had different emotions. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    Upon seeing him, a bone-piercing hatred shot out of Yu Tong¡¯s glittering eyes, as if she was going to eat him alive.

    Over at the Ghost sect group, Mo Xi cunninglyughed and said to his fellow sect members in a low voice, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that he¡¯s here too.¡±

    Duan Yuan from the Hell sect let out a cold harrumph. ¡°He¡¯s finally here!¡±

    Over at the Mystic Mist sect group, Zheng Bin seemed to have remembered something as he shook his head and heaved a sigh.

    Over at the Spiritual Treasure sect group, a faint dness appeared in An Shiyi¡¯s beautiful pupils.

    Under the curious gazes of the crowd, Nie Tian walked along the stone path and arrived beside Li Fan and the others.

    ¡°Uncle Liu, it¡¯s good to see you again,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Liu Yan nodded and forced a smile as he said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you made it out of there too.¡±

    ¡°What is it? Something¡¯s wrong?¡± Nie Tian inquired, seeing the strange expression on Liu Yan¡¯s face.

    ¡°Oh, nothing.¡± Liu Yan didn¡¯t exin. Instead, he said, ¡°It¡¯s something that happened in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. Anyways... we¡¯re going to step through the Heaven Gate soon. Let me introduce you to the fellow sect members who are also going to participate in the trial...¡±

    With these words, he introduced every Cloudsoaring sect disciple who was also going to enter the Heaven Gate to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Little martial uncle...¡±

    ¡°Greetings, little martial uncle...¡±

    ¡°..."

    Most of these people were a lot older than him, with their cultivation bases being either in the Heaven or Greater Heaven stage. In the past, if they had visited the Nie n in ck Cloud City, Nie Donghai and Nie Beichuan would have to personally receive them at the n gate.

    However, times change. Willing or not, when Liu Yan introduced Nie Tian to them, they could only politely greet him.

    After all, Nie Tian was Wu Ji¡¯s disciple.

    After finishing introducing the participants from the Cloudsoaring sect, Liu Yan pointed towards the participants from the other six sects and started introducing them to him in a low voice.

    Nie Tian only recognized a few of those people, while most were new to him.

    He listened attentively, and memorized every single one of them in his heart. He knew very well that, once he stepped into the Heaven Gate, most of those people...would be his enemies.

    Moreover, this trial was totally different from the Green Illusion dimension trial. In there, given they were strong enough, his opponents were allowed by rule to kill him anytime, anywhere.

    On his way over, he had already read from the notes that Wu Ji had left in themand medallion that once he stepped through the Heaven Gate, he would be faced with battles, the cruelty of which might go beyond his imagination.

    As Liu Yan gave the introductions, he carefully observed every single one who hade from the seven sects.

    However, he noticed that other than the participants from the seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven, there were also a group of people who stood alone, away from all other groups.

    They had azy attitude as they chattered with each other andughed. At the same time, they kept pointing at participants from the seven sects in a manner that was very impudent.

    Liu Yan didn¡¯t introduce them.

    Curious, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Uncle Liu, are they also going to enter the Heaven Gate?¡±

    Liu Yan nodded with a grim expression. He slightly lowered his voice and said, ¡°Yes, they¡¯re not from the Realm of me Heaven. They¡¯re from the other realms. You see, every time, three Heaven Gates appear in three different realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°However, there are nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, which means six of them won¡¯t have Heaven Gates appear in them.

    ¡°Therefore, normally, experts from those six realms will spare no means to send their most talented individuals or those who have the most powerful backgrounds to the realms where Heaven Gates do appear.

    ¡°I also don¡¯t know where those people came from, but they all came over via the Hell sect.

    ¡°They could be from the same realm, or many different realms. I don¡¯t recognize any of them, so I didn¡¯t introduce them to you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see,¡± said Nie Tian. ¡°But how did they obtain the Heaven Gate keys?¡±

    ¡°Meteors that fell to the Realm of me Heaven covered the entire realm.¡± Liu Yan exined, ¡°Some of themnded in the territories of the seven major sects while othersnded in some far, uninhabited corners. When they heard about the meteor rain hitting our realm, they traveled here via inter-spacial teleportation portals, and spread out to collect Heaven Gate keys from those remote meteors.¡± Suddenly, Liu Yan stopped talking and his expression turned grim.

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong?¡± Nie Tian inquired.

    Hatred could be seen from Li Fan¡¯s face as he interrupted, ¡°None of them were from the Realm of me Heaven, so when they fought for the Heaven Gate keys on those meteors, their means were extremely brutal and savage.

    ¡°Every one of them has their hands covered in blood. At least a hundred cultivators from our realm were butchered by them.

    ¡°Most of the dead were cultivators from the subordinate ns of the seven major sects, and they all died miserable deaths.

    ¡°Some of them were from subordinate ns of the Cloudsoaring sect.¡± Li Fan exined their bloody doings.

    A cold look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°I see."

 Chapter 140: The Heaven Gate Opens!

    There was still a small period of time before the opening of the Heaven Gate.

    Nie Tian stood quietly beside the clearke and listened to Liu Yan¡¯s quiet introductions, while simultaneously measuring up his surroundings.

    Every major sect of the Realm of me Heaven had about ten participants who came along, except for the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    The majority of them were at the Heaven stage or Greater Heaven stage, with only a couple of them in the Lesser Heaven stage like Nie Tian.

    Meanwhile, from the look of it, all those who hade from the other realms seemed to possess Greater Heaven cultivation bases.

    It hadn¡¯t been very long since the seven major sects of the Realm of me Heaven faced off across the field of battle.

    However to Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, Heaven Gate key holders from both sides were now gathered in this ce, without any conflicts breaking out.

    Of course, he had no idea that it was all because the Hell sect was controlling things behind the scenes.

    An Shiyi constantly turned to look at him, her eyes filled with concern and inquiry. However, she didn¡¯t step over and talk to him, as if she harbored certain apprehensions.

    Facing An Shiyi¡¯s gaze, he could only give a slight smile in response.

    A short while passed...

    CRACK!

    A strange sound suddenly thundered out from the sky above theke, as the cloudless sky seemed to have be an enormous piece of ss that began to shatter bit by bit.

    ¡°Here ites!¡± All those who had obtained the Heaven Gate keys, including the numerous experts, who were standing atop the Hell sect¡¯s enormous city walls, had their expressions flicker as they looked up.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly felt that the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of his hand had be extremely hot, as if it were burning.

    Nie Tian turned around to look towards the huge city behind him.

    For some unknown reason, a terrifying, mixed aura of violence, frenzy, killing, and destruction seemed to have been unleashed from within the enormous city.

    With a single nce at the city, his face turned pale with fear. He said, ¡°Look, look at the city!¡±

    The numerous portraits of demons on the city walls seemed to have been vested with life and soul, and instantly became alive.

    All of a sudden, a several-dozen-meter long demon, which was covered in dark-green scales and had a with a curved horn on the top of its head, broke free from the stone wall.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Numerous long, thick chains, that had countless tiny magical symbols within them, followed it out of the wall.

    Those chains seemed to have pierced into that demon¡¯s body and were now unceasingly pulling it back toward the city wall.

    Struggling and bashing the chains with every bit of its strength, the demon threw its head back and let out a soundless roar.

    Even more demons seemed to have sensed the changes that were about to ur in the heaven and earth, and also let out soundless howls as they emerged from the walls, trying to escape.

    However, thousands of chains that carried magical symbols followed them out from the strong stone walls. Every single chain prated into the bodies of the demons and continuously pulled them back into the walls.

    However, the enormous city still stood tall and unmoving, as if it wasn¡¯t affected at all by the struggling of those demons.

    On top of the city walls, several hundreds of experts from the Hell Sect had cold expressions, and looked at the demons with slightly mocking gazes.

    From the expressions on their faces, it seemed as if they felt that all the resistance and struggling waspletely useless.

    Li Fan¡¯s expression slightly flickered as he looked towards the majestic city and said, ¡°Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation! Those demons have been confined in those walls for god knows how many years. Have they also sensed the changes in the heaven and earth and want to break out of their shackles at such a time?!¡±

    ¡°Uncle Li, this city of the Hell sect...is actually a prison where they imprison demons?¡± Nie Tian asked, sounding shocked.

    He had previously heard that the Hell sect was actually an enormous prison, within which were sealed demons from near and far that had once destroyed cities and gued the people.

    However, he had assumed that the prison... was hidden deep under the ground.

    ¡°You are right.¡± Li Fan nodded vigorously and exined to him, ¡°That magnificent city is the ultimate prison! And the demons that you see, ording to what I know, are actually the indigenous inhabitants of the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°The indigenous inhabitants?!¡± Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s expression also slightly flickered.

    Li Fan smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Exactly. The Realm of me Heaven originally was their home. An unknown amount of time ago, powerful, ancient, human Qi warriors traveled through the river of stars and found this ce.

    ¡°Upon arriving, they started bloody battles with the indigenous demons of the Realm of me Heaven, whichsted decades.

    ¡°The strongest demons were killed one after another. Meanwhile, many Qi warriors, who were strong enough to travel across domains, were also torn apart and devoured by the demons.

    ¡°However, the final victory belonged to the human Qi warriors.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven has gone through countless changes throughout the years, and finally became the Realm of me Heaven as you know it, ruled by the seven major sects.

    Looking at the numerous demons that were trying to escape from their constraints, the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the other realms also seemed in awe. ¡°Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation!¡±

    ¡°The strength of the Hell sect is indeed impressive and deep-rooted. If it were not for the fact that the Hell sect is situated here, the Realm of me Heaven... would have long since been invaded.¡±

    ¡°The Hell sect is indeed powerful. Not only are they able to trap such arge number of demons, but they can even continuously draw power from them.¡±

    ¡°However, why are the demons starting to rebel when the Heaven Gate is about to open?¡±

    ¡°Who knows.¡±

    While they chatted, the cracking sounds grew increasingly loud as they came through from the sky above theke.

    Nie Tian¡¯s attention was also attracted by the sky, and he couldn¡¯t help but to look up.

    CRACKLE!

    Two long, narrow spacial rifts seemed to have been cut open by a sharp de as they gradually appeared in the empty sky.

    The two spacial rifts intersected, and blinding light suddenly shot out of the intersection point.

    The light slowly transformed and gradually morphed into an enormous ball of light, which continued to fluctuate and evolve, until a pattern that was identical to the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of the hands of Nie Tian and the others gradually took shape in the sky.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth within a thousand miles radius seemed to have been affected by the spacial rifts and madly converged onto the area.

    Nie Tian secretly probed the surrounding area, and discovered that all of the spiritual Qi shared the same destination: the Heaven Gate that was about to open.

    ¡°All of you who have the Heaven Gate keys, prepare yourselves! When the Heaven Gate is fully formed, a gravitational force will be generated from within the Heaven Gate, and it will directly suck you inside!¡±

    Since the beginning, Qiao Yang, the sectmaster of the Hell sect, had never paid any attention to the rebellion of the demons within the enormous city under his feet. He looked up towards the Heaven Gate which was about to take full shape, and called out in a loud voice.

    OWWW! OWWW!

    At this moment, world-shaking roars rang out from within the intersection point of the two spacial rifts.

    A rolling, thick, purple-ck mist gradually flowed out from the spacial rifts and soon spread out to the sky above the Hell sect.

    "What?!" The expressions of every powerful expert from the Hell sect suddenly flickered.

    When the Qi warriors from the other realms saw the thick, purple-ck mist stretching out of the long and narrow rifts of the forming Heaven Gate, they also became unsettled.

    BAM! BAM!

    A long, heavy chain that came out of the stone wall suddenly shattered.

    Countless magical symbols that were as bright as shining stars flew out from the snapped chain, in an attempt to confine that strongest demon.

    However, the demon struggled madly, as if it had been summoned by a monarch of its race. In the blink of an eye, it forcibly charged into one of the spacial rifts, despite all the restrictions.

    ¡°This is not good!¡± Finally, Qiao Yang¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Stop the rest of them!¡±

    After the strongest demon escaped, the remaining demons twisted their bodies more violently, as if they had suddenly been given new power.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and saw that the purple-ck mist that was leaking out of the spacial rifts had morphed into numerous running rivers, and was flowing into the trapped demons.

    After allowing the purple-ck mist into their bodies, the demons seemed to have suddenly been vested infinite strength, and even the chains that had prated their bodies were no longer able to hold them back.

    One after another, numerous demons shattered their chains and broke free from the city wall, charging into the spacial rifts.

    Having sensed the unfavorable situation, all the Qi warriors from the Hell sect took out their spiritual tools and tried to stop the demons.

    In a sh, the sky over the Hell sect was lit up by multicolored light that had shot out of all sorts of spiritual tools.

    At the same time, the Heaven Gate finally fully condensed at the intersection of the two enormous spacial rifts.

    A strong gravitational force was suddenly born from within.

    Everyone who had obtained the Heaven Gate keys were pulled into the air by the pattern of the Heaven Gate on the back of their hands, and one after another, flew towards the Heaven Gate.

 Chapter 141: Demons Appear!

    Under the attraction of the Heaven Gate Key, Nie Tian slowly rose into the air.

    OWWW! ROAAAR!

    World-shaking howls echoed out of the enormous spacial rifts. It seemed that demons from some unknownnd outside the realm were madly summoning their kind.

    Even denser purple-ck mist rolled out from the spacial rifts, and flowed into the Realm of me Heaven.

    The demons that had been sealed in the Hell sect for countless years had never given up on escaping. Their originally shriveled bodies expanded rapidly after receiving the nourishment from the purple-ck mist.

    As Nie Tian was pulled into the air towards the Heaven Gate, he saw a demon that was originally only several dozen meters long rapidly expanded to about fifty meters long.

    All of a sudden, that demon tore apart the long chains that had bound it, and broke free of the Hell sect¡¯s imprisonment.

    At the same time, arge number of enormous swords that were flickering with multicolored light instantly shed down from midair!

    CRACKLE!

    The swollen demon was instantly cut into sizable pieces by the broad, long swords.

    Nie Tian floated there aghast. ¡°Are they dead?¡±

    However, it was just a second before his eyes widened even more.

    Not a single drop of blood spewed out of the demon¡¯s torn body, and the chunks of flesh seemed to remain their vitality.

    Each and every piece continued to squirm about, and rise into the sky, and eventually entered the spacial rifts where monstrous roars constantly echoed out.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck. ¡°Even that didn¡¯t kill it?!¡±

    If it were a human Qi warrior like him, it would have died the moment its body was cut apart.

    However, the demon maintained a vigorous life force, and even managed to escape after being cut into pieces.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression turned iparably serious and grim. ¡°These demons...¡±

    He suddenly began to feel a bit fearful towards those indigenous residents of the Realm of me Heaven.

    As Li Fan¡¯s formerments struck him, a strange expression suddenly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    These strong and terrifying creatures had once dominated the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, under the attacks of the human Qi warriors, these strong creatures had eventually lost, and been sealed within the Hell sect as prisoners for thousands of years.

    What was the deeper meaning?

    The truly strong human Qi warriors had never been blithely trampled upon by anyone, even outsider creatures that strong!

    When Qiao Yang, master of the Hell sect, saw the demons breaking free from the constraints of the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation, his face turned as cold as ice as he shouted, ¡°From now on, all sects of the Realm of me Heaven shall prepare yourselves for possible counterattacks by the demons!¡±

    The expressions of everyone who was being pulled towards the Heaven Gate turned grim as they all felt a great burden weighing on their mind.

    From Qiao Yang¡¯s words, they heard a frightening piece of information: the demons might return and attack the Realm of me Heaven in the near future!

    ording to Li Fan, the truly strong demons that had dominated the Heaven Leaving Domain in the past had long since been killed by the extremely strong Qi warriors.

    The ones that had been imprisoned within the Hell sect were only the weak ones, which were nothing to be feared.

    Now that thousands of years had passed, many changes had taken ce and reshaped the Realm of me Heaven, leaving only the seven major sects, with the Hell sect being the strongest.

    Most of the strong Qi warriors, who had previously descended to the Realm of me Heaven to fight the demons, had already passed away, and the remaining ones seemed to have long since left the realm.

    With the current strength of the seven sects in the Realm of me Heaven, would they still have what it took to contend with the powerful demons from the other realms?

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian looked over at Qiao Yang¡¯s grim face, and couldn¡¯t help but start to worry.

    He worried about those who were currently in ck Cloud City, and he worried about Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and the juniors who he felt connected to, such as Pan Tao and Nie Xian.

    He constantly had the feeling that when he tempered himself through bloody battles in the Realm of me Heaven, Heaven-shaking, Earth-toppling changes would ur in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Suddenly, Hua Mu¡¯s words struck him.

    Hua Mu had once said that omens would present themselves in the realms where a Heaven Gate would appear, such as the escape of the Earth me Beast.

    Furthermore, even more huge changes would strike the Realm of me Heaven, one after another.

    The invasion of the outer-realm demons might be a possible aftereffect that Hua Mu had spoken about...

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of bones shattering suddenly echoed out from the Heaven Gate entrance.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect suddenly let out a piercing shout.

    Nie Tian snapped back from his reverie and stopped staring at the majestic city of the Hell sect and the demons that were breaking free from their shackles, but rather focused all his attention on the Heaven Gate that he was gradually approaching.

    In front of the shining Heaven Gate entrance, a cunning smile appeared on the corner of a Greater Heaven stage outer-realm expert¡¯s mouth.

    They had already reached the entrance of the Heaven Gate, but it seemed that they weren¡¯t in a hurry to enter the Heaven Gate. Instead, they suddenly started to attack other participants.

    A Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Mystic Mist sect had his head chopped off by one of the foreign Qi warriors when he approached the entrance.

    In the next moment, the headless corpse of the Mystic Mist sect disciple dropped to the ground.

    Faces pale and ghastly, all the trial takers from the seven sects, who were floating increasingly close to the Heaven Gate, looked at those foreign Qi warriors with disbelief.

    None of them expected that killings would break out even before they stepped into the Heaven Gate.

    They were still in the Realm of me Heaven!

    Those foreign Qi warriors had actually dared to defy thews and principles in front of the hosts, without giving any face to Qiao Yang and the Hell sect.

    ¡°How dare you!!¡± Qiao Yang roared, fuming with wrath.

    The murderer was a slender man who carried a longsword that was wreathed in green mes. He let out a lowugh and said, ¡°Senior Qiao, the rebellion of the demons has just started. Soon, the demons, who have already received those demons, will be able to obtain the urate location of the Realm of me Heaven. Coming next, demons that are even stronger than those ones will flood your realm.

    ¡°Their arrival will turn the Realm of me Heaven into a hell on earth.

    ¡°By the time wee out of the Heaven Gate, the seven sects of your realm might have already been annihted.

    ¡°Perhaps even you won¡¯t be around by that time, Senior Qiao. Do we need to give face to a dead man?¡±

    With these words, heughed loudly and stepped into the Heaven Gate, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

    The other participants from the other domains also had their faces full of mockery, as if they felt that the rebellion of the demons wouldpletely reshape the Realm of me Heaven, and by the time they had returned, not a single one of the seven sects would still be there.

    The ones that would rece the seven sects and take over the Realm of me Heaven would either be the mad, bloodthirsty demons, or...the powerful cultivators who didn¡¯t have a Heaven Gate open in their realm. Whichever happened, they would no longer need to be afraid of angering the Hell sect, or suffering from Qiao Yang¡¯s wrath.

    In front of the Heaven Gate, a fat Qi warrior from the Realm of Earth Sieve grinned and let out a loudugh as he said, ¡°Senior Qiao, I bet great experts from the Realm of Earth Sieve told you about the omens that woulde along with the appearance of the Heaven Gate, but didn¡¯t tell you that the opening of the Heaven Gate would cause the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation to lose effect and cause those imprisoned demons to escape, did they?

    ¡°But we always knew that the opening of a Heaven Gate would cause such terrifying upheavals.

    ¡°Numerous outside forces have been drooling over the Realm of me Heaven and waiting for the right moment to make a move.

    ¡°You thought the opening of the Heaven Gate was a great fortune to your realm, but the truth is that it¡¯s an opportunity for us that onlyes around once in a thousand years.

    ¡°As soon as those demons from the outside realms wipe out the seven sects, we¡¯ll take the Realm of me Heaven from their hands.

    ¡°Even if you were to win by chance, you would be too weak to stop us.

    ¡°One way or another, the Realm of me Heaven is going to see new masters. You had better be prepared for that.¡±

    After he finished speaking, the fat Qi warrior turned around and prepared to enter the Heaven Gate.

    Standing on the majestic city with an ashen face, Qiao Yang shouted, ¡°Kill him!¡±

    Upon hearing his order, every expert of the Hell sect close to the Heaven Gate, including Zhao Haifeng and Duan Yuan, lunged forward in an attempt to kill him.

    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? All of you will die in the Heaven Gate.¡± The fat Qi warrior gave a cold harrumph,pletely ignored their attacks, and disappeared into the Heaven Gate.

    After he left, the remaining foreign cultivators stared coldly at the participants from the Realm of me Heaven, and said, ¡°We¡¯ll be waiting for you all in there.¡±

    Every one of them grinned with vicious smiles and disappeared into the Heaven Gate, as if they didn¡¯t attach any importance to the trial takers from the Realm of me Heaven.

    Meanwhile, Li Fan and Liu Yan¡¯s expressions turned especially grim.

    The things that the foreign cultivators had said made them almost tremble with fear.

    The Realm of me Heaven... would be attacked by dreadful demons from other realms or domains, while powerful Qi warriors from the realms where Heaven Gates didn¡¯t appear would just sit back and wait for the right moment to take over the Realm of me Heaven?

    By the time they returned from the Heaven Gate, what would the Realm of me Heaven be like?

    They simply couldn¡¯t believe it.

    ¡°We¡¯re not leaving!¡± An expert from the Hell sect shouted. ¡°We¡¯ll stay and fight against the demons!¡±

    ¡°Fuck the Heaven Gate!

    ¡°We¡¯re not going!¡±

    After realizing what would happen to their realm, all the Heaven Gate key holders of the seven sects let out angry roars and used all their power to negate the pulling of the Heaven Gate Key.

    They all decided to give up on entering the Heaven Gate.

    With a cold snort, Qiao Yang blurted, ¡°Get in there! And kill those bastards from the other realms! None of you have reached the Worldly realm, so it¡¯ll do us no good if you stay here! You might as well make breakthroughs within the mysterious dimension in the Heaven Gate. When you return with cultivation bases that are higher than the three Heaven stages, you might be able to do your part to defend the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Now get in there! All of you!¡±

    BOOM!

    At that very moment, an even stronger suction force came from the Heaven Gate.

    It seemed that the Heaven Gate was tired of waiting.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Everyone who had been trying their best to resist the influence, including Nie Tian, was pulled into the Heaven Gate by an overwhelming force.

 Chapter 142: A Mysterious Dimension in the Starry Sky

    SHEW!

    In the blink of an eye, Nie Tian shed into the Heaven Gate.

    Dazzling, multicolored light constantly whizzed by him as he felt himself being pulled by an irresistible force, traveling forward at a extremely high speed.

    At the same time, many unknown magical symbols shed past him like shooting stars.

    Because of the incredible speed at which he was traveling, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t get a clear look at the magical symbols that shed by.

    However, from what his eyes had captured, he believed that most of them were written in foreignnguage that he didn¡¯t understand, with only a small portion being the masterpieces of human ancient Qi warriors.

    His senses told him that he only soared within that dazzling space tunnel for several dozen seconds.

    Shortly thereafter, he was overwhelmed by a squeezing force, without forewarning of any kind.

    He suddenly grew dizzy, and was unable to see the things around him. His body seemed to have turned into flowing light that was thrown into an ice-cold mysteriousnd.

    BANG!

    Hended heavily on the ground, tumbling head over heels a few times over before he could gradually stop the momentum.

    He opened his eyes and looked up. All he could see was a sky full of bright stars.

    In his eyes, those stars were iparably clear. They twinkled while releasing a cold, deste light.

    Some of them seemed extremely far away and only looked as big as grains of sand from where he stood.

    Meanwhile, others seemed quite close to him, and were the size of grapes in his eyes.

    Within the ice-cold river of stars, there was no sun or moon, only the brilliant stars that adorned the curtain of the night.

    ¡°I must be outside the Realm of me Heaven...¡± he muttered. Looking away from the sky, he turned around and measured up his surroundings.

    He immediately discovered that the ce hended in was an enormous prismatic rock that was floating within the river of stars.

    The rock seemed to be five or six miles long, and extended quite a ways off into the distance.

    Further off, there were even more strange, enormous rocks that were floating within the river of stars. From the look of it, they probably had been that way for thousands of years.

    The shapes of the enormous rocks were all different. Some of them were connected by slender stone paths and some weren¡¯t.

    After looking around for awhile, he discovered that there were thousands of giant stones that were the same size as the one that he was on, but that was only what his eyes could take in.

    Perhaps, there were even more rocks beyond the ones he could see.

    ¡°A dimension full of meteors?¡± he muttered while releasing a wisp of psychic awareness to observe his surroundings even more carefully.

    In the area where his psychic awareness could cover, he didn¡¯t sense any auras of life, which meant that... there was no one in the vicinity.

    He was surprised. ¡°There¡¯s no one anywhere near me. This seems to be quite different than the trial within the Green Illusion dimension.¡±

    When he participated in the trial of the Green Illusion dimension, he was already with An Ying and the others from the Spiritual Treasure sect immediately after stepping into the Green Illusion dimension via the secret dimension gate. Therefore, he had been withpanions and gained a rough understanding of the territory from An Ying the moment the Green Illusion dimension trial started.

    However, now...

    When he passed through the Heaven Gate, the mysterious power had separated everyone.

    Just like him, the other disciples of the seven sects from the Realm of me Heaven had most likelynded on different meteors.

    All of a sudden, anxiety regarding the safety of Li Fan, Liu Yan, and An Shiyi rose in his heart.

    If they were unluckily sent to the same areas as the Greater Heaven stage experts from the other realms, they could be instantly killed.

    WHOOSH!

    An surprisingly cold gale blew over from the icy river of stars.

    ¡°This is so damn cold!¡±

    When the cold wind blew past, he even felt his flesh turn a bit stiff and his hair and eyebrows form a bit of frost on them.

    He hurriedly channeled his spiritual power to resist the coldness.

    At that time, he had another startling discovery: there wasn¡¯t the slightest bit of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the air that he could use!

    All he could sense in the air was coldness, and not a single bit of spiritual Qi could be pulled into the vortex of spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    This meant that if he wanted to obtain spiritual power within this ice-cold mysteriousnd, the only option he had was to cultivate with the help of spirit stones.

    Without spirit stones, he wouldn¡¯t be able to replenish the spiritual power that he expended.

    CRACKLE!

    His teeth were chattering as he unceasingly drew out spiritual power to run warm currents up and down his body.

    An hourter, the ice-cold wind finally stopped.

    However, he found that he had used up 20% of his spiritual power within such a short time.

    He stood where he was, dumbstruck.

    ¡°Can the gravity here also be insanely strong?¡±

    He was very well aware that an excessive gravity could also be an extremely strong load on his body.

    If the gravity in this ce was as strong as the mysteriousnd that the Blood Core had brought him to, he feared that he wouldn¡¯t be able to move about freely, much less temper himself.

    With suspicion in mind, he decided to see if he could jump up.

    WHOOSH!

    He rose ten meters into the air!

    ¡°The gravity here is much weaker than the Realm of me Heaven!¡±

    Afternding, he softly tapped the stone ground and his body flew up again into midair.

    Just as he was falling down, a familiar voice suddenly echoed out from afar. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect.

    Zheng Bin was also by himself, and he was currently on the side of a brown, protruding piece of rock that was about a thousand meters away from him.

    Clearly, Zheng Bin had been deliberately hiding himself behind that piece of rock, as if he feared being discovered by anyone.

    Only when Nie Tian jumped into the air did Zheng Bin notice him and couldn¡¯t help but shout out to him.

    Zheng Bin saw that Nie Tian also noticed him, and then lowered his voice as he said, waving at him, ¡°Hey! Watch out! Don¡¯t expose yourself!¡±

    Nie Tian, who had justnded, softly tapped the ground, and once again his body became like cotton as he rapidly floated towards Zheng Bin.

    He was the only living person that Nie Tian had seen until now.

    Since the distance between him and Zheng Bin exceeded the range of his psychic awareness, he didn¡¯t sense his existence earlier. Now that he had seen him, he wanted tomunicate with Zheng Bin.

    Inwardly, he viewed Zheng Bin differently from Pan Tao, since he wasn¡¯t a friend who had shared trials and tribtions with him.

    When they were in the Green Illusion dimension, as well as the Scarlet me Mountain Range, Zheng Bin had repeatedly withdrawn himself when they met danger.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t hold a grudge against him either.

    He and Zheng Bin were like strangers brought together by chance. They weren¡¯t familiar with each other, and he used to act on his own ount and cause trouble for others, so Zheng Bin¡¯s unwillingness to undertake the consequences that he had caused had been understandable.

    He tried to adapt to the gravitational field that was significantly different from the Realm of me Heaven as he floated towards Zheng Bin. Secondster, he arrived.

    After he had arrived, Zheng Bin looked anxious as he lowered his voice to warn Nie Tian, ¡°Man! You should have kept a low profile!

    ¡°Do you know that killing is allowed between all those who have stepped into the Heaven Gate, and no punishment shall be implemented? By flying into the sky, you¡¯ve already exposed yourself. If others have spotted you, they¡¯ll definitelye to kill you and loot your belongings! By acting so recklessly, you¡¯re actually putting me in danger too!¡±

    Zheng Bin had already started to regret waving towards Nie Tian, which led Nie Tian toe over.

    Nie Tian thought for a moment, and realized that what Zheng Bin said made sense. He said with a smile, ¡°Sorry.¡±

    Zheng Bin said nothing back, but rather concentrated on observing the surroundings silently.

    Only after a whileter, when he found no traces of anybodying and believed that no one had discovered them, did he secretly let out a sigh of relief.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression turned grim and he exined in a low voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect this ce to bepletely devoid of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, which means that we have only our spirit stones to rely on to restore our spiritual power after battles.

    ¡°From now on, spirit stones, medicinal pills, and food will be necessities that people will kill for! If you want to stay alive here, you¡¯ll need to obtainrge amounts of food, spirit stones, and medicinal pills!

    ¡°This will be reason enough for any two people to start a deadly fight the moment they meet!

    ¡°Especially between people who don¡¯t know each other!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, the same idea just urred to me.¡±

    Zheng Bin waved his hand and crouched his body as he led the way stealthily. ¡°Follow me, I¡¯ll show you something that I just discovered.¡±

    Excitement could be seen on his face.

    Confused and curious, Nie Tian followed him as he wanted to see what had made Zheng Bin so cautious and excited.

    I had a couple of beers with Deathde yesterday, and the topic of my favorite Chinese role ying game came up.

    If you¡¯re also interested, check out this video. Remember, it¡¯s a 1995puter game, so it might not look very fancy.

    However, it¡¯s the content and plot that count, and it¡¯s regarded by most as the first xianxiaputer game.

    https://.youtube/watch?v=mvc4omk2DB8

 Chapter 143: Corpse of an Outsider

    On the cold, hard surface of the meteor, therey a corpse that had decayed for god knows how many years.

    It had dark-green skin and was clearly not of the human race.

    It even had a meter-long tail. The flesh on the tail had long since rotted away, and all that was left were pale-white bones.

    The end of the tail bones were simr to a sharp fork, which pierced into the ground. Even after it had wasted away for countless years, it was still flickering with a faint green light, and there seemed to still be energy contained in it.

    ¡°Is this...¡± Nie Tian observed it for a long time and frowned as he said, ¡°the body of an outsider race?¡±

    Zheng Bin nodded and softly said, ¡°I¡¯ve lived in the Realm of me Heaven my whole life and so I¡¯ve never seen an outsider before. However, this is clearly not a human, and he¡¯s been dead for god knows how many years, but that tail of his still has strong energy fluctuating within.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°Why were you so excited to show it to me?¡±

    ¡°The energy contained in that tail carries a strong life force, and that life force is very much beyond ordinary.¡± Zheng Bin quietly scanned his surroundings again as he spoke, as if he was worried that they would be discovered. ¡°I want to cut the tail off, but I¡¯m a bit scared...¡±

    ¡°Scared?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°It must have been dead for a long time, what¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡±

    Zheng Bin bitterlyughed. ¡°I¡¯ve already tried...

    ¡°I can¡¯t sever that tail with my spiritual tool. Even though there is nothing but bones left in that tail, it¡¯s still terrifyingly tough.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t asking me to do that for you, are you?¡± Nie Tian shook his head and continued, ¡°I don¡¯t have anything that¡¯s sharp enough, either.¡±

    Zheng Bin looked at him with a longing expression in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re Wu Ji¡¯s disciple. Don¡¯t tell me that your master didn¡¯t give you a high ranked spiritual tool.¡±

    Without any hesitation, Nie Tian shook his head again. ¡°No.¡±

    Before he had stepped into the Heaven Gate, Wu Ji had indeed given him many life-saving magical items, but none of them were sharp.

    Wu Ji told him that since he already possessed the Spirit Channeling grade me Dragon Armor, all he needed to do was to be patient and take his time to establish a deep rtionship with the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul. In the future, the me Dragon Armor would help him obtain everything that he ever wanted.

    With the me Dragon Armor in his possession, he wouldn¡¯t need another spiritual tool.

    ¡°Oh, if you really don¡¯t have any, then fine.¡± Zheng Bin had a face full of disappointment.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian was simply reluctant to help him, and that was all.

    He also was perfectly aware that he and Nie Tian weren¡¯t exactly friends, and he had even abandoned Nie Tian more than one time in the past.

    In return, when he and Han Xin were trapped in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, Nie Tian and the others hadn¡¯t stopped the Thunder Beast for him on their way out of there.

    Therefore, he found it quite natural that Nie Tian had adopted such an attitude.

    Zheng Bin didn¡¯t say anything more. Instead, he squatted beside the tail of the outsider¡¯s corpse, and took out a sharp sword.

    Unwilling to give up, he swung the sword at the tail.

    CLANK!

    Sparks of white and green sshed out from the tail as soon as his sword made contact with it.

    Nie Tian looked closely when Zheng Bin made the attempt, and found that when his swordnded on one of the bones, the faint green light that had been flickering on the tail suddenly brightened.

    A surge of mysterious energy that was filled with a vigorous life force suddenly rushed out from that bone, as if it strengthened that bone.

    The sh didn¡¯t even leave a mark on the bone. Instead, Zheng Bin slightly staggered, trying his best to hold on to his sword.

    He still didn¡¯t want to give up. Since he couldn¡¯t break that particr bone, he raised his sword once more and went for the other bones of the tail.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    However, every time his sword fell, those bones shone with a green light.

    Every time, the green light offset the attacking momentum and the sh of Zheng Bin¡¯s sword.

    By the time his sword made contact with the tail bones, the spiritual power within his sword had already worn out, and the de seemed to have lost its edge.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s interesting...¡± Intrigued, Nie Tian narrowed his eyes as he closely examined the tail bones, pondering what method he should use to break the resistance of the strong life force of that joint.

    He secretly sent a strand of psychic awareness into his bracelet of holding, with the intention to find a piece of equipment that could break the self-defense of that bone.

    Unfortunately, besides the me Dragon Armor, he didn¡¯t find any other spiritual tool that he could use.

    And the me Dragon Armor was currently in a dormant mode, refining the energy it had obtained from the Earthme Crystal Strings and healing its damages.

    He wouldn¡¯t possibly awaken it from its sleep just to try to break off the tail with it.

    In addition, the me Dragon Armor was an extremely precious treasure of the Spirit Channeling grade, and it came from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Both his master Wu Ji and Hua Mu had warned him against using the me Dragon Armor unless it was a situation of life or death, in order to prevent the fact that he had it from leaking, which would very likely attract unnecessary attention from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    He couldn¡¯te up with a good solution, so didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°You keep trying, and I¡¯ll go check the perimeter.¡± With these words, he separated with Zheng Bin. After hearing Zheng Bin¡¯s warnings, he no longer dared to bounce into the sky.

    He tried to control his body and adapt to the gravity. With light and quick steps, he moved about on the prismatic meteor that he and Zheng Bin were on.

    The meteor was only five or six miles across, and before long, he covered every inch of it. As he did it, he used his psychic awareness to scan the surroundings.

    He was convinced that there was no one else on the prismatic meteor except for Zheng Bin and himself.

    Not long after, he stopped by the edge of the meteor.

    A slender stone protrusion, which was several hundreds of meters long, stabbed horizontally into another meteor that was even bigger than the one he was on, connecting the two.

    The slender stone protrusion was only a foot wide. If he wanted to, he could go to the other meteor via the stone path.

    However, he didn¡¯t.

    Previously, when the cold wind blew over, he had consumed arge amount of his spiritual power to resist the coldness.

    With the lessons that he had drawn from the battles within the Green Illusion dimension, he knew that his cultivation base was low to start with. If he couldn¡¯t maintain his peak state, he would definitely suffer a terrible loss when he encountered a stranger.

    Therefore, he sat down on the ground and took out the spirit stones that his master Wu Ji had given him, and with the Qi Refining Incantation, he began to restore the spiritual power that he had lost.

    During the process, he took out his master¡¯smand medallion from his bracelet of holding.

    When his spiritual power was fully recovered, he sent a strand of his psychic power into themand medallion to check the three spiritual incantations that Wu Ji had branded within it.

    ording to Wu Ji¡¯s instructions, he could choose one of them or all three of them to cultivate.

    On his way to the Hell sect, he had only nced at them for a moment due tock of time, and didn¡¯t really read into them.

    Now that he was temporarily safe in this cold, mysterious dimension, he wanted to make use of this good opportunity to quickly master a spiritual incantation, so as to raise his battle prowess.

    ¡°me Spirit Incantation, Illusion Spirit Incantation, Gentle Water Incantation...¡±

    Up till now, he still hadn¡¯t had a clue regarding his cultivation attribute, and thus didn¡¯t know what direction his cultivation would go down in the future.

    He had once asked Wu Ji about it.

    ording to Wu Ji, it wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing if someone didn¡¯t have a specific cultivation attribute.

    People with no specific attributes could choose many types of spiritual incantations to cultivate, and they would be able to cultivate any type to a good extent.

    This was the privilege that people with no specific cultivation attribute would have.

    However, their disadvantages were also very obvious.

    If people without specific cultivation attributes wanted to cultivate a spiritual incantation of a certain attribute, their cultivating speed would be much slower than those with matching attributes.

    Not only that, they would also need much more energy and time toprehend the profundity of specific spiritual incantations.

    For example, since An Shiyi had fire as her cultivation attribute, she would improve rapidly and achieve deep understandings of it if she were to cultivate the me Spirit Incantation.

    If he were to cultivate the me Spirit Incantation, his improvement would be much slower, to the extent where he could have no hope to reach the pinnacle of fire mastery within his lifetime.

    However, if An Shiyi, who possessed the fire attribute, didn¡¯t cultivate the me Spirit Incantation, but learned the Gentle Water Incantation instead, it would be extremely difficult for her.

    Furthermore,pared to a person like Nie Tian, who had no specific attributes, learning that incantation would be countless times more dangerous, so much so that she could even fall into a Qi deviation, due to the conflict between attributes.

    On the other hand, although a person with no specific attributes could cultivate all kinds of spiritual incantations, their improvement with every type of incantation would be rather slow. They might possibly be unable toprehend the profound mysteries within those spiritual incantations over the course of their whole life.

    The lifespan of a human was limited, which would cause people with no attributes to run out their years and die due to their incapability toprehend the deep truth of a certain attribute and break through into a higher realm.

    This was also the reason that the seven major sects of the Realm of me Heaven would always choose youngsters who had been born with cultivation attributes as their disciples.

    After that, they would pass on incantations of matching attributes to the youngsters, and let them continuously break through at a fast speed, since only in that way would they be able to increase their lifespans and thus continue cultivating.

    Nie Tian thought for a moment and soon made up his mind. ¡°The me Dragon Armor is definitely fire attributed, so I guess I¡¯d better cultivate the me Spirit Incantation first.¡±

    As soon as he picked the me Spirit Incantation as the first one to cultivate, he started to study it wholeheartedly.

 Chapter 144: Cultivating Spiritual Incantations

    The cultivation of every spiritual incantation that had a special attribute required a unique spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Of course, the me Spirit Incantation was no exception.

    The cultivation of the me Spirit Incantation required the cultivator to absorb the spiritual Qi that contained me power and slowly merge it into the spiritual sea.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in many realms and domains contained energies of different attributes. For example, in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, where the Spiritual Treasure sect had been based, the spiritual energy in the air carried an intense me power.

    It was also the reason why fire-attributed Qi warriors of the Spiritual Treasure sect, as well as equipment forgers, could make use of the me power within the Scarlet me Mountain Range to cultivate fire-attributed spiritual incantations.

    For those who didn¡¯t have a specific cultivation attribute to practice fire-attributed spiritual incantations, the first thing they would have to do was to open up an area within their spiritual sea to contain the me power.

    Nie Tian was currently in an ice-cold river of stars far from his own realm, where there wasn¡¯t even the slightest bit of spiritual Qi in the air, much less any me power.

    Therefore, the environment was very unsuitable for him to cultivate the me Spirit Incantation within this ice-cold mysteriousnd.

    Fortunately, he had previously obtained arge amount of me Crystals when he was in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    The level two Premium grade me Crystals were spirit materials that contained rich me power, and were of a much higher rank than mecloud Gems.

    The me Crystals were more than enough to be used as the energy source for his cultivation of the me Spirit Incantation.

    WHOOSH!

    A me Crystal that was the size of his palm flew out of his bracelet of holding as soon as he sent a wisp of will into it.

    He held the me Crystal in his palm and realized that it was warm. Then he started to operate the me Spirit Incantation to pull out the me power within the me Crystal.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like scarlet strings, strands after strands of fiery aura that could be seen by the naked eye flew out of the me Crystal and entered his palm.

    He used the me Spirit Incantation to continue to channel the strands of me power into the meridians within his hand, and then guided them to flow along those meridians into his spiritual sea.

    Within his white and misty spiritual sea, the vortex of spiritual power was originally revolving at a low speed, but with the entrance of the me power, it suddenly sped up.

    A few dots of fiery light started to flicker within the white mist.

    Those dots of fiery light were the me power that he had pulled out of the me Crystal.

    As soon as the scattered spots of me power entered his spiritual sea, they flowed separately, not merging with the spiritual energy that was already there.

    He sat in silence, sensing the process of him continuously pulling me power out of the me Crystal with rapt attention.

    During the process, he experienced an increasingly intense burning sensation from his meridians as the me power flowed inside of them.

    His meridians had never had me power flow within them before, so he experienced pain during the starting period of this process.

    However, he also realized that his body was gradually adapting as the me power flowed through his meridians.

    The strands of me power that floated out of the me Crystal were as fine as gossamer threads. The me power contained within them was limited, and wasn¡¯t enough to condense and take form. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t really burn his flesh.

    Following his continuous absorption of the me power, the light the me Crystal emanated... gradually turned dull.

    On the contrary, within a small area in his spiritual sea, the fiery spots came together and grew increasingly condensed, quietly forming a small cluster of fire.

    At first, it was only the size of a thumb. However, it seemed to illuminate his entire spiritual sea as it flickered with a bright, fiery light.

    As the me power continuously fused into it, the small cluster of fire slowly expanded.

    Nie Tian used his psychic awareness to carefully protect the cluster of fire, fearing that something might happen to it.

    After an unknown period of time, the small cluster of fire had expanded from the size of a thumb to the size of a fist.

    CRUNCH!

    It was also at this moment that the me Crystal in his hand suddenly shattered.

    Having awoken from his cultivation, he temporarily retracted his attention from the fluctuations within his spiritual sea, and looked down to take a close look at the me Crystal.

    The level two Premium grade me Crystal seemed to havepletely run out of me power.

    ¡°A level two Premium grade me Crystal didn¡¯t even cause a real change to ur in my spiritual sea...¡± he muttered and took out another me Crystal from his bracelet of holding without any hesitation.

    Once again, he immersed himself in cultivation.

    CRUNCH!

    A whileter, that me Crystal also broke into pieces.

    By that time, the cluster of fire that had formed in his spiritual sea had grown from the size of a fist to the size of two fists.

    He continued cultivating with the same method and took out a third me Crystal to absorb the me power thaty within, as if he had forgotten about eating and sleeping.

    In the ice-cold dimension that Nie Tian was in, there was no daytime or nighttime. All there was in the sky were countless shining stars.

    He hadpletely lost track of time and forgot that he was currently in the Heaven Gate, participating in a cruel trial.

    He waspletely carried away as he practiced the me Spirit Incantation.

    One after another, many me Crystals were taken out before they shattered in a short while.

    When he pulled out half of the me power within the twentieth me Crystal, its radiance slightly dulled, and the cluster of fire within his spiritual sea had increased in size by tenfolds, a change suddenly took ce!

    Suddenly, a scarlet aura started to surge about in the cluster of fire, which was already quite sizable, making it seem unsettling and disordered!

    Nie Tian, who had been looking forward to a change, was ted instead of startled.

    He knew that if someone like him, who didn¡¯t have a specific attribution, wanted to cultivate a spiritual incantation of a certain attribute, they would have to condense a new vortex within his spiritual sea!

    He had a simr experience when he broke through from the Qi Refining stage into the Lesser Heaven stage.

    Because of that he didn¡¯t deliberately stop the disorderly surges within the cluster of fire. Quite on the contrary, hepletely opened himself up and continued using the me Spirit Incantation to absorb the me power within the me Crystal.

    At that moment, he noticed that the me power that he continued channeling into his spiritual sea went straight into the cluster of fire.

    As more me power infused into the cluster of fire, it became increasingly violent and disorderly.

    He only silently sensed the changes as a bystander and didn¡¯t do anything to temper its movements.

    After a moment, fiery sparks suddenly sshed out of the cluster of fire, causing a scarlet misty aura to float out of it.

    When the movements within the cluster of fire couldn¡¯t get any more frenzied, the mist that contained me power seemed to have suddenly found aw to follow and a method to operate.

    He watched as the cluster of fire disintegrated while sshing out fiery sparks and spewing out burning mist. Then, it started to reshape as a vortex.

    Before long, a new, small, scarlet vortex gradually took shape within his spiritual sea.

    Compared to the vortex that had beenpletely made from the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, the new vortex was inferior in both size and the amount of power it could contain.

    The vortex of me power was more than ten times smaller than the vortex of spiritual power.

    But no matter how small it was, as long as the vortex of me power was formed, it would expand following the infusion of more me power.

    The forming of the vortex of me power signified that he had alreadypleted the first and most important step in cultivating the me Spirit Incantation.

    From now on, he would be able to use the me power within fire-attributed spirit materials to gradually strengthen and expand his vortex of me power.

    After finishing the first step of cultivating the me Spirit Incantation, Nie Tian took out all of the remaining me Crystals from within his bracelet of holding. ¡°Only seven me Crystals are left now.¡±

    Looking at the only remaining me Crystals, he secretly frowned as he realized that if he wanted to continue cultivating the me Spirit Incantation within this icy mysterious dimension, those seven me Crystals were far from enough.

    At that moment, he thought of An Shiyi and Jiang Lingzhu.

    The two of them had also collected arge amount of me Crystals when they were in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. If he could meet them and borrow a few me Crystals from them, he might be able to keep cultivating for a longer time.

    Furthermore, he believed that no matter whether it was An Shiyi or Jiang Lingzhu, either of them would be willing to lend him some of their me Crystals as long as he asked for them.

    Just as he was pondering, Zheng Bin quietly approached him, his expression clearly uneasy. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian was startled. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°While you were cultivating, I went to other meteors where I found many dead bodies.¡± A rattled look appeared in Zheng Bin¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Really?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°More dead outsiders?¡±

    Zheng Bin promptly shook his head and said somewhat panickedly, ¡°No, not outsiders! They were dead human Qi warriors! Two of them were from the Mystic Mist sect, and both of them had Heaven stage cultivation bases!

    ¡°The rest seemed to be disciples of the Blood sect and the Ghost sect! And the person who had the highest cultivation base seemed to have been in the Greater Heaven stage!

    ¡°Their bodies were all as cold as ice. They must have been dead for some time when I found them. Everything they had was looted, including their bracelets of holding.

    ¡°I bet that those from the other realms have already started to make moves against us.

    ¡°It probably won¡¯t be long before they find us!¡±

    Fear filled Zheng Bin¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Which meteor are you talking about?¡± Nie Tian asked with a grim face.

    Zheng Bin raised his arm and pointed toward a distant, giant meteor that was separated from them by six meteors. ¡°That one.¡±

    Nie Tian took a nce at it and calcted in his heart. He believed it would take at least a few hours to get to the meteor that he was on from that one.

    His face suddenly turned as dark as the deepest ocean.

 Chapter 145: Crisis Approaches

    On an enormous meteor within the icy river of stars, a fat man from the Realm of Earth Sieve had a cunning grin on his face as he let out a viciousugh.

    There were three bracelets of holding in his chubby, short-fingered left hand. He was transferring each and every item inside of them into his own bracelet of holding.

    Lying right next to him were three gray-garbed people, who, from the way they were dressed, were clearly Qi warriors from the Grayvale sect.

    Two of them were in thete Heaven stage and one was in the early Greater Heaven stage.

    All three of them had their heads separated from their bodies and their severed parts were scattered on the brown surface of the meteor. From the look of it, they had died not long ago.

    The fat man from the Realm of Earth Sieve was named Jia Peng. After he transferred all the items into his own bracelet of holding, he shook his head, and his small, round eyes flickered with a disdainful, cold look. ¡°Killed another three.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that the Grayvale sect is one of the seven major sects of the Realm of me Heaven. They¡¯re so surprisingly weak.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid a sect this weak can only survive in the Realm of me Heaven. If such a weak sect were in the Realm of Earth Sieve, it would have long since been annihted.

    ¡°That Hell sect clearly has the power to wipe out the other six sects and take over the entire Realm of me Heaven, but they chose not to. It seems that they¡¯re merely using the other six sects as ymates for their juniors.

    ¡°Apparently, only trial takers from the Hell sect will be strong enough to interest me.

    ¡°..."

    He muttered to himself while releasing a wisp of his psychic awareness to scan his surroundings for signs of life.

    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s done. I¡¯ve already finished off everyone on this meteor. It¡¯s time to move to another one.¡±

    With these words, his ball-like, fat body suddenly shot up into the air and headed towards a nearby meteor.

    It seemed that he had absolute confidence in his own strength. It was as if he was not scared of exposing himself by jumping so high into the air.

    In his eyes, only those foreign cultivators who he knew quite well would be considered as worthy opponents for him.

    The few of them had already reached a mutual understanding before they traveled to the Realm of me Heaven.

    The elders of the sects that they belonged to had already spoken privately with each other. They viewed the Realm of me Heaven as their target, and prepared to gradually carve up the Realm of me Heaven after the demons¡¯ invasion.

    Their sect elders had evene up with a detailed n regarding how to divide their territories in the Realm of me Heaven in the future.

    This was also why they dared to behave so recklessly and even bring out their future intentions with the Realm of me Heaven before they stepped into the Heaven Gate.

    In their eyes, the opening of the Heaven Gate had actually heralded the doom of the seven major sects of the Realm of me Heaven.

    ...

    On the prismatic meteor.

    After hearing Zheng Bin¡¯s words, Nie Tian had a serious expression on his face as he cautiously examined the enormous meteors in the distance.

    A distant, hexagon-shaped meteor that was much bigger than the one they were standing on was the limit of his sight.

    A vague figure that he couldn¡¯t catch a clear glimpse of, suddenly shot into the sky.

    That figure was Jia Peng!

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression slightly flickered. ¡°Over there! Someone just jumped into the air. By acting so recklessly, he clearly isn¡¯t afraid of being noticed by those who are lurking in the dark. He must be very confident about himself. If I¡¯m not mistaken, that man... is a cultivator from another realm.¡±

    Confusion is written all over Zheng Bin¡¯s face. ¡°Where? I don¡¯t see anything.¡±

    Nie Tian carefully pointed toward the meteor and exined to Zheng Bin, ¡°There. That hexagonal meteor. How can you not see it?¡±

    ¡°I can only vaguely see the outline of that meteor, but I don¡¯t see anyone leaping into the air.¡± Zheng Bin shook his head before suddenlying to a realization. ¡°Your eyesight must reach farther than mine.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback by his words.

    Since he had always been different from the children he grew up with, adding on that he had been tempered by Hua Mu, it was only natural that his vision, hearing, and probing ability surpassed Zheng Bin¡¯s.

    What he could hear, see, and sense, might not be achievable to Zheng Bin.

    ¡°That man is wandering around. I bet he is searching for people like us.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face turned grim while his eyes were still fixed on the fat man. He continued, ¡°Sooner orter, he¡¯lle to our meteor to search after finishing searching the other ones.

    ¡°Every foreign trial takers has a cultivation base of the Greater Heaven stage. As long as they release their psychic awareness to search for us, we won¡¯t be able to hide, no matter what we do.

    ¡°The moment hees, we¡¯ll be exposed, and have nowhere to retreat to.¡± Nie Tian replied in a deep voice.

    Scared, Zheng Bin turned around to look at a few meteors that were floating in the starry sky behind him. ¡°How about we go that way? However, you should know that when I went to check those meteors earlier, there were also quite a few dead bodies on them.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°There isn¡¯t a ce where we can remain safe forever. Once those Greater Heaven stage experts kill off all the weak ones near them, they¡¯ll gradually reach out into their surroundings in search of more to kill.

    ¡°If we escape in that direction, it will be very likely that we run into other Greater Heaven experts.

    ¡°Moreover, the maning our way is moving at a speed that is much faster than ours, so even if we don¡¯t encounter anyone else on our way, that man will eventually catch up to us.

    ¡°We might as well stay here, and when he gets here we fight him to the death!¡± Nie Tian said with a decisive expression.

    ¡°But...¡± Zheng Bin said with a painful look on his face. ¡°You and I only have the cultivation bases of the early Lesser Heaven. With our strength, there¡¯s absolutely no chance of us escaping from the hands of a Greater Heaven stage expert.

    ¡°Only by joining hands with the other Greater Heaven stage experts from the other sects of the Realm of me Heaven, will we have a narrow chance of surviving.

    ¡°However, the thing is we don¡¯t know where they are...¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and said with great determination, ¡°Whatever your decision is, I¡¯m going to stay and fight. Standing your ground is better than running off and trying to find other ways to win.¡±

    With these words, he turned away from Zheng Bin, and focused on the gradually approaching man, making ns in his heart.

    Fifteen minutester.

    That previously vague figure became clearer, due to the shortening of the distance .

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°It¡¯s that fat man, the one from the Realm of Earth Sieve. He imed that every single trial taker from the Realm of me Heaven would die in here, right before he stepped into the Heaven Gate.¡±

    Since the distance between them had shortened, Zheng Bin was now able to see a figure continuously shooting into the air like a cannonball.

    However, he could only see the frame of the person and was unable to see his face and tell that person¡¯s identity.

    When he realized that the person was none other than the fat man who had made those harsh remarks in front of the Heaven Gate, Zheng Bin was astonished. ¡°That guy appears to be at the middle Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    Nie Tian looked over at Zheng Bin with a confused expression.

    ¡°Since we arrived at the Hell sect early, I secretly poked around and gathered some information,¡± Zheng Bin hastily exined. ¡°That fat man¡¯s name is Jia Peng. He¡¯s from the Realm of Earth Sieve, and has a cultivation base of the middle Greater Heaven. Plus, he has a powerful background.¡±

    ¡°Middle Greater Heaven stage...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself and nodded as he said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to mind me. Leave if you want, I won¡¯t me you.¡±

    After saying these words, he fell back into silence, calcting the time that Jia Peng would take to arrive. He was already preparing himself for the uing battle.

    The first thing that came to mind was the chaotic maic field technique he had learned from the mysteriousnd.

    Since it didn¡¯t affect him, he had yet to know what kind of effect that maic field would have on people.

    However, he had a faint feeling that the chaotic maic field, which required an enormous amount of psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power to condense, would definitely have a special use.

    Looking at Nie Tian, who was prepared to stand his ground, Zheng Bin looked extremely hesitant, as if he was fighting an inner war in his heart.

    He had abandoned Nie Tian twice; once in the Green Illusion dimension and once in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Both times, he had deemed that Nie Tian would be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    However, both times, Nie Tian had managed to survive at the end, and he even came out almost unscathed.

    Now he was faced with a choice again. Leave Nie Tian be? Or fight side by side with him?

    He looked deeply at Nie Tian.

    On his face, he didn¡¯t see the slightest bit of panic. Graveness and toughness was all there was.

    Nie Tian slowly adjusted his breathing. Within his eyes, there seemed to be...a trace of excitement and expectancy.

    Not only did Jia Peng¡¯s arrival not destroy Nie Tian¡¯s confidence, it seemed to have actually aroused his fighting spirit!

    A stern look could be seen on Zheng Bin¡¯s face as he suddenly said, ¡°I¡¯ll fight with you!¡±

    He finally made a different decision when he was faced with the same choice again.

    ¡°Okay, good.¡± Nie Tian replied without much thinking. ¡°Move slightly away from me. I need to make some preparations.¡± After that, he held his hands in front of him, palms facing each other, and started to mobilize his psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power.

    He started to form the mysterious, twisting maic field.

 Chapter 146: Ice Blast Pearl

    Nie Tian held his hands in front of his chest, palms facing each other, as he condensed his psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power to start expanding the chaotic, twisting maic field outwards with himself as the center.

    An abnormal surge was gradually born in between his palms.

    Once that surge was created, it rapidly spread out towards its surroundings like water ripples.

    ¡°What?!¡± Zheng Bin, who was now standing several meters from him, widened his eyes in the instant that he sensed the strange energy surge.

    ¡°One meter, two meters...¡± Nie Tian quietly counted in his heart as he acutely sensed the range that the maic field had covered.

    At that moment, he realized that even though Zheng Bin kept a distance from him, he was still within a five meters radius.

    Nie Tian slightly frowned and gave him a meaningful look to indicate for him to move away a bit further.

    After receiving his indication, Zheng Bin stepped back without the slightest hesitation.

    A trace of seriousness appeared on Zheng Bin¡¯s face.

    Actually, he didn¡¯t need Nie Tian¡¯s indication. He had already prepared to move further away the moment he sensed that something wasn¡¯t right.

    Following the gradual extension of the twisting maic field, he... was already trembling with fear even before the maic field had enveloped him, as his instincts had already told him that something was brooding in the area.

    When the maic field was generated, Zheng Bin unleashed a strand of his psychic power in an attempt to probe into the mysteries within the maic field.

    However, the second his psychic power entered that maic field, Zheng Bin experienced a sudden twinge of pain in his head and momentary dizziness.

    It felt as if his soul was being wrung by an unknown force.

    That feeling scared him into stepping backwards in the instant that Nie Tian indicated that he should.

    After he distanced himself ten meters away from Nie Tian, his eyes flickered with a strange light as he fixed his gaze on Nie Tian.

    However, he no longer dared to release his psychic power to pry into the secrets of that maic field.

    ¡°Five meters!¡±

    Soon, the maic field that Nie Tian had formed with his psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power reached a five meters range coverage.

    However, it still wasn¡¯t Nie Tian¡¯s limit.

    If he wanted to, he could continue to fuel it with his psychic power and further extend the range of the maic field to ten meters!

    However, by doing that, he would be exhausted of almost all his psychic power, and wouldn¡¯t have enough psychic power to use the items that his master had bestowed upon him, when Jia Peng arrived.

    Therefore, he maintained the five meter range.

    However, just as he was about to stop expanding the maic field, he suddenly felt a change in his spiritual sea.

    Gradually, strand after strand of me power flowed out of the small vortex of me power in his spiritual sea.

    The me power quietly entered his meridians, flowed to his palms, and infused into the maic field.

    After receiving the strands of me power, the originally disordered maic field immediately became even more violent and chaotic!

    It was only a small amount of me power. However, after it was added to the maic field, it seemed to have greatly enhanced the power of the maic field!

    ¡°What is this?¡± Surprised, Nie Tian probed into the maic field with his soul, and started pondering.

    ¡°The reason why the maic field has been disordered is that it is formed by my psychic power, flesh power and spiritual power. Three different types of power merging and interweaving with each other is what made the maic field violent.

    ¡°However, although the spiritual power and me power share the simr origin, they have their unique features and attributes.

    ¡°Strictly speaking, the me power should be considered as a fourth type of power.

    ¡°Only a small amount of me power managed to massively increase the might of the maic field. Does this mean that...the power of the maic field will continue to increase if I add in more different types of power?¡±

    He soon grasped the secrets of the maic field.

    ¡°Since I don¡¯t have an attribute myself, I can cultivate many more spiritual incantations with a variety of attributes.

    ¡°Every spiritual incantation of a different attribute can be considered as a different type of power at my disposal. If I infuse the many different types of power into the maic field, wouldn¡¯t it increase the might of the maic field to an even greater extent?¡±

    His eyes lit up as he found a method to continuously increase the might of the maic field.

    At that moment, Jia Peng from the Realm of Earth Sieve once againunched his corpulent body into the air.

    As Jia Peng moved even closer to them, Zheng Bin finally had a clear view of the man¡¯s face. ¡°It¡¯s him indeed!"

    There were a number of scattered stones around Nie Tian and Zheng Bin. The two deliberately crouched down, so that Jia Peng wouldn¡¯t be able to see them from the air.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and immediately cleared his mind. ¡°He¡¯s almost here.¡± Without any hesitation, he took out two items from his bracelet of holding.

    The first was a talisman that could be used as a life-saving item, and the second was a translucent, sparkling Ice st Pearl that unceasingly released a frosty aura.

    ording to Wu Ji, the talisman could neutralize one all-out attack of ate Greater Heaven expert, and thus save his life.

    He only had a total of three talismans and simr to the Ice st Pearl, they were all single-use items. He should not use it unless it was a crucial moment.

    After all, Jia Peng was a middle Greater Heaven stage expert. Nie Tian didn¡¯t have the confidence to survive his attacks if he didn¡¯t use a talisman.

    Moreover, it would be the first time that he used the chaotic, twisting maic field on someone. He wasn¡¯t sure how powerful it would be and whether he would be able to block Jia Peng¡¯s attack with it.

    He also wasn¡¯t sure what kind of damage the Ice st Pearl would inflict on the enemy. Hence, he decided to cast it out the moment Jia Peng entered the attacking range of the Ice st Pearl.

    SHEW!

    The rotund Jia Peng once againnded and bounced forward.

    Meanwhile, Jia Peng¡¯s psychic awareness was like a densely-knit, stretching outward into his surroundings.

    With his middle Greater Heaven cultivation base, the range of his psychic awareness far surpassed Nie Tian¡¯s.

    ¡°Well, finally, some life auras.¡± Jia Peng grinned, as a merciless excitement shot out of his small eyes.

    Looking coldly at the prismatic meteor that Nie Tian and Zheng Bin were on, he disdainfully said, ¡°Do you really think hiding behind rocks will work? Entering the Heaven Gate with only Lesser Heaven cultivation bases, you must have a death wish.¡±

    Muttering, Jia Peng¡¯s wobbling body directly charged towards the area that Nie Tian and Zheng Bin were at.

    ¡°He¡¯sing at us,¡± Zheng Bin reminded Nie Tian in a low voice.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Zheng Bin, move slightly further away and maintain a fifty meter distance from me! I haven¡¯t tested the power of the Ice st Pearl that my master gave me, so I fear that I might hurt you.¡±

    Zheng Bin was astounded and hurriedly moved backwards, as if he had heard how powerful the Ice st Pearl was before.

    Seeing that Jia Peng was charging directly at them, Nie Tian realized that they had already been exposed.

    He stopped being secretive, he confidently walked out from behind the big rock, directly facing Jia Peng.

    Secondster, Jia Peng¡¯s sinister, cunningugh echoed out.

    The fat on his face trembled with excitement. ¡°No matter where you came from, by stepping into the Heaven Gate with Lesser Heaven cultivation bases, you¡¯ll be at the bottom of the food chain. There is only one road open to you two: the road to extinction.¡±

    BOOM!

    The fat Jia Peng suddenly elerated, and whistled over like a human cannonball.

    One after another, threads of yellow light sshed out from within him from time to time, which seemed to allow him to counter the gravity to greatly stall the descending of his soaring body .

    ¡°Earth attribute, earth power!¡± With a single nce, Nie Tian could tell that Jia Peng¡¯s cultivation attribute was earth, one of the five fundamental elements.

    People who cultivated earth-attributed spiritual power could alter gravity for themselves.

    Furthermore, the gravity in such an icy starry sky far away from the Realm of me Heaven was much weaker to start with. All these factors allowed Jia Peng to remain in the air for a long time!

    When Jia Peng was only a hundred meters away from him, Nie Tian suddenly hurled out his tightly gripped Ice st Pearl.

    SHEW!

    The Ice st Pearl turned into a beam of cold light that seemed to trail with a white, icy tail as it shot towards Jia Peng.

    Nie Tian had already imprinted a wisp of his psychic awareness inside the Ice st Pearl. When the Ice st Pearl was about to reach Jia Peng, a fierce fighting spirit rose in his heart as he cried out, ¡°Explode!¡±

    In the next moment, the Ice st Pearl that was glistening with an icy light instantly shot out tens of thousands of icy light beams.

    Countless icy shards and icy des also shot out from that small Ice st Pearl,pletely filling the area that Jia Peng was in.

    CRUNCH!

    Immediately after, the bright icy shards and icy des seemed to form a tornado, which soon escted into an ice storm that engulfed Jia Peng.

    ROOOOAR!

    Within the icy storm, Jia Peng screamed like a dying pig as the skin on his fat body was instantly split open.

 Chapter 147: Chaotic Force!

    The whirling ice shards and ice des turned into an enormous ice storm, filling the entire sky.

    In the center of the storm, Jia Peng¡¯s body was dripping with blood as pieces of torn flesh flew out from his body.

    ¡°Ice st Pearl!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he became somewhat fearful towards the power that was released by the seemingly insignificant, cold pearl.

    It was only the size of a fist. However, it had shot out tens of thousands of bright, glittering ice shards and ice des after exploding.

    Not only were they iparably sharp, but they also contained an formidable frost power!

    Furthermore, it seemed that since the starry river was cold and deste, the Ice st Pearl was able to disy its power to the fullest.

    Even though Jia Peng, who was in the middle Greater Heaven stage and cultivated earth-attributed spiritual incantations, was still a hundred meters away from Nie Tian, his whole body had already been badly mangled.

    A faint smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. "The things that master has prepared for me are indeed awesome!"

    Looking at Jia Peng, who was screaming miserably within the ice st, he was secretly ted.

    Zheng Bin, who was standing off to the side, was also astonished after seeing the damage that the Ice st Pearl had dealt.

    He had heard of the terrifying might of Ice st Pearls, but never had he seen one in person.

    This time, the ice storm that was caused by the Ice st Pearl made him truly understand why it had such a terrifying reputation.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Just as Nie Tian secretly smiled, an ash-yellow aura suddenly wreathed Jia Peng, who was in the middle of the ice storm.

    The aura consisted of Jia Peng¡¯s earth-attributed spiritual power, which was strong and intense.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The frost power of the ice storm interwove with the ash-yellow aura, causing an ear-piercing noise to echo out.

    Although Jia Peng was wailing like a ghost, and had sustained quite some damage, he gradually stabilized himself.

    It seemed that the rock-solid power he unleashed forcefully changed the gravitational field around him.

    By the time the gravitational force suddenly doubled, the ice storm that was hovering in midair abruptly dropped down.

    The strange feeling of space caving in suddenly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, making him realize something was going to happen.

    It was also at this moment when the small eyes of Jia Peng suddenly red at Nie Tian as he temporarily broke free due to the ice storm sinking.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, his fat body becamepletely unaffected by the bindings and effects of the ice storm.

    His blood uncontrobly dripped to the ground. All of a sudden, he dashed towards Nie Tian, with those drops of blood resembling a drizzle of bloody rain.

    ¡°Die!¡± Jia Peng roared. He was like a caged beast that was on the verge of dying as he madly charged over.

    At that moment, the ice storm behind him gradually dissipated, as if it had already worn out all of its power during the extremely short period of time.

    Standing quite a distance away, Zheng Bin¡¯s expression suddenly flickered as he couldn¡¯t help but cry out to warn Nie Tian, ¡°Be careful, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian answered. He had already been secretly making preparations. His palms were already facing each other and the air in between his hands was already changing due to the hand seal.

    He knew perfectly well that he had just recently learned the me Spirit Incantation, and it was almost impossible for him to hurt Jia Peng with it.

    Out of all the techniques at his disposal, the chaotic, twisting maic field might be the only one that could affect Jia Peng. After using the Ice st Pearl, the next thing to do was to further wear out Jia Peng.

    Besides that, there was still the most explosive technique that he could use: the rage fist strike!

    He was already secretly gathering his power. He was just waiting for Jia Peng to charge into the chaotic, twisting maic field, and then strike him with it when he was affected.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian was enveloped in a maic field that was formed by the mixture of psychic power, spiritual power, flesh power, and me power. It was growing increasingly violent and disorderly.

    Meanwhile, the maic field seemed to be adjusting itself ording to Nie Tian¡¯s mental state.

    SHEW!

    Jia Peng¡¯s fat body finally streaked across the sky and plummeted to the ground with a loud crash.

    ¡°Earth¡¯s Core Fission!¡±

    As he let out a loud cry, numerous beams of ash-yellow light that resembled drifting ribbons flew out from his ten fingertips.

    Those light beams seemed to carry a strange energy that could change gravity and evoke enormous changes within the earth¡¯s core.

    However, as soon as they entered the endlessly twisting maic field surrounding Nie Tian, all of the light beams disappeared!

    Not only that, but an additional type of power was added to Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic, twisting maic field.

    Apparently, that power came from the ash-yellow light, which was none other than Jia Peng¡¯s earth-attributed spiritual power.

    Strands of ash-yellow light aura started to interweave with all the different types of power within the twisting maic field.

    Not only did the newly entered energy not calm the maic field, it even fueled its frenzy!

    ¡°What?!¡± Afternding heavily on the ground, Jia Peng suddenly felt that he had lost connection with the spiritual power that he had unleashed.

    When he found that he could no longer fight the gravity and uncontrobly descended toward the ground, a slight fear rose in Jia Peng¡¯s heart.

    Jia Peng¡¯s expression flickered as he sensed the danger. ¡°What is that!?¡±

    He tried his best to remain the air, but failed.

    He wasn¡¯t a rash person. When he sensed the unfavorable situation, he instinctively wanted to withdraw.

    Unfortunately, when he approached the area above Nie Tian, he lost control of the gravitational field, which had never happened in the past!

    The earth-attributed spiritual incantation he had cast was unable to alter gravity, not even in the least bit!

    BOOM!

    His fat body followed its previous trajectory as he fell into Nie Tian¡¯s twisting maic field.

    POOH!

    In the moment he entered, Jia Peng¡¯s expression turned pale as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    Even though he was in the middle Greater Heaven stage, as soon as he entered the maic field, he realized that his abundant and strong psychic power seemed to have beenpletely manipted by the twisting maic field!

    Affected by the the turmoil of the maic field, the psychic power within his mind seemed to have also be frenzied and disordered.

    He had a feeling that the numerous strands of his psychic power were being forced to intertwine together, and be tighter and tighter as time passed!

    Possessing a Greater Heaven cultivation base, his psychic power far surpassed Nie Tian¡¯s. This was originally one of the sharp weapons that he could use topletely overtake Nie Tian.

    However, now his significant advantage in psychic power had be his burden!

    His head felt like it was about to split and his mind was twisted into an muddle. Even blood gradually seeped out of his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Jia Peng madly roared out as he unleashed ash-yellow spiritual power sts that resembled arrows in every direction.

    However, once those sharp arrows of spiritual power left him, they were affected by the chaotic, twisting maic field.

    All of the spiritual power sts were pulled by an unknown force to fly disorderly within the maic field, causing the berserk maic field to be increasingly terrifying!

    Jia Peng discovered that he had thoroughly lost control of himself.

    Not only his psychic power, but even his spiritual sea had be frantic and chaotic, as if he hadpletely fallen prey to the maic field.

    When he discovered that the Earth Spears that he had released were unable to even reach Nie Tian, he chose to focus all his energy on controlling his spiritual sea, no longer daring to make any rash moves.

    He attempted to gradually adapt himself to the strange maic field.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Nie Tian, who was prepared to st out the rage punch at any moment, saw that Jia Peng was bleeding from his seven apertures. Unexpectedly, he didn¡¯t strike at the first possible moment.

    He thought to himself that even though Jia Peng had a cultivation base of the middle Greater Heaven stage, he started bleeding from his seven apertures in the instant that he fell into the maic field.

    Furthermore, the ash-yellow spirit force sts that Jia Peng unleashed were also affected by the maic field and started to fly about disorderly.

    Jia Peng¡¯s attack didn¡¯t affect him at all, while Jia Peng himself...seemed to have gradually lost control of himself.

    He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to make a move because he knew that he would be left powerless once he cast the terrifying fist strike with all his strength.

    Since he was in a starry river far away from the Realm of me Heaven, danger could be lurking anywhere, and Zheng Bin hadn¡¯t fully obtained his trust.

    He intended to preserve his strength as long as he could. Before Jia Peng could post a threat to him, he wasn¡¯t anxious to make a move.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Standing within the chaotic, twisting maic field, Jia Peng red at Nie Tain. He had already attempted many methods to adapt to that maic field.

    However, the various methods that he had thought of had all been proven unable to resist or adapt to the maic field.

    Finally, he gave up.

    The anguish in his head gradually grew beyond his tolerance. Even more blood flowed out of his mouth, nose, and ears.

    He suddenly bit on the tip of his tongue in an attempt to use the piercing pain to keep himself sober. He used all his strength to trudge backwards as he tried to leave that strange maic field.

    Seeing through Jia Peng¡¯s intentions, Nie Tian finally approached him with a cunning grin. ¡°Do you want to leave now?¡±

    Yet he still didn¡¯t n to strike him. Instead, he wanted to test the might of the maic field via Jia Peng and dig into the true mysteries thaty within.

    Since Jia Peng wasn¡¯t able to attack him, he could continue to watch and sense the chaos within the maic field more closely.

    At that moment, he became increasingly eager to learn the profound truths of the maic field.

    ¡°Don¡¯t leave so soon. Now that you are here, we should spend some time and talk,¡± Nie Tian teased as he slowly approached Jia Peng, before stopping in front of him and blocking the way he had attempted to escape in.

 Chapter 148: Killing After A Struggle

    ¡°Get the hell away from me!¡± Jia Peng¡¯s expression was sinister as his face was covered in blood. Blood unceasingly flowed out from his mouth, nose, and ears.

    By this point, he was truly terrified of the chaotic maic field.

    He discovered that he couldn¡¯t resist it at all. No matter how hard he tried to control himself, he couldn¡¯t counter the influence of the maic field.

    Thus, he had no choice but to escape as quickly as possible.

    However, when he tried to run away, Nie Tian, the youngster he originally attached little importance to, unexpectedly had the audacity to stand in his way.

    His bloodshot eyes were brimming with frenzy and wrath.

    ¡°Hmm?!" Nie Tian softly hummed as a light of excitement appeared within his eyes. Then, he started tough.

    He just made another discovery.

    As time passed, the chaotic maic field that was originally five meters in diameter had already shrunk to a range of three meters.

    The three meter range was already slightly unsafe, since Jia Peng, who found it hard to move away from Nie Tian, was only barely enveloped by it.

    However, he surprisingly discovered that the three-meter maic field could move along with him as he walked to block Jia Peng¡¯s way out.

    Meanwhile, the three meter radius didn¡¯t change as he moved about.

    When Nie Tian approached Jia Peng, the chaotic maic field that surrounded him followed his steps.

    Due to the shift in Nie Tian¡¯s position, Jia Peng, who was about to leave the maic field, was once again in the center of it!

    The maic field would always be centered around Nie Tian. As long as he moved, the maic field...would also shift with him.

    Such a discovery made him seethe with excitement. This meant that once he created the maic field, he wouldn¡¯t have to remain in his original location.

    He would be able to move around freely and fight his opponent, since the maic field would always follow him.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t stop grinning. ¡°This is awesome!¡±

    All of a sudden, he reached out toward Jia Peng¡¯s neck, which was already within arm¡¯s reach.

    Bright spirit auras flowed out from his five fingers, and his arm was gradually filled with surging flesh power as veins bulged from it.

    His whole arm was full of terrifying power.

    ¡°Screw off!¡± Jia Peng roared madly. At the same time, ayer of ash-yellow spiritual aura suddenly floated out to envelop him.

    ¡°Earth Shield!¡± The ash-yellow spiritual power carried strong and rich earth power as it formed a protective shield around him.

    Considering his Greater Heaven cultivation base, Jia Peng believed that the protective shield was tough enough to withstand any attack from a Lesser Heaven stage cultivator.

    Let alone Nie Tian who was only in the early Lesser Heaven stage!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, as soon as the shield was formed, it was distorted by the chaotic maic field.

    The power within the shield was instantly torn into pieces and turned into ash-yellow motes of light that soon dissipated within the maic field.

    The protective screen that Jia Peng spent great amounts of energy to create disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s hand irresistibly and firmly grabbed onto Jia Peng¡¯s neck.

    He tightened his fingers forcefully.

    He had hoped to hear the sound of bones shattering, but didn¡¯t. Instead, it felt as if he were gripping a metal pir.

    ¡°What?!¡± He was secretly astonished.

    However, it was just a second before he realized what was happening.

    Jia Peng¡¯s neck suddenly unleashed a surge of ash-yellow spiritual power, which forcefully entered Nie Tian¡¯s hand and travelled upward into his arm.

    In seconds, his arm became as heavy as a huge rock that weighed a thousand tons, making it powerless.

    His joints even made faint creaking noises, seemingly unable to withstand the enormous weight.

    ¡°Hey!¡± A savage smile appeared on Jia Peng¡¯s blood-covered face. ¡°Do you really think that you can kill me with your early Lesser Heaven cultivation base? If not for this strange maic field, then considering your puny strength, I could have killed you with a single strike!¡±

    BOOM!

    An even heavier surge of power forced it way into the hand that Nie Tian had used to grip Jia Peng¡¯s neck, as unstoppable as a hot knife cutting through butter.

    Nie Tian¡¯s hand instantly drooped downwards, and he became unable to raise it.

    The earth power that Jia Peng sent into Nie Tian¡¯s arm went berserk inside of him, madly ravaging his flesh and meridians.

    Nie Tian let out a muffled groan as he suffered a great blow. Therefore, he started to use all his strength to rid himself of Jia Peng¡¯s earth power.

    He also realized that Jia Peng...had just tricked him.

    Jia Peng always knew that the shield he created wouldn¡¯t be able to persist within the maic field.

    It was only a pretense to throw Nie Tian off guard.

    He didn¡¯t use much earth power to create the shield. His true power was all gathered on his neck.

    He was waiting for Nie Tian to grab his neck so that he would be able to channel his devastating power into Nie Tian¡¯s hand via contact!

    He didn¡¯t move at all. However, he managed to sessfully harm Nie Tian within his chaotic maic field.

    Jia Peng madlyughed with a cunning expression in his eyes. ¡°Little bastard! You¡¯re still too green!¡±

    Looking at Nie Tian, who was painfully resisting the earth power that had entered his body, Jia Peng once again started to move away with great difficulty, with no regard to the blood that was still dripping down his face.

    He was only one more step from escaping from the chaotic maic field.

    ¡°Almost there!¡± Jia Peng rejoiced in his heart.

    He was sure that once he escaped from the effects of the strange maic field, he would be able to instantly kill Nie Tian from a safe distance!

    However, just as he was about to seed, Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect waved his sword as he pierced towards him.

    CLANG!

    The tip of the sword directly struck the middle of Jia Peng¡¯s back, causing ash-yellow dots of light to ssh out from his back.

    However, the sword failed to pierce into Jia Peng¡¯s back. Instead, it was sent flying by a strong counter force.

    Eyes brimming with a murderous aura, Jia Peng turned around. ¡°Brat, you¡¯re courting death!¡±

    He now nned to finish off Zheng Bin first after getting out of the maic field.

    On the other hand, when Nie Tian sensed that something wasn¡¯t right, he had already taken out the spiritual talisman that his master had given him from his bracelet of holding. He was prepared to receive Jia Peng¡¯s revenge at any time now.

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly went nk watched Zheng Bin dashing toward Jia Peng with an ash-gray skeletal tail. Apparently, he hoped that the sharpness of the tail would be enough to pierce Jia Peng¡¯s defenses.

    POOH!

    Zheng Bin, who had somehow severed the tail of the mysterious outsider creature, stabbed it into Jia Peng¡¯s back with all his strength.

    The ash-gray bonepletely ignored the defenses condensed by Jia Peng¡¯s earth power as itpletely entered Jia Peng¡¯s body.

    The vigor in Jia Peng¡¯s enraged eyes instantly faded.

    He looked into Zheng Bin¡¯s eyes with a nk expression on his face. Then he turned his head back and nkly looked down at the bone that was jutting out from his chest, before copsing to the ground with a loud crash.

    The middle Greater Heaven stage Jia Peng, from the Realm of Earth Sieve, was first injured by the Ice st Pearl, then bound down by the chaotic maic field, and finally killed after being prated by the outsider¡¯s tail.

    Zheng Bin sat on the ground as he gasped for air, still yet to recover from the shock.

    Off to the side, Nie Tian was unceasingly gathering his spiritual power and flesh power to resist the earth power that Jia Peng had sent into him.

    After a long time, he finally stopped the ravaging earth power inside of him, and his chaotic maic field also dissipated into the air.

    He raised his head and saw Zheng Bin, who was standing not far from him, looking back at him.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a Greater Heaven stage expert possesses such formidable power!¡± Nie Tian sighed.

    In order to kill Jia Peng, he had used an Ice st Pearl and condensed the chaotic maic field. Despite that, his efforts almost went to waste if not for Zheng Bin¡¯s attack at the crucial moment.

    Furthermore, Jia Peng wasn¡¯t the strongest among all the experts from the other realms. He was only in the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    More importantly, the reason why Jia Peng got himself killed was that he had never expected that Nie Tian would possess powerful weapons like the Ice st Pearl, and thus fallen into the chaotic maic field unprepared.

    Otherwise, considering his strength, Jia Peng could have killed them as easily as if he were ughtering livestock.

    There were alsote Greater Heaven stage experts from the outside realms waiting for them. If they didn¡¯t meet Jia Peng, but ate Greater Heaven stage expert instead, would they still win?

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression turned grim.

    Zheng Bin smiled bitterly and said, ¡°The inferiority in our cultivation base is too great. I don¡¯t understand why this Heaven Gate would mix Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stage cultivators together. We should only have Lesser Heaven stage cultivators as our opponents. It¡¯s too unfair for us to fight against Heaven and Greater Heaven stage cultivators!¡±

    Nie Tian slowly walked towards Jia Peng¡¯s corpse. ¡°We¡¯re fortunate to still be breathing.¡±

    He took the bracelet of holding off of Jia Peng¡¯s wrist and released a strand of his psychic awareness to search through the items within.

    His expression flickered as he cried out at the first nce of the items within, ¡°We¡¯ve struck gold!!¡±

 Chapter 149: Gains

    ¡°What!?¡± Zheng Bin also grew intrigued. Without even thinking about it, he stood up and walked towards Nie Tian.

    At this moment, dots of light flew out of the Heaven Gate pattern on Jia Peng¡¯s hand.

    Like fireflies, they quietly flew towards Zheng Bin.

    Within a sh, each and every light dot disappeared into the Heaven Gate pattern on Zheng Bin¡¯s hand.

    At the same time, the Heaven Gate pattern on Jia Peng¡¯s hand gradually turned dark and fuzzy, before itpletely vanished.

    The sudden change caused Nie Tian¡¯s expression to flicker. He curiously looked at Zheng Bin.

    Zheng Bin looked down at the light dots on the back of his hand and quietly counted them. After that, he said, his voice sounding a bit confused, ¡°There are seven more light dots...¡±

    He waved his arm and carefully examined it. He discovered that it seemed nothing had changed after those light dots had entered his Heaven Gate pattern.

    Face filled with confusion, he contemted over what had happened.

    ¡°Those light dots ought to havee from those who died.¡± Nie Tian said, eyes glittering with a profound light. ¡°Six of them belonged to the people who Jia Peng killed, and the other dot belonged to Jia Peng himself.¡±

    When he fought Jia Peng earlier, he noticed that there were six small dots of light in the Heaven Gate pattern on Jia Peng¡¯s hand.

    However, he didn¡¯t have to time to read into it back then.

    Zheng Bin killed Jia Peng by piercing through his body with the outsider¡¯s tail bone. This must have caused all the light dots that Jia Peng had collected, and the one that belonged to Jia Peng himself, to fly into Zheng Bin¡¯s hand.

    ¡°By killing another trial taker, one can collect their victim¡¯s Heaven Gate key? What does this mean?¡± Zheng Bin was deeply puzzled.

    Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure either. However, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a bad thing.¡±

    With an intense look on his face, he continued, ¡°From the look of it, those bastards from the outer realms must have already learned about the secrets of the Heaven Gate trial. Not long after they arrived, they already started hunting down other trial takers.

    ¡°They might not be after the treasures that their opponents carried. These light dots...could be what they truly want!

    ¡°Clearly the mechanism of the Heaven Gate trial encourages trial takers to kill each other!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression turned grim.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s heart shivered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, anyone we meet in the future will very likely attack us, won¡¯t they? It won¡¯t matter whether we have enmities with each other or we know each other, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Nie Tian sighed.

    Zheng Bin hesitated for a while before saying, ¡°You contributed the most to killing Jia Peng. At least four of these seven light dots should be yours. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know how to give them to you.¡±

    After listening to Nie Tian¡¯s exnation, Zheng Bin had a feeling that people who obtained more light dots would gain greater benefits in the future.

    In order to kill Jia Peng, Nie Tian had used a Ice st Pearl and cast the strange maic field. He even suffered injuries during the fight.

    He had only dealt thest strike when Jia Peng was about to use up his strength. He never thought that he would take all the benefits which should have been shared by the two of them.

    He felt that it was somewhat unfair for Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, you deserve them. Without your final strike, not only would I have been unable to obtain those light dots, I could¡¯ve even been killed by Jia Peng.

    ¡°You saved my life. Don¡¯t me yourself for it.¡±

    Then he chuckled and said, ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll show you Jia Peng¡¯s possessions!¡±

    After Nie Tian finished speaking, one item after another flew out from Jia Peng¡¯s bracelet of holding.

    About ten secondster, the icy ground between him and Zheng Bin was filled with treasures of all kinds.

    There were spiritual materials, spirit stones, medicinal pills, as well as six spiritual tools of rather high ranks within the pile of treasures.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression flickered as he said with a sullen tone, ¡°There is so much stuff here. This Pure Gold de belonged to a elder martial brother of mine. Some of these spiritual materials also came from the Mystic Mist sect...¡±

    Clearly, many of the items in Jia Peng¡¯s bracelet of holding didn¡¯t belong to him.

    He had looted all the treasures and spiritual tools that his victims had owned.

    After Nie Tian ssified the pile of treasures, he turned to Zheng Bin and said, ¡°I¡¯ve totalled everything up. There are are thirty-two spirit materials of different grades, eight thousand spirit stones, five bottles of medicinal pills, and six spiritual tools. How about we each take half?¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t it be unfair to you?¡± Zheng Bin seemed overwhelmed by such an unexpected favor. He waved his hand and continued, ¡°You yed the most important role in killing Jia Peng, and plus I¡¯ve already gotten the seven light dots. I¡¯d feel ashamed if we split Jia Peng¡¯s possessions.¡±

    ¡°Be quick about it.¡± Nie Tian looked somewhat displeased.

    Zheng Bin hesitated for a moment, since he secretly desired those treasures. Then he said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll take the items that belonged to the Mystic Mist sect, as well as a few items that suit me. How does that sound?¡±

    He knew that he couldn¡¯tpare himself to Nie Tian. Nie Tian had Wu Ji from the Cloudsoaring sect to back him, which allowed Nie Tian to enter the Heaven Gate trial with a considerable amount of spiritual materials and medicinal pills in his possession.

    Although he was one of the core disciples of the Mystic Mist sect, almost everyone trial taker from the Mystic Mist sect had a cultivation base that was higher than his, and their status also wasn¡¯t something that he could match.

    Because of that, he had far fewer spiritual materials than Nie Tian. Having discovered that there was no usable spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth within the icy river of stars where he had to remain in for a long time, the problem of how to get hold of more resources had already be a headache to him.

    When Jia Peng¡¯s enormous wealth was suddenly ced in front of him like that, it would be impossible for him to not be moved at all.

    Nie Tian magnanimously took a step back. ¡°No problem, you choose first.¡±

    ¡°Thanks. As a matter of fact, I do need a few things.¡± A hint of happiness appeared on Zheng Bin¡¯s face as he finally abandoned the pretense of courtesy. He went ahead and took the few treasures that originally belonged to the Mystic Mist sect, and a few spiritual materials that were suitable for his cultivation. After that, he took a few spirit stones and medicinal pills before he stopped.

    The items that he took were roughly a fifth of all the treasures that they had looted.

    He wasn¡¯t greedy at all.

    Nie Tian nodded inwardly. After Zheng Bin finished his selection of items, Nie Tian quickly stored the remaining treasures into his bracelet of holding.

    After killing Jia Peng together, the tension between the two of them eased to a great extent.

    Especially for Zheng Bin.

    After fighting together with Nie Tian this time, he had discovered that he actually didn¡¯t know Nie Tian at all when they were in the Green Illusion dimension.

    At this moment, he couldn¡¯t help but think of the various details of their adventure within the Green Illusion dimension. His expression suddenly flickered as an idea hit him. ¡°Was it you who first discovered Yu Tong¡¯s Earth Web back when we were in the Green Illusion dimension? Also, was it because of you that Yu Tong suddenly fell unconscious and had to withdraw?¡±

    Although he didn¡¯t know Nie Tian back then, he was quite familiar with Pan Tao. Therefore, when Pan Tao said that he had sensed abnormalities from underground, Zheng Bin found it strange.

    As he recalled it now, Pan Tao had left together with Nie Tian at that time.

    ¡°Hahaha, the past is the past. No need to overthink things.¡± Nie Tianughed and didn¡¯t give a clear answer.

    However, Zheng Bin saw through his words.

    With a slight nod, Zheng Bin said, ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve juste to know you. If I had known what kind of power you possessed and what you were capable of when we were in the Green Illusion dimension, I would¡¯ve done everything in my power to help you and save you."

    Nie Tian gave a broad smile, not saying anything. Then he sat down on the ground, took out some spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding, and started eating in order to recover the injuries to his meridians and internal organs.

    ¡°Thanks for everything.¡± With these words, Zheng Bin walked towards Jia Peng¡¯s corpse and retrieved the tail bone that was stuck inside.

    WHOOSH!

    A pile of sparkling and translucent me Crystals that contained rich me power were piled by Nie Tian¡¯s feet.

    There were about several dozens of them, most of which came from Jia Peng.

    He believed that there had been disciples of the Ghost sect and Blood sect among Jia Peng¡¯s victims, who also obtained a few me Crystals when they were in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Now, Nie Tian could make full use of all these me Crystals to continue cultivating the me Spirit Incantation.

    ¡°It seems that the spiritual materials and spirit stones that I¡¯ve obtained from killing a Greater Heaven stage cultivator can sustain me for quite some time. I¡¯ve struck gold this time...¡± Muttering to himself, Nie Tian gripped a me Crystal in his hand as he started to cultivate attentively.

 Chapter 150: Meeting Yu Tong Again

    After an unknown period of time passed, Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation. Out of the pile of me Crystals in front of him, seven had been drained of their me power and shattered into pieces of mundane rock.

    The vortex of me power within his spiritual sea clearly increased in size by a significant amount after this round of cultivation.

    The me power contained within it was much thicker and purer than it was before his fight with Jia Peng.

    Previously, his meridians and muscles had suffered a certain degree of damage as a result of the earth power thaty within Jia Peng¡¯s attack.

    Nie Tian had deliberately consumed arge amount of spirit beast meat before cultivating. The pure flesh power that came with it seemed to have quietly spread throughout his body, healing his internal injuries without him even realizing it.

    Standing about ten meters away, Zheng Bin said with a warm smile, ¡°You¡¯re finally awake.¡±

    Wearing white garments, he looked rather handsome.

    Nie Tian rose, nodded his head, and said, ¡°How long was I out for?¡±

    He didn¡¯t have any instruments that could tell time. However, from his experience in the Green Illusion dimension, he knew Zheng Bin had an instrument that could tell the time within mysterious realms.

    ¡°Two days,¡± Zheng Bin replied.

    Nie Tian rubbed his nose and he said with a chuckle, ¡°It seems our luck isn¡¯t that bad after all. It¡¯s hard to imagine that no one actually discovered us during thesest two days.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Zheng Bin alsoughed, ¡°You know what? I don¡¯t know why, but after we killed Jia Peng together, I¡¯m suddenly not that scared anymore. Of course, it¡¯s mainly thanks to you. Your fearlessness when facing Jia Peng seems to have inspired me. I¡¯m certain that I will be able to obtain a lifelong benefit from my experience here, given that I can live through the Heaven Gate trial!¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Nie Tian was both surprised and ttered.

    Zheng Bin rose to his feet. ¡°Yeah, it seems to me that you don¡¯t have the word fear in your vocabry. Of course, it might be all the trump cards up your sleeves that allow you to have such inexorable confidence.¡±

    He looked towards a distant meteor that was floating in the starry sky as he said, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s time we looked around in other ces.¡±

    This was him proposing to leave and explore.

    He wouldn¡¯t have the confidence and courage to leave this seemingly safe ce if he were to go off alone.

    The various miraculous methods that Nie Tian had used to fight Jia Peng made Zheng Bin feel that he would be much safer if he traveled together with Nie Tian.

    He had already made up his mind that he would stick together with Nie Tian during the Heavenly Gate trial as long as he could.

    ¡°Sure..." Nie Tian also rose to his feet.

    He had already obtained a primary understanding of the me Spirit Incantation after thest two days of cultivation. His injuries had also fully healed.

    At present, he was at his peak state, and had also developed a high confidence in the might of the chaotic maic field.

    Therefore he also believed that it was time to explore other ces.

    After the two of them reached an agreement, they left the meteor that they had never dared to leave before, and moved towards nearby meteors.

    Within the icy river of stars, they explored meteor after meteor. They would go to a nearby meteor to search for life. After finding no signs of life, they would head towards another one.

    Time quickly passed. Within the blink of an eye, another three days went by.

    They had already moved far away from the meteor they originally hid on. However, they still couldn¡¯t find any signs of life.

    All they had found were a few frozen corpses. There were corpses of people from the Mystic Mist sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect, all of them killed brutally.

    Mentally prepared for the cruelty and fierceness of the Heaven Gate trial, Nie Tian turned a blind eye to the corpses, and seemedpletely unaffected.

    Zheng Bin had already known that Jia Peng had killed some of his senior martial brothers, so he also maintained his calm when seeing the corpses.

    The two of them took their time to cultivate and meticulously traveled from one meteor to another, without any destination in mind.

    One day...

    As they traveled, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness every so often to scan for any abnormalities in the surroundings. He suddenly detected an intense bloody aura in front of them.

    As he narrowed his eyes, his psychic awareness seemed to be invisible tentacles, stretching out of his soul and carefully probing forwards.

    Gradually, he discovered the traces of the blood strings from a Earth Web underneath the earth thaty ahead.

    Nie Tian held his steps. ¡°It¡¯s the Earth Web!¡±

    With furrowed brows, he looked at the icy ground in front of him, which was filled with scattered stones, while indicating for Zheng Bin to stop.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression faintly changed. ¡°People from the Blood sect?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. Pointing towards the scattered stones in front of him, he said, ¡°There are blood strings under the ground.¡±

    Although they were both at the the early Lesser Heaven stage, Zheng Bin¡¯s psychic power wasn¡¯t as strong as Nie Tian¡¯s. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t sense the abnormalities thaty under the ground in front of them.

    However, by this point, he was very certain that it was Nie Tian who had discovered the underground movements while they were in the Green Illusion dimension, and that it was Nie Tian who had discovered Yu Tong secretly activating her technique.

    Having a new level of respect toward Nie Tian, Zheng Bin pondered for a moment before asking, ¡°What do you think we should do? Do we... go back?¡±

    There were arge number of enormous meteors in the vicinity. If they wanted to, they could keep away from the trial takers from the Blood Sect and continue exploring other meteors.

    ¡°The Blood sect...¡± Nie Tian pondered inwardly, looking somewhat hesitatant.

    However, at that moment, the psychic awareness that he spread out told him that someone was rapidly closing in.

    Furthermore, he was iparably familiar with that person¡¯s aura.

    A bitter look appeared at the corner of his mouth. ¡°Yu Tong!¡±

    He was well aware how much Yu Tong hated him, and he was fairly certain that she would immediately strike the second she saw him, without even saying a word.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Without wasting a moment, Nie Tian turned around, wishing to leave as soon as possible.

    Upon hearing Yu Tong¡¯s name, Zheng Bin also had a headache, since he also knew that the woman was quite a character.

    Zheng Bin hurriedly sped away after Nie Tian.

    SHEW!

    A scarlet, bloody figure suddenly dashed over, at a speed so fast that it seemed as if she had turned into a stream of light. It stopped after reaching the limit of the Earth Web.

    The figure was none other than the witch Yu Tong.

    Wearing red garments from head to toe, she stood at the edge of the Earth Web¡¯s reach, seemingly cautious with her next movement.

    It was as if... she didn¡¯t dare to leave the area that the Earth Web covered.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Having found out that the person trying to escape was Nie Tian, she was instantly agitated.

    In an instant, her pupils became bloodshot, appearing demonic yet gorgeous.

    At this moment, Feng Luo from the Blood sect also arrived like a sh of light. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    After seeing Yu Tong bursting into a fuming rage after finding out it was Nie Tian, Feng Luo hastily said, ¡°Little Tong, don¡¯t be impulsive! Times have changed! This isn¡¯t the Realm of me Heaven, and our realm is about to face huge cmity! From now on, the seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven are in the same boat! You must temporarily put aside the grudges you have against Nie Tian!¡±

    As he spoke, Nie Tian noticed that the early Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo seemed somewhat pale, as if he had exhausted plenty of his strength.

    ¡°Uncle Feng, I, I can¡¯t... not after everything he¡¯s done to me!¡± Yu Tong clenched her teeth as she said.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Feng Luo smiled bitterly. Then he cast a fierce re towards Nie Tian, as he remembered the despicable things he had done to Yu Tong when they were in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. ¡°This damn brat truly deserves to be killed. If we can pull through the cmity that¡¯ll hit the Realm of me Heaven, I will personally arrange for you to have a fair fight with him. However... considering where we are now, we can¡¯t afford to waste any strength on him!¡±

    Yu Tong¡¯s demonic eyes were still fixed on Nie Tian, she gradually tuned down her hatred toward Nie Tian after hearing Feng Luo¡¯s exhortation.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian also stopped fleeing after hearing Feng Luo¡¯s words.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zheng Bin said with an anxious look on his face.

    Yu Tong¡¯s appearance alone had given him have a headache. Adding in the early Greater Heaven stage Feng Luo, his only thought now was to run as far away as he could.

    If it were another time, he would have long since abandoned Nie Tian and escaped by himself after seeing his foolish behavior.

    However, now he decided to stay with Nie Tian, although he was inwardly questioning Nie Tian¡¯s choice.

    Nie Tian turned around and spoke loudly to Feng Luo and Yu Tong, ¡°Senior Feng Luo is correct. In the past, the seven sects were ipatible as fire and water. It was natural that we started killing each other whenever we met. However, it¡¯s a different time now. The Realm of me Heaven will soon be invaded by demons. By the time we return, it¡¯s possible that the Realm of me Heaven will have already been overtaken.

    ¡°Even if the seven sects have joined forces and fought off the invading demons, I¡¯m afraid that their strength will definitely be greatly weakened. Then the ambitious ones from the other realms will very likely swoop in and take the opportunity to seize the Realm of me Heaven for themselves.

    ¡°This is only what will possibly happen to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Within the Heaven Gate trial, there are still many from the other realms, like Jia Peng, who are ughtering our people.

    ¡°Facing a situation like this, if still we continue fighting among ourselves, won¡¯t we be digging our own grave?¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian even slowly walked towards Feng Luo and Yu Tong.

    Zheng Bin seemed to be floundering over what he should do. After a while of pondering, he also approached Feng Luo.

    Feng Luo gave a cold snort as he stared at Nie Tian. ¡°As much as I dislike you, at least you¡¯ve got some logic there. However, you two are too weak. You have nothing to offer if we let you tag along. Since we all came from the Realm of me Heaven, I¡¯ll let you off the hook. You can go fend for yourselves.¡±

    He waved his hands, indicating for Nie Tian and Zheng Bin go away.

    ¡°But Senior Feng Luo, we¡¯ve killed Jia Peng from the Realm of Earth Sieve!¡± Zheng Bin shouted loudly, ¡°Are we qualified to travel with you now?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve killed Jia Peng?¡± Feng Luo sneered. ¡°Are you joking?¡±

    Zheng Bin raised his hand high in the air as he showed the seven light dots on the back of his hand to Feng Luo, ¡°Look for yourself!¡±

    Eyes narrowing, Feng Luo took a close look at Zheng Bin¡¯s hand. Finally intrigued, he asked, ¡°Did you two really kill Jia Peng?¡±

    ¡°Sure as hell!¡± replied Zheng Bin.

    Feng Luo hesitated for a moment before exhorting Yu Tong in a low voice. Then he beckoned for them toe over and said, ¡°Come on. I need you to give me a rational exnation as to how the two of you managed to kill Jia Peng, a powerful expert with a cultivation base of the middle Greater Heaven, with your petty strength!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Zheng Bin replied as he stepped towards Feng Luo.

    Nie Tian also walked over.

 Chapter 151: Obtaining Recognition

    Walking towards Feng Luo, Nie Tian had his eyes fixed on Yu Tong. Hatred was written all over her face, and she looked like she wanted to eat him alive.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    After letting out a soft, embarrassedugh, Nie Tian chose to ignore her. Slowly, he and Zheng Bin walked over to the area of scattered stones.

    Just as he was about to enter the area within the Earth Web¡¯s coverage, Nie Tian seemed slightly hesitant, as he was a bit worried that this was a trap set up by Feng Luo.

    However, he took the step forward and nothing happened.

    Feng Luo had a grim face as he stood beside a shattered meteorite. ring at Zheng Bin, he said, ¡°Your exnation!¡±

    Facing Feng Luo so closely, the previously loud Zheng Bin suddenly became somewhat timorous.

    He gave an embarrassedugh as he shot a nce towards the calm Nie Tian next to him, while saying, ¡°Ask him.¡±

    Then Feng Luo and Yu Tong¡¯s gazes instantly shifted to Nie Tian.

    ¡°We exerted all our means to deal with a middle Greater Heaven cultivator from the other realms!¡± Feng Luo snorted as he said, ¡°Even still, we suffered a terrible defeat and almost died fighting him. Therefore, we had no choice but to retreat to this area and refrain from making any rash actions, so as to gather enough strength to fight that person again! Jia Peng was also at the middle Greater Heaven, and by no means weaker than our opponent. What did you use to kill him?¡±

    Although he saw the seven extra light dots on the back of Zheng Bin¡¯s hand, Feng Luo still didn¡¯t believe what Zheng Bin said.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t give a rational answer, I won¡¯t let you off!¡± Yu Tong coldly said.

    An intense, bloody aura quietly emerged from her curvaceous body and suffused into the air around her.

    Deep under the ground, countless strands of Earth Web blood strings that she had condensed were quietly slithering around like snakes.

    It seemed as though she would immediately make a move if Nie Tian¡¯s answer sounded wrong in the slightest, despite what Feng Luo had said.

    She couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth when she remembered how Nie Tian had humiliated her in the Green Illusion dimension, and his unspeakable actions in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    ¡°Well...¡±

    Nie Tian hesitated for a moment. Then he told himself that only by uniting against theirmon enemy within the Heaven Gate trial, would trial takers from the Realm of me Heaven maintain their power to return to their homnd in the future.

    He decided to reveal some of his strength.

    ¡°Firstly, I used a Ice st Pearl. That was how I injured Jia Peng when he first approached me.

    ¡°After that, skin cut open and flesh torn, Jia Peng fell into special maic field that I created.¡±

    While speaking, he reached out his hands and held them in front of his chest, palms facing each other. He quietly unleashed his psychic power, flesh power, spiritual power, as well as me power, forming a chaotic maic field that covered a range of three meters.

    In the instant that the chaotic maic field appeared, the expressions of Feng Luo and Yu Tong suddenly flickered.

    It was especially true for Yu Tong!

    The Earth Web, which she had formed using the Blood sect¡¯s secret technique and a high ranked spirit equipment, suddenly escaped her control in the moment that the chaotic maic field formed!

    The energy within the area Nie Tian was in turned iparably disorderly and violent. The chaotic maic field that only covered a three meter radius seemed to have twisted the Earth Web, which was lying under the ground!

    Neither the blood strings nor her psychic power were able to prate into the chaotic maic field.

    A great ripple urred in the Earth Web when the maic field spread out!

    The fear of losing control of the Earth Web rose in Yu Tong¡¯s heart.

    It was also at this moment that Feng Luo sensed that something was going on, and suddenly took a step forward.

    With that step, he entered Nie Tian¡¯s maic field. Immediately after, he let out a muffled groan as his face turned even more pale.

    All of a sudden, Feng Luo waspletely drowned by the bizarre sensations that Jia Peng had previously experienced.

    He felt a sudden dizziness and nearly passed out.

    Nie Tian hastily stepped backwards, freeing Feng Luo of the influence of the maic field without the need for his own efforts.

    As he moved backward, the maic field moved with him. Feng Luo, who was on the verge of fainting, suddenly became clear-headed.

    He stared at Nie Tian, eyes filled with shock and disbelief. Gasping for air, he asked, ¡°Did your master teach you how to wield this strange, chaotic power?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes, he did.¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s eyes lit up as he spoke in a low voice, ¡°No wonder they all say that Senior Wu Ji is an unusual character in the Realm of me Heaven. I guess it¡¯s possible that you two killed Jia Peng.¡±

    ¡°Be quick and stop your maic field!¡± Yu Tong couldn¡¯t help but shriek.

    At this moment, she discovered that the Earth Web she had gone to great lengths to condense was about to be ripped apart by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    She was very clear about what would happen if it did. She knew what kind of injuries she¡¯d suffer once it was fractured and thrown into a state of chaos!

    ¡°I, I don¡¯t know how to stop it.¡± Nie Tian suddenly realized that he had been damaging Yu Tong¡¯s Earth Web and hastily jumped away from his original location.

    Fortunately, the effect of gravity in the ice-cold river of stars was extremely small.

    With little effort, he managed to spring into midair, and the maic field surrounding him followed him into the sky.

    After the maic field rose into the air as a result of Nie Tian leaving the ground, Yu Tong immediately looked relieved.

    Apparently, the Earth Web wouldn¡¯t be affected by the maic field, as long as the maic field wasn¡¯t in contact with the blood strings that ran under the ground.

    Nie Tian soonnded outside of the range of Yu Tong¡¯s Earth Web.

    There, he waited for the maic field to wear out its energy and disperse by itself.

    Off to the side, Feng Luo and Yu Tong spent a moment to calm themselves before rushing over to Nie Tian.

    They stopped at the edge of the reach of the Earth Web. Standing about ten meters away from Nie Tian, they used an extremely strange gaze to examine him.

    Nie Tian looked back at them.

    After a while, a faint smile floated on Feng Luo¡¯s face as he turned to Yu Tong and said, ¡°Little Tong, set aside your grudges with him for the time being. This kid learned this strange technique from his master Wu Ji, and maybe more... We might benefit from his existence. The foreign cultivator who attacked us earlier probably has already recovered his strength. It won¡¯t be long before hees back to try and kill us.

    ¡°Both of us spent a lot of energy during that previous fight.

    ¡°It¡¯s highly unlikely for the two of us to beat him.

    ¡°Unless we have Nie Tian to help us. With his strange maic field and Wu Ji¡¯s Ice st Pearls, we might be able to defeat that man.

    ¡°What do you say?¡±

    Feng Luo spent great effort to try to persuade Yu Tong to temporarily put aside the enmity between her and Nie Tian, for the sake of working together to fight that foreigner.

    Clenching her jaw, Yu Tong cast another fierce look toward Nie Tian and finally gave a sigh of grievance. ¡°As you wish, Uncle Feng.¡±

    Their previous fight against the foreign cultivator was such a close call for them, that both she and Feng Luo had spared no effort. Even still, they only managed to narrowly escape.

    However, Feng Luo had sustained injuries and it was impossible for him to recover within a short period of time.

    If that man came back for them and caught Feng Luo in this situation, she could only watch Feng Luo die. And then it would be her turn.

    The mere thought of the merciless and vulgar look within that man¡¯s eyes, she couldn¡¯t help but tremble with fear, while goosebumps appeared on her skin.

    Thus, she agreed to Feng Luo¡¯s proposal.

    ¡°Fine. Let hime with us.¡±

    Unwilling to spare Nie Tian another nce, Yu Tong turned around and walked off. She returned to the area with shattered stones alone and randomly chose a location to sit down, starting to calm the rattled auras inside of her.

    A while passed and the effect of the maic field on the Earth Web had finally been lifted.

    ¡°The man we fought earlier came from the Realm of Dark Underworld. Just like Jia Peng, he¡¯s also in the middle Greater Heaven stage...¡±

    As Feng Luo walked back to the area filled with shattered rocks, his attitude towards Nie Tian was clearly different from before.

    He exined the situation of the expert from the Realm of Dark Underworld in detail to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian took all the information that Feng Luo told him to heart as they returned to the area with the shattered rocks. He realized that Yu Tong was deliberately avoiding him, but he didn¡¯t take it to heart. Instead, he sat beside Zheng Bin and closed his eyes to adjust his breathing and aura.

    He attempted topletely restore the energy he had consumed to create the chaotic maic field before the foreign cultivator returned.

 Chapter 152: Teaming Up

    Before long, Nie Tian fully restored the energy that he had spent on forming the chaotic maic field.

    After opening his eyes, he found that Feng Luo had been quietly examining him up and down from the side.

    Seeing that he had awakened, Feng Luo briefly nodded toward him and said, ¡°If that man everes again, the maic field that you¡¯ve previously formed will definitely be of great help.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll use it to help you,¡± Nie Tian promised.

    ¡°As for the Ice st Pearls...¡± Feng Luo pondered for a moment and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that they won¡¯t be of much help.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian was intrigued.

    Feng Luo gave a bitter smile and said, ¡°I forgot to tell you just now that the man cultivates frost and ice spiritual incantations. Therefore, the attribute of his spiritual power is that of frost.

    ¡°Therefore, he probably won¡¯t be influenced in the least bit by the ice shards and ice des released by the Ice st Pearl.

    ¡°On the contrary, it¡¯s possible that he could gain control of the pearl¡¯s power and use it against us.¡±

    Upon hearing that the foreign Qi warrior cultivated frost power, Nie Tian immediately gave up the idea of using the Ice st Pearls. ¡°I see. So I won¡¯t use the Ice st Pearls.¡±

    ¡°I sustained injuries during our previous fight with that man and still need time to recover.¡± Feng Luo seemed somewhat embarrassed as he said, ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll do my utmost to fight him when hees back. However... I doubt that I¡¯ll provide much help.¡±

    ¡°What about her?¡± Nie Tian cast his gaze towards Yu Tong.

    Yu Tong was sitting silently next to a giant rock, continuously releasing intense, bloody auras.

    ¡°Little Tong didn¡¯t suffer any serious injuries from our previous battle. Plus, she has advanced to the middle Lesser Heaven stage after the tempering that she received from the Scarlet me Mountain Range. However, I doubt that she¡¯ll be able to do much to help, considering her Lesser Heaven cultivation base.¡±

    With these words, the way Feng Luo looked at Nie Tian grew somewhat strange.

    After all, he still found it hard to believe that Nie Tian and Zheng Bin managed to kill Jia Peng when the two of them were both in early Lesser Heaven stage.

    ¡°Wu Ji...¡±

    Eventually, he attributed all of the unfathomable things that had happened to Nie Tian to Wu Ji, and thus his respect for Wu Ji rose to a whole other level.

    ¡°Middle Lesser Heaven stage!¡± Nie Tian shot another nce at Yu Tong.

    He didn¡¯t anticipate that the witch would make another breakthrough in such a short time.

    As many miraculous encounters as he had, he hadn¡¯t been able to break through into the middle Lesser Heaven when he left the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    He was totally amazed at Yu Tong¡¯s unparalleled cultivation talent.

    Even though she was sitting on the ground, the red-garbed Yu Tong seemed quite graceful, and surprisingly, curvaceous.

    All of a sudden, she seemed to have sensed Nie Tian¡¯s staring and turned around to re at him, saying, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    Nie Tianughed embarrassedly. ¡°N-nothing.¡±

    Now that the two of them needed to live under the same roof for the time being, he didn¡¯t want to piss her off. Hence, he grinned as he shifted his gaze to Zheng Bin.

    Zheng Bin smiled back at him and said, ¡°I have faith that we will beat that foreign cultivator this time.¡±

    Clearly, Zheng Bin had be much more confident after killing Jia Peng with Nie Tian. Especially after adding Feng Luo and Yu Tong to their alliance, he felt that they had reason to be confident while facing another middle Greater Heaven expert.

    He was so confident that he even started to think about how many spiritual materials he would get after ughtering that foreign cultivator.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that very moment, a bone-piercing, cold gale blew past.

    The wind carried frost power so destructive that it could easily freeze a man¡¯s flesh and bones. Over the past several days, Nie Tian had experienced it quite a few times.

    As soon as the harsh, cold wind grazed his skin, he took out a spirit stone from within his bracelet of holding and started absorbing its spiritual power without any hesitation.

    As he mobilized the power within the spirit stone, a faint aura of spiritual power silently spread out from inside of him, forming a shield protecting him from the fierce coldness.

    Zheng Bin, Yu Tong, and Feng Luo also understood the bitterness of the cold wind. Every one of them frowned while trying their best to fend off the coldness.

    As soon as Feng Luo channeled the blood and aura inside of him, his eyebrows rose, as if he hade to some discovery.

    ¡°Something is wrong,¡± Feng Luo said in a low voice. ¡°The wind seems to be stronger than it used to be. I believe it¡¯s that man¡¯s doing.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback by Feng Luo¡¯s words. ¡°He can even mobilize the cold currents in this ice-cold dimension?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure.¡± Feng Luo pondered for a moment and said, ¡°But I¡¯m fairly certain that since he cultivates frost power, he doesn¡¯t need to defend himself against such a cold gale, and even worse, he may even benefit from it!

    ¡°After absorbing the frost power from within the gust of wind, his strength may be significantly bolstered!

    ¡°Everyone, keep your eyes open!

    ¡°Whether or not this gust of wind is caused by him, I believe he¡¯ll take the opportunity to attack us!¡±

    After hearing Feng Luo¡¯s words, Nie Tian¡¯s expression turned grim as he quietly unleashed his psychic power to detect even the slightest changes to the temperature in the vicinity.

    The moment his psychic power left his body, Nie Tian sensed that there seemed to be threads of soul power, which carried a bloody aura, within the biting wind.

    Apparently, that soul power had already beat him to covering the entire area that they were in.

    Meanwhile, his own psychic power had merely reached a ten meters radius.

    He looked toward Feng Luo, eyes filled with astonishment.

    Feng Luo slightly nodded toward Nie Tian, a hint of admiration appearing in his eyes. ¡°It seems that it wasn¡¯t pure luck that you beat Little Tong more than once.¡±

    It was Feng Luo who had dispersed a bloody aura into the surroundings. Therefore he detected Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power the moment he released it.

    He also immediately came to a surprising finding that Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power was purer and stronger than Yu Tong¡¯s.

    However, Yu Tong was in the middle Lesser Heaven stage!

    Having an outstanding psychic power meant that Nie Tian would grow rapidly in his future path of soul cultivation.

    After developing to a certain extent, his psychic power would upgrade and be soul power, which carried countless secrets, and only high-leveled Qi warriors would be able to use.

    Upon closer examination, Feng Luo was increasingly amazed at the strength of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power.

    ¡°Wu Ji...¡± He muttered to himself as his admiration to that entric old man rose to another level.

    ¡°Uncle Feng!¡± Yu Tong suddenly cried out. ¡°Something happened to my Earth Web!¡±

    After hearing her words, both Nie Tian and Feng Luo sensed that the cold wind seemed to have changed it direction and went directly downwards, as if it were attempting to prate the earth.

    Beneath the ice-cold ground, the numerous blood strings of the Earth Web seemed to have been frozen by the frost power and turned into ice strings.

    Having its blood strings frozen, the effect of Yu Tong¡¯s Earth Web had been greatlypromised. She might even suffer a significant bacsh from it.

    Furthermore, even if she wanted to retrieve the blood strings, she wouldn¡¯t be able to, since the earth, together with the blood strings, had already been frozen solid.

    Within such a short time, the cold wind that had blown over out of nowhere hadpletely invalidated Yu Tong¡¯s secret spell.

    Anxiety could be seen from within her devilish, beautiful eyes.

    At that moment, a slim figure suddenly shot up into the air from a meteor that was rather far away.

    The man closed in on them at a extremely fast speed, as if he had been carried by the fierce, biting wind.

    He was wreathed in a cold aura that was visible to the naked eye, which seemed to be constantly fluctuating around him, stirring the direction of the wind.

    ¡°I was right. He is behind all this!"

    The moment Feng Luo saw him, he realized what was going on and why a gust of cold wind was suddenly born.

    ¡°Yee?! Two more brats to the crowd!¡± With a nce of everyone from afar, the man burst intoughter. ¡°Good. Two more Heaven Gate keys to collect!¡±

    At first nce, he saw that Nie Tian and Zheng Bin were only in the Lesser Heaven stage.

    In his eyes, with cultivation bases so poor, Nie Tian and his group were practically sheep waiting to be ughtered and Heaven Gate keys waiting to be looted.

 Chapter 153: Losing Total Control!

    ¡°Uncle Feng! I¡¯vepletely lost control of my Earth Web!¡±

    Panic could be seen on Yu Tong¡¯s face as numerous strands of scarlet blood strings whizzed out of her palm before pouring into the ground.

    She was doing her utmost to manipte the blood strings back into a defensive field in the area around them.

    Unfortunately, every single one of the blood strings underground had been frozen by the frost power and turned into a of ice strings, which could no longer follow hermands.

    CRACKLE!

    Feng Luo stood by a small crater that he had filled with blood. As soon as the cold gale blew past, the pond of blood was frozen.

    Originally, Feng Luo nned to use the blood as a source of energy, with which he could strengthen the Earth Web and cast all kinds of Blood sect secret magics.

    However, now that the blood had been turned into a giant piece of semi-translucent and sparkling ice, it also fell out of Feng Luo¡¯s control.

    In the blink of an eye, the defensive system and all the preparations that Yu Tong and Feng Luo had made were breached and ended up in vain.

    Meanwhile, the man from the Realm of Dark Underworld rode the bitingly cold wind as he got nearer and nearer.

    The slim man¡¯s name was Zhao Mo, a powerful Qi warrior from an extremely cold part of the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    A suffocating, bleak light shot out of his narrowed eyes as he gave a grin that was as fierce as the wind.

    From Yu Tong and Feng Luo¡¯s expressions, he could tell that as the cold wind grew increasingly strong, the defenses that they had condensed with blood already lost their effect.

    Their mysterious, unpredictable blood magic and sophisticatedyout was exactly the reason why Zhao Mo had retreated from hisst battle against them.

    With the experience from theirst fight, he cast his frost magics before the actual fight to manipte the flow of the cold wind in the vicinity.

    Feng Luo¡¯s spections were correct. The sudden gust of wind was indeed Zhao Mo¡¯s doing.

    SHEW!

    Zhao Mo suddenly elerated and like a sh of icy light, he descended towards the meteor that Nie Tian and his group was on.

    At the same time, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word. He ced his hands opposite to each other as he started summoning each and every kind of power within him.

    In a split second, a chaotic, twisting maic field was born in between his hands, rapidly spreading in every direction.

    ¡°One meter, two meters, three meters...¡±

    The chaotic maic field expanded at an amazing speed.

    During the process, Nie Tian gave Feng Luo a meaningful look, urging him to stall Zhao Mo temporarily, in case hey his murderous hands on him before the maic field was fully formed.

    Feng Luo nodded vigorously and immediately stepped toward Zhao Mo.

    A strong, bloody aura was released from within every one of Feng Luo¡¯s pores, and momentster, he was wreathed in a thick blood mist.

    Within the murky blood mist, numerous blood-colored lights constantly shed past, forming a terrifying storm of blood.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    With a sneer, Zhao Mo from the Realm of Dark Underworld shook his head; he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to attack.

    Meanwhile, he shifted his gaze from Feng Luo to the anxious Yu Tong, who was now sitting off to the side.

    An overtly obscene look could be seen in his cold eyes as his gaze constantly shifted back and forth between Yu Tong¡¯s delicate face, slender, jade neck, and curvy physique.

    The sneer on his face gradually filled with lust.

    Yu Tong, on the other hand, experienced a sudden rush of coldness all over her body, as if an ice-cold serpent had stealthily wrapped around on her bare skin.

    Yu Tong unnaturally wiggled her body in an attempt to get rid of the ufortable feeling as she averted her sight.

    ¡°Interesting!¡± Zhao Mo gave a lowugh. With acent face, he shifted his gaze back to Feng Luo.

    As soon as he did, the lust in his eyes vanished, reced by a bone-piercing coldness.

    ¡°You won¡¯t escape death this time.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Mo waved his hands through the air, casting a mysterious frost power incantation.

    As he formed the hand seal, the wind that had been blowing randomly suddenly seemed toe together and started moving as a whole.

    It was as if the scattered cold currents had simultaneously received amon order and thus madly rushed towards Feng Luo.

    Ear-piercing howls rang out from within the strong wind.

    In the meantime, Zhao Mo let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Get the hell out of there!¡±

    CRACKLE!

    Upon hismand, the icy ground cracked open and numerous blood strings that had been frozen by Zhao Mo¡¯s frost power shot out from the earth!

    Hundreds of blood-colored ice shards followed Zhao Mo¡¯smand and flew into the air one after another.

    Off to the side, Nie Tian, who was focused on casting his spell, spared the battlefield a nce, and was immediately bbergasted by the numerous blood-colored ice shards that were floating in the air.

    Every blood string that Yu Tong had used the Blood sect secret magic to refine had been coated with ayer of ice.

    The weapon that was originally meant for dealing with Zhao Mo was now being used against its own master.

    POOH!

    Yu Tong suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and her glittering, devilish eyes immediately darkened.

    Meanwhile, her delicate face seemed to have turned as pale as Feng Luo¡¯s.

    It was only in the blink of an eye that she had been severely injured.

    Eyes filled with panic, she looked over towards Zhao Mo. When she saw Zhao Mo rapidly weave his fingers in the air,manding the numerous blood-colored ice shards to pierce towards Feng Luo, she screamed out loudly to Nie Tian and Zheng Bin, ¡°Help my Uncle Feng!¡±

    Since she was currently experiencing a deviation of Qi and blood, she couldn¡¯t even calm the rampage inside of her, much less summon enough strength to attack Zhao Mo.

    ¡°Help him?¡± A sneer appeared on Zhao Mo¡¯s face, as if he found the idea veryughable. Shaking his head, he said indifferently, ¡°You want these two Lesser Heaven stage brats to help him? Have you lost your mind?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, ten of the blood-colored ice shards that had been floating in the air whizzed in Nie Tian and Zheng Bin¡¯s direction.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s face turned pale with fright. He desperately jumped backward.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    Several scarlet ice shards nearly hit him and pierced into the frozen ground.

    As they stabbed into the ground, their ice coating cracked open, showing the blood strings inside.

    However, it was only a moment before the frost power that had been hiding in the earth spread to the blood strings and froze them again.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    On the other hand, the few scarlet ice shards that flew towards Nie Tian fell into his maic field and instantly shattered.

    It seemed that not only the ice coatings, but even the scarlet blood strings thaty inside couldn¡¯t withstand the distorting force of the maic field and exploded into fine fragments.

    PUFF!

    Because of the explosion of the blood strings, Yu Tong once again coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    It seemed that there was a unearthly link between her and the numerous scarlet blood strings

    As long as the blood strings were damaged, Yu Tong would sustain injuries herself ordingly.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    For the first time, Zhao Mo, who was about to use the rest blood-colored ice shards to attack Feng Luo, spared Nie Tian a thorough look.

    Only then did he realize that there seemed to be a faint, mysterious aura around the kid who he even didn¡¯t bother to look at.

    WHOOSH!

    Just as Zhao Mo was pondering, Nie Tian made a vigorous leap and shot towards Zhao Mo like a bullet.

    The moment he moved, the chaotic maic field that had been wreathed around him followed him into the air.

    By this point, the coverage of the chaotic, twisting maic field had already reached an eight meters radius!

    Within the maic field, psychic power, spiritual power, flesh power, me power, and a surge of newly joined frost power twisted together and shed with each other, giving rise to an extremely unstable aura.

    The twisting power that rampaged within seemed to have grown even mightier than when he used it against Jia Peng.

    ¡°It¡¯s because of the frost power!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression slightly flickered as he came to that realization while charging towards Zhao Mo.

    The cold, whistling wind carried countless threads of frost power that came from Zhao Mo. When he was forming the maic field earlier, the frost power was also pulled inside.

    Adding power with a new attribute as fuel, the might of the maic field was once again boosted.

    As he closed in on Zhao Mo, he could keenly sense that the fierce, bitingly cold wind around him seemed to have been affected by the maic field.

    In the middle of the maic field, he could no longer feel the bone-piercing coldness, as all the frost power within the wind had been sucked into the chaotic maic field.

    Zhao Mo from the Realm of Dark Underworld gave a cold snort, and a faint grim look appeared in his eyes as he looked at Nie Tian

    The reason was that just now he tried to use his psychic power to examine the seemingly bizarre maic field that had been surrounding Nie Tian, but the moment a wisp of his psychic power flowed into the maic field, he lost contact with it!

    ¡°Weird little brat.¡±

    Zhao Mo frowned as he obtained a new understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    Unlike Jia Peng, he didn¡¯t enter it so quickly.

    Instead, he jumped backward as Nie Tian approached, keeping a distance between Nie Tian and himself. He wanted to gain a better knowledge of whatever it was that surrounded Nie Tian.

    Standing a safe distance away, he started to weave his hands in front of him while his eyes emanated a fierce, ice-cold light.

    Half of the blood-colored ice shards stopped attacking Feng Luo, turned around, and whizzed towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, who was still being carried forward by the momentum, turned to look back, and found that hundreds of scarlet ice shards were flying in his direction like bloodthirsty snakes.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Manipted by Zhao Mo, one ice shard after another shot into Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    Each and every one of them exploded, sending out fine, fragmented ice into the area around Nie Tian. The blood strings that had been hidden inside also shattered one after another.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    Sitting on the ground, Yu Tong couldn¡¯t stop from coughing up blood. However, she could only summon all her strength to resist the frenzied Qi and blood inside of her. Looking extremely frail, she didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Those blood strings are connected to Little Tong¡¯s life essence. Don¡¯t let them enter the maic field around you. Otherwise, she might die!¡± Feng Luo almost screeched to warn Nie Tian.

    ¡°Ah!!¡±

    Only after hearing Feng Luo¡¯s reminder, did Nie Tian look back and realize that the explosion of the blood strings had dealt great damage to Yu Tong.

    He looked Yu Tong in the eyes and said, ¡°Sorry, my bad. I¡¯ll be more careful.¡±

    Face as white as sheet, Yu Tong seemed quite fragile and delicate. Hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, she cast him a cold re and said, ¡°Go to hell!¡±

 Chapter 154: Fleeing

    Because of Feng Luo¡¯s reminder, Nie Tian paid a lot more attention to the iing blood-colored ice shards, and tried his best to avoid absorbing them into his chaotic maic field.

    However, Zhao Mo didn¡¯t n to let him off so easily.

    From where he was standing, a distance away from Nie Tian, he once again operated his spiritual incantation to stimte the frost power within the remaining flying ice shards.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The whizzing, scarlet ice shards instantly sped up, turning into red meteors as they plummeted towards him.

    Meanwhile, Zhao Mo snorted coldly. ¡°Freeze!¡± Then, the thick frost mist that had wreathed him also abruptly rushed towards Nie Tian.

    CRACKLE!

    An unusual noise came through from the sky when the thick and cold mist whizzed through the air, as if even the air were freezing up.

    The cold mist stopped right between Nie Tian and Zhao Mo, creating an enormous shield.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, didn¡¯t have even the slightest intention of avoiding it.

    He instantly entered the cold mist together with the chaotic and distorted maic field.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as the cold mist entered the chaotic maic field, it instantly turned into small fragments of ice, which were assimted by the chaotic maic field.

    Subsequently, Zhao Mo lost contact with the very frost power he himself had unleashed.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± Zhao Mo stood aghast.

    As of this moment, the grimness in his gaze when he looked at Nie Tian started to fade away, gradually reced by panic.

    He noticed that he had no good way to deal with the strange maic field that was surrounding Nie Tian. As soon as his attacks fell into it, they would immediately be distorted and assimted, bing fuel for the maic field.

    Even the psychic power that he had unleashed waspletely obliterated once it prated into the maic field.

    Zhao Mo finally lost hisposure.

    He continuously moved backward andpletely gave up on trying to get closer to Nie Tian. Simultaneously, he fixed his attention on the bizarre maic field, searching in his head for a way to break it.

    ¡°Yee?¡±

    It wasn¡¯t long before Zhao Mo noticed something. His expression flickered slightly as a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

    He had just noticed that the maic field wrapping around Nie Tian appeared to be slowly shrinking as time passed!

    ¡°Hah!¡±

    Zhao Mo started to grincently and said from afar, ¡±As it turns out, the maic field that you have formed can¡¯t persist for long. Things have just be much simpler. All I need to do is wait for the maic field to disappear, and then kill you effortlessly. I absolutely don¡¯t need to waste anymore energy on you.¡±

    As soon as these words came out, the thick frost mist, along with the scarlet ice shards that had been pursuing Nie Tian, all changed their direction.

    They all turned around in the air, and swooped down towards Feng Luo and Zheng Bin.

    Yu Tong was the only one who hadn¡¯t been targeted. Obviously, he had other ns for her.

    ¡°Oh, damn!¡± Nie Tian softly cried out as he saw that Zhao Mo only moved backwards to avoid him, refusing to confront him directly.

    At this moment, he had also finallye to realize the most significant weakness of the chaotic maic field: it would fade away as time passed!

    If his cultivation base and his strength were profound and powerful enough, he would have caught up to Zhao Mo before the chaotic maic field faded away.

    In that way, he would be able to inflict serious damage on Zhao Mo by relying on the chaotic maic field.

    Unfortunately, he only had the cultivation base of Lesser Heaven, while Zhao Mo was in middle Greater Heaven stage. The huge gap in their cultivation bases made it impossible for him to get close to Zhao Mo, even if he went all out.

    Zhao Mo¡¯s wise move made him understand that it was by luck that he had been able to inflict serious damage on Jia Peng with the chaotic maic field, after which Zheng Bin had taken the opportunity to kill him from behind.

    If Jia Peng hadn¡¯t fallen into the chaotic maic field, but instead jumped back to avoid Nie Tian like Zhao Mo did, he and Zheng Bin would have had only a very slim chance of winning.

    With these thoughts, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. He finally realized how big of an influence a poor cultivation base could be.

    Zheng Bin and Feng Luo were both busy dealing with the ice shards and the cold mist, and after hearing what Zhao Mo said, their hearts sank.

    The two of them had also realized that the maic field that Nie Tian formed around him couldn¡¯tst permanently.

    The maic field was shrinking by the second.

    The moment the maic field disappearedpletely would be the time when Zhao Mo heartlessly murdered Nie Tian.

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    The same question rose in everyone¡¯s mind, everyone except Zhao Mo. Each and every one of them racked their brains for a way to defeat Zhao Mo.

    As of that moment, the maic field that had wreathed Nie Tian had already shrunk to the point where it could only cover a one-meter range.

    The chaotic and distorted maic field was soon going to disappearpletely. However, the four of them realized that none of them could figure out a way to turn the situation around.

    Fortunately, the cold, strong wind that had been biting their skin slowly vanished while Nie Tian and Zhao Mo were caught in a standoff.

    Apparently, Zhao Mo could only change the direction and the speed of the wind but couldn¡¯t create wind out of still air. Therefore, the wind eventually calmed.

    Without the fierce and ruthless cold wind, the four of them were slightly relieved. However, that was when the maic field around Nie Tianpletely wore out.

    At that very moment, a ruthless smile abruptly appeared at the corner of Zhao Mo¡¯s mouth.¡± It¡¯s time to put an end to this!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Numerous strands of white frost mist were once again unleashed from within Zhao Mo¡¯s body, which kept condensing and taking the shape of ice snakes that feasted on human flesh.

    ¡°Frost Snake Shadows!¡±

    One after another, the ice snakes gradually congealed, turning from a bunch of ephemeral shadows into a tangible form.

    When the cold mist was on the verge of reaching him, Nie Tian found that all of the ice mist had already condensed and morphed into dozens of extremely lifelike, icy snakes.

    Each and every one of the ice snakes were imprinted with Zhao Mo¡¯s psychic consciousness. It was as if they had been infused with wisps of Zhao Mo¡¯s soul.

    Feng Luo was on the ground behind Nie Tian. When he saw the dangerous situation, he rushed over roaring, hoping to help Nie Tian block the attack.

    However, the moment he moved, arge number of blood-colored ice shards swiftly shifted their positions, blocking his way without leaving the smallest of gaps.

    ¡°Run!" Feng Luo cried.

    The ice snakes rushed forth, baring their fangs. Face grim and cold, Nie Tian had a sudden moment of enlightenment. His gazended on his bracelet of holding as he prepared to take out one of the talismans that his master had bestowed upon him.

    However, when his psychic power entered his bracelet of holding and swept through his belongings, he saw that the me Dragon Armor was releasing raging mes.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor...¡±

    A light shed across Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. After a moment of hesitation, he experimented by sending a request for help to the me Dragon Armor.

    Even though Zhao Mo¡¯s cultivation base was quite lofty, his cultivation attribute was frost power.

    On the other hand, the me power that the me Dragon Armor constantly released was precisely the nemesis of frost power. These two powers were ipatible as light and darkness. Once they ran into each other, they wouldn¡¯t give up until the more valiant and powerful side annihted the weaker side.

    Almost in the same moment that he sent out a thought requesting help, an answer was given.

    In the next moment, the me Dragon Armor whizzed out from within Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding.

    As soon as the me Dragon Armor came out, heaven and earth became as hot as a sea of fire. In a sh, the numerous ice snakes that were about to bite Nie Tian¡¯s skin melted into water.

    Secondster, the water vaporized because of the excessive heat and vanished into thin air.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡±

    Zhao Mo, who was fairly certain that the ice snakes would finish off Nie Tian, suddenly had his expression flicker. Immediatelyter, strands of blood flowed out of the corner of his eyes.

    The numerous ice snakes were formed as a result of the condensation of Zhao Mo¡¯s fully refined frost power and psychic power, and thus could be considered to be the extension of his limbs!

    As the result of the ice snakes melting, the spiritual power and psychic power that he had gone great lengths to refine instantly turned to nothing, severely damaging his body!

    However, the thing that had truly astonished him was not the injuries on his body but the me Dragon Armor!

    Zhao Mo came from the Realm of Dark Underworld. Lai Yi, the person who had brought the me Dragon Armor to the Realm of me Heaven, was also from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    From the way Zhao Mo looked, he obviously knew about the origin of the me Dragon Armor, and knew what the me Dragon Armor meant and represented.

    After seeing that Nie Tian was able to summon the me Dragon Armor from his storage bracelet, and that the me Dragon Armor also seemed to have healed its damage... Zhao Mo actually no longer dared to stay!

    After shooting onest re toward Nie Tian, he dashed away with the fastest speed possible.

    His figure seemed to have turned into a beam of cold light and soon disappeared into the distance.

    Meanwhile, the me Dragon Armor was still floating in the air and unleashing raging mes, bringing burning summer heat to the ice-cold star river.

    Nie Tian, along with Yu Tong, Feng Luo, and Zheng Bin, all stared nkly towards the direction which Zhao Mo escaped into, at a loss for words.

    They simply couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes when they saw Zhao Mo running for life after the mere sight of the me Dragon Armor.

 Chapter 155: Exposed

    ¡°He just ran off like that?¡±

    Scratching his head, Nie Tian gradually descended from midair, face filled with confusion and disbelief.

    At the same time, the me Dragon Armor was still floating there above him, unleashing ming energy to disperse the coldness in the air.

    Feng Luo, Yu Tong and Zheng Bin all looked up at it, bbergasted.

    ¡°That set of armor...¡±

    Feng Luo suddenly remembered that when they were in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, he and Yu Tong had seen the me Dragon Armor collecting Earthme Crystal Strings not far away from them.

    However, it had flown away soon afterwards, and he never saw it since.

    By that time, he had already been convinced that the me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, something rarely seen in the entire Realm of me Heaven.

    He saw perfectly clearly that it flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding just now. Did it just answer Nie Tian¡¯s summoning? Did that mean that Nie Tian was its master!?

    At that moment, he suddenly remembered the giant fire dragon that appeared out of nowhere during Nie Tian and Yu Tong¡¯sst fight.

    Hebed through these thoughts and soone to the realization that the Spirit Channeling grade treasure must indeed belong to Nie Tian!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Wu Ji loves this disciple of his so much that he even bestowed a Spirit Channeling grade treasure upon him while he is still in Lesser Heaven stage.¡± Thinking to himself, Feng Luo¡¯s eyes glittered with a strange light.

    ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡± Zheng Bin gave a soft exmation.

    FIZZ!

    At that moment, due to the fact that Zhao Mo had fled and the me Dragon Armor was releasing a scorching heat, the previously frozen blood strings gradually unfroze and regained their life force, relieving the crisis hanging over Yu Tong¡¯s head as a result.

    Yu Tong, who was certain that she would die beyond a shadow of a doubt, was still sitting in ce, but a faint shade of redness appeared on her originally pale face.

    As Nie Tiannded on the ground, he noticed that the numerous scarlet blood strings morphed into lines of blood-colored light, shing into her body.

    With every blood string that entered her body, her face gained another bit of redness. Her injuries seemed to be rapidly recovering.

    With the frost power gone, the blood in the small pond next to Feng Luo also unfroze and began churning again.

    WHOOSH!

    Without any hesitation, Feng Luo cast a spell within his mind and the blood in the pond immediately flew into his body.

    Almost simultaneously, he seemed to be in good spirits again. He sat down, took out a dark-red medicinal pill, and swallowed it.

    He no longer paid any attention to the me Dragon Armor, nor did he ask Nie Tian about it.

    Yu Tong was still focused on collecting her blood strings. However, she couldn¡¯t help but spare Nie Tian nces from time to time, her eyes once again devilish and beautiful.

    Although hatred could still be seen in her gaze, a hint of curiosity could be found hidden in that intense hatred.

    She seemed to be wondering how many secrets Nie Tian had.

    The rage punch, the Spirit Channeling grade treasure, and the chaotic maic field... All these mysteries that Nie Tian had revealed one by one finally put her heart at ease regarding how she had been repeatedly defeated by him.

    However, the thought of what Nie Tian had done to herter made her grit her teeth with hate. The desire to fight him once again rose in her heart.

    ¡°Thanks to you, we¡¯ve survived another fight, Nie Tian.¡± Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect heaved a sigh of relief as he dropped to the ground and took out some spirit stones to recuperate.

    As far as he was concerned, he was in no position to ask about the me Dragon Armor, and Nie Tian probably wouldn¡¯t give straight answers even if he did. Therefore, he said nothing.

    After Zhao Mo from the Realm of Dark Underworld left, the other three had been surprisingly quiet, which made Nie Tian rather ufortable.

    ¡°Why did that Zhao Mo turn around and run at the mere sight of the me Dragon Armor? What was he afraid of?¡± Staring at the me Dragon Armor that was still floating in the air, he murmured quietly as he searched for an answer in his head.

    After a moment of fruitless pondering, he also sat down on the ground and started restoring his strength with a spirit stone.

    This time, he also took out a me Crystal.

    He had consumed some of the me power within him to form the chaotic maic field, and the best way to replenish it was with a me Crystal.

    He quietly operated the me Spirit Incantation.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The floating me Dragon Armor seemed to have received some kind of signal and suddenly shone with a bright light.

    However, it didn¡¯t fly back into Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding, but rather dove down from midair and stopped about five meters away in front of Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    SHEW!

    A fine strand of translucent and sparkling Earthme Crystal String shot out of the me Dragon Armor and entered Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    Not only did the Earthme Crystal String carry extremely rich me power, it also carried the profound truth of me power deep within itself.

    With the operation of the me Spirit Incantation, the Earthme Crystal String rapidly followed Nie Tian¡¯s meridians up his arm, before stopping in the vortex of me power within his spiritual sea.

    As soon as it allowed the Earthme Crystal String inside, the small vortex of me power started to madly revolve!

    One after another, fiery sparks sshed out of the vortex of me power, before flowing to the far edge of the vortex. Apparently, the vortex of me power was refining the Earthme Crystal String.

    While Nie Tian was bbergasted by what was happening to him, the me Dragon Armor had already turned into a cloud of fire and disappeared into his bracelet of holding.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel a thing when it did, as he waspletely absorbed by the fascinating changes in the vortex of me power within his spiritual sea.

    He saw that numerous fire sparks were flying out of the eye of the vortex of me power andnding on the edge of the vortex, extending its radius.

    Nie Tian could keenly sense that the small vortex of me power was expanding at a noticeable speed!

    At the same time, it seemed that numerous unknown, fiery, magical symbols had seeped out of the Earthme Crystal String and merged into the vortex of me power.

    For some unknown reason, the moment those fiery, magical symbols merged with the vortex, Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that his understanding of me power had reached a whole new level.

    When he had cultivated the me Spirit Incantation days before, he found quite a few areas that were difficult to understand.

    He originally nned to go back to Cloudsoaring sect and ask for enlightenment from his master when the Heaven Gate trial was over.

    However, all the parts that he had a hard timeprehending seemed to have solved themselves in front of him when he contemted them now.

    He felt like his mind had been suddenly opened up when the Earthme Crystal String was refined in his vortex of me power.

    Nie Tian was both excited and amazed by how much the Earthme Crystal String had boosted his cultivation of the me Spirit Incantation. He also realized that it was a gift from the me Dragon Armor.

    After all, the me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure that possessed its own soul. After sensing that he started cultivating a fire-attributed incantation, it had decided to lend him a hand.

    ¡°What a precious treasure!¡±

    Nie Tian inwardly cheered over how lucky he was to have obtained the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor.

    As he looked back, his life seemed to have taken a turn for the better only after he had found out about the unique features of the Blood Core and explored it with mecloud Gems.

    ...

    At the same time...

    Like a beam of cold light, Zhao Mo was still racing away at a speed so fast that he could travel hundreds of meters within a second.

    He seemed to have a certain destination in mind. He constantly checked the meteors around him as he dashed forward.

    Meanwhile, he unleashed his psychic awareness to scan the surroundings, as if he was searching for something.

    Only after traveling for over an hour, and being separated from Nie Tian by dozens of gigantic meteors, did his psychic awareness finally lock onto his target.

    SHEW!

    Zhao Mo dashed towards it at full speed.

    Momentster, he found the one he had been looking for on a bumpy, uneven meteor.

    It was a man with hair that was as red as fire. With a burly, robust frame, he had detailed me patterns on his bare arms.

    At first nce, his naked arms seemed as if they were wreathed in zing mes.

    ¡°Zhao Mo! What are you doing here?¡± The man frowned and said with an unfriendly tone, ¡°The fifty meteors in this region belong to me. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re here to steal my territory!¡±

    With these words, two beams of flickering, fiery light shot out of the man¡¯s eyes, which made him look iparably terrifying.

    ¡°No, that¡¯s not why I¡¯m here!¡± It seemed that Zhao Mo was perfectly aware of how formidable the man was, and hurriedly exined, ¡°I know that we have an agreement. I would never try to steal from you! Tang Yang, since we both are from the Realm of Dark Underworld, I¡¯vee here to tell you something!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Tang Yang seemed to have run out of patience.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor that Lai Yi took to the Realm of me Heaven is now in the possession of a Lesser Heaven stage trial taker. And that kid summoned it in front of me just now!¡± Zhao Mo eximed.

    ¡°What?!¡± A tremor ran through Tang Yang¡¯s body. ¡°Are you sure it was the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    With a bitter smile, Zhao Mo nodded heavily and said, ¡°And the me Dragon Armor has already merged with the Blood Core!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the fiery light in Tang Yang¡¯s eyes became even more violent and terrifying.

    ¡°Where is he?!¡± Tang Yang roared.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to him!¡± Zhao Mo replied as he got ready to move out.

 Chapter 156: Heavy Casualties

    Nie Tian slowly awoke from his cultivation.

    After this round of cultivation, the vortex of me power within his spiritual sea had expanded to three times asrge as it had been before.

    Not only that, thanks to the Earthme Crystal String, he obtained a much deeper understanding of the me power.

    As for the difficult points that he had run into while practicing the me Spirit Incantation, he also found the answer to each and every one of them, which caused him to acquire new enlightenment regarding this specific fire incantation.

    He had a feeling that it wouldn¡¯t be long before he could make a breakthrough in his cultivation base and step into the middle Lesser Heaven stage.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor, Earthme Crystal Strings...¡±

    With a serious face, he unleashed a wisp of his psychic awareness into his bracelet of holding, and saw that the me Dragon Armor was now wreathed by cid mes.

    Therefore, he was certain that the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was still digesting the profound mysteries within the Earthme Crystal Strings in a way that he couldn¡¯tprehend at the moment.

    The me Dragon Armor and its soul would only fully awaken when theypletely refined all the Earthme Crystal Strings collected from the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    By that time, it would be a lot easier for Nie Tian tomunicate with the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul.

    Feng Luo looked over at Nie Tian as soon as he opened his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°How are you doing?¡±

    Feng Luo smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be hard for me to fully recover within the Heaven Gate. I suffered major injuries and lost vital energy from both fights against Zhao Mo. Nie Tian, I think we should get out of this ce as soon as possible. I fear that Zhao Mo will return soon. When he does, I bet he¡¯ll return with methods to deal with that Spirit Channeling grade treasure of yours.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Nie Tian agreed with him. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here for long.¡±

    ¡°Little Tong! Zheng Bin!¡± Feng Luo softly called out to them, waking them from their cultivation. ¡°We need to evacuate this ce now so that Zhao Mo won¡¯t be able to find us easily. We¡¯ll spend as much time as we want to recuperate once we find a location that¡¯s safe enough.¡±

    After hearing these words, Yu Tong and Zheng Bin both rose to their feet.

    ¡°Which direction did youe from?¡± Feng Luo asked Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian pointed in the direction that he and Zheng Bing hade from and said, ¡°There.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation over there?¡± Feng Luo asked.

    ¡°Nothing special,¡± Nie Tian replied. ¡°We didn¡¯t find anything there. We spent a long time wandering around, but didn¡¯t run into any powerful foreign expert other than Jia Peng. That was the reason why we left that area and came to this area to explore.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that nothing went on over there.¡± Feng Luo shook his head and told him the truth. ¡°The reason why you found nothing going on over there was that you settled it by killing Jia Peng.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zheng Bin asked, puzzled and surprised.

    Feng Luo went on to exin, ¡°ording to Zhao Mo, all the cultivators from the other realms reached an agreement before entering the Heaven Gate. When they stepped into the Heaven Gate, each of them would take charge of a certain area. All the cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven within that area would be their prey.

    ¡°The area that you came from was allotted to Jia Peng. He was responsible for all the cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven in that area.

    ¡°However, the area we are in is Zhao Mo¡¯s territory. Zhao Mo told me during our first fight that if we go further in this direction, we¡¯ll enter the area that belongs to another Realm of Dark Underworld cultivator, Tang Yang.

    ¡°All of those foreign cultivators view us as nothing more than animals waiting to be ughtered.¡±

    Zheng Bin gave a cold snort and said, ¡°Well, did they? I beg to differ. The two of us killed Jia Peng, didn¡¯t we?

    Feng Luo looked off into the distance, as if he was trying to get a hold of his bearings. ¡°Only the result will tell us who is the hunter and who is the prey.¡±

    After awhile, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go in that direction. Hopefully, we¡¯ll be lucky enough toe across some powerful experts from the seven sects. Only by joining hands with cultivators from the seven sects, will we have a chance of surviving the fights against those people from the other realms.¡±

    ¡°That sounds good.¡± Nie Tian and Zheng Bin both gave their assent.

    Immediately afterwards, they left the meteor under Feng Luo¡¯s leadership, and marched in the direction that he had indicated.

    In the meantime, Feng Luo constantly sent his psychic awareness into their surroundings, carefully scanning for signs of life, in case they might run into foreign cultivators who were as powerful as Zhao Mo.

    Lucky for them, they didn¡¯t discover any signs of life or abnormal movements near them along their way.

    After passing eight gigantic meteors in session, the four of them arrived on an oval-shaped meteor that was just as enormous as the ones that they had passed.

    ¡°There¡¯s a dead body over there!¡± Having a superior sight, Feng Luo spotted a corpse that had been dead for an unknown period of time.

    From the way the man dressed, Feng Luo could tell with certainty that he was a trial taker from the Ghost sect. The cold air in the starry sky had already frozen the corpse. It seemed that the man had been prated by a sharp tool and died.

    The Heaven Gate pattern on the back of his hand had already been plundered, along with the bracelet of holding on his wrist.

    Upon a closer look, Feng Luo immediately recognized the man. ¡°That¡¯s Wang Luo. He was inte Heaven stage.¡±

    Zheng Bin walked up to the corpse and squatted down. After a brief examination, he said, ¡°From the look of it, he¡¯s been dead for a long time. It seems that there are foreign trial takers in this area.¡±

    Looking a bit distracted, Yu Tong asked, ¡°Should we keep going?¡±

    By that point, Nie Tian and Zheng Bin had already replenished their strength. Even though Yu Tong and Feng Luo hadn¡¯t recovered to their peak state, they were ready for another fight if it came down to it.

    If they kept marching forward, it would be extremely likely that they would run into another powerful expert from the other realms.

    By that time, they would be forced to fight, whether they wanted to or not.

    ¡°Being scared of them won¡¯t do us any good.¡± Not even the slightest fear could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯ve long since readied myself for the fierceness of the Heaven Gate trial. Plus, isn¡¯t the purpose of us being here to kill those bastards from the other realms and let them know that the Realm of me Heaven will never be blithely trampled upon by anyone, right? Now that their seniors and masters want a piece of the Realm of me Heaven, let¡¯s show them what we are made of and kill them all in the Heaven Gate!¡±

    Feng Luo nodded vigorously, looking at Nie Tian with undisguised admiration. ¡°I¡¯ll never doubt Senior Wu Ji¡¯s eye for talent again! Although you¡¯re only in Lesser Heaven stage, you¡¯ve proven yourself to be resourceful, and more importantly, you understand the greater good. I only thought you were ballsy when it came to girls. Now I know that you¡¯re also quite daring while facing major issues!¡±

    After hearing the part where Feng Luo said Nie Tian was ballsy when it came to girls, Yu Tong¡¯s face instantly flushed.

    She cast Feng Luo a cold re first, and then turned to stare viciously at Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian! You and I are far from over! There¡¯ll be a battle between the two of us after we finish the Heaven Gate trial!¡±

    Nie Tian gave a forced chuckle and then said, ¡°You should know that for every time that you¡¯ve lost to me, you had...¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Yu Tong exploded with rage as she charged towards Nie Tian, threatening to kill him right away.

    ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Feng Luo hurriedly stopped them. ¡°Can you two pick another time to do this? Do you really want to bicker while powerful killers are lurking around?¡±

    Fearing that the bickering would escte into a fight, Feng Luo instantly pointed in a direction and marched on, indicating for everyone else to follow him.

    Zheng Bin¡¯s gaze switched between Nie Tian and Yu Tong for a while, and with a soft chuckle, he sped towards Feng Luo.

    ¡°Nie Tian! You just wait and see!¡± Yu Tong threatened with a cold tone.

    Nie Tian seemed indifferent as he said, ¡°You think I¡¯m scared of you? I can tell you right now that when I beat you next time, I¡¯ll...¡± Eyes glittering with a strange light, Nie Tian openlyid his gaze on Yu Tong¡¯s ample chest before immediately leaping forward with a broadugh.

    ¡°Nie Tian! I¡¯m gonna kill you!!¡± Screaming, Yu Tong chased after Nie Tian.

    After chasing for a while, Yu Tong seemed to have truly been provoked by Nie Tian, and her body was once again wreathed in a faint blood aura.

    Her eyes turned red and devilish. However, it didn¡¯t make her look sinister, but instead gave her a dangerously charming look.

    ¡°Stop it, you two!¡±

    Traveling at the forefront of the group, Feng Luo let out a stern shout as he suddenly came to a stop.

    On a huge stone in front of himy the corpse of a Qi warrior from the Blood sect. The head had been separated from the body, and the blood around his neck had already been frozen.

    Utterly difited, Yu Tong couldn¡¯t help but let out a screech as soon as she saw the corpse. ¡°Uncle Han!¡±

    She was no longer in the mood to settle her grudge with Nie Tian.

    A pained expression could be seen in Feng Luo¡¯s eyes. ¡°Just like me, Han He was also in the early Greater Heaven stage. I didn¡¯t expect him to die like this.¡± He stepped forward and reattached the man¡¯s severed head to the body, so as to honor him with a ¡°full-body death¡±. Face grim, he looked off into the distance and said, ¡°It seems that we don¡¯t have a choice now. Whoever is awaiting ahead of us, I¡¯ll have their head!¡±

    ¡°Damn them! They killed Uncle Han!¡± Yu Tong¡¯s eyes glittered with blood-colored light.

    SHEW!

    Feng Luo no longer attempted to hide his whereabouts as he bounced high into the air, traveling forward at a high speed.

    Nie Tian and the others followed him closely.

    They saw many more dead bodies along their way, all of which belonged to Qi warriors from the Ghost sect, Blood sect, Mystic Mist sect, and Grayvale sect.

    The most powerful one among the dead was a middle Greater Heaven stage expert from the Grayvale sect.

    Even Nie Tian, who had imed that he had no fears, felt as if a shadow had been cast over his heart after seeing the numerous corpses of powerful experts scattered around on the ice-cold ground.

    Every one of the dead had a cultivation base higher than his, but none of them had escaped death.

    Therefore, he was convinced that the foreign Qi warrior who was in charge of this area must be very powerful, maybe even more powerful than Jia Peng and Zhao Mo.

    It was very likely that the man was in thete Greater Heaven stage.

    He didn¡¯t have the confidence that the four of thembined could match up to ate Greater Heaven stage expert.

    However, he knew for sure that after seeing their butchered fellow sect members, Feng Luo and Yu Tong were already determined to avenge them, no matter how great the consequences would be.

    From Feng Luo and Yu Tong¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian could tell that whoever that man was, and however strong he was, they would still find him and fight him.

    ¡°That man must be on that meteor!¡± Face filled with shock, Feng Luo eximed as he looked into the distance and saw a meteor that was almost five times the size of the nearby ones.

    Having a sight superior to his peers, Nie Tian was the second one to get a clear sight of the enormous meteor.

    Astonishment immediately stretched across his face.

    Upon a closer look, he saw that there seemed to be a dpidated city on that shockingly gigantic meteor.

 Chapter 157: Corpses in the Starry Sky

    ¡°There¡¯s a city!¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s face turned grim as he apparently didn¡¯t expect there to be a dpidated city within the Heaven Gate.

    Surprised, Yu Tong and Zheng Bin also came to a stop. They followed Feng Luo and Nie Tian¡¯s gazes and looked off into the distance. However, they could only see the vague outline of a enormous structure, and couldn¡¯t tell for sure what it was.

    The shockinglyrge meteor that the city was sitting on was about an hour away from where they were standing.

    By that time, they all realized that the reason why they had seen more and more corpses along their way was that they had been getting closer and closer to that city.

    Feng Luo turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Can you get a clear view of that city?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    A surprised expression could be seen on Feng Luo¡¯s face, since Yu Tong, who had a cultivation base higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, was still narrowing her eyes and trying very hard to get a clear look of the city.

    However, by the shocked expression on Nie Tian¡¯s face, Feng Luo was fairly certain that he had seen that city.

    While everyone else was still looking toward the distant, dpidated city, Zheng Bin, who had an inferior sight, had long since given up. He pointed to a nearby ce and said, ¡°There¡¯re two more dead bodies over there...¡±

    On the groundy two frozen corpses in the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s garments. Both of them had their heads cut off.

    Feng Luo took a look at them. With an expression that was already somewhat numb, he said, ¡°I believe all these men died because of that city.¡±

    At that time, even Feng Luo, who had been eager to avenge his fellow sect members, had gradually calmed down.

    They had seen quite a few corpses of middle Greater Heaven stage experts along their way to the city. He could imagine how fierce the battles were going to be inside.

    ording to his spections, fierce battles were taking ce within that city at this very moment.

    It was just because they were too far away from it that they couldn¡¯t see or sense them.

    The numerous corpses had made Feng Luo think about the consequences and weigh things over again.

    On one hand, he was already a bit shaken and doubted that the four of them would be able toe out of the city alive if they chose to barge in.

    On the other, after seeing so many powerful experts be drawn to that city like a moth to mes, he was extremely curious about why that city was so attractive to them.

    ¡°Well...¡± Feng Luo¡¯s gaze swept through the other three before finally stopping on Nie Tian. ¡°As you all have seen, there are more and more dead bodies along the way as we get closer to that city. I bet you¡¯d agree that their deaths had something to do with that city. There must be something within the city that¡¯s been attracting people in the vicinity.

    ¡°If we go over there, it¡¯s possible we could get killed before we can even reach the city gate.

    ¡°If we managed to get inside the city, we would undoubtedly face even bigger challenges and danger and there would be a higher chance that we will be killed. I want you to think it over and then tell me your decision!¡±

    ¡°How about... we circle around it?¡± Zheng Bin said in a low voice.

    Yu Tong had already calmed down and her bloodshot eyes had also returned to normal. Apparently, she was aching over the tough choice. On one hand, she wanted to avenge her fellow sect members. On the other, she feared that she would get herself killed by approaching the city.

    She didn¡¯t give an answer right away.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get down there and have a look!¡± Nie Tian said with decisiveness.

    Feng Luo looked deeply at Nie Tian and with a nod, he said, ¡°I envy your fearlessness.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned.

    Perhaps motivated by Nie Tian¡¯s attitude, Feng Luo pondered the situation for a moment and gave his answer, ¡°I want to take a look over there too. I know I¡¯ll live the rest of my life in regret if I don¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°Good! It¡¯s settled then. I¡¯ll go too!¡± Yu Tong also made up her mind.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re all going. I have no choice but to go with you guys.¡± Helplessness was written all over Zheng Bin¡¯s face.

    He realized that he was the weakest among the group. He knew that if he ever parted ways with Feng Luo, Nie Tian, and Yu Tong, and ran into any foreign cultivator, he would end up being killed.

    Therefore, even though he knew perfectly well that great dangery ahead, he chose to go with everyone else.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Feng Luo took a deep breath and wisps of blood aura immediately flew out of him and into the surroundings. ¡°Stick together everyone! Don¡¯t get far from each other! I¡¯ll slow down as we travel forward so that you¡¯ll be able to keep up and we won¡¯t be separated if anything were to happen along our way.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Zheng Bin said loudly.

    Under Feng Luo¡¯s leadership, the four of them paid close attention to their surroundings as they approached the city at a rtively slow speed.

    Several minutes passed.

    As they were marching along a slender stone protrusion, passing from one meteor to another, Feng Luo¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. He called out, ¡°Watch out for what¡¯s in the starry river beside you!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as he turned his head to looked at the vast starry sky on both sides of the stone protrusion.

    He saw numerous corpses, which clearly neither belonged to humans nor belonged to the same species, floating silently in the starry sky.

    With a single nce, he could tell that some of them belonged to the same species as the demons that had escaped from the Hell sect¡¯s Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation.

    The demon corpses were gigantic, extremely muscr, and wore armor with interesting and exotic patterns.

    Unlike the demons that had escaped from the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation, they had essories, armor, and sharp weapons on them.

    From their dpidated state, the weapons probably had undergone many years of erosion, and had long since lost their energy.

    Aside from therge demons, there were numerous outsiders of other kinds; some had multiple eyes, some had long tails, some were covered in dense body hair, and some had scales all over their body.

    Nie Tian looked nkly at them for a while before his expression suddenly flickered. ¡°Outsiders! There are so many of them! It seems that a bloody war once broke out between them in this river of stars! But howe the bodies didn¡¯t fall after they died, but rather floated in the starry sky for all eternity? Does it...¡±

    He suddenly looked towards the dpidated city and said, ¡°Does it have something to do with that city?¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, the other three, who were still amazed at the scene of the numerous outsider corpses, grew even more curious about what secrets were hiding within the city and what the outsiders had been fighting over.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Feng Luo eximed. ¡°Whatever happens, I want an answer!¡±

    As of this moment, even the most reluctant Zheng Bin had be intrigued, as he was also determined to march over to the city and find the answer.

    SHEW!

    Without spending much effort, Feng Luo shot into the air, as if he only had the weight of a feather.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to follow Feng Luo and leap forward, intense battling sounds suddenly echoed out of the meteor that they were heading to.

    One dazzling light after another shot into the dim, starry sky in front of them, like numerous shooting stars.

    ¡°There are people fighting over there!¡±

    At that moment, Zheng Bin and Yu Tong snapped out of their daze and readied themselves for battle.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The three of them followed Feng Luo as they rapidly shed past the stone protrusion andnded on the mentor in front of them.

    This meteor was right next to the gigantic meteor that the city was located on.

    As soon as they passed this meteor, they would be able to find out what was happening on the meteor where the city was located.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    The shing sounds of spiritual tools rang out from the meteor ahead of them, along with asional cursing.

    Feng Luo, who was dashing forward wreathed in a thick, bloody mist, pulled out a long saber that shone with a terrifying blood-colored light from his back, and asked, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Feng Luo! Is it Feng Luo?¡± A voice that sounded both surprised and ted rang out before Feng Luo could see the person. Apparently, that person was also from the Blood sect, since he was able to tell it was Feng Luo¡¯s voice in such a short time.

    ¡°Shi Xuan!¡± After racking his brains for a moment, Feng Luo also recognized the voice of that person. He immediately elerated, leaving Nie Tian and others behind.

    Nie Tian sped up after Feng Luo.

    Before long, he arrived at a ce that was covered in a thick blood aura and discovered that Feng Luo was already fighting a Qi warrior from the other realms.

    Behind him sat a Qi warrior from the Blood sect, gasping for air, blood continuously flowing out of his back and arms.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    At the same time, numerous shadows that had been condensed out of blood were hovering in the air as they constantly attacked the foreign Qi warrior from every direction.

    With a look at the foreign Qi warrior, Nie Tian realized that he had seen him before entering the Heaven Gate.

    The man was able to spare the energy to check out and taunt Nie Tian while fighting Feng Luo. ¡°Good. Another one that hase to his own grave. Four more Heaven Gate keys delivered to my door.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian took a closer look at the man¡¯s left hand, and discovered that there were six dots of red light on the back of his hand.

    This meant that he had already ughtered five people and snatched their Heaven Gate keys.

    BOOM!

    At that very moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound thundered out from within the dpidated city, which now everyone had a clear view of.

    The tall and majestic city shook violently, as if it were on the verge of copsing.

 Chapter 158: Waiting for You to Enter!

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rumbling sounds rose up from the dpidated city, along with beams of multi-colored light.

    All of a sudden, the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand grew scaldingly hot, as if it had been triggered by the changes that were taking ce inside the city.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Eyebrows knit together, the foreign Qi warrior who had been fighting Feng Luo seemed to have noticed the fluctuations emanating from the city.

    He instantly rained more deadly attacks on Feng Luo, as if he was in a hurry to finish him off and rush to the city as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Yee? What¡¯s going on?" With a surprised look on his face, Zheng Bin looked down at the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of his hand.

    Not only him, Shi Xuan and Yu Tong also experienced unusual sensations from the Heaven Gate patterns on their hands as soon as the loud sounds echoed out.

    Yu Tong snapped out of her daze and rushed to Shi Xuan¡¯s side. ¡°Are you okay, Uncle Shi?¡±

    She took out a dark-red medicinal pill and handed it over to him.

    Shi Xuan, who had already retreated from his battle with the foreign Qi warrior, seemedpletely spiritless as blood kept dripping down his garments.

    He was standing in a pool of blood that emitted a strong blood aura into the surroundings. It was hard to know if it was his own blood or if it was created by the secret blood technique that he had cast.

    Without without the slightest hesitation, Shi Xuan grabbed the medicinal pill from Yu Tong¡¯s hand and swallowed it.

    However, he didn¡¯t sit down to recuperate, but rather clenched his jaw and bolted to Feng Luo¡¯s aid as they attacked the foreign Qi warrior together after a brief adjustment.

    ¡°Du Huang! You¡¯ve killed many of my fellow sect members. Don¡¯t you even think about trying to escape the Heaven Gate alive!¡± As Shi Xuan let out an angry roar, the blood suddenly flew out of the blood pool and swirled up into the air before condensing into a blood cloud. Within the murky blood cloud, dark shadows were quietly taking shape, gradually strengthening the power of the blood cloud.

    Upon hearing Du Huang¡¯s name, Zheng Bin¡¯s expression slightly flickered as he turned to Nie Tian and exined, ¡°He¡¯s Du Huang from the Realm of Earth Sieve! A powerful cultivator in middle Greater Heaven stage who has mastered the art of lightning power!

    ¡°Although Feng Luo and Shi Xuan are both in early Greater Heaven stage, Shi Xuan has clearly sustained heavy injuries. I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be able to provide much help to Feng Luo. Therefore, even if the two of them gang up on Du Huang and attack him at the same time, I doubt that they will beat Du Huang.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows knitted together. ¡°Du Huang...¡±

    As a matter of fact, Nie Tian had long since discovered that even though Shi Xuan¡¯s attacks were still seemingly fierce, he was actually quite frail at the moment.

    Nie Tian unleashed his psychic power and sensed that the life fluctuations within Shi Xuan¡¯s body were already rather weak, which meant that Shi Xuan had already overdrawn his life and potential.

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before Shi Xuan lost all battle power.

    If Feng Luo hadn¡¯t rushed to his aid, given a short while, Shi Xuan would havepletely worn out his energy and been killed by Du Huang.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, they clearly couldn¡¯t count on Shi Xuan to help Feng Luo defeat Du Huang.

    On the other hand, after recuperating for some time, Feng Luo had restored his strength and healed his injuries. However, he was still only eighty percent of his peak state.

    Meanwhile, Feng Luo had an early Greater Heaven cultivation base, which was one minor stage inferior to Du Huang¡¯s. Adding in the fact that he wasn¡¯t in his peak state, he wouldn¡¯t be able to stand a chance against Du Huang, even if there were no mishaps.

    After pondering the situation for a moment, Nie Tian realized what Zheng Bin meant by saying those words. Zheng Bin wanted him to join the fight.

    ¡°He¡¯s the one who killed so many of my fellow sect members!¡± Yu Tong¡¯s eyes once again shed their ck color and took on a red color.

    Gazing coldly at Du Huang, who was currently fighting fiercely with Feng Luo in midair, she quietly unleashed a Blood sect secret magic.

    One after another, numerous threads of blood-colored light shot out into the surroundings from underneath her feet. Like a cobweb, they interwove with each other as they rapidly spread out.

    She wanted to condense the Earth Web again.

    Nie Tian was still focused on the intense fight between Du Huang, Shi Xuan, and Feng Luo. Without sparing Yu Tong a nce, he stared at the bloody light that resembled snakes slithering rapidly in the air.

    However, the lightning released by Du Huang was swimming in the sky like formidable dragons, crushing the blood snakes one by one.

    Seeing this, Du Huang grinned viciously as numerous dark-green Thunder Pearls floated around him.

    Each and every one them shook unceasingly, as if they were controlling the green-blue lightning dragons and continuously enhancing their might.

    ¡°The Might of the Thunder!¡± Seemingly worried that he would miss what was urring inside of the city, Du Huang suddenly switched to another spiritual incantation.

    Immediately, the Thunder Pearls surrounding him flew up into the sky.

    They came to a halt high up in the starry sky, and instantly grew iparably bright and dazzling, like stars that stood out in the night sky.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In a sh, numerous thick, long lightning bolts were born from the middle of the circle of Thunder Pearls.

    One after another, they shot like raindrops down to where Feng Luo and Shi Xuan were, forming a fence of lightning bolts,pletely surrounding the two.

    As soon as the formation waspleted, the lightning dragons that had been fighting the blood snakes seemed to have been instantly bolstered, and smashed everyst one of the blood snakes in a few seconds.

    Feng Luo and Shi Xuan let out muffled groans at the same time, their eyes filled with anxiety and fear.

    They both noticed that they had been besieged by lightning bolts that were even thicker and carried even more copious lightning power!

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Feng Luo eximed at the unfavorable situation.

    At the same time, Shi Xuan¡¯s pale face was nowpletely devoid of any color.

    His pupils shrunk while his body fell uncontrobly down towards the earth.

    Nie Tian, Yu Tong, and Zheng Bin, who had been standing on the meteor¡¯s surface below them, realized that Shi Xuan had used up all his energy and lost all his battle power.

    At that moment, Shi Xuan was so weak that any Qi Refining stage cultivator would be able to kill him effortlessly.

    FIZZ!

    A thick, long lightning bolt broke free of the formation and shot after Shi Xuan.

    From the look of it, Du Huang intended to take the opportunity to annihte Shi Xuan before he could hit the ground.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± At that crucial moment, Feng Luo called out Nie Tian¡¯s name without thinking.

    Looking at Nie Tian from far up, Feng Luo¡¯s eyes were filled with supplication and urgency. He hoped Nie Tian could step forward and help him save Shi Xuan¡¯s life.

    Subconsciously, he believed that only the strangely resourceful Nie Tian would be able to help Shi Xuan escape death.

    Nie Tian realized that it was toote to form the chaotic maic field. After a moment of hesitation, he took out an Ice st Pearl and threw it up toward the lightning bolt that was after Shi Xuan.

    The Ice st Pearl shot up at an amazingly fast speed, and intercepted the bulky lightning bolt when it was still quite a distance from Shi Xuan.

    BAM! BAM! BAM! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Lightning sparks sshed out in all directions. Countless ice shards and ice des, apanied by cold light beams, shot out into the surroundings the moment the Ice st Pearl exploded, causing splendid and dazzling icy light and fragmented lightning to cloak the sky.

    ¡°Ice st Pearl!!¡± Feng Luo¡¯s expression flickered. Face filled with fear, he sped away at the fastest speed possible.

    The explosion of the Ice st Pearl gave rise to a formidable ice storm, engulfing every single one of therge lightning bolts that Du Huang had condensed.

    Numerous icy light beams and lighting bolts interwove in midair as they madly attacked each other, which formed quite a spectacle to everyone present.

    PUFF!

    Du Huang, who was concentrated on manipting his lightning bolts, coughed up a mouthful of blood. As soon as he did, six of his Thunder Pearls shattered into pieces.

    Face pale, Du Huang glowered at Nie Tian, eyes wreathed in boundless killing intent.

    All of a sudden, he sped away from Feng Luo and Shi Xuan, and roared towards Nie Tian, making him his primary target. ¡°Die, you little bastard!¡±

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Even more intense energy fluctuations rolled out from the remaining Thunder Pearls.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Du Huang seemed to have turned into a giant lightning bolt himself as he thundered toward him with the intent to utterly annihte him.

    At that moment, Feng Luo held up his long saber that suddenly emanated scarlet light from its tip. The bloody light seemed to have extended the iparably sharp de by more than ten meters. Carrying a raging blood aura and an desperate killing intent, Feng Luo shed towards Du Huang¡¯s back. ¡°Go to hell!¡±

    Du Huang waspletely focused on Nie Tian at that moment, and thus was totally off guard when it hit him on the back.

    POOH!

    Although he wasn¡¯t cut in half by the violent attack, his flesh was sliced open, and blood poured out of the wound like water.

    Eyes fixed on Nie Tian, he fell from the air. The way he fell was clearly uncontrolled as he had already lost control of his fleshy body.

    Apparently, Feng Luo¡¯s attack had inflicted great damage to him.

    However, his cold, ferocious gaze was still locked on Nie Tian, as if he was still thinking about killing Nie Tian with his inner powers as soon as he got close enough.

    When he fell near Nie Tian, Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field had already expanded to a three-meter range.

    BANG!

    The moment Du Huang fell into the maic field, the spiritual power and psychic power inside of him was instantly distorted.

    Within seconds, he lost control of all the power within him.

    ¡°You kept me waiting for so long!¡± With a grin, Nie Tian took out a sharp de that he had looted from Jia Peng¡¯s bracelet of holding, and thrust it into Du Huang¡¯s forehead without any hesitation.

    Like a giant nail, it went straight into Du Huang¡¯s skull.

    Du Huang died instantly.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The scarlet light dots on the back of his hand seemed to have detected the death of their host and flew out, before they entered the Heaven Gate pattern on Nie Tian¡¯s hand one by one.

    Nie Tian looked down and delightedly watched as six red dots were added to the back of his hand.

 Chapter 159: The Floating City

    BAM!

    At that moment, Shi Xuannded heavily on the surface of the meteor.

    However, the sky over his head was still filled with cold light and fragmented lightning, which seemed dazzling and splendid.

    Shi Xuan fell hard onto the ground five meters in front of Nie Tian. Muddleheaded, he painstakingly opened his eyes and looked toward Nie Tian, confusion filling his face.

    Then he looked over at Du Huang, who was lying on the ground right in front of Nie Tian, and saw that a sword had pierced into his forehead.

    With another look at Nie Tian, he noticed that there were already seven light dots on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Only then was he finally convinced that it was Nie Tian who had killed Du Huang.

    ¡°Wu Ji¡¯s disciple...¡± Shi Xuan stared nkly at Nie Tian. ¡°Admittedly Wu Ji is a good mentor, but this kid is only in the Lesser Heaven stage. How on earth did he manage to kill Du Huang at thest moment?¡± He couldn¡¯t figure out how Nie Tian had done it.

    At that moment, Yu Tong, who originally wanted to use the Earth Web to bind Du Huang, also came to a stop.

    SHEW!

    Feng Luonded softly next to Nie Tian. Looking at the seven light spots on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand, he said, ¡°Good job, kid!¡±

    Hispliment was sincere.

    When it was a moment of life and death, he didn¡¯t think of Yu Tong or Zheng Bin. He subconsciously called out Nie Tian¡¯s name, hoping he could save Shi Xuan¡¯s life.

    This meant that deep down, Feng Luo had already acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s strength and believed that he was stronger than Yu Tong and Zheng Bin.

    As a result, Nie Tian didn¡¯t let him down. First of all, he had used the Ice st Pearl to relieve Shi Xuan¡¯s crisis. Then, when Du Huang fell into the chaotic maic field after taking a sh in his back, Nie Tian had killed him with a clean, fast move.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do much.¡± Nie Tian gave a smile. ¡°It was only because you severely injured him that I found an opportunity. If it weren¡¯t for your deadly attack, Du Huang wouldn¡¯t have lost control of himself, and therefore wouldn¡¯t have fallen uncontrobly into my chaotic maic field.¡±

    Feng Luo let out a broadugh and said, ¡°Well, thanks to your Ice st Pearl, his spiritual incantation lost effect. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have suffered from the bacsh and I wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to sneak up on him from behind. You deserve the six Heaven Gate keys from Du Huang. Not only that, it¡¯s only fair that you get the majority of the loot within his bracelet of holding.¡±

    Only then did the idea of dividing the loot hit Nie Tian. He yanked the bracelet of holding off of Du Huang¡¯s wrist, in an attempt to divide the treasures within right away.

    Feng Luo waved his hand, stopping Nie Tian. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. You keep it for the time being. We still have unfinished business ahead of us.¡±

    He looked towards the dpidated city.

    ¡°I see." Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything else. He put Du Huang¡¯s bracelet of holding on his wrist and also gazed towards the dpidated city that was on the meteor right next to theirs.

    From time to time, multicolored light shot out into the dark sky from within the enormous city, making the city seem increasingly mysterious.

    ¡°How are you doing, Shi Xuan?¡± Feng Luo asked, his voice almost a growl.

    Face filled with bitterness, Shi Xuan shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to recover in a short time. And if I were to encounter any other hostile trial taker, I could only wait to be killed. I think it¡¯s better that I stay away from that city.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Feng Luo didn¡¯t try to persuade him. Rather, he took out a small bottle of medicinal pills and tossed it to Shi Xuan. ¡°These are some medicinal pills from our sect. Take them. When you get enough strength to move about, get out of this ce. If my spections are correct, I¡¯m afraid there is more than one powerful foreign expert in that city. It¡¯s not safe for you to stay here for too long.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Shi Xuan nodded as he assumed the lotus position. Without any hesitation, he opened the bottle, swallowed the medicinal pills within, and started circting his spiritual power to stimte the efficacy of the pill.

    ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± Feng Luo said. With a nce at the other three, he turned around and marched toward the dpidated city.

    It appeared that he was bent to go by himself, and didn¡¯t want the three of them to go with him.

    After all, in his eyes, there might be good fortune hidden within the city. However, one might have to pay an unbearable price to obtain that fortune.

    He wasn¡¯t certain in the slightest that approaching the dpidated city would be a good idea.

    Therefore, he had no intention of asking any of them to go with him.

    WHOOSH!

    Without the least hesitation, Nie Tian, who had just obtained six red dots, walked up to Feng Luo.

    Yu Tong seemed torn with indecision. After a moment of pondering, she said, ¡°Uncle Shi, I¡¯ll stay here with you.¡±

    She decided to give up the chance.

    ¡°That¡¯s good..." Shi Xuan let out a sigh and said, ¡°The way I see it, you made the right decision. There are surely many other opportunities in the Heaven Gate trial. You don¡¯t have to go to that dpidated city. As long as you stay alive, I bet you wille across other opportunities.¡±

    Yu Tong gently nodded her head. ¡°Yeah, I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    Zheng Bin¡¯s expression seemed quite embarrassed as he said, ¡°Well... I¡¯ll stay too. That way we can keep each otherpany.¡±

    Apparently, he had been frightened by the brutality and fierceness of the battles, and thus gave up the idea of pursuing the truth. He decided that staying alive was his number one priority.

    From the look of it, Du Huang was the only one between them and the city.

    Feng Luo and Nie Tian marched towards the city and saw no one along their way.

    After passing a long stone bridge, the two of them finally reached the exceptionally gigantic meteor where the city was located. With a single nce, they saw numerous figures shing about in front of the city.

    ¡°Uncle Li! Uncle Liu!¡± Upon a closer look, Nie Tian realized that Li Fan and Liu Yan were among the numerous figures who were fighting tooth and nail outside of the city.

    Although the city looked dpidated from afar, when multicolored lights were unleashed from within the city, it made the ce seem magnificent and solemn.

    Only at that moment did Nie Tian finally discover that the seemingly shaking and swaying city was actually not sitting on the meteor surface, but rather floating in midair.

    The city was floating approximately ten meters above the meteor surface, as if it waspletely unaffected by gravity.

    It seemed to be constantly swaying, but in actuality, it was rapidly shifting its position.

    Numerous, densely-packed, strange magical symbols that Nie Tian had never seen were engraved on the antiquated city wall; some of them resembled the sun, the moon, and the stars, some resembled tree patterns, while others looked like the ws and fangs of ancient beasts. They all looked intriguing in their own way. It was hard to tell if they were from thenguage of a certain species or drawings of everything in the universe.

    Terrifying energy fluctuations kept rippling out of the city.

    From the look of it, the strange energy fluctuations weren¡¯t hurting anyone. All the Qi warriors who had absorbed them didn¡¯t seem to experience any anomaly in them. On the contrary, enjoyment could be seen in their eyes.

    It was as if they were able to gain some kind of enlightenment from the energy fluctuations that were emanating out of the city.

    Four powerful experts from the other realms were rounded up by cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven in four separate spots in front of the city. However, not a single trace of fear could be seen on their faces as they dealt with their opponents with ease.

    While Nie Tian was observing the battlefield, a Qi warrior from the seven sects was killed by one of the foreign cultivators. The Heaven Gate pattern on his hand instantly vanished, turning into a red light dot that flew into the killer¡¯s hand.

    Nie Tian was certain that he had seen the face of every one of those foreign cultivators before entering the Heaven Gate.

    One of the foreign cultivators had a sword that kept emanating green mes in his hand. He was none other than the man who had killed a disciple from the Mystic Mist sect right before entering the Heaven Gate, not giving any face to the Hell sect.

    Nie Tian sensed that the man was probably a powerful expert with ate Greater Heaven stage cultivation base.

    The other three seemed just as powerful. Each of them had about ten red spots on the backs of their hands, which signified their feats.

    One light spot meant one kill.

    Numerous corpses were scattered not far from the city, most of which were cultivators withte Heaven or early Greater Heaven stage cultivation bases.

    Liu Yan was fighting the foreign cultivator with the sword that emanated green mes. His expression flickered when he identally caught sight of Nie Tian. ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡±

    At first, he was surprised that Nie Tian was able to get to this ce.

    After all, every one of those who managed to get to this ce had gone through countless bloody battles, and many were brutally murdered on their way. Only about ten of them were lucky enough to make it this far.

    After the initial surprise, Liu Yan grew worried for Nie Tian, thinking Nie Tian was out of his mind by putting himself in such great danger while he only had a Lesser Heaven cultivation base.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here!¡± Liu Yan shouted. ¡°Get out of here now!¡±

    SHEW!

    A faint, green sword-light shed across Liu Yan¡¯s chest while he spared the attention to talk to Nie Tian.

    With a muffled sound, a narrow wound was cut open on his chest. Immediately afterwards, pus flowed out of it, as if the wound had already begun festering and rotting.

    After hearing Liu Yan¡¯s words, Li Fan turned around and saw that it was really Nie Tian standing not far away from them. He hurriedly said, ¡°Kid! Get as far away as you can from this ce if you don¡¯t want to die!¡±

    Since it was too urgent, Li Fan had no time to address Nie Tian with the regr courtesy by calling him little martial uncle.

    ¡°Where are Jiang Lingzhu and the others?¡± Nie Tian asked in a loud voice.

    ¡°Lingzhu is too weak for a fierce battle like this. We¡¯ve arranged for her to stay in a safe ce.¡± Then, a pained look could be seen from within Li Fan¡¯s eyes as he continued, ¡°But most of the others are dead.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he took another nce at the dead bodies scattered in the vicinity. Surely, a few of them were disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect.

    FIZZ!

    At that moment, a small cluster of green mes sshed onto Li Fan¡¯s shoulder.

    In a split second, his shoulder started to fester, as if it was contaminated by some extremely toxic liquid.

    Rapidly and decisively, he used his sharp de to cut away the skin and flesh that had been infected, as if it was the only way to stop the fester from spreading.

    ¡°Get out of here! Now!!!¡± Li Fan let out an thundering shout.

 Chapter 160: Mysterious Symbols

    Nie Tian noticed that after Li Fan cut off the infected flesh, it fell to the ground andpletely rotted away in seconds.

    ¡°Miao Chen¡¯s spiritual power is tainted with poison!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed drastically.

    He inwardly respected Li Fan¡¯s decisiveness as he was fairly certain that if he didn¡¯t act so fast, the fester would have spread out rapidly to his whole body.

    Reluctance to get rid of the festered part would have resulted in him losing that arm within a short time.

    Standing next to Nie Tian, Feng Luo looked coldly at the Qi warrior with the sword that kept releasing green mes, his face especially grim. ¡°That¡¯s Miao Chen from the Realm of ck Marsh. He¡¯s in thete Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    Since Feng Luo was a senior member of the Blood sect, and the Blood sect was close to the Hell sect, he had heard of many of the Qi warriors that had traveled to the Realm of me Heaven through the Hell sect.

    Miao Chen was the one who had left him the deepest impression.

    ¡°You know that man?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    He didn¡¯t respond to Li Fan and Liu Yan¡¯s warnings, as he had already made up his mind and readied himself for what was awaiting him when he decided toe over with Feng Luo.

    He didn¡¯t have even the slightest intention to retreat.

    Brow furrowed, Feng Luo said in a manly voice, ¡°Yes, I do. You need to pay extra attention to that man, Nie Tian. Among all the realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh are the vilest and are extremely hard to deal with. Most of them are experts with poisons and toxins. Every corner of the Realm of ck Marsh is filled with toxic air and miasma, causing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth they cultivate with to carry toxins.

    ¡°As the result, their spiritual power contains various kinds of toxins. Whenever their spiritual power makes contact with a person¡¯s skin and enters that person¡¯s flesh, then...¡±

    Feng Luo looked toward Li Fan, eyes filled with respect. ¡°Remember, if those green mes ever touch your skin, you must immediately cut off that piece of flesh like the way Li Fan did. Only in that way will you be able to minimize the damage and preserve your battle prowess.

    ¡°The more reluctant you are to cut yourself, the more the deadly poison will rot away your healthy flesh!¡±

    After uttering these words, Feng Luo pulled out his long saber that radiated blood-colored light. Emanating a strong blood aura himself, Feng Luo dashed toward Miao Chen from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    Besieging Miao Chen were Li Fan, Liu Yan, anotherte Greater Heaven stage expert from the Hell sect, and an early Greater Heaven stage cultivator from the Mystic Mist sect.

    Even though he was being attacked by four powerful cultivators at the same time, Miao Chen seemed to have no problem handling the lot of them.

    He made Hong Can, the cultivator from the Hell sect, his main target.

    Since the other three were only in the early Greater Heaven stage, he didn¡¯t attach any importance to them.

    A number of green mes were hovering around Miao Chen. Like fireflies in the night sky, they unceasingly released an uncanny, green light into the surroundings as they slowly swayed in midair.

    Only those green mes alone were capable of injuring Li Fan, Liu Yan, and the cultivator from the Mystic Mist sect, keeping them from approaching.

    Every now and then, the green mes would suddenly shoot away from Miao Chen and chase after the three of them, as if they had their own consciousness.

    Whenever this happened, Li Fan and the other two would hurriedly retreat and avoid their attacks, fearing that they be infected by the fire that seemed to be from the underworld.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, a cluster of green me whizzed towards the Qi warrior from the Mystic Mist sect.

    Seeing that it flew right towards him, the man hastily condensed all of his spiritual power and formed a shield of white mist around him.

    Even though the bright shield seemed as delicate as a cicada¡¯s wings, it could provide very strong defense. However, the moment the green me made contact with it, corrosion spread out rapidly from the contact point.

    No one expected that not only could the green unearthly me fester human flesh, but it could also corrode the light shield formed by spiritual power.

    The man¡¯s face turn pale with fright. He hastily cut the link between him and his light shield, and retreated with all his power. Only by doing that did he barely escape a cmity.

    Gasping for air, the Mystic Mist sect cultivator looked at the green mes with an expression of utter terror.

    ¡°They really are vicious!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    By that time, Nie Tian hade to a brief estimation of the situation of the four battles. He was fairly certain that the battle against Miao Chen was the most fierce one.

    From what he could tell, the reason why Feng Luo didn¡¯t rush to attack the other three foreign experts, but instead Miao Chen, was that he had also deemed Miao Chen to be the strongest and the hardest to deal with among the four.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, light beams of various colors once again shot out from within the dpidated city. Simultaneously, a surge of strange energy fluctuations spread out into the surroundings.

    The floating city once again swayed about and shifted its position.

    Coincidentally, the city shifted closer toward the ce where Nie Tian was standing, causing the energy fluctuations to closely reach Nie Tian before they dissipated into the air.

    The moment the entric energy fluctuations reached Nie Tian, the seven scarlet, light dots on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand suddenly grew scaldingly hot.

    At the same time, he had the feeling that the dots on his hand seemed to have absorbed something.

    With rapt attention, he looked down at the light dots in the Heaven Gate pattern. Not only did he find them to be even more dazzling and bright, it seemed that they had been imprinted with a number ofplicated, mysterious symbols .

    Confused and intrigued, Nie Tian lifted his head and looked toward the floating city in front of him. To his surprise, he found that there seemed to be less magical symbols on the city wall than there were before.

    ¡°What?!...¡± He suddenly realized that the strange symbols on the city wall had entered the seven red dots on his hand came.

    Furthermore, he believed that only those with Heaven Gate patterns on their hands would be able to obtain the mysterious symbols from the city.

    Originally, he only had one light dot in the Heaven Gate pattern on his hand.

    After killing Du Huang, he had absorbed six more light dots.

    It suddenly struck him that it was very likely that the more light dots one had, the more magical symbols they would be able to receive when energy fluctuations rippled out from within the city and reached their body.

    The Qi warriors from the other realms must have always known about the existence of the miraculous, floating city within the Heaven Gate.

    They probably also knew about the numerous, magical symbols on the wall of the city, along with the fact that the more light dots one had on their hand, the more fortune one would be able to gain from the city.

    That must have been the reason why they plotted with each other and spread out to their assigned territory to ughter Qi warriors from the Realm of me Heaven.

    They did all that to gain more benefits from this Heaven Gate trial.

    At that very moment, Nie Tian felt a sudden suction force from the seven red dots on his hand, pulling him forward.

    He immediately looked towards the dpidated city.

    After standing in ce for a long time, he subconsciously started to step closer towards the city under the influence of the energy fluctuations.

    He sensed that as long as he remained enveloped by the energy fluctuations, he wouldn¡¯t need to spend any effort and the seven light dots on his hand would automatically take in magical symbols hidden within the energy surge.

    Moreover, it appeared that the closer he got to the city, the more intense the energy surge he could receive, therefore the more benefit he could collect.

    He finally came to realize why so many powerful experts would ughter their way towards this city from all directions.

    After all, the more light dots one possessed, and the closer one got to the city, the more fortune one would obtain.

    In fact, people could have gotten along with each other as they approached the city together and used their own light dots to collect those magical symbols.

    However, greed seized them when they learned that those light dots on their hands could be snatched!

    It was especially true with the cultivators from the other realms. Knowing perfectly well that they possessed superior strength, they naturally started the massacre after seeing that cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven were trying to get a share of their resources.

    They did it to obtain more mysterious symbols from the city.

    By this point, Nie Tian had fully understood the secrets behind everything.

    Without even the slightest hesitation, he stepped towards the floating city. Meanwhile, the burning sensation from the seven dots on his hand grew stronger as he approached the city.

    Just as excitement rose in his heart, the energy fluctuations suddenly stopped.

    The unprecedented, magical feeling of absorbing the mysterious symbols into his body disappeared with it.

    ¡°Yee!?¡± Off to the side, another foreign Qi warrior caught sight of Nie Tian. tion and greed immediately filled his eyes.

    He noticed that there were as many as seven light dots on the hand of this Lesser Heaven stage youngster in front of him.

    ¡°Interesting!¡± With a chuckle, he instantly made Nie Tian his target.

 Chapter 161: A Change in Heart!

    That person was Kan Xingming, a middle Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Realm of Earth Sieve.

    His cultivation attribute was the wood power, one of the five fundamental element powers (see note 1). The three people that besieged him came from the Ghost sect and Grayvale sect, and all of them were in the early Greater Heaven stage.

    Kan Xingming wore a bizarre set of spiritual armor, which appeared to be made of petrified vines and willow leaves and apparently contained the essence of nts and vegetation.

    The aura that he emanated was full of a special kind of life force, as if it could nourish nts and had other mysterious uses.

    The spiritual weapon that he used was a wooden staff that was dark-green in color. It also carried a strong life force, and within its natural wood vein pattern seemed toy the true essence of wood power.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous rattan vines flew out of his spiritual armor and effortlessly intercepted the violent attacks of the three people surrounding him.

    He stealthily nced at Nie Tian.

    Although all three of his opponents were in the Greater Heaven stage, there were only a total of five scarlet light spots within the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of their hands.

    This meant that even if he ughtered the three of them, he would only be able to obtain five light spots.

    However, not far away from him was Nie Tian with seven red dots on the back of his hand, while he was only in the Lesser Heaven stage.

    As long as he could kill Nie Tian, the gains he would obtain would far surpass those from painstakingly killing those three powerful experts.

    Therefore, he moved closer towards Nie Tian in a slow and inconspicuous fashion, while shielding off the attacks of the three people around him.

    Greed and a strong killing intent shot out of his eyes.

    ¡°Go!¡± All of a sudden, a fresh, green leaf broke away from the chest area of his spiritual armor. It was as if the leaf itself possessed a consciousness as it floated straight towards Nie Tian.

    It seemed that the fresh, green leaf was floating and shaking as it flew forward, but actually it traveled at an extremely fast speed.

    In only five seconds, the leaf was already quite close to Nie Tian. It also rapidly expanded to the size of a palm-tree leaf and intended to wrap Nie Tian within it.

    Only by that point did Nie Tian, who was slowly stepping towards the dpidated city, suddenly sense the unfavorable situation.

    However, it was toote. Therge leaf continued to expand and swiftly attached itself to Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    As soon as it made contact with Nie Tian, it immediately grew roots, which reached deep into his flesh, as if it had turned into a terrifying nt.

    The flesh power within his body was pulled by a bizarre force as it madly flowed toward that leaf.

    As the green, fresh leaf greedily absorbed Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power, it mutated at an astonishing speed, and soon turned into a strange nt, enveloping Nie Tian.

    One sharp thorn after another grew from the nt and prated into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh.

    The newly-born nt madly sucked on Nie Tian¡¯s life essence and flesh power.

    Kan Xingming¡¯s eyes were brimming with brutality and mania. With a deepugh, he licked his lips and said with acent tone, ¡°Not bad. The essence within the kid¡¯s flesh and blood is quite pure. I never anticipated that a Lesser Heaven stage brat would possess flesh power so rich and copious. I just hit gold!¡±

    Apparently, the leaf that he had unleashed could grow into a strange nt that fed on the flesh power of living creatures.

    Moreover, the flesh power the nt had absorbed could be guided into Kan Xingming¡¯s body through secret arts, which enabled him to rapidly replenish his own injuries and also enhance his battle prowess.

    Originally, he had thought that Nie Tian, who was only in Lesser Heaven stage, wouldn¡¯t possibly have such rich flesh power within him.

    However, when he noticed that the leaf kept sucking flesh power out of Nie Tian¡¯s body for quite some time, heughed more and more happily.

    ¡°Awesome! This is awesome!¡± From what he saw, it would not be too long before Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power would bepletely drained.

    By that time, not only would he be able to obtain plentiful flesh power from Nie Tian, he could even collect seven scarlet light spots by killing Nie Tian.

    With seven more light spots, Kan Xingming would be able to take in even more magical symbols, and therefore gain more fortune.

    Off to the side, Li Fan, who had been constantly dodging the attacks of the green mes, nced over towards Nie Tian while fighting, and saw the dangerous situation that he was in. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian had already been wrapped up by a huge nt and his robust body was bing more shriveled by the second as the pure life essence within every corner of his body was rapidly being drained.

    With a loud shout, Li Fan alerted Feng Luo and Liu Yan. The two of them immediately noticed Nie Tian¡¯s situation.

    Feng Luo looked slightly surprised. He seemed to feel that Nie Tian shouldn¡¯t be so easily stopped and controlled.

    However, he didn¡¯t seem very anxious after seeing that Nie Tian had almost been engulfed by therge nt.

    The reason was that he discovered that Nie Tian¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t filled with fear and despair.

    Despite having fought side by side with Nie Tian against Zhao Mo and Du Huang, Feng Luo still wasn¡¯t able to fathom Nie Tian¡¯s true strength. However, he was fairly confident that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be killed that easily.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t immediately rush to Nie Tian¡¯s aid, but rather decided to keep observing.

    On the other hand, Li Fan and Liu Yan¡¯s hearts were burning with anxiety as they both wanted to rush over and free Nie Tian from the dangerous situation.

    Kan Xingming seemed to have noticed their intentions, and called out, ¡°Brother Miao, take good care of your opponents.¡±

    Miao Chen arched his lips as he seemed to think that Kang Xin Ming was giving his opponents too much credit. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. None of them shall even dream of interrupting you.¡±

    With these words, numerous green, ghost-like me clusters stormed toward Li Fan and Liu Yan.

    Immediately after that, Li Fan and Liu Yan were rounded up by the me clusters and were only able to move about to dodge their attacks within a very small space. From the look of it, there was no chance that they could break free from the water-tight besiegement.

    As anxious as the two of them were, they had to figure out a way to handle the corrosive power within the green mes.

    Otherwise, before long, they would be devoured by the mes, turned into two set of pale-white skeletons, and broken into pieces after falling to the ground.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Li Fan cursed. He had long since told Nie Tian to get as far away as he could from this ce, but not only did Nie Tian not listen to him, he even was so daring as to approach the dpidated city, as if he actually had a death wish!

    Finding himself at his wit¡¯s end dealing with the mes that had trapped both him and Liu Yan, Li Fan grew increasingly mad at Nie Tian and his blind audacity.

    ¡°My life essence is wasting away, my flesh is shriveling and blood is drying up...¡± Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian sensed the changes within him with rapt attention. He looked rtively calm and no fear could be seen on his face.

    Although he couldn¡¯t move his arms and legs, if he wanted to, he was able to summon the me Dragon Armor from within his bracelet of holding, or trigger one of the life-saving talismans that his master had bestowed upon him.

    However, he didn¡¯t.

    The reason was that when he waspletely wrapped up by the nt and his life force was slowly sucked away, a strange feeling was born in his heart.

    He felt excited!

    His heart throbbed vigorously, as if it was yearning for something.

    He had always known that he was different from ordinary people.

    Compared to others, his psychic power was stronger and his fleshy body was sturdier. He could even continuously temper his own body by consuming spirit beast meat.

    Although he hade across great danger in many asions before, strange changes had alway urred to his heart when he was on the verge of dying.

    All those strange encounters had proven that there were definitely secrets hiding within his body.

    Furthermore, Hua Mu had once told him that he might be able to reveal some of his secrets during the Heaven Gate trial.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    His heartbeat grew stronger and stronger as his life force faded away.

    Gradually, he started to feel dizzy due to the significant loss of life force. However, he entered a strange state at that moment, and his soul consciousness seemed to have floated to where his heart was.

    Muddleheaded, he saw dazzling light suddenly shoot out from the vessels within his own heart.

    His blood vessels seemed to have turned into transparent crystal tubes, within which countless strange sparks flickered. The light seemed to be constantly evolving, as if his heart was undergoing a profound change that he couldn¡¯tprehend.

    BOOM!

    A violent tremor suddenly struck his mind, and after his soul consciousness returned to his head, he snapped out of the mysterious state.

    In the next moment, an aura that was full of violence and domination emerged abruptly from within his heart.

    The unusual nt that had wrapped him up suddenly started to wither at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

    The rich life force that the nt had sucked away from Nie Tian¡¯s body returned back into his body in an extremely short time.

    His wizened body also expanded rapidly like a ball that was being inted.

    Within only several dozen seconds, he recovered to his original look once again. He was in high spirits and appeared to be uninfluenced in the slightest.

    Meanwhile, the nt wilted, was reduced to flying dust, and disappearedpletely as he shook his body with relief.

    Note:

    The Wu Xing is also known as the Five Elements, Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, Five Processes, the Five Steps/Stages and the Fives of significant gravity (Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Mars)

    It is the short form of the five types of Qi dominating at different times. It is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to exin a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the session of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Elements" are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. This order of presentation is known as the "mutual generation" sequence. In the order of "mutual oveing", they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal.

    The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and rtionships between phenomena. After it came to maturity in the second or first century BCE during the Han dynasty, this device was employed in many fields of early Chinese thought, including seemingly disparate fields such as geomancy or Feng shui, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, music, military strategy, and martial arts. The system is still used as a reference in some forms ofplementary and alternative medicine and martial arts.

 Chapter 162: Bloodline!

    As the nt turned into flying dust, Nie Tian opened his mouth andughed loudly. ¡°Good, it feels good.¡±

    That nt had developed from a leaf that contained pure wood power.

    And apparently, the wood power was only a branch of life power.

    Not only did the unusual heartbeat cause Nie Tian to restore the life energy that he had lost to the nt, but it even channeled the wood power that was stored in the leaf into his body as well.

    As soon as the wood power dispersed into his flesh and blood, it made his vital energy be even more vigorous.

    He felt that his energies and spirits had reached a state of fullness that had never been achieved before.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    At this moment, his heart was still beating unusually strongly and still had no sign of settling down.

    A thirst that originated from his heart seemed to be urging him to absorb even more wood energy and obtain even more vital energy to strengthen his flesh and blood.

    He abruptly looked towards Kan Xingming and saw the panic and cluelessness on his face.

    Besieged by three Qi warriors, Kan Xingming distracted himself by observing Nie Tian from time to time. His movement in controlling the vines had even started to be a bit stiff.

    ¡°There are even more leaves on that man¡¯s spiritual armor that contain rich wood power...¡± Muttering to himself, Nie Tian probed into his own heart, and slowly came to the realization that the abnormality of his heartbeat seemed to have developed from its strong thirst for wood power.

    He subconsciously stepped towards Kan Xingming.

    WHOOSH!

    Kan Xingming, who was fighting near the dpidated city wall, dropped from the sky. He snorted and once again shot two fresh, green leaves out from the chest area of his spiritual armor.

    The two leaves continuously evolved and released an odor that could twist all living things as they floated towards Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s expression didn¡¯t even change in the slightest. He continued to step closer despite the fact that the two leaves wereing his way.

    It was because at this moment, he felt that the thirst in his heart had be unprecedentedly raging and fierce!

    He even had a feeling that even though the two leaves were unearthly items refined by the Greater Heaven stage Kan Xingming, they would absolutely not hurt him!

    His confidence originated from the thirst and the excitement in his heart!

    BANG BANG BANG!

    His heartbeat was still growing faster. An extremelyplicated life fluctuation suddenly exploded from within his heart and spread out into his surroundings, with him being the center.

    The eye-catching veins on the two leaves seemed to be instantly affected.

    Nie Tian looked at them with rapt attention. He realized that the two leaves, which were traveling at a high speed towards him, had evolved. They had developed into two slender, flexible vines, and like spiritual snakes, they intended to bind around Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    BANG!

    Along with the vigorous beating of Nie Tian¡¯s heart, both of the green vines seemed to be suddenly taken over by a mysterious force.

    The green vines that resembled vipers suddenly broke free of Kan Xingming¡¯s control. The psychicmunication between him and the green vines was forcefully cut off by a mysterious and advanced power.

    Kan Xingming¡¯s expression changed drastically. The sudden elimination of the psychic power that he had attached to the green vines had inflicted a minor injury on him.

    In Kan Xingming¡¯s eyes, the two green vines were supposed to drop down to the ground due to the effect of gravity, since they had already escaped his control.

    However, they stopped right before Nie Tian¡¯s chest and floated there.

    Shocked, he watched as Nie Tian slowly reached out his hand to touch one of the green vines, without even a smidgen of hesitation in his eyes.

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s finger touched it, the green vine instantly released pure wood power!

    The wood power that Kan Xingming had spent many years collecting and refining turned into dark-green, drifting light as it swiftly flew into Nie Tian¡¯s finger.

    Ayer of faint, dim-green aura flourished within Nie Tian¡¯s body, causing him to seem rather mysterious.

    It wasn¡¯t long before all of the wood power in the green vine waspletely drained by Nie Tian.

    WHOOSH!

    Having lost all of its wood power, the green vine disintegrated and turned into flying ash.

    Fear stretched across Kan Xingming¡¯s face.

    BOOM!

    A fierce evil spirit, summoned by an expert from the Ghost sect, ruthlessly rammed into Kan Xingming¡¯s back.

    Kan Xingming was sent staggering.

    Meanwhile, the spirits of the two Qi warriors from the Grayvale sect were lifted. They both manipted their spiritual tools to madly attack him as he stumbled back.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian didn¡¯t bother to check Kan Xingming¡¯s situation, but rather once again extended his hand with a concentrated look in his eyes, and reached towards the other green vine.

    Upon contact, the green vine was also quickly drained of all wood power and turned into flying dust just like thest one.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian remained calm and collected as he silently used his psychic awareness to pry into the abnormality of his heart.

    It could be because his cultivation base was too low and his psychic power hadn¡¯t congealed into soul power, that he failed to enter his heart to conduct a thorough investigation and unveil the mysteries within.

    He could only faintly feel the wood power that he had taken in seemed to have already merged with his own blood.

    His blood carried the pure wood power as it slowly flowed towards his throbbing heart .

    His heart was being nurtured as it continued to take in wood power, as if it were in a state where it was gradually awakening.

    His eyes were wide and his face was filled with disbelief. ¡°Bloodline!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know why, but he was very certain that bloodline power was now flowing within his body. Or to be more precise, his heart!

    His master Wu Ji had once told him that bloodline power would often exist in the outsider races who had iparably valiant bodies.

    Numerous years ago, the formidable outsider tribes, whose power had been unmatched across the entire river of stars, were only able to be known as the mighty masters of the universe because of their bloodline power, their innate valiant bodies, as well as their lifespans that were much longer than humans¡¯.

    Only an extremely small number of human Qi warriors could awake their bloodline power, the reason being that they had outsiders among their ancestors.

    Those people might be born with bloodline power. It was also possible that they could awaken their bloodline power at some point as they grew up and built up their strength.

    It seemed that he belonged to thetter.

    His whole life, he thought that there had been something unusual about his heart, but never did it ur to him that a formidable bloodline power was hiding inside of it.

    Only after he had taken in enough wood power to nourish his heart, did the bloodline power that was hidden deep inside finally show a sign of awakening.

    ¡°Could it be that... my father isn¡¯t human?¡± Overwhelmed by the thought, Nie Tian wondered.

    He was one hundred percent certain that his mother was a member of the Nie n, and there weren¡¯t any records of their n members having rtionships with anyone from an outsider tribe in the history of the Nie n.

    The Nie n was a human n that couldn¡¯t be more ordinary. None of their members were born with unearthly power. All of them were born with bodies that were no different from that ofmoners¡¯.

    Since his bloodline power didn¡¯te from the Nie n, then naturally... it must havee from his father, who he knew nothing about and had mysteriously disappeared.

    ¡°My father is either an outsider himself, or a hybrid who has outsider blood running in his veins.¡± Having realized his unusual birth for the first time, Nie Tian felt muddleheaded. Even still, he struggled to sort through the things that had happened to him in order to find the truth.

    He had temporarily forgotten about where he was, along with the cruel Heaven Gate trial that he was in, and the floating city in front of him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Just as he was contemting these matters, multi-colored light beams once again shot out from within the city.

    Simultaneously, the unusual energy fluctuations that had disappeared once again spread out from within the dpidated city and rapidly rippled into the surroundings.

    This time, Nie Tian, who was already very close to the floating city, was the first one to experience the unusual feeling.

    In the moment the energy fluctuations dispersed into the surroundings, the seven scarlet light spots on the back of his hand instantly turned red-hot and started to shine with brilliant light.

    The seven scarlet light spots were like seven bright stars as they continued to slowly swim around in the Heaven Gate pattern.

    Without Nie Tian realizing it, numerous mysterious symbols were secretly taken into the seven glittering light spots.

    POOH!

    Also at this moment, Kan Xingming, who had three of his leaves forcefully taken by Nie Tian, seemed to have fallen into Qi deviation, and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    Face filled with hate and rage, he shot towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯reing!¡± With a chuckle, Nie Tian ced his palms opposite to each other and immediately started to form the chaotic maic field.

    All he needed was for Kan Xingming to enter it!

    It¡¯s the Double Ninth Festival today, one of the few festivals where drinking is required. Lol.

    Gotta go out to dinner with my parentster and drink some chrysanthemum liquor, which is very good for my cultivation. :)

    Here¡¯s a video and a text introduction to the festival:

    https://.youtube/watch?v=VtfLOBVbxDE

    The Double Ninth Festival (Chung Yeung Festival in Hong Kong), observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han period (before AD 25). The day is also known as the Chrysanthemum Festival (¾Õ¤Î¹¾ä) in Japan.

    ording to the <i><i>I Ching</i></i>, nine is a yang number; the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (or double nine) has too much yang (a traditional Chinese spiritual concept) and is thus a potentially dangerous date. Hence, the day is also called "Double Yang Festival" (ÖØê–¹). To protect against danger, it is customary to climb a high mountain, drink chrysanthemum liquor, and wear the zhuyu (ÜïÝÇ) nt, Cornus officinalis. (Both chrysanthemum and zhuyu are considered to have cleansing qualities and are used on other asions to air out houses and cure illnesses.)

    On this holiday some Chinese also visit the graves of their ancestors to pay their respects. In Hong Kong, whole extended families head to ancestral graves to clean them and repaint inscriptions, and toy out food offerings such as roast suckling pig and fruit, which are then eaten (after the spirits have consumed the spiritual element of the food). Chongyang Cake is also popr. Incense sticks are burned. Cemeteries get crowded, and each year grass fires are inadvertently started by the burning incense sticks...

 Chapter 163: Ill Remember You, Kid!

    ¡°Little bastard!¡± Kan Xingming yelled viciously as numerous thick, long vines that resembled sharp swords stabbed madly towards towards Nie Tian. ¡°You did this! Go to hell!¡±

    Obviously, he hated Nie Tian more than the other three!

    From his point of view, if it weren¡¯t for the fact that Nie Tian had messed up his inner Qi by absorbing the wood power within those three leaves of his, causing him to fall into a Qi deviation, those three people definitely would not have been able to take advantage of the situation and inflict serious injuries on him.

    He was in a terrible condition right now, and had already lost the confidence to kill the three experts from the Ghost sect and Grayvale sect.

    At that moment, the only one he had the confidence to kill was Nie Tian!

    Other than his hatred towards Nie Tian, there was still another reason for his strong desire to kill him.

    Since Nie Tian had the lowest cultivation base, Kan Xingming was very certain that he could easily kill him and and snatch the exceptionally pure flesh power inside of Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    By taking and refining all that power, he would be able to recover his injuries within a short time.

    He nned to increase his battle prowess by killing Nie Tian, thus again obtaining the strength to kill his three opponents!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The numerous thick vines shone with fresh, green light as they whizzed towards Nie Tian.

    It was also in this moment that Nie Tian, whose palms were opposite each other, sessfully established the chaotic maic field.

    Actually the coverage of the maic field was still limited and only reached a two-meter range with Nie Tian being the center.

    Kan Xingming¡¯s deadly vines aimed for none other than Nie Tian¡¯s forehead and neck.

    Since the vines would have to pierce into Nie Tian to kill him, they would inevitably have to enter the twisted maic field!

    Just as Nie Tian had expected, the numerous vines prated into the maic field in the next moment.

    The vines immediately lost their fierce momentum after falling into the maic field.

    The vines that were originally as sharp as swords turned into soft and powerless snakes in an instant!

    In a split second, the wood power within the numerous vines became violent and distorted as they were cut off from Kan Xingming¡¯s control.

    The psychic power that Kan Xingming had attached to the vines had also been cut off from hismands, which caused his mind to be thrown into disordered state and a terrified look to appear in his eyes.

    ¡°Wood power!¡± Nie Tian grinned. After the chaotic maic field was sessfullypleted, his hands had been freed. He used them to continuously reach towards the vines that were floating inside the chaotic maic field.

    Whenever he touched a vine, strands of emerald-green light would suddenly flow out of them.

    The numerous light strands seemed as though they were influenced by the abnormal fluctuations in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. In an instant, they were pulled into his body, entered his veins, and were directed to his heart through the flow of his blood.

    An excitement, apanied by an even stronger yearning, was born in Nie Tian¡¯s heart as though his demand for the wood power had be endless.

    Following the exhaustion of the wood power within the vines, every single one of them was distorted by the maic field, and then abruptly exploded into pieces.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Qi and power had be increasingly exuberant after taking in the wood power.

    He could feel perfectly clearly that the bloodline power hidden within him seemed to have made another step on its road to full awakening!

    Fear stretched across Kan Xingming¡¯s face as he appraoched Nie Tian at a fast speed.

    A deep fear suddenly rose in his heart as he now realized that if he dared to continue to attack Nie Tian with his wood power, then it would bepletely useless and lost to him, like throwing a piece of meat at a dog to drive it away.

    Having suffered greatly, Kan Xingming gave a muffled groan, his eyes filled with a pained look.

    Cultivating wood power himself, Kan Xingming was fairly convinced that he had encountered an even higher leveled and more profound kind of power.

    That magical power must be more sophisticated and formidable than the wood power, which enabled Nie Tian, who had such a low cultivation base, to overtake him so easily.

    He no longer dared to attack Nie Tian or even approach the maic field that enveloped him.

    He was already preparing to escape.

    However, it was at that moment that mad attacks from the Ghost sect and Grayvale sect experts once again rained towards him.

    One after another, malevolent devils roared as they suddenly grabbed his arm and wrapped around his waist.

    Nie Tian looked up with rapt attention, and saw that the devils were holding the falling Kan Xingming still in the air, and preventing him from moving an inch.

    The two Grayvale sect experts continuously bombarded the middle of Kan Xingming¡¯s back with a silver-colored shield and a pearl glittering with azure light.

    After onest heavy bombardment of the shield and pearl, Kan Xingming, who had been grabbed and fixed in the air by the devils, dove uncontrobly into Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    As soon as he fell into the maic field, Kan Xingming¡¯s face, which was already covered in bloodstains, turned pale, and the light in his eyes started to fade.

    In the chaotic maic field, Kan Xingming¡¯s psychic power, which was now the only remaining power that he had left, instantly escaped his control.

    Hepletely lost the ability to resist!

    ¡°Hurry!¡± Seeing that Kan Xingming was about to die, the Ghost sect expert immediately shouted loudly and prompted his devils to rip Kan Xingming into shreds.

    He did it because he wanted to seize the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Kan Xingming¡¯s hand, where he saw eight scarlet light spots!

    By obtaining those eight scarlet light spots, he would take everything that Kan Xingming had obtained from his hunt into his own possession!

    The two Grayvale sect experts¡¯ expressions changed drastically, as they also wanted that thest person to kill Kan Xingming to be themselves, since only the person whoid the final, life-ending strike on Kan Xingming would be able to obtain those eight scarlet light spots.

    They were all indescribably excited.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Devils whizzed over one after the other. However, just as they were about to make contact with Kan Xingming, they were instantly affected by the chaotic maic field.

    The devils suddenly became distorted and twisted, and under the violent influence of the chaotic maic field, they began to show signs of disintegration.

    That Ghost sect expert¡¯s expression suddenly flickered, and as he urgently swooped down from midair, he forcefully stopped himself midway.

    He looked at Nie Tian, eyes filled with shock and confusion, as though he couldn¡¯t fathom what was going on, and why the devils, which he had condensed with his psychic power and spiritual power, suddenly showed signs of disintegrating as soon as they were submerged in the odd fluctuations around Nie Tian.

    The two Grayvale sect experts saw that he suddenly stopped and also noticed the strange changes to his devils.

    The two of them also came to a stop, and floating in midair, they quietly unleashed their psychic awareness in an attempt to pry into the mysterious maic field.

    However, the moment their psychic awareness entered the field, it immediately became chaotic and uncontroble and their minds were bombarded with unbearable stabbing pains.

    The throbbing pain made them realize how terrifying and formidable the maic field around Nie Tian was.

    Having seen through their mind, Nie Tianughed in a low voice and raised his hand, before violently pping Kan Xingming¡¯s skull.

    CRUNCH!

    The terrifying sound of bones breaking into pieces came from Kan Xingming¡¯s skull. The only remaining life force in Kan Xingming¡¯s eyes finally dispersedpletely.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As Nie Tian had expected, after Kan Xingming stopped breathing, the eight scarlet light spots flew out and merged into the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Meanwhile, the pattern on Kan Xingming¡¯s hand started to fade away little by little, and before long,pletely disappeared.

    Soon the fluctuations of life force in Kan Xingming¡¯s corpse also vanished. However, the rich wood power within his spiritual armor persisted.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian stared at Kan Xingming for awhile before he suddenly took off Kan Xingming¡¯s bracelet of holding and threw it into midair.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill him. I only happened to be in the right ce at the right time. Most of his possessions are in that bracelet of holding. You should have it.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian stretched out his hand and pressed it against chest area of Kan Xingming¡¯s spiritual armor.

    When his palm made contact with the miraculous spiritual armor, concentrated wood power suddenly surged out of it. Without wasting a smidgen of it, Nie Tian absorbed and channeled it into his heart little by little.

    He could keenly feel the joy in his heart, and became more convinced that his heart needed the nourishment from plentiful wood power to gradually awaken his bloodline power.

    He was also more certain by this point that the most important spiritual item in Kan Xingming¡¯s possession was the spiritual armor on him.

    He had the feeling that it was a bit immoral for him to obtain Kan Xingming¡¯s eight scarlet light spots, together with the man¡¯s most valuable item.

    However, that spiritual armor was extremely helpful to theplete awakening of his bloodline power. Therefore, although he knew that it was slightly inappropriate to do so, he couldn¡¯t afford to pass on the opportunity.

    In midair.

    The expert from the Ghost sect held out his hand and grabbed Kan Xingming¡¯s bracelet of holding that had flown to his chest. As soon as he used his psychic awareness to examine the items inside, his face dropped.

    Indeed, there were numerous spiritual materials and medicinal pills of many kinds inside, but the majority of them had been looted from trial takers from the seven sects.

    Most of the people who Kan Xingming had killed were low in their cultivation base and as such, the spiritual materials and medicinal pills that he had plundered from their possession were merely ordinary items.

    None of them caught the Ghost sect expert¡¯s eyes.

    Even still, Nie Tian wanted him to share those valueless items with the two experts from the Grayvale sect. This made him very discontent.

    ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡± One of the Grayvale sect experts asked.

    ¡°Nothing of value.¡± The Ghost sect expert had a grim expression on his face. Annoyed by Nie Tian¡¯s behavior, he contemted as to whether he should demand an exnation from Nie Tian.

    However, at that time, the devils that he had released to kill Kan Xingming were on the verge of disintegrating in Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    Keh! Keh!

    Nie Tian noticed that the chaotic maic field had already distorted those devils beyond recognition.

    He grabbed Kan Xingming¡¯s corpse with one hand and slightly shifted his position.

    As soon as he changed his position, that maic field also followed him. Only then did those devils escape the influence of the chaotic maic field and once again solidify from their state of being nearly ripped apart.

    ¡°Gentlemen, these people from the other realms are ourmon enemies. I realize that I¡¯ve taken a bit more than I should. I apologize for it.

    ¡°But I promise that I¡¯ll try my best to make it up to you in the future.

    ¡°Even if that still isn¡¯t enough to settle your discontent with me, we¡¯ll work it out after we kill all those foreign cultivators, shall we?¡±

    Nie Tian looked up at the three experts and said with an embarrassed smile.

    ¡°Nie Tian, Wu Ji¡¯s disciple, I¡¯ll remember you, kid!¡± The expert from the Ghost sect red viciously at him and decided to drop it for the time being.

 Chapter 164: Enlightenment!

    Zou Yi from the Ghost sect threw the bracelet of holding to Guan Qiu from the Grayvale sect as he clearly didn¡¯t attach any importance to the items within. ¡°I¡¯m not interested in any of the things inside. You guys take it.¡±

    However, a hint of happiness could be seen on Guan Qiu¡¯s face after he caught the bracelet of holding.

    Unlike Zou Yi, he was from a poor and low background and he didn¡¯t have strong backers in the Grayvale sect. As a result, he didn¡¯t have much prepared before entering the Heaven Gate trial.

    Even if there were only a few spirit stones and medicinal pills in the bracelet, he would dly take them.

    Down below, Nie Tian sped his hands towards Zou Yi and said, ¡°Many thanks. If we loot anything in the future, I¡¯ll leave it all to you. I promise.¡±

    Zou Yi nodded and said no more. He took a nce around the battlefield, targeted another man from the other realms, and dashed straight towards him.

    The two experts from the Grayvale sect also didn¡¯t bother to argue with Nie Tian seeing that Kan Xingming was already dead. They also chose their next target and rushed to attack another foreign trial taker.

    Besieged by the green mes, Li Fan spared Nie Tian nce, and found to his surprise that he was standing there unscathed, while Kan Xingming, on the contrary, was dead in front of him. He blurted, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you survived...¡±

    ¡°The kid isn¡¯t even injured!¡± Liu Yan was also shocked at the scene while the two of them were trapped in a small space, continuously evading the erosion of the green mes and looking for a way to break away from them.

    ¡°I knew that kid wouldn¡¯t die so easily,¡± Feng Luo muttered.

    Among everyone present, he was the only one who had always believed that Nie Tian would survive Kan Xingming¡¯s attack.

    That was because Nie Tian and Zheng Bin together had managed to kill Jia Peng, and after that Nie Tian had revealed a strange skill while facing Zhao Mo, causing Zhao Mo to escape in fear.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian, who possessed a Spirit Channeling grade treasure and was carrying all kinds of powerful items that Wu Ji had bestowed upon him along with many secret magics at his disposal, could no longer be assessed in conventional ways.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Unusual energy fluctuations rippled out of the floating city as it quietly shifted its position without following any obvious pattern.

    Standing extremely close to the city wall, Nie Tian continued to receive numerous magical symbols through the fifteen scarlet light spots on the back of his hand.

    Each and every spot started to grow dazzling and ze like stars as they adorned the Heaven Gate pattern. Furthermore, it seemed that they were also slowly rotating in a specific pattern.

    He nced through the battlefield and realized that after obtaining Du Huang and Kan Xingming¡¯s light spots, he currently had the most light spots on his hand.

    Even the three foreign cultivators, including Miao Chen, didn¡¯t have as many as he did.

    He started to have a feeling that since he was the one with the most light spots, the strange energy ripples seemed... to have slightly bent towards him.

    In that way, he would also soon be the one to receive the most magical symbols.

    ¡°What secrets are behind all this?¡± he thought to himself.

    While he was pondering the matter, that hand of his that was still pressed against Kang Xingming¡¯s spiritual armor and madly absorbing the rich wood power within it.

    The spiritual armor that was forged with numerous leaves and vines gradually lost its glow as Nie Tian continued to channel away its wood power.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before its fresh, green colorpletely faded away and was reced by a dark-brown color.

    When he could no longer feel the wood power from within the spiritual armor, his heart that had been thumping strangely and violently also slowly return normal.

    A misty, green aura silently flowed out of him. His power and strength had reached a level of satiation that had never been achieved before.

    He felt that there was a rich life force contained within his flesh, which seemed to carry secrets that were currently iprehensible to him.

    Eyes narrowed, he nced around and immediately realized that he could now see and hear even further, and the coverage of his psychic power had also increased by a wide margin.

    All these changes made him convinced that the wood power from that spiritual armor was indeed a tremendous help to him.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    At that moment, he suddenly noticed that some of the wood power that had been absorbed into his body quietly flowed into his spiritual sea.

    After entering, the wood power began to swirl around at a low speed inside his spiritual sea, before it soon sped up and took the form of another spiritual vortex.

    A fresh green aura surged within the vortex that was brimming with life force.

    The mysterious life force seemed to be nourishing his spiritual sea and elerating the speed of refinement and rotation of the vortex of spiritual power and vortex of me power within.

    It was at that moment that a feeling urred to him, that he was about to break through from the early Lesser Heaven stage into the middle Lesser Heaven stage.

    He felt that his state of mind, his understanding of the me Spirit Incantation, as well as his mastery of spiritual power had already reached the critical point of breaking through.

    It appeared as though he did not need to make any effort or cultivate through meditating; he would automatically step into the middle Lesser Heaven stage.

    Everything seemed so natural that he experienced not even the slightest difort. It was like how a canal formed by itself when water flowed.

    WHOOSH!

    The strange energy fluctuations once again gradually retreated towards the city.

    Meanwhile, the scarlet light spots on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand that had absorbed arge amount of magical symbols also cooled down.

    By this point, the number ofplicated patterns and symbols on the wall of the dpidated city had grown fewer and fewer.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The beams of rainbow-coloured light also abruptly shrunk back into the city. At this very moment, an extremely strong attractive force suddenly came from the city.

    The floating city suddenly stopped swaying and became as steady as a mountain.

    Loud creaking sounds came through from the four walls of the square city while four heavy, thick stone gates slowly cracked open in the city walls, where originally no gates could be seen.

    As soon as the gates opened up, multi-colored light flowed out from within, forming four glorious passages leading into the city.

    Everyone who was in the midst of battling simultaneously noticed the strange changes to the city and subconsciously stopped fighting momentarily as all of their attention was seized by the city.

    Each and every one of them sensed a strong attractive force from within the city.

    The city seemed to be summoning all those who had Heaven Gate patterns on their hands, and the more light spots a person had on their Heaven Gate pattern, the stronger summoning and suction force they could feel.

    Nie Tian stared nkly at the widely opened stone gate that was the closest to him and immediately realized that he waspletely unable to resist the suction force that came from within. Step by step, he headed towards that stone gate.

    As for the others, they had long since harbored avaricious thoughts towards whatever was in the city. Therefore, when they felt the attractive force, they didn¡¯t even try to fight it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    They all bolted forward like shing lightning as every single one of them wanted to be the first to enter.

    Compared to Nie Tian, who was moving towards the city step by step, their speed was faster by god knew how many times.

    BOOM!

    When Zou Yi from the Ghost sect, who had long since given up attacking the foreign cultivator, stepped into the gate tunnel, he felt a strong shock to his body and a wisp of blood escaped from the corner of his mouth.

    He was forced to a stop.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    All the others were also bombarded and pushed back by a strong force when they entered the gate tunnel.

    Those who were the most anxious to enter were all stopped at the gate and repelled by that force, unable to step through.

    From the look of it, the more light spots a person had on the back of their hand, the weaker the pushing force they would have to fight against. Therefore, Miao Chen and the other foreign cultivators had less resistance as they plodded forward.

    On the other hand, since Li Fan, Liu Yan, Feng Luo hadn¡¯t killed any disciples from the other six sects, none of them had the chance to gain more scarlet light spots.

    As a result, when they attempted to step through the city gate, every step forward was extremely difficult and energy-consuming.

    Meanwhile, even though Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was the lowest, he actually walked past Zou Yi and continued forward, due to the fact that he possessed the most scarlet light spots.

    Various expressions shed across Zou Yi¡¯s face as he watched Nie Tian surpass him.

    Killing intent could be seen in his eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare do anything to him!¡± Li Fan shouted out loudly and dashed to Zou Yi¡¯s side together with Liu Yan, one nking Zou Yi from each side, fearing that he could not restrain himself from attacking Nie Tian.

    Even Feng Luo said, standing not far from Zou Yi, ¡°It¡¯s the kid¡¯s fortune that he obtained the most light spots. If you want to forcibly take his fortune away, I¡¯m afraid it will give rise to fights among the seven sects. You¡¯d better think it over before you do anything!¡±

    Li Fan and Liu Yan were staring coldly at Zou Yi, as if they were telling him to resist the temptation, however strong it was.

    He looked at Nie Tian who was moving forward one step at a time, and turned to look at Li Fan, Liu Yan, and Feng Luo, who were ring at him from all sides, like tigers eyeing their prey. He finally chose to give up. ¡°Fine, fine. Little punk! Remember, you owe me one!¡±

 Chapter 165: Heaven Spark

    Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect fiercely red at Zou Yi and shouted, ¡°He doesn¡¯t owe you a damn thing! If you dare to make a move, don¡¯t me me for being rude!¡±

    Liu Yan also had a serious expression on his face. Even though Zou Yi had expressed that he wouldn¡¯t think of killing Nie Tian again, he still couldn¡¯t let his guard down for fear that Zou Yi wouldn¡¯t keep true to his words.

    When they entered the city gate tunnel, they all felt the resistance and realized that the more scarlet light spots one had obtained, the easier it was to enter the city.

    It meant that by madly killing disciples from the seven sects, the cultivators from the other realms were actually wanting to enter that city.

    Nie Tian was five meters ahead of Zou Yi. His cultivation base was puny, yet his luck was unbelievably good, allowing him to obtain fifteen scarlet light spots. By killing Nie Tian, Zou Yi would easily strip away everything that belonged to Nie Tian.

    Moreover, the Ghost sect and the Cloudsoaring sect hadn¡¯t been friendly in the slightest, and as a matter of fact, they had only temporarily joined forces because of the cmity that was about to strike the Realm of me Heaven.

    He wasn¡¯t certain that Zou Yi could resist the devil in his heart.

    Not only were Li Fan and Liu Yan carefully guarding against Zou Yi, they were also secretly vignt towards Feng Luo from the Blood sect.

    They didn¡¯t know that after Feng Luo and Nie Tian had fought Zhao Mo side by side, their tension had already eased up.

    In their eyes, Feng Luo and Zou Yi fell into the same category: their former enemies.

    They even suspected that Feng Luo favouring Nie Tian was in fact because he had ulterior motives and was purposely concealing the greediness in his heart so that he could suddenly make a move at a crucial moment.

    ¡°What are you looking at me for? I have no desire for that boy¡¯s fortune.¡± Feng Luo sounded a bit unpleased.

    Li Fan gave a loud harrumph. ¡°I¡¯m not you. Only you know what you are thinking.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    It was also at this moment that two figures shed towards where everyone was from afar.

    ¡°Zhao Mo! Tang Yang!¡± Feng Luo turned his head around and a strange look appeared in his eyes. From what he could tell, things were not looking good.

    The moment Tang Yang, who had a tall and sturdy frame and numerous zing patterns tattooed on his arms, arrived in front of the city, he asked Zhao Mo, who was by his side, ¡°Where is he?!¡±

    The truth was Zhao Mo, who was also from the Realm of Dark Underworld, had led Tang Yang as they trailed behind Nie Tian. Now they finally arrived caught up to them.

    Standing not far from the city gate where everyone was, Zhao Mo narrowed his eyes, pointed at Nie Tian, and said, ¡°That¡¯s the boy I was talking about.¡±

    Upon a closer look at Nie Tian, Tang Yang couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°What?! He¡¯s got fifteen Heaven Sparks! How on earth did he obtain fifteen?¡± Tang Yang had an disbelieving expression on his face.

    By Heaven Spark, he was referring to the fifteen scarlet light spots in the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Apparently, he knew the meaning behind them and what they represented.

    ¡°Heaven Sparks?¡± Zou Yi from the Ghost sect softly whispered, finally learning the name of those red light spots.

    ¡°Heaven Sparks...¡± Nie Tian also heard Tang Yang¡¯s words. He looked down at the red spots on the back of his hand, which had be iparably hot, and muttered to himself, ¡°So these things are called Heaven Sparks. From the look of it, the seven sects from the Realm of me Heaven know nothing about them, but those from the other realms seems to know the secrets behind them.¡±

    ¡°That kid is mine!¡± Tang Yang violently shouted as clusters of mes suddenly emerged from within him, as if he had be a person who had been engulfed in violently surging mes .

    Releasing zing mes, he blurred into action. Like a ming meteorite, he plummeted towards the city gate where Nie Tian stood.

    ¡°Damn!¡± Zou Yi, Feng Luo, Li Fan, and Liu Yan, who were gathered in the city gate tunnel, had their faces turn pale with terror.

    Zou Yi and Feng Luo were from the Ghost sect and Blood sect respectively. Before they entered, they had went through many channels to find out about the two strongest Qi warriors amongst all the foreign cultivators.

    One was Miao Chen, who had already arrived here. He was the one from the Realm of ck Marsh, and his spiritual power was tainted with deadly toxicity and through mere contact, would rot away a man¡¯s flesh.

    The other one was Tang Yang, who everyone was looking at. He was from the Realm of Dark Underworld, and had ate Greater Heaven stage cultivation base. He was proficient in the arts of the me.

    When the three foreign cultivators, including Miao Chen, saw that Tang Yang hade, they were also secretly surprised. ¡°Tang Yang!¡±

    Miao Chen had a grim expression on his face, clearly quite fearful of Tang Yang. ¡°This guy found this ce too quickly. Dammit!¡±

    Only Miao Chen knew how many plots he had secretly concocted in order to prevent Tang Yang from finding this ce.

    After stepping through the Heaven Gate, he confirmed through some mysterious means that the floating city would appear on this enormous meteorite.

    In order to prevent Tang Yang from finding this ce, he secretly carried out a crafty scheme to make sure that the area that Tang Yang was responsible for was the furthest away from this meteorite.

    He did so to make sure that Tang Yang wouldn¡¯t be able to perceive the energy fluctuations when the floating city appeared.

    Even if Tang Yang realized that the area that he was allotted was extremely remote when the floating city appeared, Miao Chen was confident that he would probably have seized the most of the fortune by the time Tang Yang came for him.

    As a matter of fact, if it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, Tang Yang would indeed still be at his allotted region, hunting down disciples from the seven sects one after the other and umting Heaven Sparks.

    As far as Tang Yang was concerned, the more Heaven Sparks one obtained, the stronger one¡¯s connection would be to that dpidated city. Therefore, his n was to determine the urate location of the floating city through obtaining the most Heaven Sparks.

    However, Zhao Mo had found him and told him about the appearance of the me Dragon Armor and the fact that the me Dragon Armor had integrated with the Blood Core.

    The me Dragon Armor was from Tang Yang¡¯s sect. Now that it not only had beplete again, but it had even fallen into the hands of a Lesser Heaven stage junior from the Realm of me Heaven, he naturally wanted to snatch it without any dy.

    That was why Tang Yang immediate put an end to his n of hunting and killing the disciples from the seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven.

    Under Zhao Mo¡¯s lead, they had raced in Nie Tian¡¯s direction. Moreover, when that floating city had first appeared and released energy fluctuations, Tang Yang instantly perceived them.

    Therefore, Nie Tian actually contributed greatly to the fact that Tang Yang had rushed over in time.

    Tang Yang roared before diving forcefully towards the city gate where Feng Luo and Li Fan were at, like a fierce, burning beast. ¡°Get the hell out of my way, all of you! I¡¯m not interested in you. As long as you stay where you are and don¡¯t try to stop me, I¡¯ll consider sparing your lives!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Tang Yang!!¡± Zou Yi and Feng Luo¡¯s expressions flickered. They subconsciously dodged to the side, clearing out a path that led straight into the city.

    Even though Feng Luo had already developed an admiration towards Nie Tian, he knew how powerful Tang Yang was and was not willing to put his life on the line for Nie Tian. By that time, he had also spotted the ten bright spots on the back of Tang Yang¡¯s hand, which indicated that ten powerful experts from the seven sects had already died by his hands.

    Li Fan and Liu Yan were both in the early Greater Heaven stage. After sensing Tang Yang¡¯s unstoppable momentum and that Tang Yang¡¯s eyes were were aze with frenzied mes as he stared unwaveringly at Nie Tian, they couldn¡¯t help but feel secretly frightened.

    They were now certain that Tang Yang¡¯s target was Nie Tian!

    They weren¡¯t clear as to how Nie Tian had offended Tang Yang, yet they knew that once Tang Yang got close to Nie Tian, Nie Tian would most likely be killed in a sh.

    They exchanged a nce and saw the bitter and helpless look in each other¡¯s eyes.

    If Zou Yi and Feng Luo were willing to join hands with them to stop Tang Yang, perhaps they could stall Tang Yang for a while.

    However, by stepping away and clearing a path for Tang Yang, Zou Yi and Feng Luo had already made their stance clear.

    They did not dare to hamper Tang Yang!

    Without Zou Yi and Feng Luo, there was no possibility whatsoever that they could block Tang Yang with just the two of them.

    Just as they were hesitating, Zhao Mo from the Realm of Dark Underworld also dashed towards them after Tang Yang.

    Zhao Mo was in the middle Greater Heaven stage, and thus could also overtake any of them. Apparently, he bore the intention of assisting Tang Yang by dashing after him.

    Tang Yang by himself was already terrifying. Now that Zhao Mo was also in the picture, how were they going to contend against them?

    When Zou Yi and Feng Luo realized that Zhao Mo had also rushed towards this city gate, they grew increasingly uneasy. Without any dy, they quickly stepped back to make an evenrger space for them, fearing that Tang Yang and Zhao Mo would kill them for being in their way. However, Li Fan and Liu Yan didn¡¯t move a bit.

    ¡°Screw off!¡± An enormous, ming light beam suddenly shot out from Tang Yang¡¯s chest. Inside of the light beam, there were many specks of ming light flickering about, interweaving into a marvelous me pattern.

    A mysterious me incantation that carried the intent to burn everything to ashes seemed to be branded within that mysterious zing pattern!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    One after the other, Liu Yan and Li Fan summoned their spiritual tools in an attempt to block the ming light beam. However, in the moment that the ming light beam made contact with their spiritual weapons, they were sted so heavily to the point where they coughed up blood.

    Their Medium grade spiritual tools were sent flying to the side while still sputtering with fragmented mes.

    BANG!

    With another attack, the ming light beam viciously struck Liu Yan in the chest. Liu Yan was sent flying backwards and heavily fell to the ground behind Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian had long since quietly turned around to observe their movements since Tang Yang and Zhao Mo appeared. He witnessed Liu Yan sail through the air in a perfect arc and fall to the ground with a loud crash.

    ¡°Uncle Liu!!!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s wide eyes grew so bloodshot that they seemed as if were about to bleed.

    By the time Liu Yan fell to the ground, the vigor in his eyes had already dispersed and he waspletely devoid of life force.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The fearful, ming light beam madly sped along for another several meters inside the city gate tunnel that shone with multi-colored light before it finally dissipated, as if it had also been affected by the pushing force inside the tunnel.

    Li Fan¡¯s eyes also immediately reddened. Watching Liu Yan be killed right before his eyes, he immediately nned to fight Tang Yang to the death.

    At that moment, Feng Luo, who was the closest to him, grabbed him and held him back with all his strength, despite Li Fan¡¯s struggling, so as to stop him from going on a suicide mission.

    Feng Luo was certain that Nie Tian was Tang Yang¡¯s one and only target!

    As long as the other people didn¡¯t try to stop him from getting close to Nie Tian, he wouldn¡¯t bother to kill them.

    Liu Yan was only annihted by Tang Yang because he recklessly stood between him and Nie Tian.

    Tang Yang did not even spare Li Fan a nce as he stepped forward. It was obvious that he did not attach any importance to someone who only had an early Greater Heaven cultivation base.

    Seeing that Liu Yan had been killed by Tang Yang with one strike, Zou Yi stood still, bbergasted. ¡°He¡¯s so strong!

    His expression flickered as he stealthily took another step back, making even more room for the god-like Tang Yang.

    Tang Yang¡¯s whole body was aze with mes as he strode forwards. Coupled with his tall and sturdy frame, he was like a burning, moving mountain. His eyes were fixed on Nie Tian as he shouted, ¡°Boy! Hand over the me Dragon Armor and I will honor you aplete-corpse death! If you dare to disobey me, I will burn you to ashes, not leaving a single bone!¡±

    By the time the words left his mouth, he had already walked past Feng Luo, Li Fan, and Zou Yi. Step by step, he approached Nie Tian.

    The clusters of zing mes that had been hovering around him seemed to fight with the multi-colored light within the gate tunnel, creating crackling and rattling sounds.

    Tang Yang, who had long hair trailing over his shoulders, gradually built up his imposing manner. Now he was like a ming, demonic god, unceasingly unleashing deadly, tyrannical mes.

 Chapter 166: Another Breakthrough!

    The city gate tunnel was several dozen meters deep.

    Tang Yang caught up from behind while unleashing monstrous me power. In merely a split second, he sped past Li Fan and Feng Luo and continued to proceed forward.

    He didn¡¯t even take one nce at Liu Yan¡¯s corpse as he shed past.

    He rapidly gained on Nie Tian, and it wasn¡¯t long before he was only fifteen meters away.

    CRACKLE!

    While the seven-colored light within the gate tunnel constantly bashed the burning mes that wreathed Tang Yang, they repeatedly neutralized each other.

    ¡°Yee!?¡± Tang Yang suddenly came to a stop, as if he was also astonished by the strong resistant force that had been crushing him and pushing him back.

    Separated by a distance of fifteen meters, he coldly looked at Nie Tian as he secretly examined the resistant force that seemed to stem from the seven-colored light. He seemed to be pondering something.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Get away from him! Go as far as you can!¡± Seeing from behind that Tang Yang was getting closer and closer to Nie Tian, Li Fan hurriedly reminded him with a loud voice, hoping that Nie Tian would continue to move forward and keep a distance between him and Tang Yang.

    While calling out, Li Fan¡¯s face was full of grief and indignation. As he looked at Liu Yan¡¯s corpse, his heart was brimming with hatred.

    However, he also understood perfectly that with his cultivation base, it was impossible for him to avenge Liu Yan by killing Tang Yang in the city gate tunnel.

    He only wished that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t follow in Liu Yan¡¯s footsteps.

    ¡°Hand over the me Dragon Armor and I will honor you with aplete-corpse death!¡± Tang Yang never even looked at Li Fan. Instead, he stared at Nie Tian and threatened him again.

    Red-hot, bright lights rapidly condensed one after another in front of Tang Yang as he spoke.

    The bright, fiery lights continuously changed their form, before they once again converged and morphed into a thick and long ming light beam, inside of which were hidden the profound truths of the me power.

    As soon as the fiery light beam was formed, the seven-colored light in the gate tunnel suddenly flooded toward Tang Yang.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Countless dazzling sparks were sent out into the surroundings when the two types of light met, making the energy in the area between Tang Yang and Nie Tian extremely turbulent.

    ¡°Uncle Liu...¡± Turning back to look at Liu Yan¡¯s cold body, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with rage.

    However, he knew that with his current cultivation base, it was absolutely impossible for him to kill Tang Yang.

    After all, Tang Yang was much more powerful than Jia Peng and Du Huang.

    Tang Yang shook his head and called out, ¡°Hey!¡±

    It seemed that he couldn¡¯t wait any longer and decided to not give Nie Tian another chance.

    BOOM!

    Under hismand, the thick, ming light beam, carrying a terrifying me energy, abruptly charged towards Nie Tian.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The seven-colored light, which was originally scattered everywhere within the city gate, gathered together from all directions and condensed into multiple seven-colored light shields, rippling forward to resist the light beam.

    The shing momentum of the light beam made it advance forward with extreme difficulty due to the resistance of the seven-colored light shields.

    One inch at a time, the thick, ming light beam broke through the multipleyers of light. However, it was gradually neutralized by the power of the seven-colored light shields and became smaller and smaller. The me energy that it carried was also rapidly dissipating.

    The seven-colored light rays that were everywhere in the city gate tunnel seemed to prohibit fights of any kind.

    Upon detecting any sort of violent power, the seven-colored light rays would immediately interfere and obliterate the attack, regardless of whoeverunched it.

    However, the might of thete Greater Heaven stage Tang Yang¡¯s attack was by no means insignificant.

    Even though there wereyers of obstructions from the seven-colored light rays, which had caused the me light pir to slow down, it was still, bit by bit, rumbling towards Nie Tian.

    When the me light pir was only two meters away from Nie Tian¡¯s chest, Nie Tian was already dripping with sweat.

    ¡°Get out of here! Now!!¡± Feng Luo couldn¡¯t help but call out to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, who had stood in ce for a while, snapped back to his senses. He temporarily cast aside his emotions and stepped out again towards the inside of the city.

    As he took his first step, he immediately felt the strength of the pushing force increase dramatically. He couldn¡¯t tell if the power that originated from the seven-colored light rays was preventing everyone from entering or testing them.

    He had no choice but to madly draw power from his spiritual sea and stimte his vortex of spiritual power, vortex of me power, and vortex of wood power to the peak.

    The high speed revolution of the three vortexes not only provided him with rich energy, but it seemed to also be very efficiently purifying his spiritual sea.

    Within his spiritual sea, the refining process of the different kinds of power seemed to have sped up by several fold with the frantic revolution of the three vortexes.

    BOOM!

    When he took the tenth step, he suddenly experienced a violent shudder in his mind. It felt like he had broken out of a tight cage.

    ¡°Middle Lesser Heaven stage!¡± Even though he didn¡¯t have an idea as to what exactly had happened within himself, he was certain that he had just broke through from the early Lesser Heaven stage into the middle Lesser Heaven stage.

    He never expected that he would make a breakthrough in his cultivation base while he was in the middle of painstakingly stepping forward within the gate tunnel.

    Not having the time to ponder the profundity of the middle Lesser Heaven stage, he once again concentrated on moving forward as fast as possible.

    At that moment, even though the fiery light beam had already shrunk to one tenth of its original size, it was still closing in on him.

    It was now only one meter away from the middle of Nie Tian¡¯s back.

    The me energy that the ming light beam unleashed caused the area that he was in to be iparably hot.

    Numerous seven-colored light rays were still gathering and rushing towards towards Nie Tian, as they still wanted to obstruct the ming light beam.

    Nie Tian abruptly turned around. He red at the ming light beam that had be as thin as an arm and ferociously swung his fist at it.

    Splendid and dazzling light blossomed from within his fist.

    BAM!

    At the moment his fist struck the ming light beam, sparks sputtered all over the ce and numerous threads of fiery light shot out in all directions.

    ¡°You must have a death wish!¡± A sinister grin appeared on Tang Yang¡¯s face as he seemed to suddenly infuse a new surge of power into the fiery light beam, causing it to rapidly expand in size.

    A violent me energy suddenly burst forth from the light beam.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned pale upon the scene.

    Without pausing to think, he immediately summoned a life-saving spiritual talisman that Wu Ji had bestowed upon him from within his bracelet of holding.

    As soon as the talismannded in his palm, he sent out a wisp of thought to trigger it. Within a split second, it turned into light shields of spiritual power, enveloping Nie Tian.

    There were as many as sevenyers of light shields that constantly released a jade-like glow. There was a thin separation between theyers.

    Numerous threads of spiritual power appeared within the seven light shields. They interwove with each other and evolved into numerous detailed, spiritual patterns.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The fiery sparks that had sputtered out from the fiery light beam disappeared into thin air as soon as they fell onto the outermost light shield.

    Then, the expanded light beam rammed into the light shield with great force.

    All of a sudden, the sevenyers of light shields shone with endless precious light. The numerousplicated spiritual patterns within started to flow back and forth as if they had their own life and soul.

    The violent thrusting force, along with the resistant force of the light shields, burst out from the point of contact.

    Upon the strong impact from the gigantic light beam, Nie Tian, who originally trudged forward with great difficulty, was instantly sent forward by more than ten steps.

    A gentle, formidable force was emanating from within the sevenyers of spiritual power shields, secretly protecting him from any injuries.

    At that moment, the four outermost light shields flew out from the sphere, wrapped around the ming light beam, and immediately started to battle at close quarters with the me power within the light beam.

    The mysterious strength that hade from Wu Ji, bit by bit, ripped apart and crushed the me essence that had been imprinted by Tang Yang.

    Under the frenzied biting and tearing of the numerous mysterious spiritual patterns on the light shields, the ming light beam once again rapidly shrunk until it disappearedpletely.

    WHOOSH!

    The fouryers of spiritual power shields morphed into a bright light ball, and flew back to Nie Tian.

    As soon as it made contact with the remaining threeyers of light shields, it began to fluctuate and soon spread out to form twoyers of light shields.

    Therefore, there were still fiveyers of light shields wreathing Nie Tian.

    Not only was Nie Tian unscathed, he even took advantage of the impact force that came from Tang Yang¡¯s attack and got closer to the inside of the city.

    Seeing that his ming light beam hadpletely disappeared, Tang Yang gave a muffled snort as his expression slightly changed. ¡°A life-saving spiritual talisman from a Profound realm expert!¡±

    For some unknown reason, the surging mes that were surrounding him seemed to have grown smaller by arge extent.

    His arrogant attacks seemed to have triggered the counter-attack of the seven-colored light rays that filled every corner of the gate tunnel, as they diverted their attention from the others, and madly surged towards him.

    The pushing and squeezing force that he suffered was suddenly multiplied by several times.

    Nie Tian, who was at the forefront, originally found it hard to take even one step. However, at this moment, he felt that the resistance had suddenly grown weaker.

    With the five light shields protecting him, he continued to summon strength to speed up his footsteps. Without any dy, he rapidly charged towards the inner city.

    He gradually put space between himself and the city gate, which was several dozen meters high. Before long, he and Miao Chen, who had entered through another gate, became the first ones to step into the city.

 Chapter 167: Chosen Ones from the Other Realms

    The moment Nie Tian entered the city, he stood there aghast, eyes filled with disbelief.

    In front of his eyes was a vacant, vast city. Contrary to what he had pictured in mind, there weren¡¯t any nicely decorated buildings or pavilions made of jade. There was only seven-colored light that drifted about in the air like colorful ribbons.

    Just as he secretly felt disappointed, the light seemed to have sensed his existence and converged on him from every direction.

    In a sh, thousands of light rays arrived at his side and turned into a seven-colored light shield, enveloping him like a giant bubble.

    As soon as the colorful light shield was formed, it flew up, taking him into the air.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck.

    He had no idea what was happening. He attempted to resist, using the power of the spiritual shields, and stop himself from moving.

    Only then did he suddenly notice that the remaining spiritual power shields were already gone.

    Enveloped by the light bubble, he flew up towards the starry sky above his head at an unimaginable speed.

    While traveling, he looked at his surroundings with rapt attention, and found that Miao Chen was enveloped in another bubble and had also shot up into the sky.

    The two of them were several hundred meters away and could clearly see each other. Nie Tian saw unveiledcence within Miao Chen¡¯s eyes.

    It was when he found that Miao Chen was more ted than afraid that he slightly rxed and tried not to overthink it. He stopped resisting and let the giant bubble take him into the boundless, starry sky.

    When he looked down, the numerous gigantic meteors had all shrunk to the size of pieces of grain.

    The city that brimmed with seven-colored light had already be hard to find, and soon disappeared from his sight.

    However, at the same time, more and more people enveloped in seven-colored bubbles entered his sight one after another.

    He saw a tall, burly man surrounded by raging mes shooting into the sky in a seven-colored bubble. Upon a closer look, it was none other than Tang Yang from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Apparently, Tang Yang had also stepped into the city after him.

    He grew a bit nervous since he had absolutely no idea what would happen. He kept ncing around, but all he saw was endless darkness.

    He unleashed his psychic awareness into his surroundings, but detected no sign of life. There was only coldness.

    Time passed by rapidly as the bubble carried Nie Tian upwards.

    All of a sudden, he felt the bubble slow down a bit.

    Subconsciously, he looked up.

    A majestic, enormous pce appeared in the depths of the starry sky above him, like an unwavering mountain.

    Beneath the base of the pce, countless light rays of various colors interwove with each other, sending out terrifying energy surges.

    SHEW!

    The bubble carried him up as it flew into a dazzling, transparent tunnel under the pce, and then shuttled him into the pce.

    Secondster, the seven-colored bubble appeared in an immeasurably wide pce hall.

    Wisps of extremely rich spiritual energy entered the floating bubble and blew into Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    With merely a sniff of it, he felt enlivened and cleansed of all exhaustion, as if his spiritual sea was also rejuvenated by the puff of spiritual energy.

    Amazed, he couldn¡¯t help but start ncing around at the inside of the splendid pce hall while scanning the area with his psychic awareness.

    The ceiling of the hall was extremely vast and adorned with shining dots, which upon a closer look were small stars, making it seem like a river of stars. Even though those tiny stars seemed very far away, he could tell that they were releasing energy fluctuations.

    From time to time, gentle starlight would flow out of the star river and pour into the pce hall.

    Two rivers of seven-colored light flowed in the pce hall, dividing the enormous hall into three areas.

    Miao Chen was in one of them that was separated from the one that Nie Tian was in by arge area.

    Numerousplicated, beautiful patterns were imprinted on the pce walls that were far away from where Nie Tian was. Within them seemed toy the profound truths of many kinds of power.

    Nie Tian grew fascinated with only a single glimpse of them. However, after staring at them with rapt attention for a while, he found himself losing his psychic power at a fast speed.

    Apparently, it consumed a tremendous amount of psychic power to study the mysterious patterns on the walls.

    Without any hesitation, he retracted his focus from them, and continued to observe the vast area that he was in.

    WHOOSH!

    Another seven-colored bubble appeared in the area that Nie Tian was in, within which was a white-robed young man.

    Face grave and stern, he sat inside of the bubble with a simple, unsophisticated sword on hisp. He gently stroked the sword with hands that were even more slender and beautiful than those of a girl, as he scanned the area with a thoughtful gaze.

    ¡°This guy...¡± At first nce, Nie Tian was sure that he had never seen the man, and that the man had never showed up in the floating city.

    After a brief examination, he could tell that the white-robed young man was also in the Lesser Heaven stage, just like him.

    ¡°He¡¯s also in the Lesser Heaven stage.¡± Nie Tian grew intrigued and couldn¡¯t help but start to look him up and down more closely. His expression suddenly flickered.

    To his surprise, he saw as many as sixteen Heaven Sparks on the back of the young man¡¯s left hand.

    This meant that he might have already taken the lives of sixteen trial takers.

    Nie Tian consider himself lucky because by only killing Du Huang and Kan Xingming, he managed to obtain fifteen Heaven Sparks, although the process had been hard and dangerous.

    Furthermore, he had taken advantage of others¡¯ help in both kills.

    The fact that they were both in the Lesser Heaven stage but the white-robed young man had even more Heaven Sparks than him made Nie Tian secretly astounded.

    While Nie Tian looked the white-robed young man up and down, the young man also nced around and eventuallyid his gaze on Nie Tian and the fifteen Heaven Sparks on his hand.

    Like Nie Tian, he was also surprised. Then he greeted Nie Tian by briefly nodding towards him.

    Nie Tian nodded back.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At the same time, another two seven-colored bubbles appeared not far from Nie Tian.

    They held one young man and one young woman, and both had a Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base.

    The young man had an angr face and was wearing a ck robe. His loose, shoulder-length hair gave him a somewhat wild look.

    He had a long saber with no sheath on his back. On the de were detailed and sophisticated patterns, among which was a closed eye.

    It seemed like a mysterious symbol and Nie Tian had the feeling that it could snap open at any time.

    It seemed as if, whenever it opened, it would unleash a power so mighty that it would even outshine the stars in the sky.

    Noticing that Nie Tian was staring at him, the ck-robed young man gave a casual, handsome grin; not even the slightest hint of fierceness could be seen in his eyes.

    At that moment, Nie Tian noticed the Heaven Sparks that were glittering with scarlet light on the back of his hand. ¡°Eighteen Heaven Sparks!¡±

    The white-robed young man had sixteen and the ck-robed young man had eighteen, while the two of them only had a Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base.

    Nie Tian was taken aback by the amount of Heaven Sparks that they had obtained.

    After a brief moment, he shifted his gaze to the only female among them.

    The young woman was in a blue robe. Her eyes were so bright and her face was so delicate that she even seemed unreal. Compared to Jiang Lingzhu and An Shiyi, she was even more unearthly beautiful, and her charm was also something that Nie Tian had never seen.

    She had no essories on her, save a green ring on her finger.

    She sat cross-legged within the seven-colored bubble. Eyes closed and silent, she didn¡¯t move a hair, as if she had already merged with the heaven and earth, and was rapidly taking in spiritual energy from her surroundings.

    Her hands were ttened out on her knees, with her palms facing up, so Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see how many Heaven Sparks she had.

    However, Nie Tian had the feeling that this charming young woman must also be a deadly character, by no means weaker than the other two young men.

    She must have felt Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, but she did nothing in response, not even sparing him a nce.

    She only took a quick nce at the other two young men before focusing all her attention on the two seven-colored light rivers and people in the other two areas.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Nie Tian followed her gaze and realized that figures were starting to appear in the other two areas.

    Among the figures that rapidly appeared in the area closer to his, most were in the Heaven stage and had about ten Heaven Sparks or less on their hands.

    In the area further away from his, Nie Tian saw Miao Chen from the Realm of ck Marsh and Tang Yang from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Separated by two seven-colored light rivers, Tang Yang stared coldly at him, as if he wanted to cross the rivers to get Nie Tian, but was held back by certain worries and had decided not to act rashly.

    Miao Chen stood right next to Tang Yang, chuckling softly because of the situation.

    Anger appeared on Tang Yang¡¯s face. However, he didn¡¯t seem interested in talking to Miao Chen, so he didn¡¯t do anything in response to Miao Chen¡¯s sneer.

    Separated by the light rivers, Nie Tian could only see them, but couldn¡¯t hear anything.

    At that moment, the ck-robed young man smiled at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Little bro, you don¡¯t look familiar to me. Which realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars are you from?¡±

    As soon as he talked, the white-robed young man with a cold aura around him also cast his gaze towards Nie Tian.

    Only the young woman didn¡¯t move a muscle, as she appeared to bepletely indifferent regarding Nie Tian¡¯s origin and status.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven,¡± Nie Tian answered without giving it too much thought.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven...¡± the young man in ck chuckled and said, ¡°The weakest realm of the nine. You¡¯re lucky that one of the Heaven Gates opened in your realm. I bet the seniors in your sect must have gone to great lengths to get you in here.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before he said, ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m lucky.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡± The young man in ck had a incredulous expression on his face. Eyes narrowed, he looked Nie Tian up and down carefully and asked, ¡°Middle Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    The young man in ck shook his head as the expression on his face grew unfathomable.

    He said no more, but his gaze was filled with ferocity, as if he had already made Nie Tian his target.

    After hearing Nie Tian admitting that he had a middle Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base, the white-robed young man didn¡¯t say a word, but rather stared at him like he was staring at a dead man.

    As always, the young woman in blue turned a deaf ear to all that had happened.

 Chapter 168: Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, more powerful experts from the other realms appeared in seven-colored bubbles, in the vast pce hall.

    Most of them had Heaven and Greater Heaven stage cultivation bases, and thus appeared in the other two areas.

    After some brief observation, Nie Tian found that there were six people in the area for Heaven stage cultivators, and eight people, including Miao Chen and Tang Yang, in the area for Greater Heaven stage cultivators.

    Each and every one of them had about ten Heaven Sparks on the backs of their hands.

    Apparently, they had all gone through bloody battles to get where they were. Their sess was made from numerous corpses.

    The truth was that Nie Tian was the only Qi warrior from the Realm of me Heaven that had made it to the ancient pce.

    The others must have failed to get through the gate of the dpidated city.

    Nie Tian frowned deeply. ¡°I¡¯m the only one from the Realm of me Heaven...¡±

    A while had passed and no one new appeared in the three areas of the pce hall.

    Separated from Nie Tian by the Heaven stage area, Tang Yang still shot nces at him from time to time, like a tiger that was constantly checking its prey.

    However, it seemed that he was aware that it would be impossible for him to cross those seven-colored light rivers.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t even bother to try. However, he wasn¡¯t any less torn with regret that he didn¡¯t go all-out and kill Nie Tian before entering.

    In the area for Lesser Heaven stage cultivators, Nie Tian and the other three were in the four corners of the squared floor.

    Nie Tian¡¯s gaze shifted between the other three, and he noticed that they were all quietly adjusting their breathing and auras, as if they were preparing for something.

    It seemed they all knew what would happen in the ancient pce.

    And Nie Tian was the only one who knew nothing of it.

    However, none of them showed any interest in exining it to Nie Tian as they each sat in their own corner, silently taking in the extremely rich spiritual energy in the air.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian immediately started channeling the spiritual energy with the Qi Refining Incantation.

    As soon as he started, the rich and pure spiritual energy in his vicinity started to madly converge on him.

    The energy was so pure that it didn¡¯t even need to be refined. The moment it flowed into his spiritual sea, it merged with the spiritual power that had already been there.

    The vortex of spiritual power in his spiritual sea started to revolve at an astonishing speed as it rapidly expanded, as if it had be a tornado.

    Meanwhile, the vortex of me power and vortex of wood power quietly revolved.

    Since the spiritual energy that Nie Tian had taken in was very pure and untainted with power of any attribute, those two vortexes didn¡¯t undergo much change.

    ¡°The spiritual energy is so pure and refined here!¡±

    After a brief moment of cultivation, Nie Tian felt enlivened and rxed. He even discovered signs that his spiritual sea was experiencing another expansion and upgrade.

    Ever since he had stepped into the Lesser Heaven stage, the size of his spiritual sea hadn¡¯t changed at all.

    When he was in the early Lesser Heaven stage, all he had done was refine the spiritual energy in his spiritual sea over and over again, in order to make the faint spiritual energy within it pure and condensed.

    He had always thought that was all there was to the cultivation in the Lesser Heaven stage.

    However, as soon as the pure spiritual energy in the pce entered his vortex of spiritual power, he knew he was wrong.

    His spiritual sea, which had undergone countless rounds of refinement, once again started to develop and expand.

    Furthermore, it expanded unprecedentedly fast this time!

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Under his channeling, the spiritual energy in the air near Nie Tian madly converged onto the seven-colored light shield that he was in.

    Like a sponge, he rapidly absorbed the spiritual energy and directed it into his spiritual sea in order for it to continue expanding.

    ¡°Yee!?¡± The ck-robed young man seemed to have detected an anomaly and snapped his eyes open.

    He stared closely at Nie Tian and observed his slightly strange way of absorbing spiritual energy, before he smiled and said, ¡°Only a cultivator who just broke through and opened up a new piece of drynd in their spiritual sea would be able to absorb the spiritual energy in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce so rapidly. This means that this guy only entered the middle Lesser Heaven stage recently. Interesting!¡±

    He managed to see through Nie Tian¡¯s situation by no more than observing the strange energy flow that had been created by him while cultivating.

    He was right. Nie Tian had only reached the point where he naturally entered the middle Lesser Heaven stage when he was in the gate of the floating city.

    Whenever a breakthrough was made, the spiritual sea was always very eager to fill the void with new-found energy. Therefore, when he started to use the Qi Refining Incantation to cultivate, the speed that he channeled spiritual energy to his spiritual sea was faster than the other three.

    And there was another reason to it: the three of them already had their spiritual seas brimming with spiritual energy.

    They would have to spend more time and strength to upgrade their spiritual seas in order for them to contain more spiritual energy.

    On the other hand, there was an area in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea that waspletely empty and ready for new spiritual energy.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    White, misty spiritual energy flooded into Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea, swelling it like a shriveled balloon.

    After an unknown period of time, his spiritual sea expanded by fifty percent from its original size.

    Suddenly, the spiritual energy that he had recently allowed into his spiritual sea started to fly about in a violent and disorderly fashion. It slowly condensed and evolved, before eventually taking the form of another vortex of spiritual power.

    By that time, other than the vortex of me power and vortex of wood power, there were two vortexes of spiritual power within Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    As soon as it was fully formed, the speed at which he absorbed the spiritual energy doubled.

    Even more spiritual energy rushed madly into and further erged his spiritual sea.

    Nie Tian¡¯s spirits were greatly lifted. His heart brimmed with joy as he realized that he had progressed at a tremendous pace while cultivating in the mysterious, ancient pce.

    Even the spiritual energy in the mysticalnd where the me Dragon Armor had taken him wasn¡¯t as pure and rich as the energy in here.

    Nie Tian was aware that if he didn¡¯t make good use of the opportunity and temper himself, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

    By that time, he had already cast the trial and the Heaven Sparks on his hand out of his mind. He solely focused on cultivation and taking in as much as spiritual energy as possible, hoping that he could finish upgrading his spiritual sea before something else happened.

    Time passed by quickly without him realizing it. It could have been a day since he started cultivating for all he knew.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The countless, bright stars in the ceiling of the pce all suddenly shot out dazzling starlight at the same time.

    The starlight seemed to have traveled across endless space to pour down from the river of stars.

    After the starlight shone on them, all the detailed patterns on the pce walls also became bright and dazzling, enabling everyone to have clear views of them.

    It was at that moment that Nie Tian snapped out of his cultivation. He looked up at the starlight that had lit up every corner of the pce hall, not knowing what it meant.

    However, it was only a moment before he realized that the fifteen Heaven Sparks on the back of his hand had be iparably hot.

    By this point, his spiritual sea had already doubled in size. The amount of spiritual power that he could store in his spiritual sea seemed to have reached its limit in such a short time.

    He had the feeling that if he had cultivated in other ces instead of here, even if he had an endless supply of spirit stones, he would have needed a year and a half to make the same achievement.

    SHEW!

    A beam of extremely bright starlight shone on a spot on the pce wall, and theplicated pattern in that area instantly became clear and vivid.

    Nie Tian looked over and soon sensed the speedy lost of his psychic power. However, he had the strange feeling that a mysterious connection was created between him and the pattern.

    Subconsciously, his psychic power morphed into an invisible hand and pressed on the detailed pattern.

    At that moment, a strong attraction force was born from within the fifteen Heaven Sparks on his hand.

    In the next moment, he saw the pattern gradually separate itself from the wall and fly towards him.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one. The other three young cultivators also narrowed their eyes, searching for their own targets.

    Three pieces of delicate patterns grew bright and dazzling after being illuminated by three beams of starlight. One after another they separated themselves from the solid wall and flew towards the three youngsters.

    In the other two areas, Heaven and Greater Heaven stage experts were also using the same method to pull the delicate patterns towards them.

    Under the channeling of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power, the pattern seemed to be drawn by a mysterious force, and eventually flew into the Heaven Sparks on Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    As soon as it entered, Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power entered those Heaven Sparks with it. A chain of ancient, mysterious writing flew into his mind.

    ¡°Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce Legacy, first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡±

 Chapter 169: Su Lin from the Heaven Palace Sect

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind shook violently.

    The mysterious words in the Heaven Sparks were mostly randomly scattered and out of order. It seemed like it would need to be rearranged and lined up in order to learn their true meaning.

    However, among the mess of disordered words, a handful of words were perfectly lined up.

    They were written with the ancient symbols of the ancient Qi warriors.

    Those words read, ¡°Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce Legacy, first part of Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡±

    ¡°Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression slightly flickered. He withdrew his mind and nced around at the vast pce hall. Looking at the small stars that were shining on the ceiling, he suddenly came to realize something.

    This ce must be the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce that those words were referring to, and all theers were here for its legacies.

    Before now, his psychic power had been unable to enter the Heaven Sparks. Therefore, even though he had absorbed quite a few magical symbols from the dpidated city, he hadn¡¯t been able to study them.

    It was as if the fifteen Heaven Sparks had been covered in a invisible shield, blocking his psychic awareness from peeping into them.

    However, as soon as the detailed pattern entered the Heaven Sparks on his hands, the impeding shield seemed to suddenly lifted.

    From the look of it, only those who got into the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would be able to send their psychic power into the Heaven Sparks, so as to learn the profound mysteries that hid within.

    Having understood how it worked, Nie Tian took a deep breath and once again concentrated on observing the numerous patterns on the distant walls.

    After the starlight had shone on them, each and every one of them had begun glittering with bright light.

    Every one of them became so clear and vivid that Nie Tian¡¯s eyes could capture even the most subtle veins and lines.

    Some were patterns of the sun, moon, and stars; some were patterns of ravines and mountain ranges, while others were of veins of ancient trees. They all represented the various things in the world.

    However, it seemed not all of them could be absorbed and drawn in by his psychic power.

    As his gaze shifted from one pattern to another, he noticed that he couldn¡¯t build up a mysterious connection with any one of those patterns.

    His gaze roamed here and there, continuously sweeping across the wall, before it suddenly fixed on one pattern that was filled with numerous fragmentary stars, which made it seem like a dazzling and bright star as.

    The moment his gazended on it, a mysterious connection was established between Nie Tian and the pattern.

    The fifteen Heaven Sparks on his hand once again became extremely hot. At the same time, a strong attractive force was born within them.

    In the next moment, the mysterious pattern that seemed to be made of stars was pulled out of the wall and slowly flew towards him, soon merging with his Heaven Sparks.

    Nie Tian carefully probed his Heaven Sparks and found that as soon as the pattern of fragmentary stars entered the Heaven Sparks, it seemed to disintegrate.

    Theplicated and detailed star as exploded and turned into numerous ancient symbols, which scattered around inside the fifteen Heaven Sparks.

    His psychic awareness drifted around from one Heaven Spark to another, and he discovered that the numerous, unreadable symbols that he had absorbed from the dpidated city had morphed into ancient scripts.

    There were hundreds of ancient scripts within the fifteen Heaven Sparks, each of which shone brightly and looked like fragmentary stars that were drifting around indefinitely and quietly.

    Although he could recognize most of those ancient scripts, since they weren¡¯t in the correct order, he couldn¡¯t decipher the true meaning behind them.

    However, he was quite certain that they recorded the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Another thing was that he had the feeling that the ancient scripts that he obtained was far from enough toplete the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    In order to obtain the legacy, not only would he have to add more scripts to his Heaven Sparks, but he would also need to spend countless hours to rearrange the disorderly scripts and put them in the right order.

    Only in that way would he be able to understand the profound mysteries within the Fragmentary Star Incantation and start cultivating with it.

    WHOOSH!

    He breathed out a mouthful of waste after channeling two more patterns from the wall into his Heaven Sparks. He could tell that he had already consumed arge amount of his psychic power.

    He decided to slow down his pace. Instead of continuing to channel the patterns on the pce walls, he turned around to look at the other three cultivators in the Lesser Heaven area.

    He was convinced that the three of them were here for the one and only purpose: to obtain the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He discovered that the three of them were doing exactly what he had done, absorbing patterns from the distant walls and adding magical symbols into their own Heaven Sparks.

    He paid more attention to the blue-garbed young woman.

    Since she had ced her hands on her knees, palms facing up, Nie Tian never had the chance to see how many Heaven Sparks she had.

    At that moment, she was also using her psychic power and the special connection to absorb mysterious patterns from the walls into her Heaven Sparks.

    This gave Nie Tian the chance to get a clear view of her hands, and on the back of her milky left hand he saw as many as twenty Heaven Sparks!

    Nie Tian counted inwardly. Convinced that there were twenty Heaven Sparks on the young woman¡¯s hand, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Twenty!¡±

    ording to his understanding, having more Heaven Sparks meant killing more trial takers and having greater power.

    The fact that the teenager in white had sixteen Heaven Sparks and the teenager in ck had eighteen had already made him pay special attention to the two of them.

    However, only until now did he finally realize that the young woman was actually the most fierce one and the one who he should be the most careful with.

    His spection was soon proved valid.

    He discovered that shortly after him, the white-robed young man and ck-robed young man both stopped channeling and absorbing patterns from the walls due to overconsumption of their psychic power.

    Only the blue-garbed young woman was still searching for patterns that she had connections with on the walls, her eyes glittering with a bright light. Before long, a few more detailed and beautiful patterns flew into the Heaven Sparks on the back of her left hand.

    The ck-robed young man grinned and said, ¡°Wow, no wonder people say Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven is quite a character.¡±

    ¡°Realm of Mystic Heaven, Heaven Pce sect!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows rose.

    Right before he headed off to the Hell sect, Wu Ji had imprinted the things that required his attention in themand medallion and had told him to read them on his way. That was where the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Heaven Pce sect had previouslye up.

    ording to the information that Wu Ji had obtained, the one of the other two Heaven Gates had opened up in the Heaven Pce sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Meanwhile, the other one had opened up in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    There were nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars: the Realm of Mystic Heaven, Realm of Endless Ice, Realm of Unbounded Destion, Realm of a Thousand Devastations, Realm of a Hundred Battles, Realm of ck Marsh, Realm of Earth Sieve, Realm of Dark Underworld, and Realm of me Heaven.

    Each of these nine realms had a few Qi warrior sects located in it, whose strength varied from one another.

    Of all the realms, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of Endless Ice, and the Realm of Unbounded Destion were known as the three strongest realms.

    Close behind them were the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and the Realm of ck Marsh. The Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of me Heaven were rankedst.

    The Realm of Mystic Heaven had always been considered among the most powerful of the nine realms. Some people might even say that it was the number one powerful realm.

    On the other hand, the Heaven Pce sect was widely epted as the most powerful Qi warrior sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, whose status in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was even more unshakable than the Hell sect in Realm of me Heaven.

    At least in the Realm of me Heaven, the four sects with the Spiritual Treasure sect as their leader had been dissatisfied with the Hell sect¡¯s dominant position.

    However, all the sects in the Realm of Mystic Heaven acknowledged the Heaven Pce sect¡¯s ruling position, and would even take orders from the Heaven Pce sect at all times!

    Since Su Lin was from the Heaven Pce sect, her arrogance and the fact that she was able to obtain twenty Heaven Sparks seemed to make sense now.

    Under Nie Tian and the other two¡¯s gazes, Su Lin attracted one more pattern into her Heaven Sparks, and only then did her eyes finally stopped searching.

    After all, the process was too consuming on psychic power, even so for her. Therefore, she also needed time to recuperate.

    She didn¡¯t look at anyone, but rather sat in silence and used her unique, secret magic to channel the rich spiritual energy in her surroundings, as if she wanted to use the spiritual energy in the air to restore her psychic power.

    Even though Nie Tian was confused and incredulous, seeing that Su Lin was doing it, he thought he might as well try it as well.

    The only way that Nie Tian knew to replenish his psychic power was through protracted sleep.

    ording to his experience, by breathing spiritual Qi of the heaven and earth alone, he wasn¡¯t able to restore any of the psychic power that he had lost.

    However, when he copied what Su Lin was doing and used the Qi Refining Incantation to circte the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, he was surprised to discover that the spiritual energy in this ce contained a small amount of unknown energy that actually could replenish his psychic power.

    The unknown energy was extremely faint, about one hundredth of the intensity of the spiritual energy.

    Even so, Nie Tian was amazed and thrilled at the fact that he had a way to restore his psychic power in this ce.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered in silence for a while before his expression suddenly flickered. ¡°There is a special kind of energy in the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth. This means that the more spiritual energy I take in, the faster I¡¯ll be able to restore my psychic power...¡±

    He suddenly remembered the secret magic that he had learned from one of the giant arms in the mysteriousnd.

    That arm had its fingers stretched out like a w, as if it had attempted to rip the heaven out of the sky.

    He recalled that by casting that secret magic in that mysteriousnd, he had managed to channel the rtively rich spiritual energy into himself much more effectively and speed up his cultivation by multiple times.

    Since it primarily relied on a high concentration of spiritual energy, he didn¡¯t try it on the Cloudsoaring mountain.

    However, he was currently in a ce where there was a endless supply of unprecedentedly rich spiritual energy!

    He gave a bright smile. ¡°There¡¯s no better ce to use that technique than here!¡±

    Without wasting any time, he calmed himself and started to cast the secret magic to gather spiritual energy.

 Chapter 170: Super Quick Recovery!

    With his new-found understanding, Nie Tian lifted up one hand and started to channel the spiritual energy in the surroundings.

    Within moments, a strong attraction force was born in the center of his hand.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    The iparably rich spiritual energy in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce began to madly converge on his hand.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before a ball of semi-liquidized spiritual energy gradually took form in his palm.

    The spiritual energy ball expanded to the size of a table, while misty spiritual energy constantly rose up from the liquid surface within it, releasing massive amounts of raging energy fluctuations.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Both the white-robed young man and the ck-robed young man detected the anomaly, opened their eyes, and cast curious gazes towards Nie Tian.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian quietly cast a spell to absorb the pure spiritual energy within the ball.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    One after another, numerous wisps of light flowed out of the spiritual energy ball and rapidly flew into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    The two vortexes of spiritual power within his spiritual sea started to revolve at an unprecedentedly high speed.

    The infusion of the pure, condensed spiritual energy instantly filled his spiritual sea to the brim.

    At the same time, Nie Tian had a very clear feeling that the special energy was quietly flowing into his mind, rapidly replenishing his overused psychic power.

    Only after a few moments had passed did his eyes start to glitter with brilliant light, as if he had already restored his psychic power to a great extent.

    However, the giant spiritual energy ball in his palm hadn¡¯t shrink in the least bit, and the energy within was still iparably copious.

    But the special energy had already beenpletely sucked away in such a short time.

    He couldn¡¯t detect any residual bit of it.

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian searched in his brain for awhile before he made up his mind.

    He decided to give up the spiritual energy ball.

    SHEW!

    With a flick of his fingers, the spiritual energy ball left his palm and flew away like a balloon.

    Although Nie Tian had given up controlling it, the spiritual energy ball stopped about five meters to his left and floated there. The semi-liquidized spiritual energy within it was still sending out strong energy ripples.

    Perhaps because he was its creator, even though he decided to set it free, there was still a mysterious link between him and the spiritual energy ball.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t think too much about it.

    After all, the purpose of him creating the energy ball was to more effectively absorb the unknown energy in it, so as to recover his psychic power.

    After casting away the first energy ball, Nie Tian repeated the spell that he had picked up from the mysteriousnd, and created another spiritual energy ball.

    Before long, it too expanded to the size of a table.

    With the same method, Nie Tian rapidly absorbed the energy within.

    However, since his spiritual sea had already expanded to the limit of middle Lesser Heaven stage and he couldn¡¯t take in any more spiritual energy, he only pulled away the special energy within the ball and channeled it to his mind.

    With another surge of replenishment of his psychic power, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with an increasingly bright light.

    Thrilled by his new findings, he flicked the spiritual energy ball that was devoid of the special energy to the side. ¡°Next!¡±

    With the same method, he condensed another energy ball and absorbed only the special energy from it.

    Over and over, he repeated the process to restore his psychic power.

    Before long, there were already seven spiritual energy balls floating around Nie Tian, emanating intense energy fluctuations.

    By that time, Nie Tian had already restored all the psychic power that he had consumed from attracting theplicated patterns from the walls.

    Not only that, he even felt a certain growth in his psychic power!

    He smiled to himself and stopped cultivating. Once again, he started examining the patterns on the distant walls.

    Soon afterwards, he found a pattern that he felt a connection with, and used his psychic power to pull it towards him before it flew into the fifteen Heaven Sparks on the back of his hand.

    As soon as it entered, it once again exploded and turned into dozens of ancient scripts, scattered within the Heaven Sparks.

    ¡°He has recovered his strength already?!¡± The face of the ck-robed young man from the Realm of Unbounded Destion turned grim after he noticed that Nie Tian had already stopped cultivating and begun taking in more magical symbols of the Fragmentary Star Incantation again.

    The white-robed young man from the Realm of Endless Ice also cast an astonished gaze towards Nie Tian. Even though he didn¡¯t say a word, he seemed to grow uneasy.

    The two of them had both reached the peak of the Lesser Heaven stage. Even still, they couldn¡¯t recover so quickly after such a great consumption of their psychic power.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was inferior to theirs, and he was from the weakest realm of the nine, the Realm of me Heaven...

    As a matter of fact, the white-robed young man had despised Nie Tian from when they had first met, thinking that it was a joke that a middle Lesser Heaven stage boy from the Realm of me Heaven hade here for the legacy.

    He had also noticed that the young man from the Realm of Unbounded Destion had already viewed Nie Tian as his prey.

    He originally thought that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the guy from the Realm of Unbounded Destion gave in to the temptation of killing Nie Tian, and Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if he did.

    However, now...

    He shook his head upon realizing that Nie Tian was much more than what he originally had in mind. He was convinced that there must be something unusual about him.

    PHOOH!

    At that moment, the blue-garbed Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect awoke from her cultivation and fixed her beautiful eyes on Nie Tian for the first time.

    With her unique, secret magic, she managed to fully restore her psychic power within a short time.

    Even still, she found herself one step behind Nie Tian.

    She unleashed her psychic power and sensed that it would still take the other two about an hour to fully replenish their psychic power.

    ¡°Perhaps it was because his cultivation base was low and his psychic power was puny that he was able to recover so quickly.¡± Su Lin muttered to herself. Without dwelling on it, she continued to attract the detailed patterns that contained the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation with her psychic power.

    A long time passed.

    Out of the corner of her eyes, Su Lin noticed that Nie Tian had taken in three patterns in a row beforeing to a stop, seemingly depleted of psychic power.

    ¡°Three!¡± She finally started to attach importance to Nie Tian. Her mind drifted away while she was in the middle of absorbing a pattern.

    She knew perfectly well how much psychic power was required to attract three patterns that were imprinted with the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    She herself could only attract five patterns even when her psychic power was at the fullest.

    However, in order not topletely drain her psychic power, she would usually stop at four. After all, she preferred to be on the safe side.

    The other two young men, on the other hand, didn¡¯t dare to pull more than three patterns into their Heaven Sparks in a row, despite the fact that they had both reached the peak of the Lesser Heaven stage.

    The fact that Nie Tian could also attract three patterns into his Heaven Sparks meant that his psychic power was at least at the same level as the other two young men.

    Su Lin was also well aware of what status they had in the Realm of Unbounded Destion and the Realm of Endless Ice.

    She couldn¡¯t help but wonder how a middle Lesser Heaven stage young man from the Realm of me Heaven had acquired psychic power so impressive, and how he managed to recover his psychic power so rapidly.

    Eyes glittering with a curious light, she studied Nie Tian from head to toe and whispered to herself, ¡°I have to pay more attention to him.¡±

    After detaching and pulling three more detailed patterns into his Heaven Sparks, Nie Tian once again stopped.

    He used the same method to condense another spiritual energy ball, and then drained it only of its special energy that could help him restore psychic power.

    Immediately after, he released the energy ball into his surroundings and went ahead to create a new one.

    Time passed quickly.

    Nie Tian repeated the process of using his psychic power to attract the patterns that carried the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation into his Heaven Sparks and replenishing it with the energy balls.

    Before long, there were already about thirty balls of pure spiritual energy floating around him.

    Since he recovered his psychic power far faster than the other two young men and slightly faster than Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect, the ancient symbols that he had obtained outnumbered all of them.

    In the end, the four of them together took all of the detailed, delicate patterns that stood out into their Heaven Sparks.

    Nie Tian¡¯s gaze went wall to wall, searching for more patterns that he could interact with, but his search turned out fruitless.

    That was when he realized that all the ancient symbols that carried the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation were in the Heaven Sparks on their hands by now.

    The other three soon came to the same realization.

    At that moment, the ck-robed young man from the Realm of Unbounded Destion suddenly reached out his hand and pulled a long, strangely-shaped saber from his back. Smiling at Nie Tian, he said, ¡°It¡¯s time to do some reaping.¡±

 Chapter 171: Wu Ling from the Realm of Unbounded Desolation

    As soon as the ck-robed young man spoke, Nie Tian looked over at him.

    ¡°Are you talking about me?¡± Nie Tian grinned and asked.

    The four of them were the only ones in the Lesser Heaven stage area, and all the ancient symbols of the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation were now stored in their Heaven Sparks.

    If they wanted to collect all the magical symbols andplete the first part of the incantation, the only way would be to snatch magical symbols from the other three.

    Actually, when Nie Tian realized that the four of them had all been collecting magical symbols of the same incantation, he had expected there to be a fierce fight between them eventually.

    In the others¡¯ eyes, he had the lowest cultivation base, and thus was the weakest.

    However, due to his superior psychic power recovering ability, he had obtained the most magical symbols.

    Therefore, it didn¡¯t surprise him that the ck-robed young man targeted him. He had actually made preparations for such an asion.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The young man in ckughed wildly as he pointed his long saber towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°I made you my target soon after I got here. I assume you¡¯re smart enough to see that.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. I did.¡±

    ¡°My name is Wu Ling, and I¡¯m from the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡± The ck-robed man took the initiative to state his own name. The smile on his face didn¡¯t fade even in the slightest, while the bizarrely shaped saber in his hand started to emanate gray-brown colored, shimmering light.

    The eyelids of the seven closed eyes on the de were twitching, as if they were going to snap open in the next moment.

    The long, dreadful saber sent out a strong killing intent into the surroundings. The gray-brown light that had flown out of the de gradually condensed and morphed into a sinister, ferocious tiger.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The shimmering tiger let out an ear-piercing howl.

    Nie Tian immediately experienced a stabbing pain in his head, as if the howl was already so powerful that it actually defied the space and obstruction of Nie Tian¡¯s body, and reached the deepest part of his soul, giving him a violent shudder.

    His pupils shrunk as he hurriedly used his psychic power to formyers of shields to prevent the roars of the tiger from piercing into his soul.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    More strands of grayish brown light shot out of the long saber like slithering lightning bolts.

    The ferocious tiger bared its fangs and brandished its ws as it swooped towards Nie Tian in the middle of a rain of slithering lightning bolts.

    Wu Ling, on the other hand, took his time and walked towards Nie Tian after them.

    PUFF!

    It was at that time that the seven-colored bubble around Wu Ling suddenly burst.

    The tall Wu Lingnded heavily on the floor of the pce hall. His eyes were brimming with a thirst for blood and the aura that he released into the surroundings was filled with a killing intent.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Nie Tian, Su Lin, and the white-robed young man from the Realm of Endless Ice also dropped to the ground from midair.

    It was as if the moment killing intent was born in Wu Ling¡¯s heart, the area that they were in changed.

    The seven-colored bubbles that had shuttled the four of them to the pce burst at the same time.

    Now the four of them were standing in the four corners of the hard, ice-cold stone floor, separated from each other by about a hundred meters, with the rich, misty spiritual Qi of heaven and earth filling the space between them.

    Seeing that Wu Ling could no longer suppress the urge to fight Nie Tian, Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect of the Realm of Mystic Heaven frowned, as if she was hesitating.

    She seemed to be trying to decide if she should attack the white-robed young man from the Realm of Endless Ice.

    By that time, every one of them had realized that in order toplete the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and take the legacy back to the Domain of the Falling Stars, they would have to snatch Heaven Sparks from the other three.

    After all, only by obtaining all the Heaven Sparks from the other three would they be able to get all the symbols that constituted the incantation.

    The reason why Su Lin didn¡¯t make a move immediately after Wu Ling was that she originally considered Wu Ling to be her first target.

    However, apparently Wu Ling knew about her strength and didn¡¯t want to meet her on battlefield so soon, so he chose to fight Nie Tian instead.

    She soon saw through Wu Ling¡¯s ns.

    There were two reasons why Wu Ling picked Nie Tian. For one thing, by attacking Nie Tian, he would naturally leave the white-robed young man to Su Lin, who he believed would wear out some of her strength.

    For another, in Wu Ling¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian was so much weaker that any of them that he wouldn¡¯t need to spend much energy to kill him.

    By the time he killed Nie Tian and looted his fifteen Heaven Sparks, Su Lin and the young man in white would probably still be locked in battle.

    At that time, he would have two options. One, join hands with the white-robed young man and fight Su Lin together. Two, sit out the fight and deal with the winner of the two.

    Wu Ling thought his n was impable, and making Nie Tian his first opponent was undoubtedly the optimum choice.

    However, both Su Lin and the white-robed young man saw through his ns.

    They didn¡¯t instantly start fighting, since they both feared that if they did and Wu Ling managed to finish off Nie Tian very quickly, he would gain the upper hand and take advantage of their fight.

    Therefore, the two of them exchanged a nce and remained in their own ces.

    From the look of it, they had reached a mutual understanding without saying a word.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One after another, the strands of shimmering light morphed into numerous wiggling lightning snakes, and bit towards Nie Tian.

    In the middle of the flood of snakes, a roaring tiger lunged towards Nie Tian, emanating a strong thirst for blood.

    ROOOAARRRR!! ROOOAARRRR!!

    Heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roars came out of the ferocious tiger¡¯s mouth and went straight towards Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    In face of the constant roars, the shields that Nie Tian had condensed with his psychic power repeatedly shattered and reformed.

    By doing that, Nie Tian consumed his psychic power at an astonishingly fast speed.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°He¡¯s really hard to deal with!¡±

    Just as he was about to summon strength to contend with the tiger that was roaring towards him, an idea suddenly urred to him.

    He nced at the about thirty spiritual energy balls that were floating around him and noticed that one of them was floating right in between him and the iing tiger.

    Although he had discarded those spiritual energy balls after sucking them dried of the special energy, since it was him who created them, there were still mysterious connections between him and every single one of them.

    He made an experiment by sending a wisp of psychic awareness into that spiritual energy ball.

    He instantly got the feeling that the spiritual energy ball had be a part of him, an extension of his limbs, as he could keenly sense the unceasing energy fluctuations within it.

    ¡°Go!¡± With a wisp of his psychic power, Nie Tianmanded the spiritual energy ball to fly towards the roaring, iing tiger.

    SHEW!

    The spiritual energy ball that had been floating in midair followed hismand and rammed forcefully into the ferocious tiger.

    Upon collision, the ball that contained immense spiritual power instantly exploded.

    BOOM!

    Dazzling light shot out of the shattered ball. Like a small sun, its explosion gave rise to a st wave that contained destructive power.

    The roaring tiger, along with the hissing snakes flying by its side, was instantly engulfed by the blinding light.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, they were all torn into shreds by the light and st wave created by the explosion of the spiritual energy ball!

    The explosion of the spiritual energy ballpletely eliminated Wu Ling¡¯s attack!

    Wu Ling felt a strong shock to his tall and well built body. Eyes filled with surprise, he looked at the ce where the spiritual energy ball exploded.

    From his grim face, Nie Tian could tell that Wu Ling never expected the spiritual energy balls that he had condensed and cast aside to be put back to use at that moment.

    While he was standing there aghast, Nie Tian, who had savored the sweet taste of victory, gave a smile and unleashed several wisps of psychic power.

    They simultaneously entered six spiritual energy balls, and strong connections were instantly created between them and Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian felt as if he had control over them so urate that they had be his arms and fists.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Under themand of his psychic awareness, the six spiritual energy balls rapidly floated towards Wu Ling.

    Upon seeing the six spiritual energy balls whizzing towards him, Wu Ling¡¯s face turned so grim that it was as if he had kicked his bare foot into a steel te.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    With a cold harrumph and a swing of his long saber, numerous ten-meter long light des flew out of his saber.

    Three of the six closed eyes on the de also violently snapped open.

    All of a sudden, not only did the energy fluctuations that emerged from Wu Ling double, but the aura around him also became turbulent and bloodthirsty.

    ¡°BREAK!¡±

    One light de after another shot through the air in perfect arcs before shing down on the six spiritual energy balls.

    Upon contact, the energy balls immediately exploded, sputtering out countless sparks into every direction.

    The sparks fell like stars from the starry river, filling the region where Wu Ling was standing.

    Standing in a sea of fragmented sparks, Wu Ling¡¯s face distorted as he reached out with one hand and tore off his ck robe with one quick motion.

    A greenish-brown spiritual armor that clung tightly to his body suddenly appeared.

    Numerous strands of bright light that were as sharp as arrows extended into the surroundings from within the spiritual armor.

    At first nce, Wu Ling seemed to have be a giant hedgehog. The sharp, bright lights that had protruded out of his armor killed off the sparks around him in a split second.

    Staring at Wu Ling, who was now holding a long saber and covered in a bizarre armor, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°He must be one of the chosen ones that my master warned me about.¡±

 Chapter 172: Evil Psychic Power

    Before Nie Tian headed to the Hell sect to participate in the Heaven Gate trial, Wu Ji had mentioned to him that chosen ones from the other nine realms would also be there.

    They were all talented young cultivators who had profound, high-level spiritual tools and spiritual incantations at their disposal.

    Apart from that, every single one of them had a master with unlimited resources... any of whom could possibly be even more powerful than Wu Ji.

    Furthermore, the Qi warrior sects that they were from were also far stronger than the Cloudsoaring sect, and could potentially have longer histories and more resources than the Hell sect.

    Wu Ji urged him to be extra careful if he came across such chosen ones.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Wu Ling from the Realm of Unbounded Destion must be one of the chosen ones that his master had warned him about.

    The long, strange saber in his hand and the spiritual armor he was wearing were both far beyond ordinary.

    Nie Tian had seen Wu Ling being engulfed by the millions of sparks created when the spiritual energy balls exploded.

    However, as soon as Wu Ling unveiled his spiritual armor, just the bright light that shot out of it managed to kill off everyst one of the sparks.

    Afterwards, Wu Ling stood there,pletely unscathed. Only the light that had shot out of his spiritual armor slightly dimmed.

    ¡°It seems that I¡¯ve underestimated the Realm of me Heaven.¡± Wu Ling made his way through a sea of sparks as he strode towards Nie Tian.

    With every step he took, countless rays of light shot out from his spiritual armor, extinguishing the sparks near him.

    Wu Ling frowned as he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Realm of me Heaven to have people this impressive...¡± From the look of it, he had finally started to consider Nie Tian as a worthy opponent and no longer dared to underestimate him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The long saber in Wu Ling¡¯s hand constantly exuded faint auras. All of a sudden the three eyes on the de focused on Nie Tian.

    As soon as they locked onto Nie Tian, Nie Tian started to experience stabbing pains in his eyes, after which tears began uncontrobly flowing out of them.

    Meanwhile, a surge of bloodthirsty, evil psychic power entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Clearly, the evil psychic power didn¡¯te from Wu Ling, but rather came from the saber itself.

    To be exact, it came from the three wide open eyes on the de.

    The eyes were originally a dark, blue-violet color. However, at that moment, they suddenly shed their original color and became green, red, and ck.

    He had the feeling that he had been locked down by three terrifying, fiendish devils, and the moment they entered him, they started gnawing on his mind.

    Nie Tian hurriedly steadied his mind and rapidly retracted the psychic power that he had sent out to control the spiritual energy balls.

    He gathered all his psychic power in his mind and turned it into giant, sharp des, madly cutting through the evil psychic power that had invaded his mind, hoping to get rid of it as soon as possible.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that your psychic power is every bit as strong as mine!¡± Wu Ling grinned. His expression was brutal and sinister as he continued, ¡°But what a shame. Apparently you don¡¯t seem to know any psychic magics. It makes sense though. After all, you¡¯re from the Realm of me Heaven, which is the weakest of all nine realms. Plus, considering your poor cultivation base, I guess you haven¡¯t met the qualifications to learn those profound psychic magics yet.¡±

    With a vicious grin on his face, he gradually sped up as he approached Nie Tian.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s mind had already been upied by the evil psychic power and could no longermand the spiritual energy balls to block Wu Ling¡¯s way forward.

    The distance between them quickly shortened from dozens of meters to less than ten meters.

    Within such a short distance, the effect of all of Wu Ling¡¯s spiritual incantations and secret magics would be maximized.

    All of a sudden, he stopped.

    SHEW!

    A de of light that was almost twenty meters long shot out of his bizarrely shaped long saber, and started to devour the spiritual energy around it the moment it was formed.

    Secondster, the originally long and thin light de expanded several times and became a terrifying, wide de that could slice open the heavens. Without any hesitation, it shed towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°What a pity...¡± Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven softly shook her head, assuming Nie Tian would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    She also noticed that Nie Tian¡¯s mind had already been invaded by the evil psychic power that had originated from the three demonic eyes on Wu Ling¡¯s de.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power was by no means weaker than Wu Ling¡¯s, he didn¡¯t seemed to know any high-leveled psychic magics that he could use to contend with the psychic attack of the three demonic eyes.

    Under the fierce attack, Nie Tian¡¯s soul seemed to have already been upied, and thus he couldn¡¯t even bring himself up to defend against the iing sh of the terrifying light de.

    She was convinced that Nie Tian was facing inevitable doom.

    At that moment, the surge of evil psychic power had already turned into a hurricane within Nie Tian¡¯s soul, raging and havocking, as if it was going to tear his soul into shreds.

    The shield that Nie Tian had condensed with his psychic power rapidly repeated the process of shattering and reforming under the devastating impact.

    Nie Tian did his utmost to defend his soul.

    He could vaguely see three light dots within the center of the dark hurricane, colored green, red, and ck. It was as if the three demonic eyes were issuingmands from within the eye of the hurricane.

    Apparently, the frightening eyes on Wu Ling¡¯s saber had prated Nie Tian¡¯s mind along with the the invasion of the evil psychic power.

    It was precisely due to their existence that Nie Tian¡¯s mind was currently in utter chaos. It seemed that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t found a way to effectively fight back with his own psychic power.

    As Nie Tian felt his psychic power draining at frightening speed, and his defense was on the verge of breaking down, he decisively took out another talisman that his master had bestowed upon him.

    Under the stimtion of a wisp of his psychic power, the talisman instantly flew out of his bracelet of holding.

    In in the next moment, sevenyers of jade-like spiritual power shields enveloped Nie Tian.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as the shields took form, the evil psychic power that had invaded Nie Tian¡¯s mind started to change.

    Numerous bright sparks flowed out of the sevenyers of shields and rapidly entered Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    The moment they fell into the ravaging hurricane, the three demonic eyes that had been blinking and unleashing strange power from the center died out, like candles that had been blown out by a strong gale.

    At the same time, the link between Wu Ling¡¯s saber and the evil psychic power was cut off.

    HISSS! HISSS!

    One after another, countless strands of dark aura rose out of the corners of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes before vanishing into the sevenyers of dazzling spiritual power.

    As a result, Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic mind was instantly returned to peace.

    It was also at that moment that an iparably giant light de whizzed down towards him.

    BANG!

    As soon as it shed onto the light shields surrounding Nie Tian, a loud sound echoed out along with blinding light and bright sparks.

    From the front part where contact was made, the light de cracked inch by inch and shattered into small pieces. However, only two of the sevenyers of light shields werepromised and disappeared.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian experienced nothing but a surge of power pushing him backwards. No harm was inflicted.

    It was just that he had consumed a significant amount of his psychic power to defend his soul.

    ¡°A talisman from my master can withstand the full-force strike of a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior. As powerful as Wu Ling is, he¡¯s only in the Lesser Heaven stage. Even though he boosts his attack with his formidable spiritual weapon, the might of his attack can¡¯t match that of a raging attack from a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior.¡±

    Nie Tian gradually became clear-headed and with a grim face, he stared at Wu Ling.

    Enveloped by five light shields andpletely rid of influence of the evil psychic power, Nie Tian once again summoned his psychic power.

    In an instant, numerous wisps of his psychic power shot into the remaining spiritual energy balls before all sixteen of them were sent flying towards Wu Ling with great strength and vigor.

    After realizing that he had failed to kill Nie Tian with one strike, Wu Ling secretly frowned. Looking at the remaining fiveyers of jade-like shields surrounding Nie Tian, he gave a cold snort and said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve got a good master.¡±

    Su Lin, who had been observing the fight between Wu Ling and Nie Tian the whole time, was amazed by the spectacle of Wu Ling¡¯s attack ending up fruitless and Nie Tian, on the other hand, regaining a clear head andunching a counterattack with the rest of the spiritual energy balls.

    After staring aghast for a moment, she turned around to check the area that all the Heaven stage Qi warriors were in, and found that they were also in the middle of deadly battles.

    After a brief assessment of the situation, Su Lin finally acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s strength and assumed that Nie Tian was probably strong enough to wear out Wu Ling from the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    With such a thought, Su Lin made up her mind.

    She, who had been sitting in silence, suddenly turned to the white-robed young man from the Realm of Endless Ice and said, ¡°The first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation is in our hands. Now that Wu Ling has found a worthy opponent, there¡¯s no point in us waiting around. You and I both know that only bypleting the first part of the incantation as soon as possible will we have the chance to cross the seven-colored river and try to get ahold of the middle part.¡±

    With these words, she shot another nce at the area where all the Heaven stage experts were spilling each other¡¯s blood.

    The white-robed young man¡¯s face turned pale with terror as he said, ¡°What?! You even dare to think of obtaining the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation?!¡±

    ¡°My sect is going to get all of the three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡± With a serious tone, she continued, ¡°A martial uncle of mine is in the Greater Heaven stage area. I believe, with his strength, he¡¯ll undoubtedly get the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°Originally, our sect nned for someone to enter the Heaven stage area. But unfortunately, he failed his assignment and died before entering the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°As you know, none of the Greater Heaven stage participants will be able to cross the seven-colored river into the Heaven stage area, even if they obtain the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°Only Lesser Heaven stage cultivators will be able to cross the river and enter the Heaven stage area after gathering all parts of the first part of the incantation.

    ¡°We¡¯re hell-bent on getting all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. Now that my martial uncle won¡¯t be able to go to the Heaven stage area, I¡¯ll have to do the honors.¡±

 Chapter 173: Severing His Own Hand

    The reason why Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect and the white-robed young man from the Realm of Endless Ice hadn¡¯t started fighting was that they both thought Nie Tian was too weak.

    They were afraid that Wu Ling would be able to kill Nie Tian without the slightest effort, watch in safety while the two of them fought, and then reap the spoils when they were exhausted.

    However, now they both realized that Nie Tian actually wasn¡¯t as weak as they had assumed and the fight between them was actually a close one. Therefore, they decided not to wait any longer, and began fighting.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    It was also at that time that Wu Ling swung his strange, long saber, and shot out numerous light des, slicing each and every iing spiritual energy ball into pieces.

    Upon exploding, the spiritual energy balls sent out countless fragmented sparks, filling the entire sky before descending towards Wu Ling like fine rain.

    Wu Ling¡¯s spiritual armor once again emanated dazzling lights that resembled sharp arrows, killing off all the sparks.

    Nie Tian realized that the five jade-like light shields that the talisman had unleashed were capable of holding off all the psychic attacks from Wu Ling.

    That was why he could send out wisps of his own psychic power to direct the spiritual energy balls to bombard Wu Ling, in an attempt to wear out his strength.

    Wu Ling, who was originally only ten meters away from Nie Tian, was shoved backwards by the strong impact beforeing to a stop fifty meters away.

    From Wu Ling¡¯s expression, Nie Tian could tell that after repeatedly brandishing his long saber to slice open the numerous spiritual energy balls and killing off the sparks with his spiritual armor, he had already grown somewhat weary.

    After all, every sh of his saber consumed a sizable amount of his spiritual power.

    The light that shot out of his spiritual armor that he was wearing also began to dim.

    Nie Tian examined Wu Ling with rapt attention and found that only those spiritual energy balls alone seemed to be wearing out arge amount of his spiritual power.

    ¡°My n worked!¡± he muttered to himself.

    With that in mind, while continuing to bombard Wu Ling with the remaining energy balls, he lifted his arm and pointed his hand towards the heavens as he attempted to condense more energy balls with the secret magic that he had learned from the mysteriousnd.

    Within seconds, another table-size spiritual energy ball took shape. He extracted the special energy within that could help him replenish his psychic power with the fastest speed possible.

    At the same time, he channeled some of the pure and refined spiritual energy into his spiritual sea.

    Before long, his spiritual sea was refilled to the brim and the psychic power that he had consumed contending with Wu Ling¡¯s evil power was also rapidly recovering.

    At that time, the energy ball already shrunk from the size of a table to the size of a balloon.

    As soon as a wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power entered the energy ball, it whizzed towards Wu Ling with an amazing speed.

    Without the slightest hesitation, he repeated the process to make more energy balls.

    With the newly condensed energy balls, he only absorbed the special soul-nourishing energy within them and sent wisps of his psychic power into them, manipting them to bombard Wu Ling, the moment they were drained of that special energy.

    Just like that, numerous new energy balls were created and shot towards Wu Ling.

    After repeating that process for awhile, not only did Nie Tian not consume any spiritual power, but he also restored his psychic power to the fullest.

    Wu Ling, on the other hand, had been quite busy dealing with the bombardment of the unceasing line of energy balls. After such arge number of them exploded in front of him, the area around him had been filled with turbulent energy.

    The way he brandished his long saber and stepped forward had also grown somewhat mechanical and stiff.

    With more and more fragmented sparks scattered in front of him, it was as if Wu Ling was walking in a river of sparkling dots and every step he took became harder and more energy-consuming.

    ¡°His psychic power and spiritual power were both restored to their peak state!¡±

    Stepping painstakingly towards Nie Tian, Wu Ling saw him repeatedly condense energy balls and shoot them at him. However, he found to his surprise that Nie Tian looked increasingly radiant, and the energy fluctuations inside of him showed no sign of exhaustion.

    Looking at Nie Tian¡¯s excited and unwavering face, Wu Ling¡¯s confidence soon broke into pieces.

    As a chosen one from the Realm of Unbounded Destion, he initially attached no importance to Nie Tian, assuming that the kid from the Realm of me Heaven must be the easiest to deal with.

    However, by now, he couldn¡¯t have regretted his poor judgment more.

    He already wished he had chosen the white-robed young man instead of Nie Tian, in which case he likely wouldn¡¯t be in such a difficult position.

    Perhaps, even facing the strongestpetitor, Su Lin from the Realm of Mystic Heaven, he wouldn¡¯t have such a hard time approaching her.

    ¡°Howe a character like this is from the Realm of me Heaven?!¡± Wu Ling eximed inwardly.

    After madly condensing and casting energy balls for quite some time, Nie Tian suddenly came to a stop. ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±

    He realized that by that time, the seven demonic eyes on Wu Ling¡¯s de had all opened up, and the light that shot out of each of them was no long fierce and suffocating. Apparently, it had also consumed arge portion of its power.

    Furthermore, after killing off millions of sparks that sputtered out of the exploded energy balls, the spiritual armor on Wu Ling also began to look lifeless.

    By this point, Nie Tian could no longer see the great confidence that used to fill Wu Ling¡¯s eyes.

    Therefore, he understood that after a long period of attrition, Wu Ling was now actually on the verge of breaking down.

    It was about time he ended the fight.

    Without any hesitation, he summoned his psychic power, flesh power, me power, and wood power, to create a three-meter radius chaotic maic field around him.

    As soon as the maic field took form, he stepped towards Wu Ling.

    The moment he entered the region that was filled with scattering sparks and turbulent energy fluctuations, the maic field surrounding him started to grow even more frenzied and disorderly.

    By falling into the chaotic maic field, the countless fragmented sparks seemed to fuel the chaotic, twisting power within the maic field.

    Only secondster, he arrived right in front of Wu Ling.

    Wu Ling¡¯s expression flickered.

    The seven demonic eyes on his de started to emanate lights of various colors.

    As soon as the maic field took form, the five light shields that had been protecting Nie Tian seemed to be assimted by the maic field.

    Before, Wu Ling had repeatedly tried to attack Nie Tian with his evil psychic power.

    However, seeing the attacks that the seven demonic eyes hadunched were blocked by the fiveyers of intense spiritual energy around Nie Tian, he had temporarily stopped.

    Now that he noticed that the protective light shields were no longer there, he assumed that it was about time he attacked again. Countless rays of blinding light shot out of the seven terrifying eyes and, along with a formidable, evil psychic power, shot towards Nie Tian.

    However, the moment they entered the chaotic maic field, he lost connection with them.

    Wu Ling¡¯s expression changed drastically as he suddenly experienced an excruciating pain in his mind and simultaneously, a heart-wrenching wail rang out from within his long saber.

    He immediately realized that the fiendish devil that had been sealed within his de had also sustained injuries to its soul, and was now struggling to break away from the weapon.

    Just as he was about to lose control of it, Nie Tian took another step forward,pletely enveloping Wu Ling in the maic field.

    In a sh, Wu Ling¡¯s psychic power, flesh power, and spiritual power became chaotic and disordered.

    PUFF!

    He coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling as if his body had been thrown into a meat grinder, unbearable painsing from every piece of his flesh.

    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± Enveloped by the maic field, Nie Tian summoned strength from all the different kinds of power within him, and sted out a rage punch towards Wu Ling¡¯s head.

    The punch was full of devastating energy fluctuations and the might of it surpassed any of his former attacks.

    As soon as Nie Tianunched the fist strike, Wu Ling realized how powerful it was and how much damage it would inflict.

    Meanwhile, the devilish saber in his hand began to scream madly, as if it were also trying to warn him against the iing attack.

    Face distorted, Wu Ling gritted his teeth aftermunicating with the devil soul within his saber.

    CRUNCH!

    At that crucial moment, after receiving a positive answer from its master, the saber, to Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, cut off Wu Ling¡¯s left hand with a clean, quick sh.

    The moment Wu Ling¡¯s Heaven Gate pattern bearing hand was severed from his arm, before it could even drop to the ground, Wu Ling seemed to be dragged by a unknown, irresistible force, as he blurred into a sh, disappearing from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    Even though he saw that Wu Ling, his original target, had vanished in the blink of an eye, Nie Tian knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the momentum of his full-force punch, and thus continued the strike anyways.

    BANG!

    The moment the st of his destructive punch hit Wu Ling¡¯s left hand, which hadn¡¯t had the time to fall, it exploded into a pink mist of fragmented flesh and the Heaven Sparks within it rapidly flew into the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

 Chapter 174: Bloody Fights

    After Wu Ling¡¯s left hand exploded, leaving not even a single bone behind, the eighteen Heaven Sparks that originally belonged to him instantly flew out and entered the Heaven Gate pattern on Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Nie Tian examined the Heaven Sparks the moment they flew into his Heaven Gate pattern and found that there were numerous ancient symbols in them.

    ¡°Wu Ling...¡± Nie Tian nced around and couldn¡¯t find even a trace of Wu Ling, and his psychic awareness also failed to sense his existence.

    ¡°He¡¯s gone?¡± Nie Tian thought to himself, confused.

    After a thorough search, Nie Tian was convinced that Wu Ling had indeed disappeared from the pce.

    From the look of it, Wu Ling knew the secrets of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. When he was certain that he wouldn¡¯t be able to survive Nie Tian¡¯s rage punch, he decided to sever his own hand.

    The moment his hand was separated from his arm, he seemed to be dragged out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce by an unknown force.

    Aftering to an understanding about what had happened, Nie Tian felt a bit respectful toward Wu Ling. ¡°He¡¯s quite a character!¡±

    After all, there weren¡¯t many people who were willing to cut off their own hand with such decisiveness, even when they were facing death.

    Most would rather leave things to chance than do such a brutal thing to themselves.

    From such an act, Nie Tian could see the brutality and fierceness in Wu Ling¡¯s character. He even grew convinced that Wu Ling would make outstanding achievements on his cultivation path if he could keep himself safe.

    Even now that he had lost a hand, Nie Tian considered him to be a major enemy of his in the future. Meanwhile, Nie Tian reminded himself to go all out to kill him if he ran into him again. Leaving him alive could cost him greatly in the future.

    PHOOH!

    Nie Tian forced all the disturbing thoughts out of his mind and took a deep breath before sitting down where he was.

    Throwing the rage punch had cost him too much power, so he had to recuperate as soon as possible.

    He understood perfectly clearly that Wu Ling was extremely dangerous, and that was also true of the long saber in his hand and the spiritual armor that he wore. Therefore, the only technique that he had anticipated to be powerful enough to kill him was the rage punch, even though he knew that the technique would drain his psychic power, flesh power, and spiritual power.

    If he had been in other ces he probably wouldn¡¯t have dared to use it. However, it was another story since he was in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The spiritual energy here was far richer than anywhere he had ever been, so he would be able to rapidly recover his spiritual power via condensing more energy balls.

    Furthermore, the special energy within would nourish his soul and help him restore psychic power.

    That was why he had dared to use the rage punch.

    After descending to the ground, the chaotic maic field around him still persisted.

    He took out pieces of spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and started wolfing them down.

    Within only a short period of time, he stuffed several dozen kilograms worth of meat down his throat. Without any hesitation, he started to condense energy balls and absorb the spiritual energy and faint special energy within them.

    By the time the maic field surrounding him shrunk to a one-meter radius, he had already recovered most of his spiritual power.

    He didn¡¯t pay attention to the fight between Su Lin and the white-robed young man, but rather concentrated on condensing more energy balls and restoring his strength as soon as possible.

    Time passed quickly without him noticing it.

    Nie Tian found his spiritual sea filled to the brim with pure spiritual power that he had absorbed from the semi-liquidized spiritual energy balls.

    Afterwards, he created nine more energy balls, and recovered most of his psychic power with the special energy inside of them.

    Simultaneously, a warm current was born in his stomach, replenishing the flesh power that he had consumed.

    All the different types of power that he had consumed by casting the rage punch were soon to bepletely restored.

    Only then did Nie Tian spare his attention to observe the fight between Su Lin and the white-robed young man.

    The young man was a master of frost incantations, so wherever he was, snow fell, filling the area around him.

    Upon closer observation, the things that fell from the sky were translucent and sparkling, and were more like tiny crystals than snowkes.

    Each and every one of them carried bone-piercing coldness. Even the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in that area seemed to be frozen and cracking sounds could be heard.

    Underneath the young man¡¯s feet was imprable ice that was almost a meter thick. With every swing of the simple, unsophisticated-looking sword in his hand, which resembled a sharp de made of ice, dozens of cold, piercing beams of light would shoot out of it.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In the area between Su Lin and the young man, numerous crystal-like snowkes constantly exploded, and the area seemed to be filled with strange and powerful energy fluctuations.

    Quite confused, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see what caused the explosions. When he used his psychic power to examine that area, his expression immediately flickered.

    First of all, as soon as a wisp of his psychic power entered the area between them, it was pierced by the extreme coldness. He even felt a freezing sensation, as if the coldness had traced his psychic power back and reached his soul.

    While he was still amazed by it, another force that was as deste as the silver moonlight suddenly appeared.

    As soon as it made contact with that wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power, Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power was snuffed out.

    ¡°A battle of psychic power!¡± Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    He realized what was happening.

    The fights of their spiritual power and psychic power were actually taking ce at the same time!

    With a wave of Su Lin¡¯s hands, numerous des that resembled crescent moons took form in front of her, before flying out to meet the white-robed young man¡¯s icy light beams.

    However, the spiritual power fight between the two of them seemed to be quite regr and they both seemed to be handling it with ease.

    The actual fierce fight was the fight between their psychic power.

    Both of them sent their psychic power flying out of their minds, which met in fiercebat with each other in the area between them.

    The white-robed young man¡¯s psychic power was like invisible ice des that carried the profound truths of extreme coldness.

    Su Lin¡¯s psychic power was as clear and chilly as the moonlight on an autumn night, which seemed even more profound and hard to perceive.

    The strong impact created by the collision of their psychic power caused the crystal-like snowkes in that area to explode one after another.

    A bitter expression could be seen at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°A battle of psychic power at the Lesser Heaven stage! Plus, their psychic power is fighting with each other out in the open, instead of entering each other¡¯s mind...¡±

    His understanding regarding Su Lin and the white-robed young man¡¯s strength reached a new level.

    ording to his master, only cultivators withte Heaven stage or higher cultivation bases would be able to have psychic power profound enough to start battles of psychic power out of the fleshy body.

    The psychic power battle between cultivators with low cultivation bases would either be within their own minds or their opponents¡¯ minds.

    After all, it was easier for them to cast those kinds of spells when their psychic power was still weak.

    However, even though Su Lin and the white-robed young man were both at the peak of the Lesser Heaven stage, they were capable of sending their psychic power to fight out in the open.

    ¡°God, they are strong.¡± Nie Tian shook his head as he secretly paid respect to the two of them. Upon the thought of fighting them himself, he started to grow a bit nervous.

    It was also at that moment he realized that if it weren¡¯t for the talisman that his master had bestowed upon him, he probably would have already been killed by Wu Ling¡¯s psychic attack. He probably wouldn¡¯t have survived the first round.

    ¡°Even though my psychic power can¡¯t be considered weak, I need to learn some spells and techniques. Otherwise, I won¡¯t even stand a chance fighting alone against those chosen ones from the other realms!¡± Nie Tian was secretly determined to ask Wu Ji to teach him psychic incantations after finishing this Heaven Gate trial.

    From what he could tell, the fight between Su Lin and the white-robed young man wouldst for a while.

    Furthermore, it seemed that the two of them were fighting tooth and nail using both of their spiritual power and psychic power, and didn¡¯t even have the time to look at him.

    He even believed that neither of them noticed when he had forced Wu Ling to cut off his own hand.

    Nie Tian shifted his gaze away from Su Lin and the white-robed young man and looked towards the area next to where the three of them were standing, where Heaven stage cultivators were also caught in tangled fights. ¡°The first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. There are still middle and final parts.¡±

    There were originally six powerful experts in the Heaven stage area, but now only three were left standing.

    However, there was only one corpse lying on the ground, which meant that the other two had probably given up their Heaven Sparks right before they were to be killed, just like Wu Ling had done.

    From the look of it, the remaining three Heaven stage cultivators were all at the peak of the Heaven stage.

    Each of them wielded a high-ranked spiritual tool as they fought in a disorderly manner. The area where they were standing was now filled with lightning, golden light, and mes while the three of them were covered in blood and their faces distorted and sinister, as if they had all gone mad.

    After a brief assessment, Nie Tian was convinced that whoever the final winner would be, that one would also be seriously injured.

    Then Nie Tian¡¯s gaze passed the area right in front of him andnded on the area where all the Greater Heaven stage cultivators were.

    He saw Tang Yang and Miao Chen among the powerful Qi warriors who were currently fighting for the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    As he recalled it, when he was at the gate of the floating city, Miao Chen had single-handedly dealt with multiple Greater Heaven stage cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven, including Liu Yan and Li Fan.

    All the cultivators around him had been afraid of his toxin-tainted spiritual power attacks.

    However, Nie Tian found him now lying on the ground with a broken sword in his chest and from the look of it, he was already dead.

    Tang Yang, on the other hand, was still wreathed by boundless, raging mes, fighting like a mad devil, but from what Nie Tian could tell, he wasn¡¯t in a favorable situation.

    The powerful expert from the Heaven Pce sect, the one who Su Lin had referred to as her martial uncle, was currently being besieged by Tang Yang and other two experts, but on his expressionless face, Nie Tian saw nothing but calmness, as if he had utter confidence that he would overtake the three around him.

    ¡°Realm of Mystic Heaven, Heaven Pce sect!¡±

 Chapter 175: I Want to Try!

    The Realm of Mystic Heaven ranked first among the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Heaven Pce sect was the most powerful Qi warrior sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and thus held a lofty position among the numerous powerful sects in the entire domain.

    Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect was undoubtedly the strongest in the Lesser Heaven stage area, while in the Greater Heaven stage area, her martial uncle was skillfully handling three Greater Heaven stage experts at the same time.

    Nie Tian was secretly amazed at how powerful the Heaven Pce sect was.

    Compared to the fights that had taken ce in the Lesser Heaven stage area, the fights in the Heaven stage area and Greater Heaven area were even more ferocious and bloody.

    After observing for a while, Nie Tian withdrew his gaze from those two areas and refocused on Su Lin and the white-robed young man.

    At that time, he had already recovered all the spiritual power and psychic power that he had consumed during his fight with Wu Ling.

    Moreover, he had a feeling that after such drastic consumption, both his spiritual power and psychic power had gained some level of growth.

    Only his flesh power hadn¡¯t reached its peak state.

    Therefore, he took out several sizable pieces of spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and started munching.

    While he ate, thirteen table-sized spiritual energy balls floated around him.

    All of them had been drained of the special energy that could help Nie Tian recover his psychic power, but each and every one of them was still full of condensed spiritual energy.

    One after another, wisps of psychic power silently flew out of Nie Tian and entered the thirteen spiritual energy balls around him.

    With a thought, hemanded the spiritual energy balls to slowly float to the area between him and Su Lin.

    Afterwards, he kept an eye on the fight between Su Lin and the white-robed young man as he continued to create more energy balls.

    Nie Tian learned from his fight with Wu Ling that the iparably pure and rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the pce could be turned into powerful weapons after being condensed into spiritual energy balls.

    By doing that, he would be able to use them against the winner when the fight between Su Lin and the white-robed young man was over.

    He nned to use the spiritual energy balls to wear out whatever was left of the winner¡¯s strength, and thenunch the killing strike when he or she was exhausted.

    He pondered his ns while unceasingly creating spiritual energy balls with the spiritual energy in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Time passed quickly, and it wasn¡¯t very long before there were twenty-one spiritual energy balls floating not far away from him.

    At that time, he saw that the cold eyes of the young man from the Realm of Endless Ice were already filled with fatigue.

    Although he was still swinging his simple and unsophisticated sword, the light that it emanated was already not as bright as it had been, and the energy fluctuations within him had also grown weak.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As Su Lin weaved her fingers in the air, numerous crescent moon-shaped des immediately took shape.

    The hundreds of curved des formed a special formation as they pushed towards the white-robed young man, slicing the frozen ground under his feet into small fragments.

    At that moment, Su Lin¡¯s eyes suddenly took on a silver color, making them look as cold as the winter moon.

    In the area between her and the white-robed young man, countless crystal-like snowkes continued to explode and scatter tiny ice shards into the surroundings.

    The white-robed young man seemed to have sustained a heavy blow and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face immediately turned as pale as a piece of paper.

    With a calm expression on her face, Su Lin said indifferently, ¡°Xuan Ke, since your sect and mine have a good rtionship, I don¡¯t intend to kill you. Give me the Heaven Gate pattern on your hand and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡±

    At that time, Xuan Ke from the Realm of Endless Ice came to the realization that he didn¡¯t have any other choice.

    He lowered his head and pondered the matter for a while. Without saying a word, he frowned and cut a piece of flesh off of the back of his hand with his sword.

    Within it sixteen Heaven Sparks were still glittering with bright light.

    Compared to what Wu Ling had done to himself, what he did was much less brutal.

    He only lost a piece of flesh that would grow back through time.

    However, unlike him, Wu Ling did what he had to do in a moment of life or death. He didn¡¯t have the time to so carefully cut off only the skin and flesh that carried the Heaven Sparks.

    Facing Nie Tian¡¯s fatal rage punch, he could only severe his whole hand as quickly as possible.

    Just as Xuan Ke was about to hand the piece of his own flesh to Su Lin, he turned his head and caught sight of Nie Tian. ¡°What!?¡±

    Su Lin followed his gaze and also looked towards Nie Tian.

    The two of them had beenpletely concentrated on their fight and didn¡¯t have the time to check on the fight between Nie Tian and Wu Ling.

    They both anticipated that the fight between Nie Tian and Wu Ling would be still going on.

    However, now that they looked over, they discovered that Wu Ling was already nowhere to be found and eighteen glittering Heaven Sparks were already added to the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    This meant that Nie Tian had already defeated Wu Ling, even though they didn¡¯t know what exactly happened.

    At the same time, they also noticed the twenty-one energy balls that were floating in front of Nie Tian, releasing shockingly strong energy fluctuations.

    Xuan Ke and Su Lin both sent out their psychic power to examine Nie Tian, and found that Nie Tian¡¯s current battle prowess was basically the same as before he started fighting Wu Ling.

    This indicated that not only had Nie Tian defeated Wu Ling, but he also rapidly recovered his strength after their fight.

    Numerous expressions shed across both of Xuan Ke and Su Lin¡¯s faces. ¡°The Realm of me Heaven...¡±

    Neither of them had ever thought that Nie Tian would be the winner of the fight between him and Wu Ling.

    They found it hard to believe that a middle Lesser Heaven stage nobody from the Realm of me Heaven, the weakest realm of the nine, had actually forced Wu Ling to give up his Heaven Sparks.

    Both of them stared nkly at Nie Tian.

    However, at that moment, Xuan Ke suddenly felt like he was seized by an unknown force.

    In the next moment, he disappeared from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze.

    Only the piece of flesh that he had cut off of his hand was left in midair. As soon as Su Lin reached out and grabbed it, the sixteen Heaven Sparks flew out of it like tiny stars, and merged into Su Lin¡¯s jade hand.

    Just like Wu Ling, Xuan Ke was teleported out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce right after he lost his Heaven Gate pattern.

    At this point, Su Lin from the Heaven Pce sect and Nie Tian from the Realm of me Heaven were the only ones left in the Lesser Heaven stage area.

    They looked each other in the eye.

    Nie Tian saw nothing butposure in Su Lin¡¯s eyes as she unhurriedly took out three pills that emanated a strong medicinal aroma from her ring of holding, and swallowed them in front of him.

    After a moment of silence, Su Lin said with a sincere tone, ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste my power on you. My real enemy is the winner in the Heaven stage area. I need to be in my peak state when I go fight him in that area.

    ¡°So, I¡¯ll spare your life as long as you cut off the Heaven Gate pattern on your hand and give it to me, like what Xuan Ke just did. That way you¡¯ll be able to leave the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce alive.

    ¡°I hope you realize that even though you somehow defeated Wu Ling, you won¡¯t stand a chance against me.

    ¡°I have to tell you that if you ever decide to fight me instead of taking my offer, I¡¯ll hold nothing back to kill you and take your Heaven Sparks.

    ¡°You¡¯d better give it a thorough consideration.¡±

    Apparently, Su Lin hoped that Nie Tian would choose to give up his Heaven Sparks and leave the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After all, she had a bigger ambition and didn¡¯t want to waste her energy on Nie Tian.

    However, she sounded so utterly confident that if Nie Tian ever dared to start a fight, she would kill him within seconds.

    Nie Tian gave a smile and said, ¡°You¡¯ve consumed a lot of spiritual power and psychic power during your fight with Xuan Ke. From what I can tell, your battle prowess is only sixty to seventy percent of your peak state.

    ¡°But I, on the other hand, have already fully recovered my strength, since I finished Wu Ling off much earlier.

    ¡°You really have confidence that you can overtake me? Are you sure that I¡¯ll be the one who gets killed if we start fighting?¡±

    With a nod, Su Lin said, ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s fighting spirit seemed to be stimted by her blind confidence. Heughed broadly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take my chances!¡±

    Without furthermunication, Nie Tian sent out a wisp of his psychic power andmanded the spiritual energy balls to bombard towards Su Lin.

    Su Lin frowned and shook her head. ¡°You should have taken my offer.¡±

    SHEW!

    She blurred into a sh of chilly moonlight and rapidly threaded her way through the space between the energy balls, before they were even able to approach her.

    Originally she was about a hundred meters away from Nie Tian, which he considered to be a safe distance.

    However, she was so fast that it practically took her no time to pass the cluster of spiritual energy balls and shorten the distance between them.

    It happened so fast that Nie Tian didn¡¯t even have the time to make them explode.

    Neither his eyes or his psychic power could follow Su Lin and locate her as she shed forward.

 Chapter 176: Superb Observation Skills

    Su Lin was too fast.

    Before Nie Tian had the time to react, she had already passed through the cluster of spiritual energy balls, and was closing in on him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous crescent moon-shaped des that were created by Su Lin¡¯s pure spiritual power shed towards Nie Tian.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Each and every one of them cut into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh as he subconsciously jumped backwards. Blood immediately soaked Nie Tian¡¯s garments.

    As soon as he got a steady foothold, he saw even more curved des flying towards him like raindrops.

    Su Lin, on the other hand, traveled towards Nie Tian like a ray of blue light as she constantly shifted her position in the space between those des.

    She was so fast that both Nie Tian¡¯s sight and psychic power failed to lock onto her. He could only watch as the sky-filling, crescent moon-shaped des flooded towards him.

    Wracked by excruciating pain, Nie Tian ran backwards as fast as he could to put a safe distance between himself and Su Lin.

    It wasn¡¯t until then did he realize that Su Lin was a much stronger opponent than Wu Ling, and she probably didn¡¯t go all out when she fought Xuan Ke earlier.

    By merely using a superior moving technique, she had managed to travel through Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls like a ghost and invalidate all the effort that he had spent.

    ording to Nie Tian¡¯s original n, he would first use the numerous spiritual energy balls to bombard Su Lin, the same way he had Wu Ling, so as to drain Su Lin¡¯s strength.

    Then, when Su Lin was exhausted, he would bring out the chaotic maic field and envelop her with it before heunched the fatal attack.

    Unfortunately, his entire n went down the drain the moment Su Lin made a move.

    Su Lin stopped her ghostly moves when she was ten meters away from Nie Tian. With numerous shiny, silver des that resembled crescent moons hovering around her, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you another chance.¡±

    At the same time, the des suddenly sped up and turned into a tempest, unleashing an aura so fierce that it seemed to be capable of annihting all things.

    From the look of it, as soon as it enveloped Nie Tian, he would be instantly reduced to nothing but chunks of flesh and bones.

    ¡°Do as Xuan Ke did and cut off the flesh on the back of your hand and I¡¯ll allow you to leave the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in one piece.¡± Robe fluctuating against the wind, Su Lin said with an indifferent face, ¡°but, if you refuse toe to your senses, don¡¯t me me for what I¡¯ll do to you.¡±

    While she talked, a dazzling moonlight that carried strong energy shone out of the raging de storm.

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    He didn¡¯t believe that Su Lin was a merciful person. Furthermore, they didn¡¯t know each other before the trial, and from what he knew, the Cloudsoaring sect never had any rtionship with the Heaven Pce sect.

    ording to the power that Su Lin had disyed, she would very easily break Nie Tian¡¯s defense as long as she kept going.

    However, instead of continuing to rain des on him, she stopped to threaten and urge him again.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t think Su Lin did that out of respect. If she was indeed as powerful as she said, she wouldn¡¯t need to waste her breath talking.

    Nie Tian had a feeling that perhaps Su Lin was hiding something.

    ¡°Could it be that she actually sustained serious injuries from her fight with Xuan Ke? Or the power that she has consumed is actually more than what she expected?

    ¡°She hastily took three medicinal pills as soon as she finished her fight with Xuan Ke. She probably still needs time to refine and absorb those pills.

    ¡°Did she intentionally pose a threatening manner to cover her weakness?¡±

    Eyes fixed on Su Lin, Nie Tian thoroughly thought for a moment and suddenly came to a realization.

    Su Lin didn¡¯t cast any psychic power spells to attack him.

    When he fought Wu Ling, Wu Ling had almost immediately gained the upper hand with the evil psychic power that shot out of the demonic eyes on his saber.

    It was the talisman that Nie Tian¡¯s master had bestowed upon him that shielded off the deadly attack and saved his life.

    Su Lin and Xuan Ke both saw it.

    Therefore, Su Lin must have long since realized that even though Nie Tian possessed strong psychic power, he hadn¡¯t mastered any profound magics to put it to proper use.

    As wise as Su Lin was, she probably knew that psychic attacks were the way to go if she wanted to end Nie Tian as quickly as possible.

    What¡¯s more, Nie Tian witnessed how powerful her psychic attacks were when she fought Xuan Ke, and he was absolutely certain that her mastery of psychic power even surpassed Wu Ling.

    In this situation, Su Lin didn¡¯t use psychic power against him, which had already been proved to be fast and effective, but instead, she resorted to the crescent moon-shaped des...

    ¡°She must have over-consumed her psychic power during her fight with Xuan Ke. Her soul may have even sustained serious injuries!

    ¡°Only that would exin why she choose spiritual power magics over the direct and simple psychic power magics.

    ¡°Those three medicinal pills were probably for the injuries to her soul, and the reason why she repeatedly urged me to surrender must be that she needs time to absorb them and recover from her injuries!¡±

    A series of ideas shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind before he finally came to a surprising conclusion.

    Nie Tianughed out loudly as he suddenly concentrated all his psychic power and stared into Su Lin¡¯s eyes. ¡°Do me a favor and kill me! Please!¡±

    In a sh, his condensed psychic power effortlessly entered Su Lin¡¯s soul.

    The process was so easy and smooth that he found it hard to believe.

    Normally speaking, any cultivator who knew a few psychic power magics would keep their guard up against psychic attacks at all times.

    Even for him, a beginner with psychic magics, he could condense his psychic power into multiple defensive shields, preventing the enemy¡¯s psychic power from invading his mind.

    Therefore, Su Lin, a chosen one from the Realm of Mystic Heaven who had just proven her outstanding power during her fight with Xuan Ke, shouldn¡¯t have so easily allowed his psychic power to enter her mind.

    After realizing what Nie Tian had done, a subtle, frightened look appeared in Su Lin¡¯s bright eyes.

    Even though she considered Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power to be ridiculously puny, apparently Nie Tianunching psychic power attacks was the least she wanted to see.

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness entered Su Lin¡¯s mind he grew excited. ¡°I knew it!¡±

    Within Su Lin¡¯s mind, he found himself standing in front of three giant, floating ciers!

    The three of them must have been created and put there by Xuan Ke¡¯s psychic power. Until this point, they were still drifting around and ravaging Su Lin¡¯s soul while unleashing a bone-piercingly cold aura.

    Nie Tian looked up and saw a bright crescent moon hanging high above the three ciers.

    Numerous rays of moonlight constantly shot out of the moon, morphed into silver des, and chopped towards the three ciers, slowly reducing the size of the ciers.

    ¡°She might have inflicted even more severe damage on Xuan Ke¡¯s soul, which resulted in his surrender.

    ¡°However, some of his psychic power that carried an ice-cold aura was left in Su Lin¡¯s soul and took the form of three gigantic ciers. Considering Su Lin¡¯s strength, given a little more time to dissolve the three medicinal pills, she would soon eliminate all three enormous ciers and recover from her injuries.

    ¡°She knew that I had pretty much recovered all my strength, but she herself wasn¡¯t in a favorable condition to start a fight. After all, since the three giant ciers are still weighing down on her mind, she won¡¯t be able to use many of her exquisite techniques and spells. She actually desperately needs time to smash the ciers and replenish her psychic power.

    ¡°All the threatening, urging, and imposing manners were actually ways to buy more time for her recovery!¡±

    Nie Tian literally saw through Su Lin¡¯s mind.

 Chapter 177: Nie Tian from the Realm of Flame Heaven!

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness entered Su Lin¡¯s soul, she realized that it wasn¡¯t looking good for her.

    The three giant ciers that Xuan Ke had condensed and left within her were still unleashing freezing coldness, causing damage to her soul.

    Even though she was certain that she had also inflicted serious damage on Xuan Ke and forced him to drop out of their fight, she also knew very clearly that he had done the same to her. It was just that her injuries weren¡¯t as severe as his.

    Obviously, knowing that Su Lin was stronger than him, Xuan Ke had gone all out to fight her so as to get the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    All the threats and confidence were merely a show that she had put on.

    She did all of those things to scare Nie Tian off, so that she would be able to spend the least time and effort to obtain all the magical symbols that Nie Tian had and give her as much time as possible to recuperate.

    After all, the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation alone wasn¡¯t her goal. Her goal was to get both the first part and the middle part.

    For that reason, she could afford to waste her time and energy on Nie Tian. He needed all the time she could get to heal her wounds, replenish her power, and adjust herself to her peak state.

    However, she never thought Nie Tian, a young nobody from the Realm of me Heaven, would defeat Wu Ling and so shrewdly see through her weakness.

    Now she realized that Nie Tian was determined tounch attacks with his psychic power and hit her where it was still sore.

    Su Lin¡¯s opinion of Nie Tian waspletely overthrown by this point, and she finally decided to give him the credit that he deserved. ¡°It seems that I¡¯ve underestimated you, kid from the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Inside of Su Lin¡¯s soul, numerous rays of chilly moonlight shot out of the crescent moon in the sky.

    Originally, their target had been the three ciers that Xuan Ke had put there.

    However, each of the numerous rays of moonlight suddenly split into dozens of light rays as they pierced towards Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness that had invaded Su Lin¡¯s soul.

    PHOOH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness condensed and morphed into a vague figure.

    Upon a closer look of the figure, it was none other than Nie Tian himself, only not in fleshly form.

    Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness constantly shifted its position to dodge the piercingly cold moonlight.

    At the same time, the ghost-like Nie Tian secretly approached the three enormous ciers, from which he sensed nothing but utter coldness.

    However, he wasn¡¯t the target of the bone-piercing coldness.

    The cold aura that floated out of the ciers seemed to have caught a whiff of the moonlight¡¯s aura and immediately rushed over, eliminating Su Lin¡¯s psychic attack within seconds.

    Meanwhile...

    Xuan Ke, who had lost his Heaven Gate pattern and disappeared from the pce, appeared outside of another dpidated city.

    Around him stood three Greater Heaven stage experts from the Realm of Endless Ice.

    The wound on Xuan Ke¡¯s hand had already stopped bleeding. Sitting in the middle of those powerful experts with his eyes narrowed, he was healing the injuries to his soul with a mysterious medicinal pill from the Ice Pavilion sect.

    Xuan Ke¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Young Lord?¡± One of the Greater Heaven stage experts asked.

    Xuan Ke didn¡¯t answer immediately, but rather squinted his eyes and sensed carefully with his psychic power.

    A while passed and his expression flickered. A faint, strangeugh could be seen on his cold and grim face.

    ¡°That guy actually perceived the injuries to Su Lin¡¯s soul! And he even had the audacity to fight her! It seems that we¡¯ve underestimated this guy from the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Actually it¡¯s not bad news for us. Now that we can¡¯t get all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, the Heaven Pce sect had better not get it either.

    ¡°Let me help you, kid!¡±

    Xuan Ke took a deep breath and reached out his hand. ¡°Six Exhaustions Pill!¡±

    ¡°What do you want to do with it, Young Lord?!¡± a powerful expert from the Ice Pavilion sect asked with shock on his face.

    Xuan Ke let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Six Exhaustions Pill!!!¡±

    The man didn¡¯t dare to say another word and hastily took out a prism-shaped pill. A bone-piercing cold aura floated out of it as he handed it to Xuan Ke.

    Xuan Ke grabbed it and swallowed it without any hesitation. Immediately afterwards, a surge of brand new soul fluctuations rippled out from within him. He seemed to have strengthened the faint link between him and the three floating ciers in Su Lin¡¯s soul.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Almost simultaneously, the ciers in Su Lin¡¯s soul seemed to have acquired a new strength, and white, icy mist started to rise from the surface of the ciers.

    The icy mist rapidly spread out into the surroundings with the three ciers as the center.

    Before long, the area within Su Lin¡¯s soul where the ciers were floating seemed to be frozen and sealed by the bitter coldness!

    All of the descending, chilly moonlight and even the crescent moon in the sky, which were embodiment of Su Lin¡¯s psychic power, seemed to be influenced by the cold aura. Both their might and the speed were greatly reduced.

    The three ciers, on the contrary, were expanding at a noticeable speed in the icy mist.

    Standing in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Su Lin sensed something had gone wrong and couldn¡¯t help but call out, ¡°Xuan Ke!¡±

    Raging anger filled Su Lin¡¯s eyes. Apparently, she knew perfectly well who was behind the anomaly that was now happening to the ciers.

    After seeing the expansion of the three giant ciers and the icy mist that hade out of them, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°It must be Xuan Ke!¡±

    Just like Su Lin, he almost immediately realized what was going on. It must be Xuan Ke who was secretly helping him by relying on the faint psychic connection between him and the ciers.

    He was aware that Xuan Ke wasn¡¯t his friend and he didn¡¯t do it because he wanted to help him.

    He just didn¡¯t want to see the Heaven Pce sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven take all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Nie Tian thanked Xuan Ke in his heart. While Su Lin had no choice but to focus all her power to deal with the three ciers, his psychic awareness that was originally the shape of Nie Tian suddenly changed.

    It turned into a giant pir and directly charged towards the crescent moon hanging in the sky.

    That crescent moon was the embodiment of Su Lin¡¯s psychic awareness and the source of her psychic power.

    At that time, the icy mist that the ciers had unleashed had already enveloped the crescent moon, causing it to have difficulty operating.

    Nie Tian saw the opportunity andmanded the enormous pir to ram into the crescent moon.

    BOOM!

    After receiving a strong blow to her soul, memories of her life, along with the mysterious magics and incantations she had learned from the Heaven Pce sect, suddenly became blurry and disordered.

    In the outside world, standing amongst numerous hovering, curved des, a pained expression appeared in Su Lin¡¯s eye.

    It was at that time Nie Tian finally locked onto the seemingly vulnerable Su Lin.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Without the slightest hesitation, Nie Tianmanded the numerous spiritual energy balls to turn around and once again bombard Su Lin.

    CRACKLE! BOOM!

    As soon as the spiritual energy balls rammed into the crescent moon shaped des that were hovering around Su Lin, they exploded, and the area where she was standing was filled with blinding light and surging energy fluctuations.

    As strong as Su Lin was, after the joint psychic attack from Nie Tian and Xuan Ke, along with the bombardment of the numerous spiritual energy balls, she sustained severe injuries.

    PUFF!

    Su Lin coughed up a mouthful of blood and the light in her eyes faded to a great extent.

    The defensive storm of des that she had condensed with her spiritual power also broke down after taking the strong blow.

    Su Lin created a shield of moonlight around her with herst remaining strength. The countless sparks that had sputtered out of the energy balls and filled the area that Su Lin was standing in continued to hit her protective shield.

    After receiving multiple strong sts, Su Lin was now in an extremely dangerous situation. Not only did the injuries on her soul worsen, but even her fleshy body was now on the verge of destruction.

    Su Lin gritted her white teeth as she cast a ferocious re towards Nie Tian before she pressed her right palm on the back of her left hand and muttered something.

    The Heaven Gate pattern that had been tattooed on the back of her left hand suddenly seemed to be detached from her skin, and with a swing of her right hand, the Heaven Gate pattern, together with the Heaven Sparks within it, flew out of her palm.

    Su Lin let out a raging shout in the vast Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. ¡°Xuan Ke! I¡¯m not going to let you get away with this!¡±

    The Heaven Gate pattern and the Heaven Sparks within it rapidly entered Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Do you dare tell me your name?¡± She glowered at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    Su Lin clenched her jaw and said, ¡°Good. I¡¯ll remember you! Mark my word. We¡¯ll take the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation back!

    ¡°We¡¯ll collect all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. No one will be able to stop us!¡±

    As soon as she uttered these words, the light shield that she had created seemed no longer able to withstand the strikes from the countless sparks and was about to copse.

    However, at that moment, she was seized by a mysterious force, and started to emanate a seven-colored light so dazzling that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t even keep his eyes open.

    When the light disappeared, Nie Tian looked over and found that Su Lin was gone.

    After Wu Ling from the Realm of Unbounded Destion and Xuan Ke from the Realm of Endless Ice, Su Lin was the third to withdraw from the fight over the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and leave the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After receiving Su Lin¡¯s Heaven Sparks, Nie Tian sessfully gathered all the ancient symbols that carried the first part of the incantation into his own Heaven Gate pattern.

    The moment Su Lin¡¯s Heaven Sparks fell into Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Gate pattern, all the magical symbols that had been randomly scattered around immediately started to rearrange themselves!

    Before long, the readable first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation presented itself to him.

 Chapter 178: Soul Refining Magic!

    All the Heaven Sparks rapidly merged with each other on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    The numerous magical symbols in the Heaven Sparks also realigned, presenting the readable andplete first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    It wasn¡¯t long before all the Heaven Sparks in Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Gate pattern merged and turned into a hexagram.

    The hexagram was located in the center of the Heaven Gate pattern, emanating a bright glow, within whichy all the realigned ancient symbols.

    With a thought, Nie Tian sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the hexagram.

    He saw arge number of ancient symbols written neatly in the sky within the hexagram, almost like an unfurled bamboo scroll.

    Without any hesitation, he started to read it with his psychic power.

    However, it wasn¡¯t very long before he had the feeling that he had over consumed his psychic power and had to retract his psychic awareness from the hexagram.

    Although he had retracted the psychic power that he had used to invade Su Lin¡¯s mind before she was dragged out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he found that he had consumed arge portion of his psychic power reading the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    With furrowed eyebrows, he looked towards the Heaven stage area and the Greater Heaven stage area to find that their fights were still going on.

    Only two people were still alive in the Heaven stage area. Both of them had wounds and blood all over their body. From the look of it, whoever the winner would be, he wouldn¡¯t be in a much better situation than the defeated one.

    Further off in the Greater Heaven stage area, Tang Yang and another cultivator were still attacking the powerful expert from the Heaven Pce sect together.

    The Greater Heaven stage expert who Su Lin had referred to as her martial uncle looked somewhat tired after killing several of his enemies.

    However, Tang Yang and the other cultivator seemed to be in much worse condition.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, the winner in the Greater Heaven stage area would probably be Su Lin¡¯s martial uncle.

    ¡°It seems I¡¯d better forget about the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he retracted his gaze. ¡°Perhaps, I¡¯ll have a shot with the middle part.¡±

    With these thoughts, he decided that he wouldn¡¯t read the rest of the first part of the incantation.

    In the Lesser Heaven stage area, where he was now the only person left, he once again used the technique that he had learned from the mysteriousnd to condense energy balls, and used the energy within them to replenish his spiritual and psychic power.

    In the meantime, he took out severalrge chunks of spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and wolfed them down, so as to restore his peak state within the least amount of time.

    He nned to wait for the right time and cross the seven-colored river into the Heaven stage area the moment one of them died.

    He believed that he would only have a chance to snatch the middle part of the incantation from a Heaven stage cultivator when he was still weak from killing his opponent.

    If the winner was given even a little time to recuperate with medicinal pills and the rich spiritual energy in the air, the chance of him getting the middle part of the incantation would be very slim.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    The intense spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth rapidly condensed into an energy ball as soon as Nie Tian cast the spell.

    Just as he was about to absorb the condensed spiritual energy within it into his spiritual sea and nourish his soul with it, he suddenly noticed something.

    Looking up, he saw that numerous rays of starlight were shooting out of the ceiling of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was the same kind of light that had shone on the mysterious patterns on the pce walls and made them bright and dazzling.

    However, the Qi warriors with different cultivation bases in the three areas had already used their psychic power to channel all the mysterious patterns into their Heaven Sparks.

    Therefore, there wasn¡¯t a single pattern left on the walls now.

    Upon a closer look, Nie Tian realized that the starlight that was shooting out of the mysterious river of stars was actuallying towards where he was standing.

    At that time, Nie Tian felt a bright light also shooting up from below. He looked down and saw the hexagram in his Heaven Gate shining like a star.

    It seemed that it was the hexagram that had attracted the starlight from out of the starry river and into Nie Tian.

    It was also at that moment that all the ancient symbols that Nie Tian had briefly swept through suddenly began to be clear, as if they were now deeply engraved in his mind.

    Furthermore, he felt like he had an epiphany. Not only did all the ancient symbols start to make perfect sense to him, he even realized how to attract and receive the starlight that was pouring towards him.

    Under his guidance, the silver starlight converged into one light beam before it entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind through the top of his head.

    Nie Tian silently examined himself and found that a tiny light dot had appeared in his soul and started to shine.

    With the infusion of more and more starlight from the starry river, the light dot in his soul grew brighter and brighter.

    Nie Tian¡¯s body shuddered. ¡°A fragmentary star?! A fragmentary star has fallen into my soul?! Is this a part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation?¡±

    Eyes glittering with the light of excitement, he was fairly certain that he had solved one of the profound mysteries of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    The Fragmentary Star Incantation was actually dedicated to tempering one¡¯s psychic power. To be exact, it was a soul cultivating incantation.

    There were very few secret magics regarding cultivation of the soul in the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars!

    Nie Tian found it hard to imagine that there was a mysterious soul-tempering incantation that could allow the starlight from the boundless starry river into one¡¯s soul and appear in the form of a fragmentary star. Therefore he cherished it like it a priceless treasure!

    It was also at that moment Nie Tian finally understood why the Heaven Pce sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven was so eager to obtain it.

    He had witnessed how powerful Su Lin and her martial uncle were, and they were only the ones that he had seen.

    He assumed that the Heaven Pce sect must have sent many more powerful experts into the Heaven Gate trial to assist Su Lin and her martial uncle in finishing their mission.

    ¡°Fragmentary Star Incantation! Soul cultivating magic!¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t suppress his excitement.

    From his fight with Wu Ling, he had realized that even though he possessed outstanding psychic power, he didn¡¯t know how to wield it, and thus couldn¡¯t turn it into actual battle prowess.

    The moment he had finished his battle with Wu Ling, he had decided to go to his master as soon as the Heaven Gate trial was over and learn some psychic magics from him.

    Never would he have thought that the psychic magic that he had longed for would present itself, now branded within the hexagram in his Heaven Gate pattern.

    He believed that as long as he continued to build up his psychic power and put his heart to studying the incantation, he would be able to unveil all the mysteries of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and put it to good use.

    More importantly, the Fragmentary Star Incantation was more about tempering one¡¯s soul than psychic power.

    When he was strong enough, his psychic power would upgrade and be soul power. Only at that time would he be able to make the most out of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and disy the true might of the incantation!

    He tried his best to calm himself and pull himself out of his reverie. Following the instructions of the iparably clear symbols that were now engraved in his mind, he continued to take in the starlight.

    More and more starlight poured down from the heavens and converged onto the top of Nie Tian¡¯s head, and from there it flowed into his soul.

    At the same time, he nced around and noticed that he was the only one absorbing starlight from the starry river. Everyone in the other two areas was still fighting.

    He realized that only when someone had gathered all the Heaven Sparks from their opponents in the area andpleted that part of the incantation, would they be able to receive the instructions of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, and thus attract the falling starlight.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to make full use of this opportunity!¡±

    With these thoughts, he felt increasingly lucky and concentrated on using the secret magic that he had just learned to allow as much starlight as possible into his soul.

    He probed into his own soul and saw that, after arge amount of starlight had poured into it, the fragmentary star was rapidly growing brighter andrger.

    Only seconds had passed and the originally grain-sized star had already grown to the size of a thumb.

    Within the fragmentary star, Nie Tian could sense extremely strong psychic energy fluctuations. He had the feeling that the psychic power within the small star was far more powerful and profound than all of the psychic power in his soul. Furthermore, he believed that there were still many secrets within it that he would need time to solve.

    ¡°The heavens must favor me!¡± he thought to himself.

 Chapter 179: Three Fragmentary Stars

    The starlight that was pouring down from the ceiling of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wasn¡¯t limitless.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the shiny, silver light stopped falling.

    At that time, Nie Tian was surprised to discover that there were three fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Within his soul, all three of them hung high in the sky, shining with bright light. Not only was the psychic power they contained iparably pure and condensed, they also carried the profound might of stars.

    The existence of the three fragmentary stars made Nie Tian¡¯s soul seem full of mysteries and even slightly resemble the vast starry river.

    When the starlight stopped falling, Nie Tian gradually awoke from his cultivation.

    At that time, his understandings of the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation was still limited to the method to attract starlight into his soul, and he was fairly certain that he would have to further explore its secrets in the future.

    As soon as he snapped open his eyes, he felt enlivened; both his spiritual power and flesh power had fully recovered.

    Furthermore, after the three fragmentary stars took form in his soul, his psychic power had also reached an unprecedentedly high level!

    He immediately looked towards the Heaven stage area and found that the fight between the two was already over.

    The losing party had been torn into pieces, scattered around on the floor, while his head was lying meters away from the rest of his body.

    It was a horrible scene.

    The winner, on the other hand, was sitting among the severed limbs, wreathed in a strong, bloody aura. Face pale, eyes narrowed, he was gathering the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to gradually restore his strength.

    ¡°The fight is over...¡± Nie Tian immediately rose to his feet and sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the ten floating energy balls around him.

    Without the slightest hesitation, he dashed towards the river of seven-colored light, as he had been waiting for this moment.

    At the same time, he used his psychic power to manipte the ten energy balls to follow him and cross that river into the adjacent area.

    The moment he stepped into the seven-colored light river, he seemed to set off some hidden restrictive spell of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    All of a sudden, numerous beams of bright light, along with an examining and judging aura, shot out of the light river and enveloped him in the blink of an eye.

    It seemed that the hexagram within the Heaven Gate pattern on Nie Tian¡¯s hand had sensed the action of the restrictive spell, and immediately started to shine with dazzling starlight.

    Almost simultaneously, the examining aura in the seven-colored light disappeared.

    Nie Tian instantly felt a sense of relief and then steadily walked forward in the miraculous river that was filled with light and energy.

    The ten energy balls, which he had condensed with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, followed him into seven-colored light river.

    Since the energy within those balls shared the same source as the energy in the light river, they weren¡¯t rejected and no examining aura flew anywhere near them.

    One after another, all the energy balls slowly followed Nie Tian across the seven-colored river.

    Originally, the powerful expert sitting amongst his opponent¡¯s severed limbs didn¡¯t even notice Nie Tian, the only survivor from the Lesser Heaven stage area. Only when he sensed that someone had crossed the seven-colored light river did he look over and catch sight of Nie Tian.

    Before that, he had focused all his attention on the Greater Heaven stage area, where he saw only two survivors: Su Lin¡¯s martial uncle and Tang Yang from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    At that time, their fight had reached a critical moment in which a winner was about to be born.

    Knowing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to cross the restrictive river into the Lesser Heaven stage area even though he had already obtained the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, he had long since given up the idea of snatching the first part of the incantation.

    He knew that he would only be able to challenge the survivor of the Greater Heaven stage area and try his luck with obtaining the final part of the incantation with his Heaven stage strength.

    Since he was familiar with the rules within the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he had set his mind on the Greater Heaven stage expert from the Heaven Pce sect andpletely ignored Nie Tian.

    The final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation had be his sole focus, so he was very surprised with Nie Tian¡¯s arrival. As a matter of fact, he had expected that someone from the Lesser Heaven stage area might enter his area. However, he had expected that person to be Su Lin.

    He was very clear about the Heaven Pce sect¡¯s scheme and was no stranger to Su Lin¡¯s fame. That was why he was taken aback when the youngster standing in front of him was Nie Tian, a young man he didn¡¯t know and had never even heard of.

    A wisp of the man¡¯s psychic awareness swirled around Nie Tian and soon he drew a conclusion regarding his cultivation base. ¡°Middle Lesser Heaven stage...¡±

    A slight sneer appear at the corner of the man¡¯s mouth as he shook his head and thought to himself, ¡°I can¡¯t believe Su Lin was defeated by this kid. She must have sustained serious injuries when she fought Wu Ling or Xuan Ke. Or Wu Ling and Xuan Ke teamed up to fight Su Lin, and all three of them suffered severe injuries from their fight, which created a good opportunity for this kid.¡±

    Since the experts in the Heaven stage area had started fighting before Nie Tian and the other three, the man didn¡¯t know how their fights went.

    Furthermore, he never heard of Nie Tian, but he knew Su Lin, Wu Ling, and Xuan Ke rather well and knew that the three of them were all chosen ones from their respective realms.

    Hence, he took it for granted that Nie Tian had swooped in at the perfect time, snatched the victory, and had then audaciouslye to challenge him.

    ¡°Where are you from, kid?¡± he asked with an indifferent tone.

    When he spoke, his eyes brimmed with greed and excitement.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    The man grinned while shaking his head. ¡°The Realm of me Heaven?

    ¡°Actually, this is good! I can¡¯t cross the seven-colored light river to loot the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation even if I want to, but now you¡¯vee to my door! Who would have expected this?

    ¡°Hahaha! It seems that today is my lucky day. It¡¯s hard to say if I¡¯ll be able to loot the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, but I can safely say that the first part will soon belong to me!¡±

    With these words, he slowly rose to his feet.

    ¡°My name is Dong Baijie, and I¡¯m from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡± With a smile on his face, the man took the initiative to state his own name. ¡°I wanna thank you in advance for bringing me the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. With that in my hands, I only have one part to go.¡±

    A strong fighting spirit rippled out from within Dong Baijie. At the same time, an aura full of brutality and killing intent shot violently into the heavens from the top of his head, in the form of a column of thick, gray smoke.

    From within the thick smoke, not only did Nie Tian sense a strong psychic power, he also found the fluctuations of a special kind of spiritual power.

    It seemed to be an aggregation of the man¡¯s psychic power, spiritual power, and thirst for blood!

    Since the Heaven stage area had just witnessed multiple brutal fights, scattered fighting spirits could be found in every corner of the bloody battlefield.

    At that moment, all those fighting spirits madly converged and infused into the smoke column that shot out of the top of Dong Baijie¡¯s head.

    Nie Tian originally was convinced that Dong Baijie was in a state ofplete exhaustion, like a oilmp that had run out of oil.

    However, his fighting spirit and battle prowess seemed to be soaring together with the column above his head!

    Having stepped out of the river of seven-colored light, Nie Tian said nothing, and without wasting a second, he ced his palms opposite to each other in an attempt to form the chaotic maic field as soon as possible.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    It was also at that time the ten energy balls followed Nie Tian across the seven-colored light river and arrived by his side.

    As he infused more and more of his psychic power, spiritual power, and flesh power into the maic field, it gradually expanded into his surroundings. Meanwhile, he quietly took the third talisman that his master had bestowed upon him out of his bracelet of holding.

    He was prepared to unleash the power within his master¡¯s talisman at the first possible moment in case Dong Baijie nned to attack him with his psychic power.

    After all, his biggest weakness was that he didn¡¯t know any psychic magic, and thus was quite vulnerable to psychic attacks.

    Since he had sessfully shielded off the attack of Wu Ling¡¯s evil psychic power with the talisman, he assumed that it would also protect him from Dong Baijie¡¯s psychic attack. Only by maintaining a clear mind and undisturbed soul would he have the chance to obtain the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°Give it to me!¡± Dong Baijie reached out his hand and asked Nie Tian to hand out the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation in an imposing manner.

    Without giving Nie Tian the time to think, the gray, thick smoke column morphed into a giant gray wolf, and lunged towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°What are you waiting for!? Sever your own hand and get the hell out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

 Chapter 180: Dong Baijie

    Apanied by Dong Baijie¡¯s thunderous roar, the giant gray wolf swooped towards Nie Tian from over his head.

    The wolf was condensed by Dong Baijie¡¯s psychic power and spiritual power. Not only was it very lifelike, it even seemed to have its own consciousness.

    In Dong Baijie¡¯s eyes, as long as Nie Tian was decisive enough, he still had the time to cut off his Heaven Gate pattern bearing hand and get out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce alive, before the giant wolf got to him.

    His cold eyes were fixed on Nie Tian as he waited to see what Nie Tian would choose; die fighting or retreat and live.

    Upon seeing the giant gray wolf swooping towards him, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he wanted to immediately set off the spiritual talisman from Wu Ji to protect him from it.

    As far as he knew, the talisman would form seven light shields around him, which would be suffice to shield off his enemy¡¯s psychic attack.

    Just as he was about to stimte the talisman, he suddenly sensed that something was different. He examined the chaotic maic field and found that three dots of starlight had appeared in it.

    Each of them was minute, far smaller than the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    However, he detected the aura of those fragmentary stars within them!

    He immediately came to realize that the three starlight dots in the chaotic maic field originated from the three fragmentary stars in his soul.

    As he thought about it now, he must have drawn some pure and advanced psychic power from the three fragmentary stars in his soul when he channeled his power to form the maic field.

    The existence of the starlight dots made the maic field even more violent and chaotic.

    Unprecedentedly strong energy fluctuations that seemed capable of distorting any psychic power that dared to enter were now surging about within the maic field.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, the giant gray wolf, which was still some distance away from Nie Tian, suddenly opened its mouth.

    In the next second, a gray psychic power st shot out of the wolf¡¯s mouth and pierced towards Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field with a speed that was many times faster than the wolf¡¯s.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Before Nie Tian realized it, the st wave had already entered the maic field. As soon as it did, the three starlight dots within it began to shine with dazzling light.

    The twisting psychic fluctuations within the maic field turned the maic field into a giant meat grinder as it unceasingly twisted and ground up the invading psychic power.

    Before long, Nie Tian saw the st wave torn into pieces and reduced to small, shimmering gray dots, which continued to be distorted and dismantled by the power within the maic field and soon vanished into thin air.

    ¡°It worked! It held off his psychic attack!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s spirit was greatly roused, and his talisman-holding hand was now more steady than ever.

    The surprising performance of the chaotic maic field made him less nervous, and he was no longer eager to use thest remaining talisman from his master. Instead, hemanded the ten spiritual energy balls to bombard the giant wolf without any hesitation.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    One by one, numerous balls filled with semi-liquidized spiritual energy rammed hard into the wolf before exploding and sputtering millions of bright sparks into the surroundings.

    The area between him and Dong Baijie was soon filled with shing light and energy. The giant gray wolf let out mad howls as it waved its ws towards the row of energy balls.

    Gradually, the giant wolf was inundated by the fragmentary light sparks that shot out of the energy balls, and its enormous frame shrunk at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

    At the same time, the originally strong fluctuations of psychic power and spiritual power were rapidly weakening.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s ill-looking face grew even paler. His face twitched as his expression started to appear somewhat sinister and distorted. ¡°What?! With his Lesser Heaven stage strength, he actually managed to withstand my Heavenly Wolf¡¯s attack!¡±

    Dong Baijie found it hard to believe. As a matter of fact, he had sensed that something was wrong when he saw the wolf¡¯s psychic power st wave eliminated as soon as it entered the area around Nie Tian.

    He became increasingly shocked and uneasy when he saw the numerous energy balls wearing down the power of his Heavenly Wolf.

    With his psychic power, he examined the mysterious energy balls and realized that they weren¡¯t Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual tools. The tiny sparks that had shot out of them were actually a concretion of the rich spiritual energy in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He found it incredible that Nie Tian had managed to refine and condense the spiritual energy in the air to the point where it became semi-liquid.

    After a moment of shock, he forced himself to calm down. When he looked at Nie Tian again, his eyes were filled with seriousness.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One energy ball after another exploded and sent out countless tiny sparks, which eventually drowned and destroyed the giant, gray wolf.

    Seeing that the area between Nie Tian and himself was filled with sputtering sparks, even the Heaven stage Dong Baijie was hesitant to step into that area as he didn¡¯t want to waste his power dealing with it.

    Therefore, he blurred into action and shed towards Nie Tian like a zigzag bolt of lightning, easily evading the area between them.

    Dong Baijie originally didn¡¯t have anything in his hand, but as he approached, Nie Tian discovered that he had already drawn out a long spear.

    The long spear was engraved with detailed patterns that looked like some sort of mysterious spell formation or seal.

    The iron-gray spear suddenly started to thrum with a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering fighting spirit before it turned into a beam of light and disappeared from in front of Dong Baijie.

    In the next moment, it appeared inside of Nie Tian¡¯s maic field, catching himpletely off guard, as if the spear had ignored space and teleported directly in front of his face.

    BOOM!

    The moment the spear appeared in the chaotic maic field, it unleashed an even fiercer fighting spirit.

    In the next moment, pale-gray light blossomed out of the long spear, turning it into a long, luminous tube, continuously releasing light and energy.

    On the other hand, the twisting power within the maic field was like thousands of hands that grabbed onto each and every ray of the light and doing their utmost to bend them.

    However, the ever-victorious maic field failed to stop the piercing, sharp light from the long spear, given everything had happened so fast.

    PUFF!

    A ray of pale-gray light pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s right arm.

    A messy hole immediately appeared in that arm and blood came spraying out!

    Fortunately, the ray of light missed his bones. Otherwise, they would have instantly broken into pieces.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    He had encountered Greater Heaven stage experts before, opponents even more powerful than Dong Baijie. However, they had either attacked him with psychic power or lost control of themselves and fallen into the chaotic maic field.

    They all had their mind distorted by the maic field when they sent their psychic power into it or entered it themselves.

    Dong Baijie was different. He seemed to have discovered the secrets of the maic field through his previous attack with the giant wolf.

    That was the reason why he didn¡¯t enter or send his psychic awareness, but rather tested the water with his powerful spiritual tool.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At that time, even more light rays shot out of the long spear. Nie Tian, who had suffered greatly from merely one light ray, had no choice but to shift his position as quickly as he could to dodge the light.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Even still, some of the light rays found his legs and abdomen, one after another. Fortunately, none of the wounds were fatal.

    He could only try his best to prevent the light from piercing into his vital parts, since he obviously wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to dodge all the light rays.

    Standing about ten meters away from him, Dong Baijie from the Realm of a Hundred Battles looked on as the long spear raged within Nie Tian¡¯s maic field, the expression in his eyes somewhat grim.

    ¡°He managed to survive till now with his middle Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base. It seems that it was no coincidence that he collected the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation from Su Lin, Xuan Ke, and Wu Ling¡¯s hands.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s outstanding performance came as a great shock to Dong Baijie, the only survivor of the brutal fights within the Heaven stage area.

    He inwardly acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s strength.

 Chapter 181: You Win!

    Enveloped by his maic field, Nie Tian continued to dodge the piercing light as quickly as he could. Even still, more and more wounds appeared on his body.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s caution made him suffer a great deal and realize that even though his chaotic maic field had helped him win during his previous fights, it wasn¡¯t invincible.

    Its influence on spiritual tools was far weaker than fleshy bodies and psychic power.

    It had effortlessly eliminated the psychic power st wave shot out of the giant wolf¡¯s mouth, keeping Nie Tian unscathed, which convinced him that the maic field would be able to influence and restrain the Heaven stage Dong Baijie to a great extent, as long as he dared to enter!

    Unfortunately, Dong Baijie was too smart to do that. The moment he sensed the bizarre nature of the chaotic maic field, he intentionally evaded it and put a sizable distance between it and himself.

    He only used his long, iron-gray spear to unleash countless light rays that resembled sharp arrows to attack Nie Tian, who was hiding within the strange maic field.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At that moment, the long spear was still emanating pale-gray, iparably sharp light rays, which would cut into any part of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh upon contact.

    Even though the twisting power was doing it utmost to avert the light from the long spear, it was only influencing a small portion of the light.

    ¡°This won¡¯t work.¡± Nie Tian realized that if this went on and he couldn¡¯t find a way to restrain the long spear, he would sustain even more injuries and eventually lose the fight.

    Dong Baijie, on the other hand, was standing ten meters away, staring at him, as if he was waiting for the time when he could no longer put up a fight.

    SHEW!

    With a fierce look on his face, Nie Tian suddenly took out hisst Ice st Pearl and threw it towards Dong Baijie.

    Since Dong Baijie was standing quite close to him, the moment the Ice st Pearl left Nie Tian¡¯s hand, he detected the terrifying frost power it contained.

    He wanted to jump backwards at the first possible moment. However, because he was standing too close to Nie Tian, he failed to get out of the range of the Ice st Pearl before it violently exploded!

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Countless ice shards and rays of icy light that were as deadly as sharp darts shot out of the fist-size Ice st Pearl and spread out in every direction.

    In a split second, all the ice shards and icy light started rotating at a fast speed, forming a devastating ice storm.

    Dong Baijie, who was still fleeing at the fastest speed possible, was immediately engulfed.

    With a raging fighting spirit, he let out heaven-shaking roars as he once again used his secret magic to condense his power into a giant, gray wolf over his head.

    Afterwards, he staggered, as if he even found it hard to maintain a steady foothold.

    As a matter of fact, after a series of brutal fights with the Heaven stage experts, he only had about ten percent of his strength left in him. Even though he had spent some time to recuperate when Nie Tian crossed the light river, he had no more than twenty percent of his strength back at that time.

    In order to kill Nie Tian as quickly as possible, he had condensed a giant wolf, which ended up being eliminated by Nie Tian¡¯s energy balls.

    Then he had infused massive amounts of his power into the long spear that he had sent into the chaotic maic field. Furthermore, he was actually consuming his strength as the spear continued to unleash violent light rays.

    This time, in order to protect himself from the ice storm, he had to condense another giant wolf.

    By doing this, he had actually pushed his strength to the limit!

    ROOOOOOAR!

    The giant, gray wolf roared as it strove to block the power of the ice storm with its enormous body.

    However, the Ice st Pearl that Wu Ji had bestowed upon Nie Tian was a weapon that was meant to kill.

    Therefore, the ice storm that it created was by no means something that the giant wolf could withstand.

    Under the ruthless attacks of the countless ice shards and icy light rays, the giant, howling wolf¡¯s body shrunk rapidly.

    In the meantime, Dong Baijie¡¯s face was extremely grim. Seeing the wolf shrinking in size, he also realized that he was in an unfavorable situation. He hastily took out a few low-ranked spiritual tools and tried to hold off the ice storm with them.

    A banner embroidered with an image of an outsider war god flew out of his bracelet of holding.

    As soon as it appeared, a war god of an unknown race floated out of it and started to contend with the violent ice storm.

    However, it was only seconds before the war god with an outsider¡¯s appearance was ripped into pieces.

    ¡°Dammit! It¡¯s not useful.¡±

    Dong Baijie muttered to himself as he took out a green shield, as if he didn¡¯t pity the spiritual tool that he had just lost at all.

    The moment the shield appeared, it blossomed with bright light and turned into a dark-green light shield, enveloping the constantly shrinking gray wolf.

    However, it also only took about ten seconds for the ice storm to tear the newly-formed protective shield into shreds.

    After that, Dong Baijie took out a few more different spiritual tools from his bracelet of holding and used them one by one to contend with the ravaging ice storm.

    Each and every one of them had been looted from the Lesser Heaven stage trial takers after he entered the Heaven Gate trial.

    Therefore, most of them were of rather low ranks and had limited power. More importantly, none of them agreed with his cultivation attribute, and thus he couldn¡¯t put them to full use.

    On the other hand, the ice storm was created by the Ice st Pearl, a fine work of Wu Ji, a Profound realm expert. It was originally meant for Greater Heaven stage experts or the young, chosen ones from the other realms.

    It was expected that none of those low-ranked spiritual tools could withstand the ravaging, terrifying power unleashed by the Ice st Pearl, and broke one by one.

    Enveloped by the chaotic maic field, Nie Tian had been observing Dong Baijie the whole time as he shifted his position to avoid the light. ¡°He¡¯s barely hanging on!¡±

    He realized that Dong Baijie, who was now barely protected by the shrinking wolf, already couldn¡¯t even maintain a fast foothold, which meant that he was on the verge of breaking down, like a oilmp that was running out of its oil.

    ¡°I¡¯d better kill him while he¡¯s weak!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s spirit was greatly lifted.

    He, who had been cautious and maintained a distance away from Dong Baijie, suddenly started moving towards him.

    The maic field moved with him as he strode forward.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The iron-gray spear that had been unleashing piercing light remained floating in ce when Nie Tian moved away from his original ce.

    Unconstrained by the chaotic maic field, the light that the long spear radiated grew increasingly dazzling.

    It was just that since Nie Tian was no longer in the vicinity, it could no longer hurt him.

    At that moment, Dong Baijie sensed Nie Tian¡¯s movements and refocused on controlling the long spear. ¡°Go!¡±

    As a result, the spear immediately relocated Nie Tian, pierced into the maic field, and started shooting out countless pale-gray light rays to attack him.

    PUFF!

    Momentster, another bloody hole was pierced open on the side of Nie Tian¡¯s waist. He gave a muffled groan under the great pain, and sped up as he charged towards Dong Baijie.

    At that moment, the might of the Ice st Pearl was already on the decline.

    Apparently, the ice storm that the Ice st Pearl had created was gradually being worn down by the gray wolf and the series of spiritual tools that Dong Baijie had brought out.

    As he approached Dong Baijie, he knew very well that the ice storm would lose effect before long.

    ¡°You are courting death?!¡± Rage appeared in Dong Baijie¡¯s eyes as he saw Nie Tian dashing towards him.

    At that moment, another intense burst of fighting spirit rose in his heart.

    He infused almost all of his remaining psychic power and spiritual power into that long spear of his.

    After all, that spear was the most powerful and effective tool at his disposal. After receiving more power, the long spear immediately gained a violent surge in its might.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Dozens of thick, pale-gray light beams shot out of it, making it almost impossible for Nie Tian to evade them.

    ¡°I¡¯ve prepared for this!¡± Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and stimted the third talisman that his master had bestowed upon him. As soon as he did, sevenyers of jade-like light shields were formed around him.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s attack, which he had summoned almost all his strength tounch, aimed to kill Nie Tian. However, the several dozen light beams were all blocked by the light shields, none of them making it through.

    Meanwhile, only two of the seven light shields broke after withstanding the attack of the piercing light.

    PUFF!

    Face distorted and sinister, Dong Baijie coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    Reluctant to give up, he summoned everyst bit of his power and potential, andmanded the long spear to shoot out a dozen more light beams, but they also ended up being blocked by the light shield around Nie Tian.

    As the result of Dong Baijie¡¯s final, all-out attack, two of the five remaining light shields were broken.

    At that time, Dong Baijie had truly drained all his power. He had even advanced his power at the price of his fleshy body, in order tounch the attack that he deemed fatal.

    However, as it turned out, Nie Tian didn¡¯t die from it.

    After seeing that Nie Tian was still stepping steadily towards him even though he was covered in blood, mixed expressions shed across Dong Baijie¡¯s face as he said, ¡°You win!¡±

    With a vigorous motion of his hand, he torn a piece of skin and flesh off of his hand back, along with the Heaven Gate pattern on it.

    ¡°I quit! Tell me your name, kid!¡± Speaking out loudly, Dong Baijie tossed the Heaven Gate pattern to Nie Tian.

    At the same time, his long, gray spear flew out of the chaotic maic field and found Dong Baijie¡¯s hand with perfect precision.

    ¡°My name is Nie Tian, and I¡¯m from the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! Okay!¡± A faint hint of admiration could be seen in his angry eyes as he looked deeply at Nie Tian. ¡°When you haveprehended the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation,e and find me in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. My name can be considered well known in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. You can ask people for the address of my residence.¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, he was sucked out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Nie Tian didn¡¯t even get a chance to respond.

 Chapter 182: Recovery of Flesh and Blood

    Nie Tian was just about to say something when he found that Dong Baijie had already been dragged out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce by a mysterious force and was nowhere to be seen.

    SHEW!

    By that time, the piece of flesh that carried Dong Baijie¡¯s Heaven Gate pattern had reached Nie Tian¡¯s side and the hexagram inside of it immediately flew into the back of his hand.

    After receiving the hexagram, Nie Tian briefly examined it with his psychic power and saw that there were also numerous ancient symbols floating within it, just like the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    All the ancient symbols were aligned in a perfect order, making it very easy and pleasant to read.

    ¡°Middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. A hint of smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he no longer felt the pain from the numerous wounds covering his body.

    In order to obtain the first and middle part of the incantation, he had used up all of the three life-saving talismans and three Ice st Pearls that his master had given him.

    However, he had a feeling in his heart thatpared to the incantation, all those were nothing.

    Due to Dong Baijie¡¯s voluntary withdrawal, the Heaven stage area returned to peace.

    Nie Tian dropped to the ground, took out several pieces of spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and started munching in silence.

    While eating, the close to a dozen piercing wounds on his body still had blood flowing out of them.

    To prevent himself from bleeding out and dying, he had to treat the wounds and stop the bleeding as quickly as possible.

    He tried to draw spiritual power from his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea and use it to heal his wounds.

    All of a sudden, he sensed that wisps of wood power that contained a thriving life aura swirled out of the vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea.

    Not only that, unusually strong heartbeats echoed out from within his chest, as a valiant life force was suddenly born within his heart.

    The vigorous wood power and the life force infused into Nie Tian¡¯s blood and flesh at the same time.

    The two kinds of power that were somewhat simr to each other flowed rapidly within his blood vessels and meridians, before they soon converged on the bloody holes.

    In the next moment, all the puncture wounds stopped bleeding.

    ¡°What!?¡± bbergasted, he looked down at a bloody hole on his arm, and saw that not only had it stopped bleeding, but there were even muscle fibers wiggling inside of the wound.

    Like a spacial rift that was about to close up, the messy wounds were healing and shrinking at a slow speed.

    As a matter of fact, since Nie Tian could see it with his eyes, the healing process was actually very fast.

    Formoners, if their flesh had been punctured, it would usually take weeks or even months to heal the wound.

    However, with the help of the wood power from his spiritual sea and the life force that originated from his heart, his wounds were healing at a speed that was many times faster than a normal person¡¯s rate.

    ¡°Those two kinds of power have sped up the healing of my wounds!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up and his face was filled with excitement as he came to realize that his bloodline power, which wasn¡¯t fully awakened yet, was much more mysterious and powerful than he had expected!

    Before long, he could no longer sense any pain from the wounds on his limbs and abdomen.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It was at that moment that more starlight streamed out of the vast and boundless starry river in the ceiling of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s withdrawal and the fact that he had left the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation to Nie Tian seemed to have triggered a certain restrictive spell of the pce.

    Upon seeing more starlight falling out of the heavens, Nie Tian instantly grew excited, as he knew that he could channel it into his soul, along with the mysterious power it carried.

    Without any hesitation, he assumed the lotus position and used the secret magic that he had learned to attract the falling starlight.

    Soon, countless rays of starlight converged on him and streamed through the top of his head into his soul.

    A fourth fragmentary star gradually took shape within his soul.

    At that moment, Tang Yang¡¯s voice rang out from within the Greater Heaven stage area. ¡°You win, Ning Yang!¡± Face covered in blood, he cut the Heaven Gate pattern off of the back of his hand.

    Soon after he cast the piece of flesh that carried his Heaven Gate pattern to the man he called Ning Yang, he was seized by a mysterious force and dragged out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As a result, Ning Yang, Su Lin¡¯s martial uncle, was now the only one standing in the Greater Heaven stage area.

    After Tang Yang¡¯s Heaven Gate pattern merged with his own, a hexagram imprinting gradually took shape in his Heaven Gate pattern, which stored the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Apparently, Ning Yang had also gone through a bloodbath to finally obtain theplete final part. Therefore, he looked somewhat weary at that moment.

    Suddenly, he turned his head and caught sight of Nie Tian.

    ¡°It¡¯s not Su Lin!!¡± After going nk for a moment, he frowned and carefully looked Nie Tian up and down.

    ¡°It¡¯s nor Dong Baijie, Wu Ling, or Xuan Ke...¡± Ning Yang was increasingly confused.

    After all, he had assumed that Su Lin would be the one to obtain the first part of the incantation. He had never doubted that.

    Although he wasn¡¯t sure that Su Lin would be able to loot the middle part of the incantation from Dong Baijie, who he had assumed to be the winner of the Heave stage area, he had never expected that any other Lesser Heaven stage youngster had what it took to snatch the first part from Su Lin¡¯s hands.

    However, looking at the unfamiliar young man sitting by himself in the Heaven stage area while no one could be seen in the Lesser Heaven stage, he had to ept the fact that he had obtained the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    He still couldn¡¯t figure out how Nie Tian had achieved it.

    However, caught in confusion and frustration, he suddenly discovered the starlight that had been pouring out of the starry river above his head.

    He, who was currently in a bad shape, sat down on the ground.

    He only briefly scanned the symbols within the hexagram with his psychic awareness before he understood the method to attract the starlight.

    Originally, all the starlight that fell out of the ceiling answered Nie Tian¡¯s call and flowed towards him.

    However, since Ning Yang started casting the newly-obtained spell, two thirds of the starlight started converging onto him.

    The drop in the amount of starlight Nie Tian received immediately drew his attention. His eyes snapped open and he looked over at the distant Ning Yang. His eyebrows furrowed.

    From the look of it, Ning Yang, who had forced Tang Yang to withdraw from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, was currently in a better condition than Dong Baijie back when he had finished his fights.

    Moreover, Ning Yang¡¯s cultivation base was at the peak of the Greater Heaven stage!

    On the other hand, Nie Tian had already used up all the life-saving talismans and Ice st Pearls.

    With a cultivation base so significantly inferior, as audacious as he had been, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare go on a suicide mission by crossing the seven-colored river after seeing that Ning Yang¡¯s condition wasn¡¯t very bad.

    He was fairly certain that if he did cross the river, the chances of the Heaven Pce sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven eventually collecting all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation were quite high.

    With those thoughts in mind, he no longer looked at Ning Yang, but rather focused on attracting the starlight towards him.

    An unknown period of time passed.

    By the time that another fragmentary star was formed in his soul and started to shine brightly, he could no longer feel the existence of more starlight.

    He looked up and saw that the starry river was still profound and boundless.

    It was just that no more starlight fell out of it.

    He didn¡¯t know why, but he had a feeling that a mysterious connection had been formed between the vast starry river and the four fragmentary stars in his soul.

 Chapter 183: Seven Fragmentary Stars!

    Four fragmentary stars were shining with bright light within Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    Since no more starlight was streaming out of the ceiling of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian could receive no more power.

    He gradually woke up from his cultivation of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Separated by a seven-colored light river, he looked at Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce sect and found that he was looking right back at him.

    Due to the separation of the seven-colored light river, the two of them didn¡¯t say anything, but only looked each other in the eye.

    After a short while, Nie Tian stopped looking at Ning Yang, but rather started cultivating again with the iparably pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As one energy ball after another was created, Nie Tian absorbed the spiritual energy and the special type of energy within them to restore his spiritual power and psychic power at the same time.

    After an unknown period of time, his spiritual sea in his dantian brimmed with spiritual power.

    His psychic power was also replenished to its peak state after being nourished by the special energy for some time.

    Moreover, he sensed that a mysterious change had taken ce in his soul due to the existence of the four fragmentary stars.

    It was just that since he hadn¡¯t had the time to study the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, and so he didn¡¯t know the true profundity of those four fragmentary stars yet.

    By that time, the piercing injuries that Dong Baijie had inflicted on him had also healed to a great extent. They even formed scabs in such a short time.

    He could no longer sense any pain from the wounds, and he had faith that it wouldn¡¯t be long before all the wounds werepletely healed.

    Only then did he rise to his feet and begin strolling around the Heaven stage area to see if he could find something useful.

    After all, those who had been killed by Dong Baijie might have some valuable items with them.

    However, after a thorough search, he didn¡¯t find any valuable spiritual tools on the mangled bodies.

    He immediately realized that Dong Baijie must have long since looted their bracelets of holding when he had killed them.

    Nie Tian continued to walk about within the Heaven stage area, hoping to run into some windfall.

    Ning Yang, who was in the adjacent area, saw Nie Tian¡¯s behavior. With a frown, he instantly reached a conclusion that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t high-born. Otherwise, he would never seek to loot items from those dead Heaven stage experts.

    Obviously, if Su Lin had been thest person standing in the Heaven stage area, she would not have wasted any of her time on searching for items. All of her energy would be concentrated on cultivation.

    After all, it was almost impossible to find a ce more suitable for Qi warriors to cultivate in than the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Ning Yang was determined to find out about Nie Tian¡¯s identity the first moment he left the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He assumed that, considering the Heaven Pce sect¡¯s power, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to find Nie Tian and snatch the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    With these thoughts, he stopped looking at Nie Tian. Instead, he started recuperating with the especially rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Before long, Nie Tian, who failed to find anything, dropped the idea of looting items and also began taking in the pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to temper his spiritual sea.

    At that time, his spiritual sea was already brimming with spiritual power. Vortexes of different types of power were also rotating non-stop.

    Two vortexes of spiritual power, one vortex of me power, and one vortex of wood power were all rotating at a high speed within the misty, white spiritual sea.

    His spiritual sea, which was twice the size it had been when he was in the early Lesser Heaven stage, was refining the spiritual power within it round after round.

    However, no matter how fast the four vortexes rotated, it seemed that they could no longer refine more spiritual energy into the spiritual sea.

    At that moment, Nie Tian had the feeling that he had reached another bottleneck.

    He immediately realized that as long as he could make another step forward, he would be able to break through from the middle Lesser Heaven stage into thete Lesser Heaven stage!

    Bearing that thought in mind, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to upgrade his spiritual sea. Instead, he calmed himself and started recollecting the details of the numerous dangerous fights he had survived since he had entered the Heaven Gate.

    As he did, numerous scenes of those fights shed across in his eyes; the precise and measured attack techniques of the Greater Heaven stage experts, the oppressing sensation Tang Yang had forced on him, Wu Ling¡¯s evil psychic power, Su Lin¡¯s mind games, Xuan Ke¡¯s secret help, and the twists and turns in his fight against Dong Baijie...

    He sorted through all those battle scenes in his heart and recollected all the enlightenment and lessons that he hade to in those fights.

    He realized that the Heaven Gate trial was much more dangerous andplicated than the Green Illusion dimension trial.

    Among the numerous things he had learned from this trial, he learned how powerful the young chosen ones from the other realms could be and that there wereplicated rtions between the numerous forces in the Domain of the Falling Stars...

    After a while, he stopped thinking about the experience he had gained, but rather concentrated his attention on himself.

    With Wu Ji¡¯s former instruction in mind, he started to meticulously ponder the profundity of the spiritual power, psychic power, and flesh power.

    Perhaps it was because of the existence the seven-colored light river, or the fact that he was in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but he was able to maintain a very clear mind when he pondered the profound mysteries of the different types of power.

    He seemed to be suddenly enlightened when he reached the points that he found deep and hard to understand.

    Just as he felt that he was about to make another breakthrough and step into thete Lesser Heaven stage, more starlight started streaming down from the ceiling of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce again.

    Without any hesitation, he averted his focus from understanding of the different types of powers to attracting the starlight.

    The new round of starlight fell from the starry river and was divided and absorbed by him and Ning Yang.

    Soon, another fragmentary star took shape in Nie Tian¡¯s soul when the starlight stopped. He once again submerged himself in self-tempering and enlightenment.

    Then awhileter, more starlight poured out of the ceiling of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce again...

    The process repeated several times.

    By the time a seventh fragmentary star took shape in Nie Tian¡¯s soul, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce suddenly started trembling.

    The two seven-colored light rivers that had been separating the areas rose up into the air, before they flew towards Nie Tian and Ning Yang respectively, like two rainbows.

    As soon as they infused into Nie Tian and Ning Yang¡¯s bodies, they seemed to turn into two seven-colored snakes that slithered into their spiritual seas.

    It was when Nie Tian discovered that a seven-colored light river, which was hundreds of times smaller than the actual one, appeared within his soul that he was suddenly seized by a force and dragged out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As he was dragged downwards, he saw the magnificent pce gradually rising before flying into the depths of the boundless starry river.

    While plummeting uncontrobly downwards, Nie Tian caught sight of Ning Yang and saw that he seemed to be attempting to approach him.

    However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t get an inch closer to Nie Tian.

    It appeared that even though the two of them had left the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, a mysterious force was preventing them from approaching each other.

    Perhaps it was aw and bnce created by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was as if ording to thew, it was deemed unfair to ce Nie Tian and Ning Yang, two cultivators with cultivation bases so different, together.

    It was because of the mysterious force that as Nie Tian and Ning Yang plummeted downwards like falling stars, they grew further and further apart.

    Nie Tian had a vague feeling that the ce where he was going tond was going to be the dpidated city that he hade from.

 Chapter 184: Survivor

    Back in the location Nie Tian had departed from...

    The floating, dpidated city had long sincended on the meteor surface, and there was no longer seven-colored light or mysterious energy fluctuations emanating out of it.

    However, a number of bizarre-looking buildings had appeared within it; some of them were the shape of awls and others were the shape of columns.

    There were also a few buildings that people could immediately tell were outsiders¡¯ residences, each of which looked like enormous trees that stretched up into the sky.

    In the center of the city, numerous powerful experts from the Realm of me Heaven were gathered by the side of a dpidated, ancient teleportation portal.

    After Miao Chen and Tang Yang had left the city, all the other foreign cultivators, who had entered the Heaven Gate trial via the Realm of me Heaven and failed to make their escapes, had been killed.

    All the young disciples of the seven sects, who had been in hiding, had answered their seniors summons and gathered to this ce.

    Among the people present were Jiang Lingzhu and Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect, Feng Luo and Yu Tong from the Blood sect, An Shiyi from the Spiritual Treasure sect, Zheng Bin from the Mystic Mist sect, Hong Can from the Hell sect, Zou Yi from the Ghost sect, and Guan Qiu from the Grayvale sect.

    Originally, no less than eighty people from the seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven had participated in the trial. However, only about ten of them had managed to survive up to this point.

    All the other survivors had learned about what had happened through Feng Luo and Li Fan after their arrival.

    ording to Feng Luo¡¯s description, they learned that Nie Tian was the first to enter the city and be transported away.

    He had seen it perfectly clearly when Nie Tian was enveloped in a bubble and had shot up from the center of the city into the vast starry river.

    Soon after him, Miao Chen and Tang Yang also flew up into the depths of the starry river.

    Since Li Fan had a special timing device, he told Jiang Lingzhu and An Shiyi, who seemed quite concerned about Nie Tian, that Nie Tian had been gone for three months.

    In the past three months, they hadn¡¯t been able to find any trace of him.

    ording to Li Fan¡¯s estimation, Nie Tian was probably already dead.

    After all, no matter where Nie Tian had gone to, Tang Yang and Miao Chen had gone there too.

    Both of them were in the Greater Heaven stage, and Tang Yang was even more formidable and deadly.

    As a matter of fact, if Tang Yang and Miao Chen hadn¡¯t left the city, the trial takers from the seven sects probably wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to finish off the other foreign cultivators.

    As far as they were concerned, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t possibly handle either Tang Yang or Miao Chen.

    The chances were that as soon as the three of them had arrived at their destination, Tang Yang and Miao Chen had immediately made their move and ughtered Nie Tian.

    It had been almost six months since the Heaven Gate trial had started. Some of the weak disciples from the seven sects had been buried in the numerous scattered meteors, while others had been hiding in distant corners and only came out to this ce after receiving their seniors¡¯ summons. Some of them actually ran into some mysterious things on those distant meteors.

    Now, they were all gathered around the teleportation portal in the dpidated city, as they all assumed that it was their way out of the Heaven Gate dimension.

    For the past month, after they had eliminated all the remaining foreign cultivators in the region, they had spread out to search for interesting things.

    However, they found nothing after searching through the nearly one thousand meteors in the vicinity.

    Standing on a meteor that was as far as they could go, they saw another vast expanse of void filled with countless meteors.

    However, that meteor region was separated from theirs by a boundless, starry river, and there were no stone bridges between the two.

    After a moment of thinking, they came to realize that that meteor region was probably one of the two other ¡°arenas¡± for the Qi warriors who had entered through the other two Heaven Gates.

    They were aware that the other two Heaven Gates had opened in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and both of those realms were far stronger than theirs, especially the Realm of Mystic Heaven, which was ranked first among the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Powerful experts who had managed to obtain keys and eventually enter the Heaven Gate trial from there must be very strong and deadly.

    It was lucky for cultivators from the Realm of me Heaven that there was an unbridgeable, starry river between the two meteor regions.

    If there had been a long bridge connecting the two regions, they would never have had the audacity to cross that bridge and provoke those people from the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, in which case they might draw fire upon themselves.

    ¡°That Nie Tian kid is probably dead. I know that you have certain feelings for him, but try not to be too sad about it.¡±

    Qiu Heng, a middle Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Spiritual Treasure sect, frowned and said softly to An Shiyi, ¡°You¡¯ve made significant progress in your cultivation in this Heaven Gate trial. You should consider yourself lucky. From what I can tell, with the enlightenment you¡¯ve received here, you¡¯ll be able to step into the Greater Heaven stage before long.

    ¡°When you do that, your status in the sect will rise again, and the mistakes you made in the Green Illusion dimension trial will also be written off. I doubt that the sectmaster will mention it again.

    ¡°The An n and your sister An Ying will be proud of you, and more importantly, benefit from your achievement.

    ¡°Burdening yourself with Nie Tian¡¯s death won¡¯t do you any good, will it?¡±

    Qiu Heng knew a thing or two about space traveling magics, and he had visited ck Cloud City because of the appearance of the spacial rifts.

    ording to seniority, he was An Shiyi¡¯s martial uncle, and he had been treating her well over the years.

    However, he had vanished when he learned that Gan Kang, whose status was even higher in the sect, had set his mind on An Shiyi and had been doing everything he could to force her to marry him.

    He was aware that he couldn¡¯t afford to upset Gan Kang and make him an enemy just for An Shiyi.

    However, when he learnedter that Gan Kang had attempted to abandon the Spiritual Treasure sect, he surfaced again and started showing his concern for An Shiyi.

    Then, when he realized that An Shiyi had also obtained a Heaven Gate key in the wastnd outside of ck Cloud City, he grew increasingly warm towards her.

    ¡°He¡¯s not dead. I have faith in him,¡± An Shiyi said with a cold tone, looking askance at him with loathing flickering in her eyes.

    She knew perfectly clearly that he and Gan Kang were the same, as they were both after her beauty.

    Even though Qiu Heng had never said anything, she was smart enough to see what he was thinking.

    After all, when the Green Illusion dimension trial mishap had happened, she was degraded by the sectmaster and harassed by Gan Kang and the other old, licentious elders while he was nowhere to be found.

    The reason was none other than that he was afraid of retaliation from Gan Kang and the others.

    On the other hand, ever since Nie Tian had gone to the Spiritual Treasure sect, he had always been there for her every time she had run into a crisis.

    In order to protect her, not only did Nie Tian make enemies with Gan Kang, but he even turned his back on the Spiritfount Pill, which was of great importance to him.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian had gone out of his way several times to help her, and he even ended up putting himself and hispanions in danger because of that.

    Compared to Nie Tian, Qiu Heng and his words meant nothing to her.

    She tried to ignore him when he said those things about Nie Tian and expressed his pretentious concerns. She actually had to hold herself back, because otherwise, she would haveshed out at him already.

    Qiu Heng put on a false smile as he said, ¡°Well... please don¡¯t think being Wu Ji¡¯s disciple makes him invincible. Wu Ji might be a good mentor, but he made a huge mistake sending Nie Tian to the Heaven Gate trial. Letting him participate in the trial with his Lesser Heaven cultivation base... either Wu Ji is already a dotard, or Nie Tian is blindly brave.¡±

    ¡°Qiu Heng! Who are you talking about?!¡± Li Fan¡¯s cold snort rang out not very far away.

    Even Feng Luo shot a cold look at Qiu Heng and said, ¡°Will you shut up?¡±

    Zheng Bin red at him and muttered in a disdainful tone, ¡°What a clown.¡±

    Hong Can from the Hell sect, Zou Yi from the Ghost sect, and Guan Qiu from the Grayvale sect also let out cold harrumphs as they cast their unpleasant gazes towards Qiu Heng.

    Qiu Heng sensed the burning gazes and soon realized that everyone was looking at him with disgusted looks on their faces, so he instantly stopped talking.

    He had no idea why they all seemed unpleasant upon hearing hisments.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t know that Feng Luo, Hong Can, Zou Yi, and Guan Qiu had all fought side by side with Nie Tian once, and they had alle to admire Nie Tian, even though he was only in the Lesser Heaven stage.

    Hong Can from the Hell sect said with an unpleasant tone, ¡°Although Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base isn¡¯t impressive, he helped us kill three foreign Greater Heaven stage experts! Who are you to say those things? How many foreign Greater Heaven stage experts did you kill? What makes you think you¡¯re better than him?¡±

    ¡°I bet if that kid had the same cultivation base as you, he¡¯d be able to finish you with one strike,¡± Feng Luo said coldly.

    ¡°Umm...¡± Targeted by all those people, Qiu Heng¡¯s face was filled with embarrassment.

    He immediately grew timid and didn¡¯t dare to say another word, and the way An Shiyi looked at him grew increasingly disdainful.

    At that very moment, a cluster of seven-colored light appeared in the sky above the dpidated city, and a figure gradually grew clearer within the bright light.

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

 Chapter 185: Ancient Teleportation Portal

    Gathered around the ancient teleportation portal, every survivor from the Realm of me Heaven looked up into the sky with fascinated expressions on their faces.

    Before long, Nie Tian¡¯s figure grew clear inside of a bubble of seven-colored light as it gradually descended.

    While everyone was looking up at him, Nie Tian looked down at them, and a surprised look could be seen in his eyes.

    He had expected Tang Yang from the Realm of Dark Underworld to be there after being dragged out of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    However, after a careful examination, he didn¡¯t find Tang Yang among the crowd, nor any other foreign Qi warriors.

    Upon seeing Li Fan, Jiang Lingzhu, An Shiyi, and Zheng Bin, he felt secretly relieved and surprised.

    Jiang Lingzhu and An Shiyi waved at Nie Tian from below as he approached the city, their faces filled with tion. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this guy is still alive!¡± Yu Tong muttered with a cold face, sighing over Nie Tian¡¯s unbelievably good fortune.

    The seven-colored light bubble carried Nie Tian right towards the teleportation portal where everyone was gathered around.

    WHOOSH!

    When hended on the teleportation portal, the seven-colored light that had been enveloping him the entire time melted down and merged with the portal like water.

    Originally, the dpidated teleportation portal had looked dark and lifeless. Numerous fissures could be seen on the stones that formed the portal. Even the ancient pattern that had been engraved on it seemed iplete.

    However, everything changed the moment the seven-colored light merged with it.

    The fissures on the stones were filled and healed by the bright light.

    The gaps and missing parts on the pattern on the floor of the formation were also knitted back together and reconnected by the light.

    The ancient teleportation portal suddenly became dazzling and glowed with a bright luster, as if it were now brimming with a mysterious power.

    Everyone who had been gathered there had long since wished to leave the Heaven Gate trial via that ancient teleportation portal. Therefore, they were all thrilled by the spectacle. ¡°Wow!¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s arrival fixed the ancient teleportation portal, infusing it with new power and thus reviving it!¡±

    He subconsciously looked at Qiu Heng out of the corner of his eyes and with a cold snort, he said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯re an expert of inter-spacial power? We spared you all kinds of spiritual materials and let you have your ways with them over the past three months. Did the teleportation portal change even a bit?¡±

    Embarrassment stretched across Qiu Heng¡¯s face. He could only force a smile onto his face and say nothing.

    Over the past months, they had searched every meteor in the region, but failed to find anything noteworthy. Thus, everyone was very eager to leave this ce.

    The only thing they deemed capable of getting them out of this ce was the dpidated teleportation portal in front of them.

    Although Qiu Heng¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t the highest among them, he had some knowledge regarding the profound inter-spacial powers.

    That was the reason why everyone had been willing to give him their spiritual materials that could be used to cast inter-spacial teleportation spells.

    They had hoped that Qiu Heng could restore the ancient teleportation portal to a usable state, so that they could use it to leave the Heaven Gate dimension now that they could no longer find anything of value.

    However, Qiu Heng failed to make any progress with the teleportation portal after consuming numerous valuable spiritual materials.

    It was still as dim and lifeless as it had always been, and not a single thing about it had changed.

    However, the moment Nie Tian descended from the heavens, the seven-colored light that had enveloped him seemed to instantly activate the teleportation portal, causing everyone¡¯s eyes to glitter with excitement.

    Qiu Heng had badmouthed Nie Tian moments ago in a way as if he wished that Nie Tian had died in some distant universe.

    If Nie Tian had actually died as he had expected, it would be very likely that they wouldn¡¯t have been able to start the teleportation portal and leave the ce.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t know how to do it, you should have told us, so that we wouldn¡¯t have thrown away so many spiritual materials!¡± Hong Can from the Hell sect said with an unpleasant expression on his face.

    Others also shot unfriendly gazes towards Qiu Heng, thinking that he was nothing but a big talker.

    An Shiyi, who was standing right next to Qiu Heng, had a hearty smile on her face as she said, ¡°I told you that nothing would happen to him. See? Isn¡¯t he safe and sound?¡±

    ¡°Sure." Qiu Heng answered, but he cursed in his heart, Littlebastard!

    While the teleportation portal gradually regained its function, Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect stepped towards Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Where did you go? Howe you were gone for three months?¡±

    ¡°Three months?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    He had spent most of his time fighting and recuperating in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    When the fights were finally over, he had concentrated on absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and using it to refine his spiritual sea.

    In addition, whenever starlight poured out of the starry river, he had focused his mind on channeling it to his soul, where seven fragmentary stars eventually took shape.

    Therefore, he hadpletely lost track of time, and didn¡¯t expect himself to have spent months in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Yes, three months and three days, to be exact.¡± With these words, Li Fan¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. Eyes wide, he took another look at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Have you broken through into the middle Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded softly and said, ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right. I made the breakthrough right before I was taken out of here.¡±

    Li Fan was increasingly shocked as he asked, ¡°So have you made more progress?¡±

    Nie Tian grinned, ¡°I think I¡¯m only one step away from stepping into thete Lesser Heaven stage, and it¡¯s possible that I might make the breakthrough any moment now.¡±

    Li Fan was bbergasted. ¡°What good fortune did you get in the ce you went to?¡±

    With these words, he took note that the Heaven Sparks in the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s hand were gone and a hexagram had taken their ce.

    Although he didn¡¯t know what the hexagram represented, he had a feeling that it had something to do with Nie Tian¡¯s good fortune.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to borate to Li Fan, he nced around and saw that people from the other sects were looking closely at them and listening attentively.

    Apparently, each and every one of them was very curious about what had happened to him.

    Hence, Nie Tian chuckled and didn¡¯t answer Li Fan¡¯s question. Instead, he asked, ¡°What about you?¡±

    He cast his gaze towards Jiang Lingzhu. ¡°Did you find anything of value?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Jiang Lingzhu tilted her chin as she said proudly, ¡°I found a incantation on one of the meteors, and I also looted a special tool from an outsider body.¡±

    ¡°Wow, good for you.¡± Nie Tian smiled and shifted his gaze to An Shiyi, who was standing quite close to him, and asked, ¡°What about you, sister?¡±

    An Shiyi pursed her lips into a charming smile and said, ¡°I¡¯ve also made some gains. If there were no mishaps, I believe I¡¯ll be able to break through into the Greater Heaven stage soon after returning to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    All the others realized that Nie Tian had intentionally avoided the topic, and thus didn¡¯t say anything.

    As a matter of fact, since they managed to survive till now, every one of them had made some gains, whether it be physically or mentally.

    There were arge number of meteors in the region, and many of them carried secrets or valuable items, so they all gained something, although some more, some less.

    It was just that none of them were willing to share their findings with others.

    The powerful ones, who had approached the city when it was still emanating special energy, had absorbed numerous mysterious symbols into their Heaven Sparks.

    Even though they had nothing to do with the Fragmentary Star Incantation, those symbols carried the profound truths of different types of power.

    Moreover, all the symbols they had received matched perfectly with their cultivation attributes.

    Therefore, the way they saw it, the magical symbols alone had made the Heaven Gate trial a worthy venture.

    At that time, Hong Can from the Hell sect noticed that a gate of seven-colored light had gradually took shape in the center the portal. His expression flickered as he called out to the crowd, ¡°If my spections are correct, this ancient teleportation portal is probably linked to the Heaven Gate near my sect.

    ¡°The Heaven Gate trial is over! By stepping into the light gate, we¡¯ll probably be able to travel back to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    After a brief pause, he continued, ¡°However, we don¡¯t know what the Realm of me Heaven is like now. Great changes might have already taken ce there.

    ¡°Prepare yourselves, everyone. I think the portal will be activated for some time. Let¡¯s restore our strength to the fullest and enter at our peak state.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll face even bigger challenges when wee out the other end.¡±

    Upon hearing Hong Can¡¯s words, everyone¡¯s heart grew heavy, and their eyes were filled with uneasiness as they looked towards the light gate.

    That included Nie Tian.

    Before stepping into the Heaven Gate, he had already learned from the foreign Qi warriors that they had considered the Realm of me Heaven to be a piece of meat ready to be carved.

    Aside from them, demon armies might also have swarmed into the Realm of me Heaven.

    People from the Realm of me Heaven might have already been plunged into an abyss of misery, and fights could be taking ce around every corner. As soon as they returned, they would very likely face the joint invasion of demons and foreign cultivators.

    ¡°Perhaps, we don¡¯t need to go back so quickly.¡± Qiu Heng suddenly said in a soft voice.

 Chapter 186: Another Step Forward!

    Upon hearing Qiu Heng¡¯s words, everyone subconsciously turned to look at him, and uneasiness could be seen in their eyes.

    After being invaded by the Blood sect and Ghost sect, the Spiritual Treasure sect was now the weakest of the seven sects, and it had almost fallen out of the same league as the other six sects.

    Since the Earth me Beast had broken free from the deepest parts of the Scarlet me Mountain Range, the entire mountain range had undergone an upheaval, and the grand Heaven Burning Earth me formation, which the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s livelihood depended on, had also beenpletely destroyed.

    That was why every disciple of the Spiritual Treasure sect had be anxious whenever they thought about their future.

    Before entering the Heaven Gate, when Qiu Heng had learned that demons would descend upon the Realm of me Heaven, he imagined that the Spiritual Treasure sect would probably not have the ability to hold off their invasion now that the Heaven Burning Earth me formation was gone.

    The reason why he wasn¡¯t so eager to go back to the Realm of me Heaven was that he worried that returning to his sect might put an end to his life.

    He was truly terrified.

    Although many of the others despised Qiu Heng, a few of them fell into silence after hearing his words.

    They all believed that the Realm of me Heaven was in an abyss of suffering. Even worse, it might have been taken over by the demons already...

    If that was the case, their returning now was none other than going to their own grave.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Hong Can from the Hell sect frowned as he looked at those who had lost their fighting spirit and said, ¡°You all agree with Qiu Heng?¡±

    Feng Luo snorted coldly and said, ¡°The realm of me Heaven is in turmoil so it needs us now more than ever! We have to return as soon as possible! Without it, we¡¯ll be nothing but a handful of drifting ghosts. Each and every one of us was raised and favored by our sects. It¡¯s only right that we protect them when others want to take them away from us!¡±

    Li Fan nodded in assent.

    However, Zou Yi from the Ghost sect and Guan Gu from the Grayvale sect, together with a couple of others, still remained in silence.

    After a while, Zou Yi suddenly said, ¡°After the trial, some of us may now be on the verge of breaking through. I¡¯d say it¡¯s better that we make the breakthrough here and return with more strength. From the way it looks, the teleportation portal is going tost for a while, so we still have some time before we have to go back to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°We can use this period of time to draw enlightenment from our experiences over the past few months, and study the good fortune that we¡¯ve obtained here.

    ¡°Perhaps, returning when our strength has reached a maximum would be a better choice. After all, that way we¡¯ll be able to contribute more.

    ¡°What do you all say?¡±

    Zou Yi¡¯s gaze swept through the crowd.

    Guan Qiu, Qiu Heng, and two disciples of the Mystic Mist sect nodded in assent.

    Hong Can took a nce at them, and after a moment of pondering, he said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s take a while to adjust ourselves, but hurry. I¡¯ll keep an eye on the teleportation portal and remind you when it shows signs of running out of energy so that we can teleport back to our realm before the it closes.¡±

    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s get started,¡± said Feng Luo.

    Everyone sat down by the side of the ancient teleportation portal. People from the same sect gathered into small groups and started contemting their gains in the Heaven Gate trial.

    Nie Tian sat with Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu. Calming himself and narrowing his eyes, he used his psychic awareness to examine his spiritual sea.

    Two vortexes of spiritual power, one vortex of me power and one vortex of wood power, were rotating at a high speed within his spiritual sea.

    It seemed that the misty, white spiritual power within them had already been refined to the fullest after numerous rounds of refinement, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to further refine it before his spiritual sea upgraded.

    He was aware that he had reached a bottleneck, and given the right stimtion, he would instantly make the breakthrough and step into the next stage.

    He continued to observe his spiritual sea as he took out a spirit stone. As soon as he started absorbing energy from it, he felt a strange sensation.

    He looked down at the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of his hand.

    The two hexagrams within the pattern started to shine with faint starlight.

    Then, eyes wide, he looked up into the starry sky.

    Countless stars were hanging high in the ice-cold starry river; some of them were glittering with bright light, while others looked rather dim.

    Some stars seemed extremely distant and were only the size of grains, while others were the size of grapes.

    He felt that the hexagrams had somehow interacted with those stars while he had examined his spiritual sea and meditated.

    He looked at the stars with rapt attention and found that they seemed to shine brighter now, and he even felt that the starlight was slightly gathering towards him.

    He wanted to channel the starlight into his soul, but when he cast the incantation, he couldn¡¯t feel any change in his soul.

    On the contrary, a sh of starlight shed across his spiritual sea, which was brimming with spiritual power.

    ¡°Yee?!¡± Surprised, he immediately shifted his focus from his soul to the sea of spiritual power in his dantian.

    At that moment, he also realized that the two hexagrams on his hand had grown dazzlingly bright.

    More and more starlight poured down from the ice-cold starry sky and converged on Nie Tian¡¯s hexagrams.

    As he operated the Qi Refining Incantation, the starlight started to flow into his arms and gradually circte through his entire body.

    Before long, a small light spot was born in his spiritual sea and grew increasingly bright.

    Deeply intrigued, Nie Tian concentrated his attention on his spiritual sea. While he observed the shining light spot, another one took shape next to it.

    Immediately afterwards, his originally calm spiritual sea started to ripple with raging, huge waves, as if it all had been caused by those two tiny light spots that looked like stars.

    The misty, white spiritual energy constantly rose and descended violently within his spiritual sea. As the two vortexes of spiritual power started to rotate at a unprecedentedly high speed, Nie Tian sense that more spiritual energy was allowed into his spiritual sea.

    CRACKLE!

    The spirit stone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand suddenly shattered into pieces, seemingly drained of its spiritual energy in a sh!

    Without saying a word, Nie Tian took out six more spirit stones from his bracelet of holding; holding three in each hand, he started absorbing the energy within them.

    After all, unlike the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, there wasn¡¯t even the slightest bit of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce. Therefore, he had to used spirit stones if he wished to upgrade his spiritual sea.

    At that moment, Li Fan, who had been contemting beside him with his eyes closed, seemed to have felt something and snapped open his eyes.

    Sitting next to him, Jiang Lingzhu also opened her eyes and looked at him with a surprised and confused expression on her face.

    Both of them had sensed the violent energy fluctuations that Nie Tian emanated into the surroundings.

    Li Fan¡¯s eyes glittered with a sharp light as he used his psychic awareness to examine the unusual spiritual power fluctuations. A momentter, he grinned and said, ¡°This kid is indeed quite beyond ordinary.¡±

    He could tell that Nie Tian was currently on the verge of breaking through.

    Jiang Lingzhu was taken aback. ¡°Is he going to enter thete Lesser Heaven stage soon?¡±

    Li Fan nodded and said in a soft voice, ¡°I bet he obtained a good fortune in that mysterious ce, way more than us. After disappearing for three months, he now seems like a totally different person. Although I don¡¯t know exactly what happened to him, I assume what he had gained in those three months will be life-changing for him!

    ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say that, among all the trial takers, he gained the most fortune, and he¡¯s the biggest winner of the Heaven Gate trial!¡±

    Shocked, Jiang Lingzhu didn¡¯t say anything in reply, but rather secretly nced around, fearing that others might have overheard their conversation.

    ¡°Do we need to guard him while he cultivates?¡± She asked in a low voice.

    Li Fan smiled and shook his head. ¡°We would probably need to if it were before, but now it¡¯s a different time. I don¡¯t think we need to now. The Realm of me Heaven is probably at war with the wave of demons. Facing such great cmities, I believe the seven sects will stick together, at least for the time being. From what I can tell, that kid seems to have won acknowledgment from Hong Can, Feng Luo, and Zou Yi, and they all believe Nie Tian has the potential to be one of the strongest experts in all the realms. I doubt that they¡¯ll try to make a move on him.¡±

    ¡°The speed this guy advances at is simply unbelievable...¡± Jiang Lingzhu sounded somewhat frustrated. ¡°He was merely in the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage when I first met him. I would never have imagined that his cultivation base would surpass mine in such a short time.¡±

    Li Fan said with a slight smile, ¡°I have to say martial granduncle is a perfect judge of talent.¡±

    It was also at that moment that a third vortex of spiritual power, together with a small vortex that was filled with starlight, appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s violently moving spiritual sea!

    Afterwards, his turbulent spiritual sea rapidly returned to peace.

    That was when he realized that he had made another breakthrough and stepped into thete Lesser Heaven stage.

 Chapter 187: The Special One

    Pieces of broken spirit stones were scattered in front of Nie Tian.

    Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu both realized that he had made the breakthrough and since they didn¡¯t want to disturb him or attract others¡¯ attention, they stopped looking at him.

    After ncing around, they discovered that the others were still contemting or recuperating with spirit stones, and no one seemed to have noticed what happened with Nie Tian.

    Only Yu Tong, who was sitting next to Feng Luo, looked over from time to time for unknown reasons.

    Since she had considered Nie Tian to be her number one opponent, she never stopped thinking about having a fair fight with him someday.

    Because of her repeated losses to him, he had be her mental devil, especially when every time he had defeated her, his cultivation base had been lower than hers.

    That fact left her extremely frustrated.

    ¡°That guy used so many spirit stones. Don¡¯t tell me he made another breakthrough!¡± Yu Tong eximed in her heart, her eyes filled with deep hatred. However, a whileter, her expression grew somewhatplicated.

    When she had first met Nie Tian in the Heaven Gate trial, Feng Luo told her, after a brief examination, that Nie Tian had stepped into the middle Lesser Heaven stage.

    The fact that Nie Tian had managed to break through into the middle Lesser Heaven and caught up to her stage had already been shocking to her.

    No matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t imagine what he had experienced in the past three months that led him to another breakthrough in his cultivation base in such a short time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s rapid advancement had put her under great pressure, and she feared that it wouldn¡¯t be very long before the gap between their cultivation bases grewrger andrger.

    ¡°I won¡¯t fall behind! And I won¡¯t lose to you again!¡± Yu Tong gritted her teeth as a sense ofpetition rose in her heart.

    Then she refrained from thinking more about it, and immediately submerged herself in cultivation.

    WHOOSH!

    After an unknown period of time, Nie Tian woke up from his cultivation and let out a mouthful of air.

    By that time, there were three vortexes of spiritual power, one vortex of me power, one vortex of wood power, and a vortex of starlight in his spiritual sea.

    The six vortexes that contained different types of power rotated regrly and peacefully.

    After the violent movements triggered by the spirit stones was over, his spiritual sea seemed to be ready for more expansion.

    He could have taken more spirit stones out of his bracelet of holding and continued with his cultivation.

    However, he had a feeling that the seven-colored light shooting out of the teleportation portal had be dimmer, which could be a sign that the energy was running out.

    After all, the light had protected him and transferred him from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce back to this ce, so a subtle connection had been born between them.

    As expected.

    Just as he was about to say something, the light gate in the middle of the ancient teleportation portal suddenly became twisted and blurry.

    He realized he was right, and the portal really was running out of power.

    At that same moment, Hong Can, who had been observing the teleportation portal, came to the same realization and called out, ¡°Wake up, everyone!¡±

    His shout woke everyone from their recuperation or meditation.

    Hong Can¡¯s expression was very grim as he said, ¡°We have to go now! Let¡¯s get into the portal one by one! And remember, prepare yourselves!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone sprung to their feet. Even Qiu Heng from the Spiritual Treasure sect didn¡¯t utter a word of objection.

    After all, he also knew that when the seven-colored light went out and the teleportation portal ran out of power, whoever chose to stay would very likely be trapped in this dimension forever and would never return to the Domain of the Falling Stars again.

    Since there was no life and no spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in here, he couldn¡¯t cultivate in this ce.

    With his current cultivation base, he couldn¡¯t possibly travel between dimensions. No matter how many spirit stones he had on him, he would run out one day.

    When he did, even the cold wind alone would drain his power and kill him.

    After realizing that he had no other choice, he looked back at An Shiyi and urged her to get in first with a cold tone, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    An Shiyi knew that her previousments had angered Qiu Heng, so she said with no expression on her face, ¡°Fine."

    She even expected that Qiu Heng might secretly undermine her after they returned to the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    However, since she had made quite significant gains in the Heaven Gate trial, she was confident that she would soon step into the Greater Heaven stage, and by that time, she wouldn¡¯t need to care how Qiu Heng felt any more.

    ¡°We disciples from the Hell sect will go first; the rest of you follow us!¡± After uttering these words with decisiveness, Hong Can took the initiative to enter the seven-colored light gate.

    The other Hell sect disciples immediately followed him into it.

    Back when he had descended from the pce, Nie Tian had searched the crowd for Zhao Haifeng.

    The fact that he had killed Wu Tao, the guest elder from the Nie n, in ck Cloud City made Nie Tian engrave his name in his heart.

    He knew that Zhao Haifeng and Duan Yuan had both entered the Heaven Gate, therefore he had been secretly trying to find a chance to kill those two.

    However, it seemed that foreign Qi warriors had gotten to them before Nie Tian could, and they had died in the trial like many other disciples from the seven sects.

    He felt sorry that he couldn¡¯t avenge Wu Tao himself.

    No matter what, the Heaven Gate trial hade to an end.

    Since the seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven were joining hands in fighting theirmon enemies, and Zhao Haifeng and Duan Yuan were already dead, he decided to put aside his enmity towards the Hell sect.

    At that moment, Nie Tian thought of Liu Yan¡¯s death and roared in his heart, ¡°Tang Yang, I hope we¡¯ll meet again!¡±

    Zhao Haifeng and Duan Yuan had died, but Tang Yang hadn¡¯t. Nie Tian made a promise to himself that he¡¯d use his entire life to hunt down Tang Yang, even if it meant that he would have to kill him in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Just as he was sorting through his thoughts, many others had already entered the light gate one after another.

    He saw An Shiyi cast him a nce before entering, as if she wanted him to go with her.

    However, under Qiu Heng¡¯s urging, she could only step into the gate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Uncle Li.¡±

    Nie Tian decided not to wait any longer and stepped into the bright light gate.

    Momentster, he disappeared into the light gate.

    In the Blood sect¡¯s territory, the Realm of me Heaven...

    A Heaven Gate that unceasingly radiated blinding light had taken shape over a distant mountain valley for a few days.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One by one, a few figures whizzed out of the light gate and fell into the valley.

    As soon as they shed out of the Heaven Gate, the patterns on the back of their hands grew blurry before theypletely vanished.

    The Heaven Sparks within vanished with them, not even leaving the slightest trace.

    Standing on the valley ground, Hong Can looked down at the back of his hand, which was now as clean as a nk piece of paper, and then looked up at the Heaven Gate in midair, pondering what had happened.

    After obtaining a firm foothold on the ground, every trial taker noticed the changes to their Heaven Gate patterns that they had already grown used to.

    ¡°The Heaven Gate pattern is gone! The secret magics and incantations stored within the Heaven Spark are also gone!¡±

    ¡°What the hell?! What¡¯s going on!?¡±

    ¡°I should have spent more time sorting through the symbols andprehending the mysteries within the Heaven Sparks in the Heaven Gate dimension!¡±

    ¡°Dammit!"

    Looking at the back of their hands, many of them felt regretful and frustrated.

    After all, all the fragments of the secret magics they had obtained from the dpidated city had been stored in their Heaven Sparks.

    Each and every one of them had found the magics perfectly agreeable with their cultivation attribute, and thus made significant gains when they learned the profound truths thaty within them.

    However, all the things that they had cherished dearly disappeared in a sh.

    They all found it hard to ept.

    Secondster, Nie Tian also flew out of the Heaven Gate. Afternding close to An Shiyi, he smiled at her.

    The same thing happened to him. The Heaven Gate pattern on his hand also vanished as soon as he flew out of the Heaven Gate.

    However, the two hexagrams that were originally in his Heaven Gate pattern didn¡¯t vanish with it, but rather appeared in the middle of his chest, as if they were some kind of tattoos.

    He examined them with his psychic power and found that the ancient symbols within the hexagrams were still intact and perfectly aligned, not a single one missing.

    The first and middle parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation were still written clearly within them.

    Soon, everyone was out of the Heaven Gate, and everyone had lost their Heaven Gate pattern together with everything within them. Only he got to keep the hexagrams and the legacies within.

    He was the special one.

 Chapter 188: Raging Demon Qi

    Feng Luo from the Blood sect nced around. Face filled with confusion, he said, ¡°Why are we here? Shouldn¡¯t we be somewhere outside of the Hell sect?¡±

    He looked towards Hong Can.

    Hong Can frowned, shook his head, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. After all, this is the first time one of the Heaven Gates had opened in the Realm of me Heaven in centuries, and as far as I know, there aren¡¯t any records of the past Heaven Gates.¡±

    With a sigh, Feng Luo looked off into the direction of the Blood sect, expression filled with anxiety. ¡°And we don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Normally speaking, since the Heaven Gate had showed up in this ce, it was impossible that members of the Blood sect hadn¡¯t noticed it.

    ording to Feng Luo¡¯s spection, the Heaven Gate probably had been here for some time. It probably had appeared when Nie Tian had returned and the seven-colored light merged with the teleportation portal, activating the light gate in the middle.

    The Heaven Gate should have been here for however long they had spent recuperating beside the teleportation portal.

    It didn¡¯t make sense that no one from the Blood sect hade after such a long time.

    As he and Hong Can talked, the others gradually calmed down from the frustration of losing their Heaven Gate patterns.

    Li Fan took a nce of Nie Tian¡¯s left hand and noticed that the Heaven Gate pattern on his hand had also disappeared.

    He seemed to have expected it to be different for him, but said nothing.

    After sensing that the two hexagrams had shifted to his chest, Nie Tian didn¡¯t n to reveal it to anyone.

    After all, it contained the most precious legacies that he had obtained from his trial in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He didn¡¯t want others to raise questions, so he had joined them in mumbling something in frustration. After seeing that no one seemed to have seen through his little scheme, he finally felt relieved.

    After all, the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation were of great importance. If Hong Can, Feng Luo, and Zou Yi had learned that he had them, he didn¡¯t know for sure what they would do.

    He knew he had to kept it a secret for the time being.

    ¡°What do you think we should do?¡± Zou Yi from the Ghost sect had a grim expression on his face as he asked. ¡°Should we split up and return to our own sects or go to the Blood sect and see what information we can get from there?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Blood sect,¡± Hong Can said. ¡°I have a feeling that something is not right.¡±

    ¡°Alright." The others also expressed their assent.

    None of them want to be separated from the group and return to their sects before getting an idea of what was going on in the Realm of me Heaven.

    If they did strike out on their own, they couldn¡¯t be sure what they would run into on their way back.

    They could encounter either outsider demons or cultivators from the other realms. Whichever it was, they wouldn¡¯t be in a favorable situation if they traveled alone.

    At that moment, Zou Yi called out to the crowd, sounding a bit frightened. ¡°Look! Up in the sky!¡±

    Everyone instantly looked up and saw a line of ckish-purple smoke flowing high in the sky like a river.

    They had seen smoke like that floating above the Hell sect right before they had entered the Heaven Gate.

    Back then, ckish-purple smoke like this had surged out of thework of numerous spacial rifts that had appeared near the Heaven Gate. The outsiders that had been bound by the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation had experienced a sudden boost in their strength as soon as they had absorbed the smoke. As a result, they had broken free from the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation and flown into the spacial rifts.

    ¡°Demon Qi!¡± Hong Can¡¯s expression flickered.

    Then he exined to everyone, ¡°Years and years ago, demon Qi once filled every corner of the Realm of me Heaven. Although the demon Qi shares the same origin as spiritual Qi, the biggest difference is that it¡¯s tainted with filth. Human Qi warriors can¡¯t cultivate with the demon Qi, and if they do, they will lose their minds and be the outsider demons¡¯ puppets.

    ¡°By the time the powerful human Qi warriors killed the majority of the outsiders and drove the survivors out of the realm, they used profound measures to purge the demon Qi and turn it into spiritual Qi that human Qi warriors could use.

    ¡°The outsiders, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t draw power from the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    ¡°That was why we could use the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation to trap those outsiders for so many years. Without the demon Qi, they had no source of power; meanwhile the formation constantly drained their flesh power and used it to power our sect¡¯s defensive system.

    ¡°Now that the demon Qi has appeared near the Blood sect, it must mean that...¡±

    Hong Can nced at the grim-faced Feng Luo and continued, ¡°The Blood sect has been invaded by outsiders. Perhaps, numerous demons are roaming about in the Blood sect right now.¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s face was very grim. He didn¡¯t say a word, but he inwardly agreed with Hong Can¡¯s spections.

    The moment he saw the river of ckish-purple demon Qi floating in the sky, he realized that the Blood sect had most likely been invaded.

    With a concerned expression on his face, Qiu Heng from the Spiritual Treasure sect said in a soft voice, ¡°Now that the Blood sect has been invaded, do we still go there? The Ghost sect is not far from the Blood sect. How about we go there instead?¡± Knowing that there was probably a swarm of outsiders in the Blood sect, all he wanted was to get as far from it as he could. He didn¡¯t want to get into fierce fights the moment he returned to the Realm of me Heaven.

    Feng Luo let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°You do what you like! As a disciple of the Blood sect, I¡¯ll defend my sect with my life!¡±

    With these words, he didn¡¯t even look at the others and dashed straight towards the Blood sect.

    Yu Tong followed him as soon as he moved out.

    At that time, Nie Tian realized that all the others had remained in ce and didn¡¯t say anything.

    After all, none of them were from the Blood sect, and they didn¡¯t have the spirit to die for it.

    This was especially true of the disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect, whose sect had been invaded by the Blood sect and Ghost sect. Numerous expressions shed across Qiu Heng¡¯s face as he beckoned for An Shiyi to say something.

    He wanted An Shiyi to express her unwillingness to go to the Blood sect.

    However, An Shiyipletely despised him, so she ignored his urging gaze.

    Upon seeing her reaction, Qiu Heng cursed her inwardly. However, since he couldn¡¯t do anything to her now, he could only secretly add it to his hatred towards her.

    ¡°We¡¯re still quite a distance from the Ghost sect. Who knows what we will run into on our way there.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Hong Can made up his mind and said, ¡°The disciples of the Hell sect will go to the Blood sect. The rest of you make your own choice.¡±

    With these words, he led the other Hell sect survivors to chase after Feng Luo.

    Upon seeing Hong Can leaving with such determination, Zou Yi from the Ghost sect spoke up, ¡°The Ghost sect had always fought side by side with the Blood sect. We have more reasons to stand together now that the Realm of me Heaven is stricken by great cmities! Wait for us, Brother Hong! Count the Ghost sect in!¡±

    With these words, he led members of the Ghost sect as they also ran in the Blood sect¡¯s direction.

    After all, the Hell sect, Ghost sect, and Blood sect had been in the same alliance. It was natural that the Ghost sect and Hell sect went to their aid when the Blood sect was in danger.

    However, the Spiritual Treasure sect, Cloudsoaring sect, Grayvale sect, and Mystic Mist sect had been enemies with the other three sects.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know what choice they would make at this moment.

    ¡°What do you guys say?¡± Li Fan asked in a manly voice.

    Guan Qiu from the Grayvale sect pondered for a moment and said, ¡°With Hong Can and those other guys gone, our strength is significantly weakened, and there¡¯s a long way ahead of us if we choose to return to our own sects. I think we should go with them and see what¡¯s going on in the Blood sect.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I think too,¡± Li Fan agreed.

    Shi Hang, the Greater Heaven stage expert from the Mystic Mist sect also nodded and said, ¡°Agreed.¡±

    Li Fan turned to look at Qiu Heng, the only one who hadn¡¯t said anything. ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Qiu Heng smiled bitterly.

    ¡°Hmm. You do whatever you like.¡± Li Fan didn¡¯t even wait for him to give an answer. He quickly turned to Nie Tian and Jiang Lingzhu and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    ¡°Wait. I¡¯ll go with you,¡± An Shiyi suddenly called out and trotted to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Seeing that An Shiyi had made her stance, Qiu Heng¡¯s face immediately sunk.

 Chapter 189: The Road Ahead Is Full of Danger

    ¡°Bitch! Wait till we get back to the Spiritual Treasure sect! See how I¡¯ll deal with you then!¡± Anger filled Qiu Heng¡¯s cold eyes as he watched An Shiyi walk side by side with Nie Tian, talking and smiling.

    At that time, the Heaven Gate in midair had already disappeared.

    All the disciples from the other sects followed along after Hong Can and his fellow sect members had dashed off in the same direction as Feng Luo.

    Qiu Heng was the only one left behind.

    After inwardly cursing An Shiyi for a while, he looked up and saw the surging demon Qi. He couldn¡¯t help but start to feel terrified.

    He was well aware that it was very unlikely that he could safely return to the Spiritual Treasure sect by himself.

    Even if he ran into only one outsider on his way back, considering his cultivation base, he probably would end up killed.

    After hesitating for a while, he let out a sigh and sped off after everyone.

    Nie Tian marched side by side with An Shiyi behind Li Fan and the others. He turned to her and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that guy? It seems that he doesn¡¯t like you very much. Isn¡¯t he a senior of the Spiritual Treasure sect? He should protect you and help you all the time, but why did he force you to do and say things that he was unwilling to?¡±

    Actually, Nie Tian had long noticed the unpleasant look in his eyes since he came back from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce andnded in the teleportation portal.

    Afterwards, he discovered that Qiu Heng had disagreed with everyone else in many asions, and whenever they faced danger, he would do everything to keep himself safe.

    He had behaved exactly the same when the others were determined to go to the Blood sect. However, he didn¡¯t have the courage to say his opinion, so he beckoned for An Shiyi to do it for him.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, even though Qiu Heng had a rather high status in the Spiritual Treasure sect, he was small-minded and hard to get along with.

    ¡°Oh, him?¡± An Shiyi¡¯s slender eyebrows furrowed as she said in a low voice. ¡°He¡¯s thinking the same thing Gang Kang did.¡±

    ¡°Gan Kang!¡± Nie Tian suddenly realized what was going on and said, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is...¡±

    He had long since learned from An Ying what intentions Gan Kang had with An Shiyi and how he had tried to force her to marry him.

    Now that An Shiyi told him that Qiu Heng harbored the same intentions as Gan Kang, Nie Tian immediately knew what kind of person he was.

    He looked deeply towards An Shiyi.

    She was wearing a long, rose-red dress, which brought out her curvaceous body. Every smile and move of hers was elegant, and her captivating eyes could easily sink any man.

    She was in her prime, as beautiful as a blossoming flower, which many men wished to pick.

    Being so charming, but not from a powerful family, no wonder men from the Spiritual Treasure sect pursued her all the time.

    Nie Tian had long since heard that countless men from the Spiritual school and Treasure school drooled over her beauty, and many of them held lofty positions in the sect.

    ¡°Gan Kang is dead, and nowes this Qiu Heng person...¡± Nie Tian gave a snort and said, ¡°If he dares to step over the line and mess with you, I¡¯ll make sure he goes to meet Gan Kang in hell!¡±

    ¡°Gan Kang is dead?¡± An Shiyi¡¯s jaw slightly dropped, rounding her red lips.

    She only knew that Gan Kang had abandoned the Spiritual Treasure sect and disappeared from the Scarlet me Mountain Range. She thought he had left the Realm of me Heaven and gone to the Realm of Dark Underworld with Lai Yi.

    As long as Gan Kang was alive, he would always be a giant stone weighing down on An Shiyi¡¯s mind.

    Especially now.

    ording to the foreign trial takers, powerful experts from the other realms had been plotting against the Realm of me Heaven and would surely invade, or already had.

    The Realm of Dark Underworld was one of them.

    An Shiyi had been worrying that Gan Kang would return to the Realm of me Heaven with powerful backers one day, and take her or force her to marry him again.

    Therefore, upon hearing about his death, she was surprised and happy and also found it a bit hard to believe.

    Nie Tian nodded and reassured her in a low voice, ¡°Someone brought me his and Lai Yi¡¯s heads.¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s deep eyes were wide as she looked at him, face full of disbelief. ¡°Was it senior Wu Ji?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Nie Tian shook his head and didn¡¯t want to say anything about Hua Mu. ¡°Anyways, you just need to know that Gan Kang and Lai Yi are both dead now.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not senior Wu Ji?!¡± A light shed across An Shiyi¡¯s eyes as she now found Nie Tian even more mysterious and unfathomable.

    The one thing she was certain about Nie Tian was that he was a person of many secrets.

    She had known Nie Tian for years.

    When she had first met him, he was still a boy, a boy she found interesting, but after the tempering of the Green Illusion dimension trial and Heaven Gate trial, he had already grown to a burly young man, much bigger than other boys his age.

    Aside from the physical changes, Nie Tian had also taken on a few qualities of a mature man.

    Compared to before, he was more confident, determined, and daring. As his cultivation base advanced by leaps and bounds, he was now a powerful young Qi warrior.

    For unknown reasons, An Shiyi now found him more like a real man now, a man who had saved her quite a few times and asked for nothing in return, giving her a sense of safety which she had never felt with anyone else.

    ¡°Interesting guy!¡± An Shiyi seemed carried away by her thoughts as she slightly bit her lower lip like a teenage girl.

    At that moment, people in the front suddenly stopped.

    Nie Tian and An Shiyi also came to a stop. After ncing around, they found themselves in the middle of a valley.

    Gravel could be seen everywhere around them. Not far ahead of them, Feng Luo and Yu Tong¡¯s faces were grim as they stood in front of hundreds of dried-up, stone-made ponds.

    All those ponds should have been filled with blood, which disciples of the Blood sect could use to cultivate.

    However, not only was every single one of the blood ponds now empty, but they couldn¡¯t even find a single disciple of the Blood sect.

    This ce was very close to the gate of the Blood sect. Normally, disciples of the three Heaven stages could be seen here around the clock, tempering their body in the blood pond or practicing magics with the blood.

    After seeing that Li Fan, Guan Qiu, and the others had also arrived, Feng Luo looked a bit surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you guys woulde, but anyways, I, Feng Luo, want to thank you all foring to the Blood sect at such a difficult time. If the Blood sect somehow lives through this cmity, we will surelye to your aid whenever your sects are in danger.¡±

    ¡°No need to thank us,¡± Li Fan said. ¡°We¡¯re in the same boat now. We fought side by side in the Heaven Gate trial, and managed to kill those people from the other realms. I believe that as long as we stand as one, neither the outsiders nor the foreign Qi warriors will be able to take the Realm of me Heaven. We will persevere!¡±

    Brow still deeply furrowed, Feng Luo nodded and said, ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.¡±

    Hong Can from the Hell sect also had a grim expression on his face as he looked in the direction of the Hell sect¡¯s main gate and said, ¡°From the look of it, the Blood sect had probably been attacked by the outsiders. I can sense that the demon Qi over at the gate of the Blood sect is very strong. It¡¯s just that, limited by my cultivation base, I can¡¯t tell if there are auras of outsiders within that Qi.¡±

    ¡°Neither can I,¡± Feng Luo let out a sigh and said. ¡°The Blood sect definitely has been attacked. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t tell how bad it was. After all, the era when outsiders walked this realm was too far from us, and thus we know nothing of them.¡±

    ¡°However,¡± Hong Can said worriedly, ¡°what I can tell is that the demon Qi is gradually polluting the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of me Heaven. By the time that all the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of me Heaven has been polluted and turned into demon Qi, we will have an even smaller chance of winning this war.¡±

    ¡°Damn them!¡± Jiang Lingzhu said angrily with a cold snort. ¡°People from the other realms knew that outsiders would invade the Realm of me Heaven, but not only did they refuse to help us, they even wanted to get a piece for themselves!¡±

    With a serious face, Hong Can said, ¡°They have been drooling over our realm for a long time now. The Hell sect has been overseeing the Realm of me Heaven for centuries. We know what they¡¯ve been thinking. Unfortunately, since our seven sects aren¡¯t strong enough, they never gave up the idea of taking the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    BAM!

    All of a sudden, a subtle sound rang out from under the valley ground they were standing on.

    As soon as they heard the sound, Feng Luo and Yu Tong exchanged a look and strange lights could be seen in their eyes.

    In the same moment, Nie Tian¡¯s heart began beating unusually as the sound echoed out.

 Chapter 190: Bone Blood Demon

    ¡°What was that!?¡± Face filled with surprise, Li Fan subconsciously looked down at the ground under his feet and unleashed his psychic awareness to examine what was under there.

    However, it only reached a position about thirty meters below the surface before it was obstructed by ayer of blood and couldn¡¯t go any further.

    After hearing the strange sound, the others also unleashed their psychic awareness to scan the surroundings and ran into the same obstruction as Li Fan had.

    None of them were able to detect what was under the ground.

    ¡°You¡¯re wasting your energy,¡± Feng Luo said. ¡°Thatyer of blood was established by our sectmaster. Considering your cultivation bases, none of you will be able to prate it with your psychic power.¡±

    BAM!

    At that moment, another strange sound rang out from under the ground.

    Feng Luo and Yu Tong¡¯s expressions looked increasingly intense, as if they knew something wasn¡¯t right.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? One heartbeat echoing out every once in awhile is quite normal, but never have I experienced two heartbeats taking ce so closely together.¡± Feng Luo rubbed his chin as he looked nkly at the ground under his feet. He seemed to have forgotten the situation that they were facing and muttered to himself, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. It¡¯s been so many years and it has never behaved this way.

    ¡°Other than the asional heartbeat, it hasn¡¯t showed any sign of life in so many years.

    ¡°Even the sect elders dered that it was a lost cause and abandoned it.¡±

    Yu Tong pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Uncle Feng, could it be that the upheaval in the Realm of me Heaven caused changes to it?¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly jumped in and said, ¡°Someone once told me that the appearance of the Heaven Gate would give rise to many changes in the heaven and earth.¡±

    ¡°Senior Wu Ji said that?¡± Feng Luo asked.

    Nie Tian knew he had better not tell others about Hua Mu, so he said, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Is it really caused by the drastic changes in the heaven and earth?¡± Feng Luo¡¯s mind drifted away for a moment before he suddenly turned to Yu Tong and said, ¡°Do you have your master¡¯s Blood Spirit Pearl with you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± Yu Tong answered. ¡°My master feared that my cultivation base wasn¡¯tpetitive enough for the Heaven Gate trial, and thus bestowed the Blood Spirit Pearl upon me.¡±

    ¡°Your master has been guarding that thing the entire time,¡± said Feng Luo. ¡°Back when it was created, your master was one of the major spell-casters and the Blood Spirit Pearl yed an important role. With the pearl you can summon it from underground.¡±

    After pondering the matter for a long time, Feng Luo took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Little Tong, cast the spell. I want to see it.¡±

    ¡°Ahhh?!¡± Yu Tong was taken aback. ¡°Are you sure? I think it¡¯s better if we leave it be. If we actually awakened it, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Feng Luo said. ¡°We should be able to control it with the Blood Spirit Pearl. It¡¯s almost a fact that our sect has been invaded by outsiders. Perhaps, while we are talking, more outsiders are swarming into our sect. In such a special moment, even if it were awakened, it won¡¯t make the situation worse.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, if you could control it with the Blood Spirit Pearl, we might be able to use it to turn the situation around!¡± Feng Luo¡¯s eyes glittered with bright light.

    Shock could be seen on Hong Can¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Feng Luo, are you talking about that thing your sect acquired from another realm via our sect?¡±

    Feng Luo nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, exactly.¡±

    Hong Can continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t your sect say that it was a terrible purchase and since that thing had run out of life force, it would never awaken again?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Feng Luo replied.

    ¡°So what¡¯s the matter now?¡± Hong Can asked. ¡°Did that thing make those sounds just now?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on," Feng Luo said with an embarrassed look on his face.

    Intrigued, Nie Tian turned to Li Fan and asked, ¡°What are they talking about?¡±

    Li Fan shook his head as he also had no idea of what they were talking about.

    At that moment, An Shiyi, who was standing beside Nie Tian, turned her head and said, ¡°Aside from the numerous forbidden spells that the Blood sect disciples practice, they have another special technique, which is that they can create Blood Demons with different vessels. The vessel can be a human body or a body of other race. As long as the creature hasn¡¯t lost all its life force, they can use their secret magics to refine it and turn it into a Blood Demon that only answers theirmands.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s a Blood Demon hidden underground.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that it seems that this Blood Demon isn¡¯t fully refined and awakened. Otherwise, people from the Blood sect would have used it to fight the invading outsiders already.

    ¡°That¡¯s probably the case.¡± Li Fan agreed.

    With an approving expression in his eyes, he looked at An Shiyi and said, ¡°If you ever decide to leave the Spiritual Treasure sect, you¡¯re wee to join the Cloudsoaring sect. Our sect isn¡¯t thatplicated. If youe to our sect, I promise that you won¡¯t need to worry about others undermining you or forcing you to do anything.¡±

    With these words, Li Fan intentionally shot a nce at Qiu Heng, who just arrived.

    Finally catching up to the crowd, Qiu Heng didn¡¯t hear their conversation about the Blood Demon, but he heard Li Fan¡¯sst sentence.

    He, who was already in a bad mood, let out a snort but didn¡¯t say a word.

    He was smart enough to realize that due to his previous statements and behavior, almost everyone currently had a rather low opinion of him.

    He knew that if he dared to confront Li Fan at this moment, the chances were that he would be a target of public criticism again.

    Therefore, he chose to bear Li Fan¡¯s insinuation.

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± An Shiyi bowed gracefully towards Li Fan and said sincerely, ¡°Sure, if the day everes when I run into walls everywhere in the Spiritual Treasure sect and I have to leave, I¡¯ll consider joining the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°You should know that betraying your sect is a serious crime!¡± Qiu Heng said coldly.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have my master ask for senior Fang Hui¡¯s approval first.¡± Nie Tian interrupted and said. ¡°I trust that he¡¯ll give face to my master.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Qiu Heng¡¯s face turned even grimmer.

    It was known to all that Wu Ji and Fang Hui were sworn friends, and Fang Hui¡¯s status in the Spiritual Treasure sect was even higher than the sectmaster¡¯s.

    If Wu Ji personally asked for her, Fang Hui would definitely grant him the favor, which would make the process of An Shiyi joining the Cloudsoaring sect well-reasoned and smooth.

    ¡°Okay. Let me try.¡± Yu Tong¡¯s voice echoed out.

    At that moment, persuaded by Feng Luo, Yu Tong seemed a bit nervous as she took out the Blood Spirit Pearl from her bracelet of holding.

    As soon as she held out the Blood Spirit Pearl, the entire valley was illuminated by the bright blood-colored light, as if someone had painted the valley with blood.

    Numerous blood shadows could be seen within the Blood Spirit Pearl. They constantly shifted their position as if they were starting some kind of mechanism.

    Yu Tong sat down on the ground and cupped the Blood Spirit Pearl with two hands as she used her psychic awareness tomunicate with it.

    After some time, numerous blood-colored threads suddenly shot out of the pearl before soon prating into the ground.

    In the next moment, loud, scary rumbling sounds echoed out in the originally silent valley, and the dried-up stone ponds started to rapidly shift to the side, clearing out the center of the valley.

    CRACKLE!

    One after another, numerous gigantic stones seemed to be manipted by a certain unknown power and rose up from under the ground, soon leaving a deep hole that was almost a hundred meters wide.

    As soon as the stones rose up, an intense, bloody aura filled the air.

    Upon catching a whiff of the aura, Feng Luo and Yu Tong both had intoxicated expressions on their faces, as if they could draw power from it.

    On the other hand, everyone who wasn¡¯t from the Blood sect frowned and seemed disgusted upon smelling the bloody aura.

    Only Nie Tian seemed to not be bothered by the pungent smell.

    Perhaps it was because he had absorbed Yu Tong¡¯s blood strings and merged them with his own blood during their fight in the Green Illusion dimension.

    Hong Can from the Hell sect stepped closer to the huge hole and, at first nce of what was under there, he eximed, ¡°It¡¯s indeed that thing!"

    The others also moved closer to the edge of the huge hole and looked down into it with curious expressions on their faces.

    In the middle of the huge holey a skeleton that was more than thirty meters long.

    There wasn¡¯t a single piece of skin or flesh to be seen on the pale-gray bones. However, a densework of fine blood vessels could be seen on each and every bone, within which blood seemed to be flowing slowly.

    A giant, grayish-brown heart was still beating inside of the ribcage.

    The previous strange sounds must havee from this heart.

    Aside from the fact that it was exceptionallyrge, the structure of the skeleton was almost the same as a human¡¯s. However, several sharp bones seemed to have grown out of its back and pierced into the bottom of the deep hole.

    ¡°A Bone Giant!!¡± Shi Hang¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily asked, ¡°What level was it at before your sect got it?¡±

    ¡°The eighth level,¡± Feng Luo replied.

    Shi Hang from the Mystic Mist sect was bbergasted. ¡°Dear lord! How did you have the audacity to turn it into a Blood Demon?¡±

    The strength of an eighth bloodline level Bone Giant was equal to that of a Soul realm human Qi warrior. However, the strongest Qi warriors in the entire Realm of me Heaven were only in the Profound realm.

    If the Blood sect managed to turn it into a Blood Demon, but lost control of it, the Bone Blood Demon it became would very likely destroy the entire Realm of me Heaven!

 Chapter 191: Life Transfer

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s still a failed project.¡± With a calm expression on his face, Feng Luo urged everyone not to get too close to it and then turned to Hong Can and exined, ¡°Normally speaking, the Blood Demons we create are slightly weaker than they were when they were alive. Even though this Bone Giant once was at the eighth level, at the most, it would only reach the seventh level if we ever manage to refine it sessfully.

    ¡°The fighting power of a seventh level Blood Demon would be equal to a Profound realm Qi warrior. Therefore, even if it is awakened and somehow escapes from our hands, our sectmaster would be able to overtake it.¡±

    Hong Can frowned and said, ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll get down there and have a look!¡± Very carefully, Feng Luo jumped off of the edge of the huge hole andnded right next to the Bone Giant.

    The Bone Giant was still emitting an intense bloody aura and upon a closer look, blood was indeed flowing within the numerous, fine veins that could be seen on every bone.

    BOOM!

    Another vigorous heartbeat echoed out from within the Bone Giant¡¯s heart, startling everyone who had been looking on by the edge of the huge hole.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also slightly flickered.

    Every time the giant, gray heart of the Bone Giant beat, Nie Tian¡¯s heart elerated with it, as if his heart was influenced by it.

    He unleashed a wisp of his psychic awareness to examine the Bone Giant.

    He found that its whole body was emitting an extremely strong aura of flesh and blood, and because of that he could feel the terrifying power that was hiding within this huge body that looked like a skeleton.

    However, for unknown reasons, even though the Bone Giant¡¯s heart was beating, there were no signs of it awakening.

    Feng Luo looked into the Bone Giant¡¯s round eye sockets and found that there were two dark-green, lifeless jewels.

    He circled around the Bone Giant before he unleashed a ray of bloody light, and upon contact with the Bone Giant, the light immediately bounced back as several rays of faint light.

    Then, he climbed onto the Bone Giant¡¯s body and approached its chest area.

    When he arrived, with rapt attention, he looked at the grayish brown, huge heart that was surrounded by numerous rib bones.

    After some time, he shook his head and said, ¡°Still no signs of life power.¡±

    ¡°Life power?¡± Nie Tian was surprised and turned to Li Fan and asked, ¡°I can sense that that Bone Giant is emanating strong fluctuations of flesh and blood. Is it only because itcks life power that it can¡¯t be awaken?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right.¡± Li Fan let out a sigh as he looked at him with a meaningful gaze and said, ¡°Your master¡¯s time is about toe to an end. It¡¯s the life power that determines one¡¯s life span. So even if he still has a vigorous aura of flesh and blood inside of him, he will die anyways when his life energy runs out.

    ¡°It could be the case for this Bone Giant. Even though it¡¯s wreathed in a formidable aura of flesh and blood, since it has been drained of its life force, it can¡¯t be truly awakened.

    ¡°Life power is an extremelyplicated energy. Just like the soul, it is another fundamental thing that separates all living creatures from the dead, so in case you run out of either of the two, that would mean you¡¯re dead.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really...¡± Nie Tian rubbed his chin as his mind drifted away.

    He had a faint feeling that the part of his bloodline power that he had yet to awaken was none other than the life power.

    Even though he knew nothing of the life power, he had a feeling that his bloodline power would make his lifespan significantly longer than that ofmon human Qi warriors.

    This meant that as long as he worked hard with his cultivation, he wouldn¡¯t need to face the problem that his master did.

    And he wouldn¡¯t need to worry that he would die of age before his cultivation base could advance to the next stage.

    Standing on the Bone Giant¡¯s rib cage, Feng Luo shook his head and said with a helpless look on his face, ¡°What a pity. Life power is one of the most mysterious and profound powers in this world. This Bone Giant basically has every necessary thing but life power. If there¡¯s life power that we can use to stimte it and vest it with new life force, I assume that we¡¯ll be able to actually awaken it.

    ¡°With the Blood Spirit Pearl, we¡¯ll be able to control it and use it to fight the invading outsiders.

    ¡°If we can do that, it will be like adding another Profound realm expert to our side, which could potentially change the situation over at the Blood sect.¡±

    With these words, Feng Luo lept out of the deep hole and was about to tell Yu Tong to use the Blood Spirit Pearl to reseal the hole with the huge stones.

    After all, without life power, even though there was a slight anomaly in the Bone Giant¡¯s heartbeat, they wouldn¡¯t be able to truly awaken it.

    He didn¡¯t want to waste more time in this ce.

    BOOM!

    At that very moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound echoed out from the Blood sect¡¯s direction.

    Feng Luo¡¯s expression flickered as he looked towards the source of the sound with rapt attention and discovered that numerous clusters of ckish-purple demon Qi were descending from the heavens and converging on the Blood sect.

    He could even vaguely see the outsiders figures and hear the outsiders¡¯ roars from within those demon Qi clusters.

    ¡°The grand Blood formation has probably been breached!¡± Yu Tong¡¯s face turned pale with fright as she hastily said. ¡°We have to get over as fast as possible. The breaching of the grand formation means that outsiders are now able to roam about in the sect without any restrictions. We have to stop them!¡±

    Everyone else had noticed the grim expressions on Yu Tong and Feng Luo¡¯s faces.

    Qiu Heng from the Spiritual Treasure sect shrugged, his eyes filled with fear and reluctance.

    He had anticipated that a huge upheaval would strike the Blood sect, but after hearing that the Blood sect¡¯s grand spell formation was torn open, he felt increasingly uneasy.

    Various expressions shing across his face, he pondered whether he should get away while he still had the chance.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Feng Luo said with a begrudging tone. ¡°If we can somehow awaken and manipte the Bone Giant, we would undoubtedly provide vital assistance to my sect!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with a bright light. ¡°All itcked was life power...¡±

    An idea suddenly came to him: even though he hadn¡¯t fully awakened his life power, there might be some of it in his blood!

    It urred to him that he had been able topletely heal the numerous puncture wounds on his body soon after his fight, not leaving a single scar.

    Compared to normal humans, his healing ability was frighteningly exceptional.

    He was certain that it had something to do with the life power that was hiding deep within his blood.

    He believed that only the mysterious life power would be able to achieve that.

    Therefore, since his blood carried life power, if he could somehow put his blood into the Bone Giant¡¯s grayish brown heart, he might be able to provide it with the only thing itcked and turn it into the Blood Demon that the Blood sect had been racking their brains to create for years.

    Even if it could only be awakened for a short period of time, as long as Yu Tong could control it, they would still inflict serious damage to the outsiders!

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡± With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian stopped Feng Luo and under everyone¡¯s confused gazes, he jumped into the deep hole in the ground.

    Expression flickering, Yu Tong, who was going to use the Blood Spirit Pearl to reseal the huge hole, said angrily, ¡°What the hell are you doing? What wicked ns do you have now?!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! What are you doing?¡± Li Fan also called out to him.

    Jiang Lingzhu and An Shiyi were also surprised by Nie Tian¡¯s behavior and wondered what he was going to do this time.

    Face dead serious, Feng Luo shouted, ¡°Get out of there now!¡±

    However, Nie Tianpletely ignored their urging and rapidly climbed onto the Bone Giant¡¯s body. Secondster, he arrived at its chest area where Feng Luo had been moments ago.

    Under his feet was the Bone Giant¡¯s huge, grayish-brown heart.

    ¡°Give me some time.¡± Face grim, Nie Tian took out a dagger from his bracelet of holding and sliced open the tip of his right middle finger.

    He held it down right above the giant heart and let his blood drip onto it.

    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

    One after another, the blood drops dripped onto the heart, and as soon as they did, the heart rapidly absorbed them like a dry sponge.

    After absorbing several dozen drops of Nie Tian¡¯s blood, the heart started beating at a frequency much higher than before.

    Furthermore, the Blood Demon¡¯s dark-green, lifeless eyes started to flicker with a faint light.

    At that moment, Nie Tian felt some difort as it seemed that he had lost a significant amount of his flesh and blood essence.

    He stopped and looked down at the Blood Demon, eyes brimming with anticipation.

    WHOOSH!

    A blood shadow that was significantly bigger than the others suddenly appeared within Yu Tong¡¯s Blood Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°Bone Blood Demon!¡± Yu Tong eximed with an disbelieving expression on her face.

    ¡°You¡¯ve awakened the Bone Blood Demon!¡± Eyes wide, Feng Luo looked at Nie Tian with a bbergasted expression on his face, as he was terrified by Nie Tian¡¯s achievement.

 Chapter 192: Awakening!

    The light that shone out of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bizarre-looking eyes made everyone present nervous and uneasy.

    Cupped by Yu Tong¡¯s slender fingers, a blood figure that was significantlyrger than the others appeared within the Blood Spirit Pearl, which clearly had a connection with the Bone Blood Demon.

    There was no need for Feng Luo and Yu Tong to say anything; everyone else realized that the Bone Blood Demon was gradually awakening.

    Feng Luo had stated that the only thing that had been keeping the Bone Giant from awakening was that itcked life power, and only by solving that problem would they be able to restore life to it and turn it into a Bone Blood Demon.

    However, just by dripping some of his own blood onto the giant¡¯s heart, Nie Tian managed to restart its heart and restore it to an awakened state!

    As everyone looked towards Nie Tian, their eyes were full of disbelief, as they now found Nie Tian unfathomable.

    As Nie Tian climbed out of the deep hole and returned to Li Fan¡¯s side, Li Fan asked with a low and serious voice, ¡°What did you do? Howe you were able to awaken the Bone Blood Demon with your own blood?¡±

    Both Jiang Lingzhu and An Shiyi also looked at him from the side, their eyes filled with curiosity.

    Further to his side, Yu Tong, who was still holding the Blood Spirit Pearl with her hands, also had a strange look in her devilish, yet beautiful eyes.

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly came to realize that he might have behaved a bit too rashly, and now felt regretful.

    Originally, the secret within his bloodline was only known to Hua Mu. Even he didn¡¯t know much about it himself.

    Perhaps it was because he was too eager to test out the mysteries of his bloodline, or to reverse the situation that the Realm of me Heaven was in, that he didn¡¯t think too much before dripping his own blood into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    He didn¡¯t expect that his blood would actually infuse the Bone Blood Demon with new life power, and now it actually showed signs of awakening.

    He realized that its awakening was great news to the Blood sect.

    However, he had ignored the fact that he might unveil the secret regarding his bloodline by doing that.

    After a brief hesitation, Nie Tian exined, ¡°Well, I was taken to a mysterious pce during the three months that I was gone, where it grew fruits that contained rich life power. I ate one of them. And afterwards, I felt as if I had been vested with another kind of power.

    ¡°However, I soon found myself losing the new power bit by bit. So I figured it won¡¯t be long before I lose itpletely anyway. I might as well try to awaken the Bone Blood Demon by giving it some of my blood. After all, that life power didn¡¯t belong to me and didn¡¯t seem to do me any good.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that it would actually work. I was surprised, too.¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, Hong Can¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you ate a Fruit of Life?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian went nk for a moment.

    He was surprised that Hong Can took his falsehood so seriously and actually thought of this kind of fruit. He found it very amusing. ¡°It must have been the Fruit of Life that I ate!¡±

    Hong Can took a deep breath and with a iparably serious expression he said, ¡°I heard that the Fruits of Life grows on a Tree of Life.

    And by eating one Fruit of Life, any living creature would be able to greatly enhance their life power and lengthen their lifespan by a great extent!

    ¡°For example, your master Senior Wu has been troubled by his lifespan problem, since without further replenishment of his life span, he won¡¯t be able to advance into the Soul realm before his time runs out.

    ¡°If he can get a Fruit of Life, he would be able to extend his lifespan for another several hundred years. With the newly acquired time, given his profound wisdom, he would undoubtedly make new understandings and step into the Soul realm!

    ¡°However, the Fruits of Life are too rare in the Domain of the Falling Stars, much less the Realm of me Heaven. They are merely a legend to us.¡±

    Then, Hong Can said with a envious tone, ¡°Kid, you are truly so damn lucky that you even got to eat a Fruit of Life in the Heaven Gate trial! It was the life power in the Fruit of Life that dispersed into your blood, and by dripping your blood onto the Bone Giant¡¯s heart, you infused it with life force and awakened it.

    All the others fell into an uproar upon hearing that Nie Tian had eaten a mysterious treasure called the Fruit of Life. Each one of them had an envious expression on their face.

    ¡°The Fruit of Life?!¡±

    ¡°He actually had a Fruit of Life?!¡±

    ¡°This kid can¡¯t get any luckier, can he?!¡±

    ¡°With one Fruit of Life, he would gain another several hundred years of life! With thatrge amount of time, if he doesn¡¯t give up cultivating, he will eventually reach the peak of cultivation.¡±

    ¡°Wu Ji sure is a perfect judge of talent!¡±

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Qiu Heng from the Spiritual Treasure sect snarled in his heart. ¡°He actually obtained a Fruit of Life?!¡±

    ¡°Uncle Feng! I, I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to control it any more!¡± At that moment, Yu Tong¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out, her Blood Spirit Pearl-holding hands shaking nonstop. She felt that soon she would be taken over by the violent fluctuations that originated from the Blood Spirit Pearl.

    From the way she looked, it was as if the Blood Spirit Pearl had be as heavy as a mountain and she was about to drop it.

    The sizable blood shadow in the Blood Spirit Pearl was madly twisting and wiggling, and it seemed that it wouldn¡¯t be long before it broke out of the pearl.

    Feng Luo¡¯s face turned pale with fright as he instantly shifted to Yu Tong¡¯s side. Without uttering a single word, he pressed his palm against Yu Tong¡¯s back.

    Nie Tian could vaguely see that numerous threads of blood-colored light flowed out of Feng Luo¡¯s palm and into Yu Tong¡¯s back.

    However, it didn¡¯t seem that Yu Tong could better control the Blood Spirit Pearl even after receiving a supplement in her power. The blood shadow within was still madly stampeding, seemingly eager to break free of its confinement.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± At that moment, Nie Tian noticed that numerous light rays started to interweave within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s pupils as they grew increasingly bright.

    At the same time, the blood inside of the fine veins all over the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body started to flow at a faster speed.

    An extremely dangerous aura flowed out of the Bone Blood Demon and filled the air in the vicinity, making everyone observing from the edge of the hole tremble with fear.

    After all, this Bone Blood Demon possessed the eighth level bloodline power. In case it was fully awakened, even though there would be a dip in its power, it would still be as powerful as a Profound realm human Qi warrior.

    However, the strongest person among them all was only in the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    If they ever lost control of the Bone Blood Demon, every one of them would be eliminated within one breath.

    Feng Luo didn¡¯t stop passing his flesh power onto Yu Tong as he said, ¡°Nie Tian, you are the one who bestowed life power upon the Bone Blood Demon. Why don¡¯t you think of way for us to make it follow ourmands?¡± However, it seemed that it weren¡¯t going to solve the problem, and with Yu Tong¡¯s current strength, she wouldn¡¯t be able to bring the Bone Blood Demon under her control anyways.

    Since he had witnessed Nie Tian work miracles more than one time during their Heaven Gate trial and that it was Nie Tian who had awakened the Bone Blood Demon, he counted on Nie Tian to turn the situation around.

    ¡°Me?¡± Nie Tian smiled bitterly. Not knowing a thing about the Blood sect¡¯s forbidden techniques, he racked his brains but still couldn¡¯te up with a way to calm the Bone Blood Demon.

    He could only send a wisp of his psychic awareness into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body and see if he could find something.

    As soon as his psychic awareness left him, he was suddenly stricken by a strange feeling.

    He had a feeling that there was a discarnate soul in the surrounding heaven and earth, which seemed to be attracted to him.

    Simultaneously, his heartbeat suddenly elerated.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s madly beating heartbeat and Nie Tian¡¯s suddenly seemed to have synchronized at this moment!

    The Bone Blood Demon, who had bones as sharp as des protruding out of every joint, began to stir its limbs.

    Before long, it gradually sat up straight and rose to its feet.

    The few giant bone protrusions that had grown out of its back shone with a suffocating light. They seemed so hard and sharp that no shield or armor would be able to stop them.

    All of a sudden, its dark-green, unfathomable eyes fixed on the Blood Spirit Pearl in Yu Tong¡¯s hands.

    The discarnate soul in the Blood Spirit Pearl immediately flew out of the pearl and into its pupils.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, the Bone Blood Demon that was at least thirty-meters tall abruptly jumped up into the air beforending right in front of Nie Tian with a loud crash.

    Uponnding, its gigantic feet slightly sank into the ground filled with stones, as if they were as fragile as a piece of tofu in its presence.

    Its dark-green eyes looked down on Nie Tian. From the look of it, it could only detect an aura on Nie Tian that made it feelfortable.

    The aura originated from the life power within Nie Tian¡¯s heart and the blood that was running throughout his body, and it was the same life power that had vested it with new life force and brought it back to life!

    Upon seeing the discarnate soul flying out of the Blood Spirit Pearl and into the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian had a strange feeling that the monster that the Blood sect had spent countless efforts to refine only had a sense of recognition and dependency towards himself.

    ¡°Get away from it!¡± Li Fan¡¯s expression flickered as he called out. He grabbed Jiang Lingzhu with one hand and An Shiyi with another and pulled the two of them away from Nie Tian.

    People from the other sects also had their eyes fixed on Nie Tian and the giant demon as they stepped back away from them.

    ¡°Nie Tian! What are you doing with our Bone Blood Demon?!¡± Yu Tong yelled at him, her eyes wide.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± Feng Luo held her and stopped her from rushing towards Nie Tian.

 Chapter 193: Killing Machine!

    At that moment, everyone could tell that even though the Blood sect had expended a lot of effort on this Bone Blood Demon, it seemed that it only recognized Nie Tian now.

    It stepped to Nie Tian¡¯s side and stood still, as if it was his faithful guard.

    Yu Tong burst into a rage; she knew perfectly well how much effort her sect had expended to refine this special Blood Demon.

    When this Bone Giant with an eighth level bloodline power had been brought to the Blood sect, it had been considered a vital project through which they would be able to make a breakthrough in their demon refining techniques.

    In the following years, the entire Blood sect had almost stretched their resources to the limit for this Bone Giant, including using all kinds of precious spiritual materials and countless barrels of spirit beast blood.

    Several powerful demon refining experts of the Blood sect had worked day and night on the Bone Giant, even to the extent of neglecting their own cultivation.

    However, it eventually ran out of life power anyways and failed to turn into a Blood Demon.

    But after having expended endless hours and resources on it, the Blood sect hadn¡¯tpletely given up on it and hoped that one day they would ovee the problem of its life power and thus awaken it and turn it into a powerful tool of the Blood sect.

    Yu Tong never imagined that the Blood Demon that her sect had poured their heart and soul into would eventually end up in Nie Tian¡¯s pocket.

    She found it almost impossible to ept!

    BOOM!

    It was at that moment that more loud sounds that shook thend and rocked mountains rang out from the direction of the Blood sect.

    ROOOOAR!

    Immediately after that, an ear-piercing roar seemed to ring out from the same location.

    Faces filled with terror, everyone turned around to look.

    Momentster, they saw a ckish-purple, ten-meter-tall outsider demon charging towards them along with a mass of demon Qi.

    Even though the outsider wasn¡¯t able to travel in the air, every lunge it took could cover several dozen meters.

    It closed in rapidly on Nie Tian and the others while holding a gigantic spiked club with its veiny, sturdy arms. As it neared, it unleashed more and more demon Qi into its surroundings.

    It seemed that the outsider had sensed fluctuations of Qi and blood in this area and, realizing that there were humans in the area, immediately rushed here.

    As soon as it appeared, the constantly spreading demon Qi in the sky moved along with it and descended towards Nie Tian and the others like clusters of ckish-purple clouds.

    Upon seeing the outsider, Qiu Heng¡¯s face immediately turned ghastly. ¡°An outsider demon!¡±

    He subconsciously flinched and wanted to get away from this ce as soon as possible, since he didn¡¯t want to fight the fierce outsider to the death.

    ¡°Prepare to fight!¡± Hong Can roared.

    Nie Tian instantly felt the tension. His gaze was fixed on the approaching outsider as he secretly readied himself for the uing fight. A strong killing intent could be seen within his eyes.

    As soon as he focused his killing intent on the outsider, the Bone Blood Demon beside him dashed towards it without even the slightest hesitation.

    SHEW!

    The thirty-meter tall Bone Blood Demon suddenly shot out like an arrow, and arrived in front of the outsider in a sh.

    ROOOOAR!

    Upon seeing the Bone Blood Demon gaining on it at such a fast speed, the outsider let out a strange shriek.

    However, its shriek didn¡¯tst very long before it suddenly came to a stop.

    At that moment, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s five, razor-sharp fingers had already pierced into the outsider¡¯s heart.

    The Bone Blood Demon had punctured the outsider¡¯s heart with one strike.

    Its dark-green pupils glittered with bright light, but not a trace of expression could be seen on its bony face.

    Afterwards, it lifted its arm with ease and raised the outsider high into the air.

    Then, it reached out its other bony hand and thrust it into the outsider¡¯s abdomen. After that, it pulled both its arms to the sides and ripped the ten-meter long outsider body in half.

    ckish-purple blood immediately spewed out of the outsider and poured down like a rain, filling the space they were in.

    Bathed in the rain of blood, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s dark, deep eyes shone brighter and brighter.

    Meanwhile, the blood falling onto its body rapidly seeped into its bones and entered the fine veins and meridians that could be found on every piece of bone.

    The aura that the Bone Blood Demon radiated into the surroundings grew increasingly bloody and vigorous, as if it had just obtained new power from the outsider it just killed.

    CRACKLE!

    The dead outsider¡¯s body dropped to the sides. Standing in a pool of ckish-purple outsider blood, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s giant, bony feet seemed to be still absorbing the blood.

    Numerous spots that glittered with a dark luster floated to the surface of the blood pool before soon disappearing into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s vein-filled foot bones.

    A wave of even stronger aura rippled out of the Bone Blood Demon, and when it spread to everyone around it, each and every one of them had frightened looks in their eyes.

    Feng Luo from the Blood sect stared nkly at the Bone Blood Demon and said, ¡°This... this is unbelievable! It can actually use blood refining techniques to absorb flesh power from its enemies¡¯ blood! I don¡¯t think the other Blood Demons our sect created had this kind of skill, did they?¡±

    Yu Tong was also bbergasted as she said, ¡°It¡¯s at least two levels higher than any other Blood Demon that our sect has created. My master and many others performed numerous experiments on it. I¡¯m afraid that this Blood Demon will...¡± Yu Tong¡¯s voice trembled and her eyes were filled with fear and worry.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it managed to tear apart an outsider so effortlessly. This Bone Blood Demon is truly awesome!¡± Nie Tian was also secretly shocked.

    Since there was still a subtle connection between his psychic awareness and the Bone Blood Demon, he could faintly sense that ever since the Bone Blood Demon had been awakened, its life power was on the decline.

    It seemed that the several dozen drops of blood were far from enough to provide it with life power and lifespan over a long period of time.

    He had the feeling that it wouldn¡¯t be very long before the Bone Blood Demon ran out of its life power and fell into a deep slumber.

    However, upon a brief examination of himself, Nie Tian found that he had already lost quite a bit of his energy.

    After all, he was only in the Lesser Heaven stage and his bloodline power hadn¡¯t been fully awakened yet.

    The life power in his blood was still quite faint, far from enough to power a creature that had run out of its lifespan, even if he were willing to offer more of his own blood.

    After realizing this point, Nie Tian said, ¡°Senior Feng Luo! I¡¯m afraid this Bone Blood Demon won¡¯t remain active for a long time. I think it¡¯s slowly burning its life power away. Let¡¯s bring it to the Blood sect and let it kill as many outsiders as it can!¡±

    Feng Luo snapped out of his thoughts and said, ¡°You¡¯re right! Follow me!¡±

    He even forgot to say anything to the others, including Yu Tong, as he dashed straight towards the sect gate of the Blood sect.

    He also knew in his heart that the life power Nie Tian had given the Bone Blood Demon probably wasn¡¯t enough to keep it active forever.

    Furthermore, the devastating power the Bone Blood Demon had disyed make him fearful and excited at the same time. Therefore, he was very eager to use it to kill as many outsiders as they could before it fell into a deep slumber again.

    WHOOSH!

    At his fastest speed, Nie Tian dashed towards the Blood sect after Feng Luo.

    The more than thirty meters tall Bone Blood Demon only needed to move its bony legs at a low speed to keep up with the two of them.

    Even though Nie Tian didn¡¯t send outmands of any sort, it ran after Nie Tian, simply following his aura.

    Since its soul wasn¡¯t asplete as those of living beings, it wasn¡¯t very intelligent, and it was basically only following its instincts.

    After Nie Tian and Feng Luo had left, the rest of the group remained standing in their original location, aghast and yet to recover from the overwhelming scenes.

    The Bone Blood Demon had killed the outsider so quickly that they didn¡¯t even realize it when the fight was over and the outsider was torn in half.

    The fact that the Bone Blood Demon killed their enemy and followed Nie Tian made it clear to them that it answered Nie Tian¡¯smands.

    Having control over such a powerful creature, Nie Tian, who was only in the Lesser Heaven stage, undoubtedly had a fearful killing machine at hismand.

    With this weapon of mass destruction, Nie Tian would have be invincible if the Realm of me Heaven hadn¡¯t been invaded by outsiders.

    If Nie Tian eventually brought this Bone Blood Demon to the Cloudsoaring sect, their strength would be greatly enhanced and they would easily surpass all the other sects, with the Hell sect as the only exception.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Give back our Bone Blood Demon!¡±

    Seeing that the Bone Blood Demon had effortlessly torn apart a giant outsider and sped away after Nie Tian, Yu Tong was so outraged that she felt like puking blood.

    Then, she also sped away in the direction that Nie Tian had left in.

    She still couldn¡¯t ept the fact that Nie Tian had so easily taken away something that her sect had spent years of effort and countless resources on.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! Follow Nie Tian!¡± Hong Can didn¡¯t bother with Yu Tong¡¯s behavior, but rather his spirits were lifted after seeing what the Bone Blood Demon had done, and thus urged everyone else to move out.

    ¡°Move out! To the Blood sect!¡± The formidable power of the Bone Blood Demon seemed to have suddenly given everyone enough courage to not be afraid of the invading outsiders.

 Chapter 194: We Are Lucky to Have You

    WHOOSH!

    An outsider covered in ck scales, with a horn growing out of its jaw, suddenly popped up from behind a mountain.

    Without any hesitation, it rushed towards Feng Luo with a fierce roar.

    As it did, clusters of purple-ck demon Qi shot towards him as well, like plummeting meteors.

    Only momentster, Feng Luo was submerged by the demon Qi. He formed a shield of blood-colored light to hold off the attack of the demon Qi.

    He knew very well that once the demon Qi found its way into his body, he would lose consciousness and fall victim to the outsider.

    The outsider that had ck scales from head to toeughed in a sinister fashion while the curved horn that grew out of its jaw shone with purple light.

    Nie Tian, who was not far behind Feng Luo, saw what happened and, pointing at the outsider, issued amand to the Bone Blood Demon beside him. ¡°Go!¡±

    As soon as he focused his killing intent on the outsider, the Bone Blood Demon made it its target.

    The Bone Blood Demon, who was almost twice as tall as the outsider, strode towards the outsider, and before it could even respond, the Bone Blood Demon had already reached out its hands, which resembled two unstoppable des and thrust them towards the outsider¡¯s chest.

    FIZZ!

    Before its bony hands reached the outsider, numerous beams of blood-colored light shot out of its hands, blowing off the ck scales that had been covering the outsider¡¯s chest.

    The outsider¡¯s torso immediately became a bloody mess, and without any protection, its ckish-purple flesh was shown.

    Screaming, the outsider attempted to grab the Bone Blood Demon and bite it with its teeth. However, with a heave, the Bone Blood Demon once again ripped the outsider apart with its bare hands.

    As soon as the outsider¡¯s blood sputtered onto its body, its dark eyes began to flicker with a strange light, as if it were trying to use the Blood sect¡¯s blood refining magic to extract and absorb the essence within the outsider¡¯s blood.

    The raging demon Qi gradually dispersed and, enveloped by a blood-colored light shield, Feng Luo noticed that the Bone Blood Demon had already torn apart the outsider. With gratitude in his eyes, he briefly nodded towards Nie Tian.

    He was well aware that the level of the outsider seemed to be even higher than his.

    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Nie Tian hadmanded the Bone Blood Demon to help him, he probably would have been suffocated by the demon Qi and soon fallen prey to the outsider.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Give our Blood Demon back!¡± Yu Tong screamed as she arrived in a blood-red dress that brought out her curvy frame.

    ¡°Not now, Little Tong!¡± Feng Luo let out a snort. With a weary expression on his face, he said, ¡°We need the Bone Blood Demon to save our sect. We couldn¡¯t have awakened it without Nie Tian and arguing about who it belongs to is not our priority. We should consider ourselves lucky now that we can use it to help us.

    ¡°Especially in this time of peril!¡±

    His tone grew increasingly stern as he continued, ¡°Huge cmities have stricken the entire Realm of me Heaven. If my spections are correct, every sect is under attack as we speak!

    ¡°The fact that Nie Tian awakened the Blood Demon is not only the Blood sect¡¯s fortune, but it¡¯s also the entire Realm of me Heaven¡¯s fortune!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Hong Can from the Hell sect also arrived at that time.

    He leaned in and said, ¡°Yu Tong, I hope you can put aside your grudge against Nie Tian for the time being. At least wait until the Realm of me Heaven is safe. Everyone in the Realm of me Heaven needs him, none more so than your sect!¡±

    Zou Yi from the Ghost sect also jumped in and said, ¡°Hear me out, Yu Tong. You have to understand what¡¯s better for your sect and make the right choice.¡±

    They all urged Yu Tong to look at the bigger picture and temporarily put away her personal feelings.

    Standing off to the side, Nie Tian rubbed his nose and smiled, not saying a word.

    Seeing that Nie Tian looked rather proud of himself, Yu Tong grew even more angry. However, facing everyone¡¯s urging and scolding, she could only bear with it for now.

    As a matter of fact, she never expected that she would end up in the position that she was currently in.

    Not only had Nie Tian repeatedly defeated her in the Green Illusion dimension and the Scarlet me Mountain Range, he had even daringly taken advantage of her. This had made her want to kill him at any cost.

    Originally, Feng Luo was her solid backer.

    However, now that the Realm of me Heaven was going through a difficult time, and due to Nie Tian¡¯s importance, Feng Luo had actually taken Nie Tian¡¯s side. Even the Ghost sect and the Hell sect had done the same.

    She was so enraged that she wanted to kill herself.

    ¡°Alright, alright. Just don¡¯t do it again.¡± Feng Luo saw Yu Tong¡¯s expression, so he stopped berating her and said a few words to lighten her mood. He turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Keep doing what you just did and unleash the Bone Blood Demon as soon as you see more outsiders. Since we don¡¯t know how long the Bone Blood Demon will remain active, we¡¯d better make every second count and inflict as much damage on the outsiders as we can!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will.¡± Nie Tian nodded.

    Hong Can chuckled as he expressed his admiration towards Nie Tian, ¡°I realized that you were a speciald when we were in the Heaven Gate trial. I believe that you¡¯ll have your position in the Realm of me Heaven one day.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered. Thank you!¡± Nie Tian replied, but he didn¡¯t take Hong Can¡¯s words to his heart.

    ¡°Shall we continue?¡± Feng Luo asked.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    With these words, Feng Luo once again moved out. Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon followed along closely.

    After that, they ran into a few more outsiders on their way to the Blood sect¡¯s sect gate.

    With no exception, all of them died by the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s hands and afterwards, it used blood refining techniques to absorb the power from their blood.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s life power was still on the decline, the aura it released into the surroundings grew increasingly terrifying.

    Before long, Nie Tian and the others arrived at the Blood sect¡¯s sect gate.

    Standing a certain distance from the gate, they saw that the entire Blood sect, which was surrounded by mountains from every direction, had already been submerged in dense demon Qi, and so they couldn¡¯t get a clear view of what was going on inside the gate.

    However, the outsiders¡¯ angry roars constantly echoed out of the cloud of demon Qi, and they could vaguely see a handful of gigantic figures ramming the sect gate.

    Standing in the middle of the road that led to the Blood sect, Feng Luo looked deeply at the demon Qi-wreathed sect gate.

    The road ahead had already been blocked by dense demon Qi. Therefore, if they wanted to get into the Blood sect, they would have to go into the demon Qi.

    However, he knew that the demon Qi, which could serve as the outsiders¡¯ power source, was very much deadly to human Qi warriors.

    Even if they didn¡¯t have to fight outsiders in the demon Qi and only needed to pass the demon Qi-covered area, they would still have to spend plenty of spiritual power to resist the demon Qi.

    As soon as they walked into the demon Qi, it would be very likely that their senses would be impaired and their psychic awareness be dulled.

    ROOOOAR!

    Another outsider roar rang out from the depths of the demon Qi-covered area, causing everyone¡¯s face to turn grim.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Zou Yi from the Ghost sect unleashed his psychic awareness to probe the demon Qi-covered area in front of them.

    Momentster, his expression flickered and said, ¡°There are at least seven outsiders roaming about a hundred meters ahead of us, and every one of them is at a rather high level. If we choose to go into the demon Qi, there¡¯s a chance that we will be torn into shreds and devoured by those outsiders before we can even get to the sect gate.¡±

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word, but also sent his psychic awareness into the raging demon Qi ahead of him.

    He closed his eyes to focus solely on scanning the demon Qi-covered area. However, as soon as his psychic awareness entered, his originally sharp senses and his ability to detect life auras dropped significantly.

    While his psychic awareness swam about in a sea of demon Qi, he could feel a clear and strong obstruction.

    Even still, after extending his psychic awareness for some time, he managed to detect the violent aura of a living being.

    ¡°Here¡¯s one!¡± As soon as he located the life aura, he issued themand.

    Almost simultaneously, the Bone Blood Demon locked on the target and dashed into the demon Qi.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, the Bone Blood Demon seemed to bepletely unaffected by the demon Qi and didn¡¯t even need to spend the least bit of energy resisting it.

    In the blink of an eye, the thirty-meter tall Bone Blood Demon disappeared into the dense demon Qi.

    While focusing his psychic awareness on the outsider he had just located, Nie Tian waved to Feng Luo and the others and said, ¡°Hold on. I¡¯ll have the Bone Blood Demon secure us a path. I¡¯ll try my best to locate every outsider in that area andmand the Bone Blood Demon to kill them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Feng Luo felt a bit relieved. ¡°If the Blood sect somehow lives through this cmity, our entire sect will be in your debt, Nie Tian. And when the Realm of me Heaven is once again stable, you¡¯re wee toe visit our sect as a honored guest, even if the confrontation between the seven sects is reestablished.

    ¡°I can give you my word that no disciple of the Blood sect will treat you as their enemy!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very generous of you,¡± Nie Tian said with a brief smile. With these words, he focused his mind on locating the outsiders within the demon Qi.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    It wasn¡¯t very long before a bloodcurdling scream rang out from the depths of the demon Qi.

    The outsider that Nie Tian had located just now had already died by the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s hands.

 Chapter 195: High-Tier Outsider

    Everyone heard the scream and knew that it meant the Bone Blood Demon had taken out another outsider.

    ¡°Good job!¡± Hong Can couldn¡¯t conceal the ted expression on his face. ¡°If you can kill off every outsider in the demon Qi, then even if we can¡¯t make the demon Qi disperse, we will have a better chance making it to the sect gate of the Blood sect.¡±

    Feng Luo sounded excited as he urged Nie Tian, ¡°Keep going, Nie Tian! Since we don¡¯t know the situation over at the sect gate, we¡¯d bettermand the Bone Blood Demon to kill as many outsiders as we can!¡±

    Even though Yu Tong had always considered Nie Tian as her sworn enemy, she cast a gaze of anticipation towards Nie Tian at that moment.

    Nie Tian nodded and closed his eyes again, using his psychic awareness to scan the demon Qi-covered area for new targets.

    Before long, his psychic awareness discovered and locked onto another vigorous life force belonging to an outsider.

    As soon as he issued themand with his mind, the Bone Blood Demon made another murderous move in the dense, sight-blocking demon Qi.

    Secondster, another miserable scream echoed out and the outsider he had just targeted was ughtered.

    Without saying a word, Nie Tian repeatedly sent out his psychic awareness to search the area for more outsiders.

    One after another, more miserable shrieks rang out from within the demon Qi.

    None of the outsiders survived the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s fatal attacks.

    Zou Yi¡¯s face was filled with excitement as he said, ¡°A sixth! Only one more to go! We¡¯ll have a clear path ahead after it¡¯s dead. Then we can try and walk into the demon Qi.¡±

    Everyone rubbed their hands together as they all assumed that the only remaining outsider would also die in a split second, just like the others had.

    With excitement on their faces, they watched Nie Tian, waiting for him to lock his psychic awareness onto the seventh outsider.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath. After sending out his psychic awareness to detect outsider auras several times in a row, he was already somewhat weary.

    The demon Qi was like a turbulent sea, making every movement of his psychic awareness extremely taxing.

    After all, he was only in thete Lesser Heaven stage. The level of refinement of his psychic power was far inferior to Zou Yi or Hong Can.

    Having consuming his psychic power nonstop for such a long time, he already found it hard to concentrate and the sharpness of his perception had also greatly dropped.

    Even still, he once again unleashed his psychic awareness into the demon Qi.

    However, the moment his psychic awareness entered the demon Qi, he felt a bit dazed. Even though he could detect the existence of the outsider, whenever he attempted to lock onto it, it would always disappear without leaving a single trace.

    After attempting for quite some time, he still couldn¡¯t urately locate the outsider with his psychic awareness.

    It seemed as if that outsider had realized what Nie Tian was trying to do and had been rapidly shifting its position within the demon Qi.

    A short timeter, Nie Tian opened his eyes and felt rather lightheaded.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Nie Tian?¡± Standing right next to him, An Shiyi said in a soft voice, concern written all over her delicate face. ¡°There no need to force yourself. Stop if you have to. You¡¯ve already done a good job.¡±

    Li Fan also saw his poor condition and said, ¡°Yeah, leave it be if you can¡¯t locate thatst outsider. Your cultivation base is still rather low. If you continue to consume your psychic power, you¡¯ll overburden yourself. Even if you manage to locate that outsider, you probably will be too weak tomand the Bone Blood Demon to kill it.¡±

    ¡°How about you rest for a while?¡± said Jiang Lingzhu.

    ¡°We can¡¯t afford to rest,¡± Feng Luo said with a bitter expression on his face. ¡°Time is of the essence here. Our sect is in great danger. Plus, the Bone Blood Demon won¡¯t stay active for a long time. We need to make the best out of every second it¡¯s awake andmand it to kill as many outsiders as we can.¡±

    Hong Can from the Hell sect took out a medicinal pill and shoved it into Nie Tian¡¯s hand as he said, ¡°Nie Tian! Here¡¯s a Soul Restoring Pill! It will help you replenish your psychic power within a short time.¡±

    ¡°Soul Restoring Pill?¡± Feng Luo seemed to suddenlye to a realization and took out three medicinal pills from his bracelet of holding. He handed them to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I almost forgot. Here are some Soul Restoring Pills! Take them now and recover your psychic power as soon as you can, so that you can go ahead and finish off the onest outsider.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Nie Tian saved the pleasantries and swiftly swallowed all four Soul Restoring Pills.

    Feng Luo¡¯s expression flickered as he called out, ¡°Wait! You need to take them slowly!¡±

    Li Fan and Hong Can were also shocked when they saw Nie Tian consume all four Soul Restoring Pills at once.

    They also wanted stop him, but before they could say anything the pills were already down Nie Tian¡¯s throat.

    ¡°Moron!¡± Jiang Lingzhu stamped her foot and said, ¡°You¡¯re only in the Lesser Heaven stage. One Soul Restoring Pill is more than enough to restore your psychic power!¡±

    After swallowing all the Soul Restoring Pills, Nie Tian asked with his face filled with confusion, ¡°Can I not take them all together? Don¡¯t tell me that there are side effects.¡±

    With a deep frown, Li Fan said, ¡°The effect of four Soul Restoring Pills could be too strong for you. I¡¯m afraid that your body won¡¯t be able to take it. Furthermore, these Soul Restoring Pills are very valuable. It¡¯s a huge waste that you took them all at once.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, steady yourself for the effect!¡± An Shiyi warned him.

    ¡°Ah, I see. You¡¯re worried that the pills are too strong for me.¡± With a deep breath, Nie Tian sat down on the ground and focused his mind on sensing the efficacy of the Soul Restoring Pills.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before wisps of power were born in his abdomen, which rapidly followed his meridians up into his soul.

    As Hong Can had said, the Soul Restoring Pills helped him rapidly recover his psychic power.

    The moment those wisps of power entered his soul, he felt a huge boost in his psychic power.

    The efficacy of the Soul Restoring Pills was even stronger and faster than the special energy that he had extracted from the energy balls in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As more and more wisps of power merged into his soul, it only took a short while for him to be full of psychic power again.

    However, more power wisps kept rising from his abdomen and swimming up to his soul.

    Normally, since his soul was already brimming with psychic power, the process of more power crowding into his soul shouldn¡¯t be an enjoyable one.

    Too much psychic power could overstretch his soul and cause many unpleasant changes.

    For example, he could be muddleheaded, get overly excited, or even lose his mind.

    However, Nie Tian sensed that after his soul was filled to the brim, the iing wisps of psychic power naturally flowed into the seven fragmentary stars that hung high within his soul.

    The seven fragmentary stars that he had obtained by channeling starlight into his soul in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were emanating bright light, making his soul look somewhat mysterious and profound.

    As more and more wisps of power swam into the fragmentary stars, they began to shine with an even more dazzling light.

    It seemed as if they could take in an unlimited amount of power. Momentster, all the swimming wisps of power that the Soul Restoring Pills had generated disappeared into the seven fragmentary stars.

    By the time Nie Tian could no longer felt the generation of more power from his abdomen, he noticed that the seven fragmentary stars had grown slightly bigger and he had a feeling that the energy they contained was now purer and more condensed.

    As he refined and absorbed the four Soul Restoring Pills, everyone else gathered around him and watched him with strange expressions on their faces.

    They didn¡¯t see even the slightest pained look or signs of struggle on Nie Tian¡¯s face. On the contrary, all they saw was enjoyment.

    Everyone made a racket since they all deemed Nie Tian to be a strange young man with too many secrets.

    ¡°He actually absorbed all four Soul Restoring Pills?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only in the Lesser Heaven stage. How could he have taken in so much psychic power?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a freak!¡±

    Hong Can also couldn¡¯t help but sigh, ¡°No wonder people say Wu Ji is the best mentor in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian opened his eyes and, having recovered to his peak state, once again started scanning the area enveloped by the raging demon Qi.

    This time, he could feel that his perception was greatly heightened.

    Secondster, he urately located the outsider and locked onto it.

    ROOOOAR!

    All of a sudden, an outsider roar thundered out from the depths of the demon Qi.

    In the next moment, a cold, wicked awareness rushed straight toward Nie Tian.

    Standing by Nie Tian¡¯s side, Hong Can also detected the anomaly and called out, ¡°It¡¯s a high-tier outsider!¡±

 Chapter 196: Impression Overthrown

    Nie Tian experienced a sudden, excruciating pain in his head. His body shuddered as he immediately retracted his psychic awareness.

    By doing that, he lost track of the outsider he had just locked onto, and thus wasn¡¯t certain if the Bone Blood Demon would be able to locate it by relying on the brief moment that he had focused his killing intent on it.

    At the same time, a gruesome, cold awareness seemed to have traced Nie Tian¡¯s psychic power back to his mind.

    In his soul, the seven fragmentary stars suddenly began to shine with iparable dazzling starlight.

    The numerous rays of starlight were like sharp des, continuously cutting the demon shadows that had been flying around in his soul into shreds.

    Soon as the demon shadows disappeared, Nie Tian¡¯s headache disappeared with them.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and, looking into the demon Qi with his eyes filled with shock, he said, ¡°That outsider is different from the other six!¡±

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Li Fan asked.

    Nie Tian nodded and answered, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    A serious look could be seen in Hong Can¡¯s eyes as he looked at Nie Tian.

    After probing for a moment using his psychic power, he nodded, looking a bit surprised as he said, ¡°You keep going beyond my anticipation, kid. That is a powerful, high-tier outsider. However, you somehow managed to remain unscathed under its psychic attack. Impressive.¡±

    ¡°High-tier outsider?¡± Nie Tian went nk.

    Even his master Wu Ji didn¡¯t know the outsiders as well as disciples from the Hell sect.

    As the original residents of the Realm of me Heaven, those outsiders once were the rulers of this heaven and earth.

    However, since it had already been far too long since the outsiders had dominated the Realm of me Heaven, of the seven sects in the Realm of me Heaven, only the Hell sect, who had imprisoned outsiders with the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation, knew a thing or two about them.

    The reason behind it was that the Hell sect had been created by a grand Qi warrior who had taken part in the fierce fights between human Qi warriors and the outsider demons.

    The other six sects, on the other hand, had been established after all the outsiders had been killed or driven out of the Realm of me Heaven.

    Therefore, it was natural that they didn¡¯t know much about outsiders.

    With a grim expression, Hong Can exined, ¡°High-tier outsiders are different from the ordinary outsiders that we encountered earlier. High-tier outsiders aren¡¯t as big as the low-tier outsiders, but they are the nobles of the outsiders and lords of the low-tier outsiders. Every high-tier outsider possesses intelligence just as developed as us human Qi warriors.

    ¡°In addition to that, high-tier outsiders possess something we don¡¯t have: powerful bloodlines. Each one of them is born with miraculous powers and abilities running in their veins!

    ¡°Back when we beat the outsiders away from the Realm of me Heaven, those high-tier ones were the truly formidable enemies.

    ¡°When they knew they would inevitably lose the Realm of me Heaven, all the high-tier outsiders evacuated first while the low-tier outsiders kept fighting so as to cover their escape.

    ¡°That was why we didn¡¯t have a single high-tier outsider in the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation.

    ¡°So I bet none of you have ever seen a high-tier outsider.¡±

    With a stern look on his face, Hong Can continued, ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve anticipated that there would be high-tier outsiders pulling the strings now that they dared toe back to the Realm of me Heaven. However, I didn¡¯t expect that a high-tier outsider would actually appear here, in the Blood sect.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression slightly changed, and everyone else¡¯s heart also grew heavy after hearing how formidable those high-tier outsiders were.

    ¡°Low-tier outsiders are usually very big and physically strong, but they basically fight only because of their bloodthirsty nature. However, the high-tier outsiders are a whole other story. Not only are they intelligent and possess formidable bloodline power, but they even master various battling skills.

    ¡°Furthermore, only those High-tier outsiders know how to wield their soul power!¡±

    Hong Can took a deep breath and stared into the demon Qi-covered area with a somewhat uneasy expression on his face. ¡°From now on, I want everyone to be careful and brace yourself for what maye! That high-tier outsider is far more powerful and deadly than regr low-tier outsiders. There¡¯s a fundamental difference between their strengths and that¡¯s not something that can be defined by levels!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A figure could be vaguely seen in the surging demon Qi.

    It seemed that it had ditched Bone Blood Demon ande from the depths of the demon Qi-covered area to the edge of it.

    Step by step, the figure walked out of the demon Qi andpletely unveiled itself to the crowd.

    It was about two-meters tall. Its skin was ckish-purple and its face actually resembled that of an exceedingly handsome human male¡¯s.

    He had a well-built frame and was wearing a set of fine armor. From the faint smile hanging at the corner of his mouth, he didn¡¯t look very different from a human.

    However, upon a closer look, Nie Tian discovered that his pupils and hair were all ckish-purple and he had two curved horns growing out of his forehead.

    Furthermore, he had a tail that was about two meters long growing out of his posterior, which dragged on the ground as he stepped forward.

    ¡°Did you turn that Bone Giant into a Blood Demon?¡± He suddenly spoke, his voice sounding exotic and strange.

    Even still, it was none other than humannguage that came out of his mouth.

    Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s expression flickered as she eximed, ¡°He can even speak ournguage?!¡±

    Not only her, everyone else expect Hong Can stood aghast, looking at the high-tier outsider with eyes filled with disbelief.

    The appearance of this high-tier outsider hadpletely overthrown their previous impression of the outsiders and made them realize that the outsider nobles were almost a different race from all the other outsider demons that they had ever seen.

    CRACK!

    The sound of bones piercing into the earth rang out from behind the high-tier outsider as the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s figure gradually grew clearer in the demon Qi.

    Upon seeing the Bone Blood Demon slowly stepping out of the dense demon Qi, Nie Tian¡¯s uneasiness was lifted to some extent.

    ¡°Kill him!¡± Hong Can called out to Nie Tian.

    Apparently, he was terrified by the high-tier outsider to the point where he was at a loss of what to do, and killing him was the only thing he could think of.

    ¡°Was it you?¡± With a low chuckle, the high-tier outsider fixed his eyes on Nie Tian and asked. ¡°Are you the one who is issuingmands to that Blood Demon created out of a Bone Giant?¡±

    ¡°Umm, yes,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± The high-tier outsider nodded as his smile grew broader. ¡°That means if I kill you, I won¡¯t need to deal with that Blood Demon.¡±

    With these words, he slowly stepped towards Nie Tian.

    A broad, ckish-purple saber suddenly appeared in his slender-fingered right hand. The moment it appeared, the demon Qi that had been floating in the sky and behind him seemed to be suddenly attracted by a mysterious force and converged on him from all directions.

    In a split second, his body was once again submerged in raging demon Qi.

    Nie Tian lost sight of him.

    He could only see a cluster of raging demon Qi, which was still gathering more demon Qi from above and behind it, gradually closing in on him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Feng Luo cried out.

    With an anxious expression on his face, Nie Tian cried, ¡°I can¡¯t locate it with my psychic awareness!¡±

 Chapter 197: The Seven Eyes

    After a few attempts, Nie Tian had already mastered the method to control the Bone Blood Demon. He needed to either lock his psychic awareness onto an enemy as a way tomand the Bone Blood Demon to attack it, or he needed to see the enemy with his eyes andmand the Bone Blood Demon with a gesture of his hand.

    Only in these two ways would the barely-intelligent Bone Blood Demon with an iplete soul be able to realize what was the target.

    However, because of the high-tier outsider¡¯s profound magic, Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness wasn¡¯t able to lock onto him.

    At the same time, since he was surrounded by surging demon Qi, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t urately point to him and issue amand to the Bone Blood Demon.

    Therefore, at this point, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t find a way tomand the Bone Blood Demon to kill the high-tier outsider.

    ¡°Protect Nie Tian!¡± After realizing that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t use the Bone Blood Demon to kill the high-tier outsider for the time being, Feng Luo immediately changed his tactics.

    He was very well aware that Nie Tian was the only one who could manipte the Bone Blood Demon. If anything should happen to him, they would immediately lose control of the Bone Blood Demon. At that point, not only would they have no weapon with which to dispose of the outsiders, but the Bone Blood Demon could also potentially attack and kill them.

    By that time, everyone within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s sight would be its target.

    Every single one of them had witnessed how it had ughtered the other outsiders, so they all knew how deadly it could be.

    They knew what would happen if this frightening creature ever applied the same method to them.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    As the high-tier outsider approached, the raging demon Qi rapidly spread into the surroundings.

    More demon Qi that had been floating in the sky seemed to answer his broad saber¡¯s summons, and rushed down from the heavens.

    The disciples of the seven sects didn¡¯t have any notion of what to do while facing the approaching demon Qi.

    All they did was step backwards to put distance between them and the demon Qi.

    After all, there wasn¡¯t any demon Qi in the path they had taken to get there, so it was the only direction that could be considered rtively safe.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian followed everyone as they rapidly retreated to stay away from the demon Qi¡¯s reach.

    Face grim, everyone from the seven sects hastily summoned power from within their spiritual sea, and with their spiritual power of various attributes, they rapidly formed shimmering light shields around them.

    The shields were of different colors due to the different attributes, such as fire, ice, thunder, and water.

    Since they were all worried that the demon Qi might bore into their fleshy bodies, they could only form light shields to prevent it from happening.

    ¡°Hahaha, it won¡¯t work.¡± The high-tier outsider¡¯s clearughs rang out from within the cluster of ckish-purple demon Qi. ¡°We are transforming the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into our Qi. It won¡¯t be long before every corner of the Realm of me Heaven is full of it. By that time, the Realm of me Heaven will be rid of your kind.¡±

    As he let out loudughs, the demon Qi that kept pouring down from the heavens suddenly changed its course.

    One cluster after another, the dense demon Qi flooded down towards the area that Nie Tian and the others were escaping to, and only secondster, a sea of demon Qi blocked their escape route.

    As a result, they had no choice but to stop and fight the high-tier outsider in a sea of demon Qi.

    Apparently, fighting in the demon Qi was very advantageous for the high-tier outsider.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian and his group would have to use their spiritual power to maintain a protective shield around them at all times, so as to keep the demon Qi away.

    Furthermore, during their fight, their psychic awareness would definitely be affected by the demon Qi and their senses would be weakened.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The sounds of des whizzing through air echoed out as bright, purple lights shed within the demon Qi like slithering, purple lightning bolts.

    Hong Can realized that the outsider was about tounch attacks with his saber and cried out, ¡°Watch out, Nie Tian!¡±

    Having seen that their escape route had been cut off, the other disciples of the seven sects realized that it would only be a matter of time before they were engulfed by the demon Qi.

    Therefore, upon hearing Hong Can¡¯s words, they gathered around Nie Tian and braced for battle.

    Enveloped by shields of different colors, everyone had taken out their spiritual tools, but because of the dense demon Qi, their facial expressions were no longer clear to Nie Tian.

    However, he knew in his heart that, at that moment, no one wanted anything to happen to him, except maybe Qiu Heng.

    After all, he was the only one who could control the Bone Blood Demon, so he was of the utmost importance if they wanted to survive the fight against the powerful, high-tier outsider.

    BOOM! BOOM! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    As they swung their spiritual tools, multi-colored lights shot out and immediately shed with the purple lightning bolts.

    Spots of various colors sputtered about around Nie Tian as the power of different attributes mmed into the demonic power, making the area they were in surge with violent energy fluctuations.

    Since Nie Tian was in the center of the circle of protectors, he wasn¡¯t harmed.

    He could see that everyone was fighting with difficulty and they all had fear in their hearts.

    However, since they had no other choice, they could only go all-out to fight the high-tier outsider.

    KA! CHA!

    One of the purple lightning bolts cut through their line of defense and shot towards a Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Grayvale sect.

    As soon as the lightning bolt made contact with the water-blue light shield surrounding him, the shield shattered into pieces and the lightning bolt struck him right on his chest.

    That man immediately went limp and copsed to the ground. No more movement was made.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Like a snake, another bolt of lightning wreathed a Heaven stage expert from the Hell sect.

    The icy light shield surrounding him was instantly crushed into ice shards and the purple lightning bolt coiled around his fleshy body. It continued to contract. Even though the man struggled with all his strength, he soon stopped breathing. Only until then did the lightning bolt dissipate into the demon Qi.

    In such a short time, they lost two Heaven stage experts to the purple lightning bolts.

    BANG!

    At the same time, the high-tier outsider¡¯sughs constantly echoed out from the demon Qi as it seemed that he wanted to take his time to kill them and he enjoyed the process very much.

    Nie Tian and the others couldn¡¯t see the outsider himself, but could only see numerous purple lightning bolts flying towards them from all directions like evil spirits.

    They wanted to rush out to find the high-tier outsider and fight him up close.

    However, they knew that once they left Nie Tian, considering his Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base, he probably would be instantly killed.

    When Nie Tian was dead, the Bone Blood Demon would uncontrobly massacre everyone it saw. It would be a disaster for everyone.

    Therefore, the only sensible move was to protect Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian realized that they were in an unfavorable situation and understood why everyone had gathered around him and were protecting him.

    After his attempts to located the high-tier outsider had failed, he suddenly dropped to the ground in the middle of the defensive circle.

    As soon as he sat down he rapidly cleared his mind. He forced himself not to think about the people who had died protecting him, the difficult situation they were in, and the fierce fight that was going on.

    With a deep breath, he adjusted his aura and focused his attention on his soul.

    The seven fragmentary stars were still shining with bright light, but after he had taken the four Soul Restoring Pills, they had grown bigger in size and the light they emanated lit up his soul.

    He focused on the thought of drawing power from the fragmentary stars.

    In the next moment, seven light spots wrapped in his psychic awareness suddenly flew out of his soul.

    The moment the light spots, which were only detectable to him, flew into the dense demon Qi, a strange feeling urred to him.

    He felt like each one of them served as an eye to him!

    Before, he could only scan the area around him and search for movements and signs of life with his psychic awareness.

    But now, he was able tomand the seven spots of starlight to move around and thus gain an iparably clear view of what was happening within the demon Qi.

    Not only that, the upgraded psychic awareness the light spots contained could even enable him to see through the bodies of the disciples from the seven sects when the starlight shone on them. He could actually see their blood flowing and ordingly judge how powerful their souls were and how high their cultivation bases were.

    With the help of the seven ¡°eyes¡± that were shining with bright starlight, Nie Tian could now see even the finest hair on the high-tier outsider¡¯s face!

    He instantly locked onto him, and no matter where the outsider went, the ¡°eyes¡± could shine bright starlight on him and help Nie Tian¡¯s determine his location.

    The Bone Blood Demon, who had been in a daze in the demon Qi, suddenly received Nie Tian¡¯smand as it heaved a ferocious roar and bolted towards the high-tier outsider!

 Chapter 198: Seize the Opportunity

    ¡°What?!¡± The high-tier outsider almost simultaneously sensed the anomaly, and thus dashed towards Nie Tian, hoping to get to him before the Bone Blood Demon could arrive.

    He knew that Nie Tian had already found a way to locate him and set him as the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s target.

    Moments ago, he had been certain that the Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t be able to pose a threat to him, much less the bunch of Heaven stage human cultivators.

    The way the Bone Blood Demon looked at him as it ran towards him made him realize that something had changed.

    His broad saber suddenly flew out of his hand while shining with dazzling purple light.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian, who was surrounded by the others, saw his movements very clearly with the help of his seven additional ¡°eyes¡±.

    However, at that moment, none of the others knew that the high-tier outsider had alreadyunched an attack towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s killing intent grew increasingly intense as he focused his mind on the high-tier outsider and issued hismand to the Bone Blood Demon, ¡°Kill him now!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon, which was significantly bigger than the high-tier outsider, took a few huge steps and rapidly arrived at the outsider¡¯s side.

    It lifted up its gigantic foot that was wreathed in a blood aura and stamped down towards the high-tier outsider.

    At the same time, with an effortless wave of its giant hand, the Bone Blood Demon stopped the saber¡¯s dashing momentum.

    The brilliant light the saber gave out also suddenly went dim.

    Even though the broad saber still managed to hack into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bony palm, only a few grayish-brown sparks sputtered out of the contact point; the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s hand wasn¡¯t damaged at all.

    Seeing the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s gigantic foot block the heavens and crush down towards him, the high-tier outsider¡¯s expression flickered as he blurred into a sh and escaped.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s hollow eyes were fixed on the high-tier outsider as it unrelentingly chased after him and tried to stamp him with its feet. Moreover, it grew faster and swifter as it continued.

    After evading for a short while, the high-tier outsider realized that he couldn¡¯t get rid of the Bone Blood Demon. Therefore, with a cold snort, he started to release a strange soul fluctuation.

    At the same time, his broad saber flew back into his hand.

    ¡°Quite impressive.¡± Dragging his broad saber on the ground, he took a deep look at Nie Tian with his dark-purple eyes, before turning around and dashing towards the Blood sect where the demon Qi was even richer.

    Since the Bone Blood Demon had locked onto him, it sped away after him.

    The demon Qi that the high-tier outsider had summoned to this ce seemed to be drawn to him and also followed him towards the Blood sect¡¯s sect gate like tidewater.

    Nie Tian¡¯s seven ¡°eyes¡± also followed along as the outsider dashed to the area where the demon Qi was the densest.

    However, after chasing for a while, they seemed to run of psychic power, as if they had reached the limit of the distance they could cover.

    They wouldn¡¯t be able to cover more ground unless Nie Tian moved along with them.

    When the seven ¡°eyes¡± lost track of the high-tier outsider, the Bone Blood Demon stopped and fell into a daze again.

    As the demon Qi flowed away after the outsider, Nie Tian and the others were exposed to clear air again.

    Upon seeing that the demon Qi had dissipated, everyone let out a sigh of relief and dissipated their colored light shields, so as not to lose more spiritual power.

    Without wasting any time, they all took out their spirit stones to recover their strength.

    ¡°Nie Tian, did you find a way to regain control over the Bone Blood Demon?¡± Hong Can from the Hell sect turned to Nie Tian and asked while absorbing energy from the spirit stone in his hand.

    ¡°Yeah, I did.¡± Nie Tian nodded.

    By that time, the seven spots of starlight wreathed in seven wisps of his psychic awareness had already returned to his soul.

    He found that the psychic awareness that had returned to his soul had consumed more than half of its energy.

    And when the seven light spots rejoined the seven fragmentary stars, they had also shrunk to one third of their original size.

    Therefore, he realized how psychic power-consuming this process was.

    Surprise could be seen on Feng Luo¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Did you really? Even I couldn¡¯t use my psychic awareness to urately locate that high-tier outsider in the demon Qi. Considering your cultivation base, you shouldn¡¯t be able to do that...¡±

    After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯s a magic that master taught me.¡±

    Once again, he gave credit to Wu Ji, since he didn¡¯t dare to tell them that he had obtained the Fragmentary Star Incantation, using which he had refined seven powerful and mysterious fragmentary stars in his soul.

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is.¡± Feng Luo nodded but still harbored suspicion.

    ording to his understandings, as powerful as Wu Ji was, he shouldn¡¯t have the ability to enable Nie Tian, a young man in the Lesser Heaven stage, to master psychic techniques so miraculous.

    ¡°Well, do you have more Soul Restoring Pills?¡± Nie Tian asked softly.

    ¡°Did you consume a lot of psychic power just now?¡± asked Hong Can.

    Nie Tian nodded in reply.

    Without the slightest hesitation, Hong Can took out three more Soul Restoring Pills. He passed them to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Here. They¡¯re all I have left.¡±

    Without saying a word, Nie Tian grabbed them and immediately shoved them into his mouth. Only after that did he say to Hong Can, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    Zou Yi from the Ghost sect also handed two Soul Restoring Pills to Nie Tian. ¡°Here. I only have two left.¡±

    Their previous fight had made him realize that it was almost impossible for them to turn around the situation with their own strength alone, and if it weren¡¯t for the fact that Nie Tian had eventually locked onto the high-tier outsider andmanded the Bone Blood Demon to attack him, they wouldn¡¯t possibly have driven him away by themselves.

    Therefore, since Nie Tian needed his psychic power to manipte the Bone Blood Demon, the wisest thing to do was to give Nie Tian Soul Restoring Pills so that he could recover his psychic power as soon as possible.

    That was the reason why, knowing perfectly well how valuable the Soul Restoring Pills were, he gave them to Nie Tian anyways.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nie Tian expressed his gratitude before wolfing them down.

    When Nie Tian had consumed the previous four Soul Restoring Pills, the psychic power had rapidly filled his soul and after that, most of it flowed into the seven fragmentary stars.

    He was also aware that the precious Soul Restoring Pills could nourish the seven fragmentary stars to a great extent.

    If they hadn¡¯t been in such a special situation where everyone depended on him to control the Bone Blood Demon, no one would indulge him so much as to allow him to take seven Soul Restoring Pills in such a short time, including Wu Ji.

    Having proved the miraculousness of the fragmentary stars in his soul, he wanted to fuel them as much as he could and make them shine as brightly as possible.

    ¡°Here you go...¡±

    At that moment, Yu Tong suddenly held out one Soul Restoring Pill for him. Reluctance could still be seen on her face.

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before he looked at her, wide-eyed, and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t poison, is it?¡±

    ¡°What?! Suit yourself!¡± Yu Tong¡¯s face dropped as prepared to take the pill back.

    Nie Tian chuckled and swiftly grabbed the Soul Restoring Pill in her palm. Then he stuffed it in his mouth and said, ¡°Thank you, ma¡¯am.¡± He never imagined that Yu Tong would give him such a precious medicinal pill.

    Anger could still be seen in Yu Tong¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°Consider it as a loan. You¡¯ll have to give one back to me when the Blood sect¡¯s crisis is over! I¡¯m only giving it to you for the sake of the Blood sect and my fellow sect members. Don¡¯t you overthink it! We¡¯re not over! I¡¯m still looking forward to straightening things out with you!¡±

    ¡°I see. I see.¡± Nie Tian said,ughing heartily. Meanwhile, he thought to himself, don¡¯t count on it, stupid.

    Then he nced around and saw everyone else staring at him, their faces filled with astonishment.

    Seeing that no one else was offering more Soul Restoring Pills, he closed his eyes and directed the wisps of power the pills generated to nourish the seven fragmentary stars in his mind.

 Chapter 199: Communication

    While Nie Tian refined the Soul Restoring Pills, bloody battles were taking ce in the Blood sect.

    By the time Nie Tian recovered and arrived a few kilometers away from the main gate of the Blood sect¡¯ along with his group, they saw that the entire Blood sect had already been enveloped by the dense demon Qi.

    Numerous gigantic outsiders were roaring as they attacked the disciples of the Blood sect with all kinds of powerful weapons.

    All the outsiders could move freely and see clearly in the demon Qi,pletely unaffected by it.

    Not only that, it seemed that they could even draw power from the demon Qi to recover their strength and push their battle prowess to another level.

    On the other hand, not a single high-tier outsider could be seen, as it appeared that they only issuedmands with their soul consciousness, but didn¡¯t fight in the battlefield.

    Each and every magnificent stone pce and pavilion that originally could be seen everywhere had copsed.

    Blood stains could be seen around the ruins and rubble, but not a single Blood sect disciple could be found.

    With another look, mangled bodies could be seen in some low-tier outsiders¡¯ hands and mouths...

    Apparently, those low-tier outsiders had an innate thirst for human flesh.

    The biggest difference between them and the high-tier outsiders was that they weren¡¯t as intelligent; they were basically at the same level as low-grade spirit beasts.

    In the center of the Blood sect¡¯s central square, the sectmaster of the Blood sect, Li Jing, was sitting on top of a lotus that was glittering with bright, blood-colored light.

    She was wreathed in a rich, bloody aura, and a enormous blood shadow was floating over her head. The blood shadow unleashed raging power to its surroundings and formed a gigantic scarlet light shield, enveloping and sheltering numerous Blood sect disciples gathered at the square.

    The square was surrounded by numerous blood pools, the blood within rushing up into the air like reversed waterfalls and madly poured into the enormous blood shadow under themand of Li Jing¡¯s secret magic.

    The mountain-like blood shadow continuously expanded while unleashing suffocating energy fluctuations.

    Shen Xiu, Yu Tong¡¯s master, and many other powerful experts of the Blood sect were gathered around Li Jing. Every one of them had their spiritual tools in hand as they braced themselves for battle with anxious looks in their eyes.

    They were very well aware that the enormous blood shadow needed a constant supply of blood to maintain its power.

    However, the spirit beast blood that they had stored in their sect wasn¡¯t limitless. Besides, they had used up arge proportion of their blood storage to power their grand, sect-protecting spell formation.

    Once the spirit beast blood ran out, thest defensive line created by the blood shadow would immediately fall apart.

    At that time, all the outsiders would swarm into the central square and start a massacre.

    Arge number of low-tier outsiders were already gathered around the scarlet light shield. Some were gnawing on the body parts of the Blood sect disciples who had failed to get under the light shield in time, while others madly rammed into the light shield over and over again.

    Upon a closer look, five high-tier outsiders with purple hair and pupils were among the crowd of low-tier outsiders.

    Significantly shorter than the low-tier outsiders around them, those five high-tier outsiders stood together and conversed with one another in their ownnguage. They would point to Li Jing from time to time as they chatted with rxed expressions on their faces.

    It seemed that they were waiting for the numerous low-tier outsiders to wear out the power of the scarlet light shield.

    And when the low-tier outsiders had torn open the light shield, they would attack together and kill sectmaster Li Jing.

    Every one of the five high-tier outsiders was tall, skinny, and wore exquisite outfits. The females were beautiful and the males were handsome.

    Just as they were chattering cheerfully, the other high-tier outsider, who had been driven away by the Bone Blood Demon, descended among them.

    The five chattering high-tier outsiders stopped talking the moment he arrived.

    Each and every one of them bowed towards him in a respectful way. A devilish female outsider stepped forward and said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here, Lord Groete. It¡¯s not safe here.¡±

    ¡°Where are your guards, my lord?¡± another male outsider asked.

    From the look of it, the high-tier outsider who they referred to as Groete was not as strong as they were.

    However, his status must be much higher than any one of them. Therefore, they remained humble and wore smiles on their faces the whole time.

    Perhaps, the reason they had arranged for that Groete outsider to stay away from the battlefield was that he was still young and rtively weak.

    Apparently, the other five had attached great importance to Groete¡¯s safety, even more so than taking the Blood sect.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Groete continued, ¡°I ran into some trouble. I encountered a handful of human Qi warriors who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. They were all pretty weak, and I could have single-handedly killed them all. However, they had a powerful Blood Demon to help them, and it was created from a Bone Giant that possessed an eighth level bloodline power.

    ¡°It killed all my guards and forced me toe here.¡±

    The female outsider, who dressed very alluringly, frowned and said, ¡°A Bone Giant that possessed an eighth level bloodline power?!¡± Most of her curvaceous body was exposed, with purple armor only covering her chest and waist. ¡°If the Bone Giant was manipted by one of the human Qi warriors, you could have stop it by killing itsmander, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course I know that, Sarah. And I tried.¡± Groete sounded a bit frustrated. ¡°He seemed to be an unimpressive young man. Originally, I thought I would be able to evade his psychic awareness and kill him before he couldmand the Bone Giant to harm me.

    ¡°But the strangest thing was that even though his cultivation level was rather low, he somehow managed to locate me through my shield.

    ¡°As soon as he did, the Bone Blood Demon started attacking and chasing me, not giving me a chance to get close to him.

    ¡°Fortunately, it seemed that the method he used to locate me was limited to a certain range. When I was far enough away from him, the Bone Blood Demon could no longer keep track of me and thus stopped chasing me.¡±

    The outsider named Sarah bowed in apology and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lord. I shouldn¡¯t have questioned your wisdom. Now that these survivors from the Blood sect can barely hold on to their own ground, how about I go and kill those who offended you? Even though the Bone Giant possesses an eighth level bloodline power, I¡¯ll find a way to defeat it.¡±

    ¡°Killing them all won¡¯t be a hard task for me.¡±

    Groete thought for a moment and shook his head. ¡°No. You should keep your focus on Li Jing. She¡¯s the sectmaster of the Blood sect. I trust that she¡¯s smart enough to see that you¡¯re the only one who can pose a threat to her. If you leave, I¡¯m afraid she won¡¯t defend any more. Instead, she probably will lead her people to fight back against us.

    ¡°Without you, I don¡¯t think these snotty fools would be able to stop her.

    ¡°I need you to stay here.¡±

    Sarah didn¡¯t dare to disobey him, so she could only nod and say, ¡°As you wish, my lord.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Groete said, looking poised and calm. ¡°From what I can tell, the Blood sect disciples are going to run out of their blood storage soon. As soon as they do, that giant blood shadow will lose its power source and the red light shield that has been protecting them will fall apart ordingly. It will be a smarter move for us to kill these people from the Blood sect first, and then go take care of that Bone Blood Demon.

    ¡°Those Qi warriors I encountered are still quite some distance away from here. Plus, the closer they get, the richer our Qi they have to deal with.

    ¡°The youngster who controls the Bone Blood Demon is definitely not strong enough to withstand the erosion and go through the dense Qi by himself. I¡¯m certain that it will be a long time before someone can help him get here.

    ¡°If he can¡¯t, the Bone Blood Demon won¡¯t. Then, we¡¯ll have all the time we need to finish off the problem in front of us.¡±

    ¡°I trust your judgment, my lord,¡± Sarah, the female outsider, replied in a respectful way.

    ...

    It was at this point that Shen Xiu¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. She turned to Li Jing and said, ¡°Little Tong is here! I can sense the aura of the Blood Spirit Pearl!¡±

    Wreathed in rich blood auras, Li Jing¡¯s figure could only be vaguely seen. Upon hearing Shen Xiu¡¯s words, she seemed rather surprised. With a voice that was somewhat eager, she said, ¡°She¡¯s back from the Heaven Gate trial? Contact her via the Blood Spirit Pearl now! Tell her not toe back and get as far away as she can. We need to secure a seed for our sect!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± A pained look could be seen in Shen Xiu¡¯s eyes as she immediately tried to contact Yu Tong.

    A momentter, a hint of tion appeared on Shen Xiu¡¯s wrinkled face as she called out, ¡°Sectmaster! Little Tong isn¡¯t alone and they have awakened the Bone Blood Demon!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Li Jing¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°How could that be possible?! We had poured all of our resources on it and failed to awaken it due to itsck of life power. How could they have done it?¡±

    ¡°It was Wu Ji¡¯s disciple, Nie Tian,¡± Shen Xiu said.

    ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

 Chapter 200: Strength of Another Level!

    ¡°Yeah! Nie Tian!¡±

    Shen Xiu also sounded deeply confused. ¡°Little Tong said Nie Tian imed that he obtained a Fruit of Life during the Heaven Gate trial and after taking it, his blood now carries life power. And it was his blood that awakened the Bone Blood Demon and brought it under hismand.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you trap the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s mutted soul in the Blood Spirit Pearl?¡± Sectmaster Li Jing said.

    ¡°Yeah, but it escaped from the Blood Spirit Pearl and merged with its fleshy body.¡± Bitterness could be seen on Shen Xiu¡¯s face as she continued, ¡°Little Tong¡¯s cultivation base is too low and her understandings of demon controlling magics are still shallow. If I were there, I could have overpowered its soul and brought it under my control.¡±

    ¡°I see...¡± Still wreathed in a dense blood aura, Li Jing pondered for a moment and said, ¡°If it were another time, I would never allow someone from the other sects to control the Bone Blood Demon that we cultivated with heart and soul. But these are different times.¡±

    Li Jing shifted her gaze away from Shen Xiu and focused on Groete and Sarah, who were standing quite a distance from her.

    ¡°It could be a good news for us. Tell Little Tong that we need Wu Ji¡¯s disciple to bring the Bone Blood Demon here as soon as possible.

    ¡°Even though the Bone Blood Demon can¡¯t fully restore its eighth level bloodline power, it¡¯s still strong enough to keep that Sarah outsider busy.

    ¡°At that time, I¡¯ll jump in and fight her together. I believe by doing that, we¡¯ll be able to force the outsiders to raise their siege.¡±

    Shen Xiu¡¯s spirit was greatly lifted as she replied, ¡°Got it!¡±

    With these words, she casted her secret magic andmunicated Li Jing¡¯s ns with Yu Tong via the Blood Spirit Pearl.

    ...

    In the ce where the demon Qi had dispersed.

    Feng Luo, Hong Can and all the others were gathered around Nie Tian, waiting for him to absorb the Soul Restoring Pills and restore his psychic power.

    Holding the Blood Spirit Pearl in her hands, many expressions shed across Yu Tong¡¯s delicate face as she received her master¡¯s message.

    Momentster, she put away the Blood Spirit Pearl and said to everyone, ¡°Things are not looking good in our sect!¡±

    ¡°Did you just connect with your master via the Blood Spirit Pearl?¡± tion could be seen in Feng Luo¡¯s eyes.

    Hong Can and the others were also intrigued as they all shifted their gazes away from Nie Tian onto Yu Tong.

    Some of them knew that the Blood Spirit Pearl belonged to Shen Xiu, so she couldmunicate with Yu Tong via it when it was within certain distance.

    Furthermore, none of them had an idea of what was going on in the Blood sect.

    Therefore, they were rather eager to get a hold of the situation over there.

    Yu Tong held nothing back as she answered Feng Luo¡¯s question. She told him about the difficult situation they were in, including that a few high-tier outsidersid siege to them and that they were about to run out the stored spirit beast blood.

    She also ryed Li Jing¡¯s message that she hoped Nie Tian could lead the Bone Blood Demon to the Blood sect and assist her in battle as quickly as possible.

    Everyone let out sighs of relief after hearing Yu Tong¡¯s words.

    The situation over in the Blood sect was a bit better than what they had expected. After all, most of the powerful experts were still alive and they could hold their ground since the grand spell formation hadn¡¯t yet been breached by the outsiders.

    ¡°She said that as long as Nie Tian could bring the Bone Blood Demon to the battlefield, she¡¯ll have a way to turn the situation around?¡± Hong Can eximed.

    Yu Tong nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what our sectmaster said.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± With a deep breath, Hong Can looked over at Nie Tian and said, ¡°We¡¯ll protect Nie Tian; march out to the Blood sect together as soon as he wakes up!¡±

    ¡°Time is of the essence. We¡¯d better hurry.¡± Seeing that Nie Tian was still not awake after quite some time, Yu Tong became somewhat anxious. ¡°My master said that they¡¯re running out of spirit beast blood. Once they drain the blood storage, the blood shadow will no longer be able to protect them with the blood shield. At that time, nothing will be able to stop the flood of countless low-tier outsiders and many of our sectmates will die!¡±

    Upon hearing her words, a desire to wake Nie Tian rose in Feng Luo¡¯s heart.

    At that very moment, Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect frowned and said, ¡°He took far too many Soul Restoring Pills. We¡¯d better let him awake by himself. Right now, all his attention is concentrated on refining the pills. If we interrupt him at such a moment and he falls into a Qi deviation, will you be responsible for the consequences? Even though you don¡¯t care about him, you should consider how it would affect the situation over in your sect!¡±

    After hearing these words, Feng Luo swallowed the words that were already at the tip of his tongue.

    He was aware that Li Fan¡¯sments made sense. After all, with his low cultivation base, Nie Tian was trying to refine multiple Soul Restoring Pills at the same time to recover his psychic power in the shortest time possible. He didn¡¯t want to achieve the opposite result by waking him prematurely.

    After a moment of hesitation, Feng Luo sat back down and said with a helpless tone, ¡°Let¡¯s wait then. I hope he can wake up sooner rather thanter. He is the only hope for the survivors of the Blood sect. They desperately need him to step up now.¡±

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian immersed himself in his soul to observe the seven fragmentary stars. As the efficacy of the Soul Restoring Pills kicked in, they were constantly expanding and shining with even brighter starlight.

    The starlight seemed to have merged with his psychic awareness and caused it to upgrade into something more powerful, like an eye in the sky.

    With it, he could now micro-detect the movement of nearby creatures¡¯ muscles and blood, through which he could briefly tell the person¡¯s cultivation base.

    Before, he could only use his psychic awareness to sense, but couldn¡¯t see through the surface.

    After his psychic awareness was mixed with the starlight, both his sensing ability and perception had heightened.

    This made him realize that the power the seven fragmentary stars unleashed was a different kind of power from his original psychic power.

    He had a feeling that the power that resided in those fragmentary stars was none other than soul power!

    Normally speaking, only Worldly realm Qi warriors would be able to upgrade their soul and transform their refined psychic power into soul power.

    The idea that he had obtained soul power through the seven fragmentary stars would be shocking to every Qi warrior in the Realm of me Heaven.

    From the look of it, the Fragmentary Star Incantation, legacy of the mysterious Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, was indeed the ultimate reward of the Heaven Gate trial.

    Immersed in excitement and tion, he observed as the wisps of power that Soul Restoring Pills generated poured into the fragmentary stars.

    Some time passed and he could no longer detect any more wisps of psychic power ascending to his mind. Only at that time did he open his eyes.

    As soon as he did, he saw everyone gazing at him, anxiety filling their eyes.

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong?¡± Surprised, he asked.

    ¡°Have you fully recovered your psychic power?¡±

    Feng Luo hastily asked.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Good!¡± Not wanting to wait another second, Feng Luo said, ¡°We march towards the Blood sect now. They need you and the Bone Blood Demon that you control!¡±

    ¡°Why the hurry all of a sudden?¡± Nie Tian was confused.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on the way!¡± Feng Luo said loudly.

    ¡°Alright. " Nie Tian rose to his feet and rapidly followed the others towards the area that was filled with raging demon Qi.

    Before entering the demon Qi, they once again enveloped themselves with light shields of different colors, so that demon Qi couldn¡¯t infiltrate their fleshy bodies and make them ves to the outsiders.

    With a brief movement within his mind, a wisp of spiritual power flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea and spread out into a thin, white light shield around him.

    Under Feng Luo¡¯s lead, everyone traveled rather slowly within the demon Qi.

    As they went deeper into the demon Qi, the demon Qi became denser and denser, and they had to consume more of their spiritual power to keep themselves unharmed.

    About fifteen minutester.

    Zheng Bin and Jiang Lingzhu were the first ones to experience difort. Face ghastly, they had to stop.

    They had consumed more than half of their spiritual power and had to recuperate with spirit stones before they could continue their march.

    An unhealthy redness could also be seen on Yu Tong¡¯s face, and the blood-colored light shield enveloping her also started to flicker.

    ¡°Their cultivation bases are too low.¡± Feng Luo frowned and said, ¡°Little Tong, give me the Blood Spirit Pearl. You should stay here and recover. If you think staying here is too consuming, follow the same route back, and wait for us in the area where there¡¯s no demon Qi.¡±

    Hong Can rubbed his chin before pointing towards An Shiyi and a few other Heaven stage cultivators and saying, ¡°Considering your cultivation bases, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to make it to the sect gate of the Blood sect either. I suggest you do the same. Stay here or go back to where we came from.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t anticipated that as they went deeper into the demon Qi, the drain on their spiritual power would be so great.

    ¡°Alright." As she had been instructed, Yu Tong handed the Blood Spirit Pearl to Feng Luo and said, ¡°Uncle Feng, Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base is pretty low too. Is he gonna be alright?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll protect him and use our strength to separate him from the erosion of the demon Qi,¡± Feng Luo said as he grabbed the Blood Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°You¡¯d better make it to our sect!¡± Yu Tong said, ring at Nie Tian.

    ¡°I will.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice was firm and determined.

    No one objected Hong Can¡¯s proposal. Even An Shiyi, who was rather worried about Nie Tian¡¯s safety, had a feeling that she might not be able to hold on for much longer, and thus chose to stay behind.

    That said, protected by the handful of Greater Heaven experts, Nie Tian marched on to the Blood sect.

    ¡°Nie Tian, how do you feel? Do you need us to help you?¡±

    ¡°No. I¡¯m good for now.¡±

    A moment passed. ¡°No need to force yourself, Nie Tian. Let us know if you need help.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m okay.¡±

    A whileter. ¡°Seriously, Nie Tian, do you need help?

    Don¡¯t push yourself to the limit. I don¡¯t want you to copse the moment we get there!¡±

    ¡°I can hold on for a little longer.¡±

 Chapter 201: Ill Go First!

    After marching on for a few kilometers, the density of the demon Qi rose by approximately five times.

    Enveloped by their respective light shields, Hong Can and the others could only see things that were within a five-meter radius.

    All they saw along the road were scattered bones and blood stains that had once been human Qi warriors.

    The low-tier outsiders must have torn away and devoured the flesh and then tossed the bones away at will.

    The scattered bones made Hong Can and the others realize what kind of bloodbath had urred in this ce.

    Gradually, even Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect began to experience difort.

    With a stern expression on his face, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Seriously, are you alright, Nie Tian? This isn¡¯t the time to be a hero. Don¡¯t push yourself to the limit.¡±

    The others also frowned as they looked at Nie Tian with grim expressions.

    Normally speaking, considering Nie Tian¡¯s Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base, he should have copsed by now.

    Even for thete Heaven stage An Shiyi, if she had marched for so long in the increasingly dense demon Qi, she would have had to stop and recover with spirit stones.

    The fact that they had to form light shields to protect themselves from the demon Qi had caused them to drain their spiritual power at a surprisingly high speed.

    On one hand, they were shocked that Nie Tian could hang on for so long; on the other, they worried about his condition.

    They were afraid that Nie Tian was barely holding on and would pass out as soon as they arrived at the sect gate of the Blood sect.

    If that happened, they wouldn¡¯t be able tomand the Bone Blood Demon to join the Blood sect disciples in the battlefield.

    ¡°Alright, let me see.¡± Knowing that everyone was concerned with his condition, Nie Tian hesitated for a moment before he decided to use his psychic awareness to examine his spiritual sea.

    At that moment, the light shield around him had already taken on a grass-green color, as it was now powered by the vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea.

    As they marched on in the demon Qi, the power he used to form the light shields had quietly changed. Even he hadn¡¯t noticed.

    However, since they were surrounded by raging, dense demon Qi and their attention was concentrated on scanning the vicinity and keeping the demon Qi away, no one actually noticed that the color of his light shield had changed, along with his aura.

    But when they stopped marching and Nie Tian examined his spiritual sea, the Greater Heaven stage experts immediately came to notice the changes.

    They realized that the color of his light shield was constantly changing.

    Furthermore, using their psychic awareness, they detected that the aura¡¯s attribute that Nie Tian emanated was also shifting nonstop.

    ¡°Wood power!¡±

    ¡°me power!¡±

    ¡°Starlight! It¡¯s star power!¡±

    ¡°Pure spiritual power!¡±

    As they realized that Nie Tian possessed three types of power other than spiritual power, every one of them was taken aback.

    Their eyes brimmed with disbelief, as they looked at Nie Tian, but only secondster, they seemed to have figured out the reason behind it.

    With aplicated expression on his face, Li Fan said, ¡°Nie Tian doesn¡¯t have a specific cultivation attribute. Cultivators like him, who have no innate cultivation attribute, can cultivate incantations of any attribute. Switching between different types of incantations could have made his attempt to hold off the demon Qi less consuming and painstaking.

    ¡°However, cultivating different-attributed incantations simultaneously usually requires a lot of time and energy.

    ¡°Meanwhile, we as human cultivators have very limited lifespans. Only by breaking through to the next stage will we obtain more of it.

    ¡°If someone cultivates a variety of different-attributed incantations at the same time, their cultivation path would be much more intricate than others¡¯.

    ¡°If he¡¯s really determined to go down this road, I fear that he won¡¯t be able to go very far.¡±

    Li Fan let out a sigh as he saw through the problem and grew worried about Nie Tian¡¯s future.

    ¡°I think you are worrying too much.¡± Feng Luo said consolingly, ¡°Didn¡¯t Nie Tian get a Fruit of Life during the Heaven Gate trial? He¡¯ll gain another several hundred years of life with it! With all these extra years, it¡¯s very likely that he¡¯ll make great achievements even if he¡¯s determined to go down this path.¡±

    Upon hearing about the Fruit of Life, Li Fan¡¯s eyes lit up. He nodded and said, ¡°I hope you¡¯re right. Hopefully, he can avoid the problem my martial granduncle is facing.¡±

    It was also at that moment, Nie Tian finished examining his spiritual sea and opened his eyes.

    Sounding a bit hesitant, he said, ¡°I have to ask you to get further away from me.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Li Fan was puzzled.

    ¡°I want to see if I can use a special technique that my master taught me to keep myself safe from the demon Qi once and for all,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Upon hearing his words, everyone subconsciously stepped away.

    When everyone was five meters away from him, Nie Tian ced his hands in front of his chest, palms opposite to each other, and unleashed his psychic awareness.

    Momentster, the different-attributed power gradually flowed out of his palms and fingers.

    The different types of power gradually interwove and formed a chaotic maic field between his hands, which soon spread out with him as the center.

    As soon as it expanded to berger than his spiritual power shield and enveloped the demon Qi close to him, the demon Qi seemed to be suddenly trapped.

    Nie Tian secretly probed the changes that were taking ce in the maic field and found that the numerous wips of demon Qi seemed to be pulled in and manipted by the maic field, none of which could even swim a bit closer to him.

    Therefore, he canceled his spiritual power shield and exposed himself to the demon Qi within the chaotic maic field.

    He even meticulously opened his pores and saw if the demon Qi would enter his body.

    He was surprised to discover that only power that originated from him stayed close around him, including the me power, wood power, starlight, spiritual power, and psychic power.

    The demon Qi, which didn¡¯t belong to him in the first ce, couldn¡¯t get an inch closer to him.

    ¡°Can you please step a little further away?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    At that moment, all the Greater Heaven stage experts had noticed the strange maic field with a radius of three meters around Nie Tian, and the wisps of psychic awareness they had sent into it to probe about had all been twisted and escaped their control.

    Their expressions flickered as every one of them voluntarily stepped further away from Nie Tian, as if they were worried that they would be sucked into the strange maic field.

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s request, Li Fan immediately stepped backwards.

    Then, Nie Tian took a few steps towards Li Fan and discovered that as the maic field moved along with him, the raging demon Qi close to Li Fan was also enveloped by the maic field.

    Under the effect of the mysterious twisting power of the maic field, the dense demon Qi was soon broken down into trivial, ckish-purple wisps.

    Since the tiny wisps didn¡¯t belong to Nie Tian, they were pushed to the far edge of the maic field.

    ¡°This is awesome!¡± With this new finding, Nie Tian now only needed to consume a small proportion of every type of power he possessed to maintain the maic field, and he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about the demon Qi any longer!

    With a broad smile on his face, Nie Tian said to everyone, ¡°Okay, I¡¯m done now. You don¡¯t have to worry about me any more. The demon Qi won¡¯t affect me any more!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Li Fan eximed, ¡°is this an incantation that martial granduncle taught you?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t know that we had these kinds of mysterious incantations in the Cloudsoaring sect?¡± Li Fan muttered.

    ¡°I suppose my master recently received the enlightenment and therefore created it.¡± Nie Tian answered casually.

    Even though Li Fan had a feeling that he was lying, considering that there were people from the other sects present, he didn¡¯t pursue the matter.

    Seeing that by creating a mysterious maic field, Nie Tian had managed to solve the demon Qi problem once and for all, Hong Can gasped in admiration, ¡°Good job! Senior Wu Ji is indeed a miracle-worker. I¡¯m totally convinced now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no wonder he could raise those three outstanding disciples,¡± Zou Yi agreed.

    ¡°Alright! Since you¡¯re fine, let¡¯s move out!¡± Feng Luo said with an urgent tone.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Then, everyone moved out again and marched towards the sect gate of the Blood sect.

    Enveloped by the chaotic maic field, Nie Tian no longer needed to worry about the demon Qi, and traveled with even more lightness than the Greater Heaven stage experts.

    Meanwhile, he could even spare some energy to scan the vicinity with his psychic awareness.

    After an unknown period of time, Li Fan could no longer hold on, so he stopped and said, ¡°I need to replenish my spiritual power.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m also close to my limit,¡± Zou Yi said.

    Even though Hong Can and Feng Luo were in slightly better conditions, they were also afraid that they would soon drain all their spiritual power, and by the time they arrived at the Blood sect, they would be too weak to withstand a single blow.

    ¡°Since you all need to stop and recover while the Blood sect is desperately in need of my aid, can I go first, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± said Nie Tian.

 Chapter 202: Arriving in Time!

    In the Blood sect.

    The enormous blood shadow floating high above Li Jing was still rapidly absorbing spirit beast blood from the blood pools scattered around the square, but the bottoms of those pools could already be seen.

    Meanwhile, numerous low-tier outsiders were still ramming into the scarlet light shield with their full strength.

    The demon Qi was so dense that it could almost take liquid form, and in some ces where it mmed into the light shield, cracking sounds rang out. Apparently, the demon Qi was also gradually wearing down the defensive shield.

    All the Blood sect disciples under the light shield were looking nervously at the blood in the pools, as each and every one them was well aware that once the blood pools ran dry, the giant blood shadow would immediately lose its power source and the defensive shield would fall apart along with it.

    If it came to that, the countless low-tier outsiders that were hovering around them would bare their fans and ws and flood them.

    That moment was exactly what Groete, Sarah, and the other four high-tier outsiders were waiting for.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can hold on for much longer...¡±

    Sectmaster Li Jing realized that they were about to run out of spirit beast blood and the bloody aura around her was also gradually dispersing. Finally, she couldn¡¯t help but called out, ¡°Contact Yu Tong again and ask about their situation!¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Shen Xiu narrowed her eyes and tried to use the Blood sect¡¯s secret magic to contact Yu Tong again.

    A while passed.

    Frowning, Shen Xiu shook her head and said, ¡°There¡¯s no response.¡±

    Li Jing was surprised. ¡°Howe?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, either.¡± With a frustrated expression, Shen Xiu answered. ¡°Little Tong knows how to use the Blood Spirit Pearl. Normally speaking, whenever I cast the spell, she¡¯ll be able to sense it. Since she¡¯s not answering me now, there are only two possible reasons; one, she¡¯s in danger and doesn¡¯t have the time to reply or two, she doesn¡¯t have the Blood Spirit Pearl any more.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Li Jing said, ¡°As long as the Bone Blood Demon is with them, those low-tier outsiders won¡¯t pose a threat to them. Meanwhile, all six of the high-tier outsiders are here waiting to kill us. Therefore, it¡¯s not likely that they are in danger. This means the Blood Spirit Pearl is probably not in her hands. This doesn¡¯t sound good...¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± An elder of the Blood sect reminded Li Jing in a loud voice. ¡°We¡¯re about to run out of spirit beast blood!¡±

    Li Jing and Shen Xiu immediately looked over at the blood pools around the square and found that indeed one of them was alreadypletely empty.

    Then, Li Jing looked up and found that the giant blood shadow had already shrunk visibly, and the scarlet light shield it created over them had also be somewhat thinner and frailer.

    In some ces where a few gigantic low-tier outsiders were crashing into the shield, fissures could already be seen.

    ¡°Dammit! We¡¯re losing our protection!¡± The other Blood sect disciples were originally sitting cross-legged and recuperating with spirit stones. After seeing the unfavorable situation, they all rose to their feet, drew out their spiritual tools, and readied themselves for battle.

    Groete, who the other high-tier outsiders had referred to as lord, also took note that the enormous blood shadow was withering and said, ¡°The stalemate is finally about to be broken.¡±

    A faint, bloodthirsty smile appeared on his face as he issued orders to his five subordinates, ¡°Attack as soon as the light shield breaks! Put an end to their miserable lives.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± the purple eyes of Sarah, the female outsider, shone with intense hatred. ¡°These humans took our home and imprisoned our people in the Hell sect. They even drain their life essence to power their grand spell formation. We¡¯ve been waiting to return to the Realm of me Heaven for centuries. We will have our revenge today!!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s kill them!!¡± Raging killing intent could also been seen in the other four high-tier outsiders¡¯ eyes as they rubbed their hands together, waiting for the light shield to break.

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of sharp tools crashing into the ground echoed out from afar as a figure significantly bigger than any low-tier outsider slowly appeared in rolling demon Qi.

    Since the demon Qi could dull humans¡¯ senses but not the outsiders¡¯, Groete and the other five high-tier outsiders heard the strange sound and immediately turned to look at the source of the sound, where they saw the gigantic figure.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Bone Giant!¡± Upon a closer look, Groete spoke as a sinister expression appeared on his handsome face. ¡°This is impossible!¡±

    He knew how dense the demon Qi in this area was.

    He had never expected that any human Qi warrior would be able toe this far to the center of the demon Qi-covered area in such a short time, much less Nie Tian, who he had considered unworthy to be his opponent.

    ording to his estimation, it would take Hong Can and the other Greater Heaven stage experts at least another hour to get to this ce.

    By the time they arrived, the battle between them and the Blood sect might have already been over. Even it wasn¡¯t, Li Jing would have been severely injured by the six of them, and the oue of the battle would have been set.

    He had made the calctions over and over in his mind and deemed his n impable.

    However, the appearance of the Bone Blood Demon had proven the opposite.

    He found it hard to ept.

    ¡°Sectmaster! Did you hear anything?¡± Excitement could be seen on Shen Xiu¡¯s wrinkled face as she eximed. ¡°If my spections are correct, that sound was the sound of the Bone Blood Demon walking towards us. Only when its fleshless feetnd heavily on the ground it would create a sound like that.

    ¡°I can¡¯t be wrong. It must be the Bone Blood Demon!"

    Li Jing took a deep breath and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. I engraved that unique sound in my mind the day I brought the Bone Blood Demon back to our sect. Little Tong did a good job! So did that Nie Tian kid! Truth be told, I didn¡¯t expect that they would arrive with the Bone Blood Demon in such timely fashion.¡±

    With these words, Li Jing paused, as if she was pondering something.

    Secondster, the blood-colored lotus she was sitting on suddenly rose up into the air.

    ¡°The scarlet light shield can still hold on for some time. All disciples who are at the Greater Heaven stage or higher,e with me! Let¡¯s charge out of the shield and kill as many outsiders as we can!

    ¡°All those with cultivation bases lower than the Greater Heaven stage stay here. The demon Qi out there is too strong for you. You won¡¯t be able to resist it.¡±

    As soon as she uttered these words, the lotus she had been sitting on charged forward.

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t run into any obstructions and shot out of the light shield.

    Upon seeing her flying out of the shield, Shen Xiu and a few others also dashed out while summoning their spiritual tools and unleashing torrential blood auras.

    The moment they left, the light shield that was originally very wide began to shrink with a much faster speed.

    All those who remained in the light shield were the Lesser Heaven and Heaven stage disciples.

    ¡°Who¡¯s out there? Is it Nie Tian, Wu Ji¡¯s disciple?¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s voice spread out in the raging demon Qi as the lotus she sat on began to glow iparably brightly.

    Dazzling, blood-colored light condensed into a giant, red cross in front of her before shooting forward.

    Momentster, another two giant crosses took shape in front of her and shot forward, slicing a dozen low-tier outsiders into chunks of ckish-purple meat.

    The wails and howls of the low-tier outsiders filled the air after she called out Nie Tian¡¯s name.

    ¡°She dares toe out of the shield?!¡± Sarah let out a cold snort before her curvaceous, tightly-wrapped bodyunched into the air.

    The rolling demon Qi in the vicinity suddenly converged on one point, and soon a scary, dark hole took form.

    The dark hole looked like a demon¡¯s wide-open mouth while foul smell continuously emanated out of it.

    The edge of the hole wiggled and expanded, as if it were trying to devour something.

    In the next moment, the three giant crosses Li Jing forged with her spiritual power were sucked into the hole and ground into pieces.

    On the ground, Shen Xiu and a handful others dashed out of the defensive shield and started to cast Blood sect magics to kill outsiders around them.

    As Shen Xiu casted a spell, an enormous of blood strings rose from under the ground, creating mountain-shivering sounds.

    The threads of the were as sharp as razors as they cut numerous low-tier outsiders into pieces of meat.

    That blood was the the most famous forbidden technique of the Blood sect, and that was why she had passed it onto Yu Tong.

    ¡°Lord Groete, let me deal with that woman. You just need to stall that young man who controls the Bone Blood Demon. I believe that without the Bone Blood Demon there to distract me, I¡¯ll be able to finish that woman in a short time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s also what I think,¡± Groete replied. ¡°You just worry about that woman.¡±

    At that very moment, after the Bone Blood Demon had cleared the path for him, Nie Tian appeared in their sight, enveloped in his maic field.

 Chapter 203: Might of the Blood Demon

    Nie Tian came to a stop.

    The demon Qi in this area was excessively dense, so with his cultivation base, he could barely see anything with his eyes.

    With a brief thought, seven starlight spots, wrapped by seven wisps of psychic awareness, flew out of the seven fragmentary stars in his soul. Like ¡°eyes¡± in the heavens, they started observing the battlefield.

    Moments before, Nie Tian had heard Li Jing¡¯s calling, but her voice was quickly drowned by the thunderous roars of the outsider demons.

    The first thing hemanded the Heaven Eyes to do was to spread out and search for the source of the voice.

    Via one Heaven Eye, he discovered that the sectmaster of the Blood sect, Li Jing, was sitting atop a blood-colored lotus, casting all kinds of Blood sect secret magics to kill the unending waves of outsiders.

    At the same time, a coquettish female outsider cast her spells and formed a gigantic ck hole in midair, devouring the red crosses Li Jing created.

    He could tell that the female outsider was at least as strong as Li Jing, if not stronger.

    Through other Heaven Eyes, he saw that Shen Xiu had formed a enormous Earth Web and used its threads, as sharp as razors, to exterminate the giant, low-tier outsiders around her.

    Not far from her, nearly a dozen powerful experts of the Blood sect were also valiantly brandishing their spiritual tools and shooting out blood-colored light beams to kill low-tier outsiders.

    The Heaven Eyes enabled Nie Tian to determine their cultivation bases at first nce; all of them were Greater Heaven or Worldly realm stage experts.

    However, the low-tier outsider kept charging at them like an endless river. It seemed that they had no idea what fear was as they madly charged towards the Blood sect disciples under Groete¡¯smand.

    Apparently, the deaths of those low-tier outsiders meant nothing to him.

    Seeing numerous low-tier outsider being cut into pieces, he didn¡¯t even have any expression on his face, as if he still had many more of them to spare.

    He waved his hand and the four high-tier outsiders dashed towards Shen Xiu and the others like four shes.

    As soon as they did, the sky-filling demon Qi started to flow more rapidly and violently, and bright, purple spots started to fall from the sky.

    The moment those spots made contact with the low-tier outsiders, their fighting spirits were immediately bolstered and they started fighting more ferociously.

    On the other hand, the Blood sect Qi warriors who made contact with the purple spots let out miserable screams as their protective spiritual power shield broke down.

    Then, as the demon Qi engulfed them and entered their bodies, they would fall into a dispirited state while their eyes gradually turned purple.

    All those who lost the protection of their spiritual power shields would rapidly be drowned and lose their battle power, but more terrifyingly, as they took in more and more demon Qi, they would be potential trouble for the others.

    In no more than a few seconds, Nie Tian saw six Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Blood sect lose their protection.

    Although they had killed quite a few low-tier outsiders in return, there were hundreds of them, and so having lost several dozen wasn¡¯t a big deal to them.

    ¡°No wonder they could only hold their ground and defend. Considering their strength, they can¡¯t deal with such a big outsider army.¡± Nie Tian rapidly came to realize the disparity between the two sides¡¯ strength. Without any hesitation, he used the Heaven Eyes to lock onto a target.

    It was a low-tier outsider that was approximately ten-meters tall, ckish-purple from head to toe, and had sharp fangs growing out of its mouth.

    It was chasing after a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Blood sect, who was stumbling as he ran for his life.

    ¡°Go!" Nie Tian issued themand.

    Upon his order, the Bone Blood Demon that had been standing by his side like a unwavering mountain instantly strode toward them.

    A strong bloody aura that overshadowed those of all the low-tier outsiders rippled out of its outstandingly gigantic body, which gave a sudden boost to the observing Blood sect disciples¡¯ morale.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Like a red sh, a blood-colored light beam traveled through the air and prated the outsider¡¯s skull.

    The outsider didn¡¯t even have the time to react before it was stuck down by the Bone Blood Demon from afar.

    The Bone Blood Demon had possessed an eighth level bloodline power when it was alive. Even though it was now a Blood Demon, it still possessed a seventh level bloodline power, making it by no means weaker than Li Jing.

    Therefore, to it, killing that low-tier outsider, who merely possessed the fourth level bloodline power, was a piece of cake.

    CRACKLE!

    As the Bone Blood Demon kept striding forward, its gigantic feet made of sharp bones stabbed deeply into the earth, leaving behind a line of huge holes.

    It arrived by the dead outsider¡¯s side and, using only its psychic power, it made the blood rush out of the outsider¡¯s body and swirl into the air.

    Then, as the blood showered down on it, its grayish-brown bones began to show a faint, mysterious luster.

    After absorbing the outsider¡¯s blood, it began to thrum with an even more terrifying aura of Qi and blood.

    All the disciples of the Blood sect felt a shudder upon seeing the scene while fighting their respective enemies, including Li Jing and Shen Xiu.

    Many Blood sect disciples couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Blood Refining Incantation!¡±

    ¡°This Bone Blood Demon actually mastered the Blood Refining Incantation!? It can absorb power from its enemies¡¯ blood in battle!?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a Bone Giant that possessed an eighth level bloodline power is so powerful after being turned into a Blood Demon!¡±

    Even Shen Xiu, who had participated in the whole Blood Demon refining process, was amazed by how powerful it turned out to be.

    ¡°Continue!¡± As soon as Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes locked onto another target, the Bone Blood Demon lunged forward.

    As the Bone Blood Demon, who possessed unparalleled battle prowess, swung its razor-sharp bone hands, one low-tier outsider after another was cut in half, as if they were pieces of ckish-purple tofu.

    Once in awhile, it would grab a low-tier outsider and rip it apart with its bare hands.

    While fighting, it didn¡¯t forget to use the Blood Refining Incantation to summon outsiders¡¯ blood and pour it onto its grayish-brown body, which seemed to provide it with eternal power.

    Not only did Nie Tian not detect any energy loss from it, but he even found that its Qi and blood were actually growing stronger and stronger.

    It seemed that as long as it kept killing outsiders and showering itself with their blood, it would be able to fight forever and even get stronger during the process.

    The only thing Nie Tian worried about was its consumption of life power. After all, the blood he dripped into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart carried a limited amount of life power.

    Considering how powerful it was, every second it moved about, it was consuming a tremendous amount of life power.

    Once it ran out of life power, it would once again fall into a slumber.

    Just as Nie Tian was pondering his worries, Groete, the highest-ranked outsider, quietly walked towards Nie Tian.

    Seeing the Bone Blood Demon growing a bit stronger after killing every low-tier outsider, he realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it by fighting it directly if he were to do it by himself.

    Therefore, he deemed the wisest move would be to kill its controller: Nie Tian.

    Once Nie Tian was dead, the Bone Blood Demon would run amok and start massacring everyone in sight. By that time, Qi warriors from the Blood sect would also be its target.

    Grinning coldly at Nie Tian, a brutal smile appeared on his face. ¡°Before, you had people to protect you, but you¡¯re all alone now!

    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t havee by yourself! Considering your cultivation base, I¡¯ll crush you like an insect! Then, the Bone Blood Demon will no longer be a threat!¡±

    With these words, Groete blurred into a purple sh and swooped toward Nie Tian.

 Chapter 204: Rescued from A Desperate Situation

    Li Jing, sectmaster of the Blood sect, paid attention to Nie Tian the entire time, since she knew that Nie Tian¡¯s ability to control the Bone Blood Demon would determine how the war went.

    After discovering that the Bone Blood Demon was rampaging across the battlefield under Nie Tian¡¯smand, cutting down numerous low-tier outsiders, she began to think highly of him.

    As soon as she saw Groete make his move, she immediately saw through his n and said, ¡°Elder Sister Shen! Go and protect Nie Tian!¡±

    Upon hearing Li Jing¡¯smand, Shen Xiu, who was using her Earth Web to kill low-tier outsiders, also realized the urgency of the matter.

    She immediately decided to ditch the low-tier outsiders and rush to Nie Tian¡¯s side as quickly as she could.

    At that moment, a male high-tier outsider stepped out of the crowd of low-tier outsiders and blocked Shen Xiu¡¯s way. ¡°You¡¯ll have to get through me first!¡±

    ROOOOOOAR!

    Groete let out a loud screech and dozens of low-tier outsiders instantly rushed over and surrounded the area where he and Nie Tian were standing.

    Apparently, those low-tier outsiders were deployed there to stop whoever intended toe to Nie Tian¡¯s aid.

    There were too many of them. Even though the Bone Blood Demon had been unstoppable, it was almost impossible for it to finish off such arge number of low-tier outsiders in a short time.

    However, Groete was confident that he would be able to kill Nie Tian while the Bone Blood Demon was upied.

    ¡°Damn!¡± Being blocked by a male high-tier outsider, Shen Xiu grow anxious. She wanted to order other high-stage Qi warriors from the Blood sect to go help Nie Tian.

    However, she understood that, with so many low-tier outsiders standing between them and Nie Tian, herpanions probably wouldn¡¯t be able to get through their defensive line and get to Nie Tian in time.

    Once Nie Tian was dead, the Bone Blood Demon would immediately go out of control and consider both the outsider invaders and disciples of the Blood sect as its enemies.

    If that happened, the formidable weapon they counted on to turn the situation around might soon be the final nail on the Blood sect¡¯s coffin.

    Shen Xiu¡¯s heart was burning with anxiety. However, since she couldn¡¯te up with a solution, she could only watch as Groete, the outsider lord, stepped closer to Nie Tian.

    Due to the consumption of the different types of power, the chaotic maic field around Nie Tian had already shrunk to a two-meter range, and it was continuing to shrink as time passed.

    It wouldn¡¯t be very long before itpletely vanished.

    Originally, Nie Tian had nned to summon the different types of power he possessed to expand the maic field again, but now that Groete wasing at him, he no longer had the time to do that.

    He remembered how deadly Groete had been while dealing with Hong Can, Li Fan, Feng Luo, and the other experts at the same time.

    With great ease, he had managed to ughter two Heaven stage experts, making Hong Can and the rest have no choice but to defend.

    ording to Nie Tian¡¯s assessment, now that Groete was surrounded by even denser demon Qi, his strength would be equal to anyte Greater Heaven stage experts, if not stronger.

    He had dealt with a couple of opponents at this level during the Heaven Gate trial. However, every time, he had been forced to use Ice st Pearls and the spiritual talismans his master had given him, plus team up with other trial takers from the seven sects to barely win.

    Now that he had used up all his powerful weapons and life-savers, he would have to fight with no help, so he didn¡¯t think he would stand a chance against such a powerful opponent in his current situation.

    On the other hand, havinge such a long way through the demon Qi, he had already consumed arge portion of the spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    ording to his estimation, he only had fifty percent of his peak strength left at this point.

    He didn¡¯t have the confidence that he would be able to defeat Groete even when he was in his peak state, much less now.

    Seeing Groete approaching like a purple sh, Nie Tian experienced a numbness in his scalp, as well as a sudden rush of helplessness and desperation.

    Groete suddenly came to a stop. Standing ten meters away from Nie Tian, he lifted his saber and pointed it towards Nie Tian as he said, ¡°The maic field around you is quite interesting. It can even keep away the demon Qi.¡±

    As a matter of fact, Groete had secretly urged himself to pay extra attention when he saw Nie Tian arriving so much earlier than his estimation.

    He knew very well that all those who had been there to protect Nie Tian were far stronger, but none of them had made it to this ce, only Nie Tian.

    This had proven Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness.

    He knew that there must have been something special about him, since he could remain unharmed in the torrential demon Qi.

    Therefore, he had secretly sent out his soul consciousness to examine him as soon as he showed up.

    However, the moment his soul consciousness had arrived close to Nie Tian, it had been distorted and cut off from him.

    Only then did hee to realize that the strange maic field was what had made Nie Tian bold enough toe by himself.

    With that understanding in mind, he didn¡¯t barge into it, but rather chose to test the maic field with his saber from a safe distance.

    WHOOSH!

    The saber suddenly left Groete¡¯s hand and whizzed towards Nie Tian. As it traveled in the air, raging demon Qi converged on it before soon turning it into a sinister devil, bearing fangs and brandishing ws towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian had seen nothing like this saber, as he sensed that the saber had actually turned into a living devil.

    It seemed as if the saber was made from a dreadful devil via some kind of mysterious technique, since not only could Nie Tian detect the fluctuations of flesh and blood on it, but he could even detect the aura of a soul.

    He even examined it with the seven Heaven Eyes that were floating around him, and they seemed to tell him the same: it was a breathing devil, not a tool!

    Meanwhile, besieged by the overwhelming demon Qi from every direction, the maic field already showed signs of running out of energy.

    The tough situation made Nie Tian feel suffocated; he was taken over by the devastating feeling that he would be skinned and torn into pieces by the devil in the next moment.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    His heart started pounding faster and faster as his life was threatened.

    All of a sudden, he was struck by an idea: the me Dragon Armor! At this point, no longer afraid to expose the me Dragon Armor, he decided to use it save his life.

    Having remained silent for a long time, the me Dragon Armor had been refining the Earthme Crystal Strings it had collected and was using the energy to mend its own injuries.

    Nie Tian could already sense a soul thriving with it, and thus he knew that it was getting closer and closer to fully awakening.

    As soon as he called out to the me Dragon Armor, it instantly flew out of his bracelet of holding.

    The me Dragon Armor whizzed out surrounded by mes, like a sun that was emanating endless light and heat into the surroundings.

    Thrumming with a zing aura that was strong enough to burn any living beings into ashes, it didn¡¯t even wait for Nie Tian to give further instructions before charging into the rolling demon Qi.

    In the blink of an eye, it rammed into the sinister devil that had been created by a mix of the saber and demon Qi.

    The devil felt like a sun had shot into it enormous body, as mes that could destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth began to burn inside of it while making crackling sounds.

    Meanwhile, the gigantic devil started to shrink down, as if it were being burned away by the heavenly fire.

    Li Jing, Shen Xiu, and other powerful experts from the Blood sect couldn¡¯t help but exim upon the sight of the me Dragon Armor, ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    They simply couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes.

    It was especially true with Li Jing, since she knew better than anyone that, as powerful as Wu Ji as was, he only had one Spirit Channeling grade treasure in his possession, which she couldn¡¯t be more familiar with.

    However, the burning armor she was looking at wasn¡¯t it.

    This meant that this Spirit Channeling grade treasure¡¯s master was none other than Nie Tian!

    To everyone present, it waspletely unbelievable for a Lesser Heaven stage young man to own a treasure so rare.

    They probably would nevere across a simr case in the entire Realm of me Heaven.

    At that moment, as bbergasted as she was, Li Jing finally stopped worrying about Nie Tian¡¯s safety.

 Chapter 205: Utterly Discomfited

    Li Jing had a rough idea of Groete¡¯s strength.

    From what she could tell, he only possessed a fifth level bloodline power. However, since extremely rich demon Qi reigned this area, his strength was boosted, making him seem stronger than Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    As a matter of fact, his true strength was at the same level as Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    It was just that human Qi warriors¡¯ abilities werepromised in the demon Qi while his abilities were enhanced.

    Nevertheless, the Lesser Heaven stage Nie Tian obviously wasn¡¯t as strong as Groete, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange if Groete killed him with little effort.

    That was why she had been worried about Nie Tian¡¯s safety.

    It was the appearance of the me Dragon Armor that eradicated her worries. After all, a Spirit Channeling grade treasure at his disposal would greatly close the gap between their actual strength.

    She had confidence that now that the me Dragon Armor was in the picture, Groete finally would meet his match.

    Therefore, she became slightly relieved and focused all her attention on Sarah, the female outsider.

    BAM! BAM!

    The me Dragon Armor was still burning vigorously and unleashing heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing heat. The devil, which had been created by the saber and demon Qi, couldn¡¯t withstand the devastating me power and kept shrinking.

    Momentster, the devil reassumed the shape of a broad saber.

    Only now, the saber had be dark and lifeless, and its previous purple glow seemed to have been burned away by the me Dragon Armor.

    Groete¡¯s handsome face looked very grim. His purple eyes were filled with disbelief as he tried to determine the grade of the me Dragon Armor.

    While he was caught up in his thoughts, Sarah, who had been fighting Li Jing, called out to him, ¡°Be careful! It¡¯s a Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure!!¡± Groete was taken aback.

    During that time, Nie Tian finally found the chance to summon enough strength to once again expand the chaotic maic field to a five-meter radius.

    CLANG!

    The burning me Dragon Armor suddenly rammed into Groete¡¯s saber.

    The saber let out a scream that only outsiders could make, and rapidly flew spinning back to Groete.

    Groete held out one hand and grabbed it before he stared at Nie Tian with a strange look in his eyes.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Meanwhile, numerous blood-colored beams of light shot out of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s finger bones, and, like scarlet spears that were sharp enough to prate tes made by refined iron, they pierced through one low-tier outsider after another.

    By doing that, the Bone Blood Demon killed more than a dozen low-tier outsiders that had been gathered around Nie Tian and Groete, sealing off the two of them from the others.

    Following Nie Tian¡¯s instructions, the thirty-meter tall Bone Blood Demon spared no effort to kill the low-tier outsiders and break through the blockade.

    From time to time, it would use the Blood sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation topel the outsiders¡¯ thick, purple blood to fly out of their bodies and rain down on it in fine streams.

    Every single bone the outsider blood rained on seemed to turn into a sponge, greedily sucking away the energy.

    As the Bone Blood Demon refined more and more outsider blood, its power grew continuously, as if it would never get to the peak.

    Gradually, the increasingly vigorous energy fluctuations that the Bone Blood Demon emanated made even Sarah worry about the situation.

    Originally, she had confidence that she would be able to overtake it, knowing that after being turned into a Blood Demon, the Bone Giant¡¯s strength would be weakened to some extent.

    However, now that she had been caught up in her fight with Li Jing and couldn¡¯t stop the Bone Blood Demon, it had already grown so strong that even she wasn¡¯t certain that she would be able to defeat it any more.

    As she kept track of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s aura, Sarah grew increasingly uneasy.

    ¡°Your highness! You have to finish off that kid as soon as possible. That Bone Giant¡¯s battle prowess is constantly on the rise.

    ¡°If this goes on, it may soon regain its original level of strength!

    ¡°Once it recovers its eighth level bloodline power, I¡¯m afraid even I won¡¯t be able to defeat it.

    ¡°Even when its bloodline isn¡¯t truly awakened yet!¡±

    She finally couldn¡¯t help but urge Groete to kill Nie Tian in the shortest time possible, so as to stop the Bone Blood Demon from getting stronger.

    Groete let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to tell me what to do!¡±

    At that moment,posure and confidence had already disappeared from his face.

    What had taken their ce were rage and impatience. Due to his misjudgment of Nie Tian¡¯s strength and resourcefulness, he had sessively failed to kill Nie Tian when they first met and falsely estimated the time Nie Tian would have arrived; he even failed to kill Nie Tian when he had no powerful allies to protect him.

    Actually, after a Spirit Channeling grade treasure hade to Nie Tian¡¯s aid at the crucial moment, not only did his attempt to kill him turn out in vain, but his saber even sustained serious damage.

    With these thoughts, Groete could no longer stay calm and eventually grew frenzied.

    ¡°Kill him!¡± he yelled at the top of his lungs.

    Upon hearing hismand, the low-tier outsiders that had been attacking the Blood sect disciples immediately stopped.

    Each and every one of them turned around and swooped towards Nie Tian with ferocious roars.

    Bent on killing Nie Tian as quickly as possible, Groete brought out a, small round item that looked like a demon¡¯s eyeball. As soon as it appeared, a strong, mysterious soul fluctuation spread out in every direction, covering the entire Blood sect. ¡°Rise, my minions!¡±

    As soon as the Blood sect Qi warriors, who had remained still after being infiltrated by the demon Qi, were enveloped by the soul aura unleashed by the Demon Eye, their hollow and lifeless pupils began to shine with bizarre, purple light.

    Their pale skin also gradually shed its original color and took on a ckish-purple color that was the same as the low-tier outsiders.

    ROOOOAR!

    One after another, they all let out mad howls and bolted towards Nie Tian along with the low-tier outsiders.

    It was as if Nie Tian was the only thing they could see.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Via the seven Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian had a clear view of everything happening on the battlefield, including the movement of the low-tier outsiders and the changes to those infected human Qi warriors.

    He realized that Groete had started taking him seriously and had grown very eager to kill him.

    That was the only exnation for why he redirected all the troops that had been fighting the Blood sect to attack him alone.

    At this point, he felt that the pressure he faced might even beparable to Li Jing and Shen Xiu. None of the other Worldly realm experts from the Blood sect had ever faced a situation so dangerous. ¡°They¡¯re demonized!¡±

    At that moment, Groete suddenly threw his head back and heaved a roar.

    He suddenly began to thrum with a strange energy that seemed to be able to awaken his bloodline power. Under Nie Tian¡¯s bbergasted gaze, he began to undergo horrendous changes.

    Originally, Groete was only about the same size as a human male, only slightly taller.

    However, in the reflection of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Groete¡¯s body, bit by bit, began to match the physique of a low-tier outsider!

 Chapter 206: Demonizing

    Groete, who was originally two meters tall, went through great changes and rapidly bulked up.

    The rich demon Qi in his surroundings madly poured into his body as if it were helping him expand. Therefore, he finished demonizing in seconds, a skill only high-tier outsiders had mastered.

    Now that the process wasplete, he had be more than three meters tall and had bulging muscles all over his body, which seemed to be full of explosive power.

    The curved horns on his forehead and his tail had also grown significantlyrger.

    Meanwhile, ck scales had grown out of his flesh, covering whichever part of his body that hadn¡¯t been covered by his fine armor.

    A violent energy fluctuation surged out of Groete¡¯s demonized body and spread far into the surrounding area, making Nie Tian increasingly astonished.

    Via the seven Heaven Eyes, he saw every single change that had urred to Groete¡¯s body. He had a clear feeling that after the process, Groete¡¯s battle prowess had risen to a whole new level.

    Before, he had considered Groete to be as strong as ate Greater Heaven stage human cultivator, but after the series of astounding changes, he now deemed Groete as strong as a Worldly realm Qi warrior.

    PUFF!

    Groete spit out a mouthful of purple blood. His handsome face had now be sinister and full of bulging veins.

    WHOOSH!

    It was also at this moment the me Dragon Armor noticed the unfavorable situation Nie Tian was in, and thus rapidly flew back and floated right in front of him.

    Clusters of raging mes flew out of the me Dragon Armor and spread out in a thinyer outside of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, like a sheet of mes.

    As the zing sheet stretched out further and further, a shield of raging fire took form.

    A faint wisp of thought flew out of the me Dragon Armor.

    Nie Tian caught it at the first possible moment.

    Eyes narrowed, he tried toprehend it as he kept an eye on Groete.

    He knew that it must be a message from the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul.

    Even though the message was wordless, Nie Tian somehow quickly understood the me Dragon Armor¡¯s intention.

    It urged him to sped up the rotation of the vortex of me power in his spiritual sea, circte me power through his whole body, and use it to fight his enemy.

    It seemed that only in this way would he be able to make use of the me Dragon Armor and disy its might to some extent.

    Therefore, he did ordingly.

    The vortex of me power in his spiritual sea rotated faster and faster, and he now only drew power from this vortex.

    Before long, fire-attributed spiritual power filled every meridian in his body, and by doing this, his skin even somehow turned crimson.

    At that moment, he had a feeling that the bond between him and the me Dragon Armor had grown a lot stronger.

    ¡°Nie Tian! That high-tier outsider has demonized, which means he¡¯s awakened his bloodline power!¡± Shen Xiu, elder of the Blood sect, shouted out to him from afar, urging him to be extra careful.

    OWWW! ROAAAR!

    At that very moment, a wave of low-tier outsiders reached Nie Tian¡¯s side with the turned Blood sect disciples at their back, whose pupils had turnedpletely purple.

    Apparently, they had only Nie Tian in their eyes and nothing else.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous gigantic me pirs shot out of the me Dragon Armor, and right as they were about to reach the iing low-tier outsiders, each and every one of them morphed into me Dragons.

    Baring their sharp ws, the me Dragons charged into the wave of low-tier outsiders.

    The low-tier outsiders immediately burst into mes as soon as they made contact with the me Dragons. Letting out miserable wails, they hastily used all their power to contend with the fierce mes.

    Even still, one by one, they dropped to the ground and died, their ck-purple flesh melted off their bones.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The me Dragon Armor shot out many more fire clusters to deal with the Blood sect Qi warriors who had been polluted and enved by the demon Qi.

    Nie Tian finally got to see the might of the me Dragon Armor. As a matter of fact, it hadn¡¯t moved yet, only sending out me sts, which turned into destructive me Dragons; even still, it managed to stop all the iing low-tier outsiders and turned Qi warriors.

    However, unleashing torrential me power nonstop could be consuming even for the me Dragon Armor.

    It seemed that the outsider lord, Groete, also had a clear idea that only those low-tier outsiders and turned disciples of the Blood sect wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill Nie Tian, who had a Spirit Channeling grade treasure at his disposal.

    All of a sudden, while the low-tier outsiders attacked Nie Tian, Groete hid himself in a cluster of demon Qi so dense that it was like a ball of ck water thrumming extremely strange energy fluctuations.

    Even via the seven Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t able to precisely locate Groete within it.

    All he could see was a cluster of demon Qi floating closer and closer to him.

    The me Dragon Armor had noticed the approaching demon Qi cluster and shot out a pir of me significantly thicker than before toward it.

    However, just as it was about to bombard on the cluster of demon Qi, the cluster broke up into nine smaller clusters, each the same size, with the energy fluctuationsing out of each one exactly identical.

    As much as he wanted to, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t able to tell which of them Groete was hiding in, not even with the Heaven Eyes.

    It was also true of the giant me pir, so it picked one of the demon Qi clusters and struck it.

    As soon as it did, that cluster of demon Qi unraveled and turned into wisps of ck smoke.

    However, soon it regathered and regained its original shape, floating towards Nie Tian once again.

    The demon Qi clusters swayed as they traveled forwards, but they shared the same target: Nie Tian.

    Then, the me Dragon Armor went ahead and shot out more me pir towards the nine demon Qi clusters, but they shifted their positions as they closed in on him. From time to time, they would hide behind the low-tier outsiders and demonized disciples from the Blood sect.

    By sacrificing those low-tier troops, they skillfully avoided the me Dragon Armor¡¯s attacks.

    Before long, all nine of them reached the shield of rolling mes created by the me Dragon Armor, and exploded one after another, giving rise to heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sounds.

    Countless dark spots were sent flying and filled the entire shield of fire, turning it into a strange purple color.

    As soon as it did, Groete showed himself and passed through theyer of mes into Nie Tian chaotic maic field.

    However, the moment he entered, his sinister face grew even more distorted, as he also realized that he was being affected by the strange force within the maic field.

    Even though he knew that his battle prowess had dropped significantly because of the maic field, he had confidence that if that was all there was to it, he would be able to kill Nie Tian rather easily.

    With these thoughts, he immediatelyunched an attack.

 Chapter 207: Eternal Night!

    With one finger, Groete pointed at Nie Tian from afar.

    The different types of power interwove with each other in the maic field in a disorderly fashion.

    The demon Qi that had been included into the maic field was gradually distorted and morphed into fine, purple light dots, scattered far away from Nie Tian at the edge of the maic field.

    However, the moment Groete pointed at him, all the tiny, purple dots seemed to be suddenly attracted by some force.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    They instantly flew out of the maic field and converged onto Groete¡¯s raised finger. By doing that, they seemed to have strengthened his finger, turning it as sharp as a razor.

    As countless purple light dots kept gathering, a purple light ball that was the size of a fist gradually took shape around his finger.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    All of a sudden, strong energy fluctuations were born from within the mysterious, purple light ball.

    The iparably rich demon Qi in the surroundings seemed to bemanded by an unknown force as it madly poured through the me shield into the chaotic maic field from all directions, which then turned into even more fragmentary, purple light dots before flying into the purple light ball around Groete¡¯s finger.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the fist-sized light ball expanded to the size of a human head.

    PUFF!

    Groete spit a mouthful of blood towards the purple light ball. The moment his blood merged with the light ball, the entire light ball began to emanate ck light.

    The ck light seemed to have endless life power as it rapidly spread out and painted everything ck, including Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    It was as if wherever it reached, all light was instantly devoured.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s sight, the whole world had be pitch-ck. He couldn¡¯t even see his own hands, much less Groete. All he could see was a cluster of purple light floating not far from him.

    Even the power in his maic field seemed to be affected by the endless darkness, as all the different types of power separated from one another and couldn¡¯t twist together.

    ¡°Bloodline power! Eternal Night!¡± Groete snorted disdainfully, and the formidable power that originated from his bloodline created a cloak of darkness covering a fifty-meter range with Nie Tian at the center.

    Sectmaster Li Jing, Shen Xiu, and many other Blood sect disciples saw the frightening magic.

    From where they were standing, the area that Nie Tian and Groete were at seemed to be drowned by pitch-ck ink. Not a single ray of light could be seening out of it.

    Even when they tried to examine it with their soul consciousness, they felt disrupted by some mysterious energy and couldn¡¯t sense anything.

    Li Jing¡¯s expression flickered. After all, as the sectmaster of the Blood sect, she had certain knowledge regarding the outsider demons.

    Generally speaking, their powerful bloodlines could be passed on and inherited.

    The more powerful the outsider was, the more powerful their descendants normally would be.

    The fact that Sarah and the other high-tier outsiders called Groete ¡°Lord¡± meant that Groete¡¯s parents must be powerful and lofty outsiders, and thus the bloodline they possessed was probably also beyond ordinary.

    Even though Groete was still young and not as powerful, his bloodline must be superior to the other high-tier outsiders.

    As he grew stronger, he would gradually awaken his bloodline and acquire more abilities. If he could enhance his bloodline power to the eighth or ninth level, he would probably be an overlord of the outsiders.

    With these thoughts, Li Jing once again began worrying about Nie Tian¡¯s safety, fearing that the awakened Groete would possess the power to hurt or even kill Nie Tian.

    At that moment, the Bone Blood Demon was still trying to cut through a sea of low-tier outsiders.

    There had been roughly more than four hundred low-tier outsiders in the area and it had killed almost a quarter of them.

    However, numerous fearless low-tier outsiders still charged towards it, as though they didn¡¯t know what death meant. Apparently, their sole purpose was to prevent the Bone Blood Demon from getting close to Nie Tian and Groete for as long as possible, and buy Groete time.

    On the other hand, the me Dragon Armor was still unleashing raging me pirs, burning numerous low-tier outsiders alive.

    However, it was a spiritual tool after all, so only whenmanded by a seasoned master of me power would it be able to disy its might to the fullest.

    At this point, Nie Tian was far from being powerful enough to freely control the me Dragon Armor. Therefore, the things the me Dragon Armor could do for Nie Tian were still limited.

    Creating that me shield around Nie Tian and killing the flood of low-tier outsiders were about it.

    If Nie Tian wanted to disy more of its formidable power, he would have to put on the me Dragon Armor and truly bind their me power and souls together.

    Unfortunately, Nie Tian was only in the Lesser Heaven stage, and thus was not even strong enough to wear it.

    As Groete¡¯s purple light ball grewrger and more powerful, Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field gradually lost its effect.

    Submerged by darkness, Nie Tian could only see a ball of purple light, but soon he found that looking at it made his eyes hurt and tears rolled down his cheeks before he knew it.

    He heard the summoning of a mysterious soul from within that purple light ball. A profound voice told him to not hold himself back and walk to it.

    Thump!

    He slowly took a step closer towards the purple light ball and found the summonsing from it even more irresistible.

    However, he had a strange feeling that the moment he walked up to the purple light ball and touched it would be the moment he died.

    As that feeling grew more and more intense, he did his utmost to control himself. However, he discovered that he could only slow down his steps, but couldn¡¯t stop.

    Thump!

    Another step was made.

    He was one step closer to the only light source in the seemingly endless darkness.

    After this step, hepletely lost control of his body and what he wanted to do had be pointless.

    Devastated, he knew that he only needed to take two more steps to reach the purple light ball, and then he would be devoured by utter darkness.

    Only then would he taste the sweet relief of death.

    Even though Nie Tian had considered himself to be mentally strong, at that moment, his mental defense hadpletely broke down and he gave up to destiny.

    However, also at that very moment, his heartbeat suddenly elerated by multiple times, and he seemed to instantly regain a clear mind.

    At that moment, he felt like his soul had been suddenly lit up, and he could now see the seven fragmentary stars that hung high in the sky of his soul, emanating light more radiant than ever.

    A spray of starlight that could purge the foulness and cleanse the soul poured down from the seven fragmentary stars and filled his entire soul.

    He, who was about to make the final steps, suddenly stopped and remained in ce like an unwavering mountain, not even moving a muscle.

    His nk and bewildered eyes also began to shine with starlight, which seemed to have originated from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul and was now helping him to resist the summons of the purple light ball.

    ¡°This is merely an illusion!¡± Nie Tian finally was able to speak, his eyes shining with bright starlight and raging killing intent.

    He lifted his fist and converged his boundless rage on it.

    The rage punch he had learned from the mysterious dimension was by far the most powerful technique at his disposal.

    With a loud crash, his fist bombarded the purple light ball.

    BANG!

    The purple light ball exploded, sending out countless fragmentary purple spots, each and every one of them bearing the intention to prate his skin, enter his fist, and then follow his arm to his internal organs.

    However, a few wisps of dazzling starlight flew out of the vortex of starlight in Nie Tian¡¯s dantian.

    They seemed to havemunicated with the stars in the sky. Momentster, bright spots of starlight rained down from the heavens, shone through the dense, light-blocking demon Qi, and gathered on Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    The starlight pouring down seemed to have evicted the darkness and purged the demon Qi around Nie Tian.

    The dark force originating from the purple light also vanished under the starlight. Clear-minded, Nie Tian was no longer influenced by the dark magic, not even in the slightest.

    All of a sudden, Groete¡¯s terrified voice echoed out from within the rapidly dissipating darkness, ¡°Fragmentary Star Incantation!¡±

 Chapter 208: Turning the Situation Around

    From the look of it, being a highborn outsider, Groete knew about the Fragmentary Star Incantation, and that was why when he saw the starlight raining down onto Nie Tian, he looked somewhat scared.

    The Blood sect had been enveloped in the dense demon Qi for so long that all the Blood sect survivors had almost forgot what the starry sky looked like. They weren¡¯t even sure if the moon, the sun, and the stars still existed.

    Seeing the starlight falling from the heavens, prating and dispelling the demon Qi, every disciple of the Blood sect had a feeling that the starlight that had poured onto Nie Tian was their hope to get out of the difficult situation.

    In their eyes, the starlight was the light of hope!

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Li Jing suddenly put a sizable distance between Sarah and herself. Wreathed in a rich bloody aura, she looked at Nie Tian, eyes filled with shock.

    She was the only Qi warrior in the Blood sect who had reached the Profound realm, so her understanding of the starlight was much better than all the other Blood sect members.

    As strong and resourceful as she was, when the Blood sect had been engulfed by the dense demon Qi, she found herself at the end of her wits.

    However, the starlight pouring down from the heavens at this very moment carried a mysterious power that could cleanse the demon Qi.

    This power waspletely new to her, and it went beyond even her understanding.

    Furthermore, she didn¡¯t think it was Wu Ji who had passed this miraculous incantation to Nie Tian.

    If he had such a powerful incantation at his disposal, the Cloudsoaring sect wouldn¡¯t be in a simr situation as the Blood sect, struggling to stay afloat.

    ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure, mysterious incantation... Is he really Wu Ji¡¯s disciple?¡± Li Jing couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as the flood of starlight shone on the dense demon Qi, the demon Qi dissipated as rapidly as if it had been set on fire.

    Momentster, a ten-meter range, with Nie Tian being the center, was demon Qi-free.

    Having lost his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian stood in the center of the starlight-lit area, a confused expression on his face.

    On the other hand, Groete had already quietly gotten away from Nie Tian as soon as his purple light ball exploded and the starlight started cleansing the demon Qi.

    At that moment, Groete was hiding away within another cluster of dense demon Qi, looking deeply at Nie Tian with his purple, devilish eyes, as if he was trying to see through all the secrets in Nie Tian.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that after destroying the purple light ball with the rage punch, Nie Tian was actually in a terrible state.

    The rage punch had almost drained all of his power.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, a ball of me whizzed over, dragging a long, burning tail, and stopped one meter in front of Nie Tian.

    After the mes gradually went out, the me Dragon Armor showed itself.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    The sounds of heavy things crashing into the ground rang out from behind Nie Tian.

    Along with those sounds came the screams of low-tier outsiders and blood-spurting sounds.

    By destroying the purple light ball and channeling starlight from the heavens, Nie Tian had bought the Bone Blood Demon enough time to break through the blockade.

    Secondster, the Bone Blood Demon, whose body had turned red from the bloodbath, arrived by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Emanating a dreadful, bloody aura, the Bone Blood Demon stood back to back with Nie Tian. It constantly swung its gigantic bony hands, tearing the iing roaring low-tier outsiders into shreds.

    Before long, the bodies of the dead low-tier outsiders piled up into a hill in front of the Bone Blood Demon.

    More and more purple blood kept streaming out of the mangled bodies and soon the ground was covered in it.

    ¡°Your highness!¡± Sarah called out to Groete. As she turned her curvaceous body, numerous thorns grew out of her, and then she whizzed towards Li Jing.

    The blood-colored lotus Li Jing sat on seemed as if it was made of blood crystal, inside of which blood shadows constantly shed about.

    She felt greatly relieved after seeing that the Bone Blood Demon had reached Nie Tian¡¯s side and was now cutting down wave after wave of low-tier outsiders to keep him safe.

    At that moment, the voices of Feng Luo, Hong Can, Li Fan, and Zou Yi rang out from afar.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°Senior Li!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡±

    After spending some time to replenish their power with spirit stones, they finally made it to the central square of the Blood sect.

    ¡°Your highness!¡± Sarah¡¯s voice echoed out again. It seemed she didn¡¯t dare to tell Groete what to do, so she just called out his name.

    She also feared that she might irritate him and make him act rashly by advising him.

    She only wanted to inform him that now that Feng Luo and the others had arrived, ording to her assessment of the situation, their operation to sack the Blood sect was already destined to fail.

    Furthermore, she had witnessed Groete awaken his own bloodline power and cast the Eternal Night spell, but fail to kill Nie Tian before the Bone Blood Demon rushed to his side.

    As a high-tier outsider herself, she had a perfect idea of how consuming the demonizing process could be.

    She knew that Groete must have lost a significant amount of his vital energy and needed to recuperate as soon as possible. In his current condition, he couldn¡¯t fight another battle.

    On the other hand, the Bone Blood Demon had ughtered more than two hundred low-tier outsiders by now, and it had umted its flesh power to a terrifying level.

    Even shecked the confidence to overtake the Bone Blood Demon at this point. And that was not to mention the fact that she would need to get through Li Jing first.

    However, the most unbearable thing for her was that the demon Qi in the area was rapidly dissipating due to the starlight Nie Tian had brought down from the heavens.

    All these unfavorable factors had made Sarah realize that if they continued to fight, they would be the losing side.

    That was why she had warned Groete of the situation twice...

    Meanwhile, Groete didn¡¯t lose his clear mind. With one sharp screech, hemanded all the remaining low-tier outsiders to attack the Blood sect disciples as well as Hong Can and the others who had just arrived. Then he shouted in theirnguage, ¡°Retreat!¡±

    Upon hearing his order, the other five high-tier outsiders, including Sarah, immediately pulled back and dashed to his side.

    They formed a circle around Groete before they leapt into the air and flew away in the dense demon Qi.

    After receiving Groete¡¯s order, all the low-tier outsiders let out mad roars as they charged toward the human Qi warriors.

    After all, in the eyes of Groete and Sarah, the low-tier outsiders were nothing more than expendable tools that they could sacrifice to buy enough time for them to retreat.

    By the time they were quite some distance from the Blood sect, Groete let out another screech.

    Only then did the frenzied low-tier outsiders stopped attacking and flee in all directions.

    ¡°Chase after them! Kill as many as you can!¡± Sitting on top of her blood-colored lotus, Li Jing gave the order,manding those who were strong enough to resist the demon Qi to hunt down the fleeing low-tier outsiders.

    Now that theirmanders were gone, Li Jing was confident that they would be able to finish off the remaining two hundred outsider minions.

    As the other Blood sect experts chased after the fleeing low-tier outsiders, Li Jing remained in ce.

    Neither did she chase after the low-tier outsiders, nor did she go after Groete and the high-tier outsiders.

    The reason was that Nie Tian didn¡¯t make a move either, and the Bone Blood Demon was standing right next to him like a faithful guard.

    She knew in her heart that the Bone Blood Demon was what had caused the high-tier outsiders to leave.

    WHOOSH!

    The scarlet lotus traveled through the dissipating demon Qi to the cleansed, lit-up area where Nie Tian was standing.

    Upon arriving at the purged area, the bloody aura that had been wreathing Li Jing immediately dissipated, and only then did Nie Tian get a clear view of her face.

    Floating in front of him was a woman in her thirties. The way she wore her makeup and the way she dressed made her look especially elegant.

    She was wearing a long, rose-red dress and her curvaceous thighs were crossed as she sat atop the blood-colored lotus. Since she had canceled the spell, her scarlet pupils had resumed their original, ck color.

    Grabbing the lower part of her dress with one hand, she rose to her feet in a slow, graceful fashion.

    The blood-colored lotus gradually descended and, when it was half a meter from the ground, she gently stepped down from the lotus.

    With a wave of her hand, the lotus that seemed to be made of blood jade rapidly shrunk to the size of a fist and flew into the ring on her left ring finger.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± Feng Luo from the Blood sect wanted to exin how the Bone Blood Demon had awakened and why they had been dyed.

    Li Jing gently raised her left hand.

    Feng Luo immediately sealed his lips and bowed in a respectful way before turning around and joining the others in hunting down the fleeing low-tier outsiders.

    At that moment, Li Fan from the Cloudsoaring sect quietly stepped into the starlight-lit area where Nie Tian was the standing.

    With a serious and reverent look in his eyes, Li Fan looked at Li Jing from behind.

    The elegant woman in front of her was among the few Qi warriors who stood on top of the cultivation pyramid in the Realm of me Heaven.

    He had heard many rumors about her and knew that not only was she cruel and merciless, she was also famous for her moodiness. Even the slightest disagreement might make her go berserk and start killing.

    However, it was thanks to her bold decisions that the Blood sect had prospered during the recent years.

    The fact that she remained in ce instead of venting her anger upon the fleeing minions had somehow made Li Fan worry.

    Li Fan wondered what her next move would be. After all, she had never been one to follow the rules.

    ¡°Senior...¡± As soon as Li Fan uttered the first word, he found his own voice a bit funny. Afterboring to calm himself, he cleared his throat and said, ¡°Nie Tian is my martial granduncle¡¯s disciple. Even though he somehow controlled the Bone Blood Demon your sect put heart and soul into, he yed an important role in raising the siege of your sect.

    ¡°He¡¯s still young and unseasoned. I hope you can give face to my martial granduncle and go easy on him,¡± Li Fan pleaded.

    ¡°You think I was going to punish him?¡± said Li Jing, not even turning her head back.

    ¡°Oh? So what do you intend to do with him then?¡± Li Fan said, puzzled.

    ¡°Now that he has awakened the Bone Blood Demon and be the master of our sect¡¯s most valuable Blood Demon, he¡¯s a member of the Blood sect.¡± Staring into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Li Jing continued, ¡°You can tell Wu Jiter that he¡¯s no longer a member of the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°What?! You can¡¯t mean that!¡± Li Fan stood aghast.

 Chapter 209: Stealing a Disciple

    ¡°Why not?¡± Li Jing finally turned her head back and looked at Li Fan with a meaningful look in her eyes. She pursed her lips into a smile and said softly, ¡°I didn¡¯t even see the least bit of the Cloudsoaring sect in Nie Tian. I bet entric Wu didn¡¯t pass any Cloudsoaring sect incantations to him.¡±

    After a brief pause, she continued with a smile, ¡°On the contrary, I sensed a hint of our sect¡¯s aura on him. I can say for sure that he has some kind of connection with our sect.¡±

    During the Green Illusion dimension trial, Yu Tong had used the Earth Web incantation to pierce countless blood strings into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh.

    However, Nie Tian had somehow managed to pull all the blood strings into his body and refine them into his own blood.

    As the sectmaster of the Blood sect, no one had a better mastery of all the Blood sect¡¯s forbidden techniques, therefore she keenly sensed that Nie Tian had the Blood sect¡¯s aura on him.

    She was certain that the reason why Nie Tian had been able to awaken the Bone Blood Demon must have had something to do with the Blood sect¡¯s aura flowing in his veins, aside from the life power he had passed onto it.

    The smile on Li Fan¡¯s face was a bit unnatural as he said, ¡°Nie Tian has already officially made my martial granduncle his master. Everyone knows that.¡±

    ¡°So what?¡± Li Jing blurted in an indifferent fashion, ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem as long as entric Wu lets him go. He has already proven his teaching ability with his two other disciples. Plus, now that his lifespan is limited, I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t have much time left to guide Nie Tian anyways. However, the Blood sect and I can give Nie Tian what he can¡¯t!¡±

    Before Li Fan could say anything back, Li Jing let out a cold harrumph and continued, ¡°Furthermore, the Blood sect has poured endless time and resources into that Bone Blood Demon. You have witnessed its strength yourself, and now it only takes orders from Nie Tian. Do you think I¡¯ll let it go back to the Cloudsoaring sect with him?¡±

    Li Fan¡¯s face grew serious. ¡°But it was Nie Tian who lifted the siege of the Blood sect!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not enough!¡± Li Jing said with a domineering tone. ¡°If you think I¡¯ll let the person who controls the Bone Blood Demon leave, you might as well stop dreaming! Either he leaves the Cloudsoaring sect and joins the Blood sect, or I kill him and free the Bone Blood Demon from his control.

    ¡°Say no more, Li Fan. Go tell entric Wu that I¡¯ll have Nie Tian, one way or another!¡±

    With a wave of her hand, a cluster of bloody aura flew over. It enveloped Li Fan, who was just about to say something, and flew away, not giving him the chance to protest.

    After Li Fan disappeared in the distant sky, she once again looked at Nie Tian, her eyes glittering with bright light.

    ¡°entric Wu is indeed a good judge of talent.¡± She thought to herself. ¡°This kid is perfect for practicing our sect¡¯s secret magics. Now that you¡¯ve awakened the Bone Blood Demon, you and our sect are connected by destiny. Sorry, entric Wu...¡±

    She was bent on making Nie Tian a disciple of the Blood sect.

    At that moment, Nie Tian was sitting on the ground, recuperating with spirit stones.

    The rage punch had almost drained all the power in his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea. What he needed the most at this point was to recover his strength at the fastest speed possible, so as to cope with theplicated, ever-changing situation in the Realm of me Heaven.

    As he absorbed spiritual power from the spirit stones, starlight continued to fall through the dissipating demon Qi and converge on him.

    He examined his spiritual sea and saw that the starlight he was taking in was gradually flowing into the vortex of starlight.

    At that moment, he had a faint feeling that a mysterious connection between him and a dimension very far away had been established and was strengthening.

    It was through that connection that the starlight, which was pure and carried the miraculous power of purging the demon Qi, had fallen from the heavens and converged on him.

    As the starlight continued to fall, not only the demon Qi in Nie Tian¡¯s surrounding areas, but even the demon Qi in further areas gradually dissipated.

    Of course, since the high-tier outsiders had evacuated the ce and the low-tier outsiders had fled the area, the density of the demon Qi was already on the decline.

    It was the starlight that had sped up the process.

    Momentster, arge area with Nie Tian at the center becamepletely demon Qi-free and the previously blocked sky could be seen again.

    Everyone in the area looked up and saw the starlit sky. Among all the stars, one seemed to shine especially brilliantly.

    Now that the demon Qi in the central square had dissipated, the weaker Blood sect disciples, who had been hiding behind the scarlet light shield, walked out into the clean air with sighs of relief.

    The gigantic blood shadow also shrunk under Li Jing¡¯s soul¡¯smand.

    SHEW!

    The blood shadow suddenly turned into a sh of blood-colored light before disappearing into the ring on Li Jing¡¯s finger.

    A while passed and all the demon Qi that had gathered in the Blood sect dissipated, and the Blood sect was once again showered with silver moonlight.

    Numerous Blood sect disciples with low cultivation bases looked up at the starlit sky, which seemed now brighter than ever, sighing over their survival.

    ¡°It was so close.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s finally over.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we¡¯d see the sky again.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve lived through this cmity and we¡¯re safe for now. But I wonder when the wars in the Realm of me Heaven will end...¡±

    BOOM!

    The Bone Blood Demon, who had been standing by Nie Tian¡¯s side like a guardian, suddenly copsed to the ground.

    Upon the loud crash, purple-colored blood spilled all over the ce.

    The sound had attracted almost every Blood sect disciples¡¯ attention while Li Jing, who was standing right next to Nie Tian, was the first to make a move.

    In the next moment, Li Jing was already standing on top of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s ribcage.

    She slowly crouched down and ced her ring-bearing left hand on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s huge heart. Upon contact, numerous wisps of blood-colored light instantly flew out of her slender fingers and into the heart.

    With a secret magic of the Blood sect, she carefully examined it.

    A momentter, she said with a slight frown, ¡°It has run out of life power. Without a power source, it can only fall into a deep slumber again. Only by infusing it with more life power will we be able to bring it back to life again...¡±

    Her gaze shifted from the Bone Blood Demon to Nie Tian, aplicated expression on her face.

    She knew perfectly well that she would have to rely on Nie Tian to revive the Bone Blood Demon. Nothing she did would make a difference.

    Nie Tian was the only one who could awaken the Bone Blood Demon and put it to use.

    She sensed that even though the Bone Blood Demon was now in a slumber, the outsider blood it had absorbed using the Blood Refining Incantation was still running through its veins.

    The aura of flesh and blood that it kept exuding was also significantly intenser than before.

    It seemed that all the spirit beast blood they had used on it was nowhere near as helpful as the outsider blood it had absorbed on its own.

    Perhaps only Blood Demons created from powerful, alien races would be able to enhance themselves via such methods.

    ¡°Perhaps, it still has room to grow. As long as it can keep absorbing power from flesh and blood, it may even awaken its Bone Giant bloodline power some day.

    ¡°It¡¯s safe to say that the Blood sect has never seen a Blood Demon like this since its founding day.

    ¡°Not to mention in the Realm of me Heaven, even in the other more powerful realms, a fully awakened Blood Demon with a level eight bloodline power would be considered as an ultimate weapon!

    ¡°We can¡¯t lose such a formidable weapon to the Cloudsoaring sect! We must have it!¡±

    Li Jing secretly made up her mind. She was bent on keeping Nie Tian in the Blood sect, even though it meant that she would make Wu Ji her enemy and disrupt the current alliance between the seven sects.

    Time passed quickly.

    All the Blood sect disciples who had chased after the fleeing low-tier outsiders, returned in triumph.

    Only a couple of them returned in low spirits as they didn¡¯t get to kill any low-tier outsiders.

    Among the crowd, Li Jing even saw Yu Tong, Jiang Lingzhu, An Shiyi, and Zheng Bin. Apparently, they had rushed to this ce after seeing that the demon Qi had lifted, and met the returning Blood sect disciples on their way.

    At first nce, Jiang Lingzhu and An Shiyi caught sight of Nie Tian, who was now recuperating with his eyes closed.

    Without any hesitation, they rushed towards him. However, as they approached, they saw sectmaster Li Jing, and came to a stop.

    ¡°Senior Li...¡± Timidness filled their eyes as the two of them bowed to Li Jing from afar, wondering why she was standing beside Nie Tian.

    Actually, neither of them had met Li Jing in person before, but the suffocating aura she unleashed made them certain that the elegant, well-dressed women in front of them was none other than the famous, fierce woman from the Blood sect.

    Since they had both heard terrifying rumors about her, they behaved very cautiously, fearing that they might unwittingly offend her.

    Li Jing examined the two of them with her fierce eyes before saying with a in tone, ¡°Who are you to him?¡±

    ¡°Umm, he¡¯s my martial uncle. My father is Jiang Zhisu.¡± Jiang Lingzhu sounded intimidated.

    ¡°I¡¯m his sworn sister,¡± said An Shiyi.

    ¡°Jiang Zhisu¡¯s precious daughter...¡± Li Jing shot Jiang Lingzhu another nce before she nodded and said, ¡°From now on, Nie Tian is no longer your martial uncle. He¡¯s a member of the Blood sect. You can tell your father that I¡¯ve demanded him from the Cloudsoaring sect when you get back.¡±

    She didn¡¯t even bother to talk to An Shiyi. Instead, she walked away from Nie Tian.

    ¡°He¡¯s recuperating. You can stay by his side and watch him, but don¡¯t try to wake him.¡± Her voice echoed out from the distance while she was already nowhere to be seen.

    Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A member of the Blood sect?!¡± Her gaze shifted between Nie Tian, who was cultivating with his eyes closed, and the direction where Li Jing¡¯s voice hade from, confused about what had happened in this ce.

    An Shiyi¡¯s face was also filled with confusion as she stared nkly at Nie Tian.

    Yu Tong, who was standing in a respectful fashion beside Shen Xiu, apologized, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sectmaster. I failed to arrive in time to help defend the sect.¡±

    ¡°You did well,¡± Li Jing said casually, as it seemed that she also knew the things that had happened between Nie Tian and her. ¡°From today on, Nie Tian is your junior martial brother, and I need you to forget about all your enmity towards him.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Yu Tong was bbergasted.

 Chapter 210: Key Factor

    With a slight frown, Li Jing said, ¡°You didn¡¯t hear me? Okay, I¡¯ll say it one more time. From now on, Nie Tian will be your junior martial brother, and you¡¯ll forget about the things that happened between you and him.¡±

    Yu Tong bowed her head in silence for a while before replying, ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Li Jing said no more.

    Under the starlit sky, Yu Tong¡¯s shoulders couldn¡¯t stop from shivering. Apparently, Li Jing¡¯s decision had greatly shaken her.

    However, she didn¡¯t dare to disobey or argue with her. She could only do as she was bid.

    After all, she had a very good idea of what kind of person the sectmaster was and what punishment she would face if she dared to go against her orders.

    She could only try to slowly forget the unpleasant incidents between her and Nie Tian.

    Her master, Shen Xiu, had noted her sorrow and indignation. She touched her head and said softly, ¡°Kiddo, Nie Tian has be an important asset of our sect. I heard something about the things that happened between you and him, but the moment he awakened the Bone Blood Demon, he was bound to be one of us.¡±

    After all, Shen Xiu had had gone through winds and waves with Li Jing. She understood that now that she had made up her mind, no one¡¯s feelings would change her mind, no matter whose.

    After giving the order to Yu Tong, Li Jing turned to look at Hong Can, Zou Yi, and the others.

    Under her suggesting gaze, all the disciples from the other sects gathered by her side, including Li Fan, who she had released and returned to the Blood sect with the others.

    Even Hong Can, who was from the Hell sect, spoke to her very carefully. ¡°Sectmaster Li, could you tell us what happened to the Realm of me Heaven during the time we were gone?¡±

    Upon hearing Hong Can¡¯s words, the expressions of all those who had returned from the Heaven Gate trial turned grim and concerned. A subdued mood rapidly spread out among them.

    ¡°Terrible things,¡± Li Jing said with a in tone.

    Then she went on and briefly exined to them about the war between the seven sects and the foreign invaders.

    Not long after Hong Can and the others had entered the Heaven Gate, it disappeared. However, at the same time, arge amount of outsiders swarmed into the Realm of me Heaven via opened spacial rifts; most of them were low-tier, but there were also a few high-tier ones.

    However, knowing that their Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation had broken down and outsider demons would soon invade the realm via those spacial rifts, the Hell sect had evacuated before they arrived.

    Most of their powerful experts had been scattered in their affiliated cities, while others had gone to the Ghost sect.

    Experts from the other six sects had also learned that the Demon Trapping Purgatory Formation had lost its effect and realized that they wouldn¡¯t have walls to stay behind if they chose to defend the Hell sect. Therefore, they had returned to their respective sects.

    That way, not only would they be able to contend with the outsiders with the help of their grand, sect-protecting spell formations, but they could also shelter the ns that clung to them.

    As they had expected, soon enough, countless outsiders had flooded the Realm of me Heaven, spreading out to attack all the sects and sending some of their best warriors to the cities where the experts from the Hell sect had held fast.

    The war between the outsiders and the seven sects immediately unfurled and spread out to every corner of the Realm of me Heaven.

    Later, when the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was polluted and demon Qi inundated some parts of the realm, the teleportation portals lost their effect.

    Communication between the seven sects had grown increasingly difficult. As time passed, they gradually lost contact with one another.

    For example, when the Blood sect had been besieged by outsiders, they found it harder and harder to receive information from the other sects.

    Thetest news they had received said that the Grayvale sect had already been sacked by the invading outsiders; most of their Qi warriors had died by the outsiders¡¯ hands with only a few sessfully breaking through the siege, whose whereabouts unknown.

    Since some powerful experts from the Hell sect had joined the defense of the Ghost sect, they had been in a stalemate with the main force of the outsider army.

    Meanwhile, since the Spiritual Treasure sect had lost their Heaven Burning Earth me Formation, they had no choice but to go to the Cloudsoaring sect and join their camp.

    On the other hand, since the Mystic Mist sect wasn¡¯t as strong as the other sects, the outsiders hadn¡¯t deployed much of their force to attack them, and thus they were currently able to defend themselves.

    However, everyone knew that the main force of the outsider army had been deployed to the Ghost sect.

    Once the Ghost sect lost their battle, the elite outsider troops would march on to the Mystic Mist sect and Cloudsoaring sect.

    If it came down to that, the Mystic Mist sect and Cloudsoaring sect wouldn¡¯t even be able tost a day.

    Great powers in the other realms knew perfectly well what was going on in the Realm of me Heaven, but none of them had answered the Hell sect¡¯s request for assistance.

    As human Qi warriors with simr origins, the indifference of the powerful experts from the other eight realms had made the Hell sect fume with rage. However, there was nothing they could do about it.

    With a in tone, Li Jing gave a detailed exnation of the current situation of the other sects. Then she continued, ¡°Our sect has also suffered great losses, but thanks to the awakening of the Bone Blood Demon, we escaped our doom.

    ¡°The seven sects stand and fall as one now.

    ¡°Even though we forced the outsiders to retreat this time, we didn¡¯t hurt their foundation. All those we¡¯ve killed were low-tier foot soldiers.

    ¡°We¡¯ll recuperate as quickly as possible and then I¡¯ll lead some of our Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm experts to support the Ghost sect.

    ¡°As long as the Ghost sect can hold fast or even better, defeat their enemies, the Realm of me Heaven will most likely live through this cmity.

    ¡°Furthermore, I doubt that the outsiders will go all-out to seize the Realm of me Heaven and make it their home again.

    ¡°They must also know that if they actually send all their troops to this war, the other eight realms will sense the threat and probably won¡¯t stand by any more.

    ¡°So this is more like a retaliation!

    ¡°Both the outsiders and the human Qi warriors of the Domain of the Falling Stars have their own worries. I believe this invasion of the Realm of me Heaven is only the beginning.¡±

    Li Jing suddenly stopped and turned to look at Nie Tian.

    Facing Nie Tian, she said to Li Fan, ¡°The reason I need to keep Nie Tian in the Blood sect is that, although he can now control the Bone Blood Demon, he still hasn¡¯t fully awakened it and its true strength is still yet to be disyed.

    ¡°If he wants to do that, he¡¯ll have to learn some of the Blood sect¡¯s secret magics.

    ¡°Magics that only disciples of the Blood sect are eligible to learn!

    ¡°I guarantee you that after he joins our sect and practices those secret magics, he¡¯ll soon be as powerful as a Profound realm expert! And his Bone Blood Demon will be able to more efficiently enhance its strength through the Blood Refining Incantation. Given time, it would grow to be the most powerful weapon we can use to defeat the outsider invaders!

    ¡°I believe Wu Ji would ept it if him losing a disciple could restore peace and safety to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Only until now did Li Jing turn to look at Li Fan in the eyes and say with a soft tone, ¡°I hope you can exin my intentions with Nie Tian to your master when you go back to the Cloudsoaring sect or find a way to contact him. Times are different. Nie Tian has be a crucial factor as to whether we¡¯ll be able to turn the situation around and save the Realm of me Heaven. I promise that as long as he joins the Blood sect, I¡¯ll personally pass our secret magics to him and not hold anything back.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll pass your message to my master,¡± Li Fan said in a low voice.

    After hearing Li Jing¡¯s exnation, he now had a better understanding as to why she insisted on making Nie Tian a Blood sect disciple.

    ¡°I hope Nie Tian will tell me that he¡¯ll be able to awaken the Bone Blood Demon from its slumber again.¡± Li Jing also shut her eyes after these words.

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s gaze shifted to Nie Tian.

    None of them had ever expected that Nie Tian, who had made great gains during the Heaven Gate trial, would be such a key factor after returning to the Realm of me Heaven.

    With measuring gazes, they looked deeply at Nie Tian, who was still in the middle of his cultivation.

    Not only was he refilling his vortex of spiritual power with the power he had absorbed from the spirit stones, but he was also channeling the falling starlight into his rapidly-rotating vortex of starlight.

    When he had a feeling that his spiritual power was almost fully restored, he unleashed a wisp of his psychic awareness to examine the hexagram tattooed on his chest.

    As soon as it entered the hexagram, the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation unfurled in front of his eyes, every single symbol iparably clear. Without any hesitation, he started learning them by heart and contemting the profound truths they contained.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he was lost in the sea of fascinating mysteries.

    Meanwhile, he also sensed that his psychic power was rapidly emptying as the learning went on.

 Chapter 211: Good Faith

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Nie Tian realized that he had lost more than half of his psychic power, and thus retracted the wisp of his psychic awareness from the hexagram.

    However, during this period of learning and contemtion, he had mastered the basics and could practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Then, he once again focused his attention on channeling the falling starlight into the vortex of starlight in his spiritual sea.

    The rotation of the vortex of starlight wasn¡¯t regr at all; sometimes it sped up and sometimes it slowed down. Sometimes, it even reversed and rotated in the other direction.

    The fragments of the starlight seemed to be refined in their own mysterious way. In any case, it grew purer and purer. Once in awhile, a drop of liquidized starlight would form at the bottom of the vortex of starlight.

    The way the vortex of starlight worked waspletely different from the other vortexes in his spiritual sea. When he practiced the Qi Refining Incantation, the spiritual energy he brought in would go through rounds of refinement and then flow to the far edge of his spiritual sea, and gradually build up towards the center.

    Cultivation at the Lesser Heaven stage was about continuously refining spiritual energy and filling the spiritual sea with the misty, refined spiritual energy.

    However, the starlight Nie Tian had channeled into his vortex of starlight via the Fragmentary Star Incantation turned into liquid stardew after refinement.

    The stardew seemed fundamentally different from the misty spiritual power, as within it seemed toy more mysteries and secrets.

    As time went by, more and more drops of stardew were formed at the bottom of the vortex of starlight and soon gathered into a small pool of stardew.

    Time passed quickly. Soon the curtain of night began to rise, and daybreak was at hand.

    By first light of the day, Nie Tian could still channel a trivial amount of starlight into his vortex of starlight, but the efficiency had been greatly reduced.

    By the time the sun was high in the sky, the starlight he could receive was next to none.

    Only then did he finally awake from his cultivation and stop his contemtion of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    He examined himself with his soul and found that he had recovered most of his spiritual power.

    It seemed that the shallow stardew pool in his vortex of starlight could also be used as a source of power at any time now.

    It was just that he had consumed most of his psychic power just to go through very little of the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. He only learned how to create the stardew, but not how to use it.

    Furthermore, the learning and contemtion had consumed a significant amount of his psychic power.

    An Shiyi, who was sitting next to him, was the first one to notice his awaking. She immediately stopped her cultivation and turned to look at him with a charming smile on her face. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake!¡±

    In her hands were a few spirit stones. Apparently, she was in the middle of recuperation herself.

    After hearing her words, Jiang Lingzhu also opened her eyes. She looked at Nie Tian with her still-misted eyes before looking up and saying, ¡°Wow, it¡¯s already morning.¡±

    Unlike An Shiyi, Jiang Lingzhu hadn¡¯t been recovering with spirit stones. Rather, she had actually fallen asleep during her cultivation.

    Ever since she had returned from the Heaven Gate trial, she hadn¡¯t had much time to rest; the intense demon Qi and fierce outsiders had done a number on her.

    She could only restore a clear mind via a deep slumber.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m d that you guys are alright.¡± With a smile, Nie Tian nced around and saw that Hong Can, Feng Luo, Li Fan, and other survivors of the Heaven Gate trial were gathered around Li Jing, exining to her the things that had taken ce in the Heaven Gate, while she silently sat in the middle.

    Yu Tong was sitting right beside her master, Shen Xiu, but she seemed to be paying attention to Nie Tian the whole time.

    The moment Nie Tian woke up, she noticed it and instantly shot a nce at him with aplicated expression on her face.

    The Blood sect disciples with low cultivation bases could be seen around the sect, clearing up the battlefield.

    Dpidated walls and scattered rocks could be seen at every corner of the Blood sect, underneath some of which dead bodies of low-tier outsider and Blood sect disciples could be seen.

    The cleaners¡¯ faces were all ghastly as they bore the pain while doing the work. Some even burst into tears as they did.

    However, most of the Greater Heaven stage experts had no expressions on their faces as they seemed to be rather used to fellow sect members dying.

    All those who gathered around Li Jing looked quite indifferent. Apparently, they weren¡¯t shaken by the loss their sect had suffered.

    After ncing around, Nie Tian looked over his shoulder and saw the Bone Blood Demon lying on the ground. Even though he could still sense a strong aura rising from it, there was no longer any sign of life fluctuations.

    He then realized that the Bone Blood Demon had used up the life power he had infused into its heart while he was recuperating.

    If he wanted to awaken it again, he would have to apply the same method.

    With these thoughts, he silently took out a few chunks of spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and started munching.

    The spirit beast meat contained rich life power, and by consuming it, he would be able to rapidly recover the life power he had lost by dripping his blood onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Li Fan, you may now go and talk to Nie Tian,¡± Li Jing blurted. ¡°And after that, you¡¯re wee to stay in the Blood sect or take Jiang Lingzhu and leave.¡±

    Surprised, Li Fan turned around and saw Nie Tian awake. He rose to his feet and walked to Nie Tian¡¯s side before saying, ¡°Nie Tian, your awakening of the Bone Blood Demon caused you some trouble. Senior Li demands that you be a disciple of the Blood sect and that I go back to the Cloudsoaring sect to deliver her message.¡±

    With these words, Li Fan heaved a sigh and continued, ¡°I¡¯ll inform my master and martial granduncle when I get back and see what they decide.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian expression flickered. ¡°She wants me to join the Blood sect?¡±

    Li Fan smiled bitterly. ¡°The Bone Blood Demon is too important to the Blood sect. She would never allow you, its controller, to return to the Cloudsoaring sect with it. The Bone Blood Demon may even change the course of the war and determine the destiny of the Realm of me Heaven, so...¡±

    He shook his head and said disheartedly, ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯m afraid your master may agree to her offer if it can really turn the situation around.¡±

    Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    Jiang Lingzhu, who was sitting beside him, bowed her head and didn¡¯t say a word.

    Even she understood that Li Jing¡¯s proposal was very hard to refuse when the survival of the entire realm that was at stake.

    After learning from Li Fan that the entire Realm of me Heaven was in danger, the first thing that came to Nie Tian¡¯s mind was the safety of his grandfather and aunt, since they were the most important ones to him. ¡°If the outsiders sack the Realm of me Heaven, what will happen to ck Cloud City?¡±

    He also cared a great deal about Wu Ji, but he was fairly certain that, considering his level of strength, he would be able to save himself even if the Realm of me Heaven fell.

    What he worried the most was that ck Cloud City would be ravaged by low-tier outsiders and Nie Donghai and Nie Qian be killed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Li Fan¡¯s eyebrows were deeply furrowed. ¡°But I can assure you that I¡¯ll do everything within my power to search for your grandfather and aunt on my way back to the Clousoaring sect, and I¡¯ll do my best to keep them safe.¡±

    After a brief pause, Li Fan added, ¡°If they¡¯re still alive.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression turned grim. He pondered for a moment before taking all the cultivation materials he had looted from the foreign Qi warriors out of his bracelet of holding andying them in front of Li Fan. He said, ¡°These things won¡¯t help me much. Now that I¡¯ll stay here for god knows how long, I want you to take these things back and consider them as my humble contribution to the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    After looking deeply into his eyes for a few seconds, Li Fan put all the items away and said, ¡°Staying here isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing for you. For all I know, you¡¯ll have your chance to return to the Cloudsoaring sect when the Realm of me Heaven is safe again. I need to take Lingzhu back now. You take care!¡±

    ¡°You too, Uncle Li,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°I will.¡± Li Fan beckoned for Jiang Lingzhu to leave with him.

    At that very moment, Li Jing turned to Shen Xiu and said, ¡°Elder Sister Shen, I need you to escort them back to the Cloudsoaring sect. Also, help Li Fan find Nie Tian¡¯s two kin in ck Cloud City. Keep them safe and bring them back to the Blood sect.¡±

    It seemed that she had overheard every word of Nie Tian and Li Fan¡¯s conversation.

    Shen Xiu also rose to her feet. ¡°Understood.¡±

    Seeing that Li Fan and Jiang Lingzhu were leaving, An Shiyi rose from Nie Tian¡¯s side and said with her face filled with reluctance, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    Li Fan shook his head and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need; the Blood sect has just fought off a wave of outsiders, so I believe this is probably the safest ce in the Realm of me Heaven right now. Even though the survivors of the Spiritual Treasure sect are now helping defend the Cloudsoaring sect, it won¡¯t be easy to get through the outsiders¡¯ siege and into the Cloudsoaring sect.¡±

    ¡°But my n is also in ck Cloud City,¡± said An Shiyi.

    Li Fan went nk for a moment before he said, ¡°Fine.¡±

    He knew that An Shiyi was worried about the An n and her sister An Ying. Although he knew the way back would be full of terror, he didn¡¯t think he would be able to talk An Shiyi out of it.

    Nie Tian also knew that she had made up her mind, so he said with a serious tone, ¡°Take care of yourself, sister. We¡¯ll meet again soon.¡±

    An Shiyi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You too.¡±

    ¡°As our sectmastermands, I¡¯ll escort you to the Cloudsoaring sect.¡± Shen Xiu slowly descended in front of Nie Tian. Looking at him, she said, ¡°As long as your grandfather and aunt are still alive, I¡¯ll find them and bring them back here.¡±

    Nie Tian rose to his feet and bowed respectfully. ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    He had heard that Shen Xiu¡¯s strength was second only to Li Jing in the Blood sect. Now that she had given him her word, he was quite confident that she would be able to deliver.

    As long as his grandfather and aunt were still alive, Shen Xiu would most likely secure them and bring them back.

    The Blood sect showed their willingness to go to great lengths to erase his worries and make him stay in the Blood sect.

    Immediately after she finished talking, Shen Xiu led Li Fan, An Shiyi, and Jiang Lingzhu as they walked out of the Blood sect. Qiu Heng from the Spiritual Treasure sect tailed them.

    The disciples of the Mystic Mist sect also left the Blood sect and headed to their sect.

    Only the disciples of the Grayvale sect chose to stay in the Blood sect, knowing that their sect had already been sacked.

    Hong Can from the Hell sect and Zou Yi from the Ghost sect nned to spend the next two days recovering their strength and then join the defense over at the Ghost sect.

    After everything was settled, the Blood sect returned to peace. Some disciples of the Blood sect spread out to collect blood from the outsiders¡¯ corpses, in preparation of reforming the grand, sect-protecting spell formation.

    Wearing a long dress, Li Jing walked gracefully to Nie Tian¡¯s side and said, ¡°Now I¡¯ll teach you the Demon Driving Incantation, which will allow you to gain true control of the Bone Blood Demon.¡±

 Chapter 212: Demon Driving Incantation

    When Li Jing moved her fiery-red lips and started telling Nie Tian about the Demon Driving Incantation, everyone voluntarily vacated the area, including the disciples from the Grayvale sect and Ghost sect.

    Even if they wanted to overhear what was being said, they wouldn¡¯t be able to hear a word since Li Jing had already sound-proofed the area where Nie Tian and she were in.

    Slowly and softly, she lectured to Nie Tian about the wonders and secrets of the Demon Driving Incantation.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything and quietly memorized every word that came out of her mouth. Later, when Li Jing exined the cultivation method word by word, he asionally raised his questions.

    Li Jing spent a whole morning borating on the Demon Driving Incantation to Nie Tian.

    At noon, Li Jing finally finished her lesson and, looking at Nie Tian with her piercing eyes, she said, ¡°You¡¯ll have two days to contemte the incantation, and in the meantime, you cane to me whenever you run into points where you don¡¯t understand. We¡¯ll set out to the Ghost sect in two days and I¡¯ll need you to awaken the Bone Blood Demon the same way you did. And then, we¡¯ll use it to kill outsider invaders and save the Ghost sect.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°So this is it for today.¡± She pondered for a moment before the ring on her finger suddenly shone with a bright light. In the next moment, four Soul Restoring Pills appeared in her palm. ¡°I heard that you had outstanding tolerance for the strong medicinal efficacy of the Soul Restoring Pills. Here. You can use them to recover your psychic power.¡±

    She handed over the Soul Restoring Pills as she spoke.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Without any hesitation, Nie Tian grabbed the pills and swallowed them all at once.

    Currently, he had fully restored his spiritual power and his flesh power was also growing back bit by bit as he digested the spirit beast meat. Only his psychic power, which he had consumed a great deal of to learn the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, was still quite low.

    As a Profound realm expert, Li Jing easily spotted his problem and thus gifted him four Soul Restoring Pills.

    ¡°Don¡¯t overconsume your psychic power again.¡± Li Jing slightly frowned as if she even saw through the fact that he had overused his psychic power to study the Fragmentary Star Incantation. ¡°Your current priority is to study the Demon Driving Incantation. Only when you master it will you truly master controlling the Bone Blood Demon and be able to disy its full strength.

    ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions regarding the Demon Driving Incantation while Yu Tong will see to it that you have whatever else you need.¡±

    With these words, Li Jing turned around and left the square.

    Looking nkly at her elegant figure disappearing into the distance,plicated emotions rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    He could still remember that during the Treasure Convention at the Spiritual Treasure sect, the moon had been painted to the color of blood while Li Jing had sat on a floating, scarlet lotus,manding a gigantic blood monster to tear open the Heaven Burning Earth me Formation and ughter countless disciples of the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    He had been chased after by powerful experts from the Blood sect and barely escaped.

    Never had he ever imagined that one day this fierce woman would sit down with him and pass on the Blood sect¡¯s secret magics to him.

    Li Jing arrived at the area where all the Blood sect disciples were gathered. Her gaze swept through the crowd before itnded on Yu Tong as she said with a in tone, ¡°You¡¯ll be responsible for delivering food to Nie Tian¡¯s room over the next two days. Grant him whatever he needs. If he asks for anything you can¡¯t get,e and find me.¡±

    Yu Tong answered respectfully, ¡°As you wish, sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Li Jing slightly nodded.

    Nie Tian spent the following day cultivating in his room.

    First of all, he replenished his psychic power with the four Soul Restoring Pills and directed the extra power to the seven fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Then, he focused on contemting the profundity of the Demon Driving Incantation.

    It was a secret magic that could allow people tomunicate with Blood Demons. There were two ways to aplish that: one, to establish a connection with blood, or two, tomunicate with it via the resonation of their souls.

    ording to Li Jing, since low-rank Blood Demons didn¡¯t even possess a soul, the spell-caster would have to establish connection with it using blood.

    However, high-rank Blood Demons like the Bone Blood Demon usually would possess an iplete soul, so the spell-caster couldmunicate with it through the resonation of their blood or souls.

    During their attempts to refine the Bone Blood Demon, Shen Xiu had once forcibly infused her own blood into it.

    She had even sealed the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s iplete soul in the Blood Spirit Pearl, nurturing it with her own blood day and night.

    If the Bone Blood Demon had been awakened during that time, it would have taken Shen Xiu as its master.

    Then, Shen Xiu would have been able tomunicate with it and control it via the connection between her blood and the blood she had infused it with, or by resonating with its soul that she had sealed away in the Blood Spirit Pearl.

    However, due to Yu Tong¡¯s low cultivation base, when the Bone Blood Demon had been awakened, she had failed to suppress the rebellion of its iplete soul, which eventually broke free from the constraint of the Blood Spirit Pearl and flew back into its mind.

    Therefore, that was when Shen Xiu had lost herst chance at gaining control of the Bone Blood Demon.

    Li Jing had advised Nie Tian to try and awaken the Bone Blood Demon via the resonation of their souls, since this method was more advanced.

    However, Nie Tian had more confidence in the other method. After all, he had sessfully awakened the Bone Blood Demon before by dripping his blood onto its heart.

    Hence, he nned to try out both methods.

    But in order to ensure that he had grasped the essence of both methods before using them on the Bone Blood Demon, he intended to practice with a few low-rank Blood Demons first and see the results.

    In the middle of the night, Nie Tian, who was quite confident in his understandings of the Demon Driving Incantation, grew excited and restless.

    Just as he was about to rise to his feet and move out, Yu Tong walked into his room, holding a sizable silver tter.

    As she approached, Nie Tian saw on the tter were many fresh fruits that exuded spiritual energy and greasy, grilled spirit beast meat.

    ¡°Here¡¯s your food for the day.¡± She sat the big tter on the ground next to Nie Tian and rapidly turned around, as if she didn¡¯t want to spend one more second in the room.

    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    ¡°What else do you want?¡± Yu Tong turned back and said.

    ¡°I need eight more tes of food like this,¡± Nie Tian calmly answered. ¡°I eat more than normal people.¡±

    ¡°Fine." Yu Tong turned around and stepped towards the door.

    As she walked away, she muttered to herself with a disdainful expression on her face, ¡°Hope your stomach bursts and kills you!¡±

    Momentster, she came back to Nie Tian¡¯s room holding two giant tters that were filled with all sorts of food. As she approached him, she found that Nie Tian had already emptied the first tter.

    Yu Tong was astounded for a moment before she put the food down and walked out.

    A whileter, when she returned with three more giant tters filled with food, she stared at Nie Tian the whole time as if she didn¡¯t believe that Nie Tian had actually eaten all the food by himself.

    She thought he was ying tricks on her after learning that he was so important to the realm of the me Heaven.

    She didn¡¯t believe that someone could actually gulp down so much food that quickly.

    However, the moment she walked into the room, she saw Nie Tian doing what could only be referred to as inhaling his food.

    Knowing that she wouldn¡¯t be able to finish even one tter in a whole day, she watched Nie Tian wolf down his food as if she was watching a monster devour its prey.

    Now she was certain that it was no trick.

    Only a momentter did she snap out of her daze and go to fetch the rest of the food Nie Tian had demanded.

    A whileter, Nie Tian finished all the food under Yu Tong¡¯s gaze. He burped and said drowsily, ¡°Now get me a Blood Demon. I want to try out the Demon Driving Incantation.¡±

    With a frown, Yu Tong blurted, ¡°Are you kidding? You¡¯ve barely learned it!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll seed. But it won¡¯t hurt to try, will it?¡± said Nie Tian.

    ¡°Most of our low-rank Blood Demons died fighting outsiders, and the outsiders ate their bodies.¡± Yu Tong exined. ¡°All that survived are high-rank ones that have their own masters. You won¡¯t be able to manipte them. You can only conduct your experiments on the Bone Blood Demon... which should have been my master¡¯s.¡±

    Undisguised indignation could be seen in her eyes as she spoke.

    She still couldn¡¯t let go of the idea that Nie Tian had stolen the most powerful weapon from her sect by awakening the Bone Blood Demon and bringing it under his control.

    ¡°Only the Bone Blood Demon?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian waved his hand, telling her that her service was no longer needed.

    Yu Tong left while killing intent could be seen in her eyes.

    After she left, Nie Tian rose to his feet. With a deep frown, he walked to the ce where the Bone Blood Demon had copsed.

    Facing one of its giant feet, he reached out his hand and pressed one finger on it. He wanted to see if he could establish a connection with it via the power in their blood.

 Chapter 213: Awakening of the Bloodline!

    ¡°What?!¡± The moment the tip of Nie Tian¡¯s finger made contact with the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s foot bone, his eyebrows furrowed.

    At that moment, he suddenly had a strong feeling that, as his internal organs worked, the spirit beast meat that he had consumed earlier was now rapidly unleashing wisps of flesh power into every corner of his body.

    Normally, he would have this kind of feeling every time he consumed arge amount of spirit beast meat.

    However, it felt different this time.

    Instead of proceeding to cast the Demon Driving Incantation and trying to establish a connection with the Bone Blood Demon, he retracted his hand and then carefully examined himself with his psychic awareness.

    He saw countless wisps of energy swimming out of his stomach towards every part of his body. However, as his heart beat more and more vigorously, all the energy wisps began converging on it.

    Before, the essence he had absorbed from spirit beat meat would always have infused into his viscera and every piece of his muscle and flesh to gradually strengthen his body.

    And that was the why his fleshy body had always been stronger and tougher than other human Qi warriors his age.

    However, it was different this time. The energy that had originated from his internal organs didn¡¯t flow to his muscles or bones, but rather his heart.

    Standing next to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s giant foot, he focused all his attention on finding what had triggered the change.

    A wisp of his soul quietly flew into his heart and observed in silence.

    He saw numerous wisps of energy flowing in through the walls of his heart from all directions, but what surprised him was that there was a green thread of energy coiled up at the bottom of his heart.

    He had no idea when it had been formed and why it was there. He had never noticed it before.

    The wisp of his soul floated closer to the coiled green energy, observing and sensing it very carefully.

    He sensed the aura of an ancient life within the coiled thread of energy. It could be the concentrated form of life power or the source of a bloodline.

    He came to another surprising finding as he furthered his examination.

    Within the coiled, green thread of energyy countless translucent and sparkling blood strings that were as fine as hairs. They interwove with each other and seemed to be brimming with green-colored energy.

    If the green thread of energy were a living creature, those sparkling blood strings would be its meridians.

    As the wisp of his soul delved even deeper, he discovered that tiny green dots were floating within the crystal-like blood strings.

    Each and every one of them shone with bright, green light, as if they were some mysterious symbols that carried the profound truths of blood.

    ¡°Life Bloodline!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. Then he found that all the wisps of energy that had been attracted by his heart were madly converging and disappearing into the green thread of energy.

    The red wisps of energy were flesh power from the spirit beast meat.

    However, the moment they entered his heart, the realm of the green energy thread, they seemed to be devoured and ground down into shreds by it.

    It wasn¡¯t long before everyst wisp of flesh power disappeared into the mysterious green energy thread.

    However, it seemed still famished as it started swimming about within his heart like a greedy, mysterious python, foraging for more flesh power.

    When it realized that it couldn¡¯t find any new prey, it finally settled down and coiled up again.

    It was at that very moment that an intense dizziness struck Nie Tian.

    Under the gaze of his soul, the green energy thread suddenly began to shine with dazzlingly green light.

    At the same time, the green spots in the sparkling blood strings rapidly shifted into a new alignment.

    A series of obscure words suddenly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.¡°Life Bloodline. Talent. Life Transfer!¡±

    They were so clear and unforgettable that it was as if they were branded deeply on his soul.

    All of a sudden, his heart started pounding rapidly and the wisp of his soul consciousness was instantly expelled!

    Right before his soul consciousness was pushed out of his heart, he saw his heart fill with dazzling green light.

    However, it was just a second before the green thread of energy stopped shining and coiled up at the bottom of his heart again, silent and calm.

    Even still, the words that had been engraved in his mind just now became increasingly clear and meaningful.

    ¡°The life of my bloodline is awakened and I¡¯ve been given another talent, Life Transfer!¡± Nie Tian seemed to have an epiphany.

    Hua Mu had once told him that he was different, and after the Heaven Gate trial, he was increasingly certain that he had a unique bloodline power within his blood.

    Perhaps, the reason why it hadn¡¯t showed any signs of life before was that his cultivation base was far too low.

    Therefore, due to the recent, rapid advancement in his cultivation base, the power that had been hidden within his bloodline was finally awakened, and Life Transfer was the first talent he obtained after the awakening.

    He was still standing next to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s foot, eyes closed and still, contemting the first bloodline talent he had obtained.

    He had a feeling that the sessful awakening of his bloodline talent had a great deal to do with him awakening the Bone Blood Demon.

    The act of him dripping his own blood onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart to awaken it might have been a manifestation of Life Transfer.

    The awakening of this particr bloodline talent almost seemed too timely to be true, as if his body knew what he needed the most at this moment and intentionally developed in this direction.

    Eyes closed, he tried with all his heart to master the profound truths of the newly-acquired bloodline talent.

    He had long since forgotten that he was there to use the Demon Driving Incantation tomunicate with the Bone Blood Demon.

    Off to the side, Yu Tong was standing about ten meters away from him, observing him from a blind corner.

    She had seen Nie Tian touch the Bone Blood Demon with his finger and then rapidly retract his hand.

    Then, she had detected abnormally strong energy fluctuations from within his body.

    Even though she had sensed some anomalies, she hadn¡¯t been able to detect the radical change in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, no matter how hard she had tried.

    As a matter of fact, no one had been able to, not even sectmaster Li Jing.

    A very long time passed by...

    Nie Tian slowly opened his eyes as he finished mastering the main parts of his first bloodline talent.

    With a deep breath, he leaped onto the copsed Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest.

    He crouched down and pressed one hand on its giant, grayish-brown heart, in an attempt to start the Life Transfer.

    The moment he focused on the thought, the thread of green aura in his heart suddenly began to emanate bright light again.

    The countless crystal-like blood strings within it and the green spots flowing within those strings blossomed with dazzling light.

    All of a sudden, an extremely fine strand of green aura was separated from the green aura in his heart and flew out.

    No sparkling blood strings or green shiny spots could be seen within it.

    It seemed that it was made of pure life power, with no bloodline power or mysterious symbols inside of it.

    The fine strand of green aura rapidly flew out of his heart and followed his meridians toward his hand that was pressed against the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    During the process, Nie Tian could keenly sense the blood in his veins growing increasingly restless to the point where he felt as if his blood was seething.

    Then he found that wisps of aura that seemed to contain pure life power began to seep out of his blood and quickly swim towards the strand of green aura.

    After they merged with the green aura, it rapidly expanded.

    However, as more and more wisps of aura disappeared into the green aura, Nie Tian was gradually seized by an intense weariness.

    A momentter, the strand of green aura that was significantlyrger than before flew out of the palm of Nie Tian¡¯s hand and entered the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    Almost at the same time, its slumbering heart began to pound vigorously once again.

    It was also at that moment, Nie Tian felt a mysterious connection between his blood and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s.

    BOOM!

    With a loud sound, the Bone Blood Demon suddenly rose to its feet, causing Nie Tian to fall heavily to the ground.

    ¡°Ten days! It willst ten days this time!¡± Even though Nie Tian experienced dizziness from the loss of life power and the fall, he was very certain that the Bone Blood Demon would remain active for ten days by relying on the life power within the strand of green aura.

    Furthermore, he felt that there was now a more profound connection between himself and the Bone Blood Demon.

    From what he could tell, merely a thought in his mind would be able tomand the Bone Blood Demon to kill his enemies for him.

    He would no longer need to manifest a strong killing intent and lock onto his enemies with his psychic awareness to achieve that.

    As soon as the thought of it appeared in his mind, the Bone Blood Demon would immediately read his intentions and carry them out.

    However, it suddenly urred to him that he didn¡¯t even get to use the Demon Driving Incantation yet. The method he had just applied waspletely different and far more profound.

    ¡°What?!¡± Li Jing sensed the rise of the Bone Blood Demon and arrived within seconds. A confused expression filled her face as she asked Nie Tian, ¡°You¡¯ve mastered the Demon Driving Incantation in such little time!? And also, didn¡¯t I tell you to wait to awaken the Bone Blood Demon until we¡¯re in the Ghost sect?¡±

    Many powerful experts of the Blood sect also rushed to the scene and every one of them had shock written across their face. ¡°How can that be possible?! It¡¯s only been a day. How in the world did he master the Demon Driving Incantation so quickly?¡±

    Yu Tong was also dumbstruck. She looked at Nie Tian in the same way she looked at a high-tier outsider for the first time.

    ¡°Umm, I think I may really be capable of practicing Blood sect incantations.¡± Nie Tian said embarrassedly, knowing that the method he had just used to awaken the Bone Blood Demon had absolutely nothing to do with the Demon Driving Incantation that Li Jing had imparted to him.

    Anyhow, he achieved the result he was looking for.

 Chapter 214: Green Aura

    ¡°How long will it remain active this time, Nie Tian?¡± Brow furrowed, Li Jing asked with certain grimness in her voice.

    ¡°A few days,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Are you sure you are in total control of it?¡± Li Jing reconfirmed with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded in reply.

    ¡°Everyone, there¡¯s a change of n.¡± Li Jing said decisively, ¡°We¡¯ll march out to the Ghost sect today. Now that the Bone Blood Demon is awakened, we need to make the most out of it. We need to use it to kill as many outsiders as we can and as fast as we can.¡±

    As she gently raised her jade-like arm, more than twenty Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Blood sect, as well as Hong Can and Zou Yi, gathered by her side, as if they had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

    ¡°Unfortunately, the outsiders killed everyst one of my spirit beast mounts.¡± After a moment of hesitation, she said, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to get you all to the Ghost sect by myself. ording to my estimation, you will need at least two days to get there, and that¡¯s assuming you don¡¯t run into any outsiders on your way there.¡±

    At that moment Nie Tian, who was still yet to recover from the dizziness, realized, to his surprise, that Li Jing nned to set off at that very moment.

    The Bone Blood Demon that was more than thirty meters tall seemed to have seen through Nie Tian¡¯s concerns and suddenly crouched down next to Nie Tian.

    Even crouched, the Bone Blood Demon was still more than ten meters tall, so it wouldn¡¯t be easy for Nie Tian to jump onto its shoulder.

    As soon as that concern was born in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, the Bone Blood Demony prone on the ground so that he could easily mount its shoulder.

    SHEW!

    With a swift leap, Nie Tian mounted the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder and got ready to move out to the Ghost sect under Li Jing¡¯s leadership.

    In this way, he wouldn¡¯t need to spend any of his own energy to get there.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Li Jing noticed the actions of Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± she called out to him. ¡°The Bone Blood Demon is strong enough to carry more people. Since you¡¯re in control of it, tell it to carry the others on its back so that we can get to the Ghost sect as soon as possible.¡±

    The expression of every Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior flickered; anticipation could be seen in their eyes.

    ¡°Let me see if I can.¡± The moment the thought of it entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, the Bone Blood Demon, who was rising from the ground, once againy prone. Then, Nie Tian beckoned for Hong Can and Zou Yi toe over.

    Under Li Jing¡¯s gaze, the two of them stepped cautiously towards the Bone Blood Demon.

    As they approached, a fluctuating aura suddenly spread out into the surroundings from within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body, within which Nie Tian detected enmity.

    ¡°Calm down,¡± Nie Tian said in his mind.

    In the next moment, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s fierce aura became peaceful again.

    ¡°Over here.¡± Standing on the Bone Bone Blood Demon¡¯s broad shoulder, Nie Tian beckoned for Hong Can and Zou Yi toe to his side.

    The two were slightly frightened by the sudden energy fluctuations, but stepped forward with caution and jumped onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder.

    The Bone Blood Demon seemed fine with it.

    ¡°Go, all of you,¡± Li Jing issued themand.

    After seeing that nothing had happened to Hong Can and Zou Yi, the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Blood sect jumped to Nie Tian¡¯s side one after another.

    After everyone got a firm foothold, Li Jing nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s move out.¡±

    After those words, the blood-colored lotus whizzed out of her ring of holding and, with a swift move, she sat on top of it and floated up into the air.

    ¡°Keep up with her,¡± Nie Tian issued themand with his mind.

    All of a sudden, an iparably strong aura burst forth from within every vein in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bony body, and it rose up into the sky, as if it was no longer bound by gravity.

    Hong Can¡¯s expression flickered as he shifted his gaze between the Bone Blood Demon under him and Nie Tian to his side. Utterly amazed, he said, ¡°The Blood Demon created from a level eight Bone Giant is truly a marvelous weapon! It¡¯s your great fortune that Li Jing took you in as her disciple and made you master of this Bone Blood Demon.¡±

    Flying beside them on her lotus, Li Jing said ironically, ¡°No, the pleasure is mine.¡±

    At the same time, a dark-red medicinal pill flew out of Li Jing¡¯s lotus and towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°You must have consumed a lot of essence of Qi and blood to awaken the Bone Blood Demon.¡± Li Jing said lightly. ¡°Here¡¯s a Blood Pill, refined from the blood of fourth grade spirit beasts. One third of it should be enough to restore all the Qi and blood essence you¡¯ve expended.¡±

    The blood-colored lotus soared side by side with the Bone Blood Demon in the dawn sky, hundreds of meters above the ground.

    The Blood Pill that Li Jing had gifted Nie Tian somehow remained within a reachable distance as it floated in front of him.

    As soon as Nie Tian reached out to grab the pill, he sensed the wisp of spiritual energy that had been wreathing the pill rapidly returning to its master, Li Jing.

    ¡°One third will be enough?¡± He muttered to himself.

    Hong Can from the Hell sect reassured Nie Tian in a low voice, ¡°Blood Pills refined from the blood of fourth grade spirit beasts contain extremely rich Qi and blood essence. I know that you¡¯re quite special, but I¡¯m certain that one third will be more than enough to recover all the energy you¡¯ve lost. Senior Li treats you well. These pills are rather hard to get in the Realm of me Heaven. Don¡¯t force yourself with it.¡±

    He knew that Nie Tian had be a key factor to the situation of the whole realm, and thus didn¡¯t want anything to happen to him before they even arrived at the Ghost sect.

    Nie Tian understood his good intentions.

    Therefore, since he also couldn¡¯t be sure of the medicinal efficacy of the pill, he pinched one third of of the pill and threw it into his mouth.

    The moment it entered his stomach, it started to unleash an amazinglyrge amount of energy.

    Nie Tian used his soul to examine himself and found numerous wisps of energy rapidly spreading out from his stomach to every corner of his body, filling every drop of his blood.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he felt enlivened and filled with thriving life force.

    As energetic as he felt, he could tell that he hadn¡¯t reached his peak state.

    Knowing that the medicinal efficacy of one third of the Blood Pill wasn¡¯t enough, he opened his eyes and nced around, discovering that Li Jing was sitting on her red lotus, looking forward.

    The other Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors were either cultivating with their eyes closed, talking to one another, or observing the situation on the ground.

    No one was paying any attention to him.

    With a frown, he quickly shoved another third of the Blood Pill into his mouth.

    Immediately after that, another surge of extremely rich energy filled his abdomen before it gradually dispersed into every part of his body.

    It wasn¡¯t long before his Qi and blood essence were restored to the fullest, and even with arge amount to spare.

    Just as the extra Qi and blood essence couldn¡¯t find a ce to go, Nie Tian¡¯s heart beat abnormally strong for a moment.

    In the next moment, the wisps of energy that had been swimming aimlessly in his flesh and blood seemed to have found their destination: his heart.

    Without the slightest hesitation, he sent a wisp of his soul to examine his heart, and found countless fine wisps of energy madly pouring into his heart.

    Upon such scene, the originally calm thread of green aura immediately grew ecstatic. It rapidly swooped toward one wisps of energy after another.

    Only several minutester, all the energy wisps were ripped apart and devoured by the thread of green aura.

    However, the restless green aura was still slithering up and down in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, as if it was looking for more.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian secretly shoved thest third of the Blood Pill into his mouth, wanting to see if that could satisfy that mysterious green aura.

 Chapter 215: Tragedy

    It wasn¡¯t long before all the essence of blood and Qi was absorbed by the thread of green aura residing in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    However, the green aura didn¡¯t grow a bit afterwards, and no change could be seen.

    The fact that he had awakened his first bloodline talent, Life Transfer, merely by consuming spirit beast meat made him anticipate that after consuming a whole Blood Pill, which contained far richer essence of flesh and blood, it would cause the green aura to change in some way, or even awaken a second bloodline talent.

    Staring at the silent green aura, he was somewhat disappointed, thinking that he might need to reconsider the profundity of bloodline power.

    He gradually calmed himself and started contemting.

    Then he realized that the thread of green aura must have been there for some time, and it might even existed before he had participated in the Heaven Gate trial. It was the significant amount of spirit beast meat that he had consumed throughout these months that had provided him with enough power to awaken that first bloodline talent.

    He had just happened to have that meal of spirit beast meat when he had built up to the verge of breaking through, and that was why he was under the impression that a meal of spirit beat meat had made the difference.

    Therefore, in order for the green aura to upgrade again, he would need to feed it with far more essence of flesh and blood.

    A single Blood Pill was far from enough to achieve that.

    ¡°Bloodline...¡± Nie Tian marveled at the profundity of the mysterious power that resided his heart and ran through his veins.

    He was also prepared to spend a long time to awaken his second bloodline talent.

    It was at that moment that Zou Yi from the Ghost Sect called out, pointing down, ¡°Look! Down on the ground!¡±

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and looked down through the gaps between the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s huge bones, and found that they were flying over a vast expanse of dark red wastnd.

    On the wastnd, a group of humanmoners were fleeing.

    Chasing after them were two giant low-tier outsiders, one of which was even munching on a tender, pale arm that apparently belonged to a human girl.

    With a grim look in his eyes, Zou Yi said, ¡°Nie Tian, can you control the Bone Blood Demon to fly closer to the ground?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± The thought of it appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    In the next moment, the Bone Blood Demon dashed down from midair at a high speed, and when it was less than a hundred meters from the ground, Zou Yi jumped off of the Bone Blood Demon.

    As he gracefully descended, numerous pitch-ck banners whizzed out of his bracelet of holding. As soon as they appeared, they unfurled against the wind, and the sinister ghosts on them could be seen.

    All of a sudden, a strong cold aura that originated from Zou Yi¡¯s mind and the vicious ghosts on his banners rushed toward the two low-tier outsiders.

    Since they didn¡¯t know how to use the power of their soul to defend themselves, upon the impact of Zou Yi¡¯s psychic attack, they could only run away, holding their heads and screaming.

    At that moment, the banners swooped down from midair, and the banner poles, which were as sharp as des, pierced deeply into the low-tier outsiders¡¯ gigantic bodies. They dropped dead in the next moment.

    Upon seeing that Zou Yi had killed the two low-tier outsiders that had been chasing after them, all the fleeingmoners stopped and gathered around him, their faces filled with excitement and hope. ¡°It¡¯s Lord Zou Yi from the Ghost Sect!¡±

    ¡°Lord Zou Yi, You¡¯vee back from the Heaven Gate!¡±

    Apparently, Zou Yi knew them. He asked, ¡°How¡¯s Nortnd City holding up?¡±

    ¡°The outsiders have killed most the citizens who stayed and fought.¡± One of them answered. ¡°Only a handful were lucky enough to make it out alive.¡±

    A pained expression appeared on Zou Yi¡¯s face as he nodded to that person and said, ¡°You should go to the Blood Sect. You¡¯ll be safer there.¡±

    With these words, Zou Yi leaped swiftly back onto the shoulder of the Bone Blood Demon, which had remained in the air for him.

    ¡°Aihh...¡± Hong Can from the Hell Sect let out a deep sigh as he shook his head.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also turned grim.

    Li Jing, who was still sitting on her blood-colored lotus, had floated in her original position as the Bone Blood Demon descended.

    Only after seeing that Zou Yi had returned to the shoulder of the Bone Blood Demon did she drive her lotus and head out toward the Ghost Sect again.

    After flying over the dark-red wastnd for an hour, sitting on the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian saw a city that greatly resembled ck Cloud City.

    ¡°Nortnd City,¡± Zou Yi said, gnashing his teeth.

    Nie Tian rose to his feet and looked down at the city from the shoulder of the Bone Blood Demon, his face growing increasingly grim.

    What he saw was an empty city and a few low-tier outsiders roaming about inside of it. None of the human citizens or members of the Ghost Sect¡¯s subordinate ns were anywhere to be found.

    After searching for a while, he couldn¡¯t even see one human survivor.

    Apparently, this city, which was the size of ck Cloud City, had been raided by the low-tier outsiders and fallen.

    Even though he was looking at Nortnd City, Nie Tian was actually picturing ck Cloud City in his mind.

    Just like Nortnd City, ck Cloud City was also the residence ofmoners and ns that clung to the seven sects.

    In a city like this, there would usually be no more than two Greater Heaven stage cultivators and a handful of Heaven stage cultivators protect the city. When an army of low-tier outsiders came at their city gate, it would be almost impossible for them to save the city on their own.

    Nortnd City was now in ruins. What would ck Cloud City be like?

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but grow worried. He was afraid that even if Shen Xiu, Li Fan and the others had arrived at ck Cloud City, it might have already been toote.

    His grandfather and aunt might have already fallen victim to those hideous low-tier outsiders.

    ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this, outsider demons!¡± The lifeless Nortnd City had made Nie Tian realize how brutal this war between humans and outsiders was.

    If the Realm of me Heaven was ever taken by the outsiders, perhaps some powerful experts from the seven sects might survive, but how many members of their subordinate ns andmon citizens would survive?

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Nortnd City is a lost cause. I can¡¯t sense any signs of life.¡± Sitting on her blood-colored lotus, Li Jing let out a soft sigh and drove her lotus forwards. ¡°The decisive battle will be the one at the Ghost Sect. If we want to save the day, we¡¯ll have to beat the main force of the outsider army at the Ghost Sect. Only by doing that will we be able to prevent further casualties.¡±

    Zou Yi retracted his gaze from Nortnd City underneath them and began to thrum with an increasingly strong killing intent.

    ¡°Outsiders!!¡± Zou Yi bellowed in his heart.

    With a thought, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to catch up to Li Jing as they flew towards the Ghost Sect.

    On their way there, they saw two other cities that were simr to Nortnd City.

    They were closer to the Ghost Sect, and they had more low-tier outsiders roaming inside of them. As they had expected, not a single survivor was seen.

    The thought of the countless human lives that the outsider invaders had taken gradually numbed Nie Tian emotions.

    It became clear to him that the conflict between humans and outsiders had be irreconcble; either they would either wipe out the invading outsiders, or every human in the Realm of me Heaven would be annihted.

    ¡°Mortals and cultivators with low cultivation bases can never protect themselves from a cmity like this,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°Should we fail, they¡¯ll inevitably fall prey to the outsiders.¡±

    After seeing the three cities filled with countless mangled bodies of his own kind, Nie Tian had be more and more determined.

    He knew that he needed to be stronger than the outsiders not only for himself and his family, but for every survivor in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Only when he was strong enough would he be the master of his own fate and the fate of all those who counted on him.

    He no longer paid any attention to the human corpses that he could see from time to time.

    Instead, he calmed himself, and then began cultivating with spirit stones, hoping to improve his strength with every second he could find.

    After all, he knew very well that they currently needed all the help they could get.

    After an unknown period of time, Li Jing¡¯s voice echoed out, ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡±

    Everyone on the Bone Blood Demon, including Nie Tian, immediately focused their sight on the distant horizon.

    At first nce, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. In front of his eyes was an enormous cloud of demon Qi, inside of which figures of numerous outsiders constantly shed about.

 Chapter 216: The Ghost Sect

    Nie Tian saw in front of him a five-kilometer-wide area covered in demon Qi so dense that it seemed like an enormous, ckish-purple vortex, enveloping the entire Ghost Sect.

    Upon closer examination, the vortex looked very much like the vortexes in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    The only difference was that it was filled with raging demon Qi, the power source for outsider demons.

    The vortex of demon Qi slowly rotated as hundreds of figures of outsiders shed about within it.

    There were about a dozen bright, purple clusters with the vortex, which shone so brightly that even the dense demon Qi couldn¡¯t conceal them.

    Nie Tian looked with rapt attention, and found that each of them had a well-dressed high-tier outsider in the center.

    Each of those high-tier outsiders seemed to be no weaker than Worldly realm human Qi warriors. They all rippled with vigorous energy fluctuations which seemed to be powering the vortex of demon Qi, enabling it to gnaw away the Ghost sect¡¯s Wail of Myriad Ghosts grand formation.

    For every bit the demon Qi vortex rotated, it pulled more demon Qi in the vicinity toward it.

    However, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see what was going on within the Ghost Sect, and neither could he sense anything with his psychic awareness from a position so far away.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Looking at the raging demon Qi from afar, Li Jing stopped her blood-colored lotus.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian conveyed the same notion to the Bone Blood Demon. In the next moment, the Bone Blood Demon also came to a stop, and floated in midair with everyone on its shoulders.

    Just as Nie Tian looked over at Li Jing with a confused face, wondering what her n was, he sensed a wave of powerful energy fluctuations rush out of Li Jing¡¯s spiritual sea towards the demon Qi-covered area like an immense wave of a blood ocean.

    He instantly understood that Li Jing was using her own methods to gather information on the situation at the area where the main force of the outsider army was gathered.

    At the same time...

    Nie Tian saw that in the center of the demon Qi vortex was a magnificent city, which seemed ancient and built by countless huge, green rocks.

    The city was approximately the same size as Nortnd City, but there were sinister ghosts engraved on every gate to the city.

    Numerous green veins and patterns could be seen on the walls of the city, within which vicious ghosts were twisting and struggling.

    The way it looked felt as if the ancient city had been wreathed by countless ferocious ghosts.

    The entire city was enveloped by a semi-sphere of misty green light, within which numerous ghosts were whizzing about, shrieking so loudly that the sound could pierce any intruders¡¯ eardrums.

    At the center of the green stone city was an enormous bottomless pit, and bone-piercing coldness constantly flowed out of it.

    Upon closer examination, it was actually countless ghosts that had been flying out of the abyss. Like an endless swarm of locusts, they rapidly disappeared into the green walls of the ancient stone city.

    It seemed that the ghosts were fueling the Wail of Myriad Ghosts spell formation with an endless stream of mysterious power from theherworld.

    A handful of powerful experts from the Ghost Sect were sitting by the edge of the huge pit, eyes closed, faces ghastly.

    They were constantly changing their hand seals while a banner fluttered against the wind beside them. It seemed that they were the ones who were summoning the endless stream of ghosts from the depths of the earth with the banner¡¯s help.

    However, it was obvious that they were rapidly consuming their own strength as they performed the ritual.

    There were a few others standing behind them. Whenever one of the spell-casters could no longer go on, another expert from the Ghost Sect would step in and take his ce.

    Those who were reced would silently step away from the spell formation and use all kinds of medicinal pills to recover their strength, so as to step in whenever someone else was drained of power.

    Off to the side, a skinny old man from the Ghost Sect was talking to Chang Sen from the Hell Sect.

    The elder that resembled a bag of bones was none other than the sectmaster of the Ghost Sect, Ghost Eye.

    The name of Ghost Eye was so widespread that no one even remembered his real name. He had adopted this name since he had joined the Ghost Sect, and had never changed it, not even after he had been made sectmaster.

    His eyes were emerald and profound, as if there were two oceans hiding behind his pupils, within which tens of thousands of ghosts were trapped and wailing.

    Any human Qi warrior whose cultivation base was lower than his would immediately experience a disturbance in their minds as long as they dared to peer into his eyes.

    If he wanted to, he could even effortlessly rip the souls out of the minds of those who had inferior cultivation bases.

    Obviously, Chang Sen wouldn¡¯t need to worry about that, since he was the most powerful Qi warrior in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Ghost Eye, how long do you think the spell formation will hold?¡± Chang Sen asked with a frown.

    ¡°Two days.¡± As soon as Ghost Eye spoke, strong energy fluctuations spread out along with his voice, seemingly capable of changing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and turning the area around him into the gruesomeherworld. ¡°As you can see, those elders won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer. If the Wail of Myriad Ghosts formation is breached, they won¡¯t have much energy left in them. If ites to that, we¡¯ll need to count on your people to fight the outsiders.¡±

    Chang Sen nodded and said, ¡°I see. The reason I chose the Ghost Sect to be the ce to fight the most decisive battle against the outsiders was that you could summon ghosts from theherworld to power the Wail of Myriad Ghosts formation. But unfortunately, powerful experts need to expend a significant amount of energy to perform the summoning ritual. If our Demon Trapping Purgatory formation could still work, I would be able to use it to draw power from the trapped outsider demons, and use that power to activate an imprable defensive system.¡±

    ¡°What do you think of the odds that we prevail?¡± Ghost Eye asked, eyes glittering with profound light.

    Chang Sen pondered in silence for a while before saying, ¡°Thirty percent chance, at the most.¡±

    Upon hearing Chang Sen¡¯s answer, Ghost Eye also fell into silence. After a long while, he said, ¡°Do you know what the situation is at the other sects?¡±

    ¡°Probably worse than us.¡± With a grim expression on his face, Chang Sen said, ¡°The Grayvale Sect has already fallen. Li Jing might be able to hold on for a bit longer, but it¡¯s only a matter of time before the Blood Sect falls. The Mystic Mist Sect can be ignored. We can¡¯t possibly count on them to change the situation. We can only hope that Wu Ji will beat their opponents in the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡±

    With these words, Chang Sen shook his head and sighed, ¡°But entric Wu¡¯s lifespan is running out. If he goes all-out to fend off the outsiders, even if he seeds, he won¡¯t be able to persist for long. This was also why I didn¡¯t have the heart to make a move on him when you and Li Jing went to the Scarlet me Mountain Range.¡±

    ¡°My choice identally gave the Realm of me Heaven a slightly better chance of surviving. Otherwise, the tie might have already been broken.¡±

    Ghost Eye let out a cold harrumph. ¡°If we can somehow live through this cmity, I¡¯ll definitely take revenge against the other realms, especially that person from the Realm of Earth Sieve!¡±

    Chang Sen shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say if we will be able pull through.¡±

    ¡°What!¡± Ghost Eye¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. A strange expression appeared on his ghastly face as he called out, ¡°Li Jing is here!¡±

    Chang Sen was also astonished. ¡°Can it be that she has already finished off all the outsiders at her sect?¡±

    Chang Sen had always known that Ghost Eye had been close to Li Jing. The two of them usually got together to discuss cultivation methods. They even had a unique way tomunicate with each other which even he couldn¡¯t fathom.

    Ghost Eye narrowed his eyes, and countless ghosts began to sh across in his pupils, as if every one of them carried symbols that only he knew how to interpret.

    ¡°Yes, she did,¡± Ghost Eye said in high spirits. ¡°And she¡¯s not alone. That Bone Giant also came with her!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Shock could be heard from Chang Sen¡¯s voice. ¡°Did she manage to turn that eighth level Bone Giant into a Blood Demon? With the Bone Blood Demon and Li Jing here to help us, our odds will improve by at least twenty percent. Then we won¡¯t have to stay behind the grand formation and defend. We may consider meeting them in battle!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! It¡¯s time to stretch my legs!¡± A horrifying smile appeared on Ghost Eye¡¯s face.

 Chapter 217: Joining Forces

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re here, the real battle shall begin.¡±

    After retracting the soul consciousness that she had sent out to Ghost Eye, Li Jing turned to look at Nie Tian, Hong Can, and the others as she said, ¡°Nie Tian, you remain on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder and don¡¯t go anywhere. You just need tomand it to kill as many low-tier outsiders as possible. When you¡¯ve killed enough of them, those high-tier outsiders will notice you ande to you.¡±

    Then she turned to Hong Can and Zou Yi and said, ¡°You cooperate with Nie Tian, but try not to fight high-tier outsiders in close quarters.¡±

    With those words, she and the red lotus she sat on sailed through the air towards the center of the demon Qi-covered area like a blood-colored rainbow.

    As she approached the vortex of demon Qi, numerous blood threads that were as thick as human arms suddenly extended out of her crystal-like lotus.

    Like blood-colored lightning bolts, they whizzed down from mid-air and pierced into the chests of dozens of low-tier outsiders.

    Those low-tier outsiders, who had been rampaging in the demon Qi, instantly let out miserable wails and stopped breathing.

    Nie Tian was amazed by this scene.

    This was the first time that he had seen Li Jing fight. When he had gone to the Blood Sect before, he had almost immediately engaged in fierce battle with Groete, and couldn¡¯t spare the attention to look at her.

    Therefore, the lethality of Li Jing¡¯s attacks astonished him beyond words.

    ¡°Profound realm! Is this the power of a profound realm expert?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as it suddenly urred to him that the blood-colored lotus that Li Jing had been sitting on might also be a Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    While he was shaken by that thought, a gigantic blood shadow, the might of which he had witnessed twice already, flew out of the blood-colored lotus.

    As soon as it flew out, even more scarlet blood threads came out of the red lotus along with it, which, upon a closer look, seemed like numerous blood chains, locking onto the blood shadow¡¯s gigantic body.

    However, Nie Tian knew that those scarlet chains that seemed to have blood running within them were actually a part of the blood shadow.

    BLUB BLUB!

    The scarlet threads that had pierced and killed dozens of low-tier outsiders seemed to have turned into huge vessels, rapidly channeling purple outsider blood to the enormous blood shadow.

    Only secondster, those low-tier outsiders turned into nothing but bags of bones as they were drained of everyst drop of their blood.

    By the time the shriveled low-tier outsiders were thrown to the ground, the blood shadow, whose outline was rather obscure, had already expanded to five times its original size.

    ROOOOAR!

    The blood shadow threw its head back and let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar. In the next moment, an intense blood aura that wasced with a faint, purple mist rose from inside of it and filled its surroundings.

    ¡°What an awesome Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    Hong Can from the Hell Sect couldn¡¯t help but marvel at its formidable power. ¡°Its soul can even leave the entity and use the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation to strengthen itself with the outsiders¡¯ blood. Li Jing has indeed gone all-out to fight this battle!¡±

    ¡°The soul of the Blood Lotus is a special kind of Blood Demon. Sectmaster Li Jing applied many secret magics in order to refine it, and our sect¡¯s Ghost Refining Incantation was among them.¡± Zou Yi from the Ghost Sect said after taking a deep breath, ¡°Even though the soul of the Blood Lotus seems illusionary, it¡¯s actually every bit as real as you and I. Its body is made of condensed blood.¡±

    ¡°The Blood Lotus¡¯s soul is a special kind of Blood Demon?¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Never had he thought that the enormous blood shadow was actually the Blood Lotus¡¯s soul, and that the Ghost Sect¡¯s Ghost Refining Incantation had yed an important role in its refinement. Now he understood why it was so powerful.

    ¡°Li Jing! You¡¯ve arrived just in time!¡±

    At that moment, Ghost Eye¡¯s eerie voice echoed out from the eye of the enormous demon Qi vortex.

    Upon hearing his voice, Zou Yi¡¯s expression immediately grew respectful as he said, ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    All of a sudden, the small figure of a man shot out of the green stone city covered in raging demon Qi and charged towards the area where all the high-tier outsiders were gathered.

    It was none other than Ghost Eye, the sectmaster of the Ghost Sect.

    The moment he appeared, two sinister ghosts floated out of his ocean-like, unfathomable pupils, which rapidly expanded to several dozen meters tall.

    After those two ghosts flew out of his pupils, his pupils seemed to instantly shed their gruesomeness, and no more ghosts could be seen shing across within them.

    It was as if all the ferocious ghosts hiding deep within his pupils had morphed into two giant ghosts at that instant and shot out from his eyes.

    ¡°Two Heaven Ghosts!¡± Hong Can eximed.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Right after that, nine pitch-ck banners rushed out from Ghost Eye¡¯s back. Each and every one of them was more than ten meters tall and five meters wide.

    The ghosts within the banners screeched, struggled, and bore their fangs at each other, before they eventually emerged as nine green ghosts.

    ¡°Nine Earth Ghosts!¡± Zou Yi¡¯s expression flickered as he said loudly, ¡°Our sectmaster has used his full strength!¡±

    Those two Heaven Ghosts and nine Earth Ghosts were Ghost Eye¡¯s most powerful and precious weapons. He had spent years breeding them.

    The fact that he had sent them out all at once made it clear that he was holding nothing back!

    Even though Nie Tian was observing from a position very far away from the Heaven Ghosts, he couldn¡¯t help but have a feeling that they could easily take his soul.

    The moment Ghost Eye shot out of the ancient stone city, a high-tier outsider also dashed out towards him from the area where all the high-tier outsiders were gathered.

    At the same time, another one let out a cold harrumph and flew towards Li Jing.

    Soon after that, a grotesque outsider voice rang out from the center of the demon Qi vortex. It was anguage Nie Tian couldn¡¯t understand, but as soon as he heard it, numerous low-tier outsiders swarmed out of the demon Qi vortex and charged toward Nie Tian and hispanions.

    That was when he realized that the high-tier outsiders had also noticed their arrival, and the real battle had just broken out.

    ¡°Nie Tian, tell the Bone Blood Demon to descend.¡±

    Hong Can stretched his neck and rubbed his hands together so tightly that his knuckles made cracking sounds. Apparently, he had been waiting for this for a long time.

    Without saying anything, Nie Tian immediatelymanded the floating Bone Blood Demon tond.

    Simultaneously, all of the Greater Heaven stage experts, who had been sitting on the Bone Blood Demon, drew their spiritual tools and began thrumming with misty spiritual auras, ready to dash out into the low-tier outsider army at any moment.

    BOOM!

    The Bone Blood Demonnded heavily on the ground. As everyone else jumped off and charged forward with angry roars, Nie Tian swiftly shifted his position from the back of its shoulder to over its left shoulder.

    With a thought, Nie Tian issued amand: kill these ugly creatures, and kill them as fast as you can!

    CRACK! CRACK!

    As the Bone Blood Demon strode forward, with every step it took, its feet crashed deeply into the earth, as if it were running on a gigantic sponge.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous lines of intense blood aura shot out from the gaps of its exposed bones before piercing through the iing low-tier outsiders like blood-colored spears.

    Those lines of blood aura greatly resembled the blood chains that had shot out of Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus, only they were from the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body.

    Immediately after they pierced into the outsiders, they rapidly expanded, as if they were leeches that were sucking away their victims¡¯ blood.

    ¡°Blood Refining Incantation!¡±

    bbergasted, Nie Tian watched as the numerous lines of blood aura, which were now filled with purple outsider blood, flew back and disappeared into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones.

    Only days ago, the Bone Blood Demon would have had to rip the outsiders apart and shower itself with their blood to obtain more power.

    However, it had either received inspiration from the Blood Lotus or made growth so significant that it actually learned how to send its bloody aura own out to fetch blood from outsiders. With this far more efficient method, it would definitely be able to enhance its battle prowess exponentially.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    After acquiring more strength, the Bone Blood Demon effortlessly cut through a swarm of low-tier outsiders like they were nothing but melons and cabbages.

    Sitting atop its shoulder, Nie Tian saw that it had killed almost a hundred low-tier outsiders in a short period of time.

    Apparently, they were no match for its formidable strength. None of them could even withstand a single strike.

    The great blow that the Bone Blood Demon had dealt to the army of low-tier outsiders had exceeded the efforts of all the Greater Heaven stage cultivatorsbined.

    On the other hand, a high-tier outsider seemed to have notice the unstoppable Bone Blood Demon, and gracefully rose out of the center of the demon Qi vortex like a beautiful, violet flower, before floating towards Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon.

    ¡°A little girl...¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian saw that it was a little girl covered in devilishly beautiful flowers. Looking at her delicate small face, for some unknown reason, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but feel a surge of coldness.

    What had made him uneasy was that his instincts told him that there was a ferocious monster lurking under her tender skin.

 Chapter 218: Zelia

    The Bone Blood Demon stopped killing low-tier outsiders as its eyes that seemed to have no pupils within them became fixed on the little girl.

    Its reaction greatly surprised Nie Tian, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

    He was very well aware that the Bone Blood Demon had its own soul, and as iplete as it was, it enabled the Bone Blood Demon to judge the strength of its opponents.

    The fact that it started to act strangely the moment it saw the little girling towards it made Nie Tian realize that the little girl must have some secrets.

    The closer the little girl got, the more nervous he felt.

    Unlike all the other high-tier outsiders he had seen, she looked like a ten-year-old human girl. Her face was delicate and beautiful, and the skin on her face seemed so tender that even the slightest contact would scrape it.

    Upon a closer look, numerous violet flowers could be seen covering her torso as if they were some kind of armor that had grown out of her body.

    Every once in awhile, purple lightning would swim out of them and across her body.

    The little girl traveled in the air in a way that made it look as if gravity had no effect on her. As she approached Nie Tian, she looked Nie Tian in the eye and smiled as she said in perfectly clear humannguage, ¡°A strong Blood Demon from the Blood sect... You came from the Blood Sect. Did you run into that fool Groete?¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck by her words and said, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°My name is Zelia.¡± The little girl seemed very blunt. With a friendly expression on her face, she continued, ¡°He¡¯s my little brother. You¡¯re here, and he and Sarah didn¡¯te after you. Does it mean that you killed them? Well, if you did, I¡¯ll have to thank you for it.¡±

    ¡°Little brother?¡± Nie Tian waspletely confused.

    The high-tier outsider in front of him looked much younger than Groete. He would have never have pictured her as Groete¡¯s older sister.

    Furthermore, from the look of it, she couldn¡¯t care less if Groete was dead or not. As a matter of fact, she might actually be happy if he were actually dead.

    ¡°It¡¯s interesting how a person that is so weak is the master of this Blood Demon...¡± While Nie Tian was in his daze, Zelia giggled and looked at a Greater Heaven stage expert from the Blood Sect. With a casual wave of her hand, a ck spear, which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, shot towards him.

    The ck spear flew so fast that, like a bolt of lightning, it went through the Greater Heaven stage expert in the blink of an eye.

    SHEW!

    Immediately after killing the man, the ck spear flew back into her hand.

    She tilted her head sideways as she looked at Nie Tian. A faint smile could still be seen at the corner of her mouth.

    Upon witnessing this scene, a surge of coldness ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Hong Can and Zou Yi, who had been fighting low-tier outsiders that had beening at them from all directions, witnessed the astounding scene and called out, with shock in their eyes, ¡°Protect Nie Tian!¡±

    They both knew that only Nie Tian could manipte the Bone Blood Demon and thus determine how the war went. Therefore, they both feared for his safety.

    SHEW!

    Zelia was still smiling as the ck spear once again flew out of her small palm.

    It whizzed through the forehead of another Greater Heaven expert from the Blood Sect, and the corpse copsed not far from Nie Tian.

    ¡°Weaklings.¡± Zelia held out her hand, palm facing up, and the ck spear appeared in it in the next moment.

    Her eyes, which were glittering with a purple light, swept through all the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors who were now gathered by Nie Tian¡¯s side, with an expression on her face as if this was no more than a game to her.

    Every Qi warrior who met her gaze felt like they had been thrown into an icy pit, and were overwhelmed by coldness and fear.

    ¡°Kill her!¡± Without any hesitation, Nie Tian issued themand to the Bone Blood Demon. He couldn¡¯t bear to see her kill people like she was crushing bugs.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, numerous blood auras shot out from every part of the Bone Blood Demon and flew towards Zelia at an extremely high speed.

    As Zelia let out a giggle, the outline of her small body suddenly be blurry, as if the space around her had somehow shaken slightly.

    In the next moment, she vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s sight, and reappeared behind the Bone Blood Demon.

    With a smooth thrust of the ck spear in her hand, she prated the spiritual power shield of another Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, and a split secondter, the Qi warrior himself.

    The Bone Blood Demon immediately turned its gigantic body around, and the bloody auras also circled back and whizzed towards Zelia again.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Zeliaughed as she once again blurred into action and reappeared in the next moment by the side of another Greater Heaven stage expert from the Blood Sect.

    The ck spear in her hand turned into a flood dragon before it snapped its jaws toward that Blood Sect expert.

    The raging demon Qi behind her madly converged onto the flood dragon before the frenzied dragon pierced through its victim¡¯s body.

    In such a short period of time, three Greater Heaven stage experts had died by her hands.

    More importantly, none of them could even put up a fight.

    Not only did Nie Tian have a grim expression on his face, but the expressions on Hong Can and Zou Yi¡¯s faces were also grimmer than ever.

    None of them had ever seen someone kill like she had.

    ¡°Attack her together!¡± Zou Yi screamed as he used the Ghost Sect¡¯s psychic magics to create several fierce ghosts with his psychic power, before unleashing them towards Zelia¡¯ soul.

    Nie Tian immediately sensed ayer of psychic power flowing out of Zelia, creating a spherical shield with her at the center.

    Zelia smiled and said, ¡°You must have a death wish!¡±

    Strings of purple light that resembled lightning bolts suddenly appeared in her pupils and began to rapidly interweave with each other. From the look of it, she had also applied soul magics that only high-tier outsiders could master.

    ¡°Ahhh!!¡± Zou Yi held his head with his hands as he let out miserable cries; blood spilled out of his nose, eyes, and ears.

    It was as if Zou Yi had sustained severe injuries in a sh.

    The Ghost Sect had always been known for their powerful psychic magics, and Zou Yi, who was a middle Greater Heaven stage expert, was by no means weak. Even still, Zelia almost killed him with a single blow.

    ¡°It¡¯s not fun. I don¡¯t wanna y with you anymore,¡± Zelia twitched her mouth and said with a bored expression on her face.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, fiendish-looking nts grew out of the earth that everyone was standing on. They were either ck or purple in color, and they seemed to have been lurking under the ground for some time, waiting for Zelia to summon them.

    Hong Can stood aghast. ¡°Demon nts!¡±

    The nts that could be seen everywhere grew madly, and soon became more than ten meters tall.

    Nie Tian looked down with rapt attention, and found that close to the ground, there was ayer of demon Qi so thick that it seemed to have liquidized, which was providing the nts with nutrients, making them grow at an astonishing speed.

    Suddenly, numerous purple flowers grew out of the tops of the weeds.

    Each and every one of them was the size of a human head and, upon a closer look, shared the same shape and color as the flowers that grew on Zelia¡¯s torso.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!!¡± Hong Can called out to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian simultaneously issued themand to the Bone Blood Demon. However, he looked down and saw that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s legs had already been trapped by the vines of those vigorous nts.

    It was at that moment that the flowers flew off of the nts and rotated as they chased after every living being in the area.

 Chapter 219: Bloodline Awakening

    Everything happened so fast that by the time Nie Tian had realized the danger, the purple flowers had already left the nts and chased after all the Greater Heaven stage experts like countless rotating blossoms made of sharp des.

    Meanwhile, the Bone Blood Demon had been tangled up by the nts and was experiencing great difficulty in moving its legs.

    Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to examine his surroundings, and was vaguely able to sense that a continuous stream of strange aura, which thrummed with fluctuating surges of a mysterious energy, was flowing out of Zelia and quietly infusing into the ground.

    ¡°This is her bloodline talent!¡± Nie Tian, who had recently awakened his first bloodline talent, immediately realized that Zelia was using her bloodline talent to infuse the nts with rich demon Qi, and therefore provide them with the life force they needed to grow rapidly.

    BANG!

    For every bit the Bone Blood Demon moved its legs, numerous vines would break and fall to the ground before they turned into purple liquid and seeped back into the earth as a fertilizer.

    At the same time, more new nts would crawl up the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s legs in an attempt to hold it down.

    POOH!

    A purple flower rammed right into a Blood Sect expert¡¯s chest like a cannon shell. His chest immediately became a bloody mess, with big chunks of flesh flung out from his body by the rotating, razor-like petals.

    FIZZ!

    Then the devilish flower exploded, filling the area with a cluster of raging, purple mes.

    Engulfed by the mes, the Greater Heaven stage expert¡¯s skin and flesh rapidly melted away from his bones as he soon became nothing but a skeleton.

    ¡°Corrosive mes!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    The flowers alone were already dreadful enough. He didn¡¯t expect that they could also create acidic mes that even Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors couldn¡¯t withstand upon exploding.

    ¡°It¡¯s your turn now.¡± A vicious smile appeared on Zelia¡¯s face as her eyes that resembled two glittering, purple gems fixed on Nie Tian.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    Several flowers suddenly exploded and turned into a dozen clusters of purple mes.

    The corrosive mes seemed to have their own souls as they swiftly avoided the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s blocking hands and flew towards Nie Tian, who was standing on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder.

    Faint,vender-colored smoke lingered in the space that the purple mes sailed through.

    Face very grim, Nie Tian racked in his brain for a way to defend against the iing mes while controlling the Bone Blood Demon with his will.

    Just as he felt that he was at his wits¡¯ end, he heard a series of rapid and vigorous heartbeats from the Bone Blood Demon.

    He immediately turned around to look at the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s eyes, which were a mysterious green color, simr to Ghost Eye¡¯s pupils.

    As its heart pounded faster and faster, its grayish-green eyes gradually shed their original color and took on a dark-gray color.

    Numerous fine threads could be seen swimming about within those eyes as they asionally glittered with bright light.

    Then, Nie Tian looked down towards the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, and saw its giant heart throbbing abnormally rapidly behind those imprable rib bones.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    The Bone Blood Demon threw its head back and roared. An intense aura of death spread out with it at the center.

    Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to scan his surroundings, and saw that the gray aura was rapidly extending in every direction, as if it were bringing death to the entire area.

    ¡°Bloodline power!¡± For the first time, Zelia¡¯s expression flickered, her delicate face turning pale all of a sudden.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian noticed that the twisted nts around the Bone Blood Demon that were still madly growing out of the ground seemed to have suddenly reached the end of their lives and rapidly withered away.

    The clusters of purple mes that wereing straight at him also immediately dissipated.

    ¡°Eighth level bloodline power!¡± Face ghastly, Zelia coughed up a mouthful of blood and stumbled backwards, before dashing straight back into the enormous vortex of demon Qi.

    As the aura of death spread further into the surroundings, all the nts withered and died.

    Upon seeing this scene, Hong Can, Zou Yi, and the others also ran away from Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon at the fastest speed possible, fearing that the gray, deadly aura would catch up to them.

    After all, they had witnessed all the nts withering away and all the flowers exploding as soon as they were enveloped by that aura.

    Even the mes that were created from the explosion of the flowers onlysted for a second before being extinguished.

    Not a single sign of life could now be found within a three hundred meter radius of the Bone Blood Demon.

    Nie Tian, who was still standing on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, was also greatly shaken by this scene. Just as he began to fear for his own safety, he suddenly sensed, with his psychic awareness, that he was enveloped by a green energy shield that was invisible to the naked eye.

    It was the green energy that had protected him from the harm of the deadly aura.

    ¡°Bloodline power: Death! A bloodline talent that only Bone Giants can awaken!¡±

    Nie Tian trembled slightly and experienced a numbing sensation in his scalp, since he was shocked to his core by the might of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bloodline talent.

    Back when Li Jing had taught him the Demon Driving Incantation, she had exined the uniqueness of this Bone Blood Demon to him, and told him that Bone Giants were a strong race who lived in the depths of the river of stars.

    The mysterious truths of death ran through their veins, making them extremely powerful and dangerous.

    Perhaps that was the reason why infusing one of them with life power and turning it into a Blood Demon had been so difficult.

    After all, life power and death power were like fire and ice; they negated each other.

    After snapping out of his daze, Nie Tian said, ¡°Let¡¯s get over there!¡± pointing towards an area where a significant amount of low-tier outsiders were gathered in the rich demon Qi.

    He wanted to kill as many outsiders as he could while the Bone Blood Demon was still unleashing that deadly, gray aura.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The Bone Blood Demon strode in the direction that Nie Tian had indicated, the three hundred meters-radius field filled with a deadly aura moving along with it.

    Nie Tian watched, his eyes wide, as one low-tier outsider after another copsed to the ground with loud crashes soon after they were enveloped by the aura of death.

    As the Bone Blood Demon marched on with huge steps, more and more low-tier outsiders dropped dead.

    Their power levels were all far too low to possess the ability to awaken any powerful bloodline talent or profound soul power.

    The unbridgeable gap between their strengths and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s made it impossible for them to escape its sphere of death.

    Just like that, the Bone Blood Demon killed more than one hundred low-tier outsiders with its aura of death in a few seconds.

    It was at that moment that Nie Tian sensed that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s eyes gradually began resuming their original grayish-green color, and the death power in the field it had created was also bing unstable and weakening bit by bit.

    At the same time, the coverage of the gray aura shrunk from three hundred meters to one hundred meters.

    ¡°It must have awakened its bloodline power with the energy it had absorbed from the outsiders¡¯ blood, and now it¡¯s running out of energy.¡± Nie Tian instantly realized that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s sphere of death wouldn¡¯tst much longer.

    Therefore, he hastilymanded it to lunge into the heart of the demon Qi vortex, where more low-tier outsiders were gathered.

    Before entering the demon Qi vortex, Nie Tian summoned every type of power to form a chaotic maic field that could barely envelop him.

    ¡°Is that death power?!¡± Li Jing eximed while shing about in the deepest part of the demon Qi vortex, fighting two high-tier outsiders at close quarters.

    She suddenly sensed the arrival of the Bone Blood Demon and turned her head, eyes glittering with bright light.

    Under her gaze, waves of low-tier outsiders fell like countless withered weeds as the Bone Blood Demon approached. Wherever it walked, all lives went extinct.

    Li Jing¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that it awakened its bloodline power as a Bone Giant!¡±

    Looking at Nie Tian, who was standing atop the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, her slender eyebrows twitched as a subtle tion appeared on her face.

    ...

    Seeing that the little girl had returned, another high-tier outsider approached her and said, ¡°Lady Zelia!¡±

    ¡°Bad news,¡± Zelia said. ¡°The Blood Demon created from a Bone Giant has awakened its bloodline talent: Death.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, all the high-tier outsiders shot their gazes toward the Bone Blood Demon and the young man on its shoulder, Nie Tian.

 Chapter 220: Peak Battle Prowess

    Under his enemies¡¯ gazes, Nie Tian showed no sign of fear. Instead, he grinned and issued amand to the Bone Blood Demon, ¡°Continue!¡± Although the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s sphere of death had already shrunk to a one hundred meter radius, it rampaged through the crowd of low-tier outsiders as it always had, reaping many lives.

    One low-tier outsider after another was cut down, bereft of any life force.

    Standing atop the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, Nie Tian observed the overall situation as he continued to issuemands to the Bone Blood Demon.

    Although his vision had been blocked the moment hemanded the Bone Blood Demon to charge into the demon Qi vortex, he had already wrapped seven spots of starlight with his psychic awareness and flown them out into the battlefield to serve as his Heaven Eyes.

    They enabled him to have a clear view of everything that was happening within the demon Qi vortex.

    He noticed that it seemed that all the human Qi warriors, who had daringly charged into the demon Qi vortex to fight outsiders, were able to resist the erosion of the demon Qi with little effort.

    At that moment, Ghost Eye, sectmaster of the Ghost Sect, was manipting his two Heaven Ghosts and nine Earth Ghosts to fight two powerful high-tier outsiders.

    Those two high-tier outsiders seemed as skinny as Ghost Eye; one of them was handling the Heaven Ghosts and Earth Ghosts, while the other was in closebat with Ghost Eye.

    Strong auras hovered around Ghost Eye and his two opponents like invisible ghosts, clearing the area they were in of the least bit of demon Qi.

    Apparently, there was also a battle of souls going on between them.

    Off to the side, Li Jing, who was sitting on her Blood Lotus, was also dealing with two high-tier outsiders at the same time.

    The blood shadow that hade out of the lotus was chasing after one high-tier outsider while Li Jing formed mysterious hand seals, using the Bloodflow Reverse Incantation to attack another.

    Not far from Li Jing, a burly human Qi warrior wearing sackcloth was using a wide sword to fight against a male high-tier outsider, who was significantly taller than him and had his whole body covered in pitch-ck armor.

    The fight between that burly man and his opponent instantly caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    Hemanded the Heaven Eye that was floating near them to quietly move closer to get an urate assessment of the high-tier outsider¡¯s battle prowess.

    However, while the Heaven Eye was still two hundred meters away from it, the high-tier outsider, who was fighting the burly man, seemed to notice it.

    All of a sudden, more ck armor grew out of his body, covering every inch of his skin, leaving only his purple eyes, which were now fixed on the approaching Heaven Eye.

    BANG!

    As soon as the outsiderid his devilish eyes on the Heaven Eye, it exploded.

    A violent tremor ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he experienced a excruciating pain in his soul. Even his pupils dted slightly.

    A sense of fear rose in his heart as he realized that this high-tier outsider must be the most powerful one in the demon Qi vortex.

    Now with only six Heaven Eyes at his disposal, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare tomand another one to approach that outsider. Instead, he deployed them around it, and made sure that each of them was a safe distance away from it.

    Then, Nie Tian took note that the powerful high-tier outsider wasn¡¯t using any tools while fighting the burly Qi warrior.

    He only extended his giant hands to summon power from the surrounding demon Qi and form bright, purple light balls on his palms.

    Light-purple veins could be seen within the light balls, embellished with numerous shimmering, bright dots.

    Each purple light ball was like a fist that carried terrifying power as they were cast toward the burly man, who would immediately raise his wide sword to defend.

    Upon colliding, a heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing sound would filled the air, along with the purple light dots that were sent flying in all directions after the light balls exploded.

    Nie Tian kept track of the flying, shimmering light dots via his Heaven Eyes, and saw that, instead of dissipating into the air or falling to the ground, they floated to the ancient stone city where Qi warriors from the Ghost Sect and Hell Sect were fighting low-tier outsiders.

    Whoever made contact with them, no matter if they were human Qi warriors or low-tier outsiders, would immediately explode and be pieces of flesh flying everywhere, dying a horrible death.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    He immediately realized that the armored high-tier outsider had infused those purple light balls with his bloodline power, and the shimmering light dots that looked like tiny amethysts were the embodiment of his wild bloodline power.

    Only a few fragments of them could kill any low-tier outsider or Greater Heaven stage human Qi warrior upon contact.

    Furthermore, it seemed that those tiny bits of that high-tier outsider¡¯s bloodline power didn¡¯t even bother to distinguish friend from foe. Whoever they touched, perished.

    It was as if the low-tier outsiders who were too weak to withstand the blow also deserved to die.

    Apparently, that high-tier outsider despised all lives that were weaker and had inferior status than him, including the low-tier outsiders who had sworn their allegiance to him.

    ¡°He¡¯s so strong!!¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t hide his fear. It was at that moment that it suddenly urred to him who that burly man, the opponent of that high-tier outsider, might be: the strongest Qi warrior of the Realm of me Heaven, Chang Sen!

    Only the strongest expert, Chang Sen from the Hell Sect, could match up to the strength of that formidable high-tier outsider. Anyone else would have died already.

    After havinge to this realization, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to stay away from Chang Sen and that high-tier outsider.

    He was fairly certain that even the Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t survive a battle against that deadly high-tier outsider.

    After retracting his attention from Chang Sen and the high-tier outsider, he redirected his six Heaven Eyes to float toward the ancient city made from green stones, where he saw numerous Greater Heaven stage experts from the Hell Sect and Ghost Sect rushing out of the city gates to fight low-tier outsiders that outnumbered them by several times.

    All those who stayed behind the city walls were disciples who had cultivation bases lower than the Greater Heaven stage, and thus couldn¡¯t fight within the demon Qi.

    They could only rely on the Wail of Myriad Ghosts grand formation to protect them from the erosion of the demon Qi.

    Upon a closer look, even the Greater Heaven stage experts only seemed qualified to fight low-tier outsiders; those who were engaged in fierce battles with high-tier outsiders were all at the Worldly realm or Profound realm.

    They were the ones who could pose a threat to the high-tier outsiders and make a difference in the battle that was going to determine the future of the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Get over there!¡± Having obtained a thorough understanding of the situation, Nie Tian continued tomand the Bone Blood Demon to go to areas where low-tier outsiders were gathered, in an attempt to kill as many low-tier outsiders as possible with the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s death aura while it still persisted.

    As one low-tier outsider after another dropped dead, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s life power, which Nie Tian had infused into it with his new-found bloodline talent, was rapidly running out.

    ¡°Something is wrong. The Bone Blood Demon is losing its life power way too fast.¡± As Nie Tian pondered the reason, he realized that since the Bone Blood Demon had established its sphere of death, the life power in its heart was declining at a speed that was ten times faster than before.

    At this point, he had a feeling that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the Bone Blood Demonpletely drained its life power.

    Originally, ording to the feedback he had received from the life power he had infused into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart, he had estimated that the Bone Blood Demon would remain active for about ten days.

    However, now that the Bone Blood Demon was going all-out to kill low-tier outsiders with its death aura, Nie Tian sensed that it wouldn¡¯t be long before it fell into another deep slumber.

    Nie Tian received a sudden enlightenment. ¡°Death power negates life power. Whenever the Bone Blood Demon uses death power, which was its bloodline power, it will cause it to over-consume and soon run out of its life power.¡±

    SHEW!

    It was at that moment that two lines of purple light that resembled two shooting stars appeared in the distant sky. Nie Tian examined them with his Heaven Eyes, and was surprised to find that they were Groete and Sarah, who he had met in the Blood Sect.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    Sarah was as strong as Li Jing. Her arrival might once again tip the bnce in favor of the outsiders.

    The thought of it made Nie Tian worry.

    However, he noticed that both Groete and Sarah seemed extremely weak at that moment, the devilish light they emanated constantly flickering.

    Nie Tian grew confused.

    ¡°Lady Zelia! Lord Caro!¡± The moment Sarah flew into the demon Qi vortex, she called out in theirnguage. ¡°A powerful expert, who didn¡¯t seem to be from the Realm of me Heaven, ambushed us on our way back from the Blood Sect. Lord Groete and I are the only survivors. From what I can tell, that person was as strong as you are, my lord. He could have killed us too, but he didn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Zelia eximed. ¡°A person who¡¯s as strong as Uncle Caro?! Are you sure, Sarah?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m very certain of that!¡± Fear could still be seen between Sarah¡¯s furrowed, slender eyebrows. ¡°I think it¡¯s about time we returned to our n, mydy. If my spections are correct, Qi warriors from the other eight realms may have already decided toe to aid the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Numerous expression shed across Zelia¡¯s small face. After a moment of silence, she nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    ...

    At the border between the Ghost Sect and Blood Sect¡¯s territories.

    An old man was sitting in a ck fashion with his back against a giant, ancient tree, looking up at the spiritual energy that was fluctuating in the sky, as if he were pondering something.

    Four high-tier outsiders were lying not far away from him, who were the ones who had invaded the Blood Sect with Groete and Sarah.

    From the look of it, they had been dead for quite some time.

    ¡°The Astarte n... The Realm of me Heaven used to belong to the Astarte n. The reason why the Astarte n has returned to the Realm of me Heaven must be that they have learned about the turbulences that are going on within the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, they should know that even if they somehow manage to sack the Realm of me Heaven, they can¡¯t possibly take the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Therefore, the purpose of their invasion of the Realm of me Heaven might just be to temper their young lord anddy.

    ¡°Every tempering event has its limit.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve personally tempered one of them, it¡¯s about time that this event ended.

    ¡°By the time I get to the Ghost Sect, the members of the Astarte n might have already returned to their own realm.¡± Muttering to himself, the old man slowly rose to his feet and paced his steps as he walked towards the Ghost sect.

    If Nie Tian were here, he would have recognized this old man, since he was none other than the doctor who had saved Nie Tian¡¯s life and informed him of the Heaven Gate trial, Hua Mu.

 Chapter 221: Disturbance Calms

    In the Ghost Sect...

    Nie Tian was originally worried that the arrival of Sarah and Groete would tip the scales against him.

    However, while he was pondering the matter, Zelia¡¯s shout caught his ears. When he looked over, he saw an anxious expression on her face as she called out in the outsiders¡¯nguage.

    Then, a handful ck pearls appeared in her syed hand.

    One after another, they rose into the sky beforeing to a stop above the eye of the demon Qi vortex.

    They generated a great attractive force to the raging demon Qi below it and gradually merged into one giant pearl.

    All of a sudden, that one giant pearl unleashed a strong energy wave into its surroundings and shot up into the heavens.

    As it did, the vast demon Qi vortex that had enveloped the entire Ghost Sect rose along with it.

    It was at that moment that all the high-tier outsiders seemed to receive messages; they all stopped fighting their opponents and rose up into the sky.

    Upon seeing the situation, some powerful Qi warriors, under the leadership of Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing, also leapt into the air in an attempt to chase after their enemies. However, they were all pushed back to the earth by an irresistible, mysterious force.

    They could only watch as the vortex of demon Qi rose higher and higher, and when it reached a certain height, it began to move horizontally.

    At that moment, the Ghost Sect, which had been covered in raging demon Qi for a very long time, finally saw sunlight again. The ancient city made of green stones was once again visible under the setting sun.

    Staring at the departing demon Qi vortex, powerful experts from the Ghost Sect and Hell Sect discussed the matter amongst themselves. Confusion could be seen on their faces.

    ¡°What happened? The outsider army has retreated?¡±

    ¡°This is strange. I saw two high-tier outsidersing. Why did they leave when they had more added to their force?¡±

    ¡°Is their invasion of the Realm of me Heaven over?

    ¡°What in the world is going on?

    ...

    At the same time, the numerous outsiders that had been besieging and attacking the Cloudsoaring Sect and Mystic Mist Sect also seemed to have received orders, and rapidly retreated like an ebbing tide.

    Even the outsiders who had been ughteringmoners in mortal cities seemed to receive orders, and rapidly withdrew from where they were.

    All outsider forces, wherever they were, began to move towards the Hell sect.

    Standing on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t spot another outsider in his vicinity. Without a target, the Bone Blood Demon stood stood still in its original position, staring at nothing.

    A short whileter, the circle of death it had created with its death power also vanishedpletely.

    Only then did the mountain-like Bone Blood Demon run out of life power and copse to the ground.

    Nie Tian had noticed the signs of its imminent copse, and jumped off of it before it did.

    Hong Can from the Hell Sect, Zou Yi from the Ghost Sect, and a handful of survivors from the Blood Sect gathered to Nie Tian¡¯s side, confusion written across their faces.

    They shifted their curious gazes between the copsed Bone Blood Demon and the empty sky.

    Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing also retracted their power. Ghost Eye¡¯s two Heaven Ghosts flew back into his pupils, and his nine Earth Ghosts went back into the banners. Simrly, the enormous blood shadow flew back into Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus and became dormant again.

    Sitting on the Blood Lotus, Li Jing turned to Chang Sen and said, ¡°You know theirnguage. Did you hear what they said? Why did they leave so abruptly?¡±

    Ghost Eye also looked at Chang Sen with a confused expression on his face and waited for his answer.

    ¡°Those two high-tier outsiders who camest were ambushed by a Qi warrior that was as strong as Caro on their way here. However, that person intentionally spared their lives and killed the others they were with.¡± With a frown, Chang Sen continued, ¡°The appearance of that person made the outsiders assume powerful experts from the other eight realms hade to help defend the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°They were afraid that more powerful experts from the other realms would show up, so they decided to take the initiative and retreat.¡± Chang Sen also seemed quite confused as he shook his head and said, ¡°However, as far as I know, it¡¯s impossible for those from the other realms toe to our aid. They are all eagerly waiting for the outsiders to uproot us from the Realm of me Heaven. Even if we somehow prevailed, we would have lost most of our strength after the bloodbath.¡±

    ¡°At that time, they would have been able to swoop in and reap the Realm of me Heaven without breaking a sweat.¡±

    ¡°Someone as strong as Caro?¡± Ghost Eye¡¯s expression flickered. He knew very well that Caro was the most formidable outsider of all those that had descended upon the Realm of me Heaven this time, and if he were his opponent, instead of Chang Sen, he wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance.

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what that outsider said,¡± said Chang Sen.

    Li Jing let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Whoever that person is, he put an end to the war, and the situation in the Realm of me Heaven is finally stable again. The entire Realm of me Heaven has sustained heavy losses from this war. We might need years to recover our strength.

    ¡°We¡¯ve taken safety and survival for granted for too long. This cmity actually may not be the worst thing for us.¡± Chang Sen pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Only desperate situations like this will stimte those who are truly capable to disy their remarkable talent! Bloody wars will help them grow and the future of the Realm of me Heaven will depend on them.¡±

    With these words, he swept his gaze over the crowd of survivors, who were now gathered at his side.

    Finally, his gazended on Nie Tian, who was standing in front of the copsed Bone Blood Demon. He turned to Li Jing and said, ¡°What¡¯s the story with that kid? Why did the Bone Blood Demon your sect spent years refining take orders from him? It seems that he¡¯s only at the Lesser Heaven stage and doesn¡¯t practice your sect¡¯s secret magics.¡±

    Ghost Eye¡¯s gruesome eyes were also fixed on Nie Tian as he said, ¡°I saw him kill quite a few low-tier outsiders with the Bone Blood Demon, and he even dealt a great blow to the noble outsider, who they referred to as Zelia. It¡¯s hard to believe that a Lesser Heaven stage junior yed such an important role in this critical battle.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the fact he had awakened the Bone Blood Demon, the Blood Sect might have shared the same fate as the Grayvale Sect.¡± Li Jing sighed softly.

    ¡°Who is he?¡± Chang Sen asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s the disciple Wu Ji recently took in,¡± Li Jing answered. Then, she suddenly tilted her chin and said with a determined tone, ¡°But he¡¯s already a member of the Blood Sect. The Bone Blood Demon is too important to us. I¡¯ll never allow the person who controls it to leave the Blood Sect!¡±

    Surprise stretched across Chang Sen¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Wu Ji¡¯s disciple?! entric Wu surely know how to pick his disciples! No one can beat him at that. You¡¯ve got to give him that.¡±

    ¡°I told you that he¡¯s a disciple of the Blood Sect now!¡± Li Jing said in an imposing manner.

    ¡°Well, you can talk to Wu Ji about that.¡± Chang Sen didn¡¯t take a stance in the matter. He went on to say with a grim expression, ¡°The Realm of me Heaven is not safe yet. Those from the other eight realms will soon learn about the retreat of the outsiders. I believe it won¡¯t be long before powerful experts from the Realm of Earth Sieve and the Realm of Dark Underworld descend upon our realm.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, neither Ghost Eye or Li Jing were in the mood to talk. They both flew towards the Ghost Sect¡¯s green stone city.

    The Qi warriors from the Hell Sect, Ghost Sect, and Blood Sect also followed them back into the city.

    Only Nie Tian remained in his original position, staring nking at the Bone Blood Demon that had copsed to the ground.

    With his strength, he couldn¡¯t possibly carry it from the wastnd where he was standing to the stone city.

    Fortunately, Li Jing realized his concern, and rapidly flew back to his side from the city.

    Sitting on her Blood Lotus, she said to Nie Tian, ¡°Follow me.¡±

    As soon as she uttered these words, numerous blood-colored ribbons flew out of the Blood Lotus. They wrapped around the gigantic Bone Blood Demon like pack ropes and pulled it up into the air.

    ¡°Youe with me.¡± With a flip of Li Jing¡¯s finger, a blood thread that was as soft as cotton stretched out, wreathed Nie Tian, and dragged him to the top of the Blood Lotus.

    While flying the Bone Blood Demon back to the Ghost sect, Li Jing shot a nce at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me that it would remain active for ten days?¡±

    ¡°It sped up its consumption of life power when it unleashed its bloodline power.¡± Nie Tian told the truth.

    ¡°I see." Li Jing nodded and said in a domineering tone, ¡°From now on, whoever asks about you, you¡¯ll tell them that you¡¯ve be a member of the Blood Sect.¡±

 Chapter 222: Three Great Rifts

    In the mountain rage where the Hell Sect was located.

    Surrounded by three mountain peaks that were thousands of meters high, wisps of demon Qi were oozing out of a huge, dark pit that seemed to lead to the deepest parts of the earth.

    The demon Qi that flowed out of the pit gradually filled the area in a fifty miles range, within which not a single wisp of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth could be found.

    WHOOSH!

    The enormous demon Qi vortex appeared from the direction of the Ghost Sect and flew toward the huge pit while carrying numerous low-tier outsiders.

    As the vortexnded next to the bottomless pit, a significant amount of low-tier outsiders marched out of it and stepped to the edge of the pit.

    Under the leadership of Zelia, Caro, and Groete, high-tier outsiders also descended to the edge of the pit from the top of the demon Qi vortex.

    At that moment, strong spatial fluctuations were suddenly born within the pit, as if it had be a portal that led to another heaven and earth.

    ¡°The portal is open. The three rifts that lead to our world have all opened.¡± Face calm, Zelia looked into the unfathomable, dark pit. It seemed that she wasn¡¯t very frustrated by their failure to take the Realm of me Heaven. ¡°Now that the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have reappeared in this world through the Heaven Gate trial, the game between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and us has finally begun.

    ¡°Those three rifts were sealed by saints from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce thousands of years ago.

    ¡°Now they¡¯re open again. The Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars won¡¯t be able to seal them with their strength alone.

    ¡°Only by obtaining the first, middle, andst part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation will a person be able to learn the secret magic of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and use it to channel power from the starry river to reseal the rifts.¡± With these words, Zelia turned to look at the three enormous mountain peaks surrounding the pit.

    She knew perfectly well that they weren¡¯t naturally formed. Instead, they had been moved from other parts of the Realm of me Heaven by saints with divine abilities from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    There were powerful, secret formations hidden within each of the mountain peaks, with every formation having its own central hub.

    Only the person who had all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation would be able to use the incantation to restart the grand spell formation and channel power from the starry river to seal the portal.

    Caro, who was covered in ck armor from head to toe, asked, ¡°My lord, the other two rifts are in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. The human Qi warriors in those realms are more powerful than the ones in the Realm of me Heaven. Do they have the ability to stop the spread of the demon Qi?¡±

    ¡°No, they don¡¯t.¡± Arrogance could be seen on Zelia¡¯s face. ¡°If they did have a way to do that, they wouldn¡¯t have sent their most powerful experts to the Heaven Gate trial and fought others to the death for the three parts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°The reason why the powerful ns from our world chose not to invade the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations was that they knew that they wouldn¡¯t have the best odds if they fought those powerful experts on their turf, where the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth was everywhere.

    ¡°Meanwhile, powerful human experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars probably won¡¯t dare to travel to our world via the spatial rifts.

    ¡°The reason why we chose to attack the Realm of me Heaven was because human cultivators in this realm are too weak to stop us from traveling here and returning.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s safe to say that the moment the three great spatial rifts are opened, the war between us and the Domain of the Falling Stars will have begun.

    ¡°If the three great spatial rifts can stay open, it¡¯ll take no more than five decades to fill the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of me Heaven with demon Qi.

    ¡°If we step into the three realms via the spatial rifts at that time, we¡¯ll definitely gain the upper hand in fighting against the human Qi warriors.

    ¡°That¡¯s when we¡¯ll start the full-blown war against the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Caro frowned and said, ¡°The leaders of the Domain of the Falling Stars probably also know about this. I bet they¡¯ll try to find a way to gather all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. If they somehow manage to do that, they would be able to reseal the spatial rifts in the three realms. What will we do if ites to that?¡±

    Zelia chuckled and said, ¡°It¡¯s not as easy as it sounds. The Qi warrior powers in the Domain of the Falling Stars aren¡¯t as united as you may think. They fight and kill each other all the time. What else do you think was stopping powerful experts from the other realms froming to help defend the Realm of me Heaven?

    ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible for one person to gather all three parts of the incantation. Furthermore, that person will need to be strong and intelligent enough to achieve total mastery of the legacies that hide with those magical symbols. Only then will they be able to restart the spell formations.

    ¡°Whoever obtains a part of the incantation won¡¯t give it away so easily. It¡¯ll take quite some time for one person to get all the parts, and during that period of time, the Domain of the Falling Stars will remain in turmoil.

    ¡°Also, as soon as we go back, I¡¯ll request that our monarchs cast secret bloodline spells to speed up the spread of the demon Qi.

    ¡°If they agree to help, we might only need ten years to fill the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of me Heaven with demon Qi, and turn them into our paradise.

    ¡°It¡¯s just a matter of time before all nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars be our colonies. The great ns have longed for them for quite some time. Nothing will stop them.¡± With these words, Zelia softly waved her hand and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the enormous demon Qi vortex moved over and enveloped all high-tier and low-tier outsiders. Then it carried them into the depths of the bottomless pit and vanished in the spatial fluctuations.

    In the Realm of a Thousand Devastations...

    Wisps of demon Qi wereing out of a huge pit in the ground that was exactly the same as the one in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Around the unfathomable pit were also three exceptionally high mountain peaks that reached thousands of meters into the sky.

    On the top of one mountain peak stood a handful human cultivators. They all had grim expressions on their faces as they looked down at the pit that was wreathed with demon Qi.

    ¡°The fact that the outsiders aren¡¯t here doesn¡¯t mean that they won¡¯te. As long as this spatial rift isn¡¯t sealed, more demon Qi will pour into the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t do anything about it, we won¡¯t have a smidgen of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth left in our realm in a few decades. At that time, the truly powerful outsider ns will throw their full strength at the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°None of our disciples returned from the Heaven Gate trial with legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Even the Heaven Pce Sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven only got their hands on one part. I heard that the other two parts were seized by a kid from the Realm of me Heaven, as unbelievable as it sounds.¡±

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect originally nned to have Su Lin and Ning Yang obtain all three parts of the incantation, but they somehow failed.¡±

    ¡°If we can¡¯t unite the three parts, we won¡¯t be able to seal the three great spatial rifts and stop the poisonous demon Qi from spreading into the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of me Heaven. If we can¡¯t do that, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in these realms will grow fainter and fainter, and soon bepletely reced by demon Qi. At that time, these realms will no longer be suitable for Qi warriors to practice cultivation in.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, this is a more urgent matter to the Heaven Pce Sect than us. The spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven appeared right outside the Heaven Pce Sect. If the demon Qi keeps spreading, they¡¯ll be forced to move their sect to another location. They won¡¯t let others have the other two parts of the incantation for long.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. So let¡¯s wait and see what the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s next move will be.¡±

    After observing the huge pit and discussing for a short while, the experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations soared into the sky and disappeared.

    In the Heaven Pce Sect, the realm of Mystic Heaven...

    Su Lin and Ning Yang were on their knees in a magnificent stone pce. After bringing out all their encounters in the Heaven Gate trial, they bowed their heads low and fell into silence.

    In the middle of the stone pce, a spirit was floating in front of them. It was so blurry and was flickering so much that it seemed that it could disappear at any moment.

    After remaining silent for quite a while, the spirit said in a profound, calm voice, ¡°If we can¡¯t obtain the whole incantation, we won¡¯t be able to seal the three great spatial rifts that lead to the demons¡¯ world. If we sit around and let it happen, the Realm of me Heaven, the smallest of the three, will drown in demon Qi in no more than two decades.

    ¡°By that time, the Realm of me Heaven willpletely lose its value, and all of its human residents will evacuate.

    ¡°If ites to that, everything we¡¯ve done will be in vain. I¡¯ll send messages to the Realm of Earth Sieve and the Realm of Dark Underworld to tell them to stop their operations against the Realm of me Heaven. Meanwhile, I need you two to go to the Realm of me Heaven with my edict. You¡¯ll find the boy who has the other two parts of the incantation and gather all three parts.¡±

    At that moment, amand medallion that seemed to be made of gold and jade flew out from within the floating spirit and stopped in front of Ning Yang, floating.

    ¡°Show it to Chang Sen, sectmaster of the Hell Sect, and he¡¯ll know what to do.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± Ning Yang and Su Lin said simultaneously, their faces still facing the floor.

    The floating spirit gave a cold harrumph. ¡°If you two fail again this time, you know what punishment awaits, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Fear could be seen on Ning Yang and Su Lin¡¯s ghastly faces as they couldn¡¯t help but shiver.

 Chapter 223: The Escort

    Deep into the night, in the ancient, green stone city...

    Since the outsiders had left the Ghost Sect, long-lost peace was stored to the city. Disciples of the Ghost Sect who were lucky enough to have survived the cmity were either weeping over their loved ones¡¯ deaths or cultivating wholeheartedly, preparing themselves for the challenges that were toe.

    The sectmasters of the Hell Sect, the Ghost Sect, and the Blood Sect, along with their sect elders, were discussing their ns to deal with the pressure that mighte from the other eight realms.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, was resting in a residence arranged for him by Zou Yi in the southwest part of the city.

    The enormous Bone Blood Demon was ced in the middle of his courtyard, exposed under silver moonlight.

    Nie Tian was sitting cross-legged in his room, the door to which was left open. He held an unfurled scroll in his hands, which carried an incantation that Li Jing had instructed him to memorize by heart.

    Written on the scroll were the words: Blood Refining Incantation.

    It was the Blood Sect¡¯s most fundamental spiritual incantation. Every disciple of the Blood Sect would have to practice cultivation with it.

    Unlike the spiritual incantations of the other sects in the Realm of me Heaven, the Blood Refining Incantation needed to be practiced with spirit beast blood.

    The Blood Refining Incantation would allow its users to absorb spiritual energy from spirit beast blood and channel it to their spiritual sea.

    Aside from the Blood Refining Incantation, Li Jing had also bestowed three Blood Pills upon him, so that he could channel the spiritual power within them to his spiritual sea and thus create a vortex of blood power there.

    Since the incantation was quite in and simple, Nie Tian went through it and grasped the essence of it rapidly.

    However, when he tried to refine a Blood Pill with it, he found that he couldn¡¯t channel the wisps of blood power that the Blood Pill released to his spiritual sea at all, no matter how hard he tried.

    He discovered that some blood power wisps were attracted to his heart, where they were devoured by the green energy thread that resided in it, while the others dissipated into his blood on their way to his spiritual sea.

    ¡°The way the Blood Refining Incantation works is basically to gather blood power to the cultivator¡¯s spiritual sea. It seems it doesn¡¯t suit me very well." By the time the medicinal efficacy of the Blood Pill wore out, Nie Tian threw the scroll back into his bracelet of holding and started meditating with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

    After a thorough self-examination, he found that, although the blood power of the Blood Pill had made him feel more energetic and the green energy thread in his heart seemed to have grown a bitrger, none of the blood power had flowed to his spiritual sea.

    He didn¡¯t understand what had gone wrong.

    Subconsciously, he cast a nce at the Bone Blood Demon in the courtyard.

    It immediately urred to him that the Bone Blood Demon had used that very Incantation to refine the blood of numerous low-tier outsiders in the Blood Sect and the Ghost Sect, but as far as he knew, Bone Giants didn¡¯t have dantians or spiritual seas.

    The blood essence that the Bone Blood Demon had absorbed with the Blood Refining Incantation seemed to have also dispersed into its blood.

    ¡°Can this be because I have a special bloodline within me?¡± The thought suddenly urred to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Blood Refining Incantation?¡± It was at that moment a figure appeared in the courtyard. Nie Tian¡¯s eyes searched for the source of the voice, and then he saw a blurry figure in the courtyard. As the figure approached, it grew clearer and clearer.

    ¡°Mister Hua?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What brings you here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯vee for you,¡± A gentle smile appeared on Hua Mu¡¯s face as he said. ¡°I think I saw you practice the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t think it suits me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡± Hua Mu shook his head and said with a sincere tone. ¡°That incantation suits you perfectly. It¡¯s just that you don¡¯t need to stick to the method written on that scroll. You only need to use it to refine and umte blood power. Forget the rest.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked by Hua Mu¡¯s words. ¡°Just like the way I practiced it just now? That was the right way?¡±

    ¡°Yes, only those who don¡¯t have a special bloodline in them will need to channel blood power to their spiritual sea. But you¡¯re different. You have life blood running through your veins, and from what I can tell, you¡¯ve already awakened your bloodline.¡± Hua Mu seemed a bit excited as he continued, ¡°You can use the Blood Refining Incantation to strengthen your life blood, and that¡¯s why I said this incantation suits you perfectly.¡±

    ¡°How did you know, Mr. Hua?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Then, he remembered that right before he had left for the Heaven Gate trial, Hua Mu told him that he might learn about his own secrets during the trial. At that time, he hadn¡¯t been able to understand what Hua Mu meant.

    As he recalled it now, Hua Mu must have been talking about the green aura in his heart, which was the embodiment of his awakened bloodline power.

    He had also awakened his first bloodline talent: Life Transfer.

    The more he thought about it, the more he found that everything Hua Mu had done contained deep meanings.

    ¡°I saw your uniqueness the day I met you.¡± Hua Mu nodded and said.

    Then, after a moment of silence, he sighed and continued, ¡°Although, there¡¯s another reason why I helped refine your body and rid you of impurities.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian asked with a serious expression.

    He was aware that Hua Mu had done many things to help him, whether it was killing Lai Yi and Gan Kang in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, or informing him about the Heaven Gate.

    For that, he had been nothing but graceful.

    ¡°Just like your master, I¡¯m also nearing the end of my life. I hope you can use your life blood to extend my lifespan for me. Of course, your current bloodline power level doesn¡¯t allow you to do that now.¡± With a smile on his face, Hua Mu continued, ¡°But I can wait for few more decades. I believe that, given time and considering your talent, it won¡¯t be hard for you to give me more years then.¡±

    ¡°Life Transfer?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    Hua Mu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯ve already awakened the Life Transfer bloodline talent?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and answered, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s the first and only bloodline talent I¡¯ve awakened.¡±

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Hua Mu seemed very excited upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s answer. ¡°This is amazing. I knew you had it in you! If that¡¯s the case, you might just need ten years to umte enough strength to perform Life Transfer on me! I made the right choice!¡±

    Then, Hua Mu went on to say, ¡°By the way, your grandfather and aunt are safe. I took them to a safe ce before ck Cloud City was flooded by low-tier outsiders. They are probably being taken to the Cloudsoaring Sect as we speak. Don¡¯t you worry about them.¡±

    Nie Tian hastily rose to his feet and bowed deeply towards Hua Mu. ¡°Many thanks, Mr. Hua!!¡±

    Hua Mu waved his hand and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for this. Oh right, did you make any gains during the Heaven Gate trial?¡±

    ¡°I obtained the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡± Nie Tian answered, without holding anything back.

    For unknown reasons, he had a feeling that he couldpletely trust Hua Mu.

    ¡°You obtained the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation?!¡± Hua Mu¡¯s eyes widened.

    Nie Tian raised his shirt and showed the two hexagrams on his chest to Hua Mu.

    With a glimpse of it, Hua Mu¡¯s eyes further widened and he shuddered slightly, as he seemed to be truly shocked.

    Hua Mu stared at the hexagram for a while before moving hisplicated gaze up to look Nie Tian in the eye while saying, ¡°I already considered taking you to another realm after you got the me Dragon Armor. Now that you¡¯ve obtained the first and middle parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, there are even more reasons that you can¡¯t stay in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian was surprised.

    ¡°Those two hexagrams on your chest are of great importance. Their significance may surpass your imagination. If you continue to stay in the Realm of me Heaven, I¡¯m afraid catastrophic things will happen to you, things even I won¡¯t be able to protect you from.¡± Hua Mu took a deep breath and continued, ¡°If you can trust me, leave with me tonight.¡±

    ¡°But my master Wu Ji and the sectmaster Li Jing will protect me.¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°They won¡¯t be able to. If the Heaven Pce Sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven demands something, no one in the entire Realm of me Heaven will dare to say no.¡±

    ¡°So... where do we go?¡± Nie Tian asked while he seemed to be in a state of bewilderment.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a ce where you can sit the turmoils out, and then you can return to the Realm of me Heaven when it¡¯s safe.¡± Hua Mu sounded somewhat anxious after learning that Nie Tian had obtained two hexagrams. ¡°It¡¯s better that we leave tonight. Dying means trouble!¡±

    ¡°Leave the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    Hua Mu nodded vigorously. ¡°Exactly, I have to take you to a ce out of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s reach, where you¡¯ll conceal your identity and spend some time to draw enlightenment from the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. When you¡¯ve gained thorough understandings of the profound mysteries within those two hexagrams, even if the Heaven Pce Sect somehow found you, they won¡¯t be able to forcibly take them away from you.

    ¡°At that time, they¡¯ll have to rely on you, whether they¡¯re willing to or not. They might even take you to the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°Once you¡¯re in the Heaven Pce Sect, you won¡¯t have to worry about those people from the Realm of Dark Underworld any more. They won¡¯t dare to make a move, even if they know that the me Dragon Armor is in your possession.¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s words were very overwhelming to Nie Tian. Confused and disoriented, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ll do what you think is the best.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 224: Getting Away

    Deep into the night, in the Ghost Sect...

    Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing were discussing their next move and how they were going to handle the potential threat from the other eight realms.

    There were three inter-spatial teleportation portals in the Realm of me Heaven; each of them was established in the Hell Sect, the Ghost Sect, and the Spiritual Treasure Sect respectively.

    The seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven had always traveled to the other eight realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars via those teleportation portals.

    However, when the outsider army had invaded the Realm of me Heaven, all three of them had failed. When the seven sects wanted to send out signals for help through them, they discovered that all the other realms, including those they had close rtions with, had denied their requests to teleport.

    Originally, the seven sects had nned to teleport their young and weak away to the other realms first, and then use the portals to evacuate their powerful experts if the Realm of me Heaven¡¯s loss became inevitable.

    However, it seemed that the other eight realms had already reached a mutual understanding; each and every one of them had declined the seven sects¡¯ requests to travel to their realms via the inter-spatial teleportation portals.

    It was at that moment that Chang Sen and the other sect leaders had realized that the other eight realms had abandoned the Realm of me Heaven.

    Chang Sen¡¯s expression was very grim. ¡°Now that the outsiders are gone, if there are no mishaps, those people from the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Earth Sieve will soon learn about it and descend upon us. From what I can tell, we don¡¯t have to worry that the outsiders will invade us again in the near future. Instead, those three inter-spatial teleportation portals have be my biggest concern, since the other realms might try to use them to get to our realm.

    ¡°In my opinion, we should seal all three of them as soon as possible.

    ¡°Even though the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Earth Sieve are rtively near us, if the portals are no longer avable, they will have to spend a significant amount of time and effort traveling across the starry river to get to our realm.

    ¡°Furthermore, traveling in the starry river can be very dangerous.

    ¡°I want them to suffer great losses on their way, even if we can¡¯t stop them froming to the Realm of me Heaven!¡±

    After Chang Sen shared his views, both Ghost Eye and Li Jing nodded briefly in assent.

    Immediately afterwards, Ghost Eye ordered an elder of the Ghost Sect to seal the inter-spatial teleportation portal in their sect.

    Chang Sen also set out to use a secret magic to inform the guardians of the inter-spatial teleportation portal in the Hell Sect to turn it off, and also prepared to urge Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect to do the same to theirs.

    However, at that very moment, the elder Ghost Eye had just sent to seal the portal rushed back in. Urgency and fear could be seen on his face. ¡°Sectmaster, by the time I got to the inter-spatial teleportation portal, two visitors from foreign realms had already arrived. They have the edict of the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect with them, and they want to see you, Chang Sen.¡±

    Ghost Eye¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. ¡°People from the Heaven Pce Sect? Edict of their sectmaster?¡±

    Chang Sen and Li Jing were also taken back by the news.

    Ghost Eye turned to look at Chang Sen.

    Chang Sen remained silent for a while before nodding and saying, ¡°Send them in. Let¡¯s see what they have to say.¡±

    Therefore, Ghost Eye beckoned for the elder to bring them in.

    Momentster, the Ghost Sect elder brought Ning Yang and Su Lin to the meeting hall where the three sectmasters were.

    After they came to a stop, Ning Yang bowed in a respectful yet proud fashion. ¡°Greetings, seniors.¡±

    Then, he took out the edict and passed it on to Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing. When the three of them examined it and were convinced that it was authentic, Ning Yang took his time to exin that he was here for Nie Tian, who had obtained the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    After that, he went on to exin why they need them without holding anything back; how they would have to gather all three parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation to reseal the spatial rifts that had appeared in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of me Heaven, and only by doing that would they be able to stop the demon Qi from pouring into the three realms.

    Everything Ning Yang said was news, even to Chang Sen. After learning about the significance of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and the outsiders¡¯ true intentions, the three of them all had grim expressions on their faces.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t seal the spatial rift in your realm as soon as possible, given the size of your realm, it¡¯ll take no more than twenty years for the demon Qi to fill every corner of your homnd. By that time, the outsiders might not even need tounch a war to take the Realm of me Heaven. The seven sects and all themoners might have already taken the initiative to emigrate to another realm.

    ¡°The reason we¡¯re here is to solve this problem for all of us. Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base is far too low. He can¡¯t possibly make the best of those two parts of the incantation within such a short period of time.

    ¡°I hope you can look at the bigger picture and give him to us. I promise you that I¡¯ll only take away his two fragmentary star marks, and I won¡¯t endanger his life.

    ¡°Furthermore, as long as we get what we want, we¡¯ll urge the other six realms to stay out of the conflicts between your realm and the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Earth Sieve.

    ¡°Seniors, I believe that you understand what it means to ¡°give to get¡±, and what¡¯s best for the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    After making his intentions and reasons clear, Ning Yang stood in silence, waiting for Chang Sen and the other two to make their decision.

    Li Jing seemed both surprised and worried. ¡°Nie Tian?! I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s Nie Tian! Never would have I expected that Nie Tian obtained two fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial!¡±

    After pondering the matter for a while, Chang Sen made up his mind. ¡°Li Jing, those fragmentary star marks are of great importance. Whether we can unite all three of them will determine the fate of our realms. I¡¯ll never forget Nie Tian¡¯s contribution to help defend the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°However, after all, he¡¯s only at the Lesser Heaven stage; even if he gets to keep those two fragmentary star marks, he won¡¯t be able to make the best use of them. The consequences will be catastrophic. Not only will the Realm of me Heaven face cmities, but the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations will also suffer great turbulence.¡±

    He turned to Li Jing and continued, ¡°Tell him to give up the fragmentary star marks, and I¡¯llpensate him for his loss.¡±

    Ghost Eye seemed somewhat anxious after learning what the huge pit that had suddenly appeared in the Realm of me Heaven meant.

    He also knew that now that Ning Yang hade with his sectmaster¡¯s edict, he wouldn¡¯t take no for an answer.

    After weighing the pros against the cons in his head, he found Ning Yang¡¯s proposal eptable. After all, by sacrificing Nie Tian¡¯s two fragmentary star marks, they would protect the Realm of me Heaven from both outsider invaders and potential threats from the other two realms.

    Meanwhile, Li Jing also understood that she wouldn¡¯t be able to save Nie Tian¡¯s fragmentary star marks, no matter how hard she might try.

    She was very aware that now that the situation involved the will of the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, no one in the Realm of me Heaven would be able to turn it around.

    Most importantly, if Nie Tian refused to do so, the Realm of me Heaven would be put in even greater danger.

    Numerous expressions shed across Li Jing¡¯s face. After pondering in silence for quite a while, she looked at Ning Yang and said, ¡°Are you sure you won¡¯t hurt Nie Tian when you remove his fragmentary star marks?¡±

    Ning Yang solemnly promised her that they had a way to peel away the fragmentary star marks withoutpromising Nie Tian¡¯s future cultivation.

    He even promised that the Heaven Pce Sect wouldpensate him after receiving his fragmentary star marks and also pressure the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Earth Sieve to halt their operations against the Realm of me Heaven.

    His words eventually erased Li Jing¡¯s concerns. She said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you to him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d appreciate it if you did so now,¡± said Ning Yang.

    Then, Li Jing led him and a few others to Nie Tian¡¯s residence, where the Bone Blood Demon was lying in the courtyard.

    However, before they even descended from midair, Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing¡¯s expressions flickered simultaneously.

    None of their soul consciousnesses detected any sign of life in the residence, which meant that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?" Ning Yang was confused.

    Li Jing¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly as she said, ¡°He might have gone out. It¡¯s alright. I remember his aura. As long as he¡¯s still in the city, I¡¯ll be able to find him soon.¡±

    Upon saying these words, sitting on her Blood Lotus, she unleashed a wave of spiritual power from her spiritual sea, which rapidly spread out in every direction.

    Several minutester, she shuddered slightly and said, ¡°He¡¯s not in the city!¡±

    ¡°How can that be?!¡± Chang Sen was also surprised. ¡°That kid wouldn¡¯t leave for no reason. Can it be that he sensed danger? But considering his cultivation base, he couldn¡¯t get very far.¡±

    ¡°Split up and search for him!¡± Ghost Eye immediately blurred into action. Like a ghost shadow, he flew up into the air and disappeared.

    Right after him, Chang Sen and Li Jing also rose into the sky and flew away in the other direction.

    By daybreak, the three of them had returned to the green stone city, frustrated expressions on their faces. Apparently, none of them had found Nie Tian.

 Chapter 225: The Tenth Realm in the Domain!

    At daybreak, a small boat could be seen traveling as fast as a sh in the boundless, misty sky.

    The boat was five meters long and made from some unknown material.

    Numerous spirit stones filled the bottom of the boat; every one of them was emanating bright light as they rapidly used up their spiritual power.

    From time to time, Hua Mu would bring out more spirit stones from within his ring of holding and toss them to the bottom of the boat, as it seemed that he did so to fuel the flying boat.

    The speed at which the boat traveled was about twice as fast as the Bone Blood Demon.

    Standing next to Hua Mu, Nie Tian turned his head to look at the Lightning Shuttle with a measuring gaze, and marveled at it.

    ording to Hua Mu, this Lightning Shuttle was very valuable and rare. Even the Spiritual Treasure Sect didn¡¯t have the techniques and resources avable to build one of them.

    If a Qi warrior traveled in one of them, not only would they save their strength, since it didn¡¯t require its owner to power it with their own power, but they could even practice cultivation or draw enlightenment from their spiritual incantations during themute.

    Normally, only powerful sects like the Heaven Pce Sect would possess valuable spiritual tools like this, and only their high-ranking officials would be allowed to use them.

    Nie Tian was very surprised that Hua Mu had such a precious spiritual tool.

    He had a feeling that Hua Mu was a very important person in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and that the name Hua Mu could be a fake name.

    Just as Nie Tian was pondering the matter, Hua Mu frowned. He turned to look in the direction of the Ghost Sect and said, ¡°All three of them havee searching for you.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the Heaven Pce Sect to act so quickly. Fortunately, we left early enough. Otherwise, if Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, or Li Jing found us, it would give rise to a lot of trouble.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who the Heaven Pce Sect has sent here. But whoever it is, if he or she learns about our whereabouts, you won¡¯t be safe anymore.¡±

    ¡°Are they looking for you too?¡± Nie Tian asked; shock could be heard in his voice.

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m not who they¡¯re looking for. They must be searching for you because of the pressure they received from the Heaven Pce Sect. I knew that the Heaven Pce Sect woulde and collect them when you told me that you have two fragmentary star marks on you. I just didn¡¯t expect them toe so soon. After all, the outsiders have just retreated.¡±

    Through Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing¡¯s actions, Hua Mu was able to suss out the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s deal with them.

    ¡°Those fragmentary star marks are really that important?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yes, they are.¡± Hua Mu pondered for a moment, and then exined to Nie Tian why they were. It was the same thing that Ning Yang had exined to Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Li Jing.

    After learning that the hexagrams on his chest could determine the fate of the Realm of me Heaven and two other realms, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    Hua Mu seemed to have seen through his concerns and said consolingly, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much. It will take at least twenty years for the demon Qi to fill the Realm of me Heaven. As for the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and the Realm of Mystic Heaven, since they are vaster, it will take about fifty years for the demon Qi to fill them.

    ¡°Meanwhile, ording to my estimations, you¡¯ll need only five to six years to study and fully grasp the profound truths within the first and middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°At that time, the Heaven Pce Sect will no longer be able to forcibly take the fragmentary star marks away from you.

    ¡°Only then will theypromise and ept you into the Heaven Pce Sect, along with your fragmentary star marks.

    ¡°Although the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven might have to fight the influence of the demon Qi in theing five to six years, their foundations won¡¯t be shaken.

    ¡°And that¡¯s the way you¡¯ll benefit the most.¡±

    With these words, Hua Mu looked at Nie Tian and said with a solemn tone, ¡°Nie Tian, now that you¡¯ve chosen the path of cultivation, you¡¯ll have to think more about your future. If you give up those fragmentary star marks, you¡¯ll regret it for the rest of your life. You risked your life for them. Why would you hand them over to the Heaven Pce Sect?¡±

    ¡°If I can keep them and save the Realm of me Heaven at the same time, of course I¡¯ll never give them up!¡± Nie Tian blurted.

    A grin appeared on Hua Mu¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Good boy. Also, you can rest assured that your grandfather and aunt will be safe in the Cloudsoaring Sect. They have Wu Ji to shelter them. I don¡¯t think the Heaven Pce sect will do anything to them. From now on, the Heaven Pce sect will leave no corner unchecked in their search for you, but I¡¯ll make sure they don¡¯t find you.

    ¡°In five to six years, when you¡¯ve mastered everything in the fragmentary star marks and you can put your knowledge to use, then you can return to the Realm of me Heaven, open and square. Or you can go directly to the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°By that time, not only will they not hurt you, but they might even provide you with cultivation resources and rely on you to save their realm.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I trust that you are doing this for my benefit, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, why would I trick you?¡± Hua Mu patted on his shoulder. ¡°If I wanted to hurt you, you would have died already. The me Dragon Armor alone was already reason enough for some people to kill you. If you did give up your fragmentary star marks this time, and only relied on Wu Ji and Li Jing to protect you, I doubt that they¡¯d be able to stop that person from the Realm of Dark Underworld.¡±

    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡± Nie Tian asked with a grim face.

    ¡°There are two major Qi warrior sects in the Realm of Dark Underworld, the me God Sect and the Spirit God Sect. Lai Yi and Tang Yang are both from the me God Sect. The me Dragon Armor¡¯s former owner is the sectmaster of the me God Sect, who everyone refers to as me God, but he didn¡¯t have the Blood Core. Therefore the me Dragon Armor wasn¡¯tplete. He had gone to great lengths just to get the me Dragon Armor without the Blood Core. Would he really let you have it after learning that the me Dragon Armor had merged with the Blood Core?

    ¡°He might even have personallye to the Realm of me Heaven to search for you, along with people from the Heaven Pce Sect. Would you still want to stay in the Realm of me Heaven then?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I see.¡±

    As the two of them spoke, the Lightning Shuttle carried them as it whistled through the misty sky and flew further and further away from the Ghost Sect.

    One day passed...

    It was dusk when the Lightning Shuttle flew past the Mystic Mist Sect and appeared over a boundless ocean that was covered in faint, white mist.

    Numerous inds were scattered everywhere like the stars in the sky. Most of them were uninhabited, with only a handful inhabited by fishermen.

    The Lightning Shuttle flew for a while longer before it slowed down above an insignificant isle, which was oval and only the size of ck Cloud City.

    A small mountain took up almost the entire isle.

    When the Lightning Shuttle slowly flew to a position halfway up the mountain, Hua Mu reached out with one hand, and a spiritual light shed across in front of him. A stone as smooth as jade suddenly split open, and a cave appeared.

    Hua Mu grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s hand as they jumped off of the Lightning Shuttle andnded at the mouth of the stone cave. After storing the Lightning Shuttle back into his ring of holding, Hua Mu led Nie Tian into the cave.

    It was a wide stone cave, where numerous luminous pearls were embedded in the cave walls, lighting the cave as if it were under broad daylight.

    As they walked deeper, a small teleportation portal appeared in front of them.

    Hua Mu stopped and said, ¡°The ce we are going to is quite turbulent. Actually, it was the tenth realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s been abandoned by Qi warriors from the other nine realms for some reason, and now it¡¯spletely unsuitable for Qi warriors to practice cultivation in.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s be a ce where Qi warriors who aren¡¯t wee in the other nine realms gather. Among them are fugitives from the other realms who havemitted serious crimes, and those who practice cultivation via dangerous, forbidden techniques.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you there, but I won¡¯t be able to stay for long. You¡¯ll need to depend on yourself to make a living over there.

    ¡°However, I have faith in you. You¡¯ve survived worse.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment. ¡°The tenth realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, the Realm of a Hundred Battles is the realm that¡¯s the closest to it, but the distance between them is still extremely far.¡± With an embarrassed smile on his face, Hua Mu continued, ¡°That¡¯s the only ce that the Heaven Pce Sect can hardly get to and doesn¡¯t have any influence in. As long as you are careful and keep your secrets to yourself, they won¡¯t be able to find you.

    ¡°One more thing, don¡¯t trust anyone who lives there.¡±

    To Hua Mu¡¯s surprise, Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Great! If that¡¯s that case, I¡¯m quite intrigued.¡±

    ¡°...I guess it¡¯s perfect for you then.¡± Hua Mu pointed towards the small teleportation portal and beckoned for Nie Tian to step inside of it.

    As soon as they both entered the portal, Hua Mu cast a spell to start it.

    In a few seconds, the two of them were engulfed by a dazzlingly bright light, and by the time the light dimmed, they were already nowhere to be found.

 Chapter 226: Shatter City

    In the Realm of Split Void...

    In the center of Shatter City, numerous human Qi warriors were gathered by the side ofrge inter-spatial teleportation portal.

    Every once in awhile, the portal would emanate bright light, and human figures would gradually became clear in its center, after which a ck-garbed Qi warriors would walk up to them and demand spirit stones.

    The amount of the spirit stones would depend on the distance of the teleportation, but the deal was that everyone needed to pay in spirit stones to use the portal, whoever it was.

    Other than that, those who came to Shatter City for the first time would need to get a identity medallion, within which the time that they were allowed to stay in the city was marked.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The portal began to shine with misty, bright light. When the dazzling light faded away, Nie Tian and Hua Mu slowly walked out of the portal.

    At that moment, a Qi warrior in ck garb rapidly approached them.

    ¡°Three hundred spirit stones,¡± The person said indifferently.

    Hua Mu nodded, not saying a word. Then he took out three hundred spirit stones from his ring of holding and handed them over to the person.

    Nie Tian secretly used his psychic awareness to wrap a bit of the light of the fragmentary stars in his soul, and then used this Heaven Eye to pry into the person¡¯s cultivation base. As it turned out, he was at the early Greater Heaven stage.

    A bloody-red skull was embroidered on the man¡¯s chest, which seemed to serve as a sigil of his identity.

    Nie Tian nced around and found that every ck-robed Qi warrior around him had the same skull pattern on their chest. Apparently, they were from the same force.

    The man stared coldly at Nie Tian. ¡°This one doesn¡¯t have an identity medallion.¡±

    Just as Hua Mu was about to say something, a Qi warrior suddenly rushed into the teleportation portal, which was now lit up again and already had three people standing inside.

    Those three seemed to have paid in full to leave the ce, but the one of them didn¡¯t.

    Before he could even get a firm foothold on the portal, a burly, ck-robed man stepped over, grabbed his head with one hand, and dragged him out of it. It seemed as if he was picking up a chicken.

    ¡°Your identity medallion has expired,¡± The burly man said with an indifferent expression on his face. ¡°You can either extend your stay with more spirit stones, or pay for the teleportation service with spirit stones so you can leave.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any spirit stones. Please, let me leave.¡± The poor man pleaded.

    ¡°Alright. Since you don¡¯t have any spirit stones, I¡¯ll have to let you leave Shatter City.¡± The ck-robed man grabbed the poor man and picked him up from the ground as numerous threads of lightning shot out of his sturdy hand. Like chains, they wrapped the poor man so tightly that he couldn¡¯t even struggle any more.

    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want to leave the city! I want to use the portal to leave the Realm of Split Void! Please!¡± The poor man begged and cried.

    The ck-robed man grinned sinisterly. ¡°Do you think we Blood Skulls will let people use the portal for free? Since you dared toe here, you should know the rules. If you don¡¯t have any spirit stones, you¡¯ll rot out there.¡±

    With these words, the ck-robed man dragged the person towards the gate of Shatter City,pletely deaf to his screams.

    From the way he screamed, Nie Tian realized that being kicked out of the city meant nothing but death.

    Nie Tian turned to Hua Mu and asked, ¡°What¡¯s outside of Shatter City?¡±

    Hua Mu pointed up. Nie Tian looked up and found that the entire city was enveloped by an enormous light shield, which seemed to be shimmering with faint spiritual power.

    ¡°There are two upsides to staying inside of Shatter City; first of all, you won¡¯t need to continuously spend spiritual power to resist the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Second of all, fighting is prohibited in Shatter City. Whoever has paid for their stay will be given an identity medallion and receive protection from the Blood Skulls while they are in the city.

    ¡°However, once they are out of the city, the Blood Skulls will protect no one. They can kill and loot all they want.

    ¡°A bunch of extremely violent and vicious people always lurk outside of Shatter City, waiting for people to walk through the city gate. If they think they can take the person, they will instantly jump on him and kill him.¡±

    As he exined this to Nie Tian, Hua Mu handed a few spirit stones to another ck-robed man to apply for an identity medallion for Nie Tian.

    After receiving a triangr identity medallion from the Blood Skull member, Hua Mu shoved it into Nie Tian¡¯s hands. ¡°Here. This identity medallion is yours now. You can infuse it with a wisp of your psychic awareness.¡±

    Nie Tian did as he was bid and sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the identity medallion, where he saw an exquisite spell formation with ny light dots floating inside it.

    The moment his psychic awareness flew into the spell formation, it was seized by an unknown force.

    Then, he found that one of the ny light dots had already started to shimmer, as if it were spending power to keep the wisp of his psychic awareness within the spell formation.

    ¡°Those ny light dots represent the time you¡¯ve bought in Shatter City.¡± Hua Mu exined. ¡°For every day that passes, one light dot will die out. In ny days, all the light dots will vanish, and the wisp of your psychic awareness will dissipate with them.

    ¡°That will means that your allowed time is up.

    ¡°If you wish to continue to stay in Shatter City, you¡¯ll have to pay spirit stones to get more time from the Blood Skulls.

    ¡°One spirit stone for one day.

    ¡°Of course, if you want to use the inter-spatial teleportation portal to leave the Realm of Split Void, you¡¯ll have to prepare more spirit stones.¡±

    As they spoke, Hua Mu led Nie Tian away from the portal.

    ¡°The psychic awareness in every identity medallion is unique. So even if you kill someone, you won¡¯t be able to take away their time and add it to yours.

    ¡°Plus, as soon as the owner of the identity medallion is dead, the psychic awareness in the identity medallion will vanish, and the light dots along with it.

    ¡°The reason why the Blood Skulls are doing this is because they can get more spirit stones this way.¡±

    ¡°Ny light dots stand for ny days,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°That means I have three months.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. You have three months in your identity medallion.¡± Hua Mu looked at him with an measuring gaze and asked, ¡°How many spirit stones do you have in your bracelet of holding?¡±

    After a brief examination, Nie Tian replied, ¡°A little more than three hundred.¡±

    Those spirit stones were either bestowed upon him by Wu Ji or looted from foreign cultivators during the Heaven Gate trial.

    When he had parted with Li Fan, he had given him the majority of the spirit stones and cultivation materials he had looted during the Heaven Gate trial for him to take back to the Cloudsoaring Sect as payback.

    After all, he had learned that, at that time, the Cloudsoaring Sect had been under siege, and Li Jing would never let him return to the Cloudsoaring Sect. That was the only way he could make his contribution.

    As of now, he only had three hundred spirit stones, a handful of Blood Pills, a few me Crystals, and the me Dragon Armor in his bracelet of holding.

    If he had known that he would have to leave the Realm of me Heaven ande to a ce where he could only buy his stay with spirit stones, he would have never been so generous.

    ¡°A little more than three hundred?¡± Hua Mu rubbed his chin and pondered for a while before taking out three translucent stones. He handed them to Nie Tian and said, ¡°These are spirit jades. Each one of them is worth one hundred spirit stones in the other realms. However, in Shatter City, the Blood Skulls will only give you ny spirit stones for one of them.¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed them with his hands and sensed that the spiritual energy they contained was indeed a hundred times richer than spirit stones.

    Hua Mu noticed his wonder, and thus exined to him, ¡°Spirit stones, spirit jades, and spirit crystals are the main currency that we Qi warriors use. Spirit stones usually exist close to the surface; spirit jades can be found in deeper parts, while spirit crystals can only be mined from the heart of the earth.

    ¡°One spirit crystal is worth a hundred spirit jades, and one spirit jade is worth a hundred spirit stones.¡±

    As they continued to walk, Hua Mu exined the value and nature of the three major types of materials that contained spiritual energy to Nie Tian in detail.

    ¡°Those spirit jades are for you to break through into the Heaven stage. Don¡¯t use them on anything else unless you have to.

    ¡°You¡¯ve probably noticed yourself that the light shield can only stop the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from entering the city, but it can¡¯t purge it and turn it into usable spiritual Qi.

    ¡°So you¡¯ll have to use spirit stones in your future cultivation.

    ¡°You¡¯ll need copious amounts of spiritual energy when you make the breakthrough. I reckon three spirit jades will be enough.

    ¡°You can use your spirit stones to practice cultivation. But the amount you have is far from enough. You need toe up with ways to earn more, because only in that way will youst in Shatter City.

    ¡°From now on, you won¡¯t have a n or a sect to rely on, and you¡¯ll have to make your own living. This is also part of the reason I brought you here.¡±

    They talked and walked beforeing to a stop in front of a sizable residence, and then Hua Mu said, ¡°We¡¯re here. This is the ce I¡¯ve arranged for you to work in.¡±

 Chapter 227: Pei Qiqi

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Hua Mu knocked gently on the wooden gate under dim moonlight.

    A short whileter, the gate opened, and a teenage girl in a long, ocean-blue dress and a ponytail appeared.

    The moment Nie Tian saw the girl, he felt as if the entire Shatter City had been lit up.

    He had never seen a face so beautiful. Her beauty overshadowed every girl he had ever seen, including Jiang Lingzhu, An Shiyi, and Su Lin.

    The girl¡¯s eyes were as pure as crystal, and not even the least impurity could be found within them. It was as if she could make any man alive fall for her with one nce.

    Nie Tian was deeply captivated by her eyes; as a matter of fact, since the moment he saw her, his gaze never moved away from them, as if they had captured his soul and were pulling it away from him.

    ¡°Long time no see, Mr. Hua.¡± The girl sounded neither warm nor cold.

    Only then did Nie Tian suddenly snap out of his daze and realize that he had been staring at her the whole time.

    He immediately averted his gaze from her, fearing that he would lose Hua Mu¡¯s face and the girl would think less of him.

    Hua Mu had long since taken note of Nie Tian¡¯s reactions. He chuckled and patted his shoulder, saying, ¡°No need to feel embarrassed. Everyone who sees her for the first time reacts the exact same way as you did.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could exin, Hua Mu turned to the girl and introduced, ¡°This is my nephew, Hua Tian. This is his first time in the Realm of Split Void. He wants to temper himself, so I n to leave him here with you and your master for a while. Also, since he knows nothing of this realm, I hope you can help enlighten him.

    ¡°You can throw any chore his way and pay him ordingly. No need to give me face and overpay him.

    ¡°I see." Pei Qiqi looked Nie Tian up and down with a measuring gaze before saying with a frown, ¡°His cultivation base is quite low. Does he know anything about equipment forging?¡±

    ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t,¡± Hua Mu answered on Nie Tian¡¯s behalf.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, he won¡¯t get paid very well.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s tone was indifferent, and she didn¡¯t take Nie Tian¡¯s ego into consideration, even though she knew that Nie Tian was Hua Mu¡¯s nephew.

    Nie Tian, who had just recovered a clear mind, heard her words and realized that she didn¡¯t have a high opinion of him, but he didn¡¯t utter a word.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m no stranger to your master¡¯s rules.¡± Then, Hua Mu smiled as he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°This is Pei Qiqi. You¡¯ll listen to her from now on. If you want to earn spirit stones, then you¡¯ll need to prove yourself worthy. Qiqi won¡¯t treat you better just because you¡¯re my nephew.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian replied, nodding.

    ¡°Okay, this is it. I still have some urgent matters to tend to. Please excuse me.¡± Hua Mu turned around and prepared to leave.

    ¡°Mister Hua,¡± Pei Qiqi called out softly.

    Hua Mu turned back and, looking at her confused face, he asked, ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t you want to meet my master?¡± Pei Qiqi asked. ¡°After all, it¡¯s been a long time since you were here, and it¡¯s hard to say when you¡¯ll get the chance to meet again.¡±

    A hint of panic appeared in Hua Mu¡¯s eyes as he shook his head and said, ¡°Maybe next time. I¡¯m really in a hurry.¡±

    With these words, he rapidly walked away without looking back, as if he were afraid that the longer he stayed, the less he would have the heart to leave.

    Watching Hua Mu leave hastily, Nie Tian wondered that it might be the first time that he had seen Hua Mu so flustered.

    Watching Hua Mu leave, Pei Qiqi sighed, as if she were pitying something.

    Nie Tian discovered that her mind seemed to have drifted away, so he quietly formed a Heaven Eye with the power from the fragmentary stars in his soul and used it to examine her cultivation base.

    However, when he did, he found that he couldn¡¯t sense a single thing, as if she were in another dimension, even though she was standing right in front of his eyes.

    Nie Tian had never had such strange feelings before.

    Ever since he had learned how to form the Heaven Eyes and use them to examine another¡¯s cultivation base, he had only failed once, which was when he had used it on the outsidermander Caro. Caro had nced at his approaching Heaven Eye, and it had immediately exploded.

    Other than that, he had never failed, but Pei Qiqi was an exception. He believed that, considering her age, she couldn¡¯t have reached Caro¡¯s cultivation stage.

    The reason he sensed a special anomaly on her must be because she was not ordinary.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Pei Qiqi seemed to have sensed the anomaly. She let out a cold harrumph and said with an unpleasant tone, ¡°You¡¯re quite daring for someone with such a low cultivation base!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled embarrassedly. ¡°Well... Sorry. It¡¯s my habit.¡±

    It seemed that he had yet to recover his ability to have proper conversations with a girl so beautiful.

    ¡°Your habit?¡± Pei Qiqi put on a long face as she turned around and stepped into the courtyard. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Nie Tian did as he was bid.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡± As soon as she entered the courtyard, a short, fat young man that looked like a barrel approached her and asked, smiling, ¡°Who was that? And who¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°His name is Hua Tian, Mr. Hua¡¯s nephew. He¡¯ll stay with us for some time. It was Mr. Hua that I talked to just now.¡± It seemed that Pei Qiqi felt relieved that she could dump Nie Tian on the fat young man. ¡°You¡¯ll be responsible for him from now on. This is his first time in the Realm of Split Void. You¡¯ll tell him about this realm and find him something to do first thing tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Hua Tian, is it? You¡¯ll report to me from now on.¡± The fat young man said casually.

    Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    Hua Mu had assigned him to Pei Qiqi just now, and Pei Qiqi had promised Hua Mu to take care of him.

    He had never expected that so soon after Hua Mu left, Pei Qiqi would assign him to this fat boy. He wasn¡¯t sure whether it was because he had offended her by examining her with his Heaven Eye or that she just attached no importance to him.

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s go. What? Are you upset that you can¡¯t work under Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡± The fat young man twitched his mouth and said with an unpleasant tone, ¡°Forget about it. Senior Martial Sister Pei doesn¡¯t take those whoe here because of their rtionship with my master. You should consider yourself lucky now that I¡¯m willing to take you with me.¡±

    He grabbed Nie Tian by his hand and forcibly dragged him away from Pei Qiqi.

    After the two of them were gone, Pei Qiqi frowned and muttered to herself, ¡°Mr. Hua has always lived by himself. Howe he¡¯s all of a sudden shown up with this nephew? Another strange thing is that when that guy used his psychic awareness to examine me, my spatial field suddenly began to operate by itself.¡±

 Chapter 228: The Realm of Split Void

    The fat young man¡¯s name was Li Ye. He showed Nie Tian to a remote stone room and took out an earthen jar of hard liquor from his ring of holding.

    He drank inrge gulps as he exined the situation in the Realm of Split Void to Nie Tian. It wasn¡¯t long before his cheeks turned red and he seemed rather drunk.

    Even still, he talked consistently, and everything he said made good sense to Nie Tian.

    While listening to him, Nie Tian secretly used his Heaven Eye to examine Li Zhi¡¯s cultivation base.

    ¡°He¡¯s in thete Heaven stage and his cultivation attribute is fire!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    From what he could tell, Li Ye was roughly his age. Although he hadn¡¯t progressed very fast when he had been in the Nie n, his cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds ever since he had learned the secrets of the Blood Core and participated in the Green Illusion dimension trial.

    As of now, he was already at thete Lesser Heaven stage, higher than Yu Tong, Jiang Lingzhu, and his other peers from the seven sects.

    He was even as strong as the top young disciples from the Hell Sect, if not stronger.

    He had thought that reaching thete Lesser Heaven stage at his age was already a great achievement.

    Never had he imagined that Li Ye, who was just around his age and had been cultivating in such a poor environment, would be at thete Heaven stage.

    ¡°Ring of holding!¡± Then, he soon came to notice that Li Ye was wearing a ring of holding instead of a bracelet of holding, which was cheaper and moremon.

    Ever since he had attended the Treasure Convention in the Spiritual Treasure Sect, he had learned that the value of a ring of holding would go far beyond a bracelet of holding.

    Since a ring of holding was smaller in size than a bracelet of holding, yet its storage room wasrger, the process of forging a ring of holding was much more difficult.

    This made their price several times or even more than ten times higher than a bracelet of holding.

    That was also why only young disciples like Jiang Lingzhu and Yu Tong, who were the core disciples of their sects in the Realm of me Heaven, were qualified to use a ring of holding.

    Normally, only cultivators at the Worldly realm or higher would have umted arge enough fortune to purchase one of them.

    The fact that Li Ye possessed such a valuable ring of holding even though he was quite young made Nie Tian increasingly curious.

    As more liquor went down Li Ye¡¯s throat, he became increasingly animated while he went on about the situation in the Realm of Split Void. Two hourster, he rose to his feet and staggered toward the door, saying, ¡°Have a good sleep. I¡¯lle for you in the morning.¡± With these words, he stepped through the door while taking another jar of liquor from his ring of holding and starting to gulp it down.

    Watching Li Ye wobbling away, Nie Tian frowned in silence, sorting through the information that Li Ye had poured onto him.

    ording to Li Ye, once upon a time, the Realm of Split Void used to be a very powerful realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars, even stronger than the current Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    There was a special ce in the Realm of Split Void, the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    It was in the central area of the Realm of Split Void. Its vastnd area, copious spiritual and material resources, and rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had once made it very popr among Qi warriors.

    However, none of these made the Void Illusion Mountain Range unique.

    What had made it known throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars was that there was a huge space disruption zone in the mountain range.

    The space disruption zone was very unstable. Every once in awhile, numerous spatial rifts that led to unknown dimensions would appear within it, however they would constantly shift their positions throughout the mountain range. They never remained in one position for more than one day.

    Some of them led to realms ruled by powerful outsiders, while others led topletely unexplored heavens and earths; on many asions, they led tonds where danger lurked at every corner.

    The Void Illusion Mountain Range attracted powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars toe and explore. One after another, they went through those spatial rifts to unknown dimensions, but not every one of them returned.

    Only a handful of them returned after sessfully discovering brand-new dimensions and then extending their sects¡¯ influence to them, resulting in their obtaining cultivating resources richer than they had imagined.

    ording to him, most of the dimensions affiliated with the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars had been initially discovered through the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Afterwards, they had set up teleportation portals to facilitate travel between their own sects and the dimensions they found.

    For example, the Green Illusion dimension had been discovered by a powerful expert from the Spiritual Treasure Sect who had gone through one of the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    The uniqueness of the Void Illusion Mountain Range made the Realm of Split Void the most popr realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars. An unending stream of powerful experts poured into the mountain range to try out their luck.

    As the result, one of the most powerful Qi warrior sects in that era took root and flourished in the Realm of Split Void: the Void Pce Sect.

    The Void Pce Sect had been considered as powerful as the Heaven Pce Sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. It even once overshadowed the Heaven Pce sect during its prime.

    Through the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the Void Pce Sect discovered quite a few unexplored realms where they had looted countless cultivation resources, making them richer than any other sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    As the Void Pce Sect thrived, numerous talented youngsters from throughout the domain flooded in, hoping to join the sect; plenty of foreign, renowned experts also came knocking on their door and expressed their willingness to be nothing more than a guest elder.

    However, just as they were in the middle of their prime, their powerful Qi warriors discovered a dimension where the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was far richer, and thendmass was far vaster than the Realm of Split Void.

    It wasn¡¯t long before they decided to send out all their best Qi warriors to explore that new dimension.

    Without any dy, their most powerful experts set out for the foreign dimension one after another, the ce where unexplored spirit mines were supposed to be everywhere.

    However, none of them ever returned. No one knew what had happened to them.

    The mysterious spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range that led to that dimension also soon disappeared.

    The Void Pce sect¡¯s overnight copse put the Realm of Split Void in utter chaos thatsted for decades. Until one day, when numerous sizable spatial rifts suddenly opened up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and began to leak tainted spiritual Qi that was poisonous to human Qi warriors.

    With one whiff of it,mon people would lose their mind and go mad.

    As more of the poisonous Qi poured into the Realm of Split Void, a significant amount of mortal residents died, along with numerous nts and spirit beasts.

    As time passed, even powerful Qi warriors began to find the environment of the Realm of Split Void hard to endure, and thus evacuated.

    It wasn¡¯t long before only three settlements remained in the realm: Shatter City, the Land of the Abandoned, and Ash City.

    All three of them relied on grand spell formations that were powered by massive amounts of spirit stones to keep the poisonous Qi out.

    Once Qi warriors left these ces and exposed themselves to the tainted spiritual Qi, they would have to spend great effort to resist its erosion.

    Therefore, few powerful experts were willing to risk their lives to explore the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and even fewer returned with valuable findings.

    Nine out of ten who were willing to try their fortune in the Void Illusion Mountain Range never returned, and among those who somehow made it back alive, the majority returned empty-handed.

    Only a handful were able to bring back valuable information or resources.

    The decline of the Void Pce Sect and the harsh environment of the Realm of Split Void made the once-prosperous Realm of Split Void rapidly hit rock bottom.

    Since it was no longer fit for Qi warriors to live and cultivate in, it was soon abandoned by the other nine realms, and its name was removed from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After that, the current Realm of Split Void became the ce where Qi warriors who were driven out of their own realm gathered.

    Some of them hadmitted serious crimes in their own realms and were wanted everywhere, which made the Realm of Split Void the only ce they could stay off the radar and start a new life, if they were lucky.

    Others were kicked out their sects and realms because they cultivated spiritual incantations and secret magics that were extremely evil or dangerous. Bying to the Realm of Split Void, they were able to continue with their experiments.

    Those were the kinds of people who took shelter in Shatter City, the Land of the Abandoned, and Ash City.

    In those settlements, three forces gradually came to power: the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon.

    The Blood Skull took Shatter City, the Wild Fire controlled Ash City, and the Dark Moon seized the Land of the Abandoned.

    Technically, none of those forces were Qi warrior sects, but ratherpanies of powerful ouws. Perhaps that was why their names seemed rather casual.

    None of them would take in youngsters with low cultivation bases and temper them.

    Instead, they would only take in members who were already strong.

    The three forces¡¯ main duty was to keep order in Shatter City, the Land of the Abandoned, and Ash City. As long as no riots broke out, they would have a consistent spirit stone ie.

    From time to time, they would also go on missions to root out dangerous bandits who wandered in the wastnd outside the settlements.

    Meanwhile, conflicts between the three forces also broke out asionally. Whenever that happened, their members would always spare no effort to fight.

    After all, as long as their own side stood victorious in the end, they could continue to live in their territory without paying anything, and the contributions they made on battlefield would also be rewarded with cultivation materials, such as spirit stones, medicinal pills, and spiritual tools.

    Sometimes, they would even arrange for fearless members to enter the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Those who volunteered to go would also be given handsome rewards.

    Whenever they discovered a new dimension, they would either explore it themselves, or set up portals and sell them to powerful Qi warrior sects from the other nine realms, obtaining substantial fortunes in return.

    Of course, it had be extremely difficult for people to discover new dimensions ever since the great upheaval in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Very few people could return alive, and even if they did, they woulde back empty-handed and covered in wounds.

    ¡°The Realm of Split Void, the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and the once-most powerful Void Pce Sect.¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he pondered everything Li Ye had told him about this tenth realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars. For some unknown reason, he grew increasingly fascinated with it.

 Chapter 229: Torture

    Having sorted through the information about the Realm of Split Void that Li Ye had given him, Nie Tian went on to start cultivating without any dy.

    The night passed...

    At daybreak, Nie Tian sat in his room, wordless and cross-legged, holding two shattered spirit stones in his hands.

    Having cultivated for only half a night, he had consumed two spirit stones.

    In order to make another breakthrough in his cultivation base, he would have to spend a long time expanding his spiritual sea again.

    During this process, he would need to allow new spiritual energy into his spiritual sea and refine it round after round.

    Only when he had umted enough refined spiritual energy in his spiritual sea, and he had received the proper enlightenment, would he have a chance to make a breakthrough.

    After all, aside from the three vortexes of spiritual power, there was still a vortex of me power, a vortex of starlight, and vortex of wood power within his spiritual sea.

    He would have to channel spiritual power with the relevant attributes to cultivate those three vortexes.

    He had a feeling that since he had cultivated spiritual incantations of three different attributes, he would have to refine those vortexes and receive relevant enlightenment with all of them in order to break through into the next stage.

    This meant that, for him to make every breakthrough, he would have to spend three times as much time and effort.

    Given that there wasn¡¯t the least bit of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in Shatter City, he could only practice cultivation with his spirit stones. Considering that he had spent two spirit stones after cultivating for half a night, he might need eight spirit stones for one whole day if he cultivated all day long.

    However, he only had three hundred spirit stones in his bracelet of holding, which were only enough to get him through a month or so if he cultivated like that.

    Furthermore, he only had three months on his identity medallion, and when that time was up, he would be forced to pay the Blood Skulls with spirit stones to extend his stay.

    ¡°The spirit stones I have are far from enough.¡± Nie Tian started to grow worried.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Instead of knocking, Li Ye walked straight into Nie Tian¡¯s stone room. After taking a few greenish-ck logs out of his ring of holding and cing them on the ground, he turned to Nie Tian and said, smiling, ¡°You¡¯ll start working for me from today on, and I¡¯ll reward you ordingly with spirit stones.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up and he asked with an ted tone, ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very simple.¡±

    Li Ye took out a dagger and demonstrated by cutting one greenish-ck log into square slices.

    Then he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°This is ckbound Wood, a third level Medium grade spiritual material. It can be used to build spell formations. Slice these logs into squares the way I did and I¡¯ll give you one spirit stone in return.¡±

    ¡°As long as you do it the way I showed you, you should be able to make 150 slices out of these logs. If you can¡¯t make 150 slices out of them, then you must have wasted my materials, and you won¡¯t get paid!¡±

    ¡°One more thing, this dagger is only for you to use. I¡¯ll need it back when you¡¯re finished.¡±

    With these words, Li Ye tossed the dagger to Nie Tian and beckoned for him to work.

    The moment Nie Tian grabbed the dagger, he sensed that the dagger was exceptionally heavy and continuously emanated a strong coldness.

    He immediately realized that the dagger must be beyond ordinary.

    He took a ckbound Wood log and, assuming a firm grip on the dagger, started cutting the way Li Ye had showed him.

    At first, he pressed the dagger down with fifty percent of his strength. The wood only slightly cracked open but didn¡¯t break.

    ¡°Wow!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian eximed softly and started to push harder. Only when he put in all of his strength did he finally slice a piece of wood from the log.

    ¡°This ckbound Wood is very hard, even harder than most rocks.¡± After cutting one slice off, Nie Tian marveled at its hardness, and then he trimmed the edge ording to the example Li Ye had set for him.

    He used almost half an hour to finish his first slice under Li Ye¡¯s gaze.

    During the whole process, Li Ye simply looked on and didn¡¯t say a thing.

    Only when he saw Nie Tian get the first slice done did he say, ¡°You¡¯re quite strong physically for a person at your level.¡±

    ¡°How do you know?¡± Nie Tian looked up at him.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Li Ye rubbed his nose and muttered, ¡°Normally, considering your cultivation base, you should need to summon your spiritual power to cut a ckbound Wood log. Only by infusing the dagger with their spiritual power, will a person at the Lesser Heaven stage be able to sever a log that tough. However, you managed to sever it with your psychical strength. That¡¯s quite impressive.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how it is.¡± Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°I guess I¡¯m a bit stronger physically than people my age.

    ¡°And it¡¯s alway been like that.¡± Li Ye twitched his mouth and said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it now, and I¡¯lle back before nightfall to check on your progress.¡±

    ¡°Alright." Nie Tian nodded.

    After Li Ye left, Nie Tian, who was very eager to earn more spirit stones, concentrated on cutting the ckbound Wood.

    An unknown period of time passed, and he finished turning one log into a dozen delicate square slices.

    All of a sudden, his belly started growling, and that was when he realized that it was already almost sundown. Without any hesitation, he took out some dried spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and started munching.

    While wolfing the meat down his throat, a sense of frustration rose in his heart as he realized that he had spent most of the day to finish a dozen pieces.

    After rushing through his meal, he immediately went back to wood-cutting.

    At sundown, Li Ye came back as expected and, with a nce of the work Nie Tian had done, he said, ¡°I count twenty pieces. Like I said, one spirit stone for one hundred pieces. You¡¯d better speed it up.¡±

    Then he put the twenty wood slices away and swaggered out of Nie Tian¡¯s room.

    Frustration filled Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He didn¡¯t practice cultivation or sleep that night. Instead, he spent the whole night cutting wood.

    Two dayster, Nie Tian finally finished the 150 slices, and thus he went up to Li Ye and and traded them for one spirit stone.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do it this way.¡± Li Ye said, sounding rather drunk, ¡°You¡¯re too slow, and I don¡¯t rmend you to put your cultivation on hold to earn spirit stones. If I were you, I¡¯d work during the day and find time to practice cultivation during the night.¡±

    ¡°But if I do that, I¡¯ll spend spirit stones way faster than I earn them from you,¡± Nie Tian said angrily.

    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t help you with that.¡± Li Yeughed and said, ¡°You can only me yourself for not having any equipment forging skills. This is what people get for doing simple work like this.¡± With those words, he walked away, seemingly quite content.

    Nie Tian assumed that he was intentionally giving him a hard time to show him who was boss, so he paced himself with his work. In the following two weeks, he cut wood during the day and cultivated with spirit stones during the night.

    In return, he received five spirit stones from Li Ye.

    However, he had used about a hundred spirit stones during his cultivation, reducing the number of spirit stones in his bracelet of holding to about two hundred.

    He had made several attempts during the night to use the Fragmentary Star Incantation to channel starlight into his spiritual sea.

    However, although he could see numerous shining stars through the light shield that enveloped Shatter City, none of the starlight could prate the light shield and infuse into his vortex of starlight. For that reason, he had to suspend his refinement of starlight.

    On the other hand, due to his spirit stone shortage, he was forced to use the few me Crystals in his possession to cultivate the me Spirit Incantation, so as to enrich the me power in his vortex of me power.

    During this period of time, he barely left his room, not to mention saw Pei Qiqi again.

    One day, Li Ye walked into Nie Tian¡¯s room. He counted and put away a hundred wood slices and tossed a spirit stone to Nie Tian, saying, ¡°I bet you¡¯re not happy about the spirit stones you get doing this, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Do you want to earn more?¡± Li Ye asked, his eyes shining with bright light.

    Greatly intrigued, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What do I have to do?¡±

    ¡°I see that you¡¯re quite down-to-earth, so I¡¯ll give you an opportunity. As long as you do as I say, I promise you that you¡¯ll get more spirit stones in a day than what you get doing what you do for two weeks.¡± Li Ye¡¯s words sounded very appealing.

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re quite strong physically, I can use your help to get some stuff out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± Li Ye said.

    ¡°Leave Shatter City and enter the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We won¡¯t be walking there. We¡¯ll teleport to the Void Illusion Mountain Range via the teleportation portal in the city square. That way we won¡¯t have to deal with the bandits who wander outside the city.¡± Li Ye chuckled and continued, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei ising too. It was her who set up a small teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, through which we can travel back and forth between Shatter City and the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°I¡¯m in!¡±

 Chapter 230: The Void Illusion Mountain Range

    First thing in the morning, Li Ye came to Nie Tian¡¯s room and took him to the courtyard.

    A short whileter, Pei Qiqi arrived in a long, ocean-blue dress.

    Seeing her again after two weeks, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he was once again captivated by her stunning beauty.

    He even had to draw power from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul to calm his pounding heart.

    ¡°Hua Tian?¡± Pei Qiqi walked closer in a graceful fashion. After a nce at Nie Tian, she turned to Li Ye and asked, ¡°What¡¯s he doing here?¡±

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister, I have discovered that although his cultivation base is low, his physical strength is rather impressive,¡± Li Ye hastily exined. ¡°He can sever a ckbound Wood log without using his spiritual power. As you know, the ce we¡¯re going to is very special. The more we use our spiritual power, the more fluctuations we¡¯ll trigger.

    ¡°If we bring him with us, he can help us carry more stuff back without putting us in danger.¡±

    Pei Qiqi hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°His cultivation base is way too low. I¡¯m afraid that he won¡¯t be able to resist the tainted spiritual Qi, and it will corrupt his mind before we even get to our destination. We¡¯re going on a mission. I don¡¯t want to take a burden with us.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, Senior Martial Sister. I¡¯ll take care of him if ites to that. You won¡¯t have to do anything.¡± Li Ye gave his word.

    ¡°A burden?¡± Nie Tian rubbed his nose, an unpleasant expression filling his face.

    Ever since he had left the Nie n, he had never been proven to be a burden, not during the Green Illusion dimension trial, nor the turmoil in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, or the Heaven Gate trial.

    He found itughable that he had be a burden in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°You want to protect him all the way there? You think he¡¯s worth it?¡± Pei Qiqi asked again.

    Li Ye nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t say another word, but rather headed out towards the teleportation portal in the city square.

    Nie Tian and Li Ye followed her.

    This was the first time that Nie Tian had the opportunity to walk out of his residence after he hade to Shatter City. He kept ncing around as they walked.

    Complicated banners hung high up from numerous stone pavilions on both sides of the wide streets.

    All sorts of advertisements were written on the banners; some said spiritual materials, some said spiritual tools, some said unexplored dimensions, some saidtest information on the Void Illusion Mountain Range, while others said quest recruitment. People could find almost everything they needed in those shops.

    Among the numerous Qi warriors that walked in the early morning streets, most had rather high cultivation bases.

    Nie Tian used his Heaven Eye to examine a few of them, and found that the Qi warriors that were going into oring out of those pavilions were all powerful Heaven or Greater Heaven stage experts.

    He even discovered two Worldly realm Qi warriors.

    Although none of those Qi warriors summoned their spiritual power, Nie Tian managed to detect intense killing intent from every one of them.

    Apparently, as Hua Mu had warned him, no one in Shatter City was innocent. They all had blood on their hands and had risen from piles of dead enemies.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, many of those powerful experts in the street recognized Pei Qiqi, and greeted her with smiles filling their faces.

    ¡°Greetings, Miss Pei.¡±

    ¡°Long time no see, Miss Pei.¡±

    ¡°Please tell your master that I send my regards.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, on the other hand, only nodded to a few of them, neglecting most of the greeters. The only verbal response she gave was to a Worldly realm Qi warrior, who asked her to give his regards to her master, and the response was: ¡°Sure¡±.

    What made Nie Tian even more surprised and confused was that, not only did none of them seem to be irritated by her indifference, but not a single one of them dared to show even the slightest lust in their eyes.

    After all, Pei Qiqi was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. He had even momentarily got lost in a daze the first time he had met her.

    It appeared to Nie Tian that all the powerful experts in Shatter City lived their lives on the edge. From their imposing manner when they talked to others, he could tell that none of them were gentlemen.

    Even still, they were all very well-behaved when they greeted Pei Qiqi. Their words were proper and their eyes didn¡¯t wander, which Nie Tian found very odd.

    Harboring suspicion in mind, he observed increasingly closely, and that was when he saw fear in some greeters¡¯ eyes.

    It was as if, in those people¡¯s eyes, the unearthly beautiful Pei Qiqi was some wild beast that could go mad and eat them alive at any moment.

    This made Nie Tian look at her differently, and subconsciously keep a sizable distance between her and himself.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face remained cold and expressionless the entire time, and she didn¡¯t smile back at anyone.

    Eventually, the three of them arrived by a teleportation portal in the central square.

    The moment they arrived, a few ck-robed men with Blood Skulls embroidered on their chests approached Pei Qiqi, smiling.

    Compared to the fierceness and coldness they had exhibited toward Nie Tian the day he and Hua Mu had arrived, they were now likepletely different people.

    Facing Pei Qiqi, not only did they put away their domineering manners, but they even seemed a bit ttering.

    One of them took the initiative to bow and ask respectfully, ¡°Do you wish to use the teleportation portal, Miss Pei?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Pei Qiqi answered. With a subtle movement of her eyes, she beckoned for Li Ye to handle it.

    Without any hesitation, Li Ye stepped over to that person and said, ¡°Uncle Liu Kang, we want to go on a brief trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and these are for your trouble.¡± With these words, he took out fifty spirit stones and handed them to the ck-robed man.

    The Blood Skull Li Ye referred to as Liu Kang grabbed the spirit stones and turned around to put in coordinates and set up the teleportation portal.

    From the way Liu Kang skillfully entered the coordinates, Nie Tian could tell that Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had used the portal to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range more than once.

    A short whileter, Liu Kang turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°It¡¯s all set, Miss Pei.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded and stepped into the portal, and then Li Ye followed her in.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to enter, Liu Kang stopped him with his hand and said with a cold face, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Nie Tian could remember clearly that Liu Kang had been on duty the day he and Hua Mu had arrived, but obviously, Liu Kang didn¡¯t remember his face at all.

    ¡°Hees with us.¡± Li Ye beckoned for Nie Tian to enter the portal.

    Only then did Liu Kang raise his arm and let Nie Tian through while measuring him up with a suspecting gaze, wondering at his status.

    Nie Tian trotted to Li Ye and whispered in his ear, ¡°The Blood Skulls have great respect for you, don¡¯t they? The first time I was here, they acted as if they wanted to eat me alive.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, of course they did!¡± Li Ye let out a softugh and said proudly, ¡°You should know that my master helped them build this very teleportation portal. If it weren¡¯t for my master, it would never have been established.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how it is.¡± Everything suddenly made sense to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll start the portal now.¡± That said, Liu Kang, who was standing beside the portal, pressed his hand against a strange pattern.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Li Ye were engulfed by a blindingly bright light and disappeared from Shatter City.

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    Numerous crevices could be seen on a mountain peak that was approximately a thousand meters high. All of a sudden, a bright ball of light shone within one of the crevices.

    When the light faded away, three people appeared.

    Nie Tian looked down and discovered that the three of them were standing in a teleportation portal significantly smaller than the one in Shatter City.

    Not only that, but it also it looked very simple and crude, as if the builder hadn¡¯t used many precious materials to build it.

    ording to the limited knowledge regarding inter-spatial teleportation he had received from Wu Ji, Nie Tian had a feeling that the portal they were standing on didn¡¯t have the capacity to carry out inter-realm teleportation.

    That meant that the range of this teleportation portal was limited to the Realm of Split Void, unlike the grand inter-spatial teleportation portal in Shatter City, which could even teleport people to realms outside of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Removing his gaze from the small teleportation portal, Nie Tian nced around and discovered that they were in a stone cave within one of the crevices.

    There was nothing other than the teleportation portal in the cave, and the mouth of the cave was sealed by a faint shield of spiritual power.

    The purpose of the light shield was probably to prevent the polluted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from entering the cave so that those who teleported to the cave wouldn¡¯t be caught off guard and inhale it.

    With rapt attention, he looked through the translucent, misty shield, and saw a handful of spatial rifts wiggling non-stop in midair.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but wonder where those spatial rifts led to.

    Every now and then, terrifying electric arcs would sputter out of them, along with clusters of green fire.

    Even though he was still separated from them by a spiritual power shield, Nie Tian had a feeling that the mere act of touching those electric arcs or green mes would instantly get him killed!

    ¡°Li Ye, Hua Tian is your responsibility now.¡± Upon saying these words, Pei Qiqi stepped through the light shield without looking at either one of them.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    The moment Pei Qiqi walked out of the safe zone, he keenly detected strange spatial fluctuationsing from within her.

    It was as if she had used an invisible spatial energy shield to seal herself away from the outside world.

    Without any dy, Nie Tian closed his eyes and sent out his psychic awareness to examine her.

    He was shocked to find that the aura of Pei Qiqi¡¯s flesh and blood hadpletely disappeared from the area.

    However, she had just stepped out of the stone cave and was standing only several meters away from him.

    ¡°Spatial magic! This girl actually practices and mastered the profound spatial energy!¡± At that moment, Nie Tian took a deep breath as he finally discovered one of the numerous secrets that Pei Qiqi seemed to have.

    Only until then did he understand why she had the audacity to bring Li Ye to such a dangerous ce, where a wrong turn would kill all of them.

    It was known that the Void Illusion Mountain Range was a ce where spatial energy was the most unstable, and space disruption zones appeared the most throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Perhaps, only people who had mastered spatial magics would dare to set foot in this ce at such a young age.

 Chapter 231: I Cant Believe That You Trusted A Woman

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Upon seeing that Pei Qiqi had headed out, the fat Li Ye took out a bracelet from his ring of holding. He handed it to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Put it on.¡±

    Flickering light could be seen inside the light-green jade bracelet. The moment Nie Tian grabbed it, a green light shield that looked like ayer ofke water spread out and enveloped him.

    Li Ye took out another bracelet that looked exactly the same and wore it on his wrist. He was surrounded by a green light shield in the next moment.

    At that time, Li Ye said with a serious tone, ¡°I¡¯ll take the jade bracelet back when we return to Shatter City.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I understand.¡±

    He used a wisp of his psychic awareness to examine the jade bracelet, and discovered that a mysterious spell formation was branded within it, which was constantly drawing power from the bracelet to maintain the misty, green light shield.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, it must serve the purpose of keeping the polluted spiritual Qi in the Void Illusion Mountain Range away from him.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re good to go.¡± Li Ye walked out of the stone cave and stood within a crevice that was halfway up the mountain.

    Nie Tian followed him out of the cave.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The moment Nie Tian left the cave, he noticed that wisps of green aura rose from the outer surface of the green light shield, whereupon they made contact with the polluted spiritual Qi.

    Without putting too much thought into it, Nie Tian followed Li Ye as they rapidly went down a craggy stone path to the foot of the mountain.

    Pei Qiqi was already waiting there.

    Aftering to a stop, Nie Tian released his psychic awareness to scan the vicinity.

    He didn¡¯t discover any signs of life within five hundred meters around him, which was the limit of his psychic power.

    He stretched his sight as far as he could, but pale-white rubble and oddly-shaped rocks were all he could see.

    When he looked up, he saw nothing but a few spatial rifts slithering in the sky.

    From the look of it, they were moving without following any pattern. When they swam close enough to make contact with the mountain, they gashed the mountain like it was a piece of tofu.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that the numerous crevices on the mountain had formed in this way.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Something is wrong!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t been able to get a clear view at the waist of the mountain, but now that he was standing at the mountain¡¯s base, he looked up and realized that the mountain peak must have been more than a thousand meters high.

    He took note that the peak of the mountain was as smooth as a mirror.

    As he thought about what the slithering spatial rifts could do, he realized that it must have been cut short by one of the rifts.

    The mountain he saw now was probably only half the height of what it used to be, or maybe even less.

    Just as he was pondering the matter, Li Ye¡¯s warning woke him from his daze. ¡°Hua Tian, stay close! Don¡¯t get separated from us! Also, don¡¯t try to use your psychic awareness to examine those spatial rifts. Stay as far away from them as you can. You never know what¡¯s going to shoot out of them in the next second, but you should know that whateveres out of them will kill you the moment it makes contact with you, considering your cultivation base!¡±

    Li Ye¡¯s words made Nie Tian feel as if he were going to face deadly enemies on the battlefield. He nodded nervously and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not looking forward to dying so young. From now on, wherever you go, I go.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the smart thing to do.¡± Li Ye appraised.

    Then, under Pei Qiqi¡¯s leadership, the three of them began marching tightly together through the field of rubble.

    As they traveled forward, Pei Qiqi could always skillfully steer clear of the spatial rifts floating low above them. On several asions, she even seemed to march straight toward a spatial rift, making Nie Tian¡¯s heart pound with nervousness, but when they drew near, the spatial rift would swim away for some unknown reason.

    It appeared that she could anticipate the patterns that the spatial rifts moved in and act ordingly.

    This ability of hers alone gave her great advantages while traveling in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. If they were to be involved in a battle, such an ability would undoubtedly give her the upper hand.

    After marching for a long while, Nie Tian started to see numerous pale-gray skeletons in the cracks between the rocks along their path.

    The majority of them seemed to belong to humans, with a small proportion seeming to belong to sizable spirit beasts.

    Nie Tian turned to Li Ye and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there were no longer spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    Li Ye, who seemed bored by the journey, answered, ¡°Most of the spirit beasts died because they couldn¡¯t adapt to the terrible living conditions in the Realm of Split Void. However, very few of them somehow managed to survive the hostile environment. Not only that, they even developed the ability to draw power from the tainted spiritual Qi in the air and use it to practice cultivation.

    ¡°Those mutant spirit beasts turned out to be much more powerful than they were before.

    ¡°Remember, you have to be extra careful if you ever run into a spirit beast in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Most of the poor guys who died here were either killed by spatial rifts or torn to shreds by those formidable spirit beasts.

    ¡°Many of them never even got the chance to explore any of the spatial rifts.¡±

    ¡°The strong prey on the weak, and the fittest survive.¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°It seems that thosews are especially true here.¡±

    The two of them talked while marching forward.

    Li Ye took his time to answer every question that Nie Tian asked.

    After a short while, Pei Qiqi, who had been walking in the forefront by herself the entire time, suddenly came to a stop.

    Li Ye walked up to her and asked, ¡°Is something wrong, Senior Martial Sister?¡±

    Brow furrowed, Pei Qiqi beckoned for Li Ye and Nie Tian to stop talking. ¡°I smell blood,¡± she said. In the next moment, her ocean-blue figure blurred into a sh, and rapidly disappeared into the distance.

    ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go and see what¡¯s going on!¡± Li Ye sounded quite excited as he sped off after Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian chased after him.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the two of them stopped behind an enormous rock where three bodies were lying on the ground. From the fresh bloodstains on them, they could tell that a bloody battle had just taken ce there.

    All three of them had a pattern of a meteor with a zing tail on their garments. Apparently, they were with the Wild Fire, which controlled Ash City.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± A man¡¯s cry rang out from a position not far from them. Extreme terror could be heard in the man¡¯s voice.

    Upon hearing the cry, Nie Tian and Li Ye rushed to the source of the sound, where they saw a Qi warrior, who had a gray, crescent moon pattern on his garments, pinned to a big rock by four sharp swords, one in each limb.

    Pei Qiqi was standing in front of him and staring at him with a cold look in her eyes.

    From the look of it, those four swords belonged to Pei Qiqi, and a brief battle had broken out between them before Nie Tian and Li Ye had arrived.

    Nie Tian used his psychic awareness to examine the man¡¯s cultivation base, and found that he was in thete Heaven stage, just like Li Ye.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi! As long as you spare my life, I¡¯ll give you a very valuable piece of information!¡± The way the man looked at Pei Qiqi was as if he was looking at a demon. He pleaded, ¡°I swear that the information is worth much more to you than my life!¡±

    ¡°Okay, spill it,¡± Pei Qiqi said indifferently.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to promise me that you¡¯ll spare my life first!¡± The man stared straight into Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes.

    Pei Qiqi nodded in reply.

    The man was very emotional as he said, ¡°The Wild Fire just discovered a spirit jade mine not far from here. Although it seems that someone has mined it before, it¡¯s still quite rich! I know that you need spirit jades, since they are very rare and indispensable if you want to build teleportation portals.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the location of the mine, and you¡¯ll let me off, okay?¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°No.¡±

    In the next moment, the four swords that pinned him down on the rock suddenly flew into the air, before they whizzed down toward the man¡¯s heart and neck.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi, you devil! You promised that you¡¯d let me live!¡± The man¡¯s miserable wails filled the air.

    ¡°Can¡¯t believe you trusted a woman.¡± Pei Qiqi twitched her mouth as she watched the four swords pierce into the man¡¯s heart and neck. After the man stopped breathing, she said, ¡°Also, your information is worth nothing to me.¡±

    Then, the four swords withdrew from the poor man and flew back into Pei Qiqi¡¯s ring of holding without a single bloodstain on them.

    ¡°You¡¯re here already.¡± She turned around and saw Nie Tian and Li Ye.

    ¡°Yes, Senior Martial Sister. We just arrived.¡± Li Ye said.

    Looking at Pei Qiqi¡¯s peerlessly beautiful face, a sense of coldness ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body, even though he maintained a calm face.

    ¡°Wait for me here.¡± Pei Qiqi turned around and crouched down. She grabbed her victim¡¯s bracelet of holding and thoroughly examined it for valuable items.

    From the way she skillfully looted the man¡¯s belongings, Nie Tian could tell that she had done the same thing to god knows how many people.

    By this point, Nie Tian felt that he hade to a better understanding of the girl in front of him, which added to the reason why the ouws in Shatter City had behaved and humbled themselves while facing Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Looting the dead...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he suddenly thought of the three dead Wild Fire members that he had seen on his way to this ce.

    Since he was in desperate need of spirit stones, he took the initiative to turn around with the intention to hurry back and search those bodies for valuable items.

    Pei Qiqi, who was still searching the dead man up and down, realized what Nie Tian¡¯s intentions were without even needing to turn her head around, and thus said, ¡°It¡¯ll be a waste of your time. I saw those bodies too. Do you think I would leave out valuable things?¡±

    After hearing her words, Nie Tian went nk for a moment before he sped off anyways, since he didn¡¯t want to pass up on the opportunity to loot anything, no matter how little their value.

    ¡°Moron...¡± Pei Qiqi muttered.

    ¡°Apparently, he isn¡¯t familiar with the way you do things.¡± Li Ye remained in his original ce, as if he knew what the result would be, and was waiting to taunt Nie Tian when he returned.

    As expected, Nie Tian returned in a short while, empty-handed and dispirited.

    ¡°Well...?¡± Li Ye asked with a smirking face.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face looked very grim as he shook his head and said, ¡°She really did take everything. I couldn¡¯t even find one spirit stone.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha. That¡¯s what I thought.¡± Li Yeughed broadly. ¡°Now you know why senior martial sister beat us here. I¡¯ve worked for her for so many years, and that¡¯s how I learned her way of doing things.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Pei Qiqi urged impatiently, as she seemed to think that Nie Tian was wasting her time.

 Chapter 232: Ethereal Swords

    Disappointed, Nie Tian could only follow Pei Qiqi and Li Ye as the three of them marched out again.

    With Pei Qiqi there to lead them, Nie Tian and Li Ye didn¡¯t have to worry too much about the spatial rifts that slithered right above their heads as they traveled forward.

    ¡°Why do you think that man found that ce, senior martial sister?¡± Li Ye suddenly asked.

    ¡°Are you talking about the spirit jade mine?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, not turning her head to look at Li Ye.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Li Ye sounded puzzled. ¡°We went to great lengths to find that spirit jade mine. The terrain in that area is extremelyplicated. It¡¯s almost impossible to get through. I don¡¯t understand how those Wild Fire people found it.¡±

    ¡°We can find it, so can others. There¡¯s nothing to understand.¡± Pei Qiqi said indifferently.

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly realized the information the Dark Moon member had given Pei Qiqi earlier was indeed of no value to her, since that spirit jade mine had been Pei Qiqi and Li Ye¡¯s destination the entire time.

    Nie Tian turned to Li Ye and asked, ¡°Do members of the Wild Fire and Dark Moone to the Void Illusion Mountain Range a lot?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Li Ye answered without thinking. ¡°The Wild Fire, Dark Moon, and Blood Skull all have small teleportation portals set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range so that they can save themselves the trouble of journeying from their bases to here.

    ¡°It¡¯s because of those teleportation portals that they can send their members to explore the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Of course, unlike before, the Void Illusion Mountain Range is no longer filled with spiritual materials, and it¡¯s almost impossible to find any new dimensions through those floating spatial rifts.

    ¡°However, people still like to try out their luck in remote corners of the mountain range where it¡¯s more dangerous, but less explored.

    ¡°Furthermore, strange items shoot out of those spatial rifts from time to time, most of which can be used to forge high grade spiritual tools.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that the Void Illusion Mountain Range has be more and more fatal. On one hand, this is the ce where those strong spirit beasts that survived the horrible environment live. On the other, those spatial rifts often be violent for no apparent reason, and with their terrifying destructiveness, they can devour any human who dares to approach in the blink of an eye.¡±

    Li Ye exined everything to Nie Tian as a way to kill time while the three of them traveled forward.

    A short while passed...

    Pei Qiqi stopped again and said, ¡°Someone is here.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to scan the vicinity.

    However, no matter how hard he tried, he failed to detect anything.

    That was when he came to realize that the strange spatial energy fluctuations in the Void Illusion Mountain Range significantly undermined the uracy and range of his psychic awareness, but as a master of spatial magics, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t have that problem.

    SHEW!

    A momentter, Pei Qiqi suddenly sped up, as she didn¡¯t want to slow herself down just to wait for Nie Tian and Li Ye.

    Upon seeing that, Nie Tian, who had gained nothing so far, dashed after her at his fastest speed possible.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Under the slithering spatial rifts, Nie Tian saw six members of the Wild Fire standing atop a few giant, irregr rocks in a field filled with rubble.

    Each and every one of those Heaven stage Qi warriors emitted an intense, murderous aura.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± Their expressions flickered as they caught sight of Pei Qiqi.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and Li Ye arrived shortly after Pei Qiqi.

    Unlikest time, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t seemed to be in a hurry to attack them this time. Instead, she seemed to be pondering something while looking up at the numerous interweaving spatial rifts that were swimming closely above their head.

    Li Ye also looked up, and a grim expression could be seen on his face.

    Nie Tian was puzzled by their behavior. However, from Pei Qiqi and Li Ye¡¯s expressions, he assumed that something was happening within those spatial rifts.

    Pei Qiqi retracted her gaze and the wisp of her psychic awareness that she had sent into one of the spatial rifts, as it appeared that she had learned the truth. ¡°Who¡¯s in there?¡±

    The expression of a Qi warrior from the Wild Fire flickered upon hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s inquiry. ¡°How do you know there are people in there?¡±

    The fat Li Ye let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°We found the spirit jade mine long ago, and you¡¯re asking us how we know? You six are watchers, aren¡¯t you? How many of you are in there, mining Space Spirit Jades? What cultivation stages are they at? Be honest, and you shall live!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he thought to himself, ¡°The mine is in one of the spatial rifts?! And what are Space Spirit Jades?¡±

    ¡°Actually, we only need one mouth that talks.¡± Seeing that none of the six people were willing to say anything, Pei Qiqi grew impatient, and once again summoned her four flying swords from within her ring of holding.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Without even the slightest dy, the swords shot towards four of them.

    The moment the six Wild Fire members saw the swords, their faces turned pale with fright, and they couldn¡¯t help but cry out, ¡°Ethereal Swords!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as he became amazed by the way the swords traveled in the air.

    They flew straight towards their targets for a short while before suddenly vanishing into thin air, as if they had entered another dimension, where even their auras werepletely untraceable.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t determine the location of the swords no matter how hard he tried via his vision or his psychic awareness.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    When the swords appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s sight again, they had already pierced into the four Wild Fire Qi warrior¡¯s necks, killing them on the spot.

    Furthermore, the four victims weren¡¯t even the ones that the swords had originally aimed at in the first ce!

    ¡°Ethereal Swords...¡± Nie Tian subconsciously touched his own neck as a rush of coldness ran through his body. Dread could be seen in his eyes as he looked at Pei Qiqi.

    From what he could tell, Pei Qiqi was able to temporarily hide her Ethereal Swords in the void, so as to prevent their victims from determining their position.

    When they appeared again after traveling briefly in another dimension, they had already pierced into their victims¡¯ flesh.

    Therefore, it was when the four Ethereal Swords disappeared that they became unstoppable.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Two Ethereal Swords pulled themselves out of their victims¡¯ necks without the least bit of blood on them. Without any hesitation, they flew towards the remaining two Qi warriors from the Wild Fire.

    ¡°Who¡¯s in there?¡± Pei Qiqi asked indifferently. ¡°What cultivation levels are they at? I won¡¯t ask again.¡±

    Their mental defenses copsed when the two of them saw the Ethereal Swords disappear shortly after they shot towards them. Thus, they scrambled to answer Pei Qiqi¡¯s question.

    ¡°We have four people in there! One at the early Greater Heaven stage and three at thete Heaven stage!¡±

    ¡°The early Greater Heaven stage expert is our exalted Yang Ling.¡±

    ¡°They went in an hour ago. They put us here as scouts, and told us to collect Space Spirit Jades that fly out of the spatial rifts.¡±

    ¡°Due to the special circumstances, they can¡¯t use their spiritual power while they¡¯re in there. Once they do, it will cause violent changes to the spatial rift and make it extremely unstable and dangerous!¡±

    ¡°That is all that we know. Please, let us go!¡±

    The two Heaven stage members of the Wild Fire, who had been roisterous in their daily lives, had even lost their will to fight facing Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Yang Ling!¡± Li Ye¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as he said, ¡°Senior martial sister, that guy isn¡¯t easy to deal with.¡±

    Pei Qiqi said, smiling, ¡°He¡¯s hard to deal with when we¡¯re out here, but it¡¯s a whole other story if we fight him in there.¡±

    PUFF! PUFF!

    The disappeared two swords suddenly showed up and pierced into the two Wild Fire members¡¯ hearts while they were still fighting to appease Pei Qiqi.

    All six members of the Wild Fire died by Pei Qiqi¡¯s Ethereal Swords.

    ¡°Time to loot the dead.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he rushed to one of the bodies in an attempt to loot their valuables.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s face grew long as she called out, ¡°Don¡¯t you know the rule? I killed them in battle, which means all the spoils of battle belong to me!

    ¡°If you want to gain a fortune, kill someone yourself!

    ¡°And all the belongings of those who you killed with your own strength will belong to you.¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian, listen to senior martial sister. That is the rule.¡± Li Ye hastily mediated between the two of them.

    Nie Tian, who was already halfway to one of the corpses, stopped and, with an embarrassed smile on his face, said, ¡°Fine.¡±

    Then, he watched as Pei Qiqi slowly walked to the corpse that she had set her mind on and started searching for spiritual materials.

    Only until she had looted every valuable item from the six bodies did she rise up and say, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get inside.¡±

 Chapter 233: A Strange Stone Falls from the Heavens

    CRACKLE!

    At that moment, an immacte white jade fell out of the intersection of two spatial rifts and onto the ground.

    It was the size of a fist, and emanated a mysterious misty light, along with strong spatial fluctuations.

    Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian, and Li Ye, who were just about to enter the spatial rift, went nk for a moment.

    Nie Tian and Li Ye exchanged a nce, and strange expressions appeared on their faces.

    Staring at the jade, Nie Tian asked, ¡°This is a Space Spirit Jade?¡±

    Li Ye nodded and, looking at the intersection of spatial rifts, he said, ¡°Yang Ling and those Wild Fire members are mining Space Spirit Jades inside.¡±

    Pei Qiqi stepped over to the jade and crouched down to grab it. The moment her hand touched the jade, it morphed into a line of white light and disappeared into her ring of holding.

    After that, she turned to Li Ye and Nie Tian and said, ¡°It seems we don¡¯t need to go in so fast.¡±

    Li Ye gave a wretched, low-pitchedugh. ¡°The mere thought of having those Wild Fire people mine Space Spirit Jades for us makes me wannaugh.¡±

    Nie Tian also found the scene ratherughable.

    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine that, at that very moment, four powerful experts of the Wild Fire were sparing no effort to mine Space Spirit Jades.

    They probably had never expected that it was Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi and Li Ye who were now collecting the fruits of theirbor from the spatial rifts, instead of their own people.

    It was at that moment that Nie Tian came to wonder why they didn¡¯t put the Space Spirit Jades they had painstakingly mined into their own bracelets of holding or rings of holding, but threw them out instead.

    He expressed his doubts to Li Ye, hoping he could give him an answer.

    ¡°Technically, the Space Spirit Jade mine isn¡¯t in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but rather in the intersection point between those spatial rifts. I don¡¯t know what caused it, but whoever enters it won¡¯t dare use their spiritual power, not even in the least bit! Whatever the attribute is, the use of any spiritual power will immediately trigger great upheavals.

    ¡°Furthermore, due to the special spatial fluctuations, all sorts of storage spiritual tools will also lose their effectiveness in there.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I brought you here. It¡¯ll take nothing but physical strength to mine Space Spirit Jades in there. Your cultivation base won¡¯t matter. Since you¡¯re quite strong, I bet you¡¯ll be able to help us mine more Space Spirit Jades.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing, you¡¯ll have to take off the jade bracelet I gave you before you enter the spatial rift.

    ¡°The spiritual power shield the jade bracelet creates will also trigger strong fluctuations in there and thus put us in danger.¡±

    BANG!

    While they were speaking, another Space Spirit Jade fell out of the intersection of spatial rifts.

    Itnded right next to Nie Tian¡¯s feet.

    Just as Nie Tian bent down to take a closer look at it, Pei Qiqi came over and snatched it.

    Then, she looked at Nie Tian, who had a frustrated look in his eyes, and said, ¡°I killed those six Wild Fire members. Therefore, these Space Spirit Jades, which were intended for them, should belong to me. Don¡¯t you think so?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± said Nie Tian.

    So far, he already had a good idea of this woman¡¯s fierceness and brutality, so he didn¡¯t even imagine trying get anything out of her pocket.

    Moreover, he assumed that it was still going to be a while before they left the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Therefore, he still had time, and other chances might present themselves.

    ¡°Good.¡± Pei Qiqi was quite content that Nie Tian had learned the rule.

    After that, more Space Spirit Jades flew out of the intersection of spatial rifts.

    Pei Qiqi took each and every one of them, not even leaving one for her junior martial brother, Li Ye, not to mention Nie Tian.

    It seemed that Li Ye was already used to the way she did things, as he smiled the whole time, without even the least bit of anger in his eyes.

    Nie Tian also found a way to make peace with Pei Qiqi¡¯s possessive and domineering behavior. After all, neither him nor Li Ye had been of any help to her after they had arrived in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Time passed quickly. Two hourster, the amount of Space Spirit Jades that shot out of the intersection of the spatial rifts had gradually reduced.

    After noticing that, Pei Qiqi frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±

    She looked up at the intersection point of the spatial rifts. ¡°Those Wild Fire members must have grown weary after mining nonstop for so long. I think it¡¯s about time they came out of there to get some fresh air and eat something.

    ¡°However, they only need to consume their physical strength in there, so that means their spiritual power is still at a high level.

    ¡°If we wait for them toe out and deal with them here, it will be a tough battle for us.¡±

    With these words, she took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go inside first. You twoe in after me.¡±

    SHEW!

    Pei Qiqi blurred into a ocean-blue sh and flew into the intersection point between the spatial rifts.

    Li Ye¡¯s spirit was lifted. ¡°It¡¯s our turn now. I¡¯ll go first. You pay attention and watch how I do it. Also, don¡¯t forget to put away your jade bracelet before you enter!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    With a vigorous leap, Li Ye¡¯s fat body charged toward the part where several spatial rifts met.

    The misty, green light shield around him disappeared right before he entered.

    Nie Tian, who had closely observed how Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had done it, imitated them and bolted toward the location where they had disappeared. As he had been instructed, he put away his jade bracelet the moment before he shot into the spatial rift.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found himself in a spacious cave.

    On the walls of the cave, he could see numerous shiny, translucent stones, which Nie Tian believed to be none other than unmined Space Spirit Jades.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± Standing not far from him, four Qi warriors of the Wild Fire were ring at the three of them, bone-piercing cold looks in their eyes.

    Their leader was a man who was so tall and skinny that he looked like a bamboo pole.

    The moment he saw Pei Qiqi, he seemed to have guessed what had happened to their partners on the other side. ¡°You¡¯ve killed all six of them, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Not only have I killed them, but I¡¯ve also taken the Space Spirit Jades that you mined.¡± Pei Qiqi said bluntly.

    The man gave a cold snort and said, ¡°Pei Qiqi, do you really think you can do whatever you like in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    ¡°Well, at least you¡¯re not strong enough to kill me.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t back down a bit.

    ¡°You¡¯vee to the wrong ce.¡± Yang Ling grinned and said, ¡°No matter how powerful you are out there, you can¡¯t use your spatial magics in here. Do you really have the confidence that you¡¯ll be able to kill the four of us only relying on your physical strength?¡±

    ¡°You bet I do.¡± Pei Qiqi replied firmly.

    While the two of them went tit for tat against each other, Nie Tian nced around, and noticed that numerous lines of colorful light were slithering about within the cave.

    As fine and splendid as they seemed, Nie Tian had a feeling that once they were triggered, their power would be enough to set the whole cave aze.

    Therefore, he guessed that those gorgeous light ribbons were the unstable factors that Li Ye had warned him about.

    They would annihte whoever dared to use their spiritual power inside the cave.

    ¡°Li Ye, can I use my psychic power here?¡± He asked softly.

    Li Ye¡¯s face was very grim as he said, ¡°No! Don¡¯t you try to use your psychic power here. If you do, your soul will undoubtedly suffer a severe bacsh, which might turn out to be fatal!¡±

    ¡°Alright." Nie Tian gave up on the idea.

    ¡°The way I see it, this is actually good for us,¡± Li Ye continued. ¡°Yang Ling and his men have cultivation bases that are higher than ours. We can¡¯t use our psychic power, but neither can they. As a matter of fact, you might havee to the perfect ce this time. Your physical strength might y a crucial role here.¡±

    With these words, Li Ye took a step back and stood behind Nie Tian.

    ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m too fat to fight physical battles. There¡¯s no way I can beat them. It¡¯s time for you to prove yourself.¡± Li Ye urged Nie Tian to fight the battle for him.

    ¡°Li Ye, Hua Tian, you take the other three. Leave Yang Ling to me.¡± Pei Qiqi issued themand.

    ¡°Good! Very good!¡± Yang Lingughed evilly. ¡°I finally get to see how awesome Pei Qiqi of Shatter City is! You¡¯ve killed more than a few members of the Wild Fire with your spatial magics in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. I¡¯ll walk out of here with your corpse today!¡±

 Chapter 234: Unparalleled Strength!

    Normally speaking, those who had a higher cultivation base would have a more refined and stronger fleshy body.

    Therefore, even if the uniqueness of this ce didn¡¯t allow them to use their spiritual power, the early Greater Heaven stage Yang Ling should have the upper hand in fighting everyone else relying only on his physical strength.

    Although Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been able to see through Pei Qiqi¡¯s cultivation base, he assumed, considering her age, that she couldn¡¯t be at a cultivation stage higher than Yang Ling.

    It might even be possible that she was also at thete Heaven stage, the same as Li Ye. It was her special incantations that had enabled her to kill so many powerful experts with higher cultivation bases in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, which made her seem more powerful than she really was.

    On the other hand, the way Yang Ling had behaved backed Nie Tian¡¯s assumption. He had to know that Pei Qiqi¡¯s actual cultivation base was lower than his, and thus had such great confidence in winning.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian came to the conclusion that Pei Qiqi¡¯s true cultivation base was probably the same as Li Ye¡¯s.

    ¡°You three, go and kill those two brats.¡± Yang Ling let out a cold harrumph and strode towards Pei Qiqi.

    On his way, he pulled up a shovel that he had used to mine Space Spirit Jade from the ground next to his feet.

    Nie Tian looked at the shovel with rapt attention, and found that there indeed weren¡¯t even the slightest spiritual power fluctuations around it, which meant that even Yang Ling was afraid that using his spiritual power here would make himself suffer a great bacsh from those colorful lights and put his life in danger.

    Pei Qiqi shifted two steps to her side and skillfully avoided Yang Ling¡¯s attack. In the meantime, she urged Nie Tian and Li Ye to fight, as if she didn¡¯t think much of Yang Ling at all. ¡°Li Ye, Hua Tian, what are you doing? Fight your enemies!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± Li Ye suddenly shoved Nie Tian from behind, causing him to stagger into the center of the three Heaven stage Wild Fire members.

    The three of them grinned viciously before each of them picked up a shovel from the ground and hacked towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°No spiritual power, physical strength only...¡± Surrounded by three powerful experts, Nie Tian looked at the sinister expressions on their faces and smiled.

    Ever since he was a boy, he had eaten more than other juniors in the Nie n. Every time he had fought his peers with higher cultivation bases, he had won thanks to his unparalleled physical strength.

    After he left the Nie n, he had consumedrge amounts of spirit beast meat and tempered his fleshy body during the Green Illusion dimension trial, the upheaval in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, and the bloodbaths in the Heaven Gate trial. His physical strength had risen to a point where it was terrifying.

    Seeing the three Wild Fire members attacking him together with shovels, he didn¡¯t cower in the least.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The moment those shovels shed down from the air, Nie Tian struck with his fists at the speed of lightning, knocking the shovels out of his enemies¡¯ hands.

    Before they could recover from their astonishment, Nie Tian rammed into one of them like a stampeding, wild beast.

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of bones cracking rang out from within the person¡¯s chest.

    He immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood as he was sent flying backward to a corner of the cave.

    BANG!

    By the time he crashed into the cave wall, the light had already disappeared from his eyes.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± Standing not far from Nie Tian, Li Ye couldn¡¯t help but exim as he held a dagger in his hand.

    Actually, Li Ye hadn¡¯t just stood by and watched after shoving Nie Tian into the crowd of enemies.

    He had taken out a sharp dagger that shone with cold light and snuck up upon one of the Wild Fire members in an attempt to attack him from behind.

    He found the perfect opportunity to stab the man the moment he swung his shovel down towards Nie Tian.

    However, just as his dagger was about to go into the man¡¯s back, Nie Tian ran into him and knocked him flying like a war chariot.

    Li Ye remained in the middle of his stabbing action as he looked nkly at the man who had crashed into the cave wall with blood spilling out of his mouth and nose.

    After going nk for a moment, Li Ye couldn¡¯t help but blurt, ¡°What in the world are you made of, Hua Tian?¡±

    The eyes of the other two turned red after seeing their friend be killed by Nie Tian with one strike.

    The two of them roared as they fetched their shovels and once again swung them towards Nie Tian¡¯s back and left arm.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Nie Tianughed and said, ¡°Attacking me with yourughable physical strength... You must have a death wish!¡±

    BANG! BANG!

    As soon as their shovels made contact with Nie Tian¡¯s body, their expressions flickered drastically.

    They felt as if their full-strength swings had been met with a solid rock that was even tougher than the Space Spirit Jades embedded in the cave wall.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, felt nothing but a mild ache after taking the hits. He didn¡¯t even have a scratch on his body.

    ¡°You two can die now!¡± After realizing that he was significantly stronger than them, Nie Tian decided to go all-out to attack and hold nothing back.

    With a swift move, he clutched the backs of their necks with his hands.

    BANG!

    The two powerful Wild Fire experts felt like an iron lock had been hooked onto their necks. Pushed by Nie Tian¡¯s irresistible strength, their foreheads clunked together, causing them to bleed from the forehead.

    Just as the two of them were dizzy and disoriented, Nie Tian picked them up by grabbing their necks again. When their feet left the ground, they desperately struggled to kick Nie Tian.

    However,pared to the tall and robust Nie Tian, they were much smaller and weaker.

    The kicks they summoned all their strength tounch dealt no damage to Nie Tian. Nie Tian still stood unwavering, seeminglypletely unaffected.

    Before long, the two Wild Fire experts¡¯ faces turned dark-red, and they had great difficulty breathing. It seemed that they were going to suffocate in the next moment.

    ¡°Hua Tian! Kill them now!¡± Li Ye reminded him in a loud voice.

    It was at that moment that Nie Tian frowned as he noticed the strong killing intent in his dying enemies¡¯ eyes. Apparently, they knew that they would face certain death if they didn¡¯t do anything, so they decided to resort to their spiritual power, hoping to kill Nie Tian before he killed them.

    CRUNCH!

    Just as they were about to summon their spiritual power, Nie Tian snapped their neck bones with a violent squeeze.

    In the next moment, their heads sagged down as they died instantly.

    bbergasted, Li Ye muttered, ¡°Such monstrous strength! Is this guy a spirit beast from the Void Illusion Mountain Range in disguise or what?!¡±

    He simply found it unbelievable that Nie Tian had killed three powerful enemies in such a short time.

    He had only brought Nie Tian to this ce with the intention of using his strength to help them mine and carry Space Spirit Jades.

    Never had he expected that Nie Tian had physical strength so formidable that it almost seemed inhuman.

    After all, Nie Tian was only at the Lesser Heaven stage, while the three people he had killed had been at the Heaven stage.

    Even though they had an advantage in both number and cultivation base, they couldn¡¯t even put up a fight when they faced Nie Tian¡¯s overwhelming strength.

    ¡°Hua Tian...¡± Even Pei Qiqi, who was fighting Yang Ling up close, was astounded by Nie Tian¡¯s effectiveness.

    She had been focused on her battle against Yang Ling, and hadn¡¯t noticed how Nie Tian had killed his enemies.

    When she overheard Li Ye marvel at Nie Tian¡¯s strength and spared them a nce, she found, to her surprise, that Nie Tian had already finished off all three of them, and Nie Tian was standing there, nonchnt and with a bored look in his eyes.

    It seemed he was unsatisfied that his opponents had failed to give him any challenge.

    Yang Ling also noticed Nie Tian¡¯s exceptional battle prowess, and asked with a grim face, ¡°Who¡¯s that kid?¡±

    After all, those three were seasoned Heaven stage Qi warriors, and they knew how to make joint attacks against their enemies.

    Even Yang Ling wasn¡¯t confident that he would be able to kill them if the three of them teamed up on him.

    The fact that Nie Tian had killed them in such a short time made Yang Ling¡¯s heart grow heavy.

    ¡°This is not good.¡± After realizing that the seemingly unimpressive young man possessed formidable physical strength, Yang Ling sensed the unfavorable situation.

    WHOOSH!

    Without any sign, he ditched Pei Qiqi and dashed toward the entrance of the cave.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away!¡± Li Ye yelled.

    ¡°Got it." Nie Tian replied as he turned around and beat Yang Ling to the entrance. He stood there and smiled at him.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would leave this ce with Pei Qiqi¡¯s dead body?¡±

    Yang Ling glowered at Nie Tian. ¡°Get the hell out of my way!¡±

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t?¡± Nie Tian tilted his head and looked at Yang Ling, confidence filling his eyes. ¡°I know I can¡¯t defeat you out there. But as long as we¡¯re in here, I can kill you as easily as I did your threeckeys.¡±

 Chapter 235: He Is Mine!

    Fuming with anger, Yang Ling shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll say it one more time! Get out of my way!¡±

    Being one of the most respected characters in the Wild Fire, Pei Qiqi¡¯s previous words and Nie Tian¡¯s disdainful manner had truly enraged him.

    He could make peace with the way Pei Qiqi had provoked him. After all, she had her special abilities, and no one had been able to hurt her throughout the years.

    Every member of the Wild Fire, Dark Moon, and Blood Skull knew her reputation as a vicious talker.

    However, who was this Nie Tian person?

    A nobody with a Lesser Heaven stage cultivation base had actually dared to join Pei Qiqi to humiliate him. He couldn¡¯t let this happen!

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Nie Tianughed and shook his head as he said, ¡°You¡¯ve got quite a mouth for someone who¡¯s going to die soon.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian shot towards Yang Ling like a cannonball as he attempted to bombard him and kill him with his rock-hard fleshy body.

    Yang Ling¡¯s pupils shrank and a strong killing intent appeared in his eyes, ¡°You¡¯re courting death!¡±

    All of a sudden, an intense cold aura rose from within Yang Ling¡¯s body!

    Even though Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t notice how Nie Tian had killed the other three Wild Fire members, Yang Ling, who possessed superior strength, had witnessed the whole process.

    He was aware that if he didn¡¯t resort to his spiritual power at all, he would very likely be killed by Nie Tian in the same way he had killed his three sidekicks.

    Bearing that thought in mind, he decided to make a risky move to save himself from such a desperate situation.

    However, as soon as the wisps of frost power flowed out of his spiritual sea, the colorful lights that had been swimming around in every corner of the cave seemed to have discovered a vent.

    One after another, they whizzed towards him like razor-sharp, fine threads.

    In merely a moment, Yang Ling¡¯s slender body was covered in numerous fine wounds.

    However, despite the painful injuries, he once again forcibly summoned frost power from his spiritual sea, turning his hands into two ice pitons and thrusting them towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    CRUNCH!

    Even more colorful lights rapidly converged on his translucent, icy hands, cutting open numerous bloody wounds.

    Yang Ling gave a muffled groan as his soul even seemed to have sustained serious injuries. Even still, he bore the excruciating pain and assumed a manner that implied that he would only stop when he had killed Nie Tian.

    ¡°Stop, Nie Tian!¡± Li Ye called out.

    Nie Tian, who was rapidly closing in on Yang Ling, also sensed the danger.

    He came to a stop when he was two meters away from Yang Ling and began to step backwards.

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± As Yang Ling let out an angry roar, the countless fine wounds on him suddenly burst open, spilling outrge amounts of blood.

    At that moment, Yang Ling was like a trapped monster. He no longer cared about what would happen to himself as long as he could kill Nie Tian on the spot. Even if it meant that he would pay the price of his own life.

    The reckless Yang Ling rapidly approached Nie Tian while his blood sputtered in every direction.

    As he did, more colorful lights whizzed by, turning his body into a bloody mess.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, now that Yang Ling had be the target of every colorful light in the cave, even if he didn¡¯t attack him himself, those countless colorful lights would kill him eventually.

    However, it seemed that Yang Ling had already forgotten about his own life. All he wanted was to kill Nie Tian as quickly as possible.

    ¡°You seem to have enough dancing partners already.¡± With these words, Nie Tian decided not to fight Yang Ling head-on. Instead, he swiftly shifted his position to avoid him.

    By doing that, he even showed Yang Ling the exit, but he didn¡¯t think it was a big deal, since even if he escaped from the mine to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, considering his condition, he would most likely copse due to those deep cuts.

    By that time, he and Li Ye might be strong enough to kill him. They wouldn¡¯t even need Pei Qiqi to help them.

    ¡°You can¡¯t hide from me!¡± Yang Ling roared as he shot numerous ice des that carried bone-piercing coldness towards Nie Tian, hoping to use them to slice Nie Tian into shreds before he left the cave.

    However, the colorful lights¡¯ targets weren¡¯t limited to those who used their spiritual power in the cave. They would also target anything that was condensed by spiritual power.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    As the ice des flew towards Nie Tian, countless colorful lights swooped in from every direction and entangled them, causing their might to decline significantly.

    By the time they reached Nie Tian, they were already like arrows at the end of their flight, leaving only a few shallow scrapes on Nie Tian¡¯s skin.

    ¡°What?!¡± Observing with her eyes narrowed from the side, Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t help but exim, after seeing that the ice des barely hurt Nie Tian.

    ording to her assessment, even though Yang Ling¡¯s ice des had been greatly weakened by the colorful lights, they should have been able to give Nie Tian numerous bloody gashes.

    After all, Nie Tian was only at the Lesser Heaven stage. How refined his fleshy body could be?

    She even felt that her junior martial brother, Li Ye, would sustain serious injuries after being bombarded by those weakened ice des.

    It didn¡¯t make sense that Nie Tian was almost unhurt.

    After pondering the matter for a short while, her eyes shone with a strange light.

    She suddenly came to the realization that Hua Mu must have refined this young man¡¯s body before he sent him to this ce, giving him an exceptionally strong and solid body.

    Only that would exin why he was able to withstand those ice des without using any spiritual power.

    Before now, she hadn¡¯t attached any importance to Nie Tian. She was even slightly disgusted by the fact that Hua Mu had stuffed this nephew of his into her hands, and thus she had assigned him to Li Ye.

    Only at this point did she finally look at Nie Tian in a different way.

    ¡°He¡¯s still not dead!?¡± The fact that Nie Tian had survived his attack left Yang Ling in shock.

    He had nned to kill Nie Tian with the least effort possible before getting out of the cave and the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Now that Nie Tian was almost unscathed, it put him in a dilemma.

    ¡°You even used your spiritual power, and this is all you¡¯ve got?¡± With these words, Nie Tian once again swiftly shifted toward the exit. His gaze passed Yang Ling andnded on Pei Qiqi. ¡°As long as I¡¯m the one who kills him, I¡¯ll get to take all his belongings?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s the rule I set, so I¡¯ll live by it myself.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Nie Tian grinned. ¡°This Yang Ling person is mine. Don¡¯t you fight me for him.¡±

    From what Nie Tian could tell, Yang Ling was already on the verge of copsing.

    After condensing those ice des and controlling them to attack Nie Tian, he had already sustained a severe bacsh. At this point, he was already too weak to pose a threat to him.

    After getting Pei Qiqi¡¯s consent, he pointed at Yang Ling and said, ¡°I¡¯m standing right here. You¡¯ll have to get through me to leave this ce!¡±

    ¡°Good! Good!! Even if I die here today, I¡¯ll kill you first!!¡± His thunderous rage seemed to have caused Yang Ling to lose his mind. As he barked, numerous colorful lights shot toward his gash-covered body.

    At that moment, he already didn¡¯t have a single piece of undamaged skin on him.

    Watching from a safe distance, the fat Li Ye said harshly, ¡°Man... I never expected that the famous Yang Ling of the Wild Fire would end up being so miserable.

    ¡°Hey, Uncle Yang, what are you waiting for? If you don¡¯t strike soon, I suspect that you¡¯ll die even before Hua Tian attacks you.¡±

    PUFF!

    His words further enraged Yang Ling and worsened his injuries. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and said, ¡°Shut up!!!¡±

    ¡°I only warned you with good intentions. I suggest you save your breath. That way you¡¯ll be able to strike harder.¡± Li Ye didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of stopping.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Wisps of white, misty frost auras rose from within Yang Ling¡¯s body; some of them were offset by the colorful lights that converged from every direction, while others were condensing into a bright sphere with Yang Ling at the center.

    ¡°It¡¯s my turn now.¡± Instead of waiting for Yang Ling to attack him, Nie Tian frowned and charged towards Yang Ling.

    Although Yang Ling currently needed more time than usual tounch his spiritual incantation, he feared that, given enough time, he would still be able to inflict serious damage on him. After all, he was a Greater Heaven stage expert.

    BOOM!

    Like a frenzied beast, Nie Tian charged into Yang Ling¡¯s frost mist zone, scattering the frost auras before his fist bombarded Yang Ling¡¯s forehead.

    CRUNCH!

    Yang Ling¡¯s skull was smashed in before he could finish his spell. Then, his corpse copsed to the ground.

 Chapter 236: People Cant Get Rich without Luck

    ¡°Uh...¡± Li Ye, who had been jabbering and ridiculing Yang Ling, suddenly stopped. His jaw dropped.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face was also filled with shock, as she had never expected that Yang Ling wouldn¡¯t even be able to withstand a single blow from Nie Tian, and died before his spiritual incantation was finished.

    Only after a long time did Li Ye snap out of his daze and say, ¡°This seems a bit too easy, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°This guy...¡± Pei Qiqi frowned slightly as she found herself unable to remove her gaze from Nie Tian, who now seemed shockingly mysterious.

    Although she had the confidence to kill Yang Ling on her own from the start, she was prepared to go through strong resistance to achieve that and didn¡¯t believe that she would have been able to kill him as quickly and effortlessly as Nie Tian had.

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat bashful as he looked Pei Qiqi in the eye, smiling. ¡°All their belongings are mine now, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I meant what I said,¡± Pei Qiqi replied.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he rapidly stepped toward Yang Ling¡¯s body with a broad smile on his face. Without any hesitation, he bent down and began searching the body for valuable items.

    The early Greater Heaven stage Yang Ling also possessed a ring of holding. Nie Tian took it off with a swift motion and was about to examine what was inside of it.

    ¡°Now is not the time. Let¡¯s get out of here first,¡± Pei Qiqi reminded him.

    Li Ye also stepped over and reminded Nie Tian, ¡°All sorts of storage spiritual tools lose their effects here, and you can¡¯t use your psychic power while we¡¯re in here. Otherwise, you¡¯ll suffer from a lethal bacsh.¡±

    Upon hearing their words, Nie Tian immediately stopped and put Yang Ling¡¯s ring of holding into the pocket by his waist.

    After a thorough search, Nie Tian didn¡¯t find any other valuable items.

    Then, he stepped over to the bodies of the other three Wild Fire members, took off their bracelets of holding from their wrists, and put them away in his pocket.

    ¡°Every ring of holding has a spatial energy shield to prevent others from using it,¡± said Pei Qiqi. ¡°I¡¯ll help you disengage it when we¡¯re out of here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, great! Thanks in advance then!¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    He had also heard that a low-grade bracelet of holding didn¡¯t have a restrictive spell, so once its owner was killed, the killer would be able to snatch and use it.

    Rings of holding, however, were different. Since they were more advanced, a restrictive spell was always built within every ring of holding.

    Only by cracking the restrictive spell would a person other than the owner be able to check and loot what was in them.

    Since Pei Qiqi¡¯s mastery of spatial magics and spells was outstanding, helping Nie Tian disengage the ring of holding¡¯s protective shield was as easy as ABC to her. If she hadn¡¯t offered to do that for him, he would have had to go through a great deal of trouble doing it himself.

    ¡°You¡¯ve hit gold, Hua Tian!¡± Li Ye said excitedly. ¡°One early Greater Heaven stage and threete Heaven stage experts! They must have quite a few spiritual materials and spirit stones in their storage tools! You¡¯ve made a great fortune bying to the Void Illusion Mountain Range with me. The items you¡¯ve gained today will be enough to get you through quite some time in Shatter City.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    He was in a good mood after killing four powerful experts and plundering their belongings.

    He had been worrying about getting more spirit stones since the day he hade to Shatter City. Working for Li Ye hadn¡¯t turned out to be productive for him.

    He had never expected that he would obtain three bracelets of holding and one ring of holding from such an easy battle.

    This was definitely a great fortune for him.

    ¡°It¡¯s like what they say: people can¡¯t get rich without good luck!¡± He thought to himself.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t have any expression on her face as she said, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time to get down to business. Don¡¯t forget the reason why we¡¯re here. Now that both members of the Wild Fire and Dark Moon have learned about this mine, we¡¯d better mine as much Space Spirit Jade as we can this time. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid that it will be an empty mine the next time wee back.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, the Space Spirit Jades are what we¡¯vee for,¡± Li Ye said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started then.¡± Pei Qiqi picked up a shovel and walked to a corner of the cave. Without any dy, she started digging.

    ¡°Here. Take this.¡± Li Ye picked up a shovel from the ground and tossed it to Nie Tian before he grabbed another one for himself. While digging, he said, ¡°Hua Tian, we discovered this Space Spirit Jade mine, and you¡¯re only here because I brought you here. Therefore, you¡¯ll give us two thirds of the Space Spirit Jades you mine from this ce.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Nie Tian, who was still in a good mood, agreed without thinking.

    On the other hand, he was aware that if it weren¡¯t for Li Ye, he would never have the audacity to explore the Void Illusion Mountain Range by himself, much less find this Space Spirit Jade mine.

    Hence, he assumed Li Ye¡¯s demand made sense.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    The three of themboriously swung their shovels inside the spacious mine.

    Numerous glittering spots could be seen on the walls of the stone cave, which were where the crude Space Spirit Jades were embedded.

    They had to separate them from the stone walls first, and then get rid of the impurities that adhered to them. Only then would the pure, translucent Space Spirit Jades present themselves.

    Most importantly, they couldn¡¯t use even the least bit of spiritual power during the process, only their physical strength.

    As powerful as Pei Qiqi was in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the unique environment made her mining efficiency far inferior to Nie Tian¡¯s.

    By the time she finished with one Space Spirit Jade, Nie Tian had already mined and processed three.

    Meanwhile, Li Ye was slower than even Pei Qiqi. By the time he finished with one Space Spirit Jade, Nie Tian had already had six pure Space Spirit Jadesying on the ground next to him.

    Two hourster...

    There was already a sizable pile of Space Spirit Jades by Nie Tian¡¯s side, while only about ten Space Spirit Jades could be seen lying on the ground next to Pei Qiqi¡¯s feet, and five next to Li Ye¡¯s.

    A short while passed...

    The Space Spirit Jades Nie Tian had mined and processed had already piled up into a small hill.

    Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had over-consumed their physical strength and been forced to stop. After all, physicalbor wasn¡¯t their strong suit. Sweat dripping from their faces, they could only stand there and watch Nie Tian work tirelessly.

    Their arms felt sore and powerless as they were thirsty and famished. All they wanted was to find a ce to recuperate.

    ¡°What this Hua Tian guy is made of?¡± Li Ye muttered to himself. Then he turned to Pei Qiqi and asked, ¡°Senior martial sister, how about we get out of here and get something to eat?¡±

    All their food and water was stored in their rings of holding, which they could only use outside of the mine.

    Furthermore, someone would have to carry the finished Space Spirit Jades outside and then put them away into their rings of holding.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do that ande back after a short break. It seems Hua Tian is still doing good. Let him work then.¡± Pei Qiqi sounded somewhat frustrated.

    She knew very well that this was theirst chance to mine the Space Spirit Jades here. As much as she wanted to stay with Nie Tian and mine as many Space Spirit Jades as possible, her fleshy body didn¡¯t allow her to do so, unlike Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Upon hearing their n to take a break outside, Nie Tian turned to them and said, ¡°Will you carry these jades out and store them in your rings of holding for me?¡±

    ¡°You can just toss them through the gate to us when we¡¯re out,¡± Li Ye said.

    ¡°That works too,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Soon after Pei Qiqi and Li Ye stepped through the exit, Nie Tian counted the Space Spirit Jades he had mined while throwing them through the exit one after another.

    Afterwards, he went back to his painstaking work to mine more Space Spirit Jades for the sake of his future life in Shatter City.

    After working for several hours straight, Nie Tian still felt rather energetic.

    Suddenly, afterboring for a short while, he swung his shovel at a crude Space Spirit Jade in the stone wall and a crisp nking sound rang out.

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian went nk for a moment before he closely examined the location where the sound hade from.

    At that moment, Li Ye and Pei Qiqi returned to the mine and Li Ye said loudly, ¡°We¡¯re back, Hua Tian. How are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Hey,e and take a look. Do you know what this is?¡± Nie Tian said.

    Pei Qiqi rapidly stepped past Li Ye and arrived at Nie Tian¡¯s side. As soon as she did, a flowery scent entered Nie Tian¡¯s nose, making him feel intoxicated.

    In the next moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s gentle exmation woke Nie Tian from his drunken state. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we¡¯d run into one of these here!¡±

 Chapter 237: Space Spirit Crystal!

    Pure, bright light shot out of a diamond-shaped crystal, illuminating the originally dim cave like it was under broad daylight.

    The crystal was embedded in a huge Space Spirit Jade. It seemed to be a part of the jade, yet it was very different.

    The crystal was far clearer and more transparent, and the spatial fluctuations it emitted were far more intense.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    The numerous colorful light threads seemed to be attracted by it as soon as the crystal was unearthed, since they suddenly began to converge on it.

    Nie Tian sensed its uniqueness and the changes it had caused. Staring at it with curiosity filling his eyes, he asked softly, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Pei Qiqi, who was now only inches away from Nie Tian, also had her eyes that were as bright as stars fixed on the crystal. Nie Tian could even feel her breathing grow more rapid.

    It seemed that she hadn¡¯t heard Nie Tian¡¯s words, as her attention had beenpletely seized by the diamond-shaped crystal.

    With a sniff of her pleasant, flowery scent, Nie Tian didn¡¯t ask again. Instead, he waited in silence for her to calm herself.

    Standing so close to Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian ran his gaze over her delicate, milky-white face and felt it was prettier than that glittering crystal.

    ¡°What did you find, Hua Tian, Senior Martial Sister?¡±

    The fat Li Ye walked slowly forward as he approached Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi and stuck his head through the gap between them.

    With a single nce at it, Li Ye waved his hands and stamped his feet in joy. ¡°It¡¯s a crystallized Space Spirit Jade!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we were able to find one of these here, in such a small Space Spirit Jade mine! We¡¯re so lucky!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know anything about spiritual materials that contained spatial energy. He didn¡¯t know what they could use Space Spirit Jades for, much less the use and rarity of Space Spirit Crystals.

    ¡°Is this thing more precious than a Space Spirit Jade?¡± He asked subconsciously.

    Li Ye rolled his eyes at him as if he were talking to a fool. ¡°Of course! Do you know the difference between the value of a spirit crystal and a spirit jade? The difference between the value of a crystallized Space Spirit Jade and a Space Spirit Jade is even greater. You can trade one spirit crystal for a hundred spirit jades in the other nine realms. However, you can trade one crystallized Space Spirit Jade for five hundred Space Spirit Jades!

    ¡°Space Spirit Jades are essential materials for building teleportation portals, while crystallized Space Spirit Jades are used to forge spatial spiritual tools that are even more powerful.

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about rings of holding or bracelets of holding. I¡¯m talking about extremely precious spiritual tools that can distort space!

    ¡°Spatial spiritual tools are hard to find in any realm. Not only because they are hard to forge, but also because it¡¯s very difficult to gather all the necessary materials. From what I know, back when the Realm of Split Void was still one of the most powerful realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Void Pce Sect were still thriving, the Void Pce Sect was the only sect that possessed a Spirit Channeling-grade spatial spiritual tool.

    ¡°The Void Pce sect only prospered in the Void Illusion Mountain Range because of it!

    ¡°Since crystallized Space Spirit Jades are the most important materials in forging Spirit Channeling-grade spatial spiritual tools, they are one of the most wanted types of spiritual materials throughout the realms. Powerful experts have even started wars for them!¡±

    After realizing what it was, Li Ye¡¯s eyes turned red from excitement.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian listened to his exnation while observing Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression. He discovered that when Li Ye mentioned the Void Pce Sect, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes suddenly wandered away from the crystallized Space Spirit Jade, as she seemed to be lost in her memories.

    He even briefly saw a hint of sadness in her eyes.

    However, she seemed to have put away her emotions in the next moment.

    She turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°You¡¯ll only need to give Li Ye a third of the Space Spirit Jades that you¡¯ve mined. I¡¯m willing to give up my share.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian was surprised.

    She pointed to the crystallized Space Spirit Jade and said, ¡°I want that.¡±

    Li Ye jumped in and said, ¡°Hua Tian, that crystallized Space Spirit Jade is of no use in your hands. That¡¯s a pretty good deal. Only experts in spatial magics like my senior martial sister will be able to use a spatial spiritual tool, and crystallized Space Spirit Jades are indispensable to forge high-grade spatial spiritual tools. It means much more to her than to you.

    ¡°Even if you take it and sell it, you won¡¯t be able to get a better deal than that in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    ¡°I see," Nie Tian nodded and said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ve made more gains than I ever expected from this trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Because you want this crystallized Space Spirit Jade so much, and you¡¯re willing to make a fair trade for it, I shall ept the honor.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was quite content. ¡°Neat. I like your manner of doing things.¡± After a moment of pondering, she said, ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll help you sell the Space Spirit Jades in Shatter City, along with the spiritual materials and that you¡¯ve looted from those Wild Fire members.

    ¡°You just need to tell me if you want to trade them for spirit stones or if you have something particr in mind. I¡¯ll help you with it, either way.

    ¡°I guarantee you that with me there to help you sell them, you¡¯ll get more in return than you would have if you sold them yourself.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s about time that we wrapped things up here,¡± Pei Qiqi urged. ¡°Let¡¯s get that crystallized Space Spirit Jade, gather and process the jades that you¡¯ve already dug out, and leave.¡±

    It appeared that she didn¡¯t want to wait for another second to take the crystallized Space Spirit Jade and return to Shatter City.

    Upon hearing her order, Nie Tian and Li Ye got down to work again.

    An hourter, they stepped out of the almost-emptied mine with the crystallized Space Spirit Jade in their hands.

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Li Ye, who had already put their jade bracelets back on, were traveling along the same route that they had taken to get to the mine.

    After the battle in the mine, the jade mining, and Nie Tian¡¯s attitude when she had demanded the crystallized Space Spirit Jade, Pei Qiqi had changed her view towards Nie Tian.

    On their way back, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t march by herself in the forefront as she had done when they hade. Instead, she marched shoulder to shoulder with Nie Tian and Li Ye. She even swallowed her pride and joined their conversations from time to time.

    The atmosphere was much more friendly than when they hade.

    Under the night sky, the three of them approached the cave where Pei Qiqi¡¯s small teleportation portal was located. However, Pei Qiqi suddenly came to a stop and called out loudly, ¡°Who¡¯s there!? Show yourself!¡±

    Thump! Thump!

    Heavy footsteps echoed out from the distant horizon. Li Ye¡¯s face instantly flickered as he blurted, ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t tell me we¡¯ve run into a spirit beast in this shit ce!¡±

 Chapter 238: Golden Stone Rhino

    Ever since the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void had been tainted, most of the spirit beasts that had dwelt in different parts of the realm had begun to die by the hundreds.

    The fittest survive. That rule applied to spirit beasts too. The ones that were old and young couldn¡¯t resist the erosion of the poisonous spiritual Qi and died.

    However, a minority of the strongest ones survived and developed the ability to cultivate using the tainted spiritual Qi. Therefore, instead of perishing, they grew faster and stronger.

    Most of them wandered in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and preyed on the human Qi warriors who dared to go on treasure hunts in the mountain range.

    There were three major dangers one must face if one dared to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range: spatial rifts that slithered about in every corner of the mountain range, raids led by enemies from the Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and Blood Skull, and the mutant spirit beasts that had survived the poisonous environment.

    Thump! Thump!

    The footsteps were so heavy that they obviously didn¡¯te from a human. As the footsteps drew nearer, Nie Tian felt as if someone was pounding his chest with a drumstick.

    Before he could have a chance to unleash his psychic awareness to scan the area, a gigantic spirit beast entered his sight. It was a extremely robust rhino that was about eight meters long and golden from head to tail.

    ¡°Golden Stone Rhino!¡± Li Ye eximed. The moment he caught sight of the mountain-like spirit beast, his fleshy face filled with fear.

    ¡°What¡¯s its grade?¡± asked Nie Tian.

    ¡°Normally speaking, a Golden Stone Rhino is a fourth grade spirit beast, with the fighting power of a Greater Heaven stage human Qi warrior.¡± With a bitter smile, he continued, ¡°However, since it has survived the harsh environment in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, it must be stronger than the Golden Stone Rhinos you can find in the other nine realms.¡±

    Nie Tian closely examined the monster through the green light shield around him.

    The Golden Stone Rhino was golden throughout its body. At first nce, it looked like it was made of solid gold, but upon closer examination, it was actually covered in skin that resembled pieces of golden rocks.

    A huge horn that shone with suffocating, golden light grew out of its snout.

    Nie Tian had a feeling that if he ever failed to avoid that iparably sharp horn, he would be instantly pierced through and killed. Even his exceptionally strong body wouldn¡¯t be able to stop that.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing sharper than a Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s horn. You¡¯d better watch out. Don¡¯t let it get anywhere near you.¡± Li Ye reminded him with a soft voice as the ring of holding on his finger began to emanate a dark-red light.

    In the next moment, a set of spiritual armor that had detailed patterns engraved on it flew out of Li Ye¡¯s ring of holding and rapidly wrapped itself around Li Ye¡¯s fat body.

    Only until then did he let out a sigh of relief and seem to not be as anxious as before.

    Then, under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, he took out and held a talisman in one hand and a dark-red shield in the other.

    He seemed to assume that now that the Golden Stone Rhino had appeared, a fierce battle had be inevitable.

    However, from the way he posed, he apparently wasn¡¯t nning to rush into battle with the Golden Stone Rhino. Rather, he merely readied himself for scenarios where the Golden Stone Rhino made him its target.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi walked past the two of them and stepped towards the Golden Stone Rhino, a dangerous aura flowing out of her curvaceous body. ¡°Get out of the way, you two!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Strange sounds rang out around her as she stepped forward, as if the spatial rifts that were swimming about in the vicinity were being influenced by the aura she emanated.

    ¡°Hua Tian, we just need to keep ourselves safe and stay out of my senior martial sister¡¯s way.¡± With these words, Li Ye pulled Nie Tian back as the two of them hid behind a huge rock. ¡°My senior martial sister can fully disy the terrifying might of her spatial magics in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Since the energy fluctuations here are very special and violent, many spatial light des will be formed when she casts her spells.

    ¡°Those spatial light des might cause friendly casualties if we¡¯re too close to them.

    ¡°Therefore, you¡¯ve got to remember: get away from her once you see her start attacking with full force. Sometimes, she can be even more deadly than your enemies in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Knowing the way his senior martial sister fought, Li Ye warned Nie Tian about both the Golden Stone Rhino and Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian felt slightly unfulfilled. ¡°So we just hide here and watch while she fights the Golden Stone Rhino?¡±

    Li Ye patted Nie Tian on his shoulder and said, ¡°Take it from me, this is the best thing to do, for her and for us. I know that you¡¯re hot-blooded and enthusiastic. I saw that in you when we were in the mine. However, this is different. We¡¯re not in that mine any more. We¡¯re in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. You can¡¯t possibly help senior martial sister with your physical strength.

    ¡°If you join her and attack the Golden Stone Rhino together, she might have to be careful and make sure that she doesn¡¯t hurt you, so she won¡¯t be able to go all-out.

    ¡°In light of this, we might as well observe the situation from here and act when a good opportunity presents itself or she truly needs our help.¡±

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Golden Stone Rhino walked slowly toward Pei Qiqi, ferocious lights shooting out of its dark-golden pupils as its gaze became fixed on Pei Qiqi, who approached instead of running.

    In its eyes, Pei Qiqi was nothing more than a piece of tasty, fresh meat, the kind it had consumed over and over again in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Without any warning, four Ethereal Swords flew out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s ring of holding and pierced towards the Golden Stone Rhino.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    In the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint, they prated the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s rock-like skin and created four small bloody holes. Blood instantly flowed out of them.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    Under the excruciating pain, the Golden Stone Rhino roared as it charged madly towards Pei Qiqi.

    The Ethereal Swords immediately pulled themselves out from the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s body before soaring through the air in a circle and piercing into it once again.

    Nie Tian noticed that during Pei Qiqi¡¯s fight against the Golden Stone Rhino, her Ethereal Swords didn¡¯t vanish and pop up the way they had before.

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t attach much importance to the Golden Stone Rhino, since it was only a fourth grade spirit beast, whose intelligence was far inferior to humans. She didn¡¯t think it was necessary to use her sophisticated spells to conceal the traces of her Ethereal Swords.

    She also seemed to know that most spirit beasts that wandered in the Void Illusion Mountain Range didn¡¯t think human Qi warriors were strong enough to inflict much damage to them, ording to their past experiences, so they wouldn¡¯t even dodge.

    That was what the Golden Stone Rhino had done.

    Since the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s skin was very tough, the Ethereal Swords only left a handful of shallow holes. None of them had pierced through its flesh and into its vital organs.

    This meant that the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s body was so much tougher than human Qi warriors at its level that the Ethereal Swords didn¡¯t even cause any serious damage.

    WHOOSH!

    An energy wall that was visible to the naked eye suddenly appeared right in front of the bolting Golden Stone Rhino.

    BANG!

    In the next moment, the Golden Stone Rhino crashed into it, and its mountain-like body¡¯s tremendous momentum was stopped.

    ¡°Spatial Bulwark!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he was amazed by the scene. Only then was he convinced that Pei Qiqi could indeed disy her terrifying fighting prowess in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Then, he noticed that Pei Qiqi had shifted into an area where numerous spatial rifts were slithering about in the air.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The spatial rifts moved irregrly in the air. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see a pattern to their movements.

    He was certain that if he or Li Ye were that close to those spatial rifts, they would very likely fail to avoid them and get cut in half upon contact with them.

    However, Pei Qiqi, who was an expert in spatial spells, could easily figure out the pattern they moved in. From the way her curvaceous figure shed about in between the spatial rifts, it seemed that she waspletely unaffected by them.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    The muddleheaded Golden Stone Rhino recovered from the collision and once again charged towards Pei Qiqi.

    However, even though it had been roaming in the Void Illusion Mountain Range its whole life, hesitation could be seen in its eyes when it was about to enter the area filled with slithering spatial rifts.

    It seemed to know that any contact with those spatial rifts would be enough to cut it in two, so it suddenly stopped its dashing momentum.

    It bellowed at Pei Qiqi, who was shifting among the spatial rifts, to express its anger and discontentment, but it just didn¡¯t dare to take another step forward.

    Without saying a word, Pei Qiqi stared coldly at it, waiting for it to barge into the area she was in.

    After groaning for a short while, the Golden Stone Rhino realized that Pei Qiqi wasn¡¯t going toe out of the area. Then, it suddenly turned around and charged towards Nie Tian and Li Ye.

    After all, Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian, and Li Ye were all meat in its eyes.

    Now that this piece of meat was so hard to get, why not go and get the other two, especially when one of them seemed very soft and juicy.

    ¡°Oh crap! This damn beast!¡± Li Ye called out.

 Chapter 239: A Monster in the Void Illusion Mountain Range

    ¡°Can¡¯t you two hide a little further away?¡± Frowning, Pei Qiqi lifted her jade-like arm, and another Spatial Bulwark appeared in the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s way.

    BANG!

    The Golden Stone Rhino rammed into it and its mountain-like body came to a stop.

    It turned its head back and bellowed at Pei Qiqi, heaven-shattering rage filling its cry.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t have any expression on her face as her slender figure shed out of the spatial rift-filled area.

    She waved at the Golden Stone Rhino, letting it know that she was its opponent and provoking it to attack her again.

    ¡°Well, Hua Tian, we should have gotten a little further away from them.¡± Embarrassment could be seen on Li Ye¡¯s face as he dragged Nie Tian and backed away. ¡°But you can rest assured. Although the Golden Stone Rhino is as powerful as a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, my senior martial sister is more formidable here.

    ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range is my senior martial sister¡¯s Blessed Land. Whoever dares to fight her here is bound to die, human or spirit beast.

    ¡°Not long ago, she even single-handedly dealt with and killed a few dozen experts from the Wild Fire and Dark Moon here. Three of them were at the Greater Heaven stage, but even still, my senior martial sister lured them to a ce where the spatial rifts were violent and killed them all.¡±

    Li Ye told Nie Tian stories of Pei Qiqi¡¯s prowess as he dragged Nie Tian away from the Golden Stone Rhino.

    As they pulled back, Nie Tian asionally looked over his shoulder to check on the battle between Pei Qiqi and the Golden Stone Rhino, and saw numerous spatial light des appearing out of nowhere, filling the air around Pei Qiqi.

    Each and every one of them was forged with her own power. Although they weren¡¯t as sharp as the Ethereal Swords, there were so many of them.

    Nearly a hundred spatial light des bombarded on the Golden Stone Rhino like a shoal of blood-thirsty fish.

    A series of shing sounds rang out as golden sparks were sent flying from the contact points. Numerous fine cuts were created on the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s body, and blood was flowing out of them.

    However, none of the wounds were deep enough to endanger its life. It was still brimming with life force and energy, and Pei Qiqi¡¯s attacks only made the Golden Stone Rhino fume with rage.

    Therefore, the Golden Stone Rhino sudden turned around and once again lunged towards Pei Qiqi, who had already stepped out of the region where numerous spatial rifts slithered about.

    Nie Tian, who was now observing from afar, saw the great amounts of spinning light des and couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Spatial light des...¡±

    At that moment, he finally understood why Li Ye had told him that them joining the fight would neither benefit Pei Qiqi nor themselves.

    The current Pei Qiqi was like a monster that was summoning the surging spatial energy in the Void Illusion Mountain Range tounch attacks.

    Her spatial magics allowed her to disy more battle prowess than someone at her cultivation level should have.

    If she ever ran into enemies that were significantly stronger than she was, she could always hide in areas where spatial rifts were densely-packed and active, so that her enemies could never get her, as long as they weren¡¯t experts in spatial magics.

    Any person or spirit beast that dared to step amongst the violent spatial rifts would either end up sliced into pieces or fall into one of the spatial rifts.

    Most of the spatial rifts led to unexplored destends. Withering away in a ce where there wasn¡¯t a single sign of life could be even worse than being killed on the spot.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    The Golden Stone Rhino roared as its attempts to approach Pei Qiqi were repeatedly frustrated by her Spatial Bulwarks.

    However, her spatial light des and Ethereal Swords never stopped cutting open more wounds all over the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s body.

    It seemed that Pei Qiqi wasn¡¯t in a hurry at all; she was intentionally taking her time with this gigantic beast, as she knew that if she continued to deplete it, it would eventually copse due to exhaustion and blood loss.

    ¡°Wow, senior martial sister is getting better and better.¡± Li Ye couldn¡¯t help but gasp in admiration. ¡°She has always fought spirit beasts head-on before, and despised avoiding them. That was why she always sustained some injuries and expended a great deal energy, even when she won.

    ¡°Now that she¡¯s attained perfection in her fighting skills, powerful spirit beasts like this Golden Stone Rhino can¡¯t even get close to her. As long as she doesn¡¯t make a mistake, she¡¯ll soon be able to wear down this monster, which has a higher cultivation level than she does.

    ¡°Even though it takes a little longer this way, at least she won¡¯t get hurt or consume too much of her strength.

    ¡°This is the optimal way for her to fight in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. This is great. We don¡¯t even need to fearing to the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the future in the slightest. As long as there are no mishaps, no one will be able to touch us.¡±

    While Li Ye went on and on about the awesomeness of his senior martial sister, the berserk Golden Stone Rhino began to move increasingly stiffly because of the massive blood loss.

    Just as Li Ye had expected, the Golden Stone Rhino, which was strong enough to rip any Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior to shreds, failed to even get close enough to Pei Qiqi to attack her.

    About fifteen minutester, the Golden Stone Rhino finally lost its fierceness and grew weak. After realizing the unfavorable situation, it rapidly turned around and attempted to flee.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi finallyunched her killing move bymanding the Ethereal Swords to pierce into the softest part of the Golden Stone Rhino, its neck, while it was focused solely on running.

    BOOM!

    Its enormous body immediately crashed heavily to the ground.

    ¡°Okay, you two cane out now,¡± Pei Qiqi called out to them.

    ¡°I knew she¡¯d be able to kill it. Hahaha!¡± Li Ye was overjoyed as he finally had the courage to return where Pei Qiqi was standing along with Nie Tian.

    By the time the two of them got to the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s side, Nie Tian discovered that Pei Qiqi had already cut off its horn with one of her Ethereal Swords and was just about to skin it.

    It was known that the most valuable parts of a Golden Stone Rhino were its horn and armor-like skin.

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian hesitated for a moment before he said, ¡°Can you leave its meat and blood to me?¡±

    As she was skillfully skinning the beast, Pei Qiqi stared nkly at him for a second before saying, ¡°Spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void cultivate with tainted spiritual Qi, which makes their flesh and blood full of impurities that human Qi warriors can¡¯t process. Surely, they¡¯re powerful, but no one has ever wanted their flesh or blood. What do you need them for?¡±

    ¡°Impurities...¡± Nie Tian seemed somewhat hesitant.

    The Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation allowed him to refine spirit beast blood and turn it into pure power.

    He was also certain that he could use spirit beast meat to strengthen his bones, nourish his muscles, and temper his meridians.

    Since a fourth grade spirit beast was rather hard to find in the Realm of me Heaven, he was nning to use its meat and blood to enhance himself.

    However, Pei Qiqi¡¯s words made him vacite.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t need them, can you just give them to me?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°I might be able to put them to use.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Pei Qiqi replied in a clean-cut manner.

 Chapter 240: Great Fortune!

    They didn¡¯t have any other encounters on their way back to Shatter City, and they arrived home at sunset.

    In their residence...

    Li Ye had many wooden shelves in his spacious room, on which numerous scrolls regarding equipment forging were ced, along with a number of bizzare-looking spiritual materials.

    This was the first time that Nie Tian had visited Li Ye¡¯s room.

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s divide our plunder,¡± Li Ye said, smiling.

    Nie Tian nodded before taking all the Space Spirit Jades he had mined out of his bracelet of holding and cing them on the floor.

    There were 320 of them. ording to their original agreement, Nie Tian should split them three ways with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    However, now that he had given the crystallized Space Spirit Jade away to Pei Qiqi, Pei Qiqi had agreed to give up her share of the Space Spirit Jades.

    Therefore, he counted out 110 Space Spirit Jades and separated them from the rest before giving Li Ye a look, showing that they belonged to Li Ye now.

    Li Ye didn¡¯t say any pleasantries. Instead, heughed broadly as he put them away.

    He had only mined a few dozen Space Spirit Jades himself, but by bringing Nie Tian with them, he had almost tripled his gains, which was far more than he had expected.

    Thus, he was in a very good mood.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian took out three bracelets of holding and one ring of holding, which belonged to Yang Ling and three other Wild Fire members.

    Pei Qiqi had already cracked the restrictive spell on the ring using her spatial magics on their way back to Shatter City.

    Nie Tian sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the ring of holding and summoned out every spiritual material within it.

    One item after another, all the valuable belongings that he had looted from the three other Wild Fire members also flew out of the three bracelets of holding.

    It wasn¡¯t long before numerous spiritual materials were piled up in Li Ye¡¯s spacious room.

    Standing off to the side, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t show a shred of impatience as she watched Nie Tian go through all the items.

    After all, she had changed the way she saw Nie Tian after what they had gone through together in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, along with the fact that Nie Tian had readily given the crystallized Space Spirit Jade to her. That was why she was willing to take on the responsibility to help Nie Tian trade in materials for himself.

    Upon seeing that it was going to take Nie Tian some time to sort through the numerous items, she took the initiative to crouch down and help him with them.

    She shot a nce at Li Ye, who was fondling a Space Spirit Jade with a foolish smile on his face, before blurting, ¡°Come here and help us.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Li Ye put the jade down and joined them.

    After a short while, the three of them had sorted and counted everything from within the ring of holding and three bracelets of holding.

    Altogether, there were 1,200 spirit stones, five spirit jades, fifty pieces of fire-attributed spiritual materials that were simr to me Crystals, and six wood-attributed spiritual materials.

    There were also 16 bottles of medicinal pills, most of which were healing medicines, with only a couple serving the purpose of restoring flesh power and psychic power.

    Nie Tian only kept the flesh power and psychic power-restoring pills for himself and put the others in a different pile.

    Other than the spiritual materials and medicinal pills, there were about a dozen spiritual incantations. However, none of them were very advanced, so they were of little value to Nie Tian.

    There were also three sets of Medium grade spiritual armor and six Medium grade spiritual tools.

    Since each and every one of them required a certain cultivation attribute to utilize, they were of no use to Nie Tian.

    Looking at the pile of items that Nie Tian had set aside, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Keep what you need and give the rest to me. I¡¯ll sell them for you and return the spirit stones I get to you in a few days.¡±

    ¡°1,200 spirit stones and five spirit jades...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with excitement as he stared at the spirit stones and spirit jades.

    Although he hadn¡¯t been holding on to hisst spirit stone before he had gone to the Void Illusion Mountain Range with Li Ye and Pei Qiqi, he had been in need of more spirit stones.

    Other than the three spirit jades that Hua Mu had left him, which he would only use to help himself break through into the Heaven stage, he didn¡¯t have enough spirit stones to cultivate with.

    There were only three months left in his identity medallion. Once that time ran up, he would be immediately thrown out of Shatter City by members of the Blood Skull.

    He had never imagined that their trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range would turn out to be so fruitful.

    The spirit stones and spirit jades he had obtained from killing the four experts alone were enough tost him a long time in Shatter City.

    Let alone the spiritual armor, spell scrolls, and spiritual tools, which could also be traded for a substantial amount of spirit stones.

    He had a feeling that this trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range hadpletely turned his unfavorable situation around.

    Seeing that Nie Tian seemed to be daydreaming, Pei Qiqi grew somewhat impatient and couldn¡¯t help but urge, ¡°Alright, pick up the pace and separate what you¡¯re keeping from what you aren¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay.¡± With a broad smile on his face, Nie Tian rapidly put away the spirit stones, spirit jades, a few bottles of medicinal pills, and spiritual materials that had fire and wood attributes. Then, he shoved the rest to Pei Qiqi, along with the three bracelets of holding.

    Yang Ling¡¯s ring of holding, which now only had the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s skinned body inside, was quite precious. Considering his current cultivation base, he didn¡¯t n to wear it for the time being. Therefore, he decided to put it away, in case an asion mighte up where he could use it.

    He assumed that he wouldn¡¯t make much use of the extra bracelets of holding, so he handed them to Pei Qiqi as well.

    ¡°This is it?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Thank you for going through all the trouble to do this for me.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t say much, but went ahead and stored everything that Nie Tian presented to her into the three bracelets of holding. Then, she said, ¡°ording to my estimation, I believe these things are worth about 5,000 spirit stones, more or less.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    ¡°I¡¯lle back to you in seven days and bring you your spirit stones,¡± said Pei Qiqi.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to express his gratitude again, Pei Qiqi added, ¡°Do you need any special spiritual materials or things that you need in your cultivation? If there¡¯s anything you need, I can use the spirit stones I get from selling this stuff to buy them for you.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then please find me some spiritual materials with fire and wood attributes. If you can find spiritual materials that contain star power, buy me some of those, too. Many thanks!¡±

    ¡°Star power?¡± Shock could be seen in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she spoke after going nk for a brief moment, ¡°It¡¯s easy to find spiritual materials with the fire and wood attributes in Shatter City. However, spiritual materials that contain star power are very rare here. People can only find very few asionally falling out of spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°So not only will it be hard to find them, but their price will also be rather high.

    ¡°Well... for the sake of the crystallized Space Spirit Jade, I¡¯ll do my best to search for them, but I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll be able to find them for you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    At that moment, Li Ye jumped in and said, ¡°Senior martial sister, Hua Tian doesn¡¯t know anything about spatial magics, so there¡¯s no point for him to keep the Space Spirit Jades. Why don¡¯t you buy them from him?¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Nie Tian looked down at the pile of Space Spirit Jades and said to Pei Qiqi, ¡°He¡¯s right. I have no use for them.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrow rose as she looked at the pile of Space Spirit Jades with a longing gaze.

    Very few people had mastered spatial magics, just as there were very few spiritual materials that contained spatial energy.

    The reason why she had organized this trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range was because Space Spirit Jades were essential for her, since an enormous amount were needed for her to forge spatial tools, as well as study and research spatial spell formations.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you 3,000 spirit stones for these Space Spirit Jades.¡± After a brief moment of hesitation, she continued, ¡°But I don¡¯t have that many spirit stones on hand. I¡¯ll need to sell my loot from the Void Illusion Mountain Range first, and then pay you in full.¡±

    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s not a problem,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    ¡°Good. It¡¯s settled then. I¡¯ll take all the Space Spirit Jades with me.¡± Pei Qiqi ced her milky-white hand on the pile of Space Spirit Jades, and in the next moment, they all flew into her ring of holding.

    After that, she nodded gently at Nie Tian before stepping lightly and gracefully out of Li Ye¡¯s room.

    As soon as Pei Qiqi left, Li Ye patted Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder and said with a broad smile on his face, ¡°Well...? I treat you well, don¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, yeah, thank you!¡± Nie Tian replied. ¡°Be my guest. If there¡¯s anything you want, just go ahead and take it.¡±

    He thought Li Ye wanted to take advantage of his good mood and ask something for himself.

    Li Ye shook his head. ¡°Hahaha, I appreciate the gesture, but I¡¯m good. I¡¯ve lived in Shatter City for years. Throughout the years, I¡¯ve umted fortune of a sort. These things are far from enough to interest me. You just need to remember that you owe me one.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± Nie Tian said without any hesitation.

    ¡°Good,¡± Li Ye said. ¡°You can go back to your room now, and I won¡¯t need you to work for me these days, so just focus on your cultivation.¡±

    Nie Tian was indeed very eager to practice cultivation. He said, ¡°Great. I¡¯ll see youter.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, go. Don¡¯t forget that you owe me one.¡±

 Chapter 241: Refining Beast Blood

    By the time Nie Tian returned to his own room, it was already dark.

    Silence enveloped Shatter City, and all the ouws who dwelt therein were cultivating.

    Nie Tian was no exception.

    He took the ring of holding he had looted from Yang Ling out from his inner coat pocket and sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into it.

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Pei Qiqi had skinned the Golden Stone Rhino and taken its horn. When she had learned that Nie Tian wanted its flesh and blood, she had bled it out and carved it into pieces, before storing them in the ring of holding.

    Therefore, there were a dozen barrels of blood and numerous chunks of beast meat in the ring of holding.

    However, they only took up one tenth of the storage room of the ring of holding.

    ording to Pei Qiqi, no living creature should be stored in any sort of spatial storage tool, only dead and soulless beings.

    Since there wasn¡¯t any air cirction, meat could be stored in them for a very long time.

    Normally speaking, rings of holding were of a higher level, so the owners would usually set up a restrictive spell to prevent others from peeking into and taking items from within them.

    However, Pei Qiqi had only cracked the restrictive spell that Yang Ling had previously set up, but hadn¡¯t ced a new one for Nie Tian.

    Her exnation was that once the ring of holding was snatched by others, it most likely meant that Nie Tian had been killed, and at that time, who took it and whether they could take items from within it would no longer matter to him.

    ¡°A fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he sent a wisp of his psychic power to take out one barrel of blood from the ring of holding.

    An intense, bloody smell instantly filled every corner of the stone room. If someone identally walked in on Nie Tian, they would assume Nie Tian had just cut down a crowd of people.

    Looking at the barrel of blood, Nie Tian seemed a bit hesitant as he pondered whether or not he should use the Blood Refining Incantation to refine it.

    ording to Pei Qiqi and Li Ye, all the spirit beasts that had survived the harsh environment in the Realm of Split Void practiced cultivation by extracting energy from the polluted spiritual Qi.

    Therefore, their blood and flesh contained impurities, making them inedible for human Qi warriors.

    That was also why Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t shown the slightest interest in the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s body.

    Nie Tian was hesitant, because he wasn¡¯t sure if he would allow the impurities into his own body by refining and absorbing essence from the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood, and thus achieve results opposite to what he had intended.

    On the other hand, he could already see the bottom of his spirit beast meat stockpile.

    He was aware that normal food wouldn¡¯t provide him with any help regarding the refinement of his physical body.

    Only food that contained copious power, like the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat, would benefit his body and make him stronger and tougher.

    Even in the entire Realm of me Heaven, a fourth grade spirit beast was extremely hard to find.

    Even though his master, Wu Ji, had learned the uniqueness of his body and wanted to provide him with the best, all he had gotten Nie Tian was second grade spirit beast meat.

    ¡°What the hell. I¡¯ll never know if I don¡¯t try!¡± After pondering for a long while, Nie Tian gritted his teeth as he slowly extended a finger and dipped it into the barrel of blood.

    He closed his eyes and cast the Blood Refining Incantation.

    In the next moment, the tip of his finger began to shine with a bright light, which seemed to be attracting and refining the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood.

    The thick blood was gradually refined, and one wisp of pure blood essence after another converged onto Nie Tian¡¯s finger and entered his body.

    The way the Blood Refining Incantation worked was by refining a spirit beast¡¯s blood or Blood Pills and channelling the essence into the caster¡¯s spiritual sea.

    However, since Nie Tian was different from ordinary cultivators, after practicing the incantation for a long time, he still hadn¡¯t been able to channel the blood essence into his spiritual sea, and thus form a vortex of blood power.

    That was why he had thought he wasn¡¯t built for this incantation. However, Hua Mu had approached himter and told him that his uniqueness actually made him perfect for this incantation.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The blood within the barrel began to swirl, and it wasn¡¯t long before a small vortex took shape.

    It seemed that the rotation that had been caused by his finger was somehow purging the blood.

    Nie Tian attempted to channel the wisps of pure blood essence that had entered his finger toward his spiritual sea in his dantian, and they did follow his meridians toward his lower abdomen.

    However, all of them dispersed into his blood, internal organs, and bones before they could reach his spiritual sea.

    Soon, he had a feeling that a warm current was being born inside of him.

    He was intoxicated by thefortable feeling as the surge of warmth ran through his body. It felt as if he was resting in a hot spring.

    He could sense that the wisps of blood essence that he had allowed into his body carried iparably rich power.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have any ufortable sensations during the process.

    Without him knowing it, the whole barrel of blood rapidly ran dry.

    Nie Tian stopped and, sitting in his original ce, carefully examined his body. After a thorough examination, he didn¡¯t find anything wrong within him.

    Only at that moment was he finally convinced that even though the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood carried impurities, it wouldn¡¯t affect him.

    Out of curiosity, he rose to his feet and looked in the mouth of the barrel. He couldn¡¯t help but gasp.

    The wooden barrel wasn¡¯tpletely dry; there was still something in it.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention and saw that there was a thinyer of thick, dark-gray liquid stuck to the bottom of the barrel. Instead of a bloody smell, it reeked of a foul, disgusting smell.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he had en epiphany: the sticky liquid was none other than the impurities within the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood!

    By operating the Blood Refining Incantation, he had actually separated the impurities from the essence!

    This meant that what he had allowed into his body was nothing but pure blood essence.

    ¡°Blood Refining Incantation!¡± At that moment, it suddenly urred to him that the Bone Blood Demon had been able to use the Blood Refining Incantation to refine the outsiders¡¯ blood and thus strengthen itself.

    Those outsiders cultivated with demon Qi, so their blood was also different from that of the spirit beasts in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Since the Blood Refining Incantation could be used to refine outsiders¡¯ blood, there was no reason it couldn¡¯t be used to refine the blood of spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void.

    After thinking it through, Nie Tian was overjoyed, and inwardly thanked Hua Mu for his urate judgment and kind advice.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian stored the empty barrel in his ring of holding and took out another barrel of blood.

    Afterwards, he spent the night refining the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood. He was untiring and devoted the whole time.

    Before he realized it, he had already refined three barrels of blood.

    By the time he refined a fourth barrel of blood, the originallyfortable feeling was gradually reced by a burning sensation in his meridians.

    When the new wisps of blood essence entered his body, not only was the speed at which his blood, internal organs, and bones absorbed them significantly slower, but he also felt an increasingly heavy burden weighing on his body.

    Furthermore, his heart began to race.

    That was when he realized that the blood of this fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino was very different from the blood of the second grade spirit beasts he had had before.

    It seemed that, considering the condition of his physical body, he couldn¡¯t go on tempering himself with more blood from the Golden Stone Rhino.

    He realized that he had been pushing himself too hard.

    Therefore, after the fourth barrel, he came to a stop and closed his eyes to examine his internal organs and bones with his psychic awareness.

    Every time he had used his psychic awareness to examine his spiritual sea, he had always been able to get a clear view of every trivial thing within it.

    However, under the gaze of his psychic awareness, his insides were somehow blurry and not detailed.

    After pondering for a moment, the thought of using the power of the seven fragmentary stars in his soul entered his mind.

 Chapter 242: The Most Subtle Changes

    All of a sudden, one of the fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul began to shine as brightly as a diamond.

    In the next moment, a wisp of starlight flew out of it and merged with a wisp of his psychic awareness.

    Unlike before, the mixture, which Nie Tian referred to as a Heaven Eye, didn¡¯t fly out from within him. Instead, it sank deep into him.

    The moment it roamed through his muscles, Nie Tian was able to capture the most subtle movements that were going on around it.

    Via the Heaven Eye, Nie Tian discovered that his muscles were absorbing a strand of blood essence that was ten times finer than a hair.

    He could see the fine muscle fibers slowly expanding and rapidly shrinking as they swallowed the strand of blood essence bit by bit.

    That was something he had never experienced before.

    At that moment, he was convinced that he currently had two different types of power that shared the same origin within his soul.

    One was the more basic psychic power and the other was the more advanced soul power.

    Using psychic power, cultivators couldn¡¯t possibly have a clear sense of the most subtle movements within their flesh. Only a vague feeling could be drawn.

    However, the Heaven Eye that contained soul power from the fragmentary stars allowed Nie Tian to sense every subtle change and movement within his muscles and meridians with great rity.

    Normally speaking, only powerful experts at the Worldly realm, Profound realm, and Spirit Realm would be able to refine their psychic power and upgrade it to soul power.

    Considering that he was only in the Lesser Heaven stage, it must have been the Fragmentary Star Incantation he had obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce that had enabled him to possess such divine power at such an early stage.

    ¡°Fragmentary Star Incantation!¡± The thought of the Fragmentary Star Incantation made him suddenly realize something.

    The very reason why Hua Mu had taken him to the Realm of Split Void was that he had the Fragmentary Star Incantation on him, and the Heaven Pce sect would spare no effort to get it.

    ording to Hua Mu, only when he had truly mastered the first and middle parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and merged them with his body, would he not need to fear the Heaven Pce Sect and be able to openly go to other realms.

    By that time, they would no longer be able to strip the two fragmentary star marks from him.

    If they wanted his fragmentary star marks, they would have to beg him to join the Heaven Pce Sect and cultivate him wholeheartedly as their core disciple.

    Furthermore, at that time, he would be able to use the me Dragon Armor without any issues.

    Once he became the core disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect, even the me God himself wouldn¡¯t dare to snatch the me Dragon Armor from him.

    ¡°It seems that I need to spend more of my time studying those two fragmentary star marks.¡±

    That was when he realized that he had been focusing on practicing cultivation and breaking through to the next stage, and forgotten about the reason why he hade to the Realm of Split Void.

    He temporarily put the thought aside and refocused on observing himself with his Heaven Eye.

    His Heaven Eye roamed about inside of him and saw tens of thousands of blood essence strands that were even finer than hairs gradually disappearing into his blood, muscles, internal organs and bones, turning into pure power and nourishing his body.

    As time passed, all the strands of blood essence gradually vanished, and the burning sensation went away with it.

    During the whole absorbing process, he only experienced a rapid heartbeat and nothing else.

    At that moment, he suddenly thought about the green aura that was coiled up in his heart, which was the embodiment of his bloodline.

    Although it wasn¡¯t very thick andrge, he had a feeling that it was the most fierce and powerful thing in him.

    He was certain that if it had joined in the absorption of the blood essence he had channeled into his body, the essence he had refined from those four barrels of blood wouldn¡¯t be enough for it alone.

    He was bing increasingly aware that, not only was the green aura that represented his bloodline fierce and powerful, but it was also intelligent.

    For example, it must know that Nie Tian¡¯s body was in need of copious amounts of blood essence to strengthen itself, and that when his body was tough and resilient, it would also benefit a great deal from it.

    Therefore, it had intentionally allowed Nie Tian¡¯s blood, muscles, internal organs, and bones to absorb the pure blood essence and temper themselves with it.

    The Heaven Eye enabled Nie Tian to obtain a deeper and more thorough understanding of every part inside of him.

    At that moment, he could no longer feel any strange sensations. Then, he rose to his feet and walked to the window, finding that it was already daybreak.

    ¡°Wow, I can¡¯t believe a night passed so quickly...¡± Nie Tian was surprised how fast time flew. He hadn¡¯t been able to get much done, but the night had already passed.

    He could feel that although the blood essence had infused into his body, it would still need time to fully process and digest the power.

    Hence, instead of refining more of the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood, he took out a handful of spirit stones and started using their spiritual power to refine and expand his spiritual sea.

    He didn¡¯t leave his room once in the following days and practiced around the clock.

    As one spirit stone after another cracked after he had absorbed the power within them, his vast and misty spiritual sea expanded quite significantly.

    However, from what he could tell, he still had a long way to go before his spiritual sea could expand to its limit.

    Only when it did, and he had refined every vortex in his spiritual sea, would he meet all the conditions to break through to the next stage.

    Seven dayster, Pei Qiqi arrived as expected.

    The tunic-d, slender Pei Qiqi had fashioned her ck hair into a ponytail. The moment she entered, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes went wide, feeling as if the entire room had been lit up by her radiance.

    The garments Pei Qiqi wore were ocean-blue and close-fitting, bringing out her curvaceous frame.

    ¡°It¡¯s been seven days already?¡± Nie Tian snapped out of his daze and muttered to himself before rising to his feet.

    Pei Qiqi took a deep look at him with her eyes that were as bright as stars before saying, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve been cultivating hard. You even forgot the time.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and replied, ¡°Yeah, I guess I did.¡±

    Then, Pei Qiqi bent down to ce her jade-like, slender hand on the stone floor. Her knees pressed against her ample chest.

    In the next moment, the precious luster that only spirit stones had filled Nie Tian¡¯s room, as numerous spirit stones flew out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s ring of holding, piling up into a small hill that took up most of the room.

    The precious luster bedazzled Nie Tian, making his entire body radiate joy and satisfaction.

    After all, he had never seen so many spirit stones in his life.

    ¡°I sold all the spiritual materials for you, and got 5,600 spirit stones in return. Adding in the spirit stones for the Space Spirit Jades that you¡¯ve sold to me, there should be 8,600 spirit stones.¡± Pei Qiqi rose up and took a step back. Looking at Nie Tian, who seemed to bepletely mesmerized by the spirit stones, she smiled and continued, ¡°As you requested, I spent 1,600 of those spirit stones on fire-attributed, wood-attributed, and starlight-attributed spiritual materials.

    ¡°Therefore, there are 7,000 spirit stones here in total. You can count them yourself.¡±

    With a broadugh, Nie Tian stored the 7,000 spirit stones into his ring of holding while saying, ¡°There¡¯s no need to do that. I trust you one hundred percent.¡±

    Since the storage room of a ring of holding was ten timesrger than a bracelet of holding¡¯s, there was still plenty of room left, even after he had stored such arge amount of spirit stones in it.

    ¡°These are the fire-attributed, wood-attributed, and starlight-attributed spiritual materials that you requested.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi once again bent down to ce the spiritual materials on the stone floor.

    As she did, her partly-revealed ample breasts seemed extremely ripe and tempting.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t focus on the spiritual materials as they should have. Rather, he couldn¡¯t resist the temptation, and nced her chest a few times.

    When Pei Qiqi raised her chin to look at him, she immediately discovered Nie Tian¡¯s gaze and yelled angrily, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing.¡± Embarrassed, Nie Tian hastily went back to putting away the spiritual materials that Pei Qiqi had ced on the floor, and no longer dared to look at her again.

    Pei Qiqi gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Spiritual materials with fire and wood attributes are easy to find, but spiritual materials that contain star power are extremely rare. I tried my best, but these are all that I could get. If you want to get more of them in the future, you can go check in Ash City or the Land of the Abandoned.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian replied hurriedly.

    Pei Qiqi had a displeased expression on her face as she said, ¡°If you ever dare to peep at me like that again, I¡¯ll make you suffer for doing it!¡±

    Nie Tian put on a dry smile and didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°By the way, now that you have so many spirit stones, if you want to speed up your cultivation and reach the breakthrough point as soon as possible, you can go and rent a cultivation room from the Blood Skull.¡± With these words, she shot a cold nce at him and stepped out of Nie Tian¡¯s room.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A room dedicated to cultivation??¡±

    As much as he wanted to catch up to Pei Qiqi and ask her about it, she seemed to be so angry at him that she didn¡¯t want to say another word to him.

 Chapter 243: Unfair Treatment

    After Pei Qiqi left, Nie Tian walked out of his stone room for the first time in seven days.

    It was in the middle of the day.

    Nie Tian looked up at the fiercely burning sun and noticed that not a single ray of sunlight was able to prate the protective shield and shine on Shatter City.

    Standing in the courtyard, Nie Tian carefully nced around for the first time.

    There were decorative rocks, creeks, and stone bridges in the spacious courtyard.

    Across from the gate of the courtyard was a seven-story stone pavilion, which was noticeably higher than the other pavilions beside it.

    The stone pavilion was Pei Qiqi and Li Ye¡¯s master¡¯s residence. ording to Pei Qiqi and Li Ye, their master spent most of her time practicing in secluded cultivation, and when she wasn¡¯t cultivating in her residence, she was fond of traveling to other ces.

    When Hua Mu had brought Nie Tian here, their master had been in her residence, but she had left Shatter City when the three of them had gone on their exploration trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    To the left and right of the seven-story stone pavilion, two five-story stone pavilions sat on either side of the courtyard.

    They were the residences of Pei Qiqi and Li Ye, their master¡¯s only two disciples.

    To either side of the two five-story stone pavilions sat a few stone bungalows, each of which was very simr to Nie Tian¡¯s residence.

    Standing in the middle of the courtyard, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to scan the vicinity, and discovered seven life auras other than Pei Qiqi¡¯s, Li Ye¡¯s, and his own.

    ording to Nie Tian¡¯s spection, those seven people should be Pei Qiqi and Li Ye¡¯s helpers. They probably did chores for those two to get spirit stones.

    With a thought, he formed a Heaven Eye with a wisp of power from the fragmentary stars in his soul, via which he began to carefully examine the seven people¡¯s life auras.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Five of them are at the Heaven stage, and two of them are at the Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    He never expected that everyone who worked for Li Ye and Pei Qiqi had cultivation bases higher than his, much less that two of them had cultivation bases higher than Pei Qiqi¡¯s.

    His new findings shocked him.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian walked to the five-story stone pavilion where Li Ye lived. After a loud call, he heard Li Ye rush down to the first floor and open the gate.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Li Ye¡¯s hair was messy and his face was covered in ash. It seemed that he had been working on something.

    Over Li Ye¡¯s shoulder, Nie Tian saw a woman with a plump figure standing behind Li Ye. She was wearing blue garments and looking Nie Tian up and down with a measuring gaze.

    Her name was Hu Han, a middle Greater Heaven stage equipment forger. She had been living in Shatter City for many years.

    The fact that she was willing to lower herself and do things for Li Ye was obviously not because he had a superior cultivation base.

    What she had actually set her mind on were the equipment forging skills Li Ye had learned from his master. She hoped that she would receive enlightenment while she worked for him as an assistant.

    She had been working for Li Ye for a year, and thus had heard of Nie Tian.

    Before Li Ye, Pei Qiqi, and Nie Tian had gone to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, she had heard Li Ye talk about Nie Tian asionally, but he had never said a single kind word about him.

    However, recently, whenever Li Ye mentioned Nie Tian, his attitude had beenpletely different, praising Nie Tian as a talented young man.

    The change in Li Ye¡¯s attitude had made Hu Han very curious. Therefore, now that she finally got to meet Nie Tian, she couldn¡¯t help but measure him up and down. When she found out that Nie Tian was only at the Lesser Heaven stage, she grew even more curious.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t step through the door. Instead, he asked, standing at the door, ¡°Li Ye, does the Blood Skull have rooms dedicated to cultivation?¡±

    Li Ye went nk for a moment and said, ¡°Yeah, they do. Why? You want to rent one for yourself? There are only a few of them, and they are very expensive.

    ¡°Considering your Lesser Heaven cultivation base, you can use the lowest-level one, the rent of which is five spirit stones for an hour.

    ¡°That¡¯s more than one hundred spirit stones for a day. It¡¯s a very fast way to spend your spirit stones.¡±

    At that moment, Li Ye suddenly seemed toe to some realization and asked, ¡°Did senior martial sister give you your spirit stones?¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian nodded in reply.

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is,¡± Li Ye said. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you¡¯ll be fine. With that big of a fortune in your hands, you¡¯ll be able tost quite some time.¡±

    Hu Han seemed a bit surprised. ¡°This guy wants to rent a cultivation room from the Blood Skull after making a big fortune?¡± After all, she still remembered that Li Ye had told her, only a few days ago, that Nie Tian had been cutting ckbound Wood for him in order to get one spirit stone in return for several days of hard work.

    She couldn¡¯t understand how he had managed to make a great fortune in such a short time.

    She had been living in Shatter City for years, and she had been working for Li Ye for quite some time. However, the spirit stones she had earned working for him were very humble, so much so that she constantly had to worry about her ie and life in Shatter City.

    The fact that Nie Tian had already be rich enough to rent a cultivation room from the Blood Skull made her extremely envious.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°I feel that I¡¯m improving far too slowly, and I want to see if renting a cultivation room will change that.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Li Ye wet his hands in a basin next to him and ran them through his messy hair to fix it, before turning to Hu Han and ordering, ¡°I¡¯ll go with him for a few hours. You take over while I¡¯m gone.¡±

    He didn¡¯t wait for Hu Han to say anything and led Nie Tian away as they strode towards the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Confusion was written all over Hu Han¡¯s face. After all, Li Ye, who had always bossed her around, had never attached much importance to her.

    However, Nie Tian was only at the Lesser Heaven stage, and didn¡¯t know a single thing about equipment forging. It was very unlikely that he had provided Li Ye with enormous help, yet Li Ye was much warmer towards him.

    Hu Han couldn¡¯t figure out the reason.

    On their way to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°That woman seems to be at the Greater Heaven stage. Does she really work for you, just like I did?¡±

    Li Ye held his head high as he said nonchntly, ¡°Yeah, so? In Shatter City, there are so many Greater Heaven stage cultivators like her. That¡¯s nothing unusual. She knows something about equipment forging, but her methods and techniques are garbage in my eyes.

    ¡°My master won¡¯t eveny her eyes on an equipment forger like her, and neither will I.¡±

    Li Ye¡¯s arrogance puzzled Nie Tian. ¡°You¡¯re merely at the middle Heaven stage. What right do you have to look down on her?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Li Ye grinned andughed. ¡°We equipment forgers aren¡¯t rated ording to our cultivation bases. You don¡¯t understand. She learns a lot from me by working for me. Why else do you think she¡¯s insisted on staying even when I wanted her to leave?¡±

    ¡°What? Really?¡± Nie Tian was increasingly astounded.

    Li Ye gave a snort and said, ¡°Of course! There¡¯s long line of equipment forgers waiting to work for me. The second she leaves, people wille and beat down my door.¡±

    ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t know you were so good!¡± Nie Tian said with a surprised tone.

    Li Ye grew more animated as he said proudly, ¡°I¡¯m destined to be a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger one day! If I¡¯m lucky, I might be able to forge a spiritual tool that lives on long after I¡¯m gone! People like me are god-chosen. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I¡¯ll shine gloriously.

    ¡°As for Hu Han, she¡¯ll probably end up being a Premium grade equipment forger if she works hard enough for the rest of her life. How can shepare herself to me!?¡±

    Li Ye talked big as the two of them walked to the gate of the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters in Shatter City.

    It held a courtyard more than ten timesrger than where Nie Tian lived, within which a number of ten-story stone pavilions were scattered in several different regions.

    All the guards at the main gate were Greater Heaven stage experts.

    Numerous Blood Skull members and Qi warriors from Shatter City were chatting with one another as they entered and left through the main gate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll show you to the part where the cultivation rooms are.¡± Li Ye dragged Nie Tian as they approached the main gate.

    It seemed that all the Blood Skull guards knew Li Ye. The moment they saw him, they stepped forward to greet him with smiles on their faces.

    However, Nie Tian noticed that right before they caught sight of Li Ye, every one of them had been wearing a cold and gruesome expression.

    Every time someone had wished to pass through the gate, they would examine them without giving them any face.

    There was a great contrast between how they treated those people and how they treated Li Ye.

    Then, as the two of them walked though the main gate, numerous fierce-looking men of Shatter City approached with warm smiles and greeted Li Ye as if they were very close.

    ¡°Lord Li!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, long time no see, Lord Li!¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s your master doing?¡±

    Apparently, they knew what Li Ye liked to hear. Even though they were all much older and had higher cultivation bases than Li Ye, they called him Lord Li to tter him.

    Li Ye exchanged some pleasantries with some of them as they walked through the crowd in the courtyard.

    After Li Ye and Nie Tian were gone, everyone fell into an uproar.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that kid with him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen him before.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never seen that kid in Shatter City before. He¡¯s definitely not from here.¡±

 Chapter 244: The Blood Skulls Headquarters

    The Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters was the thergest trading center in Shatter City, where people could sell or purchase spirit stones, spiritual materials, spiritual tools, and spiritual incantation scrolls.

    Those people whose identity medallion was about to run out of time could alsoe here to lengthen their allowed stay with spirit stones.

    Other than that, the Blood Skull also had eight cultivation rooms set up in their headquarters.

    They were designed for cultivators with different cultivation bases; two for each of the Lesser Heaven stage, the Heaven stage, the Greater Heaven stage, and the Worldly realm.

    All the rooms were located in a four-story stone pavilion, with two on each floor. The first floor was where the Lesser Heaven stage cultivation rooms were located, and the cultivation rooms designed for Worldly realm Qi warriors were on the top floor.

    The moment Li Ye led Nie Tian to the front gate of the stone pavilion, Nie Tian¡¯s ears were caught by an uproar from behind. He turned around and found that a dead body was being carried out of the stone pavilion across the street.

    A number of Qi warriors were gathered in front of that stone pavilion, each of whom had a ferocious look in their eyes and a strong killing aura around them.

    As soon as they saw a body was carried out of the establishment by a cold-faced member of the Blood Skull, they mored to get inside.

    Not far from them, a few Blood Skull members were sitting behind a dpidated stone table, beckoning for people gathered around them to ce their bets.

    Numerous spirit stones were piling up on the stone table, which apparently were the bets being ced.

    Upon seeing this scene, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡±

    Li Ye followed Nie Tian¡¯s gaze and realized what Nie Tian was looking at. Then he said, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the Blood Fighting Pit. Fights are forbidden in any part of the city. Those who are in vition of this rule will be thrown out of the city, or even worse, killed on the spot by the Blood Skull.

    ¡°The Blood Fighting Pit is the only exception.

    ¡°Those who hold deep hatreds against each other can apply to fight in the Blood Fighting Pit, where they are allowed to kill their opponents.

    ¡°Of course, whoever applies to fight in the Blood Fighting Pit will have to pay the Blood Skull with spirit stones. Only when the Blood Skull are paid in full will they permit them to fight each other to death within the pit.

    ¡°Wherever there are fights, there are gamblers. The Blood Skull is the banker, and they allow anyone to take part in the gamble. If they bet on the right fighter, they will get spirit stones several times the amount they put in, but if they bet on the wrong fighter, they will lose every bit of their wager.¡±

    While Li Ye exined, ate Heaven stage expert walked out of the Blood Fighting Pit covered in blood.

    Since he was walking with his chin up and his chest out, he must have won.

    The moment he walked out, all those who had ced their bets on him burst into cheers, but those who had bet against him glowered at him, as if they nned to kill him the moment he stepped out of the city.

    The man didn¡¯t even clean up his wounds before he rapidly collected the spirit stones he had won and left.

    Immediately afterwards, two Qi warriors who had been waiting were led into the Blood Fighting Pit by a member of the Blood Skull to start the next match.

    ¡°People die in the Blood Fighting Pit every day, don¡¯t they?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. There are always men who can¡¯t find better things to do than fight others to the death. Some of the fighters started their feuds in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and didn¡¯t want to fight outside the city, since there might be others lurking in dark corners, waiting to jump in and kill whoever wins.¡± Li Ye¡¯s face was filled with disgust as he exined.

    ¡°So they¡¯ll usually choose to fight in the Blood Fighting Pit. Those kinds of peoplee in and die everyday.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s nothing but a bunch of people who are strong in the back and weak in the brain winning money for the the Blood Skull. There¡¯s nothing to see.¡±

    Li Ye urged Nie Tian to follow him into the four-story stone pavilion.

    The moment they went in, a member of the Blood Skull stepped over and said, ¡°Wow, what brings you here, Lord Li?¡±

    Almost every member of the Blood Skull knew him, and the fact that, rather than his own cultivation base, he was more infatuated with equipment forging.

    Over the years, they had never known Li Ye to use one of the cultivation rooms, so they were all very surprised to see him here.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to rent one of your cultivation rooms for myself.¡± Li Ye pointed to Nie Tian as he said, ¡°He¡¯s a friend of mine. I¡¯d appreciate it if you can arrange a Lesser Heaven stage room for him.

    ¡°Oh, right. Hua Tian, how long do you want to rent the room?¡±

    ¡°Twenty hours, I think,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s one hundred spirit stones,¡± The Blood Skull member said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you register here.¡±

    Without saying another word, Nie Tian took one hundred spirit stones out of his bracelet of holding and handed them to the man.

    ¡°One sec.¡± The man put away the spirit stones and nced down at the form in his hand, saying, ¡°Many people are waiting in line to use those cultivation rooms. It appears that you¡¯ll have to wait for about three days.¡±

    Li Ye went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°Shi Qing, even the lowest-level cultivation rooms have be so coveted recently?¡±

    The Blood Skull member pointed at one of the Lesser Heaven cultivation rooms and said with an apologetic expression on his face, ¡°Our miss, oh sorry, our little lord is in there.¡±

    Li Ye¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Since when has she be so diligent?¡±

    Shi Qing exined, ¡°As you probably know, thest time we Blood Skull had a battle against the Dark Moon outside Shatter City, she was hurt and felt humiliated. Since she came back, she has been devoted to practicing cultivation. She¡¯s at thete Lesser Heaven stage, and not far from her next breakthrough, so she¡¯s upied one cultivation room recently, leaving the other one for everyone else. That¡¯s why there¡¯s a long line of people waiting.¡±

    Li Ye rubbed his fleshy, beardless chin as he said, ¡°Oh, I see...¡±

    Then he pointed to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Hua Tian here is my brother. Will you do me a favor and squeeze him in?¡±

    Shi Qing took a look at Nie Tian and after a moment of hesitation, he gave in, saying with a reluctant face, ¡°Alright, the person who¡¯s using that room is going to finish in one hour, and so he can get in after him. However, he can only use the room for twenty hours and no longer. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, I understand,¡± Li Ye said impatiently.

    Then, Nie Tian and Li Ye moved to the side and waited not far from the gate of the stone pavilion.

    ¡°Who¡¯s the little lord you two talked about?¡± Nie Tian asked as a way to kill time.

    ¡°She¡¯s the daughter of the head of the Blood Skull, and she doesn¡¯t like people treating her as a girl,¡± Li Ye exined. ¡°Although, you don¡¯t need to worry about her too much. Just try not to offend her. Otherwise, she¡¯ll make your life in Shatter City a nightmare.¡±

    ¡°I see," Nie Tian nodded.

    During the short while the two of them talked beside the gate, they saw two dead bodies being carried out of the Blood Fighting Pit from across the street.

    Those who won cheered loudly and rampantly, and those who lost grunted and swore, as if they itched to charge into the Blood Fighting Pit themselves and fight those who had made them lose money.

    Half an hourter, a middle Lesser Heaven stage Qi warrior walked out of one of the cultivation rooms, looking radiant and perfectly satisfied.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s your friend¡¯s turn.¡± Shi Qing called out to Li Ye from inside the stone pavilion.

    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Li Ye beckoned for Nie Tian to go inside. ¡°It¡¯s perfectly safe here. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything. When you¡¯re finished, follow the same route back to our residence. As long as you don¡¯t enter that Blood Fighting Pit, every other ce in Shatter City is regted and secure.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± After bidding farewell to Li Ye, Nie Tian followed Shi Qing into one of the cultivation rooms.

    The moment he entered, he caught a whiff of the rich spiritual energy, and felt that both his body and mind were calmed. He realized that the room was indeed very suitable for practicing cultivation.

    He sat down in the middle of the spacious room. After a brief examination of the air, he realized that the intensity of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the room was quite exceptional, although it was still far inferior to that of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Even if he only relied on the pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the room, the speed at which he progressed would be several times faster than cultivating with spirit stones outside.

    ¡°This ce is great!¡± Nie Tian said in admiration before calming himself down and beginning to channel the spiritual energy into his spiritual sea to gradually stretch its limits.

    Soon, he realized that he was by far more efficient in here than in his own residence.

    After a short while, he was awoken from his cultivation by a thought; he suddenly thought of a secret magic he had learned from the mysteriousnd.

    He had used it to condense the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into spiritual energy balls in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and then absorb the pure and refined power from them.

    ¡°It¡¯ll probably work in this ce as well.¡± With that thought, he reached out with one hand and cast the spell in his mind.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    In the next moment, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that filled every corner of the room began to flood madly into his palm from all directions.

    Before long, a spiritual energy ball was created.

    Without any hesitation, he channeled the half-mist, half-liquid power in the spiritual energy ball into his spiritual sea, which immediately caused the three vortexes of spiritual energy to speed up significantly and his spiritual sea to expand at a noticeable speed.

    However, after all, he wasn¡¯t in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce or the mysteriousnd he had visited a handful of times before.

    Furthermore, there was a limit to the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the rooms, and it was continuously being refilled by a spell formation that had beenid under the rooms. It took time for the spell formation to convert spirit stones into spiritual Qi and channel it to the cultivation rooms.

    Now that the speed at which Nie Tian was absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had exceeded the speed it was being generated, a hidden spell formation was triggered, which connected the two Lesser Heaven stage cultivation rooms and bnced the amounts of spiritual Qi in both rooms.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Via numerous specially-made tubes under the rooms, rich spiritual Qi rapidly flowed from the other room to Nie Tian¡¯s room.

    At the same time, the spiritual Qi in the other room began to grow fainter.

    All of a sudden, the daughter of the head of the Blood Skull awoke from her cultivation.

    She keenly sensed the change.

 Chapter 245: Cheater

    ¡°Why is the spiritual Qi growing fainter?¡± The white-garbed Cai Yue, who dressed like a young lord, awoke from her cultivation.

    She was the daughter of Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull. She was at thete Lesser Heaven stage, only one step away from entering the Heaven stage, and the reason why she had been practicing day and night for the past week was that she hoped to make the breakthrough as soon as possible.

    Not long ago, the Blood Skull had had a conflict with the Dark Moon. Cai Yue had joined the battle, but sustained injuries.

    She attributed her injuries to her low cultivation base, and thus had been rather eager to improve.

    She had used that cultivation room many times long before Nie Tian came along. Therefore, she knew those rooms and the intensity of the spiritual Qi in them like the back of her hand.

    The sudden change disturbed her cultivation and significantly undermined the rate at which she took in spiritual energy.

    She endured the change and continued to cultivate for a while. However, she discovered that not only did the intensity of the spiritual Qi in the room not recover to its original level, but it even kept deteriorating.

    Cai Yue had never been known for her patience, so she put her cultivation on hold and walked out of her room.

    ¡°Little lord.¡± The moment she walked out, Shi Qing, administrator of the first floor, trotted to her and asked with a ttering smile on his face, ¡°Shall we call it a day?¡± Shi Qing thought she had finished her cultivation for the day.

    ¡°Uncle Shi!¡± Face cold, Cai Yue asked with a punitive tone, ¡°Is there something wrong with my cultivation room? Why is the spiritual Qi on the decline?¡±

    Shi Qing stood aghast. ¡°How can that be?!¡±

    Cai Yue gave a cold harrumph. ¡°You¡¯re wee to take a look for yourself!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s me check it out.¡± With these words, Shi Qing followed Cai Yue into her cultivation room. Eyes narrowed, he carefully examined the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the room.

    It took only a few second for Shi Qing to realize the anomaly. Then, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you¡¯re right!¡±

    Face filled with dissatisfaction, Cai Yue asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on, Uncle Shi? What¡¯s wrong with this cultivation room? I don¡¯t usually have such a zest for practicing cultivation. If I tell my father about this, I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t let you off easily!¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily apologized to her and said, ¡°Please hold on a second.¡±

    He stepped to the center of the room where there was a jade column. Then, he gently ced his skinny hand on it as he unleashed his psychic awareness.

    A short whileter, Shi Qing opened his eyes. With a strange expression on his face, he muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the spiritual Qi is flowing to that other room...¡±

    ¡°Just what exactly is going on, Uncle Shi?¡± asked Cai Yue.

    Shi Qing pondered for a while before exining with a bitter face, ¡°Little Lord, you should know that the two cultivation rooms on each floor are actually connected to one another. Beneath the rooms lies the spell formation that summons power from the spirit stones we put there and transmits it to the rooms.

    ¡°If the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in one room is consumed faster than the speed at which it is being replenished, a hidden spell formation will be triggered, and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth will naturally flow over from the other room to bnce out the difference.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Cai Yue immediately realized what was happening. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the man in the other room is consuming the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth past the output capacity of the spell formation?

    ¡°The spiritual Qi in his room is running so low that the spiritual Qi in my room flowed to his?¡±

    Shi Qing had a strange expression on his face as he said, ¡°Yes, it appears so. However, we built these two rooms to meet the ultimate speed at which Lesser Heaven stage cultivators can absorb spiritual Qi. Even cultivators at the peak of the Lesser Heaven stage couldn¡¯t possibly absorb spiritual Qi faster than our spell formation produces it.

    ¡°This seems impossible.

    ¡°No one has ever triggered that hidden spell formation ever since it was set up.¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s words intrigued Cai Yue. She asked, ¡°Uncle Shi, are you sure that man is at the Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Shi Qing said with a serious expression. ¡°I examined him when he came. He¡¯s at thete Lesser Heaven stage. I can¡¯t be mistaken.¡±

    Cai Yue snorted and said, ¡°Do you know who he is? He stole the spiritual Qi that¡¯s supposed to be mine. I won¡¯t let him off easily!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Li Ye¡¯s friend,¡± Shi Qing said with a bitter expression.

    ¡°He¡¯s that fatty¡¯s friend, so what?¡± Cai Yue¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t pleasant at all. ¡°If Li Ye dares to stop me, I¡¯ll beat him up too!¡±

    ¡°Little Lord, the problem is that, technically, he hasn¡¯t done anything wrong.¡± Shi Qing had a headache over the tough situation. ¡°Even though he overconsumed the spiritual Qi, he paid for the cultivation room, so we must honor the rules. Those rules are what hold up our reign. Since he¡¯s not in vition of them, we can¡¯t just go in there and arrest him.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Huffing, Cai Yue stormed out of the room in an attempt to settle things with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Shi Qing hastily stopped her and urged pressingly. ¡°If you do this, others willugh at us and take the Blood Skull as a rabble of stingy men. Listen to me, Little Lord. At least wait for him toe out of there. He only rented the room for twenty hours. As you know, if a cultivator is interrupted in the middle of his cultivation, he may very well fall into Qi deviation.¡±

    After hearing these words, Cai Yue, who was already standing in front of Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation room and ready to barge in, finally came to a stop and fell into silent pondering.

    A momentter, Cai Yue said, ¡°The spiritual Qi in my room is too faint, and I¡¯m too distracted to practice cultivation. I¡¯ll wait for him here! I¡¯ve got to see how special this guy really is, and what made him dare to steal the spiritual Qi from my room!¡±

    Standing beside her, Shi Qing continued to reason with her with a bitter smile on his face. However, after a while, he found that it appeared that Cai Yue wasn¡¯t listening at all, and thus gave up.

    After things were calmed, Shi Qing focused his glittering eyes on the cultivation room Nie Tian was in, his mind filled with questions.

    As far as he knew, a situation like this would only happen when a middle orte Heaven stage expert used a Lesser Heaven stage cultivation room.

    However, he waspletely certain that Nie Tian was only at the Lesser Heaven stage. The speed at which he consumed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth astonished him.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation room.

    Nie Tian condensed another spiritual energy ball using the technique he had learned from the mysteriousnd, and then channeled the pure spiritual energy within it to his spiritual sea.

    The three vortexes of spiritual energy were rotating madly to generate more refined spiritual power and push it to the edges of his spiritual sea.

    The speed at which Nie Tian advanced in the cultivation room was already much faster than when he had cultivated in his residence. Adding in the incantation that he used to form the spiritual energy balls, the speed of his advancement was further boosted.

    He had a feeling that the speed at which he improved here was approximately twenty times faster than before.

    The fact that he only had to pay five spirit stones for one hour was absolutely worth it.

    Originally, if he hadn¡¯t used his secret technique, the advancement in his cultivation he would achieve within one hour inside the room would be less significant than that which he could achieve cultivating with five spirit stones outside, but the time he would spend to achieve such progress would be much less.

    However, using the spiritual energy ball technique, he had improved his cultivation efficiency dramatically. Therefore, the total amount of spiritual energy he absorbed within one hour turned out to be far greater than what he would have been able to obtain using five spirit stones outside.

    Seeing that his spiritual sea was expanding rapidly, Nie Tian was rather pleased. He went on to form more spiritual energy balls and devoted himself to absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Meanwhile, the numerous spirit stones that had beenid under the floor of the two Lesser Heaven stage cultivation rooms rapidly ran dry and turned into rubble.

    Time passed quickly.

    As time passed, the amount of spiritual Qi left in both rooms grew thin, and then, Nie Tian suddenly woke from his cultivation, since he was no longer able to form another spiritual energy ball with the thin amount of spiritual Qi.

    Confusion stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°What¡¯s happening to the room?¡±

    At the same time, grim expressions could be seen on the faces of Shi Qing and Cai Yue, who had been waiting for Nie Tian toe out of the room.

    A member of the Blood Skull, who was responsible for filling the spell formation with spirit stones, approached Shi Qing and whispered in his ear, ¡°Sir, the 350 spirit stones we¡¯veid under the first floor cultivation rooms have already run dry.

    ¡°300 of them were consumed after that person went into one of the rooms.

    ¡°The speed at which the spirit stones were consumed was even faster than we could refill the spell formation with new ones. Should we keep refilling?¡±

    Shi Qing frowned as he waved his hand and said, ¡°No!¡±

    Cai Yue stamped with fury as she said, ¡°Even I can only consume 50 spirit stones by cultivating for 24 hours within one of the rooms! That guy has only been in there for 12 hours, but he has already consumed 300 spirit stones!

    ¡°Uncle Shi, how many spirit stones did he pay?¡±

    ¡°100 spirit stones for twenty hours,¡± replied Shi Qing.

    ¡°I suspect that he intentionally hid his true cultivation base in order to take advantage of us!¡± Cai Yue blurted furiously.

    Just as she was about to break into the room and demand an exnation from Nie Tian, Nie Tian walked out of the room.

    He didn¡¯t look at Cai Yue. Instead, he gazed at Shi Qing, and with a puzzled look in his eyes, he asked, ¡°The twenty hours¡¯ time isn¡¯t up yet, right? Why is there not a bit of spiritual Qi in the room already? Don¡¯t tell me that the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms are usually like this, breaking down from time to time.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Shi Qing¡¯s face suddenly twitched.

 Chapter 246: Practicing in the Next Level

    Face grim, Shi Qing frowned and didn¡¯t know what to say.

    After all, Nie Tian had used the room for twelve hours and hadn¡¯t broken any rules.

    However, in only twelve hours, he managed to cost them 300 spirit stones, while he only paid 100.

    That meant that not only did the Blood Skull not make a profit from him, but they even suffered a great loss from their deal with him.

    Technically, Nie Tian was entitled to use the room for another eight hours, but if they let Nie Tian to do so, they would probably lose 200 more spirit stones.

    As the administrator, Shi Qing would have to make up for the loss himself if he couldn¡¯te up with a better way to recover it.

    While searching his mind for a n, Shi Qing got a thorough measure of Nie Tian.

    Shi Qing was a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, far stronger than Nie Tian. Hence, he could easily see through Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base.

    After a thorough examination, he concluded that Nie Tian was indeed in the Lesser Heaven stage, and he still had a long way to go to enter the Heaven stage.

    Therefore, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t broken any rule that Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, had set.

    Because of that, Shi Qing had quite a headache.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the guy,¡± Cai Yue said angrily. She, who was unhappy with Nie Tian, never expected that he would me theck of spiritual Qi on the Blood Skull¡¯s facility the moment he stepped out of the room.

    Nie Tian was surprised and asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    Only then did he take note of Cai Yue. With a single nce at her, he realized that the fine-looking girl, who was dressed like a boy, must be the daughter of the Blood Skull¡¯s head that Li Ye had warned him about.

    ording to Li Ye, this girl was spoiled and had a bad temper. He should avoid offending her.

    ¡°I was in the room next to yours!¡± Cai Yue gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Because you overconsumed the spiritual Qi in your room, a hidden spell formation was triggered, which channeled the spiritual Qi from my room to yours! You undermined my cultivation. What do you have to say about it?¡±

    Nie Tian was quite confused, since he had no idea about the spell formation Cai Yue was referring to. He shot a confused nce towards Shi Qing.

    With a stern face, Shi Qing exined to Nie Tian, ¡°What she said is true. I don¡¯t know what cultivating method you used, but you drained the spiritual Qi in both rooms surprisingly quickly. In merely twelve hours, you cost us 300 spirit stones. As you probably already know, the Blood Skull doesn¡¯t do business without a profit. So what do you suggest we do?¡±

    Cai Yue red at Nie Tian as if she was demanding that he provide a proper solution.

    Nie Tian forced a smile as he touched his head, knowing that it was the secret magic that he had used to created spiritual energy balls that had caused all this.

    Although he was d that he had made great progress with his cultivation, he didn¡¯t want to offend the Blood Skull and Cai Yue because of it.

    After all, whoever Li Ye tried his best to avoid offending must be a huge pain in the neck.

    Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°How about this: I¡¯llpensate you for your loss.¡±

    Shi Qing smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re a smart man. No wonder Li Ye attached such importance to you.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s proposition was eptable to him, since as long as the loss was recovered, there wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him when he reported to his superior.

    Without any dy, Nie Tian took 300 spirit stones from his bracelet of holding and handed them to Shi Qing. ¡°Here.¡± Then, he asked, ¡°Oh, right, what¡¯s the rate for a Heaven stage cultivation room?¡±

    After receiving the spirit stones from Nie Tian, Shi Qing assumed a much better attitude. Smiling, he replied, ¡°A Heaven stage cultivation room? 25 spirit stones for an hour. The spiritual Qi in those rooms is much richer. If you think that a Lesser Heaven stage cultivation room didn¡¯t satisfy your needs, you¡¯re wee to rent a Heaven stage cultivation room.¡±

    After pausing for a moment, he continued, ¡°Also, it¡¯s been a long time since someone rented the rooms on the second floor. You can rent one of them for a long term if you like. Of course, that¡¯s assuming that you have the spirit stones to do so.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem.¡± Having a substantial amount of spirit stones in his possession, Nie Tian became a generous consumer. He took out 500 spirit stones and handed them to Shi Qing while saying, ¡°Put me down for twenty hours, starting now.¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± A broad smile could be seen on Shi Qing¡¯s face as he trotted to his desk and registered Nie Tian.

    At that moment, two cultivators walked in through the main gate of the establishment and one powerful expert came down the stairs after his cultivation.

    The three of them overheard Nie Tian and Shi Qing¡¯s conversation, and with surprised expressions, they began to look Nie Tian up and down with measuring gazes.

    They obviously found it strange that a Lesser Heaven stage cultivator would waste his money on a Heaven stage cultivation room.

    Since the three of them didn¡¯t know what had happened early on, they all considered Nie Tian to be a spendthrift, who was parading his wealth by spending five times more than he should on a cultivation room he wouldn¡¯t need.

    The two people who had just entered the building exchanged a subtle look after getting their measure of Nie Tian.

    ¡°He¡¯s a friend of Li Ye¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like what people say, he who has wealth speaks louder than others.¡±

    ¡°But his cultivation base doesn¡¯t seem very impressive.¡±

    The two of them had been living in Shatter City for a long time, and they had extensive connections with the ouws outside the city.

    Nie Tian, who had an unimpressive cultivation base and great fortune, had just be their next easy target.

    They secretly memorized Nie Tian¡¯s face, as they were determined to tail him and kill him the instant he walked out of Shatter City.

    Seeing that Nie Tian was quite sensible and offered topensate them for their loss, Cai Yue suppressed her anger. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with that fatty, Li Ye?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Well, I do things for him, like cutting spiritual material and stuff,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Cai Yue went nk for a moment before subconsciously looking at Shi Qing and asking, ¡°Since when has it be so lucrative to work for Li Ye? Is Li Ye that generous with his helpers?¡±

    Shi Qing shook his head. ¡°Li Ye is a canny man.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s all settled, do you mind if I go upstairs and start my cultivation?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Shi Qing nodded. ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take you to your room.¡±

    That said, he told the others to wait for him and led Nie Tian to the second floor. After arriving at the door of a cultivation room, he took out a specially-made key and opened the door.

    Right before Nie Tian followed Shi Qing into the room, Cai Yue gave a snort and, looking up at him from the first floor, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll let you off today only on ount of you being friends with Li Ye, but you¡¯ve got to be more careful. If I catch you ripping us off again, I¡¯ll make you suffer for it!¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± With a calm face, Nie Tian walked into the cultivation room.

    Although the size of the room was approximately the same as the one on the first floor, Nie Tian could clearly feel that the spiritual Qi in this room was far richer.

    It was still not as rich as the spiritual Qi in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but it was almost at the same level as the spiritual Qi in the mysteriousnd that the Blood Core had led him to.

    It wasn¡¯t safe for him to use the Blood Core to enter the mysteriousnd and cultivate in Shatter City. Too many eyes might be watching from dark corners.

    He might be able to do it in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, since there were arge number of spatial rifts there and the spatial energy in the area was already rather unstable. It would be hard for others to notice the change.

    ¡°I¡¯d better consider cultivating somewhere else, especially when I need to cultivate my star power and ready myself for my next breakthrough.¡±

    With those thoughts, Nie Tian sat down cross-legged and cleared his mind as he began to refine his spiritual sea.

    Time passed quickly.

    Before he noticed it, he had already spent twenty hours in the Heaven stage cultivation room.

    As a result, he had expanded his spiritual sea to the limit of the Lesser Heaven stage.

    It was when he felt the spiritual Qi suddenly grow faint that he realized that his time was up.

    He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to walk out of the room.

    Instead, he took some spirit beast jerky out of his bracelet of holding and washed them down withrge gulps of water. Only after that did he step out of the room and approach Shi Qing.

    This time, he took out 1,000 spirit stones and rented the Heaven stage room for another forty hours.

    Shi Qing received the spirit stones and had his assistant ready the room for Nie Tian. Then, Nie Tian went in and started cultivating painstakingly again.

    The speed at which the spell formation underneath the room generated new spiritual Qi was fast enough for him to cultivate with his spiritual energy ball technique. With that method, he progressed rapidly.

    Since his spiritual sea had expanded to the fullest, he used the three vortexes of spiritual energy to refine and purify the spiritual energy round after round.

    After his time was up, he didn¡¯t choose to leave.

    Rather, he paid more spirit stones to continue cultivating devotedly in the room. Whenever he was hungry, he would eat spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding, and whenever he was thirsty, he would drink water.

    Time flew. Before he knew it, he had already thrown in 3,000 spirit stones, and he had finished refining his spiritual sea three times.

    But even still, there wasn¡¯t any sign that he was going to break into the Heaven stage.

    Only at that moment did he realize that he might have to refine his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power to a certain extent to reach the breakthrough point.

    In order to do that, he would need spiritual materials with those three attributes. Spending more time in the cultivation room wouldn¡¯t be of much help.

    Therefore, when his time ran out again, he didn¡¯t extend his usage of the room with Shi Qing.

    Instead, he handed him 500 spirit stones and asked him to extend his stay in Shatter City. Afterwards, he decided to return to his residence.

    Standing right outside the establishment was a skinny, middle-aged man with a goatee. He approached Nie Tian with a ttering smile and said, ¡°Hey, little friend. It seems that you¡¯ve spent quite some time in there. Can I interest you in thetest news?¡±

    Nie Tian knew that there was a group of people in Shatter City who made their living by selling news and information.

    He measured the man up and down and said, ¡°I¡¯m good if you only have news about Shatter City or the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    ¡°So what do you want to know about?¡± The man asked.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven,¡± Nie Tian said.

    The man reached out with one hand. ¡°News just came in about the Realm of me Heaven. Ten spirit stones and I¡¯ll tell you all about it.¡±

    Without a second thought, Nie Tian handed him ten spirit stones.

    The man grabbed the spirit stones with a swift motion and began gushing over thetest events that had taken ce in the Realm of me Heaven. ¡°Alright. A great spatial rift opened in the Realm of me Heaven, and demon Qi keepsing out of it.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven sent people to the Realm of me Heaven in search of a man named Nie Tian. Even with the seven sects in the Realm of me Heaven to help them, they failed to find him.

    ¡°The me God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworld was also looking for that man. They searched every corner of the Realm of me Heaven and found nothing.

    ¡°I heard that the man they¡¯re after is merely at the Lesser Heaven stage. I don¡¯t understand why those two sects attach such great importance to him.

    ¡°Also, at the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s behest, the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Earth Sieve have put their operations against the Realm of me Heaven on hold.

    ¡°It seems that they all know that if they can¡¯t find a way to seal the spatial rift soon, the Realm of me Heaven will fall in only a few decades.¡±

    The man poured out everything he had learned about the Realm of me Heaven.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Since they couldn¡¯t find Nie Tian, did they vent their anger on his rtives or friends?¡±

    The man shook his head. ¡°Not that I know of. Supposedly, that Nie Tian person has two powerful masters in the Realm of me Heaven; one is Wu Ji from the Cloudsoaring Sect, and the other is Li Jing from the Blood Sect.

    ¡°With those two to shelter his rtives and friends, nothing happened to them.¡±

    ¡°I see. Thanks.¡± After hearing the information he was expecting to hear, Nie Tian secretly let out a sigh of relief and left without asking any more about the Realm of me Heaven.

 Chapter 247: Three Attributes

    Ever since Nie Tian had returned from the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, he cultivated wholeheartedly in his room.

    Instead of using spirit stones, he used spiritual materials that contained me power and wood power.

    Two weeks passed.

    As Nie Tian channeled me power to his vortex of me power, he could see increasingly clearly that numerous tiny mes were being formed at the bottom of the vortex.

    It was like a miniature sea of mes, within whichy formidable me power.

    However, a momentter, he noticed that when he continued to channel more me power to the vortex, no more mes were formed.

    That was when he realized that he had refined his vortex of me power to its limit.

    Therefore, he went on to absorb essence from the peculiar wood chips and green leaves that Pei Qiqi had obtained for him.

    As he channeled more and more wood power to his vortex of wood power, a small pond of green liquid was formed at the bottom of the vortex, which was the concentrated essence of nts and vegetation.

    Two monthster, he discovered that the liquid seemed to reach the brim and stopped growing.

    That was when he realized that he had finished refining his vortex of wood power.

    After that, he took out a handful of strange-looking stones that contained a faint amount of star power, and channeled the power into his vortex of star power.

    There had already been a tiny pond of liquidized star power, which he referred to as stardew, at the bottom of his vortex of star power. He had formed it by cultivating in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Blood Sect.

    It only took him three days to absorb the star power from those few pieces of spiritual materials, and as a result, a few drops of stardew were added to the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    However, he could feel that it was far from enough to fill his vortex of star power to the point where he was ready to make the breakthrough into the Heaven stage.

    Spiritual materials that contained star power were rather rare. Even with Pei Qiqi¡¯s special status, she had merely managed to get him a handful of them.

    Without more of those spiritual materials, there was only one way for him to obtain more star power: use the Fragmentary Star Incantation to channel starlight to his spiritual sea in an open space.

    However, the entire Shatter City was enveloped by a giant light shield. Polluted spiritual Qi couldn¡¯t prate it, and neither could starlight.

    That meant that as long as he was in Shatter City, he couldn¡¯t channel starlight from the heavens to the vortex of star power in his spiritual sea.

    One day, Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation. He sat by his window and stared deep into the night sky, lost in his thoughts.

    The spiritual power in his spiritual sea was in a misty state, but the essence at the bottom of the vortexes of three different attributes was obviously more condensed.

    He had a feeling that the spiritual power in his spiritual sea was the foundation that he had built his cultivation on.

    Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have a spiritual sea, and none of the vortexes of different attributes would exist.

    Every time he made a small breakthrough in the Lesser Heaven stage, a new vortex of spiritual power was formed in his spiritual sea.

    The three vortexes of spiritual power unceasingly refined spiritual power and tempered his spiritual sea. However, his spiritual sea also required his other vortexes to develop to the point where it was ready to upgrade and he was ready to enter the next cultivation stage.

    That meant that the more types of power he cultivated, the longer it would take to advance to that point.

    If he had only cultivated me power, he would have reached the breakthrough point long ago.

    Given the right enlightenment, he would have made the breakthrough much more smoothly.

    Cultivators had limited lifespans, and could only obtain more when they broke through into a new stage or realm.

    Even cultivators who were as powerful as Wu Ji and Hua Mu could only let out useless sighs as their lifespan ran out while they weren¡¯t anywhere near entering the next realm.

    That was also why the major sects usually admitted disciples with clear cultivation attributes, since they would be able to rapidly advance in their cultivation stages, and thus stay ahead of their lifespan.

    As for Nie Tian, since he possessed a unique bloodline power, his lifespan would surpass normal cultivators by a great margin.

    Therefore, even though he was cultivating three different types of power simultaneously, his exceptionally long lifespan would allow him to go rather far down this cultivation path.

    However, it didn¡¯t mean that he could afford to waste his time, so he had no other options but to leave Shatter City now that he had used up the spiritual materials that contained star power.

    At that moment, it urred to him that Pei Qiqi had a small teleportation portal set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    He was aware that the tainted spiritual Qi would be a great danger if he wished to travel to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. However, he had a solution in mind.

    He had been able to keep the demon Qi away with his chaotic maic field while he had fought in the Blood Sect and Ghost Sect.

    Therefore, he had reason to believe that he would be able to apply the same method in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and remain safe without using Li Ye¡¯s jade bracelet.

    He quickly made up his mind.

    At first light the following day, he went to Li Ye¡¯s pavilion.

    ¡°Wow, it¡¯s been a long time, Hua Tian.¡± Exhaustion could be seen on Li Ye¡¯s face as it appeared as if he hadn¡¯t slept for days. ¡°I¡¯ve spent the past few days forging a piece of spiritual equipment, but for some unknown reason, my attempts have failed over and over again. Dammit!¡±

    ¡°I want to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range again.¡± Nie Tian went ahead and expressed his intentions.

    Li Ye rubbed his bloodshot eyes and asked with a shocked expression on his face, ¡°Why? Are you running out of spirit stones? It can¡¯t be. The spirit stones you obtained from ourst trip were more than enough tost you years, even if you used them to rent cultivation rooms from the Blood Skull. Plus, you should know that not every trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range will turn out to be productive. You¡¯ve got to understand that we got luckyst time, and we had my senior martial sister there to guide and protect us.

    ¡°For now, she has sufficient Space Spirit Jades to support her work, and I heard that she¡¯s been working on a teleportation formation. I¡¯m afraid that she won¡¯t have the time to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range with you.¡±

    ¡°As for me, I¡¯m quite busy with equipment forging...¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t wait for Li Ye to finish before saying, ¡°I want to go by myself. I only came here to ask you if I can use Miss Pei¡¯s teleportation portal, so that I won¡¯t have to take a long journey to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Li Ye¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°You want to go by yourself? Are you crazy!? You¡¯re only at the Lesser Heaven stage. Don¡¯t you get the false impression that you can defeat a Greater Heaven stage expert in a real fight only because you killed Yang Ling! Last time was different. If it hadn¡¯t been for the unique limitations of that mine, you wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance against him!¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± Nie Tian nodded gently and said with a serious tone. ¡°I¡¯m not going to the Void Illusion Mountain Range to hunt spirit beasts or explore spatial rifts. I¡¯m only going because I need to leave here to practice my special incantations. I¡¯ll mind my own business and try my best to steer clear of powerful experts.¡±

    ¡°Alright then, I won¡¯t stop you if you insist on going.¡± Li Ye nodded. ¡°Give me 100 spirit stones, 50 for the Blood Skull and 50 for my senior martial sister. Give me a minute to freshen up and I¡¯ll go with you in a bit. However, there¡¯s one thing you must remember: don¡¯t expose the location of my senior martial sister¡¯s teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°If anyone learns about its location, the Dark Moon and Wild Fire might soon discover and destroy it. It would take an enormous amount of time and effort to build another one.¡±

    ¡°You can rest assured,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯m only using it to travel back and forth. I won¡¯t stay in that region for too long.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. I have a map for you. There¡¯s a ce you can go which has been fully explored and determined futile long ago. There aren¡¯t any spirit beasts or active spatial rifts in that region, so very few people would want to go there.¡±

    Li Ye exined further as he washed his face and fixed his hair. ¡°Also, it¡¯s not very far from the teleportation portal. You should be fine there if you can keep a low profile. One more thing: be quick about it. if you stay there for too long, trouble might find you anyways.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

 Chapter 248: Leaving the City

    After cleaning himself up, Li Ye prepared to take Nie Tian to the inter-spatial teleportation portal in the central square. Just as they were about to depart, Hu Han appeared.

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here,¡± Li Ye said. ¡°I¡¯m going to arrange for Hua Tian¡¯s trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡± Hu Han seemed surprised as she looked at Nie Tian, her eyes wide. ¡°He¡¯s only at the Lesser Heaven stage. I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯ll be murdered before he can get there.¡±

    Li Ye snorted and said, ¡°He¡¯ll teleport to the heart of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, instead of taking a long journey to get there.¡±

    Upon hearing those words, Hu Han¡¯s eyes lit up, and she said with a pleading tone, ¡°Lord Li, I¡¯ve worked for you for more than a year. I¡¯m recently a bit short of spirit stones, so I¡¯d like to go with him and try my luck in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Plus, his cultivation base is too low. Even if he doesn¡¯t have to travel on foot to get there, it will still be dangerous for him to stay there alone. I can look after him for you.¡±

    Although Hu Han had assisted Li Ye with equipment forging for a long time, he had never been warm to her.

    From what she could tell, Li Ye had never considered her as one of his own. She was also aware that Pei Qiqi, who was an expert in spatial magics, had set up a small teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Originally, only the Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and Blood Skull had the skills and resources to set up teleportation portals in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    They had never allowed others to set up new ones in the mountain range.

    And they only allowed their own members and those who were attached to them to use the portals.

    Pei Qiqi was one of the very few who was both capable and respected enough to have their own portals set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Hu Han had long since overheard that Pei Qiqi had established a small scale teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but Pei Qiqi had never allowed others to use it, only Li Ye and herself.

    Therefore, when she learned that Li Ye was going to let Nie Tian use the portal, she thought that she might be able to take advantage of the opportunity and tag along.

    ¡°You want to go too?¡± Li Ye frowned.

    Hu Han nodded repeatedly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. I¡¯ll never reveal the location of the portal to others, and I¡¯ll even pay for the trip. Furthermore, if you allow me to go with Hua Tian. I¡¯ll keep an eye on him while we¡¯re there. Should any dangere up, I¡¯ll do my utmost to protect him.¡±

    Li Ye pondered in silence.

    As a matter of fact, neither Nie Tian nor Hu Han understood why he had attached so much importance to Nie Tian that he had been willing to vouch for him and include him on their trip to the secret mine.

    The major reason was that Nie Tian had been brought to them by Hua Mu, and Hua Mu was sworn friends with his master. He even had a feeling that there was a great deal of mystery between the two of them.

    That made Nie Tian different from the others.

    After pondering for a while, Li Ye took out a dark-green medicinal pill from within his ring of holding and held it out to Hu Han. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to pay. If you really want to go, take this Heart Crushing Pill. You probably already know how it works. If you take it, I¡¯ll allow you to go with Hua Tian.¡±

    The moment she saw the pill, Hu Han¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    She seemed torn with indecision as she asked, ¡°When will you give me the antidote?¡±

    ¡°When the two of youe back.¡± Li Ye said with no expression.

    Hu Han clenched her jaw as she grabbed the pill. Then, after a deep breath, she swallowed it and said, ¡°Okay now?¡±

    Li Ye emphasized, ¡°Remember to keep Hua Tian safe. If he doesn¡¯t return with you, you won¡¯t get the antidote.¡±

    Hu Han gave a bitter smile and nodded in assent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t think ill of me. I just like to be on the safe side. Your cultivation base is way higher than his, and it¡¯s not like you¡¯re in Shatter City. I¡¯d never know if you somehow decided to kill him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± Li Ye was blunt with his intentions. ¡°You¡¯re right. You¡¯ve worked for me for more than a year, but I can¡¯t say I know you well. No decent and honest person woulde live in the Realm of Split Void. Plus, I¡¯ve heard stories about you.¡±

    Hu Han¡¯s face grew grim as she said, ¡°I see. I knew you wouldn¡¯t trust someone like me.¡±

    Li Ye turned to her and said, ¡°You go ahead and wait for us at the teleportation portal. We¡¯ll be there shortly.¡±

    Hu Han didn¡¯t say another word and walked out of the room.

    Li Ye waited for her to disappear from his sight, then snorted and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Watch out for this woman, Hua Tian. I¡¯ve heard about some of the stuff that she¡¯s done. She¡¯s not a simple person. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that she had agreed to take one of my Heart Crushing Pills, I wouldn¡¯t have let her go with you. She can¡¯t do anything to you while you¡¯re in Shatter City, but it¡¯s hard to say when you leave the city.¡±

    ¡°Are you afraid that she¡¯ll kill me?¡± Nie Tian sounded surprised.

    ¡°I can¡¯t rule out that possibility if she hadn¡¯t taken the Heart Crushing Pill,¡± Li Ye replied. ¡°You¡¯ve got to remember that there isn¡¯t a single person in the Realm of Split Void who doesn¡¯t have aplicated past, especially a woman like her.¡±

    ¡°Oh, but why do you think you can trust me?¡± Nie Tian was curious.

    ¡°Because Mr. Hua brought you here, and his rtionship with my master...¡± Li Ye didn¡¯t finish his sentence. ¡°Umm... You¡¯re no outsider to me. Let¡¯s just leave it at that. Come on, time to go.¡±

    A short whileter, Nie Tian and Li Ye arrived at the grand inter-spatial teleportation portal in the central square of Shatter City, where Hu Han had already been waiting.

    On their way to the square, Li Ye had given Nie Tian some advice, along with a green jade bracelet and a map, on which a safe route had been marked out for him.

    After Li Ye handed a number of spirit stones to Liu Kang, the Blood Skull member who managed the portal, he beckoned for Nie Tian and Hu Han to step into the portal.

    Secondster, the spell formation was activated, and Nie Tian and Hu Han disappeared in a cluster of blindingly bright light.

    In the next moment, the two of them appeared in the small teleportation portal Pei Qiqi had set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    After switching to another environment, Hu Han suddenly became much more talkative. She shot a nce at Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen Li Ye behaving so friendly toward anyone.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m only here to practice cultivation. I have no interest in exploring. The region I¡¯m going to has long since been fully explored. Therefore, there won¡¯t be any strong spirit beasts or explorers in that region.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I see.¡± Hu Han looked deeply at him, as if she wanted to see through what was special about him. However, the young man in front her seemed every bit as ordinary as any other.

    She couldn¡¯t figure out why Li Ye, who had a high opinion of himself, would attach such importance to Nie Tian.

    Hu Han took out a hollow, diamond-shaped stone and handed it to Nie Tian, saying, ¡°Here, take this Sound Stone. You can use it tomunicate with me as long as we¡¯re within five kilometers of each other. But if we¡¯re any further apart, they¡¯ll stop working. I¡¯ll try my best to remain within that distance from you while I explore. Should you encounter any trouble, use it to call me, and I¡¯ll be there as soon as I can.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the Sound Stone and held it close to his mouth. As soon as he whispered into it, he heard his voiceing out of the Sound Stone in Hu Han¡¯s pocket.

    ¡°Remember, be safe.¡± Hu Han said with a straight face. ¡°If you die, no matter how, I¡¯ll suffer the same fate.¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°I didn¡¯te here to die. I like living.¡±

    Just as Hu Han was about to turn around and leave, she hesitated. After a moment of pondering, she said, ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll escort you to the ce you¡¯re going to first, in case something happens to you on your way there.¡±

    ¡°Alright," Nie Tian said.

    Then, Nie Tian put on the green jade bracelet. When he was enveloped by a green power shield, he walked out of the cave with Hu Han.

    Right before Hu Han stepped out of the cave, a faint red light shield surrounded her, keeping the poisonous spiritual Qi away.

    After Nie Tian showed Hu Han the route on the map, Hu Han led the way for Nie Tian. From time to time, she would unleash her psychic awareness to scan the vicinity, and lead Nie Tian away as soon as they saw any spatial rifts.

    The two of them marched cautiously through the Void Illusion Mountain Range. After all, unlike Pei Qiqi, neither of them had mastered any secret magics. They had to be extra careful to steer clear of spatial rifts and spirit beasts.

    It took them six full hours to arrive at the the ce Li Ye had marked out for Nie Tian on the map.

    ¡°This is it. I just checked. As Li Ye said, there isn¡¯t any sign of life in this area. You¡¯ll be safe here.¡± After escorting Nie Tian to his destination, Hu Han only said a few words, then rapidly left the ce.

    It was already deep into the night.

    Numerous stars were shining brightly in the sky.

    Nie Tian was so eager to refine his vortex of star power with the starlight that he didn¡¯t even take surveince before rapidly finding a spot and starting to use the Fragmentary Star Incantation to channel starlight from the sky.

 Chapter 249: Some Rejoice While Others Gloom

    Deep in the night, in a remote corner of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Nie Tian was sitting cross-legged, using the secret magic he had learned from the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation to channel star power from the heavens into the vortex of star power in his spiritual sea, and condense that power into stardew.

    Meanwhile, a Heaven Eye hung high in the sky, scanning the vicinity for signs of movement, in case spirit beasts or Qi warriors entered the area.

    As numerous streams of star power began to continuously prate the green light shield and converge on him, he had a feeling that it seemed that he didn¡¯t need to focus solely on the spell to continue the process. Therefore, he spared some attention to study the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    As soon as he sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into one of the hexagrams on his chest, he saw arge number of ancient symbols lined up in perfect order.

    ¡°Huh?!¡± With a single nce, he noticed that the record about the method to channel star power from the heavens was no longer there.

    At that moment, he suddenly received a sh of enlightenment; whenever he fully grasped a magic or spell from the Fragmentary Star Incantation, the part that recorded the magic or spell would disappear.

    Then, it urred to him that Hua Mu used to tell him that by the time he had refined those two fragmentary star marks, he wouldn¡¯t have anything to fear, and would be able to openly return to his home.

    He hadn¡¯t truly understood what he had meant, but now he did.

    By the time he had mastered every spell and magic in the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, evey magical symbol in the hexagram that carried the mysteries of the incantation would disappear.

    That would be when he had truly merged the incantation with himself.

    With these thoughts in mind, hemanded his psychic awareness to move on to the following spell.

    He soon realized that aside from the starlight channeling spell, there were three other spells recorded in the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    They were Starstrike, Starshift, and Starfall.

    Starstrike was a powerful attacking spell. Starshift was a spell that would allow him to teleport from one position to another, while Starfall was a spell he could use to change the course of shooting stars from outer space and redirect them to bombard his enemies.

    The power source of all three of them resided in the stardew in the vortex of star power.

    He only used his psychic awareness to briefly scan the three spells and learn their unique traits, but didn¡¯t actually learn how to cast them.

    ¡°What¡¯s in the middle part?¡± With that thought in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, a wisp of his psychic awareness flew into the other fragmentary star mark on his chest to learn what mysterious magics were recorded in it.

    As he did, he already had a feeling that his psychic power was quickly running low.

    That was when he realized that by only using his psychic power to briefly examine the ancient symbols and learn what spells were recorded in the Fragmentary Star Incantation, he had consumed arge proportion of his psychic power.

    However, he was determined to check what magical spells were written in the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    It was at that very moment that the seven stars in his soul suddenly began to shine brightly.

    Numerous wisps of soul power floated out from within the stars and joined his psychic power before they entered the hexagram together.

    Nie Tian immediately came to a realization, ¡°It¡¯s forcing me to use my soul power! I¡¯m forced to summon power from the fragmentary stars to read the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation!¡±

    Then, he only briefly scanned the spells that were recorded in the hexagram before retracting the mixture of his psychic power and soul power.

    The significant consumption of psychic power made him feel depleted and muddle-headed.

    Because of that, the efficiency of his channeling of the starlight from the heavens was also undermined. The speed at which he refined star power into stardew declined substantially.

    However, thanks to the brief scan, he had already learned what spells were recorded in the middle part of the incantation.

    They were all spells regarding cultivating soul power and using soul power to attack, defend, ormunicate with spirits in spiritual souls.

    As a matter of fact, his eyes had been caught by one of the spells: Starchain. However, just as he was about to learn what it was about, he was struck by a sudden rush of exhaustion, and felt that even his pure soul power wasn¡¯t capable of giving him more time.

    ¡°The first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation is about channeling star power into the spiritual sea, forming a vortex of star power, condensing stardew, and using star power to cast spells.

    ¡°The middle part of the incantation is about cultivating soul power and using it to cast mysterious spells.¡±

    His brief examination allowed him to have an overall idea of the first and middle parts of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    He also realized that his priority was to learn every spell and technique recorded within them.

    Every time he fully mastered one spell, the symbols that carried the spell would disappear from within the fragmentary star marks.

    By the time there wasn¡¯t a single symbol left in the two hexagram marks, it would mean that every spell and technique they carried had been engraved in his mind and had be a part of him.

    Therefore, even if the Heaven Pce Sect somehow found him, they wouldn¡¯t be able to strip the incantation from him.

    At the same time, in the Realm of me Heaven...

    On top of a high mountain peak outside the Hell Sect, Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect had a grim expression on his face after being awoken from his cultivation. Frustration could be seen in his eyes as he stared at the pervading demon Qi in front of him. Low in spirit, he asked, ¡°You¡¯re here. Any word?¡±

    Standing beside him, Su Lin¡¯s long, white garments fluttered in the wind. Adding in the chilly moonlight, she looked like a female immortal that had just descended from the moon.

    Su Lin stepped closer to Ning Yang and shook her head. ¡°No. We have every sect in the Realm of me Heaven searching for Nie Tian for us, but there¡¯s still no news regarding his whereabouts. I even sent out a number of our sect members to ask for his information. They all came back empty-handed.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost as if this Nie Tian person has vanished into thin air.¡±

    Ning Yang let out a sigh and said, ¡°We can¡¯t find him, which means that we can¡¯t return to our sect. My martial uncle sent people to inform me that the spatial rift near our sect is also leaking demon Qi day and night.

    ¡°If this goes on, it won¡¯t be even ten years before we will be forced to move our sect.¡±

    Su Lin pondered in silence for a moment before asking, ¡°Have you learned the profound knowledge in your fragmentary star mark?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, a sinister expression appeared on Ning Yang¡¯s handsome face.

    He grunted like a trapped beast, and vigorously smashed his fist onto the stone ground next to him.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Sizable cracks extended in the solid stone ground up to a hundred meters away.

    Numerous huge rocks rolled down the mountaintop and fell to the bottom of the valley. It took a long time for the rumbling sounds to stop.

    ¡°In order to study the knowledge in the fragmentary star mark, I¡¯ve already used up the star power that I obtained in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. But all that I¡¯ve seen...¡± Ning Yang paused to take a deep breath. Then, he shook his head and said, ¡°I can¡¯t see very clearly, but I¡¯m certain that the final part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation is about entering and cultivating in the three domains!¡±

    Su Lin¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What?! That means only the ultimate experts who are in the Void Domain, the Saint Domain, and the God Domain will be able to learn and use it?¡±

    Ning Yang nodded in frustration and said with a hateful tone, ¡°This damn incantation must be practiced step by step. Only by mastering the first and middle parts of it will I be able to learn the method to channel star power and cultivate my soul. And only when these are aplished, and I reach the peak of the Soul realm, will I be able to use the method in my part of the incantation to cultivate!¡±

    ¡°Without knowing how to channel star power and develop soul power, I can¡¯t even get a good understanding of the method, much less use it!

    After realizing what had happened, Su Lin looked him in the eye and consoled, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, martial uncle. We¡¯ll find that Nie Tian person soon, and you¡¯ll have his two fragmentary star marks. Then, you¡¯ll be able to start with the first part of the incantation and learn the whole thing.¡±

    With these words, Su Lin said with an envious expression on her face, ¡°Only the mysterious Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which has vanished for centuries, has divine methods of cultivating in the Void Domain, the Saint Domain, and the God Domain. Even our sect doesn¡¯t have them, and so we are merely groping in the dark.¡±

    ¡°What I fear the most is that Nie Tian might master the knowledge in his two fragmentary star marks before we can find him.¡± Ning Yang¡¯s face was very grim. ¡°By that time, even our sectmaster won¡¯t have the ability to strip those two fragmentary star marks from him.

    ¡°If his fragmentary star marks have be a part of him while I can¡¯t even study mine, I¡¯ll be forced to give mine up to him!¡±

    Those thoughts made Ning Yang fume with anger.

    Upon hearing his words, Su Lin¡¯s face also grew long. She said, ¡°I¡¯ll send some of our people to search in the other realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    As soon as she uttered these words, Su Lin turned around and left.

    After she disappeared from his sight, Ning Yang finally broke. He threw his head back and roared Nie Tian¡¯s name before smashing the mountaintop into stone pieces.

 Chapter 250: The World Is An Evil Place

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    In a secluded valley, roughly a dozen log cabins were scattered on both sides of a creek. It was the base of the Dark Moon, garrisoned by a dozen of their members year-round.

    The three major forces, the Dark Moon, the Wild Fire, and the Blood Skull, had all set up inter-spatial teleportation portals in the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, so that they could teleport directly from their city to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    None of them had ever stopped exploring the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They all wished to discover new dimensions and make great fortunes from them.

    That was why the three forces had set up bases in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and only provided support to their own members.

    In the Dark Moon¡¯s base...

    It had been days since Hu Han had parted with Nie Tian. She hadn¡¯t explored within a five kilometer range from Nie Tian as she had promised. Instead, she had shown up here.

    As soon as Hu Han entered the base, she approached a Dark Moon Qi warrior and demanded, ¡°I want to see Lord Ma Jiu.¡±

    The man looked Hu Han up and down with a measuring gaze and then said, ¡°Follow me.¡±

    A whileter, the man led Hu Han to thergest log cabin, inside of which there was also a small teleportation portal that could only be used to travel within the Realm of Split Void.

    A burly, one-eyed man was sitting next to the teleportation portal. Barefoot and dressed in a sackcloth, he was lolling in a chair.

    The moment Hu Han walked through the gate, she bowed to the burly man and asked with an anxious expression on her face, ¡°Lord Ma Jiu, how¡¯s my brother?¡±

    Ma Jiu¡¯s eyes shone with bone-piercing light as he took out a metal box from within his ring of holding and tossed it toward Hu Han.

    Hu Han caught the metal box with trembling hands and slowly opened it. With a single nce at what was inside, her eyes welled up.

    There was a human finger in the box.

    ¡°A finger from your brother¡¯s hand, as we agreed.¡± Ma Jiu sounded indifferent. ¡°You¡¯ve worked for Li Ye for more than a year now, yet you haven¡¯t gotten any of the valuable information we want. Considering your poor performance, we had to do this, although I didn¡¯t want to.¡±

    Hu Han¡¯s shoulders trembled slightly as she seemed to be bowing her head and weeping. However, she didn¡¯t make a sound.

    Only after a short while did she recover and look up at Ma Jiu, as if she had something to say.

    At that moment, Ma Jiu said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s one finger on your first year. If you fail again on your second year, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to take two fingers. As you know, losing one finger already has a pretty big influence on a Qi warrior. If he loses three fingers, I fear he won¡¯t be able to cast many advanced spells.¡±

    After hearing Ma Jiu¡¯s words, Hu Han sounded as if she was on the verge of breaking down as she said, ¡°Lord Ma Jiu, I-I came here via the teleportation portal that Pei Qiqi set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Li Ye forced me to take a Heart Crushing Pill. If you can find an antidote for me, I¡¯ll dly tell you the location of the teleportation portal.¡±

    Ma Jiu¡¯s eyes lit up, as it seemed that he had finally heard something interesting. ¡°The antidote to a Heart Crushing Pill is rather hard to find, but we¡¯ll manage. Good job there. Although, it¡¯s a pity that you didn¡¯t show up earlier with that piece of information. Otherwise, you would have saved your brother¡¯s finger.¡±

    Hu Han¡¯s body shook as she said, ¡°Is this piece of information enough for you to free my brother?¡±

    Ma Jiu shook his head. ¡°No, not enough.¡±

    Hu Han hesitated for a brief moment, then decided to betray Nie Tian. ¡°There¡¯s another man I came here with, a man very important to Li Ye. He¡¯s only at the Lesser Heaven stage, but he¡¯s got quite a fortune with him. I bet if we can capture him, we can use him to threaten Li Ye to give us things or information.¡±

    ¡°Okay." Ma Jiu didn¡¯t seem thrilled at all. ¡°It¡¯s worth a shot. What we can get from Li Ye through that man will determine how we¡¯ll treat your brother from now on. You know that, right?¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Hu Han said with a grim expression.

    Ma Jiu slowly rose to his feet and said, ¡°Now, give me the location of the teleportation portal. When I find it, I¡¯ll make a few alterations to its spell formation and make it ours. And you, go get that Lesser Heaven stage person you talked about and bring him here.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Hu Han obeyed his order.

    In the middle of the day, at the location where Nie Tian was cultivating...

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist was wreathed with zing mes as it smashed vigorously onto a huge rock.

    The rock cracked upon impact, with numerous tiny mes sshing out from the contact point.

    Eight days had passed since he had parted with Hu Han...

    During this time, he had spent his nights channeling starlight from the heavens and converging the power into stardew.

    During the day, since the stars had faded away, his efficiency of absorbing star power declined significantly. Therefore, he would spend the day cultivating the me Spirit Incantation and studying its attacking techniques and spells.

    The reason why he hadn¡¯t practiced the Starstrike spell was that he would have to use the stardew in his vortex of star power to cast it.

    He had been stuck in the Lesser Heaven stage for a long time. If he wished to make a breakthrough soon, he had to try his best to save the star power, instead of spending it.

    After all, only when he had stockpiled enough stardew, would he be able to fulfill the prerequisite to make a breakthrough.

    After cultivating for eight whole days, he had a feeling that he had almost filled the stardew to the limit.

    He had been careful to make sure not to use any of it. Otherwise, it might jeopardize his progress.

    During this time, he hadn¡¯t encountered any spirit beasts, unstable spatial rifts, or human explorers.

    He was very d that he had been able to cultivate wholeheartedly.

    However, things always happened without any forewarning. While he was absorbing star power one night, the Heaven Eye he had deployed to scan the perimeter detected two life auras.

    He frowned as he awoke from his cultivation and silently paid attention to the movements of those two life auras.

    It wasn¡¯t long before two bedraggled Qi warriors, who looked very much like beggars, entered his sight.

    At first nce, the two of them seemed to be roughly at the same cultivation stage as Nie Tian. One was at thete Lesser Heaven stage, and the other was at the early Heaven stage. Both of them belonged at the bottom of the food chain in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    The two of them had searched in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for three months already. Not only did they not find anything valuable, but they had even used up their spirit stones, and had just barely escaped from an area filled with slithering spatial rifts.

    Since they had already run out of spirit stones, they couldn¡¯t afford to use their spiritual power to form shields to keep the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth away.

    Therefore, both of them had impurities running in their veins, making their muscles hurt from time to time. If they couldn¡¯t find spirit stones soon and use them to cleanse themselves, they would be in serious trouble.

    The early Heaven stage cultivator caught sight of Nie Tian and eximed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that there are people here!¡±

    He took a deep look at Nie Tian before giving a fake chuckle. He approached Nie Tian while saying, ¡°Little brother, can we borrow a few spirit stones? We¡¯ve spent three months in the Void Illusion Mountain Range already, and have run out of spirit stones. Please, we¡¯ll never forget your kindness.¡±

    ¡°My name is Qiu Shan, and this is my brother, Qiu Shi. We¡¯re from Ash City.¡± He kept walking toward Nie Tian as he introduced themselves. Right when he was eight meters from Nie Tian, a killing aura shot out of his eyes as he suddenly dashed toward Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, dark-golden sand shot out from his palm. Along with bright lights, they rushed towards Nie Tian.

    The sand seemed as hot as a soldering iron, and had strong prating power.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, remained in his original location. He ced his hands in front of his chest, palms facing each other as he channeled a different type of power from within him. Immediately afterward, a small chaotic maic field was created.

    It only covered a one meter range with him as the center.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as the current-like sand entered the maic field, it became distorted and broken before falling to the ground in the next moment.

    At the same time, Qiu Shan had already reached Nie Tian¡¯s side. Heughed sinisterly as he swung a golden staff down toward Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    As the golden staff whizzed down, it emanated the bright light of gold-attributed spiritual power.

    However, it was only a brief moment before all the lights faded away, since, at that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field had already extended to a three-meter radius and enveloped the staff.

    When the golden staff grew dim in the maic field, Qiu Shan seemed to have taken a strong blow, as blood began to continuously flow out of the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°You must have a death wish!¡± Nie Tian raised his left hand and curled it into a fist that resembled a huge hammer as he cast the me Hammer spell.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s me-wreathed hand smashed into Qiu Shan¡¯s head like a cksmith¡¯s hammer.

    With the formidable might of the me Hammer and his inhuman strength, he actually managed to sink Qiu Shan¡¯s head into his own chest.

    He died before he could even make a sound.

    Upon seeing his brother¡¯s death, Qiu Shi didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest, and turned around and ran.

    ¡°Go!¡± Nie Tian syed his zing fist, and a few slender mes shot towards Qiu Shi like fiery snakes.

    At the same time, Nie Tian bolted after him as well.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The moment the three fiery snakes pierced into Qiu Shi¡¯s back, he began to stumble.

    Within seconds, Nie Tian caught up to him and drove his zing fist into his back, killing him on the spot.

    ¡°Li Ye was right,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°There indeed isn¡¯t a single honest person in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Then, he examined the two brothers¡¯ bodies, but failed to find a single valuable item. All he found were three low-grade spiritual tools, which made him somewhat disappointed.

    In the following days, Nie Tian concentrated on cultivation.

    After his battle with the Qiu brothers, he was convinced that his spection was right: his chaotic maic field could indeed protect him from the poisonous spiritual Qi.

    Not only that, the impurities would be stripped away from tainted the spiritual Qi and added to the might of his maic field as a new type of power, leaving the purified spiritual Qi usable to Nie Tian.

    However,pared to the spiritual energy in spirit stones, that spiritual Qi was rather faint, and therefore unworthy to cultivate with.

    Soon, night fell...

    Sitting cross-legged under the starlit sky, Nie Tian suddenly felt that he could no longer channel star power from the heavens.

    That was when he realized that his vortex of start power was already brimming with stardew.

    He became aware that he was now only one step away from entering the Heaven stage.

    Just at that moment, the Heaven Eye that had been floating high above him detected a battle going on not far from him.

    After a moment of pondering, he rose to his feet and marched over.

 Chapter 251: Bloody Battles

    In Shatter City...

    In the middle of the night, Li Ye threw his head back andughed uproariously in his room, holding a short, silver spear in his hand.

    Everyone in a 50-meter radius was awoken from their cultivation, and they immediately cursed Li Ye for his neurotic behavior.

    In a nearby spacious stone room, Pei Qiqi was wholeheartedly engraving a detailed spiritual formation drawing onto a beautiful piece of jade when she was startled by Li Ye¡¯s yell, making her finger shake.

    CRUNCH!

    The Space Spirit Jade in her hand cracked open.

    Rage immediately appeared on Pei Qiqi¡¯s delicate face as she dashed out of her room as lightly as a puff of air.

    In about ten seconds, she appeared in front of Li Ye like a ghost. Without saying a word, she punched him in the face before he could react.

    BOOM!

    Li Ye¡¯s body was immediately sent flying backwards before crashing heavily onto the ground.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing, senior martial sister?!¡± Li Ye sat up and asked bitterly, holding his swollen face in his hands.

    ¡°I wanted to ask you the same question!¡± Pei Qiqi said angrily.

    ¡°What? Did I disturb you?¡± With these words, Li Ye seemed to havee to some realization, and hastily forced a smile on his face, saying, ¡°I finally finished the short, silver spear for Hu Han. I just ran a series of tests, and it¡¯s proven to be a Premium grade spiritual tool. Hahaha!

    ¡°I¡¯m a Premium grade equipment forger from now on!¡± Comcent with himself, Li Ye grew increasingly animated.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as she said, ¡°Hu Han? I told you to drive her away long ago. That woman has ulterior motives. Why don¡¯t you listen to me?¡±

    A forced smile could be seen on Li Ye¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t. After all, she knows something about equipment forging, and can help me with my work. None of the other ones know a damn thing about equipment forging, including Hua Tian. None of them are helpful, not in the slightest. Don¡¯t tell me you want me to count on them.¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian...¡± Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s name, Pei Qiqi suddenly realized that it had been awhile since she¡¯d seen him. Therefore, she asked, ¡°Is that guy still in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters?¡±

    ¡°Nope, he went to the Void Illusion Mountain Range,¡± Li Ye said.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range?! How did he get there?¡±

    ¡°Via the teleportation portal you set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± Li Ye chuckled, as if he was quite proud of his intelligence. ¡°He¡¯s Mr. Hua¡¯s nephew, and Mr. Hua personally brought him here. That makes him one of us. Hey, by the way, have you noticed that every time our master talks about Mr. Hua, her expression changes? I bet he and our master...¡±

    Pei Qiqi gave Li Ye a cold look as she blurted, ¡°The fact that Mr. Hua personally put him in our hands is exactly the reason why we should guarantee his safety! I can¡¯t believe you actually let him go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range by himself! Are you aware that he¡¯s only at the Lesser Heaven stage, and letting him roam about in the Void Illusion Mountain Range by himself will get him killed?

    ¡°Do you really think he can single-handedly defeat a powerful expert like Yang Ling in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?

    ¡°You moron!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s scolding made Li Ye cower. Heughed embarrassedly and said, ¡°I know that, and that¡¯s why I arranged for Hu Han to go with him. Also, I forced Hu Han to take a Heart Crushing Pill before departing. Rest assured, considering her status, she won¡¯t be able to get an antidote on her own. She¡¯ll y by the rules and take care of Nie Tian for me.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Pei Qiqi seemed astounded as she stared at Li Ye as if she were staring at a fool. ¡°You let Hu Han go with him?! Haven¡¯t you ever suspected why she¡¯s been working for you?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Li Ye was puzzled.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she asked with a heavy tone, ¡°How long have they been gone?¡±

    ¡°About ten days.¡± At this point, Li Ye also had the feeling that something bad might be going on. He put away his smiles and asked, with all seriousness, ¡°What do you know, senior martial sister?¡±

    ¡°Ten days... I hope it¡¯s not toote...¡± Pei Qiqi muttered before striding out of Li Ye¡¯s room.

    When she disappeared from Li Ye¡¯s confused gaze, her voice echoed out, ¡°You stay here, and don¡¯t you dare leave Shatter City before Ie back! We¡¯ll talk then!¡±

    At the same time, a wave of mysterious spatial energy spread out.

    After a short while, she appeared by the inter-spatial teleportation portal in the central square. She told Liu Kang that she needed to use the portal immediately.

    Without any hesitation, Liu Kang made the arrangements for her.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, Pei Qiqi showed up in the small teleportation portal she had set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    She rapidly nced around, and the let out a sigh of relief after being convinced that nothing had happened to it.

    Then, she reached out and ced her hand on the portal as she cast a spell in her mind.

    The portal rapidly shrank to the size of a palm, and she put it away effortlessly.

    Afterwards, she stepped out of the cave and marched quickly among the slithering spatial rifts.

    She shifted skillfully among the spatial rifts as she rapidly closed in on the location that Li Ye had pointed out for her.

    Meanwhile, Ma Jiu, along with a handful of his subordinates, were marching towards Pei Qiqi¡¯s teleportation portal ording to the directions Hu Han had provided.

    Ma Jiu¡¯s sharp eyes caught sight of Pei Qiqi, who was shifting among the spatial rifts under the chilly moonlight. ¡°Miss Pei.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Ma Jiu!¡±

    Ma Jiu seemed as if he had just discovered an unexpected prize. ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t expect to run into you here. This is good!¡± He raised his left hand and called out to his men, ¡°Go get her, dead or alive!¡±

    Upon hearing his order, the Dark Moon Qi warriors airily spread out to surround Pei Qiqi.

    Seeing that some of the most powerful Dark Moon experts had shown up in this ce, Pei Qiqi instantly came to realize that Hu Han must had revealed the location of her teleportation portal to them. This was no coincidence that had they showed up here at the same time.

    As themander of the Dark Moon¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Ma Jiu was at thete Greater Heaven stage. Among the men he had brought, two were at the Greater Heaven stage. Only the three of them were more than enough to kill Pei Qiqi in an open space.

    However, fortunately for her, they were in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Oh yeah? Come and get me then!¡± With those words, Pei Qiqi shed to a location where numerous spatial rifts were swimming about. She constantly shifted her position to avoid contact with them.

    Not daring to enter the area, Ma Jiu and the other powerful Dark Moon experts could only watch her from afar.

    In another corner of the mountain range...

    Nie Tian rose to his feet after detecting a fight going on not far from him.

    He mixed his psychic awareness with power from the fragmentary stars in his mind, and formed six other Heaven Eyes.

    With seven Heaven Eyes in the sky, he instantly gained a clear grasp of everything that was going on in the vicinity.

    Just as he was about to move out, Hu Han¡¯s voice rang out from within the Sound Stone in his waist pocket. ¡°Are you still there, Hua Tian?¡±

    ¡°Amazing timing,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself as he took out the Sound Stone and responded, ¡°I am, but I just detected a battle going on nearby. I¡¯m going to see what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°No! Don¡¯t! Stay where you are and wait for me!¡± Hu Han sounded anxious. ¡°Considering your cultivation base, you¡¯d better stay out of battles of all sorts! You can¡¯t possibly change anything with your current strength. Plus, if you get yourself killed, I¡¯ll suffer from it as well.¡±

    Nie Tian could feel that Hu Han was probably panting because she was hastening to his position.

    Harboring suspicion in his mind, Nie Tian put the Sound Stone away and followed his Heaven Eyes¡¯ guide to the location where a fierce battle was taking ce.

    Before he showed up, his seven Heaven Eyes had already obtained a thorough grasp of the battle.

    The battle was between two sides. Some were wearing Blood Skull garments, and their leader was a man in histe twenties. The man seemed to be at thete Heaven stage, which was higher than any of his men.

    He was wearing pitch-ck gloves, which were covered in what seemed to be fangs. At first nce, his hands looked like the opened mouths of two beasts.

    At that moment, he was swinging his fist, single-handedly fighting two experts with the same cultivation base as him.

    On the other side of the battlefield, two Heaven stage Blood Skull members were standing back to back, defending against five early Heaven stage attackers. One of them was wielding a long, ck spear and the other was holding a wide sword.

    There were seven people attacking the Blood Skull members. Since they were dressed differently, they seemed to belong to different organizations.

    Each and every one of them emanated a strong killing intent and had bloodthirsty looks in their eyes, as if they were going to skin and devour the three Blood Skull members alive.

    Ate Heaven stage expert grinned sinisterly and called out, ¡°My brothers, Cai Yuan here is the son of the head of the Blood Skull! If we can capture him alive, we¡¯ll be able to demand tons of spirit stones and spiritual tools from the Blood Skull! Those Blood Skull bastards have organized numerous operations against us and killed lots of our brothers. We¡¯ve finally found an opportunity to even things up today!

    ¡°The spirit stones and spiritual materials we¡¯ll get from the Blood Skull will enable us to live the rest of our lives extravagantly in Ash City or even the Land of the Abandoned!¡±

    The seven of them cheered each other up, ¡°Let¡¯s do this!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away!¡±

    They madly summoned their spiritual power and brandished their spiritual tools as they bombarded the three Blood Skull members.

    ¡°Cai Yuan!¡± After getting a clear view of all this with his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian was surprised.

    Li Ye had mentioned Cai Yuan¡¯s name when he had told him about Cai Yue, the daughter of the Blood Skull¡¯s leader, while waiting outside of the cultivation rooms.

    ording to Li Ye, the head of the Blood Skull had two children, Cai Yue for a daughter, and Cai Yuan for a son.

    Li Ye had also said that Cai Yuan spent most of his time in the Void Illusion Mountain Range instead of Shatter City, tempering his strength and battle prowess through bloody battles.

    As a matter of fact, he wasn¡¯t highly regarded only because of his background. Rather, he had won the respect of the members of the Blood Skull and powerful experts from other forces by shedding blood with his men in countless battles.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you even imagine that you can capture our young lord with just the seven of you!¡± With these words, the man with the wide sword threw his head back and let out a roar. His sword made the sounds of wind and thunder as he swung it, creating numerous bolts of lightning.

    CRACKLE! BOOM!

    In the next moment, one of his opponents was engulfed by lightning as he trudged backwards with dark smoke rising from him.

    PUFF!

    At that moment, however, another of his opponents drove an awl-shaped spiritual tool through his leather armor and into his abdomen, leaving a sizable bloody hole.

    ¡°Go, little lord! Don¡¯t mind us!¡± Suffering from the extreme pain, the man brandished his wide sword, sending out numerous lightning bolts as he charged towards the two Heaven stage experts who were attacking Cai Yuan. He wished to distract them so that Cai Yuan might be able to find an opportunity to escape.

    ¡°Get back to your own opponents!¡± Cai Yuan gave an angry shout. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to rescue me!¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian finally arrived at the battlefield. With a strange expression on his face, he nced back and forth before saying, ¡°I¡¯m from Shatter City. If you¡¯re willing to pay me in spirit stones, I¡¯ll be happy to kill these people for you. One thousand spirit stones for one kill, but I¡¯ll only take on those with early Heaven cultivation bases or lower.¡±

 Chapter 252: A New Variation!

    WHOOSH!

    As he spoke, Nie Tian dashed towards the man who had been hit by lightning and was still trudging backwards.

    The man, who was at the early Heaven stage, still had fragmentary sparks sputtering on his body and dark smoke rising from his hair. Apparently, he had sustained some serious injuries.

    He sensed danger as Nie Tian rapidly closed in on him, surrounded by his chaotic maic field.

    However, before he had the time to react, Nie Tian¡¯s maic field had already enveloped him, immediately causing him to lose control of his spiritual and psychic power.

    During his previous battles, Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field had been proven effective on Greater Heaven stage experts, let alone an early Heaven stage cultivator like this man.

    BOOM!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s me-wreathed fist bombarded the man¡¯s chest like a giant hammer.

    The man, who had already sustained heavy injuries, obviously didn¡¯t have the strength to fend off such a violent strike, and thus had his chest bones shattered. The light in his eyes disappeared as he was sent flying out of Nie Tian¡¯s maic field.

    He coughed up a mouthful of blood and was dead before his body even touched the ground.

    Nie Tian grinned as he slowly approached his victim and squatted down to take his bracelet of holding. After searching his whole body for valuables, he said, ¡°What a poor wretch.¡±

    Somewhat disappointed, Nie Tian sent a wisp of his psychic awareness to scan the bracelet of holding, but all he discovered were a hundred spirit stones and a bunch of worthless items.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian turned around and returned to the battlefield where the other six were still fighting.

    Killing the man had taken Nie Tian no more than a dozen seconds.

    Originally, no one on either side had attached much importance to Nie Tian, who seemed to be nothing more than a big talker. Cai Yuan didn¡¯t even spare him a second nce.

    After all, Nie Tian was merely at the Lesser Heaven stage, lower than anyone present. He didn¡¯t think a nobody like him would be able to change the course of the battle.

    That was why Cai Yuan hadn¡¯t even bothered to reply to Nie Tian¡¯s offer, and had only considered him as fool who had no better things to do.

    However, after realizing that Nie Tian had killed an early Heaven stage cultivator in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint, both Cai Yuan and his opponents couldn¡¯t help but spare some attention to check him out.

    As of now, Nie Tian¡¯s body had already been tempered to the point where a mere nce at him would make his enemies feel nervous.

    Facing Cai Yuan¡¯s gaze, Nie Tianughed heartily and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t do a thorough job on that one, so that one is free.¡±

    Nie Tian was also aware that his sessful kill was based on the fact that his victim had already sustained serious injuries.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Loud sounds were created from the friction of air as Cai Yuan rapidly swung his gloved fists, forcing one of his opponents to step backwards.

    He took advantage of the opportunity and shouted to his subordinate with the wide sword, ¡°Get the hell back to your opponents, Zhao Feng! I can handle these two at the same time. I don¡¯t need you to help me!¡±

    Blood was still flowing out of the Blood Skull member named Zhao Feng, while two fierce-looking men were chasing after him.

    After berating Zhao Feng, Cai Yuan turned around and shot a nce at Nie Tian, saying, ¡°Starting now, I¡¯ll give you eight hundred spirit stones for killing one early Heaven stage enemy of ours, and two thousand spirit stones for a middle Heaven stage one. However you do it, I don¡¯t care.¡±

    ¡°Wow, middle Heaven stage enemies?¡± After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡±

    ¡°Zhou Qi! Go kill this brat!¡± Ate Heaven stage expert had a disdainful expression on his face as he formed several hand seals,manding a set of two sharp ws to fly towards Cai Yuan¡¯s waist.

    The ws were iron-gray, and rust spots could be seen on them. However, bright dots of light constantly shot out of them as they whizzed through the air.

    From the look of it, those bright light dots contained toxins, and that was why Cai Yuan dared not defend against them with anything other than his gloves.

    Zhou Qi, an early Heaven stage cultivator, was originally chasing after Zhao Feng. However, the moment he received the order from his leader, he spun around and went after Nie Tian.

    ¡°Go!¡± All of a sudden, a staff with a tiger head on top shot out of his hand.

    As it traveled at an astonishing speed in the air, a violent roar rang out from within it right before a enormous, white tiger emerged from the top of the staff. Its frenzied roars created a wave of strong psychic power that shot straight towards Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    However, as soon as the wave entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, it disappeared into thin air.

    Even the white tiger was instantly twisted, became blurry, and was ripped to pieces the moment it entered.

    With a dreadful shriek, what remained of the white tiger retreated to the staff.

    Zhou Qi¡¯s expression suddenly flickered.

    He was aware that it was the iplete soul of a fourth grade White Spot Tiger that had been sealed into his staff. However, even though the soul was iplete, it was still as strong as a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, and the aura emitted could easily confuse the mind of a Qi warrior with a lower cultivation base.

    Zhou Qi¡¯s n had been to kill Nie Tian without breaking a sweat while his mind was influenced by the White Spot Tiger.

    However, he hadn¡¯t anticipated that the staff and the White Spot Tiger¡¯s soul would both go out of control when they were three meters from Nie Tian.

    At that moment, fear could be seen on Zhou Qi¡¯s face as he watched Nie Tian stepping towards him with a grin on his face. Not knowing what Nie Tian was capable of, he could only move backwards to keep a sizable distance from Nie Tian.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Enveloped by his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian stretched out his arms and syed his hands, and then numerous mes that resembled burning snakes shot out of his ten fingertips.

    Using his mind, hemanded them to hover around Zhou Qi, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

    The close to a dozen fire snakes Nie Tian had created with the me Spirit Incantation managed to confine Zhou Qi in a very small area, while Nie Tian gradually closed in on him.

    As he did, Nie Tian once again raised his hand and used the secret magic he had learned from the mysteriousnd to gather the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Watching the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth converging from every direction, Nie Tian stopped moving forward, a mysterious smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    It took only a few seconds for a spiritual energy ball the size of a watermelon to form in his palm.

    Unlike the spiritual energy balls he had created in the mysteriousnd or the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, this spiritual energy ball was gray and misty inside, filled with toxins and filth that hadn¡¯t belonged to the Realm of Split Void until the catastrophic upheaval.

    Therefore, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to try to absorb power from it to cultivate; he only wanted to test it out on his enemies.

    For some unknown reason, the spiritual energy ball filled with foreign impurities rattled within the chaotic maic field.

    It seemed that numerous types of strange forces were countering one another within the gray spiritual energy ball, sending out mysterious, yet strong, energy fluctuations.

    SHEW!

    With a thought, Nie Tianmanded the gray spiritual energy ball to fly madly towards Zhou Qi.

    However, the internal conflicts within the spiritual energy ball caused it to explode before it could reach him.

    The explosion sent countless spots of light into the surroundings; some were gray, some were brown, some were purple, and some were green.

    Each and every one of them contained the same strange power that filled every corner of the Realm of Split Void. Like a rain of rainbows, the light dots enveloped the entire area that Zhou Qi was standing in.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    As soon as the strange light spots made contact with Zhou Qi¡¯s white, defensive light shield, it shattered into shreds.

    At that very moment, the fire snakes that had been slithering around him swarmed in and shot towards his chest and back.

    Meanwhile, the multicolored light spots also converged on him like countless fine raindrops.

    Under thebined attack, Zhou Qi let out bloodcurdling screams as parts of his skin began to fester.

    Some parts of him rapidly turned ck and reeked with horrible smells, while others had bulging veins, as if they were going to pop at any moment.

    Screaming and shrieking, Zhou Qi gradually copsed to the ground, with the life auraing from him growing weaker and weaker before disappearingpletely.

    ¡°Eight hundred spirit stones!¡± At that moment, Cai Yuan called out, giving Nie Tian an approving nce, signaling for him to keep at it.

    After witnessing Nie Tian killing another early Heaven stage enemy with such miraculous methods, the other two Blood Skull members got a huge boost to their fighting spirit. The pressure that had been weighing on them seemed to have suddenly been removed.

    However, to their surprise, Nie Tian didn¡¯t follow his victory with another strike against other early Heaven stage enemy.

    Instead, he stood there and stared nkly at the corpse of Zhou Qi, since he had a feeling that Zhou Qi¡¯s death didn¡¯t have much to do with his fire snakes; it was the spiritual energy ball that had killed him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of enlightenment as he suddenly realized that he had just discovered a favorable attacking skill to use in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, or even the entire Realm of Split Void, which was to use the polluted spiritual Qi!

    Even though the spiritual energy ball he had formed with the polluted spiritual Qi was extremely unstable, its might had been proven to be surprisingly great!

    The explosion of the spiritual energy ball had easily broken the defensive shield of an early Heaven stage cultivator and rapidly eroded the victim¡¯s body, causing him to die within seconds.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try again!¡± Thrilled after finding this extremely powerful weapon, Nie Tian created another simr-sized spiritual energy ball with the same method.

    He used one Heaven Eye to conduct a thorough examination of the gray spiritual energy ball, and found that there were at least six different types of power within the watermelon-sized spiritual energy ball.

    The six types of power had their distinct traits; some were toxic, some emitted horrible smells, some were colder than ice, some were violent and uncontroble, and some were void-like and mysterious.

    Each and every type of power shared the same origin as the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. It was just that they were from other domains, or the void hidden deep within some spatial rifts.

    Originally, the various types of power had been scattered in the tainted atmosphere, keeping a peaceful distance from each other.

    However, when Nie Tian forcefully bound them together, the six types of power were densely confined to a small space, and thus began to fight with each other and grow violent.

    That was why the might of this kind of spiritual energy was so ragingly formidable.

    ¡°This spiritual energy ball is like a bomb made up of a variety of unstable energies that could go off at any moment! This is awesome!¡±

    Ecstasy could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face, as if he had just solved a profound mystery. Without any dy, he charged towards another early Heaven stage enemy, carrying the newly-formed spiritual energy ball with him.

    As soon as he noticed Nie Tian¡¯s actions, a tremor ran through his enemy¡¯s body, who was still engaged in a fierce battle with the ck spear-wielding Blood Skull member.

    Interestingly, even the Blood Skull member and his other opponent showed fear in their eyes after realizing that the spiritual energy ball was floating their way.

    That was because they had both noticed that the previous spiritual energy ball had exploded before even reaching Zhou Qi, and the light spots and impurities that had shot out of the spiritual energy ball had covered a veryrge area like a rainstorm.

    From what they could tell, Nie Tian didn¡¯t haveplete control of the spiritual energy ball, and thus wouldn¡¯t be able to use it to bombard a specific target.

    Whenever it exploded, everything within it would shoot out in every direction and deal indiscriminate damage to both its target and friendly forces.

    ¡°What the...!¡± Without the slightest hesitation, the three of them scattered in different directions.

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded at the scene, and soon realized what the three of them were afraid of.

 Chapter 253: Turn

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, the spiritual energy ball exploded on its way to the early Heaven stage bandit.

    In the next moment, multicolored light spots almost filled the sky, and some of them found their way to the man¡¯s protective light shield as they rained down from the heavens.

    Almost at the same time, the man¡¯s spiritual power shield shattered, and some of the purple and green sparks fell onto the man¡¯s skin.

    Like strong acid, they immediately ate their way deep into the man¡¯s flesh; the contaminated parts rapidly festered and emitted smoke.

    At that moment, a Blood Skull member found the perfect opportunity and hurled his pitch-ck spear towards the man¡¯s chest.

    In the blink of an eye, the long spear pierced through the man like a ck bolt of lightning, pinning him to a huge, pale stone.

    Surprised, Nie Tian went nk for a brief moment before turning to Cai Yuan and asking, ¡°Who takes credit for this kill?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The ck Skull member let out a heartilyugh and said with a pleasant smile, ¡°You! I¡¯ll give you the eight hundred spirit stones!¡±

    The name of the man with the ck spear was Wang Zhuo. He and Zhao Feng had been struggling with defending against five attackers when Nie Tian had first appeared.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t appeared and killed two of the raiders consecutively and injured one with his spiritual energy ball, Zhao Feng, who had already sustained injuries to his abdomen, probably would have already been killed.

    However, since Nie Tian had showed up and caused the deaths of three early Heaven stage attackers, Zhao Feng and Wang Zhuo now only needed to focus on two middle Heaven stage cultivators, so the burden that had been weighing on them was greatly relieved.

    Delighted to see their situation turned around by Nie Tian, Wang Zhuo was very d to pay Nie Tian the eight hundred spirit stones, which was nothing to him.

    ¡°Straightforward! I like it!¡± Nie Tianughed broadly after seeing that Wang Zhuo was willing to pay him out of his own pocket. Then, he suddenly asked, ¡°Wait, what about that man¡¯s valuables?¡±

    ¡°Help yourself to them!¡± Obviously, the man¡¯s belongings were far from enough to intrigue Wang Zhuo, and Nie Tian¡¯s enthusiasm for money didn¡¯t disgust him at all. Therefore, he blurred into action and arrived by the corpse in a split second.

    The moment he pulled his long spear out of the corpse, a ck aura immediately wreathed the spear.

    With a ferocious smile on his face and strong killing intent in his eyes, he turned around and once again charged toward one of their remaining enemies.

    Off to the side, surrounded by a thunderous aura, Zhao Feng dashed toward the other enemy, holding his wide sword tightly with both hands.

    Both Wang Zhuo and Zhao Feng were warriors who had gone through the tests of hundreds of battles in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Both their battle prowess and resilience were far superior to their opponents.

    Their two opponents, on the other hand, didn¡¯t meet the standards to join the Blood Skull, and thus wandered outside Shatter City, awaiting opportunities to sneak out and kill those who left the city alone.

    No matter their spiritual tools or fighting skills, they couldn¡¯t bepared with Zhao Feng and Wang Zhuo.

    Since there was a rather sizable gap between their strengths, Nie Tian only watched for a short while before bing convinced that Zhao Feng and Wang Zhuo would prevail if there were no mishaps.

    Hence, he didn¡¯t feel the necessity to join the battle.

    Thus, he grabbed the staff with a tiger head on top from the ground and put it away into his bracelet of holding. Afterwards, he paced to one of his victims, squatted down to take his bracelet of holding, and then checked his other pockets. After finding nothing worthy of note, he moved on to his second victim.

    Just as he bent down to take the man¡¯s bracelet of holding and search the corpse for valuables, a familiar voice echoed out.

    ¡°Hua Tian! Where are you, Hua Tian!¡± Hu Han¡¯s voice rang out from within the Sound Stone in Nie Tian¡¯s pocket. She sounded somewhat anxious after failing to find Nie Tian in the ce where he had been cultivating.

    Nie Tian took out the Sound Stone and held it close to his mouth before giving Hu Han a general idea of his location, ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°Just wait for me!¡± Hu Han called out. ¡°I¡¯ll be there in a second!¡±

    The twote Heaven stage experts, who had been attacking Cai Yuan together, heard Nie Tian and Hu Han¡¯s conversation.

    ¡°Someone hase!¡±

    ¡°It must be the Blood Skull¡¯s backup!¡±

    ¡°Damn!¡±

    They rapidly exchanged a nce and made up their minds. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The two of them immediately ended their battle against Cai Yuan and fled in opposite directions.

    The other two who had been fighting Wang Zhuo and Zhao Feng shrewdly noticed their leaders¡¯ retreat, and thus made a sensible decision by scattering and speeding off in different directions as well.

    ¡°Hey, where are you going?!¡± Wang Zhuo and Zhao Feng respectively followed each of them while blood continued flowing out of Zhao Feng¡¯s wound on his abdomen.

    ¡°Leave them be!¡± Cai Yuan shouted. ¡°Come back, you two! We¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities to get them after we recover. Your wound needs to be tended to immediately, Zhao Feng. Otherwise, you might die from massive blood loss.¡±

    Upon hearing Cai Yuan¡¯s order, Wang Zhuo and Zhao Feng both instantly ceased their pursuit.

    Zhao Feng descended to the ground, supporting himself with his wide sword. Then, he used his other hand to take out a handful of medicinal pills before stuffing them down his throat.

    Cai Yuan scurried to his side and took out a bottle of external ointment from his ring of holding before carefully addressing the messy wound on his abdomen.

    Zhao felt extremely ttered as he said, ¡°This is too precious, Little Lord. You¡¯re wasting it on me.¡±

    Cai Yuan waved his hand, beckoning for him not to speak anymore, and then said, ¡°You¡¯ve got to absorb the ointment into your flesh and blood, and get better as quickly as possible. No matter how expensive it is, as long as it¡¯s used on those who matter, it¡¯s well worth it. The three of us have been fighting side by side for years. Although you two call me young lord all the time, deep down, I¡¯ve always considered you my brothers.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Zhao Feng¡¯s round, fierce-looking eyes welled up slightly as he nodded vigorously. Afterwards, he focused on refining the efficacy of the ointment.

    Nie Tian noticed that not only did the originally dreadful wound in Zhao Feng¡¯s abdomen immediately stop bleeding after the ointment was applied, but the flesh in the wound even seemed to be more alive as the wound rapidly healed.

    Meanwhile, Zhao Feng¡¯s ghastly face gradually regained its former healthy color.

    Seeing the changes in Zhao Feng¡¯s condition, Cai Yuan appeared much relieved as he beckoned for Nie Tian toe over to him.

    As Nie Tian approached, Cai Yuan¡¯s ring of holding shone with subtle light, and in the next moment, a pile of spirit stones appeared in front of him. ¡°Here¡¯s 1,600 spirit stones. You can count them yourself.¡±

    ¡°Little Lord,¡± said Wang Zhuo, ¡°I promised those 800 spirit stones to the kid...¡±

    Cai Yuan waved his hand as he stopped him. ¡°Are you saying you have more wealth than me?¡±

    Wang Zhuo grinned as he understood Cai Yuan¡¯s intentions, and thus no longer insisted on paying those 800 spirit stones himself.

    After witnessing every act and word between Cai Yuan and his two brothers, Nie Tian approved of his way of doing things.

    As he walked towards Cai Yuan, Nie Tian secretly canceled the chaotic maic field around him and stimted the power of the green jade bracelet, enveloping himself within a green light shield.

    ¡°I trust that you wouldn¡¯t trick me.¡± Then, Nie Tian put the 1,600 spirit stones away in his bracelet of holding while asking, ¡°You¡¯ve been organizing activities in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for a long time already. Howe you guys got into such trouble?¡±

    The fact that the son of the Blood Skull¡¯s head, who was no stranger to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, had been trapped in a dangerous situation made Nie Tian somewhat puzzled.

    ¡°Our base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range is rather far from here,¡± Cai Yuan exined. ¡°Plus, I¡¯m not a big fan of acting obediently and growing under my seniors¡¯ protection, even though many say I should. Therefore, this isn¡¯t the first time that I¡¯ve encountered tough situations this far from our base, and I doubt that it will be thest.

    ¡°However, I¡¯m a lucky man. I¡¯ve survived every ambush and assault throughout the years.¡±

    After providing Nie Tian with an exnation, Cai Yuan looked him up and down with a measuring gaze and asked, quite intrigued, ¡°If my assessment is correct, you¡¯re only at the Lesser Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m at thete Lesser Heaven stage, looking for a breakthrough.¡± Nie Tian answered without holding anything back.

    ¡°The Lesser Heaven stage...¡± Cai Yuan nodded, and then asked, as if he had grown more interested, ¡°Are you from Shatter City? What¡¯s your name? I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled heartily. ¡°It¡¯s Hua Tian. I¡¯m rather new to Shatter City.¡±

    Looking deeply at Nie Tian, Cai Yuan pondered for a moment and said, ¡°You¡¯ve got some good skills there. If you don¡¯t have a better ce to be, you¡¯re wee to join the Blood Skull. I¡¯ll rmend you. When you¡¯ve be an official member, you¡¯ll be able to live in the city without having to pay anything.

    ¡°There are many other benefits as well. For example, you¡¯ll be allowed to use our teleportation portal to travel back and forth between Shatter City and the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Furthermore, if you can kill members of the Wild Fire and Dark Moon, not only will you get to keep everything you loot from them, but you¡¯ll also receive an additional reward from us.¡±

    Cai Yuan untiringly exined the numerous advantages of bing a member of the Blood Skull to Nie Tian because he considered Nie Tian to be a young man with great prospects.

    If he could draw him into his organization, then as his cultivation base rose in the future, he could potentially grow into his right-hand man.

    ¡°I don¡¯t n to do that anytime soon, but l¡¯ll let you know if I change my mind.¡± Nie Tian promised.

    ¡°Alright,¡± said Cai Yuan. ¡°Truth be told, I don¡¯t like persuading people, much less forcing people. This is my first time encouraging someone to join the Blood Skull.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind offer,¡± Nie Tian said.

    WHOOSH!

    At that very moment, Hu Han shed into appearance.

    She caught sight of Cai Yuan the moment she arrived. Her expression flickered as she gently eximed, ¡°Cai Yuan!¡±

    It appeared that Cai Yuan knew her as well. The moment he saw her, he frowned and turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°You came with her?¡±

    Unsure of what was happening, Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°I take my words back. The Blood Skull doesn¡¯t need people like you.¡± As soon as he learned that Nie Tian and Hu Han hade together, Cai Yuan assumed apletely different attitude. He rose to his feet and turned his cold face to Zhao Feng and Wang Zhuo, saying, ¡°We¡¯ve spent too much time here. It¡¯s about time we got back.¡±

    Even Zhao Feng, who was in the middle of recuperation, rose to his feet upon hearing Cai Yuan¡¯s words, and strode away after him.

    Confusion could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He had engaged in a warm and friendly conversation with Cai Yuan right before Hu Han had showed up. Cai Yuan had even offered to take him in as a member of the Blood Skull.

    However, Cai Yuan¡¯s attitude turned around as soon as he learned that they werepanions.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got things I need to talk to you about, Hua Tian,¡± Hu Han said. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ¡°Okay." Even though he harbored heavy suspicions towards Hu Han, Nie Tian chose to walk after her as the two of them marched towards the ce where he had practiced cultivation.

    Meanwhile, with a thought, he sent a Heaven Eye to tail Cai Yuan, in an attempt to find out why he had adopted such frigid manners towards Hu Han.

    As the three of them strode in the direction of their base, Wang Zhuo couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Do you know that woman, Little Lord? Why did you change your attitude toward Hua Tian the moment you learned that they¡¯re traveling together?¡±

    Cai Yuan let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°That woman¡¯s name is Hu Han, and she works for Li Ye. About six months ago, Qiqi asked me for a favor. She wanted me to investigate that woman¡¯s background. ording to the information I gathered, that woman is deeply involved with Ma Jiu from the Dark Moon, and so she must be hiding something.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid she has ulterior motives working for Li Ye. However, that fatty, Li Ye, is a meticulous man. Adding in the fact that he almost never leaves Shatter City, and Qiqi is always there to look after him, and nothing will happen to him.

    ¡°On the other hand, Li Ye must also be smart enough to keep an eye on her. He only sees her equipment forging skills, and uses her to do menial work for him.¡±

    Wang Zhuo was shocked. ¡°She¡¯s connected with the Dark Moon?¡±

    Cai Yuan nodded and continued, ¡°Since Hua Tian came here with her, it¡¯s very likely that he¡¯s also been deployed in Shatter City by the Dark Moon. He might even have helped us to get close to me, and actually has some dirty trick up his sleeve.¡±

    Enlightened, Wang Zhuo said, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    At the same time, Nie Tian managed to overhear the conversation between Cai Yuan and Wang Zhuo via his Heaven Eye. His eyes glittered as he stared closely at Hu Han from behind.

    He recalled how Li Ye had warned him that he had better guard himself against Hu Han at all times before he set out to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Adding in Cai Yuan¡¯sments about her, Nie Tian secretly formed a chaotic maic field around him. Only then did hee to a stop and say to Hu Han, ¡°Alright. Whatever you¡¯ve got to say, say it. I¡¯ve still got to practice my cultivation.¡±

    Hu Han turned around and said, ¡°I¡¯ve discovered a hidden spiritual mine. Since I can¡¯t mine it myself, I need your assistance.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not interested,¡± Nie Tian shook his head and replied. ¡°I¡¯ve got enough spirit stones with me, and I¡¯m only here to practice cultivation. Besides, I¡¯m only at the Lesser Heaven stage. What can I possibly help you with?¡±

    With those words, Nie Tian quietly expanded his chaotic maic field to a five-meter radius.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hu Han looked deeply at Nie Tian for a moment before saying, ¡°Are you suspecting anything? You saw me take the Heart Mastication Pill that Li Ye gave me, so I¡¯ll never attempt to hurt or kill you. If I do that, I won¡¯t be able to get the antidote from Li Ye after returning to Shatter City, and soon my heart will be gnawed away.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care what your intentions are. I¡¯m just not interested. All I want is to practice my cultivation!¡± Nie Tian grew somewhat irritated.

    Hu Han¡¯s expression changed subtly as she seemed to have sensed something. She let out a sigh and said with a shrug, ¡°That being the case, I have no other choice but to use force.¡±

    Upon hearing those words, Nie Tian immediately turned around and dashed madly towards the direction that Cai Yuan and his men had left in.

    He was well-aware that since Hu Han was at the early Greater Heaven stage, he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if he were to fight her single-handedly under normal circumstances. The only way to defeat her would be to seek help from Cai Yuan.

    ¡°You can¡¯t get away,¡± Hu Han said with a in tone while chasing after him.

 Chapter 254: Shattering Shackles

    With a swing of her hand, a bronze mirror shot out from Hu Han¡¯s palm.

    The mirror emanated precious light under the night sky, and in only three breaths of time, it surpassed Nie Tian and stopped in front of him.

    Floating facing Nie Tian, the bronze mirror suddenly began to shine with a dazzlingly bright light, before the light spread out and formed arge, transparent wall, blocking Nie Tian¡¯s path of escape.

    BOOM!

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s five-meter radius chaotic maic field made contact with the mirror-like light wall, the perfectly smooth surface of the light wall immediately grew twisted.

    As one ripple after another was created on the surface of the light wall, Nie Tian¡¯s reflection appeared within the bronze mirror.

    It was at that moment that a strong restrictive force was born within the mirror, binding Nie Tian¡¯s reflection.

    However, it seemed that what had happened within the mirror was also happening to Nie Tian himself. He felt as if he had been frozen, and every movement of his limbs became extremely difficult.

    An rmed expression could be seen on his face as his dashing momentum was stopped.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous bright sparks were created from the area where the maic field met the spiritual energy wall, while subtle fissures could already be seen on the light wall.

    Hu Han gradually approached Nie Tian and said with a soft voice, ¡°I hope you don¡¯t me me, Hua Tian. I¡¯ve no other choice. The Dark Moon has my brother. I have to do things I despise for them to trade for his freedom. Since you mean a great deal to Li Ye, I assume they might just use you to get some information from Li Ye. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to kill you.¡±

    Hu Han seemed to be exining her difficult situation to Nie Tian, but she was actually trying to convince herself so that she didn¡¯t have to live with a guilty conscience.

    She was well-aware that Ma Jiu was cruel and merciless. If he couldn¡¯t get what he wanted from Li Ye, he would definitely kill Nie Tian without blinking.

    However, this was already not her concern, after seeing her brother¡¯s severed finger.

    Not to mention Nie Tian, she was even willing to sacrifice her own life to save her brother.

    As Hu Han stepped closer to Nie Tian, one of her eyebrows rose and surprise appeared in her eyes.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    She noticed that the spiritual power wall her bronze mirror had created was beingpromised by the mysterious maic field that surrounded Nie Tian.

    Parts of the energy wall had already broken, and the maic field was spreading towards the floating bronze mirror.

    Nie Tian¡¯s reflection in the mirror was grave, yet calm.

    Upon seeing this, Hu Han secretly took a dark-red, fist-sized ball from within her bracelet of holding. Raging mes could be seen at the core of the ball, where there seemed to lie endless me power.

    Hu Han was both an equipment forger and a cultivator, and fire was her main cultivation attribute.

    She was controlling the bronze mirror with her spiritual power, along with a secret psychic magic.

    Upon seeing that her bronze mirror was failing, she hastily resorted to her fire incantations in the hopes of capturing Nie Tian before any newplications came up.

    Standing surrounded by his maic field, Nie Tian stared straight into the bronze mirror.

    He had a strong feeling that there was a mysterious connection between his reflection in the mirror and himself.

    It seemed that the moment his figure had appeared within the mirror, the mirror had began to influence his soul and lock down his body in some mysterious way.

    More to his surprise, his chaotic maic fieldpletely failed to stop the process.

    ¡°Psychic lockdown!¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, and then focused his mind on the seven fragmentary stars in his soul, each and every one of which was shining brightly and gloriously.

    It was the middle of the night. Arge number of bright stars lit up the dark sky.

    While Nie Tian was about to stimte the power of the fragmentary stars, he suddenly noticed that he was actually covered in a finework of extremely fine strings that were almost invisible.

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment, and soon reached a shocking conclusion: Hu Han had stealthily nted those strings long ago, perhaps when he had deactivated his maic field after finishing fighting off Cai Yuan¡¯s enemies, or perhaps even earlier.

    Nie Tian gritted his teeth. ¡°The woman bore these thoughts from the start!¡±

    Hu Han must have known that since there was a significant gap between their cultivation bases, she wouldn¡¯t be discovered if she only acted when Nie Tian was distracted.

    Enraged by this new realization, Nie Tian sent out a thought, and countless rays of starlight shot out of the seven fragmentary stars.

    As soon as the rays of starlight that were as sharp as des made contact with some of the fine strings, they were severed.

    Hu Han, who was stepping towards Nie Tian, instantly sensed the anomaly. Her pupils shrunk as a pained expression appeared on her average-looking face.

    ¡°He actually destroyed my psychic shackles with his Lesser Heaven stage strength?!¡±

    While Hu Han was astounded, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and madly summoned me power from his spiritual sea.

    As his entire body became wreathed in a ming aura, the invisible strings over his body were scorched and became fragile.

    At that moment, Nie Tian thrashed his body.

    BAM! BAM!

    Sounds inaudible to the naked ear came from his arms and legs as every string that Hu Han had nted on him broke into shreds.

    It was also at that moment that Nie Tian¡¯s reflection in the bronze mirror began to grow blurry, which meant that he had already broken free from Hu Han¡¯s restrictive spell.

    WHOOSH!

    No longer bound to his position, Nie Tian gathered his power in his fist as he lunged towards the bronze mirror.

    When the mirror was within his arm¡¯s reach, he bombarded it with his fist that was now like a fiercely burning hammer!

    CRUNCH!

    Noticeable fissures appeared on the surface of the bronze mirror, and it could no longer reflect anything or anyone.

    ¡°Go!¡± At that moment, Hu Han unleashed the ball from her palm. Like a burning lightning bolt, it charged towards Nie Tian.

    The area it covered was turned into a sea of mes.

    It rapidly reached Nie Tian from behind, and its burning tail gathered into a huge cloud of fire high above Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    One after another, numerous mes fell out of the zing cloud and rained on Nie Tian and his chaotic maic field.

    When they entered Nie Tian¡¯s maic field, the field served as a meat grinder, grinding the shooting mes into tiny fire dots.

    However, as more and more mes plummeted from the heavens, the ten meter-radius area Nie Tian was in was turned into sea of fire.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Within the maic field, numerous types of power were struggling to fight against the enormous amount of mes.

    At that moment, the dark-red pearl began to descend from straight above Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian felt like a huge mountain had been dropped on his shoulders. It crushed him with so much force that blood began flowing out of the corner of his mouth.

    Meanwhile, the raging mes were still trying their best to ovee the resistance of the maic field to burn Nie Tian up.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    At that very moment, Nie Tian¡¯s heart began to race, and the green aura coiled up at the bottom of his heart grew active, along with the numerous crystal-like chains within it and the countless life marks within them.

    An unearthly power that originated from his bloodline suddenly broke out with momentum that could shatter mountains and split the earth.

    Without thinking for a second, Nie Tian summoned the various types of power within him, and focused to strike the pearl floating right above him with his Rage Punch.

    BANG!!!

    Upon impact, the dark-red pearl cracked and was sent flying into the heavens.

    At the same time, Hu Han gave a muffled groan and came to a stop on her way towards Nie Tian, as if she had taken a heavy blow.

    A disbelieving look appeared in Hu Han¡¯s wide eyes as she stared closely at Nie Tian from behind.

    As for Nie Tian, after he bombarded the dark-red pearl with full force, not only did he hear a cracking sound from the pearl, but also a cracking sound from within himself.

    He didn¡¯t seem to sustain any injuries from it, but rather had a mysterious sense of relief afterwards, as if a heavy burden on his mind had been lifted.

    He briefly examined himself with his psychic awareness, and immediately threw his head back andughed, his face filled with ecstasy.

    He was certain that his Rage Punch had just pushed him through the bottleneck and into the next stage!

    At that moment, he was overwhelmed by a miraculous feeling of breaking through an intangible barrier, which was the unique feeling that a cultivator could only experience after making a breakthrough.

    Perhaps the fact that he had drained himself with the mighty punch had contributed to his sessful breakthrough. Although he felt depleted, he didn¡¯t feelpletely powerless like when he had used the technique before.

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart was still pounding rapidly, and the green aura was still slithering untiringly within his heart.

    Apparently, after the recent tempering using the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood, his body had be stronger and better at handling such a consuming technique.

    While Hu Han was shocked, Nie Tian turned around and charged towards her, enveloped by his gradually shrinking maic field.

    ¡°Is this guy really at the Lesser Heaven stage?¡± Hu Han couldn¡¯t remove her shocked gaze from Nie Tian as she suddenly began to hesitate.

    The bronze mirror and dark-red pearl were her best and favorite spiritual tools. As a matter of fact, she had never suffered a single defeat using them to fight Qi warriors at the Heaven stage or lower.

    However, not only did she fail to defeat Nie Tian with them, but both spiritual tools had sustained serious damage when she used them on Nie Tian. This made Hu Han feel extremely frustrated.

    She couldn¡¯t help but wonder: Nie Tian already possessed such formidable battle prowess at the Lesser Heaven stage; what kind of existence he would be after entering the Heaven stage and Greater Heaven stage?

    She somewhat regretted using force on Nie Tian. After all, if she couldn¡¯t capture him today and let him escape, he would be a sword hanging over her head for the rest of her life.

    However, the thought of her brother, who might be suffering at this very moment, strengthened her determination. ¡°I cannot let him escape!¡±

    She walked forward and picked up her bronze mirror and pearl.

    She had always had strong spiritual connections with those two spiritual tools. However, when she picked them up from the ground this time, she could sense that the connections were weak and flickering.

    A distressed look appeared in her eyes as she realized that both the spiritual tools had been greatly damaged, and it was beyond her skills to repair them.

    Li Ye might be able to fix them, but after today, she doubted that she would ever speak to Li Ye again.

    Both Li Ye and his senior martial sister, Pei Qiqi, would undoubtedly consider her to be their enemy from now on.

    The mere thought of Pei Qiqi made Hu Han shudder.

    That was when she realized that, deep down, Pei Qiqi was actually the one who she really feared.

    ¡°I can never return to Shatter City again, not after this. I can only join and seek refuge with the Dark Moon now. Hua Tian and that small teleportation portal will be my first gift to them.¡±

    Hu Han took a deep breath and, with a determined look in her eyes, wreathed herself with a raging me aura. Like a ball of mes, she chased after Nie Tian.

    However, since she had hesitated for a short while, Nie Tian was already quite a distance ahead of her. At that moment, Nie Tian shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Hey, brothers of the Blood Skull! I want to do some more business with you!¡±

 Chapter 255: Entering the Heaven Stage!

    Nie Tian¡¯s shout was so loud and clear that even people in the farthest corners of the mountain range could hear him.

    Since Zhao Feng¡¯s wound hadn¡¯t fully recovered, Cai Yuan, Zhao Feng, and Wang Zhuo were traveling at a slow speed in a valley when they heard Nie Tian¡¯s voice.

    Surprise could be seen on Cai Yuan¡¯s face as he stopped and turned around.

    ¡°That¡¯s Hua Tian¡¯s voice,¡± Wang Zhuo said.

    Cai Yuan pondered for a short while with his eyes narrowed. Then, he turned to Zhao Feng and ordered, ¡°You stay here and recover!¡±

    With those words, he dashed towards the source of Nie Tian¡¯s voice like a sword leaving its sheath.

    Upon seeing that he had moved out, Wang Zhuo followed him without the slightest hesitation.

    Originally, considering Nie Tian¡¯s speed, it would have taken a while for him to catch up to Cai Yuan and his men, during which Hu Han would very likely catch up to him.

    However, the fact that Cai Yuan and Wang Zhuo had turned around and charged in his direction rapidly shortened the distance between them.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Nie Tian caught sight of the approaching Cai Yuan and Wang Zhuo behind him.

    Panting heavily, Nie Tian called out the moment he caught sight of Cai Yuan, ¡°I¡¯ll give you back the 1,600 spirit stones! On top of that, I¡¯ll throw in another 2,000 spirit stones if you can help me fight Hu Han!¡±

    ¡°This might be a trap, my lord!¡± Wang Zhuo warned Cai Yuan from behind his back.

    He had suspected Nie Tian¡¯s motives the moment he had learned that Hu Han was connected with the Dark Moon and Nie Tian hade with her.

    He believed that Nie Tian and Hu Han might be putting on a show to get close to Cai Yuan again.

    After all, Nie Tian and Hu Han had just parted ways with them. The fact that they had turned on each other in such a short time made Wang Zhuo suspect that it was a set-up.

    After hearing Wang Zhuo¡¯s spection, Cai Yuan didn¡¯t respond to Nie Tian. Instead, with a discreet look in his eyes, he took out his gloves from within his ring of holding and put them on.

    Then, he took out two medicinal pills and swallowed them while staring Nie Tian in the eye.

    SHEW!

    Hu Han finally arrived and came to a stop ten meters from Nie Tian, wreathed in a zing aura.

    With a calm face, Hu Han gently smiled at Cai Yuan and said, ¡°Lord Cai, you just engaged in a fierce battle with some bandits not long ago. It seems that you haven¡¯t fully recovered your strength. I know that you¡¯re no ordinary man, but you¡¯re at thete Heaven stage after all. You wouldn¡¯t risk your subordinate¡¯s and your own lives for Hua Tian, who¡¯s neither your kin nor your friend, would you?¡±

    Cai Yuan frowned and didn¡¯t answer. Rather, he turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly and exined, ¡°This woman wanted to capture me. I actually didn¡¯t know her up until I came to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Li Ye is my close friend. She learned that I wasing to the Void Illusion Mountain Range and pleaded with Li Ye to let her tag along. In order to prevent her from having any evil thoughts, Li Ye forced her to take a Heart Crushing Pill.

    ¡°He ordered her to look after me and keep me alive while we¡¯re here. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t get the antidote after returning to Shatter City.

    ¡°I thought that would ensure a safe trip with her, but I never expected that she would actually attempt to capture me for whatever her intentions are.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re close friends with fat Li Ye?¡± Cai Yuan asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°He allowed me to teleport to the Void Illusion Mountain Range via Miss Pei¡¯s small teleportation portal.¡±

    He had overheard Cai Yuan and Wang Zhuo¡¯s conversation via his Heaven Eye, and spected that Cai Yuan was somewhat close with Pei Qiqi.

    Therefore, he intentionally mentioned the teleportation portal to indicate that he had close rtionships with both Li Ye and Pei Qiqi.

    As expected, after learning that Nie Tian had traveled here from Shatter City via Pei Qiqi¡¯s teleportation portal, Cai Yuan made up his mind to help Nie Tian.

    Cai Yuan was aware that Pei Qiqi had set up her own teleportation portal in the mountain range, but never allowed people to use it other than Li Ye and herself.

    The fact that they were willing to let Nie Tian use it made it clear that Nie Tian was close to Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    Cai Yuan clenched his fist, and his strange-looking gloves seemed to be like the opened mouths of a ferocious beast. ¡°Hu Han, I¡¯d suggest you go back where you¡¯vee from.¡±

    He stepped to Nie Tian¡¯s side and stood right beside him. Staring into Hu Han¡¯s eyes, he prepared himself for what woulde.

    Wang Zhuo also summoned his long, pitch-ck spear and stared at Hu Han while emitting a strong, killing aura.

    Even though Cai Yuan was at thete Heaven stage and Wang Zhuo was at the middle Heaven stage, and they had just gone through a bloody battle, not a shred of fear could be seen in their eyes while facing the early Greater Heaven stage Hu Han.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hu Han sighed and said, ¡°Why are you doing this, Lord Cai?¡±

    ¡°Save your breath!¡± Cai Yuan called out, impatience written across his face. ¡°Either you fight the three of us to the death, or get out of here now and I¡¯ll forget what happened here today!¡±

    After hearing his words, Hu Han seemed indecisive.

    She had heard about Cai Yuan¡¯s fierceness even before she had moved to Shatter City. ording to the rumors, he had already killed hundreds of powerful experts from the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    In their eyes, Cai Yuan would definitely be the Blood Skull¡¯s leader. It was only a matter of time.

    Although Cai Yuan was at thete Heaven stage, the gap between their strengths wasn¡¯t unbridgeable, and rumor had it that Cai Yuan had unearthly spiritual tools at his disposal.

    Adding in Wang Zhuo, who was also a seasoned warrior, and Nie Tian, who seemed to have many mysteries, and she didn¡¯t have the confidence to win if a battle broke out.

    While she was hesitating, Zhao Feng, who Cai Yuan had ordered to stay put, also appeared on the distant horizon and called out, ¡°Little Lord! Our reinforcements are on the way. I¡¯ve just got in contact with them!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Hu Han¡¯s expression flickered.

    She took a deep look at Nie Tian and sighed. ¡°I had no other choice. I hope you understand. The Dark Moon has my brother. Their leader Ma Jiu imprisoned him in the Land of the Abandoned. If I refuse to work for them, they will kill my brother.¡±

    With these words, she bowed slightly towards Nie Tian to express her apologies, and then turned around and left.

    As soon as Hu Han left, Nie Tian dropped to the ground and took out 1,600 spirit stones from his bracelet of holding.

    When he was about to bring out 2,000 more, Cai Yuan stopped him, saying, ¡°There¡¯s no need for more.¡±

    He put away the 1,600 spirit stones and said, ¡°You helped me and I returned the favor. We¡¯re even.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, Cai Yuan shook his head and said, ¡°Where¡¯s Qiqi¡¯s teleportation portal, the one you used toe here?¡±

    Nie Tian furrowed his brows.

    Cai Yuan saw the hesitation in his eyes and added, ¡°Hu Han betrayed you, so it¡¯s very likely that she also sold Li Ye and Qiqi out by revealing the location of the teleportation portal to Ma Jiu.

    ¡°A teleportation portal is very valuable. Even the smallest and simplest one is easily worth 100,000 spirit stones.

    ¡°Ma Jiu will never pass on such a good opportunity to get one. If my spections are correct, they¡¯ve probably already moved out.¡±

    Only after hearing those words did Nie Tian take out the map Li Ye had given him and show Cai Yuan the location of the portal, saying, ¡°It¡¯s right here.¡±

    With a single nce at it, Cai Yuan understood which route he should take. Then, he turned to Wang Zhuo and said, ¡°You take Zhao Feng back to our base first, and then arrange for our men to meet me there. We can¡¯t let the Dark Moon take Qiqi¡¯s teleportation portal. I¡¯ll try my best to stall them.¡±

    Wang Zhuo¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°My lord, you want to go over there by yourself?¡±

    Cai Yuan smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t get myself in danger. After all, I know Ma Jiu is going to be there. I¡¯ll hide close to the portal and keep my distance from the Dark Moon people.¡±

    ¡°B-but...¡± Wang Zhuo was still worried.

    ¡°This is an order,¡± Cai Yuan said with a stern face.

    Wang Zhuo took a deep look at him, and then sighed and said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    He was well-aware of Cai Yuan¡¯s temper, and that Cai Yuan had always been fond of Pei Qiqi. Part of the reason he had been training himself in the Void Illusion Mountain Range was because he wanted to get stronger and thus be worthy of Pei Qiqi.

    As long as it was rted to her, Cai Yuan had always shown great interest and enthusiasm, as opposed to his normally cold attitude.

    Wang Zhuo knew that persuasion would fail even if he attempted it, so he decided to return as soon as possible and assemble their best warriors to support Cai Yuan.

    ¡°Take care, my lord!¡±

    With those words, Wang Zhuo turned around and sped toward Zhao Feng. He dragged the reluctant Zhao Feng away, and the two of them disappeared into the distance.

    ¡°Are you okay, Hua Tian?¡± Cai Yuan asked.

    Nie Tian nodded and answered, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± Cai Yuan nodded back. ¡°I think this area is rtively secure. I suggest you stay here and wait for my brothers toe back with reinforcements. They¡¯ll definitely pass this ce, so you can join them then. It¡¯ll be the safest choice for you.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian nodded, and crushed the Sound Stone Hu Han had given him under Cai Yuan¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Good,¡± Cai Yuan said with an appreciative tone before he turned around and left.

    As soon as he left, Nie Tian sat down and assumed the lotus position. He put on the green jade bracelet that Li Ye had given him to hold off the polluted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Since he had almost drained every type of power he had during his previous battle, the maic field around him was already on the verge of disappearing.

    He took a deep breath and took out a spirit jade from within his bracelet of holding. Without any hesitation, he operated the Qi Refining Incantation to absorb its spiritual energy.

    Spiritual energy that was ten times richer than that contained within a spirit stone poured out of the jade and flowed madly into his spiritual sea.

    At the same time, the three vortexes of spiritual power in his spiritual sea sped up a few times.

    Wisp after wisp of refined spiritual energy dispersed from the vortexes into his spiritual sea.

    Only a short whileter, the spirit jade cracked and was reduced to rubble.

    Without any dy, he took out another one and started channeling its energy into his spiritual sea.

    As his spiritual sea was filled with madly surging spiritual power, a new vortex gradually took shape and grewrger.

    ording to his master, with every breakthrough, one vortex of spiritual power woulde into existence within his spiritual sea, so by thete Greater Heaven stage, he would have nine vortexes of spiritual power.

    Every time a new vortex of spiritual power was added to his spiritual sea, his spiritual sea would expand.

    An additional vortex of spiritual power would allow him to be more efficient at absorbing and refining the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and thus elerate the expansion of his spiritual sea.

    Since he had made the breakthrough when he had used the Rage Punch to destroy Hu Han¡¯s red pearl, all he had to do now was to fill his spiritual sea with spiritual power, and the new vortex of spiritual power would form by itself.

    This was exactly what Hua Mu had given him three spirit jades for before he had left.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    With the energy from the two spirit jades, the fourth vortex of spiritual energy gradually expanded.

    CRUNCH!

    Only a short while passed before the second spirit jade lost its glow and cracked open.

    Without the slightest hesitation, Nie Tian took a third spirit jade from within his bracelet of holding and began to absorb its copious amount of spiritual energy.

    Just like that, he went through seven spirit jades.

    It was not until he had drained the seventh spirit jade of spiritual energy that he sensed that the new vortex of spiritual energy had finally formed fully.

    ¡°Seven spirit jades!¡± Nie Tian was quite shocked. He realized that if he hadn¡¯t obtained five spirit jades from Yang Ling early on, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to finish the process so smoothly.

    Hua Mu had anticipated that Nie Tian would need an enormous amount of spiritual energy to finish the process of entering the Heaven stage.

    However, ording to his understanding, a Lesser Heaven stage cultivator would need no more than two spirit jades to fully form their new vortex of spiritual energy after breaking through into the Heaven stage.

    Considering Nie Tian¡¯s extraordinary physique, he had given him one more to make sure he had enough.

    Never had he imagined that Nie Tian was so much different from normal cultivators.

    It took him seven spirit jades to create and expand his fourth vortex of spiritual energy to the same size as the other three.

    At that time, he had truly finished the transformation from the Lesser Heaven stage to the Heaven stage.

    By the time the seventh spirit jade was drained, Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea was brimming with refined spiritual power.

    Instead of stopping, he took out hisst remaining spirit jade and used the energy it carried to expand the size of his full spiritual sea.

    An unknown period of time passed.

    By the time the eighth spirit jade broke into pieces, Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation and sprung to his feet. ¡°Finally, the Heaven stage!¡±

    Then, he threw his head back and let out a thunderous roar that was like the cry of a tiger or dragon.

 Chapter 256: Astounding Battle Prowess

    After consuming eight spirit jades, Nie Tian finally finished his transcendence.

    As of now, four vortexes of spiritual power were rotating at high speeds in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea. Moreover, his spiritual sea had expanded a few times, and been filled to the brim with pure spiritual power.

    Not only that, when he carefully examined himself, he found that his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power had also expanded by at least three times.

    That was when he realized that breaking through to a new stage could cause significant changes to his spiritual sea.

    The transcendence of his spiritual sea not only allowed him to obtain more spiritual power, but also enabled him to condense more fire essence, wood essence, and stardew in his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power.

    Now, he could keenly sense that surging spiritual power, as well as the three types of power with different attributes, were being rapidly infused into his meridians.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One fiery snake after another rapidly formed and flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s fingertips.

    He could also feel that the speed at which the spiritual power circted in his meridians was greatly enhanced.

    Eyes narrowed, he focused all his attention on the changes inside of him while he ran tests by summoning me power, wood power, and star power.

    After a long while, he opened his eyes and awoke from his cultivation and enlightenment, realizing that the efficiency at which he generated and utilized power had greatly improved.

    Before, he would have had to spend a few seconds to cast the me Spirit Incantation and form fiery snakes.

    However, he now only needed one second to channel the me power within his spiritual sea to his fingers through his meridians and create zing snakes.

    ¡°How about the chaotic maic field?!¡± With that thought in mind, he immediately ced his palms opposite each other and formed the chaotic maic field at the fastest speed possible.

    In the blink of an eye, a one-meter-radius chaotic maic field was formed around him.

    If it were before he made his breakthrough, he would have had to spend quite a while to summon all the types of power he possessed and adopt the right state of mind to cast the spell.

    However, he, at most, needed three seconds to form it now.

    Not only did it require less time for him to form the maic field, but it also required several times less time to expand it.

    ¡°Ten seconds!¡± He managed to expand the maic field to a ten-meter range in ten seconds.

    Meanwhile, he examined himself, and found that he had only consumed less than one tenth of the power in his spiritual sea to achieve it.

    It seemed that the eleration and expansion of the vortexes had made it easier and faster for him to build up the maic field than before. At the same time, the significant growth in his spiritual sea allowed it to hold more power, and thus only one tenth of his total power was enough to establish a maic field thatrge.

    ¡°Let¡¯s try something else!¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath and clenched his fist as mes of anger began to burn in his heart.

    When his heart was filled with burning rage, the various types of power he possessed rushed out of his spiritual sea into his fist, along with his flesh power and psychic power.

    Before, he hadn¡¯t been able to control the process. Once he had used the technique, he would drain everyst bit of his strength.

    However, it was different this time. To his surprise, he was able to control the amount of every type of power he summoned with great precision.

    He only summoned one fourth of his spiritual power, and only added a very small amount of me power, star power, wood power, and flesh power to cast the Rage Punch.

    BOOM!

    As soon as he drove his fist into a five-meter-high solid stone beside him, it exploded, sending pieces flying in every direction, dust slowly falling from the air.

    Afterwards, he didn¡¯t have the same exhausted feeling as he had before when using this technique. Instead, he was still energetic and in high spirits.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, the punch he had just thrown was more powerful and destructive than any of his previous strikes.

    ¡°After rising to a new cultivation base, everything is different,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    Since he could now urately manage the power he added to the Rage Punch and thus control of the might of it, he no longer needed to worry that he would be meat waiting to be carved after using this technique.

    Now, he could choose between dealing ultimate damage to his enemy by draining all his power with one strike, and striking four times using one fourth of his power each time.

    He would have to test the effectiveness of the two methods in future battles against other Qi warriors.

    The mysterious changes that had happened to him after he entered the Heaven stage made him very excited. Thus, he went on to test the magics he could cast with the me Spirit Incantation.

    Only when he discovered that he had spent quite a bit of his spiritual power did he finally stop and recuperate with spirit stones and fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials.

    One after another, they were rapidly drained of energy and reduced to ordinary rubble.

    Then, he realized that after breaking into the Heaven stage, the speed at which he absorbed power from spiritual materials had also greatly risen.

    In merely two hours, he drained ten spirit stones, six fire-attributed stones, and five wood-attributed materials.

    ¡°After entering the Heaven stage, my spiritual sea expanded, and the rotation speed and size of the vortexes in my spiritual sea increased. The consumption, channeling, and condensation of my spiritual power are also very different from before. Not only that, once my spiritual sea is drained, I¡¯ll need ten times as many spirit stones as before to refill it.

    ¡°And this is only the Heaven stage...¡±

    The train of thoughts entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he channeled energy from the spiritual materials. He finally understood why the truly powerful Qi warriors stocked up on spirit jades and spirit crystals, but not spirit stones.

    Normally speaking, Qi warriors at the Worldly realm, the Profound realm, and the Soul realm would cultivate or recuperate with spirit jades, since the energy in spirit stones was too miniscule for them.

    The spiritual seas of peak Qi warriors in the Void Domain, the Saint Domain, and the God Domain were as vast as oceans. The spiritual power they consumed in every battle was terrifyingly enormous.

    Since, ording to the legends, they had the ability to move mountains and seas and reshape domains with a mere movement of their fingers, they could only recover strength and cultivate with spirit crystals.

    Mixed emotions rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. ¡°Cultivation is an endless path. Compared to them, I¡¯m only a beginner.¡±

    Before he had finished the process of entering the Heaven stage, the only notion in his mind had been to cultivate wholeheartedly.

    That was why he hadn¡¯t given any response when he had learned that Cai Yuan was going to save Pei Qiqi¡¯s teleportation portal.

    He was aware that, being at the Lesser Heaven stage, he didn¡¯t have the strength to confront the vicious bandits and Dark Moon members who had roamed the Void Illusion Mountain Range for years.

    However, his confidence had greatly improved after stepping into the Heaven stage.

    He was now confident that he would be rtively safe in the Void Illusion Mountain Range as long as he didn¡¯t encounter any powerful Greater Heaven stage experts.

    He even believed that he would be able to easily escape from his next encounter with Hu Han, even if he wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat her in battle.

    This was all because of the enlightenment he had received from entering the Heaven stage and the new knowledge he had drawn from his various spells and skills.

    Therefore, he cast aside Cai Yuan¡¯s warning and marched towards the location of Pei Qiqi¡¯s teleportation portal, even though he knew that it would be safer to wait for reinforcements from the Blood Skull.

    He created and unleashed his Heaven Eyes as he marched into a wastednd where no sign of the activities of spirit beasts or humans could be seen.

    That was when he noticed that his soul hadn¡¯t undergone any noticeable changes after he entered the Heaven stage.

    ¡°It seems that the Heaven stage is mainly about the transcendence of the spiritual sea in my dantian, as well as the enrichment and refinement of the different types of power within it. The changes to my soul don¡¯t seem to be that significant.

    ¡°I need to develop my soul power within the seven fragmentary stars to be able to study the profound mysteries in the middle part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. When will I be able to do that?

    ¡°From the look of it, I¡¯ll need to take it step by step, and spend more time studying the first part of the incantation. Only after achieving a thorough understanding of the secret magics recorded there, will I be able to move on to the middle part.¡±

    While lost in his thoughts, Nie Tian marched further and further away from the secure zone that Li Ye had marked out for him.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he came before a mountain valley with several creeks running through it, where numerous spatial rifts were rapidly slithering in midair and the polluted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was exceptionally dense.

    That was when one of his Heaven Eyes detected two men talking. ¡°I just heard that Ma Jiu of the Dark Moon and his men have surrounded Pei Qiqi of Shatter City and Cai Yuan of the Blood Skull in this area.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know. A few brothers returned from this area and said they saw Ma Jiu and his men chasing after Pei Qiqi. I just don¡¯t know how it turned out.¡±

    ¡°Whatever. It¡¯s none of our business. We¡¯re just passing by, so I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll have the time to mind us.¡±

    ¡°Anyhow, let¡¯s get out of here as quickly as possible, lest we get dragged into their battle and killed.¡±

 Chapter 257: Assassination

    Nie Tian overheard the two men¡¯s conversation via one of his Heaven Eyes.

    The two of them were constantly ncing around as they marched carefully, two thousand meters away, as if they were afraid that they would run into Ma Jiu and his subordinates.

    ¡°What a coincidence! It¡¯s them.¡± Nie Tian found out that they were the men he had met outside his cultivation room at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters a few days ago.

    Back then, they had entered the establishment and paid for a cultivation room while Nie Tian was being confronted by Cai Yue and Shi Qing after stepping out of his cultivation room.

    The two early Heaven stage cultivators had examined Nie Tian with strange looks in their eyes, as if they had cooked up some evil ns.

    Although Nie Tian was surprised by their appearance in this area, he didn¡¯t put much thought into it.

    What he truly paid attention to was their conversation.

    ¡°The Dark Moon has surrounded Pei Qiqi?! Cai Yuan exposed himself and also became a target?¡± Nie Tian frowned and picked up his pace as he moved towards the two.

    Momentster, he showed up in front of them, blocking their path.

    ¡°How do you know that Ma Jiu from the Dark Moon is attacking Pei Qiqi? Where were theyst seen? Also, how did Cai Yuan get exposed and be a target?¡± The moment they met, Nie Tian shot a series of questions that he was rather eager to ask.

    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡± Both men¡¯s eyes lit up as they discovered that the young man who had showed up out of nowhere was actually the rich kid they had seen at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    The two of them exchanged a nce as they ignored Nie Tian¡¯s questions and startedughing broadly.

    From the way they reacted to seeing Nie Tian, it was as if a warm pie had just fallen out of the heavens andnded in their hands.

    Nie Tian was no stranger to the looks in their eyes.

    The brothers Qiu Shan and Qiu Shi had the same looks in their eyes when they had met early on, and now their corpses were rotting somewhere in the mountain range after Nie Tian had killed them without breaking a sweat.

    ¡°There are always people who seek death!¡± Nie Tian shook his head and smiled as he reached out with one hand to channel the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    The rich spiritual Qi in the vicinity gathered madly towards his hand as he cast the secret spell.

    Only secondster, a gray, misty spiritual energy ball formed within his palm.

    He discovered that the time he just spent to form the spiritual energy ball was much shorter than the time he had spent during his previous battle to help Cai Yuan.

    Breaking through into the Heaven stage had indeed enhanced his battle prowess to a great extent. The transcendence of his spiritual sea had greatly sped up the process of channeling spiritual Qi.

    Originally, he had always needed to spend a substantial amount of time to form spiritual energy balls, which he had considered to be a major disadvantage of this technique.

    However, since the process had now been significantly elerated, he deemed that that disadvantage had been made up for to a great extent.

    Within the gray spiritual energy ball, numerous impurities that were originally from the outer domains immediately began to conflict with each other after being constrained in such a small space.

    Even Nie Tian, the spell-caster, couldn¡¯t use his psychic awareness to calm the violent movement within the spiritual energy ball.

    He had a feeling that if he didn¡¯t release the energy ball in a few moments, it would explode within his palm.

    ¡°Go!" With a thought, Nie Tianmanded the gray spiritual energy ball to shoot towards one of the men.

    The man was still smiling as he said, ¡°We¡¯re quite lucky to run into such a fatmb in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°I wonder where this kid got the courage toe here alone.¡±

    BANG!

    The gray spiritual energy ball exploded by itself when it was five meters away from the man.

    As it did, countless tiny light dots of gray, green, purple, and ck colors rained down from midair, filling arge area.

    The moment the condensed impurities made contact with the man¡¯s protective light shield, it shattered.

    In the next moment, the multicolored lights covered his entire body, and as a result, he shrunk and copsed from his standing position like a deted balloon.

    Blood flowed out of his withered corpse and painted the stone ground red.

    The man¡¯s sudden death greatly shocked the other one. At a loss for words, the man stared at Nie Tian for a while before snapping back to reality and saying, ¡°Have you broken into the Heaven stage?

    Instead of answering his question, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Can you answer my earlier questions now?¡±

    The man said, with a tough expression on his face, ¡°Do you think you can get away with this even if you¡¯ve entered the Heaven stage? No individuals who aren¡¯t members of the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, or the Wild Fire can beat us in the Void Illusion Mountain Range! Don¡¯t you imagine that you can get out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range alive after killing one of us!¡± With those words, the man turned around and sped off.

    From the look of it, he had friends in the vicinity.

    ¡°This is so tiring... Why can¡¯t people listen?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows knitted together.

    SHEW!

    Although they were both at the early Heaven stage, thanks to his superior physique and spiritual sea, Nie Tian¡¯s speed was much faster than his opponent¡¯s.

    It only took Nie Tian about ten seconds to catch up to the man.

    Since it would still require time and stillness to form spiritual energy balls, he gave up the idea.

    Rather, he raised his clenched fist and stimted anger in his heart while he summoned one fifth of his spiritual power, along with small portions of his me power, wood power, star power, flesh power, and psychic power.

    BANG!!!

    He bombarded the man¡¯s back with enough momentum to shatter mountains.

    Upon impact, the man¡¯s protective light shield cracked, along with his body!

    The man, who was running for his life, actually exploded into pieces after being hit by Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike.

    Nie Tian came to a stop after watching the man die an extremely miserable death, even more so than his friend, who had been killed by Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy ball.

    ¡°Wow, I can actually kill a fleeing man with merely one fifth of my strength.¡± Nie Tian smiled broadly as he stepped over and looted his opponents¡¯ bracelets of holding. Without even checking what was inside, he once again unleashed his Heaven Eyes and searched for Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan.

    The seven Heaven Eyes gradually fanned out in the sky like seven invisiblenterns.

    It wasn¡¯t long before one of them detected two early Heaven stage Qi warriors in Dark Moon garments. The two of them were crouching as theyid spirit stones on the ground, as if they were setting up spell formations to defend against something.

    After that, his other Heaven Eyes spotted more Dark Moon members.

    A few momentster, one of his Heaven Eyes finally discovered Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan, who were running in the middle of a mountain valley.

    Numerous spatial rifts were roaming about and interweaving with each other over their heads, glittering with bright light.

    Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were shifting positions and fighting three Greater Heaven stage Dark Moon members where the spatial rifts were the most active.

    Among them, the man with only one good eye was none other than Ma Jiu, the Dark Moon¡¯s section leader in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. At that moment, he was calling out to his subordinates, who had formed a blockade around them.

    The seven Heaven Eyes quietly floated about, reflecting every detail within a one and a half kilometer radius in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Nie Tian rapidly obtained a thorough understanding of the situation.

    He could see that three Dark Moon members, including Ma Jiu, were chasing after Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan, but they seemed to be preserving their strength and moving carefully.

    Even though the three of them were at the Greater Heaven stage, the spatial rifts that were slithering above and around Pei Qiqi stopped them from getting near.

    Apparently, it was those spatial rifts that had had kept Ma Jiu and his men from approaching Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan.

    As a master of spatial magics, Pei Qiqi was constantly shifting her position between numerous spatial rifts, but they never left the area.

    After all, she and Cai Yuan were both at thete Heaven stage. Once they lost the protection of the spatial rifts, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against Ma Jiu and his men.

    More than twenty Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Dark Moon were scattered around the perimeter of the mountain valley.

    They were there to surround and stop Cai Yuan and Pei Qiqi from leaving the valley.

    Even though they weren¡¯t strong enough to kill Cai Yuan and Pei Qiqi, they were able to block their path of escape and keep them from heading towards vast open areas where the spatial rifts were more active.

    Their goal was to wear out and kill Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan in the valley.

    Through his seven Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian obtained a thorough grasp of the situation. He pondered for a moment before making up his mind.

    The valley was rather vast, and so was the blockade the Dark Moon had set up.

    As long as he acted with caution, he could avoid being spotted by Ma Jiu and the other two with him while he took down their men in the blockade one by one.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he found a suitable target and closed in on him following his Heaven Eyes.

    An early Heaven stage Dark Moon member was squatting on the ground, building a simple spell formation with spirit stones of various attributes. He intended to use it to create a defensive wall, so that Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan wouldn¡¯t be able to breakthrough their blockade so easily. As he did, he looked forward to check the distant, spatial rift-filled area from time to time.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly charged out from behind a huge rock.

    The chaotic maic field immediately enveloped the man, causing him to lose control of his limbs.

    CRUNCH!

    Just as he was about to shout out to his friends, Nie Tian snapped his neck.

    Nie Tian bent down and put away the spirit stones the man had used to set up his spell formation before he vanished from that location.

    Like a ghost, he moved around the perimeter of the mountain valley.

    He used his Heaven Eyes to lock down scattered early Heaven stage Dark Moon members and hid behind the rocks that could be seen everywhere as he furtively approached them. Then, he found opportunities to swoop in and kill them.

    While Ma Jiu and two of his best men were still chasing after Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan in the belly of the mountain valley, Nie Tian had already assassinated nine early Heaven stage Dark Moon members with that method.

    After killing them without breaking a sweat, Nie Tian decided to target the middle Heaven stage ones.

 Chapter 258: Call of the Soul

    The assassinations went smoothly. Nie Tian managed to kill every Qi warrior at the same cultivation stage as him with one strike.

    Normally speaking, since he had just entered the Heaven stage, he should have encountered strong resistance when he attempted to kill them.

    However, he had advantages most of his peers didn¡¯t.

    Thanks to his Heaven Eyes, he was able to observe his target¡¯s every move, and could thus calcte a perfect route so that he wouldn¡¯t be discovered as he approached.

    Every time he attacked, he struck like a shadow. His victim couldn¡¯t even understand how he had showed up out of nowhere.

    His chaotic maic field could even make Greater Heaven stage experts lose control once it enveloped them, let alone early Heaven stage cultivators.

    Then, while they were panic-stricken and about to scream, Nie Tian killed them in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint.

    That was why none of his nine victims had been able to scream before they were killed, and Ma Jiu and the other Dark Moon experts were still unaware of the situation.

    Due to the fact that their blockade was sparsely manned and everyone¡¯s attention was focused on Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan, none of them were aware that their blockade had already been torn open.

    ¡°Middle Heaven stage.¡± Nie Tian locked down another member of the Dark Moon as he shed behind the huge rocks that could be seen everywhere in the valley.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian charged out from behind a rock that was fairly close to the man, with two gray spiritual energy balls that were already on the verge of bursting in his palms.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± The man asked the moment he saw a human figureing towards him.

    BANG! BANG!

    Before he could shout out loud, the gray spiritual energy balls left Nie Tian¡¯s palms and exploded in front of the man.

    Concentrated outer-domain impurities that looked like tiny raindrops of various colors filled the area where the man stood.

    Immediately afterward, Nie Tian arrived and shot numerous fiery snakes out of his fingers.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    One after another, they prated the man¡¯s chest, stopping his screams from escaping his mouth.

    Then, Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field enveloped the man, causing the already severely injured man to let out a muffled groan and cough up blood.

    At that very moment, Nie Tian took another step forward and clenched his hand around the man¡¯s neck.

    CRUNCH!

    After snapping the man¡¯s neck, Nie Tian skillfully put away the man¡¯s bracelet of holding, along with the spirit stones he had used to set up his spell formation, and soundlessly snuck to his next target.

    In the belly of the valley...

    Pei Qiqi was leading Cai Yuan as they rapidly shed through the small gaps between spatial rifts. One wrong move, and they would be cut to pieces by them.

    Ma Jiu and two other Greater Heaven stage Dark Moon experts were chasing after them while maintaining a safe distance between them and the spatial rifts.

    Whenever there was an opportunity, they would cast powerful attacking magics or single-use spiritual weapons to bombard Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan.

    Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan could only avoid them by swiftly shifting their positions among the numerous spatial rifts.

    After closely avoiding a ball of thunder Ma Jiu had cast towards them, the two of them hid behind threerge spatial rifts. Then, Cai Yuan said, ¡°Qiqi, we just need to hang on for a bit longer. Zhao Feng and Wang Zhuo areing with more of our men. ording to my assessment, it¡¯ll take them no more than two days to get here.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Pei Qiqi replied without much thought.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Arge pack of silver needles flew through the spaces between the spatial rifts and appeared in front of Pei Qiqi.

    Not even the slightest panic could be seen on Pei Qiqi¡¯s unearthly beautiful face as a strong wave of spatial fluctuations spread out from within her curvaceous body.

    All of a sudden, a thin shield of water appeared and stopped the silver needles from piercing into her.

    Without any dy, she led Cai Yuan to another location where a few spatial rifts were slithering in midair, and once again escaped death.

    Although no fear or panic could be seen on Pei Qiqi¡¯s face, she actually was quite tired.

    For ten days, Ma Jiu and his men had been tailing her in the mountain valley and exhausted their skill set to attack her.

    She had been consuming her psychic and spiritual power with every minute that had passed, since she hadn¡¯t stopped to rest at all.

    Whenever she wanted to stop and recover her strength, Ma Jiu and his men would cast spells or valuable consumptive spiritual weapons to interrupt her.

    At that moment, she already knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able tost two more days. Her body wouldn¡¯t be able to pull through, even though her heart desired it.

    If nothing happened in her favor, she would run out of strength within a day.

    By that time, she would no longer be able to predict the movements of the spatial rifts, much less skillfully shift their position among them.

    If it came down to that, it would be even more dangerous for them to stay in the spatial rift-filled areas than it would be to face Ma Jiu and his men.

    They would be forced to go out and fight Ma Jiu and his men, which wouldn¡¯t be much different from jumping into a tiger¡¯s den.

    She was aware that moment was what Ma Jiu was waiting for.

    ¡°Aihh...¡± Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t help but let out a helpless sigh as she shot a nce at the opening of the valley, her eyes glittering with bright light.

    Over these past days, she had made several attempts to approach the opening of the valley.

    However, she understood that it must be heavily guarded by members of the Dark Moon.

    Even if she and Cai Yuan somehow made it to the opening, they wouldn¡¯t be able to kill them and break their blockade quickly enough that they would be gone before Ma Jiu caught up to them from behind.

    Let alone that those people had all the time they needed to set up spell formations or make other arrangements to stop them from getting away.

    The reason she had to escape through the opening of the valley was that immediately adjacent to it was a extremely vast area where hundreds of spatial rifts were violently active.

    Considering her exceptional mastery of spatial magics, as long as she could enter the area, they would be able to lose the Dark Moon people in a short time.

    After all, even though Ma Jiu and his men had superior cultivation bases, they weren¡¯t familiar with spatial magics. It would be almost impossible to follow Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan through such a dangerous area.

    On the other hand, once Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan made their way into that area, they would be like fish that had returned to the ocean, or birds that had been released from their cages.

    ¡°But...¡± At that moment, Pei Qiqi shook her head and snapped out of her wishful thinking. Once again, she refocused on dealing with Ma Jiu and his men.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian realized what was going on after killing another middle Heaven stage Dark Moon expert at the opening of the mountain valley.

    As of that point, Nie Tian had already assassinated nine early Heaven stage and three middle Heaven stage Dark Moon members. Even though his spiritual sea could hold far more spiritual power than others at his stage, he found himself with only twenty percent of his spiritual power left.

    Since he had a rather urate understanding of his own battle prowess, he was convinced that he wouldn¡¯t be able to sneak up and kill another middle Heaven stage enemy.

    Fortunately, his Heaven Eyes had allowed him to have a thorough grasp of the situation, so he had already taken out every enemy that had been deployed at the opening of the mountain valley.

    Therefore, if Pei Qiqi found an opportunity to forcefully breakthrough the blockade line there while Ma Jiu was slowed down by spatial rifts, she would be able to get out before Ma Jiu caught up to them.

    Unfortunately, since they were quite a distance away, they weren¡¯t able to get a clear view of the situation over at the opening.

    Therefore, they didn¡¯t dare to make such rash attempt.

    After all, it would mean their doom if they couldn¡¯t break the blockade before Ma Jiu and the other two rounded them up from behind.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to inform them.¡± After pinpointing the problem, Nie Tian searched his mind for a solution while keeping an eye on Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan¡¯s situation.

    Personally approaching them and showing them the way wouldn¡¯t be an option.

    After all, once he did that, he would expose himself to the truly powerful Dark Moon experts.

    If Ma Jiu or either of hispanions were to go after him, he would have a high chance of getting killed.

    The only way to get Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan out of the unfavorable situation without putting himself in danger would be to find a way to inform Pei Qiqi without attracting anyone else¡¯s attention.

    ¡°How will I be able to do that?¡± After pondering for a few moments, Nie Tian suddenly thought of the Heaven Eye that had been floating high above and observing Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this works!¡± He held his breath as he carefully manipted the invisible Heaven Eye to fly through gaps between numerous spatial rifts before finallying to a stop right above Pei Qiqi¡¯s head.

    He concentrated his psychic power and sent a thought to the Heaven Eye, hoping it could ry the message from his soul to Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi, Pei Qiqi, Pei Qiqi...¡± One after another, calls that originated from Nie Tian¡¯s soul spread out from within the Heaven Eye. Nie Tian prayed in his heart that Pei Qiqi would receive them.

    Nie Tian could only hope that the wisp of mysterious soul power in the Heaven Eye could make miracles happen.

    In the area where numerous spatial rifts were slithering in midair...

    Just as Pei Qiqi was growing anxious over the tough situation, a voice calling her name suddenly rang out from the depths of her heart.

    However, when she calmed herself and focused on listening, she couldn¡¯t hear anything.

    That was when she realized that it wasn¡¯t her ears that had received the call. It was her heart.

    Puzzled, Pei Qiqi unleashed her psychic power to scan the vicinity, and soon discovered that a mysterious cluster of psychic power was floating over her.

    Intrigued, she sent her psychic awareness to gradually infiltrate the psychic power cluster.

    When her psychic awareness entered the Heaven Eye and made contact with the wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul power that had originated from the fragmentary stars in his soul, a shudder ran through both her and Nie Tian.

    It seemed that at that moment, a profound and mysterious connection had been established between their souls.

 Chapter 259: Escaping A Difficult Situation

    A strange feeling hit Nie Tian the moment the wisp of Pei Qiqi¡¯s psychic power entered his Heaven Eye.

    In that split second, numerous emotions, including anxiety, impatience, and frustration, rushed out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s psychic awareness and into Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Nie Tian immediately saw through Pei Qiqi¡¯s mind.

    This unprecedented ability astonished Nie Tian to a great extent.

    Pei Qiqi, on the other hand, was struck by a feeling that someone was peeking into her mind and seeing through every feeling she was experiencing.

    The strange feeling made her both shocked and scared. It even made her hair stand on end.

    She felt that she waspletely exposed to the cluster of psychic power, and there was no way for her to hide her feelings, but she somehow had a feeling that it meant her no harm.

    After the connection was established between their minds, Nie Tian paid close attention as he waited for Pei Qiqi to respond.

    However, he felt nothing. Pei Qiqi, who was also at the Heaven stage, hadn¡¯t upgraded her psychic power to soul power yet, and thus wasn¡¯t able to conduct a soul-levelmunication with him.

    After a short period of fruitless waiting, Nie Tian realized Pei Qiqi might not be able tomunicate.

    Therefore, he sent another message via the Heaven Eye that had been floating over Pei Qiqi, ¡°This is Hua Tian.¡±

    As soon as the message was ryed by the Heaven Eye, Nie Tian immediately sensed strong fluctuations in Pei Qiqi¡¯s psychic awareness.

    Astonishment and confusion rushed out of the wisp of Pei Qiqi¡¯s psychic power.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that even though Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t respond to his thoughts, she was able to receive them.

    His new findings greatly lifted his spirit.

    Nie Tian exined his n to Pei Qiqi in detail via his Heaven Eye, ¡°I¡¯ve already taken out the Dark Moon members that were guarding the opening of the valley, and I¡¯ve dismantled the barriers they set up, so you won¡¯t run into any obstructions.

    ¡°You and Cai Yuan should evacuate through there as soon as possible. All you need to do is to use a few spatial rifts to stall Ma Jiu and his two sidekicks. Then, we¡¯ll be free to leave the valley and enter the vast open area where there are even more active spatial rifts.

    ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the opening of the valley.¡±

    He could clearly feel that Pei Qiqi was first shocked, puzzled, and surprised, and then gradually calmed down.

    Furthermore, since he could not only perceive Pei Qiqi¡¯s emotions via his Heaven Eye, but also detect the subtle changes of her facial expressions, Nie Tian realized that Pei Qiqi had epted his proposal.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian carefully controlled that Heaven Eye of his to fly away from Pei Qiqi.

    After all, arge number of spatial rifts were swimming in midair. Leaving his Heaven Eye there would be very dangerous.

    ording to his understanding, not only were those spatial rifts destructive to fleshy bodies, but they were also deadly to the intangible psychic awareness.

    As his Heaven Eye moved further away from Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian heard her decision, ¡°Let¡¯s break out of the blockade, Cai Yuan!¡±

    The young lord of the Blood Skull seemed surprised as he stared nkly at Pei Qiqi and asked, ¡°Break out? Where?¡±

    Pei Qiqi gave him a hint by shooting a nce at the opening of the mountain valley.

    ¡°That ce must be heavily guarded by Dark Moon experts. If we don¡¯t get past their blockade before Ma Jiu catches up to us...¡± Cai Yuan smiled bitterly. ¡°It won¡¯t work, Qiqi. We only need to hold on for a while longer, and our reinforcements will arrive.

    ¡°As soon as my Blood Skull brothers arrive, Ma Jiu and his Dark Moon minions will be the prey instead of the hunters!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s slender eyebrows furrowed as she exined, ¡°But I won¡¯t be able to hold on for two more days. As a matter of fact, if we continue to run and hide like this, I¡¯ll use up all my strength within a day. If ites down to that, we won¡¯t be able to hide ourselves among the spatial rifts, and if we choose toe out at that point, only death awaits us.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Cai Yuan¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he fell into silence.

    ¡°Trust me.¡± Pei Qiqi assumed an assertive tone.

    Cai Yuan nodded and said, ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll follow your lead and go wherever you go!¡±

    ¡°Good! Make sure you stay close to me at all times.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s ample chest rose as she took a deep breath. Then, she summoned her remaining strength to manipte a few spatial rifts that were slithering in her surroundings.

    In the next moment, a number of enormous spatial rifts, which were shining with bright light, changed from their original path, and their speed also elerated noticeably.

    Not far behind Pei Qiqi, Ma Jiu watched as the spatial rifts that were originally going to swamp her and Cai Yuan turned around and shot towards the three of them like interweaving lightning bolts.

    They hastily shifted their positions to avoid contact.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Pei Qiqi shouted as she dashed out from the belly of the mountain valley for the first time in ten days.

    Cai Yuan followed her as the two of them whizzed towards the opening of the valley like two shooting stars, one blue and the other ck.

    With a sinister smile on his face, Ma Jiu said to his two subordinates, ¡°Check this out! They¡¯ve finallye out!

    ¡°Pei Qiqi must be running out of strength. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have dared toe out of the spatial rift-filled area. It¡¯s time for us to reap our spoils, my brothers! Pei Qiqi and Cai Lan¡¯s little bastard. We¡¯ve hit gold this time!¡±

    Sinister excitement could be seen on Ma Jiu¡¯s subordinates¡¯ faces after they heard Ma Jiu¡¯s stimtive words.

    They were aware that the Dark Moon, as well as the Blood Skull and the Wild Fire, only awarded their members ording to their contributions in various operations. Both Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were very important figures in Shatter City.

    Capturing or killing those two would bring them more rewards than killing dozens of Greater Heaven stage experts in battle.

    The thought of being able to receive a substantial amount of spirit stones, high-grade spiritual tools, and precious medicinal pills that would help them ascend to the next stage made the two of them unable to contain their joy.

    Ma Jiu and his subordinates held their breaths as they meticulously lunged through the spaces between the spatial rifts that wereing at them.

    ¡°Stop them!¡± Ma Jiu shouted loudly towards the opening of the valley as he made his way through the spatial rifts.

    His voice was so resounding that it was even able to reach the most distant corners of the mountain valley, let alone the opening of the valley.

    Hiding behind a huge rock, Nie Tian yelled at the top of his lungs, ¡°Copy that!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± After hearing that someone had responded, Ma Jiu couldn¡¯t help butugh broadly and say, as he watched the increasingly distant Pei Qiqi from behind, ¡°Pei Qiqi, as smart as you think you are, you¡¯ve made the wrong choice in your moment of peril!

    ¡°You¡¯re still too young, and can¡¯t keep calm at crucial moments!

    ¡°I¡¯ve been intentionally driving you towards that opening. Did you really think I wouldn¡¯t deploy my main force to guard that opening, and would let you pass as you wish?¡±

    Ma Jiu sneered.

    From what he could tell, the moment Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan had decided toe out of their safe zone, they had be meat ready to be carved.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± At that moment, Cai Yuan, who was dashing at his maximum speed, recognized Nie Tian¡¯s voice.

    Since he had met and talked with Nie Tian before, he realized that it was Nie Tian¡¯s voice the moment he heard it.

    The fact that Nie Tian was calling out to them at the opening meant that no Dark Moon member was guarding that location.

    In the same way, Pei Qiqi also felt relieved after hearing Nie Tian¡¯s voice.

    Since the distance between the center and opening of the valley wasn¡¯t very far, and Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were dashing as fast as possible, they arrived within a short time.

    Ma Jiu and his two subordinates also paid close attention to the opening of the valley as they avoided the spatial rifts.

    However, to their surprise, the fierce battle they had been anticipating didn¡¯t ur. Without encountering any resistance, Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan shed from one huge rock to another before finally disappearing from their sight.

    As soon as Pei Qiqi arrived at the opening of the valley, she saw Nie Tian waiting there. Her bright eyes lit up as she slowed down said loudly, ¡°Come with us!

    ¡°You and Cai Yuan stay close beside me! Don¡¯t get separated from me by more than half a meter, or you¡¯ll be in danger!¡±

    Without waiting for Nie Tian to respond, she picked up her pace again and dashed forward.

    Not hesitating for a second, Nie Tian followed.

    Still trying to find his way out of the spatial rifts, Ma Jiu realized that something had gone wrong. ¡°No, something¡¯s wrong!¡±

    Ma Jiu let out a thunderous roar. ¡°Our blockade is no longer there! Everyone, after them! Don¡¯t let them get away!¡±

    Ma Jiu, who had been taking his time snaking through the spatial rifts, ignored the potential danger after realizing they were going to lose their target, and bolted straight through thework of spatial rifts.

    ZZZZZLA!

    His left shoulder and right waist touched two slithering spatial rifts, and bloody wounds were immediately cut open.

    Ma Jiu bore the pain and urged his two subordinates, ¡°Come on! Get out of there now! We can¡¯t let them leave the valley!¡±

    Those two snapped out of their reverie of receiving handsome awards after returning to their headquarters. They also broke out of the spatial rift-filled area after sustaining a few injuries.

    Covered in blood, Ma Jiu shouted, ¡°Go and get them!¡±

 Chapter 260: Surviving

    Pei Qiqi led Nie Tian and Cai Yuan as the three of them marched forward into a vast area filled with numerous spatial rifts.

    Unlike the central area of the mountain valley, it was a in that stretched as far as the eye could see, and was filled with hundreds of spatial rifts.

    Even Pei Qiqi, who was a master of spatial magics, moved among the densely-packed spatial rifts with extreme caution.

    Meanwhile, hundreds of meters behind them, Ma Jiu and the other Dark Moon experts were following them relentlessly. Even though every one of them had strong killing intent in their eyes, they marched at a very slow speed.

    Not only that, as they marched further and further into the in, their speed became slower and slower.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Several spatial rifts whizzed past Nie Tian. One of them came only several inches from touching Nie Tian¡¯s skin.

    Pei Qiqi looked over her shoulder from time to time to make sure Nie Tian and Cai Yuan stayed close enough to her.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    With every step Nie Tian took, crisp sounds echoed out from within a leather pouch that hung at his waist.

    After a while, Cai Yuan finally couldn¡¯t resist his curiosity and asked, ¡°What¡¯s in there? Why do you keep it in that pouch instead of your bracelet of holding?¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled and said, ¡°I can¡¯t store other storage spiritual tools in my bracelet of holding, can I?¡±

    Cai Yuan¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°Storage spiritual tools? All of them?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t utter a word, but rather grabbed the rather sizable leather pouch and opened it under Cai Yuan¡¯s gaze.

    With a quick nce, Cai Yuan found, to his surprise, that there were more than a dozen bracelets of holding inside the pouch, which meant Nie Tian had killed that many Qi warriors.

    Cai Yuan thought for a moment and asked, ¡°All of them belonged to Dark Moon members?¡±

    When he and Pei Qiqi had rushed to the opening of the mountain valley earlier, they hadn¡¯t seen a single Dark Moon member, no one but Nie Tian.

    That had confused him.

    Back when he and Pei Qiqi had been discovered by Ma Jiu and the other Dark Moon members, he had heard Ma Jiu ordering his men to spread out and seal the entire mountain valley.

    It was because both he and Pei Qiqi had been aware that the opening of the valley would be heavily guarded that they hadn¡¯t dared to break through the blockade there.

    However, due to Pei Qiqi¡¯s insistence, he had agreed to make a run for it, even though he had prepared himself for strong resistance.

    He had never expected that he would see Nie Tian standing alone at the opening of the valley.

    The bracelets of holding made Cai Yuan understand why Nie Tian was there by himself, and why Pei Qiqi had suddenly decided to take such a huge risk by abandoning their natural protection.

    ¡°Most of them, yeah.¡± Nie Tian answered with a in tone.

    At that moment, even Pei Qiqi, who was navigating by the movement of the spatial rifts, couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at Nie Tian.

    Both Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan had shock and confusion in their eyes.

    They were well-aware that other than the three Dark Moon members who had been chasing after them, all the others were at the Heaven stage.

    They couldn¡¯t figure out how Nie Tian had managed to kill more than a dozen Heaven stage experts.

    ¡°Maybe I should tell you that I¡¯ve entered the Heaven stage,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    ¡°But you¡¯re still at the early Heaven stage...¡± Apparently, Nie Tian¡¯s answer didn¡¯t resolve Cai Yuan¡¯s confusion. ¡°Even though you¡¯re now at the early Heaven stage, I¡¯ve never heard of a man that could kill that many cultivators at his level or at a higher level, no matter what method he used.¡±

    Cai Yuan was aware that only a handful of those Dark Moon members were at the early Heaven stage.

    The fact that Nie Tian had such arge number of bracelets of holding meant that some of the middle or evente Heaven stage members had also died by Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    He couldn¡¯t help but marvel at Nie Tian¡¯s monstrous achievement.

    Eyebrows knit together, Cai Yuan stared at Nie Tian, his gaze somewhat strange.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi was also secretly shocked.

    The first time she had met Nie Tian, she had only taken him as a rtive of Hua Mu¡¯s who had messed up in another realm.

    She hadn¡¯t assumed Nie Tian was anything different from other men his age, and that was why she had dumped him on Li Ye the moment Hua Mu had left.

    Even though their recent trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range had made her change her view of Nie Tian, she only considered him to be a young man who had an outstanding physique.

    Since his cultivation base and knowledge regarding equipment forging was still very limited, she didn¡¯t attach much importance to him.

    However, this was different.

    She couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the fact that Nie Tian had killed numerous Dark Moon experts at his level and of a higher level under circumstances where his superior physical strength would be next to useless.

    After all, she had engaged in countless fierce battles with experts from the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire, and she knew that every one of them had exceptional skills.

    None of them would be any weaker than the disciples of powerful sects in the other realms.

    She also knew that the reason why she was able to easily kill cultivators at her level or of a higher level in the Void Illusion Mountain Range was that she was an expert in spatial magics.

    However, Nie Tian obviously didn¡¯t know a single thing about spatial magics. Yet, his battle prowess was equally formidable. She wracked her brain, but couldn¡¯t find an exnation for it.

    Cai Yuan looked at Nie Tian and said without blinking, ¡°Hua Tian, if you want, I can trade the spoils you¡¯ve looted from the Dark Moon experts for you after we return to Shatter City. I can assure you that you¡¯ll get the most spirit stones in return this way.¡±

    After a brief halt, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Cai Yuan¡¯s mouth as he continued, ¡°Not only that, I¡¯ll make sure that the Blood Skull reward you for your contribution. By killing members of the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire, you¡¯ve weakened our enemies¡¯ strength. It¡¯s only right that we reward such actions.¡±

    ¡°I can get additional rewards by killing members of the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire?¡± Nie Tian sounded surprised.

    Cai Yuan nodded. ¡°The Dark Moon and the Wild Fire are our only true enemies in the Realm of Split Void. Every death on their part would mean a slight edge on our part. When we¡¯ve built our edge to a certain extent, we¡¯ll wage wars and destroy them. Then, we¡¯ll annex Ash City and the Land of the Abandoned.

    ¡°All of our efforts have been for this one goal.¡±

    After a brief pause, he continued, ¡°After we return to our headquarters, I¡¯ll make some arrangements, and get you a guest elder identity medallion.

    ¡°With that in your hand, you¡¯ll be like an informal member of the Blood Skull. You won¡¯t have to take orders from us, but everything you loot from your Wild Fire or Dark Moon victims will be traded in at a rate that¡¯s twenty percent higher than the market rate.

    ¡°Other than that, you¡¯ll be allowed to take part in our contribution system, and trade your contribution points for spirit stones, spiritual materials, and spiritual tools.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nced at Nie Tian and said with a in tone, ¡°That¡¯s quite a generous offer. Bing a guest elder of the Blood Skull doesn¡¯t mean you have to fight for them. They¡¯d need to ask for your consent to include you in their operations, but you¡¯ll have the right to refuse.

    ¡°Of course, if you agree to take on their missions, you¡¯ll be rewarded ordingly.

    ¡°Very few people can have that honor and be the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders. Therefore, Cai Yuan must have respect for you and admire yourpetence to make you such an offer.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, many thanks.¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    Cai Yuan went on and exined, ¡°However, there are some major differences between formal members of the Blood Skull and guest elders. For example, formal members don¡¯t have to pay for their stay in Shatter City, and they are free to use our inter-spatial teleportation portals to travel to the Void Illusion Mountain Range or even other realms.

    ¡°Since guest elders are basically unbound by any obligations, they don¡¯t enjoy these rights.

    ¡°If you want to be a formal member of the Blood Skull, I¡¯ll make arrangements for that as well. It won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    ¡°No, he can¡¯t join the Blood Skull,¡± Pei Qiqi frowned and replied on Nie Tian¡¯s behalf. ¡°Someone entrusted him to me.¡±

    ¡°Alright then," Cai Yuan said with a shrug.

 Chapter 261: A Secret Stronghold

    In a notoriously deadly area of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, where even the strongest spirit beasts didn¡¯t dare to enter...

    It had already been three days since Ma Jiu had led his men into the area to chase after Pei Qiqi, Cai Yuan, and Nie Tian. Their eager pursuit had caused them a few casualties.

    Even still, Nie Tian and his group had gradually disappeared from their sight.

    After spending an enormous amount of mental and physical effort, Pei Qiqi finally led Nie Tian and Cai Yuan through the area where no sign of life was seen.

    Pei Qiqi let out a sigh of relief and said to Cai Yuan, her voice filled with exhaustion, ¡°You¡¯ll have to lead the way for us from now on. We need to find a secluded ce that¡¯s out of Ma Jiu¡¯s reach to recover our strength as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°No problem, Qiqi.¡± Cai Yuan assured her. ¡°You¡¯ve shouldered the burden for so long. Leave the rest to me.¡±

    Having fought in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for years, Cai Yuan knew itsplicated terrain like the back of his hand, so he was obviously a much better choice for a guide than Pei Qiqi.

    Following his lead, the three of them marched through a few mountain valleys towards the direction of the Blood Skull¡¯s base.

    By sundown, Cai Yuan led them to a ce that was halfway up a short mountain. As he cast a secret spell, a stone gate opened, leading them into a spacious stone room.

    As soon as they entered, Cai Yuan seemedpletely relieved as he said, ¡°This is one of our secret strongholds in the mountain range.¡±

    He took out and ced some fruits, cooked meat, and water from his ring of holding on a stone table in the middle of the stone room.

    Without saying any pleasantries to Cai Yuan, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi sat down at the table and started munching.

    While eating, Nie Tian kept ncing around, and found that not only was the stone room quite spacious, but there was also a special spiritual power ward sealing it from the outside world, which even his Heaven Eye couldn¡¯t see through.

    Cai Yuan noticed Nie Tian¡¯s curious gaze, and thus exined to him, ¡°This stone stronghold was set up by one of our Worldly realm experts. Not only is itpletely soundproof, but it also can¡¯t be detected by psychic awareness. Even if Qi warriors were searching in the vicinity, as long as their cultivation bases aren¡¯t higher than his, they won¡¯t be able to discover this ce with their psychic awareness.

    ¡°Ma Jiu is only at thete Greater Heaven stage, so there¡¯s no way he¡¯ll find us here, not even if he tracked us to this mountain.¡±

    With those words, Cai Yuan rose to his feet and began to set up a delicate, miniature spell formation in a corner of the room.

    Nie Tian watched him with a curious gaze and found that, after finishing setting up the spell formation, his lips began to move subtly, as if he were whispering something into the spell formation.

    After a short while, Cai Yuan stepped back to the table and with a broad smile, he said, ¡°It¡¯s done. I¡¯ve informed my Blood Skull brothers of our location. Reinforcements are on the way.¡±

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What¡¯s that spell formation?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s simr to a Sound Stone.¡± Since Cai Yuan was in a good mood, he borated to Nie Tian, ¡°Sound Stones are very convenient to carry around, but the coverage of their signals is very limited. As for that spell formation, it¡¯s like an upgraded version of a Sound Stone; the signal covers the entire Void Illusion Mountain Range. Therefore, I can use it tomunicate with men at our base.

    ¡°However, one of its major downsides is that it can¡¯t be stored in a storage spiritual tool.¡±

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi, who was taking small, graceful bites of a fruit even though she was famished, jumped in and said, ¡°Cai Yuan, Hu Han has exposed the location of my teleportation portal. I need to find a new location to set it up again. Since you know every inch of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, can you help me with that?¡±

    Cai Yuan didn¡¯t even think before promising, ¡°Consider it done!¡±

    Nie Tian seemed puzzled as he asked, ¡°Are there any special requirements regarding the location of a teleportation portal?¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, as if she was annoyed by his strong, unwitting curiosity.

    After noticing her disdainful gaze, Nie Tian rubbed his nose and said with an embarrassed smile, ¡°I¡¯m new to the Realm of Split Void, so it¡¯s understandable that I don¡¯t know certain things.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s true. After all, the Realm of Split Void is different from the other nine realms.¡± Cai Yuan seemed rather acquainted with Nie Tian as he took the initiative to exin to him, ¡°Normally, there aren¡¯t any special requirements to find a location to set up a teleportation portal. For example, technically, the inter-spatial teleportation portal in Shatter City can be set up anywhere within the city.

    ¡°The only reason it was set up in the central square was to make it easy for its users, so that people from every corner of the city can get to it fairly easily.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s different within the Void Illusion Mountain Range

    ¡°In here, there are too many spatial rifts here, and the fluctuations of spatial energy are also very unstable. Therefore, not only is it very hard to set up a teleportation portal here, but a suitable location also needs to be selected.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like Qiqi can take all the necessary materials and set it up in a random location. It doesn¡¯t work like that.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t have the time to chit chat with you two. I need to recover my strength as soon as possible.¡± After eating nothing but a few fruits, Pei Qiqi moved to a distant location in the stone room, where she sat down and began to recover her spiritual and psychic power with medicinal pills and spirit stones.

    ¡°Okay, Hua Tian, if there¡¯s anything you¡¯d like to know, we can talk after we get our strength back.¡± With those words, Cai Yuan also found a ce to sit down and start cultivating.

    After seeing both of them recuperating silently, Nie Tian quietly cleaned out every bit of food and water left on the table. Only then did he begin to recover his strength with spirit stones.

    During the process, he gradually had a feeling that the fruits and meat he had just consumed contained rich energy, as he could feel wisps of flesh power being generated in his stomach, which soon spread to every muscle and bone in his body.

    That was when he realized that the food Cai Yuan had provided didn¡¯t consist of ordinary fruits and meat.

    Even though he had killed more than a dozen Dark Moon experts, the strength he had consumed was far less than Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan, who had drained their spiritual seas.

    Hence, he recovered faster than the other two.

    When he felt that his spiritual sea was brimming with spiritual power and he was full of spirit, he found that both Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were still in the middle of their cultivation. From the look of it, they wouldn¡¯t wake up within a short time.

    Slightly bored, he grabbed his leather pouch from his waist and poured out all the bracelets of holding inside before he emptied them on the stone floor.

    Momentster, a substantial amount of spiritual materials, spirit stones, and medicinal pills piled up in front of him.

    Then, he took out the ring of holding he had looted from Yang Ling from within his inner garment pocket, and stored all the spirit stones and spirit jades in it.

    As he did, he counted 7,000 spirit stones and 13 spirit jades.

    Those Heaven stage cultivators must have prepared those spirit jades for their future breakthroughs.

    Afterwards, he picked out and put away all the fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials in his ring of holding.

    To his surprise, he also discovered eight peculiar rocks that contained star power within the pile of items.

    They were all grayish-brown and surprisingly heavy, with bright sparks shining inside.

    Since all of them came from one bracelet of holding, Nie Tian wondered how that Qi warrior had obtained them. Nevertheless, it was his lucky day to gain such a rare fortune.

    Then, he singled out a handful of rtively high-level fire-attributed and wood-attributed spell scrolls from the pile and stored them away.

    Finally, he selected and added a few medicinal pills that could help him temper his fleshy and psychic strength to his ring of holding.

    After onest check, he was certain that there wasn¡¯t anything he needed left in the pile of items.

    Then, he went on and stored everything on the floor within some of the bracelets of holding, as he prepared to entrust Cai Yuan to convert them into spirit stones.

    As Nie Tian examined the valuables inside his ring of holding with a wisp of psychic awareness, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and a feeling that he had finally be rich rose from the bottom of his heart. ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range indeed is a Blessed Land for me!¡±

    He believed that with such arge amount of spirit stones in his possession, he would be able to live any sort of life he wanted in Shatter City for a long time. His former spirit stone shortage would no longer be an issue.

    While he was feelingcent with himself, Pei Qiqi awoke from her cultivation.

    Watching him sort through the bracelets of holding with a face filled with smiles, Pei Qiqi said with a disdainful tone, ¡°Petty man.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian blurted with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°Adding every spirit stone, spiritual material, medicinal pill, and spell scroll together, it won¡¯t be worth more than 30,000 spirit stones,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a taunting tone. ¡°It¡¯s only barely enough for Li Ye to gather the materials and forge a Premium grade spiritual tool that suits you.¡±

    ¡°A Premium grade spiritual tool that suits me!¡± A thought was born in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

 Chapter 262: A Helping Hand

    Ever since he was a boy, Nie Tian had learned that a suitable spiritual tool could greatly enhance a Qi warrior¡¯s battle prowess.

    Later, the appearance of the me Dragon Armor had further proved this point.

    However, other than the me Dragon Armor, he hadn¡¯te across another spiritual tool that truly agreed with him.

    He had won every battle by only relying on the secret magics he had learned from the mysteriousnd and his shockingly sturdy physique.

    He was convinced that if he could find a spiritual tool thatpletely agreed with him, his battle prowess would rise to a whole other level.

    Even though the me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool that had unparalleled power, he currently didn¡¯t have the ability to wear it.

    More importantly, the me Dragon Armor was too eye-catching. If he used it in battle but failed to kill his opponents, its whereabouts would be exposed, along with Nie Tian¡¯s identity.

    If it came down to that, powerful experts from both the me God Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect would flood the Realm of Split Void, and strip him of his me Dragon Armor and two fragmentary star marks.

    Therefore, he currently didn¡¯t have a single suitable spiritual tool that he could use.

    It was hard to say if Pei Qiqi had meant to taunt him or remind him. Nheless, Nie Tian felt suddenly enlightened. ¡°A Premium grade spiritual tool...¡±

    In the next moment, Nie Tian looked at Pei Qiqi, his eyes filled with confusion, as he asked, ¡°Is Li Ye capable of forging Premium grade spiritual tools?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Yeah. He sessfully forged a Premium grade spiritual tool right before I came here. He¡¯s joined the ranks of Premium grade equipment forgers.¡±

    ¡°Premium grade equipment forger!¡± Nie Tian was shocked by her words.

    All the best equipment forgers in the Realm of me Heaven who were able to forge Premium grade spiritual tools were in the Spiritual Treasure sect.

    Gan Kang¡¯s identity as a Premium grade equipment forger was why he had dared to do whatever he wanted and press An Shiyi to marry him.

    It was also why, after the Spiritual Treasure sect¡¯s incident, the me God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworld made a very generous offer to him.

    For any sect or force, Premium grade equipment forgers were extremely important resources.

    It was hard to believe that Li Ye could rise to such a high level at such a young age. His equipment forging talent was utterly amazing.

    Pei Qiqi continued, ¡°If you want to have a Premium grade spiritual tool custom-made for you, you¡¯ll have to pay a very high price, much higher than the price of the Premium grade spiritual tools you can purchase from the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    Then, Pei Qiqi nced at Nie Tian, and realized that he might not be familiar with the spiritual tool market. Thus, she exined, ¡°There are many shops in Shatter City that sell spiritual tools, and quite a few of them have Premium grade spiritual tools for sale.

    ¡°Most of them go for ten thousand spirit stones, give or take.

    ¡°However, with those kind of Premium grade spiritual tools, even if they match the buyers¡¯ cultivation attributes, they won¡¯t be able to disy their ultimate might.

    ¡°More often than not, those Premium grade spiritual tools were originally custom-made for someone else, and after that person died, they drifted to Shatter City after several transactions.

    ¡°Therefore, a Premium grade spiritual tool of that kind is usually worth around ten thousand spirit stones.¡±

    After a pause, she added, ¡°On the other hand, if you want a Premium grade equipment forger to customize a Premium grade spiritual tool that matches your cultivation attribute, as well as your physical and psychic traits, it would, at the very least, be triple that price.

    ¡°So if you want Li Ye to customize one for you, you¡¯d have to pay him with everything you¡¯ve obtained in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and that¡¯s already a discounted price, since you¡¯re his friend.

    ¡°Not to mention that it won¡¯t be a guaranteed sess.

    ¡°It¡¯s just funny to see howcent you are with yourself after acquiring such a puny amount of wealth.¡± Pei Qiqi said with a cold smile.

    After hearing her words, Nie Tian forced a smile and stuffed all the bracelets of holding back into his leather pouch, saying, ¡°I seems that I need to kill more powerful Dark Moon experts.¡±

    Pei Qiqi snorted disdainfully and didn¡¯t say a word. She took out a few Space Spirit Jades and started working on a delicate spell formation.

    She held one Space Spirit Jade in her hand, and wisps of spiritual power began to flow out of her fingertips and seep into the Space Spirit Jade. They swam inside of the jade as if they were engraving tiny but detailed spell formations.

    Off to the side, Cai Yuan was still recuperating with his eyes clenched. There were no signs of him awakening.

    ¡°She consumed more strength than Cai Yuan, but somehow recovered much faster than him.¡± Nie Tian watched Pei Qiqi with a measuring gaze, as he felt that she was a girl veiled by numerous mysteries.

    Seeing that both Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were busy with their own business, Nie Tian took out more spirit stones and concentrated on another session of cultivation.

    After all, now that he had entered the Heaven stage, he could conduct new rounds of expansion and refinement to his spiritual sea.

    His original n had been to devote all his time and efforts to studying the profound knowledge recorded within the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation after ascending to the Heaven stage.

    However, considering that Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were in the same stone room as him, he was afraid that they would pick up some clues if he studied it now. Thus, he could only postpone it.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    After an unknown period of time, gentle knocking sounds rang out from the gate of the stone room.

    Cai Yuan immediately sprang to his feet and spoke, while his eyes shone with the light of excitement, ¡°Our reinforcements are here!¡±

    Before Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian could react, he had already rushed to the entrance, raised the spiritual power ward, and opened the gate.

    ¡°Young Lord!¡±

    ¡°Little Lord!¡±

    ¡°Lord Cai!¡±

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    The moment the gate was opened, numerous calls echoed into the originally silent stone room, among which Nie Tian recognized Zhao Feng and Wang Zhuo¡¯s voice.

    Thest call that entered Nie Tian¡¯s ears sounded familiar too. After a brief search in his mind, he realized that it was Cai Yue¡¯s voice, whom he had met at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Just as both Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian cast wondering gazes towards the entrance to the stone room, Cai Yuan reached out with one hand and stopped the Blood Skull members from entering, saying, ¡°We¡¯reing out. Wait for us at the foot of the mountain.¡±

    With those words, he turned to look at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    After receiving his beckon, the two of them stepped out of the secret stone room and followed Cai Yuan to the foot of the mountain, where approximately ten Blood Skull members were waiting.

    Aside from Wang Zhuo and Zhao Feng, Nie Tian also identified Shi Qing in the crowd, who was standing next to Cai Yue, as it seemed that he was here to protect her.

    Amongst the crowd of Blood Skull members, there was only e Greater Heaven stage expert, whose name was Gu Yu, themander of the Blood Skull¡¯s branch in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. All the others were at the Heaven stage.

    ¡°Greetings, Miss Pei.¡± Upon seeing Pei Qiqi, many Blood Skull members cast respectful gazes towards her.

    Only Cai Yuan¡¯s sister, Cai Yue, looked rather sullen, as if she was very displeased to see Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°I knew it!¡± Cai Yue thought. ¡°It¡¯s all because of this woman. Otherwise, my brother wouldn¡¯t have risked his own life and acted so rashly!¡± Anger filled Cai Yue¡¯s face as she stared at Pei Qiqi without saying a word, as if she was going to march over and denounce her in front of everyone in the next moment.

    She knew that her brother had always admired and liked Pei Qiqi, and repeatedly put himself in danger to protect her.

    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Cai Yuan was resourceful and lucky, he would have been killed years ago.

    For that reason, Cai Yue had sought out Pei Qiqi to reason with her more than once. Every time, it would escte into a squabble, and would onlye to an end after elders from the Blood Skull showed up to intermediate.

    Seeing that Cai Yuan was unscathed, Gu Yu assumed that it was thanks to Pei Qiqi and her expertise in spatial magics. ¡°Thank you, Miss Pei,¡± he said.

    ¡°The Dark Moon has been quite active recently.¡± Shi Qing said with a frown. ¡°It appears they didn¡¯t learn their lesson from ourst confrontation. I¡¯ve already arranged for our brothers to search for Ma Jiu in this region. They¡¯ll inform me the moment they find their trail.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, we have to strike back even though you¡¯re fine!¡± Gu Yu said with great determination in his tone.

    Since they all knew Pei Qiqi was a master of spatial magics and how powerful she could be in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, they naturally assumed it was Pei Qiqi who had killed a number of Dark Moon members and kept Cai Yuan safe.

    Not a single one of them paid much attention to Nie Tian, including Shi Qing and Cai Yue, who had met him before.

    Shi Qing was the only one who greeted Nie Tian by nodding briefly toward him, before he rapidly joined everyone else as they gathered around Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan, asking about what had happened.

    Surrounded by people, Pei Qiqi, who had remained silent the whole time, said with a in tone, ¡°Actually, it was thanks to Hua Tian that we escaped from those Dark Moon people.¡±

    Cai Yuan nodded. ¡°She¡¯s right.¡±

    Only after hearing those words did everyone turn to look Nie Tian up and down with confused gazes.

 Chapter 263: Identity Medallion for A Guest Elder

    ¡°Hua Tian?¡± Although Shi Qing and Cai Yue had both met Nie Tian before at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, their only impression of him was no more than a peculiar young man who had somehow upset the spiritual energy in the Lesser Heaven cultivation rooms.

    Neither of them took Nie Tian as a resourceful andpetent man.

    Therefore, they had never attached much importance to him.

    However, Wang Zhuo and Zhao Feng had recently witnessed Nie Tian beat enemies in battle, so they didn¡¯t seemed very surprised.

    All the other Blood Skull experts, including Gu Yu, hadn¡¯t even heard of Nie Tian before. Thus, it was only natural that they seemed rather confused.

    What could an early Heaven stage young man possibly rely on to rescue Pei Qiqi, who was known as a supreme fighter in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and their young lord?

    Under everyone¡¯s gazes, Nie Tian seemed surprisingly calm. He shrugged and said with a modest tone, ¡°Actually, I only did what I could, which was next to nothing.¡±

    Cai Yuan chuckled, as he didn¡¯t intend to give a further exnation. Rather, he turned to Gu Yu and asked, ¡°Uncle Gu, do you have an identity medallion for a guest elder on you?¡±

    Gu Yu went nk for a brief moment before taking out an identity medallion and handing it to him. ¡°What do you need it for?¡±

    Cai Yuan grabbed themand medallion and took a deep breath. Then, with a solemn expression on his face, he presented it to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Hua Tian, as the young lord of the Blood Skull, I officially offer you the position of a guest elder of the Blood Skull. Here¡¯s your identity medallion. It¡¯s a token of your status!¡±

    After seeing Cai Yuan make such a earnest offer, all of the Blood Skull members¡¯ expressions flickered.

    Normally, the Blood Skull had rules regarding making someone their guest elder. A strict assessment of the candidate was usually mandatory.

    In the Blood Skull¡¯s eyes, they would only give such an honor to truly powerful figures, who they deemed they couldn¡¯t afford to offend and wanted to draw to their side.

    Up to this day, they had never invited an early Heaven stage Qi warrior to be their guest elder.

    Nie Tian was an exception.

    If it weren¡¯t Cai Yuan, who had presented the identity medallion to Nie Tian, Gu Yu and Shi Qing might have already stepped in and interrupted.

    However, both Gu Yu and Shi Qing ced great trust and respect in Cai Yuan, and believed that his decisions were usually well-founded, except when they involved Pei Qiqi.

    Cai Yuan must have his reasons.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Nie Tian took the identity medallion and, under everyone¡¯s gaze, put it away without even taking a close look at it.

    ¡°Great! We¡¯re on the same boat now.¡± Cai Yuan smiled and turned to Gu Yu, saying, ¡°The targets of this Dark Moon operation were Qiqi and her teleportation portal.¡±

    He went on to exin the situation to Gu Yu and Shi Qing in detail, but he downyed the part where they had escaped from Ma Jiu and his men.

    ¡°The Dark Moon sent many of their best warriors to kill us,¡± Cai Yuan said with a smile. ¡°Yet, not only did they return empty-handed, they¡¯ve even lost quite a few of their own. Uncle Gu, I deem that now that you¡¯re here, we might as well give them a lesson they won¡¯t forget! They deserve our counterattack for making such a move on me and Qiqi!¡±

    Gu Yu nodded and agreed, ¡°We definitely can¡¯t just pretend it didn¡¯t happen.¡±

    Afterwards, Gu Yu, Shi Qing, and Cai Yuan had a private discussion regarding their operation against the Dark Moon.

    As they did, Gu Yu took out a Sound Stone andmunicated with the Blood Skull members he had sent to search for Ma Jiu and his Dark Moon members, telling them to report back as soon as they found anything.

    Since Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t participate in the discussion, they nced around with bored expressions on their faces.

    At that moment, Cai Yue, who was dressed as a young man, quietly approached Pei Qiqi, and whispered to her while staring into her eyes, ¡°It¡¯s because of you again! Otherwise, my brother wouldn¡¯t have been trapped in such a perilous situation! How many times have you put him in danger already? If my brother ever gets hurt because of you again, I won¡¯t let you off!¡±

    Cai Yue unleashed her protest so fiercely that she looked like a baby tiger, baring fangs and brandishing ws towards Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi, however, raised her chin to look up into the sky, showing her slender, jade-like neck, but didn¡¯t utter a word. She treated Cai Yue like nothing more than air.

    Seeing Pei Qiqi give no response, Cai Yue became even angrier, but she was aware that she actually couldn¡¯t do anything to her.

    Rage burning in her heart, Cai Yue shifted her gaze and saw Nie Tian, who was staring at her from the side, as if he was enjoying a show.

    ¡°What are you looking at!?¡± Immediately, she made Nie Tian her target. ¡°Our business isn¡¯t over yet! It was because you stole spiritual Qi from my cultivation room and undermined my cultivation that I failed to enter the Heaven stage ording to my schedule. And because of that, they won¡¯t allow me to join their operations in the Void Illusion Mountain Range!

    ¡°How do you intend topensate me for causing me so much trouble?¡±

    Nie Tian was confused as to how he was involved as he asked, ¡°What?! Didn¡¯t I pay extra spirit stones? What do I have to do with the fact that you haven¡¯t entered the Heaven stage?¡±

    ¡°Say what you may, it¡¯s because of you!¡± Cai Yue said in a arbitrary fashion.

    Upon hearing their conversation, Pei Qiqi, who was still looking up, shot a curious nce at Nie Tian while one of her eyebrows rose.

    Nie Tian frowned, as he was tired of Cai Yue¡¯s rudeness and unreasonability. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Just as Cai Yue was going to open her mouth, Gu Yu¡¯s frustrated voice rang out, ¡°Our men encountered a few Shatter City residents who they said they saw a band of Dark Moon members rushing back to their base.¡±

    Gu Yu let out a snort and continued, ¡°Those cowards only dare to act stealthily. They probably knew we wereing and thus retreated.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, now that they¡¯ve returned to their nest, there¡¯s really not much we can do.¡± Shi Qing said with a grim face.

    At that moment, Nie Tian said with a casual tone from the side, ¡°Don¡¯t you know the location of their base? Why don¡¯t we march over there and eliminate them?¡±

    Upon hearing hisments, many Blood Skull members rolled their eyes at him, as if he was a fool.

    Cai Yuan, however, knew that Nie Tian was new to the Realm of Split Void and didn¡¯t understand certain things, so he exined to Nie Tian with a smile, ¡°Hua Tian, just like us, the Dark Moon also has a teleportation portal in their base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, through which they can bring in powerful experts from their headquarters in the Land of the Abandoned at any time.

    ¡°Therefore, they¡¯ll be able to deploy heavy forces to defend their base once we attack it.

    ¡°By that time, I¡¯m afraid, with the men we have, we won¡¯t even be able to make it back alive.¡±

    After hearing those words, Nie Tian felt enlightened. He nodded and admitted he hadn¡¯t been aware of that.

    ¡°Actually, It¡¯s not totally impossible.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice echoed out. ¡°I recently made a breakthrough in my mastery of spatial magics. With the copious amount of Space Spirit Jades I¡¯ve obtainedtely, I think I can shut down their teleportation portal for some time.

    ¡°Thus, we¡¯ll be able to wipe them out during that period of time. There won¡¯t be a problem as long as we get out of there before their teleportation portal turns back on.¡±

    Like a sharp razor, a cold light shot out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s glittering eyes, which were as bright as stars.

    Upon seeing Pei Qiqi¡¯s gaze, everyone present knew that Pei Qiqi had truly been angered by the Dark Moon, and she was determined to go all-out to fight them.

    Cai Yuan took the initiative to state his stance on the matter by saying to Shi Qing and Gu Yu, ¡°I think this is doable! Their force in the Void Illusion Mountain Range just suffered a significant loss. We have the upper hand now. Plus, if we act fast enough, we may catch up to Ma Jiu and his men before they can return to their base, and kill them while they¡¯re exhausted and weak.

    ¡°Then, we can have Qiqi shut down their teleportation portal while we take out every single one of them within their base. After that, we withdraw.¡±

    ¡°Big brother, you¡¯re being stupid again!¡± Cai Yue called out.

    Gu Yu pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Shi Qing with a beckoning gaze. ¡°What do you say, Brother Shi?¡±

    Shi Qing hesitated as he turned to Pei Qiqi and asked with a serious tone, ¡°Miss Pei, do you have confidence that you¡¯ll be able to shut down their teleportation portal for some time?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded in reply.

    Shi Qing took a deep breath and said to Gu Yu, ¡°I reckon it¡¯s worth a shot.¡±

    Gu Yuughed out loud and said, ¡°Good! The hunt is on, Dark Moon cowards! With Miss Pei¡¯s help, we¡¯ll march on the Dark Moon¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and burn it to the ground!¡±

    Inspired by Gu Yu¡¯s words, every Blood Skull member showed soaring fighting spirit.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 264: The Greedy Aura

    Two days passed, and it was deep into the night...

    Water-like moonlight and diamond-like stars decorated the night sky.

    A band of Blood Skull experts were sitting on the ground among numerous oddly-shaped, huge rocks.

    After marching for two days straight, many of them had consumed a significant amount of spiritual power, and thus had to stop to recover with spirit stones.

    The poisonous spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth filled every corner of the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Fortunately, since every Blood Skull member had their own protective spiritual tool, they didn¡¯t have to worry about it.

    However, every one of them had spent an enormous amount of spiritual power traveling at a high speed, hoping to catch up to Ma Jiu and his men and raid their base within the shortest time possible.

    The higher their cultivation base, the less spiritual power they consumed, therefore the easier it was for them to recover.

    All the Heaven stage Blood Skull members spent a long time replenishing their spiritual power with spirit stones.

    Dressed in simple yet pretty blue battle garments, Pei Qiqi was sitting with her back against arge rock, looking at the vast starry sky, her mind drifting away.

    Showered in bright, silky moonlight, her jade-like skin seemed to be wreathed in a shimmering, precious luster.

    It was like a beautiful, painted scroll that was emanating an enigmatic power.

    Several meters away, Cai Yuan, who was talking to his sister in a soft voice, couldn¡¯t help but shoot a nce towards her. Infatuation could be seen in his eyes as his gazended on Pei Qiqi¡¯s desirable physique.

    Cai Yue, however, glowered at him, hating him for being so vulnerable to Pei Qiqi¡¯s charisma.

    In her eyes, her brother was without doubt the most talented young man in Shatter City, or even the entire Realm of Split Void.

    Ever since she was a little girl, she had admired her brother, and wanted to temper her battle prowess in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and win the respect of the Blood Skull elders like her brother had.

    However, since she was a girl, her father, Cai Lan, had never had the heart to let her do that, and thus ordered her to stay in Shatter City at all times.

    Even if she acted on her own and went to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, powerful experts would always be there to apany her in case she encountered danger.

    She was so envious of her brother¡¯s life that she even dressed herself as a boy on most asions.

    Therefore, seeing her precious big brother repeatedly risk his own life to save Pei Qiqi, she felt as if someone had pierced her heart with a knife.

    She believed that it was because of this woman that her brother was no longer wless.

    Cai Yue pursed her lips and said with a disdainful expression on her face, ¡°What do you see in her, big brother? She¡¯s nothing but a woman who¡¯s a bit good-looking and knows some spatial magics.

    ¡°She¡¯s got a terrible temper; she doesn¡¯t get along with people and she won¡¯t make a virtuous wife. Why do you like a woman like her?¡±

    Cai Yuan fondled her hair in a doting fashion and said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re still a kid. You don¡¯t understand.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s there to understand?¡± Cai Yue let out a snort as she pushed away his hand and said angrily, ¡°I¡¯m already a grown-up! I¡¯ll soon enter the Heaven stage and be at the same level as you. Don¡¯t you take me as a child! I know everything! That woman ys her little games with you just because you¡¯re the young lord of the Blood Skull; she wants to use you!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that.¡± Cai Yuan¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as he said, ¡°She¡¯s never asked me to do anything for her. I only did those things because of myself, because I wanted to be around her. As a matter of fact, she¡¯s turned me down more than once, but I...¡±

    With those words, Cai Yuan let out a sigh and said, mncholy filling his face, ¡°Alright, alright, you just need to understand she has nothing to do with my decisions. I know that I might be after the wrong girl. She doesn¡¯t belong to the Realm of Split Void, much less Shatter City. Sooner orter, she¡¯ll definitely leave this ce.

    ¡°Perhaps, I can only untie the knots in my heart and give up to fate when she¡¯s gone.¡±

    Cai Yue said angrily, ¡°I wish she would leave as soon as possible!¡±

    With another sigh, Cai Yuan shot a nce at Pei Qiqi, his heart filled with bitterness and helplessness.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi, who had been staring into the sky for a long while, suddenly asked without turned her head, ¡°When will Mr. Huae back?¡±

    Sitting next to her, Nie Tian was ripping apart and munching onrge pieces of spirit beast meat. With a full mouth and bulging cheeks, he mumbled, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s gazended on Nie Tian. Watching him wolf down his food, she frowned and said in her heart, ¡°What a bottomless pit!¡±

    Although she had been wallowing in her thoughts, she had taken note that Nie Tian had been eating for a long time. She had always considered her junior martial brother, Li Ye, to be a glutton, and often mocked him because of it.

    However,pared to Nie Tian, he was nothing.

    Pei Qiqi intentionally lowered her voice and said, ¡°Do you know that Mr. Hua doesn¡¯t have many years left?¡±

    Nie Tian chewed up the meat in his mouth and washed it down with a gulp of water. Then, he nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, I know, and he¡¯s been looking for a way to solve that problem.¡±

    Shaking her head, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°If only it were that easy. If you can, encourage him to stay in Shatter City for thest period of his life next time you see him. Because of him, my master travels all year long, searching from ce to ce for a solution for him. However,st time he was here, he didn¡¯t even spare a few minutes to see my master. My master was very disappointed.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°He¡¯s already found a way to extend his lifespan. He just needs a little more time for it to work.¡±

    Of course, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian was the very solution Hua Mu had found for himself, and that Nie that Tian would be able to use his mysterious bloodline talent to extend Hua Mu¡¯s lifespan when his cultivation base was high enough and his bloodline was developed to a certain degree.

    ¡°He¡¯s found a way already?¡± Shock could be seen in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes. ¡°How can you be so certain?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°He told me himself.¡±

    ¡°If only that...¡± Pei Qiqi remained skeptical as she asked after a moment of hesitation, ¡°How did you manage to transmit your soul intent to me via a cluster of psychic power back when we were in the valley? Also, that cluster of psychic power seemed rather strange. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±

    ¡°I practice a special psychic incantation. Sorry, I¡¯d rather not disclose any more details about it.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°...Good, a guy who likes to deliberately mystify things.¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly.

    ¡°Yee?!¡± At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly experienced a feeling that rich flesh power was being generated within his stomach. Just as the wisps of rich flesh power that had originated from the spirit beast meat slowly flowed towards his limbs, the green aura that had been coiled at the bottom of his heart grew greedy.

    Very soon, the wisps of flesh power seemed to have been attracted by a giant ma and converged toward Nie Tian¡¯s heart!

    As soon as they entered Nie Tian¡¯s heart, they were violently pulled toward and swallowed by the green aura.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± After sensing things for a short while, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he learned what was happening to him.

    When he had entered the Heaven stage, not only had his spiritual sea had undergone great changes, but imperceptible changes had also urred to his fleshy body.

    Not long ago, when he had used the Blood Refining Incantation to refine and absorb the flesh essence from the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood, he felt that he had filled himself to the point where he couldn¡¯t absorb another smidgen of flesh power.

    However, during thest few days, every time he had consumed food, the newly-generated flesh power had rapidly dispersed into his muscles and bones.

    Evidently, his body was now ready for new rounds of tempering.

    Simrly, since the green aura that had coiled at the bottom of his heart once again became violently active andpeted with the other parts of his body for the flesh power, it meant that it was also ready for a new upgrade.

    Aftering to this realization, Nie Tian quietly took out the Blood Pill Li Jing had given him before he had left the Realm of me Heaven and stuffed it down his throat.

    While the other Blood Skull members were replenishing their spiritual power with spirit stones, Nie Tian secretly stimted the efficacy of the Blood Pill.

    Copious amounts of flesh power continuously poured into the green aura in his heart. It wasn¡¯t long before everyst wisp of flesh power was devoured by it.

    However, the green aura was still swimming without even stopping for a second, as if it was still waiting for more food so that it could grow into a gigantic python that could engulf Heaven and Earth.

    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s move out!¡± At that moment, Gu Yu¡¯s voice rang out, urging everyone to hasten on with their march towards the Dark Moon¡¯s base.

 Chapter 265: A Drop in the Bucket

    During the following two days, Nie Tian followed the Blood Skull members as they marched toward the Dark Moon¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. As they did, Gu Yu arranged for his men to investigate Ma Jiu¡¯s whereabouts through various approaches.

    Arge number of Qi warriors who lived in Shatter City would explore the Void Illusion Mountain Range from time to time.

    Most of them kept rtively close rtionships with the Blood Skull. Therefore, when the Blood Skull scouts asked them for information regarding the Dark Moon¡¯s trail, they were usually able to obtain truthful answers.

    Today, Gu Yu learned the rough location of Ma Jiu and his men from one of the scouts he had sent out.

    Then, they stopped in a ce where numerous spatial rifts floated in the air, so that Gu Yu could discuss their next move with Shi Qing, Cai Yuan, and Pei Qiqi.

    Since Nie Tian didn¡¯t have the qualifications to participate in their discussion, he stood quite a distance away and contemted.

    ¡°Bloodline power...¡± Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian quietly sensed the subtle changes within his own body.

    During the past few days, he had consumed a substantial amount of the second grade spirit beast meat he had stocked up in his bracelet of holding.

    Whenever there was a chance, he would intentionally separate himself from the rest of the group and refine a barrel of the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood.

    At this point, he had used up all the spirit beast meat he had reserved from the Realm of me Heaven, as well as all the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood.

    Every bit of flesh power had been pulled away and devoured by the green aura coiled in his heart the moment it was generated.

    In his eyes, that slender green aura was like an abysmal creature that was never satisfied.

    The essence of flesh the spirit beast meat and Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood had provided was like a drop in the bucket, far from enough to feed this monster.

    He had a distinct feeling that only when it was satisfied, would it calm down and, after lying dormant for a period time, give birth to a new bloodline talent.

    However, Nie Tian had already run out of everything that contained flesh power, including the medicinal pills he had previously obtained.

    Stimted by the green aura¡¯s yearning, Nie Tian once again searched within his ring of holding and bracelet of holding.

    After a thorough examination, he found that the only remaining thing he had that could provide flesh power was the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat. ¡°This is all there¡¯s left.¡±

    ording to Li Ye and Pei Qiqi, all the spirit beasts that roamed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range had been tainted by the poisonous spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Because of that, both their blood and flesh carried various sorts of deadly impurities, and thus was no longer edible to humans. That had been the reason why Pei Qiqi had only taken the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s horn and skin.

    No one would spend a single spirit stone on a tainted spirit beast¡¯s blood and meat, no matter how high-leveled the spirit beast was.

    ¡°I can only try it and see.¡± After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian assumed that since his body had proven to be different from others¡¯, perhaps he would be able to absorb the rich flesh power from the meat of this fourth grade spirit beast, and thereby fulfill the green aura¡¯s needs.

    He made up his mind that next time he had a chance, he would try some of the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat.

    Afterwards, he paid attention to the conversation between Pei Qiqi and the Blood Skull members from a certain distance away, and learned what they were discussing.

    ording to their current knowledge, the route Ma Jiu and his men had taken didn¡¯t lead them straight back to their base.

    In this situation, Gu Yu faced two options: chase after and strike Ma Jiu and his band, or raid the Dark Moon¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    If they chose to chase after and attack Ma Jiu, they would have a great chance of dealing a significant blow to Ma Jiu and his band. However, it wasn¡¯t likely that they would be able to wipe out all of them.

    Once they let Ma Jiu escape, he wouldmunicate with his men at their base and assemble powerful experts from the Land of the Abandoned using their teleportation portal.

    Once that happened, not only would they be forced to abort their n to attack the Dark Moon¡¯s base, but they would also have to retreat as fast as possible.

    On the other hand, if they chose to lead a direct raid on the Dark Moon¡¯s base and have Pei Qiqi use her spatial magics to shut down their teleportation portal, they would be able to start a bloodbath.

    However, they weren¡¯t sure how many Dark Moon experts were were stationed at their base.

    If there were too many of them, even though they could go all-out to attack the Dark Moon¡¯s base while their teleportation portal was deactivated by Pei Qiqi, they might not be able to take out every Dark Moon defender within that limited timeframe.

    Whenever the teleportation portal was fully functioning again, they would have to retreat.

    Unless they got lucky and the Dark Moon¡¯s base was poorly manned.

    However, even if things worked out at the Dark Moon base, Ma Jiu and his band might show up at any moment.

    At that time, they would have consumedrge amounts of their strength, so their battle prowess could be even weaker than Ma Jiu and his men¡¯s.

    Both options had a number of uncertainties. In contrast, catching up to and attacking Ma Jiu and his band would be the safer option.

    However, they would have a chance at wiping out all their defenders and destroying their teleportation portal if they raided the Dark Moon¡¯s base directly. The spoils of their victory would be much greater.

    After a moment of contemtion, Gu Yu gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Handsome rewardse only with great risk! Let¡¯s head out to the Dark Moon¡¯s base!¡±

    He finally picked the path that was more dangerous, but would also be more fruitful if they seeded.

    After a brief period of adjustment and reorganization, Gu Yu led the group as they marched out towards the Dark Moon¡¯s base, instead of Ma Jiu and his band.

    Two more days passed...

    At sundown, Gu Yu waved his hand as he beckoned for everyone to stop and recuperate. ¡°The Dark Moon¡¯s base is right in front of us. Let¡¯s take ourst break to replenish our spiritual power; eat and drink to our fill. Then, we¡¯ll attack the Dark Moon¡¯s base under the cover of darkness.

    Because of the imminent bloody battle, everyone remained silent, and the atmosphere was a bit sullen.

    Not knowing what they would face, people were either recovering their strength, examining their spiritual tools, checking their stock of medicinal pills, or donning their spiritual armor to protect their vital parts.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, made up an excuse by telling Cai Yuan that he had a belly-ache, and walked away from the group.

    Only after he was convinced that there was a significant distance between him and everyone else did he take out arge piece of Golden Stone Rhino meat. Then, he used the me Spirit Incantation to start a fire, pierced the meat with a thin sword and cooked it on the fire.

    After a short while, the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat was cooked.

    Looking at the meat which he knew contained numerous impurities, he hesitated for a brief moment, then started munching.

    Even though the meat was cooked, it didn¡¯t taste good at all. It was bitter and hard to chew.

    However, he ate it for its rich flesh power that only a fourth grade spirit beast would contain, and thus didn¡¯t have much of a standard for its taste.

    After wolfing down several dozen kilos of meat, he sat there and waited in silence.

    Time slowly passed...

    Fifteen minutester, wisps of flesh power gradually rose from within his stomach and rapidly increased in volume.

    At the same time, he began to experience an intense pain in his abdomen, along with a burning sensation.

    Soaked in sweat, he couldn¡¯t help but twist his face.

    When he sent out his psychic power to examine himself, he could see his sweat carrying bits of gray, brown, green, and purple slime out of his pores.

    The slime, which had a foul smell, seemed to be the impurities within the meat.

    As more slime left Nie Tian¡¯s body, the excruciating pain in his abdomen was gradually relieved.

    That was when he realized although he would experience difort, he was able to absorb energy from tainted spirit beast meat into his exceptional body.

    As the pain grew more and more bearable, he could sense wisps of rich flesh power being dragged into his heart, where they were engulfed by the greedy green aura.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to go!¡± Gu Yu¡¯s voice rang out from afar.

    Immediately after hearing Gu Yu¡¯s call, Nie Tian went to join the Blood Skull members, his body slowly returning to its normal state.

 Chapter 266: Midnight Raid

    Soon, night fell...

    The moon hung high, and, along with numerous stars, it lit up the dark sky. Under the stars, Nie Tian followed the Blood Skull members to the vicinity of a secluded location where the Dark Moon¡¯s base was located.

    Gu Yu came to a stop and issued hismand to the rest of the group with a grave expression on his face, ¡°You guys wait here.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he gathered Pei Qiqi and two other Greater Heaven stage Blood Skull experts and headed out without making a sound.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything. After they left, he formed seven Heaven Eyes by mixing his psychic power and seven strands of soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Like invisiblenterns, the Heaven Eyes followed Pei Qiqi and Gu Yu.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tianmanded the Heaven Eyes with his soul, and used them to scan their surroundings.

    ¡°Dark night, starry sky...¡± For some unknown reason, Nie Tian suddenly had a feeling thatpared to the daytime, his vision and sense of smell, as well as his psychic sensibility, were all heightened during the nighttime.

    After a brief pondering, he realized it probably had something to do with the fact that he practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Furthermore, it seemed that not only would his sensing ability improve when stars were shining in the heavens, but even his battle prowess would also rise.

    The seven Heaven Eyes gradually approached the Dark Moon¡¯s base.

    It was in a mountain valley.

    Spatial rifts were slithering unceasingly in the air, while a few wooden and stone cottages were aligned under them.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian could see numerous Qi warriors dressed in Dark Moon uniforms entering and exiting some of the cottages.

    There were also a few Dark Moon members scattered in the valley, cultivating, eating, or talking to one another.

    Gu Yu and his Greater Heaven stage subordinates hid their life auras as they snuck up on and assassinated the few patrolling Dark Moon scouts.

    Since most of them were at the early or middle Heaven stage, they couldn¡¯t even make a sound when they were snuck up on and killed.

    After taking out all of the Dark Moon scouts, Gu Yu signaled Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi then swiftly shifted her position around the perimeter of the mountain valley.

    She constantly took out Space Spirit Jades from her ring of holding andid them in certain crucial locations around the valley to form arge spell formation.

    The close to a hundred Space Spirit Jades formed a spell formation without attracting any attention. Each Space Spirit Jade was engraved with detailed magical patterns.

    Convinced that her spell formationyout had been finished, she returned to Gu Yu¡¯s side and silently dropped to the ground. As her slender hands began to rapidly interweave in the air in a dazzling fashion, one mysterious hand seal after another was formed.

    Via the Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian paid close attention to Pei Qiqi and every subtle change around her.

    Before long, he saw the Space Spirit Jades Pei Qiqi had ced in nearby locations begin to emanate faint light. Meanwhile, fluctuations of spatial energy gradually spread out, forming a special maic field.

    A short whileter, many of the spatial rifts that had been swimming around in the vicinity changed the direction of their movements, as if they were being attracted by an unknown force.

    One after another, they slowly gathered towards the mountain valley from every direction.

    Whenever a spatial rift slithered to the location of a Space Spirit Jade, the jade would fly up into the spatial rift like it possessed its own spirit.

    As soon as the Space Spirit Jade few into a moving spatial rift, the spatial rift would immediately be still in the midair, and then begin to emanate waves of spatial energy fluctuations.

    The fluctuations spread out from the close to a hundred locations around the perimeter of the valley, which then connected with one another, creating a huge, invisiblework over the entire mountain valley.

    Beside Gu Yu, Pei Qiqi was still forming mysterious hand seals while her nose and jade-like forehead were already covered in transparent beads of sweat.

    From the look of it, she had consumed a substantial amount of spiritual power to cast the spell.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Face filled with exhaustion, Pei Qiqi finally let out a sigh of relief and signaled Gu Yu that they could act.

    ¡°Fifteen minutes, you¡¯ve got fifteen minutes. After that, no matter whether or not you¡¯ve taken out all the Dark Moon defenders, you¡¯ve got to retreat.¡± With these words, she slowly rose to her feet, her somewhat dim eyes fixed on a unimpressive wooden cottage in the mountain valley.

    She was certain that the teleportation portal that the Dark Moon had deployed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range was in there.

    She was well-aware that if they could wipe out all the Dark Moon defenders and destroy that teleportation portal within fifteen minutes, they would inflict great damage to the Dark Moon¡¯s strength and influence.

    Even for the Dark Moon, building another teleportation portal of the same scale would cost them substantial resources.

    If the Blood Skull and the Wild Fire took advantage of the Dark Moon¡¯s unfavorable situation to strike them during their reestablishment, their losses could worsen.

    ¡°Kill them all!!¡± The light of brutality shot out of Gu Yu¡¯s eyes as he charged towards the Dark Moon¡¯s base like a dragon being unleashed from an abyss.

    Upon seeing him charge out, Shi Qing and the other two Greater Heaven stage Blood Skull experts also dashed down into the valley.

    After hearing Gu Yu¡¯s roar, Cai Yuan, who had been waiting around the perimeter of the valley, let out a bellow, ¡°Come on! Bring out your best, and kill as many Dark Moon cowards as you can! Don¡¯t waste any time!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Upon receiving hismand, all the Blood Skull members shot out from behind him and poured towards the center of the valley with torrential killing auras.

    The scattered Dark Moon members, who had been cultivating ormunicating with each other in the valley, were rmed and called out, hoping to overpower the intruders with their imposing manner, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°This is the Dark Moon¡¯s territory. How dare you intrude?!¡±

    As Gu Yu let out a wildugh, numerous shiny, silver metal balls shot out from within his palm. ¡°It¡¯s Lord Gu Yu from the Blood Skull!¡±

    Each and every ball shone with an ice-cold metallic luster as they whizzed through the air and exploded when they reached the center of a group of Dark Moon members.

    In the next moment, countless silver needles that were as fine as hairs emanated frightening cold light as they shot into their surroundings.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, the metal balls were like exploding hedgehogs, sending out all of their sharp needles.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Not having the time to react, a dozen Dark Moon experts were immediately pierced by the silver needles and covered in bloody holes.

    As their ear-piercing screams filled the mountain valley, more Dark Moon experts charged out of their cottages, roaring and brandishing their spiritual tools.

    A few Dark Moon experts were both shocked and thrilled to see Gu Yu, and they hastily rushed towards the wooden cottage Pei Qiqi was focusing on.

    ¡°It¡¯s Gu Yu from the Blood Skull!¡±

    ¡°The Blood Skull has invaded! Get word to the Land of the Abandoned and have the headquarters send powerful experts here!¡±

    ¡°Gu Yu must be insane to dare toe here! He should not imagine that he can get out of here alive!¡±

    Just like Ma Jiu was to them, Gu Yu was the Blood Skull¡¯s highestmander of their forces in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Him being here meant that the Blood Skull had nned to go all-out with this battle.

    However, they also understood that if they could use their teleportation portal to inform their headquarters of the Blood Skull¡¯s operation, every Blood Skull member, including Gu Yu himself, would be killed and buried here in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    A wildugh filled Gu Yu¡¯s face as he blurted, ¡°Hahaha! Go ahead and see if you can summon more of your scumbags from the Land of the Abandoned!¡±

    With those words, he took the initiative and charged into the Dark Moon¡¯s base like a bolt of lightning, chasing down and killing their members.

    A shade of blood seemed to have filled Shi Qing¡¯s pupils as he led the other Greater Heaven stage experts in a charge after Gu Yu, the Blood Skull patterns on their chests unleashing the light of bloodthirst.

    In the center of the valley, dozens of early and middle Heaven stage Dark Moon members were shrieking as they attempted to contain Gu Yu and his men.

    It was at that very moment that Cai Yuan charged into the valley and engaged in a fierce battle with them, along with several dozen Blood Skull members.

    Nie Tian followed them to the battlefield, but he didn¡¯t rush into battle. Instead, he used his Heaven Eyes to observe the situation.

    WHOOSH!

    The blue figure of a pretty woman shed past right in front of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. She threaded her way through the fighting Dark Moon and Blood Skull members, and dashed towards one of the wooden cottages.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± Without even thinking, Nie Tian immediately realized it was Pei Qiqi.

    He had long since noticed that Pei Qiqi had been focusing all her attention on that specific cottage since she had finished her spell.

    From the look in her eyes, Nie Tian spected that the Dark Moon¡¯s teleportation portal was in there.

    Inside the cottage, the Dark Moon expert, who had just imed that Gu Yu and all his men would die in their base, roared angrily as his heart burned with anxiety, ¡°Our teleportation portal isn¡¯t working!

    ¡°Damn! Now that we can¡¯t get in touch with our headquarters, we can¡¯t have them send reinforcements from the Land of the Abandoned!

    ¡°It must be that cunt Pei Qiqi who did this!¡±

    As soon as they attempted to start the teleportation portal, they noticed that the entire valley had been covered by an unstable maic field.

    Unstable spatial energy had forcibly disrupted the spatial fluctuations in the area, and thus stopped their teleportation portal from activating.

    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t Lord Ma Jiu returned? God dammit! Shouldn¡¯t he have killed that bitch already!?

    ¡°Without Lord Ma Jiu here, we can¡¯t possibly beat Gu Yu and his men with just the few of us!¡±

    ¡°Worst of all, now we can¡¯t even inform our headquarters to send reinforcements!¡±

    Unable toe up with a solution, the few Dark Moon experts became soaked in sweat due to anxiety.

    Shi Qing saw through Pei Qiqi¡¯s intentions and thus joined her after seeing her charge towards the wooden cottage. ¡°Let me help you, Miss Pei!¡±

    Momentster, Shi Qing arrived at the cottage before Pei Qiqi. He stamped his foot with great force, and then a wave of vigorous energy fluctuations spread out from under his feet.

    It was as if there was a giant monster struggling under the earth, roaring and storming towards the wooden cottage.

    Struck by the wave of energy fluctuations, the cottage instantly copsed, and every Dark Moon member inside was exposed.

    The teleportation portal, which could hold five people at one time, remained unscathed and stood unwavering like arge ma sticking to the earth.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s Ethereal Swords flew out from her ring of holding, but rapidly vanished from everyone¡¯s sight, without leaving any trace.

    ¡°Ethereal Swords! The woman is using her Ethereal Swords!¡± Fear could be seen on the Dark Moon members¡¯ faces as they fled in opposite directions.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    Two Ethereal Swords appeared out of nowhere and pierced through two Heaven stage Dark Moon experts.

 Chapter 267: A One-sided Battle

    Nie Tian could see that they were rather lucky with their operation against the Dark Moon this time.

    Since there weren¡¯t many powerful experts on the Dark Moon¡¯s side, their battle prowess was very limited.

    After a thorough observation, he found that there were only two early and one middle Greater Heaven stage expert among the Dark Moon defenders. All the rest were Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    Gu Yu alone would be able to take the three Greater Heaven stage Dark Moon experts single-handedly, and it would be a guaranteed victory.

    Even the slightest gap in cultivation base between the two sides would usually determine the result of a battle. Normally speaking, e Greater Heaven stage cultivator could easily ughter three middle Greater Heaven stage enemies.

    The Dark Moon found themselves at their wits¡¯ end dealing with Gu Yu alone, not to mention having to defend against the middle Greater Heaven stage Shi Qing and two other Greater Heaven stage experts at the same time.

    Given enough time, with only the four Greater Heaven stage experts, the Blood Skull would be able to wipe out the entire Dark Moon force that had been defending their base.

    The reason why there was such a huge gap between the strength of the two sides was that Ma Jiu had led an assault against Pei Qiqi and still hadn¡¯t returned.

    If Ma Jiu and his band had returned to the valley and united with the defenders at their base, Gu Yu and his Blood Skull members would probably have suffered a great loss.

    The Blood Skull membersughed in wild and arrogant manners as they chased after the Dark Moon members at different locations in the valley.

    ¡°Hahaha! We¡¯ve hit gold!¡±

    ¡°Without powerful experts here to help them defend their base, not only can we kill all of these weaklings, but we can even destroy their teleportation portal!¡±

    ¡°Great prizese with with great risks indeed!¡±

    Every one of them saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deal a great blow to the Dark Moon.

    If they couldter ambush and kill Ma Jiu here, they would practically annihte the entire branch the Dark Moon had deployed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    If that happened, their operation would be a huge sess, and every member who had participated in it would be considered to have made substantial contributions.

    Upon returning, they would be able to receive handsome contribution points, which they could use to trade forrge amounts of spirit stones, medicinal pills, and high-grade spiritual armors and weapons.

    At the exploded wooden cottage...

    With a momentum that was as fierce as a tiger, Shi Qing forced the Dark Moon members to run away from their teleportation portal.

    Pei Qiqi, on the other hand, was focused on breaking up the teleportation portal with her deep knowledge regarding spatial magics, after killing two Dark Moon members with her Ethereal Swords.

    Nie Tian observed Pei Qiqi from about a hundred meters away.

    He was no longer interested in the battle taking ce in the center of the valley.

    He had already realized that the most crucial factor that would determine the oue of the battle didn¡¯t lie with Gu Yu or any other Blood Skull expert.

    Rather, it was whether Pei Qiqi could destroy or dismantle the teleportation portal, and therefore prevent Dark Moon reinforcements from pouring into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Miss Pei, although I¡¯m not helpful at all when ites to dismantling the teleportation portal, I can guarantee you that no Dark Moon member will evere close enough to distract you.¡± Shi Qing solemnly gave his word.

    A wave of earthy-yellow energy fluctuations spread out into his surroundings, and the ground within a few dozen meters range couldn¡¯t stop trembling, giving rise to unceasing rumbling sounds.

    The Dark Moon members who were standing in his vicinity couldn¡¯t stop themselves from shaking as they sustained constant blows from the ground.

    All the early and middle Heaven stage Dark Moon members around him had blood dripping from their mouths and noses as they fled in fear.

    Only a handful ofte Heaven stage members were able to contend with the force for a brief while. However, all of their faces began to turn pale shortly afterwards, and they were forced on withdrawing from the area.

    In contrast, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t seem to be influenced at all. She was crouching in front of the the teleportation portal and asionally checking it with her hands, devoted to finding a way to dismantle it.

    The few Greater Heaven stage Dark Moon experts also came to understand the truly key factor that would determine the result of the battle, and then madly dashed towards Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing. ¡°The teleportation portal is the key!¡±

    ¡°That bitch is going to dismantle our teleportation portal. If she seeds, we won¡¯t be able to return to the Land of the Abandoned, and the Blood Skull will hunt us down wherever we go!¡±

    ¡°We have to stop her!¡±

    However, Gu Yu had long since prepared for that.

    ¡°It seems that I have to let you go first. But don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t be long before I send Ma Jiu and the others there to keep youpany.¡± Gu Yu¡¯s wildughs were so thunderous that the whole mountain valley shook and rumbled.

    At the same time, the other two Greater Heaven stage Blood Skull members rapidly converged on Shi Qing and waited for their enemies¡¯ arrival.

    ¡°Our victory is almost certain.¡± After observing for quite a while, Nie Tian had alreadye to the conclusion that, if there were no mishaps, the Blood Skull would be victorious.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t intend to join the battle and win credits alongside the other Blood Skull members.

    He knew that, with every Dark Moon member they killed, they could trade their victims¡¯ heads or bracelets of holding for certain amounts of contribution points.

    The amount of contribution points they earned would determine the valuables they would receive from the Blood Skull, as well as the speed at which they would be promoted.

    Nie Tian knew that if, as a guest elder, he jumped in at this moment and reaped spoils when the battle was a certain victory, the other Blood Skull members would very likely hate him for stealing their credits.

    Therefore, he stood there and did nothing.

    PUFF!

    Blood shot out of an early Greater Heaven stage Dark Moon member¡¯s ripped-open neck. The man¡¯s head flew high into the air before Gu Yu caught it with one hand.

    With a wild, bloodthirstyugh, Gu Yu shook it, causing more blood to fall onto him.

    The man¡¯s death seemed to have severed as thest straw, breaking thest remaining confidence of the Dark Moon members who were still struggling to turn the situation around.

    Soon, all the Dark Moon experts that were fighting Blood Skull members lost their fighting spirit and decided to abandon their base.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to leave now. It¡¯s a lost cause. If we insist on staying and fighting, we¡¯ll only end up dying for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and find Lord Ma Jiu!

    ¡°Only by joining forces with Lord Ma Jiu will we be strong enough to turn the situation around!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    All the figures who were wearing Dark Moon garments spread out and rushed out of the valley.

    Covered in blood, Gu Yu chased after the two remaining Greater Heaven stage Dark Moon experts, while Cai Yuan the rest of the other Blood Skull members pursued the fleeing Heaven stage Dark Moon members.

    Dressed like a male cultivator, Cai Yue also charged out of the valley along with other Blood Skull members, shouting excitedly.

    Upon seeing her, Shi Qing¡¯s expression immediately flickered as he called out to her, ¡°Little Lord!

    ¡°You can¡¯t leave the valley! Before we came here, we made a pact that you wouldn¡¯t leave my sight! If you break the pact, I¡¯ll inform your father of it after we return to Shatter City. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll ban you froming to the Void Illusion Mountain Range ever again.¡±

    After hearing Shi Qing¡¯s im, Cai Yue sulked as she came back and repeatedly stabbed a dead Dark Moon expert in the chest with her sword. ¡°Good god! You¡¯re so boring!¡±

    Seething with excitement, she was just about to pursue and kill Dark Moon members alongside her brother, which was exactly the type of life she had longed for and the very purpose of her trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Shi Qing¡¯s sudden appearance had locked her down like a set of shackles and stopped her from pursuing what her heart desired. It was only natural that she wasn¡¯t happy about it.

    However, she knew very well that if she went ahead and left the valley anyways, her father would definitely ban her from stepping out of Shatter City again.

    Therefore, she could only wait in the silenced mountain valley while battles were taking ce elsewhere.

    Upon looking around, she caught sight of Nie Tian, who was standing in the valley, doing nothing. She wrinkled her nose and said, with her delicate small face filled with contempt, ¡°Humph! What kind of man are you if you¡¯re too cowardly to fight the Dark Moon with us? People like you disgust me the most!

    ¡°I¡¯ve long since noticed that you did nothing but watch the whole time.

    ¡°A guy like you doesn¡¯t deserve to be a guest elder of the Blood Skull!

    ¡°The Blood Skull doesn¡¯t need an ipetent guest elder. You¡¯d better give back the identity medallion as soon as possible so that you don¡¯t sully the reputation of our guest elders!¡±

    Shi Qing, who had been guarding Pei Qiqi and waiting for her to destroy the teleportation portal, also shot a examining gaze towards Nie Tian.

    That was when he realized that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t participated in the raid.

    He understood that Cai Yuan would never give a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion to an ipetent man.

    Only truly powerful experts who had won Cai Yuan¡¯s admiration would be given a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion. The early Heaven stage Nie Tian seemed to be the weakest.

    As a matter of fact, Shi Qing had been curious about Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess, and had wanted to examine him with this raid.

    However, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t made a single move. Thus, he was both disappointed and harboring suspicion.

    That was why he didn¡¯t berate Cai Yue for being rude.

 Chapter 268: Another Turn of Events

    Battles and conflicts broke out year-round in every realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    In the other nine realms, since there were Qi warrior sects, some young and weak cultivators were respected by others because of their parents¡¯ or grandparents¡¯ lofty status in the sect.

    This wasn¡¯t the case in the Realm of Split Void.

    Ouws and bandits from the other nine realms came together and formed forces in the Realm of Split Void, which made it an even more inhospitable environment for cultivators.

    In here, bloody battles took ce all the time. People only worshipped the strong and fierce.

    Even Cai Yuan, the son of the Blood Skull¡¯s head, had to win recognition and respect from the Blood Skull elders through countless battles and years of tempering in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, let alonemon members of the Blood Skull.

    In Cai Yue¡¯s eyes, now that her brother had given Nie Tian a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion, he should possess strength and power that matched such status.

    She took it for granted that Nie Tian, who had just obtained their guest elder¡¯s identity, would have put forth a good performance in this operation by killing as many Dark Moon members as possible to prove himself to all the Blood Skull members, including her brother.

    If Nie Tian failed to prove his strength to everyone, they would question her brother¡¯s judgment.

    However, Nie Tian had been nothing but a onlooker. She wasn¡¯t sure if he was afraid of fighting Dark Moon enemies or if he had other intentions.

    Nevertheless, from her point of view, Nie Tian¡¯s negative actions jeopardized her brother¡¯s prestige and authority. Therefore, she didn¡¯t even try to mask her discontent with him.

    Nie Tian smiled and turned a blind eye on her usations.

    He also noticed the way Shi Qing was looking at him, knowing that Shi Qing also questioned hispetence.

    Cai Yue let out a cold snort and said with an imposing manner, ¡°What? Is that admitting that you were afraid? If you¡¯re afraid, just turn in the guest elder¡¯s identity medallion. Don¡¯t you taint our reputation, let people look down on the Blood Skull, and assume that we take in whoever wishes to join us!¡±

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi, who had been engrossed in using spatial magics to analyze the formation of the teleportation portal, said with a cold tone without even turning her head, ¡°Senior Shi, I need to concentrate to crack the spell formation of this teleportation portal. Would you please tell her to keep quiet?¡±

    Cai Yue immediately grew angry after hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s words. ¡°It¡¯s you who needs to keep quiet!¡±

    She held her hands akimbo as she turned around to target Pei Qiqi like an small, yet aggressive, gamecock.

    Actually, the fact that she was angry with Nie Tian had a great deal to do with Pei Qiqi.

    She knew that Nie Tian was with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    Cai Yuan had repeatedly put himself in danger for Pei Qiqi, so Cai Yue had long since made Pei Qiqi her number one enemy. ordingly, she wouldn¡¯t be kind to whoever was rted to Pei Qiqi.

    Just as she was about tosh out, Shi Qing cleared his throat and said, ¡°Alright, alright, you can settle your issuester. Miss Pei needs to focus on the portal now. If Miss Pei can¡¯t crack the teleportation portal, we¡¯ll probably have to deal with a flood of Dark Moon experts. Let¡¯s look at the bigger picture, shall we?¡±

    Actually, Shi Qing was also somewhat confused.

    He was fairly familiar with Pei Qiqi, Li Ye, and their master.

    He was aware that the three of them were highly regarded in Shatter City. Even the head of the Blood Skull treated them with respect.

    Both Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had numerous Qi warriors working for them, but it seemed that they never attached even the slightest importance to any of them.

    He had already realized that Nie Tian was unusually close to Li Ye, for not only had Li Ye taken Nie Tian to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, but he had asked for favors to arrange a cultivation room for Nie Tian.

    Pei Qiqi had been known for her unparalleled arrogance and loftiness. She normally wouldn¡¯t attach much importance to anyone.

    Obviously, part of the reason that Pei Qiqi told Cai Yue to keep quiet was to stick up for Nie Tian. This was very umon, and went against Pei Qiqi¡¯s personality.

    ¡°Who exactly is this Hua Tian person?¡± Shi Qing couldn¡¯t help but wonder, eyes glittering.

    After being berated by Shi Qi, Cai Yue pierced even more holes into the dead body, making it a bloody mess, to vent her discontent.

    Even though she still mumbled something as she wielded her sword, her voice grew fainter and fainter.

    After all, she also understood what it would mean for the Blood Skull if Pei Qiqi could sessfully crack and dismantle the Dark Moon¡¯s teleportation portal.

    Without it, the Dark Moon¡¯s base would lose its meaning, and thus they wouldn¡¯t be able to lead expeditions in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the near future.

    All the Dark Moon experts who were still wandering in the mountain range would fall prey to the Blood Skull and Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon would be dealt a significant blow because of it.

    Therefore, even though she held serious grudges against Pei Qiqi, she knew that she¡¯d better put them aside for the time being.

    With her quieting down, Nie Tian was relieved as he once again watched Pei Qiqi work on the teleportation portal.

    There wasn¡¯t any sign of Gu Yu, Cai Yuan, or the other Blood Skull members returning, since it was clear to them that the fleeing Dark Moon members were hoping to join forces with Ma Jiu and his band.

    If they did, it would be much more difficult to destroy them.

    Hence, they exerted all their power to chase down and kill them before they could.

    A short while passed...

    Strong spatial fluctuations rippled out from Pei Qiqi. Eyes shining with a sharp light, she suddenly pressed her jade-like hand against a corner of the portal.

    CRUNCH!

    The originally tightly incorporated spell formation cracked open, and aponent fell off of it.

    Without any hesitation, Pei Qiqi rapidly put thatponent away.

    Afterwards, her hands continuously moved about as she dismantled the teleportation portal and stored all theponents in her ring of holding.

    The teleportation portal, which the Dark Moon had spent an enormous amount of resources and effort to build, vanished after a short while.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Pei Qiqi seemed rather exhausted as she sat down on the ground. Right before she began to recover her strength with medicinal pills and spirit stones, she turned to Shi Qing and said, ¡°You can inform Senior Gu that they can take their time chasing after the Dark Moon members, as no reinforcements from the Land of the Abandoned areing any time soon.¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s spirits were greatly lifted. ¡°Nice work! Thank you, Miss Pei!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s sess had put an end to their worries of being attacked from behind. Not only did they not need to withdraw from here, but they could even go on and hunt down Ma Jiu and his band.

    ¡°No need to thank me.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s tone was quite frigid. She slowly closed her eyes and said, ¡°Oh, right, since I cracked this teleportation portal, it should belong to me, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course, it¡¯s only fair.¡± Although Shi Qing also desired it, he could only nod along.

    After all, he knew how valuable a teleportation portal was.

    Even all the valuables looted from the Dark Moon Qi warriors in the valley added together wouldn¡¯t match the value of that teleportation portal.

    In order for forces like the Blood Skull to persist in the Realm of Split Void, those teleportation portals were what they needed and simultaneouslycked the most.

    If they could bring it back to Shatter City and give it to Cai Lan, Cai Lan would undoubtedly be ecstatic, and reward them with numerous cultivation materials that agreed with them.

    Both Gu Yu¡¯s and his status would rise significantly due to their great contribution.

    However, he was aware that Pei Qiqi had yed the most crucial part in this operation. If it weren¡¯t for her, the Blood Skull wouldn¡¯t have made up their minds tounch the raid.

    If she hadn¡¯t cracked and dismantled the teleportation portal, they would have faced great potential danger for being in the mountain valley.

    Even though she hadn¡¯t fought per se, her contribution determined the course of the battle, so she deserved to keep the teleportation portal.

    Even Cai Yue, who detested her very much, didn¡¯t say anything to protest this matter.

    Immediately afterwards, Shi Qing used his Sound Stone to inform Gu Yu and Cai Yuan of the situation, and told them that they could go all-out to chase after the deserters, and didn¡¯t need to worry about powerful Dark Moon experts descending upon them.

    Deep into the night...

    Pei Qiqi was recuperating, and Shi Qing was sitting next to Cai Yue, adjusting his breathing with his eyes closed.

    At that moment, none of the Blood Skull had returned since they hadn¡¯t finished hunting down their enemies.

    Without anything better to do, Nie Tian was also sitting on the ground, refining his spiritual sea.

    Before the operation, everyst wisp of flesh power generated from the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat had been torn to shreds and devoured by the domineering green aura residing in his heart.

    However, considering that Shi Qing and Cai Yue were around, he reckoned it was better if he stayed on the safe side and didn¡¯t eat the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat.

    Even still, as he refined his spiritual sea, he spared some of his attention to keep an eye on the green aura.

    The green aura was slithering in his heart restlessly, as if it was longing very eagerly for more flesh essence.

    ¡°Abyssal indeed...¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel at it.

    He couldn¡¯t be sure how much flesh power he had umted throughout the years before he had finally awakened his bloodline talent, Life Transfer.

    The fact that the green aura had been acting so strangely made him wonder if perhaps there was a possibility that it could upgrade again soon.

    However, its demand for flesh power was so great that he had a headache over the situation.

    It was as if the small green aura was a dried-up riverbank; it would require an immeasurablyrge amount of flesh power to fill it to the brim.

    Only when it was full and satisfied would it settle down, lie dormant, and get ready for its next spectacr change.

    At the first light of dawn...

    Keh! Keh!

    Soft coughs suddenly echoed out from afar.

    Soon, a pale, sickly, skinny Qi warrior appeared in the mountain valley.

    At first, Shi Qing assumed that it was a member of the Blood Skull who had gotten separated and thus returned.

    However, when the Qi warrior stepped closer and stared at him with a strange smile on his ghastly face, a shiver ran through Shi Qing as his face instantly dropped.

    Pei Qiqi, who was still recovering her strength with spirit stones, also sprang to her feet, as if they were facing a great enemy.

    Nie Tian and Cai Yue didn¡¯t know what was happening, and thus shot confused nces towards the man.

    Shi Qing took a deep breath and said louly to the man, with an extremely grim expression, ¡°Li Langfeng! I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d show up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve explored it for a few days, and I was on my way back to the Land of the Abandoned.¡± After uttering a few words, Li Langfeng coughed violently twice, his face filled with a gruesome, diseased-beyond-cure paleness. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you managed to take the Dark Moon¡¯s base and tear down their teleportation portal. I have to say, I¡¯m impressed.¡±

    With those words, he shook his head and said with a helpless expression, ¡°After all, I¡¯m a guest elder of the Dark Moon, and take shelter in the Land of the Abandoned. Plus, I traveled here via their teleportation portal. Now that you¡¯ve stolen it, how am I supposed to return to the Land of the Abandoned?¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s face was as sullen aske water as he said, ¡°What do you want?¡±

    Li Langfeng didn¡¯t respond immediately. Rather, he took his time to nce over the few people in the valley, then said with a sigh, ¡°I¡¯m not an official member of the Dark Moon, so I¡¯m not obligated to kill Pei Qiqi and offend her master just for them. I can¡¯t kill Cai Lan¡¯s only daughter either. If I did, he¡¯d definitely go mad, and I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be be able to make a living in the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°But on the other hand, as a guest elder of the Dark Moon, I have to do something.

    ¡°Shi Qing, if I kill you, I can show the Dark Moon that I¡¯ve honored my identity, and at the same time, I don¡¯t need to worry that Cai Lan will exert all measures toe after me. So, this has to be done, sorry.¡±

    While Shi Qing had a grim look in his eyes, Li Langfeng turned to take a look at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could respond, he went on and said, ¡°At the Heaven stage and not wearing Blood Skull garments. It seems that it doesn¡¯t matter who you are. Well, it¡¯s your bad luck that you¡¯re here. I¡¯ll just take you as a tagalong. I¡¯ll turn in your head along with Shi Qing¡¯s and get whatever I can from the Dark Moon.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s one of ours!¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s face remained still as he said, ¡°Your master only has two disciples, you and Li Ye. As long as I don¡¯t kill you, your master won¡¯t make a big fuss about it. I don¡¯t believe your master will hunt me down for this kid.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, hand over the teleportation portal you¡¯ve taken from the Dark Moon, and then you can leave.¡±

 Chapter 269: Sicko

    As soon as Li Langfeng had appeared, Nie Tian had formed a Heaven Eye and used it to determine his cultivation base. ¡°He¡¯s at thete Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    Normally speaking, as long as his target¡¯s cultivation base was lower than the Worldly realm, he would be able to get a good idea of the target¡¯s cultivation base with a Heaven Eye, which contained a wisp of his soul power.

    Li Langfeng was no exception.

    Since Gu Yu had led the other Blood Skull members out of the mountain valley to chase after their enemies, the middle Greater Heaven stage Shi Qing was the most powerful expert among those who had stayed behind.

    Pei Qiqi was only in thete Heaven stage, and Cai Yue hadn¡¯t even entered the Heaven stage.

    Their strength was clearly not enough if they were going to fight Li Langfeng with just the few of them.

    Perhaps this was why Li Langfeng had appeared as if he had nothing to fear.

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t leave?¡± Pei Qiqi asked coldly.

    ¡°It won¡¯t change the result.¡± Li Langfeng seemed very calm and poised. ¡°I¡¯ll take the teleportation portal from you and the kid will die. You¡¯ll end up wasting your strength for nothing.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi, you probably know that the reason why the Dark Moon picked this location to set up their teleportation portal was that there was seldom any spatial rift activity in this valley.

    ¡°In light of this, you won¡¯t be able to disy your advantage as you would in other areas of the mountain range. Also, you must have spent a lot of energy to crack that teleportation portal. I think it¡¯s safe to say that you haven¡¯t fully recovered yet.¡±

    Li Langfeng took his time to turn to Shi Qing and say, ¡°I ran into and killed a couple of Blood Skull members early on. Through them, I learned that Gu Yu wasn¡¯ting back anytime soon. Without him here to help you, I seriously doubt that you can get around me and escape.¡±

    ¡°You killed our people?!¡± Cai Yue said angrily. ¡°Do you imagine that my father will let you off?¡±

    Li Langfeng put on a fake smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m a guest elder of the Dark Moon. What do you expect? As long as I don¡¯t kill you, your father won¡¯t make a big deal of it. Do you take it your father doesn¡¯t have better things to do thanunchingrge-scale operations against me just because of a couple of his foot soldiers?¡±

    Shi Qing took some time pondering and said, ¡°Brother Li, you¡¯re only the Dark Moon¡¯s guest elder. You don¡¯t have to do this. Considering your strength, you don¡¯t need to use a teleportation portal to return to the Land of the Abandoned. Plus, why note to Shatter City with us? We¡¯re in need of powerful allies like you.¡±

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Shi Qing showed weakness.

    ¡°Uncle Shi! How can you say that!?¡± Cai Yue shouted indignantly, assuming Shi Qing had sullied the Blood Skull¡¯s fierce reputation.

    What she didn¡¯t know was that Shi Qing was actually doing all this to save her.

    Both he and Pei Qiqi had heard stories of this man, and knew that even though he said he wouldn¡¯t want to enrage Pei Qiqi¡¯s master or Cai Lan by killing them, and that if he did it, his life in the Realm of Split Void would be very difficult, the man was actually a hothead.

    He was capable of doing anything when he was provoked.

    The reason why he hade to the Realm of Split Void was that he had messed with the wrong person, a person who was even more influential than Cai Lan and Pei Qiqi¡¯s master.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Now that I¡¯ve taken the Dark Moon¡¯s identity medallion, I¡¯m bound by moral principles to honor my identity.¡± Li Langfeng once again began to cough intensely. He shook his head as he took a small bell from his ring of holding, and then turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°I¡¯ll ask you onest time. Do you wish to leave?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± said Pei Qiqi.

    Face still pale and indifferent, Li Langfeng nodded and turned to Cai Yue. ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving either!¡± Cai Yue yelled.

    Shi Qing realized things had gone beyond negotiation when he saw Li Langfeng take out his bell. His face immediately changed as he yelled at Cai Yue for the first time, ¡°NO! You have to go!

    ¡°Little Lord! You must keep a clear head. We need you to leave so that you can inform Gu Yu of what¡¯s happening here with a Sound Stone!

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll rush back as soon as he receives the message, possibly in time to save us!

    ¡°We need you to save us! But you have to leave now!¡±

    Shi Qing begged for her to listen.

    Even though Li Langfeng had long since seen through Shi Qing¡¯s intentions, and knew that Shi Qing was only saying those things to make Cai Yue leave, he let Shi Qing finish his words and acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard him.

    After all, he didn¡¯t intend to make Cai Lan his sworn enemy.

    ¡°I need to save them...¡± Cai Yue hesitated for a brief moment before she braced herself and said to Shi Qing with great determination, ¡°Hang on, Uncle Shi! I¡¯m going right now, and I¡¯lle back with Uncle Gu and my brother in no time!¡±

    ¡°Go! We¡¯ll only survive if you can find them quickly!¡± Shi Qing urged.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Then, Cai Yue shot a fierce nce at Li Langfeng and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back, sicko! Next time you see me, it will be the end of you!¡±

    With these words, she sped away to get reinforcements to save Shi Qing.

    ¡°Thank you, Miss Pei.¡± Shi Qing said with a smile. ¡°Now that Little Yue has left, you can take Hua Tian and leave. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±

    He had always referred to Cai Yue as Little Lord. Never had he used Little Yue.

    However, now that Cai Yue had disappeared from their sight, and knowing that the odds were against him, he revealed his true sentiments and referred to her as Little Yue.

    He had been taking care of Cai Yue over the years. Even though he had never revealed her feelings to her, he had doted on her and taken her as his own.

    He was well-aware that part of the reason why Pei Qiqi had insisted on staying was that she would like to make sure Cai Yue was safe.

    Obviously, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t do it for Cai Yue¡¯s sake, but rather, it was out of her guilt towards Cai Yuan.

    ¡°You take care. I hope we can still meet some day.¡± Pei Qiqi nodded gently before turning her body and shifting to Nie Tian¡¯s side with a swift move. Then, she grabbed Nie Tian by the arm and dragged him away, dashing in the direction Cai Yue had disappeared in, where she could see a few spatial rifts slithering in the air.

    ¡°I hope we can.¡± Face sad and dreary, Shi Qing said with a voice so soft that it was as if he was talking to himself.

    It was clear to him that even though Ma Jiu and Gu Yu were also in thete Greater Heaven stage, neither of them would be able to defeat this man.

    If the man truly intended to kill him, he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.

    Therefore, knowing that certain death awaited, he didn¡¯t even blink while watching Pei Qiqi take Nie Tian dashing out of the valley at full speed.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but turn his head back to look at Shi Qing as he staggered along after Pei Qiqi.

    He had never expected that Pei Qiqi, who had always insisted on staying and fighting, would take him and flee the moment Cai Yue left, as if she had only stayed to see Cai Yue leave safely.

    Ever since Cai Yue had seen Pei Qiqi, she had found numerous ways to taunt her and give her a hard time.

    Nie Tian had thought that Pei Qiqi would loathe her and be d to watch her die.

    Her decision to stay and fight had greatly surprised him.

    However, he never expected that she would decide to leave as soon as Cai Yue left,pletely unconcerned about Shi Qing¡¯s fate.

    BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

    Just as Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian were about to run out of the valley, a dark-green wall of water that reeked of a foul smell suddenly appeared in front of them.

    As Pei Qiqi approached it and the light shield around her made contact with it, her spiritual power shield was immediately dissolved.

    Pei Qiqi, who was about to crash into the dark-green wall of water, instantly stopped her dashing momentum, her expression flickering.

    Li Langfeng didn¡¯t move a bit. He said casually, with his back facing Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, ¡°I said you can only leave after handing over the teleportation portal and the kid.¡±

    He had obtained a thorough grasp of the situation from the few Blood Skull members he had killed.

    Therefore, he had long since made arrangements for this.

    Cai Yue could leave only because he let her.

    Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian had decided to leave without his consent. Thus, they triggered the spell formation he had deployed.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Without uttering a word, Pei Qiqi unleashed spatial magics against the dark-green wall of water.

    Separated from her by the wall of water were a few spatial rifts, which answered her summoning and slowly moved towards her.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a ingrate for not appreciating my kindness.¡±

    Li Langfeng shook his head. An unpleasant expression appeared on his face as he shook the bell in his hand.

    CHING!

    The crisp sound of a bell rang out.

    Pei Qiqi, who was manipting spatial rifts using spatial magics, suddenly let out a muffled groan as an unnatural redness appeared on her face, as if she had taken a heavy blow.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    A violent turbulence that could shake Heaven and Earth was created in Nie Tian¡¯s soul as soon as he heard the bell ring.

    He shuddered fiercely as he experienced an excruciating pain in his head, like someone had hit his head with a giant hammer.

    ¡°It¡¯s a psychic attack!¡±

 Chapter 270: Mad Bombardment

    Violent turbulence and waves were created in Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    A cultivator¡¯s soul is like a sea of countless wisps of psychic awareness, which is usually peaceful and quiet.

    However, when the crisp sound of Li Langfeng¡¯s bell rang out, all the psychic awareness in Nie Tian¡¯s soul sea seemed to be disrupted and torn by an invisible hand, causing splitting pain in his head.

    The unbearable pain was more than enough to make those who didn¡¯t have an unwavering will break down.

    Even though Nie Tian managed to pull through, gritting his teeth, it pained him to the point where he almost wanted to die.

    Shortly afterward, the seven fragmentary stars floating above his sea of psychic awareness began to shine with bright light.

    Dazzling, bright starlight poured down onto Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, calming his mind.

    Soothed by the starlight, his originally-turbulent sea of psychic awareness gradually returned to calm.

    The stabbing pain in his head also gradually grew bearable. Nie Tian took a deep breath and turned around to stare at Li Langfeng with a cold look in his eyes.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s reckless actions enraged Nie Tian so much that he no longer wanted to leave, even if he could.

    Anger could also be seen in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she let out a muffled groan, intoxicating redness appearing on her unearthly beautiful face.

    She immediately turned around and pointed the Ethereal Swords floating in front of her at Li Langfeng.

    Li Langfeng had his back facing the two of them the entire time, as if he didn¡¯t think it was necessary to pay attention to them, who couldn¡¯t possibly pose any threat to him.

    His true target had always been Shi Qing, who was at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Just like Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian, the waves of energy from the bell also dealt a strong blow to Shi Qing. He even had blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Li Langfeng finally turned around and began to look Nie Tian up and down with an examining gaze.

    ¡°He¡¯s still alive?¡± Li Langfeng stroked his chin with his non-bell-bearing hand as he measured up Nie Tian.

    ¡°This is strange,¡± he thought to himself. He had just formed andunched three strands of psychic power, inflicting the strongest one on Shi Qing. As the result, Shi Qing had immediately puked blood.

    He had used the other two strands of psychic power to attack Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian. The one he had inflicted on Pei Qiqi was weaker than the one he had used to attack Nie Tian.

    After all, he didn¡¯t want Pei Qiqi¡¯s master to make him her sworn enemy. He just wanted to make her give up by letting her know that she didn¡¯t have a chance fighting against him.

    On the other hand, he had exerted more power to attack Nie Tian because he wanted to kill him with one quick strike.

    Once Nie Tian was dead, Pei Qiqi would have one less reason to resist him. It would be very likely that she would choose to hand over the Dark Moon¡¯s teleportation portal and leave.

    He had long since seen through Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base. Thus, he was certain that the damage he had inflicted on this early Heaven stage young man would be fatal.

    Seeing that Nie Tian was still standing and seemed unscathed, he was rather surprised, and began to secretly attach importance to him.

    ¡°It seems this kid is one of those people who possess superior psychic power. This is the only rational exnation for why he was able to bear my attack and remain standing.¡± Li Langfeng soon had an idea. ¡°Those who are blessed with supreme psychic power usually focus on cultivating psychic power, and thus neglect other aspects.¡±

    With these thoughts, he decided to adopt a different method.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Wisps of dark-green smoke suddenly began to rise from the earth.

    It seemed as if they were vaporized energy rising from the depths of the earth.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as the wisps of dark-green smoke made contact with the spiritual energy shields surrounding Pei Qiqi, Shi Qing, and Nie Tian, their shields began to show signs of dissolving.

    Anxiety could be seen on Shi Qing and Pei Qiqi¡¯s faces as they hastily summoned and infused their light shields with more spiritual power to contend with the toxic, dark-green smoke.

    Both Shi Qing and Pei Qiqi knew that Li Langfeng hade from the Realm of Dark Underworld and had been closely connected with the Spirit God sect.

    The Spirit God sect was located in a ce where poisonous miasma filled the air. Therefore, many of their sect members were experts in wielding poisons.

    It was said that the fact that Li Langfeng coughed all day long and always seemed sickly had a great deal to do with the grotesque poisonous techniques he practiced.

    One time, he had allowed various types of toxins into his body, but something had gone wrong. He had almost died in that ident.

    Somehow, he had survived, but he couldn¡¯t fully refine and rid himself of the poisonous residuals. Therefore, he constantly suffered erosion from them.

    Rumor had it that Li Langfeng would be killed by the toxins sooner orter.

    Supposedly, he had chosen to live in the Land of the Abandoned and spent most of his time in the Void Illusion Mountain Range because he had been seeking a resolution to his problem.

    As a man who practiced poisonous techniques and suffered a bacsh from them, the might of the dark-green smoke he unleashed was by no means insignificant.

    Nie Tian had been using the green jade bracelet Li Ye had gifted him to keep away the tainted spiritual Qi in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    However, since the energy released by the bracelet didn¡¯t match Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation attributes, he couldn¡¯t further power it with the different sorts of energy inside of him to fend off the toxic smoke.

    Therefore, when the dark-green smoke gradually filled the entire mountain valley, the light shield surrounding him was the first to break down.

    ¡°Come here to me,¡± Pei Qiqi called out to him.

    Nie Tian shook his head as he stepped back instead of approaching Pei Qiqi. ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡±

    He intentionally kept a sizable distance between him and Pei Qiqi and gestured for her not toe closer.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t understand what he was doing.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian ced his hands in front of his chest, palms opposite each other, and the various types of power within him broke out violently.

    A chaotic maic field with a eight-meter-radius was immediately formed around him.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    At the same time, as a thought appeared in Li Langfeng¡¯s mind, some of the dark-green miasma that had been floating in midair began to converge on Nie Tian from different parts of the valley.

    As the poisonous smoke grew increasingly condensed, poisonous creatures such as serpents, scorpions, and centipedes formed. They were so lifelike that it seemed Li Langfeng had infused each of them with a wisp of his psychic awareness.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    More dark-green smoke was rising from the ground where Nie Tian stood. However, as soon as the wisps of smoke entered his chaotic maic field, they were immediately ripped apart and ground to tiny bits.

    Later, when the poisonous creatures Li Langfeng had created entered Nie Tian¡¯s maic field, they suffered the same fate.

    Li Langfeng watched as the poisonous creatures he had vested with his own psychic awareness were torn apart and reduced to wisps of smoke.

    The smoke grew fainter and fainter as the maic field continued to grind it down.

    Faint wisps of poisonous smoke were pushed to the outer verge of the maic field, so that they could never harm Nie Tian, who was at the center of the maic field.

    ¡°Strange kid...¡± Li Langfeng was increasingly surprised; the gaze he used to look at Nie Tian was filled with confusion.

    Standing in front of Shi Qing, he subconsciously stepped towards Nie Tian.

    At that moment, Shi Qing and Pei Qiqi were also enveloped by two clusters of condensed, poisonous smoke.

    The two of them were struggling to contend against the erosion of the toxins, and didn¡¯t dare to make any rash actions, since they both discovered that Li Langfeng had refined some of the tainted spiritual Qi in the mountain range and added it to his poisonous smoke, making his poisonous smoke even more powerful and dangerous.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    After forming his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian slowly stepped closer towards the dark-green wall of water.

    The moment his maic field made contact with the wall of water that had blocked his and Pei Qiqi¡¯s path of escape, it began to twist and show signs of splitting.

    Pei Qiqi, who had been staring at Nie Tian the whole time, said with her eyes lit up, ¡°Break that ward, Hua Tian! We need to leave as soon as possible!¡±

    She knew that she could only rely on manipting spatial rifts to create an opening in Li Langfeng¡¯s wall of water. However, Li Langfeng had seen through her intentions and dealt a great blow to her soul, forcing her to abandon the idea.

    Even though she couldn¡¯t see through the strange maic field around Nie Tian and determine what it was, she was aware that Nie Tian had managed to keep the poisonous smoke away with it after his green jade bracelet had lost its effectiveness.

    Most unbelievable of all, it had even stopped and destroyed the numerous poisonous creatures Li Langfeng had used to attack him.

    At that moment, it suddenly urred to her that Nie Tian had showed up like a ghost and single-handedly taken out a dozen Dark Moon experts when she and Cai Yuan had been trapped by Ma Jiu and his men.

    With those thoughts, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes shone even brighter.

    Shi Qing also saw what was happening to Nie Tian while exerting all measures to fend off the toxic smoke. ¡°Young Lord was right. This Hua Tian kid is indeed beyond ordinary.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but admit that Cai Yuan was a perfect judge for talent, and he finally came to realize that earlier, when others had gone after Dark Moon experts, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t stood by out of fear.

    He just hadn¡¯t felt the necessity to join the battle when it would be a guaranteed victory.

    He had chosen to be an onlooker because he didn¡¯t want topete with the other Blood Skull members for contribution points.

    Nie Tian, who was focused on tearing open the dark-green wall of water with his chaotic maic field, didn¡¯t instantly respond after hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s words.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    He raised one hand in the air and began to gather the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to form a spiritual energy ball.

    Within seconds, a misty, gray spiritual energy ball formed, with violent energy fluctuationsing from within it.

    ¡°Go!¡± To everyone¡¯s surprise, Nie Tian turned around and shot the spiritual energy ball towards Li Langfeng as numerous types of power collided with one another in the limited space, making it more and more unstable.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The spiritual energy ball exploded right before it reached Li Langfeng, sending countless green, blue, ck, and purple spots of light into its surroundings, engulfing Li Langfeng.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Without even checking the result of his attack, Nie Tian immediately concentrated his attention and formed another spiritual energy ball.

    Before the bits of impurities from his first spiritual energy ball could dissipate, his second spiritual energy ball arrived.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    RUUUUMBLE!

    RUUUUMBLE!

    With the same method, Nie Tian continued to form spiritual energy balls and cast them towards Li Liangfeng. The mad bombardment turned the area where Li Liangfeng was standing into arge cluster of multicolored mist.

 Chapter 271: The Opposite Result

    In the mountain valley, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing were bbergasted...

    Before, Pei Qiqi had only seen Nie Tian fight Yang Ling relying purely on his physical strength, and Shi Qing hadn¡¯t seen Nie Tian fight at all.

    They couldn¡¯t believe Nie Tian dared to fight Li Langfeng head-on when he could have used his strange maic field to tear open the dark-green wall of water and escape.

    The spiritual energy balls Nie Tian had created contained different types of refined power, which became extremely unstable after being pressed into such a small area.

    After they exploded, Li Langfeng immediately disappeared in a cluster of multicolored, corrosive bright spots, which were the different types of impurities that shouldn¡¯t belong to this realm.

    Shi Qing was taken aback by the scene.

    From what he could tell, if it had been him who had been bombarded by Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, he probably would have sustained severe injuries.

    However, Nie Tian was only at the early Heaven stage...

    The fact that he couldunch such mighty attacks without receiving any boost from a spiritual tool when he had such a low cultivation base made Shi Qing question his own eyes.

    ¡°He¡¯s only at the Heaven stage, and his battle prowess is already so formidable. What kind of existence will he be once he enters the Worldly realm?¡± These thoughts gave rise to great turbulence in Shi Qing¡¯s mind, which even caused the power he had been channeling into his spiritual energy shield to fluctuate.

    ¡°No wonder our young lord, for the first time, decided to personally offer a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion to him, knowing he was only at the Heaven stage.

    ¡°It¡¯s our fortune that we made the offer first and he agreed.

    ¡°If he was discovered and admitted by the Wild Fire or the Dark Moon, given a few years, he would have be the Blood Skull¡¯s nightmare!¡±

    While Shi Qing grew excited in presence of Nie Tian¡¯s amazing battle prowess, Nie Tian quietly stopped attacking.

    Actually, it wouldn¡¯t be very consuming to form more spiritual energy balls with the technique he had picked up in the mysteriousnd.

    What he did was basically borrow the different types of power that already existed in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    If he wanted to, he could have continued to create dozens or even hundreds more of them and used them to bombard Li Langfeng, if he was given the time.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t stop because he had run out of strength. Rather, it was because he had sensed something via one of his Heaven Eyes.

    Countless bright spots of various colors filled the area where the series of spiritual energy balls had exploded. The various types of power had even left the ground in a disastrous state.

    Even the Heaven Eye couldn¡¯t see through the floating, multicolored mist and get a clear view of Li Langfeng.

    However, since the Heaven Eye carried a wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul power, it could detect any sign of life within its range.

    It discovered that Li Langfeng¡¯s life aura was very strange; it was weak, on the verge of death, in one second and extremely strong in another.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, when Li Langfeng¡¯s life aura was the most vigorous, he could have rushed out of the hazardous area and avoided the damage.

    However, he didn¡¯t.

    Furthermore, via the Heaven Eye, Nie Tian had also noted that Li Langfeng had been gathering power, but soon gave up for some reason.

    It was as if he had deliberately given up resistance and let Nie Tian bombard him with more spiritual energy balls.

    After sensing the anomaly, Nie Tian stopped and, with a grim face, he focused all his attention on the area Li Langfeng was in.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing had a feeling that the pressure that had been weighing on them had suddenly been lifted.

    The two of them had originally been surrounded by two clusters of condensed, dark-green smoke.

    After Nie Tianunched his bombardment of spiritual energy balls, all the dark-green poisonous smoke in the valley quietly left them and gathered towards Li Langfeng.

    Therefore, no longer needing to resist the poisonous smoke, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing joined Nie Tian as the three of them frowned and fixed their gazes on the area Li Langfeng was in.

    Momentster, they discovered that green spots were gradually vanishing from the multicolored, vision-blocking mist of impurities.

    As far as Nie Tian knew, all the green spots originated from poisonous spiritual Qi that belonged to domains that were far away, and they were the part that made the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void poisonous and corrosive to human flesh.

    However, at that moment, those toxic green spots were disappearing from the multicolored mist of impurities at a rate noticeable to the naked eye.

    Meanwhile, he discovered via his Heaven Eye that the intensity of Li Langfeng¡¯s life aura was climbing, and gradually became as violent as an ocean during storm.

    Momentster...

    The mist of foreign impurities wore off, and Li Langfeng appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    After being bombarded by Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, he seemed rather bedraggled. His garments were torn, and every piece of exposed skin was covered in bloody wounds.

    However, fine threads of green light, which resembled slithering snakes, could be seen within those wounds.

    Those threads of green light had originated from the tainted spiritual Qi that Nie Tian had used to form his energy balls, which he had used to bombard Li Langfeng.

    However, for some reason, Li Langfeng had managed to absorb them into his ripped-open flesh.

    Li Langfeng, who seemed in sore straits, coughed again.

    Unlike before, it wasn¡¯t a dry cough this time. With every cough, he spit out a mouthful of grimy blood.

    Multicolored spots could be seen in the goo he spit to the ground.

    That was when something suddenly urred to Nie Tian.

    He remembered the time when he had used the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation to refine the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood. The gooey thing that had stuck to the bottom of the wooden barrel was very simr to the thing Li Langfeng just spit out.

    It was none other than the impurities within the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    However, gray, ck, and purple spots could be seen in the gooey things Li Langfeng was spitting out; green spots were the only one missing.

    It was because all the green impurities had been kept within Li Langfeng¡¯s ripped-open flesh, wiggling like small spiritual snakes.

    ¡°He actually can refine and absorb the toxins from my attack!¡± Staring at the disgusting goo that hade out of Li Langfeng¡¯s mouth, Nie Tian realized what was happening.

    ¡°Why did you stop?¡± Looking like a evil ghost, Li Langfeng grinned and said after coughing up another mouthful of impurities.

    Before Nie Tian could answer, he nodded and said, ¡°Hua Tian, is it? Good, very good.¡± His eyes were deep and gruesome. ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind. Now I want you to form more of your energy balls and hit me with them... continually.¡±

    Then, he coughed as he waved at Pei Qiqi, saying, ¡°You may leave now, and you can keep the Dark Moon¡¯s teleportation portal. Just leave this Hua Tian kid with me. I need him, and I need him alive.¡±

    Although Li Langfeng seemed rather miserable on the outside after being bombarded by Nie Tian, the spiritual power within him was surging at a terrifying speed. It seemed as if thanks to the threads of green light wiggling in his wounds, his battle prowess was increasing by the second.

    At that point, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing also realized what was going on.

    The spiritual energy balls Nie Tian had used to attack Li Langfeng had actually helped him instead!

    Since Li Langfeng practiced a special poison incantation, he was able to extract and absorb toxins from Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, and boost his own strength with them!

    That was why he had forgotten about the teleportation portal and set his mind on capturing Nie Tian alive.

    At that moment, Shi Qing¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out. ¡°You should go, Miss Pei. You don¡¯t know me well enough to fight to the death for me, and since Nie Tian isn¡¯t your master¡¯s disciple, you¡¯re not obligated to stay for him either.¡±

    Shi Qing knew that if Pei Qiqi died here, her master would definitely be furious, and since she had participated in the Blood Skull¡¯s operation, her master might vent her wrath on the Blood Skull.

    After realizing that Li Langfeng had be even stronger, Shi Qing felt desperate and helpless. But as a senior member of the Blood Skull, he could think from the Blood Skull¡¯s point of view at the moment of life or death. It was quite impressive.

    However, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t say anything after hearing Shi Qing¡¯s urge. Instead, she turned to look at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian said with a mysterious smile, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me.¡±

 Chapter 272: Leaving

    Nie Tian agreed with Shi Qing¡¯s take on the matter, as he also thought Pei Qiqi had every reason to leave.

    He and Pei Qiqi weren¡¯t close enough for her to stay and fight to the death, much less Shi Qing.

    Furthermore, Li Langfeng had even allowed her to leave with the teleportation portal.

    ¡°Alright, you two take care.¡± Eyes glittering, Pei Qiqi took Shi Qing¡¯s advice and made what seemed to be the wisest decision.

    With these words, she indeed turned around and left.

    ¡°Smart choice,¡± Li Langfeng said softly.

    As Pei Qiqi stepped away, a thought appeared in Li Langfeng¡¯s mind, and the dark-green water wall that had blocked her path of escape seeped back into the depths of the earth, giving way to her.

    Pei Qiqi blurred into action and shot out of the valley like a sh of lightning.

    After seeing her leave, Nie Tian took a deep breath as he summoned more strength and expanded his chaotic maic field to a ten-meter radius.

    Then, hemanded his seven Heaven Eyes to spread out and observe Li Langfeng from every direction.

    At the same time, he secretly sent a wisp of psychic awareness into his bracelet of holding.

    Pei Qiqi leaving made him face a tough decision.

    He was prepared to use the me Dragon Armor when it was a moment of life or death.

    Before he had set foot in the Realm of Split Void, Hua Mu had warned him that he shouldn¡¯t use the me Dragon Armor unless he was in a life-threatening situation.

    The me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure widely known throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. Once it appeared, Nie Tian¡¯s identity would be exposed.

    At that time, not only would the me God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworlde for it, but the Heaven Pce Sect would also descend upon the Realm of Split Void to strip him of the two fragmentary star marks on his chest.

    There was only one way to use the me Dragon Armor and make sure the fact that it was in his possession didn¡¯t leak out, which was to kill everyone who saw the me Dragon Armor.

    With Pei Qiqi gone, Shi Qing, Li Langfeng, and Nie Tian were the only ones in the mountain valley.

    If both of them died in the valley, his identity would remain concealed, and it would still be safe for him to stay in the Realm of Split Void.

    As Nie Tian received a wisp of vague consciousness from the me Dragon Armor in his bracelet of holding, he understood that it hade from the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul.

    From that response, he learned that if he wished to, he could summon the me Dragon Armor to fight for him when the crucial moment came. This made him feel a bit more spirited and secure.

    As much as he disliked the idea, Nie Tian decided to kill Li Langfeng with the me Dragon Armor after Li Langfeng had killed Shi Qing.

    Even though Shi Qing was devoted and loyal to the Blood Skull, he had never thought for Nie Tian¡¯s safety. He had urged Pei Qiqi to leave because he feared that her master might vent her anger on the Blood Skull after learning that she had died in a Blood Skull operation.

    Considering that, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have any mental barrier to Li Langfeng killing Shi Qing and him killing Li Langfeng to save himself.

    With a n in his mind, Nie Tian seemed rather calm andposed.

    After shooting a nce at Nie Tian out of the corner of his eyes, Li Langfeng turned around and walked towards Shi Qing. ¡°If you behave, it doesn¡¯t need to be painful. Your head will demonstrate that I¡¯ve done my part as a guest elder of the Dark Moon¡¯s after I return to the Land of the Abandoned, and they will reward me handsomely for killing you for them. Now that Cai Yue and Pei Qiqi are both safe and gone, you may go in peace.¡±

    CHING!

    As Li Langfeng shook the bell in his hand, a wave of dreadful psychic shock pierced into Shi Qing¡¯s mind.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t feel any turbulence in his soul sea. That was when he realized that Li Langfeng had intentionally spared Nie Tian. From the look of it, he was truly determined to capture Nie Tian alive.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As soon as the bell rang, the countless threads of green light that had been wiggling in Li Langfeng¡¯s ripped-open wounds shot out towards Shi Qing.

    Shining with bright, green light, they almost instantly prated Shi Qing¡¯s protective light shield.

    BOOM!

    The moment Shi Qing¡¯s protective light shield exploded, he couldn¡¯t help but trudge backwards.

    At the same time, the solid ground underneath him began to crack, and fragmented rocks and earth began to rise up into the air.

    In a brief moment, numerous rocks filled the space between Shi Qing and Li Langfeng.

    ¡°Earth power!¡± Observing from the side, the instant Nie Tian saw the rocks rise up, he realized that Shi Qing¡¯s cultivation attribute was earth.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    More rocks in the vicinity seemed to be answering Shi Qing¡¯s summoning as they also rose up into the air and hovered around Li Langfeng.

    In the next moment, close to a hundred giant rocks shot towards Li Langfeng at the same time. The scene was rather spectacr.

    However, like a ghost, the skinny Li Langfeng swiftly shifted his position through the spaces between the rocks without running into any trouble.

    "Gravity upheaval!" Shi Qing let out an explosive shout.

    Immediately afterward, all the huge rocks plummeted to the earth like meteors, creating loud crashes.

    Li Langfeng, who was shifting in midair, was also instantly dragged down towards the earth as the gravitational field around him changed violently.

    ¡°It won¡¯t change anything.¡± Li Langfeng shook his head, and in the next moment, numerous dark-green beams of light shot out from within his t sleeve.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    One huge rock after another exploded into tiny pieces after the dark-green light beams shone on them.

    Then, Li Langfeng gently shook his bell once again.

    Already struggling to maintain control of his gravitational field, Shi Qing let out a muffled groan, and blood continued to flow out of the corner of his mouth.

    Due to the violent strike to his soul, the gravitational field he had summoned at full strength also soon vanished.

    At that moment, Li Langfeng pointed at Shi Qing with his non-bell-bearing hand from afar.

    A curtain of dark-green water immediately shot out from the ground behind Shi Qing like a reverse waterfall, and rapidly moved towards him with the momentum to engulf him.

    Simultaneously, wisps of green, toxic smoke were continuously rising from under Shi Qing¡¯s feet, forcing Shi Qing to face attacks on two fronts.

    ¡°Even Gu Yu wouldn¡¯t be able to match my strength, much less you,¡± Li Langfeng said with a poised face. ¡°I¡¯ve spent quite a few years at thete Greater Heaven stage, and I¡¯m only one step away from entering the Worldly realm. No Qi warrior under the Worldly realm could truly pose a threat to me.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    While he spoke, the dark-green water curtain and poisonous smoke surrounded Shi Qing from above his head and under his feet.

    CHING!

    Li Langfeng didn¡¯t stop shaking his bell. With every gentle move of his wrist, Shi Qing coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    Since his soul was under attack, Shi Qing couldn¡¯t focus and summon the strength to ward off the poisonous water and smoke.

    Not only did they contain the power that Li Langfeng had infused them with, but they also contained deadly toxins. With only a few breaths of the smoke, Shi Qing felt light-headed.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As Shi Qing¡¯s garments rotted away, a set of grayish-yellow spiritual armor was revealed from under them. Detailed and elegant patterns were carved on the armor; spiritual auras flowed in it like a man¡¯s meridians.

    The stones that had scattered all over the ce seemed to be drawn in by his spiritual armor, and madly converged on Shi Qing.

    In less than ten seconds, a thickyer of rock formed over Shi Qing¡¯s entire body.

    At first nce, Shi Qing seemed to have been petrified and turned into a human-shaped rock.

    It appeared that Shi Qing was using this special method to ward off the poisonous water and smoke.

    However, even though his spiritual armor had miraculously stopped the harm, there was a major w to this method, which was that he couldn¡¯t move at all.

    This special magic came with the spiritual armor, and it was only meant for desperate situations when the enemyunched a full-force attack.

    Afterwards, its owner could deactivate the petrified state and continue fighting.

    However, that wasn¡¯t an option for Shi Qing. As soon as he called off the petrified state, he would be once again exposed to the corrosive water and smoke.

    It was this desperate situation that had forced him to resort to this special spell.

    ¡°You¡¯ve petrified yourself to resist the corrosion, so what?¡± Li Langfeng shook his head as he paced towards Shi Qing, ¡°It¡¯s not going to change the result. You¡¯ll die anyways. It¡¯s just a matter of time.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly heard buzzing soundsing from behind him.

    He turned around to look, and found that a few spatial rifts were gathering and moving towards the valley from the distant horizon.

    Puzzled, hemanded one of his Heaven Eyes to fly towards the spatial rifts.

    Soon, he discovered that Pei Qiqi was stand amongst a dozen slithering spatial rifts, controlling them as she stepped closer towards the valley.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± Upon seeing her return, a shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body; mixed emotions rose in his heart.

    Pei Qiqi shouldn¡¯t have returned. Yet, she did.

    Earlier, when Cai Yue had left, Pei Qiqi had grabbed him and sped away at the first possible moment, never even taking Shi Qing¡¯s life or death into consideration.

    It showed that Shi Qing wasn¡¯t important to Pei Qiqi at all. Hence, there was only one exnation for her return: she hade back for Nie Tian!

    It was as if Pei Qiqi knew that Nie Tian would be able to hear her, even from such a long distance away. She shouted into the sky as she marched towards the valley, ¡°Let¡¯s go kill that sicko!¡±

    Upon hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s words via his Heaven Eye, a vicious expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s resolute face as he charged towards Li Langfeng, enveloped by his chaotic maic field.

 Chapter 273: Exerting Every Move

    ¡°Ah...¡± After noticing Nie Tian¡¯s actions, Li Langfeng shook his head with his back facing Nie Tian. ¡°Another brat who doesn¡¯t understand the immensity of Heaven and Earth.¡±

    In Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian¡¯s actions were very unwise and meaningless.

    CRACK!

    One beam of green light after another continued to shoot out of Li Langfeng¡¯s t sleeve and carve at theyer of hard rock covering Shi Qing¡¯s body.

    Although theyer of hard rock created by Shi Qing¡¯s spiritual armor could protect him from a number of serious attacks, once it was broken, Shi Qing would be instantly exposed to Li Langfeng¡¯s toxins.

    The toxins would rapidly infiltrate his body and eat him away from both the inside and outside.

    By that time, Li Langfeng wouldn¡¯t even need to do anything. The toxins alone would be enough to kill Shi Qing.

    Therefore, the moment Shi Qing petrified himself, Li Langfeng knew that Shi Qing would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    All he needed to do was take his time and grind down theyer of hard rock covering Shi Qing.

    He didn¡¯t even attach the least importance to Nie Tian¡¯s actions, since, normally speaking, an early Heaven stage young man couldn¡¯t possibly pose any threat to him.

    CHING!

    He continued to shake the bell in his hand.

    The sound of the bell gave rise to ripples in the originally silent air in the valley. Within every ripple, therey a wisp of Li Langfeng¡¯s psychic awareness.

    The ripples soon spread to Nie Tian and entered his chaotic maic field.

    As soon as they did, Li Langfeng¡¯s psychic awareness was distorted.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyebrows immediately furrowed as he was struck by a feeling that his psychic awareness was being wrapped by different types of power and gradually pulled apart.

    Within a very short time, his refined psychic awareness was ripped into tiny bits and pushed to the outermost part of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    As hemanded the scattered bits of his psychic awareness to get closer to the center of the maic field where Nie Tian was, the connection between him and his psychic awareness was suddenly cut off.

    A shocked look suddenly became visible in his eyes.

    Keh! Keh!

    He began to cough violently again, his pale face bing increasingly ghastly and sickly.

    A gruesome, ice-cold aura burst forth from his heart, along with a burning killing intent.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, a pale-gray skull flew out of his ring of holding and whizzed towards Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    It seemed to be the skull of a spirit beast. Two clusters of ghostly green light were shimmering within its hollow eye sockets.

    The sizable spirit beast skull unleashed a gruesome, ice-cold, murderous aura as it spun and fixed its ghostly green eyes on Nie Tian

    Meanwhile, the light its eyes emanated grew increasingly bright and dazzling.

    ZZZZZLA!

    As it entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, the skull unleashed green bolts of lightning, which constantly shed with the various types of power within the maic field.

    While the skull stared at Nie Tian, a vague image of Li Langfeng slowly became visible in each of its ghostly green eyes, which seemed to be examining the types of power within Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Under the gruesome gaze, Nie Tian¡¯s soul shook violently, giving rise to torrential waves in his sea of psychic awareness.

    Nie Tian immediately experienced a heart-wrenching stabbing pain in his head, causing howls to escape his mouth.

    Small amounts of blood began to flow out of his ears and the corners of his eyes, making him look sinister and scary.

    ¡°You! Behave! Don¡¯t ask for trouble!¡± Li Langfeng¡¯s voice echoed out from the two images in the skull¡¯s ghostly eyes. ¡°I need you alive. But if you don¡¯t appreciate my kindness, I¡¯m happy to deal you a few heavy blows and watch you suffer.¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s voice hade from the spirit beast skull, yet in real life, he was still facing Shi Qing, showing Nie Tian his back.

    From the look of it, he had no problem attacking Nie Tian with his spirit beast skull while carving into theyer of rock on Shi Qing himself.

    With an excruciating pain in his head, Nie Tian screamed into the heavens while blood was dripping down his face. It seemed as if he had gone mad.

    At that moment, his soul was in chaos, and he could no longer gather any strength tounch a counterattack.

    He could only watch as the ghostly green eyes morphed and magically appeared within his soul.

    There was nothing he could do as the ghostly eyes rampaged across Nie Tian¡¯s sea of psychic awareness, ripping wisps of his psychic power into shreds.

    ¡°It¡¯s a psychic attack again!¡± Nie Tian roared angrily in his heart.

    When a high-level Qi warrior fought a low-level Qi warrior, the high-level Qi warrior¡¯s exquisite psychic magics were usually the most effective measure to crush the low-level Qi warrior.

    Just as a strong desire to fight back rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, a chilly, calming aura suddenly shone upon his sea of psychic awareness.

    The seven fragmentary stars that hung high over his sea of psychic awareness moved silently in some sort of pattern.

    Before long, they arrived above the two ghostly eyes and trapped them, as if the fragmentary stars had formed a spell formation.

    In the next moment, seven beams of starlight shone out of the seven fragmentary stars.

    Like seven falling stars, they converged on the two ghostly eyes with great precision.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    The ghostly eyes instantly vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s soul without leaving a single trace.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    Li Langfeng, who had his back facing Nie Tian, suddenly let out an agonized howl.

    The beams of green light he was using to carve Shi Qing¡¯s rock armor missed their target and shot elsewhere due to the sudden pain in his head.

    The sudden anguish even caused the two clusters of green light in the skull¡¯s eye sockets to go out. The two images of Li Langfeng in them also disappeared along with them.

    Li Langfeng turned around abruptly. ¡°Y-you?!¡±

    The badly mangled Li Langfeng already looked like a ghoul, with shimmering green light slithering in his ripped-open flesh.

    At this moment, as he shot a fierce nce at Nie Tian, his eyes filled with ruthlessness and rage, making him look like a devil that had just broken out of the the underworld and was going to destroy the Heavens and extinguish the Earth, along with every living being.

    He glowered at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What¡¯s in your soul?¡±

    By using a profound psychic technique, he had sent two strands of psychic awareness into Nie Tian¡¯s soul in form of two ghostly eyes. However, all he could see and attack through them was Nie Tian¡¯s sea of psychic awareness, not the seven fragmentary stars that hung high above it.

    Shortly afterwards, his two strands of psychic awareness had been destroyed by a mysterious force.

    Since he was still at thete Greater Heaven stage and hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm, his soul hadn¡¯t been upgraded to the point where he could develop soul power.

    Therefore, he only had psychic power at his disposal, which couldn¡¯t detect the existence of the more advanced soul power that constituted the fragmentary stars.

    Even when his two wisps of psychic power were annihted by the soul power from the seven fragmentary stars, he still didn¡¯t know what had happened.

    The only thing he was certain of was that Nie Tian¡¯s soul was different from those of others; something in it was capable of exterminating his psychic awareness.

    ¡°Impressive kid!¡± Li Langfeng grinned as it seemed he was going tough, but he never made a sound.

    WHOOSH!

    The sizable spirit beast skull suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field andnded on Li Langfeng¡¯s syed hand.

    In the next moment, the countless threads of green light that had been wiggling within his numerous wounds sudden swam into the air and arced their way into the skull.

    After receiving the lights, small flesh fibers and veins began to grow on the originally pale-gray, fleshless skull at a noticeable speed.

    At the same time, an intense, bloody aura spread out from the spirit beast skull. Standing dozens of meters away, Nie Tian¡¯s heart began to pound upon seeing the scene via his Heaven Eye.

    After being infused with the green lights, the lifeless skull seemed to be suddenly vested with life.

    Two clusters of green light once again burned in the skull¡¯s eye sockets, and Li Langfeng¡¯s images once again appeared in them.

    As the skull shone with dazzlingly bright-green light, Li Langfeng rammed it into Shi Qing¡¯s hard rock protection.

    BANG!!!

    Upon impact, arge piece fell off of Shi Qing¡¯s solid rock protection.

    The giant armor of rock was sent flying backwards along with Shi Qing¡¯s body.

    When Shi Qing hit the ground, his eyes grew somewhat dimmer as blood slowly seeped out of his rock protection and dripped onto the ground.

    At at first nce, it was as if a giant piece of rock was bleeding.

    Li Langfeng red at Nie Tian and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you now. I¡¯ll have my fun with you when I¡¯ve gotten rid of Shi Qing.¡±

    Now that he knew there was something special about Nie Tian¡¯s soul, he didn¡¯t intend to unleash more psychic magics on Nie Tian. Rather, he nned to kill Shi Qing as quickly as possible, and then take his time to explore and learn Nie Tian¡¯s secrets.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, at that very moment, a number of spatial rifts appeared at the perimeter of the mountain valley.

    Like lightning bolts slithering in midair, they rapidly moved towards the center of the valley where Li Langfeng was standing.

    Under the spatial rifts, a hint of umon redness appeared on Pei Qiqi¡¯s cheeks, making her as beautiful as peach blossoms.

    With a single nce, Nie Tian realized that the redness on her face was caused by her overconsumption of spiritual power and the fact that her Qi and blood were very unstable.

    ZZZZZLA!

    One of the slender spatial rifts took the initiative to sh towards Li Langfeng like a giant, bright sword.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Four Ethereal Swords also appeared out of nowhere and pierced towards Li Langfeng¡¯s chest.

    In the meantime, spatial energy took form of numerous light des as they rushed down towards Li Langfeng from midair like a shoal of blood-thirsty fish.

    From the look of it, Pei Qiqi had gone all-out.

    ¡°Miss Pei!¡± Upon seeing Pei Qiqi, a shudder ran through Shi Qing¡¯s body as he seemed to know what to do now.

    Covered in hard rock, Shi Qing realized that the best opportunity tounch a counterattack hade, considering Pei Qiqi had unleashed numerous spatial attacks on Li Langfeng.

    BANG!

    Theyer of rock over Shi Qing¡¯s body exploded into pieces like broken china.

    After deactivating the petrified state, Shi Qing roared angrily as he formed hand seals, once again causing the earth to tremble and the gravitational field to change.

 Chapter 274: Burning Killing Intent

    Attacked by one spatial rift, four Ethereal Swords, and numerous spatial light des, the skinny, ghoul-like Li Langfeng was limited to a small space.

    Every time he moved his body, he risked being cut.

    Meanwhile, the gravitational field where he was standing had undergone an upheaval and the ground was shaking unceasingly, making it very hard for him to move about.

    Observing from afar, Nie Tian could see that as Li Langfeng moved about to avoid Pei Qiqi¡¯s attacks, more and more bloody wounds appeared on his arms and waist.

    ¡°You dare toe back!¡± Being attacked by Shi Qing and Pei Qiqi at the same time, Li Langfeng was truly enraged. Blood dripped down his garments as he fixed his fierce eyes on Pei Qiqi and roared, ¡°Do you really think I fear your master so much that I¡¯ll never dare to kill you?¡±

    CHING!

    The crisp sound of a bell once again rang out. Simultaneously, surging waves of a psychic attack rushed towards Pei Qiqi¡¯s mind.

    Focused on using various profound spatial magics, Pei Qiqi let out a muffled groan as blood dripped down the corner of her sparkling, red lips.

    ¡°Go!¡± The fleshy spirit beast skull that had been given flesh unleashed ghostly, green lightning bolts into its surroundings as it charged towards Pei Qiqi, its devilish eyes fixed on Pei Qiqi the entire time.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Two Ethereal Swords suddenly disappeared from Li Langfeng¡¯s side and appeared next to the spirit beast skull in a split second.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    Upon contact, the two Ethereal Swords spun as they bounced off the surface of the skull. Meanwhile, sparks were created where they made contact, as if the skull was made of rolled steel.

    On the contrary, Pei Qiqi coughed up a mouthful of blood, as if the skull had dealt a heavy blow to her, causing her to stagger a few steps backwards.

    As she trudged backwards, a trail of deep footprints were created in the ground, and her ample chest was painted red by her blood.

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± Shi Qing shouted as he cast the spell he was the most skilled with: Earth Protrusions.

    Sharp stone protrusions suddenly rose from the trembling earth and pierced Li Langfeng¡¯s feet, causing them to bleed ceaselessly.

    One after another, numerous stone protrusions pierced out of the ground where Li Langfeng was standing.

    Since he hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm, he wasn¡¯t capable of soaring in the air yet. Furthermore, he was confined to a rather limited space by the spatial rifts, Ethereal Swords, and spatial light des.

    Therefore, when numerous stone protrusions stuck out of the ground, he was forced to face attacksing from both the ground and the air. With one wrong step, he would have his legs pierced through.

    However, when he was focused on avoiding the stone protrusions, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fend off Pei Qiqi¡¯s airborne attacks at the same time.

    Before long, more wounds were cut open on Li Langfeng from his arms to feet.

    With every step he took, blood flowed out of those wounds and dripped down his garments, painting the ground red.

    At this point, nothing but rage could be seen in Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes as he blurted, ¡°You¡¯re seeking death!¡±

    Like poisonous snakes, thousands of threads of ghostly green light swooped towards Shi Qing and Pei Qiqi, carrying a disgusting, foul smell.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, even though Li Langfeng was losing his senses, he was bent on keeping Nie Tian alive.

    Not a single ray of of toxic light or smoke shot towards Nie Tian.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Both Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing formed light shields to ward off the iing attacks.

    However, Nie Tian could tell with a brief observation that the two of them were barely hanging on, as they were forced to step backwards under the strong impacts caused by the rays of raging green energy.

    Every time they trudged backwards, Nie Tian could hear subtle, bone-breaking soundsing from within them.

    Even though the two of them had exerted all their resources and dealt serious blows to Li Langfeng, Li Langfeng had returned the favor by inflicting even more severe damage on them.

    As a peak Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior who was on the verge of breaking into the Worldly realm, Li Langfeng¡¯s strength and his grotesque poison magics were indeed formidable.

    SHEW!

    Seeing that Shi Qing and Pei Qiqi were on the verge of copsing, Nie Tian once again charged towards Li Langfeng.

    ¡°Clear a path for me!¡± Nie Tian yelled as he dashed towards Li Langfeng.

    Trudging backwards, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing both heard Nie Tian¡¯s words and, without any hesitation, summoned their remaining strength to assist him.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to reach Li Langfeng, all the stone protrusions, light des, and spatial rifts simultaneously moved to the side.

    Without meeting any obstructions, Nie Tian rapidly arrived in front of Li Langfeng.

    ¡°Do you have a death wish as well?¡± Looking Nie Tian in the eyes, Li Langfeng grinned and syed his hand, the fleshed spirit beast skull flying into his palm in the next moment,

    Without any dy, he lunged towards Nie Tian and smashed the skull towards Nie Tian with great force.

    However, as soon as he entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, a shocked look appeared in his eyes, and he immediately let out bloodcurdling screams.

    Completely enveloped by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, his badly-mangled body and even the wiggling threads of green light in his split wounds began to twist.

    It wasn¡¯t long before his skin was ripped open and his body started to bloat, as if he could explode at any moment.

    Even still, he bore the pain and rammed the skull in his hand into Nie Tian¡¯s iing fist.

    BOOM!

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch, which he had summoned with eighty percent of his strength, met Li Langfeng¡¯s spirit beast skull, Li Langfeng was sent flying backwards, along with his skull.

    The same went for Nie Tian, as he was also sent flying out of the area filled with stone protrusions and spatial light des.

    As he sailed through the air in a perfect arc, he found out that bones in his hand had been smashed, and a violent force had been infused into his flesh and blood through the contact.

    He could keenly feel that wherever the force spread, his meridians were ruptured, and fissures were even created in his bones.

    From the look of it, both he and Li Langfeng had sustained serious injuries after the violent sh.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian crashed heavily onto the ground. Feeling powerless all over, he could tell that the force Li Langfeng had left in him was rampaging within him, damaging his meridians and bones.

    Li Langfeng, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t in a better situation than him.

    Originally, Li Langfeng had beenmanding strands of green light and smoke to attack Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing. Even though the two had spared no effort to defend themselves, they had sustained measurable injuries.

    However, after suffering this most recent heavy blow, Li Langfeng couldn¡¯t even maintain control over the power he had sent after them.

    As the destructive light and smoke dissipated into thin air, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing copsed to the ground,pletely worn out.

    Nie Tian hadnded fairly close to Pei Qiqi. He examined her with his Heaven Eye, and discovered that not only had she used up her spiritual power, but she was injured so badly that she could barely move.

    Although Shi Qing was at the Greater Heaven stage, he was also in sore straits. However, he was able to move about at least.

    Then, Nie Tianmanded his Heaven Eyes to examine Li Langfeng.

    Bones fractured, flesh torn open, Li Langfeng was lying on his back with his belly facing the heavens, like a dying toad.

    All of a sudden, a thinyer of green light enveloped his body.

    Via the Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian discovered that a mysterious energy was surging inside of him.

    Frenzied killing intent could be seen in Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes, as if he was only lying there to heal and recover.

    From the look of it, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he was ready to fight again.

    ¡°This man is indeed terrifyingly strong!¡± Nie Tian was shocked to his core when he found that Li Langfeng was recovering at a high speed.

    In contrast, Pei Qiqi and Shi Qing had already exhausted all their measures and strength. Nie Tian himself was still suffering from the corrosion of Li Langfeng¡¯s attack. There hadn¡¯t been a single second that passed without him feeling the stabbing pain.

    Standing several hundred meters from each other, Nie Tian and Shi Qing exchanged a nce.

    ¡°He¡¯s still alive!¡± With these words, Nie Tian deactivated his chaotic maic field and put on his jade bracelet instead to protect himself from the toxic spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth as he dashed towards Pei Qiqi, who hadn¡¯t been able to stand up.

    Under her astounded gaze, Nie Tian helped her up, hefted her onto his back, and ran out of the mountain valley.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s actions and the green light shield attached to Li Langfeng¡¯s body, Shi Qing immediately realized that Li Langfeng was merely in recovery, and would soon be able to fight again.

    Therefore, without the slightest hesitation, he drew upon his only remaining strength and charged out of the valley after Nie Tian.

    After all, neither he nor Nie Tian were confident that they would be able to break Li Langfeng¡¯s protective light shield and kill him.

    In this situation, running away was undoubtedly the wisest decision.

    As soon as Nie Tian made it out of the valley, carrying Pei Qiqi on his back, Shi Qing caught up to him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s split up and hope for the best.¡± With a grim expression on his face, Shi Qing took a deep breath and charged towards the direction that the Blood Skull members had left in, hoping to join forces with Gu Yu and the others.

    Seeing that Shi Qing had sped off, Nie Tian could only go in the opposite direction.

    At least by doing that, after having fully recovered, Li Langfeng would have to choose to chase after one of them, and thus the chances of the other¡¯s survival would rise significantly.

    Although it was unlikely that Shi Qing would encounter his own forces within a short time, it would happen eventually, given Li Langfeng was stalled long enough.

    By that time, Shi Qing would probably survive this cmity.

    On the other hand, the path Nie Tian had chosen would lead him to a secluded part of the mountain range where it would be unlikely for him to run into anyone, much less any Blood Skull members.

    The reason he had chosen this path was because it was filled with active spatial rifts.

    Once Pei Qiqi was able to restore her battle prowess, the substantial amount of spatial rifts in the area would greatly increase their chances of surviving.

 Chapter 275: Supernatural Healing Ability!

    After parting ways with Shi Qing, Nie Tian sped off like an arrow shot from a bow.

    While dashing at full speed, he growled through his teeth, ¡°Li Langfeng!¡±

    There had never been a person who had been able to inflict so much damage on him.

    As he ran, he could still feel the destructive force Li Langfeng had left in him rampaging inside him, damaging his flesh and blood.

    With every step he took, he experienced bone-piercing agony.

    It felt as if there was a violent python slithering throughout his body, snapping every meridian it came across.

    The excruciating pain kept him iparably clear-headed.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    As Nie Tian heard a series of rapid, vigorous heartbeatsing from his own chest, he realized that the excessive damage to his body had finally stimted the bloodline in his heart.

    Immediately afterwards, the strong green aura that had been coiled in his heart rushed out with a unstoppable momentum.

    As it did, a vigorous life force rapidly filled his entire body.

    While dashing nonstop, Nie Tian had a feeling that, like a fierce monster that had broken free from hell, the green aura was rushing through his meridians towards the dark-green energy that Li Langfeng had left inside of him.

    The two forces met around Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen.

    The green aura was wreathed in ayer of green mist, while its inside was filled with delicate crystal-like chains; inside the crystal-like chains were numerous sparkling, green, bright spots where the profound truths of the life bloodliney.

    At that moment, the crystal-like chains that constituted the green aura suddenly began to shine brightly like torches.

    Like a brutal dragon, the green aura madly bit fought the force that Li Langfeng had left inside Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    The thread of dark-green energy couldn¡¯t even put up a fight, and was almost instantly ripped to shreds.

    A major proportion of the shredded dark-green energy was gradually absorbed by the green aura and rapidly disappeared.

    A small proportion, which was toxic, was extracted and expelled out of Nie Tian¡¯s body by the green aura.

    Each and every pore around Nie Tian¡¯s waist suddenly opened up, and bits of dark-green, gooey liquid slowly flowed out through them, like snake venom.

    Just like that, the destructive force that had been rampaging within Nie Tian¡¯s body for quite some time was annihted the moment the green aura rushed out of Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    The green aura didn¡¯t return to Nie Tian¡¯s heart immediately after finishing its task. Rather, it roamed about in his body.

    Soon, it traced the path the dark-green force had taken to invade Nie Tian¡¯s body and traveled towards his right arm. As it did, countless tiny, green spots seeped out of the crystal-like chains within it and dispersed into Nie Tian¡¯s meridians, and then his flesh and bones.

    Every green spot was branded with profound truths of life, and carried iparably pure life power.

    One ruptured meridian after another was infused with the rich life power and rapidly healed the moment they came into contact with the tiny green spots.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s broken bones began to heal under the influence of the mysterious power within the tiny green spots.

    Wherever the green aura went, pain was immediately lifted as his meridians and bones were nourished by the the miraculous life power.

    Just like that, the green aura gradually swam from Nie Tian¡¯s waist up to his right hand, following his meridians. As it did, its misty aura of life was unleashed, healing every damaged meridian and bone to a great extent.

    Immediately afterwards, the green aura returned to Nie Tian¡¯s heart at the speed of lightning.

    It was also at that time that his pounding heart settled down, and he couldn¡¯t feel even the slightest pain in him.

    After realizing that he was almost fully healed of such heavy injuries within such a short time, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with disbelief.

    Even though he still needed to spend some time to recover, as long as he could channel some more flesh essence into his body, he would soon recoverpletely, and he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about any consequences.

    He even had a feeling that his meridians and bones would be stronger and more resilient after being magically healed by the green aura.

    ¡°Bloodline power...¡± He struggled to calm himself after discovering another miraculous effect of his bloodline power.

    Carrying Pei Qiqi on his back, Nie Tian continued to dash at full speed into a deste area of the mountain range, heading towards the region where numerous spatial rifts were slithering in midair.

    Fearing that Li Langfeng would catch up to him, Nie Tian wished that Pei Qiqi could recover her strength soon, so that she could use her spatial magics to hold him off.

    ¡°How is she doing?¡± Before, Nie Tian¡¯s injuries had pained him to the point where he almost wanted to die, so he hadn¡¯t thought of the girl on his back until now.

    Now that the pain had been eliminated by the green aura, he finally started to pay attention to Pei Qiqi.

    That was when he suddenly felt Pei Qiqi¡¯s ample chest pressing again his back.

    With every step he took as he charged madly forward, he could feel the fullness of her breasts.

    Relieved of pain, he couldn¡¯t help but get carried away by his thoughts as he was repeatedly stuck by this wonderful sensation.

    Then, he turned his head to check on Pei Qiqi, and he discovered that her head was sagged against his left shoulder with her eyes closed, as if she had passed out long ago.

    Her delicate face that used to be as beautiful as a picture was now pale andpletely devoid of its ruddy radiance.

    The only redness on her face was the dried trail of blood that ran down the corner of her mouth.

    Only at that moment did Nie Tian realize that the blood from Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouth had already painted his left shoulder red.

    After taking a brief nce at it, Nie Tian retracted his gaze and continued to run as fast as he could.

    However, he couldn¡¯t get Pei Qiqi¡¯s poor look out of his head; the picture of her blood-stained lips had been branded in his mind.

    ¡°Why in the world did shee back?¡± Nie Tian wracked his brain, but couldn¡¯t find an answer.

    If Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t returned, then just relying on just the two of them, he and Shi Qing wouldn¡¯t have had a chance against the vicious Li Langfeng.

    After witnessing Li Langfeng¡¯s formidable strength and terrifying resilience, Nie Tian even doubted that he could kill this man with the me Dragon Armor¡¯s help.

    To begin with, Pei Qiqi had spent a significant amount of strength to shut down and then dismantle the Dark Moon¡¯s teleportation portal in the Dark Moon¡¯s base.

    When she hade back to the valley after leaving with Li Langfeng¡¯s consent, she had over-consumed her power and pushed her limits to forcibly alter the spatial rifts¡¯ track.

    Then, she had sustained a series of severe injuries and almost died during their battle against Li Langfeng.

    With those thoughts in mind, Nie Tian used one of his Heaven Eyes to examine Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries, and to his surprise, found that even though she was seriously injured, her entire body was enveloped by a mysterious ward of spatial energy, stopping his Heaven Eyes from prying into her injuries.

    Therefore, Nie Tianmanded the Heaven Eye to rise up into the air to join the other Heaven Eyes in carefully scanning the vicinity for signs of life, lest they run into Qi warriors who were on exploration trips in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    After all, he was also in a bad state to fight. It was preferable for them to avoid battles as much as they could.

    He had more than once witnessed the fierceness and cold-bloodedness of the Qi warriors who wandered in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. If anyone who wasn¡¯t a Blood Skull member were to encounter him and see Pei Qiqi on his back in their current state, they would probablyunch attacks without any hesitation.

    Therefore, Nie Tian exerted all his power to run while using his Heaven Eyes to scan his surroundings.

    He had already lost track of time.

    Even though he was on the verge of draining hisst remaining strength, he didn¡¯t dare to stop due to the tremendous threat from Li Langfeng.

    A very long time passed...

    Nie Tian was still running like a mad bull, so he didn¡¯t notice when Pei Qiqi¡¯s closed eyelids twitched a bit before they opened.

    Jolting nonstop on Nie Tian¡¯s back, Pei Qiqi seemed rather bewildered as her beautiful eyes rolled around to examine her surroundings.

    Agonized by the splitting pain all over her, she bit hard on her lips to stop herself from screaming.

    It wasn¡¯t long before she realized what had happened. Looking at the panting Nie Tian, who was still running at full speed, a hint of redness slowly surfaced on her ghastly cheeks.

    Only then did she realize that she had her whole body pressed against Nie Tian¡¯s mountain-like broad back, and her arms were naturally wrapped around Nie Tian¡¯s neck in a rather intimate fashion.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, was using his hands to clench her thighs tightly to his waist, so that she wouldn¡¯t fall while he was dashing forward.

    She couldn¡¯t help but bite her lips harder as a hint of shyness appeared in her eyes, as if she was wondering whether or not she should tell Nie Tian that she had already awoken.

 Chapter 276: Dashing with A Beauty on His Back

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t make any rash moves. Instead, she circted the power within her spiritual sea to examine herself.

    She discovered that, after their battle against Li Langfeng, she had consumed almost all the power in her dantian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    Not only that, she had also suffered unprecedentedly serious injuries.

    As a matter of fact, she had only shed with Li Langfeng twice.

    The first time had been when she hadmanded two of her Ethereal Swords to pierce into Li Langfeng¡¯s spirit beast skull. The strong bacsh attack from the skull had inflicted serious damage to her internal organs.

    The second sh happened when she had used herst remaining spiritual power to contend with Li Langfeng¡¯s dark-green light beams and toxic smoke, which dealt another great blow to her already-injured body.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t charged towards Li Langfeng and bombarded him relentlessly with his most explosive technique, causing him to fly backwards dozens of meters, she would have undoubtedly died under Li Langfeng¡¯s fierce attacks.

    At this time, she attempted to move and retract her arms, which were currently wrapped around Nie Tian¡¯s neck, so that she could press her hands against Nie Tian¡¯s broad back, putting space between her chest and Nie Tian¡¯s back.

    Her slender eyebrows furrowed as a pained expression could be seen at the corner of her blood-stained mouth.

    Even the mere movement of her arms triggered her injuries and caused her to experience heart-wrenching pain.

    Then, she realized that if she had put her hands between her and Nie Tian despite the pain, she would have to fight against the continuous impact from the jolting as Nie Tian dashed forward.

    As slight as the impact would be, considering her current condition, she might not be able to take it.

    The wisest choice would be to maintain her current position and rx her body, so that she wouldn¡¯t put her heavily injured body under more stress.

    During this period of time, she could take her time to summon her strength to adjust her breathing and stabilize her condition.

    Pursing her lips, Pei Qiqi reluctantly decided not to tell Nie Tian that she had already awoken.

    She kept her original position and quietly gathered her spiritual power as she narrowed her eyes and looked at Nie Tian with a measuring gaze.

    Since her face was very close to Nie Tian¡¯s, she could see sweat dripping down Nie Tian¡¯s cheek and hear his heavy panting.

    Since their bodies were stuck together, she could not only feel the sturdiness and broadness of Nie Tian¡¯s back, but also Nie Tian¡¯s warmth.

    The Nie Tian she saw at this moment was calm and determined; not the least bit of panic could be seen in his eyes. He would asionally frown as he seemed to be sensing something before he rapidly made a decision and altered the path he moved in.

    For some reason, looking at Nie Tian, she wasn¡¯t afraid at all, even though she knew that Li Langfeng could show up at any corner.

    Eyebrows furrowed, she recalled the battle between Nie Tian and Li Langfeng and a pondering look appearing in her bright eyes.

    The reason she had returned to help Nie Tian and Shi Qing was two-fold.

    For one, Hua Mu had put Nie Tian in her hands, and Hua Mu had a close rtionship with her master.

    She had promised Hua Mu that she would take care of Nie Tian, so she definitely couldn¡¯t return Nie Tian¡¯s dead body to Hua Mu when he came back for him.

    For another, Nie Tian had showed up and rescued her and Cai Yuan when they had been surrounded by Ma Jiu and his men and they were just about to use up their strength.

    If it hadn¡¯t been for Nie Tian, who had assassinated the Dark Moon members Ma Jiu had deployed at the perimeter of the valley, both she and Cai Yuan would have died beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    Therefore, she had decided toe back and fight side by side with Nie Tian and Shi Qing, even though she had every reason to save herself.

    ¡°Hua Tian...¡±

    Confusion filling her eyes, she fixed her gaze on Nie Tian, but couldn¡¯t see through him, just as Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see through her via his Heaven Eyes.

    The decisiveness and shocking strength Nie Tian had disyed at the moment of life or death undoubtedly surpassed that of a normal early Heaven stage Qi warrior.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian seemed to be veiled by ayer of mystery, under which numerous secrets were hiding.

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly came to a stop.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, he had detected signs of life in the region in front of him, which had been his destination.

    Nie Tian had originally thought that since the region was filled with active spatial rifts, Pei Qiqi would be able to disy her advantage to the fullest.

    Hence, if Li Langfeng showed up after they entered that area, Pei Qiqi would be able to contend with him using her profound spatial magics.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries were so severe that she wouldn¡¯t be able to recover her battle prowess within a short time.

    Pei Qiqi seemed to have noticed Nie Tian¡¯s hesitation.

    Then, she, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly made an extremely soft sound.

    Since her mouth and nose were very close to Nie Tian¡¯s ears, he heard her instantly.

    Without turning his head, Nie Tian asked with a smile on his face, ¡°Are you awake?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Pei Qiqi replied softly. Despite her injuries and pain, she retracted her arms from Nie Tian¡¯s neck and used them to support herself, so that a distance was put between her full chest and Nie Tian¡¯s back. ¡°What¡¯s the situation now?¡±

    As she spoke, her ring of holding shone with shimmering light.

    In the next moment, a few medicinal pills flew out from within the ring, and she swallowed them without any dy.

    A bitter expression could be seen at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°I¡¯m taking you away from Li Langfeng. Even though he also sustained heavy injuries, they were nothing he couldn¡¯t fix in a short period of time. Since I don¡¯t know if he will pursue and attack us after he¡¯s fully recovered, I can only do my best to run away. Once he catches up to us, we¡¯ll both die at his hands.¡±

    ¡°So why did you stop?¡± Pei Qiqi asked softly.

    ¡°Look.¡± Nie Tian pointed at the spatial rift-filled region. ¡°I know you¡¯ll be able to disy your strength to the fullest in that region, but I sensed the life auras of a handful of cultivators in there. Considering our current condition, I¡¯m not totally confident that we¡¯ll be able to wipe them out. However, if we don¡¯t go there, we¡¯ll have to risk being caught by Li Langfeng, which will also lead us to our doom. That¡¯s why I was hesitant.¡±

    ¡°There, you say?¡± Pei Qiqi followed Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, and immediately asked with a surprised tone, ¡°You can detect signs of life from such a distance away?¡±

    The region Nie Tian pointed at was quite far from where he was standing. As far as Pei Qiqi knew, even Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors might not be able to obtain a clear grasp of the situation from a location so far away.

    The fact that Nie Tian could do it greatly amazed her, and made her feel that Nie Tian was bing increasingly unfathomable.

    ¡°Yeah, I have my own methods.¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Pei Qiqi pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Okay, from now on, I¡¯ll tell you where to go. You just need to follow my instructions.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian answered crisply.

    ¡°We¡¯re not going to that spatial rift-filled region.¡± Pei Qiqi rapidly made up her mind. She raised one hand with great difficulty and pointed out a new direction for Nie Tian. ¡°Let¡¯s go that way.¡±

    She didn¡¯t tell Nie Tian how bad her condition was, and that even if they had gone to the spatial rift-filled region, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to put up a fight.

    The region she had pointed out was secluded and not often visited by explorers. With a little luck, they wouldn¡¯t run into any spirit beasts or hostile Qi warriors.

    Upon seeing the new direction Pei Qiqi had given him, Nie Tian didn¡¯t ask for a reason. Instead, he once again dashed off at full speed.

    As soon as he did, the violent jolting increased the pressure on Pei Qiqi¡¯s arms, which she had used to separate her upper body from Nie Tian¡¯s back.

    She immediately experienced severe pain in both her elbows. It was so painful that it even significantly brought down the efficiency of the process of her gathering spiritual power.

    As she gritted her white, shell-like teeth, a hint of redness once again appeared on her cheeks. Then, she had no other choice but lower herself on Nie Tian¡¯s back and circle her arms around Nie Tian¡¯s neck again.

    Even though this position embarrassed her very much, it was the most strength-saving and rxing for her.

    Only in this position could she slowly channel her spiritual power to stabilize her condition and refine the medicinal pills she had just consumed to heal her injuries from the inside.

    The moment she lowered her body, the bolting Nie Tian realized it.

    The fullness and firmness he sensed from his back made his heart skip a beat. Pei Qiqi¡¯s chin was ced on Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder, and her breaths carried an orchid scent. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but feel mesmerized.

    However, Nie Tian knew that they were still in a dangerous situation. Therefore, he didn¡¯t dare to let his mind drift away. He even drew power from the fragmentary stars in his soul to resist Pei Qiqi¡¯s charm and remain clear-headed.

    At that very moment, Pei Qiqi was silently examining him with wide eyes.

    As soon as she had lowered her upper body on Nie Tian¡¯s back, she had felt Nie Tian¡¯s body suddenly tighten as his breaths became more rapid and heavy. Even his heartbeat began to elerate.

    Furthermore, she saw Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrow before they gradually straightened.

    That was when she realized that their intimate position had created huge waves in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. Since the two of them were so close together, no matter how hard Nie Tian tried to suppress his feelings, she could see them with great rity.

    The tip of Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrow twitched as she stared at Nie Tian¡¯s cheek from the side. Watching him pretending to be calm, she cursed in her heart, ¡°Asshole!¡±

 Chapter 277: Secret Stronghold Under the Creek

    At dusk, when they reached the foot of an unknown mountain, Pei Qiqi said to Nie Tian, ¡°This is it.¡±

    Upon hearing her instruction, Nie Tian immediately stopped his dashing momentum.

    He had been running untiringly since he had parted ways with Shi Qing. At this moment, he was on the verge of burning out thest bit of his spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    Even if Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t instructed him to stop, he would have had to ask for a time-out and find a ce to recuperate.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s words happened to coincide with his intent.

    A creek was running at the foot of the mountain. The water was so clear that the stones at the bottom of the creek could be seen.

    In this area, the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was rather faint, and there weren¡¯t any spatial rifts. Everything was still and quiet.

    Nie Tian used his Heaven Eyes to scan the area, and didn¡¯t discover any signs of life. This area was rather simr to the ce where he had gathered and cultivated star power, which had been fully explored and wasn¡¯t often visited by cultivators.

    Pei Qiqi took a deep breath and pointed her slender finger towards a location in the creek as she exined to Nie Tian, ¡°This is the ce. Put away your jade bracelet as we sink into the water. Take your time to descend to the bottom. There¡¯s a secret Blood Skull stronghold under the creek. Once we¡¯re in, we¡¯ll be safe for a while. Even Li Langfeng won¡¯t be able to find us.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    He remembered earlier that when he, Pei Qiqi, and Cai Yuan were running away from Ma Jiu and his men, Cai Yuan had led them to one of the Blood Skull¡¯s secret stone rooms somewhere in the mountain range.

    That stone room had been sealed off from the outside world by a special ward that only Qi warriors at the Worldly realm or higher would be able to detect. Furthermore, there was a spell formation that had allowed Cai Yuan tomunicate with his friends at the Blood Skull¡¯s base.

    Since the Blood Skull had explored and garrisoned the Void Illusion Mountain Range for a long time, they had set up secret strongholds like this in every region of the mountain range. However, as far as Nie Tian knew, their locations weren¡¯t even revealed tomon members of the Blood Skull.

    This was because once their locations were exposed to their enemies, the Blood Skull would definitely suffer a great loss.

    Just like Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi was also only a guest elder of the Blood Skull, which didn¡¯t even make her a formal member.

    That meant she shouldn¡¯t have the clearance to know the locations of the secret strongholds the Blood Skull had set up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Pei Qiqi seemed to have seen through Nie Tian¡¯s confusion. She raised herself up with her hands and straightened her upper body with great difficulty before exining, ¡°Cai Yuan shared a lot of the Blood Skull¡¯s confidential information with me even though I didn¡¯t want to know. I originally thought that I would never get a chance to use one of their secret strongholds in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve explored the mountain range for years, and not once have I used one of their secret strongholds. I¡¯ve never been injured as badly as I am now.

    ¡°Also, we don¡¯t know if Li Langfeng wille after us. I can only make an exception this time.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Wow, Lord Cai is indeed a man who¡¯s true to his feelings.¡±

    As the young lord of the Blood Skull, by telling Pei Qiqi, an outsider, the locations of their secret strongholds, Cai Yuan had obviously broken their rules.

    However, Nie Tian had long since noticed that Cai Yuan had deep feelings for Pei Qiqi, so it was understandable for him to break the rules for the girl of his heart.

    Nie Tian¡¯s teasing tone made Pei Qiqi¡¯s face drop. ¡°You think I¡¯m using him?¡±

    ¡°No no, you¡¯re reading too much into my words,¡± Nie Tian replied hurriedly.

    ¡°It¡¯s exactly what you¡¯re thinking!¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not! Seriously!¡±

    ¡°Then why are youughing?¡±

    ¡°Umm, I just think Cai Yuan is a good guy.¡±

    ¡°A good guy?¡± Pei Qiqi pondered in silence for a while before nodding and saying, ¡°Yeah, perhaps. He has indeed been good to me. But make no mistake, Cai Yuan isn¡¯t foolish. I¡¯ve done a lot for the Blood Skull too. If it weren¡¯t for him, I wouldn¡¯t have cared less if Cai Yue died in that mountain valley.¡±

    ¡°...I¡¯m going down now.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t reply directly. Instead, he warned Pei Qiqi, then stepped into the creek and headed towards the location she had pointed out to him.

    As soon as they were both underwater, he put away his jade bracelet.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s garments were made of light fabrics. The moment she was submerged in the creek, it seemed as if she wasn¡¯t wearing anything.

    Even though she had used her hands to separate her upper body from Nie Tian¡¯s back, her thighs and lower abdomen were still sticking closely to Nie Tian¡¯s waist.

    She could clearly feel that the feeling of her skin against his had given rise to ripples in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, and his mind had begun to wander.

    Without her jade bracelet to protect her, Pei Qiqi was also holding her breath under the water. Cheeks bulging and eyes filled with anger, she stared at Nie Tian from behind.

    It was at that moment Nie Tian¡¯s feet touched the bottom of the creek. He looked down and found that there was a smooth, stone te under his feet.

    A medallion that was simr to Nie Tian¡¯s guest elder identity medallion flew out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s ring of holding.

    A cluster of precious light emerged from within the medallion, and a scarlet Blood Skull pattern could be seen within the shimmering light.

    In the next moment, the cluster of light shot into the smooth, stone te.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The stone cracked, and an opening appeared, over which there was a spiritual power ward that seemed to be keeping the creek water from entering. As soon as the cluster of light, with a Blood Skull pattern within it, made contact with the ward, a secret spell formation seemed to have been triggered.

    Pei Qiqi gently patted Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder, signaling him that they were good to go.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian descended towards the spiritual power ward.

    As Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi went through the waterproof ward, they didn¡¯t encounter the slightest obstruction, and fell into the secret stronghold of the Blood Skull.

    The moment they were through, the spell formation within the spiritual power ward seemed to be deactivated, and the split stone te closed up. Not a single fissure could be seen in it, as if it had beenpletely healed.

    If someone were to look at it from the bank of the creek, they wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything special about it.

    There was a spacious stone room under the creek. The walls of the room were iid with luminous pearls and jades, lighting the entire room so brightly that it was as if it was under daylight.

    A spell formation that was much moreplicated than a Sound Stone was sitting in a corner of the stone room.

    While Nie Tian was ncing around, Pei Qiqi said to him weakly, ¡°You can put me down now.¡±

    Only then did Nie Tian snap out of his thoughts and put Pei Qiqi down. ¡°Oh, sure."

    Soaking wet, Pei Qiqi¡¯s silky garments were stuck to her skin, emphasizing her slender, curvaceous physique.

    At that moment, her unearthly beautiful face seemed somewhat pale, making her look less cold and domineering than usual, but more delicate and fragile.

    Adding in her perfectly proportioned body, one could only describe her as a god¡¯s work. With only one nce at her, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t bear to remove his gaze from her.

    ¡°See something you like?¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s cold voice rang out. Her voice was filled with anger, as if she had squeezed the words through gritted teeth. If not for the fact that she couldn¡¯t fight, she would probably teach Nie Tian a lesson without any hesitation.

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind was still drifting, and he didn¡¯t notice the anger in Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice. He nodded subconsciously, and gave voice to his thoughts, ¡°Nice, perfect... My whole life I¡¯ve never seen a girl as beautiful as you. No wonder Lord Cai likes you. If it were me...¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly sensed the murderous aura in Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice and snapped back to reality.

    He immediately turned his head and averted his eyes from Pei Qiqi¡¯s desirable body. He pretended to check out theyout of the stone room as he said, ¡°You and I both need to spend some time to recover our strength. Let¡¯s get to it then.¡±

    With these words, he distanced himself from Pei Qiqi before she couldsh out at him again, and sat down in a corner of the stone room.

    ¡°Shameless!¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly.

    Nie Tian, however, pretended that he didn¡¯t hear her. He took out a spirit stone, shut his eyes, and began to adjust his breathing.

    ¡°Turn your face away!¡± Pei Qiqi shouted.

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°I need to change.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice was filled with rage.

    Perhaps because the two of them were safe for the time being, she discovered that it was hard for her to hold her emotions back when they were the only ones in the stone room.

    She couldn¡¯t help but recall the image of her lying on Nie Tian¡¯s back and her body pressing against Nie Tian¡¯s while he dashed at full speed.

    Every time she thought of it, anger started to brew in her heart, and she would have to fight her desire tosh out at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Only after shooting another sneaky nce towards Pei Qiqi, did Nie Tian rapidly turn around to face the hard stone wall, images rising in his mind.

    No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t get the image of Pei Qiqi taking off her wet garments and covering her naked body with dry garments out of his head.

    ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Pei Qiqi asked coldly.

    ¡°N-nothing.¡± Nie Tian hastily replied, afraid of what was going on in his mind being found out.

    ¡°Stop thinking it!¡±

    ¡°Okay, sure!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s clumsy reply resulted in him exposing himself, making it obvious that he had been picturing Pei Qiqi¡¯s naked body in his mind.

    Hearing his words, Pei Qiqi fumed with anger.

    She clenched her jaw and red at Nie Tian from behind. Remembering the embarrassing position of her lying on his back, she grew increasingly mad.

    She took a few deep breaths to adjust her state of mind.

    WHOOSH!

    A tunic-like, ocean-blue battle garment flew out of her ring of holding.

    When she took off her wet garments, she experienced severe pain in her shoulder and elbow joints. Even the mere movement of changing garments made her suffer greatly. Soon, her forehead was covered in sweat.

    ¡°Are you done?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Oh..."

 Chapter 278: Misunderstanding

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t turn around.

    Instead, he faced the stone wall and gradually sank into his inner world, holding a handful of spirit stones.

    He had consumed almost all of his spiritual power and sustained heavy injuries during his battle against Li Langfeng, so he needed to recuperate as soon as possible.

    One spirit stone after another was rapidly drained of its power and reduced to a normal stone.

    In the meantime, his spiritual power was gradually restored.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before his spiritual sea was restored to twenty percent full, and that was when he stopped cultivating and opened his eyes.

    It had been quite a while since he had sensed any movement from Pei Qiqi.

    As he turned around to put his back against the ice-cold stone wall, he shot a nce at the girl.

    Wearing shot, blue battle garments that were exactly the same with the ones she wore before, Pei Qiqi was also sitting with her back against the stone wall, recovering her strength with spirit stones.

    Bathed in the precious light from the numerous pearls in the wall, Pei Qiqi¡¯s skin seemed translucent and sparkling, as if she was made of jade. Her exceptionally long eyshes were covering her eyes like two fans.

    Sitting therepletely still, she looked like an unearthly, beautiful female immortal from a painting.

    Ayer of strange spatial energy was rippling around her. Because of its existence, even though Pei Qiqi was right in front of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, he had a feeling that they were separated by infinite space, which made her seem even more ethereal and unreal.

    Then, Nie Tian closed his eyes and used his psychic awareness to examine her.

    However, when his psychic awareness reached where Pei Qiqi was sitting, all it could see was empty ground where not even the slightest sign of life could be detected.

    ¡°Strange woman,¡± Nie Tian whispered to himself, sighing over the fact that Pei Qiqi was different from everyone else he had met.

    A while passed...

    Nie Tian took out a giant piece of Golden Stone Rhino meat from his bracelet of holding. Then, he built a fire with a me Crystal and cooked the meat with a thin sword.

    The injuries to his fleshy body would heal faster if he nourished himself with the rich essence of flesh and blood.

    The reason why he had awoken after restoring merely twenty percent of his spiritual power was because he intended to use the rich flesh power within the meat of the fourth grade spirit beast to boost his healing process.

    Momentster, the considerable piece of meat was cooked yellow and dripping fat.

    Although the Golden Stone Rhino meat was bitter and hard to chew, Nie Tian didn¡¯t eat it for its taste.

    Within a very short time, he tore up and wolfed down the meat that weighed several dozen kilograms.

    Afterwards, he took out arge canteen of water and drank a few gulps.

    ¡°It¡¯s about enough.¡± He mumbled as he prepared to put away the thin sword, sit back in his original ce, and continue to recuperate with spirit stones.

    That was when he noticed that Pei Qiqi had already awoken and was staring at him at this moment, her eyes filled with curiosity.

    ¡°Were you eating the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    It was Pei Qiqi who had ughtered the Golden Stone Rhino, but she had only taken its horn and skin, and left what remained of its body to Nie Tian.

    Back then, she had thought that it was meaningless for Nie Tian to ask for it.

    After all, all the living spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void had undergone mutations so that they could survive the poisonous spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Although those spirit beasts became stronger after their mutation, their flesh and blood were tainted and carried all sorts of impurities and toxins.

    At the beginning, some Qi warriors in the Realm of Split Void had tried consuming and using those spirit beasts¡¯ meat to temper and refine their physical bodies.

    However, almost all of them had failed. Even though a handful of them had sessfully absorbed power from the meat, they had to spend even more power to rid themselves of the toxins.

    Since then, everyone had treated the meat of the spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void as garbage.

    However, the meat Nie Tian had just consumed was none other than the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat.

    Furthermore, from the poised look on his face, it seemed that it wasn¡¯t his first time eating it.

    Pei Qiqi also knew that Li Langfeng had been cultivating with the tainted spiritual Qi in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. As he extracted the green toxins from the spiritual Qi, he also couldn¡¯t avoid being corroded by the other foreign impurities.

    The reason why Li Langfeng coughed all day long and looked like a man who was being tortured by a fatal disease was that those impurities and toxins were piling up inside of him.

    While he was building up his battle prowess and improving his cultivation base, he was actually damaging his own health.

    Pei Qiqi despised Li Langfeng¡¯s way of cultivation, which was obtaining strength at the cost of his own longevity.

    She was aware that Li Langfeng had a sworn enemy, and he only cultivated so relentlessly so that he could acquire enough strength to kill that person.

    But why did Nie Tian adopt such a cultivation method?

    The moment she saw Nie Tian eat the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat, she sorted Nie Tian as another lunatic.

    ¡°No wonder he possesses such monstrous strength while he¡¯s only at the Heaven stage. He¡¯s just like Li Langfeng.¡± Pei Qiqi assumed that she had finally found a rational exnation for Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness.

    Then, she began to sympathize with Nie Tian for having a sworn enemy at such a young age and building his strength at the expense of his own longevity just to have his revenge.

    In her eyes, if that was the case, no matter how strong Nie Tian was, it wouldn¡¯t mean anything.

    Sooner orter, he would suffer from the bacsh and die in the prime of his life.

    ¡°Yes, it was the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat.¡± Nie Tian answered without much thought.

    Pei Qiqi had already reached a conclusion as to why Nie Tian did it, so she didn¡¯t feel the necessity to ask if he could process the impurities and toxins within the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat.

    She also didn¡¯t want to bring up painful memories for Nie Tian by asking about it.

    ¡°I¡¯m hungry too,¡± she blurted.

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°You can¡¯t eat the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat. You won¡¯t be able to process it.¡±

    ¡°Of course, I know.¡± Pei Qiqi felt that Nie Tian¡¯s reply confirmed her assumption. Believing she had figured out Nie Tian¡¯s situation, she was no longer cranky towards Nie Tian. She took out a piece of meat from within her ring of holding and tossed it to Nie Tian, ordering, ¡°Roast it for me.¡±

    ¡°Alright." Nie Tian took out another me Crystal and used it cook the meat Pei Qiqi had tossed him.

    Momentster, the meat became yellow and greasy, and gave off a delicious smell.

    Then, he walked up to Pei Qiqi with the cooked meat on his thin sword.

    He handed the meat to her, along with the sword, and said, ¡°Here.¡±

    Pei Qiqi grabbed it and began eating in a graceful fashion. ¡°When will you be able to recover your strength?¡± she asked as she ate.

    ¡°I probably need one to two days to recover all the spiritual power I¡¯ve spent.¡± With these words, Nie Tian pondered for a moment, then continued, ¡°As for the injuries to my body, they might take longer to recover. Li Langfeng sent his toxic, corrosive power through my arm into my internal organs. It nearly killed me.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was astonished. ¡°His toxic, corrosive power entered your body?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded unwittingly.

    ¡°Freak!¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered, since she was no stranger to Li Langfeng¡¯s bizarre, poisonous attacking skills.

    She had witnessed quite a few Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors die after having their flesh corroded by Li Langfeng¡¯s poisonous attacks.

    The Spirit God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworld was known for their use of poison and toxins, which were usually beyond cure.

    Even though he was suffering a bacsh himself, Li Langfeng was among their most skilled and ruthless experts.

    It was unbelievable that Nie Tian was still alive after being infused with Li Langfeng¡¯s toxic power.

    However, Pei Qiqi suddenly realized that Nie Tian had picked the same path as Li Langfeng, so she thought it through.

    She frowned as she stated her situation, ¡°I¡¯ll need five to six days to restore my spiritual power, and another two weeks to heal my physical injuries. During this period, we¡¯ll stay in this stronghold, and we won¡¯t try to contact the Blood Skull.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian took a nce at the spell formation which they could use to seek help from the Blood Skull.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to see anyone before I¡¯m fully recovered,¡± Pei Qiqi answered coldly.

    ¡°Alright." Nie Tian didn¡¯t say another word, but sat back down and started to recover his strength with spirit stones again.

    At that moment, the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat he had consumed was gradually digested and began to unleash flesh power.

    At first, he was somewhat worried.

    He was afraid that the green aura in his heart would swoop out and savagely devour all the flesh power, just like how it had rushed out of Nie Tian¡¯s heart and torn the energy Li Langfeng had left in him to shreds.

    Furthermore, the green aura had somehow healed his ruptured meridians and broken bones. It must have consumed a substantial amount of energy to disy such a magical bloodline power.

    Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t surprise him if the green aura suddenly appeared and predominantly harvested all the flesh power the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat had generated.

    However, it remained calm.

    More and more wisps of flesh power rose from his abdomen and naturally flowed towards the parts of him that had sustained the most severe injuries.

    He could sense with great rity that the injuries inside him were healing at a noticeable speed.

 Chapter 279: Strange Fluctuations

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    Li Langfeng was coughing violently, making him look even skinnier and paler than before.

    Every time he coughed, he would spit out a mouthful of filth, which was filled with gooey impurities of different colors.

    Seven corpses were lying on the ground under a handful of spatial rifts. From the way they were dressed, they were all from another force in the Realm of Split Void, the Wild Fire.

    All seven of them had died at his hands.

    Standing amongst the dead bodies, face ghastly and gruesome, Li Langfeng used his psychic awareness to scan the vicinity.

    As as Nie Tian and Shi Qing had expected, after spending a short while to recover his battle prowess in the valley, Li Langfeng had chased after them, his primary target having been Nie Tian.

    The dark-green energy he had left inside Nie Tian had allowed him to chase him to this location, where he had suddenly lost track of the energy.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that this was the ce where the frenzied green aura in Nie Tian¡¯s heart had rushed out and devoured his toxic energy.

    As the energy was destroyed, he was no longer able to detect Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    The reason why he had killed the seven Wild Fire Qi warriors was because he hadn¡¯t been able to press them to give him the whereabouts of Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°They must have headed towards a ce where spatial rifts were the most active!¡± After a quick scan of his surroundings, Li Langfeng rapidly made his decision and floated forward like a ghost roaming the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Several hours passed...

    He arrived at the location where Nie Tian had stopped and wondered which direction they had gone, the one where spatial rifts were numerous and active, or the one which was secluded and rarely visited by people.

    Without pausing for a moment, Li Langfeng dashed in the direction where numerous spatial rifts were slithering in the air.

    At this point, he finally began to charge in the opposite direction as Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi...

    After Shi Qing had parted ways with Nie Tian at the mouth of the mountain valley, he had run at lightning speed in the direction that the other Blood Skull members had left in to chase after the Dark Moon deserters.

    As he had hastened on with his journey, he had taken out his Sound Stone from time to time and tried to get in contact with Blood Skull members in the vicinity.

    However, the path he had taken was none other than the one Li Langfeng had taken to get to the valley.

    In order to get a full understanding of what had happened in the Dark Moon¡¯s base, Li Langfeng had interrogated and ughtered every Blood Skull member he had found in that area.

    Even though Shi Qing hadn¡¯t been able to discover any Blood Skull members following this path, he found Cai Yue via his Sound Stone after marching for a long time.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the two of them met in a location where numerous jagged rocks stood in grotesque shapes.

    ¡°Uncle Shi!" Shi Qing¡¯s appearance overjoyed Cai Yue, who was originally burning with anxiety.

    Ever since Cai Yue had left the mountain valley, she had been attempting to get in contact with any Blood Skull members via her Sound Stone, hoping to find Gu Yu and Cai Yuan and lead them back to the valley as soon as possible to kill Li Langfeng.

    However, her unceasing efforts had proven to be fruitless, and she had just been worrying about Shi Qing¡¯s safety.

    Shi Qing¡¯s sudden appearance put Cai Yue¡¯s heart at ease. She asked, ¡°How did you escape, Uncle Shi? What happened to that poisonous man?¡±

    Shi Qing, who was covered in blood and looked extremely ghastly, also let out a sigh of relief after seeing Cai Yue unscathed.

    The reason he had tricked Cai Yue into leaving was because he had known that she wouldn¡¯t be able to help them.

    He had anticipated that Li Langfeng would have killed all the Blood Skull members around the mountain valley, and the other Blood Skull members that had been chasing after Dark Moon deserters wouldn¡¯t return within a short time.

    Therefore, the only way to make sure Cai Yue stayed safe had been to send her away.

    Furthermore, that reason why he had picked this direction after he had parted ways with Nie Tian was because he was worried that Cai Yue would run into viins while traveling in the Void Illusion Mountain Range by herself.

    Now that Cai Yue was standing in front of him, unscathed, Shi Qing said with a relieved tone, ¡°Li Langfeng probably went after Hua Tian.¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian?¡± Cai Yue went nk for a moment before she asked with knit eyebrows, ¡°Why would he do that? If he wanted to hunt down someone useful, shouldn¡¯t he have gone after Pei Qiqi?¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei sustained heavy injuries, and Hua Tian had to carry her on his back,¡± Shi Qing exined. ¡°We went our separate ways at the mouth of the mountain valley. The two of them are in the same boat now. I hope they can lose Li Langfeng and survive this cmity. Both of them are talented youngsters. If they are lucky enough to survive Li Langfeng¡¯s pursuit, I suppose both of them will transform and rise to a new level.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re both talented youngsters?¡± Cai Yue pursed her lips and said with a disdainful tone, ¡°Perhaps Pei Qiqi can be counted as talented, but that slick Hua Tian is talented too? He didn¡¯t even dare to join the battle when we raided the Dark Moon¡¯s base! The only reason my brother gave him a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion was because he wanted to butter up that bad woman!¡±

    Cai Yuan had never taken Nie Tian seriously. Knowing that Nie Tian was friends with Li Ye and they lived together, she had long since considered Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to be on the same side and equally as bad.

    ¡°That Hua Tian kid is way beyond ordinary. Even I almost misjudged him.¡± Shi Qing admired Nie Tian from the bottom of his heart.

    When he and Pei Qiqi were hanging by a thread, Nie Tian had decisively charged towards Li Langfeng and struck Li Langfeng¡¯s spirit beast skull head-on using his most explosive skill.

    Shi Qing had taken a strike from Li Langfeng¡¯s spirit beast skull. Even though he had been in that petrified state, that powerful strike had almost shattered his rock armor.

    Therefore, he knew the might of Li Liangfeng¡¯s strike better than anyone else.

    However, not only did the sh not kill Nie Tian at that instant, but Li Liangfeng was sent flying backward by the strong impact.

    After Li Langfeng had crashed into the ground, he even had to use his secret magic to shield himself with poisonous power and recuperate.

    Although Nie Tian had also sustained serious injuries, he had still been able to heft Pei Qiqi onto his back and run out of the valley.

    Nie Tian¡¯s explosive punch alone had made Shi Qing see his decisiveness and fierceness, and its might had bbergasted him.

    He doubt that he would be able to find another early Heaven stage warrior in the entire Realm of Split Void who dared to fight Li Langfeng head-on.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what special qualities that Hua Tian person has.¡± Cai Yue said with a cold snort. ¡°Even you speak so highly of him! I refuse to believe that he¡¯s a capable person!¡±

    Since Shi Qing was badly injured, he didn¡¯t have the time and energy to exin everything to Cai Yue. Hence, he said, ¡°We need to find Gu Yu and the others as soon as possible and inform them of our encounter with Li Langfeng. Considering Hua Tian and Miss Pei¡¯s strength, I¡¯m afraid that they won¡¯t be able to escape from Li Langfeng alone. If it¡¯s possible, we still need to go and rescue them.¡±

    ¡°What? If they die, they die. Why do we have to save them? It¡¯s not like they are members of the Blood Skull. We won¡¯t be responsible for their deaths!¡± Cai Yue sounded very discontent.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Shi Qing said with a bitter smile. ¡°Miss Pei¡¯s identity is very special. If she really died in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and her master found out she was on a Blood Skull mission, she wouldn¡¯t let us off easily. Not only that, if that happens, I¡¯m afraid that your brother won¡¯t forgive himself either. No matter what, we need to do our best to save them. Even if we fail, we¡¯ll have a clear conscience at least.¡±

    ¡°Okay..." Cai Yue replied, not fully understanding Shi Qing¡¯s words.

    The battle between the Dark Moon and the Blood Skull had made such a loudmotion that numerous Qi warriors who roamed the Void Illusion Mountain Range soon learned about it.,

    Via those well-informed people, the other major force in the Realm of Split Void, the Wild Fire, also rapidly learned of what had happened.

    On top of a two thousand-meter-tall mountain peak...

    Grayish brown rocks had been piled into a handful of roughly-made stone houses, which formed the Wild Fire¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Since this part of the mountain range was bitterly cold and snowed year-round, only powerful Qi warriors were able to survive here.

    In front of one of the stone houses.

    Fu Heng, the highestmander of the Wild Fire¡¯s branch in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, was standing with a fur overcoat on his broad, mountain-like shoulders as his subordinates reported to him.

    Freezing wind whizzed by the mountaintop.

    After hearing the man¡¯s words, Fu Heng grinned and said, ¡°The Blood Skull couldn¡¯t have raided the Dark Moon¡¯s base for no reason. Either Gu Yu or Ma Jiu must have found something! How can the Wild Fire not be a part of it!¡±

    The forces the Wild Fire, the Blood Skull, and the Dark Moon had deployed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range were roughly equally strong.

    Gu Yu, Ma Jiu, and Fu Heng were all at thete Greater Heaven stage, and had a rather good understanding of one another.

    The three of them had reached a mutual understanding that they would exercise restraint, and wouldn¡¯t start full-frontal wars with one another unless one of them discovered a brand-new, unexplored spatial rift.

    Of course, small scale battles urred from time to time when their members encountered each other in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    However, those battles were usually under control, and the casualties were normally eptable.

    Once a full-blown war broke out between the three forces, there had to be a serious reason behind it. It was very unlikely that they would wage wars and fight to thest man because of a dispute over trivial things.

    Normally speaking, wars of that scale were usually started over unexplored spatial rifts.

    At that time,rge numbers of powerful experts would descend upon the Void Illusion Mountain Range from the Land of the Abandoned, Shatter City, and Ash City.

    Even the heads of the three forces, who were at the Worldly realm, would personally show up in the Void Illusion Mountain Range to secure their significant interests.

    From what Fu Heng could tell, since neither the Blood Skull nor the Dark Moon had assembled powerful forces from Shatter City or the Land of the Abandoned, it was unlikely that they had discovered new realms. Rather, it might be some precious treasures they were fighting over.

    ¡°Whatever it is, we need to be a part of it. Otherwise, people may think that we¡¯re afraid of them.¡± Fu Heng rapidly made up his mind, and arranged for his subordinates to gather a troop, which he would lead to the area where the Dark Moon and Blood Skull members werest seen.

    At that moment, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were still hiding in the secret stone room of the Blood Skull under the nameless creek,pletely unaware of the huge waves their operation had caused.

    During the past few days, Nie Tian had been consuming the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat and using the rich flesh power it generated to heal the wounds to his body. At the same time, he had been using spirit stones to replenish his spiritual power.

    At this point, he had fully restored the substantial amount of spiritual power he had spent during his battle against Li Langfeng, but the injuries to his fleshy body might take more time to fully recover.

    Every time he took out and cooked the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat, Pei Qiqi would toss him a piece of clean meat she had brought with her without saying a word.

    Understanding what she meant, Nie Tian would catch the meat and cook it for her.

    When they ate, Pei Qiqi would always eat in small bites and remain silent the entire time.

    When they were done eating, they would go back to their cultivation without anymunication.

    After some time, the two of them seemed to be ustomed to this way of being with each other as they both concentrated on recovering their health and strength, getting ready for what awaited them.

    This day, Nie Tian was suddenly awoken from his cultivation by a sobbing sound.

    He opened his eyes and discovered that Pei Qiqi¡¯s shoulders were trembling, and she was sobbing with her eyes closed, as if she was wallowing in a horrible nightmare.

 Chapter 280: Two People Who Share the Same Misfortune

    Pei Qiqi was sobbing softly.

    Nie Tian suddenly became refreshed as he stared nkly at her and listened to the words she was mumbling.

    ¡°Mom, dad...¡± As vague as it was, Nie Tian could hear that Pei Qiqi was calling to her parents like a little girl seeing off her parents who were going on a long journey, begging for them to stay.

    At this moment, the usual coldness and fierceness had disappeared from her delicate face. Heart-broken vulnerability was all there was.

    Teardrops rolled down her cheeks like a unstrung pearl ne, adding to her sad beauty.

    However, the sobbing didn¡¯tst long, and she soon awoke from her dreams.

    When she opened her eyes, she immediately noticed Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, and immediately hid the helpless sadness on her face.

    In the next moment, her expression became as cold as a steel knife again.

    However, she couldn¡¯t stop her tears from flowing out of the corners of her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

    She took out a handkerchief and rolled her eyes to the side as she silently brushed away her tears.

    Apparently, the images were still lingering in her mind and she still needed some time toe out of her dreams.

    She could only constantly brush away her tears and try to calm herself.

    For some reason, Nie Tian felt heartache watching her like this.

    ¡°Your parents... What happened to them?¡± Nie Qian asked in a soft voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business!¡± Pei Qiqi answered coldly.

    Nie Tian fell silent for a short while before letting out a sigh and saying with a bitter expression, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen my parents.¡±

    As soon as he uttered those words, a sense of sadness immediately filled his heart.

    His whole life unfurled in front of his eyes.

    Pei Qiqi, who had turned her head to the side to avert Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, turned back to look at him after hearing his words. Nose ring and eyshes trembling, she asked with a tone that was ten times softer than usual, ¡°You¡¯re also...?¡±

    ¡°My mother died soon after I was born.¡± Nie Tian said with a chilly tone. ¡°As for my father, I don¡¯t even know who he is.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was also drowned in sorrow and bitterness.

    Pei Qiqi watched Nie Tian quietly, and only after a long time did she say, ¡°Life is always full of misfortunes. As life goes on, there are fewer and fewer people you can share your experiences with. The world is brutal, and the path of seeking strength is endless. If you want to gain something, you will have to be willing to give up some other things.

    ¡°For my parents, they chose to give up familial love.¡±

    With these words, she closed her eyes and didn¡¯t seem to wish to continue.

    ¡°Familial love...¡± Nie Tian mulled over Pei Qiqi¡¯s words. Then he nodded and said, his heart filled with bitterness, ¡°Perhaps you¡¯re right. What we cherish the most might be the very thing they had to give up.¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but think of his father, who he had never met and knew nothing of, and wondered why he had left his mother and disappeared.

    From the moment his bloodline had awakened, he had realized that his father must not be an ordinary man.

    No one in the Nie n family history had been known to possess the mysterious bloodline power.

    The fact that bloodline power ran through Nie Tian¡¯s veins meant that he must have inherited it from his father.

    A man who possessed such powerful bloodline power should be beyond ordinary, and have the ability to guard his own wife and child.

    However, he had never showed up in Nie Tian¡¯s life.

    Because of that, Nie Tian had been shunned and treated differently by other Nie n members his whole life.

    No one had taken him as a true member of the Nie n, except his grandfather and aunt.

    The reason why he had repeatedly fought Nie Hong, Nie Yuan, and other children his age was because he longed for a sense of existence and recognition, and he was eager to prove his worth to the other Nie n members

    ¡°If I ever find him one day, I¡¯ll demand a clear answer from him!¡± Nie Tian said to himself with great determination.

    Even though he had never said it to anyone, he always knew that he harbored hatred towards his father.

    Part of the reason he had pursued his own strength so unrelentingly over the years was that he want to be strong enough when he had the chance to question his own father.

    As an orphan himself, Nie Tian shared Pei Qiqi¡¯s feelings.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s weeping made his hatred towards his father even clearer and more heartfelt.

    Only after a long time was he able to calm himself and stop himself from thinking about the fact that his father had abandoned and betrayed him and his mother.

    Too upset to concentrate on cultivation, Nie Tian took out another huge chunk of Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat, roasted it, and vented his frustration by violently tearing up and chewing on the meat.

    A few days passed...

    Soon after Nie Tian wolfed down another chunk of Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat, wisps of faint smoke rose from his body and bits of a gooey substance flowed out of his open pores.

    Every time he ate, he consumed almost fifty kilos of meat, quickly emptying his stock of Golden Stone Rhino meat.

    As he consumed and absorbed the flesh power of thest piece of Golden Stone Rhino meat, the injuries caused by Li Langfeng were finally fully healed.

    The ruptured meridians were now reconnected and even more resilient than before. The formerly cracked bones were now without the slightest fissure and tougher than they ever were.

    As Nie Tian circted the power within his spiritual sea, spiritual power of different attributes ran through his meridians without any obstructions.

    That was when he suddenly realized that not only were his injuriespletely healed, but he had even be stronger than ever.

    Meanwhile, the green aura in his heart hadn¡¯t received any flesh power replenishment. It hadn¡¯t recovered the energy it had consumed to fix Nie Tian¡¯s fractured bones, much less umte enough flesh power to advance to the next level.

    He knew that only more spirit beast meat would provide him with more copious amounts of flesh essence, and numerous spirit beasts were roaming in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    If he wanted his bloodline to advance and develop a new bloodline talent, he would have to go on a hunt for more spirit beasts.

    Aside from that, if he wanted to refine his vortex of star power and condense more stardew, he would have to remain in the Void Illusion Mountain Range to achieve that goal, instead of Shatter City.

    Soon, he made his decision.

    After cooking a piece of spirit beast meat for Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian handed it to her and asked, ¡°How are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already fully recovered my spiritual power, but I might still need some time to heal my physical injuries,¡± Pei Qiqi answered with a in tone.

    Ever since Nie Tian had seen her weep in her dreams and opened up to her about his own misfortune, it seemed that the rtionship between the two of them had be much tighter.

    During the past few days, whenever Nie Tian cooked meat for Pei Qiqi and Pei Qiqi ate in a graceful fashion, she would voluntarily chat with Nie Tian for a bit.

    She had exined the special features of the Realm of Split Void, theplicated terrain in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and the strife between the three major forces to Nie Tian in detail.

    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± Nie Qian said in a soft voice.

    ¡°What?¡± Apparently, Nie Tian¡¯s words took Pei Qiqi by surprise. ¡°Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt for spirit beasts,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°Besides, I need to practice cultivation in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. This ce suits me better than Shatter City, so I n to spend some time here.¡±

    ¡°This is very unwise,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a frown.

    ¡°I know,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Pei Qiqi looked deeply into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes and pondered in silence for quite a while. Then, she handed him a detailed map and pointed out a location for him, saying, ¡°I¡¯ve explored this area myself. There are a lot of low grade spirit beasts there, most of which are under the fourth grade. I think you¡¯ll get what you are looking for there.¡±

    Then, she showed Nie Tian the location of the Blood Skull¡¯s base on the map, saying, ¡°Now that you¡¯re a guest elder of the Blood Skull, as long as you have enough spirit stones to pay them, they¡¯ll let you use their portal to return to Shatter City.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°Thanks, but I don¡¯t n to use their portal to return to Shatter City.¡±

    Confused, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Once I¡¯m fully recovered, I¡¯ll find a suitable location in the Void Illusion Mountain Range toy my teleportation portal. You¡¯re wee to use it and return to Shatter City with me. I won¡¯t charge you anything.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head again and said, ¡°It won¡¯t be necessary. When I¡¯ve hunted enough spirit beasts, I¡¯ll travel through the mountain range, cross the wastnd roamed by lurkers, and then find my way back to Shatter City.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered slightly as she asked, ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    ¡°The route you just described is full of terrors. Your cultivation base is by no means high enough to allow you to do that. If you insist on doing that, it¡¯s very likely that you won¡¯t make it back to Shatter City alive.¡±

    ¡°If I can¡¯t make it back alive, then I¡¯ll just die out here.¡±

    Pei Qiqi stood, aghast.

    She looked Nie Tian up and down with a measuring gaze, and after a short while, she nodded gently and said, ¡°I wish you good luck.¡±

    Afterwards, she took out a medallion from within her ring of holding and open the sealing ward for Nie Tian.

    ¡°You take care.¡± With these words, Nie Tian leaped into the air and burst through the waterproof ward.

    Seeing him charge through the ward, Pei Qiqi whispered to herself, ¡°This guy is just as crazy as Li Langfeng, if not crazier.¡±

    She still couldn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian would choose the most dangerous way back when he could return safely via her teleportation portal.

    When Nie Tian left, the determined and unyielding look in his eyes was carved deeply into Pei Qiqi¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Another unfortunate soul,¡± she sighed.

    She believed that, just like Li Langfeng, Nie Tian must be also motivated by some great misfortune.

    The path Nie Tian had chosen was no different from Li Langfeng¡¯s by nature.

    Li Langfeng cultivated with the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, while Nie Tian consumed tainted spirit beast meat. They both acquired strength at the cost of their own lifespan. Only their methods varied.

    She had already predicted that Nie Tian would die in his prime, like a shooting star plummeting to its extinction after a moment of glory.

    For some reason, when she thought that the day would soone for Nie Tian, a sense of sadness and sympathy rose in her heart.

 Chapter 281: Receiving Enlightenment from the Fragmentary Star Incantation

    Three dayster, around the perimeter of a dense forest in the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    Nie Tian was crouching beside a third grade Ice Scale Lizard, carefully carving open its thick, ice-cold scales. Then, he took out a number of sizable wooden barrels and filled them with its blood.

    This dense forest was the region Pei Qiqi had marked out for him on the map, which was a major habitat for spirit beasts.

    Numerous second grade and third grade spirit beasts roamed the perimeter of the dense forest. Since their strength was rather limited, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t encountered much difficulty killing them.

    ording to Pei Qiqi, high-grade spirit beasts resided at the heart of the dense forest.

    Although she hadn¡¯t seen them personally, rumor had it that there were fourth grade and even fifth grade spirit beasts in the depths of the forest. Considering that it was so dangerous, no Qi warriors dared to explore the deepest parts of the forest, so it was hard to say if there were sixth grade spirit beasts there.

    The strength of a fifth grade spirit beast could match that of a Worldly realm Qi warrior, and the strength of a sixth grade spirit beast would be equivalent to that of a Profound realm Qi warrior.

    Pei Qiqi had warned him to stay at the outer edge of the forest and told him that he mustn¡¯t go on a suicide mission by marching deep into the forest.

    Nie Tian took her advice and only hunted spirit beasts around the perimeter of the forest.

    To this point, he had already ughtered four third grade spirit beasts, dismembered them, and stored their flesh, bones and blood in his bracelet of holding.

    He was aware that he need to stock up on spirit beast meat so that he could consume it everyday to provide the green aura in his heart with rich flesh power, preparing it for its next upgrade.

    That was the reason why he was exerting all measures to hunt spirit beasts.

    On the other hand, since he and Pei Qiqi had hidden out in the Blood Skull¡¯s secret stronghold under the creek for days and heard nothing, he assumed Li Langfeng had long since given up on chasing after them.

    Furthermore, the Void Illusion Mountain Range was quite vast. The forest he was in was extremely far away and secluded. He didn¡¯t think he would be so unlucky that he would run into Li Langfeng again here.

    After putting the dismembered Ice Scale Lizard into his bracelet of holding, Nie Tian sought out a giant, dead tree that was hollow inside.

    He assumed the lotus position inside the hollow tree and began to refine the Ice Scale Lizard¡¯s blood.

    The Blood Refining Incantation allowed him to extract and absorb only the essence of the blood, leaving the filth and impurities at the bottom of the wooden barrels.

    As wisps of flesh power rose from the barrels and flew into Nie Tian¡¯s heart, where the green aura resided, one barrel after another was rapidly emptied.

    It wasn¡¯t long before everyst drop of the Ice Scale Lizard¡¯s blood was consumed, and all the flesh power it contained was gulped down by the green aura.

    However, Nie Tian knew that the blood of an Ice Scale Lizard was far from enough to satisfy his bloodline aura.

    He could still sense its greediness and endless yearning. ¡°How am I supposed to fill this bottomless pit...?¡±

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian took a few pieces of dried spirit beast meat from his bracelet of holding and started munching.

    He had made jerky out of the spirit beasts he had ughtered during the past few days so that he could eat their meat more conveniently.

    Whenever his stomach was empty, he would immediately take the meat jerky out and eat it without needing to cook it.

    The energy the meat jerky produced was also rapidly devoured by the green aura in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    As it did, Nie Tian used spirit stones and cultivation materials of the wood and fire attributes to refine and expand his spiritual sea.

    In the meantime, his seven Heaven Eyes floated in the vicinity like invisiblenterns, capturing even the most subtle changes within a range of several hundred meters and reflecting them in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    It was these Heaven Eyes that allowed him to steer clear of fourth grade spirit beasts and powerful Qi warriors in the region, keeping him safe.

    With a peaceful mind, Nie Tian cultivated wholeheartedly.

    After some time, however, one of his Heaven Eyes captured a vague conversation between three people.

    Therefore, he spared some attention tomand that Heaven Eye to fly closer to the source of the sounds.

    Three Heaven stage Qi warriors, who were dressed differently from one another, were talking as they marched.

    The content of their conversation concerned the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, and the Wild Fire.

    Nie Tian listened with rapt attention.

    As the three of them walked further and further away, their voices grew weaker before eventually exiting the Heaven Eye¡¯s range of detection, but Nie Tian had already obtained all the information he needed to know.

    Just like him, those three people were also here to hunt low grade spirit beasts at the outer edges of this forest.

    However, they were only after the spirit beasts¡¯ bones, skin, and teeth, which they could use to trade for spirit stones.

    They hade from Ash City.

    On their way here, they had heard about the recent conflict between the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, and the Wild Fire in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    However, they didn¡¯t know the real reason behind the conflict, and could only assume that precious treasures had been discovered and the three major forces were fighting over them.

    ording to them, the Dark Moon had suffered great losses, and Ma Jiu was leading the rest of his men out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range and back to the Land of the Abandoned.

    As for Gu Yu and his Blood Skull members, they were chasing after them, hoping to annihte them in the mountain range.

    Fu Heng from the Wild Fire had also joined in the small-scale fights between Blood Skull and Dark Moon members.

    The fierce conflicts had attracted the attention of every explorer in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, many of whom were specting as to what had happened, asking around, and looking for an opportunity to obtain some benefits for themselves.

    Among other things, the three of them also mentioned Li Langfeng.

    Li Langfeng, who they referred to as ¡°the poisonous man¡±, was currently searching for a young man named Hua Tian in an area that was very far from this forest.

    Like a madman, Li Langfeng would question every person he ran into about Hua Tian¡¯s whereabouts, and murder them after getting no useful answers.

    At this moment, not a single explorer dared to enter the area Li Langfeng was in.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian let out a cold snort. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that man is so persistent...¡±

    After his fight against this poisonous man, Nie Tian had obtained a good understanding of his terrifying battle prowess.

    Considering his strength, no one was able to defeat him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, unless the Worldly realm experts of the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, or the Wild Fire descended upon the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Although Ma Jiu, Gu Yu, and Fu Heng were also at thete Greater Heaven stage, none of them would stand a chance fighting him.

    That was why Li Langfeng had so daringly ughtered all those he had encountered.

    Nie Tian was aware that, even if he decided to use the me Dragon Armor, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to beat Li Langfeng. Therefore, after getting a grasp of Li Langfeng¡¯s whereabouts, he decided to avoid going near that region at all times.

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian refocused himself as he sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into one of the fragmentary star marks on his chest to learn about the magic named Starstrike.

    Starstrike was one of the three secret magics recorded in the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, and it was a powerful attacking magic that allowed Nie Tian to condense the stardew in his vortex of star power into a starspark.

    Once a starspark, which carried extremely pure and rich star power, was formed, Nie Tian could channel it to his palm or fist before he struck his enemy. He could alsomand it to fly out from his body or infuse it into a spiritual tool.

    Ever since Nie Tian had broken into the Heaven stage, he had studied Starstrike with concentrated attention whenever he had the time.

    At this point, he had finally understood the method to condense and form starsparks.

    As a thought appeared in his mind, the vortex of star power in his spiritual sea began to rotate at a high speed, and the stardew at the bottom of the vortex gradually concentrated and formed a starspark.

    The starspark that looked very much like a fragmentary star ran through his meridians at lightning speed beforeing to a stop in his left palm.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and syed his left hand. He could clearly see the starspark twinkling within his palm like a bright star, lighting up his entire left hand.

    The power from the starspark gave him a mysterious feeling, as if he was holding a star in his hand.

    Afterwards, he pressed his palm against the inside of the hollow tree.

    Upon contact, blindingly bright light immediately shot out of the starspark in all directions.

    In the next moment, the starspark exploded, giving rise to waves of extremely strong power, causing the hollow tree to explode into tiny pieces of wood.

    Sitting amongst the debris of the tree, Nie Tian once again closed his eyes and cast the magic in his mind. Soon, the stardew in his vortex of star power condensed into another starspark.

    This time, he focused his attention and channeled it to the tip of his index finger.

    It seemed as if a star had fallen out of the heavens andnded on the tip of his finger.

    SHEW!

    With a gentle motion, Nie Tian flung the starspark out of his fingertip. Like a shooting star, it flew towards a nearby tree, which was several timesrger than the one he was in.

    CRUNCH!

    The tree instantly split, exploded, and rained splinters on the ground.

    From the look of it, the might of the starspark was rather formidable, whether it was used to strengthen his strikes or to directly bombard the target.

    Every starspark contained an explosive star power that was many times richer than the stardew.

    Nie Tian calmed himself and continued to create more starsparks.

    Soon, one starspark after another appeared in the center of his palm, like stars decorating the heavens.

    By the time a fifth starspark appeared, he began to experience great difficulty in forming a sixth.

    However, when he examined his vortex of star power, he found that there was still plenty of stardew in it.

    Therefore, he decided to gather his attention and use his Heaven Eyes to keep track of the whole process of him creating starsparks.

    Firstly, he reversed the process and returned the energy of the five starsparks into his vortex of star power. Then, he started condensing starsparks again.

    He noticed that when the first starspark appeared in his palm, everything seemed normal.

    However, when a second starspark appeared, a profound connection between the two starsparks seemed to be established.

    The connection seemed to have aligned the two starsparks into an unfathomable spell formation and brought their might to a new level.

    When a third starspark shone into appearance, it seemed to rapidly connect to the two existing starsparks in a mysterious way.

    Just like that, a new formation of starsparks came to form.

    The formation didn¡¯t just simply bring the power of the three starsparks together, but rather it multiplied their strength by many times.

    The same thing happened when a fourth and fifth starspark appeared; the starsparks were realigned to form new and stronger formations!

    ¡°The formation is multiplying their might instead of adding their might together. With every starspark added to the formation, their destructive force rises manyfold!¡± Nie Tian finally came to realize how the starsparks worked.

 Chapter 282: Starspark Formation

    Now that Nie Tian thought about the process, everything made sense.

    When he formed the first starspark, it was as easy as rolling over a log.

    However, when he formed the second starspark, it required not only several times more stardew, but more effort and devotion.

    By the time the fifth starspark appeared, the time and energy he had consumed to form it had surpassed that of the previous four starsparksbined.

    The reason why he couldn¡¯t create a sixth starspark and add it to the formation of starsparks was probably because it was currently out of his reach, considering his cultivation base.

    Furthermore, he had also noticed that when he was exerting all his power to form the fifth starspark, his four vortexes of spiritual power had rotated abnormally fast.

    Even his spiritual sea became somewhat unstable; huge waves rampaged through the normally-calm surface of his spiritual sea.

    By the time the fifth starspark finally formed, he found that he had somehow consumed a substantial amount of spiritual power.

    Perhaps his inability to form a sixth starspark had a great deal to do with his cultivation base, the development of his spiritual sea, and the resilience of his fleshy body.

    He still needed more time to peel back and solve the profundity of this matter.

    After reaching a brief understanding of the magic, Nie Tian took a deep breath and flung the formation of five starsparks out of his palm. ¡°Go!¡±

    As the five starsparks sailed through the air at lightning speed, they continued to maintain their formation, and the distances between them didn¡¯t change noticeably.

    BOOM!

    The five of them simultaneously crashed into the trunk of an enormous ancient tree like five falling stars.

    Upon impact, the tree didn¡¯t split and explode like the ones before.

    Rather, under the extremely powerful sh, the tree that reached into the heavens was immediately reduced to a world of flying wooden bits.

    When the blinding light faded away, Nie Tian walked toward the location where the tree used to be, his face filled with shock.

    The several dozen meter-tall tree was already nowhere to be found; all he could see were countless bits of wood falling from the sky like it was snowing.

    Nie Tian looked down and saw a half-meter-deep hole in the solid ground.

    Facing the falling bits of wood and the huge hole in the ground, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel.

    ¡°The might of this strike can be evenpared to that of a Rage Punch! Moreover, I don¡¯t have to fight an enemy at close quarters to use it! Simply marvelous!

    ¡°Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce... Fragmentary Star Incantation... Starstrike...¡±

    Nie Tian was very excited as he finally saw for himself the might of the legacy he had obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was also at that moment he noticed that the ancient characters that had carried the mysteries of the Starstrike were rapidly growing blurry and vanishing from the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    No matter how hard he looked, he could no longer find any description of the Starstrike in that fragmentary star mark.

    However, the method of how to form starsparks had already been permanently carved in his mind, meaning that he had already mastered the profound truths of this magic and made it part of himself.

    In light of this, by the time he mastered Starshift and Starfall, the other two magics recorded in the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, the first fragmentary star mark would disappearpletely.

    During the following few days, Nie Tian continued to practice the Starstrike as he hunted more second and third grade spirit beasts at the outer edge of the dense forest.

    As he did, his understanding regarding how to cast this magic and form starsparks rose to new heights.

    Even still, however hard he tried, he failed to form a sixth starspark in his palm.

    Only then did he realize that he might have to make a significant breakthrough to be able to create the sixth starspark and form a new formation of starsparks.

    It could be a breakthrough in his cultivation base, another round of expansion to his spiritual sea, or building his physical strength to certain degree.

    After realizing that it was out of his reach for the time being, Nie Tian decided not to waste more time and energy on it, and thus put that thought on hold.

    He turned to another problem that had been bothering him.

    When he had repeatedly tried to form new starsparks, his stock of stardew ran low very quickly.

    Even though he had spent every single night channeling star power from the heavens into his vortex of star power, the speed at which he generated stardew was still too slow.

    In light of this, he took out the handful of cultivation materials that contained star power from his bracelet of holding and drained their power.

    Cultivating with those materials was clearly more efficient than cultivating with starlight.

    However, his collection of that kind of cultivation material was very limited, and he thus ran out in a short time.

    Nie Tian sighed as he sat on the branch of a tall, ancient tree, contemting, ¡°Those cultivation materials were just like spirit stones. The only difference was that, instead of carrying spiritual power, they carried star power.

    ¡°If I can get more of them, I¡¯ll be able to cultivate just as well in Shatter City, and I won¡¯t be stuck in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°I just need to find out where I can get more of them...¡±

    All of a sudden, one of his Heaven Eyes detected a band of six people.

    It wasn¡¯t the first time Nie Tian had detected them since he hade to this forest.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian heard their conversations, and rapidly learned the goal and destination of their trip.

    The six of them were all at the Heaven stage and hade from Shatter City; four of them were at the middle Heaven stage, and two were at thete Heaven stage.

    They had started by hunting second and third grade spirit beasts around the perimeter of this forest.

    However, they only took the skin, horns, and teeth of their prey, which they could use to trade for spirit stones after returning to Shatter City.

    In the following days, Nie Tian tailed them and put away the spirit beast flesh and blood which they had discarded.

    In that way, Nie Tian didn¡¯t need to fight spirit beasts himself, but could still obtain valuable spirit beast meat and blood without breaking a sweat.

    For that reason, he kept observing them via his Heaven Eyes and maintained a reasonable distance from them as he tailed them.

    After roaming about at the outer edge of the forest for a few days, the six of them gradually grew tired of hunting third grade spirit beasts. Therefore, they decided to go to the next level: go deeper into the forest and hunt fourth grade spirit beasts.

    The strength of a fourth grade spirit beast matched that of a Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, making them much more dangerous than third grade spirit beasts.

    If the six of them split up to search for spirit beasts, no matter which of them encountered a fourth grade spirit beast, they would undoubtedly fall prey to it.

    However, if they traveled and acted as a whole, they would have a good chance of killing a fourth grade spirit beast together, but their searching efficiency would drop significantly.

    On another issue, if they marched deeper into the forest, they might encounter two fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time.

    Considering their battle prowess, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting two fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time.

    Just like that, their discussion went on and on.

    Soon, via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian heard them discussing bringing in new members to make their team stronger, so that they would be able to march deeper into the forest.

    Sitting in the tree, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°Fourth grade spirit beasts...¡±

    During the past few days, all the meat he had consumed had been from second or third grade spirit beasts, which contained far less flesh power than the meat of the Golden Stone Rhino.

    Considering that he could only consume a certain amount of meat in one meal, if he could switch the meat he consumed to that from a fourth grade spirit beast, the amount of flesh power he could obtain from a single serving would increase severalfold.

    Since those six people were only after the spirit beast¡¯s bones, teeth and skin, and they had no interest in the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh, they would probably be happy to add Nie Tian to their team if Nie Tian could help them ughter fourth grade spirit beasts, but only demanded the spirit beasts¡¯ blood and flesh.

    ¡°Perhaps I should help them make up their mind.¡± After pondering for a while, Nie Tian jumped off the tree and rapidly moved towards the location of the six people.

    As he drew closer, he intentionally stomped his feet.

    One of thete Heaven stage cultivators was the first to sense Nie Tian¡¯s movement. Like an rmed bird, he called out, ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    At the same time, the other five also seemed rather rattled as they hastily drew their spiritual tools and prepared for battle.

    They knew very well that danger could be lurking in any dark corner in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Most of the time, people were more deadly than powerful spirit beasts.

    Since they had teamed up and explored in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for years, they could tell it was a person the moment they heard Nie Tian¡¯s footsteps.

    They knew that the Void Illusion Mountain Range was especially turbulent these days.

    They were afraid that they would get involved in the conflicts between the three major forces or encounter the reckless maniac, Li Langfeng.

    When Nie Tian showed up in front of them, their leader examined Nie Tian with his psychic awareness, and discovered that Nie Tian was merely at the early Heaven stage. Only then did his suspended heart ease up.

    However, as soon as his sense of danger was eliminated, a new idea rose in his heart. Even the way he looked at Nie Tian grew strange.

    It was all about killing and being killed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Once someone weak showed up, the first thought that came to their heads was to kill him and take his valuables.

    Nie Tian instantly saw through their minds and said, ¡°I¡¯m a guest elder of the Blood Skull.¡±

    Then, he took out his identity medallion and showed it to them.

    ¡°A guest elder of the Blood Skull?¡± Their leader¡¯s expression flickered slightly after getting a clear view of the Blood Skull pattern on Nie Tian¡¯s identity medallion.

    The six of them hade from Shatter City, so they respected the power of the Blood Skull. Even though what Nie Tian had was only an identity medallion for a guest elder, it made a significant impact on their hearts.

    After all, they were aware that a guest elder of the Blood Skull might very well be more powerful than a formal Blood Skull member.

    ¡°I think the kid is ying with us.¡± Face filled with suspicion, a middle Heaven stage woman questioned Nie Tian¡¯s identity. ¡°He¡¯s only at the early Heaven stage. Why in the world would the Blood Skull offer him a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion? We¡¯ve lived in Shatter City for years, but we¡¯ve never heard of the Blood Skull taking in a guest elder with such a low cultivation base!¡±

    Nie Tianughed broadly and said, ¡°Believe it or not, my name is Li Tian, and I mean you no harm. If you¡¯re marching deeper into the forest, I want to join you. I¡¯ll help you kill fourth grade spirit beasts if we encounter any. All I want is their blood and meat; all the rest are yours.¡±

    ¡°You only want the blood and meat?¡± The man went nk for a moment. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

 Chapter 283: Welcome to Join Us

    A middle Heaven stage female cultivator seemed to have seen through their leader¡¯s intention. She hastily jumped in and said loudly, ¡°No! Adding him to our team won¡¯t do much to improve our battle prowess. He¡¯s too weak! His cultivation base is lower than any of ours. What will change if we let him join us?

    ¡°If we really run into two fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time, we¡¯d still get killed. What can he do?¡±

    The woman protested strongly, as she was the one who had firmly objected to the idea of marching deeper into the forest in the first ce.

    Nie Tian frowned as he looked at her with a measuring gaze.

    After secretly observing the six of them for days, he had already obtained a rather thorough understanding of their names, strength, and rtionships with each other.

    The woman¡¯s name was Lu Yan, and she was cautious by nature. During her previous exploration trip to this dense forest, she and her team had encountered danger, and many of herpanions had been killed.

    That time, she and her team had marched into deeper parts of the forest and unexpectedly run into two fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time.

    There had been a dozen people on her team, and five of them had been at thete Heaven stage.

    However, only four of them had survived their encounter with the two fierce fourth grade spirit beasts.

    That battle had scarred Lu Yan for life. Therefore, she insisted on hunting low grade spirit beasts at the outer edge of the forest, and was strongly opposed the idea of entering deeper into the forest.

    ¡°The yield of hunting only second and third grade spirit beasts is indeed too low,¡± Shen Wei, the leader of the team, said with a frown. ¡°I¡¯ve recently set my mind on a spiritual tool, so I¡¯m in need of spirit stones. If we continue to only hunt second and third grade spirit beasts, I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to gather enough wealth even if we keep hunting for six more months.¡±

    Looking Lu Yan in the eye, Shen Wei continued, ¡°Now that we¡¯ve decided toe to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, we should know that we may encounter danger at any moment. Even if we don¡¯t march deeper into the forest, we may face other crises. Not to mention that our way back to Shatter City will be much more dangerous than our way here. It¡¯s even hard to say if we can survive those lurking bandits and make it back to Shatter City alive.

    ¡°I say we risk it!¡±

    ¡°If you all are bent on going, you¡¯ll have to go without me!¡± Lu Yan said with great determination in her voice.

    Seeing that the two of them heldpletely opposite opinions, the other four said a few things to calm the tension.

    As an outsider, Nie Tian could only stand there with his arms folded and wait for them to cool down.

    At that moment, another female cultivator named Song Li shot a nce at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Li Tian, is it?¡±

    She was also at thete Heaven stage, the same as Shen Wei.

    However, unlike Shen Wei, she was mellow by nature, and thus she didn¡¯t like being the leader. She had a fairly beautiful face, as well as the makings of delicate and modestdy.

    It seemed that she wasn¡¯t fond of fighting over things, and she had always been the peacemaker of the team.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Thanks to Li Langfeng, his identity as Hua Tian had be rather well-known.

    During the past few days, many Qi warriors who roamed the Void Illusion Mountain Range, including members of the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire, had learned the name ¡®Hua Tian¡¯. It wouldn¡¯t be safe if he continued to use that name.

    Therefore, he borrowed Li Ye¡¯s first name and called himself Li Tian.

    ¡°As you can see, we have six people on our team, and I bet you know how it is in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± Song Li looked Nie Tian up and down with a measuring gaze, and then asked Nie Tian, with her pretty, water-like eyes looking deeply into his, ¡°What gave you the courage toe to us?¡±

    By saying that, she meant that brutal fights urred in the Void Illusion Mountain Range all the time. Normally speaking, whenever two sides of unequal strength met, conflict would definitely break out.

    The stronger side would never allow the weaker side to leave without paying a price.

    Not only was Nie Tian traveling by himself, but he was also only at the early Heaven stage. The fact that he dared to voluntarily approach them confused Song Li.

    It didn¡¯t matter to them if Nie Tian¡¯s identity as the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder was authentic or not. Even if it was authentic, that didn¡¯t make him an official member of the Blood Skull, so killing him wouldn¡¯t be a big deal.

    The Blood Skull wouldn¡¯t make a fuss about the death of a guest elder.

    Song Li¡¯s take on the matter resonated with Shen Wei, Lu Yan and the other three.

    All of them wondered why Nie Tian, an early Heaven stage cultivator, dared toe before them.

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°You might not believe me, but the reason I dared toe to you is because I know that the six of you won¡¯t be able to take me in a fight. If I want to leave, you won¡¯t be able to stop me.¡±

    Nie Tian thought that by assuming an stronger manner, he might increase Lu Yan¡¯s confidence.

    The only reason why Lu Yan refused to march deeper into the forest was that she feared that they would encounter the same devastating situation as she had before.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite a big talker!¡± Lu Yan said loudly.

    With a meaningful roll of her eyes, Song Li asked Nie Tian, ¡°Do you really think you can deal with the six of us single-handedly? Do you mind proving your strength to us?¡±

    Having observed them for days, Nie Tian had long since learned that Song Li had already secretlymunicated with Shen Wei.

    As a matter of fact, it was Song Li who had put the idea of marching deeper into the forest into Shen Wei¡¯s mind.

    It was only because Shen Wei was their leader that it was more persuasive if he made the proposal to all the team members.

    Song Li was the one who desired to go deeper into the forest and hunt fourth grade spirit beasts the most.

    ¡°Hahaha, what¡¯s there to prove?¡± Nie Tian once again shook the identity medallion in his hand, saying, ¡°This identity medallion speaks for itself.¡±

    ¡°Can I have a look at it?¡± Song Li asked.

    ¡°No problem.¡± Nie Tian threw his identity medallion towards her without any scruples.

    He knew that every guest elder¡¯s identity medallion was infused with a unique psychic awareness when presented to them.

    Complicated spell formations had been imnted into those identity medallions when the Blood Skull had made them.

    One spell formation could only be infused with psychic awareness once. Once its owner died, the psychic awareness within the medallion would dissipate, and the spell formation would self-destruct. Thus, the medallion would lose its meaning.

    In light of this, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t worried that Song Li would take the identity medallion for herself.

    Song Li grabbed the identity medallion and examined it carefully before handing it back to Nie Tian.

    With a somewhat strange look in her eyes, she turned to Shen Wei, who was standing next to her, and said, ¡°It¡¯s real.¡±

    Shen Wei was greatly surprised at heart.

    Although both he and Song Li were at thete Heaven stage, he had lived in Shatter City for a much longer time.

    It was very clear to him that the Blood Skull would never offer their guest elder¡¯smand medallions to people without a reason.

    However, Nie Tian was only at the early Heaven stage.

    It meant that Nie Tian must not be an ordinary person; there must be something special about him.

    Moments ago, the idea of ying by the norms of the Void Illusion Mountain Range and murdering Nie Tian had appeared in his mind.

    However, after Song Li had confirmed that Nie Tian¡¯s identity medallion was authentic, he immediately called off that idea.

    Lu Yan let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Even if his identity medallion is real, his cultivation base is still too low! It takes the six of us working together to handle one fourth grade spirit beast. No matter how resourceful he is, I don¡¯t believe he can kill a fourth grade spirit beast single-handedly. If he can¡¯t do that, then once we encounter two fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time, we¡¯ll still die beyond the shadow of a doubt!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I can¡¯t kill a fourth grade spirit beast by myself,¡± Nie Tian answered, without hiding.

    He also wanted to say that, with his Heaven Eyes, he would be able to prevent them from encountering two fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time.

    It was just that the ethereal Heaven Eyes would exceed their level of understanding. If he went ahead and said it, they might consider him to be a liar.

    Therefore, he dropped the idea of telling them about them.

    Seeing that Lu Yan was not backing down a bit, Song Li proposed, ¡°¡°How about this: let all vote on this. Those who are willing to take on the risks and go deeper into the forest, let¡¯s have a show of hands.¡±

    Everyone except Lu Yan raised their hands one after another.

    Nie Tian had long since learned that not only had Song Li persuaded Shen Wei, but she had also talked the other three into going.

    Lu Yan was the only one who was unequivocal in her opposition to her proposal.

    After noticing that everyone else had raised their hands, Lu Yan said, anger and embarrassment filling her face, ¡°If you all have a death wish, then be my guest! I¡¯m not going with you!¡±

    Shen Wei also grew angry as he blurted, ¡°Alright then. You can just stay here. We¡¯ll go and hunt fourth grade spirit beasts by ourselves. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re so powerful that we can¡¯t do it without you.¡±

    ¡°Good! I look forward to your triumphant return!¡± With these words, Lu Yan left, heart burning with anger.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee to join us,¡± Song Li said to Nie Tian, smiling.

    It seemed that Lu Yan¡¯s leaving didn¡¯t have any impact on her, and she didn¡¯t seemed to value Lu Yan¡¯s strength at all.

    ¡°You can join our team,¡± Shen Wei said. ¡°But one thing to be clear: I¡¯ll determine how we distribute the spoils after we¡¯ve killed the spirit beasts. I¡¯ll do it ording to each person¡¯s contribution, and you can¡¯t oppose me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve said it, I¡¯ll only take the blood and meat,¡± Nie Tian stated.

    Shen Wei seemed surprised as he asked, ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    He had taken Nie Tian to be joking, because spirit beasts¡¯ meat and blood were of no value at all. Normally, people would just discard them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say it one more time.¡± Nie Tian said with emphasis. ¡°I only want the spirit beasts¡¯ meat and blood, and I won¡¯t take anything other than those.¡±

    Shen Wei turned to look at his four team members, asking, ¡°You heard him, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    They all nodded.

    ¡°Good. You¡¯re part of the team now, Li Tian.¡± Shen Wei said to Nie Tian.

 Chapter 284: Traveling in A Group

    With Lu Yan gone and Nie Tian in, there remained six people in the team.

    Due to Lu Yan¡¯s absence, the team reached a consensus.

    Nie Tian followed Shen Wei, Song Li, and the other three towards the deeper parts of the forest.

    They encountered some scattered low grade spirit beasts along their way.

    Since they were all at the second or third grade, Nie Tian only disyed his battle skills with the me Spirit Incantation.

    Therefore, in Shen Wei and Song Li¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian was no more than a Qi warrior who cultivated fire incantations, and his battle prowess was about the same as Lu Yan¡¯s.

    However, they didn¡¯t know that that was only what Nie Tian had let on.

    They were both slightly impressed to see that Nie Tian possessed such battle prowess while he was only at the early Heaven stage.

    However, the thought of the fact that Nie Tian was a guest elder of the Blood Skull put their minds at ease. After all, Nie Tian¡¯spetence had been acknowledged by the Blood Skull.

    Therefore, they weren¡¯t very surprised by Nie Tian¡¯s performance.

    Of all five people, Song Li paid the most attention to Nie Tian. Every time they were engaged in battle with spirit beasts, she would keep an eye on Nie Tian, but she wasn¡¯t able to see that Nie Tian was intentionally reserving his strength.

    The woman appeared quiet, and had a look of holding herself aloof from earthly matters. However, Nie Tian suspected that she was by no means ordinary.

    Nie Tian made quite some gains hunting with the group for a few days.

    Both Shen Wei and Song Li were at thete Heaven stage. Adding in the other three middle Heaven stage cultivators, and their efficiency was exceptionally high.

    Nie Tian kept his word.

    He only took the spirit beasts¡¯ blood and meat, leaving the skin, teeth, and horns to the others.

    Thanks to the team, the speed at which he stockpiled spirit beast meat and blood improved by a great margin.

    Meanwhile, the other five team members were satisfied with his good faith.

    When they found out that Nie Tian really took nothing but the spirit beasts¡¯ blood and meat, the way they looked at Nie Tian grew more and more pleasant.

    If Lu Yan was still on the team, she would have taken a share of the valuable parts of the spirit beasts.

    Now that Nie Tian possessed the same battle prowess as Lu Yan, but imed no share of the valuable spoils, it was like the five of them were splitting the share they should have given to Lu Yan.

    Of course, that made them happy.

    However, they were somewhat curious as to why Nie Tian would separate himself from the group every time they stopped to recuperate.

    Nie Tian never used spirit stones to recover his strength with the rest of the group.

    The reason why Nie Tian did this was because he had to consumerge amounts of spirit beast meat.

    If they saw Nie Tian wolfing down spirit beast meat, which was filled with filth and impurities, they would consider him a monster.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian needed to channel star power to form stardew in a secluded location. In order to keep his secrets, he had to separate himself from the group.

    In the middle of one night...

    Nie Tian had sought a secluded location far away from the other five, where he had consumed almost fifty kilos of spirit beast meat, before he adjusted himself and returned to the location where the rest of the group had set up camp.

    At that time, he had already learned via his Heaven Eyes that Shen Wei and the others were about to finish their cultivation.

    Sitting under a leafless tree, Shen Wei raised his chin and saw Nie Tian appearing in the distance and returning to the group, and then his expression became somewhat suspicious. ¡°This guy always returns when we¡¯re just about to finish recuperation.¡±

    Song Li was sitting right next to him.

    Just now, the two of them had been discussing and analyzing Nie Tian. Nie Tian¡¯s return didn¡¯t stop them.

    Song Li slowly rose to her feet.

    Having changed into short battle garments, she looked very well-built, like a female leopard. The battle garments emphasized her curves and make her look full of explosive power.

    Shen Wei, who was still sitting on the ground, had his burning gaze fixed on her waist as he said with a fairly calm tone, ¡°Song Li, do you think this Li Tian person has disyed all of his battle prowess in the past few days?¡±

    For some reason, as they marched deeper into the forest, Song Li¡¯s clothing, as well as the impression she gave people, had quietly changed.

    In the beginning, she had been dressed in a long dress, which had given her a quiet and graceful look.

    However, ever since they had decided to march deeper into the forest, she had changed into tight battle garments, which instantly highlighted her covered, hot body.

    Actually, Shen Wei hadn¡¯t known her for long, and he had only considered her as a ratherpetent teammate, nothing more.

    However, as Song Li changed into tight garments, which brought out her perfect curves, Shen Wei couldn¡¯t help but be interested.

    During the past few days, he had sought Song Li out to talk to her from time to time. When he had distributed the spoils, he had firstly distributed the parts that she had set her mind on to her.

    ¡°No.¡± Song Li said in a soft voice. ¡°The way I see it, every time we fought, Li Tian didn¡¯t go all out.¡±

    Shen Wei¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly as he said, ¡°There¡¯s something more to this Li Tian person. He showed up out of nowhere and demanded to join us. Do you think he has ulterior motives? We both know that the spirit beast blood and meat he demanded is of absolutely no value. Can it be that his demand for spirit beast blood and meat is only a disguise?¡±

    Song Li pursed her lips into a smile as a taunting look appeared in her bright eyes. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to worry about. No matter how resourceful he is, he¡¯s only at the early Heaven stage. Are you afraid that we can¡¯t take him if he turns on us?¡±

    After sensing Song Li¡¯s teasing tone, Shen Wei let out a snort and said, ¡°Of course I¡¯m not afraid! I¡¯m saying that he may not be alone.¡±

    ¡°Let me go and find out his real intentions,¡± Song Li said softly.

    Then, with a faint smile on her lips, she swayed her waist as she slowly stepped towards Nie Tian.

    Shen Wei swallowed his saliva as he watched her slightly exaggerated movement from behind, cursing in his heart, ¡°Slut!¡±

    Song Li paced her way to Nie Tian¡¯s side and asked with a smile on her face, ¡°You¡¯ve traveled and hunted with us for a few days now. How do you feel? Have you found something you don¡¯t like? If there¡¯s anything you¡¯re not happy with regarding our cooperation, you can tell me. I¡¯ll talk to Shen Wei.¡±

    At that moment, the other three middle Heaven stage cultivators were still recuperating and adjusting themselves with their eyes closed.

    Only Shen Wei was looking at them from afar, sitting with his back against the tree.

    Nie Tian was somewhat puzzled to see Song Li walk towards him, twisting her bottom and turning her waist.

    Song Li had a rather beautiful face. She had worn a long dress before, which had concealed her alluring body. Furthermore, she had pretended to be quiet and understanding, which had also deducted from her charm.

    However, now that she hadpletely overturned her previous look and manner, she had be much more attractive.

    The way Shen Wei looked at her testified to this; it was almost as if he couldn¡¯t wait to eat her up.

    The other three middle Heaven stage cultivators also awoke from their cultivation and began to quietly discuss her, each of their eyes filled with burning desire.

    Ever since Lu Yan had left, as the only female member on the team, Song Li seemed to have turned on her charm.

    It was just that, at this moment, she seemed to have shifted her target from Shen Wei to Nie Tian.

    Seeing her like this, not only was Nie Tian not thrilled, but he became even more alert.

    He had long since had the feeling that she had ulterior motives for talking Shen Wei and the others into exploring deeper parts of the forest.

    ¡°No, everything is fine.¡± Nie Tian smiled and said with a in tone. ¡°Everybody takes what they need. It¡¯s been rather pleasant working with you all. I only wish our journey ahead can be just as pleasant. I hope we won¡¯t have differences and jeopardize our cooperation when we encounter fourth grade spirit beasts.¡±

    ¡°How can that be?¡± Song Li said with a charming smile. Then she sat down right next to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯m really curious as to how you got the Blood Skull to give you a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion. Do you care to share the story?¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t, sorry.¡±

    ¡°Stingy...¡± Song Li pursed her lips, but she still had a broad smile on her face. ¡°Alright then. Don¡¯t tell me if you don¡¯t want to. I¡¯vee to tell you that, from now on, we¡¯re officially deep into the forest, and we can encounter fourth grade spirit beasts at any moment now. Therefore, don¡¯t expect that our battles will go as smoothly as before.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°One more thing,¡± Song Li hesitated for a moment before she lowered her voice. ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t know it, since you don¡¯te here very often. Other than fourth grade spirit beasts, we might also encounter Hunters here, people who usually lurk outside of Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned.¡±

    ¡°Hunters?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Are you talking about people who make a living by killing explorers and taking their valuables?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Song Li said with a serious face.

 Chapter 285: Internal Strife

    A Hunter was a special term those who lived in the Realm of Split Void used to refer to a notorious group of people.

    They usually lurked outside Shatter City, Ash City and the Land of the Abandoned year-round. Sometimes they also roamed about in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, ambushing Qi warriors on exploration trips.

    Only members of the Blood Skull, Wild Fire, Dark Moon, and their guest elders had the privilege to use their teleportation portals to travel to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. All others would have to travel long distances on foot to get here and face the threat of Hunters.

    Hunters were also divided into different groups and had their own territories. They would never show mercy to those who dared to explore the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    The only meaning of their existence was to rob adventurers of their gains in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and kill them.

    Every Qi warrior who wasn¡¯t with the three major forces would have to go through them if they wished to return to their cities.

    Many Qi warriors were very lucky and gained good fortunes in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    However, they weren¡¯t as lucky on their way back to their cities. A good proportion of them had all their gains reaped by Hunters, along with their precious lives.

    After learning from Song Li that they could also encounter Hunters in deeper parts of the forest, Nie Tian was somewhat shocked.

    Since he had only hunted at the outer edge of the dense forest, he had never realized that there might be Hunters in the heart of the forest.

    At that time, he remembered that, before he hade to this location, Pei Qiqi had warned him that he shouldn¡¯t go on a suicide mission by exploring deep into the forest.

    Perhaps Pei Qiqi had known that there might be Hunters here.

    ¡°Are the Hunters also after high grade spirit beasts in the depths of the forest?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Not entirely,¡± Song Li said with a grim expression on her face. ¡°They do hunt spirit beasts, but it¡¯s not their primary goal. Their primary targets are adventurers like you and me, who havee to hunt spirit beasts and trade the valuable parts for spirit stones.

    ¡°In fact, the Hunters know this dense forest much better than us. They know which parts of the forest the powerful spirit beasts live and forage in. Once they make a move on them, they usually have very good chance of seeding.

    ¡°On the other hand, since we don¡¯t get to spend as much time here as they do, we¡¯re very disadvantaged in this aspect.

    ¡°There have been many asions where exploration teams encountered two or even three fourth grade spirit beasts at the same time. Once this kind of situation happens, the whole exploration team will usually be annihted.

    ¡°Even if there are any survivors, they will fall prey to Hunters.

    ¡°However, most Hunters will take advantage of their familiarity with the forest and steer clear of powerful spirit beasts. They preserve their strength and find opportunities to swamp teams like ours.

    ¡°Our way ahead won¡¯t continue to be peaceful. Not only will we have to be on guard against powerful spirit beasts, but we will also need to look out for Hunters at all times.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for telling me this,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Song Li put on a charming smile and said, ¡°You¡¯re wee. Now that we¡¯re on the same team, it¡¯s only right that we share information. I¡¯m only telling you about the Hunters so that you can be prepared and stay on guard against them.¡±

    At that moment, the other three cultivators on their team rose to their feet.

    ¡°We¡¯re ready to go,¡± A man named Yin Tuo said loudly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s head out!¡± Shen Wei called out.

    He strode to Nie Tian and Song Li¡¯s side, nced at Nie Tian out of the corner of his eyes, and said to Nie Tian with an unpleasant tone, ¡°All our previous battles are nothingpared to what awaits. I want you to prepare yourself for the real battles ahead.¡±

    Ever since Song Li had started flirting with him, Shen Wei¡¯s heart had been itching towards her. He was already bent on taking her flower after their trip to this dense forest was over. In his eyes, she was like a piece of meat for his exclusive consumption.

    Therefore, the fact that she was so warm towards Nie Tian made him very unhappy, and the way he treated Nie Tian began to change.

    However, since Nie Tian didn¡¯t do anything technically and he was a guest elder of the Blood Skull, he could only endure and remain calm before things between Nie Tian and Song Li exceeded what was proper.

    After a brief adjustment, the six of them once again headed out towards the heart of the dense forest.

    More vignt than before, Nie Tian formed all seven Heaven Eyes and spread them all around his group, keeping a close watch on everything in their vicinity.

    Before his conversation with Song Li, he had only used four Heaven Eyes.

    After all, it required a wisp of soul power from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul to form a Heaven Eye, and his soul power was very precious and hard to recover.

    That was why he had intentionally reserved his soul power before facing real danger.

    However, now that they were marching closer towards the heart of the forest and they might encounter powerful spirit beasts at any moment, he couldn¡¯t afford to reserve his strength any longer, and released the seven Heaven Eyes together.

    A hour passed...

    One of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes caught sight of three Qi warriors, who he had seen before at the outer edge of the forest.

    It was from the three of them that Nie Tian had learned about the newest situation regarding the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon, and the fact that Li Langfeng had been looking for him everywhere.

    He had never expected to see the three of them here.

    It seemed that they had just killed a fourth grade Blood Eye Crocodile. Immersed in excitement, they were cutting its blood-colored eyeballs and sharp teeth out of its head and peeling off its tough skin.

    They were all covered in blood and looked rather bedraggled. Apparently, they had just gone through a fierce battle.

    Seeing this, a meaningful expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he said to his group, ¡°I smell a faint bloody auraing from that direction.¡± He stretched his arm and pointed in the direction of the three explorers.

    ¡°Bloody aura?¡± Shen Wei¡¯s nose red as he took a sniff of the air, but he didn¡¯t smell anything. With a strange look in his eyes, he asked, ¡°Are you sure you are not mistaken?

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a keen sense of smell,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Shen Wei nodded and said. ¡°Hey everyone, let¡¯s take a look over there. Watch out, and I hope we can gain something.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone picked up their pace.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Shen Wei led their group close enough to the other group that he was also able to sense a distinct bloody aura.

    Also at that moment, he rapidly made the judgment that they could easily take the other group.

    With that thought in mind, Shen Wei immediately grew spirited.

    SHEW!

    He and Song Li dashed towards the other group at a speed that was faster than anyone else, and were the first ones to arrived on the scene.

    ¡°Hahaha! We¡¯ve hit gold!¡±

    The moment Shen Wei arrived and saw the condition the other group was in, he grinned.

    Nie Tian and the others arrived shortly after them, and they also caught sight of the dead Blood Eye Crocodile and the three Heaven stage Qi warriors standing around it.

    Amongst the three, one was at thete Heaven stage and two were at the middle Heaven stage.

    Even if the three of them were at their peak state, their strength wouldn¡¯t have beenparable to Shen Wei¡¯s group, much less considering that they had just gone through a bloody fight.

    ¡°Where did youe from?¡± Shen Wei asked, holding his head high.

    ¡°Ash City,¡± one of the three answered.

    ¡°Ash City, good.¡± After hearing the man¡¯s answer, Shen Wei seemed relieved as he waved his hand and said nonchntly, ¡°The Blood Eye Crocodile is ours now. As for the three of you, you can each leave one thousand spirit stones, and then you are free to go. Don¡¯t let me see you again.¡±

    The reason he didn¡¯t attack them immediately was that he could tell that the three of them hadn¡¯t lost all of their battle prowess, and one of them was at thete Heaven stage, the same as him.

    Shen Wei made a rough assessment in his heart and concluded that, with their strength, they would be able to take the other group in battle, but they would also consume a considerable amount of energy themselves.

    The area they were standing in was much more dangerous than the outer edge of the forest. Not only could they encounter high grade spirit beasts at any moment, but they might also be ambushed by Hunters.

    Therefore, Shen Wei didn¡¯t want to spend too much energy on the other group. For that reason, he just demanded that they leave their spoils and hand over some spirit stones before letting them go.

    With long faces, the three of them secretly med their bad luck.

    Since they had the courage toe to the mountain range, they were familiar with the cruel rules. The leader of the three took out three thousand spirit stones from his bracelet of holding and ced them on the ground without uttering a word. Then, he rapidly turned around and left with his two friends.

    ¡°Smart choice.¡± After the three of them left, Shen Wei stepped forward and stored the three thousand spirit stones in his own bracelet of holding.

    ¡°Big Brother Shen, shouldn¡¯t we all have a share of the spoils?¡± Yin Tuo asked with a frown.

    The corner of Shen Wei¡¯s mouth rose as he said with an somewhat indifferent tone, ¡°You? We didn¡¯t fight them in battle, and you didn¡¯t contribute anything, so these spirit stones are not yours to share. They left because they feared me and Song Li. You don¡¯t think that it was you who scared them off, do you?¡±

    Unpleasant expressions could be seen on the faces of Yin Tuo and the other two.

    ¡°Then where¡¯s my share?¡± Song Li asked with a smile.

    Shen Wei chuckled and answered, ¡°I¡¯ll give you your share when we recuperate tonight.¡±

    Song Li nodded and said, ¡°Alright."

    Seeing that Yin Tuo and the other two looked somewhat dissatisfied, Shen Wei added with aforting tone, ¡°Alright, alright, Song Li and I will each take one eye of the Blood Eye Crocodile. You three and Li Tian can have the rest of it.¡±

    ¡°The only good parts on a Blood Eye Crocodile are its eyes.¡± Yin Tuo mumbled. ¡°All the rest are next to worthless.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you did anything.¡± Shen Wei said, his face filled with displeasure. ¡°I think it¡¯s more than reasonable to let you have that that much.¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian jumped in and said, ¡°I¡¯ll just take the meat and blood. You¡¯re wee to have its skin and teeth.¡±

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, Yin Tuo¡¯s indignation was slightly eased, and he stopped arguing with Shen Wei.

    However, from the expressions on his and the other two¡¯s faces, Nie Tian could tell that a grudge towards Shen Wei had already been formed in their hearts.

    Yin Tuo mumbled, ¡°Sure, we didn¡¯t do much to contribute, but we¡¯re only here because of Li Tian¡¯s directions. At least Li Tian should have a share of the spirit stones...¡±

    He defended Nie Tian against the injustice.

    However, Shen Wei turned a deaf ear to hisments and stepped towards Song Li with a broad smile on his face, after which he helped Song Li gouge out the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s eyes.

 Chapter 286: The Prey

    As Shen Wei and Song Li stepped forward to cut out the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s eyes, Yin Tuo whispered to himself, standing where he was, ¡°He really knows which parts to take.¡±

    The most valuable parts on a fourth grade Blood Eye Crocodile were its blood-colored eyes, which could be used to forge high grade spiritual tools.

    If they traded the set of eyes in Shatter City, they could get at least 4,000 spirit stones in return.

    Meanwhile, the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s skin, bones, and teeth together were worth no more than 1,000 spirit stones.

    Furthermore, Shen Wei had also decided for himself and taken the 3,000 spirit stones the other group had coughed up.

    From Yin Tuo¡¯s point of view, Shen Wei¡¯s distribution was very unfair.

    Yin Tuo whispered to the other two,ining that Shen Wei only wanted to y up to Song Li, and hadpletely ignored their feelings.

    However, after all was said and done, Shen Wei was at thete Heaven stage, and was the leader of their team; despite their discontent towards him, they forced themselves to bear the injustice and didn¡¯t confront Shen Wei.

    With an expressionless face, Nie Tian stood beside the three of them and didn¡¯t utter a word.

    To him, as long as he could get the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s meat and blood, his interests were secured.

    In fact, he didn¡¯t have a problem with Shen Wei taking the 3,000 spirit stones.

    He had already umted enough spirit stones by killing arge number of Dark Moon members. The valuables he had obtained from their bracelets of holding could be traded for even more spirit stones.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t attach much importance to how Shen Wei distributed the spirit stones.

    The only thing he valued were the fourth grade spirit beast¡¯s meat and blood, which he could use to help his green aura transform and advance to the next level.

    Soon, Shen Wei and Song Li took away the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s eyes and rose up, their faces filled with smiles.

    ¡°All the rest is yours to take.¡± Shen Wei assumed the tone as if he was being very generous.

    Yin Tuo and the other two didn¡¯t say anything. They walked over and stripped away the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s skin, bones, and teeth, leaving nothing but the flesh and blood to Nie Tian.

    With a good mood, Nie Tian tapped a few barrels of the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s blood and then carved its gigantic body into pieces.

    By the time he finished and stockpiled everything in his bracelet of holding, Shen Wei urged everyone to get moving again.

    It was at that very moment that the tip of one of Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows rose slightly.

    He had been observing the movements of the three explorers they had set free via one of his Heaven Eyes, in case they might take up actions against them.

    Originally, he had been able to sense their life auras moving further and further away, and it seemed that they didn¡¯t n on retaliating.

    However, at this moment, Nie Tian discovered that the fluctuations of their life auras had sudden disappeared.

    They disappeared so abruptly that it seemed unnatural.

    Nie Tian gathered his attention and tried to gain a better view of the situation over there via that Heaven Eye of his.

    Momentster, he sensed one strong life aura at the location where the three explorers had been.

    However, when hemanded his Heaven Eye to fly closer to get a clearer view, he discovered that it would exceed his range of control.

    What he was certain of was that the life aura was so strong that it didn¡¯t seem to belong to a Heaven stage Qi warrior.

    ¡°Greater Heaven stage!¡± The notion shocked Nie Tian as he secretly recalled that Heaven Eye.

    He spected that the three explorers must have encountered and died at the hands of a Greater Heaven stage expert on their way out of the forest.

    That was the only rational exnation for the sudden extinction of their life auras.

    After drawing such a conclusion, Nie Tian immediately had a feeling that the man who had killed the three explorers was probably one of the Hunters that Song Li had told him about.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go that way.¡± The direction Shen Wei pointed out was none other than the one Nie Tian had spected a Hunter was active in.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s face didn¡¯t change a bit, his mind flickered as he thought to himself, ¡°Shen Wei is not aware of the situation over there, is he?¡±

    Song Li smiled as she said to Shen Wei with a teasing, soft voice, ¡°Let¡¯s not go there. You really have a bad memory. That¡¯s the direction those three men fled in. They must have explored this region before we got here. Considering their condition, the direction they picked must be secure, and no spirit beast activity was found, so that they could find a location to recuperate.¡±

    By saying those words, Song Li meant that there probably weren¡¯t any spirit beasts in that direction.

    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re right. How forgetful of me!¡± Shen Wei smiled. ¡°Well, where do you think we should go?¡±

    Song Li pointed in the opposite direction. ¡°Let¡¯s go that way.¡±

    ¡°Good, then that¡¯s where we¡¯ll go.¡± Shen Wei immediately agreed.

    Seeing that Nie Tian, Yin Tuo, and the other two didn¡¯t object, Shen Wei led the team as they headed out again.

    Marching with the team, Nie Tian secretly let out a sigh of relief. After all, he didn¡¯t want to encounter a Greater Heaven stage Hunter either.

    If Song Li hadn¡¯t said anything, he probably would have. Otherwise, Shen Wei would have led the team into that Greater Heaven stage Hunter¡¯s ambush.

    However, he knew it in his heart that if it had been him who had made the proposition to Shen Wei instead of Song Li, Shen Wei probably wouldn¡¯t have agreed outright like he had.

    It was even possible that, after Nie Tian had advised him against it, he would have led his team there anyways, even knowing that it was a fiery pit.

    From the way Shen Wei had looked at him during the past couple of days, Nie Tian suspected that something like this could really happen.

    Nie Tian walked after Shen Wei and Song Li, who were walking side by side, talking and joking. His mind wondered, ¡°This Song Li woman is nothing but a troublemaker. If she hadn¡¯t approached me, Shen Wei wouldn¡¯t treat me like this. Did she do it out of good intentions, or did she intentionally cause alienation between me and Shen Wei?¡±

    The tightly-dressed Song Li, looked at from behind, was extremely curvaceous. As she swayed her waist from side to side, her full bottom trembled slightly, making her body almost irresistible.

    As she talked to Shen Wei, smiling, she asionally turned her head back to remind Nie Tian and the others to be careful, as if she was afraid that they would feel left out.

    Then, Nie Tian noticed that although Yin Tuo and the other two were rather discontent with Shen Wei, they were all quite warm towards Song Li.

    Every time she turned her head back to chat with Shen Wei with a smile on her face, Yin Tuo and the other two couldn¡¯t remove their gazes from her slender waist and full bottom. Apparently, they were all very interested in this increasingly flirtatious woman.

    ¡°Women are dangerous.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°If this team ever has major differences or breaks up, it will be all because of this woman.¡±

    About fifteen minutester, one of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes caught sight of a Golden Stone Rhino.

    The fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino was covered in wounds and chewing the flesh from a dead Qi warrior on the ground.

    The Qi warrior must havee to the dense forest to hunt powerful spirit beasts by himself.

    However, for some reason, he had failed, and became food for the Golden Stone Rhino instead.

    Immediately after seeing this via his Heaven Eye, Nie Tian raised his guard.

    This time, he didn¡¯t say anything to Shen Wei, as he was confident that, considering their strength, the six of them would be able to overtake and ughter the Golden Stone Rhino if there were no mishaps.

    Momentster, when they were close enough to the Golden Stone Rhino, Shen Wei looked rather excited as he blurted, ¡°Bloody aura! I¡¯ve sensed a bloody aura!¡± Then, he bragged to Nie Tian, ¡°Do you smell it?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    Disdain could be seen on Shen Wei¡¯s face as he said, ¡°It seems that your keen sense of smell isn¡¯t so keen after all.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I guess ites and goes.¡± Nie Tian chimed in.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look!¡± With those words, Shen Wei was the first to speed off.

    Within a short time, the group of six arrived at the location of the Golden Stone Rhino.

    By the time they arrived, the fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino had already devoured the Qi warrior¡¯s whole body, and it was puffing and dusting off its hooves as it prepared to leave.

    The sudden appearance of Nie Tian¡¯s group took it by surprise.

    A fierce, bloodthirsty look instantly appeared in its wide eyes as it stared at Nie Tian and his group, as if it was assessing if it could take the six of them in battle.

    Golden Stone Rhinos were amon breed of spirit beasts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They were usually grumpy, and would attack anyone in their view, unless it sensed a great threat.

    The same went for this Golden Stone Rhino.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    After merely a moment of hesitation, the fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino charged madly towards Shen Wei, who was standing at the forefront of the group, the razor-sharp horn jutting out from its snout emanating a cold light.

    Overjoyed, Shen Wei eximed, ¡°Great! Let¡¯s do this! After we kill this Golden Stone Rhino, I¡¯ll only take its horn and leave the rest to you!¡±

    He seemed rather psyched.

    The only reason he hade to the Void Illusion Mountain Range was that he had set his mind on a spiritual tool in Shatter City that agreed with him perfectly, and he needed enough spirit stones to purchase it.

    ording to his assessment, he would have to spend a much longer time in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in order to gather the valuables he needed to trade for enough spirit stones.

    However, he found that his luck was unexpectedly good. He had already obtained 3,000 spirit stones and a Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s eye from the other group.

    If he could add this Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s horn to his possession, he would have gathered enough valuables and spirit stones, and he could immediately return to Shatter City, where he could purchase the spiritual tool.

    ¡°The rhino¡¯s horn is the most valuable part of it.¡± Yin Tuo murmured.

    Shen Wei heard him and shot a cold nce at him, asking, ¡°Do you have a problem with that?¡±

    Yin Tuo shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Shen Wei let out a snort and took the initiative to charge towards the Golden Stone Rhino while shouting, ¡°Song Li! You attack its front and I¡¯ll attack its sides! The others fan out and attack its abdomen!¡±

    The Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s weaknesses were its neck and abdomen.

    Shen Wei had explored the Void Illusion Mountain Range for years and had fought Golden Stone Rhinos more than once, so he had a full understanding of their weaknesses.

    One after another, numerous arm-length silver daggers flew out of Shen Wei¡¯s bracelet of holding and formed a web of des as they whizzed towards the Golden Stone Rhino.

    Song Li gave a soft chuckle and also bolted forward, her robust leopard-like physique piercing towards the Golden Stone Rhino like a sharpnce.

    As she did, a green awl whizzed out of her sleeve, its sharp tip sputtering frosty light.

    The Golden Stone Rhino, however, seemed to have sensed the threat, and immediately lowered itself as it charged madly towards Shen Wei and Song Li.

 Chapter 287: Ill Intentions

    Now that the Golden Stone Rhino had lowered itself, its belly almost grazed the ground as it charged forward, providing its vulnerable abdomen with better protection.

    CLANG! CLANG!

    The web of daggers flew into the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s back, giving rise to metallic shing sounds, as well as sputtering sparks.

    As sharp as Shen Wei¡¯s daggers were, they weren¡¯t sharp enough to create any wounds on the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s back.

    A Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s back was its toughest part, which was golden-colored and as hard as a steel tter.

    Its back could ward off attacks from most weapons. Normally speaking, people couldn¡¯t cut its back open with a sharp tool unless it was a extremely special spiritual tool.

    FIZZ!

    A beam of golden light suddenly shot out from the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s horn, seemingly extending the horn two whole meters.

    The beam of golden light rapidly pierced towards Song Li.

    Song Li¡¯s expression remained calm as she assumed a firm grasp of her green awl and thrust it towards the beam of golden light.

    BOOM!

    A violent sh broke out from the contact point of the beam of golden light and green awl.

    Song Li withdrew her awl as she took advantage of the impact to fly over the Golden Stone Rhino,nding lightly behind it like a feather.

    ROOOOOOAR!

    The Golden Stone Rhino let out angry roars as if it was pained by the stab. Immediately afterward, it turned around to chase after Song Li.

    As it turned its gigantic body, Shen Wei¡¯s web of daggers suddenly spread out.

    Like a shoal of fish, the silver daggers swiftly pierced towards the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s exposed abdomen.

    ¡°What are you lot waiting for?!¡± Shen Wei thundered.

    Upon hearing his angry roar, Yin Tuo, Nie Tian, and the other two fanned out to nk the Golden Stone Rhino. Each of them brought out their spiritual tools and cast secret magics to attack both sides of the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s abdomen.

    Unlike Yin Tuo and the others, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a spiritual tool to use, so he just operated the me Spirit Incantation to attack the Golden Stone Rhino with beams of fiery light.

    On the other hand, Yin Tuo and the other three were brandishing spiritual tools that matched their respective cultivation attributes.

    Although the spiritual tools they used were by no means exceptional, they were able to infuse their sword,nce, and pearl with their own spiritual auras, which were blue, gold, and brown. After the infusion, their tools seemed strengthened by the water-attributed, gold-attributed, and earth-attributed spiritual power.

    As they attacked the Golden Stone Rhino from different directions, Nie Tian only used the me Spirit Incantation, and didn¡¯t go all out.

    While condensing more beams of fiery light, he keep a close watch on everything happening on the battlefield.

    Soon, he noticed that Song Li was extraordinary.

    She and Shen Wei were the main forces of their battle against the Golden Stone Rhino. However, Shen Wei had been attacking from a distance away using his web of daggers. Not once did he dare to fight the Golden Stone Rhino in close quarters.

    Meanwhile, as a woman, Song Li repeatedly attacked the Golden Stone Rhino head-on using her green awl.

    Every time, she would charge straight into the iing Golden Stone Rhino and meet the beam of golden light on its snout head-on with her green awl. Upon impact, she would float up into the air, slide over the enraged Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s back, andnd lightly behind it, where she would gesture to provoke it again.

    As long as it turned around, it wouldn¡¯t be able to keep its abdomen close to the ground.

    Whenever it did, Shen Wei¡¯s web of daggers would swoop down from midair and rain on the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s neck and abdomen, along with attacks from Yin Tuo, Nie Tian, and the other two.

    However, the Golden Stone Rhino had already gone berserk and repeatedly turned around to lunge towards Song Li. Therefore, more and more wounds were cut open on its abdomen.

    Blood dripped down its wounded abdomen and gradually painted the ground red.

    Under the stabbing pain, the Golden Stone Rhino grew increasingly frenzied; its eyes grew bloodshot as it pursued Song Li unrelentingly, as if Song Li was the the only thing in its eyes now.

    Song Li chuckled as her curvaceous leopard-like body flew swiftly over the rhino¡¯s head over and over, as if she was deliberately provoking it.

    The strength of this fourth grade spirit beast could match that of an early Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior. In its current condition, if it fought Song Li one on one, it would probably be a draw.

    However, Song Li had Shen Wei, Yin Tuo, Nie Tian, and others on her side. The five of them kept attacking the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s vulnerable parts as Song Li drew its attention.

    After all, the Golden Stone Rhino hadn¡¯t developed a high intelligence, so it couldn¡¯t control its temper.

    It was precisely because it was bent on biting Song Li to death that Nie Tian and the others had the opportunity to wound it.

    Nie Tian shook his head and said to himself, ¡°A fourth grade spirit beast is still a beast, and doesn¡¯t have enough intelligence to deal with a band of human Qi warriors.¡±

    From what he could tell, as long as they kept attacking the Golden Stone Rhino like this, more wounds would be cut open in its abdomen, and it would soon die from blood loss and exhaustion.

    Wrath had already seized the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s mind as it continued to chase after the swift Song Li while ignoring all the others.

    As a result, not only could it not get Song Li, but it also continued to sustain more injuries, which had already begun to affect the speed at which it moved.

    As it continued to lose blood, it could only be slower and slower.

    If it came down to that, its death would be imminent.

    A pitiful expression stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°What a waste... All that blood is being wasted, along with the copious amount of flesh power in it...¡±

    BANG!

    Song Li¡¯s awl once again met the long beam of golden light on the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s snout. However, this time, she let out a muffled groan as her iparably swift body failed to fly over the Golden Stone Rhino. ¡°I¡¯ve consumed too much spiritual power. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to leave it to you guys!¡±

    Song Li¡¯s face turned pale, as it seemed that she truly couldn¡¯t fight anymore. She immediately jumped away from the Golden Stone Rhino and ran towards Shen Wei, where she could seek shelter.

    ¡°No problem!¡± Shen Wei shouted. ¡°You¡¯ve done enough. We¡¯ll protect you from now on!¡±

    The Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s target had always been Song Li alone. The moment it saw Song Li run towards Shen Wei, it turned around and chased after her.

    ¡°Thank you, Big Brother Shen,¡± Song Li said in a soft, feminine voice.

    At that moment, with beads of sweat rolling down her cheek, she seemed as if she had overexerted her power and she was on the verge of copsing.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it!¡± Shen Weiughed out loud as he drew a long saber and shed it down on the iing Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s beam of golden light.

    Upon the strong impact, Shen Wei also let out a muffled groan. His expression flickered slightly as he hastily jumped backwards.

    However, the Golden Stone Rhino didn¡¯t intend to give up.

    At that moment, Song Li left from behind Shen Wei and ran towards Yin Tuo, as if she wanted to give Shen Wei some time to recover.

    Upon seeing this, Yin Tuo grasped his sword tightly as he summoned all of his strength. When the Golden Stone Rhino was close enough, he swung his sword toward its beam of golden light at full force.

    BANG!

    Yin Tuo¡¯s sword exploded into shreds upon contact, and his body was thrown into the air like a kite with its string cut.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Panic filled Song Li¡¯s face as she staggered backwards, as if she hadn¡¯t expected that Yin Tuo was so weak that he couldn¡¯t withstand a single blow.

    Then, she rapidly ran past Yin Tuo, who just crashed heavily onto the ground, and ran towards her next target.

    Having its eyes fixed on Song Li, the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s huge hoof stomped on Yin Tuo¡¯s chest as it madly chased after her.

    CRUNCH!

    Yin Tuo¡¯s ribs were immediately shattered. With blood spurting out of his mouth like red arrows, he soon stopped breathing.

    The other two middle Heaven stage cultivators¡¯ eyes grew wide and bloodshot as they screamed, ¡°Yin Tuo!¡±

    Hearing their voices, Song Li seemed to have found a new target as she rapidly ran towards one of them, shouting, ¡°It won¡¯t be able to hold on much longer. You just need to stall it for a short while, and it¡¯ll be dead!¡±

    At that moment, Shen Wei seemed to have recovered from the previous impact, andmanded his web of daggers to attack the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s abdomen as it chased after Song Li.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian shot out beams of fire and attacked the Golden Stone Rhino from the other side.

    At the same time, Nie Tian shot an ice-cold gaze towards Song Li, a strange smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    His Heaven Eyes contained soul power, and could easily sense the fluctuations of spiritual energy inside of Song Li. The woman hadn¡¯t consumed much of her spiritual power at all.

    Rather, she was still filled with vigorous spiritual power, and her battle prowess hadn¡¯t declined at all!

    The only reason she had lied was so that she could seek protection from Shen Wei, Yin Tuo, and the others.

    It was like she had nned Yin Tuo¡¯s death!

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The Golden Stone Rhino, which had sustained another series of attacks to its abdomen, once again charged madly towards Song Li.

    Even the beam of golden light that shot out of its sharp horn became slightly dimmer.

    However, the members of Nie Tian¡¯s team, behind whom Song Li was now shrinking, had also consumed a significant amount of strength during this battle.

    Seeing that the Golden Stone Rhino was charging towards him, the man could only summon all of his strength to meet the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s strike.

    BANG!

    Thence in his hand exploded into pieces, and he was sent flying backwards by the impact. In even worse shape than Yin Tuo, he died before his body hit the ground.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!" Song Li apologized to the man¡¯s corpse. However, she didn¡¯t stop for a second, and rushed towards her next target.

    This time, she knew the man was dead, and thus didn¡¯t intentionally run past his corpse and lead the Golden Stone Rhino to stomp on him.

    ZZZZZLA!

    When the Golden Stone Rhino made another turn, Shen Weimanded his daggers to cut open arge gash in the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s abdomen.

    It howled madly as its intestines could even be seen through the gash.

    However, even though it was dying, it was still bent on killing Song Li, instead of Shen Wei, who had just cut it.

    ¡°Hurry! Strike it another time and it will die!¡± Song Li inspired the third man¡¯s fighting spirit with a loud voice as she shrank behind him.

    The man held a pearl in his hand. His face was covered in beads of sweat, and his eyes shone with the light of fear.

    He also saw that the Golden Stone Rhino was dying, so he assumed a firm grip on his pearl and smashed it onto the beam of golden light on the rhino¡¯s horn, assuming that with any luck he might be able to kill it.

    However, the faint golden light on the rhino¡¯s horn sudden began to shine brightly, as if its might had be strengthened.

    Apparently, the Golden Stone Rhino had unearthed all of its potential, knowing that it was dying.

    BANG!

    Upon contact, the man¡¯s pearl exploded along with his arm.

    Half of his body was mangled badly by the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s reckless strike, and the man died a more horrible death than the previous two.

    Song Li didn¡¯t even spare the man a nce, but rather ran towards Nie Tian like a frightened bird, her face filled with fear. ¡°Li Tian! Help! Save me!

    ¡°You just need to stall it for a short while and it will die! You¡¯re stronger than the three of them. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re up to it!¡±

 Chapter 288: Vicious Woman

    Song Li scrambled towards Nie Tian.

    The Golden Stone Rhino madly chased after her. The gash in its abdomen was so deep that its intestines could be seen.

    The beam of golden light extending from its horn began to flicker; it was bright at one moment, but dim the next.

    The fluctuations of its life aura had also be very unstable, as if it could drop to the ground and die any moment now.

    However, Song Li was still its only target. Wherever she ran to, it chased after her.

    Song Li¡¯s alluring figure was the only reflection in the beast¡¯s bloodshot eyes, as if killing her would put its heart at ease.

    ZZZZZLA!

    One of Shen Wei¡¯s dagger whizzed by and created another slit in the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s abdomen.

    It roared so loudly that heaven and earth started to tremble. Even still, it ignored Shen Wei and continued to charge towards Song Li.

    At that moment, Song Li reached Nie Tian¡¯s side and shrank behind him, where she called out with a pitiful tone, ¡°Help me! Li Tian!

    ¡°I¡¯ve spent too much of my strength. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t even run any more. Li Tian, the Golden Stone Rhino is just on the verge of dying. Strike it hard and finish it off!¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The Golden Stone Rhino roared as it got closer, the beam of light on its snout bing dazzlingly bright.

    Along with its mountain-like body, an intense bloody aura rushed directly towards Nie Tian.

    Hiding behind Nie Tian, the pitiful look on Song Li¡¯s face was already gone.

    The look in her eyes was cold and vicious as she secretly stepped backwards.

    It was as if she was afraid that Nie Tian would be knocked flying by the Golden Stone Rhino, and that she would be implicated as it happened.

    After she put ten meters between Nie Tian and herself, she turned around to make a reassuring gesture towards Shen Wei, acent smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s over,¡± she said inwardly.

    A cluster of zing mes was built up around Nie Tian¡¯s clenched right fist. The mes flickered, as if there was more than one type of power within them.

    He thought to himself, ¡°This Rage Punch of mine consists of thirty percent of my strength. It¡¯s probably enough to kill this dying Golden Stone Rhino.¡±

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian had long since seen through the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s poor condition. The beam of golden light on its snout couldn¡¯t stop flickering, like an oilmp that was burning out.

    When the beam of golden light was brightest, Nie Tian jumped backwards and skillfully dodged its first attack.

    As soon as the light dimmed, Nie Tian lunged forward at lightning speed and threw his punch towards the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s head. Like a burning meteor, Nie Tian¡¯s fist met the beam of golden light on the beast¡¯s snout.

    Countless sparks sputtered in every direction as the gigantic Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s dashing momentum was instantly stopped!

    It was like a charging war chariot crashing into a mountain made of steel. Not only was it stopped, but it even trudged several steps backwards.

    As it did, the deep gashes in its abdomen burst open, and its internal organs poured out along with its blood.

    BOOM!

    Finally, the huge Golden Stone Rhino copsed to the ground.

    As it took itsst few breaths, blood flowed out of its foul-smelling mouth like a river.

    Just like the light its horn had dimmed, the light in its eyes gradually faded away.

    Song Li, who had intentionally distanced herself from Nie Tian, frowned as she looked deeply at Nie Tian from behind, suspicion filling her eyes.

    Nie Tian had struck the Golden Stone Rhino right when the light of its horn was the dimmest. The timing was perfect.

    Song Li knew very well that when the light was the dimmest, the Golden Stone Rhino was the weakest.

    Therefore, she couldn¡¯t be sure whether it was because the Golden Stone Rhino was too weak to withstand any kind of strike, or the might of Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike was so formidable that it instantly killed the Golden Stone Rhino.

    Whatever the reason was, the result was that Nie Tian was breathing, and the Golden Stone Rhino was not.

    At that moment, Song Li had already hid the coldness in her eyes and filled her face with smiles. She approached Nie Tian like a blossoming flower, saying, ¡°No wonder the Blood Skull made you their guest elder. You¡¯re indeed much better than Yin Tuo and the other two guys. Killing the Golden Stone Rhino with merely one punch! This is simply marvelous!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered,¡± Nie Tian said with a fake smile. ¡°Yin Tuo and those guys fought the Golden Stone Rhino with their lives. I just happened to be there when it was weak and about to die.¡±

    Song Li sighed, regret filling her face. ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I got the three of them killed. If I could¡¯ve hung on for a little longer, they¡¯d still be alive.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± Shen Wei said as he walked up to the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s corpse. He went ahead and cut off its horn without getting consent from anyone. ¡°We were only able to attack its vulnerable parts because you fought the Golden Stone Rhino head-on. If you didn¡¯t attract its attention for such a long time, how could we have killed it?

    ¡°I¡¯ve taken the horn. Song Li, you can have its eyes, skin, and teeth.¡±

    Then, Shen Wei turned to Nie Tian and said with a casual tone, ¡°As we¡¯ve agreed, you¡¯ll have its blood and meat, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered with a smile.

    ¡°Great.¡± Shen Wei nodded as he sighed and changed the subject, ¡°I¡¯ve known Yin Tuo and those guys for years. I¡¯ll take their bracelets of holding and give them back to their kin in Shatter City when we return.¡±

    With these words, he walked to the bodies of Yin Tuo and the two others and stripped them of their bracelets of holding.

    As he did, Nie Tian watched silently with an expressionless face.

    He had observed the team for days before he had demanded to join them. Therefore, he knew that Shen Wei wasn¡¯t that close with them at all.

    Shen Wei merely said it so that he would have an excuse to take their gains during this trip for his own.

    Nie Tian was well aware of what he was doing, but he pretended he didn¡¯t, and let him have his way.

    For one thing, he didn¡¯t attach much importance to those people¡¯s belongings. All he wanted were the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s blood and meat.

    For another, he still needed to figure out the true rtionship between Shen Wei and Song Li. Hence, he had to remain silent to keep observing.

    Shen Wei nced at Nie Tian as he took the three bracelets of holding.

    Seeing that Nie Tian assumed an indifferent attitude, Shen Wei didn¡¯t have any excuse to say anything else to Nie Tian. Then, he hinted at Song Li that she could harvest the rest of the valuable parts of the Golden Stone Rhino.

    Song Li once again sighed over how regretful she was, getting Yin Tuo and those guys killed.

    However, as she said those words, she skillfully cut off the valuable parts of the Golden Stone Rhino. Only after that did she turn to Nie Tian and ask after a moment of hesitation, ¡°Are you sure you just want its meat and blood? You¡¯ve made great contributions, and technically it was you who killed it. I¡¯d be happy to give you some of the stuff if you want any.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No, thank you. I just need its meat and blood.¡±

    ¡°Alright then." Song Li stepped away from the Golden Stone Rhino and stood next to Shen Wei as she said to Nie Tian, ¡°It¡¯s all yours now.¡±

    Under Song Li and Shen Wei¡¯s strange gazes, Nie Tian smiled as he bent down to slice the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat into pieces.

    As he did, he had his back facing the two the entire time, but he kept a close watch on them using three of his Heaven Eyes.

    Shen Wei signaled Song Li with his eyes, but Song Li shook her head and objected to his evil proposal.

    Nie Tianughed coldly in his heart, as he had been waiting for them to give in to the temptation to attack him. Once they made the slightest move, he would immediately form his chaotic maic field.

    However, Shen Wei took Song Li¡¯s advice and didn¡¯t act rashly.

    Nie Tian rose to his feet after putting away the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s flesh and blood in his bracelet of holding. With a casual tone, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve consumed quite some strength, so I¡¯ll find a ce to rest and recover. I¡¯lle back to you when I¡¯m done.¡±

    Without waiting for Song Li and Shen Wei to say anything, Nie Tian walked away.

    He left, but his Heaven Eyes didn¡¯t. They still floated above them, and continued to keep a close watch on every move they made and every word they said.

    Shen Wei¡¯s face grew long as he let out a snort. ¡°Why did you stop me? Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯ve developed feelings for him?¡±

    ¡°How can that be possible?! He¡¯s only a kid.¡± Song Li rolled her eyes at him andughed sarcastically. ¡°I just think the kid is a bit strange. I can¡¯t tell whether the Golden Stone Rhino was that weak, or his punch was that powerful.¡±

    Shen Wei jeered and said, ¡°He¡¯s only at the early Heaven stage. How powerful he can be? He said himself that Yin Tuo and the other two dumbasses wore out the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s strength, and it was holding on to itsst breaths as it charged towards him. He was just lucky to throw thest punch. Don¡¯t tell me that you really think he is that good!¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s a guest elder of the Blood Skull after all. The Blood Skull would never give out a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion for no reason. If that punch of his was really that powerful, I say we¡¯d better not provoke him.¡± Song Li assumed a cautious attitude.

    Shen Wei let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Even if he is that good, he¡¯s still only at early Heaven stage. There¡¯s nothing to fear.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Shen Wei no longer wanted to talk about Nie Tian. He shamelessly rubbed himself on Song Li, saying, ¡°The past few days have been quite stressful. Now that the Golden Stone Rhino is dead, we could use some rxing...¡±

    With these words, Shen Wei flung Song Li down on the ground and climbed on top of her, as if he couldn¡¯t wait any longer.

    The corpses of Yin Tuo and the other two were still yet to be cleaned, but apparently Shen Wei was in no mood to deal with them. He pulled at Song Li¡¯s garments as if he wanted to take her right there, right now.

    ¡°Look how impatient you are... God...¡± Song Li scolded him, but her face was filled withughs. She held thepel of her garment tightly with her hands, as if she was ying hard to get.

    Shen Weiughed broadly. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted you for so long. You can¡¯t get away today!¡±

    At that very moment, Song Li slowly removed one hand from her chest, and her green awl suddenly shot out of her sleeve.

    PUFF!

    In the next moment, the awl pierced into Shen Wei¡¯s neck, and then its sharp tip went out the back of his neck.

    Shen Wei¡¯s eyes were bulging and wide open as he stopped breathing, looking extremely shocked and confused.

    Loathing filled Song Li¡¯s face as she pushed Shen Wei¡¯s corpse away. ¡°You¡¯re no different from Yin Tuo and the other two, dumbass!¡±

    She rose to her feet and spit on the corpse¡¯s face, saying, ¡°How can I allow a piece of garbage like you to touch me?!¡±

    She bent down to pull her awl out of the corpse¡¯s neck. As she did, she maneuvered her wrist, and the head was severed from the body.

    In a location far away, a shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he observed them via his Heaven Eyes as he recovered his strength with spirit stones.

 Chapter 289: Playing a Game

    ¡°A toad lusting after a swan¡¯s flesh!¡± Song Li cursed, looking at Shen Wei¡¯s severed head with disgust filling her face, as if she had put up with Shen Wei for a long time and finally found a vent.

    At that moment, her pretty face was filled with coldness, and not a smidgen of delicate charm could be seen.

    She bent down and took Shen Wei¡¯s bracelet of holding, along with Yin Tuo and the other two¡¯s. Only after that did she smile lightly. ¡°At least my gains on this trip have been pretty good.¡±

    Then, she took out a prismatic Sound Stone, held it close to her mouth, and whispered something into it.

    Afterwards, she sat down and started recuperating with spirit stones.

    What she didn¡¯t know was that Nie Tian had already seen everything she had done via his Heaven Eyes.

    At a location far away, Nie Tian opened his eyes and said with a grim expression, ¡°Song Li!¡±

    He had long since had the feeling that this woman had been hiding something. After all, she had been the one who had urged everyone to march deeper into the dense forest and hunt high grade spirit beasts.

    Lu Yan had been strongly opposed to her proposal, and thus she had been kicked off the team.

    During their most recent battle with the Golden Stone Rhino, Nie Tian had noticed the exchange of nces between her and Shen Wei via his Heaven Eyes. That was when he had first spected that Song Li and Shen Wei had been nning together.

    However, he had never expected that, soon after he had left them, Song Li would kill Shen Wei when he attempted to be intimate with her.

    Shen Wei¡¯s death made Nie Tian realize that even Shen Wei had been used by Song Li, and had been part of her n.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but look back to examine himself. He thought to himself that if it weren¡¯t for his Heaven Eyes, he might have been murdered by the woman without even knowing it.

    With those thoughts, a rush of coldness ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    He realized that even though he was strong enough that he wouldn¡¯t be killed by the Golden Stone Rhino, she would havee up with more evil ideas and eventually get him killed.

    If he possessed strength that matched his own cultivation base, he would have been killed already, just like Yin Tuo and the other two cultivators.

    ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range is truly a dangerous ce where people are especially deadly...!¡±

    With a cold look in his eyes, Nie Tian sprung to his feet and marched towards Song Li¡¯s location.

    The fact that Song Li had remained in that location after killing Shen Wei made it clear that she was recovering her strength and waiting for him to return.

    Nie Tian was curious as to how she would exin Shen Wei¡¯s death.

    Furthermore, he wanted to know if Song Li was waiting to kill him as well, or if she had other ns.

    As he stepped closer, Song Li sensed his footsteps.

    When he was still 1,000 meters away from her, Nie Tian noticed that the tip of one of her eyebrows rose, as if she knew it was him.

    ¡°What? This guy returned so fast this time...¡± Song Li muttered to herself, her face cold and indifferent.

    Apparently, she didn¡¯t feel the need to hide her true colors when no one was around.

    At this moment, she was true to her heart and the real Song Li.

    With a disgusted look in her eyes, she nced at Shen Wei¡¯s headless body before she raised her hand and grasped at the air. In the next moment, a stream of blood flew out of the corpse¡¯s cut-open neck and into her palm, forming a ball of blood.

    With a grim expression, she smeared the blood on her milky white neck, the corner of her mouth, and her full chest.

    She was apparently very ufortable having her clean battle garments and jade-like skin stained by Shen Wei¡¯s blood. Eyebrows knit together, she cursed in a soft voice.

    However, when Nie Tian appeared in her sight, she had already assumed apletely different attitude, like she had be a different person.

    She sat in a pool of blood, a helpless look filling her face. Tears flowed out of the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she shook her head and wept towards Shen Wei¡¯s corpse, ¡°Why? Why did you have to do this? You already had everything. Why did you still not let me off?¡±

    ¡°Ah?!¡± Nie Tian eximed loudly. ¡°Big Brother Shen is dead?!¡±

    Song Li lifted her chin to look at Nie Tian. Looking extremely pitiful, she said, ¡°Soon after you left, he suddenly changed and demanded that I hand over everything I have so that he could go back to Shatter City and purchase the spiritual tool he had set his mind on. I-I handed him my bracelet of holding, but then he... wanted to force himself on me.

    ¡°While I struggled I killed him by ident. I didn¡¯t want this to happen... He forced me!¡±

    Song Li¡¯s tone suddenly grew strong, as if she was losing control of her emotions. She yelled miserably at Nie Tian, ¡°Li Tian, why would Big Brother Shen do this?!! Even though there are only the three of us now, we were still a strong team. We could have kept hunting spirit beasts and gotten what he needed. Why would he do that to me?!!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort and then said with a consoling soft voice, ¡°Shen Wei is such a cold-blooded monster! His death should not be regretted! Sister Song, you shouldn¡¯t be heartbroken for a man like him. He¡¯s not worth it.¡±

    With these words, he walked to Song Li¡¯s side and said, with his face filled with pity, ¡°Alright, alright, without him, we can still go and hunt spirit beasts. The two of us might need to spend more effort. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡± Song Li nodded briefly. ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten to recover my strength, and I was injured when I tangled with Shen Wei. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t even stand by myself now. Can you help me to my feet, Li Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian gnashed his teeth as he reached out to Song Li, saying, ¡°Shen Wei is such a monster in human form!!¡±

    Song Li rose to her feet with Nie Tian¡¯s help. Her body trembled and swayed, as if she truly had difficulty standing.

    All of a sudden, she fell into Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    Nie Tian naturally put his arms around her.

    Song Li¡¯s hands went under Nie Tian¡¯s arms and circled around Nie Tian¡¯s broad back, her whole body pressing tightly against Nie Tian.

    Her chin was ced on Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder as she sobbed, ¡°I didn¡¯t know Shen Wei was that kind of person. He betrayed my trust and respect for him. Not only did he take all my valuables, but he even wanted to...¡±

    With two of them in such a position, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see her face. In fact, as she sobbed and spoke in a tender voice, the pitiful look on her face had already vanished. What had taken its ce was coldness and killing intent.

    However, Nie Tian had long since mped her arms with his own, not giving her arms any room to move.

    Previously, her green awl had shot out of her right sleeve and killed Shen Wei. In light of that, Nie Tian paid extra attention and guarded against that move.

    Nie Tian kept track of the movements of her arms. Whenever she attempted to struggle free, Nie Tian would mp her arms harder, forcing her arms to remain where they were.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian told her not to get angry with a consoling tone, and used his hands to gently stroke her back, as if he was trying to calm her.

    ¡°Sister Song, don¡¯t get angry for a man like him. It¡¯s not worth it.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s tone grew increasingly soft and consoling. ¡°That bastard just wanted your body, but not you as a person. But I...¡±

    With those words, Nie Tian¡¯s hands slowly slid down and reached Song Li¡¯s full, bouncy buttocks. ¡°I liked you the moment I saw you. My feelings for you are real. Seeing you with that bastard made my heart hurt like hell. I can¡¯t wait any longer!¡± It appeared that as Nie Tian¡¯s emotions grew stronger, he groped Song Li¡¯s butt forcefully with hisrge hands.

    It pained her so much that she called out, ¡°Ahh!¡± Her face grew stiff, and the killing intent in her eyes was so intense that she could have an outburst any moment.

    However, whenever she attempted to move her arms, she felt that she was being pressed down by a strong counterforce.

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re hurting me, Li Tian.¡± Even though she was gritting her teeth, and her face looked sullen, her voice was still filled with a maiden¡¯s shyness. ¡°Bad kid, I can¡¯t believe that you¡¯re just like Shen Wei and also hold those kinds of intentions towards me.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t say that!¡± Nie Tian pretended to be angered by her words. He vigorously grabbed her butt again and said, ¡°In all honesty, my feelings for you are real, and I don¡¯t ever want to be separated from you! How can you say that I¡¯m the same as that bastard?!¡±

    His voice was full of emotions, but his eyes were as calm aske water. Meanwhile, his hands kept rubbing Song Li¡¯s round butt without pausing for a moment.

    At that moment, Nie Tian felt that Song Li was attempting to take out her sharp awl. With a vigorous move of his hands, he pressed Song Li towards himself, forcing her body to stick closely to his own.

    ¡°Hmm...¡± Eyes wide, Song Li felt as if her arms had beenpletely locked down by iron vices.

    At this moment, not the slightest room was left between Nie Tian¡¯s chest and Song Li¡¯s ample breasts, which were ttened due to the excessive pressure.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of rity. He rapidly discovered that Song Li¡¯s green awl was still hidden within her right sleeve.

    Therefore, he clenched her right arm with his left arm as he created a certain distance between the two of them.

    Upon seeing this, Song Li hastily masked the cold killing intent in her eyes.

    Since she hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Tian would suddenly make such a move, she almost exposed her true facial expression.

    At that moment, Nie Tian looked down into her eyes. His eyes were filled with deep affection as his breath grew heavier. ¡°Sister Song! Promise me that we¡¯ll be together!¡±

    Song Li looked up at him with a somewhat panicked expression, and said, ¡°I-I¡¯m not ready for this. Let go of me and give me some time to think, will you?¡±

    Her right arm was still tightly mped by Nie Tian, so their faces were still rather close to each other.

    After hearing her evasive answer, Nie Tian blurted loudly, ¡°No! I want your answer right now! I want you to be my woman!¡±

 Chapter 290: Utter Humiliation

    With these words, Nie Tian lifted his freed right hand and reached towards Song Li¡¯s towering breasts, which he groped without any scruples.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t! Let go of me, Li Tian! Give me some time to think!¡± Song Li sounded rattled.

    ¡°No! I want your answer right now!¡± Nie Tian assumed a look as if he was crazy in love.

    Song Li, who had practically been touched all over by Nie Tian, struggled to stop her throbbing killing intent from erupting.

    She thought she would be able to enchant and kill Nie Tian effortlessly, just like she had Shen Wei, Yin Tuo, and the others.

    Never had she expected that she would end up in such a bad situation.

    The reason she had chosen not to store her awl in her bracelet of holding was so that she couldunch the fatal strike when her target had his guard down.

    If she had stored her spiritual tool in her bracelet of holding, when she summoned it, the bracelet of holding would shine with bright light, thus rming her target.

    She had killed numerous people with this method, including Shen Wei, and not once had she missed. All it had taken was one strike.

    She had never expected that the seemingly unimpressive Nie Tian would be so hard to deal with.

    Every time she wanted to withdraw her right hand to use her spiritual tool, she would feel a strong restrictive force from Nie Tian¡¯s arm.

    After a few attempts, Song Li gradually began to suspect that Nie Tian was only acting to be in love with her and was actually ying with her. ¡°This little bastard! Can he be using his affection for me as an excuse to take advantage of me?¡±

    The more Song Li thought about it, the more it made sense to her. Otherwise, why would she be met with such strong resistance every time she tried to move her arm?

    She finally could no longer suppress her rage that had been building up for a quite some time.

    At that moment, Nie Tian, who had been looking down at her since the beginning, immediately noticed the change in her facial expression.

    Song Li slowly moved her unrestrained left hand towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest while subtle spiritual power fluctuations were born inside of her and quietly passed through her meridians to her left hand.

    Seemingly anxious to get an answer from Song Li, Nie Tian shouted again, ¡°Answer me, Sister Song!¡±

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s hand, which he had ced on Song Li¡¯s left breast, suddenly tightened.

    Song Li instantly let out a miserable scream.

    This scream wasn¡¯t acting at all, but a spontaneous reaction from the excruciating pain.

    She felt as if her left breast had been almost crushed by Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    BOOM!

    The cluster of spiritual power on Song Li¡¯s left hand seemed to be suddenly disturbed, and exploded before Song Li¡¯s hand could reach Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    Nie Tian, who was supposed to be the target,ughed wildly as he jumped backwards, putting a significant distance between Song Li and himself.

    Song Li, however, lost control of her spiritual power due to the heart-wrenching pain, and was sent staggering backwards by the explosion. She yelled, ¡°Li Tian! You damn bastard! I¡¯ll break your bones and y you alive! And then I¡¯ll whip your corpse for seven days!¡±

    Song Li, who had broken free from Nie Tian¡¯s restriction, had one hand on her left bosom, which hurt so much that tears rolled down her face. Without the slightest hesitation, she summoned her green awl and bolted towards Nie Tian like she had gone crazy.

    At that moment, she waspletely convinced that Nie Tian had been ying with her the entire time, and humiliated her under the disguise of his love for her.

    Ever since she was a child, she had been good at manipting and tricking others. She had killed numerous men who had drooled over her beauty with simr methods.

    Not once had she ever been insulted like this.

    Separated from her, Nie Tian still looked at her lovingly and said with a frustrated tone, ¡°Sister Song, my love for you is real! Why do you want to kill me?!¡±

    However, in the meantime, Nie Tian had already secretly formed a chaotic maic field around himself and a spiritual energy ball with the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    BOOM!

    The spiritual energy ball left Nie Tian¡¯s hand and exploded in before reaching Song Li.

    Numerous multicolored, bright spots that contained different types of filth and impurities were shot in every direction.

    Song Li charged madly towards Nie Tian like a female tiger, baring her fangs and brandishing her ws.

    However, she soon sensed danger from the colorful bright spots. She immediately came to a stop, gathered her spiritual power, and formed a bright light shield around her alluring physique.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the bright spots rained down from midair and onto her light shield, numerous fiery sparks were created at the contact points.

    Song Li could feel her protective shield being corroded by the spots of impurities. Her face was grim and her eyes were filled with hatred as she yelled, ¡°Li Tian! Enough acting! I¡¯ve already seen through your tricks!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not true! I love you from the bottom of my heart. Yet, you turned me down.¡± Bitterness and sorrow stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Not only do you refuse to ept my love, but you even want to kill me! I can only defend myself.¡±

    With those words, a second spiritual energy ball flew above Song Li¡¯s head and exploded.

    The sputtering bright spots and the aftermath of the explosion continued to deal damage to Song Li¡¯s light shield, making it flicker continuously. Song Li had to infuse it with more spiritual power to prevent it from exploding.

    Outraged, Song Li shouted, ¡°Shut the hell up! I don¡¯t want to hear another word from you!¡±

    ¡°You betrayed my love, Sister Song.¡± With these words, Nie Tian shot out a third spiritual energy ball. ¡°With all seriousness, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you!¡± The spiritual energy ball exploded above Song Li.

    ¡°Just now, we were so close to each other, and I could tell that you had feelings for me too.¡± A fourth spiritual energy ball was formed and shot towards Song Li.

    ¡°We¡¯ll make a great couple. You just need time to think about it. Now I¡¯ll give you the time to think. I hope your answer is ¡®yes¡¯.¡±

    Nie Tian kept forming spiritual energy balls and used them to bombard Song Li as he poured out his feelings towards her.

    Standing in the middle of her light shield, Song Li was so enraged that she couldn¡¯t stop trembling. She wished she could charge through the mist of bright spots and eat Nie Tian alive.

    Every word that came out of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth was extremely humiliating to her, telling her that Nie Tian had been having his fun with her the entire time.

    The hatred and rage in her heart continued to build up as Nie Tian went on and on.

    At the same time, she was rapidly consuming her spiritual power to maintain her protective light shield.

    The only thing on her mind right now was to use the awl in her hand to poke a hundred holes in Nie Tian.

    She had never hated someone so much.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± All of a sudden, Nie Tian, who was still casting more spiritual energy balls, sensed via one of his Heaven Eyes that a tall male Qi warrior was charging directly towards this part of the forest at full speed.

    His aura was very familiar. After a brief search in his mind, Nie Tian realized that it was the Greater Heaven stage expert who had killed the team of three explorers.

    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve still got business to attend to. Excuse me, Sister Song.¡± With a sigh, he added, ¡°but I want you to remember that my love for you is real and will never change! I hope that, next time we meet, you¡¯ll have considered my proposal, and you can ept me! See you soon!¡±

    With those words, Nie Tian immediately turned around and ran off like a bolt of lightning.

    Song Li¡¯s scream rang out from behind his back, ¡°Li Tian! I dare you to stay a little longer!!¡±

    The area she was in had been drowned by bright spots that carried all kinds of impurities. Even though she wanted to, she couldn¡¯t burst out of there and chase after Nie Tian.

    She could only watch as Nie Tian ran further and further away until he eventually disappeared from her sight.

    A cold smile could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we won¡¯t get to see each other ever again.¡±

    From what he could tell, the Greater Heaven stage expert was probably one of the Hunters who lurked in the depths of the dense forest.

    Considering that Song Li had consumed a significant amount of her strength, the expert would be able to send her on her way to theherworld without breaking a sweat.

    Although Nie Tian was running further and further away from Song Li, hemanded his Heaven Eyes to remain there to see how she would die.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the tall Qi warrior appeared in the area where Nie Tian had fought Song Li.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, the moment he showed up, he swooped towards Song Li, but he didn¡¯t aim to kill her.

    On the contrary, eyes filled with panic and anxiety, he hastily cast spells to shoot out sizable beams of spiritual power, which swam about in the area and rapidly removed all the toxic impurities for Song Li.

    ¡°Are you alright, miss? What happened?¡± The man asked anxiously.

    As soon as the area was purged, Song Li dropped to the ground and couldn¡¯t stop panting. When the man approached her, she swung her arm and pped the man on his face, saying, ¡°What took you so long?!¡± She vented her rage towards Nie Tian on the man.

    After being pped by Song Li, the man seemed even more terrified as he hastily got down on one knee and admitted, ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s my fault!¡±

    Fuming with rage, Song Li said loudly, ¡°A man named Li Tian just ran away from here. I want you to chase him down and bring him back to me! But remember! Don¡¯t kill him. I want him alive!¡±

    ¡°Miss, you seem to be in a rather bad situation. Should I stay here until you recover your strength?¡± The man worried about Song Li¡¯s safety.

    ¡°Get the hell out of here!¡± Song Li scolded. ¡°And bring me back that Li Tian person!¡±

    ¡°Yes, miss!¡± The man sprang to his feet and sped off in the direction Song Li had pointed out for him.

    ¡°Li Tian! You won¡¯t be able to get away! I¡¯ll y you alive!!!¡± After the man left, Song Li took out her green awl and stabbed Shen Wei¡¯s corpse a few dozen times. Only after seeing that it had be a bloody mess did she stop.

    She took a deep breath to calm herself before opening her cor and looking down.

    Her milky-white, ample bosoms were covered in finger-shaped bruises, which were like tattoos on her originally immacte, jade-like breasts. It was a startling scene.

    It wasn¡¯t hard for her to imagine what her butt looked like at this moment, since she could still feel the pain in her butt as she sat on the ground.

    Those distinct finger-shaped bruises were like numerous ps on Song Li¡¯s face. She had never been so humiliated.

    Trembling, Song Li threw her head back and let out an ear-piercing shriek, ¡°Li Tian!¡±

 Chapter 291: New Findings

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian heard the conversation between Song Li and the Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior with great rity.

    ¡°Damn! They¡¯re together!¡± At that moment, he realized that Song Li was also a Hunter, and apparently rather lofty among their organization.

    Using his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian had determined that the tall Qi warrior was at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    With his strength, he didn¡¯t need to worry about being confronted by anyone as long as he steered clear of the most powerful experts from the Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and Blood Skull.

    However, he didn¡¯t even dare to say a word when he was pped by Song Li. This was enough to prove Song Li¡¯s lofty status.

    ¡°Now that this evil woman has made me her sworn enemy, I¡¯ve got to be more careful.¡± Frowning, he swiftly changed his path as he traveled at a fast speed into the depths of the dense forest, not leaving a clear trail for his pursuer.

    He was aware that, considering his current cultivation base, if he only ran in open spaces, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t be able to get away from the Greater Heaven stage Hunter.

    Fortunately, this dense forest was filled with giant trees that reached into the heavens along with high grade spirit beasts that would show up from time to time.

    As familiar as the Hunter was with this forest, Nie Tian was able to circle around and lose him with the help of his seven Heaven Eyes and theplicated terrain.

    An hourter, Nie Tian could no longer sense the Hunter who had been chasing after him.

    He examined his surroundings again using his Heaven Eyes and was convinced that he was safe now.

    During the following days, he kept running further and further away from the area where he had fought Song Li. He steered clear of high grade spirit beasts with the help of his Heaven Eyes, and stopped in safe regions to recover.

    He would consumerge amounts of the fourth grade spirit beast meat he had stockpiled and feed the rich flesh power to the green aura in his heart.

    During the day, he would channel spiritual power from spirit stones and spiritual materials of different attributes to his spiritual sea to gradually push the limits of its capacity.

    During the night, he would channel starlight from the countless stars in the heavens and form star power.

    As a result, his spiritual sea gradually expanded and his spiritual power became more refined every day. Only the speed at which he condensed stardew was rtively slow.

    One night...

    Nie Tian, who had assumed the lotus position on a thick tree branch protruding from a tall tree, stopped cultivating and looked up into the infinite, starry sky.

    The starlight that had been pouring down from the heavens rapidly dispersed. With a frown, he whispered to himself, ¡°This method of gathering star power and condensing stardew is still too slow. The peculiar stones I previously used to restore star power were probably mined from or discovered in the Void Illusion Mountain Range as well. I just don¡¯t know where to look.¡±

    Pei Qiqi had bought him some peculiar stones in Shatter City and he had looted some more from the Dark Moon members he had killed.

    Those stones had allowed him to condense stardew at a much faster speed, and thus greatly benefited his studying of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Unfortunately, he had already used all of them thest time he had studied the Starstrike magic.

    Without those stones, Nie Tian wondered if he should start learning the Starshift.

    After all, once he received enlightenment and mastered the magic, he would have to use stardew to practice.

    The replenishment of stardew could only be done through night after night of channeling starlight from the heavens.

    That was why he was hesitant to do it.

    He sighed. ¡°If I can find more of those stones, I¡¯ll be able to condense copious amounts of stardew within a very short time. Then, I¡¯ll be able to study the Starshift without any scruples.¡±

    Recently, he had attached great significance to the cultivation of the green aura in his heart and the study of Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    For the green aura to transform and advance to the next level, he would only need to continue to absorb flesh power. Since he had obtained the meat of numerous second and third grade spirit beasts, along with the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s and the Golden Stone Rhino¡¯s meat, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry that he would run out of resources anytime soon. All he needed to do was consume meat every day and provide the green aura with rich flesh power.

    What truly bothered him was that since he condensed stardew too slowly, it held up his study of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    While he was wallowing in frustration, he heard a sharp scream via one of his Heaven Eyes. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    It was the kind of sound people made when they died.

    The source of the scream was beyond the sight of that Heaven Eye, so Nie Tian would need to move in that direction to get a clearer view of what was happening.

    Therefore, he jumped off the tree.

    As he moved closer to the source of the scream, that Heaven Eye of his floated to the site within a rather short time.

    ¡°Lu Yan!¡± Even though Nie Tian was still quite far from the site, he saw a familiar figure via his Heaven Eye: Lu Yan, who had quit Shen Wei¡¯s hunting team.

    Right next to her, a dead Shadow Eagle was lying on the ground, along with seven dead human Qi warriors, who were all dressed differently.

    The faces of the dead Qi warriors were all grayish-green. From the look of it, they had died from some deadly poison.

    Lu Yan was the only one alive. She took the seven Qi warriors¡¯ bracelets of holding one by one and then cut off the valuable parts of the Shadow Eagle with a sharp knife.

    At the middle Heaven stage, Lu Yan was in-looking and slightly chubby. Compared to the sultry Song Li, she didn¡¯t seem attractive at all.

    However, she had parted ways with the team because she didn¡¯t want to go deeper into the forest. Why would she show up here?

    Confused, Nie Tian quietly marched towards Lu Yan¡¯s location while she cut the valuable parts off the Shadow Eagle, hoping he could obtain the Shadow Eagle¡¯s meat from her.

    From what he could tell, Lu Yan was far weaker than Song Li.

    Furthermore, she probably wouldn¡¯t want the Shadow Eagle¡¯s meat, so she might just be willing to give it to him for free. If she wasn¡¯t, he was also prepared to take it by force.

    He had adjusted to the cruel rules of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and was prepared to act by them.

    However, just as he quietly approached Lu Yan, he noticed via one of his Heaven Eyes that another early Greater Heaven stage expert was rapidly closing in on her as well.

    That man seemed to be another Hunter!

    Nie Tian immediately stopped to observe the situation.

    Momentster, the man appeared in front of Lu Yan. He took a nce at her and then the dead Shadow Eagle before he said with a smile, ¡°It seems that it¡¯s your lucky day.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I secretly poisoned these seven fools. Just after they killed the Shadow Eagle, the poison began to show its effect and killed them.¡± Lu Yan chatted with the man, seemingly ratherfortable. Suddenly, she frowned and asked, ¡°Is there still no word of that Li Tian person?¡±

    With a worried look on his face, the man sighed. ¡°No, there isn¡¯t. Our brothers have been searching in the vicinity for days, but there seems to be no trace of him.

    ¡°I wonder what that bastard did to offend Lady Song Li. She has been very grumpytely, and many brothers have suffered because of it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve met that Li Tian person. He¡¯s only an early Heaven stage young man who has a Blood Skull guest elder¡¯s identity medallion.¡± With a deep frown, Lu Yan added, ¡°As resourceful as Lady Song Li is, killing a man like him should be as easy as pie. How could she have suffered a loss from him?¡±

    The man shook his head as he let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°It beats me, but if I ever get to see that bastard, I¡¯ll capture him and give him a taste of the cruelest torture! I can¡¯t believe he actually dared to offend Lady Song Li. Even death cannot atone for his crime!¡±

    Lu Yan sighed. ¡°Now that she is still furious, I¡¯d better not go see her, in case she vents her anger on me. When I¡¯m done with this Shadow Eagle, I¡¯ll go back and lure another exploration team here, and keep up the work.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably a smart choice,¡± The man said, looking rather helpless. ¡°I¡¯m not as lucky as you are. I¡¯ll have to bear with her temper. Many brothers have been pped on the face. She called us good-for-nothings for failing to find that bastard after searching for so long.¡±

    Lu Yan and the man chatted as they looted all the valuable parts of the Shadow Eagle together. Then, Lu Yan handed what she had to the man, along with the seven bracelets of holding, before they both left.

    Hiding from a safe distance, Nie Tian heard every word of their conversation.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Lu Yan and Song Li are together on this! Those two evil women echoed each other and lured Shen Wei and others into their traps. I¡¯ve never seen the two of themmunicate in private. It means that they must have reached a mutual understanding long ago and they didn¡¯t even need to talk...¡± After unearthing the truth, Nie Tian finally understood how these Hunters worked.

    Women like Song Li and Lu Yan would sway and lure exploration teams to march into the depths of the dense forest, where they thought they would hunt spirit beasts together, but would actually be butchered before they knew it.

    From the look of it, these Hunters must have been doing this for a long time.

    By taking out spirit beasts and the exploration teams together, the Hunters could maximize their gains.

    The way Hunters did business was even more evil and despicable than the Wild Fire, Dark Moon, and Blood Skull.

    ¡°These ruthless Hunters...¡± Nie Tian was shocked into a sweat by these thoughts, realizing that if he hadn¡¯t had the Heaven Eyes, he probably would have fallen prey to them as well.

    Just now, if he hadn¡¯t discovered the appearance of the Greater Heaven stage expert, he might have sneaked up on Lu Yan already, and at that time, it wouldn¡¯t have been easy for him to get away.

    Nie Tian waited for a while. Only when he was convinced that Lu Yan and that other man were truly gone did he march over and collect the Shadow Eagle¡¯s meat and blood.

    Afterwards, he frowned as he pondered whether he should keep gathering high grade spirit beast meat in the forest or leave as soon as possible.

    ording to Lu Yan and that other man, Song Li, who was a high ranking official among the Hunters, had already arranged for her men to search for him everywhere.

    If he stayed, he would probably be discovered sooner orter.

    If it came down to that, he would be facing more than one Hunter.

    After a moment of contemtion, Nie Tian let out a snort and said, ¡°I¡¯ll y with you for a few more days and see if you can catch me in this dense forest!¡±

 Chapter 292: Spoiling Their Plans!

    During the next few days, Nie Tian roamed about in the deepest parts of the dense forest and yed hide and seek with Song Li¡¯s subordinates with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    In the meantime, he discovered several exploration teams which had been lured into the depths of the forest by women like Song Li and Lu Yan via his Heaven Eyes.

    At first, Nie Tian just followed them and didn¡¯t do anything.

    When they killed high grade spirit beasts and left with their valuable parts, he would quietly sneak up and harvest the spirit beasts¡¯ meat and blood.

    Just like that, he obtained the meat and blood of five fourth grade spirit beasts in ten days.

    That was when he reckoned that the meat and blood he had in his possession was enough tost him quite some time...

    During these days, Hunters who answered to Song Li never stopped searching for Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian encountered them several times.

    However, every time Nie Tian sensed their presence in the vicinity via his Heaven Eyes, he would immediately change his route to avoid them.

    Since Qi warriors who hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm hadn¡¯t upgraded their psychic power to soul power, they weren¡¯t able to hide themselves under Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes.

    Furthermore, the Heaven Eyes contained soul power, which meant that those Heaven and Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors weren¡¯t able to sense their existence.

    Therefore, he hade close to being discovered by Hunters on several asions, but he had never truly been in danger.

    During the day, he had also stopped to consume spirit beast meat to meet the green aura¡¯s endless demand for flesh power whenever he had the opportunity.

    At night, he would focus on channeling star power into his vortex of star power and condensing stardew.

    He had put the expansion of his spiritual sea on hold. He stopped using spirit stones to enrich his spiritual power, along with refining his vortex of me power and vortex of wood power with the relevant spiritual materials.

    From what he could tell, those things could wait until he returned to Shatter City, where he would be able to use the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation room and develop his spiritual sea more efficiently.

    Spiritual materials of the fire attribute and wood attribute could also be found fairly easily in Shatter City.

    However, stardew could only be formed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Therefore, he spent most of his time and energy condensing and building up stardew in his vortex of star power.

    Knowing that he had already stockpiled enough spirit beast meat, Nie Tian no longer followed exploration teams that had been tricked into marching into the depths of the forest. Instead, he warned them of their situation and sabotaged the Hunters¡¯ ns.

    One day, a team of eight members was traveling in the heart of the forest. The man in the forefront suddenly caught sight of a few lines of words carved in the bare trunk of an ancient tree.

    He stepped closer and rapidly gleaned a important message from the words on the tree trunk.

    After he finished reading the message, the man instantly spun around and called out, pointing at a in-looking woman on their team, ¡°Take her! Check her bracelet of holding and see if she¡¯s a Hunter!¡±

    Nie Tian had left the message on the tree trunk, informing the team of the Hunters¡¯ ns and how they had plotted against teams like theirs.

    The in-looking woman¡¯s face turned pale the moment she heard the team leader¡¯s order.

    Before the other team members could react, she swiftly shifted her position as she dashed off into the distance.

    ¡°Go get her!¡± the man shouted. ¡°She¡¯s a Hunter and she lured us here to kill us! When we¡¯re done with spirit beasts, her Hunter friends will show up and swamp us!¡±

    During the following days, Nie Tian left messages for simr scammed teams in different parts of the dense forest.

    Most of the time, the team leaders were smart enough to realize the authenticity of the messages.

    More often than not, they were able to catch and kill the undercover Hunter. Even if they didn¡¯t, they would rapidly withdraw from the heart of the forest, lest they became open targets for the Hunters.

    ...

    Next to an ancient tree stood Song Li, who had already recovered her strength. Dressed in short battle garments, she looked extremely curvaceous and desirable. However, the expression on her face was as cold as ice.

    Eyes emanating an icy aura, she stared at the words carved in the tree trunk. She gritted her teeth and her ample bosom couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    The few Greater Heaven stage Hunters around her remained silent and also looked rather grim.

    ¡°Find out who did this!¡± Song Li roared.

    She was the initiator, and thus was in charge of their operations in the heart of the forest.

    It was her who hade up with this method, through which the Hunters would be able to obtain valuable parts of high grade spirit beasts and loot the belongings of exploration teams without breaking a sweat.

    She thought their method was impable, and could be duplicated on many more exploration teams.

    However, she had never expected that her method would be cracked by someone and unveiled to her potential prey, much less the fact that Nie Tian was the man who had left those warning messages.

    ¡°Yes, miss! We¡¯re on it!¡± one Greater Heaven stage Hunter hastily replied.

    Song Li stamped with fury. ¡°Good-for-nothing! You¡¯re all good-for-nothings! With the whole lot of you, you can¡¯t even find the early Heaven stage Li Tian after searching for so many days! Now another man shows up and unveils our n to whoeveres to the forest. You must have given away our n due to your imprudence!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, miss! It¡¯s our fault!¡± The man said without thinking.

    ¡°Screw off!¡± Song Li shouted angrily. ¡°Get the hell out of my sight, all of you! Bring me Li Tian and the guy who leaves those messages! I want them alive!¡±

    The Hunters around her slowly shrank away from her and spread out to search for Nie Tian and the man who left the messages.

    Three days passed...

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see another exploration team in the dense forest.

    Then, he realized that the teams that had withdrawn must have warned other teams on their way back.

    The teams that were originally nning to explore the heart of the dense forest must have given up after learning about the Hunters¡¯ operations.

    Some alerted exploration teams even caught the undercover Hunters on their teams and killed them, and thus causing the Hunters more casualties.

    During this period of time, he had also learned about the situation of the Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and Blood Skull from some of the teams by observing and listening to their conversations.

    Numerous Dark Moon members had been chased down and killed by Blood Skull and Wild Fire members. Only Ma Jiu himself had managed to escape and flee back to their headquarters.

    After learning that the battle between the Blood Skull and Dark Moon hadn¡¯t been a scramble for precious treasures, the Wild Fire called back their forces, putting an end to the fight among three major powers.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time I returned to Shatter City.¡± Nie Tian assumed that his business in the forest was finished, so he decided to leave.

    However, he wanted to humiliate Song Li onest time before returning to Shatter City. Hence, he left a special message, which was discovered by one of the Hunters soon after he left.

    ...

    The tall, middle Greater Heaven stage Hunter approached Song Li. He humbly bowed his head and said in a soft voice, ¡°Miss, we¡¯ve found something. You might want toe and take a look at it, although...¡±

    Song Li suddenly became refreshed. ¡°You¡¯ve found traces of Li Tian? Or the one who spread the messages?¡±

    ¡°Neither...¡± The man looked very embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s a message... I think you¡¯d bettere and see for yourself.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Song Li said with a frown.

    Before long, the tall Qi warrior led Song Li to the location where Nie Tian had left hisst message.

    It was another enormous tree. A line of words was carved out in its trunk, which read: Hey, slut Song Li, have fun looking for me. I¡¯ve returned to Shatter City --- Li Tian.

    After reading the message, Song Li let out a hysterical, ear-piercing screech, ¡°Li Tian!¡±

    Trembling with rage, she thundered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he did all this! Li Tian, I swear upon my life that I¡¯ll kill you!¡±

    The writing looked so familiar that she could tell at first nce that it was from the same man who had been sabotaging their ns recently!

    It had been Nie Tian all along!

    The fact that it was Nie Tian who had been undermining them doubled Song Li¡¯s anger towards him. She couldn¡¯t wait to catch Nie Tian, torture him in every way she could imagine, and watch him die screaming.

    ¡°That guy is quite young, and only at the early Heaven stage. How in the world could he see through your well-arranged n?¡± A Greater Heaven stage Hunter expressed his confusion.

    Song Li looked coldly at him and said, ¡°How should I know?! It must be you lot¡¯s ipetence that gave away our n. Even my maidservant, Lu Yan, is dead because of it, and you can¡¯t even find him. How do you still have the nerve to question me?!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, miss! The fault is ours!¡± The man hastily apologized.

    Song Li took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Then, she said, ¡°Abort the forest-hunting mission! Li Tian is on his way back to Shatter City. From now on, your new mission is to capture him before he can get back to Shatter City!¡±

    ¡°If you let him return to Shatter City, we¡¯ll be aughingstock to everyone!¡±

    ¡°Inform every brother and sister. Whatever you do, I need you to capture Li Tian before he returns to Shatter City!¡±

    ¡°Remember! I want him alive!¡±

    ¡°Yes, miss!¡±

 Chapter 293: The Fang

    In the Blood Skull¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    After Pei Qiqi had recovered from her injuries, she hadn¡¯t spent any time looking for a suitable location to set up the teleportation portal. Instead, she went straight to the Blood Skull¡¯s base in the mountain range.

    The reason why she had decided to leave as soon as possible was that, after the tempering she had received from her battles against Ma Jiu and Li Langfeng, she had a feeling that she was about to break through from thete Heaven stage into the Greater Heaven stage.

    The advancement of her cultivation base was so crucial that she dared not do it in the perilous Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    She nned to use the Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal to get back to Shatter City first, and then return to the mountain range to find a suitable location for her newly-acquired teleportation portal after entering the Greater Heaven stage.

    After Nie Tian had left the secret stronghold, she didn¡¯t try to use the advancedmunication spell formation to contact the Blood Skull because she was aware that the location of the secret stronghold under the creek was only supposed to be revealed to senior Blood Skull members.

    Cai Yuan had broken their rules by revealing such important information to her. She didn¡¯t want to get him in trouble.

    When she showed up in the Blood Skull¡¯s base, it caused a stir among the Blood Skull members. Cai Yuan and Shi Qing soon heard about her return and rushed back to their base without any dy.

    Seeing that she was in a good state, Cai Yuan smiled as his scrunched eyebrows finally rxed. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see that you¡¯re okay, Qiqi!¡±

    During the past few weeks, Cai Yuan had organized a search team and gone to every corner of the mountain range to search for her. He had been worried sick that something bad might happen to her.

    The feelings he had for Pei Qiqi were real.

    ¡°As soon as I learned that you escaped from Li Langfeng¡¯s pursuit, I knew that you would be fine,¡± Shi Qing said with a smile. ¡°Where¡¯s Hua Tian? Didn¡¯t hee back with you?¡±

    At that moment, the Blood Skull¡¯s highestmander in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Gu Yu, walked out from one of the wooden cottages and said, ¡°ording to our scouts, Li Langfeng is still searching for Hua Tian everywhere. I thought he was with you. Now you¡¯re here, where¡¯s Hua Tian?¡±

    Back when the Blood Skull, Wild Fire, and Dark Moon had tangled with one another, Shi Qing had sent Cai Yue back to Shatter City the first chance he had.

    Afterwards, Shi Qing had exined the breathtaking battle between the three of them and Li Langfeng to Gu Yu in great detail.

    After hearing Shi Qing¡¯s narration, Gu Yu, who had also thought it was a bit rash to offer a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion to an early Heaven stage young man, finally acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess.

    He couldn¡¯t help bute to hold a high opinion of Nie Tian after hearing that the Heaven stage young man had fought Li Langfeng head-on and changed the course of the battle.

    Later, he began to marvel at Nie Tian¡¯s strength when he heard from Cai Yuan that it was Nie Tian who had killed more than a dozen Dark Moon experts and rescued him and Pei Qiqi from Ma Jiu¡¯s siege.

    As of that moment, both Shi Qing and Gu Yu realized that the Blood Skull was very fortunate to have made Nie Tian their guest elder.

    The fact that Li Langfeng had been killing people to get Nie Tian¡¯s whereabouts also proved Nie Tian¡¯s outstanding ability.

    After all, no ordinary person could offend and then survive that mad man.

    ¡°Hua Tian didn¡¯te back with me,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°We lost Li Langfeng and found a secure location to recover our strength. Then we parted ways.¡±

    Shi Qing seemed rather concerned as he asked, ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    Pei Qiqi frowned slightly as she recalled the determined expression on Nie Tian¡¯s face when he had left her. ¡°He went back to Shatter City on foot.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Gu Yu was greatly surprised. ¡°He went back by himself? Didn¡¯t he want to use our teleportation portal here? As a guest elder of the Blood Skull, he¡¯s entitled to use our teleportation portals. He just needed to pay a few spirit stones. Why would he chose trouble over convenience and put himself in danger?!¡±

    Cai Yuan¡¯s expression also flickered. ¡°He said he wanted to temper himself?!¡±

    Pei Qiqi gently nodded towards him.

    Standing in awe, Cai Yuan marveled, ¡°I finally understand why Hua Tian is so powerful and resourceful! Even though he¡¯s only at the Heaven stage, he voluntarily chose the most dangerous way to return to Shatter City. Hua Tian is indeed beyond ordinary!¡±

    Cai Yuan seemed to approve of Nie Tian¡¯s choice the most.

    As Cai Lan¡¯s only son, he wouldn¡¯t just stay in Shatter City and be surrounded by wealth. Instead, he chose to venture in the Void Illusion Mountain Range year-round, and repeatedly put himself in desperate situations. By doing that, he tempered himself and won respect from all the Blood Skull members instead of relying only on his lofty identity.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired and I need to recuperate,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking at the wooden cottage where the Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal was.

    ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll send you back.¡± With these words, Cai Yuan led the way as the two of them walked into the cottage, where he arranged the teleportation for her.

    Gu Yu and Shi Qing stood where they were.

    The two Greater Heaven stage experts exchanged a nce and sighed.

    ¡°This Hua Tian kid is indeed beyond ordinary.¡± Shi Qing said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to imagine how powerful he will be after entering the Greater Heaven stage. Our young lord is truly visionary to have offered him a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion in advance.¡±

    Gu Yu nodded slightly before he suddenly frowned and said, ¡°But the returning path he chose is full of danger. As you know, a new Hunter organization has appeared in recent years, and they roam the area between the Void Illusion Mountain Range and Shatter City. That organization seems to have appeared out of nowhere, and doesn¡¯t seem to belong to the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Are you talking about the Fang?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Gu Yu answered, ¡°Yeah, exactly. I heard that their leader is a woman whose cultivation base seems to be unimpressive. However, she has arge number of Greater Heaven stage experts working for her. Our men encountered some Fang members in the Void Illusion Mountain Range before. Their strength was by no means weaker than our formal members¡¯.¡±

    ¡°Really?!¡± Shi Qing¡¯s face was filled with disbelief. ¡°All the other Hunter organizations are notparable to us, both in their battle prowess and spiritual tools. Why is this organization so special?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a theory, but I can¡¯t prove it yet, so...¡± After a moment of pondering, Gu Yu continued, ¡°It¡¯s probably safer for Hua Tian if he goes to Ash City or the Land of the Abandoned, instead of Shatter City. After all, if he goes back to Shatter City, it¡¯s very likely that he¡¯ll run into members of the Fang. I fear that he may not survive that encounter.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Shi Qing said. ¡°Although, I hope he can. If he can survive the Fang¡¯s ambush and pursuit and make it back to Shatter City alive, the kid will definitely grow into one of the biggest names in the Realm of Split Void!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my hope too.¡± Gu Yu let out a sigh as he seemed to doubt that Nie Tian would seed.

    ...

    ¡°The Fang!¡± At the same time, Nie Tian was mulling over the same name in a different corner of the mountain range.

    He had long since left the dense forest and had already reached the outer edge of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    It had been several days since he left Song Li thatst message. During this time, he had met several withdrawing exploration teams, from whom he had learned about this Hunter organization.

    Each and every exploration team had decided to abort their n as soon as they had heard that the Hunter organization roaming in the depths of the forest was the Fang, even though many of them had Greater Heaven stage experts on their teams.

    Through those teams, Nie Tian learned that the Fang was a Hunter organization that had just appeared in the Realm of Split Void, and they were very different from the other Hunter organizations.

    They were extremely cruel and brutal; there would never be any survivors if they targeted an exploration team.

    Not only that, but unlike other Hunter organizations, they wouldn¡¯t take in new members. Even though they captured powerful opponents who wished to join them, they would refuse their requests and kill them all the same.

    Furthermore, they nevermunicated with other Hunter organizations.

    No one knew anything about any of their members. It seemed as if the whole organization had appeared out of nowhere.

    In addition, they were a highly structured organization. The few of their members who had been captured had refused to reveal any information about their organization even when facing death.

    Up to this day, the only thing people knew about this mysterious organization was that their leader was a young woman.

    ...

    The Fang had been the most discussed name among all the withdrawing exploration teams Nie Tian had encountered on his way back to Shatter City.

    Every single one of them had prayed not to run into the Fang on their way back and hoped that the Fang wouldn¡¯t target their team.

    It was as if they would never be able to make their way back to Shatter City once they were targeted.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°Talk about luck... The first and only Hunter organization I became enemies with turns out to be the Fang... I suppose Song Li is their leader then. From the look of it, if I want to return to Shatter City, my road ahead will be full of danger.¡±

    With these thoughts in mind, he picked up his pace, using his seven Heaven Eyes to keep a close watch on everything in the vicinity.

    Two days passed, and Nie Tian finally walked out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    As soon as he set foot on the hillynd, one of his Heaven Eyes caught sight of a bloody battle.

 Chapter 294: Sudden Strike

    A middle Heaven stage Qi warrior, who had a fang pattern embroidered on his left shoulder, was holding a portrait in one hand and clenching his other hand around a man¡¯s neck, as he asked the man with an expressionless face, ¡°I¡¯ll ask you onest time: have you seen this man?¡±

    The man shook his head. ¡°N-no.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you can die now.¡± The Fang member crushed the man¡¯s neck as he shook his head.

    ¡°That Li Tian person might still be in the Void Illusion Mountain Range now,¡± the other Fang member said, ¡°Let¡¯s wait here for a little longer.¡±

    They were both at the middle Heaven stage, the same as the three men they had just killed.

    However, it appeared as if they hadn¡¯t even broken a sweat killing those three enemies with just the two of them.

    Failing to get what they wanted, the two Fang Qi warriors rolled up the vivid portrait of Nie Tian and put it away before beginning to loot the valuables from their three victims.

    Meanwhile, a Heaven Eye that they couldn¡¯t detect floated high above their heads, hearing every word of their conversation.

    In a location about a thousand meters away, Nie Tian frowned, as he had never expected that the moment he left the Void Illusion Mountain Range, he would run into Hunters from the Fang.

    At this moment, both the Fang and Li Langfeng had set Nie Tian as their primary target. However, the Fang posed a bigger threat to him than Li Langfeng.

    First of all, the Fang wasn¡¯t just one man, but rather a Hunter organization.

    As the head of this tightly structured organization, Song Li was extremely smart and cunning. Even though she hadn¡¯t spent much time with Nie Tian, she was able to draw such an urate portrait of him. Not only that, she worked so fast that it had already been passed to her subordinates in the hilly area and wastnd, and they had already started looking for Nie Tian ording to it.

    Li Langfeng, however, had been looking for Nie Tian merely based on the name Hua Tian, and he was just one man. Therefore, he was naturally not as efficient as the Fang.

    Even though Nie Tian was surprised by the scene, he didn¡¯t seem anxious, since he had already prepared himself for this.

    ¡°Song Li, since you want to y, I¡¯ll y with you.¡± Not only did Nie Tian not try to avoid them, but he even charged towards the two Fang members with a grin on his face.

    From the look of it, he didn¡¯t attach much significance to those two middle Heaven stage Hunters.

    He could tell that those Hunters were more powerful thanmon Qi warriors who came to explore the mountain range, but they didn¡¯t seem to be stronger than Dark Moon members of the same cultivation level.

    Considering Nie Tian had killed more than a dozen middle Heaven stage Dark Moon members to rescue Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan from a siege in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, it was natural that he didn¡¯t think much of them.

    PHEW

    Momentster, like a gust of wind, Nie Tian arrived in front of the two Hunters, who were stepping away from their victims.

    Nie Tian¡¯s portrait had left a deep impression on the Hunters. Therefore, they were able to recognize him at first sight.

    ¡°Li Tian!!!¡± After realizing that the youngster in front of them was the man they had been looking for for days, they grew excited.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re looking for me,¡± Nie Tian said, grinning, as he put away his jade bracelet and created a chaotic maic field around him.

    At the same time, he raised his arms and cast the secret magic he had learned from the mysteriousnd.

    A spiritual energy ball filled with concentrated impurities was instantly formed and shot towards the two Hunters.

    BANG!!!

    The energy ball exploded, sending out bright spots of various colors in every direction. The strong shock wave almost destroyed the two Fang members¡¯ protective light shields, making them flicker nonstop.

    Every Qi warrior who dared to leave Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned possessed borate spiritual tools that could resist the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Those two Hunters were no exception.

    However, most spiritual tools could only ward off the normal toxic spiritual Qi, not the concentrated toxic spiritual Qi in Nie Tian¡¯s energy ball.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The jade bracelets the two Hunters wore immediately exploded.

    Expressions flickering dramatically, they had to summon their spiritual power to form new protective shields around them.

    ¡°The Realm of Split Void is a forbidden ce for most life forms. However, it¡¯s a blessednd for people like Pei Qiqi, Li Langfeng, and me.¡± With this thought, Nie Tian smiled heartily as he formed a second spiritual energy ball and used it to bombard his enemies.

    Pei Qiqi was able to disy the might of her profound spatial magics to the fullest here because spatial warps urred here all the time and deadly spatial rifts could be found in every corner of the mountain range.

    That was why thete Heaven stage Pei Qiqi had sessfully killed Greater Heaven stage experts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range before.

    As for Li Langfeng, who cultivated the art of poison, he was able to obtain useful toxins from the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Although he suffered a bacsh from the toxins, he used them to build up his own strength and battle prowess.

    As for Nie Tian, he could create spiritual energy balls by spending a limited amount of strength. Even though he couldn¡¯t cultivate with the toxins within the highly concentrated spiritual energy balls, when he used them to bombard his enemies, they exhibited surprisingly formidable might.

    Unlike Li Langfeng, most Qi warriors weren¡¯t able to withstand the corrosion of the concentrated, toxic power.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    A row of spiritual energy balls exploded in session, filling the air with multicolored bright spots, each of which carried deadly filth and impurities.

    The two Fang members were soon engulfed, their spiritual energy shields struggling to resist the corrosion.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the light shields around them burst, and they were exposed to a mist of gorgeous lights, as well as various kinds of corrosive power.

    In the next moment, they let out ear-piercing screams, but soon they gradually quieted down until they were finally silent.

    When the bright spotspletely dissipated, Nie Tian stepped towards the two Hunters and saw that their faces were grayish-green and their bodies were covered in faint green mist. ck blood was flowing out of every orifice in their faces, and their chests were welling, as if they could explode at any moment.

    Their life auras were so weak that they seemed to be on the verge of dying.

    ¡°It seems that the truly powerful Hunters haven¡¯t showed up yet. I can¡¯t believe these two actually dared to stand in my way; morons who don¡¯t understand the immensity of this world.¡± Nie Tian shook his head as he rapidly took their bracelets of holding, along with the bracelets of holding they had looted from their victims.

    Just as he was walking away from them, the dead Hunters¡¯ bulging chests suddenly burst.

    Nie Tian frowned as he heard the bursting sound. He couldn¡¯t help but marvel at Li Langfeng¡¯s strength. ¡°The concentrated impurities are indeed fatally corrosive to human flesh, and not everybody can take it.¡±

    Back in the mountain valley, he had repeatedly bombarded Li Langfeng with his spiritual energy balls.

    Li Langfeng had voluntarily deactivated his spiritual power shield and withstood the corrosive toxins within the countless multicolored lights with nothing but his fleshy body.

    Even though he had been covered in bloody wounds, and looked rather bedraggled, he hadn¡¯t exploded and died.

    On the contrary, after absorbing the concentrated impurities from Nie Tian¡¯s attacks, his battle prowess rose to another level.

    After that battle against Li Langfeng, Nie Tian had realized that, as sickly as the man looked, the toughness of his fleshy body was actually not a bit weaker than the most powerful mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void!

    Furthermore, the poisonous man was only one step away from entering the Worldly realm. Once he did, the Realm of Split Void would see another figure that even the three major forces would have to think twice about offending.

    ¡°I¡¯d better avoid him before I enter the Greater Heaven stage,¡± Nie Tian said to himself.

    He took out the map Pei Qiqi had given him. After taking a brief look at it, he got his bearings and sped off with seven Heaven Eyes floating around him.

    A hour passed...

    A Greater Heaven stage Hunter and two Heaven stage Hunters appeared.

    With a nce at their two friends, who had died horrible deaths, their expressions became grim.

    They had juste from the Void Illusion Mountain Range, where Song Li had ordered them to seek out and capture Nie Tian in the hilly region and wastnd.

    The Greater Heaven Hunter circled around and examined the corpses before saying, ¡°This is strange. They seem to have died from excessive corrosion of the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, they shouldn¡¯t have died so miserably, right my lord?¡±

    The Greater Heaven stage Hunter frowned, as he failed to figure out what had happened to them. ¡°The residual tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on them seems extremely intense, as if it had been concentrated. Only freaks like Li Langfeng are capable of doing that and making them die such horrible deaths.¡± Then, he took out a Sound Stone and reported his findings.

    The coverage of a Sound Stone was limited, but arge number of Fang members were spread out in the region.

    Therefore, his message reached Song Li after a few rys.

    At that moment, Song Li had long since called off their forest-hunting mission and was rapidly marching towards the outer edge of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    When she received the message, the tall middle Greater Heaven stage expert was standing right next to her.

    Bitter hatred could be seen on her cold, beautiful face as she blurted, ¡°It¡¯s Li Tian again! Han Mu, you¡¯re no stranger to his strange magic. He used the same magic to trap me in a mist of multicolored, toxic lights.¡±

    Han Mu nodded softly and said, ¡°Yeah, he sure had some strange skills. It must be him then, but it¡¯s hard to believe that he has already left the Void Illusion Mountain Range in such a short time. The fact that he has such mysterious skills at his disposal means that his true battle prowess surpasses his cultivation base.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Otherwise, why would the Blood Skull offer him a guest elder¡¯s identity medallion?¡± After a moment of pondering, Song Li said, ¡°Tell everyone to be extra careful. Let them know that Li Tian¡¯s cultivation base doesn¡¯t do justice to his battle prowess! Tell them that he actually possesses the strength of ate Heaven stage cultivator!¡±

    ¡°Possessing the strength of ate Heaven stage cultivator when he¡¯s only at the early Heaven stage...¡± Han Mu murmured with a concerned expression on his face. ¡°If we allow this kid to return to Shatter City, he¡¯ll be a source of endless trouble for us!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it all because of you good-for-nothings?!¡± Song Li shouted angrily.

    ¡°Sorry, miss!¡± Han Mu hastily replied.

    ¡°Go all-out to get him then! Don¡¯t waste another second in the Void Illusion Mountain Range!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

 Chapter 295: Fame Spread Far and Wide!

    A few days passed...

    Song Li and Han Mu had already left the Void Illusion Mountain Range and were traveling directly towards Shatter City at full speed.

    Between the Void Illusion Mountain Range and Shatter Cityy boundless hills and a wastnd. It would take a normal early Heaven stage cultivator two to three months to cross such a vast area and return to Shatter City.

    It would take longer if they ran into Hunters and battled with them.

    ording to Song Li and Han Mu¡¯s assessment, even though Nie Tian¡¯s actual strength was far beyond a normal early Heaven stage cultivator¡¯s, it was still very unlikely for him to make it back to Shatter City within a short time.

    After all, numerous Fang members were waiting for him on his way back to Shatter City. He would be forced to constantly change his direction and take detours to avoid them.

    Another day passed...

    Song Li and Han Mu found three dead Fang members at the foot of a short hill.

    The three of them were all at the middle Heaven stage and skilled in attacking enemies together.

    Even still, they had apparently died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    On the ground, next to their highly corrupted corpses, which were already highly corroded due to the concentrated toxins, was a message written in blood: Dumb woman, my real name is Hua Tian!

    Under the ring sun, the dried-up blood writing was a pain to Song Li¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± Song Li suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream, her curvaceous body trembling with anger and her wide eyes sprouting mes of rage.

    Han Mu, however, didn¡¯t utter a word. He stared down at the sentence written in blood, face looking sullen.

    Everyone knew that Li Langfeng had been looking everywhere in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for a young man named Hua Tian. It was no news to the Fang.

    Li Langfeng had roamed about in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for years. Even the Fang always avoided conflict with him.

    The fact that a young man had managed to escape from this wild poison master, who treated others¡¯ lives as dirt, had long since attracted the Fang¡¯s attention. Even more so, Li Langfeng hadn¡¯t been able to find him after searching for weeks.

    However, Han Mu had never connected Hua Tian with the Li Tian they were looking for.

    Until this moment...

    Looking at the bloody words on the ground, he finally realized that the man they were looking for was none other than the Hua Tian Li Langfeng was so eager to kill.

    After a moment of hesitation, he said, ¡°Miss, I¡¯m afraid this Hua Tian person isn¡¯t just an ordinary young man. ording to the information we¡¯ve gathered, he¡¯s very close to Pei Qiqi. Furthermore, he¡¯s the Blood Skull guest elder with the lowest cultivation base, which means someone lofty in the Blood Skull must attach great importance to him.

    ¡°Cai Lan of the Blood Skull and Pei Qiqi¡¯s master are both influential figures in the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°If you anger them by killing this Hua Tian person, I fear that your major n in the Realm of Split Void will be affected.¡±

    ¡°So what are you saying?¡± Song Li asked with a cold tone.

    Han Mu smiled embarrassedly and asked, ¡°I can¡¯t presume to know what Hua Tian did to offend you. But if it¡¯s not so serious that he has to die for it, perhaps we can let it go this time. After all, some people must be secretly watching every move you¡¯ve made ever since you came to the Realm of Split Void. I just think it¡¯s not worth it to jeopardize your major n just because of a single person.¡±

    ¡°Let it go?!¡± With a cold expression, Song Li pped Han Mu vigorously on the face and said with a fierce tone, ¡°That bastard has to die to atone for what he has done! I¡¯d rather sacrifice my n to kill him! I know that if I kill him, I¡¯ll be making enemies of Pei Qiqi¡¯s master and Cai Lan. So what?! Worstes to worst, we¡¯ll leave the Realm of Split Void!¡±

    Surprisingly, Han Mu, who had been pped on the face, didn¡¯t seemed angered at all. He secretly observed and, after realizing that Song Li had made up her mind, no longer attempted to persuade her.

    ¡°I see! I¡¯ll do everything within my power to catch him on his way back to Shatter City!¡± An intense killing aura burst forth from within Han Mu¡¯s body.

    ¡°I won¡¯t go back before Hua Tian is dead, not even if my n doesn¡¯t work out!¡± Song Li said loudly, her voice filled with hatred.

    A few days passed...

    During this period, Song Li informed all her Fang members via Sound Stones to ignore other explorers who were on their way back to Shatter City and focus solely on searching for Nie Tian.

    Not only that, she evenmunicated with other Hunter organizations for the first time, asking them to help her track down Nie Tian.

    There were quite a few Hunter organizations that roamed the area between the Void Illusion Mountain Range and Shatter City. However, none of them were nearly as powerful as the Fang.

    All their leaders feared and revered the Fang and Song Li a great deal, fearing that the Fang might take them out some day.

    When they learned that Song Li wanted their help searching for a young man name Hua Tian, they were all very thrilled.

    They even spent more time and effort than the Fang members; they mobilized every single member to cooperate with the Fang in search of Nie Tian, hoping they could please Song Li by doing so.

    Just like that, every Hunter organization in the hills and wastnd spread out looking for Nie Tian.

    Furthermore, numerous scrolls that carried the detailed portrait of Nie Tian¡¯s face were soon distributed to every Hunter organization. Countless bandits and ouws now roamed about holding them.

    With the massive search going on, all the exploration teams that returned from the Void Illusion Mountain Range were relieved from the potential ambushes.

    They also heard that all the Hunter organizations were searching for a young man named Hua Tian on their way back to Shatter City.

    Soon, Hua Tian became a famous name among both Hunters and explorers.

    However, Nie Tian, who had been marked as a primary target by all the Hunter organizations, traveled among the hills and wastnds like an invisible ghost.

    Not a single Hunter was able to locate and capture him.

    On the contrary, the corpses of many early and middle Heaven stage Hunters were discovered in the wilderness, all of whom had died miserable deaths.

    Meanwhile, the name ¡°Hua Tian¡± was always written in blood on the ground next to them, holding the Fang and all those who dared to participate in the search in awe.

    In the shadow of a hill.

    A Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior was looking down at a line of bloody characters on the ground. His face was grim, and bulging veins could be seen on his forehead.

    He was the leader of the Blood Hand, a Hunter organization. Lying next to those bloody characters were four of his subordinates.

    ¡°All those who join the Fang¡¯s operation shall die. ¨C Hua Tian¡± Another Greater Heaven stage Blood Hand expert read the words and said with a frown, ¡°Big Brother, this is already the second group of men we¡¯ve lost. We¡¯ve lost seven brothers now, but there¡¯s still not a single word on that bastard¡¯s whereabouts. He¡¯s like a ghost that roams this boundless wastnd andunches sneak attacks on our brothers and other searching Hunters.

    ¡°We¡¯re not the only ones. Other organizations have also suffered great losses.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem right to send our brothers on suicide missions just to please that woman from the Fang.¡±

    With a very grim expression, the Blood Hand¡¯s leader said, ¡°You don¡¯t think I know that?! Sure, this Hua Tian person is a pain in the neck, but that woman from the Fang is much worse! Hua Tian is only one person, but the Fang is filled with Greater Heaven stage viins.

    ¡°Considering their strength, they could easily wipe out all the other Hunter organizations, including us!

    ¡°This is exactly why we¡¯ve been living in fear over the past two years.

    ¡°Now that we finally have an opportunity to please that woman and thus establish a close rtionship with the Fang, how can we let it go?

    ¡°Also, if we don¡¯t go all-out to help them, once that woman finds out, she¡¯ll definitely pay us back.¡±

    The Blood Hand¡¯s leader sighed repeatedly with a helpless expression on his face.

    ¡°So do we keep searching?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no other choice!¡±

    Several kilometers from where they were standing.

    Shining brightly, five starsparks formed a mysterious formation before they flew towards ate Heaven stage Hunter.

    BOOM!

    The moment the Hunter was hit, his whole body exploded.

    Nie Tian, however, stood unwavering with a cold expression on his face, his robust, mountain-like body covered in fine wounds.

    Three middle Heaven stage Hunters were lying at his feet. They all seemed to have been drowned and killed by the toxic bright spots from Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls.

    ¡°The ninth group!¡± The murderous intent in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was so intense that he could almost kill people with it, and his entire body was wreathed in a strong bloody aura.

    During the past few days, he had killed every Hunter he had encountered as long as they didn¡¯t have Greater Heaven stage experts on their search teams, regardless of whether they were with the Fang or other Hunter organizations.

    He was holding arge cloth bag full of bracelets of holding, which made nking sounds as he walked.

    He bent down and grabbed the three bracelets of holding from the three corpses. Then, he sent a wisp of his psychic power into each of them. After a brief scan, he didn¡¯t find anything worth noting, so he tossed them into hisrge cloth bag.

    Afterwards, he stepped towards the mangled body of his most recent victim and picked up his bracelet of holding.

    After a brief examination of it, excitement appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He found a substantial amount of stones that had spots of starlight on them within that bracelet of holding.

    The star power within those stones would be very helpful for him to condense stardew.

    He had been looking for these kinds of stones for a long time. Never had he imagined that thiste Heaven stage Hunter would have so many of them.

    All the oddly-shaped stones were ced in a corner within the man¡¯s bracelet of holding, which meant that he hadn¡¯t attached much importance to them.

    After a brief count, Nie Tian found that there were more than a hundred of them, which would be enough to satisfy his need for star power for a long time.

    ¡°This is awesome!¡±

    With a thrilled expression on his face, Nie Tian transferred all of the stones into his own bracelet of holding before tossing the man¡¯s bracelet of holding into hisrge cloth bag.

    ¡°This Hunter is from an organization named Scorpion. Since he had arge number of those kinds of stones with him, does it mean that other members of the Scorpion may also have some?¡± With this thought in mind, he made this Hunter organization his new target.

    Over the next few days, he didn¡¯t travel straight towards Shatter City. Instead, he roamed about in the Scorpion¡¯s territory and killed another two of their search teams

    He obtained about two hundred more stones that contained star power from the Scorpion members he killed.

    ¡°When you¡¯re lucky, everything goes your way! The stones I¡¯ve obtained from these people willst me for quite some time. Now I can go ahead and study the Starshift whenever I want!¡±

 Chapter 296: Strike Like a Shadow

    The Scorpion was only a second-ss Hunter organization whose leader was a middle Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior.

    Aside from their leader, they had two other senior members at the Greater Heaven stage, but that was it.

    All the rest of their members were at the Heaven stage or even lower.

    As weak as they were, they had multiple members hunted down and killed by Nie Tian, which made them even weaker.

    Seeing that their own search teams were being wiped out by Nie Tian one after another, their leader had to seek help from the Fang.

    Soon after he informed Song Li of their situation, Song Li and Han Mu arrived at the Scorpion¡¯s territory.

    Without any dy, they instructed the few powerful members they had brought with them to spread out and search for Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian had long since sensed the unfavorable situation and left that area.

    Just as Song Li arranged for her subordinates to conduct a thorough search of the Scorpion¡¯s territory, another Hunter organization, the Blood Hand, sent in a message, saying that they had a few members killed by Nie Tian.

    After hearing the message, Song Li and Han Mu immediately realized that Nie Tian had already left the Scorpion¡¯s territory.

    Then, the two of them hastened their way to the Blood Hand¡¯s territory.

    However, just as they were searching for Nie Tian with the Blood Hand¡¯s help, another Hunter organization sent in a message, informing them that Nie Tian had appeared in their territory.

    Just like that, Song Li and Han Mu were forced to move from ce to ce.

    After moving a few times, they grew sick of following the information they received from other Hunter organizations, so they decided to nt their members in fixed locations and wait for Nie Tian toe to them.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes could discover them long before they discovered him, and he was thus able to steer clear of the locations where they were deployed.

    After a long, fruitless wait, Song Li and Han Mu both looked somewhat exhausted as they stood atop a high hill.

    After pondering in silence for a long time, Han Mu finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Miss, it seems as if that Hua Tian person is able to sense it every time we make a move. It¡¯s as if he has deployed informants around us. Not once has he fought our Greater Heaven stage experts or the most powerful experts from the other Hunter organizations.

    ¡°Every time he has struck, he has targeted rtively weak search teams that he could easily take.

    ¡°Furthermore, it seems he never makes mistakes or puts himself in danger. No matter how hard we try, we can never catch up to him. He¡¯s always one step ahead of us.¡±

    Gnashing her teeth, Song Li frowned and said, ¡°I have the same feeling.¡±

    With the help of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian moved and struck like a shadow. Every time he showed up, he would rapidly finish off his enemies and then vanish again.

    All the various traps and ambushes they set up to catch Nie Tian turned out to be useless.

    As the Hunter organizations sustained more and more casualties, weaker organizations like the Scorpion gradually lost their spirit.

    Originally, they had all assumed that it would be fairly easy to find and capture an early Heaven stage young man, so they all considered this search operation as a perfect chance to y up to Song Li.

    Every Hunter organization wanted their members to discover and capture Nie Tian.

    However, as time went by, they realized that it was actually a bitter task.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t high, every time he struck, he took out multiple Hunters, and all of them possessed cultivation bases higher than his.

    Later, when they learned that even a fewte Heaven stage Hunters had died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands, many Hunter organizations grew anxious.

    As much as they wanted to back out, they didn¡¯t. They continued to search for Nie Tian, but they only marched inrge teams, and made sure they had powerful experts on each team.

    Each team had to have either a Greater Heaven stage expert or a handful ofte Heaven stage experts.

    By doing that, they significantly sacrificed the coverage and efficiency of their search, making their efforts perfunctory.

    The Fang soon realized that they were merely muddling through their work, but they didn¡¯t do anything, because even they had adopted the same strategy after losing arge number of their own members.

    Eyebrows knit together, Han Mu said in a husky voice, ¡°I¡¯m guessing that Hua Tian probably has a special spiritual tool at his disposal, which he can use to detect life auras in his surroundings. This is the only exnation for how he has been able to steer clear of our powerful experts every time, and only attack targets he can take.¡±

    Since Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was rather low, they never imagined that he was actually able to obtain a thorough understanding of everything happening around him by relying on his soul power.

    That was why Han Mu had attributed Nie Tian¡¯s strangeness to a special spiritual tool.

    ¡°That¡¯s probably the case.¡± Song Li shared his take on this matter. ¡°I seems that we need to find a way to disturb that spiritual tool of his, therefore preventing him from detecting life fluctuations in his surroundings. Only in that way will we have a chance to catch him.¡±

    ¡°A name just came to my mind, Miss,¡± Han Mu said softly.

    Song Li nced at him before her eyes began glittering. She nodded and said, ¡°Okay, you¡¯d better go meet him in person. Grant him whatever he asks as long as it¡¯s within our power.¡±

    Han Mu seemed slightly hesitant as he said, ¡°That man lives by himself out of Shatter City, and he¡¯s got a strange temper. He doesn¡¯t fear us at all. He¡¯s even shed with our members more than once. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy to persuade him to help us.¡±

    Song Li¡¯s bright eyes circled around as she said, ¡°As far as I understand it, he holds deep grudges against the Blood Skull. Tell him Hua Tian is the Blood Skull¡¯s youngest guest elder, and he¡¯s sworn friends with Cai Yuan. As powerful as he is, he¡¯ll definitely be a important member of the Blood Skull someday. It¡¯s only a matter of time.

    ¡°Given a few years, Hua Tian will surely grow into a formidable figure. This might pique his desire to exterminate Hua Tian before he matures.

    ¡°Then, you¡¯ll throw in certain rewards for his effort. It will probably suffice.¡±

    Han Mu¡¯s eyes lit up as he replied, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and remember to treat him with respect. No one knows who he is or what he has done. He¡¯s probably not ordinary.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡±

    ...

    Deep into the night, under the starlit sky...

    Nie Tian was sitting on a rocky slope and looking into the heavens silently.

    This was the ce where hillynd met the wastnd. From here forward, he would have to travel on a vast in, where there would be no hills to block his pursuers¡¯ line of sight.

    During the past few days, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t found an opportunity to make a move on any Hunter teams.

    He had discovered via his Heaven Eyes that all the search teams he encountered had been equipped with powerful experts.

    Therefore, he couldn¡¯t kill more Hunters to shock and awe his pursuers.

    However, the good thing was the Hunters couldn¡¯t form a blockade around him now that they were traveling inrge groups.

    With a thought, he sent a wisp of his psychic power into his bracelet of holding, where about 300 oddly-shaped stones that contained star power were piled up at the most conspicuous location.

    In the next moment, one of them whizzed out.

    Holding the stone in his hand, Nie Tian looked up into the starry sky as he channelled the power from the stone into his vortex of star power, where he used it to condense stardew.

    Although he had tried to pry the source of those stones from the Scorpion members he had killed, they had told him that they had only snatched them from others.

    However, one thing the Scorpion members had been certain of was that those stones had been acquired from somewhere in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    During the past few days, Nie Tian had been cultivating with those stones day and night. As he did, the stardew at the bottom of his vortex of star power grew richer and richer.

    When he sensed that theke of stardew was full, he went ahead and expanded his vortex of star power with the star power he had acquired from the stones.

    In his senses, the spiritual sea in his dantian was like a big ocean.

    The vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power were like three continents, inside of which there were threekes, respectively filled with me essence, wood essence, and stardew.

    Every time he made a breakthrough, his spiritual sea, as well as the three vortexes within it and the three energykes within them, would be ready for a new round of expansion.

    However, he could only slowly stretch the boundaries of those energykes after filling them to the brim.

    When thekes were expanded to the limit, it would mean that he would have to wait for his next breakthrough to further their expansion.

    What he was doing now was using the strange stones to expand hiske of stardew to the limit.

    As he did that, he also sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the fragmentary star mark on his chest to learn the profound mysteries of the Stardew magic. In that way, he would soon have enough stardew to practice the magic with, and thus be able to master it within the shortest time possible.

    An unknown period of time passed...

    While he was in the middle of his cultivation, he discovered via one of his Heaven Eyes that a team of Hunters was marching towards him.

    There weren¡¯t any Greater Heaven stage orte Heaven stage experts on that team.

    If there were no mishaps, Nie Tian would have no problem annihting the team.

    ¡°This is strange. Don¡¯t they ever learn?¡± He rose to his feet and let out a coldugh before he snuck towards them.

 Chapter 297: A Trap

    It was a team of four Hunters.

    Three of them were at the middle Heaven stage, and one was at the early Heaven stage, the same as Nie Tian.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, their team were so weak that they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against him.

    It had been a long time since he had encountered a Hunter team as weak as them.

    Nie Tian was somewhat confused that with their puny battle prowess, they actually dared to roam about among the hills.

    Therefore, he moved out without any hesitation.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    He began to summon power and form spiritual energy balls in his hand as he secretly approached the team of four, hoping he could finish them off as soon as possible.

    He even didn¡¯t intend to practice his battle skills on them, since they were probably too weak to take a single blow.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Three spiritual energy balls shot out simultaneously and exploded in midair before reaching the four of them.

    Multicolored light spots that contained different types of toxins and impurities sputtered in every direction, enveloping the team like a glorious rain.

    ¡°Ah!! It¡¯s Hua Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s attacking us!¡±

    The entire team screamed as they madly summoned their spiritual power to power their protective light shields, so that they could resist the corrosion of the impurities.

    Cracking sounds echoed out from their light shields, as it seemed that the protective shields they had formed with their own spiritual power were too weak facing such strong corrosion. Momentster, fissures began to appear on them.

    At that moment, Nie Tian appeared in front of them, enveloped by his chaotic maic field. He continued to create more spiritual energy balls and use them to bombard his enemies. ¡°You lot don¡¯t fear death, huh?¡±

    After the series of spiritual energy balls exploded, the countless multicolored light spotspletely engulfed the team of four Hunters.

    The light shields of the two middle Heaven stage Hunters were the first to fail. The moment they shattered, the two Hunters¡¯ fleshy bodies were exposed to a storm of corrosive toxins.

    The two of them dropped to the ground and screamed miserably, their eyes filled with rage and confusion.

    However, strangely, from the beginning till the end, they red at the early Heaven stage man on their team instead of Nie Tian.

    The rage in their eyes made it clear that they were waiting for him to save them, but he didn¡¯t do a thing, and watched them die.

    ¡°Xiao Lin!¡± Thest standing middle Heaven stage Hunter shouted, his eyes also fixed on the early Heaven stage man on their team. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±

    As their enemy, Nie Tian was immediately confused by the abnormal scene.

    It obviously didn¡¯t make sense that all three middle Heaven stage hunters were enraged by their own teammate instead of Nie Tian.

    At that moment, Nie Tian subconsciously began to measure up the man they referred to as Xiao Lin, who was also at the early Heaven stage.

    The man looked rather unimpressive and mediocre. If he was among a crowd of people, he would be easily ignored.

    Considering that he had amoner¡¯s look, an unimpressive cultivation base, and a mediocre physique, what made his three teammates so angry at him?

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The spiritual power shield around Xiao Lin was like giant, upside-down bowl over his head.

    It was constantly twisting and flickering due to the strong corrosion of the bright spots, as if it would burst at any moment.

    However, Nie Tian observed for a while, and discovered that even though it looked like a candle in the wind, which could go out at any moment, it actually was very resilient.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± The man named Xiao Lin said indifferently with an expressionless face. ¡°You¡¯re nothing but expendable bait. You¡¯ve already lost your value now that Hua Tian has shown himself.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± The man blurted, fuming with rage.

    Xiao Lin shook his head and said no more. He lifted his left arm, which was entwined by a few bands of spiritual power, and shot the bands that resembled snakes of light toward the Hunter next to him.

    BANG!!!

    The middle Heaven stage Hunter¡¯s shield, which he had been struggling to keep intact, instantly burst, and the multicolored impurities flooded him in the next moment.

    Before he died, he let out frenzied roars, ¡°You¡¯ll burn in hell, Xiao Lin! Hua Tian! He¡¯s been brought here by the Fang to kill you. Run, quickly!¡±

    ¡°You talk too much!¡± Xiao Lin twitched his mouth as three beams of bright light shot out of his fingertips.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Three bloody holes appeared in the man¡¯s chest, and he couldn¡¯t say another word or make another sound.

    However, Nie Tian had already sensed the danger.

    Without any thought, he condensed another spiritual energy ball and cast it towards Xiao Lin, before he dashed away at the fastest speed possible.

    ¡°The woman from the Fang paid a big price for me to catch you,¡± Xiao Lin said with a frown. ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯m not that fond of the Fang. However, you¡¯re the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder, and very close to that little bastard, Cai Yuan. That being the case, I can¡¯t really say no to their offer.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t listen to any of this and continued to run away at full speed.

    By the time Xiao Lin finished talking, Nie Tian was already several hundred meters away from him and still increasing the distance between the two of them.

    However, Xiao Lin didn¡¯t seem concerned at all.

    With an expressionless face, he took a deep breath, and his body suddenly expanded like an inted balloon. In the next moment, he shrank back to his original size.

    Just like that, his body expanded and shrank. With every repetition, the intensity of the life aura Xiao Lin released to his surroundings grew by a great extent.

    Via the Heaven Eye Nie Tian had left in Xiao Lin¡¯s location, he could clearly feel Xiao Lin¡¯s cultivation base rise from the early Heaven stage to the middle Greater Heaven stage after only a few repetitions.

    While running, Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim, as he was struck by the feeling that he had just made a rookie mistake. ¡°Dammit! He¡¯s actually a middle Greater Heaven stage expert!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know what kind of strange incantation Xiao Lin practiced that somehow even clouded his Heaven Eye¡¯s judgment, and made him believe that he was only at the early Heaven stage.

    SHEW!

    Xiao Lin, who had shown his true colors, let out a cold harrumph and shot out of the mist of multicolored impurities like a bolt of lightning.

    In the blink of an eye, the distance between him and Nie Tian was shortened.

    Xiao Lin had his eyes fixed on Nie Tian while a meaningful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, as if he was a cat and Nie Tian was a mouse. Then, he licked his lips with a brutal look in his eyes.

    Xiao Lin¡¯s disdainful voice rang out from behind Nie Tian, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have gotten so close to the Blood Skull, brat. You have only yourself to me.¡± He was still hundreds of meters away from Nie Tian, but it sounded as if he was whispering right into his ears.

    Xiao Lin¡¯s piercing, eagle-like gaze seemed to have locked on to Nie Tian. Wherever Nie Tian went, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape his sight.

    As he chased after Nie Tian, he unleashed a strange murderous aura, which tailed Nie Tian like an invisible thread, keeping a close watch on every move he made.

    Nie Tian constantly changed his direction as he tried to take advantage of the hilly terrain and lose Xiao Lin.

    However, not only did he fail to lose him, but the distance between them was even further shortened.

    Seeing that Xiao Lin was now only a couple of hundred meters behind him, Nie Tian had a grim expression on his face as he began to summon the different types of power from his spiritual sea.

    As his spiritual power poured madly into his legs, he traveled like a bird attempting to fly. He could sail through the air for a short while before the tip of his foot gently tapped on the ground, propelling him to shoot forward like an arrow leaving a bowstring.

    He was already doing everything within his power to run away from Xiao Lin. However, Xiao Lin¡¯s lowughter continued to ring in his ears, along with his taunting, ¡°You can¡¯t get away, brat. I admit that you¡¯re much faster and stronger than other early Heaven stage kids, but so what?

    ¡°You haven¡¯t studied the art of movement. You don¡¯t have any profound movement skills. However, even if you knew any, it wouldn¡¯t change the result. Your cultivation base is still far lower than mine.

    ¡°In a moment, I¡¯ll catch you and give you to the woman from the Fang.

    ¡°She has already spread the word that once she catches you, she¡¯ll let you have a taste of all the cruelest punishments there are.¡±

    Xiao Lin never stopped provoking Nie Tian with his words. As he shortened the distance between him and Nie Tian, he attempted to get under Nie Tian¡¯s skin and break his fighting spirit so that he wouldn¡¯t be able to disy his full strength in the real fight.

    If he seeded, he would be able to finish the job more speedily and effortlessly.

    ¡°Profound movement skills?¡± After hearing Xiao Lin¡¯s words, Nie Tian suddenly remembered the Starshift magic he had been studying during the past few days.

    He had already learned the method and principles by heart. However, because he had been expanding hiske of stardew, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to practice it yet.

    Now, Xiao Lin was gradually gaining on him. If he was caught by this middle Greater Heaven stage expert, his chances of returning to Shatter City alive would be very slim.

    Furthermore, he had the feeling that Song Li and her subordinate had already received word of their encounter, and were either traveling towards him or setting up blockade in the vicinity.

    ¡°I have to lose this man as soon as possible! I can¡¯t afford to wait any longer. I need to use Starshift even though I haven¡¯t mastered it. It¡¯s my only hope to turn the situation around!¡±

    After Nie Tian secretly made up his mind, he began to summon star power from his vortex of star power as he ran at full speed.

 Chapter 298: Starshift!

    There were twopletely different ways to cast Starshift.

    One was to pour star power into his legs and conduct short but frequent shifts of location; the other was to circte star power all over his body and conduct a single, long shift from one location to another.

    Nie Tian chose the second.

    Using this method, Nie Tian channeled star power from his vortex of star power and rapidly filled every inch of himself with it.

    Bits of starlight rushed madly within his internal organs, bones, and meridians, putting his fleshy body under great pressure.

    The moment he cast the spell, he felt a heart-wrenching pain, as if his body was being ripped apart from the inside.

    The agony not only made him lose his calm state of mind, but even his sight began to grow blurry because of it.

    He had to use his Heaven Eye to lock down a target location. As soon as he did, a unbelievably strong force was born within the bits of starlight that were flowing inside of him like a river of stars.

    In the next moment, the hills he was surrounded by rapidly disappeared from his sight; all the hills whizzed past in front of his eyes faster than shooting stars.

    As it happened, the pain was aggravated. His skin split open and bloody wounds appeared on his iparably strong body.

    FIZZ!

    In Xiao Lin¡¯s eyes, the dashing Nie Tian seemed to have suddenly turned into a dazzling ball of light, which disappeared into thin air in the blink of an eye.

    The ball of light vanished so abruptly that Xiao Lin couldn¡¯t even tell which direction Nie Tian had gone in.

    He came to a stop.

    Standing in the location where Nie Tian had vanished, he had aplicated and grim expression on his face.

    ¡°Such an amazing escape magic!¡± After a long period of silence, he murmured quietly, as if he still couldn¡¯t believe what he had just seen.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Just as he was wracking his brains for an answer, Song Li and Han Mu dashed to his side, along with a few other Fang members. They formed a half circle around him as they looked at him, frowning.

    Xiao Lin had secretly sent a message to Song Li the moment he had sensed Nie Tian. After receiving the message, Song Li rapidly arranged for Fang members to spread out and form a two-kilometer-wide blockade around Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    In that way, no matter which direction Nie Tian fled in, he would have ended up getting entangled with Fang members.

    Once Nie Tian had been stopped, more Fang members would rush over and throw themselves on him. Then, Song Li and Han Mu would also arrive.

    Upon her arrival, however, Song Li frowned deeply and asked, ¡°Where is he? Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯ve lost him!¡±

    Xiao Lin seemed somewhat frustrated as he said, ¡°...He used a very strange escape magic and vanished from my sight. Tell your people to spread out and search the vicinity.

    ¡°Hua Tian¡¯s cultivation base is quite low. Even though he escaped by relying on his strange magic, he still can¡¯t get very far from here.

    ¡°Plus, this kind of instant escape magic will usually cause great damage to the caster¡¯s body.

    ¡°The longer he goes, the more damage will be done to his body. Wherever he is, he must be in a bad state. As long as we can find him, we¡¯ll be able to catch him effortlessly.¡±

    Song Li gritted her white teeth as she let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Escape magic?! If we can¡¯t find him and capture him, the deal between us is off!¡±

    With these words, she immediately took out her Sound Stone and issued orders to the Fang members in the vicinity.

    After receiving her orders, the Fang members, as well as a handful of other Hunter organizations, shrank their blockade circle and conducted an inch-by-inch search.

    About fifteen minutester...

    Song Li didn¡¯t receive any word regarding Nie Tian¡¯s whereabouts from the Fang members or the leaders of the Hunter organizations.

    They couldn¡¯t find Nie Tian anywhere in the blockade.

    It was as if Nie Tian hadpletely vanished.

    Song Li red at Xiao Lin and said, ¡°There¡¯s no sign of him!¡±

    Xiao Lin¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°If he¡¯s not in the blockade circle, it means that his escape magic is so powerful that it allowed him to shift out of your blockade circle. However, if that¡¯s the case, the injuries he caused to himself by using this magic will be even worse.

    ¡°You canmand your people to spread out and search in further areas. You should be able to find him that way.¡±

    Song Li¡¯s ample chest rose as she took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡¯ll trust you this onest time!¡±

    Then, she issued new orders to the Fang members and the other Hunter organizations, instructing them to conduct searches in further areas.

    At the same time...

    Nie Tian was sitting at the foot of a hill, five kilometers from where Song Li and Xiao Lin were. He felt as if he had just fallen from the heavens. He grimaced over the pain; he felt dizzy, and blood kept flowing out of the corner of his mouth.

    He struggled to his feet and gently moved his arms and legs, which made him ache all over.

    He discovered that some of his fine meridians and thin bones had been ruptured or broken due to his use of Starshift.

    After a deeper examination, he found that even his internal organs had sustained different degrees of injuries.

    At this moment, his physical condition was only slightly better than it had been right after his battle with Li Langfeng.

    However, he hadn¡¯t consumed too much of his spiritual power. Only the stardew in his vortex of star power had dropped by about thirty percent.

    The single, long-range Starshift alone had cost him thirty percent of the stardew stockpile he had gone to great lengths to umte.

    Meanwhile, his iparably resilient body had sustained severe injuries because of it as well, which he could only recover through time and consumption of great amounts of spirit beast meat.

    ¡°Did I cast the Starshift sessfully this time, or did I fail?

    ¡°I¡¯ve burnt up such a dreadful amount of stardew and caused such serious damage to my body.

    ¡°Does it mean that I did it wrong?¡±

    With these thoughts, he sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the fragmentary star mark on his chest.

    He instantly found that, in the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, almost half of the ancient symbols that carried the Starshift magic had already disappeared.

    ¡°I did it!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s mind shook violently.

    From his previous experience with Starstrike, he had learned that only when he had sessfully cast the magic would the ancient symbols branded in the fragmentary star mark disappear.

    The fact that part of the record regarding Starshift was gone meant that he had sessfully cast the magic.

    However, he had never expected that a single use of the magic would inflict so much damage to his own body. He had assumed that he had suffered from a bacsh after failing to cast the magic properly.

    At this moment, he realized that the injuries to his physical body were probably the price he had to pay to use this escape magic.

    While he was contemting, his seven Heaven Eyes finally flew to where he was from his original location, following his aura.

    When they flew close enough, the connection between them and Nie Tian was reestablished.

    Via those Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian soon discovered that scattered Blood Hand and Scorpion Hunter teams were traveling at high speeds and shouting nonstop as they searched for him in the vicinity. Furthermore, they had Greater Heaven stage experts on their teams.

    That was when he realized that not only had he lost Xiao Lin, but he was also out of the blockade circle the Fang had set up for him, so they had spread out, and were searching for him again.

    ¡°Passing the blockade and escaping from the deadly situation at the price of some fleshy wounds, it¡¯s totally worth it!¡± Aftering to this realization, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. He once again summoned his strength to run at full speed despite the excruciating pain to his body, lest he be discovered by members of the Blood Hand or the Scorpion.

    In Shatter City...

    After months of traveling, the first exploration groups to have returned from the Void Illusion Mountain Range made it back to Shatter City.

    After returning to the city, every single one of them said that it had been a rather lucky trip for them, since they hadn¡¯t encountered any powerful Hunters on their way back.

    Soon after they came back, a message spread out to every corner of Shatter City.

    Many Hunter organizations were searching for a young man named Hua Tian outside the city, and the initiator of the search was the Fang, the most dangerous among all the Hunter organizations.

    They also suggested that people in Shatter City who wished to go on exploration trips should move out as soon as possible.

    While the Fang and other powerful Hunter organizations were focused on searching for Hua Tian, it would be the safest time for other explorers to march into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Within a short time, Hua Tian became a household name in Shatter City. It wasn¡¯t long before the Blood Skull also got the news.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡±

    Upon hearing the news, Shi Qing¡¯s expression flickered as he rushed towards Pei Qiqi and Li Ye¡¯s residence without any dy.

 Chapter 299: Sensation

    Li Ye¡¯s hair was so messy that his head looked like a bird¡¯s nest when he walked to the residence gate. He seemed somewhat displeased after seeing that it was Shi Qing at the gate. ¡°My senior martial sister is in the middle of her secluded cultivation. I don¡¯t think she¡¯sing out anytime soon. What do you want?¡±

    Li Ye knew that Pei Qiqi had been chased and badly wounded by Li Langfeng in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    He attributed it to the Blood Skull¡¯s ipetence. She had only been in such great danger because the Blood Skull had failed to protect her.

    He also assumed that the fact that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t returned yet had something to do with the Blood Skull as well.

    ¡°We¡¯ve received word regarding Hua Tian,¡± Shi Qing said.

    Li Ye¡¯s expression slightly flickered as he said, ¡°Hua Tian! What is it? Didn¡¯t he choose to walk back to Shatter City by himself instead of using your teleportation portal?¡±

    Shi Qing knew that even though Li Ye was concerned about Nie Tian, he spent most of his time forging equipment in his own residence, and seldom paid attention to word on the street.

    From the look of it, Li Ye hadn¡¯t heard the news yet. Therefore, Shi Qing exined everything he had learned from the returning exploration teams to him at great length.

    bbergasted, Li Ye eximed, ¡°What?! All the Hunter teams that roam outside Shatter City are looking for Hua Tian? What the hell did he do to offend all the Hunter organizations?! Now that you¡¯ve got the news, what¡¯s your n?¡±

    Li Ye asked a series of questions without stopping.

    Shi Qing looked at him with a examining gaze and saw through his anxiety. Then, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What exactly is the rtionship between you and Hua Tian?¡±

    Both Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had been treating Nie Tian quite favorably, which was very confusing to Shi Qing.

    Throughout the years he had lived in Shatter City, Shi Qing had never seen Pei Qiqi or Li Ye attach such great importance to anyone. Their special care for Nie Tian made him wonder.

    Li Ye let out a snort and said, ¡°Hua Tian was entrusted to us by an old friend of our master¡¯s. Now that you know that those Hunters are trying to capture Hua Tian, what¡¯s the Blood Skull¡¯s stance? I heard that Hua Tian has acquired one of your guest elder¡¯s identity medallions, so he can be considered as half a member now. Do you n to sit and watch, or do you n to send out rescue teams?¡±

    Without any hesitation, Shi Qing said, ¡°I¡¯ve already reported to the head. We¡¯ll organize a cleansing operation against the Hunters that roam outside the city. Although we¡¯ll call it a cleansing operation against the Hunters, it¡¯ll actually be an operation designed to rescue Hua Tian!¡±

    The head of the Blood Skull had only granted their proposal to organize this operation because of Gu Yu and Shi Qing¡¯s strong stance on it.

    Shi Qing had fully acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess after their fight against Li Langfeng. He was convinced that, given a few more years, Nie Tian would grow into a bright star in the entire Realm of Split Void.

    The fact that Nie Tian was close to Pei Qiqi and Li Ye, and that Cai Yuan spoke highly of him, also yed an important part in the approval of Shi Qing and Gu Yu¡¯s proposal.

    Li Ye¡¯s originally-cold face turned warmer as he said, ¡°I see, so what do you want us to do?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯vee to see if Miss Pei can join our rescue team so you can see how determined we are to get him back.¡± Shi Qing said.

    ¡°My senior martial sister is in the middle of her secluded cultivation. I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Li Ye looked up into the sky and said, ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that those damn Hunters would go all-out to capture Hua Tian... They must be crazy!¡±

    He was curious as to what Nie Tian had done in the Void Illusion Mountain Range that had angered all of the Hunters.

    Shi Qing nodded. ¡°Good."

    Soon, under his lead, the two of them arrived at the city gate where Liu Kang and several dozen more Blood Skull members were gathered.

    A momentter, Cai Yuan came as well. He had teleported back from the Void Illusion Mountain Range the moment he heard about the operation.

    Many Blood Skull members were discussing it.

    ¡°I heard that this cleansing operation is actually for the purpose of rescuing Hua Tian.¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian?¡±

    ¡°The guy who angered the Fang and now has all of the Hunter organizations looking for him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s him!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said that our young lord has already made him a guest elder. Now, he¡¯s the one with the lowest cultivation base among all of our guest elders. I don¡¯t understand. He¡¯s only at the early Heaven stage. Why in the world would the Hunters make such a big fuss about him and go through so much trouble to capture him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it beats me.¡±

    Recently, they had heard many stories about Nie Tian from the returning explorers.

    They were all very confused about how a young man with such a low cultivation base could have made himself the primary enemy for so many Hunter organizations, making them give up all their other prey and focus solely on searching for him.

    ¡°Open the gate! Let¡¯s move out!¡± Cai Yuan said loudly. Wearing unified garments, the several dozen Blood Skull members created light shields of different colors around them one after another before they charged out of the opened gate.

    ...

    Song Li was stamping with fury in the hilly area.

    She had mobilized every Hunter organization that answered to her to search for Nie Tian, who she believed had already sustained serious injuries.

    However, he seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

    During the past two days, all the Hunter organizations had spread out and conducted an unprecedented,rge-scale search. However, they couldn¡¯t find a single trace of Nie Tian.

    ¡°Xiao Lin! Are you sure that Hua Tian has sustained severe injuries?¡± Song Li asked with a long face.

    She was standing atop a high hill where there was nothing that could block her sight, and she could see the wastnd that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    Xiao Lin, who was originally very confident that they could locate and capture Nie Tian within a short time, also began to question his own judgment after their fruitless, two-day search.

    Xiao Lin sighed and said with a frown, ¡°Normally speaking, after using a powerful escape magic to get out of your sizable blockade, he should have suffered a bacsh so strong that he wouldn¡¯t even be able to walk. However, it¡¯s been two days, and we still haven¡¯t found any traces of him. That Hua Tian is indeed quite unique.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you that he¡¯s not an ordinary man!!¡± Song Li tried her best to suppress her anger. ¡°If he were an ordinary early Heaven stage cultivator, how could he have made such fools out of us and so many Hunter organizations? And how could he have single-handedly killed thosete Heaven stage experts who are two levels higher than him?¡±

    Xiao Lin pondered in silence for a while and said, ¡°I might have underestimated his capabilities. However, there¡¯s no need to worry. It¡¯s natural that he can find ces to hide in such hilly terrain. Also, the ups and downs have limited my performance. Whether he wants to or not, he¡¯ll need to cross that vast wastnd to return to Shatter City. When he does, I¡¯ll be able to locate and capture him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve set up many hidden spell formations that I use to capture living beings in the wastnd. Once Hua Tian sets foot into the wastnd, some of my spell formations will definitely sense his presence and give us his location.

    ¡°At that time, I¡¯ll find him, and I won¡¯t give him another chance to use his escape magic!¡±

    ¡°I hope things will work out this time!¡± Song Li didn¡¯t seem pleased at all. She used her Sound Stone to inform her subordinates and the other Hunter organizations to abandon their search in the hilly area and march into the wastnd, where they would wait for Nie Tian to tumble into their trap.

    ¡°You can rest assured. Now that I¡¯ve given you my word, there¡¯s no way he¡¯ll make it back to Shatter City alive.¡± Xiao Lin sounded extremely confident.

 Chapter 300: Short-range Shift

    Nie Tian, who had been ying with the Fang and other Hunter organizations for quite some time, didn¡¯t march into the wastnd immediately after breaking free from their blockade.

    He lingered in the border area.

    After roaming for a few days, he gradually discovered that the search teams he could detect in the area had be fewer and fewer in number, until one day they werepletely gone.

    Only at that time did Nie Tian slightly let his guard down.

    During this period of time, he had been ying hide and seek with those Hunters, relying on his Heaven Eyes while bearing strong bodily pain.

    After being tricked by Xiao Lin, he had be much more cautious. He had stood down even when he encountered weak Hunter teams.

    Whenever he had the chance, he would consumerge amounts of spirit beast meat so that he could absorb the rich flesh power to fix his fleshy injuries.

    After a few days, the injuries he had sustained by casting Starshift gradually recovered.

    Meanwhile, the green aura in his heart, which had shown its endless need for flesh power, seemed to be sensible of Nie Tian¡¯s poor condition, and thus stopped devouring the newly-generated flesh power.

    All the flesh power Nie Tian had acquired from the spirit beast meat went straight towards his wounded parts, where the ruptured meridians and bones were rapidly healed.

    Soon, night fell...

    Chilly moonlight poured down from the heavens. Numerous brilliant stars were shining in the night sky.

    Nie Tian was sitting in the shadow of a hill, absorbing the copious amount of star power from a strangely-shaped stone in his hand.

    The star power he had consumed to cast Starshift had long since been restored.

    Therefore, the star power he channeled from the stone into his vortex of star power was refined round after round before turning into stardew and falling into theke of stardew.

    After some time, theke of stardew was filled to the brim. As he continued to fill it with more star power, it began to slowly expand.

    After a while, the stone in his hand cracked, and he took out another one from his bracelet of holding, his eyes glittering with the light of excitement. ¡°These stones have indeed greatly improved my efficiency.¡±

    He had a feeling that it wouldn¡¯t take long for him to expand hiske of stardew to the limit with the help of these miraculous stones.

    By that time, his vortex of star power would be ready for his breakthrough from the early Heaven stage to the middle Heaven stage.

    When he returned to Shatter City, he would be able to concentrate solely on refining his vortexes of me, wood, and spiritual power.

    Spiritual materials of the fire and wood attributes could be found in Shatter City fairly easily. He wouldn¡¯t need to worry that he would run out of them.

    In Shatter City, he could also rent the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms. By doing that, he would be able to cultivate his spiritual sea more efficiently, and ready himself for his next breakthrough.

    ¡°Wait, Starshift!¡± With a thought, Nie Tian sent a wisp of psychic awareness into the fragmentary star mark in his chest, where he began to review the other method to cast Starshift.

    He had read and learned the method of casting the short-range Starshift as well, but he hadn¡¯t had a chance to practice it.

    His recent experience with the long-range Starshift made him realize that not only could he use it to lose his pursuer, but he could also use it to escape the blockade his enemy had set for him.

    Only then did he realize that Starshift could be used as a powerful life-saving magic.

    Therefore, he was determined to thoroughly learn and master both casting methods before returning to Shatter City.

    During the following days, he remained in the hilly area and cultivated day and night. With no more threats from searching Hunters, he focused on condensing stardew while contemting the other method to cast Starshift.

    Time flew, and several days passed...

    Nie Tian had long since healed his physical wounds through consumingrge amounts of spirit beast meat.

    Afterwards, he consumed some more spirit beast meat and used the essence of flesh and blood to nurture the green aura in his heart.

    After using a number of stones that contained rich star power, the expansion of hiske of stardew had reached its limit.

    That was when he realized that he could put his cultivation of the Fragmentary Star Incantation on hold for a while.

    Hence, he used all of his time and energy to practice Starshift.

    Standing atop a hill, bathed in silky moonlight, Nie Tian took a deep breath as he began to summon star power.

    In the next moment, countless shiny sparks of starlight flew out from within the vortex of star power in his spiritual sea.

    He suddenly had a feeling that he had be as light as a feather, as if he had escaped the leash of gravity.

    ¡°Starshift!¡± As soon as the thought appeared in his mind, the bits of starlight in his legs realigned and formed a mysterious formation of stars, which seemed to give rise to a strong driving force.

    SHEW!

    In a split second, he disappeared from his original location and reappeared in another location.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Whichever destination his Heaven Eyes locked on to, his body would appear in the next moment, as if he was swiftly teleporting from location to location.

    Like invisible stars, his seven Heaven Eyes provided him with guidance. Once they floated to a location and determined a destination, a profound connection would be instantly established between them and Nie Tian. In the next moment, he would appear in the target location.

    It was a mysterious feeling.

    It was as if a special, intangible path was created between his location and his destination, allowing him to shift to his destination at lightning speed.

    In a small area under one of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes, everything started to grow blurry. Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian appeared out of nowhere. It was a rather strange scene.

    ¡°Three hundred meters!¡± Nie Tian estimated the distance he had just covered before he cast another Starshift towards a further destination.

    SHEW!

    When he appeared, he discovered that he was still about seventy meters away from his destination.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After a few more tests, he realized that, considering his current cultivation base and the strength of his fleshy body, the effective range of his short-range Starshift was about 330 meters.

    Only within this range would he be able to shift from one location to another with absolute precision.

    Once he targeted a location that exceeded this range, he would still be able to cast the magic, but he might not be able to appear right at the targeted location. Some deviation might ur.

    It seemed that the short-range Starshift was more designed for battle purposes than escapes.

    However, he had to be careful with it, since the slightest miscalction of the distance could achieve the opposite result, and end up putting him in danger.

    After a few dozen attempts, he gradually got the hang of it. Then, with a thought, he sent a wisp of psychic power to examine the fragmentary star mark on his chest.

    Just as he had expected, the remaining half of the ancient symbols that had recorded Starshift were already gone.

    This meant that he had mastered both methods to cast Starshift.

    Eyes narrowed, he conducted a thorough examination of himself to see if he had undergone any changes.

    He discovered that, after using Starshift several dozen times, he had consumed about seventy percent of his star power, as well as a substantial amount of flesh power. Both were within eptable ranges, however.

    This meant that, during a battle, if he couldn¡¯tunch Starstrikes to attack his enemy, he would still be able to use Starshifts repeatedly.

    ¡°Two kinds of Starshifts. One can be used for escaping. Using it will immediately inflict serious damage to myself, so I¡¯d better not use it unless I have to.

    ¡°The other can be used for battle purposes. If I use it along with the chaotic maic field, the result might be outstanding. It will allow me to handle multiple enemies, or confuse one enemy in battle.

    ¡°The Fragmentary Star Incantation from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is indeed a rare gift to this world. No wonder the Heaven Pce Sect and the other powerful forces in the nine realms exerted all their power to fight for it!¡±

    Even though he had only mastered Starstrike and Starshift, Nie Tian had already realized how powerful the Fragmentary Star Incantation was. He knew that now, with those two magics at his disposal, his battle prowess had risen to a whole new level. And he hadn¡¯t even fully mastered the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation yet.

    ¡°A profound legacy from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce indeed!¡± Nie Tian looked up into the starry sky and recalled his experience in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and how it had sailed away and disappeared into the deepest parts of the heavens. He had a feeling that it must still exist somewhere in this universe, and after mastering Starstrike and Starshift, he was now a part of some mysterious sect.

    ¡°Hopefully, I can be powerful enough to travel across the boundless starry river someday. By that time, I might be able to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars and soar in the vast ocean of stars.

    ¡°Perhaps, I¡¯ll be able to see the Fragmentary Star Incantation again, and even meet other people who also cultivate the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°That would be terrific!¡±

    With a yearning expression on his face, Nie Tian looked up into the starry sky, immersed in his dreams.

    A long time passed. The stars and the crescent moon faded away, and day broke. Only then did he wake from his dreams.

    ¡°It¡¯s dawn already...¡± He smiled heartily before casting Starshift another time. His figure blurred and, in the next moment, he appeared at a location more than 300 meters away.

    After that, he threw his head back and let out a longugh. Figuring that he had better not waste his star power, he ran towards the endless wastnd and started the second half of his return journey.

 Chapter 301: New Siege!

    At this moment, Li Langfeng, the poison master, was also running through the hilly area at full speed. asionally, he would sail through the air like a shooting star.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± With a grim expression on his face, he chewed on Nie Tian¡¯s name, mes of anger burning in his eyes.

    During his fruitless search in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, he had identally heard that the Fang and other Hunter organizations were looking for a young man in the hilly area and wastnd between the Void Illusion Mountain Range and Shatter City.

    The young man¡¯s name was Hua Tian!

    In Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes, since Nie Tian was capable of concentrating the poisonous spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, he was none other than a precious gift from god!

    The special incantation he practiced used a particr type of toxin within the poisonous spiritual Qi as a power resource. Therefore, if Nie Tian could cooperate, his battle prowess and cultivation base would improve at a much faster rate.

    He was aware that the poison incantation he practiced had caused great damage to his body, which was probably beyond cure.

    However, as long as he could raise his cultivation base and battle prowess to the point where he could kill the man he had been wanting to kill his entire life, he would be satisfied.

    He was willing to give up everything he had, including his own life, to achieve that goal.

    However, Nie Tian was the key person who could help him achieve that goal at a much earlier date.

    Therefore, the moment he learned that Nie Tian had left the Void Illusion Mountain Range and embarked upon his journey back to Shatter City, he left the mountain range headed directly towards Nie Tian, just like what the Fang and Song Li had done.

    ¡°The Fang,¡± Li Langfeng said to himself with a cold expression, wreathed in an extremely intense killing intent. ¡°You¡¯d better keep Hua Tian alive for me. If not, you¡¯ll be meeting him in theherworld soon!¡±

    In the boundless wastnd...

    Xiao Lin¡¯s eyes were closed as he was resting his mind. Meanwhile, he was holding a snake-shaped jade pendant in his left hand.

    Every time he stroked it, the small, green jade snake seemed to respond by wiggling slightly.

    Standing next to him, Song Li looked rather exhausted. ¡°It¡¯s been ten days already, and there¡¯s still no word.¡± It seemed as if her torrential rage had somewhat calmed after searching for such a long time.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was no longer just a man who she wanted to retaliate against.

    To her, Nie Tian had already be a tough challenge in her life. If she couldn¡¯t find Nie Tian and torture him to the death, he would be her internal demon, which would prevent her from concentrating on her cultivation and moving on to the next level.

    Nie Tian was like a grindstone which she need to use to temper herself and make her sharper as a de.

    She had sworn to herself that she would cross this barrier, no matter how tough it was.

    Han Mu slightly bowed as he attempted tofort her. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much, Miss. ording to what we¡¯ve learned, Hua Tian hasn¡¯t entered the wastnd yet. Mr. Xiao is probably right. He must have sustained serious injuries after using that powerful magic of his to escape our blockade. He must be licking his wounds somewhere in the hilly area. When he¡¯s recovered, he¡¯ll definitely have to pass through this wastnd to return to Shatter City.

    ¡°Once he sets foot in the wastnd, as resourceful as Mr. Xiao is, he¡¯ll surely sense his presence and track him down.

    ¡°At that time, we won¡¯t give him another chance to slip through our fingers. We¡¯ll capture him and let you have your revenge.¡±

    At that moment, Xiao Lin, who was stroking the snake-shaped jade pendant in his hand, said, ¡°I promise you that as long as Hua Tian dares to enter the wastnd, I¡¯ll have him captured before he gets back to Shatter City.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the hope,¡± Song Li said with an indifferent tone.

    For some reason, as time passed and she failed over and over, she didn¡¯t seem as confident as she was before.

    Ever since she had made her moves on Shen Wei and the others on his team, Nie Tian had repeatedly beaten her and had his way.

    Later, when she hadmanded all the Fang members to search for him, she had failed to find him again.

    Nie Tian, however, had been moving like a shadow. Not only had he ruined her hunting ns, but he had even had many female members killed, including her maidservant, Lu Yan.

    After that, when she had mobilized numerous Hunter organizations, she had figured that they would definitely capture Nie Tian.

    However, once again, she had failed.

    Eventually, when she had persuaded Xiao Lin to join her cause, she had possessed total confidence that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have any chance to escape this time.

    The result, however, turned out to be the same. The consecutive failures made Song Li feel extremely frustrated. She even began to doubt herself, thinking she might not be the omnipotent person she thought she was, and that she might not be so good at manipting people after all.

    She had a feeling that if she let Nie Tian return to Shatter City, Nie Tian would be her lifetime nightmare.

    With these thoughts, she gritted her teeth as she once again fumed with rage.

    ¡°I won¡¯t leave the Realm of Split Void before Hua Tian is dead!¡± She swore in her heart, eyes emanating a bone-piercing, cold light.

    CHING!

    At that very moment, Han Mu received a message via his Sound Stone.

    He listened with rapt attention. Several secondster, his expression changed as he turned to Song Li and said in a soft voice, ¡°Bad news.¡±

    Both Song Li and Xiao Lin turned to look at him.

    With a bitter expression on his face, Han Mu said, ¡°Cai Yuan and Shi Qing have gathered a group of Blood Skull members andunched another cleansing operation against Hunter organizations outside of Shatter City. But actually, it seems that the real purpose of their operation is to rescue Hua Tian!¡±

    ¡°The Blood Skull!¡± Both Song Li and Xiao Lin¡¯s expressions flickered, brows knitted.

    Xiao Lin took a deep breath and said, ¡°Things have just beplicated. I didn¡¯t know Cai Yuan valued that kid so much that he would actually organize a new round of cleansing against us just to save him. We need to find him as soon as possible. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be much more difficult if the Blood Skull people are here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have a way to kill him as long as you can locate him for me!¡± Song Li said through gritted teeth.

    ¡°If he dares to set foot in the wastnd, I¡¯ll definitely be able to locate him. You can be assured of that!¡± Xiao Lin replied.

    ¡°Time is of the essence,¡± Song Li said. ¡°We can¡¯t afford to wait much longer!¡±

    ¡°That would depend on when Hua Tian woulde to the wastnd.¡± Xiao Li also sensed the intractability of the matter.

    Half a day passed as the three of them sat there and waited...

    During this period of time, Han Mu took out his Sound Stone from time to time and listened to his subordinates¡¯ reports regarding the Blood Skull¡¯s newest actions.

    Many Hunter organizations began to have second thoughts after receiving the news that the Blood Skull were conducting a new round of cleansing against them while their actual purpose was to save Hua Tian.

    They gradually began to grovel to the Fang¡¯s face, while secretly cringing away from the parts where the Blood Skull headed.

    Their cowardly actions made Song Li stomp with fury. She imed that she would wipe out each and every organization that dared to disobey her after this operation was over.

    While Song Li was fuming with rage, the small, green snake within the jade pendant in Xiao Lin¡¯s hand suddenly began to wiggle violently.

    ¡°He¡¯s finally here!¡±

    ...

    At sundown, Nie Tian ran like a shuttle in the boundless wastnd.

    All of a sudden, the light shield around him, created by his jade bracelet, started to fluctuate slightly.

    rmed, he immediately came to a stop and scanned his surroundings with his Heaven Eyes.

    Several secondster, he didn¡¯t discover anything worth noting, so he shook his head and moved on.

    A long time after Nie Tian left, a thin bone rose out of the ground where he had stopped, on top of which was a gruesome, white banner.

    On the banner was the pattern of a small, life-like, green snake, which seemed to be gently wiggling its body as the banner fluttered against the wind. It seeming rather interesting.

    However, it only remained for a little while before it shrank back into the ground.

    After running for several dozen more kilometers in the vast wastnd, Nie Tian¡¯s protective light shield once again fluctuated abnormally.

    As he had done before, he stopped to scan the vicinity using his Heaven Eyes. Yet still, nothing was found.

    He shook his head and moved on.

    After that, the same thing happened a few more times where he had to stop and check, but just like before, he failed to find anything.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes could only detect the fluctuations of life auras and souls. Other subtle changes weren¡¯t in its detecting capability.

    That was why he usually used them to determine if there were living creatures in his surroundings.

    However, the multiple anomalies made him raise his guard, since he could feel that something bad was happening in the dark.

    ¡°Something is wrong. I haven¡¯t seen any Hunter organizations after entering the wastnd. Women like Song Li don¡¯t quit so easily. She must have cooked up some other ns.¡±

    ¡°That Xiao Lin person can hide his true cultivation base. He¡¯s also a tough figure. Now that he has made me his target, it doesn¡¯t seem likely that he would just give up.¡±

    ¡°Could the abnormal fluctuations of my light shield have something to do with those two?¡±

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim, as he seemed to have sensed the danger. Without any hesitation, he expanded the coverage of his Heaven Eyes to their limit, doing his best to detect any danger around him.

    A few days passed...

    He finally discovered the first team of Hunters after marching into the wastnd via his Heaven Eyes. He immediately changed directions to avoid them.

    However, after marching about a thousand meters after the turn, he discovered another team of Hunters.

    Therefore, he changed directions again.

    Just like that, soon after every time he made a turn, he would run into new Hunter teams.

    Nie Tian came to a realization. ¡°From the look of it, I¡¯m surrounded again.¡±

 Chapter 302: Trapped in Multiple Blockades

    With great caution, Nie Tian circled around the area, and soon realized that he was indeed under siege from every direction.

    The blockade Song Li had set for him this time was evenrger thanst time. Therefore, even if he decided to use the long-range Starshift again, he might not be able to escape from it.

    After a brief assessment, he was convinced that he might need tounch the long-range Starshift three times in a row to get out of the blockade.

    However, by doing that, not only would he basically drain all of his star power, but he would also sustain severe damage to himself.

    As tough and resilient as his body was, he doubted that he would be able to withstand the damage from three long-range Starshifts.

    Even if he could escape from the siege, it would be very likely that he wouldn¡¯t even be able to walk at that point.

    At that time, the Hunters in the vicinity would still be able to chase him down and catch him alive.

    ¡°This is a bit tricky.¡± Nie Tian frowned as he pondered the situation. Momentster, he decided not to use the long-range Starshift, but rather to find a weak point in the Hunters¡¯ blockade and break through from there.

    Even if he wanted to use long-range Starshift, he would have to approach the Hunter groups that made up the blockade and cast the spell from there. Only by doing that would he be able to arrive far enough out of the blockade.

    ¡°Perhaps I won¡¯t need to use long-range Starshift at all. When I¡¯m close enough to the blockade, I might have a chance at escaping just by using the short-range Starshift.¡±

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian soon targeted a group of Hunters in the blockade via his Heaven Eyes.

    It was a group of nine Hunters, with threete Heaven stage experts as their most powerful members.

    Considering their battle prowess, they didn¡¯t have what it took to injure or capture Nie Tian, but they might be able to stall him for a short while.

    Nie Tian rushed towards them without any hesitation.

    One of thete Heaven stage Hunters addressed his team members, ¡°Keep your eyes open, everyone! We¡¯ve finally trapped that Hua Tian person again. This is a moment of sess or failure!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not the strongest team. ording to what we¡¯ve learned from the Fang, that kid has a special tool that can detect life auras.

    ¡°He might be able to determine our battle prowess with it as well, so it¡¯s very likely that he¡¯ll choose to break through at our part of the blockade!

    ¡°The Fang even brought Xiao Lin here to deal with Hua Tian, which shows their great determination. Furthermore, the Blood Skull ising at us. We need to capture Hua Tian as soon as possible so that we can withdraw from the wastnd and find cover in the hillynd before they get here.

    ¡°Ready yourselves. Strike him with your most powerful magics the moment he appears!¡±

    While he was yapping nonstop, his pupils suddenly shrank as he screamed, ¡°He¡¯s here!¡±

    Three spiritual energy balls that looked like three clusters of misty gray energy suddenly appeared in his sight, and were flying towards him at an extremely fast speed.

    ¡°Watch out for those spiritual energy balls! Spread out, now!¡±

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Just as the man was shouting at his team members, the three spiritual energy balls, which contained all kinds of filth and impurities, exploded before reaching the group of Hunters, since the energy within them was too violent and unstable.

    As multicolored lights sputtered everywhere, all nine Hunters jumped away in different directions, hoping to prevent the impurities from making contact with their spiritual power shields.

    The man who had been talking took out his Sound Stone at the first possible moment and shouted into it, ¡°Hua Tian is here with us!¡±

    SHEW!

    As he did, Nie Tian appeared in his sight.

    Meanwhile, one of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes rapidly floated towards a location behind the Hunters. Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian cast the Starshift spell, relying on the mysterious connection between him and that Heaven Eye.

    In the location behind the nine Hunters, a small area became blurry and, in the next moment, Nie Tian appeared out of thin air.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t even spare the Hunters a single nce. As soon as he appeared behind them, he began running at full speed.

    PHEW!

    All of a sudden, a thin, white bone rose out of the dark-brown ground in front of him.

    On top of the bone was a white banner. On the banner was the pattern of a small, life-like, green snake, which squirmed as the banner fluttered against the wind.

    Momentster, the banner began to a unleash faint light. At the same time, Xiao Lin¡¯s voice rang out from within the small snake, ¡°Hua Tian! I can¡¯t wait to see how you¡¯re going to escape this time!¡±

    Suddenly, faint light spread out from the banner like ripples on water, creating a vertical spiritual power ward in front of Nie Tian.

    BANG!!!

    Nie Tian¡¯s dashing body rammed right into the strange ward. As he did, the originally misty and dim light ward suddenly began to shine with clear, bright light.

    At this moment, the spiritual power ward seemed like a transparent water curtain, blocking Nie Tian¡¯s path.

    Numerousplicated spell formations could be seen operating within the ward, which seemed to be strengthening its intensity and resilience.

    The strong impact made Nie Tian¡¯s protective shield, which was created by his jade bracelet, twist and flicker out of shape.

    He immediately realized that not only did the spiritual power ward stop him, but it even destroyed his jade bracelet.

    With a cold harrumph, he rapidly put away his jade bracelet and created a chaotic maic field around him.

    Without even thinking, he once again charged towards the spiritual power ward.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The moment his chaotic maic field, which was formed by various types of power, made contact with the spiritual power ward, theplicated spell formations within it began to fall apart as if they were being sliced by numerous invisible des.

    Momentster, the part of the ward in contact with Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field shattered and vanished.

    SHEW!

    Like a bolt of lightning, Nie Tian whizzed through the broken ward and kept running madly.

    ¡°I knew the ward wouldn¡¯t stop you.¡± Xiao Lin¡¯s voice once again echoed out from within the fluttering white g. ¡°But all I want it to do is to stall you for a bit and allow me to obtain your location.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered upon hearing Xiao Lin¡¯s voice echo out for a second time.

    The reason was that this time he also heard another voice echo the same words from a further location, which made Nie Tian realize that Xiao Lin was rapidly approaching him!

    He immediately sent one of his Heaven Eyes to inspect the source of Xiao Lin¡¯s real voice.

    Soon, that Heaven Eye of his discovered that Xiao Lin was gliding down from midair like a bird diving towards its prey.

    Secondster, as he approached the ground, the tip of his foot tapped on the ground, propelling him to shoot into the heavens again. Just like that, he repeated the ritual.

    With every repetition, he could cover close to a thousand meters.

    ¡°Hua Tian! Don¡¯t you imagine you¡¯ll return to Shatter City alive!¡± At that moment, Song Li¡¯s sharp voice rang out from another direction, where she and Han Mu were also dashing towards Nie Tian.

    All of a sudden, mors broke out from each and every direction. ¡°Capture him alive!¡±

    ¡°He humiliated us good, and he got many of our brothers killed! If we let him live, how will we have the face to call ourselves Hunters and prey on explorers in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and here?!¡±

    ¡°If he somehow returns to Shatter City alive and improves his cultivation base, he¡¯ll surely retaliate against us.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t give him time to grow!¡±

    It seemed that arge number of Hunters had received the directions given by Xiao Lin and were converging upon Nie Tian at their fastest possible speed.

    A handful of Greater Heaven stage organization leaders were wreathed in thrumming spiritual auras as they charged towards Nie Tian like slithering lightning bolts. Apparently, they were going all-out.

    Nie Tian immediately realized that he was trapped inside multiple blockades.

    The Hunters seemed much more cautious this time. Not only did they go all-out toy their siege, but they had even nned it much better than thest time.

    Nie Tian quickly found that all those who were charging towards him were Greater Heaven stage experts.

    Meanwhile, more Heaven stage Hunters were waiting in further locations. From the way they were deployed, they had obviously formed two blockades around Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was now facing the Greater Heaven stage experts in the smaller blockade. Once heunched Starshift and jumped out of the smaller blockade, he would still end up inside the bigger blockade.

    This twoyered siege was the new tactic they had designed for Nie Tian¡¯s long-range Starshift, which he had used to escapest time.

    ¡°I¡¯m in serious trouble this time.¡±

 Chapter 303: Rip and Tear

    ¡°Hua Tian! You¡¯re a dead man!¡± Dressed in short garments that highlighted her curves, Song Li came to a stop in a location several hundred meters away from Nie Tian, where she issued orders to other Hunters.

    This was the first time she had stood in front of the numerous Hunter organization heads.

    Although all of them had learned during the past two years that the leader of the Fang was a woman, none of them had ever seen her in person.

    Song Li spent most of her time in the Void Illusion Mountain Range instead of the hilly area and wastnd, where the other Hunter organizations roamed about. Every time she hadmunicated with the other Hunter organizations, she had done it via Han Mu.

    Therefore, all the major Hunter organizations had been rather curious about her appearance.

    Many Hunters¡¯ eyes lit up upon seeing her curvaceous body and the charm she unleashed through her gestures and expressions.

    However, none of them dared to reveal their feelings to her face.

    They all rapidly withdrew their gazes from Song Li and formed blockades around Nie Tian ording to her instructions.

    As Xiao Lin approached Nie Tian, he gradually lowered his speed, his eyes filled with gruesome coldness.

    He wasn¡¯t in a hurry at all, unlike the other Greater Heaven stage Hunters, who were eager to split Nie Tian in half. It seemed as if he had other ns.

    Nie Tian suddenly came to a stop.

    Standing in the icy, silent wastnd, he forced himself to calm down. Then, he made a thorough assessment of the situation he was in using his seven Heaven Eyes and his own sight.

    About ten Greater Heaven stage experts were now charging towards him, and they were all leaders of major Hunter organizations.

    He wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting any one of them, much less facing their joint attack.

    Aside from the ten of them, more less powerful Hunters were scattered in further locations, where they formed another blockade.

    Most of them were at the middle orte Heaven stage, with only a handful of them being in the early Heaven stage like him.

    Those Hunters didn¡¯t rush in on Nie Tian. Instead, they followed Song Li¡¯s orders and were slowly backing away from him.

    From what Song Li could tell, now that Nie Tian was facing a joint attack from ten Greater Heaven stage experts, he would be forced to cast the long-range Starshift again.

    Once he did, he would immediately disappear and reappear hundreds of meters, or even further, out of the small blockade.

    Therefore, Song Li arranged for the Heaven stage Hunters to stretch their blockade to at least a 2 kilometer range, where they would be waiting for Nie Tian.

    Furthermore, they were in the wastnd, not the hilly area, where there were many ups and downs in the terrain.

    There was nothing to block people¡¯s sight here, so even if Nie Tian used his escape magic and escaped from their bigger blockade, those Hunters would be able to locate him immediately relying solely on their eyesight, and then converge on him.

    At that time, if Nie Tian couldn¡¯t cast the long-range Starshift again, he would soon be surrounded again.

    After taking a detailed mental picture of the entire battlefield, Nie Tian took a few seconds to calm himself before a fierce look appeared in his eyes as he made a new decision.

    Like a long spear, he stood straight in ce and waited with a poised expression as the Greater Heaven stage experts rapidly approached him.

    Seeing that Nie Tian was standing still, the leader of the Blood Hand no longer felt urgency, and thus slowed down so that he could sneer at and taunt Nie Tian. ¡°What, boy? Why are you not running this time? You¡¯ve killed many of my Blood Hand brothers. I can¡¯t wait to see if you can kill anymore of us today!¡±

    Strong killing intent filled the Scorpion¡¯s leader¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Many of our Scorpion brothers also died by your hands! If you¡¯re really as powerful as you say you are, I dare you not to hide anymore, and fight us openly and fairly! I also want to see if you can kill another brother of mine!¡±

    Each and every Greater Heaven stage expert had a sinister smile on their face as they closed in on Nie Tian, looking high-spirited.

    ¡°You killed my subordinates as well. It¡¯s time for you to pay for their deaths!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, now that you¡¯ve been trapped by us, we won¡¯t let you die so easily. How can we mete out justice for our dead brothers if we don¡¯t make you suffer from the most horrible torture in the world?!¡±

    ¡°All of the Hunter organizations will witness your death today. And we¡¯ll hear your miserable shrieks before you die!¡±

    During the past few weeks, all the major Hunter organizations had begun to hate Nie Tian¡¯s guts.

    Not only had Nie Tian repeatedly stricken their search teams and killed their members, but he had even left them insulting messages written in blood to shock and awe them.

    Their counterparts, the Hunter organizations that roamed near the Land of the Abandoned and Ash City, ridiculed their ipetence after hearing about it.

    An early Heaven stage young man had single-handedly killed so many Hunters. Yet, none of the Hunter organizations that roamed near Shatter City had been able to do a thing to stop him, making them a big joke to the whole realm.

    Whenever they thought about the humiliation they had received from Nie Tian recently, they felt so ashamed.

    Today, they had finally trapped Nie Tian. Assuming that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to escape this time unless he grew wings and flew, they were all very eager to vent their hatred on him.

    Seeing that they were almost upon him, Nie Tianughed wildly and said, ¡°Great! I¡¯ll let you see if I can kill more of your brothers!¡±

    Just as the leader of the Blood Hand was about to enter his chaotic maic field, heunched a short-range Starshift.

    SHEW!

    In a sh, he vanished from the small blockade formed by Greater Heaven stage experts, and reappeared in a location more than 300 meters away.

    Nie Tian unleashed intense killing intent as he approached the few Blood Hand members in the bigger blockade, who were the closest to him, his eyes emanating cold light.

    SHEW!

    He cast the short-range Starshift again and put a sizable distance between the screaming Greater Heaven stage experts behind him and himself.

    ¡°Go get him!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this brat has such a miraculous movement technique!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away!¡±

    The Greater Heaven stage experts chased madly after Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, soon arrived in front of the part of the bigger blockade formed by seven Blood Hand members.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Two spiritual energy balls, which Nie Tian had created as he approached them, suddenly shot out from within his chaotic maic field and exploded where the seven Hunters were standing.

    While multicolored light sputtered everywhere, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph as he cast the short-range Starshift again. In the next moment, he appeared among his seven enemies.

    Two of them identally tumbled into Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field while attempting to avoid the sputtering toxic lights.

    They almost immediately lost control of their spiritual power and experienced a twisting pain in their heads. Their bodies felt as if they were being pulled by some kind of force, causing them to stagger.

    One of them was at the early Heaven stage, and the other was at the middle Heaven stage. That being their level of strength, they were doomed to die when they were enveloped by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field in a ce so close to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tianunched an attack at lightning speed; his burning fists rammed vigorously into their chests.

    BANG!!! BANG!!!

    Their bodies were thrown out of the chaotic maic field. Both of them were dead before even touching the ground.

    Without sparing their corpses a single nce, Nie Tian leapt forward and dashed through their defensive line.

    After sprinting a few hundred meters into the wastnd, Nie Tian ran into another group of Hunters. Seeing that Nie Tian wasing towards them like an enraged monster, they all hastily drew their spiritual tools that shone with gorgeous, multicolored light, and threw them towards Nie Tian.

    Without uttering a word, Nie Tian cast another short-range Starshift, which allowed him to blink past the iing spiritual tools and appear among the group of Hunters.

    They had seen Nie Tian kill two members of the previous group of Hunters that hade to stop him, so they were prepared for such a move. They madly summoned their spiritual power and cast attacks towards Nie Tian. ¡°Kill him!¡±

    As soon as the multi-attributed spiritual power attacks entered Nie Tian¡¯s maic field, their might was greatly weakened.

    However, two lightning balls and one ice de still somehow found Nie Tian.

    He let out a muffled groan. Bearing the stabbing pain, he struck and killed one middle Heaven stage Hunter who was enveloped by his chaotic maic field.

    After that, he charged forward without the slightest dy.

    The few Hunters who were attacking Nie Tian with their delicate spiritual magics soon came to realize that the strange maic field around Nie Tian could greatly reduce the might of their attacks.

    ¡°Watch out for the maic field around him!¡±

    ¡°This brat has some weird magics!¡±

    Meanwhile, Xiao Lin, who had been observing Nie Tian the entire time via his bone banners, didn¡¯t join the Greater Heaven stage Hunters in chasing after Nie Tian.

    At this moment, seeing that Nie Tian was about to break free again, he chuckled in a strange way.

    SHEW!

    A white banner rose out of the ground, right in the middle of Nie Tian¡¯s escaping path.

    As light shot out of the banner, a spiritual power ward was formed in front of Nie Tian, within whichy numerousplicated, beautiful spell formations.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wreathed in his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian rammed into the ward. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t make it through.

    The twisting force of the chaotic maic field became entangled with the spiritual power ward.

    As the ward was gradually being torn open, Nie Tian¡¯s escape was also being dyed.

    After hearing Song Li¡¯s loudmand, more Hunter teams in the vicinity rapidly moved about and formed a new blockade in front of him.

    BANG!

    Xiao Lin¡¯s spiritual power ward finally burst, and Nie Tian charged through it, finding himself surrounded once again.

    However, there weren¡¯t any Greater Heaven stage experts in the blockade. Thus, he cast another short-range Starshift, hoping to break through the blockade with the same method.

 Chapter 304: A Turn of Events

    Nie Tian continued to run madly through the boundless wastnd and use short-range Starshifts to break through the Hunters¡¯ blockages.

    However, every time he was about to lose the tailing hunters, a banner would rise from the ground and form a spiritual power ward.

    Every time, he would have to tear it open with his chaotic maic field, which would cost him some precious time.

    During that time, the Hunters would follow Song Li¡¯smands and form a new blockade around him.

    With the help of his chaotic maic field and short-range Starshift, he had killed roughly a dozen Heaven stage Hunters as he repeatedly broke through the blockades.

    However, he had also sustained injuries during his brief battles with the Hunters.

    His different types of power were all quickly running low at the same time.

    He soon realized that Song Li and Xiao Lin were probably waiting for him somewhere in this area, and their n was working very well.

    Arge number of banners were scattered in the entire area.

    Every time he encountered a banner, he was able to sense familiar energy fluctuations. Therefore, he could tell that those banners that hid underground were the reason why his whereabouts were being exposed.

    When he had first entered the wastnd, he had to travel for a long time before he sensed a wave of abnormal energy fluctuations.

    This meant that back then, the banners had been rather scattered, and not centered on him.

    However, he was now running into those banners much more often than before, which meant that Xiao Lin had made arrangements ahead of him.

    Although his Starshift magic allowed him to shift from one location to another within a split second, it was different from teleporting.

    The spiritual power wards could cut off the invisible path between him and his destination, therefore forcing him to spend time grinding down the wards using his chaotic maic field.

    After breaking through the blockades a few times in a row, Nie Tian was already covered in wounds and had consumed a significant amount of his spiritual power.

    BANG!!!

    Nie Tian formed a ball of mes using the me Spirit Incantation and killed a middle Heaven stage Hunter, who had entered his chaotic maic field, with it.

    Before the man died, he flung a dagger from his hand, which pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen.

    The dagger went three inches into his abdomen before it finally stopped. Despite the excruciating pain, Nie Tian pulled it out, cast it aside, and once again charged out of the blockade.

    In a location about a hundred meters ahead of him, another white banner rose from the ground and, within seconds, a new spiritual power ward was formed.

    Meanwhile, Hunter teams were staring at him fiercely like tigers, and rapidly converging on him from both nks.

    He had no other choice but to use his chaotic maic field to shred Xiao Lin¡¯s spiritual power ward.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The moment his chaotic maic field made contact with the spiritual power ward, the ward distorted out of shape.

    The five mysterious,plicated spell formations within the ward seemed to be sliced by sharp des; the fine spiritual power threads forming the patterns were severed.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the five spell formations were broken into pieces, and that was when the ward lost its effectiveness.

    Nie Tian passed through it and dashed toward Shatter City at the fastest speed possible.

    However, even after such a short dy, he found that arge number of Hunters had formed a new blockade where he was heading.

    Nie Tian could only pick a weaker team of Hunters and use the same method to break through their part of the blockade.

    If someone could look down from midair, they would see numerous Hunters forming arge, dense in front of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, was like a trapped beast. Even though he could burst through the every time, he would be distracted by other tricks, and a new would rapidly form around him again.

    Somewhat frustrated, his expression be sinister as he struck down more and more Heaven stage Hunters.

    Just like that, he continued to consume his strength and sustain injuries. Exhaustion gradually appeared in his eyes.

    In a distant location, Song Li came to a stop next to Xiao Lin, so did Han Mu.

    Seeing the two, Xiao Lin quickly hid his smile and said with serious expression, ¡°This brat is quite tough to catch. I think we need to raise the reward for my service. I¡¯ve used far too many precious materials on him. I¡¯ve lost twelve banners which I spent a long time to forge. They alone cost more than what you¡¯re offering me.¡±

    ¡°But we had a deal, Mr. Xiao!¡± Han Mu said loudly.

    Xiao Lin snorted coldly and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t agree, I won¡¯t do anything anymore. Without me to stall him, I doubt that you¡¯ll be able to form another blockade around him by yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Song Li said with an indifferent expression. ¡°As long as you can help me catch Hua Tian, everything is negotiable. He made both of us look like fools. I bet you hate him every bit as much as I do.¡±

    With these words, she halted and snuck a nce at Xiao Lin. Then, she pursed her lips into a smile and said with a charming voice, ¡°Mr. Xiao, we¡¯vee so far. I believe you and me both don¡¯t want to let Hua Tian walk away, right?¡±

    Xiao Lin¡¯s eyes flickered, but he didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°You should have seen Hua Tian¡¯s unique talent already. Our previous encounters aside, he has killed more than a dozen early and middle Heaven stage Hunters so far in this operation alone.

    ¡°From the look of it, more Hunters will die by his hands.

    ¡°You and I both know that his cultivation base is only at the early Heaven stage.

    ¡°However, he can kill cultivators at his level without breaking a sweat. Even killing middle Heaven stage cultivators doesn¡¯t take him much time.

    ¡°Do you think a man like him would let it go after being cornered so closely by us, if he somehow escapes our siege?

    ¡°If he survives this time, and enters the Greater Heaven stage someday, even when he¡¯s only at the early Greater Heaven stage, I¡¯m afraid no one who participated in this operation will be able to survive his vengeance.

    ¡°That includes you, Mr. Xiao!¡±

    Song Li talked on and on in a way that was as if she wasn¡¯t even worried that Xiao Lin would change his mind at all. She was convinced that Xiao Lin only wanted more return for his contribution, and he had never truly wanted to let Nie Tian go.

    After hearing Song Li¡¯s opinions, Xiao Lin looked into the distance, not saying a word.

    He was looking at Nie Tian, who was charging into another group of Heaven stage Hunters. He could see nothing but fear in the Hunters¡¯ eyes when they realized that Nie Tian had targeted them, as if they knew they faced certain death.

    At this moment, even the Greater Heaven stage experts who had been chasing after Nie Tian and giving him great pressure the entire time had fallen silent.

    Those leaders of the Blood Hand, the Scorpion, and the other Hunter organizations had been arrogant and rampant at first.

    However, at this moment, none of them wereughing or dared to taunt Nie Tian again, as if they were afraid that, if they did that, Nie Tian would break through the part of the blockade formed by their members.

    Even though those leaders had deep hatred towards Nie Tian and wanted to kill him every bit as much as Song Li and Xiao Lin did, deep down, they were also nervous and fearful when facing Nie Tian.

    It was very rare for a man to be so powerful at such a young age. If he could enter higher cultivation levels in the future, he could definitely be the most eye-catching figure in the entire Realm of Split Void.

    They even had a feeling that ruthless men like Li Langfeng, who were known throughout the Realm of Split Void and who none of the Blood Skull, Wild Fire, and Dark Moon dared to mess with, weren¡¯t as deadly as the Nie Tian in front of them.

    Xiao Lin took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to admit that you¡¯re right about that. Even if it weren¡¯t for you, I would have gone all-out to kill him. He¡¯s a guest elder of the Blood Skull. You know how much I hate the Blood Skull. If we let him live, he¡¯ll probably grow into a powerful weapon in the Blood Skull¡¯s pocket, and be an even bigger threat than Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°I won¡¯t give a man like him the time to grow.¡±

    Song Li chuckled softly and said, ¡°Rest assured. I know you¡¯ve thrown in a lot of valuable resources to catch him. I¡¯ll double what you¡¯ve lost after the whole thing is over. I just want you to know that we¡¯re in this together, and we don¡¯t need to hide anything from each other.¡±

    Xiao Lin nodded ¡°Yeah, that kid has consumed a substantial amount of his strength, and he¡¯s suffering from more and more injuries.¡± Then, he said confidently, ¡°As long as there are no mishaps, he¡¯ll run out of power in an hour, and won¡¯t be able to cast that short-range movement magic again. At that time, his death will be imminent.¡±

    Song Li turned to Han Mu and said, ¡°Han Mu, send word to those organization leaders; tell them to make a final push. When this whole thing is over, the Fang will withdraw from here and garrison in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They will have the hilly area and the wastnd between Shatter City and the Void Illusion Mountain Range to themselves for a year. They can hunt all they want.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Han Mu immediately passed on the message via his Sound Stone.

    BANG!

    After bursting through another spiritual power ward, Nie Tian seemed somewhat hesitant, looking at the new blockade that had already formed in front of him.

    He didn¡¯t charge into it instantly.

    He briefly examined himself and found that his spiritual power was only at thirty percent of its peak state now.

    There was less than twenty percent of the me power left in his vortex of me power, and less than thirty percent of the star power left in his vortex of star power.

    Even a significant part of his wood power had been consumed to contain his injuries.

    As for his physical body, he was now covered in bloody wounds; not a single piece of skin was undamaged.

    Fortunately, the wood essence had been flowing out of his vortex of wood power and nurturing his fleshy wounds. Therefore, even though the wounds seemed very serious, they were still bearable, and he had no problem moving about.

    It was just that every time he was about to lose the pursuing Hunters, Xiao Lin would create obstacles for him and waste his time, thus giving the Hunters an opportunity to form a new blockade around him.

    If he continued doing what he had been doing, he would soon drain everyst bit of his power and be captured by the Hunters.

    It would be a slow death.

    He had been monitoring the consumption of his star power closely, and had been very careful when spending it.

    The star power he had left was still enough for him tounch a long-range Starshift, but by doing that, he would use up his star powerpletely, preventing him fromunching another Starshift, long-range or short range.

    Furthermore, his body would have to suffer from a strong bacsh. It would still be a question as to whether he would be able to run.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was facing the tough decision between dying a slow but certain death or risking a quicker death byunching a long-range Starshift and blinking to a location two kilometers away.

    ¡°What the hell, let¡¯s do this!¡± After a moment of pondering, he finally decided to make the desperate move.

    However, at that very moment, the miserable cries of Hunters rang out from a distant location.

    The Hunters in that area soon realized what was happening and started screaming. ¡°Li Langfeng!!¡±

    Standing very far from that area, Nie Tian saw Li Langfeng, whose face was as pale as paper, coughing nonstop, via his Heaven Eyes. At this moment, he was striking down every Hunter he ran into.

    ¡°Howe he¡¯s here too?¡±

 Chapter 305: A Sudden Change in the Situation

    Li Langfeng was shaking his bell as he walked among a group of Hunters, as if he was strolling idly in his courtyard.

    CHING!

    The crisp sound of the bell echoed out. However, in the ears of the few Heaven stage Hunters around him, the sound was like a summons directly from hell.

    As soon as the bell rang, their spiritual power shields exploded. As they hastily jumped away from him, their faces became distorted, and blood spurted out of their mouths.

    Li Langfeng coughed a few more times. His face was so ghastly that it seemed as if he could die any moment.

    All the Hunters in the area looked as if they had run into a ghost in broad daylight when they caught sight of him.

    ¡°Li Langfeng!¡± With a swift movement, Xiao Lin turned to look at Song Li and asked with a grim expression on his face, ¡°What¡¯s he doing here?¡±

    Unlike Song Li, Xiao Lin was a loner, and not very well-informed.

    He hadn¡¯t been to the Void Illusion Mountain Rangetely, so it was natural that he didn¡¯t know that Li Langfeng had also been looking for Hua Tian.

    Song Li¡¯s charming face was icy cold as she said, ¡°He has a feud with Hua Tian as well. I don¡¯t know what Hua Tian did to offend him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but I know that he has been looking for Hua Tian. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t expect him to leave the Void Illusion Mountain Range and seek Hua Tian out here.¡±

    Xiao Lin frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t understand. If Hua Tian is his enemy too, shouldn¡¯t he be our ally? Why would he start killing Fang members and members of other Hunter organizations the moment he appeared?¡±

    Song Li shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure either. Will you keep a close watch on Hua Tian, Mr. Xiao?¡± With these words, she headed directly towards Li Langfeng with Han Mu by her side.

    Momentster, she and Han Mu stopped in front of Li Langfeng, along with four other Greater Heaven stage Fang members.

    Li Langfeng, who had been ughtering his way towards Nie Tian¡¯s location, came to a stop and nced at Song Li curiously.

    Since he had roamed about in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for years, he had heard of the Fang as a new Hunter organization, along with the fact that their leader was a mysterious woman.

    However, he had never truly interacted with the Fang. Of the few times Fang members had encountered him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, they had voluntarily given way for him every time.

    In his eyes, even though the Fang was more powerful than the other Hunter organizations, it was still only a Hunter organization.

    He, on the other hand, was one of the few Dark Moon¡¯s most revered guest elders. The Dark Moon had treated him with great care, like he was a real elder.

    There were only a handful of figures in the entire Realm of Split Void that he revered, and Song Li wasn¡¯t one of them.

    ¡°Mr. Li.¡± Song Li said respectfully with a bow. She didn¡¯t seemed enraged by the deaths of the several Fang members. ¡°I heard that you¡¯re also looking for Hua Tian. It seems that we share the same goal, and our interests coincide. Since we both want him dead, it doesn¡¯t really matter who gets to kill him. As a matter of fact...¡±

    Before she could finish, Li Langfeng waved his hand and stopped her. ¡°I think you¡¯re mistaken. I do have a feud with Hua Tian, but you and I don¡¯t share the same goal. I don¡¯t want to kill him. On the contrary, not only do I need him alive, but I need him to stay alive for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Song Li was surprised.

    Li Langfeng didn¡¯t give her face at all, and said indifferently, ¡°I don¡¯t need to exin myself to you. I¡¯ll take Hua Tian away with me. Simple as that. You...¡±

    He scanned around and raised his voice. ¡°And the other Hunter organizations better not stand in my way. Otherwise, you¡¯ll share the same fate as the ones I just killed!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Song Li immediately grew angry and said in a loud, womanly voice, ¡°Mr. Li! I can agree to let you torture Hua Tian, but you¡¯ll have to give him back to me so that I can kill him!¡±

    Li Langfeng shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you didn¡¯t understand what I meant. Hua Tian is only useful to me alive, and I intend to keep him alive for a long time. I won¡¯t allow you to kill him!¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Song Li asked with a cold face.

    ¡°Yes, I am,¡± Li Langfeng answered with no facial expression. ¡°From now on, Hua Tian is mine. Anyone who attempts to kill him will be my enemy!¡±

    With these words, he turned and shot towards Nie Tian¡¯s location like a bolt of lightning.

    ¡°Miss?¡± Han Mu asked in a soft voice.

    Staring at the dashing-away Li Langfeng, Song Li said, ¡°He is powerful, but he¡¯s still just one person.¡±

    Han Mu forced a smile and said, ¡°If we do engage in battle with this poison expert, we can¡¯t be sure that we¡¯ll win. Even if we do win, we¡¯ll suffer devastating casualties. The men and resources we brought here are very limited, and we don¡¯t have Worldly realm experts to secretly watch over us. You picked the Realm of Split Void as the ce to temper yourself. Do you really want to jeopardize your real goal for a man like Hua Tian?¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s meddling made him grow anxious and start to have second thoughts.

    Song Li took a deep breath and said with a surprisingly calm tone, ¡°You¡¯re wrong about that. Hua Tian is no longer just an enemy to me. In my eyes, he¡¯s a brand-new challenge for me! If I can¡¯t capture and kill him, I¡¯ll live in frustration for a long time, which will prevent my cultivation from transcending to the peak!

    ¡°Only after I settle my feud with him will I be able to focus on facing the uing challenges and carrying out my n.¡±

    Han Mu didn¡¯t try to persuade her anymore.

    After mulling over her words for a short while, he nodded briefly and said, ¡°Since you¡¯ve made up your mind, let¡¯s do it then.¡±

    Without any dy, he passed on Song Li¡¯s will to all the Hunters via his Sound Stone, telling them that their operation to capture Nie Tian remained unchanged, and if Li Langfeng stood in their way, they should view him as an enemy.

    All the Fang members gave their response as soon as they received the message.

    However, the other Hunter organizations didn¡¯t n to carry out Song Li¡¯s intentions so blindly. Each and every one of them was shocked the moment they heard that Song Li wanted them to go to war against Li Langfeng in order to capture Hua Tian.

    Many of them were hesitant, and went to some lengths to persuade Han Mu not to go to war with Li Langfeng via their Sound Stones.

    Li Langfeng was a notorious name in the entire Realm of Split Void. He was a man that even the Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and Blood Skull didn¡¯t want to mess with.

    They were only Hunter organizations who made their living in areas where the three major forces didn¡¯t have the energy to govern, so none of them dared to offend Li Langfeng.

    The Fang was hard to deal with, but so was Li Langfeng. Therefore, in their eyes, they couldn¡¯t afford to offend either of them.

    CLANK!

    Another sweet-sounding toll echoed out as a Fang member who stood in Li Langfeng¡¯s way was sent flying backwards by an invisible force.

    BOOM!

    When the Fang membernded, he had blood oozing out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and died a horrible death.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill whoever dares to stand in my way.¡± Li Langfeng said indifferently. ¡°It won¡¯t matter if you¡¯re a member of the Fang or any other Hunter organization.¡±

    Like a bolt of lightning, he charged towards Nie Tian.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s words evoked Han Mu¡¯s fighting spirit. Without waiting for Song Li to give the order, he shouted into his Sound Stone, ¡°Kill him! Anyone who opposes us is our enemy! Annihte him! You should all understand who you are and why you are here! I can¡¯t believe a man like him actually dares to hamper ourdy¡¯s n! The bastard needs to be taught a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ¡°Copy that!¡±

    Almost all of the Fang members¡¯ confidence was reaffirmed after hearing Han Mu¡¯s words. They all ditched Nie Tian and swarmed toward Li Langfeng.

    Then, Han Mu messaged Xiao Lin and the other Hunter organizations, saying, ¡°We don¡¯t insist on you fighting Li Langfeng, but we want you to focus all of your energy on capturing Hua Tian!¡±

    With these words, he turned to look at Song Li and said, ¡°Miss, perhaps we¡¯d better make a slight change to your n, and not insist on capturing Hua Tian alive. Since that bastard Li Langfeng wants him alive, we might as well kill him directly. What do you say?¡±

    Song Li nodded. ¡°Alright!¡±

    The sudden change in the situation confused Nie Tian. ¡°What? Howe all the Fang members are fighting Li Langfeng?¡±

    Originally, he had been at a dead end, and was prepared to make the desperate move.

    He had never expected that Li Langfeng would suddenly appear and start killing Fang members without giving face to anyone.

    The fact that the Fang and Li Langfeng hadn¡¯t reached a mutual understanding delighted and surprised Nie Tian at the same time.

    Now that all the Fang members that had been in his way had run off to form a siege around Li Langfeng, the blockade around Nie Tian was no longer intact.

    He immediately saw a silver lining.

    Being surrounded by numerous Fang members, Li Langfeng saw that the other Hunter organizations intended to kill Nie Tian, so he thundered, ¡°Whichever of you insects dare to kill Hua Tian will be my worst enemy. I swear I¡¯ll find them, crush their bones and y them alive!

    ¡°However, if any of you can catch Hua Tian and hand him to me alive, I¡¯ll be deep in your debt. Whatever you want, we can talk!¡±

    After hearing these words, all the Hunters who were going tounch joint attacks against Nie Tian began to have second thoughts again.

    Now, they were facing two choices. Either they make enemies with Li Langfeng, or they enrage Song Li from the Fang.

    All of the organization leaders had headaches over the tough situation, and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    However, Nie Tian seized the opportunity and sped away.

    ¡°Chase after him! No matter what, we can¡¯t let him escape!¡±

 Chapter 306: Meeting

    A metal war chariot was charging across the open wastnd, on which arge ck banner was fluttering against the wind.

    On the ck banner was the pattern of a giant skull, which unleashed eye-catching scarlet light in the sharp, cold wind, giving it a terrifying appearance.

    Sticking out of both sides of the war chariot were iparably sharp, long spears, which emanated icy-cold light.

    A handful of people, including Liu Kang, Shi Qing, Cai Yuan, and Li Ye, were standing on the war chariot.

    Like Hua Mu¡¯s Lightning Shuttle, this war chariot was also a transportation spiritual tool.

    These kinds of spiritual tools were usually powered by enormous amounts of spirit stones; some could sail through the heavens and others could travel thousands of miles on the ground.

    In the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, only powerful Qi warrior sects with deep-rooted foundations, and a few independent cultivators with high cultivation bases, possessed these kinds of spiritual tools.

    The war chariot was a low-grade transportation spiritual tool, since it couldn¡¯t soar through the sky.

    Even though the Blood Skull was one of the three most powerful forces in the Realm of Split Void,pared to the powerful Qi warrior sects in the other nine realms, which had thousands of years of history, their strength and deposits were still rather shallow.

    Therefore, they only possessed these low-grade transportation spiritual tools.

    However, throughout the entire Realm of Split Void, only the Blood Skull, Wild Fire, and Dark Moon possessed these kinds of transportation spiritual tools.

    None of the Hunter organizations or tough rogue cultivators had enough wealth and connections to purchase one of them.

    ¡°Strange,¡± Shi Qing said with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s been days since we left Shatter City, but we still haven¡¯te across a single Hunter organization. Even if they¡¯ve learned about our operation, they shouldn¡¯t have cleared out of this region so quickly.¡±

    They had left Shatter City and had been traveling at a high speed for a few days already. They had encountered quite a few explorers on their way, but they hadn¡¯te across a single Hunter in all this time.

    This obviously didn¡¯t make sense to them.

    After all, they didn¡¯t know that all the Hunter organizations in this region had been summoned by Song Li, and joined the Fang¡¯s operation to capture Nie Tian in the border area where the wastnd met the hillynd.

    Since that area was rather far from Shatter City, it was natural that they hadn¡¯t encountered any Hunters so far.

    Li Ye opened his sk, threw his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls of liquor. Seeming somewhat tipsy, he said, ¡°I wonder how Hua Tian is doing. Those despicable rats! What the hell did Hua Tian do that made them so mad that they needed to chase after him together?¡±

    Surprise could be seen in Liu Kang¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°We just learned from our scouts that Hua Tian is still alive. Considering his cultivation base, it¡¯s very impressive that he made it so far. I hope he can hang on till we get there.¡±

    As ate Greater Heaven stage expert, Liu Kang had lead a few cleansing operations against the Hunter organizations outside Shatter City.

    Although this operation had been arranged in a bit of hurry, as a seasoned raid-leader, he was confident that they would be able to dominate the situation and bring Nie Tian back to Shatter City as long as he was still alive.

    His only worry was that Nie Tian might be killed or captured by the Fang or other Hunter organizations before they could get to his location.

    As a matter of fact, after learning of Nie Tian¡¯s deeds from Shi Qing and Cai Yuan, Liu Kang had been looking forward to meeting him.

    Not only was Nie Tian a guest elder of the Blood Skull, and nephew of a close friend of Li Ye¡¯s master, but he had also saved Cai Yuan¡¯s life in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Therefore, for both organizational and personal reasons, Cai Yuan couldn¡¯t just sit back and watch when Nie Tian was trapped in a dangerous situation.

    Cai Yuan, who had remained silent so far, said, ¡°Uncle Liu, Uncle Shi, let¡¯s push the speed of this war chariot to the limit. I think we should try to get there as soon as possible instead of limiting our speed just to keep pace with the others. Considering the strength of the several of us, we should be able to handle those Hunters for some time. We can¡¯t afford to lose the best timing by insisting on arriving at the same time.¡±

    The reason why they hadn¡¯t been traveling at full speed was to keep pace with the other Blood Skull members.

    Finding no trace of Nie Tian or his pursuers after traveling for a few days, Cai Yuan had a bad feeling about Nie Tian¡¯s situation, and thus made a decision.

    Without turning his head, Li Ye looked at Cai Yuan out of the corner of his eyes and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you were actually a conscientious person.¡±

    In Li Ye¡¯s eyes, Cai Yuan had been lusting after his senior martial sister, Pei Qiqi, so he had never been fond of him.

    He had only decided toe with him because Nie Tian was in danger, Pei Qiqi was in the middle of secluded cultivation, and their master hadn¡¯t returned yet.

    Now, he realized that Cai Yuan was indeed going all-out to rescue Nie Tian, and he wasn¡¯t just putting on a show.

    Also because of this, his attitude towards Cai Yuan began to change.

    With aposed expression, Cai Yuan nced at Shi Qing and said, ¡°Not only is Hua Tian the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder, but he also saved my life once. Technically speaking, my sister and Uncle Shi only survived because Li Langfeng made Hua Tian his primary target. I¡¯m not an ingrate. Now that he¡¯s in danger, it¡¯s only right I step up and exert all my power to rescue him.¡±

    Li Ye nodded and didn¡¯t say another word, quite content with Cai Yuan¡¯s attitude.

    After hearing Cai Yuan¡¯s words, Liu Kang hesitated for a moment before saying with a nod, ¡°Okay! Since Hua Tian has helped the Blood Skull significantly, I know what to do!¡±

    With these words, he took out arge number of spirit stones and spread them over the bottom of the war chariot, pushing its speed to the limit.

    ...

    BOOM!

    A spiritual energy ball that was filled with all kinds of toxins exploded, sending multicolored lights flying in every direction.

    An early Heaven stage Hunter was standing right where the spiritual energy ball exploded. Almost simultaneously, his protective light shield shattered.

    The extremely strong st from the explosion turned him into a bloody mess. By the time he was enveloped by corrosive toxins, he was already at hisst gasp.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Two thin golden swords suddenly flew into Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, aimed right at Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    Nie Tian snorted coldly as he shot clusters of mes out of his punching fist toward the thin golden swords.

    BANG! BANG!

    Upon contact, the thin golden swords bounced straight out of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    However, a few fragmented golden sparks sputtered and found Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder.

    Nie Tian¡¯s skin was immediately ripped open as a bunch of fine wounds appeared on his shoulder.

    Not very far behind Nie Tian, the leader of the Blood Hand was pursuing him. His right arm had expanded to be twice as thick as his left arm, and wisps of a bloody aura were swirling within his palm. With strong killing intent, he shouted, ¡°Stop running already!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°If I don¡¯t die here today, I¡¯lle back and ughter everyst Blood Hand member, including you!¡±

    As the man came closer, Nie Tian summoned his star power and cast another short-range Starshift.

    In the blink of an eye, he appeared in a location more than three hundred meters away, putting a sizable distance between the Blood Hand¡¯s leader and himself.

    A few members of the Scorpion happened to be in this area, and thus rapidly converged on Nie Tian. ¡°Hey, brat! Don¡¯t you imagine that you can get away from us!¡±

    Meanwhile, another white banner rose from the ground. The green snake pattern on the banner unleashed a misty light into its surroundings and formed another spiritual power ward in front of Nie Tian.

    With a single look at the banner, Nie Tian decisively dashed off in another direction.

    Even though many Hunters were still chasing after him and attempting to nk him, since their main force, all of the Fang members, had run off to attack Li Langfeng, their blockade was no longer watertight. Therefore, Nie Tian could find loopholes in the blockade and break through from there, saving him the trouble of dealing with Xiao Lin¡¯s spiritual power wards.

    Since the Hunters¡¯ blockade was no longer imprable, Nie Tian also gave up the idea of escaping by casting a long-range Starshift.

    On the other hand, his current stock of star power also wouldn¡¯t allow him to do that.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s appearance had created an opportunity for him to break through the leaky blockade using only the short-range Starshifts.

    As he did, he struck a few times and killed a few more Heaven stage Hunters.

    Running through the open wastnd at full speed, Nie Tian gradually saw a hope of escape.

    Since, ording to his estimation, his reserve of star power was only barely enough for him to cast three more short-range Starshifts, he would only use it when he ran into Greater Heaven stage experts.

    Whenever he faced Heaven stage Hunters, he would alway break through using other skills, even though there werete Heaven stage experts among them, and it would mean more wounds added to his body.

    As time went by, his fleshy wounds worsened, and his various types of power were also on the verge of running out.

    Face covered in blood, he panted heavily. Even his pupils had be as red as blood.

    In his view, this entire heaven and earth was cloaked by a shade of redness, giving everything a bloody look.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian heard a loud sound. In the next moment, he saw via one of his Heaven Eyes that a giant war chariot made of only metal was charging through the wastnd like a rampaging, frenzied bull.

    His blood-red pupils immediately shone with the light of excitement as an ecstatic expression appeared on his face. ¡°The Blood Skull!¡±

 Chapter 307: Stunning Battle Gains

    SHEW!

    After seeing the Blood Skull¡¯s metal war chariot, as well as the familiar faces on it, Nie Tian cast the short-range Starshift again.

    In in a sh, he broke through the Hunters¡¯ blockade and shot towards the metal war chariot like a bolt of lightning.

    None of the Hunters who were pursuing Nie Tian had their own Heaven Eyes, and thus they weren¡¯t aware of the appearance of the war chariot yet.

    After having chased after Nie Tian for a long time, all the Hunter organization leaders could sense Nie Tian¡¯s weariness.

    ¡°He¡¯s only hanging by a thread! Come on everyone! Let¡®s get him, dead or alive, so that at least we can please one of Li Langfeng or the Fang!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The few Greater Heaven stage experts were able to perceive the spiritual power fluctuations Nie Tian emanated, and thus knew that when heunched thest few strikes, the speed at which his spiritual power circted had be noticeably slower.

    This meant that Nie Tian was on the verge of burning out his spiritual power.

    Both Li Langfeng and Song Li didn¡¯t want Nie Tian to flee back to Shatter City. They shared the same view on this matter.

    These Hunter organization leaders had been searching for Nie Tian for weeks, and had lost many of their subordinates, so they also wanted to mete out justice for themselves.

    Dead or alive, they were determined to get Nie Tian!

    Therefore, they pursued him madly.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± Standing in the war chariot, Shi Qing¡¯s pupils contracted as he caught sight of Nie Tian, who was running towards them at full speed.

    Upon hearing his shout, Liu Kang, Cai Yuan, and Li Ye also looked forward with rapt attention.

    A dashing figure covered in blood appeared on the distant horizon of the open wastnd.

    As he came closer, Li Ye got a clear view of Nie Tian. His expression immediately flickered as he eximed loudly, ¡°He¡¯s sustained serious injuries!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s pupils were as red as blood, and he was covered in close to a hundred fine wounds; some of the cuts were so deep that they reached his bones! Bathed in blood, he looked like a god of ughter.

    Even still, endless fighting spirit could still be seen hovering within his scarlet pupils.

    He unleashed an invisible killing intent into his surroundings, making him seem extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty.

    Liu Kang, who wasn¡¯t familiar with Nie Tian, took a deep look at Nie Tian before he said with a astonished tone, ¡°Such a strong killing aura! How many men did he kill to give him such a strong killing aura?!¡±

    Shi Qing and Cai Yuan remained silent as the war chariot under their feet kept charging forwards at full speed.

    SHEW!

    When they were close enough to Nie Tian, Shi Qing and Liu Kang jumped out of the war chariot almost simultaneously.

    As soon as they leapt into the air, the metal war chariot slowed down and came to a stop about ten meters in front of Nie Tian.

    Shi Qing and Liu Kangnded right beside Nie Tian, one to his left and one to his right.

    ¡°How are you doing, Hua Tian?¡± Shi Qing asked, seeming rather concerned.

    Nie Tian finally loosened up as he smiled embarrassedly and said with a nod, ¡°Rx, I¡¯m not going to die.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Liu Kang said. He subconsciously looked at the sizable leather pouch hanging on Nie Tian¡¯s waist and asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    He heard nking sounds and sensed subtle fluctuations of spatial energying from the leather pouch.

    ¡°Bracelets of holding.¡± As Nie Tian answered, Cai Yuan and Li Ye also jumped out of the war chariot. They rapidly approached him and attempted to support him with their hands.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± As he took therge leather pouch from his waist, the wounds on his arm were torn open, causing blood to drip down his arm. ¡°Here. Would you please convert them into spirit stones and umte my contribution points when we get back?¡±

    The moment Cai Yuan grabbed the leather pouch, his expression flickered, since he immediately felt how heavy it was.

    Under Shi Qing, Liu Kang, and Li Ye¡¯s gazes, Cai Yuan opened the pouch and looked into it. Immediately afterward, a bbergasted look appeared on his face.

    Curious about what was in there, Shi Qing, Liu Kang, and Li Ye also looked into the pouch, and then were also taken aback.

    ¡°There are so many of them!¡± Li Ye eximed. ¡°Hua Tian, you looted all these bracelets of holding from your enemies? God! How many people have you killed?!¡±

    Only after hearing Li Ye¡¯s eximation did Shi Qing and Liu Kang snap back to reality.

    Shi Qing rubbed his forehead as he turned to Liu Kang and said, ¡°There are at least 50 bracelets of holding in here. From what I can tell, most of these bracelets of holding belonged to early and middle Heaven stage cultivators. However, some of them seem to have belonged tote Heaven stage cultivators.¡±

    Liu Kang stared at Nie Tian like he was looking at a monster. Only after a short while did he nod towards Shi Qing, agreeing with his opinion.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, the leaders of the Blood Hand, the Scorpion, and the other pursuing Hunter organizations arrived.

    Their expression flickered as soon as they saw the metal war chariot, and Shi Qing and Liu Kang who were standing in front of them. ¡°It¡¯s the Blood Skull!¡±

    They exchanged a nce with each other. Without saying a word, they turned and fled in different directions, giving up their pursuit of Nie Tian.

    ¡°Who else is after you?¡± Liu Kang asked Nie Tian with a soft tone.

    Shi Qing was also curious. ¡°Howe we don¡¯t see members from the Fang?¡±

    ¡°The Fang got into a fight with Li Langfeng,¡± Nie Tian answered, ¡°so they probably won¡¯t show up here any time soon. Aside from these leaders of the major Hunter organizations, their Heaven stage subordinates are probably also in this area.¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Li Langfeng is after you too?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian exined why the Fang were fighting Li Langfeng to them in detail.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s exnation, Shi Qing turned to Liu Kang and said, his eyes filled with a strange look, ¡°Our men should be here at any moment now. From the look of it, the battle between Li Langfeng and the Fang will go on for some time. That being the case, you and I can take advantage of this period of time and hunt some Hunters.¡±

    Liu Kang nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    With these words, the two Greater Heaven stage experts moved out to pursue the fleeing Hunter organization leaders.

    Cai Yuan had his arm around Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders and said to Li Ye, ¡°Let¡¯s help Nie Tian into the war chariot.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± The two of them supported Nie Tian¡¯s two shoulders and helped him onto the war chariot without his consent.

    Standing in the war chariot, Nie Tian discovered that another Greater Heaven stage expert was silently sitting up straight in a corner of the war chariot.

    The man seemed to be at thete Greater Heaven stage, the same as Liu Kang. Seeing Nie Tian step closer, a bright light shone across his narrowed eyes as he nodded towards Nie Tian.

    At that time, Nie Tian discovered that he wasn¡¯t wearing garments that had the Blood Skull¡¯s sigils on them.

    ¡°This is Uncle Xue Long. Just like you, he¡¯s also one of our guest elders.¡± Cai Yuan introduced him to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian felt deep veneration upon hearing these words.

    He was well-aware that anyone who was given the honor of bing the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder must not be an ordinary person.

    Only the truly powerful ones would have the privilege to be invited and be a guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    The iparably fierce Li Langfeng was the Dark Moon¡¯s guest elder, and his battle prowess even surpassed Ma Jiu, the Dark Moon¡¯s highestmander in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Even though Li Langfeng and Ma Jiu were both at thete Greater Heaven stage, as far as Nie Tian saw it, Li Langfeng could probably beat three Ma Jius in a battle.

    Since Xue Long was a guest elder of the Blood Skull, it was very likely that he was an expert as strong as Li Langfeng.

    He bowed respectfully. ¡°Greetings, Uncle Xue Long.¡±

    Xue Long waved his hand. ¡°No need to stand on ceremony.¡± Then, he looked Nie Tian up and down with his narrowed eyes before saying, ¡°You¡¯re better than me when I was at your stage. When I was at the early Heaven stage, I could hardly kill one middle Heaven stage enemy. You, however, single-handedly killed arge number of Heaven stage enemies. Aside from that, you even killed a handful ofte Heaven stage enemies. I couldn¡¯tpete with that.¡±

    With these words, Xue Long fell silent and slowly closed his eyes, as if he was cultivating some secret magic.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, didn¡¯t intend to exin how he had done it either. He just felt relieved after learning that Xue Long was also a guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    At that moment, he came to understand why Shi Qing and Liu Kang had left the noble Cai Yuan and the lofty Li Ye, and chased after the Hunter organization leaders without the slightest hesitation.

    Xue Long must be the reason.

    ¡°Sit down, and take these medicinal pills.¡± Li Ye forced Nie Tian to sit down by pressing against his shoulder. Before Nie Tian had a chance to say anything, he took out a handful of multicolored medicinal pills and stuffed them into his mouth.

    Nie Tian knew that Li Ye wouldn¡¯t harm him, so he cooperated and swallowed all the medicinal pills.

    ¡°Hua Tian, how many Hunters did you kill along the way?¡± Curiosity was stretched across Cai Yuan¡¯s face.

    ¡°You saw the bracelets of holding in that leather pouch. Aside from those, there are probably another twenty-something Hunters that died by my hands.¡± Nie Tian sighed and added with a regretful tone, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I was in a hurry to break through their blockade, so I didn¡¯t have the time to collect those Hunters¡¯ bracelets of holding.¡±

    ¡°There are twenty more!?¡± A bitter expression appeared at the corner of Cai Yuan¡¯s mouth. He shook his head and whispered to himself, ¡°Is this guy some kind of monster, or what?¡±

    Even Xue Long, who was cultivating with his eyes closed, had a slight change in his facial expression as he said in his heart, ¡°Monstrous battle prowess indeed.¡±

 Chapter 308: Turn Back

    Nie Tian sat silently in the metal war chariot, activating the medicinal efficacy of the pills Li Ye had given him with rapt attention while Cai Yuan and Li Ye indulged in smalltalk.

    Eyes closed, Xue Long also sat in silence.

    Before long, Nie Tian sensed numerous wisps of energy flowing out of the pills. There were two kinds of energy. One was flesh power, which flowed to his wounds and stabilized his injuries alongside the wood power that had flowed out of his spiritual sea.

    The other was pure, rich spiritual power, which rapidly flowed towards and filled his spiritual sea.

    Since the medicinal efficacy of Li Ye¡¯s pills was very strong, the spiritual power Nie Tian had consumed earlier on was quickly being replenished.

    However, his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power didn¡¯t undergo any noticeable changes.

    Two hourster...

    Cai Yuan held his Sound Stone to his ear and received a message, before he turned to Li Ye and said, ¡°Our men are almost here.¡±

    The tipsy Li Ye let out a snort and said, ¡°Those damn Hunters only have the balls to snipe individuals whoe to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. The moment they saw you, they scattered and ran for their lives. Rats like them should have been extinguished long ago. I can¡¯t believe they actually dared to join together and hunt down Hua Tian. Stupid morons.¡±

    ¡°Actually, the Fang summoned them,¡± Cai Yuan said with a frown.

    ¡°The Fang?!¡± Li Ye went nk for a moment before asking, ¡°What do you know about them? Have you ever seen their female leader in person?¡±

    Cai Yuan shook his head. ¡°No, actually I haven¡¯t. This Fang is very different from the other Hunter organizations. We¡¯ve been investigating their origin. I think we¡¯ll learn the truth soon.¡±

    With a surprised expression on his face, Li Ye asked, ¡°They¡¯re not from here?¡±

    ¡°Em.¡± Cai Yuan nodded. ¡°They¡¯re definitely not from the Realm of Split Void. None of their members are familiar to us. I just don¡¯t know which realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars they came from, and who is backing them.¡±

    Momentster...

    Numerous Blood Skull members appeared from the direction where Cai Yuan and the others hade from. Under the leadership of a Greater Heaven stage expert, they rapidly arrived by the war chariot.

    As soon as they did, Cai Yuan rose in high spirits, leapt out of the metal war chariot, and went to talk with the Greater Heaven stage expert.

    At that moment, Nie Tian slowly opened his eyes, smiled towards Li Ye, who was sitting next to him, and said, ¡°The efficacy of the medicinal pills you gave me is quite amazing.¡±

    After such a short time, his injuries had been stabilized, and he had restored thirty percent of his spiritual power.

    At this very moment, those pills were still providing him with rich flesh power, which joined the wood power from his vortex of wood power in gradually healing the trauma to his flesh and bones.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t restored any me power or star power, at least he was capable of handling another battle now.

    Li Ye rolled his eyes at Nie Tian and said, as if he was aching over his valuable medicinal pills, ¡°Of course! Those pills are of premium quality. Don¡¯t youpare them to the medicinal pills you looted from the Hunters you killed. You¡¯ve gained quite a fortune during this trip of yours. Remember to pay me back after we return to Shatter City.¡±

    Nie Tianughed heartily and said, ¡°No problem. Also, when we return, I would like you to forge a spiritual tool that suits me.¡±

    ¡°Sure, forging spiritual tools is what I do.¡± Li Ye raised his chin slightly. ¡°However, as the saying goes, money matters should be settled even among brothers. You should know that my rate is famously high. If you want me to forge a spiritual tool for you, I won¡¯t settle for less just because it¡¯s you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Of course! That¡¯s only fair.¡±

    ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll forge you a spiritual tool that agrees with your cultivation after we return to Shatter City.¡± Li Ye rubbed his chin and muttered, ¡°You freak... You¡¯re already so powerful when you don¡¯t even have a suitable spiritual tool. God knows how powerful you¡¯ll be when you have a customized spiritual tool I made for you.¡±

    At that moment, Xue Long, who had been cultivating the whole time, suddenly opened his mouth. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy to forge a spiritual tool that suits him.¡±

    He briefly scanned Nie Tian using his deep, profound eyes, as if he was seeing through him.

    Li Ye let out a snort and said, ¡°When ites to equipment forging, I¡¯m only second to my master throughout the entire Shatter City! If I can¡¯t forge a suitable spiritual tool for him, then I don¡¯t know who has the ability to do it, considering my master hasn¡¯t returned yet.¡±

    Xue Long didn¡¯t make anyments to Li Ye¡¯s words. His eyes were still fixed on Nie Tian as he said with a calm tone, ¡°It¡¯s not wise to bite off more than you can chew. Cultivating multiple-attribute spiritual incantations at the same time could very likely result in ack of energy and effort you put into each of them. Because of that, you¡¯ll have to spend more time to make advancements in your cultivation base. I just hope you can live long enough to achieve those advancements.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your advice,¡± Nie Tian said respectfully.

    ¡°Multiple attributes...¡± Li Ye seemed absorbed in his thoughts.

    Xue Long nodded. He rose to his feet and looked into the distance, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go and see how the Fang and Li Langfeng are doing.¡±

    As soon as he said those words, Nie Tian sensed that the aura he was wreathed in suddenly changed.

    It was as if Xue Long had turned into a sharp sword, and the fierce aura it unleashed into its surroundings could even be used to cut the air.

    Standing next to him, Li Ye and Nie Tian both had a feeling that their skin was being stabbed by the fierce aura he emanated.

    Thete Heaven stage Li Ye felt very ufortable, and subconsciously stepped backwards to put a sizable distance between Xue Long and himself.

    However, Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t fully recovered from his injuries, stood unwavering like a mountain. He even closed his eyes and used his psychic awareness to examine the fierce aura Xue Long had unleashed.

    After closing his eyes, he could see with great rity that countless wisps of aura, as fine as hairs, had reached out of Xue Long¡¯s pores all over his body, and were fluttering nonstop.

    He looked like a human-shaped hedgehog. Every wisp of aura that stuck out of his pores looked like a tiny, yet sharp sword.

    WHOOSH!

    Cai Yuan jumped back into the war chariot. Without uttering a word, he took out a substantial amount of spirit stones andid them at the bottom of the war chariot, driving it forward.

    The war chariot once again whizzed through the boundless wastnd.

    Some of the Blood Skull members followed the war chariot, while the others spread out and went after Shi Qing and Liu Kang. Theymunicated via their Sound Stones and cooperated to trap and kill the Hunter organization leaders.

    As the war chariot traveled at a high speed, they came across badly mangled corpses from time to time.

    Some of the corpses seemed to have been heavily corroded by the toxic spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Their flesh had already melted away, and bones were all that were left.

    Some other corpses remained intact, but they were wreathed in green or ck smoke. Their faces were dark-green, making it obvious that they had died from poisoning.

    After seeing the numerous corpses that seemed to have died unnatural deaths, Xue Long frowned as he turned to Nie Tian and asked,¡°You killed all these people?¡±

    Nie Tian exined, ¡°Yeah, but they only look like this because they wereter corroded by the toxic spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.¡±

    Xue Long¡¯s eyes glittered as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what exactly happened, but from the way these corpses look, I¡¯m certain that just the toxic spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth alone couldn¡¯t have done this to them in such a short period of time. ording to my observation, you don¡¯t practice the art of poison, so you must have a secret magic that allows you to refine and concentrate the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian nodded softly.

    Xue Long advised, ¡°Now I have a pretty good idea why Li Langfeng has attached such great importance to you. However, you¡¯ve got to remember: don¡¯t follow Li Langfeng¡¯s footsteps! He¡¯s only adopted such an extreme cultivation method because he has special reasons. Even though he¡¯s very strong right now, and he might actually remain powerful for a long time, the price he pays for his strength will go beyond your imagination.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I understand,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He had long since realized that Li Langfeng had absorbed far too much filth and toxins by cultivating his special incantation, and he was suffering from a bacsh already.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, he had learned that the aura of flesh and blood inside Li Langfeng was actually very unstable. Who knew when he would lose control of it and die.

    Pei Qiqi had long since told him that Li Langfeng had a sworn enemy. In order to kill him with his own hands, he was willing to improve his battle prowess so relentlessly and at the cost of achieving greatness. It was possible that he would plunge to his death when he was shining most brightly.

    Along their way, the four people on the war chariot didn¡¯t encounter another living Hunter.

    The leaders of the Hunter organizations had secretly informed their members the moment they had seen the Blood Skull¡¯s banner. Therefore, all the Hunters that had chased after Nie Tian earlier had long since vacated the area.

    Considering they didn¡¯t even bury their dead members properly, they were clearly frightened by the Blood Skull.

    After traveling at full speed for some time, the war chariot finally closed in on the area where Li Langfeng and the Fang were still fighting.

    From a very distant location, everyone could see precious light forming a crisscrosswork in the area ahead of them. Numerous spiritual tools were shing across the sky, while lightning shed and fires burned. The scene was spectacr.

    Li Langfeng was shaking his magical bell, and the sounds of it ringing were as powerful as drumbeats and created terrifyingly strong impacts on the chests of the Fang members around him.

    ¡°They¡¯re not finished yet?¡± Xue Long raised his hand into the air and signaled for Cai Yuan to stop the war chariot.

    After they came to a stop, he narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance with rapt attention.

    ¡°Is the woman in short, rose-red garments the leader of the Fang?¡± He asked.

    Since they were in a location very far from the battlefield, neither Li Ye nor Cai Yuan had a clear view of the situation, much less how Song Li was dressed.

    Nie Tian, however, nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s her. Her name is Song Li.¡±

    Xue Long shook his head, saying, ¡°Song Li.¡± Multiple expressions shed across his face.

    Momentster, he said, ¡°You stay here. I¡¯ll go meet Li Langfeng.¡±

    With these words, he swiftly jumped off the war chariot. After a few shifts, his figure rapidly disappeared from Cai Yuan and Li Ye¡¯s view.

    Soon after he left, the other Blood Skull members arrived and gathered around the war chariot, as if they were protecting Cai Yuan.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian used one of his Heaven Eyes to observe the battle between Li Langfeng and the Fang members. He could see the corpses of nine Fang members scattered by Li Langfeng¡¯s feet.

    Song Li, Han Mu, four other Greater Heaven stage experts, and a dozen Heaven stage Fang members had formed a circle around Li Langfeng, and were attacking him together.

    Under the multiple powerful experts¡¯ joint attack, Li Langfeng was already covered in bloody wounds.

    However, he was still as fierce as ever, shaking his bell and coughing nonstop.

    WHOOSH!

    Xue Long whizzed through the battlefield and arrived in front of everyone in a sh.

    As soon as Song Li saw him, a shocked expression appeared on her coquettish face. She eximed, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

 Chapter 309: Fake Identity

    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡± A strange look filled the eyes of Han Mu and the two other Greater Heaven stage Fang members the moment they saw Xue Long.

    It seemed as if they all knew Xue Long.

    However, Xue Long didn¡¯t say anything to them. Instead, he started attacking Li Langfeng without the slightest hesitation.

    A long, silver sword whizzed out of Xue Long¡¯s sleeve like a sea dragon charging out of the abyss. It unleashed a strong aura into its surroundings, along with dazzling bright light. In the blink of an eye, it approached Li Langfeng¡¯s chest.

    Li Langfeng, who was already covered in wounds, had a grim expression on his face the moment he saw Xue Long.

    A cluster of dark-green light rapidly came to form in front of his chest, within which numerous bright, green spots were sparkling, emanating shockingly strong energy fluctuations.

    BOOM!

    Upon contact with Xue Long¡¯s long sword, the cluster of green light instantly exploded.

    The fragmented green sparks that carried fatal toxins shot into every direction like the countless stars in the sky.

    Upon seeing the explosion, all the Fang members around Li Langfeng, including Song Li, jumped backwards to avoid contact with the sparks, panic filling their eyes.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous sword sts shot out of Xue Long¡¯s body and chopped the sputtering green sparks into shreds.

    Rage appeared on Li Langfeng¡¯s ghastly face. However, almost simultaneously, he seemed to restrain himself from erupting. He turned to Song Li and said, ¡°I¡¯ll remember you!¡±

    With those words, he immediately turned around and shot towards the hillynd where he hade from, like a wisp of green smoke.

    The moment Xue Long appeared, he realized that the Blood Skull had arrived.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed the metal war chariot that was parked in a far-off location, along with the numerous Blood Skull members gathered around it.

    Knowing that now that the Blood Skull had arrived, he had a very slim chance of capturing Nie Tian, he made the decision to leave.

    Seeing him leave, Xue Long shot after him like a beam of silver sword-light.

    All of the Fang members, who had been fighting him for a long time, remained in their original ces, as if they didn¡¯t understand the sudden change in the situation and still needed some time toe back to their senses.

    After a long while, Han Mu turned to Song Li and said with a frown, ¡°Miss, he recognized us.¡±

    Song Li nodded briefly and said, ¡°I never thought he would be here in the Realm of Split Void, much less as a guest elder of the Blood Skull. Fortunately for us, he didn¡¯t attack us for old times¡¯ sake, and only targeted Li Langfeng.¡±

    Han Mu snorted coldly. ¡°How would he dare attack us, since he¡¯s aware of who you are?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily the situation. After all, this is the Realm of Split Void. He probably doesn¡¯t want to reveal his real identity, and is living by another name.¡± After pondering for a while, Song Li gritted her teeth and said loudly, ¡°It¡¯s Hua Tian¡¯s lucky day today! Now that the Blood Skull is here, we won¡¯t be able to get to Hua Tian anyways. That being the case, let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    Her appealing physique trembled slightly as she uttered these words.

    Han Mu took note that she was clenching her fists so tightly that her long fingernails almost pierced into her palms.

    He let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe an early Heaven stage kid is so hard to deal with. Also, we roamed about outside Shatter City for such a long time, but we never heard of such a man in Shatter City. He must not be a famous person.¡±

    Song Li¡¯s expression flickered as she blurted, ¡°Can it be that Hua Tian also came from another realm, just like us? And he¡¯s been using a fake name since he came to the Realm of Split Void? A person as unique as he is should attract a lot of attention even if he was in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, let alone a remote corner like the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    After hearing her words, Han Mu nodded, feeling suddenly enlightened. Then, with a spective expression on his face, he said, ¡°Hua Tian is close to Pei Qiqi, and we all know what kind of figure Pei Qiqi¡¯s master is. From the look of it, it¡¯s very likely that Hua Tian is from another realm, and came here to either temper himself or take refuge.¡±

    Another Greater Heaven stage member of the Fang jumped in and advised, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here first. Since the Blood Skull is here, there¡¯s no need for us to stick around. After all, we didn¡¯te to the Realm of Split Void to fight the Blood Skull. Cai Lan isn¡¯t easy to deal with.¡±

    Han Mu also advised, ¡°We¡¯ll have plenty time to find and kill that bastard in the future, Miss.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I understand.¡± Song Li forced herself to calm down. After casting a nce at the distant war chariot, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    After hearing these words, all the Fang members immediately spread out and vacated the area.

    In the war chariot...

    Nie Tian had captured every detail of Song Li and Han Mu¡¯s facial expressions via his Heaven Eyes since Xue Long had gone over.

    He immediately realized that Xue Long must know Song Li and Han Mu.

    Perhaps that was the reason why Xue Long hadn¡¯t attack them and the other Fang members, but went after Li Langfeng.

    Nie Tian had also heard the conversation between Song Li and Han Mu after Xue Long left.

    A grim expression gradually appeared in his eyes. ¡°Is this woman going to investigate my true identity? If she somehow learns that Ie from the Realm of me Heaven, and who I really am, then...¡±

    He suddenly became worried and regretted his rash actions, thinking he shouldn¡¯t have created such a big stir in the Realm of Split Void.

    His real name, Nie Tian, had already be a household name in the other nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Powerful Qi warrior sects, with the Heaven Pce Sect as their leader, were probably searching for him everywhere.

    Once he exposed his real identity and let people know he was here, then considering the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s far-reaching power and influence, they would definitely descend upon the Realm of Split Void.

    No matter if it was the Dark Moon, the Wild Fire, or the Blood Skull,pared to Qi warrior sects that had such deep-rooted strength as the Heaven Pce Sect did, they would all prove inferior.

    Therefore, if the Heaven Pce Sect actually sought him out here, he would no longer be able to hide in the Realm of Split Void. Perhaps he would be forced to leave.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to refine the fragmentary star marks as soon as possible. I¡¯m only halfway through the first mark,¡± he thought to himself. ¡°I¡¯ve mastered Starstrike and Starshift, but I still need to spend some time studying Starfall.¡± He frowned deeply as a sense of urgency rose in his heart.

    He still remembered Hua Mu¡¯s words. Once he refined the fragmentary star marks on his chest, then even if his true identity was exposed to the Heaven Pce Sect, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry, since by that time, the fragmentary star marks would have merged with him, and even the Heaven Pce Sect wouldn¡¯t be able to strip them from him.

    Not only that, but they would also spare no cost to draw him to their side and make him an asset of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°You guys wait here,¡± said Cai Yuan. ¡°I¡¯ll go have a few words with them, and then we¡¯ll head back to Shatter City.¡± After realizing that Xue Long had chased after Li Langfeng and the Fang had retreated, he jumped off the war chariot and went to talk to the Greater Heaven stage experts among the crowd of Blood Skull members.

    ¡°Xue Long knows Song Li,¡± Nie Tian said in a soft voice.

    Li Ye went nk for a moment before asking, ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know about that,¡± Nie Tian said with a frown. ¡°Both ¡®Xue Long¡¯ and ¡®Song Li¡¯ should be fake names. They are probably from another realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and they are old acquaintances. The reason why Xue Long only agreed to be a guest elder of the Blood Skull, instead of an official member, might be just because his former identity doesn¡¯t allow him to do that.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Li Ye didn¡¯t seem to attach any importance to the matter. ¡°Many people whoe to the Realm of Split Void have histories and stories behind them. For various reasons, they have to hide their identities. Perhaps they¡¯ll only resume their true names after leaving the Realm of Split Void. As for Xue Long, I think the Blood Skull might know who he is in the first ce, and there¡¯s no need to talk to Cai Yuan about it.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, I understand.¡±

    Li Ye took a deep look at him and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you were actually quite a piece of work. Before, I just thought that you were quite strong physically, but I didn¡¯t expect your battle prowess to be also so incredible. For all I know, you might have also changed your name aftering here, just like Xue Long and Song Li.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered, and he didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to expose your own identity, I suggest you keep a low profile,¡± Li Ye said sincerely.

    Nie Tian put on a wry smile and said, ¡°I did act a bit rashly this time.¡±

    Li Ye didn¡¯t say more, after knowing that Nie Tian understood what he meant. ¡°Since Mr. Hua put you in our hands, we won¡¯t harm you. Alright, that¡¯s all I¡¯ll say about it. It¡¯s good as long as you are aware of the situation. You¡¯d better quit attracting others¡¯ attention, and stay low after we return to Shatter City.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sure, I will.¡±

    Li Ye pondered in silence for a short while before saying, ¡°By the way, sorry for putting you in danger, Hua Tian. Senior martial sister told me after returning to Shatter City that Hu Han turned on you eventually. I thought I had her under control. I was being naive, and almost got you killed.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°No worries. It¡¯s all good.¡±

    At that moment, Cai Yuan jumped back into the war chariot and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go back to Shatter City.¡±

    He turned the metal war chariot around and marched towards Shatter City with a blustering momentum.

 Chapter 310: Changes in the Outside World

    At the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain in the Cloudsoaring Sect, in the Realm of me Heaven...

    Li Jing, the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, once again flew along riding her Blood Lotus.

    It was already the third time she had visited this ce.

    It was early in the morning. Mist and clouds wreathed the mountaintop. Half-asleep and half-awake, Wu Ji seemed to be drifting in his mind.

    Only when Li Jingnded in front of him did he slowly open his eyes. He took a nce at her and asked with an expressionless face, ¡°Why are you here again?¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s face looked grim. ¡°Where is Nie Tian anyway?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you already. I know nothing of his whereabouts.¡± Wu Ji¡¯s tone was cold.

    After pondering in silence for a short while, Li Jing sighed deeply and said, ¡°The Demon Qi that leaks out of the spatial rift close to the Hell Sect is getting thicker and thicker. And the speed at which it is spreading also far exceeds our expectations. If it goes on like this, the Hell Sect will be forced to move in two years tops.¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with me.¡± Wu Ji sounded impatient.

    Li Jing¡¯s beautiful eyebrows knit together. ¡°Perhaps the well-being of the Hell Sect doesn¡¯t concern you, but what about the Realm of me Heaven? Considering the speed at which the Demon Qi is spreading, perhaps it won¡¯t even take ten years. In seven to eight years, the entire Realm of me Heaven will be covered in dense Demon Qi. If ites to that, even if the outsiders don¡¯tunch another massive invasion, every Qi warrior and mortal in the Realm of me Heaven will have no choice but to leave their homes.¡±

    Wu Ji frowned slightly, but remained silent.

    ¡°The same goes for the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.¡± Li Jing seemed very concerned. ¡°When those two realms are also submerged in dense Demon Qi, every Qi warrior and mortal in those two realms will also be forced to leave their homes.

    ¡°However, the other seven realms will make room for them. After all, the sects in those two realms are powerful and influential enough. The other realms will have to give them face.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be the same for us.

    ¡°If the dayes where we¡¯re really forced out of our homnd, it¡¯s hard to say if we¡¯ll be able to find a realm that is willing to ept us. Even if we found shelter somewhere, it would probably be a ce where the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth is the faintest.

    ¡°It won¡¯t feel good to live under someone else¡¯s roof. I bet you also don¡¯t want to see every man and woman in the Realm of me Heaven live relying on others¡¯ charity, right?¡±

    Anger could be seen on Wu Ji¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve said it already, I don¡¯t know where Nie Tian is!¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s bright eyes rolled about as she said softly, ¡°I know exactly what you are worrying about. I heard that the three fragmentary star marks can only be studied and refined in the right order. Even though that Ning Yang person from the Heaven Pce Sect obtained a fragmentary star mark, he can¡¯t study or receive enlightenment from it.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s expression flickered subtly.

    Li Jing noticed the change in his expression, and thus rapidly continued, ¡°This means that as long as Nie Tian masters and refines one fragmentary star mark, he won¡¯t need to worry that the Heaven Pce Sect will strip it from him anymore. The mysterious forces from the three fragmentary star marks need to be brought together to seal the three spatial rifts in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of me Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    ¡°Hence, once Nie Tian masters one fragmentary star mark, he will already be the most important piece of the whole puzzle.

    ¡°No matter whether it¡¯s the Heaven Pce Sect, or the powerful sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, without exception, they will need Nie Tian alive to finish the task.¡±

    Wu Ji still remained silent. However, the light of spection could be seen in his eyes.

    A hearty expression spread out across Li Jing¡¯s face as she said, ¡°If you can get in contact with Nie Tian, please tell him toe back to the Realm of me Heaven as soon as he refines the first fragmentary star mark. These three realms need him and his powers. The way I see it, he¡¯ll run into more great fortune if he returns after refining one fragmentary star mark.¡±

    Wu Ji finally opened his mouth and asked, ¡°What great fortune?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Li Jing said with a serious expression, ¡°since Ning Yang can¡¯t refine the third fragmentary star mark without the first two, when the Heaven Pce Sect learns that Nie Tian has refined one of his fragmentary star marks, they¡¯ll probably strip the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang and give it to Nie Tian. Only by uniting all three marks will we be able to seal the spatial rifts. If Ning Yang can¡¯t refine his, the Heaven Pce Sect can only put all their hope on Nie Tian.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    ¡°I came here especially to tell you this. I hope you can get it through to Nie Tian, and tell him to speed up his refinement of the first fragmentary star mark. After that, he can juste back openly.¡± After exining the true intention behind her visit, Li Jing left.

    Wu Ji sat there and pondered for a long time before muttering, ¡°I just know that Hua Mu took him, but I really don¡¯t know where he is at this moment...¡±

    In another corner of the Realm of me Heaven...

    A petite female figure flew to the top of a mountain peak. It was Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect, and the mountain was where Ning Yang had been living recently.

    ¡°Little martial uncle, where are you?¡± Su Lin called softly.

    Then, she unleashed her psychic awareness to scan the vicinity, but she couldn¡¯t detect Ning Yang¡¯s aura. She couldn¡¯t help but frown as a worried expression appeared on her face.

    All of a sudden, as her psychic awareness spread out, a line of words appeared on a giant rock that stood on the mountaintop: ¡°I swear not to return to the Heaven Pce Sect before I find Nie Tian! --- Ning Yang.¡±

    SHEW!

    Everything became blurry on the mountaintop and, in the next moment, an old man appeared out of nowhere.

    Staring at the line of words Ning Yang had left, he said with a grim expression, ¡°Did Ning Yang receive word that I wasing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Su Lin replied respectfully.

    She knew perfectly well that this elder was here to strip Ning Yang of his fragmentary star mark.

    The Heaven Pce Sect was aware that the three fragmentary star marks could only be refined in the right sequence.

    The fragmentary star mark Ning Yang had obtained was thest one. That meant he would only be able to receive enlightenment from it after obtaining and learning the first two fragmentary star marks from Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian had disappeared for quite some time now. If there were no mishaps, he should have already begun studying the first two fragmentary star stars.

    The speed at which the Demon Qi leaked out of the spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was even faster than the one in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Seeing that the Demon Qi was spreading closer and closer towards their sect every day, a stir urred within the Heaven Pce Sect. Now, their hearts were burning with anxiety.

    Ning Yang, Su Lin, and many other members of the Heaven Pce Sect had failed to locate Nie Tian.

    Now that the third fragmentary star mark was useless in Ning Yang¡¯s hands, the Heaven Pce Sect had decided to consider the bigger picture, and take it from him.

    Once they did, they would send messages to the nine realms, and have all the Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars spread the word that the Heaven Pce Sect was offering membership to Nie Tian, and the third fragmentary star mark would be given to him as a token of good faith.

    From the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s perspective, Nie Tian had disappeared for a long time. If he was still alive, he must have studied and refined part of the fragmentary star marks.

    This meant if they didn¡¯t wish to move out of the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and didn¡¯t want the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of me Heaven to suffer from the poisonous Demon Qi, they would have to ce their hopes on Nie Tian.

    However, just as the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s senior members had reached the decision to take away Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark, he mysteriously disappeared.

    ¡°Ning Yang has always been smarter than others since he was boy. Perhaps he sensed the strange atmosphere in our sect, and thus left in advance.¡± The elder¡¯s face grew sullen. ¡°For such a smart young man, he doesn¡¯t understand the greater good! He actually hides himself when the sect needs him to give up the fragmentary star mark. I¡¯m so disappointed in him!¡±

    Su Lin smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Elder Huang, with all due respect, if you were in Ning Yang¡¯s shoes, and it was you who had obtained the legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, would you be willing to give it to others, even if you couldn¡¯t study it for the time being?¡±

    With aplicated expression on his face, the elder pondered in silence for a while, and then let out a sigh.

    He asked himself that very question, and he thought to himself that he also wouldn¡¯t simply give away such great fortune.

    A few days passed...

    Nie Tian, Cai Yuan, and Li Ye rode the metal war chariot across the boundless wastnd, and eventually returned to Shatter City.

    Ever since the Blood Skull had started their operation, peace had been restored to the wastnd. All the Hunter organizations in the region had fled in panic, and none had dared to stay and hunt.

    Therefore, many explorers from Shatter City took advantage of the opportunity and went on exploration trips to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    None of them encountered any obstacles or saw any Hunters on their way back to the city.

    Some of them saw the Blood Skull¡¯s metal war chariot while exiting or entering Shatter City. Either way, they would usually stop to observe the war chariot.

    Many of them recognized Cai Yuan and Li Ye. Only Nie Tian¡¯s face looked strange to them.

    As he was associated with the recent incident that had provoked widespread discussion, they soon guessed that he was none other than the Hua Tian who was wanted by all the Hunters.

    They all secretly memorized Nie Tian¡¯s apparence, and were in awe of him.

    After returning to Shatter City, Nie Tian and Li Ye bid farewell to Cai Yuan.

    Cai Yuan went back to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters with Nie Tian¡¯srge pouch of bracelets of holding, where he would convert the items within them into spirit stones and tally up Nie Tian¡¯s contribution points.

    After recuperating for a few days straight, Nie Tian¡¯s dried spiritual sea was refilled to the brim.

    However, his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power were still the same as before, since he hadn¡¯t had the time to recover with spiritual materials that contained power of the relevant attribute.

    As soon as he had gone back to his residence, he had begun gobbling down spirit beast meat. Therefore, at this moment, his physical injuries were already healed.

    On this day, Li Ye came to Nie Tian¡¯s room. ¡°Follow me!¡± he said. Without waiting for Nie Tian to answer, he walked away, high-spirited and vigorous. Soon, the two of them arrived in front of his personal equipment forgingb.

    Inside the room, a variety of strange-looking materials could be seen everywhere. There were stones that could be used to test the attributes of a person¡¯s spiritual power, tools that could be used to examine the speed at which a person¡¯s spiritual power circted, and even special tools that could be used to detect the strength of a person¡¯s life aura.

    As soon as Nie Tian entered the room, Li Ye asked him a few questions first, and then used a number of strange-looking tools and instruments to measure the strength of his spiritual sea, his physical body, and his psychic power.

    ¡°Such monstrous strength! This is unbelievable! You¡¯re such a freak!

    ¡°You don¡¯t have an innate cultivation attribute, so you picked fire power and wood power out of the Five Elements to practice. Other than those, you¡¯re also practicing star power, which is very rare among cultivators.

    ¡°Furthermore, the intensity of your physical strength is evenparable to the mutated spirit beasts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range! Whatever non-lethal wound you sustain, you are able to recover within a short period of time. I even doubt that a low-grade spiritual tool can pierce through your skin!

    ¡°Superb healing ability, amazing explosive power, and spiritual power with three attributes...¡±

    After running a series of thorough tests on Nie Tian, Li Ye managed to uncover almost every secret Nie Tian had.

    He couldn¡¯t help but sigh nonstop in amazement at Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness.

    Nie Tian, however, had an ufortable feeling, as if he waspletely exposed to another person; various expressions shed across his face.

    Sweeping through the strange tools and appliances in this equipment forgingb with a examining gaze, Nie Tian felt very impressed.

    Seeing Li Ye use them to unveil so many of his secrets and gain such a thorough understanding of him by simply running them around him, Nie Tian felt both surprised and uneasy.

    As of now, aside from the green bloodline aura in his heart and the seven fragmentary stars in his soul, Nie Tian no longer had any other secrets hidden from Li Ye.

    Li Ye had even managed to determine that he was practicing star power by using a ball-shaped sensing instrument

    Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t the rarest thing to practice star power in the other nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, so Li Ye didn¡¯t connect the fact that he had a vortex of star power in his spiritual sea with the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    After a very long time, his eyes fixed on a tool that was glittering with a strange light, Li Ye said to Nie Tian, ¡°Alright! Your part is over. I¡¯ll spend some time to forge a spiritual tool that matches your cultivation features ording to the data I just collected!

    ¡°However, I must tell you bluntly that your situation is very special andplicated. It will take a lot of precious materials to forge a suitable spiritual tool for you.

    ¡°I¡¯ll contact Cai Yuan as soon as possible, and tell him not to convert all of your battle gains into spirit stones, since I suspect that, in order to forge that spiritual tool for you, I might have to use all of the spiritual materials you looted from your battles. You should be prepared.¡±

    ¡°No problem, just do it.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Straightforward. I like it!¡± Li Yeughed loudly. ¡°Three months. Give me three months, and I¡¯ll present to you an extraordinary spiritual tool. I guarantee that you¡¯ll like it.¡±

 Chapter 311: Stern Criticism

    During the following days, Nie Tian cultivated day and night in his own room.

    With the help of the stones that contained rich star power, he took his time condensing stardew, and gradually filled theke of stardew at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    Afterwards, he recovered the me power and wood power he had consumed by using spiritual materials that contained copious amounts of wood power and me power.

    Time flew by. Fifteen days passed without him noticing it.

    After a half-month of devoted cultivation, his vortex of star power had already expanded and been refined to the fullest.

    His vortexes of me power and wood power were also developed to the point where no more advancement could be made.

    Only his spiritual sea was still yet to be expanded, and the spiritual power within it still needed more refinement.

    Therefore, he thought about the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms.

    This day, he had just stepped out of his room, and was about to go to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, when he suddenly felt violent spatial energy fluctuationsing from within Pei Qiqi¡¯s stone pavilion.

    ¡°What?!¡± A surprised expression spread out across his face as he stared at Pei Qiqi¡¯s stone pavilion, his eyes glittering with a strange light.

    Li Ye also sensed the anomaly, and came out of his equipment forging room, shock filling his face and body reeking of alcohol.

    A few Qi warriors who worked for Pei Qiqi and Li Ye also walked out of their rooms to see what was happening.

    After a short while, Li Ye eximed, delight appearing at the corners of his mouth, ¡°Senior martial sister just entered the Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded gently as he sensed with rapt attention.

    He discovered that the intense spatial energy fluctuationsing from within Pei Qiqi¡¯s pavilion were gradually calming down.

    Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s few assistants were whispering something to each other, as they were also happy that Pei Qiqi had made another breakthrough in her cultivation base.

    However, they would also asionally shoot nces at Nie Tian withplicated looks in their eyes.

    During the past few days, while Nie Tian had been cultivating wholeheartedly in his room, rumors about him spread to every corner of Shatter City.

    Shi Qing, Liu Kang, and the other Blood Skull members who had gone after the Hunters also returned during that time.

    They had chased down and killed a number of Hunters. A few weak Hunter organizations had even unraveled after their leaders¡¯ deaths.

    ording to the returning Blood Skull members, Nie Tian had single-handedly killed several dozen Hunters in the hilly area and wastnd.

    While Nie Tian was only at the early Heaven stage, there were many middle andte Heaven stage experts among the Hunters he had ughtered.

    The rumors made Hua Tian a famous name throughout the entirety of Shatter City.

    As of now, not only had the members of the Blood Skull acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s abilities, their guest elder with the lowest cultivation base, but every Qi warrior in Shatter City was shocked by his aplishments.

    Naturally, the people who worked for Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had also heard rumors about him. Therefore, each and every one of them focused their amazed and curious gazes on Nie Tian the moment they saw him.

    They seemed to be more shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s aplishments than Pei Qiqi¡¯s breakthrough into the Greater Heaven stage.

    After all, they had expected that Pei Qiqi would enter the Greater Heaven stage after this period of secluded cultivation.

    SHEW!

    The figure of a girl suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

    A few beads of sweat could be seen on Pei Qiqi¡¯s smooth forehead, and her gorgeous eyes were glittering with bright light.

    After appearing in the middle of the courtyard, she focused her gaze on Nie Tian and asked, ¡°When did youe back?¡±

    Ever since she had started her secluded cultivation, she had beenpletely cut off from the outside world, and didn¡¯t have the slightest idea of what Nie Tian had done, or the fact that the Fang and many other Hunter organizations had pursued him madly.

    ¡°About ten days ago,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently at him. ¡°It¡¯s good that you came back alive.¡±

    Li Ye hastily stepped forward and said, ¡°Senior martial sister, you probably don¡¯t know this yet. Not only did this guy survive the joint pursuit of the Fang and many other Hunter organizations, but he even somehow killed a few dozen of their Heaven stage members! He¡¯s like a big deal in Shatter City now. Even people from Ash City and the Land of the Abandoned have heard about him and are asking around about him.¡±

    A startled expression appeared on Pei Qiqi¡¯s face.

    She had thought that, just like most returning explorers, Nie Tian had run into a few groups of Hunters on his way back, escaped their blockade, and returned to Shatter City.

    She had never expected that Nie Tian would make such a major stir, and cause so many Hunter organizations to join forces to hunt him down.

    Furthermore, she had heard of the Fang, and the fact that it was an emerging Hunter organization whose strength was by no means insignificant.

    The fact that Nie Tian had made it back alive after making enemies with the Fang went beyond her expectations.

    ¡°Not only that, Li Langfeng was also after him.¡± With a cunning smile on his face, Li Ye went on to tell her about all the rumors regarding Nie Tian, which had been discussed everywhere in Shatter City recently.

    Pei Qiqi listened with devoted attention. As she did, the grimness in her bright eyes grew increasingly intense.

    When Li Ye was finished, she pondered for a few seconds before pointing at Nie Tian and saying, ¡°You,e with me.¡± With these words, she turned around and walked back into her pavilion.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a tattletale!¡± Nie Tian cast a harsh look at Li Ye before following Pei Qiqi into her pavilion, looking somewhat helpless.

    It was an empty, spacious stone room, with only a prayer mat in the middle.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s charming eyebrows furrowed as she waited for Nie Tian to enter the room before saying with a in tone, ¡°I know that you¡¯re not an ordinary person, and there are stories behind youing to the Realm of Split Void. However, now that Mr. Hua has put you in our hands, I assume he doesn¡¯t want you to attract too much attention, since it won¡¯t do you any good.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I understand.¡±

    Pei Qiqi rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Then, why did you make yourself so widely known?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that the woman with the Fang would actually hate me so much...¡± After realizing he didn¡¯t have a better choice, Nie Tian exined how he had started a feud with Song Li to Pei Qiqi in detail.

    Then, he said, ¡°By the time I realized I had gone a bit too far, the woman suddenly went mad and tried every possible way to kill me.¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t strike back, I would have been killed by her and her men.¡±

    ¡°All I did was fight back. I didn¡¯t expect things would escte into something so big...¡±

    Pei Qiqi waited patiently for him to finish and then said, ¡°Forget about it. You need to be more considerate and careful from now on. From what I can tell, that Song Li woman is way beyond ordinary. She¡¯s probably from another realm, and only came to the Realm of Split Void to temper herself. As we know, the Fang rose to prominence in a very short time, but the Blood Skull didn¡¯t try to wipe them out. This alone makes it clear that the Fang is beyond ordinary.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s my guess too.¡±

    Ever since he had overheard the conversation between Song Li and Han Mu, and realized that they knew Xue Long, he suspected that the Fang and Song Li were very different from the other Hunters.

    The way the Fang had acted and their high-grade spiritual tools also testified to his theory.

    ¡°Ma Jiu is still alive. Li Langfeng wants you. Now you have the Fang after you as well...¡± Pei Qiqi pondered for a moment and said, ¡°You¡¯d better keep a low profile for a while, and don¡¯t go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range again! Also, even though you¡¯re in Shatter City, there may be members of the Fang around you. Keep your guard up at all times.¡±

    Shock could be heard in Nie Tian¡¯s voice as he asked, ¡°Members of the Fang can enter Shatter City?¡±

    ¡°The guards at the city gate don¡¯t check the identities of people who enter or exit the city,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°As long as they have enough spirit stones, anyone can get a medallion and live in the city. If Song Li or Li Langfeng want to enter Shatter City, all they need to do is to mask their faces and dress differently from how they normally do.

    ¡°As you know, battles and brawls are banned in Shatter City. Whoever breaks the rules will be punished harshly.

    ¡°However, that doesn¡¯t mean everyone will just live by the rules. Considering Li Langfeng and that woman¡¯s temperament, it¡¯s totally possible that they¡¯ll act of their own ord and not give face to the Blood Skull.

    ¡°So if they really want to kill you, they might make a move on you even if you¡¯re in Shatter City!¡±

    Only after hearing her words did Nie Tian start to give his safety some serious thought.

    Originally, he had thought he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about threats from Song Li and Li Langfeng anymore once he returned to Shatter City.

    However, Pei Qiqi made him realize that, as strong and resourceful as Li Langfeng and Song Li were, they could very well change, take on another identity, and make a move on him inside the city walls, despite the rules set by the Blood Skull.

    ¡°I n to rent a cultivation room from the Blood Skull and spend some time there,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°That¡¯s a wise decision.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s grim face turned a bit warmer. ¡°There are many experts at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters. It¡¯s probably the safest ce for you right now.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions on your breakthrough,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    ¡°Yeah," Pei Qiqi replied with an expressionless face.

    ¡°I¡¯m off to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    ¡°Sure."

    With these words, Nie Tian left Pei Qiqi¡¯s pavilion, notified Li Ye of his intentions, and then headed out towards the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

 Chapter 312: Arrival of An Old Acquaintance

    In the hilly area...

    In a cave on a small hill, Song Li and Han Mu were standing in front of a small-scale teleportation portal with grim expressions on their faces.

    Momentster, the teleportation portal began to shine with dazzlingly bright light.

    The figure of a man suddenly appeared in the middle of the portal.

    ¡°Big brother! Howe it¡¯s you!?¡± After seeing the man, Song Li was startled at first, and then her grim face instantly turned warm.

    The manughed loudly and said, ¡°Yeah. I heard that you¡¯ve run into some trouble in the Realm of Split Void. As your big brother, it¡¯s my responsibility toe and check on you. Since I screwed up my mission in the Heaven Gate and don¡¯t have much to do, I figured I might as welle to the Realm of Split Void and take my mind off of it.¡±

    If Nie Tian were present, he would have recognized this person instantly. He was none other than the winner of the Heaven stage area, Dong Baijie!

    Dong Baijie had obtained a fragmentary star mark once in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after wiping out numerous enemies in the Heaven stage area.

    However, he had sustained severe injuries in order to get that fragmentary star mark. Later, when he was bombarded by Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, he couldn¡¯t hang on, and thus gave up his fragmentary star mark to avoid being killed.

    Han Mu, who was standing next to them, bowed towards Dong Baijie to show his respect. ¡°Greetings, Young Lord!¡±

    Upon seeing Dong Baijie, Song Li, whose real name was Dong Li, smiled so heartily that even the corner of her eyes seemed happy. It seemed that, as brother and sister, they were truly close.

    Sounding a bit frustrated, Dong Li said, ¡°It seems we¡¯ve both had bad lucktely, you and me. We both failed at the jobs our n gave us. However, when you fail, you fail. The way I see it, my journey to the Heaven Gate was by nature a trial for me.¡± Dong Baijie didn¡¯t copse after a single setback. On the contrary, he looked rather spirited. ¡°Without the bloody battles I went through during the Heaven Gate trial, I wouldn¡¯t have broken through my bottleneck and entered the Greater Heaven stage so quickly.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions, Big Brother.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions, Young Lord.¡±

    Dong Baijie waved his hand and said quietly, ¡°I heard that you suffered great losses from an early Heaven stage young man. That shouldn¡¯t be the case, is it? I know what you¡¯re capable of. With Han Mu here to assist you, even if you were facing an early Greater Heaven stage cultivator, you shouldn¡¯t have suffered such crushing defeats, much less from a man who was only at the Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t bring him up.¡± A frustrated expression could be seen on Dong Li¡¯s face. ¡°That young man was full of tricks, and he had a special tool that could be used to learn about my deployments every time we made a move.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Young Lord. We failed our miss.¡± Han Mu expressed his apologies.

    ¡°What does he look like?¡± Dong Baijie asked casually.

    Without any dy, Han Mu took out a portrait of Nie Tian and handed it to him, saying, ¡°This is him.¡±

    With a single nce at the portrait, Dong Baijie shuddered while a bbergasted expression appeared on his face.

    ¡°Big brother?¡± Dong Li noticed Dong Baijie¡¯s strange reaction, so she asked softly, ¡°Do you know this person?¡±

    Dong Baijie didn¡¯t answer immediately. Rather, he grabbed the scroll that carried a vivid portrait of Nie Tian¡¯s face. After staring at it for a long time, he turned to Han Mu and said, ¡°Leave us.¡±

    Han Mu turned around and left without uttering a word.

    When the brother and sister were the only ones in the cave, Dong Li asked eagerly, ¡°Who is he, Big Brother? Even though I haven¡¯t known him for a long time, I know he¡¯s definitely not a nobody as he let on. Not only does he possess outstanding battle prowess, but he was also a master of various spiritual incantations and escape magics!¡±

    Dong Baijie sighed. ¡°I never anticipated that you and me would have suffered losses from the same person. Interesting.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°What?! He¡¯s the ¡®Nie Tian¡¯ you talked about?!¡±

    Dong Baijie took a deep breath and said, ¡°Exactly. You probably know that he has be famous throughout the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and people from the Heaven Pce Sect are looking for him everywhere. He was the one who took my fragmentary star mark from me while we were in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Even Ning Yang seems to have gone against the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s will and hidden away after failing to find him.¡±

    Dong Li immediately understood. ¡°Hua Tian is Nie Tian!¡±

    With a bitter expression on his face, Dong Baijie said, ¡°It¡¯s not shameful for you to suffer defeats from him. Now that I think about it, he must have learned and refined part of his fragmentary star marks. I once owned a fragmentary star mark for a while in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and I vaguely sensed the immensity and profundity of it.

    ¡°The magics recorded in the Fragmentary star marks were iparably deep and mysterious. I bet Nie Tian¡¯s strange movement magics you said he used to escape came from one of his fragmentary star marks.¡±

    Now that Dong Li realized that Hua Tian was Nie Tian, her frustration was relieved to a great extent.

    She knew very well that all those who had acquired the eligibility to participate in the Heaven Gate trial had been the most talented young men and women from the strongest Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The fact that Nie Tian had emerged and obtained two fragmentary star marks under such extraordinary circumstances was enough evidence that Nie Tian was one of the best.

    Moreover, such a talented person had recently added a few magics from the Fragmentary Star Incantation to his skillset. Losing to him didn¡¯t seem so uneptable to her now.

    A light shed across Dong Li¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°Big brother! Since we¡¯re probably the only ones who know Nie Tian and Hua Tian are the same person, perhaps we can make something of it!¡±

    Dong Baijie grinned as he nodded at her and said, ¡°Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°In Shatter City,¡± Dong Li said.

    Dong Baijie immediately made a decision. ¡°I¡¯ll pay him a visit in Shatter City and learn more about his situation.¡±

    After learning about Nie Tian¡¯s true identity, Dong Li grew increasingly interested. Voice filled with hatred, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you! Whoever he is, I¡¯ll make him suffer for what he did!¡±

    Dong Baijie didn¡¯t intend to discourage her at all. ¡°If you want to do that, you¡¯ll need to make some alterations to your appearance.¡±

    Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°Can that be any easier? You know that is exactly where my strength lies.¡±

    ¡°You can go to Shatter City with me, but you¡¯ve got to remember: never act rashly.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Dong Baijie continued, ¡°I¡¯ll need to determine how much of the fragmentary star mark Nie Tian has learned. That man is not only very important to the Heaven Pce Sect, but also to the other Qi warrior sects in the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do as you say,¡± Dong Li said.

    ¡°You go ahead and prepare for our trip to Shatter City,¡± Dong Baijie said. ¡°We need to pay Nie Tian a visit as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    In the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters...

    The moment Nie Tian stepped into the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, many Blood Skull members recognized him and greeted him, their faces full of smiles, ¡°Hua Tian!¡±

    Upon hearing his name, an uproar immediately rose among the numerous Qi warriors in the street who hade to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters to sell spiritual materials or purchase spiritual tools.

    ¡°What?! Hua Tian?¡±

    ¡°The same Hua Tian who people have been talking about?¡±

    ¡°The man who not only escaped the pursuit of numerous Hunters, but also killed a few dozen of them as he did.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here?¡±

    Meanwhile, many people rushed to the doors of the stone pavilions alongside the street, where they discussed amongst themselves while looking at Nie Tian with curious gazes.

    The balconies of the stone pavilions, which sold spiritual tools, medicinal pills, and spiritual materials, were also filled with curious people. Without exception, they all had their eyes fixed on Nie Tian.

    Running into such a spectacle the moment he entered the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, Nie Tian felt very confounded.

    At that moment, he felt an increasingly intense sense of urgency.

    Considering his current fame and eye-catching features, he was afraid that it wouldn¡¯t be very long before people learned who he really was.

    At that time, if he hadn¡¯t refined at least one of his fragmentary star marks, once he was found by the Heaven Pce Sect, he might lose everything.

    Under the people¡¯s gazes and discussions, he rushed down the long stone street and arrived at the establishment where the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms were located.

    Upon seeing him, Shi Qing, who had returned the day before, immediately smiled and said in a loud voice, ¡°Wow, you¡¯re here to use a cultivation room? I didn¡¯t expect you toe so soon.¡±

    Nie Tian took the right amount of spirit stones from his bracelet of holding and ced them in front of Shi Qing. ¡°Ten days in a Heaven stage cultivation room.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make the arrangements for you now,¡± Shi Qing said with a pleasant tone.

    Even though Li Ye didn¡¯te with Nie Tian this time, Shi Qing¡¯s attitude toward him was even better than thest time.

    After all, the two of them had fought Li Langfeng side by side in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Nie Tian¡¯s decisiveness and fierceness at the crucial moment had left a very deep impression on him.

    Days ago, when he was chasing down the fleeing Hunter organizations, he had learned from them that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t exaggerated the number of Hunters he had killed. Actually, the number he had given was rather conservative.

    Many of the Hunters had only chased after Nie Tian because of the pressure they had received from Li Langfeng and Dong Li. Deep down, many of them were actually very fearful towards Nie Tian.

    The fact that Nie Tian was feared by so many vicious Hunters while he was only at the early Heaven stage made Shi Qing attach more and more importance to this young man.

    Soon, Shi Qing gave a cultivation room that was originally meant for another person to Nie Tian.

    As Nie Tian was about to walk into the room, Shi Qing stood at the door and said, smiling, ¡°You¡¯re about to make a breakthrough in your cultivation base, right?¡±

    Nie Tian shrugged. ¡°I guess so."

    ¡°Amazing kid indeed.¡± Face filled with smiles, Shi Qing continued, ¡°As far as I recall, there hasn¡¯t been a person who could create such a sensation while he was only at the Heaven stage like you are. Even our head asked me about you recently.¡±

    Nie Tian had a headache over the situation.

    ¡°The fact that he wanted to know about you proves your excellence.¡± Shi Qing patted Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder as he suddenly changed the subject. With a serious face, he asked, ¡°What do you think of Little Yue?¡±

    A shocked expression stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Nothing, hahaha. Never mind.¡± Shi Qingughed and walked downstairs with a meaningful smile on his face.

 Chapter 313: Conflict

    In one of the Heaven stage cultivation rooms, Nie Tian condensed spiritual energy balls with the special technique he had learned from the mysteriousnd, and used them to speed up his cultivation.

    Unlike the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this cultivation room was iparably rich and pure. Not a shred of impurities could be found within it.

    Nie Tian¡¯s efficiency at condensing spiritual energy balls had improved significantly since he had entered the Heaven stage.

    Therefore, it wasn¡¯t very long before the consumption of the spiritual Qi went beyond the room¡¯s capacity.

    A special spell formation that served the purpose of adjusting the spiritual Qi in the cultivation rooms was triggered.

    Just like the Lesser Heaven stage cultivation rooms on the first floor, there were also two Heaven stage cultivation rooms on the second floor.

    When the spiritual Qi in Nie Tian¡¯s room grew so faint that it couldn¡¯t support his cultivation, the special spell formation would channel spiritual Qi from the other cultivation room into Nie Tian¡¯s to bnce the density of spiritual Qi in both rooms.

    In the other cultivation room, ate Heaven stage cultivator, who was on the verge of making a breakthrough, instantly sensed the anomaly.

    After sensing for a while longer, he was convinced that the spiritual Qi in his room was indeed on the decline, so he couldn¡¯t help but walk out of his room and go downstairs.

    He strode up to Shi Qing and asked with an angry face, ¡°What the hell are you doing? Why is the spiritual Qi in my cultivation room bing fainter and fainter? I¡¯m at a crucial phase. The drop in the spiritual Qi will make a huge impact on my imminent breakthrough!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll ask my men about what¡¯s going on,¡± Shi Qing replied with a pleasant attitude.

    He knew that thete Heaven stage young man in front of him was also a guest elder of the Blood Skull. Although his personal strength wasn¡¯t very impressive, he was a rtive of another powerful guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    Shi Qing summoned the person who was in charge of filling the grand spell formation with spirit stones and monitoring its operation from the basement.

    The man scooted up to Shi Qing, smiled embarrassedly, and said, ¡°My lord, it¡¯s the same situation as when Hua Tian was herest time.¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s eyes flickered as he asked, ¡°He caused this again?¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°The consumption of the spiritual Qi in Hua Tian¡¯s room is so fast that our spell formation automatically channeled the spiritual Qi from the other room into his.¡±

    Shi Nan, thete Heaven stage young man, frowned and said with an discontented expression, ¡°Hua Tian? I know he is your youngest guest elder, and everyone in the city has been talking about himtely. But I¡¯m also the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder. Plus, I became a guest elder of the Blood Skull long before he did.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that, just because he¡¯s close to your young lord, he can steal spiritual Qi from my cultivation room! He¡¯s being too domineering, isn¡¯t he?!

    ¡°Also, don¡¯t you always advocate the Blood Skull¡¯s fairness?¡±

    Thete Heaven stage Shi Nan had an uncle named Shi Hui, who was ate Greater Heaven stage expert, and one of the most powerful guest elders of the Blood Skull.

    Like Li Langfeng, Shi Hui was also famous for his toughness and difficulty to deal with. Just like how the Dark Moon treated Li Langfeng, the Blood Skull also treated Shi Hui with great care and respect.

    Although Shi Nan was at thete Heaven stage, he wasn¡¯t any stronger than other cultivators with the same cultivation base as him.

    The only reason the Blood Skull had made him a guest elder was solely because they had to give face to Shi Hui.

    Shi Nan had alway been bossy in front of the other guest elders of the Blood Skull. He even got into conflicts with formal Blood Skull members from time to time.

    However, most Blood Skull members tried not to offend him because Shi Hui was his uncle.

    ¡°How about this,¡± Shi Qing said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a discount on the charges for that cultivation room. Normally, we charge fifty spirit stones for two hours in that cultivation room. Now, I¡¯ll settle for half of that. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Not only was Shi Nan not pleased, but he was further angered by Shi Qing¡¯s offer. ¡°Do you think I care about those spirit stones? I want to make my breakthrough as soon as possible. What I need is a cultivation room filled with rich spiritual Qi! I don¡¯t need spirit stones; I need to break through the Heaven stage!¡±

    Shi Qing frowned slightly.

    ording to his understanding of Shi Nan¡¯s situation, he would still need to cultivate for a long time before he could break through with his current cultivation base.

    Furthermore, Shi Nan actually wasn¡¯t as rich as he let on. He had followed his uncle, Shi Hui, to the Void Illusion Mountain Range a few times, but he hadn¡¯t gained much during those trips. Most of the spirit stones he had were given to him by Shi Hui.

    In Shi Qing¡¯s eyes, even though Shi Nan¡¯s cultivation base was currently higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, his potential was far inferior to Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Even though Nie Tian was only at the early Heaven stage, he had ughtered quite a fewte Heaven stage Dark Moon experts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    In the hilly area and wastnd, he had killed an evenrger number of Hunters, many of whom were also at thete Heaven stage, the same as Shi Nan.

    As for Shi Nan, he was only slightly stronger than his peers with the same cultivation base as him.

    If it weren¡¯t for his uncle, Shi Nan would never have been made a guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    After a moment of hesitation, Shi Qing said, ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the Heaven stage cultivation rooms. However, one of the Greater Heaven stage cultivation rooms is still avable. We normally charge 300 spirit stones for a Greater Heaven stage cultivation room for two hours. I¡¯m willing to let you use it at a rate of 150 spirit stones for two hours. That¡¯s half the normal price. What do you say?¡±

    The rate for a Lesser Heaven stage cultivation room was 10 spirit stones for two hours. The rate for a Heaven stage cultivation room was 50 spirit stones for two hours. The rate for a Greater Heaven stage cultivation room was 300 spirit stones for two hours.

    These were the prices the Blood Skull had set ording to the levels of purity and density of the spiritual Qi in the cultivation rooms, and were actually quite fair.

    Shi Qing knew that Nie Tian was part of the reason he had survived Li Langfeng in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Furthermore, he had seen Nie Tian¡¯s limitless potential, and didn¡¯t want to interrupt his cultivation. Therefore, he was willing to use his authority to lower the rate in order to calm Shi Nan, even if it meant that he would have to make up for the difference himself.

    ¡°The purity and density of the spiritual Qi in a Greater Heaven stage cultivation room is several times higher than that of a Heaven stage room. I won¡¯t be able to consume that much. It will be a waste of my spirit stones!¡± Shi Nan¡¯s face flushed as he continued, ¡°I¡¯m at the Heaven stage, so the cultivation room I rented suits me the best!¡±

    As seasoned and foxy as Shi Qing was, he immediately understood that Shi Nan must not have enough spirit stones to pay for the price he had just offered for a Greater Heaven stage cultivation room.

    After realizing that Shi Nan was actually strapped for spirit stones, yet he still talked big and sought trouble, Shi Qing¡¯s expression grew somewhat displeased, ¡°So what do you want?¡±

    Shi Nan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°You go and tell that Hua Tian punk to stop his cultivation! He¡¯s dyed my breakthrough. For that, he¡¯lle out here and apologize to me, and he won¡¯t be allowed to use that cultivation room until I break through into the Greater Heaven stage.

    Shi Qing frowned. ¡°What?!¡±

    At that moment, a few others who had been waiting to register and rent the cultivation rooms witnessed the conversation between Shi Qing and Shi Nan.

    One of them hastily left the establishment.

    Before long, the man appeared in a secluded courtyard in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, which was designated for their guest elders.

    Among the decorative rocks and pagodas, Shi Hui and a few other guest elders were discussing matters, and Nie Tian was the center of their discussion.

    The news of Nie Tianing to rent a cultivation room had already spread out in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°The Blood Skull¡¯s first early Heaven stage guest elder,¡± A man said with a sarcasticugh. ¡°The Blood Skull must be going backwards. I can¡¯t believe they actually took in an early Heaven stage young man as guest elder. We, as a whole, are brought down by such disgraceful demeanor.¡±

    ¡°I heard that guy killed a lot of enemies with cultivation bases higher than his own. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before this capable kid rides roughshod over us.¡±

    ¡°Who knows if that¡¯s true. Perhaps the Blood Skull was only making a boast of his battle prowess. Cai Yuan might have granted him the guest elder¡¯s identity only because he¡¯s close to Pei Qiqi. Everybody knows Cai Yuan¡¯s affection for Pei Qiqi. I¡¯d say he¡¯s capable of doing anything to please that woman.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a possibility. They only bragged about the kid¡¯s strength to not give people a cause for gossip. I may believe that, as an early Heaven stage cultivator, he killed middle Heaven stage cultivators. However, I¡¯ll never believe that he killed more than e Heaven stage cultivator!¡±

    ¡°The Blood Skull evenunched a cleansing operation against the Hunters just to rescue him.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re also the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders, but we never received such special treatment. This kid must be good at cultivating rtionships. Considering his rtionship with Pei Qiqi, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before the dayes when he bosses us around.¡±

    The group of guest elders discussed and made fun of Nie Tian.

    At that moment, the man arrived from the establishment of cultivation rooms. As soon as he rushed in, he bowed respectfully to a square-faced, bearded man and said, ¡°Lord Shi, Shi Nan is having a conflict with Hua Tian over the use of cultivation rooms.¡±

    Shi Hui¡¯s expression immediately sank. ¡°The same Hua Tian who just returned with the Blood Skull?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s him!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian consumed the spiritual Qi in his cultivation room so fast that the spell formation at the bottom of the cultivation rooms was triggered, which channeled the spiritual Qi from Shi Nan¡¯s room into Hua Tian¡¯s.¡±

    Shi Hui sprang to his feet. ¡°This little punk is too impudent!¡±

    The group of guest elders followed Shi Hui out of the courtyard and toward the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms.

    Momentster, they arrived. Shi Qing was still trying to calm Shi Nan, telling him that when Nie Tian¡¯s time ran out and he walked out of his room, he would have him apologize to Shi Nan.

    ¡°I heard something unpleasant has happened here.¡± Shi Hui strode into the establishment.

    ¡°Brother Shi.¡± Upon seeing Shi Hui, Shi Qing¡¯s expression flickered slightly. Shi Qing walked up to him and said, smiling, ¡°Howe you are bothered by small things like this?¡±

    With these words, he shot a fierce look at the informer before continuing, ¡°You can rest assured. I¡¯ll handle the matter properly. There¡¯s no need to jeopardize the harmonious atmosphere over such trivial things, right? After all, you¡¯re all guest elders of the Blood Skull.¡±

    Shi Hui let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Someone is riding roughshod over my nephew. How do you expect me not to be angry?! Little Nan is every bit as much a guest elder of the Blood Skull as Hua Tian is. What right does Hua Tian have to steal his spiritual Qi? Didn¡¯t Little Nan pay enough spirit stones for that cultivation room?¡±

    ¡°Misunderstanding. It¡¯s merely a misunderstanding.¡± Shi Qing did his utmost to reconcile.

    He was well-aware that not only was Shi Hui very renowned among all of the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders, but he was also good at forming cliques.

    Some of the guest elders even took orders from Shi Hui. If he couldn¡¯t handle this incident properly, the unity of all the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders might be jeopardized.

    ¡°Tell Hua Tian toe out,¡± Shi Hui said impatiently.

    After a moment of hesitation, Shi Qing nodded and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell him to give you an exnation.¡±

 Chapter 314: The Tree May Desire Tranquility, But the Wind Will Not Stop

    After being summoned out of his room, Nie Tian felt very confused while looking at Shi Hui, Shi Nan, and the other few guest elders. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Uncle Shi? Is my time up?¡±

    He was certain that he had only used that cultivation room for no more than 20 hours.

    During that time, he had been forming spiritual energy balls and channeling the concentrated, pure spiritual energy within them to gradually expand his spiritual sea.

    He was very displeased at being interrupted while he was cultivating wholeheartedly.

    Shi Qing put on a wry smile and said embarrassedly, ¡°No, your time is far from running out. However, there¡¯s a small problem. The consumption of the spiritual Qi in your cultivation room was so fast that it affected another¡¯s cultivation.¡±

    With these words, Shi Qing shot a nce at Shi Nan, who was ring at them from the side.

    With his previous experience, Nie Tian immediately understood what had happened. Therefore, he nodded and said, ¡°I see. I¡¯m happy topensate this brother for his loss. How many spirit stones do you think will be a properpensation, Uncle Shi?¡±

    Before Shi Qing had a chance to answer, he came to realize that things like this might happen again, and thus added, ¡°How about this: Uncle Shi, from now on, I¡¯ll rent both rooms at the same time. This way, I won¡¯t affect others. What do you say?¡±

    A bitter smile filled Shi Qing face.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got spirit stones, so what? Who do you think you are?!¡± Shi Nan shouted angrily.

    Unlike Nie Tian, he didn¡¯t have many spirit stones lying around. Therefore, upon seeing the filthy-rich Nie Tian intending to rent both cultivation rooms simultaneously, he flew into a shameful rage.

    The establishment was crowded by not only Shi Hui and other guest elders, but also by people who hade to enjoy the dramatic scene.

    Many onlookers had excited expressions on their faces after seeing Nie Tian walk out of his cultivation room and offer to rent Shi Nan¡¯s room,pletely unaware of Shi Nan¡¯s identity.

    They were all very eager to see how the Blood Skull would handle this incident.

    ¡°Okay, tell me what do you want?¡± Nie Tian said.

    Shi Nan let out a snort and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need your spirit stones. I was at a critical phase in breaking through from my current cultivation base. You disturbed me. First of all, you¡¯ll apologize to me. Then, you¡¯llpensate me for my loss. Furthermore, you won¡¯t be allowed to use that cultivation room until I enter the Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as his face grew cold.

    Meanwhile, he secretly formed a Heaven Eye and used it to conduct a thorough examination of Shi Nan. Then, he said with a wry smile, ¡°It appears that it will be quite some time before you can enter the Greater Heaven stage. During this time, no one but you is allowed to use the cultivation rooms on this floor?¡±

    ¡°Other people can. You can¡¯t!¡± Having his situation perceived and brought into the open by Nie Tian, Shi Nan grew increasingly enraged. ¡°Other people won¡¯t affect me! Only you will!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew increasingly grim.

    He didn¡¯t say another word to Shi Nan. Instead, he turned to Shi Qing and asked, ¡°How do you propose we settle this, Uncle Shi?¡±

    ¡°How about this,¡± Shi Qing mediated, ¡°Hua Tian willpensate for your loss and promise that he won¡¯t affect you again during your future cultivation.¡±

    Shi Hui, who was standing beside them, shook his head and said with a stern tone, ¡°No. I don¡¯t think this is an ident. Things like this will probably happen again. Little Nan¡¯s breakthrough is a matter of great importance. I won¡¯t allow anything or anyone to jeopardize it. Little Nan is right. Hua Tian should stop using that cultivation room temporarily.

    ¡°As for an appropriatepensation. I think we can let this pass if Hua Tian pays Little Nan 2,000 spirit stones.¡±

    Shi Qing¡¯s expression changed dramatically. ¡°2,000 spirit stones?! The charge for using that cultivation room for 20 hours is only 500 spirit stones! Since the influence just urred, 2,000 spirit stones is a bit too many, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    With a indifferent expression, Shi Hui said, ¡°He hampered Little Nan¡¯s breakthrough in his cultivation base. This is not something that can be forgiven by paying a few spirit stones!¡±

    Shi Qing looked deeply at Shi Hui, and gradually realized that he was merely using this incident as an excuse to give Nie Tian a hard time.

    The few guest elders who were standing next to Shi Hui looked at Nie Tian, their eyes filled with contempt and malice.

    All these signs made it clear that since Nie Tian had be famous in Shatter City and was considered highly by the Blood Skull, these people, who were also guest elders of the Blood Skull, were growing increasingly repulsive in their actions towards him.

    They were only using this dispute between Shi Nan and Nie Tian as an opportunity to show Nie Tian who was boss.

    After hearing these words, Shi Qing seemed indecisive.

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t agree to that?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Shi Hui grinned and said, ¡°There¡¯s another solution.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked coldly.

    With a meaningful expression on his face, Shi Hui said, ¡°I heard that your real strength goes far beyond your cultivation base, and that you¡¯ve killed more than e Heaven stage cultivator in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the hilly area, and the wastnd. Many disputes in Shatter City are settled in the Blood Fighting Pit. Since you¡¯re so amazing, how about you defeat Shi Nan in the Blood Fighting Pit?

    ¡°If you win, you won¡¯t need to apologize orpensate us for Little Nan¡¯s loss. Not only that, I¡¯ll have him give up using his cultivation room. You¡¯ll be allowed to rent those two cultivation rooms however you like, and I won¡¯t say another word!¡±

    With these words, Shi Hui paused for a moment before continuing with a chuckle, ¡°However, if you lose, you¡¯ll pay the 2,000 spirit stonespensation, stop using your cultivation room, and apologize to Little Nan in front of everyone. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°The Blood Fighting Pit!¡± Shi Qing¡¯s expression flickered dramatically. ¡°Are you serious, Brother Shi?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t have them fight to the death. The fight will stop as soon as a winner emerges.¡± With an arrogant tone, Shi Hui turned to his nephew, Shi Nan, and said, ¡°If Hua Tian agrees to fight you in the Blood Fighting Pit, you¡¯ll have to remember: don¡¯t take his life. But of course, it¡¯s impossible toe out of the Blood Fighting Pit without sustaining any injuries, right?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I see.¡± Shi Nan realized what his uncle meant, and raised his voice as he said to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯ve heard many stories about your incredible battle prowess, kid.

    ¡°They say that not only did you kill dozens of Heaven stage Dark Moon members and Hunters, but you even killed somete Heaven stage cultivators. That being the case, you should have nothing to fear, right? Come on! Let¡¯s take it to the Blood Fighting Pit. If you can beat me there, I¡¯ll give up that cultivation room voluntarily, and I won¡¯t say a word!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Finally angered by Shi Nan, Nie Tian swiftly went downstairs and strode towards the Blood Fighting Pit.

    ¡°Straightforward. Good!¡± Shi Hui blurted, his eyes glittering with an icy light.

    Upon seeing that Nie Tian had agreed to fight Shi Nan in the Blood Fighting Pit, the crowd of onlookers seemed to have had their enthusiasm further sparked.

    They rapidly followed Nie Tian downstairs and towards the direction of the Blood Fighting Pit. As they did, they spread the word to others they saw in the street.

    Shi Qing saw that he couldn¡¯t stop this, so he turned to Shi Hui and said, ¡°I need to report to the head and ask for his opinion on this! Hua Tian and Shi Nan are both guest elders of the Blood Skull. I¡¯ll have to inform the head about their battle in the Blood Fighting Pit!¡±

    Shi Hui waved his hand and said, ¡°Okay, tell him that this was my idea.¡°

    After following the crowd of people to the Blood Fighting Pit, Shi Qing said to the Blood Skull official who ran the Blood Fighting Pit, ¡°The battle shall not start before I return!¡±

    The man nodded in assent.

    Then, Shi Qing rushed away as if his butt was on fire.

    On the spacious balcony on top of the highest stone pavilion in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, the robust, mountain-like Cai Lan was talking to two high-ranking Blood Skull officials when Shi Qing arrived.

    The moment Shi Qing rushed in, he bowed in respect and ryed word of the incident to Cai Lan.

    After listening to the whole story, Cai Lan asked with a calm expression, ¡°Shi Qing, are you sure that Hua Tian killed so many opponents with cultivation bases higher than his relying solely on his own power?¡±

    ¡°I believe that¡¯s the truth,¡± Shi Qing anwered.

    Cai Lan nodded gently and waved his hand, saying, ¡°Let them fight in the Blood Fighting Pit then.¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡± With these words, Shi Qing backed out of the balcony.

    ¡°Shi Hui is getting more and more impudent,¡± One of the high-ranking officials said with a disgusted expression. ¡°He forms his own cliques amongst the guest elders and even considers those guest elders to be his own subordinates.¡±

    ¡°Shi Hui is about to enter the Worldly realm,¡± The other high official said. ¡°Once he does, his prestige among the guest elders will be even higher.¡±

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯d like to have a look at this battle,¡± Cai Lan said with a smile.

    With a wave of his hand, a giant ice prism suddenly flew over from a corner of the balcony andnded in the middle of the three of them.

    Through the ice prism, they could see everything that was going on in the Blood Fighting Pit with great rity and detail.

    ¡°I¡¯m intrigued too.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, rumors are rumors. You¡¯ve got to see it firsthand to know whether that Hua Tian person is indeed as extraordinary as Shi Qing, Gu Yu, and others say he is.¡±

    Then, Cai Lan nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ve met a few talented youngsters who were able to kill ate Heaven stage opponent while only at the early Heaven stage. But I¡¯ve never met someone who could kill multiple opponents with higher cultivation bases, like they say Hua Tian can.¡±

 Chapter 315: The Blood Fighting Pit

    Numerous people crowded together and pushed back and forth in front of the Blood Fighting Pit.

    Many Qi warriors who hade to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters to purchase spiritual materials and spiritual tools, as well as the other guest elders in the city, all came to this ce upon hearing about the uing battle between Nie Tian and Shi Nan.

    Recently, Nie Tian had be a sensation in Shatter City. Almost everyone was curious about him.

    Shi Nan, on the other hand, was Shi Hui¡¯s nephew and, as a guest elder of the Blood Skull, he also enjoyed a certain amount of poprity in Shatter City.

    Therefore, the moment people heard about their uing battle in the Blood Fighting Pit, they put their business on hold and came to watch the fight.

    The disguised Dong Baijie and Dong Li were among the crowd of people.

    After assumingpletely different appearances, the brother and sister pair looked no different from the other onlookers, and blended in perfectly.

    Standing in the crowd, they observed Nie Tian, who was standing at the gate of the Blood Fighting Pit, from afar.

    Smiling, Dong Baijie said to Dong Li, who was standing right next to him, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we would be able to catch such a good show so soon after arriving in Shatter City. Nie Tian is a neer who¡¯s being regarded so highly by the Blood Skull. It¡¯s only natural that the other guest elders are not happy about it. Nie Tian is at the early Heaven stage, and Shi Nan is at thete Heaven stage. Who do you think will win?¡±

    ¡°Although I hate Nie Tian¡¯s guts, I would still give the odds to him. I think he¡¯ll beat that Shi Nan person rather easily.¡± With a frown, Dong Li looked at the swaggering Shi Nan and said with a disdainful tone, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about Shi Nan before. He only became a guest elder of the Blood Skull because he¡¯s Shi Hui¡¯s nephew. His actual battle prowess is about the same as any other Blood Skull member who is at thete Heaven stage. Nie Tian has killed a number of men like him already.¡±

    Face grim, Dong Baijie asked, ¡°Did you see him kill them?¡±

    Nie Tian being able to take his fragmentary star mark from him in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had a great deal to do with the fact that he had been badly wounded at that time.

    If he hadn¡¯t gone through many fierce battles, he didn¡¯t believe Nie Tian would have had the ability to snatch the fragmentary star mark from him.

    Therefore, when he first came to the Realm of Split Void and heard of Nie Tian¡¯s battle results from Dong Li and Han Mu, he had been rather skeptical, assuming that there might have been some exaggeration in Nie Tian¡¯s aplishment of killing several dozen Heaven stage opponents in a row, some of them even being at thete Heaven stage.

    ¡°Of course I did.¡± A bitter expression could be seen on Dong Li¡¯s face. ¡°Not only that, but I had a brief personal encounter with him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. You know me. I wouldn¡¯t even break a sweat if I needed to kill a man like Shi Nan, even though we are both at thete Heaven stage.

    ¡°The same goes for others who are at the same stage as me, with the only exceptions being the truly talented ones from the powerful Qi warrior sects.

    ¡°But Nie Tian...¡± Dong Li sighed. ¡°Even though he¡¯s only at the early Heaven stage, every time we engaged in battle, he had the upper hand.¡±

    Dong Baijie¡¯s expression flickered as he nodded and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s ce a bet on him. We both suffered major defeats from this kid. Let¡¯s win some money through him to at least make up for our losses.¡±

    Song Li¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Good point.¡±

    In the midst of their quiet discussion, Shi Qing returned.

    ¡°Well...?¡± Shi Hui asked in a loud voice.

    Shi Qing nodded and said, ¡°The battle is authorized.¡±

    Shi Hui grinned. ¡°Good! Everyone, now you may go and ce your bets!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the Blood Skull member who was in charge of the gambling center at the gate of the Blood Fighting Pit started crying out for gamblers.

    ¡°Let¡¯s open the gate,¡± Shi Qing said.

    After hearing his words, another Blood Skull member opened the gate to the Blood Fighting Pit and let Nie Tian and Shi Nan in.

    One after another, the crowd of idlers gathered at the gate to ce their bets with spirit stones.

    The majority of the crowd ced their bets on Nie Tian, with only Shi Hui, the guest elders with him, and a handful of others cing their bets on Shi Nan.

    After all, many of them knew that Shi Nan had only be the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder because of his rtion with Shi Hui, and that his battle prowess was not very outstanding.

    However, Nie Tian had created such a huge sensationtely.

    Even if his aplishments were exaggerated to some extent, the fact that he had sessfully escaped the pursuit of the Fang and other Hunters and returned to Shatter City alive was proof enough of his toughness.

    As a result, nearly eighty percent of the people bet in favor of Nie Tian.

    After hearing the crowd of idlers who relished drama shouting by the gate while cing their bets on Nie Tian, Shi Nan looked very grim.

    Shi Hui and the guest elders with him also had grim expressions on their faces, as if none of them had ever expected that Nie Tian would have such high poprity.

    They didn¡¯t know that many among the crowd of spectators had safely returned to Shatter City from their exploration trips precisely because Nie Tian had attracted the attention of practically all the Hunter organizations in the area.

    Some of them had even learned about the Fang¡¯s schemes from the messages Nie Tian had left for them, and thus had withdrawn safely from the dense forest in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    They all felt indebted to Nie Tian, so they naturally ced their bets on him.

    ¡°Come on, people! 50 spirit stones and you can watch the battle in the Blood Fighting Pit!¡± A Blood Skull member cried loudly at the gate.

    Everyone, including Shi Hui, Dong Baijie, and Dong Li, paid their entrance fees and walked into the Blood Fighting Pit.

    Nie Tian and Shi Nan were standing at the center of the enormous fighting pit, with numerous paying spectators around them.

    It was the first time Nie Tian had been inside the Blood Fighting Pit, so he nced around curiously.

    In the middle of the spacious fighting pit was a round stone stage that was 100 meters in diameter. A spiritual power ward had been established at the perimeter of the the round stage, preventing spiritual power attacks from shooting out of the stage.

    Outside the edge of the round stage stood a circle of bleachers, which were gradually being filled with spectators.

    After a rough count, Nie Tian found that there were already about a hundred people sitting on the bleachers.

    All of them were making remarks about Nie Tian and Shi Nan with red faces, seeming even more thrilled than the fighters.

    Shi Qing and the Blood Skull official who was in charge of the fighting pit beckoned for Nie Tian and Shi Nan to wait for the spectators to finish cing their bets and getting to their seats before announcing the start of the battle.

    When it was about time, Shi Qing warned them loudly, ¡°Hua Tian, Shi Nan, you¡¯re both guest elders of the Blood Skull. I want you to know that this is not a battle of life and death! Keep your agreement in mind, and stop when a winner emerges.¡±

    With an aloof expression, Nie Tian turned his head to stretch his neck, although he cursed Shi Nan in his heart.

    He remembered that both Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had warned him not to attract too much attention a few days ago.

    Furthermore, he was aware that if he caught too much attention in Shatter City, it would only be a matter of time before his true identity was exposed. At that time, the Heaven Pce Sect would surelye for him.

    However, the thing people want the least always turns out to be the actual result. Shi Nan and Shi Hui were obviously using this incident as an opportunity to cause him trouble.

    Now that they had sought him out to mess with him, he definitely couldn¡¯t tolerate it, and thus agreed to this battle.

    Seeing the bleachers being filled with more and more spectators, Nie Tian secretly cursed Shi Nan for causing so much attention. All he wanted was to finish the battle as soon as possible.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of green-blue lightning jumped out of Shi Nan¡¯s fingers as he summoned his lightning power. Simultaneously, Shi Nan, who cultivated the lightning incantation, took out a blue-green hammer from within his bracelet of holding.

    With a slight wave of the hammer, rumbles of thunder echoed out from it.

    In the next moment, even more fine, green lightning bolts flew out of Shi Nan¡¯s fingers, and were infused into the thunder hammer in his hand.

    Shi Nan shot a nce at Shi Qing, who was observing from afar, and said, ¡°Rx, I won¡¯t kill him! But since he dares to fight me in the Blood Fighting Pit, I can¡¯t let him walk out of here so easily!¡±

    BOOM!

    A loud and crisp roll of thunder echoed out from within his thunder hammer, as if the hammer had turned into a giant ball of lightning and crashed towards Nie Tian.

    Within the Blood Fighting Pit, apanied by rolls of thunder, numerous dazzling lightning bolts shed across in the air.

    Nie Tian looked up and felt a stabbing pain in his eyes, realizing that the lightning contained formidable power.

    ¡°Fancy, but not practical!¡± He let out a cold harrumph as he secretly formed a two-meter radius chaotic maic field around him.

    At the same time, since he wished to end the battle as quickly as possible, he rapidly summoned his star power and prepared to cast a short-range Starshift.

    SHEW!

    In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Shi Nan, as if he had teleported.

    As Shi Nan was enveloped by the maic field, his spiritual power immediately fell into a state of chaos, and he experienced an agonizing pain in his mind.

    Without any hesitation, Nie Tian summoned the different types of power within him andunched a Rage Punch towards Shi Nan¡¯s chest.

    BANG!!!

    Shi Nan was sent flying backwards like a cannonball. After crashing heavily into the spiritual power ward at the perimeter, he copsed to the floor.

 Chapter 316: Clean Victory

    BOOM!

    After ramming heavily into the spiritual power ward, Shi Nan fell onto the ground, and was unable to stand back up.

    Blood ceaselessly poured out of the corner of his mouth as he attempted to get back on his feet. However, he failed after a few attempts, and thus eventually gave up. Sitting on the floor, he red at Nie Tian.

    After throwing the Rage Punch, Nie Tian didn¡¯t even spare Shi Nan another nce, and walked straight out of the central stage.

    The spiritual power ward at the perimeter of the stage split open and created a opening for Nie Tian.

    Only at that moment did the spectators on the standse to realize that the battle was over.

    A huge uproar rose inside the Blood Fighting Pit.

    ¡°Am I seeing right? Shi Nan actually couldn¡¯t withstand a single strike, and now he can¡¯t even get up?!¡±

    ¡°What just happened? It happened so fast that I didn¡¯t see it clearly. I just saw Hua Tian suddenly appear in front of Shi Nan and strike him with his fist. And then, Shi Nan flew backwards!¡±

    ¡°Was it really a battle between an early Heaven stage fighter and ate Heaven stage fighter? If we are determining their strength by their cultivation bases, shouldn¡¯t Shi Nan be the one to have defeated Hua Tian in a sh? Howe it was the other way around?¡±

    ¡°Dear lord! I¡¯m afraid the rumors are real! Hua Tian actually did kill dozens of Dark Moon experts and Hunters in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the hilly area, and the wastnd!¡±

    ¡°It seems that a cultivator¡¯s cultivation base is indeed not the only standard to determine a man¡¯s true strength!¡±

    All the spectators who had paid spirit stones to enter the Blood Fighting Pit were caught up in intense discussions with each other.

    ¡°Shi Nan is such a dumbass!¡± Dong Li said, gritting her teeth, not excited in the least even after winning numerous spirit stones since she had ced her bet on Nie Tian.

    For some reason, upon seeing Shi Nan lose sopletely and Nie Tian win so effortlessly, she was actually very angry.

    ¡°Shi Nan knew absolutely nothing about Nie Tian. He had no idea that Nie Tian has mastered strange movement magics, and that he is always wreathed in a mysterious maic field!¡± Since she had dealt with Nie Tian before, and through her endless pursuit of him, she had gained a clear understanding of the different types of mysterious magics he used.

    She believed that if she were to fight Nie Tian, she definitely wouldn¡¯t fail so utterly and quickly as Shi Nan did.

    The reason why Shi Nan had suffered such aplete loss was because he didn¡¯t know anything about Nie Tian, yet was blindly confident in himself and didn¡¯t keep his guard up.

    Dong Baijie took a deep breath and said with a grim look in his eyes, ¡°He¡¯s even more powerful now. Aside from the maic field and the movement magic he just used, he knows another secret magic that allows him to condense the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into energy balls. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there isn¡¯t any spiritual Qi here, and if the battle took ce in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Shi Nan would have suffered an even more thorough loss.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Dong Li instantly thought of the Hunters who had been bombarded by Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, which contained toxic spiritual Qi, and died horrible deaths.

    A chill ran through her body as she cursed, ¡°That man is such a freak!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shi...¡±

    The handful of guest elders of the Blood Skull who were standing beside Shi Hui wished to speak, but stopped on second thought, their faces filled with mixed emotions.

    Shi Hui¡¯s face was very grim as he looked back and forth between Shi Nan, who struggled a few times, but still couldn¡¯t get back on his feet, and Nie Tian, who didn¡¯t even spare Shi Nan a nce after throwing the punch and walked right out of the fighting stage.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go back to my cultivation room, Uncle Shi.¡± With these words, Nie Tian walked through the gate of the Blood Fighting Pit.

    Beside Shi Qing, a few Blood Skull experts who managed the Blood Fighting Pit stood aghast as they looked Nie Tian up and down, as if they were looking at a monster.

    Shi Qing snapped out of his daze and hastily replied, ¡°Good, good.¡±

    With these words, he looked up at Shi Hui, who was standing on the bleachers, and asked under everyone¡¯s gazes, ¡°Brother Shi, about your agreement?¡±

    Cold words came out through Shi Hui¡¯s gnashed teeth. ¡°Every word I said counts.¡±

    Shi Qing smiled as he nodded. Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said warmly, ¡°It¡¯s done. From now on, Shi Nan¡¯s cultivation room will remain vacant. You¡¯ll be able to use both Heaven stage cultivation rooms however you like, and cultivate wholeheartedly. You won¡¯t need to worry about any further disruptions.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, many thanks.¡± Nie Tian sped his hands to pay his respects and then walked away from the Blood Fighting Pit.

    The Qi warriors who had limited spirit stones and thus had been waiting for the result outside the Blood Fighting Pit, saw Nie Tian walk out and immediately learned the result.

    Under the crowd¡¯s shocked and revering gazes, Nie Tian rapidly left and went straight back to his cultivation room, where he resumed his devoted cultivation.

    On the balcony of the highest stone pavilion in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters...

    Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, waved his hand, and the the gigantic, crystal-like prism grew dim and flew back into a corner of the balcony.

    Cai Lan rubbed his chin as light shed across in his eyes, as if he was deep in thought.

    The other two Worldly realm Blood Skull officials also narrowed their eyes as they recalled the scene where Nie Tian had defeated Shi Nan in the blink of an eye over and over again.

    All three of them remained silent.

    Only after a long time did Cai Lan stop pondering and ask with a in tone, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    One of them said with a impressed smile, ¡°This kid is far beyond ordinary. The way I see it, even the so-called ¡®chosen ones¡¯ from the Heaven Pce Sect, Ice Pavilion sect, and other top Qi warrior sects in the other nine realms probably wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat him. Also, I think ¡®Hua Tian¡¯ is probably a fake name.¡±

    ¡°Your Honor, this young man is probably here to either take refuge or temper himself,¡± the other high-ranking official said, ¡°Whichever it is, he probably won¡¯t stay in the Realm of Split Void in the long-term. It won¡¯t be easy if we want to make him one of us. Special means will be required.¡±

    Cai Lan nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ve broadened my horizons today.¡±

    As a matter of fact, back when Shi Qing had confirmed Nie Tian¡¯s aplishment of ughtering multiple Dark Moon experts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range to him, he had been convinced that Nie Tian woulde out victorious.

    That was why he had authorized their battle in the Blood Fighting Pit.

    However, he had never expected that the battle would end so quickly.

    The way Nie Tian had defeated Shi Nan was so neat and quick that Shi Nan had already copsed on the ground before Cai Lan could have a chance to observe Nie Tian¡¯s secrets.

    He even secretly med Shi Nan for not being able to withstand a single blow.

    After all, Shi Nan was also a guest elder that had won the Blood Skull¡¯s recognition. Those who had the privilege of bing guest elders of the Blood Skull were usually stronger thanmon cultivators with the same cultivation base.

    The trio felt the Blood Skull had lost face because of Shi Nan¡¯s unbearably poor performance. Others might even begin to suspect that all of the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders might be just as ipetent as Shi Nan.

    Cai Lan pondered for a few seconds before adding, ¡°From now on, we need to raise the bar and adopt a more prudent screening process when we take in new guest elders. And no more face-giving! Pass on my order: remove Shi Nan¡¯s title as a guest elder of the Blood Skull. He has brought shame to our entire organization. A man like him doesn¡¯t deserve to be our guest elder.¡±

    ¡°Your Honor, such a decision might arouse Shi Hui¡¯s discontent,¡± one of the officials said.

    ¡°Ignore him.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    That night...

    Shi Hui took the severely injured Shi Nan back to his courtyard in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, where he examined his condition. After discovering that three of Shi Nan¡¯s ribs were broken and certain damage had been inflicted to his heart, Shi Hui looked increasingly sullen.

    ¡°Howe you lost so easily andpletely?¡± Shi Hui said, enraged.

    He didn¡¯t care that he had lost some spirit stones. What he cared about was that Shi Nan had brought shame to him and lost his face.

    There had been arge audience at the Blood Fighting Pit earlier today, all of whom knew that Shi Nan was his nephew. Shi Nan¡¯s disastrous defeat had been like a vigorous p to Shi Hui¡¯s face.

    The few guest elders who were close to him also had grim expressions on their faces, and seemed every bit as embarrassed and ashamed as he was.

    Actually, those guest elders were well-aware that, considering Shi Nan¡¯s true strength, he wouldn¡¯t have qualified to be a guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    However, no matter how unimpressive Shi Nan was, he was still at thete Heaven stage, and he shouldn¡¯t have lost to Nie Tian, whose cultivation base was two levels lower than his. However, the result was that not only did he lose, but he also lostpletely. This was very hard for them to ept.

    ¡°That kid practically teleported to my face and avoided all of my lightning attacks.¡± Shi Nan¡¯s face was pale, and he could feel a mild pain in his heart every time he spoke. ¡°As soon as he appeared in front of me, my spiritual power fell into a state of chaos, and I felt a splitting pain in my head.

    ¡°I simply couldn¡¯t summon my spiritual power to defend against his iing strike.

    ¡°Also, his fist strike was more explosive than any attacking skill I¡¯ve ever seen. I-I...¡±

    Shi Nan ran out of words.

    He was also very upset that he had lost to an early Heaven stage young man. He had never imagined Nie Tian to have so many strange skills.

    He attributed his failure to hisck of knowledge of Nie Tian.

    However, he did lose. No matter how well he might exin it, he wouldn¡¯t be able to change the result.

    Just as they were drowning in depression, a Blood Skull member arrived and delivered a message from Cai Lan: ¡°Shi Nan is too weak to be a guest elder of the Blood Skull, and thus his title will be removed, effective immediately!¡±

    After delivering Cai Lan¡¯s order, the man turned around and left without looking at Shi Hui¡¯s outrageous facial expression.

    A heated discussion went on between the few guest elders, as they were all outraged by the Blood Skull¡¯s decision.

    ¡°Cai Lan has gone too far! Sure, Shi Nan lost the battle, but he¡¯s still your nephew! Cai Lan obviously just doesn¡¯t want to give you face anymore!¡±

    ¡°Big Brother Shi, Cai Lan¡¯s decision is a bit too excessive, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Shi Hui, however, didn¡¯t say a word as he listened to their discussion. Like an ice-cold rock, he sat still.

    After a long while, Shi Hui grew impatient. He waved his hand to beckon them to get out, saying, ¡°You may go now. I know what to do!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the guest elders sealed their lips and left the room.

    After they left, and Shi Hui and Shi Nan were the only ones in the room, Shi Hui let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Cai Lan, since you treat me with injustice, don¡¯t me me for betraying you! Even if leave the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire will offer me even better terms! Now that you don¡¯t want to give me face, I¡¯m no longer obligated to work for you!¡±

    Shi Nan¡¯s expression flickered slightly after hearing his words. Yet, he didn¡¯t dare to say anything.

 Chapter 317: The Spirit Condor

    Over the following ten days, Nie Tian¡¯s fame rose higher and higher in Shatter City.

    His deed of defeating Shi Nan in the Blood Fighting Pit was soon spread to every corner of the city, and became known to every citizen.

    Not only that, but even people in Ash City and the Land of the Abandoned heard about him, the newest guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    However, during this period of time, Nie Tian never stepped out of the cultivation room he had rented in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters once.

    Since his battle with Shi Nan, he had realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to conceal his true identity for long, and thus felt an increasingly strong sense of urgency.

    In the cultivation room, he used the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to gradually expand his spiritual sea and refine his spiritual power round after round. In the meantime, he consumedrge amounts of spirit beast meat and learned thest profound magic recorded in the first fragmentary star mark, Starfall.

    During this time, Dong Baijie and Dong Li remained in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters and wandered around in the vicinity, waiting for Nie Tian toe out of the establishment.

    Now that Dong Baijie had confirmed Nie Tian¡¯s identity, ideas emerged in his mind. If it was possible, he nned to exert all effort to snatch the two fragmentary star marks from Nie Tian.

    If not, he would try his best to persuade Dong Li to put aside her personal grudge towards Nie Tian and make friends with him.

    Of course, he hadn¡¯t shared his ns with Dong Li yet.

    Soon, a month passed...

    Nie Tian, who had spent the entire time cultivating wholeheartedly in the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation room, had sessfully expanded his spiritual sea to the limit and finished a few rounds of refinement of his spiritual power.

    During this period of time, he had even received major enlightenment regarding the profound Starfall magic.

    On this day, he finally walked out of his cultivation room.

    At the front door of the establishment, he settled his ount with Shi Qing and paid the total due amount of spirit stones. Then, he headed out towards his residence in Shatter City.

    However, the moment he stepped through the front door, a small middle-aged man with a goatee suddenly appeared in front of him. Face full of smiles, he moved very close to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Long time no see, young man. I noticed your uniquenessst time we met, but I never expected that you would be a guest elder of the Blood Skull!¡±

    Nie Tian looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, asking, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Actually, this was the same man he had encountered thest time Li Ye had brought him here to use the cultivation room.

    The man made a living by selling information, and it was through this man that Nie Tian had learned about the situation in the Realm of me Heaven and that his kin were safe. Only after gaining such information had he finally set his mind at rest and focused on his cultivation.

    With a low chuckle and a slick roll of his eyes, the man said, ¡°It¡¯s me. I didn¡¯t have a chance to introduce myself thest time we met. I¡¯ll make up for it now. My name is Hu Rong.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay."

    While Nie Tian and Hu Rong talked, some passing-by Qi warriors recognized Nie Tian and started chattering with theirpany.

    ¡°That¡¯s Hua Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the Hua Tian everyone has been talking about!¡±

    Hu Rong frowned slightly and said, ¡°Hua Tian, if you don¡¯t mind, can we find another ce to talk? I¡¯ve got a lot of new information regarding the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Nie TIan¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Come with me.¡± Without any hesitation, Hu Rong walked towards the gate of the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    At that moment, Shi Qing, who had been sitting by the door, overheard their conversation.

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡± Shi Qing called out gently.

    Hu Rong and Nie Tian both stopped.

    Shi Qing took a long, deep look at Hu Rong before saying, ¡°Hua Tian is our guest elder. Now that he wants to buy information from you, I hope you won¡¯t deceive him.¡±

    ¡°How would I dare?¡± A wronged expression appeared on Hu Rong¡¯s smiling face.

    Shi Qing snorted as he said with a stern expression on his face, ¡°Come on. Do me a favor and tell him only the truth, will you?¡±

    For some reason, Shi Qing, who usually never showed any emotion when dealing with people, seemed very concerned and sincere when he talked to Hu Rong.

    After hearing Shi Qing¡¯s words, Hu Rong assumed a serious face as he nodded gently and said, ¡°Rest assured. I won¡¯t give him any false information.¡±

    Only then did Shi Qing set his mind at rest and say to Nie Tian, ¡°Brother Hu is a very well-informed man. Even we, the Blood Skull, sometimes get our information from him when we want to learn about the newest things happening elsewhere.¡±

    Nie Tian felt deep veneration upon hearing these words.

    Originally, he had attached very little importance to Hu Rong. Due to the man¡¯s wretched appearance, he had even slightly doubted the authenticity of his information.

    He had never expected that Shi Qing would actually speak so highly of the man.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Hu Rong led the way.

    Soon, the two of them walked out of the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Meanwhile, Dong Baijie and Dong Li hid around a corner of the street, and observed quietly as Nie Tian and Hu Rong walked further and further away.

    After a moment of pondering, Dong Baijie asked, ¡°Did you notice the ring on that man¡¯s finger?¡±

    With a suspicious expression on her face, Dong Li said, ¡°Yeah, I saw the pattern on the ring¡¯s surface. That Hu Rong person is probably with the Spirit Condor. He is probably in charge of the Spirit Condor¡¯s branch in Shatter City. Normally speaking, people from the Spirit Condor won¡¯t do business with men with low cultivation bases, like Nie Tian. They normally only deal with powerful and influential men or organizations. What is he doing with Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Beats me.¡± Dong Baijie shook his head. ¡°As far as we know, the Spirit Condor is not a Qi warrior sect, but rather a mysterious, ancient organization. Their influence reaches every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Even the most powerful Qi warrior sects like the Heaven Pce Sect aren¡¯t as well-informed as the Spirit Condor.

    ¡°Now that the Spirit Condor has approached Nie Tian, could it be that they¡¯ve learned about his true identity?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly as she said, ¡°It¡¯s very likely! If any organization has the ability to dig Nie Tian out, it must be the Spirit Condor!¡±

    ¡°Damn!" Dong Baijie secretly felt regretful. ¡°If the Spirit Condor has indeed learned about Nie Tian¡¯s true identity, it won¡¯t be very long before the Heaven Pce Sect gets the word. Once they do, they¡¯ll immediately send people to Shatter City.¡±

    ¡°So what should we do then?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Dong Baijie sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s observe for a while first.¡±

    In a remote corner of Shatter City...

    It was a run-down block. Rusting, small stone pavilions sat on both sides of the narrow street. A disgusting and nauseous smell filled the air.

    This ce was the slum of Shatter City, where only the most down-and-out Qi warriors gathered.

    Every single courtyard and stone pavilion in Shatter City had been built by the Blood Skull. Wherever you lived, you would have to pay rent to the Blood Skull in spirit stones.

    The more spacious and noble the residence was, the higher the rent would be. This block, however, was the ce where people could find residences with the lowest rents in Shatter City.

    Hu Rong lived in one of the numerous humble stone rooms on this block.

    Nie Tian followed Hu Rong into the stone room, and found that there was nothing but a bed and a stone table inside the room.

    While Nie Tian was still frowning from the foul smell in the street, Hu Rongughed embarrassedly and said with an apologetic tone, ¡°Sorry for the poor environment here.¡±

    With these words, Hu Rong slowly closed the door, along with the only window of the room.

    Afterwards, an ocean-blue light screen suddenly spread out across the inner walls of the humble stone room, isting the room from the outside world.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes instantly glittered with a strange light.

    ¡°Alright, no one will be able to hear us now.¡± Hu Rong grinned and showed his mouthful of yellow teeth. He went ahead and poured himself a cup of strong tea. Despite the fact that the tea seemed burning hot, he took a sip of it, and with a enjoyable expression on his face, he asked, ¡°How much of the first fragmentary star mark have you learned and refined?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered dramatically.

    Almost simultaneously, he formed a chaotic maic field around himself and unleashed one Heaven Eye.

    As soon as his chaotic maic field was formed, theyer of ocean-blue light sealing the small stone room began to fluctuate violently.

    Even the stone room began to give out cracking sounds, as if it couldn¡¯t bear the strong impact and was going to copse.

    Keh! Keh!

    Hu Rong choked on a mouthful of strong tea and coughed loudly as he hastily waved his hand towards Nie Tian. ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t be so nervous! I mean no harm!¡±

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Nie Tian blurted loudly.

    He had never expected that this wretched-looking man would be the first to reveal his true identity.

    After discovering via his Heaven Eye that Hu Rong was only at thete Heaven stage, a strong killing intent was born in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Since he hadn¡¯t fully mastered Starfall, it meant that he hadn¡¯t even refined the first fragmentary star mark yet.

    With the first sentence that came out of his mouth, Hu Rong had disclosed Nie Tian¡¯s true identity. This made Nie Tian feel an imminent threat.

    Therefore, he secretly prepared to kill and silence him forever.

    ¡°I¡¯m with the Spirit Condor.¡± Hu Rong chuckled. ¡°You¡¯ve caused such a huge stir in Shatter City recently, so it was fairly easy for me to learn about your true identity.¡±

    ¡°The Spirit Condor? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡± Strong kiling intent continued to hover within Nie Tian¡¯s wide eyes.

 Chapter 318: Crisis Lurking in Dark Corners

    No battles or brawls were allowed in Shatter City. This was the rule set by Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull. Anyone who dared to break this rule would be punished severely.

    The Blood Skull had set up special spell formations to cover every inch of Shatter City, so that they could detect any sh between spiritual power and determine the location of a fight the moment it took ce.

    Once they discovered a battle anywhere in Shatter City, the Blood Skull would immediately send people to deal with it.

    Nie Tian had learned about it soon after he had be a guest elder of the Blood Skull. Even so, he was prepared to use everything within his power to kill the man in front of him!

    After all, Hu Rong being alive was such a huge threat to him.

    Considering his current rtionship with the Blood Skull, if he killed Hu Rong, he would probably still be punished by the Blood Skull, but after weighing the punishment against the peace he would gain by killing Hu Rong, he felt that it would be worth it to receive a punishment from the Blood Skull.

    As soon as the thought of killing Hu Rong appeared in his mind, Nie Tian unleashed a murderous aura so palpable that he could almost cut it with a knife.

    Hu Rong, whose cultivation base was two levels higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, saw the soundproof, ocean-blue light screen being distorted by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field to the point where it was on the verge of falling apart, and that the murderous aura Nie Tian unleashed was growing more and more intense and suffocating. He said hastily, ¡°Mr. Hua is also a member of the Spirit Condor.¡±

    ¡°Which Mr. Hua?¡± The strong killing intent in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t weaken a bit.

    ¡°Hua Mu, of course!¡± A bitter smile spread out across Hu Rong¡¯s face. ¡°Actually, our first encounter wasn¡¯t an ident at all. Do you really think us members of the Spirit Condor would simply wander in the street and sell information? If Mr. Hua hadn¡¯t asked me to deliver that information to you, I would never have taken the initiative to approach you!¡±

    Upon hearing Hua Mu¡¯s name, the strong killing intent around Nie Tian immediately disappeared.

    ¡°Howe he¡¯s a member of the Spirit Condor?¡± Nie Tian sounded very surprised.

    ¡°Not only is Mr. Hua a member of the Spirit Condor, but he¡¯s also a high-ranking official in the Spirit Condor.¡± Hu Rong also seemed to feel deep veneration when he talked about Hua Mu. ¡°Let me put it this way: considering my status in the Spirit Condor, if Mr. Hua didn¡¯t want to give me a mission, I wouldn¡¯t even be allowed to meet him in person.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field gradually weakened, and eventually dissipated into the air. Then, he asked, ¡°Why have you sought me out this time?¡±

    ¡°You need to answer my question first. How much of the first fragmentary star mark have you learned and refined?¡± Hu Rong said with all seriousness.

    ¡°The first fragmentary star mark carries three profound magics. So far, I¡¯ve learned and refined the first two. It won¡¯t be long before I fully master the third magic. I just need some time to practice it.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t hide anything. Instead, he told Hu Rong the truth.

    Hu Rong nodded briefly as he said, ¡°Good. The circumstances have changed. Originally, Mr. Hua wanted you to stay in the Realm of Split Void and refine both of the fragmentary star marks. However, ording to the newest information we¡¯ve received, Mr. Hua believes that as long as you can learn and refine the first fragmentary star mark, you won¡¯t need to worry about your real identity being exposed anymore.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian was surprised and curious.

    Hu Rong smiled as he said, ¡°Even Mr. Hua himself didn¡¯t know that the three fragmentary star marks need to be learned and refined in the right order. The third fragmentary star mark was obtained by Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect. However, up till now, he still hasn¡¯t been able to receive any enlightenment from it.

    ¡°ording to Ning Yang, he won¡¯t be able to learn the third fragmentary star mark unless he obtains the first two fragmentary star marks and starts from there.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. ¡°Does that mean that the third fragmentary star mark has beenpletely useless to Ning Yang?¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Hu Rong nodded, smiling.

    ¡°That was why he ignored orders from the Heaven Pce Sect and hid away. Now even the Heaven Pce Sect is asking us to help them search for him.¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Why did they do that?¡±

    Hu Rong took another sip of his hot, strong tea as he organized his thoughts. Then, he went on and exined, ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect believes that since you¡¯ve disappeared for quite some time, you¡¯ve probably already learned and refined the first fragmentary star mark. Once you¡¯ve done that, the fragmentary star mark will be a part of your body and soul. By that time, even the Heaven Pce Sect won¡¯t have the ability to separate and strip it from you.

    ¡°Thus, you¡¯ve be the key to this.

    ¡°Even though Ning Yang is the ¡®chosen one¡¯ of the Heaven Pce Sect, since he couldn¡¯t learn anything from the third fragmentary star mark, he will be forced to give it up so that you¡¯ll be able to master all three fragmentary star marks and seal the three huge spatial rifts, which connects the outsider demons¡¯ world with ours, as soon as possible.

    ¡°For that reason, the Heaven Pce Sect intended to strip Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark from him and offer it to you when you showed up.

    ¡°Ning Yang learned about their decision through his connections in the sect, so he imed that he was going on a trip to search for you and disappeared.¡±

    Hu Rong took his time as he exined the ever-changing situation to Nie Tian in great detail.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a while. After obtaining a thorough understanding of the current situation, he asked, ¡°Is this all you wanted to tell me?¡±

    ¡°For one thing, I hope you can refine that first fragmentary star mark as quickly as possible. For another, I¡¯vee to tell you that you don¡¯t need to be overcautious any more. Even if you expose your true identity here, it probably won¡¯t be a big deal.¡± With these words, Hu Rong suddenly assumed a serious expression. ¡°Another thing that I need to inform you of is that Ning Yang is also in the Realm of Split Void right now.¡±

    ¡°What?! He¡¯s also in the Realm of Split Void? Where exactly? Is he here because of me?¡± Nie Tian asked a series of questions without pause.

    Ning Yang was at thete Greater Heaven stage. Back when they were in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he had risen up, in numerous powerful Greater Heaven stage experts, and eventually gained a fragmentary star mark.

    Even the valiant Tang Yang from the me God Sect suffered a disastrous defeat from him.

    Back then, Nie Tian had witnessed Ning Yang¡¯s formidable power, even though they had been separated by a seven-colored river of light.

    As the ¡°chosen one¡± of the Heaven Pce Sect, Ning Yang¡¯s battle prowess far exceeded that of the otherte Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    Now, as he thought about it, Ning Yang probably would be as fierce and deadly as Li Langfeng, if not more.

    However, Ning Yang was much younger than Li Langfeng, which meant he had much more potential than Li Langfeng.

    The news of Ning Yang appearing in the Realm of Split Void came as a great threat that weighed on Nie Tian¡¯s mind. He believed that once his identity was exposed, Ning Yang would seek him out in no time.

    ¡°From the information we¡¯ve acquired, Ning Yang is in the Realm of Split Void now. After all, only such a special ce would be out of the reach of the Heaven Pce Sect. Even we would have to go through great trouble to find a person here.¡± Hu Rong frowned as he added, ¡°As for his current location, we don¡¯t know for sure, and we can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s here for you, or to escape from the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯swork.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°I have a feeling that I won¡¯t be able to hide my true identity for long.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t need to,¡± Hu Rong said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯ll only need to hide your true identity until you finish refining the first fragmentary star mark. When you do that, even if your true identity hasn¡¯t been exposed, we, the Spirit Condor, will spread the word that you¡¯re Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°What?! Why would you do that?¡± Nie Tian asked with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°So that Ning Yang will show up ande for you,¡± Hu Rong said with a serious face. ¡°In the Realm of Split Void, as long as Ning Yang changes his appearance, adopts another identity, and keeps a low profile, even we will have great difficulty finding him. If he doesn¡¯t show up, we won¡¯t be able to have the third fragmentary star mark transferred from him to you.

    ¡°Only you will be able to tempt him to stop hiding and take the initiative by attacking you.

    ¡°Of course, you won¡¯t need to worry about your safety. We¡¯ll make arrangements to make sure you¡¯re safe. When you¡¯ve refined the first fragmentary star mark, you cane and find me here. I¡¯ll find you strong allies so that you¡¯ll be able to deal with Ning Yang together.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian said, ssy-eyed.

    ¡°Alright, try not to concern yourself with other matters, and focus solely on refining the first fragmentary star mark.¡± With these words, Hu Rong called off the ocean-blue light screen, opened the door, and signaled to Nie Tian that he could leave.

    Then, Nie Tian walked out of the room with aplicated expression on his face.

    It was already the middle of the night.

    Walking down the chilly, deste street that was filled with a foul smell, Nie Tian frowned as he continued to mull over the overwhelming information he had just learned from Hu Rong.

    Just as he was about to walk out of the block, he took note that a man was sitting at a corner of the street. In the darkness, the man¡¯s glittering eyes never left him.

    As he stepped closer, the man waved at him, and beckoned for Nie Tian toe closer.

    Nie Tian first came to a stop, and then examined the man with a Heaven Eye.

    ¡°Early Greater Heaven stage!¡± After learning the man¡¯s cultivation base, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he secretly raised his guard.

    After all, he didn¡¯t have the confidence to beat a Greater Heaven stage expert yet, so the man was a threat to him.

    On second thought, he was now in Shatter City, where the Blood Skull kept a close watch on everything happening in every corner. Once a battle broke out, Blood Skull members would immediately detect the violent sh of spiritual power, and arrive at the scene shortly afterwards.

    With a thought, Nie Tian quietly formed a chaotic maic field around him and walked slowly towards the man.

    The man grinned as he said, ¡°Long time no see.¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly went nk as he looked the man up and down with rapt attention. Then, he asked, ¡°Have we ever met?¡±

    The man nced around. When he was convinced that no one was around, he took off his mask and showed his real face. bbergasted, Nie Tian called out, ¡°Dong Baijie!¡±

    At that very moment, the man put the mask back on with lightning speed and hastily exined, ¡°Wait! Calm down! I¡¯m not here to get things back from you or seek revenge.¡±

    As he said these words, he rapidly put a bracelet of holding on the ground, and stepped backwards with a smile on his face. ¡°Consider what¡¯s inside to be a gift from me. I wish we can be friends from now on.¡±

    By standing at least 50 meters away from Nie Tian, Dong Baijie seemed to be showing Nie Tian that he didn¡¯t have any ill intentions, so that Nie Tian could put his mind at ease.

    With great caution, Nie Tian walked to where Dong Baijie stood earlier and picked up the bracelet of holding from the ground. Then, he sent a wisp of psychic awareness into it.

    There was a mask and approximately 300 stones that contained star power within the bracelet of holding.

    ¡°There will be asions where that mask wille in handy. As a matter of fact, you should have been wearing a mask like this since the day you came to the Realm of Split Void.¡± Dong Baijie gave a lowugh as he continued, ¡°As for the Star Stones, consider them a token of my good intentions. I know you¡¯re in need of them, so please take them.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, Dong Baijie added, ¡°I¡¯vee to make friends with you, and that¡¯s all. You can rest assured. I¡¯m a discrete man. Your secret is safe with me.¡±

    With these words, Dong Baijie turned around and shed into the next block. Within seconds, he disappeared from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

 Chapter 319: Star Stones

    Deep into the night, Nie Tian returned to the courtyard where he, Li Ye, and Pei Qiqi lived.

    He went back to his stone room and transferred all the Star Stones from the bracelet of holding Dong Baijie had given him into his own bracelet of holding.

    It was through Dong Baijie that he learned that these strange-looking stones, which contained rich star power, were called Star Stones.

    Since Dong Baijie knew who he was, he naturally knew that Nie Tian was learning and practicing the Fragmentary Star Incantation. Considering that the entirety of Shatter City was enveloped by a enormous protective ward, he couldn¡¯t channel star power from the heavens, so Star Stones were indeed something Nie Tian needed desperately.

    After putting away the Star Stones, Nie Tian took out the exquisite mask and put it on gently.

    Wreathed in a misty, white light, the ice-cold mask stuck perfectly to Nie Tian¡¯s face,pletely covering up his original appearance.

    He took out a bronze mirror and looked into it. In the next moment, he saw a in-looking face that didn¡¯t have a single special feature in the mirror.

    Even still, it was very different from Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Only at that moment did he realize how important such a mask could be to a person like him, who wished to conceal his own identity. ¡°If I wore one of these when I first came to the Realm of Split Void, I probably wouldn¡¯t have had to worry so much about having my true identity exposed.

    ¡°What does Dong Baijie want? He already recognized me, but not only does he not intend to expose my true identity, but he even gave me a mask and numerous Star Stones as a gift. The man is from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. He gained the qualifications to participate in the Heaven Gate trial, during which he gained a fragmentary star mark after wiping out all of his enemies in the Heaven stage area. This was enough to prove his extraordinary strength.

    ¡°Now, not only has hee to the Realm of Split Void, but he also sought me out. What could he possibly want?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned as he racked his brain for an exnation.

    Momentster, Nie Tian put away the mask and looked up at the chilly crescent moon in the sky. He unleashed a wisp of his psychic power to examine the spiritual sea in his dantian, and discovered that every vortex within it was rotating at a high speed.

    He knew that, after the numerous deadly battles he had gone through in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the hilly area, and the wastnd, his state of mind had reached the point where he was ready to break through into the middle Heaven stage.

    In recent days, he had cultivated day and night in the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation room, and finished several rounds of refinement of his spiritual sea.

    Both his mind and body had sent him messages that he was ready to step into the next cultivation stage.

    However, there just seemed to be ayer of invisible mist standing in his way.

    He wouldn¡¯t be able to finish thest step and make the breakthrough unless he found a way to burst through the mist.

    ¡°What is it?¡± With these thoughts in mind, he took out several pieces of spirit beast meat and started munching.

    At the same time, a wisp of his psychic power flew into his heart and observed closely.

    Soon, countless strands of rich flesh power rose from within Nie Tian¡¯s stomach, before they were rapidly drawn to and savagely devoured by the green aura in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Only after devouring everyst bit of flesh power that the spirit beast meat had provided did the green aura settle down again.

    ¡°Every upgrade and transcendence of my bloodline requires such astronomical amounts of flesh power!¡± Mixed emotions rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Earlier, when he had cultivated wholeheartedly in the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation room, he would consume spirit beast meat whenever he took a break. Soon, more than half of the fourth grade spirit beast meat he had reaped from the Void Illusion Mountain Range had been washed down his throat, and the rich essence of flesh and blood had beenpletely absorbed by the green aura.

    Yet, up until now, he still hadn¡¯t had the slightest feeling of the green aura, which carried the profound truths of life, bing satisfied. He could still sense its endless greed and yearning.

    ¡°Starfall...¡± As soon as the thought appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, he slowly calmed himself, sent a wisp of psychic awareness into the first fragmentary star mark, and tried to draw more enlightenment from it.

    The practice of Starfall was different from Starstrike and Starshift. It wasn¡¯t a simple process of casting spells by channeling his star power.

    The truly amazing part of Starfall was that it was a magic that allowed the caster to summon falling stars from the void. The caster could use the strong mysterious spell to change the movements of the falling stars andmand them to plummet towards and bombard his enemies to death.

    Since he had already spent plenty of time studying the profound mysteries of this magic, his understanding of it had reached a rather high level.

    He believed that he had mastered the essence of it, and he only needed to practice the magic in a ce where falling stars could be found rtively regrly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to leave Shatter City. The Realm of Split Void is such a vast ce. There must be areas where falling stars sh across the sky more often. As long as I can find such an area as soon as possible, I¡¯ll probably be able to practice Starfall and master thisst profound magic within a short time.¡±

    While contemting these matters, the wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness continued to soar amongst the ancient symbols that recorded the mysteries of Starfall.

    Early in the morning...

    Pei Qiqi learned that he had returned, and thus came to knock on his door first thing in the morning.

    Nie Tian awoke from his contemtion, opened the door, and let Pei Qiqi in.

    Pei Qiqi was wearing a light-blue battle garment. Her crystal-clear eyes were devoid of the slightest impurity. Immediately after entering the room, she nced at Nie Tian out of the corner of her eyes and said, ¡°You¡¯re back, huh?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Pei Qiqi let out a soft, angry snort. ¡°What did I tell you before you went to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters? Didn¡¯t I tell you to keep a low profile and stay away from trouble? You just won¡¯t listen! Not only did you get in trouble, but you even went to fight Shi Nan in the Blood Fighting Pit!

    ¡°This is great. After that fight, almost everyone in Shatter City now knows your face.

    ¡°If Mr. Hua were here, he would definitely also tell you toy low and avoid things like that. Even though you didn¡¯t say it, I know you¡¯vee to the Realm of Split Void to hide from certain people. If you don¡¯t want trouble, you¡¯ll have to act like it!

    ¡°If you continue to do things like that, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to hide here much longer!¡±

    Scolded by Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian forced a dry smile and didn¡¯t say anything, looking shamefaced.

    After their experience together in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Nie Tian knew that she would only talk this much to people she cared about.

    To those who she didn¡¯t care about, she wouldn¡¯t say a word more than what was necessary, no matter who it was.

    ¡°It¡¯s my bad. I tried, but I couldn¡¯t bear his provocation.¡± Nie Tian admitted to his mistake honestly.

    Pei Qiqi shot another cold nce at him. Seeing that he was truly sorry for his rash behavior, she didn¡¯t know what else to say.

    ¡°Oh, right, Cai Yuan came over a couple of days ago.¡± She stopped berating Nie Tian and changed the subject. ¡°He talked to Li Ye. Apparently, he converted the valuables you previously looted from the Dark Moon members and Hunters into spirit stones, and used some of them to purchase a number of spiritual materials Li Ye would need.

    ¡°It seems that the customized spiritual tool Li Ye is forging for you will require even more spiritual materials than he expected. Even though yourst trip turned out rather lucrative, everything you gained from it probably won¡¯t be enough for Li Ye to forge that spiritual tool.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Does it really require that many spiritual materials to forge that spiritual tool?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently at him, saying, ¡°It¡¯s mainly because you¡¯re far too special. The spiritual tool Li Ye is forging for you will allow you to infuse it with fire power, wood power, and star power. My master and Li Ye are the only ones in the Realm of Split Void who have the ability to forge this kind of spiritual tool.¡±

    Nie Tian was increasingly astounded.

    ¡°Another reason is that it requires a substantial amount of Star Iron. Star Iron is extracted and refined from Star Stones. Star Stones are very hard to find in the Realm of Split Void. There¡¯s only one region in the whole realm where Star Stones can be found.¡± After a brief pause, Pei Qiqi continued with a frown, ¡°But that region is even more special and dangerous than the Void Illusion Mountain Range. It¡¯s extremely hard for people to obtain Star Stones from there.¡±

    ¡°Star Iron...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. Then, he took out two hundred Star Stones from within his bracelet of holding,id them in front of Pei Qiqi, and asked, ¡°Will these be enough?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Where did you get so many Star Stones?¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°From the Hunters I killed.¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°It still seems a bit short.¡±

    Nie Tian took another fifty Star Stones from within his bracelet of holding, leaving only fifty for himself. ¡°How about now?¡±

    After a nce at the Star Stones, Pei Qiqi stared at Nie Tian with a surprised look in her eyes. ¡°Now it seems about enough.¡±

    Keh! Keh!

    Nie Tian cleared his throat with a smile on his face before he killed the silence by asking, ¡°Where exactly is this region you talked about? Also, why do you say it¡¯s even more dangerous than the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    Pei Qiqi went on and exined, ¡°In that region, meteors fall from the sky all the time. These Star Stones actuallye from the meteors that plummet to the earth.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes immediately shone with the light of excitement.

    At present, the most crucial part to his study of Starfall was none other than finding a ce where he could see and interact with falling stars.

    He had been scratching his head over where to find such a ce.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s words came as great news for him, and allowed him to see the hope of mastering Starfall in the recent future.

    ¡°Do you have a map of that region?¡± Nie Tian asked hastily.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need a map. It¡¯s vast region to the east of Ash City, and it¡¯s also infested by Hunters...¡± Only then did Pei Qiqie to realize what Nie Tian¡¯s intentions were, and asked, ¡°No, don¡¯t tell me that you want to go there... Are you crazy!?¡±

    ¡°I need Star Stones! A lot of them!¡± Nie Tian said.

 Chapter 320: Traveling Together Again

    Pei Qiqi looked at Nie Tian and pondered in silence for a while before asking, ¡°Do you have some sworn enemy that you¡¯re bound to kill, like Li Langfeng does?

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Nie Tian sounded very surprised.

    Sympathy could be seen in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°I have a feeling that you have been intentionally putting yourself in dangerous situationstely. Back when we were in the Blood Skull¡¯s secret stronghold under the creek, I saw you eat those pieces of spirit beast meat. Those pieces of mutant spirit beast meat were filled withrge amounts of impurities. No sensible man would absorb flesh power from it.¡±

    She had a feeling that the path of cultivation Nie Tian had chosen was simr to Li Langfeng¡¯s.

    In Li Langfeng¡¯s case, he practiced his cultivation by extracting a specific type of toxic energy from the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void. However, aside from that type of toxic energy, there were many more types of toxic energy that Li Langfeng wouldn¡¯t be able to refine and detoxify within the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm. As a result, his body was constantly under great pressure.

    Therefore, when she had seen Nie Tian consume the meat of fourth grade mutant spirit beasts, she had assumed that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t able to refine and detoxify the numerous types of impurities in the meat.

    That was why she believed that Nie Tian would die prematurely, just like Li Langfeng would.

    ¡°We¡¯re not the same, me and him.¡± With a hearty smile on his face, Nie Tian decided not to tell Pei Qiqi that he had the ability to eliminate the impurities from within the toxic spirit beast meat. ¡°...Perhaps we have something inmon. Sure, I am in a hurry to improve my strength, but I¡¯ll never do it at the expense of my own life.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?" Pei Qiqi seemed rather skeptical.

    ¡°I need to go to the ce you talked about.¡± Nie Tian insisted.

    Pei Qiqi pondered in silence for a long while before she finally nodded and said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range together. Now that I¡¯ve entered the Greater Heaven stage, I need to spend some time there to ponder the profound truths of spatial energy, as well as to practice and perfect a few of my secret magics. Other than that, I need to find a suitable location for my teleportation station in the mountain range.

    ¡°However, I won¡¯t cross the border into the region where all lives are forbidden with you.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I understand," Nie Tian said.

    ¡°We¡¯ll move out today,¡± Pei Qiqi said with determined tone.

    ¡°Sure."

    ...

    Later that day, the two of them went to the teleportation portal the Blood Skull had set up in the center of Shatter City. Since they were both guest elders of the Blood Skull, they paid the required amount of spirit stones and teleported to the Blood Skull¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range via the portal.

    Momentster, the two of them appeared in the Blood Skull¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Gu Yu, the Blood Skull¡¯s highestmander in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, was taken aback upon seeing them.

    ¡°Ms. Pei, Hua Tian, howe you¡¯re back here so soon?¡± Gu Yu asked with a smile.

    The news of Nie Tian creating a major stir and killing numerous Hunters in the hilly area and wastnd had already spread to their base.

    Recently, he had also heard of Nie Tian and Shi Nan¡¯s battle in the Blood Fighting Pit two weeks ago.

    After witnessing and hearing about the series of incidents regarding Nie Tian, Gu Yu had already begun to attach great importance to him.

    ¡°Personal affairs,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an indifferent tone.

    Gu Yu nodded as he realized he had better not pursue the matter. Therefore, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Umm... Shi Hui came the other day.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Shi Hui?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly...¡± After a brief hesitation, Gu Yu said, ¡°Hua Tian, Shi Hui is also in the Void Illusion Mountain Range right now.

    ¡°You¡¯d better be extra careful and try your best to avoid him in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Brawls and battles are forbidden amongst Blood Skull members in Shatter City, or any other ce where the Blood Skull rules.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not the case for guest elders of the Blood Skull.

    ¡°As for Shatter City, in light of the rules set up by the head, no one dares to fight in Shatter City, no matter who. However, the Void Illusion Mountain Range is out of our jurisdiction. We won¡¯t interfere even if guest elders of the Blood Skull kill each other due to conflicts of interest in the mountain range.¡±

    By saying these words, Gu Yu was practically warning Nie Tian of Shi Hui, and reminding him that if he ran into Shi Hui in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Shi Hui definitely wouldn¡¯t let him off.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered slightly as she eximed, ¡°Shi Hui!¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Gu.¡± Nie Tian expressed his gratitude.

    ¡°Just be careful when you go out there.¡± Gu Yu didn¡¯t want to be too open about the situation.

    Shortly thereafter, Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian left the Blood Skull¡¯s base and marched into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    While the two of them were traveling alone in the vast mountain range, Pei Qiqi turned to Nie Tian and said with a serious expression on her face, ¡°I originally nned to part ways with you once we got to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. However, since Shi Hui is somewhere in the mountain range, I¡¯ll keep youpany until you leave the mountain range and head towards Ash City.¡±

    Now that she had entered the Greater Heaven stage, Pei Qiqi was confident that even if she ran into thete Greater Heaven stage Shi Hui in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, she wouldn¡¯t be in danger.

    She was aware that Shi Hui enjoyed a high prestige among the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders. Many of them even served him as his informants.

    Pei Qiqi assumed that the news of her and Nie Tianing to the Void Illusion Mountain Range would soon find its way to Shi Hui.

    Just as Gu Yu had reminded Nie Tian, Shi Hui didn¡¯t dare to do anything to him in Shatter City. However, now that they were both in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the Blood Skull wouldn¡¯t have the right to interfere if he wanted to make a move on Nie Tian.

    After all, they were only guest elders of the Blood Skull, and the Blood Skull didn¡¯t have much power over their actions.

    ¡°Actually, that won¡¯t be necessary.¡± Nie Tian took out the mask Dong Baijie had given him as a gift, put it on, and said, ¡°Shi Hui won¡¯t be able to recognize me when I¡¯m wearing this.¡±

    With a slightly surprised expression on her face, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°It¡¯s quite a fine piece of work. I can tell it¡¯s of premium quality, and it must have cost you quite a fortune. However, you should know that Shi Hui is by no means an ordinary person. Even though he doesn¡¯t quite match up to Li Langfeng in terms of battle prowess, he is one of the most hard to deal with people in the Realm of Split Void. If you actually run into him, you won¡¯t necessarily be able to fool him with that mask.

    ¡°Furthermore, I doubt that Shi Hui will be the only one looking for you. Li Langfeng and the Fang probably will be after you too once they learn about your actions.

    ¡°You¡¯ve made too many enemies in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. The news of your return might soon find its way to their ears. If ites down to that, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to fool them all by only relying on this mask.¡±

    After hearing her words, Nie Tian grew somewhat worried.

    ¡°Put the mask away for now. You¡¯d better show your real face before we part ways,¡± Pei Qiqi advised. ¡°Otherwise, if someone else sees us together, they¡¯ll easily deduce your true identity, and your mask will lose its effectiveness. I think it¡¯s better that you put it on when it¡¯s time for us to part ways, and you travel alone to the forbidden region by Ash City.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian took Pei Qiqi¡¯s advice and put the mask away.

    After a moment of pondering, Pei Qiqi exined, ¡°Also, escorting you isn¡¯t the primary purpose of my trip. I¡¯m here to find a suitable location to set up my teleportation station. I¡¯ll keep an eye out for such a location as we march onward, since I might just find a suitable location on our way. You never know. ¡±

    As the two of them marched onward, Nie Tian unleashed all seven Heaven Eyes, through which he scanned the vicinity for humans and ferocious mutant spirit beasts.

    Whenever he detected exploring Qi warriors in their surroundings, they would make a detour to avoid them; whenever they encountered low-grade mutant spirit beasts, they would attack and ughter them.

    Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes saved them all the unnecessary trouble along their way.

    After ughtering a handful of second-grade and third-grade mutant spirit beasts, the two of them set foot in the Wild Fire¡¯s territory in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    The Void Illusion Mountain Range covered an extremely vast area, and the Wild Fire¡¯s territory was a realm of bone-piercing coldness. In the icynd that stretched as far as the eye could see, immense ciers could be seen everywhere.

    However, from time to time, torrential mes would spew out of some of the spatial rifts that slithered in the icy wind.

    If it were some other part of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the zing mes would be a tremendous fire hazard.

    However, since the Wild Fire¡¯s territory was covered in ice year-round, the spewing mes normally wouldn¡¯t cause any disastrous results.

    As Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi traveled in the icynd, Nie Tian discovered a few Qi warriors dressed in Wild Fire garments via his Heaven Eyes.

    However, he didn¡¯t feel the need to inform Pei Qiqi of their presence. Rather, he took the lead and circled around them. Just like that, they marched among the bitter-cold ciers at a fast speed.

    On this day, while the two of them were marching forward, Nie Tian suddenly sensed an unusual movement from the me Dragon Armor within his bracelet of holding.

    Without the slightest hesitation, he stopped to examine the me Dragon Armor with his psychic awareness, and immediately received a vague message from the me Dragon Armor.

    Surprisingly, the strand of will from the me Dragon Armor seemed to be guiding him to a certain location.

    However, the direction of that location deviated greatly from the directions Pei Qiqi had given, which made Nie Tian somewhat hesitant.

    Just as he was about to ignore the message, another more urgent strand of will came across to his mind.

    After pondering in silence for a while, he turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°How about we take a look over there?¡± With these words, he pointed in the direction given by the me Dragon Armor.

    Baffled, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°What? Do you sense something?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Pei Qiqi agreed. Immediately afterward, she seemed to have realized something, and thus turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Do you have a method of detecting signs of life in your vicinity? We¡¯ve been marching for some time now, but other than a handful of low-grade spirit beasts, we haven¡¯t encountered any human cultivators. It¡¯s a little bit strange.¡±

    As a matter of fact, she had long since suspected that Nie Tian had something to do with this.

    Previously, when the two of them had run away from the injured Li Langfeng, their escape had been surprisingly smooth.

    Back then, since the both of them had been in poor condition, they had desperately needed to avoid enemies on their path of escape, and coincidentally enough, they hadn¡¯t run into anyone along their way.

    It was precisely because of this that no one had seen them, and thus Li Langfeng hadn¡¯t been able to pry their whereabouts out of anyone.

    That alone had been strange enough.

    Later, rumor had it that Nie Tian had possessed numerous pursuing Hunters in the palm of his hand in the hilly area and wastnd. The Fang had even been forced to invite Xiao Lin to their cause.

    She had long since heard stories about Xiao Lin, and learned that he had been an expert in tracking skills and magics.

    The fact that Xiao Lin had joined the pursuit against him and he had met with the Blood Skull¡¯s rescuing team anyways was enough evidence to Nie Tian¡¯s prominence.

    As for this time, the two of them had been traveling for about ten days already, yet they hadn¡¯te across anyone. Connecting all the dots together, she began to see a pattern.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t intend to hide the truth any further. ¡°I¡¯ve mastered a special magic which allows me to detect even the most trivial fluctuations of life energy within arge area around me. Not only that, but I can also tell whether the fluctuations are from humans or spirit beasts, as well as their rough cultivation bases and grades.¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, Pei Qiqi¡¯s crystal-clear eyes shone with the light of excitement. ¡°No wonder you dared to return to Shatter City alone. If I had known you had such a divine skill, I wouldn¡¯t have worried about your safety.¡±

    Knowing that Nie Tian possessed multiple secret magics, Pei Qiqi felt increasingly relieved as she led the way for Nie Tian.

    After marching a short while in the direction given by the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian discovered an area filled with active spatial rifts via his Heaven Eyes.

    Not only that, but he also saw an acquaintance --- Shi Hui.

    ¡°I detect Shi Hui! It seems that he and some people from the Wild Fire are getting along pretty well!¡±

 Chapter 321: Despoil

    Shi Hui, a few guest elders of the Blood Skull, as well as a handful of Qi warriors wearing garments with fire patterns on them, were standing in a solemn manner under the slithering spatial rifts, as if they were waiting for something.

    ZZZZZLA!

    All of a sudden, clusters of zing mes shot out of one of the spatial rifts and plummeted towards the earth, unleashing scorching auras.

    One after another, they crashed into the earth, melting away the ice and creating huge holes in the frigid-cold ground.

    Meanwhile, Shi Hui, the guest elders of the Blood Skull, and the people from the Wild Fire moved about swiftly and cautiously to avoid the plummeting clusters of mes, as if the mere contact with the mes would mean their doom.

    When the mes died out and huge holes were left in the icy ground, they would surge forward like a swarm of hos and search the holes for something.

    WHOOSH!

    Shi Hui jumped out of one of the icy holes with a crimson, crystal-like gem in his hand, which was still shining with bright light.

    Upon a closer look, fine red lines could be seen within the gem, which were like flickering red lightning bolts.

    Face full of smiles, Shi Hui held the crimson gem in his syed hand. A fascinated look filled his wide eyes.

    From the look of it, his cultivation attribute was none other than fire, and the crimson gem would be extremely helpful to the improvement of his cultivation base.

    At the same time, he had animated conversations with the few Wild Fire members around him.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian obtained a clear view of what was happening within that area. Then, he came to a stop, turned to Pei Qiqi, who was traveling side by side with him, and said, ¡°Shi Hui, a few guest elders of the Blood Skull, and a handful of Wild Fire members are collecting some kind of fire-attributed gems. Aren¡¯t guest elders of the Blood Skull forbidden to have any contact or dealings with people from the Wild Fire or Dark Moon?¡±

    Pei Qiqi was taken aback. ¡°You can see each and every move they make?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°What is this secret magic you practice anyways?¡± Instead of answering his question, Pei Qiqi showed great concern with his mystical magic. ¡°From what I know, only when a cultivator reaches the Worldly realm and transforms their psychic power into soul power will they be able to capture every slightest move in his vicinity.

    ¡°However, you¡¯re only at the Heaven stage!¡±

    A wry smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he said, ¡°All you need to know is that I know some extraordinary magics and techniques.¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly felt another pulse from the me Dragon Armor, which felt so urgent that it seemed as if it was itching to charge out of his bracelet of holding immediately.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows knitted.

    Shi Hui was at thete Greater Heaven stage. Most of the few guest elders by his side were also at the Greater Heaven stage.

    Shi Hui and his men alone were formidable enough that he and Pei Qiqi wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting them, much less when they were in the Wild Fire¡¯s territory and numerous powerful Wild Fire experts could be roaming nearby.

    He attempted to get his worries through to the me Dragon Armor and tell it that it was a bad time.

    However, the me Dragon Armor seemed to ignore Nie Tian¡¯s worries, and whizzed out of his bracelet of holding in spite of them.

    SHEW!

    The me Dragon Armor shot out, as if it had turned into a streak of splendid mes, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    BANG!

    ¡°W-what was that?¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t catch a clear view of the me Dragon Armor. She just felt a iparably fierce surge of zing energy bursting forth from Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    When she wanted to get a clear view of it, the me Dragon Armor had already vanished into the distance, leaving behind a long ming tail.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed dramatically as he hastily turned to Pei Qiqi and blurted, ¡°It¡¯s time for us to part ways. Don¡¯t you worry about my safety. I know many secret magics that I can use to avoid Shi Hui and the Wild Fire members. I¡¯ve memorized the general direction you showed me. I¡¯ll be able to find my way to my destination.¡±

    With these words, he cast a short-range Starshift and appeared in a location 300 meters away, before Pei Qiqi had the chance to ask any questions.

    With a bbergasted expression on her face, Pei Qiqi watched him practically teleport to a distant location. Just as she was about to call Nie Tian, she saw Nie Tian¡¯s figure shift again and disappear from her view.

    ¡°Did he use this method to repeatedly escape from the Hunters¡¯ blockades?¡±

    The truth suddenly dawned on Pei Qiqi. After witnessing some of Nie Tian¡¯s mystical skills, Pei Qiqi finally realized that even though his cultivation base was low, if there were no mishaps, he would be able to survive the sorts of danger that existed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Bastard!¡± Staring into the distance, she whispered a curse before turning around and going back the way they hade to get here.

    SHEW!

    After another short-rang Starshift, Nie Tian appeared in a location close to Shi Hui and his gang, putting a significant distance between Pei Qiqi and himself.

    After making sure Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t follow him into trouble, he spied on them via his Heaven Eyes.

    The me Dragon Armor flew to the area where Shi Hui and his gang were, like a streak of glorious fire.

    WHOOSH!

    The crimson crystal-like gem in Shi Hui¡¯s syed hand was suddenly attracted by an irresistible force and flew out of his palm.

    At that very moment, the me Dragon Armor whizzed through in the air above him and pulled the crimson, crystal-like gem away.

    The gem flew towards the me Dragon Armor like a piece of steel drawn to a giant ma.

    Shi Hui, the guest elders of the Blood Skull, as well as the Wild Fire members were all bbergasted at the scene. ¡°What was that!?¡±

    In the next moment, Shi Hui snapped out of his daze and roared at the whizzing cluster of mes, ¡°My Heaven me Crystal!¡±

    Wreathed in an enormous cluster of mes, the me Dragon Armor sailed through the air above them like a burning meteor. None of them were able to get a clear view of it.

    Just like that, the me Dragon Armor continued to whizz across in the air like a zing bolt of lightning, intercepting and capturing the balls of mes that shot out of the spatial rifts.

    Three more gems, which Shi Hui referred to as Heaven me Crystals, were peeled away from the balls of mes, drawn and adhering to the surface of the me Dragon Armor before they could plummet to the earth.

    Looking at the whizzing cluster of mes, one of the Wild Fire Qi warriors shouted loudly with reddened eyes, ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure! It must be a fire-attributed, Spirit Channeling grade treasure! A Spirit Channeling grade treasure has appeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range!

    ¡°This fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure has its own soul, and this is why it can take the initiative and snatch Heaven me Crystals from us!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Shi Hui trembled involuntarily, greed filling his eyes.

    The eyes of a few others who also practiced fire-attributed incantations shone with the light of greed upon hearing that man¡¯s statement. ¡°Let¡¯s go get that Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    In the next moment, each and every cultivator who practiced fire-attributed incantations cast their exquisite spells respectively as they attempted to attract the me Dragon Armor down from the heavens and take it for themselves.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    One after another, numerous fireballsced with their psychic awareness shot into the air, along with their various fire-attributed spiritual tools, and chased after the me Dragon Armor.

    Even so, the me Dragon Armor whizzed across the sky above them with lightning speed, and absorbed two more Heaven me Crystals.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the spatial rift stopped spewing clusters of mes.

    After plundering all of the Heaven me Crystals, the me Dragon Armor seemed to have achieved its goal. After taking a brief moment to sense Nie Tian¡¯s aura, it found its bearings and flew away.

    With greedy eyes, those people madly chased after the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Go after it!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a Spirit Channeling grade treasure unearthed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range! Whoever gets it will obtain a fortune asrge as the heavens!¡±

    ¡°It must be unimed. Otherwise, the master of such a high-level treasure would have every right to show himself!¡±

    The way they saw it, whoever had the power to obtain and harness a Spirit Channeling grade treasure must be at the Profound realm or higher.

    Such a powerful figure would have every right to show himself and openly take those Heaven me Crystals for himself.

    The fact that such a master had not appeared so far meant that this Spirit Channeling grade treasure was very likely still unimed.

    Since they all practiced fire-attributed incantations, it would be fairly easily for them to tame an unimed Spirit Channeling treasure and merge it with themselves, enhancing their battle prowess severalfold.

    SHEW!

    The me Dragon Armor whizzed to Nie Tian¡¯s side and flew back into his bracelet of holding.

    At that moment, Nie Tian could hear constant roars and shoutsing from the direction the me Dragon Armor had returned from.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a trouble-ma!¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    In a poised manner, he rapidly summoned his star power and cast a long-range Starshift.

    PUFF!

    Nie Tian coughed up a mouthful of blood. With his head spinning, he watched everything around him shoot behind him with lightning speed.

    In the next moment, he disappeared from his original location like he had vaporized, albeit hurting all over.

    BANG!!!

    Immediately afterward, he appeared and fell to the ground by a valley creek, feeling very pained and light-headed.

    After a brief examination of his injuries, Nie Tian rapidly braced himself again. By the time his seven Heaven Eyes returned to his side, he once again sped away at his fastest possible speed.

 Chapter 322: Forbidden Region

    Even after chasing that red streak for a long time, Shi Hui and the others still failed toe to any findings.

    After recovering the me Dragon Armor, with the help of his seven Heaven Eyes and the Starshift escape magic, Nie Tian left the ce that was rife with trouble at his fastest possible speed.

    Unwilling to give up, Shi Hui and the others asked the Wild Fire to send out people to help them search for the me Dragon Armor, but after quite some time, their joint search turned out to be fruitless as well.

    Even though they felt very frustrated, they didn¡¯t n to give up just like that.

    During the following days, all Shi Hui and the others thought about was how to get that fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure, so much so that their eyes turned red with greed.

    Even Fu Heng, the Wild Fire¡¯s highestmander in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, had his enthusiasm aroused after learning about this Spirit Channeling treasure.

    Simrly, it wasn¡¯t long before the news found its way to the Dark Moon and the Blood Skull.

    Even explorers who hade to the Void Illusion Mountain Range for their own reasons joined the search for this Spirit Channeling treasure after learning about its appearance.

    Nie Tian, however, had long since left the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Two weeks passed...

    Under the fierce, burning sun, Nie Tian arrived at the region Pei Qiqi had pointed out for him.

    As Pei Qiqi had warned him, along the way, he had encountered a few groups of Hunters who roamed this region by Ash City.

    With the help of his Heaven Eyes, he maneuvered around them and kept moving forward. After that, until he set foot in this region where all living forms were forbidden, he hadn¡¯te across a single person.

    It was a vast desert to the east of Ash City where countless craters could be seen almost everywhere.

    Some of the craters were as small as the mouths of wells, while others were as enormous as dried-upkes.

    Many of the craters had meteors in them, each of which was strange in shape and color, and embedded deep into the earth.

    Every now and then, Nie Tian could see piles of pale-gray bones, which had obviously belonged to humans.

    Evidently, no matter how deadly a ce was, as long as there was fortune waiting to be unearthed, people would risk their lives and set foot in it. This desert was no exception.

    When meteors plummeted to the earth from the unknown outer space and exploded, Star Stones would fall out of them.

    Other than those, there might also be extremely rare spiritual materials within the meteors.

    Both the spiritual materials and Star Stones were of extremely high value. People would be able to gain significant amounts of spirit stones if they obtained and traded them in Ash City, the Land of the Abandoned, or Shatter City.

    Under the fierce sunlight, Nie Tian slowly walked deeper into the desert filled with enormous craters.

    His seven Heaven Eyes hung high in the sky like invisiblenterns, keeping a close watch on everything in their vicinity.

    As he walked further, Nie Tian discovered that the green light shield around him, created by his jade bracelet. began to give off fizzing sounds.

    With furrowed eyebrows, he came to a stop and examined his surroundings with rapt attention.

    Immediately afterwards, he found that not only was the density of the toxic spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the crater much higher than in other parts of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but there seemed to be other special features of the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this desert.

    Even spiritual tools like the green jade bracelet that could protect their owners from the toxic Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in other parts of the Realm of Split Void seemed to have a hard time withstanding the strong corrosion here.

    After walking for another two hours in the endless desert, when Nie Tian sensed that his jade bracelet was on the verge of breaking, he rapidly put it away.

    At the same time, he quietly enveloped himself with a two-meter range chaotic maic field.

    Soon night fell, and the moon rose in the sky...

    In distinct contrast to the hotness of the day, during the night, the desert was shrouded in frigid coldness. Even inside of his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian could feel the bone-piercing coldness.

    Standing by the edge of an enormous crater, Nie Tian muttered to himself with a frown, ¡°The tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce much denser than in other parts of the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Even normal protective spiritual tools couldn¡¯t resist the dreadful corrosion. This feature alone would stop explorers with insignificant cultivation bases from entering this deadly desert.

    ¡°Not to mention the fact that meteors could plummet from the heavens at any moment in this region where the day is scorchingly hot and the night is frigidly cold.¡±

    Instead of continuing to wander around, he slowly sat down on the ground and looked up into the mysterious night sky.

    Like gorgeous gems, countless bright stars lit up and decorated the unfathomable heavens.

    He calmed himself and removed all distracting thoughts from his mind as he began to go over and contemte the profundity of Starfall.

    ording to Pei Qiqi, meteors would asionally fall from the heavens and plummet to the earth in this region. Yet, no one knew why they would fall at this part of the Realm of Split Void over all others.

    Two dayster...

    At sundown, a dark-red streak of light suddenly appeared in the distant sky and shot towards Nie Tian¡¯s direction. Like a dark-red river of fire, it sailed through the wine-red evening glow.

    Having waited for days, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he hastily concentrated his psychic awareness and attempted to attract that streak of dark-red light.

    BOOM!

    Before he could establish a psychic connection with the streak of dark-red light, the light shed passed him and crashed into the earth in a location several dozen kilometers away.

    Apanied by a loud rumble, a terrifyingly violent quake spread out across the earth, and caused Nie Tian, who was sitting on the ground, to tremble unceasingly.

    Failing to channel the streak of dark-red light with his psychic awareness, Nie Tian sprung to his feet, his face filled with frustration.

    With a fast speed, he ran towards the location where the dark-red light hadnded.

    Two hourster, when darkness descended upon the earth, he finally arrived at thending site.

    As soon as he did, a huge crater with a diameter of more than forty meters entered his sight, inside of which dying-out mes and sparks could be seen everywhere.

    A pitch-ck meteor was sitting at the bottom of the crater; sparks were still sputtering out of it every now and then.

    Instead of rushing into the crater to explore its mysteries, Nie Tian stood by the edge of the crater and pondered with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°Interesting...¡±

    He thought about the meteors that had fallen to the Realm of me Heaven preceding the appearance of the Heaven Gate.

    Right before the Heaven Gate had appeared near the Hell Sect, numerous meteors like this one had plummeted to every part of the Realm of me Heaven, and each of those meteors had carried a Heaven Gate pattern.

    Those patterns had been the keys to the Heaven Gate. Only those who had obtained a key would be granted ess to the Heaven Gate trial.

    The Yun n of ck Cloud City had been hit and reduced to shambles by a giant meteor like this one. Just like that, the entire Yun n had been eliminated, not a single member surviving the cmity.

    ¡°Starfall is about channeling meteors that fall from outer space, changing their paths and redirecting them to bombard enemies.

    ¡°It¡¯s also a magic from the Fragmentary Star Incantation, which is a legacy from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the ultimate secret within the Heaven Gate. Meteors like this one fell in every corner of the Realm of me Heaven right before the Heaven Gate appeared.¡±

    Nie Tian racked his brains for an answer to why the meteors would plummet to this part of the Realm of Split Void instead of other parts, as he had a feeling that there must be secrets behind such phenomenon.

    All of a sudden, he sensed scorching heat from the two fragmentary star marks on his chest.

    Since this was the first time that the fragmentary star marks had undergone any change after shifting to his chest, a shocked expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    At the same time, one of the Heaven Eyes he had deployed in the vicinity captured two human figures approaching him with lightning speed.

    One of them had a in look. Yet, for some reason, Nie Tian felt a strong sense of familiarity towards him.

    As the two of them rapidly rushed towards his location, Nie Tian didn¡¯t think too much before casting three short-range Starshifts in a row to leave the crater and thus avoid contact with them.

    Meanwhile, he summoned three of his Heaven Eyes from the vicinity andmanded them to float right above the meteor, so that they could keep a close watch on everything happening in the crater.

    Momentster, the two men arrived at the edge of the crater, where they stood and looked towards the meteor at the bottom of the crater with furrowed eyebrows.

    After a moment of silence, one of them said, ¡°Do you feel anything, Lord Ning?¡±

    The man who Nie Tian felt familiar with opened thepels of his garment, revealing the fragmentary star mark on his chest. Secondster, he said, ¡°Nothing special.¡±

    The moment Nie Tian caught sight of the fragmentary star mark, he was convinced that the man was Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Even so, he found it hard to believe that Ning Yang had actually assumed a different appearance and showed up in this ce!

    The other man sighed and said, ¡°Lord Ning, if you can¡¯t solve the profound mysteries within that fragmentary star mark in this ce and make it a part of you, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to return to the sect without losing it.¡±

    Great determination could be heard in Ning Yang¡¯s voice as he blurted, ¡°If returning to the sect means I¡¯ll have to give up my fragmentary star mark, I¡¯d rather be a wandering rogue cultivator like you, Senior Martial Brother, and never return to the Heaven Pce Sect! I went to great lengths to win it from others in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Why on earth would I give it away to others!?

    ¡°Not to mention that Nie Tian isn¡¯t even a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re different.¡± A bitter smile spread out across the other man¡¯s face. ¡°I only concealed my true identity and became a guest elder of the Wild Fire because I couldn¡¯t go back. All I¡¯m doing is dragging out my feeble existence in this remote corner of the world. However, you¡¯ve got a promising future. Even if you lose this fragmentary star mark, you¡¯ll still have great opportunities in the future.¡±

    ¡°Say no more, Senior Martial Brother,¡± Ning Yang said with a cold tone. ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind.¡±

    ¡°Well, alright then.¡± The man nodded. ¡°I wish you can receive some enlightenment from your fragmentary star mark here. Before, meteors only fell from the heavens and crashed into this area once every few months. However, recently, meteors fall once every few days. I think it¡¯s safe to say that there¡¯s some reason behind it.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t dig out the reason and somehow refine your fragmentary star mark here, I don¡¯t think there will be another way to achieve that.¡±

    Ning Yang said, ¡°Thank you, Senior Martial Brother. I¡¯ll forever remember your kindness.¡±

 Chapter 323: Easy Fortune!

    ¡°ording to our sect, the Domain of the Falling Stars was first discovered by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°And the name ¡®the Domain of the Falling Stars¡¯ was given by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Then, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce descended and eliminated the outsider demons from each and every realm. After some time, when everything was in order, they gradually evacuated.

    ¡°Back then, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was without a doubt the number one sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Only after they left did other human sects move here.

    ¡°Later, no one knew what happened, but it seemed that internal conflicts urred within the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Or perhaps they encountered powerful enemies that eventually forced these powerful pioneers to leave.

    ¡°Back when they explored the Domain of the Falling Stars, they must have had bases or strongholds set up in different locations. My spection is that this part of the Realm of Split Void used to be one of their strongholds.

    ¡°Otherwise, this ce shouldn¡¯t be attracting meteors from outer space all year long.

    ¡°When the Heaven Gates appeared in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of me Heaven, and numerous meteors fell in these three realms, meteors also fell much more frequently in this region than before.

    ¡°Ever since I learned about your situation, I¡¯ve wanted to invite you here, hoping that you¡¯d be able to receive enlightenment from that fragmentary star mark of yours.¡±

    The man, who was a former disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect and a guest elder of the Wild Fire now, took his time and exined the stories of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the origin of the Domain of the Falling Stars to Ning Yang in detail.

    Ning Yang listened with rapt attention, and nodded from time to time as he pondered the man¡¯s words.

    Nie Tian, however, who heard every word of their conversation from a distant location, was taken aback.

    Soon after he had obtained his two fragmentary star marks, outsiders demons had invaded the Realm of me Heaven and war had broken out. For the purpose of hiding the fact that he had the fragmentary star marks, he hadn¡¯t dared to ask anyone about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    That was why he knew nothing of the mysterious Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce inside the Heaven Gate.

    Only at this point did he realize that the legacies he had received from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce actually had such an impressive background.

    Originally, the entirety of the Domain of the Falling Stars had been inhabited by an outsider race.

    Only after powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had arrived from an unknowably remote realm in the boundless starry river had they driven out the outsiders.

    The outsiders in the Domain of the Falling Stars probably hadn¡¯t been able to match up to the strength of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and thus vacated from all the realms, making the Domain of the Falling Stars a promisednd for human Qi warriors.

    However, as more and more human Qi warriors took root in the Domain of the Falling Stars, some unforeseen event had happened inside the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, causing them to leave.

    Apanied by their evacuation, their influence upon the Domain of the Falling Stars also gradually disappeared.

    However, for some unknown reason, even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had long since left the Domain of the Falling Stars, Heaven Gates would somehow appear in the Domain of the Falling Stars every few centuries, providing ess to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After eavesdropping for a while, Nie Tian noticed the guest elder of the Wild Fire bid farewell to Ning Yang.

    After the man left, Ning Yang stood by himself by the edge of the enormous crater for a long time before suddenly jumping into the crater and whizzing to the top of the pitch ck meteor.

    In the next moment, a sword wreathed in a frosty aura flew out of Ning Yang¡¯s hand.

    The iparably sharp sword seemed to be of premium quality, since it chopped and sliced the gigantic meteor as easily as if it was slicing a piece of tofu.

    Meanwhile, Ning Yang¡¯s expression was very grim, and his eyes were filled with urgency, as if he was in a hurry to find something.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Carved by Ning Yang¡¯s sharp sword, the meteor from an unknown outer space was gradually reduced to broken stones.

    Many of the broken stones exploded and revealed fist-sized Star Stones within them when they were chopped off the meteor and sputtered into the surroundings.

    Within those Star Stones, fragmented shiny spots that contained star power could be seen.

    After observing for a short while, Nie Tian counted at least seven hundred Star Stones that had been unearthed.

    Even if he added the Star Stones he had looted from the Hunters and those Dong Baijie had gifted him together, he didn¡¯t have that many on him.

    However, Ning Yang didn¡¯t seem to attach the slightest importance to the Star Stones that Nie Tian desired longingly. He let the Star Stones scatter on the ground as he continued to slice at the meteor with his sword like a mad person.

    It seemed that Ning Yang was hoping to discover some secret from within this gigantic meteor, which would allow him to receive enlightenment from the fragmentary star mark on his chest.

    Two hourster...

    Under Ning Yang¡¯s mad hacking and chopping, the gigantic meteor was finally reduced to tens of thousands of broken pieces.

    More than 1,000 Star Stones were unearthed because of that. Under the night sky, countless fragmented sparks shone brightly within the numerous Star Stones.

    However, Ning Yang didn¡¯t pay any attention to any of that as he stood in the field of chopped up stones, none of which wasrger than the size of a table, with a sinister expression on his face.

    ¡°Nothing... Still nothing!¡±

    Rooooar!

    Looking at thepletely unchanged fragmentary star mark on his chest, Ning Yang let out beastly bellows.

    As he did, he brandished his sword under the moonlight and sliced the rtivelyrge stones around him into smaller pieces.

    Then, he used his non-sword-bearing hand to bombard the broken stones, causing them to explode, and the air to be filled with tiny stone fragments.

    Many Star Stones also bore his wrath and were turned into dust.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart ached as he watched the precious Star Stones explode, yet he didn¡¯t dare to show himself to stop Ning Yang.

    The formidable strength and battle prowess Ning Yang disyed made Ning Yang¡¯s expression flicker. Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian made an assessment of Ning Yang¡¯s strength, and discovered that he was even stronger than Li Langfeng, even though they were both at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    However, Li Langfeng was already the most powerful person in the Realm of Split Void aside from the few Worldly realm experts.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t have the audacity to reveal himself, and he could only sit back and observe.

    A long time passed, and Ning Yang finally finished venting his anger. With a frustrated expression on his face, he turned around and left empty-handed.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t rush over instantly. Instead, he hid for a while longer and made sure there wasn¡¯t any danger.

    Only after another hour, when he was convinced that Ning Yang was long gone, did hee out from hiding and collect the Star Stones that Ning Yang had left scattered around in the crater one by one.

    From this incident alone, Nie Tian gained 1,200 Star Stones, which would be enough for him to practice cultivation for a long time.

    All excitement aside, he was also confused why Ning Yang didn¡¯t have the slightest desire to collect those Star Stones.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that Ning Yang couldn¡¯t practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation like he did, since he couldn¡¯t read or learn from his fragmentary star mark. Therefore, even if he had taken those Star Stones, they wouldn¡¯t have been useful to him at all.

    As a core disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect, Ning Yang had stockpiled a substantial amount of Star Stones before entering the Heaven Gate, so that he would be able to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation immediately after winning the fragmentary star marks.

    However, now that he couldn¡¯t practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation even though he had obtained a fragmentary star mark, he grew increasingly disgusted with the Star Stones in his ring of holding.

    Over the following two months, Nie Tian wandered around in the so-called forbidden region, and encountered three asions where meteors fell from outer space.

    Every time he saw a streak of fire scraping through the heavens, he would cast Starfall as he attempted to alter the path of the plummeting meteor.

    However, he failed all three times.

    Each time, he and Ning Yang would rush to the meteornding sites at different times. Sometimes he would arrive first, and sometimes Ning Yang would beat him to it.

    Either way, he avoided Ning Yang every time. He would wait for Ning Yang to explore the meteor and vent his anger on it after discovering nothing useful. Then, after Ning Yang left in frustration, he would show up and examine the ruins for Star Stones.

    However, not every meteor that fell from the outer space carried Star Stones.

    As it turned out, none of the three meteors carried Star Stones, and thergest of the three meteors was about one tenth the size of the one he had first encountered in this region.

    During the two months, Nie Tian spent most of his time contemting the profundity of Starfall and using his sizable stock of Star Stones to condense more stardew.

    When his vortex of star power was filled to the brim and no more stardew could be formed, he went on to refine his me power and wood power with fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials.

    By the time his spiritual sea, as well as his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power were filled to the limit, Nie Tian still couldn¡¯t find the key to break through the bottleneck and enter the next cultivation stage.

    On this day, Nie Tian consumed arge amount of spirit beast meat, and sensed that the green aura within his heart had suddenly grown silent after devouring part of the flesh power generated by the spirit beast meat.

    Upon closer examination, he discovered that dazzling green light was shooting out of the translucent and sparkling chains within the green aura that was coiled at the bottom of his heart

    Then, he immediately realized that the green aura, which was the embodiment of his bloodline, had finally umted enough flesh power to the point where it was ready for its next upgrade and transcendence.

    The green aura was like a snake thaty dormant, waiting for its next molt.

    The wisps of flesh power that had survived the green aura¡¯s hunger went on and dispersed into every bone and muscle in Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    As the the wisps of flesh power seeped into his flesh and bones, Nie Tian was suddenly struck by a feeling that his vortex of wood power had begun to rotate at an abnormally fast speed.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to fairly deep understandings regarding star power and me power, and I¡¯ve mastered the rtive incantations and magics. However, I¡¯ve still yet to understand wood power and wood-attributed incantations better.¡±

    From the trivial changes he had detected in his vortex of wood power, Nie Tian had finally awakened to the truth: ¡°It seems that learning the profound mysteries of wood power is the key to my breakthrough in cultivation!¡±

 Chapter 324: Contemplating the Profundity of Two Types of Essence

    For a long time, Nie Tian had been focusing on learning and tempering the several powerful magics he had learned from the mysteriousnd, as well as the profound truths of me power and star power.

    He seldom spent time contemting the profundity of wood power.

    He wasn¡¯t aware that in order for him to make his next breakthrough, he would have to gain a fairly deep understanding of each of the various types of power within his spiritual sea. The mere act of umting and refining spiritual power was far from enough.

    When the green aura stopped devouring the newly-generated essence of flesh and let it disperse to every corner of his body, Nie Tian sensed a subtle change in his vortex of wood power, and thus realized that this was a signal telling him that his understanding of wood power was not deep enough.

    After realizing this point, he finally found the right direction. During the following days, he took out his collection of scrolls about wood power cultivation, most of which had been looted from the Dark Moon¡¯s experts and Hunters, and read them around the clock.

    Some of the scrolls recorded techniques and skills regarding the application of wood power, while others stated the profound truths of wood power.

    After reading wholeheartedly for a few days, Nie Tian¡¯s understanding of wood power and wood-attributed incantations rose to a new level.

    He also conducted thorough examinations of the green aura that carried his bloodline power and his vortex of wood power. Afterbining his findings with his understanding of wood power, some new thoughts emerged in his mind.

    Wood power was spiritual power with the wood attribute, and was contained in the essence from nts and vegetation.

    Some nts and vegetation lived on for thousands of years. Being nurtured by the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth for such a long time, they contained extremely rich wood power.

    These nts and vegetation were the main ingredients in making high-level medicinal pills, since they carried copious amount of energy that could be directly refined and absorbed by Qi warriors.

    The essence of these nts and vegetation was by nature their life power.

    However, humans, outsiders, and spirit beasts were also living creatures, so the essence of flesh within their bodies was also life power by nature.

    Even though they belonged to two different types of life forms and there were noticeable differences between their life powers, the differences were not unbridgeable.

    Many Qi warriors who practiced wood-attributed incantations had unique ways of channeling their wood power into their bones and muscles in order to strengthen their flesh power and enhance their physical body.

    Nie Tian had done the same thing before.

    Back when he had cast a long-range Starshift to escape the pursuit of numerous Hunters in the wastnd, he had used the essence of wood in his vortex of wood power to replenish his flesh power and heal his seriously wounded body.

    This meant that cultivators who practiced wood-attributed incantations were able to convert wood power into flesh power.

    The green aura that coiled at the bottom of Nie Tian¡¯s heart was the soul of his life power, inside of which was branded the profound mysteries of life.

    After realizing that wood power and flesh power shared a simr origin and fell into the same category, Nie Tian began to channel the wood essence in his vortex of wood power in an attempt to refine his physical body.

    A wisp of wood power quietly flew out of his vortex of wood power and entered his meridians and blood vessels.

    In the next moment, a soothing andfortable feeling was born in his heart, making him feel as if he were filled with vigorous life force.

    As he continued to channel the wisp of wood power, it ran through his meridians, and slowly flowed to every single bone and internal organ.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, he could see that the wisp of wood essence was gradually wearing down as it circted within him.

    It seemed that whenever it reached a certain part of his body, a small portion of the wood essence would be kept and absorbed by the flesh or bone.

    This feeling was slightly different from the feeling he had when he tempered his body with flesh power from spirit beast meat.

    Whenever he tempered his physical body with flesh power, he would alway experience soreness and pain. However, when he nourished his fleshy body with wood power, it felt as mild as a drizzle and as gentle as a breeze. The warm andfortable feeling gave him great physical and mental pleasure.

    At that moment, he sensed that both his flesh power and wood power began to work together, and were circting inside of him simultaneously.

    He observed and contemted attentively, hoping to discover the differences between the two types of power and their unique features.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before he discovered that whenever he tempered his body with his flesh power, the process would follow the strange pattern of breaking down before repairing.

    By nature, flesh power was more violent and fierce. It would usually rip Nie Tian¡¯s muscle fibers, bones, and meridians apart before healing them.

    The healed muscle fibers, bones, and meridians would turn out to be even tougher and more resilient, and thus his refined body would be able to contain richer and purer flesh power.

    The breaking down process was usually very quick. However, the repairing process was usually rather slow.

    That wasn¡¯t the case with wood power.

    The destructive power of wood power was no match for that of flesh power. However, wood power possessed a healing ability far stronger than that of the flesh power when his flesh, bones, and meridians needed repairing. Perhaps this was the main difference between the two types of power.

    No matter whether it was the human race, an outsider race, or spirit beasts, they shared the same process of body refinement, which was destruction before construction.

    When they had both flesh power and wood power inside of them, flesh power would be mainly in charge of tearing their meridians, muscle fibers, and bones, and that would be where its duty ended. The extra flesh power would be deposited in their blood.

    Afterwards, wood power would take charge as it gradually healed the destroyed parts and made them strong again.

    Since the two types of power had unique features and a clear division of work, when he tempered his body with both of them, the efficiency would increase severalfold.

    Only then did hee to realize how fast his wounds had healed when he had drawn on wood power instead of flesh power.

    Flesh power resided in his flesh, bones, and blood. In a battle, it could immediately burst forth and form powerful strikes as soon as it was summoned.

    However, since wood power originated from nts and vegetation, it couldn¡¯t reside in his flesh, bones, and blood for a long period of time. Therefore, it would only circte within him and rapidly heal his wounds when he was injured.

    After contemting for a few days straight, Nie Tian finally achieved a fairly deep understanding of the two types of power.

    After that, he also discovered that even though he could channel his wood power to help with the refinement of his body, he wasn¡¯t able to channel his flesh power into his spiritual sea and use it to replenish the wood essence within his vortex of wood power.

    That was when he came to realize that since he was a fleshy creature, he could only strengthen his flesh power with wood power, and not the other way around.

    Upon such enlightenment, Nie Tian immediately began consuming spirit beast meat and using both his flesh power and wood power to temper his outstandingly tough fleshy body.

    Soon, two weeks passed...

    During this period of time, neither did Nie Tian witness anymore meteors fall from the sky, nor did hee across Ning Yang again.

    Early in the morning...

    After consuming some more spirit beast meat, Nie Tian attempted to circte the newly-generated flesh power within him, along with his wood power.

    At that very moment, he suddenly had a feeling that his physical strength had alsoe to a bottleneck, and his body had been refined to the point where it could no longer be strengthened by the two types of power.

    However, in the next moment, a loud snapping sound rang out through his mind as Nie Tian was struck by a wonderful feeling, as if he had just broken away from the shackles that had been holding him down for a long time.

    Afterwards, huge waves were immediately created in his dantian¡¯s spiritual sea, and his vortexes of spiritual power, me power, wood power, and star power all started to rotate madly.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally shattered the barrier in my path of cultivation!¡±

    Joy filling his eyes, Nie Tian didn¡¯t hesitate in the least before taking out the spirit jades he had prepared for such asions and jumping into an enormous crater, where he began to focus solely on breaking through into the next cultivation stage.

    Only at that moment did he realize that he had ignored a very important factor to the breakthrough in his cultivation: refinement of his physical body.

    Due to his uniqueness, not only did he need to refine and contemte the profundities of spiritual power, me power, wood power, and star power, but he also needed to temper his physical body consistently.

    Only when the refinement of his body and spiritual sea both reached their limits would he be able to shatter the barrier in his cultivation and naturally enter the next stage.

 Chapter 325: Refining the Mark

    A few days passed...

    After consuming 13 spirit jades, Nie Tian eventually entered the middle Heaven stage in the forbidden region to the east of Ash City.

    As he did, a brand new vortex of spiritual power came to shape within his spiritual sea.

    Advancing to a new cultivation stage meant many changes.

    First of all, he would be able to allow more energy into his five vortexes of spiritual power, and he would be able to further expand and refine his spiritual sea.

    Then, he would be able to further his cultivation of me power, wood power, and star power.

    That aside, he would also be able to continue to temper his physical body now that his cultivation had entered a new stage.

    Thanks to the breakthrough in his cultivation, not only were his various types of spiritual power greatly enhanced, but the rotation of the vortexes within his spiritual sea also sped up significantly.

    After entering the middle Heaven stage, Nie Tian didn¡¯t rush into other things, but instead took a few more days to steady his cultivation base and resume a calm state of mind.

    Afterwards, he went on to condense stardew, one drop after another, usingrge amounts of Star Stones, and add them to theke of stardew in his spiritual sea.

    Soon, a week passed...

    On this night, Nie Tian was still condensing stardew when he suddenly caught sight of a streak of glorious light soaring through the starlit sky.

    The streak of light seemed so close to him that it was as if it were right above his head.

    Without the slightest dy, he focused his attention as he gazed up at the dashing streak of light. Simultaneously, following the profound methods stipted by Starfall, he summoned his psychic power and star power and had them resonate with each other.

    The streak of light seemed extremely thin, and the meteor in its head seemed quite small as well.

    As he cast the mysterious technique and focused his psychic awareness on the streak of light this time, he finally captured the path it was moving in!

    As a profound connection was established between him and the streak of light, star power rushed out of his spiritual sea like a devastating flood rushing out of an opened floodgate.

    At the same time, both his star power and the wisp of his psychic awareness he had used to lock onto the streak of light ran low at an amazing speed.

    Even though it was only a small meteor and he was only attempting to use Starfall to slightly bend its path, the consumption seemed to be getting out of hand.

    Furthermore, as his vortex of star power spun at a speed several times faster than usual, Nie Tian started to experience a splitting pain in his mind.

    With all of his strength, he stabilized his mind and attempted to slightly alter the falling star¡¯s path.

    SHEW!

    To his surprise, he seeded this time, as the falling star deviated slightly from its original track towards the direction he attempted to channel it.

    However, in such a short time, he had consumed more than half of his psychic power and star power.

    BOOM!

    The streak of light plummeted to the earth in a location more than five kilometers from where he was standing, but he could only sense a slight tremor from the ground under his feet.

    This meant the meteor must be very small in size. Otherwise, considering how close he was to the crash site, thend and mountains around him should have been shaking violently and unceasingly.

    Nie Tian let out a long sigh as he tried to calm himself. That was when he suddenly realized that he was covered in sweat and felt somewhat dizzy.

    After a few deep breaths, the dizziness went away. Yet, his heart was still racing.

    As a wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness flew into the first fragmentary star mark on his chest, he saw with great rity that the ancient magical symbols that had recorded Starfall and its profound mysteries were gradually disappearing.

    ¡°Starfall!¡± A shudder ran through his body as he immediately realized that, at this point, he had finally mastered all of the three magics recorded in the first fragmentary star mark!

    Also at that moment, he came to understand why his previous attempts had failed.

    It hadn¡¯t been because he didn¡¯t have a deep understanding of Starfall, or that he didn¡¯t focus his attention, or that he didn¡¯t try hard enough.

    Rather, his repeated failures had been because the amount of star power within him wasn¡¯t enough to allow him to cast such a consuming magic!

    Even though it was a very small meteor, it required a terrifyingly substantial amount of psychic power and star power to channel it and alter its direction.

    Back then, he hadn¡¯t entered the middle Heaven stage, so the amount of star power he had umted had been fairly limited.

    Later, the breakthrough in his cultivation had allowed him to condense more stardew and continue to gather more star power in his spiritual sea.

    Over the past few days, he had been cultivating with Star Stones, and the star power in hiske of stardew had risen to at least twice the amount he had possessed before he made the breakthrough.

    The increase in his star power and the fact that it was a extremely small meteor contributed to his sessful casting of Starfall.

    All the meteors he had encountered before had been toorge for him. Considering his cultivation base and the amount of his star power he had possessed back then, it was only natural that he hadn¡¯t been able to alter the path they moved in, much less channel them towards a certain location.

    ¡°It was such a small meteor, and I merely altered its track a bit. Yet, I used up almost all of my psychic power and star power!¡±

    ¡°This magic is clearly not something I can use freely or apply in battle for the time being!¡±

    The truth became increasingly clear to Nie Tian.

    Of the three magics recorded in the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, Nie Tian was already able to exercise Starstrike and Starshift.

    However, it was a whole other case with Starfall. Considering his current cultivation base and strength, he definitely couldn¡¯t use it in a confrontation.

    From what he could tell, perhaps only when he entered the Worldly realm or the Profound realm would he be able to cast it skillfully and use it to channel meteors to bombard his enemies.

    If he wanted to channel enormous meteors from outer space, he might need to advance to an even higher cultivation base and possess star power as immense as the sea.

    ¡°Fortunately, I¡¯ve finally mastered all three profound magics recorded in the first fragmentary star mark.¡± As Nie Tian watched the ancient symbols within the first fragmentary star mark vanish bit by bit, joy rose from the bottom of his heart, knowing that he wouldn¡¯t have to remain in hiding and worry about his true identity being revealed anymore.

    He opened hispels and looked down at his chest, discovering that the originally tattoo-like fragmentary star mark was fading away. Momentster, it disappearedpletely, as if it had seeped into his flesh and merged with him.

    Meanwhile, the fragmentary star mark he hadn¡¯t been able to learn was still clearly showing.

    ¡°Does this mean that I¡¯ve fully refined the mark?¡± With these thoughts, he suddenly experienced a burning sensation from the fragmentary star mark that had already merged with his flesh.

    He immediately examined that area with a wisp of psychic awareness, and found that lines of brand new magical symbols had appeared within the refined fragmentary star mark.

    After a brief nce at the magical symbols, Nie Tian managed to brand them deeply in his mind and make them a part of his soul.

    Shortly afterwards, the magical symbols gradually vanished.

    He went over the magical symbols he had imprinted in his memory, and discovered that they actually recorded the secret method of sealing spatial rifts, and that in order to do that, he would have to mobilize all three fragmentary star marks, as well as the mysterious power of the starry river.

    He would be the spellcaster. All he needed to do would be to follow the secret method as he released the three fragmentary star marks and controlled them with his soul to seal the opened spatial rifts.

    At that moment, he also suddenly sensed the existence of the third fragmentary star mark.

    It was as if the third fragmentary star mark was now reflected in his mind, enabling him to sense its precise location.

    He didn¡¯t achieve that with his Heaven Eyes. It seemed that all he needed to do was form a thought in his mind, and immediately afterwards he would learn the location of the third fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°Ning Yang! That¡¯s the fragmentary star mark on Ning Yang!¡± That was when Nie Tian came to realize that mysterious connections existed between the three fragmentary star marks.

    The reason he hadn¡¯t discovered those connections before was because he hadn¡¯t fully refined the first fragmentary star mark back then. Now that it had be a part of him, he could learn the location of the third fragmentary star mark, and thus capture Ning Yang¡¯s location and movements with great precision. ¡°He¡¯s close to the crash site of that small meteor!¡±

    After determining Ning Yang¡¯s location, Nie Tian didn¡¯t rush into action. Instead, he took out some Star Stones and used them to restore the star power he had consumed.

    Then, he fished out a few medicinal pills that could replenish his psychic power and stuffed them down his throat.

    Only after almost a whole day did he finally recover the star power and psychic power he had consumed.

    By the time he got up and arrived at the meteor¡¯s crash site, Ning Yang was already gone. With a brief examination, he found that Ning Yang was searching for ways to refine his fragmentary star mark in a location 50 kilometers away now.

    However, at that moment, Nie Tian suddenly felt a burning sensation from the fragmentary star mark on his chest while standing by the edge of the crater, which was only the size of a well.

    For some reason, he had a feeling that something deep beneath the crater was attracting his fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Eyes filled with confusion and curiosity, Nie Tian gazed into the crater as hemanded one of his Heaven Eyes to probe into the depths of the earth.

 Chapter 326: Underground Relic

    This was the second time Nie Tian had felt that strange feeling with the fragmentary star mark on his chest after entering the forbidden region.

    The first time had been soon after he hade to this region, when he had arrived at the edge of the crater of the first andrgest meteor he had encountered.

    However, due to Ning Yang and that other man¡¯s arrival, he had rapidly backed away to avoid them.

    This time, standing by the edge of the small yet deep crater, Nie Tian once again felt a burning sensation from the fragmentary star mark on his chest.

    Under hismand, one of his Heaven Eyes flew into the crater and towards the deepest parts of the earth.

    However, it wasn¡¯t long before the Heaven Eye came across the extremely small meteor, which was already reduced to scattered rubble.

    Not a single Star Stone could be seen.

    Apparently, Ning Yang had done this. In recent days, Ning Yang had been wandering around in this region, and whenever he saw meteors fall from the sky, he would rush to the crash site.

    There, he would cut up every meteor, hoping to find methods to refine his fragmentary star mark from within them.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, there wasn¡¯t anything worth noting within the shattered meteor.

    The thing that had caused the burning sensation from the fragmentary star mark on his chest was probably not the meteor, but rather something in the depths of the earth.

    After a brief stay, the Heaven Eye went deeper towards the depths of the earth. As it did, it scanned its surroundings with rapt psychic awareness.

    Several dozen secondster...

    Nie Tian sensed that the Heaven Eye had already sunk more than 2,000 meters into the depths of the earth.

    Even the connection between him and that Heaven Eye of his started to flicker due to the exceeding distance between them.

    However, just as he faced the risk of losing contact with that Heaven Eye, a water-like ward suddenly entered his mind.

    The wardy in a location very deep underground, and it seemed that he was only able to sense its existence with the power that originated from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul.

    For some reason, he had a feeling that only those who inherited legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation, and had fragmentary stars in their souls would be able to detect that ward with their Heaven Eyes.

    Otherwise, even if it were powerful experts whose cultivation bases were several stages higher than his, and who had already transcended their psychic power into soul power, they still probably wouldn¡¯t be able to sense the existence of that ward.

    The reason was that when that Heaven Eye of his made contact with that ward deep underground, he sensed a strong aura released by the ward, which carried extremely rich and pure star power.

    However, as he attempted to send that Heaven Eye deeper into the earth to explore the secrets behind the ward, he realized that his Heaven Eye had already reached its limit, and couldn¡¯t go any further.

    With another step, he would lose contact with that Heaven Eye, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to reflect whatever there was under there in his mind via that Heaven Eye.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian retracted that Heaven Eye and sat down by the crater.

    He was convinced that a relic of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce sat in the deepest parts of this so-called forbidden region.

    It must have been hidden and sealed away by powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Only those who received their legacies and practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation would be able to pry into what was hidden behind that ward.

    It seemed that his current cultivation base was still so insignificant that he didn¡¯t have the ability to dig into this secret hidden deep underground.

    However, as long as he kept progressing in his cultivation, the day woulde when he finally reached the point where his psychic power was fully upgraded to soul power, and then he would be able to solve the profound mysteries hidden in the depths of the earth.

    Over the following few days, Nie Tian tracked down and examined many more fallen meteors in this forbidden region.

    However, every time he sent his Heaven Eye into the depths of the earth, it failed to prate that ward wreathed in star power before he lost his connection with it.

    After a few attempts, he was finally convinced that with his current cultivation base and strength, there was no way he could unearth the secret hidden in the depths of the earth.

    Via the fragmentary star mark he had refined, Nie Tian could easily obtain Ning Yang¡¯s urate location without any assistance from his Heaven Eyes.

    He knew that Ning Yang hadn¡¯t given up on refining the third fragmentary star mark yet, and that he was still busting his ass looking for a method.

    ¡°The third fragmentary star mark...¡± With a frown, Nie Tian contemted for quite a long time.

    Then, he grew convinced that, considering his current strength and battle prowess, it would be impossible for him to forcibly take the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.

    On the other hand, he didn¡¯t have the ability to pry into the secrets in the depths of the earth for the time being. Therefore, after entering the middle Heaven stage and mastering Starfall, he decided to return to Shatter City.

    He nned to go find Hu Rong. He could either seek help from the Spirit Condor and ask them to help him take the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang, or disclose his true identity, so that powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect would descend upon the Realm of Split Void and strip the fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.

    After all, only when he obtained all three fragmentary star marks would he be able to use the secret magic to seal the opened spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    A few days passed...

    After taking a few detours to steer clear of the Hunters that roamed about near Ash City, Nie Tian returned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range and set foot in the Wild Fire¡¯s territory.

    As soon as he did, via his Heaven Eyes, he learned from conversations between Wild Fire members, as well as exploring Qi warriors, that they had all heard about the appearance of a fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure in this part of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Therefore, at this moment, a variety of Qi warriors could be seen in every corner of the Wild Fire¡¯s territory, including people from the Blood Skull, Dark Moon, Wild Fire, and different Hunter organizations.

    Each and every one of them harbored the intention to appropriate the Spirit Channeling grade treasure for themselves.

    This area that should have been exclusive to the Wild Fire was now crowded with people from various organizations. Even though Nie Tian had his Heaven Eyes to help him, he had a strong feeling that it was bing more and more difficult to avoid all those people.

    It felt as if everyone who made their living in the Void Illusion Mountain Range was gathered in this region now.

    The appearance of a Spirit Channeling grade treasure seemed to have demented those people, and made them felt as if they all had a good chance at owning it.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Nie Tian ran into people from the Blood Skull. Via his Heaven Eyes, he discovered that Pei Qiqi and Cai Yuan were also in the group. Therefore, he took the initiative to approach them.

    As soon as he appeared, Cai Yuan eximed with a shocked expression, ¡°Hua Tian! Where the hell did you go?¡±

    ¡°I found a ce where I could focus on my cultivation.¡± Nie Tian grinned as he asked, although he knew the answer all along, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    He snuck a nce at Pei Qiqi, and discovered that her expression was the same as ever as she gently nodded at him.

    Pei Qiqi had witnessed the me Dragon Armor turn into a streak of zing light and fly out of his bracelet of holding. When it snatched Heaven me Crystals from Shi Hui and the others, he had forcibly parted ways with her without giving her a chance to argue, and cast a few Starshifts to put a sizable distance between them.

    He wasn¡¯t sure if Pei Qiqi knew that the Spirit Channeling grade treasure had actually been unleashed by him.

    With a serious expression, Cai Yuan exined, ¡°An unimed Spirit Channeling grade treasure appeared in this region. Normally speaking, those who own Spirit Channeling grade treasures are usually experts at the Profound realm or Soul realm. Or they could even be unearthly masters at the three Domains!

    ¡°As we know, there are countless inteced spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Some of them lead to regions of death, while others lead to outsiders¡¯ realms. However, it¡¯s also possible that some of them lead to unknown dimensions where powerful human Qi warriors live.

    ¡°Perhaps that Spirit Channeling grade treasure flew out of one of those mysterious dimensions. If that¡¯s indeed the case, it means that the Spirit Channeling grade treasure¡¯s master is already dead.

    ¡°If we can find that Spirit Channeling grade treasure and figure out which dimension it came from, we¡¯d probablye to some shocking findings.¡±

    Aspiration filled Cai Yuan¡¯s eyes as he spoke, as if he were already living the scene where he obtained the Spirit Channeling grade treasure and entered a deadly dimension ruled by powerful human Qi warriors.

    Nie Tian stood in silence.

 Chapter 327: Overcrowded Region

    Almost every human Qi warrior in the Domain of the Falling Stars knew that the Domain of the Falling Stars wasn¡¯t all there was to this world.

    Furthermore, many people were aware that the Domain of the Falling Stars hadn¡¯t always been home to humans, but rather it used to be a paradise for outsiders.

    For centuries, the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void had been considered the most mysterious ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars. People even viewed it as a window to the outside world.

    As for the numerous spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, some led to outsiders¡¯ realms, while others led to unknown forbidden dimensions.

    Some explorers even discovered brand-new dimensions through those spatial rifts.

    The Green Illusion dimension had first been discovered in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    That was why, when rumor had it that a Spirit Channeling grade treasure had appeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, no one doubted its authenticity.

    After all, simr incidents had happened in the Void Illusion Mountain Range before.

    People suspected that the unimed Spirit Channeling grade treasure had flown out of one of the spatial rifts, which led to an unknown dimension.

    Therefore, every major force in the Realm of the Split Void had been searching this region for the Spirit Channeling grade treasure and the mysterious dimension, their eyes green with greed.

    That was exactly why the Wild Fire¡¯s territory was so overcrowded.

    While Cai Yuan was exining the Spirit Channeling grade treasure and the possible arcane dimension to Nie Tian with a face filled with excitement, Nie Tian cleared his throat and asked, ¡°Well, are you aware that Shi Hui has secretly contacted the Wild Fire?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Cai Yuan let out a cold harrumph as a disgusted expression appeared on his face, as if a fly had just flown into his mouth. ¡°Yeah, Qiqi told me. We have been treating Shi Hui with nothing but respect since he was a revered guest elder of the Blood Skull. I can¡¯t believe that he actually colluded with the Wild Fire! He and the few guest elders close to him have already been removed from our list of guest elders.

    ¡°He¡¯s not a guest elder of the Blood Skull anymore!¡±

    Gu Yu¡¯s expression was also unpleasant as he exined, ¡°Shi Hui enjoyed forming his own faction within our organization. Having him removed is not a bad thing for us.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat embarrassed as he said with an apologetic tone, ¡°I¡¯m partly responsible for this. If I didn¡¯t seriously injure his nephew Shi Nan in the Blood Fighting Pit, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have left the Blood Skull so soon.¡±

    Shi Hui was at thete Greater Heaven stage, and only one step away from entering the Worldly realm. He was one of the handful of guest elders of the Blood Skull who possessed such strength.

    Now that Shi Hui and the few guest elders who pledged themselves to him were gone, the overall strength of the Blood Skull had taken quite a blow.

    He felt like he had caused great losses for the Blood Skull.

    Gu Yu shook his head and said with a frown, ¡°It doesn¡¯t have much to do with what you did. Even if you hadn¡¯t done that, he would have found other opportunities to leave the Blood Skull. That man was too ambitious. He always wanted more. Actually, the head was already fed up with him. Now that he has joined the Wild Fire, let him be. There¡¯lle a day where we meet on the battlefield.¡±

    After having a few words with Cai Yuan and Gu Yu, the Blood Skull¡¯s group stopped to recover.

    Naturally, as guest elders of the Blood Skull, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi stood together, while all the other Blood Skull members rested in another location.

    ¡°You¡¯ve made another breakthrough in your cultivation, haven¡¯t you?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a in tone.

    Smiling, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I was quite lucky; soon after we parted ways, I found the key to my breakthrough in that forbidden region, and thus entered the middle Heaven stage rather sessfully.¡±

    Pei Qiqi seemed to have anticipated Nie Tian¡¯s answer, so she didn¡¯t seem very surprised. Then, she nced at the Blood Skull members who were recovering from a certain distance away before lowering her voice and asking, ¡°That Spirit Channeling grade treasure belongs to you, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, not saying a word.

    Pei Qiqi gave him a hard look as she said, ¡°I knew it.¡±

    Nie Tian cracked a smile.

    ¡°If you dare to trick me and leave me like that again, I won¡¯t let you off!¡± Pei Qiqi said angrily.

    Nie Tian was surprised by her attitude.

    ¡°Did you get my consent before leaving?¡± Pei Qiqi gritted her teeth slightly. Seeing that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t understood what she meant, she grew increasingly angry. Her bright, star-like eyes shone with frosty light as she asked, ¡°Did you worry that I might learn your secrets, or did you not want to drag me into trouble?¡±

    Back then, Nie Tian had cast three short-range Starshifts in a row and disappeared from Pei Qiqi¡¯s sight in a split second.

    Right before he had left in a hurry, Nie Tian had only said a few words to bid her farewell, not even giving her a chance to say anything. This had made her indignant.

    ¡°Umm... I feared for your safety.¡± A bitter smile stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Not only was Shi Hui there, but also those guest elders who were close to him and a few members of the Wild Fire. I had confidence that I would be able to avoid them if I went by myself. But if you came along, I feared that it would be harder for us to stay hidden from the whole lot of them. After all, we were on the Wild Fire¡¯s turf. Even though you¡¯re skilled in spatial magics, we might have had to go through quite some trouble once we were discovered.¡±

    In his opinion, he had only done this to protect Pei Qiqi, so he didn¡¯t understand why she was so mad.

    ¡°I hate being left alone!¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly. ¡°Especially when people say they did it for my own good!¡±

    As she said these words, slight sorrow and bitterness shed across her glittering eyes, as if unpleasant memories hade back to her at that moment.

    Looking deeply at her, Nie Tian remembered the time when Pei Qiqi had wept and called for her parents in her dreams while the two of them had hidden in the stone room under a creek.

    Nie Tian seemed to have suddenly realized what was going on. He nodded gently as he apologized sincerely, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I won¡¯t do things like that again.¡±

    Pei Qiqi rapidly resumed her indifferent attitude and said, ¡°Shi Hui has learned from his informants that you are currently in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. However, Shi Hui isn¡¯t the only one who¡¯s looking for you. I¡¯ve heard that Li Langfeng and the woman from the Fang are also searching for you in this region.¡±

    ¡°Let theme at me then.¡± Nie Tian sounded as if he couldn¡¯t care less.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t know where you get your confidence.¡± After a moment of silence, she added, ¡°By the way, Xue Long is here too. I ran into him a couple of days ago, and he asked me about you. He told me that he had business to discuss with you, and he asked me to tell you not to leave this region, since he¡¯lle back for you.¡±

    ¡°Xue Long?¡± Nie Tian frowned. ¡°What does he want me for? Didn¡¯t he chase after Li Langfeng when we returned from the wastnd to Shatter City? And there wasn¡¯t news of him returning to Shatter City after that.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because he stayed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range the whole time,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°I see." Originally, Nie Tian had nned to returned to Shatter City as soon as possible, so that he could inform Hu Rong of the Spirit Condor of his refinement of the first fragmentary star mark and Ning Yang¡¯s appearance in the forbidden region. However, after hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s words, he said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stick around for a few more days and see what he wants from me.¡±

    Over the following days, Nie Tian traveled with the Blood Skull¡¯s group as they searched in the vicinity.

    Since Nie Tian knew that what they were looking for this entire time was the me Dragon Armor within his bracelet of holding, he didn¡¯t attach the slightest importance to the search.

    After the recent breakthrough in his cultivation, Nie Tian had many things to do, such as filling and refining his vortexes of spiritual power of different attributes.

    Therefore, he spent the days cultivating his various types of spiritual power with spirit stones and spiritual materials.

    Since the Blood Skull was one of the three major powers in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, even though they were walking on the Wild Fire¡¯s turf, they had nothing to fear.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was independent cultivators or Qi warriors who hade in groups, they would all steer clear of the Blood Skull¡¯s group as soon as they spotted the Blood Skull¡¯s banner from afar.

    Ma Jiu from the Dark Moon seemed to have been demoted due to his major misconduct in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Another person had already taken his ce as the Dark Moon¡¯s highestmander in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and they were in the middle of reestablishing their teleportation portal. Thus, they were rather fragile at this moment.

    Furthermore, since the Blood Skull had sent arge force to search for the Spirit Channeling grade treasure and possible new dimension, the Dark Moon and Wild Fire didn¡¯t have the slightest intention to fight them before they came to any valuable findings themselves.

    Even though the Dark Moon had been itching for revenge, they had suppressed their anger and backed away when they had encountered the Blood Skull¡¯s group earlier.

    Since then, all the forces seemed to get along rather well. However, no one came to any findings in the region.

    On this day, Xue Long appeared as he had promised.

    The moment he did, he approached Nie Tian and expressed his wish to speak to Nie Tian alone. Nie Tian agreed.

    Afterwards, Xue Long led Nie Tian to a location rtively far from Gu Yu and the other Blood Skull members. With a solemn expression, he said, ¡°The Spirit Condor asked me to help you with something.¡±

    ¡°Do you work for them?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ¡°No.¡± Xue Long shook his head. ¡°I owe them a favor. That¡¯s all.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian said.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a skinny figure of a man shed into appearance from behind a bare, ancient tree. The man let out a snort and said to Nie Tian with a meaningful expression on his face, ¡°Crafty little punk! We meet again!¡±

    ¡°Li Langfeng!¡± Nie Tian was bbergasted.

 Chapter 328: Two Helpers

    As little as it was, it required psychic power and soul power to use Heaven Eyes.

    Since Nie Tian had been traveling with the Blood Skull¡¯s group recently, he didn¡¯t expect that he would run into trouble at all. After all, the Blood Skull was one of the most dominant forces in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t unleashed his Heaven Eyes and used them to scan the vicinity for movement during these past days.

    Furthermore, he had never been far from the Blood Skull¡¯s group, so he didn¡¯t feel the need to unleash his Heaven Eyes.

    That was why he had failed to sense Li Langfeng¡¯s existence.

    The sudden appearance of Li Langfeng made Nie Tian assume Xue Long had lured him into a trap. His expression immediately changed as he rapidly formed a chaotic maic field around him and prepared to call for help.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± Xue Long hastily called out in a soft voice to stop Nie Tian. ¡°Li Langfeng is also here to help you! We both came upon the Spirit Condor¡¯s request. Our mission is to help you deal with Ning Yang!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian felt slightly relieved.

    Yet, he still kept a secure distance from Li Langfeng as his chaotic maic field reced the protective light shield created by his green jade bracelet.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s face was still sickly and pale. After shing into appearance, he coughed softly where he stood, as he seemed to know what Nie Tian was worrying about.

    ¡°I made a deal with the Spirit Condor, which is to help you deal with Ning Yang.¡± Then, Li Langfeng let out a snort as he continued, ¡°But in return, you will spend some time to help me with my cultivation after our mission is aplished.¡±

    At that moment, Xue Long exined to Nie Tian, ¡°Ning Yang is only one step away from entering the Worldly realm. Also, since he¡¯s from the Heaven Pce Sect, not only is he skilled in various profound magics, but he also possesses high grade spiritual tools. Hence, I don¡¯t have the confidence that I¡¯ll be able to overtake him single-handedly. It will only be possible if Brother Li joins me.¡±

    ¡°The Spirit Condor...¡± Nie Tian was secretly shocked.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t known a thing about this mysterious organization before he came to the Realm of the Split Void, including how they worked and how powerful they were.

    However, they were actually capable of getting Xue Long, a guest elder of the Blood Skull, to work for them, and persuading Li Langfeng, a guest elder of the Dark Moon, to set his enmity towards Nie Tian aside and go on a mission with him.

    Although it was like looking at a leopard through a bamboo tube (see note 1), he realized how profound the Spirit Condor¡¯s strength and influence was.

    He had examined Ning Yang via his Heaven Eyes when he had encountered him in the forbidden region to the east of Ash City. Then, he had been convinced that he still wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting him.

    He had a feeling that Ning Yang, who was a core disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect, possessed battle prowess far higher than otherte Greater Heaven stage cultivators.

    Even if it was Li Langfeng or Xue Long, he suspected that neither of them would be able to take Ning Yang single-handedly.

    However, if the two of them joined hands, they might be able to overpower Ning Yang and take the third fragmentary star mark from him. After all, both of them were outstanding fighters at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Upon thinking of the fragmentary star mark, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered as he asked, ¡°What else do you know?¡±

    ¡°We only know that the Spirit Condor wants us to take Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark, and they seem to be doing this upon the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s request.¡± Then, Xue Long¡¯s eyes rolled as he said, ¡°ording to the Spirit Condor, you have something that will help us locate Ning Yang. Also, they want us to hand the fragmentary star mark to you once we sessfully strip it from Ning Yang.¡±

    The information the Spirit Condor had given Xue Long was limited, yet the rumor about Ning Yang running away from the Heaven Pce Sect had already provoked animated discussion among people. Xue Long knew about it as well.

    He naturally understood the focus of the matter was Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark.

    When it came to fragmentary star marks, another person was concerned: Nie Tian, a young man from the Realm of me Heaven, who had been missing for a long time. Up to this point, the Heaven Pce Sect and many other powerful Qi warrior sects were still searching for him.

    Nie Tian, Hua Tian, fragmentary star mark, Nie Tian...

    Connecting all these dots, Xue Long had already figured out Nie Tian¡¯s true identity. He just didn¡¯t want to reveal such knowledge.

    ¡°Do you really dare to fight Ning Yang?¡± Nie Tian questioned their determination.

    Xue Long pondered for a moment before replying, ¡°If Ning Yang hadn¡¯t run away from the Heaven Pce Sect, and he were still a talented core disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect, I probably wouldn¡¯t have had the audacity to do anything to him.¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at Li Langfeng and said, ¡°Perhaps Brother Li would.

    ¡°However, times have changed. Ning Yang went against the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s will, which means he has broken away with the Heaven Pce Sect. Adding in the assurance from the Spirit Condor, I don¡¯t think there will be a problem.¡± At that moment, Xue Long seemed to have thought of another matter and thus added, ¡°However, you¡¯ve got to understand that I will only help you take Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark, but I will never help you kill him.

    ¡°All things said, he still belongs to the Heaven Pce Sect. They have the final say on his life or death. I don¡¯t ever want to anger the Heaven Pce Sect!¡±

    ¡°Xue Long, you¡¯ve been overcautious your entire life. This is where you need to learn from me.¡± Li Langfeng¡¯s tone was filled with ridicule. ¡°It¡¯s just because you¡¯re burdened by too many fears that you can never beat me. If I were you, and I was caught up in a situation like you were in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, I would have...¡± Li Langfeng didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    Xue Long suddenly assumed a cold face. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to judge me!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he thought to himself, ¡°The Realm of a Hundred Battles!¡±

    Since he had overheard conversations between Song Li and Han Mu, he had learned that Song Li and Xue Long knew each other, and that ¡®Xue Long¡¯ wasn¡¯t his real name.

    From the look of it, Li Langfeng knew about Xue Long¡¯s history. The fact that he mentioned that Xue Long was from the Realm of a Hundred Battles made Nie Tian realize that Song Li and Han Mu from the Fang had alsoe from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°Ning Yang is currently wandering in the forbidden region to the east of Ash City.¡± Nie Tian blurted.

    Xue Long¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Good! We¡¯d better hurry over there now and strip that fragmentary star mark from him while he¡¯s still at thete Greater Heaven stage. I¡¯ve long since heard people talk about this man. It¡¯s said that if he hadn¡¯t been distracted by his fragmentary star mark, he would have broken through into the Worldly realm already.¡±

    It appeared that Xue Long also harbored fear towards Ning Yang.

    ¡°With the just two of you?¡± Nie Tian asked with a frown.

    ¡°The two of us should suffice,¡± Xue Long said with a smiled. ¡°I know how powerful Brother Li is. Ning Yang might be slightly stronger than him. However, with me there to help Brother Li, our sess is pretty much guaranteed.¡±

    ¡°You two are not enough.¡± Nie Tian shook his head as he exined the problem to them, ¡°Ning Yang is traveling with a guest elder of the Wild Fire. That man is also at thete Greater Heaven stage, and just like Ning Yang, he also used to be a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect. Not only that, I overheard Ning Yang refer to that man as ¡®senior martial brother¡¯, so I doubt that he¡¯s any weaker than you.¡±

    Xue Long¡¯s expression changed as he asked, ¡°Have you ever seen the man in person? Can you briefly describe his appearance to me?¡±

    Nie Tian describe the man¡¯s appearance ording to his impression of him.

    After hearing his description, the facial expressions of Li Langfeng and Xue Long both flickered as they called out simultaneously, ¡°It¡¯s Tong Jianfeng!¡±

    ¡°You both know that man?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    A grim expression clouded Xue Long¡¯s face as he said with a deep frown, ¡°Yeah, Tong Jianfeng is probably a fake name. He¡¯s a guest elder of the Wild Fire. His status among the Wild Fire¡¯s guest elders is simr to Brother Li¡¯s status amongst the Dark Moon¡¯s guest elders. That man and Brother Li are probably evenly matched in strength, but he might be slightly stronger than me.¡±

    ¡°You were right. If he is indeed traveling with Ning Yang, I¡¯m afraid the two of us won¡¯t be able to take them.¡±

    After learning that Ning Yang had Tong Jianfeng by his side, Li Langfeng also fell silent.

    After a moment of pondering, Xue Long said, ¡°That changes everything. We can¡¯t go into the forbidden region to the east of Ash City now. I¡¯ll inform the Spirit Condor of the current situation. If the Spirit Condor doesn¡¯t send other powerful experts to our aid, our operation against Ning Yang will be doomed to fail!¡±

    With a deep breath, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Luckily, you told us that Tong Jianfeng was Ning Yang¡¯s senior martial brother and that they are traveling together now. Otherwise, if we acted rashly and engaged in battle with the two of them, we would definitely have suffered a great loss!¡±

    At that point, a fierce aura seemed to suddenly burst forth from within Li Langfeng¡¯s sickly body as he said, ¡°We don¡¯t need to ask the Spirit Condor for reinforcement. There¡¯s another way to turn the situation around.

    ¡°Hua Tian! Youe with me and help me with my cultivation for a few days. I¡¯ve got a feeling that with your help, I¡¯ll be able to step into the Worldly realm in ten days!

    ¡°Once I enter the Worldly realm, I¡¯ll be able to overtake Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng by myself!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Xue Long asked with a shocked expression on his face. ¡°Are you really that close to your next breakthrough?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m just one step away, but thisst step is very crucial. If there¡¯s no one to help me, I¡¯m afraid it will still take me three months to finish this final step. However, if Hua Tian agrees to help me, I have confidence that I¡¯ll be able to break the barrier and enter the Worldly realm in ten days.¡± Confidence could be seen on Li Langfeng¡¯s face as he continued, ¡°Once I enter the Worldly realm, Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng won¡¯t be able to pose any threat to me! I won¡¯t even need you to do anything, Xue Long!¡±

    Xue Long¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll inform the Spirit Condor of the current situation. In the meantime, Hua Tian will help you with your cultivation. If you can advance to the Worldly realm in ten days, we¡¯ll act ording to our original n. If you fail to do that in ten days, we¡¯ll sit tight and wait for the Spirit Condor to make other arrangements.¡±

    ¡°Very well!¡± Li Langfeng agreed.

    Xue Tong turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What do you say?¡±

    ¡°That sounds good to me,¡± Nie Tian blurted.

    Note:

    ¡°looking at a leopard through a bamboo tube¡± is a Chinese saying which means having a limited view of something.

 Chapter 329: Cultivation Assistant

    After reaching an agreement with Li Langfeng and Xue Long, Nie Tian bid farewell to Cai Yuan and Gu Yu, and left the Blood Skull¡¯s group.

    Both Xue Long and Nie Tian were only guest elders of the Blood Skull, not formal members. Therefore, the Blood Skull didn¡¯t have much control over the actions of either of them.

    They weren¡¯t obligated to travel with the Blood Skull and work for them just because of their strong desire to find the Spirit Channeling grade treasure in this region.

    Before they left, Pei Qiqi was slightly worried that Nie Tian might get in trouble, but after learning that he was leaving with Xue Long, she set her mind at ease.

    She knew how powerful Xue Long was.

    She assumed that as long as Nie Tian traveled with Xue Long, even if they encountered Shi Hui, who had switched sides and joined the Wild Fire, he would still be safe.

    After parting ways with Pei Qiqi and the Blood Skull¡¯s group, Nie Tian followed Xue Long and Li Langfeng out of the Wild Fire¡¯s territory in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and into the desert again.

    The forbidden region where Ning Yang was currently in belonged to a part of the desert which sat to the east of Ash City.

    However, the three of them didn¡¯t rush over to the region where no nts or spirit beasts could survive.

    Instead, they found an untraversed region in the desert, where Nie Tian started helping Li Langfeng with his cultivation.

    Deep into the night, frigid-cold wind whizzed by as Xue Long sat in a location 100 meters away from Nie Tian and Li Langfeng.

    He was rather sensible by doing this.

    He understood that no matter whether it was Nie Tian or Li Langfeng, neither of them would want to reveal their secrets to others while they practiced cultivation.

    No one was willing to expose their secrets to others, especially when it came to cultivation methods.

    ¡°Come on! Bombard me with your spiritual energy balls like you didst time!¡± A sickly yearning expression appeared on Li Langfeng¡¯s face, as if he couldn¡¯t wait to be mistreated.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t form spiritual energy balls instantly, but rather he looked at him with a frown and asked, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can I examine your body briefly before we do this?¡±

    Li Langfeng was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Just don¡¯t raise your guard, and let me check your physical body,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°If I do that, I might be able to help you better.¡±

    Li Langfeng seemed a bit hesitant. He pondered silently for a while before saying, ¡°Alright.¡±

    He would never agree to such a demand if it were someone else. However, he needed Nie Tian to help him improve his cultivation base as quickly as possible, and he understood that Nie Tian had mastered some mysterious skills and techniques that no one else knew.

    Back when he had failed to find Nie Tian in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, he had gone to the wastnd and learned from a few Hunters that Nie Tian possessed bizarre escape magics that had allowed him to escape from the Hunters¡¯ blockades repeatedly.

    Many factors made Li Langfeng realize that Nie Tian was by no means an ordinary young man.

    Then, Nie Tian unleashed one Heaven Eye and manipted it to run an examination of Li Langfeng¡¯s flesh and blood from a close distance, since he didn¡¯t dare tomand the Heaven Eye to enter Li Langfeng¡¯s body.

    With the Heaven Eye moving across his body so close to his skin, Li Langfeng had a feeling that he was being scanned by something.

    However, since he hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm, he wasn¡¯t able to discover the Heaven Eye. The only thing he could be sure of was that the strange feeling was caused by Nie Tian.

    While he was caught up in the strange sensation, Nie Tian had already obtained a thorough understanding of Li Langfeng¡¯s condition.

    He could sense a certain, extremely toxic deposit in Li Langfeng¡¯s sickly body, which resided in his blood, bones, and meridians.

    It was the deposit of the mysterious green energy within the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this realm.

    Even though the deposit carried deadly toxins, it could inflict damage that was just as dreadful when Li Langfeng used it to attack his enemies.

    Therefore, it was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it boosted Li Langfeng¡¯s strength; on the other, it continued to corrode his body from the inside.

    The fact that Li Langfeng never stopped coughing and looked as if he was afflicted with an incurable disease was because he had the extremely toxic deposit inside his body all the time.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said with a soft voice, ¡°You have an extremely toxic deposit inside your body.

    ¡°The deadly toxins are damaging your physical body continuously. I know you have a method to heal the damage to your body and resist the corrosion of the toxins. However, the speed at which you heal yourself isn¡¯t always as fast as the speed at which the toxins corrode your body...

    ¡°As your cultivation base advances, more toxins will umte inside your body, and your body will be under increasingly heavy pressure.

    ¡°Sooner orter, your body will be overwhelmed, and the deadly toxins will eventually nibble away everyst bit of your life force and kill you.¡±

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s analysis, Li Langfeng¡¯s face remained expressionless, as he didn¡¯t seem to be moved at all.

    After looking deeply at him for a moment, Nie Tian added, ¡°I don¡¯t think bombarding you with my spiritual energy balls is a good idea. As you probably know, the explosion of spiritual energy balls will send out concentrated energy. Other than the green toxic energy, you¡¯ll be allowing many other types of energy that don¡¯t get along with each other inside your body.

    ¡°Furthermore, after absorbing them all into your body, you¡¯ll have to drive the unwanted energy out of your body by puking blood.

    ¡°This will put your body under an even heavier burden.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian raised his hands as he cast the spell he had learned from the mysteriousnd. Shortly afterwards, a football-sized spiritual energy ball came to form between his palms.

    Even though the spiritual energy ball looked gray and misty from the outside, it was actually filled with multicolored light.

    The various types of spiritual energy from unknown origins grew increasingly violent and restless after being concentrated and constrained into such a small space.

    After holding it for about 10 seconds, Nie Tian unleashed it.

    BOOM!

    The spiritual energy ball exploded behind Li Langfeng. The explosion created a rather sizable hole in the desert ground and sent multicolored light sputtering in every direction.

    Xue Long, who was cultivating with his eyes closed in a distant location, turned his head to check the situation upon hearing the explosion, before rapidly turning his head back.

    Meanwhile, Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes lit up as he instantly shot towards the area which was now covered in multicolored light. While the light was still lingering in the air, he stood where the ball had exploded and used his secret magic to channel the green mist into himself, hoping to use the toxins within it to build up his strength and boost his cultivation.

    During this process, the lingering light of other colors fell on him from time to time.

    The green light shield around him kept giving out fizzing sounds as it shielded him from most of the corrosive energy and prevented him from receiving much damage.

    Back when he and Nie Tian had fought in the mountain valley, all the spiritual energy balls Nie Tian had cast towards him had exploded close to him.

    The impact of the explosions was so mighty that his spiritual power shield had shattered almost immediately, exposing his skinny body to the corrosion of various types of foreign energy.

    At that time, copious amount of energy beyond his refining ability had forcibly entered his body.

    That was why he had had to drive those types of invading impurities out of his body by coughing up many mouthfuls of blood, lest his body fail due to the excessive burden.

    However, now that the spiritual energy ball had exploded in another location, the formidable explosive impact would wear out and be bearable by his protective shield. Since his protective shield didn¡¯t burst, when he went over to absorb the lingering green energy, he wouldn¡¯t have to bear the corrosion of other types of energy, and thus he would be able to focus on channeling the green energy.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Enveloped by his green light shield, Li Langfeng nodded briefly towards Nie Tian as he channeled the useful energy into his body.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything, as he was contemting with a frown.

    He took note that the explosive impact of his spiritual energy ball was very powerful.

    However, after the explosion, as the st impact dissipated, the various kinds of highly concentrated energy were also rapidly scattered over arge area.

    The energy Li Langfeng was absorbing now was actually diluted, which meant that by doing this, he had significantly undermined Li Langfeng¡¯s cultivation efficiency.

    However, if the spiritual energy ball didn¡¯t explode at all, and Li Langfeng could extract the highly concentrated green energy directly from within the intact spiritual energy ball, Li Langfeng¡¯s cultivation efficiency would improve by a great margin.

    That was when it urred to Nie Tian that if he could suppress the violent sh between the different types of energy and stabilize his spiritual energy balls, it would work out for him as well.

    Before, when he had fought the Dark Moon experts and pursuing Hunters, he actually hadn¡¯t disyed the full might of his spiritual energy balls because the excessively violent sh and turbulence had rapidly grown out of control, causing his spiritual energy balls to explode prematurely.

    Some of them had even exploded by themselves when they were still meters away from their target.

    The damage the spiritual energy balls inflicted on the enemy varied greatly between scenarios where the explosion happened close to the enemy and in a location several meters from the enemy.

    He had long since known that the closer to the center of the explosion, the mightier the explosive impact and destructive force would be.

    Since he hadn¡¯t been able to control his spiritual energy balls, the attack range of his spiritual energy balls had been rather limited.

    If he was standing too far from his enemy, it would be very likely that his spiritual energy balls would explode prematurely midway, rendering his attacks meaningless.

    That was why he had had no choice but to approach his targets when he had fought those Dark Moon experts and pursuing Hunters.

    If his target was too far away, he wouldn¡¯t be able to inflict much damage to it. Even if his target was close enough, he wouldn¡¯t be able to hit it precisely with his spiritual energy balls.

    The ultimate reason for all this was rooted in the unceasing violent sh between the different types of energy within his spiritual energy balls.

    ¡°Come again!¡± Li Langfeng shouted.

    With furrowed eyebrows, Nie Tian formed another spiritual energy ball. He examined it carefully, and found that it was just as unstable as thest one, and it could explode at any moment.

    BOOM!

    The spiritual energy ball exploded in a location to Li Langfeng¡¯s left. Without any hesitation, Li Langfeng rushed over and started absorbing energy.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The following three spiritual energy balls also exploded soon after leaving Nie Tian¡¯s hands, and Li Langfeng also rushed over to absorb the sputtering energy.

    After some time, Li Langfeng called a timeout, as it seemed that he needed some time to recover.

    After returning to Nie Tian¡¯s side, he slowly channeled the green energy into his spiritual sea with his eyes narrowed. In the meantime, he grimaced as if he was experiencing excruciating pain all over his body while he tried his best to resist the corrosion of the toxins.

    ¡°What exactly does the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void consist of?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Also, where are those elements from? Other than the mutant spirit beasts, are you the only one in the world who is capable of making use of the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Li Langfeng answered, shaking his head. ¡°Let me put it this way: as you know, the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth filling every corner of the Realm of Split Void is deadly to us. However, it is a necessity to many outsider races. They can use it to strengthen their bloodlines and enhance their power.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, we shouldn¡¯t call it deadly. It¡¯s just not designed for us humans. That¡¯s all.

    ¡°For example, we can¡¯t practice cultivation with the demon Qi. Forcibly channeling it into our bodies would only achieve adverse effects.

    ¡°However, for outsiders, the demon Qi is just as indispensable to them as water and air.

    ¡°The same goes for the green energy I cultivate with. Even though I¡¯m a master of toxins, I will still be corroded by this extremely toxic energy.

    ¡°However, I know there is an outsider race whose people rely on this kind of energy to strengthen themselves. Not only will they not suffer from any sort of bacsh after absorbing this kind of energy, but the energy will greatly increase their physical strength and improve their bloodline power.¡±

 Chapter 330: Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, Fiends

    Years and years ago, the Realm of Split Void had undergone heaven-changing and earth-overturning upheavals, and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this realm had been tainted. Because of this, every Qi warrior who lived in the Realm of Split Void had a fairly deep understanding of the special spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth they were surrounded by.

    One of the reasons Li Langfeng, who practiced the art of poison, hade to the Realm of Split Void was to stay away from trouble.

    The other reason was that he knew that the special green energy in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here could speed up his cultivation.

    Perhaps this was why he had a better understanding of the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void than most people.

    After hearing Li Langfeng¡¯s exnation, Nie Tian¡¯s understanding of the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void also rose to a whole new level.

    ording to Li Langfeng, the mostmon and basic energy in this world was spiritual Qi, which human Qi warriors could use to practice cultivation by channeling it into their spiritual seas in their dantian regions.

    Spiritual Qi existed in every major realm and dimension that was inhabited by a variety of races.

    However, the uniqueness of some realms and dimensions attributed to the change and mutation of their spiritual Qi.

    Simply put, since the Scarlet me Mountain Range, where the Spiritual Treasure Sect was located, was scorchingly hot year-round, and volcanoes erupted there from time to time, the spiritual Qi in that region turned out to beced with copious amount of me energy.

    If Qi warriors who practiced fire-attributed incantations practiced cultivation in the Spiritual Treasure Sect, they would be able to channel the mixed spiritual Qi into their spiritual seas, where they could sort the spiritual Qi and distribute me energy into their vortexes of me power and the in spiritual energy into their vortexes of spiritual power.

    In this way, those Qi warriors¡¯ cultivation speed could be greatly enhanced.

    Simrly, in frigidly cold regions, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was usuallyced with frost energy. These regions would be ideal locations for Qi warriors who practiced ice-attributed incantations to practice their cultivation.

    In the same way, some regions had lightning bolts sh across the sky year-round, so the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in these regions would carry rich lightning energy. Qi warriors who practiced lightning-attributed incantations would be able to improve their strength in these regions rapidly.

    The same went for the heavens and earths where outsiders lived. Due to the special structures and features of their realms, the spiritual Qi gradually mutated and turned into demon Qi.

    Demons were able to refine energy from demon Qi, infuse it into their blood, and use it to strengthen their physical strength, as well as their bloodline power.

    The so-called tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void had actually formed when different types of mutated Qi started to leak into this realm through some of the spatial rifts.

    Those types of Qi suited outsiders¡¯ cultivation perfectly, but when they merged with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void, variation urred.

    Such variation made the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void unsuitable for human Qi warriors¡¯ cultivation. If they forcibly allowed the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth inside of them, they would have their flesh and blood corroded.

    After hearing Li Langfeng¡¯s lecture about the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian finally understood what had happened here.

    ¡°As far as I know, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void contains at least four types of Qi: demon Qi, phantasm Qi, death Qi, and toxic Qi.

    ¡°Other than these, other types of mysterious energy that have been spread to this realm via spatial rifts can also be found in the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. However, I don¡¯t know much about them.¡±

    Li Langfeng took his time as he exined things to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Demons cultivate with demon Qi; Phantasms cultivate with phantasm Qi; Bonebrutes cultivate with death Qi; Fiends cultivate with toxic Qi.

    ¡°We refer to Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends as outsiders.

    ¡°All of these four outsider races used to live in the Domain of the Falling Stars. As a matter of fact, without exception, the realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars used to be these outsiders¡¯ homes.

    ¡°For example, the Realm of me Heaven used to be a paradise for Demons, and was controlled by a powerful Demon n.

    ¡°The Realm of Dark Underworld, where Ie from, used to belong to Phantasms. Fiends used to live in the Realm of ck Marsh. And the Realm of Unbounded Destion used to be home to Bonebrutes.

    ¡°Of course, back then, the Domain of the Falling Stars wasn¡¯t called the Domain of the Falling Stars. It had a different name.

    ¡°Furthermore, the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes who used to live in those realms were only small branches. The majority of their people lived somewhere else in this vast universe.

    ¡°Then, people from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and other powerful human Qi warriors came here, and after years of bloody warfare, they finally drove all the outsiders out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°They purged the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth using mysterious magics and techniques, and finally transformed the Domain of the Falling Stars into a paradise that suited humans.¡±

    Without holding anything back, Li Langfeng exined everything he knew to Nie Tian in great detail.

    Nie Tian listened attentively, and took his time to digest the newly-acquired information. Now, he finally had a fairly thorough understanding of the four major outsider races and the special Qi they cultivated.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get back to work!¡±

    While Li Langfeng lectured Nie Tian about the different features of different Qi, he didn¡¯t halt his refinement of the toxic Qi he had absorbed. Now that he was finished, he rose to his feet, backed up to put a sizeable distance between Nie Tian and himself, and beckoned for Nie Tian to form more spiritual energy balls.

    Nie Tian snapped out of his train of thought as he formed four more spiritual energy balls and cast them towards locations close to Li Langfeng.

    As he condensed those spiritual energy balls, he kept attempting to suppress the violent sh between the various types of frenzied energy within them.

    However, the result turned out to be next to nothing. The four spiritual energy balls still exploded soon after leaving his hand.

    Over the following few days, Li Langfeng continued to practice cultivation with Nie Tian¡¯s help, and at the same time, told Nie Tian about the unique features of the different Qi that formed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void, along with stories about the outsider races.

    In the meantime, there wasn¡¯t any noticeable progress in Nie Tian¡¯s mastery of his spiritual energy balls, as he still couldn¡¯t stop them from exploding within a very limited amount of time.

    However, as he formed those spiritual energy balls one by one, he paid close attention to the phantasm Qi, demon Qi, death Qi, and toxic Qi within them, and he gradually developed the ability to tell those four types of Qi apart from each other.

    The cyan light within the spiritual energy balls was phantasm Qi; the purple light was demon Qi, the gray light was death Qi, and the green light was toxic Qi.

    The four types of Qi were all extremely unstable, and they were the major types of Qi that constituted the spiritual energy balls.

    Other than them, there were also a variety of energies of unknown origins, but they only took up a very small proportion of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void.

    Each of the four types of Qi was very active and restless. Once they were concentrated and confined to a small spiritual energy ball, they would constantly sh with one another, and cause strong turbulence.

    Compared to these types of Qi that suited outsiders¡¯ cultivation, spiritual Qi, which suited human Qi warriors¡¯ cultivation, seemed especially calm and quiet.

    However, the proportion it took up in a spiritual energy ball was far less than the four types of foreign Qi, and thus it couldn¡¯t bring peace to the spiritual energy ball.

    On this day, a bright idea suddenly urred to Nie Tian. ¡°If I increase the percentage of spiritual Qi in my spiritual energy balls, will it make them easier for me to control?¡±

    Therefore, as he continued to condense more spiritual energy ballster, he intentionally channeled his own spiritual power out of his spiritual sea and into his spiritual energy balls in order to increase the percentage of spiritual Qi in his spiritual energy balls.

    To his surprise, when copious amount of peaceful spiritual Qi poured into his spiritual energy balls, although the four types of foreign Qi still shed with one another and the spiritual energy balls were still turbulent, he could use his psychic awareness to manipte the spiritual energy he had put in there and try to separate the four types of foreign Qi, resulting in conspicuous changes.

    His spiritual energy spread out into thinyers. Like wards, they separated the four types of violent Qi, which greatly weakened the conflict between them.

    Furthermore, the more spiritual energy Nie Tian infused into his spiritual energy balls, the stabler they became.

    As a result, his spiritual energy balls became much stabler than before, and the time before they exploded became longer and more controble.

    Although, by doing this, he might have to consume his own power, he would be able to control the spiritual energy balls more urately, and in battle, he would be able to use them to attack enemies over a long distance without worrying that they would explode midway and cut their might in half.

 Chapter 331: Shi Huis Demand

    Another spiritual energy ball formed between Nie Tian¡¯s palms.

    Inside its misty, gray exterior, concentrated energies of different colors made the spiritual energy ball increasingly turbulent. Then, Nie Tian channeled spiritual power from his dantian region and infused it into the spiritual energy ball.

    When his spiritual power in the spiritual energy ball reached a certain percentage, he skillfully manipted it to separate the cyan phantasm Qi, purple demon Qi, pale-gray death Qi, and green toxic Qi, using his psychic awareness.

    Just like that, the sh amongst the four major types of energy was effectively suppressed.

    The spiritual energy ball was no longer turbulent, and the feeling that it could go off at any moment disappeared.

    ¡°Senior Li!¡± Nie Tian called out to Li Langfeng, beckoning for him toe over to him.

    Face ghastly and eyes seeming to be coated with a green paint, Li Langfeng shot towards him lightly like a ghost.

    While Li Langfeng absorbed toxic Qi that was suited for Fiends, he needed to refine the energy and allow its essence into his spiritual sea. Meanwhile, toxic deposits were left inside of him, where they would continue to corrode his fleshy body day and night.

    This process was by no means pleasant. From his increasingly frequent coughs, Nie Tian could tell that as he sought a quick breakthrough into the Worldly realm, he had brought enormous trauma to his body at the same time.

    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± As soon as Li Langfeng arrived by Nie Tian¡¯s side, he took a nce at the spiritual energy ball in Nie Tian¡¯s hands, and a shocked look instantly appeared in his eyes.

    After spending several days cultivating with Nie Tian¡¯s help, he had long since noticed that Nie Tian didn¡¯t have total control over his spiritual energy balls.

    With no exception, every spiritual energy ball he had formed had exploded soon aftering to shape.

    At this moment, Li Langfeng noticed that Nie Tian had already been holding that spiritual energy ball for some time.

    If it were the same as before, the spiritual energy ball should have exploded already.

    ¡°This spiritual energy ball canst 15 minutes without exploding.¡± With a slight move of Nie Tian¡¯s fingers, the misty, gray spiritual energy ball slowly floated towards Li Langfeng like an air bubble. ¡°ording to my observations, the energy within unexploded spiritual energy balls is the most concentrated and pure. Be my guest and try to channel the toxic Qi into yourself.¡±

    The light of ecstasy burst forth from within Li Langfeng¡¯s emerald-like eyes.

    He nodded as a strong attracting force was born within his palm. When the spiritual energy ball was firmly attached to his palm, his eyes narrowed as he began to absorb the green toxic Qi from within it with rapt attention.

    Nie Tian observed carefully, and noticed that numerous wisps of green toxic Qi were flowing from the spiritual energy ball into Li Langfeng¡¯s palm, like green creeks.

    Momentster, that hand of Li Langfeng¡¯s turned dark-green, while a faint green mist slowly rose from within his pores.

    As the green toxic Qi was extracted bit by bit, the spiritual energy ball grew increasingly stable.

    Originally, ording to Nie Tian¡¯s assessment, the spiritual energy ball would remain stable for 15 minutes.

    However, as the green toxic Qi was rapidly channeled away, part of Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy were freed, and thus more power was redistributed to the separation of demon Qi, death Qi, and phantasm Qi.

    In that way, the level of stability in the spiritual energy ball improved by a great deal.

    It only took Li Langfeng 5 minutes to absorb everyst bit of concentrated toxic Qi from within the spiritual energy ball.

    Li Langfeng retracted his hand, and with a flick of his fingers, the processed spiritual energy ball flew away.

    At that moment, Nie Tian stopped using his psychic awareness to separate the different types of energy within that spiritual energy ball.

    BOOM!

    The spiritual energy ball exploded instantly. Due to the depletion of the toxic Qi, the explosive impact was slightly weaker than before.

    Li Langfeng took a deep breath and started cultivating. However, in the next moment, the light of excitement shot out of his eyes, which had turned dark-green.

    After a thorough examination, he discovered that the toxic Qi he had just absorbed from Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy ball was extremely pure and rich. He could channel most of it directly into his spiritual sea without any further refinement of his own.

    Only a puny amount of harmful deposits were created after the process.

    If he could continue to absorb toxic Qi from Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, not only would the speed at which he umted strength increase by a great margin, but his physical body would also be under much less pressure.

    ¡°Well...¡± Excitement could be seen on his face as he rubbed his hands together while looking at Nie Tian. It seemed that he wished to speak, but stopped on second thought.

    He, who was only one step away from entering the Worldly realm, had shrewd observation skills. He could tell that this spiritual energy ball wasced with Nie Tian¡¯s own spiritual power.

    It was none other than Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual power that had interrupted the sh and turbulence within the spiritual energy ball and stopped it from exploding within a short time.

    He realized that the green toxic energy within the intact spiritual energy ball was highly concentrated and extremely pure. Not only could it greatly boost his cultivation efficiency, but it could also relieve the burden on his fleshy body.

    He intended to ask Nie Tian to continue.

    However, he knew that, by doing this, Nie Tian needed to consume his own strength, which could jeopardize his cultivation.

    ¡°Our interests coincide. The sooner you breakthrough into the Worldly realm, the sooner you can help me strip that fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.¡± After a brief pondering, Nie Tian added, ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to help you before you enter the Worldly realm. However, once you¡¯ve made the breakthrough, I won¡¯t be able to help you like this, since it will affect my own cultivation.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I understand.¡± Li Langfeng nodded repeatedly as he promised, ¡°Kid, if you can help me break through into the Worldly realm, consider me in your debt, my deal with the Spirit Condor aside. I¡¯ll help you snatch that fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang all the same.¡±

    ¡°Thank you in advance then.¡± Nie Tian cut the pleasantries and epted Li Langfeng¡¯s offer of good will.

    Over the following days, every time Nie Tian formed a spiritual energy ball, he infused it with his own spiritual power, above all else, so that the spiritual energy ball wouldn¡¯t explode.

    In the meantime, Li Langfeng absorbed copious amounts of green toxic Qi, which had originated from the Fiends¡¯ realms, from Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual energy balls, and used it to increase his strength at a stunning speed.

    On the eighth day, Li Langfeng took the initiative and called for a stop.

    Under the pitch-ck, starless night sky, his eyes looked like two clusters of burning ghost fire, which was very spooky.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time! You stay here with Xue Long. I¡¯ll find another ce to finish my breakthrough. I¡¯lle back for you when I¡¯ve entered the Worldly realm.¡±

    With these words, he shouted out towards Xue Long from afar before shing into the distance, leaving a dark-green afterimage behind him.

    It was natural that he acted with caution when he was about to make his breakthrough.

    No matter whether it was Nie Tian or Xue Long, he didn¡¯t have deep friendships with either of them. It was mutual benefit that had brought the three of them together. He knew that he would be very vulnerable when he tried to make the breakthrough. Therefore, he intentionally distanced himself from them, fearing that they might take advantage of the situation.

    After he was gone, Nie Tian remained silent as he took out spirit stones and used them to recover the spiritual power he had consumed.

    Xue Long seemed to know that Li Langfeng didn¡¯t trust him, and understood that Li Langfeng would find another ce to make his breakthrough.

    Hence, he didn¡¯t seem surprised at all about Li Langfeng¡¯s leaving.

    The only thing that had surprised him was that Li Langfeng had left before the expected time.

    ording to Li Langfeng, it should have taken ten days for him to umte enough strength and reach the point where he would be ready for the breakthrough.

    However, it had only been eight days, and Li Langfeng had left in a hurry, which meant that he had already umted his strength to the point where he was ready for his next breakthrough.

    ¡°Did Hua Tian really provide such great help to Li Langfeng¡¯s cultivation?¡± Xue Long was secretly amazed.

    After midnight...

    Knowing that Li Langfeng was on the threshold of entering the Worldly realm, Xue Long somehow felt a sense of pressure.

    While he was cultivating wholeheartedly with his eyes closed, his eyes suddenly snapped wide open.

    With a grim expression, he gazed into the distance as he eximed in a soft voice, ¡°Hua Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian instantly awoke from his cultivation and asked with a confused expression, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t released his seven Heaven Eyes to keep a close watch on everything in their vicinity during this entire time he had been with Li Langfeng and Xue Long.

    The reason was that he assumed Li Langfeng and Xue Long were powerful enough. The way he saw it, even if they encountered unforeseen events, Li Langfeng and Xue Long would be able to handle them well.

    ¡°Someone¡¯sing!¡± Xue Long eximed in a soft voice.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    He discovered grimness on Xue Long face, which make him realize that whoever wasing towards them must be so powerful that they even made Xue Long feel pressure.

    He hastily shed over to Xue Long¡¯s side. Meanwhile, he subconsciously unleashed his Heaven Eyes, hoping to use them to learn about the situation around them.

    However, by the time he had only formed and unleashed his first Heaven Eye, Shi Hui and four others appeared in front of them.

    ¡°Shi Hui!¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    Shi Hui cracked a broad smile as he said, ¡°Long time no see, Brother Xue! Haven¡¯t you been chasing after Li Langfeng from the Dark Moontely? Why are you here with Hua Tian?¡±

    Standing by Shi Hui¡¯s side, the other four men, who also used to be guest elders of the Blood Skull, stared at Nie Tian with evil smiles on their faces.

    The four of them were all at the middle Greater Heaven stage, which was only slightly inferior to Shi Hui¡¯s and Xue Long¡¯s cultivation bases.

    A fierce sword intent suddenly shot straight into the sky from the top of Xue Long¡¯s head.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eye¡¯s perception, it was as if an iparably sharp sword had flown out of the top of Xue Long¡¯s head and pierced into the heavens.

    ¡°Shi Hui, are you here for me, or are you just passing by?¡± Xue Long asked with a frown.

    ¡°Neither.¡± With a sarcastic chuckle, Shi Hui¡¯s gazended on Nie Tian. Then, he said, ¡°I heard that you and Nie Tian were in this area by chance. I¡¯ve actuallye for him.¡±

    ¡°As you probably know, I was kicked out of the Blood Skull. If it weren¡¯t for this brat, my rtionship with the Blood Skull wouldn¡¯t have soured so quickly. As a former guest elder of the Blood Skull, I have friends in the Blood Skull. I¡¯m a man who cares about his face. Now that my title as the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder was taken away from me because of him, I can¡¯t just sit back and do nothing, can I?¡±

    Xue Long let out a snort and said, ¡°Considering how you behaved in the Blood Skull, even if Hua Tian didn¡¯t do anything, Cai Lan wouldn¡¯t have tolerated you for much longer!¡±

    ¡°Brother Xue, it¡¯s not right on your part to make suchments.¡± Shi Hui¡¯s face grew cold as he said, ¡°You and I were both guest elders of the Blood Skull. The well water did not interfere with the river water. (see note 1) And we never had any feuds with each other. However, I did hear people say that you didn¡¯t approve of the way I did things.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Xue Long didn¡¯t mask his feelings towards Shi Hui at all.

    Shi Hui rubbed his chin before his eyes flickered and he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter. We¡¯ll be on different sides from now on. The day wille when we meet again. But this time...¡±

    He pointed his finger at Nie Tian and said in a loud voice, ¡°I¡¯vee for him! As soon as you give this brat to me, I¡¯ll take him and leave, not staying a moment longer. We will pretend we never met. We can settle things the next time we meet if you wish. What do you say?¡±

    Note:

    ¡°The well water doesn¡¯t interfere with the river water¡± is a Chinese saying that means: everybody mind their own business.

 Chapter 332: Escape

    ¡°No!¡± Xue Long rejected Shi Hui¡¯s offer neatly with one word.

    Shi Hui¡¯s face grew grim as he said, ¡°Brother Xue, I bet you understand perfectly well that our strengths are equally matched. If things get ugly, you won¡¯t be able to protect him anyway, so why would you do such a thing? What¡¯s in it for you if you go to battle against me just to protect this swanking little punk?¡±

    He turned to nod towards the four men standing beside him. After receiving Shi Hui¡¯s signal, the four of them, who used to be guest elders of the Blood Skull, began moving towards Nie Tian stealthily.

    ¡°Someone asked me to take care of Hua Tian for a few days.¡± With these words, Xue Long rose to his feet, and a sword wreathed in a frosty aura suddenly appeared in his hand.

    Holding the sword, he looked deeply at Shi Hui as he said, ¡°Hua Tian is under my protection. If any of you dares to touch him, I won¡¯t let you off easily!¡±

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve refused to give me face, don¡¯t me me for my manners!¡± Shi Hui eximed.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous clusters of mes shot out of Shi Hui¡¯s palms and the cuffs of his sleeves.

    At the same time, Shi Hui took out a whip made of snake bones.

    The moment the Snake Bone Whip appeared, zing mes shot out from within it, turning it into a giant, burning python.

    Shi Hui seemed to be holding the tail of the giant, burning python. With a gentle swing of the Snake Bone Whip, Shi Hui immediately unleashed raging mes into his surroundings, turning the area around him into a sea of fire.

    ¡°Leave Xue Long to me. You four go capture Hua Tian alive!¡± The moment the Snake Bone Whip appeared, Shi Hui seemed to have dropped all scruples, as if he knew that it hade to the point where the veneer of mutual respect between them was already gone.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, Hua Tian!¡± Xue Long called out, his face as grim aske water. ¡°Leave whenever you find an opportunity!¡±

    He knew that Nie Tian had mastered many secret magics, and he was skilled in certain escape magics. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape from the numerous Hunters¡¯ blockade and pursuit repeatedly.

    Shi Hui threw his head back andughed broadly. ¡°Hahaha! Who are you kidding, Xue Long? If an insignificant Heaven stage Qi warrior can manage to escape from the four of them, I¡¯ll write my name backwards!¡± (see note 1)

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    As he spoke, the Snake Bone Whip shivered violently before swooping directly towards Xue Long.

    The torrential mes that had been hovering around Shi Hui followed the movement of the Snake Bone Whip as they rapidly engulfed Xue Long.

    Simultaneously, the four middle Greater Heaven stage cultivators charged towards Nie Tian with evil smiles on their faces.

    SHEW!

    An iparably sharp sword made of spiritual power shot straight up into the sky from within the sea of raging mes where Xue Long was standing.

    It split into numerous smaller swords, and like sputtering, shattered pieces of swords, they pierced towards the four men in an attempt to intercept their attacks towards Nie Tian.

    Shi Hui let out a coldugh and said, ¡°Your opponent is me!¡±

    All of a sudden, numerous sparkling magical symbols appeared within the torrential mes.

    They were like transparent, crimson crystals, within which were branded the profound truths of fire.

    Each of them seemed to have their own awareness as they targeted the fragmented spiritual power swords Xue Long had unleashed with great uracy.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The moment the magical symbols shed with the light swords, they both exploded, sending dazzling, bright light into their surroundings.

    Shi Hui and Xue Long snorted almost simultaneously as they engaged in fierce battle with each other.

    Nie Tian turned his head to take a look at them, and discovered that light swords and zing mes were shing across in the area where they fought. A giant, burning python was slithering in midair as it continued to nibble away at the light swords unleashed by Xue Long.

    It seemed that Xue Long and Shi Hui were indeed equally matched in strength. It would probably take a long time for a winner to surface.

    The fact that they were equally strong was none other than the reason why, even though they disliked each other, they had exercised restraint when Shi Hui was still a guest elder of the Blood Skull.

    They hadn¡¯t done any business or started a feud with each other back when they were both in the Blood Skull.

    It was only until now that the two of them confronted each other for the first time, since Shi Hui had left the Blood Skull and Xue Long insisted on protecting Nie Tian.

    ¡°Hey brat, you¡¯d better not fight back and immediately submit to us so that we don¡¯t kill you by ident.¡± One of the four men, whose name was Qiu Yang, tilted his head as he approached Nie Tian. Without any warning, he suddenly reached out to grab Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    Numerous pitch-ck strings that were as fine as hairs suddenly shot out from within his palm and flew lightly towards Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    The other three were standing to Nie Tian¡¯s sides and back respectively, where they cooperated with Qiu Yang and formed a joint-attack formation.

    Seeing that Qiu Yang had make a move, they didn¡¯t rush into action. Instead, they observed with cold looks in their eyes, as if they wanted to see how powerful this young man, who had the lowest cultivation base among all of the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders, really was.

    ¡°Come and kill me then, if you think you can.¡± Already wreathed in his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian¡¯s expression was as calm as ever, as if he hadn¡¯t realized what he was facing.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The pitch-ck strings Qiu Yang had unleashed, which were as fine as hairs, finally entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    The moment they flew straight into the chaotic maic field, they were distorted and began to tremble as they moved forward.

    ¡°What?!" Qiu Yang eximed as he sensed the anomaly. That was when he nned to put in more psychic power, so that he could continue to manipte those strings urately.

    WHOOSH!

    At that very moment, Nie Tian formed a spiritual energy ball and strode a few steps forward.

    With a swing of his hand, the spiritual energy ball left his hand and crashed towards Qiu Yang, like a misty gray ball of air.

    Shaking his head disdainfully, Qiu Yang swiftly floated away into midair, as if he had be an inted balloon.

    BOOM!

    The spiritual energy ball exploded. However, Qiu Yang was suddenly nowhere to be seen. In the next moment, he appeared in a location very close to Nie Tian¡¯s left.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian cast a short-range Starshift without any hesitation, and appeared behind Qiu Yang, where he formed a Rage Punch with thirty percent of his strength. Along with a heaven-overthrowing rage, his clenched fist bombarded towards Qiu Yang¡¯s back.

    As soon as Nie Tian appeared behind him, Qiu Yang was enveloped by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field. His face couldn¡¯t help but twitch.

    The different types of spiritual power within him sudden fell into a state of chaos. He even experience a stabbing pain in his mind. This made him realize he was in a terrible situation.

    Then, thanks to his keen perception, he sensed a surge of raging power approaching his back.

    He turned around violently and met Nie Tian¡¯s iing Rage Punch with his left palm.

    Meanwhile, many more pitch-ck, hair-like strings flew out of the center of his left palm and wrapped themselves around Nie Tian¡¯s fist.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist bombarded Qiu Yang¡¯s palm heavily.

    Upon contact, Nie Tian had a strange feeling as if he had hit a ball of cotton, and that all of his power had somehow been discharged.

    Qiu Yang, on the other hand, staggered two steps backwards and left Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field. Most of the ck strings, which had flown out of his palm and wrapped around Nie Tian¡¯s fist, had broken off.

    However, the broken strings didn¡¯t disappear. Instead, they pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s fist and arm like steel needles, leaving numerous fine wounds.

    Meanwhile, the ck strings that remained intact on Nie Tian¡¯s fist rapidly tightened, as if they were struggling to cut into Nie Tian¡¯s skin and flesh.

    After escaping from Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, Qiu Qing shook his left hand in pain as he grimaced.

    He waved at the other three men and said, ¡°This kid indeed possesses some bizarre skills. Be careful, all of you. He¡¯s surrounding himself with a strange maic field, which can disrupt our internal powers and keep us from disying our battle prowess fully. Also, try not to fight him up close. His physical strength is also quite impressive!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Big Brother Qiu seems to have suffered a loss from this little kid.¡±

    ¡°This is fun.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, Big Brother Qiu. No matter how many strange skills this kid has, he won¡¯t be able to get away from us.¡±

    The other three spoke with easy tones. They even teased Qiu Yang for making a big fuss out of this unimpressive young man.

    Afterunching the strike, Nie Tian stood within his chaotic maic field and looked down at his fist with a deep frown.

    The numerous pitch-ck, hair-like strings were still wiggling as they attempted to get inside of him. Some strings that had seeded were following his meridians up into his arm.

    He noticed that his arm was growing thicker by the second, as if it was being inted.

    Soreness came from the parts that had been invaded by the pitch-ck strings. As his arm gradually expanded, it urred to him that if he didn¡¯t do anything, his arm would probably expand to the point where it would explode.

    Furthermore, if he let those pitch-ck strings swim into his internal organs, his whole body would expand until he eventually exploded.

    His expression flickered as he finally realized that even though he had entered the middle Heaven stage, he probably wouldn¡¯t have a chance at killing Qiu Yang, unless he used the me Dragon Armor.

    Not to mention that, other than Qiu Yang, three other middle Greater Heaven stage cultivators were ring at him like tigers eyeing their prey.

    The only reason he hadn¡¯t left at the first possible moment was that he wanted to sh with Qiu Yang and test his own battle prowess.

    The result of failing to inflict serious damage to Qiu Yang make him realize that the sizable gap between cultivation bases wasn¡¯t that easy to make up for.

    With these thoughts in mind, he turned to check Xue Long¡¯s situation, and discovered that the battle between him and Shi Hui couldn¡¯t possibly end any time soon. That was when he made his decision.

    ¡°See youter, Uncle Xue.¡± With these words, he cast a long-range Starshift, not waiting for Xue Long to give his response.

    In a split second, Nie Tian disappeared from the blockade formed by Qiu Yang and the other three.

    Note:

    Chinese people take their names seriously. They think their names represent their face and reputation. It¡¯s a major insult to the write someone¡¯s name backwards. So by saying ¡°If something happens, I¡¯ll write my name backwards!¡±, people want to express that they are very certain that thing won¡¯t happen.

 Chapter 333: Youre A Dead Man Already!

    ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    Qiu Yang was still shaking his left hand as he tried to neutralize the aftermath of Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the location where Nie Tian had been a moment ago.

    ¡°Escape magic!¡± One of the middle Greater Heaven stage experts eximed with a grim expression. ¡°This Hua Tian kid is indeed beyond ordinary. He must have relied on this escape magic to escape from the Hunters¡¯ blockade repeatedly. Only a profound escape magic can allow its caster to advance his potential and escape to a distant location at the price of suffering serious physical injuries.¡±

    Qiu Yang gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Even still, he¡¯s only at the middle Heaven stage. Using that escape magic would mean immediate and serious damage to his body! Escape magics are not wless. I believe that he is in a terrible condition at this moment. Let¡¯s spread out, and each of us go in a separate direction. If we do this, we¡¯ll definitely find him in no time!

    ¡°As long as we can find him, considering his current condition, I believe his battle prowess won¡¯t even allow him to fight back!

    ¡°Furthermore, since he¡¯s only at the middle Heaven stage, I doubt he¡¯ll be able to cast that bizarre escape magic again. We find him, and then he¡¯ll be a dead man!¡±

    The three middle Greater Heaven stage experts also had a certain knowledge of escape magics, and they shared the same view with Qiu Yang. Therefore, they rapidly spread out and sped off in four different directions ording to Qiu Yang¡¯s proposal.

    ...

    In a corner of the desert, Nie Tian appeared and copsed by a sand dune.

    Not only did it require a substantial amount of star power to cast a long-range Starshift, but it also caused a serious bacsh to his physical body.

    Every time he had used a long-range Starshift to escape from his enemies, he had sustained heavy injuries.

    However,pared to the few times he had cast a long-range Starshift before, the bacsh he had suffered this time seemed to be much milder and lighter.

    After a brief pondering, he realized that since he had recently spent plenty of time refining his body under the joint action of his flesh power and wood power, his physical body had be increasingly tough and resilient.

    This was why the trauma on his body wasn¡¯t so terrible after he cast the long-range Starshift this time.

    He slowly sat up straight as he began to summon his wood power from his spiritual sea and use it to heal his fleshy injuries.

    By doing this, he was also waiting for his seven Heaven Eyes to fly to his side.

    ¡°Xue Long...¡± Eyes narrowed, he thought to himself, as he seemed to be a bit worried about him.

    However, he understood that if he hadn¡¯t escaped, Xue Long would have wanted to protect him, and thus been distracted and trapped deeper in that ce.

    Only when he left would Xue Long stop worrying about him and get to make the best decision between fighting and leaving.

    By escaping using a long-range Starshift, Nie Tian actually gave Xue Long an opportunity to make choices. Considering Xue Long¡¯s battle prowess, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight Shi Hui and those four experts single-handedly. However, if he was bent on escaping from them, Nie Tian believed that Shi Hui and the others wouldn¡¯t have any effective way to stop him.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Nie Tian cursed. ¡°Talk about bad luck!¡±

    Shi Hui and his men hade along so soon after Li Langfeng had left.

    If Li Langfeng had been there, he would have single-handedly put Shi Hui in a lot of trouble.

    Xue Long, who was also at thete Greater Heaven stage probably wouldn¡¯t be under as much pressure if he were to handle the other four, including Qiu Yang.

    Nie Tian himself would have been able tounch sneak attacks when opportunities presented themselves, and given Shui Hui and his men a lesson that they would have remembered for the rest of their lives.

    As he pondered the matter, he took out pieces of spirit beast meat and started eating, hoping to heal his trauma as soon as possible with the help of the spirit beast meat and his wood power.

    At that moment, he was struck by a feeling that the green aura that had been lying dormant within his heart suddenly began to emanate glorious light.

    He was shocked into a daze before soon snapping back to reality and examining himself carefully.

    He saw with great rity that countless detailed lines and patterns had appeared within the numerous crystal-like bloodline chains inside the green aura.

    By magnifying the finger-sized green aura, Nie Tian could see arge amount of sparkling bloodline chains that were as fine as hairs within it, which were slithering around like puny spirit snakes made of green crystals.

    At that moment, new bloodline chains kept appearing within the green aura, as it seemed to be growing.

    The newborn bloodline chains contained countless rays of bright light, as if they carried the profound truths of life.

    All of a sudden, a vague message was born within those newborn bloodline chains, and almost simultaneously, the message was branded in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Stealth!¡± After being branded onto Nie Tian¡¯s soul, the originally vague message suddenly became clear in an inexplicable way.

    He didn¡¯t even need to learn it with focused attention and he was able toprehend the profound truths of Life Stealth. Not only did he master its casting method, but he also understood when and how to use it.

    Subconsciously, he cast his newly awakened bloodline talent, Life Stealth, ording to its method.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Misty, bright green spots flew out of the green aura in his heart and almost instantly filled every single one of his internal organs.

    In the next moment, the vigorous life energy was silenced, and all signs of life on him disappearedpletely.

    Even though he was still a living person, sitting by the sand dune, he didn¡¯t release the slightest aura of a living being.

    He examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that at this moment, his aura was no different from that of a rock, a handful of dirt, or a pile of sand, which could be seen everywhere.

    Not a single fluctuation of flesh and blood, or even a single movement of spiritual energy, could be found on him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Life Stealth! All my life force has been cloaked, as if I¡¯ve be a rock or some sand!¡±

    After briefly going through the newly-obtained bloodline talent in his mind, he managed to master its quintessence, and understood how to make the best use of it.

    Qi warriors with cultivation bases lower than the Worldly realm hadn¡¯t transcended their psychic power into soul power. Therefore, the only way they could detect movement in their surroundings was through tracing signs of life.

    If he cast Life Stealth and then found a ce to hide himself, even if those Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors were standing right next to him, they wouldn¡¯t be able to sense a thing.

    Like right now, even if Qiu Yang and the other Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors were all scanning this region using their psychic awareness while standing within meters of Nie Tian, they wouldn¡¯t be able to sense any sign of him.

    Therefore, firstly, Life Stealth could be used to hide himself from pursuers, and thus escape from the pursuit of powerful experts when he was seriously injured.

    Secondly, it was also a perfect sneak attack magic!

    When he cast Life Stealth and snuck up on his enemy, the other party wouldn¡¯t notice a thing.

    ¡°A fantastic sneak attack magic...¡± As a series of thoughts rapidly shed across his mind, an interesting idea suddenly entered his mind.

    Upon the thought of it, he decided to carry it out. Therefore, he sprung to his feet, canceled Life Stealth, and dashed off in the direction he hade from.

    He made some arrangements along the way.

    Momentster, he returned and dug out a hole in the sandy ground right next to the sand dune.

    Afterward, he ripped off a piece of his garment that had a bloodstain on it and left it right beside the hole in the sandy ground. Then, he jumped into the hole and buried himself in it.

    He had also written a line of very small words on the piece of bloodstained cloth.

    Then, hey there and waited patiently.

    About fifteen minutester...

    Under the night sky, Shang Zhi, one of the four former guest elders of the Blood Skull, was running at a high speed in the vast desert.

    His nose red as he caught a whiff of fresh blood.

    Without any dy, he sped off in the direction of the bloody smell. Before long, he saw a few drops of fresh blood on the ice-cold sandy ground.

    He stopped and looked down at the blood, which hadn¡¯t dried up yet, before saying with a smirk, ¡°It seems that I¡¯m pretty lucky for havinge in the right direction.¡±

    With these words, he dashed off again.

    After that, he discovered blood drops in two other spots along his way.

    Shang Zhi was increasingly convinced that the direction he was going was the direction Nie Tian had escaped in.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Shang Zhi came to the sand dune. As soon as he did, he caught sight of the piece of bloodstained cloth lying beside the sand dune, and he also noticed that there seemed to be a line of words on the cloth, which seemed to be from someone¡¯s garment.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A curious expression appeared on Shang Zhi¡¯s face. Since it was the middle of the night and he was standing quite a distance away, he couldn¡¯t obtain a clear view of the words.

    Therefore, he stepped forward and crouched down to grab the piece of bloodstained cloth.

    During this whole time, Shang Zhi had unleashed his psychic awareness to cover arge area around him, and he had used his secret magics to search for signs of Nie Tian¡¯s life aura.

    However, he hadn¡¯t discovered a single fluctuation of life aura, nor had he sensed any condensing or releasing of spiritual power.

    He reached out with one hand and grabbed the bloodstained cloth from Nie Tian¡¯s garment. Only after he held it close did he see what was written on it: You¡¯re a dead man already.

    Shang Zhi was dumbstruck.

    Just as he was thinking why anyone would leave such a line of words on the bloodstained cloth, fluctuations of a violent and fierce life aura suddenly rushed out from underneath the sandy ground where he was crouching.

    The moment he sensed the explosive life aura, he realized that he was in a very dangerous situation.

    However, since the two of them were too close to each other, and he was caught off guard, he couldn¡¯t possibly defend himself in an effective way.

    In the next moment, he experienced an unbearable pain in his waist.

    He looked down and saw that a burning broadsword had already pierced into his abdomen.

    At the same time, sand shot up into the air as Nie Tian shot up from under the ground and bombarded his chest with his fist.

    BANG!

    Shang Zhi was sent flying into the air. Meanwhile, fiercely burning me power rushed out from within the broadsword and ravaged his internal organs.

    By the time he went past the highest point and began to fall, he had a feeling that he was plummeting to the ice-cold abyss of death.

    That was when he finally understood the meaning of that line of words.

    --- You¡¯re a dead man already.

 Chapter 334: Repeated Success!

    ¡°Life Stealth! It¡¯s such an awesome magic!¡± Nie Tian grinned as he climbed out of the hole he had dug in the sand and walked to Shang Zhi¡¯s corpse.

    He had looted that iparably sharp broadsword from one of thete Heaven stage Hunters he had killed before. He had kept it because it was fire- attributed and he was able to infuse it with his own me power.

    At that moment, the broadsword was still stuck in Shang Zhi¡¯s chest.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Even though Shang Zhi had already stopped breathing, mes were still burning on his chest and abdomen.

    Nie Tian stepped forward and pulled the broadsword out. Then, he looted Shang Zhi¡¯s ring of holding with an increasingly pleasant smile on his face.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that he could have snuck up on and killed a Greater Heaven stage expert so easily by using his newly-awakened bloodline talent, Life Stealth.

    If it weren¡¯t for Life Stealth, and if he had attacked him with regr means, he never would have been able to kill him.

    Considering his current cultivation base and battle prowess, if he had contended against Shang Zhi face-to-face, not only would he have not been able to kill Shang Zhi, but on the contrary, it would have been very likely that he would have been killed by Shang Zhi.

    Anyhow, Nie Tian¡¯s unpredictable sneak attack had achieved a very ideal result. He drove a sword through Shang Zhi¡¯s heart when he waspletely unprepared and killed him with a single strike.

    ¡°On the one hand, Life Stealth can allow me to seal up my life aurapletely, along with even the most subtle fluctuations of my spiritual power, and thus allow me to escape from powerful enemies¡¯ pursuit. As long as it¡¯s not Qi warriors who have entered the three Realms and transcended their psychic power into soul power, their perception will be clouded and they won¡¯t be able to sense anything.

    ¡°On the other hand, it can be used as a perfect sneak attack magic!

    ¡°It¡¯s such an awesome magic with multiple uses!¡±

    Face full of smiles, Nie Tian continued to search Shang Zhi¡¯s body for valuables. Soon, he found a Sound Stone in his waist pouch.

    He held it in his palm and listened using his psychic power. Every now and then, he could hear Qiu Yang and the other two exchanging information.

    Since they wanted to keep searching for him in separate locations in order to cover arger area, they constantlymunicated their locations with each other.

    Nie Tian snorted disdainfully, a fierce look filling his eyes. ¡°Three to go!¡±

    After getting ahold of his bearings, he cast a number of short-range Starshifts as he shed off into the distance.

    Qiu Yang and the other two didn¡¯t travel in straight lines as they searched for Nie Tian.

    Considering they didn¡¯t know exactly which direction Nie Tian had escaped in, they moved in serpentine patterns or even traveled in circles in the directions they chose. They scanned their surroundings for signs of life as they moved bit by bit.

    By doing this, they had significantlypromised their searching speed.

    Via the Sound Stone, Nie Tian located the one who was the closest to him. In order to rush to that man¡¯s location as quickly as possible, he cast a few more short-range Starshifts.

    Four hours passed...

    Nie Tian came close to the area where the man was searching with the help of his Heaven Eyes and the Sound Stone.

    After locking down the man¡¯s exact location, he make simr arrangements as he had done hours ago.

    ...

    Night lifted, and the sun hung high in the sky.

    It was midday on the following day, and Nie Tian had sessfully snuck up on and killed two of the remaining three pursuers using the same method he had used to kill Shang Zhi.

    The sun was burning fiercely as Nie Tian buried himself in a pile of sand.

    Simrly, a piece of bloodstained, tattered garment could be seen on the pile of sand, and a line of tiny words was written on the piece of cloth.

    Via his Heaven Eye, Nie Tian kept a close watch on everything happening in the vicinity. He wasn¡¯t in a hurry to stimte his bloodline talent and cast Life Stealth, but rather waited silently for Qiu Yang to approach.

    An hour passed...

    One of his Heaven Eyes captured signs of Qiu Yang, and learned that he was graduallying toward him by following the bloodstains he had left on the sandy ground.

    Only then did he stimte his newly-acquired bloodline talent and hide his life aura and spiritual power fluctuationspletely.

    Hey under the sand, not releasing the slightest sign of life, as if he had be a part of it.

    Since Qiu Yang was also at the middle Greater Heaven stage, just like the other three, he hadn¡¯t acquired soul power and developed the ability to capture the subtle fluctuations of people¡¯s souls, and thus he came straight towards Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    ¡°Strange. Howe those three aren¡¯t responding? Can it be that they have gone so far that their Sound Stones are out of my reach?¡± Qiu Yang whispered to himself while his iparably sharp eyes suddenly caught sight of the bloodstained cloth.

    Over the past few hours, he had failed tomunicate with Shang Zhi and the other two via his Sound Stone.

    He wasn¡¯t aware that his friends had already been ambushed and ughtered by Nie Tian, and at that moment, the three of them were already on their way to the Yellow Springs.

    He only thought the three of them had left the range of his Sound Stone and gone searching in further locations.

    As he came along, he saw the blood drops on the sandy ground. Even though he was somewhat thrilled, he couldn¡¯t be sure that those blood drops were from Nie Tian.

    He knew thatrge amounts of Hunters that normally roamed areas close to Ash City had left this region and poured into the Void Illusion Mountain Range recently after hearing about the appearance of a Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    However, some Hunters might still be preying on passing-by explorers in this region.

    At first, he assumed the blood drops belonged to Hunters or Qi warriors from Ash City.

    Only when he caught sight of the piece of bloodstained cloth did he change his spection. At first nce, he felt that it looked familiar. Immediately afterwards, he realized that the cloth was from Nie Tian¡¯s garment.

    Excitement finally appeared on his face as he thought to himself, ¡°I¡¯ming for you!¡±

    As he stepped closer, he saw the line of tiny words on the piece of cloth. As Shang Zhi and the other two had done, he crouched down and reached out to grab the bloodstained cloth so that he could get a clearer view of the words.

    And just like Shang Zhi and the other two, he hadn¡¯t detected any signs of life from the beginning.

    As he held the bloodstained cloth close to read the line of tiny words, a broadsword suddenly pierced out from under the pile of sand, and zing mes rapidly wreathed the sword.

    The moment he finally read what was written on the piece of cloth, the burning broadsword prated into his stomach.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, Qiu Yang¡¯s body expanded like an inted balloon and became bulky.

    Then, the broadsword, which had already pierced about 13 centimeters into his abdomen, couldn¡¯t go any deeper.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian surfaced from the pile of sand, formed a Rage Punch with half of his strength, and bombarded Qiu Yang¡¯s chest vigorously.

    As a mouthful of blood shot out of Qiu Yang¡¯s mouth, he soared into the air like a balloon bouncing off the ground.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± He let out a enraged roar in midair while blood kepting out of his mouth.

    After climbing out of the pile of sand, Nie Tian looked up at him, and his expression flickered slightly.

    Just now, he had sensed how hard it was for him to drive that broadsword into Qiu Yang¡¯s abdomen. Every centimeter was extremely difficult.

    The incantation Qiu Yang practiced must be exceptional and profound, which resulted in Nie Tian¡¯s failure to ughter Qiu Yang with one sword strike the way he had ughtered the other three.

    Later, when he hadunched the Rage Punch into Qiu Yang¡¯s chest, he had felt as if he had hit a giant balloon, and all of his force had been abated.

    Only when he saw Qiu Yang fly into the air from the impact was he convinced that Qiu Yang had sustained heavy injuries.

    However, he realized that Qiu Yang had survived even though he had intentionally increased the might of his Rage Punch by summoning almost half of his total strength.

    Compared to the other three, although they were all at the middle Greater Heaven stage, Qiu Yang¡¯s defensive power against physical attacks was far better.

    Even though he had been caught off guard, the moment the broadsword had pierced into his abdomen, he was able to respond instantly and cast a secret magic to prevent the wide sword from going any further.

    ¡°Are you looking to die!?¡± he thundered.

    His garment was covered in blood and the burning broadsword didn¡¯t fall out of his abdomen, as if it had pierced into a rock.

    However, as he fell from midair, his hands weaved as he formed hand seals to send out thousands of fine, ck strings. In the next moment, the pitch-ck strings swooped towards Nie Tian like a shoal of bloodthirsty fish.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    In a sh, several pitch-ck strings pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders and abdomen.

    Nie Tian experienced pain and soreness throughout his body, so he hastily summoned wood power to repair his fleshy wounds.

    Even the green aura, which was branded with the profound truths of his bloodline power, seemed to have discovered his unfavorable condition, and thus rushed out of his heart to devour the strange pitch-ck strings.

    Nie Tian had dealt with this strange attack before when he had used the long-range Starshiftst time.

    He knew perfectly well that the strange energy within those ck strings carried the profound truths of wind. As it roamed about within his body, it would create air currents, and thus cause his flesh to expand at a high speed.

    Since Qiu Yang practiced the profound power of the wind, he was able to control the expansion of his own body and use it as a great defensive mechanism.

    As for Nie Tian, however, if he allowed his body to be filled with the strange air currents and expand out of control, he would eventually explode and die, the same way a balloon would explode after being overinted.

    Thanks to the green aura, which rushed out of his heart and ripped apart the pitch-ck strings, the expansion of his body was effectively contained.

    As a thought appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, bright starlight shone within his palm.

    Soon, five starsparks appeared before they rapidly aligned and formed a star formation. Like a miniature neb, they shot towards Qiu Yang. ¡°Go!¡±

    Staring at the mysterious formation of five starsparks, which were shining extremely brightly even in broad daylight, Qiu Yang went nk due to great shock. ¡°Star power! Star magic!¡±

    All of a sudden, he came to a realization. ¡°Hua Tian... Nie Tian... You¡¯re the Nie Tian who obtained the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

 Chapter 335: Back Thrust

    The news that the Heaven Pce Sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven and many other powerful sects from other realms hadunched a joint search for a young man from the Realm of me Heaven named Nie Tian had long since spread to every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Realm of Split Void was no exception.

    Qiu Yang had also learned that the young man named Nie Tian had only attracted the attention of so many powerful Qi warrior sects because he had obtained legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After witnessing Nie Tian cast Starstrike and attack him with a mysterious formation of five starsparks, Qiu Yang thought about the numerous unbelievable things that had happened to Nie Tian. Connecting the dots, he immediately guessed Nie Tian¡¯s real identity.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Hahaha! You¡¯re Nie Tian!¡± Qiu Yang was more thrilled than shocked.

    His eyes shone with the light of excitement as he said, ¡°Legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!! This is great!!¡±

    SHEW!

    Like a dazzling, bright mark, the formation of five starsparks shot directly towards his chest.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Qiu Yang waved his hands through the air to form exquisite hand seals. In the next moment, more fine, pitch-ck strings flew out of his open sleeve cuffs.

    The numerous pitch-ck strings acted as hemanded as they attempted to bind that star formation.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    However, as soon as they made contact with the star formation, each and every string exploded.

    Qiu Yang let out a muffled groan as his expression flickered. No longer daring to fight the star formation head-on, he moved about swiftly to avoid it.

    However, the star formation, which Nie Tian was able to control with great uracy, continued to pursue him and changed directions whenever he did.

    Watching Qiu Yang shift between locations like a ghost as he avoided the star formation, Nie Tian grew increasingly determined to kill him as his expression grew grim. ¡°I¡¯ve got to kill this man. I can¡¯t afford to let him live!¡±

    He had consumed half of his strength tounch that Rage Punch. Yet, he had failed to kill him with it.

    Thus, he had no choice but to bring out Starstrike of the Fragmentary Star Incantation to deal with Qiu Yang.

    Ever since he had cast that Starstrike, he was bent on killing the seriously injured Qiu Yang in this region.

    After all, he couldn¡¯t afford to expose his identity before he arrived in the forbidden region and stripped the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.

    He didn¡¯t want to scare the snake by beating the grass.

    Only when Qiu Yang was dead would Nie Tian¡¯s true identity remain a secret, and would Ning Yang not be rmed.

    Only in that way would they be able to carry out the n he had made with Li Langfeng and Xue Long. If he let Qiu Yang get out of here alive, Ning Yang might somehow learn about his whereabouts.

    If it really came down to that, it would be much more difficult to deal with Ning Yang.

    WHOOSH!

    A spiritual energy ball filled with the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth of the Realm of Split Void rapidly came to shape and shot towards Qiu Yang.

    Since Nie Tian had infused the spiritual energy ball with some of his own spiritual power, it becamepletely controble. In the blink of an eye, it flew to the location where Qiu Yang was standing.

    BOOM!

    The spiritual energy ball exploded, sending multicolored light in every direction. The gray light shield Qiu Yang protected himself with instantly shattered.

    At that very moment, the star formationposed of five starsparks seized the opportunity and rushed over.

    Engulfed by sputtering, multicolored light, Qiu Yang let out an agonized shriek as he was struck by the star formation, dazzlingly bright rays of starlight shooting out in every direction from the contact point.

    Immediately afterwards, another surge of devastating force burst forth from within the star formation and inflicted serious damage on Qiu Yang for a second time.

    PUFF!

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian also puked a mouthful of blood after exerting his power repeatedly.

    Some of the numerous pitch-ck strings Qiu Yang had used to attack him were still roaming inside of him.

    Even though the green aura was ripping apart and devouring many of the pitch-ck strings, some of them were still ravaging his flesh and releasing air currents that could cause him to expand.

    Since he had to spare some of his attention to condense the spiritual energy ball and cast the Fragmentary Star Incantation, he didn¡¯t focus all of his attention on stabilizing his injuries, which gave the pitch-ck strings an opportunity to create an outburst.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡± Bent on killing Qiu Yang to keep his secret, Nie Tian finally dropped all scruples and called upon his Spirit Channeling grade treasure using his psychic awareness.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor, which hady dormant within his bracelet of holding for a long time, whizzed out of Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding, leaving a trail of zing mes behind it.

    The me Dragon Armor seemed to be able to read his mind, and it seemed to understand that it didn¡¯t need to act in discretion any more. Therefore, it flew right out, unleashing raging mes.

    Nie Tian looked up into the air and discovered that the me Dragon Armor was covered in numerous sparkling, red threads, which seemed like streams ofva flowing on the crimson surface of the me Dragon Armor.

    Under his gaze, the me Dragon Armor seemed to turn into a river of mes or a slithering me dragon as it swooped down from the air towards the area filled with sputtering, multicolored light and shing starlight.

    Qiu Yang, who was struggling to defend himself against the overwhelming toxic energies and the aftermath of the star formation, eximed, ¡°Spirit Channeling grade treasure! This is the fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure people have been talking about!¡±

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    Torrential mes spread out, filling the sky over Qiu Yang¡¯s head, and seemed to turn the area where he was standing into a world of mes.

    Cracking sounds even echoed out from the air, as if everything within this area, including the air, was being burned by the raging mes.

    As powerful as Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes were, they couldn¡¯t see into the area, which looked like a fire-wrought dome from the air.

    He could only hear Qiu Yang¡¯s voice, which transitioned from excited cries to threatening roars.

    It wasn¡¯t long before it turned into hysterical screams as he charged about in an attempt to break out of that world of mes.

    Momentster, Nie Tian sensed via his Heaven Eyes that Qiu Yang¡¯s life aura seemed to have been burnt out by the zing mes as it gradually disappeared.

    It took about ten minutes for the violent struggle and intense energy fluctuations to finally calm down.

    SHEW!

    The me Dragon Armor whizzed back after the job was done. As it did, it summoned the raging mes back into itself. Right after that, it returned to Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding and fell silent again.

    At this moment, the raging mes in the area Qiu Yang had been in had already dissipated, leaving only scattered sparks visible in certain locations.

    With a frown, Nie Tian summoned his remaining strength to contend with the residual ck strings in him. With the help of the green aura and his wood power, he finally eliminated everyst ck string Qiu Yang had left inside of him.

    Only after some time, when he was certain that he had stabilized his condition, did he march over to the area where thend had already been burned ck.

    On the charred, sandynd, Qiu Yang¡¯s flesh had already melted away. All that was left was a scorched, red-gray skeleton.

    Nie Tian¡¯s broadsword was lying at the abdominal area of the skeleton, giving off tiny sparks from time to time.

    ¡°That broadsword...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly realized that when the me Dragon Armor had descended and enveloped that area with zing mes, the broadsword that had been lodged in Qiu Yang¡¯s abdomen must have also been stimted and disyed its full might because it shared the same fire attribute as the me Dragon Armor.

    If it hadn¡¯t caused severe damage to Qiu Yang¡¯s abdomen, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been burned into a pile of bones so easily. The broadsword must have sped up the process.

    ¡°This guy is finally dead.¡± Nie Tian stepped forward and took Qiu Yang¡¯s ring of holding from his finger bone. After a thorough scan of the area, he made sure that nothing valuable was left behind and quietly left.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian found a secluded location and immediately started recuperating with spirit beast meat, spirit stones, and Star Stones.

    One night, he awoke from his prolonged cultivation. With the help of the mysterious green aura and his wood power, he had healed seventy percent of his wounds.

    In the meantime, however, he had only restored approximately forty percent of his various types of spiritual power, each of which was far from their peak state.

    After a moment of pondering, he decided to put his cultivation on hold and march back to the location where Xue Long and Shi Hui had been fighting.

    Now, with Qiu Yang and the other three dead, Shi Hui was the only one left, and he wasn¡¯t any stronger than Xue Long.

    Therefore, he felt that he could openly return to the area where Shi Hui and Xue Long had been without worrying about being surrounded and attacked by powerful enemies.

    Bathed in the bright and clear moonlight, Shi Hui and Xue Long shed and exchanged dozens of attacks in midair, filling the air with their sword sts and fire beams.

    Afternding, the two of them panted heavily, but judging from their facial expressions, their fighting spirits were still soaring.

    It was the first time the two of them had engaged in a real fight. Since they were both at thete Greater Heaven stage and their strengths were equally matched, they had been fighting continually for days.

    The both of them had been stuck at thete Greater Heaven stage for many years, and they were both eager to break through the bottleneck. Therefore, the battle between them hadn¡¯t been as fierce and desperate as Nie Tian had imagined.

    Since they both knew they didn¡¯t have what it took to kill the other party, they both reserved their strength as they attacked. It was like they were testing their understandings of their power with this battle in order to find the key to a breakthrough in their cultivation.

    Furthermore, since Qiu Yang and the other three hadn¡¯t returned, Xue Long didn¡¯t feel the urgency to withdraw from the battle and leave.

    On the other hand, he had heard some stories regarding Nie Tian¡¯s resourcefulness. He assumed that since Nie Tian had sessfully escaped from those Hunters¡¯ blockades, if there were no mishaps, he would probably be able to escape from Qiu Yang and the other three as well.

    Also, since Li Langfeng had promised to return to this location, he stayed and drew enlightenment from his battle against Shi Hui.

    Panting heavily, Shi Hui cracked a smile and said, ¡°I bet my men have already captured Hua Tian by now. It won¡¯t be long before theye back here. But don¡¯t you worry. I won¡¯t let them interfere with our fight.

    ¡°You and I have both been stuck at the Greater Heaven stage for years. We both need an opportunity to break through the bottleneck. This battle between us might just be what we need!¡±

    Xue Long nodded and said, ¡°I was thinking the exact same thing!¡±

    At that moment, another voice suddenly echoed out, ¡°Alright. Since you want to continue with this battle, Uncle Xue, I¡¯ll just sit back and watch then.¡±

    In the next moment, Nie Tian slowly walked out from behind a sand dune.

    Only when he appeared did Shi Hui and Xue Long discover him.

    Astonished, Xue Long asked, ¡°Howe you are back, Hua Tian?¡±

    ¡°Because Qiu Yang and the others are dead.¡± With a hearty smile, Nie Tian waved the rings of holding he had looted from his four pursuers at Xue Long and Shi Hui so that they could get a clear view of them.

    Shi Hui¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he said, ¡°How can that be?!¡±

 Chapter 336: You Actually Believe That?!

    Shi Hui had been friends with Qiu Yang and the other three for many years. He had even purchased two of those rings of holding for them.

    He knew their rings of holding so well that, with a quick nce from afar, he was able to tell that the four rings of holding Nie Tian was holding indeed belonged to Qiu Yang and the other three.

    Every Qi warrior would consider their ring of holding to be as important as their own life, so they would never give their ring of holding to another person, not even people who they were very close to.

    The only circumstance where a cultivator¡¯s ring of holding would appear in another person¡¯s hand would be if the owner had already died.

    The fact that Nie Tian was holding Qiu Yang and the other three¡¯s rings of holding meant that they were truly dead.

    Shi Hui was bbergasted.

    During recent days, numerous Hunters had been attracted to the Void Illusion Mountain Range by the alleged appearance of a Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    This meant that there shouldn¡¯t be many powerful Hunters left in this region at this moment.

    Even if there were, considering thebined strengths of Qiu Yang and the other three, they should have been very hard to kill.

    Normally speaking, at the same cultivation level, a Hunter¡¯s battle prowess was usually inferior to that of a formal member of the Wild Fire, Blood Skull, or Dark Moon, and the battle prowess of a formal member of these three major forces was inferior to that of a guest elder.

    This was a requirement one must meet if he or she wished to be a guest elder.

    Shi Hui knew perfectly clearly that the reason why the Blood Skull had acknowledged Qiu Yang and the other three¡¯s identities as their guest elders was different from why they had acknowledged Shi Nan.

    They werepetent and well-trained.

    Even if they had encounteredte Greater Heaven stage Hunters who roamed this region, they would have had a good chance of winning.

    Not to mention that very few Hunters who roamed in this region close to Ash City could actually reach thete Greater Heaven stage.

    A series of thoughts shed across Shi Hui¡¯s mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯te up with a reasonable exnation as to how Qiu Yang and the other three had died, and why would Nie Tian have their rings of holding.

    It was Xue Long who gave voice to his spection first after a moment of bewilderment. ¡°You ran into him, didn¡¯t you, Hua Tian?¡±

    Of course, by ¡°him¡±, Xue Long was referring to Li Langfeng, who had left to make an attempt to break through into the Worldly realm in another location.

    In his eyes, only Li Langfeng would be willing to help Nie Tian and have the ability to kill Qiu Yang and the others single-handedly.

    He assumed that Li Langfeng had discovered that Nie Tian was in an unfavorable situation, and thus halted his effort to break through into the Worldly realm to help Nie Tian get rid of Qiu Yang and the others.

    Nie Tian smiled and didn¡¯t deny it, since he knew if he told Xue Long that he had killed Qiu Yang and the others by himself, it would be too shocking and Xue Long probably wouldn¡¯t believe him. After all, he was only at the middle Heaven stage, and it wouldn¡¯t make sense.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t exin, but tacitly agreed that it had been Li Langfeng who had annihted Qiu Yang and the others.

    After getting a positive response, Xue Long nodded gently before he once againid his eyes on Shi Hui and said with an increasingly relieved tone, ¡°Alright. Like you said, from now on, Qiu Yang and the others won¡¯t interfere with our battle anymore. Don¡¯t you imagine that you can take Hua Tian from me.¡±

    ¡°That being the case, we might as well drop everything else and continue our battle.¡±

    Numerous expressions shed across Shi Hui¡¯s face as he stood silently in his original ce, as if he was still racking his brains for an answer.

    Nie Tian, however, seemed free from any restraint as he sat down in a location more than two hundred meters from the two, where he took out spirit stones and started cultivating. As he channeled power from his spirit stones, he examined Shi Hui with strange looks in his eyes from time to time.

    For some reason, Shi Hui felt very ufortable under Nie Tian¡¯s roving gaze.

    He had a strange feeling that Nie Tian was a threat to him.

    He understood that his feeling didn¡¯t make sense. Rationally speaking, Nie Tian was only at the middle Heaven stage, so he couldn¡¯t possibly pose any threat to him.

    Even still, whenever Nie Tian looked at him, he felt somewhat uneasy. It even made him suspect whether he had be overly nervous after having fought Xue Long for so long.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that Nie Tian was actually pondering whether or not he should summon the me Dragon Armor and use it along with every powerful means at his disposal to kill Shi Hui with Xue Long¡¯s help.

    He had a feeling that Xue Long had already figured out his real identity.

    If that was the case, he actually wouldn¡¯t need to hide anything from Xue Long anymore.

    He didn¡¯t think it would be a big deal if he used the me Dragon Armor and Fragmentary Star Incantation in front of Xue Long. After all, they were already old news to many people.

    The only thing that worried him was that he might fail to kill Shi Hui with them.

    If Shi Hui didn¡¯t die, the news that he was Nie Tian would soon spread out across the entire Realm of Split Void, and Ning Yang would also learn about it within a short time.

    Their uing ns would be jeopardized.

    After a thorough consideration, he decided to stay put for the time being and keep a close watch on the battle between Xue Long and Shi Hui.

    When an opportunity presented itself where he was confident enough that he would be able to kill Shi Hui with a single strike, he would summon both the me Dragon Armor and the Fragmentary Star Incantation and annihte Shi Hui in this ce.

    That was the reason why he constantly checked Shi Hui with strange looks in his eyes as he practiced cultivation on the side.

    His asional gaze was like a fish bone stuck in Shi Hui¡¯s throat, which made him feel very ufortable.

    The way Nie Tian had been looking at him was none other than the way a lion looked at its prey, ready to lunge forward and kill it at any moment.

    With a grim expression, Shi Hui remained silent for a few seconds. That was when he suddenly remembered Xue Long¡¯s question for Nie Tian: ¡°You ran into him, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Even though Shi Hui didn¡¯t know that Xue Long was referring to Li Langfeng by ¡°him¡±, he believed that this man, who Xue Long was talking about, had killed Qiu Yang and the others.

    Considering the man had been able to kill those four, his strength must have been beyond ordinary.

    Adding in the fact that he didn¡¯t know where the man was at this moment, Shi Hui decided not to take any risks by staying here any longer. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got some business to tend to. I¡¯ve benefited tremendously from our battle, Brother Xue. We¡¯ll have many more opportunities to meet in the future. Let¡¯s continue our battle next time we meet.¡±

    With these words, his eyebrows suddenly furrowed, as he sensed with his psychic awareness that a life aura was rapidly approaching.

    It added to his determination to leave as soon as possible. Before Xue Long could say anything, he unleashed clusters of zing mes. Wreathed in the mes, he dashed off towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range, leaving a trail of fire behind him.

    At that time, Xue Long also detected the approaching life aura. ¡°Someone¡¯s here!¡±

    After a brief scan with his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian perceived who the person was. With a frown, he thought to himself, ¡°Howe it¡¯s her?¡±

    Momentster, Pei Qiqi appeared in a tight, ocean-blue suit. Her jade-like forehead was covered in sparkling sweat beads while a few spatial light des hovered around her.

    After seeing that Xue Long and Nie Tian were both fine, she let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m notte, am I?¡±

    Having been marching to this location at a fast speed, she had consumed a significant amount of her spiritual power.

    At this moment, she was covered in nice-smelling sweat, and her cheeks were slightly flushed. It gave her a different but still gorgeous look.

    As she panted softly, her ample chest rose and fell. Together with her slender physique, they made her look especially charming and radiant. Looking at her, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but drown in her beauty.

    ¡°A member of the Blood Skull was very close to Shi Hui. Gu Yu ferreted him out and learned that he had secretly informed Shi Hui of the fact that you and Uncle Xue wereing to this region.¡± As she tried to calm her breathing, Pei Qiqi continued, ¡°ording to that man, Shi Hui had four helpers with him. I was afraid that you wouldn¡¯t be able to handle them all, so I came to check on you.¡±

    With a meaningful smile, Xue Long teased Nie Tian, ¡°Miss Pei is truly concerned about your well-being.¡±

    He had lived in Shatter City for many years now, and he knew something about Pei Qiqi¡¯s personality. He knew that, aside from her junior martial brother, Li Ye, Pei Qiqi had never truly cared about another person.

    Even Cai Yuan had never truly entered Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart.

    She had only treated him with respect since he was the young lord of the Blood Skull, but she had never opened her heart to him.

    Xue Long was well-aware that Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t hastened over here because she was worried about him.

    After hearing Xue Long¡¯s teasing words, Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face, ¡°A dear friend of my masters¡¯ asked me to take care of Hua Tian. He¡¯s a person I respect a lot. Since he put Hua Tian in my hands, it¡¯s only right I do my best to protect Hua Tian. It¡¯s not what you think, Uncle Xue.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! How do I dare think?¡± Xue Long said with augh.

    Looking at Pei Qiqi, who was still panting softly, Nie Tian felt deeply touched. He said with all seriousness, ¡°Thank you for your concern, senior martial sister.¡±

    For some reason, he had gradually developed subtle feelings towards Pei Qiqi.

    Last time, when Pei Qiqi had learned that he had gone on a trip to the Void Illusion Mountain Range with Hu Han, she had decisively followed them into the Void Illusion Mountain Range, hoping to bring him back safely.

    By doing this, she had put herself in danger, and ended up surrounded by Ma Jiu from the Dark Moon and his men.

    This time, she came right after she had learned that Shi Hui might havee for Nie Tian.

    Even though he knew that Pei Qiqi might have done it for Hua Mu¡¯s sake, he, who had grown up loved by only Nie Qian and Nie Donghai, still felt very moved.

    ¡°I¡¯m only protecting you because of Mr. Hua,¡± Pei Qiqi said indifferently.

    Sincerity filled Nie Tian¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Anyhow. Now that you¡¯vee for me, I want to thank you.¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough.¡± Clearly, Pei Qiqi wasn¡¯tfortable with the strange atmosphere. ¡°Did Shi Huie or not?¡±

    With a smile, Xue Long answered, ¡°He just left, right before you showed up. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re fine.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was confused. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Xue Long pointed at Nie Tian and said, ¡°You can ask him. I fought Shi Hui long and hard, and I need time to recover, so I¡¯ll leave you two to it. Hahaha!¡±

    With these words, he took the initiative and walked away from Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian. He sat down in a location several hundred meters away and started to recuperate.

    Obviously, those were also words of ridicule. Pei Qiqi bit her lower lip as she intended to exin. However, seeing that Xue Long had already walked out quite far, she swallowed her words.

    Nie Tian, however, was calm as ever. As Pei Qiqi turned to approach him, he said, ¡°Shi Hui, Qiu Yang and three others came a few days ago. I was their target. Perhaps he still hates me for seriously injuring Shi Nan in the Blood Fighting Pit. So after he learned that Uncle Xue and I came this way, they tracked us down...¡±

    He briefly exined what had happened during the past few days, but he intentionally did not exin how Qiu Yang and the other three had died.

    However, certain things couldn¡¯t be avoided. After all, the deaths of Qiu Yang and the other three were the key factor that had resulted in Shi Hui leaving. Pei Qiqi looked deeply at him and asked directly, ¡°How in the world did Qiu Yang and the others die?¡±

    ¡°If I said I killed them, would you believe me?¡± Nie Tian asked with a smile.

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    A shocked expression stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°You actually believe that?!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d never believe that if it were someone else.¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly lowered her voice. ¡°However, since it¡¯s from the mouth of a guy who rose from amongst numerous talented cultivators and won two fragmentary star marks within the Heaven Gate, owns the me Dragon Armor, and has many secrets, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, I will believe it.

 Chapter 337: Count Me In!

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before asking, ¡°Since when did you know?¡±

    ¡°Not very long ago.¡± Pei Qiqi slowly sat down next to him. ¡°After I entered the Greater Heaven stage, I thought about you a lot. Your strange abilities had long since made me feel that you weren¡¯t an ordinary person. The fact that you escaped the pursuit of numerous Hunters and sessfully met the Blood Skull¡¯s retrieval team made me even more curious about you.

    ¡°So I checked the Blood Skull¡¯s records and learned that you and Mr. Hua came from the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Together with your assumed name, I came to realize that you¡¯re the man who all the major sects are looking for.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to hide the truth from you,¡± Nie Tian said embarrassedly.

    Pei Qiqi took out a canteen of water. She drank a mouthful and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I understand. Everyone has their own secrets. Your situation is very special. It¡¯s understandable that you wanted to hide your true identity. After all, very few people are like Li Langfeng, who lives in the Realm of Split Void under a real name.¡±

    Then, she shot a nce at Xue Long, who was sitting far from them. ¡°He¡¯s probably also using a fake name.¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°You¡¯re right about that. Uncle Xue is from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. I don¡¯t know what his real name is, but I know that everyone who chooses toe to the Realm of Split Void has their own stories.¡±

    ¡°Why did Uncle Xue seek you out?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a soft voice.

    ¡°Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect is also here in the Realm of Split Void. He¡¯s currently in the forbidden region to the east of Ash City.¡± Now that Pei Qiqi had already figured out who he was, Nie Tian no longer felt the need to hide anything from her. ¡°Ning Yang has the third fragmentary star mark, which is very important to me. Uncle Xue is going to help me snatch it from Ning Yang.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a bit rash, isn¡¯t it?¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s beautiful eyebrows furrowed as she mulled over his choice of words. ¡°Uncle Xue is very strong. There¡¯s no doubt about that. Since Ning Yang was given the important task of obtaining the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce during the Heaven Gate trial, the Heaven Pce Sect must have considered him their most talented disciple.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be so easy for Uncle Xue to single-handedly deal with such a powerful figure, don¡¯t you think?¡±

    She was being implicit.

    The fact was that she deemed that, considering Xue Long¡¯s cultivation base and battle prowess, he wouldn¡¯t have a chance of beating Ning Yang.

    ¡°There¡¯s another person who¡¯s also going to help me,¡± Nie Tian replied in a soft voice.

    ¡°Who?¡± Pei Qiqi was very curious.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been to the Realm of Split Void for very long. Plus, she had been there with him most of the time.

    No matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t figure out how he had persuaded Xue Long to help him deal with Ning Yang.

    Not to mention that another powerful expert would also be there to assist him.

    ¡°It¡¯s someone you know.¡± Nie Tian smiled somewhat ufortably. ¡°Li Langfeng.¡±

    ¡°Li Langfeng!¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s face turned pale with shock, as if she had seen a ghost. ¡°H-have you lost your mind? How could he possibly be willing to help you? Are you sure that he¡¯s not going to betray you and sell you to Ning Yang as a favor?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes, I am.¡±

    He figured he had better not reveal his deal with the Spirit Condor. However, he knew that if Li Langfeng or Xue Long intended to sell him out, they would have done it already.

    ¡°Do you have any other secrets that you haven¡¯t told me yet?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a suspicious look on her face.

    ¡°Yes, I do, but it concerns other people, so I¡¯d rather not tell you about it.¡± Nie Tian told the truth.

    ¡°Very well." Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t insist on asking about Nie Tian¡¯s secrets. ¡°But you¡¯ve got to let me join your operation against Ning Yang. Now that I don¡¯t have much to do anyways, I¡¯d like to see how powerful the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s most talented disciple really is.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± A shocked expression stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Pei Qiqi gave him a hard look. ¡°Huh what?¡±

    ¡°But... you have nothing to do with it,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°I recently entered the Greater Heaven stage, so I need to temper my skills with battles.¡± Pei Qiqi slowly closed her eyes as she focused on adjusting her breathing. Then, she said with a peaceful tone, ¡°Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect will be a perfect opponent for me. Okay, it¡¯s settled. From now on, don¡¯t interrupt me. I need time to recover my strength.¡±

    With these words, she no longer spoke to Nie Tian, as she seemed to have entered the cultivation state.

    Nie Tian scratched his head, as he was unable to make heads or tails of her sudden demand. He intended to tell her that Li Langfeng was about to enter the Worldly realm. Once he did, Li Langfeng alone would be strong enough to help him aplish their goal. They wouldn¡¯t need her help at all.

    However, from the look of it, Pei Qiqi seemed to have already made up her mind, and thus intentionally avoided hearing his reasoning.

    Therefore, he had no choice but to drop it.

    Afterwards, he calmed himself and started recovering the energies he had consumed with spirit stones and spiritual materials of different attributes.

    As they cultivated, a few Hunters passed by and discovered their auras.

    However, whenever people approached them, Xue Long would perceive their movements and unleash a fierce sword intent.

    As soon as those Hunters sensed Xue Long¡¯s sword intent, they would immediately realize that it wasn¡¯t someone they could take, and thus retreated voluntarily.

    One day passed...

    Nie Tian had recovered most of the energies he had consumed, and thus he took out Qiu Yang and the other three¡¯s rings of holding.

    The four rings of holding had belonged to four Greater Heaven stage experts. Nie Tian desired to know what was in them very much.

    However, almost every ring of holding had their own unique restrictive spells.

    If people tried to break the spell with force without knowing how to crack the spell properly, it would very likely result in the destruction of the ring of holding, along with everything inside of it.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian turned to Pei Qiqi, who was sitting quietly with her eyes closed and said with a soft voice, ¡°Well...¡±

    Pei Qiqi opened her eyes and reached out with one hand, saying, ¡°Alright, give them to me.¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian handed the four rings of holding to her.

    ¡°It¡¯s really hard to imagine how you killed Qiu Yang and the other three.¡± Pei Qiqi muttered to herself as slender beams of bright light blossomed at the tips of her fingers, which seemed to carry the profound truths of spatial energy. In the next moment, they flew into the rings of holding like extensions of her slender fingers, where they skillfully solved the restrictive spells within them.

    As she removed the restrictive spells, she took a nce at the items in stock, and she discovered that each of the rings of holding was stocked withrge amounts of spirit stones, spirit jades, and jars full of spiritual materials. ¡°Wow, these guest elders of the Blood Skull were all filthy rich. Here you go. You¡¯ve hit gold again.¡± With these words, she handed the four rings of holding back to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian briefly examined the stocked items after receiving them, and found that there were at least a total of 20,000 spirit stones, along with 50 spirit jades, within the four rings of holding.

    Aside from that, he also discovered several premium grade spiritual tools that were suited for their former owners, along with medicinal pills and spiritual materials.

    His face was instantly filled with smiles.

    Completely at ease, Pei Qiqi took her time as she said, ¡°You must have paid Li Ye handsomely in order to get him to forge a spiritual tool that suits your needs. Now that both Xue Long and Li Langfeng are willing to help you, you must have made some kind of deal with them. I put my own business on hold so that I coulde to your aid. You don¡¯t want to see mee out empty-handed, do you?¡±

    Nie Tian cracked a smile and said, ¡°Alright, spill it. What do you want?¡±

    ¡°10,000 spirit stones.¡± Pei Qiqi reached out her jade-like right hand and opened it. Then, she said, looking directly into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, ¡°I¡¯m at the Greater Heaven stage. It¡¯s a fair deal to pay for my service with 10,000 spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°No problem.¡± Nie Tianughed heartily as he took out 10,000 spirit stones, put them into an empty bracelet of holding, and ced it in Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm.

    As he did, his little finger identally touched Pei Qiqi¡¯s soft hand.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s hand trembled slightly as a ray of bright light shone from her eyes, which were looking right into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    In a split second, the light in her eyes rapidly disappeared as she retracted her hand, along with the bracelet of holding in her palm.

    Then, she sat back down on the ground, closed her eyes, and asked with a calm tone, ¡°Back when I sustained heavy injuries and fell unconscious, did you...¡± She didn¡¯t finish her question, but her long eyshes slightly flickered.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± Nie Tian replied hastily.

    Pei Qiqi snorted back at him.

    Upon hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s question, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but remember the time he had carried her on his back while he had run away from Li Langfeng¡¯s pursuit.

    As he relived the pleasant memories, his gaze wandered up and down Pei Qiqi, who was sitting in front of him, which reminded him of the scene where he had clenched Pei Qiqi¡¯s slender legs with his hands and arms.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped open. ring at him, she asked, ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

    With a guilty conscience, Nie Tian hastily replied, ¡°I¡¯m thinking about Li Langfeng.¡±

    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Pei Qiqi blurted angrily.

    At that moment, Li Langfeng¡¯s voice echoed out from the distance. ¡°Hahaha! I can¡¯t believe someone would think about me.¡±

    In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of them.

    Upon seeing Li Langfeng appear out of nowhere, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    He didn¡¯t understand why his Heaven Eyes had failed to detect Li Langfeng¡¯s life aura and the fact that he was approaching.

 Chapter 338: Unforeseen Circumstance

    Only when Li Langfeng arrived in front of them did Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes perceive his existence.

    Keh! Keh!

    Li Langfeng¡¯s cough seemed to have be worse. His face was as pale as paper. From the look of it, he seemed to be in a worse condition than he had been in before he had left.

    His already-skinny body had be even more emaciated. It seemed as if he could easily be blown away by a gale of wind.

    However, at this moment, his strength seemed unfathomable to Nie Tian.

    Even via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t able to tell his real cultivation base.

    ¡°Worldly realm!¡± Nie Tian was secretly shocked.

    Only those who had entered the Worldly realm and transcended their psychic power into soul power would be able to cloud the Heaven Eyes¡¯ judgment, and thus prevent Nie Tian from learning their cultivation bases.

    Before, as powerful as Li Langfeng had been, Nie Tian had been able to perceive his real cultivation base via his Heaven Eyes.

    Now that his Heaven Eyes failed to determine Li Langfeng¡¯s cultivation base, it proved that Li Langfeng had shattered the barriers in his cultivation and sessfully entered the Worldly realm!

    Li Langfeng, who had been coughing with his face lowered, lifted his chin.

    Green mes seemed to be burning increasingly fiercely in the depths of his eyes.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    He could sense a gruesome aura rushing out of Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes and flying towards one of his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°Now I finally know why you were able to escape from me and the joint pursuit of the Fang and other Hunters so effortlessly.¡± Li Langfeng looked up at that Heaven Eye and marveled from the bottom of his heart, ¡°Legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are indeed incredible. They actually allow you to develop the ability to form soul power while you¡¯re only at the Heaven stage.¡±

    Neither the early Greater Heaven stage Pei Qiqi nor thete Greater Heaven stage Xue Long had sensed the existence of his Heaven Eyes.

    Before entering the Worldly realm, Li Langfeng also hadn¡¯t been able to perceive the Heaven Eyes that hovered in the air around Nie Tian and kept a close watch on everything in the vicinity.

    At that moment, Xue Long heard their conversation and rushed over. He followed Li Langfeng¡¯s gaze as he also looked up into the air and examined the area carefully with his psychic awareness. ¡°He¡¯s able to form soul power at the Heaven stage?¡±

    However, under the scan of his sight and psychic awareness, he didn¡¯t discover any anomalies, and the sky seemed as void as ever.

    ¡°Kid, this secret magic you¡¯ve obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is indeed very profound.¡± Li Langfeng nodded as he continued, ¡°However, you¡¯ve got to be extra careful in the future when you encounter experts who have entered the three realms and possess soul power. Don¡¯t you think you can observe everything from the dark without being discovered.¡±

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Does every Worldly realm expert like you possess the ability to cloud or disrupt my perception?¡±

    The fact that Li Langfeng had appeared while his Heaven Eyes had failed to capture the slightest sign of him was enough evidence that Li Langfeng possessed such an ability. He had his own ways of keeping Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes from discovering him.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about other Worldly realm cultivators,¡± Li Langfeng answered honestly. ¡°But yeah, I do have my unique methods to confuse the perception of the soul power you¡¯ve released into the sky.

    ¡°Also, you¡¯ve got to understand that every cultivator who possesses soul power will be able to discover that eye-shaped cluster of soul power of yours.

    ¡°This means that when you encounter Qi warriors at the Worldly realm or higher realms, the secret magics you¡¯ve obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce probably won¡¯t work as well as they normally do.

    ¡°Of course, this is based on your current cultivation base. If you enter the Worldly realm like I have, and transcend all of your psychic power into soul power, perhaps your strength will rise to another level, and you will be able to disy the true might of those secret magics.¡±

    With those words, Li Langfeng turned to look at Pei Qiqi and asked with a confused expression, ¡°Why is she here?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re here. Why can¡¯t I be here?¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s tone was cold and thorny.

    She still remembered the unpleasant incident between her and Li Langfeng. Back when they had been in the mountain valley, Li Langfeng had attacked her with the intention to kill her, which had caused her to suffer severe injuries and pass out. If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t carried her away and found the secret underwater stronghold of the Blood Skull, she probably would have died by Li Langfeng¡¯s hands already.

    Everyone in the Realm of Split Void knew that Li Langfeng wasn¡¯t bound by any rules or norms.

    Therefore, she hadn¡¯t expected a crazy man like him to give face to her master at all.

    ¡°Truth be told, now that I¡¯ve entered the Worldly realm, I won¡¯t need help from any of you,¡± Li Langfeng said with an expressionless face. ¡°Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng are still at the Greater Heaven stage. The two of them won¡¯t be able to create much difficulty for me if I want to strip that fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Xue Long and Pei Qiqi looked displeased.

    ¡°This is for your own good.¡± Li Langfeng¡¯s face was as indifferent as ever. ¡°Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng have tricky statuses, since they are both abandoned disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect. I know that you¡¯ll be held back by scruples, since you all fear the Heaven Pce Sect. That being the case, you won¡¯t be able to go all-out when we attack them.¡±

    After a brief halt, he added, ¡°I¡¯m not like you.¡±

    Even Nie Tian could see that Li Langfeng was a man with no scruples. Not to mention that Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng were only former disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect, even if they were core disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect, he would still have the audacity toy a murderous hand on them.

    Xue Long let out a snort and said, ¡°You have your ways of doing things, and I have mine. Since I made a promise to someone, I¡¯ll definitely be a part of it!

    ¡°Also, Ning Yang used to be the ¡®chosen one¡¯ of the Heaven Pce Sect, and the Heaven Pce Sect hasn¡¯t formally dered that they have expelled him!

    ¡°I want you to think about the consequences before you act! The Heaven Pce Sect already intends to give Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark to Nie Tian. So I don¡¯t think they will mind if Nie Tian acts out on his own and takes it by force. However, if you kill Ning Yang, people from the Heaven Pce Sect will definitely descend upon the Realm of Split Void. At that time, none of us will be able to live in peace in the Realm of Split Void anymore!¡±

    With these words, he took a deep look at Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Miss Pei, this actually has nothing to do with you. And you won¡¯t be able to make a difference even if you do go. Like Li Langfeng just said, if you insist on joining us and something does happen to Ning Yang, even your master won¡¯t be able to protect you. You¡¯d better think it through.¡±

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister, how about... you go back?¡± Nie Tian tried to persuade her.

    From Li Langfeng¡¯s tone, he realized that this maniac didn¡¯t care about Ning Yang¡¯s life at all.

    If Ning Yang infuriated him in battle, he might actually lose it and strike to kill.

    Even Xue Long was afraid that he would get into trouble if Ning Yang died by their hands, so he didn¡¯t want to Pei Qiqi to be implicated.

    ¡°As I said, me alone will be enough. There¡¯s absolutely no need for you toe along.¡± Li Langfeng¡¯s attitude didn¡¯t change at all, like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.

    ¡°I took Nie Tian¡¯s spirit stones, so I¡¯ll definitely go with him!¡± said Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Well, suit yourself then.¡± Li Langfeng looked as if he couldn¡¯t care less. ¡°Let¡¯s head out to that region to the east of Ash City. I¡¯d like to see how strong Ning Yang and Tong Jiangfeng really are.¡±

    Afterwards, under Li Langfeng¡¯s leadership, the four of them marched towards the region where meteors fell from the heavens frequently.

    With Li Langfeng, a Worldly realm expert who possessed soul power, there to lead the way for them, they easily steered clear of every Hunter in that area and didn¡¯t attract any unnecessary attention.

    Along their way, Nie Tian didn¡¯t unleash his Heaven Eyes, since Li Langfeng¡¯s existence served equivalently as his Heaven Eyes.

    Several dayster, the four of them finally arrived at the forbidden region.

    Without running into any obstacles, they soon reached the heart of the forbidden region.

    It waste at night when they found a location to rest and wait for the appearance of a plummeting meteor.

    ording to Nie Tian, the reason Ning Yang hade to this region was that he wished to uncover methods to learn and refine his fragmentary star mark from within the fallen meteors.

    Whenever a meteor fell from the heavens, Ning Yang would rush to the crash site in hopes of learning useful information from within them.

    Therefore, they waited.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian cultivated with Star Stones and added drop after drop of stardew to his spiritual sea.

    Days passed, and it was night again.

    A trail of light scraped through the starlit sky as it flew closer and closer before it eventually crashed into the earth in a location several dozen kilometers from where they were.

    RUUUUUMBLE!

    As the earth trembled nonstop, the four of them couldn¡¯t help but stagger slightly to assume a firm foothold on the ice-cold desert.

    ording to Nie Tian¡¯s experience, he could tell from the intensity of the rumbling that the fallen meteor would probably be an enormous one.

    ¡°Here ites!¡±

    Li Langfeng couldn¡¯t wait any longer. After getting ahold of his bearings, he was the first to speed off into the distance.

    Nie Tian and the others followed along.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian unleashed his seven Heaven Eyes.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, he obtained a panoramic view of the area around him.

    After a dashing at full speed for a while, they finally caught up to Li Langfeng, who was standing by the edge of a huge crater. From the look of it, he had already been waiting there for some time.

    Upon seeing the three of them, Li Langfeng frowned and said with a grim expression on his face, ¡°There¡¯s an unforeseen circumstance.¡±

 Chapter 339: Life Within the Meteor

    A confused expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Unforeseen circumstance?¡±

    Since he had refined a fragmentary star mark, he had developed the ability to sense Ning Yang¡¯s location urately.

    He focused his attention and searched in his mind. He immediately learned that Ning Yang was still quite far from where they were standing.

    This meant that Ning Yang had been in a location much farther from the crash site than they had been.

    He could sense with great rity that, as they spoke, Ning Yang was rapidly approaching.

    ording to their original n, if they arrived at a meteor crash site before Ning Yang, they could just wait for Ning Yang toe.

    Since Ning Yang hadn¡¯t arrived, what did Li Langfeng mean by ¡°unforeseen circumstance¡±?

    As this question entered his mind, with a thought, Nie Tianmanded his seven Heaven Eyes, which had been hovering around him, to fly above the area where the meteor had crashed.

    It was an enormous crater with a diameter of thousands of meters.

    A gigantic, grayish-brown meteor was embedded into the earth at the bottom of the hundred-meter-deep crater. Sparks were still sputtering off of its surface from time to time.

    Floating above the enormous crater, Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes scanned the area and didn¡¯t discover anything worth noting.

    Face filled with confusion, he said, ¡°Everything seems normal to me.¡±

    Xue Long and Pei Qiqi were both at the Greater Heaven stage, so they hadn¡¯t transcended their psychic power into soul power.

    Since they were standing so far from the fallen meteor that it was beyond the reach of their psychic power¡¯s perception, they couldn¡¯t sense a thing.

    Confusion filled their faces as well.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s expression was abnormally grim as he exined, ¡°I can sense very subtle, flickering signs of life from within that meteor. I suspect that the reason why the life aura within the meteor is so weak is that the life within it is intentionally suppressing its own life aura. Even I only sensed it shortly after I got here.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Xue Long¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°There¡¯s a person inside that meteor?¡±

    A shocked expression also appeared on Pei Qiqi¡¯s face.

    Li Langfeng shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a human. I think it might be an outsider from some unknown realm.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone was bbergasted.

    A gigantic meteor that had plummeted to the earth from an unknown universe actually had an outsider hiding inside of it!

    After a moment of hesitation, Li Langfeng said, ¡°Let¡¯s not go over there so fast, and wait for Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng to go over there first. If my spections are correct, and there actually is an outsider in that meteor, we¡¯ll be able to see how it interacts with them first.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s intentionally suppressing its own life aura, even I can¡¯t make an urate judgment of its strength.

    ¡°So having Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng explore the meteor for us and draw out whatever is inside of it is probably the safest choice.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Xue Long agreed.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi also nodded.

    Li Langfeng was the most powerful one among them, and he was known as a man with no scruples. No one in the Realm of Split Void would want to start a feud with him. Even though Nie Tian hadn¡¯t known him for long, he knew very well how terrifying he could be.

    Li Langfeng had never been one to act with discretion, but now that even he behaved so cautiously facing this meteor and the living creature within it, it was enough evidence that he had truly sensed danger.

    Hence, the four of them did their utmost to hide their life auras as they waited in ce. Nie Tian even used his newly-awakened bloodline talent, Life Stealth.

    With the help of the green aura, which was the embodiment of his bloodline power, Life Stealth allowed Nie Tian topletely seal his life aura.

    Not only that, but he could even make adjustments by changing his state of mind and the degree of involvement from the green aura.

    At that moment, every bit of aura from his fleshy body and spiritual power had been concealed.

    It would be almost impossible for people to sense the extremely weak signs of life on him from locations further than where Li Langfeng and the others on his team were.

    At the same time, he concentrated his attention and strengthened the connection between him and his seven Heaven Eyes in order to keep a close watch on the gigantic meteor.

    Even though he still couldn¡¯t sense the slightest sign of life after having his seven Heaven Eyes hover around the meteor for some time, he had faith in Li Langfeng¡¯s judgment.

    ¡°Once a cultivator enters the Worldly realm, their psychic power will undergo overwhelmingplete changes. Even their soul will transcend and be different. I¡¯m only at the Heaven stage, and the seven fragmentary stars within my soul were acquired by ident when I was in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Perhaps this is why I can¡¯t detect signs of life from within that meteor like Li Langfeng can.¡±

    After these thoughts shed across his mind, Nie Tian concentrated his attention on everything happening in that area instead of being hung up on why he wasn¡¯t able to detect the life aura within that meteor.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he sensed anomalies via his Heaven Eyes.

    He discovered that the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was quietly converging on the grayish brown meteor embedded in the bottom of the enormous crater in an abnormal fashion.

    Within the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, the cyan phantasm Qi, which originated from the Phantasms¡¯ realms ording to Li Langfeng, seemed especially active.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, and discovered that wisps of light-cyan phantasm Qi seemed to be attracted by the meteor as they rapidly attached themselves to its surface.

    Meanwhile, those wisps of phantasm Qi disappeared from the surface of meteor at a rate visible to the naked eye.

    ¡°Cyan phantasm Qi from the Phantasms¡¯ realms...¡± With these thoughts, Nie Tian gasped and eximed, ¡°The outsider inside of that meteor is probably a Phantasm!¡±

    ¡°Howe you¡¯re so sure?¡± Li Langfeng asked with a surprised expression on his face.

    Even though he had transcended his psychic power into soul power, he was only able to tell that there was a subtle life aura within the meteor, and that it probably didn¡¯t belong to a human, considering its strange features.

    However, he couldn¡¯t be certain which outsider race it belonged to.

    ¡°The phantasm Qi within the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth seems to be getting abnormally active,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, an impressed expression appeared in Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes as he nodded and marveled, ¡°The legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are indeed unfathomable. Even I can¡¯t sense the subtle changes in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, but you can. When you enter the Worldly realm, the perception of your soul power will be far better than mine for sure.¡±

    ¡°A Phantasm!¡± Xue Long eximed softly.

    Pei Qiqi said in a soft voice, ¡°Of all the outsider races, Phantasms are the most mysterious. Why in the world would they suddenlye here?¡±

    At that very moment, Li Langfeng said, ¡°Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng are almost here.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian also detected Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng¡¯s auras, which were rapidly approaching the meteor from the opposite direction.

    ¡°Let them test out that Phantasm for us.¡± Li Langfeng said calmly.

    Therefore, the four of them waited.

    In the meantime, not only was Nie Tian able to detect Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng¡¯s auras via his Heaven Eyes, but he could also listen into their conversation.

    ¡°Lord Ning, it¡¯s been quite a long time. You still haven¡¯t found anything useful?¡± Tong Jianfeng asked.

    With disheveled hair, Ning Yang lookedpletely different from the handsome, clean-dressed young man in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. He didn¡¯t even shave his beard. At this moment, he looked very much like a dingy, middle-aged man. ¡°Not yet, but I firmly believe this ce has some kind of connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    ¡°Since I haven¡¯t refined my fragmentary star mark yet, I can¡¯t tell how they are connected and why this ce is special. However, I¡¯m sure that the reason why this ce attracts so many meteors from outer space is that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has deployede kind of restrictive spell here.

    ¡°So many meteors crash in this region. I believe I¡¯ll find one that contains the answer to my problem!

    ¡°All I¡¯m waiting for is a meteor thates from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    With these words, Ning Yang had already jumped to the top of the gigantic, grayish-brown meteor. After summoning his iparably sharp spiritual sword, he started chopping giant pieces off the meteor with stretched sword moves, hoping to unearth the answer he had been looking forward to this entire time from within it.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Table-size stones were continuously sent into the air by Ning Yang¡¯s sword moves before they fell and scattered around.

    ¡°Star Stones!¡± Nie Tian, who had been observing via his Heaven Eyes, noticed that this meteor contained Star Stones.

    Since Ning Yang didn¡¯t attach any importance to those Star Stones, he just turned a blind eye to them and let them scatter around as he continued hacking.

    CRUNCH!

    As he once again hacked his spiritual sword into the meteor and turned his wrist in an attempt to break a piece off the meteor, a confused look suddenly appeared in Ning Yang¡¯s eyes.

    In the next moment, blood shot out of Ning Yang¡¯s sword-bearing hand.

    ¡°Lord Ning!!!¡± Tong Jianfeng cried out.

    Threads of cyan light flowed out from within the meteor like long, floating rivers before they shot towards Ning Yang and Tong Jianfeng.

    Ning Yang sensed the danger, so he let go of his sword and jumped away at the first possible moment. Tong Jianfeng, on the other hand, threw himself towards the meteor out of his concern about Ning Yang¡¯s safety, and thus got his torso prated by the threads of cyan light.

    By the time Tong Jianfeng fell towards the bottom of the crater, the light in his eyes had already dissipated. Just like that, he was killed instantly.

 Chapter 340: Phantasm

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Ning Yang let out a violent shout as he backed away from the meteor. The skin on his hand was cut open and blood was flowing out of his torn flesh.

    SHEW!

    With a thought, he summoned the spiritual sword he had hacked into the meteor, and it rapidly flew back into his hand.

    At that very moment, Tong Jianfeng¡¯s corpsended heavily at the bottom of the crater, creating a loud crash.

    Numerous threads of cyan light were still snaking around on Tong Jianfeng¡¯s corpse.

    Tong Jianfeng had harbored intentions to rescue Ning Yang. However, he ended up being the one prated and killed by the numerous threads of cyan light.

    In the meantime, more copious amounts of phantasm Qi, which originated from the Phantasms¡¯ realms, continued to converge on the gigantic meteor. The originally subtle life aura inside the meteor instantly grew vigorous and conspicuous.

    CRUNCH!

    The part of the meteor where Ning Yang¡¯s spiritual sword had hacked at suddenly exploded, and a vague figure whizzed out, wreathed in rich, cyan phantasm Qi.

    As soon as it appeared, it shot directly towards Ning Yang.

    All the phantasm Qi within the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this region seemed to have found a vent and rushed towards the vague figure.

    ¡°A legacy mark from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± The vague figure said in broken humannguage as it immediately focused its attention on Ning Yang.

    Just now, as Ning Yang had attempted to shatter the meteor with his sword, he had opened hispels and looked down at the fragmentary star mark on his chest from time to time, hoping to uncover the mysteries within it.

    That was why the vague figure had caught sight of the fragmentary star mark on his chest the moment it flew out of the meteor.

    This Phantasm seemed to know that it was a legacy mark he had acquired from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and thus gave voice to its findings.

    Ning Yang immediately grew psyched. ¡°W-who are you? How do you know that this is a legacy mark I obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Staring coldly at the mark on Ning Yang¡¯s chest, the vague figure said, ¡°It¡¯s a shame that you haven¡¯t refined it. This means that you haven¡¯t been acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and this is why you haven¡¯t been able to learn secret magics from it. Also, an unrefined legacy mark can be stripped from its owner!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One after another, numerous ribbon-like, cyan lights shot out from within the vague figure.

    The threads of cyan light moved like spiritual snakes, and there were hundreds of them.

    In a split second, the substantial amount of cyan light threads surrounded Ning Yang. They rapidly formed a ward around him, inside of which a strange maic field was gradually born.

    Ning Yang brandished his spiritual sword as he hoped to break the ward with his sword sts.

    However, not only did his sword sts fail to shatter the strange ward, but it began to shrink continuously.

    All of a sudden, the vague figure wreathed in cyan phantasm Qi whizzed into the ward like a ghost, where it reached out its hand and grabbed towards Ning Yang¡¯s chest.

    An inconceivably strong attraction force was instantly born within its palm. Like arge ma, it was actually pulling the legacy mark away from Ning Yang¡¯s chest bit by bit.

    With angry roars, Ning Yang madly unleashed all kinds of secret magics from the Heaven Pce Sect. The area around him was rapidly filled with sword sts and lightning bolts.

    However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t stop the legacy mark he had acquired from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce from being gradually detached from him.

    The fragmentary star mark seemed to have sensed some kind of danger, and thus began to emanate dazzlingly bright starlight.

    After being detached, the floating fragmentary star mark seemed to turn into a glorious neb. The countless ancient magical symbols within it seemed to turn into stars. They shone so brightly that it was as if they were resisting being captured by that foreign Phantasm.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian, who had been observing in the dark, noticed that his refined fragmentary star mark had also surfaced from under his skin and detached itself from his chest!

    Like another neb, it floated in front of his chest.

    Without any active consciousness of his own, his star power and psychic power madly converged on that fragmentary star mark.

    Even the seven fragmentary stars within his soul flew out and rushed into that fragmentary star mark.

    Floating in front of Nie Tian¡¯s chest, the neb-like fragmentary star mark unleashed increasingly dazzling, bright starlight.

    The starlight was so blindingly bright that Xue Long and Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t even bear to look directly at it.

    Astonished by the scene, Xue Long asked, ¡°Nie Tian! What¡¯s happening?!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!" Pei Qiqi also asked hastily.

    The two of them hadn¡¯t been able to see Tong Jianfeng¡¯s death and the battle between Ning Yang and the Phantasm.

    Therefore, they were unable to make heads or tails of the sudden drastic changes that were happening to Nie Tian. They thought Ni Tian was in danger.

    However, at this moment, Nie Tian was having his star power and psychic power pulled away from him at an extremely fast speed, so he didn¡¯t have to time to exin.

    He focused all of his attention on the increasingly bright fragmentary star mark that was floating in front of his chest.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± In the enormous crater, the vague figure wreathed in cyan phantasm Qi suddenly sensed an anomaly as it was just about to harvest the legacy mark it had separated from Ning Yang¡¯s body.

    It noticed that the legacy mark, which it had already locked down using its thoughts, was shaking violently, as if it was doing its utmost to resist it.

    Originally, the Phantasm had no problem handling such resistance.

    However, at that moment, it suddenly sensed that another force had started to infuse the legacy mark with power from a distant location. Not only that, but the force even began to summon the legacy mark from within its hand.

    SHEW!

    Before it could react, it sensed a sudden surge in the force, and the legacy mark shot out of its hand and whizzed in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    In a location about a thousand meters away...

    Without any warning, Nie Tian¡¯s refined fragmentary star mark suddenly rose and flew straight up into the air, while shining with dazzlingly bright starlight.

    Like a rising star, it attracted everyone¡¯s attention, including Ning Yang¡¯s.

    Having his fragmentary star mark stripped from him, Ning Yang almost lost his mind. Staring at the cluster of bright starlight in the distant sky, he couldn¡¯t help but let out an enraged roar, ¡°Nie Tian!!!¡±

    He assumed that the vague figure that hade out of the meteor had been invited by Nie Tian, so that it could lure him into a trap and thus take his fragmentary star mark away from him.

    Watching the fragmentary star mark he had gone to great lengths to obtain from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce fly further and further away from him and towards the cluster of dazzling starlight, Ning Yang didn¡¯t even think for a second before shooting towards Nie Tian¡¯s location at his fastest possible speed,pletely ignoring the strange creature in front of him.

    The visitor from an unknown realm also caught sight of the cluster of bright starlight. ¡°A refined legacy mark!¡± With a single nce from afar, it was convinced that it was a refined legacy mark that had attracted its newly-acquired legacy mark away.

    It went nk for a brief moment, as it didn¡¯t understand the rtionship between Ning Yang and Nie Tian.

    However, in a sh, it snapped back to its senses and dashed towards Nie Tian¡¯s location after Ning Yang.

    WHOOSH!

    In the blink of an eye, the fragmentary star mark that had belonged to Ning Yang turned into a trail of bright light and arrived in the air above Nie Tian.

    Upon contact with Nie Tian¡¯s refined fragmentary star mark, the third fragmentary star mark received Nie Tian¡¯s star power and psychic power, along with the aura of the seven fragmentary stars from Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    Immediately afterwards, the two fragmentary star marks plummeted towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest like two falling stars.

    The refined fragmentary star mark flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s chest and disappeared into his flesh.

    However, the fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang appeared on his skin next to his second fragmentary star mark like another mysterious tattoo.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to leave now!¡± With a deep breath, Li Langfeng took out his bell and unleashed clusters of green smoke, which carried extremely toxic and corrosive auras.

    In a brief moment, he was engulfed by the thick, green smoke, and his eyes took on a dark-green color.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s bizarre magic and scrawny physique made him looked very much like an evil ghost at this moment.

    ¡°That Phantasm from some unknown realm possesses formidable power, and even I don¡¯t have any confidence in defeating it.¡± Seeing that Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Xue Long didn¡¯t intend to leave, Li Langfeng raised his voice and yelled, ¡°I won¡¯t stop Ning Yang from chasing after you. I¡¯ll only do my best to stall that Phantasm! You¡¯ll only need to escape from Ning Yang¡¯s pursuit, and then you¡¯ll be fine!

    ¡°Ning Yang probably won¡¯t be able to do much damage to you, but if that Phantasm somehow catches you, you all will be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt!¡±

    After uttering these words, Li Langfeng shot directly towards the iing Phantasm, wreathed in thick, green toxic smoke, along with a fierce, gruesome aura.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Ning Yang shouted, his face filled with a mad ecstasy.

    He had never expected that he would encounter Nie Tian after days of fruitless exploration and agonizing waiting in this region.

    Nie Tian had obtained two fragmentary star marks. As long as Nie Tian hadn¡¯t fully refined them, he would be able to strip them from him.

    If he could collect all three fragmentary marks and merge them with himself, he would be able to shoulder the important task of sealing the three major spatial rifts. At that time, not only would he be taken back by the Heaven Pce Sect, but he would also be the most famous man across the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian¡¯s appearance made him see the silver lining, so he dropped all other matters and focused on the pursuit of the three fragmentary star marks like a possessed person.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Let¡¯s go!¡± Xue Long also sensed the unfavorable situation, so he called out, ¡°Ning Yang isn¡¯t the real threat. That Phantasm is what¡¯s truly deadly! We have to run as far away as we can from this ce while Li Langfeng keeps that Phantasm busy. You absolutely can¡¯t be captured by that Phantasm. I believe it¡¯s also after the fragmentary star marks you have!¡±

    ¡°I understand!¡± Nie Tian nodded gently before he followed Xue Long and Pei Qiqi as the three of them sped away at the fastest speed possible.

 Chapter 341: Im Back!

    In the vast, open desert, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi followed Xue Long as the three of them ran at full speed.

    Behind them, Ning Yang pursued closely.

    After about 15 minutes, Ning Yang turned into a brilliant golden sh and rapidly closed in on them.

    With disheveled hair, Ning Yang had the appearance of a mad person. ¡°Nie Tian! Even if you run to the ends of the world, I¡¯ll still catch you and take those three fragmentary star marks from you!¡±

    He vigorously cast his spiritual sword forward, and it shot towards Nie Tian and the others so fast that it was as if it could break the barriers of space and reach them at any moment.

    Xue Long suddenly stopped. With a grim expression, he said, ¡°This won¡¯t work! Since Li Langfeng is holding that Phantasm off for you, I¡¯ll try my best to hold Ning Yang off for you!¡±

    With these words, Xue Long was immediately wreathed in a fierce sword intent.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, dazzling swords of light shot out of him as if they had flown out of pores all over him. The countless swords of light rapidly formed a rain of swords between him and Ning Yang.

    ording to his observations, he could tell that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with him if he didn¡¯t use the secret magics he had acquired from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Pei Qiqi, on the other hand, was skilled in spatial magics, so she was able to keep up with his pace.

    However, even he wasn¡¯t as fast as Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Considering Ning Yang¡¯s speed advantage, it was only a matter of time before he would catch up to them.

    That being the case, the only thing he could do was stay and fight Ning Yang. By keeping Ning Yang upied, he would be able to buy time for Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to escape.

    What he nned to do was exactly the same thing Li Langfeng was doing with the Phantasm.

    ¡°Uncle Xue! You...¡± A worried expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Since he knew perfectly well how powerful Ning Yang was, he could tell that Xue Long wouldn¡¯t be able to handle him.

    Even if it were Li Langfeng before his breakthrough into the Worldly realm, and the two of them were still both at the same stage, Li Langfeng probably wouldn¡¯t be able to overtake Ning Yang, much less Xue Long.

    Therefore, he was afraid that Xue Long would get himself killed by Ning Yang if he insisted on staying and fighting him.

    ¡°You can rest assured! I won¡¯t fight him to the death!¡± Xue Long knew what he was worrying about, and thus urged them in a loud voice, ¡°Go! The sooner you leave Ning Yang¡¯s sight, the safer I¡¯ll be! When I¡¯m certain that he won¡¯t be able to locate you anymore, I¡¯ll immediately end my battle against him and run to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, where I¡¯ll use the Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal to return to Shatter City!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As he spoke, a golden sh shot into his rain of swords of light.

    One after another, the countless swords of light rapidly disappeared like a shoal of fish being chomped away by a shark.

    Under his gaze, the barrier he had established with a rain of swords was rapidly falling apart.

    ¡°Take care!¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t insist. Instead, he exchanged a gaze with Pei Qiqi before dashing off again.

    Soon after they left, Ning Yang¡¯s angry roars echoed out from behind them, along with terrifyingly strong fluctuations of spiritual power.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t bear to look back. He forced himself to calm down and run at full speed side by side with Pei Qiqi.

    In the meantime, he spared a wisp of his psychic awareness and used it to examine himself. He discovered that he had consumed substantial amounts of strength when his refined fragmentary star mark had attracted Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark.

    He had lost sixty percent of his star power and more than half of his psychic power.

    WHOOSH!

    The seven fragmentary stars suddenly flew out of his refined fragmentary star mark and reentered his mind.

    Only then, when they once again hung high in his soul, was the connection between him and his seven Heaven Eyes reestablished.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian had a feeling that wisps of rich psychic power and star power had started to exude out of the refine fragmentary star mark, which had already merged with his flesh and blood, and slowly flow towards his mind and dantian region.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes gradually lit up.

    Originally, he thought his psychic power, star power, and seven fragmentary stars had been consumed when they had been pulled away from him by that refined fragmentary star mark.

    The return of these strengths made him feel greatly relieved.

    RUUUUUMBLE!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound rang out from the region where Xue Long and Ning Yang were fighting. Numerous golden lights shed across the air like lightning bolts.

    The sword intent and spiritual aura that belonged to Xue Long were gradually overtaken.

    After the seven fragmentary stars returned to his soul, the images captured by his seven Heaven Eyes were once again reflected within Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    With a thought, hemanded one of his Heaven Eyes that hadn¡¯t flown back to his side after the connection was reestablished to fly towards the area where Xue Long and Ning Yang¡¯s battle was taking ce.

    Via that Heaven Eye, he saw Ning Yang brandishing his spiritual sword, and with every swing, it sent out a beam of golden light.

    At that moment, there were already dozens of arm-thick golden beams of light hovering around him and Xue Long, each of which was branded with his unlimited fighting spirit, as well as the profound truths of metal power.

    Meanwhile, Xue Long contended against the joint attack of the numerous golden light beams with the swords of light he had created ording to the profound spiritual incantation he practiced.

    However, it was very clear that Xue Long was trapped.

    Soon after he cast spells and created more swords of light, many of them were shattered by Ning Yang¡¯s numerous golden light beams.

    Xue Long was deeply caught up in a very unfavorable situation. The golden light beams had already left a crisscrosswork of wounds on his body.

    Normally speaking, being at thete Greater Heaven stage and a guest elder of the Blood Skull, Xue Long should be stronger than most cultivators who had the same cultivation base as him.

    When he had fought Shi Hui earlier, he seemed to have handled Shi Hui with skill and ease, and didn¡¯t need to strain himself at all.

    However, now that his opponent was Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect, a well-known figure throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, he seemed obviously dominated. From the look of it, he even began to have difficulty fighting back at all.

    Nie Tian suddenly stopped his dashing momentum.

    Only after running for a dozen more meters did Pei Qiqi, who had reserved her speed to keep pace with him,e to realize that he had stopped. Thus, she stopped as well.

    She turned around and asked with her bright eyes filled with confusion, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°You go ahead and leave, senior martial sister,¡± Nie Tian said with a solemn tone. ¡°Uncle Xue is in danger. Ning Yang is too powerful for him. He won¡¯t be able to escape from Ning Yang with just his own strength. I can¡¯t watch him die because of me and do nothing. I have to go back for him!¡±

    ¡°Are you crazy!?¡± Pei Qiqi eximed.

    Nie Tian nodded, saying, ¡°Yeah, I might just be... Thank you for your concern and good intentions, senior martial sister. However, Ning Yang is too powerful. The way I see it, even Li Langfeng didn¡¯t have the ability to handle him single-handedly when he was at the peak of the Greater Heaven stage. So there¡¯s no way Uncle Xue will be able to do that. If he gets mad andys a murderous hand on Uncle Xue, I doubt that he¡¯ll be able to get away.¡±

    ¡°You said it yourself that Ning Yang is way too powerful.¡± Pei Qiqi said anxiously. ¡°What difference will it make if you do go back?¡±

    With a determined expression on his face, Nie Tian said, ¡°If I summon the me Dragon Armor, I might be able to help Uncle Xue escape! If worstes to worst, I can use the escape magic from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I¡¯ll be fine, senior martial sister. I¡¯m grateful for what you¡¯ve done for me, truly. I¡¯ll see you in Shatter City!¡±

    SHEW!

    Without waiting for Pei Qiqi to say anything back, he cast a short-range Starshift and appeared in a location more than three hundred meters away.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    After two more short-range Starshifts, he disappeared from Pei Qiqi¡¯s view like a flickering me that had gone out.

    ¡°The bastard did it again!¡± Rage filled Pei Qiqi¡¯s face.

    Last time, when the me Dragon Armor had whizzed out of Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding to snatch Heaven me Crystals from Shi Hui, he had sensed the unfavorable situation. Therefore, in order to avoid dragging her into trouble, he left by casting a few short-range Starshifts in a row and disappeared before she had a chance to respond.

    It hadn¡¯t been long when he had promised Pei Qiqi that he wouldn¡¯t act on his own and leave her before getting her permission again.

    However, now that they were in danger again, he did the exact same thing.

    ¡°Why would I listen to you!?¡± Pei Qiqi stomped her feet and turned around after Nie Tian, regardless of the danger she would face, as if she was only doing it out of her anger towards him.

    ...

    Eyes filled with brutality and madness, Ning Yang brandished his spiritual sword that emanated brilliant golden light as he said, ¡°Since you want to be a hero, I¡¯ll kill you first! Nie Tian is only at the Heaven stage. He won¡¯t be able to run away from me in this open desert. Even if I take a while to kill you, I¡¯ll still be able to chase him down. You won¡¯t be able to hold me for long.¡±

    With his sword intent being gradually nibbled away by Ning Yang¡¯s golden light beams, Xue Long looked especially grim.

    He had always known that Ning Yang was very powerful, but only when they were engaged in battle did he understand how formidable this man, who the Heaven Pce Sect had ced high hopes on, really was.

    Before their engagement, he had never expected that a man at the same cultivation stage as him could be so powerful that he wouldn¡¯t be able to run away from him even though he wanted to.

    Even when he had fought Li Langfeng before he had entered the Worldly realm, he hadn¡¯t felt such a strong pressure.

    Seeing that Ning Yang¡¯s golden light beams had blocked every possible escape route, and that the room left for him was shrinking by the second, a sense of desperation rose in Xue Long¡¯s heart for the first time.

    ¡°This deal I made with the Spirit Condor turned out to be such a losing one. I can¡¯t believe it will cost me my life...¡± Xue Long thought to himself, full of regret.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from the distance, ¡°Uncle Xue! I¡¯m back!!¡±

    Even before his voice died away, Nie Tian turned into a tiny spark of starlight and appeared in front of him.

 Chapter 342: Flame Dragon Form

    Surrounded by sky-filing golden lights, Xue Long went dumbstruck after seeing that Nie Tian had returned.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A beam of golden light swept across Xue Long¡¯s waist, cutting off a piece of his flesh and leaving a bloody gash.

    With a pained cry, Xue Long refocused his attention on defending against the slithering golden light beams that had shot out of Ning Yang¡¯s sword.

    However, he couldn¡¯t help but check Nie Tian out from time to time with a both touched and worried look in his eyes.

    After all, he had never expected that Nie Tian would actually have the audacity toe back.

    Ning Yang was so powerful that even he was barely able to stay alive. He couldn¡¯t even manage to escape from the blockade of Ning Yang¡¯s golden sword lights.

    He believed that there wasn¡¯t a single person in the Realm of Split Void who had the same cultivation base as Ning Yang that would be worthy of being his opponent.

    Nie Tian knew perfectly clearly how formidable Ning Yang was, and that he and Xue Long had onlye together because of a deal.

    Not only that, but the Phantasm currently being held off by Li Langfeng was also a major threat to Nie Tian.

    Once the Phantasm broke free from Li Langfeng¡¯s blockade and came for Nie Tian, he would be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    Under such extreme circumstances, Nie Tian was obviously being irrational toe back to his aid.

    On the other hand, the way Xue Long saw it, since Nie Tian was only at the Heaven stage, even though he had returned, he actually wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to help. It would just be one more life lost.

    Therefore, even though he was very touched, he felt that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t being smart.

    Xue Long¡¯s face grew stern as he berated, ¡°Why did youe back? I told you not to mind me. Why didn¡¯t you listen? What¡¯s the point of youing back? Will you be able to help me?¡±

    With a sickly ecstatic look in his eyes, Ning Yangughed broadly. ¡°Great!!! Leave me those three fragmentary star marks and I¡¯ll spare your lives! Otherwise, both of you will die here today!¡±

    Nie Tian was surprisingly calm as he said, ¡°Uncle Xue, it doesn¡¯t matter what kind of deal you¡¯ve made with the Spirit Condor. Since you¡¯re here to help me aplish a task, I can¡¯t watch you die. Also, howe you¡¯re so certain that I won¡¯t be able to help you?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding.

    The crimson me Dragon Armor unleashed zing mes, as if it had turned into a miniature sun, causing crackling sounds to echo out from the air around it.

    ¡°A Spirit Channeling grade treasure! And it¡¯s fire-attributed!¡± Xue Long was bbergasted.

    Only then did he finally realize that this was probably the fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure that Shi Hui and his men had seen in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    After all, aside from people from the me God Sect, not many people knew that the me Dragon Armor had been in Nie Tian¡¯s possession.

    Even though Xue Long had figured out Nie Tian¡¯s real identity, he wasn¡¯t aware that he was the owner of that Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    Ning Yang gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°As I expected, the me Dragon Armor is indeed in your hands!¡±

    As a core disciple and the lead searcher of the Heaven Pce Sect, Ning Yang naturally had ess to more information than Xue Long did.

    Upon seeing the me Dragon Armor, Ning Yang slightly restrained his disdain and assumed a much more serious attitude as he faced Nie Tian.

    He had heard some stories regarding the me Dragon Armor, and he knew that this Spirit Channeling grade treasure had never disyed its true might after it had been obtained by the me God Sect.

    The reason was that the me Dragon Armor they had seized hadn¡¯t beenplete.

    The most important part of the me Dragon Armor was the Blood Core, which was its source of energy. The me God Sect had been searching for the Blood Core ever since they had obtained the me Dragon Armor, but their efforts had been fruitless.

    However, ording to the information Ning Yang had obtained, the me Dragon Armor Nie Tian had just summoned out of his bracelet of holding should have merged with its Blood Core and beplete.

    Even its damaged parts seemed to be somehow repaired. This meant that the me Dragon Armor had be intact in Nie Tian¡¯s hands, and it was now a Spirit Channeling grade treasure that was capable of inflicting tremendous damage.

    Every Spirit Channeling grade treasure could be considered to be a weapon of massive destruction, not to mention this was the famous me Dragon Armor.

    After summoning the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian focused his attention on his firm will to kill Ning Yang, ¡°Help me kill this man!¡±

    He had faith that the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul would be able to read his mind.

    As Nie Tian had expected, the moment he made his intentions clear, the me Dragon Armor, which was burning fiercely like a sun, morphed into a gigantic me dragon. Thundering ferociously, it swooped down towards Ning Yang, following the directions given by Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Red mes were unleashed from within the slithering, gigantic me dragon¡¯s intangible body.

    Wherever the me dragon flew, even the air seemed to be set aze. It was as if the terrifying heat had turned the area within a five-kilometer radius into a fiery dimension.

    As the me dragon swam in the air, drops ofva dripped down from it¡¯s zing body from time to time.

    However, the drops ofva didn¡¯t fall to the ground. Instead, they floated in midair like numerous burning fire beads, as if they werepletely free from the influence of gravity.

    Momentster, the air above Nie Tian¡¯s head was filled with fire beads.

    PUFF!

    With a swing of his spiritual sword, Ning Yang sent out a golden light beam. As soon as it made contact with the floating fire beads, dazzlingly bright golden light shot out in every direction, along with sputtering sparks.

    At this moment, there were as many as several hundred light beams hovering around and trapping Xue Long, each of which contained sharp and profound metal power. They were swirling at a speed so fast that Xue Long couldn¡¯t find any possible angle to escape.

    As Ning Yang sent out more golden light beams and they continued to sh with the floating fire beads, more golden and fiery light blossomed and sputtered into the surroundings.

    In a brief moment, the area was overwhelmed by a splendid feast of fire and light.

    Golden and fiery light shed across and rapidly filled the entire sky, making it a glorious scene.

    However, the fierce and frenzied energy the sputtering golden and fiery lights carried continued to cause damage to the area they were in.

    As the golden light beams sputtered on the desert ground, one sizable hole after another was created in the sandy ground.

    As the fiery lights fell to the the desert ground, the sandy ground turned scorching hot, as if it was rainingva and the sand was burning.

    ¡°The might of a Spirit Channeling grade treasure is indeed amazing!¡± Xue Long was overjoyed as he watched the golden light beams around him be destroyed by the countless fire beads. Finally, the trap was broken, and he charged out through a loophole in the swirling golden sword lights.

    Standing outside the copsing trap formed by the golden sword lights, covered in bloody wounds, Xue Long couldn¡¯t stop panting. He hastily took out a handful of medicinal pills from within his ring of holding and stuffed them down his throat.

    Immediately afterwards, the numerous gashes on his badly mangled body stopped bleeding.

    With a grim expression, Ning Yang let out a sharp cry, ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡±

    Holding his spiritual sword, which was glittering with golden bright light, he leapt into the air.

    Under Nie Tian and Xue Long¡¯s gazes, Ning Yang seemed to have merged with his golden spiritual sword and be one enormous broadsword. With an unstoppable momentum, it shot into the heavens.

    In a split second, the iparably sharp broadsword engaged in battle with the me Dragon Armor in me dragon form in midair.

    If they didn¡¯t sense with their psychic awareness, but rather observed with their naked eyes, they wouldn¡¯t be able to find any trace of the me Dragon Armor or Ning Yang. All they would see was an enormous golden broadsword fighting a gigantic me dragon in midair.

    Even more fragmented golden lights and fire drops fell from midair.

    The sky was filled with zing mes and the earth was covered in holes. The fluctuations of spiritual power created by the midair shes were so violent that they left Nie Tian in awe.

    With a shocked expression on his face, he marveled, ¡°I can¡¯t believe Ning Yang is so powerful!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, as the chosen one of the Heaven Pce Sect, he surely possesses unparalleled strength.¡± Xue Long said with a bitter smile. ¡°Before our engagement, I didn¡¯t expect him to be so powerful either.¡±

    CRUNCH!

    As they spoke, the golden broadsword hacked heavily down on the neck of the zing me dragon, giving rise to a loud, metallic, nking sound.

    In the next moment, the me Dragon Armor resumed its original form.

    Ning Yang¡¯s figure also appeared, holding his normal-sized golden sword, which had hacked on the surface of the me Dragon Armor.

    The sword strike didn¡¯t leave any fissure or dent on the me Dragon Armor.

    However, the sharp metal power within the golden spiritual sword turned into tiny, golden light swords and flew into the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°This is not good!¡± Xue Long¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°After all, your cultivation base is still too low, and you can¡¯t wear this Spirit Channeling grade armor yet. Because of this, you can¡¯t activate and disy its full might.¡±

    Nie Tian also sensed the unfavorable situation.

    No matter how high its grade, it was still a spiritual tool. Just like any other spiritual tool, it would only be able to disy its ultimate power when it became one with its master.

    This meant that only when he was able to wear the me Dragon Armor, and his cultivation base allowed him to have the me Dragon Armor follow his heart¡¯s desire, would he be able to bring out its full might.

    At this moment, he was facing two problems: one, his cultivation base was still too low; second, he still couldn¡¯t wear the me Dragon Armor.

    Although he had killed Qiu Yang by relying on the me Dragon Armor¡¯s might, it seemed that if he wanted to kill the iparably strongte Greater Heaven stage Ning Yang, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s might alone was probably not enough.

    Ferocity could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he blurted, ¡°Uncle Xue, we need to either kill him or badly injure him. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to lose him at all. I need your help! Together, we can stop him from chasing after us for good!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡±

 Chapter 343: Three Parties Join Hands

    Now that the me Dragon Armor was there to distract Ning Yang, Xue Long was no longer worried that he would have to shoulder the task of defending against him single-handedly.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, Xue Long, who had been messed up really badly by Ning Yang, shared his determination to seriously injure or even kill Ning Yang.

    ¡°Go!¡± With a thought, Xue Longmanded his sword to fly out of his ring of holding.

    As it did, it shed in midair, sending out a ten-meter long sword light, which pierced directly towards Ning Yang¡¯s chest!

    Ning Yang, who had hacked onto the me Dragon Armor¡¯s surface with his golden sword, was attempting to destroy the me Dragon Armor¡¯s internal structure ording to his understanding of the profound truths of metal power.

    When Xue Long¡¯s sword light sailed through the air and pierced towards him, he had no choice but to spare some of his attention to defend against it.

    ¡°Golden Armor Shield!¡± With an effortless move of his hand, Ning Yang cast out a shield glittering with brilliant, golden light.

    The golden shield was hexagonal. It rotated in the air and immediately formed a wall of golden light, blocking the path of Xue Long¡¯s ten-meter long sword light.

    ¡°Split!¡± Upon Xue Long¡¯s cold harrumph, his sword light split into three smaller sword lights, two of which bypassed the golden light wall.

    Like two swift fish, they nked Ning Yang, harboring the intentions to pierce into both sides of his ribcage.

    ¡°You¡¯re just too stubborn!¡± With a ice-cold look in his eyes, Ning Yang made a grabbing motion towards Xue Long¡¯s sword lights with his empty hand, as if he were channeling something.

    In the next moment, countless golden lights shone out of his palm, and a strange force was born, which forcibly bent Xue Long¡¯s two sword lights and changed their directions.

    They whizzed by Ning Yang¡¯s side, one from the left and one from the right, when they were only one meter away from him.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± The tips of Ning Yang¡¯s eyebrows rose as he seemed to sense an anomaly, so he rapidly turned around to check.

    Watery ripples began to spread out gently in the empty space behind him.

    All of a sudden, four slender swords appeared from within the ripples.

    Sharp sounds rang out as the four swords seemed to have pierced through the barrier of space and flown towards Ning Yang like four bolts of lightning.

    ¡°Ethereal Swords! Senior Martial Sister!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    Xue Long¡¯s two sword lights pierced into the desert ground. As they did, a blue shadow appeared out of nowhere.

    Ning Yang let out a cold harrumph as he retracted his golden spiritual sword from the me Dragon Armor. ¡°Are you courting death?!¡±

    With a few graceful swings of the sword, he sent out one golden sword light after another towards the iing Ethereal Swords.

    The Ethereal Swords flickered constantly as they traveled through the air, disappearing in one moment and appearing in the next.

    However, Ning Yang¡¯s golden sword lights seemed to possess their own spirit and awareness. With great precision, they rapidly sought out the Ethereal Swords.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    Even though the Ethereal Swords hid themselves in the void, they were located, bombarded by the golden sword lights, and brought down from midair.

    Pei Qiqi let out a muffled groan as blood trickled down the corner of her exquisite mouth.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Nie Tian rapidly formed a spiritual energy ball and cast it towards Ning Yang.

    Ning Yang didn¡¯t even turn around before a dazzling, golden lightning bolt shot out of his back.

    When the spiritual energy ball was still ten meters away from him, it was prated by the fierce, golden lightning bolt and exploded.

    However, as Ning Yang spared his attention to deal with Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian, Xue Long¡¯s one remaining sword light finally prated the defensive light wall created by Ning Yang¡¯s golden shield.

    As it happened, Ning Yang¡¯s expression finally flickered slightly.

    Nie Tian, who was about to summon strength to form more spiritual energy balls, suddenly sensed a strong attractive force being born within the me Dragon Armor, which was within arms-reach from Ning Yang.

    In the next moment, his me power was forcibly pulled away from his madly rotating vortex of me power.

    The me power seemed to have turned into a river of mes and infused into the me Dragon Armor in a split second.

    As soon as his me power poured into the me Dragon Armor, he was struck by a strong feeling that the connection between him and the me Dragon Armor had be unprecedentedly strong!

    At the same time, he noticed that his psychic power was also being pulled away from him at an amazing speed.

    SHEW!

    By casting a short-range Starshift, Nie Tian suddenly appeared in a location close to Ning Yang.

    The me Dragon Armor flew back to him after sensing his appearance in the vicinity.

    However, unlike the times before, the me Dragon Armor didn¡¯t return to his bracelet of holding. Instead, it descended upon him from above his head and fell on his body.

    Scalding heat immediately came from the heavy, mountain-like suit of armor.

    Standing not far from Ning Yang, Nie Tian experienced severe pain in his knees as his whole body sank slightly, as if he had been hammered into the ground. Like a pair of spears, his feet pierced deeply into the sand.

    Panting nonstop, he struggled to channel his flesh power towards his legs. Only by doing that was he barely able to withstand the terrifying weight of the me Dragon Armor.

    At that moment, raging mes were unleashed from the me Dragon Armor¡¯s crimson surface, while numerous fiery patterns and seals slithered on it like living dragons or snakes.

    But for some reason, the zing mes unleashed by the me Dragon Armor only caused slight difort to Nie Tian.

    They didn¡¯t inflict the slightest damage to his fleshy body.

    With a brief examination, he discovered that the torrential mes wereced with his own me power.

    The me power that had been channeled away from him seemed to have merged with the me Dragon Armor and thus allowed it to carry his aura so that he would be able to withstand the destructive mes it released.

    While he was secretly amazed, he sensed that the me Dragon Armor had started absorbing his me power again.

    Not only that, but his flesh power, which was much richer and purer than that of Qi warriors at his cultivation stage, was infused into the me Dragon Armor along with it.

    The me Dragon Armor, which seemed to weigh over three thousand tons, seemed to have be so much lighter after absorbing his flesh power.

    CLANG! CLANG!

    Ning Yang met Xue Long¡¯s iing sword with his golden sword. Upon contact, numerous fragmented sparks shot out into the surroundings, many of which flew directly towards Nie Tian like tiny daggers.

    At that time, under the me Dragon Armor¡¯s channeling, raging mes mixed with Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power and formed a bloody-red light screen over Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    As the dagger-like sparks approached Nie Tian, they had their might cut in half by the chaotic maic field.

    Then, when they actually reached the bloody-red light screen, their attacks were as weak as tickling, and thus didn¡¯t cause any damage to the protective screen at all.

    Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention, and discovered that the sputtering sparks had failed to bring the slightest changes to the bloody-red light screen.

    Astonishment could be seen in his wide eyes. ¡°I-is this the true might of the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    With this thought, he attempted to move his legs, and found that even though the me Dragon Armor still felt iparably heavy, he was able to move about in it.

    After neutralizing Xue Long¡¯s full-force attack and making Pei Qiqi puke blood, Ning Yang finallyid his eyes on Nie Tian again. ¡°From the look of it, you don¡¯t intend to hand me the fragmentary star marks.¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian was standing only ten meters from him, wearing the me Dragon Armor.

    Without any warning, he shot his golden sword towards Nie Tian.

    The golden sword unleashed ear-piercingly sharp whistles as it entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field within a breath¡¯s time.

    The various types of power within the chaotic maic field disturbed and distorted the power Ning Yang had infused into his golden sword.

    However, the golden was only slowed down slightly as it pierced towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest with an unstoppable momentum.

    BANG!

    The golden sword was finally met with strong obstruction as it made contact with the bloody-red light screen. It was actually stopped by the light screen formed by raging mes and Nie Tian¡¯s flesh essence.

    The numerous fiery patterns and seals on the me Dragon Armor¡¯s surface were rapidly slithering around.

    Nie Tian and his me Dragon Armor seemed to have turned into a burning sun, and started to emanate frighteningly fierce light and heat.

    Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that all of his me power and most of his flesh power had been sucked away by the me Dragon Armor in a sh.

    ¡°What?!" Ning Yang eximed, standing out of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, constantly waving his hands to form hand seals.

    All of a sudden, countless golden electric arcs flew out from between his palms, rushed into the chaotic maic field, and disappeared into his golden sword.

    After receiving Ning Yang¡¯s reinforcement, the golden sword began to pierce into the blood-colored light screen little by little.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The sounds of the Ethereal Swords rang out again.

    Xue Long also charged towards Ning Yang, roaring madly.

    Ning Yang¡¯s expression remained calm as ever. With a thought, he called his floating golden shield back, which morphed into a streak of golden light and flew back to him.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, as the golden light approached, Ning Yang actually opened his mouth and swallowed it.

    Immediately afterwards, the golden shield seemed to merge with his flesh and blood.

    CLANG! CLANG!

    Metallic shes rang out as Pei Qiqi¡¯s four Ethereal Swords made contact with Ning Yang¡¯s back. None of them managed to pierce into Ning Yang¡¯s skin, but rather, they seemed to have met a piece of metal.

    Simultaneously, Xue Long¡¯s sword shed down onto Ning Yang¡¯s shoulder.

    CLANG!

    Sparks sputtered off Ning Yang¡¯s shoulder. His well-built body shuddered as his eyes were suddenly filled with wrath.

    Ning Yang¡¯s skin could now be seen through his torn garments, and unexpectedly, it was the same color as the golden shield he had just swallowed. The shield seemed to have fully merged with him, making his body imprable.

    ¡°Come on!¡± Xue Long¡¯s fighting spirit seemed to be further bolstered. After assuming a firm grip on his sword, he hacked madly at Ning Yang¡¯s head and neck over and over again.

    Pei Qiqi also approached Ning Yang. She strengthened her Ethereal Swords with her profound spatial magics andmanded them to pierce towards Ning Yang¡¯s back.

    On the other hand, enveloped by the bloody-red light screen, Nie Tian¡¯s face start to look sinister.

    Everyst bit of his me power and flesh power had been pulled away by the me Dragon Armor.

    All the other types of power seemed ipatible with the me Dragon Armor, and thus couldn¡¯t be used to strengthen the bloody-red light screen.

    However, Ning Yang¡¯s golden sword was unleashing increasingly mighty power. From the look of it, it could shatter the blood-colored light screen at any moment.

    Nie Tian threw his head back and let out a explosive roar, ¡°Ning Yang!!!¡±

    It was at that moment of life or death that his heart started racing again.

 Chapter 344: Leave No Trouble for the Future!

    As Nie Tian¡¯s heart started to pound heavily, the green aura that had been coiled at the bottom of his heart suddenly rushed out.

    Wisps of blood seemed to be channeled by the green aura as they flowed out of his veins all over his body and infused into the bloody-red light screen created by the me Dragon Armor.

    The moment the light screen received Nie Tian¡¯s blood, it seemed to have found a brand-new source of energy, and it instantly lit up!

    Ning Yang¡¯s golden sword, the tip of which was piercing into the blood-colored light screen, suddenly began to tremble violently.

    As the green aura also flew into the bloody-red light screen, Nie Tian could see with great rity that it rushed directly towards the tip of the golden sword.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Trembling nonstop, Ning Yang¡¯s originally sharp sword seemed to have suddenly be dull.

    Like a green sh, the green aura flew right into the golden sword.

    The floating sword seemed to have been infused with thousands of tons of weight, and suddenly dropped to the ground.

    At the same time, Ning Yang, who was focused on infusing the golden sword with more golden light, experienced a violent shudder in his body, his face filled with shock and confusion.

    While he was shocked into a daze, his hands, which were rapidly moving to form exquisite hand seals, exploded.

    A bloody mist was created around his badly mangled hands. Bloody wounds appeared on his body, which no longer seemed to be made of pure, imprable metal.

    POOH!

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s Ethereal Swords finally prated his skin and pierced into his back.

    Ning Yang let out a muffled groan and prepared tounch counter-attacks. However, Xue Long¡¯s sword then shed heavily into his shoulder.

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of bone cracking rang out from Ning Yang¡¯s shoulder. Standing straight like a spear, Ning Yang¡¯s legs sank into the sand from the terrifying impact of Xue Long¡¯s full-force sh.

    SHEW!

    After Ning Yang¡¯s golden sword fell to the ground, the green aura immediately rushed back into Nie Tian¡¯s body and returned to his heart.

    With the major threat lifted, Nie Tian blurred into action and appeared in front of Ning Yang. Without the slightest hesitation, he summoned his remaining strength and bombarded Ning Yang¡¯s chest with a Rage Punch.

    Upon the explosive impact, the flesh on Ning Yang¡¯s chest split open, creating another blood mist.

    After puking arge amount of blood, Ning Yang¡¯s unwavering, mountain-like body was sent staggering backwards.

    Meanwhile, the four Ethereal Swords pierced deeper into his back.

    Still standing straight, Ning Yang had blood dripping down from his hands, chest, and mouth.

    BANG!

    Finally, he fell backwards, shock and fear recing the fierceness in his eyes.

    Lying facing the sky, he stared off into the heavens, as it seemed that he didn¡¯t understand what had just happened.

    It appeared that he couldn¡¯t believe that the Heaven stage Nie Tian had actuallyunched such a powerful strike.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor...¡± Staring nkly into the sky, a train of thoughts entered Ning Yang¡¯s mind. He seemed to be marveling at the formidable might of this Spirit Channeling grade treasure, among many other things.

    At that moment, Xue Long cried out, hoping to stop Pei Qiqi, ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t!¡±

    When Ning Yang had copsed to the ground, Pei Qiqi had unleashed an exquisite spatial magic and formed a sparking spatial de with a series of hand seals.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi was manipting the spatial de to finish Ning Yang off while he wasn¡¯t able to protect himself.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Xue Long fended off Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial de from Ning Yang¡¯s neck with his sword.

    He shouted at Pei Qiqi, ¡°Have you lost your mind? He still is a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect! The Heaven Pce Sect hasn¡¯t officially expelled him yet, which means he is still under the the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s protection!

    ¡°If you kill him, considering the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s influence, they¡¯ll definitely get to the bottom of it.

    ¡°Once you¡¯ve angered the Heaven Pce Sect, no one will be able to keep you safe, not even your master!¡±

    Xue Long¡¯s cry quelled Pei Qiqi¡¯s soaring killing intent. As she gradually calmed herself, she stood in silence, as if she hade to realize that if she had actually killed Ning Yang, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to find a single ce that was safe for her in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    RUUUUUMBLE!

    At that moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound echoed out from the direction of the meteor¡¯s crash site.

    Nie Tian, Xue Long, and Pei Qiqi turned around and discovered that bright lights were shing across the air in that area. The rampaging spiritual power fluctuations were even causing the earth to tremble.

    Furious mes, slithering lightning bolts, endless ice shards, and devastating thunder rolls had turned that area into a realm of death.

    In the very distant sky, where spiritual powers were shing nonstop, two insignificant figures could be seen attacking a cyan cloud together from both sides.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, Li Langfeng, who was supposed to be holding off the Phantasm, shed into appearance, covered in blood and coughing nonstop.

    With every cough, he would spit out a mouthful of grimy blood, which fell heavily into the sand, like small cannon balls.

    Solid cyan pieces could be seen within them, as if they were clusters of foreign energies within the phantasm Qi which he wasn¡¯t able to absorb and refine.

    As powerful as he was, he couldn¡¯t even support his own weight at this moment.

    He had to get down on one knee and process the corrosive energy the Phantasm had left in him in that position. Through spitting out his own blood, he gradually expelled the ipatible alien energies from his system.

    Since the moment he appeared, Nie Tian and the others had fixed all of their attention on him.

    Under their confused gazes, Li Langfeng said weakly after another cough, ¡°That Phantasm was way too powerful. If those two Worldly realm Wild Fire experts didn¡¯t sense the battle between me and that Phantasm ande to my aid, I would have been killed already.¡±

    Xue Long was bbergasted. ¡°What? Worldly realm experts from the Wild Fire were attracted by your battle against that Phantasm?¡±

    Face pale and eyes lifeless, Li Langfeng nodded slightly. ¡°Our battle caused a major stir in that area. Since we were not far from Ash City, those two Wild Fire experts were on one of their trips to the forbidden region. They sensed our battle and came.

    ¡°After all, the Phantasm is an outsider. Even though I was never close to the Wild Fire, the moment they saw the Phantasm, they threw themselves at it.

    ¡°I was so badly injured that I had to get out of there.¡±

    After a brief exnation, he caught sight of Ning Yang, who was lying feeble and staring into the heavens, and said, ¡°Did you three do this to him?¡±

    Even though Li Langfeng had only caught a glimpse of Ning Yang¡¯s battle skills, he was convinced that this man wasn¡¯t someone Xue Long could handle.

    Even if he was still at the Greater Heaven stage, he wouldn¡¯t have confidence to beat this man in a battle.

    From what Li Langfeng could tell, both Nie Tian¡¯s and Pei Qiqi¡¯s strengths were very limited. He didn¡¯t believe either of them could provide Xue Long with noticeable assistance.

    ¡°Umm... Yeah.¡± A bitter smile filled Xue Long¡¯s face.

    He knew perfectly clearly why Li Langfeng seemed so surprised.

    He was well-aware that Li Langfeng didn¡¯t think very highly of his battle prowess, which was why he had only urged them to try their best to escape from Ning Yang¡¯s pursuit.

    Li Langfeng believed that if the three of them cooperated well enough, they would probably be able to lose Ning Yang.

    As a matter of fact, even now, Xue Long still found the scene in front of him a bit unreal.

    He had never expected that Nie Tian would have been able to withstand Ning Yang¡¯s full-force attack.

    Only because Ning Yang had focused his mind and all of his strength on killing Nie Tian had he and Pei Qiqi found the opportunity to approach and attack Ning Yang without encountering any resistance.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t shouldered most of Ning Yang¡¯s attacking force, he and Pei Qiqi probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to even get close to Ning Yang.

    Although they had won this battle and Ning Yang was no longer capable of fighting back, he wasn¡¯t happy at all.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯te back for him, he probably would have been killed by Ning Yang already.

    ¡°Sorry, Brother Xue,¡± Li Langfeng said solemnly. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have underestimated you.¡±

    He assumed that Xue Long was the main reason why the three of them had been able to make Ning Yang suffer from severe injuries and copse.

    Before, he didn¡¯t have a high opinion of Xue Long, and assumed that his battle prowess wasn¡¯t on the same level as Ning Yang.

    Ning Yang¡¯s total defeat made him change his opinion about Xue Longpletely.

    However, after being appraised by him, Xue Long seemed very embarrassed. He put on a wry smile and said, ¡°Well, this was mainly thanks to Nie Tian. I didn¡¯t do much.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°You¡¯re being humble. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would have been dead already.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian stepped to Ning Yang¡¯s side, where he looked down at the already-unconscious Ning Yang silently.

    ¡°What do you want to do, Nie Tian!?¡± Xue Long eximed.

    With a calm expression and a determined tone, Nie Tian said, ¡°Uncle Xue, the enmity between him and me has be so great that it can never be forgiven. I took the third fragmentary star mark from him, along with the unbelievable fortune thates with it. As long as he¡¯s alive, he won¡¯t allow me to live in peace.¡±

    bbergasted, Xue Long said, ¡°You want to kill him?! No! You¡¯ve got to calm down! He¡¯s still a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect!¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s too powerful. He possesses such formidable battle prowess while he¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage.¡± Nie Tian seemed to have mulled over his decision. ¡°If he survives this fierce battle, he¡¯ll definitely advance into the Worldly realm. Once that happens, I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t even be able to sleep at night. I can¡¯t afford to let him live. Otherwise, he¡¯s going to be my worst nightmare.¡±

    With these words, he had already summoned the fire-attributed broadsword he had used to kill Qiu Yang, and intended to drive it through Ning Yang¡¯s neck.

    At that moment, Ning Yang¡¯s eyes snapped open as he shouted, ¡°Do you actually dare to kill me?!¡±

    ¡°How about I do it for you, Nie Tian?¡± Li Langfeng said with an intrigued expression on his face. His eyes were filled with approval and appreciation as he looked at Nie Tian. ¡°I¡¯m all by myself and bound by no rules. Even if killing him means I won¡¯t be able to make a living in the Realm of Split Void anymore, I can just go to other realms. I¡¯m not afraid of the Heaven Pce Sect. Let me do you the favor.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t be necessary.¡±

    Amidst Ning Yang¡¯s shriek, his sword shed down from midair.

    Unable to defend himself, Ning Yang had his head severed from his body. Even still, his eyes were still wide open, as if he still couldn¡¯t believe that Nie Tian would actually have the audacity to kill him despite his noble status.

 Chapter 345: Appreciation

    Li Langfeng couldn¡¯t help but call out, ¡°Good boy!¡±

    He didn¡¯t expect that Nie Tian would actually have the audacity to chop off Ning Yang¡¯s head.

    Since the Heaven Pce Sect hadn¡¯t formally dered that they had expelled him, he was still a member of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Not only that, but the Heaven Pce Sect had also ced high hopes in him. They had thrown in endless resources and effort to build him up into a future star, which was apparent from the exquisite golden sword and shield he used

    Ever since Xue Long had made his deal with the Spirit Condor, the thought of killing Ning Yang had never entered his mind. When he had learned that Li Langfeng would also join their operation against Ning Yang, he had repeatedly warned Li Langfeng against killing Ning Yang.

    Even just now, when Pei Qiqi had been caught up in the moment and almost killed Ning Yang, he had hastily interrupted her. After a second thought, the calmed Pei Qiqi had also dropped the idea of killing Ning Yang.

    This was enough evidence that neither Xue Long nor Pei Qiqi had the audacity to kill Ning Yang.

    In Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian would behave exactly the same as those two. He would probably also be held back by his worries, and wouldn¡¯t dare tounch the murderous strike.

    However, Nie Tian actually did!

    Furthermore, that was after he had offered to do it and shoulder the responsibility for Nie Tian. Right after Nie Tian respectfully refused his offer, he had chopped off Ning Yang¡¯s head without the slightest hesitation.

    That was why he came to think very highly of Nie Tian and became full of praise.

    ¡°The fact that you actually dare to kill Ning Yang proves that you didn¡¯t obtain those fragmentary star marks by ident. Only those who are strong and fearless deserve those legacy marks from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I¡¯m truly impressed, kid!¡±

    Xue Long and Pei Qiqi, however, stood speechless as they stared at Ning Yang¡¯s severed head and open eyes, as if they were shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s fierceness and cruelty.

    At that moment, Nie Tian said with a surprisingly calm tone, ¡°We¡¯re different. I can feel Ning Yang¡¯s hatred towards me. If I don¡¯t kill him, sooner orter, he¡¯ll seek me out and have his revenge. Since he¡¯s too powerful, if I let him live, the next time we meet, I¡¯ll be the one to die.

    ¡°The only way to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen is to kill him and put an end to his threat!¡±

    ¡°Exactly, this is what you¡¯re supposed to do.¡± An admiring smile appeared on Li Langfeng¡¯s normally gloomy face.

    Completely depleted, Nie Tian dropped heavily to the ground. He felt he even had difficulty turning his head as he said, ¡°Uncle Xue, Senior Martial Sister, you can go ahead and take Ning Yang¡¯s valuables.¡±

    After he sat down, the me Dragon Armor flew up into the air before turning into a streak of fiery light and disappearing into his bracelet of holding.

    The blood-colored light screen disintegrated. His blood, me power, and flesh power returned to his body like floating streams of mes and blood.

    Nie Tian examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that his battle against Ning Yang had drained almost all of his strength.

    With a single nce at Xue Long and Pei Qiqi, he could tell that they were in a situation simr to his, their expressions so exhausted that it seemed as if they could copse at any moment.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want any of Ning Yang¡¯s valuables?¡± Xue Long asked softly.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Sincerity could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°You put in so much effort to help me fight him that you almost got killed by him. You did all that for me. It¡¯s only fair that you take his valuables.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, who had been caught up in Nie Tian¡¯s crazy act of killing Ning Yang, finally resumed a calm state of mind and said, ¡°Do you know that golden sword and shield of his are of Premium grade? The way I see it, both of them are spiritual tools of great value, and they are only slightly inferior to Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Xue Long chimed in. ¡°Those two spiritual tools the Heaven Pce Sect bestowed upon him are definitely beyond ordinary. Each of them must be worth more than 100,000 spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. What I got is far more valuable.¡± Nie Tian pointed to his chest, where his fragmentary star marks were.

    Xue Long and Pei Qiqi instantly understood what he meant.

    After realizing that Nie Tian had obtained the third legacy mark of Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce from Ning Yang, they no longer had the feeling that they were being given more than they deserved.

    The two of them exchanged a nce, then stepped towards Ning Yang¡¯s corpse. Pei Qiqi took the golden sword, while Xue Long ced one hand on the abdomen of Ning Yang¡¯s corpse, and slowly detached and pulled out the golden shield from it.

    Afterwards, Pei Qiqi, who was an expert in spatial magics, took Ning Yang¡¯s ring of holding and lifted its restrictive spell.

    CLATTER!

    After a brief nce at its insides, Pei Qiqi poured out every item within the ring of holding.

    Xue Long rapidly discovered that there were mainly spirit stones and spiritual materials for cultivation and recuperation.

    Other than those, there were also a few hundred Star Stones.

    Obviously, Ning Yang was so confident in himself that he didn¡¯t believe he would end up severely wounded from battles against others. Therefore, he didn¡¯t bring a single bottle of medicinal pills with him.

    The only truly valuable items on him were the sword and the shield.

    ¡°Here, these Star Stones will be useful to you.¡± Pei Qiqi piled the several hundred Star Stones in front of Nie Tian, since neither of them would need them.

    Then, she and Xue Long went ahead and divided what was left.

    Li Langfeng waited for them to finish dividing the spoils before saying, ¡°I know that we¡¯re all in poor conditions. The truth is my injuries are just as heavy as yours. Nevertheless, I¡¯ve got to say that we shouldn¡¯t stay here for too long. Those two Worldly realm experts from the Wild Fire won¡¯t necessarily defeat that Phantasm.

    ¡°In my opinion, we need to put our recovery on hold and get out of here as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°That Phantasm is really that formidable?¡± Xue Long asked with a grim expression.

    Li Langfeng nodded slightly and answered, ¡°Like you wouldn¡¯t believe.¡±

    Xue Long¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily rose to his feet and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s return to the Void Illusion Mountain Range first.¡±

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi both nodded in assent.

    SHEW!

    A cluster of dark-green smoke rushed out of Li Langfeng¡¯s fingertip and flew into Ning Yang¡¯s corpse.

    Afterwards, Ning Yang¡¯s corpse melted into bloody water at a rate noticeable to the naked eye before it eventually disappeared, and the bloody water seeped into the sand.

    After disposing of Ning Yang¡¯s body, Li Langfeng turned to Nie Tian said with aposed tone, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry, kid. We¡¯ll unify our statement. Whenever people ask us about it, or the Heaven Pce Sectes to inquire of us, I¡¯ll tell them that Ning Yang was killed by that Phantasm. We¡¯re the only ones who have witnessed his death. Plus, that Phantasm actually did attack Ning Yang.¡±

    ¡°That exactly what I¡¯m thinking,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    Then, Li Langfeng continued, ¡°Try your best to hide the truth. But if you can¡¯t, you can just tell them that I did it. I won¡¯t be around for long anyways. Perhaps I¡¯ll already be down in the Yellow Springs before the Heaven Pce Sect can find me and make me pay for it.¡±

    With these words, he took the initiative and sped off in the direction of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    For some reason, watching Li Langfeng run into the distance and thinking about his words, a sense of sadness rose from the bottom of Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Xue Long let out a sigh.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move out,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face.

    Afterwards, the four of them dragged their heavily-injured and exhausted bodies as they marched towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Their return journey turned out surprisingly smooth, and they didn¡¯t encounter any Hunters.

    What they didn¡¯t know was that as they returned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, two more meteors fell from the heavens and plummeted to the earth almost simultaneously.

    Two other Phantasms came out of them, their vague figures wreathed in dense, cyan phantasm Qi.

    The first Phantasm that had descended upon the forbidden region had fought against the two Worldly realm Wild Fire experts for hours.

    When the other two Phantasmsnded and unleashed auras to search for theirpanion, the two Worldly realm Wild Fire experts immediately sensed their auras.

    Surprised, they hastily ended their battle against the Phantasm and returned to Ash City.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the three Phantasms found each other and reunited at the crash site of the first fallen meteor.

    Wreathed in the thick, cyan phantasm Qi, they started to exchange words.

    ¡°I identally encountered two young men who had been to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Unfortunately, three Worldly realm human experts came sessively. I was held off by them, and failed to kill those two young men and take away their legacy marks.¡±

    ¡°Those three legacy marks will allow them to seal the three opened spatial rifts. If we can figure out a way to kill those two young men and destroy those legacy marks, then the humans will never be able to cast the spell that will allow them to seal the spatial rifts. Then, it won¡¯t be long before Demons swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars, which will be good for the implementation of our n.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve headed towards the mountain range filled with active spatial rifts.¡±

    ¡°What a coincidence. That¡¯s our destination too. Let¡¯s do go the Demons a favor and help them destroy those legacy marks in that mountain range.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! ¡°

    With these words, the three Phantasms also marched towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Note:

    1. The Earth (µØ d¨¬) ¨C contains the Underworld (µØÓü d¨¬y¨´) in its depths. The Underworld is alsomonly called the Netherworld (Ú¤½ç m¨ªngji¨¨) or the Yellow Springs (»ÆÈª hu¨¢ngqu¨¢n). So, ¡°down in the Yellow Springs¡± means ¡°dead¡±.

 Chapter 346: News Spreads

    After returning to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Nie Tian discovered that even though Qi warriors from different parts of the Realm of Split Void were still searching for the me Dragon Armor, their enthusiasm had faded considerably.

    The Blood Skull, Wild Fire, Dark Moon, and numerous Hunters, as well as the individual explorers, had failed to discover any sign of the Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    As time passed, many people decided not to waste any more of their time.

    Even the Blood Skull, who had very high hopes in their operation, retreated from the Wild Fire¡¯s territory.

    ...

    After marching back to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Li Langfeng came to a stop. He turned to the others and said, ¡°It¡¯s about time we part ways.¡±

    After marching without any disruption for about a dozen days, everyone¡¯s injuries had recovered to certain degree.

    Through circting his wood power and consumingrge amounts of spirit beast meat, Nie Tian had already healed most of the heavy injuries he had sustained from his battle against Ning Yang.

    Not only that, but his spiritual sea was also once again brimming with the power of various attributes.

    By contrast, it seemed that Li Langfeng hadn¡¯t recovered from his battle against the Phantasm yet, and he still needed time to recover to his peak state.

    However, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Xue Long were all guest elders of the Blood Skull, while Li Langfeng was a guest elder of the Dark Moon.

    The three of them nned to return to Shatter City as soon as possible, so it wouldn¡¯t be a good choice for him to follow along.

    ¡°What exactly is the deal that you made with the Spirit Condor?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s question seemed a bit out of the blue.

    He knew that the only reason why Li Langfeng had agreed to help him snatch the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang was the deal he had made with the Spirit Condor, ording to which, he would spend some time helping Li Langfeng absorb toxic Qi more efficiently with his spiritual energy ball technique.

    ¡°What deal?¡± Pei Qiqi was confused.

    Of the four of them, Pei Qiqi was the only one who didn¡¯t know that the Spirit Condor was the reason why Li Langfeng and Xue Long had agreed to help Nie Tian.

    Ignoring Pei Qiqi¡¯s question, Li Langfeng looked at Nie Tian and said, ¡°ording to the deal I made with the Spirit Condor, you¡¯ll spend three months helping me cultivate after I help you finish your mission. But, I¡¯ve already entered the Worldly realm, and I¡¯m not in a hurry to umte strength. Right now, I need to stabilize my cultivation base, mull over the difference between the Worldly realm and the Greater Heaven stage, and temper my soul power skills.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°How about this: you cane and find me when you need my help in the future.¡±

    Li Langfeng fell silent for a moment before saying, ¡°I think you¡¯d better return to the Realm of me Heaven as soon as you can.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Xue Long said with a serious expression. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve collected all three fragmentary star marks, ording to you, you¡¯ll be able to seal the three spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, so you should get started as soon as possible. As we speak, those three major spatial rifts are leaking endless demon Qi into our world. We don¡¯t know when Demons will invade again.

    ¡°The sooner you close those spatial rifts, the better it will be for the Domain of the Falling Stars. After all, Demons are outsiders. They will always be the biggest threat to us.

    ¡°Especially now that Phantasms havee to the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°I suspect that those Phantasms have something to do with the Demons¡¯ invasion! For some reason, I have a feeling that the arrival of those Phantasms will trigger a series of great changes!¡±

    After hearing Xue Long¡¯s analysis, Nie Tian fell silent. After a long time, he nodded and said, ¡°Indeed, I¡¯ve got to return to the Realm of me Heaven as soon as I can. However, I¡¯lle back to the Realm of Split Void for sure.¡±

    ¡°Why would you?¡± Li Langfeng seemed very surprised.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t answer his question.

    He had a hunch that there must be a deep connection between the forbidden region, which constantly attracted meteors to fall from the sky, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Before, he had probed into the earth in that forbidden region and learned that secrets were hiding in the depths of the earth.

    He also believed that only he, the man who had received the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, would be able to uncover those secrets.

    However, his current cultivation base was still too low. Since he hadn¡¯t transcended his psychic power into soul power, he didn¡¯t have the ability to uncover the underground secret yet.

    As his cultivation base improved, and his mastery of the Fragmentary Star Incantation progressed, he would eventually return to that region and get to the bottom of it.

    Li Langfeng nodded, and didn¡¯t seemed to be displeased by Nie Tian¡¯s non-reply. ¡°I see. You have your reasons. Anyhow, I¡¯ve got to thank you for consuming your own strength to help me advance into the Worldly realm within such a short time. If you ever run into trouble, or need to kill someone, hit me up.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s in the Realm of Split Void or other realms, I¡¯ll do it to return the favor.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks.¡± Nie Tian sped his hands to express his gratitude formally. Then, he said, ¡°When you need me to help you absorb toxic Qi to umte strength in the future, you¡¯re wee toe find me, if I¡¯m in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    ¡°Alright, this is it.¡± Li Langfeng waved his hand and bid to Nie Tian and the others farewell.

    Looking in the direction Li Langfeng had left in, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°That man isn¡¯t always a bad guy.¡±

    Only when Li Langfeng disappeared into the distance did Xue Long mutter, ¡°It¡¯s definitely not fun to be his enemy. But it¡¯s a blessing if you can win his approval and be his friend.¡±

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go to the Blood Skull¡¯s base.¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    With these words, the three of them marched on into the Void Illusion Mountain Range again.

    By the time they arrived at the Blood Skull¡¯s base, Gu Yu seemed deeply surprised by their arrival and asked, ¡°Where did you go?¡±

    ¡°We took a trip to the east of Ash City,¡± Xue Long replied.

    ¡°To the east of Ash City?!¡± A shocked expression appeared on Gu Yu¡¯s face as he hastily asked, ¡°Do you know that Phantasms have appeared in the forbidden region to the east of Ash City?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°How did you know about that?¡±

    A shudder ran through Gu Yu¡¯s body as he asked, ¡°Does that mean Phantasms have actually appeared in that region?¡±

    He looked back and forth between Nie Tian, Xue Long, and Pei Qiqi¡¯s faces, and noticed that their expressions seemed very unnatural. That was when he was convinced that the news was authentic.

    Then, he went on to exin, ¡°Word came from the Wild Fire headquarters in Ash City five days ago, saying that they have discovered Phantasms. The forbidden region to the east of Ash City was the ce where they discovered the Phantasms. At first, they only discovered one Phantasm, and it was engaged in fierce battle against a guest elder of the Dark Moon, Li Langfeng.

    ¡°By the time the Wild Fire¡¯s powerful experts arrived, Li Langfeng was already badly wounded. Even though Li Langfeng had advanced to the Worldly realm, he couldn¡¯t match up to that Phantasm¡¯s battle prowess.

    ¡°Therefore, those two Wild Fire experts joined hands and attacked that Phantasm together. However, as their battle went on, two more meteors fell from the heavens, and two more Phantasms emerged from within them!

    ¡°Upon seeing that, the Wild Fire experts immediately retreated to Ash City. It wasn¡¯t long before the Wild Fire organized a team of their most powerful experts and sent them to the forbidden region, hoping to find those three Phantasms.

    ¡°However, they mysteriously disappeared, and left no trace of where they might have gone.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s a matter of great importance, and the Wild Fire was worried that something huge would happen to the Realm of Split Void, they passed the news on to us and the Dark Moon.

    ¡°The three parties have reached an agreement that they will all restrain themselves from starting battles with each other for the time being.¡±

    Without holding anything back, Gu Yu exined the news he had received, as well as the current situation to Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Xue Long.

    ¡°Uncle Gu, Hua Tian and I have to return to Shatter City now,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a face that was as expressionless as ever. ¡°If you have any questions, you can just go ahead and ask Uncle Xue. He knows everything.¡±

    Gu Yu nodded. ¡°Okay." Then, he arranged for a member of the Blood Skull to take them to the teleportation portal.

    He, however, stayed and started an in-depth discussion with Xue Long regarding the appearance of the Phantasms. Obviously, he believed the significance of this matter surpassed that of any other matter.

    SHEW!

    Momentster, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi returned to Shatter City via the Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal.

    It was early in the morning.

    As the two of them walked in the chilly, empty street, Pei Qiqi suddenly asked, ¡°You¡¯re really going back to the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding. ¡°The Realm of me Heaven is my home. It has already suffered enough recently. As we speak, endless demon Qi is pouring out of a huge spatial rift that has appeared out of nowhere. It won¡¯t be long before the entire Realm of me Heaven is filled with poisonous demon Qi and bes uninhabitable for humans. Now that I¡¯ve obtained all three fragmentary star marks, it¡¯s my duty to seal that spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a soft voice.

    After that, she keep silent the whole way back to their residence in Shatter City. Just as they were about to arrive at the gate, she suddenly said, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I want to go to the Realm of me Heaven with you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian sounded very surprised.

    ¡°I practice spatial magics, and I recently entered the Greater Heaven stage,¡± Pei Qiqi said with aposed expression. ¡°I need to expand my horizons and temper my skills. That spatial rift connects our world with the Demon¡¯s realms, which is already mysterious enough. However, the profound magics from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can actually allow you to seal that spatial rift. That makes it even more unbelievable.

    ¡°I want to take a look at that spatial rift and be there when you seal it, so that I can better my understanding of the profound truths of spatial energy.

    Her reason sounded very reasonable.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Nie Tian agreed.

 Chapter 347: A Man Waiting

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes lit up when Nie Tian agreed to let her go to the Realm of me Heaven together.

    Nie Tian felt Pei Qiqi¡¯s concealed delight.

    However, it was just a sh before Pei Qiqi¡¯s face became indifferent again, as if she didn¡¯t care about Nie Tian¡¯s consent at all.

    As soon as they walked through the door, they saw a man smiling at them. ¡°Hua Tian, Qiqi.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Hua!!¡± Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi eximed simultaneously, surprise filling their eyes.

    Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor was standing next to Hua Mu. From the look of it, they had been waiting for some time.

    Li Ye also rushed to the door upon hearing them. ¡°You¡¯re finally back, Senior Martial Sister!¡±

    Unlike before, this time, Li Ye looked surprisingly radiant. Not only was he neatly dressed, but he also wasn¡¯t drinking. Both his mindset and appearance seemed to have gone through great changes.

    ¡°Did you break through to the Greater Heaven stage?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a surprised tone.

    Li Ye threw his head back and let out a broadugh. ¡°Hahaha! As you know, senior martial sister, the advancement of my cultivation base is closely linked with the advancement of my equipment forging skills. Forging satisfactory spiritual tools contributes greatly to my cultivation. My Dao is to forge high-quality equipment.¡±

    ¡°Have you finished with Hua Tian¡¯s spiritual tool?¡± Pei Qiqi felt enlivened.

    ¡°Yeah, I did!¡± Li Ye nodded repeatedly. ¡°It was because that spiritual tool for Hua Tian is soplicated that I came to discover many new equipment forging skills throughout the nerve-wracking process, which eventually allowed me to break through into the Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ve got to thank you for this, Hua Tian!¡±

    Hua Mu turned to Li Ye and said with a hearty smile on his face, ¡°You¡¯re a smart kid, Li Ye. If your biggest interest didn¡¯t lie in equipment forging, but rather in cultivation, I believe very few people would have a better talent than you do. Even the disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect who practice fire-attributed incantations wouldn¡¯t match up to your talent.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s too kind of you, Mr. Hua,¡± Li Ye said with a titter.

    At that moment, he nned to fetch the spiritual tool he had customized for Nie Tian¡¯s needs. However, Hua Mu waved his hand at him and said, ¡°That can wait. I have some important matters that I need to discuss with Hua Tian. You can bring out that spiritual tool and take your time exining its features to Hua Tian after we¡¯re finished.¡±

    Somewhat dispirited, Li Ye answered, ¡°Alright."

    He took tremendous pride in the spiritual tool he had customized for Nie Tian. He took it as the culmination of his equipment forging career.

    Otherwise, he would not have received critical enlightenment and thus entered the Greater Heaven stage during the forging process.

    Since he was so proud of this masterpiece of his, he was very eager to present it to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Come with me, Hua Tian.¡± With these words, Hua Mu led Nie Tian and Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor to the stone room where he had being resting recently.

    Upon entering the room, the tips of Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows moved, and a blue-green light screen rapidly spread out along the walls, ceiling, and floor, enveloping the entire room.

    Sealed away by thatyer of faint light, Hua Mu was confident that no one in Shatter City would be able to eavesdrop on their conversation, including Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull.

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully towards Hu Rong, saying, ¡°Thank you, Uncle Hu, for arranging for Xue Long and Li Langfeng to assist me.¡±

    He understood that if it weren¡¯t for the Spirit Condor¡¯s maneuvers, Xue Long and Li Langfeng would never have bothered to help him. Xue Long had agreed to lend him a hand because he owed the Spirit Condor a favor.

    Li Langfeng had also only agreed to join his team because of the deal the Spirit Condor had put forth.

    ¡°I do not dare to ept the honor,¡± Hu Rong immediately said, waving his hands. Then, he turned to Hua Mu and said in a respectful manner, ¡°Everything has been done ording to Mr. Hua¡¯s will. Otherwise, Xue Long would have never given me face and agreed to help you. I¡¯m only a foot soldier, and I¡¯m only delivering a task that Mr. Hua put into my hands.¡±

    From the way Hu Rong treated Hua Mu, Nie Tian could tell that Hu Rong hadn¡¯t lied to him thest time they¡¯d met. Hua Mu must hold a lofty position in the Spirit Condor.

    ¡°How did your mission go?¡± Hua Mu gradually put away his smiles and assumed a serious expression. ¡°I received word that Phantasms have appeared in that so-called forbidden region; is that true? Did you encounter Ning Yang? Is Li Langfeng still okay?¡± He asked a series of questions that he was the most concerned with.

    He had only been back in Shatter City for a few days.

    As soon as he had arrived in Shatter City, he had learned from Hu Rong that Xue Long and Li Langfeng had both moved out to help Nie Tian snatch the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.

    Soon afterwards, he had received word from the Wild Fire that Phantasms had descended upon the forbidden region to the east of Ash City, which had made him worry a great deal for Nie Tian¡¯s safety.

    Meanwhile, he was always well-aware how formidable Ning Yang was. He had even suspected that Xue Long and Li Langfeng might not have the ability to overtake Ning Yang together.

    Both Hua Mu and Hu Rong knew his real identity and the situation he was in. Therefore, he didn¡¯t felt the need to hide anything when he talked to them. ¡°It was aplicated and breathtaking journey...¡±

    He started by telling them about how he had met Li Langfeng and helped him break through into the Worldly realm. Then, he went on to detailedly exin how he had run into Shi Hui and his men, along with how they had encountered a Phantasm and started a fierce battle against Ning Yang.

    Since he started telling his story, which had happened not long ago, Hua Mu and Hu Rong hadn¡¯t made a single sound. They listened to him attentively.

    Many expressions shed across their faces as they were repeatedly shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s treacherous encounters.

    After Nie Tian was finished, the two of them remained silent for a while. From their expressions, he could tell they were still digesting the substantial amount of information he had poured on them.

    An astonished expression appeared on Hu Rong¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Umm, did you sneak up on and kill Qiu Yang and the other three middle Greater Heaven stage experts all by yourself?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Have you already obtained Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°And you killed him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    With wide eyes, Hu Rong asked one question after another, and Nie Tian answered each of them by nodding back at him.

    Afterwards, Hu Rong looked at Nie Tian with a gaze that was so full of disbelief that it was as if he was looking at a monster that was even more dreadful than a Demon or a Phantasm.

    Hua Mu, however, stayed silent and did not say a thing.

    But his expression flickered subtly. Clearly, deep down, he was just as shocked as Hu Rong was.

    After a long time, Hua Mu rubbed his temples and said with a sigh, ¡°You little punk. I was almost scared to death when I heard that you had brought two fragmentary star marks back from your trip into the Heaven Gate. I didn¡¯t expect that the surprises you¡¯d give me were far from over... God... I wasn¡¯t mistaken when I discovered you when you were still a boy. You can even say that it was my good luck that I discovered you in ck Cloud City.¡±

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t have done all this without the profound legacies I received from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and a bit of luck.¡± Nie Tian sounded very humble. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t received those legacies, and you didn¡¯t arranged for Xue Long and Li Langfeng to assist me, there is no way that I could have finished such an impossible task on my own.¡±

    Only he knew his bloodline power, his newly-acquired bloodline talent, and the techniques he had learned from the mysteriousnd had also yed important roles in his sess.

    However, he would rather keep those secrets to himself for the time being.

    Hua Mu rubbed his temples as he digested all the information. Only after some time did he nod and say, ¡°Alright... Ning Yang is dead. So be it. After all, obtaining the third fragmentary star mark was your first priority. You should know that the situation out there is worsening fast. I even thought about helping you snatch Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark myself.

    ¡°I just didn¡¯t expect that you would actually manage to obtain it within such a short time.

    ¡°We¡¯d better make haste. Go take the spiritual tool Li Ye made for you. We leave for the Realm of me Heaven today.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you on our way how dire the situation is right now.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, we can go anytime you see fit.¡±

    After a brief hesitation, he added, ¡°Right, I promised Senior Martial Sister Pei that I¡¯d take her back to the Realm of me Heaven with me.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Hua Mu¡¯s expression instantly grew strange as he asked, ¡°Hua Tian, you and her didn¡¯t, well, you know...?¡±

    Hu Rong also went nk as he gazed at Nie Tian, his eyes filled with admiration and ambiguity.

    ¡°No, no, no... It¡¯s not like that...¡± Nie Tian hastily exined. ¡°As you know, she¡¯s practices the art of spatial energy. She only wants to go the Realm of me Heaven so that she can check on the spatial rift and see how I seal it. She hopes to deepen her understanding of profound spatial energy.

    Disappointment could be seen on Hua Mu¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Oh, okay. I thought you and Qiqi... Hahaha, she¡¯s a good girl and she¡¯d be a perfect match for you. If she really wants to go, we¡¯ll take her with us. It won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± Hua Mu urged. ¡°We¡¯ll head out as soon as you fetch that spiritual tool from Li Ye. Time is of the essence here.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 348: Return **Festival Feature Included**

    It was an isted ind in the middle of an ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Hua Mu, Pei Qiqi, and Nie Tian arrived on this ind from the Blood Skull¡¯s grand teleportation portal in Shatter City.

    The three of them walked out of the teleportation portal inside the mountain¡¯s belly and found that it was already midday. The sun shone fiercely above the lonely ind.

    Nie Tian was holding a dark-red saber in his hands. He would infuse it with streams of power of different attributes from time to time and marvel at it.

    This saber, with the name ¡°me Star,¡± was none other than the masterful spiritual tool Li Ye had customized for Nie Tian.

    The me Star was 1.5 meters in length and dark-red in color. Its hilt was made of wood-attributed spiritual materials, and its de was forged from essence extracted from numerous Star Stones, along with precious fire-attributed spiritual materials.

    Its de was engraved with numerousplicated, detailed spell formations, which would allow it to channel and circte me power, wood power, and star power within itself.

    Holding the beautiful saber, Nie Tian could almost still hear Li Ye¡¯s endless bragging and detailed exnation regarding it.

    Li Ye¡¯s pleased and proud face constantly shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind, making him realize this saber was the culmination of his equipment forging career.

    ording to Li Ye, the me Star fell into the level three Premium grade.

    Since it was custom-made for Nie Tian¡¯s needs, it could be bolstered by Nie Tian¡¯s three different types of spiritual power, making it Nie Tian¡¯s go-to spiritual tool for a long time in the future.

    Numerous bright spots that contained refined spiritual power shed across the marvelous spell formations on the me Star¡¯s surface. Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian felt the subtle flow of his spiritual power within the me Star as he tried to learn more about this remarkable piece of work.

    The more he fiddled with it, the more marvelous he felt it to be. Clearly, he had already grown attached to it, and he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at it from time to time.

    He clicked his tongue as he said, ¡°I never thought I¡¯d say this, but Li Ye does have true talent. The moment Iid my hand on the me Star, I could tell it suited me perfectly, as if it was born for me and no one else.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, of course. You¡¯re the only reason it exists,¡± Pei Qiqi replied with a in tone.

    Hua Mu shot a nce at him and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve never seen you put it down since the moment you got it. You¡¯ll have plenty of time to learn the features of the me Starter. You don¡¯t need to figure them all out now.¡±

    With these words, Hua Mu summoned his Lightning Shuttle and beckoned for Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to get on board.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up as she eximed softly, ¡°A Lightning Shuttle! Wow, Mr. Hua! I can¡¯t believe you actually possesses such a rare air-transportation spiritual tool!¡±

    Even for the Wild Fire, Dark Moon, and Blood Skull, they only owned ground-transportation spiritual tools.

    None of the three major forces of the Realm of Split Void had ever possessed a fast air-transportation spiritual tool like the Lightning Shuttle.

    As far as she knew, only a handful of sects that were as powerful as the Heaven Pce Sect possessed simr air-transportation spiritual tools, and only their top figures would have ess to those rare treasures.

    The fact that Hua Mu had a Lightning Shuttle was enough evidence of his substantial wealth and lofty status.

    ¡°Actually, it was thanks to your master that I came to own it,¡± Hua Mu said with a smile. ¡°There are very few Qi warriors who know how to forge a Lightning Shuttle in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. Luckily for me, your master is one of them. So, I gathered all the required spiritual materials and asked her to forge this Lightning Shuttle for me.¡±

    ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t know about this?¡± Pei Qiqi was curious.

    Aplicated look shed across Hua Mu¡¯s eye as he said, ¡°That was a very long time ago.¡±

    Pei Qiqi seemed to have understood something, and thus didn¡¯t pursue the matter.

    As soon as she and Nie Tian both stepped into the Lightning Shuttle, Hua Mu started it. Then, it rose up into the air and disappeared into the distant horizon like a bright sh in broad daylight.

    As the Lightning Shuttle traveled at an immeasurably fast speed, Hua Mu took the time to exin the perilous situation to Nie Tian.

    It had been about two years since Nie Tian had left the Realm of me Heaven.

    During this period of time, the speed at which the three spatial rifts had leaked demon Qi into the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the and Realm of Mystic Heaven had surpassed everyone¡¯s expectations.

    It had only been two years and yet one fourth of the Realm of me Heaven was already drowning in raging demon Qi.

    The Hell Sect had been forced to move from their original location.

    The Heaven Pce Sect from the Realm of Mystic Heaven was also on the verge of being submerged by demon Qi, so it wouldn¡¯t be long before they were driven out of their headquarters as well.

    The situation was just as bad in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Nie Tian had been missing for a long time. Numerous sects and forces had joined the search. Yet, none of them had been able to ferret him out.

    As time passed, rumors emerged that Nie Tian, who had obtained two fragmentary star marks, was already dead.

    Even though people in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations felt insecure and uneasy after hearing such rumors, since those two realms were overseen and ruled by powerful sects, no significant turmoil had urred.

    However, as for Realm of me Heaven, perhaps due to the widely-spread rumor of Nie Tian being dead, and the fact that the raging demon Qi had been spreading exceedingly fast, everyone in the Realm of me Heaven had started panicking, as if they couldn¡¯t see any hope.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the sects that had connections with other realms started to pull some strings and arrange for their core disciples to evacuate from the Realm of me Heaven.

    Soon afterwards, word of such actions leaked out, making the ns that clung to those sects, as well as the mortals who lived in cities like ck Cloud City, feel terrified and desperate.

    After all, they knew in their hearts that the power of those sects was very limited, and they couldn¡¯t possibly evacuate every man and woman from the Realm of me Heaven.

    As the desperate emotions spread out among the people, the situation in the Realm of me Heaven grew increasinglyplicated and hard to contain.

    Mortals and low-level Qi warriors sensed their imminent doom, and thus gave in to their evil side and did whatever they liked. As a result, numerous mortal cities were gued by constant killing, raping, and plundering.

    The disciples of the major sects who had low cultivation bases and statuses were also drowned in desperation, and thus abandoned themselves.

    Sects and ns that used to plot against the Realm of me Heaven also gave up their original ns and cut off their connections with the Realm of me Heaven.

    Living in such peril, people in the Realm of me Heaven grew increasingly pessimistic. Qi warriors were no longer in the mood for practicing cultivation, and mortals were no longer in the mood for cultivating their lives. They either sat around and waited to die, or sought onest spur of joy before their deaths.

    Nie Tian, who had been considered highly by the major sects after returning in triumph from the Heaven Gate trial, also became the target of people¡¯s scorn.

    In many people¡¯s opinions, since Nie Tian hadn¡¯t had the ability to refine his two fragmentary star marks two years ago, he should have been smart and handed them to Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect, so that Ning Yang would be able to seal the spatial rifts and save them from their miserable lives where they worried about the inundation of demon Qi and mass invasions of Demon armies day and night.

    It didn¡¯t matter to them anymore whether Nie Tian was dead or alive. To them, Nie Tian had already be the source of all of their miseries.

    They all believed that he was the reason why the Realm of me Heaven was what it was now.

    The Heaven Pce Sect and powerful sects from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations harbored the same opinion, as they also considered Nie Tian to be a brat who didn¡¯t understand the greater good, and it was none other than his rash decisions that had put the entire Domain of the Falling Stars into such a perilous situation.

    On the Lightning Shuttle.

    Nie Tian looked down at the vast, open ground. Eyebrows knitted, he suddenly said, ¡°What happened to my grandfather and aunt?¡±

    ¡°Your master sent them to the Realm of a Hundred Battles not long ago,¡± Hua Mu replied with a bitter smile. ¡°There was no other choice. As long as your grandfather and aunt were still in the Realm of me Heaven, they would face hostility wherever they went. Even some people within the Cloudsoaring Sect were resentful towards them because of you.

    ¡°It would have been very dangerous for them to continue to stay in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°In order to prevent unpleasant things from happening to them, your master could only secretly send them to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was very grim as he asked, ¡°What do you mean by unpleasant things?¡±

    Hua Mu let out a sigh and continued, ¡°Some people think if you¡¯re still alive, your aunt and grandfather would be the best tool to make you emerge by yourself and hand over the fragmentary star marks. Desperation always brings out the worst in human nature.

    ¡°At first, when the spread of demon Qi didn¡¯t seem as fast, and people¡¯s lives weren¡¯t threatened, everything seemed fine.

    ¡°However, as the spread of the demon Qi elerated, raging demon Qi filled an increasinglyrger area. Yet, there was still no sign of you.

    ¡°Everyone panicked, and all they could think of was how to stay alive. That was when all kinds of ideas regarding ways to force you to reveal yourself appeared in their minds.

    ¡°Your master was under a lot of pressure for sheltering your grandfather and aunt.

    ¡°As he realized the situation was getting out of hand, he eventually secretly sent your grandfather and aunt away. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t tell anyone where he had sent them. He was afraid that the Heaven Pce Sect and powerful sects from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations would adopt simr approaches and threaten your grandfather and aunt¡¯s lives.

    ¡°The worst of human nature indeed,¡± Nie Tian said coldly.

    ¡°We¡¯re almost at the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡± Han Mu said with a soft voice.

 Chapter 349: Human Nature

    Even though Hua Mu had said that they were almost at the Cloudsoaring Sect, there was still some ground to cover.

    Standing on the Lightning Shuttle, Nie Tian looked off into the distance, and he could see the cloud-wreathed Cloudsoaring Mountain already.

    Normally speaking, they would have to pass over ck Cloud City to get to Cloudsoaring Mountain. However, Hua Mu seemed to be intentionally circling around it.

    Nie Tian turned to Hua Mu and asked in a soft voice, ¡°Is my master in the Cloudsoaring Sect right now?¡±

    Hua Mu shook his head, saying, ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡±

    ¡°Do you know where he is now?¡± Nie Tian was curious.

    ¡°Pulling strings somewhere in order to secure the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s future. Where else could he be?¡± Hua Mu said, his face filled with helplessness. ¡°Your master has never lost faith in you. However, many people within the Cloudsoaring Sect believe that you won¡¯t return to the Realm of me Heaven again. The way they see it, even if you¡¯re still alive, you won¡¯t be able to refine the fragmentary star marks within such a short time.

    ¡°Not to mention that you only had two fragmentary star marks when you disappeared. As everyone knows, the third fragmentary star mark was in Ning Yang¡¯s hands, and all three fragmentary star marks need to be one to seal the spatial rifts and restore peace to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Most of them assume that even if you¡¯re still alive, the Realm of me Heaven will be submerged in dense demon Qi before you return. By that time, Demon armies will once again pour into the Realm of me Heaven and make it their paradise.

    ¡°That was why the senior members of the Cloudsoaring Sect asked your master to help them seek a ce in another realm where the Cloudsoaring Sect could keep a foothold.

    ¡°Therefore, he went to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    After hearing Hua Mu¡¯s description. Nie Tian said with a deep frown, ¡°My grandfather, my aunt, and my master are the only ones I truly care about in the Realm of me Heaven. Now that none of them are in the Cloudsoaring Sect, I¡¯m not in a hurry to go there. Mr. Hua, if you don¡¯t mind, can you take me to ck Cloud City? I want to take a look there.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Hua Mu fell silent.

    A concerned look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he asked, ¡°Is there something wrong?

    Hua Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°As a matter of fact, I intentionally took a detour so that we wouldn¡¯t pass above ck Cloud City. I just don¡¯t want you to return to ck Cloud City and see how nasty it has be.¡±

    However, Hua Mu¡¯s words made Nie Tian even more curious, and thus he insisted, ¡°I went through lots of things in the Green Illusion dimension, the Heaven Gate, and the Realm of Split Void. I¡¯m no longer the child you think I am, and I¡¯m strong enough to handle whatever is happening in ck Cloud City.

    ¡°No matter how bad it has be, handling it will be a part of me growing up. I hope you can understand.¡±

    ¡°Alright...¡± With a soft sigh, Hua Mu changed the direction of the Lightning Shuttle and steered it towards ck Cloud City.

    Even in powerful realms such as the Realm of Mystic Heaven, air-transportation spiritual tools were rarely seen, much less in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Even though the Lightning Shuttle was flying close to the ground, since Hua Mu hadpletely sealed its trace and aura, it would be very difficult for ordinary Qi warriors to sense its existence.

    As the Lightning Shuttle flew closer and closer towards ck Cloud City, Nie Tian looked down from midair, and discovered that the fields outside ck Cloud City werepletely wasted, as if no one was farming them anymore.

    In his memories, the areas outside of ck Cloud City used to bustle with farming activities; farmers could be seen everywhere, working hard in their fields.

    However, all he could see now were farmers sitting idle at their doors. Each of them was wearing a grim expression, and not the slightest spirit could be seen in their eyes.

    Even though they were still alive, their hearts seemed to have died already.

    In a secluded location outside ck Cloud City, Hua Munded the Lightning Shuttle. Nie Tian hesitated for a moment before taking out the mask Dong Baijie had gifted him. After putting it on, he turned to Pei Qiqi and Hua Mu and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take a walk in the city.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded and said, ¡°Sure."

    Then, he turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°Qiqi, you might want to make some alterations to your appearance as well. The current Realm of me Heaven is a bit... strange. Your appearance might attract some unnecessary trouble.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see." Pei Qiqi took out a in-looking mask from within her ring of holding and gently ced it on her face.

    Afterwards, the three of them walked quietly into the city.

    After entering ck Cloud City, Nie Tian didn¡¯t head directly towards the Nie n. Instead, he strolled around without a destination, and observed what changes had happened to ck Cloud City.

    He saw that the citizens of ck Cloud City were in simr state to the farmers he had just seen; they all lived soulless lives.

    Most of them had sluggish eyes, as if their lives had lost all purpose.

    Some stronger citizens bullied the weak to vent their negative emotions. Brothels had be the most popr ces within the city. People ate, drank, and whored all day long, as if they were enjoying their final moment of madness before the impending doom.

    Bloody fights took ce day and night in every corner of the city.

    Plundering, murdering, and raping could be seen everywhere.

    The former three great ns, the Nie n, the An n, and the Yun n, seemed to have left the security within the citypletely unattended.

    During the night, every household locked their doors and didn¡¯t dare to go out.

    From behind those tightly-locked doors, the sounds of wives weeping, drunk husbands cursing, and children mediating could be heard.

    A spirit of desperation and insanity seemed to have pervaded the entire city, making every Qi warrior abandon their cultivation, indulge themselves in whatever pleased them, and murder people as long as they felt like it.

    Mortals abandoned work and left fields unattended. They lived on the grains they had stockpiled and waited for the day toe when Demons invaded their homnd.

    After roaming the city for a day, as Hua Mu had warned him, Nie Tian saw the darkest side of human nature, and how days without hope could drive people crazy.

    The thing he didn¡¯t foresee was that after the Yun n had been extinguished by a fallen meteor, neither the Nie n nor the An n had taken its ce as the most powerful n in ck Cloud City.

    On the contrary, the Yuan n from Frost Stone City had be the most powerful n in ck Cloud City.

    Frost Stone City had been hit by several meteors. Most parts of the city were in ruins. Therefore, the heavily damaged Yuan n decided to leave Frost Stone City and move to ck Cloud City.

    Their arrival made them the most powerful n in ck Cloud City.

    At first, in light of Nie Tian¡¯s stunning aplishments, the Yuan n hadn¡¯t dared to make moves on the Nie n. However, as Nie Tian had disappeared, everyone had med and hated Nie Tian for his irrational behavior. Later, when Wu Ji had secretly sent Nie Donghai and Nie Qian to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Yuan n had lost all scruples and started to confront the Nie n at every chance.

    Originally, the Yuan n had been backed by the Grayvale Sect. However, since the Grayvale Sect had been flooded by the Demon invaders, it was basically wiped out from the Realm of me Heaven, with only a handful of members being lucky enough to have escaped death.

    As one of the valemasters, Yuan Xian from the Yuan n was one of them.

    Because of that, Yuan Xian and a few others became thest remaining force of the Grayvale Sect.

    In such perilous times, all the major sects set aside their differences and united as never before.

    Considering the cmity the Grayvale Sect had suffered, all the other sects showed great sympathy towards them and provided help as long as it was within their power.

    That was why the Cloudsoaring Sect hadn¡¯t opposed the Yuan n when they had asked to move into ck Cloud City.

    The An n was formerly backed by the Spiritual Treasure Sect. After the upheaval that had ravished the Scarlet me Mountain Range, the Spiritual Treasure Sect had also sustained heavy losses. Soon afterwards, when they had been invaded by Demon outsiders, they had lost most of their members.

    Even though the Spiritual Treasure Sect had survived the series of devastating cmities, they had be the weakest sect since then.

    However, the An n had somehow lost this backer of theirs.

    The reason behind this was that An Shiyi and An Ying had been driven out of the Spiritual Treasure Sect, and thus secretly gone to the Blood Sect.

    Even though Li Jing, the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, had agreed to shelter the pair of sisters for Nie Tian¡¯s sake, many senior members of the Blood Sect had detested the An n, and thus refused to acknowledge its status as their subordinate n.

    Meanwhile, the Spiritual Treasure Sect had removed the An n from their subordinate ns after learning about An Shiyi¡¯s unauthorized leave.

    On the other hand, due to Nie Donghai and Nie Qian¡¯s evacuation, the Nie n had once again been detested by many members of the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    Even though the Nie n was still a subordinate n of the Cloudsoaring Sect, they hadn¡¯t received any special care from them. Adding in the fact that many people attributed the disorder and downfall of the entire Realm of me Heaven to Nie Tian, in people¡¯s eyes, the Nie n had be a pest, a thorn in their flesh.

    Many Qi warriors and mortals of ck Cloud City would take every opportunity to start fights with members of the Nie n, which made every trip Nie n members took outside full of danger.

    Worst of all, the Yuan n had even openly sought trouble with members of the Nie n and An n. There had been many asions where members of the Nie n and An n had been secretly ambushed or assassinated soon aftering through their n gate.

    Having roaming the city for some time, Nie Tian subconsciously walked towards the direction of the Nie n.

    Along the way, both Hua Mu and Pei Qiqi followed Nie Tian without uttering a single word.

    Hua Mu had been to many ces and experienced many things, so the unspeakable things that were taking ce in ck Cloud City didn¡¯t create much of a wave in his heart.

    Pei Qiqi, however, had never imagined that an impending doom could breed so many evils in such a small city.

    Her eyebrows were deeply knitted the entire time they strolled the city streets, as if she was absorbed in thought.

    Since it was the first time she had witnessed this kind of thing, it seemed to havee as a great shock to her.

    Just as they were about to arrive at the Nie n¡¯s front gate, Nie Tian saw an acquaintance whom he hadn¡¯t seen for a long time, Nie You.

    Nie You was one of the few members of the entire Nie n from whom Nie Tian had felt warmth.

    A few years had passed, and Nie You had already grown into a slim and graceful young woman. It was just that she seemed a bit too thin for her age. As for her cultivation base, she was only at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and hadn¡¯t entered the Lesser Heaven stage yet.

    She seemed to have snuck out of the n gate, and now she was about to sneak back into the Nie n. However, someone had targeted her.

    Nie You was trotting towards the Nie n¡¯s gate with her chin lowered when two Lesser Heaven stage Qi warriors suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her path.

    At that very moment, Nie Tian, Hua Mu, and Pei Qiqi showed up at the corner of the street.

    Nie Tian came to a stop, and standing several dozen meters away, he red at the two Qi warriors who were wearing Yuan n garments, his eyes shining with frosty light.

 Chapter 350: Sinner?

    ¡°You! Stop!¡± Standing in front of her, the two members of the Yuan n looked at Nie You out of the corner of their eyes, their faces filled with malicious smiles.

    Nie You¡¯s expression flickered slightly as she asked timidly, ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t your seniors tell you not to leave your n recently?¡± One man said with an evil grin. ¡°If members of your n dare toe out and walk in ck Cloud City, they¡¯ll be treated like rats crossing the street. You should have stayed inside your n at all times and nevere out.¡±

    Upon hearing the man¡¯s words, Nie You subconsciously took a step backward.

    She knew that senior n members had repeatedly warned them against going out recently.

    However, since she had made an appointment with someone, she had snuck out when the guard at the n gate hadn¡¯t been looking.

    She didn¡¯t expect that she would be trapped when she was this close to returning safely.

    She nced around and discovered that Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Hua Mu were the only ones on the street.

    Nie You¡¯s eyes lit up before she immediately ran towards them at the fastest possible speed.

    Within seconds, she arrived in front of Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Hua Mu.

    ¡°Uncle, Big Brother, Sister, those bad men won¡¯t let me go. Will you please help me?¡± She implored, panting slightly. Urgency could be seen in her eyes.

    Nie Tian had left the Nie n long before he had even left the Realm of me Heaven.

    After that, he had spent two years in the Realm of Split Void. Adding the time together, he hadn¡¯t returned to ck Cloud City in about four to five years.

    During this period of time, he had gone through great changes, not to mention that he had altered his appearance, so no matter what, Nie You wouldn¡¯t be able to imagine that the tall, well-built man was the Nie Tian from her n who had repeatedly worked wonders in the past.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Everything is going to be fine,¡± Nie Tian said with aforting tone.

    Looking at the thin but graceful young woman standing in front of him, he couldn¡¯t help but get carried away by his thoughts.

    <i>I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s been five years already, and she has grown up</i>... After sighing inwardly over how fast time passed, Nie Tian snapped back to reality. With a frown, he looked at the two Yuan n Qi warriors who were taking their time as they stepped towards him.

    Nie Tian had never expected that they would actually dare toe towards them and pursue the matter.

    Even though they had intentionally concealed their auras, the two Yuan n members, who were only at the Lesser Heaven stage, should be able to sense that these mysterious strangers were not to be trifled with.

    However, not only did theye, but they even assumed an attitude as if they feared no one with the Yuan n at their back.

    ¡°Hey buddy, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen you in ck Cloud City. Visitors, aren¡¯t you?¡± One man said with a casual and arrogant tone.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Yeah, so?¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯d better stay out of our business, neer,¡± The other man said with a cold harrumph. ¡°This girl is a member of the Nie n, the n that Nie Tian is from!

    ¡°Nie Tian is the sinner who led the Realm of me Heaven to hell!

    ¡°The bastard thought too much of himself after obtaining two fragmentary star marks by luck. Not only did he refuse to hand them over to the Heaven Pce Sect, but he even holed up somewhere. It¡¯s because of him that one fourth of the Realm of me Heaven is now submerged in raging demon Qi!

    ¡°It¡¯s because of him that people are living in fear, and every major sect is trying every possible method to evacuate their core disciples.

    ¡°Meanwhile, people like us and those from subordinate ns probably won¡¯t even have a chance to be evacuated. Our deaths are certain, and it¡¯s all that bastard¡¯s fault! For that, he and all of his n members have to take the me and bear the wrath of every man and woman in the Realm of me Heaven!¡±

    After blurting out his indignantint in Nie Tian¡¯s face, the man added, ¡°Those who dare to be on friendly terms with the Nie n are also enemies to every sect and n in the Realm of me Heaven! We¡¯re all victims of Nie n¡¯s actions. You lot better be smart and stay out of this.¡±

    Nie You shook her head repeatedly as she protested eagerly. ¡°No! It¡¯s not like that! Brother Tian isn¡¯t the man you say he is! When the Realm of me Heaven was invaded by Demon armies, it was him who helped save the Blood Sect and killed countless Demons! He¡¯s a hero! A hero of the Nie n, and the entire Realm of me Heaven!

    ¡°He must be exerting all effort to uncover the secrets within those fragmentary star marks. Once he¡¯s mastered the spells recorded within them, he will definitelye back to our rescue at the first possible moment!

    ¡°He¡¯ll work with the Heaven Pce Sect and Ning Yang to seal the ripped-open spatial rift!

    ¡°I won¡¯t allow you to nder his good name!¡±

    With flushed cheeks, Nie You red at the two Yuan n members. Her fists were clenched so tightly that it was as if she wouldunch attacks if they didn¡¯t shut their mouths.

    ¡°Even Nie Beichuan and Nie Nanshan have admitted to Nie Tian¡¯s crimes. Who would take the words of a silly little girl seriously? Don¡¯t make a fool of yourself, will you?¡± A man mocked impatiently. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time to argue with you. Come on. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    With these words, he reached out his hand to grab Nie You¡¯s arm.

    Meanwhile, the other man stared coldly at Nie Tian and said, ¡°You¡¯d better stay out of our business. Make no mistake, the Yuan n owns ck Cloud City now. Also, ck Cloud City isn¡¯t what it used to be. People die every day. If you dare to mess with our n, don¡¯t you imagine that you can live in peace in ck Cloud City.¡±

    BANG!

    A violent explosion rang out, and the first man¡¯s extended arm, as well as that side of his torso, were blown to shreds.

    Just as Nie You cried out in fear, another spiritual energy ball left Nie Tian and hit the other Yuan n member, reducing him to a bloody mist.

    In the blink of an eye, the two Yuan n members were reduced to scattered broken limbs and bits of flesh.

    A strong bloody smell instantly filled the air. Nie You¡¯s face turned pale from fright, her slender body trembling nonstop.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was expressionless as he asked her with a in tone, ¡°Are there many people in the Nie n who consider Nie Tian to be the one to me for what¡¯s happening to the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to them,¡± Nie You hastily exined. ¡°Those people are only trying to undermine Brother Nie Tian and Grandpa Nie Donghai.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian said, ¡°You can go back now. No one from the Yuan n will ever give you trouble again.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nie You replied timidly.

    Having watched the two Yuan n members dying such bloody and horrible deaths, she was slightly fearful towards Nie Tian. Therefore, after hearing that she was free to leave, she seemed like a person absolved of guilt. She carefully ran through the area scattered with bits of human flesh and rapidly disappeared from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Hua Mu wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    Nie Tian forced a smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Nie Beichuan and Nie Nanshan have never been fond of me since I was little. I have been like a thorn in their flesh. I¡¯m not at all surprised that they would intentionally undermine me.¡±

    With these words, he walked past this bloody street block. Soon, he came to a stop in front of the Nie n¡¯s gate, where he closed his eyes and unleashed his Heaven Eyes.

    His Heaven Eyes quietly flew into the Nie n...

    After some time, his eyes opened. He turned to Pei Qiqi and Hua Mu, who had been waiting for him, and with an apologetic smile, he said, ¡°We can go now.¡±

    Surprised, Hua Mu asked, ¡°Do you not want to go in?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes were also filled with surprise and confusion.

    Even though she didn¡¯t know much about Nie Tian¡¯s past, when Nie Tian had demanded to go to ck Cloud City and take a look, she had assumed that he would definitely visit his home.

    She had never expected that Nie Tian would only stand outside the Nie n for some time and then leave.

    She couldn¡¯t figure out the reason.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Only a handful of people in my n were close to me. Most Nie n members disliked me. Since they see me as trouble, why would I go back and make everybody unhappy?¡± With those words, he strode towards the An n.

    The reason he had decided to leave was that via his seven Heaven Eyes, he had heard nothing but conversations that made him very unhappy.

    He found it hard to believe that his own nsmen were actually no different from people he had seen in the streets. Most of them med him for the perilous situation the Realm of me Heaven was in. They also med him for bringing the tremendous me and hostility of others upon the Nie n.

    Before, only a handful of people had acknowledged and epted him. However, even those few people had now turned on him, and wereining about what he had done.

    That being the case, he couldn¡¯t think of any reason to return to the Nie n.

    The reason why he had decided to stop by the An n before he left was that An Rong, the nmaster of the An n, had helped him contend against Nie Beichuan before. Furthermore, he had gone through a lot with An Shiyi and her sister.

    He wanted to see how the An n was holding up.

    By the time he saw the An n¡¯s front gate, he discovered that many powerful experts of the Yuan n were gathered there, including Yuan Fengchun, the nmaster of the Yuan n.

    Nie Tian stepped closer and blended into the chattering crowd of onlookers. After listening for a brief moment, he understood what was happening.

    The Yuan n was forcing the An n to move out of their property so that they could take it for their own.

    Before the Yuan n hade along, the An n had always been the most powerful n in ck Cloud City. Therefore, their property was located in the most prosperous section of the city, and their buildings were the most splendid and magnificent.

    It hadn¡¯t been long since the Yuan n had moved to ck Cloud City. They hadn¡¯t had the time or energy to build a new property with all the stone pavilions and courts that suited their needs.

    Forcibly upying the An n or the Nie n would be a simpler solution, considering the Yun n was already in ruins.

    Even though some people within the Cloudsoaring Sect weren¡¯t happy with the Nie n, they were still one of their subordinate ns. Therefore, the Yuan n only dared to y little tricks or make secret moves against them.

    They wouldn¡¯t dare to force the Nie n to abandon their property.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the case for the An n. Ever since An Shiyi had left the Spiritual Treasure Sect and sought shelter in the Blood Sect, the Spiritual Treasure Sect had removed the An n from their list of subordinate ns.

    Meanwhile, the Blood Sect hadn¡¯t decided to take the An n under their protection yet, which had put the An n in a very difficult position.

    It was exactly because the An n didn¡¯t have a backer for the time being that Yuan Fengchun dared to make such an unreasonable demand.

    ¡°Give me a few moments,¡± Nie Tian said to Pei Qiqi and Hua Mu. ¡°I want to settle some things for good before I leave.¡±

 Chapter 351: Unfortunate Men Must Have Detestable Qualities

    Thepletely unbacked An n declined rapidly.

    All of their guest elders had left after learning that the Spiritual Treasure Sect had discarded the An n.

    Even some of their own n members had left and drifted to other cities since they couldn¡¯t see any hope in their n¡¯s future.

    That being the case, the An n¡¯s strength had been weakened by a great deal.

    Before, the citizens of ck Cloud City had treated the An n and An Rong with nothing but respect. They had even given him the title of ¡°Lord of ck Cloud City¡±.

    However, at this moment, excitement for drama filled every onlooker¡¯s eyes, as if what was happening between the An n and the Yuan n was nothing but a show to them.

    Standing in front of the n gate, An Rong¡¯s expression was especially grim. Staring at Yuan Fengchun, he strongly protested against his unreasonable demand, hoping everyone present would preside over justice for him and the An n.

    An He, who had escorted Nie Tian to attend the Green Illusion dimension, was standing beside An Rong, trembling from indignation.

    The only remaining An n members who were strong enough to fight had all armed themselves to the teeth and rushed to their front gate, as if they were ready to fight the people from the Yuan n to the death.

    In the meantime, Yuan Fengchun¡¯s expression was indifferent and arrogant.

    The reason he had made his demand in front of the An n¡¯s gate instead of delivering his demand to An Rong privately was that he wanted to humiliate An Rong and the entire An n in front of everyone, and let people know who the Lord of ck Cloud City was now.

    ¡°My offer is final; You and every member of your n will have the rest of today to move out of your property.¡± Yuan Fengchun intentionally raised his voice as he said each and every word clearly, so that everyone present would be able to hear him. ¡°I hope you can appreciate the current situation and take my kind offer. As long as you do that, I¡¯ll leave you and your n members alone. However, if you don¡¯t, then don¡¯t me me for not being polite.¡±

    An Rong was at the early Greater Heaven stage, while Yuan Fengchun was at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Considering the noticeable gap between their strengths, Yuan Fengchun alone would probably be enough to overtake An Rong.

    Not to mention that there was still a crowd of Yuan n members and Qi warriors who had attached themselves to the Yuan n, most of whom were at the middle orte Heaven stage.

    Even if they decided to go to war with the An n, considering their collective strengths, they would probably be able to drive away or kill every single member of the An n.

    ¡°Yuan Fengchun! You¡¯ve gone too far!¡± An Rong gave voice to his rage. ¡°Shi Yi and Little Ying are in the Blood Sect. Even though the Blood Sect hasn¡¯t taken them in as formal disciples, sectmaster Li Jing is very fond of them. If you dare to make a move on us, the Blood Sect will never forgive you!¡±

    Yuan Fengchun shook his head as a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth. ¡°The Blood Sect? Everyone knows that Li Jing only agreed to shelter those two girls from your n because she was giving Nie Tian face. But now, no one knows if Nie Tian is still alive. Even if he is alive, he has be the sinner who took away the two fragmentary star marks that should have belonged to the Heaven Pce Sect, and turned the Realm of me Heaven into a living hell!

    ¡°You probably know that part of the reason why the Blood Sect has been hesitant to make you their subordinate n is that many Blood Sect members detest Nie Tian for his rash behavior!

    ¡°At present, one fourth of the Realm of me Heaven is already submerged in demon Qi. Considering the speed at which the demon Qi is spreading, it won¡¯t be long before the whole Realm of me Heaven is doomed.

    ¡°Even if Nie Tian is still alive, it will be toote when he finally returns to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Open your eyes to reality. We¡¯re on our own now.¡±

    When Nie Tian¡¯s name came up, many onlookers cursed in low voices.

    Some of them med Nie Tian for being too stubborn and blindly insisting on refining the fragmentary star marks, and eventually inflicting this great cmity on the Realm of me Heaven.

    Yuan Fengchun¡¯sments created a major stir among the crowd; everyone assumed an attitude as if they wanted the An n to pay for their connection with Nie Tian, the sinner.

    The look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was very grim as he stood amongst the worked-up crowd.

    He almost lost control and charged through the crowd, but upon second thought, he forced himself to hold it. He remained in his original ce and let himself be submerged in everyone¡¯s endless me.

    Heart filled with bitterness and sadness, he shook his head. ¡°Human nature.¡±

    He had a feeling that thest remaining sense of connection he had with the Nie n and ck Cloud City had been cut off.

    An Rong let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°You¡¯re all fools if you believe this man. I know you me Nie Tian for what¡¯s happening in the Realm of me Heaven. But, as far as I know, if Nie Tian didn¡¯t awaken the Blood Sect¡¯s Bone Giant after returning from the Heaven Gate trial, the Blood Sect would already be gone! If he hadn¡¯t helped lift the siege on the Blood Sect and then rushed to the Hell Sect¡¯s aid with the unupied Li Jing and Bone Giant, do you really think those Demons would have retreated so easily?¡±

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, the Realm of me Heaven wouldn¡¯t even have survived that cmity!

    ¡°You think about nothing but yourselves and your own benefits! None of you have the right to me Nie Tian for anything!

    ¡°Why would he hand over his fragmentary star marks to Ning Yang? He obtained two fragmentary star marks, while Ning Yang only obtained one! Why don¡¯t you me Ning Yang for not giving his fragmentary star mark to Nie Tian, so that Nie Tian could unite all three fragmentary star marks?!

    ¡°Nie Tian is a hero who has saved ck Cloud City, the Cloudsoaring Sect, and even the Realm of me Heaven. What right does the Heaven Pce Sect have to force him to make way?¡±

    An Rong reasoned with a loud voice.

    However, his voice was soon drowned by the curses and name-calling of the Yuan n members and the observing citizens of ck Cloud City.

    None of them remembered the good deeds Nie Tian had done for the Realm of me Heaven. They only dwelt on the fact that Nie Tian had taken two fragmentary star marks and gone missing. In their eyes, Nie Tian had betrayed the Realm of me Heaven and put them in a hopeless situation.

    They went on and on, moring about how Ning Yang was morepetent than Nie Tian, and that since years had passed and Nie Tian still hadn¡¯t been able to refine those fragmentary star marks, he shouldn¡¯t have taken them.

    From what they believed, as the chosen one from the Heaven Pce Sect, the noble and lofty Ning Yang was the one who would have been able to save them from their endless pain and fear.

    ¡°Unfortunate men must have detestable qualities,¡± Pei Qiqi muttered to herself.

    Hua Mu¡¯s face was still expressionless, as it seemed that he had been through situations worse than this, and thus his understanding of the dark side of human nature had be very deep.

    The fact was that he had expected things to be like this.

    He knew that if Nie Tian returned to ck Cloud City, he would have to face these ugly things. That was why he had intentionally taken a detour, hoping Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t see ck Cloud City for what it was now.

    However, Nie Tian had insisted oning.

    Subconsciously, Hua Mu took a quick nce at Nie Tian, suspecting that, after witnessing what was going on in ck Cloud City at such close quarters, his temperament might even go through changes.

    He was afraid that, after today, Nie Tian would be increasingly cold and cruel.

    <i>¡°Is it a good thing for him, or bad?¡±</i> Hua Mu thought to himself with a frown. ¡°<i>Many people will change significantly after seeing so much of the dark side of human nature. They¡¯ll no longer be able to see the kind side of human nature, and then they¡¯ll be bloodthirsty and fall into depravity. I hope this doesn¡¯t happen to him.¡±</i>

    The reason he didn¡¯t want Nie Tian toe so close to all this was that he worried that Nie Tian would have a nervous breakdown, and that he would develop a hostile attitude towards everything and grow into a fallen killer.

    ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind.¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice. ¡°I no longer want to go to the Cloudsoaring Sect after I settle things here. We¡¯ll go to the Blood Sect instead.¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Hua Mu¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Now that my master isn¡¯t in the Cloudsoaring Sect, I don¡¯t see why I would want to go there.¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Even before everything had gone sour, he had felt little sense of belonging in the Cloudsoaring Sect. Many years ago, the Cloudsoaring Sect had ced tremendous hope in his mother. However, his mother had somehow gotten pregnant and died soon after giving birth to Nie Tian. For this reason, many people in the Cloudsoaring Sect had thought his mother had betrayed their trust and wasted the substantial amount of resources they had provided for her.

    They had even detested the Nie n because of it.

    Nie Donghai had only gone through so much unpleasantness because the Cloudsoaring Sect had once lost their faith in him.

    Now that Nie Donghai and Nie Qiao had disappeared from the Realm of me Heaven, some people within the Cloudsoaring Sect had adopted the same attitude as before, and once again became indifferent to the Nie n and ck Cloud City, which caused ck Cloud City to fall into a state of chaos.

    It was only natural that Nie Tian held the Cloudsoaring Sect responsible to some extent for everything happening in ck Cloud City.

    ¡°nmaster of the Yuan n, a cultivator at the middle Greater Heaven stage...¡± After a moment of hesitation, Hua Mu said, ¡°How about I take care of him for you when this whole thing is over?¡±

    His identity was very tricky, so he would rather not overtly kill Yuan Fengchun for Nie Tian under so many people¡¯s gazes.

    However, he sensed that Nie Tian was going to make a move on him even though he was only at the Heaven stage. Therefore, he was worried that Nie Tian might fail to kill Yuan Fengchun in singlebat and cause future trouble.

    ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± With these words, Nie Tian quietly stepped closer towards Yuan Fengchun.

    As he took the first step, he unleashed his newly-acquired bloodline talent: Life Stealth.

    The fluctuations of his spiritual power and flesh power rapidly quieted and became undetectable.

    ¡°Huh?!" Hua Mu eximed softly. If he didn¡¯t examine Nie Tian closely with his soul power, Nie Tian would seem no different from a normal mortal to him, and he would never raise his guard against such an unimpressive mortal.

    Passing through the crowd of onlookers, Nie Tian quietly approached the members of the Yuan n.

    He suddenly formed a chaotic maic field around him and cast a short-range Starshift.

    In a split second, he appeared behind Yuan Fengchun¡¯s back and drew his me Star.

 Chapter 352: Let Me Send You On Your Way!

    This was the first time Nie Tian had used the me Star.

    After appearing behind Yuan Fengchun¡¯s back and bringing out the me Star, Nie Tian infused it with his me power, wood power, and star power. The me Star immediately began to shine with glorious, fiery light.

    The numerous tiny stars on its de also seemed to suddenly light up.

    The various types of power flowed within the spell formations on the me Star at a very fast speed. Bolstered by the spell formations, the streams of power of different attributes rushed towards the tip of the de like torrential rivers.

    FIZZ!

    A beam of dazzling, fiery lightced with starlight suddenly shot out from the tip of the me Star.

    Yuan Fengchun, who was still imposing his offer on An Rong, suddenly sensed the aura of death from behind him, and thus summoned earth power as quickly as he could.

    An earthy-yellow light shield instantly formed on his back. Not only that, but even his skin and flesh under his garments seemed to be infused with his earthy-yellow spiritual aura.

    BANG!

    The moment the mixed light unleashed by the me Star made contact with the earthy-yellow light shield, the light shield shattered.

    PUFF!

    Immediately afterwards, the me Star pierced into Yuan Fengchun¡¯s back and infused the various types of spiritual power into his flesh and blood.

    ¡°Ahhhh!¡±

    Yuan Fengchun let out an agonized shriek, and hastily attempted to summon more of his strength to defend against the various types of spiritual power that had invaded his body.

    However, enveloped by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field, he was no longer capable of wielding his own strength.

    He even began to experience an excruciating pain in his head, and he had to make great efforts to maintain a clear mind.

    Assuming a firm grip on the me Star, his eyes filled with frigid coldness, Nie Tian once again summoned the various types of power within him.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    As the me Star pierced deeper into Yuan Fengchun¡¯s back, it broke a few bones.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian madly drew from his burning rage and formed a Rage Punch with his unupied hand.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s fist bombarded Yuan Fengchun¡¯s back with great force, Yuan Fengchun was sent flying towards where An Rong was standing.

    An Rong, however, seemed to have been shocked into a daze.

    Only at that moment did the Yuan n members realize what was happening, and charge madly towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Kill that man!¡±

    ¡°He actually dares to make a move on our nmaster!¡±

    ¡°Kill him!¡±

    When Nie Tian had quietly approached Yuan Fengchun from behind, none of the Yuan n members had been rmed. After all, he had cloaked all of his spiritual and fleshy aura using Life Stealth, so in the eyes of those Yuan n members, he was nothing more than a mortal onlooker.

    Normally, they wouldn¡¯t raise their guard at all when a mortal approached them.

    Not to mention that the Yuan n was the most powerful n in ck Cloud City now. Every man and woman in ck Cloud City had been exerting all measures to please the Yuan n.

    This had attributed to the Yuan n¡¯s blind arrogance.

    They had never expected that anyone would dare to openlyy a murderous hand on their nmaster in ck Cloud City.

    By the time they realized what was going on, Nie Tian had already driven his me Star into Yuan Fengchun¡¯s back.

    ¡°Who are you?!¡± Enraged, every Yuan n member summoned their spiritual tools and assumed a stance that showed that they were determined to rip Nie Tian into pieces.

    Holding the me Star with one hand, Nie Tian didn¡¯t spare Yuan Fengchun another nce, but rather expanded his chaotic maic field to a five-meter radius.

    The first few Yuan n members who unwittingly charged into the chaotic maic field were all at the Heaven stage. Having their inner powers disrupted by the chaotic maic field, they couldn¡¯t help but stagger about.

    Like a de that was designated for reaping lives, the me Star unleashed numerous beams of fiery lightced with frosty sparks of starlight.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    The few men who were the closest to Nie Tian were the first to have their chests prated by the me Star¡¯s de lights, and died instantly.

    Upon seeing this scene, the citizens of ck Cloud City seemed to have sensed danger, and all began shoving each other backwards to keep a longer distance from Nie Tian in a loud mor.

    Nie Tian still didn¡¯t say a word. Holding his me Star, he repeatedly cast Starshifts to appear in different locations.

    Every time he cast a Starshift and appeared in another location, he would ughter a member of the Yuan n effortlessly with the same method he had used to sneak up on Yuan Fengchun.

    Yuan Fengchun was the only one in the Yuan n who could be considered a truly powerful expert.

    As a matter of fact, they used to have another Greater Heaven stage expert in their n. However, he had been crushed to death by a meteor right before the Heaven Gate had opened.

    At present, none of the Yuan n members or guest elders were experts with Greater Heaven stage or higher cultivation bases; Yuan Fengchun had been the only exception.

    Nie Tian had already lost count of how many Qi warriors with simr cultivation bases he had killed in the Realm of Split Void.

    Furthermore, the strength of these Heaven stage Yuan n members couldn¡¯t even match up to that of a Heaven stage Hunter, much less that of Heaven stage Dark Moon member.

    Combining his unpredictable movement magics and the me Star together, Nie Tian was like a tiger that had grown wings.

    Even though the Yuan n members and guest elders had formed a blockade, Nie Tian moved unpredictably around them, and rapidly reaped their lives with his me Star.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the guest elders realized that it was a lost cause, and fled with their tails between their legs.

    Even the formal members of the Yuan n gradually grew desperate, watching their brothers pierced through and killed by Nie Tian in such bizarre ways one by one.

    Even though they still kept shouting threatening words, they backed further and further away from Nie Tian.

    As soon as they left Nie Tian¡¯s sight, they rapidly turned around and scurried away at full speed.

    It wasn¡¯t long before they were all gone.

    Lying around Nie Tian were more than twenty bodies, all of whom were elite members of the Yuan n at the Heaven stage.

    After this encounter, even if the Yuan n wasn¡¯tpletely uprooted from ck Cloud City, it would be very hard for them to maintain a foothold here.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t run after the fleeing Yuan n members and guest elders. Instead, he red at Yuan Fengchun, standing amongst the scattered corpses.

    He knew Yuan Fengchun hadn¡¯t died.

    At that moment, Yuan Fengchun had already sat up. Blood was pouring out of the deep wound in his back, and his chest was painted red by the blood he had puked. His eyes were filled with hate as he stared back at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Who are you?! What did the Yuan n ever do to you?!¡± Yuan Fengchun asked, gnashing his teeth.

    At this point, only a handful of onlookers were still standing in the street, and they all seemed to be at thete Heaven stage.

    Their eyes were filled with fear as they gazed at Nie Tian from a safe distance, as if they were prepared to turn around and run the moment Nie Tian pointed the me Star at them.

    An Rong still hadn¡¯t recovered from the shock. Completely dumbstruck, he stood in his original location and didn¡¯t utter a word.

    He had never expected that some stranger would show up and basically annihte the Yuan n that had lorded over ck Cloud City for more than half a year.

    He couldn¡¯t figure out who in the entire Realm of me Heaven would massacre members of the Yuan n like this.

    As far as he knew, since the Grayvale Sect had almost been wiped out and Yuan Xian had be theirst remaining force, all the sects had united against theirmon enemies during perilous times, and they had all shown great sympathy towards Yuan Xian.

    Under these circumstances, each sect would restrain their members from making any moves on the Yuan n, even if they had unsettled feuds between them.

    ¡°You don¡¯t recognize me, but I¡¯ve heard so much about you.¡± As Nie Tian paced towards Yuan Fengchun, the me Star in his hand once again blossomed with glorious, fiery light and starlight. ¡°Ever since I was old enough to remember things, I learned that you and Yun Meng from the Yun n ganged up on my grandfather and shattered his spiritual sea, which caused his cultivation base to decay.¡±

    He spoke in a calm manner as he paced his way towards Yuan Fengchun.

    ¡°Before, I wasn¡¯t strong enough, so even though I hated your guts, I couldn¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°However, when I entered the Green Illusion dimension, I finally had my first chance. So, I killed Yun Song from the Yun n and the rising star of your n, Yuan Feng.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Yuan Fengchun became agitated and puked another mouthful of blood. ¡°It was you who killed Little Feng?!¡±

    Yuan Feng from the Grayvale Sect had been the most promising member of his generation in the Yuan n. However, he had died prematurely during the Green Illusion dimension trial.

    ording to the Spiritual Treasure Sect, Yuan Feng had been killed by trial-takers from the Blood Sect and the Ghost Sect.

    ¡°Exactly. Both Yuan Feng and Yun Song died at my hands.¡± Nie Tian grinned and pulled off his mask, saying, ¡°Before, I was weak, so I could only bury the truth deeply in my heart. However, times have changed. It feels so good to be able to spill it out!¡±

    The moment he took off his mask, An Rong and An He shouted out his name, their faces filled with disbelief. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    Yuan Fengchun shrieked. ¡°Nie Tian! You are Nie Tian?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, saying, ¡°Exactly. I¡¯m Nie Donghai¡¯s grandson. I¡¯vee here today to send you on your way.¡±

    A beam of blindingly bright light shed across Yuan Fengchun¡¯s eyes.

    In the next moment, his head was severed and pushed up into the air by the blood rushing out of his neck, though his eyes were still wide open.

 Chapter 353: Deep Disappointment

    As Nie Tian took off his mask and killed Yuan Fengchun, Hua Mu couldn¡¯t help but marvel in a soft voice, ¡°Impressive kid!¡±

    In fact, this was the first time Hua Mu had witnessed Nie Tian battle against someone.

    Before, he had only heard about his stunning battle achievements in the Green Illusion dimension, Heaven Gate trial, and the Realm of Split Void.

    Even though he had never doubted Nie Tian¡¯s extraordinary battle prowess, knowing that he possessed bloodline power, two fragmentary star marks, and the me Dragon Armor, he had never expected that Nie Tian would actually be able to sneak up on and kill the middle Greater Heaven stage Yuan Fengchun so effortlessly.

    Furthermore, the numerous n members and guest elders Yuan Fengchun had brought with him were all at the Heaven stage, roughly at the same stage as Nie Tian.

    However, none of them had survived Nie Tian¡¯s attacks. In fact, they were not even capable of withstanding a single strike.

    The outstanding battle prowess Nie Tian had disyed shocked Hua Mu to the core. He had an increasingly strong feeling that he had made a smart decision by saving Nie Tian many years ago when he had stopped by ck Cloud City and identally discovered that he had been seriously ill.

    On the other hand, he had be more confident that Nie Tian would be able to progress and transcend at a fast speed, considering his unique qualities.

    Sooner orter, Nie Tian would be able to help him with his lifespan problem.

    After seeing Nie Tian take off his mask, state his real identity, and behead Yuan Fengchun, a mor immediately burst forth amongst the onlookers that had stayed.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Nie Tian?!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s back!!¡±

    Shocked, An Rong stood in silence.

    An He took a deep breath to calm himself. His eyes glittered with the light of excitement as he gazed at Nie Tian.

    Neither An Rong nor An He had expected that Nie Tian would show up while the Yuan n was forcing them to move out of their own home.

    Mixed emotions rose in An He¡¯s heart as he muttered to himself, ¡°Shiyi¡¯s insightful judgment was indeed our n¡¯s most valuable fortune!¡±

    He still remembered many years ago when An Shiyi had ignored their n¡¯s rules and gifted one of their Green Illusion dimension trial slots to Nie Tian. Many seniors in the An n had strongly opposed her decision, and thought it had been beyond ridiculous.

    Back then, even An He hadn¡¯t quite understood why An Shiyi had made such an odd decision.

    He could still remember distinctively that when he had escorted Nie Tian to participate in the Green Illusion dimension trial, he had only been at the Qi Refining stage.

    A few years passed so quickly, and Nie Tian had finished the Green Illusion dimension trial, gone through the upheaval in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, survived the bloodbaths in Heaven Gate trial, repulsed the Demon invaders, and eventually grown into a figure that attracted the entire Realm of me Heaven¡¯s focus.

    Today, he had even killed Yuan Fengchun, the nmaster of the Yuan n, a middle Greater Heaven stage expert.

    None of the Yuan n¡¯s members or guest elders could withstand a single strike from him.

    Within such a short time, he had greatly damaged the Yuan n¡¯s vital force. Even though they didn¡¯t get annihted, they would probably wither away from this point forward.

    An He searched in his memories, and then looked at Nie Tian, who was standing right before his eyes. A sense of inauthenticity rose in his heart.

    After Yuan Fengchun died, Nie Tian walked over to An He and An Rong in aposed manner. He bowed to them and said with a grin, ¡°Uncle An, Grandpa An.¡±

    As for the dead Yuan n members, guest elders, and Yuan Fengchun, he didn¡¯t even have the slightest intention to spare them another nce.

    Simrly, he turned a blind eye to the onlooking citizens of ck Cloud City.

    An Rong snapped to reality and hastily took a step forward. Face filled withplicated emotions, he gently patted Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°It¡¯s so nice to see that you¡¯re back. If your grandfather knew that you¡¯ve killed Yuan Fengchun, whom he hated with all his heart, he would surely be very happy.¡±

    He knew the dispute between the Nie n and the Yun n and Yuan n better than anyone.

    An He took the initiative and invited Nie Tian. ¡°Come on, Nie Tian. Let¡¯s go in and have a talk.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I still have business to tend to.¡± Nie Tian refused respectfully.

    An He seemed to suddenly realize something, and nodded repeatedly as he said, ¡°Oh, right. You¡¯ve probably just returned to ck Cloud City. It¡¯s only right that you go back to your n first. How about this: you go ahead and return to your n. Later, you¡¯lle visit us?¡± He assumed that Nie Tian had just returned to ck Cloud City, and was on his way to the Nie n.

    An Rong chimed in. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t forget to visit us after you get things settled in your n. Now that you¡¯ve taken Shiyi as your sworn sister, we¡¯re family. We don¡¯t treat you as an outsider, so you shouldn¡¯t either. Plus, you helped our n so much this time, we¡¯ll arrange a feast as a thank you!¡±

    ¡°There isn¡¯t anyone in the Nie n I feel attached to now, so I won¡¯t be going back.¡± Nie Tian said with a expression that was the same as ever, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Blood Sect and visit Big Sister An and An Ying.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, An Rong and An He fell silent.

    The onlookers went nk as well. They all wondered with their eyebrows furrowed.

    After a few seconds of silence, An Rong seemed to have realized something. He sighed softly and said, ¡°Alright then. If you¡¯re going to the Blood Sect, will you tell Shiyi and Little Ying that everything is fine here in the An n, they need not worry about us, and tell them to focus on their cultivation. We have ced all of our hopes on them. Only if they are strong enough will the An n have a possible future.¡±

    An Rong was actually thinking that if the Realm of me Heaven was really sacked by Demon armies someday, the Blood Sect might give face to the pair of sisters and evacuate several core members of the An n.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Grandpa An,¡± Nie Tian said with a faint smile. ¡°Nothing will happen to the Realm of me Heaven. Even if the dayes when you need to be evacuated from the Realm of me Heaven, you won¡¯t need the Blood Sect for that. I¡¯ll personally arrange for you to move out of the Realm of me Heaven and reestablish your n in another realm.¡±

    An Rong¡¯s eyes instantly lit up.

    At that very moment, Hua Mu, who was standing among the onlookers, cleared his throat, signalling him that they shouldn¡¯t waste too much time here.

    ¡°See you, Grandpa An, Uncle An.¡± With these words, Nie Tian stepped away from the An n¡¯s front gate. The onlookers saw himing towards them and automatically stepped back to clear a path for him.

    Before Nie Tian had revealed himself, those onlookers had chattered about him being the one to me for the misfortune happening to the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, after witnessing him ughter Yuan Fengchun, as well as his numerous n members and guest elders, with such fierce and merciless methods, they had all fallen silent.

    The moment they saw Nie Tian move his feet, they voluntarily stepped back and didn¡¯t dare to say another disrespectful word.

    Their eyes were filled with fear and insecurity as they looked at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t spare them a nce, and strode directly towards the city gate in an imposing manner. Even after he had gone through the city gate, no one dared to stop him. Only a few onlookers dared to whisper something to each other in low voices.

    After exiting ck Cloud City and returning to a secluded location, Hua Mu once again brought out his Lightning Shuttle and urged Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to get on board.

    Afterwards, the Lightning Shuttle rose up into the air and whizzed away from ck Cloud City like a bolt of lightning. Hua Mu steered clear of the Cloudsoaring Sect and steered directly towards the Blood Sect.

    Soon after their Lightning Shuttle flew past the Cloudsoaring Sect, Jiang Zhisu, the sectmaster of the Cloudsoaring Sect, heard about what had just happened in ck Cloud City.

    Without any dy, he summoned all of the elders.

    ¡°Nie Tian came back.¡± Jiang Zhisu said with a frown. ¡°He went to ck Cloud City, where he killed Yuan Fengchun and practically annihted the Yuan n single-handedly. However, he told An Rong that he would return to the Blood Sect, instead of the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡±

    The expression of every elder flickered as they heard these words.

    With a deep sigh, Wu Xing said, ¡°Back in the day, I made many mistakes with Little Jin. Onlyter when I saw Nie Tian was the burden that had been weighing on my mind gradually lifted. I told you long ago that Nie Tian was far beyond ordinary, and that he would definitelye back, but you never listened.¡±

    With aining gaze, he looked at the other three elders standing beside him, who hadn¡¯t believed that Nie Tian would be able to survive the Heaven Pce Sect and return to the Realm of me Heaven alive.

    They detested Nie Tian for not thinking of the greater good and handing his fragmentary star marks over to the Heaven Pce Sect.

    It was their panicking mindset that had spread out to the entire Realm of me Heaven. It was also because of their endless pleading that Wu Ji had agreed to go to the Realm of a Hundred Battles and make arrangements for the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s evacuation.

    Furthermore, the reason why Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had lived ufortably in the Cloudsoaring Sect was because they had failed to restrain their disciples. Their disciples would usually say mean things to them every time they met, which deeply disappointed them.

    ¡°He was capable of killing Yuan Fengchun?! Can it be that he has actually refined his fragmentary star marks?¡± Elder Feng He said in a hoarse voice.

    ¡°That¡¯s very likely,¡± Jiang Zhisu said with a in tone.

    Discontent could be seen in his eyes as he gazed at Feng He and the other two elders. As a matter of fact, just like Wu Xing, he had also believed that Nie Tian would eventuallye back to the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, because Feng He and the others hadn¡¯t restrained their disciples from secretly creating difficulties for Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, they eventually decided to leave.

    They were also the reason why people had dared to treated the Nie n so harshly.

    Feng He let out a cold snort and said, ¡°We have always been kind to him. Yet, he didn¡¯te to our sect after returning to the Realm of me Heaven, but rather went to the Blood Sect. What is this?! Don¡¯t tell me that he wants to leave the Cloudsoaring Sect and join the Blood Sect.¡±

    Wu Xing shook his head. ¡°Since he obtained those fragmentary star marks, he was destined to be outstanding in the future. Neither the Cloudsoaring Sect nor the Blood Sect is the best choice for him. I¡¯m afraid that the Heaven Pce Sect and many other powerful sects from the other realms will reach out to him and ask him to join them.

    ¡°Considering that he has received the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and learned the profound incantations they recorded, whichever sect he decides to join, he will make a great impact and give a strong boost to the sect¡¯s strength.

    ¡°Originally, we could have gained an upper hand in the contest by relying on our deep connection with him and his family.

    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t seem we have much hope now.¡±

    Wu Xing felt very regretful, and secretly med Feng He and the others for causing Nie Tian to lose faith in the Cloudsoaring Sect.

 Chapter 354: A Shred of Warmth

    The Lightning Shuttle could cover thousands of kilometers in a day.

    By the time the Lightning Shuttle arrived in the Blood Sect¡¯s territory, word of Nie Tian¡¯s deeds in ck Cloud City hadn¡¯t spread to the Blood Sect yet.

    After Nie Tian got off the Lightning Shuttle, Hua Mu said to him, ¡°We¡¯re not going to the Blood Sect with you. I¡¯ll take Qiqi to check the spatial rift. Also, there¡¯s no need to let that woman from the Blood Sect know that I took you to the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, saying, ¡°I know.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Hua Mu added, ¡°Plus, you might want to spend some time to adjust yourself. There are two sides to human nature. Lately, you¡¯ve experienced a lot of the dark side. I hope you can understand how ugly and disgusting people can be, but at the same time, I want you to hold fast to what you believe, and don¡¯t err from the right path.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded again.

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s about all.¡± Hua Mu took another deep look at him before steering the Lightning Shuttle around and disappearing into the distant horizon.

    Nie Tian traveled by himself in the Blood Sect¡¯s territory.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he ran into a disciple of the Blood Sect. After Nie Tian stated his identity, the man¡¯s expression flickered dramatically, and he hastily showed him to the Blood Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    As the man led the way in front, he repeatedly turned his head to check Nie Tian out.

    The man¡¯s eyes were filled with respect, and it looked as if he wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°My name is Zhang Xu.¡± After stating his own name, the man slowed his pace to express his gratitude towards Nie Tian, ¡°I always wanted to thank you, but I never had the chance.¡±

    ¡°Thank me?¡± Greatly surprised, Nie Tian adopted a self-mocking tone. ¡°Thank me for what? I holed up somewhere right after obtaining two fragmentary star marks, which makes every man and woman in the Realm of me Heaven live in fear. Everyone takes me as a great sinner. What do you want to thank me for?¡±

    A sincere and serious expression filled Zhang Xu¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t care what others think, but most of my sectmates and I are very grateful to you. If you didn¡¯t awaken the Bone Blood Demon, the Blood Sect would have been annihted when the Demon armies invaded us.

    ¡°It was you who saved the Blood Sect, rushed to the Hell Sect¡¯s aid with our sectmaster and the Bone Blood Demon, and eventually forced the Demons to retreat from the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°You¡¯re our savior!¡±

    ¡°Savior?¡± Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    ¡°Exactly! You¡¯re the one who saved our sect!¡± Zhang Xu said with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron. ¡°Actually, you made great contributions to the entire Realm of me Heaven. If it weren¡¯t for you, our sect would have been gnawed away by the Demons. If you didn¡¯t awaken the Bone Blood Demon and rush to the Hell Sect, the Demons that were besieging the Hell Sect wouldn¡¯t have retreated so easily.¡±

    After hearing these words, Nie Tian¡¯s thoughts drifted away, and a current of warmth flowed into his heart.

    At that moment, the two of them arrived at a area filled with blood cisterns that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    Each and every blood cistern was brimming with blood. Numerous Blood Sect disciples were bathing in the blood cisterns, practicing the Blood Sect¡¯s secret magics by refining the spirit beast blood.

    All of a sudden, a woman¡¯s figure flew out of one of the blood cisterns.

    It was Yu Tong, her curvaceous body soaked in blood.

    The moment Yu Tong saw Nie Tian, she recognized him. Her eyes instantly turned as red as blood as sheunched the Blood Sect¡¯s secret magics. Her slender, jade-like hands waved in the air, sending out numerous scarlet blood strings, which flew straight towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest like spirit snakes made of pure blood.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Yu!¡± Zhang Xu eximed, his voice filled with fright.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression remained as calm as ever. With a thought, he summoned his me power and rapidly formed a barrier of zing mes in front of him.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    One blood string after another flew into the barrier, and were rapidly burned away by the raging mes.

    SHEW!

    Yu Tong stopped in front of Nie Tian and restrained herself fromunching another attack. She coldly looked him up and down, and then asked with a somewhat surprised tone, ¡°Did you also advance to the middle Heaven stage?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, saying, ¡°Your cultivation progressed impressively fast as well.¡±

    He discovered that, although only two years had passed, Yu Tong had already advanced to the middle Heaven stage, the same as him.

    Such speed was actually very stunning.

    ¡°I practiced cultivation day and night over the past two years, and never have I ever missed a single day,¡± With a cold snort, Yu Tong spoke through her slightly gritted teeth. ¡°I only practiced so hard so that I can defeat you fair and square one day!¡±

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He knew that Yu Tong hated his guts for the things he had done to her, so much so that every time Yu Tong had mentioned him, she had imed that she would rip him apart.

    However, this time, Yu Tong only said she would defeat him, instead of killing him.

    This was enough evidence that Yu Tong¡¯s attitude towards Nie Tian had undergone essential changes.

    ¡°Alright, we can have a battle whenever you want.¡± Nie Tian grinned.

    The other young men and women, all of whom were at the Qi Refining and Lesser Heaven stages, whispered to each other as they sneakily looked at Nie Tian with measuring and worshipful gazes.

    ¡°Nie Tian! That¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the one who awakened the Bone Blood Demon andmanded it to ughter countless low-tier Demons! He¡¯s the reason why our sect survived that cmity.¡±

    ¡°I heard that he obtained two fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial.¡±

    ¡°You might not know that those who participated in the Heaven Gate trial were all the most talented disciples from the most powerful sects from different realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Not only were there Lesser Heaven stage cultivators, but there were even extremely powerful Heaven stage and Greater Heaven stage experts!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a legend of our generation!¡±

    There wasn¡¯t any hate or disgust in their eyes. There was only gratefulness and veneration.

    ¡°Thank you, Zhang Xu. That will be all.¡± Yu Tong waved her hand at Zhang Xu and signaled to him that he could go. Afterwards, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ll take you to the sectmaster.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Under the Blood Sect¡¯s young disciples¡¯ revering gazes and marveling whispers, Nie Tian followed Yu Tong through the area filled with blood cisterns meant for beginner cultivators.

    On their way, Yu Tong suddenly turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Do you want to see An Shiyi and An Ying first?¡±

    ¡°That would be the best.¡± Nie Tian answered without any hesitation.

    ordingly, Yu Tong took a turn just as they were about to enter the Blood Sect¡¯s sect gate and led Nie Tian towards a secluded valley.

    Before they even entered the mountain valley, Yu Tong¡¯s footsteps caught An Ying¡¯s attention, and thus An Ying asked, before even seeing either Yu Tong or Nie Tian, ¡°What good stuff did you bring us this time, Yu Tong?¡±

    Over the past two years, Yu Tong and the An sisters had long since forgotten about their previous disagreements and resumed good rtions.

    Whenever Yu Tong had the time, she woulde to the valley to discuss the Dao of cultivation with An Shiyi. Every once in a while, she would bring over some cultivation resources for the sisters.

    That was why, upon hearing footsteps, An Ying immediately assumed Yu Tong hade to visit them again. By the time An Ying walked out from the belly of the valley, and she saw that Nie Tian hade with Yu Tong, she was shocked into a daze. She subconsciously rubbed her eyes and called out, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Who? Who is it? Am I hearing right?¡± Upon hearing An Ying¡¯s shout, An Shiyi immediately rushed to the mouth of the valley, where An Ying was standing.

    Wearing a fiery-red, long dress, An Shiyi seemed like a blossoming flower, mature and glorious. Having entered the Greater Heaven stage, her entire body was releasing an imposing me aura.

    She seemed to be practicing her fire incantations when Nie Tian and Yu Tong had first arrived, and thus, at this moment, there were some ashes on her beautiful face and fiery dress.

    Standing several dozen meters away, her bright eyes instantly fixed on Nie Tian. She gently bit her plump and smooth lower lip. Her curvaceous body trembled slightly, huge waves surging in her pounding heart.

    ¡°Long time no see, Big Sister An,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    An Shiyi recovered from the shock of seeing him, and said somewhat sheepishly, ¡°F-finally, you¡¯re back. Give me a second.¡±

    She rushed back into her cottage and hastily tidied up her appearance. After getting rid of even the slightest bits of ash and dust on her face and dress, she walked out of her cottage, looking enlivened and radiant.

    At that moment, Nie Tian and Yu Tong had already walked to An Ying¡¯s side.

    An Shiyi smiled embarrassedly at Nie Tian and said with a somewhatining tone, ¡°Howe you didn¡¯t even say a word before you left? You made me, sorry, us worry about you for two whole years!¡±

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t worry about him. You¡¯re the one who worried about him.¡± An Ying pursed her lips into a smile and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Over these two years, she talked about you all the time, fearing that the Heaven Pce Sect might find you, that Ning Yang might take your fragmentary star marks, and that the Heaven Pce Sect might kill you.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s right. I can testify to that,¡± Yu Tong said calmly.

    ¡°What? No!¡± Embarrassment filled An Shiyi¡¯s face. Immediately afterwards, she said with a harsh tone, ¡°Nie Tian is my sworn brother, and I care about him. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. There¡¯s nothing wrong with that, and I didn¡¯t say there was.¡± An Ying blinked a few times, smiling.

    ¡°You go ahead and catch up. I¡¯ll wait for you right outside the valley.¡± With these words, Yu Tong turned around and intended to leave.

    ¡°Why are you leaving? Come back.¡± An Shiyi stepped forward and grabbed Yu Tong by her arm. Then, she said to Nie Tian with a serious expression, ¡°Yu Tong took good care of us during the past two years we spent in the Blood Sect. She¡¯s a nice person. I¡¯d say you two should let bygones be bygones and forget about the unpleasantness between you.¡±

    ¡°Fine by me.¡± Nie Tianughed softly. ¡°I didn¡¯t suffer any loss from her, anyways.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Remembering how Nie Tian had repeatedly vited her, Yu Tong glowered at him and said with a tone full of hate, ¡°Sister Shiyi, the feud between me and him can¡¯t be settled so easily!¡±

    ¡°Come on. Let it go already.¡± An Shiyi did her utmost to persuade Yu Tong. ¡°Ever since Nie Tian awakened the Bone Blood Demon, he could be considered a member of the Blood Sect. Not to mention that your sectmaster openly dered that he had be a member of the Blood Sect. Do you dare to oppose her? Furthermore, he saved the Blood Sect. Many people who are close to you and your martial brothers and sisters survived because of him. What feud can¡¯t you forgive?¡±

    ¡°Nevertheless, we¡¯re far from over!¡± Yu Tong said stubbornly.

    That was when Nie Tian intentionally changed the subject by saying, ¡°Well, Sister An, I came from ck Cloud City.¡±

    ¡°ck Cloud City!¡± The smile on An Shiyi¡¯s face instantly vanished. ¡°How is the situation over there?¡±

    ¡°Everything is fine now,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°The Yuan n is done for.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± An Shiyi and An Ying eximed at the same time.

 Chapter 355: A Series of Shocks

    An Shiyi and her sister were both well-aware of the situation the An n had been in; ever since they had left the Spiritual Treasure Sect and sought shelter in the Blood Sect, the An n had lost the protection of the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    However, they had been forced.

    The An n couldn¡¯t provide them with a strong backing, while the An sisters were blessed with good appearances, especially An Shiyi.

    Back when they had been disciples of the Spiritual Treasure Sect, an endless line of men had drooled over her.

    Later, when Nie Tian hade along, An Shiyi¡¯s situation had improved slightly because of her rtionship with Nie Tian.

    However, soon afterwards, Nie Tian had gone missing, and An Shiyi¡¯s situation in the Spiritual Treasure Sect had quickly worsened.

    Finally, it hade to a point where the sisters couldn¡¯t put up with the abuse anymore, and thus left the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    Relying on her rtionship with Nie Tian, An Shiyi had reached out to the Blood Sect, and to her surprise, Li Jing had readily agreed to take them in.

    Meanwhile, the An n had originally been doing fine in ck Cloud City, but after the Yuan n hade along, the An n¡¯s days had be increasingly difficult.

    An Shiyi and her sister were both aware of the situation. However, they hadn¡¯t truly integrated into the Blood Sect, and thus they hadn¡¯t been able to pressure the Yuan n using the Blood Sect¡¯s influence.

    All they could do was practice cultivation wholeheartedly. When they were strong enough, they would be able to support the An n with their own strengths.

    Therefore, Nie Tian telling them that the Yuan n was done for greatly surprised and delighted the sisters. They hastily asked Nie Tian for details.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that I took care of them for your n,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    Upon hearing these words, the sisters grew increasingly excited. However, they assumed that Nie Tian had inflicted disasters on the Yuan n with others¡¯ help. Never did they imagine that Nie Tian had single-handedly overthrown the Yuan n.

    An Shiyi went on to ask Nie Tian where he had been during the past two years¡¯ time.

    Since the topic was too sensitive, Nie Tian didn¡¯t give her a direct answer. He only said that he had found a secluded location, where he had refined his fragmentary star marks, and then rushed back to the Realm of me Heaven immediately afterwards.

    WHOOSH!

    Li Jing suddenly descended upon the valley, sitting on her Blood Lotus.

    Floating in midair, Li Jing nced down at Nie Tian and said with an expressionless face, ¡°Hop on.¡±

    It was only natural that she, as the sectmaster, rapidly learned about Nie Tian¡¯s appearance in the Blood Sect.

    After all, the entire Realm of me Heaven was currently enveloped in a desperate atmosphere.

    As a matter of fact, Li Jing had been waiting for Nie Tian toe to her. However, after waiting fruitlessly for some time, she eventually couldn¡¯t help but search for him using her soul power, which was strong enough to cover the entire Blood Sect, and instantly determined Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    Looking embarrassed, Nie Tian intended to exin. ¡°Well...¡±

    Two years ago, he had left the Blood Sect without telling anyone about it, which had caused numerous powerful experts from the Blood Sect, Hell Sect, Ghost Sect, and Heaven Pce Sect to go to great lengths to search for him.

    He, on the other hand, had secretly left with Hua Mu in his Lightning Shuttle.

    He was somewhat apologetic towards Li Jing, thinking that his leaving might have put her in trouble when she had to exin things to the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with your decision,¡± Li Jing said with an expressionless face. ¡°Actually, if you hadn¡¯t left, we probably would have had to give you to the Heaven Pce Sect because of all the pressure they were giving us. Since you left on your own, that actually gave me an excuse I could use to exin things to the Heaven Pce Sect. So don¡¯t apologize.¡±

    Nie Tian was also aware that the situation was urgent, and they couldn¡¯t afford to waste more time. Therefore, he jumped onto the Blood Lotus after it descended close to the ground, saying, ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Li Jing looked deeply at him as she said, ¡°I just received word of your deeds in ck Cloud City. The speed at which you have progressed over the past two years truly amazes me. It came as a great shock to me when they told me that you actually killed Yuan Fengchun, who was at the middle Greater Heaven stage. That was simply unbelievable.¡±

    A shudder ran through An Shiyi¡¯s alluring body. ¡°What?! You killed Yuan Fengchun?¡±

    Yu Tong was also shocked, a deeply frustrated expression spreading across her face.

    For all these years, killing Nie Tian had been the goal and motive of her unrelenting cultivation. After Nie Tian had awakened the Bone Blood Demon, she had realized that killing Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be an option, and thus she had altered her resolution to defeat Nie Tian in a battle.

    This was reason she had pulled through the hard times and entered the middle Heaven stage in years.

    However, she had never imagined that Nie Tian, who possessed the same cultivation base as she did, actually had the ability to kill the middle Greater Heaven stage Yuan Fengchun.

    ¡°He has received the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Now that he dares toe back, it means that he must have refined them already.¡± Li Jing¡¯s tone was calm as ever. ¡°So, if you want to beat him, your cultivation base will have to be several levels higher than his. Otherwise, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll stand a chance, if you were to fight one-on-one. Yu Tong, Nie Tian practices incantations of several attributes, yet he has already entered the middle Heaven stage. From that point, you¡¯re actuallygging behind a bit.¡±

    After these words, the Blood Lotus whizzed away and disappeared into the distant sky.

    ¡°Such a monster!¡± Yu Tong muttered, her voice filled with hate.

    She surely knew that those who practiced multiple types of incantations normally would progress much slower than people like her, who practiced only one specific type of incantation.

    However, Nie Tian had somehow managed to advance to the middle Heaven stage within two years.

    Even though she had worked hard day and night, never missing a single day of practice, her cultivation base was only equal to Nie Tian¡¯s.

    As for actual battle prowess, hers couldn¡¯t even be mentioned in the same breath with Nie Tian¡¯s.

    With these thoughts, Yu Tong¡¯s heart was filled with frustration and hopelessness. It urred to her that however hard she continued to work, she might not be able to beat Nie Tian in her lifetime.

    ¡°Yu Tong, Nie Tian is unlike anyone we have ever seen,¡± An Ying said, her voice filled with sympathy. ¡°You don¡¯t want topare yourself with him.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s right, Little Tong.¡± An Shiyi also tried to console her. ¡°Don¡¯t botherparing yourself with him. Common sense doesn¡¯t apply to that man.¡±

    ¡°I just can¡¯t swallow it!¡± Yu Tong said begrudgingly.

    ...

    ¡°Where have you been during the past two years?¡±

    Sitting on the Blood Lotus, Li Jing had her eyes fixed on the distant horizon as she manipted it to fly towards the Hell Sect.

    The Blood Lotus was her Spirit Channeling grade treasure, which, unlike the Lightning Shuttle, wasn¡¯t purely an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Instead of consuming spirit stones, Li Jing needed to power the Blood Lotus with her own spiritual power, and the speed at which the Blood Lotus traveled was far inferior to the Lightning Shuttle.

    ¡°I¡¯d rather not say. Is that okay?¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Alright then. Don¡¯t if you don¡¯t want to.¡± Li Jing didn¡¯t insist. ¡°Powerful experts from the Ghost Sect, Hell Sect, Spiritual Treasure Sect, and Cloudsoaring Sect will all be gathered by the spatial rift. I guess the Hell Sect has ryed the news of your appearance in ck Cloud City to the Heaven Pce Sect. So they are probably waiting for you there already as well.

    ¡°I bet the Hell Sect and the Ghost Sect have already arrived by now.

    ¡°I believe they¡¯ll ask you the same question I asked you just now, so I hope you cane up with a reasonable answer for them.¡±

    After brief hesitation, she continued, ¡°People say that it would require all three fragmentary star marks to seal that spatial rift. Plus, the three fragmentary star marks need to be on the same person for it to work. You¡¯re back, but Ning Yang from the Heaven Pce Sect, who has the the third fragmentary star mark, is still missing.

    ¡°That means that even if you go over there now, you won¡¯t be able to seal that spatial rift by yourself, right?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian cleared his throat. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve obtained Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark already.¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s expression flickered dramatically. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Alright, it doesn¡¯t look like I¡¯ll be able to keep this as a secret anyways.¡± With a shrug, Nie Tian revealed the truth. ¡°I spent the past two years in the Realm of Split Void. And that¡¯s where I got Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark. He was killed by a Phantasm that hade from an unknown realm, and I happened to be in the vicinity when it happened.

    ¡°After he was killed, his fragmentary star mark flew towards me on its own.¡±

    Nie Tian exined everything to Li Jing, except the fact that he and others had worked together and killed Ning Yang.

    Li Jing listened quietly, yet her face was filled with shock.

    She found it hard to believe that Ning Yang, who was at the peak of the Greater Heaven stage and only a step away from entering the Worldly realm, had been identally killed by a Phantasm in the Realm of Split Void, while Nie Tian had been so lucky that he had happened to be in the vicinity, and thus obtained that fragmentary star mark.

    Numerous expressions shed across her face. Only after a long time did she ask with a shocked and confused expression, ¡°Do you have confidence that you will be able to seal that spatial rift by yourself?¡±

    She didn¡¯t dwell on the authenticity of Nie Tian¡¯s story.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to try to see,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    She nodded, saying, ¡°Right. I hope you can do it.¡±

    Two days passed...

    They entered the Hell Sect¡¯s territory, which was already submerged in raging demon Qi. As they did, ayer of dark-red light instantly formed around the Blood Lotus, shielding them from the demon Qi that hade from Demons¡¯ realms.

    After traveling at full speed for another half day, they finally arrived at the location where Li Jing and the other big shots had agreed to meet.

    The ckish-violet demon Qi had already filled heaven and earth. A few vague figures could be seen standing atop a magnificent mountain peak.

    As the dark-red light gradually entered their sight, the few people on the mountain peak all grew enlivened.

    ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±

 Chapter 356: Forced to Join the Sect

    ckish-violet demon Qi filled heaven and earth. Not only would the human Qi warriors¡¯ vision bepromised when they were in it, but their senses would also be influenced to a great extent.

    Standing atop that mountain peak, the few figures were all wreathed in faint spiritual light, which protected them from the corrosion of the demon Qi.

    Each and every one of them was a person with great power and influence in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Among them were Chang Sen from the Hell Sect, Ghost Eye from the Ghost Sect, and Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect, all of whom were powerful Profound realm Qi warriors.

    Aside from them, Huang Fan, an elder from the Heaven Pce Sect, and Su Lin were also waiting silently.

    Only representatives from the Cloudsoaring Sect, Grayvale Sect, and Mystic Mist Sect hadn¡¯t shown up yet, due to the long journeys they had to take to get here.

    As the dark-red light unleashed by the Blood Lotus gradually entered their view, everyone atop the mountain peak seemed to be suddenly enlivened.

    The moment the white-garbed Su Lin caught sight of Nie Tian on the Blood Lotus, she couldn¡¯t help but call out, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s him?¡± Huang Fan asked in a soft voice.

    Huang Fan was the powerful expert the Heaven Pce Sect had sent to the Realm of me Heaven to take the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang.

    He was at thete Profound realm, the same as Chang Sen, the strongest man in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Originally, he hade to the Realm of me Heaven for Ning Yang. However, after learning that Ning Yang had disappeared from the Realm of me Heaven, he had chosen to stay.

    The reason for that was that he was convinced that Nie Tian would eventually return to the Realm of me Heaven.

    After learning about Nie Tian¡¯s stories and that the first thing he had done after returning from the Heaven Gate trial had been to awaken the Bone Blood Demon and lift the Blood Sect¡¯s siege, Huang Fan was convinced that Nie Tian was affectionate and faithful, and that once he refined his fragmentary star marks, he would return to the Realm of me Heaven as quickly as he could.

    His assessment had been urate.

    SHEW!

    The Blood Lotus descended upon the mountain peak.

    After the two of them got down, Li Jing didn¡¯t put away her Blood Lotus, but rather stared at Huang Fan with her eyes filled with vignce, and said, ¡°Here. I¡¯ve brought him to you.¡±

    ¡°Greetings.¡± Nie Tian bowed in a respectful yet proud fashion.

    Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Fang Hui all nodded briefly in reply.

    Only Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect unleashed wisps of his soul power to carefully examine Nie Tian with his eyes narrowed.

    A momentter, a slightly surprised expression appeared on his face as he said, ¡°You practice different types of incantations. Yet, you managed to step into the middle Heaven stage in two years. Quite impressive, I¡¯ve got to say.¡±

    During these two years, Su Lin, a promising disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect, had made the same progress in her cultivation as Nie Tian.

    However, Su Lin only practiced only one type of incantation, and all the secret magics she practiced were of the same attribute. Her being able to make such rapid progress had a great deal to do with the fact that the Heaven Pce Sect had provided her with endless cultivation resources, and that she possessed amazing talent.

    Nie Tian had needed to hide from numerous search teams sent out by different forces. In addition, he had needed to spend time to learn and refine the fragmentary star mark. The fact that he had managed to advance to the middle Heaven stage under such circumstances greatly amazed Huang Fan.

    Chang Sen and Ghost Eye were also secretly amazed by Nie Tian¡¯s exceedingly fast cultivation.

    With a frown, Chang Sen from the Hell Sect said, ¡°Brother Huang. Nie Tian is here now. Where is Ning Yang? ording to you, only when the three fragmentary star marks be one will we be able to start the restrictive spell left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and use the grand spell formation formed by these three gigantic mountain peaks to seal that spatial rift.

    ¡°If Ning Yang doesn¡¯t show up with his fragmentary star mark, won¡¯t Nie Tian¡¯s return be in vain?¡±

    Ghost Eye and Fang Hui also frowned, unpleasant expressions appearing on their faces.

    During the past six months, they hadmunicated with Huang Fan asionally, from whom they had learned that, in light of the urgency of the situation, the Heaven Pce Sect had already nned to take the third fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang and give it to Nie Tian.

    That was why they had been waiting for Nie Tian to show up as soon as possible after refining his fragmentary star marks.

    Now that Nie Tian had appeared, the fragmentary star mark on Ning Yang had be the heart of the matter.

    ¡°Ning Yang won¡¯t being.¡± With a calm expression, Huang Fan looked deeply at Nie Tian for a while before asking with a hoarse voice, ¡°Were you the one who killed him?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s expression turned pale with fright, with Huang Fan and Su Lin being the only exceptions.

    Nie Tian shook his head, and said in aposed manner, ¡°What? Ning Yang was at thete Greater Heaven stage, and his cultivation base doesn¡¯t do justice to his actual strength. Given my limited cultivation base and strength, how could I possibly kill him?¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s dead!¡± Huang Fan raised his voice. ¡°And his fragmentary star mark is now in your possession. How do exin that?¡±

    Meanwhile, Su Lin red at Nie Tian, her eyes filled with burning enmity.

    Everyone from the Realm of me Heaven seemed to be dumbstruck.

    ¡°How did you know that Ning Yang was dead?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Huang Fan let out a snort and said, ¡°Ning Yang was one of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s chosen ones. Of course we have ways to know whether he¡¯s alive or dead. We learned about his death the moment he died. However, soon after his death, you showed up in the Realm of me Heaven with all three fragmentary star marks. There¡¯s no way that we¡¯ll believe you if you say you had nothing to do with his death!¡±

    Nie Tian turned a blind eye to his intimidation, and said with a in tone, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill him. He was killed by a Phantasm.

    ¡°After I refined the first fragmentary star mark, I discovered that I could sense Ning Yang¡¯s existence, but when I went to find him, I happened to see that he was fighting a Phantasm. The Phantasm killed him in order to take his fragmentary star mark. However, it somehow flew towards me on its own and merged with my body.¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about the Phantasms that appeared in the Realm of Split Void?¡± Huang Fan asked, lowering his voice again.

    The Heaven Pce Sect was extremely resourceful and well-informed, so that it was only natural that they had learned about the Phantasms that had appeared in the Realm of Split Void.

    Before, they had only learned that Ning Yang had died, but they hadn¡¯t been aware of where had he died, and the fact that he had been hiding in the Realm of Split Void.

    The Heaven Pce Sect possessed a special instrument which allowed them to store a strand of their most talented disciples¡¯ souls.

    Once one of them died, his or her strand of soul would automatically dissipate and vanish from the instrument.

    However, it only allowed them to learn their chosen ones¡¯ life or death, not determine their urate location through the soul strand.

    That was why they only knew that Ning Yang was dead, but didn¡¯t know how and where he died.

    ¡°Yeah, Ning Yang was killed by one of the Phantasms that descended upon the Realm of Split Void.¡± Nie Tian clung to his statement. ¡°There¡¯s a special region to the east of Ash City in the Realm of Split Void, which people call a forbidden region because, in that region, meteors fall from the heavens from time to time. Since Ning Yang hadn¡¯t been able to learn and refine his fragmentary star mark, and he believed that region had some kind of connection to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he went there to try his luck and see if he could find ways to refine his fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°I, on the other hand, neededrge amounts of Star Stones to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation, so I was there as well.

    ¡°I saw Ning Yang rush towards a meteor right after it fell from the sky and crashed into the earth. However, nobody knew there was a Phantasm hiding inside that meteor.¡±

    ...

    He hid the part where he, Pei Qiqi, and Xue Long had joined hands and killed Ning Yang, but rather med all that on the Phantasm.

    Huang Fan, as well as the Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven, frowned as they listened to Nie Tian¡¯s narration and pondered its authenticity.

    After Nie Tian was finished, everyone remained silent for a while, as if they were judging how much of the story he just told was truthful, and how much was not.

    Only after a long time did Huang Fan snort coldly and say, ¡°I¡¯ll believe you for now, but now that we know that Ning Yang died in the Realm of Split Void, we¡¯ll send people there to conduct a thorough investigation. If we ever find evidence that it was you who killed Ning Yang, you¡¯ll have to atone for your crime!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Li Jing asked coldly.

    Huang Fan shot a nce at her and said calmly, ¡°It¡¯s simple. Whoever kills one of our chosen ones will have topensate us. Our sect poured in endless effort and resources to cultivate Ning Yang and make him what he was. If we find out that he killed Ning Yang, then he will have to join the Heaven Pce Sect and fill the void he has left.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the expressions of everyone present grew strange, even including Su Lin.

    It seemed that even she didn¡¯t expect that the fuming and angry Huang Fan¡¯s punishment for killing Ning Yang would be for the criminal to join the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Soon, Chang Sen and the others came to their senses.

    They gradually understood Huang Fan¡¯s thinking. Now that Nie Tian had gathered all three fragmentary star marks, it meant that he would receive theplete legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    That being the case, whichever sect Nie Tian decided to join, he would be able to bring brand-new, profound cultivation concepts and secret magics to that new sect.

    As a matter of fact, the reason why the Heaven Pce Sect had prepared to take Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark and give it to Nie Tian, after learning that Ning Yang hadn¡¯t been able to refined it, was that they wanted to offer it to Nie Tian on the condition that he agreed to be a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    However, Huang Fan hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Tian had taken the fragmentary star from Ning Yang without their arrangement.

    Considering that, their n to lure Nie Tian to join the Heaven Pce Sect using the third fragmentary star mark would be destined to fail.

    Therefore, Huang Fan thought of a new way, where he would use Nie Tian¡¯s killing of Ning Yang as an excuse to force Nie Tian to join the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Once Nie Tian joined the Heaven Pce Sect, that would mean that the legacies he had obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would also belong to the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°We can focus on thatter, but at present, our number one priority is to seal the spatial rift,¡± Chang Sen from the Hell Sect said.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Huang Fan nodded in assent. Then, he turned to Nie Tian and asked somewhat suspiciously, ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯ve only refined one fragmentary star mark; do you have confidence that you¡¯ll be able to start the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and use it to seal the spatial rift?

    ¡°The grand spell formation has been here all along,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°I just need to start it with the three fragmentary star marks.¡±

    Spirited, Chang Sen said, ¡°Good. Do what you have to do. No one will interrupt you.¡±

    Afterwards, Nie Tian sat down on the mountain peak, which he knew was one of the three mountain peaks that formed the grand spell formation, and startedmunicating with the three fragmentary star marks on his chest.

 Chapter 357: Seal!

    Within the belly of each of the three high mountain peaks, there was a special spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. In order to seal the spatial rift, the three spell formations would have to work together.

    The fragmentary star marks were the keys to start those spell formations.

    Nie Tian would only be the initiator.

    After sitting down and quietly going through the spell, which would allow him to start the spell formations, in his mind, he started casting the spell ordingly.

    His psychic awareness flew into his refined fragmentary star mark.

    As soon as his psychic awareness flew into the fragmentary star mark, he sensed that three extremely strong gravitational forces were born within the mountain peak he was sitting on, as well as the two other mountain peaks, forming a perfect triangle.

    The moment the gravitational forces were created, his two unrefined fragmentary star marks left his chest and floated in front of him.

    WHOOSH!

    They turned into two clusters of dazzling starlight and shot towards the other two mountain peaks.

    Atop the mountain peak, every Profound realm expert focused their sight and soul power on the two clusters of starlight as they flew away and disappeared into the dense demon Qi in a sh.

    In the next moment, the refined fragmentary star mark, which was infused with Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness, also morphed into a streak of dazzling starlight and flew into the mountain peak he was sitting on.

    At that moment, the seven fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul simultaneously started to shine with bright light!

    Furthermore, after leaving his body, the three fragmentary star marks seemed to have turned into three brand-new Heaven Eyes.

    He could sense everything with great rity as they flew inside the three mountain peaks at an extremely high speed.

    Within seconds, he discovered that the three fragmentary star marks had reached the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    Every mountain peak was hollow in the middle. As the fragmentary star marks sailed through the vast hollow space, Nie Tian had a very clear view of their surroundings.

    He noticed that countless detailed and spectacr star power spell formations covered the insides of the three mountain peaks.

    In the middle of the empty space, surrounded by countless spell formations, was a elegant pagoda.

    The three fragmentary star marks rapidly flew into the three pagodas without pausing for a moment.

    Immediately afterwards, the pagodas were lit up by the fragmentary star marks and became glorious and brilliant.

    At that very moment, the countless beautiful spell formations on the insides of the mountain peaks also began to shine with dazzlingly bright light and the numerous fine lines that formed them began wiggling.

    The spell formations reminded Nie Tian very much of the star formations he had formed with starsparks when heunched Starstrike.

    The only difference was that they were in much greater number.

    After lighting up, the numerous small spell formations gradually connected with each other and formed a mysterious, enormous spell formation within each mountain peak.

    Afterwards, the enormous spell formations start to activate, and rapidly turned the empty space within the three mountain peaks into oceans of starlight, with the pagodas in the middle seeming to act as their central hubs.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Muffled rumbles constantly rang out from within the three extremely high mountain peaks.

    Bright starlight started to rise from the stone ground at the tops of the mountain peaks, making the three lofty mountain peaks look like lit candles.

    After another nce, the three mountain peaks seemed to have turned into three gigantic beacons that were attracting something.

    Shock could be seen in the eyes of the Profound realm experts who were standing beside Nie Tian as they looked down at the stone ground.

    Sparkling starlight was rising from the dark-cyan stone ground, enveloping every one of them.

    In the meantime, the ckish-violet demon Qi that had filled the entire area seemed to be purged at an increasingly fast speed.

    ¡°Look! Up in the air!¡± Ghost Eye from the Ghost Sect called out.

    Everyone immediately looked up.

    As the raging demon Qi gradually dissipated, the starlit sky could be seen again for the first time in two years.

    In the night sky, the stars seemed to be shining brighter than ever.

    All of a sudden, numerous streaks of bright starlight started to pour down from the unknown outer space like rivers of light.

    It seemed that the reason why the starlight could find this area with great precision was that they were able to follow the direction of the three beacon-like mountain peaks.

    One after another, numerous rivers of starlight fell from the heavens and converged on the area.

    As the starlight poured down, the dense demon Qi that had ravaged the area for two whole years rapidly dissipated like smoke being blown away by a gust of wind.

    Within moments, the dense demon Qi was shattered and washed away by the pouring rivers of starlight.

    Chang Sen, Huang Fan, and the others who had been standing beside Nie Tian seemed to be overwhelmed by the spectacr scene, and sat down in the lotus position one by one.

    Eyes narrowed, they each unleashed their soul power, hoping to sense and draw enlightenment from the pouring starlight and the three gigantic mountain peaks that were shining with dazzling starlight.

    The way they saw it, the magnificent changes that were happening to the mountain peaks and the starlight that was pouring down from the highest heavens was the work of extremely powerful experts that could shake Heaven and Earth. Therefore, they did their best to perceive the heaven-connecting grand spell formation they had created following thews of Heaven, Earth, and the universe.

    Even though they didn¡¯t practice star-power-rted incantations, they assumed if they could receive even the slightest enlightenment from this magnificent heaven-channeling magic, it would be very helpful to the advancement of their cultivation.

    Therefore, every single one of them held their breaths as they focused all of their attention on sensing the subtle changes happening in their surroundings.

    Atop another mountain peak...

    Hua Mu and Pei Qiqi, who had arrived before Nie Tian and the others, also sat down on the ground.

    An intangible maic field spread out from within Hua Mu¡¯s body, enveloping Hua Mu and Pei Qiqi together.

    The mountain peak they were on wasn¡¯t very far from the one Nie Tian and the others were on.

    Yet, since Hua Mu had intentionally masked his and Pei Qiqi¡¯s aura, even Chang Sen and Huang Fan hadn¡¯t been able to sense their existence.

    ¡°Qiqi, sense the unusual movement within the spatial rift underneath us with your heart,¡± Hua Mu said softly. ¡°Since you practice space power, if you can derive even the slightest enlightenment from the profound methods those grand Qi warriors used to seal the spatial rift, you¡¯ll benefit from it your whole life.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently. ¡°Yeah, okay.¡±

    Sitting atop the extremely high mountain peak, with a deep breath, she looked down at the huge spatial rift that had revealed itself due to the dispelling of the demon Qi.

    In the middle of the three high mountain peaks, ckish-violet demon Qi was oozing out of an enormous ck hole unceasingly.

    Meanwhile, arge number of fine spatial rifts seemed to have appeared around the ck hole.

    At that moment, more and more dazzlingly bright starlight poured down from the highest heavens and converged on the ck hole like torrential rivers of light.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The numerous scattered and broken fine spatial rifts began to swim around rapidly.

    It seemed as if a giant invisible hand was pulling those rivers of starlight in order to fix something.

    As that happened, the numerous small spatial rifts rapidly wiggled and slithered as they gradually gathered over the enormous ck hole, where they rearranged themselves and formed awork of spatial rifts that seemed like an ancient, restrictive spell formation, full of star power.

    Pei Qiqi could see with great rity that the volume of the demon Qi flowing out of the ck hole had declined noticeably.

    The mouth of the ck hole seemed like a bowl that had its mouth covered by a piece of paper that was full of rifts.

    At this moment, the demon Qi could only flow out through the rifts.

    Meanwhile, as rivers of starlight continued to pour down on the mouth of the ck hole, the numerous rifts were healing rapidly. It seemed as if it wouldn¡¯t take long before all the fine rifts healedpletely.

    Just like that, the rivers of starlight repaired the broken grand spell formation while purging the demon Qi in the area.

    Nie Tian had noticed that, after he had lit up the pagodas within the three mountain peaks, everything worked in an orderly fashion, driven by the profound spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As the initiator, his job had finished, since the fragmentary star marks had flown into the pagodas.

    At that moment, everyone around him was trying to pry into the mysterious spell formation and sense how it interacted with the profound star power within the pouring rivers of starlight.

    He wanted to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation and channel some of the unique-sensing starlight into his spiritual sea. However, he was afraid that he would affect the operation of the spell formation by doing that.

    Therefore, he rose to his feet and stepped to the edge of the mountaintop, where he looked down and observed carefully.

    He took note that as the demon Qi was being dispelled by the starlight, substantial amounts of strange-looking nts could be seen in the valley among the three high mountain peaks.

    There seemed to be a great variety of nts, each of which had strange appearances. Some had ck branches and leaves, while others were purple.

    Many of them had even borne fruits that were translucent like purple jades, with bright lights sparkling inside of them.

    While his eyes were seized by the beautiful fruits, a few spirit beasts suddenly caught his attention.

    Each and every one of them had dark-purple eyes, as if they had gone through a mutation.

    Some of them were eating the nts¡¯ leaves, while others were fighting over the fruits that resembled purple jades. They fought each other fiercely and unleashed bellows from time to time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he secretly formed his seven heaven Eyes and spread them out to observe the vicinity.

    Soon, he discovered that the surrounding valleys were filled with even more mutant spirit beasts. He even discoveredrge amounts of skeletons that seemed to have belonged to spirit beasts.

    That was when he realized that as the raging demon Qi had filled this area, most of the spirit beasts that breathed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had died. Only those that gradually adapted to the demon Qi had survived. At that moment, Su Lin quietly appeared next to him and said, ¡°It¡¯s our fortune that Demons haven¡¯t descended upon us. Otherwise, they could have easily infused those mutant spirit beasts with demonblood and turned them into low-tier Demons.

    ¡°Wow... That¡¯s just...¡± Nie Tian said.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that very moment, three people suddenly arrived.

    One of them was the sectmaster of the Cloudsoaring Sect, Jiang Zhisu, who he had met just once in ck Cloud City.

    However, now he looked very bedraggled with his face covered in blood, as if he had just gone through a bloody battle.

 Chapter 358: Mutant Spirit Beasts

    As the sectmaster of the Cloudsoaring Sect, Jiang Zhisu was at thete Worldly realm, only one step away from entering the Profound realm.

    No more than a handful of experts in the entire Realm of me Heaven had the ability to injure him so badly, and most of them had been gathered by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Nie Tian was shocked by Jiang Zhisu¡¯s bedraggled appearance, not knowing what he had gone through on his way over.

    Two others came with Jiang Zhisu, one of whom was Yuan Xian from the Grayvale Sect, who Nie Tian knew fairly well.

    Since the moment she had arrived, her ice-cold gaze had never left Nie Tian.

    She was from the Yuan n, and Yuan Fengchun was her older brother.

    Apparently, she had already learned about the heaven-overthrowing incident that had happened in ck Cloud City, and that Nie Tian was the one to me.

    ¡°Alright, Yuan Xian!¡± The other man, Song Wenshi from the Mystic Mist Sect, called out softly. ¡°Every sect gave you face and didn¡¯t interfere when the Yuan n decided to move to ck Cloud City. However, we didn¡¯t foresee that your big brother would actually rely on our mercy and do those underhanded things to the Nie n and the An n over and over again, which eventually resulted in the tragedy.¡±

    Song Wenshi was a middle Profound realm Qi warrior, and the most powerful expert in the Mystic Mist Sect. His status in the Mystic Mist Sect was simr to Wu Ji¡¯s status in the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    Jiang Zhisu jumped in and said, ¡°What¡¯s done is done. I hope you can calm down and not create new disturbances.¡±

    Li Jing from the Blood Sect was originally trying to receive enlightenment from the profound grand spell formation. However, the moment Yuan Xian arrived, her eyes snapped open and locked onto her.

    In a sh, her eyes turned blood-red as they became filled with an intense killing intent.

    Various expressions shed across Yuan Xian¡¯s face.

    The Grayvale Sect also had a Profound realm expert. However, he had sustained heavy injuries when the Grayvale Sect had been flooded by the invading Demons.

    Seeing that the Grayvale Sect was almost gone, and it would only be a matter of time before the entire realm fell, that Profound realm expert had decided to betray his sect and leave the Realm of me Heaven.

    The way he had seen it, the Grayvale Sect would never rise to prominence again, and he didn¡¯t want to be dragged down by it.

    His leaving and the great losses they had suffered were the reasons why the Grayvale Sect existed only in name now.

    Chang Sen chimed in by saying, ¡°They¡¯re right, Yuan Xian. Try to look at the bigger picture.¡±

    After ring at Nie Tian for a while, Yuan Xian forcibly calmed herself and sat down without uttering a word.

    After all, she sensed that, at this sensitive time, Nie Tian shouldered the keen hope and responsibility of the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    In this situation, not to mention that Nie Tian had only killed Yuan Fengchun, even if he had killed Yuan Xian as well and annihted the entire Grayvale Sect, no one would do anything to him.

    Since she knew she couldn¡¯t do anything to him for the time being, she decided to restrain herself.

    ¡°What happened to you, Brother Song?¡± Chang Sen asked.

    With a grim expression, Song Wenshi from the Mystic Mist Sect replied, ¡°We encountered mutant spirit beasts on our way here.¡±

    ¡°Mutant spirit beasts?!¡± With a frown, Chang Sen looked the three of them up and down, and discovered that Song Wenshi seemed unharmed, but both Jiang Zhisu and Yuan Xian had sustained injuries to certain degrees. Surprised, he asked, ¡°The mutant spirit beasts in this area shouldn¡¯t be of very high levels. Considering your strengths, how could they possibly hurt you?¡±

    Since the Hell Sect was very close to this area, Chang Sen had recentlye to this area every few days to see if there were signs of Demon armies arriving.

    He had discovered that, as demon Qi had submerged this area,rge amounts of spirit beasts had died. The spirit beasts that had survived the demon Qi had mutated and developed the ability to practice cultivation with demon Qi, instead of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    After mutation, those spirit beasts had be much more powerful, but their grades hadn¡¯t seemed to have increased noticeably.

    ¡°Jiang Zhisu and Yuan Xian encountered a few fifth grade mutant spirit beasts on their way to this ce. I detected the aura of a sixth grade mutant spirit beast on my way over, and I avoided contact with it.¡± Song Wenshi said in a solemn voice.

    The strength of a fifth grade spirit beast could match up to that of a Worldly realm human Qi warrior; the strength of a sixth grade spirit beast was roughly equal to that of a Profound realm human cultivator, let alone the fact that their strengths had improved to different extents after mutating.

    ¡°What?!¡± Chang Sen was taken aback. ¡°I examined this area repeatedly. Howe I didn¡¯t discover any fifth grade or sixth grade mutant spirit beasts?¡±

    At that moment, Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect said with an indifferent tone. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s understandable. After reaching the fifth or sixth grade, not only will the spirit beasts¡¯ intelligence go through a sharp increase, but their fleshy body will be iparably tough, which will allow them to adapt to the demon Qi that has leaked into our world from the demon realms.

    ¡°Once they have adapted, not only will they not run away from demon Qi, but they will even gather to the ces where demon Qi is the richest.

    ¡°Since, for them, not only is demon Qi not a burden, but it can even help them improve their strength and spur their bloodline to transcend.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing the fifth and six grade spirit beasts they encountered on their way here didn¡¯t live in this area originally. Rather, they were drawn to this area recently.

    ¡°In addition...¡±

    With these words, Huang Fan took a deep breath and added, ¡°As you probably know, in ancient times, the Realm of me Heaven was originally a paradise for Demons. Before the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came along, there wasn¡¯t any spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this realm. Instead, it was demon Qi that filled every corner of this vastnd.

    ¡°During that time, low-tier and high-tier demons were the inhabitants and owners of the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Till this day, many spirit beasts that practice cultivation with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of me Heaven still carry demon bloodlines. It was the spiritual Qi¡¯s recement of demon Qi that forced their bodies to go through dramatic changes and be the spirit beasts we know today.

    ¡°However, they still have a thirst for demon Qi in their blood, so they will follow their natural urges and converge on this area, where the rich demon Qi would gradually awaken their true strength.

    ¡°In essence, they are low-tier Demons.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s expression flickered as they understood what Huang Fan¡¯s words meant.

    With an expressionless face, Huang Fan continued, ¡°This is why the Demons haven¡¯t been in a hurry to invade us. As demon Qi drowns most parts of the Realm of me Heaven, many spirit beasts will mutate and awaken their incubating demon bloodlines, and eventually be low-tier Demons.

    ¡°If high-tier Demonsunch an invasion at that time, they will have arge amount of low-tier Demons tomand at the beginning of the war.

    ¡°Even now, when they haven¡¯t invaded us, we are forced to deal with those low-tier Demons.

    ¡°He¡¯s right!¡± An eximation escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth.

    As he listened to Huang Fan¡¯s exnation, Nie Tian noticed via his seven Heaven Eyes thatrge amounts of mutant spirit beasts were converging on them from every direction.

    It seemed as if those purple-eyed, sinister spirit beasts didn¡¯t want to see that spatial rift be sealed.

    On the contrary, they yearned for even richer demon Qi to pour out of that spatial rift, and they wanted the entire Realm of me Heaven to be submerged in demon Qi again.

    Chang Sen rose to his feet and said to Nie Tian, ¡°You stay here and oversee the operation of the restrictive spell left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Make sure that spatial rift is sealed! Since those spirit beasts carry Demon bloodlines, we can¡¯t let them live in the Realm of me Heaven anymore! If we don¡¯t get rid of them now, they¡¯ll cause us trouble in the future!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and guard Nie Tian,¡± Li Jing said.

    Chang Sen nodded, saying, ¡°Good."

    Immediately afterwards, the most powerful Qi warriors in the entire Realm of me Heaven flew down from the mountain peak and unleashed their divine magics to kill the converging mutant spirit beasts.

    ¡°Mutant spirit beasts...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with a strange light.

    After his previous experience in the Realm of Split Void, he had learned that the spirit beasts that could bear the corrosion of different types of Qi and survive hostile environments must possess iparably vigorous life force.

    Considering that his own bloodline power need to be bolstered by an endless supply of flesh power, the numerous mutant spirit beasts that were converging on him from every direction were like numerous nourishment pills.

 Chapter 359: Spirit Beasts

    Atop the mountain peak, Huang Fan and Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect stood still in their original ce.

    Since they weren¡¯t from the Realm of me Heaven, they weren¡¯t obligated to kill the iing spirit beasts, which posed a tremendous threat to the Realm of me Heaven.

    They were only here to make sure that Nie Tian, who possessed the three fragmentary star marks, finished his duty and sealed the spatial rift.

    ¡°How long will it take for you topletely seal that spatial rift?¡± Huang Fan asked.

    The truth was that he was actually very anxious inwardly.

    The Heaven Pce Sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was on the verge of being submerged by the raging demon Qi. If they couldn¡¯t seal the spatial rift soon, their sect would soon be forced to move.

    Surrounding the Heaven Pce Sect, there were many herb gardens where they had grownrge amounts of medicinal nts and herbs. However, as the demon Qi pervaded the area, many of them had been ruined and bepletely worthless.

    With every day that passed, the Heaven Pce Sect was sustaining significant losses.

    The reason the Heaven Pce Sect had even decided to take Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark and use it to lure Nie Tian out of hiding had been because they were losing patience.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure, but I think it will take a while,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    In the depths of night, bright starlight was still pouring down from the starlit sky.

    In the middle of the three high mountain peaks, countless beams of starlight interwove over the mouth of the unfathomable ck hole. They seemed to be channeling and threading the fine spatial rifts together.

    At this point, as the initiator, Nie Tian actually didn¡¯t need to do anything.

    Since the fragmentary star marks had lit up the internal pagodas and started the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, everything seemed to be moving on the right track.

    In distant locations, a handful of the most powerful experts in the Realm of me Heaven were killing mutant spirit beasts under Chang Sen¡¯s leadership.

    Nie Tian noticed via his seven Heaven Eyes that one powerful mutant spirit beast after another was cut down or bombarded to death.

    However, Chang Sen and the others only focused on killing, and didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest intention to collect the spiritual materials or flesh and blood of the dead spirit beasts.

    Nie Tian secretly sighed over the incredible waste.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus suddenly flew away from her side.

    It rushed to the area where dead mutant spirit beasts were scattered on the ground and unleashed numerous blood strings.

    One blood string after another pierced into the scattered corpses and drew their blood into the Blood Lotus.

    As the Blood Lotus absorbed more and more blood, the blood-colored lotus grew increasingly translucent and sparkling. Like a gorgeous, red gem, it emanated dazzlingly bright light.

    ¡°Blood Refining Incantation,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    The Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation was indeed very amazing. Back when he had used it to refine the tainted blood of the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void, it had allowed him to extract nothing but the purest and most refined flesh power.

    Meanwhile, it had filtered out and left the toxic impurities at the bottom of the wooden barrel.

    At this moment, Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus seemed to be using the Blood Refining Incantation to refine the dead mutant spirit beasts¡¯ blood and absorb the essence into itself.

    As a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool, that Blood Lotus possessed its own soul. It seemed that it was able to practice cultivation with the blood it had absorbed and use it to transcend.

    ¡°How are you doing with your Blood Refining Incantation?¡± Li Jing suddenly asked.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ve mastered the basics,¡± Nie Tian relied respectfully. ¡°Thank you for passing the Blood Sect¡¯s secret cultivation incantation to me, sectmaster Li.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I never treated you as an outsider. Even though I know you don¡¯t want to join the Blood Sect, since you practice our sect¡¯s secret incantation, I¡¯ve always considered you as an honorary disciple of our sect.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Li Jing added, ¡°When you¡¯re finished with your business in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, I want you toe back to the Blood Sect. There must be some kind of bond between you and that Bone Blood Demon you awakened.

    ¡°It fell dormant right after you left, and no one has been able to awaken it since then.

    ¡°That being the case, I¡¯ve decided to give it to you.

    ¡°Next time youe back to the Blood Sect, it will be yours. You¡¯ll be free to take it anywhere you want.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered dramatically. ¡°Really?!... This is very kind of you, but is this appropriate?¡±

    That Bone Blood Demon¡¯s strength could match up to that of a Profound realm Qi warrior. Not only was it extremely powerful and fierce, but it was alsopletely at Nie Tian¡¯s disposal.

    If he could take it away with him, it would be like having a Profound realm Qi warrior by his side at all times. No matter where he went in the future, he would have a formidable force at his disposal.

    However, the Blood Sect had always considered that Bone Blood Demon to be their most precious treasure, so Nie Tian found it very hard to believe that Li Jing would actually allow him to take it away.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing inappropriate about this,¡± Li Jing said with an expressionless face.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    At that moment a heaven-shaking, earth-moving beast roar rang out in the distance.

    Immediately afterwards, all the mutant spirit beasts seemed to grow mad.

    Sitting on the mountain peak, Nie Tian experienced a sudden ache in his heart as he heard that roar.

    He examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that the green aura coiled in his heart was unleashing dazzling green light and using the wisps of life aura to wrap up his heart.

    POOH!

    Next to him, Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, her face ghastly.

    The violent beast roar seemed to have inflicted serious damage on her while she waspletely off guard.

    Subconsciously, she turned to looked at Nie Tian.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s face was filled with shock and confusion, he seemed unharmed.

    Huang Fan¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°What a powerful mutant spirit beast! From the roar alone, I¡¯m positive that it¡¯s a sixth grade mutant spirit beast. Normally speaking, the strength of a sixth grade mutant spirit beast is equivalent to that of a Profound realm Qi warrior like me. This mutant spirit beast must possess formidable strength!¡±

    The experts from the Realm of me Heaven, who were cutting down mutant spirit beasts, also looked shocked as they heard the extremely loud beast roar.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Another loud roar echoed out from another location.

    Gazing towards the source of the second roar, Song Wenshi from the Mystic Mist Sect turned to Chang Sen and the others and said,¡°That¡¯s the sixth grade mutant spirit beast I encountered on my way over! You all should be familiar with it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the overlord that rules the boundless ciers to the north of the Grayvale Sect -- the Ice Liger!¡±

    ¡°Ice Liger!?¡± An astonished expression spread across Chang Sen¡¯s face. ¡°That Ice Liger has long since reached the sixth grade, but since it was holed up in those boundless ciers year round, even though I wanted to hunt it down and kill it, my hands were tied. Now that it has left its home and marched to this ce from such a great distance, do you think it was also drawn by the demon Qi? Can it be that it also carries a Demon bloodline?¡±

    With a bitter smile, Song Wenshi said, ¡°I believe so.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Chang Sen¡¯s eyebrows knitted. ¡°That Ice Liger never left the ciers, so we kind of left each other alone. I didn¡¯t expect that it woulde here at this critical time when we¡¯re sealing the spatial rift.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Ghost Eye from the Ghost Sect said with a gruesome voice, ¡°The Ice Liger didn¡¯t let out the first roar. That one should be a sixth grade mutant spirit beast as well. Actually, I have a feeling that whatever beast let out the first roar is probably even more powerful than the Ice Liger. It just gave one roar and vanished.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even have the slightest clue regarding its current whereabouts.¡±

    ROOOOAR!

    As they spoke, another heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar rang out from a third location.

    ¡°Herees a third sixth grade spirit beast!?¡±

 Chapter 360: Attack!

    Upon hearing the violent roar of a third beast, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°It¡¯s the Earth me Beast!¡±

    He had been there when the Earth me Beast had escaped from thevake in the earth¡¯s core, which was also when the me Dragon Armor had obtained great fortune from that devastating upheaval in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Therefore, he was very familiar with the Earth me Beast¡¯s roars.

    Li Jing¡¯s expression also flickered slightly as she said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Earth me Beast is here too!¡±

    She had also witnessed the zing cmity that had struck the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    Back then, she and Ghost Eye had been there to deal with Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    The escape of the Earth me Beast had caused great turbulences to the Scarlet me Mountain Range, and resulted in burningva rushing out of the earth¡¯s core and flooding the mountain range.

    It was the Earth me Beast¡¯s sudden appearance that had forced the Blood Sect and Ghost Sect to abort their joint operation against the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    ¡°How powerful is that Earth me Beast exactly, Senior Li?¡± Nie Tian subconsciously asked the question.

    After a moment of pondering, Li Jing said, ¡°That Earth me Beast was a sixth grade spirit beast. In the Scarlet me Mountain Range, I witnessed charged out from the depths of the earth and channeled boilingva from the earth¡¯s core to flood almost the entire Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    ¡°After seeing its devastating strength, Ghost Eye and I immediately ended our battle against Fang Hui.

    ¡°As the most powerful expert in the Spiritual Treasure Sect, Fang Hui tried to trap it and send it back to the earth¡¯s core, but he failed. Ghost Eye and I tried to stop it from flying away, but we failed as well.

    ¡°Since then, it seemed to have vanished into thin air, and no one has ever seen it again.

    ¡°I never thought it would show up here at this moment.¡±

    At this moment, Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect said, the look in his eyes turning grim, ¡°A sixth grade Earth me Beast, a sixth grade Ice Liger, and an unknown mutant spirit beast that is equally as strong, if not stronger. I didn¡¯t know that there were so many fierce, high-grade spirit beasts hiding in the unimpressive Realm of me Heaven. These three are only the ones that have surfaced. It¡¯s hard to say whether or not more powerful spirit beasts are lurking in the dark.¡±

    Face clouded by worries, he gazed down at the huge spatial rift, which hadn¡¯t been fully sealed yet.

    Beside him, Li Jing¡¯s expression was also as grim aske water.

    At that moment, enormous clusters of mes sudden burst forth in a far location, where, due to the long distance, the demon Qi was still yet to be purged by the pouring rivers of starlight.

    In the midst of the torrential mes, the Earth me Beast¡¯s gigantic body gradually rose into the air.

    The ckish-violet demon Qi in its surroundings seemed to be attracted by it and rapidly converged on it from every direction.

    Then, the Earth me Beast opened its huge mouth and inhaled everyst wisp of the surging demon Qi.

    In the next moment, its dark-red skin, which looked like heated rocks, took on a purple hue.

    It threw its head back and let out a fierce roar, as if its innermost bloodline had been nourished by the demon Qi, and was gradually awakening.

    Simultaneously, another heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar rang out.

    A giant translucent beast emerged from the rolling demon Qi and charged towards Nie Tian¡¯s location. The beast resembled a mix between a tiger and a lion, and it had silvery-white pupils.

    ¡°The Ice Liger!¡± Chang Sen from the Hell Sect took a deep breath and discovered that wherever the spirit beast went, the ground would freeze, and the temperature would drop dramatically.

    The sixth grade Ice Liger breathed in the rich demon Qi as its translucent body emanated a frigid-cold aura.

    The cold aura gradually pervaded its surroundings and turned the area within several kilometers around it into a world of ice and snow. Furthermore, as it came closer and closer, its frigid aura influenced an increasinglyrge area.

    The scattered mutant spirit beasts that practiced ice power rapidly gathered to the Ice Liger¡¯s side.

    Many mutant spirit beasts that drew strength from me power swiftly converged on the Earth me Beast.

    The appearance of the Ice Liger and Earth me Beast continued to change heaven and earth, enveloping one direction in frigid coldness, and filling the other direction with torrential mes.

    The two formidable beasts withpletely ipatible attributes seemed to have reached a mutual understanding, and thus jointly charged towards the spatial rift from two opposite directions.

    As they approached, they unleashed devastating power to change heaven and earth around them, as if they intended to stop the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce from sealing the huge spatial rift.

    Huang Fan ceased sensing the Ice Liger and Earth me Beast¡¯s auras and said, ¡°It¡¯s our fortune that Demon outsiders haven¡¯t descended upon us. Otherwise, the Realm of me Heaven would fall within days. There are simply too many spirit beasts in the Realm of me Heaven that carry Demon bloodlines, and it¡¯s hard to believe that there are even sixth grade spirit beasts among them.

    ¡°The three sixth grade spirit beasts and the numerous low-grade spirit beasts alone are already hard enough to deal with. If Demon armies hade along at this moment, the Realm of me Heaven would have been doomed for sure.¡±

    Li Jing abruptly turned to Huang Fan and said, ¡°Look after Nie Tian for me. I¡¯ll go help them deal with the Ice Liger and Earth me Beast. You won¡¯t make things difficult for Nie Tian while I¡¯m gone, will you?¡±

    With these words, she didn¡¯t even wait for Huang Fan to answer before blurring into a streak of blood-colored light and flying down the mountain peak.

    ¡°Sure...¡± Huang Fan muttered.

    At that moment, Su Lin discovered that Nie Tian seemed asposed as ever, as if the appearance of the Ice Liger and Earth me Beast didn¡¯t worry him at all. On the contrary, he actually seemed to be itching to join the battle. Confused, she asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of those sixth grade mutant spirit beasts?¡±

    ¡°The most powerful experts in the entire Realm of me Heaven are gathered here now. What¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡± Nie Tian answered casually.

    After a moment of silence, Su Lin said, ¡°From what I know, sixth grade mutant spirit beasts possess remarkable intelligence. Perhaps they¡¯ll find out that you¡¯re the key to sealing that spatial rift. Once they do, those mutant spirit beasts will all set you as their primary target.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Huang Fan¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily berated her, ¡°Shut your mouth!¡±

    Confusion filled Su Lin¡¯s face as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Nie Tian, who had been standing on top of the mountain peak and observing the fight between the powerful experts of the Realm of me Heaven and the fierce mutant spirit beasts in a carefree manner, suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis.

    The green aura seemed to have given his heart a jolt and caused his heart to ache abruptly and strongly.

    ¡°Watch out, Nie Tian!¡± Huang Fan eximed.

    Not taking the time to think, Nie Tian immediately cast a short-range Starshift.

    BANG!

    The ce he had been standing a moment ago exploded, filling the air with flying rocks and dirt. The vague figure of a spirit beast appeared out of nowhere, but after a brief moment, it disappeared into thin air again.

    ¡°A mutant spirit beast!¡± After shifting to another corner of the mountaintop, Nie Tian¡¯s face turned pale with fright. He rapidly summoned his seven Heaven Eyes to his side, hoping to locate the spirit beast that had just attacked him.

    ¡°Come here to me!¡± Huang Fan called out to Nie Tian.

    As he uttered these words, numerous bright-yellow banners flew out of his ring of holding.

    A total of 24 banners floated in midair around Huang Fan and Su Lin. They constantly moved about, following unpredictable patterns, as if they were switching between different spell formations.

    Dragons and phoenixes were embroidered on the banners¡¯ bright-yellow surfaces, each of which emanated dazzlingly bright light and looked very elegant and graceful.

    The moment Huang Fan called out to Nie Tian, his 24 flying banners rapidly realigned and remained still in midair to secure a opening for Nie Tian, through which he would be able to run to Huang Fan¡¯s side safely.

    However, just as Nie Tian was about tounch another short-range Starshift and shift to Huang Fan¡¯s side, a spirit beast suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path to Huang Fan.

 Chapter 361: Demonsounds Bewitchment

    It was none other than the spirit beast that had justunched a sneak attack on him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It shifted among locations in the area between Huang Fan and Nie Tian so fast that it looked like a blurry shadow.

    Huang Fan let out a cold harrumph as he berated Su Lin for her ignorant behavior, ¡°This is all thanks to your bbing!¡±

    It was because she had pointed out that Nie Tian was the key to sealing the spatial rift that a mutant spirit beast had suddenly attacked Nie Tian from the dark.

    Su Lin kept silent like a cicada in cold weather and did not dare to utter another word.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Come to me! Quick!¡± Huang Fan urged.

    The 24 banners remained still in midair, leaving a wide opening for Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian could only smile bitterly, since the spirit beast was blocking his path to Huang Fan and Su Lin.

    Starshifts wouldn¡¯t allow him to defy space and simply teleport to another location. It only would allow him to move at an extremely fast speed, so that it would seem as if he had vanished from one location and reappeared in another.

    Considering that, he would have to figure out a way to bypass that rapidly shifting spirit beast.

    Just as he was hesitating, the mutant spirit beast let out a sharp scream.

    In the next moment, interweaving cyan lightning bolts suddenly shot out from its blurry, rapidly-moving figure.

    Numerous cyan lightning bolts that were as thick as babies¡¯ arms formed awork that seemed solid like a electric grid, and shot towards Nie Tian.

    After unleashing the cyan lightning attack, the originally-blurry figure gradually became clearer.

    Nie Tian, who was ready to escape by casting another short-range Starshift, suddenly went nk after getting a clear view of the spirit beast.

    ¡°My master¡¯s Thunder Beast!¡± He couldn¡¯t help but exim.

    The mutant spirit beast that was attacking him was his master¡¯s Thunder Beast, which had captured second grade spirit beasts for him and taken him to and from the Scarlet me Mountain Range!

    This shocking discovery astounded Nie Tian into a daze. He couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Huang Fan saw that he was met with trouble, and thus unleashed secret magics tomand his 24 banners to fly towards the Thunder Beast.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    At that very moment, another heaven-shaking, earth-moving roar rang out.

    Unable to locate the source of the roar, Su Lin experienced a strong impact in her chest. Bits of redness appeared on her cheeks as she almost coughed up another mouthful of blood.

    Huang Fan wove his hands in the air, forming exquisite hand seals. However, he could feel his hands suddenly being pulled and restricted by a mysterious force.

    It seemed as if Huang Fan was the target of that beast roar.

    Huang Fan¡¯s body shook violently as two beams of dazzling blue light shot out from his eyes. With a cold snort, he shouted, ¡°Quit sneaking around! Show yourself, coward!!¡±

    SHEW!

    Nie Tianunched another short-range Starshift and avoided the huge iingwork of lightning bolts.

    CRACKLE! BOOM!

    The interwoven lightning bolts bombarded the stone ground, under which misty starlight was continuously rising into the air.

    Afterwards, the Thunder Beast came tond in the location Nie Tian had been standing just now.

    Gently shaking its lightning-wreathed wings, it turned its head to relocate the escaping Nie Tian.

    Its eyes, which should have been a cyan color, were now dark-purple. As it panted, wisps of demon Qi came out of its sharp muzzle. As it met Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, a slight helplessness and misery appeared in its eyes, as if it was reluctant to attack Nie Tian, yet had no choice.

    ¡°It¡¯s being manipted by another mutant spirit beast!¡± After a brief moment of eye contact with the Thunder Beast, Nie Tian immediately realized that the sixth grade mutant spirit beast, which had been lurking in the dark and asionally unleashing roars that could shake heaven and earth, was none other the one that was forcing the Thunder Beast to attack him.

    That unknown mutant spirit beast seemed even more formidable than the Ice Liger and the Earth me Beast, and more importantly, more intelligent.

    From the look of it, it was the one that had summoned the numerous mutant spirit beasts to this area and thus was the initiator of this operation.

    The Ice Liger, the Earth me Beast, and the Thunder Beast had all gathered in this area from every corner of the Realm of me Heaven under itsmands.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The unknown mutant spirit beast let out another roar, as if it had been angered.

    Upon hearing that roar, the hesitant Thunder Beast¡¯s eyes, which had momentarily cleared up, were suddenly filled by frenzy and thirst for blood again.

    It once again fluttered its lightning-wreathed wings and swooped towards Nie Tian.

    Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect scanned the vicinity with his profound soul power, which could cover a veryrge area, yet again he failed to locate that unknown mutant spirit beast.

    Rage filling his heart, Huang Fan finally lost his patience andid his murderous gaze on the Thunder Beast. He said coldly, ¡°A fifth grade Thunder Beast dares to attempt to kill Nie Tian? Wishful thinking!¡±

    With these words, hemanded half of his banners to shoot towards the Thunder Beast.

    The reason why he hadn¡¯te to Nie Tian¡¯s aid earlier wasn¡¯t because he was afraid of the Thunder Beast.

    It was because he had considered the intelligent mutant spirit beast, which had been lurking in the dark from the start, to be their biggest threat.

    Seeing that it continued to pull the strings in the dark and didn¡¯t intend to show itself in the slightest, Huang Fan decided not to waste any more of his time and prepared to kill the Thunder Beast first.

    After realizing that twelve of Huang Fan¡¯s banners were shooting towards the Thunder Beast, each of which was unleashing iparably fierce killing intent, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily stopped him. ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t, Senior Huang!¡±

    Confusion filled Huang Fan¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°This Thunder Beast belongs to my master,¡± Nie Tian hastened to exin. ¡°It used to be my friend, and it helped me a few times.¡±

    ¡°That was before, but now is a different time!¡± Huang Fan blurted with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m certain that this Thunder Beast carries a Demon bloodline as well. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have shown up here, and it wouldn¡¯t have been manipted by that most powerful mutant spirit beast to attack you.

    ¡°It will only be able to escape that sixth grade mutant spirit beast¡¯s maniption when it advances to the sixth grade itself.

    ¡°Also, if we spare its life, such a high-grade spirit beast with Demon blood running through its veins will be a great potential threat to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°If Demons invade and unleash demon Qi again, it will be very likely that its Demon bloodline will be activated, which will cause it to go through a more thorough mutation, turning it into a terrifying Demon.¡±

    Aplicated expression filling his face, Nie Tian said, ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when wee to it. Bottom line is that this spirit beast belongs to my master. Even if it has to die, my master should be the one to swing the sword.¡±

    With these words, he cast another short-range Starshift.

    SHEW!

    This time, he found the right angle, shifted through an small opening, and arrived by Su Lin¡¯s side.

    Seeing that Nie Tian hade to his side unscathed, he felt relieved, saying, ¡°Alright, suit yourself. As long as you stay close to me, that fifth grade Thunder Beast won¡¯t be able to hurt you anyways.¡±

    Atop another mountain peak...

    Shaken by the violent roar of the unknown mutant spirit beast, Pei Qiqi¡¯s face also turned pale. She had to pause her studies of the grand spell formations and spatial energy.

    ¡°Mr. Hua, can you locate the powerful mutant spirit beast that has been lurking in the dark this whole time?¡± She asked Hua Mu.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hua Mu said, ¡°That¡¯s not a mutant spirit beast. That¡¯s a real Demon! And it¡¯s not here in the Realm of me Heaven; it¡¯s in that closing spatial rift. That Demon must have sensed what¡¯s happening to the spatial rift, and thus secretly unleashed demonsounds to summon mutant spirit beasts to this area.

    ¡°By activating the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian eliminated the possibility of it passing through the sealing spatial rift and entering the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Therefore, it can only use demonsound to influence those mutant spirit beasts and manipte them to thwart the sessful sealing of the spatial rift.¡±

 Chapter 362: Discovery

    The Thunder Beast screeched as it repeatedly swooped towards Nie Tian and Huang Fan.

    Meanwhile, Huang Fan¡¯s 24 yellow banners hovered and rotated around them at a fast speed, creating violent spiritual power fluctuations.

    The Thunder Beast made repeated attempts to charge through the protective spell formation formed by the hovering banners, but failed each and every time.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s request, Huang Fan forced himself to hold his temper and not kill the Thunder Beast.

    Considering histe Profound realm cultivation base and the might of his flying banners, it would be a piece of cake for him to ughter that Thunder Beast.

    What Huang Fan truly attached importance to was the mutant spirit beast that was lurking in the dark this whole time and letting outmanding roars.

    Watching the Thunder Beast be bewitched by the demonsounds and swoop towards him repeatedly as if it hadpletely lost its mind, Nie Tian sighed and said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it also carries a Demon bloodline...

    ¡°From the look of it, most of the high-grade spirit beasts in the Realm of me Heaven probably carry Demon bloodlines and have deep-rooted bonds with Demons.

    ¡°If we let the Realm of me Heaven be flooded by demon Qi, I¡¯m afraid it would soon turn into a purgatory for humans.¡±

    At that moment, Su Lin said, ¡°That was why the Realm of Earth Sieve and the Realm of Dark Underworld aborted their invasion n after learning about the Realm of me Heaven¡¯s situation.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim as he turned to her and asked, ¡°Back when the Heaven Gate opened in our realm, did the Heaven Pce Sect know that it would be followed by a massive Demon invasion? Did the Heaven Pce Sect take part in the Realm of Earth Sieve and the Realm of Dark Underworld¡¯s scheme?¡±

    ¡°In the Heaven Pce Sect, I¡¯m just a small figure, and I don¡¯t have ess to those confidential matters,¡± Su Lin said with an indifferent tone.

    Standing off to the side, Huang Fan picked up their conversation between by saying, ¡°We didn¡¯t know that the opening of the Heaven Gates would result in the appearance of spatial rifts, much less that Demons woulde through them and invade the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°However, we did receive information about the Realm of Earth Sieve and the Realm of Dark Underworld¡¯s n to invade your realm. You should know that, before the Demons¡¯ invasion, the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars didn¡¯t always get along peacefully. It¡¯s natural for wars to break out among realms.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t the seven sects of the Realm of me Heaven engaged in pitched battles right before the Demons came along?

    ¡°The same goes for the nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Some realms would go to war with nearby realms due to their contradictory cultivating concepts or feuds between their sects or even individuals. This has always been the main theme of the nine realms. There¡¯s nothing unusual about it.¡±

    With these words, Huang Fan gave a snort and continued, ¡°As a matter of fact, brawls among powerful sects help talented Qi warriors grow and stand out. Furthermore, as wars break out between realms, their sects will also develop and grow.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect hasn¡¯t always been the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. We fought our way up through countless battles and wars, and gradually grew into the formidable force we are today.

    ¡°The sects in the Realm of me Heaven also need to go through simr challenges in order to grow and expand at a fast rate.¡±

    Nie Tian listened attentively and mulled over Huang Fan¡¯s words.

    Huang Fan suddenly waved hisrge hand, yelling, ¡°Will you leave us alone?!¡±

    Emanatingrge amounts of blinding golden light, a gigantic banner flew into the air and wrapped the Thunder Beast inside of it.

    The Thunder Beast let out a begrudging screech as it madly twisted its body, hoping to struggle free from the banner¡¯s constraint. Yet, all of its efforts were in vain.

    Huang Fan shot a cold nce at Nie Tian, saying, ¡°I¡¯m only not killing it because I want to give you face, so I¡¯ll only imprison it for the time being. Meanwhile, you stay here and don¡¯t go anywhere. I doubt that the hidden spirit beast will give up so easily. I have a feeling that it will think of other ways to kill you.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Nie Tian sat down on stone ground.

    He quietly sent out his seven Heaven Eyes and spread them out to scan the vicinity, hoping to try his luck at finding that mysterious spirit beast.

    However, even powerful experts like Huang Fan and Chang Sen had failed to locate that mutant spirit beast; how would his Heaven Eyes would be any different? As expected, he failed.

    Even though he failed to find that mutant spirit beast, while his seven Heaven Eyes had floated about and searched for suspicious auras, they identally picked up a wisp of soul will from Hua Mu.

    The moment Hua Mu¡¯s soul will quietly flew into one of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes, Hua Mu¡¯s soul consciousness started tomunicate with Nie Tian via that Heaven Eye.

    ¡°Those roars areing from an actual Demon that¡¯s hiding in the spatial rift.

    ¡°Considering that the strong restrictive spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has already sealed a good portion of the spatial rift, and the formidable might of the pouring rivers of starlight, it can¡¯te through the spatial rift.

    ¡°Therefore, it can only use its demonsounds to bewitch those mutant spirit beasts that carry Demon bloodlines and mutated under the demon Qi¡¯s influence.¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s message was rapidly passed on to Nie Tian¡¯s mind via that floating Heaven Eye.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered Hua Mu¡¯s words for a while before turning to Huang Fan and saying, ¡°Senior Huang, it¡¯s an actual Demon that¡¯s been hiding in the spatial rift and bewitching the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of me Heaven with its roars.¡±

    Surprised and suspicious, Huang Fan asked, ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I refined one of the fragmentary star marks, remember?¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°And I activated the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right...¡± Huang Fan assumed that Nie Tian had derived such conclusions from the profound knowledge recorded in the fragmentary star mark he had refined. Hence, he asked, ¡°So what should we do?¡±

    ¡°Well, my job is finished here,¡± Nie Tian said, looking down at the spatial rift. ¡°Let¡¯s go down there and take a closer look at the spatial rift.¡±

    Huang Fan followed Nie Tian¡¯s gaze and looked down at the spatial rift. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded slightly and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you down.¡±

    With these words, he reached out and grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder before diving down towards the valley in between the three majestic mountain peaks like a falcon swooping down on its prey.

    Only when he was flying down did he remember Su Lin and thus remind her casually, ¡°Su Lin, you¡¯re not those mutant spirit beasts¡¯ target, so just be careful and you¡¯ll probably be fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will,¡± Su Lin replied with a sour taste in her mouth.

    She had long since felt that, after she had lost her fragmentary star mark to Nie Tian in the Lesser Heaven stage battleground during the Heaven Gate trial, her status in the Heaven Pce Sect had dropped significantly.

    The fact that she had returned empty-handed disappointed many seniors in the Heaven Pce Sect who had once ced high hopes in her, Huang Fan being one of them.

    Now, Huang Fan spent all of his effort and wit on protecting Nie Tian and drawing Nie Tian to his side. It seemed that, by hook or by crook, he was determined to bring Nie Tian back to the Heaven Pce Sect and admit him as a disciple.

    However, when it came to her, Huang Fan only told her to be careful, at this perilous time where mutant spirit beasts might appear and attack her at every turn she took.

    Deeply disheartened, Su Lin gradually realized that if Nie Tian ever joined the Heaven Pce Sect, he would definitely soon be the one that attracted the most attention and was favored by all the seniors in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Meanwhile, with Ning Yang, the brightest future star of the Heaven Pce Sect, dead, she would also be outshone by Nie Tian and live in his shadow.

    <i>¡°I never imagined that a boy, whose name I didn¡¯t even know when we encountered each other in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, would rise above me and Ning Yang, and be the brightest star in the Heaven Pce Sect.¡± </i>

    Mixed emotions rose in Su Lin¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 363: Fall

    Standing atop another extremely high mountain peak, Pei Qiqi looked down towards the central valley. She couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Nie Tian just went down!¡±

    She had been observing and trying to derive enlightenment from the spatial rift and the grand spell formation, so she rapidly noticed that Huang Fan had taken Nie Tian and plunged towards the central valley.

    With a calm tone, Hua Mu said, ¡°He wants to prompt Huang Fan to probe into the Demon hiding within that spatial rift.¡±

    Pei Qiqi seemed to have realized something and thus asked, ¡°Did you somehow inform him about that Demon?¡±

    Hua Mu nodded and said, ¡°My identity is a bit tricky. It¡¯s better that I stay out of this. Of all the experts, Huang Fan and Chang Sen are the only ones who are capable of teaching that Demon a lesson and stopping it from issuingmands in the dark.

    ¡°Even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s grand spell formation is preventing Demons from entering the Realm of me Heaven, it has no effect on humans.

    ¡°If Huang Fan has the audacity to seek that Demon out in the spatial rift and fight it, it might solve the problem at the source.¡±

    With a shocked expression on her face, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°Do you mean that Demons won¡¯t be able to enter the Realm of me Heaven, but we will be able to enter that spatial rift?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, but not only that, even if the spatial rift is fully sealed by the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the sealing will only be one-way,¡± Hua Mu exined in a slow and calm fashion. ¡°The spell formation won¡¯t allow Demons to set foot in the Realm of me Heaven. But human Qi warriors won¡¯t be bound by it at all, so we¡¯ll be able to enter that spatial rift, or even follow it into the Demons¡¯ realms.

    ¡°That¡¯s why the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce only sealed that spatial rift, but didn¡¯t destroy it, and also what¡¯s truly fascinating about this grand spell formation.

    ¡°It will allow us to go into the Demons¡¯ realms, but it won¡¯t allow Demons to set foot in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    After a moment of silent pondering, Pei Qiqi seemed enlightened and thus said, ¡°The reason why the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce made such arrangements was that they hoped, one day, human Qi warriors in the Domain of the Falling Stars would be powerful and courageous enough to go on punitive expeditions to the Demons¡¯ realms. They did it to leave us a tunnel, through which our armies would be able to march into the Demons¡¯ realms, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Hua Mu confirmed strongly. Then, his tone weakened as he said with a sigh, ¡°However, until this day, powerful experts from the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars haven¡¯t umted enough strength and courage to march into those three spatial rifts and wage war on Demons¡¯ realms. On the contrary, it has always been Demons or other outsider races that repeatedly attempted to swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Will Huang Fan have the courage to enter and explore that spatial rift?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Hua Mu said, his eyes glittering with a concerned light.

    At that moment, Nie Tian and Huang Fan were already standing by the edge of the huge, unfathomable ck hole.

    The ck hole looked like the opened mouth of an enormous, man-eating Demon that kept unleashing ckish-violet demon Qi.

    Covering the ck hole was awork of rivers of starlight, which flowed continuously and formed numerous detailed and exquisite patterns.

    An ancient, remote aura suddenly blew out of the ck hole into Nie Tian¡¯s face, which, to his surprise, made him feel secure.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Another heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar rang out. It seemed to havee from all directions, and it was so powerful that Nie Tian¡¯s eardrums hurt.

    Huang Fan¡¯s eyes lit up as he saw strong turbulences spread out on thework of countless rivers of starlight when the fierce roar echoed out.

    Even standing by the edge of the spatial rift, he still couldn¡¯t be sure that the demonsound wasing from within the spatial rift.

    However, one thing he could be sure of: the impact he experience standing here was much stronger than when he had stood atop the mountain peak.

    Therefore, he assumed that Nie Tian was right, that what he had thought to be a formidable mutant spirit beast was actually a Demon that was hiding inside the spatial rift.

    With aplicated expression on his face, he looked down at the mysterious, bottomless spatial rift and frowned in hesitation.

    As a senior member of the Heaven Pce Sect, he knew the special mechanism of the spatial rift every bit as well as Hua Mu.

    Pointing down at the spatial rift, Nie Tian said with a soft voice, ¡°That Demon is in there right now, held off by the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, so it can¡¯t enter our world. But the spell formation can¡¯t stop its demonsounds from spreading through the spatial rift. After all, the spell formation hasn¡¯t been fully activated, and the sealing process isn¡¯tplete.¡±

    Huang Fan nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    He was still hesitant to step into the spatial rift, since he didn¡¯t know what he would face once he entered.

    Perhaps more formidable Demons were waiting for him inside the spatial rift.

    The more he thought about it, the more worried he became, making him increasingly indecisive.

    After watching Huang Fan hesitate for a long time, Hua Mu shook his head and said, ¡°He doesn¡¯t have the courage after all...

    ¡°Then again, it would be easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than to find truly courageous men would daringly march into the Demons¡¯ realms, knowing it would mean their certain deaths...¡± Reminiscence filled Hua Mu¡¯s eyes.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart was shaken. ¡°Mr. Hua, have you ever been to Demons¡¯ realms?¡±

    A sad smile appeared on Hua Mu¡¯s face. ¡°Yeah, I have. But almost everyone who went with me died there.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Dazzling starlight was still pouring down from the heavens towards the spatial rift.

    Seeing that Huang Fan had stood still for quite some time and still hadn¡¯t made up his mind, Nie Tian lost his patience and said, ¡°Senior Huang, now that you know where that Demon is, do you have any idea how we might be able to kill it?¡±

    ¡°If it doesn¡¯te out of there, my hands are tied.¡± Huang Fan cleared his throat andmanded some of his banners to fly into the spatial rift, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to search for it inside the spatial rift, and see if I can determine its exact location.¡±

    He infused each of those banners with a wisp of his soul power and sent them into the spatial rift.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, another thunderous roar rang out.

    At the same time, he nced around and noticed that numerous scattered mutant spirit beasts had started to converge on him.

    Then, it suddenly became clear to him that the Demon in the spatial rift had locked onto him and had summoned mutant spirit beasts to kill him.

    ¡°More low-grade beasts are being sent to their doom.¡± Huang Fan snorted coldly as he formed exquisite hand seals tomand the remaining banners to shoot towards the iing mutant spirit beasts.

    The banners seemed to turn into life-reaping scythes.

    As they flew and rotated in the air, one spirit beast after another was shed into pieces.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Another demonsound suddenly burst forth, causing the stone Nie Tian was standing on to shatter.

    Mad and with no regard for their own lives, a few mutant spirit beasts charged through the defensive line formed by Huang Fan¡¯s banners. As Nie Tian leapt into the air, one of them rammed into him and knocked him into the spatial rift.

    Nie Tian felt as if he was suddenly pulled by a strong gravitational force, and he rapidly fell into the unfathomable darkness.

    ¡°Damn!"

    Huang Fan and Hua Mu¡¯s expressions flickered simultaneously.

 Chapter 364: Rotspirit Ox

    Huang Fan had never imagined that his indecision would cause Nie Tian to fall into that bottomless spatial rift.

    PHOOH! PHOOH! PHOOH!

    Huang Fan¡¯s banners moved in midair as if they were scythes swung by Death, slicing numerous iing mutant spirit beasts into pieces.

    Upon seeing such a brutal scene, many of the mutant spirit beasts seemed frightened. Adding in the fact that the demonsound from within the spatial rift had ceased, they gradually stopped.

    One after another, they started to back away with their fearful gazes fixed on Huang Fan.

    Huang Fan didn¡¯t have time to deal with them. He anxiously turned around and looked into the spatial rift.

    It had been just a moment, but Nie Tian had already disappeared into the endless darkness.

    Mixed emotions shed across his face before he finally gritted his teeth and jumped into the unfathomable spatial rift.

    Almost simultaneously, Hua Mu flew down from the mountaintop after saying to Pei Qiqi, ¡°You stay here and don¡¯t go anywhere!¡±

    Eyes wide, Pei Qiqi watched Hua Mu blur into a streak of gray smoke and fly away from her side. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the spatial rift.

    Su Lin, who had been carefully guarding herself against mutant spirit beasts, also turned her head and looked over to see what was happening in the valley, whispering to herself, ¡°W-what happened just now?

    She saw Huang Fan dive into the spatial rift after a moment of hesitation, and Nie Tian was already nowhere to be found.

    What confused her even more was that, immediately afterward, a streak of gray smoke followed Huang Fan into the spatial rift.

    Before Hua Mu had shown up, she had no idea there were any powerful experts in the vicinity.

    WHOOSH!

    The figure of a woman appeared at the edge of one of the mountaintops.

    Pei Qiqi, who had intentionally hidden her aura, revealed herself to Su Lin, wearing a mask that made her look in.

    Looking down at her from a significant distance, she shouted, ¡°Nie Tian fell into that spatial rift. You should inform the experts from the Realm of me Heaven as quickly as you can, so that they can get in there and give him a hand.¡±

    Startled, Su Lin asked, ¡°Who are you?! That man who dove into the spatial rift after Huang Fan, are you with him?¡±

    Pei Qiqi lost her patience and said with an indifferent tone. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re humans, not Demons. We¡¯re not here to help Demons, believe me. We¡¯re friends with Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s friends...¡± Su Lin searched in her mind for a moment before nodding and saying, ¡°I see. I¡¯ll inform those experts now.¡±

    Afterwards, she took out a Sound Stone and startedmunicating with the powerful experts who were now engaged in fierce battles with the Earth me Beast, the Ice Liger, and the numerous mutant spirit beasts that had converged on this area.

    ...

    Inside the spatial rift was a dark, endless tunnel that looked very strange and spacious.

    One after another, streaks of light would sh past from time to time, lighting up the dim tunnel briefly.

    Numerous pitch-ck, drifting vortexes could be seen here and there.

    Judging from the foul auras that came out of those pitch-ck vortexes, they seemed to lead to realms where no lives could ever survive.

    Dazzling, bright spots, which seemed to carry extremely violent and explosive power, flew around in the tunnel in a disorderly fashion.

    Meanwhile, the tunnel was filled with rocks of various sizes and shapes, some of which glittered with bright starlight, while others burned with ck mes.

    Numerous misty, ckish-violet rivers of pure demon Qi flowed inside the dim tunnel.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian appeared in the tunnel. Overwhelmed by the strange and creepy surroundings, he went nk.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor, which had been sleeping in Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding, seemed to have sensed the dangerous situation and thus took the initiative to fly out and descend from over his head, forcing itself on his body.

    Afterwards, the me Dragon Armor started to draw me power from his spiritual sea automatically.

    As it was infused with more and more me power from Nie Tian, it burst into mes, turning Nie Tian into a ball of fire and lighting up the dim spatial tunnel.

    ¡°I-is this the spatial tunnel that leads to Demons¡¯ realms?¡± ncing around carefully, Nie Tian¡¯s face was rapidly filled with astonishment.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Behind him, an enormous gray vortex,ced with bits of glittering starlight, was floating and fluctuating.

    He hade in through that gray vortex!

    This waspletely different from what he had pictured in his mind.

    Originally , he was under the impression that, after being sucked into the spatial rift, he would keep falling, like falling down an endless well, and the huge spatial rift would be like the mouth of the well.

    However, after his entrance, he realized that, if hepared the spatial tunnel to the Demons¡¯ realms to be a horizontal well, the vortex he had just entered through would be somewhere in the middle of the well, and the vortex would be size of a grain.

    Standing in front of that vortex, he saw the same things looking forward or backward.

    With another look at the gray vortexced with bits of starlight, he sensed strong fluctuations of spatial energy, so he was convinced that he would be able to pass through it into the Realm of me Heaven.

    Meanwhile, numerous misty rivers of rich demon Qi were converging and attempting to flow into it.

    However, in the heart of the vortex, the spell formation formed by bits of starlight prevented them from infiltrating.

    As a thought appeared in his mind, he floated up the rivers of demon Qi to search for their source.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he discovered that a giant Demon wasing towards him by following the current of one of the demon Qi rivers at a fast speed.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The Demon let out a frenzied roar in the spatial tunnel.

    Strangely, even though the previous roars had sounded so loud in the Realm of me Heaven that it caused Heaven and Earth to shake, this roar sounded very muffled and weak to Nie Tian, now that he was inside the spatial tunnel.

    The Demon looked like a tremendous bull that was almost a hundred meters long. It was ck from head to tail, and it had curved horns growing out of its head.

    Its dark-purple eyes emanated a suffocating light, making them look like two purple suns in the dim spatial tunnel.

    It seemed as if the gray vortex that led to the Realm of me Heaven had been its destination. However, as it caught sight of Nie Tian and charged towards him, it seemed very cautious, as if it feared something.

    SHEW!

    A streak of dazzlingly bright starlight suddenly whizzed out of the dusty-gray vortex like a shooting star.

    In the next moment, the light pierced into the Demon¡¯s flesh like a sharp arrow.

    The Demon let out pained howls as it began to stagger its way towards Nie Tian.

    Meanwhile, sparkling, bright spots made contact with its enormous body and exploded, creating extremely terrifying explosive power, inflicting serious pain and damage on the Demon.

    Upon seeing such a scene, Nie Tian immediately realized that the Demon must have already made numerous attempts to approach the dusty-gray vortex, in order to charge through the spatial rift and enter the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, the powerful restrictive spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had yed an important role. Not only had it repeatedly stopped the demon from approaching, but it had also injured it a few times.

    Not only did Nie Tian discover many wounds on the Demon¡¯s huge body, which had apparently been caused by the shes of starlight, but he also noticed that the solid scales on its broad, mountain-like back were still sputtering sparks and arcs of starlight.

    ¡°Ah... No wonder it¡¯s been using its roars to bewitch the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of me Heaven. It¡¯s because it can¡¯t get close to the vortex.¡± With a quick nce at the Demon, Nie Tian managed to figure out the situation.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, two figures flew out of the gray vortex, one after the other.

    Floating quietly within the vast spatial tunnel, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Senior Huang! Mr. Hua!¡±

    ¡°Are you okay, Nie Tian?¡± Wearing an exquisite set of spiritual armor, Huang Fan descended in the spatial tunnel, surrounded by his floating banners. Armed to the teeth, he nced around vigntly, looking especially grim and nervous.

    ¡°Demon!!¡± He suddenly caught sight of the Demon, which was staggering, yet still marching towards them.

    With a single nce at the excessivelyrge Demon, Hua Mu called out its name. ¡°Rotspirit Ox!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! Come back here now! Go back to the Realm of me Heaven with me!¡± He urged with an anxious expression on his face.

 Chapter 365: The Sixth Demon Realm

    ¡°It¡¯s a Rotspirit Ox!¡± Hua Mu called out the Demon¡¯s name after a brief nce at it. Apparently, he was familiar with this particr Demon¡¯s origin, as well as its most formidable features.

    On the other hand, Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect stared at the Demon, which Hua Mu referred to as the Rotspirit Ox, his eyes wide and his face filled with confusion. ¡°A Rotspirit Ox? What¡¯s that?¡±

    Shortly thereafter, Huang Fan seemed to have realized something. Staring at Hua Mu in a vignt fashion, he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Hua Mu ignored him.

    Upon hearing Hua Mu¡¯s exmation, Nie Tian realized that he should return to Hua Mu and Huang Fan¡¯s side.

    As soon as that thought appeared in his mind, the me Dragon Armor seemed to receive the message, and thus responded ordingly.

    Wreathed in raging mes, the me Dragon Armor drew some more me power from Nie Tian¡¯s vortex of me power, and carried the floating Nie Tian towards Hua Mu and Huang Fan

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Meanwhile, strange, matter-burning crackles echoed out around Nie Tian. He examined his surroundings with rapt attention, and discovered that there were substantial amounts of unknown impurities floating within the spatial tunnel.

    From the look of it, those impurities would be very harmful to humans. Lucky for him, the me Dragon Armor had formed a ward of zing mes around him, burning away the impurities and keeping him safe.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The Rotspirit Ox, which had left the misty river of demon Qi and was now lunging directly towards Nie Tian, once again roared and opened its huge, bottomless mouth.

    As it did, its mouth seemed to instantly turn into an unfathomable abyss, attracting everything, including the flickering bright spots, streaking lights, and unknown impurities, towards it.

    Nie Tian, who was still quiet some distance from the Rotspirit Ox, felt that an irresistible force was pulling him towards the Rotspirit Ox. The same went for Hua Mu and Huang Fan, who had just entered the spatial tunnel.

    In spite of their own efforts, the three of them uncontrobly flew closer and closer towards the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s huge mouth.

    The Rotspirit Ox¡¯s eyes, which looked like two purple suns, glittered with the light of brutality as broken, almost inarticte words slowly came out from its wide-open mouth.

    ¡°I¡¯m from the Astarte n in the Sixth Demon Realm. The Realm of me Heaven had been one of the Astarte n¡¯s rangnds for centuries.

    ¡°I¡¯m here upon the n¡¯s request to take it back from you human insects!

    ¡°You and every human in the Realm of me Heaven will die!¡±

    As the Rotspirit Ox sucked everything in its surroundings towards its huge mouth, it unexpectedly spoke in an awkward-sounding humannguage.

    ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a pet reared by the dark lords of the Astarte n. Don¡¯t tell me that you actually want to take the Realm of me Heaven back by yourself! Wishful thinking!¡± Hua Mu let out a sarcastic harrumph. ¡°If the Astarte n truly wants to seize the Realm of me Heaven from us, they should at least show their respect by sending some high-tier Demons.

    ¡°Even though you¡¯re a Rotspirit Ox and you¡¯re at the peak of the sixth grade, you¡¯re still only a sixth grade pet monster!

    ¡°Does your dark master really think that there are no Soul realm Qi warriors in the Realm of me Heaven, and that a sixth grade Rotspirit Ox will be able to do whatever it wants? Simplyughable!!¡±

    With these words, Hua Mu stopped resisting the attractive force and let himself drift towards the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s huge, gloomy mouth like a leaf drifting in a creek. As he did, he even had the energy to rant against it.

    ¡°Who are you exactly? Why do you know so much about the Demons?¡± Huang Fan asked again, shock and confusion filling his eyes.

    He constantly drew power from his rotating banners to stop himself from being pulled toward the Rotspirit Ox.

    He was barely able to neutralize the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s attractive force and remain in his original location.

    Hua Mu, however, floated towards the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s foul mouth in a seemingly uncontroble fashion, just as Nie Tian did.

    What Hua Mu had just said and his surprising familiarity with the Demons¡¯ realms deeply shocked Huang Fan.

    After all, as a senior member of the Heaven Pce Sect, Huang Fan should be considered well-informed, yet he hadn¡¯t known anything that Hua Mu had just said about Demons.

    ¡°Howe you know so much about our race and our n?¡± Even the Rotspirit Ox was taken aback.

    The same went for Nie Tian.

    He had an increasingly strong feeling that the more he came to know about Hua Mu, the more mysterious Hua Mu seemed to be.

    All of a sudden, Hua Mu said, ¡°Remember what this Rotspirit Ox looks like, Nie Tian.¡±

    While flying towards the Rotspirit Ox uncontrobly, Nie Tian widened his eyes and observed it closely, imprinting its deformed and sinister appearance in his mind.

    ¡°This Rotspirit Ox is only a low-tier Demon,¡± Hua Mu exined calmly. ¡°In those high-tier Demons¡¯ eyes, low-tier Demons like this Rotspirit Ox are no more than beasts they rear as pets.

    ¡°Rotspirit Oxes can rot the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth we rely on, assimte it using their bizarre bloodline power, and gradually turn it into demon Qi.

    ¡°The Astarte n must be unhappy with the speed at which the demon Qi is filling the Realm of me Heaven, and thus secretly sent it here before the main force to elerate the process.

    ¡°Fortunately, you came back in time, activated the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and stopped it from entering the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°If it did enter the Realm of me Heaven and we failed to discover it at the first moment, it would greatly increase the speed at which the demon Qi rotted and transformed the spiritual Qi in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Perhaps it would have only needed six months for the entire Realm of me Heaven to be drowned in demon Qi.

    ¡°As for Rotspirit Oxes, when they fight human Qi warriors, their mostmonly attack technique is to open their mouths wide and pull us towards them.

    ¡°Once we¡¯re within a certain distance from it, its bizarre bloodline power will take effect and secretly alter the attributes of our spiritual power without us knowing.

    ¡°This is their mostmonly-seen battle technique.¡±

    As Hua Mu kept floating towards the Rotspirit Ox, he went on to exin to Nie Tian the kind of damage the Rotspirit Ox would have inflicted upon the Realm of me Heaven, along with its fighting techniques.

    It seemed as if he had fought Rotspirit Oxes many years ago.

    Huang Fan and Nie Tian listened to his narration about the Rotspirit Ox attentively, their faces filled with astonishment.

    The Rotspirit Ox seemed to have sensed danger as it asked, ¡°W-who the hell are you?!¡±

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, Hua Mu elerated, raising the speed at which he flew by ten times!

    He blurred into a streak of light and shot towards the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s wide-open mouth.

    In a split second, he arrived by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    ¡°You go back with Huang Fan first!¡± With these words, he pressed his hand on Nie Tian¡¯s back and unleashed a gentle yet vigorous thrust, which caused Nie Tian to fly directly towards Huang Fan.

    ¡°Take him back to the Realm of me Heaven!¡± Hua Mu eximed.

    After receiving Hua Mu¡¯s incredibly strong push, Nie Tian felt as if he was no longer affected by the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s attraction, and arrived by Huang Fan¡¯s side in the blink of an eye.

    As Huang Fan grabbed Nie Tian with a vigorous move, he witnessed Hua Mu let out a snort and burst into a cluster of ghostly, green fire.

    In the next moment, he shot straight towards the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s enormous, wide-open mouth.

    Surprised, the Rotspirit Ox hastily closed its mouth.

    That was when Huang Fan and Nie Tian discovered that they were no longer affected by its attractive force.

    ¡°Have him finish the sealing process in the Realm of me Heaven as quickly as possible. Then, you need to hurry to the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and use the same method to seal their spatial rifts!¡± Hua Mu shouted at the top of his lungs.

    ¡°Got it!!¡± Huang Fan shouted back.

 Chapter 366: Grand Star Formation

    Although Huang Fan didn¡¯t know who Hua Mu was, he could sense that he cared about Nie Tian a great deal.

    Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have cast every scruple aside and dove into the spatial rift right after Nie Tian had fallen in.

    After realizing that, Huang Fan understood that, whoever Hua Mu was, he must be on the same side as them, so he grew relieved.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Without waiting for Nie Tian to speak, he grabbed Nie Tian and dragged him towards the dusty-gray vortex.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t struggle, and let himself be dragged away.

    However, as they moved closer towards the vortex, he couldn¡¯t help but turn back to check on Hua Mu with a concerned look in his eyes.

    He noticed that looming, ancient symbols could be seen inside each of the ghostly, green mes that Hua Mu had wreathed himself with.

    Even though he didn¡¯t know what they meant, he had a feeling that they carried the profound mysteries of heaven and earth.

    He didn¡¯t know what was special about those zing, green mes, yet as Hua Mu shot towards the Rotspirit Ox, he could tell that the Rotspirit Ox was truly scared.

    Not only did it immediately close its mouth and stop pulling everything in the vicinity towards itself, but its enormous body also began to shrink at a fast rate.

    Its pitch-ck scales that looked like metal tes also started to emanate a fierce, purple light.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One after another, numerous clusters of green mes of an unknown attribute left Hua Mu and shot into the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s enormous body.

    Almost immediately, the Rotspirit Ox let out miserable screams as if it was being hurt to the point where it wanted to die.

    Its mountain-like body trembled, oozing ink-ck demon Qi through the wounds.

    With its bloodcurdling screams, the misty rivers of demon Qi that were flowing towards the Realm of me Heaven instantly changed directions and converged on it.

    In a sh, it was submerged in rich, misty demon Qi.

    Afterwards, the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s pain seemed to be relieved, and its agonized shrieks gradually died out.

    However, at that moment, Hua Mu let out a cold harrumph, blurred into a sh of green light, and pierced into the dense, sight-blocking demon Qi.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The moment Hua Mu flew in, the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s pained shrieks echoed out again.

    With aplicated expression on his face, Huang Fan dragged Nie Tian towards the gray floating vortex and asked, ¡°Who is that person?¡±

    In the eye of the rotating vortex, tiny dots of bright starlight were connecting and forming detailed and sophisticated patterns.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to answer Huang Fan, a handful of people suddenly flew out of the vortex.

    Li Jing from the Blood Sect, Ghost Eye from the Ghost Sect, and Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect rushed out of the vortex that was glittering with starlight, their faces filled with anxiety.

    As soon as they saw Huang Fan and Nie Tian, they let out sighs of relief.

    Standing on her Blood Lotus, Li Jing waved at Nie Tian and said, ¡°It¡¯s nice to see that you¡¯re okay. Come here.¡±

    Not only did Huang Fan not try to stop Nie Tian, but he even gave him a hand and pushed him towards Li Jing.

    After assuming a foothold on the Blood Lotus, Nie Tian asked Li Jing, ¡°Howe you¡¯re all here?¡±

    ¡°Why do you think? You fell in here. We were worried about your safety, so we came here to help you.¡± With these words, Li Jing threw a hard re towards Huang Fan, berating, ¡°I told you to keep an eye on him when I left. How could you let him fall in here?¡±

    ¡°Umm... It was just an ident,¡± Huang Fan said embarrassedly.

    Ghost Eye and Fang Hui saw that Nie Tian had gotten on Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus, and thus put their minds at ease.

    Then, they nced around curiously, the same way Nie Tian had when he first came.

    In the next moment, they caught sight of the huge swirling cluster of demon Qi. They noticed that rivers of dark-purple demon Qi were still rushing into it, and the enormous Rotspirit Ox could be vaguely seen within it.

    ¡°Is that Demon the one that has been bewitching all the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of me Heaven?¡± Fang Hui asked.

    At that very moment, Hua Mu¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from within the swirling demon Qi, ¡°Return to the Realm of me Heaven now! This Rotspirit Ox is only an expendable weapon that¡¯s being used to wear us down. Now that it has run into obstacles here, the Astarte n will soon learn about it and send their powerful experts to this ce! Remember, seal the spatial rifts as soon as possible! Not only the one in the Realm of me Heaven, but you¡¯ve got to quickly seal the other two in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations too!

    ¡°Demons will soon learn about Nie Tian¡¯s reappearance, and that he possesses all three fragmentary star marks, so they will be forced tounch full-blown wars against the three realms ahead of schedule!

    ¡°Tell the Heaven Pce Sect to make preparations!¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s anxious voice echoed out, each and every word carrying a heavy weight and pounding in everyone¡¯s hearts.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Huang Fan finally realized the urgency of the matter, and thus rushed into the gray vortex right after shooting an urging nce at Li Jing.

    Li Jing, who had juste along and wished to have a thorough observation of this mysterious ce, received Huang Fan¡¯s message, and thus didn¡¯t dare to waste time here.

    WHOOSH!

    Her Blood Lotus charged into the middle of the gray vortex with her on top.

    The others also rapidly turned around and flew into the vortex through which they had juste moments ago.

    In the Realm of me Heaven...

    The Blood Lotus shot out of the pitch-ck hole in the valley surrounded by the three extremely lofty mountain peaks

    At the mouth of the ck hole, numerous sophisticated patterns formed by glittering starlight seemed to have made the judgment in a sh that what wasing through were humans, not Demons.

    Therefore, the grand spell formation that possessed massive destructive force remained settled and didn¡¯t disy its lethal might.

    Before long, everyone who had entered the spatial rift had returned, except Hua Mu.

    Pei Qiqi, who was supposed to be hiding on top of the mountain peak, was already standing by the edge of the spatial rift.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had flown out riding Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus along with the other experts from the Realm of the me Heaven, but Hua Mu hadn¡¯t shown up after them, she hastily asked, ¡°Nie Tian, where¡¯s Mr. Hua?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s in there, fighting a Demon called a Rotspirit Ox,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°He told us toe back first.¡±

    ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a deeply concerned tone.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    SHEW!

    At that moment, a small cluster of starlight suddenly rose up from the ground underneath Nie Tian¡¯s feet.

    In a split second, it rushed into Nie Tian¡¯s chest and disappeared into his flesh.

    With a thought, Nie Tian examined himself, and discovered that it was the first fragmentary star mark, which he had already refined.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Momentster, the other two unrefined fragmentary star marks flew out of the bellies of the other two mountain peaks and rapidly merged into his body as well.

    After all three fragmentary star marks returned, Nie Tian examined himself thoroughly with his psychic awareness. Then, his eyes snapped open and shone with bright light.

    To his surprise, he discovered that the refined fragmentary star mark seemed to have turned into a replica of the glorious grand formation of starlight covering the mouth of the spatial rift.

    As his psychic awareness entered that star formation, he was struck by a feeling that he might be able to change it with his thoughts.

    Therefore, he made an attempt.

    In the next moment, the glorious,plicated grand star formation covering the mouth of the spatial rift began to shine with blindingly bright light.

 Chapter 367: A Large Demon Army

    Standing next to Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi noticed that there seemed to be something wrong with him, and thus asked concernedly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Don¡¯t worry. I just need to check something.¡±

    His psychic awareness swam inside that refined fragmentary star mark, through which he discovered that he could actually control the grand star formation over the mouth of the spatial rift.

    As a thought appeared in his mind, the grand star formation formed by countless detailed patterns started to shine with dazzling, bright starlight.

    An ancient, boundless aura was gradually unleashed from within the grand star formation.

    Then, Nie Tian discovered that his seven Heaven Eyes, which he had scattered in the vicinity, rapidly converged on the spatial rift and flew into it in the next moment.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As they did, a streak of glorious starlight flew into each of his seven Heaven Eyes.

    After being infused with starlight, the Heaven Eyes, which could only detect living beings with the puny amounts of soul power in them, suddenly turned into dazzling stars.

    They shone brightly and became visible to the naked eye.

    Now, floating in the dim spatial tunnel, Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes morphed into seven shining fragmented stars, through which, he noticed that the battle between Hua Mu and the Rotspirit Ox was still going on.

    The Rotspirit Ox¡¯s howls echoed out from within the dense swirling demon Qi from time to time.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian noticed that his Heaven Eyes seemed to have been infused with a mysterious power when they passed through the grand star formation at the mouth of the spatial rift, enhancing their perception by dozens of times.

    However, he realized that the substantialization of his Heaven Eyes and the sudden boost in their perception must only be temporary.

    Even still, he was deeply shocked by the monstrous enhancement.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he sensed danger via those Heaven Eyes.

    He sensed that a few vigorous auras that terrified his very soul wereing at extremely fast speeds from a very distant location in the spatial tunnel, following the misty rivers of demon Qi.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    He could even vaguely hear their rapid panting.

    All of a sudden, he was struck by a mysterious feeling.

    As a thought appeared in his mind, he discovered that the wisp of his soul power within one of his Heaven Eyes had begun to expand and morph.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow appeared within that glittering Heaven Eye.

    Hua Mu, who was fighting the Rotspirit Ox, detected the strange cluster of bright starlight, and thus asked tentatively, ¡°Nie Tian??¡±

    The cry of Nie Tian¡¯s soul echoed out from within that glittering Heaven Eye, mixed with a buzzing sound, ¡°Uncle Hua! Stop fighting that Rotspirit Ox! Many more powerful Demons areing at us now!¡±

    ¡°Exactly as I expected! This Rotspirit Ox is only a bait! High-tier Demons must have learned about what happened in the Realm of me Heaven, and they are now marching here!¡± Hua Mu didn¡¯t doubt the authenticity of Nie Tian¡¯s words in the slightest. Submerged in the misty dense demon Qi, he let out a cold harrumph as he turned into a cluster of green mes and shot out of there.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As he did, some of the green mes sputtered and fell on the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s body.

    The Rotspirit Ox let out agonized wails as its enormous figure could be vaguely seen twitching within the raging demon Qi.

    At that moment, with a thought, Nie Tian established a subtle connection with the grand star formation.

    In the next moment, beams of dazzling starlight shot out from the brilliant star formation within the rotating gray vortex and shone upon the swirling demon Qi.

    The rich, swirling demon Qi rapidly dissipated like a snowball being melted by heat.

    As that happened, the enormous Rotspirit Ox gradually appeared in front of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes.

    The battle between it and Hua Mu hadn¡¯t gone on very long, yet the Demon was already covered in wounds.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian observed it closely and discovered that its metal-solid scales had fallen off many parts of its body.

    Demonic blood kept flowing out of the messy, exposed flesh and staggering gashes.

    Fuming with wrath, the Rotspirit Ox roared unceasingly. However, deep fear could be seen in its glittering eyes.

    Apparently, this sixth grade Demon, whose strength matched up to that of ate Worldly realm human Qi warrior, was no match for Hua Mu.

    The reason why Hua Mu had dared to stay and fight it single-handedly was that he had enough confidence in his own battle prowess.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Beams of starlight continued to scatter and dissipate the demon Qi around the Rotspirit Ox.

    Seeing the iing beams of starlight, the Rotspirit Ox¡¯s enormous body squirmed about as it seemed more scared now than when it had faced Hua Mu.

    It appeared to know how powerful those beams of starlight were, and thus hastily backed away, leaving the demon Qi, which could heal its wounds and recover its strength.

    The rivers of demon Qi also seemed to rapidly unravel after being illuminated by the starlight.

    ...

    On the other end of the rivers of demon Qi, a few blurry figures were quickly approaching.

    Due to the exceedingly long distance, even Hua Mu wasn¡¯t able to detect them.

    However, Nie Tian managed to sense their aura and images via his seven Heaven Eyes.

    After a while, the rivers of demon Qi that the figures had been traveling along suddenly came to an end.

    Arge part of the rivers of demon Qi, which had originated from the Sixth Demon Realm, had been burnt away by the starlight.

    The few figures stopped and stood at the point where the rivers of demon Qi ended.

    Nie Tian managed to obtain a clear view of the figures via his strengthened Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°Caro! Zelia!¡± Nie Tian recognized two of them. They were the two high-tier Demons who had led the invasion of the Realm of me Heaven.

    Caro was the one who had single-handedly dealt with Chang Sen, the most powerful Qi warrior in the Realm of me Heaven.

    At this moment, however, Caro was whispering something to another tall Demon in a very respectful manner.

    Standing behind the handful of noble high-tier Demons were hundreds of other high-tier Demons, and standing behind them was an army of low-tier Demons that stretched as far as Nie Tian could see, looking like an endless swarm of flies.

    Due to the excessively long distance, this was all Nie Tian could see via his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°Arge Demon army ising!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s muffled voice rang out from one of his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°You can see them?!¡± Hua Mu eximed.

    ¡°Yeah, a veryrge Demon army is gathered at the point where the rivers of demon Qi end,¡± Nie Tian replied. At the same time, Nie Tian noticed via his Heaven Eyes that the rivers of demon Qi were extending as they were infused with torrential demon Qi pouring from the Demon¡¯s realm.

    ¡°Return to the Realm of me Heaven with me!¡± Hua Mu said. ¡°The restrictive spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce should be able to stop them!¡±

    With these words, Hua Mu turned around and flew into the gray vortex like a sh.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian retracted his Heaven Eyes from the spatial tunnel.

    He let out a long sigh and opened his eyes. Standing by the edge of the spatial rift, he said, ¡°Arge Demon army ising our way. I hope the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will be able to block them off.¡±

    At that moment, Hua Mu appeared by his side and asked hastily, ¡°Have those three fragmentary star marks returned to you, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they came back and merged with my body again,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Okay, that means the grand spell formation is already fully activated. Even without the fragmentary star marks, it will be able to operate fine on its own.¡± After a moment of silent pondering, Hua Mu added, ¡°That being the case, your job is finished here in the Realm of me Heaven. Huang Fan, you should take him to the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations now. They need him more than we do.¡±

    Surprised, Huang Fan said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    For some reason, he subconsciously obeyed Hua Mu, even though he still couldn¡¯t figure out who Hua Mu really was.

    Hua Mu waved his hand at Nie Tian and beckoned for him to leave. ¡°You go first. I¡¯ll stay and look after things in the Realm of me Heaven. Rest assured. Now that the fragmentary star marks have returned to you, it means your job here is finished. Don¡¯t you worry about a thing in the Realm of me Heaven. The Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations now need you more than ever.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

 Chapter 368: The Realm of Mystic Heaven

    Inside the dim spatial tunnel...

    As endless, pure demon Qi was continuously infused into the rivers of demon Qi, they gradually extended towards the gray vortex that led to the Realm of me Heaven.

    Zelia and Caro from the Astarte n were both standing behind another high-tier Demon.

    That high-tier Demon had a slender physique and an unearthly, elegant appearance. He wearing tasteful, well-designed dark-purple garments with beautiful golden patterns embroidered on the cuffs and cor.

    Upon a closer look, those high-tier Demons were all standing on the back of an enormous low-tier Demon, which looked like a huge lizard.

    The low-tier Demon flew along the torrential rivers of demon Qi.

    ¡°Uncle Nnte, the most powerful human in the Realm of me Heaven is only at the Profound realm,¡± Zelia said, looking up at the tall high-tier Demon, her slender eyebrows deeply furrowed. ¡°Considering the strength of our n, we didn¡¯t have to wait for demon Qi to fill the Realm of me Heaven for us to take it, did we? Now you see. Since we waited too long, the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has been activated again...¡±

    Eyes deep and mysterious, the finely-dressed Nnte exined, ¡°The Realm of me Heaven was only one of our rangnds. At first, we only used it to rear our pet beasts. It was actually of very little value, since we can use it for other purposes.

    ¡°Otherwise, we would have rallied our best troops and taken it back right after the human Qi warriors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce took it from us when we were vulnerable.

    ¡°After they took it, they destroyed all the inter-spatial teleportation portals we set up there, but they left that spatial rift.

    ¡°Since they were socent, they only sealed it one-way, stopping us from entering the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°I bet they hoped that one day, human Qi warriors there would be powerful enough that they would daringly enter our realm through that spatial rift.

    ¡°Unfortunately, till this day, only a handful of humans throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars have had the audacity to enter our realm and survive.¡±

    With these words, the Demon who seemed to be a senior leader of the Astarte n fell silent.

    A momentter, Nnte continued, ¡°But admittedly, after centuries of development, the strength of the human Qi warriors in the Domain of the Falling Stars has indeed improved.¡±

    ¡°However, their battle prowess will drop significantly when they are submerged in demon Qi, so if they ever dare to set foot in our realm, they will be digging their own graves.

    ¡°Simrly, if we march rashly into the Realm of me Heaven or the other realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, where we will be surrounded with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, we¡¯ll put ourselves in an unfavorable position.

    ¡°In addition, we weren¡¯t sure if the humans were trying to set us up by reopening that spatial rift.

    ¡°Part of the reason why we didn¡¯t rush through that spatial rift the moment it reopened was that we were worried that the spatial rift would close up as soon as our army marched through it.

    ¡°If that actually happened, our forces that marched into the Realm of me Heaven would have be isted.¡±

    With a sigh, Nnte continued, ¡°Humans are very deceitful, and we¡¯ve been tricked quite a few times already, so we need to be extra careful.¡±

    OWWW! ROAAAR!

    At that moment, the Rotspirit Ox, which had been badly injured by Hua Mu, flew back to them.

    As soon as it saw Nnte, its eyes blossomed with the light of excitement. Without any dy, it approached him and exined what had happened in the demonnguage, not leaving out any details.

    Nnte listened attentively, his eyebrows furrowing and straightening every now and then.

    After a long time, he nodded gently and said, ¡°From the look of it, the reopening of the three spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars is not a conspiracy. It¡¯s probably just an ident caused by the appearance of the Heaven Gates. The man with all the fragmentary star marks has already showed up and has set about sealing the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven...¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he ordered, ¡°Let¡¯s go. Abort the mission of attacking the Realm of me Heaven. We¡¯ll figure out another direction.¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we at least have a try, Uncle?¡± Zelia said, her face filled with reluctance.

    Nnte shook his head, saying, ¡°Even though the ancient spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce isn¡¯t impregnable, we¡¯ll have to pay a huge price if we want to deactivate it. The price itself will far exceed the value of the Realm of me Heaven, so it won¡¯t be a good choice. Furthermore, I¡¯m not one of the few who are capable of breaking the restrictive spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°... So where do we go now?¡± Zelia asked.

    ¡°We need to inform the other ns of the situation, and let them decide whether or not they want tounch their operations ahead of schedule and march their armies into the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations now.¡± Nnte said.

    Immediately afterwards, the huge Astarte army turned around and ended their invasion of the Realm of me Heaven prematurely.

    ...

    A number ofrge-scale, inter-spatial teleportation portals were scattered in a corner of a magnificent, towering pce that looked like a mountain.

    Heaven Pce Sect Qi warriors went in and came out of them every now and then.

    As the most powerful Qi warrior sect in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, the Heaven Pce Sect had more inter-spatial teleportation portals than any other sect.

    All of a sudden, Huang Fan, Nie Tian, and Su Lin appeared in one of the portals.

    As soon as they walked out of it, every Heaven Pce Sect disciple in the vicinity turned to greet Huang Fan and Su Lin.

    ¡°Senior Huang, Senior Martial Sister Su.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Senior Huang.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Senior Martial Sister Su.¡±

    With a grim expression on his face, Huang Fan didn¡¯t say anything back, but rather said loudly and urgently, ¡°Go ready the Golden Chariot for me! Also, inform the sectmaster that I¡¯ve retrieved Nie Tian. He¡¯s already gathered all three fragmentary star marks, and we are going to the spatial rift now!¡±

    An uproar instantly burst out amongst the crowd of Heaven Pce Sect disciples. One after another, they cast their curious and impressed gazes towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s that Nie Tian from the Realm of me Heaven?!¡±

    ¡°Is he the one who snatched two fragmentary star marks from our senior martial sister and Dong Baijie?!¡±

    At that moment, a man scurried over from another corner of the pce and said, ¡°Senior Huang, the Golden Chariot is ready for you at the front gate.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Huang Fan nodded gently as he turned to Su Lin and said with a casual tone. ¡°What¡¯s next doesn¡¯t really concern you anymore, so you can just stay in the sect while I take Nie Tian to that spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Su Lin nodded, frustration filling her face.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Nie Tian.¡± Huang Fan strode in front, and Nie Tian followed him.

    As he did, Nie Tian nced around curiously and discovered that the pce was iparablyrge.

    They seemed to be on the first floor of the pce, yet the size of it could already match up to half of Shatter City.

    Numerous Heaven Pce Sect Qi warriors were walking around. Some were discussing the art of equipment forging with each other, some were seeking advice regarding cultivation methods from others, while others werepeting inbat.

    With a quick nce at his surroundings, Nie Tian discovered that almost all of the Heaven Pce Sect disciples he could see were at the Greater Heaven stage or the Worldly realm.

    As soon as they learned that he was Nie Tian, each and every one of them put their business on hold and cast their amazed gazes towards him.

    d expressions could be seen on their faces, as if they had been waiting for him to show up for a long time.

    Soon, he and Huang Fan walked out of the pce.

    A golden, floating war chariot was already waiting for them at the front gate of the pce.

    The moment he walked out of the pce, he understood why those Heaven Pce Sect disciples had all looked at him with expectant faces.

    Raging demon Qi had already spread to a ce seemingly less than 50 kilometers from the pce¡¯s front gate.

    Considering the speed at which the demon Qi expanded, it wouldn¡¯t be very long before the Heaven Pce Sect, the most powerful Qi warrior sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, would be forced to move out of their headquarters.

    ¡°That exins it. The situation here isn¡¯t any better than over at the Hell Sect.¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    One man rushed through the sect gate after them and said urgently, ¡°Senior Huang, the sectmaster and the elders are gathered at the spatial rift. Supposedly, something huge has happened there, and they want you and Nie Tian to get over there as quickly as possible.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± With a grim face, Huang Fan grabbed Nie Tian and pulled him into the Golden Chariot.

    Immediately afterwards, the Golden Chariot flew towards the heart of the raging demon Qi, every bit as fast as the Lightning Shuttle.

 Chapter 369 The Heaven Palace Sect

    While they were flying away towards the spatial rift in the Golden Chariot, Nie Tian turned around to look at the increasingly distant pce. He was overwhelmed by its grandeur.

    The magnificent pce seemed like a towering mountain that sat on a sea of clouds.

    Just now, since they were in a hurry, he hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to have a good look at it. But right now, standing in the Golden Chariot, he could take his time to observe this majestic establishment.

    This most powerful sect throughout the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars sat in a boundless in.

    It was so high that it rose above the clouds. Even now, as he was observing from afar, he could see that the enormous pce was wreathed in glittering, brilliant light, making it look like a precious gem.

    His eyes seized by it, Nie Tian was hit by a strong sense of respect.

    Standing next to him in the Golden Chariot, Huang Fan said with a sincere tone, ¡°As long as you nod your head, you¡¯ll be a part of it. Now that Ning Yang is dead, we need to establish a brighter and more promising star. As the young man who obtained the fragmentary star marks, you are a perfect candidate.

    ¡°Once you join our sect, you¡¯ll be revered in every realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Considering your outstanding talent and the devoted care you¡¯ll receive from the sect, the sky will be your limit.

    ¡°Our sect needs you every bit as much as you need our sect. With the strong support you¡¯ll receive from our sect, you won¡¯t need to worry about anything else. You¡¯ll be able to focus all of your energy on your cultivation.

    ¡°Whatever cultivation resources you need, our sect will take care of it for you.

    ¡°Actually, you should have joined the Heaven Pce Sect long ago, Nie Tian.¡±

    Huang Fan used his powerful and exaggerated words to y up to the benefits of joining the Heaven Pce Sect.

    For a moment, Nie Tian¡¯s mind was carried away. As he looked at the magnificent pce, a desire for a transcendent status in the Domain of the Falling Stars rose in his heart.

    However, while his mind was perturbed, Huang Fan suddenly called out, ¡°Be careful!¡±

    The Golden Chariot unleashed ayer of misty, golden light and enveloped itself within it.

    WHOOSH!

    Only then did Nie Tian realize that the Golden Chariot had carried them into the area filled with raging demon Qi.

    The moment they did, Nie Tian¡¯s vision, hearing, and perception were all greatlypromised.

    That was when he snapped back to reality.

    Even though the Heaven Pce Sect was the most powerful Qi warrior sect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, they were rendered helpless when the spatial rift appeared and demon Qi started pouring into their realm.

    They could only rely on Nie Tian to seal the spatial rift with the fragmentary star marks he had obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, on the other hand, was the ancient Qi warrior sect that had captured the Domain of the Falling Stars from many outsider races.

    Even though it had long since left the Domain of the Falling Stars, the spell formations and restrictive spells it had left behind were still guarding the Domain of the Falling Stars against outsider invasions.

    Furthermore, even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been already gone for thousands of years, the appearance of the Heaven Gates, which happened every few hundred years, still seemed to be ording to their arrangement.

    As the man who had collected all three fragmentary star marks, Nie Tian was the one who had proven himself to be the inheritor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies.

    This meant that he had already been recognized by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Compared to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Heaven Pce Sect seemed far inferior. The gap between their reserve powers, history, and strengths was so significant that they weren¡¯t even on the same level.

    <i>¡°If I can find the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and be admitted as their sessor, that would work out the best for me.¡± </i>He weighed his choices over in his heart for a while, and gradually walked out of the pretty picture Huang Fan had painted for him. Resuming aposed expression, he turned to Huang Fan and said, ¡°Joining your sect is a huge matter. I think I need to spend more time thinking about it. But right now, we need to focus on sealing that spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°Okay, sure.¡± Huang Fan didn¡¯t insist on getting an answer right away.

    The way he saw it, as long as Nie Tian wasn¡¯t able to explore outside of the Domain of the Falling Stars, it would still be the wisest choice for him to join the Heaven Pce Sect as its chosen one, and rise to prominence from there.

    He believed that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t a fool. Even though he didn¡¯t agree to it today, he woulde around one day.

    ...

    In thend covered in rich demon Qi.

    Surrounded by numerous mountains of various heights was an enormous, unfathomable ck hole in the ground, which looked exactly like the one in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Torrential demon Qi was flowing out of it unceasingly.

    Roughly a dozen powerful experts were scattered on top of the surrounding mountain peaks. Some were standing and some were sitting, but every one of them had their eyes fixed on the spatial rift.

    ROOOAARRRR!! ROOOAARRRR!!

    Every once in a while, loud roars would echo out from within that bottomless hole in the ground.

    Unlike the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven hadn¡¯t been one of the Demons¡¯ rangnds. Therefore, the spirit beasts that lived in the Realm of Mystic Heaven didn¡¯t carry Demon bloodlines.

    That was why when demonsounds came through the spatial rift, they didn¡¯t attract any mutant spirit beasts.

    All they had attracted were the most powerful experts from around the realm, most of whom were at the Profound realm.

    ¡°Before, only demon Qi dispersed through the spatial rift into our realm and we never heard any demon roars.¡± An elder named Ling Dong muttered to himself, his long beard fluttering gently against the wind. ¡°However, over the past two days, the roars have be louder each time. Can it be that the Demons have decided to invade us ahead of schedule?¡±

    Wherever his pale-gray pupils looked, thend would instantly be overtaken by frigid coldness.

    He was the grand elder of the Heaven Pce Sect, ranked number one among all of the elders. He practiced ice and frost incantations, and his cultivation base was at the early Soul realm!

    Considering Ling Dong¡¯s strength and cultivation base, he would be able to sweep across the Realm of me Heaven if he wanted to.

    Even though Chang Sen from the Hell Sect was at thete Profound realm, there was still a noticeable gap between their cultivation bases, and he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting him.

    Normally, Ling Dong wouldn¡¯t pay any attention to worldly affairs, but would instead practice secluded cultivation all year round, and pursue advancement in his cultivation.

    If he hadn¡¯t been faced with such an urgent situation, where the Heaven Pce Sect might be forced to move out of their headquarters and be aughingstock of the whole Domain of the Falling Stars, he wouldn¡¯t havee out of his secluded cultivation.

    ¡°Sectmaster, grand elder, Huang Fan has returned from the Realm of me Heaven, and he has brought Nie Tian back with him,¡± One of the experts said.

    The sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, Zhao Luofeng, stood atop another mountain. He was dressed in in-looking gray garments and wearing a green jade ring on the ring finger of his left hand.

    He was a slender man with milky-white skin. From the look of it, he was only in his thirties. At that moment, he stood there silently with an expressionless face.

    ¡°Sectmaster, the fragmentary star mark that used to belong to Ning Yang is now in Nie Tian¡¯s possession,¡± Ling Dong said with a grim expression. ¡°Since Nie Tian possesses all the fragmentary star marks, whether he can seal the spatial rift or not, he must join us and be a disciple of our sect.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng nodded briefly. ¡°So he must.¡±

    ROOOOAR!

    Another heaven-shaking, earth-shattering demon roar rang out from the depths of the ck hole.

    Every expert in the vicinity fixed their gazes on the mouth of the unfathomable hole, yet none of them had fear in their eyes.

    It seemed as if they were expecting something.

    A while passed...

    A giant, cyan w suddenly reached out from within the ck hole. Immediately afterwards, a hairy, low-tier Demon that had the appearance of an ape crawled out of the enormous hole in the ground.

    Ling Dong, the grand elder, let out a cold harrumph as he fixed his gray pupils on the sixth grade Demon. ¡°A sixth grade Demon! You must have a death wish!¡±

    As soon as his gazended on the 30-meter-tall, ape-like Demon, it started to freeze at a rate that was visible to the naked eye.

    A momentter, Ling Dong gently closed his eyes.

    CRUNCH!

    The frozen, sixth grade, low-tier Demon cracked and exploded.

    The Demon was instantly reduced to countless pieces of frozen flesh. No life could be brought back from that.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Nie Tian and Huang Fan¡¯s Golden Chariot arrived.

 Chapter 370: Itching Desires

    Hard like rocks, pieces of the Demon¡¯s broken body were scattered on the frozen ground.

    As soon as Nie Tian¡¯s Golden Chariot got close enough, he caught sight of the Demon that looked like a giant ape, and that the moment it crawled out of the spatial rift, Ling Dong froze it and broke it into pieces with his frost power.

    Gradually, a misty frost aura pervaded the area around the spatial rift where rich demon Qi filled the air.

    Like a thick mist, it spread in the air. Wherever it reached, everything was instantly overtaken by frigid coldness, and the mountains looked as if they had turned into ciers.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart shook as he subconsciously looked at Ling Dong.

    Standing atop a mountain peak, his beard fluttered against the wind. Numerousplicated, fine lines seemed to be wiggling in a special way in the depths of his pale-gray pupils.

    As he briefly swayed his head from side to side, great changes happened to the heaven and earth his eyes covered.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the valley where the spatial rift was located and the average-sized mountain peaks in its surroundings were enveloped in his frigid frost power and took on a cloak of white.

    The only things that remained unaffected were the three exceptionally high mountain peaks that formed a perfect triangle around the spatial rift, which, with all the other mountain peaks in the background, looked like three grown men standing in a crowd of children.

    While Nie Tian nced around curiously, his three fragmentary star marks suddenly became scalding hot.

    ROOOOAR!

    Another blood-chilling roar rang out from within the spatial rift.

    Ling Dong¡¯s face was calm as ever as he looked towards the spatial rift with his eyes narrowed.

    Zhao Luofeng, the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, also remained expressionless, as if the Demon¡¯s roars didn¡¯t cause even the slightest waves in his heart.

    The faces of the other scattered Heaven Pce Sect experts looked every bit as calm as Zhao Luofeng. They didn¡¯t even pay much attention to Nie Tian when he arrived with Huang Fan.

    The Golden Chariot floated in midair as Huang Fan bowed towards Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong. ¡°Sectmaster, grand elder, I have brought Nie Tian.¡±

    Only then did Ling Dong finallyy his eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian met his gaze, but a mere nce at his pale-gray pupils made Nie Tian¡¯s blood run cold.

    Under Ling Dong¡¯s piercing gaze, Nie Tian had a strong feeling that he had nowhere to hide, as if he could see through all of his secrets.

    ¡°Those three high mountain peaks that remain unfrozen are the ones that form the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s special spell formation. You can go ahead and do what you need to do.¡± After uttering these words with an indifferent tone, Ling Dong turned around and refocused his gaze on the spatial rift.

    Then, with an expressionless face, Zhao Luofeng cast a nce at Nie Tian without the slightest fluctuation in his eyes.

    After the wordless nce, he also turned around and concentrated his attention on the spatial rift.

    None of the other Heaven Pce Sect experts even spared Nie Tian a nce, but instead, they had focused all of their attention on the spatial rift, as if they were anticipating the Demons¡¯ arrival.

    A confused expression stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Beforeing to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, he had been under the impression that the Qi warriors of the Heaven Pce Sect must be as anxious as their counterparts in the Realm of me Heaven, consumed with finding methods to seal the spatial rift and stop Demons froming through it.

    Through Hua Mu and word from the Spirit Condor, he had learned that the Heaven Pce Sect had already started to panic and thus nned to force Ning Yang to give up his fragmentary star mark.

    He had assumed that as soon as he arrived, people from the Heaven Pce Sect would urge him to seal that spatial rift as quickly as possible.

    However, from the look of it, that wasn¡¯t the case at all.

    Neither Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, nor any of the other Profound realm experts from the Heaven Pce Sect showed any fear or tension on their faces.

    Instead, what Nie Tian saw from their stances were itching desires and high ambitions.

    A terrifying spection appeared in his head: these experts from the Heaven Pce Sect were actually waiting for the Demons¡¯ arrival!

    Immediately afterwards, Zhao Luofeng¡¯s statement confirmed his spection.

    ¡°Now that Nie Tian is here along with all three fragmentary star marks, we can do this without any scruples,¡± Zhao Luofeng said with a very subtle smile. ¡°Grand elder, you go ahead and do what needs to be done. If things get out of hand, we¡¯ll have Nie Tian seal the spatial rift with the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the face of every Heaven Pce Sect expert in the vicinity grew very grim.

    ¡°W-what¡¯s...¡± Huang Fan, however, looked deeply confused, as if he waspletely clueless about what was happening.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Ling Dong called out with a deep and powerful voice.

    As he did, the frozen mountain peaks surrounding the spatial rift seemed to suddenly turn into a multitude of enormous prisms.

    Numerous beams of blindingly bright light shot out of them and met right above the spatial rift.

    Ling Dong syed his hands. One sparkling ice pearl after another flew out of his palms and shot into the prism-like frozen mountain peaks, each of which carried a bone-piercing cold aura. After receiving a strong bolstering effect from the ice pearls, the frosty light that shot out of those mountain peaks became increasingly frigid and powerful.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Another Demon flew out of the bottomless spatial rift.

    This one hadrge, purple, feathered wings. The moment it appeared, it fluttered its wings against the demon Qi, sending out thick lightning bolts.

    Nie Tian felt secretly amazed by the scene.

    From what he could tell, his master¡¯s Thunder Beast must have some kind of bloodline bond with this Demon, since it looked very simr to the Thunder Beast. The only difference between them was that the Thunder Beast was smaller in size.

    ¡°Another beast sent to its doom...¡± As soon as Ling Dong let out a cold harrumph, a few beams of blindingly bright light shot out from their intersection point above the spatial rift.

    As the beams of light swept across the Demon, it was instantly cut into pieces by numerous razor-sharp des, its flesh falling apart and scattering on the ground.

    Shortly afterwards, many more Demons flew out of the spatial rift.

    However, each and every one of them was a low-tier Demon, and as soon as they emerged, they were rapidly sliced into pieces by the icy light beams that shot out of the spell formation deployed by Ling Dong.

    Zhao Luofeng and the other powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect remainedposed and silent, as if they were still waiting for something.

    The ughtering went on for a while before a pitch-ck battle steed suddenly charged out of the spatial rift.

    The steed was wearing iron armor that had magical patterns engraved on it. Sharp horns jutted out from its forehead, and its eyes shone with brutal and bloodthirsty light.

    Mounting the steed was a high-tier male Demon wearing pitch-ck, full-body, heavy armor and a sinister mask with a ck, long spear in his hand.

    The only thing unprotected by his armor and mask were his dark-purple eyes.

    Upon seeing the Demon rider, Zhao Luofeng¡¯s expression flickered. The same went for Ling Dong and the other powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous beams of frigid cold light suddenly shot down from the intersection point above the spatial rift.

    Adorned in heavy armor, the high-tier Demon grinned and said in perfectly clear humannguage, ¡°Humans! You are indeed good at ying tricks. From the look of it, you¡¯ve been waiting for me for quite some time.¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Ling Dong asked in a loud voice.

    ¡°Auden from the Fourth Demon Realm!¡±

 Chapter 371: Mass Invasion **festival feature included**

    One beam of frigid cold light after another shot down from above the mountain valley.

    As Ling Dong¡¯s eyes were tightly locked onto the high-tier Demon who referred to himself as Auden, a world of ice and snow seemed to be rapidly forming in the depths of his pale-gray pupils.

    As Auden sat on his tall steed, d in heavy armor, strange crackling sounds rang out around him.

    It was as if the space around him was being frozen under Ling Dong¡¯s gaze.

    However, the beams of frigid cold light that were shooting down from above Auden¡¯s head couldn¡¯t get anywhere close to him.

    With a soft voice, Auden asked in impable humannguage, ¡°Is this the full extent of your battle prowess, humans of the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    In the next moment, he raised his ck spear.

    WHOOSH!

    The iparably pure, ckish-violet demon Qi, which had filled this entire region, swirled down from the sky.

    All of a sudden, the spatial rift beside Auden seemed to sink slightly.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The surrounding mountain peaks, which Ling Dong had turned into ice prisms using frost magics, began to tremble violently.

    Standing in the Golden Chariot, Nie Tian examined his surroundings with his Heaven Eyes and discovered that the region of heaven and earth they were in seemed to be copsing towards the spatial rift.

    Under his Heaven Eyes¡¯ perception, he had a feeling that the frozen mountain peaks, which were dwarfed by the three exceptionally high ones, were bing less straight.

    Therefore, he closed his eyes and observed the vicinity relying solely on his Heaven Eyes.

    Then, he discovered that, in the vision acquired via his seven Heaven Eyes, everything in the vicinity seemed to be bending towards the dark, bottomless hole in the ground.

    Meanwhile, the ck spear that Auden had raised into the air seemed to be extending into the heavens and channeling power from the raging demon Qi.

    One after another,plicated, mysterious magical patterns flew out from the tip of the ck spear, which morphed into devilishly beautiful, blossoming flowers.

    In the next moment, an enormous demonic shadow gradually appeared in the air above the Demon rider.

    Floating in midair, the shadow, which was hundreds of meters tall, started to breathe in the demon Qi that was constantly converging from the vicinity.

    Ling Dong¡¯s frigid cold spell formation seemed to have turned into a huge cage that was trying to imprison the enormous demonic shadow.

    Innumerable talismans appeared on the smooth faces of the prism-like surrounding mountain peaks.

    Each and every one of them was silver-white and branded with the profound truths of frigid power.

    The enormous demonic shadow threw its head back and roared as it raised its giant arms into the heavens and channeled the torrential demon Qi towards the surrounding mountain peaks.

    At the same time, Nie Tian sensed that the lower part of the enormous shadow seemed to be gradually sinking into the spatial rift.

    As it did, it seemed to be pulling everything in the vicinity down with it, including the surrounding mountains, huge rocks, frigid-cold lights, whirling gales, and even the raging demon Qi.

    While Nie Tian was wrapped up in how the world looked through his Heaven Eyes, Zhao Luofeng, the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, suddenly eximed, ¡°Seventh grade bloodline power!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    The first thing he saw was that the surrounding mountain peaks, which Ling Dong had frozen and turned into huge prisms with frost power, exploded one after another.

    Huge pieces of hard ice fell from them, restoring their original appearances.

    At that moment, Auden¡¯s raised ck spear blossomed with bright, purple light, which shone upon the surroundingndscape, destroying the frigid spell formation Ling Dong had deployed.

    At the same time, the spatial rift was gradually sucking everything in the vicinity into it, along with the demon Qi it had released.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    A thunderous roar suddenly echoed out from within the spatial rift.

    In the next moment, a gigantic, ck, two-headed python emerged from the spatial rift with slight difficulties, its eyes glittering with dazzling, purple light.

    As soon as it surfaced, its two heads started to spew purple and ck mes respectively into its surroundings.

    Numerous clusters of mes flew towards the Profound realm experts from the Heaven Pce Sect like burning purple and ck suns.

    ¡°A Demon that possesses seventh grade bloodline power!¡± Zhao Luofeng said, shock filling his face.

    ROOOAARRRR!! ROOOAARRRR!!

    Constant, blood-chilling roars echoed out from the depths of the unfathomable spatial rift.

    With an increasingly grim expression, Zhao Luofeng turned to look at Huang Fan from afar, and then nodded briefly.

    Huang Fan immediately understood and hastily said to Nie Tian, ¡°Alright! It¡¯s time for you to use those three fragmentary star marks to activate the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and seal that spatial rift!¡±

    The Golden Chariot shot forward like a sh and arrived on top of one of the three enormous mountain peaks in the blink of an eye, where two Profound realm experts from the Heaven Pce Sect were standing.

    Upon seeing that Huang Fan and Nie Tian¡¯s Golden Chariot was descending next to them, they only greeted Huang Fan briefly before refocusing their attention on the battle between Ling Dong and Auden again.

    After jumping off the chariot, Huang Fan asked them in a soft voice, ¡°What in the world is going on here?¡±

    ¡°The sectmaster and grand elder intend to take this opportunity to kill some truly powerful Demons and also get a deeper understanding of the Demons¡¯ actual strength, so that we can be better prepared for our future invasion of their realms,¡± One of them answered.

    ¡°Is that all?¡± Huang Fan asked with a frown.

    ¡°Of course, they have other ns.¡± The man¡¯s eyes flickered as he cast a nce at Nie Tian and stopped talking.

    Apparently, he still considered Nie Tian as an outsider, and thus would rather not reveal the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s confidential ns to him.

    Huang Fan soon realized his scruples, so he nodded back and didn¡¯t pursue a clear answer. Rather, he turned to Nie Tian and urged him to get started.

    Deeply confused, Nie Tian wondered what the Heaven Pce Sect was up to. However, since he didn¡¯t have the time to solve that mystery right now, he sat down on the mountaintop and activated his fragmentary star marks ording to the method he had recently acquired.

    One after another, the three fragmentary star marks flew out of his chest.

    The first refined fragmentary star mark shot straight down into the mountain peak he was sitting on, while the other two flickered as they shot into the bellies of the other two exceedingly high mountain peaks.

    Nie Tian sensed with rapt attention and discovered that those three mountain peaks had the same structure as the ones in the Realm of me Heaven; they also had vast hollow spaces inside of them, and their insides were also carved with countlessplicated spell formations.

    As soon as the fragmentary star marks flew into the pagodas in the mountains¡¯ bellies, the pagodas lit up, and the mysterious spell formations filling their insides started to emanate dazzling starlight.

    In a moment, the three enormous mountain peaks seemed to turn into three giant mas that drew stars towards them.

    As the innumerable stars in the sky suddenly became dazzlingly bright, starlight rapidly gathered and formed numerous bright rivers, pouring down from the highest heavens.

    ¡°It¡¯s activated!¡±

    Seeing that the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had started to take effect, Zhao Luofeng felt greatly relieved.

    SHEW!

    At that very moment, a handful of figures flew out of the spatial rift.

    They were Nnte, Caro, and Zelia from the Astarte n. Even the Rotspirit Ox, which had recently been injured by Hua Mu, emerged from the spatial rift after them.

 Chapter 372: Secret

    As one fragmentary star mark after another flew into the pagodas within the bellies of the three lofty mountain peaks, the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was finally activated.

    As the initiator, Nie Tian actually didn¡¯t need to do much. After he sent out the fragmentary star marks, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s profound spell formation started to activate on its own.

    Sitting on the mountaintop, he reopened his eyes to observe the battle between Ling Dong and Auden.

    However, he discovered that the battle scene he saw with his naked eyes varied greatly from the battle scene he had seen with his soul power via his seven Heaven Eyes.

    After thinking for a brief moment, he suddenly came to a realization.

    The battle between Ling Dong and Auden was not only a tangle between their spiritual power, but their souls were also contending against each other in mysterious ways.

    As he closed his eyes again to observe with his Heaven Eyes that contained soul power, he was convinced that the terrifying demonic shadow he was seeing was none other than the incarnation of Auden¡¯s soul!

    The cage-like spell formation formed by numerous frozen, prism-like mountain peaks was the crystallization of the profoundbination of Ling Dong¡¯s frost power and soul power.

    Their battle on the soul level seemed far fiercer and more critical than their battle on the spiritual power level.

    Only extremely powerful beings like Ling Dong and Auden could battle on such an advanced and profound level, which Nie Tian could only observe via his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°The incarnations of their souls are fighting at close quarters!¡± Nie Tian grew excited inwardly.

    With a deep breath, he continued to observe the battle between Ling Dong and Auden with immense interest.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he noticed that wherever the gigantic, two-headed python¡¯s ck and purple mes covered, everything would immediately burst into mes, including the surrounding mountain peaks, the earth, and even the air.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian sensed the changes in the vicinity with rapt attention, and discovered that the two kinds of mes were rapidly burning the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth which Ling Dong had released into the air away, giving rise to loud crackles.

    Wherever the purple and ck mes spread to, everything would soon be reduced to ashes.

    As the mes set everything in the vicinity aze, the originally diluted demon Qi once again became rich and thick.

    In the meantime, the arrival of the few members of the Astarte n caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention. With a confused expression on his face, he looked at the few figures who had previously been forced to stop their army in the spatial tunnel due to the interdiction of the demon Qi rivers. ¡°Caro, Zelia...¡±

    Huang Fan snorted disdainfully. ¡°More high-tier Demons.¡±

    ¡°They should have appeared in the Realm of me Heaven,¡± Nie Tian said in a soft voice. ¡°They are from the Astarte n. You¡¯ve met the Rotspirit Ox. These high-tier Demons almost marched their army into the Realm of me Heaven. If I hadn¡¯t sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven, they would have seeded already.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen them before?¡± Huang Fan asked, greatly surprised.

    ¡°Yeah, I sensed their actions through the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°But the weird part is why they woulde here.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One after another, clusters of zing purple mes shot out of the two-headed python¡¯s foul mouth and flew towards Nie Tian.

    Eyebrows furrowed, a Profound realm expert from the Heaven Pce Sect, who was standing next to Huang Fan, waved his hand disgustedly, sending out gusts of fierce wind through his cuff.

    As they traveled at an extremely fast speed in the air, ear-piercingly sharp sounds were created. In the next moment, they crushed the clusters of demonic mes and reduced them to tiny, scattered purple sparks.

    ¡°You brought Nie Tian here from the Realm of me Heaven, you keep him safe.¡±

    After saying these words to Huang Fan, the man rose to his feet from his previous lotus position and flew down the mountaintop towards the central valley.

    It was also at that moment that all the other Heaven Pce Sect experts that had been scattered on top of the surrounding mountain peaks flew down, including Zhao Luofeng.

    Momentster, the most powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect arrived by the spatial rift, with Zhao Luofeng standing in the middle.

    In front of them was Auden from the Fourth Demon Realm, who was sitting on his ck warhorse and holding his long spear up high.

    Next to him stood Nnte, Caro, Zelia, and the Rotspirit Ox from the Astarte n.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Beams of dazzling starlight prated the thick, almost-ck demon Qi as they poured down from the highest heavens after being attracted by the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As the rivers of starlight continued to purge the heaven-blocking demon Qi, the vast, starry sky could be seen again, which had never seemed more mysterious.

    Countless stars shone brightly and mystically.

    ¡°The Astarte n.¡± Auden retracted his ck spear, ending his battle against Ling Dong. Then, he nced at Nnte and said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t the Realm of me Heaven one of your rangnds?¡± Confusion could be seen in his purple eyes, the only things revealed by his mask.

    ¡°The spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven has already been sealed.¡± Nnte said.

    ¡°Why did youe here?¡± Auden asked, his voice deep and profound.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to help you,¡± Nnte replied.

    Adorned in heavy armor, Auden let out a cold harrumph and turned his eyes away. His gaze shifted back and forth between Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, who had flown down after their battle hade to a stalemate.

    Nie Tian, who remained on the mountaintop with Huang Fan, felt that the atmosphere was growing increasingly strange.

    The arrival of Nnte and the other members of the Astarte n didn¡¯t seemed to be pleasing to Auden in the slightest. On the contrary, he seemed a bit disgusted by it.

    Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and all the other powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect descended and stood face to face with Auden and the other Demons after the confrontation between Ling Dong and Auden came to a standstill. From their stance, Nie Tian could tell that they had things to discuss.

    ¡°Senior Huang, what in the world is your sect up to?¡± Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of the current situation, since he hadn¡¯t expected any of what was happening.

    ¡°Well...¡± Huang Fan wished to speak, but stopped on second thought.

    ¡°People from the Astarte n are here, but why doesn¡¯t Auden seem happy about that at all?¡± Nie Tian asked another question.

    Huang Fan sighed. ¡°Well... Have you noticed anything special here, that makes this ce different from the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°No, nothing unusual,¡± Nie Tian said, shaking his head. ¡°My perception will grow keener after the grand spell formation is fully activated and the three fragmentary star marks return to me.¡±

    ¡°Something is sealed in this realm,¡± Huang Fan said after a moment of hesitation, ¡°Something very important to the Demons in the Fourth Demon Realm. I guess the reason why they chose our realm to invade was that they wanted to get that thing back.¡±

    ¡°What is it!?¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Huang Fan shook his head slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure. It could be a magical item or maybe even a powerful Demon that has been imprisoned here by the restrictive spell left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for many, many years. There are three Soul realm experts in the Heaven Pce Sect. As you know, after the Soul realm are the three domains, starting with the Void domain.

    ¡°In order to break through into the Void domain, one needs to collect some extremely precious and rare materials, many of which can¡¯t be found throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°However, the Demons have rare resources in their realms which can be very useful for those Soul realm experts who wish to build their inner domains.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing the sectmaster and grand elder are going to trade whatever has been sealed here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for those precious materials with the Demons.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered dramatically. ¡°They want to work a deal with the Demons?!¡±

    Huang Fan smiled bitterly. ¡°In order to enter the Void domain, they have no choice but to collect those rare materials. They can either go to the Demons¡¯ realms and get them personally, or they can make a deal with them. There is no other way. After all, only Demons have the things they need.¡±

 Chapter 373: A Deal with The Demons

    What the experts from the Heaven Pce Sect did next proved Huang Fan¡¯s spection to be correct.

    Surrounded by Ling Dong and other Heaven Pce Sect experts, Zhao Luofeng stood face to face with Auden and the gigantic, two-headed python.

    ¡°Once the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is started, it can¡¯t be stopped,¡± Zhao Luofeng said with an expressionless face, his tone so calm and peaceful that it was as if he was only stating a fact. ¡°I guess you didn¡¯t expect us to obtain all three fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial and unite them within such a short time.

    ¡°As you know, once a person sessfully merges the three fragmentary star marks with their body, they will be able to seal the spatial rift with the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    As Zhao Luofeng spoke, dazzling starlight continued to pour down from the highest heavens.

    As rivers of starlight infused into the spatial rift, brilliant starlight seemed to turn into winding brooks that flowed over the mouth of the bottomless hole and formedplicated, mysterious patterns.

    ¡°This spatial rift is destined to be sealed again. Once the sealing process is finished, you and your kind won¡¯t be able to go through the spatial rift anymore.

    ¡°So that means even if you send in your entire Demon army, the moment the spatial rift is sealed, their connection with your realm will be cut off.

    ¡°Once that happens, your troops will be trapped in the Domain of the Falling Stars and surrounded by us.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Luofeng looked at Auden with aposed expression on his face as he continued, ¡°I figure that you understand that the odds will be against you if you have to face all of the powerful human experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars, right? Perhaps that¡¯s why you didn¡¯t bring your entire army through this spatial rift. Instead, it¡¯s just you and that thing...¡±

    Then, Zhao Luofengid his eyes on the two-headed python and added, ¡°You¡¯re just here to check things out, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Eyes glittering with the light of brutality, the two-headed python let out a beastly bellow, as if it wasn¡¯t happy with Zhao Luofeng¡¯s statement.

    Sitting on his warhorse and adorned in heavy armor, Auden waved his hand at it, signaling it to settle down.

    Meanwhile, every expert from the Heaven Pce Sect remained silent after Zhao Luofeng finished talking.

    Ling Dong, who had fought a brief but intense battle against Auden, also stayed silent, but he fixed his ice-cold gaze on the seemingly restless, two-headed python, as if he was preparing for what was toe.

    After a moment of silence, Auden turned to Nnte from the Astarte n and said in the Demonnguage, ¡°This has nothing to do with you. I can take it from here. You may leave.¡±

    A hint of grimness appeared on Nnte¡¯s unearthly handsome face as he replied in the Demonnguage, ¡°Auden, don¡¯t tell me that you actually want to make a deal with these despicable humans!? Don¡¯t you think you should take that thing back from them with the most brutal means possible and kill every human in this ce to wash off the disgrace they brought you?¡±

    ¡°I said it¡¯s our business and it has nothing to do with the Astarte n!¡± Auden raised his voice.

    ¡°Uncle, as slowly as it is, this spatial rift is being sealed,¡± Zelia reminded Nnte in a soft voice.

    Nnte nodded at her before he turned to look coldly at Auden¡¯s masked face and said, ¡°Alright, you take care then.¡±

    With these words, he and the others from the Astarte n turned around and disappeared into the spatial rift, which was glittering with increasingly bright starlight.

    After they were gone, Auden and the two-headed python became the only Demons in the valley.

    ¡°So what do you want?¡± Auden asked in fluent humannguage.

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian noticed that the eyes of Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong lit up simultaneously.

    ¡°This is a list of the things we want.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng waved his hand, and a piece of yellow oiled paper that had crooked Demonnguage written on it flew towards Auden.

    Auden grabbed it with his empty hand and started reading.

    Sitting on the mountaintop, Nie Tian could hear vague, intermittent panting sounds from within the starlight-glittering spatial rift.

    Then, he realized that a terrifying Demon army must be gathered in the dim, spooky spatial tunnel.

    All kinds of low-tier Demons, as well as powerful high-tier Demons from the Fourth Demon Realm, must be waiting for Auden¡¯s orders in there.

    Auden¡¯s original n had probably been tounch a massive invasion right away, sweep across the Realm of Mystic Heaven within the least possible time, and take the thing he had set his mind on.

    However, the timely arrival of Nie Tian and Huang Fan and the fact that he had already activated the grand spell formation using the fragmentary star marks seemed to have changed Auden¡¯s mind.

    That was probably why Auden and the two-headed python were the only ones that hade out of that spatial rift.

    ¡°Making a deal with the Demons...¡±

    With a grim expression on his face, Nie Tian suddenly turned to Huang Fan and asked, ¡°Something that belonged to the Demons is being sealed in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. What about the Realm of me Heaven? Is something being sealed in the Realm of me Heaven that the Astarte n from the Sixth Demon Realm wants?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Huang Fan said, shaking his head. ¡°Not that I know of.¡±

    ¡°What about in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°It appears not,¡± Huang Fan answered.

    At that moment, Auden finished reading the list of things that Zhao Luofeng was demanding. His exposed eyes were filled with edginess as he said, ¡°It¡¯s just as hard for us to get all of these things! Furthermore, it won¡¯t be long before the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seals the spatial riftpletely!

    ¡°We can¡¯t possibly collect all these many things and bring them to the Realm of Mystic Heaven within such a short time!¡±

    A subtle smile appeared at the corner of Zhao Luofeng¡¯s mouth for the first time as he said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. As long as you agree to honor this deal, we can finish the transaction inside the spatial tunnel. As you know, even if the spatial rift is fully sealed, we still will be able to go through it unaffected.¡±

    After a brief pause, he added, ¡°Back when the spatial rift first appeared, experts from our sect and I used our divine abilities to temporarily deactivate the restrictive spell deployed by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and forcibly took the thing you need.

    ¡°I¡¯ll allow you some time to gather all the items on that list. Then, we¡¯ll meet in the spatial tunnel and finish the transaction.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    As soon as the two-headed python heard that Zhao Luofeng and the other human experts had already obtained that thing they wanted, it grew restless again.

    Its two sets of eyes instantly shone with suffocating light as it unleashed an earth-shaking, thrumming aura into the surroundings.

    It seemed to be doing this to urge Auden to summon the army they had brought from the Fourth Demon Realm that was waiting within the spatial tunnel, massacre these Heaven Pce Sect humans in the most brutal way possible, and snatch what they were after.

    A tempted look appeared in Auden¡¯s eyes, as if he were torn with indecision.

    Ling Dong suddenly let out a cold harrumph.

    Upon hearing Ling Dong¡¯s harrumph, Auden snapped out of his thoughts. He shot a nce at the surprisingly poised Zhao Luofeng, and then swept his gaze over the Heaven Pce Sect experts that had been gathered in this ce.

    Then, he turned his head back to take a look at the gradually sealing spatial rift.

    ¡°Alright, I agree.¡± He said with a deep, prating voice.

    Both Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong¡¯s faces twitched slightly after hearing Auden¡¯s consent, as if they were struggling to mask their excitement.

    After all, they were both at the Soul realm. In order to advance into the Void domain, they would need certain rare cultivation materials.

    The Domain of the Falling Stars was already drained of some of the materials, while the Demons¡¯ realms still had some reserves.

    Only if they could obtain all those rare materials by the time they reached thete Soul realm would they have the qualifications and courage to make attempts to advance into the Void domain.

    ¡°Seven days!¡± Zhao Luofeng said. ¡°We¡¯ll finish the transaction inside the spatial tunnel in seven days!¡±

    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll keep your word,¡± Auden said with a nod. Then, he signaled the two-headed python before leaping into the spatial rift on his pitch-ck warhorse.

    The two-headed python shot a fierce look at Ling Dong before following Auden into the spatial rift.

    The moment they left, Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong exchanged a nce and secretly let out a sigh of relief.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Dazzling starlight was still pouring down from the highest heavens, gradually washing away the demon Qi in this area.

    Looking down, Nie Tian discovered that the numerous streams of starlight flowing at the mouth of the spatial rift were glittering increasingly brightly. As they did, a mysterious spell formation became increasingly clear, which gave Nie Tian a sense of eternity and boundlessness.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, the three fragmentary star marks flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Afterwards, as Nie Tian used his seven Heaven Eyes to scan this special region, he discovered that his perception had improved by dozens of times.

 Chapter 374: Turbulences in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations

    One of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes flew through the glittering formation of starlight and disappeared into the spatial tunnel.

    As it did, it seemed to absorb rich and pure star power from the enormous, gradually-forming pattern of starlight, turning the originally intangible Heaven Eye into a bright star that was every bit as real as the stars in the sky.

    In a split second, that Heaven Eye extended Nie Tian¡¯s vision and perception to the depths of the entire spatial tunnel.

    He immediately discovered that tens of thousands of Demons were gathered in front of a rotating, gray vortex like arge swarm of flies.

    Numerous heavily-armored ck riders that looked exactly like Auden were waiting, each of which looked solemn and was wreathed in strong killing intent.

    Behind them were innumerable substantial low-tier Demons that had bizarre appearances. Floating in a wide river of raging demon Qi, they let out angry roars from time to time.

    In front of the entire army, Auden, who had just returned from the Realm of Mystic Heaven, seemed to be having an intense argument with Nnte from the Astarte n in the Demonnguage.

    Meanwhile, the two-headed python and the Astarte n¡¯s Rotspirit Ox were staring into each other¡¯s eyes, as if a fierce battle could break out at any moment.

    The Demon army gathered by the misty, gray vortex was so substantial that if they had swarmed into the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the consequences would have been catastrophic.

    While he observed the situation within the spatial tunnel via that Heaven Eye, he suddenly heard Huang Fan¡¯s distant-sounding call and snapped back to reality.

    Looking at Huang Fan with a confused expression on his face, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°The Sectmaster hasmanded me to take you to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.¡± Huang Fan seemed ratherposed, as if he wasn¡¯t deeply shaken by the deal between Auden, Zhao Luofeng, and Ling Dong. ¡°Of all three spatial rifts, the one in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations is the only one that still needs to be sealed. They need you there.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian nodded, saying, ¡°Alright.¡±

    In the mountain valley, Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong were looking down at the grand star formation covering the mouth of the spatial rift as they whispered something to each other.

    It seemed that, as soon as they saw the grand star formation appear over the mouth of the spatial rift, they knew that the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been activated.

    Therefore, they no longer felt the need to talk to Nie Tian.

    It was as if all that Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong cared about were the items on the list they had given to Auden.

    Now that Nie Tian had sessfully activated the grand spell formation, he didn¡¯t have much value for the time being.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± With these words, Huang Fan and Nie Tian boarded the Golden Chariot, and Huang Fan steered it towards the Heaven Pce Sect. ¡°The Sectmastermanded that I bring you back to the Heaven Pce Sect when you finish sealing the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. He¡¯ll have a detailed discussion with you then.¡±

    ¡°I see." Nie Tian¡¯s tone was indifferent.

    For some reason, after personally witnessing Zhao Luofeng proposing a deal and reaching a mutual understanding with Auden from the Fourth Demon Realm, his impression of the Heaven Pce Sect had changed.

    Originally, he had looked up to the Heaven Pce Sect, which was the most powerful sect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    For a long time, he had believed that the Heaven Pce Sect would be the main fighting force if the day came when full-scale war broke out between the Demons and the Qi warriors in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Now that he had seen that the Heaven Pce Sect, which enjoyed a long history, possessed formidable strength, and had raised countless powerful Qi warriors, had actually proposed a deal to the Demons, its majestic image in his mind totally copsed.

    He hadn¡¯t been so sure about joining the Heaven Pce Sect before, but now that he had heard the conversation between Zhao Luofeng and Auden, he felt that bing a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect had lost its appeal.

    However, he didn¡¯t mention any of this to Huang Fan.

    Now that the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been activated and was taking effect, the rich demon Qi that had reigned in that vast area was rapidly scattering and disappearing.

    Steered by Huang Fan, the Golden Chariot soon arrived in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    After Huang Fan returned the Golden Chariot, he took Nie Tian to the corner of the pce where numerous inter-spatial teleportation portals were located.

    ¡°Send us to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations!¡± Huang Fan said.

    As a disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect turned the switches on a portal to set up the coordinates for the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the portal, which was paved with numerous spirit stones, started to shine with dazzling light.

    Under the amazed gazes of the crowd of Heaven Pce Sect disciples, Huang Fan and Nie Tian walked into the teleportation portal.

    In the next moment, the portal was activated.

    Meanwhile, the crowd of Heaven Pce Sect disciples whispered to one another in the immeasurably wide pce.

    ¡°Has he sealed the spatial rift already? That was fast.¡±

    ¡°It appears so. I checked, and it seems that not only has the prevailing demon Qi stopped spreading, but it¡¯s even scattering and vanishing.¡±

    ¡°So does that mean this kid from the Realm of me Heaven actually gathered all three fragmentary star marks? And he¡¯s the reason why our life-threatening problem was solved?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s senior martial brother Ning Yang? Didn¡¯t he have the third fragmentary star mark? Now that Nie Tian has all three fragmentary star marks, what happened to him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. Senior martial brother Ning Yang seems to have disappeared for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian obviously took his fragmentary star mark. Even if he¡¯s still alive, considering his high self-esteem, I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯s living in hell now.¡±

    Among the crowd of Heaven Pce Sect disciples, a handful shot gazes filled with killing intent towards Nie Tian when people brought up Ning Yang¡¯s name.

    Standing in the middle of the teleportation portal and wreathed in dazzling bright light, Nie Tian sensed their burning gazes as he was about to be teleported to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    He followed those gazes and discovered a shocking fact: there were even Worldly realm experts among those who were staring at him with deep hostility.

    WHOOSH!

    The teleportation portal activated.

    After a moment of intense dizziness, Nie Tian and Huang Fan appeared in the middle of a square paved with gray stone.

    ¡°Guests from the Heaven Pce Sect are here!¡± A graceful, beautiful woman hurried over the moment Nie Tian and Huang Fan appeared, as if she had been waiting for a long time. Her long dress fluttered as she rushed over. ¡°Big Brother Huang, is this Nie Tian from the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he is.¡± Huang Fan nodded before asking, ¡°How¡¯s the situation in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations?¡±

    Burning with anxiety, the beautiful woman, who was at the early Profound realm, said, ¡°Really bad. It¡¯s spiraling out of control. We need to go to the spatial rift now and seal it as quickly as possible. That¡¯s the only way to stop more Demons from swarming into our realm!¡±

    A shocked expression spread across Huang Fan¡¯s face. ¡°Demons are swarming into the Realm of a Thousand Devastations already?!¡±

    The woman nodded, a bitter smile filling her face. ¡°Two days ago,rge amounts of low-tier and high-tier Demons started flowing into our realm through that spatial rift. Every powerful Qi warrior from a variety of sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations is gathered at the spatial rift, where they have been fighting those Demons with their lives.¡±

    Huang Fan felt the urgency as he said, ¡°So we¡¯d better go now! Time is of the essence here!¡±

    Before Nie Tian had a chance to nce around, Huang Fan dragged him along and followed that woman into a shiny, silver war chariot.

    With a loud whoosh, the war chariot rose high above the gray stone square and a forest of elegant pavilions, and shot towards the distant horizon.

    OWWW! ROAAAR!

    Blood-chilling roars echoed out one after another from the direction the Silver Chariot was heading, where heaven and earth werepletely submerged in raging demon Qi.

    Within the torrential demon Qi, many human Qi warriors were enveloped by multi-colored spiritual power shields as they wielded their spiritual tools and unleashed exquisite magics to fight the Demons in close quarters.

    ¡°Nie Tian, right?¡± The woman took a deep look at Nie Tian and reminded him solemnly, ¡°One thing to remember: never ever reveal the fluctuations of your star power, at least not before we arrive at the spatial rift. Try your best to cover them. Otherwise, the Demons wille after you madly.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± Nie Tian replied.

 Chapter 375: The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect

    Rolling mountain ranges, towering mountain peaks, and steep cliffs could be seen everywhere in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Steered by the beautiful woman, the Silver Chariot traveled at full speed under the night sky.

    Nie Tian leaned against the metal edge of the war chariot as he nced around while listening to the conversation between Huang Fan and the woman.

    Soon, he learned that the woman¡¯s name was Liu Ling, who was a member of the Yin Sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    There were plenty of Qi warrior sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, but the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect were the only ones that were truly powerful, and the other sects took orders from them.

    As a matter of fact, in the beginning, the Yin Sect and Yang Sect had been one sect: the Yin-Yang Sect.

    It had been the most powerful sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations for hundreds of years. However, for some reason, the Yin-Yang Sect split and became the Yin Sect and Yang Sect that ruled the Realm of a Thousand Devastations today.

    After that, the two sects that shared the same root drifted apart and grew as ipatible as fire and water. Conflicts constantly broke out between them.

    However, now that the spatial rift had appeared and Demons were pouring into their realm, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had cast aside their petty differences and united as one to defend against the Demon invaders together.

    Two days ago, restless Demons had finally started marching through the spatial rift and into the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect immediately joined together and called upon every Qi warrior sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations to send their most powerful experts to fight the Demons in the area filled with demon Qi.

    However, since the spatial rift remained open, more and more Demons kept swarming into their realm.

    After receiving word that Nie Tian had already sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had immediately contacted the Heaven Pce Sect and then waited for Nie Tian¡¯s arrival.

    Both the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had been expecting Nie Tian¡¯s timely arrival so that he could seal the spatial rift with the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as early as possible.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the Silver Chariot flew into the mountain range covered in raging demon Qi.

    ¡°Be careful. The Demons might attempt to intercept us on our way to the spatial rift.¡± Liu Ling frowned as she warned Nie Tian again, ¡°Remember, never expose your star power aura, lest the high-tier Demons find out that you are the key to activating the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Noted.¡±

    As the Silver Chariot charged into the dense demon Qi, Nie Tian intentionally masked the rotating wisps of star power within his vortex of star power. He even used his bloodline talent, Life Stealth, to reduce the fluctuations of his flesh power and spiritual power.

    As the war chariot shuttled through the mountain range that had been drowned by demon Qi, Nie Tian observed with rapt attention and discovered that Qi warriors could be seen fighting low-tier and high-tier Demons in every corner of the mountain range.

    When they caught sight of the passing war chariot, along with Huang Fan and Nie Tian on it, their expressions flickered and their fighting spirit was greatly aroused.

    Apparently, they had heard about Huang Fan and Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, and that they wereing to help them seal the spatial rift.

    Now that they knew why Nie Tian was here, none of them were stupid enough to say anything about it.

    They didn¡¯t wave at Liu Ling when they saw the war chariot fly by, but rather, they threw themselves at the Demons that showed any hint of intentions to stop Nie Tian¡¯s war chariot and attacked them with everything they had so that Nie Tian didn¡¯t get dyed.

    A substantial amount of low-tier Demons roared as they met the powerful experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations in fierce battles.

    Some high-tier Demons could also be seen among the low-tier Demons. Adorned in exquisite armor, they issuedmands to the low-tier Demons while fighting human Qi warriors with their strange-looking weapons.

    No matter whether they were low-tier Demons or high-tier Demons, they all fought within the demon-Qi-wreathed area, the reason being that the demon Qi could enhance the Demons¡¯ perception, as well as their battle prowess.

    However, it was the opposite for human Qi warriors.

    Fighting in the raging demon Qi, humans¡¯ perception, vision, and hearing would bepromised. Not only that, but they would also have to spare some of their spiritual power to fend off the demon Qi. Therefore, their battle prowess would be reduced.

    WHOOSH!

    As the Silver Chariot emerged from behind a high mountain peak, Nie Tian saw two Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors split apart.

    However, as they did, not a single drop of blood sttered out.

    Their bodies seemed like two pieces of tofu being sliced up by numerous sharp des.

    After the shattered bodies fell on the ground, numerous fine, glittering, purple strings flew out of the chunks of flesh. Without any dy, they flew towards a high-tier Demon, glittering with bright, purple light.

    That high-tier Demon was a tall, curvaceous, scantily-d female, with exquisite purple armor covering only her vital parts.

    On her tan skin, her long, purple hair fluttered against the wind as her slender legs were wrapped around the neck of a ten-meter-tall low-tier Demon.

    Holding a broad greatsword in her right hand, she reached out with her left hand. In the next moment, the purple strings disappeared into her palm, as if they had instantly merged with her flesh and blood.

    She was wearing a sinister mask that made her look like a evil spirit. Her exposed purple pupils were wreathed in frigid killing intent.

    She was about to leave to find new targets on her mount after killing the two Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors when she caught sight of the Silver Chariot that had just appeared from behind a mountain peak, along with Nie Tian, Huang Fan, and Liu Ling standing in it.

    Her purple pupils instantly shone with suffocating light, and then a mysterious soul fluctuation seemed to reach Nie Tian and the others through nothing but her gaze.

    As soon as his gaze met hers, Nie Tian experienced a sudden stabbing pain in his chest, as well as difficulty breathing.

    Without any control of his own, the vortexes of spiritual power within his spiritual sea started to elerate and infuse pure spiritual power into his body to defend against the attack of the light that had shot out from the Demon¡¯s eyes.

    Meanwhile, seven tiny stars appeared in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils.

    They were the seven fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul. They must have sensed danger, and thus revealed themselves.

    Upon seeing the abnormal change in Nie Tian¡¯s pupils, the high-tier Demon with a steaming body instantly came to a realization, and eximed in perfect humannguage, ¡°You¡¯re the one who obtained the legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Liu Ling¡¯s expression flickered as she shouted, ¡°Oh no!¡±

    In the next moment, the female high-tier Demon let out a long, prating roar.

    Upon hearing her roar, the low-tier and high-tier Demons that had been fighting Qi warriors of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations started converging on Nie Tian from every direction, as if they had just received hermand.

 Chapter 376: The Bloodline of An Ancient Magical Beast

    The female Demon¡¯s name was Yrie, and she was from the Barten n in the Fifth Demon Realm.

    It was none other than the Barten n that had led the invasion of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations through that spatial rift.

    Even though Yrie, who possessed sixth grade bloodline power, wasn¡¯t the highestmander of this massive invasion, she was an immediate member of the Barten n. Thanks to her noble bloodline, almost all the Demons in the vicinity had heeded her summons.

    Before she had entered the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, Yrie had received word that some human youngster had already gathered all three fragmentary star marks, because of which, the Astarte n from the Sixth Demon Realm had been forced to terminate their invasion of the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, Yrie and the Barten n behind her didn¡¯t call off their invasion of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations ordingly.

    Since she knew that a human had gathered all three fragmentary star marks, she had anticipated Nie Tian¡¯s arrival and paid extra attention.

    When Liu Ling¡¯s shiny, silver war chariot appeared in her sight, she unleashed her secret bloodline magic and rapidly drew the conclusion that Nie Tian was the sessor that had gathered all the fragmentary star marks.

    Hence, she summoned every Demon in the vicinity with her sharp roar,manding them to leave their current opponents and converge on Nie Tian from every direction.

    ¡°Liu Ling, you take Nie Tian and leave!¡± With these words, Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect took the initiative to jump out of the shiny, silver war chariot. He summoned his banners as he did.

    As soon as the banners spiraled out, they formed a special spiritual power field around Huang Fan.

    After all, Huang Fan was at thete Profound realm, much more powerful than Liu Ling, who was only at the early Profound realm. He realized how formidable Yrie was, and thus wanted to stall her with his own strength.

    The flying banners made rustling sounds as the spiritual power field rippled outward, enveloping an increasinglyrge area. From the look of it, it wouldn¡¯t be long before Yrie was enveloped by it.

    Upon hearing Huang Fan¡¯s words, Liu Ling responded with great decisiveness. Eyes filled with gratefulness, she blurted, ¡°Every sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations will forever remember your heroic act!¡±

    With these words, a blindingly bright ball of spiritual power shot of her hand and infused into the bottom of the war chariot.

    In a split second, the innumerable spirit stones that had beenid on the bottom of the war chariot seemed to be instantly stimted and began to use all of their energy.

    With a speed that was three times faster than before, the war chariot shot towards the depths of the demon Qi-covered region like shing lightning.

    As two winged Demons swooped towards them, reaching out with their sharp, ck ws in the hopes of grabbing the war chariot, dazzling spiritual light shot out from Liu Ling¡¯s fingertips.

    PHOOH! PHOOH! PHOOH!

    The Demons¡¯ syed ws were instantly reduced to a bloody mess, as if they had been prated by numerous sharp weapons.

    Nie Tian¡¯s keen perception made him aware that as Liu Ling used her exquisite magic to shoot spiritual light towards the two winged Demons, the crescent moon high in the sky seemed to have brightened temporarily.

    A fierce and chilly aura that seemed to originate from the moon suddenly burst forth from Liu Ling¡¯s body.

    <i>¡°She must be from the Yin Sect!¡± </i>Nie Tian raised his chin to look at the crescent moon and had a somewhat mysterious feeling that Liu Ling was receiving energy from the moon and infusing it into her own spiritual power.

    Then, he looked around with focused attention, and immediately discovered that every Qi warrior in the vicinity had crescent-moon-shaped marks on their cors and cuffs.

    Meanwhile, Liu Ling was wearing a crystal-like, crescent-moon-shaped pendant on her snow-white neck, which seemed to have been carved out of some kind of special crystal.

    Misty moonlight circted within it unceasingly.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as he suddenly came to realize that the mysterious incantation the Yin Sect disciples practiced probably had some kind of close connection with the moon.

    He couldn¡¯t help but inwardly marvel at his new discoveries.

    Furthermore, the crescent-moon-shaped pendant on her neck seemed to be helping her channel the chilly moonlight into her body, and thus enhance her battle prowess.

    For some reason, as Liu Ling cast the Yin Sect¡¯s secret magics and beams of moonlight poured down from the heavens, Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that his mind had be clear, and his heart was put at ease.

    In such a state, Nie Tian¡¯s mind drifted away. <i>¡°Disciples of the Yin Sect can draw power from the moonlight. From the look of it, the Yang Sect, the other powerful sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, should be able to make use of the strength in the sunlight?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Can it be that the incantations the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect practice are respectively rted to the moon and the sun?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Based onmon sense, the sun and the moon are stars with unique features. Meanwhile, the Fragmentary Star Incantation allows its user to channel star power from the countless stars in the vast heavens tounch attacks.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°In this way, sunlight and moonlight should also carry star power.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°If that¡¯s the case, does that mean that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±</i>

    Shocked by his own spection, Nie Tian had aplicated expression on his face as he attempted to examine the spiritual power fluctuations within Liu Ling¡¯s body.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The fierce roars of Demons woke Nie Tian from his thoughts. He turned around and saw that Huang Fan wasmanding his flying banners to trap numerous Demons that were charging towards Nie Tian.

    However, the curvaceous high-tier Demon had already broken free from the spiritual power field created by Huang Fan¡¯s banners, and was rapidly gaining on him.

    The greatsword in her hand shone with bright light as she stated her name, ¡°I¡¯m Yrie, a member of the Barten n from the Fifth Demon Realm. The Realm of a Thousand Devastations is destined to fall. You can stop your meaningless struggle now. Now that the main force of our n hase, don¡¯t expect us to retreat!¡±

    FIZZ!

    As soon as she uttered these words, the numerous glittering, purple strings that had previously merged with her flesh suddenly shot out of her palm.

    ¡°Stop her!¡± Liu Ling called out loudly.

    A few Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Yin Sect brandished their spiritual tools, sending out dazzlingly bright moonlight. Beams of moonlight interwove with each other, forming a spell formation as they shot towards Yrie.

    Yrie let out a cold harrumph as she gently patted her mount.

    The winged beast immediately let out an ear-piercing shriek as light appeared and interwove into a bright grid in the depths of its devilish pupils, activating its mysterious bloodline talent.

    In the next moment, rich demon Qi madly converged and spiraled towards the beast as it seemed to be refining on its own.

    Then, the highly refined, raging demon Qi seemed to be activated by the beast¡¯s bloodline talent, and escted into a devastating storm, giving rise to loud crackles.

    Many Qi warriors from the Yin Sect, who were fighting Demons with their spiritual tools in the vicinity, were pulled into the eye of the pitch-ck demon Qi storm one by one.

    Yrie¡¯s mount let out blood-chilling howls as it fixed its eyes, deep inside of which a brightwork of mysterious light could be seen, on Liu Ling.

    Standing in the war chariot, Liu Ling was looking back to check the situation when her eyes met the beast¡¯s. In the next moment, her soft, womanly body suddenly grew stiff.

    Nie Tian was shocked by the scene, and thus immediately unleashed his Heaven Eyes to examine her. Then, he discovered that numerous fine strands of mysterious light, which were invisible to the naked eye, had already covered Liu Ling¡¯s entire body.

    They were the most densely packed on Liu Ling¡¯s hands and arms.

    A thinyer of grayish-brown rock seemed to be quickly forming on them.

    ¡°Petrifaction?!¡± A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Fright could be seen in Liu Ling¡¯s eyes as she blurted, ¡°That beast actually carries the bloodline of an ancient magical beast, the Purple Glede (see note 1)!¡±

    Even the crescent-moon-shaped crystal pendant on her neck was now covered by countless strands of demonlight. In the meantime, the demonlight on her body kept interweaving and forming some kind of magical pattern, as if it harbored the intention to infiltrate into her spiritual sea and petrify herpletely.

    ¡°You¡¯re smarter than I thought.¡± Yrie said coldly, as if she was surprised that Liu Ling actually recognized her beast¡¯s bloodline origin.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As she spoke, the purple, glittering strings she had unleashed earlier finally reached the Silver Chariot.

    <i>¡°Dammit!¡±</i> Liu Ling cursed inwardly, her face looking grim and frustrated.

    At this moment, the truly powerful experts from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect were gathered at the spatial rift. She hadn¡¯t expected that they would actually encounter powerful Demons like Yrie and her mount that carried the Purple Glede¡¯s bloodline so soon after entering the demon-Qi-filled area.

    Even though Liu Ling saw that the purple strings were piercing towards Nie Tian, since her body was being petrified, she could no longer move her hands to protect him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered slightly before he summoned the Spirit Channeling grade treasure decisively. ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡±

    Note:

    1. A Purple Glede is a divine beast from ancient Chinese folk tales. They are purple-and-white, bird-like creatures that arerge and fierce.

 Chapter 377: Enlightenment Derived from a Tool

    Yrie from the Barten n possessed sixth grade bloodline power, which meant her battle prowess was roughly equal to that of a Profound realm human Qi warrior.

    The beast she was riding carried a Purple Glede¡¯s bloodline. Mere eye contact with it stiffened Liu Ling¡¯s body and made her show signs of petrification.

    Facing such formidable enemies, the only thing that Nie Tian could think of was the me Dragon Armor.

    The me Dragon Armor flew out with a loud whoosh, and like a zing bell, it descended from above Nie Tian¡¯s head and forced itself on him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s fierce mes scorched Liu Ling, who was standing within arm¡¯s reach of Nie Tian, to the point where her face was soon covered in sweat.

    However, the extremely fierce aura released by the me Dragon Armor pervaded Liu Ling¡¯s body and surprisingly helped her reverse her petrification, which was caused by the magical beast¡¯s bloodline talent.

    Almost immediately, Liu Ling felt her blood recovering its surging vigor.

    WHOOSH!

    Bright moonlight burst forth from within the crescent-moon-shaped pendant on her neck. In merely a sh, the moonlight spread out and enveloped the entire Silver Chariot.

    The substantial amount of spirit stones that covered the bottom of the war chariot suddenly shattered.

    Liu Ling let out a snort as her hands formed a magical seal. Immediately afterwards, dazzling moonlight shot out from her hands, forming a crescent-moon-shaped, silver te, which rotated as it rammed towards the fine, purple strings Yrie had unleashed.

    Upon impact, brilliant sparks blossomed from the contact points.

    Liu Ling seized the opportunity to adjust the direction of the war chariot, and eventually lost the pursuing purple strings.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Once again, they flew straight towards the area where the demon Qi was the densest.

    The bizarre, purple light deep within the eyes of the beast, which had remained still to cast its bloodline magic, suddenly dimmed.

    With its eyes fixed on the Silver Chariot and Nie Tian, who was wearing the me Dragon Armor, the beast let out a series of bellows.

    Watching Nie Tian¡¯s war chariot flying further and further away, Yrie spoke to her mount in the Demonnguage with a deep frown. ¡°A me dragon? Do you mean that that man¡¯s armor is made from a me dragon¡¯s heart?!

    ¡°The power originating from the me dragon¡¯s heart stopped your bloodline magic from petrifying that woman?!¡±

    The beast replied with a sharp screech, confirming her spection.

    Frigid coldness could be seen in Yrie¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°Humans are indeed the most vicious race. I can¡¯t believe they would actually forge spiritual tools with a me dragon¡¯s heart!

    ¡°You carry the Purple Glede¡¯s ancient bloodline. If those despicable humans ever capture you, you will probably suffer the same fate.¡±

    The beast let out an angry roar.

    Yrie breathed out augh as she consoled the beast, ¡°Rest assured. As long as I¡¯m still alive, I won¡¯t allow you to be some material humans use to forge spiritual tools.¡±

    Then, she added, ¡°The humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars are still far from strong enough. As far as I know, they don¡¯t even have a single Void domain expert.

    ¡°Compared to the major human domains dominated by truly powerful Qi warrior sects, the Domain of the Falling Stars is just a forgotten ce in a remote corner.

    ¡°For some reason, the connection between those major human domains and the Domain of the Falling Stars has been cut off. This is why we can go ahead and march into realms like the Realm of a Thousand Devastations without worrying about being surprised by powerful Qi warriors from those major human domains.

    ¡°What I can¡¯t figure out is why Heaven Gates still appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars while their connection with the other major domains is cut off.

    ¡°Not only that, but that young man with an unimpressive cultivation base even received the acknowledgment of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and united all three legacy marks.

    ¡°Can this whole thing be a n of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Yrie muttered to herself for a while, as if she wasn¡¯t in a hurry tomand her mount to chase after Nie Tian and Liu Ling.

    Momentster, Yrie shook her head as she cast her various spections out of her mind and chased after Nie Tian and Liu LIng.

    As she did, she kept letting out short but sharp screeches, which seemed to be the Demons¡¯ uniquemunication method.

    By doing that, she was actually informing every Demon in a 50-kilometer radius that Nie Tian had be their primary target.

    As the war chariot continued to fly towards the spatial rift at full speed, every Demon they encountered seemed to be able to rapidly learn of their importance before charging madly at them, no matter whether they were low-tier or high-tier Demons.

    Liu Ling kept casting the Yin Sect¡¯s secret magics to shield off the pursuing Demons¡¯ attacks, leaving a trail of blood.

    Even though only a quarter-hour had passed, Liu Ling was already soaked in sweat, and her consumption of spiritual power had been significant.

    As Nie Tian stood unscathed in the war chariot, the mes unleashed by the me Dragon Armor on him gradually went out.

    The dark-red suit of armor stuck to the shape of his body perfectly, so much so that it seemed to have be a part of him. Other than the exceedingly heavy weight it put on him, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel any difort.

    While Liu Ling fought the pursuing Demons, every now and then, Nie Tian would summon strength from the me Dragon Armor to assist her.

    After getting into the right mindset, Nie Tian lifted his arm and pointed at a low-tier Demon.

    At that moment, it had just been hit by Liu Ling¡¯s crescent-moon-shaped te, which she had condensed with moonlight. A huge, bloody wound was created on its gigantic body, causing it to wobble in midair.

    WHOOSH!

    A beam of zing mes shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s leveled arm.

    He could sense with great rity that, in a split second, his own me power, the fierce me power from the me Dragon Armor, and flesh power from his blood had joined together and formed a incredibly fierce and violent force.

    As the beam of mes bombarded the heavily-injured Demon, it immediately created a huge bloody hole in its abdomen.

    mes could been seen burning within the bloody wound, as if the power from the me Dragon Armor and Nie Tian had already effortlessly followed that wound into the Demon¡¯s core.

    As the Demon let out miserable screams, its strong meridians and veins seemed to be burned by wisps of mixed me power. Even its tough bones gradually became charred.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with amazement as he watched the gigantic Demon wail in agony and slowly fall towards a mountain valley while shaking his arm.

    Eyes narrowed, he mulled over what had just happened.

    Soon, he realized that it was the me Dragon Armor¡¯s indescribable energy that had raised the might of his beam of mes to a whole new level, and enabled him to inflict so much damage on that low-tier Demon.

    He recalled that, when he had formed that beam of mes, fierce and violent me power had rushed out of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core.

    That me power seemed unique and mysterious, as if it contained the heaven-burning might of a me dragon¡¯s bloodline power. His own me power that he had drawn from his spiritual sea didn¡¯t seem to have made much of a difference in the beam¡¯s power.

    On the contrary, his flesh power that he had drawn from his flesh and blood seemed to have greatly boosted the might of the mes when infused into the mixed beam of fiery power.

    ¡°Does this mean that I can use my flesh power to strengthen the violent me power the Blood Core unleashes? Is this another use of my bloodline power?¡±

    Nie Tian was deeply fascinated by his spections. Wearing the me Dragon Armor, he once again summoned his flesh power.

    One wisp of his pure flesh power after another gradually dispersed and merged into the me Dragon Armor.

    He observed with rapt attention and discovered that, as those wisps of flesh and blood essence flowed into the me Dragon Armor, theplicated and detailed fiery patterns on the armor¡¯s surface suddenly became enlivened and lifelike.

    He continued to trace the flow of his flesh power...

    All of a sudden, his eyes widened and shone with the light of excitement.

    To his surprise, he discovered that there seemed to be translucent crimson strings inside of the me Dragon Armor, which were so small that they were almost imperceptible!

    The wisps of flesh power were being collected into the iparably fine crimson strings, which they followed to rush towards the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core at an astoundingly fast speed.

    At that moment, Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that the me Dragon Armor was no longer a spiritual tool, but rather a living being that had flesh and blood!

    It seemed as if the crimson strings were the me Dragon Armor¡¯s veins, while the Blood Core was its heart.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered dramatically. <i>¡°Who forged this me Dragon Armor? Howe it¡¯s so unfathomable and miraculous?¡± </i>

    As he uncovered more of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s incredible features, he had an increasingly strong feeling that this so-called Spirit Channeling grade treasure was simply a miracle!

    How in the world could anyone forge a spiritual tool that not only had flesh and blood, but also possessed its own soul? If anything, it was the work of the gods, which went far beyond Nie Tian¡¯s imagination.

    While he was seized with shock, Liu Ling, who was standing next to him looked him up and down with a simr look in her eyes.

    The enormous Demon had just been hit by Nie Tian¡¯s beam of mes and was plummeting towards the mountain valley below.

    For the time being, no other Demons hade anywhere near them.

    Slightly relieved, Liu Ling took out a few medicinal pills and stuffed them down her throat. Meanwhile, her amazed gazended on Nie Tian. <i>¡°He¡¯s only at the Heaven stage, but he has already received the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and owns a Spirit Channeling grade treasure. Such a figure will definitely rise up to be the brightest star throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±</i>

 Chapter 378: Bloody Battles Between Humans and Demons!

    BANG!

    The Silver Chariot, which was traveling at full speed, suddenly rammed into an invisible ward, and the war chariot¡¯s dashing momentum was instantly stopped.

    Liu Ling¡¯s expression flickered as she noticed that, within the raging demon Qi in front of her, dark-purple light was gradually spreading out like water ripples.

    Underneath the water-like light, a male high-tier Demon was standing atop a small mountain peak, looking up at her with cold eyes.

    The high-tier Demon let out a cold harrumph as he reached out with his hand and made a yanking motion in the air. ¡°Get down here!¡±

    In the next moment, the war chariot lost control and plummeted towards him like a loose cannonball.

    Nie Tian looked down and discovered that the mutted bodies of six human Qi warriors were scattered in a disorderly manner on the mountaintop.

    Severed limbs could be seen everywhere. Apparently, it was the work of this Demon.

    ¡°Another high-tier Demon with sixth grade bloodline power!¡± With a single nce at him, Liu Ling was able to tell the grade of his bloodline power from the aura he released.

    At that moment, Nie Tian noticed that three formidable low-tier Demons had also rushed out from behind the nearby mountains.

    It seemed that they had been lurking in the dark and masking their auras so that neither Liu Ling nor Nie Tian had been able to perceive their existence.

    Now, they suddenly appeared and rushed towards the falling war chariot, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws, as if they wished to rip the war chariot and Nie Tian into pieces.

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian suddenly experienced a burning sensation from the three fragmentary star marks on his chest.

    Then, he sent a wisp of thought into the refined fragmentary star mark. After a brief scan, he learned that he was already very close to the pagodas the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had deployed in the three high mountain peaks.

    That was when he realized that, after a period of dashing, they were almost at the spatial rift.

    This was probably why they had encountered another formidable high-tier Demon.

    He also realized that Yrie had probably informed all the other Demons of Liu Ling and her features and whereabouts via her unique demon magics.

    As long as they continued to travel in the Silver Chariot, he and Liu Ling would be every Demon¡¯s primary target.

    <i>¡°Am I close enough to the spatial rift?¡± </i>After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian took a deep breath as he turned to Liu Ling and said, ¡°I won¡¯t be needing your escort from here on. I¡¯ve already grasped the direction of the spatial rift. I¡¯ll get over there by myself.¡±

    ¡°A-are you sure that you can do this?¡± Liu Ling asked concernedly.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone brightly, as if there were tiny stars in the depths of his pupils.

    He grinned and said, ¡°I managed to obtain the legacy marks from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Trust me. I know what I¡¯m doing. I¡¯ll leave that sixth grade Demon underneath us to you. I believe you¡¯ll manage. Good luck!¡±

    With these words, he stimted the vortex of star power in his spiritual sea and infused his entire body with refined star power.

    ¡°Starshift!¡±

    Standing in the war chariot, Nie Tian seemed to have instantly turned into a bright star, but in the next moment, he disappeared into thin air.

    Liu Ling¡¯s jaw dropped as she watched Nie Tian vanish into thin air. Eyes wide, she was shocked into a loss for words.

    ROOOOAR! After realizing that Nie Tian was gone, the sixth grade high-tier Demon let out an angry roar before giving an order to the three low-tier Demons in the Demonnguage, ¡°Tear that woman to shreds!¡±

    He, on the other hand, shot directly towards the spatial rift like a whizzing arrow.

    In a location where the demon Qi was the densest, space suddenly grew distorted on top of a lofty mountain peak.

    SHEW!

    A cluster of bright starlight appeared out of nowhere.

    As the starlight faded, Nie Tian¡¯s somewhat bedraggled figure appeared.

    He casually wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth. Without making a sound, he sat down in the lotus position and cast his bloodline talent, Life Stealth, at the first possible moment.

    Immediately afterwards, his life aura and the fluctuations of his flesh and blood vanished, along with his somewhat disordered spiritual power.

    Sitting behind a huge rock, he quietly stuck out his head and cautiously nced at his surroundings and the valley underneath.

    Simr to what he had seen in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of Mystic Heaven, it was an iparably vast valley surrounded by numerous mountain peaks of various heights.

    In the center of the valley was a huge spatial rift, which was releasing raging demon Qi unceasingly.

    By the spatial rift, about a hundred human Qi warriors were unleashing all kinds of secret magics and wielding their spiritual tools to fight their Demon enemies.

    Submerged in dense demon Qi, the vast mountain valley was originally pitch-ck. However, the multi-colored light from the spiritual tools, as well as the lightning and mes created by different incantations, lit up the valley.

    What rapidly seized Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were the giant Moon Wheel and Sun Wheel that hung high above the valley, which were the most powerful and valuable sect treasures of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect respectively.

    The crescent-moon-shaped Moon Wheel and the zing Sun Wheel were like a moon and a sun in the night sky that both shone with glorious and mysterious light.

    Only then did he realize that it was the Sun Wheel and the Moon Wheel that had illuminated the valley, as if it were in broad daylight.

    Bathed in the light of the two Spirit Channeling grade treasures, the battle prowess of the Qi warriors from the Yang Sect and the Yin Sect seemed to be greatly lifted.

    Nie Tian gazed down and noticed that the eyes of those Qi warriors had already turned red from all the killing.

    Dozens of high-tier Demons were either floating in midair or riding low-tier Demons as they brandished their weapons and gave full vent to their demonic power.

    Corpses of human Qi warriors and Demons could be seen everywhere in the valley.

    Meanwhile, more Demons were still rushing out of the spatial rift.

    As soon as they emerged, they would charge onto the battlefield, letting out fierce roars.

    Nie Tian nced around and discovered that the majority of the human Qi warriors and Demons were fighting by the perimeter of the valley.

    Some powerful Profound realm experts were fighting mighty high-tier Demons in midair.

    Arge number of lightning bolts and spatial energy des shed across the sky, while thunderous energy fluctuations and enormous, sharp Demonic ws interwove in midair. The Heavens were shaking, and the Earth was being toppled.

    Some of the energy forms sputtered and shot into the surrounding mountain peaks, causing them to shatter.

    Many mountain peaks split apart after being hit by stray spiritual power attacks, while others copsed like stone pavilions in an earthquake after being rammed by gigantic Demons.

    After a careful scan, he discovered that the three highest mountain peaks that dwarfed all others were the only ones that remained unwavering, no matter how hard they were bombarded.

    How ever strong the impacts were, they would only leave shallow scratches, but the mountain peaks wouldn¡¯t move in the slightest.

    The mountain peak he was sitting on was one of them.

    ¡°Only the mountain peaks that contain star pagodas within them are able to withstand such strong impacts and still remain intact. Only the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can make them impregnable like that.¡± After muttering these things to himself, Nie Tian no longer paid attention to the bloody battles that were taking ce in every corner of the valley.

    Instead, he took advantage of the fact that he was undercover to summon and infuse the three fragmentary star marks into the lofty mountain peaks with the secret magic, which he had already be fluent with.

    As the fragmentary star marks fell into and lit up the pagodas within the bellies of the mountain peaks, every human Qi warrior and Demon sensed the anomaly.

    The three mountain peaks were originally grayish-brown and sparsely vegetated.

    However, all of a sudden, they began to emanate bright starlight.

    Immediately afterwards, the stars in the night sky became iparably bright, as if they were shone upon by some kind of torch.

    Not only that, but starlight began pouring down from the heavens like creeks and waterfalls. One after another, they converged on the spatial rift with great precision, like a giant curtain of pearls rolling down from the sky.

    Seeing that the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been activated, Nie Tian finally let out a sigh of relief.

    Only then did he feel slightly rxed, and get into the mood to focus on the bloody battles between the human Qi warriors and the Demons.

    The Qi warriors of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations noticed the favorable changes. Therefore, they all nced around with thrilled expressions on their faces as they fought the Demons.

    ¡°The grand spell formation has been activated!¡±

    ¡°The grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has finally started operating!¡±

    ¡°Where is that Nie Tian kid?¡±

    ¡°Herees our chance to turn the situation around!¡±

    Each and every one of them was full of gratitude towards Nie Tian.

    As more Demons continued to swarm in through the spatial rift, they had already started to feel helpless, since it seemed impossible to kill them all.

    If they couldn¡¯t seal the spatial rift, it would have been only a matter of time before the Realm of a Thousand Devastations fell into the Demons¡¯ hands.

    Nie Tian¡¯s secret arrival and activation of the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had made them see a silver lining!

 Chapter 379: Key Figure

    No matter whether it was the human experts of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations or the invading Demons, they all noticed that the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was already changing the situation.

    Unlike the humans¡¯ ecstasy, the Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm sensed a threat the moment they discovered that rivers of starlight were starting to pour down from the heavens.

    Numerous low-tier Demons started to let out restless roars and charge into the three lofty mountain peaks that emanated misty starlight.

    BANG! BANG!

    They rammed their enormous bodies into the mountain peaks, hoping to shatter them with their brutal force in order to stop the grand spell formation deployed by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    However, the grand spell formation continued to make its impact from within the bellies of those mountain peaks.

    Apparently, they had already changed when they started to unleash starlight. At present, not only were they impregnable, but the starlight they emanated seemed to turn into sharp des of light.

    As one low-tier Demon after another madly threw themselves at the lofty mountain peaks, bright starlight would shine upon them, instantly cutting open countless wounds all over their enormous bodies.

    The low-tier Demons let out agonizing wails, yet they didn¡¯t want to give up.

    They kept ramming into the three lofty mountain peaks without any regard for their own lives, even though their repeated efforts turned out to be fruitless.

    SHEW!

    Yrie, who had been roaming the perimeter of the mountain range, along with the male high-tier Demon that Nie Tian had encountered earlier, arrived in the mountain valley sessively.

    Sitting on her mount which carried the Purple Glede¡¯s bloodline and wearing her sinister mask, Yrie stared at the male high-tier Demon next to him and said, ¡°Tark?! You failed to intercept that human kid too?!¡±

    With a grim look in his eyes, the high-tier Demon who Yrie referred to as ¡®Tark¡¯ replied, ¡°Yeah, he cast an Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s escape magic and got away. It shouldn¡¯t have been long since he obtained those fragmentary star marks. I didn¡¯t expect that he would actually master the secret magics recorded in them within such a short time and use it to escape from me.¡±

    ¡°We need to find him!¡± A cold and fierce light could be seen in Yrie¡¯s eyes. ¡°He¡¯s the sessor who has gathered the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacy marks. If we let him build up his strength, he will be a major threat to all of our Demon realms one day! Even if we can¡¯t sack the Realm of a Thousand Devastations this time, we need to kill him before we retreat!

    ¡°Those from the Fourth Demon Realm and the Sixth Demon Realm have already failed to kill him, so we must do everything within our power to eliminate him! Otherwise, he will be like a major disease in our vital organs!¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± Tark nodded vigorously, fine, purple light flying out of his deep devilish eyes.

    At that moment, a very profound bloodline talent seemed to be born within him, which would allow him to detect signs of life.

    Waves of purple energy, which were invisible to the naked eye, began to quietly ripple towards the lofty mountain peak Nie Tian was on.

    Simultaneously, Yrie let out a cold harrumph as shemanded her mount to charge towards another lofty mountain peak.

    They both suspected that Nie Tian was hiding on one of the lofty mountain peaks.

    Hiding behind a huge rock, Nie Tian had long since activated his bloodline talent, Life Stealth, and covered up all of his life signs.

    Even still, he was worried.

    He could see via his seven Heaven Eyes that the mysterious purple ripples were spreading closer and closer to him.

    A human expert who was fighting multiple Demons in the valley suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, ¡°Keep Nie Tian safe!¡±

    The arrival and actions of Yrie and Tark seemed to have enlightened the Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm.

    A few high-tier Demons with formidable bloodline power also unleashed bizarre purple light from within their purple pupils.

    Each of them stimted their bloodline talent and formed a strange maic field that rapidly extended towards the three lofty mountain peaks, which were glittering with starlight.

    Having hidden every sign of his life, Nie Tian seemed to have be a part of the huge rock he was sitting behind.

    However, facing the joint search of so many formidable Demons, he still felt a sense of crisis.

    After all, Life Stealth only allowed him to mask his physical movements, the fluctuations of his spiritual power, and the aura of his flesh and blood, but not his soul fluctuations.

    People¡¯s souls had unique, very subtle fluctuations. The reason why he had seeded in sneaking up on targets repeatedly when he had been in the Realm of Split Void was that they had been at the Greater Heaven stage, or even lower.

    At such stages, their psychic power hadn¡¯t transcended into soul power, so they hadn¡¯t been able to detect the most trivial fluctuations of people¡¯s souls.

    However, Nie Tian was now facing Demons with sixth grade bloodline power, which meant their strengths matched that of Profound realm human Qi warriors.

    Demons at such a high grade were skilled in soul-rted magics. Adding in the fact that they possessed profound bloodline power, it would be very likely that they could perceive even the slightest movement of people¡¯s souls.

    Just as Nie Tian felt nervous about exposing his whereabouts, the Sun Wheel and Moon Wheel in midair suddenly started to shine with blindingly bright light!

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were immediately seized by them.

    To his surprise, he found that, of all the rivers of starlight that poured down from the heavens, two were actually falling into the Sun Wheel and the Moon Wheel.

    After being infused by the two rivers of starlight, the might of those two signature treasures of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect seemed to have skyrocketed.

    Hanging high in the murky, purple sky, they seemed no different from an actual sun and an actual moon that were showing at the same time!

    In the valley below, two powerful experts from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect seemed deeply astonished as they looked up and sensed the changes happening to the Sun Wheel and the Moon Wheel. ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±

    Those two Soul realm experts were the masters of the Sun Wheel and the Moon Wheel.

    However, even they hadn¡¯t expected that their Sun Wheel and Moon Wheel would be favored by two rivers of starlight.

    They immediately sensed that the might of their treasures had been bolstered by the star power.

    Almost simultaneously, the detection waves Tark had sent out in Nie Tian¡¯s direction captured the subtle movements of Nie Tian¡¯s soul. ¡°Gotcha!¡±

    Without any hesitation, he charged towards Nie Tian.

    Immediately afterwards, Yrie turned her mount around and also dashed towards the lofty mountain peak Nie Tian was on.

    Seeing that he had been discovered, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. He subconsciously summoned his star power, hoping to escape again with a Starshift.

    He knew perfectly clearly that Tark and Yrie weren¡¯t beings he could handle.

    Those two were high-tier, sixth grade Demons from the Barten n, a noble n with a long history in the Fifth Demon Realm. Therefore, they probably not only possessed formidable bloodline power, but also carried powerful tools that weren¡¯t any bit inferior to humans¡¯ spiritual tools.

    SHEW!

    Just when he was ready to cast the spell, a man appeared in front of him out of thin air.

    ¡°You¡¯re Nie Tian, right?¡± The man smiled and nodded at him. ¡°Rest assured. We won¡¯t allow anything or anyone to hurt you here. Any of us will dly give our life to save yours.¡±

    As the man spoke, the Sun Wheel rapidly floated to a spot dozens of meters above him.

    Staring at the approaching Tark and Yrie, the man said with a cold snort, ¡°Get the hell out of here!¡±

    He reached out with one finger, and in the next moment, dazzlingly bright light that resembled sunlight rushed towards Tark and Yrie like a torrential sea wave.

 Chapter 380: Sectmaster of the Yang Sect

    Both Yrie and Tark¡¯s expressions flickered as they saw the man mysteriously appear in front of them and point his finger at them.

    In the next moment, bright light rushed towards them like ocean waves.

    As fierce as sunlight in the desert, it instantly engulfed the energy waves which Tark had unleashed to detect Nie Tian¡¯s soul fluctuations.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Tark let out a muffled groan as a drop of blood dripped down the corners of his eyes.

    Seeing the iing overwhelming light, Yrie¡¯s mount instantly let out a screech as it changed direction and flew away at full speed.

    A few low-tier Demons had followed Yrie and Tark as they charged towards Nie Tian together.

    However, it seemed that their intelligence didn¡¯t allow them to sense how dangerous the light was. Thus, they swooped towards Nie Tian regardless of the potential threat.

    Immediately afterwards, the fierce ocean of spiritual light swallowed their enormous bodies.

    AWWW! ROAAAR!

    The low-tier Demons¡¯ agonizing screams rang out one after another, filling the air.

    Nie Tian looked over with narrowed eyes and discovered that those low-tier Demons¡¯ skin and flesh were vaporizing within the sea of spiritual light.

    Nie Tian turned his head back to look at the man who had just saved him. ¡°You are?¡±

    It was a man in his fifties, dressed in simple, ssical garments. His hair was rolled up in a bun on top of his head, and his grizzled beard fluttered against the wind.

    The manughed in an unconstrained fashion before saying, ¡°I¡¯m Li Muyang, the sectmaster of the Yang Sect. Now that you¡¯vee to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations to help us activate the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you are a friend to every Qi warrior sect in our realm. Whatever it takes, we will make sure no Demon will touch you or harm you in any way.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re being too kind, Senior Li,¡± Nie Tian said respectfully.

    He didn¡¯t know much about the Realm of a Thousand Devastations or the history between the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect. However, for some reason, he had a sense of intimacy when he talked to Li Muyang. He secretly examined Li Muyang and everything about him, and discovered that the sense of intimacy he had towards him might have something to do with his Sun Wheel.

    The Sun Wheel was the the Yang Sect¡¯s most precious treasure, which seemed to be of a simr attribute as the me Dragon Armor.

    <i>¡°Can it be because I am the me Dragon Armor¡¯s master?¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself subconsciously.

    While Nie Tian¡¯s mind wandered, a tall, beefy high-tier Demon suddenly thundered at them from beside the spatial rift, ¡°Li Muyang!! How dare you make a move against our young lord Yrie?!¡±

    Immediately after blurting these words, he summoned a dense amount of demon Qi and formed two pitch-ck dragons, which flew directly towards Nie Tian.

    The burly high-tier Demon was Anguz, the highestmander of the Demon army from the Fifth Demon Realm. His bloodline power had reached the seventh grade.

    It was him who had fought Li Muyang earlier.

    Li Muyang didn¡¯t show any attention to that Demon, but instead, he continued to talk to Nie Tian in a unconcerned manner. ¡°Before you came along, the situation had been kind of critical. I even worried that we might not be able to defend our realm against such arge number of Demons. But now that you¡¯ve activated the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and the spatial rift is gradually sealing, I no longer fear for the safety of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.¡±

    With a chuckle, he suddenly turned to gaze at his Sun Wheel.

    Hanging high in the heavens, the sizable Sun Wheel looked like a fierce sun in the middle of the day. As his gazended on Anguz in the next moment, the Sun Wheel rushed towards him with a loud whoosh.

    As it did, increasingly dazzling and fierce light burst out from within the Sun Wheel.

    At this moment, the darkness within a 50-kilometer radius rapidly scattered and dissipated, like ice and snow melting under fierce sunlight.

    The heaven and earth submerged in dense demon Qi was instantly lit up as brightly as if it were in broad daylight.

    With a shocked look in his eyes, Nie Tian gazed at the Sun Wheel and discovered that, bathed in its light, his vortex of star power started to elerate, which was very unusual.

    As the Sun Wheel¡¯s fierce light shone on him, he felt an ineffable warmth andfort.

    Smiling, Li Muyang said cidly, ¡°Now that the spatial rift is being sealed, the Demons are getting more and more anxious. Once the spatial rift is fully sealed, these Demon invaders won¡¯t be able to return to their realm ever again. Don¡¯t be fooled by their ferocious roars and aggressive demeanor. They¡¯ve already started to panic.¡±

    Li Muyang¡¯s gentle voice spread out far and wide. He seemed to be speaking to Nie Tian. However, when the Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations heard him, they all seemed greatly relieved, and their furrowed eyebrows rxed.

    He pointed at a few Qi warriors dressed in Yang Sect garments and ordered, ¡°You! Come here and protect Nie Tian!¡±

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said with an apologetic smile, ¡°That Anguz is pretty difficult to deal with. I need to handle him myself.¡±

    With these words, he dashed away after his Sun Wheel.

    Simultaneously, standing underneath the Moon Wheel, a graceful woman issued an order to every Yin Sect disciple in the vicinity in a soft and gentle voice. ¡°Disciples of the Yin Sect, we need to pay extra attention to the lofty mountain peak Nie Tian is on as well. Don¡¯t let the Demons hurt him!¡±

    Upon hearing Li Muyang¡¯s and hermand, many powerful experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations automatically gathered towards the mountain peak Nie Tian was on.

    Seeing that more and more human experts were appearing around him, Nie Tian gradually put his heart at ease, and sat down in the lotus position.

    Relying on the mysterious connection between the fragmentary star marks and himself, he closed his eyes to sense their movements.

    As he did, the fragmentary star marks seemed to turn into three Heaven Eyes.

    The spacious insides of the three lofty mountain peaks and the star pagodas within them were reflected in his mind with great rity, like an unfurling painting.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± With a soft exmation, he took note that there was something within these mountain peaks that he hadn¡¯t seen before in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s spell formations in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

 Chapter 381: Relics within the Bellies of the Mountain Peaks

    No matter whether it was the lofty mountain peaks in the Realm of me Heaven or in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, they all had vast hollow spaces inside of them.

    Countless mysterious patterns were carved on the inner walls of those mountain peaks, and in the middle of their internal spaces, there was always a pagoda, which had profound connections with the stars in the heavens.

    Other than that, the vast internal space of those mountain peaks had always been empty.

    However, this wasn¡¯t the case for the three mountain peaks in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Relying on the connection between the first fragmentary star mark and his soul, Nie Tian examined the inside of the first mountain peak and discovered that, other than the numerous glittering patterns carved on its internal walls and the lit-up pagoda in the middle, a seven-meter-long air-transportation spiritual tool was parked beside the pagoda.

    It looked like a small, silver boat forged from some kind of special metal, making it appear very exquisite and elegant.

    The prow and stern of the boat were both shuttle-shaped. Illuminated by the pagoda next to it, it glittered with an ice-cold, metallic luster, giving it a very sharp look.

    The entire boat was covered in mysterious patterns that contained the profound truths of star power.

    Thanks to the connection between the fragmentary star mark and his soul, Nie Tian felt like he had been carried inside the belly of the mountain peak by that fragmentary star mark.

    Nie Tian felt as if a shadow of his soul that looked exactly like him was floating quietly within the belly of the mountain peak.

    Then, he discovered that he could manipte his soul shadow to go wherever he wanted. Under his control, his soul shadow slowly arrived above the small boat, where it floated and observed the boat closely.

    He discovered that the stones that covered the bottom of the boat weren¡¯t spirit stones that could be found anywhere, but rather Star Stones, which he normally used to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Like transparent gems, the Star Stones filled the grooves in the bottom of the boat, one Star Stone for each groove.

    With everything around him illuminated by the pagoda, Nie Tian could see dazzling starlight constantly falling from the ceiling of the inside of the mountain belly.

    Some of the starlight streaked and infused into the patterns on the inner walls, while others flew into that small parked boat.

    Bathed in bright starlight, the boat seemed to be absorbing starlight silently.

    Nie Tian was secretly shocked. <i>¡°An air-transportation spiritual tool forged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡± </i>

    He had learned from Hua Mu that air-transportation spiritual tools were very hard to find. Even throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, only the truly powerful sects with deep-rooted strength would have enough resources and reputation to get brilliant equipment forgers to build this kind of spiritual tool that could soar across the sky.

    Hua Mu¡¯s Lightning Shuttle, the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Golden Chariot, and the Yin Sect¡¯s Silver Chariot were all air-transportation spiritual tools.

    They could allow Qi warriors who hadn¡¯t reached the Profound realm to cover more than 5,000 kilometers through the air within a day.

    Before, Hua Mu had taken him to the remote isle on his Lightning Shuttle, where they teleported to the Realm of me Heaven.

    Huang Fan and Liu Ling had also sessively carried him into demon Qi-wreathed areas on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Having witnessed the wonder of air-transportation spiritual tools, Nie Tian had imagined when he could get one of his own and speed across the heavens on it.

    Since it was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce that had left that silver boat there, did it mean that it was meant for him, the sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies?

    After all, throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, he was now the only one who had received legacy marks from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Doing his best to calm his excited heart, he switched his mind to the second fragmentary star mark, which had entered the belly of another lofty mountain peak.

    Theyout within the belly of the second lofty mountain peak was simr to the first one. The only difference was that there wasn¡¯t a boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool parked in the middle.

    Instead, there was something else.

    It was a crescent-moon-shaped crystal that was very simr to the pendant on Liu Ling¡¯s neck, but only bigger.

    Even though the crystal wasn¡¯t emanating much light while it floated beside the pagoda, a scroll could be seen sealed within it.

    At first nce, Nie Tian knew that the scroll must have something to do with the Yin Sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Then, hemanded his soul shadow to roam the inside of the mountain peak, but didn¡¯te to any more discoveries.

    That was when he switched to the third fragmentary star mark in the third mountain peak.

    It was almost identical to theyout within the second mountain peak, but something could be seen floating next to the pagoda.

    It was a ball-shaped crystal, inside of which was also a scroll.

    After a mere nce at the crystal and the scroll inside of it, Nie Tian came to a realization. ¡°A relic for the Yang Sect?!¡±

    The series of shocks eventually kept his mind from concentrating, and the wisp of his soul instantly returned to him.

    Mad Demonic roars entered his ears, along with the sounds of the Qi warriors who had been protecting him fighting and cursing the Demons.

    He didn¡¯t open his eyes immediately, but rather contemted silently.

    <i>¡°Why would there be relics for the Yin Sect and Yang Sect within those mountain peaks? What in the world is recorded in those two scrolls that have been sealed in those crystals?</i>

    <i>¡°Is there some kind of connection between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Yin Sect and Yang Sect?</i>

    <i>¡°Is there a way that I can get those crystals and the air-transportation spiritual tool out of the bellies of the mountain peaks?¡±</i>

    Eyes closed, numerous thoughts shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind. Meanwhile, he felt increasingly amazed by his discoveries inside of those mountain peaks.

    At that moment, the loud exmation of a Yang Sect expert suddenly rang out by his ear, ¡°It carries the bloodline of a Purple Glede!¡±

    He opened his eye and saw six human Qi warriors scattered on the mountaintop.

    The light shields enveloping them suddenly went out.

    Their exposed faces, necks, and arms seemed to be rapidly smeared with ayer of pale-gray, stone powder. Not only did they start to move slower, but fear and panic could be seen on their faces.

    Yrie from the Barten n was staring at them, her eyes as cold as frozen des.

    In the depths of the gruesome eyes of her mount, which carried the bloodline of Purple Glede, purple light interwove as it once again activated its mysterious bloodline talent.

    Now that Li Muyang, a Soul realm expert and the sectmaster of the Yang Sect, had left, Yrie and Tark, who possessed sixth grade bloodline power, had the audacity to attack him again.

    Through screeching and shouting in the Demonnguage, they summoned a dozen high-tier Demons and many winged low-tier Demons to the lofty mountain peak where Nie Tian was. They hovered around and fought the Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    From the look of it, Yrie and Tark wanted to kill Nie Tian to spare all future trouble before they pulled out of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Li Muyang from the Yang Sect and the graceful woman from the Yin Sect seemed to be busy dealing with their own enemies, and thus wouldn¡¯t be able to help protect Nie Tian.

    Even though the brilliant light from the Sun Wheel and the Moon Wheel had dispelled the dense demon Qi, it seemed far from enough to help their owners overtake their two formidable Demon enemies with seventh grade bloodline power.

    WHOOSH!

    A pitch-ck low-tier Demon swooped down from the sky and grabbed towards a Worldly realm Qi warrior with sharp ws that looked like iron anchors.

    As its huge ws whizzed down, a gravity-rted bloodline talent suddenly burst forth from within the Demon¡¯s body.

    The Qi warrior¡¯s protective spiritual power shield instantly grew distorted and shattered.

    CRUNCH!

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the Demon¡¯s ws descended upon the Worldly realm Qi warrior, breaking his bones and killing him instantly.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like des that were as fine as hair, the purple strings unleashed by Yrie caught another Yin Sect expert by surprise and severed his neck.

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± With these words, a powerful Profound realm expert who practiced thunder power threw numerous explosive thunderballs towards the enormous low-tier Demon with anchor-like ws, and bombarded it into falling towards the valley.

    Nie Tian nced around and saw that Demons and human Qi warriors were fighting madly. Casualties urred at every moment.

    However, most of those that had been killed by human experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations wererge, low-tier Demons.

    As for high-tier Demons like Yrie and Tark, whenever they encountered imminent danger, they would always call out. Upon hearing them, low-tier Demons would rush to their aid, giving their own lives to make sure they were unharmed.

    ording to his understanding, Nie Tian knew that low-tier Demons were referred to as magical beasts in Demon realms.

    They were usually used as expendable weapons, and since there were arge number of them, their casualties wouldn¡¯t concern theirmanders at all.

    Only the deaths of the high-tier Demons, who possessed powerful bloodline power, outstanding intelligence, and unlimited potential, would hurt theirmanders.

    Apparently, it was Yrie and Tark¡¯s n to motivate the low-tier Demons and trade their lives for the lives of the human experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Sitting on the mountaintop, Nie Tian gradually found it unbearable to watch more and more powerful experts from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations die while protecting him from the hideous beasts.

    At that moment, he suddenly remembered the dark side of human nature he had witnessed in ck Cloud City when he had returned to the Realm of me Heaven.

    His experience in ck Cloud City had once filled his heart with negative emotions and made him feel desperate.

    Those emotions had been haunting and suppressing him ever since then. Even his cultivation base had reached a standstill because of that.

    However, now that he watched the brave Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations fight Demons with their lives in order to protect him, he was finally freed from his long-standing, pent-up emotions.

    This made him feel that a crack had opened in this obstacle that had been impeding his cultivation.

    Even though none of his spiritual power, me power, wood power, or star power hadn¡¯t reached their breakthrough point, he had a feeling that what he had experienced and learned recently had helped him take the most important step forward.

    After this, once he had umted enough strength, he would be able to make his next breakthrough smoothly.

    Just as he felt that his mind had been opened up, a shudder ran through him as he then discovered that his three fragmentary star marks had returned to his body.

    Then, with the help of the fragmentary star marks, the perception of his seven Heaven Eyes once again soared through the ceiling.

    Not only that, but he also felt a miraculous connection between himself and the unfinished star formation covering the mouth of the spatial rift.

    With a cold smile, his eyes shone with a fierce, murderous light.

 Chapter 382: Son of the Starry Sky

    Back when he had sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven, Nie Tian had realized that once the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was activated and the three fragmentary star marks returned to him, he would be able to borrow strength from the gradually-forming formation of starlight at the mouth of the spatial rift.

    The perception of his seven Heaven Eyes would improve significantly because of this.

    Before the fragmentary star marks returned to him, he was nothing but a Heaven stage Qi warrior. If he were to face those formidable Demons alone, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to protect himself, not to mention fighting back.

    Only when the fragmentary star marks had returned to him would he be able to make an impact on the overall situation with his borrowed strength.

    Sitting on the mountaintop and watching the Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations get killed one after another while protecting him, he had long since be enraged.

    With a deep breath, hemanded his seven Heaven Eyes to shoot into the mysterious formation of starlight at the mouth of the spatial rift.

    Originally, the enormous pattern of glittering starlight had just been strengthening its restrictive force.

    However, as the seven Heaven Eyes fell into it one after another, it seemed to be vested with life, with Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes bing its soul!

    Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that he could control this mysterious starlight formation now.

    An intense killing intent rose from the bottom of Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    In the next moment, the grand starlight formation began to change.

    Like a vortex of stars in the depths of the universe, it started to rotate.

    As an ancient and boundless aura gradually dispersed through it, it began to shine unprecedentedly brightly.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, numerous beams of iparably pure starlight suddenly shot out of the formation.

    Like shooting stars and streaks of silk, they followed Nie Tian¡¯s will and shot towards the Demons that had been hovering around the mountaintop.

    Towering into the heavens, the lofty mountain peak Nie Tian was on seemed to echo his will, and emanated increasingly bright starlight.

    PHOOH! PHOOH!

    Carrying the profound truths of star power and a fierce aura that seemed as if it could annihte all living beings in this heaven and earth, two streaks of starlight cut two several-dozen-meter-long low-tier Demons in half!

    Like a sh, another streak of starlight shed down towards a nobly-dressed high-tier Demon¡¯s head with irresistible might.

    The high-tier Demon shrieked as he made a desperate effort to shield himself from the light with a pitch-ck pearl, which madly attracted demon Qi from its surroundings.

    Upon contact with the streak of starlight, numerous fine fissures instantly appeared on the pearl.

    As the fissures grewrger andrger, the pearl eventually failed to withstand the pressure and exploded.

    A substantial amount of purple and ck light burst forth and shot in every direction, along with drops of demon blood.

    The Demon wailed as he looked up at the descending starlight. In the next moment, his slender, perfectly-proportioned body cracked and exploded like a piece of broken ice, creating a mist of demon blood.

    Deeply stunned, a Qi warrior from the Yang Sect eximed, ¡°The grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can actually be used to kill Demons?!¡±

    He had been fighting that high-tier Demon right before he was killed in such a violent way.

    Moments ago, he had been struggling to defend against that Demon¡¯s mad attacks. However, the streak of starlight had killed him almost instantly, despite his full-force resistance.

    The Qi warrior turned to look at Nie Tian.

    The other Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations were also astonished. With flickering expressions, they all shot their gazes towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian slowly rose to his feet.

    Like an iparably sharp sword, he stood straight and unwavering, unleashing an imposing aura.

    With aposed expression, he said, ¡°I was deeply ashamed that I had to watch many seniors die because of me. Since I have received the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I suspected that I could summon power from the grand spell formation and use it to help you, and so I did.¡±

    Enlivened, the Qi warrior from the Yang Sect nodded repeatedly as he marveled, ¡°As I expected, it was you who is using the mighty spell formation to assist us! Great! Let¡¯s work together and kick these damn Demons out of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations forever! We¡¯ll use their dead bodies to deter those who dare to invade us again!¡±

    Many members of the Yin Sect were women, some pretty and innocent, while others were gorgeous and alluring.

    At that moment, their bright eyes were all fixed on Nie Tian.

    In their eyes, now bathed in brilliant starlight, Nie Tian seemed like a son of the starry sky who could control the innumerable stars that filled the sky.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The enormous starlight pattern at the mouth of the spatial rift once again evolved, giving rise to new and wondrous changes.

    The rivers of glorious starlight, which should have fallen into the spatial rift, suddenly changed directions as they pierced through the clouds and shot toward the roaring Demons gathered around the mountaintop.

    The rivers of starlight pouring down from the depths of the vast sky seemed to have a natural overpowering effect on the Demons.

    As they shone upon the raging demon Qi that the Demons used to wreath themselves, the demon Qi rapidly dissipated like snow being vaporized by fierce mes.

    Originally, the Demons had been using the demon Qi as their natural protective barrier. However, it was proven to bepletely useless under the dazzling starlight.

    As the rivers of starlight destroyed the demon Qi and shone on the Demons¡¯ bodies, they seemed to have a burning effect on them.

    Exposed to the bright starlight, every Demon began to let out miserable wails as they all seemed to be in a lot of pain.

    They immediately came to the terrifying discovery that there was a fundamental difference between the starlight summoned from the heavens by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s grand spell formation and the starlight in their own realms.

    The starlight here contained a mysterious power that was sacred and pure, so for them who lived on demon Qi, it was none other than a deadly poison.

    Even Yrie, an immediate member of the Barten n, and her mount, which carried the bloodline of a Purple Glede, couldn¡¯t withstand the starlight.

    In the fierce starlight, Yrie saw smoke rising from her mount¡¯s enormous body.

    Even though her exquisite suit of armor was helping her defend against the starlight, many parts of her body were exposed to the starlight, causing her to suffer from bone-piercing pain.

    Shock and fear could be seen in her eyes as she looked down and discovered that her smooth skin was already covered in visible, fine veins, as if her blood was seething.

    Tark from the Fifth Demon Realm also let out agonizing screams in the starlight that contained some kind of mysterious power. ¡°Yrie!¡± he called out. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here! We need to return to our realm as quickly as possible!¡±

    Afterwards, he let out a fewmanding roars.

    Upon hearing his roars, the other Demons seemed as if they had been pardoned and relieved from their death penalty.

    None of them dared to hover around the mountaintop anymore. Instead, they all rushed back towards the spatial rift with fear on their faces, while doing their best to avoid being hit by the rivers of starlight.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    However, the rivers of starlight kept pouring down from the sky. No matter whether they were high-tier or low-tier Demons, those who were struck by the starlight fell straight into the mountain valley one after another, like birds that had lost their wings.

    As they plummeted towards the ground, purple smoke kepting out of their bodies, as if their blood was boiling.

    Seeing that the situation had been turned around and the Demons were struggling for their lives, the Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations all seemed wild with joy.

    They brandished their spiritual tools and cast their exquisite magics to take the opportunity to kill the Demons that were scrambling for their lives.

    Arge number of low-tier Demons were chased down and ughtered as they rushed towards the spatial rift.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The heavy sounds of low-tier Demons¡¯ enormous bodies crashing into the mountain valley echoed out from time to time.

    The high-tier Demon who had been fighting the sectmaster of the Yin Sect noticed the unfavorable situation and rapidly called out to Anguz, ¡°Anguz! The situation is getting out of hand! We need to pull out now!¡±

    ROOOOAR!

    Anguz, who was fighting Li Muyang with his double-edged battle-axe, threw his head back and let out an enraged roar.

    Immediately afterwards, not only did all the Demons around the mountain valley begin swarming towards the spatial rift, but even Demons from hundreds of kilometers away seemed to have also received his order, and thus instantly left their human opponents and converged on the spatial rift.

    A handful of powerful experts from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect didn¡¯t chase after the fleeing Demons.

    Instead, they held fast to their duty and guarded Nie Tian.

    At this moment, they were all gazing at Nie Tian, their eyes filled with shock and awe.

    Each and every one of them had a cultivation base higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, and they were all well-aware that the young man in front of them was only at the Heaven stage.

    However, it was this seemingly unimpressive young man from the Realm of me Heaven, whose name they had never even heard of until recent years, who had just turned the situation around and saved the Realm of a Thousand Devastations from falling!

    They were also convinced that if Nie Tian hadn¡¯te and activated the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, endless Demons would have rushed through the spatial rift into their realm.

    The Demons would have never retreated before they finished ughtering every living being in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, not even sparing a chicken or a dog. (see note 1)

    Nie Tian¡¯s arrival saved the sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, as well as everyone and everything that lived on thisnd.

    Note:

    1. Here, the author used a verymonly-used Chinese proverb: ¼¦È®²»Áô, which literally means not sparing a chicken or a dog, so in other words: kill everyone.

    This got me thinking that it would be fun if I introduce you to some Chinese Idioms that have something to do with animals, so my n is to do one idiom a day below my releases for the next weeks or so. I hope you¡¯ll like them.

 Chapter 383: Refusing the Heaven Palace Sects Handsome Offer

    One of the guards, Kong Hong from the Yang Sect, solemnly expressed his gratitude towards Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian, we¡¯ll forever remember what you¡¯ve done for the Realm of a Thousand Devastations!¡±

    The two members of the Yin Sect who had stayed and guarded him were both female, one enchantingly gorgeous, and the other charming in an elegant way.

    Tunic-d, they were both smiling heartily as they nodded gently towards Nie Tian, brilliant light flowing within their charming eyes.

    ¡°Since I was blessed with the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce during the Heaven Gate trial, it was my responsibility to seal the spatial rifts while facing the Demons¡¯ massive invasion,¡± Nie Tian said modestly.

    After a brief pause, he sighed softly and added, a hint of bitterness appearing at the corner of his mouth, ¡°If people from the Realm of me Heaven shared the same thoughts as you, I would have felt moreforted.¡±

    Since he hade from the Realm of me Heaven, after he hade out from the Heaven Gate trial, he had exerted all his efforts to help the Blood Sect, Ghost Sect, and other sects defend against the Demons.

    In order to do that, he had even awakened the Blood Sect¡¯s Bone Blood Demon with his pure bloodline power.

    He had thought that, considering he had done so much for the Realm of me Heaven, when he had been in hiding, the sects in the Realm of me Heaven would have remembered all that and taken good care of his family.

    However, when he had returned to the Realm of me Heaven, he had found out that his grandfather and aunt had been forced to take shelter in the Realm of a Hundred Battles because many people in the Cloudsoaring Sect had detested them.

    What he had witnessed and heard about himself in ck Cloud City had also been mostly negative.

    Due to the speedy spread of the demon Qi, people had been submerged in a desperate atmosphere, and thus made him their vent.

    Many people even med him for the cmity that had devastated the Realm of me Heaven.

    His experience in the Realm of me Heaven had deeply disheartened him. He even had even once lost hope in people.

    However, he had never imagined that people from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, who he had absolutely no connection with, would risk their own lives to protect him while he was activating the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, who had never been fond of each other, had no divergence of opinion when it came to protecting him.

    In the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, Nie Tian felt a long-lost warmth in his heart.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven?¡± Fan Shanshan from the Yin Sect asked curiously, her slender eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that people in the Realm of me Heaven treated you differently. If it weren¡¯t for you, the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven wouldn¡¯t have been sealed. Compared to our realm, their strength is far inferior. They wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance if they had been forced to contend against the Astarte n.¡±

    The other female member of the Yin Sect, named Tian Xue, also seemed surprised as she said, ¡°They should have been proud of you and the fact that you¡¯re from the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head and didn¡¯t want to continue that topic.

    AWWW! ROOAR!

    At that moment, low-tier Demons¡¯ miserable screams and wails suddenly rang out from the spatial rift.

    The handful of people on the mountaintop looked down and discovered that, since all the enormous low-tier Demons were eager to return to the Fifth Demon Realm, as they scrambled through the spatial rift, many of them were pushed into the formation of starlight.

    Upon contact, their bodies instantly became badly mangled. Some even had their wings sliced off.

    Considering that the high-tier Demons were only slightly bigger than humans, they didn¡¯t encounter much difficulty when they flew through the spatial rift.

    Anguz and a few other high-tier Demons from the Barten n shouted at the top of their lungs.

    From the look of it, they were trying to tell those low-tier Demons to calm down and avoid the formation of starlight, which was gradually forming at the mouth of the spatial rift, as much as they could.

    However, Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations were attacking and killing the fleeing Demons thatgged behind, which contributed to their eagerness to return to their home realm, and made their retreat disorderly and congested.

    After observing for a short while, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered as he stopped summoning power from the formation of starlight.

    As soon as he stopped, not another stream of starlight flew out of the formation of starlight at the mouth of the spatial rift again.

    The extremelyrge formation of starlight gradually stabilized and quietly reaped the low-tier Demons¡¯ lives as they scrambled through the spatial rift, which was wide enough for several of them to pass simultaneously.

    As rivers of starlight continued to pour down from the heavens and infuse into the formation of starlight, it expanded rapidly.

    As it covered an increasinglyrge area, the Demons came under increasingly heavy pressure as they squeezed through the spatial rift, which resulted in more casualties.

    WHOOSH!

    Liu Ling from the Yin Sect appeared in the distant sky, steering her Silver Chariot and approaching Nie Tian at a fast speed.

    The chariot wobbled in the air, as it had clearly been damaged. Huang Fan from the Heaven Pce Sect, who had escorted him to this ce, was also standing in it.

    Both Fan Shanshan and Tian Xue from the Yin Sect greeted Liu Ling as the Silver Chariot descended. ¡°Senior martial sister.¡±

    Seeing that Nie Tian was unharmed and that the Demons were scrambling through the spatial rift, which had now be a meat grinder, Liu Ling let out a sigh of relief before jumping down from her Silver Chariot and smiling broadly at Nie Tian. ¡°Thank you for what you¡¯ve done.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you are fine,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    Liu Ling sighed again and said with an exhausted expression on her face, ¡°You¡¯ve turned the situation around and saved us. Originally, Huang Fan and I were surrounded by many Demons. Our lives were hanging by a thread. However, as a roar suddenly rang out from this location, the Demons that were attacking us quickly scattered and fled.

    ¡°Only because of this were we able toe here in one piece.¡±

    With the expression of a man who had just escaped death, Huang Fan nodded and smiled gratefully at Nie Tian, saying, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good as long as everyone is fine,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    At this moment, none of them needed to do anything anymore. As Anguz roared furiously, the Demons lost all will to fight as they madly converged on the spatial rift.

    The Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, on the other hand, were maximizing their victory by cutting down the fleeing Demons.

    None of the Demons dared to stay and make a move against Nie Tian.

    Not to mention that a handful of powerful experts from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had been guarding Nie Tian with greatmitment this whole time.

    ¡°It seems to me that the threat in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations has been lifted.¡± The tip of Huang Fan¡¯s eyebrow rose as he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Your business is finished here. Let¡¯s go back to the Realm of Mystic Heaven.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned in silence.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Huang Fan asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t n on going to the Realm of Mystic Heaven right now.¡± Nie Tian gave voice to his stance.

    Upon hearing these words, the members from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect looked deeply shocked.

    Huang Fan seemed somewhat confused and displeased as he said, ¡°Our sectmaster demanded to see you.¡±

    Before their trip to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, Zhao Luofeng had instructed him in private that he should bring Nie Tian back to the Heaven Pce Sect as soon as the spatial rift here was sealed.

    The deal between the Heaven Pce Sect and Auden from the Fourth Demon Realm was a secret of paramount importance.

    Now that Nie Tian had obviously learned about it, the only way to make him keep that secret was if the Heaven Pce Sect took Nie Tian in as their disciple.

    Both Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong had taken it for granted that Nie Tian would agree to be a disciple of their sect.

    After all, as the Qi warrior sect with the most deep-rooted strength, the Heaven Pce Sect ranked first in battle power throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong had even made preparations for a grand sect-entrance ceremony when Nie Tian joined the sect. Not only that, but they were also ready to cultivate Nie Tian with everything they had and make him their sect¡¯s brightest future star, now that Ning Yang was in the past.

    Zhao Luofeng had told Huang Fan about their ns for Nie Tian.

    Huang Fan couldn¡¯t think of any reason that might keep Nie Tian from epting their handsome offer.

    Thus, upon learning that Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to return to the Heaven Pce Sect after the situation of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations was stabilized, Huang Fan was truly upset.

    Seeing that Huang Fan¡¯s expression had grown grim, the experts from the Yin Sect and Yang Sect stood quietly in front of Nie Tian with their eyes narrowed.

    Huang Fan let out a cold harrumph and said with a displeased expression, ¡°Kong Hong! Liu Ling! What are you doing? You should know that if I didn¡¯t bring Nie Tian here, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations would still be deep in trouble! You should be grateful to our sect!¡±

    Kong Kong shook his head firmly and said with a calm tone, ¡°You¡¯ve got it wrong, Brother Huang. We are grateful, but not to the Heaven Pce Sect.¡±

    He turned around to nce at Nie Tian as he continued, ¡°He is the man who has saved every man and woman in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations!¡±

    Liu Ling and the other two female members from the Yin Sect nodded as Liu Ling said, ¡°Brother Huang, we¡¯re grateful that you brought Nie Tian here safely. However,pared to what Nie Tian has done, your contribution seemed barely noticeable.

    ¡°If you intend to force Nie Tian to do things against his will, we won¡¯t just sit back and watch.¡±

    After she uttered these words, Fan Shanshan and Tian Xue, who were standing behind her, nodded along.

    These Qi warriors from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had just been through a nightmare. It was Nie Tian who had given them hope when they were the most devastated.

    Therefore, they all considered Nie Tian as their savior.

    Even if Huang Fan, a member of the Heaven Pce Sect, wanted to make a move against Nie Tian, they wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    Huang Fan¡¯s expression was very sullen as he silently gazed back and forth between Nie Tian and the others, a meaningful look filling his eyes.

 Chapter 384: Breaking Up!

    As the night gradually lifted, the dense demon Qi that had submerged the entire mountain range for two years finally dissipatedpletely.

    Soon after, a silver lining appeared in the distant sky, which was adorned by a flew clouds. Day broke.

    However, the atmosphere among Nie Tian and the others on the mountaintop didn¡¯t lighten up as the crisis ended.

    The air became still as the two sides reached a standoff.

    Huang Fan stared silently at Nie Tian and the others for a while before he took a deep breath and said to Nie Tian with a somewhat rxed tone, ¡°Before I escorted you to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, our sectmaster told me that as long as you agreed to join the Heaven Pce Sect, you¡¯d be its chosen one.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have unconditional and unlimited ess to all the valuable and unique treasures you need.

    ¡°Whenever youe to problems you can¡¯t solve in your cultivation, the sectmaster and grand elder will do whatever it takes to straighten things out for you.

    ¡°Not only that, but you¡¯ll even have the opportunity to learn from the most powerful expert in our sect. He¡¯ll also help you with problems that you run into on your cultivation path.

    ¡°Your grandfather and aunt will be taken to the Heaven Pce Sect, where they¡¯ll live the rest of their lives infort and affluence.

    ¡°Furthermore, we¡¯ll also make sure that you get to keep the Spirit Channeling grade treasure that you obtained from the me God Sect. We¡¯llmunicate and make arrangements with the me God Sect so as to eliminate their idea of getting it back from you.

    ¡°If you join the Heaven Pce Sect, perhaps you¡¯ll get to control the future of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°There¡¯s a good chance that, in several hundred years, you¡¯ll take the position of sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, and be the most powerful figure in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Seeing that using force wouldn¡¯t work, Huang Fan immediately changed his tactics, and attempted to lure Nie Tian in with tremendous benefits, hoping that he would open his eyes to what he would get after joining the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Upon hearing Huang Fan¡¯s promises, the members of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect were all secretly shocked.

    As powerful as they were, they didn¡¯t think they would be able to turn down such a handsome offer if they were in Nie Tian¡¯s shoes.

    He would get everything he needed as he pursued his cultivation; Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong would help him with any difficulties he ran into; formidable experts would teach him without holding anything back; he might even be given the position of sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect in the foreseeable future, and be the most powerful person in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Being offered everything a Qi warrior would ever want at such an young age, would this young man from the Realm of me Heaven actually be able to refuse?

    Kong Hong, Liu Ling, and the others all gazed at Nie Tian with iparablyplicated looks in their eyes, waiting for him to give his answer.

    Even they believed that the best choice for Nie Tian would be to ept the offer and go back to the Heaven Pce Sect with Huang Fan.

    However, Nie Tian was still frowning, as if he were still weighing things over.

    <i>¡°The Heaven Pce Sect...¡± </i>Nie Tian muttered inwardly.

    He recalled his experience in the Heaven Pce Sect. When he had followed Huang Fan to the Realm of Mystic Heaven and seen the Heaven Pce Sect for the first time, he had been shocked by its incredible magnificence, and thus convinced that it lived up to its name as the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    When facing the invasion of the Astarte n from the Sixth Demon Realm, the entire Realm of me Heaven hadn¡¯t been able to stop it. All they had done was wallow in desperation.

    The situation had also been very dangerous and critical when the Realm of a Thousand Devastations had defended against the Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm.

    He could sense that the strengths of the different demon realms also varied.

    The Fourth Demon Realm seemed much more powerful than the Fifth Demon Realm and the Sixth Demon Realm.

    When the Heaven Pce Sect had waited for the Demon invaders from the Fourth Demon Realm alone, not only hadn¡¯t their members shown the slightest fear under Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong¡¯s leadership, but they had even looked forward to the Demons¡¯ appearance.

    Eventually, they had forced Auden to agree to their proposal.

    With this alone, Nie Tian saw how powerful the Heaven Pce Sect was.

    However, when he had arrived at the spatial rift, Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and the other Heaven Pce Sect members¡¯ attitudes towards him didn¡¯t make him feel the slightest bit of warmth, as if they hadn¡¯t attached any importance to him.

    Aside from that, he had been deeply disgusted by their secret deal with the Demons.

    On the other hand, the way the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations treated him made him veryfortable.

    Furthermore, he had a feeling that these two sects had some kind of connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and he was the only living sessor of the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Hidden within those three lofty mountain peaks were one boat and two scrolls that seemed to be somehow rted to the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.

    After weighing the pros against the cons in his head, Nie Tian became increasingly determined. Thus, he turned to Huang Fan and said apologetically, ¡°I¡¯m very sorry, Senior Huang, but I have no intentions of bing a member of the Heaven Pce Sect. If Sectmaster Zhao wants to ask me about other matters, I¡¯ll be happy to go the Heaven Pce Sect another time. I still have some unfinished business in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. I can¡¯t go to the Heaven Pce Sect with you now.¡±

    Huang Fan suddenly let out a cold harrumph and raised his voice. ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re being a fool for not appreciating our kindness!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as he didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Brother Huang,¡± Kong Hong said, looking displeased. ¡°If you have to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won¡¯t taste sweet. (see note 1) I think it¡¯s time that you went back to the Heaven Pce Sect yourself.¡±

    Liu Ling¡¯s bright eyes were also filled with a fierce look as she said, ¡°Brother Huang, if you need our assistance in any other matter, we¡¯ll surely exert all our power to help you. But if you want to force Nie Tian to go back to the Heaven Pce Sect with you, we regret that we cannotply with your wish!¡±

    ¡°I demand to speak to your sectmasters!¡± Huang Fan sounded furious.

    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Li Muyang from the Yang Sect seemed to have heard Huang Fan¡¯s words and thus instantly appeared in front of him. He smiled in an unrestrained way as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard your conversation. I can tell you right now that Kong Hong¡¯s attitude on this coincides with mine.¡±

    Shock could be seen on Huang Fan¡¯s face.

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t dare to adopt an imposing manner in Li Muyang¡¯s presence, and thus seemed somewhat overshadowed.

    His cultivation base was only at thete Profound realm, while Li Muyang, who was standing in front of him, was an expert at the middle Soul realm, one of the few experts in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars to reach such a realm.

    He knew perfectly well that Li Muyang was even more powerful than Ling Dong, the grand elder of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Zhao Luofeng was the only person throughout the Heaven Pce Sect whose strength matched Li Muyang¡¯s.

    Perhaps the old man who practiced secluded cultivation year-round, and exhausted all means to gather enough unique materials to break through into the Void domain, was the only one in the Heaven Pce Sect who could overtake Li Muyang.

    ¡°It¡¯s our sectmaster¡¯s will that Nie Tian joins the Heaven Pce Sect!¡± Huang Fan made his stance clear.

    Li Muyang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change a bit as he said with narrowed eyes, ¡°I won¡¯t stand in the way if Nie Tian is willing to go with you. However, if he isn¡¯t, I won¡¯t allow you to take him to the Heaven Pce Sect by force.¡±

    Huang Fan was going to say something when Li Muyang stopped him with a wave of his hand and continued, ¡°I¡¯m not after the legacies Nie Tian obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and I don¡¯t intend to force him to stay in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. If he wants to leave, he can go whenever he wants. I won¡¯t try to stop him. Of course, I also don¡¯t want you or anyone else to stop him from going where he wants to go!

    ¡°You can go back and tell Zhao Luofeng that this is my stance on this matter!¡±

    After making sure that Anguz had disappeared into the spatial rift, Xing Huanyue, the sectmaster of the Yin Sect, put away her Moon Wheel and said from afar, ¡°My stance is the same!¡±

    Huang Fan¡¯s expression flickered dramatically.

    As every powerful expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars knew, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue didn¡¯t get along.

    Their cultivation bases were equally matched, and as the heads of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, they had been struggling in secret for years.

    Almost every ten years, the two of them would find a secluded ce to start a fierce battle, where killing would be allowed, under the name of learning from each other by exchanging moves.

    Sometimes, their battles wouldst months.

    Conflicts also often broke out between disciples of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect. People would be wounded or killed all the time.

    The two of them could almost never reach a mutual understanding on any matter. There were very few cases where they didn¡¯t have any friction.

    However, their opinions were surprisingly unified on this matter.

    Considering the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s strength, either the Yin Sect or the Yang Sect would be at an overwhelming disadvantage if they were to face the Heaven Pce Sect alone.

    However, if the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect teamed up, as powerful as the Heaven Pce Sect was, they would have to pay a significant price to gain a final victory.

    Huang Fan weighed over his choice of words before he dropped his imposing manner and said, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll go back to the Heaven Pce Sect and ry your stance on this matter.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the teleportation portal, Brother Huang,¡± Liu Ling said without any hesitation.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need!¡± Huang Fan waved his hand, declining her good intention of giving him a ride on the Silver Chariot. Instead, since he had reached the Profound realm, he exploded into the air and shot into the distance.

    Right before he disappeared into the distant sky, he jerked his head back and shot a cold look at Nie Tian.

    Under his ice-cold gaze, Nie Tian¡¯s body stiffened as a surge of coldness ran through him.

    At that moment, he realized that his refusal might have provoked Huang Fan¡¯s killing intent.

    The fragile friendship between them, which had been built since they had met in the Realm of me Heaven, had officiallye to an end.

    From now on, in the eyes of Huang Fan and the Heaven Pce Sect, he might no longer be the promising seed they would cultivate with their heart and soul, but rather an insult they would exert all means to erase.

    ¡°Kid, I¡¯m very curious why you would turn down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s handsome offer,¡± Li Muyang said, intrigued.

    The others also had confused expressions on their faces, as if they all found it hard to understand.

    Even Xing Huanyue, the sectmaster of the Yin Sect, quietly descended and examined him with a strange look in her eyes.

    Note:

    1. The literal trantion of the saying is: a forcibly picked melon is not sweet. So it basically means if something is not meant to be, there¡¯s no use forcing it. This saying is also verymonly-used.

 Chapter 385: Promise

    As the sectmasters of the Yang Sect and Yin Sect, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue, were also deeply surprised by Nie Tian¡¯s choice.

    Even they felt that it wasn¡¯t the wisest choice to turn down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer.

    The Heaven Pce Sect was generally acknowledged as the most powerful Qi warrior sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Countless talented youngsters would exert every possible means to join it.

    Huang Fan had already put it clearly that as long as Nie Tian agreed to join the Heaven Pce Sect, they would spare no resource or effort to help him grow.

    From the look of it, if Nie Tian became fully qualified, Zhao Luofeng might even let him take his ce as the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect some day.

    It seemed that Nie Tian was a fool to have refused such a tempting offer.

    Under the gazes of the numerous powerful experts from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, Nie Tian remained silent for a while before saying, ¡°I already have a master.¡±

    He only said he had a master, yet he didn¡¯t mention his sect, which was mainly because, after experiencing so much, he no longer had a sense of belonging with the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    The only person in the entire Cloudsoaring Sect he approved of now was Wu Ji, and he could only remember how kind Wu Ji had been to him.

    He knew perfectly well that aside from Wu Ji, there was another reason why he had turned the Heaven Pce Sect down, which was that he had been disgusted by the secret transaction between Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong and the Demons.

    However, he wasn¡¯t a fool. He was well-aware that if he ever dared to reveal the secret transaction between the Heaven Pce Sect and the Demons, the Heaven Pce Sect would hunt him down and kill him at all costs.

    They might not even give Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue face.

    ¡°Is your master Wu Ji from the Cloudsoaring Sect?¡± Li Muyang asked.

    Nie Tian nodded briefly.

    ¡°Oh...¡± Li Muyang said. ¡°Wu Ji is for sure a great mentor. However, the Cloudsoaring Sect is nowhere near the top on the list of powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled wryly without saying a word.

    ¡°Alright...¡± Li Muyang changed the subject by saying with a hearty smile, ¡°I admire your choice, even though I don¡¯t understand why you refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect. You should know that very few people would have the courage to resist such a strong temptation and turn the Heaven Pce Sect down. But you can rest assured. I¡¯llmunicate with the Heaven Pce Sect. I believe Zhao Luofeng will give me some face.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Senior Li,¡± Nie Tian said solemnly.

    Li Muyang shook his head repeatedly as he said with a solemn expression on his face, ¡°No, no. Every Qi warrior in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, including me, should be thanking you. If you hadn¡¯te to our realm and sealed the spatial rift, we couldn¡¯t possibly have stopped the Demons from swarming into our realm, relying only on our own power.¡±

    He sounded very serious and sincere. ¡°Nie Tian, we Qi warriors of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations owe you a big favor. And we¡¯ll keep everything you¡¯ve done for us at heart. If you ever run into trouble with your cultivation or any other matter, you¡¯re wee toe and look for me in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.¡±

    Xing Huanyue from the Yin Sect nodded, indicating she shared the same attitude.

    After pondering silently for a while, Nie Tian suddenly said, ¡°Senior Li, Senior Xing, I have something I¡¯d like to speak with you about in private.¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Li Muyang¡¯s face.

    The eyebrows of Xing Huanyue, who was standing in a graceful manner, flickered as she cast a look at Liu Ling and the others.

    Then, the disciples of the Yin Sect got the message and flew away like weightless feathers under Liu Ling¡¯s leadership.

    Kong Hong and the other Yang Sect disciples also sensibly turned around and left the mountaintop without uttering a single word.

    Afterwards, Li Muyang said in a soft voice, ¡°Now you can go ahead and say what you need to say. I¡¯ve given you my word; whatever you need, I¡¯ll do everything within my power to help you. Just name it.¡±

    Xing Huanyue nodded gently again.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew serious as he weighed his choice of words. Then, he said, ¡°Just now, the three marks I gained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce flew into the bellies of these three lofty mountain peaks. Through my connection with the fragmentary star marks, I saw a boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool in one of the mountain peaks.¡±

    Taken aback, Li Muyang said, ¡°Air-transportation spiritual tools are very precious and rare. Since it seems to have been put there by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, it is even rarer. Considering that you¡¯ve collected all the fragmentary star marks, you are the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Therefore, that boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool should belong to you. We have no intention of taking it.¡±

    Xing Huanyue, who seemed to be a woman of few words, once again nodded to show her stance.

    ¡°I see. But that boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool was only one of the things I discovered.¡± With these words, Nie Tian lowered his voice as he discretely nced around, as if he was afraid that Qi warriors from the other sects from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations would overhear what he was about to say.

    That was when he noticed that most of the Demons had already gone through the spatial rift and disappeared.

    Many Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, including the disciples of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, were still chasing after and attacking stray low-tier Demons.

    Upon hearing his words, Li Muyuang¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. With me here, no one will be able to overhear our conversation.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± Nie Tian put his heart at ease, and after a deep breath, he said with an increasingly serious expression, ¡°I saw a crescent-moon-shaped crystal and a sun-shaped crystal in the bellies of the other two lofty mountain peaks. Within those two crystals were two scrolls, which I believe have some kind of connection with the Yin Sect and Yang Sect.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue¡¯s eyes instantly shone with the light of astonishment.

    It seemed as if their eyes had be two chilly moons and two zing suns at this moment.

    Xing Huanyue, who hadn¡¯t said a single word since she had descended in front of Nie Tian, started to breathe rapidly, as she was apparently deeply shaken.

    ¡°Wait, wait, allow me a moment,¡± Li Muyang said waving his hand. Then, under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, he took out a jar of hard liquor and gulped down the whole jar within seconds.

    CLANK!

    After he was finished, he cast the earthen jar aside, which shattered against arge rock.

    With slightly flushed cheeks, Li Muyang spoke while his eyes flickered with the light of excitement, and his breath stank of alcohol, ¡°Alright, go on.¡±

    Xing Huanyue gazed at him with eyes that were as bright as the chilly moon.

    ¡°I¡¯m positive that the scrolls within those two crystals have something to do with the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect. However, with the wisp of my soul that I sent into the bellies of the mountain peaks, I could only vaguely sense the aura of the moon and the sun from the crystals.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how I can get them out of there for you.¡±

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue exchanged a nce.

    The two of them didn¡¯t exchange a single word, but they seemed to understand what the other person was thinking through nothing but eye contact.

    Xing Huanyue remained silent as Li Muyang said, ¡°Nie Tian, the scrolls within those two crystals are very important to our sects and the two of us. We¡¯d really appreciate it if you could help us get them out of there.

    ¡°If you can do that, I promise you that if things between you and the Heaven Pce Sect ever get ugly, both our sects will go all-out to fight the Heaven Pce Sect for you!¡±

    Xing Huanyue nodded vigorously.

    ¡°The reason why I¡¯m telling you this is that I also want to help you get those crystals out of there,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s great! Many thanks!¡± Li Muyang said solemnly.

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian continued, ¡°However, even though I¡¯m blessed with the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and I have three fragmentary star marks, I don¡¯t know how to do that. For some reason, I have a feeling that there might bee kind of connection between your sects and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, a surprised look appeared in both Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue¡¯s eyes.

    It seemed that even they didn¡¯t know what kind of connection that might be.

    ¡°If you¡¯re not in a hurry to leave, why don¡¯t you stay in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and make some attempts?¡± Li Muyang requested sincerely. ¡°Please try every possible method and see if you can get those crystals out of there, since they are simply too important for us.¡±

    ¡°I will." Nie Tian gave his word. ¡°I also intend to get that air-transportation spiritual tool left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce out of there.¡±

    ¡°Okay, in the meantime, we¡¯ll both stay here with you for as long as you need,¡± Li Muyang said.

    ¡°Please do whatever you can,¡± Xing Huanyue finally said softly.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before all the stray low-tier Demons were ughtered by the Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Afterwards, all the sectmasters of the other sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations came to express their gratitude towards Nie Tian. Then, after having a brief discussion with Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue about their uing ns, they all left.

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue discussed a few things with their sect members before sending them away as well.

    Meanwhile, the two of them stayed and waited for Nie Tian to solve the mysteries of those three lofy mountain peaks and fish the crystals out.

 Chapter 386: At Wits End

    In the Realm of Mystic Heaven...

    Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and about ten powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect were gathered in the mountain valley where the spatial rift was. They all sat in silence, as if they were waiting for something.

    The time they had set with Auden hadn¡¯te yet.

    Apparently, they were waiting for Auden to gather all the items they had demanded from him from the Fourth Demon Realm.

    When the time came, they would march through the spatial rift into the mysterious spatial tunnel and finish the transaction with Auden.

    All of a sudden, the Golden Chariot flew over at an extremely fast speed and stopped in front of them with Huang Fan standing in it.

    In the dead-silent mountain valley, Zhao Luofeng and the others, who hadn¡¯t said a word in days, raised their chins and looked at Huang Fan with narrowed eyes.

    Ling Dong frowned and asked, a displeased expression filling his face, ¡°What are you doing here, Huang Fan? Why did youe back by yourself? Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡±

    Zhao Luofeng also seemed displeased as he said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have returned by yourself.¡±

    Huang Fan stepped forward, bowed towards Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, and said, ¡°Nie Tian refused toe back with me.¡±

    Ling Dong burst into a ming rage and shouted, ¡°What good are you then? Your only job was to bring him back to us!¡±

    Huang Fan forced a bitter smile. ¡°Sorry for my ipetence.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng waved his hand, beckoning for Ling Dong to keep calm, before he said, ¡°What happened exactly? Did the Realm of a Thousand Devastations fall? Even though the Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm are by no means weak, they are no match for Auden and the Demons from the Fourth Demon Realm.

    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue¡¯s strength. If they were willing to join hands and summon the other few sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, they should have been able to hold for some time.¡±

    With these words, the tips of Zhao Luofeng¡¯s eyebrows rose as he asked, ¡°Did something happen to Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± A frustrated expression spread across Huang Fan¡¯s face. ¡°Nie Tian sessfully sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations before I left. The Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm suffered great casualties and retreated.¡±

    He went on and exined the whole story to Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong in great detail, not leaving out anything.

    ¡°What?!¡± Ling Dong let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Nie Tian simply didn¡¯t want to return to the Realm of Mystic Heaven with you?! What the hell was the kid thinking? As the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, we¡¯ve already agreed to help him with everything once he joins us. What else could he possibly want?¡±

    Suspicions clouding his mind, Zhao Luofeng asked, ¡°Did you make yourself clear that, as long as he agrees to join us, we¡¯ll spare no effort or resource to cultivate him?¡±

    ¡°I did. I said everything I was supposed to say.¡± Huang Fan sighed. ¡°But he simply refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect. On the other hand, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue were surprisingly unified on supporting Nie Tian. Since I didn¡¯t think I would be able to forcibly take Nie Tian from them and bring him back to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, I could onlye back by myself.¡±

    Ling Dong grew furious as he said, ¡°That kid witnessed our secret deal with the Fourth Demon Realm! It¡¯s not exactly honorable. Once he reveals it, the entire Heaven Pce Sect will lose face! No matter what, we need to take him back and make him join our sect! Also, one of his three fragmentary star marks belonged to Ning Yang and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°Even though Ning Yang is dead now, we¡¯ve got to take it back now that the three major spatial rifts are sealed!¡±

    ¡°But Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue took a very tough stance on the matter,¡± Huang Fan said in a soft voice.

    Ling Dong snorted coldly as he inwardly marked the two of them as his enemies. ¡°The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect! I can¡¯t believe that they would actually dare to oppose us because of Nie Tian! Ungrateful bastards! If we didn¡¯t arrange for Nie Tian to go to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, their people would have been living in misery and suffering right now!¡±

    Zhao Luofeng remained silent for a while before turning to Ling Dong and saying, ¡°Don¡¯t get so worked up yet. Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue aren¡¯t that easy to deal with, especially if they¡¯ve teamed up.¡±

    After taking a moment to calm himself, Ling Dong said, with strong killing intent in his eyes, ¡°We can wait until we finish our transaction and get those crucial spiritual materials from the Demons from the Fourth Demon Realm. After that person in our sect finishes building his inner domain with those spiritual materials and enters the Void domain, I seriously doubt that Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue will still dare to shelter Nie Tian!¡±

    Zhao Luofeng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m thinking.¡±

    ¡°Let them have their moment for now,¡± Ling Dong said with a cold snort.

    ...

    In the mountain valley of the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    An iparablyrge formation of starlight was shining brightly, fully covering the mouth of the spatial rift.

    At this moment, rivers of starlight had already stopped pouring down from the heavens.

    Thanks to Nie Tian, the spatial rift which had ripped open because of the appearance of the Heaven Gate was finallypletely sealed.

    The Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm were no longer able to go through it and descend upon the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    The Qi warriors from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, on the other hand, would have no problem going through it into the Demons¡¯ realm, as long as they were confident in their strength.

    However, the truth was, for thousands of years, only a handful of Qi warriors had dared to challenge the formidable Demons in their realms.

    Most of those who had gone died miserable deaths there. Those who hade back alive were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. Furthermore, they all kept their mouths shut about what they had encountered in the Demon realms.

    Nie Tian sat silently in the lotus position atop one of the extremely high mountain peaks. Due to theplete activation of the grand spell formation, his substantialized seven Heaven Eyes had once again be intangible.

    The miraculous feeling of his perception improved by dozens of times was also gone. Like before, his seven Heaven Eyes recovered their original features.

    With a thought, Nie Tianmanded them to fly towards the bellies of the lofty mountain peaks.

    Meanwhile...

    As Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue condensed their pure and refined soul power, two vague shadows flew out from the top of their heads.

    These shadows were the embodiment of their soul consciousness, which seemed to have fascinating uses.

    The shadows flew towards the two mountain peaks where the scrolls were hidden.

    However, as soon as they made contact with the mountain peaks, a shudder ran through Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue¡¯s true forms.

    As they went deeper inside, they could feel with great rity that there were iparably exquisite restrictive spells in the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    Even though they were powerful middle Soul realm Qi warriors, their soul shadows couldn¡¯t prate the profound restrictive spells powered by star power.

    The two of them made repeated attempts and exhausted all sorts of exquisite soul magics.

    However, the restrictive spells within those mountain peaks continued to hold. No matter how hard they tried, they still couldn¡¯t send their soul shadows into the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    After a long time, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue exchanged a nce as they reluctantly retracted their soul shadows.

    ¡°Whoever set up this grand spell formation must have been formidable, with a cultivation base among the three domains.¡± Li Muyang sighed with a frustrated expression on his face. ¡°Considering our current cultivation bases, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to break those restrictive spells.¡±

    Xing Huanyue nodded silently.

    At that moment, they noticed that Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes had also reached the mountain peaks.

    Even though the Heaven Eyes were invisible to the naked eye, they were able to capture them with great rity with their soul power.

    They felt that Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes didn¡¯t seem to encounter any obstruction from the restrictive spells as they scattered and flew into the bellies of the three lofty mountain peaks.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was as calm and peaceful as ever, as he didn¡¯t seem to experience any difficulty.

    Li Muyang smiled bitterly. ¡°From the look of it, only those who receive the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will be able to probe into the bellies of those mountain peaks. Even though he is far from entering the Worldly realm, and his psychic power hasn¡¯t transcended into soul power, his awareness has no problem going into and out of the bellies of those mountain peaks.¡±

    XIng Huanyue didn¡¯t utter a word and let him mutter to himself.

    Inside the bellies of those mountain peaks, Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes floated about like intangible oilmps.

    Through them, Nie Tian saw that the pagodas in the middle had already stopped glittering due to the fact that the spatial rift had already been fully sealed.

    Only the innumerableplicated patterns carved into the internal walls would flicker with starlight every once in a while.

    The boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool was still parked where he had found it, and the two crystals with two scrolls inside of them were still floating in their original ces.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes hovered around the air-transportation spiritual tool and the two crystals, yet he didn¡¯t know where to even begin.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian thoroughly examined the spacious insides of the mountain peaks, and discovered that they were tightly sealed, and he couldn¡¯t find a single rift that would allow any tangible items to go through.

    That meant his Heaven Eyes could go in and out freely, but not the air-transportation spiritual tool, or the crystals, which were physical objects.

    If he wanted to get them out of the bellies of the mountain peaks, he would have to either break the internal walls and create a tunnel that led to the outside world, or set up a teleportation portal within the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    As for breaking the internal walls, he didn¡¯t have the ability to do that. Plus, he knew perfectly well that the insides of the mountain peaks were critical to keeping the spatial rift sealed. Once they were broken, there would be a possibility that the spatial rift would open again. Therefore, he would never do that.

    As for setting up a teleportation portal, he didn¡¯t know anything about spatial energy and magics. Even if he were an expert in that area, there weren¡¯t any materials avable in the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    Just like that, his seven Heaven Eyes roamed about as Nie Tian wracked his brains for an answer. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯te up with a method to get those three items out of the bellies of the mountain peaks.

 Chapter 387: Breakthrough

    Time passed quickly and quietly like a running creek.

    The raging demon Qi that had covered the mountain ranges in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations had already scattered and dissipated thanks to the sealing of the spatial rift and the purging of the starlight.

    Nie Tian had already spent half a month sitting atop that mountain peak.

    During this time, as the sectmasters of the Yang Sect and the Yin Sect, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue never left Nie Tian¡¯s side, but rather guarded him silently.

    However, even though Nie Tian had exhausted all methods, he hadn¡¯t been able to get the scrolls they desired out of the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    Later, he had suspected that it might be his poor cultivation base that was stopping him from seeding, so he refocused on practicing cultivation and tempering his spiritual sea with all kinds of materials.

    About ten days passed. Practicing silently, he suddenly had a feeling that the vortexes of spiritual power within his spiritual sea had all reached their breakthrough points.

    Then, as soon as he sensed that his spiritual power had built up to the critical point, he made the breakthrough smoothly with the help of his spirit jades, not encountering any obstacles in the process.

    With Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue there, he couldn¡¯t find a safer location.

    Therefore, with a peaceful mind, Nie Tian sessfully entered thete Heaven stage two dayster, and another vortex of spiritual power appeared in his spiritual sea, making the total rise to six.

    After making a minor breakthrough in his cultivation, he could feel that subtle but noticeable changes had happened to his spiritual sea, soul, and fleshy body.

    Shortly thereafter, he once again sent his seven Heaven Eyes into the bellies of the mountain peaks, hoping to find a way to get them out of there.

    However, he soon discovered that even though he had entered thete Heaven stage, there was still nothing he could do to secure the three items left there by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Therefore, he went back to building up his strength.

    During this period of time, people from the Yin Sect and Yang Sect woulde and meet Xing Huanyue and Li Muyuang from time to time to discuss important matters regarding their sects.

    The two of them would usually have brief discussions with them before urging them to leave, fearing that they might affect Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation.

    These two Soul realm experts, who were among the top Qi warriors throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, showed great patience. It seemed as if they were even willing to wait there for decades for Nie Tian to secure those two scrolls.

    Two more months passed.

    Nie Tian was still cultivating devotedly. Whenever an idea popped up in his head, he would try it out without any hesitation.

    He no longer hung onto the profound use of the Fragmentary Star Incantation and star power.

    Rather, he tried to derive enlightenment from the me Spirit Incantation and contemte the possible use of his me power, flesh power, and wood power. He even attempted to infuse these types of power into his Heaven Eyes in order to find a viable way out of the bellies of the mountain peaks.

    However, the numerous attempts he made only allowed him to gain deeper understandings of those different types of power.

    The three miraculous items still didn¡¯t move a bit, or show any changes because of his efforts.

    Even still, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue seemed patient enough to keep waiting.

    After all, those two scrolls were simply too important for them.

    The two of them already had a good idea of what those scrolls were. Before, they had assumed that their predecessors had lost them long ago, and they never thought that they had actually been in the bellies of those mountain peaks this whole time.

    The discovery of the scrolls made them so wild with joy that they were willing to put many important matters on hold just to wait for Nie Tian to solve the mystery and get the scrolls out.

    Even though they still had plenty of time and patience, Nie Tian¡¯s patience gradually wore out as he failed over and over again.

    One day...

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly after failing another time. He turned to the two and said, ¡°Senior Li, Senior Xing, I¡¯m afraid... I won¡¯t be able to get those scrolls out of there any time soon... Well, my grandfather and aunt are currently taking shelter in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. I haven¡¯t seen them for a long time, and I miss them quite a bit.¡±

    Li Muyang didn¡¯t try to mask his disappointment as he said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve figured that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing only when I¡¯ve refined the second fragmentary star mark, entered the Worldly realm, and transcended my psychic power into soul power, will I be able to solve the mysteries within these mountain peaks.¡± Nie Tian pointed at his only chest and continued, ¡°I¡¯ve only refined one of the fragmentary star marks. The second and third are branded on my chest, but I¡¯ve still got to merge them with my flesh and blood. Perhaps that¡¯s why I can¡¯t figure out a way to fulfill your hopes now.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t me you for it.¡± Li Muyang nodded with an understanding expression on his face. ¡°If you want to go to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, I¡¯ll arrange for someone to take you there. As for your family, if you want, you¡¯re wee to bring them back to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. Both the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect will be happy to take them in.¡±

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll make a decision after I meet with them,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Li Muyang rose to his feet. ¡°Not a word hase from the Heaven Pce Sect. I don¡¯t know what their ns are, and I didn¡¯t take the initiative to approach them. But considering you¡¯ve turned them down, you¡¯d better be careful. I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian replied before Li Muyang could finish.

    The short-spoken Xing Huanyue looked deeply at him as she said, ¡°Is there anything else we can do for you? Any special spiritual materials that you¡¯ll need for your future cultivation? Or medicinal pills?¡±

    Li Muyang smiled unrestrainedly. ¡°She¡¯s right. Those are some practical things. Considering your current cultivation base, whatever you need, we¡¯d probably be able to get them for you.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment before shaking his head and saying, ¡°Nothing I can think of.¡±

    ¡°Alright. " Li Muyang seemed a bit disappointed. ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for your trip to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Would you like a few people to escort you there? The Realm of a Hundred Battles is such a godforsaken ce. Too many forces withplicated rtions and warssting year-round, I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t be able to handle all that, considering your current cultivation base and strength.¡±

    Nie Tian waved his hand. ¡°It won¡¯t be necessary. But thank you for your kind offer. I understand that I¡¯ve already be a thorn in the flesh of the Heaven Pce Sect and that I need to be cautious. I¡¯ll take on a different identity after I arrive in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. If members of your sect go with me, those who are trying to catch me will easily figure out who I am.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯m worried that something might happen to you.¡± Li Muyang let out a sigh. ¡°I guess I won¡¯t be able to stop worrying about your safety before you enter the Profound realm.¡±

    Deep down, he was also worried that, if Nie Tian got killed before he could help them secure those scrolls, he and Xing Huanyue would lose their hope of obtaining them.

    In fact, the two of them had ced all their hopes in Nie Tian. They wished they could keep Nie Tian in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations forever.

    Only by doing that would they be assured of his safety. However, since they both knew that would be against Nie Tian¡¯s will, they were torn inwardly.

    ¡°Ever since I obtained those fragmentary star marks, every major sect, including the Heaven Pce Sect and your sects, have been searching for me, but I lived through that, didn¡¯t I?¡± Nie Tian smiled with pretended ease.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll make the arrangements.¡± Li Muyang didn¡¯t insist.

    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for him to go to the Realm of a Hundred Battles via one of our teleportation portals,¡± Xing Huanyue said with a in tone.

    Surprised, Li Muyang shot a look at her before saying, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Xing Huanyue summoned a Silver Chariot that looked exactly the same as the one in Liu Ling¡¯s possession. She took Nie Tian on board and flew the chariot directly towards the Yin Sect.

    When the war chariot was about 100 kilometers from the spatial rift, Xing Huanyue, who had been standing in front with her back facing Nie Tian, sudden opened her mouth. ¡°I heard that you were hiding in the Realm of Split Void, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Confusion could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°The Land of the Abandoned, Ash City, Shatter City, which one of those did you stay in?¡± Xing Huanyue asked softly.

    ¡°Shatter City,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    Xing Huanyue fell silent, gazing forward as she always had. A whileter, she asked, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, was the Hua Tian, who created a major stir in Shatter City not long ago, you?¡±

    A shock ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as she asked her question. He looked at her from behind and asked, ¡°How do you so much about what happens in Shatter City?¡±

    ¡°Someone very important to me lives there,¡± Xing Huanyue said with a in tone.

    However, in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, she seemed somehow saddened.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, that was me,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Xing Huanyue¡¯s shoulders trembled slightly, as if she were being hit by huge waves of emotion. Aplicated expression appeared on her front-facing face.

    It seemed that she had questions to ask, but she was struggling to keep them in, an agonizing look filling her eyes.

    A whileter, she killed the silence. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can you tell me about your encounters there?¡± She changed the direction of the conversation. Instead of asking about the things she wanted to know, she asked for Nie Tian to describe his encounters in Shatter City.

    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Then Nie Tian went on and exined how he had lived with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye after arriving in Shatter City, how he had worked for Li Ye, as well as his dangerous trips to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Xing Huanyue kept silent with her back facing him the entire time.

    By the time they were about to arrive in the Yin Sect¡¯s spacious square, Nie Tian had finished telling Xing Huanyue about his encounters in the Realm of Split Void.

    Apparently, something he had described or someone he had mentioned made Xing Huanyue quite emotional.

    After some time, she turned around. With a expressionless face, she said, ¡°The leader of the Fang, that Hunter organization you encountered outside Shatter City, her real name isn¡¯t Song Li, but rather Dong Li. She¡¯s a member of the Dong n in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°Dong Baijie, who gave you the Star Stones and the mask, is her older brother.

    ¡°Dong Li has already returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and so has Dong Baijie.

    ¡°It¡¯s very likely that you¡¯ll run into them on your trip to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. The way they treated you seemed rather strange. You¡¯d better think about how you want to deal with them.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s about time I sent you to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

 Chapter 388: The Realm of a Hundred Battles

    The Realm of a Hundred Battles was different from the other eight realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    In the other eight realms, human Qi warriors were the overlords. Their sects sat in different parts of the realm, and they took in disciples from all over the realm.

    That wasn¡¯t the case in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    The Realm of a Hundred Battles was every bit as vast as the others, but it wasn¡¯t ruled by humans.

    Rather, it was a paradise for spirit beasts.

    It was said that the humans¡¯ territory only took up one tenth of the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    All the rest was roamed by all kinds of spirit beasts. If humans dared to enter those areas, they would often fall prey to spirit beasts.

    There were only a handful of truly powerful spirit beasts in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars that possessed seventh grade bloodline power, making them as powerful as Soul realm human Qi warriors. However, most of them lived in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    The number of spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles was almost as many as the number of the spirit beasts in the other eight realmsbined!

    Perhaps this was the reason why many areas of this vast realm were still waiting to be explored.

    However, it would be extremely difficult for humans to takend from such arge number of formidable spirit beasts.

    Up until this day, only four powers had dared to explore thends of the Realm of a Hundred Battles and seeded, which were the Dong n, the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect.

    No one knew exactly when those four powers had been established in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, but through what must have been thousands of years of hard work, they only managed to explore and rule one tenth of the realm.

    This was also why, when the Realm of me Heaven had faced the possibility of being stormed by the Demons, the sects in the Realm of me Heaven had all secretly transferred their core disciples to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    After all, the other eight realms had long since been carved up and dominated by powerful sects with long histories like the Heaven Pce Sect, Ice Pavilion sect, Yin Sect, Yang Sect, and me God Sect.

    If sects in the Realm of me Heaven dared to march over to their territories, it would be like taking prey out of tigers¡¯ mouths. One could imagine the results.

    Therefore, when the entire Realm of me Heaven had wallowed in desperation, the only realm they had thought of had been the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Since most of the boundlessnd in the Realm of a Hundred Battles had been inhabited by spirit beasts, if it hade down to the point where they had to flee the Realm of me Heaven, they would have been able to fight and takend from the spirit beasts as the Dong n, Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect had done.

    In Water Moon City in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    In a magnificent pce made of white jade, two people appeared in the center of an inter-realm teleportation portal.

    One of them was Nie Tian, who was wearing the mask gifted to him by Dong Baijie, and the other was Liu Ling from the Yin Sect.

    Water Moon City sat in the heart of the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and it had been built by the Dong n, Cao n, Gu n, Pill Pavilion Sect, and the fifth force in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    The Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had moved to the Realm of a Hundred Battles many years after the other four forces.

    Furthermore, unlike the other four forces, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce wasn¡¯t interested in exploring and expanding. They made their living by organizing trades and transactions.

    It was under the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce¡¯s proposition that the five forces had joined hands and built Water Moon City from scratch.

    Since the Realm of a Hundred Battles was rich in natural resources and spirit beasts,rge numbers of Qi warriors from the other realms woulde and explore it.

    Those who could make it back to Water Moon City from the areas roamed by dangerous spirit beasts would usually gain huge fortunes from their trips.

    Through the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, they could trade in the spiritual materials they had looted for spirit stones, medicinal pills, spiritual tools, and cultivation incantations.

    The Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, however, would umte fortune from those trades.

    It had business rtions with many major Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Many precious materials unearthed in the Realm of a Hundred Battles were so rare that Qi warriors from the other realms would often have to resort to the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce when they wanted to purchase cultivation or equipment forging materials that suited their special needs.

    A girl in her twenties approached and greeted Liu Ling with a broad smile on her face the moment she saw Liu Ling walk out of the portal. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since you¡¯vee here, Aunt Liu.¡±

    From the look of it, she was at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Liu Ling pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°You¡¯re always so pretty, Qin Yan.¡±

    ¡°How can I be when I¡¯m in your presence?¡± After exchanging pleasantries, Qin Yan looked Nie Tian up and down with a measuring gaze before asking curiously, ¡°Is he also from the Yin Sect?¡±

    Wearing the mask Dong Baijie had gifted him, Nie Tian¡¯s appearance looked unimpressive.

    With a brief examination, Qin Yan reached the conclusion that Nie Tian was only at thete Heaven stage.

    Qi warriors at his cultivation stage could be found everywhere, so he didn¡¯t attract her attention in the slightest.

    The only thing made her curious was that she knew that the Yin Sect seldom took in male disciples.

    All of the Yin Sect disciples that had evere to the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were female like Liu Ling. Never had she ever met a male disciple of the Yin Sect.

    ¡°Wu Tian here isn¡¯t a disciple from my sect.¡± Liu Ling smiled and avoided exining Nie Tian¡¯s identity in detail. Then, she asked, ¡°I heard that, over the past year, many sects in the Realm of me Heaven have arranged for their disciples to move to Water Moon City, is that right?¡±

    Qin Yan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. But now that the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven is sealed, many of them have already moved back to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°Does the Cloudsoaring Sect still have people in Water Moon City?¡± Liu Ling asked.

    ¡°Cloudsoaring Sect?¡± Qin Yan¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Wait a second. I¡¯ll check for you.¡±

    With these words, she took out a thick book and started searching in it under Liu Ling and Nie Tian¡¯s gazes.

    At that moment, after having nced around briefly, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were caught by this pretty girl with a quiet quality, who was wearing a light-green dress.

    Compared to Pei Qiqi¡¯s beauty, which could overthrow cities, Qin Yan seemed slightly inferior.

    However, she was still among the few females who Nie Tian had ever considered outstandingly beautiful. In his eyes, her beauty matched An Shiyi¡¯s.

    After some time, Qin Yan put the book away and raised her chin. ¡°Yeah, some members of the Cloudsoaring Sect are still in Water Moon City.¡±

    With these words, she noticed that Nie Tian, who was standing next to Liu Ling, was staring nkly at her.

    Qin Yan frowned slightly, as she felt somewhat offended. However, she didn¡¯t say anything in Liu Ling¡¯s presence.

    ¡°Qin Yan, would you do me a favor and take Wu Tian to the Cloudsoaring Sect members¡¯ residence?¡± As she spoke, she took out an exquisitely carved green jade pendant.

    Since no spiritual power fluctuations could be detected from the fine pendant, it seemed to be an ordinary essory.

    Qin Yan smiled broadly as she straightforwardly epted the pendant and put it away. ¡°No problem,¡± she said.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Liu Ling turned around and walked back into the teleportation portal. ¡°As you know, we just went through a bloody war against the Demons from the Fifth Demon Realm. Many troublesome matters still require my attention in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, so I¡¯d better return now.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I understand,¡± Qin Yan said.

    After Liu Ling disappeared from the teleportation portal and returned to the Yin Sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the smile filling Qin Yan¡¯s face gradually faded away.

    Her attitude suddenly took a turn for the indifferent as she said, ¡°Your name is Wu Tian, right? Come with me. I¡¯ll take you to the residence of those people from the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded silently before following her out of the grand pce made of white jade.

    As soon as they stepped outside the pce, Nie Tian was drowned by all kinds of noise and people that stretched as far as his eyes could see.

    He found himself standing in a square, where four teleportation portals were set up for people to teleport between different locations within the realm.

    Many Qi warriors came and went through them, but Nie Tian didn¡¯t know which part of the Realm of a Hundred Battles they led to.

    Numerous lofty stone pavilions were scattered around the square, with Qi warriors entering and exiting all the time.

    They walked through the square and followed a wide and deep street out of the headquarters of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Qi warriors of various cultivation bases could be seen sitting by both sides of the street. Apparently, they weren¡¯t members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    ced in front of them were all sorts of cultivation materials, medicinal pills, spiritual tools of various grades, and scrolls about spell formations.

    Nie Tian found that the buildings on both sides of the street were much lower than the stone pavilions in the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. Each of them had a banner hanging at their gate, stating their name and the scope of their business.

    Some people would shop in stores, while others would stop by the curbside and choose materials and tools that suited their needs from the vendors¡¯ collections.

    Compared to Shatter City, this city was muchrger, freer, and more prosperous.

    Before he could get a good look at everything, Qin Yan urged him to pick up the pace from ahead.

    Nie Tian could only catch up.

    About two hourster, Qin Yan led him to what seemed to be the end of the street. She pointed at a courtyard with a handful of low buildings and said, ¡°People from the Cloudsoaring Sect live here. Help yourself.¡±

    With these words, she turned around and left.

 Chapter 389: Water Moon Chamber of Commerce

    Standing in front of the gate, Nie Tian nced around.

    He gazed back where he hade from, and saw that the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce was located at the center of Water Moon City. Even though he was observing it from a significant distance away, he could still see the towering stone pavilions and hear the hustling people.

    From there to where he was standing, the buildings on either side of the street gradually became lower and shabbier.

    Looking in the opposite direction, he found that the street ended a few courtyards down, leading to a boundless forest.

    Unlike Shatter City, there were no solid city walls surrounding Water Moon City. Because of this, Qi warriors coulde and go freely, without having to pay spirit stones.

    However, people still had to pay a certain number of spirit stones to rent the stone pavilions in the city.

    The closer the stone pavilions were to the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and the loftier they were, the higher the rent would be.

    That meant the courtyards and houses that were the furthest from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and sat on the perimeter of the city, would be the cheapest.

    This courtyard sat right on the perimeter of the city, making it not only in poor condition, but also very unsafe for those from the Cloudsoaring Sect who lived in it.

    On his way over, Liu Ling had briefly told him about the situation in Water Moon City.

    He learned that since there weren¡¯t any defenses at the perimeter of the city, every once in a while, spirit beasts would wander into the city.

    Naturally, the courtyards and pavilions that sat on the edges were most likely to be attacked by those spirit beasts.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian muttered in a low voice before he knocked on the closely-shut wooden gate, ¡°From the look of it, my grandfather and aunt¡¯s condition in the Realm of a Hundred Battles isn¡¯t as good as I thought.¡±

    KREEEN!

    The gate opened. Li Fan stuck his head out. Looking at Nie Tian with a vignt expression on his face, he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Upon seeing that it was Li Fan, Nie Tian instantly felt relieved. He said, smiling, ¡°Long time no see, Uncle Li!¡±

    Even though he had altered his appearance, he hadn¡¯t changed his voice.

    Li Fan went nk for a few seconds. After spending some time to get a good look at him, he snapped to his senses.

    ¡°Get in, quickly!¡±

    Shocked and ted, Li Fan immediately ushered him in and shut the gate.

    A few disciples of the Cloudsoaring Sect were sitting in the middle of the courtyard, chattering with each other.

    Luo Xin, Wu Xing¡¯s disciple, was among them. Seeing that Li Fan had ushered a stranger into the courtyard, she hastily asked with a surprised expression on her face, ¡°Who is he, Li Fan?¡±

    Li Fan winked at her, saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t youe with me, Luo Xin? You guys mind your own business.¡±

    Deeply confused, Luo Xin followed Li Fan and Nie Tian into a small room, where a number of prayer mats were ced on the floor.

    After entering the room, Luo Xin snapped at Li Fan while looking Nie Tian up and down with a suspicious gaze, ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Shh, keep it down.¡± Li Fan lowered his voice, beckoning for her not to attract the others¡¯ attention. Then, he pointed at Nie Tian and said with his eyes filled with excitement, ¡°Guess who this is.¡±

    Luo Xin red at Li Fan. ¡°How should I know!?¡±

    Nie Tian bowed briefly and said, ¡°Long time no see, Big Sister Xin.¡±

    Luo Xin instantly recognized his voice. ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re Nie Tian!?¡± Her face turned pale with shock as she asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?!¡±

    ¡°Shh! Be quiet!¡± Great concern could be seen on Li Fan¡¯s face.

    ¡°Why? Am I not wee here?¡± Nie Tian said softly with a smile.

    Both Luo Xin and Li Fan suddenly fell silent.

    Only after a few moments did Luo Xin say, ¡°We heard that you went to the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. And we¡¯re very grateful for what you¡¯ve done for us. But word came from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations that... you turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer and refused to join them. Is that right?¡±

    After the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations had been sealed, Nie Tian had stayed there for about half a year, trying to figure out a way to secure those two scrolls for Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue.

    During that period, he had also sessfully broken through into thete Heaven stage.

    In the meantime, word of his deeds had also spread. Now every major sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars knew that he had refused to be a member of the Heaven Pce Sect, as well as the fact that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had stuck their necks out protecting him.

    From what Luo Xin and Li Fan could tell, now that Nie Tian had so daringly refused the Heaven Pce Sect, he¡¯d better not leave the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. At least, with the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect there, the Heaven Pce Sect wouldn¡¯t have the audacity to march over there and act without scruples.

    However if he left the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, once the Heaven Pce Sect learned of it, he would probably get into trouble.

    Therefore, both of them were deeply surprised to see him.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding. ¡°I refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect... Anyhow, it¡¯s been more than two years since I saw my grandfather and auntst time, so I¡¯ve decided toe to see them.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is.¡± Luo Xin sighed as her expression suddenly grew somewhat embarrassed. ¡°But they¡¯re not here.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Did they return to the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    Thanks to him, the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven had been sealed, and the Demons had been warded off.

    After the desperate atmosphere that had pervaded the Realm of me Heaven for two years was finally relieved, most of the sects had already summoned their core disciples back.

    Therefore, he assumed that Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had also returned to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°Umm... No.¡± Luo Xin said with a bitter expression.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Then, what is it?¡±

    ¡°The thing is...¡± Li Fan started to exin.

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had been taken to Water Moon City about a year ago when Nie Tian had still been in the Realm of Split Void.

    Back then, the raging demon Qi had still devastated the Realm of me Heaven. Every sect had felt desperate, including the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    Many disciples of the Cloudsoaring Sect had assumed that it would only be a matter of time before the Realm of me Heaven fell, and that it would be their responsibility to explore newnd in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Hence, soon after their arrival, they had started exploring the parts of the Realm of a Hundred Battles that teemed with spirit beasts. Technically, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian weren¡¯t members of the Cloudsoaring Sect, and thus they hadn¡¯t been obligated to join their operations.

    Furthermore, Wu Ji had reminded them that they should just stay in Water Moon City and practice cultivation, and not be concerned with anything else.

    However, since Nie Donghai¡¯s spiritual sea had been repaired, he had started to pursue a higher cultivation base again. Meanwhile, he was reluctant to practice cultivation with the resources Wu Ji had granted them, so he, Nie Qian, and a few other members of the Cloudsoaring Sect had gone on exploration trips to areas roamed by dangerous spirit beasts, hoping to loot valuables from the spirit beasts and trade them for spirit stones and cultivation materials.

    In their first two trips, they had returned ording to the n, and their gains had been substantial.

    Therefore, they had embarked upon a third trip with Jiang Lingzhu and a handful of others.

    However, this time, they had been gone for a long time, and there was still no sign of their return.

    Originally, considering that the crisis that hung over the Realm of me Heaven had already lifted, Luo Xin and Li Fan had prepared to gather the other disciples and return to the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    However, since some of the disciples hadn¡¯t returned from their exploration trip, the two of them could only sit tight and wait for them toe back.

    When they returned, they would gather everyone and return to the Realm of me Heaven via the inter-realm teleportation portal in Water Moon City.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows knitted. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that my grandfather and aunt are on an over-extended exploration trip? And Jiang Lingzhu is with them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± An apologetic expression filled Li Fan¡¯s face. ¡°Nothing went wrong during their first two trips. Plus, your grandfather was very stubborn. I tried to persuade them not to go, but he just wouldn¡¯t listen.¡±

    ¡°Do you have an idea of where they might be?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± Li Fan nodded before suddenly realizing Nie Tian¡¯s intention. ¡°What? You want to go there?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I fear for their safety. I¡¯ve got to go check on them,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Li Fan and Luo Xin didn¡¯t speak for a moment. Instead, they gazed deeply at him.

    They had heard that Nie Tian had killed the head of the Yuan n in ck Cloud City, who had been at the Greater Heaven stage, the same as them.

    Complicated emotions rose in their hearts.

    They knew that Nie Tian had only been at the Lesser Heaven stage when he had disappeared from the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, two yearster, when he had returned, he had actually managed to kill the Greater Heaven stage Yuan Fengchun. Both of them had been bbergasted upon hearing this news.

    After a moment of silence, Li Fan nodded, saying, ¡°Luo Xin, you¡¯d better go with Nie Tian. Lingzhu is also on the exploration team. My master is probably also worried about her safety. Bring them back as soon as you find them.¡±

    ¡°Sure, keep an eye on the disciples here, will you?¡± Luo Xin said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Li Fan replied. ¡°Water Moon City is fairly safe. I¡¯ll make sure nothing happens to them.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Big Sister Xin,¡± said Nie Tian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± said Luo Xin.

 Chapter 390: Gift

    After stepping out of the shabby courtyard, Luo Xin led Nie Tian down the extended street.

    The end of the street connected to a craggy stone path. Towering, ancient trees could be seen on both sides of the path.

    Nie Tian noticed that there were indeed no walls surrounding Water Moon City. Anyone would be free to enter and exit the city.

    He asked Luo Xin about the city, and she told him that people didn¡¯t need to pay a single spirit stone to enter Water Moon City.

    Almost every pavilion and building in Water Moon City was for lease. The Water Moon Chamber of Commerce would take more than half of the rental ie.

    The rest would be split equally between the Dong n, Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect. Every ten years, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce would distribute their shares to them.

    The headquarters of the Dong n, Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect all sat in areas roamed by powerful spirit beasts.

    Ever since they had assumed their foothold in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, they had never stopped exploring and expanding.

    Of course, the four powers each had their own industries in Water Moon City, which was considered one of the most important trading centers in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The four teleportation portals in the square in the center of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce led to the Dong n, Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect.

    Any Qi warrior would be allowed to use those teleportation portals as long as they paid the required amount of spirit stones, so that they could explore or hunt in those regions.

    Only members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce and the four powers would be able to use the teleportation portals free of charge.

    The destination of Nie Donghai¡¯s exploration team was in the Dong n¡¯s territory. The fastest and most convenient way to get there would be to pay the price and teleport to the Dong n via the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce¡¯s teleportation portal.

    However, in Luo Xin¡¯s opinion, the price was too high, and the path to the Dong n¡¯s territory was fairly safe, so she chose to march there on foot.

    By the time Nie Tian learned that they could have saved time and trouble by teleporting directly to the Dong n from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and all it would cost were spirit stones, they were already far down the road.

    Therefore, Nie Tian, who had abundant spirit stones in his possession, gave up on the idea of returning to Water Moon City to use their portals.

    Along the way, they ran into quite a few Qi warriors.

    Those who were returning from their trip with substantial gains would usually talk to each other with faces filled with smiles.

    Those who hadn¡¯t gained anything valuable from their trip would usually seem rather crestfallen.

    Nie Tian noticed that, either way, those Qi warriors were in a light mood, which waspletely different from what he had seen in the Realm of Split Void.

    Each and every Qi warrior who hade and gone between Shatter City and the Void Illusion Mountain Range traveled with great caution, as if they had been traveling on thin ice.

    Part of the reason had been that numerous vicious ouws and Hunters had been wandering outside Shatter City.

    On the other hand, if the explorers came across others with inferior cultivation bases along the way, they wouldn¡¯t mind killing and robbing them.

    In general, after his experience in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian found the atmosphere in the Realm of a Hundred Battles to be very friendly. ¡°Is my master in the Realm of a Hundred Battles?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Martial granduncle rushed back as soon as he heard that you¡¯d returned to the Realm of me Heaven.¡± Luo Xin seemed surprised as she asked, ¡°What? Didn¡¯t you see him in the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    Nie Tian seemed rather disappointed. ¡°I see, so he¡¯s gone back.¡±

    Apart from his desire to see Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, the other reason why he hade to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, regardless of the threat from the Heaven Pce Sect and Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue¡¯s desire for him to stay, was that he also wanted to visit Wu Ji.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Wu Ji had actually returned to the Realm of me Heaven upon learning about his return.

    However, he had spent too short a time in the Realm of me Heaven. Even before the spatial rift had been fully sealed, Hua Mu had urged Huang Fan to take him to the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°Where have you been over the past two years, Nie Tian?¡± Luo Xin asked curiously.

    ¡°I had to hole up somewhere after obtaining those fragmentary star marks.¡± Nie Tian gave an secretive answer.

    Luo Xin nodded and didn¡¯t pursue the answer, knowing that the topic was a bit sensitive. ¡°You¡¯ve be more and more mysterious over the years. There are only so many inter-realm teleportation portals in the entire Realm of me Heaven. After you left, those who owned them all said that you hadn¡¯t left via their teleportation portals.

    ¡°The seven sects helped the Heaven Pce Sect search through the entire Realm of me Heaven, but they still failed to find you.

    ¡°Then, people suspected that you had already left the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°After that, all the powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars joined the search for you, yet none of them had any clue about your whereabouts.

    ¡°I simply can¡¯t imagine what kind of method you used to hide from so many people.¡±

    Luo Xin sighed, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian had already worked miracles by obtaining two fragmentary star marks from numerous talented young disciples from powerful sects during the Heaven Gate trial.

    What amazed her even more was that he had actually managed to leap from the Lesser Heaven stage to thete Heaven stage in only two years¡¯ time.

    On top of that, he had also killed Yuan Fengchun, relieved the crises in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and even turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s handsome offer.

    Now, she had an increasingly strong feeling that she couldn¡¯t see through this young man, who was simply from an insignificant n in ck Cloud City.

    It would take about ten days for them to arrive in the Dong n¡¯s territory. During this period of time, Nie Tian would take out and fondle the me Star, which Li Ye had custom-made for him, whenever he found a chance.

    One day, the two of them grew tired, so they stopped and rested by the craggy stone path in the dense forest.

    As Nie Tian once again took out his me Star and was about to refine it with his spiritual power, he noticed that Luo Xin was going to recuperate with a few spirit stones she had taken out of her bracelet of holding.

    When he had first met Luo Xin, she had been at the Heaven stage, but after the upheaval in the Scarlet me Mountain Range and the adversities in the Heaven Gate, she had advanced to the Greater Heaven stage.

    However, she was still wearing a bracelet of holding, not a ring of holding.

    The tip of Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrow rose as he handed a ring made of white jade to her. With a smile, he said, ¡°Consider this ring of holding a gift from me, Big Sister Xin.¡±

    Since he had killed and looted a number of Greater Heaven stage experts in the Realm of Split Void, he had quite a few rings of holding in his possession, and thus he didn¡¯t even blink as he spared one for Luo Xin.

    The value of one ring of holding equaled that of ten bracelets of holding. Even though Luo Xin was one of Wu Xing¡¯s disciples, she hadn¡¯t gathered enough fortune to switch her bracelet of holding for a ring of holding when she had entered the Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°A ring of holding!¡± Luo Xin¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up right before she examined Nie Tian¡¯s wrist. With a surprised expression, she said, ¡°You¡¯re still wearing a bracelet of holding yourself.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, beckoning for her toe closer, before he opened the leather pouch on his waist.

    Luo Xin looked down into it, and found to her astonishment that there were still a number of rings of holding inside.

    ¡°Howe you have so many of them?¡± She grew even more astonished and confused.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s not important,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Seeing that Nie Tian possessed so many rings of holding, Luo Xin epted it straightforwardly. With a hearty smile on her face, she said, ¡°From the look of it, you¡¯ve gained quite some fortune over these years when you were gone. That being the case, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony. Many thanks.¡±

    After a brief rest, the two of them marched onward again.

    It wasn¡¯t long before they encountered two chattering andughing Qi warriors.

    They were heading towards Water Moon City. From the way they looked, they must have gained quite some fortune.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Luo Xin, who was walking normally, suddenly shouted, staring at a golden bracelet on one of the men¡¯s arms, her expression turning very grim.

    ¡°What?¡± One of them answered.

    Nie Tian wondered for a moment before he rapidly formed a Heaven Eye and used it to examine the men¡¯s cultivation bases. One of them was at the early Greater Heaven stage, while the other was at thete Heaven stage.

    The one Luo Xin had fixed her gaze on was at thete Heaven stage, and he seemed to practice metal power.

    ¡°Where did you get that golden bracelet?¡± Luo Xin asked with an ice-cold look in her eyes.

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± The man seemed unable to make heads or tails of the situation.

    The other man let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±

    ¡°That bracelet belongs to a member of my sect,¡± Luo Xin blurted, staring at him. ¡°I picked it out for him. Why is it on your wrist?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian frowned.

    The Greater Heaven stage man kept his chin high as he said with a disdainful expression, ¡°Even if it belonged to your friend, so what? Now that it¡¯s in my brother¡¯s possession, it¡¯s ours now. What are you going to do about it?¡±

    Without uttering a word, Nie Tian summoned his me Star. He blurred into a sh, and appeared in front of the Heaven stage man in the next moment.

    Before he could react, the me Star swished down and tapped on the man¡¯s left shoulder.

    Flesh power and spiritual power of various attributes rushed out of Nie Tian and infused into the me Star.

    In a split second, the me Star became as heavy as a thousand pounds. The man¡¯s face flickered as he summoned all of his strength to withstand the terrifying pressure from the me Star.

    BOOM!

    With a loud crash, the man¡¯s knees suddenly dropped to the ground, and he was kneeling in front of Nie Tian.

    Without sparing the other man a nce, Nie Tian fixed his murderous gaze on the man. His eyes glittered like frigid stars as he said with an indifferent tone, ¡°Tell us how you got the bracelet. Otherwise, neither of you shall leave.¡±

 Chapter 391: Spirit Plant Mountain

    As soon as Nie Tian heard that the golden bracelet belonged to a disciple of the Cloudsoaring Sect, his heart was clouded by a haze.

    Even though Luo Xin didn¡¯t say it, he guessed that his grandfather had traveled with that disciple.

    Seeing that disciple¡¯s important belonging in another¡¯s possession was enough evidence that something had happened to him. The same thing could have happened to Nie Donghai.

    Therefore, he instantly grew furious.

    As he infused the me Star with his me power, it gradually became as hot as a heated iron.

    Kneeling on the ground, the man experienced a scalding pain in his left shoulder, as if his shoulder were burning up.

    He looked up at Nie Tian¡¯s face, and discovered that he was looking down at him like a bloodthirsty beast. Intense killing intent was on the verge of bursting out of his eyes.

    His heart shivered as he waspletely overwhelmed by Nie Tian¡¯s imposing manner. He hastily said, ¡°I found it. That¡¯s all. I didn¡¯t know who it belonged to!¡±

    The other man, who was at the early Greater Heaven stage, wanted toe to his brother¡¯s aid. However, Luo Xin was already standing in front of him.

    After a brief examination, the man learned that Luo Xin was at the same cultivation stage as him, and Nie Tian, who was overtaking his brother, was at thete Heaven stage.

    However, the intense, murderous aura unleashed by Nie Tian deeply shocked him, making him not dare to act rashly.

    After the bloodbaths he had experienced in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian had long since grown numb when it came to killing people.

    Numerous bloody battles had made Nie Tian develop a fierce aura, which only those who lived their lives on the edge of life and death would have developed through reaping countless lives.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk it out!¡± The Greater Heaven stage man also grew weak. ¡°We found that golden bracelet. That¡¯s the truth. I swear to god that we didn¡¯t kill the owner of that bracelet. If I lied about that, may I be struck dead by lightning!¡±

    Seeing his yielding attitude, Luo Xin rxed her tightened nerves.

    She turned her head to check on Nie Tian, and she was somewhat chilled by his fierce killing intent.

    She didn¡¯t know what Nie Tian had gone through during the past two years, but Nie Tian¡¯s current state really scared her.

    ¡°Nie... Umm... Wu Tian.¡± Luo Xin cleared her throat and continued, ¡°They probably didn¡¯t do anything. Let¡¯s hear them out first.¡±

    Nie Tian saw nothing but fear in his opponent¡¯s eyes, so after a moment of silence, he slowly withdrew his me Star.

    It had only been a few seconds, but the man¡¯s garments had already been burnt off around his left shoulder.

    Underneath the damaged garment, the flesh on his shoulder had already ckened. Grimacing, he hastily put a sizable distance between Nie Tian and himself, whereupon he took out a bottle of green liquid and applied it to his wound.

    After a deep breath, he said with a bitter expression, ¡°We found this golden bracelet in a forest of stone needles in the Dong n¡¯s territory that we had visited to hunt spirit beasts...¡±

    The two of them went on and exined the whole thing in great detail.

    Afterwards, Luo Xin asked them a few questions and gained a rough idea of the location where they had found the bracelet. Then, she nodded, giving them permission to leave.

    However, they didn¡¯t dare to move their legs even though Luo Xing had given consent. Instead, they looked at Nie Tian, their expressions insecure and uneasy.

    For some reason, they felt a much stronger threat from Nie Tian than Luo Xin, even though they could tell that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was clearly lower than Luo Xin¡¯s.

    They didn¡¯t dare to move unless Nie Tian gave his consent.

    ¡°Alright, you can go now.¡± Nie Tian said with a grim expression.

    Only then did the two of them feel like they had been absolved of the death penalty. After intentionally circling around Nie Tian, they picked up their pace and ran at full speed towards Water Moon City.

    ¡°I fear for my grandfather and aunt¡¯s safety.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice was full of concern.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get over there as quickly as possible then,¡± Luo Xin replied.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    The two of them didn¡¯t dare to waste any time, and sprinted towards the location given by the two men at their fastest possible speed.

    At that moment, Nie Tian was beating himself up for failing to get the boat-shaped air-transportation spiritual tool left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce out of the mountain peak in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    If he had secured it, even if they didn¡¯t use the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce¡¯s teleportation portals, they would have been able to ride it to the forest of stone needles within a much shorter time.

    ...

    After marching around the clock for seven days straight, they finally arrived in the Dong n¡¯s territory.

    It was sundown. The foot of a magnificent mountain peak was lush with ancient trees. A number of lofty pavilions made of gray stone were well-spaced among them.

    A clear creek threaded through the stone pavilions.

    All sorts of rare spirit nts could be seen on the mountain peak behind the stone pavilions, along with the tiny figures of people who were cultivating and harvesting the spirit nts.

    Luo Xin and Nie Tian stopped on a wide stone pavement which led to the front gate of the Dong n.

    ¡°The Dong n was the first of the four powers to move to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. They established their headquarters by this mountain peak, which they named Spirit nt Mountain, for it¡¯s very well-suited for spirit nt cultivation. When the Dong n first arrived, there were only about a hundred kinds of rare spirit nts on Spirit nt Mountain, and the mountain peak and its adjacent areas were roamed by herds of spirit beasts.

    ¡°Rumor had it that Spirit nt Mountain was originally the habitat of a fierce sixth grade spirit beast. After the Dong n¡¯s arrival, they ughtered the sixth grade spirit beast along with all the other spirit beasts in the vicinity, and took Spirit nt Mountain for their own.

    ¡°Afterwards, they brought in many valuable and rare spirit nts from the other realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars and grew them on Spirit nt Mountain. Gradually, the mountain became the Dong n¡¯s source of ie.

    ¡°The annual revenue created by the spirit nts on Spirit nt Mountain alone is easily over a million spirit stones.

    ¡°The Pill Pavilion Sect and many other alchemy sects in the Domain of the Falling Starse to purchase all sorts of rare spirit nts from the Dong n year-round.¡±

    Standing in front of the Dong n, Luo Xin introduced the Dong n to Nie Tian, whose eyes were seized by the lofty stone pavilions.

    From time to time, Qi warriors would walk past them on their way into or out of the Dong n.

    Most of those who were going towards the Dong n seemed rather bedraggled, as if they had just survived bloody battles, and were hoping to return to Water Moon City via the Dong n¡¯s teleportation portal.

    However, those who wereing out of the Dong n¡¯s front gate were usually in high spirits. They seemed to be exploration teams from Water Moon City who were nning to hunt spirit beasts in the area.

    ¡°The Dong n...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he thought of Dong Baijie and Dong Li.

    In the Realm of Split Void, he had deeply humiliated Dong Li by ruining her n and killing many of her men.

    However,ter when Dong Baijie had sought him out in Shatter City, not only had he not held him ountable for his deeds, but he had even given him Star Stones and a mask as gifts, which confused him deeply.

    Was it possible that Dong Baijie hadn¡¯t had a chance to meet with Dong Li and learn about the friction between them before his encounter with him?

    Furthermore, since Dong Li was an important member of the Dong n, why in the world did she take on a fake name and lead a group of powerful experts to the Realm of Split Void, where they had conducted degrading Hunters¡¯ business?

    ¡°How powerful is the Dong n?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Very powerful!¡± Luo Xin seemed to feel deep veneration. ¡°It¡¯s said that the patriarch of the Dong n has already stepped into the Soul realm. Even in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, he¡¯s among the most powerful experts. However, supposedly, he practices secluded cultivation in the mountains all year-round, and seldom returns to the Dong n.¡±

    ¡°Soul realm!¡± A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    No wonder Dong Li and her Fang members had dared to do whatever they liked near Shatter City without showing the slightest fear towards the Blood Skull.

    Based on what Nie Tian knew, Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, was only at the Profound realm, inferior to the Dong n¡¯s patriarch¡¯s cultivation base.

    Dong Li¡¯s daring actions in the Realm of Split Void all made sense now. Dong Li was backed by a Soul realm patriarch and a powerful n, and her sect¡¯s Spirit nt Mountain was a well-known treasurednd in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°Hopefully, we won¡¯t run into Dong Li.¡±

    ¡°Do you know each other?¡± Luo Xin seemed surprised. ¡°She is the precious daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster. I¡¯ve heard that she has recently returned from her tempering trip to another realm, and she has just broken through to the Greater Heaven stage. If you know her, maybe you can talk to her. It would be a lot easier if she agrees to help us search for your grandfather and aunt.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned grim as he shook his head and said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t know her.¡±

    If he wasn¡¯t aware of the rtionship between Dong Baijie and Dong Li, Nie Tian might have put every scruple aside and gone to ask Dong Baijie for help, since this concerned his grandfather and aunt¡¯s safety.

    However, Dong Baijie was Dong Li¡¯s older brother...

    ¡°Oh, okay, never mind.¡± Disappointment could be seen on Luo Xin¡¯s face. ¡°So, there¡¯s no need to go to the Dong n now. I know the location. Let¡¯s go there directly.¡±

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡± With these words, Nie Tian and Luo Xin turned around and walked away.

    At that moment, a Qi warrior walked past them. As he did, he took a few nces at Nie Tian. A surprised look could be seen in his eyes.

    The man picked up his pace and scurried into the Dong n. He asked for Dong Baijie, but was told that he had gone to the Pill Pavilion Sect. Then, he went to visit Dong Li without any dy.

    In a luxurious side-room, Dong Li and her loyal subordinate, Han Mu, were having a discussion.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Dong Li asked the man as she stretched her curvaceous waist, a listless expression filling her gorgeous face, which waspletely different from the one Nie Tian had seen in the Realm of Split Void.

    Apparently, Dong Li had changed her appearance when she had been in the Realm of Split Void.

    This was how she really looked.

    ¡°Miss, I just saw a man wearing one of our young master¡¯s masks,¡± The man said very respectfully. ¡°I¡¯ve seen young master wear that mask before, so I recognized it at first sight.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Dong Li and Han Mu called out simultaneously.

 Chapter 392: Spirit Beasts Feeding Area

    Dong Li, who had been curled up in a fancy chair, suddenly sprang to her feet.

    In the somewhat dimly-lit room, her eyes gradually lit up like two gems under a harsh light.

    She hadn¡¯t put on any makeup, yet she still looked radiant and charming.

    ¡°Where did he go?¡± Han Mu asked with a grim expression.

    ¡°He went towards the east with a young woman just now,¡± The man answered respectfully.

    After a moment of pondering, Dong Li waved her hand, gesturing for the man to leave.

    The man bowed again and rapidly backed out of the room.

    ¡°Miss, young master seems to attach great importance to Nie Tian. He not only gave him those Star Stones, but also a mask which had been in his collection for years.¡± Han Mu weighed over his selection of words as he continued, ¡°I know he ruined your ns in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but young master made it clear that we should not seek trouble with him...¡±

    Dong Li let out a cold snort and blurted coldly, ¡°These are different times! Back when we were in the Realm of Split Void, the three major spatial rifts were still yet to be sealed. He was the key to that. Every sect in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations had ced all of their hopes in him, since he was the one with all the fragmentary star marks.

    ¡°But the spatial rifts are all sealed now. He¡¯s not as valuable as he was before.

    ¡°Furthermore, no one has seen Ning Yang anywhere, yet Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark ended up in Nie Tian¡¯s hands. He might have killed Ning Yang for it, who knows?

    ¡°Originally, if he behaved obediently and joined the Heaven Pce Sect, he would have been under the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s protection. Even if he came to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, our n would have to give face to the Heaven Pce Sect and keep our hands off him.

    ¡°However, he happened to turn the Heaven Pce Sect down!¡±

    After a brief pause, Dong Li raised her voice. ¡°Now that he doesn¡¯t have the Heaven Pce Sect to back him, why should we be afraid of him or the puny Cloudsoaring Sect?!

    ¡°Sure, he might have already merged those three fragmentary star marks with his flesh and blood, and we won¡¯t be able to strip them away from him. But if we can capture him alive and imprison him in the Dong n, I¡¯m sure we¡¯lle up with ways to force him to write down the profound knowledge recorded in them for us.

    ¡°Secret powerful magics are recorded in those fragmentary star marks. If our n can gain those legacies secretly, given a little time, we might soon rise to prominence, and be the most powerful Qi warrior force in the Domain of the Falling Stars. We may even stand up to the Heaven Pce Sect as equals!¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Han Mu was slightly swayed.

    ¡°Aside from all that, he dared to sabotage my operations in the Realm of Split Void. Now that he¡¯se to my turf, how can I let him off so easy?¡± The thought of how Nie Tian had humiliated her in the Realm of Split Void made Dong Li fume with anger.

    As a member of the Dong n, she couldn¡¯t do whatever she liked in the Dong n¡¯s territory. Therefore, she could only go to the Realm of Split Void, where the environment was much more violent and unruly, so that she could temper herself with an identity as a Hunter.

    Every senior in the Dong n had secretly kept close watch on her behavior in the Realm of Split Void.

    Whether or not she could rise to a lofty position in the Dong n in the future had depended on her resourcefulness.

    At first, she had done well in the Realm of Split Void. She had continuously umted fame and fortune. Even the subordinates she had brought with her had be stronger and stronger.

    Then, Nie Tian hade along, ruined her operations in the dense forest in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and made her suffer great losses.

    Later, as she had mobilized the other Hunter organizations to hunt Nie Tian down, she had suffered more defeats. Word of her repeated failures soon found its way to the seniors in her n. Those who had ced huge hopes in her had felt deeply disappointed.

    Even her own father came to talk to her in private, ming her for not handling the situation well.

    In her eyes, this was all because of Nie Tian!

    Now that Nie Tian actually dared toe to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and even appear in the Dong n¡¯s territory, she would never let the opportunity slip away.

    ¡°What¡¯s your n, Miss?¡± Han Mu asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve just entered the Greater Heaven stage and obtained a spiritual tool that suits me. It¡¯s about time I stretched my legs.¡± Dong Li stepped towards a desk and started making adjustments to her appearance under Han Mu¡¯s gaze.

    Momentster, she turned around with an ordinary-looking face, as if she had be someone else.

    ¡°We witnessed what Nie Tian was capable of in the Realm of Split Void.¡± Han Mu said with a prudent attitude. ¡°I don¡¯t think you should go by yourself. It won¡¯t be safe.¡±

    ¡°This is the Dong n. I have all the resources I need,¡± Dong Li said confidently. ¡°As long as I can find him and get close to him, I will be able to capture him alive without attracting others¡¯ attention.¡±

    Nie Tian had no idea that the mask he had received as a gift from Dong Baijie had already exposed his identity, let alone the fact that Dong Li had already locked onto him.

    Since he and Luo Xin left the Dong n, the two of them had been marching at a fast pace.

    Considering there was arge amount of human activity within a 50 kilometer radius around the Dong n, not many spirit beasts could be seen in the area.

    However, as they marched out of that safe circle into the boundless heaven and earth, they went deeper and deeper into the spirit beasts¡¯ feeding area.

    They would constantlye across bloodstained skeletons along their way, which had apparently belonged to humans. Dried blood could also be seen on the ground every now and then.

    When spirit beasts attacked and killed human Qi warriors, they would usually eat all of their flesh and pick the bones clean.

    However, when humans ughtered spirit beasts, they would gather everything, including the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh, bones and even internal organs, because every part of the powerful spirit beasts in this region could be used as rare spiritual materials.

    As they marched deeper into the wild, Nie Tian finally understood why people said the Realm of a Hundred Battles was a paradise for spirit beasts, and that the four forces, including the Dong n, had only explored one tenth of the totalnd.

    The reason was that there were simply too many spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and arge proportion of them were high grade, powerful ones.

    They encountered several groups of human Qi warriors along their way. What they saw and heard were usually the images and sounds of Qi warriors being ughtered by spirit beasts.

    They seldom witnessed humans killing spirit beasts.

    Bent on getting to the forest of stone needles as soon as possible, Nie Tian unleashed his seven Heaven Eyes and used them to scan his surroundings.

    Every one or two kilometers, they would capture images of spirit beasts. However, those spirit beasts were very different from the ones in the Realm of Split Void.

    The majority of the spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void had died after their spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had been tainted. Those that had survived had preferred to travel alone, rather than in herds.

    However, most of the time, Nie Tian discovered here via his Heaven Eyes that spirit beasts of the same species tended to travel in groups.

    Since they foraged together, once they encountered human Qi warriors, they would usually outnumber them, and thus have upper hand from the beginning. Humans usually ended up being the losing and fleeing side.

    Fortunately, thanks to his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian was able to avoid them.

    Therefore, Luo Xin followed him, and their journey turned out to be rather smooth and peaceful. They managed to arrive in the forest of stone needles without running into any powerful spirit beast herds.

    Upon their arrival, Nie Tian scanned the vicinity via his Heaven Eyes, and noticed that the so-called forest of stone needles was located in a mountain valley.

    The strangely-shaped stone needles were actually huge rocks that had fallen from the lofty mountain peaks on the perimeter of the valley due to frequent earthquakes.

    Stone needles that were easily dozens of meters high almost filled the entire mountain valley. Noticeable bloodstains could be seen on some of them.

    Nie Tian scanned the vicinity via his Heaven Eyes, and soon noticed that a team of Qi warriors was in a corner of the mountain valley.

    They seemed to have just survived a fierce battle against a powerful spirit beast, and luckily, they turned out to be the winning side.

    At this moment, they were cutting the spirit beast¡¯s corpse up with sharp knives.

    However, not much excitement and tion could be seen on their faces.

    Someone was even sobbing, standing next to the body of a man who seemed to have been on their team.

    ¡°I¡¯ve detected a group of people. Let¡¯s go and ask them.¡± With these words, Nie Tian led Luo Xin directly towards the group¡¯s location.

    Having traveled together for so long, Luo Xin had long since gotten used to Nie Tian issuing orders.

    The fact that they hadn¡¯t encountered any herds of powerful spirit beasts under Nie Tian¡¯s guidance made Luo Xin realize that Nie Tian must have some unique way of steering clear of them.

    She was curious about his method, yet she enjoyed having Nie Tian make the decisions so that she wouldn¡¯t need to worry about it.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the two of them arrived at the group¡¯s location.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian and Luo Xin¡¯s sudden appearance from behind huge, pointy stones, the six survivors were instantly rmed.

    The four of them who had been harvesting parts from the spirit beast also stopped their work, and quietly turned the knives they were using to cut the spirit beast towards Luo Xin and Nie Tian.

    A tall, middle Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior let out a cold harrumph as he berated the sobbing young woman, ¡°Would you stop already?! You knew very well that any of us could die out here. I made sure you knew that before you came on board! Now Little Yi died today. I might die tomorrow. The same goes for you!

    ¡°We¡¯re not from those powerful Qi warrior sects with long histories. Since we chose the path of cultivation, we have no one but ourselves to depend on!¡±

    From the look of it, the pitiful young woman and the passed Little Yi had been a couple.

    After being berated by the man, she struggled to hold her tears back, but her shoulders couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    ¡°How can we help you?¡± The middle Greater Heaven stage man took a nce at Nie Tian and Luo Xin. Seeing that Luo Xin, the stronger of the two, was only at the early Greater Heaven stage, he put his mind at ease and said with a slow pace, ¡°Spirit beasts can be found everywhere in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Anyone is wee to hunt and kill them, as long as they can.

    ¡°However, if you two want to snatch the spoils from our hands, you don¡¯t seem to be strong enough.¡±

    The atmosphere in the Realm of a Hundred Battles was much friendlier than the Realm of Split Void.

    That was because spirit beasts were the overlords here.

    Once human Qi warriors left the Dong n¡¯s, Gu n¡¯s, Cao n¡¯s, and Pill Pavilion Sect¡¯s territories, they would instantly be the weaker side.

    For this reason, most of the exploration teams that came out into the wild wouldn¡¯t start fighting each other the moment they met like in the Realm of Split Void.

    On the contrary, most teams would be friendly with each other when they met in dangerous regions dominated by powerful spirit beasts. On many asions, they would even join hands and deal with spirit beasts together.

    Of course, nothing was for sure.

    Sometime, people who had high opinions of their own strength wouldy murderous hands on their own kind in deste and uninhabited regions.

    Luo Xin took one step forward and said sincerely, ¡°Don¡¯t get us wrong. We can see that you lost a friend to kill this spirit beast. We don¡¯t intend to take your spoils. We only came because we heard your battle and wanted to see if you needed help. We didn¡¯t expect that your battle would already be over when we got here.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, the man who seemed to be the leader eased his tension and said with a sad look in his eyes, ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you. But thanks. Our battle is finished.¡±

    Luo Xin continued with a bitter expression, ¡°We are from the Cloudsoaring Sect in the Realm of me Heaven. Some of our members marched to this area several months ago. They were seen in this forest about two weeks ago. One of them might have already been killed by spirit beasts. Someone found his most important spiritual tool. Have you seen them in the vicinity?¡±

    ¡°A team from the Cloudsoaring Sect, from the Realm of me Heaven?¡± The man thought for a moment. ¡°Was a girl named Jiang Lingzhu on the team?¡±

    Luo Xin¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Yeah, she was! Did you meet them?¡±

    The man nodded. ¡°As a matter of fact, we did. What a coincidence!¡±

 Chapter 393: Good Will Be Rewarded with Good

    Upon hearing that Nie Tian and Luo Xin were from the Cloudsoaring Sect, the man¡¯s attitude turned even friendlier. ¡°The Cloudsoaring Sect... That Nie Tian is a disciple of your sect, right?¡±

    Luo Xin went nk for a moment before she turned to shoot Nie Tian a nce, then nodded at the man. ¡°You¡¯re right, Nie Tian is a disciple of our sect.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Nie Tianughed broadly.

    For some reason, the gazes of the few Qi warriors standing by the man¡¯s side also grew significantly warmer.

    The man seemed increasingly rxed as he said, ¡°My name is Xu Shan, and I¡¯m from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. The situation in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations was terrible when we left for the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Many of us have families in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and we¡¯ve been worried about their safety since the day we left.

    ¡°Only recently did we learn from other explorers who hade here to hunt spirit beasts that, thanks to Nie Tian, the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations has been sealed.

    ¡°By doing that, Nie Tian has saved our family and friends in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations from destruction.

    ¡°Even though we haven¡¯t had a chance to return to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and meet him in person, we¡¯re all very grateful to him inwardly. This was why when we met those from the Cloudsoaring Sect not long ago, we got along very well. We even helped them.¡±

    As Xu Shan spoke, Luo Xin constantly turned her eyes to look at Nie Tian with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.

    Nie Tian also inwardly marveled at the coincidence, but he quickly changed the subject by asking, ¡°Where did you meet them? And when?¡±

    Xu Shan did the math in his mind before saying, ¡°About seven or eight days ago, I¡¯d say. When we discovered them, they were engaged in a fierce fight with spirit beasts. The situation wasn¡¯t in their favor. Originally, we didn¡¯t want to get into trouble ourselves. Only when we overheard that they were from the Cloudsoaring Sect did we rush to their aid.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Nie Tian and Luo Xin secretly let out a sigh of relief.

    ording to the information from the brothers they had encountered earlier, something must have happened to Jiang Lingzhu, Nie Donghai, and the others in this forest of stone needles.

    At first, they had thought the whole team might have died.

    After hearing Xu Shan¡¯s words, they realized that even though someone on the team might have died, their casualties shouldn¡¯t have been that great.

    ¡°Was there an old man on the team? In the Greater Heaven stage...?¡± Nie Tian tried his best to describe Nie Donghai.

    Xu Shan nodded saying, ¡°Yeah, there was. He left me a deep impression. I¡¯m sure he was there.¡±

    Realizing that Nie Donghai was still alive, Nie Tian put his heart at ease.

    Then, Luo Xin asked him some more questions, and found out where Nie Donghai, Jiang Lingzhu and the others hadst been seen.

    Afterwards, she asked, ¡°So, are you going back to your realm?¡±

    Xu Shan answered with a smile, ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve spent too much time in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Although we¡¯ve lost people, we¡¯ve also gained a lot in many aspects. But now that the Realm of a Thousand Devastations is safe again, we¡¯re ready to go back.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for giving a hand to our friends from the Cloudsoaring Sect, and for telling us so much.¡± Luo Xin expressed her sincere gratitude.

    Xu Shan waved his hand repeatedly as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. We only did what we were supposed to do. If you see Nie Tian in your sectter, please thank him for us. He was the reason why the crisis that loomed over the Realm of a Thousand Devastations was finally relieved. Our friends and family are alive because of him. We¡¯re very grateful to him.¡±

    ¡°I will!¡± Luo Xin said solemnly.

    ¡°Alright, good luck finding your friends. We¡¯ve got to get back to this spirit beast.¡± Xu Shan said with a smile.

    ¡°See you!¡± Luo Xin said, waving her hand.

    After they were a sizable distance away from Xu Shan and his team, Luo Xin turned to Nie Tian and said with a hearty smile, ¡°Good is always rewarded with good. If you hadn¡¯t saved the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, Xu Shan and his team probably wouldn¡¯t have lent Lingzhu and the others a hand when they were attacked by spirit beasts.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I admit it, the sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations aren¡¯t bad. They were grateful for what I¡¯ve done, and left me with a good impression.¡±

    The images of Li Muyang, Xing Huanyue, and the members of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect defending him against the low-tier Demons with their own lives were still fresh in Nie Tian¡¯s memory.

    The other sects had alsoe to thank him properly before withdrawing from the spatial rift.

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue had even stood up against the Heaven Pce Sect for him.

    All those things had given him a good impression of the Qi warriors in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Now, Xu Shan and his team, who were also from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, had reached out to Jiang Lingzhu, Nie Donghai, and the others after learning that they were from the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    This made him sigh over how devoted and loyal the people from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations were.

    ¡°Who was the leader of the team?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Li Fan¡¯s junior martial brother, Zhan Yuan, who is at the middle Greater Heaven stage,¡± Luo Xin said without holding anything back. ¡°In the Cloudsoaring Sect, elder Feng He, elder Zhao Tong, elder Chen Musheng, and their respective disciples were the ones who weren¡¯t very happy about your grandfather.

    ¡°As you know, my second senior martial brother, Shi Yi, was killed by people from the Ghost Sect during the upheaval in the Scarlet me Mountain Range. Actually, back then, my master¡¯s attitude towards you had already changed, and he had already untied the knot in his heart about your mother¡¯s death.

    ¡°Shortly after that, my eldest martial brother, Liu Yan, was killed by Tang Yang from the me God Sect during the Heaven Gate trial...¡±

    Luo Xin¡¯s expression became saddened. ¡°Now, I¡¯m his only living disciple. He has long since stopped ming the Nie n and your grandfather for what happened to your mother. Your grandfather will tell you about it after we find them.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded briefly.

    Luo Xin¡¯s master was Wu Xing, who had also been his mother¡¯s master. He had learned about it from Nie Donghai and Liu Yan, who had been very kind to him since he had been little.

    The thought of Liu Yan and Shi Yi¡¯s deaths, and that Luo Xin was Wu Xing¡¯s only living disciple now, saddened Nie Tian as well.

    However, Liu Yan¡¯s death saddened him the most. It had been Liu Yan who had brought that dragon bone to the Nie n, which hadterpleted the me Dragon Armor and saved his life over and over again.

    ¡°When I¡¯m strong enough, no matter where Tang Yang hides, I¡¯ll hunt him down and kill him myself!¡± He vowed in a low voice.

    Luo Xin nodded. ¡°I believe that day wille. Zhan Yuan is one of our sectmaster¡¯s disciples, so she naturally went with him on this exploration trip. Disciples of elder Feng He, elder Zhao Tong, and elder Chen Musheng went to the Gu n, the Cao n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect respectively. Their mission was to find an ideal location for our sect to rebuild.

    ¡°They also had people killed by spirit beasts. Some of them have returned to Water Moon City after learning that the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven was sealed. Some haven¡¯t.

    ¡°The Realm of a Hundred Battles is a paradise for spirit beasts. Everyone understands what they will face on missions here.

    ¡°I believe your grandfather is fine. All we need to do is to find him as soon as possible and inform him of the current situation, and then we¡¯ll return to the Realm of me Heaven together.¡±

    Luo Xin tried to stop him from worrying too much as she pointed out the directions and Nie Tian led the way.

    As they marched deeper into the wild, Nie Tian noticed more and more encounters between spirit beasts and Qi warriors via his Heaven Eyes.

    He found that humans only won an average of four out of ten encounters at the most.

    Most of the time, humans would suffer miserable losses. Facing herds of powerful spirit beasts, many human exploration teams would scatter and flee.

    Many of them hade for spiritual materials, while others hade for spirit beasts. However, arge number of them ended up in the spirit beasts¡¯ bellies.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t interfere with any of their battles, regardless of which side was winning. He chose to steer clear of them in order to focus all of his time and energy on finding his grandfather and aunt.

    The strong preyed on the weak. He had already grown used to it. Compared to these battles, the ones in the Realm of Split Void had been far crueler and nastier, yet he had managed to pull through.

    ...

    One night, right before they were about to arrive at the location given by Xu Shan, Nie Tian noticed via one of his Heaven Eyes that three spirit beasts were attacking a handful of humans.

    The humans all practiced the same sword incantation, and the strongest of them was only at the early Greater Heaven stage.

    Originally, Nie Tian nned to stay out of it. However, he suddenly noticed that the sword incantation they practiced was very simr to Xue Long¡¯s.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± After observing for a little longer, he was convinced that the sword incantation they practiced was identical to Xue Long¡¯s.

    Therefore, he led Luo Xin to the location where the battle was taking ce, and joined the battle without any hesitation.

    With their help, the humans soon ughtered the two third grade Gold Horn Beasts and one fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino.

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡± The early Greater Heaven stage man expressed his gratitude immediately after the battle ended. ¡°You can have the fourth grade Golden Stone Rhino. We¡¯ll just take these two Gold Horn Beasts.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary... What¡¯s your rtionship with Xue Long?¡±

 Chapter 394: Rule Breakers

    ¡°Xue Long? I don¡¯t know such a man.¡± The early Greater Heaven stage man said with a face filled with confusion, as if he had never heard that name before.

    Nie Tian hesitated for a moment and suddenly realized that Xue Long must have been a fake name, but he didn¡¯t know his real name.

    However, he was one hundred percent sure that the man in front of him was somehow rted to Xue Long, for they practiced the same sword incantation.

    Looking at the man, Nie Tian exined, ¡°I know a man. He¡¯s at thete Greater Heaven stage. The sword incantation he practices is exactly like yours. And he told me that his name was Xue Long. I only helped you for his sake. He did me a big favor once.¡±

    ¡°My name is Xu Hu, and we¡¯re from the Xu n. Back in the day, our n served the Cao n. However, due to various reasons, our n declined, and now only it exists in name.¡± The Greater Heaven stage man fell silent for a while before continuing, ¡°If my spections are correct, the person you were talking about is not Xue Long, but rather Xu Long. He¡¯s... my eldest brother.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably it,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding.

    ¡°Where did you meet my eldest brother?¡± Xu Hu asked.

    ¡°Umm... not in the Realm of a Hundred Battles,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    Xu Hu smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s about right. He has long since left the Realm of a Hundred Battles after certain things happened.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t show much interest in what had happened to the Xu n. He had only helped them because he thought he owed it to Xue Long. ¡°Well, have you seen a group of people from the Cloudsoaring Sect in the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°No, we haven¡¯t,¡± Xu Hu shook his head.

    ¡°We were told about a ce...¡± Luo Xin jumped in and described the location Xu Shan had told them about to Xu Hu. Afterwards, she asked, ¡°Have you been to that area?¡±

    Xu Hu¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. He nced around somewhat cautiously, then said in a low voice, ¡°The ce you are talking about is called ck Water Lake. There aren¡¯t many spirit beasts in that area, but recently a bunch of cruel and merciless foreign Qi warriors have appeared and killed many fellow explorers there.¡±

    Luo Xin¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    Fear could be seen in Xu Hu¡¯s eyes as he exined, ¡°We just came back from there. We saw quite a few corpses of exploration teams just like ours. As you know, if people are attacked and killed by spirit beasts, their bodies are picked clean with no flesh left behind. The bodies of those who were killed by humans and those who were killed by spirit beasts arepletely different, with the biting wounds and all...

    ¡°We didn¡¯t actually meet that group of killers, but we knew they were in that area, and that they were very powerful.

    ¡°The spirit beasts around ck Water Lake alone were already hard enough to deal with. Adding in a group of bloodthirsty killers, we realized we weren¡¯t strong enough, and thus withdrew from that area.

    ¡°However, we didn¡¯t expect that we would encounter this herd of spirit beasts while we were leaving.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is.¡± Nie Tian nodded gently and said without any hesitation, ¡°Good luck to you. We¡¯ve got to go now.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Xu Hu expressed his gratitude.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± With these words, Nie Tian and Luo Xin hastened on towards ck Water Lake.

    After bidding farewell to Nie Tian and Luo Xin, Xu Hu and his team processed the spirit beast¡¯s body and headed back towards the Dong n.

    It wasn¡¯t long before they ran into Dong Li, who had disguised herself.

    From time to time, she would hold her milky-white arm close to her mouth and whisper into a bracelet, as if she weremunicating with others.

    Upon seeing Xu Hu and his team, she took the initiative to approach them. Her strange gaze ran up and down him before she asked, ¡°Did you meet a young man and woman?¡± She described Nie Tian¡¯s appearance.

    With a vignt expression, Xu Hu shook his head and said, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m their friend. I have urgent business to discuss with them.¡± Dong Li put on a charming smile as she pulled out a medallion from her waist pocket and showed it to Xu Hu.

    Even though Xu Hu didn¡¯t recognize the disguised Dong Li, he felt deep veneration upon seeing that medallion. ¡°Miss Dong!¡±

    When the Xu n had struggled in despair, the Dong n had reached out to them, which was why, when Xue Long had recognized Dong Li and Han Mu in the Realm of Split Void, he had changed his target and chased after Li Langfeng instead.

    ¡°I have things I need to discuss with them,¡± Dong Li repeated.

    After learning that it was Dong Li, Xu Hu brought out every detail about his encounter with Nie Tian and Luo Xin, as well as the group of strangers who were killing other explorers.

    ¡°Alright, thank you. You can go now.¡± Dong Li waved her hand, giving them permission to leave. After they left, the look in her eyes turned grim as she muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe those bastards actually dare to dishonor our rules in our n¡¯s territory!¡±

    She had never been known as a kind person. However, as the Dong n¡¯s representative who was in charge of the adjacent areas of the Dong n, even though she was full of evil tricks, she had never acted against the rules in her own dominion.

    This was why she had taken herckeys to the Realm of Split Void, where they had fed the evil and bloodthirsty side of their nature under the mask of the Fang.

    Upon hearing that a group of strangers dared to kill whoever they wanted to and disrespected the rules set by the Dong n, she instantly grew furious.

    She held her bracelet close to her mouth and whispered orders into it. ¡°Those who are currently on the east side, march towards ck Water Lake as soon as you receive this message. A group of foreign rats are acting recklessly on our turf. Ferret them out!¡±

    ording to the rules, the Dong n would allow foreigners to gather spirit nts and hunt spirit beasts in open areas.

    Thanks to their rules, the safe zone around the Dong n grewrger andrger, and people discovered more and more spirit nts and medicinal ingredients.

    Since there were simply too many spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, even the Dong n wouldn¡¯t be able to kill them all.

    Having people from the other realms kill spirit beasts in areas near the Dong n would not only reduce the number of spirit beasts, but it would also clear out more usable space for the Dong n.

    Other than Spirit nt Mountain, which was thergest spirit nt growing region, the Dong n had opened up many other growing regions within a 50 kilometer radius from their headquarters.

    Most of the growing regions were guarded by powerful Dong n members, in case spirit beasts woulde to ravish them.

    The primary reason why the Realm of a Hundred Battles allowed foreign Qi warriors to explore theirnd was that they could wear down the number of the spirit beasts.

    If the Qi warriors only entered their realm to fight each other, instead of ughtering spirit beasts, the unattended spirit beasts would umte enough energy and numbers to attack their growing regions, which would negate their original purpose.

    Therefore, Qi warriors from the Dong n would patrol the nearby areas on a regr basis to prevent Qi warriors from fighting each other.

    It was because the Dong n had been secretly maintaining order in their territory that Nie Tian and Luo Xin hadn¡¯t encountered any fierce battles between human Qi warriors along their way. All they had witnessed were bloody fights between spirit beasts and human Qi warriors.

    The foreign Qi warriors were in vition of the Dong n¡¯s rules by killing other Qi warriors in the Dong n¡¯s territory.

    ...

    In a location close to ck Water Lake.

    Eight people from the Cloudsoaring Sect, including Zhan Yuan, Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, Nie Donghai, and Nie Qian, were scattered in the shadow of a mountain peak, shock and fear filling their faces.

    Under the fierce midday sun, none of themined about the scorching heat. All they could feel was the frigid coldness in their hearts.

    At the beginning, there had been a total of 17 people on their team, but now they only had 8 left.

    They had been surprised by spirit beasts, and 9 of their members had lost their lives by spirit beasts¡¯ mouths.

    However, right now, they weren¡¯t afraid of those spirit beasts around ck Water Lake, but rather a group of human Qi warriors.

    Not long ago, when they had been exploring around ck Water Lake, they had seen a group of Qi warriors that wasrger and more powerful than them being rounded up and attacked by another group of Qi warriors.

    The attackers only shot brief, meaningful gazes at them before going back to attacking and killing their opponents.

    Even though Nie Donghai and his team had left in time, their minds had been clouded by a thick haze.

    As those men saw them hurry away, the look in their eyes had been more terrifying than the spirit beasts¡¯.

    They knew perfectly clearly that when those men were finished with those explorers, they would view them as their new target and start chasing them down.

    ¡°Should we go back now?¡± Jiang Lingzhu asked.

    Zhan Yuan sighed and said, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s about time we went back, but I¡¯m just afraid that we might run into them again on our way back.¡±

 Chapter 395: Black Water Lake

    By the time Nie Tian and Luo Xin reached ck Water Lake, it had started to drizzle.

    As raindrops fell into ck Water Lake and created tiny sshes, a dark-gray mist gradually rose above theke surface, emitting a foul smell.

    <i>¡°Is this ck Water Lake?¡± </i> With a thought, Nie Tianmanded his seven Heaven Eyes to fly high above ck Water Lake and its vicinity, where they learned the terrain and kept a close watch on everything.

    Arge amount of surprisingly tall nts could be seen around ck Water Lake, while many logs covered in moss floated in the dark water.

    There were three small inds at the center of theke, where nts were flourishing more exuberantly than any other ce nearby.

    By nightfall, Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes had finished scanning the area around ck Water Lake, and discovered several dozen human corpses.

    Just as Xu Hu had said, those humans clearly hadn¡¯t been killed by spirit beasts. Some of the corpses were highly rotten, as if they had died from deadly toxins.

    Even if spirit beasts discovered those toxic bodies, they wouldn¡¯t show any interest in them.

    Nie Tian also discovered a few severed limbs, which had obviously been chopped off with sharp des.

    There was a limit to the coverage of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes. After roaming about for a while, they still failed to detect any signs of life.

    Thus, Nie Tian was prepared to move to another location.

    That was when he discovered via one of his Heaven Eyes that a perfectly-proportioned young woman was rapidly approaching his current location.

    Even though the woman¡¯s face didn¡¯t look familiar at all, Nie Tian had a strange sense of familiarity towards her.

    After searching in his mind briefly, his expression flickered. He eximed, looking shocked, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s her...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Luo Xin was puzzled.

    ¡°The daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster,¡± Nie Tian said, his eyebrows furrowed.

    ¡°Dong Li?¡± Luo Xin was taken aback. ¡°Where? How are you seeing her? Also, even if you can somehow see her, how can you tell it¡¯s her? I thought you didn¡¯t know her.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve met her before,¡± Nie Tian gave a dissembling answer.

    Luo Xin¡¯s expression grew strange as she said, ¡°I¡¯ve been here in the Realm of a Hundred Battles for quite some time now. It¡¯s said that Dong Li is a woman of singr beauty. I¡¯ve heard that she went on tempering trips to other realms, and she didn¡¯t return to the Realm of a Hundred Battles until recently. Where did you meet her?¡±

    ¡°A woman of singr beauty?¡± Nie Tian went nk as he searched through his encounters with Dong Li in his head. However, he couldn¡¯t connect Luo Xin¡¯s description of her with the image of Dong Li in his head.

    In his memories, Dong Li was a very curvaceous woman, but her appearance was far from outstanding.

    However, as he gave it more thought, he realized that considering Dong Baijie, Dong Li¡¯s older brother, had given him a mask as a gift, Dong Li probably possessed simr masks as well.

    She might have changed her appearance with a mask so that she wouldn¡¯t be identified when she ran amuck in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Nie Tian drew this conclusion rapidly.

    ¡°Is Dong Liing at us? How many people does she have with her? Also, is she friendly or hostile?¡± Luo Xin suddenly grew anxious. ¡°If you¡¯ve offended her before, we¡¯d better avoid contact with her! I¡¯ve heard that woman is an absolutely vicious beauty! She has the fame of a thorny rose in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. God knows how many young men who admired her have died at her hands!¡±

    Luo Xin and Li Fan were the ones in charge of the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s affairs in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and it was Luo Xin¡¯s duty to gather information.

    Dong Li, as the daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster, had been a key target. What she had heard about his young woman had made her raise her guard against her.

    ording to what she had learned, thepetition among members of the Dong n had always been intense and cruel, even for the younger generations.

    Only by making outstanding achievements would members of the Dong n attract more resources to themselves, so that they would be able to build up their strength, progress in their cultivation bases, and acquire spiritual tools and incantations of higher grades.

    Dong Li had been a very strong performer.

    When it came to schemes and maneuvering people, she had been much more skilled than her older brother.

    This was why many senior members of the Dong n had believed that she would have a promising future in the n. For the same reason, many people volunteered to be her subordinates.

    ¡°Hostile, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Nie Tian said honestly.

    ¡°Then we need to get away from her now!¡± Anxiety could be seen in Luo Xin¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°She¡¯sing by herself. There¡¯s no reason for us to be afraid of her.¡± Nie Tian grinned as he continued, ¡°I fought her once when I was at the early Heaven stage and she was at thete Heaven stage. I couldn¡¯t say that I was impressed by her strength. Even though she¡¯s entered the Greater Heaven stage now, I¡¯ve also advanced to thete Heaven stage. It¡¯s hard to say who¡¯s going to cower.¡±

    ¡°But we¡¯re in the Dong n¡¯s territory!¡± Luo Xin reminded Nie Tian solemnly.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. That makes it a bit tricky.¡± Nie Tian said, nodding.

    He hade to ck Water Lake to find his grandfather and aunt, and that was his primary goal.

    Once they encountered Dong Li, they would inevitably get into trouble, which would definitely have a toll on the efficiency of his search.

    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll steer clear of her.¡± In order to find the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s exploration group as soon as possible, hepromised. Pinning one of his Heaven Eyes on Dong Li, he and Luo Xin managed to avoid contact with her.

    Afterwards, the two of them followed the edge of ck Water Lake to the other side.

    About a quarter hourter...

    He suddenly caught sight of five ck-robed Qi warriors jumping out of a thick bush andnding on logs covered in moss that were floating in the dark water.

    Each and every one of them was at the early Greater Heaven stage, and they seemed to be fairly acquainted with each other.

    Standing on the logs, they propelled them forwards with their spiritual power. Like canoes, the pieces of ancient wood gradually sailed towards the three small inds at the center of ck Water Lake.

    They all had sullen expressions on their faces and ice-cold looks in their eyes. Each of them seemed to unleash an aura that agreed with the foul-smelling mist above ck Water Lake.

    With furrowed brows, Nie Tian gradually determined with the help of his Heaven Eyes that they were Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh!

    The only Qi warrior from the Realm of ck Marsh he had ever met was Miao Chen, who he had met during the Heaven Gate trial.

    Aside from him, Li Langfeng, who he had met in the Realm of Split Void, had once told him that although he was from the Realm of Dark Underworld, he had switched to his current toxic incantations due to some reason, which had originated from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    ording to Li Langfeng, the Realm of ck Marsh had once been home to the Fiends, whose bloodline power would allow them to strengthen themselves with toxins.

    Ever since the Fiends had disappeared from the Realm of ck Marsh, its unique climate and environment hadn¡¯t gone through much change. Therefore, most of the Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh were experts in toxic incantations, making them a group of Qi warriors that were very difficult to deal with throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Now, a handful of them had somehow appeared in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    From the look of it, they were none other than the team that had ughtered many other Qi warriors by ck Water Lake.

    Standing on floating logs, the five of them gradually split apart and drifted towards the three inds at the center of theke.

    At that moment, Dong Li arrived by ck Water Lake. Standing on the bank, she shouted at the five Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh, ¡°Hey! Get the hell away from there!¡±

    Dong Li figured out what they were after as soon as she saw the five of them approaching the inds at the center of theke.

    On those three small inds grew about a dozen extremely precious spirit nts, which the Dong n had long since imed ownership to.

    Several of the nts were extremely toxic. The Dong n had nned to sell them to Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh when they reached maturity.

    However, considering that the water in ck Water Lake contained deadly toxins, that those nts hadn¡¯t reached maturity, and that they had long since announced a ban on any Qi warrior setting foot on the three small inds at the center of ck Water Lake, Dong Li had never expected that Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh would actually vite the rules by secretly approaching the nts.

    Since they had made ns to secretly harvest those spirit nts, it made sense that they had deliberately cleaned up every Qi warrior that hade close to this area. They had probably done it to silence those explorers and hide their traces and identities, so that the Dong n wouldn¡¯te for them.

    A few other Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh secretly stuck their heads out from behind the bush where the first five had jumped out. ¡°A member of the Dong n!¡±

    ¡°That seems to be a girl from the Dong n, senior martial brother. What should we do?¡±

    ¡°What are you afraid of? She¡¯s only at the early Greater Heaven stage. Since I had the courage toe here, I took into ount that we might run into people from the Dong n. As long as we can get the stuff and return to the Realm of ck Marsh in time, what can they do? Ignore her. We stick to our n. If she dares to interfere, we¡¯ll go teach her a lesson!¡±

    ¡°Do we strike to kill?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. We just need to stop her and make sure she doesn¡¯t jeopardize our operation.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

 Chapter 396: A Vicious Beauty

    Originally, only five Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh were drifting towards the central inds on floating logs.

    However, as Dong Li appeared and threatened them, some other Qi warriors who had been hiding in the dark realized that they had been exposed, and thus stopped sneaking around.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Two ck-robed men jumped out from behind a dense bush and lightlynded on two more floating logs covered in moss.

    The two of them were at the middle Greater Heaven stage, slightly stronger than the first five.

    In the same way, they propelled the logs with their spiritual power, and like arrows leaving bowstrings, they shot towards the small inds at the center of ck Water Lake.

    They had visited the inds a few times before Dong Li¡¯s arrival, and thus knew that the spirit nts on them hadn¡¯t reached maturity yet.

    The purpose of the five going there had been to check on them and see how much longer it would take for them to reach maturity.

    However, Dong Li¡¯s appearance made them realize that it was no longer an option for them to harvest the spirit nts after they reached maturity.

    Even though they understood that the medicinal efficacy of the spirit nts would bepromised if they picked them before they reached maturity, they couldn¡¯t afford to worry about that now.

    Therefore, they were bent on snatching the spirit nts, evacuating from ck Water Lake, and returning to the Realm of ck Marsh as quickly as possible so that they wouldn¡¯t be surrounded and killed by powerful reinforcements from the Dong n.

    Standing by the edge of ck Water Lake, Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes shone with a vicious light as she watched the two Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh jump out from the dark and rush towards the central inds.

    Dong Li snorted a coldugh. ¡°A bunch of stupid morons. You really think people can juste and pick the spirit nts in ck Water Lake as they please?¡±

    It seemed that the purpose of her revealing herself and crying out to them was to spur the Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh and make them anxious.

    The two middle Greater Heaven stage experts emerging and rushing towards the central inds was exactly what she had anticipated.

    WHOOSH!

    Another middle Greater Heaven stage expert from the Realm of ck Marsh secretly dashed towards Dong Li along the edge of ck Water Lake.

    Instructed by his senior martial brother, the man hade to intercept her in case she wanted to tamper with their operation.

    Dong Li seemed to have noticed his movements and recognized his intentions. Her expression didn¡¯t flicker a bit as she continued to fix her glittering eyes on the seven Qi warriors who were approaching the center of ck Water Lake.

    She seemed to be waiting for something.

    When the two middle Greater Heaven stage experts were a significant distance away from the shore, and there was no way they could jump back, Dong Li suddenly sneered out loud.

    At the same time, a green, glowing sphere whizzed out from her palm and stopped above ck Water Lake in the blink of an eye.

    Rain was still drizzling down from the sky.

    Nie Tian and Luo Xin also noticed the green glowing sphere that had shot out from Dong Li¡¯s location.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Luo Xin asked in a low voice.

    ¡°I have no idea." Nie Tian shook his head, puzzled.

    In the next moment, the green, glowing sphere suddenly exploded in midair, sending out a substantial amount of fine drops of green liquid in every direction. Mixed with raindrops, they fell into theke, carrying a strange smell that was both sweet and bloody.

    As they made contact with theke¡¯s surface, tiny green sshes were created.

    Keeping a close watch with his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian had a feeling that the green liquid seemed to contain something that was bizarre and deadly.

    Soon, the green liquid spread out on theke surface as the water rippled.

    The grayish-ckke surface seemed to be rapidly painted green. Not only did the green liquid quickly spread out on the surface, but it also spread down towards the depths of theke.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°What?!"

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Luo Xin wasn¡¯t aware of what was happening.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t respond, but instead closed his eyes under her gaze.

    By doing that, he concentrated all of his attention on his Heaven Eyes, and the connection between him and his Heaven Eyes grew stronger.

    Now, he was able to detect the increasingly noticeable fluctuations of flesh and blood from the depths of the unfathomableke.

    When they had first arrived by ck Water Lake, he had scanned theke water with his Heaven Eyes.

    However, back then, he had only felt that ck Water Lake was unfathomably deep, and that theke water seemed somewhat strange. When he hadmanded his Heaven Eyes to probe into the depths of theke, it had been very consuming.

    As hard as he had tried, the perception of his Heaven Eyes had only been able to reach about ten meters below theke surface, not any further, and he hadn¡¯t detected any signs of life.

    However, as the green, glowing sphere cast by Dong Li exploded, and countless drops of green liquid spread to the depths of theke, lives seemed to be awakened and be active.

    After a brief pondering, Nie Tian instantly realized that some kind of living being must have been lying dormant in the deepest parts of theke.

    It was just that they had been sleeping in ces so deep under theke¡¯s surface that they had been out of his Heaven Eyes¡¯ reach.

    Since Nie Tian was only barely able to detect what was happening in theke via his Heaven Eyes, it was almost impossible for those conspiring Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh to discover anything.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Huge waves suddenly rose next to one of the floating logs. In the next moment, the mouth of a gigantic, thoroughly-ck Blood Eye Crocodile pierced out of theke surface.

    A bloodthirsty and merciless look filled the Blood Eye Crocodile¡¯s bloodshot eyes.

    With a violent roar, it lifted one of its huge ws and mmed it down towards the Qi warrior who was the closest to the central inds.

    bbergasted, the Qi warrior, who was one of the first five early Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors to enter ck Water Lake, eximed, ¡°A fourth grade Blood Eye Crocodile!¡±

    He was still about fifty meters from his target ind, which was not a distance he could cover with a single leap.

    Only Qi warriors who had reached the Profound realm would be able to soar through the air, but his cultivation base wasn¡¯t even close to that.

    WHOOSH!

    A gruesome, white bone staff flew out of the Qi warrior¡¯s hand and emanated dazzling light to resist the crocodile¡¯s mming palm.

    BOOM!

    The light unleashed by the bone staff warded off the m. However, the piece of ancient wood he was standing on couldn¡¯t withstand the heavy burden, and thus sank into the water along with him.

    Upon seeing this, the enormous Blood Eye Crocodile also dove into the water.

    One huge wave after another was created in that part of theke, as apparently, a fierce battle was taking ce beneath the surface.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the log returned to theke¡¯s surface.

    However, the early Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior from the Realm of ck Marsh didn¡¯t surface with it.

    Instead, scarlet blood bubbled up next to the log and gradually scattered.

    At the same time, the other few Qi warriors that were rushing towards the central inds let out blood-curdling screams, ¡°Spirit beasts!

    ¡°Spirit beasts have been lying dormant in the depths of ck Water Lake!¡±

    A ten-meter-long, white python emerged from the deepest parts of theke.

    Simultaneously, a Tiger Head Shark charged to theke¡¯s surface. Baring sharp teeth that looked like two rows of sharp des, it swam towards one of the Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    Two other Blood Eye Crocodiles also floated to the surface, each setting their eyes on a target.

    Without exception, those Qi warriors were all sizable distances away from the central inds.

    Under the joint attacks of the spirit beasts, whose fierce nature seemed to have been stimted by Dong Li¡¯s green glowing sphere, the logs they stood on soon fell apart.

    Without anything to support themselves, they fell into the water one after another, and ended up in the spirit beasts¡¯ bellies.

    Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes floated quietly above theke, where they watched the spirit beasts tearing apart and swallowing those ck-robed Qi warriors.

    The scene was so bloody and brutal that Nie Tian felt a numbness in his scalp.

    All seven of the Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh had been at the Greater Heaven stage. However, under those spirit beasts¡¯ ferocious attacks, they failed to even survive for even five minutes. With agonized shrieks, they were all quickly eaten alive.

    Standing on the shore, Dong Li looked very calm, her eyes shining with joyful light.

    The Qi warrior who hade towards her seemed to have been shocked by the sudden changes in ck Water Lake. Having long since stopping charging, he stared nkly towards the bloody scene in theke, eyes wide and filled with fury.

    ¡°Did you eat a bear heart or a leopard galldder? (see note 1) You actually dared to attempt to snatch things from our n. A bunch of ignorant fools!¡± Dong Li said coldly.

    Note:

    1. Eat a bear heart or a leopard galldder: be blindingly daring (and do something stupid).

 Chapter 397: Dong Lis Threat

    The waves on ck Water Lake gradually subsided.

    After devouring those ck-robed Qi warriors, the spirit beasts circled around in theke to absorbe the green water, and then descended back to the depths of theke.

    With fine rain drizzling down from the sky, ck Water Lake became peaceful and quiet again, as if nothing had happened.

    Standing by the shore, Luo Xin said in a low voice, her heart filled with frigid coldness, ¡°What a cunning and vicious woman!¡±

    Not having her own Heaven Eyes, she wasn¡¯t able to get every detail of what had happened in theke as Nie Tian did.

    However, she was able to tell that those seven Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh were eaten alive by the spirit beasts due to Dong Li¡¯s appearance.

    Dong Li had warned those ck-robed Qi warriors toe back ashore in a loud voice, while knowing perfectly well that ferocious spirit beasts were residing in the depths of theke.

    Obviously, it hadn¡¯t been her intention to let those Qi warriors realize the consequences and thus return to the shore.

    By threatening and warning them, she had actually intended to make them feel a sense of urgency, so that they would rush towards the spirit nts on the central inds.

    As it turned out, her scheme worked. Two other middle Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors had joined the n and rushed towards the small inds, and as the result, none of the seven ck-robed Qi warriors had survived those spirit beasts¡¯ sharp teeth.

    The mere thought of Dong Li¡¯s trickery made Luo Xin¡¯s blood run cold. She couldn¡¯t help but turn to Nie Tian ask, ¡°How in the world did you manage to survive till now after offending that woman?¡±

    Nie Tian also seemed in awe after witnessing such a brutal scene. He smiled without saying a word.

    Deep down, he knew that if he hadn¡¯t caught a whiff of Dong Li¡¯s scheme in the dense forest with the help of his Heaven Eyes, he might have been killed by Dong Li already, like Shen Wei and the others.

    At this moment, he suddenly remembered how he had pretended to like her and then humiliated her in the dense forest.

    He understood how much Dong Li must hate him. Now that they were in the Dong n¡¯s territory, Dong Li had ess to all the resources she needed. Once she discovered his whereabouts, it would be hard to say if he would be able to leave the Realm of a Hundred Battles in one piece.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had fallen silent, Luo Xin smiled bitterly and suggested, ¡°We¡¯d better get away from that woman as soon as possible. The way I see it, there might be other people from the Realm of ck Marsh in this area, and they are probablying for her. But even so, I doubt that they will be able to hurt that woman. We¡¯d better get out of here while the thing between them isn¡¯t over.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as hemanded his Heaven Eyes, which he had previously summoned to float right above ck Water Lake, to spread out.

    That was when he noticed that the brawling and struggling in ck Water Lake had attracted three teams of human Qi warriors that had been exploring in the vicinity. Driven by curiosity, they were rapidly converging on theke from different directions.

    Nie Tian could tell from the way they were dressed that none of the groups were from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    But unfortunately, the group of Cloudsoaring Sect members wasn¡¯t among them.

    He also sensed that the brawling seemed to have attracted the attention of spirit beasts that were foraging in further areas. He could tell that a few surges of vigorous life fluctuations were growing clearer and clearer, which meant a number of spirit beasts were also approaching ck Water Lake.

    Considering that the situation was getting increasinglyplicated, Nie Tian didn¡¯t intend to stay any longer, lest he and Luo Xin get into trouble.

    Just as he was about to leave, Dong Li, who was standing a significant distance away from him, suddenly chuckled and called out into the air, ¡°Hua Tian! I know you¡¯re here, and I know you can hear me! Listen! I want you toe out and help me annihte all the rats from the Realm of ck Marsh in this area!¡±

    Luo Xin was confused. ¡°Hua Tian...? Who¡¯s Hua Tian?¡±

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as his momentum came to a stop.

    ¡°The woman is crazy,¡± Nie Tian whispered. ¡°Only a fool would answer her calls.¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± Dong Li called out again. ¡°I know why you¡¯re here. I know some of your family and friends are currently in my n¡¯s territory. Perhaps they¡¯re not far from here. I hope you understand that this is my turf.

    ¡°If you dare to ignore me, I can assure you that, even if those friends and family of yours are still alive, there¡¯s no way that you¡¯ll get them out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles alive!

    ¡°You¡¯d better believe that I¡¯m capable of making good on my word!¡±

    ¡°Bitch!!¡± Nie Tian burst into a ming rage.

    At first, Luo Xin didn¡¯t know what was going on. However, seeing that Dong Li¡¯s words seemed to have hit Nie Tian in his weak spot, she suddenly came to her senses. ¡°The Hua Tian she talked about is you, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded with a furious, yet somewhat embarrassed, expression on his face.

    ¡°She¡¯s threatening you, isn¡¯t she?¡± Luo Xin asked anxiously. ¡°Does she mean that if you don¡¯t agree to her terms, she will mobilize the Dong n¡¯s resources to hunt down our exploration team, including your grandfather and Nie Qian?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s exactly what she meant!¡± Nie Tian said, his voice filled with fury.

    With a bitter expression, Luo Xin said softly, ¡°Well, after all, this is the Dong n¡¯s territory. As the nmaster¡¯s daughter, she does have ess to all the Dong n¡¯s resources. If she really wants to capture them, I doubt that your grandfather and their team will be able to escape.

    ¡°Furthermore, the Dong n has a lot of pull in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. They have a significant share of everything within Water Moon City.

    ¡°Even the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce would have to give them face. If the Dong n gives the order, I¡¯m afraid we will have no hope of returning to the Realm of me Heaven through the teleportation portals in Water Moon City.¡±

    Upon hearing Luo Xin¡¯s words, Nie Tian had a even worse headache over the situation. ¡°Dammit! How did that woman know I was here?¡±

    At the same time...

    A band of Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh jumped out from behind a bush. Not only did they reveal themselves, but they also started charging directly towards Dong Li.

    Nie Tian examined them with his Heaven Eyes, and discovered that there were about ten of them, and that they were all at the Greater Heaven stage, with two of them at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    The deaths of their sevenpanions must have stimted their killing nature. Their original n had just been to stop Dong Li. After all, they didn¡¯t want to kill her and start an unforgivable feud with the Dong n. But from the look of it, they had changed their mind. The leader of the band, a ck-robed man with a hawkish nose, ordered with a grim expression, ¡°Kill that bitch! As long as she lives, she¡¯ll be able to summon spirit beasts from the depths of ck Water Lake again. With those spirit beasts there, none of us will be able to get through them to the three central inds.¡±

    ording to his assessment, Dong Li was the one who could ruin their entire n. As for the Hua Tian she had just called out to, he didn¡¯t know anything about him, and thus didn¡¯t attach much importance to him.

    The man, who had been shocked by his friends¡¯ deaths on his way to attack Dong Li and thus stopped midway, heard their leader¡¯s order. With an angry roar, he unleashed numerous streaks of toxic, dark-green smoke, which shot towards Dong Li like slithering snakes.

    Without the slightest fear on her face, Dong Li took out the cyan awl she had once used to fight Nie Tian.

    Ayer of misty, cyan light suddenly spread out and wreathed the cyan awl. The vague figure of a beast could be seen inside the light.

    ¡°Do you really imagine that you can kill me on your own?¡± Dong Li sneered, not fearing the approaching dark-green smoke in the least. Then, with a fling of her hand, the cyan awl exploded towards the Qi warrior from the Realm of ck Marsh, the vague beast within the cyan light roaring silently.

    Dong Li, however, rapidly stepped backwards after casting her cyan awl.

    Judging by her stance, she seemed to be very eager to put a sizable distance between her enemy and herself, as if she weren¡¯t good at fighting in close quarters.

    Upon seeing this, her attacker¡¯s eyes lit up as he started to use every possible means to get close to her.

    Standing on the shore, Nie Tian quietly observed the battle between them, his face turning increasingly grim. ¡°The woman is indeed full of vicious tricks!¡±

    Back when they had encountered a powerful Golden Stone Rhino in the dense forest in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Dong Li had tangled with it for a long time. She hadn¡¯t seemed to have had any problem fighting it up close.

    She was one of the few people he knew that was very good at fighting in close quarters.

    However, she deliberately acted as if she was afraid of getting into close-upbat with her opponent, so that her opponent would get the wrong message and thus try every possible method to get close to her.

    Her stunning cunningness made Nie Tian increasingly vignt.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± Dong Li shouted as she stepped backwards, a panicked expression stretching across her face. ¡°I¡¯ll count to three. If you still don¡¯t show up and help me after I¡¯m finished, you can prepare coffins for your friends and family!¡±

    As her opponent pressed closer to her, the terrified and panicked expression on her face seemed to be increasingly heartfelt.

    The way she called out to Hua Tian also sounded very desperate and helpless.

    However, Nie Tian knew that the man, who thought he had gained the upper-hand, was going to suffer a deadly defeat.

    Anxious and uneasy, Luo Xin asked, ¡°What should we do? That woman is clearly taking advantage of the situation to force you toe out. What do you think we should do?¡±

    ¡°I have no choice but to show myself and help her,¡± Nie Tian said reluctantly.

 Chapter 398: Killing with One Strike!

    The ck-robed Qi warrior smiled sinisterly as he gradually closed in on Dong Li.

    As his hands constantly wove in the air, numerous streaks of dark-green smoke rapidly flew towards Dong Li, along with a foul smell.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li¡¯s cyan awl spun as it sailed through the air, creating streams of cyan light around it.

    Within the cyan light, the shadows of spirit beasts would sh into appearance every now and then, letting out angry roars.

    As the cyan light and the dark-green smoke shed repeatedly, arge amount of sparks sputtered out.

    Dong Li looked panicked as she yelled non-stop, as if she were waiting for a miracle to happen.

    Since she called out the name Hua Tian over and over again, it was obvious that she was hoping Hua Tian would swoop in and ¡°save her life¡±. However, Hua Tian still hadn¡¯t showed up.

    ¡°Bitch! You got seven of my martial brothers killed! Even if you¡¯re a member of the Dong n, I¡¯m going to tear you apart!¡± With these words, two clusters of green mes suddenly blossomed in the ck-robed man¡¯s grayish-brown palms.

    In the next moment, they threaded through the air and shot directly towards Dong Li¡¯s face.

    Panic and fear appeared on Dong Li¡¯s masked face as she twisted her curvaceous body to avoid contact with the two clusters of green mes.

    ¡°Die!¡± The ck-robed man sneered as two swords wreathed in green mes suddenly flew out of his cuffs.

    Meanwhile, a shield made from beast bones flew out upon Dong Li¡¯s summons.

    BANG! BANG!

    The two clusters of mes mmed heavily into the bone shield, sending out green sparks in every direction.

    The strong impact from the bone shield made Dong Li trudge backwards.

    Not only that, but the tremor created by the impact seemed to spread from the bone shield to her arms, and even her entire body.

    Her in-looking face started to crack and fall off like a crushed turtle shell.

    A momentter, her mask broke offpletely, revealing her singr beauty.

    Her red lips trembled as she begged the dumbstruck ck-robed man, looking as if she were going to weep, ¡°Please don¡¯t...¡±

    The Qi warrior from the Realm of ck Marsh was bewildered, since he had never expected that his opponent¡¯s face would change upon taking his strike.

    Right now, her face was so city-fellingly gorgeous that he couldn¡¯t even bear tounch another attack.

    ¡°Please let me go. I promise I¡¯ll stay out of your way. Please!¡± Dong Li said in a very soft voice. Even her bone shield gradually sagged, as if its weight had be unbearable to her.

    ¡°W-who are you exactly?¡± The ck-robed man asked in a smitten state.

    ¡°I¡¯m... the one who kills you!¡± With these words, Dong Li suddenly lifted her bone shield, a circle of bones as sharp as des sticking out the edge of the shield.

    With a turn of the bone shield, the sticking-out bones suddenly left the shield and shot towards the man¡¯s chest.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    In the blink of an eye, the bones pierced into the man¡¯s chest.

    At that moment, the delicate look Dong Li had put on was already gone. Her gorgeous face now looked cold and cruel.

    She turned her bone shield again and mmed the bones that had pierced into the man¡¯s chest with the shield¡¯s surface.

    POOH!

    Upon impact, the tips of the bones pierced out of the ck-robed man¡¯s back, like steel nails being hammered into wood.

    ¡°Who do you think you are...? A toad lusting after a swan¡¯s flesh!¡± A cold smile appeared at the corner of Dong Li¡¯s mouth.

    Then, she reached out her syed hand, and the cyan awl flew into her palm.

    As she grabbed it and nted into the man¡¯s neck effortlessly, the light in the man¡¯s eyes went dim.

    With a disgusted expression, she spit towards the man.

    Then, she pulled each and every bone out of the man¡¯s chest, and reloaded them into the bone shield.

    Seeing that the man didn¡¯t copse to the ground after he died, she let out a cold harrumph as she took out her cyan awl and stabbed him a few more times in the chest.

    BANG!

    The ck-robed Qi warrior, whose cultivation base had been at the middle Greater Heaven stage, slightly higher than hers, finally copsed to the ground with a loud crash.

    With her cyan awl in one hand and her bone shield in the other hand, Dong Li didn¡¯t spare the man¡¯s corpse another nce. Instead, she looked coldly at the other Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh, who were still dashing towards her.

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± She yelled at the top of her lungs. ¡°If you don¡¯t show yourself now, none of those who have the faintest rtionship with you will be able to leave the Realm of a Hundred Battles alive!¡±

    ¡°God damn it!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice suddenly rang out. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you would count to three? I was waiting for you to count!¡±

    ¡°Ah, as I expected, you are here!¡± Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s response, Dong Li rapidly began counting with a broad smile, ¡°One, two, three! Okay, done!¡±

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a beam of dazzling starlight shot out of a tall bush by thekeshore, where Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh were rushing towards Dong Li.

    An early Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior noticed the anomaly, and jerked his head back to see what was going on.

    Nie Tian, who had approached them by casting a short-range Starshift, unleashed his vigorous fluctuations of life, which he had been suppressing with his bloodline talent.

    A thick de st, mixed with mes and starlight, suddenly shed out from behind the sight-blocking nts. Like a shooting star, it reached the man¡¯s face within a breath¡¯s time.

    CRUNCH!

    The man¡¯s head was split in half by the me Star¡¯s de st.

    The other Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh instantly stopped their dashing momentum.

    That was when Nie Tian walked out from behind the nts that were as tall as two men, with the me Star in his hand.

    The me Star shone with bright light while emanating an extremely fierce aura.

    After Nie Tian killed the man with one strike, his me Star-bearing hand rxed slightly before gripping it tightly again. Simultaneously, his spiritual power of various attributes suddenly rushed out of their respective vortexes and madly infused into the me Star.

    He could sense with great rity that there were a number of exquisite spell formations inside the me Star.

    Each spell formation was separated from the others. Like independent formations of channels, they allowed me power, wood power, and star power to flow inside of them.

    As his different spiritual powers flowed within those unique spell formations, they seemed to be strengthened.

    The de of the 1.5-meter-long me Star was thoroughly dark-red. Its handle was made from a rare type of wood. Holding it in his hand, Nie Tian felt a mysterious connection between it and the vortexes within his spiritual sea.

    No matter how he wielded it, it felt right, as if it was an extension of his arm.

    ¡°Li Ye does have some real talent in equipment forging!¡± He marveled inwardly.

    As he lifted and pointed the me Star at the other Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh, an extremely strong aura burst forth from the tip of the de. He said, ¡°I¡¯m the Hua Tian she¡¯s been calling out to.¡±

    The leader with a hawk nose took a deep look at Nie Tian and said with a grim expression, ¡°A Heaven stage clown actually snuck up on Guan Jing and killed him with one strike. What are you waiting for, Guan Yue?¡±

    The face of the middle Greater Heaven stage Guan Yue had long since grown distorted.

    The man who Nie Tian had just killed was none other than his younger brother.

    Without uttering a word, Guan Yue leapt three meters into the air before swooping down at Nie Tian like a eagle attacking its prey.

    At the same time, a vague bellow came out of his throat. His eyes turned bloodshot as his w-wearing hand grabbed down towards Nie Tian.

    Arge number of w-shaped shadows suddenly appeared in midair, along with a pervasive foul smell. A mere whiff of it made Nie Tian want to throw up.

    ¡°Let them fight. Guan Yue alone is enough to kill a clown with such a low cultivation base.¡± The leader turned around and charged on towards Dong Li upon seeing that Guan Yue had made a move. ¡°We¡¯ve got to kill that woman as soon as we can! We¡¯ll wash off the humiliation she¡¯s brought to us with her life!¡±

    Even though Dong Li knew she had been considered the primary target, she still remained calm andposed as she observed the battle between Guan Yue and Nie Tian. Not the slightest fear could be seen on her singrly beautiful face.

    In the meantime, she lifted her milky-white wrist and whispered something into her bracelet.

    At that moment, the other three groups of human Qi warriors, who had been attracted by the brawls and screams, marched through the tall nts and appeared on ck Water Lake¡¯s shore.

    Some among them recognized Dong Li and eximed, ¡°Miss Dong!¡±

    Dong Li reached out with one hand and pointed at the three exploration teams from afar as she ordered with a domineering tone, ¡°You! You! And you! Work together and kill those bastards from the Realm of ck Marsh! That lot vited my n¡¯s rules and butchered many fellow explorers in this region!¡±

    The three groups of explorers had heard something about what those men from the Realm of ck Marsh had done and what they were after.

    Therefore, they made up their mind soon after hearing Dong Li¡¯s order.

    After exchanging a nce with each other, they summoned their spiritual tools and rapidly converged on Dong Li¡¯s location.

    Seeing that they had all moved out, Dong Li smiled increasingly brightly. Then, she whispered into her bracelet, ¡°Stay at the perimeter and wait for my orders. Don¡¯te close unless I tell you to.¡±

 Chapter 399: Sustaining Injuries

    At the foot of a short mountain peak far from ck Water Lake...

    Zhan Yuan, Nie Donghai, and others from the Cloudsoaring Sect had recovered their strength with spirit stones.

    Zhan Yuan, the one with the highest cultivation base among them, asked with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°Did you hear that? Brawling sounds from ck Water Lake. It seems that people are battling over there.¡±

    Fear appeared in Jiang Lingzhu¡¯s face as she said, ¡°Those bad men must haveid their murderous hands on another exploration team!¡±

    Nie Donghai, whose cultivation base was slightly lower than Zhan Yuan¡¯s, smiled with a hint of sadness on his face as he said, ¡°I must miss Little Tian too much for not being able to see him for so long. I thought I heard his voice just now.¡±

    Being at the Greater Heaven stage, he and Zhan Yuan could hear things from a farther distance than the others, so he also heard the sounds from ck Water Lake.

    It was just that they were quite far from ck Water Lake, so he couldn¡¯t make out what people were saying over there. He could only tell that there were men and women¡¯s voices, one of which sounded very simr to Nie Tian¡¯s, who he had worried about day and night for the past few years.

    However, he suspected that it had been an illusion caused by his excessive desire to see Nie Tian.

    After all, this was the Realm of a Hundred Battles. How would Nie Tian suddenly show up here?

    ¡°Father, it must be that you¡¯re missing Little Tian too much.¡± With a sigh, Nie Qian continued, ¡°It¡¯s said that he¡¯s sealed the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations sessively. However, for some reason, he turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer. Now that he¡¯s refused to go to the Heaven Pce Sect, he must n to stay in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations for some time. It doesn¡¯t make sense that he would suddenly show up in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    News from other realms had spread to this ce, and they had learned about Nie Tian¡¯s recent actions from Xu Shan when they had met not long ago.

    Both Nie Donghai and Nie Qian felt very proud of Nie Tian, but they had never imagined that he would actuallye to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time we went back,¡± Zhan Yuan said after a moment of pondering. ¡°However, we¡¯ll need to pass ck Water Lake if we want to return to Water Moon City. The way I see it, it won¡¯t be easy to avoid those murderers by ck Water Lake. So we might as well take advantage of this opportunity, when they are engaged in battle with others, and march past ck Water Lake as quickly as we can.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a good n,¡± Nie Donghai said.

    Upon receiving his support, Zhan Yuan sprung to his feet and appealed to the team, ¡°That settles it then. Let¡¯s move out! We¡¯ll try our best to stay away from those men and pass ck Water Lake with our fastest speed possible! Considering that we¡¯ve gained quite a fortune from this trip of ours, we¡¯ll teleport back to Water Moon City via one of the Dong n¡¯s teleportation portals!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The team agreed.

    Therefore, everyone rose to their feet, took out their spiritual tools, and marched towards ck Water Lake.

    ...

    On the shore of ck Water Lake.

    CLANK!

    Nie Tian brandished the me Star, which constantly met Guan Yue¡¯s sharp metal ws.

    Every contact created enormous impacts, causing Nie Tian to shudder slightly and experience numbness in the web between his thumb and forefinger.

    After all, Guan Yue was at the middle Greater Heaven stage. His internal spiritual power was rich and pure, and the spiritual power he had infused into his ws was also shockingly strong.

    The fact that Nie Tian had been able to contend against him was, on one hand, thanks to the various types of power in his spiritual sea.

    On the other hand, Nie Tian¡¯s iparably tough physique allowed him to withstand impacts that most others at his level couldn¡¯t.

    On top of that, he didn¡¯t go all-out to battle Guan Yue.

    He didn¡¯t form a chaotic maic field, use the secret magics from the Fragmentary Star Incantation, or unleash his mighty Rage Punch.

    The reason why he had been holding back was because he didn¡¯t really want to work for Dong Li. He was only fighting the man because Dong Li had forced him to do so.

    From what he could tell, as long as he came out and got into an extended fight with a Qi warrior from the Realm of ck Marsh, he could be considered to have given Dong Li what she wanted.

    HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

    However, even though Nie Tian only wanted to pass the time, he found that more and more w-shaped shadows had appeared in the air.

    Like an eagle, Guan Yue repeatedly leapt into the air and swooped down at him.

    The w-shaped shadows created by the ws he wore hung in the air, strong spiritual power fluctuations emanating from each and every one of them.

    Before long, Nie Tian found himself surrounded by hundreds of them.

    It seemed that they had even formed some kind of spell formation, and the space between them was shrinking by the second.

    Meanwhile, the w-shaped shadows released a lingering foul smell that pervaded the ten meter radius around Nie Tian.

    Knowing the foul smell contained toxins, Nie Tian held his breath, so that he wouldn¡¯t inhale the toxins into his internal organs.

    ¡°Hey, brat! You killed my little brother! Now prepare to die!¡± Guan Yue said as he stopped in midair. The razor-sharp ws he was wearing started to shine with green, frigid light.

    Numerous fine strings that were only visible to Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes shot out of Guan Yue¡¯s ws, connecting the hundreds of floating, w-shaped shadows with his metal ws.

    Then, he yanked his extended hands down.

    The sky-filling, w-shaped shadows whizzed down from midair like arge shoal of fish being caught by a huge.

    Enormous amounts of spiritual power burst forth from the hundreds of w-shaped shadows, which came together and formed shockwaves more formidable than he had ever imagined.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Meanwhile, w-shaped shadows appeared on the ground around Nie Tian. As they exploded one after another, the earth trembled non-stop.

    The shock waves resonated with one another as they bombarded Nie Tian from above and under simultaneously.

    It was at that moment that w-shaped shadows started raining on Nie Tian.

    As they fell on Nie Tian¡¯s body, his body shook violently, feeling as if he was being hit by iron hammers.

    PUFF!

    As tough as his body was, he coughed up a mouthful of blood after taking repeated blows from therge number of w-shaped shadows.

    Guan Yue¡¯s secret magic eventually inflicted severe injuries on him, which was a price he paid for not going all-out in the battle.

    In a distant location.

    Dong Li, who had instructed the other three groups of explorers to go after the people from the Realm of ck Marsh, seemed rxed and carefree.

    Her bright eyes spent most of their time fixated on Nie Tian, as if she were paying close attention to every move Nie Tian made.

    Back when they had been in the Realm of Split Void, she had fought Nie Tian and lost. Then, she had summoned a massive number of forces to search for him in the wastnd outside of Shatter City and failed. Therefore, she knew better than anyone what Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess was really like.

    She had long since realized that Nie Tian¡¯s actual battle prowess was far beyond his cultivation base.

    After all, Nie Tian was the freak who had risen up from arge number of the most talented disciples from the most powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and obtained two fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial.

    Not long after she had returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, she had suspected that Ning Yang, the most talented Heaven Pce Sect disciple of his generation, had died at his hands. Back then, Nie Tian had been busy sealing spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    She was well-aware that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base didn¡¯t do justice to his actual strength.

    This could be proven by the fact that Nie Tian had appeared out of nowhere and killed an early Greater Heaven stage cultivator with a single strike.

    Therefore, she had long since seen through what Nie Tian was trying to do with that middle Greater Heaven stage cultivator from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    At this moment, seeing that Nie Tian had paid a price for reserving his strength, she couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.

    Enjoyment filled her gorgeous face as she called out to Nie Tian, ¡°Hua Tian, I never imagined that you would end up in such sore traits!¡±

    Seeing Nie Tian being injured, she remembered how Nie Tian had approached her posing as a man madly in love with her after she had secretly killed Shen Wei, locked her down from behind, teased her verbally, and disrespected her physically.

    Over the past half a year, whenever she was not practicing cultivation and had time to spare, images of her encounters with Nie Tian would repeatedly appear in her mind.

    As the precious daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster, she had been taken care of by everyone in the n, like the moon being surrounded by countless stars. She had managed to kill everyone who had drooled over her beauty without drawing attention.

    Never had she ever been so humiliated by a man, not before she had met Nie Tian.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian had already be her internal demon, who she couldn¡¯t wait to get rid of.

    This was why she seemed rather happy seeing Nie Tian suffer injuries in battle, so much so that she couldn¡¯t help but call out to him.

    As for those Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh and the three groups of explorers, none of them really mattered to her.

    Nie Tian was what she hade for. Other than him, nobody and nothing would really provoke her interest.

    ¡°Asshole!¡± After hearing her chuckles, Nie Tian cursed inwardly.

 Chapter 400: Standoff

    With a delighted expression on her face, Dong Li circled around the area where the three groups of explorers were battling the people from the Realm of ck Marsh, and slowly approached Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    As she did, she would hold her jade-like wrist to her red lips and whisper orders into her bracelet every now and then.

    After joining up, the three groups of explorers had the advantage in both numbers and strength.

    Since they recognized Dong Li and knew she was the daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster, when they had been asked to deal with the Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh, they could only do as they were bid.

    After all, they all understood very well what would happen to them if they dared to disobey her in the Dong n¡¯s territory.

    Furthermore, they had recently heard about the intolerable deeds of those Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    Even though Dong Li had yed a trick and gotten seven of the people from the Realm of ck Marsh killed, none of the three groups of explorers would have the strength to contend against the rest of them alone.

    If Dong Li hadn¡¯t called upon them, it wouldn¡¯t have urred to them to unite against those murderers.

    But now that they hade together upon hearing Dong Li¡¯s call, and their collective strength exceeded that of the people from the Realm of ck Marsh, they weren¡¯t afraid of them anymore.

    Not to mention that they also had the Dong n backing them.

    Dong Li sneered. ¡°A bunch of fools.¡±

    The reason why she hadn¡¯t been so eager to summon members of the Dong n to this ce was that she knew she could use these outsiders to wear down or annihte those from the Realm of ck Marsh.

    In her eyes, no matter whether it was the people from the Realm of ck Marsh or the explorers that hade upon her summons, they were all chess pieces, subject to her maniption.

    She didn¡¯t care about their lives, not in the least.

    What she really wanted was to see Nie Tian suffer and sustain injuries, so that she could find a vent for her anger towards him.

    BANG! BANG!

    As countless w-shaped shadows continued to rain on Nie Tian, blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth, and his face turned pale.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s condition, Guan Yue, who had infused every one of those w-shaped shadows with his own spiritual power, smiled brutally.

    ¡°You killed my little brother. No matter who you are, you will have to die here today!¡± With these words, he wove his metal ws in the air and once again channeled the power within the floating, w-shaped shadows.

    In the next moment, torrential spiritual power fluctuations burst forth from within each and every w-shaped shadow and spread towards Nie Tian.

    Experiencing soreness all over, Nie Tian took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

    Wood power suddenly rushed out of the vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea, and with a strong nourishing aura, it poured into his meridians, muscles, and internal organs.

    Wherever his wood power flowed, the intense soreness disappeared, making him sofortable that he felt as if he was having a bath in a hot spring.

    Instantly, his meridians and muscles recovered their vigor.

    As a thought appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, the green aura that was coiled in his heart also unleashed a surge of life energy, which morphed into a streak of green light that rushed into his internal organs.

    The streak of green light seemed to suddenly stimte the flesh power within Nie Tian¡¯s internal organs and tap into his potential.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian discovered that his badly-injured body had suddenly recovered to its peak state.

    He threw his head back and let loose a long roar.

    As he did, spiritual power of various attributes, flesh power, and psychic power, as well as soul power from the seven fragmentary star in his soul, rapidly rushed out and formed a chaotic maic field around him.

    Distorting and chaotic fluctuations spread out into the space around Nie Tian, causing the w-shaped shadows that fell into it to shake violently.

    Not only that, but the spiritual power that Guan Yue had vested them with was instantly distorted.

    Many of the invisible strings that connected the floating w-shaped shadows with Guan Yue suddenly snapped.

    Immediately afterwards, the w-shaped shadows that had fallen into Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field started to explode one after another.

    The suffocating spiritual power fluctuations that weighed down on Nie Tian like mountains vanished along with them.

    At that moment, eyes narrowed, Nie Tian began to swing the me Star in his hand.

    de sts sent out by the me Star snapped the remaining intact strings with great precision.

    Guan Yue¡¯s face turned pale with fright. Dark-green smoke rose from the bottom of his feet as he swiftly jumped backwards.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph as he fixed his frigid gaze on him.

    Guan Yue met Nie Tian¡¯s gaze and felt very uneasy, as if he knew something bad was about to happen.

    In the next moment, he found that Nie Tian, who was staring at him holding his me Star, suddenly became blurry.

    WHOOSH!

    Sensing a booming life aura in the tall bush behind his back, he turned around as quickly as he could.

    A two-meter-long de st, mixed with mes and starlight, had already beenunched at him.

    At the same time, he was enveloped by the strange maic field.

    As he attempted to draw on his spiritual power, he discovered that it had be unprecedentedly difficult. Even his originally peaceful soul, which was like an undisturbedke, experienced enormous amounts of turbulence, as well as a stabbing pain.

    With great difficulty, he raised his metal ws to defend himself.

    RUUUUUMBLE!

    A surge of extremely explosive power, which shouldn¡¯t have belonged to a Heaven stage cultivator, mmed into the ws.

    Guan Yue¡¯s arms were instantly mangled, blood spraying out of them. His body was also sent flying back by the terrifying impact.

    His body made a perfect arc in the air and crashed heavily onto the ground. Guan Yue grimaced and gasped for air as he rapidly examined himself.

    He discovered that spiritual power of different attributes was following his meridians up his arms as they continued to damage his arms.

    Lucky for him, the strike had knocked him out of the chaotic maic field, and he no longer felt the terrifying feeling of his soul being twisted and ripped apart.

    ¡°Is this brat really at the Heaven stage?!¡± Guan Yue gnashed his teeth with frustration as he watched Nie Tian, who seemed as calm as ever, pace towards him.

    Only then did he realize that his younger brother¡¯s death hadn¡¯t been a lucky attempt.

    Although this unknown Heavens stage young man cultivated spiritual power with many different attributes, every single one of them was outstandingly pure and rich.

    Furthermore, when he had taken repeated bombardment from his w-shaped shadows, not only had he not lost his will to battle, but he even seemed to have been provoked. The strength he hadter exhibited almost suffocated him.

    After a brief search in his mind, he came around and realized that Nie Tian had been preserving his strength before.

    Trembling with fear, Guan Yue hastily turned to look at hispanions in an attempt to ask for help.

    However, what he saw made his expression grow even grimmer.

    Dozens of Qi warriors had already surrounded hispanions. At this moment, they were madly attacking them on Dong Li¡¯s demand.

    Hispanions were obviously in an unfavorable situation. Even their leader¡¯s eyes started to flicker, as he was apparently considering retreat.

    After a brief pondering, Guan Yue made out the situation he was in, and was determined to escape.

    However, just as he was trying to get ahold of his bearings, a cyan awl approached without making a sound.

    Guan Yue sensed the danger.

    With a panicked expression, he jerked his head to his left, and discovered that the devilishly beautiful woman from the Dong n had already appeared from behind a tall bush.

    Before he could react, the cyan awl shot into his ribs like a sh of lightning.

    An intense, sore numbness, along with agonizing pain, came from the side of his ribcage. Then, that side of his body began to grow stiff and numb.

    ¡°The awl is poisonous!¡± Lips trembling, Guan Yue attempted to stop the spread of the toxin with his secret magics.

    However, Dong Li didn¡¯t give him the chance to do that.

    Dong Li lunged forward as sharp bones stuck out of the edge of her bone shield. In the next moment, Dong Li buried them all in Guan Yue¡¯s body.

    Guan Yue¡¯s body gradually turned cold and dropped to the ground.

    Nie Tian came to a stop in a location about ten meters in front of Dong Li. Gripping the me Star, he said to her with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°That waspletely unnecessary. I didn¡¯t need your help.¡±

    ¡°His cultivation base is much higher than yours, yet he failed to leave a noticeable wound on you,¡± Dong Li said with a disgusted expression. ¡°Such a good-for-nothing is an eyesore for me.¡±

    Nie Tian looked at her, not uttering a word.

    The Dong Li he was looking at now was just as cunning and vicious as the Song Li he had dealt with in the Realm of Split Void.

    The only thing that was different was her appearance.

    Having resumed her actual appearance, Dong Li looked like a blossoming flower. Together with her well-built, long legs and curvaceous upper body, they made her an absolutely rare beauty.

    However, he knew perfectly well that this blossoming rose was covered in sharp thorns.

    Any man who dared to pick it might end up with a bloody hand.

    ¡°Hua Tian, Nie Tian, hahaha.¡± Dong Li chuckled as she took her time retracting her cyan awl from Guan Yue¡¯s cold body and putting it away, along with her bone shield.

    Nie Tian let out a loud harrumph.

    Apparently, Dong Li had long since learned about his real identity from Dong Baijie.

    Considering Dong Li¡¯s resourcefulness, she might have already obtained a thorough knowledge of him and his rtionship with the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    This meant that the threat she had made before had been well-based.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Nie Tian.

 Chapter 401: What Do You Want?

    Dong Li didn¡¯t reply.

    Instead, she smiled at Nie Tian as she once again lifted her wrist and whispered into her bracelet, ¡°Time to pull in the.¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned.

    However, he learned the meaning of Dong Li¡¯s words in the next moment.

    Numerous people started moving about quickly in the dense bushes around ck Water Lake, revealing a veryrge blockade that sealed this entire area.

    At that moment, the people from the Realm of ck Marsh saw the reality of things.

    They realized that their n to snatch spirit nts from the Dong n was no long viable.

    They couldn¡¯t even finish off the three groups of explorers, much less the experts that were closing in on them.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± The man with the hawkish nose cried out.

    Upon hearing his cry, the Qi warriors from the Realm of ck Marsh immediately left their opponents and scattered away in a hubbub.

    By the time the three groups of explorers realized what was going on, their opponents had already broken up and disappeared into the tall bushes.

    Dong Li seemed asposed as ever, but the look in her eyes turned colder and colder.

    Via the seven Heaven Eyes Nie Tian had spread out to cover the area, Nie Tian could see with great rity that powerful experts from the Dong n were shrinking their blockade.

    Their strength and cultivation bases were far superior to the explorers¡¯.

    As the people from the Realm of ck Marsh attempted to break through their blockade in different locations, every one of them was met with strong resistance.

    Sounds of battle, desperate wails, and agonized shrieks that snapped prematurely filled the air.

    Nie Tian could see through his Heaven Eyes that the ck-robed Qi warriors were being ughtered by powerful experts from the Dong n.

    Even their leader, thete Greater Heaven stage man with a hawkish nose, was surrounded by several powerful experts from the Dong n. From their stance, it seemed that they wanted to capture him alive.

    Nie Tian immediately realized why Dong Li hadn¡¯t been eager to summon her own people, but rather had them stay put at the perimeter.

    On the one hand, she wanted the three groups of explorers to tire the thieves from the Realm of ck Marsh out. On the other hand, she wanted her own people to form a watertight blockade while the explorers kept the thieves busy.

    Once the blockade was fully formed, it would be harvest time.

    Dong Li knew that if she scared those thieves off with her nsmen, it would be very hard to capture or kill them all in the dense foliage, which was why she had made such a deployment.

    She intended to get them all in one go.

    ¡°What?!" A shudder suddenly ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he examined the actions of the Dong n members via his Heaven Eyes.

    Via one of his Heaven Eyes, he caught sight of the group of people from the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    He discovered that his grandfather Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, and the others were by the foot of a small mountain peak, and they were marching in his direction at full speed.

    He could even see the urgency on Nie Donghai¡¯s face.

    WHOOSH!

    Han Mu, who was waiting for people from the Realm of ck Marsh to run into their, suddenly sensed something, and dashed off towards Nie Donghai and his team.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Han Mu appeared in Nie Donghai and Zhan Yuan¡¯s sight.

    Seeing Han Mu appearing in front of his grandfather, Nie Tian was deeply worried, yet there was nothing he could do.

    He knew that everything was going perfectly ording to Dong Li¡¯s n.

    Han Mu, who had tangled with Nie Tian for months in the Realm of Split Void, stopped his dashing momentum in front of Nie Donghai and Zhan Yuan. ¡°Greetings, I¡¯m a member of the Dong n.¡±

    After learning that Han Mu was from the Dong n, Zhan Yuan let out a sigh of relief, and said without any hesitation, ¡°We¡¯re from the Cloudsoaring Sect. Thank god! We¡¯ve been hoping to meet people from your n! A group of unknown Qi warriors recently appeared in ck Water Lake¡¯s vicinity. They disregarded the rules set up by your n and madly assaulted fellow explorers. We...¡±

    Zhan Yuan detailedly exined everything that had happened recently to Han Mu.

    Han Mu started smiling the moment he learned about their identity. With a very polite tone, he said, ¡°Our n has already learned about the situation you just mentioned. Don¡¯t worry. Miss Dong has made deployments ordingly, and we¡¯re already dealing with those rats from the Realm of ck Marsh. I believe there will be a clear result soon.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Zhan Yuan and everyone else, who had felt quite insecure and uneasy recently due to the existence of those killers, put their minds at ease.

    Of course they didn¡¯t have a clue regarding the entanglement between Nie Tian and Dong Li. They just felt relieved that the problem that had been hanging over their heads was finally gone.

    Jiang Lingzhu tapped her chest and said with a rxed and admiring tone, ¡°Hahaha, now that Miss Dong hase and dealt with it personally, there¡¯s no reason for us to worry anymore. I¡¯ve heard some stories of Miss Dong. She¡¯s such a capable woman! With her being here, there¡¯s no way that those people from the Realm of ck Marsh will escape!¡±

    Laughing softly, Han Mu¡¯s gaze frequently swept across Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    After Jiang Lingzhu was finished, he nodded gently and said, ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ll take you to see Miss Dong. You don¡¯t need to worry about that rubbish from the Realm of ck Marsh anymore.¡±

    Zhan Yuan and the others dly followed along.

    ¡°You¡¯re Mr. Nie, right?¡± Han Mu asked, looking at Nie Donghai.

    Astonished, Nie Donghai asked, ¡°Do you know me?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Han Mu let out a meaningfulugh. ¡°You might get to meet someone you¡¯ll be very surprised to meet soon.¡±

    ¡°Who??¡± Nie Donghai was deeply puzzled.

    Han Muughed out loud. ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±

    ...

    As Dong Li¡¯s bracelet glimmered with misty light, she held it close to her ear. After listening for a while, a low chuckle escaped her mouth.

    Nie Tian, however, looked very grim.

    Dong Li chuckled, apparently in a good mood. ¡°Guess who Han Mu just found. You remember Han Mu, don¡¯t you? He was there with me when we were in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Nie Tian, who had already learned what was going on through his Heaven Eyes, dropped to the ground.

    He took out a few pieces of spirit beast meat. With a sulking face, he tore chunks of meat off with his teeth and swallowed them to recover the flesh power he had just consumed, while pondering what he should do.

    ¡°Why are you not talking?¡± Dong Li¡¯s smile grew broader.

    Her full figure swayed as she stepped closer to Nie Tian flirtatiously. After throwing a jade te on the moist grasnd, she followed Nie Tian¡¯s example and sat down in front of him.

    The two of them sat face to face, barely one meter apart.

    With a warm smile, Dong Li took the initiative and exined, ¡°Han Mu found that group of people from the Cloudsoaring Sect, along with your grandfather and another person who I believe is your aunt.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask you one more time. What do you want?¡± Nie Tian said coldly.

    Seeing that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t shocked at all, Dong Li went nk for a moment beforeing to a realization. ¡°Impressive. Apparently, you¡¯ve already learned what just happened to them. This makes sense. Considering you managed to break free from the blockades I arranged for you over and over again, you must have your special method of learning things.¡±

    ¡°Spill it. What do you want?¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    He saw via his Heaven Eyes that Han Mu had already gathered a few powerful Dong n experts and escorted his grandfather¡¯s team towards his location.

    Under these circumstances, escaping with Starshift like he had done in the wastnd in the Realm of Split Void was no longer an option.

    Since Dong Li had his family, he could only admit that he had been outmaneuvered andy low.

    ¡°What do I want?¡± Dong Li repeated Nie Tian¡¯s question.

    Eyes narrowed, she recalled what Nie Tian had done to her in the Realm of Split Void. The smile on her face gradually faded away.

    ¡°Do you still remember how you humiliated me in the dense forest right after I killed Shen Wei?¡± With these words, she subconsciously nced down at her left breast.

    She still remembered that, after Nie Tian had pinned her down, not only had he run his hands up and down her body willfully, but he had also grabbed her left breast vigorously. Now that she thought about it, she could almost still feel the wrenching pain.

    ¡°Do you still remember calling me ¡®dumb woman¡¯ repeatedly in those little messages you left me?

    ¡°You humiliated me so recklessly back then. What do you expect I will do to you?!¡± Dong Li spat out every word with a great force. mes of rage were burning within her eyes. However, the mes were bone-piercingly cold, as if they were formed by unlimited killing intent.

    Nie Tian remained silent.

    He continued to consume spirit beast meat as he wracked his mind for a way to save his grandfather and aunt.

    As ideas popped up in his mind and passed by him one after another, he didn¡¯t listen to anything that Dong Li had just said.

    After pondering for a while, the only thing that seemed viable was kidnapping Dong Li.

    As soon as he made up his mind, his flickering eyes became determined and calm.

    However, just as he was about to make a move, Dong Li, who was sitting within arm¡¯s reach of him, suddenly let out a coldugh. Meanwhile, the jade te she was sitting on started to emanate brilliant light.

    The light instantly enveloped Dong Li¡¯s appealing body.

    ¡°I know what you are thinking.¡± Dong Li slowly rose to her feet. To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, she took the bracelet on her wrist off and tossed it away, saying, ¡°Now I can¡¯tmunicate with Han Mu or issuemands to the other Dong n members. It will still take a while for Han Mu and your family to get here.

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that I never gave you a chance, Nie Tian.

    ¡°Now you have the opportunity to capture me alive during this time, and use me to trade for your family¡¯s safety.¡±

 Chapter 402: Beast Spirit Incantation!

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you serious?¡± He looked coldly at Dong Li, who had already put some distance between them, but he wasn¡¯t in a hurry tounch attacks.

    After all, he wasn¡¯t sure what Dong Li was up to.

    In his eyes, Dong Li was extremely cunning and vicious. She would never do something without a n, and she was never fond of solving problems through battles.

    Since Han Mu already controlled the team from the Cloudsoaring Sect, all she had to do was issuemands via that bracelet of hers and force Nie Tian to do as she said. Why would she do such a thing?

    He suspected that she had ulterior motives.

    Dong Li let out a cold snort, raging hatred appearing on her gorgeous face. ¡°Of course I¡¯m serious! I wanted to have a fair battle with you when we were in the Realm of Split Void. However, all you did was escape and kill my subordinates. You didn¡¯t have the courage to fight me fair and square. I was very disappointed.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled coldly. ¡°Back when we were in the dense forest, we could have had a sound battle if your men hadn¡¯t rushed to your aid. The whole Void Illusion Mountain Range was filled with members of the Fang. How could I not leave?¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡± The look in Dong Li¡¯s eye grew increasingly frigid. ¡°Now we¡¯re alone. You can attack me freely. But you¡¯ve got to hurry though. If you fail to capture me by the time Han Mu arrives with your grandfather and the others, don¡¯t me me for not being polite to them.¡±

    Dong Li, who had suffered repeated losses from Nie Tian, wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with breaking Nie Tian in effortless ways.

    If it were someone else, she probably wouldn¡¯t even want to make an effort. Considering she had the leverage now, with a singlemand, she would be able to watch the man suffer.

    However, Nie Tian was different to her.

    She had long since taken Nie Tian as a challenge, one she didn¡¯t n to deal with using her usual means.

    Only by inflicting serious pain on Nie Tian with her own strength could she let Nie Tian taste the vor of a absolute defeat, and she would get to vent her rage.

    ¡°As you wish!¡± With a long roar, Nie Tian expanded his shrunken chaotic maic field to cover a ten meter radius around him.

    The tall bushes enveloped by the maic field started to rattle and explode into shreds.

    Fine rain was still drizzling down as a two-meter-long de light suddenly extended out from the me Star in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like a spirit snake, the de light wiggled at the tip of the me Star, thrumming with various types of fierce spiritual power.

    SHEW!

    The de light split the falling rain and shed towards Dong Li¡¯s face.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li was enveloped by Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field. Every nt and bit of vegetation around her was reduced to flying shreds.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    Every time the de light swished down , Dong Li managed to ward it off precisely with her bone shield.

    The area around Dong Li was quickly filled with sparks created by the contacts, and her internal spiritual power began to rush around inside of her.

    However, she didn¡¯t move a bit, and not the slightest panic appeared in her eyes.

    Even though her cultivation base was only at the early Greater Heaven stage, slightly higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, she managed to ward off Nie Tian¡¯s raging attacks and hold her ground in his chaotic maic field at the same time, which Guan Yue, a Qi warrior at the middle Greater Heaven stage, had failed to do!

    Sneering, Dong Li took a deep breath. ¡°Is this all you¡¯ve got, the man who received legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!

    ¡°Let me show you how powerful our n¡¯s Beast Spirit Incantation is!¡±

    She pursed her sexy lips and let out a animal-like shriek.

    A thick pir of pitch-ck spiritual light suddenly beamed into the heavens from behind her back. As it did, the aura Dong Li released into her surroundings went through a overwhelming change.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s amazed gaze, the pir of spiritual light started to morph.

    In a few seconds, an enormous, ck phoenix came to shape and spread its huge wings.

    The ck phoenix seemed as if it were forged out of a ck metal. With a few flutters of its wings, the heaven and earth around it were filled with a boundless and ancient energy.

    As that happened, Nie Tian started to lose control of the chaotic maic field he had summoned all sorts of spiritual power to form.

    ¡°Beast Spirit Incantation!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    He suddenly remembered the battle between him and Dong Baijie when they had encountered each other for the first time in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce during the Heaven Gate trial.

    Back then, Dong Baijie had gone through a series of tough battles, and he only had about ten or twenty percent of his spiritual power left in him.

    Even so, a pir of gray smoke had shot up from the top of his head, which had then morphed into a gigantic gray wolf and started inflicting pain on him.

    The reason why he had managed to beat Dong Baijie was that Dong Baijie had suffered too many injuries and consumed too much of his strength.

    When Dong Baijie had given up the Heaven Gate pattern on the back of his hand, he had said to Nie Tian that if he had been in a better condition, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting him one on one.

    Thinking about Dong Baijie¡¯s vicious gray wolf and looking at the ck phoenix fluttering its wings above Dong Li¡¯s head, Nie Tian instantly realized that this was a formidable incantation that people from the Dong n practiced.

    His spection was correct.

    The number of spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles roughly equaled the total number of spirit beasts in the other eight realms. The Dong n had been the among the first pioneers toe to the Realm of a Hundred Battles and explore.

    Generations of the Dong n had gone through countless battles against spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, from which they had gradually developed and mastered a unique incantation: the Beast Spirit Incantation!

    The Beast Spirit Incantation allowed members of the Dong n to refine spirit beasts¡¯ blood and spirits, and use them to condense a beast spirit inside their bodies.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s gray wolf and Dong Li¡¯s ck phoenix were both beast spirits formed with the refined blood and spirit of formidable spirit beasts.

    The stronger the spirit beast was, the stronger the beast spirit would be.

    Dong Li had formed her beast spirit from the blood and spirit of a sixth grade ck phoenix, whose strength equaled that of a Profound realm human Qi warrior. After powerful experts from the Dong n had helped her kill the ck phoenix, Dong Li had refined it into a beast spirit using the Beast Spirit Incantation, and sealed it inside of her.

    As her cultivation base advanced, she was able to refine new beast spirits and seal them inside of her as well.

    As her strength grew, she would be able to disy the strength of her beast spirits better. By the time she was able to fully disy the strength of her beast spirits, or her own strength exceeded her beast spirits¡¯ original bloodline strength, she would be able to discard them and hunt for more powerful ones.

    The reason why she had gone to the Realm of Split Void had been to umte her own strength and temper her subordinates¡¯ battle prowess, since she understood that only when she entered the Greater Heaven stage would she be able to fully disy the might of her ck phoenix beast spirit without suffering a bacsh.

    It was her ck phoenix beast spirit¡¯s fully explored strength that had given her the courage to cast her bracelet aside and fight Nie Tian head-on.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As the ck phoenix behind Dong Li continued to flutter its wings, it created ck gales that ttened the one-man-tall bushes in the vicinity.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field flickered due to the ck gales and hardly had any influence on Dong Li.

    Smiling, Dong Li fixed her ck pupils on Nie Tian.

    Holding the bone shield in one hand and the cyan awl in the other, her attractive body slowly rose into the air.

    She came to a stop when she was one meter above the ground and floated there.

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils contracted as his expression grew increasingly grim.

    Normally speaking, only Qi warriors who had entered the Profound realm would have the ability to soar through the air without assistance.

    He had heard that some people were able to float in the air with the help of their special spiritual tools before they had reached the Profound realm.

    However, he had never met such a person.

    Dong Li was the first person he had ever met who was able to float in the air before reaching the Profound realm.

    She relied on her ck phoenix beast spirit to aplish that.

    SHEW!

    With a low sneer, Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body suddenly flew towards Nie Tian with the ck phoenix¡¯s support, her face filled with arrogance and mockery.

    As the violent gales beat her to Nie Tian, Nie Tian found it difficult to even maintain his footing.

    He had already canceled the chaotic maic field around him. With cold snort, he channeled the various types of spiritual power from his spiritual sea into the me Star, with which he split the strong wind and shed towards Dong Li.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    Sparks sputtered everywhere as Nie Tian and Dong Li exchanged attacks in close quarters.

    Even though the bone shield in Dong Li¡¯s left hand flickered violently every time the me Star mmed into it, her cyan awl could always slide through the narrowest space in Nie Tian¡¯s defense and pierce towards his vital parts like a spirit snake.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, moved about rapidly to avoid the cyan awl and attack Dong Li with the me Star from different angles.

    Time after time, Nie Tian sprung into the air andnded on the ground.

    Within a few dozen seconds, his me Star made hundreds of exchanges with Dong Li¡¯s bone shield and cyan awl.

    Soon, he started to experience numbness in the web between his thumb and forefinger. Every time the me Star made contact with Dong Li¡¯s spiritual tools, Nie Tian felt as if he were hacking into a mountain made of iron. Not once had he felt an advantage in physical strength.

    While fighting, Dong Li constantly flexed and straightened her seemingly soft body, unleashing terrifyingly pure strength.

    As tough as Nie Tian¡¯s body was, he would shake violently when his fist strike made contact with Dong Li¡¯s elbow.

    Gradually, Nie Tian had a feeling as if he weren¡¯t fighting a humandy, but rather an ancient, female beast!

 Chapter 403: Soaring Black Phoenix

    BOOM!

    As Nie Tian once againnded heavily on the ground, he looked up at the floating Dong Li, his eyes narrowed, and his expression grim.

    Thanks to his Heaven Eyes¡¯ keen perception, he could feel that the aura Dong Li released into her surroundings was clearly mixed with a mysterious force from the ck phoenix.

    It was obvious that there was an outside force inside of her.

    It was none other than that mysterious force that had greatly boosted her battle prowess and fighting aura.

    ¡°What a fierce woman!¡± Nie Tian felt increasingly amazed.

    At that moment, as he once again mmed his me Star into Dong Li¡¯s bone shield, she lifted her muscr but slender left leg and kicked Nie Tian in his lower abdomen at lightning speed.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian, who had just exploded into the air, seemed as if he were hit by a metal war chariot, and fell to the ground.

    A wisp of blood flowed out of the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth.

    PUFF!

    A mouthful of blood suddenly escaped his mouth. Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew unprecedentedly grim as his me Star-bearing arm was covered in bulging veins.

    Only as of this moment did he wake up to the truth that, having drawn on the ck phoenix¡¯s strength, Dong Li¡¯s battle prowess had gone far beyond her cultivation base.

    Even if she hadn¡¯t used tricks to lure that Qi warrior from the Realm of ck Marsh to approach her, she would have had no problem beating him fair and square.

    All she had needed to do was draw on her beast spirit¡¯s strength.

    But clearly, Dong Li hadn¡¯t considered that man as a worthy opponent at all. Therefore, she hadn¡¯t used any of the ck phoenix¡¯s strength, but rather finished him quickly with a trick.

    ¡°The clock is ticking, Nie Tian.¡± Dong Li was wreathed in a sphere of dark spiritual power, giving her the look of a blossoming devilish flower.

    The enormous, ck phoenix was still fluttering its wings behind her, and still hadn¡¯t attacked Nie Tian directly.

    Floating in midair, Dong Li looked down at Nie Tian, a taunting smile appearing at the corner of her mouth, a devilish light glittering in her pitch-ck pupils.

    She didn¡¯t forget to take the time to crush Nie Tian¡¯s spirit during their fierce battle. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone all-out yet. If this is all you¡¯ve got, then you¡¯d better be prepared to watch your grandfather and aunt die.¡±

    It seems that she intended to crush Nie Tian in every possible way, so that whenever Nie Tian thought of her in the future, he would relive the utter defeat and sense of helplessness.

    She needed to destroy Nie Tian!

    As Dong Li stopped to taunt him, Nie Tian took the opportunity to scan the vicinity with his Heaven Eyes.

    Frowning, he discovered that Han Mu and a few powerful experts from the Dong n were leading the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect closer and closer to ck Water Lake.

    He even discovered that Luo Xin, who had stayed on ck Water Lake¡¯s shore, was now being watched by a handful of Dong n members.

    He estimated the time he had inwardly...

    Soon, he reached the conclusion that it would take Han Mu and the others no more than a quarter hour to arrive by ck Water Lake.

    ¡°I only have a quarter hour left,¡± He muttered to himself.

    Then, he summoned all of his seven Heaven Eyes to where he was, and he no longer kept watch on what was happening in the vicinity, not even what was happening to his grandfather and the others from the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    He assumed a tight grip on the me Star with his right hand, while his empty left hand started to shine with dazzling starlight.

    In the next moment, he syed his left hand, and starsparks that were as bright as the stars in the heavens appeared in his palm one after another.

    By the time there were five starsparks floating above his palm, he didn¡¯t stop, but rather continued to condense star power.

    Back when he had been in the Realm of Split Void, limited by his cultivation base, he had only been able to form five starsparks.

    However, now that he had advanced to thete Heaven stage, the stardew in his vortex of star power was much purer and richer than when he had been in the Realm of Split Void.

    FIZZ!

    As Nie Tian continued to condense his star power, a sixth starspark gradually came to shape in his palm.

    As soon as it appeared, the six starsparks started rotating at a high speed before a brand-new formation was eventually formed.

    Illuminated by the six starsparks, Nie Tian¡¯s left arm seemed to be painted with ayer of bright starlight. A momentter, his entire left arm turned silvery-white and was given a metallic luster.

    <i>¡°This must be a secret magic he picked up from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± </i>Gazing curiously at his left arm and the six shining starsparks, Dong Li wasn¡¯t in a hurry tounch her attacks, as if she were intentionally waiting for him to gather his star power.

    At this moment, the three groups of explorers had already been cleared from the area by members of the Dong n.

    Luo Xin, who was a significant distance from Nie Tian, didn¡¯t have her own Heaven Eyes, and thus didn¡¯t have a clue regarding what was happening between Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    However, another group of people had arrived quietly.

    Their leader was Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, the girl who had taken Nie Tian to the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s residence in the Realm of a Hundred Battles when he had first arrived.

    Standing beside her were six Qi warriors from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    A member of the Dong n appeared in front of Qin Yan and asked, ¡°What brings you here, Miss Qin?¡±

    Wearing a long, green dress and light makeup, Qin Yan constantly looked off towards the area where Nie Tian and Dong Li were fighting with her bright, watery eyes. ¡°I received word that some unforeseen event urred around ck Water Lake. Also, I have urgent matters to discuss with Dong Li. I can sense people fighting over there. Is that Dong Li?¡±

    Qin Yan¡¯s cultivation base was at thete Greater Heaven stage, which was even higher than Dong Li¡¯s. Therefore, she sensed the terrifying aura unleashed by the ck phoenix as soon as she arrived by ck Water Lake.

    She was well-aware that the ck phoenix was Dong Li¡¯s beast spirit.

    However, she found it hard to understand that she would actually fight someone in the Dong n¡¯s territory.

    Normally, whenever Dong Li viewed someone as an eyesore, all she would need to do was call upon the patrol teams in the vicinity, and they would take care of the rest.

    Why in the world would she summon her ck phoenix beast spirit?

    The more she thought about it, the odder she found it.

    The member of the Dong n seemed to know that she was close to Dong Li. He nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. Miss Dong is over there.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go talk to her,¡± Qin Yan said.

    ¡°Umm... I¡¯m afraid she can¡¯t talk now.¡± The member of the Dong n seemed to be in a dilemma, as his gaze shifted to those who hade with Qin Yan.

    ¡°Alright, you stay here. I¡¯ll go over there by myself.¡± Qin Yanmanded the members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce she had brought with her to stay, and before the member of the Dong n in front of her granted her ess, she blurred into a sh and shot off.

    ¡°Miss Qin! Miss Qin!!¡± The member of the Dong n shouted, hoping to stop her, yet Qin Yan rapidly disappeared into the distance.

    WHOOSH!

    Several dozen secondster, Qin Yan suddenly appeared in front of Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    Dong Li, who was floating in midair with her ck phoenix behind her, was taken aback upon seeing her. ¡°Qin Yan? What are you doing here?¡±

    After stopping her dashing momentum, Qin Yan saw Nie Tian and blurted, her face filled with surprise, ¡°It¡¯s you! Wu Tian!¡±

    ¡°Wu Tian?¡± Dong Li snorted coldly, a sneer appearing at the corner of her mouth. Then she turned to Qin Yan and said, ¡°What made youe such a long way to find me here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to talk to you about some urgent business,¡± Qin Yan said.

    ¡°Give me a moment.¡± Dong Li waved at her, beckoning her not to interrupt her battle against Nie Tian. ¡°Wait for me at the perimeter. This is between me and him¡±

    ¡°Can I stay and watch?¡± Qin Yanughed softly.

    ¡°No!¡± Dong Li shot her a hard look.

    Qin Yan secretly examined Nie Tian with her bright, watery eyes, as she became increasingly curious about him.

    The me Star in Nie Tian¡¯s right hand, the six starsparks floating in his left palm, and the odd changes to his left arm made Qin Yan wonder.

    However, she couldn¡¯t figure out Nie Tian¡¯s real identity.

    ¡°Qin Yan!¡± Dong Li called out in her womanly voice, looking somewhat upset. ¡°Wait for me outside, will you? I¡¯ve got some personal issues to settle with him, and I don¡¯t want to be interrupted!¡±

    After a pause, she added, ¡°Not even by you.¡±

    ¡°Oh, alright.¡± Qin Yan nodded as she gazed at Nie Tian with a strange expression, as if she had picked up something. ¡°I shall leave you to it then.¡±

    With these words, Qin Yan walked away from this region.

    However, the strange look in her eyes right before she left made Dong Li suspicious about her intentions.

    ¡°You¡¯re running out of time!¡± shouted Dong Li.

    The ck phoenix behind her seemed to let out a soundless screech, and a surge of raging, dark spiritual power suddenly spread out with her as the center.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Wherever the dark spiritual power spread, the ground cracked open, and strange sounds filled the air.

    As the dark spiritual power swept across the grasnd, the st shredded the grass and sent it flying everywhere.

    Facing the iing torrential, dark spiritual power, the six starsparks in Nie Tian¡¯s left hand morphed into a streak of starlight and shot forward.

    The formation they formed seemed to have evolved into a miniature neb. Dazzling starlight constantly shed within it, channeling the power between starsparks and multiplying the might of the formation.

    BOOM!

    As the formation of starsparks made contact with the surge of dark spiritual power, an uncanny force, which seemed to originate from the deepest parts of the starry river in the sky, burst forth from within the mysterious formation.

    The dark spiritual power that came like a flood was instantly prated by the starlight unleashed by the formation of starsparks.

    The ck phoenix behind Dong Li let out a loud screech for the first time, and its eyes, which Nie Tian hadn¡¯t even noticed until now, suddenly lit up.

 Chapter 404: A Frustrating Failure

    The ck phoenix stared coldly at Nie Tian with its red, narrow eyes.

    The intense indifference towards life in its eyes made Nie Tian¡¯s blood run cold.

    The moment the ck phoenix snapped open its eyes, the dark spiritual power, which had been prated by the fierce light emanated by the formation of starsparks, once again became watertight.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Like a raging flood, the dark spiritual power submerged Nie Tian in the blink of an eye.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he made attempts to reform his chaotic maic field, standing in the middle of the torrential dark spiritual power.

    However, every time his chaotic maic field began to form, the bizarre, dark spiritual power would rip his gathering power to shreds, like a shoal of ferocious fish.

    Bit by bit, the dark spiritual power gradually infused a cold, bleak aura through Nie Tian¡¯s pores and into his flesh and blood.

    Dong Li, whose eyes shone with devilish light, slowly floated towards Nie Tian.

    With every inch she approached, the dark spiritual power grew more intense, making Nie Tian feel as if he had been thrown into a world of frigid coldness. Even his blood and flesh seemed to be gradually freezing and losing their vigor.

    An aura that could extinguish all living creatures and wither all nts spread out along with the dark spiritual power.

    ¡°It seems that you haven¡¯t mastered all the magics you¡¯ve obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet.¡± Dong Li¡¯s tone was indifferent. She seemed sexy and gorgeous as she floated closer to Nie Tian. However, the expression on her face was grim and frosty. ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯re the only talented person in this heaven and earth, Nie Tian. In the Domain of the Falling Stars alone, there were quite a few talented chosen ones whose battle prowess can¡¯t be measured by their cultivation bases.

    ¡°Even though I don¡¯t consider myself very talented, my cultivation base doesn¡¯t do justice to my actual battle prowess.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to understand that you only managed to take the second fragmentary star mark from my older brother because he had already gone through a number of fierce battles and was far from his peak state, not because you¡¯re so awesome and special. You were just lucky!

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you really think you¡¯re invincible.¡±

    She still hadn¡¯t forgotten to taunt Nie Tian, hoping to break Nie Tian with her words.

    She, who had boundless battle experience, knew that sometimes verbal attacks could be even more effective and hurtful than physical attacks.

    ¡°...Chosen one?¡± Nie Tian muttered in a low voice, a hint of smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. ¡°Indeed, talented chosen ones like you are hard to find, but I¡¯ve met a handful. What do you think of Ning Yang? You better than him?¡±

    ¡°Ning Yang?!¡± Dong Li was taken aback.

    At that very moment, Nie Tian threw his head back and let out a broadugh as the me Dragon Armor flew out of his bracelet of holding.

    As a thought appeared in his mind, the me Dragon Armor circled around in the air and descended from above his head.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian was d in the me Dragon Armor, which unleashed zing mes into his surroundings.

    Fizzing sounds echoed out around Nie Tian as the overwhelming dark spiritual power around him was burned away by the mes unleashed by the me Dragon Armor.

    As Nie Tian was no longer afflicted by the intense coldness in his flesh and blood, pure and refined flesh power originating from the spirit beast meat he had devoured earlier began to roam inside of him.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    As his heart started pounding, the dark spiritual power that had been guing his flesh and blood was driven out of his body like a mist blown away by a gust of wind.

    He could no longer feel any sort of difort.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual power, me power, wood power, star power, and me power suddenly rushed into the me Star in his hand.

    Infused with so many types of power, the me Star started to shake violently.

    In the meantime, an endless rage was born in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. Then, he gathered his strength the way he hadunched a Rage Punch before, and used it to stimte the me Star.

    Unprecedentedly, various types of power merged into the me Star, where they were enhanced by the mysterious internal spell formations and eventually broke out.

    A thick and long de light that was mixed with as many types of power as Nie Tian possessed shot towards Dong Li.

    As that happened, Nie Tian found that half of his strength had been absorbed by the me Star!

    Meanwhile, a mysterious door seemed to be opened in the depths of the dark, clouded heavens that was an unknowable distance away from this realm.

    A Titan¡¯s furious roar seemed to ring out from it.

    The terrifying de light, wreathed in torrential rage, shredded the ward created by the dark spiritual power and shot towards Dong Li like a brilliant ribbon.

    Dong Li was bbergasted.

    Capable ofmunicating with the ck phoenix on a psychic level, she could tell that the ck phoenix had sensed danger and be uneasy.

    The ck phoenix¡¯s sharp and violent cry, which was only audible to her, thundered in her mind.

    Upon Dong Li¡¯s summons, the dark spiritual power, which had been scattered by Nie Tian¡¯s de light, once again came together and morphed into an enormous, translucent, ck egg, sealing Dong Li and her ck phoenix within.

    CRUNCH!

    As the thick and long de light mmed into the translucent ck egg, fine fissures instantly appeared around the contact point.

    Inside the huge egg, Dong Li shuddered slightly, her face turning grim.

    Meanwhile, the ck phoenix¡¯s red, narrow eyes shone with suffocating, blood-colored light.

    WHOOSH!

    After unleashing the de light, Nie Tian infused the me Dragon Armor with his rich flesh power and what remained of his me power.

    Wearing the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian seemed to instantly turn into a burning giant, and charged directly into the cracked, huge, translucent egg.

    As he did, patterns of mes wriggled on the me Dragon Armor¡¯s surface, as if they were formed by rivers of flowingva.

    In the meantime, an iparably fierce me power, which seemed to belong to the me Dragon Armor itself, burst out of its Blood Core.

    Like a huge, burning cannon ball, Nie Tian ramming into the translucent ck egg with full force.

    BOOOOOM!

    Upon impact, the cracked egg finally shattered and exploded.

    Pieces of egg shell formed by dark spiritual power shot in every direction like des of ck light, before piercing into the earth, leaving deep holes.

    Dong Li let out a muffled groan as an unnatural redness appeared on her devilish, gorgeous face.

    Therge, ck phoenix immediately flew down to the ground, where it wrapped Dong Li in its immeasurably wide wings and rose back up into the air.

    Nie Tiannded with a loud crash after lunging into air and ramming into the huge egg.

    While he was about to leap forward and search for Dong Li with the me Star in his hand, he found that she had already been carried dozens of meters into the sky by her ck phoenix.

    The ck phoenix spread its wings, and Dong Li appeared again.

    Utterly difited, she was about to gather her strength andunch a counterattack. However, at that very moment, Han Mu¡¯s shouts rang out, ¡°Miss! I¡¯ve brought those people from the Cloudsoaring Sect here for you!¡±

    Dong Li went nk.

    Looking up at her, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with frustration when he heard Han Mu¡¯s voice.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that time would have passed so quickly.

    Before he knew it, the agreed time was up, and he had failed to capture Dong Li before Han Mu arrived with the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect. He was mad at himself for missing his chance.

    ¡°Oh, the agreed time is up...¡± Dong Li muttered in a low voice as she came to her senses.

    ¡°Miss! Why didn¡¯t you reply to my messages?¡± Han Mu asked the moment he rushed over.

    However, upon seeing Dong Li, who was slowly descending from the sky with her ck phoenix, his expression flickered dramatically as he turned to glower at Nie Tian, blurting, ¡°You actually dare to force our miss to summon that ck phoenix?! Do you not know where you are, Nie Tian?! I bet you don¡¯t know that we have your family!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word, but instead fixed his eyes on Dong Li.

    After Dong Linded, the ck phoenix morphed into a shapeless shadow and slowly disappeared into her.

    ¡°It¡¯s over,¡± Dong Li said in a low voice.

    However, not a smidgen of pleasure could be seen on her face, the kind a bet-winner should have.

    Dong Li reached out and pointed in the direction where he and the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect hade from, and ordered, ¡°You go over there first. No onees here without my summons, not you, not those people from the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡±

    Han Mu obeyed Dong Li unconditionally. Even though he didn¡¯t understand the reason behind her demand, he withdrew obediently.

    Dong Li stepped towards Nie Tian, gazing at him with a frown. She fixed her appearance while she pondered how she should deal with Nie Tian and the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    WHOOSH!

    She reached out with one hand, and the bracelet formunication flew into her palm. Then, she put it around her wrist.

    Just as she wrestled with how she should deal with Nie Tian and the others, Qin Yan popped up again.

    ¡°The sounds of your battle were really loud.¡± Qin Yan¡¯s eyes were filled with a strange look as her gaze switched back and forth between Dong Li and Nie Tian. ¡°I came over as soon as I sensed that your battle had ended.¡±

    As she spoke, her gaze found Nie Tian frequently.

    Even though she still didn¡¯t know who Nie Tian was, she was increasingly curious about this young man, who had managed to tie with Dong Li, who had fully mastered her ck phoenix¡¯s strength, while he was only at thete Heaven stage.

    She tried to match him to the chosen ones from the ancient Qi warrior sects throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, she soon realized that none of those she knew matched Nie Tian.

 Chapter 405: A New Plan

    Qin Yan was a member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, which had countless ties with the mysterious Spirit Condor.

    Since the Spirit Condor was the most well-informed organization throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, as a core member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, Qin Yan had knowledge about almost every talented youngster in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, the young man before her didn¡¯t seem to be among them.

    ¡°Who is he exactly?¡± Qin Yan asked, deeply intrigued.

    Dong Li still hadn¡¯t decided how she would deal with Nie Tian and the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect, so she decided to put that matter on hold and figure out why Qin Yan hade first. She turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯ll deal with youter. You can go and meet those people from the Cloudsoaring Sect, but I forbid you to leave ck Water Lake.¡±

    Without saying a word, Nie Tian immediately sped off towards the area where the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect were gathered.

    Dong Li held her bracelet to her red lips and whispered orders into it, instructing Han Mu and his men not to stop Nie Tian from reuniting with his family and friends, but confine them to where they were and keep a close watch on every move Nie Tian and the others made.

    The moment Nie Tian left, Qin Yan asked, a strange expression her face, ¡°Who the hell is he, Li? That guy¡¯s cultivation base is lower than yours, but he managed to battle you for so long without being at a disadvantage. That was very impressive. I bet he¡¯s not a nobody. However, I can¡¯t figure out who he is, no matter how hard I try.¡±

    Even though Dong Li was close friends with her, she didn¡¯t intend to reveal the truth to her.

    An agitated expression filled Dong Li¡¯s singrly beautiful face as she said, ¡°Enough about him. What made youe to me so urgently?¡±

    ¡°I received word that a group of people from the Realm of ck Marsh are killing other explorers in this area, in your n¡¯s territory,¡± Qin Yan said.

    ¡°They¡¯ve already been taken care of,¡± Dong Li said without thinking.

    Qin Yan nodded gently, seemingly unsurprised. ¡°Yeah, now that I¡¯ve found you here, near ck Water Lake, I figured you¡¯d already taken care of them. I just heard that your subordinate, Han Mu, escorted a team of Cloudsoaring Sect members here, is that true?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good news that they¡¯re okay. You¡¯d better arrange for people to escort them back to Water Moon City as soon as possible. The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations asked us to find those people and make sure they return to the Realm of me Heaven safely.¡± Qin Yan sounded very serious.

    ¡°The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect asked you to do that?¡± Dong Li was taken aback.

    Not only were the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations by no means weaker than the Dong n, but they also had close rtionships with the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. Now that they had asked the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce to do them a favor, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce would surely give them face.

    ¡°As you know,¡± Qin Yan exined, ¡°that Nie Tian from the Realm of me Heaven went to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations not long ago, and sealed that spatial rift for them. Every Qi warrior sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations is quite grateful for what he did. After learning that he is a member of the Cloudsoaring Sect in the Realm of me Heaven, and his dearest family are currently in your n¡¯s territory, they...¡±

    Qin Yan suddenly stopped.

    Her bright eyes lit up as lightning seemed to sh across her mind.

    ¡°Wu Tian... Wu Tian is Nie Tian, right?!¡± Qin Yan suddenly came to realize the truth. Looking in the direction Nie Tian had left, she asked, ¡°He¡¯s the one who obtained the legacies from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, isn¡¯t he?!¡±

    She tapped her own forehead and smiled embarrassedly. ¡°I should have known that it was him. When he first came to Water Moon City, Liu Ling from the Yin Sect came with him. There are only a handful of male disciples in the entire Yin Sect. And Liu Ling¡¯s attitude towards him was surprisingly pleasant and polite. She even asked me to show him to the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s residence in Water Moon City.¡±

    ¡°Alright...¡± Dong Li said with a reluctant tone. ¡°It seems that I can¡¯t hide it from you after all.¡±

    She knew that Qin Yan was very smart. Considering she had just caught them in the middle of a battle, it would only be a matter of time before she figured out that Wu Tian was none other than Nie Tian, who had recently be a household name throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Then why did you get into a battle with him?¡± Qin Yan was confused.

    ¡°He offended me in the Realm of Split Void!¡± Dong Li gritted her teeth as she said these words.

    Qin Yan¡¯s mind wondered briefly before she snapped to her senses and called out, ¡°He¡¯s the Hua Tian you met in the Realm of Split Void, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°Who else can it be?¡± Dong Li said with a cold snort.

    Qin Yan felt that all the dots had connected.

    Since she had been close with Dong Li, she even knew about Dong Li¡¯s tempering trip to the Realm of Split Void, where she had disguised herself as the leader of the Fang.

    She had also heard from Dong Li¡¯s mouth that this Hua Tian person had tampered with her ns and humiliated her in the Realm of Split Void.

    She had gone to see Dong Li soon after her return to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. She could still recall Dong Li¡¯s face being filled with rage upon mentioning the name ¡°Hua Tian¡±.

    ¡°Wu Tian, Hua Tian, Nie Tian...¡± Qin Yan shook her head and burst intoughter. ¡°This guy is really uncreative when ites to assumed names.¡±

    Dong Li looked rather grim as she apparently recalled what Nie Tian had done.

    ¡°Did you n to use those people from the Cloudsoaring Sect against Nie Tian?¡± Qin Yan came to realize what Dong Li nned to do, and thus advised, ¡°I don¡¯t think that would be appropriate. Nie Tian has recently helped save the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. Every sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations is very grateful for what he did. The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect even jeopardized their rtionships with the Heaven Pce Sect by supporting his decisions.

    ¡°Even though the Cloudsoaring Sect is rather weak, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect are ancient sects with deep-rooted strength.

    ¡°If you kill Nie Tian¡¯s family to get back at him, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect surely won¡¯t let you off, especially now that they¡¯ve already asked us to help them find and secure them. If you ignore all that and kill them anyways, you¡¯ll probably get the entire Dong n in trouble. Even your patriarch might be stirred because of it.¡±

    ¡°I know this is a bit tricky.¡± Dong Li¡¯s eyes turned as she weighed her choices inwardly.

    Qin Yan knew that Dong Li was independent and full of tricks, so she didn¡¯t think she needed to say more than that. Therefore, she said, ¡°There¡¯s another thing I¡¯vee to talk to you about. Cao Qiushui discovered a relic of the Phantasms in the Realm of Dark Underworld. He ns to invite some people to explore that area with him. He came to me and asked me to find out if you¡¯re interested.¡±

    ¡°What the hell was that dumbass doing in the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡± Dong Li seemed surprised.

    Qin Yan smiled. ¡°You know him. His only hobby is to explore unknown ces, even though he¡¯s gotten into a lot of trouble doing that over the years. However, I¡¯ve been to some of those ces with him, and gained quite a fortune. Those were some fun trips we took together.

    ¡°ording to him, there are only a handful of people who know about this relic in the Realm of Dark Underworld. After all, the Realm of Dark Underworld isn¡¯t our territory. People from the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect are everywhere. He only asked us to go because he was worried that it wouldn¡¯t be safe if he went alone.¡±

    ¡°Who else is going?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°That person from the Gu n and that other person from the Pill Pavilion Sect,¡± Qin Yan answered.

    ¡°When does the team leave?¡±

    ¡°In seven days. I was only so eager to find you because the team is leaving very soon.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m in.¡± With these words, the tip of Dong Li¡¯s eyebrow rose as an idea suddenly urred to her. Then, she turned to Qin Yan and asked, ¡°What do you think of Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Qin Yan asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°His battle prowess, of course.¡±

    ¡°The fact that he was able to stay alive while facing you and your ck phoenix proves that he¡¯s quite good.¡±

    Dong Li cracked a smile, her eyes shining with a delighted light. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything to the Yin Sect or the Yang Sect. Just pretend you don¡¯t know anything about me and Nie Tian. I¡¯ll arrange for those people from the Cloudsoaring Sect to return to the Realm of me Heaven, but I¡¯ll force Nie Tian to go with us. He¡¯s good in battle and full of wicked ideas. Plus, he has a uniquely strong sensing ability. He should be able to help us in many aspects.

    ¡°Also, that guy offended me. I need to keep him by my side so that I can take my time torturing him after this!¡±

    With a hearty smile, Qin Yan nodded and said, ¡°Sure, I can do that, considering our rtionship. However, people who y with fire usually get burned. I can tell that that guy isn¡¯t that easily handled. You¡¯d better not get tangled with him.¡±

    Dong Li let out a cold harrumph. ¡°What are you saying?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying that I¡¯m afraid that you will suffer more losses from him,¡± Qin Yan said with a smile.

    A disdainful expression filled Dong Li¡¯s face. ¡°Who? Him?! I¡¯ve beaten everyone at mind games since the day I started my cultivation path. I don¡¯t see how that Nie Tian is any different from the other men I¡¯ve outmaneuvered.¡±

    ¡°But when you were in the Realm of Split Void, didn¡¯t you...?¡± Of all the pots, Qin Yan went for the pot that didn¡¯t boil. (idiom: Qin Yan touched a sore spot by mentioning that, instead of any other matter).

    ¡°That was because I hadn¡¯t fully mastered the ck phoenix¡¯s strength back then!¡± Dong Li interrupted her and shot her a nasty look. Before she could say anything, Dong Li added, ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t want to hear anymore of that nonsense. I¡¯ll force Nie Tian to go to the Realm of Dark Underworld with us. You just pretend that he¡¯s a guest elder of my n, and don¡¯t tell anyone his real identity.¡±

    ¡°Umm, okay."

    ¡°We¡¯ll give him some time to catch up with his family and friends. I¡¯ll go over there and settle this matter with him in an hour, and then I¡¯ll arrange for his family and friends to leave for the Realm of the me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re quite a crafty woman.¡±

    ¡°Right back at you.¡±

 Chapter 406: Deal

    Luo Xin was brought to another location by ck Water Lake, where Han Mu and a number of Dong n members watched the team from the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    Upon seeing Luo Xin, Zhao Yuan and the others were all thrilled. They hurried forward to ask her why she hade to this ce.

    However, before she had time to exin, Nie Tian found his way to this location with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    As soon as he arrived, Han Mu, who had already received Dong Li¡¯smand, led his men away to give Nie Tian and the people from the Cloudsoaring Sect some space, so that they couldmunicate without scruples.

    With a smile at the corner of her mouth, Luo Xin pointed at Nie Tian, who had assumed a different appearance, though his eyes had been filled with excitement since the moment he hade along. She said, ¡°Mr. Nie, guess who this is.¡±

    Nie Donghai was rather confused upon seeing this strangering directly towards him after appearing in his sight.

    Before he could figure out what was happening, Nie Tian ripped his mask off with one quick motion and called out, ¡°Grandfather! Aunt!¡±

    Shocked and ecstatic, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were at a loss for words. ¡°Little Tian!¡±

    Jiang Lingzhu, Ye Gumo, and the others also eximed his name, their eyes shining with the light of incredibility. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    They had never imagined that they would see Nie Tian here, by ck Water Lake in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, after he had been gone for more than two years.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s body trembled slightly as he rushed forward, his eyes welling up.

    He was never known as a person who liked smiling. However, his cheeks now twitched a few times before a wry smile appeared on his face. He patted Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder with his slightly stiffened right hand and said in a voice filled with joy, ¡°You¡¯re a grown man now, even taller than me already.¡±

    Tears glittered in Nie Qian¡¯s reddened eyes as she said, ¡°You little punk, where the hell have you been all these years?¡±

    Nie Donghai shot a stern look at her. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t say the word hell before me ever again! Don¡¯t speak at all if you don¡¯t know how to speak properly!¡±

    Grievance could be seen on Nie Qian¡¯s face as she said, ¡°Sorry... I used the wrong word. Forgive me.¡±

    Nie Donghai let out a snort and turned to Nie Tian. With a frown, he asked, ¡°What are you doing here, silly? I heard that you turned the Heaven Pce Sect down. If that¡¯s the case, you should have stayed in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect will do their best to protect you. You shouldn¡¯t have left.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled like a innocent boy. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you two for too long. I needed to see you.¡±

    Seeing that the three of them were finally reunited, Luo Xin gave Zhan Yuan a meaningful look and whispered, ¡°Let¡¯s give them some space.¡±

    Zhan Yuan nodded andmanded the others to step away from the three of them.

    Jiang Lingzhu seemed a bit reluctant as she walked away, as if she were very curious about what Nie Tian had experienced over these years. Nevertheless, standing at a certain distance, she constantly nced towards Nie Tian and pointed her ears at them, as she was apparently trying to hear what they were talking about.

    Zhan Yuan shot a nce at her and said, ¡°You¡¯ve got to work harder, Lingzhu. Nie Tian has already entered thete Heaven stage. From the look of it, it won¡¯t be long before he enters the Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is a freak. I don¡¯t want topare myself with him!¡± Jiang Lingzhu shook her head.

    Zhan Yuan sighed and said with a smile, ¡°You might be right.¡±

    Luo Xin seemed to be in a good mood as she said, ¡°Well, he turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer, and didn¡¯t agree to join the Yin Sect or the Yang Sect. That means he¡¯s still a disciple of the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡± Then, she showed Zhan Yuan the ring of holding on her hand and continued, ¡°Nie Tian gave me this ring of holding as a gift. No matter how strange and unique he seems, we should be d that he¡¯s a member of our Sect.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Zhan Yan said, ¡°However, a handful of old men in our sect are like mice that can only see what¡¯s under their noses.¡± (Idiom: short-sighted)

    ¡°Just mentioning them makes me angry.¡± Luo Xin¡¯s expression turned grim. ¡°If they didn¡¯t target Nie Tian¡¯s family, when Nie Tian returned to the Realm of me Heaven, he wouldn¡¯t have gone directly from ck Cloud City to the Blood Sect, instead of going to Cloudsoaring Mountain. If they continue down this road, even if Nie Tian doesn¡¯t join the Heaven Pce Sect, he might be seduced away by that cunning woman from the Blood Sect and be their disciple.¡±

    ¡°Indeed, Li Jing has treated Nie Tian quite nicely, and some of the elders in our sect did drag us down in that aspect.¡± Zhan Yuan shook his head. ¡°But I hope Nie Tian will let go of those unpleasant matters and stick with our sect for the sake of martial granduncle.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Nie Tian isn¡¯t a heartless and ungrateful person,¡± Luo Xin said.

    Meanwhile, off to the side...

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, and prepared to exin what he had gone through during the past two and a half years after he had left the Realm of me Heaven to Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    However, before he opened his mouth, Nie Donghai shook his head, signaling for him to stop. ¡°Too many outsiders. You just keep what you¡¯ve experienced these years to yourself. Although I¡¯m curious, I¡¯m happy enough to know that you¡¯re safe and healthy, and your cultivation base is improving steadily.¡±

    Nie Tian immediately realized that not only were Zhan Yuan, Luo Xin, and the others standing not far away, but Han Mu and other members of the Dong n were also in the vicinity.

    Many of his encounters were sensitive andplicated. He surely had better keep them to himself.

    ¡°Alright, I see.¡± He nodded, and took out two rings of holding. With a smile on his face, he handed them to Nie Donghai and Nie Qian separately, and said, ¡°Grandfather, aunt, here¡¯s a little something for you.¡±

    ¡°Rings of holding!¡± Nie Qian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Nie Donghai didn¡¯t refuse, but rather epted Nie Tian¡¯s gift delightedly.

    They received the rings of holding, scanned them with their psychic awarenesses, and gasped simultaneously.

    Not being a shrewd woman, Nie Qian was shocked by the substantial amounts of spiritual materials, spirit stones, and medicinal pills within her ring of holding. ¡°H-howe there are so many spiritual materials and spirit stones in there?! How did you get them, Little Tian?¡±

    Nie Donghai let out a soft sigh. ¡°What do you think? Little Tian must have won them at the risk of his own life.¡±

    Deep down, he was also astonished by the tremendous amounts of spiritual materials, spirit stones, and medicinal pills within the ring of holding. After a brief scan, he realized that the value of these cultivation resources far exceeded the Nie n¡¯s entire umtion.

    Considering the Nie n¡¯s strength and influence, they might not even be able to gather such arge fortune in another hundred years.

    However, he also made out that those cultivation resources were very heterogeneous, which had obviouslye from various origins.

    It was evident how Nie Tian had obtained them.

    Upon hearing Nie Donghai¡¯s words, Nie Qian suddenly fell silent, her expression saddened.

    Nie Tian smiled broadly and said, ¡°Hey look, I¡¯m alive and fine, aren¡¯t I?¡±

    As a matter of fact, he had prepared those cultivation resources for Nie Donghai and Nie Qian before leaving the Realm of Split Void. Now that he had given them out, he felt greatly relieved, knowing that these years of hard work hadn¡¯t been in vain.

    Nie Donghai nodded. ¡°Yeah, being alive and healthy is more important than anything else.¡±

    The three of them sat down in a circle by ck Water Lake and chatted on. Soon, they wandered onto the topic of the Realm of me Heaven.

    That was when Nie Tian asked, ¡°Where do you want to go, Grandfather? I heard that some elders from the Cloudsoaring Sect were unfriendly toward you. How about I arrange for someone to take you to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations? Both the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect are willing to take you in. Aside from them, Li Jing from the Blood Sect also gave me her word that, as long as you want to, you will be wee to live in the Blood Sect.¡±

    Nie Donghai shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t be necessary. Your master treats us well. We can¡¯t forget what the Cloudsoaring Sect has done for us and leave just because of a handful of people¡¯s unjust behavior. Now that you¡¯ve sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven, I don¡¯t think those elders will continue to target me and your aunt.

    ¡°Furthermore, your aunt and I won¡¯t need so many cultivation resources. I want to use them to help the kids in our n so that they¡¯ll have a better chance at advancing to the next level.

    ¡°The Nie n has been down and weak for so long. Now that we have you and a chance to turn the situation around, I want to do what I can to make up for all those years that my spiritual sea was shattered.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking too,¡± Nie Qian chimed in.

    ¡°However, it seems that Nie Beichuan and his gang...¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nie Donghai said. ¡°Those are only insignificant matters. I¡¯ll handle them.¡±

    Seeing that Nie Donghai was insistent on returning to the Cloudsoaring Sect and the Nie n, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything else.

    Momentster, Dong Li came along. She raised her chin to look at Nie Tian from a distant location before waving at him and saying, ¡°Will youe over? I need to talk to you.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim as he rose to his feet and said to Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, ¡°Give me a second. I¡¯ll be back.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Nie Qian asked.

    ¡°The daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Are you friends with her?¡± Nie Qian chuckled, sizing Dong Li up. ¡°That girl is quite a beauty.¡±

    ¡°Yeah... sort of.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t want them to worry about him, so he muddled out an answer and rapidly walked towards Dong Li.

    After arriving by Dong Li¡¯s side, he lowered his voice and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s settle this. As long as you agree to let my grandfather, aunt, and those members of the Cloudsoaring Sect return to the Realm of me Heaven, I¡¯ll do whatever you want me to do.¡±

    ¡°Straightforward! I like it!¡± Dong Li smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to a ce where you¡¯ll help me with a mission. Sessful or not, I¡¯ll let your family and friends return to the Realm of me Heaven. Sound good?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Since when did you be so open to persuasion?¡±

    ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m a nice person by nature.¡± Dong Li smiled, her tone unprecedentedly gentle. ¡°So what do you say?¡±

    Nie Tian snorted. ¡°You have my family. How can I say no?¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Smart. We¡¯re on a tight schedule here. You take your family and friends from the Cloudsoaring Sect, and follow me back to my n now. Once we arrive, I¡¯ll arrange for my people to escort them to Water Moon City, where they can take the other Cloudsoaring Sect members in the city and return to the Realm of me Heaven via the inter-realm teleportation portal in the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    ¡°But you¡¯ll have to stay.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Fine.¡±

    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled.¡±

 Chapter 407: Separating Again

    Traveling with members of the Dong n, Nie Tian and the others didn¡¯t run into any trouble on their way back to the Dong n.

    Since Dong Li constantly urged everyone to move faster, the team didn¡¯t dare to waste any time, and marched straight back to the Dong n within the shortest time possible.

    Six dayster, they arrived at the Dong n¡¯s front gate.

    During the past six days, he had traveled side by side with Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, and savored the long-lost familial love.

    However, the best days were always short. Now that they¡¯d arrived at the Dong n, it meant that it was time for them to separate again.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know that since the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had made requests, Dong Li wouldn¡¯t dare to harm him even if he refused to follow Dong Li¡¯s orders.

    He didn¡¯t tell his family or the other members of the Cloudsoaring Sect about his agreement with Dong Li. He just told them that Dong Li was a friend of his.

    ording to Dong Li¡¯s arrangements, Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and the other Cloudsoaring Sect members were rapidly taken to a teleportation portal in the Dong n. Nie Tian went along.

    Standing in a location not far away, Dong Li and Qin Yan watched Nie Tian as they whispered something to each other.

    ¡°Grandfather, aunt, I need to stay here in the Realm of a Hundred Battles for a little longer,¡± Nie Tian said, reluctance in his eyes. ¡°You go ahead and return to the Realm of me Heaven first.¡±

    Nie Donghai nodded. ¡°You¡¯re a grown man now. I understand that you have your own business to attend to. Your grandfather won¡¯t hold you back. No need to worry about us. We¡¯ll take good care of ourselves. You, on the other hand, need to be careful, considering you travel the world by yourself now.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, visit the Cloudsoaring Sect when you have the time,¡± Luo Xin said. ¡°Your master has been worried about you.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I surely will. Other than my grandfather and aunt, he¡¯s the one I miss the most. If you see him when you get back, tell him that I¡¯m in the wrong for not seeking him out in the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he won¡¯t mind, as long as you still remember his kindness,¡± Luo Xin said, smiling.

    ¡°Take care.¡± Nie Tian waved his hand as he watched everyone step into the teleportation portal. ¡°I¡¯ll return to the Cloudsoaring Sect after I¡¯m finished with the business on my hand. See you!¡±

    ¡°You take care, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Take good care of yourself, Nie Tian!¡±

    The teleportation portal unleashed a misty, bright light that enveloped everyone inside. After a series of spiritual power fluctuations, they disappeared from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    Looking at the empty teleportation portal, Nie Tian seemed rather mncholy. Apparently, he was despondent about once again separating from his family.

    Appearing beside him, Dong Li curled her lips and said, ¡°Alright. You¡¯re a big boy. Don¡¯t grieve like a girl. I traveled across the nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars before I was even ten. It¡¯s a good thing to travel around. People won¡¯t aplish anything if they just lock themselves up and practice cultivation in a corner of the world.¡±

    Qin Yanughed softly. ¡°Do you think everyone is like you, naughty girl?¡±

    ¡°How are you any different from me?¡± Dong Li retorted.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath to force himself out of his sentimental state. Then, he turned to face the two girls, who were now standing beside him.

    Having resumed her actual appearance, Dong Li looked feminine and desirable. Every move she made gave off a charming vibe, making her look like a blossoming rose.

    Qin Yan, on the other hand, was dressed in a sinct and graceful fashion. As pretty as a painting, she had a quiet and elegant appearance, and her bright eyes glittered with the light of wisdom.

    These two girls were the two most famous beauties in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Each of them was beautiful in their own way. Their cultivation talent was also very outstanding, which was acknowledged by people throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s heart was taken up by the fact that he was forced to stay and work for Dong Li. Therefore, not the least bit of enjoyment could be seen in his eyes when he looked at them.

    Especially Dong Li; he didn¡¯t have the slightest favorable opinion of her.

    Back when she had been in the Realm of Split Void, Dong Li had yed her vicious tricks and killed countless unwitting explorers in that dense forest in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    That woman was extremely cunning and vile. When Nie Tian saw her, he saw a scorpion or a serpent. All he could think was that he should be extra vignt.

    ¡°Where do you n to take me? And what¡¯s the mission?¡± Nie Tian asked with a frown.

    ¡°The Realm of Dark Underworld.¡± Dong Li didn¡¯t intend to hide the truth from him. ¡°One of my friends found a relic of the Phantasms in the Realm of Dark Underworld, and we¡¯re going to explore it. As you probably know, the Realm of Dark Underworld used to be home to Phantasms. They lived there for a very long time before they were driven out by powerful Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Dark Underworld?¡± Nie Tian went nk for a moment before Tang Yang¡¯s name popped up in his mind.

    During the Heaven Gate trial, it was none other than Tang Yang from the me God Sect who had killed Liu Yan in front of him, which had left an eternal scar in his heart.

    Afterwards, when Nie Tian and the chosen ones had ended up in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Tang Yang had been Ning Yang¡¯sst opponent in the Greater Heaven section. Even though he eventually lost, he managed to escape from Ning Yang¡¯s hands. He must have returned to the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    The only problem was that Tang Yang had been at thete Greater Heaven stage back then. Years had passed, so his cultivation base might have be even stronger.

    He had sworn that, once he became strong enough, he would kill Tang Yang to avenge Liu Yan.

    However, he didn¡¯t think he had what it took right now.

    Considering that everyone now knew that the me Dragon Armor was in his possession, once his true identity was exposed when he was in the Realm of Dark Underworld, the me God Sect would definitely do everything within their power to get him, especially now that he had already turned the Heaven Pce Sect down.

    ¡°What? Do you have a problem with that?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°No.¡± Nie Tian shook his head and kept his history with Tang Yang to himself.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry. You can continue to disguise yourself as Wu Tian. As long as you¡¯re more careful, no one will be suspicious.¡± Dong Li assumed that he was worried that the Heaven Pce Sect would seek trouble with him. ¡°If you didn¡¯t set foot in my n and my subordinate didn¡¯t recognize the mask you¡¯re wearing, I wouldn¡¯t know who you were either.¡±

    ¡°A relic of the Phantasms...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expresion flickered as he blurted, ¡°You were in the Realm of Split Void too. Did you know that Phantasms appeared in the Realm of Split Void? The Phantasms that descended upon the Realm of Split Void possessed terrifying strength. Could it be that they went from the Realm of Split Void to the Realm of Dark Underworld? After all, the Realm of Dark Underworld used to be their paradise.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Dong Li and Qin Yan both fell silent.

    Before this moment, it had never urred to them that the two incidents were connected, and the Phantasms that had appeared in the Realm of Split Void could have traveled to the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Only after being reminded by Nie Tian did they remember that Phantasms had indeed been spotted in the Realm of Split Void.

    ording to the information they had received, those Phantasms had disappeared soon afternding in the Realm of Split Void.

    The Blood Skull, Dark Moon, and Wild Fire had searched for a long time, but eventually failed to find them.

    ¡°Li, do you think it¡¯s possible that those Phantasms have traveled from the Realm of Split Void to the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡± Qin Yan asked with a slightly grim expression. ¡°You spent quite some time in the Realm of Split Void. You must have a better idea than I do.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression also grew serious as she said, ¡°I¡¯d say that¡¯s a possibility. As you know, there are arge number of mysterious spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void. It¡¯s possible that one or two of them lead to the Realm of Dark Underworld. If those Phantasms had acquired such information, they might have indeed traveled from the Realm of Split Void to the Realm of Dark Underworld through one of them.¡±

    Qin Yan smiled bitterly. ¡°Do you think we will run into those Phantasms in the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another thing I need to remind you of,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim expression. ¡°I was there when the first Phantasmnded, and it was that Phantasm that killed Ning Yang. From what I can tell, that Phantasm¡¯s strength is probably equal to that of a Worldly realm human Qi warrior! I¡¯ve no idea how powerful the other Phantasms are.¡±

    ¡°But even if you run into that Phantasm alone during your exploration trip, there¡¯s no chance that you¡¯ll be able to make it out of there alive, considering your strength.¡±

    ¡°Is it really so powerful?!¡± Dong Li asked, surprised.

    Qin Yan¡¯s expression also flickered slightly.

    ¡°I saw it myself. I swear that¡¯s the truth. You¡¯d better think it through and see if you really want to explore that relic in the Realm of Dark Underworld. Even if you are determined to go, you¡¯d better make full preparations and invite powerful experts to go together, lest you all die there.¡± Nie Tian painted a rather dangerous picture for the two of them.

    ¡°Thank you for the reminders,¡± Qin Yan said, nodding gently. Then, she turned around and said to Dong Li, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve made the right decision to take Nie Tian with us. Without his reminders, we might have gone there without proper preparations, and it would be hard to say if we would have returned alive.¡±

    ¡°But that makes me want to go even more.¡± Dong Li seemed to be itching to start the journey as soon as possible. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see if this relic discovered by Cao Qiushui is connected with those Phantasms in the Realm of Split Void, and why those Phantasms would travel through the starry river and return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Qin Yan¡¯s eyes also lit up. She asked, ¡°Are we still going?¡±

    ¡°Of course! But we need to make proper preparations.¡± After a moment of pondering, she added, ¡°I¡¯ll ask one of my Worldly realm martial uncles to go with us. You¡¯d better get one of your members who¡¯s at the Worldly realm to join us as well. Also, inform those two from the Pill Pavilion Sect and the Gu n of the situation, and urge them to invite Worldly realm experts as well.

    ¡°If we have a few Worldly realm experts to go with us, even if we are to encounter Phantasms, we¡¯ll probably be able to get out unharmed.¡±

    Qin Yan nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m on it.¡±

 Chapter 408: Drinking

    After Nie Tian had provided Dong Li and Qin Yan with the information he had, both of them assumed a prudent attitude and started making arrangements.

    Dong Li instructed Han Mu to prepare a cultivation room for Nie Tian in the Dong n, and told Nie Tian to stay there. By sundown the next day, they would head off to the Realm of Dark Underworld together.

    After spending a while in the spacious cultivation room, Nie Tian decided to go take a walk in the Dong n.

    ording to Dong Li, the Dong n was the most powerful force in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, more powerful than the Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect.

    The Dong n had designated an area for explorers who hunted spirit beasts in the Dong n¡¯s territory to make transactions with one another.

    Since there wasn¡¯t much spirit beast meat left from what he had stockpiled in the Realm of Split Void, he hadn¡¯t hunted any spirit beasts recently, and he had been eager to find Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, then he figured that he had better gather some more spirit beast meat before leaving for the Realm of Split Void, so that he would be able to provide the green aura in his heart with a continuous source of flesh power.

    The number of the spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles exceeded the number of spirit beasts in the other eight realmsbined. Therefore, other than therge amounts of rare spirit nts, this realm was also very rich in spiritual materials harvested from spirit beasts.

    Spirit beasts¡¯ blood, skin, horns, and teeth were all necessary materials for forging spiritual tools.

    As for spirit beasts¡¯ meat, however, since only Qi warriors who had strong desires to temper their fleshy bodies would have a need for it, its price turned out to be very low.

    The majority of Qi warriors would focus on umting spiritual power and refining psychic power.

    In most Qi warriors¡¯ eyes, subject to humans¡¯ racial characteristics, humans wouldn¡¯t be able to enhance the toughness of their fleshy bodies to the same level as the spirit beasts and Demon outsiders could, no matter how hard they tried.

    Since human lifespans were limited, people would be considered to be heretics if they spent too much time and energy on tempering their fleshy bodies.

    Most powerful sects believed that, with the special defensive shields formed with refined spiritual power, human Qi warriors would be able to make up for their disadvantage in physical strength.

    Spiritual power, psychic power, and flesh power were the three major types of power. However, most human Qi warriors would emphasize the first two.

    Only outsiders, spirit beasts, and those who were born with outstandingly strong physiques or special bloodlines would give emphasis to their cultivation of flesh power.

    Due to the fact that very few humans would go to such lengths to temper their fleshy bodies, and that enormous amounts of spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles were killed every day, the price of spirit beast meat was rather low.

    Nie Tian took a walk through the Dong n¡¯s transaction area, and noticed that very few people would stop in front of the stalls that sold spirit beast meat.

    He was both surprised and ted.

    Soon, he had purchased several thousand kilos of spirit beast meat, all of which was from third or fourth grade spirit beasts, with only one thousand spirit stones.

    After storing all of it in an empty ring of holding, he went to purchase some spirit materials that carried frost power so that he could use them to freeze and preserve his spirit beast meat.

    After getting all of this done, he returned to the spacious cultivation room Dong Li had prepared for him.

    He made a fire by lighting a pile of cheap, fire-attributed spiritual materials with a wisp of his me power. Then, he skewered pieces of fourth grade spirit beast meat with his me Star, and propped them on the fire.

    Before long, the scent of roasted meat pervaded the entire cultivation room.

    He took his time ripping chunks off the cooked spirit beast meat with his mouth as he sent a wisp of psychic awareness into his bracelet of holding to examine his belongings.

    He had gathered quite a fortune through killing numerous Dark Moon members and Hunters in the Realm of Split Void.

    He had traded most of his gains for materials to forge the me Star and some spirit stones.

    He had stored the rest in the two rings of holding he had prepared for Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    At this moment, the me Dragon Armor and the me Star were the only two spiritual tools in his possession.

    Aside from them, he had kept some me Crystals that he could use to practice the me Spirit Incantation, some spiritual materials that contained wood power, and a substantial amount of Star Stones.

    He didn¡¯t keep any medicinal pills. He had put them all into the rings of holding for Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    Atst, he had found several thousand spirit stones that he could use for daily practice, and several hundred spirit jades for when he was ready to make a breakthrough in his cultivation.

    He was well-aware that this trip to the Realm of Dark Underworld wouldn¡¯t be smooth at all. Therefore, he did his best to check his spiritual tools and materials, so that he could make up for them if he wascking something.

    As pieces of roasted spirit beast meat disappeared into his mouth, he finished sorting through his belongings.

    Considering that he hadn¡¯t entered the Greater Heaven stage yet, he figured he had better stick with his bracelet of holding for the time being.

    Meanwhile, he stored the ring of holding filled with spirit beast meat in the leather pouch on his waist so that he could fetch meat whenever he wanted.

    Now that he had a good understanding of his belongings, his eyes narrowed as he went on to examine himself.

    After entering thete Heaven stage, he had spent some time practicing cultivation in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. Now, the powers in his six vortexes of spiritual power, one vortex of me power, one vortex of wood power, and one vortex of star power had already gone through two rounds of refinement, but there was still a long way to go before he could reach the bottleneck leading to the Greater Heaven stage.

    With a change of his thoughts, wisps of spiritual power of different attributes started to circte through his meridians.

    He focused on sensing the movement of those powers.

    Momentster, his digestive system started to process the spirit beast meat he had just consumed, releasing wisps of flesh power.

    As soon as the wisps of flesh power were born, they were attracted and savagely devoured by the green aura residing in his heart, which contained the profound truths of his bloodline.

    It seemed that, after awakening the Life Stealth bloodline talent, the mysterious green aura had begun another round of plundering his flesh power.

    Nie Tian, who had already be used to its unfathomable appetite, knew that only when it had gathered enough flesh power would it lie dormant again and wait for its next transcendence, and only when it had settled down would his body be able to absorb flesh power and be stronger.

    ¡°I wonder when my bloodline will transcend again, and what kind of bloodline talent will be awakened,¡± he muttered to himself.

    Then, he sent a wisp of a mixture of psychic power and soul power into the second fragmentary star mark, which seemed as if it had been branded on his chest, hoping to derive enlightenment from the Starsoul and Starchain magics recorded in it. After scanning the magical symbols floating within the fragmentary star mark for a short while, he was seized by a strong sense of fatigue.

    Therefore, he snapped back to reality. He pondered briefly, and realized that he was still too weak to learn them.

    Apparently, limited by his current cultivation base, he hadn¡¯t been able to transcend his psychic power into soul power yet. Therefore, it was unrealistic for him to master the magics recorded in the second fragmentary star mark now.

    It seemed that formidable soul power was needed for him to derive enlightenment from the contents of the second fragmentary star mark.

    That meant that he might have to be at the Worldly realm or even higher to be able to refine the second fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°Worldly realm...¡± He shook his head with a bitter expression at the corner of his mouth. ¡°My cultivation base is still too low.¡±

    KREEEN!

    At that very moment, the stone door of his cultivation room was slowly pushed open.

    Nie Tian immediately snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the door with a frown.

    A man stuck his head through the door. After seeing Nie Tian, heughed heartily and said, ¡°I caught a whiff of the meat¡¯s scent, so I¡¯vee to fill my belly. You have meat. I have alcohol. I suggest that we mix it up a little bit. What do you say?¡±

    The man was Dong Baijie.

    Nie Tian understood that Dong Baijie definitely didn¡¯te by tracing the scent of the meat.

    ¡°Dong Li is your younger sister. Why didn¡¯t you tell me when we met in the Realm of Split Void?¡± Nie Tian asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

    Dong Baijie let himself in, shut the stone door, and sat in front of Nie Tian. He casually handed a bottle of alcohol to Nie Tian before taking a piece of cooked meat off the me Star. Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, he ripped off a big chunk of meat and washed it down with a gulp of alcohol. Only then did he look at Nie Tian and say, ¡°You didn¡¯t suffer any losses from her in the Realm of Split Void, did you? On the contrary, she was the one who was repeatedly defeated.

    ¡°I take you as my friend, so it was between my friend and my sister. What could I possibly do?

    ¡°I could only pretend I didn¡¯t know anything of it.¡±

    ¡°Friend? Really?¡± Nie Tian asked, curling his lips.

    He took a gulp of Dong Baijie¡¯s alcohol, feeling a burning sensation in his throat as he swallowed it. After it went down, he felt like it was burning in his stomach. Then, his mouth was filled with a lingering alcoholic scent as he started to feel lighter.

    ¡°Of course.¡± The look in Dong Baijie¡¯s eyes was sincere. ¡°I¡¯m a person who is only interested in those who can beat me or make me suffer losses. I would never respect those who died at my hands or fled from our battles during the Heaven Gate trial. You, on the other hand, were only at the Lesser Heaven stage back then, yet you dared to enter my section, and eventually managed to take that fragmentary star mark from me. That I respect.¡±

    ¡°That was mere luck... your sister¡¯s words,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Baijie smiled. ¡°Perhaps. However, luck should be considered a part of strength. I don¡¯t look at the process. I only look at the results.¡±

    Nie Tian took another gulp of alcohol, feeling that the alcohol Dong Baijie had brought with him was strong and tasty enough. After taking merely two mouthfuls, not only did he be more talkative, but he also felt increasingly light and rxed.

    At that point, he finally understood why Li Muyang and Li Ye were so fond of drinking.

    Under the influence of the alcohol, he opened his robe and showed Dong Baijie the second fragmentary star mark on his chest. ¡°This fragmentary star mark belonged to you, and I took it from you. I don¡¯t believe that you don¡¯t hate me for that at all.¡±

 Chapter 409: A Shocking Presumption

    GLUG! GLUG!

    After gulping down a few mouthfuls of alcohol, Dong Baijieughed loudly and heartily, his face reddened. ¡°Truth be told, I was quite angry at the beginning, and couldn¡¯t let it go for some time. However, I got over it after I heard some news and learned that even if I got to keep that fragmentary star mark, it wouldn¡¯t have worked out for me.¡±

    ¡°What news?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I heard that Ning Yang wasn¡¯t able to derive enlightenment from the third fragmentary star mark in his possession. That was when I realized that even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had divided its legacies into three marks, the first mark was the key.¡± Dong Baijie shook his head and smiled bitterly.

    He paused to take a deep look at Nie Tian with a meaningful expression on his face before adding, ¡°Or I can say: you were the key.

    ¡°Even though I don¡¯t understand why the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would make such arrangements, I know that Ning Yang and I both served as props.

    ¡°Whether I was able to keep that fragmentary star mark or not, I wouldn¡¯t have be the sessor acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Not me, not Ning Yang, only you.¡±

    Confusion spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Do you know that this wasn¡¯t the first time that Heaven Gates have appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Dong Baijie continued. ¡°There have been two recorded appearances before this time. In both those instances, the situation was very simr to what¡¯s going on now. People obtained those fragmentary star marks in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Dong Baijie¡¯s eyes shone with a serious light. ¡°But do you know what happened to them afterwards?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    ¡°They died, all of them.¡± A extremely grim expression appeared on Dong Baijie¡¯s face. ¡°That means everyone who has ever obtained those fragmentary star marks has died, without exception. Also, none of them were able to refine their fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°When they died, the fragmentary star marks on them gradually faded, and eventually disappeared.

    ¡°That makes you the first person who has ever refined a fragmentary star mark of all three times the Heaven Gates have appeared.

    ¡°The reason I stopped resenting you was that I thought it through. Even if I kept the second fragmentary star mark to myself, I might have already died like Ning Yang.¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t mask his astonishment.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s tone grew heavy. ¡°However, no spatial rifts ever appeared around the times that Heaven Gates have previously appeared. Only this time, soon after the Heaven Gates appeared, three spatial rifts ripped open.

    ¡°After gathering all three fragmentary star marks and refining the first mark, you eventually sealed the three spatial rifts and saved the Domain of the Falling Stars, therefore fulfilling the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s promise to guard the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°From what I can tell, this is by no means fortuitous!¡±

    Dong Baijie¡¯s words were powerful and resonating. His eyes shone with the light of certainty, as if he was the only one who had seen through the truth.

    ¡°W-what do you mean, not fortuitous?¡± Nie Tian asked, confused.

    Dong Baijieughed heartily as he cast aside the bottle he had emptied and took out another bottle of alcohol.

    This time, he didn¡¯t drink as fast as he had drunk the first bottle. Rather, he took sips.

    With aplicated expression, he exined, ¡°After I learned that Ning Yang wasn¡¯t able to refine the fragmentary star mark he had, I went to the Realm of me Heaven and visited the Nie n, where I thoroughly investigated your background.

    ¡°You were born in the Nie n; your mother was a member of the Nie n, and her name was Nie Jin.

    ¡°Forgive me for being blunt, there¡¯s nothing special about the Nie n or your mother.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t seem to find any information on your father, not even signs of his existence. No one knows who he is. I even searched in other realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and failed to discover information about him.

    ¡°It was as if the man showed up out of nowhere, and then disappeared into thin air.

    ¡°You investigated my background?¡± Nie Tian snorted with a cold smile.

    ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help it. I needed an answer.¡± An apologetic expression appeared on Dong Baijie¡¯s face. ¡°I tend to get to the bottom of matters. From what I can tell, it can¡¯t be a coincidence that you managed to receive and refine the fragmentary star marks and be the sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies. There must be something about you I don¡¯t know yet, and that could be the reason why you¡¯re able to refine the fragmentary star marks.

    ¡°I even have a feeling that the appearance of the Heaven Gates and the spatial rifts, and all the anomalies that came along afterwards, happened because of you.

    ¡°You must have something, or there must be something about you, that made the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce choose you to be their one and only sessor in the Domain of the Falling Stars in so many years.

    ¡°I feel that your father, who you never even met, is the reason behind all this.

    ¡°It¡¯s him who gave you this substantial fortune.

    ¡°Yet, you know nothing about that.¡±

    A strong shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    His unusual bloodline and the green aura that coiled in his heart proved his uniqueness.

    Of course, these were not something the Nie n or his mother could give him.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected that Dong Baijie would be able to derive so many things simply from the special features and clues he had picked up from him and everything around him, and then eventuallye to such a bold yet well-founded conclusion.

    ¡°Even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has long since left the Domain of the Falling Stars, I believe that ancient Qi warrior sect is still thriving somewhere in the boundless starry river.¡± Dong Baijie sipped his alcohol as he spoke. ¡°Considering they¡¯ve made you their sessor, you must be unique, and they must have ced certain expectations on you.

    ¡°After realizing this, I knew that I could only be friends with you, not enemies.

    ¡°I can¡¯t afford to mess with you, nor can the Dong n.¡±

    With these words, Dong Baijie smiled and shook his head. ¡°How many people in this world can see through this? Senior Li Muyang might. The sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect might too. But since the Heaven Pce Sect is currently the overlord of the Domain of the Falling Stars, even if he hase to realize it, he might dare to go against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s will.

    ¡°After all, if the sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce rises up in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Heaven Pce Sect will have no choice but to humble itself.

    ¡°That¡¯s not something the Heaven Pce Sect would want.¡±

    Momentster, Dong Baijie finished another bottle and continued, ¡°Oh right, I bet you didn¡¯t know that even if you didn¡¯t sumb to my sister, since the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect asked us to do them a favor, your grandfather and aunt would have been able to return to the Realm of me Heaven unscathed. My sister and Qin Yan didn¡¯t tell you this so that they could force you to agree to go to the Realm of Dark Underworld with them.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°What? She fooled me?¡±

    Dong Baijie smiled bitterly. ¡°I apologize on her behalf. My sister is good at ying tricks, but I can¡¯t say that she¡¯s wise. The other reason I¡¯m here is to let you know that if you don¡¯t want to go to the Realm of Dark Underworld with them, you can leave now. Wherever you want to go, I¡¯ll make arrangements for you. As I said, I only want to be your friend, not enemy.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk. Eyebrows furrowed, he pondered for a while, then he realized that he didn¡¯t have any other urgent business at the moment.

    Furthermore, he was actually quite interested in this Phantasms¡¯ relic in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    ¡°However, there might be something interesting in the Phantasms¡¯ relic,¡± Dong Baijie added. ¡°If you don¡¯t have other things to do, you might as well go with them and see if you can find something useful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going,¡± Nie Tian said.

    With a hearty smile, Dong Baijie nodded and rose to his feet. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve emptied my heart to you today. I hope that you will give me face and forgive my little sister for what she¡¯s done. And... If you will, please keep an eye on her while you¡¯re in the Realm of Dark Underworld.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that she¡¯ll try to kill me?¡± Nie Tian snorted a cold smile.

    ¡°Nope, I have faith in your strength and wisdom.¡± Dong Baijie said with a smile. ¡°Also, I talked to those Worldly realm uncles of my n who are going to the Realm of Dark Underworld with you. Don¡¯t worry. If she ever crosses the line, they wille forward and stop her. I won¡¯t let any member of the Dong n treat you as an enemy.¡±

    ¡°...I hope so,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got some business to tend to, so I won¡¯t go to the Realm of Dark Underworld with you. Good luck. We¡¯ll get together and drink our fill next time we meet.¡± Dong Baijieughed broadly and ced a dozen bottles of alcohol on the floor. ¡°I can tell that this stuff is to your taste, so these are for you. Please give me face and don¡¯t mind my little sister.

    ¡°Onest thing, I didn¡¯t tell anyone about this meeting between us, and I¡¯d appreciate it if you didn¡¯t mention it to my sister.¡±

    With these words, Dong Baijie waved and wobbled out of Nie Tian¡¯s room.

    After he was gone, Nie Tian stayed up all night, pondering Dong Baijie¡¯s words.

 Chapter 410: The Realm of Dark Underworld

    After Dong Baijie left, Nie Tian stayed up all night.

    He gulped down more of the hard alcohol Dong Baijie had left for him. However, the more he drank, the more clear-headed he felt, and all he could think of was what Dong Baijie had said to him.

    He had never expected that Dong Baijie would go to such lengths to find the truth. He had even visited ck Cloud City in the Realm of me Heaven just to run a thorough investigation on his background.

    ording to Dong Baijie¡¯s spection, his father. who he had never met. was probably the reason why he was so special.

    The fact that he possessed bloodline power, had been able to refine a fragmentary star mark, and the other incredible things about him all had something to do with his father.

    It had been thousands of years since all connections between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Domain of the Falling Stars had been cut off. Not a single member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hade to the Domain of the Falling Stars during this period of time.

    Even though Heaven Gates had appeared twice, no one had been able to refine the legacies they had obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He was the only one.

    Then, where was his father from? And who was he?

    Did he have some kind of connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?

    Questions exploded in his head, making him anxious and unable to go back to his cultivation.

    He sat out the whole night, but still failed to clear his thoughts. Rather, he ended up even more frustrated and perplexed.

    Eventually, he came to the conclusion that only when his cultivation base rose to a certain stage, and he could travel outside of the Domain of the Falling Stars, would he be able to find the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and solve the mysteries in his heart.

    <i>¡°Dong Baijie...¡± </i>This unbridled and outstanding man from the Dong n was one of the few people who he believed possessed true wisdom.

    He was able to gather and sort through the most insignificant details and information, and derive many critical conclusions from them.

    Dong Baijie was only about ten years older than him, yet he was so mature and wise, which was very admirable.

    Before, he had thought that the cunning and cruel Dong Li was the most hard-to-deal-with person in the Dong n.

    But after having an extended conversation with him, Nie Tian now realized that Dong Li had nothing but tricks, while Dong Baijie was the truly wise one.

    Caught up in his thoughts, Nie Tian lost track of time. Only when Han Mu came did he realize that it was already time to leave.

    He followed Han Mu to the Dong n¡¯s hidden, inter-realm teleportation portal, where Dong Li, her n uncle Dong Mingxuan, and six other Greater Heaven stage Dong n members were already waiting.

    The middle Worldly realm Dong Mingxuan took a deep look at Nie Tian, and nodded so briefly that it was almost imperceptible.

    As Nie Tian came closer, he realized that he had met some of the Greater Heaven stage members standing beside Dong Li in the Realm of Split Void.

    It was just that. because he had assumed a different appearance, they didn¡¯t recognize him.

    ¡°His name is Wu Tian, a subordinate of mine.¡± Dong Li introduced him to everyone else. Those people muddled through greeting him. Indifference and slight disdain could be seen in their eyes.

    Aside from Dong Mingxuan, all the other Dong n members were at the Greater Heaven stage.

    Nie Tian was the only one at thete Heaven stage. They saw through that the moment he arrived.

    Therefore, it was natural that these Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors, who had joined the exploration team to y up to Dong Li, made light of Nie Tian for his insignificant cultivation base.

    Especially when they had been waiting for him for quite a while.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Dong Li didn¡¯t say more than what was necessary. The moment she saw Nie Tian and Han Mu, she ordered everyone to step into the teleportation portal.

    After everyone was in, intense spatial energy fluctuations filled the portal. In the blink of an eye, Nie Tian and the Dong n members vanished.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found himself standing under a gray, misty sky along with Dong Li and the others.

    Everyone mored as soon as they saw Dong Li. They either med her in yful ways, or were secretly discontent with her unpunctuality.

    ¡°Dong Li is here!¡±

    ¡°You drag your heels every time we go on a trip. You¡¯re thest one to get here again this time.¡±

    ¡°Everyone has been waiting for you.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Uncle Dong.¡±

    Nie Tian looked around with rapt attention, and discovered that they were in a lush forest.

    Under his feet was an inter-realm teleportation portal. While he was ncing around, Han Mu dragged him out of the portal before it sank into the ground and disappeared.

    A huge stone te appeared where the teleportation portal had been.

    The stone was covered in grass and dirt, blending in perfectly with the environment and leaving no sign that a teleportation portal had ever existed there.

    Amazed, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to examine that area, but failed to find any trace of the teleportation portal underground.

    That was when he realized that this hidden, inter-realm teleportation portal must have been jointly established by the major forces of the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Only core members of the Dong n, the Cao n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce would be able to use it.

    Even the me God Sect and the Spirit God Sect, which were the two most powerful Qi warrior sects in this realm, probably didn¡¯t know about it.

    After snapping out of his amazement, Nie Tian¡¯s gaze swept across those who had been waiting by the teleportation portal while Dong Li exchanged greetings with them.

    He saw Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, who was now surrounded by a handful of Qi warriors from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Most of them seemed to be at the Greater Heaven stage, just like the Dong n members Dong Li had brought.

    The only exception was an old woman, who seemed to be at the middle Worldly realm, the same as Dong Mingxuan.

    A broad smile appeared on Dong Mingxuan¡¯s dried-up face as he walked over to the old woman¡¯s side. The two of them chatted casually, as if they were old friends.

    As for the group from the Gu n, their leader was Gu Haofeng, an early Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, and they also had an early Worldly realm guest elder in their group.

    The leader of the group from the Pill Pavilion Sect was the middle Greater Heaven stage Qian Xin, who was the son of the Pill Pavilion Sect¡¯s sectmaster. Dressed in a luxurious alchemist¡¯s robe, he behaved gracefully and with good manners.

    Even though their group was the smallest, the Qi warriors around him were the strongest.

    To his left and right stood two Worldly realm experts, one at the middle Worldly realm, the other one at the early Worldly realm.

    However, the initiator of this operation, Cao Qiushui, wasn¡¯t there. It seemed that he and his team had set out before Dong Li¡¯s arrival.

    With a poised expression, Nie Tian watched Dong Li discuss the possibility of them encountering Phantasms with the people from the five major forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Holding up a fine and detailed map, Qin Yan called out to everyone, ¡°Cai Qiushui showed me where they would be. I¡¯ll lead the way, and we¡¯ll meet him and his team first. Everyone stay together, lest we attract attention from the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect.¡±

    The leaders nodded as they reminded their subordinates and nsmen in low voices that they shouldn¡¯t act on their own.

    After Qin Yan got ahold of her bearings, she and her men from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce led the way in front as the five groups of people marched through the dense forest at a fast pace.

    Nie Tian, who traveled with the other Dong n members, didn¡¯t summon his Heaven Eyes to scan his surroundings.

    After all, they had powerful Worldly realm experts like Dong Mingxuan on their team. Their psychic power had already transcended into soul power, and their perception of living beings and soul fluctuations in the vicinity wouldn¡¯t be any less keen than his Heaven Eyes¡¯. Therefore, he didn¡¯t need to worry about that.

    Furthermore, as soon as he unleashed his Heaven Eyes, those Worldly realm experts would notice them, and thus be suspicious about his identity.

    Over the next few days, Nie Tian marched on with the others and didn¡¯t speak much.

    He spent most of his resting time alone, practicing cultivation, and providing the green aura in his heart with flesh power by consuming spirit beast meat he had purchased in the Dong n.

    Meanwhile, he observed and paid attention to the conversations between Dong Li and the other leaders, and soon found out their personalities, strengths, and rtionships with one another.

    Eight dayster, they found the members from the Cao n under Qin Yan¡¯s leadership.

    However, they discovered that bodies of dead Qi warriors were scattered around those members from the Cao n, as if they had just gone through a fierce battle.

    From the way those corpses were dressed, they could tell that they were disciples of the me God Sect.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here,¡± Cao Qiushui said with a smile.

    Oddly, as a man, Cao Qiushui was slenderly built, and had the gentle qualities of a woman. ¡°I¡¯m so relieved that you guys are here. People from the me God Sect discovered us. Fortunately, it¡¯s no longer a problem now.¡±

 Chapter 411: Like A Shadow

    ¡°No one got away, did they?¡± Qin Yan asked with a frown. ¡°After all, this is the Realm of Dark Underworld, and we¡¯re on the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect¡¯s turf. If they discover us so early, we¡¯ll probably get into trouble.¡±

    Worry could be seen on the faces of the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    The me God Sect and Spirit God Sect were among the most famous and powerful Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, since they were from the five most influential forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, they didn¡¯t fear them.

    It was just that they hadn¡¯t brought many men with them, and their primary goal was to explore the Phantasms¡¯ relic Cao Qiushui had discovered and find out about the secrets that were hidden there, not to start an inter-realm war with the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect.

    Therefore, their n was to avoid rming the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect, quietly finish their exploration, and then evacuate without creating a stir.

    With a smile, Cao Qiushui pointed at the corpses on the ground and said with a reassuring tone, ¡°It¡¯s no longer a problem; everyone that saw us is here. Even though the Realm of Dark Underworld is quite vast, and many parts of it are rarely visited by humans, it¡¯s inevitable that we will run into patrolling members of the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°As long as we march carefully and avoid contact with their Worldly realm or Profound realm experts, we¡¯ll probably be fine.¡±

    Qin Yan nodded. ¡°I hope so.¡±

    As a special organization from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had business rtionships with almost every major Qi warrior sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, including the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect.

    They didn¡¯t want to jeopardize their business rtionships with them by getting caught exploring and plundering valuable legacies from their territory.

    However, they wouldn¡¯t mind secretly taking out one or two of their patrol teams if doing that could let them avoid future trouble.

    Cao Qiushui¡¯s eyes swept across therge crowd. Seeing that the Dong n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had all brought Worldly realm experts, he felt rather confident. ¡°Let¡¯s move out, everyone! The Phantasms¡¯ relic is in a secluded region. I don¡¯t think others have discovered it yet.

    ¡°From what I could tell, I was probably the only one who had.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that, for some reason, phantasm Qi has appeared in that region recently. The appearance of phantasm Qi could attract some unwanted attention and expose that relic.

    ¡°Plus, some Specters appeared out of nowhere and started roaming about in that region.

    ¡°Those Specters were quite powerful, I wasn¡¯t confident that I would be able to defeat them with just me and my people. That was why I asked you guys toe.¡±

    Dong Mingxuan was taken aback. ¡°Specters?!¡±

    Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t spoken much along the way, was also deeply surprised.

    The Ghost Sect in the Realm of me Heaven was a sect that excelled at refining and manipting Specters. He had spent some time in the Ghost Sect, and Li Jing had told him a bit about Specters.

    The so-called Specters were none other than souls that lingered in heaven and earth. They could either be discarnate souls of dead humans, spirit beasts, or other living species.

    Once soul-possessing beings died, if they possessed limited strength and didn¡¯t practice soul magics, their souls would soon dissipate from this world.

    Only those who were skilled in soul magics would be able to remain in soul form after their fleshly bodies perished.

    However, these kinds of souls couldn¡¯t be categorized as Specters.

    Specters referred to the discarnate souls of deceased living beings that didn¡¯t dissipate due to a special environment or some other profound reason.

    Most Specters didn¡¯t possess their own will or intellect, and they didn¡¯t have any memories of their past lives.

    Normally, they would just roam about and hunt down living beings, following their nature.

    For those who practiced certain types of soul incantations like the disciples of the Ghost Sect, Specters were something they could manipte and make use of.

    Disciples of the Ghost Sect practiced many soul-rted magics and incantations that would allow them to refine Specters and use them to strengthen themselves, or they could seal Specters in special containers and put them to use at critical times.

    The Ghost Sect was only one of the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars that refined and used Specters.

    ¡°Yeah, Specters... powerful Specters,¡± Cao Qiushui said with a somewhat grim expression. ¡°As you know, the Phantasms are a strong outsider species that is very good at using soul magics and controlling Specters. Since this realm used to be inhabited by Phantasms, and we¡¯re going to a relic left by Phantasms, it¡¯s normal that Specters will start to appear in that region.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Dong Mingxuan said, his eyebrows knitted. ¡°Phantasms are indeed good at refining and controlling Specters. They carry a unique bloodline and possess special talent that allows them to do so. I¡¯ve heard that Phantasms appeared in the Realm of Split Void not long ago.

    ¡°The sudden appearance of those Phantasms in the Realm of Split Void, the appearance of phantasm Qi in the relic here, and Specters that appeared out of nowhere...

    ¡°I have a feeling that there¡¯s a connection between these two incidents, and also, that we might run into Phantasms while we explore this Phantasms¡¯ relic.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Uncle Dong,¡± Gu Haofeng from the Gu n said arrogantly. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars has been dominated by humans for thousands of years now. What kind of impact can a handful of Phantasms create? Furthermore, considering our collective strength, even if wee across a few Phantasms, they¡¯ll end up being the losing side!¡±

    In light of his unconstrained manner, it was obvious that he hadn¡¯t suffered any great defeats before, and that he had great confidence in these Qi warriors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    However, Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect seemed very prudent and cautious. He didn¡¯t say a single word upon learning about the appearance of Specters.

    Standing among the Dong n members, Nie Tian listened as the others discussed the possible connection between the appearance of Specters and Phantasms.

    Most likely, none of these junior n members and sect members from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had ever seen a Phantasm with their own eyes. They might have only read about them in their ns¡¯ or sects¡¯ ancient records.

    None of them possessed a first-hand and full understanding of Phantasms.

    Nie Tian, however, had personally seen a Phantasm in the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void.

    That Phantasm had hidden inside a meteor that had plummeted from the distant starry sky. As soon as it had appeared, it had badly injured Ning Yang. The mere thought of its terrifying battle prowess and strength made Nie Tian¡¯s blood run cold.

    If he were by himself, even if the me God Sect wasn¡¯t a threat to him, he would never have had the audacity toe to the Realm of Dark Underworld and explore that Phantasms¡¯ relic alone.

    ¡°We¡¯d better get to the bottom of this before other people find out about that relic. If we discover any rare items or unique treasures, we need to get them, then leave the Realm of Dark Underworld as quickly as possible.¡± With these words, Cao Qiushui marched out and led the way for the exploration team.

    Nie Tian followed along silently with the others from the Dong n.

    Thanks to the keen perception of those Worldly realm experts¡¯ soul power, they managed to steer clear of anyone from the me God Sect or the Spirit God Sect on their journey.

    Everything went smoothly. They didn¡¯t expose themselves or get into any unnecessary trouble.

    The Realm of Dark Underworld was dark and gloomy year-round. The sun, the moon, and the stars could only be briefly seen on rare asions.

    As the team traveled through the dense forest at a fast speed, Nie Tian didn¡¯t initiate a conversation with the others a single time.

    Among the people Dong Li had brought, Han Mu was the only one who was aware of his true identity, and would talk to him once in a while. None of the others said a single word to him. Instead, they just talked among themselves.

    The same went for the people from the other forces, who only knew Han Mu and the others from the Dong n. No one paid any attention to Nie Tian, a Heaven stage nobody.

    One starless and moonless night, the sky was as dark as ink.

    After days of uninterrupted marching through the forest, the exploration team from the Realm of a Hundred Battles felt rather exhausted. Therefore, they stopped, and each of them found their own ce to rest and recover.

    Although the Worldly realm experts were from different ns and sects, they knew each other well, so they sat together to discuss matters regarding practicing cultivation.

    It was obvious that they harbored the intent to temper their juniors, since they hadn¡¯t given any suggestions regarding anything about this exploration trip. Rather, they let Dong Li and the other young leaders make all the decisions.

    Dong Li, Qin Yan, Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, and Cao Qiushui gathered in a circle. After a brief discussion with them, Dong Li stepped directly towards Nie Tian.

    Upon seeing her approach, Han Mu, who had stayed by Nie Tian¡¯s side since the start, took the initiative to rise to his feet and walk away, leaving this area to Dong Li and Nie Tian.

    In a distant location, Dong Mingxuan, who was just about to say something to the other Worldly realm experts, noticed Dong Li¡¯s action. He held his tongue and watched Dong Li step closer to Nie Tian, as if he bore Dong Baijie¡¯s order at heart and feared that she would make a move against Nie Tian.

    By the time he saw Dong Li sit down in front of Nie Tian, he realized that she wasn¡¯t going to seek trouble with him. Therefore, he turned his head back and rejoined the conversation among his peers.

    In another location, Gu Haofeng¡¯s brows rose as he noticed Dong Li¡¯s action. With a strange expression, she watched Dong Li sit down before Nie Tian.

    ¡°Wu Tian, do you think we¡¯ll encounter Phantasms on this trip?¡± Dong Li asked in a very low voice after sitting down, as if she were afraid that others would overhear their conversation.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    ¡°Phantasms are really that formidable?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Really.¡±

    ¡°Did you meet with my brother?¡± The light in Dong Li¡¯s eyes zed like a torch.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said with great determination.

    ¡°Is that the truth?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

 Chapter 412: Breaking up in Discord

    ¡°My brother sees great potential in you,¡± Dong Li said with a puzzled expression on her face, her slender eyebrows slightly furrowed. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why he¡¯s not angry at you, considering you took away the fragmentary star mark that belonged to him, but instead, he speaks very highly of you.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to talk, so he remained silent.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already finished my part of our agreement by sending your family and friends back to the Cloudsoaring Sect,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°I hope you can honor your part of our agreement by assisting me without holding back.¡±

    The thought of the fact that this woman had tricked him into agreeing to her terms with Qin Yan¡¯s help, while she had actually sent Nie Donghai and the others back under the pressure from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, made Nie Tian furious.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t show any interest in responding to Dong Li.

    After realizing that he was sulking, Dong Li snorted coldly and said, ¡°What right do you have to be mad at me? Back when we were in the Realm of Split Void, you repeatedly sabotaged my operation, which I spent a long time nning. You made me lose face in the n. I already showed you great mercy by not killing you in my n¡¯s territory. What can you possibly be sulking about?¡±

    ¡°Do you really think you¡¯re in the right?¡± Nie Tian asked with a low voice. ¡°Did you or did you not first make a move against me in that forest? If I hadn¡¯t been vignt, I would have already died at your hands like Shen Wei and the others! Only you¡¯re allowed to trick others, and other people can¡¯t pay you back?¡±

    Dong Li sprung to her feet and left in a huff, no longer desiring to talk to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian let out a snort, inwardly cursing the woman¡¯s unwillingness to listen to reason.

    ¡°Li!¡± Gu Haofeng raised his hand and called out to Dong Li with a taunting tone. ¡°This is interesting. Your subordinate actually dares to question you and argue with you. This must not be the Dong Li I know.¡±

    Since they were far away from the others, and Dong Li and Nie Tian had been talking in low voices, even the Worldly realm experts probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to overhear the conversation between them.

    Gu Haofeng only saw Dong Li step over to Nie Tian, where they had a few words, and then Dong Li left, fuming with anger.

    However, this was enough evidence to know that their conversation hadn¡¯t been pleasant.

    That was when Gu Haofeng became suspicious. Normally, as Dong Li¡¯s subordinate, Nie Tian should listen to her no matter what, but instead, he argued with Dong Li. What gave him the courage to do that?

    Annoyed, Dong Li shot him a nasty look. ¡°It¡¯s none of your business!¡±

    Feeling like he had run into a stone wall, Gu Haofeng¡¯s face dropped. He was used to being abused by Dong Li. Instead of getting angry, heid his cold gaze on Nie Tian and said, ¡°Li, if you don¡¯t want to discipline your subordinate, I can help you.¡±

    ¡°Leave me alone!¡± Dong Li blurted.

    Gu Haofeng touched his nose. Even though he was quite angry, he didn¡¯t say anything else.

    After Dong Li left, Nie Tian, who was still sitting in a distant corner, took out a spirit stone and started recovering with his eyes narrowed.

    Clearly, he wasn¡¯t in the mood to respond to Gu Haofeng.

    After marching with and observing everyone for a few days, Nie Tian had long since discovered that Gu Haofeng had affections toward Dong Li. Whenever there was a chance, he would rush to her side and show great concern.

    However, it was very obvious that Dong Li didn¡¯t like him. Her face was always filled with impatience and contempt when she saw him.

    Gu Haofeng seemed to be blind to her indifferent attitude. He stuck to his own way, as if he believed that, with enough sincerity, he would be able to split open metal and stone.

    ¡°Another idiot who¡¯s looking to die,¡± Nie Tian said inwardly.

    In his eyes, those who were ignorant enough to approach Dong Li, this vicious beauty, were all seeking their own doom.

    Han Mu suddenly appeared and once again sat down next to him. ¡°Our Miss actually thinks quite highly of you. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have invited you toe to the Realm of Dark Underworld and explore this Phantasms¡¯ relic together.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open, an unpleasant expression appearing on his face. ¡°Invite? She made me, okay?!¡±

    With a smile, Han Mu said, ¡°That depends on how you want to look at it. Both Dong Baijie and Dong Li have the same attitude: they only make friends with those who have defeated them or made them suffer losses. However, you are the only one who has ever defeated both of them.¡±

    ¡°I should be honored then?¡± A sarcastic smile spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Han Mu¡¯s expression turned serious as he said sincerely, ¡°The fact is that there isn¡¯t any unforgivable feud between you and her. If you want to, you can take this exploration trip as an opportunity to resolve the personal feud that started in the Realm of Split Void. Plus, I heard that our young lord is also quite fond of you.¡±

    ¡°She summoned every force she could find in the Realm of Split Void to round me up and kill me. I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not so easily forgiven.¡± Nie Tian said sarcastically.

    ¡°You¡¯re alive and well, aren¡¯t you?¡± Han Mu asked with a smile.

    ¡°There were many asions where I was almost killed,¡± Nie Tian responded coldly.

    ¡°But not only did you manage to survive, but you even thrived after such tempering.¡± Han Mu lowered his voice and continued, ¡°Actually, our Miss isn¡¯t mad at you for killing her Fang members. She only feels frustrated and angry because you defeated her over and over again. The way I see it, it¡¯s not going tost.¡±

    ¡°All I want is for this exploration trip in the Realm of Dark Underworld to be finished soon so that I can get as far away from her as possible.¡± Nie Tian make his stance clear again.

    Seeing that he was rather determined and didn¡¯t show the slightest intention to resolve the issue between them, Han Mu let out a soft sigh and gave up.

    He was well-aware that Nie Tian had been highly regarded by Qi warriors in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations after helping them relieve their crisis.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian possessed the legacy marks from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. As long as he didn¡¯t die prematurely, the sky would be his limit.

    Therefore, he was slightly worried that Dong Li would act rashly and get Nie Tian killed somehow, which would definitely draw the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect¡¯s wrath, putting her and the Dong n in huge trouble.

    In the dark forest, the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles gradually stopped talking with one another.

    They either practiced cultivation with spirit stones, or tried to derive enlightenment from the incantations they practiced. Every single one of them was submerged in their own world.

    The same went for Nie Tian.

    Firstly, he consumed a substantial amount of spirit beast meat. Then, he conducted rounds of tempering of his spiritual sea, making preparations for his advancement into the Greater Heaven stage.

    Late in the night, after finishing another round of the expansion of his spiritual sea, he opened his eyes and nced around.

    He discovered that the two Worldly realm Qi warriors from the Pill Pavilion Sect were nowhere to be seen. Even though he was curious about where they had gone, he didn¡¯t attach much importance to it, but instead closed his eyes and resumed cultivation.

    Momentster, he was suddenly awoken by the sounds of garments fluttering. His eyes snapped open, and he saw that one of the Worldly realm experts from the Pill Pavilion Sect was back.

    It was Qiu Liang, an early Worldly realm expert. The moment he returned, he said to the crowd in a low voice, ¡°We¡¯ve found some members of the Spirit God Sect in the vicinity. All of them died rather strangely.¡±

    One after another, people were awoken from their cultivation. With furrowed eyebrows, they gazed at him.

    Cao Qiushui rose to his feet and said to the crowd, looking at Dong Li, ¡°We¡¯ll go over there and take a look, but we don¡¯t need everyone toe.¡±

    ¡°Han Mu, Wu Tian, youe with us.¡± Dong Li waved at them.

    Qin Yan, Gu Haofeng, and Qian Xin also gathered a couple of subordinates before they left together under Qiu Liang¡¯s leadership.

    Dong Mingxuan and the Worldly realm experts from the Gu n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce only opened their eyes and nced around after hearing Qiu Liang¡¯s words, but they didn¡¯t move a bit.

    It seemed that they felt rather secure having Cao Qiushui, Dong Li, and the other juniors make the decisions.

    Seeing Nie Tian and Han Mu rise to their feet and leave with Dong Li, the other members of the Dong n started whispering to each other, deeply puzzled.

    ¡°Wu Tian?! Miss Dong is actually taking Wu Tian?¡±

    ¡°I understand why she¡¯s taking big brother Han Mu, but why the hell would she take Wu Tian?¡±

    ¡°This is odd.¡±

    Gu Haofeng¡¯s face was also filled with confusion as he constantly looked over his shoulder to check on Dong Li and Nie Tian, not understanding why she would take the man who had dared to have a heated argument with her.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Qiu Liang led the small team to a secluded corner of the forest.

    The corpses of seven Qi warriors dressed in the Spirit God Sect¡¯s garments were scattered on the ground, all of whom had bulging eyes and blood at the corners of their eyes.

    After a brief scan, they failed to locate lethal wounds on any of them.

    Then, they discovered that Shen Zhong, the middle Worldly realm expert from the Pill Pavilion Sect, was standing with his back against arge tree, his face expressionless.

    He adopted the same attitude even when Qian Xin, the son of the Pill Pavilion Sect¡¯s sectmaster, came over to him.

    However, Qian Xin didn¡¯t seem to mind at all. On the contrary, he bowed to him before going off to examine the corpses with Dong Li and the others.

    Nie Tian followed Dong Li and Han Mu to the side of one of the corpses, where they crouched down to conduct a thorough examination.

    ¡°This man didn¡¯t suffer any physical wounds, but his soul was shattered.¡± Han Mu made the judgment after a brief scan. ¡°His soul was probably instantly shattered by some sort of powerful psychic magic. The strange thing is that disciples of the Spirit God Sect should prioritize their cultivation of psychic power. Howe they even failed to withstand a single blow?¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Dong Li asked Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he secretly took a nce at the two Worldly realm experts from the Pill Pavilion Sect, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think his soul took a strong blow from a fierce psychic attack. Instead, it looks like someone took his soul.¡±

    Upon overhearing his words, Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect suddenly shot an astonished gaze at him.

 Chapter 413: The Sign of A Phantasm

    The finger Nie Tian used to point in between the corpse¡¯s eyebrows was infused with his psychic power, as well as a wisp of soul power from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul.

    As his soul power infiltrated deeper and deeper, he discovered that there wasn¡¯t any damage in the dead man¡¯s head.

    Normally speaking, if the man had died from a powerful psychic attack to his soul, his brain would have been damaged and be less intact.

    However, from what Nie Tian could tell, the man¡¯s brain was perfectly fine, yet his soul was long gone.

    Therefore, his conclusion was that the man hadn¡¯t died from a powerful psychic attack like Han Mu had said.

    After Nie Tian stepped to one side, giving her space, Dong Li crouched down and simted Nie Tian¡¯s actions by narrowing her eyes and pointing her jade-like, slender finger in the middle of the man¡¯s eyebrows.

    However, since she didn¡¯t have any fragmentary stars in her soul and she hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm, she could only wield her psychic power, not the more profound soul power. Therefore, she couldn¡¯t perceive the inside of the man¡¯s head as Nie Tian could.

    The same went for Han Mu.

    A momentter, she withdrew her hand, rose to her feet, and turned to gaze at Nie Tian and Han Mu.

    With a smile, Han Mu said, ¡°Perhaps Wu Tian is right.¡±

    Dong Li snorted coldly. ¡°Why would you trust his judgment instead of your own?¡±

    With a justified expression on his face, Han Mu said, ¡°Well, since he was able to escape from our pursuit and blockades repeatedly in the Realm of Split Void, he must have his unique way of perceiving matters.¡±

    Meanwhile, off to the side...

    After examining another corpse, Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect asked the early Worldly realm expert beside him, ¡°What¡¯s your take on this, Uncle Qiu?¡±

    Qiu Liang didn¡¯t answer, but instead turned to look at Shen Zhong.

    ¡°Even though we¡¯ve joined your exploration operation in the Realm of Dark Underworld, you are the decision-makers,¡± Shen Zhong said at a slow pace. ¡°Our sectmaster told us to let you solve any problems on your own and learn from them, as long as it¡¯s not life-threatening. We do know how these men died, but we won¡¯t just tell you. You¡¯ll have to find the answer yourself.¡±

    Qian Xin nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    Momentster, the few talented youngsters from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, who had spread out to check the corpses, regathered to exchange their thoughts.

    Cao Qiushui and Qian Xin¡¯s conclusions coincided with Han Mu¡¯s. Both of them assumed that those men had been killed by sudden and powerful psychic attacks. Furthermore, those who did it must possess very profound cultivation bases, and considered the belongings of these members of the Spirit God Sect not worth looting.

    After all, the victims¡¯ rings of holding and spiritual tools were all there. Not a single one was missing.

    Only experts with extremely high cultivation bases would turn a blind eye to those valuable resources.

    Dong Li, however, presented the theory that those men had died because someone had taken their souls, which was Nie Tian¡¯s original conclusion.

    She finally chose to trust Nie Tian.

    An astonished expression filled Qin Yan¡¯s face as she asked, ¡°How do you know that, Li?¡±

    Dong Li didn¡¯t answer, but rather shot a sideway nce at Nie Tian from afar.

    Qin Yin immediately picked up her signal. A brilliant light shed across her beautiful eyes before she said, ¡°I agree with Li. These people from the Spirit God Sect must have died from losing their souls. There isn¡¯t any sign of brain damage. Therefore, they didn¡¯t suffer powerful impacts from psychic attacks.¡±

    As they talked, Nie Tian listened, standing off to the side.

    As he heard Qin Yan say thatst sentence, the light of excitement appeared in his eyes. He couldn¡¯t help but take another nce at her.

    Even though Qin Yan¡¯s cultivation base was the highest among those juniors, at thete Greater Heaven stage, she hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm and transcended her psychic power into soul power.

    Therefore, she could only perceive matters with her psychic power, which meant she wouldn¡¯t be able to perceive trivial details.

    However, she seemed to havee to the same conclusion as him on her own. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but attach more importance to her, and at the same time, be on guard against her.

    Cao Qiushui seemed to have great faith in Qin Yan. He jumped out and said, ¡°I trust your judgment.¡±

    With a gentleugh, Qin Yan turned to Qian Xin and said, ¡°Even though we didn¡¯t kill them, we¡¯d better get rid of these corpses. Otherwise, powerful experts from the Spirit God Sect might discover them and turn this area inside out searching for their murderers. Once they find us, they will probably connect their deaths to us.¡±

    Qin Xin nodded and whispered an order to a member of the Pill Pavilion Sect.

    The man took out a dark-green potion and poured some on the chest of each corpse.

    Wisps of green smoke rose from the corpses, and momentster, all of the corpses melted away, not even leaving a bone.

    The man gathered the victims¡¯ rings of holding and spiritual tools, divided them up, and handed them to Dong Li, Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng, and Qin Yan.

    Seeing the corpses being reduced to nothing but blood, Nie Tian felt a numbness in his scalp.

    Han Mu saw through his confusion and thus exined to him, ¡°That thing is called a Carcass Melting Potion, a product of the Pill Pavilion Sect. When men die and their spiritual power dissipates, they¡¯re nothing more than piles of meat. Then, a few drops of the Carcass Melting Potion will easily melt their bodies. However, it won¡¯t be so effective on living people, so you don¡¯t need to be nervous about it.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°The Carcass Melting Potion will easily melt a man¡¯s body as long as he¡¯s dead?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Han Mu shook his head. ¡°Some people emphasize the cultivation of their fleshy bodies, and thus possess outstandingly strong fleshy bodies. Even when they are dead, their bones, flesh, and blood will contain significant amounts of power. So for that kind people, the Carcass Melting Potion won¡¯t work so well.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, showing that he understood.

    Cao Qiushui waved at the crowd. ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±

    Everyone grew vignt due to the mysterious deaths of the Spirit God Sect Qi warriors . They rapidly returned to the location where the others were gathered.

    Dong Li and the other young leaders informed the Worldly realm experts who had stayed behind of their findings, as well as their spections.

    After hearing their descriptions, Dong Mingxuan¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°I hope that¡¯s not the work of a Phantasm.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°A Phantasm!¡±

    Dong Mingxuan let out a sigh. ¡°Sucking away their enemies¡¯ souls and turning them into Specters is the Phantasms¡¯ ssic attack method.¡±

    Dong Li gasped. ¡°The Phantasms¡¯ ssic attack method?!¡±

    ¡°From what I know, the incantations the disciples of the Spirit God Sect practice seem to have something to do with the Phantasms,¡± Dong Mingxuan said with knitted brows. ¡°Many many years ago, Qi warriors from the Spirit God Sect discovered a few Phantasm relics in the Realm of Dark Underworld. From those relics, they derived the profound truths of souls. After adding in their own understanding and through centuries of modification, they eventually formed their own unique incantations.¡±

    ¡°People from the Spirit God Sect don¡¯t have some sort of rtionship with the Phantasms, do they?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± said Dong Mingxuan, ¡°After all, by the time the Spirit God Sect was established in the Realm of Dark Underworld, the Phantasms in this realm had already been killed or driven out of the Domain of the Falling Stars by powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They only separated and studied the part that was fit for human cultivators from the Phantasms¡¯ incantations, and derived their own incantations from it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not likely that they have any connections with the Phantasms. Otherwise, the other powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars would have annihted them.¡±

    At that moment, Cao Qiushui called out, ¡°Alright, everybody be careful. Let¡¯s move out!¡±

    As the team got back on the road, Nie Tian continued to keep a low profile, and they discovered more dead human bodies in a few more locations.

    Some of them were from the me God Sect, some were from the Spirit God Sect, but the majority of them seemed to be from a few other local sects that were less influential and powerful.

    The corpses were almost identical to the first ones they had encountered; every single one of them had their soul sucked away.

    The recurring groups of corpses clouded everyone¡¯s mind like a haze, making them gradually realize that unforeseen events might happen during this exploration trip to the Phantasm relic.

    A few days passed...

    Under Cao Qiushui¡¯s leadership, the team came to a vast mountain valley. The moment they arrived, Nie Tian caught sight of a few of the Specters that Cao Qiushui had mentioned.

    A faint, gray, mistyyer of phantasm Qi filled the bottom of the valley, within which Specters could be seen floating about, as if they were patrolling.

    None of them were in solid form. Instead, they looked like clusters of gray clouds. The more powerful ones were vaguely in human shapes, though their faces were still obscured and distorted.

    Strange energy fluctuations spread out from within them, carrying a frigid and gruesome aura as they dispersed into their surroundings.

    After a quick nce. Cao Qiushui couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°There are several times more Specters here now than thest time I was here! What happened during this period of time? Why did so many more Specters pop out so abruptly?¡±

    ¡°Those new Specters are from the dead humans we encountered on our way,¡± Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect said with an expressionless face. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, the miserable deaths of those cultivators were the work of a Phantasm... or Phantasms.¡±

    Just like the others, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered dramatically upon hearing Shen Zhong¡¯s words. ¡°Phantasms!¡±

    Aaaahhh!

    A bloodcurdling scream rang out from the depths of the misty valley, which sounded like a man¡¯sst scream before death.

    ¡°Someone is in there!¡± Qian Xin eximed.

 Chapter 414: A Warning

    With a grim expression, Dong Mingxuan turned to remind the crowd in a loud voice, ¡°Be extra careful, everyone! If there are no mishaps, it¡¯s almost certain that we¡¯ll encounter Phantasms. We¡¯ve all heard about Phantasms, but none of us have ever had direct contact with one, including me. It¡¯s widely established that Phantasms are oddly powerful, so we need to prepare ourselves for the uing encounters.¡±

    The echoing sound of the man¡¯s agonized scream died out.

    Realizing the dangerous situation they were in, Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect couldn¡¯t help but step forward and remind the crowd of youngsters, ¡°It seems that we¡¯ll need to pass those Specters before we worry about encountering Phantasms. I believe that many of you don¡¯t have experience dealing with Specters. I¡¯ve got some tips for you. Specters are in an absolute soul form. Some specific attributes work especially well on them. me power and lightning power attacks have been proven to be the most effective.

    ¡°If you practice these sorts of incantations or possess these sorts of spiritual tools, make sure you cast your attacks where the Specters are most closely packed.

    ¡°Attacks of other attributes won¡¯t have much effect on them. Bear this in mind.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°me power attacks!¡±

    ¡°Stay close and be careful. Let¡¯s move out!¡± Shen Zhong called out.

    ¡°Also, the bottom of the valley is filled with phantasm Qi. Remember to surround yourselves with spiritual power shields.¡± Dong Mingxuan reminded the crowd.

    Originally, these Worldly realm experts didn¡¯t n to take any significant part in this trial for the juniors. However, the appearance of the Specters and signs of Phantasms made even them feel insecure and uneasy. Therefore, they felt the need to remind the juniors so that they wouldn¡¯t walk into danger unwittingly and suffer great losses.

    Upon hearing Shen Zhong and Dong Mingxuan¡¯s words, everyone felt as if they were facing formidable foes. Immediately after they finished speaking, Nie Tian saw spiritual power shields of various colors spread out from the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    He nced around and discovered that everyone was summoning their spiritual power to form protective wards around themselves.

    Without the slightest hesitation, he summoned some me power from his vortex of me power, mixed it with some spiritual power, and formed a fiery light shield around him.

    ¡°Follow me everyone.¡±

    Dong Mingxuan said to Dong Li and the other Dong n members, telling them to hold their horses and not to march past him.

    With these words, he marched into the valley along with Shen Zhong and Qiu Liang from the Pill Pavilion Sect, the olddy Zhou Ruyun from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and Gu Han from the Gu n. They led the juniors into the mountain valley.

    Walking beside Han Mu, Nie Tian observed his surroundings with rapt attention, and noticed that the Specters that floated about in the vicinity had clearly sensed their existence, yet none of them came at them.

    It seemed as if they were restrained by the special environment in the valley, and thus were only able to wander within the valley.

    However, the moment Shen Zhong and the other powerful experts set foot in the valley, the Specters that were wandering within the faint phantasm Qi swooped towards them like fierce beasts that had smelled blood.

    Qiu Liang from the Pill Pavilion Sect let out a cold harrumph. With a swing of his arm, a red pill shot forward.

    The pill was the size of his thumb, with detailed, fiery patterns on its surface. As soon as it flew out, it burst into zing mes.

    The size of the pill gradually shrunk, though the mes it unleashed grew increasingly fierce, and covered an increasinglyrge area.

    Like a special sort of fuel, the zing pill gradually formed a elliptical ring of mes as it shot directly towards the Specters.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the Specters with distorted faces made contact with the fiery ring, one after another, they rapidly scattered in all directions, as if they had been burned by the zing mes.

    ¡°Let me clear a path for you.¡± As Qiu Liang, who practiced me incantations, marched in the forefront and cast out crimson pills continuously, a hint of arrogance could be seen in his eyes.

    Immediately after leaving his hands, the pills formed numerous fiery rings, which almost entirely filled the area ahead of the team, causing the temperature to soar in the cold, gruesome mountain valley.

    The few dozen Specters that had pounced on them let out sharp shrieks as soon as they were touched by those fiery rings, as if the mes were beyond bearable to them. The weaker ones even caught fire. Like misty, gray clouds, they shrunk down and eventually dissipated.

    Even though the stronger ones were able to escape after being touched by the mes, they no longer dared to get anywhere close to those spinning, fiery rings. They could only let out ear-piercing screams from a safe distance.

    Seeing that Qiu Liang, who was an expert in me incantations, had already warded off the iing Specters with the ze Pills he had made himself, Dong Mingxuan and the other powerful experts didn¡¯t join the action.

    Driven by Qiu Liang¡¯s exquisite incantation, the fiery rings spread out and formed arge, rotating circle around the entire team.

    As the ze Pills gradually consumed their energy and grew smaller, they continued to spin and ward off the Specters¡¯ attacks.

    With Qiu Liang forming a protective circle around them, the juniors almost didn¡¯t need to do anything. As long as they stayed within the circle, they would be safe from the Specters¡¯ attacks.

    Nie Tian followed the team deeper into the mountain valley.

    The moment he set foot in the bottom of the valley, he noticed that the seven stars that hung above his soul sea started to shine with dazzling light.

    Up till this point, he hadn¡¯t used the power with those fragmentary stars to form Heaven Eyes, yet as soon as they started to shine in his soul, both his perception and senses heightened noticeably.

    Eyes narrowed, he examined the environment with his increasingly keen perception.

    Thanks to the mysterious power from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul, he sensed that the bottom of the valley seemed to be wreathed in a special maic field, which had some sort of profound effect on people¡¯s souls.

    It was because he had entered it that the normally-quiet fragmentary stars in his soul began to shine brilliantly.

    It seemed as if the fragmentary stars had sensed danger, and took the initiative to guard Nie Tian¡¯s soul against potential attacks.

    After realizing this, he quietly approached Dong Li and whispered in her ear, ¡°Tell your men to gather their strength and guard their souls. I suspect that unusual things might happen to us in this valley. Someone or something might target our souls.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s watery eyes lit up. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    After entering the valley, she had also grown suspicious of the special environment. However, she couldn¡¯t perceive the anomaly like Nie Tian. All she could do was raise her guard.

    Meanwhile, it seemed that none of the Worldly realm experts, who had transformed their psychic power into soul power, were affected by the strange maic field in the valley, or experienced any sort of difort.

    Nie Tian seemed to be the only one who had sensed the anomaly the moment he stepped into the valley.

    Then, as soon as the seven fragmentary stars in his soul lit up, he no longer felt insecure and uneasy, as if the fragmentary stars could protect him from any harm from the strange maic field.

    ¡°I¡¯m notpletely sure bad things will happen, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be more careful,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    Since Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts didn¡¯t seem to notice any anomalies after entering the valley, he slightly doubted his own judgment. Thus, he didn¡¯t guarantee Dong Li that he would be right.

    At this moment, Dong Mingxuan and the other Worldly realm experts were marching in the front and focused on the Specters around them. Therefore, none of them overheard his conversation with Dong Li.

    Dong Li pondered briefly, then chose to trust Nie Tian¡¯s judgment. She summoned Han Mu to her side and instructed him to inform the other Dong n members.

    Afterwards, Han Mu rapidly moved about among the Dong n Qi warriors, delivering Dong Li¡¯s instructions.

    Even though they didn¡¯t understand the reason behind it, they followed Dong Li¡¯s instructions and warded their souls with psychic power.

    Since Nie Tian said himself that he wasn¡¯t sure about this, Dong Li only gave instructions to her men. She was afraid that nothing would really happen and the others wouldugh at her for being overly suspicious.

    Changes came without any warning.

    A bloodcurdling screech suddenly echoed out from the depths of the valley.

    At the same time, ayer of cyan energy spread out and rapidly covered the pale-gray, sparsely vegetated walls of the mountain peaks on both sides of the valley.

    As soon as the cyan energy ripples appeared, the might of the screech seemed to be greatly enhanced.

    All of a sudden, every Qi warrior from the Realm of a Hundred Battles felt as if their soul had been pierced by thousands of sharp arrows.

    Under Han Mu¡¯s urging, the Qi warriors from the Dong n had already gathered their psychic power and formed protective shields around their souls.

    Like a storm of sharp arrows, countless psychic sts shot into their protective shields, causing them to let out muffled groans and struggle to maintain their foothold.

    However, the strong blow didn¡¯t inflict too much damage on their souls. Most of them came out fine.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s soul, the seven fragmentary stars continued to emanate dazzling starlight, neutralizing the fierce psychic attack quietly and effortlessly.

    Standing unwavering like Mount Tai, he didn¡¯t stagger in the slightest.

 Chapter 415: Psychic Attack

    However, many of the Qi warriors from the other ns, who were at the middle orte Greater Heaven stage, suddenly fell to the ground with blooding out of their ears and eyes.

    Even worse, some early Greater Heaven stage cultivators, who hadn¡¯t spent much time forging their soul sea and thus didn¡¯t possess significant psychic power, were caught off-guard. With their souls pierced, they died instantly.

    Dong Mingxuan¡¯s face turn pale with fright as he reminded everyone loudly, ¡°Watch out! It¡¯s the Phantasms¡¯ psychic attack!¡±

    However, his reminder came a littlete.

    After yelling out these words, he looked over his shoulder and discovered that some early Greater Heaven stage members who weren¡¯t skilled at using their psychic power had already copsed to the ground upon the strong impact from the Phantasms¡¯ psychic attack. With their souls riddled with holes or simply shattered, many died instant deaths.

    Even those with higher cultivation bases had fallen to the ground, where they hastily fetched medicinal pills with grim expressions to cure the injuries to their souls.

    All of them had focused on protecting themselves from the corrosive phantasm Qi with their spiritual power shields, but had ignored the defense of their souls.

    As soon as the sharp screech echoed out, they all took serious blows. They were either killed or severely injured, their miserable wails filling the air.

    ¡°Hmm?!" Dong Mingxuan couldn¡¯t help but exim as he set his eyes on the Dong n¡¯s Qi warriors, confusion appearing on his face.

    At this moment, the other Worldly realm experts who had been marching in the front, as well as Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, Gu Haofeng, and Qin Yan, all noticed the Dong n members¡¯ condition: none of them died or had blooding out of their eyes and ears.

    All of them seemed unharmed by the Phantasms¡¯ psychic attack.

    Each and every one of them cast their shocked and admiring gaze towards Dong Li, as they were all very grateful for her wise instructions.

    ¡°Our Miss is so awesome!¡±

    ¡°We made the right decision by following her!¡±

    ¡°Without our Miss¡¯ reminder, none of us would have been able to ward off the Phantasms¡¯ psychic attack. We would either have been killed or severely injured!¡±

    Respect and admiration filled their eyes as they looked at her.

    However, under her subordinates¡¯ gazes, Dong Li¡¯s expression grew somewhat uneasy, as she secretly felt ashamed.

    ¡°Dong Li!!¡± Cao Qiushui couldn¡¯t help but yell at her. ¡°Howe your men are the only ones who are unhurt? If you knew what was going to happen, why didn¡¯t you remind us?!¡±

    Qian Xin and Gu Haofeng¡¯s expressions also grew unpleasant.

    Even Qin Yan¡¯s expression grew grim as she stepped over and asked with her eyes fixed on Dong Li, ¡°What¡¯s that about, Li?¡±

    Dong Li hadn¡¯t expected the change would take ce so abruptly and catch everyone else off guard.

    By the time she realized she should have told everyone, it was already toote. People from the other ns or sects had already sustained different degrees of injuries.

    ¡°Well... I wasn¡¯t sure that the Phantasms wouldunch psychic attacks,¡± Dong Li said with a deeply embarrassed expression on her face. ¡°I was going to let Han Mu inform you guys about my spection after he finished informing my men. However, who would have known that the change woulde so abruptly?¡±

    ¡°This is not the time to ce me!¡± Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect called out. ¡°Everyone, learn from your lesson and do your best to guard your souls! There¡¯s something strange about this ce. The moment that screech echoed out, the mountain walls on both sides seemed to have enhanced its might. I should taken some of the responsibility, as I failed to notice the anomaly and discover what the Phantasms were up to.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone shut their mouths and hastily gathered their psychic power to form defenses protecting their souls, lest more psychic attacks shoulde.

    Just as they expected, soon after their defenses were raised, another screech rang out.

    Hearing the screech, the well-prepared crowd looked at the mountain walls on both sides of the valley as they summoned psychic power to defend their souls.

    The sparsely vegetated mountain walls were once again covered in watery, cyan energy. Immediately afterwards, the might of the ear-piercing screech skyrocketed. Like tens of thousands of sharp arrows, they shot towards everyone¡¯s souls.

    However, since everyone was prepared, they did their utmost to defend against them. Some of them let out muffled groans, but no one was seriously injured.

    Qian Xin let out a cold harrumph and called out, ¡°Dong Li! Next time you discover any anomalies, let us know, alright?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I will!¡± Dong Li said, grievance filling her stomach. ¡°I was going to remind you. It was just that it happened too fast.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d better be it.¡± Qian Xin seemed very displeased. ¡°We¡¯re all from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and we¡¯ve worked with each other many times. I hope we can trust each other instead of harboring disloyalty! Please save your schemes for our enemies!¡±

    Dong Li seemed rather embarrassed.

    After the incident, everyone raised their guard and didn¡¯t rush into the depths of the valley.

    Everyone guarded their souls tightly, worrying that they would face more psychic attacks.

    However, the Phantasms at the depths of the valley seemed to have discovered that their psychic attacks were no longer effective, and thus stopped attacking them with screeches.

    With gritted teeth, Dong Li shot Nie Tian a nasty look and said, ¡°Wu Tian, youe here and march by my side!¡±

    The two of them marched side by side after Dong Mingxuan. Behind them were Han Mu and the other Dong n members.

    ¡°You got me good!¡± Dong Li said with a low voice.

    Innocence filled Nie Tian¡¯s face as he said, ¡°What?! Without my reminder, at least two of your men would have died, and the others would have sustained serious injuries to their souls. There would be no way that they would be safe and well like they are now!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean.¡± Dong Li seemed somewhat edgy. ¡°Since you noticed the anomaly, you should have been more certain and clear about it. Everyone is suspicious about my intentions because of you!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I wasn¡¯tpletely certain myself!¡± Nie Tian exined.

    ¡°Forget about it.¡± Dong Li was angry at Nie Tian¡¯s ambiguity as well as her own indecision, which had led to the fact that she had only informed her own subordinates, and the others then raised suspicion and discontent towards her.

    ¡°From now on, let me know as soon as you find any anomalies!¡± She said in a low voice.

    ¡°Okay..." Nie Tian coldly.

    At that moment, Shen Zhong, who was marching in the front, turned around and said to Qian Xin, who was marching behind him, ¡°Keep an eye out for that kid beside Dong Li. There¡¯s something unusual about him.¡±

    Qian Xin was taken aback. ¡°That Wu Tian person?¡±

    Shen Zhong nodded vigorously. ¡°He was the one who told Dong Li that those people from the Spirit God Sect had died from having their souls taken away.

    ¡°Also, did you notice that he waspletely unaffected by both psychic attacks?

    ¡°Dong Li¡¯s other subordinates were also reminded in time. Every single one of them has a cultivation base higher than his, yet they all staggered and struggled to maintain a firm foothold.

    ¡°Only Wu Tian waspletely uninfluenced. That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    After hearing Shen Zhong¡¯s analysis, Qian Xin, who was also from the Pill Pavilion Sect, realized that Nie Tian might have some secrets.

    Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also grew suspicious. Originally, she had been marching rather far from Dong Li. But now, she moved to a position closer to her, where she constantly snuck nces at Dong Li and Nie Tian, who weremunicating in low voices.

    She knew about Nie Tian¡¯s actual identity, and she knew Dong Li very well.

    From the details she had picked up, she suspected that Nie Tian, who was being berated by Dong Li, had been the one to have sensed the danger.

    ¡°It must have been him!¡± Qin Yan muttered to herself.

    WHOOSH!

    At that very moment, gray, misty souls rose from the top of the heads of the corpses, who had died from the Phantasms¡¯ psychic attack.

    As the discarnate souls flew out, not only did they not dissipate into heaven and earth, but they also rapidly absorbed the faint phantasm Qi and quickly morphed into Specters, before beginning to attack their former nsmen.

    Two men, who seemed to have been close friends of one of the deceased, were taken by surprise while they were grieving over their friend¡¯s death.

    The dead man¡¯s gray misty soul morphed into a wisp of cyan smoke and shot directly into their heads, where it ravaged their souls.

    The two of them cried out as they used the psychic defenses they had formed to fight the Specter that used to be their friend.

    Dong Mingxuan realized what was happening and eximed, ¡°Something is not right! The souls of the deceased are not disappearing. They must be influenced by the Phantasms¡¯ magics!

    ¡°Listen to me everyone! Destroy your dead friends¡¯ discarnate souls as quickly as possible. Otherwise, their discarnate souls will absorb the phantasm Qi in this region and turn into Specters!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the people who were standing beside their deceased friends started destroying their friends¡¯ discarnate souls, fighting off their grief.

    One gray, misty soul after another was rapidly bombarded and scattered before they could take advantage of the special environment and morph into Specters.

    After a major scuffle, the two men, who had their souls invaded by the Specter, finally held on to their souls and survived the attack, their faces ghastly.

    Even though the discarnate souls of the deceased members had been destroyed one after another, everyone¡¯s hearts grew increasingly heavy.

    Though protected by Qiu Liang¡¯s fiery ring, they had already lost many people, and they hadn¡¯t even marched through the valley yet.

    ording to Cao Qiushui, this valley was only a defensive mechanism. The Phantasm relic was located in theke behind it.

    Now, they truly felt the dreadfulness of the Phantasms.

 Chapter 416: The Might of Thunder!

    With grim expressions, the explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles marched on cautiously, as if they were walking on thin ice.

    The strange environment, therge pack of Specters, and the Phantasms that lurked in the dark and unleashed screeches made the explorers grow increasingly vignt.

    With an expressionless face, Nie Tian marched on beside Dong Li.

    Dong Li had learned from her previous lesson. Every once in a while, she would stop to ask Nie Tian for his discoveries in a low voice.

    Nie Tian, who didn¡¯t discover any more anomalies, shook his head to let her know that everything looked good.

    Only after seeing Nie Tian shake his head would Dong Li put her mind at ease and start marching again.

    Meanwhile, she noticed that Qin Yan and Qian Xin would turn to nce at them from time to time.

    Therefore, she was increasingly careful when shemunicated with Nie Tian, fearing that Qian Xin and the others would question her intentions, and thus jeopardize the unity of the whole team.

    Qiu Liang from the Pill Pavilion Sect seemed to possess a substantial amount of ze Pills. Marching at the forefront, he continued to cast them, forming new zing rings.

    The Specters floating about in the phantasm Qi were by nature afraid of mes, and thus didn¡¯t dare to charge into the zing defense.

    After marching for a few more minutes...

    The cold bodies of three dead Spirit God Sect Qi warriors entered the teams¡¯ sight. Each of them had blooding out of their bulging eyes.

    They seemed to have died from the same cause as the corpses they had discovered before.

    Cao Qiushui let out a sigh and said, ¡°It seems that people from the Spirit God Sect have found this ce after all. Apparently, it was the Specter activities in the area that exposed this Phantasm relic. I just hope that the truly powerful experts from the Spirit God Sect haven¡¯t received word ande over to this ce.¡±

    Dong Mingxuan looked off into the depths of the valley, saying, ¡°You¡¯re right, it might be more troublesome if theye. Their incantations have profound connections to the Phantasms¡¯ incantations. For thousands of years, they have never given up exploring Phantasm relics.

    ¡°They¡¯ve hoped that they could solve more profound mysteries and gain more knowledge from relics the Phantasms left behind.

    ¡°If the Spirit God Sect is aware that another Phantasm relic has been discovered in the Realm of Dark Underworld, they probably would have turned out in full force to unveil the secrets within it.

    ¡°That would be terrible news for us.¡±

    The crowd whispered to each other as they marched by the dead Spirit God Sect Qi warriors and deeper into the valley.

    The further in they went, the more floating Specters they could see.

    Not only that, but the sizes of the Specters becamerger, and their faces became clearer.

    Apparently, the Specters in the depths of the valley weren¡¯t just the discarnate souls of human Qi warriors, but some of them were clearly the discarnate souls of spirit beasts.

    That meant that humans weren¡¯t the only ones that had been killed and made into Specters, but powerful, local spirit beasts too.

    ROOOOAR!

    All of a sudden, a gray Specter wreathed in rich, cyan phantasm Qi flew out of the depths of the valley.

    It seemed to be the discarnate soul of a formidable spirit beast. It had a set of huge, bat-like wings, and with a cyan face and sharp fans, its face was clear and recognizable. Dong Mingxuan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A Demonface Blood Bat!¡±

    Demonface Blood Bats were a kind of spirit beast that could only be found in the Realm of Dark Underworld. As fifth grade spirit beasts, their strength equaled that of Worldly realm experts.

    It was said that Demonface Blood Bats were one of the oldest species in the Realm of Dark Underworld. Supposedly, they even had been closely rted to the Phantasms when they had dominated this realm.

    Back then, the Phantasms had the custom of breeding Demonface Blood Bats and using them as mounts.

    Even though this Demonface Blood Bat that had appeared out of nowhere was also a Specter, it seemed to emanate a peculiar aura of flesh and blood.

    WHOOSH!

    In the blink of an eye, the Demonface Blood Bat broke through Qiu Liang¡¯s fiery circle.

    Screeching, it flew past Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts, who were each able to inflict serious damage on it, and swooped toward the location where the Gu n members were gathered, as if it possessed intelligence.

    An extremely brutal and bloodthirsty expression appeared on its sinister, fanged face.

    Standing behind Gu Haofeng, a middle Greater Heaven stage Gu n member brandished the golden sword in his hand to form a dazzling, golden light screen, hoping to stop it.

    However, the Demonface Blood Bat didn¡¯t show the slightest fear, and burst through the golden light screenpletely unscathed.

    PHOOH! PHOOH!

    The Demonface Blood Bat, which should have been in an intangible form, ripped the man¡¯s throat out with its sharp ws.

    While reminding his subordinates to be careful at the top of his lungs, Gu Haofeng took out a cyan thunderball and used it to bombard the Demonface Blood Bat.

    BOOOOOM!

    Upon exploding, the thunderball gave rise to great amounts of lightning, as well as loud rolls of thunder.

    sted by the mighty thunderball, the gray Demonface Blood Bat, which used to be a fifth grade spirit beast, scattered and disappeared, leaving cyan fumes lingering in the air.

    ¡°Thunder power is indeed very effective on Specters!¡±

    With a coldugh, Gu Haofeng lifted his sword wreathed in lightning and sparks with one hand and took out another thunderball with the other.

    He jumped to his subordinate¡¯s side, who had died at the Demonface Blood Bat¡¯s ws, and then smashed the man¡¯s head in with his sword.

    As his sword crushed his subordinate¡¯s skull, Nie Tian saw a wisp of cyan smoke dissipate like a candle that had gone out.

    Before the man¡¯s discarnate soul could absorb the phantasm Qi and morph into a Specter, Gu Haofeng destroyed it and eliminated that possibility.

    He took a deep breath and said to his other subordinates with a grim expression, ¡°These are perilous times. From now on, no matter who among us dies, you shouldn¡¯t be held back by your emotions. You should destroy their souls as soon as they die, so that they don¡¯te back as Specters and attack you!¡±

    With pale faces, his subordinates nodded at him gently.

    They were well-aware that their young lord was known as a merciless person. Therefore, none of them expected him to be held back by his lord-servant rtionship with them when a critical time came.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Gu Han, the Worldly realm expert from the Gu n, said with a nod, as if he approved of Gu Haofeng¡¯s statement very much.

    Dong Mingxuan also turned around and addressed the other Dong n members, ¡°Gu Hanfeng is right. The Specters we¡¯ll encounter from here forward will be inrger numbers and more powerful. None of you should be soft-hearted on this matter! Once yourpanion is dead, he or she will no longer be yourpanion, but rather something that will be a Specter! You must never show mercy when you deal with them, and you must kill them at the first possible moment!¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± Dong Li said in a low voice.

    ¡°Be careful, Qiu Liang,¡± Shen Zhong reminded. ¡°Specters more powerful than that Demonface Blood Bat might be waiting ahead of us. Such powerful Specters will have no problem breaking through your zing rings.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Qiu Liang also realized that, due to his arrogance, he hadn¡¯t taken the initiative to attack the Demonface Blood Bat with his fiery rings. Because of that, it had burst through his defenses effortlessly and killed one of Gu Haofeng¡¯s subordinates with a single strike.

    After the team resumed their march, many more powerful Specters popped up just as Shen Zhong had predicted.

    Some of them had transformed from high grade spirit beasts, while others had transformed from powerful human Qi warriors. The more powerful they had been when they were alive, the more powerful they would be after they had been turned into Specters.

    As more and more Specters swarmed out from the depths of the valley, Qiu Liang found it increasingly difficult to handle their attacks.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before many powerful Specters burst through Qiu Liang¡¯s fiery defense and charged into the crowd of explorers.

    Every junior, including Nie Tian, became those Specters¡¯ targets. Without any hesitation, he summoned his me power to form a zing shield around him. Then, he formed beams of mes with the me Spirit Incantation and used them to bash the iing Specters.

    Thanks to Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts, the powerful Specters were wiped out soon after they burst through Qiu Liang¡¯s defense.

    Gu Haofeng¡¯s performance in battle turned out to be the most eye-catching among the juniors.

    The lightning-wreathed sword in his hand and his thunderballs seemed to be the bane of the Specters.

    Even though his cultivation base wasn¡¯t very outstanding, by relying on his lightning and thunder incantations, the destructive damage he dealt to the Specters matched even that of the Worldly realm experts.

    Surrounded by slithering cyan lightning, he stepped forward, holding his sword and with a arrogant expression on his face.

    No matter how fierce the Specters were, they would naturally cower when facing him.

    As the team continued to march forward, Gu Haofeng gradually moved to the forefront with Dong Mingxuan, Shen Zhong, and the other Worldly realm experts.

    Under his protection, none of his subordinates were threatened by any Specters.

    Meanwhile, the Worldly realm experts seemed to trust him. Not only did they not get angry seeing him stepping to the forefront, but they even praised him for shouldering their pressure voluntarily.

    Gradually, Gu Haofeng¡¯s thunderballs yed an increasingly significant role in killing Specters.

    Later, Qiu Liang even intentionally gave Gu Haofeng chances to kill more Specters, knowing he was able to handle them.

    Since thunder and lightning were the Specters¡¯ worst natural enemies, by relying on his substantial amount of thunderballs, Gu Haofeng soon became the most prominent junior in the mountain valley.

    Gu Haofeng enjoyed the feeling very much. Heughed broadly as he cleared a safe path that was filled with lightning and rolling thunder for the whole team using his sword and thunderballs.

 Chapter 417: No Turning Back

    Dong Li curled her lips and said disdainfully, ¡°Look at that arrogant shmuck.

    ¡°He just happened to have practiced the type of incantations that turned out to be the most effective on Specters. What else does he have? Considering his cultivation base and strength, if he were facing opponents who weren¡¯t so afraid of thunder or lightning, he would have suffered a great loss already.¡±

    Expressionless, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word.

    However, it seemed that Dong Li didn¡¯t really care what Nie Tian¡¯s take on this matter was, and thus she continued to mutter to herself, ¡°This guy¡¯s probably going to get thergest share of the loot after our exploration is over. Every time we went on exploration trips together before, we divided the loot ording to everyone¡¯s contribution, instead of evenly.

    ¡°The person who made the most contributions would get to choose first when the time came to split up the loot.

    ¡°Now, since this guy has killed so many Specters by relying on his thunder incantations and thunderballs, he¡¯s already way ahead of us, contribution-wise. If there are no mishaps, he¡¯ll get the most valuables after we finish exploring the Phantasm relic.¡±

    With these words, Dong Li grew angry again. She shot a dirty look at Nie Tian before saying, ¡°If I had known that what you said was really going to happen, I would have warned everyone, and it would have been considered a major contribution on my part. By the time the exploration trip was over, the seniors would probably have kept that meritorious service in mind, and given me arger share of the loot. This is all because you didn¡¯t make yourself clear!¡±

    Nie Tian rolled his eyes at her and said coldly, ¡°You¡¯re crazy!¡±

    ¡°You!!!¡± ring at him, Dong Li was just about tosh out when she realized that Qin Yan was looking at them. She hastily held her tongue and said with a low voice, ¡°Wu Tian! You¡¯d better behave yourself from now on. If you perform well enough and win me extra loot, I¡¯ll make sure you get your share after this whole is finished!¡±

    ¡°Sure...¡± Nie Tian sounded rather indifferent.

    Dong Li¡¯s slender eyebrows furrowed slightly.

    Seeing that her attempt to provoke Nie Tian had failed, she felt increasingly angry. However, she couldn¡¯t think of a better method.

    Han Mu was right about her and Dong Baijie; the two of them would only attach importance to those who could beat them or make them suffer losses.

    Back in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian had destroyed her operation in the forest, which she had spent a long time nning. When she had called upon numerous other Hunter organizations to capture him together, she had failed again.

    Even not long ago, she had been very confident that she would easily overtake Nie Tian with her ck phoenix¡¯s fully-developed strength, yet she had once again failed.

    After being repeatedly bested by Nie Tian, she had actually grown somewhat respectful towards him.

    She had a feeling that Nie Tian would be able to help her gain a sizable fortune during this exploration trip. It was this indescribable feeling that had driven her to scheme and coerce Nie Tian into joining the exploration team.

    However, she was fully aware that, even if Nie Tian refused to contribute, she wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to him, since her instincts told her that Dong Baijie had secretly met with him.

    She suspected that her older brother had said something to Nie Tian. Therefore, it probably wouldn¡¯t work if she threatened him with the safety of his family and friends from the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    Nie Tian had killed arge number of Dark Moon Qi warriors and Hunters in the Realm of Split Void, and looted quite a fortune from them.

    Meanwhile, since the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations seemed to attach great importance to Nie Tian, and his current cultivation base wasn¡¯t very profound, he didn¡¯t seem to worry about needing spiritual materials.

    Not being able to lure him in with spiritual materials, she could only try something else.

    After a brief pondering, she suddenly pursed her lips into a smile, and stepped closer to Nie Tian. Her ttering eyes narrowed as she said to him with an extremely gentle and low voice, ¡°That girl Pei Qiqi has always been cold like a rock to you. Don¡¯t you find her boring? If you help me with everything within your power, I¡¯ll let you get intimate with me when this trip ends. How¡¯s that?¡±

    Shock spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face as he turned to look her in the eyes.

    Not wearing a mask, Dong Li, who was smiling broadly, looked as beautiful as a blossoming flower. Adding in her inviting stance, she looked like every man¡¯s dream.

    If he didn¡¯t know how cunning and vicious she was, he might actually have been aroused.

    However, as Nie Tian looked at her smiling face now, he saw a deadly scorpion. While raising his guard, he stepped backwards to put some distance between them and said, ¡°As far as I know, all those who have attempted to get intimate with you are all piles of dried bones now. I still want to hold onto my life for a little longer, so thank you for the invitation, but I¡¯ll pass.¡±

    Dong Li burst into a ming rage. ¡°Unappreciative asshole!¡±

    Her n to seduce Nie Tian hadn¡¯t worked. However, her actions had caught Gu Haofeng¡¯s attention, who was marching at the front.

    Seeing her talk to Nie Tian so flirtatiously, he instantly grew furious. With a violent swing of his hand, he cast out a number of thunderballs, bombarding the Specters hovering in front of him, leaving nothing but cyan fumes and miserable screams in the air.

    Thanks to his effort, the remaining Specters that had been blocking the long mountain valley finally scattered.

    Gu Haofeng was the first to pass through the valley, and stood in an open area. Upon getting a glimpse of the vast terrain before his eyes, he gasped and eximed, ¡°My god!¡±

    Upon hearing his exmation, the Worldly realm experts also rushed out of the valley.

    Dong Li also sensed the anomaly. She stopped bickering with Nie Tian and also ran out of the valley.

    Nie Tian went after her.

    There was ake not far from where they were standing, which was wreathed in misty, cyan phantasm Qi.

    Thousands of Specters were hovering within the phantasm Qi, which was far denser than the phantasm Qi in the valley. Meanwhile, the sounds of battle kept echoing out from the areas around theke, whererge numbers of huge, oddly-shaped rocks could be seen.

    It seemed that other Qi warriors had beaten them to this ce. However, since the huge rocks blocked their sight, they couldn¡¯t see what they were fighting.

    Numerous human corpses were scattered around theke shore, each of which had bulging eyes and blooding out of their eyes. Apparently, they had died from having their souls taken away.

    Arge number of Specters were screeching as they hovered in the rich phantasm Qi over theke, which hurt Nie Tian¡¯s eardrums and shook his soul.

    A few vague figures could be seen among the Specters, as if they were controlling them.

    From the look of it, those vague figures were the so-called Phantasms. They blended in with the Specters around them. They would appear every once in a while, though they couldn¡¯t be located most of the time.

    Staring at the bizarre scene above theke, Cao Qiushui muttered, bbergasted, ¡°W-what happened here?¡±

    The Phantasm relic is in the depths of thatke. But now that so many Specters and Phantasms are hovering above theke, what should we do?¡±

    BOOM!

    At that moment, a loud sound rang out from the mountain valley behind them.

    Nie Tian jerked his head back to see what was happening.

    He saw that a wall of faint, cyan light had suddenly appeared at the mouth of the valley, cutting them off from the path they had taken to get here.

    Three of Dong Li¡¯s subordinates hadn¡¯te out of the valley when the wall of cyan light appeared, and thus they were separated from the group.

    With Gu Haofeng and the Worldly realm experts out of the valley, the Specters regrouped and madly attacked the people who were now trapped in the valley.

    Surrounded by numerous Specters, one trapped Qi warrior after another went down.

    By the time Dong Mingxuan, Shen Zhong, and the others realized what was going on and rushed back to their rescue, they found that they couldn¡¯t go through the wall of cyan light.

    Gu Haofeng bombarded the ward repeatedly with his thunderballs, yet the cyan ward didn¡¯t change a bit.

    Then, they watched their friends from the Realm of a Hundred Battles be swamped by arge number of Specters, while there was nothing they could do.

    With ghastly faces, everyone wracked their minds for a way to save theirpanions.

    However, even Shen Zhong and Dong Mingxuan couldn¡¯t break the strange ward, which was apparently created by the powerful Phantasms after exhausting all of their power.

    It wasn¡¯t long before everyone stopped making attempts one after another.

    The reason was that all those who hadn¡¯t passed through the valley in time were killed by the Specters.

    Cao Qiushui¡¯s face turned pale as he watched discarnate souls rising from the cold corpses of the Cao n members, who used to be his friends, absorbing phantasm Qi, and transforming into Specters. ¡°There¡¯s no going back now...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart also grew iparably heavy.

 Chapter 418: Relic at the Lake Bottom

    Up to this point, one third of the explorers from the five major forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles had died.

    The crowd of survivors fell silent as they gazed at the wall of cyan light and the Specters beyond it that used to be theirpanions.

    They realized that returning through the valley was no longer an option.

    They could only choke back their grief and turn around. Instead of dwelling on what was happening behind them, they needed to focus on the problems that awaited them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go find out who¡¯s fighting over there!¡± With these words, Shen Zhong took the initiative to dash off towards the area where the sounds of fighting wereing from.

    Seeing Shen Zhong leave, the others sped off after him, as if they were afraid that more mishaps would happen if they stayed.

    Having escaped a cmity, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare tog behind. Therefore, he rapidly caught up with Dong Mingxuan, who was alongside Dong Li.

    Feeling the uncanniness of this ce, he believed that the safest way out was to stay with the Worldly realm experts.

    Before long, the team came to the area filled with huge rocks, where battles were taking ce.

    Being the first ones to arrive, Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts stood behind a huge rock, where they observed the fierce battle between two groups of human Qi warriors with grim expressions on their faces.

    Dong Li approached her martial uncle Dong Mingxuan and asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± Confusion filled her face as her gaze swept across the battlefield.

    Nie Tian also seemed rather confused, not having a clue about what was going on.

    From the way they were dressed, it seemed that those engaged in battle belonged to different Qi warrior sects.

    They could tell that some of them were from the me God Sect, and some others were from the Spirit God Sect. The rest were most likely from other smaller, local sects in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    What confused Nie Tian was that the total of several dozen Qi warriors from different sects were currently engaged in indiscriminate battles with one another.

    None of them seemed to have clear or fixed targets.

    Some Qi warriors from the same sect were even madly attacking each other, seemingly lost in their killing instinct.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, and discovered that, for every single one of them, their pupils, which should have been pitch-ck, were glittering with a mysterious, cyan light .

    Their expressions had also grown twisted. Even though they had the appearances of humans, they seemed to have already lost their intelligence. Their bloodthirsty nature was all they had left now.

    The look in their eyes seemed no different from the look in the Specters¡¯ eyes.

    Scattered in the vicinity were a number of dead Qi warriors, all of which were riddled with holes and had obviously died miserable deaths.

    CRUNCH!

    A powerful expert from the me God Sect severed a Spirit God Sect Qi warrior¡¯s head with a sharp de.

    In the next moment, a wisp of misty, gray soul rose from the freshly-killed Spirit God Sect Qi warrior¡¯s head. As it did, it absorbed the pure and rich phantasm Qi in the air, rapidly transforming.

    Before itpletely turned into a Specter, however, the discarnate soul seemed to be channeled by some mysterious power, and flew towards the area above theke, where it joined countless other Specters.

    Phantasm Qi rose continuously from the rippling, cyanke water and converged in midair above theke, where countless densely-packed, gray, misty Specters squirmed about and let out ear-piercing, scalp-numbing screeches.

    ¡°These people have been influenced by some sort of evil spell. They¡¯re obsessed with killing, but they can¡¯t distinguish between enemies and friends.¡± Shen Zhong felt a sense of coldness as he looked at the vague figures that were hiding among the numerous Specters above theke. ¡°I suppose those Phantasms are behind all this.¡±

    The moment Shen Zhong said those words, a sharp screech, which seemed to carry a bewitching psychic power, rang out from within the crowd of Specters above theke.

    All of a sudden, the Qi warriors who were entangled with each other in fierce battles turned around and focused on the same target.

    Dong Mingxuan¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°They¡¯reing at us!!

    ¡°Those Qi warriors have already lost their senses. The only thing left in them now is their killing nature. They have been bewitched by the Phantasms, and they¡¯re no longer the men they were. So don¡¯t relent everyone! Leave none standing!¡±

    The explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles might have been somewhat hesitant when they had faced Specters transformed from their friends.

    However, they wouldn¡¯t let themselves be held back by their sympathy for the lost Qi warriors from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Upon hearing Dong Mingxuan¡¯s order, every survivor from the Realm of a Hundred Battles charged into the battlefield without the slightest hesitation, as if they were soldiers who had heard a bugle call.

    Stripped of their senses, many lost Qi warriors no longer had the ability to cast exquisite incantations or stimte the profound spell formations within their spiritual tools.

    Most of them were at the Heaven and Greater Heaven stage; none had entered the Worldly realm.

    With that sort of strength, even if they hadn¡¯t lost their senses, they wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance fighting the explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, who had a few Worldly realm experts on their team, much less now.

    Under the leadership of Dong Mingxuan, Shen Zhong, and the other Worldly realm experts, Nie Tian fought side by side with Dong Li, cutting the possessed ones down with his me Star.

    Cao Qiushui from the Cao n was the only one who didn¡¯t join the battle.

    Protected by a number of powerful Cao n members, he gazed into theke, standing on theke shore.

    Entranced, he slowly bent down to examine the unfathomable, cyanke water. Then, through theke water, he vaguely saw the relic, which should have been at the bottom of theke, gradually rising to the surface.

    Cao Qiushui¡¯s expression grew grim.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time he had been here.

    He had visited thiske five years ago. With the help of a special spiritual tool, he had sunk to the depths of thiske.

    Even though theke didn¡¯t seem very wide, it had turned out to be extremely deep.

    Therefore, even with the help of that special spiritual tool, he had failed to reach the bottom of theke.

    As a result, he had returned empty-handed and in low spirits.

    Several months ago, relying on a broken map he had obtained by ident, he had found thiske for the second time.

    It was said on the map that mysteries were buried at the bottom of thiske.

    Therefore, he had once again dived into the depths of theke with the help of his spiritual tool.

    However, he had only sunk a hundred meters into theke when he had caught sight of the floating relic.

    It seemed that he had only been able to discover the relic because it had quietly ascended from the bottom of theke.

    Today was the third time he had been to thiske.

    This time, he only stood by thekeside. He didn¡¯t even need to jump into theke to be able to see the vague shape of the relic in theke.

    He instantly came to the conclusion that the relic had been slowly floating towards the surface the whole time.

    Hence, it hadn¡¯t been his resourcefulness that had allowed him to discover it, but rather the relic¡¯s voluntary movement.

    However, everything around thiske had looked normal several months ago.

    There hadn¡¯t been any Specters as he passed through the mountain valley, and there hadn¡¯t been any phantasm Qi above theke.

    It seemed that something had happened recently, and triggered these changes.

    Two weeks ago, he had seen a faint amount of phantasm Qi and a few Specters appear above theke. He had sensed that something was wrong, so he had evacuated at the first possible moment, and gone back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles to put together a exploration team.

    However, back then, there were far fewer Specters over theke, and no Specters in the mountain valley.

    Only two weeks had passed, and now the relic had ascended significantly; the area above theke was covered with floating Specters, and even the mountain valley was packed with them.

    What shocked him the most was that Phantasms had now appeared over theke after having disappeared for thousands of years.

    <i>¡°What in the world is in that Phantasm relic? Can it be the reason why those Phantasms have traveled across the starry river to this ce in meteors?¡±</i> The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. <i>¡°The Phantasms must be fully aware that the Domain of the Falling Stars is now dominated by humans, but why would they stille? Are they here to take whatever is in that relic?¡±</i>

 Chapter 419: Testing

    The explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles didn¡¯t have much difficulty killing the local Qi warriors from the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Even Nie Tian was able to cut down a few lost members of the me God Sect with his me Star.

    However, many of them failed to destroy their enemies¡¯ discarnate souls immediately after killing them, with the Worldly realm experts and Gu Haofeng being the exceptions.

    Once they failed to do so, the discarnate souls would rapidly fly out of the heads of the deceased and join the sea of Specters above theke.

    The odd thing was that both the Specters above theke and the Phantasms hidden behind them turned a blind eye to the fact that they were killing the possessed local Qi warriors.

    Not a single Specter or Phantasm rushed over to attack or stop them.

    The massacre ended in fifteen minutes.

    Each and every possessed Qi warrior from the Realm of Dark Underworld was killed, most of whose discarnate souls escaped and joined the army of Specters.

    Not the slightest joy could be seen on Dong Mingxuan¡¯s face as he looked down at the scattered corpses. Instead, he said, ¡°I have a feeling that those Phantasms are using us to kill those local people for them.¡±

    ¡°I have the same feeling,¡± Shen Zhong said with a low voice.

    ¡°Something is different. The Phantasm relic in theke is slowly floating closer to the surface of theke. I didn¡¯t find it like this.¡± Cao Qiushui no longer dared to hold any information back. He went on and exined his findings and the changes that had taken ce during the past few months in detail.

    Qin Yan was taken aback. ¡°What?! You mean that you came here five years ago, but didn¡¯t discover anything in theke. All these changes have taken ce over the past few months? And you were only able to discover the relic because it started to slowly float up from the bottom of theke?¡±

    Cao Qiushui nodded and answered with a bitter smile, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    OWWW!

    At that moment, spirit beast roars suddenly echoed out from a dense forest on the other side of theke.

    Startled, everyone subconsciously gazed off in the direction of the sources of the sound. However, due to the exceedingly long distance, most of them failed to see anything.

    Only Dong Mingxuan, Shen Zhong, and the other Worldly realm experts seemed to have discovered what was happening after unleashing their soul power.

    On the other side of theke, arge number of spirit beasts were madly attacking one another. Eyes narrowed, Shen Zhong said with a grim expression on his face, ¡°It seems that spirit beasts can also be influenced by the Phantasms¡¯ secret spells. Many spirit beasts are fighting one another to the death on that side of theke. The discarnate souls of the dead spirit beasts are also flying out and joining the army of hovering Specters above theke.¡±

    With powerful experts like Shen Zhong there, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel the need to unleash his seven Heaven Eyes.

    From his description, Nie Tian learned of what was happening on the other side of theke: numerous spirit beasts were killing each other, giving birth to many more Specters.

    A streak of lightning suddenly shed across his mind.

    ¡°The Phantasms are doing this intentionally. They must somehow need arge number of Specters!¡± Nie Tian gave voice to his spections.

    Almost at the same time, Dong Li, who was standing right next to him, eximed, ¡°The Phantasms must be trying to build up an army of Specters!¡±

    Qin Yan also seemed toe to a sudden enlightenment as she blurted in a loud voice, ¡°Perhaps it was the Phantasms¡¯ intention for the Qi warriors from the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the other sects to discover this ce! I even suspect that it¡¯s the Phantasms that have secretly manipted and guided those spirit beasts to this ce!¡±

    Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Qin Yan spoke almost simultaneously.

    However, since both Dong Li¡¯s and Qin Yan¡¯s voices were higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, Nie Tian¡¯s voice was practically drowned in theirs.

    Dong Mingxuan, Shen Zhong, and the other Worldly realm experts seemed to have long since thought of this possibility, but they didn¡¯t simply feed it to the juniors. Rather, they seemed to be waiting for these youngsters to figure it out on their own.

    After hearing Dong Li and Qin Yan¡¯s spections, they all shot approving gazes at the two of them, nodding gently.

    A faint smile appeared on Dong Mingxuan¡¯s face. ¡°Good. It seems that you two have located the problem.¡±

    Since Nie Tian had practically whispered his spection into Dong Li¡¯s ear, his voice was easily drowned by Dong Li¡¯s loud exmation.

    Although nearly everyone missed his voice, Dong Mingxuan and Shen Zhong¡¯s somewhat surprised gazes briefly stopped on his face as they openly praised Dong Li and Qin Yan.

    Nie Tian immediately realized that they had both heard his voice, indistinguishable as it was.

    However, although the two of them knew that aside from Dong Li and Qin Yan, Nie Tian had also seen the anomaly, they didn¡¯t say anything.

    Perhaps Dong Li and Qin Yan were more important in their eyes.

    ¡°Anything else?¡± Dong Mingxuan asked.

    At that moment, Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, and Cao Qiushui also realized that their seniors were intentionally testing them.

    These seasoned cultivators, whose cultivation bases and experience were both much more profound than the juniors¡¯, had known the answers all along, but they wanted the juniors to gain experience and grow from this exploration trip as much as possible.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, and Cao Qiushui pondered the matter in silence.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect opened his mouth first. ¡°The local Qi warriors we just killed were all at the Heaven or Greater Heaven stage. Not a single one of them had entered the Worldly realm. ording to Dong Li and Qin Yan¡¯s judgment, the Phantasms are intentionally attracting people and spirit beasts to create more Specters.

    ¡°However, they also need to control the risks involved in such an undertaking. Since not a single Worldly realm expert has been lured to this ce, it must mean that they think Worldly realm experts will pose a threat to them.¡±

    Shen Zhong nodded vigorously and said, ¡°Well done. The way I see it, the few Phantasms that are hiding among those Specters possess fifth grade bloodline power, which means their strength is roughly equal to ours. Our appearance is just as troublesome for them as their appearance is for us.¡±

    Even though they had been slightly rattled at first, the moment they had arrived in this ce, Shen Zhong and the other experts with profound cultivation bases had examined the situation with their soul power.

    The reason they were able to remainposed was that they had learned that the Phantasms they could detect weren¡¯t as formidable as they had imagined. They had a fair chance at defeating them.

    The tip of Gu Haofeng¡¯s eyebrow rose as he suddenly said, ¡°Well, all the local Qi warriors and spirit beasts seemed to have lost their minds after entering this area, and started killing each other. Why aren¡¯t we affected by whatever caused them to lose their minds?¡±

    This was also what Nie Tian felt puzzled about.

    Therefore, he also turned to look at Shen Zhong and Dong Mingxuan with a baffled expression on his face, hoping the two of them would exin it to them.

    Dong Mingxuan smiled bitterly. ¡°We can¡¯t see through that one either. It can either be because it takes time for the Phantasms¡¯ spells to work, or because they haven¡¯t cast their spells on you yet.¡±

    With a deep frown, Shen Zhong suddenly turned to Dong Mingxuan and Zhou Ruyun, who was from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and said, ¡°The Phantasms must be after something, gathering so many Specters. From the look of it, we can¡¯t possibly count on our juniors to kill those Phantasms with fifth grade bloodline power.¡±

    The powerful Worldly realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles nodded together.

    ¡°Gu Haofeng!¡± Shen Zhong called out with a serious face. ¡°How many thunderballs do you have left?¡±

    ¡°About two hundred,¡± Gu Haofeng answered without any hesitation.

    Shen Zhong nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve shouldered quite some weight for us during this trip. In a moment, the few of us will charge into the army of Specters and try to kill those Phantasms. I want you to kill as many Specters as you can with your thunderballs. Try your best to clear a path for us.¡±

    ¡°Happy to oblige!¡± Gu Haofeng said excitedly.

    At that moment, Dong Mingxuan added, ¡°If you can do that, that will be a first-ss merit on your part!¡±

    Upon hearing those words, Gu Haofeng and every other member of the Gu n seemed greatly spirited, their eyes lighting up.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started!¡± With that, Shen Zhong stamped the ground with great force. In the next moment, a terrifying gravitational field was born around him.

    A veryrge, dark-yellow greatsword appeared in his hand.

    Holding that sword, Shen Zhong leapt into the air and shot directly towards the misty, cyan phantasm Qi above theke.

    Dong Mingxuan, Qiu Liang, Zhou Ruyun, and Gu Han left right after him. They summoned their spiritual tools one after another and sped off like bolts of lightning.

    The five of them were all at the Worldly realm. Normally speaking, they shouldn¡¯t be able to soar through the sky.

    However, as they arrived above theke, they were able to float in the air before the army of Specters.

    A strange buoyancy seemed to exist above theke. It was due to that mysterious buoyancy that the Phantasm relic had been slowly rising from the bottom of theke. Seeing that the juniors were all bbergasted by the spectacr scene, Cao Qiushui exined, ¡°As profound as our seniors¡¯ cultivation bases are, they haven¡¯t entered the Profound realm, so they shouldn¡¯t have been able to fly through the sky.

    ¡°But they must have sensed the strange buoyancy above theke, and known that it would allow them to float in the air. That¡¯s why they dared to charge into that area.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is...¡± Dong Li said in a soft voice.

 Chapter 420: Perilous Situation

    Only after hearing Cao Qiushui¡¯s exnation did a enlightened expression appear on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He was also shocked upon seeing the five Worldly realm experts charging right into the army of Specters in midair above theke.

    If weren¡¯t for Cao Qiushui¡¯s exnation, he would have thought that Dong Mingxuan and the others had suddenly entered the Profound realm.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Countless Specters let out sharp screeches as they pounced at the five Worldly realm experts, giving rise to loud whistling sounds.

    The Phantasms¡¯ vague shapes shed about every now and then within the sea of Specters. Although Nie Tian couldn¡¯t get a clear view of them, they seemed to have joined the battle as well.

    ¡°Gu Haofeng! Kill these Specters with your thunderballs!¡± Shen Zhong¡¯s voice echoed out from within the army of Specters.

    The might of the gravitational field around him boomed. Even though the whistling Specters were in an intangible form, they still seemed to be affected by the gravitational field, and fell into theke one after another.

    As arge number of Specters fell from midair, one of the Phantasms finally showed itself.

    Wreathed by rich, cyan phantasm Qi, the Phantasm was dressed in a dark-cyan robe, which was covered in numerous detailed, mysterious patterns.

    It was a male with a handsome appearance and long, straight hair. He had eyes that looked like a pair of green jades, which were so deep that they seemed to hide countless secrets, like the unfathomableke underneath him.

    At this moment, a cold, gruesome smile could be seen at the corner of his mouth. There seemed to be a prismatic crystal in between his eyebrows, which looked very much like a third eye.

    He could have wreathed himself in the rich phantasm Qi, yet he intentionally scattered the phantasm Qi veiling his face.

    After a softugh, he said to Shen Zhong in perfect humannguage, ¡°Worldly realm human Qi warrior. You seem to be stronger than the two humans I encountered in the Realm of Split Void who had the same cultivation bases as yours. Supposedly, Worldly realm humans are equally as strong as those of us with fifth grade bloodline power. I hope you can live up to that promise.¡±

    With these words, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly shone with a bright, cyan light.

    It was as if that crystal had be a third eye that snapped open at that moment.

    As it did, Shen Zhong¡¯s expression flickered. He let out a muffled groan, as if he had taken a heavy blow to the chest.

    In the meantime, very strong soul fluctuations were born in midair above theke, and the rich phantasm Qi grew increasingly torrential.

    Upon hearing the Phantasm¡¯s words, a shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body, and he immediately confirmed his spection. ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±

    It was none other than the first Phantasm that had descended upon the Realm of Split Void in a meteor!

    Back in the Realm of Split Void, since he had been surrounded by rich phantasm Qi, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been able to see his face at all. He had only been able to see him as a vague shape and hear his voice.

    Now, facing Shen Zhong, he finally emerged from his army of Specters and unveiled his face.

    Upon seeing the Phantasm¡¯s face, Dong Li immediately turned to ask Nie Tian in a low voice, ¡°Is that the Phantasm you saw in the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    The Phantasm said himself that Shen Zhong was stronger than the two Worldly realm Qi warriors he had encountered in the Realm of Split Void.

    Therefore, his identity went without saying.

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the first Phantasm that appeared in the Realm of Split Void.¡± Then, Nie Tian lowered his voice and added, ¡°Two Worldly realm experts from the Wild Fire and Li Langfeng teamed up on him, yet they didn¡¯t seem to be able to defeat it.¡±

    Dong Li snorted disdainfully, saying, ¡°Those from the Wild Fire are undoubtedly no match for Senior Shen. As for that Li Langfeng, as powerful as he was, he had just entered the Worldly realm back then. This Phantasm possesses fifth grade bloodline power. ording to the ancient records I¡¯ve seen, his strength should be at the same level as a Worldly realm human expert. He¡¯s not that formidable. I believe that Senior Shen will be able to handle him.¡±

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right,¡± Nie Tian said.

    At that moment, hearing Shen Zhong¡¯s explosive shout, Gu Haofeng cast out dozens of thunderballs towards the army of Specters above theke.

    However, each and every thunderball exploded soon after leaving Gu Haofeng¡¯s hand. None of them made it to the area above theke.

    In midair, the explosions gave rise to a sea of shing lightning and rolling thunder, causing Heaven and Earth to shake violently.

    Unfortunately, the raging lightning and thunder were still a significant distance from the Specters swarming above theke.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?" Dong Mingxuan called out, surrounded by numerous Specters.

    The others also shot their gazes towards Gu Haofeng.

    Gu Haofeng¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°My attack is being influenced by some kind of outside force.¡±

    As soon as he infused his thunderballs with wisps of his psychic awareness and cast them into the air, he felt that the psychic connection between him and his thunderballs was instantly severed.

    As that happened, his thunderballs escaped his control and exploded prematurely.

    With a stern expression on her face, Qin Yan hastily reminded Gu Haofeng, ¡°The Phantasms are one of the few outsider species that are extremely skilled at using psychic and soul magics. Let¡¯s get closer to theke. All eyes on him, everyone. We need to protect him!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± The crowd of juniors realized that this was a critical moment. Even though some of them weren¡¯t fond of Gu Haofeng, they knew that his thunderballs were the Specters¡¯ worst enemy, and that they had to make sure that his thunderballs hit where the Specters were most densely packed. Only in this way would they be able to clear a path for the Worldly realm experts and let them focus on the Phantasms.

    The crowd of juniors, including Nie Tian, formed a circle around Gu Haofeng and prepared for engagement.

    ¡°Haofeng!¡± Cao Qiushui called out. ¡°The number of the thunderballs you have is limited. Don¡¯t cast too many out in one attempt. Take your time with them! Next time, you can try with one thunderball, and see if you can hit those Specters with it!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Gu Haofeng nodded as he shot another thunderball towards the swarming Specters above theke.

    This time, he was obviously more cautious than before. He infused the thunderball with both his spiritual power and psychic power.

    The thunderball sailed through the air like a bolt of lightning.

    However, a mishap urred again.

    The moment his thunderball flew above theke, Gu Haofeng lost connection with the wisp of psychic awareness he had vested the thunderball.

    BOOOOOM!

    The thunderball exploded prematurely again, giving rise to sputtering lightning and rolling thunder.

    Not only that, but an ice-cold aura traced back to his soul like a de made from ice.

    With a muffled groan, Gu Haofeng dropped to the ground. Face ghastly, he said, ¡°The Phantasms¡¯ soul power reigns over the area above theke! My thunderballs can¡¯t pass through the field of the Phantasms¡¯ soul power and fly to the center of theke where the Specters are gathered.¡±

    Upon hearing those words, everyone felt a sense of urgency as they wracked their heads for methods to cope with it.

    With a calm expression, Nie Tian gazed off at the swarm of Specters gathered in midair at the center of theke, as well as the Worldly realm experts who were currently engaged in fierce battles with the Phantasms.

    Even though he didn¡¯t unleash his Heaven Eyes, he was able to tell that there were a total of four Phantasms in the swarm of Specters.

    Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and Zhou Ruyun, who were all at the middle Worldly realm, were dealing with one Phantasm each.

    Considering Qiu Liang from the Pill Pavilion Sect and Gu Han from the Gu n were at the early Worldly realm, the two of them were barely able to handle one Phantasm together.

    The four Phantasms all possessed fifth grade bloodline power. The one Shen Zhong was fighting was the only one who had showed his face; the other three were all hiding behind dense, cyan phantasm Qi, their faces indistinguishable.

    However, Nie Tian could vaguely see that the other three also had a prismatic crystal that looked like a third eye between their eyebrows.

    The four Phantasms seemed to be handling the five Worldly realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles with ease.

    Part of the reason was that the four Phantasms were able tomand their army of Specters to attack the five Worldly realm experts whenever they wanted.

    Not only were the Specters hovering above theke in great numbers, but some of them were also very powerful. Even Qiu Liang, who was a master of fire incantations, couldn¡¯t kill them quickly enough with his ze Pills.

    The army of Specters was gradually weighing the Worldly realm experts down.

    Meanwhile, the Phantasms didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry to make moves at all. Their n seemed to be to wait for the Specters to wear the human experts out and then kill them with one critical strike when they were at their weakest.

    The crowd of youngsters watched the Specters, Phantasms, and their seniors fight in midair above theke.

    Even though Dong Li and the other Greater Heaven stage young leaders knew that the buoyancy over theke would allow them to float in the air, none of them had the ability to arrive at the central area above theke with a single leap.

 Chapter 421: Wu Tian?

    Seeing that rich phantasm Qi covered the surface of the cyanke, the juniors didn¡¯t have the audacity to enter theke water, fearing that something might happen to them if they did.

    Therefore, even though they were burning with anxiety, they didn¡¯t know how to help their seniors, who were fighting in midair above theke.

    As they attempted to cast their spiritual tools into the area above theke, they would be affected by the same soul power field that Gu Haofeng had.

    Their spiritual tools that glittered with multi-colored light would sway soon after shooting into the air, and the juniors would have to retract them, their faces turning pale with fright.

    Translucent and sparkling beads of sweat could be seen on Qin Yan¡¯s forehead as she said, ¡°Those Specters are weighing our seniors down.¡±

    Her soul had also been invaded by a frosty aura when she had attempted to help Zhou Ruyun with her spiritual tool moments ago. Afterwards, she had been forced to retract her spiritual tool in a muddle.

    She seemed to have sensed the unfavorable situation. ¡°We can¡¯t simply stand here and do nothing. Gu Haofeng¡¯s thunderballs can deal massive damage to the Specters. As long as we can get his thunderballs to where the Specters are the most densely packed, we¡¯ll be able to greatly relieve our seniors¡¯ pressure. It¡¯s just that...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot!¡± Dong Li blurted.

    With these words, intense, dark spiritual power suddenly exploded from within her, who had been pondering silently this whole time.

    In the next moment, a dark beast spirit flew out from the top of her head and rapidly morphed into the ck phoenix in midair behind her.

    She reached out with one hand and demanded, ¡°Give me the thunderballs!¡±

    The enormous, ck phoenix fluttered its wide wings as if it was ready to take off, giving Dong Li, who was standing in front of it, a dangerous yet gorgeous look.

    Looking at her, Gu Haofeng was bewildered for a moment, but he quickly snapped out of his daze, hastily stuffed some thunderballs into a leather pouch, and handed it to her. ¡°Umm.. be careful. The area above theke is covered in some sort of mysterious soul power. Even though you can sail through the air temporarily with the help of your ck phoenix, you have to be extra careful!¡± He sounded very sincere.

    ¡°I will!¡± Growing impatient, Dong Li grabbed the leather pouch with a swift move beforemunicating with the ck phoenix.

    The spirit-form ck phoenix spread its long, feathered, ck wings.

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes glittered with a devilish light as she summoned her dark spiritual power and opened her own arms.

    A mysterious connection seemed to suddenly be established between her body and the ck phoenix¡¯s, vesting her with the short-term ability to soar through the sky even though she was only at the early Greater Heaven stage.

    With a vigorous flutter of its wings, the ck phoenix seemed to bring Dong Li into the air. The scene was stunning when her curvaceous body was put together with the beautiful ck phoenix. It was as if the two of them were dancing in midair, perfectly synchronized.

    Bedazzled expressions appeared on the faces of Gu Haofeng and many other young male Qi warriors as they watched her from thekeside.

    Soon, Dong Li and her ck phoenix flew to the center of theke.

    ¡°Be careful, Miss!¡± Han Mu reminded her in a loud voice from thekeside, fearing that she would be attacked by the bizarre soul power.

    At that moment, the five Worldly realm human experts were engaged in fierce battles with the Phantasms and their army of Specters, so they could no longer spare their attention to keep a close watch on what was happening in the vicinity.

    Therefore, Nie Tian formed and unleashed his seven Heaven Eyes.

    The moment they appeared, Nie Tian¡¯s perception multiplied.

    With their help, he was able to detect even the slightest changes in the vicinity, including energy flows and odd auras in the air.

    He immediately noticed that strange soul power fluctuations had appeared in midair the moment Dong Li flew to the center of theke.

    They were the same soul power fluctuations that had caused Gu Haofeng¡¯s thunderballs to explode before reaching the swarming Specters, and that had stopped the other juniors¡¯ spiritual tools from flying to the center of theke.

    To his surprise, the strange soul power fluctuations didn¡¯te from the four Phantasms, but rather from the cyanke underneath!

    With one of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian conducted a more thorough scan and discovered that the soul power fluctuations were actuallying from under theke¡¯s surface.

    <i>¡°The Phantasm relic!¡± </i>A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he figured out the truth.

    It was neither the Phantasms nor theke water that were causing the anomaly. Instead, it was the relic that had been slowly floating up from the bottom of theke.

    As soon as the soul power fluctuations appeared, a mysterious soul power field once again appeared, enveloping a half-sphere area over theke.

    Shen Zhong and the other Worldly realm experts, whose psychic power had transcended into soul power, didn¡¯t seem to be affected by the soul power field at all.

    However, Dong Li, who had just flown to the center of theke with the help of her ck phoenix, shuddered violently.

    A frosty soul power fluctuation ran straight into her soul without encountering any obstacles.

    Since she hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm, the defenses she had formed around her soul were only made of psychic power. Facing the more advanced soul power, she was instantly bewildered.

    Endless illusions appeared in her mind, making her feel as if she were surrounded by mountains of corpses and engulfed by seas of blood. She could almost taste the blood in her mouth.

    ¡°Kill them! Kill them all!¡± An uncontroble thirst for blood was suddenly born in her mind. Her originally clear eyes suddenly turned red, as if they had been painted with blood.

    The ck phoenix let out sharp screams as it hastily flew back towards thekeside with her.

    However, at that moment, Dong Li seemed to be bewitched by the endless illusions in her head. Some sort of change seemed to be taking ce in her mind.

    WHOOSH!

    The ck phoenix flew down from the sky andnded right next to Han Mu.

    Blood-colored and cyan light could be seen in the depths of Dong Li¡¯s pupils as she stood still on the ground. Intense killing intent seemed to be rapidly brewing in her heart, and soon she would need a vent.

    Cao Qiushui¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°S-she seems to be in the same state as the local Qi warriors who had lost their senses!¡±

    Subconsciously, he took a step backwards and readied his spiritual tool towards Dong Li.

    Upon hearing those words, everyone¡¯s expressions flickered as they saw what had gone wrong with her.

    At that moment, Dong Li was indeed in a very simr state as the local Qi warriors they had killed not long ago.

    Those people hadn¡¯t even been able to recognize their own friends and family after being influenced by what seemed to be the Phantasms¡¯ evil spell. The only thing in their minds had been killing everyone in sight.

    ¡°I¡¯ll strike down whoever dares to make a move against our Miss!¡± Expression flickering, Han Mu hastily gathered the other Dong n members to form a circle around Dong Li.

    His gaze switched back and forth between Cao Qiushui and the others, enmity filling his eyes.

    Cao Qiushui and Qian Xin fell silent as they stepped backwards, putting a significant distance between them and Dong Li.

    With a concerned and agonized expression, Gu Haofeng called out repeatedly, ¡°Dong Li! Wake up, Dong Li!...¡±

    Mixed expressions shed across Qin Yan¡¯s face, as if she were wrestling with dilemmas.

    After a moment of pondering, she eventually stepped backward and said, looking in Han Mu¡¯s eyes, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Dong Li has been influenced by the Phantasms¡¯ magic. She might lose her senses shortly. If you¡¯re bent on protecting her, then... you should. Be careful though. I¡¯m afraid that she¡¯ll soon start attacking you and your men.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, many Dong n members seemed to be suddenly enlightened.

    One after another, their eyes started to flicker. On the one hand, they didn¡¯t want to abandon Dong Li; on the other, they were afraid that Dong Li would make them her first targets of attack after she turned.

    Having fully refined her ck phoenix beast spirit, Dong Li¡¯s battle prowess was very terrifying. If she really lost her senses and started attacking them, they wouldn¡¯t know if they would be able to survive.

    Han Mu was the only one who stood loyally by her side, calling her name repeatedly, hoping that would wake her. At that moment, the ck phoenix that had taken her back also returned to her.

    Momentster, dark spiritual power started to thrum within Dong Li¡¯s body, as if she were struggling to contend against the magic that was trying to seize her mind.

    Sometimes, Dong Li¡¯s eyes would shine with strong killing intent, her gorgeous face filled with a thirst for blood.

    At other times, she would hold her head in agony and cry out like a trapped beast, as if she were doing her utmost to break free from something.

    ¡°Nie... Wu Tian! Do something!!¡± Eyes wide, Han Mu stared at Nie Tian like a man at death¡¯s door turning to any doctor he could find. (See note 1)

    By now, he and Nie Tian were the only ones still by her side.

    Even the other Dong n members had stepped back uneasily to keep at least a ten meter distance from her.

    Desperate, Han Mu ced all of his hopes in Nie Tian, hoping that he would be able to help Dong Li pull through.

    ¡°Wu Tian?!¡± Shock filled Qian Xin and Cao Qiushui¡¯s faces, as they didn¡¯t understand why Han Mu would plead to a Heaven stage person at such a critical moment.

    ¡°What can he do to help?!¡± Gu Haofeng called out angrily.

    Note:

    1. ²¡¼±ÂÒÍ¶Ò½ (b¨¬ng j¨ª lu¨¤n t¨®u y¨© ) is the idiom the author has used here. It¡¯s verymonly-used in everyday life. Meaning: (lit.) to turn to any doctor one can find when critically ill; (fig.) to try anyone or anything in a crisis.

 Chapter 422: Mountains of Corpses and Seas of Blood

    A handful of loyal members of the Gu n held Gu Haofeng back from getting close to Dong Li with full force.

    Having spent quite some energy attacking Specters and having suffered a blow to his soul, his strength had taken a significant dip. Even though he roared angrily, he failed to struggle free from his subordinates.

    ¡°Wu Tian...¡±

    Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce was the only one who knew Nie Tian¡¯s actual identity other than Han Mu and the unconscious Dong Li.

    Upon hearing Han Mu¡¯s emotional plea, the tips of her eyebrows rose as she called out to Nie Tian, ¡°If it¡¯s possible, please try to help Li.¡±

    At that moment, hearing her saying those words to Nie Tian with a pleading tone, all the others were shocked into a daze.

    They didn¡¯t understand why Qin Yan and Han Mu would beg for Nie Tian¡¯s help.

    No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t picture Nie Tian, who possessed the lowest cultivation base and had kept a low profile so far, to be the one who would be able to save Dong Li at this critical moment.

    However, it was none other than this young man who said, after hearing Han Mu and Qin Yan¡¯s pleas, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try, but I can¡¯t guarantee that it¡¯ll work.¡±

    Han Mu¡¯s eyes instantly lit up.

    Anticipation appeared in Qin Yan¡¯s eyes as well.

    The others, however, seemed rather confused as they looked nkly at the three of them.

    Under everyone¡¯s gazes, Nie Tian reached out with one hand and pointed one finger in between her eyebrows. As he did, his seven Heaven Eyes that he had deployed in the vicinity rapidly flew back to him and followed that finger of his into Dong Li¡¯s soul.

    A strong shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    This being the first time his Heaven Eyes had ever entered another person¡¯s soul, he was bbergasted by the scene in Dong Li¡¯s soul.

    At this moment, Dong Li¡¯s soul sea looked like a misty sea of blood, in the middle of which were mountains of corpses that were unleashing endless negative auras.

    It was said that only by entering the Worldly realm would Qi warriors be able to transform their psychic power into soul power and form their truesouls.

    Entering the Worldly realm marked the transcendence of psychic power and the formation of truesouls.

    However, since Dong Li was still at the Greater Heaven stage, her psychic power hadn¡¯t transcended and she hadn¡¯t formed her truesoul.

    Hence, all of her memories, psychic power, and personal experiences were still in the form of a vague soul shadow that roamed within her soul sea.

    At that moment, her soul shadow was surrounded by the mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

    Her ck phoenix was flying above her soul sea, letting out soundless cries, as if it were attempting to get Dong Li¡¯s soul shadow out of there.

    However, the mountains of corpses and seas of blood seemed to be creeping in odd ways, formingyers of illusions that served as multiple hemispherical shields over Dong Li¡¯s soul sea, stopping the ck phoenix from getting close.

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes entered Dong Li¡¯s soul, they seemed to transform into seven fragmentary stars, and started shining over Dong Li¡¯s soul sea.

    He was perfectly aware that they were not the actual fragmentary stars in his soul, and that the soul power within them was also very limited.

    However, it seemed as if the moment they appeared over Dong Li¡¯s soul sea, they seemed to infuse Dong Li¡¯s soul with a breath of fresh air!

    As the Heaven Eyes floated closer to the mountains of corpses and seas of blood under Nie Tian¡¯smand, endless bloody images and negative emotions swarmed in and started corroding them.

    At that moment, the seven fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul instantly started to emanate dazzling starlight.

    Iparably pure soul power started flowing madly from Nie Tian¡¯s soul into Dong Li¡¯s soul.

    Due to the transmission of soul power, the seven fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul gradually shrunk in size.

    Meanwhile, the seven Heaven Eyes in Dong Li¡¯s soul started shining with increasingly brilliant starlight.

    Starlight poured down on Dong Li¡¯s soul sea, like fierce sunlight shining on ice and snow.

    Bathed in the starlight from the seven Heaven Eyes, the creeping mountains of corpses and seas of blood rapidly vaporized and disappeared.

    Upon seeing the divine scene, the ck phoenix warbled cheerfully and excitedly.

    As the corpses and blood gradually melted away, Dong Li¡¯s muffled soul shadow gradually recovered the ability to move.

    WHOOSH!

    Dong Li¡¯s soul shadow broke free from its restraints and rose up to reunite with the ck phoenix.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes were still emanating bright starlight that seemed to be able to purge every bit of filth in this world. It wasn¡¯t long before the mountains of corpses and seas of blood vanishedpletely, along with all the illusions, leaving nothing but wisps of cyan smoke.

    No one on the outside knew what was happening in Dong Li¡¯s soul. They stared nkly at Nie Tian and Dong Li, not understanding why he would point a finger in between Dong Li¡¯s eyebrows.

    However, to their surprise, they soon noticed that the blood-colored and cyan light that had shed across Dong Li¡¯s pupils every now and then gradually disappeared.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li, who had seemed to be rather edgy and on the verge of losing her senses, slowly calmed down and closed her wide eyes.

    Momentster, wisps of cyan smoke slowly flew out of the corners of Dong Li¡¯s closed eyes and dissipated into heaven and earth.

    As soon as the mountains of corpses and seas of blood vanished, Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes returned to the seven fragmentary stars in his soul upon receiving his soul intent, along with the remaining soul power within them.

    The fragmentary stars that had shrunk noticeably expanded again, though they weren¡¯t asrge as they had been before.

    Letting out a long breath, Nie Tian withdrew his hand, stepped to the side, and sat down. Only after a brief moment of recuperation did he turn to the bewildered Han Mu and say, ¡°She should be fine now.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Han Mu was so bbergasted that he even forgot to give a response.

    When Dong Li had returned in a unconscious state, he had turned to Nie Tian, who was the closest to him, without much thought.

    He actually hadn¡¯t had high hopes that Dong Li could be saved, and he hadn¡¯t had faith that Nie Tian would be able to reverse the changes taking ce inside Dong Li.

    However, as he looked at Dong Li now, the spiritual power fluctuations on her seemed normal, and he could no longer feel any threat from her.

    All the signs indicated that the Dong Li he knew had been saved.

    While he wandered in his thoughts, Dong Li¡¯s voice suddenly rang out, ¡°I¡¯m okay now.¡±

    Her eyes slowly opened.

    After opening her eyes, she looked at no one but Nie Tian, who was sitting quietly beside her, with an extremelyplicated expression on her face. Her mind seemed to drift away.

    ¡°Li!? A-are you alright?¡± Qin Yan probed.

    Dong Li withdrew her gaze from Nie Tian¡¯s face, shook her head, and said, ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Qin Yan asked.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Dong Li suddenly burst into a ming rage as she turned to re at Qian Xin and Cao Qiushui, asking, ¡°You wanted to kill me just now, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Qian Xin and Cao Qiushui looked deeply embarrassed, not daring to say a word.

    Dong Li turned to stare at the other Dong n members. ¡°And you! You bore the same thought, right?¡±

    In fear and trepidation, the Dong n members knelt and looked down at the ground, not daring to meet her eyes. ¡°How do we dare, Miss!?¡±

    ¡°We were just afraid that you might... But we would never dare to make any move against you!¡±

    ¡°Please forgive us, Miss!¡±

    With a cold expression on her face, she stared down at them. However, she suddenly felt exhausted, so with a wave of her hand, she said, ¡°...Forget it... but I won¡¯t give you another chance.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Miss! You¡¯re so magnanimous!¡± They eximed simultaneously.

    With a cold snort, Dong Li¡¯s expression grew less intense as she said to Han Mu, who was standing beside her, ¡°After this exploration trip is over, everyone in your n will be wee to move into the Dong n.¡±

    ¡°I can never thank you enough, Miss!¡± Overjoyed, Han Mu dropped his knees on the ground and kowtowed to Dong Li. ¡°But Miss, I¡¯m not the one who saved you.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡± As she spoke, her gazended on Nie Tian.

 Chapter 423: A Cluster of Memories

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s seven Heaven Eyes had entered her soul, she had recognized that it was him.

    Back then, she had been confined by the mountains of corpses and seas of blood created by the Phantasms¡¯ magics. Trapped in endless illusions, she had been at the most desperate moment of her life.

    Even her ck phoenix had failed to burst through the barriers of illusions and rescue her soul shadow after she called upon it.

    Drowned by surging waves of negative emotions, she had felt bleak and terrified.

    She had thought that her soul shadow was going to be gnawed away. She would have be a bloodthirsty, empty shell like the local Qi warriors, and eventually be another Specter added to the army of Specters over theke.

    As a matter of fact, there had been nothing she could do to turn the situation around.

    asionally, she had gathered all of her psychic power to restore a moment of rity to her mind. However, what she had seen was Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, and the others pointing their swords at her.

    The way they had looked at her was as if they had been looking at a Specter, which had made her deeply disheartened.

    Even though her subordinates had gathered around her, every one of them, except Han Mu, had guarded themselves against her, as if they had been facing a formidable foe.

    Upon seeing such a scene, every bit of courage she had left to fight the evil in her mind had been extinguished.

    Just as she had been on the verge of giving up, seven spots of bright starlight had suddenly appeared over her soul sea.

    They had carried Nie Tian¡¯s soul aura, and their divine light instantly lit up her cold, fearful soul.

    Nie Tian¡¯s appearance had given her hope again. She had braced herself and gone all-out to fight the mountains of corpses and seas of blood that had been eating her sanity away.

    Eventually, the seven bright spots had shone with a dazzling light that could purge every bit of filth in this world, and eliminated everyst bit of the illusions that had been afflicting her.

    She had been saved.

    Therefore, she knew better than anyone what Nie Tian had done for her, and her feelings about it were the most heartfelt.

    As she looked at Nie Tian after recovering a clear mind, her state of mind was different from before.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe that this guy is the one who pulled me out and saved me from the Phantasms¡¯ magics when I had lost all hope...¡± </i>Dong Li thought to herself with an iparablyplicated expression on her face, as if she had forgotten the situation they were in.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, was still sitting with his eyes closed. Since he had consumed arge amount of soul power, he was focused on recuperating, and ignored her gaze.

    Seeing that Dong Li had recovered a sound mind, Cao Qiushui and Qian Xin smiled wordlessly, looking rather shamefaced.

    Meanwhile, their gazes followed Dong Li¡¯s to Nie Tian as they discussed among themselves.

    ¡°It¡¯s simply unbelievable that this man somehow brought Dong Li back from the verge of losing her senses. He¡¯s only at the Heaven stage. What in the world made him capable of doing that?¡±

    ¡°Why did Han Mu and Qin Yan turn to him instead of anyone else at that critical moment?¡±

    ¡°Who is he exactly?¡±

    Deeply amazed, Cao Qiushui and Qian Xin also wracked their minds for answers.

    Gu Haofeng finally struggled free from his subordinates. He scooted over to her and said, ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    At that moment, Qin Yan also walked to her side. ¡°Li,¡± she said, ¡°I hope you won¡¯t hate us. No one knew what you would do once you lost your senses. It¡¯s great that you¡¯re okay now. I think it¡¯s better that you let bygones be bygones. We still need to work together to figure out a way to turn the situation around.¡±

    Considering that she had also pleaded for Nie Tian to help her, Dong Li nodded at her with a fairly pleasant expression on her face and said, ¡°It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t expect they would do this... But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m fine. I know what¡¯s at stake here.¡±

    With a sigh, Qin Yan looked off at the battles taking ce above theke and said to Dong Li, ¡°I knew you would be able to make quick adjustments. Their situation is getting more and more unfavorable. Those four Phantasms are wearing our seniors down with their army of Specters, and the four of them haven¡¯t gone all-out yet.

    ¡°Uncle Dong must have noticed when you fell unconscious and were carried back by your ck phoenix, yet he didn¡¯t rush back here at the first possible moment, which means he is most likely trapped and can¡¯t free his hands to help you.

    ¡°If this goes on, they¡¯ll soon run out of spiritual power dealing with the Specters, and the Phantasms will be able to kill them without breaking a sweat.

    ¡°Not only that, but they¡¯re Worldly realm experts. Once they die, and their discarnate souls transform into Specters, then...¡±

    Qin Yan didn¡¯t dare to finish.

    However, upon hearing the consequences she had depicted for them, everyone started to grow terrified and panicked.

    Their expressions became increasingly anxious as they looked off into the distance, where their seniors were currently deeply besieged by Specters, as if they were afraid that they would be killed by those Phantasms, transform into Specters, and turn on them in the next moment.

    At that very moment, Nie Tian suddenly felt that the second fragmentary star mark on his chest had be scalding hot.

    Since he hadn¡¯t refined the second fragmentary star mark, it hadn¡¯t merged with his flesh and blood. Instead, it was like a tattoo branded on his chest.

    Something within it seemed to have been triggered when Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes had flown into Dong Li¡¯s soul and purged the mountains of corpses and seas of blood with glorious starlight.

    Sensing the anomaly, Nie Tian sent a mixture of his psychic power and soul power from the fragmentary stars into that mark.

    As soon as it entered, a cluster of memories that looked like a small ball of light merged with it.

    A profound description regarding the Phantasms, which seemed to be relevant to what they were facing, was instantly imprinted in his soul and became a part of his own memory.

    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

    As time passed, a part of the Phantasm relic finally rose above theke¡¯s surface.

    Even so, it still looked like an iceberg that had just unveiled its tip.

    With a single nce at it, Nie Tian matched this so-called Phantasm relic with the secret regarding the Phantasms he had just acquired.

    ¡°This is...!¡± A shudder ran through his body.

    The Phantasm relic that had risen above theke¡¯s surface was a hundred-meter long, pyramid-shaped object. It seemed to be forged out of pure cyan iron that glittered with an ice-cold, metallic luster.

    Numerousrge cyan needles stuck out of its surface, their tips facing every direction.

    Each and every needle was engraved with detailed and beautiful patterns, their sharp tips shining with cold light.

    The rising Phantasm relic at the center of theke also caught Dong Li and the others¡¯ attention. They all eximed in surprise, and hastily turned to Cao Qiushui.

    Cao Qiushui¡¯s expression looked grim as he said, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the Phantasm relic I discovered!¡±

    ¡°An ancient starship!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he turned to Dong Li and Qin Yan beside him and said, ¡°That¡¯s one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships! A Spirit Pearl is needed to start it. In order for their Spirit Pearl to work, arge amount of Specters are needed.

    ¡°The reason why those Phantasms have intentionally attracted so many local Qi warriors and spirit beasts to this ce is that they need the Specters that they transform into after their deaths.

    ¡°Only when their Spirit Pearl has absorbed enough Specters will they be able to start that ancient starship, steer it out of the Realm of Dark Underworld, and embark upon a journey across the starry river.¡±

    As soon as he matched his newly-acquired knowledge regarding the Phantasms with the ¡°Phantasm relic¡± before him, Nie Tian realized what was happening.

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s exnation as to what that magnificent object really was, both Dong Li and Qin Yan¡¯s faces turned pale with fright. ¡°One of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships?!¡±

    This so-called ancient starship was by nature a gigantic transportation vehicle that would allow its users to sail across the starry river.

    It was a brilliant creation that only the truly advanced and powerful beings with high intelligence and advanced technology would be able to create.

    The Phantasms were indeed one of the most powerful and advanced species in this vast starry river.

    Every ancient and powerful species would need this sort of advanced vehicle, which could carry numerous lives to any remote corner of the starry river and explore its profound mysteries.

    People said that it required an endless amount of resources to build this sort of starship.

    It was said that, thousands of years ago, powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hade from a remote location in the starry river on simr starships.

    However, even though there were countless Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, none of them possessed enough information and resources to build this kind of starship.

    Their explorations of the outside world were limited to the exploration of other domains through spatial rifts that asionally appeared in their realms, which was very passive and inefficient.

    However, this was their only option.

 Chapter 424: The Good Old Days

    Infinite danger lurked in the depths of the starry river.

    In order for a human Qi warrior to travel across the starry river rtively safely, one had to be at the Void domain at least.

    However, even Void domain human experts wouldn¡¯t be expected to survive long-term travel in the boundless starry river, and that was on the premise that they didn¡¯t run into any serious threats.

    Once they did, it would probably result in their imminent deaths.

    However, up to this day, there hadn¡¯t been a single person throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars who had stepped into the Void domain.

    The moment the Phantasm¡¯s ancient starship appeared and Nie Tian exined what it was to them, both Dong Li and Qin Yan felt not only very excited, but also insecure and uneasy.

    They both understood what the appearance of an ancient starship, which could allow its user to travel across the starry river, in this ce meant to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They didn¡¯t dare to imagine where this Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship would travel to.

    Would it travel to some remote domain and then ship an army of formidable Phantasms back to the Domain of the Falling Stars, thus dooming every man and woman here?

    ¡°A-are you sure that¡¯s one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships!?¡± Qin Yan¡¯s lips trembled as she spoke.

    Apparently, she was quite shaken by the ancient starship¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Nie Tian blurted.

    With a deep breath, Qin Yan turned to Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, and the others who weren¡¯t aware of the situation, and said, ¡°That is no Phantasm relic, but rather one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships! It¡¯s this ancient starship that has been gathering discarnate souls and Specters. After the Spirit Pearl in it absorbs enough of them, it will be able to restart this ancient starship!¡±

    After she exined Nie Tian¡¯s spections to everyone in a loud voice, everyone seemed deeply shaken. Some were thrilled, while others were fearful and anxious.

    ¡°What?! One of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships!?¡±

    ¡°Oh man...!¡±

    ¡°How is one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships here in the Domain of the Falling Stars!?¡±

    ¡°What the hell does this mean!?¡±

    ...

    Qian Xin¡¯s eyes grew wide and glittered with the light of greed as she said, ¡°If we can get this ancient starship back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles...¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Cao Qiushui and Gu Haofeng¡¯s eyes were also gradually filled with pure desire, and they couldn¡¯t seem to be able remove their gazes from the ancient starship anymore.

    Any Qi warrior sect or n in the Domain of the Falling Stars that could get this sort of ancient starship would instantly possess the ability to explore the starry river actively.

    Endless mysteries were hidden in the depths of the infinite starry river.

    What if they coulde to find essential materials for Qi warriors to build their inner domains and advance into the Void domain, or discover brand-new domains, or get in touch with other Qi warrior sects that were much older and more powerful...?

    With such thoughts on their minds, Cao Qiushui and the others felt an upsurge of emotion, as if they could see their own ns rising to prominence.

    ¡°What are you so thrilled about?!¡± Qin Yan couldn¡¯t help but dampen their enthusiasm. ¡°If we can¡¯t finish off those four Phantasms, whatever you¡¯re picturing in your heads will have no meaning! Once our seniors die, do you really think, with just the few of us, we¡¯ll be able to get that ancient starship back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles?

    ¡°Quit your daydreaming! Be realistic and think about how we can help our seniors! Otherwise, they¡¯ll soon be worn down by those Specters!¡±

    Upon hearing her words, the crowd of juniors instantly snapped back to reality.

    The enthused crowd quickly calmed down and stared silently at the area above the center of theke, wracking their minds for a solution.

    Gu Haofeng¡¯s attempt had turned out fruitless. Dong Li had almost been possessed by some magic in her attempt to fly to the center of theke. How on earth would they be able to get Gu Haofeng¡¯s thunderballs to where the Specters were the most densely packed and help relieve their seniors¡¯ burden?

    At that moment, Nie Tian, who had been recuperating in silence, sprang to his feet.

    His sudden action caught both Dong Li and Qin Yan¡¯s gazes.

    ¡°W-what are you doing?¡± Dong Li was surprised.

    ¡°Can you summon your ck phoenix again and take me to the center of theke?¡± Nie Tian asked with a serious expression on his face.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t answer him right away, but rather narrowed her eyes, as if she weremunicating with the beast spirit inside of her.

    A few secondster, she nodded and said, ¡°I suppose I can.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s try again,¡± Nie Tian proposed. ¡°Take me with you this time.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes grew even wider. ¡°But some strange power covers the area above theke. I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Nie Tian interrupted her. ¡°The soul power fluctuations areing from the ancient starship, not any of those Phantasms. I¡¯ll think of a way to neutralize the fluctuations. Don¡¯t you worry about that. You just need to focus on casting those thunderballs where the Specters are the most densely packed.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure that you¡¯ll be able to defend your soul against those strange fluctuations?¡± Dong Li asked, deeply concerned.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m one hundred percent sure, but I want to give it a shot. So... what do you say? Are you in or not?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Of course I am!¡± Dong Li said with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    Her conversation with Nie Tian attracted everyone¡¯s attention. Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, and the others all cast their gazes towards them.

    Qin Yan¡¯s eyes shone with the light of astonishment as she said, ¡°If you want to do this, you need to keep your guard up at all times!¡±

    Nie Tian turned to look at Gu Haofeng and said, ¡°Will you please give us your remaining thunderballs, Young Master Gu? Since nobody can think of a solution, let Dong Li and I try again. To be honest, I don¡¯t have full confidence that we¡¯ll be able to return safely. This will be the only chance we¡¯ve got. If our n works, we¡¯ll be able to deal great damage to the Specters. If it doesn¡¯t, we might have to wait for death.¡±

    ¡°Why should I trust you?¡± Gu Haofeng asked with an unpleasant expression.

    Dong Li shed into action and stopped before him. She reached out with one hand. ¡°Give them, Gu Haofeng! All of them!¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Gu Haofeng said, sulking.

    Almost everyone started urging Gu Haofeng to hand out his thunderballs.

    ¡°Give them to her!¡±

    ¡°Just give them to her, will you?¡±

    ¡°Grant her this one chance, Haofeng!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no time to hesitate!¡±

    Even though Gu Haofeng was very reluctant, since this was everyone¡¯s demand, he had no choice but to hand all of his remaining thunderballs to Dong Li. Then, he said to her in a low voice, ¡°Li, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to give them to you. I-I¡¯m worried about you. I don¡¯t trust that guy. I¡¯m afraid that...¡±

    ¡°Thank you for being so concerned for my well-being,¡± Dong Li said with a sarcastic tone. ¡°But what did you do to help me other than calling my name when I suffered from the Phantasms¡¯ soul magics? You say you don¡¯t trust that guy, but that guy helped mee out of that crisis alive. If I can¡¯t trust him, who else can I trust?¡±

    With these words, Dong Li ripped the leather pouch filled with thunderballs out of his hand and walked straight back towards Nie Tian, not sparing him another nce.

    After hearing Dong Li¡¯s hardhearted words, and watching her turn around and walk away determinedly, Gu Haofeng was both shamefaced and furious.

    Dong Li walked back to Nie Tian¡¯s side. With an unprecedentedly soft and natural tone, she said, ¡°I¡¯m ready to summon my ck phoenix. You can prepare yourself now.¡±

    An ufortable expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Okay.¡±

    He had never seen Dong Li so gentle before. He needed some time to get used to it.

    Even Dong Li seemed to be shocked by her own umonly gentle tone. Her cheeks reddened slightly. Looking somewhat embarrassed, she suddenly grew angry for no apparent reason. ¡°You behave yourself when we¡¯re in the air!¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned, not knowing what she meant.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Dong Li suddenly started to thrum with dark spiritual power.

    A wisp of a beast spirit once again flew out from the top of her head, rapidly morphing into a huge, ck phoenix.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Dong Li asked loudly.

    ¡°I am!¡± Nie Tian replied.

    In the next moment, Dong Li moved behind his back, where she extended her arms through the space under his arms and held him up.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the way Dong Li was going to take him into the air was just by embracing him from behind.

    In this intimate position, he couldn¡¯t help but recall the time when he had locked down this very beautiful woman in the dense forest and taken advantage of her.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed that Gu Haofeng, who was now standing directly in front of them, was glowering at him, as if his eyes were about to spit fire.

    Everyone else¡¯s expressions, including Cao Qiushui¡¯s, Qian Xin¡¯s, and those of their subordinates, also grew strange as they looked at the two of them in such a position.

    Meanwhile, Qin Yan let out a low chuckle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Dong Li¡¯s voice rang out from beside his left ear, and then she carried him slowly into the air.

    He looked down and noticed that the crowd of juniors was watching them fly further and further away.

    In the meantime, Dong Li¡¯s ample and soft chest was pressing against his back. A whiff of Dong Li¡¯s natural scent suddenly made his mind wander...

    ¡°If you dare to think about the time when we were in the dense forest, I¡¯ll drop you immediately!¡± With these words, the sounds of Dong Li gnashing her teeth came from behind him.

    He hastily cleared his throat and said, ¡°No, I¡¯m not!¡±

    Dong Li grew angry. ¡°Then why did you clear your throat before you spoke?! I knew you were thinking about it!¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    Since his position didn¡¯t allow him to turn his head, he couldn¡¯t see that, at this moment, Dong Li was unprecedentedly blushing with shyness.

    As much as she didn¡¯t want it to, their current position also jogged her memory about the things Nie Tian had done to her in the dense forest.

    That was the most embarrassing and humiliating moment of her life.

    Even now, the thought of it made her want to y this guy she was holding alive. However, she now had no choice but to take him into the air in such an intimate position under the gazes of so many of herpanions from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    She even didn¡¯t dare to look down and see the looks on Qin Yan, Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng, and Qian Xin¡¯s faces, and she didn¡¯t dare to imagine how they would regard her rtionship with Nie Tian.

 Chapter 425: It Worked!

    As the two of them approached the area above the center of theke, Nie Tian rapidly calmed himself and cast all irrelevant thoughts out of his mind.

    He once again formed and unleashed his seven Heaven Eyes. Like invisible clusters of light and energy, they hovered around him and Dong Li.

    He fixed his eyes on theke underneath, as well as the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship, as if he were waiting for soul power fluctuations to attack them.

    Dong Li also tensed up, and was no longer in the mood to bicker with him about their history. She moved her mouth closer to Nie Tian¡¯s ear and said, ¡°We¡¯re about to reach the center of theke.

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian responded in a low voice.

    On theke shore, everyone from the Realm of a Hundred Battles was looking up at the two of them, their eyes shining with the light of hope.

    They¡¯d all tried to send their spiritual tools to the central area above theke to kill Specters.

    However, each and every one of them had failed.

    They were well-aware that there was something abnormal about thiske. No matter whether it was spiritual tools or humans, as long as they got close enough to the central area, they would instantly suffer from overwhelming soul power attacks.

    Considering their current cultivation bases and strength, none of them would be able to contend against them.

    However, the fact that Nie Tian had sessfully brought Dong Li back from the verge of losing her senses and bing a Specter made them hold a smidgen of hope in their hearts.

    Even though they didn¡¯t know Nie Tian¡¯s true strength, this strange young man with the most unimpressive cultivation base among them had be their only hope.

    As they watched the ck phoenix bring Dong Li and Nie Tian closer and closer to the center of theke, they grew increasingly nervous.

    Three meters, two meters, one meter.

    WHOOSH!

    The ck phoenix suddenly elerated and charged into the central area.

    At that moment, the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles noticed from thekeside that ayer of cyan energy spread out like watery ripples and covered the part of the ancient starship that had risen above theke¡¯s surface.

    It was very simr to the cyan energy that had covered the smooth mountain walls upon a sharp screech as they had traveled through the valley.

    They immediately realized that Nie Tian¡¯s spection was correct. The strange soul power fluctuations hadn¡¯t been caused by the Phantasms, but rather that ancient starship.

    The moment the cyan metallic surface of the ancient starship was covered in cyan, rippling energy, strange soul power fluctuations, which Nie Tian was able to perceive clearly, enveloped the entireke.

    An ice-cold, evil soul influence rushed up into the air and swallowed Dong Li and Nie Tian like theke water that was being brought into the air by the ascension of the ancient starship.

    Submerged by the inexplicable evil soul influence, Dong Li¡¯s face turned pale as she couldn¡¯t help but recall the bloody scene that had taken ce within her soul not long ago.

    The mountains of corpses and seas of blood brought by the evil soul influence seemed to be on the verge of drowning her again, and she would have to relive the infinite horror and desperation.

    ¡°N-nie Tian...¡± Terrified, Dong Li called out Nie Tian¡¯s real name, as if only by doing this would she be able to relieve the intense fear she was experiencing.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t answer her call.

    Feeling insecure and uneasy, Dong Li tilted her head to look at him from behind.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    That was when she realized that odd sounds were being created around both Nie Tian and her.

    As she nced around, she discovered that starlight seemed to have suddenly filled the area around them, and started fighting the evil soul influence head-on, giving rise to odd sounds.

    Being so close to them, she finally noticed the seven clusters of energy that were hovering around them, unleashing starlight and protecting her and Nie Tian from the evil soul influence.

    Realizing what was happening, Dong Li calmed herself and, with a thought, instructed her ck phoenix to fly even faster.

    As her ck phoenix¡¯s sharp cry rang out in her mind, she could feel the distance between them and the center of theke rapidly shortening.

    She was aware that the ck phoenix possessed a limited intelligence.

    It was because of her previous failed attempt that the ck phoenix had been restraining itself and saving its energy before reaching the center of theke.

    It was worried that Nie Tian would fail to ward off the evil soul influence from the ancient starship and protect Dong Li. Therefore, it was ready to turn around and return to thekeside at any moment.

    Only when it realized that Dong Li was unharmed after they were over theke water did it put its heart at ease.

    Upon receiving Dong Li¡¯smand, it stopped reserving its strength and charged towards the center of theke, where countless Specters were gathered, at full speed.

    Being held by Dong Li from behind, faint sparks could be seen shining in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils.

    Meanwhile, the seven fragmentary stars in his soul were also shining with dazzling light, transferring pure soul power into the seven Heaven Eyes hovering around them.

    After receiving the supplement in soul power, the Heaven Eyes moved faster and faster in profound ways, forming a grand protective star formation around Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    A wave of evil soul influence rushed out from the ancient starship underneath them and mmed into the star formation, which was only visible to Qi warriors at the Worldly realm or higher.

    Qin Yan and the others who were standing bykeside could only see sparks sputtering off them and wisps of cyan smoke rising around them.

    Nie Tian unceasingly infused his Heaven Eyes with refined soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul to ward off the evil soul influence that carried endless negative emotions.

    As time passed, he gradually started to grimace, as it appeared that it was bing more and more strenuous.

    At that moment, another memory, which had previously been branded in the depths of his soul, began to grow clear.

    From it, he instantly realized which part of the ancient starship the raging soul power fluctuations wereing from: the Spirit Pearl!

    The Spirit Pearl could be considered the soul of the ancient starship, and one of the Phantasms¡¯ most fascinating inventions.

    Whether the ancient starship would be able to rise into the heavens and travel the depths of the boundless starry river depended on the number of Specters the Spirit Pearl could gather.

    Only when the Spirit Pearl had gathered enough Specters would it be able to restart this ancient starship.

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl must have gathered quite a number of Specters already, since the evil soul influence it sent out was actually the endless grudges and negative emotions from the numerous deceased it had absorbed.

    The Spirit Pearl was channeling the negative energy from the emotions the Specters had felt the moment they died, for example, fear, panic, desperation, insanity, killing intent and grudges. With these emotions, it formed a strong, evil soul influence and used it to poison the minds of the living.

    These attacking waves, filled with the endless negative energy of the Specters, could easily devour a normal person and make him or her lose control.

    Seeing that the seven fragmentary stars in his soul were bing smaller and smaller, Nie Tian sensed the crisis. Therefore, he shouted, ¡°Hurry, Dong Li! I won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer!¡±

    At that moment, with the ck phoenix¡¯s help, they were only about ten meters away from the swarming Specters. They could see them shing around at high speeds, attacking Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts.

    Dong Li finally found a good opportunity.

    She grabbed a handful of thunderballs from within the leather pouch and cast them towards a location where the Specters were the most densely packed.

    At that very moment, the Phantasm who had unveiled his face suddenly ended his battle against Shen Zhong and emerged from behind numerous Specters.

    Without sparing Dong Li a single nce, he fixed his eyes on Nie Tian, brutality and violence filling his cyan pupils. ¡°It¡¯s you!?¡±

    As soon as he left Shen Zhong, the burden on Shen Zhong¡¯s shoulders was instantly lifted. Thus, he jerked his head around to gaze at Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    ¡°It¡¯s Dong Li and that kid...¡± As Shen Zhong cast a secret spell, the gravitational field around him suddenly intensified, causing one Specter after another to fall from midair.

    ¡°Hurry!¡± Nie Qian urged Dong Li again in a loud voice.

    Without any hesitation, Dong Li grabbed another handful of thunderballs from within the leather pouch and cast them towards another area where many Specters were packed.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Mighty thunder and lightning power filled the air. This time, not a single thunderball exploded midway. Instead, each and every one of them found their enemies.

    Countless lightning bolts and endless rolls of thunder exploded in the heart of the swarm of Specters.

    It was a cmity for the Specters.

    As soon as the densely-packed Specters were touched by the sky-filling lightning, they were immediately reduced to wisps of cyan smoke, which rapidly scattered and vanished.

    With this single attack, Dong Li had wiped out hundreds of Specters.

    With a tremendous lift in her spirits, Dong Li fetched more thunderballs and cast them towards other areas whererge numbers of Specters were swarming.

    After obtaining a clear understanding of the situation, Shen Zhong called out loudly, ¡°We need to intensify our offense! Never let the Phantasms find an opportunity to attack Dong Li!¡±

    With these words, he charged directly towards the Phantasm with the unveiled face with a momentum as if he had no regard for his own life, hoping to stop him from interfering with Dong Li¡¯s operation.

    RUUUUMBLE! RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

    Thunderballs continued to explode amidst the Specters. Substantial amounts of Specters were annihted, leaving faint cyan smoke in the air.

    In the meantime, Shen Zhong and the other Worldly realm experts struck the four Phantasms with everything within their power. The battle between them grew increasingly heated and fierce.

    Whenever the Phantasms attempted to approach Dong Li and Nie Tian, they would always be intercepted by the human seniors in the most relentless ways.

    ¡°It worked!¡±

    ¡°Their n actually worked!¡±

    ¡°The Specters are dying by the hundreds!¡±

    Qin Yan and the others cheered by thekeside, as if they had won a war.

 Chapter 426: The Spirit Pearl

    BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

    The starship, the majority of which was still underwater, suddenly emerged from under theke¡¯s surfacepletely.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, it slowly rose up into the air.

    Meanwhile, a sphere glowing with cyan light suddenly shot out from among the numerous cyan, needle-like protrusions.

    As soon as it appeared, all the Specters that hadn¡¯t been extinguished by the thunderballs converged madly on it like moths to a me, as if they were irresistibly attracted to it.

    In a split second, all of the remaining Specters floating in midair disappeared into the cyan light ball.

    The Spirit Pearl!

    With a single nce at it, Nie Tian realized that it was none other than the core and soul of that ancient starship, and also the key to restarting it.

    The reason why the Spirit Pearl hadn¡¯t absorbed therge amount of Specters earlier was probably that it was waiting for them to build up.

    The discarnate spirits of Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts would be more helpful to the Spirit Pearl than all the other Spectersbined. Therefore, it seemed to be using those Specters to gain what was truly useful for it.

    However, as Nie Tian and Dong Li came along and bombarded the Specters with thunderballs, the army of spirit-form Specters suffered great losses.

    It was as if the Spirit Pearl knew that if it didn¡¯t absorb those Specters, it would end up losing more to the thunderballs.

    Therefore, it had no choice but to separate itself from the ancient starship and collect all the remaining Specters immediately.

    In a brief moment, the army of Specters floating in midair above the ancient starship vanishedpletely.

    Without the distraction of the numerous Specters, Shen Zhong and the other powerful experts were finally able to concentrate on dealing with their true opponents: the Phantasms.

    After losing the Specters which they had been using as shields and distractions, even though the Phantasms were still moving about in the rich phantasm Qi, their movements became traceable.

    ¡°Brother Dong, who in the world is that Wu Tian?¡± asked Shen Zhong.

    Relieved of a heavy burden, Shen Zhong continued to strengthen his gravitational field as he swung his greatsword and struck his Phantasm opponent with iparable force.

    As he brandished his giant sword, even the heavens seemed to sink. His grayish-yellow spiritual power seemed to suddenly morph into mountains that weighed down on everything around him.

    While handling his fierce attacks, the Phantasm constantly shot nces at Nie Tian, his bizarre, cyan pupils shining with a strange light, as if his mind was seized by something else, instead of focusing on his battle against Shen Zhong.

    Because of this, Shen Zhong could spare his attention to talk to Dong Mingxuan beside him and ask about Nie Tian.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± Dong Mingxuan found time to reply to him during his battle against another Phantasm. ¡°But that can wait. We need to finish this first. We can¡¯t allow these Phantasms to do whatever they want in the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right!¡± Shen Zhong replied.

    He no longer turned to look at Nie Tian and Dong Li, but rather focused all of his energy on his opponent.

    The other human experts also felt greatly relieved after the Specters were gone. Their tensed nerves were finally slightly soothed.

    Meanwhile, the disappearance of the army of Specters made Dong Li lose all her targets. Holding more thunderballs in her hand, she paused in midair.

    At this moment, even though every Worldly realm expert became less stressed thanks to the disappearance of the Specters, the pressure Nie Tian felt was multiplying by the second.

    The moment the Specters disappeared into the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian sensed that unprecedentedly strong soul power fluctuations had burst forth from within it, along with all kinds of negative emotions. Like endless waves, they repeatedly smashed into Nie Tian¡¯s defenses.

    He suddenly realized that, after absorbing such arge number of Specters, the Spirit Pearl was able to mobilize more power, thus magnifying its might severalfold.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The mysterious formation of Heaven Eyes around Nie Tian and Dong Li continued to take unceasing impacts from the evil soul influence.

    As sparks sputtered and cyan smoke rose from the spherical shield around them, the seven fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul grew smaller and smaller, like a candle flickering in the wind that could go out at any moment.

    Immediately afterwards, he realized that the power within those fragmentary stars was about to run out.

    ¡°Take me out of here!¡± He eximed.

    Upon hearing these words, Dong Li saw blood flowing out of his ears and became shocked.

    What she didn¡¯t know was that, at this moment, blood had also started slowly flowing out of his mouth, eyes, and nose.

    These were signs that his soul was on the verge of copsing after taking numerous heavy blows.

    For some reason, looking at Nie Tian is such a poor condition, Dong Li grew unprecedentedly panicked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± She screamed like a mad person.

    Her ck phoenix immediately understood what she was thinking. Fluttering its iparably wide wings, it took her and Nie Tian towards thekeside where Qin Yan and the others were gathered.

    ¡°Don¡¯t die... Don¡¯t you dare die! You¡¯ve got to hang on! Just hang on, you hear me?!¡±

    She shouted continuously in Nie Tian¡¯s ears, as if she had no choice but to encourage Nie Tian with this powerless method.

    She didn¡¯t know why she felt so much heartache and fear at this moment, but she knew that she was afraid of Nie Tian dying.

    She had thought that she truly detested Nie Tian, and that she would be d to see terrible things happen to him. She couldn¡¯t figure out why she was so worried about him now.

    However, confused as she was, she knew that the only thing her heart wanted at this moment was for Nie Tian to survive.

    Even if he had to die, she should be the one who killed him, not some Phantasm or anybody else.

    WHOOSH!

    While the two of them left the center of theke at a high speed, the Spirit Pearl that had been floating right above the ancient starship suddenly shot towards them, rapidly shortening the distance between them.

    It was as if only when the Spirit Pearl was close enough to them would it be able tounch its most mighty attacks.

    Sensing the approaching sphere of glowing, cyan light, Dong Li grew increasingly anxious. However, there wasn¡¯t anything she could do to stop it.

    Watching it gradually gaining on them, Dong Li cast a handful of thunderballs at it with great force, looking enraged.

    The thunderballs exploded one after another.

    However, the Spirit Pearl seemed to possess its own intelligence and spirit. It swiftly maneuvered about in the air and sessfully dodged the series of explosions. Afterwards, it continued to chase after her and Nie Tian with unrelenting effort.

    At the same time, a strong and strange attractive force was suddenly born within the Spirit Pearl.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous wandering Specters charged through the wall of cyan light and out of the mountain valley. On the other side of theke, the discarnate souls of dead spirit beasts also started flying toward the Spirit Pearl at full speed.

    In no more than a few seconds, all of the misty, gray Specters and discarnate souls of the spirit beasts merged into Spirit Pearl.

    As that happened, the cyan and profound light the Spirit Pearl emanated grew increasingly bright.

    In the meantime, more blood flowed out of Nie Tian¡¯s nose, eyes, and ears.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t need to be brilliant to see that as the Spirit Pearl absorbed every Specter it could find, the burden on Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other powerful experts was greatly relieved, yet all of their relieved pressure was now weighing on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s breaths gradually grew weak, and he seemed to start having difficulty keeping his eyes open, as if his eyelids were now as heavy as hundreds of thousands of kilos.

    Soon, he couldn¡¯t help but open and close his eyes repeatedly. Watching the approaching Spirit Pearl, he relied on hisst remaining consciousness to brokenly say to Dong Li, ¡°Take... Take me away from this ce, as far away as possible. Hurry...¡±

    He knew that Qin Yan and the others wouldn¡¯t be able to help him.

    He also knew that, no matter whether or not he would eventually be able to fight off the Spirit Pearl, he shouldn¡¯t stop.

    Perhaps, only when they were far enough away from the ancient starship would the Spirit Pearl give up chasing after him, turn back, and steer the ancient starship out of the Realm of Dark Underworld to some remote area in the starry river, where more powerful Phantasms were waiting.

    He believed that the Spirit Pearl would eventually let him go and leave with the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship.

    ¡°Alright! As you wish!¡± Dong Li said loudly.

 Chapter 427: Earth-shaking, Mountain-shattering Changes

    At this moment, Dong Li didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest.

    She no longer cared what Qin Yan and the others would think of her as she spurred her ck phoenix on.

    The moment that thought appeared in her mind, the ck phoenix spread its wings to the fullest and took her and Nie Tian towards the direction where arge number of spirit beasts were still fighting fiercely.

    This was mainly because both Dong Li and her ck phoenix knew that a wall of cyan light, which even Shen Zhong hadn¡¯t been able to break, had already sealed the mouth of the mountain valley they hade from.

    If they wanted to leave theke area as quickly as possible, that was by no means a good choice.

    Qin Yan and the other juniors stared up into the air from thekeside. They were all confused, seeing the returning Dong Li suddenly circle around in the air and speed off towards the area where numerous spirit beasts were fighting each other to the death.

    They had no idea what was happening.

    Dong Mingxuan and the other powerful experts also noticed Dong Li and Nie Tian¡¯s abnormal movements, yet there was nothing they could do either.

    After all, none of them were able to soar through the air under normal circumstances.

    Dong Li was the only one who could.

    With the ck phoenix¡¯s help, Dong Li and Nie Tian shot towards the area where spirit beasts were madly killing each other.

    Seeing that Nie Tian and Dong Li were flying farther and farther away from the ancient starship, the Spirit Pearl came to a stop in midair.

    It seemed as if it were pondering whether it should keep chasing after Nie Tian or return to the ancient starship and steer it to its preset location.

    However, it didn¡¯t halt for long.

    In a few seconds, it seemed to have made its decision.

    A strange surge of energy suddenly burst forth from within the bright cyan Spirit Pearl. Simultaneously, in the mountain valley not very far away, cyan energy once again spread out and covered the mountain walls.

    At that moment, the rippling energy in the valley, the wall of cyan light sealing its mouth, and the cyan energy filling theke rapidly condensed into pure energy that fused with the ancient starship, which was slowly rising into the air.

    Chest-drumming rumbles echoed out from within the ancient starship.

    The slowly-rising ancient starship started elerating, aiming at the highest heavens.

    Seeing their ancient starship rising higher and higher into the sky, all of the four Phantasms ended their battles against the human experts and flew onto it.

    As Shen Zhong and the other human experts attempted to approach the ancient starship, they were all met with a strong counterforce, and fell towards theke underneath.

    Now devoid of some kind of energy, the originally cyanke water grew iparably clear, and not a single anomaly could be seen within it.

    However, as the ancient starship received enormous amounts of energy and sailed into the heavens, the Spirit Pearl didn¡¯t return to it.

    It seemed to spend some time getting ahold of its bearings before flying after Nie Tian again.

    Standing bykeside, Cao Qiushui finally realized what was going on, and asked in a loud voice, ¡°Why did Dong Li take Wu Tian and leave?¡±

    Frustration appeared on Qin Yan¡¯s face as she said, ¡°Perhaps she thought we wouldn¡¯t be able to help Wu Tian.¡±

    ¡°That cyan ball of light went after them,¡± Qian Xin said with a grim expression. ¡°It must record the Phantasms¡¯ secrets! It is an item of great importance!¡±

    ¡°That Spirit Pearl?¡± Only after a moment of processing did Qin Yan realize what Qian Xian meant. With an unpleasant tone, she said, ¡°If you want that Spirit Pearl so badly, you might as well chase after it. Since you¡¯re more resourceful than any of us, perhaps you¡¯ll be able to catch it and take it for your own.¡±

    Realizing that he had been seen through, Qian Xin said embarrassedly, ¡°T-that¡¯s not what I meant.¡±

    Qin Yan let out a cold harrumph and didn¡¯t respond.

    At that very moment, loud rumbles rang out from the valley they hade from, causing Heaven and Earth to shake violently.

    They turned around and saw that the mountains on both sides of the valley were trembling nonstop, and rocks were falling everywhere.

    Even the ground under their feet started to shake intensely.

    After falling into theke, Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other experts gazed helplessly up at the ancient starship as it charged into the highest heavens at a speed they couldn¡¯t evenprehend.

    Then, they each found a floating log, stood on it, and then drove it towards thekeside with their spiritual power.

    However, they didn¡¯t head towards the area where Qin Yan and the other juniors were gathered, but instead in the direction Dong Li and Nie Tian had sped away.

    Perhaps they were worried about Dong Li and Nie Tian, and wanted to give them a hand, or perhaps they ced theirst hope on securing the mysterious Spirit Pearl now that the ancient starship had charged out of the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    In any case, Qin Yan was certain that they were going in the same direction Nie Tian and Dong Li had left in.

    However, even though they were at the Worldly realm, they weren¡¯t able to sail through the sky as Dong Li could with the help of her ck phoenix.

    That meant that even if they managed to chase them out of theke area, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to catch up to Nie Tian and Dong Li, or the Spirit Pearl.

    Meanwhile...

    Watching theke underneath them shrinking into a tiny spot, the four Phantasms on the ancient starship looked rather grim.

    A Phantasm turned to look at the Phantasm who had unveiled his face, and said in fear and trepidation, ¡°Lord Dialo, the Spirit Pearl... didn¡¯t return to our starship. What do we do?

    ¡°Without it, can our starship still get to our preset destination?¡±

    Dialo, who had previously been to the Realm of Split Void, pondered for a while before saying, ¡°There¡¯s a strong tie between the Spirit Pearl and our starship. Once it has caught up to and killed that inheritor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies, it should be able to find its way back to us. There¡¯s no need to worry about it. It has already sessfully restarted our starship, gathered our residual energy in the Realm of Dark Underworld, and set a clear destination for us.

    ¡°All we need to do is wait for it to return.¡±

    ¡°But what if it doesn¡¯t return?¡± The humble Phantasm asked. ¡°What do we do then?¡±

    ¡°It will definitely return!¡± Dialo blurted with indisputable authority.

    Thus, the other Phantasm didn¡¯t dare to ask another question.

    Soon afterwards, the ancient starship left the Realm of Dark Underworld and sailed into the depths of the starry river.

    As it did, the four Phantasms went into the ancient starship.

    ...

    In the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Next to the foot of an enormous volcano sat the me God Sect, one of the two most powerful Qi warrior sects in this realm. Crimson rocks piled into a forest of magnificent and splendid stone pces.

    Even though Tang Yang had failed to obtain a fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang¡¯s hands during the Heaven Gate trial, he had returned to the me God Sect safely.

    Two years afterwards, he had sessfully advanced from thete Greater Heaven stage to the early Worldly realm.

    During the past few months, many Heaven and Greater Heaven stage disciples of the me God Sect had gone out and never returned from their trips, with no apparent reason. It made Tang Yang rather uneasy.

    He hadmunicated with people from the Spirit God Sect, since he had thought it was the Spirit God Sect that had sought trouble with them and thus secretly killed those missing disciples.

    However, ording to word he received from the Spirit God Sect, the same thing had happened to them; many of their disciples had also gone missing. Furthermore, they hadn¡¯t been able to discover a single corpse.

    Later, Tang Yang had learned that some of the other minor Qi warrior sects in the Realm of Dark Underworld had also lost contact with many of their disciples after they left the sect.

    After learning of the situation, the sectmaster of the me God Sect had appointed him to get to the bottom of this matter. However, he hadn¡¯t found any clues yet.

    Just as he was having a headache over this tough puzzle, he suddenly saw a human figure wreathed in zing mes flying out of the mouth of the enormous volcano.

    In the next moment, a thought shot directly into his mind. ¡°I sensed Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering turbulence from the mountainous regions in the south. I suspect that some changes have urred there. I want you to go over there and take a look.¡±

    A shudder ran through Tang Yang¡¯s body as he got down with one knee and nodded. ¡°Of course, sectmaster. I¡¯ll set out now.¡±

    ¡°I suppose the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect has also sensed the anomaly. Their people are probably heading there already. I want you to figure out what happened there, but don¡¯t get in any conflicts with people from the Spirit God Sect.¡±

    Tang Yang nodded again. ¡°Got it!¡±

    Afterwards, he rapidly assembled a team of me God Sect disciples and rushed towards the mountainous regions in the south on an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    At the same time, another air-transportation spiritual tool filled with powerful experts from the Spirit God Sect sped towards the same location from another direction.

    Their mutual destination was none other than the area where the explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were gathered.

    ...

    In a dense forest in the south of the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    A giant, ck spirit-form phoenix carried Dong Li and Nie Tian as they sped through the air over countless towering trees.

    Thousands of meters behind them, the Spirit Pearl was flying as lightly as if it had no weight, quickly shortening the distance between them.

    In the region the Spirit Pearl was flying through, numerous spirit beasts madly attacked each other, constantly creating new discarnate souls.

    Like wisps of gray mist, the spirit beasts¡¯ discarnate souls disappeared into the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    It was as if the reason why it wasn¡¯t traveling at full speed was that it wanted to collect more souls.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li called out anxiously. ¡°How are you doing, Nie Tian?¡±

    At this moment, since they were already far out of Qin Yan and the others¡¯ sight, she, who used to be holding Nie Tian from behind in a stiffened position, no longer took positions into consideration and held him as close to herself as possible.

    Hugging him from behind, she could see that the blooding out of Nie Tian¡¯s ears had already painted her shoulder red.

    She called Nie Tian¡¯s name over and over again, but Nie Tian didn¡¯t give any response.

    Her heart gradually sank.

 Chapter 428: Saving the Master

    In the area where numerous spirit beasts were fighting each other to the death.

    Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and the other Worldly realm experts followed the direction Dong Li and Nie Tian had left in and barged into the crowd of spirit beasts.

    Upon seeing them, the senseless spirit beasts, which had been fighting each other, suddenly found new targets.

    Arge number of fourth grade spirit beasts and one fifth grade spirit beast rapidly converged on Shen Zhong and the others.

    Even though the experts didn¡¯t want to be caught up in battles, they ended up spending quite some time and energy breaking out of the spirit beasts¡¯ siege.

    After losing the spirit beasts, Dong Mingxuan was the first toe to a stop. After calming himself, he said, ¡°Not all of us need to go after them. The earth and mountains were rocked violently due to the ancient starship bursting out of theke. It must have attracted the me God Sect and the Spirit God Sect¡¯s attention.

    ¡°It goes without saying that they have peopleing to examine that area. It¡¯s hard to say if those juniors will be able to handle it well. We¡¯ll need to spare people to return and take them back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles¡±

    After a brief pondering, Shen Zhong realized that his prediction was well-based.

    ¡°How about this,¡± He said, pointing at Qiu Liang and Gu Han. ¡°Why don¡¯t you two take those juniors back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles as soon as possible?¡±

    Qiu Liang nodded back at him without hesitation.

    However, Gu Han seemed a bit hesitant as he said, ¡°That sphere of cyan light is of great importance. It might contain secrets regarding the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships. I¡¯m worried that...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you trust us?¡± Shen Zhong asked with narrowed eyes, his expression unpleasant. ¡°If the three of us can¡¯t find that sphere of cyan light and bring it back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, do you think the two of you will make a difference? Furthermore, if we all go after it together, who will take responsibility if those juniors are captured by the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that, it¡¯s just...¡± With these words, Gu Han smiled bitterly and nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll return with Qiu Liang and take them back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Please take care of the matter here.¡±

    Shen Zhong disdained to reply to him.

    Seeing that, Dong Mingxuan said, ¡°You can rest assured. If we manage to bring that sphere of cyan light back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, I guarantee you that we¡¯ll invite your n to explore its secrets together.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Gu Han sensed that the atmosphere was tensing up. Thus, he said no more and dashed back, following the route they had taken to get here.

    ¡°Please try your best.¡± With these words, Qiu Liang sped off after him.

    ¡°What a small belly filled with chicken¡¯s guts!¡± (see note 1) After the two of them disappeared from their sight, Shen Zhong judged coldly.

    Dong Mingxuan didn¡¯t make anyments, but rather turned to gaze off into the area ahead of them, sensing carefully with his soul power.

    Momentster, he proposed, ¡°Dong Li has her ck phoenix, which means she has the ability to soar through the air for short periods of time. Even though her cultivation base is limited, and she can¡¯t fly for a long time yet, she has already flown beyond the range my soul power can cover. I believe you¡¯lle to the same discovery if you try to locate her yourselves.

    ¡°I suppose the three of us can split up and search. ording to my estimation, in no longer than one hour, she¡¯ll have tond and recover.¡±

    Shen Zhong and Zhou Ruyun shared the same thoughts as him, and thus nodded in assent upon hearing his proposal.

    After a moment of pondering, Dong Mingxuan added, ¡°One more thing. If either of youe to find Dong Li and Wu Tian, will you please go all-out to save them?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Zhou Ruyun answered without the slightest hesitation.

    She was close friends with Dong Mingxuan, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had close ties with the Dong n. She understood what Dong Mingxuan was worried about, and thus gave him her word without hesitation.

    Then, Dong Mingxuan turned to look at Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect.

    He was worried that Shen Zhong would be set on obtaining the Phantasms¡¯ sphere of cyan light, and ignore Dong Li¡¯s safety.

    He believed that, deep down, Shen Zhong attached much more importance to the sphere of cyan light than Dong Li¡¯s safety.

    ¡°I promise you that I¡¯ll do my best to guarantee Dong Li¡¯s safety!¡± Shen Zhong said with a solemn expression on his face.

    ¡°By the way, what¡¯s the story with that Wu Tian kid?¡± Zhou Ruyun asked.

    Shen Zhong¡¯s eyes flickered as he weighed in. ¡°The way I see it, that Wu Tian is by no means ordinary. He¡¯s only at the Heaven stage, yet he was able to help Dong Li kill those Specters at the center of theke. I suspect that he¡¯s hiding something from us.¡±

    Knowing Nie Tian¡¯s true identity perfectly well, Dong Mingxuan pondered for a moment, but still decided not to tell them.

    After all, Nie Tian was the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Once Shen Zhong learned about his true identity, he was afraid that he would give in to his greed and conduct soul interrogations to force Nie Tian to tell him the secrets recorded in the refined fragmentary star marks.

    ¡°Dong Li insisted on bringing him. That¡¯s all I know.¡± Dong Mingxuan said with a in tone.

    ¡°Alright, everybody. Let¡¯s spread out and search. Hopefully, we can find them soon.¡± With these words, Zhou Ruyun was the first to speed off into the distance.

    Dong Mingxuan and Shen Zhong exchanged a nce, then headed out as well.

    ...

    In the forest of lush, sky-reaching trees.

    Dong Li was holding Nie Tian tightly with her arms and sailing through the air with the help of her ck phoenix.

    Just as her martial uncle, Dong Mingxuan, had predicted, since she was only at the early Greater Heaven stage, she wasn¡¯t able to conduct long-term flights with the ck phoenix¡¯s help yet.

    Her spiritual power rapidly ran low, and her ck phoenix started to slow down.

    She constantly jerked her head around to look back.

    Originally, the Spirit Pearl, which was shining with a bizarre, cyan light, traveled at a slow speed in order to absorb the discarnate souls of the dead spirit beasts.

    As time passed, the Spirit Pearl flew past the area whererge amounts of spirit beasts were madly attacking each other.

    Considering there weren¡¯t any more discarnate souls to collect, the Spirit Pearl was no longer distracted, and thus picked up speed.

    Dong Li, on the other hand, had consumed too much of her spiritual power and psychic power bymanding her ck phoenix for so long. Her ck phoenix was also struggling to carry on, and thus its speed kept getting slower and slower.

    The distance between them rapidly shortened.

    After another call of Nie Tian¡¯s name was met with no response, Dong Li no longer attempted to wake Nie Tian, but rather focused on flying as fast as possible, hoping that they could escape the Spirit Pearl¡¯s pursuit.

    She assumed that the Spirit Pearl wouldn¡¯t remain in the Realm of Dark Underworld for very long, and it would eventually circle back and reunite with the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship.

    She hoped that the Spirit Pearl would give up after a long, fruitless pursuit.

    However, every time she turned around to look, the Spirit Pearl came slightly closer. It showed absolutely no sign of giving up, which made her increasingly stressed. ¡°God damn it!¡±

    Up till now, their exploration trip in the Realm of Dark Underworld could be considered aplete failure.

    Not only hadn¡¯t they gained any useful cultivation materials or incantations from the ¡°Phantasm relic¡±, but they had even suffered great losses.

    Now, the ancient starship had already flown out of the Realm of Dark Underworld, and she had no choice but to take Nie Tian and flee as far as possible.

    Since the Spirit Pearl had previously slowed down to collect more discarnate souls, the distance between them was still quite considerable. However, that distance was rapidly shortening, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before the Spirit Pearl was able tounch its formidable soul power attacks again.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian seemed to have already passed out.

    Once it attacked them, considering Dong Li¡¯s cultivation base and strength, she wouldn¡¯t even stand a chance.

    ¡°What should I do? What should we do now?¡± Heart burning with anxiety, she couldn¡¯t help but reconsider her previous decisions. ¡°Did I make the right move by listening to Nie Tian and leaving theke area? Would it have turned out better if we had stayed with Uncle Dong and the other Worldly realm experts? It¡¯s toote to turn around now, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    At that moment, a sharp cry from the ck phoenix suddenly rang out in her mind.

    She, who had a profound bond with the ck phoenix, immediately realized that the ck phoenix had run out of energy, and had to return to her mind.

    Desperation took over her.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The ck phoenix dove head first from the air towards the dense forest underneath. It couldn¡¯t stop wobbling, as it had apparently overdrawn its strength.

    BANG!

    Holding Nie Tian tightly in her arms, Dong Linded heavily on the ground. As she did, the exhausted, ck phoenix morphed into a wisp of ck aura and returned to her mind.

    She looked back and found that the Spirit Pearl had already appeared behind them, shining with misty, cyan light and exuding the purest phantasm Qi.

    ¡°We¡¯re done for.¡± Dong Li¡¯s whole body ran cold.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a cyan lightning bolt, the Spirit Pearl stopped right in front of them.

    Shining with bright, cyan light, the Spirit Pearl floated in midair five meters from her. However, it didn¡¯t unleash soul power attacks on her as she had expected.

    It seemed as if, in the Spirit Pearl¡¯s eyes, Dong Li wasn¡¯t even worth killing, and it didn¡¯t intend to waste a smidgen of soul power on her before finishing off Nie Tian.

    Like a floating eye, it stared at Nie Tian, and in the next moment, it started to unleash intense soul power fluctuations.

    The seven fragmentary stars in the Nie Tian had long since be dim and lifeless. Like flickering candles that could go out at any moment, they seemed to be on the verge of exhausting their power.

    However, the moment the Spirit Pearl unleashed its soul power fluctuations, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    After waking up, he instantly gazed at the magical item forged by the Phantasms, feeling the endless waves of negative emotions flooding towards his mind.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, the me Dragon Armor in his bracelet of holding seemed to have sensed something, and thus flew out.

    As it floated before Nie Tian, strong spatial energy fluctuations exploded from within the Blood Core embedded in its chest.

    In a sh, a spatial vortex rapidly came to form in front of Nie Tian.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    The strange spatial vortex spun incredibly quickly, pulling half of Nie Tian¡¯s body into it.

    Meanwhile, the Spirit Pearl burst out with blinding light and flew into the vortex before Nie Tian¡¯s body had fully entered.

    Standing to the side, Dong Li stared nkly at the spatial vortex as the Spirit Pearl and Nie Tian disappeared into it together.

    Note:

    1. The idiom the author has used here is Ð¡¶Ç¼¦³¦ (xi¨£o d¨´ j¨© ch¨¢ng), which literally means small belly and chicken¡¯s guts. Its figurative meaning is petty or narrow-minded (regarding people).

 Chapter 429: Smelting

    Nie Tian and the Spirit Pearl disappeared before Dong Li¡¯s eyes almost simultaneously.

    The spatial vortex also vanished after appearing out of nowhere, as if it had never been there.

    Dong Li¡¯s jaw dropped.

    Only after a while did shee to her senses and say with a bbergasted expression on her face, ¡°A tool that can form spatial tunnels at any time?¡±

    In the Domain of the Falling Stars, most people would have to rely onrge-scale, inter-realm teleportation portals to travel back and forth between realms.

    She had only heard of spiritual tools that could rip open space and teleport people at anytime and anywhere, but she had never seen one with her own eyes.

    This was her first time experiencing such a thing.

    She had never expected that Nie Tian would actually possess such a profound spiritual tool, which only grand Qi warriors, extremely skilled at spatial magics, would possess.

    Confusion and shock reced the desperation on her face.

    A train of thoughts entered Dong Li¡¯s mind. ¡°Where the hell did he go? The Phantasms¡¯ Spirit Pearl went with him. Will he be able to survive it? Will he return?¡±

    She slowly sat down on the ground, looking as if she had lost something important to her. Then, she took out a handful of medicinal pills and swallowed them as she mulled the matter over.

    She failed to figure anything out after some time, but sounds of movementing from the depths of the forest caught her ears.

    She jerked her head around to gaze towards the source of the sounds.

    In the next moment, the figure of a man arrived before her like a sh. ¡°Where¡¯s that Wu Tian kid, Dong Li? And where did that sphere of cyan light go?¡±

    It was Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect.

    As Dong Mingxuan had predicted, after dashing for an hour, he had sessfully detected Dong Li¡¯s life aura.

    He followed her aura to this location, and discovered that Dong Li was the only one here. The Spirit Pearl, which he considered the most important target, was nowhere to be seen.

    The truth was that he didn¡¯t really care about Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s safety. That Spirit Pearl was the only thing he could think about now.

    He had long since seen that the Spirit Pearl had close ties with the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship, and that it must contain secrets and valuable information on the Phantasms.

    If he could obtain it and unveil the profound mysteries within it, this exploration trip would turn out to be very productive.

    With a grim look in her eyes, Dong Li looked down at the ground as she weighed over what to say.

    A secondter, she sorted through her thoughts. Looking up at Shen Zhong¡¯s face, she said with an indifferent tone and slightly gritted teeth, ¡°The Spirit Pearl¡¯s target was Wu Tian, not me.¡±

    ¡°That thing is called a Spirit Pearl?¡± Shen Zhong asked, his eyes lighting up. ¡°I figured that it was after Wu Tian, not you. But where is he?¡±

    With a coldugh, Dong Li said, ¡°He woke up after we left theke area. Since I was exhausted and couldn¡¯t carry him any further, I could onlynd here. I realized that the Spirit Pearl was after him, and I could no longer protect him, so... I drove him away. I told him to lead the Spirit Pearl away, so that at least one of us would live.¡±

    Shen Zhong was taken aback. ¡°Are you saying that youmanded him to flee after he woke up, so that the Spirit Pearl would go after him?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, would you expect me to die with him?¡± Dong Li said with an expression as if it was the right thing to do.

    The tips of Shen Zhong¡¯s eyebrows rose as he felt disgusted inwardly.

    Since they were both from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, he had heard something about her notoriously cunning and vicious nature.

    He assumed she had sacrificed her subordinate in order to save herself, knowing that the Spirit Pearl wasn¡¯t after her.

    Therefore, Shen Zhong bought Dong Li¡¯s story.

    Furthermore, he indeed couldn¡¯t detect any signs of Nie Tian or the Spirit Pearl¡¯s aura in the vicinity with his soul power.

    He didn¡¯t believe Dong Li was able to hide Nie Tian or the Spirit Pearl under his nose without him noticing anything.

    Shen Zhong nodded gently and said, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is. So where did he go?¡±

    Dong Li pointed out a random direction and said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, ¡°What I did... wasn¡¯t exactly honorable. Will you please keep it a secret, Senior Shen?¡±

    Shen Zhong felt increasingly disgusted. ¡°Sure, Wu Tian is one of your subordinates. How you treat him doesn¡¯t concern me.¡± After uttering these words, he sped off in the direction Dong Li had pointed out for him.

    Long after he was gone, Dong Li looked at the ce Nie Tian had vanished from and muttered in a self-mocking way, ¡°If it was before, I probably would have actually considered doing such a thing. After all, this guy got me good and made me lose face before the whole n. But now, I hope you can survive this and return alive.¡±

    She didn¡¯t leave.

    She had a feeling that Nie Tian¡¯s spatial spiritual tool might teleport him back to this very location.

    Therefore, she decided to wait a while and see.

    ...

    In an unknown heaven and earth, where the spiritual Qi was extremely rich and pure...

    On a bloodstained, dpidated altar faced by eight enormous dragon skulls, a bit of fire appeared and rapidly expanded.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and the me Dragon Armor flew out of a ming portal one after the other.

    After them, the unrelenting Spirit Pearl also flew into this mysteriousnd through the expanding ball of mes.

    Like the Realm of Dark Underworld, the sky here was also misty. There was no sun, moon, or any stars, and there was no way to tell time.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl entered, it began to shine with dazzling, cyan light. In the next moment, countless discarnate souls and Specters flew out of it and swooped down towards Nie Tian.

    The Spirit Pearl remained in midair, as if it werepletely unaffected by the super gravity in this mysterious heaven and earth.

    The heavy fall made Nie Tian light-headed. As soon as he recovered a sound mind, he saw countless discarnate souls and Specters swarming towards him like a storm of locusts.

    Subconsciously, he made attempts to summon thest remaining power from the seven fragmentary stars in his soul. However, it turned out that he couldn¡¯t draw upon any of it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, the me Dragon Armor took control and started absorbing pure me power and flesh power from him.

    Formidable me power was suddenly born within its Blood Core, turning the me Dragon Armor, which was currently floating over Nie Tian¡¯s head, into a giant ball of torrential mes.

    A dragon¡¯s howl rang out within Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Under his gaze, eight rivers of mes shot out from the ball of mes over his head and infused into the eight huge dragon skulls that were facing the dpidated altar.

    Each of the eight dragon skeletons was thousands of meters long, and their skulls were the size of small mountains.

    As soon as the rivers of mes flew into the dragons¡¯ skulls, their mes of life seemed to light up again.

    At that moment, it was as if the eight enormous dragons that had nothing but bones left were suddenly vested with life and souls again.

    Originally, there was nothing inside their hollow eye sockets. But now, zing mes appeared in them, serving as their eyeballs, making them look alive again.

    The rivers of mes ran through the dragons¡¯ entire skeletons before spewing out of their opened mouths.

    After flowing through the dragon skeletons, the might of the eight rivers of me skyrocketed.

    As they shot towards the dpidated altar, Nie Tian felt a mysterious force from the me Dragon Armor, and was thrown away.

    The me Dragon Armor, however, remained at the center of the altar, where it was engulfed by a storm of mes along with the Spirit Pearl and the swarm of discarnate souls and Specters it had unleashed.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Nie Tian watched the dpidated altar be enveloped by raging mes.

    He could vaguely hear the discarnate souls and the Specters¡¯ miserable screams.

    The Spirit Pearl seemed to sense the unfavorable situation and made repeated attempts to break free from the sea of mes enveloping the altar.

    However, as unrivaled and powerful as it had appeared in the Realm of Dark Underworld, it failed to escape from the altar.

    No matter how hard it tried, it couldn¡¯t charge out of the hemispherical area enveloping the altar, even though wasn¡¯t very wide.

    After flowing through the dragon skeletons, the mes seemed to be vested with a divine power that allowed them to incinerate any life or soul in this heaven and earth.

    At that moment, Nie Tian discovered that a distortion seemed to have urred in the zing space over the altar, as if even space couldn¡¯t withstand the heat.

    Crackling sounds could be heard as the swarm of discarnate souls and Specters were being burned and purged of their negative energy fluctuations by the mes enhanced by the eight dragon skeletons.

    Soon, wisps of refined, cyan-gray soul power, which could be absorbed as sources of energy, gradually rose from the sea of mes.

    As that happened, Nie Tian noticed that the seven dim and lifeless fragmentary stars in his soul seemed to be stirred.

    Immediately afterwards, the second fragmentary star mark, which he hadn¡¯t refined yet, separated itself from his chest and floated out.

    Completely uncontrolled by Nie Tian, it quietly rose to a location three inches in front of the middle of his eyebrows, where it started to shine with blinding starlight.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The wisps of pure soul power, which had been refined by the pure mes, were suddenly attracted and then rapidly flew straight into the fragmentary star mark floating before his face.

    As the wisps of soul power entered the second fragmentary star mark, they seemed to be refined for a second time, bingpletely devoid of any impurities.

    Afterwards, one wisp of iparably pure soul power after another flew into his mind through the space between his eyebrows.

    As soon as the seven fragmentary stars in his souls saw the appearance of the wisps of soul power, they started channeling them towards themselves.

    The darkened fragmentary stars, which had already shrunk to the size of grains, started glittering brightly again after absorbing some wisps of soul power.

    The scene before his eyes made Nie Tian tremble with a bbergasted expression on his face. ¡°T-this is...?!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor, which had taken him to this mysterious heaven and earth, was clearly using the altar and the eight sets of dragon skeletons to smelt the discarnate souls and Specters within the Spirit Pearl in a way he couldn¡¯t understand.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t derived any enlightenment from the second fragmentary star mark yet, it was voluntarily cooperating with the me Dragon Armor to refine the wisps of soul power a second time before sending them directly into his mind.

    All of thispletely overturned his understanding of the me Dragon Armor and the fragmentary star marks!

 Chapter 430: Entering the Greater Heaven Stage

    The me Dragon Armor and the second fragmentary star mark worked together to build him a great fortune.

    When he had been at his wit¡¯s end and could only wait for his imminent death, the me Dragon Armor had rushed out, formed a spatial vortex, and brought him to this mysterious heaven and earth.

    It had also taken advantage of the dpidated altar and the eight sets of dragon skeletons surrounding it, and formed an unknown formation of mes.

    The Spirit Pearl, which had blindly barged in in an attempt to kill Nie Tian, had immediately been trapped.

    The torrential mes smelted every single discarnate soul and Specter it had unleashed and turned them into wisps of pure, cyan-gray soul power.

    Then, the wisps of soul power rose from the altar and were channeled into the second fragmentary star mark, where they were refined a second time before being sent into Nie Tian¡¯s soul as wisps of iparably pure soul power.

    As one wisp after another flew into Nie Tian¡¯s soul, the seven darkened fragmentary stars, which had shrunk to the size of grains, began to shine brightly again.

    At the same time, Nie Tian could sense with great rity that the head-splitting pain he had been experiencing was being greatly relieved.

    He immediately realized that he had injured his own soul by overly consuming the power within the seven fragmentary stars to ward off the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul fluctuations.

    Right now, his soul and the fragmentary stars in it were gradually healing.

    Raging mes were still ravishing the space above the altar. The Spirit Pearl shed about here and there, but still couldn¡¯t break free from the sea of mes.

    The power within the Spirit Pearl, as well as the swarming Specters and discarnate souls it had unleashed, were being purged by the zing mes. After being refined a second time by the fragmentary star mark floating before Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, they were all turned into wisps of pure soul power that disappeared into Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    As they received this replenishment, not only did the seven fragmentary stars in his soul light up again, but they also began to expand in size.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Nie Tian realized that, as the fragmentary stars in his soul absorbed abundant amounts of pure soul power, the spiritual Qi in this mysterious heaven and earth started to quietly converge on him as well.

    He was instantly taken over by a strange feeling.

    He felt that, thanks to the existence of the me Dragon Armor and the fragmentary star mark, his ability to attract and absorb energy from his surroundings had greatly improved.

    With this thought in mind, he took out a spirit stone and made an experiment by absorbing its power.

    The spiritual power within it poured madly into the spiritual sea in his dantian.

    The spirit stone cracked in a split second.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Immediately afterwards, he took out a number of spiritual materials of fire and wood attributes, as well as some Star Stones.

    He spread them out on the ground in front of him. As he ced his hands on some of them and practiced the most basic Qi Refining incantation, the energy within them would be drained within a second.

    Soon, they were all reduced to ordinary stones and cracked open.

    Just like that, copious amount of me power, wood power, and star power were channeled into the relevant vortexes and refined at an unprecedentedly high speed.

    He examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that he seemed to have ascended to an iparably mysterious state, where he had be a bottomless ck hole, absorbing all kinds of power at rming rates.

    This was something he had never felt before.

    He knew that many factors could have contributed to it.

    It could be that the formation of the altar and the eight sets of dragon skeletons were emanating some kind of energy fluctuation; it could be caused by something happening within the second fragmentary star mark; or it could be caused by the unique features of this strange heaven and earth.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t figure out what was causing this, he knew that he had better take full advantage of it and try to maximize his gains from it.

    Therefore, he took a deep breath and stopped looking at the altar, the me Dragon Armor, the Spirit Pearl, and the dragon skeletons.

    He took out arge number of Star Stones, spirit stones, and spirit jades, as well as spiritual materials that contained me power and wood power, and piled them into small hills around him.

    Sitting among the pyramids of spiritual materials, he ced his hands on them and practiced the Qi Refining Incantation silently. Then, his whole body seemed to turn into a giant ma that started madly absorbing power of various attributes from those spiritual materials.

    in spiritual power, star power, me power, and wood power condensed into misty rivers of different colors before pouring into his vortexes of spiritual power.

    The various vortexes of spiritual power rotated at rming rates, improving the speed at which they refined spiritual power severalfold.

    A huge turbulence also rose in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea as it continued to refine the spiritual power within it and expand its boundaries.

    At the same time, the seven fragmentary stars in his soul kept gathering more soul power and growingrger like glittering gems.

    Before long, he sensed that he was reaching the bottleneck, through which he would step into the Greater Heaven stage.

    He had just made a minor breakthrough in his cultivation several months ago atop one of the three extremely lofty mountain peaks in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Normally speaking, it was very unlikely that he woulde to another bottleneck in such a short time.

    He had never thought that his next breakthrough woulde so soon.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that he had already passed a major mental tribtion when he had returned from the Realm of Split Void to the Realm of me Heaven and revisited ck Cloud City.

    The dark side of human nature he had witnessed in ck Cloud City had almost caused him to deviate from the righteous cultivation path and sink into killing and plundering.

    He had seen too much of the ugliness of human nature after returning to the Realm of me Heaven. His values and personality almost grew twisted because of it.

    Later, when he had gone to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, he had witnessed the Heaven Pce Sect, which was the most powerful and revered of the Domain of the Falling Stars, making deals with Demon outsiders, which had deeply disappointed him.

    Afterwards, when he had visited the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, he hadn¡¯t held his hopes very high. However, the Qi warriors from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the other smaller sects had finally brought him a shred of warmth and shone a beam of light into his heart.

    To this point, he had both seen the bright side and the dark side of human nature from the things he had experienced.

    After going through so manyplicated and unforeseen events, his mind had grown remarkably, even though he didn¡¯t realize it himself.

    Several months ago, in order to help the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect secure the scrolls in those mountain peaks, he had spent numerous days and nights umting strength and deriving enlightenment from the profundity of me power, star power, and wood power. That had greatly improved his mastery of these powers.

    Therefore, he had long since achieved the most important thing to a breakthrough in cultivation: new understanding and mental growth.

    At this moment, as wisps of pure soul power continued to infuse into him along with copious amount of various powers, the other requirement of achieving a breakthrough in cultivation, strength umtion, was also nearing its breakthrough point.

    That was why he was able toe to another bottleneck in his cultivation after merely a few months.

    ¡°The Greater Heaven stage!¡± He grew excited as he took advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and did his utmost to absorb all sorts of powers.

    Without a sun, a moon, or any stars, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t keep track of time.

    Indulged in his inner world, he practice cultivation wholeheartedly, waiting for his next breakthrough.

    He was aware that considering he practiced me power incantations, star power incantations, and wood power incantations, his advancing speed should have been slower than others¡¯.

    If it weren¡¯t for this miraculous incident, even though he possessed extraordinary talent, he would have had to spend a long time umting strength mentally and physically toe to the next bottleneck.

    Therefore, he cherished this opportunity a great deal. No matter what, he nned to keep practicing as long as the situation allowed.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Wisps of cyan-gray soul power continued to rise from the Spirit Pearl, which was engulfed by the raging mes.

    The discarnate souls and Specters it had previously unleashed had long since been transformed into pure soul power and fed to the fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    After an unknown period of time, a brand new vortex of spiritual power came to shape in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    Almost at the same time, two more fragmentary stars gradually formed over his soul sea.

    At this moment, the seven original fragmentary stars had already expanded to the size of fists. The light they emanated had also be even more dazzling.

    However, they seemed to be subject to some kind of restriction and couldn¡¯t split into more.

    By the time they grew asrge as fists, they stopped absorbing soul power, as if they had reached their limit.

    However, as soon as a seventh vortex of spiritual power appeared in his spiritual sea, the restriction in his soul seemed to be broken.

    That was when two new fragmentary stars were born.

    The two new fragmentary stars continued to absorb soul power, and only after a while did they fully form and stabilize.

    However, they were only the size of grains, far smallerpared to the other seven fragmentary stars.

    But as they became fully formed, their attraction towards the soul power seemed to grow increasingly strong.

    A long time passed...

    The mes over the dpidated altar went out. Everyst shred of power within the Spirit Pearl, as well as every discarnate soul and Specter it had gathered, had been refined and absorbed by Nie Tian.

    The Spirit Pearl sat still in the middle of the altar. Translucent and cyan, not the slightest anomaly could be sensed in it, much less any soul power fluctuations.

    The two newly-formed fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul had stopped expanding.

    Compared to the other seven, the two new fragmentary stars seemed noticeably smaller, as if they hadn¡¯t received enough soul power from the Spirit Pearl.

    Meanwhile, the seventh vortex of spiritual power was also fully formed in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    All these signs marked his advancement to the Greater Heaven stage!

 Chapter 431: Ive Been Waiting for You!

    In the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Dong Li had stayed in that very location since Nie Tian had vanished.

    Soon after Shen Zhong had found her and asked her about Nie Tian and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s whereabouts, her martial uncle, Dong Mingxuan, had also sought her out and asked the same questions.

    However, even though Dong Mingxuan was a senior in her n, she had chosen not to tell him the truth, but instead told him that the Spirit Pearl had chased Nie Tian away.

    Dong Mingxuan had also failed to detect any signs of life in the vicinity.

    Seeing that she was recovering her strength, Dong Mingxuan had reminded her to be careful.

    Dong Li had told her that she would leave the Realm of Dark Underworld as soon as her strength was restored.

    With a nod, Dong Mingxuan had sped away. Dong Li, however, had stayed in ce.

    A few days passed...

    Shen Zhong, Dong Mingxuan, and Zhou Ruyun had failed to find the Spirit Pearl or Nie Tian after conducting a thorough search of the area.

    However, the three of them had been unwilling to give up, and thus spent two more weeks searching in other areas of the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Yet, they still hadn¡¯t discovered a single sign of the Spirit Pearl or Nie Tian.

    Therefore, they had given up, as reluctant as they had been. Then, they had returned via the inter-realm teleportation portal they had set up in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    By the time they had returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, all the juniors had already returned, but Dong Li hadn¡¯t been among them.

    Dong Li had never left the location where Nie Tian had vanished.

    Time flew... Another month passed...

    Having long since recovered her strength, Dong Li hid herself in the luxuriant foliage of a huge ancient tree, practicing cultivation with spirit stones as she waited for Nie Tian.

    Her instincts told her that Nie Tian would show up in this ce at some point.

    Recently, she had repeatedly spotted air-transportation spiritual tools shing by over her head, as well as search teams consisting of local Heaven and Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    She had been lucky that no Worldly realm Qi warriors like Tang Yang hade to search in this area, so she hadn¡¯t exposed herself yet.

    Even so, she felt increasingly insecure and uneasy.

    Over the past few days, local Qi warriors hade to this area more frequently than before. She felt that if she continued to stay in this ce, it would be very likely that she would be discovered.

    Hence, she began to consider the option of returning to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    However, for some reason, she seemed to be obsessed with this matter. She just wanted to wait for Nie Tian¡¯s return, or the Spirit Pearl¡¯s, which would at least prove Nie Tian¡¯s death.

    Either way, she needed an answer.

    Another three days passed, and the local Qi warriors visited this area more and more frequently. There were even a few times where she was on the verge of being exposed.

    She suspected that they must have learned what had happened in thatke.

    Due to the leaving of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship and the explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the local Qi warriors couldn¡¯t find a single living person to question.

    They probably had determined that people from the other realms had visited that area, and thus were conducting an inch-by-inch search of the nearby areas.

    As much as she wanted to keep waiting, knowing that if she didn¡¯t leave soon she would be exposed, she finally decided to leave.

    In the mysteriousnd, Nie Tian opened his eyes.

    Nine bright sparks could be seen in the depths of each of his eyes as he paced towards the altar.

    The mes had already gone out; the me Dragon Armor and the Spirit Pearl were both sitting silently at the center of the altar. The me Dragon Armor seemed to have consumed too much me power, and thus was no longer radiant with fiery light.

    Every shred of power within the Spirit Pearl had been refined by the me Dragon Armor, along with the Specters and discarnate souls it had gathered. Now, it seemed empty and without any wonder.

    Nie Tian had sessfully entered the Greater Heaven stage. Nine fragmentary stars were shining brightly in his soul.

    With a frown, he bent down and picked up the Spirit Pearl. Then, he sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the wondrous item forged by the Phantasms.

    As his psychic awareness roamed inside of it, Nie Tian realized that there was another dimension inside, which seemed to be able to attract and gather discarnate souls.

    However, it waspletely empty and lifeless at this moment.

    Withdrawing his psychic awareness, he reached out to grab the me Dragon Armor.

    The moment his hand made contact with it, it started to rapidly absorb his me power and flesh power.

    In the next moment, the same spatial vortex that had taken him to this ce formed in front of him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows flickered as he immediately understood what was happening.

    The me Dragon Armor had almostpletely drained the me power it had gathered all these years by refining the Spirit Pearl.

    Its remaining power was already insufficient to create another spatial vortex and teleport him out of this ce. Therefore, it could only channel power from him.

    Originally, he had intended to remain in this mysterious heaven and earth for some time.

    He still wanted to derive new enlightenment from the enormous mountain-like arms sticking out of the earth. Perhaps he would be able to learn some new profound magics and incantations.

    However, since the Blood Core had taken him to this mysterious dimension a few times now, he had learned that it would require a substantial amount of energy to take him either into or out of here.

    At this moment, the me Dragon Armor had already spent too much energy refining the Spirit Pearl.

    He realized that it was about time he left.

    He was also aware that he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to revisit this mysterious dimension with the help of the me Dragon Armor in the near future.

    He would have to seek out a unique ce that was extremely rich in me power for the me Dragon Armor to recharge itself.

    The spatial vortex rapidly took shape.

    Realizing that he had no choice, Nie Tian stopped hesitating and jumped right into it.

    In the Realm of Dark Underworld...

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In the location Nie Tian and the Spirit Pearl had vanished from, a small but bright spatial vortex suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    Upon returning to the Realm of Dark Underworld, Nie Tian subconsciously nced around, but found no one.

    He was well-aware that he must have spent quite some time in that mysteriousnd.

    He had no idea what the situation was going to be here.

    Without even thinking about it, he unleashed his Heaven Eyes.

    Considering there were nine fragmentary stars in his soul now, nine Heaven Eyes came to form this time.

    Furthermore, both the coverage and perception of his nine Heaven Eyes seemed to have been greatly enhanced.

    As they slowly spread out and floated in different directions, clear scenes of the vicinity appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Soon, he discovered arge number of local Qi warriors in a ten kilometer radius around him. From the way they were dressed, he rapidly recognized that some of them were from the me God Sect and the Spirit God Sect.

    Via one of his Heaven Eyes, he caught sight of Dong Li, who was now marching forward cautiously, hoping not to expose her tracks. ¡°Dong Li! Howe she¡¯s still here!?¡±

    SHEW!

    He blurred into action and approached Dong Li with a few short-range Starshifts.

    Momentster, he shed into appearance right before her.

    Moving stealthily, Dong Li was dazzled by a sh of starlight before a man appeared in front of her. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking puzzled.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement, yet she red at him and said, gnashing her teeth, ¡°What do you think?! I was waiting for you!¡±

    A confused expression spread out across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Waiting for me?! Why would you do that?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression stiffened as her heart was filled with a sudden anger. She even wanted to lunge forward and scratch Nie Tian¡¯s confused face off.

    However, she curbed her impulse.

    After all, she knew that local Qi warriors were still searching for clues in this area.

    If she got into a fight with Nie Tian here, the noise would instantly attract those Qi warriors¡¯ attention and thus expose them.

    Seeing the furious expression on her face, Nie Tian changed the subject. ¡°What¡¯s situation here? Where is everybody?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve all returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles!¡± Dong Li blurted angrily.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked again, ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you go with them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you! How many times do you need to hear me say it?!¡± Dong Li thundered in a restrained manner.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian said with an innocent expression on his face, ¡°But I didn¡¯t tell you to wait for me.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to speak to you anymore!¡± Dong Li thundered, her eyes wide. ¡°I know you have your unique methods. Guide us out of this ce, and don¡¯t let the people from the Realm of Dark Underworld discover us! I¡¯ll settle things with you when we are out of here!¡±

    ¡°Okay..." Nie Tian nodded as he tapped into his nine Heaven Eyes in the vicinity and determined the best evacuation route.

    Standing beside him, Dong Li red silently at him, her heart filled with grievance and anger.

    Momentster, Nie Tian picked out a direction and marched out, leading the way for Dong Li. ¡°Follow me.¡±

    Following him, Dong Li panted with fury. Every once in a while, she would curse in low voice, ¡°Dumb ingrate! I should have let you die over thatke!

    ¡°Your conscientiousness must have been eaten by a dog!

    ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for this!¡±

 Chapter 432: Slight Changes in the Spiritual Sea

    Even though she couldn¡¯t stop secretly cursing Nie Tian, Dong Li trusted his judgment.

    She felt very secure following him, even though she knew that many local Qi warriors were searching in the vicinity.

    She believed that Nie Tian would be able to guide them out of this area.

    Her strong trust in him came from the repeated failures and losses she had suffered from him, as well as the fact that he had saved her from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s influence when she had almost given in and been devoured by the mountains of corpses and seas of blood

    Nie Tian heard her quiet curses, but said nothing.

    With the help of his nine Heaven Eyes, he gained a thorough understanding of every local Qi warrior¡¯s location and movements.

    Now that the fragmentary stars in his soul had expanded to the size of fists, both the coverage and perception of his Heaven Eyes had risen to a whole new level.

    Following Nie Tian¡¯s directions, the two of them effortlessly steered clear of every local Qi warrior in the vicinity.

    Two days passed...

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s leadership, they marched out of the area roamed by local search teams, and found themselves at the foot of a grayish-yellow mountain peak.

    Nie Tian found a suitable spot and sat down on the ground, saying, ¡°We can finally have a rest. Those local Qi warriors are only searching the area around theke. Now that we¡¯re far enough from theke, we should be safe for now.¡±

    Dong Li also heaved a sigh of relief.

    Over the past two days, she had followed Nie Tian closely as the two of them marched on at a fast pace. Whenever she felt like it, she would secretly curse Nie Tian for not appreciating her kindness.

    However, now that they were out of danger, she surprisingly kept quiet, and didn¡¯t start bickering.

    Just like Nie Tian, she sought another clean rock and sat down on it, her cold gaze fixed on him.

    Nie Tian, however, remained expressionless as he took out a number of spirit stones and started recuperating.

    As he practiced the Qi Refining Incantation, the spiritual power within those spirit stones was rapidly drawn away by him.

    In the meantime, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth started converging on him and pouring into his spiritual sea from every direction.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows flickered.

    Since he had returned to the Realm of Dark Underworld as soon as he had entered the Greater Heaven stage, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to thoroughly sense the difference between the Greater Heaven stage and the Heaven stage.

    Now, he sensed with great rity that, the moment he started practicing the Qi Refining Incantation, a copious amount of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth started converging on him.

    Even when he stopped practicing it, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that had been gathered to this ce didn¡¯t dissipate, but rather continued to slowly infuse into his spiritual sea.

    Eyes narrowed, he examined himself and everything around him with rapt attention, and he was ovee by a feeling that he had be one with heaven and earth.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Greater Heaven stage!¡±

    With her eyes fixed on Nie Tian, she asked, ¡°You¡¯ve only been gone for less than two months. How could you have entered the Greater Heaven stage within such a short time?¡±

    The whole way here, she had fought her curiosity and kept all her questions to herself.

    Where had Nie Tian been during this period of time? Where was the Spirit Pearl?

    At this moment, after being shocked by the fact that Nie Tian had actually advanced into the Greater Heaven stage within such a short time, she could no longer suppress her curiosity.

    However, just as she was going to ask, Nie Tian muttered in a low voice, looking overjoyed, ¡°Interesting...¡±

    That was because he realized that his spiritual sea, the seven vortexes of spiritual power, and the vortexes of star power, wood power, and me power were all very different from before.

    Back when he had been at the Heaven stage, all of the vortexes had remained in the same location in his spiritual sea.

    However, after advancing to the Greater Heaven stage, the vortexes had started to move in some profound pattern in his spiritual sea as they revolved on their own axes. At first nce, they seemed like tornadoes whooshing across his sea of spiritual power.

    As they floated about, they seemed to form mysterious formations from time to time.

    Such a change in his spiritual sea allowed him to attract and absorb spiritual energy from his surroundings even when he wasn¡¯t practicing the Qi Refining Incantation.

    Right now, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth seemed to be naturally drawn in by his seven vortexes of spiritual power and infused into his spiritual sea.

    He could also sense wisps of faint wood power rising from the nearby dense forest before flying into his vortex of wood power.

    Even though it was currently nighttime, the heavens were misty and gray in the Realm of Dark Underworld year-round. No sun, moon, or stars could be seen in the sky.

    However, he could still feel starlight invisible to the naked eye prating theyers of gray cloud and infusing into his vortex of star power.

    The only type of power he couldn¡¯t sense was me power, since there weren¡¯t any active volcanoes in the vicinity.

    Meanwhile, as he started practicing the Qi Refining Incantation devotedly, the speed at which he absorbed energies from his surroundings enhanced severalfold, and so did the speed at which he channeled power from the spirit stones.

    After entering the Greater Heaven stage, the efficiency at which he absorbed energy had improved significantly.

    Even though he still couldn¡¯t figure out the profound reasons behind this phenomenon, it made him realize his breakthrough into the Greater Heaven stage meant much more than having an additional vortex of spiritual power.

    ¡°Where... where have you been during this whole time?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Dong Li gave in to her intense curiosity and gave voice to the question in her heart.

    Nie Tian stopped meditating and leveled his chin to look at her.

    Dong Li was bewildered.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes had somehow be so much brighter that she didn¡¯t even dare to look directly at them.

    That was when she realized that miraculous changes must have happened to Nie Tian during the time he was gone.

    Normally speaking, the brighter a man¡¯s eyes looked, the more refined the man¡¯s psychic power would be.

    Since she, who was also at the Greater Heaven stage, couldn¡¯t even bear to gaze into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, it meant that his cultivation of psychic power must have gone through significant improvement during this period of time.

    Then, it suddenly urred to her that the changes in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes probably had something to do with the Spirit Pearl.

    However, what she didn¡¯t know was that the changes had actually been caused by the nine fragmentary stars in his soul, which contained extremely pure soul power.

    His eyes were already very bright when he wasn¡¯t practicing the Fragmentary Star Incantation. Once he used the secret magics recorded in the Fragmentary Star Incantation, nine sparks of starlight would even appear in the depths of his pupils.

    After a quick nce at Nie Tian, Dong Li withdrew her gaze. With a self-mockingugh, she shook her head and said, ¡°Nevermind.¡±

    A puzzled expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Hmm?"

    ¡°That should be one of your biggest secrets.¡± Dong Li said with a cold snort. ¡°There¡¯s no point in me asking, since you won¡¯t tell me the truth anyway. Instead of listening to your lies, I¡¯d rather not ask about it.¡±

    After a brief pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°Alright then.¡±

    She was right. He indeed wouldn¡¯t tell her about what had happened to him.

    ¡°The Spirit Pearl didn¡¯t return to the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship, did it?¡± Dong Li asked in a soft voice.

    ¡°No, it didn¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Good.¡± Dong Li nodded and looked down, as if something that had been weighing on her mind was finally lifted. Then, she suddenly said, ¡°Two months ago, you asked me to take you as far as away from theke as possible. Did you do it so that you could have the Spirit Pearl for yourself? Were you worried that Shen Zhong, Gu Han, and the others would demand it from you afterwards if you had somehow obtained it?¡±

    Only then did it ur to her that the reason behind Nie Tian being so urgent to leave theke area could be that he hadn¡¯t wanted to share the Spirit Pearl with the other explorers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m not you. I¡¯ll never be that good with schemes. Back then, I just felt that Qin Yan, Cao Qiushui, and the others wouldn¡¯t be able to help me. I thought that getting far away from that ancient starship might make the Spirit Pearl give up on chasing after me.

    ¡°Also, I didn¡¯t know how the battle between your seniors and the Phantasms would end.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Dong Li asked, a skeptical expression filling her face.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Really.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Dong Li pondered in silence, and said after a moment, ¡°This time, the five major powers in the Realm of a Hundred Battles mobilized quiet a few people to explore the so-called Phantasm relic, yet we didn¡¯te to find anything worth noting. But you, on the other hand, got that Spirit Pearl... So, what do you n to do next?¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent upon hearing her question.

    Originally, he had onlye because he wanted to keep his word. However, the Spirit Pearl had somehow followed him into the mysterious dimension, where he had refined and absorbed every single discarnate soul and Specter within it.

    Not only had the Spirit Pearl ended up in his possession, but he had also entered the Greater Heaven stage.

    Apparently, he was the one who had benefited from the exploration trip the most.

    Normally, people on the exploration team would have to divide whatever spoils they discovered.

    Looking at Dong Li, he took the Spirit Pearl out from within his bracelet of holding after a moment of hesitation. Handing it to her, he said, ¡°Here, take it.¡±

    Dong Li grabbed the Spirit Pearl, examined it with her psychic awareness, and failed to find anything fascinating inside. ¡°What happened to it? Where are the Specters within it?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled at her, but remained silent.

    With a cold snort, Dong Li handed the Spirit Pearl back to him and said indignantly, ¡°I think it goes without saying that you¡¯ve already taken away the parts that are truly valuable, right?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t deny it. He nodded and said, ¡°Do you want this pearl or not?¡±

    ¡°Forget it,¡± Dong Li said, shaking her head. ¡°By the way, I didn¡¯t tell anyone about what happened to you and the Spirit Pearl. My martial uncle, Shen Zhong, and the others took my word and believed that the Spirit Pearl chased you off somewhere. After a long and fruitless search, they eventually returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°As for this Spirit Pearl, I don¡¯t know how to use it, and I can¡¯t take it back to the Dong n without provoking questions. You can have it.¡± Looking coldly at Nie Tian, she continued, ¡°But you¡¯ve got to remember that you owe me a favor, considering that you¡¯ve taken the only truly valuable gain from this trip! Even though you¡¯ve saved me once, you¡¯ve got to remember that you owe me!¡±

    ¡°Okay..." Nie Tian nodded in assent. ¡°Oh right, do you know a ce that¡¯s famous for its rich me power?¡±

    ¡°The me God Sect, of course,¡± Dong Li answered.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly.

    The reason he was asking about a ce that was rich in me power was so that the me Dragon Armor would be able to recharge itself. However, he had identally acquired the me Dragon Armor from someone from the me God Sect. How would he dare to blunder into the me God Sect¡¯s turf?

 Chapter 433: Desolate City

    ¡°Is there anywhere else that¡¯s famous for its rich me power?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion, I suppose,¡± Dong Li said.

    A puzzled expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s charming brows furrowed as she said, ¡°Yeah. Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°As you know, I possess a spiritual tool, the me Dragon Armor.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to conceal his true intentions. ¡°Well, it almost drained the me power it has umted all these years to help me deal with the Spirit Pearl. So, I need to find a ce for it to regather the copious amount of me power it requires.¡±

    ¡°I see...¡± Dong Li said, nodding. ¡°Thergest and most active volcano in the Domain of the Falling Stars is in the me God Sect¡¯s territory. Rumor has it that it has been spewing zingva every once in a while for the past ten thousand years. But the me God Sect has long since taken it for their own, and keeps a close watch on everything around it. I know you wouldn¡¯t want to go there.¡±

    She also knew the rtionship between the me Dragon Armor and the me God Sect.

    ¡°However, as grand and miraculous as that volcano is, it¡¯s only one volcano,¡± Dong Li said, her eyes narrowed. ¡°That¡¯s not the case in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Active,va-spewing volcanoes can be found everywhere in the endless mountain ranges of the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Even though none of the volcanoes areparable to the one in the me God Sect¡¯s territory, they have the numbers to make up for it.¡±

    With these words, she halted briefly and said, ¡°Plus, many of them are still unimed. If you want to recharge the me Dragon Armor with the me power in active volcanoes, the Realm of Unbounded Destion is probably the ce you want to be.

    ¡°Aside from that, a grand Qi warrior event is going to be held in the Realm of Unbounded Destion soon. You should go check it out. I¡¯m sure it will broaden your horizons.

    ¡°Have you heard a saying that goes: equipment forgers in allnds originate from the Tool Sect?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    Dong Li rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Such an idiot... The Tool Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion is the origin of every equipment forger in the Domain of the Falling Stars. As far as I know, the first sectmaster and founder of the Spiritual Treasure Sect in the Realm of me Heaven was a disciple of the Tool Sect. Technically speaking, the Spiritual Treasure Sect can be considered a branch of the Tool Sect. It¡¯s just that the Tool Sect hasn¡¯t officially acknowledged the rtionship between them.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The first sectmaster of the Spiritual Treasure Sect was a disciple of the Tool Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s watery eyes glittered as she said with a smile, ¡°What¡¯s there to gasp about? The Spiritual Treasure Sect isn¡¯t the only one that has connections with the Tool Sect. Many equipment forgers from the Heaven Pce Sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Yin Sect and Yang Sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and many other sects also have close connections with the Tool Sect.

    ¡°They¡¯re either former disciples of the Tool Sect, or they¡¯ve once studied equipment forging skills in the Tool Sect, or they¡¯ve been rated by the Tool Sect.

    ¡°Oh right, Li Ye¡¯s master used to be a renowned equipment forger of the Tool Sect as well.

    ¡°She was defeated in thepetition for the sectmaster¡¯s position. After that, she left the Tool Sect in a huff, and has been living in the Realm of Split Void since then.

    ¡°The Tool Sect¡¯s decennial Equipment Forger Assessment Assembly will be held shortly. I¡¯ve heard that Li Ye is going as well. He wants to take advantage of this opportunity and certify his status as a Premium grade equipment forger.

    ¡°Other than him, I¡¯ve heard that Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect is going attend the assessment of Spirit Channeling grade equipment forgers.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed overwhelmed as he asked, ¡°Equipment Forger Assessment Assembly? Why would equipment forgers go to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to attend this assessment event held by the Tool Sect?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because only when the Tool Sect has determined that someone qualifies as a Premium grade equipment forger will others acknowledge his or her status as a Premium grade equipment forger.¡± Dong Li went on and exined to him, ¡°For example, it seems that Li Ye is capable of forging Premium grade spiritual tools now. Therefore, he should be considered a Premium grade equipment forger now, right?

    ¡°However, not everyone knows or believes that he¡¯s capable of forging Premium grade spiritual tools.

    ¡°However, once he has been assessed by the Tool Sect and carries an identity medallion issued by them, everyone will acknowledge his status as a Premium grade equipment forger.

    ¡°If he¡¯s still regarded as a Medium grade equipment forger in Shatter City, the price of his products will continue to be fairly low.

    ¡°Once he obtains an identity medallion for Premium grade equipment forgers issued by the Tool Sect, his status and prices will be very different. Even if people still ask him to forge Medium grade spiritual tools, he will be able to charge a higher price.

    ¡°Furthermore, only after he has obtained a Premium grade equipment forger¡¯s identity medallion will people trust him to do a good job forging a Premium grade spiritual tool.

    ¡°The identity medallion issued by the Tool Sect symbolizes an equipment forger¡¯s capability and status, which will be acknowledged by everyone and every sect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    After a brief halt, Dong Li added, ¡°Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect, along with many other Premium grade equipment forgers, had their status determined during these assessment Assemblies.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised.

    After hearing that Fang Hui and Li Ye were going to attend this grand event in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, he grew increasingly intrigued.

    ¡°This grand event in the Realm of Unbounded Destion will attract countless equipment forgers from around the Domain of the Falling Stars. The participants will forge spiritual tools of various grades during the assessment assembly, many of which will be sold on site. Therefore, not only are equipment forgers are going to attend, but powerful Qi warriors from various sects will also be there.

    ¡°Most people don¡¯t usually get the opportunity to meet top equipment forgers, much less ask them to forge spiritual tools for them.

    ¡°Therefore, this assembly held by the Tool Sect will be a perfect opportunity for those who have gathered enough materials and want to have customized spiritual tools made that agree with them.

    ¡°Truth be told, I was nning to go to the Realm of Unbounded Destion after this exploration trip.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re in search of a ce that¡¯s rich in me power to recharge the me Dragon Armor, we might as well go together.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go to the Realm of Unbounded Destion together.¡±

    Seeing that Nie Tian had agreed, Dong Li smile heartily and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll take you to the inter-realm teleportation portal we¡¯ve set up in the Realm of Dark Underworld. From there, we¡¯ll teleport to the Realm of Unbounded Destion directly. You¡¯ll be responsible for keeping an eye out for local Qi warriors and making sure we don¡¯t get exposed.¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    With a softugh, Dong Li took out a map from within her ring of holding and started ncing around, trying to determine their current location.

    A whileter, she pointed in a direction, saying, ¡°That way.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Cracks filled the dried-up, dark-red earth. Mountain ranges filled with sparsely-vegetated mountain peaks of various heights stretched out as far as the eye could see.

    In remote locations, thick smoke was rising from some of the mountain peaks, along with asional mes and deep rumbles.

    The hot and dry Deste City sat at the cracked bottom of a basin. Under the scorching sun, Qi warriors in Deste City frequently wiped sweat from their faces, cursing the horrible weather in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Like Water Moon City, Deste City wasn¡¯t surrounded by high walls. Everyone was free to enter or exit the city.

    Even so, the Tool Sect was its undisputed master.

    At this moment, all of the dpidated stone pavilions in the city were filled with visitors.

    In a corner of Deste City, Li Ye was standing at the windowsill of a two-floored pavilion made of crimson stones. Looking down at the endless stream of people in the street, he said to Pei Qiqi beside him, ¡°When will our master return from her trip, senior martial sister? The Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly is in less than a month. I kinda want to see her before it starts.¡±

    ¡°Master is currently in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡± Pei Qiqi said with her usual expressionless face. ¡°It¡¯s just that she¡¯s forging something for someone, so she won¡¯t visit us until she¡¯s finished.¡±

    She shot Li Ye a nce from the corner of her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not afraid of failing, are you?¡±

    Li Yeughed out loud. ¡°How can I fail?! The me Star I forged for Nie Tian is an indisputably Premium grade spiritual tool! The fact that I can forge the me Star means that I can forge another Premium grade spiritual tool at the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly! If people didn¡¯t only acknowledge the identity medallions issued by the Tool Sect, I wouldn¡¯t have wasted my time bying here.

    ¡°Just remember not to lose face for our master,¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly. ¡°She should have be the sectmaster of the Tool Sect. That was such a narrow loss. Now that she¡¯s left the Tool Sect and you¡¯re her only disciple who specializes in equipment forging, you can¡¯t let those from the Tool Sectugh at us!¡±

    ¡°I know, I know,¡± Li Ye said said in an unrestrained and carefree manner. ¡°I¡¯m such a talented young Premium grade equipment forger. How in the world will I embarrass master? Oh right, have you really never seen Nie Tian after you were separated in the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly as she said, ¡°No.¡±

 Chapter 434: The Tool Sect

    Inside a stone room in the belly of a volcano in the Realm of Unbounded Destion...

    Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect was standing in the middle of the room provided by the Tool Sect, examining it carefully.

    In about a month, he would try to forge a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool in this room, which was designated for equipment forging.

    By then, people from the Tool Sect woulde over and make sure that he was the only one who had participated in the equipment forging process.

    Only if he was able to forge a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool under such circumstances would the Tool Sect issue him an identity medallion establishing his status as a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger.

    The people from the Tool Sect who had led him to this room had already left after offering some reminders.

    At this moment, other than Fang Hui, there was another person in this equipment forging room: Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji and Fang Hui were sworn friends. This event was simply too important for Fang Hui. Therefore, in order to make sure nothing went wrong during his entire equipment forging process, Wu Ji would serve as his guard and protect him until he was finished.

    Fang Hui nodded after he finished examining the room. Seeing that, Wu Ji asked in a soft voice, ¡°How likely do you think you are to seed this time?¡±

    ¡°About sixty percent,¡± Fang Hui said with a bitter smile. ¡°I¡¯ve spent the past five years gathering all of the necessary spiritual materials for this event. If I fail this time, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to gather enough spiritual materials for the next. As you know, I¡¯ve been stuck at the middle Profound realm for a long time. If I can seed this time, it would give a strong boost to my cultivation.

    ¡°But if I fail...¡± With a sigh, he turned to look at Wu Ji, aplicated look filling his eyes. ¡°If I fail, I might still be able to be acknowledged as a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger in my remaining years. But I¡¯ll never enter the Soul realm in my lifetime.¡±

    ¡°Rx. You¡¯re gonna seed.¡± Wu Ji said with unmasked destion on his face. ¡°But my... my time is running out.¡±

    Fang Hui¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you manage to enter thete Profound realm half a year ago? Even though you didn¡¯t announce it, I still learned about it.¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Such a minor breakthrough won¡¯t extend my lifespan. Only by entering the Soul realm will I break though my current lifespan limit. However, I¡¯ve spent too long advancing from the middle Profound realm to thete Profound realm. Now, I¡¯ve only got thirty years left. I can¡¯t possibly break through into the Soul realm within such a short time.¡±

    Fang Hui sighed deeply. ¡°Thirty years...¡±

    As a Profound realm expert himself, he was well-aware that it was an impossible task for someone to advance from thete Profound realm to the Soul realm in thirty years.

    Wu Ji put on a big-hearted smile and said, ¡°Don¡¯t feel sorry for me yet. There¡¯s still a gleam of hope... which lies with Nie Tian.¡±

    Fang Hui was shocked. ¡°Nie Tian??¡±

    Wu Ji nodded, but didn¡¯t give an exnation.

    ¡°That kid is indeed a miracle worker.¡± Fang Hui recalled the time when he had been impressed by the grown Nie Tian at the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven. ¡°But as resourceful as he is, he can¡¯t cheat death and give you more years, can he?!¡±

    ¡°Who knows," Wu Ji said with a faint smile.

    ¡°You old goat, even if you can¡¯t pull through this one, with those three overachieving disciples of yours, you should be able to embark upon your journey to the yellow springs with a smile on your face.¡± Fang Hui sounded quite envious. ¡°Each of them turned out to be more aplished than their senior martial brothers before them. As for this Nie Tian kid, as the inheritor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the sky is his limit.

    ¡°But I, on the other hand, am not as lucky as you. All of my disciples have turned out to be mediocre.¡± He couldn¡¯t help but sigh again.

    ¡°You still have time,¡± Wu Ji consoled him. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ll find someone who can carry on your legacy one day. Don¡¯t lose faith yet.¡±

    ¡°Do you have any idea where Nie Tian is now?¡± Fang Hui asked.

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°No. We had chances to reunite, but we missed each other every time.¡±

    ¡°That kid is has been through a lot,¡± Fang Hui said softly.

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°Yeah, he has a lot on his shoulders.¡±

    ...

    Also in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, Li Jing, walked out of the inter-realm teleportation portal in Deste City along with Shen Xiu, Yu Tong, and a few others.

    The reason they hade to the Realm of Unbounded Destion was that they had received word that the remains of a seventh grade Bonebrute had been unearthed in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    In ancient times, the Realm of Unbounded Destion used to be home to the Bonebrutes.

    These people from the Blood Sect hade with the intention of purchasing the Bonebrute¡¯s remains and bringing them back to the Blood Sect, so that they could turn it into a Blood Demon with their secret method.

    Yu Tong, who had never been to the Realm of Unbounded Destion before, nced around, but all she could see were powerful Qi warriors and equipment forgers that hade from a variety of realms.

    ¡°Behave yourselves and stay out of trouble while we¡¯re in the Realm of Unbounded Destion,¡± Shen Xiu reminded the juniors from her sect with a stern look on her face. ¡°The history and strength of our sect is almost negligible whenpared to the powerful sects you¡¯ll see here. This assessment assembly held by the Tool Sect will attract powerful experts from every ancient sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Don¡¯t you dare act on your own like you¡¯re still in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Every junior, including Yu Tong, nodded hastily in reply.

    Shen Xiu let out deep sigh and said, ¡°Hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to purchase the remains of that Bonebrute, bring them back to the Blood Sect, and turn them into a Bone Blood Demon of our own.¡±

    Li Jing shot a nce at her and said, ¡°You¡¯ve got to lighten up. The fact that Nie Tian was able to awaken that Bone Blood Demon meant that we were on the right path. This time, we just need to be more patient, and perhaps we¡¯ll turn it into a brand-new Bone Blood Demon.

    ¡°On the other hand, since Nie Tian has learned and practices our Blood Refining Incantation, he should be considered an honorary member of our sect already.

    ¡°The fact that he chose toe to our sect instead of the Cloudsoaring Sect after returning to the Realm of me Heaven proved that he had good feelings for the Blood Sect.¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s name, many of the Blood Sect disciples had mixed emotions on their faces.

    Some were still unhappy about the fact that Nie Tian had awakened the Bonebrute, turning it into a Bone Blood Demon that would only answer hismands.

    Others were grateful for him saving the Blood Sect and the Realm of me Heaven, hoping that he would join the Blood Sect one day and officially be a disciple of the Blood Sect.

    There would be no higher honor if Nie Tian, the inheritor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who had turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer, would agree to join their Sect.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Li Jing said with a wave of her hand. ¡°We need to find a ce to stay in Deste City first. Then we¡¯ll wait for word of the Bonebrute¡¯s remains.¡±

    The crowd thus left therge-scale, inter-realm teleportation portal.

    Four hours after they were gone, Nie Tian and Dong Li shed into appearance in the same portal.

    The singrly beautiful Dong Li had changed her appearance again, and resumed the face she had used in the Realm of Split Void.

    Nie Tian, beside her, was wearing the mask Dong Baijie had given him as a gift.

    After stepping out of the portal, Nie Tian nced around at the forest of stone pavilions before his eyes and asked, ¡°Are youing with me, or staying in Deste City?¡±

    On their way here, Dong Li had told him almost everything about this assessment assembly in Deste City, which would be held by the Tool Sect in a month.

    He hadn¡¯te because of this grand event, but instead, he hade to recharge the me Dragon Armor with me power.

    ¡°It¡¯s still going to be a while before the assembly opens, and I don¡¯t seem to have better things to do until then, so...¡± With a soft chuckle, Dong Li stretched and shot Nie Tian a nce out of the corner of her eyes, asking, ¡°What? I¡¯m not wee to go with you?¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to waste your time,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t have anything better to do until then.¡± Dong Li made her stance clear again.

    A tiresome expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Be my guest then.¡±

    On their way to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, he had felt that Dong Li was going to be stuck to him the whole time they were in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. However, he didn¡¯t want to be too involved with this woman.

    ¡°You know nothing about the Realm of Unbounded Destion. It won¡¯t be easy if you go on a search for a suitable volcano by yourself.¡± With a disdainful snort, Dong Li muttered, ¡°You should consider yourself lucky and learn to appreciate my kindness now that I¡¯m willing to provide you with assistance by being your guide.¡±

    Nie Tian regretted his decisions already.

    ¡°Be amb and follow me.¡± With these words, Dong Li took the initiative and strode forward.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian followed along.

    Under her leadership, the two of them soon walked out of Deste City.

    Upon stepping through the city gate, Nie Tian¡¯s sight was no longer blocked by the forest of stone pavilions, and he was finally able to see arge number of mountain peaks on the distant horizon.

    On their way here, Dong Li had informed him that Deste City was surrounded by quite a few volcanoes.

    Only a small proportion of them had been imed and explored by the Tool Sect for their disciples¡¯ and elders¡¯ equipment forging use.

    Since the number of volcanoes near Deste City was too great, even the Tool Sect couldn¡¯t explore and make use of all of them.

    The target volcano Dong Li wanted to help Nie Tian find was one of those volcanoes that hadn¡¯t been imed by the Tool Sect or other equipment forgers.

 Chapter 435: An Old Opponent

    As the two of them marched on, Dong Li told Nie Tian about the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion in a low voice from time to time.

    They came across three enormous, extinct volcanoes along their way.

    They all belonged to the Tool Sect. It was just that, after centuries of consumption, the me power within them had already beenpletely drained by Qi warriors from the Tool Sect for equipment forging.

    One day passed...

    As soon as Nie Tian and Song Li arrived at the foot of a short mountain peak, he sensed that the me Dragon Armor had grown restless.

    He immediately realized that this unimpressive mountain peak contained fierce me power in its belly.

    Thus, he came to a stop.

    As he examined the me Dragon Armor with his soul awareness, he noticed that wisps of flesh power being generated from the spirit beast meat he had consumed earlier were quietly dispersing from his abdomen into his bracelet of holding.

    This feeling went on for a while...

    That was when he realized that the me Dragon Armor had been secretly absorbing his flesh power ever since he had returned from the mysteriousnd.

    Meanwhile, it seemed that the green aura coiled at the bottom of his heart knew nothing about it.

    During this period of time, every time he replenished his flesh power with spirit beast meat, a quarter of it would quietly flow towards the me Dragon Armor within his bracelet of holding.

    He understood that the me Dragon Armor had overly consumed its strength to refine the discarnate souls and Specters within the Spirit Pearl. At this moment, it was like a dried-up well that desperately needed to be refilled with power.

    What surprised him was that it didn¡¯t straightforwardly absorb me power from his spiritual sea.

    Instead, it showed a strong, almost greedy desire for his flesh power. Even though it was stored in his bracelet of holding, it was still channeling his flesh power bit by bit.

    Therefore, he suspected that his me power was merely a cup of water to a burning cart of firewood for the me Dragon Armor. (Idiom: an utterly inadequate measure)

    The amount of me power the me Dragon Armor needed would probably be an astronomical figure. Considering his current cultivation base and strength, the me power within his spiritual sea wouldn¡¯t make even the slightest difference to the me Dragon Armor.

    He recalled that there had been two asions where he had witnessed the me Dragon Armor madly absorb me power.

    The first time had been when it had drained the me power of every mecloud gem in the Nie n¡¯s mine.

    The other time had been when it had snatched torrential me power from the mouth of the Earth me Beast in thevake deep under the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    The reason why he had decided toe to the Realm of Unbounded Destion in search of a suitable volcano was that he knew that he knew that the fire-attributed spiritual materials in his possession were far from enough for the me Dragon Armor to restore itself to its normal state.

    At this moment, standing at the foot of this seemingly unimpressive volcano, he once again felt the me Dragon Armor¡¯s intense urging.

    As Nie Tian sized up the mountain peak, which was about a thousand meters high, he noticed that people would asionally enter and exit the numerous caves halfway up the mountain peak. ¡°This mountain peak...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Dong Li hastily stopped him. ¡°This volcano belongs to the Tool Sect! There¡¯s still rich me power within the belly of this volcano. The reason why it¡¯s not spewing anyva or mes is because it¡¯s being suppressed by a spell formation set up by the Tool Sect, which continuously channels the torrentialva and mes into each and every equipment forging room in those caves.¡±

    With those words, Dong Li pointed into the distance. ¡°Those volcanoes that have smoke and mes constantly rising from them are the ones that haven¡¯t been imed by the Tool Sect. That¡¯s where you can try to unleash your me Dragon Armor.¡±

    With a thought, Nie Tian suppressed the me Dragon Armor¡¯s urging as he looked off into the distance and said, ¡°Man, that¡¯s far.¡±

    Dong Li sighed. ¡°I know. If only we had an air-transportation spiritual tool of our own.¡±

    She pointed up into the sky at a crimson chariot, which had just flown out of Deste City. ¡°Look at those people from the Tool Sect...¡±

    ¡°That crimson chariot is named Rainbow Lightning, an air-transportation spiritual tool that costs five million spirit stones to forge. If we had a vehicle like that, we¡¯d be able to arrive at our destination and find a suitable unimed volcano for the me Dragon Armor within hours.¡±

    Upon hearing Dong Li talk about air-transportation spiritual tools, Nie Tian sighed inwardly, thinking that their journey would have been much easier if he had gotten the air-transportation spiritual tool left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce out of the mountain peak in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Having an air-transportation spiritual tool, the speed at which they traveled would be enhanced by at least a dozen times.

    Instead of spending a month traveling from the ¡°Phantasm relic¡± in the Realm of Dark Underworld to the inter-realm teleportation portal, they would have only needed a day or two.

    ¡°Hmm?!" He eximed as he watched the Rainbow Lightning whizz by over their heads, a strange look appearing in his eyes.

    He saw an acquaintance on the Rainbow Lightning: Wu Ling.

    During the Heaven Gate trial, he had once fought him in the Lesser Heaven section in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    His high battle prowess, fancy spiritual armor, and his unique, devilish saber had all left a deep impression on him.

    The reason he had defeated Wu Ling back then was that he had been able to create powerful spiritual energy balls with the iparably rich spiritual Qi in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and used them to attack him, along with his other battle techniques.

    Just now, he saw with great rity that Wu Ling was standing at the front of the Rainbow Lightning, dressed in a ck garment with a grave expression on his face.

    The other few males and females, who were also dressed in the Tool Sect¡¯s garments, seemed to be trying to y up to him. However, he simply ignored them.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Nie Tian frowned slightly. ¡°I just saw an acquaintance.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°An acquaintance?! Those who just passed over us seemed to be members of the Tool Sect, but since they were moving so fast, I didn¡¯t get a clear view of them. So who was it?¡±

    ¡°Wu Ling, who I fought once during the Heaven Gate trial,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Wu Ling!¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised by her reaction. ¡°Do you know who he is?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Dong Li nodded. ¡°That guy has a very special background. His mother is a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger, while his father... is even more legendary. Since Wu Ling¡¯s cultivation attribute isn¡¯t fire, he didn¡¯t inherit his mother¡¯s equipment forging attainments. Also, it wasn¡¯t his dream to be an equipment forger.

    ¡°Therefore, he went on the same path his father had taken: the path to ultimate power.

    ¡°As far as I know, he could have advanced to the Heaven stage before the Heaven Gate trial started. But in order to gain an edge in the trial, he forcibly halted his cultivation progress, so that he would have a better chance at obtaining a fragmentary star mark as a Lesser Heaven stage cultivator. However, he ran into you, and thus returned in defeat and frustration.

    ¡°But after his return from the Heaven Gate trial, he made several consecutive breakthroughs in the past few years, and sessfully entered the Greater Heaven stage, which was miraculous.

    ¡°Furthermore, I heard that he¡¯s on the verge of another breakthrough now.¡±

    A rare frustrated expression appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face as she watched the Rainbow Lightning disappear into the distant horizon. ¡°He¡¯s got such a special background and amazing cultivation talent. Meanwhile, the Tool Sect goes all-out to cultivate him. I bet it won¡¯t be long before he makes another breakthrough and enters the middle Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    A grim expression spread out on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he muttered, ¡°Three years... from the Lesser Heaven stage to the Greater Heaven stage...¡±

    Dong Li suddenly came to her senses. She jerked her head to look at him and said, ¡°Of course,pared to him, your advancement in cultivation is even more monstrous! You practice power of various attributes simultaneously, yet you also managed to advance from the Lesser Heaven stage to the Greater Heaven stage in three years. If Wu Ling learns that you¡¯ve also entered the Greater Heaven stage, I bet he¡¯d be more shocked than you are.¡±

    ¡°That guy...¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath. ¡°I hope I don¡¯t encounter him while I¡¯m in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°For sure. You defeated him and took his fragmentary star mark. That guy doesn¡¯t have a big heart like my brother. He won¡¯t forget what you¡¯ve done to him.¡±

    ¡°During the Heaven Gate trial, I exerted all my power and used a talisman my master had given me, and even then I only won by a narrow margin,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°In order to get out alive, he severed his own hand. And I shattered that hand to secure the first fragmentary star mark.¡±

    ¡°I see...¡± Dong Li said with a shocked expression on her face. ¡°No wonder he always wears a glove on his left hand. I thought he was trying to hide something.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°A glove?¡±

    Just now, when the Rainbow Lightning shed by, he had only seen Wu Ling¡¯s face, not his hands.

    ¡°Yeah, ever since he returned from the Heaven Gate trial, he¡¯s been wearing a ck glove on his left hand, and no one has ever seen him take it off.¡± After a moment of pondering, Dong Li added, ¡°Although, reattaching people¡¯s limbs isn¡¯t an impossible task for the mighty Tool Sect. It¡¯s hard to say whether he¡¯ll have a new hand the next time you see him.

    ¡°Of course, it can either be grown for him or taken from other things.

    ¡°It¡¯s even possible that his new hand will turn out to be even stronger than the original one.

    ¡°Anyways, we¡¯d better stay away from him. Otherwise, it will cause us a lot of trouble.¡±

    With a grim face, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll try to avoid him.¡±

 Chapter 436: A Close Miss

    As Nie Tian and Dong Li marched towards the volcanoes that hadn¡¯t been imed by the Tool Sect, they would often see the Rainbow Lightning sh past over their heads.

    Those who stood on it were mostly people from the Tool Sect. They traveled back and forth between Deste City and the numerous volcanoes, as if they were on some kind of mission.

    Nie Tian envied them inwardly for having ess to the Rainbow Lightning, and imagined that one day he would be strong enough to get the air-transportation spiritual tool left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce out of the mountain peak in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    During the first few days of their journey, every volcano Nie Tian and Dong Li came across had been upied and was guarded by people from the Tool Sect.

    Equipment forging rooms had been established in each and every volcano.

    After the first few days, even though the volcanoes they came across were also guarded by people from the Tool Sect, many of the equipment forgers who worked there seemed to be from other sects.

    Dong Li exined to him, ¡°Powerful equipment forgers from the other realmse here to forge high grade spiritual tools, sometimes even Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

    ¡°For example, Fang Hui from the Realm of me Heaven will need to forge a Spirit Channeling grade treasure under the Tool Sect¡¯s supervision in order for him to be acknowledged as a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger.

    ¡°Equipment forgers like him will need to have a volcano to themselves, so that their needs for an endless supply of me power will be met.

    ¡°Before the assessment assembly starts, people from the Tool Sect will show them to different equipment forging rooms in different volcanoes, where they will make preparations and make sure the cultivation rooms they are allotted meet their needs.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, showing that he understood.

    Over the past few days, even though he didn¡¯t unleash his nine Heaven Eyes, he was able to sense the auras on the foreign equipment forgers in the volcanoes he passed, and learned that every single one of them possessed an extraordinary cultivation base.

    Therefore, he spected that all of those foreign equipment forgers hade here to advance to the Spirit Channeling grade.

    ¡°No more than twenty percent of them will be able to actually forge a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool,¡± Dong Li said with a sarcastic tone. ¡°Most of them are only here to try their luck and squander their time.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s that difficult?¡± Nie Tian seemed surprised.

    ¡°Of course!¡± Dong Li snorted disdainfully. ¡°Do you think Spirit Channeling grade treasures are easy to make? As far as I know, there are only about a dozen certified Spirit Channeling grade equipment forgers throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. The Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly is held every ten years. There have been many times where not a single equipment forger could advance to the Spirit Channeling grade.¡±

    As they spoke, Nie Tian found himself standing by the foot of another high volcano.

    He looked up and saw a sizable cave halfway up the mountain, and beside the mouth of the cave sat two equipment forgers from the Tool Sect, as if they were waiting for something.

    After a quick nce, he withdrew his gaze and moved on under Dong Li¡¯s urging.

    Soon after they were gone, Fang Hui and Wu Ji stepped out of the cave.

    Fang Hui nodded at one of the Tool Sect members, epting his arrangement. ¡°Everything seems fine. This is it. I¡¯ll take this volcano and this equipment forging room.¡±

    ¡°Good luck to you then. We¡¯lle over when the assessment assembly starts.¡± With these words, the two Tool Sect members turned around and left.

    Fang Hui and Wu Ji stood by the mouth of the cave and watched them leave.

    ¡°Have you ever heard of Fruits of Life?¡± Fang Hui asked.

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyebrows rose as he nodded. ¡°I sure have.¡±

    Fang Hui took his time and said, ¡°Rumor had it that your disciple Nie Tian consumed a Fruit of Life during the Heaven Gate trial. Thanks to that, his lifespan has been greatly prolonged. It was also by relying on the rich life force within that Fruit of Life that he was able to awaken that Bone Blood Demon in the Blood Sect.¡±

    A chuckle escaped Wu Ji¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°Nie Tian being able to awaken that Bone Blood Demon probably had nothing to do with him consuming any Fruits of Life.¡±

    Like Hua Mu, he was one of the few people in this world who knew about Nie Tian¡¯s special bloodline.

    He was well-aware that the fact that Nie Tian had been able to vest the Bone Blood Demon with life force and awaken it had nothing to do with any Fruit of Life. It was all because of his unique bloodline.

    ¡°Oh, okay...¡± Fang Hui seemed to have faith his judgment. ¡°But Fruits of Life do exist. Also, they seem to have appeared in the Realm of Unbounded Destion before.¡±

    Gazing off into the distance at the numerousva-spewing volcanoes, he added, ¡°The weather andndforms of the Realm of Unbounded Destion are quite unique. As the former habitat of Bonebrutes, it¡¯s dry, deste, and filled with active volcanoes. Normally speaking, it¡¯s not likely for Fruits of Life to appear in such a ce.

    ¡°However, many things in this world are moreplicated and profound than we can ever imagine, and they can¡¯t be exined with logic.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that somewhere in this deste and lifelessnd exists a miraculous ce where the wood power is so extremely rich that it could produce Fruits of Life.

    ¡°How about I go look around with you after the assessment assembly is over?¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ve heard that rumor too. As a matter of fact, this is my seventh visit to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. All six times before this, I hade in pursuit of that rumor. I¡¯ve practically covered the entire Realm of Unbounded Destion, but still failed to find that promised ce where wood power is almost thick as water.

    ¡°Even the Tool Sect, which is rooted in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, hasn¡¯t been able to find it. How can we?¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Fang Hui could only sigh deeply.

    ¡°That magical ce does exist somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Of that, I¡¯m sure.¡± At that moment, the figure of a person shed into appearance at the mouth of the cave.

    It was Hua Mu.

    Upon seeing him, Wu Ji¡¯s expression flickered dramatically. ¡°It¡¯s you?! Why are you here?¡±

    Several years ago, when Nie Tian had suddenly vanished from the Realm of me Heaven, Hua Mu had secretly visited Wu Ji in the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    The two of them had talked briefly.

    Back then, Wu Ji hadn¡¯t been able to see through Hua Mu, nor had he known that Hua Mu had secretly protected and helped Nie Tian more than a few times.

    Now, even though Wu Ji had broken through into thete Profound realm, he still couldn¡¯t determine Hua Mu¡¯s actual cultivation base or identity.

    ¡°Mr. Fang, if you don¡¯t mind, can I have a moment with Mr. Wu?¡± Hua Mu asked with a smile.

    Fang Hui had seen Hua Mu once at the major spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven. He could tell that this unfathomable man had been on Nie Tian¡¯s side and was secretly protecting Nie Tian.

    ¡°Of course.¡± With a nod, Fang Hui leaped away from the mouth of the cave and down towards the foot of the mountain.

    Hua Mu followed Wu Ji into the equipment forging room the Tool Sect had prepared for Fang Hui.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna be honest with you, Mr. Wu. You and I are facing the same problem.¡± A bitter smile appeared on Hua Mu¡¯s face. ¡°The lifespan problem.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I suspected,¡± Wu Ji said in a low voice.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression grew serious as he said, ¡°It¡¯s not a rumor that Fruits of Life have appeared in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. It¡¯s a fact. That miraculous ce does exist somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. It¡¯s just that normal people can¡¯t perceive its existence, and thus can¡¯t find it.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Have you also looked for it?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have.¡± Hua Mu let out a sigh. ¡°But just like you, I also failed to find anything, not a single spider¡¯s web or horse¡¯s footprint. (idiom: not a clue).¡±

    ¡°Then why are you here?¡± Wu Ji asked.

    ¡°You and I both know how unique Nie Tian is. He carries a mysterious bloodline, which... is what we need.¡± After a moment of pondering, he continued, ¡°The way I see it, if anyone possesses the unique ability to perceive and locate that miraculous ce in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, Nie Tian should be one of them.¡±

    Wu Ji pondered a while in silence before he eximed, ¡°Are you saying that his bloodline power would allow him to find that ce?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m notpletely certain, but I think that¡¯s very likely.¡± Hua Mu suddenly began to seem rather hesitant. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°But I¡¯ve lost contact with the boy, and have no idea where he is now. Thetest word I¡¯ve received indicates that he has gone to explore a Phantasm relic in the Realm of Dark Underworld with a group of juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°Later, he seemed to have been chased away by a mysterious object of the Phantasms, and has vanished since then.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯s still alive. But if he is, he¡¯ll probably visit you someday.¡±

    Wu Ji was bbergasted. ¡°Nie Tian is in danger?¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily. All we know is that he¡¯s gone missing.¡± Hua Mu sighed. ¡°He shoulders our hope. I don¡¯t ever want bad things to happen to him. The way I see it, he¡¯s probably still alive, and he might go to visit you in the Cloudsoaring Sect in the future. So please let me know if you ever see him or receive word of him.

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve learned, the miraculous ce that could breed Fruits of Life might appear again soon.

    ¡°If you see him, please bring him to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. We¡¯ll help him search for that ce together, and hopefully we¡¯ll get to find Fruits of Life.¡±

    Wu Ji fixed his deep eyes on him for a while before asking, ¡°You¡¯re also nearing the end of your lifespan, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    A bitter smile spread out on Hua Mu¡¯s face.

 Chapter 437: Not Even A Blade of Grass

    Days passed...

    Nie Tian and Dong Li passed numerous volcanoes and came across quite a number of equipment forgers.

    Gradually, the volcanoes they passed along their way were no longer upied and guarded by people from the Tool Sect.

    However, foreign equipment forgers could be seen wandering around them. Knowing that loud noises might ur when the me Dragon Armor started absorbing me power from the heart of a volcano, Nie Tian decided to be patient and march further.

    Two weeks passed.

    The two of them finally arrived in a region rarely visited by people. Under the scorching sun, thick smoke was rising from a nearby volcano as burningva spewed out of its top.

    Rivers ofva streamed down the mountain and slowly flowed in every direction.

    The two of them followed one of the rivers ofva to the foot of the mountain. Without any hesitation, Nie Tian condensed and unleashed his nine Heaven Eyes.

    They spread out in the air and started scanning the vicinity for signs of life.

    Standing beside him, Dong Li dabbed sweat from her forehead from time to time, cursing the unbearable heat in this ce.

    Dong Li, who was wearing a fewyers, had to take off her cape, revealing her curvaceous physique.

    Dressed in nothing but a thin, faint, cyan, short suit, her alluring body was now fully disyed.

    Even though she had assumed a less charming face, her perfect curves alone were enough to bewitch any man.

    Exposed to the fierce sunlight, she had long since been covered in sweat. Even the handkerchief she used to dab her face had be soaking wet.

    ¡°What do you think of this one?¡± She asked, looking at Nie Tian.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian was still examining the vicinity with his nine Heaven Eyes.

    After withdrawing them, Nie Tian gazed at the short mountain and said, ¡°Alright, it seems that there aren¡¯t any fluctuations of life aura in the vicinity. This is it then.¡±

    The volcano was only several hundred meters high. Not the least bit of vegetation could be seen on it.

    In fact, they hadn¡¯t spotted a single nt their whole way here.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with this ce?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Why didn¡¯t we see any vegetation even after marching for so long?¡±

    Dong Li had already taken out a folding fan. Fanning herself, she said with a tiresome expression on her face, ¡°Originally, this realm belonged to the Bonebrutes. After the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce descended upon the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Bonebrutes suffered crushing defeats. Those that weren¡¯t killed fled. As thousands of years passed, this realm gradually developed into a paradise for human equipment forgers.

    ¡°The weather here has always been like this; not even a de of grass can be seen in most ces. This was also true when the Bonebrutes still ruled it.

    ¡°However, there¡¯s a fascinating rumor about the strange environment in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Dong Li intentionally mystified what she was about to tell him.

    Intrigued, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What rumor?¡±

    Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile and said, ¡°It¡¯s said that the reason why not even a de of grass can be seen in most ces is because somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion exists a wondrous ce where the wood power is almost as rich and concentrated as water. It¡¯s because that wondrous ce absorbs all of the wood power that the Realm of Unbounded Destion is so barren.¡±

    ¡°Does that ce really exist?¡± Nie Tian seemed very skeptical.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. But that rumor has been around for many, many years. It¡¯s also said that Fruits of Life grow there.¡± It seemed that Dong Li didn¡¯t quite believe the rumor either. She curled her lips and continued, ¡°For hundreds of years, countless cultivators havee to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to try their luck when their time was running out, hoping to find that magical ce where Fruits of Life grow.

    ¡°However, until this day, no one seems to have actually found the ce and secured any Fruits of Life.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°If there really is such a ce, the Tool Sect would have done something about it already.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why it¡¯s just a rumor,¡± Dong Li said.

    With that, Nie Tian cast the rumor about the magical ce and Fruits of Life out of his mind and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯m ready to unleash the me Dragon Armor.¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Okay."

    Convinced that no one was in the vicinity, Nie Tian summoned the me Dragon Armor from within his bracelet of holding.

    The me Dragon Armor whooshed out. Like a streak of mes, it shot directly towards theva-spewing volcano.

    Standing at the foot of the mountain, Nie Tian and Dong Li watched with great rity as the me Dragon Armor dove into the mouth of the volcano.

    Even though there was a significant distance between Nie Tian and the me Dragon Armor, he could sense, by relying on the subtle connection between them, that the me Dragon Armor was cheering.

    That was when he realized that he had made the right decision bying to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to find an active volcano for the me Dragon Armor.

    He let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the me Dragon Armor had entered the heart of the volcano, where no life could ever reach, and started absorbing fierce me power.

    Finally rxed, Nie Tian turned to look at Dong Li and said, ¡°Half a month has passed.¡±

    As he did, his eyes couldn¡¯t help but linger a few seconds on Dong Li¡¯s ample chest. ¡°The Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly is opening soon. If you go back now, following the route we¡¯ve taken to get here, you can still catch it. So do you want to go back to Deste City or do you want to stay here?¡±

    With chuckle, Dong Li stretched, highlighting the curves of her breasts and making them mind-stirring, although it was impossible to know whether or not she was doing it deliberately.

    Nie Tian, who was waiting for her answer, was once again attracted; his gaze involuntarily lowered and fixated on them.

    Dong Li¡¯s face was full of smiles as she said, ¡°Do you still remember what I told you in the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡±

    ¡°Told me what?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Eyes glittering with a bewildering light, Dong Li started leaning towards Nie Tian. ¡°That if you go all-out to help me during our trip in the Realm of Dark Underworld, I¡¯ll let you get intimate with me.¡±

    Only when her ample breasts, which her garment seemed to be failing to contain, were about to touch Nie Tian¡¯s chest did she stop.

    Gazing directly into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, she said with an extremely soft and tempting tone, ¡°I¡¯m rather satisfied with your performance during our trip in the Realm of Dark Underworld. My word is still good. Do you wanna...?¡±

    Looking down at Dong Li¡¯s full bosom, which was only a finger¡¯s breadth away from touching his chest, Nie Tian felt as if an insuppressible fire was burning inside of him.

    He immediately started feeling dry-mouthed.

    ¡°What? Are you scared?¡± Dong Li chuckled. ¡°You seemed rather bold when we were in the dense forest.¡±

    Provoked, Nie Tian grinned as he suddenly stuck out his chest.

    However, the contact he expected didn¡¯t ur, since the moment he stuck out his chest, Dong Li took a step backwards, putting some space between them.

    Nie Tian stared at her, discontent filling his eyes.

    Dong Li gazed back at him with a flirtatious look on her face. Then, she said with a taunting and pretentious tone, ¡°I thought you¡¯d changed, but who would have guessed that you¡¯re still the lecher you are! Do you really think you¡¯ve won my heart and I¡¯m ready to give myself to you? Quit dreaming! I¡¯m just having fun with you!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to be very embarrassed. Scratching his nose, he said, ¡°Thank you for taking me here. You shouldn¡¯t waste more of your time with me. You should return to Deste City and observe the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly.¡±

    Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°What? Getting angry?¡±

    A tiresome expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°No, I just don¡¯t think you should continue to waste your time by staying here with me.¡±

    ¡°I like it here,¡± Dong Li said with a cold snort. ¡°What I do is none of your business. I¡¯m not an equipment forger. Why would the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly concern me?¡±

    ¡°Suit yourself then.¡± Nie Tian turned his back on her.

    Dong Li actually stayed by Nie Tian¡¯s side over the next two days. Thick-skinned, she taunted and teased Nie Tian from time to time, as if she enjoyed it very much.

    One night.

    Nie Tian curled up in the cave he had opened in the mountain, where he waited for the me Dragon Armor to absorb me power while putting up with Dong Li¡¯s constant teasing. All of a sudden, his eyebrows furrowed as he said, ¡°Two men areing towards us.¡±

    Dong Li quit messing around and asked, ¡°Who are they?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but they don¡¯t seem to be from the Tool Sect,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    A quarter hourter, the two men stopped at the foot of the volcano. One of them, who was a Premium grade equipment forger, discovered the cave created by Nie Tian and Dong Li and said with a frown, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that such a remote volcano is also upied. Come on. Let¡¯s go find another one, Lu Shen.¡±

    The other man unleashed his psychic awareness. After a brief scan, he said, ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. It¡¯s just a couple of early Greater Heaven stage lovers. Who knows what kind of things they are doing here. I¡¯ll drive them away.¡±

    With those words, he dashed towards the cave where Dong Li and Nie Tian were, while shouting, ¡°Get the hell out of there!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face fell.

    Dong Li, however, smiled as she asked in a low voice, ¡°Is your me Dragon Armor still absorbing me power in the heart of this volcano?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes glittered as she said, ¡°Good. Let me handle this. Don¡¯t say a word.¡±

    ¡°Okay..."

 Chapter 438: Patience

    Nie Tian had no idea what Dong Li was up to.

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be awhile before the me Dragon Armor finishes, right? Since we don¡¯t have anything to do during this time, we might as well have some fun with them.¡± With these words, Dong Li walked out of the cave.

    Nie Tian followed along.

    As soon as he stepped out of the cave, he saw Lu Shen swiftly shing about along a stone path and rapidly approaching where they were.

    His nine Heaven Eyes were currently floating in the vicinity, covering the areas around the volcano.

    He had perceived Lu Shen¡¯s cultivation base the moment he showed up: thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t engaged in any battles with others yet after entering the Greater Heaven stage, he was convinced that his battle prowess had gone through a drastic improvement.

    He had dared to fight Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors when he had been at the Heaven stage, and even gained the upper-hand in most asions.

    Now that he had entered the Greater Heaven stage, he didn¡¯t feel the slightest fear facing a man like Lu Shen.

    He was also aware that the battle prowess of Dong Li, who was also at the early Greater Heaven stage and possessed the spirit of a ck phoenix, was probably also higher than Lu Shen¡¯s.

    As for Lu Shen¡¯s friend, who was still at the foot of the mountain, he was just an equipment forger at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Considering Dong Li¡¯s and his true strength and battle prowess, they were probably able to defeat Lu Shen and the other man in a battle.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Lu Shen arrived in front of them, at the mouth of the cave. With a grin, he said, ¡°Thank you for creating this cave for us. I believe it will suit Master Jiang¡¯s equipment forging needs. Now, you can get lost.¡±

    Lu Shen, from the Realm of Earth Sieve, hade here to hire a seasoned equipment forger to customize a spiritual tool for him, now that many equipment forgers were here to take part in the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly.

    Jiang Bo was the equipment forger he had hired from Deste City.

    As a Premium grade equipment forger, Jiang Bo hadn¡¯te to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to participate in the assessment assembly.

    Rather, he hade with a friend who, just like Li Ye, was hoping to be assessed as a Premium grade equipment forger this time.

    Lu Shen and Jiang Bo had reached an agreement, ording to which Lu Shen would gather the necessary materials and pay Jiang Bo fifty thousand spirit stones as an equipment forging fee.

    In fact, mes from the earth¡¯s core weren¡¯t necessary when forging Premium grade spiritual tools. It was because Lu Shen wanted to raise the sess rate that he had demanded Jiang Boe this far with him in search of a unupied volcano. After all, he didn¡¯t want the precious spiritual materials he had gone to great lengths to gather to go to waste.

    Since the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly was around the corner, many of the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion had already been upied by foreign equipment forgers.

    The two of them had taken a long journey to this remote and deste area, and rapidly set their minds on the very volcano where the me Dragon Armor was absorbing me power from the earth¡¯s core.

    After a brief scan from the foot of the mountain, Lu Shen, who was at thete Greater Heaven stage, discovered that Dong Li and Nie Tian were only at the early Greater Heaven stage. Therefore, he didn¡¯t intend to let go of this volcano and go find another one.

    A shocked and scared expression appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face. Nodding, she dragged Nie Tian away by the arm and said, ¡°Oh, so a master needs this volcano for equipment forging. It¡¯s all good. We¡¯re leaving.¡±

    A puzzled expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Lu Shenughed. ¡°Mmm... smart choice.¡±

    His gaze spent only a second on Dong Li¡¯s disguised face before roaming down to her ample chest.

    Then, his gaze roamed Dong Li¡¯s whole body, her full chest, thin waist, and slender legs. Eyes glittering with pure lust, he thought to himself, ¡°This woman has ordinary looks, but her body is such a gift from god...¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly.

    Watching Lu Shen¡¯s impudent gaze roam all over Dong Li¡¯s body, he felt very ufortable.

    However, before he could do something about it, Dong Li dragged him away, saying, ¡°We¡¯re leaving right now.¡±

    With these words, Dong Li pulled Nie Tian down the mountain.

    Watching her leave from behind, Lu Shen¡¯s heated gaze fixated on Dong Li¡¯s perfectly curvy buttocks, which jiggled as she leaped down towards the foot of the mountain.

    ¡°God damn!¡± He swallowed his saliva.

    In order to let Jiang Bo forge a suitable spiritual tool for him, he forcibly suppressed his urges.

    Momentster, Dong Li and Nie Tian arrived at the foot of the mountain.

    As soon as the equipment forger named Jiang Bo caught sight of Dong Li, who had been driven down the mountain by Lu Shen, his eyes lit up. The look in his eyes became even more lusty and greedy than Lu Shen¡¯s.

    As a matter of fact, the reason why Jiang Bo had agreed to work for Lu Shen was that the two of them shared the same vulgar interest.

    In order to bring Jiang Bo on board, Lu Shen had treated Jiang Bo to many brothels in Deste City. Only after that had Jiang Bo finally agreed to work with him.

    Dong Li only nodded briefly at Jiang Bo at the foot of the mountain before dragging Nie Tian away.

    Not saying a word, Jiang Bo rushed up the mountain to the cave Dong Li and Nie Tian had created, where he said to Lu Shen, ¡°I¡¯ll bring out my best to forge this spiritual tool for you. But I¡¯ll probably be rather exhausted afterwards, and need a little entertainment...¡±

    He shot a nce at Dong Li, who was dragging Nie Tian away into the distance.

    Lu Shen immediately understood what he meant. With a chuckle, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, master. You just go ahead and start. I¡¯ll have that woman ready for you when you¡¯re finished.¡±

    Jiang Bo nodded with a wicked smile. Saying no more, he went into the cave and started making preparations.

    Standing by the mouth of the cave halfway up the mountain, Lu Shen squinted as he gazed off into the distance at Nie Tian and Dong Li, who were going farther and farther away.

    The entire area around this volcano was deste and uninhabited. Dong Li and Nie Tian had been the only people he had encountered in days. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for him to locate them in this area.

    Furthermore, as they marched deeper into the barrennd, they would find streams of burningva taking up arger proportion of thend. Even if they could still march forward, their speed would be iparably slow.

    Therefore, Lu Shen didn¡¯t seem worried at all. He waited patiently as Jiang Bo made preparations. He nned to make his move after Jiang Bopletely devoted himself to the equipment forging process.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li and Nie Tian left Lu Shen¡¯s sight.

    Aftering to a stop by a stream of flowingva, Dong Li turned around to gaze at the distant volcano. She gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Morons who seek death!¡±

    ¡°We could have fought them and won, you know,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Li smiled at him and said, ¡°Sure. Considering our actual strength and battle prowess, we can probably take them in a battle. But after all, they are at the middle andte Greater Heaven stage. If we had fought them head-on the moment we met, it wouldn¡¯t have been an easy victory.

    ¡°However, if we wait a while, once that equipment forger starts his equipment forging process, he won¡¯t want to stop midway.

    ¡°If he does, all his effort and the materials will go to waste.

    ¡°While he¡¯s forging that spiritual tool, the other guy mighte for us, or hole up somewhere and wait for us to return.

    ¡°Either way, the situation will be in our favor.¡±

    With these words, Dong Li¡¯s eyes became filled with ferocity, yet she said calmly, ¡°Those morons wanted to drive us away and take that volcano for themselves when your me Dragon Armor was still in the belly of that volcano. So I decided not to let them live the moment that guy came up to the cave. If we spare their lives, they might see your me Dragon Armor when it finishes absorbing me power and flies out of the mouth of the volcano.

    ¡°If they had chosen to leave after realizing we were there, I would have let them go.

    ¡°But it was their fault for bullying those with lower cultivation bases and forcibly taking the volcano where your me Dragon Armor was, so I have to silence them. They gave me no choice.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°You decided to kill them the moment that guy went up the mountain?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dong Li said, sounding as if it couldn¡¯t be more natural.

    Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°No wonder she named her group the Fang.¡±

 Chapter 439: Ill-fated Seeker

    In the cave halfway up the mountain...

    As a Premium grade equipment forger, Jiang Bo summoned an object that looked like an awl.

    In the next moment, it pierced into the rocky end of the cave and started rapidly digging down towards the heart of the volcano.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before it returned, followed by zing mes andva.

    Rather calmly, Jiang Bo took out a huge bronze cauldron and ced it under the hole where mes andva were about to rush out. At the same time, he cast exquisite fire incantations to refine the pouringva and extract the earthme essence from within, which he wouldter use to forge a spiritual tool.

    Afterwards, he picked out spiritual materials from the big pile of spiritual materials beside him and tossed them into the cauldron in a certain order.

    As Jiang Bo formed one hand seal after another, glowing spheres of light mmed into the cauldron¡¯s surface.

    The numerous fiery patterns on its surface lit up as the spiritual materials within it were gradually melted by the earthme essence.

    At the mouth of the cave.

    Thete Greater Heaven stage Lu Shen was gazing off in the direction Nie Tian and Dong Li had left in as he waited patiently.

    He could still perceive Dong Li and Nie Tian¡¯s existences, which meant they had stopped in a location not far from him. Considering they were still within the range of his psychic awareness, he believed that, once he was ready to make his move, he would be able to catch them within a short time.

    He asionally turned around to look at Jiang Bo, who was making preparations with the numerous spiritual materials he had gathered for this event.

    Even though Nie Tian and Dong Li were still within his perception range, and everything seemed to be going as he had expected, he didn¡¯t want to make his move so early, lest Jiang Bo get distracted and ruin his work.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian was sitting on a crimson rock by a river of flowingva. He took out some of the spirit beast meat he had purchased in the Dong n, cooked it with the mes in the river of burningva, and shared it with Dong Li.

    As he did, he closed his eyes to sense what was going on the with me Dragon Armor by relying on the profound connection between it and him.

    He could sense that the me Dragon Armor was absorbing me power from the heart of the volcano, where theva was the most fierce.

    Momentster, the spirit beast meat he had consumed started to generate wisps of flesh power, which slowly flowed towards every corner of his body.

    However, the green aura coiled up in his heart suddenly grew restless, and started madly absorbing the flesh power.

    Every wisp of flesh power was pulled into Nie Tian¡¯s heart the moment it rose from his stomach, and soon became a part of the green aura.

    When the green aura had devoured all of the freshly-generated flesh power, it didn¡¯t return to its dormant state.

    Surprised, Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention.

    The green aura consisted of threeyers. The outermostyer was a misty, green aura, inside of which were numerous crystal-like chains. Inside of the crystal-like chains were countless shiny, green spots, which seemed to be branded with the profound truths of his bloodline.

    At this moment, the shiny, green spots in some of the crystal-like chains were flickering.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± he was surprised.

    As he recalled, only when the green aura had gathered enough flesh power and gone through a period of dormancy would the green spots in those crystal-like chains start shining brightly, and that was usually when he was ready to awaken a new bloodline talent.

    However at this moment, he felt that the green aura hadn¡¯t gathered enough flesh power, and that it shouldn¡¯t have reached the point where it was ready to transcend again yet.

    Furthermore, the green spots within those few crystal-like chains were only flickering, not shining dazzlingly, which was another sign that he wasn¡¯t ready to develop a new bloodline talent yet.

    The strange phenomenon didn¡¯tst long. Soon, the few crystal-like chains stopped flickering and went silent.

    Everything resumed its original state.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t give the incident too much thought. He asionally sensed the situation with the me Dragon Armor while practicing cultivation.

    Time flew. Two days passed.

    Lu Shen and Jiang Bo were still at the volcano. Everything seemed fine.

    Dong Li, who was sitting on a rock next to Nie Tian, let out a snort and said, ¡°That guy is quite patient. I guess he can tell that we didn¡¯t go far, and assumes that we¡¯re like apples in his hand that he can grab and eat whenever he wants. That¡¯s probably why he¡¯s still waiting. However, it¡¯s about time we went back. I bet the equipment forger has already started the equipment forging process.

    ¡°He will have to protect that equipment forger and make sure the equipment forging process goes uninterrupted. Those obligations will definitely hold him back in battle.

    ¡°Let¡¯s attack him together and finish him off as quickly as possible so that we can put an end to this trouble. Also, if he escapes and runs, it will be hard to say if we can still catch him, and he might even see the me Dragon Armor.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Just as they were about to set out, Nie Tian noticed via one of his Heaven Eyes that an old man had entered the area.

    The old man followed the path he and Dong Li had taken to the foot of the short volcano.

    The old man was also at thete Greater Heaven stage, though he looked much older than Lu Shen. His face was gray and gloomy; his eyes seemed to be filled with a faint aura of death.

    Standing at the foot of the mountain, he gazed up at the cave halfway up the mountain.

    Lu Shen gazed coldly down at him.

    After a brief eye contact, the old man let out a sigh and marched on.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he appeared in front of Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    ¡°Young friends, have you sensed the existence of a ce where wood power is extremely rich in this area?¡± The old man asked in a soft voice.

    With a single nce at him, Dong Li seemed to learn his situation and intentions. She shook her head and said, ¡°No. I think you should go back. You¡¯re wasting your time chasing something that doesn¡¯t exist. You might as well go do the things you¡¯ve always wanted to do but never had the chance to do, and then wait for death in peace.¡±

    A bitter smile appeared on the old man¡¯s face as he muttered, ¡°That¡¯s not enough... I¡¯ve heard that people have sensed the existence of intense wood power in areas far from Deste City. I¡¯ve got to give it a shot.¡±

    With these words, he bid farewell to Nie Tian and Dong Li, and marched on with a numb expression on his face. He looked very sad and lonely from behind.

    Watching him going farther and farther away, Dong Li said, ¡°The same rumores out every once in a while. I heard it the first time I came to Deste City. People said they had sensed intense wood power, but the sensation was gone in the next moment. However, the locations where they said they had sensed the intense wood power were very different.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°The man doesn¡¯t have many years left.¡±

    The moment he had seen the old man, he could tell that he was nearing his end.

    He only had two options: either break the shackles on his cultivation path and enter the Worldly realm, or have someone extend his lifespan for him. Otherwise, he could only wait for death.

    Compared to outsider races, humans were greatly disadvantaged as far as lifespan was concerned.

    Many outsider races were born with thousands of years of lifespan or even more. Not only that, as their bloodline power was upgraded, their lifespan would extend even further.

    Most of the outsider races wouldn¡¯t need to worry about their lifespan. All they needed to do was practice cultivation and upgrade their bloodline power at a pace they feltfortable with.

    Humans, however, had far shorter lifespans, so they would have to make constant breakthroughs in their cultivation in order to prolong them.

    Hua Mu and his master, Wu Ji, faced the same problem as the old man who had just left ¡ª They were all nearing the end of their lifespan.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯ve seen too many people in the same situation as him.¡± Dong Li sounded indifferent. ¡°Many Qi warriors have poor cultivation talent, ore from humble backgrounds. Without powerful sects or ns to support them, and without favorable encounters, they can only progress slowly on their cultivation path.

    ¡°One day, they realize that the speed at which they make breakthroughs in their cultivation can¡¯t keep up with the speed at which they¡¯re growing older. Eventually, they die in frustration.

    ¡°That old man practices two types of power at the same time: wood power and earth power.

    ¡°The more types of power he practices, the slower his cultivation will progress. Therefore, it can¡¯t be more natural that he can¡¯t make another breakthrough and enter the Worldly realm before his time is up.¡±

    With these words, Dong Li looked deeply at him and continued, ¡°You¡¯re so much luckier than him, considering that you practice three types of power.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    What he didn¡¯t tell Dong Li was that even if he hadn¡¯t experienced those incredible encounters, which had caused him to rapidly advance in his cultivation, he probably still wouldn¡¯t have a lifespan problem.

    He seemed to have been born with a unique bloodline that granted him a lifespan longer than that of an ordinary human.

    He had a feeling that even if he hadn¡¯t be a Qi warrior, but rather squandered his years, he probably would still be able to live a thousand years or even longer.

    ¡°That moron has run out of patience!¡± Dong Li called out with a sneer. ¡°He saw peopleing to this area and thus feared that others mighte as well. He¡¯s finallying for us.¡±

    Nie Tian looked off into the distance, and saw a figure shing down the volcano.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    At the same time, a loud rumble echoed out from the depths of the very volcano that Jiang Bo was using to forge a spiritual tool.

 Chapter 440: Gathering Discarnate Souls

    The loud rumble caused the earth to tremble continuously. Even the old man, who was already quite far away from the volcano, came to a stop upon hearing the rumble, standing on ground that had been cut into pieces by numerous rivers ofva.

    He turned around to shoot a curious gaze towards the shaking volcano before casting a secret magic to examine his surroundings.

    After realizing that no noteworthy wood power had appeared in the vicinity, he shook his head and marched on again.

    He knew that he only had about five years left now. The reason why he hade such a long way from the Realm of ck Marsh to the Realm of Unbounded Destion was because he had ced all of his hopes in the legend, hoping that he would be able to find that promisednd, where he would obtain a Fruit of Life and thus extend his lifespan.

    Anything that didn¡¯t concern this meant nothing to him.

    Back when he had passed the short volcano, he had noticed that Lu Shen¡¯s psychic awareness constantly floated towards Nie Tian and Dong Li. Apparently, he had harbored ill intentions.

    However, he had ignored it.

    Convinced that the unusual changes within the volcano had nothing to do with what he was looking for, he turned back and marched on.

    By a river of flowingva, Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s expressions flickered. They had just risen to their feet and were about to return to the short volcano to finish Lu Shen off.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Dong Li asked in a soft voice.

    Nie Tian closed his eyes.

    Relying on the subtle connection between him and the me Dragon Armor, he learned that the me Dragon Armor was currently rapidly absorbing me power from the heart of the volcano, where theva was fiercest.

    He could see that theva at the heart of the volcano was releasing wisps of fiery light, which were none other than the earthme essence.

    From the look of it, this was what the me Dragon Armor truly needed to replenish the tremendous amount of me power it had consumed.

    As the wisps of fiery light converged on the me Dragon Armor from every direction, changes suddenly urred inside the volcano.

    Crimson rocks exploded in different locations on the inner wall, which caused the entire volcano to shake violently, therefore giving rise to the loud rumble.

    The cave Nie Tian and Dong Li had created halfway up the mountain also began to shake violently.

    Fierceva suddenly came spurting out of the hole at the end of the cave, which Jiang Bo had created with a special awl, leading to the heart of the volcano.

    Jiang Bo, who had been forging a spiritual tool wholeheartedly off to the side, screamed upon seeing the unprecedentedly fierceva rushing madly through the hole in the wall.

    At the same time, he messed up the fire incantations he was using to refine the earthme essence from theva.

    While he was hesitating over whether or not he should leave the cave, rollingva filled his huge, bronze cauldron. Some even sshed on him.

    In a sh, one of his arms and half of his body caught fire.

    ¡°Lu Shen!!¡± Jiang Bo cried out. Abandoning his bronze cauldron and all of the spiritual materials, he sprinted towards the mouth of the cave.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    However, the violent shaking caused the rocks on the ceiling to fall.

    A giant rock fell on Jiang Bo and pinned him to the floor.

    At this moment, Lu Shen was nowhere near the cave. He was on his way down the mountain to make a move on Dong Li.

    Upon hearing Jiang Bo¡¯s miserable scream, he turned around without the slightest hesitation.

    However, by the time he rushed back to the mouth of the cave, he found that Jiang Bo had long since been engulfed by theva that was now filling the entire cave. Not only that, but some of the burningva also sshed on him.

    The momentva touched his abdomen and leg, they started burning.

    He screamed nonstop, grimacing. No longer caring about his unfinished spiritual tool and Jiang Bo, he tumbled away from the mouth of the cave and rushed down the mountain.

    WHOOSH!

    Ragingva rushed out of the cave. He constantly switched directions on his way down, and narrowly avoided the pouringva.

    By the time he finally arrived at the foot of the mountain, his abdomen and leg were already badly burned. The agony almost made him cry.

    ¡°What a tragedy!¡±

    Dong Li quietly arrived in front of Lu Shen, who was now barely able to stand. Like a cat weeping over a dead mouse (idiom: with pretended sympathy), she said, ¡°One was swallowed byva; the other is badly burned. How can you end up being so unfortunate?

    She curled her lips. ¡°Is this what people call karma? But I¡¯ve got to thank you. If you didn¡¯t drive us out of that cave, we might have already suffered the same fate as your equipment forger friend and been swallowed byva.¡±

    Only then did Nie Tian pace over. Seeing Lu Shen in such sore traits, he didn¡¯t seem sympathetic at all.

    The badly injured Lu Shen didn¡¯t show the slightest remorse. Instead, strong killing intent burst forth from within his eyes. ¡°Bitch! Even though I¡¯m injured, I can still kill the two of you without breaking a sweat!¡±

    Enraged, Lu Shen swung his arm, and three arrows shot out of his cuff.

    The arrows, which were forged out of pure iron, shone with dazzling, golden light, as if they carried fierce metal power, as well as Lu Shen¡¯s psychic awareness.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    Three of them shot into Dong Li¡¯s bone shield one after another.

    Dong Li let out a muffled groan as she experienced iparable soreness from her shield-holding hand.

    Laced with Lu Shen¡¯s psychic awareness, three strands of metal power rushed directly towards Dong Li¡¯s mind.

    A screech from the ck phoenix rang out in her head. Thanks to its strength, she managed to ward off the psychic attack Lu Shen had hidden within the three arrows.

    WHOOSH!

    With a swing of her hand, Dong Li shot her cyan awl out of her hand, which flew directly towards Lu Shen¡¯s chest. With an exmation, Lu Shen hastily tumbled backwards.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph as he cast a short-range Starshift and appeared behind Lu Shen, where he plunged the me Star into Lu Shen¡¯s back without the slightest hesitation.

    CLANK!

    As the me Star made contact with Lu Shen¡¯s back, a metallic, nking sound rang out.

    Lu Shen, who practiced metal power, had summoned all of his metal power and formed a protective shield of golden light over his back.

    However, as Nie Tian twisted his wrist, infusing a variety of powers into the me Star, the golden shield of light instantly shattered.

    As it did, Lu Shen screamed over the life-threatening situation and attempted to escape.

    But at this very moment, Dong Li¡¯s cyan awl arrived soundlessly and pierced into his neck.

    Lu Shen dropped to the ground and died with deep grudges in his eyes.

    Without saying a word, Dong Li stepped over, crouched down, and pulled her awl out of Lu Shen¡¯s neck. Then, she took his ring of holding and, after examining its contents with her psychic awareness, she said disdainfully, ¡°Can this moron be any poorer?!¡±

    There was nothing valuable within Lu Shen¡¯s ring of holding except for several hundred spirit stones.

    What she didn¡¯t know was that Lu Shen had basically traded in everything he owned in order to get all of the materials he needed to forge that spiritual tool. He had also paid Jiang Bo fifty thousand spirit stones as a service fee. This was why he was so poor.

    Deeply disappointed, Dong Li put away Lu Shen¡¯s ring of holding and the three metal arrows, not showing the slightest intention to split them with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian saw it, but didn¡¯t think it was a big deal.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± He suddenly felt something. The Spirit Pearl, which had been stored in his bracelet of holding this whole time, seemed to have shed, but very briefly.

    Surprised, he took it out.

    The moment he did, he sensed anomalies.

    Originally, the souls of Jiang Bo, who had been engulfed byva, and Lu Shen, who had died just now, were slowly dissipating.

    Normally, their discarnate souls would havepletely disappeared into heaven and earth within a very short period of time.

    However, as the Spirit Pearl appeared, not only did their discarnate souls stop dissipating, but they even morphed into two wisps of faint smoke that were only detectable by the Heaven Eyes, and flew directly into the Spirit Pearl.

    Two wisps of invisible souls now hovered within the originally empty Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Dong Li asked, staring at the Spirit Pearl that was flickering with a faint, cyan light.

    Nie Tian closed his hand. With an expression that was as calm as ever, he said, ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Dong Li snorted coldly. Recalling the scenes she had witnessed by theke in the Realm of Dark Underworld, she realized what was happening. ¡°It absorbed those two¡¯s discarnate souls, didn¡¯t it?¡±

    Seeing that she had figured it out, Nie Tian said, ¡°It appears so.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered in shock. ¡°T-this thing can actually bend thews of nature by stopping discarnate souls from disappearing into heaven and earth and absorbing them into itself?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that seems to be the case,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    A shudder ran through Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body.

    She seemed to connect the dots as she asked, ¡°What happened to the countless Specters and discarnate souls that used to be in the Spirit Pearl?¡±

    ¡°Well, I refined them.¡± Nie Tian answered, looking cornered by Dong Li.

    ¡°You were able to refine the Specters and discarnate souls within the Spirit Pearl?!¡± Dong Li eximed.

    Immediately afterwards, she looked Nie Tian in the eye and said, beaming, ¡°Nie Tian! No, my brother! Sorry, you are my dear brother! My ck phoenix beast spirit can be strengthened when fed with soul power. You have to help me!¡±

 Chapter 441: Earthflame Essence

    Dong Li seemed very excited.

    The Beast Spirit Incantation the Dong n members practiced was a special incantation that allowed people to refine beast spirits into themselves and improve their battle prowess with the beast spirits¡¯ strength.

    However, the beast spirit would usually lose arge amount of soul power before merging with people. Therefore, the might of the beast spirit could almost never achieve the same level as when they had been alive.

    Powerful experts from the Dong n would only attempt to strengthen their beast spirit after advancing to the Worldly realm, when they possessed soul power.

    Even so, knowing how important and precious their soul power was to them, they usually wouldn¡¯t waste it on their beast spirits.

    Because of that, it was almost certain that beast spirits wouldn¡¯t grow stronger after they were refined and merged with their owners.

    That said, it was impossible for Dong Li, who was only at the Greater Heaven stage and didn¡¯t possess soul power, to strengthen her ck phoenix on her own.

    Upon learning that the Spirit Pearl was able to gather and refine Specters and discarnate souls, she was instantly intrigued.

    Her overjoyed and warm attitude made Nie Tian slightly ufortable.

    He reach out his arm and handed the Spirit Pearl to her, saying, ¡°Here. Have a try if you want.¡±

    Dong Li seemed confused. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°See if you can extract soul power from it and use it to strengthen your ck phoenix,¡± Nie Tian said.

    With a quick nce at the Spirit Pearl, Dong Li shook her head repeatedly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to refine these discarnate souls yet.¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that easy for me to refine discarnate souls either.¡± Gazing into the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian discovered that the two wisps of discarnate souls from Jiang Bo and Lu Shen were swimming within it, but they still seemed to contain the negative emotions and broken memories of their past lives. Therefore, they couldn¡¯t be channeled directly into his mind yet.

    Furthermore, he had a feeling that there were still things about the Spirit Pearl he didn¡¯t know yet.

    Even though he assumed it would be safe to keep it before it gathered too many discarnate souls, he felt that changes would ur when it had gathered enough discarnate souls and Specters.

    Therefore, he deemed this mysterious treasure forged by the Phantasms to be a potential problem, which could put him in trouble someday.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let people see it. Now put it away!¡± Dong Li urged.

    A mere nce at the Spirit Pearl, which was emanating misty, cyan light, made her uneasy. She couldn¡¯t help but recall the horrifying illusions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood it had put into her mind when she had approached the center of theke.

    If it hadn¡¯t been for Nie Tian, she would have lost her senses and ended up as another discarnate soul in the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian put the Spirit Pearl away.

    Dong Li let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°I meant, next time you refine the discarnate souls within it, maybe you can share some with me.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll try.¡±

    Momentster, the me Dragon Armor suddenly shot out of the mouth of the volcano like a streak of mes.

    Dragging a tail of mes behind it, it rapidly returned to Nie Tian¡¯s bracelet of holding.

    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Dong Li seemed surprised. ¡°That volcano is still spewingva and mes. Don¡¯t tell me that the me Dragon Armor has absorbed enough me power already.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian examined the me Dragon Armor with his mind before saying, ¡°It seems that the me Dragon Armor has only absorbed earthme essence from the heart of this volcano. Earthme essence was what it truly needed to replenish its me power.¡±

    ¡°Earthme essence?!¡± Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t answer him right away. Instead, she scanned the volcano with her psychic awareness, and then said, ¡°You¡¯re right. It has only absorbed the earthme essence within this volcano. But I bet you don¡¯t know that once a volcano is loses its earthme essence, it will soon go extinct. Plus, without earthme essence, a volcano will lose its ability to gather me power from its surroundings. Therefore, it will never be active again.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly. ¡°I see.¡±

    When the Earth me Beast had ravaged the Scarlet me Mountain Range in the Realm of me Heaven, he had learned something about me crystals, earthme essence, and Earthme Crystal Strings.

    Earthme essence existed only in the absolute centers of volcanoes, and it was capable of attracting and gathering me power from the vicinity.

    The me power it had gathered would congeal into me crystals due to the extreme environment. Through tens of thousands of years of change, earthme essence could be Earthme Crystal Strings.

    Earthme Crystal Strings were crystallized earthme essence, inside of which was branded the profound truths of me power.

    Due to the escape of the Earth me Beast, the structure of the Scarlet me Mountain Range had gone through destructive changes. The me Dragon Armor had taken the opportunity to gatherrge amounts of earthme essence and a few Earthme Crystal Strings.

    It was at that time that the me Dragon Armor had umted copious amounts of me power and gained a strong boost in its strength.

    Since both the scale and age of the volcano in front of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were limited, the earthme essence in it hadn¡¯t formed Earthme Crystal Strings.

    Therefore, the me Dragon Armor had only absorbed its limited amount of earthme essence, and flown out looking unsatisfied.

    Dong Li smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Without earthme essence, this short volcano will soon lose its glory and be extinct. The Tool Sect allows foreign Qi warriors to use the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion to forge spiritual tools. But they don¡¯t allow people to take earthme essence from the volcanoes, which will ruin thempletely.

    ¡°The Tool Sect needs the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion to cultivate prominent equipment forgers. They need all the volcanoes so that, during the assessment assembly, the participating equipment forgers will be able to use them to forge spiritual tools.

    ¡°If anyone dares to takes away the earthme essence and ruin their volcanoes, the Tool Sect will definitely get to the bottom of it and rain their wrath on those who are responsible!¡±

    Upon hearing Dong Li¡¯s exnation, Nie Tian understood her concerns, and thus said, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here then!¡±

    The Realm of Unbounded Destion was filled with volcanoes. As powerful as the Tool Sect was, they couldn¡¯t guard every single one of them.

    The Tool Sect had ruled the Realm of Unbounded Destion for thousands of years now, and would probably continue to do so in the thousands of years toe.

    Therefore, in their eyes, the unexplored volcanoes were precious equipment forging resources they had reserved for their future disciples.

    Even though they couldn¡¯t use so many volcanoes now, as their sect expanded and the explored volcanoes ran dry, they would eventually need the unexplored ones.

    The me Dragon Armor had just ruined a volcano for the Tool Sect by absorbing all of its earthme essence.

    Undoubtedly, the Tool Sect wouldn¡¯t let that go.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression grew grim as she blurted, ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s get out of here as quickly as possible! As far as I know, the Tool Sect has marked every single volcano, including the ones that haven¡¯t been explored yet. They allow people to use these volcanoes, but they don¡¯t allow people to take the earthme essence. I bet the Tool Sect will soon learn about what has happened to this volcano, so we need to leave now.¡±

    Realizing the unfavorable situation, the two of them rapidly marched towards the deepest parts of this destend, getting as far away from this volcano as possible.

    One dayter, they encountered the old man who was nearing the end of his lifespan again, in a ce where the ground was almost filled with rivers of flowingva.

    With a numb expression on his face, the old man marched on at a slow pace. He didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry. He would stop from time to time to examine the auras in his surroundings. Only after discovering nothing noteworthy would he resume his march.

    Apparently, every time he stopped, he did so to scan his surroundings for wood power, hoping to discover the legendary ce.

    The reason why Nie Tian and Dong Li were able to catch up to him within a day was because he didn¡¯t focus on marching forward, but rather spentrge amounts of time searching thend he had covered.

    The old man seemed rather surprised upon seeing them again. ¡°It¡¯s you again.¡±

    When he had heard the loud rumble from the volcano earlier, he had noticed the tension between them and Lu Shen as well. However, he had been bent on finding that promisednd, and thus hadn¡¯t wanted to meddle in others¡¯ business.

    It hadn¡¯t mattered to him which of them was killed. Battles like this took ce every minute in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Since his priority was his lifespan, he naturally hadn¡¯t paid any attention to them.

    However, what surprised him was that Nie Tian and Dong Li managed to survive.

    He had assumed that Lu Shen and Jiang Bo, who had higher cultivation bases, would have prevailed.

    However, upon seeing the old man, Dong Li only nodded briefly at him before marching past him with Nie Tian.

    At the same time, Wu Ling descended in the Rainbow Lightning by the mouth of the short volcano.

    He tossed a glowing dark-red sphere into the mouth of the volcano. When it reached the heart of the volcano, his face fell as he said to the person beside him, ¡°Someone has indeed taken the earthme essence!¡±

    ¡°Everyone here knows about our rule. Every equipment forger and fire-wielding Qi warrior thates to the Realm of Unbounded Destion knows about our rule! Who would so daringly take the earthme essence without our authorization!?¡±

    Wu Ling gazed off into the distance, fuming with rage.

 Chapter 442: Upheaval

    In a remote and deste area.

    The figure of a skinny man suddenly flew out of the wide mouth of an extinct volcano that was about ten thousand meters high.

    The man looked like a bag of bones, and his surprisingly handsome face was filled with madness.

    He stopped in midair in a location several hundred meters away from the extinct volcano, where he gazed at it silently.

    Around that extinct volcano sat a number of active volcanoes, each of which was thousands of meters high. Endlessva was pouring out of the mouths of several of them.

    That entire area was covered in rivers of flowingva, to the point where anyone on the ground would barely find a ce to stand.

    At that moment, pale-gray smoke floated out of the mouth of the enormous, extinct volcano the skinny man had juste from.

    Clusters of pale-gray smoke gathered in midair and started to emit an aura of death that could extinguish all living beings.

    Gray and white light could be vaguely seen glowing asionally in the depths of the smoke.

    The skinny man apparently possessed a very high cultivation base. He floated steadily in the air and muttered, ¡°Go! They are holding a decennial assessment assembly. Take this opportunity and surprise them!¡±

    As soon as he uttered those words, the sizable cluster of pale-gray smoke started floating horizontally, carrying an aura of death that could change heaven and earth.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In the depths of the cluster of smoke, the white and gray light seemed to be transforming in a certain way, forming a mysterious spherical ward in its surroundings.

    A few fire-attributed spirit beasts were absorbing me power to strengthen their bloodline power in this area, which was covered inva and mes.

    As the huge cluster of pale-gray smoke approached, those spirit beasts seemed to detect danger, and thus fled, howling.

    However, the smoke rapidly caught up to them and submerged them.

    Engulfed, every spirit beast let out agonized shrieks, but soon became silent.

    The speed at which the pale-gray smoke traveled through air was very fast. It wasn¡¯t long before it left that area.

    On the ground, the few spirit beasts, which were shrieking a moment ago, were nowhere to be seen.

    The bizarre pale-gray smoke continued to fly forward. From the look of it, it was flying towards Deste City and the Tool Sect.

    ...

    In another ce...

    Nie Tian and Dong Li kept marching forward after passing the old man.

    When they were very far ahead of the old man, Dong Li suddenly stopped and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t let your me Dragon Armor absorb earthme essence here anymore, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Li shot him a hard look. ¡°I thought that me Dragon Armor of yours only needed me power from these volcanoes. If I knew the me Dragon Armor was actually after the earthme essence in these volcanoes, I wouldn¡¯t have brought you to the Realm of Unbounded Destion in the first ce!¡±

    ¡°Truth be told, I didn¡¯t know that either,¡± Nie Tian said with an embarrassed expression.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°This won¡¯t work. If the me Dragon Armor absorbs only me power from these volcanoes, even if the Tool Sect learns about it, they won¡¯t try to stop us.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s a whole other story if we¡¯re taking earthme essence. A volcano¡¯s earthme essence is its core, the foundation of its existence.

    ¡°If we allow your me Dragon Armor to absorb earthme essence from more volcanoes, more volcanoes will go extinct!

    ¡°That will definitely catch the Tool Sect¡¯s attention. I bet their people are already looking into this!¡±

    Nie Tian remained silent.

    He sent a wisp of psychic awareness into the me Dragon Armor. After a brief examination, he learned that the earthme essence from that short volcano didn¡¯t help the me Dragon Armor restore its original state.

    It still needed more earthme essence orrge amounts of precious fire-attributed materials in order to replenish the me power it had consumed to refine the souls and Specters in the Spirit Pearl.

    After a moment of hesitation, he said, as if he were reluctant to give up yet, ¡°Is there a way we can secretly take the earthme essence without attracting the Tool Sect¡¯s attention? The Realm of Unbounded Destion is such a vast ce filled with countless volcanoes. I refuse to believe that there isn¡¯t a corner that the Tool Sect will ignore.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you, no! You need to drop that idea!¡± Dong Li sounded exasperated.

    She had already sensed the unfavorable situation now that the me Dragon Armor had absorbed earthme essence from that short volcano. She strongly believed that the Tool Sect had already learned about it.

    Under such circumstances, it was actually very dangerous for her to continue to stay here with Nie Tian.

    If Nie Tian dared to unleash the me Dragon Armor again and let it absorb earthme essence from other volcanoes, they would definitely be exposed and soon draw retaliation from the Tool Sect.

    Even though she was the daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster, she wouldn¡¯t be able to get out of this easily. After all, it was the Tool Sect¡¯s rule they were viting.

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian added, ¡°But you should know that I¡¯m not the key to refine the souls in the Spirit Pearl. The me Dragon Armor is. If you want me to help you strengthen your beast spirit with pure soul power from the Spirit Pearl, we¡¯d have to rely on the me Dragon Armor. Only when it has absorbed enough me power will it be able to purge and refine the discarnate souls and Specters within the Spirit Pearl with the fiercest mes.¡±

    Deeply shocked, Dong Li said, ¡°So, the me Dragon Armor is the key! However, as much as I want to help you and strengthen my ck phoenix with soul power from within the Spirit Pearl, that method is not viable in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. If the me Dragon Armor still needs more earthme essence, I can take you to other realms where I¡¯ll find you unattended volcanoes.

    ¡°But we really can¡¯t do that anymore in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Powerful equipment forgers still need the fierce earthme to forge spiritual tools.

    ¡°To the Tool Sect, the volcanoes in this realm are extremely valuable equipment forging resources.¡±

    After hearing Dong Li¡¯s earnest advice, Nie Tian grew hesitant. Eyebrows furrowed, he weighed his choices.

    All of a sudden, a streak of mes appeared on the distant horizon.

    Dong Li gazed at it with rapt attention before turn pale with fright and blurting, ¡°It¡¯s the Rainbow Lightning! Damn it! I knew they¡¯d learned about it. That Rainbow Lightning must be here to determine the reason of the disappearance of the earthme essence!

    ¡°I don¡¯t cultivate fire-attributed incantations or have any fire-attributed spiritual tools on me. They probably won¡¯t suspect me, but you...¡±

    The Rainbow Lightning traveled extremely fast and appeared in their sight before Nie Tian¡¯s nine Heaven Eyes could capture them.

    Only at that moment did Nie Tian see via his Heaven Eyes that Wu Ling was standing in that Rainbow Lightning, along with a few young male and female disciples of the Tool Sect.

    He could also determine those youngsters¡¯ cultivation bases with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    <i>¡°None of them have entered the Worldly realm.¡± </i>Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he immediately turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°You¡¯re going to handle them.¡±

    ¡°How?!¡± Dong Li was somewhat panicked. ¡°You apparently practice fire-attribute incantations!

    ¡°They¡¯ll also search your bracelet of holding after they arrive. With a mere nce at the me Dragon Armor, they¡¯ll know that it was your doing! Plus, that Spirit Pearl is also in your possession. We¡¯re truly screwed this time!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They won¡¯t know that I¡¯m here.¡± With these words, Nie Tian summoned the me Star and rapidly created a hole next to a river ofva. He jumped in and said, ¡°Cover me up!¡±

    Dong Li was both anxious and angry. ¡°Are you kidding me? You¡¯re a living person with flesh and blood. Do you really expect to escape their senses by hiding underground?¡± However, she stopped talking after saying these words.

    The reason was that she suddenly discovered that she was no longer able to sense any sign of life from Nie Tian after he had jumped into the hole in the ground.

    Even though she could still see Nie Tian, she failed to sense a single shred of life aura as she scanned him with her psychic awareness.

    After a brief moment of bewilderment, she snapped back to reality and rapidly covered Nie Tian up with rocks and dirt.

    When the hole was fully filled and covered with dark-red rocks, she quietly stepped away from it, and started marching along the river ofva as if nothing had happened.

    Momentster, Wu Ling descended in the Rainbow Lightning.

    The Rainbow Lightning came to a stop in the air three meters in front of Dong Li. With a grave and stern face, Wu Ling said, ¡°I¡¯m Wu Ling from the Tool Sect. Someone has vited our sect¡¯s rule and taken earthme essence from one of our volcanoes. Please cooperate so that we can rule you out.¡±

    With a bbergasted expression on her face, Dong Li said with a terrified tone, ¡°What?! People actually dared to not give face to the Tool Sect and took earthme essence without authorization?! I don¡¯t practice fire-attribute incantations, and my cultivation base is still rather low. My strength is far from enough for me to channel earthme essence from any volcano. Here¡¯s my ring of holding. You¡¯re wee to search it.¡±

    Seeming very cooperative, she took her ring of holding off her jade-like slender finger and held it out.

    ¡°Let me!¡± A male disciple of the Tool Sect beside Wu Ling volunteered, eyes fixed on Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body.

    Wu Ling shot him a hard look before turning to a girl beside him and saying, ¡°You do it, Little Yuan.¡±

    The man nodded and smiled, looking shamefaced. ¡°You¡¯re the boss.¡±

    A Heaven stage young woman who practiced fire incantations jumped down from the Rainbow Lightning. She quickly approached Dong Li and searched her up and down for storage spiritual tools.

    Failing to find any, Huang Yuan said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re in such a good shape, big sister.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a beauty yourself,¡± Dong Li responded, smiling.

    Convinced that Dong Li didn¡¯t have other storage spiritual tools on her, the girl named Huang Yuan grabbed the ring from her hand. After saying ¡°excuse me¡±, she started examining it with her psychic power.

    ¡°She¡¯s not carrying any fire-attributed spiritual tools, Big Brother Ling,¡± Huang Yuan said with a strange expression on her face.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go,¡± Wu Ling nodded, not sparing Dong Li another nce.

    Handing the ring of holding back to Dong Li, Huang Yuan said softly with wide eyes and an envious expression, ¡°You¡¯re wealthy, big sister.¡±

    Dong Li smiled and blinked at her.

    Huang Yuan smiled and jumped back into the Rainbow Lightning. Then, she waved at Dong Li and advised kindly, ¡°You¡¯d better not go any further. It¡¯s too dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Dong Li replied.

    The Rainbow Lightning whooshed away.

 Chapter 443: Snatching Prey from A Tiger

    In a location several hundred kilometers away from where Nie Tian and Dong Li were, giant rocks split open, creating a deep rift in a grayish-brown extinct volcano.

    Intense spatial fluctuations suddenly spread out from the depths of the newly-formed rift.

    Momentster, a group of Qi warriors dressed in the me God Sect¡¯s garments walked out of the rift.

    Their leader was a tall, burly, bald man in his prime.

    He was none other than ¡°The me God¡±, Xia Yi. The entire Domain of the Falling Stars knew this middle Soul realm Qi warrior to be an extremely formidable figure.

    Xia Yi rose into midair, overseeing the deadly and silent region. Bulging veins could be seen on his bare arms, as if burningva was flowing in them instead of blood. ¡°The Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly will begin soon. Split up and gather earthme essence from nearby volcanoes with the spiritual tools I¡¯ve prepared for you.

    ¡°I need a copious amount of earthme essence to break through into thete Soul realm. The result of this operation will determine whether I can make that breakthrough or not.¡±

    With a wave of his hand, Xia Yi signaled for the powerful experts from the me God Sect to move out.

    The powerful experts Xia Yi had brought were mostly at the Worldly and Profound realm, Tang Yang being one of them. Since cultivators with cultivation bases at the Profound realm or higher would be able to travel through the air, the Profound realm experts rose up and flew off in different directions upon hearing Xia Yi¡¯s order. ¡°We won¡¯t disappoint you, sectmaster!¡±

    Tang Yang and the other Worldly realm experts had to fly towards nearby volcanoes that had smoke and mes rising from them in air-transportation spiritual tools.

    They were all well-aware that their sectmaster hade to a critical point in his cultivation.

    In order for Xia Yi, who had mastered all kinds of fire incantations, to advance to thete Soul realm, a substantial amount of earthme essence would be needed.

    However, earthme essence only existed in the hearts of active volcanoes.

    The iparablyrge volcano that stood beside the me God Sect was the foundation of their sect. Bearing the future of their sect in mind, Xia Yi couldn¡¯t take earthme essence from that volcano.

    Furthermore, asrge as it was, it was only one volcano.

    It would be almost impossible for him to break through into thete Soul realm with the earthme essence within it alone.

    Throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, the Realm of Unbounded Destion had the most volcanoes.

    Even though he knew perfectly well about the rule established by the Tool Sect, he had decided to snatch this prey from the tiger so that he could advance to thete Soul realm.

    The fact that he had brought so many powerful experts from the me God Sect made it clear that he expected war.

    Xia Yi let out a cold harrumph, looking off into the direction of Deste City and the Tool Sect. ¡°The Tool Sect... After I enter thete Soul realm with the earthme essence I gather from here, all of the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion will belong to the me God Sect!¡±

    Seeing that all of the me God Sect experts were off to their tasks, he took out a Sound Stone and spoke into it with a frown, ¡°How is it going over there, Zhao Shanling?¡±

    Floating above numerous erupting volcanoes, the skinny man replied with a sinister and sickly smile, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, me God. Everything is going ording to n. The Death Reign is moving quickly towards the Tool Sect. Wherever it passes, no lives will survive!¡±

    The me God nodded slowly from hundreds of kilometers away. ¡°Good. Once I enter thete Soul realm, I¡¯ll help you take back what belongs to you! You¡¯ll have the Tool Sect, and we will rule the Realm of Unbounded Destion together!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! The sectmaster of the Tool Sect should have been me!¡± Zhao Shanlingughed wildly.

    ...

    On a volcano that was thousands of meters high.

    Halfway up the crimson, stony volcano, a cave led directly towards theva inside of it. Facing the pool ofva, a middle-aged, yet still attractive, woman was switching between hand seals, channeling fiercest me power up from the heart of the volcano into a huge axe that was floating above the pool ofva and shining with dazzlingly golden light.

    From time to time, the huge axe would dip into the pool ofva.

    As the elegant and beautiful woman practiced her secret incantations devotedly, the originally faint inscriptions on the surface of the huge axe gradually grew clearer.

    Standing behind the woman, an old man with a bushy beard stared hard at therge axe without blinking. Even his breaths were slightly rapid.

    The old man¡¯s name was Qin Yi. He was a member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, currently at thete Profound realm, only one step away from entering the Soul realm. Regarding seniority, he should be considered Qin Yan¡¯s great-grandfather.

    Thatrge axe was being custom-made for him. If things went smoothly, it woulde out as a Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    The charming, middle-aged woman was Pei Qiqi and Li Ye¡¯s master, Zhen Hun.

    The forging process had alreadysted several months. Now, it hade to a critical moment.

    SHEW!

    The figure of a man suddenly descended to the mouth of that volcano. It turned out to be Hua Mu.

    Standing by the mouth of the volcano, Hua Mu gazed down and could vaguely see therge axe floating over the pool ofva.

    Qin Yin sensed his arrival, and thus flew out of the cave to the mouth of the volcano. Upon seeing that it was Hua Mu, Qin Yi let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, ¡°You scared me... Why are you here?¡±

    Before Hua Mu had a chance to talk, his eyebrows rose as he added, ¡°What? After avoiding her for so long, you finally failed to fight the desire to meet her, didn¡¯t you? But she¡¯s forging a spiritual tool for me now. You¡¯ve caught her at a bad time.¡±

    Hua Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°I only decided toe because I know she¡¯s forging a spiritual tool for you, and she would too busy to see me.¡±

    Qin Yin let out a sigh. ¡°Why are you hiding from her?¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°My clock is ticking. It won¡¯t be very long before my lifespan runs out. As a dying man, I can only sneak a nce at her. What else can I do?¡±

    ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s no way to extend your lifespan?¡± Qin Yi asked with furrowed eyebrows.

    ¡°What can I do? Unless I can find the Fruits of Life, or...¡± Hua Mu shook his head and decided not to mention Nie Tian. ¡°Forget it. If I can somehow live through this tribtion and gain more years, I won¡¯t hide from her anymore. But if I can¡¯t, then everything will be over soon. It¡¯s better that we don¡¯t meet again.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to meet her, then why did youe?¡± Qin Yi asked.

    Hua Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Stupidity, huh?¡±

    Qin Yi didn¡¯t try to persuade him. ¡°I can¡¯t understand you... You haven¡¯t started a family your entire life. Now that your time ising, why don¡¯t you find yourself a disciple? Look at Hun. At least she has Li Ye and Qiqi to carry on her legacies. What do you have?¡±

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that easy to find a disciple. I set my mind on one, but someone beat me to it and took him in already.¡±

    The two of them chatted and caught up on various other matters.

    All of a sudden, Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he jerked his head to gaze off into the distance.

    He vaguely saw a cluster of pale-gray smoke rapidly moving in the Tool Sect¡¯s direction.

    Hua Mu gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Death Reign! Zhao Shanling is back!¡±

    A shudder ran through Qin Yi. ¡°Zhao Shanling!? How does he dare return to the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    ¡°The appearance of the Death Reign and return of Zhao Shanling... I¡¯m afraid an upheaval will soon take ce in the Realm of Unbounded Destion!¡± Hua Mu took a deep breath. ¡°You stay here and protect Hun. I¡¯ll go inform the Tool Sect!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Qin Yi nodded vigorously.

    Hua Mu vanished in the next moment.

    ...

    In the Tool Sect.

    As the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, Qi Bailu was sitting at the end of a great hall filled withrge equipment forging cauldrons. Eyes narrowed, he nodded repeatedly as he listened to the elders report the arrangements regarding the assessment assembly.

    Solemn and dressed in frosty white garments, Qi Bailu seemed like a man of few words.

    On the enormous stone wall behind him was engraved a map of the Realm of Unbounded Destion, where each and every volcano was marked out.

    At this moment, of all the spots on the map, three were flickering, as if they were on the verge of going out.

    Qi Bailu jerked around to look at the three flickering spots. A hint of rage appeared in his eyes as he said, ¡°People are gathering earthme essence regardless of our rule, and they are doing it simultaneously in different locations!¡±

    The elders of the Tool Sect also grew angry looking at the changes on the map. Some of them started venting their anger.

    ¡°They must have death wishes!¡±

    ¡°These neers seem to have forgotten about our rule. I can¡¯t believe they would actually dare to gather earthme essence during the assessment assembly!¡±

    ¡°Do they assume that we can¡¯t spare our hands to deal with them?¡±

    As they spoke, a few other spots started to flicker on the map, as if they were also losing earthme essence.

    ¡°Something is wrong!¡± Qi Bailu said with a frown. ¡°Send Worldly realm and Profound realm disciples to those locations, and find out what¡¯s going on with those volcanoes! Report any findings to me immediately!¡±

    ¡°Yes, sectmaster!¡±

    The elders rapidly walked out of the great hall to obey their sectmaster¡¯smands.

 Chapter 444: The Death Reign

    In the barrennd filled with erupting volcanoes.

    After hiding from Wu Ling¡¯s search, Nie Tian and Dong Li didn¡¯t choose to return to Deste City, but rather went deeper into the wilderness.

    They came across two volcanoes on their way, but Nie Tian didn¡¯t unleash the me Dragon Armor to absorb earthme essence from them.

    Whenever the me Dragon Armor expressed its yearning for earthme essence, Nie Tian would suppress it with his thoughts and restrain it from acting recklessly.

    He knew it wasn¡¯t safe to do that yet.

    However, that didn¡¯t mean that he had given up on that idea. He just wanted to find a ce very far from the Tool Sect, where he would seek an opportunity to restore me power for the me Dragon Armor.

    During the past two days, Dong Li had repeatedly asked him how had he managed to escape Wu Ling¡¯s psychic scan.

    Every time, Nie Tian had muddled through his answer.

    During this period of time, Nie Tian had also noticed via his nine Heaven Eyes that a few Rainbow Lightnings had whizzed past with Profound realm experts from the Tool Sect in them.

    Every time, he had grown very nervous, suspecting that those powerful experts from the Tool Sect hade for him, just like Wu Ling and his people.

    Qi warriors with cultivation bases at the Worldly realm or higher would have transformed their psychic power into soul power, therefore enabling them to sense the subtle fluctuations of souls.

    His bloodline talent, Life Stealth, only allowed him to hide the signs of his life, but not his soul fluctuations.

    If those experts¡¯ target had been him, he wouldn¡¯t have possibly been able to hide from them.

    The strange thing was that those experts seemed to have preset targets. Even though they had clearly sensed their existence from the air, they didn¡¯t even spare them a single nce as they shed past them.

    Watching another Rainbow Lightning sh past in the distant sky, Dong Li came to a stop and said with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°Something is wrong...

    ¡°Judging by the date, the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly should have opened already. Those powerful experts from the Tool Sect should be guarding the volcanoes close to Deste City and supervising the equipment forgers who have attended the assessment assembly.

    ¡°Instead, they are now flying back and forth. It doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±

    Nie Tian also noticed the anomaly.

    It was indeed strange considering they had seen Profound realm experts riding Rainbow Lightnings towards the deepest parts of the barrennd during the past two days.

    SHEW!

    Wu Ling¡¯s Rainbow Lightning returned.

    Upon noticing it, Nie Tian immediately hid himself with the same method he had used days ago.

    Momentster, the Rainbow Lightning stopped in the air right before Dong Li. The girl named Huang Yuan looked down at her and said, ¡°Big sister, great changes have urred in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Many people are gathering earthme essence. All of our disciples have been summoned back to our sect. You¡¯d better head back to Deste City as well!¡±

    As soon as she uttered these words, the Rainbow Lightning shot off into the distance.

    After the Rainbow Lightning disappeared into the distant sky, Nie Tian climbed out of the hole he hid in and said with a shocked expression on his face, ¡°Many people are gathering earthme essence? What¡¯s happening?¡±

    Looking worried, Dong Li said, ¡°Wu Ling and those with him are at the Greater Heaven and Heaven stage, but the Tool Sect is ordering them to return as quickly as possible. This means that the Tool Sect is afraid that, considering their cultivation bases and strength, not only will they not be able to help with the situation, but they may easily get killed.¡±

    Gazing at a distant volcano that had smoke rising from it, Nie Tian said, ¡°Something big must have happened in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise for us to continue marching forward, considering our current strength.¡±

    Nie Tian had also sensed danger.

    While he was hesitant over whether he should give up the idea of letting the me Dragon Armor gather more earthme essence, one of his Heaven Eyes discovered an anomaly.

    He saw that the old man that they had passed twice recently was running at full speed, his face filled with fear.

    Chasing after him was a huge cluster of pale-gray smoke.

    Thete Greater Heaven stage old man ran madly on the ground covered in rivers of flowingva, before he was eventually engulfed by the huge cluster of pale-gray smoke.

    He let out blood-curdling screams.

    Via that Heaven Eye, Nie Tian could see with great rity that the old man had lost all signs of life seconds after he was devoured by the smoke, which carried an aura of death that could wither all nts and extinguish all lives.

    A Profound realm expert from the Tool Sect arrived from another direction. Looking at the pale-gray smoke, his face turned ghastly with fright. ¡°The Death Reign! That¡¯s Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign!¡±

    The cluster of pale-gray smoke continued to move in a preset track at a very high speed. The Profound realm expert from the Tool Sect could only follow it from a safe distance as he took out a Sound Stone and whispered warnings into it.

    Since this was happening in a location far from Nie Tian and Dong Li, Dong Li had absolutely no idea what was happening. However, she noticed the strange look on Nie Tian¡¯s face, and thus hastily asked him what was going on.

    Considering that the current location of the smoke was quite far from them, and that it was moving directly towards Deste City and the Tool Sect, Nie Tian deemed that he and Dong Li would be safe from it.

    Even so, he was deeply shocked and terrified after witnessing thete Greater Heaven stage old man being extinguished within seconds.

    ¡°I saw the old man, who was at the end of his life... H-he was engulfed by a cluster of pale-gray smoke, and died almost instantly.¡± With a deep breath, Nie Tian forced himself to calm down, and then he added, ¡°A Profound realm expert from the Tool Sect is following the smoke from a great distance, and reporting to their sect via his Sound Stone.

    ¡°As he did, he repeatedly mentioned the names ¡®Death Reign¡¯ and ¡®Zhao Shanling¡¯.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°The Death Reign?! And Zhao Shanling!?¡±

    Even her body stiffened somewhat. ¡°Are you sure that expert from the Tool Sect said ¡®Death Reign¡¯ and ¡®Zhao Shanling¡¯?¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised by her reaction. ¡°I¡¯m sure! Why? Do you know something?¡±

    ¡°Where is that pale-gray smoke going? It¡¯s noting towards us, is it?¡± Dong Li was freaking out. ¡°If it ising towards us, I need to summon my ck phoenix and get us out of here immediately!¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°it seems to be moving towards the Tool Sect.¡±

    After learning that horrible thing was noting towards them, Dong Li felt greatly relieved. She sank down to the ground without the slightest regard for proper manners. ¡°Oh boy... I thought the Death Reign wasing for us. If it doese our way, considering our puny strength, we won¡¯t have the slightest chance of surviving it!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡± Nie Tian asked with a grim expression.

    Dong Li still seemed rather shaken as she exined, ¡°The Tool Sect¡¯s previous sectmaster had three disciples: the eldest disciple, Qi Bailu, who¡¯s currently the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, the second disciple, Zhao Shanling, and the youngest disciple, Zhen Hun, who¡¯s Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s master. During the time when the three of thempeted for the position of sectmaster, each of them was required to forge a spiritual tool, which would be subject to the assessment of all the sect elders. The disciple whose spiritual tool got the most votes would be the new sectmaster of the Tool Sect.

    ¡°The spiritual tool forged by Zhao Shanling turned out to be the most formidable, far more powerful than the spiritual tools forged by Qi Bailu and Zhen Hun.

    ¡°However, not only was he not appointed as the new sectmaster of the Tool Sect, but he even received the disapproval of all of the elders, and was evicted from the Tool Sect.

    ¡°The spiritual tool he forged was the Death Reign!¡±

    Dong Li paused to gather her thoughts before continuing, ¡°I heard this from seniors in my n. No one knew how Zhao Shanling forged that Death Reign and made it so formidable. Back then, even though the Tool Sect was the most powerful Qi warrior sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, it wasn¡¯t the only one.

    ¡°However, after Zhao Shanling created the Death Reign, even he seemed to be unable to gain control of it right away. As a result, it got away from him and wiped out all of the other Qi warrior sects in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ¡°Wherever the Death Reign passed, Qi warriors were sucked into it and turned into dried corpses.

    ¡°Even powerful experts at thete Profound realm couldn¡¯t survive after being sucked into it. They juststed a bit longer, but that was all.

    ¡°All of the Tool Sect elders were terrified by its formidable might. Even the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, Zhao Shanling¡¯s master, wasn¡¯t able to subdue the Death Reign. Eventually, he managed to send it into a spatial rift that led to an unknown dimension along with Zhao Shanling, but it cost him his life.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling has disappeared since then.

    ¡°Everyone assumed he was withering away in a remote and chaotic dimension. Who would have thought he has actually found his way back!¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°Are you saying that the Death Reign is a spiritual tool?!¡±

    Dong Li smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve heard, but I¡¯m not sure if it is. Thousands died because Zhao Shanling brought the Death Reign to this world. It was because of this monstrous cmity he inflicted upon the people of the Realm of Unbounded Destion, which even killed the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, that he was eventually evicted from the Tool Sect.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that this man managed to survive a chaotic dimension and return?!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! We can¡¯t stay in the Realm of Unbounded Destion any longer. We¡¯ve got to get out of here as quickly as possible if we don¡¯t want to die!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not suggesting we should return to Deste City now, are you?¡± Nie Tian asked with a grim expression on his face. ¡°Deste City and the Tool Sect are right next to each other. We¡¯d be seeking death if we went back to Deste City now.

 Chapter 445: A Star of Calamity

    Deep in the night.

    Atop a barren mountain peak that didn¡¯t grow a de of grass, Nie Tian and Dong Li stuck out their heads from behind a huge rock and gazed off into the distance.

    There were a few caves halfway up this mountain peak, which they had already examined on their way up to the mountaintop.

    Some of the caves stretched deep into the belly of the mountain. Apparently, powerful equipment forgers had once used them to forge spiritual tools.

    This was an extinct volcano that had long since been drained of me power and earthme essence.

    Bathed in chilly moonlight, Nie Tian scanned the vicinity with the help of his nine Heaven Eyes.

    He spread them as far as he could in every direction. Floating high in the sky, the Heaven Eyes covered an extremelyrge area around him.

    Through them, he noticed that people seemed to be moving about on a remote volcano, which had smoke and zing mes rising from it.

    Under the night sky, streams ofva poured down the volcano with twists and turns, making them look like dragons of me twisting their gigantic bodies.

    Dong Li was also ncing around, though she was limited by her cultivation base, and couldn¡¯t see very far.

    Nie Tian pointed off into the distance and exined to her in a low voice, ¡°There¡¯s nothing but a cluster of volcanoes over in that direction. No normal people would linger in such a ce. However, many powerful Qi warriors are now bustling in that area. Since it¡¯s very far away, I can see their shapes, but not their faces. So I don¡¯t know who they are or where they are from.

    ¡°However, a few Profound realm experts and Rainbow Lightnings from the Tool Sect are heading over there.

    ¡°ording to Huang Yuan, people are gathering earthme essence in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Those powerful experts from the Tool Sect must have been sent there to learn what the situation is.

    ¡°If my spections are correct, those bustling Qi warriors in that remote area are gathering earthme essence.¡±

    After gazing a while into the direction pointed out by Nie Tian, and failing to see anything, Dong Li gave up.

    She withdrew her gaze and turned around to sit behind a huge rock, with her back against it. With a bitter smile, she said, ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re such a star of cmity.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?!¡± Nie Tian seemed disgruntled.

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes glittered with a strange light. ¡°Have you noticed that, wherever you go, cmities follow? Back when you were still in the Realm of me Heaven, Heaven Gates appeared out of nowhere, through which Demon outsiders returned. Later, when you went to the Realm of Split Void, Phantasms descended from the sky.

    ¡°Afterwards, when we went to the Realm of Dark Underworld, the ¡®Phantasm relic¡¯ turned out to be one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯vee to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, not only has Zhao Shanling returned with his Death Reign, but foreign Qi warriors are also gathering earthme essence during the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly.

    ¡°Wherever you go, upheavals ur, and people are plunged into misery and suffering. You tell me if you¡¯re a star of cmity.¡±

    Nie Tian mulled over her words, and discovered that she actually wasn¡¯t wrong, and that he couldn¡¯t refute her statement.

    Snorting out augh, Dong Li said, ¡°You were right earlier. If we don¡¯t return to Deste City, at least we can avoid the Death Reign and stay out of Zhao Shanling¡¯s grudge against the Tool Sect. At this moment, we¡¯re in the middle between the Tool Sect and the foreign Qi warriors who are gathering earthme essence. We can¡¯t go further, since if we do, we may run into those who are gathering earthme essence.

    ¡°Considering that they dare to break the rule established by the Tool Sect and gather earthme essence in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, and that the Tool Sect have sent out Profound realm experts to deal with them, they¡¯re not the kind of people we can mess with.

    ¡°We can¡¯t go back, since if we do, we maye across the Death Reign.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a sad situation we¡¯re in. Neither going forward nor back is an option. I really don¡¯t know what we should do now.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian smiled bitterly and inwardly sighed over his bad luck.

    After a moment of awkward silence he said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m hungry. Let¡¯s eat something first.¡±

    With these words, he took out some of the spirit beast meat he had purchased in the Dong n, cooked it with fire-attributed spiritual materials, and shared it with Dong Li.

    After consuming a significant amount of spirit beast meat, he sat silently and started practicing cultivation with Star Stones.

    It wasn¡¯t long before wisps of rich flesh power rose from his stomach.

    Some of them were secretly absorbed by the me Dragon Armor in his bracelet of holding, though the majority of them were attracted and devoured by the green aura coiled up in his heart.

    Momentster, all of the newly-generated flesh power was gone.

    That was when Nie Tian noticed the anomaly with the green aura again.

    The green spots in some of the crystal-like chains within the green aura once again started to flicker, looking quite active.

    The same thing had happened a few times recently, and finally caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    He formed a strand of awareness and soul power and sent it into his heart, where it observed in silence.

    He had a feeling that the green spots in those crystal-like chains must have sensed something or been set off by something. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have behaved so strangely.

    ¡°This is odd...¡± He thought to himself as he attempted to let that strand of thought approach the flickering spots in those crystal-like chains.

    BANG!

    The moment his thought made contact with the bright spots in those crystal-like chains, a mysterious feeling struck him.

    He felt as if something somewhere was attracting that green aura, which contained the profound truths of life.

    Immediately afterwards, with bated breath and rapt attention, he formed more strands of thought and soul power, with which he repeatedly touched the flickering spots within the few crystal-like chains.

    As he did, the originally vague feeling gradually grew clear.

    All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open.

    The direction he was looking was neither towards Deste City nor towards the cluster of active volcanoes where the foreign Qi warriors were.

    Rather, he was looking to his left, at a cluster of extinct volcanoes that were just like the one he was sitting on.

    He withdrew his thought and pondered with a frown, <i>¡°What can it be that¡¯s causing my bloodline to grow restless?¡± </i>

    ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion is such a miraculous ce,¡± Dong Li muttered. ¡°On the one hand, Zhao Shanling forged the Death Reign in this realm, which can wither all lives and reduce living beings to dried corpses. On the other hand, people say there¡¯s a magical ce in this realm where wood power is as thick as water, and can even produce Fruits of Life.

    ¡°The Death Reign and that magical ce are none other than two extremes, yet they both seem to exist in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Nie Tian listened to Dong Li¡¯s muttering as he wracked his mind for an answer. Suddenly, his eyes suddenly lit up.

    A shudder ran through him as he thought to himself, ¡°A magical ce where wood power is as thick as water, and can even produce the Fruits of Life! My bloodline is called ¡®Life Bloodline¡¯. Those fruits are called Fruits of Life. Can it be that they¡¯re somehow rted? If the rumor is real and that ce does exist, can the Fruits of Life be what have been stirring my bloodline?!¡±

    Another shudder ran through him as soon as he came to that realization, believing that was most likely the truth.

    With a deep breath, he once again gazed off in the direction from which his bloodline had received a mysterious stir, and discovered that there was nothing but extinct volcanoes in that direction. Not a single person could be seen.

    Both the experts from the Tool Sect and the foreign earthme essence gatherers were very unlikely to go to that area.

    If it weren¡¯t for the abnormal changes that had repeatedly urred to his bloodline, he would never have considered probing into that area either.

    With these thoughts in mind, he finally knew where to go. Pointing in that direction, he said determinedly, ¡°Let¡¯s go there.¡±

    Dong Li followed his hand and looked in the direction he was pointing out. After a brief nce, she nodded with a smile, saying, ¡°That¡¯s a wise choice.¡±

    ¡°It is?¡±

    ¡°The area you¡¯re pointing at used to be where the Bonebrutes¡¯ headquarters was. All of the volcanoes in that area have remained silent for thousands of years.

    ¡°Furthermore, as the Bonebrute¡¯s former headquarters, that area has long since been searched by countless Qi warriors from everywhere in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°All of the secrets buried there have been unearthed. Anything that seemed rted to the Bonebrutes, no matter how remotely, has been dug out and taken away for research.

    ¡°No one has discovered anything noteworthy in that area in centuries.

    ¡°That¡¯s why almost no one ever goes there to try their luck.

    ¡°Plus, since there are nothing but extinct volcanoes in that area, those foreign Qi warriors who are here to gather earthme essence won¡¯t go there. It¡¯s also far from the Tool Sect, so Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign won¡¯t float there either.

    ¡°Considering everything that¡¯s going on, that¡¯s probably the safest ce in the Realm of Unbounded Destion now.¡±

    Dong Li assumed Nie Tian had only chosen to go to that area to avoid trouble and stay safe.

    Instead of exining, Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I thought.¡±

    ¡°...Alright, let¡¯s go. I hope the turbulent situation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion will end soon. It¡¯s probably the safest choice to stay there before it does.¡± Dong Li supported his decision.

    Therefore, the two of them moved out ording to Nie Tian¡¯s directions, hiding their tracks as they did.

    Several dayster, Dong Li and Nie Tian arrived at the area that used to be the Bonebrutes¡¯ headquarters.

    Nie Tian scanned the vicinity with his Heaven Eyes. All he could see was destion and silence, and not the slightest sign of life.

    However, since the moment he had arrived, his bloodline had grown more and more restless.

 Chapter 446: The Roving Target

    At the heart of an enormous volcano.

    Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s master, Zhen Hun, was switching between exquisite incantations to refine the me power she had summoned from the earth¡¯s core, and using it to refine the huge axe repeatedly.

    Qin Yi stood in a corner and looked closely at the golden axe without blinking.

    WHOOSH!

    A slender wisp of golden aura flew out of Zhen Hun¡¯s cuff and slowly approached the huge axe.

    Like a slithering snake, the wisp of aura was the soul she was going to vest the golden axe with.

    Once it sessfully merged with the axe, the axe would possess its own spirit and awareness, and thus enter the ranks of Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

    However, just as the wisp of golden aura was about to make contact with the golden axe, Zhen Hun made a slight mistake with her hand seals.

    PHOOH! PHOOH!

    The wisp of golden aura was burned away by fierce mes due to the ipletion of one of the spell formations within the golden axe.

    The detailed and beautiful patterns on the surface of the golden axe instantly went from bright and clear to blurry and dim.

    ¡°I failed,¡± Zhen Hun said with a bitter expression. As she reached out her hand and grabbed in the air, therge golden axe flew into her hand.

    She stepped back into the cave holding it, shook her head, and said to Qin Yi with an apologetic tone, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I would make a mistake after months of effort, and ruin everything. Sorry for wasting so many of your precious spiritual materials.¡±

    Qin Yi grabbed the golden axe that Zhen Hun was handing to him, and said with a frustrated expression, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I¡¯m out of luck.¡±

    With a frown, Zhen Hun said, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I constantly felt ill-at-ease during the past few days, which distracted me a lot when I was casting fire incantations. I¡¯ve been forging spiritual tools for so many years, and my cultivation base is by no means inadequate. It shouldn¡¯t have been like this. I wonder what happened that made me so uneasy.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Qin Yi said, ¡°Actually, your feelings are well-founded... Something big has indeed happened in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Days ago, when Hua Mu hade over, he had intentionally concealed his aura. Adding in that she had been devoted to the equipment forging process, she hadn¡¯t noticed a thing about his arrival.

    Later, in order for her to focus on forging that spiritual tool, Qin Yi hadn¡¯t told her about the reappearance of Zhao Shanling and the Death Reign.

    He had assumed that she would have been able to forge that huge golden axe sessfully, since she hadn¡¯t known about any of the things going on in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Who would have thought she would fail anyway?

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Zhen Hun eximed.

    She was very confident about her equipment forging attainments. Her instincts told her that something had been causing her uneasiness and difficulty in concentrating.

    ¡°Your second senior martial brother is back... with his Death Reign,¡± Qin Yi exined.

    ¡°The Death Reign is back in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?!¡± Zhen Hun gasped with astonishment.

    She finally found the reason why she had been feeling uneasytely. ¡°And Zhao Shanling is back too?! It was because that damn Death Reign of his that master died. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s still alive!¡±

    ¡°The Death Reign is moving towards the Tool Sect,¡± Qin Yi added.

    ¡°Oh, no!" Without saying another word, Zhen Hun flew out of the cave and shot towards the Tool Sect.

    Qin Yi sped off after her.

    The pale-gray smoke continued to float towards the Tool Sect at a fast speed.

    Wherever it passed, no life was spared. Every Qi warrior who was engulfed by it died within a very short time. Not a single one survived.

    At this moment, three Profound realm experts from the Tool Sect were following it from a safe distance.

    They had long since informed their sectmaster, Qi Bailu, about the Death Reign.

    However, many foreign equipment forgers were still forging spiritual tools in the cluster of volcanoes not far ahead on the Death Reign¡¯s path, hoping to achieve good results at the assessment assembly.

    At the mouth of a mountain valley on the Death Reign¡¯s path.

    The sectmaster of the Tool Sect, Qi Bailu and a few powerful experts were waiting with grave expressions.

    <i>¡°The Death Reign, Zhao Shanling, and Xia Yi from the me God Sect...¡±</i> Qi Bailu thought to himself as he gazed off into the distance. Upon seeing the gradually approaching Death Reign, his expression grew especially grim.

    He had learned that it was Xia Yi and his men from the me God Sect that had been gathering earthme essence in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Zhao Shanling and his Death Reign had showed up at the exact same time when Xia Yi had led his men to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to gather earthme essence.

    Qi Bailu was convinced that Zhao Shanling had reached some kind of agreement with Xia Yi.

    ¡°Establish wards!¡± Qi Bailu called out. ¡°We¡¯ve got to stop the Death Reign from going through this mountain valley! Behind this very valley are equipment forgers who havee from other realms to attend our assessment assembly. If we fail to stop the Death Reign, inform the supervising disciples to stop them immediately and evacuate them to Deste City as quickly as possible!¡±

    Each and every powerful Tool Sect expert beside him looked as if they were facing formidable foes.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this traitor has actuallye back alive!¡±

    ¡°Now that he dares to return to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, we¡¯ll make sure this is a one-way trip for him. Kill him to avenge our former sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling plunged the people in the Realm of Unbounded Destion into an abyss of misery. It¡¯s hard to believe he woulde back again.¡±

    Many powerful experts from the Tool Sect vented their indignation as one spiritual tool after another rose into the air, forming light screens of various colors at the mouth of the mountain valley in an attempt to stop the Death Reign from going any further.

    However, they all cowered behind the wards they formed, clearly scared of the Death Reign.

    ...

    In the area filled with extinct volcanoes.

    Nie Tian nced around at arge number of huge craters and asked, ¡°What¡¯s up with these craters?¡±

    Dong Li nced around and said, ¡°The Bonebrutes¡¯ bone pces used to sit in these craters. The Bonebrutes built their bone pces with the bones of spirit beasts and other creatures. Since the bones they used to build those bone pces still contained power when they were discovered, people tore them down and took the bones away for equipment forging.

    ¡°I told you before we came that this whole area has been repeatedly explored and searched by Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars. They didn¡¯t even leave a single bone behind.

    ¡°You can drop your fantasy of finding anything here. We might as well find a ce and sit out this turbulent period in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    With these words, she went straight forward to find afortable ce to practice cultivation.

    Nie Tian, however, stood in ce, his eyes narrowed.

    As soon as he had arrived in this area, the green aura in his heart had started to grow increasingly restless. The bright green spots in some of the crystal-like chains started to flicker increasingly frequently.

    Before, the green spots would only flicker after the green aura had absorbed flesh power from spirit beast meat, and quiet down soon afterwards.

    However, since he hade to this ce, the green spots in those few crystal-like chains hadn¡¯t stopped flickering.

    Therefore, he was convinced that the thing causing the abnormal changes to those green spots must exist somewhere in this area.

    With this thought in mind, he walked around while sensing the green flickering spots in those crystal-like chains, hoping to find what was interacting with his bloodline.

    Other than the numerous extinct volcanoes in this area, enormous craters were the only things people could see.

    Each of them had been used to support a magnificent bone pce, but now everything had been torn down and taken away, and not a single piece of bone was left.

    Nie Tian roamed about without a destination as he repeatedly sensed with his bloodline, yet found nothing.

    At first, Dong Li assumed that he was only looking around because he was curious about these Bonebrute relics, and thus ignored him.

    However, after noticing that he had been wandering around for a long time, Dong Li realized that he must be trying to find something.

    Then, she came up to him and said with a discouraging tone, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re trying to find something valuable left by the Bonebrutes. Don¡¯t you think people would have already discovered them and taken them away after thousands of years of exploration? I suggest you stop wasting your time, Nie Tian. You¡¯ll never find anything.¡±

    Nie Tian ignored her as he continued to probe around with the green spots within those few crystal-like chains, with his eyes narrowed.

    His nine Heaven Eyes were also spread out and scanning the vicinity for any anomalies.

    However, to his surprise, the green spot gradually stopped flickering as he did.

    Deeply puzzled, he took out and consumed some more spirit beast meat. As the meat was converted into pure flesh power and absorbed by the green aura in his heart, he started his search again.

    After his previous attempts, he had already discovered that, every time the green aura consumed copious flesh power, the green spots within it would grow very active.

    It was no exception this time.

    After absorbing everyst wisp of flesh power from the spirit beast meat, the green aura still seemed unsatisfied and full of desire.

    At that moment, the green spots started flickering again, as if they had a direction again.

    He immediately sent a wisp of thought into those green spots, and started sensing wholeheartedly.

    A whileter, his eyes snapped open, and he found himself facing another remote area.

    For the second time, the green spots had led him to a location, but it was clearly not the same as the first time.

    This meant that whatever was causing his bloodline to stir was not stationary, but rather constantly on the move!

    Nie Tian was shocked by his new finding.

 Chapter 447: A Pattern Emerges

    That was when Nie Tian thought of that legend again.

    ording to Dong Li, for thousands of years, people with limited lifespans woulde roam the barrennd in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, cing theirst shred of hope in finding that miraculous ce where wood power was as thick as water.

    There had been quite a few Qi warriors who were experts at using wood power among them. Some of them had managed to detect rich wood power in different locations in the Realm of Unbounded Destion at different times.

    However, none of them had actually managed to enter that miraculous ce.

    A major reason why many people doubted the authenticity of the legend was that people had imed to discover that miraculous ce in different locations.

    But at this moment, Nie Tian was deeply convinced that whatever was stirring his bloodline was not stationary, but rather constantly on the move.

    All of a sudden, he started to think that the legend might be true.

    Ignoring Dong Li¡¯s persuasion, he determined a new direction ording to the level of activity of the green spots within the crystal-like chains in his bloodline.

    He pointed in a direction and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go there.¡±

    Dong Li turned to look, and discovered that he was pointing at another area filled with extinct volcanoes. Thus, she asked, looking rather confused, ¡°The 50-kilometer-radius region around us used to be the Bonebrutes¡¯ headquarters. Extinct volcanoes are the only things we can find in this whole region. Does it really matter if we go there or stay here?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re still hung on the idea of finding valuable things left by the Bonebrutes...¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I believe I will find something.¡±

    ¡°Stop dreaming, will you?!¡± Dong Li curled her lips. ¡°Over the past thousands of years, tens of thousands of Qi warriors from every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars havee and searched this region. Not a single bone is left of those bone pces. What in the world are you expecting to find?¡±

    ¡°You can eithere with me or stay here. Either way, I¡¯m not going to give up. I¡¯ll go search over there.¡± With a hearty smile, Nie Tian sped off into the distance.

    He wasn¡¯t sure that he would be able to find what had been attracting his bloodline by relying on the subtle interactions between it and his bloodline, just as he was uncertain that the legendary ce was what had been attracting his bloodline in the first ce.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t want to exin his bloodline and the fact that he was able to detect something with it to Dong Li.

    ¡°Damn fool!¡± Dong Li cursed, seeing that Nie Tian had moved out,pletely ignoring her persuasion.

    Even so, she decided to follow along.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian constantly changed directions ording to the profound sensations he received from his bloodline, as he kept searching for that magicalnd.

    However, its constant change of location made it very hard for Nie Tian to find it.

    Gradually, he followed the indications away from the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters, and traveled among numerous extinct volcanoes.

    Half a day passed.

    A skinny man that looked like a bag of bones suddenly descended in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters, and sat down at the bottom of one of the enormous craters.

    It was Zhao Shanling.

    Soon, profound spatial energy fluctuations exploded from within him.

    Like water ripples, they rapidly spread out, formingyers of spatial energy wards over the enormous crater he was sitting in.

    Even though the existence of those spatial wards was indisputable, they were invisible to the naked eye. Qi warriors with cultivation bases lower than the Soul realm wouldn¡¯t even be able to sense their existence.

    The multiple wards cloaked Zhao Shanling¡¯s trace, life aura, and soul fluctuations.

    Finished with the spell, Zhao Shanling closed his eyes, focusing all of his soul power and spiritual power on manipting the Death Reign.

    The Death Reign was the most curious tool he had ever forged. As long as he remained in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, no matter where he hid, he would be able to manipte the Death Reign by relying on his profound connection with it.

    On the other hand, as a unique spiritual tool, the Death Reign was filled with death power which could wither all nts and extinguish all creatures.

    Even he hadn¡¯t gained total control of it yet, and thus was unable to fight enemies within it.

    Furthermore, he would have to be focused and undisrupted when he wanted to stimte the Death Reign¡¯s might to the fullest.

    Only by staying far away from the Death Reign and Qi Bailu¡¯s sight would he be able to do that.

    That was why he hadn¡¯t gone to the Tool Sect with the Death Reign, but rathere here to manipte it in the dark.

    He didn¡¯t trust anyone.

    Since the rtionship between him and the me God, Xia Yi, was strictly cooperative, he didn¡¯t want anyone to know where he was when he was concentrating on manipting the Death Reign, lest they take the opportunity to harm him.

    Finished with his preparations, Zhao Shanling closed his eyes. ¡°You lot really think those wards can stop my Death Reign from going further? Quit dreaming!¡±

    With a cold snort, hemanded the Death Reign to fly directly into the defensive wards established by the Tool Sect experts.

    ...

    One dayter, Nie Tian came to a stop. Looking at the wall fragments before him, he seemed deeply confused. ¡°Where is this ce?¡±

    At the foot of extinct volcanoy dozens of dpidated stone pavilions.

    His nine Heaven Eyes circled around in the vicinity and failed to detect any signs of life from the abandoned stone pavilions.

    Dong Li nced around and exined, ¡°I¡¯ve never been here before, but I¡¯m pretty sure that this used to be the Bone Sect¡¯s headquarters. The Bone Sect was a Qi warrior sect. It was said that a foreign Qi warrior discovered the method of practicing the Bonebrutes¡¯ special incantations from the ruins of the Bonebrutes¡¯ headquarters, which we visited earlier.

    ¡°He derived a series of bone-tempering incantations from them, and established his own sect in this ce: the Bone Sect.

    ¡°Back in those days, the Bone Sect was a very small sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. In the eyes of the Tool Sect and other powerful sects, the bone-tempering incantations he created were nothing but a bunch of heretical cultivation methods.

    ¡°Limited by his human features, his bone-tempering incantations didn¡¯t allow him to advance by leaps and bounds in his cultivation.

    ¡°Eventually, his cultivation base got stuck at the early Profound realm.

    ¡°When Zhao Shanling finished his Death Reign, the Bone Sect was the first ce it floated to.

    ¡°The entire Bone Sect was annihted by the Death Reign within an hour. Even their founder was sucked into the Death Reign and died just as miserably as his disciples.

    ¡°However, a handful of the Bone Sect members escaped death, for they weren¡¯t in their sect at that time.

    ¡°None of the Bone Sect survivors ever rose to prominence after that. They just relied on the bone-refining incantations they practiced to discover the remains of the Bonebrutes and traded them for spirit stones and spiritual materials.¡±

    ¡°I see..." Nie Tian nodded as he continued his search by relying on the faint changes in his bloodline.

    Soon, as he wandered through the ruins, the green spots in the crystal-like chains within the green aura started to flicker increasingly frequently.

    Nie Tian was thus convinced that the roving, magical ce was in the vicinity.

    However, as he scanned the area with his nine perceptive Heaven Eyes, he couldn¡¯t find anything noteworthy.

    That was when he realized that he could only try to locate that magical ce by relying on the level of activity of his bloodline.

    Dong Li followed him as he searched, looking extremely bored. She would alsoin every now and then that, instead of wasting their time wandering around, they might as well focus on practicing cultivation and quietly ride out the turbulent situation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Before long, Nie Tian found himself by a shallow creek by the foot of an extinct volcano behind the Bone Sect.

    As he came to a stop by the unexpected creek, he discovered that the green spots started to shine unprecedentedly dazzlingly.

    However, nothing caught his eyes or Heaven Eyes.

    Even so, he was convinced that the thing that had been stirring his bloodline was somewhere around here.

    With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and conducted an inch-by-inch scan of his surroundings with his Heaven Eyes.

    Momentster, he finally discovered something abnormal in the creek.

    There seemed to be an invisible object in the quietly flowing creek, creating a small vortex in the flowing water.

    However, that mysterious object seemed to disappear in the next moment, along with the vortex.

    Not one to easily give up, Nie Tian focused all of his attention on scanning the creek. It wasn¡¯t long before he discovered a simr urrence in a location upstream.

    Something seemed to suddenly appear in the creek, creating a quiet vortex.

    SHEW!

    Like an arrow, Nie Tian blurred into action and leapt towards the forming vortex.

    CLATTER!

    Water sshed as Nie Tiannded on a rock in the creek, disrupting the vortex. He scanned his surroundings with rapt attention, but couldn¡¯t find anything.

    However, as he stood there, his bloodline grew even more active.

    That was when he instantly looked up into the sky. A strange feeling struck him.

    ¡°Dong Li!¡± Nie Tian called out. ¡°Summon your ck phoenix. I need you to take me into the air!¡±

    Dong Li was deeply confused. ¡°What the hell are you up to?¡±

    ¡°Trust me!¡± Nie Tian called out again.

    ¡°You¡¯re crazy!¡± Dong Li said. Nevertheless, she summoned her ck phoenix, walked up to Nie Tian, and took him up into the air.

    Nie Tian kept a close watch on the changes in the creek.

    As another vortex began forming in the creek, he shouted, ¡°Over there! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Like a sh of ck lightning, the ck phoenix carried him and Dong Li towards the area directly above the vortex in the creek.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian and Dong Li felt light-headed, as they found that they had stumbled into a spatial tunnel.

 Chapter 448: The Promised Land

    BANG! BANG!

    Nie Tian and Dong Li fell heavily onto the ground.

    The ck phoenix let out a screech before morphing into a wisp of ck aura and disappearing into Dong Li¡¯s head.

    Hurting all over from the fall, Nie Tian rose to his feet and eximed, ¡°This is it!¡±

    Bearing the pain, Dong Li struggled to sit up. After ncing around, she grew dumbstruck.

    She found that she and Nie Tian were in a dark-yellow wastnd. Not a single de of grass could be seen around them.

    However, merely about a thousand meters in front of them was a dense forest, where each and every tree was luxuriant and nearly a hundred meters tall.

    Though separated by a thousand meters, she could sense the intense wood powering from the forest.

    With just a whiff of it, Dong Li felt refreshed, as if she was instantly brimming with energy and life force.

    Nie Tian looked up and discovered that the sky was filled with light-green auras, like ribbons that were floating in the wind. Meanwhile, faint spatial energy fluctuations wereing from the depths of the aura-filled sky.

    That was when he realized that he and Dong Li had probably entered this ce through there.

    Standing in the wastnd and looking at the forest of ancient, exuberant trees, the sensations Nie Tian was feeling were much more intense than what Dong Li was feeling.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t moving or doing anything, he could sense the wisps of light-green auras around him being naturally channeled into himself.

    As he examined himself with rapt attention, he discovered that the wisps of light-green auras were rapidly flying into the vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea.

    Without him making any effort, his vortex of wood power was already spinning at an rming speed on its own, absorbing the iparably pure wood power around him as quickly as possible.

    As the vortex continued to refine the newly-acquired wood power, a drop of liquid gradually came to form at the bottom.

    Normally, he would need arge number of wood-attributed spiritual materials in order to form a single drop of liquid that contained extremely concentrated wood power.

    But now, his vortex of wood power had acted on its own to channel the ribbons of light-green aura and form a drop of concentrated wood power liquid within a very short time.

    Dong Li nced around. ¡°I-is this...?!¡±

    She was still so shocked that she found it difficult to get out a whole sentence.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Nie Tian said excitedly. ¡°This is the legendary ce known by everyone in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, the ce where wood power is as thick as water!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body trembled slightly.

    She was still seized by excitement as she asked, ¡°H-how did you find this ce, Nie Tian? And what happened just now? Are we still in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    ¡°Maybe not!¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t mask his excitement. ¡°The area in the sky I told you to take me to was probably a hidden entrance that led us to this ce. That entrance seems to be constantly moving across the Realm of Unbounded Destion, so it¡¯s very hard to detect.

    ¡°It was mere luck that I was able to discover it.¡±

    ¡°Mere luck?¡± Dong Li asked with a cold snort. ¡°Are you sure it was mere luck?¡±

    Her eyes shone as brightly as lightning. With a guilty conscience, Nie Tian dropped his head and said, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not buying that!¡± Dong Li shot a re at him. ¡°At first, you wandered around in the area where the Bonebrutes¡¯ headquarters used to be. Apparently, you were searching for something. I thought you were trying to find some valuable items left behind by the Bonebrutes. I was so naive.

    ¡°You were actually searching for this ce, am I right?

    ¡°Just now, you discovered some anomalies, and thus told me to summon my ck phoenix and carry you into the secret entrance in the sky. Is that it?¡±

    Nie Tian let out a dryugh and nodded. ¡°Sort of.¡±

    Seeing that he had admitted it, Dong Li¡¯s eyes shone increasingly brightly. ¡°So tell me. How in the world did you find this ce? For thousands of years, who knows how many people with little time left havee to roam the barrennd in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. They left no stone unturned, yet they failed to find this ce.

    ¡°How did you manage to find it so soon aftering to the Realm of Unbounded Destion?!¡±

    Dong Li grew more worked up as she spoke. Her scented shoulders trembled, and her eyes became as bright as stars as she stared at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian adopted the same attitude he had always had when she asked questions he didn¡¯t want to answer ¡ª silence.

    Seeing that he was ying the silence card again, Dong Li gritted her teeth with anger, yet there was nothing she could do. ¡°Alright. Don¡¯t tell me if you don¡¯t want to!¡±

    After taking a moment to adjust her mind, she gazed off at the forest of towering trees and said, ¡°The wood power is richer over there. Rumor has it that Fruits of Life exist in this magical ce. Let¡¯s go and take a look. If we can actually find Fruits of Life here, our trip to the Realm of Unbounded Destion will prove to be wildly productive!¡±

    In the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Fruits of Life were lifespan-prolonging items that only existed in legends.

    Many grand Qi warriors with divine abilities had faced lifespan problems in the evenings of their cultivation careers. Many of them had been willing to give up all of their possessions to gain extra years.

    Therefore, she knew very well how precious the Fruits of Life were.

    Even the Dong n¡¯s patriarch, who was at the Soul realm, was currently worrying about his lifespan running out day and night.

    If she were able to take a Fruit of Life back to him, her status in the Dong n would immediately rise to a high level, and she would receive handsome rewards from him, who had already ced high hopes in her.

    <i>¡°Fruits of Life!¡±</i> A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he gazed at the dense forest. He suddenly remembered his master Wu Ji and Hua Mu, who had helped him over and over.

    As powerful as they were, the two of them were facing the same impasse as the old man he had encountered earlier; they were nearing the end of their lifespan.

    If miracles didn¡¯t happen, they would soon run out of time and die from old age.

    However, as a magical item, one Fruit of Life alone would extend their lifespan by at least a hundred years.

    With the extra one hundred years, they would most likely be able to shatter the obstacles in their cultivation and make new breakthroughs, which would extend their lifespan again, allowing them to continue marching down their cultivation paths.

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian said, ¡°If the Fruits of Life do exist in that forest, I¡¯ll take two.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take one!¡± Dong Li eximed longingly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope we¡¯ll be lucky enough to find three Fruits of Life then.¡± With a smile, Nie Tian attempted to summon his Heaven Eyes to scan the area before him.

    However, he discovered that his Heaven Eyes hadn¡¯t followed him into this mysterious dimension.

    Also, as he attempted to form new Heaven Eyes, his attempts were disrupted by some kind of unknown force, and thus failed.

    He even failed to sense anything as he attempted to scan his surroundings with his psychic awareness.

    Frowning, he thought something was wrong with him. ¡°This is strange. I unleashed my psychic awareness, but I can¡¯t sense anything.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Dong Li also made attempts to sense with her psychic awareness. Then she said, ¡°It¡¯s the same with me!¡±

    After a brief pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°I suppose it won¡¯t matter, since there don¡¯t seem to be people here anyways. Alright! Let¡¯s go and see if we can find some Fruits of Life in that forest and get them out of this ce!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± That was when Dong Li realized that the malfunction of their psychic awarenesses might be caused by the special environment.

    The two of them rapidly marched forward.

    The closer they got to the forest, the more floating ribbons of light-green aura they could see in the air. Nie Tian¡¯s vortex of wood power spun madly as it absorbed the pure wood power.

    When they arrived at the edge of the forest, Nie Tian faced the enormous, sky-reaching trees and said, ¡°Be careful.¡±

    Dong Li nodded with a serious expression, not daring to treat their entrance lightly.

    However, as soon as they stepped into the forest and stepped from the dark-yellow, barrennd to the green, vegetated ground, an ancient hundred-meter-tall tree that was the closest to them suddenly shook.

    In the next moment, its branches seemed to turn into sharp des, which then pierced directly towards Dong Li.

    However, Nie Tian, who was standing right beside her, didn¡¯t seem to be the ancient tree¡¯s target. Not a single one of the iing branches wasing at him.

    Dong Li¡¯s face turn pale with fright as she not only formed a protective ward with her dark spiritual power, but she also took out her bone shield.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    The sharp branches pierced into her bone shield, giving rise to metallic nking sounds and sputtering sparks.

    Dong Li let out a muffled groan, as if she had taken a strong blow. Then, she instantly jumped backwards.

    The moment shended back on the dark-yellow, barrennd, the branches that wereing at her froze midway.

    Dong Li red at Nie Tian. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you being attacked?¡±

    A puzzled expression spread out on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he stood under that enormous tree. Looking at the sharp branches, which seemed to have lost their target and thus were shrinking back, he said, ¡°I have no idea.¡±

 Chapter 449: Setback

    From the moment Nie Tian set foot on the green, vegetated ground, the green aura within his heart started swimming around unceasingly.

    The crystal-like chains within the green aura glittered with sparkling light, as if they were tiny snakes that were madly twisting their bodies.

    Meanwhile, the innumerable green spots within the crystal-like chains shone with increasingly bright light.

    Standing there without moving a hair, Nie Tian felt copious amounts of green, misty energy pouring into his vortex of wood power.

    Drops of liquid that were made of concentrated wood essence rapidly came to form at the bottom of his vortex of wood power.

    The luxuriant, hundred-meter-tall tree beside him looked like a huge umbre, blocking almost the entire sky over his head.

    Not only did he not feel that it was dangerous standing under the tree, but he even felt rather rxed, as if the tree was protecting him.

    He could vaguely sense that something in the depths of the forest was attracting the green aura in his heart.

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe the tree will attack me again!¡± With these words, Dong Li, who couldn¡¯t find an answer to what had happened just now, once again dashed into the forest.

    Staring coldly at the enormous tree, she infused her bone shield with dazzling spiritual power.

    Changes urred again!

    The enormous tree, which had turned a blind eye to Nie Tian, once againunched attacks because of Dong Li¡¯s entrance.

    One sharp branch after another whizzed directly towards Dong Li before hitting her bone shield, giving rise to loud nking sounds.

    Gritting her teeth, Dong Li struggled to bear the strong impacts and trudge forward, regardless of Nie Tian¡¯s incessant calling and dissuasion.

    At this moment, an even thicker tree in front of her suddenly started moving.

    Its sharp, de-like branches shot down towards Dong Li as if they were falling from the heavens.

    Dong Li raised her bone shield with both hands to fend them off.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    Repeatedly bombarded by the tree branches, Dong Li started to feel intense soreness and pain in both her hands. Apparently, she was having great difficulty defending herself from the trees¡¯ attacks.

    Not only did she stop moving forward, but she even started trudging backwards.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, she slowly backed out of the forest. Only then did the tree branches stop attacking her and slowly shrink back.

    Standing in the dark-yellow wastnd, Dong Li panted heavily as she stared at Nie Tian and said, clenching her jaw, ¡°Why are they not attacking you?¡±

    With an innocent expression on his face, Nie Tian said, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because wood power is one of the powers I practice.¡±

    ¡°What kind of fool do you take me for?!¡± Dong Li asked with a cold snort. ¡°For thousands of years, countless people who practiced wood power just like you havee to the Realm of Unbounded Destion during theirst years, hoping to find this magical ce. Many of them were experts who practiced nothing but wood power. However, every single one of them died of old age before finding the slightest clue.

    ¡°What has allowed you to find this ce so easily on your first trip to the Realm of Unbounded Destion?

    ¡°Don¡¯t you tell me that you discovered this ce by relying on the wood power you practice. Lots of them had far superior cultivation bases and understandings of wood power than you.

    ¡°They all failed. Why did you happen to seed?¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed his nose and said with a dryugh, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because I had better luck than they did.¡±

    ¡°Save your nonsense!" Dong Li said with a cold snort.

    The tip of Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrow rose as he said, ¡°How about this: Since you can¡¯t seem to enter this forest, I¡¯ll go to the heart of the forest by myself. If I do discover the Fruits of Life in the depths of the forest, I¡¯ll get one for you.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare leave me here!¡± Dong Li strongly disagreed.

    Before Nie Tian could open his mouth again, she attempted to summon her ck phoenix with a thought, hoping to have the ck phoenix carry her over the barrier of enormous trees before her.

    However, no matter how hard she tried, the ck phoenix didn¡¯t answer her summons.

    <i>¡°Even you are not going to help me?!¡± </i>Cursing the ck phoenix inwardly, she gathered her remaining strength, preparing herself for a third attempt.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian realized that his persuasion had failed, and thus took the initiative to walk out of the forest. ¡°Wait!¡±

    After arriving by Dong Li¡¯s side, he gave a softugh and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll see if I can get you inside.¡±

    Dong Li was puzzled. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°This forest is bit strange. As you¡¯ve noticed, these enormous trees only attack you, but won¡¯t identify me as a target.¡± Nie Tian pondered as he spoke. ¡°Why don¡¯t you try to stay close to me?¡±

    He gradually realized that it probably wasn¡¯t because of the wood power in his spiritual sea that he was free from the ancients trees¡¯ attacks.

    Just as Dong Li had said, for thousands of years, countless Qi warriors who specialized in wood power hade to search the Realm of Unbounded Destion, but none of them had actually stepped into this magicalnd.

    That meant that it wasn¡¯t his wood power that had allowed him to discover this ce, but rather the green aura in his heart, which contained the profound truths of life.

    Simrly, it was also the green aura that had allowed him to enter the forest without having to deal with the gigantic trees¡¯ attacks.

    ¡°Stay close to you?¡± Dong Li went nk for a moment. A rare look shed across her bright eyes as she asked, ¡°How close?¡±

    ¡°Okay, try to take my hand and stay close to me,¡± Nie Tian proposed.

    Biting her lower lip, Dong Li chuckled softly. ¡°You¡¯re not trying to take advantage of me, are you?¡±

    Nie Tian cleared his throat and nced at her out of the corner of his eyes, saying, ¡°Considering how you look now, I¡¯m good. Thank you.¡±

    ¡°I see. You don¡¯t like my current face, do you?¡± Dong Li rolled her eyes and ripped her mask off, revealing her unmatched, beautiful appearance.

    With a bright smile, she took the initiative to step over and wrap her arm around Nie Tian¡¯s. ¡°How about now?¡±

    The moment she ripped off her in-looking mask, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up, seized by her bewilderingly charming looks.

    As Dong Li spoke, she emitted a pleasant scent, and endless tenderness filled her deep, bright eyes. With a look at them, any man would be enchanted and wish to swim in them forever.

    ¡°Better... This is much better.¡± Nie Tian answered subconsciously.

    Dong Li suddenly let out a cold harrumph, killing the smiles that were filling her face a moment ago. ¡°Let¡¯s go! Remember to protect me. I¡¯ll make you pay for it if you dare to use this opportunity to take advantage of me!¡±

    With these threatening words, she dragged Nie Tian towards the lush forest.

    She came to a stop when they were only one step away from entering the forest. With a deep breath, they took the final step simultaneously, side by side.

    THUMP!

    The moment her feetnded on the vegetated ground, tree branches once again shot directly towards her.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered.

    However, Nie Tian noticed that all the branches were aimed at the other side of her body.

    The side of her that was clinging to him hadn¡¯t be the target of the branches¡¯ attacks.

    This new finding made him realize that his method would work.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t move a single muscle. Looking at Dong Li, who was busy raising her bone shield to fend off the branches, he suggested, ¡°Hey sister, if you can stick your whole body to me, perhaps you won¡¯t be attacked anymore.¡±

    Dong Li was instantly enlightened.

    She also noticed that the sharp branches were only targeting her other half, which was away from Nie Tian.

    Just as more iing branches were about to reach her, she gritted her teeth and made a bashful decision.

    She turned her extremely curvaceous body to face Nie Tian¡¯s front. With a leap, she spread her limbs and clung to Nie Tian¡¯s torso like a baby monkey.

    She hooked her arms around Nie Tian¡¯s neck, wrapped her slender legs around Nie Tian¡¯s waist, and buried her face in Nie Tian¡¯s chest as she eximed softly, ¡°Put your hands around me!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, two sharp branches shot directly towards Dong Li¡¯s exposed back.

    ¡°Hurry!¡± Dong Li urged.

    Nie Tian snapped back to his senses, gently wrapped his thick arms around Dong Li¡¯s tender back, and stared coldly at the two approaching branches.

    Surprisingly, the moment he put his arms around Dong Li, the branches froze in the air, only inches away from piercing into Dong Li¡¯s back.

    They stayed in the air,pletely motionless, as if they were searching for something.

    At this moment, Dong Li was curling up in Nie Tian¡¯s chest, her arms and legs wrapped around Nie Tian¡¯s neck and waist like snakes.

    She was both bashful and fearful, fearing that the branches might find something and continue attacking her.

    After a while, the two branches seemed to have lost their target and thus shrunk away from them.

    Upon seeing the branches shrinking back, Nie Tian, who was just as nervous, let out a sigh of relief. Looking down at the woman who was clinging to him in a weird position, he said, ¡°That was a smart move.¡±

    Like conjoined twins, the two of them were stuck closely to each other, including their arms and legs.

    At first nce, they looked like one person.

    ¡°Hurry! Take me to the heart of this forest to find the Fruits of Life!¡± Burying her head in Nie Tian¡¯s chest, Dong Li listened to his throbbing heart, and for the first time, felt butterflies in her stomach. She didn¡¯t even dare to look up at Nie Tian¡¯s taunting expression. Instead, with great force in her voice, she said, ¡°I won¡¯t let you off if you dare to take advantage of me! Do you hear me?!¡±

    ¡°What?! You¡¯re taking advantage of me, alright?!¡± With a broadugh, Nie Tian strode towards the depths of the forest.

 Chapter 450: Fruits of Life

    In the forest of sky-reaching trees, Nie Tian held Dong Li in an awkward position as they slowly moved forward.

    At first, Dong Li buried her head in Nie Tian¡¯s chest, fearing that the enormous trees would attack her again.

    However, as Nie Tian walked deeper into the forest, she found that the trees were not attacking her anymore, and thus gradually rxed.

    Even still, she silently clenched her jaw as she stuck close to Nie Tian¡¯s chest and listened to his vigorous heartbeat.

    The position made her very bashful and ufortable. She was constantly guarding against Nie Tian, fearing that he would take the opportunity to do unspeakable things to her.

    She couldn¡¯t help but recall their close contact in the dense forest in the Realm of Split Void and over theke in the Realm of Dark Underworld. Images shed in front of her eyes.

    Gradually, she realized that she actually didn¡¯t oppose close contact with Nie Tian, which deeply shocked and abashed her.

    She even med herself for it inwardly.

    Being so close to Nie Tian, not only was she able to hear his heartbeat, but she was also able to smell his aura, which only strong males would have.

    Listening to his heartbeat and smelling his aura, Dong Li couldn¡¯t help but feel unprecedentedly secure, as if as long as they remained in this position, nothing would ever happen to her.

    As for Nie Tian, who was marching forward, he quickly adjusted himself after being carried away briefly.

    As he pondered what had just happened, he gradually realized that the reason why the ancient trees had stopped attacking Dong Li was probably because she had been submerged in the special aura he emanated.

    The aura he released into his surroundings originated from his flesh and blood, which carried a bit of the aura of his bloodline.

    It was none other than this special aura that had allowed him to be free from the trees¡¯ attacks, which had the same effect for Dong Li when she stayed close enough to him.

    <i>¡°Life Bloodline and the Fruit of Life...¡±</i> Nie Tian was increasingly convinced that there were certain profound connections between the two.

    His bloodline was the reason why he had sessfully found this ce and not been attacked by the enormous trees.

    Looking up at the hundred-meter-tall trees, he felt very secure and rxed. As he walked deeper into the forest, the light-green wood power aura in the air grew increasingly pure and rich.

    Wisps of pure wood power continued to pour into his spiritual sea, forming more liquidized wood power at the bottom of his vortex of wood power.

    He started to have a feeling that as long as he stayed in this magical ce, even if he didn¡¯t do anything, the level of development of his vortex of wood power and the level of refinement of his wood power would rise to the point where he would be ready for his next breakthrough.

    It wasn¡¯t an intangible rumor that the wood power here was as thick as water. It was solid truth.

    Just like that, Nie Tian carried Dong Li closer and closer towards the heart of the forest, neither of them saying a word.

    From time to time, Nie Tian would nce around, and discover that long, thin roots stretched from the bottoms of the trees towards the heart of the forest.

    After marching for a few hours, Nie Tian arrived at the heart of the forest with Dong Li clinging to him, where he discovered that the roots of the ancient trees were actually stretching into a shallow pond, which was filled with murky, green water.

    In the middle of the pond grew a short tree that was about a man¡¯s height with green leaves.

    The small tree had only the girth of a grown man¡¯s arm. Its trunk was covered inplicated and mysterious patterns, which glittered with faint, green light.

    In its fresh, green foliage hung four fist-sized fruits.

    The fruits were translucent and sparkling like emeralds, with green light rippling in them, as if they were filled with the most profound power in heaven and earth ¡ª life power.

    Arriving by the edge of the shallow pond, Nie Tian finally came to a stop, his eyes seized by the small tree and the four fruits on it.

    At this moment, he sensed with great rity that the green aura in his heart wanted to rush out of his body, each and every crystal-like chain within it shining with dazzling light.

    The green aura followed his meridians straight into his right palm.

    As it did, his right palm began to change. The palm prints on his right palm began to flicker with faint, green light, just like the patterns on the trunk of the short tree.

    The green aura rushed about within his palm, though it didn¡¯t seem to be able to fly out through his fingertips.

    However, a strong, mysterious yearning stemmed from the green aura and seemed to be urging Nie Tian to collect those four emerald-like fruits.

    Nie Tian took deep breaths to calm himself as he said to Dong Li, ¡°I-I think this is the ce.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Dong Li, whose head was still buried in Nie Tian¡¯s chest, lifted her head and started to nce around cautiously.

    She soon turned around and discovered the mysterious, short tree Nie Tian was facing.

    Her gaze switched back and forth between the shallow pond, the small tree in it, and the four fruits hanging in the small trees.

    In the next moment, Dong Li¡¯s charming body, which was still curled up in Nie Tian¡¯s arms, trembled violently with excitement. ¡°Fruits of Life! There are four of them!¡±

    Eyes on the short tree, Nie Tian said, ¡°If those are the Fruits of Life, then that¡¯s a Tree of Life! Do you know anything about Trees of Life?¡±

    Song Li shook her head and said, with her eyes also on the short tree, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just know that Fruits of Life grow on Trees of Life. I don¡¯t know anything about what they are and why they exist.¡±

    With these words, she started shouting, ¡°Nie Tian! There are four Fruits of Life here! I¡¯ll just take one. After I take it back to the patriarch of my n, my status in the Dong n will be rock steady! From then on, no matter what our patriarch awards me, those people in my n won¡¯t ever dare to talk behind my back again!¡±

    The fact was that the patriarch of the Dong n had adored her since she had been little. Her ck phoenix had been captured by him and given to her as a gift.

    However, every n had their rules. Even as the patriarch, he couldn¡¯t favor Dong Li too much and pour the Dong n¡¯s resources in her direction just because he liked her.

    Therefore, in order for Dong Li to rise above others in the Dong n, she would have to prove her strength and resourcefulness to her nsmen.

    This was a rule set by the Dong n¡¯s ancestors. Even the patriarch had to live by it.

    However, it would bepletely different if Dong Li could bring back a Fruit of Life and use it to extend their patriarch¡¯s lifespan.

    The Fruits of Life were legendary items throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. By bringing back a Fruit of Life, Dong Li would prove her capability and make a great contribution to her n. Her patriarch would be free to shower her with gifts, and the others wouldn¡¯t have anything to say.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Four Fruits of Life!¡±

    Dong Li would take one, which meant that other than the two he nned to give Wu Ji and Hua Mu to solve their lifespan problem, he would still have one left.

    With these thoughts in mind, he couldn¡¯t wait anymore, and prepared to collect them right away.

    Dong Li had calmed down after her moment of excitement, and said, ¡°Be careful. Let¡¯s see if there are any special deployments around here. The most amazing treasures usuallye with the most deadly threats. You saw yourself how those huge trees turned into killing machines.¡±

    She had heard so many stories regarding precious treasures that were the essence of heaven and earth. Every single one of them were closely rted with deaths.

    ces that produced rare treasures were either overseen by vicious creatures, sealed by mysterious spell formations, or in disorderly spatial regions.

    She was worried that danger would appear and devour them as soon as Nie Tian went to collect those Fruits of Life.

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian grew more meticulous and vignt against danger that could appear at any moment.

    Even though he was only one step away from entering the pond, he didn¡¯t take that step forward.

    After measuring the distance between him and the tree with his eyes, he pondered briefly and said, ¡°I¡¯ll jump over to the Tree of Life and collect the Fruits of Life while I¡¯m in the air.¡±

    With these words, he started to form a chaotic maic field around him for protection purposes.

    However, as soon as he summoned his various types of power to form the chaotic maic field, he seemed to anger something in this mysterious ce.

    The moment his special aura was masked by his forming chaotic maic field, the ancient trees around the shallow pond started attacking him, as if they had gone mad.

    Thousands of branches, which looked like sharp des, and vines that looked like long whips started storming towards him.

    The aura from those branches terrified Nie Tian. Looking at the iing storm of branches, he felt that there was no way that he could defend against them, and that he would be killed in the next moment.

    Dong Li saw the problem and thus hastily yelled, ¡°Wrong move! Don¡¯t do anything! Lose your defenses, just like you did before!¡±

    Nie Tian was instantly enlightened.

    Before the branches could reach him, he canceled the chaotic maic field around him.

    The moment his chaotic maic field was lifted, the branches that were raining towards him froze in the air.

    A dozen of them were only a few inches from his neck, while another one had almost pierced into Dong Li¡¯s forehead.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li were surrounded by countless frozen branches, as if they were trapped by thousands of floating wooden spears. With one wrong move, they would be impaled and killed.

    The two of them stiffened in fear. Looking at the sharp branches that were only inches away from their skin, they didn¡¯t dare to move a hair.

 Chapter 451: The Eye of a Titan

    The branches that were hovering around Nie Tian and Dong Li seemed to be even sharper than metal spears, making them shudder with terror.

    Dong Li slowly shrunk back into Nie Tian¡¯s chest and said in a low voice, ¡°I beg you not to make another rash move, okay?!¡±

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian was once again releasing his special aura into his surroundings now that the chaotic maic field was no longer being channeled.

    The aura of his flesh and blood, which was invisible to the naked eye, quietly dispersed and filled a small area around him and Dong Li.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The sharp branches that had nearly riddled them with holes rapidly shrunk back toward the ancient trees, as if nothing had happened.

    Only after she was convinced that the crisis was over did Dong Li lift her head again.

    Her face was ghastly with fright and her voice was trembling with fear. ¡°This ce is so strange. Using spiritual power with the wrong attribute will immediately trigger great changes. I beg you not to make any more rash attempts!¡±

    Nie Tian realized what had just happened after surviving the sudden change.

    Therefore, he deliberately suppressed all other types of power within him, wood power being the only exception. Meanwhile, he made sure that he was constantly wreathed in his faint aura of flesh and blood.

    Soon, thefortable and secure feeling came back to him.

    That was when he became convinced that his special bloodline was the fundamental reason why he was able to roam this forest without being attacked by the ancient trees.

    Looking down at his glowing right palm and the green aura that seemed to be trying to break free from it, Nie Tian was absorbed in thought.

    Dong Li, who didn¡¯t notice the changes in his right hand, once again gazed towards the Tree of Life in the middle of the shallow pond. Eyes fixed on the glittering, emerald-like Fruits of Life, she said in a low voice, ¡°I think you¡¯d better hurry if you want to pick them. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise for us to stay here any longer than we have to.¡±

    Nie Tian calmed down and said forcefully, ¡°Alright! Hold onto me!¡±

    Dong Li did as she was bid.

    She knew very well that she could only depend on Nie Tian to survive this increasingly scary ce.

    Once she was separated from Nie Tian, the ancient trees would immediately rain attacks on her. Considering her current cultivation base and strength, she wouldn¡¯t evenst a minute.

    Seeing that Nie Tian was ready to make the jump towards the Tree of Life, she prepared herself as well.

    ¡°Now!¡± With a soft exmation, Nie Tian leaped into the air towards the center of the pond.

    Since the pond only covered an area that was about a thousand square meters, it would be rather easy for Nie Tian to jump across it, even with Dong Li clinging to him.

    The only tricky matter would be collecting the Fruits of Life with lightning speed as he flew past the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± However, as he leaped into the air and approached the Tree of Life, his expression flickered.

    The gravitational field over the pond waspletely different from that in the rest of the forest.

    A mysterious force seemed to be supporting him and Dong Li, allowing them to float in the air. Therefore, he slowed down and stopped in the air by the Tree of Life, where the green, translucent Fruits of Life were within arm¡¯s reach from him.

    ¡°Interesting. The situation here is simr to the situation above thatke in the Realm of Dark Underworld.¡± Dong Li was amazed by what was happening. Staring at one of the Fruits of Life, she reached out to grab it.

    As her milky-white hand slowly left Nie Tian¡¯s aura of flesh and blood and approached that Fruit of Life, it didn¡¯t incur attacks from the ancient trees.

    Nie Tian noticed Dong Li¡¯s action. He was deeply surprised as he nced around at the sky-reaching trees and discovered that they didn¡¯tunch attacks.

    It was as if the region he and Dong Li were in was already beyond the ancient trees¡¯ attack range, apletely different region.

    Aftering to this realization, he looked down and said to Dong Li, ¡°You can get down now.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Dong Li jerked her head around to look at him, confused.

    ¡°It seems that this region is out of those ancient trees¡¯ attack range,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Dong Li, who had remained in this bashful position for a long time, separated herself from Nie Tian slowly and meticulously.

    After she climbed off Nie Tian¡¯s chest and floated in the air, the previously scary trees in the vicinity indeed stayed still, just as Nie Tian had said.

    Dong Li let out a sigh of relief. Then, eyes shining with the light of excitement, she intended to grabbed the Fruit of Life that was the closest to her.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t make a move. He looked at the Fruit of Life she was going to take with rapt attention.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Nie Tian yelled.

    Startled, Dong Li stopped and turned around to look at him. Confused, she asked, ¡°What now?¡±

    Eyes wide, Nie Tian stared down at the murky, green water underneath them. ¡°Look! Down in the pond!¡±

    Dong Li followed his gaze and looked down.

    At this moment, ripples appeared in the water of the murky pond.

    Oddly, the ripples didn¡¯t start from the center of the pond, but rather from the shore where he and Dong Li hade from, and were spreading towards the shore across from it.

    Wherever the ripples spread, the originally murky water became clear.

    What was even more surprising was that, as the water cleared, a gigantic, green, crystal-like object gradually appeared at the bottom of the pond, and started to emanate a bright light.

    Soon, the ripples reached the other side of the pond, like gradually lifting a veil from over the pond.

    The green, crystal-like object was now fully revealed.

    It was a green, spherical, crystal-like object, which almost filled the entire pond. The Tree of Life was rooted in its top that rose slightly out of the pond.

    At that moment, a formidable aura of life suddenly burst forth from under Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    Dong Li¡¯s gorgeous face turned pale with fright. ¡°Nie Tian, that... that¡¯s an eye! The Tree of Life is growing out of a gigantic eye!

    ¡°Dear lord! What the hell is this ce!? What kind of creature has such a huge eye!? And it can even give birth to a Tree of Life?!¡±

    Nie Tian instantly realized what had just happened.

    The previous ripples of water were actually the eyelid of this huge eye opening.

    The so-called Tree of Life was actually rooted in this huge eye.

    A scream almost escaped his mouth as he felt the overwhelming aura of flesh and blood that burst forth from under them.

    The two of them were instantly submerged in a strong sense of crisis.

    At this moment, even the green aura in his palm had be quiet and obedient, no longer yearning for the Fruits of Life.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that, if he didn¡¯t do anything, perhaps he and Dong Li would be killed in the next moment.

    <i>¡°An eye... A giant eye that hides in the earth...¡±</i> A train of thoughts shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he floated by the Tree of Life.

    All of a sudden, an image that had been imprinted in the depths of his soul suddenly surfaced in his head.

    It was an image of the mysterious dimension that the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor had taken him to, where he had sat on the dpidated alter and nced at the distant, mountain-like arms sticking out of the earth and pointing towards the heavens.

    <i>¡°Titans!¡± </i>A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he realized that this enormous eye must belong to a Titan.

    <i>¡°If this is one of the Titan¡¯s eyes, does it mean that this entire dimension, including the barrennd and the lush forest, is the Titan¡¯s prone body?¡± </i>As these thoughts entered his mind, he felt that the sense of oppression that almost devastated him and Dong Li was growing stronger and stronger.

    At this critical moment, it urred to him to try to create a chaotic maic field around him.

    He wanted to see if he could ease the terrifying sense of oppression with the secret magic he had learned from that mysterious dimension.

    However, his chaotic maic field didn¡¯t seem to change anything.

    The overwhelming sense of oppression was still growing stronger. Beside him, Dong Li was already kneeling in midair and short of breath, as if her heart was going to explode.

    Anxious, Nie Tian went on to try to form a spiritual energy ball with the secret magic he had learned from that mysterious dimension.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the green, ribbon-like auras in the sky started converging on him from every direction.

    Not only that, but the fragmented will from the Titan, which seemed to contain a secret magic regarding wood power, started flowing up towards him.

    To his surprise, as he formed a spiritual energy ball in his left hand and channeled the gathered green energy and fragmented will into his vortex of wood power, the devastating sense of oppression that had been weighing on him and Dong Li was gradually relieved.

    Seeing that this method had worked, he continued to cast the spell as he approached the Tree of Life and reached out to grab one of the Fruits of Life with his right hand.

 Chapter 452: Collection

    As soon as Nie Tian¡¯s right hand made contact with that Fruit of Life, a strong gravitational force was suddenly born between it and the green aura in his palm.

    BANG!

    The emerald-like Fruit of Life suddenly began to shine with dazzling light.

    Dong Li saw with great rity that wisps of glowing light were flowing out of that Fruit of Life.

    Like water, they rapidly followed Nie Tian¡¯s fingers into his palm and disappeared.

    The fist-sized Fruit of Life shriveled and became smaller at a speed that could be seen by the naked eye.

    At the same time, the green aura in his palm started to exude an iparably strong aura of life.

    Nie Tian could sense with great rity that the countless crystal-like chains that formed the green aura were channeling and absorbing the wisps of glowing light from the Fruit of Life.

    The innumerable green spots in the crystal-like chains, wherey the profound truths of life, started to shine like the stars in the sky.

    It seemed that the wisps of glowing light from the Fruit of Life were what the green aura had been yearning for. Now it was devouring them greedily.

    Momentster, the Fruit of Life touched by Nie Tian¡¯s right handpletely vanished under Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s gazes, all of the life power it contained consumed by the green aura. Not a shred was left.

    Meanwhile, the green aura started to emanate an intoxicating light from his right palm.

    However, its thirst for life power didn¡¯t seem to be relieved in the slightest now that it had consumed a Fruit of Life.

    On the contrary, Nie Tian felt that it had be even more eager and excited, as if it was urging him to collect the other three Fruits of Life.

    At that moment, Dong Li seemed to realize what was happening, and thus hastily reminded him aloud, ¡°Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t touch the Fruits of Life with your hand. Otherwise you¡¯ll take away all of the life power in them!¡±

    She didn¡¯t know that what had taken away the life power of that Fruit of Life was actually the green aura in Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    She just assumed that any living being with flesh and blood would absorb the life power within a Fruit of Life as soon as they touched one.

    ¡°That Fruit of Life will give you at least another hundred years of lifespan!¡± Dong Li eximed. ¡°You¡¯re still young, and far from facing a lifespan problem. These Fruits of Life are extremely precious. We need to secure the other three!¡±

    Upon hearing her reminder, Nie Tian instantly became clear-headed, remembering that he had long since nned to give two Fruits of Life to Wu Ji and Hua Mu.

    Dong Li would also need one in order to stabilize her status in the Dong n.

    ¡°I see.¡± With a deep breath, he recovered and restrained himself from grabbing the other three Fruits of Life with his right hand.

    It was also at this moment that he realized that the spiritual energy ball in his left hand had already gathered a significant amount of pure wood power from the vicinity, as well as fragmented will from the Titan underneath him.

    Meanwhile, as he practiced the Qi Refining Incantation, both the wood power and the fragmented will were rapidly infused into his spiritual sea.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got some boxes.¡± Dong Li slowly approached Nie Tian as she looked carefully at the enormous eye in the pond underneath.

    Then, she took out three wooden boxes from within her ring of holding and handed them to Nie Tian. ¡°These three wooden boxes are made of trees that were thousands of years old. They should be able to hold Fruits of Life. You just need to open the box, ce it under the Fruit of Life, and then sever the stem with its lid. Just like that, you should be able to collect the rest of the Fruits of Life.¡±

    As the daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster, she had all kinds of wares and treasures in her ring of holding.

    At such a critical moment, even though she was also within arm¡¯s reach of the Fruits of Life, she didn¡¯t dare to collect them herself.

    The overwhelming aura of flesh and blood that the huge eye had unleashed earlier had deeply scared her.

    She had also realized that there must be something very special about Nie Tian that had not only allowed him to find this ce and be free from the ancient trees¡¯ attacks, but also given him the ability to silence the overwhelming attacks of the huge eye.

    As arrogant as she was, she had to admit that she had nothing to do with the tremendous fortune they were facing now.

    Therefore, she realized that perhaps she was fated to witness Nie Tian reap a fortune so vastly great that people would probably not believe her even if she were to tell anyone about it.

    Nie Tian grabbed the three wooden boxes as he continued to gather the rich wood power and fragmented will of the Titan into the spiritual energy ball in his left hand. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡±

    With his right hand, he opened a wooden box and ced it under one of the Fruits of Life.

    As his right hand approached that Fruit of Life, the green aura in his palm once again grew restless, as if its desire was driving it crazy.

    Nie Tian knew that once his right hand touched that Fruit of Life, the green aura would immediately suck away everyst shred of life power within it.

    Therefore, he operated with great caution, making sure his right hand didn¡¯t make any contact with the Fruit of Life.

    After the Fruit of Life was in the wooden box, he snapped the lid shut with a flick of his finger.

    With that, the slender stem connecting the Fruit of Life and the Tree of Life was instantly severed, and the box was sealed with the Fruit of Life in it.

    ¡°It worked!¡± Dong Li eximed, as if she was even more excited than Nie Tian. ¡°Go on! Get the other two!¡±

    After boxing that Fruit of Life, Nie Tian could feel that the green aura in his palm was growing anxious and upset.

    Ignoring it, Nie Tian rapidly boxed the other two Fruits of Life with the same method.

    Realizing that all of the remaining Fruits of Life had been sealed away in wooden boxes, the green aura seemed to be iparably restless and yearning.

    After a moment of silent pondering, Nie Tian threw the three wooden boxes that stored the Fruits of Life into his bracelet of holding.

    As soon as the boxes flew into his bracelet of holding, all their aura was cut off.

    After a while, unable to sense the aura of the Fruits of Life, the green aura stopped rattling in his right palm and swam back into his heart, as if it had finally given up.

    As soon as the green aura went back to his heart, Nie Tian realized that the green spots in those crystal-like chains had also calmed down.

    The green aura coiled up and became silent, as if it had entered another dormant period.

    <i>¡°The life power of one Fruit of Life caused that green aura to lie dormant again...¡±</i> Nie Tian, who had gone through simr experiences before, shuddered as he immediately realized that the dormant green aura had started digesting the power of that Fruit of Life.

    It meant that the green aura had entered another transcending process. Once the process was finished, it would grant him a brand-new bloodline talent!

    Seeing that Nie Tian had put the three wooden boxes away into his bracelet of holding, Dong Li hastily reminded him, ¡°Remember! One of those Fruits of Life is mine! You¡¯re going to give me one after we¡¯re out of here!¡±

    ¡°I know....¡± Nie Tian nodded and stopped thinking about the Fruits of Life. Instead, he looked down at his left hand.

    At that moment, rich wood power and fragmented will from the Titan were still converging on the spiritual energy ball in his left hand.

    Seeing that he was looking at his hand with a grave expression, Dong Li stopped talking, and watched him in silence.

    Momentster, Nie Tian discovered that no more wisps of fragmented will were flying into the spiritual energy ball in his left hand, which meant that he had gathered all of the Titan¡¯s fragmented will into that spiritual energy ball.

    Then, he assumed the lotus position in midair and concentrated on operating the Qi Refining Incantation in order to refine and absorb all of the wood power and the Titan¡¯s fragmented will within the spiritual energy ball.

    Eyes wide, Dong Li watched him from the side.

    After an unknown period of time, when the spiritual energy ball was refined and vanished, the force that had been holding him up in the air suddenly grew stronger.

    The two of them were pushed into the heavens, and shot towards the depths of the green clouds where powerful spatial fluctuations existed.

    Beams of light interwove into a web on the surface of the giant eye where the Tree of Life grew, as if the eye were behind what was happening and watching them as they flew away.

    After Nie Tian and Dong Li vanished from this mysterious dimension, a long, echoing sigh rang out from the depths of the earth.

    Ripples once again spread out across the shallow pond. As the pond became murky and green again, peace was restored to this heaven and earth.

 Chapter 453: Renewed Life

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and Dong Li appeared out of nowhere in midair and started plummeting towards the earth.

    Dark spiritual power exploded from within Dong Li, and her ck phoenix flew out from the top of her head in the next moment.

    The ck phoenix spread its wings and grabbed her, stopping her from crashing into the ground.

    After stabilizing herself, Dong Li immediatelymunicated with the ck phoenix through her thoughts, and then shot towards the falling Nie Tian.

    Just before he was going to hit the ground, Dong Li caught him. Then, the two of themnded smoothly with the help of the ck phoenix.

    Standing on the ground, Dong Li looked up into the sky, still badly shaken.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes also glittered with bright light as he gazed into the sky. After recovering, he took out one of the three wooden boxes and handed it to Dong Li, saying, ¡°This is yours. You deserve it.¡±

    Dong Li didn¡¯t stand on ceremony. Instead, she grabbed the wooden box without any hesitation and stuffed it into her ring of holding.

    She took a deep breath, and her ample chest trembled slightly. After a moment of silence, she said with her eyes narrowed, ¡°We¡¯re finally out of that damn ce.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re quite lucky.¡±

    Dong Li smiled heartily as she finally set her heart at ease. Heedless of the manners ady should have, she dropped to the ground and ttened. Looking up at the innumerable stars in the sky, she said, ¡°Lucky can¡¯t even begin to describe it. Trips with you are always full of surprises and horror. Beforeing to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, I¡¯d never imagined we would have so many strange encounters.¡±

    Even though Nie Tian was brimming with spiritual power, he was rather exhausted mentally after the intense adventure.

    He followed Dong Li andy down shoulder to shoulder next to her, saying, ¡°When we were shot into the sky by the mysterious force from the pond, did you look down from midair?¡±

    With these words, he spared a wisp of thought to examine his vortex of wood power.

    In the magical ce, he had channeled copious amounts of wood power from the spiritual energy ball he had formed into his vortex of wood power.

    At this moment, even though he had already left that ce where wood power was as thick as water, his vortex of wood power was still spinning madly, forming drops of liquidized wood power that gathered into ake at the bottom of his vortex of wood power.

    The greenke of concentrated wood essence exuded thriving life force, while a few spots on theke¡¯s surface glistened with green light.

    As the vortex of wood power continued to spin, the glistening spots in theke seemed to be rearranging to trigger some sort of change.

    Those green glistening spots were formed by the fragmented will of the Titan, with some sort of profound magic imbued within them.

    Now, as the vortex of wood power continued to spin at a fast speed, the originally disorderly green spots started to realign into a certain formation.

    Nie Tian had a feeling that once those green spots finished reintegrating, he would be able to unveil the mysteries within them with his psychic awareness.

    However, he wasn¡¯t sure how long this process would take, just as he wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take for the dormant green aura to finish refining the power it had absorbed from the Fruit of Life andplete its transcendence.

    Gazing into the starlit sky, Dong Li felt as if she had been reborn.

    Recalling the vague shape of the magicalnd she had seen when they had been shot into the sky, she said, ¡°I did. The way I see it, that continent looked like a giant lying supine, just like we are now. The forest we went through was at the giant¡¯s chest, and the shallow pond where the Tree of Life grew was one of the giant¡¯s eyes.¡±

    ¡°Not only did that giant give life to the Tree of Life, but he was also guarding it.¡± With these words, she turned her head to look at Nie Tian, who was lying right next to her. Charming light rippled in her watery eyes as she said, ¡°I believe that even if other people could somehow find and enter that magical ce, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to collect those Fruits of Life and get out of there alive. Only you can.¡±

    When she had reached out to touch one of the Fruits of Life, a formidable aura of flesh and blood burst forth from underneath them and almost instantly crushed her internal organs.

    That was when the owner of the eye hadn¡¯t even moved a finger.

    Judging by the formidable might of the aura unleashed by that giant, even the most powerful Soul realm experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars probably wouldn¡¯t be able to snatch those Fruits of Life by force, much less her and Nie Tian.

    She had miraculously survived and ended up with one Fruit of Life due to something mysterious on Nie Tian.

    ¡°That continent did look like a giant...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but slide to Dong Li¡¯s perky breasts.

    ¡°There are so many mysteries in heaven and earth. Who would have thought that the rumor that has existed in the Realm of Unbounded Destion for so long is actually real? Who would have also thought that magical ce was on a giant¡¯s supine body?¡± With these words, Dong Li shot a nce at Nie Tian, noticing his lustful gaze.

    However, having just escaped death and gained a Fruit of Life, she decided to let this one go. ¡°When we were falling from midair, I looked down and noticed that we are in a location close to the Bone Sect, but quite far from the creek we left from.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian turned his head to nce around, and saw nothing but volcanoes that seemed to have gone extinct many many years ago.

    Dong Li continued, ¡°The entrance to that magical ce must be constantly floating about, instead of staying in one location. No wonder wood power experts from around the Domain of the Falling Stars have sensed the existence of that magical ce in different locations.¡±

    Her eyes glittered brightly as she turn her head to look at Nie Tian again. ¡°But in the end, they weren¡¯t as amazing as you are...

    ¡°Perhaps they were able to detect the few wisps of pure wood power that leaked out from the entrance, but none of them could locate the entrance urately, since the entrance was constantly on the move. By the time they came close to it, it had already floated to another location.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m just luckier than most people.¡± Nie Tian tried to muddle through the topic.

    Dong Li snorted coldly. ¡°Fine. Don¡¯t talk about it if you don¡¯t want to, but don¡¯t use your good luck nonsense on me again.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that the connection between him and his nine Heaven Eyes, which hadn¡¯t entered the magicalnd with him, was reestablished.

    He tried to guide them with his thoughts.

    Even though the Heaven Eyes had lost considerable amounts of psychic and soul power, they gradually flew towards him from a remote location.

    As they approached, fragmentary stars shed in the depths of his pupils, filling the Heaven Eyes with copious soul and psychic power. Once again, they were able to help Nie Tian keep a close watch on everything in his surroundings.

    ¡°Who knows how many days we were gone for and what the situation is now in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡± Lying there, deeply rxed, he started operating the Fragmentary Star Incantation internally to absorb the starlight that was falling from the heavens.

    ¡°Who cares. Neither the feud between the Tool Sect and Zhao Shanling, nor those earthme essence gatherers from the me God Sect, are our problem.¡± Dong Li sounded unburdened. ¡°The turbulent situation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion might stillst for some time, but I think it wille to an end after those from the me God Sect have gathered all the earthme essence they need.

    ¡°The Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters is protected by a grand spell formation. As powerful as Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign is, I doubt it can breach it.

    ¡°Even if it does, it will be a war between Zhao Shanling and the Tool Sect. It won¡¯t affect many others. Perhaps only some of the equipment forgers who are attending the assessment assembly will be dragged into the mess and killed.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed.

    ¡°Who are you worried about?¡± Dong Li asked with a meaningful smile.

    ¡°That fool Li Ye is attending the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly, isn¡¯t he?¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    ¡°Li Ye?¡± Dong Li nodded. ¡°Sure. Since the Death Reign is floating towards the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters, it will inevitably pass many volcanoes that the Tool Sect has provided for equipment forgers like Li Ye. But powerful experts from the Tool Sect will definitely try to intercept it to stop it from massacring those innocent people. Even if it turns out that the Tool Sect can¡¯t stop the Death Reign, they¡¯ll most likely tell the equipment forgers to return to Deste City and leave via the inter-realm teleportation portal there.

    ¡°Meanwhile, the defeated Tool Sect members would probably fall back to their headquarters and hole up behind their grand spell formation.

    ¡°However, I have a feeling that the reason why Zhao Shanling has returned and unleashed the Death Reign is because he wants to keep all of the powerful Tool Sect experts busy so that those people from the me God Sect will be able to gather earthme essence uninterrupted. The turbulent situation is not going tost forever.

    ¡°Anyway, we don¡¯t need to worry too much.

    ¡°Also, considering our unimpressive cultivation bases, I don¡¯t think it will matter if we run into powerful experts from the me God Sect or Zhao Shanling. They probably won¡¯t even spare us a nce.¡±

    Nie Tian and Dong Liy on the ground next to each other. Looking up at the starry sky, they chatted idly, enjoying the rare moment of peace.

    Deep into the night...

    One of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes caught sight of two familiar figures dashing near the Bone Sect.

    He sprang to his feet and blurted, ¡°Howe they¡¯re here?¡±

 Chapter 454: Old Friends from the Blood Sect

    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡±

    Dong Li was still lyingfortably on the ground. She shot him a nce out of the corner of her eye, but didn¡¯t intend to stand up.

    ¡°Two friends of mine from the Realm of me Heaven.¡± Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian controlled that Heaven Eye with his mind to descend to a lower location so that he could get a better view of what was happening.

    Under the chilly starlight, Feng Luo from the Blood Sect was struggling to move forward, looking exhausted and covered in blood.

    It seemed that he had just gone through a fierce battle. Staggering gashes could be seen under his torn garments.

    Yu Tong, who was also a Blood Sect disciple and a long-time opponent of Nie Tian, was running beside him, face ghastly and her red pupils filled with rage.

    <i>¡°The Blood Sect...¡± </i>After a moment of pondering, he turned to Dong Li, who was still lying on the ground, and said, ¡°This doesn¡¯t concern you. You can just stay here and rest. I¡¯ll go over and take a look.¡±

    With these words, he prepared to rush to that location.

    Seeing that he was so eager to leave without making the situation clear, Dong Li realized that something important might have happened.

    Dong Li also rose to her feet. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ve got nothing to do here anyways. I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded briefly. ¡°Sure, as you wish.¡±

    Under the night sky, he and Dong Li ran at an rming speed, rapidly closing in on Feng Luo and Yu Tong.

    About a quarter hourter...

    As Nie Tian and Dong Li came closer to Feng Luo and Yu Tong, Nie Tian finally learned their situation through that Heaven Eye.

    Three Greater Heaven stage white-robed Qi warriors appeared in his Heaven Eyes¡¯ perception range. They were chasing after Feng Luo and Yu Tong at full speed.

    Two of them were at the middle Greater Heaven stage, while the other was at the early Greater Heaven stage. They all had cold looks in their eyes and were wreathed in strong killing intent.

    The swords and spears they were holding seemed to have been made from some sort of special bones and exuded frosty auras.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian shed into appearance in front of Feng Luo and Yu Tong.

    As they saw Nie Tian appearing and blocking their escape route, desperation appeared in their eyes.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was still wearing the mask Dong Baijie had given him, so neither Feng Luo nor Yu Tong recognized him. They assumed that he was with the other pursuers.

    Feng Luo stopped abruptly. Eyes glittering with blood-colored light, he shouted angrily, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry that you¡¯ll ruin the Bone Sect¡¯s name by doing such a despicable thing?!¡±

    Yu Tong¡¯s pupils had already assumed the color of blood. Fine, blood-colored light was rising from her hands and wiggling like blood-colored snakes.

    From the look of it, she was ready to risk her life byunching the Blood Sect¡¯s forbidden techniques.

    Having dealt with people from the Blood Sect so many times before, Nie Tian had a deep understanding regarding every Blood Sect magic.

    Not only that, but he had even practiced the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation himself, and used it to refine spirit beast blood to nourish the green aura in his heart.

    WHOOSH!

    Dong Li shed into appearance. Standing next to Nie Tian, she looked curiously at the two people before her.

    <i>¡°Herees another one!¡± </i>Dong Li¡¯s appearance made Feng Luo and Yu Tong increasingly desperate, as if they realized that they weren¡¯t going to survive this time.

    Just as Feng Luo and Yu Tong were about to stimte all of their strength tounch the Blood Sect¡¯s most powerful forbidden technique, Nie Tian opened his mouth. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Upon hearing his voice, both Feng Luo and Yu Tong went nk briefly.

    The voice was very familiar, yet they couldn¡¯t think of who it belonged to in that moment.

    Seeing that their faces were filled with bewilderment, Nie Tian realized what was confusing them, and thus said, ¡°The Nie n, ck Cloud City.¡±

    Back in the Realm of Dark Underworld, Dong Li had told all of herpanions from the Realm of a Hundred Battles that Nie Tian had disappeared with the Spirit Pearl. In order to avoid trouble, he didn¡¯t want to expose his real identity yet. Hence, he didn¡¯t take off his mask in front of Feng Luo and Yu Tong.

    A shudder ran through Feng Luo¡¯s body as his eyes instantly lit up. ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡±

    Yu Tong¡¯s devilishly beautiful eyes also blossomed with bright light. Biting her lower lip, she looked Nie Tian up and down, looking both shocked and overjoyed.

    The two of them had never thought that they would run into Nie Tian in this deste and uninhabitable area in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Uncle Feng?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Those three chasing after you seem to be members of the Bone Sect. Why are you here having a conflict with people from the Bone Sect?¡±

    Instead of answering his questions, Feng Luo asked, ¡°You¡¯ve entered the Greater Heaven stage, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m lucky as always.¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s answer, Yu Tong¡¯s heart was filled with bitterness. <i>¡°Greater Heaven stage! He has actually entered the Greater Heaven stage!¡± </i>

    A year ago, when he had returned to the Blood Sect in the Realm of me Heaven, both of them had been at the middle Heaven stage.

    She had practiced cultivation day and night over the past year, and finally entered thete Heaven stage. Therefore, she had been quite confident that she should be ahead of Nie Tian on the cultivation base front.

    However, who would have thought that when they met again, Nie Tian was already at the Greater Heaven stage?

    All these years, she had considered Nie Tian as a target she needed to surpass. It was the thought of beating Nie Tian in a fair battle that had pushed her to practice cultivation with all of her heart.

    However, every encounter with Nie Tian had been a heavy blow to her confidence.

    <i>¡°Don¡¯t tell me that I¡¯ll have to live in his shadow for the rest of my life...¡± </i>Yu Tong was absorbed in her thoughts.

    At that moment, Feng Luo turned to Dong Li and asked, ¡°I believe thisdy is also at the Greater Heaven stage, am I right?¡±

    Dong Li smiled gracefully, nodding.

    ¡°Now we have two Greater Heaven stage helpers!¡± Feng Luo¡¯s spirit rose as he went on and asked, ¡°Who is thisdy to you, Nie Tian?¡±

    Two of the Bone Sect disciples who were chasing after them were at the middle Greater Heaven stage; one was at the early Greater Heaven stage. Meanwhile, Feng Luo was at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Feng Luo was well-aware that, no matter which stage Nie Tian was at, his cultivation base wouldn¡¯t do justice to his actual battle prowess. He asked about the rtionship between him and Dong Li to determine whether she would join the battle so that they could fight their pursuers head-on instead of running.

    Upon hearing his question, Yu Tong¡¯s gaze started switching back and forth between Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    At this moment, since Dong Li wasn¡¯t wearing a mask, her perfectly curvaceous body and unmatched, gorgeous appearance amazed even Yu Tong.

    While she pondered the rtionship between her and Nie Tian, her face fell uncontrobly, as if she felt outshone or were ming herself for something.

    With a faint smile on her lips, Dong Li snuck a nce at Yu Tong. Then, before Nie Tian could answer, she put her arm around Nie Tian¡¯s and pressed herself close to him. Looking at Yu Tong, she said with a unting tone, ¡°We¡¯re good friends. The very, very good kind.¡±

    Yu Tong lowered her head slightly, as if she were unwilling to make eye contact with Dong Li.

    Nie Tian, who was just about to answer Feng Luo, stiffened and turned to look at Dong Li with a confused look in his eyes.

    Dong Li, however, looked veryposed and natural. With the hand she used to hook Nie Tian¡¯s arm, she secretly pinched Nie Tian with great force.

    A painful expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Good! That¡¯s good!¡± Feng Luo nodded repeatedly as he turned to look at Nie Tian. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of those three Bone Sect disciples first. I¡¯ll tell you what happened after.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sure."

    Immediately afterwards, he gazed behind Feng Luo in the direction where those Bone Sect disciples would appear, saying, ¡°You seem to have sustained serious injuries, Uncle Feng. When they arrive, you just handle that early Greater Heaven stage one. Leave the other two middle Greater Heaven stage ones...¡±

    ¡°To us.¡± Dong Li jumped in and finished his sentence.

    Feng Luo went nk for a moment. His surprised gaze shifted between Nie Tian and Dong Li, not knowing what to say.

    He knew that, considering Nie Tian¡¯s actual battle prowess, he should be able to handle a middle Greater Heaven stage opponent single-handedly. However, he knew nothing of Dong Li, and wasn¡¯t sure if this radiant, gorgeous woman also possessed battle prowess beyond her cultivation base.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll manage.¡± Smiling, Dong Li nced at Yu Tong and added, ¡°You just stay here and rest, little sister. After all, your cultivation base is fairly low. Don¡¯t overexert yourself and give yourself a rpse, jeopardizing your future cultivation path.¡±

    Yu Tong jerked her head up. ring at Dong Li, she said, ¡°I¡¯m younger than you, but I¡¯ve already entered thete Heaven stage, which is only one minor stage lower than yours. When I¡¯m your age, my cultivation base may very well be higher than yours.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal for me to fight Greater Heaven stage enemies. I¡¯ll do what I can to help. Don¡¯t you worry about me!¡±

    With these words, she dropped to the ground, summoned her Blood Spirit Pearl, and started casting the Blood Sect¡¯s forbidden technique, Earth Web.

    Dong Li chuckled, not angry at all. ¡°Competitive. My type of girl. If that¡¯s the case, please create as much trouble as you can for those men from the Bone Sect.¡±

    ¡°I sure will!¡± Yu Tong said coldly.

 Chapter 455: Remaining Evil from the Bone Sect

    Strands of blood-colored light interwove into a web in the depths of Yu Tong¡¯s eyes.

    As she formed multiple hand seals, her Blood Spirit Pearl also blossomed with dazzling, blood-colored light.

    One string of blood-colored light after another flew out from within the Blood Spirit Pearl, wormed their way into the earth, and rapidly spread into the vicinity.

    As sheunched the Earth Web, Feng Luo repeatedly urged her to stop with a anxious expression on his face.

    However, Yu Tong turned a deaf ear to him.

    It was also at that moment that Nie Tian sensed through his Heaven Eyes that Yu Tong¡¯s inner spiritual power was extremely disorderly as she cast the Earth Web forbidden technique.

    After a brief moment of pondering, he realized that, even though Yu Tong seemed uninjured, she was actually in a worse condition than Feng Luo, who himself looked rather bedraggled.

    ¡°Stop provoking her!¡± Nie Tian shot Dong Li a hard look before struggling free from their hooked arms and rushing towards Yu Tong.

    He inserted his right hand between Yu Tong¡¯s seal-forming hands, and with a flick, interrupted her forming hand seal.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One string of blood-colored light after another flew back into her Blood Spirit Pearl at a very fast speed.

    Yu Tong stared at him, anger filling her ghastly face. ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need you to finish off those three!¡± Nie Tian shouted, staring back in her devilishly beautiful eyes. ¡°Get back there and recover!¡±

    Yu Tong fumed with anger. ¡°You!¡±

    Nie Tian continued to stare in her eyes, not uttering a word.

    ¡°Alright, Little Tong. Listen to Nie Tian. You¡¯re indeed unfit to fight anymore.¡± Feng Luo tried to intermediate.

    Off to the side, Dong Li¡¯s lips puckered into a smile, but she didn¡¯t say anything provocative.

    Yu Tong and Nie Tian looked each other in the eye for a few seconds before Yu Tong put away her Blood Spirit Pearl, biting her lower lip and not saying a word. As she did, the spiritual power fluctuations on her gradually calmed.

    Seeing that she had finally given up, Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°The Blood Sect has been very kind to me. Now that I¡¯m here, I won¡¯t allow those men from the Bone Sect to hurt you.¡±

    At that moment, a white-robed Qi warrior from the Bone Sect, whose face looked pale-gray, shed into appearance before them. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of big talk!¡±

    The man¡¯s name was Ji Kuang, a middle Greater Heaven stage cultivator. He didn¡¯t seem nervous at all seeing that now there were two more people beside Feng Luo and Yu Tong.

    He had perceived Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s existence with his psychic awareness and learned that they were only at the early Greater Heaven stage when he had been two hundred meters away.

    Considering that his two friends behind him were respectively at the middle Greater Heaven stage and early Greater Heaven stage, he was very confident that, even with Nie Tian and Dong Li there to help Feng Luo and Yu Tong, he and his friends would easily overtake the four of them, not to mention that Feng Luo and Yu Tong had already sustained different degrees of injuries,promising their battle prowess.

    Upon seeing Ji Kuang, Nie Tian summoned his me Star and lunged forward without thinking. ¡°He¡¯s mine!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As he blurred into action, a chaotic maic field spread out, covering a three-meter-radius around him.

    Under the night sky, a three-meter-long red, green, and white de light instantly shot from the tip of the me Star, the red part being me power, the green part being wood power, and the white part being star power.

    The three types of spiritual power congealed into a beam of de light and burst forth from within the me Star.

    Upon seeing the approaching de light, Ji Kuang¡¯s expression flickered, and he no longer dared to slight Nie Tian.

    ¡°Mountain of Bones!¡± As soon as Ji Kuang shouted these words with a cold harrumph, hundreds of pale-gray bones flew out of his ring of holding.

    In a bedazzling fashion, they rapidly piled into a seven-meter-high mountain of bones.

    Each and every bone exuded a gruesome aura that wasced with death power, making the mountain of bones look very dreadful.

    BOOM!

    The three-meter-long de light mmed right into the mountain of bones.

    Cracking sounds rang out from the every single bone that made up the mountain of bones. Meanwhile, the power of the entire mountain of bones seemed to converge on the point where the me Star¡¯s de light had mmed into it.

    CRUNCH!

    The me Star arrived shortly after and shed at the same point, creating sputtering sparks.

    Upon the second terrifying impact, the seven-meter-high mountain of bones instantly shattered and exploded, reduced to lifeless bones scattered on the ground.

    Ji Kuang¡¯s expression flickered as he let out a muffled groan, saying, ¡°Quite impressive, kid! It¡¯s hard to believe that someone who practices three types of power at the same time can enter the Greater Heaven stage at your age!¡±

    After trudging three steps backwards, he wove his hand in the air to form different hand seals.

    As he channeled them with his spiritual power, the scattered bones swirled up from the ground and piled into another mountain of bones in midair.

    The reformed mountain of bones was still seven meters high. However, it didn¡¯t remain still, but rather was slowly revolving vertically.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, the other two Bone Sect Qi warriors arrived. One stood to Ji Kuang¡¯s right while the other stood to his left.

    With a frown, Ji Kuang said, ¡°Tao Pu, you go and take care of Feng Luo from the Blood Sect. Ping Yao, those two women are yours.¡±

    Just like him, Tao Pu was also at the middle Greater Heaven stage. With a quick nod, he stepped towards Feng Luo, holding a bone sword in his hand.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to get through me first!¡± With these words, Dong Li chuckled and jumped towards Tao Pu with the lightness of a feather. She took out her cyan awl in midair and thrust it down towards the top of Tao Pu¡¯s head without the slightest mercy.

    Meanwhile, Feng Luo gritted his teeth, ring at Ping Yao. After gulping down a Blood Strengthening Pill, he morphed into numerous blood-colored shadows and swooped forward.

    Yu Tong stood in ce and didn¡¯t make any rash moves, though she secretly channeled her spiritual power, preparing herself for action.

    Seeing that Tao Pu and Ping Yao had both made their moves, Ji Kuang stared at Nie Tian with a grim expression and reasoned, ¡°You¡¯re not Blood Sect disciples. Why don¡¯t you mind your own business? If you leave now, I might leave one side of the open for you. (Idiom: to give one¡¯s opponent a way out) Otherwise...¡±

    After their first exchange, he had already realized that this unimpressive young man before him was actually quite hard to deal with.

    He had also realized that the gorgeous Dong Li wasn¡¯t a piece of cake either, after seeing her flying towards Tao Pu with her cyan awl.

    After discovering that Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s battle prowess was actually beyond his estimation, he thought he might adopt a different approach: talking them into leaving.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°What? Otherwise, you¡¯ll kill us as well? You really think you can do that?¡±

    Ji Kuang gave a cold harrumph. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    At this point, he realized that this young man before him was determined to help those two Blood Sect disciples, and thus no longer wasted his breath.

    All of a sudden, the seven-meter-high mountain of bones flew towards Nie Tian, still spinning.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Strange sounds echoed out from each and every bone within that mountain of bones.

    In the next moment, the whole mountain of bones exploded violently, sending a storm of bone spears and shards towards Nie Tian.

    At the same time, Ji Kuang let out a sharp shriek, which contained his psychic power and aura of death. The shriek was aimed at Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    Heunched these attacks very abruptly, without the slightest warning.

    By the time Nie Tian realized what was happening, hundreds of gruesome, sharp bones were already right before his eyes.

    However, Ji Kuang¡¯s attack with his psychic power and aura of death didn¡¯t seem to create the slightest turbulence after reaching Nie Tian¡¯s soul. On the contrary, they were annihted with a flicker of the nine fragmentary stars.

    ¡°Starshift!¡± Star power burst forth from within Nie Tian, and he vanished from the location where he had previously stood unwavering.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    Hundreds of pale-gray bones pierced into the ground where he had stood a moment ago, like a forest of swords.

    Ji Kuang gasped at the unfavorable situation.

    However, just as he was about to turn around and run, he sensed that his spiritual power had be incredibly disorderly. Even the wisps of psychic power within his soul felt as if they had be tangled up into a mess, giving him a splitting pain in the head.

    A momentter, an excruciating pain came from his back.

    He lowered his head and saw a de sticking out of the middle of his chest.

    ¡°Shit, I can¡¯t believe he almost got me,¡± Nie Tian muttered.

 Chapter 456: A Difficult Situation

    Ji Kuang had been able to form a mountain of bones and turn it into a storm of bone spears with his exquisite magics.

    Coupled with his immense psychic power attack, he had almost gotten Nie Tian.

    If Nie Tian didn¡¯t have the nine fist-sized fragmentary stars in his soul, and hadn¡¯t mastered the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Starshift technique, he might have already been badly injured or killed.

    Nie Tian, who had already grown used to killing opponents with higher cultivation bases than his, thought he would have been able to overtake this man with ease, relying on his formidable battle prowess.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t gone all-out or exercised discretion when the battle had first started.

    This battle taught him an important lesson: every Qi warrior might have their trump card. If he didn¡¯t treat every battle seriously in the future, he would probably suffer great losses.

    After pulling the me Star out from Ji Kuang¡¯s back, he gazed over at Dong Li and Tao Pu, who were now engaged in a fierce battle.

    Dong Li was smiling as she brandished her cyan awl.

    WHOOSH!

    The shadow of the ck phoenix suddenly shed across the depths of her pitch-ck pupils.

    As it did, strange psychic power fluctuations instantly shot into Tao Pu¡¯s mind.

    Tao Pu¡¯s shifting body suddenly stiffened; the look in his eyes also froze.

    Dong Li curled her lips and said, ¡°It¡¯sughable that the Bone Sect¡¯s little remaining evil actually dares to make waves in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Then, she took the opportunity, while Tao Pu was temporarily bewildered, infused her cyan awl with her dark spiritual power, and drove it into Tao Pu¡¯s body.

    Tao Pu¡¯s airborne body shuddered in midair and then plunged to the ground.

    FIZZ!

    Like ck mes, wisps of dark spiritual power consumed Tao Pu within seconds.

    Just like that, the middle Greater Heaven stage Tao Pu was killed by Dong Li in a battle that turned out to be quite short.

    Ping Yao, who was fighting Feng Luo, saw that Nie Tian and Dong Li had killed Ji Kuang and Tao Pu effortlessly. His face turned pale with fright.

    Without any dy, he ended his battle against Feng Luo and fled in the direction he hade from.

    Feng Luo, who had swallowed a Blood Strengthening Pill, was wreathed in a rich, bloody aura, and his eyes were also filled with sinister strands of blood.

    Watching Ping Yao flee, Feng Luo panted heavily, as if he were hesitating over whether he should go after him.

    ¡°You have things to talk about. Leave him to me.¡± With a chuckle, Dong Li shed gracefully after Ping Yao like a dancing butterfly.

    Ping Yao¡¯s cultivation base was one minor stage lower than that of Tao Pu, the man she had just ughtered. Furthermore, she hadn¡¯t even summoned her ck phoenix yet.

    Perfectly aware of her cunning and vicious nature, Nie Tian didn¡¯t show the slightest intention of helping her, watching her dash after Ping Yao. In his eyes, Ping Yao was already a dead man.

    Struggling to stabilize the surging bloody aura inside of him, Feng Luo looked down at Ji Kuang¡¯s corpse. ¡°Awesome, Nie Tian! I knew you could kill him. You were able to kill the Yuan n¡¯s nmaster in ck Cloud City when you were only at the Heaven stage. It must have been a piece of cake for you to kill this bastard now that you¡¯ve entered the Greater Heaven stage.

    Yu Tong stepped over and asked concernedly. ¡°Are you okay, Uncle Feng? I saw that you consumed a Blood Strengthening Pill.¡±

    Feng Luo waved his hand and forced a smile onto his face. ¡°I¡¯m okay. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to fight within a period of time. But now that Nie Tian is here, I finally don¡¯t have to worry about your safety anymore. It¡¯s just that the sectmaster and your master. They...¡±

    He shook his head,den with worry.

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Sectmaster Li is also in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    Feng Luo smiled bitterly. ¡°She¡¯s trapped in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins, which is not far from here.¡±

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Nie Tian asked with a grim expression.

    He had always had good feelings towards the Blood Sect.

    Back when he had vanished from the Blood Sect in the Realm of me Heaven years ago, they had taken in An Shiyi and An Ying, who hadn¡¯t been able to make a living in the Spiritual Treasure Sect anymore, which had been a big favor to him.

    Aside from that, Li Jing had also taught him the Blood Refining Incantation, which was one of the Blood Sect¡¯s secret magics. She had even expressed that she would allow Nie Tian to take away the Bone Blood Demon that he had awakened.

    Therefore, it was understandable that he was deeply concerned after hearing that Li Jing and Shen Xiu had run into trouble in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Feng Luo sat down directly and exined, ¡°We didn¡¯te to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to attend the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly this time. After all, we have very few equipment forgers in our sect. We came for the corpse of a Bonebrute. Our sectmaster received word that surviving members of the Bone Sect had discovered the corpse of a powerful Bonebrute, so we came to the Realm of Unbounded Destion in an attempt to purchase it.

    ¡°Our sectmaster only agreed for Little Tong and I to tag along so that Little Tong could broaden her horizons at the assessment assembly.

    ¡°Ji Kuang, the man you just killed, met us in Deste City. It didn¡¯t take long for him and our sectmaster to agree on the price, but he proposed that weplete the transaction in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins with the excuse that the Bonebrute¡¯s corpse would attract too much attention if they brought it to Deste City.

    ¡°Our sectmaster had heard that the current Bone Sect was nothing but a bunch of headless cultivators, without a single Profound realm expert among them, and thus agreed to go.

    ¡°However, when we arrived at the Bone Sect¡¯s dpidated headquarters, we discovered that wasn¡¯t the case at all.

    ¡°Not only was one of them at the Profound realm, but they had even invited another Profound realm expert. The two of them wanted to team up and kill us all among the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins.

    ¡°The two of them were both at the middle Profound realm, which is the same as our sectmaster.

    ¡°Our sectmaster had to deal with them single-handedly. She was in a very unfavorable situation. Even though Elder Shen was also there, she couldn¡¯t do much to help. Our sectmaster risked her life to distract the two Profound realm experts and create a escape path for me and Little Tong.

    ¡°However, on our way out of the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins, we ran into Ji Kuang and the other two, who were waiting at the perimeter.

    ¡°That was when we realized that the reason why those two Profound realm experts didn¡¯t do their utmost to stop us was because they had deployed others at the perimeter.¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s expression grew graver as he continued, ¡°If we didn¡¯t happen to run into you, Little Tong and I would have been done for.

    ¡°Apparently, those bastards from the Bone Sect didn¡¯t n to do business with us at all. They only lured us there to rob us of our valuable belongings.¡±

    After hearing Feng Luo¡¯s description of the events, Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows knitted, not sure what to do.

    Even though he had sessively saved Feng Luo and Yu Tong, he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to provide Li Jing and Shen Xiu with much help in their battle against those two Profound realm experts.

    After all, the Profound realm was the highest realm the experts from the Realm of me Heaven had ever achieved. Even in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, Profound realm experts should be among the most powerful Qi warriors.

    There were two major stages between the Greater Heaven stage and the Profound realm. Even though he possessed the me Dragon Armor and a number of special techniques, he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting even the weakest Profound realm expert.

    He was fully aware of this.

    Meanwhile, both Feng Luo and Yu Tong knew that as powerful as Nie Tian was, it would be almost impossible for him to help Li Jing and Shen Xiu in their difficult battle. Therefore, they both remained silent.

    ¡°Sorry, as much as I want to help Sectmaster Li, I...¡± Nie Tian sighed, deeply frustrated.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to me yourself.¡± Feng Luo said with a pale face. ¡°We understand. I just hope that, now that our sectmaster and Elder Shen don¡¯t need to worry about us anymore, they can break free from the joint attacks of those two Profound realm experts and escape with the help of her Blood Lotus.¡±

    With a sigh, he added, ¡°The Realm of me Heaven is too weak after all. We haven¡¯t even produced a single Soul realm expert yet. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have been stomped on by a crappy sect like the Bone Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows rose as he asked, ¡°Did you notice any anomalies when you left Deste City? Did you see the Death Reign or me God Sect experts fighting Tool Sect experts on your way to the Bone Sect?¡±

    Looking puzzled, Feng Luo said, ¡°No, we intentionally steered clear of the cluster of volcanoes the Tool Sect had set aside for the assessment assembly. We took a detour to avoid attracting attention from the Tool Sect, so it took us a while to get to the Bone Sect.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a Death Reign? And why would the me God Sect fight the Tool Sect?¡± Apparently, Feng Luo had no idea regarding the turmoil that was happening in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    At that moment, Dong Li¡¯s voice rang out, ¡°You actually made a nice move by taking a detour.¡±

    After returning to Nie Tian¡¯s side, she took out a piece of white gauze to wipe off the blood on her cyan awl. ¡°If you chose to go through that cluster of volcanoes, you¡¯d most likely have run into the Death Reign. If you did, none of you would have even made it to the Bone Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian took a nce at her and knew that she must have finished off Ping Yao.

    Failing to think of a usible rescue method, Nie Tian chose to turn to Dong Li for help. ¡°You¡¯re always full of stratagems. Can you help me think of a way to help my two revered seniors from the Blood Sect? If you can help me this time... I¡¯ll owe you another favor. What do you say?¡±

    Dong Li rolled her eyes at him and said with a sarcasticugh, ¡°Not calling me cunning or vicious this time, huh?¡±

    Nie Tian was slightly embarrassed.

    Instead of continuing to taunt Nie Tian, Dong Li pondered for a while and said, ¡°There is a way that might work.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he hastily asked, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

 Chapter 457: Placing the Blame

    Dong Li didn¡¯t reply immediately.

    Instead, under Nie Tian¡¯s puzzled gaze, she picked up and put away Tao Pu¡¯s bone sword and ring of holding.

    Then, she took Ji Kuang¡¯s ring of holding and stuffed it into a fine leather pouch on her waist.

    Just like that, Nie Tian, Feng Luo, and Yu Tong watched her openly collect the loot from the men she and Nie Tian had killed, not saying a word.

    Feng Luo and Yu Tong were aware that if it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian and Dong Li, the three of them wouldn¡¯t have survived Ji Kuang and the other two. Therefore, they naturally didn¡¯t harbor any desire to split the loot.

    Furthermore, Li Jing and Shen Xiu were still in danger. They weren¡¯t in the mood to concern themselves with such insignificant matters.

    The reason Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything either was because Dong Li hadn¡¯t been obliged to help him kill those three Qi warriors from the Bone Sect, yet she had. Hence, he considered their belongings as Dong Li¡¯s reward.

    Not to mention that he was still counting on Dong Li to think of a way to save Li Jing.

    After gathering Tao Pu and Ji Kuang¡¯s valuables in a grand fashion, Dong Li stepped into the forest of sharp, pale-gray bones that had plunged deeply into the ground.

    She waved at Nie Tian, and Nie Tian walked over to her side.

    Confused, he looked at her and said with an urgent tone, ¡°Sister Dong, Sectmaster Li is probably being attacked by two Profound realm experts at this very moment. I beg you to hurry and tell me about your idea, if you have one.¡±

    A bright smile appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face, as if she enjoyed Nie Tian¡¯s pleading very much. ¡°Don¡¯t stop. Beg me some more.¡±

    A tiresome expression filled Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± With a soft chuckle, Dong Li pulled one of the bone spears out of the ground. Handing it to Nie Tian, she said, ¡°These bones seem to have been refined with a special method using broken bones from Bonebrutes. Have you noticed that every one of them still has a small amount of residual death power in them?¡±

    Without reaching out to receive the bone, Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have to check them to know that they carry residual death power.¡±

    Back when he had been at the Blood Sect, he had awakened that Bone Blood Demon with his own blood.

    Later, he had learned from Li Jing that the Bonebrutes, who used to be the overlords of the Realm of Unbounded Destion, carried a bloodline that held the profound truths of death power.

    Ji Kuang and his friends were from the Bone Sect. The incantations they practiced had been derived from the Bonebrutes¡¯ profound incantations.

    Perhaps that was why, when Ji Kuang had unleashed a psychic attack, it had beenced with death power.

    As Dong Li collected the bone spears and put them away in her ring of holding one after another, she said, ¡°People spected that Zhao Shanling forged the Death Reign with a treasure that used to belong to the Bonebrutes. The Death Reign is an extremelyplicated creation that is powered by death power. Even Zhao Shanling himself hasn¡¯t gained full control of it.

    ¡°That was why we didn¡¯t discover any sign of Zhao Shanling within or anywhere near the Death Reign when we saw the Death Reign floating towards the Tool Sect.

    ¡°This means Zhao Shanling and the Death Reign are in separate locations.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°It appears so.¡±

    However, he still didn¡¯t understand how this was rted to rescuing Li Jing.

    After storing all of the bone spears in her ring of holding, she spoke a faster speed. ¡°After all, Zhao Shanling isn¡¯t a Bonebrute, so he can¡¯t go into the Death Reign himself. However, he has to remain in the Realm of Unbounded Destion in order to manipte the Death Reign. Even as the creator of the Death Reign, he can¡¯t control it from another realm, across an endless void.

    ¡°Also, I suppose he can¡¯t be disturbed when he¡¯s manipting the Death Reign, so he has to be hiding somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ¡°Whether powerful experts from the Tool Sect can stop the Death Reign or not, they must be trying their best to find Zhao Shanling. Once they do and attack him, they¡¯ll be able to deal a heavy blow to him directly, and the Death Reign will be disabled.¡±

    After a brief pause, Dong Li gave a sly smile and continued, ¡°The incantations the Bone Sect disciples practice have close rtions with the Bonebrutes¡¯, and the bone spears I just collected contain faint death power. So we might as well tell people that Ji Kuang and the others have connections with Zhao Shanling.¡±

    Nie Tian gradually start to understand her intention. ¡°You mean?¡±

    ¡°I believe powerful experts from the Tool Sect are searching the entire Realm of Unbounded Destion for Zhao Shanling right now,¡± Dong Li said with great certainty in her voice. ¡°Even Zhao Shanling himself must know that it¡¯s crucial that he doesn¡¯t get discovered by people from the Tool Sect.

    ¡°So you just need to try your best to sense and locate searchers from the Tool Sect.

    ¡°Those who are sent to search for Zhao Shanling should be at the Profound realm at least. Once you find a Profound realm searcher from the Tool Sect, you can just tell him that people from the Bone Sect have connections with Zhao Shanling. We can use those bone spears as proof, and tell them that we heard Ji Kuang and the others talking about Zhao Shanling.

    ¡°Plus, that profound realm expert from the Bone Sect might know where Zhao Shanling is.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian finally grasped Dong Li¡¯s n. His eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°You sure are full of tricks! If powerful experts from the Tool Sect are indeed searching for Zhao Shanling, us iming that the Bone Sect has connections with Zhao Shanling might actually put the Bone Sect in trouble!¡±

    ¡°Believe me. That should be the case, more or less.¡± Dong Li was quite pleased after hearing Nie Tian¡¯spliments. She winked at him and said with a blossoming smile, ¡°That said, now we¡¯ll see if you can find a searcher from the Tool Sect within a short time.¡±

    Feng Luo was still puzzled after hearing Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s conversation.

    He had no idea who Zhao Shanling was or what the Death Reign was, and thus couldn¡¯t understand the thoughts behind Dong Li¡¯s words.

    However, Nie Tian had already startedmunicating with his nine Heaven Eyes, instructing them to fly as far as they could in an attempt to find a searcher from the Tool Sect.

    Having a thoughtful mind, Dong Li¡¯s spections werepletely in line with the current situation of the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Meanwhile...

    In a mountain valley that led to the Tool Sect, Qi Bailu and powerful experts from the Tool Sect all had grave expressions on their face.

    The long and narrow valley was filled with slithering lightning bolts, torrential mes, walls of ice, screens of metal, and barriers of earth.

    Numerousyers of defensive wards and a variety of powers filled every inch of the mountain valley, making it seem watertight.

    Even still, the cluster of thick, pale-gray smoke was gradually moving deeper into the valley.

    The defensive wards created by those formidable Qi warriors and their powerful spiritual tools were slowly being enveloped by the Death Reign, and rapidly running out of power.

    The Death Reign exuded an aura of death that could wither all nts and extinguish all lives.

    Even the advanced spiritual tools and all sorts of barriers seemed to be rapidly smothered of spirits after they were submerged in the pale-gray smoke. Many Spirit-channeling treasures detected the danger and fled in fear.

    Despite Zhao Shanling not being there, not only was the Death Reign¡¯s might notpromised, but it was even able to disy its terrifying might to the fullest.

    As the Death Reign floated deeper into the valley, defensive wards rapidly dissipated one after another.

    Qi Bailu stood among a dozen powerful experts from the Tool Sect, his expression grim and his eyes glittering with a hard light. ¡°Still haven¡¯t found that traitor?¡±

    The powerful experts around him struggled to control their respective spiritual tools. Sweat constantly rolled down their strained faces.

    Meanwhile, the Death Reign continued to press forward.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± A person from the Tool Sect said with a soft voice. ¡°We just learned that Elder Zhen is also searching for that traitor. She¡¯s well-versed in the practice of spatial power. Perhaps she¡¯ll be able to locate that traitor in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    ¡°My junior martial sister¡¯s attainments in the practice of spatial power are indeed at the peak-level in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but that traitor... isn¡¯t worse than her.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Qi Bailu added, ¡°Furthermore, the Realm of Unbounded Destion covers such a vast territory. Even though she is extremely skilled at using spatial power, it will be very difficult to conduct a thorough search of the entire Realm of Unbounded Destion within a short period of time.

    ¡°Inform the elders to keep looking for that traitor with everything within their power. Once they find any sign of him, report to me immediately!¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ...

    The immense soul consciousness of a powerfulte Profound realm Qi warrior from the Tool Sect spread out into his surroundings like an ocean. It went deep into the earth and the surrounding extinct volcanoes to conduct an inch-by-inch scan.

    All of a sudden, something intruded into his soul perception range, which had filled the sky and covered the earth.

    His attention was immediately caught by it.

    A curious object that was invisible to the naked eye appeared in the distant night sky.

    In a sh, he arrived in that area.

    A puzzled look appeared in his eyes as he began to examine the Heaven Eye that had somehow floated to this area with his soul power.

    At that moment, a wisp of clear awareness came from within it, which said, ¡°Pleasee with me, Senior. I heard people talking about the Death Reign and Zhao Shanling!¡±

 Chapter 458: It Worked!

    Eyes closed, Zhu Bin examined the Heaven Eye with his soul power.

    A shudder ran through him as he received a clear message from this odd cluster of power fluctuations, which he could only detect with his soul power.

    As one of the elders of the Tool Sect, he was at thete Profound realm, and was well-versed in the practice of thunder power.

    Even though he was from the Tool Sect, he wasn¡¯t an equipment forger. He had first started by working as a guard for the Tool Sect¡¯s former sectmaster. Being favored by the former sectmaster, he eventually made it up to being one of the sect elders.

    The scenes of the Death Reign ravaging the Realm of Unbounded Destion and plunging its people into an abyss of misery years ago was still fresh in his memory.

    It was because of Zhao Shanling and his Death Reign that the former sectmaster of the Tool Sect, who he had had great respect for, had died.

    Now, many yearster, Zhao Shanling and his Death Reign had returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Hence, he had a strong desire to kill Zhao Shanling and avenge the former sectmaster.

    However, he was also aware that the Death Reign was terrifyingly mighty, and that only by finding Zhao Shanling and making sure that he wasn¡¯t with the Death Reign would they be able to kill him.

    He also knew that, just like Zhen Hun, Zhao Shanling had also received true legacies from the former sectmaster, and thus was a master of spatial magics.

    He had covered a vast amount ofnd and scanned heaven and earth with his profound soul consciousness, yet he still hadn¡¯t discovered any sign of Zhao Shanling, like many other elders from the Tool Sect who were now searching for Zhao Shanling in the Real of Unbounded Destion.

    Meanwhile, the Death Reign was gradually pressing through the mountain valley under Zhao Shanling¡¯s control. Once it passed through the valley, nothing would be able to stop it from going straight towards the Tool Sect.

    Not only would many equipment forgers who hade to attend the assessment assembly die, but the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters would also face rigorous attacks.

    While he was at his wits¡¯ end, he discovered that curious cluster of power, from which he received a message regarding Zhao Shanling. Naturally, his spirit was lifted.

    In the next moment, the cluster of power floated off in a certain direction.

    Without any hesitation, Zhu Bin sped off after it, hoping to find out what was happening.

    As he did, he continued to examine the odd cluster of psychic power and soul power mixed together.

    <i>¡°Qi warriors with cultivation bases lower than the Worldly realm won¡¯t have soul power at their disposal, only psychic power,¡± </i>Zhu Bin thought to himself. <i>¡°Once a Qi warrior advances to the Worldly realm, his soul sea will go through great changes, and his psychic power will transform into soul power. Once they possess soul power, they wouldn¡¯t bother to form the less-advanced psychic power anymore. Such a cluster of mixed soul power and psychic power is quite new. Who does it belong to?¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Zhu Bin soon arrived at the location where Nie Tian and the others were, wreathed in slithering lightning bolts. That was when he noticed that the cluster of power came to a stop by Nie Tian.

    ¡°Are you the one who spoke to me?¡± Tiny lightning bolts could be seen snaking in Zhu Bin¡¯s eyes as he spoke, making him look stern and awestruck.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to answer, Dong Li handed a few bone spears that used to belong to Ji Kuang to Zhu Bin, and said, ¡°We just killed three members of the Bone Sect. These bone weapons they use contain faint death power. And the Death Reign is formed by rich and strong death power.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s words sessfully caught Zhu Bin¡¯s attention. ¡°Do I know you, kid?¡±

    Dong Li, who wasn¡¯t wearing a mask, possessed unmatched beauty. A mere nce at her would give any man a very deep impression.

    ¡°My name is Dong Li, and I¡¯m from the Dong n in the Realm of a Hundred Battles,¡± Dong Li said respectfully. ¡°Many years ago, I had the honor of making your acquaintance in the Tool Sect.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right... Dong Li.¡± After recognizing Dong Li, Zhu Bin¡¯s stern expression grew softer as he asked, ¡°Why are you here? And did you say that the Bone Sect has some sort of connection with Zhao Shanling?¡±

    Dong Li nodded repeatedly and said with an urgent tone, ¡°Three members of the Bone Sect attacked us, and we killed them. But before we were engaged in battle, we heard them talking about Zhao Shanling and the Death Reign. It appears that a middle Profound realm Bone Sect expert is currently in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins, and he seems to have connections with Zhao Shanling.¡±

    Zhu Bin grabbed the bone spears. After a brief examination, he was convinced that they contained faint death power. His face therefore dropped.

    Ji Kuang and Tao Pu¡¯s corpses were lying right beside them, and the white robes they were wearing made it clear that they disciples of the Bone Sect.

    ¡°The Bone Sect actually has a Profound realm expert again?!¡± Zhu Bin eximed with a grim expression. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I didn¡¯t know that. After all, I¡¯ve been living in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Years ago, the Death Reign basically wiped out the entire Bone Sect. Now their remaining disciples have sunken to bing Zhao Shanling¡¯sckeys. This cannot be pardoned!¡±

    With these words, he nced at Dong Li and the others, as well as Ji Kuang and Tao Pu¡¯s corpses, which were scattered on the ground. A puzzled expression appeared on his face.

    Thanks to his Profound realm cultivation base, he had not only seen Ji Kuang and Tao Pu¡¯s corpses, but also detected Ping Yao¡¯s corpse, which was lying not far from this location.

    Even though they were all dead now, he was able to perceive their cultivation bases before they had died.

    As for Dong Li and the others, Feng Luo was the one with the highest cultivation base, which was the middle Greater Heaven stage, yet they had managed to kill Ji Kuang and the other two, which surprised Zhu Bin.

    He turned to look at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°That cluster of power belonged to you, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Interesting,¡± Zhu Bin said nodding. ¡°You stay here and try not to go anywhere. I¡¯ll go check on the Bone Sect.¡±

    With these words, he morphed into a sh of lightning and disappeared into the distance.

    Dong Li¡¯s tense expression eased up as she turned to Nie Tian and said with a smile, ¡°Alright, whether the Bone Sect has connections with Zhao Shanling or not, he¡¯ll be in trouble for sure. That elder of the Tool Sect will definitely interrogate that Profound realm expert from the Bone Sect about Zhao Shanling¡¯s whereabouts.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Miss Dong,¡± Feng Luo said sincerely, sping his hands.

    He had just learned from Dong Li and Zhu Bin¡¯s conversation that this unearthly, beautiful, young woman was actually from the Dong n in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. A sense of respect gradually rose in his heart.

    The Dong n was a renowned and formidable Qi warrior force, not only in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, but also in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Dong n was currently overseen by their Soul realm expert patriarch, which made the whole Realm of me Heaven jealous.

    After learning Dong Li¡¯s true identity, Yu Tong grew increasingly downcast and silent.

    ¡°How do you n to thank me, Nie Tian?¡± Dong Li asked with a smile.

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about that after Sectmaster Li is truly safe,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°As long as she has managed to hang on to this point, she should be fine now.¡±

    ...

    In the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins.

    Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus was floating high in the sky where Nie Tian and Dong Li had previously found the entrance to that magical dimension.

    Sitting atop the Blood Lotus, Shen Xiu¡¯s face was as pale as a piece of paper. She unceasingly summoned her spiritual power and infused it into the Blood Lotus under her.

    The Blood Lotus blossomed with dazzling, blood-colored light.

    One blood-colored ribbon after another flew out of the shining Blood Lotus and dangled like the tentacles of a giant octopus.

    Dressed in bloody red, Li Jing unleashed the Blood Sect¡¯s forbidden technique and turned the moon red and terrifying, as if she had smeared blood on it.

    A gigantic blood shadow was roaring as it fought a Profound realm Qi warrior wreathed in fierce, golden light at close quarters.

    Standing atop a mountain of bones that was hundreds of meter high, the Profound realm expert from the Bone Sect formed numerous, sky-filling, bone-shaped shadows with the Bone Sect¡¯s secret magic, shing with the blood-colored ribbons unleashed by the Blood Lotus in midair.

    Hovering in the air, Li Jing was wreathed in a rich, bloody aura, as if she were floating in the middle of a river of blood.

    She unleashed all sorts of Blood Sect secret magics to strike the hundreds-of-meter-high mountain of bones, hoping to shatter itpletely.

    The mountain of bones fell apart upon the strong impacts, yet the scattered bones swirled up and regathered into a hundred-meter-tall Bone Giant.

    The Bone Giant¡¯s whole body was intact, with the only exception being its eyes.

    It swung a huge bone saber to sever the blood-colored ribbons which had flown out of the Blood Lotus one after another.

    Every time a blood-colored ribbon was severed, Shen Xiu, who was sitting atop the Blood Lotus and wreathed in a misty bloody aura, would cough up a mouthful of blood.

    Shen Xiu was only at thete Worldly realm. She was relying on the Blood Lotus to stay in the battle.

    ¡°It¡¯s time to give up,¡± The Profound realm expert from the Bone Sect said with a calm face, greed filling his gray pupils.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already refined the Bonebrute¡¯s corpse, which I promised you, into a spiritual tool. The reason I had people spread word was to attract you toe, so that you could further refine it with your sect¡¯s Blood Demon refining method.

    ¡°After decades of research, I realized that your sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation would work perfectly with our sect¡¯s Bone Refining Incantation.

    ¡°Sectmaster Li, the only reason why I haven¡¯t made a killing move yet is that I hope you can see reality.

    ¡°If you and I bepanions, and the Bone Sect merges with the Blood Sect, it will benefit us both a great deal.

    ¡°I guarantee you that once our sects be one, our personal strength and cultivation bases will advance by leaps and bounds. The disciples under us will also be able to derive brand-new enlightenment from our integrated incantations.

    ¡°One day, ourbined sect will join the ranks of the top Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, just like the Heaven Pce Sect and Tool Sect!

    ¡°Your headquarters in the Realm of me Heaven will be where we establish our merged sect, the Blood Bone Sect. All of the other sects in the Realm of me Heaven will grovel before us and take orders from us!¡±

 Chapter 459: Rescue

    Under the blood moon, Li Jing¡¯s garments fluttered against the wind, her pupils scarlet.

    The Bone Giant continued to sever the blood-colored ribbons that had flown out of the Blood Lotus one after another with an enormous bone saber.

    Every time a ribbon was severed, the spiritual power within the Blood Lotus was slightly weakened.

    She was doing her best to manipte the huge blood shadow to keep Meng Qing, the Bone Sect¡¯s current leader, upied. Hence, she didn¡¯t have the energy to strengthen the Blood Lotus.

    It was her senior martial sister, Shen Xiu, who was controlling and powering that Blood Lotus. However, Shen Xiu was only at thete Worldly realm.

    Considering the level of her spiritual power, it was already a miracle that she hadsted til this point.

    Li Jing was well-aware that as those blood-colored ribbons were severed one after another, it wouldn¡¯t be very long before Shen Xiu would be drained of all her spiritual power and die.

    Meng Qing, who was also at the Profound realm, was an expert in wielding the Bone Sect¡¯s various secret magics. Li Jing had even failed to affect the flow of his blood with the Blood Sect¡¯s Reverse Blood Flow technique.

    Having fought for so long, she, who had to spare part of her own soul to control the enormous blood shadow, had consumed a significant amount of strength.

    She knew that, if this went on, Shen Xiu would be the first to die, and then she probably wouldn¡¯t survive this tribtion herself either.

    <i>¡°I hope Feng Luo and Little Tong made it out of here alive.¡± </i>After a moment of pondering, Li Jing made her decision.

    She decided to risk suffering severe injuries and a cultivation setback to activate the Blood Lotus¡¯s ultimate blood escape art and get away from this ce with Shen Xiu.

    Her scarlet, devilish pupils suddenly began to shine with dazzling light as they were rapidly filled with a rich bloody aura.

    The river of bloody aura around her started to quietly float towards the Blood Lotus, along with the enormous roaring blood shadow.

    Meng Qing, who had been secretly observing her, shrewdly discovered the abnormal movements of the river of bloody aura and the enormous blood shadow.

    Calm andposed, he sneered and said, ¡°Sectmaster Li, do you know why I picked my sect¡¯s headquarters to be the ce where we finished the transaction?¡±

    Before Li Jing could answer, he went on and said, ¡°Many years ago, my entire sect was annihted overnight.¡±

    With these words, Meng Qing¡¯s expression grew grave, and the corner of his mouth twitched briefly. ¡°Everyone in the headquarters died. Not a single person survived. Fortunately, I was not in the Realm of Unbounded Destion at that time, and thus survived that cmity. Even after many years, I still didn¡¯t dare toe back, but rather roamed other realms like a stray dog.

    ¡°The overnight annihtion of my sect was the doing of a legendary viin from the Realm of Unbounded Destion. He was the most skilled spatial power wielder throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°And the terrifying spiritual tool he used to wipe my sect out carried unfathomable mysteries of spatial power. It was that spiritual tool that made these normal-looking ruins full of hidden danger.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Li Jing, who was about to activate the blood escape art, frowned in surprise.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can go ahead and have a try.¡± Meng Qing was still calm andposed. ¡°Once someone who¡¯s not very skilled at using spatial magics casts a forbidden spatial magic, the consequences... will be hard to predict.¡±

    With an expression of anticipation, he even encouraged Li Jing, ¡°In fact, I kind of want to see what will happen to those who dare to use spatial magic in the Bone Sect. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t have the audacity to try it myself. I¡¯d be happy to be an observer if Sectmaster Li is willing to do the honor.¡±

    After hearing these words, not only was Li Jing not enthused, but she actually became afraid to enact her n.

    While Li Jing was torn with indecision, Meng Qing¡¯s face turned warm. ¡°Sectmaster Li, your sect¡¯s and my sect¡¯s incantationsplement each other. Our union will benefit us both. Why do you refuse to open your eyes to reality?

    ¡°Imagine this. One day, our Blood Bone Sect will rise to prominence and be as powerful as the Heaven Pce Sect and the Tool Sect. Won¡¯t that be better than you struggling to keep the Blood Sect afloat in the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ring at him, Li Jing said, ¡°You disgust me!¡±

    Meng Qing was suddenly enraged.

    Just as he was about tounch a murderous attack on her and Shen Xiu and snatch the Blood Sect¡¯s incantations by force, he was struck by an intense sense of crisis.

    He spun around.

    A thick lightning bolt flew over from the distant sky. After it came to a stop in midair in front of Meng Qing, it turned out to be Zhu Bin.

    ¡°Elder Zhu?¡± Startled, Meng Qing hastily bowed respectfully. ¡°I¡¯m the son of Meng Han, the Bone Sect¡¯s former sectmaster. I happened to be out of the Realm of Unbounded Destion when our sect was annihted. To what do we owe Elder Zhu¡¯s presence?¡±

    Zhu Bin went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°Meng Qing? I¡¯ve heard of you. I thought you were killed by the Death Reign like your father. I can¡¯t believe you possess such amazing talent and managed to advance to the middle Profound realm through practicing your sect¡¯s incantations at such an age. From the look of it, your cultivation talent is far superior to your father¡¯s.¡±

    Meng Qing behaved incredibly modestly when facing Zhu Bin. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you.¡±

    Zhu Bing let out a cold harrumph. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that you¡¯ve associated yourself with evil! Your sect was wiped out overnight by Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign. Everyone in your sect died because of the Death Reign, including your father. Zhao Shanling should have been your sworn enemy, yet you sold yourself to him. How can you expect your father to find peace in the Yellow Springs?!¡±

    A confused expression spread across Meng Qing¡¯s face. ¡°Where is thising from, Elder Zhu?¡±

    Zhu Bin grew impatient and said loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t you try to fool me! Where is Zhao Shanling at this moment?¡±

    ¡°How would I know about that?¡± Meng Qing felt deeply wronged.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, a spot in the dark sky not far from the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins began to shine brightly, like a door slowly opening into darkness.

    Immediately afterwards, Zhen Hun stepped through it with a ck-robed, burly man that looked like a mountain.

    ¡°The Bone Sect¡¯s ruins are right ahead of us.¡± With these words, Zhen Hun, who had forcibly opened a spatial portal and created a spatial tunnel out of thin air, got ahold of her bearings and sped off towards the Bone Sect¡¯s dpidated headquarters.

    She had received word from Zhu Bin while he had been searching on the other side of the Realm of Unbounded Destion. The urgency of the matter had led her toe with the help of her spatial device, along with that burly expert.

    As she and therge ck-robed man shed into appearance before Meng Qing and Zhu Bin, Zhu Bin, who had been berating Meng Qing, hastily turned around and bowed, saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you woulde as well.¡±

    Li Jing, who had been forgotten since Zhu Bin¡¯s arrival, was shocked as soon as she saw Zhen Hun and the ck-robed man with her.

    As the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, this wasn¡¯t the first time she had been to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, so she naturally had some knowledge regarding the main figures in the Tool Sect.

    Even though she hadn¡¯t met Zhen Hun in person before, she had seen portraits of her. Therefore, she instantly recognized her.

    As for the burly, mountain-like man beside her, the moment he arrived, Li Jing¡¯s eyelids started twitching with an intense sense of crisis. ¡°A Soul realm expert!¡±

    Just like her, the Profound realm expert who Meng Qing had invited to help him was also deeply shocked and awed.

    He, who practiced metal power, was so petrified by the ck-robed man that he immediately disassociated himself from Meng Qing by saying, ¡°I have absolutely no connections with the Bone Sect, Mr. Wu! I only agreed toe and help him deal with this woman from the Blood Sect in the Realm of me Heaven because he paid handsomely for my service.¡±

    The burly ck-robed man took a nce at him, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Umm... I have nothing to do with what Meng Qing has done or ns to do!¡± The man urgently attempted to make his rtionship with Meng Qing clear. ¡°If you don¡¯t have any other business with me, could I please be excused?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± The ck-robed expert said with an expressionless face.

    The man hung his head, his face ghastly, as if he had been determined guilty by the burly expert, and was waiting for his penalty.

    In fear and trepidation, Meng Qing hastily said to the ck-robed man, ¡°Mr. Wu, I really have nothing to do with Zhao Shanling. This is the first time I¡¯ve returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion in decades!¡±

    A meaningful look appeared in the ck-robed man¡¯s eyes. ¡°Well, what a coincidence. This is also the first time that traitor has returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion after he disappeared decades ago.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, desperation filled Meng Qing¡¯s face.

    ¡°Mr. Wu, Zhao Shanling¡¯s whereabouts are vital to our efforts to put an end to the turbulent situation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡± After a moment of pondering, Zhu Bin suggested, ¡°It seems that the rest of us can¡¯t tell if Meng Qing is telling the truth or not, so will you please take the trouble to use your soul transmission art on him?¡±

    The ck-robed man nodded briefly. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I was thinking.¡±

    ¡°NO!¡± Meng Qing¡¯s face turned pale with fright. Too scared to mind Li Jing and Shen Xiu, he fled into the distance at the fastest speed possible.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± With these words, the burly, mountain-like man vanished into thin air.

    Momentster, Meng Qing¡¯s blood-curdling scream rang out from the direction he had fled in.

    Upon hearing his miserable scream, both Zhu Bin and Zhen Hun¡¯s faces remained expressionless, as if they had expected it.

    However, everyone else gasped with terror, especially the Profound realm expert who hade upon Meng Qing¡¯s invitation. His face was already covered in sweat.

 Chapter 460: Giving Nie Tian Face

    Meng Qing¡¯s scream made even Li Jing¡¯s hair stand on end.

    Since she knew the ck-robed man¡¯s identity, she knew that Meng Qing must have suffered great injuries, even if he survived.

    Therefore, she turned to Zhu Bin and Zhen Hun and said, ¡°We are from the Blood Sect in the Realm of me Heaven. Meng Qing tricked us intoing to this ce. He said he had a Bonebrute¡¯s corpse to sell to us, but who would have thought that he had other ns.¡±

    Zhen Hun¡¯s expression flickered as she asked instantly, ¡°The Blood sect in the Realm of me Heaven? I heard that earlier, when Nie Tian returned to the Realm of me Heaven, he went straight to your sect, instead of the Cloudsoaring Sect. Is that right?¡±

    A puzzled expression spread across Li Jing¡¯s face. Even though she didn¡¯t know why Zhen Hun would ask such a question, she answered with the truth, ¡°Yeah. Nie Tian has saved our sect more than once, and it was him who somehow managed to awaken the Bone Blood Demon in our sect.¡±

    ¡°I see." Zhen Hun nodded gently, as if she grasped Nie Tian¡¯s rtionship with the Blood Sect. Immediately afterwards, she waved her hand and said, ¡°You may leave now.¡±

    Both Li Jing and Shen Xiu went nk upon hearing these words.

    Zhu Bin even kindly pointed out the direction for them, saying, ¡°Two members of your sect are not far in that direction. It was them who referred me to this ce.¡±

    ¡°Feng Luo and Little Tong are still alive!¡± Shen Xiu eximed, overjoyed.

    ¡°You may go find them now. I believe what we¡¯re doing here doesn¡¯t concern you anymore.¡± Zhen Hun smiled heartily and added, ¡°If Nie Tian ever goes back to the Blood Sect, please tell him that Mr. Hua is worried about him, and that he should try to get in contact with him. He¡¯ll probably know how to find Mr. Hua.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I will,¡± Li Jing promised, though she didn¡¯t understand the reason behind it.

    She had thought she was doomed during this trip to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Never had she imagined that not only did she and Shen Xiu survive this tribtion, but Feng Luo and Yu Tong also turned out to be fine.

    Just as she and Shen Xiu jumped onto her Blood Lotus and were about to leave, Zhen Hun¡¯s eyebrows rose, looking at the hundreds-of-meters-tall Bone Giant which was standing witlessly to the side.

    Meng Qing had fled so urgently that he had even forgotten about his Bone Giant.

    Without its master¡¯s soulmands, the Bone Giant had long since stopped attacking the Blood Lotus, but rather stood in ce, holding its huge bone saber.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhen Hun called out.

    Puzzled, Li Jing turned to look at her from atop the Blood Lotus. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±

    ¡°You said that Nie Tian awakened your sect¡¯s Bone Blood Demon, right?¡± Zhen Hun asked.

    Li Jing smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Yes, he did. He awakened that Bone Blood Demon. But immediately after he left, it fell dormant again. I promised him that that Bone Blood Demon belongs to him now. He¡¯ll be free to take him whenever he wants.¡±

    Zhen Hun dragged her words as she said, nodding, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. Take this Bone Giant with you. Consider itpensation for your sect¡¯s loss.¡±

    As she uttered these words, one streak of mes after another flew out from her fingertips, formed some sort of magical fiery pattern in the air, and finally infused into the enormous Bone Giant.

    The imprints Meng Qing had left in each and every bone that formed the Bone Giant were rapidly erased.

    Dozens of secondster, Li Jing was no longer able to detect the slightest bit of Meng Qing¡¯s aura from the Bone Giant.

    That was when she realized that the connection between Meng Qing and the Bone Giant had beenpletely eradicated.

    As the third disciple of the Tool Sect¡¯s former sectmaster, Zhen Hun was one of the best equipment forgers throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Therefore, the fact that she was able to erase the soul imprints Meng Qing had left in the Bone Giant effortlessly didn¡¯t surprise her at all.

    What surprised her was that she wasn¡¯t friends with or rted to Zhen Hun. She had never even seen her in person before. However, not only did she allow her and Shen Xiu to leave without questioning them, but she even erased Meng Qing¡¯s imprints in the Bone Giant and let her take it with her.

    It was such a big surprise that it bewildered her, not knowing why Zhen Hun would do this.

    ¡°Nie Tian is also a junior of mine,¡± Zhen Hun exined smiling. ¡°He¡¯s good friends with my two disciples.¡±

    A smile appeared on Shen Xiu¡¯s puzzled face. ¡°So this is all because of Nie Tian!¡±

    As an elder of the Blood Sect, she had once had a poor opinion of Nie Tian because of his personal feud with Yu Tong.

    Eventer, after he had awakened the Bone Blood Demon and saved the Blood Sect from the outsiders, she had still harbored ill feelings about him.

    Originally, she had been responsible for that Bone Blood Demon, so she had been rather upset when Nie Tian had awakened it and brought it under hismand.

    Afterwards, Li Jing had favored Nie Tian both overtly and covertly. Li Jing had even jeopardized the Blood Sect¡¯s rtionship with the Spiritual Treasure Sect by taking the An sisters in after Nie Tian had disappeared from the Realm of me Heaven, which had made her feel that Li Jing had attached too much importance to Nie Tian.

    Only at this point, after seeing Zhen Hun¡¯s surprisingly friendly attitude towards them when they were trapped in a foreign realm, did she finally realize what a wise decision her junior martial sister had made.

    As Shen Xiu¡¯s furrowed eyebrows straightened, her negative opinions about Nie Tian dissolved. ¡°So all of this... she has done to give Nie Tian face.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± Li Jing said, overjoyed. With a swing of her arm, streaks of bloody aura shot out, wreathed the Bone Giant, and started pulling it towards her ring of holding.

    ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion is seeing a perilous time,¡± Zhen Hun reminded them. ¡°Travel safe, and don¡¯t return to Deste City for a while.¡±

    Li Jing and Shen Xiu nodded and flew away on the Blood Lotus under her and Zhu Bin¡¯s gazes.

    As they flew away from the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins, mixed emotions rose in Shen Xiu¡¯s heart. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Nie Tian has such a big influence! Junior martial sister, I just realized how wise your decision was to favor Nie Tian so much back in the day. And how petty I was for being upset about losing that Bone Blood Demon to him.¡±

    Sitting atop the Blood Lotus, Li Jing took out and swallowed a handful of Blood Pills. With an entranced look in her eyes, she said, ¡°Truth be told, I had never imagined that he would have obtained two fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial. From the look of it, he didn¡¯t squander his time during the few years he was gone. He seems to have made friends with some of the best equipment forgers.¡±

    With a smile, Shen Xiu said, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for that, we might not have been able to pull through this tribtion and obtain that Bone Giant so easily. Now that Little Tong and Feng Luo are also alive, it seems that, even though the process has been tough, the result has turned out to be satisfying.¡±

    Li Jing, who had always been cold and graceful, nodded gently as a hearty smile appeared on her face. ¡°We got this Bone Giant without spending a single spirit stone. And Meng Qing has already refined it with the Bone Sect¡¯s secret magics. This trip sure has been productive.¡±

    As the two of them spoke, the Blood Lotus traveled through the air at an rming speed. It wasn¡¯t long before it came to the location where Feng Luo, Yu Tong, and the others were.

    ¡°Master!¡± Yu Tong eximed, looking up into the sky.

    Feng Luo was also overjoyed as he saw them. ¡°Sectmaster and Elder Shen have sessfully escaped!¡±

    With a bright smile, Dong Li turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Well?¡±

    Seeing that the Blood Lotus was gradually approaching with Li Jing and Shen Xiu on it, Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief. He sped his hands towards Dong Li and said, ¡°You¡¯re truly amazing, Sister Dong. I¡¯ll be true to my words. Whatever you want me to do, I shall go all-out to deliver.¡±

    ¡°Now that¡¯s the way to talk,¡± Dong Li said, her charming face splitting into a hearty smile.

    WHOOSH!

    As the Blood Lotusnded, Li Jing examined Nie Tian and Dong Li, who looked unfamiliar, and asked Feng Luo with a confused expression on her face, ¡°These are?¡±

    Pointing at Dong Li, Feng Luo said, ¡°This is the daughter of the nmaster of the Dong n from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he turned to look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Guess who this is, sectmaster.¡±

    Li Jing was deeply confused.

    At that moment, Nie Tian bowed towards her and said, ¡°Greetings, Senior Li.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± A shudder ran through Li Jing¡¯s body, as the moment Nie Tian opened his mouth, she knew it was him. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    Feng Luo¡¯s expression grew serious as he exined, ¡°All of this is thanks to Nie Tian and Miss Dong. If it weren¡¯t for them, Little Tong and I would have been killed by Ji Kuang and his friends. Without Miss Dong¡¯s brilliant idea, I¡¯m afraid you and Elder Shen probably would have...¡± He went on and exined everything in detail.

    After hearing his description, both Li Jing and Shen Xiu¡¯s eyes grew wide in shock, realizing that it hadn¡¯t been a coincidence that Zhu Bin from the Tool Sect had appeared in the Bone Sect earlier.

    After a moment of silence, Li Jing turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Thank you for helping us, Miss Dong.¡±

    With a wave of her hand, Dong Li said, ¡°You¡¯re wee. I did all that for Nie Tian.¡±

    Afterwards, she asked, ¡°Did Zhu Bin scare the attackers off?¡±

    Li Jing shook her head. ¡°Not him alone. Master Zhen and Mr. Wu also rushed over there.¡± She went on and briefly exined what had happened in the Bone Sect.

    After she was finished, she gazed at Nie Tian and said with a confused expression, ¡°Apparently, Master Zhen did all that to give you face. How did you make her acquaintance?¡±

    Nie Tian seemed bewildered.

    Dong Li shot him a contemptuous look and said, ¡°You fool! Master Zhen is Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s master, Zhen Hun!¡±

    Nie Tian was instantly enlightened.

 Chapter 461: Wu Langxie

    BOOM!

    Meng Qing was thrown to the ground and copsed. It had only been a few minutes since he had fled, yet he looked like he was now suffering from a fatal disease.

    Under Zhen Hun and Zhu Bin¡¯s longing gazes, Wu Langxie, who was floating in midair, slowly shook his head and said, ¡°I ran through his memories of the past year with my soul transmitting technique, but I didn¡¯t find any connection between him and Zhao Shanling.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Zhu Bin sighed and said, ¡°Then it seems that he was telling the truth... But the situation over on the sectmaster¡¯s front doesn¡¯t look good. If we can¡¯t find Zhao Shanling soon, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    The burly, mountain-like Wu Langxie gazed off towards the cluster of volcanoes where powerful experts from the me God Sect were bustling, and said in a low voice, ¡°If there¡¯s no other way, I¡¯ll go and challenge the me God, Xia Yi.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Zhu Bin said hastily. ¡°I know you¡¯re very powerful, Mr. Wu. However, you¡¯re only at the early Soul realm, which is inferior to Xia Yi¡¯s cultivation base. I believe that you would have a fair chance at beating him if you were at the same cultivation level as him. But the thing is... you¡¯re not.¡±

    Zhen Hun chimed in by saying, ¡°He¡¯s right. Only when my eldest martial brother has finished with the Death Reign will he be able to go over there and deal with Xia Yi. Langxie, you¡¯re not far from entering the middle Soul realm. If you insist on fighting Xia Yi now, you¡¯ll probably suffer heavy injuries and a setback in your cultivation. You¡¯d better wait till you enter the middle Soul realm to fight him.¡±

    Wu Langxie frowned. ¡°If we sit back and let Xia Yi collect the earthme essence he needs, he might soon make another breakthrough and enter thete Soul realm. Once he does, perhaps no one in the Domain of the Falling Stars will be able to contend against him. Even though the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect is also at thete Soul realm, their current sectmaster Zhao Luofeng...¡±

    With these words, he grew silent.

    As soon as the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s sectmaster was mentioned, both Zhu Bin and Zhen Hun frowned deeply.

    After a moment of pondering, Zhen Hun turned to look at the weak Meng Qing and his Profound realm friend, who was as silent as a cicada in cold weather. With a wave of her hand, she said, ¡°Nothing here concerns you anymore. You can go now.¡±

    After being carried back to this location, Meng Qing had discovered that his Bone Giant was gone, along with Li Jing and Shen Xiu, which frustrated him greatly.

    However, he hadn¡¯t dared to say a word, but rather hung his head silently.

    At this moment, upon hearing Zhen Hun¡¯s words, he felt as if he were pardoned from a death sentence, and thus nned to leave this ce of trouble as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you try to mess with the Blood Sect again.¡± Zhen Hun said with a cold snort. ¡°Otherwise, I won¡¯t let you off as easily.¡±

    The Profound realm cultivator who practiced metal power hastily said, ¡°We¡¯ll leave the Realm of Unbounded Destion as quickly as possible.¡±

    Bitterness filled Meng Qing¡¯s face as he said, ¡°We wouldn¡¯t be able to even if we wanted to.¡±

    Having lost his Bone Giant and having had his soul badly injured by Wu Langxie with his soul transmitting technique, his battle prowess had dropped to only forty percent of his peak state.

    If he were to encounter Li Jing in such a poor condition, he would turn around and leave without any hesitation. It seemed that Zhen Hun also knew that Meng Qing would no longer be a threat to Li Jing. Hence, she ordered impatiently, ¡°Get as far away from here as possible.¡±

    Hearing these words, Meng Qing and the other man nodded and hastily fled in the opposite direction that Li Jing had left in.

    After they were gone, Zhu Bin resumed their previous topic by saying, ¡°I sent word to the Heaven Pce Sect soon after Zhao Shanling appeared. Zhao Luofeng only replied with one sentence.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡± Zhen Hun asked.

    Zhu Bin smiled bitterly. ¡°He said, ¡®Are you really considering killing my little brother?¡¯ Back when Zhao Shanling brought misery and suffering to the Realm of Unbounded Destion many years ago, all Zhao Luofeng did was stay out of it. After all, Zhao Shanling is his younger brother. It¡¯s not realistic to expect the Heaven Pce Sect to help us.¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, finding that traitor is the only way,¡± Zhen Hun said with a sigh.

    ¡°It seems that we¡¯vee to a dead end here. I¡¯ll go search in other regions.¡± With these words, Zhu Bin sped away through the air, frustration filling his face.

    ¡°I¡¯ll set off too,¡± Wu Langxie said.

    Zhen Hun nodded gently, but just as he was about to fly away, she said, ¡°Wait, Langxie...¡±

    Wu Langxie turn his head back. ¡°What?¡±

    Even though Zhen Hun looked somewhat embarrassed, she decided to speak her mind after a brief hesitation. ¡°I know little Wu Ling lost his left hand because of Nie Tian during the Heaven Gate trial. But Nie Tian is one of my juniors, so I hope you can go easy on him if you run into him in the future.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Wu Langxie said with a serious face, ¡°I¡¯ll let the juniors settle their feuds themselves. Let me put it this way: even if you weren¡¯t rted to Nie Tian, I wouldn¡¯t lower myself to kill a junior. My theory of education is to let them solve their own problems, like I did when I was growing up. I¡¯ll never allow them to develop the habit of depending on their seniors.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, Langxie. I shouldn¡¯t have underestimated your integrity.¡± Zhen Hun expressed her apologies.

    She knew Wu Langxie very well, and had heard about how he had raised and taught Wu Ling, but she simply wanted a straightforward answer from him to make sure.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Wu Langxie said with a unconstrainedugh. ¡°On the other hand, even though that Nie Tian kid has so fortunately obtained the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he may not necessarily be able to beat Wu Ling every time. If Wu Ling were to run into him some day and kill him in fairbat, I hope you can find peace with that as well.¡±

    With these words, he sped away like a bolt of lightning.

    Smiling bitterly, Zhen Hun muttered, ¡°I hope they don¡¯t ever meet again.¡±

    She could sense that, even though Wu Langxie was too proud and just to kill a junior himself, he still held a grudge towards Nie Tian.

    After all, Wu Ling had severed his hand because of Nie Tian.

    This exined why he had kept Wu Ling by his side and taught him himself ever since Wu Ling had returned from the Heaven Gate trial.

    After Zhu Bin and Wu Langxie both left, she cast those distracting thoughts out of her mind and started searching for Zhao Shanling¡¯s aura with her secret magic in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins.

    ...

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian learned that the Master Zhen Li Jing referred to was none other than Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s master, and realized why Li Jing and Shen Xiu were able to extricate themselves from their difficult situation.

    Without giving Nie Tian, Li Jing, and the others the time to catch up, Dong Li urged everyone somewhat anxiously, ¡°We¡¯d better get away from here as soon as possible. Nie Tian, you can¡¯t expose your true identity. Otherwise, it will cause us lots of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Now that Senior Zhen is right ahead of us in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins, I figured I might pay her a visit.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that!¡± Dong Li blurted in shock. ¡°Do you know who that Mr. Wu is, the one Sectmaster Li talked about?¡±

    Intrigued, Nie Tian asked, ¡°No, who is he?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Wu Ling¡¯s father!¡± Dong Li eximed while having a headache over Nie Tian¡¯s ignorance. ¡°Wu Ling is the son of Wu Langxie and an elder of the Tool Sect, Bai Yu. Wu Langxie is a famous formidable figure in the Domain of the Falling Stars. He started as an independent cultivator, but he advanced surprisingly rapidly in his cultivation through practicing devotedly and killing countless opponents. Therefore, almost every sect wanted to take him in.

    ¡°Eventually, he married Bai Yu, a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger from the Tool Sect, thusing into a deep rtionship with the Tool Sect. He can be considered as half a Tool Sect disciple now.

    ¡°He has more than once killed opponents with higher cultivation bases when he was young. Now that he has entered the early Soul realm and received the Tool Sect¡¯s full support, people believe he has a good chance of bing the most powerful man in the Domain of the Falling Stars in the future.¡±

    Even though Li Jing didn¡¯t know the history between Nie Tian and Wu Ling, she was well-aware of what kind of person Wu Langxie was, and therefore added, ¡°Rumors about that man are known to people everywhere in the Domain of the Falling Stars. He has long since possessed all that he needs to establish his own sect, but he seems to think that¡¯s not worth doing.

    ¡°That person is far beyond ordinary, and not one to mess with.¡±

    Nie Tian was deeply shocked after hearing Dong Li and Li Jing¡¯s description, finally realizing what kind of formidable background Wu Ling possessed.

    Without hearing what Nie Tian had to say, Li Jing parked her Blood Lotus at the center of the crowd and urged everyone to get on board. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    Dong Li dragged Nie Tian with her as they jumped onto the Blood Lotus together. At the same time, she said in a low voice, ¡°Sure, Wu Langxie is a scary person, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯re anything less. The way I see it, if you step into the Soul realm one day, it¡¯ll be hard to say who will triumph in a fair fight, you or him.¡±

    Off to the side, Li Jing nodded in approval and chimed in, ¡°That day wille. I don¡¯t think anyone at the same cultivation stage as you can beat you inbat, Nie Tian.¡±

    Feng Luo, Shen Xiu, and even Yu Tong nodded quietly, agreeing with Li Jing.

    Under their approving gazes, Nie Tian smiled brightly and said, ¡°I hope that dayes soon.¡±

 Chapter 462: A Major Tribulation for the Tool Sect

    At the end of a mountain valley.

    A cluster of thick, pale-gray smoke was slowly prating and dissolving a ward of slithering lightning bolts formed by multiple Tool Sect elders.

    A number of thunderballs were floating in midair, flickering and giving rise to heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rumbles from time to time.

    Beast-like shadows could be vaguely seen within those thunderballs. They were apparently struggling and trying to break away from the thunderballs as the Death Reign closed in on them.

    ¡°We can¡¯t hold much longer, sectmaster,¡± An elder with dangling, long, white eyebrows, who resembled Zhu Bin, said with a suffering expression. ¡°It¡¯ll take the Death Reign a quarter hour at the most to breach ourst defensive ward.¡±

    The elder was named Zhu Lian, Zhu Bin¡¯s cousin and ate Profound realm cultivator.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qi Bailu gazed at the slowly approaching Death Reign. With a helpless sigh, he ordered, ¡°Inform all supervising disciples to urge the equipment forgers who are attending the assessment assembly to stop and return to Deste City. Tell them not to stay in Deste City, and that they need to evacuate via the inter-realm teleportation portal as soon as possible.¡±

    Standing next to him, an elder who was responsible for giving out orders answered with a grim expression, ¡°Got it, sectmaster.¡± Then, he took out a Sound Stone and whispered Qi Bailu¡¯s order into it.

    Afterwards, Qi Bailu asked the elders around him, ¡°Have Zhu Bin and my junior martial sister found that traitor yet?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Qi Bailu nodded as he summoned Zhu Lian to his side and said, ¡°Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do: you¡¯ll take everyone here back to our sect¡¯s headquarters. Once you¡¯re back, activate the grand protective spell formation. I¡¯ll stall the Death Reign for you.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    With these words, an object flew out from within his cuff.

    It was a bronze mirror with a smooth surface, within which torrential mes could be seen, as if it was sealing a mysterious fiery dimension.

    The treasure was named the me Mirror, a seventh level Spirit Channeling grade treasure. Even in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, it was considered one of the most prestigious spiritual tools in existence.

    After whooshing out of Qi Bailu¡¯s cuff, the palm-sized bronze mirror rapidly expanded and filled the entire mountain valley within seconds.

    Endless mes poured out from within it, aggravating the fluctuations of spatial energy in the valley.

    It was as if the me Mirror was serving as a medium that connected the mountain valley with a dimension of infinite mes.

    Soon, not only the mountain valley, but also the adjacent areas were engulfed by the raging mes that poured out of the me Mirror.

    Standing at the end of the valley, powerful experts from the Tool Sect looked at the me Mirror and the endless mes before them, feeling as if they were looking at apletely different world.

    Qi Bailu¡¯s figure faded, as if he had turned into an faint shadow which could vanish at any moment. ¡°Go, Zhu Lian! Take all of our sect members back to our headquarters! No one is allowed toe out before I return!¡± With these words, he vanishedpletely into thin air.

    Simultaneously, his vague figure appeared in the middle of the torrential mes within the gigantic me Mirror.

    He continued to summon endless mes from that mysterious dimension and rapidly turned into an enormous man of mes, as if he had be the imperial lord of that mysterious dimension and the infinite mes within it.

    As the cluster of thick smoke formed by the Death Reign continued to press forward, Zhao Shanling¡¯s voice rang out from the depths of it. ¡°My beloved senior martial brother, you¡¯ve finally summoned your me Mirror. I can¡¯t wait to see if your me Mirror is able to stop my Death Reign!¡±

    The might of the Death Reign seemed to suddenly surge, causing the thunderballs before it to instantly be dim and lifeless.

    ¡°Why are you still here?!¡± Qi Bailu shouted.

    Zhu Lian made a grasping motion in the air, and the thunderballs flew back to him. With reddened eyes, he looked at Qi Bailu and said, ¡°Take care, sectmaster! We¡¯ll be waiting for you in our headquarters!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He took the initiative to fly towards the Tool Sect.

    The other Profound realm experts from the Tool Sect also leaped into the sky and sped away after him, bearing their grief.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling, don¡¯t you imagine that you¡¯ll be able to do whatever you want by hiding in the dark and controlling your Death Reign!¡± Qi Bailu¡¯s voice echoed out from within the enormous me Mirror. ¡°Master¡¯s biggest mistake was expelling you into the boundless void, instead of killing you. The reason why master made that mistake was that he treated you as his child and couldn¡¯t bear to kill you. But I won¡¯t make the mistake he made!¡±

    Zhao Shanlingughed unceasingly like a madman. ¡°What you have now should have belonged to me, senior martial brother. Of the three of us, you were the least talented. The spiritual tool you forged back then was the weakest. I should have been the winner of the contest!

    ¡°What did I do wrong by exterminating those puny sects and unifying the Realm of Unbounded Destion?

    ¡°Even though those old bastards in our sect knew the Tool Sect benefited from what I did, they paraded their pretended benevolence and righteousness in front of everyone, and even used my deed as an excuse to punish me!

    ¡°I¡¯ve returned this time to take back what should have been mine! Whoever dares to question me again shall die!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The cluster of thick pale-gray smoke created by the Death Reign finally came into contact with the raging mes unleashed by the me Mirror.

    ...

    At midday, the sun was high and fierce.

    Li Jing¡¯s Blood Lotus took Nie Tian and the others to a silent mountain valley surrounded by extinct volcanoes.

    After tens of thousands of years, the earthme essence within them had long since run out.

    Afternding, Li Jing had a brief conversation with Nie Tian, telling him that Zhen Hun had asked her to pass word to him that she wanted Nie Tian to contact Hua Mu.

    Nie Tian was aware that, since Hua Mu was a senior member of the Spirit Condor, he would be able to get in contact with Hua Mu as long as he returned to Shatter City in the Realm of Split Void and found Hu Rong, who was also a member of the Spirit Condor.

    It was just that the inter-spatial teleportation portal was located in Deste City, and that was where Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign was heading. Hence, he couldn¡¯t go there for a while.

    Furthermore, considering the turmoil that was hitting the Realm of Boundless Destion, it wouldn¡¯t be safe to travel around at this moment.

    Therefore, Nie Tian and the others decided to stay in this silent mountain valley until the situation stabilized.

    Under the scorching sun, Nie Tian practiced cultivation in the lotus position while Dong Li sat not far from him, lolling against arge rock.

    ¡°It seems that the Realm of Unbounded Destion isn¡¯t as hot as when we first came here.¡± Nie Tian said with furrowed eyebrows as he refined his vortex of me power with me Crystals. ¡°Neither Deste City, the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters, nor the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins were in the middle of active volcanoes, yet I felt unbearably hot in those ces.¡±

    ¡°But since we returned from... you know where, I don¡¯t feel as hot as I did before.¡±

    Holding a odd-looking, ck spirit stone, Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes moved about as she pondered. A momentter, she said, ¡°I bet it¡¯s because those people from the me God Sect have taken significant amounts of earthme essence away from the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, which is causing the atmosphere to change.¡±

    Intrigued, Nie Tian asked, ¡°The deprivation of earthme essence can cause such a tremendous change?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Dong Li nodded. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t concern us. We don¡¯t nning on staying in the Realm of Unbounded Destion long-term anyways. Also, there¡¯s no need to worry about the loss of earthme essence here. As far as I know, the Tool Sect has their way of channeling me power from other dimensions to replenish the deficient me power in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    ¡°The Tool Sect can actually do that?¡± A shocked expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the Tool Sect¡¯s grand protective spell formation connects a few small, fiery dimensions. Even Qi Bailu¡¯s me Mirror has a simr function, which allows him to summon raging me power from other dimensions to attack his enemies.¡± Dong Li chuckled. ¡°You should know that many of the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void which lead to fiery dimensions were purchased by the Tool Sect at high prices.¡±

    ¡°Most of them aren¡¯t fit for creatures to live in, but contain considerable amounts of me power.¡±

    ¡°In order to make use of said me power, the Tool Sect established inter-spatial connections with those fiery dimensions using their grand spell formation and the me Mirror.¡±

    ¡°The Tool Sect is the only sect that can do that. As formidable as Xia Yi is, he¡¯s only one man.¡±

    ¡°After all, the me God Sect¡¯s strength isn¡¯t as deeply-rooted as the Tool Sect¡¯s. If, like the Tool Sect, the me God Sect had also umted a number of fiery dimensions over thousands of years, Xia Yi wouldn¡¯t havee all the way to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to collect earthme essence to prepare for his next breakthrough in cultivation.¡±

    Nie Tian was carried away as he marveled subconsciously, ¡°The Tool Sect¡¯s strength is indeed astonishingly profound.¡±

    As he was absorbed in his thoughts, his eyebrows suddenly flickered as he sensed that the green aura in his heart had suddenly grown restless again.

    ¡°Another bloodline transcendence!¡±

 Chapter 463: Life Drain

    Nie Tian immediately stopped absorbing me power from the me Crystals in his hand and talking to Dong Li.

    Instead, he closed his eyes to examine the green aura with his mind.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time the green aura had behaved this way.

    In fact, the green aura, which carried the profound truths of life, had already transcended two times before, giving Nie Tian the Life Transfer and the Life Stealth bloodline talents.

    However, both those times, the green aura had gone through long dormant periods before exploding with a new bloodline talent.

    As for this time, Nie Tian had expected that the green aura would need a long time to digest the copious amount of life power it had absorbed from a Fruit of Life in the magical dimension.

    He could still vividly remember the green aura lying dormant for a very long time after umting enough flesh power. Only then did the transcendence finally happen.

    But perhaps because the life power the green aura had absorbed from the Fruit of Life this time was iparably rich, the digestion process turned out to be unprecedentedly smooth and short. Therefore, the transcendence was achieved earlier this time.

    <i>¡°The transcendence of my bloodline will mean the awakening of a new bloodline talent!¡±</i>

    After a wisp of his psychic awareness swam to his heart and saw that the crystal-like chains within the green aura were emanating dazzling light, Nie Tian was convinced that his spection was correct.

    An ancient and mysterious aura of life suddenly burst forth from within the green aura, which was now glittering with dazzling, green light.

    New crystal-like chains that were as fine as hairs seemed to be born under the inducing effect of the explosive aura of life.

    As soon as new crystal-like chains came to form, they mangled with the old ones, aligning into profound, ever-changing formations.

    As that happened, the strong aura of life that burst forth from within the green aura suddenly seemed to spread to the nine Heaven Eyes Nie Tian had scattered in the vicinity. An even more profound connection was established between them and the green aura in his heart.

    Immediately afterwards, the image of every living creature within a 500 kilometer range was reflected in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    It felt as if his soul had split into nine parts, which were infused into each Heaven Eye that was floating high in the sky.

    The perception of his Heaven Eyes had also greatly improved over an incredibly short time.

    Before, each of his Heaven Eyes was only able to perceive life within a few kilometers¡¯ range.

    However, at this moment, thanks to the new-born, crystal-like chains and the stimtion of the strong aura of life, their perception range and sensitivity had increased by almost a hundred times.

    Now, Nie Tian was even able to urately detect the smallest insects in the depths of the earth within a 500 kilometer radius.

    The location he was currently in was a deste and uninhabited corner. Every inch ofnd was barren and lifeless.

    The Realm of Unbounded Destion was a strange ce where not a single de of grass grew. Even insects couldn¡¯t survive its horrible climate. Powerful spirit beasts only roamed the volcanic areas where me power was rich.

    However, Nie Tian was able to detect four clusters of life aura aside from theirs within his perception range.

    Three of them were constantly moving about and floating in the air.

    Thus, Nie Tian was convinced that they belonged to powerful experts from the Tool Sect.

    Only one cluster of life aura was hiding in the depths of the earth behind numerous istion wards.

    Even though the perception of his Heaven Eyes had skyrocketed, he was only barely able to catch a few wisps of the aura of that life.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    At this moment, Dong Li, Li Jing, and the others who were practicing cultivation in the same mountain valley as Nie Tian suddenly experienced abnormally elerated heartbeats.

    They all opened their eyes and nced around. They knew something was causing the anomaly, yet couldn¡¯t identify it.

    At the same time...

    The three Profound realm Tool Sect experts who were searching in the vicinity also experienced elerated heartbeats.

    They were Zhu Bin, Zhen Hun, who had returned from the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins empty-handed, and Qin Yi.

    As soon as they experienced the anomaly in three different locations, they all stopped in midair and started scanning their surroundings with their immense, sea-like soul awarenesses.

    Even so, they couldn¡¯t identify what was causing their abnormal heartbeat.

    Aside from them, confusion also appeared in the eyes of the fourth person - Zhao Shanling, who was holed up under the bottom of an enormous crater in the Bonebrutes¡¯ ruins.

    At this moment, he was manipting the Death Reign with his secret magics to fight Qi Bailu, even though the two of them were separated from each other by a tremendous distance.

    Upon feeling the anomaly, he spared some attention to examine his heart, but didn¡¯t find anything.

    Meanwhile, the elerated heartbeat onlysted for a few seconds before resuming its normal state.

    Therefore, Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t burden his mind with its cause. After all, he didn¡¯t think anyone in the Realm of Unbounded Destion would be able to ferret him out from the depths of the earth and behind numerous istion wards.

    Even his junior martial sister, Zhen Hun, who was also extremely skilled in spatial magics, wouldn¡¯t be able to do so.

    Therefore, he refocused on his battle against Qi Bailu.

    WHOOSH!

    In the silent mountain valley, Nie Tian let out a long breath as his senses returned to him.

    As he did, his wondrous ability of perceiving every move of every living creature within a 500 kilometer range around him disappeared after a few seconds.

    The perception range of his Heaven Eyes shrank back to their original size.

    That was when he realized that his previous heightened perception had only been caused when the strong aura of life had burst forth from within the green aura, giving birth to new crystal-like chains.

    At this moment, the green aura had stopped forming new crystal-like chains, and thus his heightened perception was gone.

    The newly-formed crystal-like chains were interweaving with the old ones, forming various formations, the countless green spots within them shining like the stars in the sky, as if they were imprinting something into his soul.

    In the next moment, he sensed the awakening of a new bloodline talent in the deepest part of this soul. <i>¡°Bloodline talent: Life Drain!¡±</i>

    At that very moment, Li Jing took the initiative to put her cultivation on hold. She rose to her feet and asked, ¡°Did anyone else sense any anomalies just now? For some reason, just now my heartbeat suddenly elerated, but returned to normal after a few seconds. Did you feel anything?¡±

    ¡°I felt the same thing!" Shen Xiu eximed.

    Feng Luo and Yu Tong nodded as well.

    Even Dong Li, who was sitting the closest to Nie Tian, eximed, ¡°You all felt it? I thought I was the only one.¡±

    ¡°This is odd...¡± Li Jing muttered, her eyebrows furrowed. ¡°What could have caused that?¡±

    Suspicions filled Dong Li¡¯s mind as she jerked around to look at Nie Tian. She discovered that Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were still closed, as if he were still practicing cultivation.

    Even though she was sitting very close to Nie Tian, she didn¡¯t discover any sign that indicated that Nie Tian was the cause of the anomaly.

    Under her gaze, Nie Tian continued to focus all of his attention on his newly acquired bloodline talent.

    As he pondered the mysteries behind it over and over, he finally came to an enlightenment regarding this brand-new bloodline talent.

    ¡°Life Drain! It will allow me to forcibly drain the life force of another living creature! I can clearly use this powerful bloodline talent inbat!¡±

    If he were to use it on humans who focused solely on the cultivation of spiritual power, but didn¡¯t possess strong physical bodies or formidable bloodline power, the life force he would drain from them might be limited, and thus the drop in their battle prowess wouldn¡¯t be very significant.

    However, if he were to use this Life Drain bloodline talent on spirit beasts that possessed tough bodies, or outsiders that emphasized the cultivation of their formidable bloodline power, the result would be stunning.

    Almost all of the outsider races, including the Demons and the Phantasms, focused on the cultivation of bloodline power.

    Most spirit beasts, which had developed from those outsiders¡¯ flesh and blood, possessed immense, sea-like life force.

    If Nie Tian wished to use Life Drain during fights with them, he would only need to merge his own life aura with his spiritual power, and then send it into his enemies¡¯ bodies.

    Once wisps of his life aura entered his enemies¡¯ bodies, they would start draining their life force and using it to strengthen Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Most of the outsider races and spirit beasts shared the same source of power: their tremendous life force. However, once Nie Tian activated this new bloodline talent when facing them, not only would he greatly reduce his enemies¡¯ life force, but he would also make himself stronger and stronger.

    <i>¡°It appears that this bloodline talent will work especially well on outsiders that emphasize the cultivation of their physical bodies and bloodline power.¡± </i>With these thoughts, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open as he suddenly thought of another matter.

    <i>¡°Zhao Shanling! The man hiding underground in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters must be Zhao Shanling!¡±</i>

 Chapter 464: Returning A Favor

    Seeing that Nie Tian had opened his eyes and awoken from his cultivation, Dong Li asked curiously, ¡°Did your heart race earlier, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, it did.¡±

    Dong Li frowned, her eyes filled with confusion. ¡°This is odd... There must be a reason behind it. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have all experienced it at the same time.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, perhaps something special happened just now. It¡¯s just that we couldn¡¯t tell what it was.¡± Nie Tian chimed in, though he knew in his heart that the sudden elerated heartbeat Dong Li and the others had experienced just now had been caused by the transcendence of his bloodline.

    Earlier, when new crystal-like chains had been created within the green aura in his heart, and his perception of life in his surroundings skyrocketed, he had detected the aura of four exceptionally vigorous lives within a 500 kilometer radius, as well as Dong Li and the others around him.

    At that moment, all those who had been detected by him had experienced a sudden spike in their heartbeat.

    Since he didn¡¯t intend to share the uniqueness of his bloodline power or any of this with anyone, he pondered hard with furrowed eyebrows.

    <i>¡°Three of those four clusters of life aura were constantly on the move. They should have been Profound realm experts from the Tool Sect who are searching for Zhao Shanling. The fourth cluster of life aura was very subtle because it was isted from the outside world by numerous spatial energy wards. I¡¯m ny percent sure that¡¯s Zhao Shanling.</i>

    <i>¡°He¡¯s holed up underground in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters, controlling the Death Reign from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.</i>

    <i>¡°Perhaps I should inform a Tool Sect elder of Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce.¡±</i>

    Zhao Shanling, who had returned from the space disruption zone, was the person behind the turmoil in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. As long as the Tool Sect could find and attack him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to concentrate on manipting the Death Reign.

    The Death Reign¡¯s destination was the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters, which meant it would have to pass the cluster of volcanoes where Li Ye and the other equipment forgers were forging spiritual tools for the assessment assembly.

    Even though he had no ties with the Tool Sect, he cared about Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s safety.

    Furthermore, Zhen Hun must still be closely attached to the Tool Sect. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have joined the search for Zhao Shanling.

    He had never met Zhen Hun in person. Nevertheless, he had found shelter in her residence after he left the Realm of me Heaven due to her close rtionship with Hua Mu.

    Not long ago, regarding Nie Tian¡¯s rtionship with the Blood Sect, she had not only indirectly saved Li Jing and Shen Xiu, but she had even allowed them to take Meng Qing¡¯s Bone Giant with them.

    After a brief pondering, he decided to inform a Tool Sect expert of Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce.

    It was just that many powerful experts from the Tool Sect, including the Profound realm Zhen Hun and the Soul realm Wu Langxie, had been searching hard for some time, but failed to find anything.

    Moreover, both Zhen Hun and Wu Langxie had been to the Bone Sect, which was fairly close to the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters.

    As powerful as they were, they had failed to perceive Zhao Shanling¡¯s existence.

    If he simply showed up and pointed out to a Tool Sect expert that Zhao Shanling had been hiding underground in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters this entire time, wouldn¡¯t it raise questions?

    Would they believe him? Would they ask him how he had obtained such knowledge afterwards?

    With such thoughts, he frowned, torn with indecision.

    At that moment, Dong Li¡¯s raised voice caught his ears. As he turned to look, she seemed a bit angry. ¡°What are you thinking about? Why don¡¯t you answer my question?¡±

    Confusion spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°What did you say?¡± Since he had been wracking his mind for a way to inform the Tool Sect of Zhao Shanling¡¯s location without raising questions, he hadn¡¯t heard the question Dong Li just asked him.

    ¡°I said: do you think this ce is safe, and do we need to switch to another location?¡± Dong Li repeated her question, her charming eyebrows slightly furrowed. ¡°I have a bad feeling about our previously elerated heartbeats. I think danger might be lurking in the dark. I know you have a keen perception of your surroundings, so I wanted to ask for your opinion.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°This location might not be very safe for us.¡±

    Having determined Zhao Shanling¡¯s location, he felt that they were rather close to him. It would be safer if they moved to a location that was further away from him.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°Really? Show us a direction that¡¯s safe then!¡±

    Even the middle Profound realm Li Jing was present, but she had decided to ask for Nie Tian¡¯s opinion instead of Li Jing¡¯s. This indicated what kind of position Nie Tian held in her heart.

    Gazing at the concerned Dong Li, Nie Tian thought of an idea: he might as well hand this tough matter to her.

    He had long since known Dong Li as a thorny rose. The fact that she had been able to save Li Jing and Shen Xiu by framing people from the Bone Sect was enough evidence of her cunningness.

    Furthermore, everyone knew the key to end the turmoil in the Realm of Unbounded Destiony with Zhao Shanling.

    Finding Zhao Shanling would be considered a major meritorious service. This was actually a good chance to distinguish himself and win attention.

    However, considering his special identity, unique bloodline, the fact that he had mysteriously gone missing with the Spirit Pearl in the Realm of Dark Underworld, and most important of all, his unpleasant history with Wu Ling, it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be a good thing if he attract too many eyes.

    On the other hand, Dong Li had helped him on many asions.

    Back when he had been locked down by the Spirit Pearl in the Realm of Dark Underworld, Dong Li had followed his instructions without the slightest hesitation, and taken him away from theke with the help of her ck phoenix. Not long ago, she had set up members of the Bone Sect and saved Li Jing.

    Before he knew it, the rtionship between him and this woman had already changed from being irreconcble enemies to allies who fight side by side.

    After a thorough consideration, he decided to give this opportunity to determine the fate of the Realm of Unbounded Destion to Dong Li.

    With this decision in mind, Nie Tian called out to Li Jing, who was sitting not far from him, ¡°Senior Li, Dong Li just received a message from a senior of her n that says the location we¡¯re in isn¡¯t safe.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Dong Li was confused at first, but nodded immediately afterwards to uphold Nie Tian¡¯s statement.

    Nie Tian marveled at her intelligence inwardly, thinking she did make an excellent teammate.

    Surprised and confused, Li Jing rose to her feet in a graceful fashion and asked, ¡°Where is safer then?¡±

    Pointing in a direction, Nie Tian said, ¡°500 kilometers down that way. We¡¯ll be much safer over there.¡±

    Li Jing nodded and rapidly summoned her Blood Lotus. Then, she beckoned for Nie Tian to jump on board. ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll take you there.¡±

    Shen Xiu, Feng Luo, and Yu Tong also fixed their gazes on him.

    At that moment, Nie Tian shook his head and said with an apologetic tone, ¡°You go first, Senior Li. Dong Li and I wille for you in a couple of days. That senior of hers is worried about her safety, and she¡¯s on her way here. I¡¯ll stay and keep Dong Li safe. Also, I have a friend in the Dong n. I want to ask about his situation.¡±

    ¡°I see." Li Jing didn¡¯t ask any questions. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re off then. Come and find us as soon as you¡¯re finished.¡±

    ¡°I will,¡± Nie Tian promised.

    Then, Li Jing beckoned for Shen Xiu, Feng Luo, and Yu Tong to jump onto the Blood Lotus.

    After they were on board, Li Jing thought briefly before she turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Thank you for helping us. Please give my regards to your senior. If members of the Dong n evere to the Realm of me Heaven, all they need to do is state their identity, and we¡¯ll receive them with our highest standards.¡±

    Dong Li smiled gracefully. ¡°Thanks, will do.¡±

    ¡°Take care.¡± With these words, the Blood Lotus rose into the air and sped off towards the distant horizon.

    After Li Jing and the others left, Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile and said, ¡°I saw the way that girl named Yu Tong looked at you before they left. She seemed to be rather reluctant to leave. She has a pretty face, but she¡¯s just a bit young and immature. Did you two ever...?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian denied.

    ¡°It¡¯d be a wonder if you didn¡¯t.¡± Dong Li rolled her eyes at him, but didn¡¯t dwell on the matter. ¡°Okay, now, tell me why you sent those people from the Blood Sect away and what you want with me.¡±

    As smart as she was, she had seen through Nie Tian¡¯s little trick since Nie Tian¡¯s first sentence.

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°You knew I sent them away on purpose? Does that mean Senior Li also knew?¡±

    Dong Li smiled. ¡°Of course they did. They aren¡¯t stupid. They just didn¡¯t want to point it out.¡± With these words, she stretched, showing the perfect curves of her chest. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but take a few nces at it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know them anyways,¡± said Dong Li. ¡°Their leaving suits me fine.¡±

    She seemed to catch Nie Tian peeping at her chest, and thus deliberated slowed her stretching motion. When Nie Tian¡¯s gaze was fully caught by her ample breasts, she abruptly recovered. Looking into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, she smiled.

    Nie Tian, who had long since grown used to her taunting, didn¡¯t seem embarrassed at all. Rather, he remained calm andposed.

    Dong Li seemed to have had her fun. Her watery eyes rippled with a charming light as she looked at Nie Tian with an anticipating expression on her smiling face. ¡°Alright, tell me. What do you want with me?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m certain that Zhao Shanling is currently hiding under the bottom of huge crater in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters,¡± Nie Tian brought out the truth with a solemn tone. ¡°He has sealed himself up within multiple spatial energy wards so that no soul consciousness can reach him. But don¡¯t ask me how I know.¡±

    A shudder ran through Dong Li¡¯s tender body.

    She didn¡¯t utter a word, but various looks rapidly shed across her eyes, as if she were pondering what she would do with such information.

    Momentster, she opened her mouth. ¡°Why are you telling me?¡±

    She didn¡¯t ask Nie Tian how he had learned about it, nor how certain he was.

    This meant she had faith in Nie Tian¡¯s judgment.

    Even though what Nie Tian said was far beyond her imagination, she didn¡¯t question him in the slightest.

    Nie Tian could feel her absolute trust. Touched, he said sincerely, ¡°I¡¯m only telling you because I trust you.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s charming eyes glittered as she nodded gently, a hearty smile apearing at the corner of her mouth.

    ¡°I know it¡¯s better that I keep a low profile, so I figure you can give the information to the Tool Sect,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Are you aware that once they find Zhao Shanling because of this piece of information, the situation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion will be different? For the Tool Sect, whoever helps them find Zhao Shanling will be considered a hero who has saved them from a cmity.¡± Dong Li pointed out the importance of such information.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I owe you a lot, don¡¯t I? Consider this as a favor returned to you.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You fool. You have no idea how valuable this opportunity is!¡± She shed to Nie Tian¡¯s side, bringing a whiff of her scent to Nie Tian¡¯ face, and kissed him lightly on the cheek, like a dragonfly touching the water¡¯s surface.

    Looking at the dumbstruck Nie Tian, she said, smiling, ¡°I¡¯ll take it, little brother.¡±

 Chapter 465: Another Lie

    Rubbing his cheek where Dong Li¡¯s lips had been, Nie Tian was dumbstruck.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Dong Li would kiss him.

    Dong Li¡¯s face blossomed into a bright smile. ¡°You should look at your face. Now, you look even more like a fool.¡±

    Instead of backing away after initiating the kiss, she pressed herself close to Nie Tian and said with a flirtatious tone, ¡°Alright, tell me: how do you propose I inform the people from the Tool Sect?¡±

    Nie Tian snapped out of his daze and said, ¡°I suppose some Tool Sect elders are still searching in the vicinity.¡±

    ¡°But as you know, I¡¯m not good at finding people,¡± Dong Li said.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of that.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, he got ahold of his bearings and sped towards the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters.

    Of the three clusters of life aura he had detected earlier, that one was the closest to them.

    Dong Li followed along and said, ¡°Try not to say anything from now on. I¡¯ll do the talking so that the people from the Tool Sect don¡¯t question your identity.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    He secretlymanded his nine Heaven Eyes to fly towards the direction where he and Dong Li were heading, hoping to find that Tool Sect expert he had detected earlier as soon as possible.

    Two hourster, when one of his Heaven Eyes discovered that expert, Nie Tian immediately withdrew it.

    The other eight Heaven Eyes also vanished at lightning speed as soon as he withdrew his soul power from them.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Qi Yin¡¯s soul awareness, which he had unleashed to search for Zhao Shanling, caught the aura of Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    Qin Yi immediately flew towards the two of them.

    Within seconds, he appeared in the air above Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s heads. Surprised by the sight of Dong Li, he said, ¡°Dong Li? Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    Dong Li looked up and discovered that it was Qin Yi. Overjoyed, she said, ¡°Why are you here, Great Grandpa Qin?¡±

    Qin Yi was from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, Qin Yan¡¯s great grandfather. Since Dong Li was good friends with Qin Yan, and she had met him on many asions before, she recognized him at once.

    ¡°I asked a friend to forge me a spiritual tool here in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. The equipment forging turned out to be a failure, but I came to learn about the return of Zhao Shanling and his Death Reign. Therefore, I¡¯m helping the Tool Sect find that traitor.¡± With these words, Qin Yi descended from midair, and his gazended on Nie Tian. ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s a friend of mine,¡± Dong Li answered without thinking.

    Looking deeply at Nie Tian, a sh of light shed across Qin Yi¡¯s eyes as he eximed, ¡°Is this the Wu Tian who went to the Realm of Dark Underworld with you?¡±

    Even though he was friends with Hua Mu, since Hua Mu had never told him about Nie Tian, he didn¡¯t know that Wu Tian was actually Nie Tian.

    However, as one of the chiefs of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, he had learned about what had happened in the Realm of Dark Underworld not long ago.

    After returning from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, Qin Yan had told him everything about their exploration trip to the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    The only thing she had held back was the fact that Wu Tian was actually Nie Tian, because she had promised Dong Li that she would keep that a secret.

    Therefore, Qin Yi only knew that a young man named Wu Tian, who was a subordinate of Dong Li, had yed an important role in their exploration trip before he had eventually gone missing with a mysterious object forged by the Phantasms.

    Later, when everyone on the exploration team had returned to the Realm of Dark Underworld, Dong Li was the only one who had stayed there for some reason. The entire Dong n had worried about her safety.

    The moment Dong Li saw Qin Yi, she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep Nie Tian¡¯s identity as Wu Tian from him, and thus said, ¡°Yes, this is Wu Tian.¡±

    Many people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had seen the mask Nie Tian was wearing, which had been given to him by Dong Baijie as a gift. A brief inspection, and Qin Yi would learn that the young man before him was the ¡®Wu Tian¡¯ who had been to the Realm of Dark Underworld with Dong Li and many others.

    Knowing that she wouldn¡¯t be able to withhold it from Qin Yi, she decided to admit to it.

    However, she was slightly worried, not sure if Qin Yan had kept the fact that Wu Tian was another identity of Nie Tian¡¯s from Qin Yi.

    ¡°Now that he¡¯s still alive, what happened to the Phantasms¡¯ mysterious object?¡± Qin Yi asked naturally.

    Dong Li smiled bitterly. ¡°It was already a miracle that he survived that formidable object, great grandpa. Are you telling me that you expected him to secure it while he came back?¡±

    Qin Yi thought for a while. Eyes narrowed, he checked Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base again, and then said with a nod, ¡°You¡¯re probably right. That¡¯s a bit much to ask for a person at his cultivation level.¡±

    Confirming that Nie Tian was only at the early Greater Heaven stage, the same as Dong Li, he deemed he didn¡¯t seem to have what it took to secure a formidable object forged by the Phantasms.

    Afterwards, he said, ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion is under great turmoil now. Try not to wander around, and don¡¯t return to Deste City for now. You¡¯ve always been a resourceful and smart kid. I trust that you know how to protect yourself during such times...¡±

    Before he could finish, Dong Li interrupted him with a wry smile on her face. ¡°Alright, alright, great grandpa. I know that you want me to stay out of danger, but I came out here for a reason. I wanted to find an Tool Sect elder who was searching for Zhao Shanling. Of course, it was even better to run into you instead of someone else.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Qin Yi seemed confused.

    ¡°I know where Zhao Shanling is hiding!¡± Dong Li said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    Qin Yi shook his head. ¡°This is not something to joke about, kiddo. I know you¡¯re mischievous and full of tricks, but this isn¡¯t the time for jokes. Elders from the Tool Sect and many powerful experts who are close to the Tool Sect are turning over every stone in the Realm of Boundless Destion in search of Zhao Shanling, but no one has found anything yet. How could you have found him?¡±

    A wronged expression appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face. ¡°How would I dare joke about such a matter? Zhao Shanling is hiding underground in the Bonebrutes¡¯s former headquarters. I¡¯m sure of it! Great grandpa, I need you to trust me this time. Take some powerful experts from the Tool Sect there, and dig deep into the ground. I promise you that you¡¯ll find Zhao Shanling there!¡±

    Qin Yi frowned. ¡°What makes you so sure?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression grew iparably serious as she exined, ¡°Wu Tian and I passed by that area quite a few times. We noticed that one of the craters seemed to have been touched by someone. I didn¡¯t know what it was back then. But afterwards, I heard that Zhao Shanling had returned to the Realm of Boundless Destion and holed up somewhere. That was when I suspected that the man who had disturbed the bottom of that crater was most likely Zhao Shanling!¡±

    Nie Tian inwardly marveled at how skilled Dong Li was at lying.

    She didn¡¯t even blush in the slightest as she told the lie, as if she deeply believed what she was saying herself.

    Qin Yi snorted out augh. ¡°That doesn¡¯t necessarily mean that it¡¯s Zhao Shanling. Even though almost no one goes to the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters now, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if someone other than Zhao Shanling went there to hide from their enemy. What makes you so sure it is Zhao Shanling?¡±

    A hint of hesitation appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°Well... You¡¯re right. It may be someone else, but there¡¯s a chance it may be him, right? Since you haven¡¯t found any sign of him yet, you might as well go over there and try your luck, right? What if that person is Zhao Shanling?¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Qin Yi nodded, saying, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll notify someone.¡±

    With these words, he took out a Sound Stone and startedmunicating with Zhen Hun.

    Momentster, intense spatial energy ripples appeared beside him, along with an expanding spot of light, creating an unfathomable spatial tunnel in the middle of nothing.

    Zhen Hun floated weightlessly out of the spatial tunnel, which didn¡¯t disappear right away.

    ¡°That was quick!¡± Qin Yi eximed.

    ¡°Is she the one who told you about the anomaly in a crater in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters?¡± Zhen Hun asked.

    Then, staring at Dong Li, she let out a cold snort and said, ¡°You must be the kid from the Dong n.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Master Zhen,¡± Dong Li said with great respect.

    ¡°Not long ago, Zhu Bin messaged me that Meng Qing from the Bone Sect might have something to do with Zhao Shanling,¡± Zhen Hun said. ¡°After we rushed over there, Mr. Wu ran through Meng Qing¡¯s memories of the past year, but failed to discover anything about Zhao Shanling.¡±

    Dong Li felt a bit nervous under her prating gaze. ¡°Umm... but I did hear those people from the Bone Sect talk about Zhao Shanling.¡±

    Zhen Hun held her temper. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll give you the benefit of doubt and trust you one more time. But you¡¯reing with me.¡±

    As a drowning man would clutch at a straw, even though she had already searched the Bonebrute¡¯s former headquarters more than once and left empty-handed, she decided to go and search again.

    Of course, she had only searched with her soul awareness and spatial energy magics. She hadn¡¯t tried actually digging into the ground.

    Furthermore, she had just received word that her senior martial brother Qi Bailu didn¡¯t seem to be able to stop the Death Reign. Soon, he might be forced to withdraw to the Tool Sect.

    Under such circumstances, she couldn¡¯t afford to pass up any information regarding Zhao Shanling¡¯s whereabouts, truthful or false.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Qin Yi said.

 Chapter 466: A Crisis Appearing Out of the Blue

    Dong Li grabbed Nie Tian and stepped into the spatial tunnel first.

    In the next moment, she and Nie Tian appeared in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters, which was hundreds of kilometers from where they had been a moment before. Looking back, they saw the spatial tunnel floating in the air, three meters from the ground.

    Having just witnessed and traveled through this shocking creation of Zhen Hun¡¯s, Nie Tian was still in a state of bewilderment.

    However, Dong Li hastily summoned her ck phoenix and took the two of them right up into the sky. Anxious, she said, ¡°Hurry, before they arrive, tell me which crater it is.¡±

    Nie Tian realized what she was thinking. Rapidly ncing around, he determined the crater relying on his memories from not long ago and said, ¡°That¡¯s the one!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Dong Li instantly felt relieved and confident again.

    Then, shemanded the ck phoenix toe lower. When they reached a safe height, she dropped Nie Tian from the air.

    She continued to hover in the air with the help of the ck phoenix, pretending she was still trying to determine the location of the crater.

    After assuming a firm foothold on the ground, Nie Tian gazed at the spatial tunnel which was floating not far from him, absorbed in thought. <i>¡°Master Zhen...¡±</i>

    He pondered whether Zhen Hun had recognized him or not.

    Years ago, when Hua Mu had taken him to her residence in Shatter City, she had been there as well.

    Even though he had never met her in person during the time he had been there, considering Zhen Hun¡¯s profound cultivation base and attainments, she must have been able to observe him without actually appearing.

    However, at that time, he hadn¡¯t yet acquired the mask he was wearing now.

    By the time he had received it from Dong Baijie, Zhen Hun had long since left Shatter City.

    Zhen Hun probably knew his actual appearance, but not the face he was wearing now. As for whether she was able to recognize him through his life aura or not, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t be sure.

    On the other side of the spatial tunnel, Zhen Hun and Qin Yi didn¡¯t rush into it.

    ¡°That girl from the Dong n has done quite a few crooked things in the Realm of Split Void under the name ¡®Song Li¡¯,¡± Zhen Hun said with furrowed eyebrows.

    Smiling, Qin Yi said, ¡°That was nothing but child¡¯s y.¡±

    He had also heard about the things Dong Li had done in the Realm of Split Void. Not very long ago, Dong Li had returned to the Dong n from the Realm of Split Void andined to Qin Yan about being humiliated by a young man named Hua Tian.

    Since Hua Tian had lived in Zhen Hun¡¯s residence in Shatter City, he clearly had some sort of connection with her.

    However, Qin Yi wasn¡¯t aware that Hua Tian and Wu Tian were both Nie Tian¡¯s assumed names.

    He only knew that Zhen Hun¡¯s poor opinion of Dong Li had a great deal to do with the fact that she had pursued Hua Tian across the Realm of Split Void and sworn to kill him.

    ¡°Never mind. Hua Tian didn¡¯t suffer any losses from her anyways.¡± Zhen Hun wanted to end the topic.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Hua Tian anyway?¡± Qin Yi asked, curious.

    ¡°That¡¯s not important.¡± Apparently, Zhen Hun didn¡¯t want to answer that. ¡°If this girl misleads me again and wastes more of my time, I¡¯ll have to teach her a lesson.¡±

    Qin Yi had sensed from her previous conversation with Dong Li that Dong Li had misled her once before.

    Considering she wasn¡¯t fond of her in the first ce, if she continued to feed her false information about Zhao Shanling, she probably would actually get angry at her.

    <i>¡°I hope the kid is right this time,¡±</i> Qin Yi thought to himself, starting to worry for Dong Li.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhen Hun decided not to waste any more of her precious time. In the blink of an eye, she and Qin Yi traveled through the spatial tunnel and appeared in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters.

    She looked up and saw Dong Li hovering about in the air with the help of her ck phoenix, as if she were trying very hard to locate where Zhao Shanling was hiding.

    Without paying any attention to Nie Tian, they shot up into the sky and came to a stop by Dong Li¡¯s side.

    ¡°Found it yet, kid?¡± Qin Yi asked.

    Zhen Hun looked at her, expressionless.

    After a while of pretended searching, Dong Li had already calmed herself. With a serious face, she pointed down at one of the craters and said, ¡°That¡¯s the one!¡±

    As Zhen Hun and Qin Yi¡¯s gazes followed her hand to an enormous crater, they started examining it with their soul awareness and exquisite incantations.

    However, even though they were both at thete Profound realm, they failed to spot any anomalies in the crater.

    ¡°Under the bottom of the crater!¡± Dong Li grew very nervous as she lowered her voice and added, ¡°It¡¯s said that Zhao Shanling is currently at the early Soul realm. If it¡¯s really him down there, we...¡±

    Qin Yi¡¯s eyebrows also furrowed.

    After a moment of pondering, he asked with a straight face, ¡°How certain are you, Dong Li?¡±

    ¡°About eighty percent,¡± With these words, Dong Li snuck a nce at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded in a very subtle way.

    Reassured, Dong Li started moving towards Nie Tian as she said, ¡°S-senior Zhen, if you no longer need my service, I think it¡¯s time for me leave.¡±

    Her intense nervousness and caution made Zhen Hun and Qin Yan start to believe her spection.

    After arriving by Nie Tian¡¯s side, Dong Li grabbed him and urged, ¡°It¡¯s not safe here. We need to leave now. Zhao Shanling is very deadly. If he somehow emerges, our lives will be in serious danger!¡±

    Nie Tian came to realize that she was right.

    Both Zhen Hun and Qin Yi were at thete Profound realm, while Zhao Shanling was at the early Soul realm.

    Before the arrival of another Soul realm expert, Zhao Shanling¡¯s battle prowess would be unmatched.

    Once battle broke out, he and Dong Li, who were only at the early Greater Heaven stage, would most likely be dragged into it. Meanwhile, Dong Li, who had just pointed out Zhao Shanling¡¯s location, would most likely be his target.

    Aftering to such realization, he cooperated fully.

    Dong Li grabbed him and carried him towards the spatial tunnel that hadn¡¯t vanished yet, hoping to travel back to their original location, which was hundreds of kilometers away.

    At that very moment, unstable fluctuations appeared at the entrance of the spatial tunnel created by Zhen Hun. Immediately afterwards, multiple glowing des of spatial energy emerged from within it.

    Stopping before the entrance of the spatial tunnel, an angry look appeared in Dong Li¡¯s eyes as she questioned Zhen Hun, ¡°What¡¯s this supposed to mean, Senior Zhen? You don¡¯t want us to leave?¡±

    Nie Tian also gazed up at Zhen Hun, who was floating high and afar.

    However, before he could get a clear view of Zhen Hun¡¯s expression, Dong Li let out a sharp cry and instantly took him up into the sky with the help of the ck phoenix.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One after another, the glowing des of spatial energy shot out of the spatial tunnel towards them.

    Fortunately, Dong Li swiftly rose into the sky with Nie Tian, and avoided being cut up by the light des. Even so, they broke out in a cold sweat.

    Just as he was confused and also wanted to question Zhen Hun about her intentions, he caught sight of Dong Li¡¯s ghastly and frightened face.

    He jerked his head around to look at Zhen Hun.

    He discovered that her face had also turned very grave, and that she was already holding a paper folding fan, as if she were facing formidable foes.

    Waves of spatial energy that were visible to the naked eye suddenly burst forth from within the nk fan, making the space where Zhen Hun was blurry, as if she was being protected by multiple spatial energy wards.

    Qin Yin¡¯s expression also flickered as he emanated dazzling golden light. Immediately afterwards, a suit of golden armor appeared on him.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t her! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Dong Li screamed, panicked.

    BANG!

    At that moment, the spatial tunnel created by Zhen Hun exploded, sending countless glowing des of spatial energy towards Zhen Hun and Qin Yi.

    Nie Tian instantly understood what was happening.

    The spatial light des shooting out of the spatial tunnel weren¡¯t the doing of Zhen Hun, but rather the other spatial energy master who was also in this location!

    ¡°Zhao Shanling! It¡¯s him indeed!" Qin Yi shouted as he hastily took out his Sound Stone and informed the powerful experts from the Tool Sect of what was happening here.

    Wildughter suddenly echoed out from the bottom of the crater Dong Li had just pointed out for Zhen Hun and Qin Yi. ¡°Hahaha! Long time no see, junior martial sister!¡±

    The rocks at the bottom of the crater exploded, unveiling multiple invisible spatial energy wards.

    Behind the wards sat a skinny old man that looked like a bag of bones. Dressed in gray robes, he looked up with a sinister smile.

    ¡°You¡¯re no senior martial brother of mine!¡± Face especially grim, Zhen Hun fluttered the folding fan in her hand, and waves of torrential spatial energy rushed out and engulfed the spatial light des. Then, with a low voice, she asked Qin Yi, ¡°When will Wu Langxie get here?¡±

    ¡°Soon!¡± Qin Yi answered in a low but determined voice.

    Zhen Hun nodded as she turned to look at Dong Li and Nie Tian, who were floating in the distance, shouting, ¡°What are you waiting for? Leave!¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Dong Li instantly activated all of her reserve power. Like a streak of ck light, they shot into the distant sky.

 Chapter 467: Zhao Shanling

    BOOM!

    The ck phoenix rammed into an invisible ward. Dong Li and Nie Tian¡¯s dashing momentum was instantly stopped.

    Zhao Shanling, who was originally sitting at the bottom of the crater, blurred into action, and in a split second, he was floating in midair.

    Staring at Dong Li from afar, he asked, looking rather confused, ¡°How did you find me, girl?¡±

    In fact, he had noticed her and Nie Tian as soon as they hade out of the spatial tunnel created by Zhen Hun.

    However, since their cultivation bases were incredibly low, he hadn¡¯t attached any importance to them. After all, many Tool Sect elders hade to search in this area and failed to find any traces of him.

    After a mere nce, he had refocused on his battle against Qi Bailu, not caring what Dong Li and Nie Tian said to each other.

    Only when Zhen Hun and Qin Yi hade and learned about his hiding ce from her had he finally realized that he had been put in an unfavorable situation.

    That was when he had paid serious attention to Dong Li and wondered how she had been able to locate him.

    The fact that he had never seen here to this area, and yet she had pointed out his hiding ce with great precision, confused him.

    He didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian, who was beside her, was actually the one who had found him.

    ¡°Why would I tell you?¡± With these words, Dong Li, who had already summoned her cyan awl, started using it to repeatedly bombard the invisible spatial energy ward. After discovering that her efforts were fruitless, shemanded the ck phoenix to take them to another location, hoping to break free from there.

    Nie Tian was being carried the whole time, observing everything around him.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Every time the ck phoenix tried to break free from another location, they would ram into an invisible ward. After failing to escape after numerous attempts, Dong Li started to look anxious and insecure.

    At this moment, the numerous waves of spatial energy Zhen Hun had created with the flutter of her folding fan were spreading towards Zhao Shanling.

    Amidst the spatial energy fluctuations were raging mes, which seemed to be flickering with the profound truths of fire.

    With a grim expression, Qin Yi let out an angry roar. In the next moment, he seemed to turn into a giant d in a suit of golden armor, throwing a fist strike directly towards Zhao Shanling.

    Fierce, golden light and golden lightning bolts exploded from within the enormous fist, which was bearing down with the force of tens of thousands of pounds, enveloping the area where Zhao Shaling was floating.

    Looking at the giant, golden fist and the fierce, golden lightning, Nie Tian marveled at the profound might of metal power.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The sky-filling golden light and lightning bolts interacted in midair, morphing into thick lightning bolts that eventually interwove into a gigantic of golden lightning.

    As Qin Yi¡¯s fist continued to fall, the of golden lightning smashed down towards Zhao Shanling with the momentum of a mountain falling from the sky.

    Seeing that both Zhen Hun and Qin Yi had revealed their full strength the moment he showed himself, Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    At this moment, the majority of his mind and soul were still focused on manipting the Death Reign to fight Qi Bailu.

    He was aware that now that he had been discovered, many powerful experts from the Tool Sect, including Wu Langxie, would swarm towards his location. Therefore, he made a decision at this crucial moment.

    He instantly ended his battle against Qi Bailu, which was taking ce hundreds of thousands kilometers away, and controlled the Death Reign to return to him using his mind and soul.

    At that very moment, the enormous of golden lightning enveloped his floating body. Immediately afterwards, Qin Yi¡¯s giant golden fist smashed down on him.

    BANG!

    Upon the iparably strong impact, Zhao Shanling¡¯s body shattered, and pieces of him shot in every direction like bits of broken ss.

    His broken body passed through the grid of the huge of golden lightning bolts.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°What?! He just died like that?!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression turned especially grim. ¡°If only it were that easy.... He¡¯s a master of spatial magics. How could he be so easily killed? Back in the day, that man was notoriously deadly in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Even his own master died because of him. He would never be so fragile and unable to withstand a single blow.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils suddenly shrunk as he watched Zhao Shanling¡¯s shattered body that looked like broken ss gather to a single point after shooting through the lightning.

    In the blink of an eye, Zhao Shanling returned to human form, unscathed and expression as calm as ever.

    Shaking his head, he said, ¡°You¡¯re being too sloppy bying for me with just the two of you. Didn¡¯t think I would kill you, did you?¡±

    With these words, he turned to Qin Yi and said with a cold snort, ¡°I¡¯m actually a man who treasures old ties. After all, my junior martial sister and I learned from the same master. Even though she has some misunderstandings about me, I can¡¯t bear to kill her with my own hands. But who the hell do you think you are? This is between me and my sect. Who gave you the right to meddle with our internal affairs?¡±

    With these words, he cast out a crimson, metal cauldron with a casual fling of his hand.

    The crimson cauldron had three legs and was covered in elegant and simple patterns. Ragingva spewed out of its mouth unceasingly.

    One stream of fierceva after another shot up and converged on Qin Yi¡¯s huge, golden fist like numerous long, crimson rivers.

    A glittering, golden glove seemed to exist at the center of the immeasurablyrge, golden fist, which appeared to be Qin Yi¡¯s spiritual tool.

    However, as the rivers of boilingva sprayed on the golden fist, which was formed by Qin Yi¡¯s pure spiritual power, the huge fist was instantly ignited and started to shrink.

    The normal-sized golden glove in the middle of it also instantly grew dim and lifeless.

    Qin Yi let out a muffled groan as his expression flickered dramatically, yet his eyes shone brightly with golden light.

    After neutralizing the golden fist with its burningva, the crimson cauldron started floating towards Qin Yi.

    Zhao Shanlingughed madly. ¡°Even though there seems to be a fine line between thete Profound realm and the early Soul realm, you should know how big the gap really is. I¡¯ve already achieved my goal on this trip. I can leave or stay as I want. I admit that there are quite a few people with cultivation bases higher than mine in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but, since master has died, the next person who can trap me hasn¡¯t been born yet!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    With these words, a spatial portal slowly opened behind Zhao Shanling.

    Countless rays of light could be seen shing across within it, as if they were paths to different spaces where endless and unknown danger was lurking.

    Gazing at the spatial portal created by Zhao Shanling, Zhen Hun¡¯s expression flickered slightly, as if she knew that Zhao Shanling¡¯s statement was true.

    As a master of spatial magics herself, she was well-aware of the meaning of the appearance of that portal, which even she wouldn¡¯t dare to step into rashly. Zhao Shanling was nning to leave through it.

    There were very few masters of spatial magics throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. Zhen Hun had only ever known one person who was equally as skilled in spatial magics as Zhao Shanling - her master.

    Unfortunately, her master had already died.

    As for cultivators who weren¡¯t skilled in spatial magics, even if their cultivation bases were higher than Zhao Shanling¡¯s, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him from leaving unless they had shattered the barriers in their cultivation and joined the ranks of the three domains.

    However, not a single person in the Domain of the Falling Stars had managed to enter the Void domain, the Saint Domain, or the God Domain yet.

    That meant even if Wu Langxie and Qi Bailu were here, the lot of them wouldn¡¯t be able to kill Zhao Shanling or trap him in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    With such thoughts on her mind, Zhen Hun couldn¡¯t help but feel deeply helpless and worried about the future of their sect.

    By the time Xia Yi from the me God Sect had refined the earthme essence he had gathered and broken through into thete Soul realm, he would be able to overtake every powerful expert in the Tool Sect one-on-one. Even if Qi Bailu and Wu Langxie teamed up, it would still be hard to say if they would be able to stop Xia Yi and his ally, Zhao Shanling, who possessed the Death Reign...

    Zhen Hun didn¡¯t dare to further her thoughts.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One river of burningva after another shot out from within the crimson cauldron and arrived before Qin Yi in the blink of an eye.

    Sighing inwardly, Zhen Hun cast out her folding fan, forming multiple spatial energy wards to stop the iing rivers of ragingva. Then, she said to Qin Yi in a low voice, ¡°Wu Langxie and my eldest martial brother will be here soon. I believe the traitor¡¯s vengeful trip to the Realm of Unbounded Destion ising to an end, but I doubt that we¡¯ll be able to kill him, even together.¡±

    ¡°So you mean...?¡± Qin Yi asked with a grim expression.

    ¡°Don¡¯t go all-out to attack him anymore.¡± Zhen Hun said helplessly. ¡°Stall him and wait for the arrival of Wu Langxie and my eldest martial brother.¡±

    SHEW!

    An iparably thick bolt of lightning suddenly appeared in the distant sky.

    With loud rumbles, it shot directly towards Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s location at an rming speed, and in a brief moment, shattered the invisible spatial energy ward Zhao Shanling had created. Then, as the lightning cleared, Zhu Bin emerged.

    Seeing that the ward was down, Dong Li was overjoyed, and immediately flew away with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Dong Li blurted. ¡°A battle at such a level isn¡¯t something we can take part in. It¡¯s gonna be too dangerous for us if we stay.¡±

    Nie Tian, who was being carried farther and farther away, frowned as he gazed at Zhao Shanling, who was stillughing madly, as if there was no one in this world he would fear.

    Zhao Shanling hadmitted unforgivable crimes by plunging the people in the Realm of Unbounded Destion into misery and suffering and even killing his own master. However, due to his unmatched expertise in spatial magics, Soul realm cultivation base, and the Death Reign at his disposal, no one seemed to be able to subdue him.

    The wild arrogance and rampancy on disy gave Nie Tian a very deep impression, and left him in a shocked state for a long while.

 Chapter 468: Post-war Battlefield

    In fact, Zhao Shanling cared about neither the shattering of that spatial energy ward, nor the escape of Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    He was indeed somewhat curious as to how Dong Li had managed to locate him.

    However, such curiosity wasn¡¯t so strong that it would motivate him to stop Dong Li from leaving regardless of everything else.

    Therefore, seeing that Dong Li and Nie Tian had broken free from the spatial energy ward he had created and were flying further and further away, he didn¡¯t make another move.

    His attention remained focused on the three opponents before him.

    As they flew further and further away with the help of the ck phoenix, Dong Li¡¯s furrowed brow finally gradually rxed. ¡°It¡¯s not always a bad thing that our cultivation bases are low. Like this time, it¡¯s all because our cultivation bases are too low to make any difference that Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t give a damn about our escape. He might be just a little bit curious as to how I managed to find him, but he won¡¯te after us.¡±

    Hugged by Dong Li from behind, Nie Tian listened to the whistling wind as they traveled high in the air. Looking back at the intense energy fluctuations in the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters, he nodded and said with a grim expression, ¡°You¡¯re right. Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t attach any importance to us. Considering his cultivation base and diverse means, even though Zhu Bin rushed to our aid, he would have no problem capturing us if he wanted to.¡±

    ¡°We were saved by our insignificant cultivation bases,¡± Dong Li said with a thankful tone.

    As they continued flying further away, they saw a number of Profound realm experts shing through the air towards the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters.

    Most of them were from the Tool Sect, and were probably rushing over after receiving word from Zhen Hun, Qin Yi, and Zhu Bin that they had found Zhao Shanling there.

    Some of them noticed Dong Li and Nie Tian, yet none of them even bothered to stop.

    Apparently, their primary goal was Zhao Shanling. Anyone or anything else was intentionally blocked from their minds.

    WHOOSH!

    The ck phoenix started plunging towards a silent mountain valley as Dong Li said, ¡°Prepare fornding. I can¡¯t control the ck phoenix to fly for much longer. We¡¯ll have to march on foot from now on.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, showing that he understood.

    It was sundown. The evening glow filled the sky. Nie Tian seemed somewhat depressed as he was carried down from midair.

    Afternding smoothly, the ck phoenix flew back into Dong Li¡¯s head. She gulped down a few medicinal pills and urged Nie Tian to keep marching away from the Bonebrutes¡¯ former headquarters on foot with her.

    That was when Nie Tian noticed that the direction Dong Li was heading in wasn¡¯t towards the location where Li Jing and the other Blood Sect members would be waiting for him.

    Confusion appeared in his eyes.

    ¡°Now that Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce has been exposed, the turbulent situation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion will most likelye to an end within a short time,¡± Dong Li exined. ¡°In such a sensitive period of time, you¡¯d better quit thinking about gathering more earthme essence. The way I see it, Deste City and the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters are the safest ces right now. We no longer need to join those from the Blood Sect.¡±

    Earlier, in order to break free from Zhao Shanling¡¯s spatial energy blockade, Dong Li had rammed into the blockade in many different locations, like a brainless fly flying into the wall repeatedly.

    Later, when Zhu Bin had shattered the spatial energy ward, she had finally seen a chance, and thus escaped without thinking.

    The location where Zhu Bin had broken the ward hadn¡¯t been in line with the direction of the people from Blood Sect. Meanwhile, Dong Li hadn¡¯t thought about joining the people from the Blood Sect at all. Rather, her destination had always been Deste City or the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Sectmaster Li and the others won¡¯t be in danger, will they?¡± Nie Tian seemed worried.

    Dong Li chuckled softly. ¡°Rest assured. They¡¯ll be fine. Sectmaster Li is a middle Profound realm expert, after all. Not many people can hurt her. Besides, Wu Langxie seriously wounded Meng Qing¡¯s soul by using his soul transmitting art on him. Plus, he also lost his Bone Giant to Sectmaster Li. With such a significant drop in his battle prowess, even if he met Sectmaster Li again, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to her.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian felt slightly relieved.

    ¡°Furthermore, Sectmaster Li and the others will soon learn about the twist in the situation, and that the turmoil that has horrified the Realm of Unbounded Destion ising to an end. By that time, they¡¯ll naturally return to Deste City.¡± Dong Li seemed rxed as she added, ¡°If you still want to see them, I¡¯ll arrange for people from my n to help you look for them after we get back to Deste City.¡±

    When she and Nie Tian had firste to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, she hadn¡¯t contacted any Dong n members here for the purpose of discretion.

    Now that Qin Yi had seen her and she had pointed out Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce with Nie Tian¡¯s help, people would definitely start talking about her shortly.

    Therefore, there would be no need for her to continue to hide from people¡¯s attention. After returning to Deste City, she would be free to openly contact her nsmen there and have them search for the people from the Blood Sect for Nie Tian.

    ¡°Alright then. Let¡¯s return to Deste City first.¡± Nie Tian agreed to her n.

    A few days passed...

    Nie Tian and Dong Li came to the long and narrow mountain valley where Qi Bailu and the other Tool Sect experts had set up defensive wards to stop the Death Reign.

    To avoid attracting attention, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t released his Heaven Eyes. However, as soon as they arrived at the mouth of the mountain valley, he detected the aura of numerous lives.

    Surprised, Dong Li muttered, ¡°Why are there so many people here?¡±

    Neither she nor Nie Tian knew that Tool Sect experts had set up defenses here to stop the Death Reign, or that Qi Bailu and Zhao Shanling had engaged in fierce battle in this ce not long ago.

    Gazing at the charred ground in the depths of the valley, as well as the shattered mountain walls on both sides, she suddenly came to a realization. ¡°This ce must have just witnessed a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battle!¡±

    Nie Tian nced around and came to the same realization.

    As soon as they stepped into the mountain valley, morous discussions filled Nie Tian¡¯s ears. Numerous Qi warriors and equipment forgers of various origins were discussing or muttering to themselves as they observed the valley after the fierce battle.

    ¡°A battle between Soul Realm experts!¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign ravaged thisnd, and the battle between him and the sectmaster of the Tool Sect also took ce here not long ago. I hope we cane to some sort of understanding regarding Soul realm experts¡¯ profound power from the signs of their battle here.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that the Tool Sect has managed to hold off the Death Reign and find Zhao Shanling within such a short time.¡±

    ¡°I hear that it was that Dong Li from the Dong n who found Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce.¡±

    ¡°That girl is so lucky. By finding Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce, she has actually helped the Tool Sect avoid an imminent cmity. Meanwhile, she¡¯s not a member of the Tool Sect, so the Tool Sect will definitely reward her handsomely when the whole thing is over.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that woman is about to be famous throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, no kidding.¡±

    A few Rainbow Lightnings from the Tool Sect were either parked or hovering in the valley. Young Tool Sect members could be seen on them.

    Wu Ling was standing on one of them, steering it as he carefully examined the battlefield that had witnessed the fight between Zhao Shanling and Qi Bailu.

    At the end of the mountain valley, a few elders of the Tool Sect were standing with grim expressions on their faces. It was hard to say if they were protecting the scene, or on guard for some kind of danger.

    Dong Li came to a stop and said to Nie Tian in a low voice, ¡°I bet Zhao Shanling has already left the Realm of Unbounded Destion. These people are equipment forgers who came to attend the assessment assembly and curious cultivators from Deste City. They must have received word that Zhao Shanling has left and the crisis has been lifted, so they dared toe here to pay their respects and observe the battlefield where a fierce battle between Soul realm experts took ce.¡±

    Nie Tianughed softly and said, ¡°I see that many of them are talking about you.¡±

    Dong Li, who had already put on another mask, looked rather in, yet she still looked very tempting as her bright eyes gently blinked. She nced at Nie Tian in a very charming fashion and said with a smile, ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that all thanks to your meritorious service? You don¡¯t say. It does feel good to be at the center of the stage and have people¡¯s eyes on me. Before, when people talked about me, they barely used any good words. Mostly, they would use words like vicious, venomous, slutty, and sly.¡±

    Her lips curled as her eyes were filled with disdain, as if she hadn¡¯t been affected by those baleful words at all.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re not the kind of woman they say you are,¡± Nie Tian said with a in tone.

    As he spent more and more time with Dong Li, he gradually realized that even though she was fierce and ruthless, she wasn¡¯t exactly slutty. She seemed casual about male-female rtionships, yet she actually had her principles.

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not the things they say I am.¡± It seemed that Dong Li couldn¡¯t care less about how people thought of her. ¡°Most men are jerks. You smile at them, and they think you¡¯re willing to get intimate with them. If they get what they want, they¡¯ll call you loose. If they don¡¯t, they¡¯ll badmouth you and call you degrading things.

    ¡°Those men who call me degrading things are the most degrading themselves! Well, they can say whatever they like about me. It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll lose anything or stop living.¡±

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be so open-minded about this.¡±

    ¡°Well... people get used to things.¡± Dong Li chuckled softly. ¡°Also, I got to kill quite a number of jerks like that. I have a full bag of tricks to use on those men. I can fool them like animals. Not only will they not get anything from me, but I¡¯ll make them pay, even with their lives.¡±

    The two of them talked in low voices as they marched deeper into the mountain valley.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian felt a frosty gaze on him from a distant location. He traced it and discovered that it was Pei Qiqi, who was staring at him from afar.

 Chapter 469: Embarrassment

    In the depths of the valley, Li Ye noticed that Pei Qiqi was staring at a stranger. Confused, he asked, ¡°Anything wrong, senior martial sister? Why are you staring at that man?¡±

    Pei Qiqi had seen Nie Tian wearing the same mask he was wearing now on many asions, and thus recognized him the moment he entered her sight.

    Meanwhile, Li Ye had never seen Nie Tian wearing that mask before, and therefore didn¡¯t understand what was going on.

    Before people from the Tool Sect hade to evacuate equipment forgers attending the assessment assembly, Li Ye had sessfully forged a premium grade spiritual tool, and was therefore acknowledged by the Tool Sect as a premium grade equipment forger.

    Thanks to Zhen Hun, the two of them had long since learned of Zhao Shanling¡¯s return. After Zhao Shanling had been found and the turmoil in the Realm of Unbounded Destion came to an end, they hade to the mountain valley in an attempt to broaden their view by observing the ce where two powerful Soul realm experts had engaged in battle.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that bastard is here in the Realm of Unbounded Destion!¡± Pei Qiqi cursed in a low voice.

    She couldn¡¯t help but grow angry as she looked at the iparably tempting Dong Li walking closely beside Nie Tian and the way they were talking to each other.

    ¡°Who?¡± Li Ye didn¡¯t understand who she was talking about.

    ¡°The bastard with the surname ¡®Nie¡¯ of course,¡± Pei Qiqi reminded him.

    Li Ye was instantly enlightened. ¡°That¡¯s Nie Tian you¡¯re staring at?!¡±

    ¡°Who else can it be?¡± Pei Qiqi said with a cold face. ¡°He travels here and there, being deliberately mysterious. Now, he¡¯se to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. I wonder what he¡¯s after.¡±

    Looking surprised, Li Ye said, ¡°Senior martial sister, that guy seems to being from the other end of the valley. Allnd that lies beyond that side of the valley has been regarded as a forbidden zone by the Tool Sect. Since he¡¯sing from that direction, does that mean he was wandering in the forbidden zone before the turbulence ended? If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s quite impressive of him for not being killed by the Death Reign and returning alive.¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°Mere luck is all that is. Considering his current cultivation base, if he did run into the Death Reign, he would have definitely been killed.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Li Ye agreed, and then startedughing. ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to him!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Pei Qiqi stopped him with a cold tone. ¡°Now that he¡¯s seen us, if he¡¯s at all respectful, he shoulde to greet us.¡±

    ¡°Alright." Li Ye nodded as he took out a bottle of alcohol and started drinking with a smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll tell him the good news that not only have I be a premium grade equipment forger acknowledged by the Tool Sect, but I¡¯ve also advanced to thete Greater Heaven stage. Right, I¡¯ll also tell him about your recent breakthrough in cultivation thanks to the enlightenment you¡¯ve derived from the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Dong Li followed Nie Tian¡¯s gaze and discovered Pei Qiqi, who was staring at them from the depths of the valley. Her lips pursed into a smile as she intentionally pressed herself towards Nie Tian and hooked his arm with hers. Then, with a taunting tone, she asked, ¡°Pei Qiqi recognized you, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s seen me wearing this mask on many asions,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Do you wanna go over?¡± Dong Li asked, smiling.

    ¡°Yeah, of course,¡± Nie Tian answered without thinking.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Looking excited, Dong Li clutched Nie Tian¡¯s arm tightly, stuck out her ample chest slightly, and marched towards Pei Qiqi and Li Ye with her head high.

    Nie Tian felt ufortable being dragged forward. Confused by her suddenly intimate actions, he asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Dong Li said with an innocent and wronged expression. ¡°What? Now that your old lover is here, you don¡¯t want to have anything to do with me, right?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Nie Tian with a bitter face.

    Dong Li snorted coldly. ¡°I can tell that your rtionship with Pei Qiqi is beyond normal.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. My rtionship with her is very normal.¡± A tiresome expression filled Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°My rtionship with her is just as normal as my rtionship with you.¡±

    Dong Li lowered her voice, her watery eyes glittering with charming light. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re wrong. Our rtionship is far beyond normal. You touched me and I kissed you. Do you call this normal? Or are you saying that you¡¯ve done the same things with Pei Qiqi? You¡¯ve touched her and she¡¯s kissed you?¡±

    ¡°N-no.¡± Nie Tian started to feel a headacheing on.

    Dong Li¡¯s abnormal behavior made him very ufortable, and he did not know why she had started behaving so strangely immediately after seeing Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Good.¡± Dong Liughed softly, looking pleased.

    The two of them talked as they approached Pei Qiqi and Li Ye. in the meantime, Nie Tian made numerous attempts to struggle free from Dong Li¡¯s hooked arms, yet the harder he tried, the more tightly Dong Li clung to him.

    The two of them didn¡¯t catch too much attention as they fumbled forward in the mountain valley. After all, their cultivation bases weren¡¯t impressive, and Dong Li wasn¡¯t very eye-catching after assuming a different appearance.

    Momentster, Dong Li practically dragged Nie Tian to Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    Keh! Keh!

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat embarrassed having Dong Li clinging so closely to him. He cleared his throat and said with a wry smile, ¡°Long time no see, Miss Pei. I didn¡¯t know you¡¯d alsoe to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. I had actually nned to visit you and Li Ye in Shatter City. It¡¯s a happy coincidence that we can meet here in the Realm of Unbounded Destion...¡±

    Before he could finish, Pei Qiqi interrupted him. Looking suspiciously at Dong Li, who was clinging to him like a little girl clinging to her father, she asked coldly, ¡°Who¡¯s she?¡±

    ¡°Who is she, Little Tian?¡± Dong Li also asked, even though she already knew the answer.

    ¡°Little Tian?" Li Ye, who was just about to find fault with Nie Tian, went nk as his eyes widened. His gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and Dong Li before finallynding on Nie Tian. Grinning, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had it in you.¡±

    Nie Tian felt even more embarrassed.

    ¡°I asked who is she?¡± Pei Qiqi asked again.

    ¡°Yeah, who is she, Little Tian?¡± Dong Li blinked unwittingly with a curious expression on her face, as if she had no idea who Pei Qiqi was.

    The four of them stood in the middle of the mountain valley while many others observed the battlefield and engaged in heated discussion around them.

    At that moment, Huan Yuan from the Tool Sect pointed at Dong Li from a Rainbow Lightning that was floating in the distant sky as she said to Wu Ling and the others beside her, ¡°Look! It¡¯s that big sister we met not long ago. I can¡¯t believe she¡¯s still alive. I reminded her to be careful on her own before we left.

    ¡°I thought she would be dead already. Who could have guessed that she actually returned unscathed.¡±

    Wu Ling and the others were also here to derive enlightenment from the ce where powerful Soul realm experts had fought.

    After hearing Huang Yuan¡¯s words, they all cast their curious gazes towards Dong Li.

    However, none of them paid much attention to Nie Tian, who was standing right beside her. It had been years since Wu Ling hadst seen Nie Tian. Both his aura and cultivation base had changed greatly since then, so he failed to recognize him.

    Zhu Han¡¯s lustful gazended on Pei Qiqi after roaming Dong Li¡¯s body for a few seconds. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Miss Pei?! She¡¯s Master Zhen¡¯s disciple. Don¡¯t tell me that they know each other.¡±

    Back when Wu Ling and the others had discovered Dong Li, he had volunteered to search her to determine if she had been illegally gathering earthme essence, though Wu Ling had stopped him.

    Now that he saw Dong Li again, he was once again aroused. However, since Dong Li looked rather average, his eyes were rapidly seized by Pei Qiqi instead.

    Huang Yuan pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°Brother Han, you¡¯re just like a dog that can¡¯t fight its urge to eat shit. (Idiom: people having bad habits that are very hard to change) Miss Pei is Master Zhen¡¯s disciple. Don¡¯t you even think about it.¡±

    Zhu Han didn¡¯t seem scared at all. ¡°She is Master Zhen¡¯s disciple. So what? I¡¯m from a noble background myself. Are you telling me that I¡¯m not good enough for her?¡±

    ¡°I just don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able tond her,¡± Huang Yuan ridiculed him.

    Standing on the Rainbow Lightning, Wu Ling¡¯s eyes narrowed as he gazed at Dong Li and Pei Qiqi, who seemed to be talking to each other, from afar. With an expressionless face, he said, ¡°Miss Pei has already entered the middle Greater Heaven stage, which is higher than you and me. Meanwhile, she practices the spatial magics she has learned from Master Zhen. Given time, she¡¯ll surely grow to be the most skilled spatial energy wielder in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Zhu Han, if you can actually make her fall for you, it¡¯ll work out great for you and the Tool Sect.¡±

    Zhu Han¡¯s eyes lit up as he blurted, ¡°So does this mean that I have your support, Big Brother Ling?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll support you if you want to pursue her, but don¡¯t you daree up with any crooked ideas,¡± Wu Ling said with an indifferent tone.

    Zhu Han let out a cunningugh. ¡°Hahaha! How would I do anything like that to a true beauty?! Lower the Rainbow Lightning, Big Brother Ling. Let¡¯s go over there and say hi.¡±

    Huang Yuan frowned. ¡°Won¡¯t that be a bit abrupt?¡±

    Wu Ling¡¯s gaze swept across the four of them in the valley. He had seen Pei Qiqi and Li Ye before. Both of them had given him deep impressions.

    As for Dong Li and Nie Tian, he couldn¡¯t care less who they were.

    ¡°Well, Master Zhen and my father are old friends. It doesn¡¯t hurt to go down there and greet Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.¡± With these words, Wu Ling steered the Rainbow Lightning down towards Nie Tian and the others.

 Chapter 470: Giving No Face

    As soon as the Rainbow Lightning came to a stop before Dong Li, Huang Yuan greeted her with a bright smile. ¡°Big sister, we meet again.¡±

    Dong Li seemed to enjoy the sight of her. Smiling, she nodded and said, ¡°Thank you for reminding me before. I found a ce to hide and luckily escaped the Death Reign. That was close.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re wee,¡± Huang Yuan said, smiling.

    Right before Huang Yuan and the others had descended, Nie Tian had been grilled by Pei Qiqi and Dong Li together, and thus felt a strong headache.

    As soon as the Tool Sect youngsters came down from midair on their Rainbow Lightning, Nie Tian sensed them. Therefore, he secretly raised his guard and grew silent.

    Pei Qiqi and Li Ye exchanged a nce and also fell silent.

    They both knew Wu Ling, and were aware of the fact that Wu Ling had suffered a great loss from Nie Tian during the Heaven Gate trial, and eventually lost his left hand because of it.

    Dong Li was also well-aware of the feud between Wu Ling and Nie Tian, and thus stopped messing around.

    As soon as Wu Ling and the othersnded, they realized that Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, and the others, who were talking just now, had suddenly grown silent.

    After a moment of silent pondering, Wu Ling broke the ice by saying, ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve sessfully joined the ranks of Premium grade equipment forgers, Junior Martial Brother Li. Congrattions. You¡¯re able to forge Premium grade spiritual tools at such a young age. Your equipment forging talent is simply amazing.¡±

    Li Ye and Pei Qiqi were Zhen Hun¡¯s disciples, while Wu Ling¡¯s mother Bai Yu and Zhen Hun had been martial sisters in the Tool Sect, so he naturally referred to Li Ye as his junior martial brother.

    ¡°Hahaha! If I didn¡¯t have extraordinary equipment forging talent, my master wouldn¡¯t have taken me in as her disciple, right?!¡± Li Ye wasn¡¯t modest at all. ¡°My master once told me that not a single person throughout the Tool Sect¡¯s history has ever be a Premium grade equipment forger at my age!¡±

    Wu Ling searched briefly in his head before nodding and saying, ¡°That¡¯s actually true.¡±

    Zhu Hanughed as he yed up to Pei Qiqi by initiating a conversation with her. ¡°Junior Martial Sister Pei, your master used to be an important member of the Tool Sect, so we¡¯re actually very close. Now that that traitor Zhao Shanling has fled the Realm of Unbounded Destion again and the turbulence hase to an end, if you¡¯re not in a hurry to leave, I¡¯d be happy to show you around the magnificent sites in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± Pei Qiqi said indifferently. Then, she turned to Li Ye, who was standing beside her, and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go back to Deste City.¡±

    Zhu Han didn¡¯t seem to be angered by her rigid attitude, but rather asked warmly, ¡°You¡¯re going back to Deste City? We still have two vacant spots on our Rainbow Lightning. How about we give you a ride?¡±

    ¡°Let me put it this way,¡± Pei Qiqi answered coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to listen to you and I have no interest in traveling with you. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡±

    The smile on Zhu Han¡¯s face froze.

    Wu Ling and Huang Yuan beside him were also embarrassed, not sure what to say to relieve the tension.

    Even though Wu Ling had met Pei Qiqi and Li Ye before, they hadn¡¯t spent much time together, and he thus wasn¡¯t aware of Pei Qiqi¡¯s notoriously bad temper.

    Nie Tian tried hard not tough, as he was no stranger to Pei Qiqi¡¯s strange temperament. She was the kind of girl who would never mince her words when facing people who she detested.

    Zhu Han had targeted the wrong girl. Nothing good would evere of him trying to y up to Pei Qiqi. He would only end up upset and frustrated.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Li Ye. There¡¯s not much to see here anyways, only annoying flies.¡± Pei Qiqi turned right around and walked off, not sparing Wu Ling and the others a nce.

    ¡°See you around, Senior Martial Brother Wu,¡± Li Ye said with a smile before he winked at Nie Tian and trotted after Pei Qiqi.

    He could tell that his senior martial sister was already unhappy after seeing Nie Tian and Dong Li together. Coming over at such a bad time, Zhu Han could only me himself for the poor timing.

    Seeing that Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had started marching towards the end of the mountain valley in the direction of the Tool Sect and Deste City, Nie Tian also moved out.

    Since Dong Li had been clinging to his arm the entire time, as soon as he moved, Dong Li followed along. She turned around and bid farewell to Huang Yuan, ¡°I hope I¡¯ll see you again, little sister.¡±

    She was the daughter of the Dong n¡¯s nmaster. The Dong n was the most influential power in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, whose reserve strength wasn¡¯t any poorer than the Tool Sect¡¯s.

    Dong Li had been to countless important events and met with countless important people. Hence, she didn¡¯t attach much significance to Wu Ling and Zhu Han, and she only bid farewell to Huang Yuan before she left.

    Zhu Han gave a cold harrumph. ¡°A woman too stupid to appreciate my favor!¡±

    Huang Yuan chuckled softly. ¡°I knew this would happen.¡±

    Wu Ling remained silent. Frowning, he watched the four of them walk farther and farther away. Eventually, his gazended on Nie Tian.

    For some reason, he hadn¡¯t felt anything when Nie Tian had faced him earlier, but now that he had his back toward him, he felt a sense of familiarity, which made him quite ufortable.

    However, as he thought about it, he didn¡¯t think he had ever met that man before.

    Therefore, shaking his head, he decided to let it go.

    ...

    It wasn¡¯t long before Pei Qiqi, Li Ye, and the others came to the end of the mountain valley.

    Zhu Lian and a few other Tool Sect elders nodded as they saw Pei Qiqi and Li Ye. Each and every one of them looked very grave.

    As for Nie Tian and Dong Li behind them, they just briefly swept across them with their eyes.

    Pei Qiqi and Li Ye bowed to them out of respect and walked out of the valley towards Deste City.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li talked in low voices as they followed along.

    When they were a significant distance away from the mountain valley, a chuckle escaped Dong Li¡¯s mouth, and she said disdainfully, ¡°That guy from earlier is named Zhu Han. He¡¯s the grandson of the Tool Sect elder we met at the entrance of the valley. He¡¯s such a fool for thinking he can get a girl like Pei Qiqi. He¡¯s like a toad that¡¯s after a swan¡¯s flesh.¡±

    <i>¡°Zhu Han...¡± </i>Nie Tian secretly carved the name in his heart.

    Disgust filled Dong Li¡¯s eyes as she continued, ¡°I heard that that guy is exactly the kind of jerk I told you about. By relying on the fact that two of his grandfathers are elders of the Tool Sect, he has defiled quite a number of pretty girls in the Tool Sect. Pei Qiqi must have heard about his bad reputation. It didn¡¯t surprise me at all that she adopted such an indifferent attitude towards him.¡±

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Two grandfathers?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, Zhu Bin, who we¡¯ve seen twice, and Zhu Lian, who we just passed at the end of the valley,¡± Dong Li exined. ¡°They¡¯re cousins. They both practice lightning power, and they¡¯re at the same cultivation level. Since Zhu Bin never took a wife, he sees Zhu Han as his own grandson. That¡¯s why Zhu Han is so arrogant and has an extremely messed up personal life.¡±

    With these words, she let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Just like him, many juniors of the Tool Sect don¡¯t know how terrifying Zhao Shanling is. And they¡¯ve no idea that a huge crisis is looming.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling must have returned to take the position of sectmaster of the Tool Sect. By the time Xia Yi enters thete Soul realm with the help of the earthme essence he¡¯s gathered here, he¡¯ll definitely return to Realm of Unbounded Destion again with Zhao Shanling.

    ¡°If ites down to that, I really can¡¯t think of anyone in the Tool Sect who¡¯ll be able to stop them.

    ¡°You saw it yourself that Zhu Lian and the other Tool Sect elders didn¡¯t seem rxed at all even though Zhao Shanling has left. Clearly, something was still weighing on their minds. That means that, as seniors in the Tool Sect, they know how formidable Zhao Shanling is, and that the crisis is far from over.

    ¡°Even Wu Ling didn¡¯t seem very thrilled about their temporary victory.

    ¡°However, there just are fools like Zhu Han who believe the Tool Sect has won a great victory, and are in the mood to hit on Pei Qiqi.¡±

    After hearing her words, Nie Tian nodded, agreeing that Zhu Han was a fool indeed.

    The four of them marched farther and farther away from the valley where the battle between Qi Bailu and Zhao Shanling had taken ce.

    Suddenly, Pei Qiqi and Li Ye, who were marching in the front, came to a stop, as if they were waiting for Nie Tian and Dong Li to catch up.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to the Tool Sect to im your rewards for finding Zhao Shanling? See if they¡¯ll give you some advanced spiritual tools?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush for that.¡± Dong Li soundedposed and unhurried. ¡°Since Grandpa Qin Yi knows that Zhao Shanling was discovered thanks to my help, there¡¯s no escaping that I¡¯ll be rewarded for it. It won¡¯t matter when I go to them. Or I can simply do nothing, and people from the Tool Sect will probably go to the Dong n to express their gratitude to my sect.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll benefit even more if I don¡¯t take the initiative to find them. If they doe to my n, my prestige in my n will surely experience a great lift. My n can also take the opportunity to ask the Tool Sect to help us forge some advanced spiritual tools.

    ¡°Those who receive those high-level spiritual tools will be grateful to me too, for I¡¯m the reason they¡¯re receiving such treasures.

    ¡°And throw in a Fruit of Life. My status in my n will truly be stable.

    ¡°I believe this will fix the damage caused by my previous losses to you in the Realm of Split Void. I won¡¯t need to assume another name and prove myself in horrible ces like the Realm of Split Void anymore.¡± Dong Li seemed overjoyed.

    Their trip to the Realm of Unbounded Destion had brought her both fame and material benefits.

 Chapter 471: Master-disciple Reunion

    Soon, Nie Tian and Dong Li caught up to Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    By the time they caught up, Pei Qiqi started marching forward again with an expressionless face.

    She didn¡¯t try to ask Nie Tian about Dong Li¡¯s identity again, but rather walked in silence, as if she didn¡¯t even know him.

    Seeing her indifferent attitude, Dong Li, who originally wanted to have some fun, felt bored and thus let go of Nie Tian¡¯s arm.

    Li Ye didn¡¯t seem bothered by any of this. Face full of smiles, he bragged on and on about his breakthrough in cultivation and bing a Premium grade equipment forger.

    While listening to him, Nie Tian snuck nces at Pei Qiqi from time to time, and discovered that she didn¡¯t seem to want to talk at all.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to bother her while she was in such a state. Thus, he just chatted randomly with Li Ye, with Dong Li joining the conversation asionally.

    A few dayster, the four of them came to a stop by the foot of an enormous volcano where the Tool Sect was located.

    When Dong Li had first lead Nie Tian to find suitable volcanoes for his me Dragon Armor, Dong Li had intentionally steered clear of the Tool Sect. Therefore, this was the first time he had been to this ancient sect.

    Looking up, Nie Tian could see with great rity that there were numerous stone caves scattered halfway up the magnificent volcano, making it almost look like a beehive.

    From time to time, equipment forgers would go into ore out of the stone caves, where they were clearly using the me power of the volcano to forge spiritual tools.

    At the foot of the volcano stood a forest of stone pavilions that were dozens of meters high. Many Tool Sect members seemed to be bustling amongst them.

    Aftering to the Tool Sect¡¯s giant front gate, which was made of stone, Pei Qiqi took out a Sound Stone and whispered something into it. Then, she turned around, and her cold gaze found Nie Tian.

    Confusion appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Li Ye and I are going back to Deste City. You wait here. Someone you know ising here to meet you.¡± With these words, she turned right around and left for Deste City.

    ¡°Remember toe and find me in Deste City at the ce I told you about after you¡¯re finished here,¡± Li Ye said waving his hand.

    Watching the two of them leave, Nie Tian wondered why Pei Qiqi told him to wait here.

    Standing in front of the Tool Sect¡¯s front gate, Dong Li said, ¡°Outsiders can¡¯t possibly get into the Tool Sect, especially at such a sensitive time. If I state my identity, they¡¯ll probably let us in and throw us a grand reception, yet I don¡¯t wanna do that.¡±

    Nie Tian examined the magnificent stone gate as he pondered Pei Qiqi¡¯s intentions.

    Momentster, two people came out through the stone gate.

    A strong shudder ran through Nie Tian as soon as he saw them.

    Wu Ji, who had received Pei Qiqi¡¯s message, walked through the stone gate. Facing an unfamiliar young man and woman, he asked with his warm voice, ¡°My friends, did you see a blue-robed young woman?¡±

    Also confused, Fang Hui, who came out with him, muttered, ¡°We came as soon as we received the kid¡¯s message. Why is she not here?¡±

    Nie Tian realized why Pei Qiqi had told him to wait here the moment he saw Wu Ji.

    Eyes reddened, he looked nkly at the thin old man before him, at a loss for words.

    Even though Dong Li had never met Wu Ji, from Nie Tian¡¯s subtle expression, she sensed what was happening. Therefore, she said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ll return to Deste City now. My n has a residence there. Come and find me when you¡¯re finished, but don¡¯t you dare go missing on me again.¡±

    With these words, she sensibly left in the direction Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had left in.

    After she was gone, Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°Master.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes lit up as he suddenly realized the identity of the unfamiliar-looking young man before him. Immediately afterwards, he whispered, ¡°Don¡¯t talk. We¡¯ll find another ce.¡±

    Fang Hui was also astonished.

    Neither Wu Ji or he had thought the young man before them would be Nie Tian, who had gone missing for quite some time.

    He had heard about Nie Tian¡¯s trip to the Realm of a Hundred Battles and his secret deal with the Dong n, which had allowed Nie Donghai and the other Cloudsoaring Sect members to return to the Realm of me Heaven safely.

    However, he had no idea where he had gone to afterwards.

    Later, Wu Ji had learned from Hua Mu that Nie Tian had gone on an exploration trip to a Phantasm relic in the Realm of Dark Underworld with Dong Li, and eventually disappeared along with the Spirit Pearl.

    Just a few days ago, Hua Mu had asked him if Nie Tian had appeared.

    Wu Ji quickly calmed down and started walking away from the Tool Sect, expressionless. ¡°Come with me.¡±

    When the three of them were far enough from the Tool Sect, he grabbed Nie Tian by the shoulder and shot up into the sky. Relying on his Profound realm abilities, he sped away through the air.

    Fang Hui followed along.

    A quarter hourter, Wu Ji came to a stop at the foot of a mountain that was hundreds of kilometers away from the Tool Sect, and stood in the shade of the mountain.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to speak, Wu Ji waved at him. He contacted someone with his Sound Stone and formed a ward to iste their voices from the outside world. Only then did he finally let out a sigh of relief and say, ¡°You know Pei Qiqi, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Wu Ji smiled. ¡°She¡¯s a good girl. I was guarding Fang Hui while he forged a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool for the assessment assembly. That was when she sought me out and told me that Zhao Shanling had returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. She also told me that his Death Reign was floating directly towards the Tool Sect.

    ¡°The volcano Fang Hui was using to forge his Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool stood right on the Death Reign¡¯s path. I took her advice and told Fang Hui to end his equipment forging process in order to save those rare spiritual materials for next time.

    ¡°That was before the Tool Sect confirmed the news of Zhao Shanling¡¯s return.

    ¡°Fang Hui made a quick decision to end his equipment forging process, and the two of us evacuated from that volcano as quickly as possible. As we expected, soon, the Tool Sect realized that they seemed to be unable to stop the Death Reign, and thus told everyone the truth about Zhao Shanling¡¯s return.

    ¡°Being informed just a few dayste, the other renowned equipment forgers, who had hoped to join the ranks of Spirit Channeling grade equipment forgers just like Fang Hui, lost almost all of the valuable spiritual materials they had spent decades to gather.

    ¡°Because we were informed in time, Fang Hui lost only thirty percent of his materials, thus preserving his chance ofing back to attend the next assessment assembly.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked after hearing these words.

    He had never thought that Pei Qiqi would have done him such a huge favor and kept silent about it. Thanks to her, Wu Ji had been able to make ns beforehand and escape danger.

    ¡°How did she know that you were guarding Senior Fang?¡± Nie Tian asked, confused.

    Just as Wu Ji was about to exin, his eyebrows rose. Smiling, he said, ¡°He¡¯s here.¡±

    A streak of glorious light sailed through the sky like a falling star and stopped before them.

    As the light gradually faded away, a man appeared from within. Wu Ji created an opening in his ward, and the man walked in.

    ¡°You told that girl to inform me, right?¡± Wu Ji asked the man.

    Hua Mu nodded, smiling.

    ¡°Mr. Hua!¡± Nie Tian bowed respectfully.

    Hua Mu¡¯s gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and Wu Ji before he turned to Fang Hui and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I have something to say to them.¡±

    Sensible, Fang Hui sped his hands towards him and walked out of the ward.

    ¡°Fang Hui and I are sworn friends,¡± Wu Ji said.

    Hua Mu nodded gently. ¡°I know that. But this is regarding Nie Tian. You and I are the only ones who know about his special bloodline. What I¡¯m about to tell him is too important, and had best stay a secret. Also, considering the unfavorable situation he¡¯s in, we need to do our best to protect his secrets. The less others know about him, the better.¡±

    After a moment of silent pondering, Wu Ji nodded, taking his point.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Hua Mu eximed softly. ¡°From now on, you¡¯ll need to be even more discreet, and you shouldn¡¯t use the me Dragon Armor again anytime soon!¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Why?¡±

    Wu Ji sighed. ¡°The me Dragon Armor was originally from the me God Sect. After collecting enough earthme essence, Xia Yi, the me God, will definitely attempt to break through into thete Soul realm. It won¡¯t be a problem for us if he fails. But if he seeds and enters thete Soul realm, no one in the Domain of the Falling Stars will be able to overtake him in battle.

    ¡°Originally, the Heaven Pce Sect could have sheltered you, but that chance was lost when you refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°Once Xia Yi advances to thete Soul realm, that patriarch in the Heaven Pce Sect will only be able to match his strength equally. Under such circumstances, even if you changed your mind and joined the Heaven Pce Sect, I doubt that they would ruin their rtionship with Xia Yi just to let you keep the me Dragon Armor.¡±

    Nie Tian immediately realized what a dangerous situation he was in.

    ¡°By the way, why did you refuse to join the Heaven Pce Sect?¡± Hua Mu asked, confused.

    Nie Tian had nothing to hide when facing Hua Mu and Wu Ji. Therefore, he brought out the truth, ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect made a deal with the Demon outsiders, trading something the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce sealed away in their realm for the precious materials thatte Soul realm expert needs to break through into the Void domain. Those materials seem to only exist in the Demons¡¯ realms.¡±

    Hua Mu gasped with astonishment. ¡°You witnessed all that?!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I kind of had to, since I was there to seal that spatial rift when they made the deal. Those people from the Heaven Pce Sect needed me to stop the Demons¡¯ army from invading through the spatial rift, so they couldn¡¯t keep me from learning the truth.¡±

    Suddenly enlightened, Hua Mu said, ¡°Now I finally get why the Heaven Pce Sect demanded you so strongly from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect afterwards. They weren¡¯t just after your fragmentary star marks.¡± Then, Hua Mu took a deep look at him and sighed. ¡°Even though you¡¯re blessed with many incredible opportunities, the burden on your shoulders is also unmatched.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyebrows knit together. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the Heaven Pce Sect surely won¡¯t give up before they get you. They¡¯re only exercising patience right now because of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect¡¯s firm stance on this matter. If the deal you talked about works out, and that patriarch in the Heaven Pce Sect enters the Void domain after getting those spiritual materials he needs, he probably won¡¯t care about the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect¡¯s stance anymore.¡±

    Hua Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°Meanwhile, Xia Yi won¡¯t give up on retaking the me Dragon Armor. After entering thete Soul realm, he¡¯ll probably help Zhao Shanling take the position of the Tool Sect¡¯s sectmaster first. But once he learns about your whereabouts, he¡¯ll spare no cost to get you.¡±

    Wu Ji and Hua Mu¡¯s analysis of his situation made Nie Tian¡¯s hair stand on end and gave him a bad headache.

    With a frustrated and helpless expression, Hua Mu said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that I don¡¯t have much time left. If I had another hundred years, perhaps I¡¯d be able to make another breakthrough in my cultivation and help you in some way.¡±

    Wu Ji chimed in. ¡°Yeah. If I had more time, I¡¯d have a chance to advance to the Soul realm and perhaps provide you with some help.¡±

    ¡°Another hundred years?¡± Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Master, Mr. Hua, I obtained something during this trip to the Realm of Unbounded Destion by ident. I think it¡¯ll help you solve your lifespan crisis temporarily.¡±

    Hua Mu sighed deeply. ¡°Nothing but Fruits of Life can give us additional years.¡±

    Without saying another word, Nie Tian took out two wooden boxes from within his bracelet of holding. He handed one to each of them and said with a bright smile, ¡°They happen to be Fruits of Life.¡±

 Chapter 472: A Secret Talk

    Hua Mu and Wu Ji stared at the wooden boxes, bbergasted.

    For thousands of years, countless people, bothered by their draining lifespan, hade to roam the barrennd of the Realm of Unbounded Destion, hoping to find the promisednd where wood power was as thick as water, and secure a Fruit of Life.

    However, the promisednd and Fruits of Life were just a legend that no one had ever actually experienced.

    Hua Mu had also heard about that legend, and thus hade to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to try his luck.

    Before Zhao Shanling and the Death Reign had returned, he had conducted a thorough search of the entire Realm of Unbounded Destion, but hadn¡¯t found a single clue.

    Afterwards, he had paid Wu Ji a visit, cing hisst hope in Nie Tian, since he had a feeling that he might be able toe to some miraculous discoveries.

    Even so, he had realized that this might just have been his wishful thinking, and thus hadn¡¯t held high hopes.

    He had never imagined that the next time he met Nie Tian, he would present to him a Fruit of Life.

    Staring at the wooden box, Wu Ji couldn¡¯t even get out a whole sentence. ¡°N-Nie Tian... Are you saying that there is a Fruit of Life in this box? Are you sure that you¡¯re not mistaken?¡±

    Hua Mu received the wooden box with a slightly trembling hand, and with great caution, he slowly opened its lid.

    An intense aura of life immediately poured out through the cracked open lid.

    He swiftly closed the lid. Eyes shining with excitement, he eximed, ¡°Such an intense aura of life. There should be no mistake. This must be a Fruit of Life!¡±

    In the next moment, the wooden box disappeared into his ring of holding.

    Since Hua Mu had confirmed that there was indeed a Fruit of Life inside, Wu Ji no longer felt the need to examine the box in his hand, and thus quickly put it away. With a somewhat urgent tone, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll refine this Fruit of Life and break the current limit of my lifespan as soon as I return to the Realm of me Heaven!¡±

    Hua Mu took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself. ¡°How did you get these Fruits of Life?¡±

    Even he found it hard to restore calm to his mind after suddenly obtaining the treasure of his dreams.

    Both Wu Ji and Hua Mu had initially noticed Nie Tian because of his uniqueness, hoping that one day he might be able to somehow extend their lifespan with his unique bloodline.

    However, they knew that in order for that to happen, Nie Tian would have to achieve significant breakthroughs in the cultivation of his bloodline.

    Right now, Nie Tian had spent far from enough time nourishing and cultivating his bloodline. Hence, it was almost impossible for him to extend their lifespan before their time ran out.

    They had never expected that Nie Tian could find another path when his bloodline wasn¡¯t advanced enough, and obtain Fruits of Life for them.

    The Fruits of Life would eliminate their worries about their dwindling lifespan. With the extra years they would get from them, they would be able to practice cultivation at a pace they werefortable with, and achieve another breakthrough in their cultivation, thus acquiring even more years.

    ¡°I got them in a magical ce I entered through an entrance that was constantly floating about in the Realm of Unbounded Destion...¡± Nie Tian went on and exined everything to them in detail, including how he had found the entrance with the help of his bloodline, and how he had entered that magical ce and eventually secured those Fruits of Life.

    He knew that he didn¡¯t need to withhold anything from the two men before him.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s exnation, both Hua Mu and Wu Ji were deeply amazed. They exchanged a look, and Hua Mu said, ¡°That ce sounds like a unique dimension. I wonder if it formed naturally or developed from some powerful being. The titan in the earth is probably the guardian of that ancient Tree of Life, and it¡¯s still alive...¡±

    ¡°A magical dimension... a titan... a Tree of Life...¡± Thoughts shed across Wu Ji¡¯s mind.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Oh, right. I heard that you were chased away by something from the Phantasms before you disappeared along with it. What happened?¡±

    ¡°The thing that chased after me is called a Spirit Pearl. It was the heart of an ancient starship of the Phantasms¡¯.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took the Spirit Pearl out from within his bracelet of holding. Handing it to Hua Mu, he said, ¡°This is it.¡±

    After receiving it from Nie Tian, Hua Mu¡¯s fingertips started to flicker with bright auras, as if he had instantly started examining it. ¡°How did you know it¡¯s called a Spirit Pearl?¡±

    ¡°I learned about it from one of the fragmentary star marks,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    ¡°It contains wisps of discarnate souls and some kind of profound patterns formed by strings, which seemed to be created by the Phantasms. I still can¡¯t perceive the mysteries within them.¡± After a brief examination, Hua Mu handed the Spirit Pearl to Wu Ji and added, ¡°I know that you have deep understandings regarding the outsider races¡¯nguages, bloodlines, and incantations. Why don¡¯t you take a look at it?¡±

    Wu Ji took the Spirit Pearl, sat down on the ground, and started examining it with his eyes narrowed.

    Beside him, Hua Mu turned to Nie Tian and said in a low voice, ¡°Your master¡¯s cultivation base isn¡¯t among the top in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but he¡¯s an extremely learned schr. He¡¯s got a unique perception of many ancient matters. Even the Spirit Condor has limited knowledge regarding the outsiders¡¯nguages and bloodlines, yet your master has a thorough understanding of them.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I kind of sensed it.¡±

    Many years ago, when he had first been to the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain to learn from Wu Ji, Wu Ji hadn¡¯t taught him any profound incantations or magics, like normal masters would have done.

    Instead, he had lectured him about the history of ancient Qi warriors, theplicatednguages that outsider races used, and his understanding of spiritual power, psychic power, souls and bloodlines.

    Even though Wu Ji hadn¡¯t taught him many specific magics, he had exined the profundity of cultivation bases and the creeds of cultivation very thoroughly.

    With a very serious expression, Hua Mu said, ¡°The fact that you¡¯ve made so many achievements in your life so far has a great deal to do with your master. You must have benefited greatly from the things he taught you. It¡¯s just that you may not realize it yet. Anyone can teach you battle incantations or techniques. However, very few can learn the things your master has taught you.

    ¡°As your cultivation base continues to rise, you¡¯ll graduallye to realize how precious those things truly are.

    ¡°That knowledge and profound understanding are the foundations of an brilliant Qi warrior, the skeleton and veins of all other cultivating matters.¡±

    At that moment, Wu Ji¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped open as he eximed, ¡°The soul strings in this Spirit Pearl seem to be forming some unique marks only the Phantasms would use. But there are too many of them. I can¡¯t decode them all within such a short period of time. One thing I can be sure of is that the part I managed to decipher just now contained a star map.¡±

    ¡°A star map?!¡± Hua Mu eximed, overjoyed. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely!¡± Wu Ji said with great certainty. ¡°But right now, I can only tell that the Domain of the Falling Stars is on this star map. It¡¯ll take some time to trante the whole star map to the form we understand.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s really a star map, I hope you can trante it as soon as you can, for it will be of great significance to the entire Domain of the Falling Stars!¡± Hua Mu implored solemnly.

    ¡°It¡¯ll take at least six months for me to finish it,¡± Wu Ji said.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. We can wait. We can afford such a luxury now.¡± After a moment of silence, Hua Mu turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Let your master keep that Spirit Pearl for a while, so that he¡¯ll be able to solve the mysteries within it. Perhaps he¡¯ll be able to learn why the Phantasms have returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars or even the location where that ancient starship is berthed in the starry river now.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wu, I think you can return to the Realm of me Heaven now,¡± Hua Mu suggested. ¡°I¡¯ll stay and make arrangements for Nie Tian. What do you think?¡±

    Wu Ji rose to his feet, took out a book from his inner pocket, and handed it to Nie Tian, saying, ¡°Okay, I trust that you¡¯ll keep Nie Tian away from danger. Here¡¯s something I¡¯ve put together for you. Take a look at them when you have the time. There aren¡¯t any incantations or magics in there, only my humble understanding of spiritual power, bloodline power, and soul power. I hope you¡¯ll find them helpful.¡±

    After receiving the book with both hands, Nie Tian wished to speak, but stopped on second thought. ¡°Master...¡±

    Wu Ji smiled heartily as he patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°I need to spend some time refining that Fruit of Life and decoding the mysteries within that Spirit Pearl. You can¡¯t stay by my side, for you might get exposed and draw attention from the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect. We¡¯ll have plenty of time together in the future. No need to worry about me.¡±

    With these words, he took a deep look at Nie Tian and walked out of the istion ward.

    ¡°Oh, right. Why did youe to the Realm of Unbounded Destion all of a sudden?¡± Hua Mu asked, curious.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor has consumed a tremendous amount of me power,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°I¡¯vee to the Realm of Unbounded Destion because I wanted to recharge it with the earthme essence in the numerous volcanoes here.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded and said, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it is. So have you collected the earthme essence the me Dragon Armor needs?¡±

    ¡°Just a little bit, far from enough,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    After a moment of pondering, Hua Mu said, ¡°Well, earthme essence doesn¡¯t only exist in the volcanoes in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Now that Xia Yi has stolen so much earthme essence from them, the Tool Sect will surely keep a close watch on their volcanoes. It¡¯s going to be impossible for you to gather earthme essence here. But perhaps there¡¯s another ce where you can do that...¡±

    Surprised by Hua Mu¡¯s words, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I shouldn¡¯t use the me Dragon Armor again for a while?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that other ce is in the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Hua Mu said with a mysterious smile. ¡°The Spirit Condor has a long history and profound reserve power. We¡¯re the most sessful in the exploration of spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Even the Tool Sect purchased all of their fiery dimensions through the Spirit Condor.¡±

    ¡°In recent years, Xia Yi has made consistent attempts to find spatial rifts that lead to fiery dimensions in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. However, limited by his sect¡¯s resources, he hasn¡¯t found a single spatial rift that¡¯s useful. Therefore, he could only stretch his ws to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    After a pause, he added, ¡°I¡¯ll go and make some arrangements for you. You just sit tight and hide in the Realm of Unbounded Destion for a little longer. I¡¯ll contact you when I¡¯m done.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

 Chapter 473: A Learned Scholar

    Hua Mu took Nie Tian to a main road that led to Deste City, gave him a Sound Stone, and left.

    Hua Mu told him that the Sound Stone he gave him was very advanced and special. It was a Sound Stone forged by Zhen Hun, which would allow them tomunicate from any location in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    The conversation between Nie Tian, Hua Mu, and Wu Ji actually didn¡¯tst very long. If he wanted to catch up to Dong Li or Pei Qiqi, he might be able to.

    However, he didn¡¯t.

    Where he was standing was surrounded by numerous volcanoes, and about five days¡¯ walk from Deste City.

    He could see many Qi warriors who were hastening toward the mountain valley where the battle between Qi Bailu and Zhao Shanling had taken ce, as well as equipment forgers who were heading back toward Deste City.

    He took his time as he marched towards Deste City. Every once in a while, he would take out the book Wu Ji had given him and read a few pages.

    It wasn¡¯t a thick book, but it carried Wu Ji¡¯s whole life¡¯s understanding of ancient Qi warriors, outsiders, and modern Qi warriors, as well as soul power, bloodline power, and spiritual power.

    After arriving at the foot of a volcano, Nie Tian saw that there wasn¡¯t anyone around, and thus started reading that book again.

    ording to Wu Ji, humans were the weakest among all the intelligent races.

    Humans would have to pass their various incantations and magics to their disciples or children through dictation or written form.

    A number of extremely powerful experts had died before they had a chance to record or impart their lifetime of wisdom and knowledge to their disciples. Many exquisite magics and incantations had been lost like this.

    However, outsiders that carried powerful bloodlines wouldn¡¯t need to worry about that.

    Outsiders could imprint their knowledge and wisdom on their bloodlines so their descendants would naturally inherit them.

    The younger generations of powerful bloodlines would be able to receive their ancestors¡¯ profound knowledge and understanding of their bloodline power through the transcendence or enhancement of their own bloodlines.

    This was only Wu Ji¡¯s theory, which he had derived from a lifetime of learning. However, as a person who actually possessed such a special bloodline, Nie Tian¡¯s personal experience had proven his theory correct.

    In fact, Nie Tian didn¡¯t know much about his mysterious bloodline. He had only awakened his three bloodline talents and imprinted them in the depths of his soul through achieving a natural transcendence of his bloodline.

    He believed that as his bloodline continued to transcend, he would get to learn more and more about the profound truths of life power from his unique bloodline.

    This method of inheritance, which was through nonguage or symbols, but rather the passing on of bloodlines, was indeed unfathomable.

    He also learned from the book Wu Ji had given him that humans had only developed the whole cultivation system of absorbing and drawing power from the spiritual Qi with their spiritual seas because humans were born with feeble bodies and bloodlines.

    Humans¡¯ spiritual seas were their source of power. They would need spiritual power to activate all sorts of incantations or arts.

    As for outsiders, their hearts were their source of power. They could use their hearts to summon strength and disperse it into their flesh and blood.

    Their hearts served simr functions as humans¡¯ spiritual seas.

    Their blood carried copious amount of blood Qi, which was simr to the spiritual power that circted in humans through their meridians. Therefore, it was just the energy of heaven and earth in another form.

    In the book, Wu Ji had specifically noted that, in light of Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness, he needed to refine his body as well as his blood.

    The book also contained Wu Ji¡¯s numerous conjectures, which he could not bepletely sure of. Therefore, he had urged Nie Tian to make his own judgment ording to his personal experiences.

    Normally, it would only take him five days to walk back to Deste City, yet it took him eight days.

    During that time, he read the book Wu Ji had given him three times and then burned it to ashes.

    Thanks to that book, many cultivation matters he hadn¡¯t grasped or understood before gradually became clearer.

    He found the part about outsiders and their bloodlines especially helpful. Wu Ji¡¯s thorough exnation had confirmed many of his own spections, as well as given him new ideas.

    Looking down at the ashes on the ground, Nie Tian recalled some of the profound contents of the book, and inwardly marveled at Wu Ji¡¯s wisdom.

    Instead of a Qi warrior, perhaps it would be more urate to refer to his master as a schr of the studies of outsiders, humans, bloodlines, spiritual power, and souls.

    He couldn¡¯t understand how his master hade to know so much. After all, the outsiders had left the Domain of the Falling Stars thousands of years ago. Where could he have obtained all this knowledge?

    He had mastered all of the outsiders¡¯nguages, had a deep understandings of outsiders¡¯ bloodlines, and came to unique perceptions of humans¡¯ and outsiders¡¯ cultivation systems.

    Furthermore, that book was just the tip of the iceberg. There must be much more valuable knowledge in Wu Jing¡¯s mind that he hadn¡¯t put in that book.

    Nie Tian even had a feeling that the only reason why his master had been afflicted with his insufficient lifespan problem and failed to advance to the Soul realm was because he had poured too much time and energy into the studies of those fields, instead of his own cultivation.

    Hua Mu¡¯s cultivation base was clearly much higher than his, yet deep respect could be sensed from Hua Mu¡¯s expressions andnguage when facing him.

    Hua Mu had even referred to him as an ¡®extremely learned schr¡¯, and said that he was the best master that had ever lived.

    Nie Tian had heard that Wu Ji had taken in two disciples before him, both of whom had turned out to be extraordinary and stepped out of the Realm of me Heaven at young ages. Many said they had surpassed Wu Ji.

    Standing in front of Deste City, Nie Tian sighed over Wu Ji¡¯s choice. ¡°My master is indeed awe-inspiring. If he had focused solely on his cultivation, it would be hard to imagine what kind of achievements he would have made by now.¡± He didn¡¯t quite understand why Wu Ji was so infatuated with those matters.

    He realized that, unlike the prosperity he had seen when he first came to Deste City, the current Deste City was roamed by very few people.

    ording to the directions Li Ye had given him before, he quickly followed the lonesome streets to his destination. He came to a stop in front of a stone pavilion and knocked on the gate.

    Secondster, the gate split open, and Li Ye¡¯s chubby face stuck out through it. Seeing Nie Tian, he asked, ¡°What took you so long?¡±

    After Li Ye ushered him in, Nie Tian looked up and saw Pei Qiqi standing by the handrails on the second floor. She shot a nce down at him and asked coldly, ¡°Met your master, did you?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for informing him of the situation so early,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    ¡°I just did as Mr. Hua told me,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°Who was that woman you were with? Howe she didn¡¯te back with you?¡±

    Nie Tian gave a dryugh. ¡°We split up. I ran into her while I was roaming the Realm of Unbounded Destion, so we decided to travel together to keep each other safe. We¡¯re actually not very close.¡±

    Thest thing he wanted was to reveal Dong Li¡¯s identity to her.

    Dong Li had assumed the name Song Li and done many notoriously bad things in the Realm of Split Void.

    If he told Pei Qiqi and Li Ye that Dong Li was Song Li, he was afraid that the two of them would scold him harshly for not being able to tell good from bad and judge him for hanging out with such a vicious woman.

    Li Ye¡¯s face was full of dirty smiles as he said, ¡°That woman had in looks, but a steaming body.¡± With these words, he took out a jar of alcohol and waved at Nie Tian. ¡°Come on, since we don¡¯t have any urgent business, drink with me and celebrate my bing a certified Premium grade equipment forger.

    As he spoke, he filled the empty table before him with tes of meat and fruits.

    After his previous experience with Dong Baijie, Nie Tian was no longer against drinking. He sat down and started gulping the alcohol down with Li Ye.

    As the two of them chatted, they rapidly emptied that jar of alcohol.

    At first, Pei Qiqi stood by the handrails, watching them drink and chat. It seemed that she didn¡¯t want to go back to her room.

    However, shortly afterwards, she walked down the stairs, sat down by the table, and reached out her hand, gesturing for Li Ye to give her a wine cup.

    Even though Li Ye was already tipsy and his face was all red, he still had a rather clear mind. Shocked, he asked, ¡°D-do you want a drink, senior martial sister?¡±

    ¡°You have a problem with that?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Puzzled, Li Ye poured a cup of alcohol for Pei Qiqi.

    She drank in sips as she asionally twisted fruits off the fruit bunches. She didn¡¯t speak, but only listened as Nie Tian and Li Ye chatted.

    ¡°Where have you beentely?¡± Li Ye asked as he gulped down another cup of alcohol. ¡°Did you go straight from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations to the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    ¡°No, I took a few trips to the Realm of a Hundred Battles and Realm of Dark Underworld before ending up in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡± Nie Tian was intentionally vague about his answer. ¡°What about you? What have you dely?¡±

    ¡°I mostly spent my time gathering materials for the Tool Sect¡¯s assessment assembly,¡± Li Ye said. ¡°Senior martial sister went to the Realm of me Heaven with you and spent six months there. As soon as she returned, she started a period of secluded cultivation. And she entered the middle Greater Heaven stage afterward.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Nie Tian said, looking at Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s cheeks were slightly reddened from the alcohol, which seemed to have washed off her coldness to a great extent. ¡°The fact that I was able to make that breakthrough had a great deal to do with the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven. By the way, you still have quite a few contribution points left with the Blood Skull. You can trade them for spirit stones or cultivation materials if you¡¯d like.¡±

    Li Ye chimed in. ¡°Yeah, take some time to visit Shatter City. You can¡¯t let the Blood Skull get away with all those contribution points. You umted quite a few by killing those Dark Moon members and Hunters. Don¡¯t you let them go to waste. They¡¯re still quite valuable. Oh, right. Cai Yuan found me before I came here. He also asked me about your whereabouts.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I might actually return to Shatter City soon.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got some business to attend to?¡± Li Ye asked.

    ¡°Nah, Uncle Hua¡¯s arrangements.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian added, ¡°As you know, I have the me Dragon Armor in my possession. It needs earthme essence. I actually came to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to gather earthme essence, but my n didn¡¯t work out. Uncle Hua ns to find a spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range that leads to a fiery dimension.¡±

    ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range again?!¡± Li Ye eximed. ¡°The situation over there has be quiteplicated recently. I don¡¯t know if it has something to do with the appearance of those Phantasms, but people have recently discovered a few fairly stable spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Some people went in and came back with great fortunes.

    ¡°Because of this, the Dark Moon, the Wild Fire, and the Blood Skull have all sent powerful experts to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Battles broke out on a daily basis.

    ¡°Apparently, even experts from other realms have also received word, and thus descended upon the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Pei Qiqi jumped in and said, ¡°Plus, it¡¯s said that those spatial rifts have something to do with the disappeared Void Pce sect.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Void Pce sect?!¡±

 Chapter 474: Hidden Crisis

    The Void Pce Sect, which had formerly been based in the Realm of Split Void, used to be the most powerful Qi warrior sect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars. It had ridden over the Heaven Pce Sect up until it had vanished.

    Back in the day, the Void Pce Sect had discovered a spatial rift that led to a brand-new dimension filled with iparably rich spiritual Qi in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Eager to explore that dimension, the Void Pce Sect had sent out all of their powerful experts. However, not a single one of them ever returned.

    Afterwards, that spatial rift had mysteriously disappeared, and no one had ever seen it again.

    Soon after that incident, all sorts of Qi that was harmful to human cultivators had started to disperse through some of the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, contaminating the entire Realm of Split Void. Eventually, the Realm of Split Void was removed from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    That was when the Heaven Pce Sect had risen to be the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian was taken aback after hearing that what was happening in the Void Illusion Mountain Range might have something to do with the vanished Void Pce Sect.

    Meanwhile, after mentioning the Void Pce Sect, Pei Qiqi, who had originally been sipping her alcohol, seemed to suddenly grow upset, and started chugging her drinks.

    She didn¡¯t talk anymore, and her picturesque brows seemed to be clouded by deep sorrow.

    Nie Tian recalled that she had behaved exactly the same thest time she had mentioned the Void Pce Sect.

    <i>¡°Can it be that she has some sort of connection with the Void Pce Sect, which used to be the overlord of the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself. Then, he turned to Li Ye and asked, ¡°Who has noticed those spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    Li Ye looked rather drunk as he said, ¡°For now, just the Tool Sect, some forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and my master. My master said that many members of the Void Pce Sect were experts of spatial magics. They even had a Spirit Channeling grade spatial energy spiritual tool.

    ¡°My master wants to find out what happened to the Void Pce Sect, where they are, and how they¡¯re doing.

    ¡°The Tool Sect wants to see if they can find that spatial energy spiritual tool, so that they can use it to fight Zhao Shanling.¡±

    After a short pause, Li Ye gulped down another mouthful of alcohol and said, ¡°It¡¯s also said that there might be precious treasures which don¡¯t exist in the Domain of the Falling Stars on the other side of those spatial rifts. And those precious treasures will be very helpful for Soul realm experts to advance to the Void domain.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not. However, once word of it spreads, powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars will soon learn of it.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the Void Illusion Mountain Rangees to the center of the stage and attracts powerful experts from everywhere.

    ¡°The reason why the Dark Moon, the Wild Fire, and the Blood Skull have sent all of their powerful experts to the Void Illusion Mountain Range is that they all wish to gain control of those spatial rifts so that they¡¯ll be able to negotiate terms with foreign experts in the future.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment.

    He still remembered that the Heaven Pce Sect had even degenerated to the point where they had proposed a deal with the Demons just to secure the precious materials theirte Soul realm experts needed to break through into the Void domain.

    If it was true that precious treasures that would help Soul realm experts advance to the Void domain did exist on the other side of those spatial rifts, all the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars would rush into action as soon as they learned of them.

    If that happened, the Void Illusion Mountain Range would surely turn into a ughterhouse where cultivators from different powers spilled each others¡¯ blood.

    While he processed the overwhelming information, in the Dong n¡¯s property in Deste City, Dong Mingxuan rushed over from the Realm of a Hundred Battles to see Dong Li,.

    In the stone pavilion, Dong Li was surprised by the sight of Dong Mingxuan, Dong Baijie, and many seniors of her n. ¡°Howe so many of you are here?¡±

    From behind the crowd walked a magnificent old man.

    With a bushy beard and no shoes, the old man was only of regr height. However, his hands and feet were exceptionallyrge, and his back and shoulders were broad like a mountain.

    After seeing the old man making his way to the front of the crowd, Dong Li was even more confused and surprised. ¡°You¡¯re here too, grandpa?!¡±

    The old man¡¯s name was Dong Tuodi, ate Profound realm expert who practiced earth power. He was martial brothers with the patriarch of the Dong n who practiced secluded cultivation year-round.

    Dong Tuodiughed broadly. ¡°Kiddo, I heard that you helped them find Zhao Shanling. Well done!¡±

    Upon hearing his praise, Dong Li¡¯s face was full of smiles as she said humbly, ¡°Yeah, with a bit of luck.¡±

    ¡°Still, luck should be considered a part of one¡¯s strength.¡± With these words, Dong Tuodi narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°I can take advantage of this opportunity to talk to the Tool Sect about forging spiritual tools for our n. Also, I can purchase a few Rainbow Lightnings from them. One of them will be yours.¡±

    Dong Li hastily bowed to express her gratitude.

    ¡°All that said, you should know that I¡¯vee to Deste City because there¡¯s something I need to tell you too,¡± Dong Tuodi said.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Dong Li asked with a confused expression.

    With a solemn expression, Dong Tuodi said, ¡°You used to take the name Song Li and make your living in the Realm of Split Void for a few years. You must know the Void Illusion Mountain Range very well. You haven¡¯t returned to our ntely, so you probably don¡¯t know what has happened in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    ¡°What happened exactly?¡±

    ¡°A few spatial rifts appeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± Dong Tuodi said. ¡°Now, they¡¯ve stabilized. People have gone into them and returned alive. Some say that the sudden appearance of those spatial rifts might have something to do with the few Phantasms that popped up out of nowhere earlier.¡±

    Upon hearing him mention Phantasms, Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly, worrying that he would ask her about the Spirit Pearl.

    However, he didn¡¯t. Instead, he said, ¡°Many who made it back from the other side of those spatial rifts returned with great fortune. Word came from your subordinate Han Mu and other informants that there might be precious treasures that could help Soul realm experts advance to the Void domain in the dimensions behind those spatial rifts. Also, they might have something to do with the vanished Void Pce Sect.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s watery eyes lit up.

    ¡°As soon as I¡¯m finished here, I¡¯ll head off to the Realm of Split Void, where I¡¯ll make arrangements and wait for the arrival of our powerful experts. They¡¯re regrouping, and soon will descend upon the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± Dong Tuodi¡¯s expression grew stately. ¡°No matter whether it¡¯s regarding the vanished Void Pce Sect or precious materials, our n needs to get to the bottom of it! Most importantly, we need to act before word of it spreads!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you this time, little sister,¡± Dong Baijie said, smiling.

    Dong Li nodded gently and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    ...

    In the gloomy starry river out of the Domain of the Falling Stars berthed a Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship.

    In the mysterious inter-realm space, devastating storms and explosions would take ce here and there. Streaks of blinding light that could annihte realms along with all lives on them would dash by from time to time.

    Dialo and a few other Phantasms had been waiting in their ancient starship for quite some time now.

    The Spirit Pearl should have long since returned, yet it hadn¡¯t. Not only that, but the connection between it and this ancient starship had been terminated.

    As the heart of this ancient starship, not only did the Spirit Pearl contain a star map within it, but it was also the key to steering the ancient starship on inter-realm travels.

    Without the Spirit Pearl, Dialo could only wait. With his fifth grade bloodline power, he couldn¡¯t travel across the starry sky without external help yet.

    As time passed, the ancient starship continued to undertake the strikes of asional unknown storms.

    Ayer of faint, cyan light that exuded a mysterious aura seemed to be protecting this ancient starship from the repeated strikes of inter-realm danger.

    An unknown period of time passed.

    In the ancient starship, a cluster of soul shadow suddenly started to flicker within a piece of cyan crystal that was used to hold the Spirit Pearl.

    Standing beside the cyan crystal, Dialo¡¯s body shuddered. ¡°One of our powerful experts have detected our soul crystal!¡±

    A blurry soul shadow continued to flicker and morph within the cyan crystal which Dialo referred to as a ¡®soul crystal¡¯. Soon, a weak soul message came from within, ¡°Dialo! Why has your ancient starship still not reached the predetermined location?¡±

    Off to the side, a Phantasm screamed upon hearing the vague message, ¡°It¡¯s Lord Basto!¡±

    Under Dialo¡¯s leadership, all of the Phantasms bowed respectfully toward the soul crystal, their eyes filled with reverence.

    Dialo went on and exined in detail their encounter with the Qi warriors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the vanishing of the Spirit Pearl, and them steering the ancient starship out of the Realm of Dark Underworld. Afterwards, he pleaded, ¡°We¡¯re ipetent and failed to bring the Spirit Pearl back to you. Please forgive us, Lord Basto.¡±

    Basto¡¯s soul shadow flickered unceasingly within the soul crystal as he said, ¡°We¡¯re separated by an endless starry river that¡¯s full of danger. Even I won¡¯t be able to cross it ande to your location. From the look of it, we can only turn to n B now: wait for our people to descend upon the Domain of the Falling Stars to find the Spirit Pearl for you.

    ¡°Dialo, did you at least finish the other mission I gave you?

    ¡°Rest assured, my lord,¡± Dialo answered. ¡°I found the spatial rifts you told me about in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. And I revealed them with the things you bestowed upon me.¡±

    Basto¡¯s wildughter came from within the soul crystal. ¡°Good! Once the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars discover what they can find inside of those spatial rifts, they¡¯ll surely swarm into them. By that time, our people, as well as a few Demon and Fiend ns, will cast spells and enter the spatial tunnel together.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be very long before we can contend against the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars in the inter-realm spatial tunnel.

    ¡°The few spatial rifts we secretly deployed years ago are finally being put to use. Thanks to them, we won¡¯t have to go through the spatial rifts sealed by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce anymore. Instead, we can directly descend upon the Domain of the Falling Stars via the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Once we¡¯re in the Domain of the Falling Stars, we¡¯ll surely get the Spirit Pearl back and free you from your difficult situation!¡±

 Chapter 475: Enlightenment

    Nie Tian temporarily stayed in the stone pavilion where Li Ye and Pei Qiqi lived in Deste City.

    Hua Mu had messaged him a few times through the Sound Stone he had given him over the past few days. After learning that he was staying with Li Ye and Pei Qiqi, Hua Mu was relieved, and told him to keep waiting there.

    Sitting quietly in the rough stone room, Nie Tian took out a piece of fourth grade spirit beast meat.

    He felt that his appetite had gone through a strong boost since the green aura in his heart had finished itstest transcendence and awakened its new bloodline talent - Life Drain.

    Before, he would need to consume a few dozen kilos of spirit beast meat to keep himself energetic.

    However, after thetest transcendence of his bloodline aura, his daily consumption of spirit beast meat had at least tripled.

    <i>¡°Life Drain...¡±</i> Looking at the piece of spirit beast meat that weighed about ten kilos, he suddenly came up with an idea. <i>¡°Can I use Life Drain to absorb flesh power directly from the spirit beast meat?¡±</i>

    ording to his master, all living creatures carried flesh power in their flesh and blood.

    However, humans were born with feeble bodies, and therefore were greatly disadvantaged in this aspect. For this reason, they had developed the cultivation system of channeling the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into their spiritual seas and focusing on the refinement of those spiritual seas.

    Spirit beasts and many powerful outsider races also channeled energy from heaven and earth, but afterwards, they stored the energy in their flesh, blood, and bones.

    This was the reason why spirit beasts and many outsiders possessed flesh power much more formidable than humans.

    Some of the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh power would dissipate after they died, but the majority would still exist in their flesh, blood, and bones.

    But Nie Tian could only consume the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh and blood, not their bones.

    However, many humans forged powerful spiritual tools with spirit beast bones, for they had been nourished and refined by the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh power. Not only were they iparably tough, but they also contained copious amounts of energy.

    <i>¡°Will I be able to absorb flesh power from a spirit beast¡¯s flesh and even bones with Life Drain?¡±</i> With this thought, he ced his left hand on therge piece of spirit beast meat and inwardly activated his Life Drain bloodline talent.

    As soon as he did, the green aura in his heart grew restless, and the crystal-like chains within it started to flicker brightly.

    In the next moment, wisps of flesh aura, which normally stayed hidden in his blood, seemed to be suddenly awoken by the green aura.

    Under the guidance of his mind, they rapidly gathered to his arm and poured into that piece of spirit beast meat.

    The moment his flesh aura infiltrated the spirit beast meat, the flickering green spots within the crystal-like chains in the green aura started to swim about.

    Then, he could sense wisps of pure flesh power being gradually extracted from the piece of spirit beast meat and merging with his own flesh aura.

    Afterwards, carried by his own flesh aura, the wisps of mixed power gradually followed his arm back to his heart, where they were devoured by the green aura.

    In merely a few seconds, the piece of spirit beast meat was drained of every bit of flesh power.

    Afterwards, the piece of meat looked dry and shriveled. After Nie Tian cooked it on a fire and consumed it, it didn¡¯t produce anymore flesh power.

    After a moment of silent pondering, he took out more spirit beast meat and drained the flesh power from it with the same method.

    Within a very short period of time, every bit of flesh power absorbed from the spirit beast meat was devoured by the green aura.

    Meanwhile, the processed meat failed to produce anymore flesh power even as Nie Tian ate it afterwards.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he muttered in a low voice, ¡°Life Drain allows me to drain the spirit beast meat of every bit of its flesh power! And the efficiency is much higher than me eating the meat! I can probably drain the flesh power of hundreds of kilos of spirit beast meat within no more than a quarter hour!¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he thought about what he could do with his new finding. The next time he killed a powerful spirit beast, he would be able to channel all of its flesh power into himself shortly after its death, before it lost too much of its flesh power.

    <i>¡°If I can somehow use this bloodline talent on a spirit beast during battle, then its battle prowess will be greatly weakened due to its rapid loss of flesh power.</i>

    <i>¡°It will be the same with outsiders. If I can use Life Drain on outsiders, and if they don¡¯t have a way to resist it or they were caught off guard, they¡¯d also rapidly lose their ability to fight.</i>

    <i>¡°However, I¡¯ll be able to strengthen myself and improve my battle prowess with the flesh power I take from them.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement. As his understanding of this newly-acquired bloodline talent deepened, he gradually realized that it would have a destructive effect on spirit beasts and outsiders.

    However, since humans were physically weak, and their power was mostly spiritual power that resided in their spiritual seas, Life Drain probably wouldn¡¯t work very well on them.

    Human Qi warriors¡¯ strength mostlyy with their spiritual power. Even if they were drained of their insignificant flesh power, they would still be able to summon spiritual power and fight with their spiritual tools.

    The effect of Life Drain would only be maximized when it was used on powerful beings that focused on the cultivation of their physical bodies.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on with the broken will of the titan I gathered from that magical ce?¡± Nie Tian sent a wisp of his awareness into his spiritual sea to examine his spinning vortex of wood power.

    The broken will of the guardian titan of the Tree of Life contained some unfathomable knowledge regarding wood power.

    However, the will was broken into countless pieces that were rotating along with the vortex of wood power.

    It seemed they were slowly regathering, yet Nie Tian knew it would still take some time for all of the pieces to rbine and be one again.

    DING!

    A crisp sound rang out from his Sound Stone. Nie Tian examined it with a wisp of his psychic awareness, and received a clear message from Hua Mu.

    Hua Mu told him to stay with Li Ye, and that Zhen Hun wasing back soon. Also, Hua Mu had talked to Zhen Hun, and arrangements had been made. All he needed to do was listen to Zhen Hun.

    Since Hua Mu needed to refine that Fruit of Life and extend his lifespan as quickly as possible, he wouldn¡¯te back to him any time soon.

    After a brief conversation with Hua Mu, Nie Tian took the initiative to end the connection.

    In the following days, Nie Tian spent all day absorbing flesh power from spirit beast meat with Life Drain in Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s temporary residence, making preparations for the green aura¡¯s next transcendence.

    Thanks to the awakening of his Life Drain talent, the efficiency with which he could absorb flesh power rose to a whole new level.

    Later, he even discovered that what his exceptionally vigorous body needed from the spirit beast meat was actually just its flesh power.

    Ever since he had started absorbing flesh power with the Life Drain, he had never felt hungry again.

    From now on, he no longer needed to consume copious amount of spirit beast meat just to maintain the normal functions of his physical body. Apparently, after the awakening of Life Drain, that primitive way of taking in flesh power became unnecessary and obsolete.

    That meant, from now on, even if he didn¡¯t eat anything at all, as long as he absorbed flesh power from spirit beast meat with Life Drain, he would be fine.

    At that moment, Dong Li¡¯s voice suddenly rang out from outside. ¡°Little Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before he opened his window. He looked down and saw Dong Li standing in the lonesome street.

    Immediately afterwards, he went downstairs and out into the street where Dong Li was standing. Surprised by her arrival, he asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    After the incident with Zhao Shanling, arge number of Deste City residents had fled the city. Some others had gone to visit the mountain valley where the battle between Qi Bailu and Zhao Shanling had taken ce. Therefore, the current Deste City was sparsely popted.

    No one could be seen anywhere around Nie Tian and Dong Li. The gates of the nearby stone pavilions were also shut.

    ¡°When did you return?¡± Dong Li asked in a soft voice.

    ¡°About ten days ago,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Dong Li grew angry. ¡°I arrived in Deste City shortly after Li Ye and Pei Qiqi. Why did you only stay here with them, but note to visit me? I waited and waited, hoping that you¡¯de to find me, yet you¡¯ve already forgotten about me! You ungrateful bastard!¡±

    She had onlye here because she needed to leave soon and couldn¡¯t wait for him any longer.

    Since she wasn¡¯t fond of Pei Qiqi, she hadn¡¯t show any intention of going into the residence in the first ce. Instead, she had only shouted in the street to see if Nie Tian was there. Who knew that Nie Tian had been back for ten days. She was very upset about the fact that he had been here all along, yet he hadn¡¯t gone to visit her.

    ¡°Our trip together hase to an end, so...¡± Nie Tian said with a confused expression.

    Dong Li gave him a hard look. ¡°What end? I helped you so much. You still owe me favors. Don¡¯t you remember?¡±

    A stumped expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Umm...¡±

    Dong Li suddenly lowered her voice and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the Realm of Split Void. You need toe with me! The situation over there isplicated. I could use your help!¡±

    KREEEN! A window on the second floor was pushed open. It was Pei Qiqi.

    Since Dong Li had spoken thosest sentences in an extremely low voice, she didn¡¯t hear what she had just said. She just leaned against the window and looked down coldly at the two of them.

    Upon noticing her, Dong Li¡¯s lips pursed into a smile as she immediately stopped bickering. Instead, she dragged Nie Tian away from the stone pavilion.

 Chapter 476: The Common Destination

    Nie Tian looked up and noticed Pei Qiqi, who was standing by the window and looking down at them with an expressionless face.

    He nodded briefly at her as Dong Li forcibly dragged him towards the end of the street.

    Only a few Qi warriors could be seen strolling about in the lonesome street. Most of them were at the Greater Heaven stage or the Worldly realm.

    Those who dared to stay in Deste City after word of Zhao Shanling¡¯s return had spread possessed either extraordinary cultivation bases or powerful backgrounds.

    Dong Li dragged Nie Tian to the end of the street and entered a rough, small restaurant.

    She led Nie Tian directly up to a room on the second floor. As she pushed the door open, he saw Dong Baijie sitting by a table in an unconstrained fashion, drinking by himself.

    Upon seeing him, Dong Baijie rose to his feet and said with a smile on his face, ¡°We meet again, Nie Tian.¡±

    The window to the street was shut. tes of snacks and fruits filled the table, along with a half bottle of wine.

    Nie Tian realized that Dong Li had already let go of him, as if she wanted to keep a distance from him in front of her elder brother.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re also here in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡±

    Dong Li sat by her brother¡¯s side, while Nie Tian sat across the table from him. As soon as he sat down, Dong Baijie poured a cup of alcohol for him and answered with a broadugh, ¡°I¡¯m here for Little Li.¡±

    ¡°Cheers!¡± Dong Baijie raised his cup and emptied it. Then, with a sincere expression, he said, ¡°This shows my respect for you. Thank you for helping Little Li in the Realm of Dark Underworld and bringing her such a great fortune in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. I knew you were no ordinary person!¡±

    He had met with Dong Li soon after he hade to Deste City with the other Dong n members.

    Afterwards, he had a private meeting with Dong Li to ask about her recent experiences.

    Dong Li had never kept secrets from her older brother, who loved her dearly. Therefore, she had told him about what she and Nie Tian had been through in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    She had even told him about theming to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to gather earthme essence for Nie Tian¡¯s me Dragon Armor, along with them finding that magical ce, obtaining Fruits of Life, and Nie Tian letting her take the credit for finding Zhao Shanling.

    Dong Baijie had been bbergasted by their experiences. Meanwhile, he had an increasingly strong feeling that he had made the right decision by befriending Nie Tian.

    However, since even Dong Li herself didn¡¯t understand how Nie Tian had been able to find the entrance to that magical ce or locate Zhao Shanling, she had left out some of the details.

    Therefore, Dong Baijie had attributed all of Nie Tian¡¯s incredible abilities to his three fragmentary star marks.

    The fact that Dong Li had helped the Tool Sect find Zhao Shanling, thus ending the turmoil in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, had already put the Tool Sect in the Dong n¡¯s debt. Not only had Dong Li received wide attention, but her status in the Dong n had also risen significantly.

    That was before she revealed the fact that she had obtained a Fruit of Life.

    After she returned to the Dong n and gave that Fruit of Life to their patriarch, her status in the Dong n would probably see another boost.

    She had only gained such great fortunes because she hade to the Realm of the Unbounded Destion with Nie Tian.

    Meanwhile, Dong Baijie could tell that, after their trips to the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Unbounded Destion, Dong Li no longer gnashed her teeth and stomped with fury when she talked about Nie Tian.

    On the contrary, he noticed that, when she talked about their exciting encounters together now, she tended to beam with joy.

    When he made jokes about her and Nie Tian, she would tell him to cut it out, yet her face was always full of smiles.

    ¡°Bottoms up!¡± Nie Tian chugged his cup of alcohol and then asked, ¡°Well... did people in your n ask about the thing I obtained from the Phantasms in the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡±

    ¡°Stop.¡± Dong Baijie interrupted him.

    Nie Tian stopped and looked at him, his face filled with confusion.

    During their secret meeting before he had gone to the Realm of Dark Underworld with Dong Li, Dong Baijie had told him not to worry, and that Dong Mingxuan would keep an eye on Dong Li and stop her if she crossed the line.

    That meant Dong Mingxuan knew about his actual identity.

    He thought Dong Li might have told people in her n about his acquisition of the Spirit Pearl. He had gone on that trip to the Realm of Dark Underworld with powerful members of every major power in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. All the others had gained nothing, while he had ended up obtaining the Spirit Pearl. He had wondered how he should exin it.

    Dong Baijie assumed a serious expression. ¡°The truth is that I didn¡¯t tell Uncle Mingxuan or anyone about your identity. No one knows what you¡¯ve obtained in the Realm of Dark Underworld. Even if your identity was exposed and people learned that you went to the Realm of Dark Underworld under the name Wu Tian, you¡¯ve got to insist that you obtained nothing, and that the thing that chased you somehow flew away on its own.¡±

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    A faint smile appeared on Dong Baijie¡¯s face as he continued, ¡°You¡¯ve already done enough by bringing Little Li such great fortunes. Also, I don¡¯t care what the other ns in the Realm of a Hundred Battles want.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised that not only would Dong Baijie not demand the Spirit Pearl from him, but he would also help him keep it a secret.

    Dong Li rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No one¡¯s ever seen you with it anyways. As long as you deny having it and I don¡¯t tell people you do, things will be fine.¡±

    After a pause, she added, ¡°Sectmaster Li and the others from the Blood Sect returned to Deste City before you did. I took the liberty of telling them that you still had important business to attend to, and you had already left Deste City. They left for the Realm of me Heaven after hearing that.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

    Seeing the puzzled expression on Nie Tian¡¯s face, Dong Li exined, ¡°We received word that the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect are still looking for you. Not many people know about youing to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. It¡¯d safer for you and the Blood Sect if you don¡¯t spend too much time with people from the Blood Sect.¡±

    Dong Baijie nodded slightly. ¡°You stayed at Li Ye and Pei Qiqi¡¯s. You must have heard about the changes in the Realm of Split Void. Do you want to go on an exploration trip with us?¡±

    Anticipation also filled Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the word of what happened in the Realm of Split Void spreads to every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars. By that time, every major sect will send people there. Our n is already making arrangements and preparations. You¡¯ll be safe if you go with us. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds. ¡°I¡¯ll be there in the Realm of Split Void. Perhaps I¡¯ll also enter those spatial rifts. But I¡¯ve already promised someone that I¡¯ll go with Master Zhen.¡±

    ¡°You promised Pei Qiqi, did you?¡± Dong Li asked with a cold snort.

    ¡°Not her,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Dong Baijie didn¡¯t dwell on it. ¡°Alright. Since we¡¯re going to the same destination, I suppose it doesn¡¯t really matter if we enter those spatial rifts together. Perhaps we¡¯ll meet on the other side. We might be able to work with each other then.¡±

    With these words, he handed a Sound Stone to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Keep this Sound Stone on you. After we enter the dimension inside those spatial rifts, as long as we¡¯re within 250 kilometers of each other, we¡¯ll be able tomunicate through it. There are only three of them. You, Little Li, and I each will hold one.¡±

    ¡°Okay." Nie Tian epted the Sound Stone and put it away in his bracelet of holding.

    ¡°Keep in mind that the Void Illusion Mountain Range will soon be the target of every major sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, so be careful,¡± Dong Baijie reminded him solemnly. ¡°You¡¯d better not reveal your identity to anyone, lest the Heaven Pce Sect or the me God Sect get to you. As powerful and lofty as Master Zhen is, she won¡¯t necessarily be able to shelter you. You¡¯d better act with discretion.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, I got it.¡± Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Dong Baijie said with a broadugh, raising his wine cup. ¡°Enough about trivial matters. Drink up!¡±

    Smiling brightly, Dong Li also rolled up her sleeves, raised her wine cup, and started drinking with them.

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li brought out quite a few drinking games. As Nie Tian chugged down one cup of hard alcohol after another, his clear eyes gradually grew sleepy.

    Upon seeing that, Dong Baijie proposed to end the drinking party and saw Nie Tian out of the restaurant.

    After bidding farewell to Dong Baijie, Nie Tian briefly circted his internal power, and the smell of alcohol on him rapidly dissipated.

    Soon, he returned to the stone pavilion where Pei Qiqi and Li Ye lived.

    Upon entering the front gate, he saw Zhen Hun sitting in the hall. Li Ye and Pei Qiqi were standing beside her. The three of them were talking andughing.

    The moment Zhen Hun saw him, she recognized him and said, looking surprised, ¡°It¡¯s you.¡±

    An embarrassed smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he bowed respectfully towards her and said, ¡°Greetings, Senior Zhen. Sorry for not informing you earlier of my...¡± He realized that Zhen Hun must have found out about his identity.

    Zhen Hun waved her hand. ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, she asked, ¡°How did you end up with that girl from the Dong n?¡±

    ¡°Girl from the Dong n?¡± Pei Qiqi went nk briefly before suddenlying to a realization. ¡°That woman you were with was Dong Li from the Dong n?! The same woman who organized her Fang members to chase after you outside Shatter City?!¡±

    ¡°You know that she¡¯s Song Li?¡± Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ¡°Master just told me.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s face turned ice-cold. ¡°If you know who she was, why were you so intimate with her? How open-minded of you! Have you forgotten all about what she¡¯s done?¡±

    Nie Tian felt increasingly embarrassed. ¡°Umm... It¡¯s quiteplicated. It¡¯ll take forever to exin.¡±

    Zhen Hun looked deeply at him. After a moment of silence, she said, ¡°Forget about that. We set out for Shatter City now. You just remember to handle your rtionship with her properly. That girl is full of vicious tricks. She did whatever she liked and took quite a few lives in the Realm of Split Void. I suggest you keep your distance so that you don¡¯t get yourself killed.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded obediently.

 Chapter 477: Experts Swarming In

    In Shatter City in the Realm of Split Void...

    Nie Tian, Zhen Hun, Li Ye, and Pei Qiqi shed into appearance in therge-scale, inter-realm teleportation portal at the center of the city.

    ording to Zhen Hun, he could no longer use his identity as Hua Tian now that he was back in Shatter City.

    She even forbade him to use the mask Dong Baijie had gifted him, which he had worn when he had assumed the name Wu Tian.

    Back when he had lived in Shatter City, he had used the name Hua Tian, but hadn¡¯t changed his appearance.

    Almost everyone in the Realm of me Heaven knew how he actually looked. Meanwhile, he had been to the Heaven Pce Sect and helped relieve the crisis in the Realm of me Heaven without altering his appearance. Therefore, they all knew his actual face.

    Since the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect were both secretly looking for him, he had to avoid revealing his actual appearance and stop using the name Hua Tian.

    The same went for ¡®Wu Tian¡¯, which was the identity he had used when he had gone on a exploration trip with people from every force in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Since too many people were familiar with the name Wu Tian, Zhen Hun told him to discard it as well.

    The reason why Zhen Hun had instructed him to do so was because she knew that Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars were swarming into the Realm of Split Void. Large amounts of powerful experts from numerous sects would show up in Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned. He had to do this to avoid being recognized and stay out of trouble.

    In order to do that, Zhen Hun gave him a new mask, which came with a brand-new identity: ¡®Mu Han¡¯.

    Not only that, but that mask also had a special effect. When Nie Tian put it on, it would create a mysterious and undetectable ward over him, masking even his spiritual sea.

    It would only allow Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea to release faint traces of spiritual power and me power.

    She told him that when he was wearing that mask, normal cultivators would only take him as an early Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior who practiced nothing but fire-attributed incantations.

    As for his star power and wood power, as long as he didn¡¯t wield them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to detect them.

    By ¡°normal people¡±, Zhen Hun was referring to all Qi warriors below the Soul realm.

    The value of this mask far surpassed the one Dong Baijie had given him. Any Qi warrior below the Soul realm would only see him as a in-looking, early Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior who practiced fire-attributed incantations, and nothing more.

    Zhen Hun had given him this mask to hide his special features and avoid any unnecessary attention.

    As soon as they stepped out of the portal, Lu Kang, the Blood Skull member who managed the portal, approached Zhen Hun and greeted her respectfully.

    ¡°This is Mu Han, a distant nephew of mine,¡± Zhen Hun said. ¡°Get him an identity medallion, will you?¡±

    Without any hesitation, Liu Kang ordered his subordinates to create a brand-new identity medallion for Nie Tian. Nie Tian, meanwhile, paid the required amount of spirit stones and obtained his right to stay in Shatter City.

    ¡°Master Zhen, our head wants me to tell you as soon as I see you return that he wants to see you,¡± Liu Kang said.

    ¡°Where is Cai Lan?¡± Zhen Hun asked with furrowed eyebrows.

    ¡°He¡¯s in the Void Illusion Mountain Range,¡± Liu Kang answered. ¡°Not just him; all of our powerful experts have poured into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Zhen Hun nodded slightly. ¡°How are they doing over there?¡±

    A bitter smile appeared on Liu Kang¡¯s face. ¡°We¡¯ve been fighting the Wild Fire and the Dark Moon over the rights to those spatial rifts. Recently, battles between the three powers usually break out around the clock. We¡¯ve already lost many people. The Wild Fire and Dark Moon have also suffered great losses.¡±

    ¡°Cai Lan is such a dotard!¡± Zhen Hun blurted with cold snort, not mincing her words at all. ¡°As soon as those spatial rifts appeared, I sent people to warn him not to get involved. The dimension those spatial rifts lead to are of great importance. It might have something to do with the Void Pce Sect. There might even exist precious materials that can helpte Soul realm experts advance to the Void realm.

    ¡°Such important spatial rifts are not something the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, or the Wild Fire can take for their own.

    ¡°Them scrambling for it has no meaning at all. By the time powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars enter the Void Illusion Mountain Range, how do they expect to guard those spatial rifts?¡±

    Liu Kang sighed deeply and said, ¡°At first, our head didn¡¯t know those spatial rifts would lead to such a special dimension. Also, he didn¡¯t expect that word of them would spread so quickly. By the time he realized how important they were, all the blood spilled had already made all three sides furious with each other, so no one wants to back away at his point.¡±

    Zhen Hun pondered briefly, then asked, ¡°How about the situation inside the city?¡±

    ¡°Recently, arge number of foreign cultivators havee to Shatter City via our inter-spatial teleportation portal, but as soon as they arrive, they leave directly for the Void Illusion Mountain Range,¡± Liu Kang answered truthfully. ¡°Also, a lot of Worldly realm and Profound realm experts have arrived during the past few days. They usually go directly from Shatter City to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Seeing their formidable strength, even the Hunters didn¡¯t dare to ambush them.

    ¡°The same goes for Ash City and the Land of the Abandoned.

    ¡°Many foreign cultivators have learned of what has happened in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and are thus swarming into our realm through Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned. Theirmon targets are those few spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Some powerful foreign forces are even secretly setting up inter-realm teleportation portals in certain locations in our realm.¡±

    Zhen Hun remained silent. Gazing off in the direction of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, she said, ¡°Cmity looms over the Realm of Split Void. Only if the Blood Skull pulls back to Shatter City and holds fast behind these walls will you be able to survive it. If Cai Lan can¡¯t lose the greed in his heart, I¡¯m afraid the Blood Skull won¡¯t escape their destiny of being eliminated from the Realm of Split Void. It¡¯ll only be a matter of time.¡±

    Lu Kang stood aghast.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As they talked, the inter-realm teleportation portal started to shine dazzlingly again.

    About ten people dressed in the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s noble garments shed into appearance.

    The first one to strut out of the portal was none other than thete Profound realm Huang Fan. He was followed by Su Lin and a few other Heaven Pce Sect disciples, who seemed to be at the Greater Heaven stage, Worldly realm, or Profound realm.

    Upon seeing Huang Fan, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    Lu Kang braced himself and walked up to Huang Fan. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, wee to Shatter City. Umm... please pay for your stay with spirit stones.¡±

    As a rule, all foreigners who came to Shatter City via the teleportation portal would need to pay for using the portal. If they wished to stay in Shatter City, they¡¯d have to pay more spirit stones to acquire identity medallions.

    This was one of the ways the Blood Skull had gathered its fortune throughout the years.

    Before, when foreign Profound realm experts hade to Shatter City, they had all abided by the rule. No one had shed their pretense of respect for the Blood Skull.

    However, that was no longer the case.

    Huang Fan shot a cold nce at Lu Kang as he pointed at the pattern on his chest, which was a magnificent pce looming through clouds, and said, ¡°Do you recognize this?¡±

    A bitter expression filled Lu Kang¡¯s face as he nodded and said, ¡°Of course I do, but it¡¯s a rule that has been around for a long time that...¡±

    Huang Fan¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve recognized our sect¡¯s sigil, how dare you ask us for spirit stones? Tell your head, Cai Lan, toe here and talk to me himself, if you want me to give you spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°Well, our head isn¡¯t in Shatter City right now.¡± Lu Kang had a headache over the tough situation.

    With a fake smile, Huang Fan said, ¡°Oh, so he¡¯s not in the city. He wouldn¡¯t dare to do anything to me even if he was here along with all of your powerful experts, not to mention that he¡¯s not even in the city!¡±

    With these words, Huang Fan gestured to the other Heaven Pce members. ¡°Let¡¯s go. We¡¯re going to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. I want to see if any of you dares to stop us or ask us for a single spirit stone!¡±

    The other Heaven Pce Sect members sneered and didn¡¯t bother to say anything.

    Lu Kang and the other Blood Skull members on the side didn¡¯t dare to do anything. They could only watch Huang Fan and the others swagger away,pletely ignoring the Blood Skull¡¯s rule.

    Huang Fan stopped in front of Zhen Hun on his way to the city gate.

    He put away his arrogance when facing her. With a half bow, he said, ¡°Long time no see, Master Zhen.¡±

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect is indeed revered everywhere,¡± Zhen Hun said in a sarcastic way.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Huang Fan let out an emotionlessugh and said, ¡°Who do they think they are? They don¡¯t have a single Soul realm expert throughout the entire Blood Skull. What right do they have to charge me spirit stones? Before, there was nothing worth noting in the Realm of Split Void. Only because of that did we let unworthy organizations like the Blood Skull, Wild Fire, and Dark Moon do whatever they wanted here. Now that those spatial rifts have appeared, it¡¯s only natural for the rules to change.¡±

    With these words, he led the other Heaven Pce Sect experts toward the city gate.

    Su Lin and some other powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect also bowed slightly as they passed Zhen Hun to show their respect for her.

    As for Nie Tian, Li Ye, and Pei Qiqi, who were standing right beside Zhen Hun, their gazes just rapidly swept across them. Apparently, they didn¡¯t attach much importance to them.

    Though furious at heart, Lu Kang and the other Blood Skull members didn¡¯t dare to say a word as they watched the people from the Heaven Pce Sect swaggering away.

 Chapter 478: Broken Order

    When they were gone, Zhen Hun said, frowning, ¡°Lu Kang, things like this have been happening a lot recently, right?¡±

    With a bitter smile, Lu Kang nodded. ¡°Yeah, a few other powerful sects also refused to pay us spirit stones after arriving in the city via the teleportation portal you¡¯ve established for us.¡±

    After a brief pause, she said, ¡°I have a suggestion for you, considering Cai Lan isn¡¯t here to keep order. From now on, turn this teleportation portal off and tell people that it¡¯s broken. And since you don¡¯t have some of the spiritual materials needed, you won¡¯t be able to fix it within a short period of time.¡±

    Lu Kang seemed to be in a very difficult situation as he said, ¡°But if we do that, we might offend the foreigners who want toe to our realm through our portal. Our head also thought about shutting the portal down. However, he was afraid that if we did, foreign experts would seek trouble with him in the future.¡±

    Zhen Hun sighed. ¡°You need to survive the imminent cmity first. It¡¯s hard to say if there will be a future for the Blood Skull yet, so I suggest you focus on the present.¡±

    Lu Kang sighed repeatedly over their difficult situation.

    ¡°You three go ahead and return to our residence while I go and learn about the situation inside and outside the city,¡± Zhen Hunmanded. ¡°Afterwards, I¡¯ll determine when to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Okay."

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian and Li Ye followed her to their residence in Shatter City.

    On their way, Nie Tian noticed that there were many more Greater Heaven stage foreign cultivators in the streets than before. He even saw a few Worldly realm foreign cultivators giving out glittering spirit stones to others in exchange for information.

    They mostly asked about the situation in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    After returning to their residence, the three of them weren¡¯t in the mood to practice cultivation. Now that an atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty loomed over all of Shatter City, everyone felt insecure and uneasy, as if a storm wasing.

    <i>¡°Thankfully I was wearing this new mask when Huang Fan came,¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself, looking overjoyed as he touched the slightly chilly mask he was wearing.<i> ¡°If I were wearing the old one Dong Baijie had given me, he might have already recognized me.¡±</i>

    Deep in the night, a bloodcurdling scream broke the silence.

    Nie Tian, who was cultivating with Star Stones, was instantly awoken. With a grim expression, he pushed his window open and looked down into the lonesome street.

    He had lived in Shatter City for some time, but not once had he seen someone openly break the Blood Skull¡¯s rules and kill people in Shatter City before.

    The Blood Skull forbade all sorts of fights inside the city.

    If people wished to fight each other, they would have to acquire permission from the Blood Skull, and the fight would have to take ce in the Blood Fighting Pit inside the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    If fights broke out in other locations in the city, the Blood Skull would immediately send out powerful experts to end the fight and punish the parties involved.

    But now, during the first night he had returned to Shatter City, he heard someone¡¯s agonized shriek right before death.

    As he stood by the window and pondered the situation, he caught sight of a middle Greater Heaven stage man being pierced through the abdomen by a masked, ck-garbed early Worldly realm expert with a spear.

    The man let out a miserable cry and died.

    The ck-garbed killer dragged his victim¡¯s body into the shadow of the street, and then disappeared after a quick search.

    Even though it happened quite far down the street, Nie Tian was able to get a clear view of the whole thing. Afterwards, his expression turned increasingly grim.

    KREEEN!

    The wooden door to his room was pushed open. Pei Qiqi and Li Ye came in and walked to the window where Nie Tian was standing.

    Li Ye didn¡¯t drink today. His eyes remained sober as he said in a low voice, ¡°The order of Shatter City has been broken. When I returned, those who worked for me told me that killings take ce inside the city every night now. Many powerful foreign experts and even those who live in the city no longer respect the rules set forth by the Blood Skull.

    ¡°Right now, all of the Blood Skull¡¯s powerful experts have been summoned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°With the forces they have left in Shatter City, they¡¯re no longer able to keep order. Plus, rumor has it that Cai Lan might not even be able to return from the Void Illusion Mountain Range alive.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was as expressionless as always as she spoke, though the look in her eyes had be very grim. ¡°But at least we¡¯re still fairly safe here. After all, no matter whether it¡¯s those rule-breakers who live in the city or foreign experts, they all know who our master is and what she¡¯s capable of. As long as we don¡¯t leave this residence, we won¡¯t be targets and be dragged into this chaos.¡±

    Li Ye let out a sigh. ¡°Bad things are about to happen to the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon. The word of the appearance of those spatial rifts has already spread like wildfire and attracted the attention of too many powerful sects and ns from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars. Before, they didn¡¯t consider the Realm of Split Void valuable, and thus didn¡¯t attach any significance to it.¡±

    He shook his head, a bothered expression appearing on his face. ¡°But now...¡±

    Staring into the lonesome street, Nie Tian said, ¡°What¡¯s the situation over in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    ¡°Who knows?¡± Li Ye said with a wry smile. ¡°People are greedy by nature. Cai Lan is no different. He¡¯s well-aware of how special and important those spatial rifts are to many powerful sects, yet he still insisted on scrambling for the rights over them. But the Blood Skull isn¡¯t an old and powerful sect like the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, or the Tool Sect, and he isn¡¯t a Soul realm expert himself.¡±

    Pei Qiqi picked up the conversation and said, ¡°I wonder how long the turbulent situation in the Realm of Split Void is going tost this time. It¡¯s even hard to say whether the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon will still be here when the turmoiles to an end. Many people have seen through the situation, so naturally, they¡¯ll no longer respect the rules set forth by the Blood Skull.¡±

    With a pause, she added, ¡°Perhaps the same things are also taking ce in Ash City and the Land of the Abandoned. I doubt that there¡¯s a ce in the Realm of Split Void that¡¯spletely safe now. We¡¯ll need to be more careful from now on; no more willful actions.¡± Apparently, she had realized how huge this crisis was going to be.

    Nie Tian listened in silence as he suddenly remembered Zhao Shanling, who had single-handedly contended against Zhen Hun, Zhu Bin, and Qin Yi.

    Many years ago, that man had wiped out numerous sects and killed countless Qi warriors with his Death Reign in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. However, he had behaved just as arrogantly and willfully as always after his return, and no one had been able to subdue him.

    The reason why he had behaved as such was three-fold. Firstly, he was a Soul realm expert; secondly, he possessed the Death Reign; thirdly, he was an unmatched expert in spatial magics.

    Simrly, the reason why Huang Fan had dared to openly disobey the Blood Skull¡¯s rules, which was none other than a p to their face, was because he was ate Worldly realm expert backed by the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Nie Tian thought to himself, <i>¡°As long as people are strong enough, they¡¯ll be able to tear any rule or order into shreds.¡±</i>

    He gradually realized that if he were at thete Soul realm, he wouldn¡¯t need to hide from anyone or wear that mask anymore. He would be able to openly travel between any realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars and do whatever he wanted. No one would be able to stop him.

    <i>¡°I need to be stronger and acquire a higher cultivation base!¡± </i>The light of the fragmentary stars started to shine in the depths of his eyes as he grew more and more resolute.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you should give your guest elder¡¯s identity medallion to Li Ye,¡± Pei Qiqi suggested, ¡°so that he can go to the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters in the morning to trade in your contribution points for spirit stones and the spiritual materials you need. It¡¯s not certain whether the Blood Skull will still be standing when this whole thing is over, so you¡¯d better cash in your contribution points for killing those Dark Moon members and Hunters as soon as possible. If you¡¯rete, the Blood Skull may fall, and then you won¡¯t get anything.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Li Ye chimed in.

    Without any hesitation, Nie Tian tossed the guest elder¡¯s identity medallion he had obtained from the Blood Skull to Li Ye and said, ¡°I¡¯m in need of wood-attributed and fire-attributed spiritual materials. If youe across any high-level spirit beast meat, please get me some as well. If there¡¯s any points left, trade them for spirit stones.¡±

    Li Ye grabbed the identity medallion. ¡°No problem. I suppose the Blood Skull will probably give face to our master and cash the contribution points, and I¡¯ll be able to get you quite a few items with the points you have in here.¡±

    ¡°You just stay here and rest,¡± Pei Qiqi said with amanding tone. ¡°Don¡¯t leave this residence to roam about in the city.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    After the two of them left his room, Nie Tian shut his window tight and started refining his vortex of star power with Star Stones again.

    After his earlier enlightenment about his insufficient strength and poor cultivation base, he felt a strong sense of urgency.

    Over the following days, he never left his room or paid any attention to the killings that would ur in the city every night. Instead, he focused on practicing cultivation with fire-attributed spiritual materials and Star Stones, as well as refining his powers and pushing his spiritual sea to its limits.

    Meanwhile, he continued to absorb flesh power from the spirit beast meat he had purchased from the Dong n using Life Drain in order to strengthen the green aura in his heart.

    As for his vortex of wood power, he didn¡¯t refine it specifically, since the rich wood power he had gathered from the magical ce had already refined it and readied it for his next breakthrough in cultivation.

 Chapter 479: The Thunder Mountain Sect

    ¡°Here. These are the things I traded for you with your contribution points.¡± With these words, Li Ye unloaded his ring of holding and filled the floor before Nie Tian with a pile of fire-attributed spiritual materials, a pile of wood-attributed spiritual materials, and a pile of three thousand spirit stones.

    Then, looking at the bracelet of holding on Nie Tian¡¯s wrist, he said, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve entered the Greater Heaven stage, a ring of holding will suit you better. It¡¯s time to retire that bracelet of holding.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian nodded, and emptied his bracelet of holding into a ring of holding.

    The capacity of that ring of holding was ten times that of a bracelet of holding. The inside of it was apletely different space.

    As he stored the items Li Ye had traded for him from the Blood Skull into his ring of holding, he asked, ¡°What took you so long?¡±

    Considering Li Ye¡¯s rtionship with Zhen Hun, the Blood Skull would never dare to treat him lightly. Meanwhile, they knew Li Ye¡¯s rtionship with him, so when Li Ye went to trade his contribution points for materials holding his guest elder¡¯s identity medallion, he shouldn¡¯t have run into any difficulty.

    However, Li Ye had been gone for days before he finally came back with all those items. This wasn¡¯t normal.

    Li Ye gave him a hard look. ¡°You should be thankful for such a result. These are different times. I was only able to cash those contribution points for you because the Blood Skull had to give face to my master. If it were someone else, I doubt that they¡¯d have been able to cash their contribution points from the Blood Skull now.¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Why is that?¡±

    With a sigh, Li Ye took out a bottle of alcohol, chugged down a cup, and said, ¡°The situation has gone south. Many of the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elders have refused to fight for them. Most of them have already left the Realm of Split Void, and cashed all of their contribution points before they did.

    ¡°Too many guest elders have demanded spiritual materials and spirit stones in exchange for their contribution points, which is putting the Blood Skull under a great burden.

    ¡°Now, the Blood Skull have already ced limits on the amount of materials and spirit stones guest elders can trade for at one time.

    ¡°It was all thanks to my master¡¯s influence that they agreed to cash all of your contribution points in one go.

    ¡°Even still, since they¡¯ve lost too many spiritual materials, so they needed a few days to gather those fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials for you.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What in the world has happened in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Li Ye said, ¡°It seems that Cai Lan has suffered a great loss from his battle against the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire. Meanwhile, the Blood Skull have stopped allowing others to use their cultivation rooms, only their own members. So even if you have tons of spirit stones, you won¡¯t be able to rent any of those cultivation rooms anymore.¡±

    Li Ye¡¯s words came as another shock to him. He had originally nned to rent one of the cultivation rooms filled with rich spiritual Qi using the spirit stones Li Ye had traded for him.

    ¡°For now, those cultivation rooms are only open to the Blood Skull¡¯s core members,¡± Li Ye continued. ¡°Many of them sustained injuries in battle in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and they need those cultivation rooms to recover their battle prowess so that they can march back to the battlefield as soon as possible.¡±

    With these words, he walked out of Nie Tian¡¯s room, telling him not to concern himself with what happened in the city, focus on his cultivation, and wait for his master¡¯s return.

    Nie Tian sent a wisp of psychic awareness into his ring of holding. After a brief scan, he was somewhat disappointed as he thought to himself, <i>¡°It¡¯s a pity that he didn¡¯t get me any high-level spirit beast meat.¡±</i>

    Due to the impurities that filled the air in the Realm of Split Void, the surviving spirit beasts had mutated. Their bones, skin, and teeth were still of value, but since no one would eat their meat, hunters would usually discard the meat altogether.

    For that reason, none of the Qi warriors in Shatter City had any spirit beast meat in their possession.

    In exchange for his contribution points at the Blood Skull, Li Ye had gotten him some fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials, as well as three thousand spirit stones.

    He had given basically his entire collection over the years to Nie Donghai and Nie Qian when they had reunited in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Because of that, he only had five thousand spirit stones, twenty or so spirit jades, and small amounts of fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials, along with a sizable pile of Star Stones.

    As for spiritual tools, the me Dragon Armor and the me Star were the only ones he had.

    The me Dragon Armor had consumed too much me power, and thus couldn¡¯t function for the time being, which left the me Star as his only usable spiritual tool.

    Meanwhile, after the awakening of the Life Drain bloodline talent, the rate at which he consumed spirit beast meat had increased significantly. Therefore, the spirit beast meat he had purchased from the Dong n was also running out.

    Shaking his head in frustration, he thought to himself,<i> ¡°If I knew I¡¯d awaken such a bloodline talent, I would have bought more spirit beast meat in the Dong n.¡±</i>

    Then, he took out some Star Stones and started absorbing star power again in an attempt to achieve his next breakthrough as soon as possible.

    Soon, night fell...

    Silence made the night seem endless. Cultivating, Nie Tian could hear people scream from time to time.

    A loud and furious shout suddenly rang out from the center of the city. ¡°Who are you?!¡±

    Startled, Nie Tian opened his eyes, left his room, and jumped to the top of the highest pavilion in this residence, which belonged to Zhen Hun.

    SHEW!

    Pei Qiqi shed into appearance beside him. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they gazed off towards the center of the city.

    However, since they were a significant distance away from the center of the city and some high buildings blocked their sight, they weren¡¯t able to see anything with their bare eyes.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian formed and unleashed a Heaven Eye. With great caution, he controlled it to float towards the central square.

    Under the night sky, he saw an old woman dressed in cyan garments, which were filled with exquisite lightning patterns, floating above the inter-realm teleportation portal.

    A mountain formed by interweaving lightning bolts was embroidered on the old woman¡¯s chest.

    Floating in the air, the old woman formed a series of profound hand seals, and immediately afterwards, a dragon formed by pure lightning power flew out of her syed palm, roaring as it did.

    Beside the inter-realm teleportation portal, Lu Kang and other Blood Skull members yelled loudly, though they didn¡¯t dare to rush forward to stop the lightning dragon.

    The cyan-garbed old woman, who was slightly hunched and whose face was filled with wrinkles, cast another spell. Her shriveled, w-like hands made a few grabbing motions in the air.

    As she did, the inter-realm teleportation portal which Cai Lan had asked Zhen Hun to establish for him rapidly disintegrated. Pieces of spiritual materials, including precious Space Spirit Jades, rapidly few into the old woman¡¯s cuffs and disappeared.

    ¡°I¡¯m Lei Yao from the Realm of Earth Sieve. I¡¯m only borrowing your inter-realm teleportation portal. I¡¯ll give it back soon.¡± The cyan-garbed old woman said as she gathered the numerous spiritual materials thatposed that teleportation portal.

    Lu Kang and his crowd of subordinates couldn¡¯t even get close to the disintegrating teleportation portal now that the lightning dragon was hovering right above it. They could only watch the portal being taken away.

    Nie Tian could sense via his Heaven Eye, which was floating stealthily by the central square, that many wisps of others¡¯ soul awarenesses had gathered in this area.

    Lei Yao had clearly noticed that she was being spied on by many others¡¯ soul awarenesses. However, since there were so many of them in her surroundings, she didn¡¯t pay special attention to Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eye.

    ¡°I hope you can understand.¡± Lei Yao said with an expression that looked as if she were forced to do this. ¡°The Heaven Expanse Sect from our realm still needs toe to the Realm of Split Void. Since your teleportation portal is broken, we¡¯ll fix it for you. Also, it¡¯ll be intact and working when we return it to you. Thank you. No need to see me off.¡±

    With these words, she summoned the lightning dragon back to her side as she morphed into a bolt of cyan lightning and shot out of Shatter City.

    In the central square, not a single part of the inter-realm teleportation portal was left.

    Seeing that Lei Yao had disappeared into the darkness, Nie Tian hastily retracted his Heaven Eye. Then, he turned to Pei Qiqi, who was standing next to him, and said, ¡°This is no different from open robbery!¡±

    Even though Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t have a clear view of what had happened, she had heard Lei Yao¡¯s words, and thus learned about the situation.

    ¡°Lei Yao is ate Profound realm expert from the Thunder Mountain Sect,¡± Pei Qiqi said, her tone as cold as usual. ¡°As the two major sects in the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect had maintained good rtionships with each other. Many of their disciples even got married, which further strengthened the friendship between the two sects. She only dares to seize the Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal by force because the Blood Skull¡¯s head hasn¡¯t entered the Soul realm.¡±

    Li Ye suddenly echoed out from behind them. ¡°Damn it! That teleportation portal was established by our master! I don¡¯t care whether she gives the Blood Skull face or not. Since she must know that our master is the creator, she should have at least talked to our master before doing such a thing!¡±

    Pei Qiqi also snorted angrily and said, ¡°Our master came from the Tool Sect. Even though she¡¯s left the Tool Sect, her connection with the Tool Sect will always be there. Things like this would have never happened before. But now...

    ¡°Zhao Shanling returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. His Death Reign devastated the whole realm. However, the Tool Sect eventually failed to capture him.

    ¡°Meanwhile, the me God Sect took advantage of the opportunity to gather earthme essence, which Xia Yi will use to attempt to break through into thete Soul realm. Once Xia Yi seeds, he¡¯ll most likely return to the Realm of Unbounded Destion with Zhao Shanling. The two of them will plunge the Tool Sect into a world of misery.

    ¡°The Thunder Mountain Sect must know that, at this moment, the Tool Sect is busy enough with their own affairs, so they dared to do such a thing.¡±

    Li Ye grew increasingly furious as he eximed, ¡°That old witch! The first thing I¡¯ll do after bing a Spirit Channeling grade equipment forger is to go to the Thunder Mountain Sect and settle this matter with them!¡±

 Chapter 480: Six Spatial Rifts

    The appearance of Lei Yao and her open robbery of the Blood Skull made everyone in Shatter City worry about their safety.

    After that incident, the Blood Skull finally lost thest remaining stateliness they had spent so long to establish. More and more brawls and killings took ce inside the city. Screams could be heard everywhere.

    Many cultivators with low cultivation bases felt insecure and anxious all day long, seeing that the teleportation portal, which they had nned to use to flee the Realm of Split Void, was gone.

    Without that teleportation portal, people from the other realms weren¡¯t able to enter the city and those in the city weren¡¯t able to leave.

    That caused bloody battles to take ce around the clock over the following few days. Blood-curdling screams could be heard day and night.

    As people¡¯s minds were gradually taken up by desperation, they started to give in to their dark side.

    One day, Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor came over to Zhen Hun¡¯s residence and stated that Zhen Hun had asked him to take Nie Tian, Li Ye, and Pei Qiqi to a special location.

    Therefore, the three of them followed Hu Rong to one of the Spirit Condor¡¯s secret locations in Shatter City, which was a dpidated residence on a old block.

    As soon as they stepped through the door, Cai Yuan, the young lord of the Blood Skull, eximed, with Cai Yue standing beside him, ¡°Qiqi!¡±

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, curious.

    Just as Cai Yuan was about to answer her, he noticed that a stranger hade with her and Li Ye.

    Cai Yuan failed to recognize Nie Tian with his mask on.

    ¡°Okay, everyone is here now.¡± Standing in the middle of the room, Hu Rong cleared his throat before squatting down and cing his hand on the smooth stone floor.

    As he did, the floor split into a narrow stone path. Pointing down at it, he beckoned for everyone to go down with him.

    They formed a line and went down the stone path. At the end of the path, they found a small room, where a small teleportation portal in the middle was glowing with misty, white light.

    Cai Yuan¡¯s face instantly dropped as he stared Hu Rong in the eye and eximed, ¡°There¡¯s a teleportation portal here! How dare you set up a private teleportation portal here without our authorization?¡±

    ¡°Calm down, young lord. Your father knows about this teleportation portal,¡± Hu Rong said with a smile. ¡°We received your father¡¯s permission, and so we didn¡¯t break any rules.¡±

    ¡°How would my father give you permission to do this?!¡± Cai Yuan didn¡¯t quite believe him.

    ¡°Hahaha, well, you¡¯ll be able to ask him yourself shortly.¡± Hu Rong didn¡¯t exin the details. Pointing at Cai Yuan, Cai Yue, and Li Ye, he said, ¡°This teleportation portal can only teleport three people at a time. The three of you shall get in first.¡±

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Li Ye and Cai Yuan asked simultaneously.

    ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range, of course,¡± Hu Rong answered with a smile. ¡°Since the Thunder Mountain Sect has taken away the Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal, you can only go through this small one. Young Lord, your father knows that Shatter City is no longer safe for you. Since he¡¯s currently in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, he naturally wants you to go to his side.¡±

    Cai Yuan and Cai Yue¡¯s expressions grew grim, bereft of the invincible spirit they usually had.

    Recently, the brother-sister pair had personally witnessed what had happened to the Blood Skull¡¯s reign.

    Worldly realm and Profound realm experts had acted unruly under their watch, yet there was nothing the Blood Skull could do to stop them. A few days ago, Lei Yao robbing them of their teleportation portal hade as another great shock to them.

    ¡°Li Ye, your master is also in the Void Illusion Mountain Range now,¡± Hu Rong said. ¡°She asked me to send you there as well.¡±

    ¡°Okay." Li Ye nodded as he walked into the small teleportation portal.

    Cai Yuan and Cai Yue also stepped into it without much hesitation.

    ¡°Safe travels.¡± As Hu Rong activated the spell formation, the small teleportation portal was instantly enveloped by blinding spiritual light. In the next moment, the three of them vanished from within the portal.

    ¡°Their destination isn¡¯t the Void Illusion Mountain Range!¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly eximed, her Ethereal Swords shing into appearance.

    As an expert of spatial magics, she had noticed the anomaly as soon as the portal was activated.

    The intensity of the spatial energy fluctuations created during domestic teleportations was different from that of the spatial energy fluctuations created during inter-realm teleportations. Even though Hu Rong had told them that Li Ye and the others were going to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, she had sensed violent fluctuations which only inter-realm teleportations would create.

    ¡°Please calm down, Miss Pei!¡± Hu Rong hastily stopped her. ¡°That was for their own good. It was Cai Lan and your master¡¯s will that I send them out of the Realm of Split Void!¡±

    Pei Qiqi red directly at him. ¡°Why should I believe you?¡±

    Nie Tian, however, remained as calm as always. Hua Mu had once told him that he could trust Hu Rongpletely.

    Hu Rong was with the Spirit Condor, where Hua Mu held a lofty position. It seemed that Hu Rong was one of his trusted subordinates. Adding in Hua Mu¡¯s rtionship with Zhen Hun, he wouldn¡¯t possibly harm Li Ye.

    ¡°His intentions should be good,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice. ¡°He¡¯s Uncle Hua¡¯s guy.¡±

    Hu Rong gave a faint smile and said, ¡°Nie Tian, Master Zhen told me about your identity before she left for the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Upon hearing that Hu Rong was Hua Mu¡¯s guy and that he knew about Nie Tian¡¯s identity, Pei Qiqi gradually calmed down. However, she was still curious about the reason behind this. ¡°Tell me why you¡¯re doing this.¡±

    Watching Pei Qiqi¡¯s Ethereal Swords gradually backing away from him, Hu Rongughed bitterly and said, ¡°A couple of days ago, Cai Lan realized the unfavorable situation they were in, and thus asked me to send his children out of the Realm of Split Void. The turmoil in the Realm of Split Void might stillst quite some time. He wasn¡¯t even sure that he would be able to survive it.

    ¡°If Cai Yuan and Cai Yue had stayed, they¡¯d be his burden.

    ¡°He would be worried about their safety all the time. Therefore, he asked me to do him a favor and send them away.¡±

    After a brief pause, he added, ¡°As for Li Ye, that was your master¡¯s idea. After all, he¡¯s a pure equipment forger. Even though his cultivation base isn¡¯t bad, he¡¯s not built for fierce battles. Your master went to find me before she left for the Void Illusion Mountain Range, telling me that once the situation in Shatter City worsens, and it¡¯s no longer safe for you all to stay, I should send Li Ye away.¡±

    Pei Qiqi fell silent. After a moment of pondering, she eventually chose to believe Hu Rong, and then she asked, ¡°What about Nie Tian and me?¡±

    Hu Rong didn¡¯t reply right away.

    His gaze switched between her and Nie Tian before he said, ¡°Master Zhen said you two should make your own choices. You can chose to leave with Li Ye, or head to the Void Illusion Mountain Range and explore the mysterious dimension within those spatial rifts.¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian joined the conversation by saying, ¡°I know that the Spirit Condor is well-informed. Can you please tell us about the current situation in the whole Realm of Split Void?¡±

    At the same time, Pei Qiqi gazed at him with an inquiring look in her eyes.

    Hu Rong¡¯s expression grew grim as he said in a depressed voice, ¡°Of course. The Blood Skull¡¯s inter-realm teleportation portal was actually thest one to be robbed. Before that, the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire had already lost their teleportation portals to the Ice Pavilion Sect from the Realm of Endless Ice and the Poison Sect from the Realm of ck Marsh.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What?! The Dark Moon and the Wild Fire¡¯s inter-realm teleportation portals were also taken away by force?!¡±

    Hu Rong nodded. ¡°In the eyes of the Thunder Mountain Sect, Ice Pavilion Sect, and Poison Sect, the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, and the Wild Fire are just puny powers not worth mentioning. The only reason they let them rule over the Realm of Split Void before was because there wasn¡¯t anything in the Realm of Split Void that could interest them.

    ¡°But now, the situation has changed.

    ¡°The dimension those spatial rifts lead to is of great significance. Almost every powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars is intrigued.

    ¡°In order to get their powerful experts to the Realm of the Split Void, those sects would have to rely on inter-realm teleportation portals.

    ¡°It would be too time-consuming to establish a new one. If they did that, they would have to evaluate the environment, adjust the spell formation, and so on. Clearly, a ready-made one would be optimal.¡±

    After hearing his exnation, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi both understood the situation.

    By controlling an inter-realm teleportation portal, the foreign powers would be able to not only transfer their powerful experts to the Realm of the Split Void, but also stop their rival sects or ns from arriving. Therefore, such a move was actually killing two birds with one stone.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    Hu Rong let out a sigh and said, ¡°From what we¡¯ve learned, due to the influx of powerful foreign experts, the Dark Moon, the Blood Skull, and the Wild Fire have already stopped fighting each other. Furthermore, the heads of the three forces have all sustained injuries of different degrees. So now, they¡¯ve taken the initiative to back out of the fight over those few spatial rifts.

    ¡°There were a total of six spatial rifts. They all lead to the same dimension, but not the same location.

    ¡°The Dong n from the Realm of a Hundred Battles was the first to act. They joined hands with other powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles and secured one of the spatial rifts. Meanwhile, the Heaven Pce Sect has assumed control of one, the Poison Sect controls one, the Ice Pavilion sect controls one, and the Tool Sect controls one.

    ¡°Recently, fierce battles broke out in session between powerful foreign experts over the control of those six spatial rifts.

    ¡°Your master fought hard side by side with powerful experts from the Tool Sect, and eventually helped the Tool Sect assume control of that spatial rift. Even still, the situation over there hasn¡¯t cleared up yet. One of the six spatial rifts has still yet to be imed.

    ¡°The reason why the Thunder Mountain Sect from the Realm of Earth Sieve took the Blood Skull¡¯s inter-realm teleportation portal was because they intend to gather their powerful experts, as well as powerful experts from the Heaven Expanse Sect, and upy thatst spatial rift.

    ¡°The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the me God Sect and the Spirit God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworld are their primary rivals. It¡¯s still hard to say which side will triumph.

    ¡°Anyways, Master Zhen is helping the Tool Sect guard their spatial rift, so she won¡¯t return any time soon.

    ¡°So? Do you want to leave the Realm of Split Void or go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

 Chapter 481: Rescue

    After exining the situation to them, Hu Rong waited silently for Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to give their answers.

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the appearance of the six spatial rifts would actually draw every powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Among the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Realm of me Heaven was the only one that hadn¡¯t sent any forces into the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°Have any Soul realm experts joined the battles in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a grim expression.

    ¡°No,¡± Hu Rong answered. ¡°It seems that all of the major powers have reached a mutual understanding. The strongest experts they¡¯ve sent to the Realm of the Split Realm are only at the Profound realm. I suppose that¡¯s because they n to get ahold of the situation first. Also, battles between Soul realm experts will be overly devastating. If theye and engage in battle with each other in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, they might end up destroying the entire mountain range.

    ¡°Therefore, none of their Soul realm experts are here.¡±

    Pei Qiqi let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Seeing that she had made her decision, Nie Tian grinned and made his stance clear by saying, ¡°Me too.¡±

    Hu Rong nodded gently and said, ¡°If you really decide to go, you¡¯ll have to leave Shatter City, march through the wastnd and desert where Hunters used to ambush passing explorers, and eventually get to the Void Illusion Mountain Range yourselves.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Blood Skull have a functional teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking confused. ¡°Can¡¯t we teleport there directly through this portal?¡±

    Hu Rong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°The Blood Skull¡¯s teleportation portal in the Void Illusion Mountain Range is no longer usable. One of the spatial rifts appeared right in the Blood Skull¡¯s base in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. The Poison Sect seized control of that spatial rift along with the Blood Skull¡¯s domestic teleportation portal.

    ¡°Cai Lan sustained severe injuries fighting back, and eventually backed out of their base with his men.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered.

    Then, Hu Rong let out a helpless sigh and added, ¡°The Blood Skull wasn¡¯t alone. The Wild Fire also lost their domestic teleportation portal to the Heaven Pce Sect. In the eyes of those ancient sects with deeply rooted strength, the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon aren¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    ¡°The three of them also fought each other before those truly powerful sects came.

    ¡°They did it to gain control of the six spatial rifts, so that they could make deals with the foreign sects afterwards, trading the spatial rifts for cultivation resources.

    ¡°However, due to the unequal strength of the sides, they weren¡¯t even given the chance to talk.

    ¡°As soon as powerful experts from the other eight realms rushed over, they forcibly took those spatial rifts they were guarding along with their domestic teleportation portals.¡±

    Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian suddenly began to feel sorry for the Blood Skull. He was used to their imposing manners. Who would have thought that, as powerful experts swarmed in from the other realms, they would be the underdog, being bullied and not even given the chance to initiate a conversation?

    ¡°Li Ye and those two will be safe, right?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°That I can assure you,¡± Hu Rong answered with a serious expression. ¡°The three of them were sent to one of the Spirit Condor¡¯s secret strongholds. By the time the turmoil in the Realm of Split Voides to an end, we¡¯ll send them back immediately upon your master¡¯s request.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t want to waste more time talking. She shot Nie Tian a nce and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and followed her out of the secret room.

    Hu Rong saw them to the door and said gently, ¡°Take care of yourselves.¡±

    Not a single person could be seen in the lonesome streets as Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian headed directly towards the city gate.

    On their way, they could hear the fierce sounds of fightinging from the nearby blocks.

    Even though it was daytime, the situation had apparently gotten out of hand in Shatter City. Since the Blood Skull¡¯s remaining forces weren¡¯t able to keep order, they turned a blind eye to all the fights and killings.

    As the two of them reached the city gate, they found, to their surprise, that it wasn¡¯t guarded by Blood Skull members like it used to be, and that the usually-closed gate was now wide open.

    Many cultivators feared for their safety in Shatter City, and thus left in droves.

    They would bear the impure and toxic spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth outside rather than stay inside the increasingly dangerous Shatter City.

    Nie Tian took out his green jade bracelet and activated it, and he was instantly enveloped by a shield of spiritual power. Afterwards, he followed Pei Qiqi out of the city and towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    From time to time, wandering cultivators could be seen in the vast and open wastnd. Most of them didn¡¯t seem to have clear destinations, and only wanted to get away from Shatter City, which was now rife with danger.

    Strangely, they didn¡¯t encounter any of the Hunters that normally would ambush travelers in the wastnd. It was uncertain if they had been wiped out by powerful foreign experts, or if they had seen through the trend and thus holed up somewhere.

    Nie Tian unleashed his Heaven Eyes as he dashed through the wastnd with Pei Qiqi.

    He saw arge number of dead cultivators through his Heaven Eyes along the way.

    Most of them had lived in Shatter City, and left after things in the city started to go south.

    However, it was unknown who had killed them, piged their bodies clean, and left them to rot in the wastnd.

    A number of the dead seemed to be Hunters, some of whom had even joined in his pursuit once.

    One night, Nie Tian came to a stop in front of a dozen dead bodies. Looking at the scorpion patterns on their chests, Nie Tian said to Pei Qiqi, ¡°It seems that someone has wiped out the Scorpion.¡±

    Pei Qiqi took a brief nce at the bodies and said, ¡°This is probably the doing of someone from the Thunder Mountain Sect. All of them are charred. Apparently, they were bombarded to death by lightning magics. Perhaps powerful experts from the Thunder Mountain Sect were waiting here when Lei Yao took that inter-realm teleportation portal from the Blood Skull. They sensed the existence of the Scorpion members in this area. Since they had nothing else to do, they killed them and took their valuables.¡±

    Since the Scorpion had chased after Nie Tian upon Dong Li¡¯s orders before, he had sworn to himself that, once he became strong enough, he would kill each and every one of them. However, they had already been wiped out before he could make good on his promise.

    Staring at the corpses scattered before him, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel the slightest joy of revenge. Instead, he looked very grim as he asked, ¡°Why would the people from the Thunder Mountain Sect kill them?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps they needed spirit stones, or perhaps they were just bored. There could be many reasons.¡± Pei Qiqi answered with an expressionless face. ¡°They had no problem robbing the Blood Skull, not to mention these puny Hunters. In the eyes of the powerful experts from the other realms, Qi warriors who live in the Realm of Split Void are nothing more than a pack of dogs that have lost their homes.

    ¡°After all, only those who couldn¡¯t make a living in the other realms or wanted to escape from enemies woulde to the Realm of Split Void, where birds don¡¯t defecate and hens don¡¯ty eggs. (Idiom: remote and deste)

    ¡°Strong sects like the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect have always despised the Qi warriors who live in the Realm of Split Void. Now that they¡¯re here, they can kill whoever they want. It¡¯s not like someone will step forward and preside over justice for the local Qi warriors.¡±

    A grim look filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    Afterward, the two of them resumed their march. It wasn¡¯t long before they passed through the wastnd and entered the desert, where sand dunes stretched as far as the eye could see.

    As they did, Nie Tian discovered more and more corpses via his Heaven Eyes. He even saw via his Heaven Eyes that a few Thunder Mountain Sect Qi warriors were chasing after groups of Hunters, their facespletely expressionless. Apparently, they were after their valuables.

    Luckily for Nie Tian, those Qi warriors from the Thunder Mountain Sect weren¡¯t powerful enough to sense the existence of his Heaven Eyes.

    After he described the situation to Pei Qiqi, she told him to stay out of it. Therefore, they steered clear of them, and marched towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range at full speed.

    A few more days passed.

    As the two of them came very close to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Nie Tian caught sight of an old acquaintance via one of his Heaven Eyes: Shi Qing from the Blood Skull.

    He seemed to havee from the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and was heading towards Shatter City, yet he was covered in blood.

    A few hundred meters behind him, a Qi warrior from the Thunder Mountain Sect was following him, seemingly unhurried. He even ridiculed Shi Qing by saying, ¡°Where are you going? Shatter City?¡±

    Shi Qing didn¡¯t respond, but instead focused on hastening forward.

    Nie Tian suddenly came to a stop and said, ¡°I saw Shi Qing from the Blood Skull. He¡¯s being pursued by a member of the Thunder Mountain Sect. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be long before the man gets him. What¡¯s your opinion?¡±

    ¡°Shi Qing...¡± Pei Qiqi muttered. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, ¡°That Thunder Mountain Sect disciple chasing after him. What¡¯s his cultivation base?¡±

    ¡°Thete Greater Heaven stage,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Shi Qing is at the middle Greater Heaven stage. No wonder he¡¯s losing.¡± Pei Qiqi pondered for a few seconds, then continued, ¡°If we help him, we need to make sure that we can finish that Thunder Mountain Sect disciple off before he he can send out a message. It has to be a clean kill. If he somehow sends out a message and draws powerful Thunder Mountain Sect experts to this ce, we¡¯ll be in a lot of trouble.¡±

    ¡°Do we rescue him or not?!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    ¡°Your decision,¡± Pei Qiqi said, expressionless.

    ¡°What the hell! They¡¯re right ahead. I¡¯ll go and ambush that man!¡± With these words, Nie Tian burst into a cluster of blinding starlight and vanished in a split second.

 Chapter 482: Expelling Order

    The sun hung high in the sky, scorching the desert.

    Nie Tian hid in a sand dune and masked all of his life aura with the Life Stealth bloodline talent.

    He left a shred of his garment on the sand dune, making it fairly easy to notice.

    Then, he spread his Heaven Eyes in the vicinity, keeping a close watch on Shi Qing and the man pursuing him.

    Hiding in the sand dune, Nie Tian gripped his me Star tightly, strong killing intent filling his heart. <i>¡°The Thunder Mountain Sect from the Realm of Earth Sieve...¡±</i>

    Even if Lei Yao hadn¡¯t so openly robbed the Blood Skull of their inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City, he still wouldn¡¯t have had any good feelings for the Thunder Mountain Sect.

    He still vividly remembered what the young man from the Realm of Earth Sieve had said right before entering the Heaven Gate that had appeared by the Hell Sect.

    Back then, the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of ck Marsh had all sent their most talented youngsters to the Realm of me Heaven, where they could enter the Heaven Gate and participate in the trial.

    Right before they had entered, they had arrogantly revealed that their realms had already reached a mutual understanding to carve up the Realm of me Heaven.

    If the Demons had failed to kill everyone in the Realm of me Heaven after the Heaven Gate trial was over, then they would invade the Realm of me Heaven themselves. They had even agreed on how to divide the Realm of me Heaven.

    Meanwhile, during the Heaven Gate trial, Qi warriors from those three realms had specifically chased and ughtered participants from the Realm of me Heaven.

    Nie Tian had never forgotten about those old grudges. Hence, his enmity towards the sects in those three realms had always been there.

    Recently, he had witnessed the Thunder Mountain Sect openly rob the Blood Skull¡¯s inter-realm teleportation portal.

    He had witnessed powerful experts from the Thunder Mountain Sect ughtering Hunters and Qi warriors from Shatter City more than a few times on his way to this ce.

    Killing intent had long since been brooding in his heart.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected that he would catch a Qi warrior from the Thunder Mountain Sect chasing after Shi Qing now that he was about to reach the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Before, Shi Qing had treated him fairly in Shatter City. Seeing that he was being chased by a Thunder Mountain Sect disciple, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t hold it any longer.

    He secretly gathered his strength, hiding in the sand dune.

    Momentster, Shi Qing trudged into the area where he was hiding, soaked in blood.

    BANG!

    The pursuing Thunder Mountain Sect disciple asionally shot bolts of cyan lighting out of his fingertips. Despite Shi Qing moving about to avoid them, some of them bombarded his back, making him look even more miserable.

    The man sneered, looking very rxed. ¡°You can¡¯t get away,¡± he said. It was as if he was enjoying this so much that he still wanted to y with Shi Qing for a little longer.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian saw that Shi Qing wasn¡¯t heading towards the sand dune where he was hiding.

    Therefore, he manipted one of his Heaven Eyes to quietly float towards Shi Qing, and at the same time, sent a wisp of his awareness into that Heaven Eye.

    Blood kept flowing out of the wounds on Shi Qing¡¯s charred back, and his eyes were bloodshot.

    In his eyes, the whole world seemed to be painted with blood, and was dark-red.

    At this moment, the only thought in his head was to run as fast as he could. Perhaps he still had a chance of making it back to Shatter City.

    Another bolt of lightning struck his back, causing blood to spill from his mouth. Staggering, he didn¡¯t dare to turn to look back. He struggled to summon hisst remaining spiritual power and trudge forward.

    At that moment, a strange wisp of a message seemed to echo out by his ears, ¡°This is Hua Tian. Run past the sand dune that has a piece of cloth on it, and I¡¯ll sneak an attack on that Thunder Mountain Sect disciple from under the sand!¡±

    ¡°Hua Tian!¡± Shi Qing¡¯s eyes, which had been painted red by blood, suddenly lit up.

    He didn¡¯t know how Hua Tian had gotten that clear message through to him.

    He also wondered why Hua Tian would appear in this region after being gone for so long.

    However, desperate as he was now, Nie Tian¡¯s message came as a silver lining inplete darkness. No matter what, he had to hold on to it.

    Therefore, without any dy, he followed the directions Nie Tian had given him and ran toward the sand dune with a piece of cloth on it.

    In the scorching sunlight, blood dripped onto the sand from Shi Qing¡¯s back as he climbed over that sand dune. However, he didn¡¯t stop, but instead kept rushing forward without the slightest hesitation.

    He didn¡¯t even look back, yet his heart was filled with hope.

    He was one of the few Blood Skull members who had personally witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s formidable battle prowess, and knew that he had worked miracles and killed Greater Heaven stage opponents before.

    However, the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple who was chasing after him was at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Therefore, he slightly doubted that Nie Tian would be able to achieve good results byunching a sneak attack on his pursuer.

    ¡°Your head, Cai Lan, didn¡¯t know his ce,¡± The Thunder Mountain Sect pursuer said with a sinister grin. ¡°We¡¯ve long since issued an order for irrelevant organizations and personnel to evacuate from the region, yet he still dared to stay. He has only himself to me. I can¡¯t believe that organizations like the Blood Skull even dared toe to the Void Illusion Mountain Range andpete with us. You deserve to be annihted.¡±

    Taunting unceasingly, the man adjusted his direction and headed straight towards the slightly raised sand dune.

    BANG!

    The sand dune exploded, sending sand flying in all directions. A long saber, which exuded green, white, and red auras, suddenly thrust out from underneath the sand.

    At the same time, a chaotic maic field was instantly formed, enveloping the man.

    PHOOH!

    The me Star¡¯s sharp de pierced into the man¡¯s abdomen, causing him to let out an ear-piercing cry.

    Immediately afterwards, countless tiny lightning bolts appeared around the man¡¯s abdomen, desperately resisting the three types of power the me Star was exuding.

    Nie Tian, who was still partially covered in sand, formed a small star formation in his other palm, the look in his eyes fierce like a cold de. Without any hesitation, he pressed his starlight-glittering palm on the man¡¯s left leg.

    Bombarded by the mysterious formationposed of starsparks, the man¡¯s left leg instantly shattered and exploded.

    The violent impact sent the man into midair with the me Star in his abdomen.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s Ethereal Swords suddenly appeared, as if they had suddenly descended upon the real world from the unknown void.

    Before the man could react, they pierced into his lower back, right leg, chest, and abdomen.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    A loud roll of thunder echoed out from within the man. As he struggled to swing his arms at Nie Tian, the countless lightning bolts on him converged into a lightning ball which flew directly towards Nie Tian.

    As it did, Nie Tian cast a short-range Starshift and appeared right before him like a ghost.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that didn¡¯t kill you!¡± With these words, he grabbed the hilt of the me Star and buried it deeper into the man¡¯s belly.

    The tip of the me Star immediately came out of the man¡¯s back. As he fell uncontrobly from midair, Nie Tian threw a vigorous kick at the top of the man¡¯s head.

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of bone cracking echoed out. The man stopped breathing before he hit the sand.

    Landing next to him with a loud boom, Nie Tian pulled the me Star out of him and swung it a few times to get rid of the blood on the de.

    WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi shed into appearance beside Nie Tian. With a subtle move of her slender, jade-like fingers, her Ethereal Swords flew out of the corpse and disappeared into her cuff.

    Nie Tian took off the mask Zhen Hun had given him as he walked over to Shi Qing, who was resting nearby, and said, ¡°Long time no see, Uncle Shi.¡±

    Covered in blood, Shi Qing¡¯s bewildered gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi before he asked, ¡°Hua Tian, Miss Pei, why are you here?¡±

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t respond, but rather walked to the dead Thunder Mountain Sect disciple¡¯s side with a disgusted expression. She took the man¡¯s ring of holding, buried him in sand, and erased all traces of his presence.

    ¡°We were on our way to the Void Illusion Mountain Range when we saw you being chased by that man, so we came to help you,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°The Void Illusion Mountain Range...¡± Shi Qing took out a handful of medicinal pills and stuffed them down his throat. Wiping the blood on his face with a handkerchief, he continued, ¡°Listen to me and go back. The Thunder Mountain Sect has issued an order for all members of the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon to leave the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Is the Thunder Mountain Sect the only one that has issued such an order?¡±

    ¡°It seems that all of the foreign powers have reached a mutual understanding, and they¡¯re driving local Qi warriors out of the mountain range simultaneously.¡± Shi Qing forced a smile and added, ¡°In their eyes, the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, and the Wild Fire are nothing butmbs waiting to be put to the knife. At first, we fought among ourselves for the rights to those six spatial rifts. We each lost many brothers and sisters, hoping to make deals with foreign powers when theye.

    ¡°Who would have known that, when they actually came, they didn¡¯t even give us the chance to negotiate?

    ¡°Hua Tian, Miss Pei, I strongly suggest you go back and leave the Realm of Split Void as soon as possible. Even if you have to stay in the Realm of Split Void, don¡¯t ever get anywhere near the Void Illusion Mountain Range. It¡¯s already be hell on earth over there.¡±

    After properly disposing of the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple¡¯s body, Pei Qiqi came to Nie Tian and Shi Qing¡¯s side and said, ¡°It¡¯s the same with Shatter City. I don¡¯t think you want to go back there.¡±

    ¡°I kinda guessed it,¡± Shi Qing said with dried-up bloodstains on his face, looking to be in extremely sore straits. ¡°I suspected what would happen after I heard that the Thunder Mountain Sect seized our inter-realm teleportation portal. Everything is out of control! Everything is chaotic! The current Realm of Split Void is no longer a ce where powers like the Blood Skull can rule.¡±

    Pei Qiqi took a nce at Shi Qing and said, ¡°Where is the spatial rift that¡¯s controlled by the Tool Sect? How can we get there without running into people from the Thunder Mountain Sect?¡± With these words, she took out a map and unfurled it before Shi Qing.

    After a brief pondering, Shi Qing drew a route on the map and said, ¡°Follow this route.¡±

    ¡°Okay, you take care. Shatter City isn¡¯t worth returning to anymore, and wherever you go, watch out for powerful experts from the Thunder Mountain Sect.¡± With these reminders, Pei Qiqi gave Nie Tian a look, signaling that it was time to leave.

 Chapter 483: Two Choices

    After bidding farewell to Shi Qing, Nie Tian once again put on the mask which came with the identity ¡®Mu Han¡¯. After they were a significant distance from Shi Qing, he said, ¡°I doubt that he¡¯ll be able to make it back to Shatter City alive.¡±

    Without slowing down, Pei Qiqi, who was leading the way in the front, said with an in tone, ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°So...¡± Nie Tian wished to speak, but stopped on second thought.

    If they had stayed and protected Shi Qing as he spent some time to recover, he would probably have an easier time on his journey back. Even if he were to encounter other Qi warriors from the Thunder Mountain Sect, he might still have a chance at escaping.

    However, Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t shown the slightest intention to stay any longer. She had taken Nie Tian and left soon after they had taken care of the Thunder Mountain Sect pursuer.

    All of a sudden, Pei Qiqi came to a stop.

    After Nie Tian stopped beside her, she said, ¡°This ce is very close to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. There may be more Thunder Mountain Sect Qi warriors in the vicinity. I don¡¯t think that man¡¯s death will remain a secret for very long. If people from the Thunder Mountain Secte to search for him, and find us with Shi Qing, they¡¯ll probably uncover the truth and hold us ountable.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re worried that we would have gotten into trouble if we didn¡¯t leave?¡± Nie Tian asked, his eyes narrowed.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Pei Qiqi admitted her real thoughts without hiding anything. ¡°That man was at thete Greater Heaven stage, and we only managed to kill him so quickly because you snuck up on him. If we had fought him fairly, you, Shi Qing, and I might still have been able to kill him, but we wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop him from sending messages to others.

    ¡°We might have managed to kill him, but those that the Thunder Mountain Sect would send after us might be Worldly realm experts.

    ¡°Even if we team up, we won¡¯t stand a chance fighting a Worldly realm expert from the Thunder Mountain Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent. A whileter, he said, ¡°You¡¯re very rational.¡±

    ¡°Now, lots of people die every day. We can¡¯t afford to care too much about them.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrows didn¡¯t move in the slightest as she spoke. ¡°I only care about my master and Li Ye¡¯s safety. I won¡¯t concern myself with any others¡¯ wellbeing.¡±

    ¡°What about me?¡± Nie Tian suddenly asked. ¡°What if I was being chased by people from the Thunder Mountain Sect, and you happened to see me?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s cold eyes glittered as she bowed her head slightly, as if she was contemting. A momentter, she said, ¡°I¡¯de to your aid if I believed that I had a good chance of saving you. If your pursuer was at the Worldly realm or even the Profound realm, I¡¯d probably give up, and avenge you when I¡¯m strong enough.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled heartily and said, ¡°Well, if you¡¯re surrounded by enemies, no matter who they are or what their cultivation bases are, I¡¯ll rush to your side and fight with you. If worstes to worst, I¡¯ll die. Big deal.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Pei Qiqi¡¯s slender body shuddered slightly.

    Apparently, Nie Tian¡¯s words had created waves in her heart. However, she rapidly calmed herself and said, ¡°Well, enough talking. We need to be extra careful from now on, and try not toe into contact with people from the Thunder Mountain Sect or powerful experts from the other sects as well. Our destination is the spatial rift controlled by the Tool Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Afterwards, under Pei Qiqi¡¯s leadership, they repeatedly adjusted their path as they approached the Void Illusion Mountain Range and the spatial rift guarded by Tool Sect experts.

    As they did, Nie Tian scanned their surroundings with his Heaven Eyes and instructed Pei Qiqi to stay as far away from foreign experts as possible.

    One night...

    The two of them finally reached the edge of the Void Illusion Mountain Range after meticulously steering clear of group after group of powerful foreign experts.

    At that moment, vague sounds suddenly echoed out from within one of Nie Tian¡¯s Sound Stones.

    Under the night sky, he took out the Sound Stone, and realized that it was the Sound Stone Dong Baijie had given him, which supposedly would allow them tomunicate with each other within a 250 kilometer range.

    He sent a wisp of psychic awareness into the Sound Stone and immediately received a message from Dong Li.

    At the same time, Pei Qiqi took out her Sound Stone and frowned as she held it close to her ear. Clearly, someone had contacted her as well.

    The message from Dong Li was clear, and Nie Tian could tell that she was filled with excitement. She asked him where he was and informed him of the current situation.

    ording to her, the powerful experts from the other eight realms had already started clearing the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    All of the local Qi warriors, including the members of the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, and the Wild Fire, had been expelled from the mountain range.

    She also told him that the major powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had teamed up and assumed control of one of the spatial rifts.

    Aside from the spatial rift controlled by the Heaven Pce Sect, theirs was the most heavily guarded, almost impregnable.

    However, even though the Tool Sect was currently controlling a spatial rift, their defenses seemed fragile now that the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the me God Sect, and the Spirit God Sect had alsoe to the mountain range.

    Dong Li also told her that Wu Ling was among those who the Tool Sect had nned to send into the spatial rift. If he went into the spatial rift with Tool Sect disciples, Wu Ling might discover his actual identity and seek trouble with him.

    She did everything she could to persuade him to go through the spatial rift controlled by the Realm of a Hundred Battles with her and other members of the Dong n.

    She even told him that, as long as he agreed to join them, she woulde to pick him up from his current location with a Profound realm Dong n expert, and escort him safely to their spatial rift.

    Holding the Sound Stone, Nie Tian frowned as he pondered in silence.

    Momentster, Pei Qiqi put away her Sound Stone and asked Nie Tian with a puzzled expression, ¡°Who were you talking to?¡±

    ¡°Dong Li,¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face dropped. ¡°She¡¯s also in the Void Illusion Mountain Range? What did she say?¡±

    ¡°She told me that Wu Ling is there with the Tool Sect experts, and also that the spatial rift controlled by the Tool Sect doesn¡¯t seem impregnable,¡± Nie Tian said without holding anything back. ¡°She also said that the Tool Sect is in actually a vulnerable ce now that Zhao Shanling is still somewhere out there. Seeing that, powerful experts from the Spirit God Sect, the me God Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect mighte to take the Tool Sect¡¯s spatial rift. So... she invited me to go to join her.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes shone with frosty light as she stared directly into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°So what did you tell her?¡±

    Nie Tian scratched his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t made up my mind yet.¡±

    ¡°I forbid you to go to join those from the Dong n!¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s tone suddenly grew unprecedentedly strong.

    Looking into her cold eyes, where she attempted to hide her anger, Nie Tian was shocked.

    Having spent such a long time with her, Nie Tian had rarely seen her get angry. After a brief silence, he nodded slowly and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell her no.¡±

    With these words, he sent Dong Li a message, telling her that it was an arrangement made by a senior of his, so he had to go with Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi.

    Immediately after sending the message to Dong Li via that Sound Stone, he sensed Dong Li¡¯s rage.

    He hastily ended his connection with Dong Li, not wanting to hear her grumbling.

    ¡°From now on, avoid contact with that woman as much as you can.¡± Pei Qiqi let out a cold harrumph. ¡°God knows how many men who were attracted by her looks died because of her. Don¡¯t you remember how she summoned other Hunter organizations to chase you in the desert and the wastnd? The woman is very good at manipting men who want her into doing things for her. I hope you don¡¯t get fooled.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a dry smile.

    After a moment of silence, Pei Qiqi added, ¡°My master is on her way here. She¡¯ll take us to our destination. Don¡¯t you worry. Also, you don¡¯t have to worry about Wu Ling. You¡¯ll just use the name ¡®Mu Han¡¯. He won¡¯t be able to recognize you. Even if he does, will you be scared of him?¡±

    Provoked by her words, Nie Tianughed heartily and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve already told you that I¡¯ll go with you and join those from the Tool Sect.¡±

    ...

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    A number of powerful experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were standing by a spatial rift. They all had serious expressions on their faces, as if they were waiting for something.

    Not wearing any mask, Dong Li¡¯s gorgeous face was filled with anger and grouchiness. She suddenly turned to Gu Haofeng, who was trying to please and woo her, and yelled, ¡°Would you shut your mouth, Gu Haofeng?!¡±

    Strange expressions appeared on the faces of Qin Yan, Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, and the other juniors.

    Just now, Dong Li had seemed fine, and was talking with them about their ns after arriving on the other side of the spatial rift.

    Then, she had taken out her Sound Stone and talked to someone. After that, she suddenly grew angry, and thenshed out at Gu Haofeng. Everyone was rather confused.

    Feeling wronged, Gu Haofeng asked with an embarrassed expression, ¡°Why are you mad at me, Li? What did I do?¡±

    ¡°You talked to me! Your voice is irritating!¡± Dong Li¡¯s appealing body moved lightly as she ran towards Dong Baijie, who was sitting with his back against a huge rock and drinking at a slow pace.

    Dong Baijie set his alcohol bottle on the ground before smiling at her and asking, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Who made you angry? Tell me, and I¡¯ll go teach him a lesson right now.¡±

    Dong Li lowered her voice and said angrily, ¡°You know exactly who it was! That bastard refused to join us!¡±

    The Sound Stone Nie Tian had used tomunicate with Dong Li was a gift from Dong Baijie, so he naturally knew Dong Li had been talking to Nie Tian.

    ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± Dong Baijieforted her in a low voice. ¡°We¡¯ll have plenty of chances to meet on the other side. There¡¯s no rush.

    Dong Li couldn¡¯t get over it as she said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say if the Tool Sect will be able to guard their spatial rift, and his enemy Wu Ling is also going to be there. Joining us is clearly the better choice. Our team is going to be the most powerful one to enter that strange dimension, but he insisted on joining those from the Tool Sect. His head must have been kicked by a mule!¡± (ng: not very smart)

    Looking at his younger sister, who was still furious, Dong Baijie burst intoughter and asked, ¡°You¡¯re angry because he chose Pei Qiqi, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°What?! No!¡± Dong Li rolled her eyes at her older brother. ¡°I¡¯m just angry because he made a dumb decision, taking a risk, while there¡¯s clearly a safer choice.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Dong Baijieughed but didn¡¯t say a word.

    Under his meaningful gaze, Dong Li grew somewhat self-conscious, and mumbled bashfully, ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much. It¡¯s not like that.¡± Afterwards, she ran away from Dong Baijie, kicking rubble into pieces as a way to vent her anger.

 Chapter 484: A Gift

    About a quarter hourter...

    A spatial portal suddenly appeared out of thin air before Nie Tian.

    Zhen Hun came through it, stood in front of Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, and said, ¡°You¡¯ve decided toe.¡±

    ¡°Master.¡±

    ¡°Senior Zhen.¡±

    Zhen Hun waved at Nie Tian, signaling him not to stand on ceremony. ¡°The environment in the Realm of Split Void is very different from the other realms, and the spatial energy fluctuations in the Void Illusion Mountain Range are far too strong. So, even I couldn¡¯t create a long-distance spatial tunnel and pick you up directly from Shatter City.

    ¡°This is as far as my spatial tunnel can reach.¡±

    With these words, a huge, prismatic, fiery crystal flew out from within her ring of holding. She presented it to Nie Tian and said with a solemn expression, ¡°ce this fiery crystal close to the me Dragon Armor. The me Dragon Armor is a Spirit Channeling grade treasure. It¡¯ll know what to do.¡±

    With a puzzled expression, Nie Tian held the crystal with two hands, and instead of putting it directly into his ring of holding, he examined it carefully.

    The prismatic, fiery crystal was red throughout, and the size of a grown man.

    Streaks of mes could be seen flowing within it, as if there were rivers of fire sealed within the crystal. An extremely strong fire aura could be sensed from the crystal.

    As soon as he ced his hand on it, his vortex of me power started to spin madly, as if it were stimted by the fiery crystal and desired to absorb the me power within the crystal to its capacity.

    ¡°What is this?!¡± Nie Tian asked, looking astonished.

    ¡°This fiery crystal isn¡¯t some precious fire-attributed material,¡± Zhen Hun said with a in tone. ¡°However, the things inside it are very rare and precious. The streaks of mes swimming about within it are earthme essence. I believe it can help the me Dragon Armor recover its strength.¡±

    ¡°Earthme essence?!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    ¡°Hua Mu, that old thing, told me that your me Dragon Armor needs earthme essence, so I gathered some for you,¡± Zhen Hun said with a faint smile. ¡°Compared to what you¡¯ve found for him, this is nothing. Earthme essence exists in many fiery dimensions. The gathering part isn¡¯t hard at all. What¡¯s hard is finding such fiery dimensions.

    ¡°The me God Sect couldn¡¯t find such fiery dimensions because they don¡¯t have profound, deep-rooted power. However, I¡¯m well-versed in spatial magics, and spend a big part of my time in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, so I can find some. It¡¯s not that big a deal.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, Senior Zhen!!¡± Nie Tian bowed respectfully before putting the prismatic, fiery crystal into his ring of holding and cing it right next to the me Dragon Armor.

    As soon as the sizable crystal flew into the ring of holding, the Blood Core on the me Dragon Armor started to shine with bright, fiery light.

    The moment it was ced next to the me Dragon Armor, countless thin mes shot out from within the Blood Core.

    Like channels, they connected the me Dragon Armor and therge fiery crystal. Without any dy, the me Dragon Armor started absorbing the earthme essence within the crystal.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, one of the streaks of mes sealed within the crystal rapidly grew dim, as if it were being quickly drained of me power.

    ¡°Master, is Wu Ling there with the other Tool Sect experts?¡± Pei Qiqi asked in a low voice.

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian snapped back to reality and looked curiously at Zhen Hun, no longer paying any attention to what was happening within his ring of holding.

    He had learned from Dong Li that they had not only transferred Worldly and Profound realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but also many Greater Heaven stage youngsters.

    It went without saying that the dimension those spatial rifts led to would be full of danger, and that bloody battles might break out at any moment.

    Therefore, he wondered why they would bring Greater Heaven stage youngsters. Wouldn¡¯t they be burdens to others?

    ¡°Yes, he is,¡± Zhen Hun said. ¡°There are a variety of strange regions in the dimension within those spatial rifts. Some of the regions seem to be subject to some sort of mandate of heaven and earth. Those whose cultivation bases are too high will be rejected from entering. If they attempt to enter by force, they¡¯ll be instantly be annihted by the mysteriousw of heaven and earth.

    ¡°However, precious spiritual materials that could help experts advance to the Void domain might still exist in those regions.

    ¡°In order to explore those special regions, they have to bring Greater Heaven stage youngsters. Otherwise, how do they expect to search for precious treasures in those regions if they can¡¯t even enter them?

    ¡°That¡¯s why those sects from the other eight realms have arranged for their Greater Heaven stage disciples toe as well.

    ¡°Only in this way will they be able to conduct a thorough search of every region in that mysterious dimension without missing out on anything.¡±

    After hearing her exnation, both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi understood the reason behind those foreign sects¡¯ decisions.

    Zhen Hun pointed at the portal she had created out of thin air and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go. Nie Tian, your identity is very special, so try not to get exposed. Of course the Tool Sect won¡¯t do anything to you as long as I¡¯m around. However, I¡¯m just afraid that some of them might leak the information, and draw the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s and the me God Sect¡¯s attention.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll try to be careful.¡±

    Afterwards, the three of them followed each other into the spatial tunnel that led to the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    In a dense forest...

    After flying out of the spatial tunnel, Nie Tian nced around and found, to his surprise, that this was none other than the forest where Dong Li and her Fang members had ambushed explorers before.

    This didn¡¯t seem to be the deepest part of the dense forest. A dozen dead spirit beasts were scattered in the vicinity, which seemed to have been ughtered by powerful experts from the Tool Sect.

    At the same time, he saw Zhu Lian, who he had met once in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, and Bai Yu, who was an elder of the Tool Sect and Wu Ling¡¯s mother.

    Thete Profound realm Zhu Lian, middle Profound realm Bai Yu, andte Profound realm Zhen Hun were the most powerful members on the Tool Sect¡¯s team.

    There were also seven Worldly realm experts on the team. At this moment, they were gathered in one ce and discussing in low voices.

    Bai Yu was a rather small woman with a young, graceful appearance. As soon as she saw Zhen Hune over with Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian behind her, she asked, ¡°Who¡¯s this, senior martial sister?¡±

    She had thought Zhen Hun had gone to pick up Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    ¡°This is Mu Han. He¡¯s the child of an old friend,¡± Zhen Hun exined, smiling. ¡°Even though Li Ye¡¯s equipment forging talent is unquestionable, he¡¯s not a fighter. If he came, not only would he not be able to help, but I¡¯d even have to spare my attention to keep an eye on him. So I arranged for him to go somewhere else.¡±

    Bai Yu nodded with a smile. ¡°I see. Okay, why don¡¯t we let the juniors talk and get to know each other? After all, they¡¯ll need to work together and fight side by side after arriving in that dimension.¡±

    Zhen Hun nodded. ¡°Good idea.¡±

    Then, she turned around and nodded at Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian.

    Hence, the two of them walked towards the location where Wu Ling, Huang Yuan, Zhu Han, and four other Tool Sect youngsters were gathered.

    Even though those four unfamiliar-looking youngsters didn¡¯t seem to have powerful backgrounds like Wu Ling, Huang Yuan, or Zhu Han, they were all at thete Greater Heaven stage, and their battle prowess appeared to be outstanding. They must be here to assist Wu Ling and the others.

    Upon seeing Pei Qiqi, Zhu Han¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. Face full of ttering smiles, he said, ¡°We meet again, Junior Martial Sister Pei. We¡¯ll fight side by side from now on. I¡¯ll have your back in that mysterious dimension.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Big Sister Pei,¡± Huang Yuan said with a bright smile.

    With an expressionless face, Pei Qiqi walked over with Nie Tian and sat down beside the Tool Sect youngsters. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t interested in talking with any of them.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s gaze switched among the dead spirit beasts in the vicinity as they walked towards the Tool Sect youngsters.

    He found that they were mostly third and fourth grade spirit beasts, but there was a fifth grade spirit beast among them.

    Since all of the spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void had mutated because of the impure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, their flesh and blood waspletely worthless, and thus they had been left there to rot.

    However, their bones, eyes, teeth, and other parts that could be used to forge spiritual tools had all been cut off.

    <i>¡°Spirit beasts...¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself. Even though these spirit beasts¡¯ flesh and blood werepletely useless to the others, he could absorb the flesh power that remained in them with Life Drain.

    It was just that he was afraid that, if he openly took away the remains of those spirit beasts, the Tool Sect members might suspect his intentions.

    Therefore, he was torn with indecision.

    At that moment, Wu Ling, who had remained silent the whole time, asked Nie Tian, looking into his eyes, ¡°Have we met before?¡±

    Nie Tian snapped to his senses, took a look at Wu Ling, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    Somewhat suspicious, Wu Ling kept staring at him as he searched in his head.

    For some reason, as Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had walked towards them earlier, his attention had been instantly attracted to Nie Tian, instead of Pei Qiqi, who possessed a higher cultivation base and a loftier status.

 Chapter 485: Joining Hands

    Wu Ling observed Nie Tian for a while longer as he continued to search in his head. However, since he couldn¡¯t locate any memory about Mu Han, he could only give up.

    Over the following two days, Nie Tian stayed quietly with the Tool Sect juniors and practiced cultivation with fire-attributed materials whenever he could.

    After observing and listening for two days, he had learned that the spatial rift wasn¡¯t quite stable yet.

    If they forcibly entered the spatial rift before it stabilizedpletely, they would be most likely be carried to some isted space mix-up zone by the intense and disorderly spatial energy turbulence.

    ording to the information the Tool Sect had obtained, many of the people who had entered the six spatial rifts as soon as they had appeared had been sent to unknown ces, their survival uncertain.

    As time passed, the six spatial rifts were gradually bing more and more stable.

    Every now and then, Zhen Hun would unleash a wisp of her soul awareness to examine the spatial rift. Today, she told everyone that the spatial rift would be fully stable in about ten days. There should be no mishaps if they entered then.

    Hence, everyone waited.

    During that time, Pei Qiqi observed the spatial rift day and night, trying to derive enlightenment from it with her unique methods.

    At first, Nie Tian had spent most of his time practicing cultivation, turning a blind eye to the remains of the spirit beasts.

    Just like Pei Qiqi, he wasn¡¯t interested inmunicating with the Tool Sect juniors.

    Meanwhile, Zhu Han, who had originally harbored the intention of ying up to Pei Qiqi, dropped the idea after encountering that setback.

    Another day went by, and Nie Tian finally failed to resist the temptation and rose to his feet when everyone else was practicing cultivation. He stepped over to the remains of the spirit beasts and stored the pieces of discarded meat into his ring of holding.

    His action soon caught the attention of Bai Yu, Zhu Lian, and the other Tool Sect experts. However, they only shot him a brief nce and didn¡¯t say anything.

    The dozen spirit beasts hadid under the zing sun for days. The only ones that remained unspoiled were the few fourth grade and fifth grade spirit beasts.

    After storing them into his ring of holding, Nie Tian quietly returned to Pei Qiqi¡¯s side.

    As soon as he sat down, Huang Yuan asked with a sweet smile, ¡°What do you n to do with all that spirit beast meat, Big Brother Mu Han?¡±

    Nie Tian, who had already had an excuse prepared, answered with a casual tone, ¡°I¡¯m raising a few spirit beasts back home. I just wanna take the meat back and see if I can feed them with it.¡±

    Huang Yuan didn¡¯t know that he was actually lying, and thus said with a serious face, ¡°They probably won¡¯t eat it. I¡¯ve heard that these spirit beasts were poisoned by the atmosphere in the Realm of Split Void. Not only can we not eat them, but neither can spirit beasts from the other realms.¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian exined, ¡°The spirit beasts I¡¯m raising at home are special. Perhaps they will eat it. I¡¯ll have to try to see.¡±

    ¡°Oh, really? Where are you from, big brother?¡± Huang Yuan asked, curious.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Huang Yuan¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°The Realm of me Heaven... That¡¯s the only realm I haven¡¯t been to. I heard that there aren¡¯t any powerful sects or Soul realm experts in that realm. Also, it¡¯s said that a few other realms are nning to seize the Realm of me Heaven for their own.¡±

    At that moment, Zhu Han jumped in and said, his face filled with disdain, ¡°Hahaha! I wondered which powerful realm you¡¯re from. Who would have thought that you¡¯re from the Realm of me Heaven? That ce is...¡± He clicked his tongue as he looked at Nie Tian, contempt filling his eyes.

    Without waiting for him to finish, Nie Tian withdrew from the conversation. Without saying a word, he took out another me Crystal, closed his eyes, and started practicing cultivation.

    Soon, the day passed, and night descended.

    Nie Tian suddenly awoke from his cultivation.

    SHEW!

    A man shed into appearance and floated by the spatial rift, which was right above the dense forest.

    Zhen Hun, Bai Yu, and Zhu Lian had all been practicing cultivation.

    The sudden arrival of that man instantly caught their attention.

    Nie Tian and the other juniors also turned to see who it was, their expressions grim and nervous.

    It was a tall, thin man, dressed in the garments of the Spirit God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworld. He had a set of deep and unfathomable eyes.

    ¡°Master Zhen...¡± The man said, staring down at Zhen Hun, as if he was surprised that she was here.

    ¡°Yao Shou!¡± Zhen Hun eximed with furrowed eyebrows.

    Thete Profound realm Yao Shou gave a wry smile and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that I would see you here with these people from the Tool Sect.¡±

    He was an elder of the Spirit God Sect, and the leader of their team into the newly-found dimension. He had actuallye with the intention of taking the spatial rift from the Tool Sect disciples by force.

    However, he had once asked Zhen Hun to forge spiritual tools for his children before. She had done it as a favor for him.

    Hence, the presence of Zhen Hun made him hesitant, and put him at a loss as to what to do.

    Meanwhile, he also didn¡¯t know what he should do with Bai Yu, who was standing beside Zhen Hun.

    Her husband was Wu Langxie, who was an independent cultivator that possessed formidable battle prowess. It was public opinion that he had the potential to be the most powerful Qi warrior in the Domain of the Falling Stars some day.

    Now that Zhao Shanling had returned, the Tool Sect was in a vulnerable ce, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of tearing his face with the Tool Sect. (idiom: tearing off the veneer of respect for someone)

    However, even if the entire Tool Sect was wiped out, Wu Langxie would probably still be unscathed. Once he entered thete Soul realm, he would most likely be the worst foe anyone could imagine in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If he cast aside his scruples and injured Bai Yu today, he would be nting future trouble for the Spirit God Sect and himself.

    After a moment of silence, Yao Shou said, ¡°How about this, Master Zhen: Let me and the other Spirit God Sect members enter that mysterious dimension through this spatial rift. In return, my people and I will help you guard this spatial rift against anyone or any sect that wants to take it from you. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°You said your people. Who do you mean?¡± Zhen Hun asked.

    ¡°I came with two fellow disciples who are also at thete Profound realm.¡± Yao Shou was surprisingly honest. ¡°If not for you and Elder Bai, we would have taken this spatial rift by force already.¡±

    As an elder of the Tool Sect, Zhu Lian let out a cold harrumph and eximed, ¡°Yao Shou! You don¡¯t think I¡¯m worth mentioning, do you?!¡±

    Yao Shou gave a dryugh and said bluntly, ¡°Sorry, Brother Zhu. I¡¯m just speaking the truth. If Zhao Shanling hadn¡¯t returned and safely left the Realm of Unbounded Destion, our sect wouldn¡¯t have dared to do anything to jeopardize our rtionship with your sect. After all, we might still need to ask your sect to help us forge spiritual tools.

    ¡°But now is a different time. The whole Tool Sect might fall into another¡¯s hands in the near future.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, we don¡¯t really care about our rtionship with your sect anymore. If Master Zhen and Elder Bai weren¡¯t here, I would have told you to leave now, instead of proposing to share this spatial rift.¡±

    Zhu Lian fumed with anger after hearing these words.

    The Tool Sect juniors beside Nie Tian also red at Yao Shou, indignation filling their eyes.

    Looking rather calm, Zhen Hun asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t there a spatial rift that hasn¡¯t been imed yet? Why have you set your mind on our spatial rift when you can take that unimed one?¡±

    Yao Shou sighed briefly and said, ¡°The Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect from the Realm of Earth Sieve, and the Yin Sect and Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations are all fighting over thatst unimed spatial rift. Compared to your spatial rift, it would be much riskier to fight for that one.¡±

    ¡°Instead of fighting that pack of wolves, we might as well...¡±

    He smiled and didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    Even so, everyone knew what he meant. In his eyes,pared to fighting the Thunder Mountain Sect, Heaven Expanse Sect, Yin Sect, Yang Sect, and me God Sect at the same time, fighting the Tool Sect was much safer.

    Zhu Lian and the all the other Worldly realm experts from the Tool Sect were all struggling to refrain fromshing out, though their eyes were filled with burning rage.

    ¡°What do you think, Junior Martial Sister Bai?¡± Zhen Hun asked in a low voice.

    After whispering something to Zhu Lian and telling him to hold his temper, Bai Yu turned to her and said, ¡°Even though his words were harsh to the ear, at least he was honest about his intentions. The way I see it, even if it wasn¡¯t the Spirit God Sect that came after our spatial rift, other sects might. If it was the me God Sect, I doubt they would even want to talk.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s very true, Elder Bai. I knew you were a reasonable person.¡± Yao Shou said with a ttering tone.

    Zhen Hun nodded and said to Yao Shou, ¡°It¡¯s settled then. You may summon your people to this ce now, and we shall guard and enter this spatial rift together.¡±

    Yao Shou smiled. ¡°Now that we¡¯re guarding this spatial rift together, I believe no one will dare to drool over it anymore.¡±

    With these words, he sent messages to his subordinates.

    Before long, more than ten Spirit God Sect Qi warriors shed out of the dark, dense forest like a bunch of ghosts.

    As soon as they did, Yao Shou went over and exined the situation to them.

    The other two Profound realm Spirit God Sect experts didn¡¯t seem content with his arrangement, which was their union with the Tool Sect. However, they eventually decided to give Yao Shou face and agreed to cooperate.

    Watching those two Profound realm experts nod reluctantly, every Tool Sect member looked very displeased.

 Chapter 486: Screams in the Night

    The group of Qi warriors from the Spirit God Sect in the Realm of Dark Underworld found a suitable location in the dense forest and sat down.

    Yao Shou was the only one who went to sit beside Zhen Hun and the other powerful Tool Sect members, and chatted with her every now and then.

    Nie Tian and the other Tool Sect juniors watched the Spirit God Sect Qi warriors from afar, not saying a word.

    Even the most talkative one among them, Zhu Han, had bepletely silent.

    It was as if Yao Shou¡¯s attitude had already made him realize that the Tool Sect was no longer respected and revered by the other major powers.

    If it weren¡¯t for Zhen Hun¡¯s former association with Yao Shou, and if Bai Yu weren¡¯t here, those from the Spirit God Sect probably wouldn¡¯t have initiated a talk, but a bloody fight instead.

    This night seemed especially long.

    Every now and then, Nie Tian would be awoken from his cultivation by bloodcurdling screams in the distance. Since he didn¡¯t dare to unleash his Heaven Eyes, he wasn¡¯t sure what was happening.

    However, he was certain that people were being killed.

    ¡°The other sects are clearing the mountain range,¡± Huang Yuan said in a low voice.

    Zhu Han kept silent, his face grim.

    Wu Ling nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, those sects don¡¯t want any local Qi warrior organizations to be a part of this. So they issued an expelling order earlier, demanding all local Qi warriors leave the mountain range as quickly as possible. Now, the deadline must have arrived. Once they discover any risk-takers that dared to linger in the region, they¡¯ll kill them on site.¡±

    A sense of chilliness rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    As of this moment, he finally realized how overbearing powerful sects like the Spirit God Sect, me God Sect, and Poison Sect actually were.

    The six spatial rifts had appeared in the Realm of Split Void, yet they came over and kicked the local Qi warriors out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    When they found local Qi warriors who failed to leave past the deadline they had given, they killed them on sight.

    In their eyes, none of the local Qi warrior organizations, including the Blood Skull, deserved to enter that mysterious dimension with them.

    Deep in the night...

    A Qi warrior who had lost his left arm suddenly jumped out of the dense forest, crying as he shot towards the spatial rift.

    SHEW!

    A Qi warrior dressed in Ice Pavilion sect garments shot out of the forest after the man. However, as soon as he looked down and saw people from both the Spirit God Sect and the Tool Sect, he went nk briefly.

    ¡°Shi Hui!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed.

    Nie Tian looked up, and realized that the Qi warrior who had lost his left arm was none other than the Blood Skull¡¯s former guest elder, Shi Hui.

    After breaking away from the Blood Skull, Shi Hui had joined the Wild Fire, and threatened to kill him to avenge Shi Nan.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Shi Hui would end up in such sore straits.

    Shi Hui¡¯s entire left side was now covered in frost. He seemed to have great difficulty moving that side.

    Even so, his eyes were locked onto the spatial rift, which had still yet to stabilize. Apparently, he wanted to enter it with all of his heart.

    Fierce sword intent suddenly burst forth from within him as he shot towards the spatial rift like a flying sword.

    His eyes were filled with obsession. Yao Shou, who was sitting under the spatial rift, sighed, shaking his head. ¡°Another foolish gambler.¡±

    Then, he reached out his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air towards Shi Hui.

    In the next moment, a dark, mysterious vortex came to form in Yao Shou¡¯s palm.

    The vortex thrummed with wave after wave of suffocating soul fluctuations as it shot up into the air and enveloped Shi Hui, who was only one step away from the spatial rift.

    Shi Hui held his head with his one good hand and let out miserable wails, while blood spilled from his increasingly bulging eyes.

    His dashing momentum was instantly stopped, and then his saggy body fell to the ground.

    A hundred meters away, Nie Tian watched Shi Hui¡¯s body crash to the ground, and could feel that his soul had shattered and dissipated, as if it had been erased by the dark vortex unleashed by Yao Shou.

    Seeing that Yao Shou had killed Shi Hui, the Ice Pavilion sect pursuer bowed towards him and said respectfully, ¡°Thank you. As you were.¡±

    With these words, he left with a puzzled heart.

    He seemed to wonder why people from the Spirit God Sect were with people from the Tool Sect.

    Yao Shou didn¡¯t spare Shi Hui¡¯s corpse another nce. His eyes once again narrowed, as he seemed to have absolutely no interest in piging it. Perhaps in his eyes, thete Greater Heaven stage Shi Hui wouldn¡¯t possibly possess any valuable spiritual materials that he would set his eyes on.

    Zhen Hun, Bai Yu, and Zhu Lian didn¡¯t say anything either. They went right back to their quiet conversation, as if they didn¡¯t just witness Shi Hui¡¯s death.

    Seeing their indifferent attitudes, Nie Tian took a deep breath to calm himself and resumed his cultivation.

    After a while, a Profound realm expert dressed in me God Sect garments descended from the air like a burning meteor. He also noticed the umon scene as soon as he came to a stop.

    ¡°Yao Shou!¡± Face filled with surprise and confusion, he looked back and forth between Yao Shou and the people from the Tool Sect.

    The expression of every Tool Sect member, including Zhen Hun, grew grave the moment they saw that me God Sect expert.

    Not long ago, the me God Sect had looted a copious amount of earthme essence from the Realm of Unbounded Destion while Zhao Shanling kept the Tool Sect busy. Those from the Tool Sect held deep grudges because of that.

    Hence, it was only natural that they didn¡¯t have pleasant looks on their faces when they saw their enemy.

    Yao Shou, who was also from the Realm of Dark Underworld, cleared his throat and said, ¡°Gongsun Pu, we¡¯ve already reached a mutual understanding with the Tool Sect. The Spirit God Sect and the Tool Sect are guarding this spatial rift together.¡±

    Gongsun Pu from the me God Sect had actually harbored the same intentions as Yao Shou had before.

    He had also nned to snatch the spatial rift directly from the Tool Sect.

    However, now that he saw Yao Shou here and learned that the Spirit God Sect had made a deal with the Tool Sect to guard this spatial rift together, he grew hesitant.

    ¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°Since we¡¯re both from the Realm of Dark Underworld, I¡¯ll give you face and leave you alone.¡±

    After a pause, he shot a nce at Zhu Lian and said, ¡°It¡¯s your lucky day today.¡±

    With these words, he morphed into a streak of mes and disappeared into the distant sky.

    The expressions of the Tool Sect members grew even grimmer than before as the atmosphere grew more and more stifling.

    Everyone could see that if the Spirit God Sect weren¡¯t here, Gongsun Pu from the me God Sect definitely would have started a fight to seize the spatial rift.

    Yao Shou spread out his hands, smiling. ¡°As you just saw, if we hadn¡¯t joined hands, but instead you guys had guarded this spatial rift alone, other sects would havee and try to take it, even if I hadn¡¯t.¡±

    Awkward expressions appeared on Zhen Hun and Bai Yu¡¯s faces.

    Even Zhu Lian didn¡¯t seem as angry as before, as if he had finally found peace with the truth.

    Over the following few days, Nie Tian often heard people fighting and screaming in the vicinity as everyone waited for the spatial rift to stabilize. asionally, some local Qi warriors would risk their lives by attempting to enter the spatial rift. However, every one of them was annihted by powerful experts from the Spirit God Sect effortlessly.

    Nie Tian also noticed that a handful of Blood Skull members were killed by powerful experts from the Ice Pavilion sect and Thunder Mountain Sect before they got anywhere near the spatial rift.

    That was when he realized what Shi Qing had meant previously by saying that the Void Illusion Mountain Range had turned into hell on earth.

    From the look of it, the powerful sects from the other eight realms nned to killed every local Qi warrior that dared to remain in the mountain range before those spatial rifts fully stabilized.

    Just like Pei Qiqi had said, people were dying every day, and the entire Realm of Split Void had fallen into chaos. He could only watch as things like this happened.

    During this time, some of the other sects had also sent people here in attempts to take the spatial rift from the Tool Sect. However, they all started weighing their choices upon seeing the people from the Spirit God Sect, and eventually left.

    Just like that, the Spirit God Sect and the Tool Sect managed to hold the spatial rift together.

    One day, at midday.

    Zhen Hun, who was cultivating under the spatial rift, suddenly opened her eyes and said, ¡°Alright, we can enter now.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone who had been waiting for quite some time rose with force and spirit.

    Yao Shou rose to his feet and said to Zhen Hun, ¡°You may go in first.¡±

    Zhen Hun nodded, and after brief hesitation, she said, ¡°You actually don¡¯t have to arrange for people to stay here and guard the spatial rift. The spatial energy fluctuations within the six spatial rifts actually follow certain patterns. At this moment, this spatial rift is stable, and we¡¯ll be safe to enter it, but it¡¯ll be extremely turbulent and violent in an hour.

    ¡°If you fail to enter in an hour, you¡¯ll miss your chance.

    ¡°Even I can¡¯t predict when it will calm down and be stable again.¡±

    Looking grateful, Yao Shou said, ¡°Thank you for telling me this, Master Zhen.¡±

    Zhen Hun waved at Pei Qiqi and the other juniors, beckoning them to enter the spatial rift one after another. ¡°Hurry up. Don¡¯t dawdle.¡±

    Without any dy, Nie Tian rose to his feet and followed the Tool Sect juniors into the spatial rift.

    After everyone from the Tool Sect was in, Zhen Hun turned to Yao Shou and said, ¡°Watch the time.¡±

 Chapter 487: Bone Remains

    Countless stars shone brightly in the sky.

    A vast continent was floating above boundless grayish-brown clouds.

    Nie Tian stood by the edge of the floating continent, where a slender spatial rift was hanging over everyone¡¯s head like a huge sword.

    He gazed off into the distance and saw many more floating continents, some of which were even bigger than the one they were standing on.

    However, most of them were small ones that were only several square kilometers wide. They seemed to be channeled by some sort of force as they floated slowly and disorderly.

    There wasn¡¯t a sun or moon, just stars. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth didn¡¯t exist in the air, nor did any energy that other outsider races could use as a power source.

    SHEW!

    Zhen Hun was thest one to fly out of the slender spatial rift andnd in the middle of everyone.

    Eyes narrowed, she nced around at this strange heaven and earth, and then said, ¡°There is a small Space Spirit Jade mineral vein in the continent we are now standing on.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes instantly lit up.

    ¡°Qiqi, go and see if you can gather those Space Spirit Jades,¡± Zhen Hun ordered.

    Pei Qiqi nodded and sped off towards the center of the continent, her body thrumming with spatial energy ripples as she tried to detect the Space Spirit Jades.

    All the others remained at the edge of the continent, ncing around, hoping to gain a better understanding of this mysterious ce.

    Nie Tian was no exception.

    Since Zhu Lian, Bai Yu, and the others were around, he didn¡¯t unleash his Heaven Eyes, but rather gazed around with his eyes.

    He tried jumping, and instantly shot dozens of meters into the sky. Expression flickering, he eximed, ¡°I can barely feel any gravity!¡±

    Shocked, Wu Ling and the others tried jumping after him. Every one of them shot dozens of meters into the sky andnded steadily.

    Standing by the edge of the floating continent, Nie Tian gazed down, and discovered that the boundless grayish-brown clouds were like a sea of clouds, preventing him from seeing what was underneath them.

    He gazed ahead, and saw that numerous huge boulders were floating about slowly.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Yao Shou and other Spirit God Sect members flew through the spatial rift andnded among the Tool Sect members one after another. Afterwards, they regathered into a group.

    Yao Shou and the other two Profound realm experts from the Spirit God Sect didn¡¯t speak immediately after assuming a firm foothold, but rather nced around curiously.

    They also noticed therge number of continents floating in the distance, and the evenrger number of floating boulders around them.

    ¡°Master Zhen, this is...¡± Yao Shou said, frowning. As seasoned and knowledgeable as he was, he didn¡¯t know what he was looking at.

    Zhen Hun pondered as she said. ¡°This vast dimension somehow exploded, forming many floating continents and broken boulders. The explosion destroyed the gravitational field, and the special energy of heaven and earth that originally enveloped the whole continent changed and became the grayish-brown cloud sea underneath us.¡±

    Instantly enlightened, Yao Shou pondered for a while in silence, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll go and take a look around.¡±

    With these words, he circted his spiritual power and flew away from the floating continent that everyone else was standing on, towards a huge boulder that was floating nearby.

    Like a feather, he soonnded on the huge boulder. After a brief scan, he didn¡¯t find anything noteworthy, and thus flew towards another boulder that was floating in a farther location.

    Seeing that he had headed out, Bai Yu said, ¡°Let¡¯s take a look in the vicinity as well.¡±

    The ring of holding on her finger flickered, and immediately afterwards, a Rainbow Lightning appeared before her.

    After jumping onto it, she stood at the prow, where she unleashed ayer of crimson spiritual light that enveloped the Rainbow Lightning and her petite physique.

    In this strange dimension where the gravitational field had been destroyed, the Rainbow Lightning sped off like a bolt of lightning in the opposite direction that Yao Shou had gone in.

    Afterwards, the other two Profound realm experts from the Spirit God Sect, Zhen Hun, and Zhu Lian also left this floating continent and went searching in nearby areas.

    Meanwhile, the Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Spirit God Sect spread out and started examining the continent with their psychic awareness.

    The Tool Sect juniors were the only ones who stayed in ce and continued to nce around with their curious gazes.

    A hour passed...

    One after another, people gradually returned to the ce where they had firstnded. They all shook their heads and said they hadn¡¯t found anything noteworthy on the continents and boulders they had gone to.

    Bai Yu was the only one who didn¡¯te back empty-handed.

    She returned with a floating mountain of grayish-brown bones that was nearly a thousand meters high. She dragged it back effortlessly with numerous red ribbons.

    The mountain of bones stopped and floated by the edge of the continent.

    Nie Tian inwardly marveled as he stared at it. He noticed that the magnificent mountain of grayish-brown bones was filled with holes that were the size of fists, making it look like a colossal beehive.

    Furthermore, the mountain of bones seemed to be empty inside.

    ¡°This is....¡± Staring at the thousand-meter-high mountain of bones, Yao Shou, who had returned earlier, couldn¡¯t help but approach and reach out to touch it.

    The moment his hand made contact with one of the grayish-brown bones, it became flying scraps that rapidly vanishedpletely.

    Zhen Hun¡¯s eyes lit up as she shot a beam of light out of her fingertip. As soon as it shot into the mountain of bones that was riddled with holes, countless bones were instantly reduced to flying dust.

    ¡°The power within these bones must have dissipated over however long they have existed,¡± Zhen Hun said, contemting simultaneously. ¡°If my spections are correct, this mountain of bones is one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ ancient starships. The Bonebrutes¡¯ ancient starships were all forged with bones and in the shape of pyramids.¡±

    ¡°One of the Bonebrutes¡¯ ancient starships!?¡± Yao Shou eximed.

    At that moment, Bai Yu, who had taken it back to theirnding site, said, ¡°I¡¯ve done a thorough examination. There aren¡¯t any Bonebrute remains inside this hollow mountain of bones. It seems to have been prated by countless sharp des at the same time, and lost the ability to travel through the void, so it was eventually abandoned.

    ¡°After all these years, the bones seem to have lost all of their power. That exins why they turn into flying dust upon contact.¡±

    Astonished, Zhu Lian asked, ¡°Why would an ancient starship of the Bonebrutes¡¯ appear here? And who riddled it with holes?¡±

    Everyone else was thinking the same questions.

    ¡°Senior Yao!¡± At that moment, the voice of a Spirit God Sect Qi warrior echoed out from a distant location on the floating continent they were standing on.

    Yao Shou instantly flew towards the source of the voice.

    Even though the Tool Sect members were curious about what it was about, they remained where they were.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Yao Shou returned with three human corpses.

    He casually threw the corpses before the crowd and said, ¡°My men found them. From the way they are dressed, they weren¡¯t with any of the powers that havee from the eight realms.¡±

    Nie Tian jumped in and blurted. ¡°They are members of the Dark Moon.¡±

    Ma Jiu, who he had dealt with before, was among the dead Yao Shou threw to the ground.

    A few years ago, Ma Jiu had ambushed Pei Qiqi in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. After that, Nie Tian had rescued her from him and his men.

    Yao Shou took a nce at Nie Tian and said, ¡°That means they are local Qi warriors then. They must havee in here before us, and for some reason, died here.¡±

    Bai Yu and Zhen Hun walked over to the three corpses and squatted down to examine them.

    After a thorough examination, they both shook their heads, failing to identify the cause of their deaths.

    ¡°Their rings of holding are still here,¡± Yao Shou, who had already examined the corpses, said with a furrowed brow. ¡°And there aren¡¯t any fatal wounds on them. I can¡¯t find the cause of their deaths.¡±

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi returned quietly and whispered to her master, ¡°There were only a small amount of Space Spirit Jades in that buried Space Spirit Jade mineral vein. I¡¯ve mined them all.¡±

    Yao Shou and the other powerful experts from the Spirit God Sect seemed surprised as they overheard Pei Qiqi¡¯s words.

    Space Spirit Jades were very precious spiritual materials for Qi warriors who practiced spatial power. However, since none of the Spirit God Sect experts practiced spatial power, they didn¡¯t show any intention of asking for a share of them.

    A quarter hourter...

    The Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect members returned from different directions on the floating continents. Under Yao Shou¡¯s inquiring gaze, they all shook their heads, and said that they hadn¡¯t found anything worth noting.

    As a matter of fact, Yao Shou and the other powerful experts had already scanned this floating continent with their strong soul awareness when they had firstnded on it, and none of them had detected any signs of life or soul fluctuations.

    Everyone¡¯s search results confirmed their spections.

    ¡°What¡¯s your n, Master Zhen?¡± Yao Shou asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± Zhen Hun said with a serious expression. ¡°Considering that local Qi warriors have alreadye and searched this continent, I suppose we probably won¡¯t find anything here. I think I¡¯ll go to search in further areas with other Tool Sect members. What¡¯s your n?¡±

    Yao Shou looked up into the air and asked, ¡°Master Zhen, when do you think this spatial rift will be stable again?¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, it won¡¯t fully stabilize within a short time,¡± Zhen Hun answered. ¡°This spatial rift that leads to the Void Illusion Mountain Range is constantly changing. Every time it stabilizes, it will be even more turbulent and violent afterwards. So I can¡¯t tell for sure when it will be safe to pass again.¡±

    Yao Shou nodded and said, ¡°I see. Okay, let¡¯s leave a mark here, and start our separate searches.¡±

    ¡°Sure." Zhen Hun agreed.

 Chapter 488: Discoveries

    After leaving a special mark on the floating continent where the spatial rift was, the Spirit God Sect and the Tool Sect split up.

    Bai Yu waved and beckoned Wu Ling, Huang Yuan, and a few other Tool Sect juniors to board her Rainbow Lightning. Meanwhile, Zhu Lian summoned another Rainbow Lightning and told the other Tool Sect members to get on board.

    Zhen Hun summoned her Lightning Shuttle from within her ring of holding and beckoned Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to jump in.

    Afterwards, the Rainbow Lightnings and Lightning Shuttle flew away from the floating continent.

    Since the gravitational field was very weak, the speed at which the Lightning Shuttle and Rainbow Lightnings traveled was very fast, and it didn¡¯t require as much spiritual power to propel them.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi stood in the Lightning Shuttle and nced around curiously.

    From time to time, the Lightning Shuttle would pass floating boulders, which were moving in some unknown pattern. It was just they were moving at a far lower speed than the Lightning Shuttle.

    Zhen Hun¡¯s eyes narrowed as waves of extremely intense soul fluctuations spread out from her.

    Standing beside her, Nie Tian could tell with great rity that the soul fluctuations she was unleashing contained unfathomable truths of spatial energy. As they rippled out into the distance, they seemed to cause space to flicker slightly.

    At that moment, Bai Yu, who was steering the Rainbow Lightning in the front, suddenly turned around and said with a smile, ¡°Senior martial sister, I actually found something other than that mountain of bones. Come with me.¡±

    Zhen Hun¡¯s eyes lit up.

    The mountain of bones Bai Yu had brought back to them earlier had lost its value due to long-term erosion. The energy within those bones waspletely gone.

    If the mountain of bones hadn¡¯t been riddled with holes, perhaps she wouldn¡¯t have brought it back and showed it to the people from the Spirit God Sect.

    After hearing her words, everyone looked spirited and expectant.

    The Rainbow Lightnings and Lightning Shuttle rapidly flew past numerous floating boulders. An hourter, a volcano that had a prating hole in the middle entered everyone¡¯s view.

    Even though they were still thousands of meters away, Nie Tian could see crimson mes flickering within the enormous hole that went through the volcano.

    The volcano was about three thousand meters high and roughly in the shape of a pagoda. It was unknown how long it had been there.

    The silent volcano was surrounded byyers of very turbulent and unstable spatial energy.

    It was because of thatyer of spatial energy that Bai Yu hadn¡¯t stayed to examine it earlier.

    She was an expert of fire-attributed incantations and an equipment forger. However, she didn¡¯t practice spatial power.

    Without a deep understanding of spatial power, she hadn¡¯t dared to handle theyer of spatial energy lightly.

    Therefore, she had waited for them to part ways with the people from the Spirit God Sect to take Zhen Hun to it.

    Soon, the Rainbow Lightnings and Lightning Shuttle came to a stop before the floating volcano. Bai Yu didn¡¯t say anything, but rather looked towards Zhen Hun.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhen Hun took out her folding fan from within her ring of holding.

    As she waved the fan, spatial energy fluctuations spread out towards the floating volcano like ripples on water.

    Nie Tian looked at them with rapt attention.

    It was unknown what kind of powerful weapon could have created such a huge, prating hole through the volcano. Through the fire-flickering mouth of the hole, Nie Tian could vaguely seeva bubbling within the heart of the volcano.

    Instead of forming Heaven Eyes, he unleashed his psychic awareness in an attempt to examine thatyer of mysterious energy.

    However, as soon as the wisp of his psychic awareness flew close to it, he experienced an excruciating pain in his head.

    Thus, he had to withdraw his psychic awareness.

    Meanwhile, a strange look appeared in Zhen Hun¡¯s eyes. Countless fine strands of spatial energy rapidly formed and dissipated in the depths of her pupils.

    Standing next to her, Nie Tian was bbergasted as he looked into her eyes.

    Then, he noticed that the image of the floating volcano had mysteriously appeared on the empty folding fan she was waving.

    On the fan, the miniature of the floating volcano was bound down by numerous bright strings of spatial power, many of which even went through the volcano.

    Astonished by the scene, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but inwardly marvel at the profundity of spatial magics and those who practiced spatial power.

    ¡°That paper fan in my master¡¯s hand is a spatial spiritual tool named the Illusion Realm,¡± Pei Qiqi exined to Nie Tian in a low voice. ¡°However, it doesn¡¯t have its own soul yet, and it can¡¯t actually create an independent realm. It¡¯s extremely hard to find and refine souls for spatial spiritual tools. My master has looked for years, but still can¡¯t find a suitable soul for it.

    ¡°If she can find a suitable dimension and seal it within the Illusion Realm, and meanwhile find and refine a fitting soul into it, and have it rule over that dimension, the Illusion Realm will transcend into a Spirit Channeling grade treasure.¡±

    A shocked expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Zhen Hun¡¯s lips pursed into a smile as she said, ¡°Kiddo, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to find a suitable dimension and a soul for the Illusion Realm and turn it into a Spirit Channeling grade treasure in my lifetime.

    ¡°But I hope that you¡¯ll fulfill this long-cherished wish for me some day.¡±

    After she uttered these words, the Illusion Realm suddenly shot out of her hand and flew towards the volcano before them.

    The mysterious spatial fluctuations wreathing the volcano seemed to instantly stabilize and became harmless as the Illusion Realm approached.

    Zhu Lian and Bai Yu both looked deeply at her, their eyes filled with astonishment.

    ¡°This volcano must have been a part of that vast dimension before the explosion happened,¡± Zhen Hun exined to everyone. ¡°It appears that an expert of spatial power, who I don¡¯t think was a human, prated it with some sort of profound spatial magic. The spatial power he or she used to bombard this volcano contained faint bloodline power.

    ¡°If my spections are correct, that expert most likely carried a bloodline that naturally vested him or her with spatial power.

    ¡°The spatial power within the strike that expert prated this volcano with still exists after what could be tens of thousands of years. It¡¯s just that it now exists in the form of ayer of spatial fluctuations around the volcano.¡±

    Nie Tian, who was standing next to Pei Qiqi, sensed with great rity that Pei Qiqi shuddered upon hearing these words.

    Zhu Lian gasped with astonishment and eximed, ¡°An outsider whose bloodline contains spatial power?! As far as I know, none of the Demons, Fiends, Phantasms, or Bonebrutes carry bloodlines that contain spatial power, right?¡±

    Bai Yu was also deeply surprised. ¡°What outsider race carries bloodlines that allow them to awaken bloodline talents regarding spatial power?¡±

    Zhen Hun gave a bitter smile and said, ¡°Our understanding of outsider races is very limited. We only know about the Demons, Fiends, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes because they used to live in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and these realms were their paradise before human Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came along.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s very possible that other mysterious outsider races live in ces in this boundless universe that we¡¯ve never been to.

    ¡°We don¡¯t know about them because they¡¯ve nevere to the Domain of the Falling Stars and left any traces.¡±

    Zhu Lian nodded slightly and said, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s possible.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go take a look at that volcano,¡± Zhen Hun said with a in tone. ¡°I only managed to break theyer of spatial energy left there by that outsider expert with my Illusion Realm because it has been dissipating over a very long time. I can¡¯t imagine how powerful that outsider expert was back in the day, and if the expert is still alive...¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expression flickered before she even finished her sentence, not daring to think about the outsider¡¯s devastating strength.

    With great caution, they steered the Rainbow Lightnings and Lightning Shuttle towards the enormous hole in the volcano.

    Only after they reached the mouth of the hole without feeling any abnormal spatial fluctuations did Bai Yu finally let out a sigh of relief. She wreathed her petite physique with crimson spiritual light, and flew into the volcano through the hole, which was still filled with flickering mes.

    Aside from spatial power, Zhen Hun was also well-versed in the practice of me power. However, seeing that Bai Yu had moved out, she remained where she was, and the Lightning Shuttle stopped by the mouth of the huge hole.

    WHOOSH!

    She made a grabbing motion in the air, and the Illusion Realm flew into her palm. She handed it to Pei Qiqi and said expressionlessly, ¡°See if you can derive some enlightenment from it.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s slender, jade-like hand trembled slightly as she received the folding fan.

    Her eyes flickered with the light of excitement, as if she were struggling to suppress her thrilled heart.

    Nie Tian¡¯s keen perception allowed him to notice something strange. The moment Pei Qiqi touched the paper fan, a spatial ward that was invisible to the naked eye instantly wreathed her.

    At the same time, the spatial energy wreathing the floating volcano gradually vanished.

    Instead, ripples of spatial power started to spread out from inside Pei Qiqi, and fine strands of spatial power appeared in the depths of her pupils.

    Meanwhile, very subtle flesh power fluctuations rose from within her.

    The flesh power within her seemed to be isted from the outside world by numerous spatial wards, making it very hard to detect.

    However, Nie Tian, who was standing right next to her, and carried a bloodline that contained the profound truths of life, managed to sense it.

    Nie Tian was momentarily bewildered.

    In the blink of an eye, the residual spatial energy surrounding the floating volcanopletely vanished.

    After handing the fan back to her master, Pei Qiqi gently closed her eyes as she leaned against the inside of the Lightning Shuttle and pondered in silence.

    ¡°There are quite a few fire-attributed crystals within the heart of the volcano, along with a small amount of earthme essence!¡± Bai Yu¡¯s overjoyed exmation echoed out from the within the enormous hole. ¡°Not just that, I¡¯ve also found a dead Earth me Beast!¡±

 Chapter 489: Betrayal

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    As Bai Yu¡¯s voice echoed out, the enormous hole seemed as if it were being further ripped apart by a mysterious force.

    Bai Yu¡¯s petite figure appeared at the mouth of the hole, dragging arge Earth me Beast behind her with a number of colorful ribbons.

    That Earth me Beast was almost twice asrge as the one Nie Tian had seen in the Scarlet me Mountain Range.

    There was an obvious puncture wound on the Earth me Beast¡¯s forehead. Apparently, something had gone through its head and killed it.

    Bai Yu dragged the Earth me Beast towards the others. Pointing at it, she said with great excitement, ¡°This Earth me Beast was probably the true target of whoever created that enormous hole in the volcano!

    ¡°Look! This Earth me Beast has four long zing tails! This is a seventh grade Earth me Beast!¡±

    ¡°A seventh grade Earth me Beast!¡± Zhu Lian¡¯s eyes grew wide as he instantly flew to the Earth me Beast¡¯s side. Numerous tiny lightning bolts rose from his fingertips and flew into the Earth me Beast¡¯s gigantic body, where they examined it carefully.

    In the next moment, his eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°There¡¯s still copious amount of me power within this dead Earth me Beast! Its bones are still imprinted with the profound truths of me power! The battle prowess of this seventh grade Earth me Beast was equal to that of a Soul realm human expert! If we carve its body up, we can harvest the core materials to forge a fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    Zhen Hun was also inwardly shocked, and said, ¡°If this Earth me Beast¡¯s soul hasn¡¯tpletely dissipated into heaven and earth, I haveplete and utter confidence that I¡¯ll be able to forge a fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure with its soul and body parts!¡±

    The other Tool Sect Qi warriors were also overjoyed as they gazed at the gigantic Earth me Beast with wide eyes.

    They had never expected that they would gain the corpse of a seventh grade Earth me Beast so soon after entering this mysterious dimension.

    Even if its soul hadpletely dissipated, many of its parts were still very precious treasures.

    Its bones, skin, teeth, and eyes could all be used to forge spiritual tools.

    For those who practiced fire incantations, the profound truths of me power branded in its bones were rare treasures they could try to derive enlightenment from.

    Standing off to the side, Nie Tian sensed the yearning of the me Dragon Armor as the Earth me Beast was dragged towards them.

    It seemed as if the me Dragon Armor, which had been absorbing earthme essence from within thatrge crystal, had just found a better target, and thus was eager to charge out of his ring of holding into the dead Earth me Beast and devour all of its residual me power.

    Therefore, Nie Tian had to spare some of his attention to hold the restless me Dragon Armor down, stopping it from unveiling his true identity.

    As hard as she tried, Bai Yu failed to mask her excitement and joy. ¡°There is still earthme essence in the heart of the volcano. I left a storage tool there. It won¡¯t take very long to gather all of the earthme essence that remains.¡±

    With a broad smile, she looked at Zhu Lian and Zhen Hun and said, ¡°We¡¯ll split the earthme essence three ways after it finishes collecting. I don¡¯t n to carve up this Earth me Beast for now. I think I¡¯ll take its intact corpse back to the Tool Sect.¡±

    Then, she turned to look Zhen Hun in the eye and said, ¡°Perhaps we might be able to forge a spiritual tool out of its intact body. Don¡¯t worry, senior martial sister. I¡¯m only able to get it out of the volcano because you¡¯ve stabilized the spatial fluctuations for us. You¡¯ll get your fair share after this Earth me Beast is evaluated.¡±

    With a faint smile, Zhen Hun said, ¡°Sure, I know I can trust you for that.¡±

    Everyone was full of smiles as they looked the seventh grade Earth me Beast up and down, feeling that they had made the wisest decision of their lives by fighting to gain control of one spatial rift and entering it despite the risks.

    ¡°There are also some fire-attributed materials in the heart of the volcano,¡± Bai Yu said. ¡°I¡¯ll gather them and sort them through after my storage tool finishes gathering the earthme essence.¡±

    Both Zhu Lian and Zhen Hun nodded briefly.

    WHOOSH!

    While they were in the middle of discussing how they would divide their loot, a ring of holding suddenly flew over from the distance.

    In the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of the Earth me Beast¡¯s gigantic body, where it turned into a gray vortex and created a violent suction force.

    Channeled by the strong force, therge, mountain-like Earth me Beast started floating towards the gray vortex.

    The expressions of Zhu Lian and the other powerful experts flickered drastically as they instantly blossomed with dazzling spiritual power, and reached out their hands in an attempt to destroy the ring of holding that had appeared out of nowhere.

    An intense sense of danger instantly caused Nie Tian¡¯s hair to stand on end. He subconsciously pulled Pei Qiqi¡¯s arm as he circted his spiritual power.

    Eyes still closed, Pei Qiqi seemed to bepletely unaware of what was happening in the real world. Her eyes snapped open as soon as Nie Tian pulled her arm.

    With bewildered eyes, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Zhu Lian thundered. One after another, numerous cyan thunderballs with a metallic luster shot out of his leveled sleeve, each of which looked like a fruit ripe with thunder power.

    In the next moment, rolls of thunder filled the air, as if heaven and earth were wreathed with lightning power.

    Zhen Hun also took out her Illusion Realm and gazed up into the air with a vignt expression, as if she were facing formidable foes.

    A vague figure quietly appeared over the ring of holding.

    Shocked and confused, Zhen Hun eximed, ¡°Cheng Qian?! What are you doing here?!¡±

    Nie Tian immediately looked up and realized that the person who had just seized the seventh grade Earth me Beast¡¯s corpse with his ring of holding was Cheng Qian, one of thete Profound realm experts from the Spirit God Sect.

    They had split up when they had left the floating continent where they had firstnded. Right now, they should be searching inpletely separate areas. It wasn¡¯t likely that they had encountered each other again by ident.

    However, not only had he suddenly appeared here, but he had even attempted to seize the Earth me Beast¡¯s corpse as soon as he did.

    WHOOSH!

    Another person shed into appearance from behind a floating boulder.

    With a nce at the man, Zhu Lian¡¯s face gradually fell as he eximed, ¡°Lu Jianfan! What the hell are the two of you doing?! We had an agreement that we¡¯d split up and leave each other alone after entering this dimension! We found this Earth me Beast. You did nothing to contribute. Don¡¯t tell me that now you want to take a share of it?!¡±

    Zhen Hun also burst into a fuming rage. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually followed us here behind Yao Shou¡¯s back!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As they spoke, the seventh grade Earth me Beast was sucked into Cheng Qian¡¯s ring of holding.

    Cheng Qian¡¯s expression was the same as ever. With a scary smile, he ran his gaze over the crowd and said slowly, ¡°Who said we¡¯re doing this behind his back?¡±

    Lu Jianfan¡¯s face split into a sinister grin as he said, ¡°We knew you must have found something. That¡¯s why we secretly followed you here. If we sell this seventh grade Earth me Beast to the me God Sect, Xia Yi will surely throw his weight in to pay for it!¡±

    ¡°We found that Earth me Beast!¡± Bai Yu eximed.

    Lu Jianfan shook his head as he let out a sigh and said, ¡°It seems that you still don¡¯t understand the situation. Big Brother Yao, I think it¡¯s necessary that you exin it to them.¡±

    Zhen Hun was bbergasted. ¡°Yao Shou is here too?!¡±

    Upon hearing that Yao Shou had also taken part in the betrayal, Bai Yu¡¯ and Zhu Lian¡¯s faces grew increasingly grave.

    As expected, following Lu Jianfan¡¯s words, another person slowly flew out from behind another floating boulder.

    The disciples of the Spirit God Sect practiced a special incantation, most of which was rted to souls and soul power.

    For that reason, disciples of the Spirit God Sect were all skilled at hiding the aura of their souls.

    Since Yao Shou, Cheng Qian, and Lu Jianfan were allte Profound realm experts from the Spirit God Sect, even Zhen Hun had failed to discover that they had masked their soul aura and stealthily followed them to this location.

    ¡°What do you want, Yao Shou?¡± Zhen Hun asked coldly.

    Nie Tian followed her gaze and also looked at Yao Shou.

    Unlike before, Yao Shou¡¯s expression was now cold and gruesome. From the look of it, he wasn¡¯t going to talk pleasantly this time. Eyes filled with killing intent, he said in a low voice, ¡°Master Zhen, we reached a mutual understanding with the me God Sect long before we came over to your spatial rift. Also, after all of you went through that spatial rift, powerful experts from the me God Sect came upon receiving my message and entered this dimension right before the one hour time limit you told me about.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I tricked you.

    ¡°But neither us nor the me God Sect have someone as skilled at using spatial power as you. We needed you to tell us about the spatial rift, including how long it would stay stable.¡±

    Furious, Zhen Hun thundered, ¡°You used me!?¡±

    Yao Shou let out a soft sigh and said, ¡°The Tool Sect is destined to fall into another¡¯s hands. Plus, the way I see it, I don¡¯t think we count as friends. We needed you to exin the things we didn¡¯t know about that spatial rift. Oh right, onest thing, I was worried that word would spread if we killed you in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. I didn¡¯t want that psycho Wu Langxie to know that his wife and son had died at our hands and seek revenge.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re here, we don¡¯t need to worry about that anymore.

    ¡°As powerful as Wu Langxie is, he can¡¯t possibly learn that it¡¯s us that killed his wife and son in this unknown, remote dimension.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the expression of every Tool Sect member flickered drastically.

    They finally realized that what the Spirit God Sect really wanted wasn¡¯t just that Earth me Beast, but the deaths of all the Tool Sect members!

 Chapter 490: Grand Soul Grinder

    Everyone¡¯s blood ran cold as they listened Yao Shou bring out every detail of his scheme.

    By the time he was finished, the Tool Sect members finally realized that they weren¡¯t just nning to seize the Earth me Beast¡¯s corpse, but they were nning to finish off every Tool Sect member here.

    Face grim, Nie Tian secretly circted his spiritual power as he exchanged a nce with Pei Qiqi.

    Zhen Hun¡¯s eyes were filled with burning rage as she said, ¡°Yao Shou! Are you really so confident that you¡¯ll be able to take us?¡±

    Bai Yu and Zhu Lian, who had already summoned their spiritual tools, were now whispering something to Wu Ling and the others, their eyes fixed on the formidable foes before them.

    A whisper that was as soft as a mosquito¡¯s voice rang out in Nie Tian¡¯s and Pei Qiqi¡¯s ears as Zhen Hun berated Yao Shou furiously. ¡°When the momentes, you two take the Lightning Shuttle and leave. I¡¯ll go find you after losing these people from the Spirit God Sect.¡± The whisper came from Zhen Hun, who was still speaking.

    ¡°Master Zhen, do you doubt that the three of usbined will outpower you?¡± Yao Shou said coldly. Not a shred of a smile could be seen on Yao Shou¡¯s face anymore, and the killing intent in his eyes grew increasingly fierce. ¡°With all due respect, both you and Elder Bai Yu have been focusing on equipment forging, so your battle prowess has suffered, not to mention that Elder Bai Yu is only at the middle Profound realm.¡±

    A frosty light shed across Zhen Hun¡¯s furious eyes. ¡°Do you imagine that you¡¯ll be able to kill us without paying a price? Even if we going down, we¡¯ll take you with us!¡±

    Nie Tian was inwardly suspicious.

    Even though Yao Shou, Cheng Qian, and Lu Jianfan were allte Profound realm experts, it wasn¡¯t very likely that they could kill Zhen Hun, Zhu Lian, and Bai Yu without paying a huge price.

    From the look of it, those from the Spirit God Sect didn¡¯t intend to let any Tool Sect member walk out of here alive, but didn¡¯t they worry that they¡¯d suffer great casualties as well?

    ¡°As I just told you, while we followed you to this ce, people from the me God Sect also went through your spatial rift and entered this dimension,¡± Yao Shou said with a cold face. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the me God Sect experts get to this ce. We just need to stall you and wait for Gongsun Pu and the others from the me God Sect to arrive. Now, do you still think you have a chance of escaping from us?¡±

    At that moment, Zhen Hun¡¯s low whisper once again rang out by Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s ears. ¡°Go! Now!¡±

    Simultaneously, sheunched attacks.

    The paper fan named Illusion Realm instantly flew into the huge hole in the floating volcano.

    In the next moment, loud rumbles echoed out from the heart of the volcano, while fine beams of bright spatial energy rose from its massive form.

    At the same time, the volcano rammed towards Yao Shou with a crashing momentum.

    Ragingva spilled from the huge hole in the volcano, forming numerous chains of mes, which flew towards Yao Shou in an attempt to entangle him.

    Streams of fire swam in the depths of Ba Yu¡¯s pupils as she formed exquisite hand seals to provide Zhen Hun with assistance.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A gigantic, fiery crystal floated out of the hole in the volcano.

    The crystal was the storage tool Bai Yu had previously used to gather earthme essence. At this moment, wisps of earthme essence could be seen swimming inside of it.

    As Bai Yu cast another spell, wisps of earthme essence suddenly shot out of the fiery crystal and morphed into numerous sparkling and crystal-clear strings.

    At first nce, the chains looked very much like the crystal-like chains within the green aura which resided in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Like spiritual snakes, the fiery strings shot towards Yao Shou, making crackling sounds as they did.

    With a pitiful expression, Yao Shou sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s such a waste that you used those precious earthme crystalstrings as one-time attacking weapons.¡±

    ¡°Fan out and run!!¡± With an explosive roar, Zhu Lian shot out numerous cyan thunderballs from his cuff, each of which seemed to be formed with pure thunder power.

    The moment he did, heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rolls of thunder filled the air.

    Sky-filling thunderballs rapidly aligned in midair, forming a tight and formidable formation.

    As soon as the formation came to form, the vast area above everyone¡¯s head instantly turned into a zone of terror, where it rained long and thick lightning bolts, and raging thunder power filled the heavens.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Wu Ling, Huang Yuan, Zhu Han, and the other Tool Sect Qi warriors, who were at the Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage, jumped onto two Rainbow Lightnings and sped off in opposite directions.

    Lightning shed and thunder rolled. Numerous huge lightning bolts that resembled Lightning Dragons seemed to be clearing the way for the juniors.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi jumped onto the Lightning Shuttle, which instantly sped off into the distance under Pei Qiqi¡¯s control.

    Countless lightning bolts fell from the heavens behind and on either side of the Lightning Shuttle. However, not a single bolt of lightning struck down in front of the Lightning Shuttle, in the direction where it was heading.

    Nie Tian instantly realized that Zhu Lian¡¯s thunder formation was also protecting their Lightning Shuttle.

    To his surprise, neither Yao Shou, Liu Jianfan, nor Cheng Qian seemed very concerned with the escape of the Rainbow Lightnings and their Lightning Shuttle.

    None of them even attempted to stop them from leaving.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Zhen Hun¡¯s voice once again rang out in Nie Tian¡¯s and Pei Qiqi¡¯s ears. ¡°Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage members of the Spirit God Sect must be waiting for you on the perimeter. Yao Shou must have arranged for them to keep a sizable distance from them so that they wouldn¡¯t be exposed. So they must be waiting in the vicinity.

    ¡°Your opponents will be those Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage members of the Spirit God Sect, and perhaps even members of the me God Sect who might arrive at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Take care of yourself, master!¡± Pei Qiqi whispered back.

    She stood unwavering at the prow of the Lightning Shuttle, and steered it meticulously with her psychic awareness.

    After she uttered those words, Nie Tian could sense that there wasn¡¯t a shred of distracting thought in her mind anymore, and escape was all she had on her mind.

    Nie Tian nodded at her back.

    He couldn¡¯t help but admire her calmness in such a crucial moment.

    Knowing that her master was deep under siege, she was still able to stay rational and follow her master¡¯s orders so that she didn¡¯t be her master¡¯s burden.

    Nie Tian thought if it were Wu Ji who was trapped by enemies, instead of Zhen Hun, he probably wouldn¡¯t have behaved so rationally and decisively.

    As the Lightning Shuttle traveled through the air at lightning speed, Nie Tian repeatedly turned his head back to look at the heaven and earth filled with lightning bolts and thunder rolls.

    He noticed that, due to Zhen Hun¡¯s channeling, the volcano seemed to have rammed into Yao Shou, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    At that moment, a bleak aura that made his soul tremble suddenly spread out from the battlefield behind him. Nie Tian let out a muffled groan as his expression flickered.

    Three misty, gray vortexes flew out of the lightning-wreathed area. They spun rapidly and unleashed terrifyingly strong soul power.

    The three gray vortexes were like threerge grinders that could grind the souls of all living creatures into shreds. Even though there was a significant distance between him and the vortexes, Nie Tian felt a splitting pain in his head, as if his soul sea were going to copse.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Spirit God Sect¡¯s secret soul magic: Grand Soul Grinder.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s tone was ice-cold. ¡°Those soul grinders are actually aimed at my master, Bai Yu, and Zhu Lian. We¡¯re just being slightly affected.¡±

    With these words, multiple spatial energy wards spread out from within her, immunizing her from any influence.

    Experiencing a splitting pain in his head, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but howl. Just as he was about to fall unconscious, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul started to shine with blinding light.

    As soon as they started to shine, a calming aura fell on Nie Tian¡¯s soul sea, instantly restoring peace to it.

    The twisting and stabbing pain in his head was also instantly gone. He looked back with rapt attention, and discovered that the three gray vortexes were still spinning like giant grinding machines and unleashing an aura that could extinguish every soul they found.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the Grand Soul Grinder is one of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s unique and extremely powerful magics, which is developed from certain bloodline magics of the Phantasms,¡± Pei Qiqi exined without turning back to look at Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s very impressive that you¡¯re able to resist the mighty fluctuations from the Grand Soul Grinder. I¡¯m guessing many Tool Sect members are going to sustain severe soul injuries.

    ¡°Being pursued and surrounded by Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage disciples of the Spirit God Sect after sustaining such injuries, I wonder how many of them will survive.¡±

    Looking at her from behind, Nie Tian pondered briefly and said, ¡°Can those Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect disciples also use the Grand Soul Grinder?¡±

    ¡°Only Qi warriors with cultivation bases higher than the Worldly realm, which means they have transformed their psychic power into soul power, are able to learn and practice the Grand Soul Grinder,¡± Pei Qiqi answered, still looking forward. ¡°As long as we don¡¯t run into any Worldly realm experts, I have confidence that I¡¯ll be able to get you out of this in this Lightning Shuttle. But if we¡¯re so unlucky that some Worldly realm experts make us their target, then...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you steer clear of them,¡± Nie Tian blurted.

    With these words, he no longer had any scruples, and instantly formed nine Heaven Eyes using his psychic power and soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul.

 Chapter 491: Soul Banner

    Nie Tian unleashed his Heaven Eyes for the first time after entering this mysterious dimension.

    The moment his nine Heaven Eyes came to form, the tips of this eyebrows rose, as he noticed that the perception of his Heaven Eyes was much keener here than in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He looked up and saw countless stars in the sky. Hence, he made an attempt to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation, then he instantly sensed with great rity that copious amount of star power started to converge on him.

    <i>¡°There isn¡¯t any spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, nor sun or moon, just ever-shining stars...¡± </i>He gradually realized that the enhancement of his Heaven Eyes¡¯ perception might have something to do with the special environment of this dimension.

    Even without the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, he could practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation and obtain star power from the stars.

    Slightly surprised by his new discovery, Nie Tian controlled his nine Heaven Eyes to fan out and fly ahead to secure a path for the Lightning Shuttle.

    Soon, he caught sight of arge number of gray banners via his Heaven Eyes.

    They were scattered on their path of escape, separated from each other by about a thousand meters.

    Wiggling discarnate souls could be seen within each and every banner, which unleashed an intense thirst for blood.

    As one of his Heaven Eyes approached one of the gray banners, the discarnate soul within the banner seemed to sense its existence and gave out an ear-piercing screech.

    A Worldly realm Spirit God Sect Qi warrior rapidly flew over to the banner, standing atop a rock.

    After a brief moment of bewilderment, Nie Tian realized what those banners were for, and thus instantly relocated that Heaven Eye.

    ¡°One of the Soul Banners just detected soul fluctuations right here.¡± The Spirit God Sect Qi warrior who had rushed over from the vicinity muttered to himself, frowning as he unleashed his soul awareness to scan the area carefully.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eye had long since flown away. Therefore, after examining the area for some time, he failed to find any anomalies.

    He shook his head, eyes filled with confusion, wondering what had just happened.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows were knitted as he muttered to himself, ¡°Banners that contain discarnate souls...¡±

    ¡°Found something?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a soft voice.

    With a grim face, Nie Tian exined, ¡°There are arge number of gray banners floating ahead. Each of them contains a discarnate soul, which seems to be able to detect soul fluctuations. Those from the Spirit God Sect don¡¯t have enough men to form a tight blockade to stop all of us from escaping so they¡¯ve deployed lots of banners in every direction to trace our souls. Once we get close to any of them, those from the Spirit God Sect will be rmed, and thene to intercept us.¡±

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t seem surprised at all. ¡°Those banners are called Soul Banners, which are forged with unique methods by equipment forgers from the Spirit God Sect. The discarnate souls within those banners are able to detect any soul fluctuations around them with great precision. Any Qi warrior with a cultivation base lower than the Soul realm will be discovered when they approach the Soul Banners.¡±

    ¡°Soul Banners...¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°I saw nearly a hundred of them ahead of us, and those are only the ones I saw. We need to turn around and go in different direction.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    The dashing Lightning Shuttle turned and headed in another direction.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes changed directions ordingly, and continued to clear a path for the Lightning Shuttle.

    It wasn¡¯t long before more banners entered the Heaven Eyes¡¯ perception range. Just like the ones they had encountered just now, they were also separated from each other by a thousand meters, covering a vast area.

    There were about eighty of them, and they were detecting signs of soul fluctuations like scattered trees that had taken root in the void.

    ¡°It¡¯s not working,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim look in his eyes. ¡°There are more Soul Banners ahead. The moment we get close to them, those banners will send out signals. Nearby Spirit God Sect disciples will surely receive the signals and immediately try to block our path of escape.¡±

    Pei Qiqi took a deep breath, and her Ethereal Swords appeared, floating around her. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we have no choice but to forcibly charge through the blockade.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°If we do this, once we run into Worldly realm experts and get stalled, many more Spirit God Sect members will quickly gather around us. We need toe up with a proper n.¡±

    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I actually have an idea! Later, I¡¯ll try to distract some of the Spirit God Sect experts. Then, I¡¯ll show you a direction that¡¯s safe. When the time is right, I¡¯ll tell you to sprint us forward.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a soft voice.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian sat down, closed his eyes, and started meticulously manipting his nine Heaven Eyes with his mind.

    The nine Heaven Eyes spread out and shot towards different locations on the blockade formed by the Soul Banners at full speed.

    As the Heaven Eyes approached, many Soul Banners started giving out sharp screeches.

    A number of Spirit God Sect Qi warriors who had been waiting in the vicinity received the signals and rapidly gathered towards the Soul Banners that had given out screeches.

    Meanwhile, the Heaven Eyes quickly changed directions and flew towards other locations, causing more Soul Banners to screech.

    Soon, three Worldly realm and a handful of Greater Heaven Spirit God Sect disciples arrived and chased after the scattered Heaven Eyes.

    Even though the Soul Banners could detect soul fluctuations, they couldn¡¯t tell whether the fluctuations were from living creatures with flesh and blood or other soul-possessing forms.

    That was why the Soul Banners considered the wisps of soul power Nie Tian had used to form the Heaven Eyes to be soul-possessing lives with flesh and blood, and thus rmed the nearby Spirit God Sect Qi warriors.

    An explosive shout escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°Now! Go straight ahead!¡±

    Pei Qiqi pressed her hands down on the prow of the Lightning Shuttle, blinding light bursting forth from within her palms.

    Very subtle flesh power flowed out of her palms as the Lightning Shuttle shook violently for a few seconds before shooting forward with a speed that was twice as fast as before.

    Nie Tian was inwardly shocked.

    Meanwhile, he captured the faint flesh power exuding from Pei Qiqi¡¯s palms, from which he vaguely detected the same spatial energy that had wreathed the floating volcano.

    He suspected that the strong boost in the Lightning Shuttle¡¯s speed stemmed from the faint flesh power exuded from Pei Qiqi¡¯s palms.

    Before he could giving it more thought, the Lightning Shuttle reached the blockade formed by numerous Soul Banners. As soon as they did, the banners started giving out sharp screeches.

    As the Lightning Shuttle dashed forward, more and more Soul Banners were triggered. Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t say a word, as she was concentrating on pushing the speed of the Lightning Shuttle to the limit.

    Two Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect disciples flew over from another direction and stopped in Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s path, each of them standing on a rock. ¡°You can¡¯t run from us!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One floating Ethereal Sword after another suddenly burst forward and vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    POOH!

    By the time they reappeared, they had already pierced into the foreheads of the early and middle Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors, and in the next moment, shot out the backs of their heads.

    As Pei Qiqi¡¯s slender fingers wove in the air, dazzlingly bright spatial energy des quietly appeared around the two Spirit God Sect Qi warriors, and rapidly cut their corpses into flying shreds.

    As the Lightning Shuttle flew through their shredded bodies, Pei Qiqi made a grabbing motion in the air, and her Ethereal Swords disappeared into her cuff like lightning bolts.

    More screeches rang out as the Lightning Shuttle whizzed by the Soul Banners at an rming speed, and finally entered the vast open area where no banners could be seen.

    Faint, angry roars of powerful Spirit God Sect experts rang out from far behind them. Apparently, their pursuit of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes had turned out to be fruitless and, they had thus returned.

    However, the Lightning Shuttle had already flown through the blockade formed by the Soul Banners and entered open areas that weren¡¯t controlled by those from the Spirit God Sect. As long as they couldn¡¯t quickly catch them within a very short time, they would most likely lose all traces of Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    Meanwhile, with his mind, Nie Tian controlled his Heaven Eyes to spread out further in all directions.

    Seeing no Soul Banners after traveling for a while on the Lightning Shuttle, Nie Tian said, ¡°We should be safe now.

    ¡°Even with the help of their Soul Banners, those from the Spirit God Sect don¡¯t have enough men to lock down a veryrge area. Now that we¡¯ve left the Soul Banners¡¯ detection range, it means that they¡¯vepletely lost track of us, and it¡¯ll be very difficult for them to find us again.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Pei Qiqi chimed in as she withdrew her hands from the prow of the Lightning Shuttle. She finally turned her head back to look at him, and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re much stronger than I remember,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Even though she was only at the middle Greater Heaven stage, Pei Qiqi had killed those two Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect members with one clean move. They hadn¡¯t even had a chance to fight back.

    The crushing strength she had disyed earlier shocked Nie Tian.

    ¡°Only after entering the Worldly realm will disciples of the Spirit God Sect start practicing all kinds of soul magics,¡± Pei Qiqi exined, looking as calm as ever. ¡°Entering the Worldly realm marks the true transcendence of Spirit God Sect disciples. Those who haven¡¯t entered the Worldly realm haven¡¯t mastered any of the profound soul magics of the Spirit God Sect, so they are very easy to kill.¡±

    Nie Tian looked deeply at her and said, ¡°That¡¯s not it. Even though they hadn¡¯t reached the Worldly realm, they shouldn¡¯t have been killed with a single blow. Although I don¡¯t know what it is, I do know that you¡¯re different from before. You¡¯ve be so much stronger that I can¡¯t fathom what¡¯s going on with you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Something did happen to me.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t try to deny it, though she didn¡¯t want to give an exnation. ¡°My cultivation has been progressing faster and more smoothly than before. Don¡¯t feel surprised. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to enter thete Greater Heaven stage within a short time.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian suddenly asked, looking in her eyes, ¡°Is that because your bloodline has awakened?¡±

    Pei Qiqi shuddered slightly.

 Chapter 492: Going Further into the Dimension

    Leaning against the Lightning Shuttle, a cold light shed across Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes as she looked at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    Instead of answering right away, Nie Tian slowly sat down and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just a feeling.¡±

    Back when Zhen Hun had handed the Illusion Realm to her by the floating volcano, and her hands made contact with it, the same thing had happened.

    ording to Zhen Hun, it was a powerful outsider, whose bloodline carried profound spatial power, that had created that huge hole in the volcano.

    With the help of the Illusion Realm, she had stabilized the residue of that outsider¡¯s power, which had lingered on for tens of thousands of years.

    However, as soon as Pei Qiqi had touched the Illusion Realm, the spatial energy wreathing the floating volcano had vanished.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi had closed her eyes and isted herself from the outside world, as if she had begun to derive enlightenment from the profound mysteries within that spatial energy.

    As that had happened, Nie Tian had shrewdly discovered that the aura she exuded was actually the mysterious essence of flesh power.

    ¡°A feeling?¡± Pei Qiqi snorted and turned back around. Putting her hands on the prow of the Lightning Shuttle, she said with her back towards Nie Tian, ¡°So tell me what¡¯s your feeling about my master escaping from those men?¡±

    Realizing that she was changing the topic, Nie Tian didn¡¯t pursue it, but instead answered her question. ¡°Your master is well-versed in spatial magics. If there are no mishaps, she should be able to escape, and those from the Spirit God Sect won¡¯t be able to stop her.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently. ¡°I think so too.¡±

    Afterwards, she fell silent and focused on steering the Lightning Shuttle as they traveled across this strange dimension.

    Seeing that she wasn¡¯t in the mood for talking, Nie Tian also settled down, assumed the lotus position, and started practicing cultivation with Star Stones under the starlit sky, where there was no sun or moon, just ever-shining stars.

    As he absorbed star power from the Star Stones, he could sense with great rity that starlight was being somehow channeled toward him from the depths of the boundless starry river.

    For this reason, the speed at which he absorbed star power was greatly enhanced. Furthermore, as he practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation, he was able to maintain his profound connection with his Heaven Eyes, which he had already summoned back.

    While practicing cultivation, he was able to keep a close watch on everything happening in the vicinity via his Heaven Eyes.

    Time flew. After an unknown period of time, the Lightning Shuttle started descending towards a veryrge, floating boulder.

    As it did, Pei Qiqi took out her Sound Stone and attempted to contact Zhen Hun.

    Momentster, a hint of worry appeared in the depths of her eyes as she said, ¡°Perhaps we¡¯re too far from my master. I can¡¯t seem to get in touch with her.¡±

    Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation, looked up at her, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Her cultivation base is the same as those from the Spirit God Sect. Plus, even if her battle prowess turned out to be slightly inferior to those people, as a master of spatial magics, she would enjoy an advantage if she was bent on escaping.¡±

    He had realized this point from Zhao Shanling¡¯s escape.

    Relying on his profound spatial magics, the Soul realm Zhao Shanling had entered and left the Realm of Unbounded Destion as he pleased. No one had been able to capture him.

    Simrly, as his martial sister, Zhen Hun should be able to escape the siege of other Profound realm experts with ease.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°It may not be as easy as you think. Since you don¡¯t practice spatial power, you can¡¯t feel the abnormality of this ce. Even as skilled in wielding spatial power as my master is, it¡¯ll be very difficult for her to create and enter a spatial portal in this strange dimension.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Are you saying that Senior Zhen might be in danger? If that¡¯s the case, how can we help her?¡±

    Pei Qiqi let out a sigh. ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do. Considering our cultivation bases, even if we circle back now, we won¡¯t be able to provide her with any help, only burdens. When we left, master secretly sent me a message, telling me to take you and get as far away from the spatial rift through which we entered this dimension as possible.

    ¡°Master was certain that Yao Shou wasn¡¯t lying. People from the me God Sect have probably already entered this dimension through that spatial rift.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent. Only after a while did he say, ¡°It¡¯s too bad that we don¡¯t have a map of this ce and we don¡¯t know where we are. If we stray too far from that spatial rift, I fear we won¡¯t be able to find our way back.¡±

    ¡°No need to worry about that,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a calm andposed expression. ¡°I¡¯ve made a map of the areas we¡¯ve been to aftering here. And I have the coordinates of that spatial rift. Wherever we go, we¡¯ll always be able to find our way back. That I can assure you.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    After a moment of hesitation, Pei Qiqi added, ¡°I probably can locate thergest floating continent. Earlier, I received some helpful information from the residual spatial energy surrounding that floating volcano. It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t sorted through and fully understood the messages it carries.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body. ¡°The spatial energy that an outsider left around that volcano carried some kind of information?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Very little, but yeah.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could ask another question, Pei Qiqi blurted, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you there.¡±

    After sheid some fresh spirit stones at the bottom of the Lightning Shuttle, it once again rose into the air with a whoosh.

    Over the following days, Nie Tian no longer asked questions, but rather spent day and night absorbing star power from his Star Stones, refining his vortex of star power, and building up theke of stardew at the bottom of the vortex.

    ording to some timer in Pei Qiqi¡¯s possession, one month passed without them noticing.

    Thanks to the special environment, Nie Tian umted a copious amount of stardew at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    Gradually, it urred to him that as long as he continued to practice in this strange dimension, it wouldn¡¯t be very long before he umted enough stardew for him to advance to the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Soon, another month passed.

    They didn¡¯t encounter anyone on their way, and there was nothing special about the asional floating boulders andnds they crossed.

    Finally, one day, small adjustments seemed to be made to the direction the Lightning Shuttle was heading in.

    Nie Tian scanned the vicinity and failed to find anything noteworthy.

    However, soon afterwards, the Lightning Shuttle came to an area filled with floating boulders,nds, and old dead trees.

    Each of the floating trees was hundreds of meters tall and the size of a small mountain.

    With a brief nce, Nie Tian discovered that they were very simr to the ancient trees he had previously encountered in the magical ce where wood power was almost as thick as water.

    It was just that the floating, ancient trees he was seeing now were dead and withered away. Not a single leaf could be seen on their branches.

    Perhaps that was why they weren¡¯t attacking him and Pei Qiqi as the Lightning Shuttle flew past them.

    During the following few days, they saw more and more ancient trees on their way, as if they were entering a vast forest of them.

    All of a sudden, a floating continent that seemed much vaster than the one they had arrived on entered Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s view.

    The continent was filled with the same type of trees they had encountered along their way here. However, these trees were alive, iparably lush, and deeply rooted in every corner of the continent.

    As the Lightning Shuttle flew closer to the continent, Nie Tian¡¯s vortex of wood power started to spin faster.

    Not only that, but even the fragmented information he had formerly received from the titan started to realign at a faster speed.

    It seemed that those pieces of information could be put back together and fly out of his vortex of wood power at any moment now.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go over there and take a look,¡± Nie Tian said, pointing at the vast floating continent. ¡°There seems to be wood power over there, which is pretty strange.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s pretty eyes lit up as she sent out her psychic awareness, then she eximed softly, ¡°You¡¯re right. There actually is wood power over there.¡±

    They hadn¡¯t discovered the least bit of spiritual power on any of the floatingnds they had encountered on their way to this ce.

    Now that they hade to a special continent filled with incredibly tall and lush trees, as well as wood power, Pei Qiqi also seemed rather surprised. Without any dy, she steered the Lightning Shuttle toward it.

    As they gradually descended from the sky, Nie Tianmanded his nine Heaven Eyes to spread out and fly into different parts of the floating continent.

    The moment theynded, Nie Tian shuddered slightly. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°There are people down there!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°There are people here?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded gently, signaling her to hold the Lightning Shuttle. Immediately afterwards, he carefully controlled his Heaven Eyes to conduct a more thorough scan.

    Momentster, he found a few Qi warriors, who were dressed in the Poison Sect¡¯s garments, roaming in the forest of sky-reaching trees.

    ¡°Poison Sect disciples,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    ¡°What are their cultivation bases?¡± Pei Qiqi asked without hesitation. ¡°If their cultivation bases are much higher than ours, we need to leave immediately. We can¡¯t let them discover us.¡±

    Nie Tian was also surprised by his discoveries. ¡°Strangely, their cultivation bases aren¡¯t very high. The men I¡¯ve seen so far are all at the Greater Heaven stage. Don¡¯t tell me that they also had some unexpected encounters and got separated from their powerful experts.¡±

    Upon hearing that the other party consisted of nothing but Greater Heaven stage cultivators, Pei Qiqi looked rather relieved as she asked, ¡°How many?¡±

    ¡°Five. The one with the highest cultivation base is at thete Greater Heaven stage,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go over there and take a look,¡± Pei Qiqi proposed.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

 Chapter 493: Swarming Bugs

    As they walked into the dense forest, Nie Tian scanned his surroundings with the help of his Heaven Eyes. At the same time, he sent a wisp of psychic awareness into his ring of holding.

    He wanted to see if the me Dragon Armor had recovered its power and be usable again.

    The me Dragon Armor was sitting quietly in his ring of holding. Sitting next to it, the prismatic fiery crystal had already lost ny percent of the wisps of earthme essence swimming inside it.

    The Blood Core at the center of the chest area of the me Dragon Armor was still releasing misty, crimson light.

    Strands of crimson light connected the Blood Core and the fiery crystal beside it. After a brief examination, Nie Tian discovered that the me Dragon Armor had recovered about half of its power by absorbing and refining earthme essence from the fiery crystal.

    As he attempted tomunicate with the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, he instantly received a reply.

    Hence, he realized that although it had only recovered half of its power, it had be usable now.

    As a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, the me Dragon Armor was extremely helpful. Even though it hadn¡¯t been restored to its peak state, it would provide Nie Tian with significant assistance on various asions.

    His spirit was greatly lifted.

    As a thought entered his mind, the me Star flew out of his ring of holding.

    He reached out with one hand and assumed a tight grip on the me Star. Immediately, different powers rushed out of the vortexes in his spiritual sea and infused into it.

    As his spiritual power flowed through the numerous special spell formations engraved in the me Star, his spiritual power was further refined and concentrated, and became iparably pure and sharp.

    de light of various colors rose from the tip of the me Star, like a spiritual snake flicking its multi-colored tongue.

    Among it, a streak of green light appeared especially active.

    ¡°Yee?!¡± Surprised, Nie Tian stared nkly at the streak of green light, and instantly recognized that it was a streak of wood power.

    The streak of wood power wiggled unceasingly, as if it were eager to break free from thebined de light and fly towards the sky-reaching trees in the surroundings.

    Curious and puzzled, Nie Tian nced around at the ancient trees.

    Each and every one of them was lush and hundreds of meters tall. Even the shortest one seemed no shorter than five hundred meters. Standing among them, he looked very tiny.

    Fairly rich wood power started exuding from the branches and leaves of the huge trees around him, and started converging on him, as if it were attracted by that streak of wood power in the de light.

    He sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into his vortex of wood power, and discovered that the fragmented will he had received from the titan was rapidly gathering and reforming within his madly spinning vortex of wood power.

    Hence, he became absorbed in his thoughts.

    Compared to the wood power in the magical ce where he had discovered a Tree of Life, the wood power on this floating continent was much fainter.

    But even still, the wood power here was richer than any other ce he had been to in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After his previous trip to the magical ce where a Tree of Life existed, he had absorbed enough pure wood power, and his vortex of wood power had already reached the point where it was ready for his breakthrough into the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Perhaps the reason why he induced such interactions between the ancient trees in this ce and himself was because he had previously absorbed a copious amount of wood power from the magical ce where the same type of ancient trees grew.

    <i>¡°I wonder whether it¡¯ll trigger any changes if Iunch attacks with my wood power.¡± </i>With this thought in mind, he led Pei Qiqi deeper into the forest.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi had long since stored the Lightning Shuttle back in her ring of holding, and her slender physique was surrounded by multipleyers of rippling spatial energy.

    As far as Nie Tian sensed it, Pei Qiqi seemed to have vanished from his side and entered a different space, making herpletely undetectable by psychic awareness.

    Since he was no stranger to Pei Qiqi¡¯s mysterious abilities, he didn¡¯t feel very surprised.

    Some time passed...

    Nie Tian came to a stop by the foot of a huge tree and said softly, ¡°They¡¯re right ahead.¡±

    Three Heaven Eyes floated over the region ahead of them, where he could see five men and women dressed in the Poison Sect¡¯s garments sitting in a circle and chatting in low voices.

    As they chatted with their faces full of smiles, Nie Tian moved his Heaven Eyes to get a full grasp of the content of their conversations.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian exined to Pei Qiqi as he listened to their conversation intently, ¡°Those five are one of the Poison Sect¡¯s search teams. They¡¯ve recently discovered this strange continent and already sent word to the others. Now they¡¯re waiting for the arrival of their powerful experts.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression instantly changed as she asked, ¡°They¡¯re waiting for others toe?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Experts from the Poison Sect are beyond powerful. Even if just one Worldly realm expertes here, we¡¯ll be in huge trouble.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi rapidly calmed herself and gave up the idea of going deeper into the forest. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here, and we need to leave as soon as possible. Also, we¡¯ve got to keep an eye out for Poison Sect members that areing here upon receiving their message.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat hesitant.

    There was something special about this continent. His vortex of wood power had elerated, as well as the reintegration of the titan¡¯s broken will.

    He had always wondered what mysteries were lying within the titan¡¯s broken will. If they remained on this continent, it would take three days at the most for all of the broken pieces of information to fully reintegrate and present the truth to him.

    Three days was all he needed.

    However, powerful experts from the Poison Sect might very well arrive here within three days upon receiving the message sent by the search team of five resting ahead of them.

    After wrestling with indecision for a while, he eventually decided to y it safe, then he said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go back to where we came from.¡±

    Pei Qiqi let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Good. That¡¯s the wise thing to do.¡± She had worried that Nie Tian would act rashly and put the two of them in danger.

    However, just as Nie Tian was about to turn around and head back, he heard another piece of information via his Heaven Eyes.

    Sitting among the ancient trees, a slightly chubby young man with a gracious face lowered the Sound Stone in his hand and said with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°There¡¯s something strange about this ce. I can¡¯t seem to get the message through to the others. He Xue, why don¡¯t you make a message run? Get away from this continent and find a ce where you can get the message through to our seniors.¡±

    The Poison Sect disciple named He Xu rose to his feet. ¡°No problem, Big Brother Zhang Jiu. You guys be careful.¡±

    A bright smile appeared on Zhang Jiu¡¯s harmless face as he said, ¡°There¡¯s not a soul here other than the five of us. What¡¯s there to worry about?¡±

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re probably right.¡± With these words, He Xu left the group and marched towards the edge of the floating continent.

    The direction he was heading in didn¡¯t deviate far from where Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were.

    After Nie Tian ryed their conversation to Pei Qiqi, she hastily tried using her own Sound Stone. Immediately afterwards, her eyes lit up. ¡°He¡¯s right. Sound Stones don¡¯t seem to work here. That means they¡¯re relying on that man to leave this continent to get word of their discovery through to their seniors. If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯re not in a hurry to leave anymore...¡±

    Soon, she came up with an idea, and said to Nie Tian, ¡°You stay here. I¡¯ll go take care of that messenger.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    The messenger, He Xu, possessed the lowest cultivation base among the five Poison Sect disciples. If there weren¡¯t any mishaps, he wouldn¡¯t even stand a chance fighting Pei Qiqi, so Nie Tian wasn¡¯t worried.

    Watching Pei Qiqi going stealthily in the direction he had pointed out for her, he stood in ce by the foot of a huge tree.

    He continued to pay close attention to the movement and conversations between the other four.

    Smiles filled the corner of Zhang Jiu¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°Our powerful seniors areing soon. Let¡¯s not just sit around and do nothing while we wait. This ce is wreathed in wood power. All of these ancient trees must also contain copious amounts of wood power. I bet our spirit vermin can feast on them.¡±

    With these words, the slightly chubby Zhang Jiu rose to his feet. As the ring of holding on his finger flickered brightly, countless bugs swarmed out of it and swooped towards nearby trees.

    The other three followed suit and cast the Poison Sect¡¯s unique magic to unleash the spirit vermin they had refined.

    Shortly, the surroundings of the four Poison Sect disciples were filled with extremely active flying bugs.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian saw that the bugs were of various sizes. Some were the size of fists, while others were the size of grains, but upon closer examination, all of them looked sinister and had sharp teeth.

    Without any hesitation, they swarmed towards the nearby ancient trees and started gnawing away on the freshly-green leaves and branches.

    The excited noises of the bugs made Nie Tian¡¯s hair stand on end. Under the gaze of his Heaven Eyes, the leaves and branches of the nearby trees rapidly disappeared.

    Some of the bugs even flew towards his hiding ce. As they approached, they seemed to notice his existence, and thus started to give out ear-piercing noises.

    Upon hearing the bugs¡¯ strange shrieks, Zhang Jiu¡¯s peaceful face instantly changed as he called out, ¡°Who¡¯s hiding there?¡±

    Upon uttering these words, he morphed into a giant bird and pounced towards Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    The expressions of the other three Poison Sect disciples also turned cold as they each gave a cold harrumph and began forming hand seals. As soon as they did, countless bugs flew directly towards Nie Tian¡¯s hiding ce like swarms of locusts.

    ¡°Spirit vermin!¡± Nie Tian let out a cold snort and stepped out from behind the thick tree trunk. Eyes filled with frosty light, he red at the iing swarms of sinister bugs.

 Chapter 494: Life Drain

    Zhang Jiu, the leader of the Poison Sect search team, was only at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    The other three were one male and two females. The man, who looked older than the others, was at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Both of the two females were at the middle Greater Heaven stage and had curvaceous bodies and young, pretty faces.

    As soon as their bugs detected the aura of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and blood, the four of them almost simultaneously locked down on Nie Tian¡¯s hiding ce and dashed over after their spirit vermin.

    The gentle-looking Zhang Jiu was the leader of this searching team because of his extraordinary talent and strong backers in the Poison Sect.

    He shed past ancient trees and stopped before Nie Tian, who was now surrounded by countless bugs.

    His eyes ran up and down Nie Tian. Surprised to find no sigil on his garments, he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Before entering this dimension, the major sects from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars had already cleared the entire mountain range together.

    All of the local powers and independent Qi warriors had been driven out of the mountain range or annihted.

    It was very unlikely that someone could have escaped their joint operation and entered this dimension through one of the six spatial rifts.

    However, the garments Nie Tian was wearing didn¡¯t belong to any of the major foreign sects, which somewhat surprised him.

    Enveloped by his chaotic maic field, Nie Tian¡¯s expression remained as calm as ever as he watched tens of thousands of bugs swarming around him.

    He repeatedly swung the me Star in the air, unleashing numerous, dazzling de lights.

    Many spirit vermin gave out sharp shrieks and dropped to the ground.

    The spirit vermin Zhang Jiu and the others had refined seemed to be greatly affected and started to fly very slowly when they entered the chaotic maic field.

    Nie Tian¡¯s de lights tangled up and formed dense grids that filled his entire chaotic maic field.

    Even the smallest bug couldn¡¯t fly past them to attack Nie Tian .

    Watching their spirit vermin fall to the ground, Zhang Jiu shook his head slightly and said, ¡°Since you refuse to state your identity, don¡¯t me us for what we¡¯re going to do to you!

    ¡°Crimson Chain Snake!¡± With these words, a small, red snake that was half a meter long and the girth of a finger suddenly flew out of Zhang Jiu¡¯s palm.

    Unlike normal snakes, this small snake was semi-translucent, like a red gem. Its beady eyes shone with suffocating light as it flew towards Nie Tian.

    As Nie Tian watched the iing snake, the nine fragmentary stars suddenly started shining brightly over Nie Tian¡¯s soul sea.

    One wisp of bloodthirsty aura after another burst forth from within the Crimson Chain Snake¡¯s eyes and stealthily invaded Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    With an exmation, Nie Tian suddenly realized that the soul shadow of the Crimson Chain Snake had appeared out of nowhere within his soul.

    ¡°This spirit vermin can actually attack my soul!¡±

    Shocked, Nie Tian no longer dared to treat it lightly, and hastily morphed his psychic awareness into arge saber that resembled the me Star.

    With a crushing force, the saber shed down on the Crimson Chain Snake¡¯s soul shadow.

    However, the Crimson Chain Snake¡¯s soul shadow instantly split into arge number of slender spiritual snakes.

    Simultaneously, the Crimson Chain Snake in the real world entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    As soon as it did, the bugs Zhang Jiu had previously sent into the chaotic maic field seemed to be inspired by their leader, and instantly became fiercer and more active.

    Some of the smallest bugs squeezed their way through the very tiny spaces between Nie Tian¡¯s tightly-woven de lights and began to attack him.

    After passing through Nie Tian¡¯s defenses, the small bugs all seemed extremely excited. Each of their devilish eyes shone with an unending desire for flesh and blood.

    Zhang Jiu¡¯s expression flickered. Eyes brimming with ecstasy, he said, ¡°This guy carries very rich and refined flesh power! All of my spirit vermin that passed through his defenses turned from active to mad!¡±

    Overjoyed, Wu Cui, the girl in a long emerald dress, eximed, ¡°Is he a freak who focuses on the refinement of flesh and blood?¡±

    Eyes lit up, Luo Ting, the girl in red dress, said with a bright smile, ¡°It seems so. We¡¯re so in luck. My little scorpion loves nothing better than the flesh and blood of humans who refine their bodies.¡±

    With these words, a green string shot out from her palm, which rapidly morphed into a green scorpion that was the size of a fist.

    At first nce, it seemed as if it had been carved out of a piece of emerald, almost too exquisite to be real.

    However, its beady eyes were blood-red, and brimmed with a strong thirst for flesh and blood.

    It shot into Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field and sprayed a cloud of toxic mist out of its mouth, as if it weren¡¯t affected by the distorting force within the chaotic maic field.

    In the blink of an eye, the green mist pervaded a ten meter radius around Nie Tian.

    A numbing toxin seemed to be quietly invading Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and blood.

    Engulfed by the toxic mist, Nie Tian felt a burning sensation from his exposed skin, as if it were being burned by fierce sunlight.

    Meanwhile, as his blood and aura circted, he started to experience mild pain inside of him.

    That was when he realized that the toxic mist unleashed by the scorpion was causing slow damage to his flesh and blood.

    With a cold snort, he instantly shifted away from his original ce.

    As soon as he left the area where the toxic mist pervaded, he practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation to stimte the might of the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Beams of chilly starlight poured down from the void over his soul sea. The numerous slender Crimson Chain Snakes, which were attempting to devour his soul, were instantly shed into shreds by the dazzling saber formed by Nie Tian¡¯s psychic awareness and soul power.

    The shredded Crimson Chain Snakes rapidly dissipated.

    Zhang Jiu¡¯s face turn pale with fright. ¡°There¡¯s something special about this guy! He¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage, but the refinement of his soul has already reached such a high level! He eliminated my Crimson Chain Snake¡¯s soul attack without breaking a sweat!¡±

    At the same time, Luo Ting eximed, ¡°The refinement of his flesh and blood is also very shocking! There¡¯s something weird about him. Quit ying everyone. Let¡¯s finish him off quickly!¡±

    At first, they had taken Nie Tian for someone they could have some fun with before killing. But now, seeing that not only had the Crimson Chain Snake failed to shatter his soul, but it had also sustained injuries itself, they all started to treat Nie Tian seriously.

    Even the onlyte Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciple stopped being an onlooker and unleashed his most powerful spirit vermin.

    A brown centipede shot out with a sharp shriek and almost instantly entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Wu Cui unleashed her most powerful spirit vermin, a ck bee.

    In the next moment, the Crimson Chain Snake, the green scorpion, the brown centipede, and the ck bee entered Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field at the same time. They were significantlyrger than all the other spirit vermin, and didn¡¯t seem to be affected by the maic field at all.

    Because they were the leaders of the other spirit vermin, as soon as they let out sharp shrieks, the tiny spirit vermin that had squeezed through the grids of de lights began biting hard on Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders.

    The soreness and stabbing pain made Nie Tian frown, but at that very moment, an idea urred to him.

    All of a sudden, he dropped his defenses altogether and sat down on the ground, as if he were deeply poisoned.

    ¡°He¡¯s poisoned!¡± Wu Cui eximed, overjoyed.

    Immediately afterwards, the sky-filling spirit vermin swarmed on him, along with the red snake, green scorpion, brown centipede, and ck bee.

    In a split second, Nie Tian, who was sitting in the lotus position, was covered by a thickyer of spirit vermin.

    At first nce, Nie Tian looked like amb being gnawed by countless flesh-eating vermin.

    Soreness and stabbing pain came from every inch of Nie Tian¡¯s skin, which almost caused him to scream out loud.

    Meanwhile, he could sense with great rity that his flesh power was also quickly being sucked away from him.

    At that moment, Nie Tian snorted coldly and thought to himself, ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Drain!¡±

    In the next moment, the numerous crystal-like chains within the green aura in his heart started to shine with blinding light.

    The green spots within those crystal-like chains seemed to be realigning to reveal the Life Drain bloodline talent. One wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power after another suddenly shot towards the countless spirit vermin that were clinging to him like fishing lines.

    Even finer than hair, the wisps of flesh power, which were branded with the Life Drain bloodline talent, caused explosive effects the moment they pierced into the spirit vermin bodies.

    Every spirit vermin that was now biting Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and sucking his blood let out terrified, blood-curdling shrieks.

    However, ecstasy appeared in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Like tubes that connected the spirit vermin and Nie Tian, the countless wisps of flesh power started to forcibly suck the life force out of the spirit vermin.

    Even though the spirit vermin seemed insignificant individually, each and every one of them contained surprisingly rich flesh power, especially the fourrger ones.

    Based on Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the flesh power they carried wasn¡¯t any less than that of fourth grade spirit beasts¡¯.

    Pooh! Pooh! Pooh!

    Numerous small spirit vermin were quickly drained of all their flesh power, and their shriveled bodies fell to the ground like rain.

    Tens of thousands of wisps of flesh power flew back to Nie Tian¡¯s heart, where they were devoured by the green bloodline aura and became its nourishment.

    Muffled groans escaped the mouths of Zhang Jiu and the other Poison Sect disciples, their faces turning pale.

    The same fearful look that appeared in the spirit vermin¡¯s eyes appeared in their eyes as well, as if they were crying in their hearts for all of their spirit vermin to leave Nie Tian alone and return to them.

    At this moment, they stared at Nie Tian like they were staring at some evil spirit.

    WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi returned. The moment she saw Nie Tian, a soft exmation escaped her mouth.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian, who was now deeply covered in spirit vermin, looked like a man made of bugs, and very scary.

    She thought Nie Tian had been poisoned and had his flesh and blood gnawed away. She thought he was a lost cause.

    Just as she was about to drive away the spirit vermin, she saw Nie Tian¡¯s bug-covered face split into a smile.

    Zhang Jiu and the others stood aghast, their expressions looking as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

    ¡°T-this guy...¡± Sensing the fear and weakening life aura from her spirit vermin, Wu Cui stammered and failed to even get a whole sentence out.

    Bewildered by the scene, Zhang Jiu quickly came back to his senses and shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here and inform our seniors!

    The other three also snapped back to their senses and rapidly sped away in different directions.

    Even though their spirit vermin, which let out miserable shrieks unceasingly, also wanted to escape, they were bound by wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power, and couldn¡¯t move even the slightest bit.

 Chapter 495: Infiltration of Toxins

    Upon seeing Pei Qiqi¡¯s arrival, Zhang Jiu instantly gave up on the idea of killing Nie Tian, and decided to withdraw.

    After all, he didn¡¯t know if there were still others who hade to this floating continent together with Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    He was also worried that powerful Worldly realm or Profound realm experts would arrive within a short time.

    The fourrger spirit vermin had profound connections with the four of them. As they were bent on leaving, they each summoned their spirit vermin with their minds,manding them to leave with them.

    However, even though their spirit vermin heard the summons of their souls, they could only let out even sadder shrills. Not one of them was able to break free from the binds of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power.

    Zhang Qiu and the other three simultaneously fled in four different directions, repeatedly looking over their shoulders as they did.

    Sitting upright by the foot of an ancient tree, Nie Tian grinned somewhat scarily. As he shook his shoulders, numerous dead small bugs fell to the ground.

    Meanwhile, the Crimson Chain Snake, brown centipede, green scorpion, and ck bee seemed as if they were mped by Nie Tian¡¯s flesh.

    As hard as they tried to return to their masters, they couldn¡¯t.

    Due to the activation of Life Drain, wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power, which were even finer than hair, pierced into them and held them down like sharp hooks.

    The pure and rich flesh power within the four spirit vermin poured madly into Nie Tian¡¯s body like a flood rushing through a shattered watergate.

    ¡°Why the rush? I¡¯m not done ying yet.¡± Grinning, Nie Tian shook himself briefly, and more small bugs fell to the ground.

    Every one of them had been drained of everyst shred of flesh power, and looked like dried-up meat that had been left in fierce sunlight for years. Not the slightest sign of life could be sensed from them.

    One after another, wisps of refined flesh power flowed back to Nie Tian¡¯s heart, where they were greedily absorbed by the green aura.

    Wreathed in rich flesh power, Nie Tian expelled all of the spirit vermin¡¯s venom and toxins from his system.

    Feeling full of vigor, Nie Tian charged towards thete Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciple with a scary grin on his face.

    Pei Qiqi, who had returned after killing the Poison Sect messenger, was taken aback upon seeing that Nie Tian waspletely unaffected by the four spirit vermin clinging to him. Her bright eyes flickered as she saw Nie Tian charge towards an enemy like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

    After a moment of bewilderment, she hastily formed exquisite hand seals.

    In the next moment, two spatial energy wards suddenly came to form in Wu Cui and Luo Ting¡¯s paths of escape like two thinyers of rippling water.

    Wu Cui and Luo Ting ran into the wards headfirst, and with a violent shake, they both disappeared.

    Meanwhile, Ethereal Swords shot out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s cuff as she charged towards Zhang Jiu, not paying any further attention to Wu Cui and Luo Ting.

    Both she and Nie Tian knew that if any of the four escaped from them and sent word to their seniors, they would end up in huge trouble.

    That was why they had exchanged a nce and reached a mutual understanding right before theyunched counterattacks: none of these Poison Sect disciples would live.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian kept a watch on Wu Cui and Luo Ting with his Heaven Eyes as he chased after thete Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciple.

    He saw with great rity that the two of them tumbled into the wards of spatial energy, and thus were now trapped within the wards.

    Their expressions flickered drastically as they searched for a way to get out of there.

    They unleashed various incantations and rushed about non-stop, but still couldn¡¯t find a way to break free from Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial wards.

    The fact that they couldn¡¯t escape from Pei Qiqi¡¯s restriction magic even though they were both at the middle Greater Heaven stage proved how unfathomable Pei Qiqi¡¯s strength had be.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The green scorpion and ck bee were drained of flesh power and fell off Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders. Their shriveled bodies crashed to the ground.

    As they did, Nie Tian observed Wu Cui and Luo Ting via his Heaven Eyes, and discovered that their faces had turned even more ghastly.

    The scorpion and bee were their spirit vermin, which had profound connections with them. The deaths of the scorpion and bee seemed to have made them suffer a bacsh.

    <i>¡°Such rich flesh power!¡± </i>Sensing the excitement of the green aura in his heart, Nie Tian smiled heartily and cast a short-range Starshift.

    A streak of dazzling starlight shed past, and Nie Tian appeared in front of the fleeingte Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciple, holding his me Star.

    Sha Cheng stopped his dashing momentum and said, ¡°Don¡¯t push me, brat!¡±

    With the Crimson Chain Snake and the brown centipede dangling on his waist, Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Well, I am pushing you. What can you do about it?¡±

    As he spoke, he kept a close watch on the overall situation with the help of his nine Heaven Eyes in the vicinity.

    Wu Cui and Luo Ting, who were trapped by Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial magic, sustained injuries to their souls due to the deaths of their spirit vermin, and became increasingly anxious.

    From the look of it, there was no way that they could burst out of those spatial wards created by Pei Qiqi.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi had already caught up to Zhang Jiu, and the two of them were now engaged in a fierce battle.

    ording to his understanding of Pei Qiqi¡¯s battle prowess, it was very unlikely that an opponent at the same cultivation stage as her would beat her in a battle.

    In addition, He Xu, the messenger, had long since been killed by Pei Qiqi. Therefore, as long as he could silence Sha Cheng, they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about word of what happened here leaking anymore.

    Not only did the spirit vermin that belonged to Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng fail to struggle free from Nie Tian¡¯s constraint, but they were also rapidly losing their flesh power due to the effect of Life Drain.

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before they were drained of their flesh power and died.

    Since Wu Cui and Luo Ting had sustained injuries because of the deaths of their spirit vermin, Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng would probably also sustain injuries when their spirit vermin died.

    With this thought in mind, Nie Tian became even more relieved.

    Sha Cheng let out a sigh and said, ¡°Very well. Whether your seniors are somewhere on this floating continent or not, I shall teach you a lesson. I really don¡¯t know where you got the courage to stand in my way when you¡¯re only at the early Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    In fact, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to leave because he feared Nie Tian, but rather, was afraid that more powerful experts were on their way to this ce.

    Every team that had entered this dimension through one of the six spatial rifts had a few powerful seniors on their team. In Sha Cheng¡¯s eyes, others on Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s side would most likely arrive soon.

    For that reason, he hadn¡¯t wanted to waste his time fighting Nie Tian. He knew that by doing so, he might put himself in danger. However, he eventually embraced his killing nature after being provoked by Nie Tian.

    ¡°Poison Sect forbidden technique: Spirit Vermin Self-destruction!¡± With these words, the vague soul shadow of a brown centipede suddenly surfaced in the depths of Sha Cheng¡¯s pupils. It twisted madly about, as if it were lit up by some kind of power and became demented.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as the brown centipede, which had bitten into the side of his waist, let out an ear-piercing shriek.

    The moment the shriek echoed out, the brown centipede vibrated briefly, and then exploded with a loud boom.

    The strong explosive force instantly sent arge amount of toxins into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and blood.

    Sha Cheng thrust all of the brown centipede¡¯s toxins and itsst remaining power into Nie Tian¡¯s internal organs at the expense of its life.

    Heart-wrenching pain came from Nie Tian¡¯s insides. He examined himself with his mind, and discovered that the brown toxins had already dispersed into his five yin organs and six yang organs.

    The toxins looked like tiny earthworms that carried intense, foul smells.

    Feeling sore and aching all over, Nie Tian felt as if even his mind had be dull because of the toxins in him.

    BOOM!

    Almost simultaneously, the explosion of the brown centipede caused the Crimson Chain Snake to explode and die.

    The moment it did, a bloody mist sprayed all over Nie Tian, along with the toxins it carried, causing his exposed skin to burn.

    ¡°Sha Cheng! Are you trying to kill me?!¡± Zhang Jiu¡¯s explosive roar echoed out from afar.

    As the Crimson Chain Snake died, Zhang Jiu seemed to suffer a strong blow. One of the Ethereal Swords shed down from midair and cut off a piece of his flesh.

    ¡°Your Crimson Chain Snake was going to die anyway. It might as well cause some damage with its death.¡± With these words, Sha Cheng muttered something before taking out three green arrows and flinging them towards Nie Tian.

    The three green arrows morphed into three wisps of smoke as they traveled ethereally in the air. They were aimed at Nie Tian¡¯s neck and eyes.

    Nie Tian, who was feeling light-headed from the toxins, had difficulty summoning his spiritual power.

    The de light of the me Star constantly flickered, as he had already lost control of the three types of power he had infused into it.

    ¡°You asked for this,¡± Sha Cheng said with a cold face.

 Chapter 496: Efforts in Vain

    As the three small, green arrows shot towards Nie Tian like three wisps of ethereal smoke, loud rolls of thunder rang out in Nie Tian¡¯s ears.

    In the meantime, iparably strong spiritual power burst forth from within them. Even though they were still a long way from Nie Tian, his eyes were already starting to hurt.

    He instantly had an idea as to how mighty the arrows were.

    Feeling a sense of urgency, he hastily tried to summon power from his spiritual sea, yet he discovered that he couldn¡¯t draw any power from his vortex of star power and vortex of me power.

    His vortex of wood power was the only one that didn¡¯t seem to be affected, and was still spinning at a high speed.

    Glittering, green spots could be seen floating at the bottom of the vortex of wood power, which carried the broken will of a titan.

    WHOOSH!

    Pure and rich liquidized wood power rushed out of his vortex of wood power and poured into his meridians like numerous green streams.

    In the next moment, streams of misty, green light started to rise from within Nie Tian, which rapidly swirled around and eventually enveloped him.

    It was as if the misty green light had formed a emerald pagoda over Nie Tian.

    All of a sudden, the nearby ancient trees seemed to be attracted to Nie Tian. Wisps of freshly-green wood power started to converge on and infuse into him.

    After receiving wood power from the vicinity, the emerald light swirling around Nie Tian started to shine increasingly dazzlingly, causing Nie Tian, who was bathed in rich wood power, to feel full of vigor.

    Sha Cheng¡¯s three small arrows, which were wreathed in cyan lightning, bombarded theyer of misty, emerald light around Nie Tian.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The green arrows instantly exploded, sending out wisps of toxins and lightning that intended to prate the thickyer of defensive light.

    However, as powerful as they were, their efforts turned out to be in vain.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian was struck by a clear feeling that he was being nourished by the rich wood power within theyer of emerald light around him.

    Wood power and flesh power he had absorbed from the spirit vermin swam around among his internal organs, helping him neutralize the toxins.

    He examined himself with a wisp of soul power, which he extracted from the fragmentary stars, and discovered that the strands of brown toxins were fading away from his internal organs, and the Crimson Chain Snake¡¯s poisonous blood on his skin was also disappearing.

    Meanwhile, the sore and powerless sensations he had been feeling were also greatly relieved, along with the mind-numbing dizziness.

    Furthermore, the various vortexes within his spiritual sea, which seemed to have temporarily stopped, returned to normal again, and the various types of power were once again at hismand.

    All of a sudden, a vigorous life force brimmed in his heart, causing his heart to race.

    As the numerous slim, crystal-like chains within the green aura shone with dazzling and mysterious light, a wave of unfathomable energy fluctuations spread out from Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Immediately, all of his powerless and negative sensations were swept away.

    No longer affected by the toxins left in him by the spirit vermin, he felt as if he were vested with a profound force. With a swing of his me Star, he shot its de light of three powers straight forward with a momentum that could sever everything in its way.

    Wherever the de light extended, the earth cracked open, and crackling sounds filled the air.

    Sha Cheng¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he hastily formed hand seals. Thunder and lightning instantly wreathed and filled the space between his palms. A momentter, arge, translucent centipede came to form in the air before him.

    The centipede was almost identical to the one that had just exploded and died. The only difference was that it was many timesrger.

    As soon as it appeared, it started to twist about, giving rise to flickering lightning and rumbling thunder.

    The floating, intangible centipede red at Nie Tian, as if it were going to unleash some sort of psychic attack.

    However, before it could form any magics, the me Star¡¯s de light whizzed over and bombarded its head.

    The centipede, which Sha Cheng had formed with the Poison Sect¡¯s secret magic using his psychic power, spiritual power, and poisons, was instantly cut in half from head to tail.

    Sha Cheng¡¯s eyes dimmed slightly as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then, he shot a nasty glower at Nie Tian.

    However, as his blood spilled on the split centipede, the two halves of its body morphed into two new centipedes, which became active and restless again.

    Sha Cheng seemed to realized that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t so easily dealt with. Fearing that others mighte to his aid, he once again decided to leave.

    He released a thick, brown smoke, enveloping him and filling his path of escape. Soon, he disappeared from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    The two newly-formed centipedes seemed to be vested with new, extra life power from Sha Cheng¡¯s blood. Their intangible bodies solidified as they shot madly towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph andunched another short-range Starshift, turning a blind eye to the two iing centipedes.

    A streak of starlight shed by, and the next moment, he appeared within the grayish-brown smoke unleashed by Sha Cheng. His vision waspromised, preventing him from getting a clear view of everything around him.

    Even his Heaven Eyes, which were floating high in the sky, were temporarily blocked by the grayish-brown smoke. He could only see via his Heaven Eyes that a line of smoke stretched far into the distance, but he couldn¡¯t see through the smoke and locate Sha Cheng.

    By the time Nie Tian enhanced the perception of his Heaven Eyes with more soul power from the fragmentary stars and determined Sha Cheng¡¯s location, he had already reached the edge of the floating continent.

    Hence, Nie Tianunched another short-range Starshift, and arrived behind him.

    However, just as Nie Tian was about tounch an attack, another Poison Sect disciple rushed over from the void, treading on a sizable rock.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly stopped his dashing momentum and turned around.

    That Poison Sect disciple was at the middle Worldly realm. He thundered while dashing towards the floating continent, ¡°How dare you!!¡±

    BOOM!

    As he approached the continent, the rock he stood on suddenly exploded.

    Meanwhile, he seemed to have flown into an enormous, invisible ward, and instantly bounced back, blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°What the....¡± Confusion filled the man¡¯s face as he stared at the floating continent before him, and didn¡¯t dare to make another attempt.

    Sha Cheng finally charged out of his grayish-brown smoke and flew to the man¡¯s side. Panting heavily, he said, ¡°Senior Martial Brother Sun, two strangers are chasing and killing our disciples down there! He Xu has probably died already. We didn¡¯t think the situation was in our favor, and so we ran.¡±

    Sun Xuan¡¯s face turned as grim as piece of steel as he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Zhang Jiu? Is he okay?¡±

    ¡°Umm... I think he¡¯s fine.¡± Sha Cheng sounded hesitant.

    Sun Xuan snorted coldly and eximed, ¡°There seems to be a special ward around this floating continent, which is stopping me from entering! Sha Cheng, you must know how important Zhang Qiu is to our sect. Now, circle back and get him out of there! Nothing can happen to him!¡±

    Sha Cheng bowed his head and said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    With these words, he, who had already sustained injuries, unleashed his psychic awareness to determine Zhang Jiu¡¯s current location, while he circled around the floating continent at full speed.

    Hundreds of meters beneath them, Nie Tian, who was nning to run away, stopped.

    He had caught every word of the conversation between Sha Cheng and Sun Xuan with the help of his Heaven Eyes. He had also witnessed Sun Xuan bouncing back on his way towards him. Sun Xuan even seemed to have sustained injuries from it.

    After a moment of pondering, he suddenly realized that there must be some sort of barrier around this floating continent, where he and Pei Qiqi were free to travel about.

    They hadn¡¯t run into that barrier, nor had Zhang Jiu, Sha Cheng, and the other Poison Sect disciples, which meant that barrier didn¡¯t have any restrictive effect on Greater Heaven stage cultivators.

    However, the barrier would prevent those with cultivation bases higher than the Greater Heaven stage from entering.

    At that moment, via his Heaven Eyes, which were scattered and covered arge area around him, Nie Tian caught sight of a few other Poison Sect disciples approaching from the distant void.

    He had originally nned to leave this floating continent as soon as possible. However, after pondering the situation for a moment, he came up with a new n.

    Eyes fixed on Sun Xuan, he slowly stepped backwards to hide himself in the dense forest. Then, via his Heaven Eyes, he discovered to his surprise that Pei Qiqi had failed to finish off Zhang Jiu.

    Even though his life-spirit vermin, the Crimson Chain Snake, had died, he had somehow broken away from Pei Qiqi.

    As Pei Qiqi chased him to the edge of the floating continent, she seemed to also notice the Poison Sect reinforcements, and thus withdrew, calling out, ¡°Mu Han!¡±

    Nie Tian rushed towards her without hesitation.

    Momentster, they reunited in the depths of the dense forest, where he found Wu Cui and Luo Ting¡¯s corpses, which both had blood on their necks and foreheads.

    Pei Qiqi summoned her Lightning Shuttle and urged Nie Tian to jump on board. ¡°People from the Poison Sect areing for us. We need to leave now.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No, we can¡¯t leave this floating continent. Powerful experts from the Poison Sect are closing in on this continent. If we leave this ce, they¡¯ll surely chase us down and kill us. But if we stay, we might have a chance at surviving.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed. ¡°We¡¯ll be doomed if we stay here!¡±

    ¡°This continent is very special.¡± Nie Tian hastily exined. ¡°Apparently, only Greater Heaven stage cultivators can set foot on it. I just witnessed a Worldly realm Poison Sect expert flying into some invisible barrier on his way down. He even sustained injuries because of it.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re kidding!¡±

    ¡°Trust me!¡±

 Chapter 497: Accumulating Power

    By the edge of the floating continent.

    Covered in blood, Zhang Jiu dashed to Sun Xuan¡¯s side. Looking exhausted, he eximed, ¡°Senior Martial Brother Sun!¡±

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Sun Xuan hastily asked.

    He was well-aware of Zhang Jiu¡¯s special status in the Poison Sect. Therefore, he was apparently concerned seeing Zhang Jiu in such sore straits.

    ¡°Sha Cheng got my life-spirit vermin killed,¡± Zhang Jiu said with a cold face. Then, he nced around and asked, ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°I sent him back to rescue you,¡± Sun Xuan exined.

    ¡°Rescue me?¡± Zhang Jiu asked with a sarcastic smile. ¡°I¡¯ll thank god if he doesn¡¯t get me in trouble.¡±

    As the two of them spoke, Sha Cheng dashed over from the distance. Seeing that Zhang Jiu was fine, he hastily exined, ¡°Junior Martial Brother Zhang, I only cast a magic to detonate my own life-spirit vermin because there was something special about that guy. Not only were neither of our life-spirit vermin able to break away from him, but they were also rapidly losing their flesh power to him.¡±

    BAM!

    Even though Sun Xuan was standing right beside them, Zhang Jiu pped Sha Cheng across his face without any scruple.

    ¡°Even if you needed to detonate your life-spirit vermin, you should have told me beforehand!¡± Zhang Jiu shouted with a cold face. ¡°You should have expected that the death of my life-spirit vermin would instantly take its toll on me! Just because you didn¡¯t tell me about it, that bitch got me when I was trying to escape, and cut off a chunk of my flesh!¡±

    Pointing at the bloody mess on his left shoulder, he yelled, ¡°You almost got me killed!!¡±

    Sha Cheng touched his face and said in a low voice, ¡°You were too far away from me. I couldn¡¯t remind you even if I wanted to.¡±

    Zhang Jiu grew furious. ¡°Shut up! You didn¡¯t remind me because you wanted to catch that guy off guard!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Two other Poison Sect disciples came from the distant void on floating rocks, and then arrived by their side.

    ¡°What happened?" One of them was surprised by Zhang Jiu¡¯s condition.

    Hoping to smooth things over, Sun Xuan said, ¡°Alright, alright. Tell us what happened with your team.¡±

    Zhang Jiu shot another nasty nce at Sha Cheng. Seeing that he had fallen silent, he finally decided to let it go. He turned to look at Sun Xuan and said, ¡°Two strangers came to this continent, a young man and a young woman. The woman is skilled in spatial magics. The man is even weirder. When we unleashed our spirit vermin to gnaw on his flesh and inject venom into him, not only did he not die, but he even drained our spirit vermin of their flesh power.¡±

    Sun Xuan spent a short while pondering in silence before saying, ¡°That woman who¡¯s skilled in using spatial power is probably Zhen Hun¡¯s disciple, Pei Qiqi. As for that weird young man, I can¡¯t think of a name.¡±

    Zhang Jiu gave a low chuckle. ¡°Zhen Hun¡¯s disciple?¡± His face recovered its calm and peaceful state as he said, ¡°The Tool Sect has lost its glory. It¡¯ll only be a matter of time before Zhao Shanling takes it into his hands. As for Zhen Hun, she¡¯s nothing more than an exceptional equipment forger. Her battle prowess actually isn¡¯t that formidable.¡±

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t put the deaths of He Xu, Wu Cui, and Luo Ting on his mind.

    ¡°Now, they¡¯re trapped on this floating continent. Senior Martial Brother Sun, if you guys go after them, they¡¯ll die beyond the shadow of a doubt.¡± With a grin, Zhang Jiu added, ¡°But I prefer you capture them and let me finish them off.¡±

    Sun Xuan smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that can¡¯t happen.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Jiu was confused.

    Sun Xuan pointed at the floating continent and said with a grim expression, ¡°There¡¯s something strange about this ce. I tried to approach thend mass earlier, but I was stopped by an invisible barrier. I even sustained injuries from it.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the two Poison Sect disciples who had arrived just now were also taken aback.

    Hence, the two of them, who were both at the early Worldly realm, also made an attempt to slowly approach the floating continent.

    Just as they were about to reach the edge of the continent, they sensed the existence of a special ward. No matter what they tried, they couldn¡¯t get through it.

    Then, they rapidly shifted to other locations and tried to enter from there.

    After a while, the two of them returned. Under Sun Xuan¡¯s inquiring gaze, one of them shook his head in frustration and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. There is an invisible barrier around this floating continent. We tried everything from every direction, but whatever we did, we couldn¡¯t go through the barrier.¡±

    ¡°You go and try again,¡± Sun Xuan said to Sha Cheng.

    Sha Cheng didn¡¯t dare to say no, and thus shot towards the floating continent under the others¡¯ gazes. In the next moment, he went through without encountering the slightest obstacle.

    As Sha Cheng circled back, Sun Xuan realized what was happening. ¡°The barrier is only effective on Qi warriors at the Worldly realm or higher. Those at the Greater Heaven stage and lower won¡¯t be affected at all.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure, Senior Martial Brother Sun?¡± Zhang Jiu asked.

    Sun Xuan nodded as he took out his Sound Stone and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, junior martial brother. I¡¯ll summon our Greater Heaven stage disciples to this ce right now.¡±

    Also at that moment, Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng realized why Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian¡¯s seniors hadn¡¯t showed up.

    In Zhang Jiu¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were already trapped on this floating continent. All he needed to do was wait for other Greater Heaven stage sectmates toe. Then, together, they would be able to take their time searching for and killing Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, like catching a couple of turtles in a jar.

    ...

    In the dense forest, Nie Tian stood beside Wu Cui and Luo Ting¡¯s corpses, and observed Sun Xuan and the others via one of his Heaven Eyes. Increasingly certain of his spection, he said to Pei Qiqi, ¡°Listen to me. Worldly realm experts can¡¯t set foot on this floating continent due to a special ward around it. Those from the Poison Sect are waiting for their Greater Heaven stage members to gather to this ce and wipe us out together.¡±

    Pei Qiqi settled down, and with a sharp and chilly look in her eyes, she said, ¡°If Worldly realm experts can¡¯t set foot on this continent, I suppose Profound realm experts can¡¯t either. Let¡¯s hope Profound realm experts from the Poison Sect won¡¯t be able to prate that barrier after arriving here.¡±

    After pausing for a few seconds, she added, intense killing intent filling her eyes, ¡°If they can only send Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors onto this continent, then this is where they will be buried!¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly and said, ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s wait for the arrival of more Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciples!¡±

    With these words, he assumed the lotus position and started preparing himself with his eyes narrowed.

    One spirit stone after another flew out of his ring of holding and piled up before his crossed legs.

    He ced his hand on the pile of spirit stones and started absorbing their spiritual power with the Qi Refining Incantation.

    Pei Qiqi also stopped talking, sat down next to Nie Tian, and closed her eyes.

    As he replenished his spiritual power with spirit stones, Nie Tian spared some of his attention to examine himself.

    Earlier, he had drained the flesh power of the spirit vermin which had belonged to Zhang Jiu, Sha Cheng and the others.

    Even the smallest bugs had turned out to contain copious amounts of flesh power. The flesh power Luo Ting¡¯s and Wu Cui¡¯s life-spirit vermin had carried wasn¡¯t any less than two fourth grade spirit beasts, which had shocked Nie Tian.

    Even though Zhang Jiu¡¯s and Sha Cheng¡¯s spirit vermin had self-detonated, Nie Tian had still absorbed a tremendous amount of flesh power from them before they had exploded.

    At this moment, as he examined himself with a wisp of his psychic awareness, he could see fine wisps of flesh power flowing towards his heart like small streams, where they were savagely devoured by the green aura.

    At the same time, the wood power he had absorbed earlier healed his wounds and injuries, which had been caused by the spirit vermin and their venom.

    He had long since realized that, even though wood power had a limited effect on refining his body, its nourishing and healing ability went far beyond flesh power.

    As wisps of rich wood power swam about inside of him, the flesh that had been rotted by toxins rapidly healed.

    Even the fissures in several of his bones, which had been created by the toxins, ttened and healed under the nourishment of his wood power.

    Then, he focused his attention on his vortex of wood power.

    As he summoned liquidized wood power from the bottom of the vortex, he suddenly felt wisps of wood power starting to rise from the hundreds-of-meters-tall trees around him and converging on him.

    Instead of flowing into his vortex of wood power, the wisps of wood power circted within his meridians.

    A warm andfortable feeling made him feel as if he were bathing in a warm spring. All of his injuries caused by the spirit vermin healed at an rming speed.

    Only an hourter, he was fully healed.

    Furthermore, the green aura in his heart had also devoured everyst bit of the flesh power he had previously absorbed from the spirit vermin.

    He felt very refreshed.

    Meanwhile, his nine Heaven Eyes were still floating by the edge of the floating continent, keeping a close watch on the Poison Sect disciples.

    He discovered that some Worldly realm disciples seemed to have received word ande over, though none of them had managed to prate the barrier.

    Perhaps because Greater Heaven stage disciples were rtively weak, or they were rushing over from farther locations, but they hadn¡¯t arrived yet.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian continued to recover his strength with spirit stones. By the time his spiritual sea was replenished, he went on to refine it.

    After some time, a Profound realm member of the Poison Sect arrived.

    ¡°A Profound realm expert!¡±

 Chapter 498: Let Me Have a Try

    Upon noticing the arrival of a Profound realm Poison Sect expert, Nie Tian ended his cultivation and observed closely via his Heaven Eyes.

    The man was Lu Bai, ate Profound realm expert and the leader of the Poison Sect¡¯s team in this dimension.

    Before arriving, he had learned about the anomaly the other Poison Sect disciples had encountered here.

    Upon seeing him, Zhang Jiu and the others bowed respectfully towards him, and referred to him as their martial uncle.

    Lu Bai nodded and quickly unleashed his soul awareness, hoping to conduct a thorough examination of every inch of this floating continent.

    However, in the next moment, he said with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°This is strange...¡±

    Even his soul awareness couldn¡¯t pass the special barrier that surrounded the entire continent. As his soul awareness made contact with the barrier, he could sense a strong force of expulsion.

    Even though he cast several exquisite spells in a row, he failed to get his soul awareness past the barrier.

    ¡°This continent is very special, martial uncle,¡± Sun Xuan exined. ¡°When we arrived, we tried to scan it with our soul awarenesses as well, but that barrier warded off all of our soul awarenesses.¡±

    Lu Bai¡¯s eyes slightly widened as he asked, ¡°Have you tried using your spirit vermin?¡±

    Every disciple of the Poison Sect raised their own spirit vermin and life-spirit vermin.

    In Lu Bai¡¯s eyes, if they indeed couldn¡¯t pass the barrier themselves, maybe they could try to send their spirit vermin past it.

    With a bitter smile, Sun Xuan shook his head and said, ¡°Perhaps because our spirit vermin carry our aura, they were also denied entry by that barrier.¡±

    The tips of Lu Bai¡¯s eyebrows rose, as if he found it more interesting than troubling. ¡°All of the floatingnds we saw on our way here werepletely devoid of spiritual energy. This continent is the only exception. Not only do sky-reaching trees grow on it, but it¡¯s also wreathed in rich wood power. This continent must be beyond ordinary. I bet there are secrets about this continent that we don¡¯t know yet.¡±

    With these words, he started trying more profound Poison Sect magics, hoping to make a difference.

    Countless tiny spirit vermin shot out of his leveled cuff, which fell towards the floating continent like raindrops.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian, who was in the central area of the floating continent, suddenly grew nervous.

    It was beyond doubt that that spirit vermin raised by a Profound realm expert would be extremely powerful. Even if just Lu Bai¡¯s spirit vermin managed to pass the barrier, they would cause Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi serious trouble.

    Hence, he paid close attention to them and everything around him.

    Immediately afterwards, he sensed that the ancient trees, which were deeply rooted in this continent, seemed to be activated.

    Green, flickering spots started to rise from the huge trees and infuse into the invisible barrier around the floating continent, gradually making it visible.

    Soon, a ellipsoidal, translucent, dark-green ward presented itself.

    Innumerableplicated patterns could be vaguely seen on the translucent, dark-green ward, which looked very much like tree patterns. Instead of staying in one location, the patterns constantly shifted about on the ward.

    As the spirit vermin unleashed by Lu Bai fell on the dark-green ward like countless leaves, the patterns on the ward instantly lit up.

    As bright light spread out from the contact points like ripples, some mysterious power quietly counterattacked.

    Each and every spirit vermin that fell on the dark-green ward let out ear-piercing shrieks and flew back to Lu Bai¡¯s side.

    Lu Bai gasped slightly and looked even more intrigued as he said, ¡°Impressive! This continent must be beyond ordinary!¡±

    With these words, he took the initiative and pulled all of his spirit vermin back, and then said to Zhang Jiu with a grim expression, ¡°Soon, all of our Greater Heaven stage disciples will rush over here. When they arrive, lead them into the forest and get rid of those two first, and then conduct a thorough scan of the continent.¡±

    ¡°There must be something very special about this floating continent. Perhaps some fortune that¡¯s only meant for you is hiding somewhere.¡±

    ¡°As you say, martial uncle.¡± Zhang Jiu behaved politely and modestly before him.

    Very happy about his attitude, Lu Bai nodded and said, ¡°As for your life-spirit vermin, you can pick another one to tame after we return to our sect.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks, martial uncle,¡± Zhang Jiu said with a smile.

    ...

    In the central area of the floating continent.

    Having seen and heard everything with the help of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief as he realized that thete Profound realm Lu Bai wasn¡¯t able to pass through the ward.

    As for other Poison Sect Greater Heaven stage disciples, he wasn¡¯t worried at all.

    Hence, he found his inner peace and started practicing cultivation wholeheartedly.

    As Lu Bai withdrew his swarm of spirit vermin as well as his soul awareness, the dark-green ward gradually faded away.

    Without Heaven Eyes to use, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t know exactly what had happened.

    However, seeing that Nie Tian had resumed his cultivation, she realized that they were temporarily safe.

    She had great confidence in Nie Tian¡¯s mysteriously keen perception.

    Sitting in silence, Nie Tian examined his spiritual sea in his dantian region, and discovered that earlier, as the dark-green ward had gradually presented itself, the reintegration of the broken will of the titan floating within his vortex of wood power seemed to have elerated significantly.

    ¡°What¡¯s...¡± He was increasingly certain that this floating continent might have some sort of connection with the magicalnd where he had obtained Fruits of Life.

    <i>¡°Is this continent somehow rted to titans?¡±</i> With such thoughts on his mind, he paused his cultivation with spirit stones and suddenly stretched his hand up towards the heavens, as he summoned his spiritual power with the special technique he had picked up from that mysteriousnd.

    As soon as he did, he instantly felt rich and pure wood power converge on his raised palm from all directions.

    In a sh, that hand was wreathed in swirling wisps of freshly-green wood power. Gradually, an emerald-green energy ball came to form.

    However, his umtion of wood power and the refinement of his vortex of wood power had long since reached the point where they were ready for his next breakthrough.

    Therefore, he wasn¡¯t able to channel more wood power into his brimming vortex of wood power.

    He could only watch the emerald-green energy ball gradually expand in his palm.

    After pondering for a while, he looked up at the energy ball and thought to himself, ¡°Maybe I can use it as a means of attack.¡± He was more and more expectant for more Poison Sect Greater Heaven stage disciples toe to this floating continent.

    Just as he was about to test out the might of the ball full of wood power, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes snapped open. She looked over, her eyes filled with surprise.

    Her eyes shone with sharp, intelligent light. ¡°What¡¯s that you¡¯re forming in your hand, Nie Tian? I can sense very rich wood power from within that emerald-green ball of energy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s one of my means of attack,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°A means of attack?¡± Confusion appeared in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, ¡°Then why am I sensing nothing but vigorous wood power from it? I only heard wood power could be used to heal injuries. Well...¡±

    With these words, she grew somewhat bashful. ¡°I actually sustained some injuries before.¡±

    Nie Tian instantly understood what she wanted to say. With a hearty smile, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t n to absorb the wood power within this energy ball anyways. Do you want me to try to heal your injuries with it?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up slightly as she said, ¡°That¡¯d be good.¡±

    Nie Tian rose to his feet and circled to her back, carefully carrying the energy ball in his palm.

    He pressed his empty hand on Pei Qiqi¡¯s back and sent a wisp of soul power from his fragmentary stars into her to examine the injuries she had told him about.

    However, as soon as his wisp of power entered Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    Thanks to the keen perception of that wisp of soul power, he instantly discovered that Pei Qiqi¡¯s meridians and veins were currently filled with glowing, tiny des of spatial energy, which carried an aura that didn¡¯t belong to her.

    Those tiny, sharp des of spatial energy were roaming her system and damaging her from the inside.

    As Nie Tian sensed the situation inside her with rapt attention, he soon realized that those des of spatial energy were probably from the floating volcano with a prating hole in it.

    ¡°Do you see them?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a soft voice.

    Nie Tian nodded with a grim expression and said, ¡°These are some serious injuries.¡±

    ¡°The des of spatial energy came from the profound energy the outsider had used to kill that Earth me Beast.¡± Pei Qiqi looked down at the ground. ¡°Due to my insufficient cultivation base, as I allowed it into myself to derive enlightenment from it, I began to suffer from it as well. It¡¯ll still take me a long time to solve all of the mysteries in it and refine it fully.

    ¡°If we weren¡¯t surrounded by enemies, that wouldn¡¯t be a problem. But now, Poison Sect disciples could rush in here at any moment.¡±

    With a deep breath, Nie Tian said with a solemn expression, ¡°Let me have a try.¡±

 Chapter 499: Heavenly Wood

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries were much more serious than she had said they were.

    As the wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul power roamed around inside of her, he grasped even the most subtle changes happening inside of her, with her spiritual sea being the only exception.

    Numerous tiny, glowing des of spatial energy were flowing around within her meridians and veins, inflicting damage on her fleshy body and life force.

    Nie Tian saw with great rity that several of her veins were almost severed, and obvious fissures had appeared in some of her bones.

    She was trying to suppress the des of spatial energy with her own strength and heal her injuries with her spiritual power.

    However, she didn¡¯t possess a supernatural healing ability like Nie Tian.

    It would probably take a very long time for her to heal herself without help from others.

    Also, she couldn¡¯t fight during the healing process. Otherwise, her injuries would worsen.

    After a brief scan, Nie Tian started trying to infuse the wood power within his energy ball into her body, and use it to heal her damaged veins, meridians, and bones.

    However, for some reason, he seemed to be unable to channel the wood power from his energy ball into her body.

    After a few failed attempts, he eventually had to give up.

    He shook his head and said with an apologetic expression, ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s not working. Perhaps it¡¯s because you don¡¯t cultivate and practice wood power that I can¡¯t seem to channel the wood power into you. I tried many times, and it turns out I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I just thought it was worth a shot. I didn¡¯t put much hope in it anyways.¡± Looking a bit tired, Pei Qiqi walked away and put some distance between Nie Tian and herself. ¡°You can go back to practice cultivation. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±

    ¡°B-but your injuries are actually quite serious...¡± Nie Tian sounded concerned.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I still can suppress them for now,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a seemingly unconcerned expression. ¡°I¡¯ll have plenty of time to heal myself after we get rid of all of the Poison Sect disciples that dare toe here for us. Stop worrying.¡±

    Nie Tian wished to help her, but since he didn¡¯t know how, he could only nod back at her and resume his cultivation.

    A quarter hourter...

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian noticed that a few Poison Sect Greater Heaven stage disciples had arrived one after another.

    However, they didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry to go into action, as they seemed to understand Pei Qiqi¡¯s and his outstanding battle prowess, and thus decided to wait for more of their sectmates to arrive.

    Hence, he continued to practice cultivation.

    A whileter, while he was absorbing spiritual power from spirit stones, a shudder suddenly ran through him.

    To his shock, after months of reintegration, the broken will of the titan floating within his vortex of wood power finallypletely realigned.

    The moment it did, a message rose from his spinning vortex of wood power.

    ¡°Heavenly Wood!¡± These words were reflected in his mind with great rity, as if they were instantly branded into his memory and became a profound incantation at hismand.

    As he decoded the secret incantation granted to him by the titan, he discovered that it could be cast in two ways, thus giving rise to two different magics. ¡°Heavenly Wood consists of two magics: Heavenly Wood Heal and Heavenly Wood Thorns!¡±

    One was Heavenly Wood Heal, which would allow him to heal injuries and trauma within a short time. If he possessed enough liquidized wood power, he would even be able to reattach meridians or regenerate limbs.

    The other was Heavenly Wood Thorns, which would allow him to send wood power into his enemies¡¯ bodies, and then turn that wood power into sharp thorns.

    The fierce thorns could grow and spread inside of his enemies, and even burst out of them.

    Nie Tian mulled over these two methods of casting Heavenly Wood wholeheartedly.

    A whileter, he moved behind Pei Qiqi without getting her consent and said in a low voice, ¡°Let me have another try on you, Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Pei Qiqi was taken aback.

    ¡°Let me try to heal your injuries again.¡± Nie Tian seemed rather excited. ¡°I believe I¡¯ll seed this time!¡±

    ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡±

    With these words, he pressed one hand on Pei Qiqi¡¯s back and quietly cast the Heavenly Wood Heal.

    As soon as he did, he sensed that his vortex of wood power started to spin at a higher rate, and the glittering, liquidized wood power at the bottom of the vortex was rapidly vanishing.

    In the meantime, the hand on Pei Qiqi¡¯s back turned emerald-green and somewhat transparent.

    Within his transparent meridians, flickering, green spots could be seen flowing from his hand towards the center of Pei Qiqi¡¯s back.

    Seeing that he was finally able to channel wood power into Pei Qiqi¡¯s back, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. <i>¡°Oh, it requires extremely concentrated, liquidized wood power to activate the </i><i>Heavenly</i><i><i></i>Wood Heal!¡±</i>

    The reason why he had failed to make use of the wood power in the energy ball earlier was because he hadn¡¯t acquired the magic and he hadn¡¯t personally processed and refined the wood power within the energy ball.

    His ability to cast the Heavenly Wood Heal was dependent on the liquidized wood power that he generated from round after round of refinement of wood power.

    Wisps of pure and nourishing wood power that were alsoced with his aura flowed into Pei Qiqi¡¯s back under his control.

    Then, he realized that the tissue that had been damaged by the fierce des of spatial energy was rapidly healing.

    As the wisps of pure wood power spread inside Pei Qiqi, the few almost severed meridians were healed at an rming rate.

    Even the fissures on some of her bones were rapidly erased as the wood power reached them.

    Spirit aroused, Nie Tian continued to channel more of his wood power to the cause. Meanwhile, he could sense the liquidized wood power rapidly vanishing from the bottom of his vortex of wood power.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s straightened back trembled slightly, her eyes shining with a glorious light of excitement.

    The hand Nie Tian used to press on her back felt iparably warm. She could feel warm currents flowing into her back before splitting into countless fine wisps that were fixing her damaged meridians, veins, and bones.

    If she had relied on just her own strength to heal those injuries, it might have taken her more than a month.

    At this moment, she could physically feel all of her injuries being healed at an extremely fast rate.

    With her back towards Nie Tian, her normally-cold but gorgeous face was now filled with joy. She had expected that Nie Tian was a man of many secrets, but she had never expected that he actually had the ability to heal her.

    Within seconds, she already felt that her injuries, which had bothered her for quite some time, had mostly been healed.

    She was aware that if Nie Tian wasn¡¯t able to heal her, she would definitely suffer serious injuries when fighting more disciples of the Poison Sect.

    Therge amount of small des of spatial energy would have further ravaged her fleshy body and life force.

    Just as she was carried away by these thoughts, Nie Tian¡¯s voice echoed out by her ear, ¡°More Poison Sect disciples areing at us!¡±

    She snapped back to reality and took the initiative to end the ongoing healing process. She turned around to look Nie Tian in the eye. A rare, faint smile appeared on her face, making her look more beautiful than a hundred blossoming flowers as she said, ¡°I¡¯m fine now.¡±

    Sitting on the ground, Nie Tian looked up at her and the smile on her face, and he was temporarily bewildered.

    She was always cold and expressionless. Even if it was just a faint smile, it multiplied her singr beauty and bedazzled Nie Tian.

    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a concerned tone.

    Nie Tian briefly examined himself, and discovered that he had already consumed more than half of his liquidized wood power reserve within such a short time.

    He shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    The energy ball that was still floating over his palm seemed to suddenly find out about hisck of wood power, and started pouring madly into his vortex of wood power.

    Within seconds, the energy ballpletely disappeared. Meanwhile, Nie Tian¡¯s vortex of wood power rotated at full speed, and the consumed liquidized wood power was rapidly replenished.

    ¡°This ce agrees with me,¡± he said with a bright smile. ¡°The special environment here allows me to recover the wood power I spent on you at a shocking speed. I¡¯ll continue to help you with your injuries after we get rid of those Poison Sect disciples. You can fight without any scruples. I¡¯ll heal your injuries afterwards. Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently. ¡°Okay, I will.¡±

    With a fierce smile, Nie Tian rose to his feet and summoned his me Star. ¡°A total of nine people areing at us this time. Aside from the two who escaped from us earlier, there¡¯s only e Greater Heaven stage disciple among the seven neers.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Pei Qiqi said in aposed manner. ¡°Leave those twote Greater Heaven stage ones to me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a better n,¡± Nie Tian said with a cunning and bloodthirsty grin. ¡°Do you remember how we ambushed that Thunder Mountain Sect disciple to save Shi Qing? Since no Worldly realm or Profound realm experts can enter here, nor their soul awarenesses, there are many ways we can surprise them and take them out one by one.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll lure them in while I surprise them from the dark. Let¡¯s work together and turn this floating continent into the grave of all Poison Sect Greater Heaven stage disciples!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it," Pei Qiqi sounded deeply intrigued.

 Chapter 500: Thorns Protrude

    Nine Poison Sect disciples marched by the foot of the trees that were hundreds of meters tall, with Zhang Jiu at their head.

    Countless tiny bugs of various colors filled the area around them like floating raindrops.

    They used them to detect signs of life, hoping to track down Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian with them.

    They also unleashed their psychic awarenesses and used them to scan their surroundings.

    It wasn¡¯t long before they discovered a dead body. It turned out to be He Xu, who had been pierced through by multiple des of spatial energy and died.

    ¡°Just as I expected, He Xu was killed,¡± Zhang Jiu said with furrowed eyebrows. Without paying much attention to the corpse, they kept marching forward.

    After some time, the multicolored spirit vermin flying in the front suddenly let out ear-piercing shrieks.

    The nine of them dashed forward at full speed.

    Momentster, they came to discover that Pei Qiqi was cornered by their swarming spirit vermin.

    Behind hery Wu Cui and Luo Ting¡¯s corpses.

    ¡°Junior Martial Sister Wu! Junior Martial Sister Luo!¡± The seven neer Poison Sect disciples burst into fury after seeing Wu Cui and Luo Ting¡¯s corpses.

    Thete Greater Heaven stage Jin Lin seemed especially furious.

    Jin Lin had had an eye for Luo Ting, and everyone knew about his years of affection for her. When he saw Luo Ting¡¯s cold body lying in a pool of blood, his eyes seemed to be instantly painted red with blood.

    Eyes extremely wide, he thundered, ¡°Bitch!¡±

    Then, he immediatelymanded his spirit vermin to swoop towards Pei Qiqi.

    Standing in ce, Pei Qiqi was still expressionless, her four Ethereal Swords hovering around her. The tips of the swords shone with dazzling light, which seemed to be inducing changes to the space around her.

    Meanwhile, numerous des of spatial energy loomed behind the hovering Ethereal Swords, as if they were traveling back and forth between different spaces.

    As Jin Lin¡¯s spirit vermin swarmed towards her with ear-piercing shrieks, a mysterious, glowing light started to interweave within her pupils.

    BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Electric arcs rapidly rose and connected the glowing des of spatial energy, forming a tight, glowing around her, which sealed her off from the outside world.

    As soon as Jin Lin¡¯s spirit vermin made contact with the tight, glowing, they split into pieces and fell to the ground.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi, is it?¡± Zhang Jiu asked, wearing a warm smile. ¡°Didn¡¯t think we¡¯d return so quickly, did you? Where¡¯s the guy that was with you? Why don¡¯t you tell him to show himself.¡±

    Pei Qiqi stood unwavering, her expression not changing a bit. ¡°I already told him to leave while I keep you upied.¡±

    ¡°He left?!¡± Surprised, Zhang Jiu scanned the vicinity with his psychic awareness. As Pei Qiqi said, he indeed couldn¡¯t find any other signs of life in the vicinity.

    ¡°No way!¡± Sha Cheng shouted.

    Earlier, Nie Tian had chased him to the edge of the floating continent, but upon seeing Sun Xuan, he had immediately retreated to the heart of the forest.

    Later, more powerful experts from the Poison Sect had rushed over and surrounded this floating continent.

    Not a single one of them had ever noticed anyone leaving.

    That meant Nie Tian was still on this mysterious continent.

    ¡°Forget about that guy. Let¡¯s kill this bitch first, and then we can take our time looking for him.¡± With a cold snort, Jin Lin unleashed his life-spirit vermin.

    It was arge, cyan gecko that was about half a meter long.

    Its skin gave off a misty, cyan aura as it shot directly towards Pei Qiqi, baring its teeth.

    Upon seeing the cyan gecko, the other spirit vermin seemed to see their leader. They spread out and started squeezing their way into the spaces between the interwoven spatial des.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi gestured with her index and middle fingers, forming a sword and making a shing motion in the air.

    As she did, the spatial des hovering around her suddenly unwove and united into one sizable de that exuded frosty spatial energy.

    As it shot straight ahead with great force, ripples of spatial energy spread out from within it.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It was as if the space before Pei Qiqi was even ripped open temporarily.

    Seeing therge, glowing spatial de shooting towards it, Jin Lin¡¯s life-spirit vermin trembled slightly and moved about to dodge it, as if it felt the horrifying might of the de.

    BANG! BANG!

    As the spatial de traveled through the air ethereally, ripples of spatial energy spread out. Wherever the rippled spread, countless flying spirit vermin dropped dead.

    The spatial de seemed to have locked in on the cyan gecko, following it closely wherever it went, as if it had intelligence.

    Jin Lin¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°This woman has some weird means of attack!¡±

    Zhang Jiu let out a cold snort and said, ¡°Would I have ended up covered in wounds if she didn¡¯t?¡±

    With these words, he pointed at Sha Cheng and the other Poison Sect disciples, and yelled angrily, ¡°What the hell are you waiting for?!¡±

    Zhang Jiu had barely escaped from Pei Qiqi and ended up in very sore straits. Therefore, he knew Pei Qiqi¡¯s terrifying battle prowess better than any of the others on his team.

    However, since he had already sustained rather serious injuries, he didn¡¯t wish to personally get intobat against Pei Qiqi again, and so instead urged others to do it.

    No one dared to disobey his order, including Sha Cheng.

    Hence, upon hearing his words, everyone except him summoned their spirit vermin with their minds andmanded them to attack Pei Qiqi.

    In the blink of an eye, sky-filling, multicolored spirit vermin swarmed towards Pei Qiqi like a storm of bugs.

    Meanwhile, they each unleashed their life-spirit vermin, which were significantlyrger than the regr spirit vermin. With mad, blood-curdling shrieks, they rapidly approached Pei Qiqi.

    Facing the spirit vermin swarm that would engulf her in the next moment, Pei Qiqi frowned slightly as her jade-like hands wove in the air, forming exquisite hand seals.

    Multiple visible ripples of spatial energy that resembled water ripples spread out from within her.

    Even though she stood in ce, graceful and unwavering, through the spreading ripples, it looked as if she had suddenly split into dozens of clones.

    In the eyes of the Poison Sect disciples, it seemed as if dozens of Pei Qiqi¡¯s were standing in separate spaces, and there was no way to identity which was real and which wasn¡¯t.

    Confused and disoriented, the spirit vermin shrieked as they searched madly for her between the spaces.

    After observing her with a frown for some time, Zhang Jiu¡¯s expression grew grim as he blurted, ¡°She¡¯s nothing like her master! The spatial magics she practices aren¡¯t just limited to building teleportation portals and teleportation magics. She¡¯s actually more skilled inbat spatial magics, the most powerful kind!¡±

    Those who practiced spatial magics usually had their own areas of focus. Some focused on building spell formations and teleportation portals, like Zhen Hun. These people were usually skilled in building all sorts of teleportation portals, even inter-realm teleportation portals.

    Meanwhile, there were others who focused on applying spatial magics to strengthen their battle prowess.

    These people were usually less skilled in building spell formations or teleportation portals, but their battle prowess was usually shockingly high.

    Zhao Shanling, who had run amuck in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, belonged to thetter kind. That was why his battle prowess had been unmatched by others at the same cultivation realm as him.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s focus of cultivation was clearly different from that of her master¡¯s. Like Zhao Shanling, Pei Qiqi also focused on enhancing her battle prowess with all sorts of spatial magics.

    PHOOH!

    As soon as Zhang Jiu uttered those words, a dark-green toad was cut in half from head to tail by the long, glowing spatial de.

    The toad was the life-spirit vermin of a middle Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciple. The moment it was killed, the man let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from his mouth.

    The strong bacsh caused him to stagger back a few steps before resuming a firm foothold.

    As he staggered back to the foot of a sky-reaching tree, a streak of green aura suddenly shot into his back. Startled, the man eximed and turned around, but failed to see any anomalies.

    However, as soon as the streak of wood power entered his body, it started to take root and grow inside of him like a germinating seed.

    Meanwhile, the streak of wood power also started to absorb his flesh power. Within a very short time, the streak of wood power grew into a small, emerald-green tree in the man¡¯s chest.

    As it continued to absorb the man¡¯s flesh power, its sharp branches pierced through his heart and stuck out of his chest.

    It glowed with sparkling, green light as it did.

    Only when the branches punctured the man¡¯s heart did hee to his senses. With hisst breath, he let out a miserable scream. ¡°Someone attacked me from the dark!¡±

    Zhang Jiu jerked his head back and saw emerald-green lights sticking out of the man¡¯s chest.

    The lights were in the shape of tree branches, and as sharp as des.

    BOOM!

    With a loud crash, the man copsed to the ground, and his heart stopped forever.

    Zhang Jiu went nk for a few seconds before snapping back to reality and yelling, ¡°Watch out, everyone! That guy is hiding in the dark and looking for opportunities to attack us!¡±

    All of the Poison Sect disciples that were converging on Pei Qiqi looked deeply shocked. They no longer dared to go all-out to attack Pei Qiqi, and instantly grew vignt.

 Chapter 501: Taking the Enemies Out One by One

    Nie Tian hid in the lush treetop directly above the dead man while looking down at him.

    The thorns sticking out of the man¡¯s chest weren¡¯t physical, but rather formed by pure wood power.

    He was also deeply shocked by the formidable might of the Heavenly Wood Thorns he had obtained from the mysterious titan.

    He couldn¡¯t believe that a wisp of his wood power had actually flown out of his vortex of wood power and infused into the man¡¯s body, where it had absorbed the man¡¯s flesh power and rapidly grown into a small, emerald-green tree.

    As the small tree had continued to grow, its sharp thorns had actually easily pierced through the man¡¯s internal organs and killed him almost instantly.

    ¡°It can not only absorb others¡¯ flesh power, but also form sharp thorns!¡±

    Eyes shining with the light of excitement, Nie Tian carefully remained stealthy.

    At this moment, he saw that a number of spirit vermin had already left Pei Qiqi¡¯s side and started searching for him in the vicinity.

    Those spirit vermin rapidly swarmed towards the dead body and hovered around it for some time, yet they failed to capture the aura of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and blood, who was hiding in the treetop above them.

    Relieved, he looked towards Pei Qiqi.

    He could see dozens of her traveling back and forth between different spaces. There was no way he could tell which was real and which were illusions.

    Since the thousands of spirit vermin also couldn¡¯t tell the real Pei Qiqi from the illusions, they could only fly between different spaces, wasting their energy searching for her.

    Meanwhile, one spatial de after another shed into appearance, cutting down Jin Lin¡¯s and the others¡¯ life-spirit vermin.

    They didn¡¯t dare to rashly enter the area where different spaces seemed to ovep before they could determine which was Pei Qiqi¡¯s real self.

    Even though Pei Qiqi was only at the middle Greater Heaven stage, she single-handedly dealt with a sea of spirit vermin with great skill and ease.

    The shocking battle prowess Pei Qiqi disyed made Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief. Then, he sent out a wisp of a message via one of his Heaven Eyes,

    Pei Qiqi, who was still in her original ce, cast a spell immediately after receiving Nie Tian¡¯s message.

    Dozens of her instantly spread out in all directions, the area of ovepping spaces spreading with them.

    The moment she made her move, Zhang Jiu¡¯s expression flickered as he shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t let her escape!¡±

    All of the Poison Sect disciples, including Sha Cheng and Jin Lin, instantly spread out to chase after the dozens of Pei Qiqis, since they had no way to tell which was the real Pei Qiqi.

    SSS! SSS!

    Very subtle sounds echoed out from the depths of the forest. Nie Tian took the opportunity and shifted to new locations under the cover of the sounds.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, one of the charming figures of Pei Qiqi came to a stop and shed her long spatial de into another life-spirit vermin.

    The owner of the vermin let out a sharp cry and, pointing at the figure of Pei Qiqi that had stopped shing about to attack the life-spirit vermin, he called out, ¡°That¡¯s the real her!¡±

    Eyes wide and excited, he wove his hands in the air and formed a veryplicated hand seal.

    His life-spirit vermin, which was a ck toad, puffed up its cheek and spewed out a mouthful of ink-ck venom.

    Pei Qiqi shot him a nce as she reached out with one hand, gesturing with her index and middle fingers in a sword figure. Immediately afterwards, a beam of silver-white de light shot out of them.

    The de light scattered the ink-ck venom, and then exploded, splitting into numerous smaller, silver-while des of light that swarmed towards the toad.

    Ayer of misty, ck light gradually rose from the ck toad, as if it were some kind of defensive ward.

    Staring hard at Pei Qiqi, the owner of the toad switched between hand seals as he suddenly unleashed a secret soul magic of the Poison Sect.

    Pei Qiqi let out a cold harrumph as she formed a hand seal with her other hand.

    A spatial energy ward instantly came to form around her, blocking the man¡¯s soul attacking magic.

    The man let out a muffled groan and staggered backwards.

    Seeing that the man had backed into his attack range, Nie Tian, who was hiding in the tree behind him,unched a sneak attack with the same method as earlier. ¡°Heavenly Wood Thorns!¡±

    Numerous beams of fresh-green aura fell from the treetop towards the man¡¯s shoulders like cotton threads.

    The man instantly raised his head and looked coldly into the thick treetop. ¡°Hey!I knew you¡¯d strike again!¡±

    He, who seemed to have long since prepared for this, shot a ck feather out of his cuff that instantly burst into ck mes, forming a cluster of mes over him that was just big enough to block the iing beams of green light.

    As one beam of spiritual light after another fell into the cluster of ck mes, crackling sounds echoed out as they were neutralized.

    Hiding in the tree, Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as he instantly realized that only after he sent wisps of his wood power into his enemy¡¯s body would the Heavenly Wood Thorns allow them to absorb his enemy¡¯s flesh power and grow into sharp thorns.

    Apparently, the Heavenly Wood Thorns wasn¡¯t a magic that should be used to fight enemies head-on.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian grinned slightly as he summoned his star power and cast a short-range Starshift.

    In a split second, he appeared behind the man. With a flick of his middle finger, five wisps of wood power flew into the man¡¯s back.

    After that strike, he immediately ended the engagement and disappeared with another short-range Starshift.

    As the five wisps of wood power flew into the middle of the man¡¯s back, a shudder ran through him, and he instantly sat down in the lotus position to defend against the Heavenly Wood Thorns with everything within his power.

    At the same time, Sha Cheng and Jin Lin dashed over, roaring furiously as they did.

    ZZZZZLA!

    In the meantime, Pei Qiqi saw an opportunity andmanded her swarm of de lights to engulf the ck toad. The moment the ck toad was riddled with holes and died, the man suffered a strong bacsh.

    Nie Tian, who had shifted to another location, could sense with great rity that despite the man¡¯s painstaking defense, one of the five wisps of wood power had taken root and grown into sharp thorns within him.

    ck blood spilled from the man¡¯s mouth as he sagged and copsed to the ground from the lotus position.

    Upon seeing the man¡¯s death, Pei Qiqi blurred and disappeared again, as if she had dissipated into the air.

    Meanwhile, one of Pei Qiqi¡¯s illusions was being chased by an early Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciple. As the man realized that he was chasing after an illusion, he turned around to locate Jin Lin and Sha Cheng.

    However, just at this very moment, the original illusion became Pei Qiqi¡¯s real self.

    An Ethereal Sword appeared out of nowhere and shed across the man¡¯s neck.

    The man¡¯s head was thrown high into the sky. Blood squirting from his neck, he was instantly killed.

    Afterwards, Pei Qiqi continued to switch back and forth between her illusions that were scattered in different locations, while Nie Tian sought opportunities tounch short-range Starshifts and sneak attacks from time to time.

    Miserable screams echoed out here and there as more Poison Sect disciples were killed one after another by Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s team effort.

    The two of them had long since reached a mutual understanding, and thus worked like a well-oiled machine. They hadn¡¯t targeted Sha Cheng or Jin Lin the whole time, who were both at thete Greater Heaven stage. Instead, Pei Qiqi only distracted them by switching back and forth between her illusions.

    Their targets were always the early and middle Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciples.

    A hour passed...

    Of the nine Poison Sect disciples that had entered this floating continent together, Zhang Jiu, Sha Cheng, and Jin Lin became the only ones who were still alive. All the others were dead and scattered around in the forest.

    Outside of the floating continent.

    Thete Profound realm Lu Bai¡¯s temples throbbed slightly as he struggled to suppress his fury. He turned to Sun Xuan and asked, ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±

    Sun Xuan was holding a cyanpass in his hand, on which flickering spots could be seen.

    Each spot was a drop of blood essence from a life-spirit vermin. When a life-spirit vermin died, the relevant spot would die out with it.

    At this moment, seven spots had stopped flickering, as seven drops of blood essence had disappeared from thepass permanently.

    With lots of hemming and hawing, Sun Xuan answered, ¡°Aside from Zhang Jiu, Sha Cheng, and Jin Lin, all the other six might have had their life-spirit vermin killed. It¡¯s hard to tell whether they¡¯re still alive themselves.¡±

    The deaths of life-spirit vermin wouldn¡¯t result in the deaths of their masters. Therefore, even though Zhang Jiu¡¯s and Sha Cheng¡¯s life-spirit vermin might have died, they themselves might still be alive.

    However, the moment a life-spirit vermin died, the master would suffer a strong blow, which would greatly undermine and weaken the master in battle and put the master in an unfavorable situation, thus potentially dooming the master.

    With a grim face, Lu Bai said, ¡°Seven of their nine life-spirit vermin have been killed when Sha Cheng and Jin Lin are at thete Greater Heaven stage! What the hell are those good-for-nothings doing in there?!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the crowd of Worldly realm Poison Sect disciples also bowed their heads in frustration.

    At that moment, one Rainbow Lightning after another shed into appearance from different directions.

    Standing in one of them, Dong Li and Qin Yan examined the Poison Sect disciples from afar.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡± Dressed in eye-catching, red garments, Dong Li looked radiant.

    Confused, Qin Yan asked, ¡°Why are those from the Poison Sect gathered over there by that floating continent?¡±

    From another Rainbow Lightning, Dong Tuodi called out as he flew towards the Poison Sect members, ¡°Brother Lu!Why are you gathered here?¡±

    ¡°No reason,¡± Lu Bai answered with a grave expression.

 Chapter 502: Skilled and Effortless Kills

    In Lu Bai¡¯s eyes, the floating continent before him had already be and of humiliation.

    Firstly, He Xu, Wu Cui, and Luo Ting had died miserable deaths on it. Then, after Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng¡¯s narrow escape, they had led another group of nine Greater Heaven stage disciples into the depths of the continent, which had once again ended in them suffering great losses.

    Their opponents, however, were just Pei Qiqi, who was at the middle Greater Heaven stage, and an early Greater Heaven stage young man with an unknown background.

    Lu Bai found the current situation to be simply uneptable.

    Soon, under Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi¡¯s leadership, members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce arrived by the group of Poison Sect members.

    Seeing that Lu Bai wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk, Dong Tuodi didn¡¯t impose. Instead, he just greeted him by nodding briefly at him before turning to order those who hade with him, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go take a look inside this continent.¡±

    A hint of a sneer appeared at the corner of Lu Bai¡¯s mouth.

    BOOM!

    Dong Tuodi, who had already put away his Rainbow Lightning, instantly rammed hard into the invisible ward and triggered the restrictive spell around the floating continent.

    Asrge amounts of green aura rose high into the air from the dense forest, the green, semi-transparent ward once again revealed itself, with innumerableplicated tree patterns roaming quietly on it.

    A mysterious force that could ward off living creatures and soul fluctuations from that piece of heaven and earth was instantly born within the green, glowing ward.

    Surprised and confused, Dong Tuodi unleashed a few incantations along with his soul awareness to examine the ward.

    Momentster, he seemed to have reached a good understanding of the situation, and thus said, ¡°There¡¯s something strange about this continent.¡±

    He looked over his shoulder at the Dong n juniors and said, ¡°This strange ward is preventing both my spiritual and soul power from entering. I suppose it¡¯s some sort of restrictive spell that works on Profound realm cultivators like me. Now you go and try.¡±

    Two Worldly realm Dong n members followed his instructions and made their attempts, which also turned out to be unsessful.

    Seeing this, Dong Tuodi turned to look at Dong Kang, Dong Baijie, and Dong Li, and said with amanding tone, ¡°Dong Kang, Baijie, Li.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the three most outstanding members of the Dong n¡¯s younger generation shot towards the floating continent.

    The three of them were all at the Greater Heaven stage. Unaffected by the ward, which had once again be invisible, they fell towards thend wreathed by rich wood power.

    Standing by the edge of the floating continent, Dong Baijie turned around and said with a smile, ¡°We have no problem entering this area.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the Greater Heaven stage members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce flew in after them, Qin Yan being their leader.

    Dong Tuodi, Qin Yi, and a number of their Worldly realm members remained floating some distance from the edge of the continent.

    After a moment of silence, Dong Tuodi looked towards Lu Bai and said, ¡°Juniors from your sect are in there right now, right?¡±

    Lu Bai let out a cold snort and said, ¡°A few of them, indeed.¡±

    Rubbing his chin, Dong Tuodi chuckled cunningly as he turned to Dong Baijie and the others, and said, ¡°Spare no effort to uncover the mysteries of this continent. Remember: should youe across any precious treasures or rare cultivation materials, those who are strong enough to hold on to them should be the keepers.¡±

    Infuriated, Lu Bai blurted, ¡°Dong Tuodi! Are you saying that it¡¯s okay for your juniors to take things from mine?!¡±

    ¡°What if I am?¡± Dong Tuodi said in a unconstrained manner, turning a blind eye to Lu Bai¡¯s fury. ¡°This floating continent isn¡¯t your sect¡¯s property. You can explore it. Why can¡¯t we?¡±

    Just as Lu Bai was about to refute Dong Tuodi¡¯s statement, it suddenly urred to him that Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian were still on the floating continent.

    The two of them had already killed quite a few juniors from the Poison Sect on this very continent. They had apparently considered it their private territory.

    Lu Bai thought that if the juniors from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce entered the deepest parts of the continent, they would probably also encounter Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian.

    He started wondering what would happen to them if they did...

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, Lu Bai masked his fury with aposed expression, and then with a gentle nod, he said, ¡°Alright, let their strength speak for themselves.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be the best.¡± With these words, Dong Tuodi waved at the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Upon receiving his consent, the juniors turned around and headed towards the depths of the floating continent.

    At the heart of the forest, a number of dead bodies were scattered around on the ground.

    Zhang Jiu¡¯s gentle smile gradually faded away as beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead.

    Within such a short time, six of his fellow sect members who were also at the Greater Heaven stage had been ughtered by the joint efforts of Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi had constantly switched back and forth among her illusions, avoiding a head-on confrontation with Jin Lin or Sha Cheng. She had onlyunched attacks when it had been necessary to kill the early and middle Greater Heaven stage Poison Sect disciples.

    No one had been able to identify Pei Qiqi¡¯s real self from the few dozen illusions, much lessunch effective attacks.

    As for the other one, Nie Tian, he had traveled in the dark like a ghost.

    He had seldom revealed himself, yet whenever he had, one of Zhang Jiu¡¯s Poison Sectpanions died in the next moment.

    Everything seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye, and Zhang Jiu suddenly found the situation he was currently in very simr to earlier when he and Sha Cheng had been forced to split up and escape in different directions.

    The only difference was that, other than the two of them, they had one more person on their team, Jin Lin.

    Fuming with fury, Jin Lin thundered, hoping to provoking Nie Tian toe out from the dark, ¡°Sneaky little bastard! I dare you toe out and fight me in a fair fight!¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    At the same time, a figure suddenly fell from the lush canopy of one of the huge trees.

    Not backing down in the least bit, Nie Tian paced squarely towards Jin Lin, dragging the me Star on the ground. As he did, its de light slithered in the cracks on the ground like spiritual snakes.

    He and Pei Qiqi together had already killed six of the nine people who hade here to kill them, with Zhang Jiu, Sha Cheng, and Jin Lin now being the only survivors.

    He believed it wouldn¡¯t be a difficult thing for him and Pei Qiqi to finish off thesest remaining three.

    That was the reason why he decided not to hide anymore, but rather called off his bloodline talent, Life Stealth.

    ¡°Mu Han.¡± At the same time, Pei Qiqi also revealed her real self from the fading illusions. Staring coldly at Jin Lin, she said, ¡°The other two can live a while longer, but not this one with a foul mouth.¡±

    Since the moment Jin Lin hade, he had repeatedly referred to her as a bitch and bastard.

    Therefore, in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes, she actually found this Jin Lin person more repulsive than Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng, even though he was a neer.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin as he suddenly raised his me Star and pointed it towards Jin Lin from afar, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, senior martial sister. Leave this shit-talker to me.¡±

    ¡°You little shit!!¡± Jin Lin roared.

    As his hands wove in the air to form hand seals, numerous fine strings of light that were invisible to the naked eye seemed to rapidly lock onto Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, his cyan gecko suddenly shot towards Nie Tian along with countless spirit vermin.

    Simultaneously, he bit the tip of his own tongue and sprayed out a mouthful of blood.

    As the blood rapidly morphed into a blood mist before him, which carried a surprisingly sweet scent, swarms of spirit vermin that didn¡¯t belong to him flew into it from different directions, where they absorbed Jin Lin¡¯s blood and temporarily fell under hismand.

    ¡°Go!¡± Jin Lin cried out.

    As the blood mist faded away, the spirit vermin that had consumed his blood seemed to release their utmost potential. With ear-piercing, blood-curdling shrieks, they scrambled madly for Nie Tian.

    Eyes growing wide, Zhang Jiu wanted to stop Jin Lin and tell him about Nie Tian¡¯s bizarre abilities.

    However, it was already toote.

    ncing at the iing spirit vermin that filled the sky, Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°More spirit vermin...¡±

    Instead of a shocked expression, a faint smile appeared on his face.

    He took the initiative to cancel the spiritual auras wreathing him, along with all his other defenses. He let the spirit vermin cover him, and their sharp teeth pierce into his skin.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Jin Lin¡¯s face was filled with a sneer. ¡°I thought you were some powerful figure. Who would have known that you¡¯re actually a dumbass!¡±

    Tens of thousands of spirit vermin that he had brought under hismand and his life-spirit vermin, the cyan gecko, instantly covered every inch of Nie Tian¡¯s skin, as if they had formed an airtight coat over him.

    The moment the spirit vermin started gnawing at his flesh, Nie Tian could sense with great rity that all of them started madly emptying their venom into his flesh and blood all over.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡± Without the slightest hesitation, he unleashed the Life Drain bloodline talent.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not just stand here and watch.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi also sent out a bunch of spatial des, which flew directing towards Sha Cheng.

    Meanwhile, her four Ethereal Swords locked tightly on Zhang Jiu.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had been engulfed by the swarming spirit vermin, Jin Lin dashed towards him, intense killing intent filling his eyes.

    As soon as he arrived by Nie Tian¡¯s side, he saw his cyan gecko biting into Nie Tian¡¯s neck, letting out a sharp screech as it did.

    However, in the next moment, the cyan gecko started struggling frantically, as if it desperately wanted to escape.

    A wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power had already hooked onto the cyan gecko¡¯s bones like an invisible sharp hook. No matter how hard the life-spirit vermin struggled, it couldn¡¯t break free.

    In the meantime, it was drained of its flesh power at a speed so high that it made Jin Lin¡¯s hair stand on end.

    Covered in spirit vermin and looking rather miserable, Nie Tian suddenly grinned at Jin Lin as he lifted the me Star in his hand and shed it down towards him.

    Blinding light instantly blossomed from within the sharp de. Then, a streak of glorious light shot forward, lighting up the dark forest and even hurting Jin Lin¡¯s eyes slightly.

    Afterwards, as Nie Tian shook his shoulders, numerous small spirit vermin fell to the ground like raindrops.

    As Jin Lin saw this shocking scene, a strong sense of crisis rose in his heart.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian vanished into thin air, though his de light was still rapidly approaching Li Jin. A surge of coldness instantly ran through Jin Lin¡¯s stiff body.

    In the next moment, he suddenly sensed wisps of sparkling, green aura approaching his back like slithering serpents.

    With a roar, he shot up into the sky, narrowly escaping the attacks that came at both his front and back.

    Before falling back to the earth, he saw to his surprise that numerous strangers were flying towards him.

    ¡°What?! Battles are taking ce over there!!¡± Dong Li eximed excitedly, her smiling face like a blossoming flower.

 Chapter 503: Splendid Battle Results

    The moment Dong Li caught sight of the me Star in Nie Tian¡¯s hand, the smiles and excitement disappeared from her face.

    No matter how Nie Tian masked his face, the me Star wouldn¡¯t lie. Therefore, she instantly saw through Nie Tian¡¯s disguise.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was still covered in countless spirit vermin, giving him a terrifying look. It was as if he were currently in tremendous pain.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes suddenly reddened as her gorgeous face grew distorted.

    Without much thought, she started summoning her ck phoenix, hoping to kill Jin Lin within the shortest time possible.

    However, just as she was seized by rage and about to attack, Dong Baijie ced his hand on her shoulder. He shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±

    Eyes filled with fury, she turned to look at her elder brother.

    Dong Baijie shook his head again and continued with a low voice, ¡°Take a look around you.¡±

    Dong Li, who was consumed by her anger, listened to her brother and nced around with rapt attention. Immediately afterwards, she discovered the Poison Sect disciple¡¯s corpses that were scattered around.

    Apparently, they had all died at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s hands.

    In a casual manner, Dong Baijie pointed at Nie Tian and said with a faint smile, ¡°Now look at him. He seems to be in a dangerous state, but those spirit vermin aren¡¯t truly harming him at all. That cyan gecko has been struggling, wishing to escape, yet it¡¯s tightly bound down by Nie Tian¡¯s flesh. He¡¯s not as miserable as he seems to be, and we don¡¯t want to throw away our neutral rtionship with the Poison Sect yet.¡±

    Dong Li calmed down as she also noticed the anomalies. Calling off the summoning of her ck phoenix, she stared coldly at Jin Lin.

    It seemed that as soon as the situation took a turn for the worse for Nie Tian, she would make her move,pletely ignoring the rtionship between the Dong n and the Poison Sect.

    Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also took a nce at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi. Her eyes widened as she quickly saw through Nie Tian¡¯s disguise.

    Since her great grandfather, Qin Yi, was close friends with Zhen Hun, she had met Pei Qiqi in person a few times. Furthermore, she had learned from Dong Li that Nie Tian had earlier chosen to enter this dimension with Pei Qiqi instead of her.

    Because of this, Dong Li had grumbled for quite a while.

    Even though Nie Tian had assumed a different appearance, he was with Pei Qiqi and holding the me Star, which she was no stranger to. Because of this, she saw through to the truth.

    After ncing around and obtaining an overall understanding of the situation, she was increasingly taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that they¡¯ve killed so many Poison Sect disciples with just the two of them!¡±

    After all, the scattered Poison Sect disciple¡¯s corpses wouldn¡¯t lie.

    ¡°Hmm?!" His attacks having missed, Nie Tian also noticed the approaching people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles as he watched Jin Lin slowly fall from midair.

    He knew perfectly well that the me Star in his hand had probably already given away his real identity to Dong Li, Dong Baijie, and Qin Yan.

    Surprised by the arrival of the people from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, he temporarily put his attack on hold.

    As surprised as Nie Tian was, Zhang Jiu from the Poison Sect eximed to himself, ¡°The Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce!¡±

    Then, he quickly called out to Dong Baijie and Qin Yan, ¡°These two bastards have snuck up on and killed many members of my sect! If you can help us get rid of them, we¡¯d be happy to share the mysteries of this floating continent with you!¡±

    Zhang Jiu shouted these words as he ran from Pei Qiqi¡¯s Ethereal Swords. The wounds he had briefly addressed earlier had burst open, andrge amounts of blood spilled from them.

    Pei Qiqi, however, didn¡¯t pay any attention to the arrival of the members of the Dong n and Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. She continued to rain her unending attacks on Sha Cheng, while multitasking by controlling her Ethereal Swords to chase after Zhang Jiu.

    Dong Baijie shook his head with a smile and said, ¡°You wanna join forces with us? Sorry, members of my n don¡¯t join forces with losers. You had so many members on your team when you came for just the two of them, yet more than half of your team has ended up dead. You don¡¯t deserve to be our allies. I suggest that you get out of here as soon as possible.¡±

    Reluctant to give up yet, Zhang Jiu turned to look at Qin Yan.

    Qin Yan, who was a graceful beauty, pursed her lips into a smile as she shook her head at him, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t you know about my great grandfather¡¯s friendship with Master Zhen?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Zhang Jiu finally dropped the idea of acquiring assistance from them.

    ncing at those from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, he realized that it wouldn¡¯t be a wise choice to fight Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi to the death.

    After a moment of hesitation, he called out, gritting his teeth, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here and report the situation back to Elder Lu Bai first!¡±

    Hard-pressed by Pei Qiqi¡¯s unending attacks, Sha Cheng had long since given up on the idea of fighting to the death. Therefore, the moment he heard Zhang Jiu¡¯s words, he dashed towards the edge of the floating continent.

    After issuing the order, Zhang Jiu shot a nasty nce at Dong Baijie and Qin Yan and then also sped towards the edge of the continent.

    Only Jin Lin seemed reluctant to leave after hearing Zhang Jiu¡¯s exmation. ¡°It¡¯s just the two of them, and none of their seniors are around. Why don¡¯t we finish them off now?! I don¡¯t believe that these people from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce dare to make our entire sect their enemy!¡± He intended to fight to the end.

    ¡°If you¡¯re so eager to die, be my guest.¡± With these words, Zhang Jiu sped away, not sparing Jin Lin another nce.

    Sha Cheng adopted the same attitude.

    Seeing Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng dashing into the distance, Jin Lin let out angry roars, yet didn¡¯t have any other feasible options.

    With just his own strength, there was no way he could beat Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian together. Watching Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng fading into the distance, he reluctantly sped after them.

    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere,¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly as she chased after Jin Lin.

    Nie Tian realized what she intended to do, and thus nned to dash over and cooperate with her to kill Jin Lin. However, Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°I¡¯ll kill him myself.¡±

    The moment she uttered these words, a that glowed with silver light suddenly flew out of her ring of holding.

    Every intersection of the shone with dazzling, mysterious light and emanated subtle but powerful spatial fluctuations, as if every intersection was a small spatial joint that was connected to unknown dimensions and realms.

    Furthermore, a strong gravitational force seemed to be born from within the unstable spatial joints, as if the mere contact with the would suck the object into some turbulent space.

    The name of the was Thousand Prisons. It was forged by Zhen Hun and given to Pei Qiqi as a gift. She hadn¡¯t used it until now because her cultivation base hadn¡¯t allowed her to use it, but since she had achieved a series of breakthroughs before this trip and recently derived some enlightenment from the outsider¡¯s bloodline power, she was finally able to unleash the Thousand Prisons.

    As soon as the Thousand Prisons flew out, it instantly spread out. Blocking out the sky, it flew after Jin Lin like it had locked onto him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he looked up at the wondrous Thousand Prisons.

    For some reason, even though he knew that it was pursuing Jin Lin and not him, he couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly afraid.

    This spiritual tool, which he had never seen Pei Qiqi use before, was apparently more mysterious and mighty than the Ethereal Swords that she normally used.

    Watching the Thousand Prisons fly after Jin Lin, he seemed to know that Jin Lin would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    With these thoughts in mind, he stopped worrying for Pei Qiqi, but rather came to a stop and started to drain the numerous spirit vermin on him of their flesh power and life force with his bloodline talent, Life Drain.

    A faint smile appeared on his face as his cold gazednded on the cyan gecko that belonged to Jin Lin.

    In the next moment, several wisps of flesh power drilled into its body, causing the life-spirit vermin to struggle even harder and let out even more frequent miserable screeches.

    The gecko, which was biting into his neck, rapidly shriveled and lost all its life force.

    As that happened, Jin Lin¡¯s scream echoed out from the distance. Apparently, he had suffered a severe bacsh from the death of the cyan gecko, and Pei Qiqi took advantage of the opportunity to inflict another strong blow on him.

    Increasingly rxed, Nie Tian focused on absorbing flesh power from the numerous spirit vermin on him, watching them fall to the ground one after another as he did.

    Off to the side, the Greater Heaven stage members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce watched him without making a sound.

    After remaining silent for quite some time, Qin Yan turned to those who hade with her and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s spread out and search. See if we can find anything noteworthy or anyone else on this continent.¡±

    Even though the Greater Heaven members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had many questions in their hearts, they followed her instructions and left.

    With a grin, Dong Baijie turned to Dong Kang and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a look around, cousin? Little Li and I got things covered here.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Dong Kang, who was at thete Greater Heaven stage, was an extended member of the Dong n. Even though his cultivation base was slightly higher than Dong Baijie¡¯s and Dong Li¡¯s, he knew perfectly well that his status in the n was far from being as high as that of the brother-sister pair. Thus, he left as he was bid.

    Seeing that Dong Baijie, Dong Li, and Qin Yan were the only ones left in this area, Nie Tian finally cleared his throat and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you guys so soon.¡±

    Dong Baijieughed wildly as he said, ¡°That was quite impressive. It¡¯s hard to believe that just the two of you managed to kill so many Poison Sect disciples.¡±

    ¡°That was all thanks to Senior Martial Sister Pei¡¯s extraordinary battle skills,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    Qin Yan stepped to Dong Li¡¯s side as she bumped her in the shoulder and said in a low and taunting voice, ¡°Why are you not talking now that that ¡®bastard¡¯ is right before you? Just now, I saw that you were so worried about him that you were actually going to rip off your friendly mask and attack those from the Poison Sect. That was so not like you.¡±

    Nie Tian took a quick nce at Dong Li.

    She, who had restored her actual appearance, possessed unmatched beauty, as if her watery bright eyes could easily capture any man¡¯s soul.

    However, at this moment, Dong Li was staring coldly at him, and asked, ¡°You threw away the Sound Stone we gave you, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said, looking wronged.

    ¡°Then why am I not I sensing the existence of your Sound Stone?¡± Dong Li asked with a stern face. ¡°Once the three Sound Stonese within a certain distance from one another, they¡¯ll give out signals. We¡¯re practically standing face to face now, but I¡¯m still not sensing the existence of your Sound Stone. What do you have to say about this?¡±

    Anger could clearly be heard from her words.

 Chapter 504: Intimacy

    Nie Tian took out the Sound Stone Dong Li had given him, held it out to her, and said with a innocent expression, ¡°This is clearly a misunderstanding. I have this Sound Stone on me now. See?¡±

    Dong Li reached out her hand and said fiercely, ¡°Let me take a look at it!¡±

    Nie Tian tossed it to her.

    As soon as Dong Li caught it, a wisp of dark spiritual aura flew into the Sound Stone. After confirming that the Sound Stone was the one Dong Baijie had given Nie Tian, the anger on her face gradually faded.

    ¡°Why are our Sound Stones not interacting with each other...?¡± Confused, she handed the Sound Stone back to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°There¡¯s something strange about this continent. It seems that no Sound Stone can work here. Those Poison Sect disciples encountered the same problems with their Sound Stones earlier.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡± The cold expression was erased from the corner of Dong Li¡¯s mouth as she gave a soft chuckle. ¡°It seems that I wronged you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you did,¡± Nie Tian said, looking displeased.

    ¡°Alright, alright, it¡¯s my bad.¡± Dong Li didn¡¯t want to dwell further on the matter, and asked, ¡°Howe you and Pei Qiqi are here by yourselves? Where are the others from the Tool Sect?¡±

    Dong Baijie and Qin Yan also gazed at Nie Tian curiously.

    ¡°We were yed by people from the Spirit God Sect.¡± Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian went on to briefly exin what had happened to the Tool Sect.

    After hearing his narration, Dong Baijie let out a sigh and said, ¡°Because of Zhao Shanling¡¯s return, many aren¡¯t too optimistic about the Tool Sect¡¯s future. In the eyes of the Spirit God Sect, the Tool Sect will sooner orter fall into Zhao Shanling¡¯s hands. And apparently, it would take a lot more than the fickle friendship between Yao Shou and Master Zhen for the Spirit God Sect to truly team up with the Tool Sect.¡±

    ¡°Whatever. What happened to them doesn¡¯t concern us.¡± Dong Li sounded indifferent. With a faint smile, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Even if those from the Tool Sect are still alive, their operation in this dimension will be full of obstacles. You might as well stop hanging out with Pei Qiqi and join the team from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    She took the initiative to extend an olive branch.

    She inwardly rejoiced that the Tool Sect had fallen victim to the Spirit God Sect¡¯s scheme and betrayal.

    With all seriousness, Dong Baijie said, ¡°The truth is that the Tool Sect won¡¯t be able to protect you anymore. Wandering around alone in this dimension, you and Pei Qiqi may run into powerful experts from the other sects at any moment, which will be very dangerous. I strongly suggest that you travel with us, Nie Tian. This will, to a great extent, ensure your safety.¡±

    Seeing Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s persuasion, Qin Yan pursed her lips into a smile, blinked a few times, and said, ¡°Certain people stamped with fury after learning via her Sound Stone that you chose to go with Pei Qiqi and the Tool Sect. She vented her anger on Gu Haofeng by letting loose a stream of abuse against him when he did nothing wrong.¡±

    Dong Li was shamed into anger. ¡°You, shut up!!¡±

    Despite the fact that she was already such a beauty, now that her cheeks was slightly flushed with anger and embarrassment, she was even more stunningly beautiful.

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian said, ¡°I need to get Senior Martial Sister Pei¡¯s opinion. We¡¯ll either travel with you together, or go on traveling alone.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s wee to join us,¡± Qin Yan said casually. ¡°Master Zhen and my great grandfather are close friends. If he learned about the Tool Sect¡¯s current situation, he would have demanded that Pei Qiqi travel with us.¡±

    Dong Li snorted coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t like that ice-cold woman.¡±

    Dong Baijie let out a chuckle and said to Nie Tian, ¡°You guys go ahead and talk. I¡¯ll go inform our seniors of the situation here so that they won¡¯t worry about us.¡±

    With these words, he sped away under Dong Li¡¯s gaze.

    At that very moment, Jin Lin¡¯s miserable shriek rang out from somewhere near the edge of the floating continent.

    Dong Baijie shuddered slightly, and then marveled, ¡°That woman is quite a fighter.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the fact that Pei Qiqi, whose cultivation base was lower than Jin Lin¡¯s, had managed to kill Jin Lin within such a short time.

    Qin Yan¡¯s expression also flickered upon hearing Jin Lin¡¯sst agonized shriek before death.

    Like a butterfly flying among flowers, she shed about to examine the scattered dead Poison Sect disciples.

    Then, she shed back to Dong Li¡¯s side, looked deeply at Nie Tian, and asked, ¡°Did just the two of you manage to kill all these Poison Sect disciples? And it seems to me that most of them were at the middle Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all thanks to Senior Martial Sister Pei,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Qin Yan shook her head as her expression grew serious. ¡°You can¡¯t fool me. Those who died at Pei Qiqi¡¯s hands still have the residual aura of her spatial des on them. But those who died at her hands aren¡¯t as many as those who died at yours. You¡¯re only at the early Greater Heaven stage, yet you were able to killed so many Qi warriors with superior cultivation bases. I¡¯ve got to say, as the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you¡¯re truly special.¡±

    Sincere admiration could be seen in her eyes.

    Being at thete Greater Heaven stage herself, she was well-aware that even she wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve such stunning battle results.

    She couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at Dong Li, and with a soft chuckle, she said, ¡°I have to give it to you that you¡¯re a great judge of true talent.¡±

    Not saying a word, Dong Li only raised her chin slightly.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take a look around and leave you two alone.¡± With these words, Qin Yan followed Dong Baijie¡¯s example, found an excuse, and left.

    After she disappeared, Dong Li hesitated a bit before she suddenly trotted to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Confusion appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could stop her, she had already ced her soft hands on Nie Tian¡¯s exposed skin. ¡°Don¡¯t move. Let me check your wounds.¡±

    Gently rubbing the wounds created by the spirit vermin¡¯s sharp teeth, she asked, ¡°Howe you were so careless that you got bitten by so many spirit vermin? All of the Poison Sect¡¯s spirit vermin carry spirit venom. How are you feeling now? Are you feeling sore or numb? And...¡±

    She stopped in the middle of her sentence, astonishment filling her bright eyes.

    Under her gaze, the numerous fine wounds she had just touched with her jade-like fingers were actually healing.

    She went nk for a moment, then examined the wounds with rapt attention. She discovered that all of the wounds she could see were actually healing at a speed so shockingly fast she was able to see the healing process.

    Meanwhile, as Nie Tian shook his shoulders and arms,rge amounts of spirit vermin that had been drained of flesh power fell to the ground.

    The dead spirit vermin seemed to be bereft of any blood or water, like corpses that had been left in the desert for months.

    Eyes lit up, Dong Li finally snapped back to reality and asked in a low voice, ¡°Did these spirit vermin die because you drained them of their flesh power?¡±

    With a faint grin, Nie Tian answered, ¡°That seems to be the case.¡±

    Dong Li mmed her fist in his chest before ring at him and saying in an angry, low voice, ¡°You bastard! You made me worry about you for so long! I saw you being gnawed by that many spirit vermin, and I thought... I thought you...¡±

    With a loud ¡®ouch¡¯, Nie Tian took two steps back and said with a frown, ¡°It was actually a bit hard to take at first. I seem fine now, but I¡¯m still recovering. Jeez.¡±

    With these words, he slowly sat down on the ground, examining himself as he practiced Heavenly Wood Heal.

    All of the flesh power he had absorbed with Life Drain had been devoured by the green aura in his heart. Under the effect of Heavenly Wood Heal, the healing aura generated from the liquidized wood power dissolved the residual venom and healed the wounds created by the spirit vermin at an rmingly fast speed.

    He looked down at the holes and cuts the spirit vermin¡¯s teeth had created on his flesh, and discovered that the fibers within them were rapidly growing and reattaching.

    The healing effect of Heavenly Wood Heal went beyond his imagination. It appeared that treating such minor injuries was extremely easy.

    Even as he chatted with Dong Li, all of his wounds were rapidly closing and disappearing, not leaving any scars.

    With a tempting fragrance, Dong Li once again approached him and without any scruples, touched the ce on his neck where the cyan gecko had bitten him. ¡°You freak! Are you sure that you¡¯re even human?! How in the world can a gash that deep be healed within such a short time?

    ¡°Even many outsiders that are famous for the toughness of their bodies can¡¯t heal their wounds this fast...¡±

    Tickled by her fingers, Nie Tian subconsciously caught her hand and held it away from him, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t. You¡¯re tickling me.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian was going to let go of her hand. However, Dong Li suddenly broke away and caught Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Eyes filled with confusion, he looked into Dong Li¡¯s eyes.

    However, Dong Li seemed to have noticed something. Her gaze suddenly averted andnded on Pei Qiqi, who had appeared at the foot of a distant ancient tree.

    Looking bashful, she berated Nie Tian while ncing at Pei Qiqi, ¡°Look how eager you are. It¡¯s only been days since we parted, and now you can¡¯t keep your hands off me? Quit it. People are watching!¡±

    By ¡°people¡±, she was clearly referring to Pei Qiqi, who had happened to return at this moment.

    Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    At this moment, Dong Li flung away Nie Tian¡¯s hand and put some distance between the two of them. Ravishingly beautiful, she rolled her eyes at him as she fixed her appearance. Then, with azy attitude, she turned to Pei Qiqi and said loudly, ¡°Sorry, we didn¡¯t know that you were back. We kinda got carried away.¡±

 Chapter 505: Its Him?!

    Standing under a sky-reaching tree, the blue-garbed Pei Qiqi looked as pure and quiet as a lotus as she said with an expressionless face, ¡°Go on. Don¡¯t mind me.¡± With these words, she sat down where she was, took out a medicinal pill, and swallowed it. Then, she closed her eyes to refine it and stimte its efficacy.

    Her cold and indifferent attitude made Dong Li feel slightly annoyed, and she couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.

    Her eyes rolled around as she searched in her mind for other tricks. However, at this moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s slender eyebrows suddenly furrowed as a hint of pain appeared on her face.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    He remembered that Pei Qiqi¡¯s internal injuries hadn¡¯t fully healed yet. Her recent battles with Poison Sect disciples might have worsened those injuries.

    SHEW!

    He blurred into action and appeared behind Pei Qiqi in the next moment. Without a word, he sat down, gently pressed his hands on her back, and practiced Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Tens of thousands of wisps of liquidized wood power flew out of his fast-spinning vortex of wood power and infused into Pei Qiqi.

    With Nie Tian behind her back, Pei Qiqi was facing Dong Li with her eyes closed.

    However, at this moment, as Nie Tian rushed over to heal her injuries, her eyes quietly opened.

    Face still expressionless, she shot a nce at Dong Li.

    The smile immediately faded from Dong Li¡¯s face as she let out a soft, cold snort.

    Meanwhile...

    Floating off the edge of the continent, Lu Bai¡¯s face looked especially grim as he listened to Zhang Jiu describe the situation to him.

    Looking frustrated, Sha Cheng bowed his head as he stood off to the side, not saying a word.

    ¡°You led a team of nine people back in there, yet just the two of you came back alive.¡± Lu Bai struggled to suppress his fury, yet he felt it increasingly hard as he saw Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi, who were watching them from some distance away with expressions as if they were enjoying a show. ¡°I can¡¯t believe those two Greater Heaven stage bastards managed to kill so many of you, including Jin Lin!¡±

    A bitter smile appeared on Zhang Jiu¡¯s face.

    Keh! Keh! Dong Tuodi cleared his throat to attract the Poison Sect members¡¯ attention. Only after all of their eyesnded on him did he take his time to say, ¡°It seems that the Poison Sect isn¡¯t destined to explore this floating continent.¡±

    With a stern expression, Qin Yi said loudly, ¡°I¡¯m gonna let this one pass, since Qiqi isn¡¯t hurt.¡±

    Dong Tuodi seemed to turn a blind eye to Lu Bai¡¯s anger as he added, ¡°Judging by the time, those from the Gu n, Cao n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect should be here any moment now.¡±

    Lu Bai¡¯s expression grew even grimmer.

    He knew very well that the five Qi warrior powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles always acted together, and this trip to this mysterious dimension was no exception.

    Now that the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were here, it meant the other three powers probably weren¡¯t far away.

    Considering the Dong n¡¯s strength alone, the Poison Sect didn¡¯t have absolute confidence in beating them in battle. If all of the other four powers came along...

    After weighing the situation in his mind, Lu Bai eventually beckoned for his people to leave.

    Dejected and despondent, the crowd of Poison Sect disciples sped away from the floating continent one after another.

    Lu Bai, who was thest to leave, shot a cold nce at Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll see you around!¡± With these words, he turned around and flew away.

    With a disdainful smile, Dong Tuodi said, ¡°Do you think you can scare me?¡±

    Soon after Lu Bai left, Dong Baijie emerged from the floating continent. Gazing at the empty space where the Poison Sect members used to be, he asked, ¡°Where are those people from the Poison Sect?¡±

    With a disdainful expression, Dong Tuodi said, ¡°They left, of course. The Poison Sect has really gone downhill. They actually got a dozen Greater Heaven disciples killed by just two youngsters, and those who dide back were also in sore straits.¡±

    After a pause, he asked, looking curious, ¡°Baijie, I know Pei Qiqi is in there, but who¡¯s the other one?¡±

    Qin Yi and the Qi warriors from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also shot curious gazes towards Dong Baijie.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s eyes flickered slightly before he said with a soft chuckle, ¡°A friend of Little Li¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°A friend...¡± After a moment of pondering, Dong Tuodi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s him!?¡±

    Dong Baijie nodded gently.

    Astonished, Dong Tuodi immediately said, ¡°No wonder...¡±

    As one of the senior members of the Dong n who had true power, he knew a great deal about Dong Li, especially her encounters in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. After she had helped the Tool Sect find Zhao Shanling and brought back a Fruit of Life for their patriarch, he had paid even more attention to her.

    Not only had the news of her obtaining a Fruit of Life caused a sensation in the entire Dong n, but the patriarch had also been very pleased.

    In fact, it was thanks to the patriarch¡¯s generous rewards that Dong Li was able to advance to the middle Greater Heaven stage within such a short time.

    From the clues he had picked up and Dong Baijie¡¯s implication, he was rather certain that Dong Li¡¯s fortunate gains had a great deal to do with Nie Tian.

    Now that he learned that the other one was Nie Tian, the sole sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Dong Tuodi thought everything made sense.

    The person who had forcibly taken a fragmentary star mark from Dong Baijie and obtained another one from Ning Yang was naturally by no means ordinary.

    ¡°Did you find anything noteworthy in there?¡± Dong Tuodi asked.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten the chance to conduct a thorough search yet.¡±

    ¡°Alright, go back and try your best to uncover the secrets of this floating continent.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± With these words, Dong Baijie turned around and sped away.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that person you were talking about?¡± Qin Yi asked.

    ¡°Umm, he¡¯s just a good friend of Little Li¡¯s.¡± Dong Tuodi muddled through his answer.

    At the heart of the floating continent.

    With the help of Heavenly Wood Heal, Nie Tian once again helped Pei Qiqi heal her injuries with his liquidized wood power.

    After recently healing her twice and attacking his enemies with Heavenly Wood Thorns, he had consumed more than half of the liquidized wood power he had umted.

    After withdrawing his hands, Nie Tian seemed somewhat tired as he said in a low voice, ¡°You should be fine now.¡±

    Pei Qiqi closed her eyes and briefly examined the changes inside of her, then she asked softly, ¡°Are you alright?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile and rose to his feet. ¡°If we were somewhere else, it would take me quite some time to restore the power I¡¯ve consumed. However, I can recover much faster in this ce, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    After stepping away from Pei Qiqi and Dong Li to a secluded corner, he nced around and saw no one around. Then, he started forming sparkling, green energy balls and channeling concentrated wood power from them into his vortex of wood power.

    In the meantime, he kept a close watch on everything in the vicinity with the help of his nine Heaven Eyes. He saw Qin Yan and Dong Kang roaming about and searching aimlessly.

    From the expressions on their faces, he could tell they hadn¡¯t found anything.

    It appeared that they would keep looking for some time, and none of them would return shortly.

    Dong Li came up to him, hoping to talk to him, yet after finding that he seemed to be practicing cultivation by forming energy balls, she turned around and walked away.

    Time passed quickly.

    Two hourster, by forming and absorbing the wood power from three energy balls, he had recovered most of his wood power.

    Also at that moment, Dong Baijie, Dong Kang, Qin Yan, and others from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce returned one after another.

    ¡°So?¡± Dong Li asked. ¡°Found anything?¡±

    Everyone shook their heads. They had conducted a thorough search of the entire continent, yet none of them had discovered any valuable spiritual materials.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes rolled about in their sockets before her gaze suddenly fixed on Nie Tian.

    Even though she hadn¡¯t left and searched other parts of the continent, she felt a sense of familiarity towards the exceedingly tall trees around her.

    They were identical with the ancient trees she had seen in the magicalnd which Nie Tian had found and entered with her in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    It urred to her that the special ward preventing Profound and Worldly realm experts from entering this floating continent also contained the profound truths of wood power.

    Therefore, she was convinced that if there were any secrets in this mysterious ce, others might not be able to find them, but Nie Tian must be able to!

    ¡°Brother, cousin,¡± Dong Li said with a smile. ¡°You can take another look around. If you really can¡¯t find anything, you can just wait outside with our seniors.¡±

    Knowing her too well, Dong Baijie realized that she might have other ns in mind, and thus nodded.

    Looking at Nie Tian from afar, Dong Baijie opened his mouth to call out to him, ¡°Uh...¡±

    However, he had to stop, since he didn¡¯t know how he should address Nie Tian now that he was wearing another mask.

    Nie Tian saw through his dilemma, and thus stated his assumed name, ¡°Mu Han.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right, Mu Han,¡± Dong Baijie said. ¡°There isn¡¯t anyone else on this continent, right?¡±

    ¡°No, not at the moment.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Dong Baijie said with a smile. ¡°All of the Poison Sect members have left. You cane with us when you¡¯re ready to leave.¡±

    Upon hearing that people from the Poison Sect had left, Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°I still need to think about it.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see youter.¡± With these words, Dong Baijie left with Dong Kang.

    ¡°You guys can go with them,¡± Qin Yan order the members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    ¡°Why are you not going, Qin Yan?¡± Dong Li sounded somewhat displeased.

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving because you¡¯re not leaving.¡± Qin Yan pursed her lips into a smile and sat down, looking determined.

    The news of Dong Li bringing a Fruit of Life back from the Realm of Unbounded Destion not only created a major stir in the Dong n, but also shocked every n and sect in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Since she had always been tight with Dong Li, she had long since spected that Dong Li¡¯s wondrous encounters had something to do with Nie Tian.

    Therefore, she had a feeling that she would have to rely on Nie Tian and Dong Li if she were to discover the secrets of this strange continent. That was why she refused to leave.

    Dong Li shot a dirty look at her. ¡°Whatever.¡±

    Qin Yan pretended she didn¡¯t see that.

    Nie Tian came over and saw the three women gathered in this area. Not wishing to stay here, he said, ¡°We encountered those from the Poison Sect right after we came here, so I haven¡¯t had the chance to uncover the secrets of this continent. I¡¯m gonna take a look around.¡±

    With these words, he avoided meeting the strange gazes of the three women and suddenly vanished into thin air.

 Chapter 506: Searching for Secrets

    Nie Tian was surprised after casting a short-range Starshift.

    He saw Dong Baijie sitting by the foot of a huge tree, holding a bottle of alcohol and gulping it down by himself.

    Seeing Nie Tian appearing out of nowhere, Dong Baijie was startled, and blurted, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    instead of answering him, Nie Tian asked with a confused expression, ¡°Didn¡¯t you leave?¡±

    Just now, he had let his guard down and hadn¡¯t monitored everything happening in the vicinity with his Heaven Eyes, and when Dong Baijie left earlier, he didn¡¯t pay much attention as to where he had gone.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Dong Baijie hadn¡¯t gone very far.

    Dong Baijieughed out loud and said somewhat embarrassedly, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want to give up yet. I¡¯ve stuck around to see if something will happen.¡±

    ¡°Have you seen anything noteworthy?¡± Nie Tian asked with a smile.

    Dong Baijie sighed in frustration. ¡°I¡¯m one hundred percent certain that some sorts of secrets are hiding in this continent, but I just can¡¯t figure them out. Meanwhile, our seniors whose souls have transformed and thus acquired soul power can¡¯te in here due to the restrictive spell. As Greater Heaven stage cultivators, we can only use our psychic power to scan this continent, which means our perception will be far inferior...¡±

    Upon hearing his words, an idea struck Nie Tian.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s words enlightened him.

    Early on, he had been consumed with the battle against the Poison Sect disciples, and thus he hadn¡¯t had the chance to examine this mysterious continent closely.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm yet, he actually had soul power at his disposal, which was from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Furthermore, the perception of his Heaven Eyes would also be far superior to the psychic awareness of normal Greater Heaven stage cultivators. With these thoughts in mind, he sent his nine Heaven Eyes, which were scattered in the vicinity, on different missions.

    He sent three of them into three of the surrounding huge trees, while sending the other six into the depths of the earth.

    While doing this, he sat down with his back against an ancient tree, and said to Dong Baijie, ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can find anything.¡±

    With these words, he slowly closed his eyes and focused on controlling his Heaven Eyes with his soul.

    Dong Baijie nodded and didn¡¯t say anything. He kept drinking and asionally ncing around, trying not to disturb Nie Tian.

    Soon, Nie Tian discovered that extremely rich wood power was flowing within each of the three ancient trees he had examined with his Heaven Eyes.

    Meanwhile, he also discovered that all of the trees¡¯ roots were actually connected, forming an enormous web underground, yet he wasn¡¯t able to find anything noteworthy in the depths of the earth.

    An hourter, he failed to find anything else with the help of his nine Heaven Eyes.

    In the meantime, the green aura, which carried the profound truths of life, was still dormant, coiled up in his heart. It didn¡¯t seem to be reacting to this special ce in any way.

    At that moment, Dong Baijie asked, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol, ¡°Found anything, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Dong Baijieughed wildly. ¡°I was hoping you could uncover the secrets of this ce. Who would have guessed that you can¡¯t find any clues either.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, he rose to his feet, wobbling slightly, and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯m out of here. If no one can find anything here, we¡¯re probably gonna leave after a couple of days.¡±

    With these words, he sped away towards the edge of the floating continent.

    After he left, Nie Tian sat in ce, wracking his mind for ways to uncover the secrets of this ce.

    Time passed quickly.

    In the blink of an eye, two days passed. After roaming around for so long, Dong Kang and the members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had still failed to discover any anomalies or clues.

    One after another, they left the floating continent.

    Over the past two days, Nie Tian no longer stayed in one location, but rather walked around, examining every single ancient tree with his wood power and Heaven Eyes as he walked past the foot of the sky-reaching trees.

    He counted a total of seventy-two of them, though nothing noteworthy was found as he examined them.

    He gradually lost his patience.

    In contrast, as he observed Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, and Qin Yan with his Heaven Eyes, he discovered that the three of them didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of leaving, as if they were all waiting for something to happen.

    <i>¡°The seventy-two ancient trees cover a veryrge area, but their roots are all connected underground. And they all have rich wood power flowing within them.¡±</i> Nie Tian pondered in silence.

    With the help of his nine Heaven Eyes, he had long since grasped the way the seventy-two enormous trees were distributed.

    All of a sudden, an idea hit him.

    He nced around and picked a random tree, from which he snapped a bunch of fresh, green branches.

    Then, he nted them in the ground ording to the arrangement of the seventy-two ancient trees.

    The distances between the seventy-two branches were to scale with the distances between the seventy-two ancient trees.

    Afterwards, one stream of wood aura after another flew out of his fingertips into the seventy-two branches that had been nted in the ground.

    As his spiritual power was infused into the branches, they extended out of the bottoms and connected in the same way the ancient trees¡¯ roots were connected.

    As the root-like green auras intertwined with each other underground, a misty, green aura rose from the top of the branches.

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly sensed the birth of a mysterious maic field among the seventy-two branches.

    In the next moment, the rich wood power lingering in the air started converging on the formation of tree branches Nie Tian had just created from all directions.

    The misty green aura, which was like a dome above the branches, gradually grew clear, and became increasingly simr to the ward around the floating continent.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    Staring closely at the branches, he realized that the ancient trees that had taken root on this continent might just be, as he had expected, a special spell formation!

    His spirit was instantly aroused. Shining with the light of excitement, his eyes didn¡¯t for a second leave the miniature spell formation of the seventy-two branches.

    Instead of summoning more of his wood power, he created a fireball with a fire incantation and bombarded the mini spell formation with it.

    BANG!

    As he had expected, the fireball flew into an invisible ward and exploded, fiery sparks sshing from the contact point.

    A shudder ran through him as he jerked his head up to look at the ancient trees that reached into the heavens. ¡°Can this be the secret of this ce?¡±

    The fact that he was able to figure out the special distribution of the ancient trees was to a great deal thanks to what he had learned from Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji had once told him that, at the very beginning, the ancient Qi warriors had derived enlightenment from the profound powers of heaven and earth, and bybining their enlightenment with the special traits of humans, they hade to discover these truths and created all sorts of exquisite incantations.

    Many of the spell formations equipment forgers engraved in spiritual tools were simr to the terrain of the earth, the arrangement of the stars, and the flow of human meridians.

    Even though the things Wu Ji had taught him didn¡¯t concern any specific incantations or techniques, they covered all of the fundamental truths of cultivation.

    The fact that he was able to think of snapping branches and putting them in the same arrangement as the ancient trees was also a sh of insight based on the knowledge he had acquired from Wu Ji.

    He sat down on the ground, blocked all outside distractions, and focused solely on the tree branches before him.

    His mind gradually drifted away as he used his heart to sense the changes in the maic field among the tree branches, the ward forming over it, and the wood power quietly converging on it from the surroundings.

    An unknown period of time passed.

    Dong Li and Qin Yan finally grew bored and roamed over to this area, where they simultaneously noticed Nie Tian¡¯s abnormal behavior.

 Chapter 507: Cracks in the Earth

    Without saying a word, Pei Qiqi sat in her original ce and contemted the profundity of the tiny spatial des inside of her. Dong Li and Qin Yan, however, grew bored and wanted to talk in private. Therefore, they strolled away from the location where they had gathered.

    They hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t gone very far away, but rather was sitting in this nearby, secluded ce.

    The two of them were astounded after seeing him sitting in the lotus position before seventy-two snapped branches that had been nted in the ground, and the slightly visible, green ward around them.

    Qin Yan¡¯s bright eyes instantly lit up. ¡°This is....¡±

    Her gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and the branches for a while before she suddenly came to a realization.

    She realized that the way the branches were arranged was ording to the arrangement of the huge trees that filled this floating continent.

    They appeared to be aligned in some pattern, thereby forming a mysterious spell formation.

    After a moment of hesitation, Qin Yan rapidly went into action, not saying anything.

    She copied Nie Tian and snapped seventy-two branches, which she nted in the ground in the same arrangement as his.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Dong Li blurted, looking somewhat displeased.

    With a soft chuckle, Qin Yan said, ¡°Everyone is entitled to the hidden fortunes on this continent. You¡¯re not going to let him reap the fortunes alone just because you fancy him, are you?¡±

    With these words, she finished nting the branches in the ground the same way Nie Tian had at an eye-dazzling speed.

    Afterwards, she copied Nie Tian and sat down in the lotus position, gazing at the branches before her, hoping for changes to happen.

    However, even though the branches before her were nted in the same arrangement as Nie Tian¡¯s, nothing seemed to be happening.

    Face filled with confusion, she attempted to infuse her spiritual power into the formation of fresh, green branches, yet still nothing happened.

    Eyebrows knitted, Qin Yan muttered to herself, ¡°What went wrong? I did everything just like he did it.¡±

    Standing next to Qin Yan, Dong Li looked down at her and said, with a taunting tilt to her mouth, ¡°You really believed it would work?¡±

    Somewhat frustrated, Qin Yan said, ¡°It¡¯s working for him. Why not me?¡±

    With a soft chuckle, Dong Li said in aposed manner, ¡°He has a vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea, and the spiritual power he infused those branches with was wood power. I don¡¯t recall you ever practicing wood-attributed incantations or possessing wood power.¡±

    Qin Yan went nk briefly.

    Then, unwilling to give up just yet, she once again summoned her spiritual power and cast a few spells.

    However, the formation of branches still didn¡¯t show any changes, which frustrated her greatly.

    After remaining silent for a while, she finally gave up and asked Dong Li, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to give it a try?¡±

    Dong Li shook her head, her expression surprisinglyposed. ¡°You tried and failed. There¡¯s no point in me trying again. You might not believe it, but I strongly believe that if there are any secrets in this ce, he¡¯ll be the only one who will be able to uncover them.¡±

    ¡°You really have confidence in your little lover, don¡¯t you?¡± Qin Yan asked, surprised by Dong Li¡¯s words.

    Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile, ignored Qin Yan¡¯s teasing, and nodded squarely. ¡°Yep.¡±

    Qin Yan rose to her feet. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t. If I remember correctly, one of our Greater Heaven stage members also practices wood power. Everything that¡¯s wood-attributed naturally agrees with her.¡±

    Before Dong Li could stop her, her garments fluttered as she shed off into the distance.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t!¡± Dong Li yelled.

    Qin Yan¡¯s pleasantughter rang out as she rapidly shed about and disappeared into the distant forest. ¡°Hahaha, we¡¯ll see if your little lover can have all the fortunes of this ce to himself.¡±

    Dong Li thought about chasing after her, yet at this moment, Nie Tian was apparently deeply submerged in his contemtion of some profound mysteries. She was afraid that if she left, others who passed by this ce might disturb him.

    After hesitating for a few seconds, she stomped her foot vigorously and shouted into the distance, ¡°Qin Yan! If you dare to ruin it for Nie Tian, we¡¯ll no longer be sisters!¡±

    Then, she quietly stepped to Nie Tian¡¯s side, where she nced around vigntly and served as Nie Tian¡¯s protector.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s spirit seemed to have left his body and was roaming about in the maic fluctuations among the tree branches before him.

    Even though Dong Li wasn¡¯t able to see through what was happening, she could tell from Nie Tian¡¯s iparably focused expression that he had discovered something.

    Hence, she waited.

    Outside the floating continent...

    Dong Baijie, Dong Kang, and the members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce returned to Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi one after another.

    Under Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi¡¯s inquiring gazes, every one of them shook their heads with bitter smiles, showing that they hadn¡¯t discovered anything.

    In fact, Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi had already expected these results, seeing them returning so quickly.

    Although they were rather disappointed, they gradually epted the fact that their juniors might not be destined to uncover the secrets of this floating continent.

    Gazing down at the dense forest, which, even though he could see with his eyes, he couldn¡¯t examine with his soul power, Dong Tuodi said with a somewhat frustrated tone, ¡°We¡¯ll wait for three more days. In three days, whether the secrets of this ce are uncovered or not, we¡¯ll need to leave. The Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect are already summoning us. They seem to have also found something.¡±

    Qin Yi nodded in assent. ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t stay here forever.¡±

    SHEW!

    The figure of a woman suddenly shed into view at the edge of the floating continent. She called out, looking at a female member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce from afar, ¡°Feng Ying! Get down here, quickly!¡±

    The young woman named Feng Ying also practiced wood-attributed incantations and possessed wood power.

    She had carefully scanned the continent with the others earlier, but had given up after their fruitless search.

    Upon hearing Dong Li¡¯s summons, she rushed down to her side and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on, Big Sister Qin Yan?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll exinter,¡± Qin Yan said very urgently. ¡°Come with me.¡±

    Hence, Feng Ying followed her into the forest.

    After reaching the nearest ancient tree, Qin Yan nted the branches she had brought with her in the ground ording to her memory.

    However, at that moment, great changes suddenly took ce.

    Even though not a single Worldly or Profound realm expert was attempting to enter the floating continent, the invisible ward once again became visible.

    A dark-green, semi-transparent ward rapidly spread out in the sky and enveloped the entire continent. Detailed andplicated tree patterns appeared and started flowing on the ward.

    Confused, Dong Tuodi asked, ¡°Did any of you just send your soul power towards the continent?¡±

    Qin Yi was also deeply puzzled.

    The two of them were both at thete Profound realm. Considering the keenness of their perception, if any member of the Dong n or the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had sent their soul power towards the floating continent, they would have sensed it at the first moment.

    However, the ward, which would only show itself when foreign forces attempted to enter, somehow suddenly lit up.

    This didn¡¯t make sense.

    Under Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi¡¯s gazes, all of the Worldly realm members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce shook their heads repeatedly, showing that they hadn¡¯t done anything.

    ¡°Can it be that someone else is trying to enter the continent from another direction?¡± Eyebrows furrowed, Dong Tuodi immediately spread out his profound soul awareness to cover and scan a vast area around him.

    After some time, he withdrew his soul awareness and said with a frustrated expression, ¡°No one is around.¡±

    Confused, Qin Yi asked, ¡°This is odd. What could be triggering the ward?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?!" Dong Tuodi¡¯s eyes lit up and his expression flickered as his eyes were suddenly seized by the dark-green ward.

    In the next moment, everyone else¡¯s eyes were also caught by the special ward.

    Under their gazes, the countlessplicated tree patterns, which were originally slowly roaming about on the ward, suddenly started converging on one point, as if they were attracted by something.

    Without any hesitation, Dong Tuodi shot up into the sky and followed the moving tree patterns to the point they were all converging on. Then, floating in the void, he looked down, and discovered that the converging point was right above the center of the floating continent.

    However, since the canopies of the ancient trees were too wide and thick, he couldn¡¯t see through them.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t realize that he was actually floating directly above Nie Tian.

    Soon, everyone from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce rushed to Dong Tuodi¡¯s side on their respective rocks or Rainbow Lightnings.

    They all gazed down, and saw numerous beautiful tree patterns converging on this point from all directions.

    ¡°One of the tree patterns disappeared!¡± Qin Yi eximed.

    One of the tree patterns suddenly disappeared from the ward after flowing to the convergence point, as if it had fallen towards the floating continent.

    Upon hearing Qin Yi¡¯s words, everyone paid more attention, and discovered that more tree patterns were vanishing after reaching the center of the ward.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Momentster, violent rumbles echoed out from the continent below them.

    ¡°The continent seems to be breaking apart!¡± Dong Tuodi gasped with astonishment.

    Standing in one of the Rainbow Lightnings, Dong Baijie¡¯s face was filled with disbelief as he stared downwards.

    He was well-aware that the area underneath them was the ce where he had previously parted with Nie Tian.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t see Nie Tian from the void, he was certain that he was still there.

    Hence, he reached the conclusion that it was Nie Tian who had triggered the great changes.

 Chapter 508: Converge

    After a moment of hesitation, Dong Baijie made his decision.

    He steered his Rainbow Lightning away from the top of the ward, where the tree patterns were converging from all directions, and sought to reenter the continent through another location on the ward.

    The moment he left, Qin Yi snapped back to reality, and shouted furiously, ¡°What are you waiting for, idiots!? With us Worldly and Profound realm cultivators unable to go through the ward, why are you Greater Heaven stage ones also still standing here like fools?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the other Greater Heaven stage cultivators in the crowd snapped back to their senses.

    One after another, they followed Dong Baijie¡¯s example and flew towards areas where there weren¡¯t many tree patterns on the ward.

    BOOM!

    Dong Baijie and his Rainbow Lightning rammed hard into the dark-green ward, and instantly bounced back.

    He stood aghast. ¡°What the hell?! Even Greater Heaven stage cultivators are stopped from entering now?!¡±

    In the next moment, Dong Kang and the other Greater Heaven stage cultivators were also denied entrance, and repulsed by the dark-green ward one after another.

    ¡°Someone must have discovered something!¡± Eyes zing like a torch, Dong Tuodi became increasingly convinced that someone had triggered the secrets of the continent, therefore causing new changes that stopped even Greater Heaven stage cultivators from entering.

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s Qin Yan...¡± Qin Yi said.

    Recalling Qin Yan¡¯s sudden return and summoning Feng Ying, he couldn¡¯t help but grow excited, anticipation gradually appearing in his eyes.

    Everyone else¡¯s expressions flickered as they heard his words.

    They all recalled the sense of urgency and excitement of finding something on Qin Yan¡¯s face when she had returned previously.

    Therefore, they all assumed it was Qin Yan who had previously discovered the secrets of this floating continent, and thus came back to ask Feng Ying to resolve it with her.

    Of everyone, Dong Baijie was the only one who was convinced that Qin Yan had nothing to do with what was happening.

    After all, he knew the spot where the tree patterns were converging was directly above the ce where Nie Tian had sat in the lotus position when he had left.

    Before going on this trip, he had also learned from Dong Li that Nie Tian was the reason why she had been able to obtain a Fruit of Life and bring it back to the Dong n.

    <i>¡°It must be you again...¡± </i>With a bitter smile, Dong Baijie shook his head. Even though he inwardly envied him, he didn¡¯t say anything.

    Meanwhile, on the floating continent...

    Qin Yan, who had just arranged the tree branches and told Feng Ying to infuse them with her wood power, looked up into the heavens, a confused expression spreading on her face.

    The sudden changes over their heads caught her attention before Feng Ying could infuse her refined wood power into the seventy-two branches.

    She noticed the movements of theplicated tree patterns in the dark-green ward.

    Without even thinking about it, she knew it was Nie Tian who had triggered these changes.

    ¡°Hurry up!¡± She urged Feng Ying.

    ¡°Nothing seems to be happening,¡± Feng Ying said, grievance filling her face. ¡°I¡¯ve already infused my wood power into these branches, but there don¡¯t seem to be any changes.¡±

    Qin Yan tore her eyes away from the changes in the sky and looked down. Like Feng Ying had said, nothing seemed to be happening.

    At that moment, loud rumbles echoed out from the earth under their feet. It urred to her that this floating continent might crack and shatter shortly.

    With a hateful tone, she said, ¡°He beat us to it after all...¡±

    Feng Ying was confused. ¡°Who?¡±

    Grudges filling the corner of her mouth, Qin Yan let out a sigh and muttered, ¡°We were just one step away, but we were still toote. Perhaps Dong Li was right. Only he can find and take the fortunes from this floating continent.¡±

    With these words, she waved her hands and signaled for Feng Ying to stop wasting her time.

    ¡°You can go back now. Be careful though. I¡¯m afraid this floating continent will be destroyed soon. Don¡¯t sink with it.¡± With these words, she sped away towards the location where Nie Tian and Dong Li were.

    ...

    Guarding Nie Tian, Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes were filled with vigor as she giggled and said to herself, ¡°What did I tell you, Qin Yan? If there¡¯s any secret in this ce, he¡¯ll be the only one to find it. It¡¯s not in your destiny.¡±

    As she looked up, she saw streams of emerald green aura falling down from the sky directly above Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Each and every one of them hadplicated and beautiful tree patterns flowing in them, as if they were from the oldest trees this world had ever seen, and they carried the profound truths of wood power.

    The streams of emerald green aura slowly extended towards the tree branches before Nie Tian.

    As soon as they flew into the branches, dazzling light blossomed from the branches. Meanwhile, the branches became semi-transparent and crystalline, as if they had somehow changed from wood into some sort of sparkling crystal.

    Each and every branch rapidly changed after receiving the streams filled with mysterious tree patterns.

    After a brief pondering, Dong Li realized that the exquisite tree patterns must be the ones that were gathering from all directions in the dark-green ward above their heads.

    Then, she realized that Nie Tian had truly uncovered the secrets of this floating continent.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a blue-garbed figure shed into appearance.

    It was Pei Qiqi. She had noticed the streams of emerald green aura falling from the heavens to this location, and thus rushed over from where she had been practicing cultivation. Her face was also filled with shock as she saw the streams of emerald green aura flowing into the branches before Nie Tian.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Protecting Nie Tian, of course,¡± Dong Li answered with a casual tone, then she shot a nce at Pei Qiqi out of the corner of her eye and said, ¡°Do you have a problem with that?¡±

    Pei Qiqi ignored her question, her attentive gaze switching back and forth between Nie Tian and the mutating branches before him.

    Momentster, she also stepped to Nie Tian¡¯s side and nced around vigntly.

    Dong Li immediately realized that she also intended to protect Nie Tian, and thus said with a taunting tone, ¡°He¡¯s safe for now. Those who aren¡¯t concerned here can leave now.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who should leave,¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly.

    ¡°You are!¡± Dong Li refuted.

    While the two of them bickered, the streams of green aura that carried exquisite tree patterns fell from directly above Nie Tian and found their way to all of the seventy-two branches on the ground, turning them semi-transparent and sparkling with dazzling light.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Loud rumbles suddenly echoed out from under them as rifts started to appear on the ground around them.

    As the earth began to rip apart, the whole continent, which seemed to have floated quietly for tens of thousands of years, started to sink slowly towards the endless void.

    At that moment, Qin Yan finally rushed to their location.

    Upon seeing her, Pei Qiqi instantly tensed up. Frosty light began to swirl in her watery eyes as her whole body began to thrum with violent spatial fluctuations.

    She knew something about Dong Li¡¯s rtionship with Nie Tian. Even though she wasn¡¯t fond of her, she felt she could trust her.

    However, she instantly grew vignt upon seeing Qin Yan, who she had actually met quite a few times before. She was worried that Qin Yan would attempt to snatch this fortune from Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Why are you back?¡± Dong Li asked with a forced smile.

    With a sigh, Qin Yan spread out her hands and said, ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. I summoned Feng Ying to help me uncover the secrets of this ce, just like that guy has done, but it turned out that we couldn¡¯t.¡±

    A pleased expression appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°I told you that if there are any secrets on this floating continent, he¡¯ll end up being the one to uncover them. You, on the other hand... Even though you¡¯re very smart, you¡¯re not destined to uncover those secrets. Nie Tian is.¡±

    Qin Yan rolled her eyes at her and said, ¡°Alright, alright, you were right... I can¡¯t believe we wasted so much time and energy here. We haven¡¯t gained a single thing while an outsider gets all the fortunes.¡±

    Dong Li chuckled. ¡°An outsider?¡± She shot a nce at Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Nie Tian is no outsider in my eyes.¡±

    RUUUUUUMBLE!

    The earth split apart, forming bottomless rifts, while ancient trees that were hundreds of meters tall fell down one after another.

    Watching the continent sink and ancient trees fall, the three women instantly grew nervous.

    Compared to Pei Qiqi, Dong Li and Qin Yan seemed more worried, as if they knew that their lives were in imminent danger.

    ¡°Why is he still not waking up?¡± Qin Yan asked anxiously. ¡°I¡¯m not going to stay for him. I¡¯m leaving. If we stay on this falling continent, none of us will survive.¡±

    People from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had examined the vast, gray mist underneath the floating continent when they had first arrived. However, even their Profound realm experts¡¯ soul awarenesses had failed to enter the gray mist and learn what was in it.

    While Qin Yan, Dong Li, and the others entered this floating continent, those who had stayed outside hade across people from the Realm of Endless Ice, and learned that a Profound realm expert from the Ice Pavilion Sect had entered the gray mist under this floating continent, hoping to uncover the mysteries of it. However, he never came out again.

    Hence, in Qin Yan¡¯s eyes, the vast, gray mist underneath was a deadly ce where no one coulde back out alive.

    Meanwhile, floating above the continent, Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi¡¯s expressions also flickered drastically as they saw the entire continent begin to sink while giving rise to loud rumbles.

    ¡°Why is Little Li still noting out of there?¡± Dong Tuodi¡¯s heart burned with anxiety.

    At this moment, the special ward around the floating continent had already lost all of its tree patterns, yet it was still up.

    Even though he was very worried, he couldn¡¯t swoop down there and grab Dong Li from the falling continent.

    Just like him, Qin Yi was also very nervous about Qin Yan¡¯s safety.

    BANG!

    Qin Yan, who had brought out her full strength and charged up into the heavens, flew into the ward and bounced right back.

    Through the semi-transparent, dark-green ward, she could see the crowd of Dong n and Water Moon Chamber of Commerce members gathered in the space above her.

    Each and every one of them saw Qin Yan soar towards them before being stopped by the ward. Under their gazes, she fell back down towards the ground, her charming face filled with terror.

    ¡°Nooo!!!" The members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce eximed.

    The hearts of the Dong n members also sank upon seeing Qin Yan fail to charge through the ward. After all, Dong Li was in there as well.

 Chapter 509: Brawl

    As the floating continent continued to crack and sink, all of the people who were stranded on the continent became rattled.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as she watched Qin Yan shoot up into the sky and then bounce back down to the earth.

    ¡°What happened, Qin Yan?" Dong Li hastily asked.

    ¡°I can¡¯t get out!¡± Qin Yan raised her hand to point at the void and said very anxiously, ¡°That ward is not only stopping the others from entering, but it¡¯s also stopping me from leaving.¡±

    A shocked expression even appeared on Pei Qiqi¡¯s face as she heard these words.

    ¡°My great grandfather and those from your n are all gathered above there.¡± Qin Yan sounded increasingly anxious. ¡°But none of them did anything, but instead watched me fall back down. It goes without saying that they must have tried toe down here, but that ward stopped them.¡±

    ¡°Crap...¡± At this moment, not a smidgen of a smile could be seen on Dong Li¡¯s face anymore.

    Qin Yan¡¯s gaze suddenlynded on Nie Tian, who was still sitting quietly in the lotus position, as if his expression wouldn¡¯t flicker in the slightest even under the weight of Mount Tai. She turned to look at Nie Tian and shouted with her stern but charming voice, ¡°He¡¯s the one who uncovered the mysteries of this ce and caused these changes. We¡¯ll probably have to rely on him to get out of here!¡±

    She had to admit that Nie Tian seemed to be the only one who would be able to save them.

    Dong Li and Pei Qiqi¡¯s gazes followed hers and alsonded on Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was still sitting unwavering, and the branches before him were still translucent like emeralds and shining with misty light.

    His mind seemed to still be wandering in some mysterious realm among the formation of branches before him,pletely unaware of the upheaval taking ce in reality.

    If they forcibly woke Nie Tian at this point, it might disrupt his contemtion, therefore stopping him from obtaining any precious insight from this ce.

    But if they didn¡¯t, every one of them would fall into the gray mist along with the whole continent. Probably none of them would survive.

    Since a Profound realm expert from the Ice Pavilion Sect had entered the boundless mist and never returned, what would their odds be?

    While Dong Li and Pei Qiqi wrestled with their dilemmas, the earth under their feet shook harder and harder.

    One sky-reaching ancient tree after another fell and sank down as the floating continent gradually shattered.

    ¡°Big Sister Qin Yan!¡±

    Feng Ying¡¯s sobbing cry rang out from the distance.

    Her slender figure constantly shed about as she dashed through the cracking ground towards where they were.

    After she finally rushed over and caught sight of the seventy-two sparkling branches before Nie Tian, she immediately realized who Qin Yan had been talking about earlier.

    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Qin Yan asked.

    Tears brimming from her eyes, Feng Ying shook her head repeatedly. ¡°I can¡¯t get out of here!¡±

    She had recognized the unfavorable situation as soon as she heard the loud rumbles from the earth, and thus tried to leave like Qin Yan had.

    She knew perfectly well that some people had entered the dense, gray mist under the floating continent and nevere back out, and all of those people had higher cultivation bases than hers.

    Hence, she knew that once she fell into the dense, gray mist with the floating continent, her death would be certain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. There will be a way for us to get out.¡± Qin Yan did her best tofort her. Immediately afterwards, she turned to look at Dong Li and Pei Qiqi and asked with a grim expression, ¡°What are you still waiting for? If we don¡¯t do something soon, and wait till we fall into the depths of that gray mist, none of us will survive! If you¡¯re not going to wake him, I will!¡±

    With these words, the gaze she used to look at Nie Tian gradually changed.

    She knew very well that Dong Li and Pei Qiqi wouldn¡¯t want to ruin Nie Tian¡¯s fortune by waking him in the middle of his contemtion.

    However, she also knew that everyone on this continent would die if they kept hesitating.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One glowing spatial de after another appeared over Qin Yan¡¯s head, every one of them pointing at her.

    At the same time, Pei Qiqi stepped forward and stood between Qin Yan and Nie Tian. She stared at Qin Yan and said, the look in her eyes fierce like a sharp de, ¡°I dare you to make another move.¡±

    ¡°Pei Qiqi! Do you think I¡¯m scared of you!?¡± Qin Yan shouted furiously.

    Off to the side, Feng Ying stood aghast, and then looked nkly at Nie Tian, puzzlement filling her face.

    Nie Tian, who was now using the name Mu Han, didn¡¯t seem impressive, and she had never heard of his name before.

    But who was he?

    Why would Pei Qiqi go to war with Sister Qin Yan just to protect him?

    Sister Dong Li was known to be a smart and decisive person, but now that she knew perfectly well that the whole continent was going to fall and kill everyone on it, why would she grow hesitant over that Mu Han?

    Sister Qin Yan and Pei Qiqi¡¯s seniors were close friends, and they had met each other in person a few times. Why on earth would they point their swords at each other just because of that Mu Han?

    Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and Qin Yan all had powerful backgrounds, outstanding cultivation talent, and beauty that could sink cities. However, they were now all behaving very strangely because of this seemingly-unimpressive man, which shocked her greatly.

    Feng Ying wracked her mind for an answer, but failed. In her eyes, the in-looking Mu Han seemed increasingly mysterious.

    Upon seeing that Qin Yan and Pei Qiqi were going to cross swords with each other, Dong Li became even more anxious.

    She looked over her shoulder at Nie Tian, hesitant over whether she should wake him now.

    At this moment, she noticed that the light the branches before Nie Tian emanated started to grow dim.

    No longer shining with dazzling light, the seventy-two branches returned to their original look of ordinary tree branches.

    ¡°Stop, you two!¡± Dong Li instantly called out. ¡°Nie... Mu Han is waking up!¡± She saw Feng Ying, who was standing off to the side, and thus stopped herself from calling Nie Tian by his real name.

    Qin Yan and Pei Qiqi, who were just about to engage in a fierce battle, stopped upon hearing her shout, and turned to look at Nie Tian.

    At that moment, Nie Tian let out a long breath and opened his eyes.

    He noticed the strange gazes the four woman used to look at him, but didn¡¯t say a word. He collected the tree branches before him, feeling that they were much heavier than before.

    He briefly scanned them with his psychic awareness as he pulled them out of the ground, and discovered that every single one of them seemed to be engraved with numerous profound patterns on the inside.

    As he touched them, the branches felt as hard and heavy as steel.

    Briefly amazed, he then realized that it wasn¡¯t the time for him to learn about them, and thus swiftly pointed at them with his fingers, sending them flying into his ring of holding.

    After thest branch flew out of the earth and disappeared into his ring of holding, an iparably violent rumble echoed out from the earth under their feet.

    Qin Yan looked up, and discovered that the dark-green ward around this floating continent had finally shattered and been reduced to green spots that filled the void.

    It was almost as if the shattering of the imprable ward had been caused by Nie Tian¡¯s act of putting away the tree branches.

    Due to the falling of the enormous trees, the sky was no longer blocked by their lush canopies.

    Qin Yan was able to see thete Profound realm Qin Yi and Dong Tuodi, their expressions growing increasingly anxious as the continent continued to sink.

    The other members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were gathered behind them, looking down anxiously at the sinking continent.

    ¡°The ward is broken!¡± Dong Tuodi eximed. After letting out a sigh of relief, he hastily called out to Dong Li and the others, ¡°What are you waiting for? Come here now!¡±

    ¡°Come on!¡± With these words, Qin Yi shot down towards them with Dong Tuodi.

    Dong Li snapped back to her senses and summoned her Rainbow Lightning.

    Just as she was about to drag Nie Tian into it, Pei Qiqi, who had already summoned her Lightning Shuttle, beat her to it, and said to Nie Tian with an expressionless face, ¡°Get in here.¡±

    Nie Tian had the Rainbow Lightning on one side and the Lightning Shuttle on the other.

    Both Dong Li and Pei Qiqi wanted him to get into their ride so that they could fly up into the void and leave this sinking continent as soon as possible.

    ¡°Umm, I came with Senior Martial Sister Pei, so...¡± With these words, Nie Tian jumped into the Lightning Shuttle, avoiding eye contact with Dong Li.

    In the next moment, the Lightning Shuttle shot up into the heavens.

    Anger instantly filled Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes, and her pearl-white teeth made creaking sounds as she gritted them. ¡°Asshole!¡±

    With a smile, Qin Yan pulled Feng Ying into the Rainbow Lightning. ¡°He didn¡¯t choose you, but we do.¡±

    With a nce at the look in Dong Li¡¯s eyes, Qin Yan urged, ¡°Alright, alright, now is not the time. How can that woman beat you at something like this? Besides, the two of them are going to travel with us, right? You still have plenty of time.¡±

    ring at the Lightning Shuttle that was flying into the sky, Dong Li snorted coldly and said, ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Afterwards, she started her Rainbow Lightning and flew up as well.

    Qin Yi, who was already halfway down, grew relieved after seeing Qin Yan and Feng Ying board Dong Li¡¯s Rainbow Lightning. He came to a stop and muttered to himself, ¡°Thank god. That was close.¡±

 Chapter 510: Sorting Out the Truth

    The Lightning Shuttle shot up into the void.

    Standing on it, Nie Tian was lost in a myriad of thoughts as he looked down and watched the floating continent crumble and sink.

    Earlier, he had captured arge number of broken images from the mysterious spell formation of the seventy-two tree branches.

    Now, as he slowly sorted through them, his heart was increasingly shaken.

    By putting the broken images back together, he finally obtained a fairly clear and thorough understanding of this strange dimension.

    At the very beginning, there had been only two extremely vast continents in this dimension, one on top and one on the bottom.

    The two of them had been connected by mountain peaks that were unimaginably high.

    The continent on the bottom had been inhabited by gigantic creatures, like spirit beasts and dragons that were a thousand meters long, and titans that were as enormous as mountains.

    Meanwhile, the continent on the top had been home to high-tier Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Bonebrutes, Floragrims, and other intelligent outsider species.

    Wars never ended between the inhabitants of the two continents.

    The intelligent beings from the top continent had always desired to enve the gigantic beings from the bottom continent, and they had made endless attempts and exhausted all methods to bring the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the bottom continent up to the top continent.

    Eventually, the final war inevitably broke out between them.

    After that war, the huge mountain peaks that had connected the two continents exploded, which caused the two vast continents to break into pieces.

    The so-called intelligent beings not only hadn¡¯t gained any benefit from the war, but had also been forced to migrate due to the shattering of the top continent.

    The structure of the bottom continent had also been permanently destroyed, which had caused the extinction of manyrge beings.

    The great upheaval had caused the energy of heaven and earth from the top continent to mingle with that of the bottom continent, rendering the environment uninhabitable for the surviving species from both continents.

    Therefore, all of the outsiders that had luckily escaped doom drifted away to other realms and dimensions.

    The floating continent he and Pei Qiqi had discovered was a broken piece from the top continent, which had been home to Floragrims.

    Before their evacuation, the Floragrim survivors had preserved their homnd with their special magics.

    The ward around the floating continent had been the protective spell they had left. However, since he had learned its secrets and channeled those mysterious tree patterns into the seventy-two tree branches, the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd had lost its protection and sank to destruction.

    However, the conflicts between the two original continents had been between outsider races and enormous creatures. The Human race had never appeared in this realm.

    Now, after what could be tens of thousands of years, the originally prosperous realm became what it looked like now.

    For the first time in the history of this realm, humans came to explore it.

    Eyes glittering, Nie Tian stared nkly at the crumbling continent and watched it gradually disappear into the gray mist underneath, which, ording to what he had just learned, was actually the ruins of the destroyed bottom continent.

    Since the destruction of the bottom continent¡¯s structure and the infusion of the energy of heaven and earth from the top continent, great changes had taken ce and made it unrecognizable.

    All of its previous enormous inhabitants had been forced to leave, as it had be unfit to live in.

    Meanwhile, was it a coincidence that all of the major powers in the Domain of the Falling Stars had found those six spatial rifts and entered this realm, or had they actually been lured here? All of the brokennds and floating boulders had been created when the top continent had exploded.

    Why had those spatial rifts suddenly appeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void?

    Why were they the only ones that had seemed to enter this strange realm? Where were the outsider races that had evacuated from this realm in the first ce?

    He wondered whether there were still more profound secrets of this realm that he hadn¡¯t uncovered yet.

    A series of questions shed across his mind. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became.

    While he was carried away by his thoughts, the Lightning Shuttle flew up to the location where members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were gathered.

    Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi had already returned to the crowd after seeing them boarding their Lightning Shuttle and Rainbow Lightning and leaving the sinking continent.

    Anticipation filling his eyes, Qin Yi asked, ¡°Did you discover anything?¡±

    He was still under the impression that Qin Yan had discovered something, which might have somehow caused the floating continent to shatter and the ward to go up.

    Under his anticipating gaze, Qin Yan forced a smile and shook her head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡±

    ¡°Then who did?¡± Qin Yi asked.

    Feng Ying shot a nce at Nie Tian and said in a low voice, ¡°Mu Han did.¡±

    The gaze of every member of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce instantly converged on Nie Tian. Every one of them measured him up curiously.

    Not many people present knew Nie Tian¡¯s actual identity. Dong Tuodi, Dong Li, Dong Baijie, and Qin Yan were the only ones who did.

    After a moment of awkward silence, Dong Tuodi cleared his throat and said breezily, ¡°Alright, alright. Since Mu Han is with Qiqi, he must havee here on Master Zhen¡¯s team. Plus, he¡¯s friends with Little Li. Our n will never try to take whatever fortune he¡¯s obtained. You¡¯ll give face to Master Zhen, right, Brother Qin?¡±

    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t try to take things from a junior.¡± Qin Yi said. ¡°I¡¯m just very curious about the secrets of that floating continent.¡±

    Nie Tian was torn with indecision.

    On the one hand, he didn¡¯t want to share the secret images he had obtained among those tree branches with anyone.

    But on the other hand, Qin Yi had asked him about it. Hence, he pondered whether he should take out a tree branch and show it to them.

    Qin Yan seemed to have seen through his dilemma, and thus said to her great-grandfather with a soft chuckle, ¡°It¡¯s natural that people have secrets they¡¯d like to keep. Perhaps what he discovered is very private, so he doesn¡¯t want to share it with others. You might as well not ask about it, great-grandpa.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Qin Yi, who was very fond of her, nodded and said, ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t ask about it.¡±

    Then, he turned to look at Pei Qiqi and said with a serious expression, ¡°I heard about you being separated from Master Zhen. Your master and I have been friends for many years. Now that you¡¯re in a difficult position, it¡¯s only right that I see to it that you¡¯re safe. If youe with us, you¡¯ll reunite with your master sooner orter. Don¡¯t you worry.¡±

    To Qin Yi¡¯s surprise, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t instantly respond to his invitation. Instead, she turned to look at Nie Tian, looking somewhat hesitant.

    It was as if she were more inclined to take Nie Tian¡¯s opinion on whether they should travel with the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°Let¡¯s go with them. The situation in this realm is quiteplicated. People from all of the major powers are now scattered in different areas. It¡¯s hard to say who we¡¯ll run into in the next moment. If the two of us travel alone and run into people from the Spirit God Sect, the me God Sect, or the Poison Sect, it¡¯d be hard to say if we could get away from them.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently, agreeing with his decision.

    Her faith in Nie Tian confused Qin Yi and many other members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Dong Tuodi chuckled. ¡°Good, it¡¯s settled then. The Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect have been urging us to go over to their location for some time now. They seem to have found something.¡±

    Afterwards, everyone left either on the Lightning Shuttle, Rainbow Lightnings, or rocks driven by spiritual power.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s Lightning Shuttle traveled at the end of the formation.

    In front of it was Dong Li¡¯s Rainbow Lightning, where Dong Li constantly looked over her shoulder at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, as if she was keeping a close watch on them.

    Expressionless as always, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t mind her actions at all, but instead focused on steering her Lightning Shuttle, following the group at a certain distance.

    Nie Tian, however, sat down in the Lightning Shuttle. Instead of taking out the tree branches to learn their secrets, he conducted a thorough scan of himself.

    A wisp of his soul awareness flew into his dantian region.

    He found to his surprise that the liquidized wood power he had consumed to heal Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries and attack his enemies had already been fully replenished.

    He went nk briefly before suddenly realizing that he must have absorbed copious amount of wood power when the mysterious tree patterns had poured down into the tree branches and he captured the broken images from them.

    Without him knowing about it, the amount of liquidized wood power in his vortex of wood power had already reached its limit.

    He thought to himself that if his cultivation base had been higher than the early Greater Heaven stage, he might have been able to take in more concentrated wood power.

    With that thought in mind, he switched his focus to his vortex of me power and vortex of star power. After a brief examination, he learned that even his vortex of star power also seemed to have reached the breakthrough point.

    If he threw in a bit more effort to refine his vortex of me power, it wouldn¡¯t take long for him to enter the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    He was thrilled.

    Afterwards, he took out one of the branches and examined it meticulously.

    The branch, which had been infused with mysterious tree patterns, felt very heavy. Tree patterns consisting of light strings that seemed to carry the profound truths of wood power could be found in every part of the branch.

    Limited by his current cultivation base and understanding of wood power, he couldn¡¯t derive more enlightenment from them yet.

    His soul awareness roamed about and examined the interwoven light strings that formed the glowing tree patterns, yet he didn¡¯t discover anything noteworthy.

    Then, he took out his me Star and nked it together with the branch. Upon impact, sparks flew out from the contact point, giving rise to a metallic, nking sound.

    Pei Qiqi suddenly looked over and reached out her hand. ¡°Let me see.¡±

    Nie Tian handed the branch to her.

    Pei Qiqi summoned her Ethereal Swords, and as she cast a spatial magic, one of her Ethereal Swords shed onto the branch.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±

    CLANK!

    As soon as the Ethereal Sword made contact with the branch, a great force seemed to burst forth from within the tree patterns in the branches.

    The fresh, green branch instantly became translucent and sparkling. Mysterious light could be seen flowing inside of it.

    ¡°Even my Ethereal Sword can¡¯t snap this branch. It¡¯s tougher than you can imagine.¡± With an impressed expression, Pei Qiqi handed the branch back to Nie Tian and added, ¡°Perhaps you can go ahead and use it as your weapon inbat. From the look of it, it¡¯s every bit as sharp as my Ethereal Swords, if not sharper.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    He grabbed the branch from Pei Qiqi¡¯s hand and took out a spirit stone. Without infusing the branch with his wood power, he slightly stabbed the spirit stone with it, and the spirit stone was prated like a piece of tofu.

 Chapter 511: Remains of Bonebrutes

    Since members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were right ahead, it wasn¡¯t convenient for Nie Tian to take out all of the branches and put them in a formation.

    After learning that they were as tough as metal and could even be used as weapons in battle, he put them away and went on to practice cultivation with fire-attributed materials.

    Two hours passed...

    Their Lightning Shuttle followed those from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce to another floating continent, where Qi warriors from the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect were gathered.

    Unlike thest one, this floating continent was smaller, and there didn¡¯t seem to be any spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth on it.

    Gu Haofeng from the Gu n rushed over to Dong Li the moment her Rainbow Lightningnded and said excitedly, ¡°Come and see what we¡¯ve found!¡±

    Not a single de of grass could be seen on the barren and opennd.

    After the Lightning Shuttlended, Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian followed the others to the location where the other three forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were gathered.

    It was a cluster of dpidated buildings that seemed to have been home to Bonebrutes.

    Most of the buildings, which were built with gray bones, had already copsed, with only two of them still standing.

    The remains of a number of Bonebrutes were scattered around. After what could be tens of thousands of years, the remains were already bereft of any energy. A mere touch would reduce them to ashes.

    Gu Yue, Cai Zhaoji, and Zhong Pu were the three Profound realm experts from the Gu n, the Cao n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect. All of them were at thete Profound realm.

    After everyone gathered to their location, their gazesnded on Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian.

    Under their inquiring gazes, Dong Tuodi said lightly, ¡°We saw people from the Poison Sect chasing after them, so we brought them here with us.¡±

    ¡°She is Master Zhen¡¯s disciple,¡± Qin Yi exined.

    Gu Yue and the other experts seemed to be aware of Qin Yi¡¯s deep friendship with Zhen Hun, and thus didn¡¯t say anything as Qin Yi stated Pei Qiqi¡¯s identity.

    As for Nie Tian, since no one introduced him to them, they took it that he was a junior of the Tool Sect, and didn¡¯t attach much importance to him.

    All of the Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage members of the Cao n, Gu n, and Pill Pavilion Sect also focused their curious gazes on Pei Qiqi. None of them paid any attention to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was slightly worried as he noticed that Gu Han from the Gu n and Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect were also among the crowd.

    They had traveled together when they had gone to the Realm of Dark Underworld to explore the ¡®Phantasm relic¡¯. He was worried that these two Worldly realm experts would see through his disguise and ask him about the Spirit Pearl.

    Cao Zhaoji led Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi as they went around the dpidated buildings to a few gigantic footprints. Pointing at them, he said in a low voice, ¡°Look at those footprints. They seem to belong to some kind of humongous beast.¡±

    Out of curiosity, Nie Tian and the others also followed them over and saw the gigantic footprints.

    Each of them were about six hundred square metersrge. The footprints showed three toes, and the hard ground sank very deep at the toe areas.

    ¡°We¡¯ve examined the remains of the Bonebrutes in the vicinity,¡± said Cao Zhaoji. ¡°They seem to have been killed by whatever enormous beast left these footprints. It seems that this ce used to be a Bonebrute settlement. Arge beast suddenly charged into it and killed most of the residents.¡±

    Gu Yue was the only female among the five Profound realm experts, and seemed to be in her forties. Eyebrows slightly furrowed, she said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that, after so many years of erosion, the Bonebrutes¡¯ remains have lost all of their energy and be useless. We¡¯ve searched every inch of this ce, and failed to discover any valuable tools or spiritual materials. And we couldn¡¯t find the enormous beast that ravaged this settlement.¡±

    Standing by Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian listened to the narration of the Profound realm experts, and reached his own opinion.

    He believed that the incident had taken ce during the ¡®final war¡¯, where arge creature from the bottom continent rushed into this Bonebrute settlement, causing the deaths of many Bonebrute residents.

    After the incident, the survivors packed all of their valuables and left this ce.

    It was only natural that Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi, who had juste, would want to conduct their own search.

    After hearing Cao Zhaoji and Gu Yue¡¯s analysis, they nodded appreciatively and split up to conduct a thorough search of this floating continent.

    Many members of the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also spread out to search in different areas.

    Since those from the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect had already searched every corner of this floating continent and found nothing, some members stayed put.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi also stayed in ce instead of going search with the others.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, if there actually were any secrets in this ce, he would be in no position to uncover them.

    Cao Zhaoji, Gu Yue, and Zhong Pu, three Profound realm experts, had already conducted a thorough search of this continent. Now, Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi were doing their own search to be sure. How would he be able topete with these five?

    Dong Li suddenly came over and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Walk with me, Mu Han. I¡¯ve got something to show you.¡±

    With these words, she walked away, beckoning for Nie Tian to follow her.

    ¡°Umm, okay.¡± Completely confused, Nie Tian followed her away.

    Off to the side, Qin Yan shot a nce at Pei Qiqi and asked with a faint smile, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going with them?¡±

    Still expressionless, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t show the slightest interest in talking.

    Gu Haofeng, however, took the initiative to walk up to Qin Yan, and with a curious look in his eyes, he asked, ¡°Big Sister Qin Yan, who is that Mu Han person?¡±

    ¡°He seems to be an old friend of Dong Li¡¯s,¡± Qin Yan answered with a smile.

    ¡°Dong Li¡¯s old friend?¡± Gu Haofeng asked, his eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Howe I don¡¯t know that she has such an old friend? Is he a member of the Tool Sect?¡±

    Since he had heard that Dong Li had helped the Tool Sect find Zhao Shanling¡¯s hiding ce and secured a Fruit of Life from the Realm of Unbounded Destion, he assumed that Nie Tian was a friend she had made in the Tool Sect.

    ¡°How would I know? If you¡¯re so curious, you might as well go ask Dong Li yourself.¡± With a soft chuckle, Qin Yan¡¯s bright eyes glittered as she added, ¡°However, the way I see it, he and Dong Li are not just friends.¡±

    A hint of anger appeared in Gu Haofeng¡¯s eyes. ¡°Not just friends?¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you see it?¡± asked Qin Yan. ¡°When have you ever seen Dong Li give things to others? She has always been the one to take things from others.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Gu Haofeng¡¯s face grew increasingly long.

    Gazing coldly in the direction where Dong Li and Nie Tian had left, he hesitated for a moment before going in that direction as well.

    After he left, Pei Qiqi looked coldly at Qin Yan and asked, ¡°Do you find this enjoyable?¡±

    ¡°I do,¡± Qin Yan replied, smiling. ¡°I enjoy watching people fight for the affection of another. Do you have a problem with that?¡±

    Pei Qiqi let out a cold harrumph and didn¡¯t give any response.

    Meanwhile...

    Dong Li led Nie Tian to a secluded location, where she took out arge amount of spirit beast meat, which was cooled by frosty stones, from within her ring of holding, and said to him, ¡°When we traveled together before, I noticed that you needed to consumerge amounts of spirit beast meat every day. I was worried that you¡¯d run out, so I stocked up on some for you just in case.¡±

    She always paid attention to details. Back when they had traveled together in the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Unbounded Destion, she had noticed Nie Tian¡¯s shockingly big appetite.

    Even though she didn¡¯t understand the reason behind it, she figured that Nie Tian would need arge amount of spirit beast meat. Therefore, she had purchased some thest time she had returned to her n.

    The Realm of a Hundred Battles was the realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars where the most spirit beasts lived. Many people woulde from the other realms to hunt spirit beasts for their precious parts.

    Because of that, not only was spirit beast meat sold at very low prices in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, but fifth grade spirit beast meat could easily be found.

    Most of the spirit beast meat she had purchased for Nie Tian was from fourth grade spirit beasts, but there was also some fifth grade spirit beast meat. Obviously, she had put a lot of thought into it.

    Looking at the spirit beast meat that had been piled into a hill, and noticing that the meat was being refrigerated by frosty stones to keep it from deteriorating and losing its energy, Nie Tian was touched.

    Ever since he had awakened the Life Drain bloodline talent, he developed a brand new method of absorbing flesh power.

    Using Life Drain to absorb flesh power from spirit beast meat was much more efficient than consuming the meat and letting his digestive system to do the work. This was also the reason why he was already seeing the bottom of his stock of spirit beast meat, which he had purchased in the Dong n.

    Warmth filled his heart as he looked at the spirit beast meat Dong Li had prepared for him.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so courteous with me,¡± Dong Li said with a hearty smile. ¡°Put it away now. Otherwise, people might see it and ask questions.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± The ring of holding on Nie Tian¡¯s finger flickered, and therge pile of spirit beast meat disappeared into it.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ride with me in my Rainbow Lightning?¡± Dong Li suddenly changed the subject.

    With a dry smile, Nie Tian spread out his hands, and said, ¡°I came here with Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    Dong Li snorted disdainfully. ¡°What do you like about that cold woman?¡± She took the initiative to lean towards Nie Tian. Only when her scented body was about to press against him did she stop and say, ¡°I want you to follow me in the operations toe. As long as I¡¯m around, you won¡¯t have to worry about those from the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, or the Poison Sect.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi¡¯s master has long since lost her influence now that the Tool Sect is swaying.

    ¡°You came here with the Tool Sect. You must have noticed that the way the other sects treat them now is different from before, right? Neither Pei Qiqi nor her master are going to receive the same kind of respect they did before.

    ¡°Meanwhile, it¡¯s a whole other story with my team from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. We have five Profound realm experts on our team, all of whom are at thete Profound realm.

    ¡°Very few people will have the audacity to mess with us here.¡±

    She eventually led the conversation back to her main topic as she went on and on about how weak the Tool Sect¡¯s team was, and how powerful her team was.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, he noticed an unusual movement and looked behind Dong Li.

    He found that Gu Haofeng was standing by arge rock and looking coldly at him, his face filled with jealousy and anger.

    As Dong Li looked over her shoulder and discovered it was Gu Haofeng, her face dropped. With an impatient and angry tone, she blurted, ¡°What the hell did you follow us here for?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got something to discuss with you,¡± Gu Haofeng said.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing to say to you!¡± Dong Li said very harshly. ¡°Get the hell out of here!¡±

    Gu Haofeng didn¡¯t know what else to say. With a sulking face, he turned around and left.

 Chapter 512: Destination

    With their soul awarenesses that were powerful enough to reach the depths of the earth, Dong Tuodi and Qin Yi conducted a thorough search of this floating continent, but failed to find anything noteworthy.

    Eventually, everyone from the Dong n and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce gave up.

    The five forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles regathered, and after a short discussion, they decided to leave.

    One Rainbow Lightning after another sped away from the floating continent, along with Pei Qiqi¡¯s Lightning Shuttle and other air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Once again, Nie Tian boarded Pei Qiqi¡¯s Lightning Shuttle.

    As the Lightning Shuttle sped through the void following the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, Pei Qiqi reminded Nie Tian in a low voice, ¡°Be careful of that Qin Yan.¡±

    Face filled with confusion, Nie Tian turned to look at her.

    ¡°After you left with Dong Li, Qin Yan intentionally provoked Gu Haofeng to make him angry at you,¡± Pei Qiqi exined.

    Nie Tian instantly understood the reason why Gu Haofeng had suddenly appeared when he and Dong Li had been talking in private.

    His eyebrows furrowed as he stuck his head out of the Lightning Shuttle to look at the distant Qin Yan, who was traveling with other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Over the following days, they followed the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, who seemed to be traveling without a destination, yet repeatedly changed direction.

    Nie Tian practiced cultivation day and night. With the help of his fire-attributed materials, he refined his vortex of me power and formed liquidized me power.

    Time flew. Two months passed...

    During this period of time, Nie Tian finished a few rounds of refinement of his vortex of me power, and filled the crimsonke of liquidized me power at the bottom of his vortex of me power to the brim.

    He could already feel the magical feeling that he was ready for his next breakthrough.

    Every time he made a breakthrough in his cultivation, he had to umte power over a long period of time. Not only would he need to expand and refine his vortex of spiritual power, but he also needed to cultivate his fire power, wood power, and star power to the breakthrough point.

    Only in this way would he be able to eventually make the breakthrough when he came to the right enlightenment and entered the right state of mind.

    In his senses, after his recent adventures, his cultivation of his spiritual sea had already reached the breakthrough point, and he already had the magical feeling of being ready for his next breakthrough. However, something seemed to be missing.

    As he recalled his former breakthroughs, he pondered whether it was hisck of refinement of his body, or if he wasn¡¯t in the right state of mind.

    Due to the unique features of his body, ever since he had awakened the Life Drain bloodline talent, every time he had absorbed flesh power from spirit beast meat, every wisp of it had been drawn to his heart and devoured by the green aura.

    Because of this, he had been unable to refine his own body with flesh power.

    It seemed that only when the green aura was fed with enough flesh power andy dormant again would he be able to refine his body with more flesh power.

    <i>¡°From the look of it, I need to satisfy that green aura first.¡± </i>With this thought in mind, he consumed the spirit beast meat Dong Li had given him over the following days.

    Since Pei Qiqi was by his side the whole time, he didn¡¯t absorb flesh power from the spirit beast meat with Life Drain.

    Instead, he absorbed it through the conventional way of eating.

    Time flew. Two more weeks passed.

    During this time, the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had encountered more floating continents and boulders, yet they failed to find anything noteworthy on any of them.

    This day, Cao Zhaoji, who traveled at the forefront of the formation, informed everyone in a loud voice as he changed directions again.

    Standing in the Lightning Shuttle, which kept a certain distance from the main group, Pei Qiqi heard Cao Zhaoji¡¯s call and adjusted her direction ordingly.

    At that moment, her eyes suddenly lit up.

    ¡°Cao Zhaoji is quite good. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s found this ce with such uracy.¡± Pei Qiqi muttered in a low voice.

    Nie Tian, who was stuffing spirit beast meat down his throat, turned to look at her, confusion filling his face. ¡°What ce?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face.

    Nie Tian took a deep look at her as he nodded slowly, and then resumed gorging himself again.

    Even though he didn¡¯t ask her, he had a feeling that Pei Qiqi must have learned about this ce she referred to from the profound spatial energy she had previously received from that floating volcano.

    Recently, he could constantly feel Pei Qiqi thrumming with strong spatial fluctuations, from which he could tell that she had been trying to derive enlightenment from the tiny spatial des inside of her.

    From the look of it, she had already refined most of the spatial des, ande to some new knowledge or insights.

    The two of them both had their own secrets. Since Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t ask him what he had obtained from the seventy-two tree branches, he felt it wasn¡¯t his ce to ask her what she had learned from those spatial des.

    After a moment of silence, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°It won¡¯t be long before I can break through into thete Greater Heaven stage. When the timees, I¡¯ll find a secluded location to make my breakthrough, so I might be gone for a period of time.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before asking, ¡°Don¡¯t you want me to protect you during the process?¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head decisively. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be wise to have anyone by my side when I make the breakthrough.¡±

    Nie Tian suspected that she was worried that her secrets might be exposed while she tried to make her breakthrough. Therefore, she refused his offer so that he wouldn¡¯t discover them.

    ¡°If I¡¯m gone for too long, you don¡¯t need to wait for me,¡± Pei Qiqi added. ¡°You can just leave with Dong Li and the others.¡±

    A confused expression spread on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have absolute confidence that I¡¯ll be able to make the breakthrough smoothly, and I don¡¯t know how long it will take.¡± After a moment of hesitation, she continued, ¡°It was a wise decision for you to join the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. But I... I have my own ns. When we get to the ce, I¡¯ll leave the group to find something by myself. Since you don¡¯t practice spatial power, you won¡¯t be able to go with me.¡±

    Nie Tian stared nkly at her for a while before asking, ¡°Is this your farewell to me?¡±

    With a soft sigh, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°It will benefit us both if I leave temporarily. I¡¯lle find you when I¡¯m finished.¡±

    Since Nie Tian didn¡¯t know what her ns were, and she didn¡¯t seem to want to talk about it, he decided to let it go.

    Hence, both of them fell silent.

    A few dayster, the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles finally stopped traveling at full speed and came to a stop.

    ¡°This is it,¡± Pei Qiqi muttered softly.

    Nie Tian, who was sitting in the lotus position, sprang to his feet, rushed to the edge of the Lightning Shuttle, and gazed into the distance with rapt attention.

    Directly ahead of them was a seemingly endless band that was shaped in a swirl. At first nce, it looked like a huge, colorful vortex.

    Inside the wide, multicolored band floatedndmasses, boulders, outsiders¡¯ remains, dpidated ancient starships of different outsider races, and many other odd-looking objects.

    All of them were slowly floating and subsiding in the band towards the bottom.

    ¡°It looks just like a giant vortex of spiritual power within our spiritual seas,¡± Nie Tian said, deeply amazed. ¡°It¡¯s just so many timesrger.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re finally here,¡± Pei Qiqi said in a soft voice.

    ¡°What is that?¡± Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect asked, shock filling her eyes.

    Qin Yan was also deeply amazed. ¡°Why does it look like a giant vortex of spiritual power? Look! There are so many boulders, outsider¡¯s corpses, and broken ancient starships! All of them seem to be moving under the influence of some force and slowly swirling down towards the bottom of the vortex. I wonder what¡¯s at the bottom of the vortex!¡±

    From the look of it, many of those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had no idea what they were looking at either.

    Nie Tian observed closely, and discovered that Dong Tuodi, Qin Yi, Gu Yue, Zhong Pu, and Cao Zhaoji, thesete Profound realm experts, were the only ones who didn¡¯t say a word.

    They seemed to be the only ones who knew the secrets of this ce.

    While people marveled at the splendid scene before them, Nie Tian suddenly sensed wisps of awareness that didn¡¯t belong to their grouping from the colorful band that looked like a giant vortex.

    At the same time, he also started to sense a gravitational force from them.

    It appeared that the closer they were to the band, the stronger the gravitational force they would feel.

    At that moment, Dong Tuodi suddenly let out a cold harrumph. Eyes fixed on a floatingndmass in the swirling vortex, he eximed, ¡°People from the Poison Sect!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re already here,¡± Cao Zhaoji said with a light smile. ¡°I wonder, other than us and the people from the Spirit God Sect, who else ising.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t matter,¡± Zhong Pu said. ¡°Our strength shouldn¡¯t be any weaker than any of the other forces.¡±

    Cao Zhaoji nodded slightly as he took a deep breath. His gaze swept across the Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage juniors in their group as he said, ¡°We¡¯ll enter that vortex shortly. I¡¯ve got a few things to remind you of though, so listen carefully.

    ¡°First of all, all of you who are at the Greater Heaven stage, don¡¯t ever use your psychic awareness to scan your surroundings once you enter. Those who don¡¯t possess soul power will be torn to shreds the moment they use their psychic power to examine their surroundings in there.

    ¡°Second of all, once you enter the vortex, go with the natural flow within those colorful rings. You¡¯ll follow the swirling band as you slowly float towards the bottom of the vortex. Don¡¯t ever try to go against the flow. Otherwise, the consequences will be catastrophic!

    ¡°Last of all, don¡¯t use your air-transportation spiritual tools while you¡¯re in there.

    ¡°All of you should only use the floating objects in there as ces to support your feet, and let the natural flow carry you.¡±

    Even though the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles didn¡¯t know the reason behind these requirements, they memorized every single one of them.

    ¡°You should listen to him and act by those rules,¡± Pei Qiqi reminded Nie Tian in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything rashly.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°You know he¡¯s right!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so far, all the things he¡¯s said are right,¡± Pei Qiqi answered.

    Nie Tian grew increasingly curious.

    He hadn¡¯t acquired any images regarding this ce from the formation of seventy-two tree branches, so he had no idea how this ce came to form, or what he should know about it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    While he was confused, another group of people suddenly arrived by the colorful vortex from another direction.

    They were people from the Spirit God Sect and the me God Sect, among whom Nie Tian identified Yao Shou, Cheng Qian, and Lu Jianfan.

    Upon noticing the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, Yao Shou went nk briefly before rapidly discovering Pei Qiqi in the group.

 Chapter 513: Jumping In

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Yao Shou from the Spirit God Sect let out a gruesomeugh as he rushed over with Cheng Qian and Lu Jianfan.

    Elder Gongsun Pu from the me God Sect went nk briefly before learning from the Spirit God Sect disciples beside him that it was Pei Qiqi.

    Then, without the slightest hesitation, he charged out of the group of me God Sect members and caught up to Yao Shou and the other experts.

    As a short but extremely beefy man, Gongsun Pu was wreathed in a zing aura that could melt stones.

    Aftering to a stop by Yao Shou¡¯s side, heughed wildly, facing the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. ¡°What a coincidence!¡±

    Dong Baijie and the others from the Realm of a Hundred Battles looked ratherposed as they watched the four Profound realm experts whiz toward them.

    Eyes narrowed, Dong Tuodi took measure of the two Profound realm me God Sect experts who remained in their formation. Soon, he seemed to learn their identities, and let out a disdainful snort.

    On the Lightning Shuttle, which was at the back of the formation, Nie Tian noticed that Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes were filled with frosty light the moment she caught sight of Yao Shou.

    ¡°What? Don¡¯t tell me you want to start a fight with us here?¡± Cao Zhaoji from the Cao n said inly with a fierce expression. Not the slightest bit of fear could be seen in his eyes.

    He also noticed that there were two other Profound realm experts in the me God Sect¡¯s formation, one at thete Profound realm and the other at the middle Profound realm.

    This meant that the Spirit God Sect and the me God Sectbined had six Profound realm experts on their side, five at the same realm as him and one at the middle Profound realm, slightly weaker than him.

    Hence, from the look of it, the joint strength of the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect was slightly superior to that of the five powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Yao Shou raised his hand and said to Cao Zhaoji, ¡°Wow, easy there. Our strengths are equally matched. If we get into a battle, neither side is going to benefit from it. In fact, others might.¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at the floatingndmass in the vortex, where members of the Poison Sect were.

    Apparently, they had also noticed that those from the Poison Sect had beaten them to this ce.

    ¡°If a fight is not what you want, then why did the four of youe to us?¡± Cao Zhaoji asked with a grim expression.

    Yao Shou smiled slightly and looked over at the distant Pei Qiqi. ¡°I see that Pei Qiqi is traveling with you, so I guess you¡¯ve probably already learned about our conflict with the Tool Sect.¡±

    ¡°Conflict?¡± Qin Yi jumped in and said coldly, disgust filling his face. ¡°Master Zhen helped you before, yet you bit the hand that fed you by tricking the Tool Sect into teaming up with you and turning on themter. You call that a conflict?¡±

    After Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian had joined their group, everyone from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had learned something about what had happened to the Tool Sect. Hence, their eyes were all filled with contempt as they cast their gazes towards Yao Shou and the others with him.

    Not infuriated by his words, Yao Shou replied with a justified tone, ¡°The Tool Sect is bound to change hands. It¡¯ll only be a matter of time before Zhao Shanling takes Qi Bailu¡¯s ce and bes the sectmaster of the Tool Sect. Unlike what you might think, Master Zhen didn¡¯t help me that much before. Besides, my sect and the me God Sect are both from the Realm of Dark Underworld. It¡¯s only right that we make ns that benefit us.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, can you me me for making a move against the Tool Sect?¡±

    Before anyone else could censure him, Yao Shou¡¯s face dropped as he pointed at Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian, and demanded, ¡°We¡¯ll leave you alone if you give those two to us.¡±

    Qin Yi burst into a ming rage. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it! Master Zhen and I have been friends for years. Unlike some people, I take it as my duty to protect Pei Qiqi!¡±

    Dong Li shot a determined look at Dong Tuodi. ¡°Mu Han is my friend!¡±

    A concerned look also appeared on Dong Baijie¡¯s face.

    Dong Tuodi was well-aware of Nie Tian¡¯s true identity and the significance of the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Furthermore, he had had a long talk with Dong Baijie in confidence, and learned that Dong Baijie had faith that Nie Tian would one day rise to prominence and be a person who could single-handedly change the course of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Hence, he instantly knew what he was supposed to say. ¡°Mu Han is with our n! He¡¯s under our protection!¡±

    He only mentioned Nie Tian¡¯s name because, in his eyes, Pei Qiqi was far from as valuable as Nie Tian.

    Yao Shou spared Nie Tian another nce. ¡°His name is Mu Han?¡±

    With a cold snort, he nodded and said, ¡°Alright, if the Dong n insists on protecting him, I¡¯m willing to make apromise and let him go, but you¡¯ll have to give Pei Qiqi to us.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know who Nie Tian was, and hadn¡¯t seen him disy his outstanding battle prowess. Therefore, he took him for a nobody.

    However, as for Pei Qiqi...

    ording to his observation, Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t chosen the same cultivation path her master Zhen Hun had chose.

    He was worried that, if he let her live, she would grow into another Zhao Shanling one day. A formidable fighter well-versed in powerful spatial magics like Zhao Shanling was what he was truly afraid of.

    Because of this, the moment he had decided to make a move against Zhen Hun, he had realized that he would have to get rid of her as well to avoid future trouble.

    ¡°I told you that the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce and I are determined to protect her!¡± Qin Yi repeated his stance on the matter.

    ¡°What about the rest of you then?¡± Gongsun Pu from the me God Sect asked with a coldugh.

    ¡°As the five major powers in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, we¡¯re known for our bellicose nature, but we always fight as a whole, and we only fight foreign enemies.¡± As the only female expert present, Gu Yue from the Gu n showed nothing but toughness. ¡°Brother Qin¡¯s attitude on this matter is our attitude on this matter! If your sects want to start a fight, just bring it on.¡±

    Dong Tuodi, Cao Zhaoji, and Zhong Pu nodded one after another.

    Seeing that the five powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were actually ready to go to war with them just because of Qin Yi¡¯s attitude on this matter, Yao Shou and Gongsu Pu¡¯s faces instantly turned grim.

    The two of them had originally wanted to force them to hand Pei Qiqi over with their slightly superior collective strength. They even gave Nie Tian up as apromise. However, they hadn¡¯t expected that the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles would adopt such a strong attitude.

    At this moment, they found themselves stranded in a difficult situation, like people riding tigers who couldn¡¯t dismount. (idiom: lit. he who rides a tiger can¡¯t easily dismount. fig. unable to extricate oneself from a difficult situation.)

    Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief.

    Yao Shou¡¯s and Gongsu Pu¡¯s eyes flickered as they wrestled with their dilemmas. However, while they pondered whether they should go to war with those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles just for Pei Qiqi, Pei Qiqi suddenly said to Nie Tian in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s time we parted ways. Don¡¯t worry about me. The ce I¡¯m going is very special. I¡¯ll be able to protect myself there.¡±

    Then, before Nie Tian could say something, she suddenly flung Nie Tian out of her Lightning Shuttle, and right after she put the Lightning Shuttle away, she cast a profound spatial magic and vanished into thin air.

    Just like her Ethereal Swords, she entered another space, and in the next moment, she reappeared in the vortex formed by colorful rings .

    It seemed that she didn¡¯t want to cause trouble for Qin Yi, and thus decided to leave.

    Nie Tian wasn¡¯t quick enough to stop her, so he could only watch her vanish and reappear in the swirling band that looked like a huge vortex.

    SHEW!

    A Rainbow Lightning flew over, where Dong Li caught Nie Tian by his hand and eximed, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare do such a stupid thing like she is now!¡±

    Dong Baijie helped pull Nie Tian into the Rainbow Lightning. His hand locked onto Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder as tightly as an iron vice, stopping him from doing anything rash as he said in a low voice, ¡°Miss Pei is a smart woman. She must have her own ns. You don¡¯t need to worry about her.¡±

    Nie Tian thrashed about, but after he realized that he couldn¡¯t struggle free from the two of them, he gazed into the distance with rapt attention.

    He saw Pei Qiqi let go of herself after entering the colorful band, and let the flow carry her to the lower part of the vortex, where she finally got a foothold on one of the floating boulders.

    Boulders andndmasses of various sizes, ancient starships, outsiders¡¯ corpses, debris from buildings, dead trees, and many other odd things could be seen floating within the endless, wide band that swirled into a huge vortex.

    He thought Pei Qiqi would end up in the outermost edge and top part of the band.

    However, to his surprise, she somehow drifted to the inner edge of the bottom part of the band.

    ¡°Who of you at the Worldly realm wants to go after her!?¡± Yao Shou said.

    Upon hearing his words, a Worldly realm member of the Spirit God Sect instantly charged out of the crowd and dashed towards the swirling band.

    All of the others stayed put and observed.

    As soon as that that man flew into the colorful band, a mysterious force also carried him to the far edge of the band, where he eventuallynded on a dpidated ancient starship.

    However, he didn¡¯t end up on the same horizontal level as Pei Qiqi. He was above her.

    The colorful band was like an endless rope that swirled as it stretched downward.

    The man from the Spirit God Sect followed the flow down the band.

    However, as he swirled his way down, he soon ran into some kind of ward that stopped him from going further down.

    After running into that obstacle, he floated there and called out to Yao Shou. He looked so small in the band that he was like a grain of sand in a wide street. Even though Yao Shou could tell that he was trying to say something to him, he couldn¡¯t hear a thing, as if no sound could leave the band.

    Yao Shou went nk for a moment before suddenlying to a realization. ¡°The band is separated into segments that only allow cultivators at certain levels to enter! I need some of you who are at the Greater Heaven stage to go and kill her! I don¡¯t want any future trouble!¡±

    Six middle andte Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect Qi warriors charged out of their group as soon as Yao Shouid his eyes on them.

    Just as Yao Shou had expected, after entering, those Greater Heaven stage cultivators were rapidly pulled by some force into the same horizontal level of the band where Pei Qiqi was. They eachnded on floating boulders orndmasses not very far from her, and there weren¡¯t any obstacles that stood between them and her.

    Most of the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles didn¡¯t seem to have expected that the swirling band would actually be divided into separate segments.

    At first, Qin Yi had med himself for Pei Qiqi¡¯s sudden departure, and was prepared to start a battle with those from the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect. However, he slowly calmed down after realizing that only Greater Heaven stage cultivators would be able to enter the part where Pei Qiqi was.

    After all, he had witnessed Pei Qiqi¡¯s shocking battle prowess before.

    Heughed inwardly. ¡°Six Greater Heaven stage disciples sent to their grave...¡±

    Just like him, Nie Tian alsoughed inwardly.

    ording to his understanding of Pei Qiqi¡¯s devastating strength, those six Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect disciples had just been sent to their doom.

    As Pei Qiqi continued to refine the tiny spatial des in her, her strength advanced by leaps and bounds every day.

    Since he had been traveling with her the whole time, Nie Tian was very certain of this.

    However, he saw something in the next moment, and his expression froze.

    He suddenly noticed that a couple of figures were shing about on another floatingndmass, which was on the same level where Pei Qiqi was.

    Even though Nie Tian was observing from an extremely far distance, he could still tell that those were Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng.

    ¡°Poison Sect!¡± He immediately realized that Greater Heaven stage members of the Poison Sect had already entered the vortex and drifted to the same segment as Pei Qiqi.

    Since Pei Qiqi had killed so many members of the Poison Sect, Zhang Jiu and Sha Cheng were bound to join the effort to kill her, considering they were in the same area and there weren¡¯t any obstacles between them and her now.

    If they weren¡¯t there, with just the six Greater Heaven stage disciples from the Spirit God Sect, Pei Qiqi might be able to kill them with ease. However, now that they were there, and there might even be other Poison Sect disciples behind them, it would be hard to say if Pei Qiqi would still win the fight.

    ¡°Let the hell go of me!¡± Nie Tian bellowed.

 Chapter 514: Flying in One after Another

    Dong Baijie looked into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. With a sigh, he let go of him and said to Dong Li, ¡°Let him go.¡±

    In fact, he had changed his mind when he had learned that only Greater Heaven stage cultivators would be able to enter the segment of the band where Pei Qiqi was.

    The reason for that was that he had confidence in Nie Tian¡¯s and Pei Qiqi¡¯s strength. He believed that if everyone was at the Greater Heaven stage, even if they faced more Spirit God Sect and Poison Sect enemies, the two of them would probably still triumph.

    Eyes filled with rage, Nie Tian stared at Dong Li.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you!¡± Dong Li eximed, frowning.

    At that moment, Yao Shou from the Spirit God Sect also noticed the Greater Heaven stage disciples of the Poison Sect in the part of the colorful band where Pei Qiqi was.

    However, since he didn¡¯t know about the conflicts between Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and the Poison Sect, he thought Pei Qiqi was going to make some sort of deal with those from the Poison Sect.

    After a moment of pondering, he made his decision and called out to his people, ¡°All of you at the Greater Heaven stage, go!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect disciples charged into the colorful band one after another.

    But to everyone¡¯s surprise, only seven of them drifted to the part where Pei Qiqi and the Poison Sect disciples were.

    The few who entered after those seven seemed to be carried away by some unknown force and drifted to the top part of the band, instead of the part close to the bottom.

    The top part of the band, which was filled with floatingndmasses, boulders, and outsiders¡¯ corpses, seemed to have formed recently.

    Yao Shou¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly came to a realization and eximed, ¡°That band is actually changing all the time. As it swirls and stretches down towards the bottom, new parts are actually forming at the top. The part where Pei Qiqi is located is already too close to the bottom, so it can¡¯t hold any more people!¡±

    Nie Tian, who was just about to charge into the colorful band, was suddenly enlightened.

    The band that was curled in the shape of a huge vortex was actually regenerating at the top as it continued to stretch down towards the bottom, and the newly-formed parts would also only allow cultivators at certain levels to enter.

    The part at the top now seemed to have reced the part where Pei Qiqi was, and thus started to take in Greater Heaven stage iers.

    Gongsun Pu from the me God Sect went nk for a while before snapping back to his senses and waving his hand at his people.

    Upon receiving his signal, all of the Greater Heaven stage members of the me God Sect whizzed out of the crowd. As soon as they entered the colorful vortex, they were carried to the top part of the band.

    Afterwards, Gongsun Pu turned to look at the five Profound realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles and said, ¡°We¡¯re going in. See you.¡±

    Yao Shou¡¯s face split into a grin as he said, ¡°From the look of it, since we¡¯re all at the Profound realm, we¡¯ll probably end up in the same area after we go in there. If you want to settle things with us, you¡¯re wee to follow us into the vortex.¡±

    After he uttered these words, all of the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect Qi warriors flew into the colorful vortex.

    As they had expected, those of them at the Profound realm and those of them at the Worldly realm drifted to two different parts of the bright band.

    Yao Shou, Gongsun Pu, and the other Profound realm experts ended up in the same area as the Profound realm experts from the Poison Sect, who were gathered on a floatingndmass.

    Watching everyone from the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect fly into the vortex one after another, Qin Yi let out a cold harrumph and prepared to follow them into it.

    However, Cao Zhaoji lifted his hand to stop him and said with a grim expression, ¡°Wait!¡±

    At this moment, Dong Tuodi jumped in and said, ¡°Lu Bai and the others from the Poison Sect are also in there. Not only did we just be enemies with the me God Sect and the Spirit God Sect, but we¡¯ve also be enemies with the Poison Sect from earlier, remember? If we enter the vortex now, we¡¯ll be instantly carried to the same area as those three forces by the vortex¡¯s internal force.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Qin Yi thought it through, and thus stayed in ce.

    Cao Zhaoji pondered briefly, and then added, ¡°Not only that, but the area their Worldly realm members just drifted to is also upied by members of the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect. If our Worldly realm members enter now, they¡¯ll also face pressure from all three forces, which won¡¯t be a wise move.¡±

    After a short pause, he let out a coldugh and said, intense killing intent filling his eyes, ¡°However, those three sects¡¯ Greater Heaven stage members are now in two separate areas. Only a few of the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect juniors ended up in the top part of the vortex.¡±

    Dong Tuodi instantly saw through his idea. With a grin, he said, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    He waved at the Greater Heaven stage Dong n members behind him and said, ¡°Get in there now!¡±

    ¡°All of you who are at the Greater Heaven stage, go in now! Kill every Spirit God Sect and me God Sect member youe across in there! Don¡¯t let any of them slip away!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Dong Li dashed into the vortex with Nie Tian.

    One after another, all of the Greater Heaven stage members shot towards the swirling band, putting their air-transportation spiritual tools away right before entering.

    As soon as Nie Tian entered, he felt a strong dizziness, and his vision became blurry.

    He felt as if he were trapped in the middle of a quagmire before a mysterious force slowly carried him to the top part of the vortex, where he assumed a foothold on a floating boulder that slowly drifted with the natural flow.

    Dong Li stood right beside him on the boulder that was onlyrge enough for the two of them to stand on.

    He nced around with rapt attention, and discovered, to his surprise, that he wasn¡¯t able to get a clear view of the swirling band underneath him. Even the outside world was a blur in his eyes.

    All he could get a clear view of was everything in the horizontal level of the band where he and Dong Li currently were, including arge number of floating boulders,ndmasses, ancient starship remains, and a few Bonebrutes¡¯ corpses.

    ¡°Hey, remember, don¡¯t examine this ce with your psychic awareness!¡± Dong Li reminded him in a soft voice.

    Nie Tian nodded back at her, while he had something nned inwardly.

    ording to Cao Zhaoji, those who didn¡¯t possess soul power should never try to use their psychic awareness to examine the ce.

    However, even though he hadn¡¯t entered the Worldly realm yet, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul provided him with soul power.

    In fact, the Heaven Eyes he had been using all the time were formed with his soul power. If Cao Zhaoji was right, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem if he used his Heaven Eyes in here.

    With these thoughts in mind, he secretly attempted to form one Heaven Eye.

    As the Heaven Eye came to form, everything seemed normal, and he was able to scan the vicinity with it.

    With a thought, he formed eight more Heaven Eyes and controlled them to spread out in order to gain a full understanding of the situation of the segment he was in.

    However, he soon discovered some worrying anomalies.

    He discovered that he and Dong Li were in the middle of the band, instead of on either edge, where they slowly drifted with the natural flow, along with other floating objects.

    However, his nine Heaven Eyes could only move with the flow, not against it. They couldn¡¯t even stop and stay in one ce.

    He wasn¡¯t able to see any of the colors that he had seen from the outside. Instead, all he could see before him was a thick, gray mist, along with the numerous boulders and dpidated ancient starships floating in it.

    The gray mist seemed to be the same as the gray mist that filled the bottom of the vortex.

    While he contemted the situation with furrowed brows, Dong Li¡¯s voice pulled him back to reality.

    Eyes narrowed, Dong Li nced around and said, ¡°This ce is so weird, Nie Tian. It seems that a mysterious force is carrying all of the floatingndmasses and boulders, along with all other tangible objects, towards one destination.

    ¡°This means that, whether we like it or not, we¡¯ll drift with the flow, and we have no control over where we¡¯re heading.

    ¡°We can never touch that thick, gray mist. Otherwise, it might kill us.

    ¡°Also, ording to Senior Cao, we can only move down the flow to floating objects where we can rest our feet, and never go against the flow.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I saw that as well,¡± Nie Tian said.

    At that moment, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly rang out from behind them.

    They jerked their heads back to see what was happening.

    Then they saw, on the nearby remains of an ancient starship, that Dong Baijie had just killed a Greater Heaven stage member of the me God Sect with his beast spirit, which was a giant, gray wolf.

    Dong Baijie looked back at them and grinned. As he did, his giant gray wolf roared and slowly returned to his body.

    Afterwards, he bounced towards Nie Tian and Dong Li on the dpidated ancient starship.

    Since the boulder Nie Tian and Dong Li were standing on wasn¡¯t arge one, upon seeing his brothering towards them, Dong Li took the initiative to press herself close to Nie Tian to make room for Dong Baijie.

    WHOOSH! Dong Baijiended right besides them and said with a hearty smile, ¡°This is such an interesting ce.¡±

 Chapter 515: Right Back at You

    As Dong Baijiended next to Nie Tian and Dong Li, he emanated an intense bloody aura, which seemed to be from the giant, gray wolf he had just summoned back inside his body.

    ¡°We can only go with the flow in here, not against it. Interesting.¡± With these words, he gazed off into the vicinity, and discovered that a number of people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were chasing after Qi warriors from the me God Sect and Spirit God Sect, who were at the same cultivation level as them.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s nine Heaven Eyes had already reached the end of this segment of the band, and stopped.

    They could neither keep moving forward nor move backward to him.

    Through them, he could see that the ce where they were stuck was packed with floating boulders of various sizes, and underneath the boulders wasn¡¯t the same thick, gray mist around him, but instead a stripe of colorful mist, which he had seen from the outside.

    Interestingly, the boulders kept drifting down the flow and entered the colorful mist smoothly, while the few people over there were stopped by an unknown force when they tried to enter the stripe of colorful mist.

    It was as if the stripe of colorful mist was the ward that isted the two segments.

    At that moment, in the borderline area filled with floating boulders, ate Greater Heaven stage disciple of the me God Sect with a fierce look on his face caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention. Wreathed in raging mes, he formed a hand seal, and a young woman close by was instantly dragged into his mes.

    It was a middle Greater Heaven stage female member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Surrounded by mes, she struggled desperately. Her whole body blossomed with blinding spiritual light as she did.

    However, her spiritual light seemed to be rapidly burned away by the zing mes.

    It wasn¡¯t long before her spiritual light went out, and wild mes engulfed her soft and curvy body, extinguishing her life.

    After the kill, a sinister grin appeared on the me God Sect disciple¡¯s face as he bounced off floating boulders to another location, where he attacked another junior from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    An early Greater Heaven stage member of the Pill Pavilion Sect became the man¡¯s new target as soon as he drifted to that area on the remains of an ancient starship.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The man from the me God Sectughed wildly as he formed a hand seal, shooting a long river of mes out of his hands.

    It wrapped around the Pill Pavilion Sect disciple¡¯s waist before he could do anything to resist.

    In no more than a few seconds, the Qi warrior from the Pill Pavilion Sect was reduced to a charred corpse.

    ¡°Losers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles!¡± The manughed increasingly sinisterly, as if he had taken that area as his personal territory, and that he would swoop in andunch his fiercest attacks at the sight of anyone from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Nie Tian observed for a while via his Heaven Eyes, and witnessed five Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles dying at his hands.

    Three of them were at the middle Greater Heaven stage, yet under his storm of attacks, almost none of them were able tounch any counterattacks.

    ¡°A man is madly killing your people,¡± Nie Tian said to Dong Baijie.

    ¡°Where?¡± Dong Baijie asked, frowning.

    Nie Tian reached out his arm and pointed into the distance. ¡°At the end of this segment. The man is ate Greater Heaven stage member of the me God Sect. The battle prowess he disys is quite shocking.¡±

    ¡°It must be Yang Kan!¡± Dong Li eximed with a grim expression. ¡°I noticed him in their formation long before they came here.¡±

    Dong Baijie¡¯s expression also grew grim. ¡°It¡¯s probably him.¡±

    ¡°Is he hard to deal with?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Dong Baijie nodded vigorously. ¡°Yang Kan possesses amazing cultivation talent. Even the me God, Xia Yi, has a very high opinion of him. He¡¯s probably one of the most famous among all the me God Sect junior disciples.¡±

    ¡°Over the past few years, his fame has even overshadowed Tang Yang¡¯s,¡± Dong Li chimed in with a deep frown. ¡°If Tang Yang hadn¡¯t advanced to the Worldly realm, it would be hard to say which of them was a better fighter. At first, Tang Yang was considered the most promising of the me God Sect¡¯s younger generation.

    ¡°However, a few years ago, he was defeated by Ning Yang during the Heaven Gate trial and thus failed to secure a fragmentary star mark for the me God Sect. After that, he was gradually overshadowed by Yang Kan.

    ¡°Luckily for Tang Yang, he has already entered the Worldly realm. Otherwise, his position in the sect probably would have been taken by Yang Kan.¡±

    Dong Baijie remained silent for a while before saying with a serious expression, ¡°Yang Kan is a formidable enemy. If we don¡¯t go deal with him, more of our people will die at his hands!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go then!¡± Dong Li blurted.

    With these words, Dong Li leapt onto a floating boulder in front of them.

    Dong Baijie also shed about on different boulders as he traveled down the natural flow towards the area where his segment met the next.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t seem in a hurry. He stayed in ce and continued to observe the situation over at the border area.

    That was when he noticed that Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had arrived at the end of the segment and entered Yang Kan¡¯s attack range.

    At that time, two other Greater Heaven stage member of the me God Sect also arrived by Yang Kan¡¯s side.

    ¡°Qin Yan!¡± Yang Kanughed wildly. ¡°The Water Moon Chamber of Commerce usually remains neutral, and seldom takes part in operations like this along with the other forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Why didn¡¯t you stay home this time?¡±

    While he yapped, Qin Yan¡¯s eyes suddenly reddened as she noticed the charred body of the young woman who Yang Kan had just killed with his fierce mes.

    ¡°Yang Kan! How dare you kill my people!¡± Qin Yan yelled, fuming with rage.

    Yang Kan, who was significantly taller than anyone else,ughed unceasingly as his lustful gaze ran up and down Qin Yan. ¡°What are you gonna do about it?¡±

    He turned to the other two beside him and said, ¡°This woman is quite something. Don¡¯t kill her. I¡¯d like to have a taste of herter.¡±

    ¡°As you say, senior martial brother,¡± The two of them said at the same time.

    ¡°Qin Yan...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    Pei Qiqi had reminded him earlier to keep an eye on Qin Yan, since she had intentionally provoked Gu Haofeng¡¯s anger towards him. She might have ulterior motives.

    Because of this and the fact that Dong Li and Dong Baijie were already on their way there, even though he had discovered Qin Yan¡¯s unfavorable situation, he didn¡¯t intend to rush over there right away.

    Instead, he pondered whether he should stay here and find a floating outsider corpse to examine. All of a sudden, he sensed someone dashing towards him at full speed.

    He looked over his shoulder and discovered that it was Gu Haofeng from the Gu n.

    He was dragging his sword, which was exuding a frosty aura. At this moment, drops of blood were still dripping down the tip of the de.

    From the look of it, he had just killed someone.

    He, who hade from the same direction Dong Baijie had earlier, stomped hard on the remains of an ancient starship and shot high into the air.

    Nie Tian stayed in ce and watched him fall towards him with an expressionless face.

    As Gu Haofeng fell from midair, a hint of an insidious look appeared in his sharp eyes.

    BANG!

    As hended on the boulder Nie Tian was standing on, an intense force suddenly burst forth from the bottom of his feet. Once again, he shot up into the air towards a floating boulder in front of him.

    However, the boulder Nie Tian was standing on instantly exploded, which was clearly what Gu Haofeng had intended.

    However, Nie Tian, who had long since been prepared, smiled coldly the moment the boulder exploded.

    With a cold harrumph, he cast a short-range Starshift.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian appeared on an ancient starship ahead of Gu Haofeng.

    As he stomped his feet vigorously on it, the ancient starship exploded, sending broken pieces into all directions. At the same time, he flew lightly ahead.

    Behind him, Gu Haofeng was still sailing through the air as he looked over his shoulder, and found to his surprise that Nie Tian was nowhere to be seen near the exploded boulder.

    ¡°He died just like that?!¡± Gu Haofeng muttered suspiciously.

    However, as he turned his head back, his expression flickered drastically.

    He found that the remains of an ancient starship, where he had nned tond on, had exploded.

    The gravity was very light in this ce. With a casual leap, any Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior would be able to shoot up into the air.

    Even so, they would still fall from the air. Without a ce tond on, Gu Haofeng would eventually fall into the thick gray mist.

    Knowing the deadly nature of the mist, he started to panic as he slowly descended from the air.

    While he was searching for something to stand on, Cao Qiushui, who was close by, saw through his dilemma. He channeled a nearby Demon corpse and cast it towards him. ¡°Haofeng! Take this!¡±

    As the corpse of a high-tier Demon flew close, Gu Haofeng channeled it to stop it under him.

    He adjusted his fall and finallynded on it, narrowly escaping death. Then, after another leap, he arrived by Cao Qiushui¡¯s side and shouted ferociously, ¡°Qiushui! That bastard Mu Han tried to kill me!¡±

    ¡°Right back at you.¡± With these words, Nie Tian bounced off floating boulders and disappeared into the distance.

 Chapter 516: Well-matched Adversary

    After Gu Haofeng arrived beside him, Cao Qiushui asked with a frown, ¡°Why did you provoke him, Haofeng?¡±

    They were standing on a broken piece from an ancient starship, which wasrge enough for the two of them.

    In fact, Cao Qiushui had noticed Gu Haofeng¡¯s little trick of destroying Nie Tian¡¯s supporting boulder.

    ¡°Dong Li made such a big deal of him,¡± Gu Haofeng said coldly, fierce light flickering in his eyes and the long sword in his hand exuding a frosty aura.

    ¡°This is because of Dong Li again?¡± With a wry smile, Cao Qiushui shook his head and advised him sincerely, ¡°Dong Li has always bossed you around. She teases you when she¡¯s bored and casts you aside when she¡¯s got things to do. All of us can see it, that she actually has no special feelings for you. Why would you still throw yourself at her?¡±

    Gu Haofeng snorted and said, ¡°You¡¯ve never loved someone. Of course you don¡¯t understand.¡±

    A hint of sadness shed across Cao Qiushui¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°How do you know I¡¯ve never loved someone?¡±

    Gu Haofeng grew intrigued. ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Cao Qiushui remained silent for a while before changing the topic by saying, ¡°Anyways, Dong Baijie seems to also be quite warm towards that Mu Han person. I bet he¡¯s very important to the Dong n, so you¡¯d better quit your little games. If you don¡¯t, Dong Li will only grow more resentful towards you.¡±

    ¡°No way! I can¡¯t let him off this easily!¡± Gu Haofeng blurted as he swung the sword in his hand, his face ice-cold. ¡°He actually dared to fight back. Who the hell does he think he is!? If the Dong n didn¡¯t shelter him, if we didn¡¯t take him into our group, he and Pei Qiqi both were going to die in here!¡±

    With these words, Gu Haofeng¡¯s gaze slowly fixed in the direction where Nie Tian had left. ¡°Say no more. I¡¯ll handle it appropriately.¡±

    Afterwards, he jumped among floating boulders in the direction Nie Tian had disappeared.

    Shaking his head, Cao Qiushui followed along.

    ...

    After another leap, Nie Tiannded on a floating fragment from a dead tree. Just as he was about to jump towards his next foothold, he froze.

    Floating in the middle of the vastly wide band, he saw a rtivelyrgendmass floating not far ahead of him, along with numerous boulders and a few outsider corpses.

    At that moment, he noticed that spiritual light was shing about on it.

    Clearly, people were fighting on it.

    Under the influence of an unknown force, all tangible objects in the band, including human Qi warriors, were slowly drifting towards amon destination.

    It seemed that it wouldn¡¯t trigger catastrophic changes if people changed directions and moved in directions less than vertical to the natural flow.

    The floatingnd wasn¡¯t directly in front of Nie Tian. It wasn¡¯t in the same direction where Dong Li and Dong Baijie were.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian reckoned Dong Li and Dong Baijie were probably capable of stopping Yang Kan from killing more people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. It wasn¡¯t crucial that he rushed over right away.

    Therefore, he bounced off a few floating boulders towards the floatingndmass.

    He staggered a few step backwards as hended, breaking thews of this ce, yet he found to his surprise that nothing happened.

    However, as he attempted to jump back to one of the floating boulders he had used toe to thisnd, he was instantly overwhelmed by a crushing force.

    He felt as if a mountain thousands of meters high was weighing down on him. He even felt like his bones were going to sumb to the force and shatter.

    Expression flickering drastically, he instantly called it off and trudged towards the center of the floatingnd.

    As he did that, the overwhelming weight on him was instantly lifted.

    That was when he realized that, as long as he was over an object, he would be able to move back and forth.

    However, once he attempted to return to where he hade from, thews of this ce would instantly unleash great pressure on him.

    If it were someone else who had just made the attempt, the person¡¯s bones might have already been crushed, and their meridians might have burst.

    Unlike others, all of the breakthroughs he had made were closely connected to the refinement of his fleshy body. It was only because of his exceptionally tough body that he had pulled through the short period of overwhelming pressure.

    With his new discoveries in mind, Nie Tian cautiously moved forward on the floatingnd as he unleashed his spiritual power, forming a defensive ward around him. Only when he reached the edge of thend did he see Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect fighting a Qi warrior from the Spirit God Sect.

    At this moment, six pills were floating in the area between Qian Xin and that man.

    The six pills were round and the size of thumbs. Some were crimson, some were silver, and others were dark-cyan.

    All of them were spinning, emanating spiritual light of different colors, trapping the man from the Spirit God Sect.

    The body of a Spirit God Sect Qi warrior, who seemed to have been killed by Qian Xin, was lying nor far from them.

    Qian Xin was expressionless as his hands wove in the air, dazzling light flickering on his fingers. With exquisite hand seals, he was controlling the six pills to form some kind of spell formation.

    However, Nie Tian noticed that his face looked rather pale, and his temples were throbbing unceasingly.

    Meanwhile, Qian Xin¡¯s eyes started to flicker, a painful look appearing in his eyes every a few seconds.

    ¡°Hmm?!" As he came closer, Nie Tian sensed that someone¡¯s psychic awareness was hovering around Qian Xin.

    ¡°ording to Cao Zhaoji, we can¡¯t use our psychic awareness while we¡¯re in here, can we?¡± Nie Tian muttered. Then, upon a closer examination, he discovered that the Qi warrior from the Spirit God Sect was indeed attacking Qian Xin¡¯s soul with the Spirit God Sect¡¯s secret magics.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he attempted to scan his surroundings with a wisp of his psychic awareness.

    Shockingly, nothing happened. However, as soon as his psychic awareness left the floatingnd and flew into the void, it was shredded, causing a sudden stabbing pain in his head.

    Hence, he realized that it didn¡¯t matter whether it was his fleshy body or psychic awareness. As long as they remained over andmass, thews of this ce wouldn¡¯t apply to them.

    This meant that Cao Zhaoji¡¯s statement wasn¡¯tpletely urate.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As Qian Xin formed another hand seal, the light shooting out of his pills instantly became as sharp as needles.

    The clothes of thete Greater Heaven stage Spirit God Sect Qi warrior instantly exploded. Numerous fine wounds split open on his exposed flesh, bleeding nonstop.

    However, with a ferocious expression, the man said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m only sustaining fleshy injuries, but you... are sustaining injuries to your soul!¡±

    A surge of fluctuations, which Nie Tian could sense with great rity, flew into Qian Xin¡¯s mind.

    Qian Xin, who was forming hand seals, staggered backwards, fine streams of blood flowing out of the corners of his eyes down his cheeks, giving him a terrifying look.

    Back when he had been in the Realm of Dark Underworld, Nie Tian had traveled with Qian Xin, and learned that he had been at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    He didn¡¯t seem to have made any breakthroughs in his cultivation during this time, and was still at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    However, his opponent, the Qi warrior from the Spirit God Sect, was at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Like the Ghost Sect in the Realm of me Heaven, the Spirit God Sect also put great emphasis on their disciples¡¯ cultivation of psychic and soul power, and would normally take in youngsters with strong psychic power as their disciples.

    The man made a wise move by attacking Qian Xin¡¯s soul with his far superior psychic power.

    Qian Xin staggered back to Nie Tian¡¯s side. His eyes widened. ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    After realizing that it wasn¡¯t Gu Haofeng, Cao Qiushui, or others that hade to his aid, a hint of disappointment shed across Qian Xin¡¯s eyes.

    Qian Xin had secretly observed Nie Tian when he and Pei Qiqi had been taken into the group from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Back then, he had only noticed that Nie Tian was at the early Greater Heaven stage, and thus assumed that he was Pei Qiqi¡¯sckey, and hadn¡¯t spared him another nce.

    ¡°Where are the others?¡± Qian Xin asked.

    Expressionless, Nie Tian answered, ¡°Dong Li and Dong Baijie traveled in a straight line. They passed this area long ago. Cao Qiushui and Gu Haofeng were behind me, but I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll discover the fight taking ce here and make a detour. After all, this floatingnd is off the track.¡±

    More disappointed, Qian Xin nodded and waved his hand at Nie Tian. ¡°You may leave now. You won¡¯t be able to help me anyways.¡±

    With these words, he took out a medicinal pill that would help him restore his psychic power, and stuffed it down his throat. Then, he refocused on the Spirit God Sect disciple and shouted, ¡°Chang Yuan! All of you Spirit God Sect and me God Sect disciples are going to die here!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Chang Yuan said with a calm voice.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One Soul Banner after another shot out of Chang Yuan¡¯s fluttering cuff and formed a circle in the air.

    Sinister discarnate souls could be vaguely seen squirming inside of them.

    They let out sharp screeches that hurt Qian Xin¡¯s and Nie Tian¡¯s ear drums.

    The corner of Chang Yuan¡¯s mouth rose. ¡°I know you. You¡¯re the one who escaped from us with Pei Qiqi. I still don¡¯t understand how you two managed to get through our water-tight blockade.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, he shook his head and added, ¡°But that doesn¡¯t matter now. Pei Qiqi is going to die in this ce, and so are you!¡±

    All of a sudden, ear-piercing screeches rose from all directions, along with Chang Yuan¡¯s secret psychic magic.

 Chapter 517: Soul Blades

    ¡°Soul Strangle!¡± Chang Yuan let out an explosive shout.

    In the next moment, the floating Soul Banners swooped down from the air and surrounded Nie Tian and Qian Xin.

    Before Nie Tian could do anything, the discarnate souls floating inside the banners shot out.

    Like misty, gray shadows, they grimaced as they pounced on Nie Tian and Qian Xin with their rage and grudges from their former lives.

    At the same time, Chang Yuan unleashed another of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s psychic magics.

    As he did, Nie Tian widened his eyes, nine tiny glowing spots suddenly appearing in the depths of his eyes.

    Afterwards, the psychic magic that was invisible to the naked eye was presented before Nie Tian with great rity.

    He saw the discarnate souls dragging gray, misty tails as they interwove into a giant pair of scissors, which shot towards him in the next moment.

    Psychic attacks couldn¡¯t be defended with normal means. Most types of spiritual power wouldn¡¯t have any effect on psychic attacks.

    Thunder power was the only type of spiritual power that could be used to defend against psychic attacks andunch effective counterattacks.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that Haofeng isn¡¯t here!¡± Qian Xin gritted his teeth as he secretlyined that it wasn¡¯t Gu Haofeng who hade to his aid, but rather this useless Nie Tian.

    Gu Haofeng practiced thunder power, making him a nemesis to Spirit God Sect disciples. He would be able to easily annihte the discarnate souls from the Soul Banners, as well as many of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s secret psychic magics.

    Qian Xin could sense that, with his Soul Strangle, Chang Yuan was forming a critical strike against him. However, there was nothing he could do to stop him.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a cold grin. ¡°Gu Haofeng may not be the only person who can save you.¡±

    Qian Xin was taken aback.

    With a swift movement, Nie Tian stood in front of Qian Xin, blocking most of his view.

    Facing Chang Yuan directly, Nie Tian unexpectedly closed his eyes.

    As the nine fragmentary stars blossomed with dazzling light, he summoned some of his psychic power and mixed it with soul power from the fragmentary stars, forming an intangible me Star before him.

    As the gray, misty pair of scissors approached, the intangible me Star shed down on it with full force.

    Upon impact, invisible sparks were sent flying in all directions, along with other spectacr lights that were invisible to the naked eye.

    When the lights faded away, the pair of scissors was shed in two and crumbled.

    After taking the strong blow, the discarnate souls let out sharp, miserable screeches as they disintegrated.

    Chang Yuan stood aghast.

    He sensed Nie Tian condensing his psychic awareness into a long saber, but he didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian also used soul power.

    It bbergasted him that Nie Tian had neutralized his Soul Strangle and all those discarnate souls with nothing but a single sh of the saber he had formed with his psychic power.

    Just as he prepared to form another hand seal, Nie Tian, who was facing him, grinned again.

    Nie Tian¡¯s grin sent a chill down his spine, making him feel very insecure and uneasy.

    In the next moment, the grinning Nie Tian suddenly vanished into thin air under his gaze.

    Nie Tian¡¯s sudden disappearance took Qian Xin by surprise.

    With a grim expression, he had secretly formed a defensive ward around him with psychic power, preparing for engagement with Chang Yuan¡¯s Soul Strangle. However, he immediately realized that Chang Yuan¡¯s attack had already been somehow neutralized by Nie Tian.

    SHEW!

    Qian Xin¡¯s eyes widened as he discovered that the disappeared Nie Tian had suddenly reappeared behind Chang Yuan.

    He instantly knew what he should do. With an explosive roar, he stimted the might of his six pills to the fullest.

    Three of the pills blossomed with dazzling sword light, which carried iparably fierce sword intent.

    The other three became thousands of kilos heavy and rammed towards Chang Yuan¡¯s chest and forehead with full force.

    Chang Yuan¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily defended against Qian Xin¡¯s raging attacks. One gray banner after another shot forward to ward off the attacks.

    At that moment, he felt a familiarly disturbing chill from behind him.

    He instantly jerked around and channeled a few banners to form a wall in front of him.

    PUFF!

    A translucent, sparkling, green tree branch prated the banners like they were made of paper, and pierced into Chang Yuan¡¯s chest.

    Screams escaped his mouth as a stabbing pain came from his chest. ¡°How did you appear behind me?!¡±

    With a murderous look in his eyes, Nie Tian didn¡¯t utter a word. With another vigorous thrust, he drove the branch deeper into Chang Yuan¡¯s chest.

    At the same time, he unleashed Heavenly Wood Thorns. As liquidized wood power was rapidly drained from his vortex of wood power, a wisp of extremely concentrated wood power infused into the branch.

    To his surprise, in the next moment, green, blinding light burst forth from within the tree branch.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the wisp of wood power shed through the branch at lightning speed, and the mysterious tree patterns inside the branch enhanced its might as it did.

    As soon as the wisp of wood power entered Chang Yuan¡¯s chest and made contact with his flesh and blood, it instantly disyed its devastating, destructive force.

    An emerald green bud instantly came to form, and as it continued to devour Chang Yuan¡¯s flesh power, sharp thorns and branches rapidly grew out of it, which easily prated his internal organs.

    As it continued to absorb Chang Yuan¡¯s flesh power and spread inside of him at an rming speed, new branches and thorns ravaged his insides, causing blood and white foam to spill from his mouth.

    At the same time, his eyes gradually lost their radiance.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    At that moment, the banners he had used to defend against Qian Xin¡¯s attacks exploded one after another.

    Without any more obstacles, three of Qian Xin¡¯s pills mmed onto the center of his back, and the fierce sword intent unleashed by the other three rendered his whole back a bloody mess.

    However, Qian Xin stood aghast. Not a shred of excitement could be seen in his eyes.

    He discovered that Chang Yuan had actually already died when his pills breached his defenses.

    bbergasted and confused, he gazed nkly at Nie Tian. ¡°Soul Strangle is a very powerful attack magic that Spirit God Sect disciples use a lot. Those who practice Soul Strangle can usually acquire the Grand Soul Grinder rather smoothly once their psychic power transforms into soul power. How in the world did you neutralize his Soul Strangle?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not important,¡± Nie Tian responded with a in tone as he stepped forward and pulled the tree branch out of Chang Yan¡¯s chest.

    In no more than two seconds, everyst bit of Chang Yuan¡¯s blood rolled down the branch and dripped onto the ground, not leaving a single stain.

    That was when the tree branch turned from translucent and sparkling back to normal-looking.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with the light of excitement as he looked down at it and thought to himself, <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe that not only can the branch be used with Heavenly Wood Thorns, but it can also enhance the might of Heavenly Wood Thorns! Fascinating!¡±</i>

    From the look of it, every one of the seventy-two tree branches could be infused with wood power and used as sharp weapons.

    He spected that there might be some profound connections between the Heavenly Wood he had acquired from the magicalnd, which had turned out to be on a titan, and the mysterious tree patterns that the Floragrims had used to form the defensive ward around their ancestralnd.

    While he was lost in thought, the thorns in Chang Yuan¡¯s chest lost their supply of flesh power and rapidly withered away.

    Chang Yuan had long since stopped breathing, bereft of any life force.

    With plenty of questions on his mind, Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect stepped over to Chang Yuan¡¯s corpse. He looked into Chang Yuan¡¯s wide, lifeless eyes, and could still see intense fear in them.

    Putting his six pills away, he said, ¡°He already died before my pills could get to him.¡±

    Instead of giving an exnation, Nie Tian said, ¡°Yang Kan from the me God Sect is probably spilling others¡¯ blood at the end of this segment as we speak. I need to get there as soon as possible.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and sped away. After a few bounces off floating boulders and ancient starships¡¯ remains, he disappeared in the distance.

    Gazing in the direction Nie Tian had left in, Qian Xin thought to himself with a knitted brow, <i>¡°This Mu Han person masters strange battle skills and has a fierce nature. He can¡¯t just be a nobody... But why haven¡¯t I heard of his name before? Both Dong Baijie and Dong Li seem to attach great importance to him. Who is he?¡±</i>

 Chapter 518: The End of the Segment

    After bidding farewell to Qian Xin, Nie Tian headed directly towards the end of the segment of the band that swirled downwards unceasingly.

    On his way, he noticed a number of battles between Qi warriors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles and members of the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect.

    Since the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were superior in numbers, they had the advantage in all of those battles.

    A quarter hourter, he bounced off a floating boulder high into the air, andnded in the colorful area that marked the end of the segment.

    As he examined his surroundings with rapt attention, he discovered that the floatingndmasses and boulders were gradually disappearing after drifting into the colorful band.

    The strip of colorful band seemed to be stopping every living being with flesh and blood, since none of the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors were able to pass it.

    However, all of the lifeless objects, including floating boulders,ndmasses, remains of ancient starships, and dead outsiders, seemedpletely unaffected as they drifted into the colorful strip and disappeared.

    He also discovered that people could stand on the colorful strip, which seemed soft and resilient, like arge cluster of clouds.

    Near the center of the colorful area, Dong Baijie and Dong Li had already summoned their gray wolf and ck phoenix, and they were fighting Yang Kan together.

    Not far from them, two disciples of the me God Sect were attacking Qin Yan from two sides.

    While Nie Tian stood still and observed the situation, Feng Ying arrived. Upon seeing that Qin Yan was surrounded, she instantly rushed over, shouting, ¡°Big Sister Qin Yan!¡±

    Nie Tian, however, wasn¡¯t in a hurry to join the battle. He went on to obtain a thorough understanding of the situation in this area with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    Through one of them, he saw a person sitting quietly in a corner of the colorful strip.

    It was a man from the Spirit God Sect who had a skinny face. His eyes shone with vicious light as he manipted his Soul Banners.

    Both Dong Baijie and Dong Li were at the middle Greater Heaven stage, and possessed high battle prowesses which cultivators at their level shouldn¡¯t have. Even so, the two of them still weren¡¯t able to subdue Yang Kan together.

    Other than Yang Kan¡¯s formidable battle prowess, part of the credit went to that Qi warrior from the Spirit God Sect.

    The man manipted his Soul Banners to hover around Dong Baijie and Dong Li, and constantly unleashed screaming discarnate souls on Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s beast spirits.

    The Dong n¡¯s Beast Spirit Incantation allowed their members to enhance their battle prowess with their beast spirits.

    However, at this moment, Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s gray wolf and ck phoenix were being constantly harassed by numerous discarnate souls. It was like they were wearing shackles, and couldn¡¯t disy their true might.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that killing that sneaking Qi warrior from the Spirit God Sect was the key to helping Dong Baijie and Dong Li.

    Just as Nie Tian started moving towards the Spirit God Sect Qi warrior, the man suddenly called out to Yang Kan, ¡°Big Brother Yang! If we drag our battle on too long, more men from the Realm of a Hundred Battles will arrive. We won¡¯t have enough men to fight them.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Yang Kan, whose every move sent out raging mes into his surroundings,ughed wildly and said, ¡°Why so nervous, Lu Jian? These few losers aren¡¯t even enough for me to kill!¡±

    The other two disciples of the me God Sect both seemed iparably calm, as if they were very confident in Yang Kan¡¯s battle prowess.

    ¡°That guy is on to me,¡± Lu Jian shouted, staring at Nie Tian. ¡°Once I get into a fight with him, I won¡¯t be able to keep those beast spirits busy for you anymore.¡±

    ¡°The kid is only at the early Greater Heaven stage! What kind of great pressure can he give you?!¡± Yang Kan made fun of Lu Jian.

    Lu Jian rolled his eyes and fell silent.

    He had long since noticed Nie Tian, and that his gaze had swept across the battlefield before finallynding on him.

    At first, he hadn¡¯t paid much attention to him. However, as Nie Tian¡¯s burning gazended on him, he felt very uneasy, which didn¡¯t make sense, because his cultivation base was at the middle Greater Heaven stage, higher than Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Even so, he had a feeling that a battle with Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be an easy one, and that once the battle started, he wouldn¡¯t have the energy to distract Dong Li and Dong Baijie¡¯s beast spirits with his Soul Banners anymore.

    That was why he had urged Yang Kan to bring out his most powerful means and end the battle as quickly as possible.

    However, Yang Kan was known to be an arrogant man, and hadpletely ignored his reminder.

    ¡°Mu Han! Come here! Big sister Qin Yan and I need you help!¡±

    Feng Ying felt the strong pressure from the two me God Sect disciples after she rushed over to Qin Yan¡¯s aid, and thus hastily called for help.

    However, Nie Tian just took a nce at Qin Yan and Feng Ying before turning his eyes away, not showing any desire to help them.

    As he once againid his eyes on Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect, he said expressionlessly, ¡°Oh, right. I killed Chang Yuan on my way here.¡±

    Lu Jian stood aghast. ¡°You killed senior martial brother Chang Yuan?!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned slowly. ¡°And you¡¯re next.¡±

    The moment he formed a chaotic maic field around him, he shed right before Lu Jian with a short-range Starshift.

    ¡°Hmm?!" Yang Kan, who was dealing with Dong Li and Dong Baijie at the same time, gasped slightly upon noticing Nie Tian¡¯s strange movement skill.

    ¡°Big Brother Yang!¡± Lu Jian eximed as he jumped backwards subconsciously. ¡°This guy is by no means insignificant!¡±

    Nie Tianunched another short-range Starshift and appeared behind Lu Jian.

    He once again took out a tree branch from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as he infused his wood power into the green branch, it turned translucent and sparkling, and all of the mysterious tree patterns that were branded inside of it started glittering.

    The wood power was enhanced as it flowed through the branch, and burst forth from the tip of the branch.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One Soul Banner after another rushed over towards Nie Tian upon Lu Jian¡¯s summons.

    Discarnate souls floated within the Soul Banners and started letting out sharp screeches, which were filled with grudges and a thirst for blood.

    Ignoring the discarnate souls¡¯ attacks, Nie Tian thrust the branch into Lu Jian¡¯s back.

    PUFF!

    To his surprise, the branch failed to pierce into Lu Jian¡¯s flesh.

    Lu Jian¡¯s garments burst open, and his spiritual armor revealed itself.

    It was a sparkling, silver suit of armor. After Lu Jian infused it with his spiritual power, a frosty aura flowed over its surface.

    Even so, Nie Tian¡¯s tree branch made a shallow hole in the precious armor. With another thrust, it might prate the armor into Lu Jian¡¯s back.

    Lu Jian¡¯s face instantly turned ghastly. ¡°My Premium grade spiritual armor!¡±

    Before Nie Tian could make another move, he brought his back in and bounced forward.

    At the same time, he manipted his banners to pierce into Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders with their sharp poles.

    In the next moment, all of the discarnate souls in them swarmed out and engulfed Nie Tian.

    Unlike Chang Yuan, even though Lu Jian didn¡¯t have an impressive cultivation base, his grandfather was one of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s elders. Therefore, he possessed quite a few life-saving treasures.

    The spiritual armor he was wearing was forged with seven different types of metal. Heavy but tough, it was a third level Premium grade spiritual tool.

    However, it was almost pierced through by the tree branch.

    If he hadn¡¯t escaped in time, Nie Tian might have already driven the branch into his back, and the Heavenly Wood Thorns might have already killed him.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Nie Tian stood unwavering as the Soul Banners pierced into his shoulders.

    Thanks to his body that was as tough as a rock, the poles of the banners only pierced a few millimeters into his flesh before they were stopped.

    He didn¡¯t even bleed. With a slight shake of his shoulders, the banners fell to the ground one after another.

    As for the discarnate souls, just as they were about to swarm into Nie Tian¡¯s soul and devour it, Nie Tian summoned the mysterious soul power from within the fragmentary stars in his soul and forged it into a number of soul des.

    Invisible to the naked eye, the soul des hovered around his head and shed a few times.

    Just like that, all of the discarnate souls that had madly pounced on him were cut to pieces like tofu, and dissipated into thin air.

    After the narrow escape, Lu Jian shouted at the top of his lungs, not daring to fight Nie Tian anymore, ¡°Big Brother Yang! Help me, Big Brother Yang! I¡¯m no match for this guy!¡±

    Barely scratched, Nie Tian was speechless as he stared at the cowering Lu Jian, who only dared to attack others from the dark.

    Yang Kan shot a contemptuous look at him, but just as he was about to spare some of his power to get rid of Nie Tian, he suddenly noticed a man appearing on a distant boulder.

    It was thete Greater Heaven stage Dong Kang from the Dong n. Behind him were Cao Qiushui and Gu Haofeng.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yang Kan let out a cold harrumph and finally summoned his spiritual tool.

    Onerge, crimson stone column after another flew out of his ring of holding and stood before the neers, stopping them from enter the colorful strip.

    There were a total of six crimson stone columns. Two were engraved with qilins, two were engraved with me dragons, and the other two were engraved with me phoenixes.

    Qilins, me dragons, and me phoenixes were all fire made flesh. They were endowed with the ability to channel all kinds of mes in the world.

    Even though the magical beasts were only engravings on the crimson stone columns, sparkling, fiery light could be seen in every one of them.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the sparkling, red lights in the crimson stone columns were actually earthme crystal strings!

    Earthme crystal strings were crystalized earthme essence, which carried the profound truths of me power. They were extremely precious, and had many uses.

    Because of the existence of the earthme crystal strings, the magical beasts engraved on the six stone columns seemed as if they hade to life.

    As soon as the crimson stone columns lined up by the edge the colorful area, zing mes burst forth from them.

    Within a very short time, the mes and the six stone columns formed a imprable wall of mes.

    Dong Kang had noticed the unfavorable situation Dong Baijie and Dong Li were in, and thus dashed over at full speed. However, he was stopped by the wall of raging mes.

    Shortly thereafter, Gu Haofeng, Cao Qiushui, and a few other Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles arrived one by one.

    However, the wall of mes kept all of them out of the colorful area. No matter what kind of secret magic or spiritual tool they used, they failed to break it.

    ¡°This is all Mu Han¡¯s fault!¡± Gu Haofeng thundered angrily. ¡°If he hadn¡¯t pulled that sneaky trick on me, I wouldn¡¯t have been dyed, and I would have been in there already!¡±

    Dong Kang was surprised. ¡°Mu Han? He pulled a trick on you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡± Gu Haofeng said, gnashing his teeth. ¡°He intentionally stomped on and broke the boulder I was going to support myself with. I almost fell into the gray mist because of it!¡±

    Cao Qiushui sighed inwardly as he listened to Gu Haofeng make up stories, but he didn¡¯t say anything.

    Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sectnded on a floating dead tree beside him, and said with a slight frown, ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem right. He helped me kill Chang Yuan from the Spirit God Sect just now. If it weren¡¯t for him, I wouldn¡¯t have killed him so easily just by myself. Are you sure he did that intentionally, Haofeng?¡±

    Cao Qiushui wanted to smooth things over and thus chimed in, ¡°Mu Han probably didn¡¯t do it on purpose. It might just have been an ident.¡±

    Dong Kang nodded and said with a grim expression, ¡°Enough about that already! We need to focus on finding a way to get through this wall of mes now!¡±

 Chapter 519: Punching to the Ground with One Strike

    The six crimson stone columns formed a wall of raging mes that stood between the people within the colorful area and those without.

    Dong Kang and the others could only pace anxiously outside the colorful area after rushing over.

    Yang Kan seemed to rx immediately after forming the me ward with his stone columns.

    He took out a crimson crystal ball and tossed it into the air, where it stayed above his head.

    Earthme essence could be seen burning within the crimson crystal ball, along with slithering earthme crystal strings, which seemed to be manipting the six stone columns.

    Yang Kanughed wildly. ¡°You lot from the Realm of a Hundred Battles are so naive. You really think you¡¯d beat us just because you have greater numbers?

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that, as core disciples of the Dong n, neither of you have entered thete Greater Heaven stage. Otherwise, you¡¯d have caused me much bigger problems.

    ¡°As for that Dong Kang, even though he¡¯s at thete Greater Heaven stage, he didn¡¯t receive the kind of attention and resources you two did.

    ¡°So even if he were in here, he¡¯d be another victim of mine.

    ¡°Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, and Cao Qiushui are all at the same cultivation stage as you are, which is far from enough to threaten me.¡±

    With these words, Yang Kan dodged Dong Li¡¯s cyan awl with ease and pointed his finger at her.

    One of the earthme crystal strings within the crimson crystal ball over his head instantly morphed into a streak of dazzling light and shot towards Dong Li¡¯s forehead.

    The earthme crystal string was branded with the profound truths of me power, which made it iparably fierce and sharp.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as she hastily raised the bone shield in her other hand to defend against it.

    The earthme crystal string slightly altered its path and punctured Dong Li¡¯s left shoulder.

    Not only did it go through Dong Li¡¯s shoulder, but it also set her shoulder on fire with tangerine-colored mes.

    A low, pained exmation escaped her mouth as her gorgeous face was instantly filled with anger.

    Dong Baijie swung his ck hammer down towards Yang Kan, yet it was warded off by a river of mes Yang Kan had formed with one hand.

    Yang Kan took a few steps backwards to put a sizeable distance between the brother-sister pair and himself, as if he had realized that the two of them were both very good at fighting at close quarters.

    Up in the air, Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s beast spirits were still busy dealing with the discarnate souls from Lu Jian¡¯s Soul Banners.

    The discarnate souls filled the air with an aura of malice and violence, which seemed to be somehow clouding the minds of the gray wolf and ck phoenix.

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li gradually sensed the flickering of their connections with their beast spirits.

    Not only that, but whenever they attempted to use their beast spirits to attack Yang Kan, the discarnate souls would swarm in and unleash negative emotions to undermine the connections between them and their beast spirits.

    Nie Tian had long since noticed this, and thus once again set his eyes on Lu Jian.

    Off to the side, Feng Ying called for help again. ¡°Mu Han! Come and help us!¡±

    Thete Greater Heaven stage Qin Yan and the middle Greater Heaven stage Feng Ying were facing twote Greater Heaven stage members of the me God Sect, who, at this moment, had already formed a huge of mes around them.

    The of mes was shrinking constantly, giving Qin Yan and Feng Ying increasingly smaller space to move about.

    Yang Kanughed wildly. ¡°You think killing a handful of us will give you the ultimate victory. Howughable!¡±

    Without considering the feelings of the other me God Sect disciples at all, he went on to say, ¡°Every sect or n will only attach great importance to their core members.

    ¡°The deaths of those you¡¯ve killed don¡¯t matter to the me God Sect. We still have a lot to spare.

    ¡°As long as we can finish off core members from the Realm of a Hundred Battles like you, their deaths will be worth it.¡±

    By ¡®core members¡¯, he was clearly referring to Dong Baijie, Dong Li, Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, Qin Yan, Cao Qiushui, Lu Jian, and himself.

    In fact, every Qi warrior force, powerful or not, would pick their most talented and resilient members as their core members. They would receive special attention and have ess to the most valuable incantations, spiritual tools, medicinal pills, and other resources.

    Core members would be considered as pirs that held up a sect. The most prominent of them would usually be picked as the sect¡¯s future master.

    Yang Kan was deemed one the me God Sect¡¯s most important core members.

    Xia Yi even considered him and Tang Yang to be the two who might be able to take his ce and be the sectmaster of the me God Sect in the future.

    That was the reason why his battle prowess was far superior to that of normalte Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    ¡°Core members...¡± Nie Tian muttered coldly as he chased after Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect with Starshifts.

    He was aware that core members of the powerful sects usually possessed stunning battle prowess, and that, in reverse, was the reason why they had been selected as core members in the first ce.

    Yang Kang, Dong Baijie, and Dong Li all fell into this category, whose battle prowess couldn¡¯t be measured simply by their cultivation bases.

    SHEW!

    With another short-range Starshift, Nie Tian once again appeared behind the fleeing Lu Jian, and his chaotic maic field enveloped him as well.

    Panicked, Lu Jian eximed, ¡°Why the hell don¡¯t you go after the others?!¡±

    However, one of his Soul Banners exploded. The st pushed him forward, out of Nie Tian¡¯s chaotic maic field.

    From the beginning, he had been avoiding fighting Nie Tian head-on with everything within his power.

    He seemed to be waiting for Yang Kan toe over to kill Nie Tian after he finished off Dong Baijie and Dong Li.

    Therefore, he only avoided Nie Tian¡¯s pursuit while distracting Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s beast spirits with his Soul Banners.

    After a few failed attempts to kill Lu Jian, the look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes gradually changed as he chased after him.

    Even though Lu Jian was only at the middle Greater Heaven stage, he actually wasn¡¯t weak at all.

    Previously, he had killed Chang Yuan, who had a higher cultivation base, with the samebination of Starshift and one of the tree branches. However, Lu Jian had somehow managed to escape from him repeatedly.

    This meant that Lu Jian¡¯s actual battle prowess wasn¡¯t as poor as he had let on. For some reason, he just didn¡¯t want to fight Nie Tian head-on.

    The fact that he was able to keep pressuring Dong Li and Dong Baijie with his Soul Banners while avoiding Nie Tian¡¯s tight pursuit proved that he wasn¡¯t an ipetent man.

    On the outside, Gu Haofeng swung his sword, which was wreathed in lightning power, and mmed it on the ward of mes. After a few failed attempts, he said resentfully, ¡°That Mu Han is such a good-for-nothing! If he didn¡¯t dy me, I would have been in there, and Lu Jian would have died at my hands already!¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qian Xin said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard about Lu Jian¡¯s true strength. That guy has many life-saving treasures, and he likes tounch sneak attacks instead of fighting others face-to-face. He has also mastered exquisite movement skills. If he¡¯s bent on avoiding a fight, very few people can hurt him.

    ¡°To be honest, even if you were chasing after Lu Jian in there instead of Mu Han, I don¡¯t think the result would be any different.¡±

    ¡°What the hell? Why are you taking an outsider¡¯s side?¡± Gu Haofeng asked, disgruntled.

    ¡°He helped me when I was in a difficult ce, and I was being honest,¡± Qian Xin said.

    Then he suddenly called out to Nie Tian, ¡°Mu Han! Forget Lu Jian! He¡¯s never going to fight you face-to-face. You might as well see if there¡¯s anything else you can do!¡±

    Even though the me ward was stopping them from entering, it couldn¡¯t stop sound from going through.

    Qian Xin¡¯s voice reverberated in the colorful area. Nie Tian caught every word of it.

    He instantly stopped chasing after Lu Jian. With another nce, he discovered that Lu Jian moved about lightly and quickly like a wisp of soul within the colorful area. He couldn¡¯t help but feel impressed by his movement skills.

    He gradually calmed down.

    After a moment of silent pondering, he once again vanished from his original ce.

    In the next moment, he appeared in the air above Dong Li and Dong Baijie. Without the slightest hesitation, he formed an invisible soul de with the mysterious soul power from within the nine fragmentary stars in his soul and started cutting down the swarm of discarnate souls that was attacking Dong Li and Dong Baijie¡¯s beast spirits.

    As he did, one misty, gray discarnate soul after another let out miserable screeches as they were cut to pieces and dissipated into the air.

    As Nie Tian continued to madly swing his soul de, the discarnate souls died at an rming speed.

    Like having their shackles broken, Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s beast spirits swooped down on Yang Kan from midair.

    HOWL!

    Therge, gray wolf howled and, wreathed in a terrifyingly fierce aura, it scratched Yang Kan¡¯s waist with its sharp ws that looked like a bunch of metal hooks.

    Yang Kan¡¯s waist was instantly covered in blood.

    Meanwhile, the ck phoenix spread its wings, and numerous feathers that carried dark spiritual power shot out like deadly arrows.

    Yang Kan immediately felt the pressure. Under the joint attacks of the gray wolf and ck phoenix, he found it hard to remainposed. He reached out his hand, and the crimson crystal ball fell into his palm.

    One earthme crystal string after another burst out of it.

    It was as if the crystal ball had suddenly turned into a huge hedgehog. With its prickles made of blinding light, it warded off the attacksunched by Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s beast spirits.

    ¡°Lu Jian!¡± Yang Kan thundered, rage filling his eyes. ¡°What the hell are you doing?!¡±

    ¡°As you know, Big Brother Yang, I¡¯m not good at fighting enemies head-on,¡± Lu Jian answered, looking shamefaced. However, under Yang Kan¡¯s scalding gaze, he braced himself slightly and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help your people finish off those two girls from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce first, and then we¡¯lle to help you together.¡±

    With these words, he floated lightly towards Qin Yan and Feng Ying like a wisp of a soul.

    Upon seeing him, Qin Yan, who was barely able to handle the twote Greater Heaven stage disciples from the me God Sect, gasped and shouted, ¡°Mu Han!¡±

    Qin Yan was one of the few people present who knew Lu Jian¡¯s true battle prowess. Hence, her expression flickered as she saw himing at her.

    Facing the twote Greater Heaven stage me God Sect disciples, she and Feng Ying were already struggling to stay alive. At this moment, she felt burning pain from every inch of her body because her whole body was gradually being infused with her enemies¡¯ me power.

    If Lu Jian joined the fight and attacked her from behind with his secret magics, she would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t show the slightest intention of helping her. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Yang Kan as he plummeted towards him like a cannonball.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart brimmed with anger, and his eyes turned bloody red.

    He summoned a third of every type of power he possessed and his ming rage, converged them on his clenched fist, and threw it down towards Yang Kan¡¯s head with the momentum of a crashing meteor.

    Yang Kan¡¯s expression flickered as he looked up and was instantly overwhelmed by a feeling that he would be engulfed by a sea of power and rage in the next moment, along with everything around him, and that there was no escaping it.

    Even Dong Baijie¡¯s and Dong Li¡¯s expressions flickered as they watched Nie Tian dive down towards Yang Kan with a clenched fist and furious eyes. They subconsciously further distanced themselves from Yang Kan.

    Due to the long distances involved, those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles who were shut out of the me ward weren¡¯t able to sense the shocking might of Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch.

    They were just surprised to see Yang Kan¡¯s face turning pale with fright, and Dong Li and Dong Baijie hastily jumping away as Nie Tian dove from midair towards Yang Kan with a clenched fist.

    They didn¡¯t think a punch from the early Greater Heaven stage Nie Tian would inflict any noticeable damage on Yang Kan.

    However, in the next moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering boom rang out as Yang Kan met Nie Tian¡¯s iing fist with his own.

    The moment the boom echoed out, even the me ward, which was stopping them from entering the colorful area, suddenly went dim.

    Immediately afterwards, they saw Yang Kan¡¯s knee bend and crash heavily to the ground.

    Nie Tian¡¯s punch actually forced him to kneel!

 Chapter 520: Spiritual Hexaflame Formation

    Shock filled Cao Qiushui¡¯s face that was prettier than most women as he eximed, ¡°He actually knocked Yang Kan to the ground with one punch!¡±

    Gu Haofeng, who was babbling on about Nie Tian¡¯s ipetence, suddenly shut his mouth.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian was just a nobody, so he had never paid any attention to him.

    He found it unbelievable that Nie Tian¡¯s one punch had actually forced Yang Kan to kneel.

    Dong Kang also stood aghast, and gazed at Nie Tian with a measuring gaze for the first time.

    Qian Xin was the only one who had a vague understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess, since the two of them had killed Chang Yuan together.

    But even still, he was bbergasted by the scene.

    Even though Chang Yuan and Yang Kan were both at thete Greater Heaven stage, there was arge gap in their battle prowess.

    Chang Yuan was nothing but a normal disciple of the Spirit God Sect, while Yang Kan was not only one of the me God Sect¡¯s core disciples, but someone even the me God himself treated as the one who might take his ce in the future.

    The fact that Yang Kan¡¯s six crimson stone columns contained earthme crystal strings was enough evidence of his special status.

    In order to make his next breakthrough in cultivation, Xia Yi had to team up with Zhao Shanling to steal earthme essence from the Realm of Unbounded Destion, which proved how important earthme essence was to him.

    The fact that he was willing to spare some of the earthme essence to forge those crimson stone columns for Yang Kan and fill his crystal ball with earthme crystal strings proved Yang Kan¡¯s special status in Xia Yi¡¯s heart.

    With all that in the background, it didn¡¯t make any sense that Yang Kan would suffer a loss from Nie Tian.

    Kneeling, Yang Kan burst into raging mes as he asked, ring at Nie Tian with his wide eyes, ¡°Who are you exactly?!¡±

    Lights of various colors flickered in the hand he had used to meet Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch.

    Streaks of violent auraced with endless rage were following his meridians down his arm towards his vital organs.

    After a brief examination, he sensed that the streaks of violent aura were actually a mixture of me power, wood power, and star power.

    He felt as if his meridians were going to explode as the streaks of violent aura infiltrated into his flesh and flooded through his meridians. Seeing this, he held the crystal ball in his other hand close to his raised hand.

    Wisps of earthme essence left the crystal ball and flew into his raised hand.

    The devastating me power from the earthme essence madly chased after and collided with the violent aura Nie Tian had unleashed into his meridians, rapidly neutralizing the residual power of Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fine and sparkling earthme crystal strings flew out of the crystal ball one after another, neutralizing Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s attacks, which they hadunched upon seeing the opportunity.

    Face distorted, Yang Kan let out an angry roar.

    In the next moment, the me ward formed by six crimson stone columns began to rattle.

    Torrential mes rushed into the air and fell like a waterfall.

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s gray wolf and ck phoenix were both hit by the mes that poured down from midair, and fled while howling in pain.

    ¡°My name is Mu Han,¡± Nie Tian answered, shaking his sore and aching right arm. With every shake, sparks fell from it like fine raindrops.

    The sparks were the me power Yang Kan had forced into Nie Tian¡¯s arm with his punch. At this moment, spots of fiery light could still be seen flickering in Nie Tian¡¯s arm.

    However, as he shook his arm, his rich flesh power rapidly expelled the residual me power left by Yang Kan from his system.

    As the fiery sparks fell onto the colorful band, they sputtered and died out.

    Nie Tian had drained one third of the power within his spiritual sea in his dantian.

    However, Yang Kan had managed to take the hit without sustaining any serious injuries.

    He couldn¡¯t help but inwardly marvel at Yang Kan¡¯s formidable strength.

    He had thought that his Rage Punch would have at least rendered Yang Kan severely injured, if not dead. However, he had never expected that not only did he manage to withstand the impact, but he was also able to eliminate the aftermath of his Rage Punch with his crystal ball within such a short time.

    ¡°Mu Han? I¡¯ve never heard of such a name, but I¡¯ve got to admit that you¡¯re pretty good.¡± With these words, Yang Kan rose to his feet. The hand he had used to meet Nie Tian¡¯s punch was slightly stiff, but nothing more.

    FIZZ!

    The sharp pole of a Soul Banner suddenly pierced through one side of Feng Ying¡¯s waist.

    Feng Ying¡¯s fluttering garment was instantly paint red by her blood. Apparently, after Lu Jian had joined the battle, Feng Ying and Qin Yan were plunged into a very unfavorable situation.

    Qin Yan¡¯s slender waist twisted as her hands wove skillfully in the air, forming exquisite hand seals.

    Multiple frosty, watery wards instantly came to form around the two of them. However, scorched by the of mes formed by the twote Greater Heaven stage me God Sect disciples, the watery wards melted and dissipated at a fast speed.

    Upon seeing Feng Ying taking another injury, Qin Yan¡¯s eyes filled with more anxiety. As she noticed Lu Jian unleash the discarnate souls in his Soul Banner on Feng Ying with a gruesome grin, she finally passed her limit of endurance and let out an angry roar, ¡°Nie Tian! The formation those six crimson stone columns have formed is the me God Sect¡¯s Spiritual Hexame Formation!

    ¡°That formation is powered by earthme essence and earthme crystal strings, so what are you still waiting for?

    ¡°Your me Dragon Armor happens to need earthme essence and earthme crystal strings to recharge. This is the perfect opportunity!¡±

    Her words rendered everyone present confused.

    ¡°Nie Tian? Who¡¯s Nie Tian?¡± Dong Kang asked, a confused expression spreading across his face.

    Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, and Cao Qiushui were also deeply puzzled.

    Even Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect failed to understand who she was talking about at first. He just felt that the name ¡®Nie Tian¡¯ sounded quite familiar.

    However, Yang Kan was the first one toe back to his senses after his brief bewilderment. ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re the Nie Tian who obtained the fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial?!¡±

    The other two me God Sect disciples were also shocked into a daze upon hearing Qin Yan calling the name ¡®Nie Tian¡¯. Therefore, the pressure on Qin Yan and Feng Ying¡¯s shoulders was instantly relieved.

    One of them snapped back to his senses and eximed, ¡°The me Dragon Armor! He has the me Dragon Armor with him!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the kid our sectmaster has been looking for!¡± the other chimed in.

    Yang Kan¡¯s words reminded Dong Kang, Qian Xin, and the others on the outside, and they finally remembered who Nie Tian was.

    It was the young man who had obtained two fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial,ter obtained the third from Ning Yang, and sealed the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, stifling the Demons¡¯ invasion n.

    Afterwards, he had turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer of joining their sect. His incredible achievements and unconventional behavior had long since made him a household name throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    It was just that he had been so mysterious and unpredictable that very few people had ever seen him.

    Aftering back to their senses, everyone¡¯s gazes focused on Nie Tian, who was previously known as Mu Han.

    They couldn¡¯t know Feng Ying, Dong Baijie, and Dong Li better.

    Mu Han was the only one behind the me ward who they knew very little of, but possessed shocking battle prowess. Who else could Qin Yan be talking to, if it wasn¡¯t Nie Tian?

    ¡°So you¡¯re Nie Tian! That exins it!¡± With a cunningugh, Yang Kan ended his battle with Dong Baijie and Dong Li, and dashed directly towards Nie Tian. ¡°Hand over the me Dragon Armor! The me Dragon Armor is a Spirit Channeling grade treasure that rightfully belongs to our sect. If I can bring it back to our sectmaster, my status in our sect will surely rise over Tang Yang¡¯s!

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor will never take you as its master, and you will never be able to wear it!¡±

    With an excited expression, Yang Kan once again held out his crystal ball, which glittered with fiery light, and used it to channel raging mes from the me ward in an attempt to engulf him with them.

    As Xia Yi¡¯s potential sessor, he had the privilege of listening Xia Yi exin the profound truths of me power to him.

    From Xia Yi, he had learned that the lost Blood Core was a very important part of the me Dragon Armor.

    ording to him, during a great war, the Blood Core had been drained of me power, and the soul within it had also been damaged, causing it to fall into a state of dormancy.

    Only when the Blood Core was in the hand of the right person would its soul be awakened, and would it take that person as its master.

    This would only happen to those who were born with an unmatched me power cultivation talent.

    However, even if the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was awakened, it would still take a very long time for it to recover me power and fix the damage it had taken.

    From his previous exchange with Nie Tian, Yang Kan had learned that Nie Tian practiced me power, wood power, and star power. Therefore, considering that he practiced power of multiple attributes, he deemed it was impossible for the me Dragon armor to take him as its master.

    That meant that even if Nie Tian had the me Dragon Armor in his possession, its soul would still be dormant, and it couldn¡¯t be used.

    That was why he was thrilled, instead of afraid, when he learned Nie Tian¡¯s true identity from Qin Yan. He assumed that the me Dragon Armor was already his to take.

    After Qin Yan revealed his true identity, Nie Tian smiled in an unconstrained manner and asked, ¡°You want the me Dragon Armor? Okay, as you wish!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor flew out of his ring of holding, giving rise to thunderous sounds.

    In the next moment, the earthme crystal strings in the six crimson stone columns, as well as the earthme crystal strings in the crystal ball in Yang Kan¡¯s hand, grew restless.

    Yang Kan¡¯s expression instantly flickered.

    WHOOSH!

    As the me Dragon Armor shot towards Yang Kan, earthme essence and earthme crystal strings rushed out of the crystal ball in his hand uncontrobly.

    The earthme essence within the crimson stone columns was also forcibly sucked out by the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°T-this is impossible!¡± After a brief hesitation, Yang Kan decisively gave up the crystal ball in his hand and cast it at Nie Tian.

    Under his disbelieving gaze, one earthme crystal string after another flew into the central chest area of the me Dragon Armor, where they were absorbed by a dragon bone that glittered with bright, blood-colored light.

    Gnashing his teeth, Yang Kan distanced himself from Nie Tian and the me Dragon Armor, and dashed towards the end of the colorful area.

    BOOM!

    Just as he was about to touch the thick, colorful mist at the very end of the segment, a violent aura suddenly burst forth from within him. He forcibly gathered all of his me power, and a new vortex of spiritual power came to form in his spiritual sea.

    ¡°Take me with you, Big Brother Yang!¡±

    Lu Jian cried for his life as he exerted all his strength and caught up to Yang Kan, holding onto the tip of Yang Kan¡¯s garment.

    As Yang Kan thrummed with a violent aura, giving rise to loud rumbles, the crimson stone columns and the me ward morphed into a river of raging mes and flew back to him.

    Yang Kan¡¯s sudden breakthrough in cultivation created a spherical aura around him, which also enveloped Lu Jian. In the next moment, the two of them flew through the colorful mist that separated the two segments, instantly disappearing from everyone else¡¯s view.

    Everyone present stood aghast.

 Chapter 521: Qin Yans Apology

    Yang Kan and Lu Jian were wreathed in the aura of Yang Kan¡¯s breakthrough as Yang Kan carried him through the thick, colorful mist into the next segment of the swirling band.

    The six crimson stone columns morphed into a streak of mes and flew back to him right before he disappeared into the misty barrier.

    However, due to the sudden appearance of the me Dragon Armor, each of the six stone columns were forcibly drained of their earthme crystal strings, which eventually converged on the dragon bone at the central chest area of the me Dragon Armor.

    The series of quick changes bbergasted everyone present. By the time they came back to their senses, Yang Kan and Lu Jian were already nowhere to be found.

    After a moment of silence, Dong Baijie said with a grim expression, ¡°That guy had actually been at the peak Greater Heaven stage this whole time, and he was able to make the breakthrough at any moment. Apparently, he had been suppressing himself from entering the Worldly realm. He must have been waiting for something to happen and looking for the right time.

    ¡°Perhaps this was the reason why he acted so recklessly in this segment. He knew he would be able to cross into the next segment whenever he wanted.¡±

    Dong Li panted heavily, highlighting the perfect curves of her ample chest, as she chimed in, ¡°The way I see it, this Yang Kan person is an even more formidable opponent than Tang Yang.¡±

    Dong Baijie seemed to have the same notion as he nodded and said, ¡°He could have made the breakthrough long ago, yet he intentionally held himself back. Clearly, he had bigger ambitions and schemes than Tang Yang!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor floated high in the air, where wisps of earthme essence and earthme crystal strings were still converging on it.

    As the crystal ball discarded by Yang Kan lost all of its earthme essence and earthme crystal strings to the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core, it exploded.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    In fact, he had been hesitating before Qin Yan revealed his true identity.

    The moment Yang Kan¡¯s six crimson stone columns had flown out, and he had seen the earthme crystal strings slithering within the engraved magical beasts in them, he had sensed the me Dragon Armor¡¯s joy and yearning.

    When Yang Kan had taken out his crystal ball that had been filled with earthme essence and earthme crystal strings, the me Dragon Armor grew even more thrilled.

    The reason he hadn¡¯t unleashed the me Dragon Armor to absorb all the earthme essence and earthme crystal strings was that he had been hesitant to reveal his true identity.

    Just as he had been weighing the pros and cons of it, Feng Ying had once again called out to him for help. The fact that he had ignored her call for help and his previous refusal to help them had finally enraged Qin Yan, who had then revealed his true identity.

    Having the decision made for him, he had summoned the me Dragon Armor, which had not only broken the Spiritual Hexame Formation effortlessly, but also absorbed all of the earthme essence and earthme crystal strings it could find.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected that, as one of the core disciples of the me God Sect, Yang Kan actually had more cards to y.

    After he had realized that his Spiritual Hexame Formation was a lost cause, he had recognized the unfavorable situation he was in, and known that if he had continued to stay, he would have soon be the target of everyone.

    Therefore, he had made the breakthrough without any hesitation, which had worked out for Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect as well, since he had luckily left as Yang Kan¡¯s tag-along.

    Yang Kan¡¯s decisiveness and calmness at the crucial moment had deeply impressed Nie Tian. He secretly categorized Yang Kan as one of his most formidable opponents.

    ¡°Senior martial brother!¡± the other two me God Sect Qi warriors cried out at the tops of their lungs as they watched Yang Kan disappear into the thick mist.

    The fact that he had taken the brazen Lu Jian instead of them made it clear that he had attached little importance to them, and left them to die. At this moment, as the six crimson stone columns disappeared with Yang Kan, the me ward disappeared along with them.

    Dong Kang, Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng, Qian Xin, and the others who had arrived after them rushed into the colorful area and vented their anger on the two me God Sect disciples that were left behind.

    Not only were Qin Yan and Feng Ying instantly relieved of their crisis, but they worked together with the others to trap the two me God Sect Qi warriors.

    Gritting her teeth, Dong Li stepped over to Nie Tian¡¯s side. Looking coldly at Qin Yan from afar, she said in a low voice, ¡°I can¡¯t believe Qin Yan would do that! Now that she¡¯s revealed your true identity to so many people, if we run into people from the Heaven Pce Sectter, I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll be in danger.¡±

    Dong Baijie let out a sigh, but didn¡¯t say anything. He also deemed it was a rather rotten thing for Qin Yan to reveal Nie Tian¡¯s true identity and put him in danger just to save herself. She could have gone another way.

    ¡°How are you doing, Nie Tian?¡± Dong Li asked concernedly.

    At this moment, the me Dragon Armor had already gathered everyst wisp of earthme essence and earthme crystal string it could find.

    After the satisfying feast, it circled around in the air and flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding after failing to identity any new targets.

    Instead of answering Dong Li right away, Nie Tian brieflymunicated with the me Dragon Armor, and then his eyes lit up.

    From the message he received from the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, he learned that the me Dragon Armor would recover its peak state after refining the earthme crystal strings and earthme essence it had just absorbed.

    Furthermore, with a joyful tone, it also told him that the earthme crystal strings would help it grow and transcend.

    Afterwards, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul took the initiative to end themunication with him and focused wholly on refining the earthme essence and earthme crystal strings.

    Nie Tian smiled heartily. ¡°I¡¯m alright. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve just consumed a considerable amount of my strength. That¡¯s all. How about you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve sustained some injuries, but nothing major,¡± Dong Li said, pointing at her shoulder.

    Her tender shoulder had been pierced through by one of the earthme crystal strings earlier. Blood was stilling out of the charred puncture wound, along with a pungent, sulphuric smell.

    ¡°Let me help you.¡± With these words, Nie Tian reached out one hand and held it over the puncture wound as he practiced Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Vigorous life force instantly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s fingertips and into Dong Li¡¯s wounded shoulder.

    Like slow, warm currents, the vigorous life force slowly infused into Dong Li¡¯s flesh and bones. Wherever it flowed, damaged tissues healed at an rming speed.

    Dong Baijie, who was standing beside them, could actually see his younger sister¡¯s open wound heal after Nie Tian held his hand over it.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes flickered with disbelief as she felt the miraculous changes happening in her shoulder. Meanwhile, she couldn¡¯t tear her eyes away from Nie Tian.

    After some time, Nie Tian withdrew his hand and said, ¡°You should be fine now.¡±

    Astonished, Dong Baijie hastily stepped forward to check his sister¡¯s wound carefully. He even subconsciously touched it.

    He discovered that the puncture wound caused by the earthme crystal string was fully healed, not even leaving a scar.

    ¡°How in the world did you do that?!¡± he eximed.

    ¡°It¡¯s a wood power healing magic,¡± Nie Tian answered casually.

    ¡°As far as I know, even those who are born with outstanding wood power cultivation talent can mostly only heal themselves,¡± Dong Baijie said, eyes wide. ¡°Only when they¡¯ve reached peak cultivation domains will they be able to asionally heal others with their wood power.

    ¡°Even Worldly realm, Profound realm, and Soul realm experts can¡¯t heal a wound so thoroughly for someone within such a short time.¡±

    Dong Li rolled her eyes at her brother and said, ¡°You ask too many questions!¡±

    Then, she turned to Nie Tian and said with a smile, ¡°Nie Tian is no ordinary person. I¡¯m not surprised at all that he can do something that others can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°But this is...¡± Dong Baijie said with mixed emotions.

    AHH!

    At that very moment, miserable screams echoed out as the two me God Sect Qi warriors, who had been left behind, were killed by the crowd.

    Gu Haofeng swung his long sword, which was wreathed in slithering lightning, to get rid of the blood on it as he said coldly, ¡°These guys from the me God Sect actually thought they could do whatever they liked after their littlerk in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Howughable!¡±

    ¡°Yang Kan is a very formidable enemy.¡± Qian Xin said with a grim expression. ¡°Let¡¯s be extra careful if we run into him in the future, everyone.¡±

    The winner¡¯s arrogance and ecstasy couldn¡¯t be seen in his eyes. Instead, his eyes were filled with concern. As the others checked the contents of the two me God Sect disciples¡¯ rings of holding, he looked over his shoulder at the distant Nie Tian and said, ¡°If Nie Tian didn¡¯t summon his Spirit Channeling grade me Dragon Armor and break Yang Kan¡¯s Spiritual Hexame Formation, we couldn¡¯t have gotten through it so easily.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the noisy crowd fell silent.

    Feng Ying snuck a nce at Nie Tian before pulling the tip of Qin Yan¡¯s garment and asking in a low voice, ¡°Big Sister Qin Yan, how did you know that Mu Han was Nie Tian? Also, he clearly tried very hard to hide his identity. I¡¯ve heard that people from the Heaven Pce Sect and me God Sect are all looking for him.

    ¡°Now, you¡¯ve revealed his identity. I-is it gonna be a problem?¡±

    Qin Yan let out a sigh and said softly, ¡°You saw it yourself that he only wanted to help Dong Baijie and Dong Li, and didn¡¯t care whether we lived or died. If I hadn¡¯t revealed his identity and forced him to break the Spiritual Hexame Formation with his me Dragon Armor, the others would have still been kept out of here.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have taken long before we died under Lu Jian¡¯s insidious sneak attacks.

    ¡°Since he didn¡¯t want to help us, in order to survive, I could only force him to help us.¡±

    With these words, Qin Yan slowly stepped towards Nie Tian with an apologetic smile on her face. ¡°Nie Tian, I hope you understand that I didn¡¯t do it to put you in danger. I simply ran out of options. If you didn¡¯t summon your me Dragon Armor, there was no way we could have beat Yang Kan.

    ¡°Plus, all that earthme essence and those earthme crystal strings will be very helpful to your me Dragon Armor, right?

    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m very sorry for what I¡¯ve done. I hope you can forgive me.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Dong Li said coldly from the side, ¡°Even if Nie Tian forgives you, I won¡¯t!¡±

    ¡°I really had no choice,¡± Qin Yan said, looking helpless. ¡°He was bent on saving you and your brother. I had to do something to save Feng Ying and me.¡±

    ¡°Alright, tell me what you¡¯re going to do if those from the Heaven Pce Sect learn about Nie Tian being here with us?¡± Dong Li asked with a cold tone.

    ¡°Who would know that if none of us say anything?¡± said Qin Yan.

    ¡°Can you guarantee that everyone here will keep their mouths shut?¡± Dong Li questioned. ¡°You know what? Let¡¯s forget about the others. Tell me how you can make sure that Gu Haofeng doesn¡¯t leak the information?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to talk to Haofeng,¡± Qin Yan said with a guilty look on her face.

 Chapter 522: Uncertainties

    ¡°I don¡¯t me you,¡± Nie Tian said with a calm and expressionless face. ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t call out my name, I still would have summoned my me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°As you just said, the earthme essence and earthme crystal strings will be very helpful to my me Dragon Armor. I would have gathered them anyways, even at the price of revealing my identity.¡±

    Qin Yan pursed her lips into a smile and her watery eyes glittered with gracious light. ¡°Thank you for being so understanding. I¡¯d be even more grateful if you would help me in the future when my life is in danger.¡±

    With these words, she turned around and walked towards the area where everyone was gathered under Dong Li¡¯s furious gaze.

    ¡°What right does she have to demand help from Nie Tian?¡± Dong Li still sounded very angry. ¡°I knew she deliberately provoked dissension between Nie Tian and Gu Haofeng.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright,¡± Dong Baijie said. ¡°We¡¯re all from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. You¡¯ll still need to cooperate on many asions. You¡¯ve been friends with her for many years. Don¡¯t ruin all that just because of this one incident.¡±

    Dong Li snorted coldly and said, ¡°I might have to reconsider how I treat her from now on.¡±

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t pay any attention to Dong Li¡¯sint. With Yang Kan gone and the two me God Sect disciples killed, the crisis was temporarily relieved. Therefore, he dropped to the ground.

    After a brief examination of himself, he learned that, even though his battle against Yang Kan had been very short, he had consumed a significant amount of strength.

    Considering that he wasn¡¯t sure if new challenges woulde upter in this strange ce, he needed to recover his strength as quickly as possible.

    Just as he was about to recuperate with spiritual materials of different attributes, Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect came over.

    ¡°What do you want, Qian Xin?¡± Dong Li asked with a frown.

    Since she wasn¡¯t very close with him, she didn¡¯t know his intentions in approaching Nie Tian.

    Qian Xin was known for his maturity among the junior leaders from the Realm of the Hundred Battles.

    He had never been very close or very distant with anyone. He had never had any friends he truly trusted.

    Qian Xin came to a stop before Nie Tian, took out a grayish-brown skull, and handed to him. ¡°Nie Tian, this is something I looted from Chang Yuan. But since he wasn¡¯t one of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s core disciples, he didn¡¯t have many valuables on him. This is the one I think is the most valuable.¡±

    ¡°Chang Yuan?¡± Dong Baijie asked, eyes narrowed.

    ¡°I ran into him on my way here. Later, Nie Tian came along and helped me kill him.¡± After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°In fact, Nie Tian was the one who killed him.¡±

    Dong Baijie nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    After realizing that Qian Xin had onlye to share loot with him, Nie Tian smiled at him as he grabbed the skull.

    However, his expression flickered as soon as he sent a wisp of soul power into it.

    He found, to his surprise, that a ferocious discarnate soul was living inside the skull. The moment his soul awareness entered the skull, he experienced an ice-cold and malicious aura, which almost swayed his judgment.

    ¡°Even Chang Yuan himself wasn¡¯t able to refine the discarnate soul in the skull, so it appears to still be sealed in there.¡± Qian Xin must have already examined the skull. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about psychic magics, but I saw that you seemed quite skilled when you were dealing with Chang Yan¡¯s psychic attacks, so I thought perhaps you could harness or make some use of this discarnate soul.¡±

    After a brief scan, Nie Tian put the skull away in his ring of holding and said, smiling, ¡°Thanks a lot, though I also don¡¯t know what to do with it for now.¡±

    Qian Xin also handed him a dozen crimson stones and said, ¡°These fire-attributed materials belonged to those two me God Sect disciples we just killed. Here, take them.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up as she eximed softly, ¡°Heavenme Stones!¡±

    Then, she looked Qian Xin in the eye and asked, ¡°Did Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng, or the others say anything when you told them that you were going to give these Heavenme Stones to Nie Tian?¡±

    Slightly surprised, Nie Tian received the dozen Heavenme Stones with two hands.

    Heavenme Stones were sixth level Premium grade fire-attributed spiritual materials, and were even more precious than me Crystals. It was said that Heavenme Stones came from fire-attributed meteors that crashed into the Domain of the Falling Stars. They could either be used to forge many fire-attributed spiritual tools or to recover me power.

    They were very valuable, so even those two me God Sect disciples must have gone to great lengths to get them.

    Qian Xin must be giving the most valuable loot they had gained from those men to Nie Tian. Dong Li doubted that Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng, and the others didn¡¯t have a problem with it.

    ¡°If Nie Tian didn¡¯t break the Spiritual Hexame Formation with his me Dragon Armor, none of us would even have been able toe in here,¡± Qian Xin said with a serious expression. ¡°It was him who let us in, saved Qin Yan and Feng Ying, and forced Yang Kan to escape. It¡¯s our rule that whoever makes the biggest contribution be rewarded with the most valuable battle gains. What can they say about that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± Dong Li said with a smile.

    Qian Xin nodded at Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Dong Baijie, before turning around and heading towards the area where the other Pill Pavilion Sect disciples were gathered.

    ¡°That Qian Xin seems to be a nice person,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Li curled her lips. ¡°He¡¯s not a popr guy. None of my operations with him ended up very pleasant.¡± Then, with a smile, she added, ¡°But I didn¡¯t expect that he would actually treat you so well.¡±

    Dong Baijieughed heartily and said, ¡°Well, perhaps that¡¯s because he didn¡¯t think any of you were worth being friends with.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s smile froze.

    Afterwards, Dong Baijie walked towards Dong Kang and the other Dong n members, where they discussed matters in low voices.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to recover my spiritual power first.¡± Without saying anything else, Nie Tian took out spiritual materials of different attributes from within his ring of holding, and started channeling power into his spiritual sea.

    Upon seeing this, Dong Li felt that she had nothing better to do, and thus also started recuperating.

    Gradually, all of the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles quieted down and started recuperating in different locations within the colorful area at the end of the segment.

    During this time, more floatingndmasses, boulders, and remains of ancient starships drifted to this area and disappeared into the thick, colorful mist.

    Even though everyone was quietly practicing cultivation, they also secretly paid attention to the objects that were slowly floating past them.

    However, the floating objects passed them one after another. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything about them that was worth noting.

    Some time passed...

    A few high-tier Demons¡¯ corpses floated to this area. As the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles caught sight of the Demons¡¯ corpses, they all grew intrigued.

    They each put their cultivation on hold and formed a variety of hand seals to wrap ribbons of spiritual power around the floating Demons¡¯ corpses and drag them towards them.

    Dong Li managed to drag one of the Demons¡¯ corpses towards her, and started examining it with her unique dark spiritual power.

    However, the moment her dark spiritual power entered the Demon¡¯s corpse, it was instantly reduced to flying ashes, as if the ages had rendered it too fragile.

    Deeply disappointed, Dong Li muttered, ¡°All the years have washed away its residual power, and made it even more fragile than a humanmoner¡¯s body.¡± Afterwards, she lost interest in pulling over and examining more Demon corpses.

    The people with the other four forces also seemed rather disappointed after pulling over and examining the floating Demon corpses from around them.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes. Watching the Demon¡¯s corpse turn into ashes before him, he said, ¡°The reason why Yang Kan was the first to rush to this area is probably because he knew all of the floating objects would eventually pass this area and disappear into the colorful mist.¡±

    ¡°He probably came here to search those floating objects for valuable materials.

    ¡°We should keep looking. If there are any secrets or valuable materials within these floating objects, they¡¯ll eventually show themselves.¡±

    Dong Li nodded slightly, but still couldn¡¯t mask her disappointment as she said, ¡°No matter whether it¡¯s spiritual tools or outsiders¡¯ corpses, after thousands of years, it¡¯s only natural that they¡¯ve lost their power and be fragile. Unless they were outsiders with eighth or ninth grade bloodline power, or Spirit Channeling grade treasures. Only they can defy the ages and remain unchanged after thousands of years.

    ¡°However, outsiders with eighth or ninth grade bloodline power were probably strong enough to have evacuated from this ce.

    ¡°Even if they died here, considering their status in their ns, their nsmen would have probably retrieved their bodies and left with them.

    ¡°I really doubt that we¡¯re going to find anything useful here.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°Sometimes we¡¯ve got to have some faith. Maybe it¡¯s in our fate.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s in your fate, but ours?¡± Dong Li rolled her eyes at him and suddenly lowered her voice. ¡°Hey, tell me what you¡¯ve discovered about those tree branches.¡±

    ¡°Not much yet,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I just know that they¡¯re very sharp and can be used as weapons.¡±

    ¡°So what do you know about this ce?¡± Dong Li asked.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian exined the series of images he had previously obtained from the tree branch formation to her in a very low voice.

    After he was finished, Dong Li went nk for a moment before eximing softly, ¡°There were two vast continents at first, one on top and one at the bottom, and many intelligent outsider races went to war with each other?¡±

    She suddenly came to a realization and added, ¡°Perhaps the bottom continent is at the bottom of this vortex under the boundless gray mist!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I think.¡±

    ¡°But you said that humans never lived here,¡± Dong Li said ncing around at the slowly rotating band. ¡°All the segments in this band that separate cultivators at different cultivation levels are definitely not the doing of outsiders. Only the most powerful human Qi warriors who know enough about our race would be able to establish such a majestic and sophisticated system.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he asked, ¡°Are you saying that this endless band that spirals downwards was created by human experts?¡±

    ¡°I believe so!¡± Dong Li sounded very certain. ¡°Perhaps powerful human experts have been here before us and established this thing!¡±

    Frowning, Nie Tian pondered for a short while, and came to agree with Dong Li¡¯s judgment.

    No matter how powerful outsider races were, they couldn¡¯t have been so clear about humans¡¯ cultivation levels to have created something this borate. It must have been humans.

    However, what could their intentions be by leaving this mysterious creation here?

 Chapter 523: The Soul of A Phantasm

    Time flew. Two weeks passed...

    Over the past two weeks, everyone from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had practiced cultivation in silence.

    In the colorful area where everyone sat, floatingndmasses, boulders, remains of ancient starships, outsider corpses, and all kinds of debris constantly drifted passed them into the thick mist at the end of their segment, passing through to the next segment.

    Whenever they saw any interesting objects float by them, they would channel them over and examine them carefully.

    However, none of them contained anything noteworthy. All of their efforts turned out to be fruitless.

    As time passed, people spent most of their time chatting with each other or wondering where this enormous vortex, which was swirling downwards unceasingly, was going to take them.

    After two weeks of recuperation, Nie Tian had already recovered the different types of power he had consumed during his battle against Yang Kan.

    Meanwhile, he had expanded his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power to their limits. He was now only waiting for his fleshy body to be refined enough to make the breakthrough into the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    During the two weeks¡¯ time, two among the group sessfully entered thete Greater Heaven stage.

    They were Dong Baijie from the Dong n and Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect.

    A rigid environment and life-threatening battles could usually stimte people¡¯s potential and give them enlightenment about the profundity of the incantations they practiced. Dong Baijie and Qian Xin had just achieved their breakthroughs so smoothly after their fierce battles with Yang Kan and Chang Yuan.

    Their breakthroughs motivated the others to practice even harder.

    Afterwards, everyone practiced cultivation with spirit stones day and night. They even barely talked to each other anymore.

    Nie Tian, however, spent most of his time consuming the spirit beast meat Dong Li had purchased for him to fill the green aura¡¯s bottomless appetite.

    The efficiency of his digestive system digesting spirit beast meat and generating flesh power was rtively low. Therefore, even though he was eating day in and day out, the amount of flesh power he was receiving was still very limited.

    One day, an idea struck him when he was once again stuffed.

    He closed his eyes and sent a wisp of flesh power into his ring of holding, where it located the huge pile of spirit beast meat.

    Then, he secretly practiced his Life Drain bloodline talent.

    Like a greedy snake, as soon as the wisp of flesh power touched a piece of fifth grade spirit beast¡¯s meat, it disappeared into it.

    That was when he realized that, even though his target objects were within his ring of holding, he was still able to absorb their flesh power with Life Drain.

    As the huge chunk of spirit beast meat was rapidly drained of its vigorous life force, the blood red wisp of flesh power, which was originally the size of a little finger, grewrger andrger.

    In a very short period of time, the piece of spirit beast meat that seemed to weigh a few tons was drained of all flesh power, and became shriveled like it had been left in the sun for weeks.

    Afterwards, the wisp of flesh power, which had already expanded to the size of a baby¡¯s arm, flew out of his ring of holding into his arm. As soon as it returned to his meridians, the green aura coiled up in his heart sensed it and grew restless.

    He could see with great rity that the significantly thickened wisp of flesh power was instantly channeled back to his heart, where it split into several wisps that were devoured by the green aura.

    Nie Tian felt overjoyed by his new discovery. ¡°I can¡¯t believe this actually works!¡±

    Over the following period of time, he secretly halted his cultivation, and frequently unleashed wisps of flesh power into his stock of spirit beast meat in his ring of holding.

    With this method, he absorbed the flesh power from the spirit beast meat Dong Li had given him at an unprecedented speed.

    However, the green aura in his heart seemed like a bottomless pit. He watched one piece of fifth grade spirit beast meat after another shrink and shrivel, yet the green aura kept yearning for more.

    Ten days passed.

    Thanks to the Life Drain¡¯s terrifying efficiency, everyst piece of the spirit beast meat Dong Li had given him had been drained of their flesh power.

    He could only stop for now.

    He had set aside some spirit beast meat which he had brought with him so that he would still have enough to get him through the operation.

    Since he had already realized that it was his inadequate refinement of his body that was stopping him from making a breakthrough, he didn¡¯t spend much of his time practicing cultivation.

    Meanwhile, since he had overly consumed his stock of spirit beast meat, he no longer dared to consume any more of it. Therefore, he took out the skull Qian Xin had given him and studied it from time to time.

    A ferocious discarnate soul was sealed within the skull. When he had attempted to examine it with his psychic awareness earlier, he had nearly suffered an injury.

    After pondering for some time, it urred to him that the mysterious soul power from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul might have a subduing effect on discarnate souls. Thus, he formed a Heaven Eye with both soul power and psychic power.

    With great caution, he controlled it to fly into the skull.

    The moment it entered, he sensed the existence of a special ward, which seemed to have been established by Chang Yuan, yet it didn¡¯t have any isting effect on the Heaven Eye.

    Afterwards, via the Heaven Eye, he saw a cluster of gray mist that was the discarnate soul wriggling about inside the skull.

    It instantly detected the entrance of a foreign soul matter, and started roaring madly within the skull. In the next moment, mountains of corpses and seas of blood were reflected in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    He, who had saved Dong Li from a Phantasm¡¯s secret soul magics in the Realm of Dark Underworld before, had an epiphany. ¡°It¡¯s a Phantasm¡¯s soul!¡±

    The skull that was bereft of any flesh and the discarnate soul within it actually belonged to a Phantasm!

    It was said that many of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s secret soul magics had been derived from their understanding of Phantasms and their souls.

    The Realm of Dark Underworld where the Spirit God Sect was founded was originally home to Phantasms.

    Therefore, it made sense that Chang Yuan had been able to secure a skull that contained a Phantasm¡¯s soul.

    Within the skull, Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eye suddenly unleashed the mysterious soul power from the fragmentary stars.

    In the next moment, the reflections of mountains of corpses and seas of blood were eliminated from his mind.

    In the presence of the soul power from the fragmentary stars, the originally ferocious Phantasm¡¯s soul suddenly quieted down, and cowered into a corner of the skull, not daring to move a bit.

    It seemed to be very scared of the soul power from the fragmentary stars.

    Nie Tian observed it carefully, but didn¡¯t control the Heaven Eye to approach it.

    He had a feeling that mere contact with the Heaven Eye would scatter the fragile soul.

    However, after a while, his observation turned out fruitless.

    Just as he was about to control the Heaven Eye to fly out of the skull, the cowering soul suddenly grew violent, and started repeatedly throwing itself into the ward created by Chang Yuan.

    But since it possessed limited residual power, it failed to break through the ward.

    The discarnate soul seemed to suddenly have an insuppressible urge to get out, as if it was attracted by something on the outside.

    Holding the skull in his hand, Nie Tian opened his eyes, and discovered that a Phantasm¡¯s corpse had drifted to the colorful area.

    The other Qi warriors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had also seen it, yet no one showed any interest in channeling it over to examine it.

    That was because they had already seen countless other outsiders¡¯ corpses float past them into the colorful mist at the end of the segment.

    At the beginning, full of hope, the juniors had channeled them over and examined them one by one.

    However, the ages had washed away all of their residual power. A mere touch would turn them into flying ashes. Not the slightest value had been found in them.

    As time passed, the juniors gradually lost interest in examining the outsider corpses floating by.

    That was why no one moved a finger when that Phantasm¡¯s corpse appeared.

    <i>¡°That¡¯s the corpse of a Phantasm. Can it be what¡¯s causing the discarnate soul¡¯s unusual movements?¡±</i> Nie Tian was briefly carried away before he snapped back to reality and unleashed a wisp of spiritual power, which morphed it into a resilient and glowing rope. With the rope, he hooked the Phantasm¡¯s corpse and dragged it to him.

    It was a male Phantasm dressed in noble garments, whose appearance was elegantly handsome.

    As soon as Nie Tian dragged it over, the discarnate soul within the skull grew even more restless, and rammed into the ward created by Chang Yuan even more frequently.

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about this Phantasm¡¯s corpse?¡± Nie Tian reached out with one hand and pressed his index finger between the Phantasm¡¯s eyebrows, where a prismatic crystal seemed to be embedded in its skull.

    He remembered that he had seen a simr crystal between the eyebrows of another handsome Phantasm, which he had encountered in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Back then, the crystal between that Phantasm¡¯s eyebrows had suddenly shone blindingly bright in the middle of his fight against Shen Zhong from the Pill Pavilion Sect, which instantly inflicted severe damage on Shen Zhong.

    The mysterious prismatic crystal that looked like a third eye seemed to be something only Phantasms had.

    As soon as Nie Tian¡¯s fingertip touched the crystal between the Phantasm¡¯s eyebrows, the Phantasm was reduced to flying ashes.

    The prismatic crystal that was the size of a fingernail was the only thing that remained intact.

 Chapter 524: The Bottom Continent

    The Phantasm¡¯s corpse was instantly reduced to flying ashes.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    As the discarnate soul within the skull in Nie Tian¡¯s hand continued to ram into the soul ward Chang Yuan had established, crackling sounds began to echo out of the fleshless skull, as if it would explode at any moment.

    Through the Heaven Eye, which was still within the skull, Nie Tian saw an endless craving in the discarnate soul the moment the Phantasm¡¯s body turned to ashes, leaving nothing but the prismatic crystal that was the size of a fingernail.

    It seemed as if the discarnate soul was desperate to break out of the skull and fly into the prismatic crystal, no matter the cost.

    Since Chang Yuan¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t very impressive, the ward he had condensed with his psychic power was far from impregnable.

    Soon, Nie Tian had a feeling that the skull was going to crack if he didn¡¯t do something right away.

    As he let out a cold harrumph, misty starlight instantly flew out of his Heaven Eye.

    The misty soul power floated in all directions and merged with the ward left by Chang Yuan, instantly strengthening it.

    As the Phantasm¡¯s discarnate soul rammed into the ward again, and made contact with the misty aura, it immediately shrank back as if had suffered great pain from the contact, its vague shape bing even frailer.

    After a handful more failed attempts, the discarnate soul consumed arge proportion of itsst remaining strength, and finally realized that, after Nie Tian had strengthened it with his soul power, the ward inside the skull was no longer something it could break.

    Eventually, it let out begrudging groans and stopped trying.

    Seeing that it had settled down, Nie Tian started converging his spiritual power on the finger he was using to press on the prismatic crystal.

    However, he found to his surprise that his spiritual power couldn¡¯t enter the crystal.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he pondered, <i>¡°What in the world is it?¡± </i>

    He caught the attention of Qian Xin and the others when he channeled the Phantasm¡¯s corpse towards him. However, after he ced his finger on it and it turned into ashes, they withdrew their gazes one after another.

    The way they saw it, the Phantasm corpse Nie Tian discovered was no different from the valueless ones they had examined before.

    None of them saw the prismatic crystal that stuck to Nie Tian¡¯s fingertip.

    Dong Li was the only one who saw it, since she was right beside him.

    Staring at the prismatic crystal, Dong Li¡¯s eyes glittered with the light of excitement as she asked in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian, is that the crystal from between that Phantasm¡¯s eyebrows?¡±

    Turning nothing but his eyes, Nie Tian looked at her and nodded in a very subtle way.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up as she said with a voice as soft as a mosquito, ¡°Each and every Phantasm corpse Gu Haofeng and the others have examined turned into ashes the moment they touched them, including the prismatic crystals between their eyebrows.

    ¡°But when this one turned to ashes, its prismatic crystal remained intact.

    ¡°Perhaps only the corpses of Phantasms with a very high bloodline grade will be less prone to corrosion, and because of that, their prismatic crystal can be preserved.

    ¡°As far as I know, the prismatic crystal between the Phantasms¡¯ eyebrows are vital to them.

    ¡°They seem to be the vessels that carry their souls and the source of their soul power.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Vessels that carry their souls!?¡±

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian withdrew his Heaven Eye from the skull and returned it to his ring of holding.

    He attempted to examine the prismatic crystal with his Heaven Eye.

    However, even the Heaven Eye that contained soul power from the fragmentary stars failed to enter the crystal.

    He could only sense faint signs of violent soul fluctuations from within the prismatic crystal.

    <i>¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the Phantasm¡¯s soul is still in the prismatic crystal?!¡± </i>With that question in mind, he made a few more attempts to pry into the secrets within the prismatic crystal, but all of them failed.

    Eventually, he gave up and stored the small crystal in his ring of holding when no one was looking.

    Time flew. Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

    No one seemed to have discovered anything noteworthy during this time. Hence, they could only keep practicing cultivation.

    Watching all kinds of strange-looking objects float into the colorful mist at the end of the segment, people gradually lost their patience.

    They all knew that the enormous band had been swirling downwards at a slow speed.

    They were aware that they would eventually be carried down to the bottom of the vortex-shaped band, which they were all curious about. However, since weeks had passed without any noticeable progress, they gradually grew impatient.

    With the help of a special time-measuring device, Dong Li discovered that another three days had passed, and also started to worry.

    Many of the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had stopped their cultivation, and started discussing where the giant vortex was going to take them and why it existed. However, no one could provide any answers to those questions.

    On this day, while people were still discussing, they suddenly noticed that the misty barrier separating the segments was growing fainter and fainter, as if the originally thick mist was gradually being blown away by wind.

    Gu Haofeng sprang to his feet, and full of expectations, he stepped towards the dissipating colorful mist.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, he quickly disappeared in the mist.

    Upon seeing this, the crowd that had long since grown tired of waiting suddenly became thrilled.

    The Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, the Gu n, and the Cao n mored as they followed Gu Haofeng into the thinning mist.

    ¡°We¡¯ve reached the bottom of the vortex?!¡±

    ¡°The misty barrier seems to have lost its magic, and we can go through it now!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Dong Baijie called out to Nie Tian and Dong Li from afar, ¡°We¡¯ve probably reached the bottom!¡±

    Afterwards, he gathered the other Dong n members and led them into the colorful mist.

    In no more than a few minutes, everyone from the Realm of a Hundred Battles disappeared into the mist.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li, who had been sitting in a distant location, were thest ones to pace to the edge of the thin mist.

    ¡°Shall we go in?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Dong Li smiled and said, ¡°To avoid us getting lost in the colorful mist, I think we...¡±

    With these words, she squarely wrapped her arm around Nie Tian¡¯s, and then led Nie Tian as they slowly stepped into the mist.

    With a whiff of her pleasant scent, Nie Tian felt that his heart had suddenly lightened. He let her lead him forward, as if he were enchanted.

    He couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at her, and saw a faint smile on her gorgeous face.

    The two of them slowly walked forward in the colorful, thin mist. However, Nie Tian rapidly discovered that he couldn¡¯t sense a thing with his psychic awareness when he walked into the mist.

    The same went for his Heaven Eyes. He couldn¡¯t capture anything or detect any signs of life in his surroundings through them.

    Even his vision waspromised. He could only see up to five to six meters around him. Everything beyond that was a blur.

    The others from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had entered only a few seconds before them, yet they didn¡¯t see any of them.

    A mysterious force suddenly came out of nowhere and started pushing them towards the depths of the colorful mist. As that happened, Dong Li grabbed tightly onto Nie Tian¡¯s arm.

    Two days passed.

    They didn¡¯t encounter anyone or any living beings along their way, as if everyone had somehow been separated the moment they entered the mist.

    If Dong Li hadn¡¯t clung to Nie Tian¡¯s arm the whole time, they might also have been separated the moment they entered the mist.

    After some time, the two of them finally walked out of the colorful mist and ended up in a mountain valley, where they stood aghast.

    They looked back and discovered that the colorful mist gradually shrank, and soon vanishedpletely behind them.

    A lofty, t-topped mountain peak, which seemed to be tens of thousands of meters high, instantly caught their eyes. The top of the mountain peak seemed to have been cut off by an enormous de, making the mountaintop very level and smooth.

    A thick, gray mist that stretched as far as the eye could see filled the sky.

    ¡°We¡¯re finally standing on the bottom continent!¡± Thrilled, Dong Li pointed up at the boundless gray mist in the sky. ¡°Above that gray mist must be the vast space filled with floating continents, boulders, and all kinds of remains, where we firstnded.¡±

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think we¡¯re under the huge vortex we came from,¡± Nie Tian said with a fascinated look on his face. ¡°Apparently, we¡¯ve been transported to different locations.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he formed nine Heaven Eyes and spread them out to scan the vicinity.

 Chapter 525: A Land of Treasures

    As his nine Heaven Eyes spread out in all directions, images were instantly reflected in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    The soul power within his Heaven Eyes allowed him to not only capture clear images of his surroundings, but also detect even the slightest signs of life and soul fluctuations.

    Through his nine Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian obtained a thorough grasp of the environment around him, including the mountains, rivers, woods and ins, as well as marks of battle left by powerful beings. The only thing he didn¡¯t find was any sign of life or soul fluctuations.

    Aside from Dong Li and him, there didn¡¯t seem to be a third living being within his Heaven Eyes¡¯ detection range.

    Of course, it was also a possibility that Profound realm or Soul realm human Qi warriors or high-tier outsiders that excelled at using soul magics were intentionally hiding their soul fluctuations.

    However, if that was the case, those powerful experts would have probably already discovered his Heaven Eyes and descended upon him.

    After a second thorough search, Nie Tian still failed to find any living things in the vicinity.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°All of the others from the Realm of a Hundred Battles entered the colorful mist before us, but howe we can¡¯t find any of them?¡±

    Dong Li pondered for while, then said, ¡°The colorful mist might have separated us, and sent people to different areas of the continent the moment they stepped into the mist. If my spections are correct, Qin Yan, Cao Qiushui, and the others might have also been sent to this part of the continent. We¡¯re only not seeing them only because there is a fairly long distance between us.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, agreeing with her judgment. Then, a major question suddenly hit him: how would they return?

    The gate through which they had entered this mysterious dimension was in the space above the boundless gray mist. Then, they hade to this continent through a huge vortex.

    Now, not only was the huge vortex nowhere to be found, but the colorful mist they hade from was also gone. How would they go back?

    Even if they managed to find the huge vortex, it kept spiraling downwards, which meant they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to return via the same route they had taken to get here.

    After he expressed his worries to Dong Li, Dong Li smiled and said breezily, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. ording to Cao Zhaoji, that mysterious huge vortex isn¡¯t always swirling downwards.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Cao Zhaoji believes that the huge vortex that carried us to this ce is going to reverse at some point.¡± Dong Li didn¡¯t know the mechanism behind it either. She just reiterated Cao Zhaoji¡¯s spection. ¡°When that happens, major changes will take ce, and the huge vortex will start spiraling up towards the top.

    ¡°At that time, as long as we can find that huge vortex, we¡¯ll be able to return to the top space through that swirling band.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°How can Cao Zhaoji be sure of that?¡±

    Dong Li shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I know that Cao Zhaoji is a big fan of exploring new realms and strange ces, and he¡¯s very experienced. In fact, Cao Qiushui only developed a strong interest in this field because of Cao Zhaoji¡¯s influence. Cao Zhaoji has very deep and unique understandings regarding all kinds of spell formations, mysterious realms, and profound mysteries of heaven and earth.

    ¡°Since he¡¯s said so, I think his spection will be mostly correct. All we need to do is go find the huge vortex when the timees. Before that, we can just travel around and search for valuable spiritual materials.¡±

    ¡°I hope he¡¯s right about that.¡± Nie Tian chose to believe Cao Zhaoji¡¯s theory for the time being.

    He had realized that Cao Zhaoji¡¯s spections about thews of the swirling band that led to this continent weren¡¯tpletely urate soon after he had entered it.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li eximed. ¡°Can you feel the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce?!¡±

    Sinceing here, Nie Tian had focused on examining the vicinity with his Heaven Eyes. Upon hearing her words, he started practicing the Qi Refining Incantation with his eyes narrowed.

    After a brief moment of observation, his eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re right! The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce is probably richer than in any realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    He could sense with great rity that, as he practiced the Qi Refining Incantation, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth being channeled into his seven vortexes of spiritual power was not only pure, but also very rich.

    He didn¡¯t even need to refine it much. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth rapidly sank towards the bottom of his vortexes of spiritual power, where it became liquidized spiritual power.

    Back in the Domain of the Falling Stars, after he had channeled the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into his spiritual sea, he normally needed to refine it repeatedly with his vortexes of spiritual power before it would liquidize.

    Even the spiritual power within the spirit stones from the Domain of the Falling Stars usually containedrge proportions of impurities. He would have to get rid of the impurities and refine it over and over with his vortexes of spiritual power to make it pure enough.

    However, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on this continent was many times richer and purer than anywhere in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Practicing cultivation here, Qi warriors would be able to progress significantly faster.

    Dong Li grew increasingly excited. ¡°There must be all kinds of rare and precious materials on this magical continent! Wherever the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth is very rich and pure, all things are nourished, thus producing arge number of unique treasures. I bet there are spirit stone mineral veins here. There might even be plenty of spirit jades and spirit crystals lying around!

    ¡°Even the mostmon spirit stones here are probably purer than those in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Let¡¯s search the hell out of this ce!¡±

    Nie Tian was infected by her enthusiasm as he saw her glittering eyes.

    He also knew that precious treasures probably existed on such a magical continent that was blessed with such rich and pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, he temporarily cast his worries about their return out of his mind, and started scanning the earth with his Heaven Eyes.

    Soon after they walked out of the mountain valley, they discovered a pond. The water was so clear that everything at the bottom could be seen with a single nce. Around the pond grew all kinds of bryophytes.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I took a bath!¡± With these words, Dong Li cheered like a little girl and quickly skipped towards the pond,pletely forgetting about herdy¡¯s grace.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to follow her towards the pond, she turned around and eximed softly, ¡°Don¡¯t youe close!¡±

    SPLASH!

    Most of her garments fell lightly on the shore like feathers as she leapt into the clear pond with nothing but her tight inner garment.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the pond water contains such rich water power!¡± Dong Li eximed as she stretched and moved her well-built legs like a mermaid in the water. ¡°If Qin Yan were here, by merely submerging herself in the pond, she would be able to absorb a copious amount of water power!¡±

    Standing in his original ce, Nie Tian saw her exim something and dive into the pond immediately afterwards.

    From the look of it, she must be a good swimmer.

    A meaningful smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he ignored Dong Li¡¯s warning and walked towards the pond.

    After arriving on the shore where Dong Li had left her garments, Nie Tian discovered that Dong Li was swift like a fish in the iparably clear water. At this moment, she had already reached the bottom of the pond, where there seemed to be a handful of sparkling gems in the waterweeds.

    Dong Li swam over to grab one of the gems and rose to the surface.

    Upon surfacing, her wet, long hair stuck to her long, white neck. The faint redness of excitement could be seen on her gorgeous face as she held a sparkling stone in her right hand. She noticed Nie Tian, who was standing on the shore. However, instead of ming him for approaching, she waved her bare arm towards him and eximed, ¡°Guess what this is!¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°This is a Water Spirit Jade!¡± Dong Li eximed joyously while beating the water with her milky-white arm. ¡°It¡¯s a third level Premium grade spiritual material! Butpared to the Water Spirit Jades in the Domain of the Falling Stars, this is purer, and the water power within it can be refined more easily! If Qin Yan were here, she would be more excited than I am!¡±

    With these words, she once again dove towards the bottom of the pond and started gathering the other Water Spirit Jades.

    A quarter hourter, she finished searching every corner of the pond, and stored all of the Water Spirit Jades she had found in her ring of holding.

    Then, she grabbed a handful of waterweeds and surfaced. As soon as she did, she eximed, ¡°Water Ripple Weeds! These are sixth level Premium grade spiritual materials. The Pill Pavilion Sect makes Water Element Pills with them! Just one of these is worth nearly ten thousand spirit stones!

    ¡°We¡¯re rich! Hahaha! This is indeed and blessed with treasures!¡±

    Overjoyed, she unted her discoveries to Nie Tian,pletely unaware that her garment had alreadye loose, revealing part of her white and tender bosom.

    Neither did Nie Tian remind her. His eyes didn¡¯t spend a second on the few Water Ripple Weeds she was holding. His heart started racing as he waspletely dazzled by the sight of her chest.

    Dong Li noticed that he showed no response to her words, and rapidly realized what was going on.

    ¡°Nie Tian! What the hell are you looking at!!?¡±

    ¡°N-nothing...¡±

 Chapter 526: Wishful Thinking!

    Dong Li swam to the shore and walked towards Nie Tian, all wet. After stopping before him, she leaned forward, showing her deep cleavage, and said, smiling, ¡°Like what you saw?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered subconsciously.

    ¡°Do you want to see more?¡± Dong Li asked, smiling like a blossoming flower.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Wishful thinking!¡± Dong Li gave a cold snort as she picked up her clothes and stepped away as lightly as a nature spirit.

    Judging from her joyous steps, she didn¡¯t seem mad at all.

    Nie Tian stared at her from behind as she walked away. Her wet undergarment stuck to her curvaceous body, highlighting her perfect ¡®S¡¯ curve.

    He wasn¡¯t the boy in ck Cloud City who didn¡¯t know anything about the matters between men and women anymore.

    As his cultivation base advanced, and he gained more experience, he had already grown into ate teen with normal urges.

    As a very charming woman, Dong Li released an intoxicating aura with every move she made. It was only natural that Nie Tian was attracted to her.

    Dong Li¡¯s pleasantughter echoed out from behind arge rock. ¡°Stop thinking about that, will you? You might as well spend your time doing something productive, like looking for precious materials in the vicinity.¡±

    Nie Tian could tell from the swishing sounds behind that rock that Dong Li had gotten rid of her wet garment and was putting on dry new ones.

    Images of thepletely naked Dong Li dressing herself, while humming a little tune, kept appearing in his mind.

    After a while, Dong Li walked out from behind that rock, twisting her waist in a very charming manner.

    Unlike before, Dong Li didn¡¯t wear her usual battle garments this time. Instead, she wore a long, red dress that brought out her deep, white cleavage.

    A few small, multicolored jades hung on her belt. With every step she took, they clicked and made pleasant sounds.

    She had possessed unmatched beauty to begin with. Now that she was wearing this red dress that fit her curves perfectly, she looked even more beautiful, like a blossoming rose. Nie Tian found it hard to tear his eyes from her.

    After seeing the look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Dong Li smiledcently and asked, ¡°Am I pretty?¡±

    ¡°Very pretty,¡± Nie Tian said, not trying to hide anything.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes narrowed as she asked, smiling, ¡°How do I lookpared to that ice-cold Pei Qiqi? Which one of us is prettier?¡±

    Nie Tian cleared his throat and said with a meaningful smile, ¡°You are, no doubt!¡±

    As he went to more ces and dealt with more people, his knowledge about women and their minds also increased.

    Gradually, he was no longer as reserved and blindingly straightforward as before when he got along with Dong Li. Now, he knew what to say to please her.

    Dong Li rolled her eyes at him and raised her chin slightly, showing her long, jade-like neck, as she said, ¡°I know you probably think Pei Qiqi is just as pretty, but you have to admit that I¡¯m prettier than her. You hear me?! I don¡¯t care if that¡¯s what you really think!¡±

    ¡°I truly think that you¡¯re prettier than her! It¡¯s from the bottom of my heart!¡± Nie Tian blurted with a wronged expression.

    ¡°Well, not bad,¡± Dong Li said, smiling. ¡°You¡¯ve learned how to please girls. Alright, enough ying. Let¡¯s keep looking. We need to gather as many treasures as we can before the huge vortex reverses.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    With these words, the two of them started searching around under the guidance of Nie Tian¡¯s nine Heaven Eyes.

    As time passed, they gradually gathered many very precious spiritual materials. Most of them were Premium grade materials which could be used to either provide energy, forge spiritual tools, or make medicinal pills.

    Dong Li remained excited the whole time. Whenever she found a rare spiritual material, she would mumble, ¡°We¡¯ve hit gold!¡± and then tell Nie Tian how much they were worth in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    On this day, Nie Tian discovered the corpse of a gigantic spirit beast through one of his Heaven Eyes.

    Without any dy, he rushed over with Dong Li.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the two of them discovered the dead spirit beast in a dense forest.

    Dong Li recognized it the moment she saw it. ¡°A seventh grade Earthshatter Beast! The strength of a seventh grade Earthshatter Beast is equal to that of a Soul realm human expert! What could have killed it!?¡±

    Normally speaking, like most outsider races, spirit beasts¡¯ lifespans were significantly longer than humans¡¯.

    Should there be no mishaps or disasters, a seventh grade spirit beast could easily live ten thousand years.

    The Earthshatter Beast before them clearly hadn¡¯t died of natural causes, but rather been killed by someone or something.

    The majestic beast was more than thirty meters long. Its whole body was covered in wounds, and one of its eyes seemed to have been prated by some kind of sharp weapon.

    Its other fist-sized eye was still intact and flickering with a dim, dark-yellow luster.

    ¡°Earthshatter Beasts are powerful earth-attributed spirit beasts. They can channel power from the earth and travel underground among mountains and ins.¡± Dong Li marveled at its brilliance as she jumped onto it with a swift move. ¡°Hope we can still find some valuable spiritual materials on it. Even though it¡¯s been dead for thousands of years, the parts of a seventh grade spirit beast might still be valuable. Such a powerful being won¡¯t rot away so easily.¡±

    From the images he had acquired from the formation of tree branches, Nie Tian had learned that the inhabitants of this vast continent were all exceptionallyrge creatures.

    Without any mishaps, this enormous Earthshatter Beast must have been killed by powerful outsiders from the top continent when the final war broke out.

    ¡°That eye can probably be used to forge an earth-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡± With these words, Dong Li jumped onto the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s head and ripped its dark-yellow eye out of its socket with one quick motion. Then, she examined it with her spiritual power and eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! As I expected, its eye hasn¡¯t lost much of its power yet. The years haven¡¯t made it useless. We can probably sell it at a very high price!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian also walked up to the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse. He slowly reached out with both hands and ced them on its rough, thick skin.

    He was well-aware that, when a living being died, its soul would be the first to dissipate. Afterwards, as time passed, its flesh power would also gradually fade away.

    However, as for some very powerful beings, since their flesh power was as copious as water in oceans, the speed at which they lost their flesh power would be significantly slower.

    That was the reason why the body of this seventh grade Earthshatter Beast had somehow resisted the ages and still contained some flesh power, even after it had been dead for thousands of years.

    At this moment, the most troublesome issue for Nie Tian was that the green aura in his heart had an endless desire for flesh power. If he could feed it with enough flesh power, he might be able to finish the refinement of his fleshy body, and from there, advance to the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    With this thought in mind, he quietly unleashed Life Drain. Ten wisps of red aura instantly shot out of his ten fingertips.

    The moment his flesh power entered the Earthshatter Beast, a shudder ran through him. As he had expected, there was indeed still a copious amount of flesh power left in the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse!

    Therefore, he ignored Dong Li¡¯s exmations, and focusedpletely on absorbing the vastly rich flesh power within the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse.

    Dong Li called out to him a few times. After receiving no response, she came over and discovered that he seemed to be examining the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse with his eyes closed, and thus let him be.

    With a bright smile, Dong Li stored the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye in her ring of holding before sitting down beside Nie Tian and waiting in silence.

    She soon noticed the shockingly rich flesh power blossoming from Nie Tian¡¯s fingertips.

    Taken aback by the scene, she wondered what Nie Tian was doing. Even though she couldn¡¯t think of an answer, she became even quieter and more vignt against things that might interrupt him.

    After a short while, she discovered to her surprise that the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse seemed to be shrinking.

    She could also sense that the aura of flesh and blood within the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse was bing fainter and fainter.

    Eyes glittering with disbelief, she finally realized that Nie Tian was actually draining the Earthshatter Beast of its remaining flesh power with a method she couldn¡¯t even imagine.

    A long time passed, and the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse had shrunk to two-thirds of its original size.

    Its skin and flesh had shriveled and be ashen under her gaze, as if it had been drained of everyst bit of its residual power.

    Eyes closed, Nie Tian slowly withdrew his hands and sat down in the lotus position, not saying a word.

    Gradually, numerous strings of light, which contained rich flesh power, rose from Nie Tian¡¯s skin, and wreathed his whole body.

    ¡°Is he refining his fleshy body?!¡±

 Chapter 527: Breaking the Cultivation Barrier

    Even though the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast had been dead for many years, its corpse still contained a copious amount of flesh power.

    With his Life Drain bloodline talent, Nie Tian drained everyst bit of its pure and rich flesh power within a fairly short time.

    As soon as the ten wisps of crimson aura, which had expanded significantly, returned to Nie Tian, the green aura in his heart instantly showed its greedy nature and started devouring them madly.

    After it had devoured seven of the ten wisps of flesh power, the green aura¡¯s endless desire finally seemed satisfied.

    Thanks to Nie Tian¡¯s recent spirit beast meat consumption and this grand flesh power feast, the green aura finally fell dormant again.

    Ecstasy instantly filled Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    He knew perfectly well that, after the dormant period, the green aura would awaken a brand new bloodline talent for him.

    The remaining three wisps of crimson aura circled around Nie Tian¡¯s body, gradually splitting into fine strands of rich flesh power and swimming to every corner of his body.

    Fine like hair, tens of thousands of strands of flesh power slowly swam to and refined every bone and organ in Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Feeling sore all over, Nie Tian sensed wisps of blood mist rise from his skin and slowly wreath him.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the blood mist morphed into a blood-colored film and covered his entire body.

    Under the blood-colored film, crisp sounds echoed out from his bones as strands of flesh power filled his internal organs and his meridians grew more resilient.

    Shortly afterwards, impurities flowed out of his pores.

    Just like that, the three wisps of flesh power split into countless fine strands, and gradually refined every inch of his body.

    Dong Li sat beside him and watched the whole time. In her eyes, Nie Tian seemed to have put himself in a blood-colored cocoon. The blood-colored cocoon looked sticky at first, then it grew solid, and now fine fissures started to appear on it.

    The way she saw it, when the cocoon finally broke, it would mean that Nie Tian had finished his refinement of his fleshy body.

    Upon seeing that Nie Tian was currently in the middle of a crucial process, she gave up on the idea of searching in other areas, but rather guarded him wholeheartedly.

    After some time, the blood-colored cocoon finally cracked open and started to fall off.

    As pieces of the cocoon fell off Nie Tian¡¯s body, they took his garments with them. Eventually, Nie Tian emergedpletely naked, sitting in the lotus position with his eyes closed.

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes lit up as she saw Nie Tian¡¯s extremely muscr and masculine body beside her. Then, a faint smile quietly appeared at the corner of her mouth.

    Soon afterwards, she detected intense spiritual power fluctuations from within Nie Tian.

    That was when Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as she blurted, ¡°Y-you¡¯re on the verge of making a breakthrough, right?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as he rose to his feet,pletely not held back by the fact that Dong Li was sitting so close. He took out a cyan robe from within his ring of holding and casually wrapped it around himself before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve just finished refining my body. By doing that, I¡¯ve finally broken the barrier that¡¯s stopping me from making my next breakthrough. Since there isn¡¯t anyone else around, I think I¡¯ll make the breakthrough right away.¡±

    With these words, he sat back down on the ground and took out a number of spirit jades from within his ring of holding.

    He piled them between his crossed legs, and with a deep breath, he closed his eyes. Then, he picked up a spirit jade from the ground and started absorbing the rich spiritual power within it.

    As he did, huge waves instantly rose up and filled his spiritual sea, which was scene he had seen many times. In the next moment, as his spiritual sea went through an upheaval, a brand new vortex of spiritual power gradually came to shape within it.

    <i>¡°An eighth vortex of spiritual power!¡± </i>He temporarily sealed his mind from the outside world and concentrated all of his attention on his spiritual sea in his dantian. He continuously channeled his spiritual power into his gradually-forming eighth vortex of spiritual power.

    At the same time, Dong Li snapped out of the image of Nie Tian¡¯s naked body and grew serious as soon as she heard that Nie Tian was going to make his breakthrough right away.

    Even though, for Qi warriors under the Worldly realm, their breakthrough process normally wouldn¡¯t be necessarily dangerous, Nie Tian¡¯s situation was special. Because he cultivated three different types of spiritual power simultaneously, she was worried that those powers would conflict with one another, thus adding variables to his breakthrough process.

    Dong Li quietly rose to her feet and walked around while constantly checking on Nie Tian with concerned gazes, as if she were afraid that mishaps would happen to him during such a crucial process.

    Time passed slowly...

    On this day, Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough had alreadysted three days, but there still weren¡¯t any signs of iting to an end.

    During this time, Dong Li had stayed by his side and guarded him wholeheartedly, fearing that unfriendly forces woulde at such a critical moment.

    However, the things people feared the most usually tended to happen. Just as Dong Li spent day and night worrying about Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough, mors of people rang out from the distance.

    Her expression suddenly flickered.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was sitting in the lotus position right beside the dead Earthshatter Beast, making him too clear a target.

    She knew very well that people shouldn¡¯t be interrupted while they were in the middle of their breakthrough. Otherwise, the repercussions could be catastrophic.

    However, the mors grew louder with every passing second, which indicated that people wereing towards them.

    After a moment of hesitation, she unleashed her psychic awareness in an attempt to learn who was approaching.

    As she sent her psychic awareness in the direction of the mors, she suddenly detected the psychic awareness of another person. Her eyes grew wide.

    Three Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors dressed in Heaven Pce Sect garments were talking loudly as they walked through a dense forest in a casual and rxed manner.

    One of them was Su Lin.

    As one of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s core disciples, Su Lin had received more attention after Ning Yang¡¯s unexpected death. During the past few years, the Heaven Pce Sect had put in endless hours and resources to help her advance to the early Greater Heaven stage.

    This time, she was given the task of gathering precious materials for powerful experts in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    She and the other two with her had also followed the flow of the swirling band to the bottom of the huge vortex, and from there, they had gone through the colorful mist and stepped on this mysterious continent. In fact, they had arrived before the juniors from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    At this moment, they had already gathered arge number of precious spiritual materials, which was why they were so happy.

    Many of their discoveries were rare spiritual materials that couldn¡¯t be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars. By bring them back to the Heaven Pce Sect in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, her status in the sect would be further strengthened.

    One of the young men who were walking side by side with her suddenly stopped smiling and eximed, ¡°Someone is also scanning this area with their psychic awareness!¡±

    The man¡¯s name was Huang Hu, Huang Fan¡¯s descendant. As Su Lin¡¯s senior martial brother, he was also one of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s most valued junior disciples. He was currently at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Huang Hu instantly tensed up and dashed in the direction where Dong Li and Nie Tian were. Without any hesitation, Su Lin and the other man followed along.

    Huang Hu saw the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s enormous body from hundreds of meters away. Eyes shining with the light of excitement, he yelled, ¡°Earthshatter Beast! That¡¯s a seventh grade Earthshatter Beast!

    ¡°The body of a seventh grade spirit beast won¡¯t rot even after ten thousand years. I bet there are still valuable parts we can pige! Just its eyes alone are of great value since they can be used to forge earth-attribute Spirit Channeling grade treasures, I bet people from our sect will surely pay good money for them!¡±

    Su Lin was also very excited to see the Earthshatter Beast. She nodded and said, ¡°Prepare for battle! We¡¯re taking those Earthshatter Beast eyes!¡±

    Since they came from the other side of the Earthshatter Beast, they didn¡¯t see Nie Tian and Dong Li at the first moment.

    However, since they had tracked that wisp of psychic awareness to this ce, they knew that Qi warriors from the other realms with simr cultivation bases as theirs must be somewhere near that dead Earthshatter Beast.

    Meanwhile, the three of them had roamed about in the area for some time now. Judging from the groups of Qi warriors they had previously encountered, they had realized that the spiraling band seemed to have brought cultivators with simr cultivation bases to the same vast area of the continent.

    Since the Heaven Pce Sect was known as the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, all of the other Qi warriors they hade across had done everything they could to avoid conflicts with them.

    Even when they had happened to discover precious treasures simultaneously, the Qi warriors from the other sects had chosen to walk away.

    All of this was because of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s deeply rooted power.

    It was also because of this that all of the Heaven Pce Sect disciples had be arrogant and domineering, and developed the habit of snatching spoils from others¡¯ hands.

    The three of them rapidly spread out and converged on the Earthshatter Beast. Soon, they discovered Dong Li and Nie Tian.

    ¡°The Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye is gone!¡± Huang Hu shrewdly discovered that one of the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eyes seemed to have been destroyed by some sharp weapon, and the other seemed to have been gouged out and taken away. Naturally, heid his eyes on the two people before him.

    ¡°Dong Li from the Dong n!¡± Su Lin eximed, her eyebrows furrowed.

    ¡°The Dong n?¡± Huang Hu said with a fake, disdainful smile. ¡°I suppose the Dong n can be considered a powerful n. However, they still can¡¯t contend with the Heaven Pce Sect, can they? Dong Li, right? Give us the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye, and we¡¯ll let you go.¡±

 Chapter 528: The Ill-intended

    Of all people, Dong Li had hoped to avoid people from the Heaven Pce Sect the most.

    She was well-aware that the Heaven Pce Sect had been after Nie Tian¡¯s fragmentary star marks. Meanwhile, the fact that Nie Tian had somehow obtained Ning Yang¡¯s fragmentary star mark suggested that he had something to do with his death.

    The only reason the Heaven Pce Sect hadn¡¯t found fault with Nie Tian before was that they had needed him to seal the spatial rift and stop the Demon army from flooding their realm.

    Now that the invasion crisis was long over, and Nie Tian had refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect, they would stop at nothing to capture him.

    If it were any other sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Dong n might still have the strength to stand up against it.

    However, ever since the Void Pce Sect had vanished, the Heaven Pce Sect had be the most powerful sect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars that was backed by ate Soul realm expert. Even the Dong n¡¯s profound strength was overshadowed inparison.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t spare Huang Hu a single nce. Instead, she looked at Su Lin and asked coldly, ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this, Sister Su?¡±

    She was well-aware that, over the past few days, Su Lin had risen to be the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s most valued core disciple, especially after Ning Yang¡¯s unexpected death.

    The Heaven Pce Sect had ced high hopes in her.

    Even though Huang Hu was backed by Huang Fan, who was a revered senior member of the sect, he was only deemed promising because of his mediocre cultivation talent.

    With a smile, Su Lin shot a nce at the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse and Nie Tian, who was sitting with his eyes closed, and said, ¡°It seems that your friend is in the middle of a cultivation breakthrough.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    She was slightly relieved that Su Lin hadn¡¯t recognized Nie Tian, who had altered his appearance.

    After a moment of hesitation, Dong Li took the eye out of her ring of holding and tossed it to Su Lin. ¡°You want the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye, right? Happy now?¡±

    After all, Dong Li was worried that it would interrupt Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough if she were to fight with the three people before her.

    Worst of all, she was worried that Nie Tian¡¯s identity would be exposed.

    In her eyes, even though the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye was of great value, it was far from as important as Nie Tian.

    To make sure Nie Tian could make his breakthrough uninterrupted, she could only give up the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye, reluctant as she was to do so.

    After giving the eye away, she seemed very disgruntled. Her face grew long, and she didn¡¯t utter another word.

    Su Lin caught the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye with one hand, and after a brief scan with her spiritual power, she learned that the eye still contained copious amounts of power and profound mysteries. After she brought it back to the Heaven Pce Sect, it could probably be forged into a Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    Rather satisfied with Dong Li¡¯s submissive attitude, she nodded and said, ¡°Smart choice. See you around.¡±

    With these words, she signaled Huang Hu and the other man, whose name was Hong He, to leave.

    Both Huang Hu and Hong He felt disappointed after seeing that Dong Li had done she as she had been told and handed over the most precious part of the Earthshatter Beast.

    Originally, they had looked forward to Dong Li standing up to them so that they could have some fun humiliating her and the person in the middle of cultivation.

    It would have been ideal if they had started a fight, which would end up in them killing them and taking all of their valuable belongings.

    They had sensed that Dong Li and Nie Tian had been here for some time. Hence, they might have quite a few Premium grade spiritual materials and rare treasures in their possession.

    However, they were aware that, even though Su Lin¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t higher than theirs, she was one of the sect¡¯s core disciples, so they had to follow her instructions, let alone the fact that Huang Fan had explicitly told Huang Hu to do so as well.

    ¡°I figured people from the Dong n would have the balls to stand up for themselves. Who knew they¡¯re just as spineless as the rest.¡± Hong Ke said these few words of mockery as he jumped onto the enormous Earthshatter Beast.

    After a brief examination, he said to Su Lin with an increasingly disappointed expression, ¡°There isn¡¯t a shred of power left in this Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse, Junior Martial Sister Su. It¡¯spletely useless.¡±

    If there were still residual power within the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse, at least its bones would have still been useful. Many spiritual tools were forged with spirit animal bones.

    However, now that it was bereft of any power, it had be worthless to them. Even if they skinned it and collected its bones, no one would pay for them.

    Nodding, Su Lin instructed, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    Afterwards, the three of them walked into the distance under Dong Li¡¯s begrudging gaze.

    Only after they disappeared from her sight did she feel somewhat relieved.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce sect!¡± Gnashing her teeth, she pondered how she should get back at those from the Heaven Pce Sect after Nie Tian made his breakthrough.

    Soon after leaving the area where Dong Li and Nie Tian were, Hong He proposed, ¡°Let¡¯s spread out and search this area for treasures, shall we?¡±

    Huang Hu took a nce at him, then grinning, he waved his hand and said, ¡°Alright, you search around here. We¡¯ll search up ahead.¡±

    Hong He rapidly disappeared from their sight.

    After some time, when Dong Li was finally rxed and sitting beside Nie Tian, waiting in silence, Hong He suddenly reappeared before her.

    Surprised, Dong Li asked in a cold voice, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Eyes shining with the light of lust, Hong He¡¯s eyes roamed over Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body as he said, ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten the thing I want yet.¡±

    Dong Li let out a cold harrumph. ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°I want you!¡± With a lustfulugh, Hong He lunged towards Nie Tian with the intention of mming hisrge hand down towards the top of Nie Tian¡¯s head. ¡°Either you do what I say, or I kill this guy!¡±

    Dong Li sprang to her feet. Without any hesitation, she summoned her ck phoenix and cast her cyan awl directly towards Hong He. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touch him!¡±

    Hong Heughed wildly. ¡°Even though my status in the Heaven Pce Sect isn¡¯t as high as Su Lin¡¯s or Huang Hu¡¯s, my cultivation base is higher than theirs. Considering myte Greater Heaven stage cultivation base, killing him is as easy as turning my hand over! (Idiom: very easy, no effort at all) You¡¯d better be smart about this. Otherwise, you¡¯ll get him killed.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW!

    As he spoke, numerous lighting bolts that looked like golden tentacles shot out of Hong He¡¯s palm. As they approached Dong Li, they morphed into golden snakes with long, sharp teeth.

    At the same time, he swiftly twisted his body, and sessfully avoided the iing cyan awl.

    As his hand mmed towards Nie Tian¡¯s head, the ck phoenix suddenly let out a bellow. In the next moment, a pained look shed across Hong He¡¯s eyes, and he jerked to a stop.

    However, in a split second, he got rid of the influence of the ck phoenix¡¯s bellow and recovered his clear mind.

    Standing right beside Nie Tian, he held his hand in midair and said, smiling, ¡°Miss Dong, you¡¯re known for both your battle skills and slutty nature. I heard that you¡¯ve slept with quite a number of men. It¡¯s not a big deal to add me to the list, right?¡±

    ¡°Go to hell!¡± Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes brimmed with burning rage as she heard Hong He¡¯s words.

    Before Hong He had gotten this close to Nie Tian, Dong Li¡¯s cyan awl had already turned into a misty, cyan aura and formed a ward around him.

    Hong He snorted coldly and said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯re quite concerned with this guy¡¯s safety, but since you refuse to cooperate, I¡¯ll have to kill him!¡±

    Disregarding the cyan ward, he threw his pending strike downwards with full force.

 Chapter 529: Killing After a Breakthrough

    All of a sudden, one emerald green tree branch after another flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding and pierced into the ground around him.

    As soon as they formed a certain formation, emerald green light rose from them, forming a hemispherical ward around Nie Tian.

    In the meantime, the mysterious tree patterns that carried the profound truths of wood power flew out of the tree branches.

    They joined the semi-transparent green ward and roamed about in it, vesting it with a resilient and tough force.

    As Hong He¡¯s hand mmed down towards the the mysterious green ward, numerous roaming tree patterns quickly gathered towards the top of the ward.

    BANG!

    A vigorous force burst forth from the contact point as golden light sshed in all directions.

    Hong He was instantly sent staggering a few step backwards by the intense counter-force.

    Shock and confusion filled his face.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Tiny green sparks fell from between his trembling fingers as the formidable force from the green ward gradually wore off.

    ¡°You think your spiritual tool can save you?!¡± With intense killing intent in his eyes, Hong He summoned a streak of fierce psychic power and shot it at the green ward.

    BOOM!

    In the next moment, his mind was shaken violently as the streak of psychic power he had wished to kill Nie Tian with dissipated into thin air.

    WHOOSH!

    After neutralizing the golden lightning bolts, Dong Li dashed over, summoning the cyan awl back to her hand as she did. Then, with a swift sh with it, she formed multiple beams of cyan light.

    Hong He, who was going tounch another attack, hastily prepared for engagement.

    He and Dong Li constantly shifted about in midair as they exchanged attacks, filling the sky with cyan and golden sparks.

    Sitting among the seventy-two tree branches, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were still closed as he focused on the transcendence and upgrade of his spiritual sea.

    Meanwhile, he was actually keeping a close watch on everything that was happening around him through his Heaven Eyes, including the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s imposition, Dong Li¡¯spromise, Hong He¡¯s return, and their current fight.

    However, since he was in the middle of his breakthrough, he couldn¡¯t mete out justice for Dong Li at such a critical moment.

    The only thing he could do was spare sliver of his mind to form a protective ward around him with the seventy-two tree branches so that Hong He wouldn¡¯t be able to threaten Dong Li with his life.

    In fact, he hadn¡¯t been sure how the tree branch magic would work out.

    However, the result had proved that the tree branches, which had absorbed all of the mysterious tree patterns from that Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd, had incredible power and uses.

    With the help of the floating tree patterns, the green ward sessfully fended off Hong He¡¯s attempt to kill him.

    After seeing that Dong Li had dashed over and gotten into a fierce fight with Hong He, he felt slightly relieved.

    He was well-aware that, even though Dong Li was at the middle Greater Heaven stage, which was lower than Hong He¡¯s cultivation base, her actual battle prowess would probably be higher than Hong He¡¯s, since the Dong n had put in an almost limitless amount of resources to help her grow.

    As long as Hong He could no longer use him to threaten Dong Li, she would be fine.

    While the two of them were engaged in a heated battle in midair, Nie Tian forced himself to calm down and focuspletely on his spiritual sea.

    At this moment, the eighth vortex of spiritual power had already fully formed in his spiritual sea.

    What he needed to do now was finish the expansion and refinement of his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power.

    Only after expanding and refining all of the vortexes in his spiritual sea to their limits would he be able to finish the breakthrough, given that he had already found the right enlightenment and entered the right state of mind.

    Considering he had recently finished the expansion and refinement of his vortexes of me power and wood power, he only needed to concentrate on upgrading his vortex of star power now.

    One Star Stone after another lost their splendor and turned into ordinary stones in his palm.

    Countless wisps of star power flew into his vortex of star power. As the vortex spun at an increasingly high speed, the star power condensed into glittering drops of stardew which then joined theke at the bottom of the vortex.

    Time passed slowly...

    As theke of stardew slowly rose and expanded, it gradually reached its limit.

    He was finally able to spare some of his attention to observe the battle between Dong Li and Hong He.

    Dong Li seem to have be one with her ck phoenix as she attacked Hong He. In one moment, she charged into the sky. In the next, she spread her arms and swooped down from the sky, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

    Thete Greater Heaven stage Hong He was well-versed in wielding metal power. At this moment, he was countering Dong Li¡¯s attacks with the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s secret incantations, holding a shiny, golden sword in his hand.

    ¡°Cross sh!¡± Every time Hong He swung his golden sword in the air, a shining, golden cross would appear before him and shoot towards Dong Li at lightning speed.

    Dong Li, on the other hand, would fend it off with her bone shield, whileunching counterattacks with her cyan awl. She didn¡¯t seem to be under much pressure.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian felt more relieved, and refocused on his breakthrough.

    Meanwhile...

    Soon after Hong He had parted with the team, Huang Hu had also split up with Su Lin. After failing to discover any precious materials in that area, he also started moving stealthily towards the location where Dong Li and Nie Tian were.

    Having known Hong He for years, Huang Hu had a good idea as to what kind of person Hong He was. The moment he had proposed to split up and search, he had realized that he had set his mind on Dong Li.

    Unlike Hong He, Huang Hu didn¡¯t have a strong interest in women, though he was very greedy when it came to valuables and treasures.

    Su Lin had been satisfied after getting the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye from Dong Li. However, what Huang Hu had wanted was to kill Nie Tian and Dong Li both, and pige all of their belongings.

    While he felt frustrated about his fruitless search, it suddenly urred to him that, since Hong He had gone to force Dong Li to be with him, he could probably go to demand valuables from Dong Li and Nie Tian as well.

    Meanwhile, it had already been some time since Hong He had parted with him and Su Lin, so he imagined that Hong He might have already gotten what he wanted.

    If he went over now, not only would he not interrupt Hong He¡¯s business, but Hong He might have killed Dong Li and Nie Tian already. He might just get there in time to split the spoils.

    As he approached, he caught sight of Dong Li stretching her well-built body in the air before swooping down with the strength of her ck phoenix.

    One streak of cyan light after another shot down with her, shing with Hong He¡¯s golden crosses.

    Surprised, Huang Hu muttered, ¡°It¡¯s not over yet? As outstanding as Dong Li¡¯s cultivation talent might be, her cultivation base was still clearly lower than Hong He¡¯s. Normally speaking, Hong He should have prevailed by now. Is Dong Li really as powerful as people say she is? So much so that she¡¯s even capable of beating opponents with higher cultivation bases?¡±

    With these thoughts, Huang Hu picked up his pace.

    At the same time, Nie Tian finally finished his breakthrough and sessfully entered the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    The moment his eyes snapped open, he shrewdly sensed that Huang Hu was rapidly approaching.

    He grinned somewhat sinisterly, his eyes brimming with a thirst for blood. ¡°The Heaven Pce sect!¡±

    With a swing of his arm, he summoned a tree branch to his hand, and all the others into his ring of holding.

    A chaotic maic field instantly enveloped him and expanded to cover a five meter range around him.

    Now that he had entered the middle Greater Heaven stage, the speed at which his chaotic maic field expanded and the intensity of its twisting force were both greatly enhanced.

    His chaotic maic field was powered by the different types of power he practiced. Since all of those powers had be more refined after his breakthrough, it was natural that the might of his chaotic maic field had risen to a new level.

    ¡°Starshift!¡± With a thought, he vanished from where he was sitting.

    Hong He, who had failed to subdue Dong Li after so many exchanges, looked rather edgy. He hadn¡¯t expect that the gorgeous Dong Li was actually such a tough bird.

    Even though her cultivation base was lower, her battle prowess proved to not be inferior to his in the slightest. Meanwhile, she was able to fly about with the help of her ck phoenix, which made her even harder to handle.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    His golden lightning shed with Dong Li¡¯s cyan spiritual power in the air, filling the sky with dazzling light.

    At this moment, he was swinging his sword wreathed in golden lightning to cast more Cross shes.

    All of a sudden, the vortexes of spiritual power in his spiritual sea suddenly stopped spinning under the influence of some maic force, which caused the golden lightning around his sword to flicker.

    In the next moment, he felt as if all of his internal organs had suddenly been twisted. His face turned pale with shock.

    He hastily calmed himself, then attempted to stop the great changes inside of him and restore functionality to the vortexes within his spiritual sea.

    PUFF!

    A slightly chilly tree branch that carried rich wood power suddenly pierced into his back.

    Gasping, he turned around. Upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s brutal smile, he was scared out of his mind.

    Just as he was about to raise his sword, the tree branch blossomed with blinding light, sending a streak of rich wood power into him, where it rapidly turned into a small, green bud.

    It grew at an rming speed as it madly drained Hong He¡¯s flesh power, along with his life force.

    Before he could do anything, the expanding branches and thorns prated his five yin organs and six yang organs.

    ¡°Do you know who killed Ning Yang?¡± Nie Tian asked with a brutal smile.

    ¡°Umm!¡± Hong He was too shocked to say anthing.

    ¡°I did!¡± With a coldugh, Nie Tian raised his hand high in the air and vigorously pped the top of Hong He¡¯s head. Upon contact, different types of power poured in like an uncontroble flood.

    CRUNCH!

    Hong He¡¯s skull cracked as it was almost mmed into his chest. He dropped dead before the Heavenly Wood Thorns could kill him.

 Chapter 530: Too Weak to Withstand a Single Strike!

    As Hong He¡¯s skull was shattered by Nie Tian, his life force rapidly dissipated.

    In the meantime, the green thorns inside of him stopped spreading and quickly withered.

    As Nie Tian pulled the tree branch out of Hong He¡¯s back, Dong Li swooped down from the air with her ck phoenix behind her back.

    Dong Li smiled heartily. ¡°You¡¯re finished?¡±

    Still wreathed in intense killing intent, Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Thank you for what you¡¯ve done for me. You just rest here. I¡¯ll go send the other rat on his way to the Yellow Springs.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°Huang Hu from the Heaven Pce Sect,¡± Nie Tian answered with a cold snort.

    ¡°Is he also here?¡± Dong Li asked, looking somewhat worried. ¡°You just finished your breakthrough, and you consumed some power to kill this one. Are you gonna be okay?¡±

    She hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Tian would kill Hong He with a single strike right after he made his breakthrough.

    From her extended fight against Hong He, she had learned that, even though the man was a disgusting asshole, he wasn¡¯t easy to deal with.

    After all, he was at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    She was worried that, since Nie Tian had just made his breakthrough, he still might need some time to adjust to his newly-achieved cultivation base. Furthermore, he might have been so eager to kill Hong He just now that his new cultivation base was shaken.

    Smiling viciously and confidently, Nie Tian said, ¡°Rest assured. From the look of it, only Greater Heaven stage cultivators are brought to this part of the continent. From now on, I¡¯ll be the judge of life and death in this region! All of the so-called core disciples of the other sects will be at my mercy!¡±

    ¡°None of them who are sent to this region can match my strength!¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian sped off towards Huang Hu, who was charging in his direction.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement. ¡°Unmatched strength!¡±

    Having spent so much time with Nie Tian, she had long since understood that he practiced multiple powers, mastered the divine magics of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and possessed unique abilities that she couldn¡¯t even fathom. In her eyes, he was a total ¡®freak¡¯.

    With his shocking battle prowess, Nie Tian had repeatedly proven to her that the so-called chosen ones from the powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars weren¡¯t as formidable as they thought they were.

    Now that he had advanced to the middle Greater Heaven stage, he was finally confident enough to dere that he was the brightest star throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The strength and confidence she heard from his words put butterflies in her stomach.

    In many ways, Dong Li was simr to her older brother. A good example would be that they both admired people who could defeat them.

    The reason why she had thought up every possible method to force Nie Tian to go on that exploration trip to the Realm of Dark Underworld with her was because she had been repeatedly outyed by Nie Tian in the Realm of the Split Void.

    Only those who could put her at her wits¡¯ end would truly intrigue her and receive her attention.

    Up to this day, Nie Tian was the only one who had managed to do so.

    As Dong Li watched Nie Tian leave from behind, images kept shing across her mind. Only after a while did she snap back to reality and mutter to herself, ¡°Pei Qiqi, this man... is mine!¡±

    ...

    Huang Hu had picked up his pace the moment he had seen Dong Li swooping down from midair with her ck phoenix behind her back, hoping that he would help Hong He kill her.

    However, he didn¡¯t realize that Nie Tian had already awoken from his cultivation and killed Hong He with a lightning quick strike.

    After all, he didn¡¯t have any Heaven Eyes to help him obtain a full understanding of the situation over in Nie Tian and Hong He¡¯s location.

    All he could see in that direction was the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s enormous corpse, andter Nie Tian, who had a vicious smile on his face.

    Even then, he still thought that Hong He was alive and was fighting Dong Li behind the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse.

    As for Nie Tian, even though he hadn¡¯t figured out Nie Tian¡¯s identity during their first encounter, he had made out that he had been trying to break through into the middle Greater Heaven stage. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t viewed Nie Tian as a threat to him at all.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t one of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s core disciples, he was able to learn and practice the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s top incantations and magics thanks to his rtionship with Huang Fan.

    Aside from a few chosen ones from the other powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, he didn¡¯t think others at his cultivation stage would have what it took to subdue him.

    He knew every single one of those chosen ones, and Nie Tian wasn¡¯t one of them.

    Confident in his own strength, he came to a stop and waited for Nie Tian toe to him with a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.

    However, his smile vanished in the next moment.

    As Nie Tian approached at full speed, the chaotic maic field around him thrummed with terrifyingly intense fluctuations. The wisp of psychic awareness he had used to detect Nie Tian¡¯s strength was distorted the moment it entered the chaotic maic field, causing a stabbing pain in his mind.

    In just a split second, the wisp of psychic awareness was shredded to pieces.

    However, before his psychic awareness vanished, he managed to sense the torrential flesh power fluctuations Nie Tian was releasing, which were simr to that of a formidable, bloodthirsty spirit beast that lived in depths of the mountains in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    He had never sensed such intense flesh power fluctuations from any Qi warrior, much less someone at his cultivation stage.

    Only spirit beasts that were born with tough fleshy bodies and outsiders that emphasized the refinement of their fleshy bodies would give off such strong flesh power fluctuations.

    Face turning pale with astonishment, Huang Hu no longer dared to think less of Nie Tian, but rather grew very vignt.

    In a breath¡¯s time, Nie Tian arrived before Huang Hu with a few shes. ¡°Huang Hu, is it? I¡¯ve just sent Hong He on his way, and now you¡¯vee along. You¡¯re quite a pair of unfortunate brothers.¡±

    ¡°Hong He is dead?!¡± Huang Hu eximed.

    Upon hearing about the death of Hong He, whose cultivation base was higher than his, he was instantly rattled and hesitant over whether he should still fight Nie Tian.

    Just as his expression flickered drastically, Nie Tian¡¯s figure suddenly blurred.

    His eyes widened as he watched Nie Tian vanish into thin air from a location a few meters before him.

    Without much thought, he hastily circted his spiritual power and infused wisps of refined spiritual power into the suit of armor he was wearing.

    Huang Fan had had the armor made for him. It was the work of a renowned equipment forger from the Heaven Pce Sect, and it matched his cultivation attribute perfectly.

    Misty, yellow light rose from the spiritual armor, which he was wearing under his garments, rapidly forming the vague shape of the majestic Heaven Pce Sect around him.

    A sacred aura that resembled the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s transcendent status in the Domain of the Falling Stars quickly wreathed Huang Hu.

    The shape of the Heaven Pce Sect gradually grew clearer, giving it an even more splendid and formidable look.

    Normally, every Qi warrior from the Domain of the Falling Stars would think twice before going into battle with a man upon seeing that shape of the Heaven Pce Sect enveloping him.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s deeply rooted strength would make anyone hesitate in battle, thuspromising their performance.

    However, not only did Nie Tian not show the least bit of fear upon seeing the shape of the Heaven Pce Sect, but the killing intent in his eyes even grew stronger.

    He suddenly appeared in the air three meters over Huang Hu¡¯s head, where he summoned his me Star and shed it down vigorously as he descended on Huang Hu.

    His me power, wood power, and star power were all greatly enhanced as they flowed through the spell formations engraved inside the me Star, and became raging and torrential.

    The moment Nie Tian descended with his me Star, Huang Hu finally sensed his presence and looked up.

    In his eyes, dragging a blur of red, white, and green light, the me Star was shing down at him like a plummeting, burning meteor that carried mysterious powers from the endless void, giving him a feeling that he would be smashed into a pulp in the next moment.

    <i>¡°How can he be so powerful?!¡± </i>Huang Hu eximed in his heart. His face distorted as he madly summoned his spiritual power and infused it into the bright, yellow aura around him.

    As he did, the shape of the Heaven Pce Sect seemed to be solid, as if the majestic pce that stood in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was being channeled here to protect Huang Hu from any harm.

    BANG!

    The me Star mmed into it, sending tens of thousands of rays of blinding light in all directions.

    Nie Tian¡¯s different types of power burst forth in a fashion as if a titan were unleashing its torrential rage on this heaven and earth.

    The shape of the Heaven Pce Sect didn¡¯t evenst a breath¡¯s time before exploding under the terrifying might of the me Star.

    As the explosion rang out, colorful sparks of Nie Tian¡¯s power fell like a storm, instantly enveloping Huang Hu.

    Before the me Star even touched him, the countless spiritual power sparks shattered the life in his eyes.

    SLASH!

    The me Star fell, splitting him in two.

    Blood spewed out like a fountain. As Nie Tiannded on the ground, he was covered in blood.

    With his hand, he wiped the warm blood off his face. Looking at Huang Hu¡¯s mangled corpse, he shook his head. ¡°This is the strength of a Heaven Pce Sect disciple? Compared to Ning Yang, these are nothing but garbage that couldn¡¯t withstand a single strike.¡±

 Chapter 531: An Old Acquaintance

    All his life, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t truly acknowledged many people.

    Even though Ning Yang had been his enemy, his heart would be filled with respect whenever he recalled his formidable strength.

    Ning Yang¡¯s death had been the result of the joint efforts of Li Langfeng, Xue Long, and even a Phantasm.

    As a madman who pursued ultimate power at the cost of his own life, Li Langfeng was also an outstanding fighter. Even still, he had been dwarfed by Ning Yang¡¯s power.

    In fact, right up until Ning Yang¡¯s death, he had been considered the brightest star and potential future sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    He had outshone all the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples at his cultivation stage.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, only those with strength like him deserved to be called chosen ones.

    Compared to Ning Yang, Hong He and Huang Hu were nothing but a couple of clowns,pletely unpresentable.

    SHEW!

    Dong Linded beside Nie Tian like a feather, her gaze switching back and forth between Nie Tian, who was covered in blood, and Huang Hu¡¯s mangled corpse.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± She eximed, deeply shocked. ¡°You killed him within such a short time?!¡±

    Even though she had believed that Nie Tian would eventually prevail, she hadn¡¯t expected that he would have killed him so quickly.

    Nie Tian casually dabbed at the blood on his neck with the corner of his garment. ¡°Compared to Ning Yang, he¡¯s far too weak. You go ahead and take his ring of holding. I¡¯ll go look around and see if I can catch that Su Lin as well.¡±

    Since Su Lin had already gone beyond the detection range of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t determine her current location.

    Su Lin still had the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye, the most precious part of the beast, and she had also taken part in threatening Dong Li to give it up. He naturally wouldn¡¯t just let this go.

    After a moment of hesitation, Dong Li said, ¡°Be careful. There must be other Heaven Pce Sect disciples that havee to this continent. Since Su Lin and these two have appeared in this area, it¡¯s hard to say if there are other Heaven Pce Sect disciples in the vicinity. If you find out that Su Lin has already joined the others, you need toe back as quickly as possible.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye is very important, but you... you¡¯re more important to me. I don¡¯t want anything to happen to you.¡±

    With these words, Dong Li bowed her head slightly, a rare bashful look appearing on her face.

    Nie Tian smiled as he felt warmth in his heart, then he nodded and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nothing will happen to me as long as I don¡¯t encounter a true chosen one as powerful as Ning Yang. Even if I run into Yang Kan from the me God Sect, I have confidence in beating him in a battle now.¡±

    ¡°But no one is as powerful as Ning Yang,¡± Dong Li said.

    Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°My point exactly.¡±

    Without even cleaning the blood on him, Nie Tian disappeared with a short-range Starshift.

    As soon as he disappeared, his nine Heaven Eyes fanned out and flew towards the direction Su Lin had left in at full speed.

    One scene after another was reflected in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, yet Su Lin wasn¡¯t in any of them.

    He forgot all about the precious materials that might be lying around, but focused on finding Su Lin, getting the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye back, and ying her.

    He had fought her during the Heaven Gate trial. Back then, he had beaten her and obtained the first fragmentary star mark.

    Now, a few yearster, even though she had achieved rapid growth in her cultivation with the help of the Heaven Pce Sect, she was still currently at the early Greater Heaven stage.

    He had defeated her when they had been at the same stage, not to mention his confidence in defeating her now.

    However, what surprised him was that none of his Heaven Eyes were able to identity any trace of her.

    It had only been about a quarter hour since Su Lin and her men had left from the location where the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse was. It was very unlikely that she had gone this far within such a short time. The only exnation would be that, instead of searching in the vicinity, she had marched toward some ce at full speed right after splitting up with Hong He and Huang Hu.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Nie Tian walked out of the dense forest and approached the foot of the mountain peak with unmatched height.

    It was the t-topped mountain peak which he and Dong Li had seen right after setting foot on this vast continent.

    It reached so high into the clouds that it seemed to be able to reach the continent above this one. However, it had somehow been severed with a clean, smooth cut.

    Giant boulders were scattered at the foot of the mountain peak, which was a fairly open area.

    From the look of it, the boulders had rolled down the mountain peak when the mountain peak had been damaged. Their sizes varied from the size of hills to the size of fists.

    All of a sudden, he discovered four Qi warriors who were dressed in white robes and wreathed in ice-cold aura.

    To his surprise, one of them was Xuan Ke, who he had met once in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Back then, Xuan Ke had been at the Lesser Heaven stage as well. However, a few yearster, he was now ate Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, who exuded a frosty and gruesome aura from head to foot.

    He and the other three with him, two females and one male, seemed to be from the Ice Pavilion Sect in the Realm of Endless Ice.

    As Nie Tian bounced high into the sky off arge boulder to move forward, Xuan Ke and the others instantly caught sight of him.

    However, Nie Tian, whose mind was set on finding Su Lin, kept bouncing offrge boulders as he quickly moved in the direction Su Lin had left in.

    Wang Rong, a female disciple of the Ice Pavilion Sect, eximed upon seeing Nie Tian, who was covered in blood from head to toe, ¡°Who is that?! He has such strong killing intent!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Le, a male disciple of the Ice Pavilion Sect, sensed attentively, and rapidly determined Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base. With an unimpressed expression, he said, ¡°Middle Greater Heaven stage... He doesn¡¯t seem to have any kind of sigil on him, so we can¡¯t know which force he¡¯s with.¡±

    After a brief pause, Zhao Le looked at Xuan Ke and added, ¡°But that guy is wreathed in a strong killing intent. Someone must have somehow angered him. The way I see it, we might as well go kill him and take whatever precious materials he has found.¡±

    In recent days, these people from the Ice Pavilion Sect had been doing the same despicable things the Heaven Pce Sect had.

    Once they encountered groups of weak cultivators, or cultivators who traveled alone, they would kill them and take the precious spiritual materials they had gathered.

    By doing that, they had gained quite a fortune recently. That was the reason why Zhao Le instantly came up with the evil idea as soon as he determined that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was mediocre and that he wasn¡¯t one of the chosen ones from the other powerful sects.

    Upon hearing his suggestion, Wang Rong¡¯s spirits soared as she chimed in, ¡°Anyone who¡¯se to this ce must have, more or less, gathered some valuable spiritual materials. After all, there are Premium grade materials everywhere. That man must have gathered some as well. Let¡¯s go get him, Senior Martial Brother Xuan Ke, just like we did the other ones!¡±

    Luo Xue, the other female disciple, rolled up her sleeves for battle.

    However, as the team leader, Xuan Ke gazed at Nie Tian, who was covered in blood and whose eyes were brimming with a strong thirst for blood, and then fell silent.

    ¡°What do you say, Senior Martial Brother Xuan Ke!?¡± Wang Rong asked with an urgent tone. ¡°He¡¯s getter farther and farther away. If we don¡¯t act now, he¡¯ll soon be gone.¡±

    ¡°Leave him alone,¡± Xuan Ke said coldly.

    Upon hearing these words, all of the other three were deeply confused.

    They knew very well that Xuan Ke wasn¡¯t against killing and plundering the weak and alone.

    Not only that, he had made his stance clear since the moment they had set foot on this continent, that they should pounce on those who traveled alone at first sight, not sparing a single one.

    That person was only at the middle Greater Heaven stage, and he was by himself. Why on earth would Xuan Ke choose to stand down?

    Eyebrows furrowed, Zhao Le chimed in, ¡°Senior martial brother, considering the strength of us four, killing him will be a piece of cake. Don¡¯t you think? He¡¯s no Ning Yang. What do we have to be afraid of?¡±

    Xuan Ke let out a cold harrumph. ¡°That guy is more dangerous than you think! We¡¯ll follow him and see who he¡¯s looking for, but don¡¯t try to attack him. Remember, keep a safe distance from him so that he doesn¡¯t discover us.¡±

    The other three didn¡¯t quite approve of Xuan He¡¯s decision inwardly. They thought he had be too meticulous, and was acting a bit unlike himself.

    No matter which aspect they analyzed, they strongly believed that the four of them would be able to kill Nie Tian and take his valuables without breaking a sweat.

    ¡°Just do as I say!¡± Xuan Ke eximed with a cold tone.

    The other three said no more, and under Xuan Ke¡¯s leadership, they sped off in the direction that Nie Tian was moving in.

    While dashing at a fast speed, Xuan Ke kept his eyes on Nie Tian, who was already quite distant from them, a unsettling sense of danger gradually rising in his heart. Soon, the distance between them and Nie Tian grew longer, and Nie Tian disappeared from their sight.

    ¡°Who is he exactly? Why do I feel such a sense of familiarity?¡±

 Chapter 532: An Eighth Grade Black Phoenix!

    The aura Nie Tian released gave Xuan Ke a sense of familiarity, a feeling that he had met him somewhere before.

    Xuan Ke possessed a shockingly keen sense for danger. The moment he had seen Nie Tian, he had sensed something that had rmed him.

    He didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian had discovered them through one of his Heaven Eyes long before they had discovered him.

    What he had sensed that made him feel insecure and uneasy was actually the aura of that Heaven Eye, which Nie Tian had used to determine the cultivation bases of the four of them.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian¡¯s extremely intense killing intent made it clear that Nie Tian was full of wrath. Hence, to be safe, he didn¡¯t want to initiate a battle with Nie Tian before he figured out who he was and how powerful he was.

    Followed by his three subordinates, he ran after Nie Tian at a controlled speed, wondering what Nie Tian was after.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian saw every move they made through that Heaven Eye of his.

    He snorted inwardly and kept dashing forward at full speed, not showing the slightest interest in learning their intentions.

    After traveling for quite some time, one of his Heaven Eyes finally located Su Lin a ce full of rubble at the foot of that magnificent mountain peak.

    She wasn¡¯t alone. Standing beside her were a handful Qi warriors from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    This didn¡¯t surprise Nie Tian at all.

    What did surprise him was that a gigantic, ck phoenix was lying in the midst of the rubble.

    Apparently, it was dead. However, it was so huge that its spread ck, feathered wings covered a veryrge area.

    ¡°A ck phoenix!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly the moment he saw it, for it was almost identical to Dong Li¡¯s ck phoenix beast spirit.

    The only difference was that this dead ck phoenix was noticeablyrger.

    He instantly reached the conclusion that this ck phoenix was of a higher grade than Dong Li¡¯s ck phoenix beast spirit.

    He also also realized that Su Lin must have beenmunicating with these Heaven Pce Sect disciples through Sound Stones.

    Those people must have discovered this gigantic, ck phoenix first, and then informed Su Lin at the first opportunity.

    Upon receiving such important information, Su Lin had rushed over at her fastest possible speed, ignoring her search ns with Hong He and Huang Hu.

    That was why Su Lin had been able toe to such a distant location within such a short period of time, escaping the detection range of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes.

    At this moment, Su Lin was discussing something with the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples beside the ck phoenix¡¯s enormous corpse.

    Meanwhile, a few Thunder Mountain Sect disciples were standing by a huge rock slightly farther from the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, eying the Heaven Pce Sect disciples indignantly.

    From the look of it, it was them who had found this ck phoenix first.

    Later, when the Heaven Pce Sect disciples hade, they had been forced to give it up.

    The reason why those Heaven Pce Sect disciples had informed Su Lin at the first moment possible must have been because they had been worried that those from the Thunder Mountain Sect would daringly challenge the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s authority.

    One Heaven Eye after another converged from all directions, and then floated silently around the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    After noticing the special situation via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian instantly slowed his dashing pace, and started moving stealthily.

    He intended to get a full understanding of the situation with the help of his Heaven Eyes first, then make a move when an opportunity showed itself.

    Counting Su Lin, there were a total of five Heaven Pce Sect disciples gathered by the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse. The atmosphere was quite still.

    One of them examined the ck phoenix while the other four silently eyed the few Thunder Mountain Sect disciples, who didn¡¯t show any intention of leaving at all.

    Other than Su Lin, the other four Heaven Pce Sect disciples were all at the middle orte Greater Heaven stage.

    On the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s side, they only had four people, but they were also at either the middle orte Greater Heaven stage.

    From an objective point of view, the two sides seemed almost equally strong. However, the Thunder Mountain Sect had decided to take a step back and give their finding to the Heaven Pce Sect.

    The only reason for such an action was that the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s position as the overlord of the Domain of the Falling Stars made the Thunder Mountain Sect scrupulous.

    Back in the Realm of Split Void, the Thunder Mountain Sect had forcibly taken the Blood Skull¡¯s inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City. Afterwards, they had established a blockade to stop local Qi warriors from entering the Void Illusion Mountain Range, killing anyone who had dared to disobey their orders.

    All of their doings indicated that they were by no means a group of kind people. Nie Tian was fully aware of this.

    However, they had now put away their arrogance and cowered at the presence of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s unique status gave the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples scruples. Now that they weren¡¯t certain that they were able to kill all five Heaven Pce Sect disciples without others knowing about it, they didn¡¯t dare to make a move.

    ¡°Howe we can¡¯t get in touch with Hong He and Huang Hu, Junior Martial Sister Su?¡± One of the Heaven Pce Sect disciples asked in a low voice, while keeping his eyes on the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples that refused to leave.

    ¡°I tried to contact them with my Sound Stone, but neither of them is responding,¡± Su Lin said, looking somewhat irritated. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with them.¡±

    She had long since spected that the reason why those from the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples were still not leaving was because they were also calling for backup with their Sound Stones.

    She was aware that the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect were the two major sects from the Realm of Earth Sieve. They had reached a mutual understanding earlier, and had entered this dimension via the same spatial rift.

    Once the four of them got in contact with others from the Thunder Mountain Sect or the Heaven Expanse Sect, and summoned them to this location, the four of them might not still want to stand down by then.

    By that time, when they had confidence to annihte all five Heaven Pce Sect disciples in this ce, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily be scrupulous anymore.

    As long as no one learned about their actions, they would have nothing to be afraid of.

    ¡°This ck phoenix appears to have been an eighth grade spirit beast before it died!¡± The Heaven Pce Sect Qi warrior who had been examining the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse straightened his back and eximed with nothing but astonishment on his face. ¡°The strength of an eighth grade spirit beast equals that of a Void domain human Qi warrior, and right now, we don¡¯t have a single Void domain expert throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Overwhelmed by his shocking discovery, he had eximed quite loudly, so much so that the four Thunder Mountain Sect disciples, who were gathered not far away, caught every word.

    Su Lin jerked her head towards the four of them, and discovered that their eyes were shining with the light of greed as their breathing became increasingly rapid.

    Spiritual materials harvested from an eighth grade spirit beast could be used by peak Soul realm experts to enter the Void domain.

    In order to enter the Void domain, Soul realm experts would need to forge their inner domains. There might just be parts on the eighth grade ck phoenix that were critical spiritual materials for the process.

    Even though the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast had been dead for thousands of years, by the time Nie Tian and Dong Li had discovered it, there had still been copious amounts of flesh power in its corpse, as well as a perfectly preserved eye. Hence, there must be even more valuables in this eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Nie Tian shuddered as he heard the man¡¯s exmation, learning that the ck phoenix was a eighth grade spirit beast.

    He was very certain that Dong Li had never even imagined toe across an eighth grade ck phoenix on this continent.

    If she could ever obtain it, her cultivation base and strength, and even the strength of her ck phoenix beast spirit, would probably go through heaven-shaking and earth-toppling changes.

    With this thought in mind, he secretly tried to get in contact with Dong Li with the help of one of his Heaven Eyes.

    The reason he had felt safe enough to leave Dong Li was because he had left one of his Heaven Eyes with her.

    Through that Heaven Eye, he had learned while he was dashing towards this location that Dong Li had already taken Huang Hu¡¯s ring of holding ande after him.

    At this moment, she was still traveling in the dense forest, a sizable distance from the foot of the mountain peak where he was.

    With a thought, hemanded that Heaven Eye to descend from the sky to float before Dong Li¡¯s eyes.

    Even though she still couldn¡¯t see it, since it hade so close to her, she sensed the presence of some strange aura, and thus scanned her surroundings with her psychic awareness.

    The moment her psychic awareness made contact with the Heaven Eye, a wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s thoughts found it way to Dong Li¡¯s mind.

    She instantly learned that Nie Tian had discovered a dead eighth grade ck phoenix at the foot of the majestic mountaintop ahead of her.

    A shudder ran through Dong Li¡¯s dashing body as a fierce light of excitement burst forth from within her eyes.

    With her slightly trembling hand, she took out her Sound Stone and whispered in a stern voice, ¡°You could have contacted me via the Sound Stone I gave you, you fool! Stay where you are and don¡¯t make a move! I¡¯ll be there shortly!¡±

    After sending the message out, she summoned her ck phoenix beast spirit and flew directly towards Nie Tian¡¯s location at full speed with its help.

 Chapter 533: Sitting Atop the Mountain Peak and Watching the Tigers Fight

    Nie Tian hid behind a huge rock and observed through his Heaven Eyes.

    The standoff between the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect went on. The four Thunder Mountain Sect disciples continued to watch the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse from afar, and didn¡¯t show any intention of leaving.

    Nie Tian decided to wait.

    If he charged over now, those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect would probably target him simultaneously. Having entered the middle Greater Heaven stage, he was confident that he would be able to defeat anyone in this region in a one-on-one battle.

    However, if he were to face disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect together, he might be able to leave unharmed, yet it wouldn¡¯t be realistic for him to kill them all.

    Therefore, he hid in the dark and waited for those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect to go to war with each other, then when the time came, he would swoop in and reap the spoils.

    After a while, through one of his Heaven Eyes, he saw Xuan Ke and the others from the Ice Pavilion Sect approaching him.

    The four of them were so afraid of being discovered by him that they traveled stealthily after entering the rubble-strewn area.

    After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian practiced his Life Stealth bloodline talent,pletely masking his intense flesh power fluctuations and killing intent.

    No one could possibly detect any sign of life or energy fluctuations from him, unless they were Worldly realm or Profound realm experts.

    ¡°The guy vanished?!¡± Zhao Le from the Ice Pavilion Sect muttered as Nie Tian¡¯s aura suddenly vanished from the detection range of his psychic awareness.

    ¡°He should be somewhere around here or up ahead,¡± Xuan Ke said with a grim expression. ¡°There must be a reason behind him rushing to this ce at full speed. That guy is very dangerous. Watch out everyone. Do your best to search for him, but also try not to get in a fight with him.¡±

    Even though Zhao Le and the other three inwardly disagreed with his discretion, they followed his order and fanned out to search for Nie Tian. They unleashed their psychic awarenesses and moved slowly forward.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li was rapidly closing in on Nie Tian¡¯s location with the help of her ck phoenix.

    Nie Tian quietly took out his Sound Stone and contacted her in a very low voice, telling her to slow down and move in stealth after reaching the rubble-strewn area.

    In the meantime, he kept a close watch on the Heaven Pce Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect disciples.

    As he had expected, through one of his Heaven Eyes he had deployed on the perimeter, he discovered two Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors dressed in Thunder Mountain Sect garments rushing over at full speed.

    However, Su Lin and the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples hadn¡¯t sensed the looming crisis. They were still attempting to get in contact with Hong He and Huang Hu through their Sound Stones.

    Momentster, one of the Heaven Pce Sect disciples finally detected the aura of the two iing Thunder Mountain Sect disciples with his psychic awareness.

    ¡°Junior Martial Sister Su! The Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s backup is here!¡± The man, who was at thete Greater Heaven stage, eximed as soon as he discovered the unfavorable situation.

    Su Lin¡¯s pretty face instantly grew intense. ¡°Kill those bastards!¡± she eximed with great determination.

    As soon as she uttered these words, the five Heaven Pce Sect disciples charged towards the group of Thunder Mountain Sect disciples without the slightest hesitation.

    Upon seeing this, the four Thunder Mountain Sect disciples realized that the Heaven Pce Sect must have detected their reinforcements approaching.

    ¡°We need to join with our backup first!¡± one of them eximed. ¡°Don¡¯t get tangled up with those from the Heaven Pce Sect!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the four Thunder Mountain Sect disciples started moving towards their two iing friends, hoping to join them first, and then go all-out to fight the Heaven Pce Sect disciples.

    ¡°Don¡¯t give them the opportunity to join their reinforcements!¡± Su Lin eximed the order.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian saw the five Heaven Pce Sect disciples burst across the distance between them and the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples in the blink of an eye, as they summoned their spiritual tools and started fighting right away.

    Just like that, the people from the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect were engaged in a fierce battle, both sides instantly bringing out everything in their power.

    shing lightning, streaking mes, and multicolored sparks created by spiritual tools shing together soon filled the air over the rubble-strewn area.

    The Heaven Pce Sect disciples knew perfectly well that only if they could finish their current opponents off within a short time would they be able to handle the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s reinforcements when they arrived.

    Only by doing that would they be able to eliminate their opponents¡¯ potential advantage in numbers. Should they fail to do that, they would end up in a losing battle.

    ¡°People are fighting over there!¡±

    Zhao Le from the Ice Pavilion Sect suddenly caught sight of the spiritual light in midair up ahead.

    ¡°Those are people from the Thunder Mountain Sect,¡± Xuan Ke said with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°Their lightning magics are easy to recognize. But who are they fighting? Can it be the guy we¡¯ve been following? Would he have the audacity to fight those Thunder Mountain Sect members single-handedly?¡±

    Observing from a significant distance, Xuan Ke was only able to see the spiritual light that constantly shot up into the air, therefore knowing the Thunder Mountain Sect was involved, but not knowing who they were fighting.

    ¡°Do we go over there now?¡± Wang Rong asked.

    Xuan Ke pondered a few seconds in silence before shaking his head and saying, ¡°No. Judging from the lightning in the sky, there are multiple Thunder Mountain Sect disciples over there. Whoever they¡¯re fighting must be also hard to deal with. We don¡¯t want to get in the middle of their fight right away. We¡¯d better wait for a winning side to emerge, and then go in.¡±

    Zhao Le gave a cold smile. ¡°Good call. Whichever side survives will also have suffered great losses and consumed significant amounts of spiritual power from their battle. Then, we can go in and reap the spoils. Killing the survivors and looting their rings of holding will be much more efficient than searching and gathering valuables ourselves!¡±

    Wang Rong and Luo Xue also nodded in assent.

    Thus, the four Ice Pavilion Sect disciples remained where they were and observed in silence, harboring the same intention as Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian had noticed every move they made through his Heaven Eyes, and spected as to their intentions.

    Meanwhile, the four of them didn¡¯t have Heaven Eyes at their disposal. Due to the long distance, they didn¡¯t see the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse in the rubble, which was the reason behind the conflict between the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°Ice Pavilion Sect...¡± Nie Tian rubbed his chin, absorbed in thought. He racked his mind for a way to drag those from the Ice Pavilion Sect into the messy battle between the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    The more chaotic the situation, and the more people died, the better it would be for him and Dong Li.

    With these thoughts in mind, he immediately informed Dong Li to put away her ck phoenix and move in stealth once she came close enough, steering clear of those from the Ice Pavilion Sect and hiding from the detection of their psychic awarenesses.

    After learning about the situation, Dong Li, who possessed a quick mind, actually didn¡¯t need Nie Tian to finish to know what to do.

    Knowing the locations of Nie Tian, the eighth grade ck phoenix, the Heaven Pce Sect disciples, the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples, and the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples, Dong Li slowly descended from the air and looked for a ce tond.

    Meanwhile...

    The battle between the Heaven Pce Sect disciples and the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples carried on like an unstoppable fire. Soon, one of the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples was killed.

    Via his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian gradually realized that, even though the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples¡¯ strength seemed roughly equal to that of the Heaven Pce Sect disciples¡¯, when the deadly battle broke out, the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples were clearly disadvantaged.

    That was because the Heaven Pce Sect disciples possessed more advanced spiritual tools, practiced more exquisite incantations, and had more solid fundamentals.

    Only after the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s two neers joined them did they barely recover from their unfavorable situation.

    A few minutes passed, and each of the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect had two people killed. All the living ones were also covered in wounds and blood.

    Momentster, another Heaven Expanse Sect Qi warrior arrived under the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples¡¯ summons, which gave the advantage to the Thunder Mountain Sect, allowing them to kill another Heaven Pce Sect disciple shortly afterwards.

    That left the Heaven Pce Sect with only Su Lin and anotherte Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior, who struggled to stay alive.

    Still seeing no sign of Hong He or Huang Huing, Su Lin finally gave up and withdrew from the battlefield.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them escape!!¡± With these words, the Thunder Mountain Sect survivors split up to chase after Su Lin and the otherte Greater Heaven stage Heaven Pce Sect disciple, leaving only one person behind to pige the eighth grade ck phoenix.

    At this moment, the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples could see no more lightning shing across the sky, and thus finally charged out of their hiding ce under Xuan Ke¡¯s leadership.

    Shock appeared in the eyes of Xuan Ke and the others as soon as they discovered the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse. They immediately picked up their pace, and easily annihted the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple who had stayed behind to gather valuable materials from the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Holding his bloodstained longsword, Xuan Ke said, wreathed in a cold aura, ¡°It was actually a battle between the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect!¡±

    From the way the dead were dressed, he quickly determined that it was the Heaven Pce Sect that the Thunder Mountain Sect had been fighting. The ck phoenix¡¯s corpse made it clear what they had been fighting for.

    Gazing at the eighth grade ck phoenix, Xuan Ke said, ¡°Forget about everything else. Let¡¯s cut this ck phoenix open, and take everything but its flesh! Those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect will definitelye back for this ck phoenix, so we need to finish and leave as quickly as we can!¡±

    Thrilled to bits, the other three started without any dy.

    At this moment, Nie Tian, who had been observing for quite a while, finallyunched a Starshift after sending Dong Li another message.

 Chapter 534: Ill Guard You This Time

    Before the four Ice Pavilion Sect disciples could carry out their n, Nie Tian suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    While he hid in the dark, it didn¡¯t ur to him to change his bloodstained garments or clean himself up. Even now, dried blood could still be seen on his neck.

    The intense bloody smell he gave off and his terrifying look temporarily bewildered the four Ice Pavilion Sect disciples.

    Zhao Le snapped back to reality. A bleak, gruesome, white mist instantly wreathed him, along within a strong killing intent. ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡± he said with a cold smile. ¡°You want this ck phoenix as well?¡± A hint of disdain appeared at the corner of his mouth.

    Lying beside him was the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple who had stayed behind to pige the ck phoenix.

    Wang Rong¡¯s face grew cold as she let out a snort and chimed in, ¡°You are just one person. What makes you think that you can take this ck phoenix¡¯s corpse? Do we still need to avoid conflict with this guy, senior martial brother?¡±

    Xuan Ke remained silent, his expression grim.

    Nie Tian took a nce at the few rings of holding in Xuan Ke¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I know you lot followed me here, and I know that you¡¯ve been watching me from the dark for a long time. Without me, none of you would have found this ce or looted those rings of holding from these Heaven Pce Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect disciples.¡±

    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Xuan Ke asked.

    Intense killing intent brimmed Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°The ck phoenix¡¯s corpse is of great significance to me. I¡¯ll take it at all costs. My suggestion for you is that you take those rings of holding and leave now.¡±

    ¡°What if we don¡¯t?¡± Zhao Le smiled sinisterly.

    ¡°Then every one of you will die here,¡± Nie Tian said with a in tone.

    ¡°Who the hell do you think you are!?¡± Before Xuan Ke could state his attitude, Zhao Leunched an attack. As his fingertip blossomed with frosty light, a sparkling and crystal-clear spear of ice shot out of his cuff.

    The ice spear was a Premium grade spiritual tool that had been obtained from a cier that was at least ten thousand years old. Afterwards, it had been refined with the essence of frosty iron over and over.

    The target of the ice spear was none other than Nie Tian¡¯s throat.

    As the ice spear approached, Nie Tian, who had been standing unwavering like a blood-soaked rock, started to have a feeling like he had been thrown into a world of ice and snow, where nothing could escape the frigid coldness.

    Frosty wind whistled across thend, ringing in Nie Tian¡¯s ears. Thend the ice spear passed over froze instantly, and started making crackling sounds.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, everything before him was rapidly being devoured by deadly coldness.

    He felt as if he were standing before sky-reaching ciers that were hundreds of thousands of years old, and they were going to crush him in the next moment.

    ¡°Ice Heaven Imprisonment!!¡± As Zhao Le let out an explosive roar, the slender ice spear instantly unleashed a mist of frigid coldness, which instantly enveloped Nie Tian, filling his vision with illusions of ciers.

    Nie Tian snorted coldly as his me Star flew up into the sky like a dragon, dragging a tail of three colors behind it.

    Afterwards, the me Star emanated blinding light, eliminating all of the illusions that floated in the air.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian suddenly vanished from Zhao Le¡¯s view and psychic detection.

    ¡°Starstrike!¡± With these words, a mysterious formation formed by bright starsparks, that looked like stars that had been shining in the depths of the universe for millions of years, suddenly shot towards Zhao Le¡¯s chest.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s blurry figure appeared behind Zhao Le.

    Xuan Ke¡¯s expression flickered the moment he saw the formation of starsparks, which seemed to carry the profound will of eternal stars.

    Without the time to think, he swung his frosty sword to stop the mysterious star formation.

    BANG!

    Upon contact, sparks of starlight and frosty light filled the air. The profound and mighty star power in the star formation instantly overwhelmed the frigid coldness Xuan Ke had vested his sword with.

    Bulging veins appeared on his sword-bearing arm, as if bone-piercing rivers were now running through those veins towards his hand.

    His hand shook slightly, as if the bone-piercing power in his veins was rapidly neutralizing the residual star power in his hand.

    ¡°Senior martial brother!¡± Wang Rong and Luo Xue eximed at the same time, brandishing their spiritual tools as they attempted to attack Nie Tian.

    Zhao Le also manipted his ice spear to circle around to attack Nie Tian from behind.

    At that very moment, Xuan Ke caught sight of a ck phoenix soaring in the distant sky and the unearthly Dong Li spreading her arms in front of its chest.

    ¡°Stay your hands!¡± Xuan Ke shouted.

    His frigid voice seemed to have frozen time, since Zhao Le and the other two froze upon hearing him.

    Nie Tian also stopped attacking. He reached out with one hand, and the me Star flew into it.

    Holding the me Star, he turned to look at Xuan Ke, looking as calm as always.

    ¡°Like you said, we¡¯ll take the rings of holding, and that ck phoenix¡¯s corpse is yours.¡± Xuan Ke seemed to have suddenly changed his mind.

    ¡°Why, senior martial brother?!¡± Zhao Le eximed, looking very disgruntled.

    Wang Rong and Luo Xue¡¯s faces were also filled with confusion.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Alright, take those rings of holding and leave. I hope you¡¯re not trying to y a trick, pretending to leave while you secretly summon your friends to get back at me. If that¡¯s what you¡¯re thinking, I won¡¯t show any mercy the next time we meet.¡±

    ¡°Hey, brat!¡± Zhao Le thundered. ¡°Who do you think you are?! What the hell made you so arrogant?!¡±

    Xuan Ke raised his hand, signaling for Zhao Le to shut up, then he took a deep look at Nie Tian and said something that surprised his subordinates. ¡°How long it has been since west met?¡±

    ¡°Quite a few years I believe,¡± Nie Tian answered inly.

    Since he had used the secret magics he had acquired from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he had suspected that he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep his true identity hidden from Xuan Ke any longer.

    He and Xuan Ke had both been in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Xuan Ke had derived some enlightenment from the legacies in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Since he had cast all scruples aside andunched a Starstrike, it was only natural that Xuan Ke, who had a keen perception, was able to see through his identity.

    ¡°Dong Li from the Dong n, she¡¯s with you, right?¡± Xuan Ke asked.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°The ck phoenix¡¯s corpse is intended for her.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Xuan Ke didn¡¯t beat around the corner. ¡°We, disciples of the Ice Pavilion Sect, won¡¯t try to take this ck phoenix from you. I hope you have what it takes to guard it from the ws of the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to give up on it.¡±

    With these words, before Nie Tian could give any response, he nced at his three subordinates, turned around, and left.

    Zhao Le and the other two werepletely confused to discover that he actually knew Nie Tian. Now knowing what was happening, they could only follow Xuan Ke away.

    Through his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian saw that Xuan Ke did as he had said he would and evacuated from the area, with no sign of him going against his word and setting up an ambush in the vicinity.

    After marching quite far from Nie Tian¡¯s location, Wang Rong came to a stop and asked with a frown, ¡°Who was that guy, senior martial brother? Do we really just leave him be? That ck phoenix is definitely of great value. Otherwise, the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect wouldn¡¯t have killed each other for it. Do we really want to give such a precious treasure away?¡±

    ¡°I would have hesitated if Dong Li hadn¡¯t appear, but since I saw hering to his aid, there was no use for us to stick around,¡± Xuan Ke said with an expressionless face. ¡°With Dong Li there to help him, their strength would have most likely been higher than ours.¡±

    ¡°But they¡¯re both only at the middle Greater Heaven stage!¡± Zhao Le eximed, seeming somewhat worked up.

    Xuan Ke gave a cold snort. ¡°Dong Li is the Dong n¡¯s core disciple. None of you can match her strength. As for that guy, even though he¡¯s still at the middle Greater Heaven stage, I don¡¯t think even I¡¯d be able to defeat him.¡±

    Wang Rong gasped with astonishment and asked, ¡°What?! Who is he exactly?!¡±

    With a deep sigh, Xuan Ke said, ¡°The only sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacy throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, Nie Tian.¡±

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s name came out, Zhao Le, Wang Rong, and Luo Xue fell silent.

    They were well-aware that, even though in recent years Nie Tian had been hiding from the major sects throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, he had surfaced to single-handedly seal the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Not to mention his iparable contribution to the safety of the Domain of the Falling Stars, the fact that he had been able to seal those spatial rifts proved that he had managed to seize thatst fragmentary star mark from Ning Yang¡¯s hand.

    Ning Yang had been a household name. Almost everyone had agreed that he was the most powerful of the younger generation among all the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The fact that Nie Tian had seized thatst fragmentary star mark from him was enough evidence to his resourcefulness.

    After that, Nie Tian had turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer, which had made him even more famous.

    It was a miracle that he, who didn¡¯t have a powerful sect to back him, had lived this long after refusing the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Everyone believed that, given enough time, Nie Tian, who had received the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies, would eventually grow into the most prominent star in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    That was the reason why Zhao Le and the others suddenly stopped questioning Xuan Ke¡¯s decision after learning that it was Nie Tian who they had contended against.

    They also realized that, since Nie Tian dared to admit to his true identity, he must have the confidence to beat them in a battle.

    ¡°When I first met him,¡± said Xuan Ke, "he hadn¡¯t obtained any fragmentary star marks or learned any secret magics from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and his cultivation base was poorer than mine, Su Lin¡¯s, and Wu Ling¡¯s. However, he managed to beat all of us and obtained the first fragmentary star mark. After that, he entered the next section and took the second fragmentary star mark from Dong Baijie.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell how powerful that man has be after all these years.

    ¡°So, to be safe, I decided to give up on that ck phoenix. Also, if he and Dong Li take it, those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect won¡¯te seek trouble with us, and we can stay out of this mess.¡±

    After hearing these words, his three subordinates followed him fell silently.

    At this moment, on the other side, Nie Tian said to Dong Li, who had justnded before him, ¡°Go ahead and take whichever part you need. I¡¯ll guard you this time!¡±

 Chapter 535: Formation

    ¡°Was it Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect who just left?¡± Dong Li asked. She had learned about what had happened from Nie Tian¡¯s message. Therefore, when she saw the four Ice Pavilion Sect disciples evacuating from this location while she descended from the air, she guessed their identities.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, Xuan Ke and those people observed in the dark for a long time, hoping to steal the spoils. But after they got the rings of holding from those dead Heaven Pce Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect members, Xuan Ke made a sensible decision and left.¡±

    Dong Liughed. ¡°What?! The Xuan Ke I know is no sensible person.¡±

    ¡°Well, I talked some sense into him,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    Dong Li realized what he meant. ¡°Oh, I see. But your cultivation base alone isn¡¯t very impressive. Did you somehow disy your actual battle prowess to make him see the difference?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew somewhat serious. ¡°Xuan Ke has an exceptionally keen perception and can shrewdly discover danger. Ever since he first discovered me, he constantly told his three subordinates to stand down. I guess he knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to take me, much less the two of us. Andter, he discovered who I actually am...¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°He recognized you?!¡±

    With a grim look in his eyes, Nie Tian said, ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s alright. As long as no Worldly realm or Profound realm experts cane here, I¡¯ll have nothing to worry about.¡±

    ¡°Still, you should have been more careful.¡± Dong Li didn¡¯t want to say too much to me him.

    Finally, sheid her eyes on the ck phoenix¡¯s enormous corpse. Her bright eyes shone with the light of excitement as she marveled, ¡°An eighth grade ck phoenix!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    With a swift leap, shended lightly beside the ck phoenix¡¯srge head, which was partly buried in the rubble. Then, she sat down in the lotus position. Her ck phoenix beast spirit hovered in the air, letting out low, sad crows.

    A wisp of dark spiritual power quietly flew out of Dong Li¡¯s head and entered the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    After a brief scan, she snapped her eyes open and eximed, ¡°Nie Tian, this ck phoenix¡¯s corpse is going to be very helpful to me and my beast spirit! But it¡¯s gonna take me days to absorb and refine its residual power and essence. During that time, I¡¯d have to focus all of my attention on the process. I¡¯m afraid that...¡±

    ¡°You just do what you have to do,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice. ¡°Leave the rest to me.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes glittered as she took a deep look at him and nodded. ¡°That¡¯d be so great of you.¡±

    After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian took out the seventy-two tree branches from within his ring of holding. As he stepped about around the ck phoenix¡¯s enormous corpse, he nted them into the hard, stony ground one after another.

    Each and every one of them became translucent and sparkled with emerald light as he infused them with his wood power.

    Without much effort, he plunged them deep into the ground that was as solid as metal.

    Nie Tian moved about as swiftly as a ghost as he nted the seventy-two tree branches ording to the formation he remembered.

    Earlier, when he had been cultivating by the dead Earthshatter Beast, he had used the same formation of tree branches to ward off Hong He¡¯s deadly would-be hit.

    The only difference was that back then, he hadid out the formation within a one meter radius around him, and this time, the formation was spread out over an area that was hundreds of timesrger.

    The moment the formation was finished, he saw that, inside the sparkling green tree branches that he had nted into the stony ground, numerous mysterious tree patterns seemed to be channeled by some unknown force, and started converging on the tips of the tree branches.

    In the next moment, a dark-green hemispherical ward that was as thin as a cicada¡¯s wings instantly covered a veryrge area over the ck phoenix.

    Like wisps of green smoke, one tree pattern after another rose from the tips of the tree branches and joined the thin ward, where they started floating about like ripples on the water, vesting the ward with endless mysteries.

    Immediately afterwards, a profound maic field came to form inside the ward.

    Nie Tian shrewdly sensed that fine strands of wood power were starting to rise from the nearby bushes and nts that he had never seen before. They seemed to be channeled by the newly-established formation, and rapidly converged from all directions.

    As the green ward that was as thin as a cicada¡¯s wings received the nourishment from the countless strands of wood power, it grew increasingly tough and resilient.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes gradually lit up. ¡°The formation is automatically absorbing wood power from its surroundings to enhance its intensity!¡±

    He didn¡¯t even need to infuse the ward with much wood power, and it would power itself and maintain functionality by automatically absorbing wood power from the vicinity.

    Nie Tian was overjoyed to uncover more and more of the incredible features and profound power of the tree branches he had obtained from the floating continent.

    Sitting beside him under the green ward, Dong Li felt very relieved and calm, as if she had left all of the weariness from the traveling behind. ¡°Nie Tian, this is the secret you discovered on that floating continent, right?¡±

    Now that they were sitting among the formation, not only were they protected from any harm from the outside, but they were also wreathed in rich wood power.

    Anyone who attempted to break into the formation would be stopped by the green ward. The great force of expulsion might even cause serious damage to the intruder.

    Those who stayed inside would not only be protected by the green ward, but they would also be surrounded by rich wood power, which would help calm their soul and heal their wounds.

    After a short while, Dong Li realized that not only would she be safe and uninterrupted as she refined the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s residual power, but the ward also had soothing and healing effects.

    ¡°Get on with it,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Dong Li listened to him and closed her eyes, focusing all of her attention on taking the grand fortune that was meant for her.

    The hovering ck phoenix seemed somewhat uneasy when the green ward was first established, and it was enveloped.

    However, it soon learned that the green ward was only created to protect it and Dong Li.

    Gradually, it settled down, andnded lightly on the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse like a piece of silk cloth.

    Nie Tian observed curiously, and discovered that the moment it made contact with the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, it merged with it like a drop of water merging with the sea.

    Momentster, Dong Li¡¯s beast spiritpletely disappeared into the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Seeing that Dong Li had started the process, Nie Tian sat straight and startedmunicating with the nine Heaven Eyes he had scattered in the vicinity.

    He had already decided that he would kill anyone who dared to try and snatch the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse from them, no matter which sects they were from.

    Just like that, he guarded Dong Li in silence.

    After a quarter hour, three Qi warriors from the Heaven Expanse Sect in the Realm of Earth Sieve appeared in the vision of one of his Heaven Eyes, and they were marching over at a fast speed.

    One of them was at the middle Greater Heaven stage, while the other two were at the early Greater Heaven stage.

    Judging from the excitement and urgency they were showing, Nie Tian instantly knew that they must have received word from the Thunder Mountain Sect and learned about the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse in this ce.

    When they were still a significant distance from him, Nie Tian suddenlyunched a Starshift, which was followed by a series of lightning quick attacks.

    Momentster, he returned, dragging the corpses of the three Heaven Expanse Sect disciples, all of whom had been prated by his me Star. Then, he left them with the dead Heaven Pce Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect disciples.

    Afterwards, he recovered with spirit stones while keeping a close watch on everything in the vicinity.

    An hour passed, and one of the Thunder Mountain Sect survivors returned.

    Without the slightest hesitation, he once againunched a Starshift.

    Soon, the man¡¯s corpse was added the pile of corpses.

    In this manner, he guarded Dong Li while she refined the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse. Whenever he caught sight of someone that wasing after the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, he would respond immediately.

    A day passed before he knew it.

    On this day alone, he killed five disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect, most of whom were at the middle Greater Heaven stage, with only one at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    With these kills, there were now about a dozen corpses scattered around him.

    He didn¡¯t spend any time examining the rings of holding he had looted from them. Instead, he recovered spiritual power with every moment he had, then he just sat there, wreathed in intense killing intent and ready to pounce on his next target.

    On the following day, two Poison Sect Qi warriors rushed to his location sessively. Nie Tian cut them down with ease.

    Shortly afterwards, Yang Kan from the me God Sect and Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect entered the detection range of one of his Heaven Eyes.

    At the same time, through another Heaven Eye, Nie Tian caught sight of Su Lin and ate Greater Heaven stage Heaven Pce Sect disciple, who were rapidly approaching from another direction.

    Then, he discovered that disciples of the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect wereing from a third direction.

    In that moment, Nie Tian found that three groups of people were approaching him from three directions at the same time.

    Furthermore, they all seemed to havee after the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Nie Tian intended to take them out one group at a time before they came close. However, he worried that something might happen to Dong Li while he was away. After pondering for some time, he decided to stay put.

    Momentster, the three groups arrived one after another.

    Upon arrival, they rapidly caught sight of the corpses scattered around Nie Tian. Expressions flickering drastically, they all looked at Nie Tian as if they were looking at a monster.

 Chapter 536: Awe Inspired by Blood-spilling

    Su Lin¡¯s expression flickered the moment she saw Nie Tian and the bodies scattered around him. ¡°Why are you here?! Where are Hong He and Huang Hu?¡±

    Some of the corpses belonged to those who had been killed during their previous battle against the Thunder Mountain Sect, but most seemed to have been killed after she had left.

    Since Nie Tian was sitting among the dead, it seemed most likely that he had killed those men.

    Previously, when they had met by the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s corpse, she hadn¡¯t paid much attention to Nie Tian, and thus hadn¡¯t recognized him. She had only assumed that he was a nobody.

    She had never imagined that the person who she had overlooked was actually such a dangerous person who had killed so many Qi warriors at his stage.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin. ¡°Hong He and Huang Hu? Bad luck to them. They shared the same fate as these before you.¡±

    ¡°Which sect are you from?!¡± Thete Greater Heaven stage with Su Lin eximed coldly. ¡°How dare you challenge the Heaven Pce Sect?!¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head, a vicious grin filling his face. ¡°Su Lin, hand over the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye.¡± He didn¡¯t even spare the man a nce.

    ¡°It belongs to the Heaven Pce Sect now,¡± Su Lin said, smiling disdainfully. ¡°Don¡¯t even imagine that we¡¯ll give it back.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡± With these words, Nie Tian blurred into action. The me Star in his hand blossomed with dazzlingly bright light as he suddenly shed it in the air.

    The glorious light instantly lit up the dusk sky.

    Carrying a heaven-shaking and earth-shattering might, a streak of light that was more than ten meters long instantly shot towards Su Lin and thete Greater Heaven stage Qi warrior beside her.

    Watching the light descending on her, Su Lin¡¯s expression flickered drastically as she was overwhelmed by a feeling that she was going to die in the next moment.

    The face of Guan Ye, thete Greater Heaven stage Heaven Pce Sect disciple beside her, also instantly distorted. In haste, he cast out a prismatic mirror.

    As soon as it flew out, the image of the splendid Heaven Pce Sect appeared within the mirror, along with the majestic mountains and meandering rivers that surrounded it.

    Dazzling light that carried a boundless aura instantly burst forth from within the prismatic mirror.

    ¡°Heaven Profound Mirror!¡± As Guan Ye let out a cold exmation, the image suddenly shot out of the mirror towards Nie Tian¡¯s iing streak of glorious light.

    However, no matter whether it was the magnificent pce, or the mountains and rivers around it, they exploded and were reduced to sputtering sparks the moment they were touched by the streak of glorious light.

    Upon seeing this, an exmation escaped Su Lin¡¯s mouth as she quickly tossed out a piece of silk cloth.

    Silver-white and glittering like it was made of fish scale, the silk cloth unleashed a white mist that brought a mirage with it.

    Nie Tian was instantly struck by a feeling that he was separated from Su Lin by a thousand mountains and rivers. Su Lin had already disappeared from his vision, her aura too faint to detect.

    After destroying the illusions from the prismatic mirror, the me Star¡¯s de light shed into the white mist. However, as it did, it was slowed down by strong resistance, like a de put into mud.

    ¡°Heaven Eye Perception!¡± As Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, the Heaven Eye that was the closest to Su Lin instantly descended from the air.

    As soon as it did, the blinding light it emanated pierced through the white mist and made it so that Su Lin and Guan Ye had nowhere to hide.

    Nie Tian blurred into action and, like a weightless ghost, he flew into the white mist and quickly arrived in front of Guan Ye.

    The me Star in his hand once again blossomed with dazzling light, lighting up the mist. Guan Ye hastily formed hand seals to summon his Heaven Profound Mirror back to shield against Nie Tian¡¯s attack.

    CRUNCH!

    The moment the me Star mmed on the Heaven Profound Mirror, it unleashed raging power that could bring down mountains and shatter the earth.

    Holding the Heaven Profound Mirror, Guan Ye was thrown flying backwards out of the white mist, as if he had been hit by a huge, galloping beast.

    Meanwhile, a very noticeable crack appeared on the Heaven Profound Mirror in his hand. One sh with the me Star caused irreparable damage to the Heaven Profound Mirror, which he deemed his most precious treasure.

    ¡°Who the hell is he, Su Lin?!¡± Guan Ye cried out.

    He didn¡¯t know that Su Lin, who was still in the white mist, wasn¡¯t able to give any response at this moment.

    In her eyes, three sparkling fragmentary star marks appeared, floating in the middle of her white mist.

    They were three star formations Nie Tian had formed with starsparks, which were formed with extremely refined and concentrated star power.

    As Su Lin examined the star formations with rapt attention, she was able to see that each of them was formed with seven bright spots.

    The bright spots were constantly changing positions inside the star formations, as if they were forming new alignments with every passing moment.

    As the three star formations lit up in the middle of her illusory spell formation, she couldn¡¯t find anywhere to hide.

    Like stars summoned from the depths of the starry river, they emanated starlight that carried unfathomable power.

    SHEW!

    With a fling of her arm, Su Lin cast a glowing, dark-purple sphere towards one of the star formations.

    As soon as it made contact with the star formation, it exploded to a hundred pieces, and so did the various magical spell formations engraved inside it.

    As that happened, Su Lin seemed as if she had taken a strong blow in the chest. She let out a muffled groan and stumbled backwards.

    It was at that moment she finally realized who she was fighting, and thus eximed, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect stood side by side with Yang Kan from the me God Sect. From the start, his malicious gaze had been following Nie Tian¡¯s zing de light and his vague shape in the mist. ¡°He¡¯s Nie Tian?!¡± he eximed.

    In the next moment, one Soul Banner after another quietly flew out of Lu Jian¡¯s leveled cuff as he continued to keep a close watch on the battle between Su Lin and Nie Tian, hoping tounch a surprise attack when an opportunity presented itself.

    ¡°Hold it now.¡± Yang Kan ced his hand on Lu Jian¡¯s, stopping him from forming hand seals, then he shook his head and said with a grim look on his face, ¡°Now that this kid has advanced to the middle Greater Heaven stage, even I can¡¯t get a clear assessment of his battle prowess anymore. Don¡¯t try to attack him. Otherwise, you might attract his attention to us.¡±

    Lu Jian was taken aback. ¡°Haven¡¯t you advanced to the Worldly realm, Big Brother Yang?¡±

    Yang Kan¡¯s face twitched slightly as he said in a low, furious voice, ¡°If I had truly entered the Worldly realm, would I still be brought to this part of the continent?!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Lu Jian fell silent.

    Previously, when Nie Tian had summoned his me Dragon Armor, it had absorbed all of Yang Kan¡¯s earthme crystal strings and earthme essence, and deactivated Yang Kan¡¯s me ward. Yang Kan had been forced to leave.

    Then, he had decided to force a breakthrough by forcibly creating a tenth vortex of spiritual power in his spiritual sea. What should have happened afterwards was that the tenth vortex of spiritual power devoured the other nine one by one, until only one vortex of spiritual power remained.

    Not only that, but his psychic power should also have transformed into soul power. Only after aplishing these would he be considered to have finished his advancement to the Worldly realm.

    However, the moment his tenth vortex of spiritual power had appeared and the aura of his breakthrough enveloped him, he had dashed into the colorful mist with Lu Jian tagging along. However, they hadn¡¯t ended up in the region where the other Worldly realm Qi warriors were brought to.

    The two of them had been stuck in the misty path for a long time.

    For some reason, his tenth vortex of spiritual power had failed to devour the other nine, and his psychic power had failed to transform into soul power, therefore leaving his breakthrough unfinished.

    Not only had he not entered the Worldly realm, but he had even suffered a bacsh, which had caused a minor regression in his cultivation.

    However, eventually, the misty path brought the two of them to this region where all the other Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors were.

    During this period of time, he had tried everything, but failed to find ways to make his vortexes of spiritual power merge. Not only that, but he had found it harder and harder to summon spiritual power. He could feel his strength slowly slipping away from him.

    The only solution to these problems would be to find a way to merge his vortexes of spiritual power and transform his psychic power into soul power, thereforepleting his breakthrough into the Worldly realm.

    Yang Kan suspected that the reason why he was put in such an awkward and strange situation was because he had let the Greater Heaven stage Lu Jian tag along when he had charged into the colorful mist that separated the segments.

    ¡°We only have one chance to strike Nie Tian and take the me Dragon Armor,¡± Yang Kan said with a grim face. ¡°We must do it when Nie Tian is in a very dangerous situation. Sessful or not, we¡¯d have to evacuate from this ce immediately, not dying a second. As for that ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, we¡¯ll have to leave it for now. If I canplete my breakthrough into the Worldly realm with the me Dragon Armor¡¯s help, I¡¯ll possess unmatched power in this region.

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll be able to take back all the precious spiritual materials they¡¯ve taken from the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse!¡±

    Lu Jian nodded and said with a somewhat frustrated tone, ¡°I see.¡±

    Yang Kan looked coldly at him. ¡°As long as I can get the me Dragon Armor and finish my breakthrough, we¡¯ll be able to everything back! Remember! When I move out, do whatever you can to help me bring him down.¡±

 Chapter 537: Invincibility

    In the midst of the white mist, two fragmentary star marks continued to emanate dazzling starlight, making it look like Nie Tian had channeled two ancient stars from the depths of the starry river.

    Su Lin, however, spewed out a mouthful of blood and stumbled backwards with astonishment filling her face upon the explosion of her purple, glowing sphere.

    Of everyone present, she was the one who had the deepest understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s formidable strength.

    Their previous battle in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had made her realize how powerful Nie Tian had been. As a matter of fact, all these years after that, whenever she had thought about Nie Tian, she hadpared him with Ning Yang.

    She couldn¡¯t help but think that if Ning Yang had been at the same cultivation stage as Nie Tian, he might not be able to beat Nie Tian in a battle.

    Deep down, she had already considered Nie Tian to be the most formidable of the younger generation of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Therefore, when she realized that the man before him was none other than Nie Tian, who had obtained all three fragmentary star marks and daringly turned down the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s offer, she rapidly made her decision that she would give up on the eighth grade ck phoenix.

    Her purple, glowing sphere had exploded, and the illusory spell created by her silk cloth had been neutralized. That meant that her two most powerful spiritual tools had failed.

    Having made up her mind, she jumped out of the thick mist. With a grabbing motion, the piece of silk cloth flew back to her hand.

    Then, as light as a butterfly, she sped off into the distance.

    Guan Ye grew furious upon seeing her leave without saying anything to him after suffering a minor setback. ¡°Junior Martial Sister Su!¡±

    However, Su Linpletely ignored his call. She didn¡¯t even turn her head back, but instead picked up her pace and disappeared into the distance.

    Her actions had made it clear that she had decided to back out of the contest for the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    However, Guan Ye, who possessed a higher cultivation base than her, didn¡¯t n to do the same.

    With a furious roar, he suddenly pounced towards Dong Li with his Heaven Profound Mirror in hand. Apparently, he nned to kill Dong Li first to enrage Nie Tian, then when Nie Tian lost his clear mind from the rage, he would have better opportunities to kill him.

    Upon realizing that Guan Ye had targeted Dong Li instead, Nie Tian burst into a ming rage. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    He forgot about Su Lin and the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye, and instantlyunched a Starshift.

    In the next moment, he appeared before Guan Ye, blocking his path in midair. With a force of ten thousand kilos, he mmed the me Star down on Guan Ye¡¯s Heaven Profound Mirror.

    CRACK!

    Three visible cracks instantly spread across the Heaven Profound Mirror, as if it could break at any moment.

    Then, with his empty hand, Nie Tian made a fist like a metal hammer, infused it with his heart-brimming anger, and drove it into Guan Ye¡¯s chest.

    At the same time, the chaotic maic field he had surrounded himself with twisted Guan Ye¡¯s spiritual sea.

    Adding in the fact that Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch came too abruptly, Guan Ye only managed to gather a limited amount of spiritual power to form a faint defensive ward around him.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist bombarded the ward, his whole arm covered in bulging veins, as if the strike carried the wrath and unbending spirit of a titan.

    Immediately afterwards, the faint spiritual power ward exploded like an eggshell.

    However, the might of the punch didn¡¯t wear off. It went straight into Guan Ye¡¯s chest, breaking multiple ribs, and causing blood to spill from his mouth.

    As that happened, a wisp of pure wood power, which Nie Tian had vested his Rage Punch with, flew into Guan Ye¡¯s bloodstained chest. ¡°Heavenly Wood Thorns!¡±

    Wood power rapidly morphed into a small tree that glowed with green light. Then, as it madly devoured Guan Ye¡¯s flesh power, it spread at an rming speed.

    Before Guan Ye could do anything, the new thorns pierced through his heart and killed him.

    With the me Star in his other hand, Nie Tian prated Guan Ye¡¯s chest and pinned him to the ground in the middle of the other corpses he had put there.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly spun around in midair and shot towards those from the Heaven Expanse Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect like a fierce devil.

    While sailing through the air, he made a grabbing motion, and the me Star flew back into his palm, dragging a tail of mes.

    The three Qi warriors from the Heaven Expanse Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect gasped, shock filling their faces. ¡°He killed Guan Ye!!¡±

    The reason why they hadn¡¯t dared to make any moves aftering to this ce was because they had noticed the corpses lying around Nie Tian.

    At first, they hadn¡¯t been sure who had killed those people.

    None of them had known who Nie Tian was, much less his actual battle prowess.

    They had only assumed that different parties had engaged in fierce battles over the eighth grade ck phoenix, and Nie Tian had happened to be there when everyone killed each other.

    After all, Nie Tian was only at the middle Greater Heaven stage. None of them had thought these people¡¯s deaths were his doing.

    Later, when a battle broke out between Nie Tian and Su Lin and Guan Ye, they had felt that they might as well obtain a better understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s strength through their battle.

    To their surprise, Nie Tian¡¯s actual battle prowess was far beyond his cultivation base.

    Then, when Su Lin had eximed Nie Tian¡¯s name and left with a panicked expression, it hade as a shock to them.

    Afterwards, when Nie Tian had in Guan Ye before them and added him to his ¡®collection¡¯, they had been shocked to their core.

    Now, they were briefly bewildered to see Nie Tian pounce towards them like a sinister devil.

    They hesitated over whether they should stay and fight Nie Tian over the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, or if they should leave like Su Lin had.

    While they were hesitating, with another short-range Starshift, Nie Tian vanished from their sight.

    The three from the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect had an expression that was as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight. In haste, they formed defensive wards around them with spiritual power.

    They had just witnessed how Nie Tian had suddenly vanished and reappeared within arm¡¯s reach from Guan Ye, and killed him.

    They naturally assumed that Nie Tian was using the same technique on them.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t reappear before them right away this time. While they were puzzled, they discovered that Nie Tian had already appeared about ten meters behind them, holding his hand out with palm facing up.

    As they all turned around, they discovered that countless wisps of pure spiritual energy were rapidly converging on Nie Tian¡¯s palm from all directions, forming a spiritual energy ball.

    The continent they were on was filled with rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, many times richer than in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    As Nie Tian formed the spiritual energy ball, he discovered, to his surprise, that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce wasced with mysterious energy from the gray mist that filled the entire sky.

    The spiritual energy ball was grayish-brown, with shadows shing about in it, giving rise to fluctuations he wasn¡¯t familiar with.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    With a thought, the grayish-brown spiritual energy ball shot out of his palm towards the three Qi warriors from the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect.

    The three of them, who had already stimted the power of their spiritual armor, were stunned to see the spiritual energy ball shoot towards them at lightning speed.

    In the next moment, the spiritual energy ball exploded violently.

    As a force that could tear all things to shreds burst forth, the three Heaven Expanse Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect disciples¡¯ defenses were all eliminated within a split second.

    Immediately afterwards, the tearing force instantly engulfed the three of them.

    Then, Yang Kan and Lu Jian watched them turn into a bloody mess, as if their flesh was being cut from their bones by a thousand des.

    Even though two of them were at the middle Greater Heaven stage while the other was at the early Greater Heaven stage, they lost their lives the moment the spiritual energy ball exploded, not even having a chance to make a move.

    Even Nie Tian went nk briefly while watching the three dying miserable deaths. ¡°That spiritual energy ball is so...¡±

    He also hadn¡¯t expected that the spiritual energy ball he had formed with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce would turn out to be so destructive.

    He only knew that unknown energy from the gray mist that filled the entire sky had been channeled into the spiritual energy ball when he had formed it.

    That mysterious energy seemed to carry an aura that could shred everything in heaven and earth. Perhaps it was the true cause of the bloody scene.

    Nie Tian jerked his head up to look at the gray mist that stretched as far as the eye could see, absorbed in thought.

    ¡°Big Brother Yang!¡± Lu Jian eximed in a low voice.

    Yang Kan¡¯s expression was especially grim, and his temples throbbed nonstop as he stared nkly at Nie Tian. He, who had been looking for opportunities to strike, felt nothing but bitterness.

    He had expected that, after entering the middle Greater Heaven stage, Nie Tian¡¯s strength must have risen significantly, but he had never expected such devastating strength!

    ¡°We don¡¯t have a shot anymore...¡±

    With these words, he didn¡¯t want to stay a moment longer.

    Like a streak of mes, he dashed into the distance.

    Screaming for his life, Lu Jian sped after him.

 Chapter 538: How Is That Possible?!

    Seeing the unfavorable situation, Yang Kan and Lu Jian no longer dared to stay, and left in a hurry.

    Standing in ce, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and watched them speed away.

    Then, he dragged the three Heaven Expanse Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect disciples¡¯ badly mangled bodies to the ce where he had scattered the others, and then took their rings of holding, along with Guan Ye¡¯s.

    Afterwards, he sat in the midst of the corpses and started recovering with spirit stones.

    A long time passed.

    With a thought, he formed another spiritual energy ball in his palm.

    The new spiritual energy ball was still grayish-brown, with shadows shing about in it.

    During the process, he could sense with great rity that, as soon as a few wisps of ripping power from the gray mist were channeled down from the air into the spiritual energy ball in his palm, the spiritual energy ball grew unstable, as if it had been infused with terror.

    With a fling of his hand, the spiritual energy ball shot out of his hand and exploded, forming a field of ripping power before him, which seemed as if could rip all living beings into shreds.

    <i>¡°The gray mist seems to have been somehow formed by all sorts of energies of heaven and earth when the top continent exploded.¡± </i>Nie Tian¡¯s mind drifted away as he gazed up at the mysterious, gray mist that filled the entire sky.

    ording to Dong Li, anyone who had entered the gray mist, voluntarily or not, had nevere out again.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether the person was at the Greater Heaven stage, the Worldly realm, or even the Soul realm. Once they entered, there was noing back.

    The only reason they had passed it and set foot on the bottom continent was because the enormous vortex served like adder that connected to the bottom continent in a unfathomable way. <i>¡°How many secrets of this ce are still waiting to be uncovered?¡±</i>

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian wracked his mind, but still failed to figure out what had happened in this dimension after the final war between the intelligent beings from the top continent and the gigantic creatures from the bottom continent.

    After a while, he looked over his shoulder, and discovered that Dong Li was still sitting beside the gigantic ck phoenix¡¯s head. Wisps of dark spiritual power were flying back and forth between her and the eighth grade ck phoenix.

    Time flew, and another day passed...

    On this day, Nie Tian killed two other Heaven Pce Sect disciples.

    The two of them had probably been summoned to this location by Su Lin and Guan Ye. They had arrived soon after Yang Kan and Lu Jian left. Nie Tianunched lightning quick attacks and added their corpses to the ones around him.

    Sitting back in the midst the scattered corpses, Nie Tian calmed himself and recovered power with spiritual materials of different attributes.

    A few hourster, a group of people entered the detection range of Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes. Nie Tian examined them with rapt attention, but quickly resumed his cultivation.

    The neers were Qin Yan, Feng Ying, Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng, and Qian Xin from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    However, Dong Baijie wasn¡¯t with them.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t seen them since they had walked into the colorful mist.

    He remembered that more than a dozen people had entered the colorful mist before him and Dong Li.

    For some reason, there were only five of them who were traveling together now. He wondered what had happened to the others.

    The five of them scanned their surroundings with their psychic awarenesses as they marched through the rubble-strewn area. It wasn¡¯t very long before they found their way to Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    At first, they moved stealthily, doing their utmost to hide their traces.

    However, as they got closer and discovered that it was Nie Tian, they no longer hid, and dashed towards him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Qin Yan eximed, shock filling her gracefully beautiful face.

    The other four were also deeply shaken after seeing Nie Tian sitting in the midst of more than a dozen scattered corpses.

    The corpses were dressed in different sects¡¯ garments and mangled to different degrees. Clearly, they were from different sects. They gasped with astonishment as they discovered Guan Ye from the Heaven Pce Sect among the dead.

    For a moment, they wentpletely nk, wondering what had happened here.

    Momentster, Gu Haofeng snapped out of his daze, and with a sarcasticugh, he said, ¡°You¡¯re quite lucky.¡±

    He assumed that people from different forces had engaged in a chaotic battle in this ce.

    Nie Tian just happened to be the lucky survivor.

    After hearing Gu Haofeng¡¯s words, the other four realized what he meant, and thought his spection might be very close to what had happened.

    Nie Tian, however, wasn¡¯t interested in exining. He opened his eyes and took a nce at them before resuming his cultivation.

    ¡°Look at that huge ck phoenix!¡± Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect measured the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse with his eyes before his gazended on Dong Li, who was sitting by the ck phoenix¡¯s head, and said with an envious expression, ¡°This ck phoenix must be of a very high grade. After absorbing its residual power, Dong Li will definitely gain a strong boost in her strength and cultivation. I guess I was wrong... Dong Li is the truly lucky one.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s attention quickly fell on the ck phoenix and Dong Li, who they envied very much.

    Qin Yan took a circle around the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, and discovered the formation of tree branches in the vicinity. Quickly, she realized that Nie Tian was using the tree branches he had obtained from the floating continent to protect Dong Li.

    She walked back to Nie Tian¡¯s side, took a nce at the corpses on the ground, and said, ¡°What happened here?¡±

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Nie Tian responded coldly, not even looking up at her.

    At this moment, Gu Haofeng said with a grim face, ¡°Others may find their way to this ce too. Let¡¯s regroup here and move out again after Dong Li is finished.¡±

    ¡°Battles await if we choose to stay,¡± Cao Qiushui said with a very grim face. ¡°We¡¯ve already lost too many people in this damned ce. We might be the only ones from the Realm of a Hundred Battles who are still alive now. But since different sects have lost people fighting for this ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll just give up.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone fell silent, their faces grim.

    From the look of it, this recent period of time hadn¡¯t been easy for them, and they had probably suffered great losses.

    Otherwise, these youngsters wouldn¡¯t have been so worried and grim after seeing the eighth grade ck phoenix.

    Something must have happened that had hurt their confidence in their strength.

    Sitting in silence, Nie Tian took out another spirit stone and started absorbing its spiritual power.

    He closed his eyes, and was apparently not in the mood to talk. The others were discouraged by his attitude and gave up on the idea of asking about the situation. Instead, they sat down in a circle and started chatting with each other.

    From their conversation, Nie Tian soon learned that, aftering to this continent, they had encountered people from the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Heaven Pce Sect. Fights had broken out over precious spiritual materials, during which they had lost many people.

    Fortunately, the few leaders had gotten in contact with each other via Sound Stones and joined up.

    However, many of those who hade with them had been killed in battle.

    After some time, Nie Tian saw through his Heaven Eyes that Dong Li had stopped absorbing power from the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Her ck phoenix beast spirit had also surfaced from the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse and slowly flew back into Dong Li, dragging glorious light with it as it did.

    As soon as her beast spirit returned to her, Dong Li¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    After ncing over the crowd and the corpses scattered around, she seemed somewhat relieved, and then once again closed her eyes.

    Terrifyingly intense energy fluctuations suddenly exploded from within her and spread into her surroundings. She took out a number of spirit jades, and with a deep breath, started her advancement to thete Greater Heaven stage.

    The five people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles mored over the incredible fortune Dong Li had so luckily seized, envy filling their faces.

    ¡°Dong Li is going to make a breakthrough!¡±

    ¡°That ck phoenix¡¯s corpse must have provided her with great help. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been ready for a breakthrough in cultivation right after refining its power!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s so lucky!¡±

    ...

    A few hourster, Xuan Ke came back with six other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples.

    By the time they paced to Nie Tian, Nie Tian had already fully recovered his spiritual power. His eyes snapped open as he gazed coldly at him and asked, ¡°Changed your mind, have you?¡±

    Xuan Ke had left with three subordinates, but now he had returned with three more, one of which was at thete Greater Heaven stage, the same stage as Xuan Ke, and the others at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Nie Tian assumed that, now that Xuan Ke had gathered enough people, he hade back for the ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Xuan Ke shook his head and said, ¡°I gave you my word that we won¡¯t want anything to do with that eighth grade ck phoenix anymore.¡±

    Zhao Leughed somewhat unnaturally as he said with a surprisingly ttering attitude, ¡°Well, we ran into Yang Kan and Lu Jian on our way back here. How can we still dare to have such a thought after learning what you¡¯ve done here?¡±

    Wang Rong nodded as she chimed in, bitterness filling the corner of her mouth, ¡°You¡¯ve killed so many people, including Guan Ye. You even scared Yang Kan away. We definitely will live by our pact.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯vee back to you because of something else,¡± Luo Xue exined.

    After hearing their words, the five from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were bbergasted, as if they had been struck by lightning.

    They all turned to stare nkly at Nie Tian, their mouths opening slightly, as if they wanted to say something, yet lost their words.

    No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t picture Nie Tian killing all these Qi warriors.

    No one at his cultivation stage should possess such battle prowess. Some of the dead were even at higher stages than him!

    How was this possible!?

 Chapter 539: You Have Misunderstood...

    The five from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had also seen that Nie Tian had entered the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    But even so, it was very unlikely that he would possess battle prowess so unbelievably high that it allowed him to kill more than ten Qi warriors who were also at the Greater Heaven stage.

    Not to mention that Guan Ye was among the ones who had died at his hands.

    Gu Haofeng, Qin Yan, and the others had all thought Nie Tian hade at a perfect time when everyone, or at least most of them, had died from a chaotic battle among different groups. Nie Tian just happened to be the lucky survivor.

    None of them had believed that Nie Tian possessed such terrifying battle prowess.

    As Xuan Ke and the other Ice Pavilion Sect members had told the truth, Qin Yan and the other four all fixed their bewildered gazes on Nie Tian,plicated expressions on their faces.

    Even Gu Haofeng, who had always viewed Nie Tian as an eyesore, lost his words and started wondering whether he should keep treating Nie Tian as an adversary like he always had.

    Nie Tian¡¯s brow furrowed. ¡°So why are you back?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve found some mineral veins,¡± Xuan Ke said with a grim expression. ¡°I suppose they¡¯re veins of spirit stones, but there might also be spirit jades or even small amounts of spirit crystals in them. However, we saw people from other sects roaming around that area. I guess they¡¯ve also discovered the veins.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t going to be easy to take and hold those veins with just the people I have, so...¡±

    Qin Yan immediately grew psyched. ¡°Veins of spirit stones! There might even be spirit jades and spirit crystals?¡±

    Xuan Ke nodded slowly. ¡°The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce is extremely rich, so it¡¯s very likely that veins of spirit stones here will contain spirit jades and spirit crystals.¡±

    Qin Yan quickly realized why Xuan Ke hade back. She pursed her lips into a smile as she pointed at Gu Haofeng, Cao Qiushui, and Qian Xin, and said smiling, ¡°You were worried that your strength wouldn¡¯t be enough, so you want to team up with us, right? Okay, tell me, how you propose to split the spoils?¡±

    Qian Xin and the others were also secretly psyched, intrigued expressions appearing on their faces.

    One spirit jade was worth a hundred spirit stones, and one spirit crystal was worth a hundred spirit jades.

    Spirit jades were the main source of spiritual power that Profound realm and Soul realm Qi warriors used to practice cultivation and recover strength. Spirit crystals, however, were even rarer. Normally, they were only used by peak Qi warriors at the three domains to umte and recover strength.

    Even spirit jades weren¡¯t easy to find in the Domain of the Falling Stars, much less spirit crystals.

    The appeal of the veins that potentially contained spirit jades and spirit crystals wasn¡¯t any less than that of the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.

    Now that Dong Li had already taken the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, all they could do was envy her, but now that they had heard about these veins where there might be spirit jades and spirit crystals, they instantly grew excited, hoping to take a share.

    To Qin Yan¡¯s surprise, after she asked about how the spoils would be divided, the seven disciples of the Ice Pavilion Sect fell silent, their expressions strange.

    Qin Yan shrewdly discovered the anomaly. Her charming eyebrows furrowed as she asked, ¡°What? If you want us to help you, you¡¯ll have to split the spoils with us. That¡¯s only fair, right?¡±

    After a moment of awkward silence, Xuan Ke said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ve misunderstood us, Miss Qin.¡±

    Qin Yan was confused. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We do need assistance,¡± Xuan Ke said with an expressionless face, ¡°but we... aren¡¯t here to ask you to join us.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Qin Yan still didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Let me put it this way then.¡± Xuan Ke decided to be straightforward. ¡°We just want Nie Tian to join us in this operation. With him to help us, we will have enough strength to take those veins. We¡¯re willing to offer him forty percent of the spoils from this operation as a reward for his contribution.¡±

    With a very sincere expression, he turned to look at Nie Tian. ¡°You¡¯ll be getting forty percent of the spoils, as long as you agree to help us take those veins, and we¡¯ll take sixty percent. What do you say?¡±

    As soon as Xuan Ke said these words, an uproar broke out among the five from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    They all felt deeply insulted.

    They had expected that Xuan Ke had told them about the veins because he had intended to ask the five of them to join his team, and that was why every one of them had shown strong interest in the matter.

    However, Xuan Ke had actuallye to ask Nie Tian to join them, no one else. Even when Qin Yan and the others had offered to be a part of the operation, they still only wanted Nie Tian.

    Furthermore, as long as Nie Tian agreed to help them, they would be willing to give him forty percent of the spoils, while the seven of them would only get sixty percent. Was Nie Tian really that crucial to the sess of their operation?!

    After learning the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s actual intentions, Qin Yan¡¯s face fell, and the same went for the other four.

    Even though they felt deeply insulted, they nced over the seven Ice Pavilion Sect disciples, and after a silent assessment of the situation, realized that they had better swallow this one.

    ¡°Forty percent of the spoils...¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°That¡¯s indeed a very tempting offer. But right now, Dong Li needs my protection, I fear that...¡±

    Zhao Le jumped in and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about Miss Dong¡¯s safety, Brother Nie. The word of you killing Guan Ye and many Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect disciples, as well as you forcing Yang Kan and Lu Jian to leave, will soon spread. People will know that you¡¯re here, guarding her.

    ¡°So no one will dare toe and try to take that eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse from you.

    ¡°Not to mention that Miss Dong has already drained the ck phoenix of all of its residual power. All she¡¯s doing now is finishing the breakthrough process. She won¡¯t be in danger.

    ¡°Besides, now her friends from the Realm of a Hundred Battles are here.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that their battle prowess won¡¯t beparable to yours. But those who have witnessed your unmatched battle prowess probably won¡¯t dare toe back again, so you have nothing to worry about.¡±

    Wang Rong, Luo Xue, and the other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples nodded, supporting his statement.

    Qin Yan and Gu Haofeng, however, looked very grim after hearing his insistent invitation.

    Clearly, Zhao Le had implied that, even with the five of thembined, they wouldn¡¯t match Nie Tian¡¯s strength.

    Meanwhile, by killing so many people, Nie Tian had already shocked and discouraged those who harbored desires for the eighth grade ck phoenix.

    Their overstatement of Nie Tian and understatement of those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles made Qin Yan and the others very indignant.

    Nie Tian looked over his shoulder, and discovered that Dong Li was still in the middle of her breakthrough. To his surprise, she slowly opened her eyes and nodded at him so slightly that it was almost unnoticeable, telling him to take the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s offer and go with them.

    Immediately afterwards, she closed her eyes and refocused on her breakthrough.

    Then, after a moment of pondering, Nie Tian nodded slowly and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    He had a feeling that Dong Li wasn¡¯t far from finishing her breakthrough into thete Greater Heaven stage.

    With Qin Yan and the other four here to protect her, he assumed that she would probably be safe.

    Furthermore, he decided to leave one of his Heaven Eyes here with her, so that he would be able to keep an eye on her while he was gone. In case anything should happen to her, he would rush back with long-range Starshifts.

    He turned to look at Qian Xin. ¡°Brother Qian, would you please take care of Dong Li for a day or two before Ie back?¡±

    Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect was probably the only one among the five from the Realm of a Hundred Battles who Nie Tian had a positive opinion of. After all, Qian Xin had stood up for him once.

    With a serious expression, Qian Xin said, ¡°We came as a team. It¡¯s only right that we keep her safe. You can rest assured about that!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t let anything happen to Li,¡± Gu Haofeng chimed in with a cold tone.

    Nie Tian could tell that, even though Gu Haofeng had never liked him, his feelings towards Dong Li were real. Therefore, Nie Tian believed that he would do everything within his power to ensure Dong Li¡¯s sessful breakthrough.

    ¡°Thank you for doing this.¡± Then, with a faint smile, Nie Tian turned look at Xuan Ke and said, ¡°Okay, you may lead the way now.¡±

    ¡°Follow me.¡± Xuan Ke turned around and walked away.

    The other six Ice Pavilion Sect disciples followed along.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian raised his hand in the air, and the seventy-two translucent and sparkling tree branches morphed into streaks of glorious green light and disappeared into his ring of holding.

    The reason why he withdrew the tree branches was because he wasn¡¯t sure whether Dong Li would be able toe out of the ward by herself after she was finished with her breakthrough.

    If she couldn¡¯t get out, she and everyone else would have to wait for his return.

    Moreover, with Qian Xin the others here to protect her, she probably wouldn¡¯t need the formation of tree branches to protect her anymore.

    With the tree branches back in his ring of holding, his battle prowess was further enhanced, since they could be used to form defenses as well asunch attacks.

    Therefore, with an easy mind, he marched away after the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples.

 Chapter 540: Island

    The seven Ice Pavilion Sect disciples seemed to be leading Nie Tian around the t-topped mountain peak.

    Soon, Nie Tian discovered that, due to the long distance, his connection with the Heaven Eye he had left with Dong Li started to grow weak and flickering.

    At first, he was somewhat worried to leave Dong Li with Qian Xin and the others, and thus kept a close watch on her through that Heaven Eye as he went farther and farther.

    Soon, he found that after he left, those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles stayed by Dong Li¡¯s side and took on the responsibility of protecting her, just as they had promised.

    Furthermore, as the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples had said, no one else came after the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse again.

    Meanwhile, he was able to vaguely sense Dong Li¡¯s direction through his Sound Stone.

    Thus, he supposed that, after Dong Li had finished her breakthrough into thete Greater Heaven stage, he would probably be able to stay in touch with her via his Sound Stone.

    Gradually, he put his heart at ease.

    As they marched at a fast pace, Zhao Le and the other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples constantly talked to him in a respectful and obsequious way.

    The broken mountain peak took up a very vast area. It took them nearly four hours to circle around it.

    After arriving behind the mountain peak, from within his ring of holding, Xuan Ke summoned an fascinating air-transportation spiritual tool that seemed to be made of nothing but ice.

    Sparkling and crystal-clear, the air-transportation spiritual tool was wreathed in a frosty aura. However, as Xuan Ke jumped on board and cast spells to activate it, it seemed to be affected by some sort of maic field, and wouldn¡¯t activate.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Xuan Ke said, ¡°There¡¯s something strange about this ce. I still can¡¯t seem to activate my air-transportation spiritual tool.¡±

    From the look of it, this wasn¡¯t the first time he had made an attempt to travel in his air-transportation spiritual tool, and all of his previous attempts seemed to have failed as well.

    Since they couldn¡¯t use their air-transportation spiritual tool, the speed at which they traveled would be rather limited. Xuan Ke put his frosty air-transportation spiritual tool away, looked over his shoulder at Nie Tian, and said, ¡°The veins I told you about are ahead of us, where those colossal rocks are. They belonged to the upper half of the severed mountain peak. Apparently, when the mountain peak was severed by some extremely powerful tool, the upper half exploded, revealing the part near the top where there were veins of spiritual materials.¡±

    Then, he pointed at the barrennd before them. ¡°See all theserge rocks? They probably all used to be part of the mountain peak. There¡¯s a colossal and oddly-shaped rock ahead of us. I detected very intense spiritual energy fluctuations from with it.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly, but didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he secretly controlled his Heaven Eyes to fly towards the location Xuan Ke had just pointed out.

    With the help of his Heaven Eyes, he saw countless rocks of different sizes scattered on the dead, silent ground. Most of them were grayish-brown, and seemed ordinary.

    This area was much colder and more barren than the area on the other side of the mountain peak, where Dong Li and the others were.

    Then, as Nie Tian spread out his Heaven Eyes to cover arger area, he failed to detect any signs of life or locate the special rock Xuan Ke had referred to.

    He realized that it might be in a location farther ahead of them.

    They might still have to travel ahead for some time before that special rock would enter the detection range of his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°How long has it been since you set foot on this continent, Nie Tian?¡± Xuan Ke asked suddenly.

    Caught by surprise, Nie Tian pondered a moment before answering, ¡°Not very long.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been here for about two months already. Our people were scattered in different locations at first, so we know this continent... fairly well.¡± Xuan Ke seemed cautious with the words he used, his expression serious. ¡°ording to what we¡¯ve learned, this continent, where us Greater Heaven stage cultivators have been led to, is a vast continent that¡¯s surrounded by a sea.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Surrounded by a sea?!¡±

    Xuan Ke nodded. ¡°A few of our people have reached ces where thend ends, and ck sea water filled their view. It seems that we¡¯re on a giant ind. From one of the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples I killed, we learned that there another ind that¡¯s not very far from ours, since he said he was able to see it standing on the coast.

    ¡°If we go straight ahead, we¡¯ll reach the coast. Perhaps from there, we¡¯ll be able to see that vast ind.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that, since we can¡¯t use our air-transportation spiritual tool, we won¡¯t be able to cross the sea, no matter how narrow it might be. Plus, no one knows what lies beyond the sea, on those neighboring inds.

    ¡°Perhaps we¡¯ll find Worldly realm or Profound realm experts there if we go there.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it may not be a bad thing that we can¡¯t use our air-transportation spiritual tools.¡±

    While leading the way, Xuan Ke exined their discoveries of the continent they were on to Nie Tian. As he did, the other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples asionally chimed in, gradually lifting the veil and giving Nie Tian a fairlyprehensive understanding of the continent.

    He learned that they were on a vast ind surrounded by a ck sea, along with other Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors.

    Since not a single Worldly realm or Profound realm expert was on this ind, they might be on that nearby ind, or some others in this boundless ck sea.

    ¡°A vast ind...?¡± Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian muttered as he followed Xuan Ke and the others forward.

    As he did, his Heaven Eyes, which he had scattered in the sky around him, pressed forward.

    After an unknown period of time, through the Heaven Eye that was at the forefront, he finally caught sight of the colossal rock Xuan Ke had told him about.

    More than half of it seemed to be buried underground, with only a small portion showing above the ground.

    Under the gray sky, the pale-gray rock seemed to be emanating faint, white light, along with noticeable spiritual power fluctuations.

    A handful of dead Qi warriors were lying disorderly in the rubble around the veryrge, pale-gray rock.

    From the way they were dressed, they seemed to be from the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Thunder Mountain Sect. They had probably died during a fierce fight over the rock.

    At this moment, nine Qi warriors were standing by the pale-gray rock, all of whom were wearing garments that had the Yin Sect¡¯s and Yang Sect¡¯s sigils on them.

    Apparently, they were from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    After seeing that the final winners of the fight over that rock were actually people from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, Nie Tian¡¯s face gradually fell.

    Before he had entered this dimension via the spatial rift upied by the Tool Sect, he had learned that many sects, including the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect, had been fighting over the onest unimed spatial rift.

    Earlier, when he had encountered people from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect, he had thought that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had lost the battle over thest spatial rift.

    Thus, he had never expected to see them there.

    He had very positive feelings towards the sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. After he had sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the Heaven Pce Sect had demanded that he return to the Heaven Pce Sect, but the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect together had helped him through the crisis.

    Xing Huanyue from the Yin Sect and Li Muyang from the Yang Sect had both treated him well.

    Had Xuan Ke asked him to join them because they wanted him to help them deal with the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect?

    With this question in mind, he suddenly came to a stop. Eyebrows furrowed, he asked Xuan Ke, ¡°Don¡¯t you know about my rtionship with the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect?¡±

    Xuan Ke and the other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples also stopped. Frowning, Xuan Ke said, ¡°Umm, yeah, a bit.¡±

    ¡°If you know, then why did you ask me toe to help you?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    A confused expression stretched across Xuan Ke¡¯s face. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Disciples of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect are now gathered by the rock you told me about.¡± Nie Tian was very displeased.

    Xuan Ke went nk for a while before snapping out of his bewilderment and saying, ¡°We didn¡¯t see any Yin Sect or Yang Sect disciplesst time we were there, only a handful of Heaven Expanse Sect, Thunder Mountain Sect, and Poison Sect disciples.¡±

    ¡°Those people you saw have already been killed by people from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.¡± Nie Tian said, his face cold.

    Xuan Ke looked deeply at him before his eyes suddenly shone with frosty light. ¡°Wait! Can you see the situation over there?!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the eyes of all the other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples suddenly lit up.

    They had been close to the rock before, and thus knew that they were still a significant distance from it. Nie Tian had been marching with them, yet he was able to tell that members of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect were gathered by the rock, and that they had already killed the people they had previously seen roaming that area.

    Nie Tian was clearly only at the middle Greater Heaven stage.

    Even Worldly realm experts might not be able to learn the situation by reflecting a detailed scene of everything in their minds from such a great distance. How was he able to do it?

    All of a sudden, their respect for Nie Tian was raised to whole new level.

    Also at this moment, while members of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect cut therge, pale-gray rock with sharp spiritual tools, some mechanism seemed to be triggered, and the rock suddenly started to shine with blindingly bright light, and thrum with peculiar energy fluctuations.

    In the next moment, intense life force burst forth from within the pale-gray rock.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°We need to get there as quickly as possible! I think you were wrong about what¡¯s in that rock!¡±

 Chapter 541: Stonemen

    The huge, pale-gray rock seemed as if it had plunged into the earth from the depths of the void, leaving only a third of it aboveground.

    Standing by the rock, Ye Qin from the Yin Sect and Chen Hao from the Yang Sect were waving their hands, directing their fellow disciples to cut the rock open to search for the veins of spiritual materials within it.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    As broken pieces kept rolling down the rock, beams of blindingly bright spiritual light suddenly shot out of the cracks in the stone.

    At the same time, intense spatial energy fluctuations spread out from within the rock, which astonished the Greater Heaven Qi warriors from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.

    Immediately afterwards, an extremely rich life force was born within the rock, which seemed as if it could explode at any moment.

    Bewildered, all of the Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples froze.

    CRACK!

    A surge of raging energy suddenly burst forth from within the rock, causing the huge rock to break up and explode.

    As it did, a pentagonal, tripleyer spell formation that looked like a teleportation portal emerged from the flying rubble and dust.

    Extremely pure spirit stones wereid on the bottom deck of the spell formation, spirit jades filled the middle deck, and the top deck was paved with Space Spirit Jades, which were essential materials to build teleportation portals.

    After emerging from the exploded rock, the teleportation portal floated quietly in the air, where it continued to emanate dazzling spiritual light, along with intense spatial energy fluctuations.

    Before long, the blurry shapes of mysterious, tall beings appeared in the middle of the topyer of the spell formation, and rapidly grew clearer and clearer.

    Chen Hao from the Yang Sect was the first to realize what was going on. He snapped out of his bewilderment and eximed, ¡°This is not some vein of spiritual materials, but one of the outsider teleportation portals! Destroy it!¡±

    In a split second, his eyes seemed to turn into two burning suns.

    One Sunfire Pearl after another, which were filled with concentrated me power from the sun, shot towards the outsider¡¯s teleportation portal, along with fierce, zing auras.

    BANG! BANG!

    The Sunfire Pearls exploded, filling the air with mes, which soon engulfed the whole teleportation portal.

    However, the blurry shapes within it seemed unaffected, and continued to grow clearer with every passing second. Not only that, but the tallest of them slowly walked out of the spell formation to the edge of the portal.

    Upon seeing this, the other Yin Sect and Yang Sect Qi warriors exerted their means to bombard the mysterious teleportation portal using their most exquisite incantations and most advanced spiritual tools.

    However, all of their attacks were redirected by intense spatial fluctuations and deviated from their target before they could cause a shred of damage to the teleportation portal.

    The teleportation portal continued to float in the air, spinning slowly and operating perfectly.

    Soon, the shape of the tall being that was the first to step out of the teleportation portal finally finished teleporting from some unknown realm and stood before the crowd.

    It was a male outsider that was nearly two meters tall, iparably muscr, and had stony, grayish-brown skin.

    After he saw the Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples, confusion appeared in the depths of his pupils, which were the same color as his skin. Then, in anguage no one understood, he muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s a bunch of humans...¡±

    With these words, he jumped out of the portal andnded heavily on the ground.

    As he wove his hands in the air, numerous rocks that were scattered in the vicinity seemed to answer the summons of his unique bloodline power, and became his weapons.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Rocks that weighed tons were channeled into the air, where they mmed into the spiritual tools of the Yin Sect and Yang Sect Qi warriors¡¯.

    After being bombarded byrge rocks, their spiritual tools suddenly became uncontroble and fell from the air like raindrops.

    As this happened, the seemingly ancient and dpidated teleportation portal floating behind the outsider kept working. More and more tall figures gradually became recognizable as they finished their teleportation to this realm.

    Just like the first one to arrive, all of the new arrivals also had rocky, solid skin.

    Even though they didn¡¯t wear any spiritual armor, their bodies were the shield they could use to contend against their enemies.

    Like rock statues, they leapt out of the teleportation portal one after another andnded heavily on the ground. The strong impact even created noticeable cracks on the solid ground as they did.

    Each and every one of them gazed up into the sky and cheered in theirnguage, excitement and joy brimming their eyes.

    ¡°Our ancestralnd... We¡¯re finally back!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that we¡¯ve finallye back to our ancestralnd after all these years!¡±

    All of them were gazing up into the misty, gray sky, as if the vast continent above that boundless gray mist used to be their beloved homnd until it had been destroyed thousands of years ago.

    After a brief moment of cheering, they did their best to calm themselves, and one after another, theyid their eyes on the Qi warriors from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.

    Without saying a word, they cast their unique bloodline talent, which allowed them to manipte the surrounding rocks.

    Therge rocks that were everywhere in this ce instantly became their deadly weapons. They flew up into the sky and started raining on the Greater Heaven stage members of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.

    Upon seeing therge rocks rising up into the air in a way as if they werepletely defying gravity, the Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples, who knew nothing about Stonemen, all stood aghast.

    After snapping out of their daze, they unleashed their most powerful incantations to manipte all kinds of spiritual tools to avoid the bombarding rocks andunch attacks at the Stonemen.

    However, the Stonemen possessed bodies that were as tough as stones. As the Yang Sect¡¯s zing sunfire and the Yin Sect¡¯s frosty moonlight shot into them, they seemedpletely unharmed.

    It seemed as if they were born immune to both me and water power.

    Even when the Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples manipted their spiritual tools to ram into the Stonemen, they seemed barely affected, and were still able to move about freely.

    Only when they were hacked with very sharp des would it leave very shallow scratches on their stony bodies.

    Even still, those scratches were far from enough to inflict any noticeable pain on them. Their stone-solid skin wasn¡¯t even split open, and they didn¡¯t bleed a single drop of blood.

    However, they were able to infiltrate their profound bloodline power into the Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples as theyunched their secret magics.

    A female disciple of the Yin Sect was only fighting one of the Stonemen at close quarters for just a few seconds before feeling her limbs beginning to stiffen. Even her skin started to turn pale-gray and stony.

    In no more than ten seconds, that young woman from the Yin Sect started to have great difficulty moving her arms and legs. It was as if her meridians had been clogged, stopping her from summoning spiritual power. Then, she was killed with one quick strike.

    Chen Hao from the Yang Sect and Ye Qin from the Yin Sect were also engaged in fierce battles with Stonemen.

    They gasped at the scene, and immediately realized that these outsiders, who they knew nothing about, were actually able to unleash a flesh aura that carried their unique bloodline power.

    Once the flesh aura infiltrated into their human bodies, their bodily functions would instantly bepromised, and they would petrify at an rming rate.

    As their bodies petrified, their meridians would quickly close up, and they wouldn¡¯t be able to channel spiritual power, which would result in them quickly losing their battle prowess.

    When facing these outsiders, who possessed raging flesh power and life force, the frail human Qi warriors were nothing more thanmbs waiting to be butchered.

    BOOM!

    Another middle Greater Heaven stage Yang Sect disciple was struck in the chest by one of the Stonemen.

    The man¡¯s rib cage was instantly shattered. Blood spilling from his mouth, the man died instantly.

    Ye Qin noticed the unfavorable situation and thus called out, ¡°Chen Hao! These outsiders with an unknown origin are too powerful! Since there aren¡¯t any veins of spiritual materials here, we might as well leave!¡±

    Chen Hao from the Yang Sect jerked his head around.

    SHEW!

    Just as he was about to shout out the order to retreat, a ball of blinding starlight appeared before him out of thin air. As the light dimmed, a man emerged. It was Nie Tian.

    As soon as he did, he charged towards one of the Stonemen, and without any hesitation, threw a punch towards the Stoneman¡¯s face.

    With a nasty grin, the Stoneman syed his hand and extended it towards Nie Tian¡¯s iing fist without even thinking about it.

    His grayish-brown hand was asrge as a pan. Intense flesh power surged within it as he unleashed a profound bloodline magic, hoping to infiltrate his unique bloodline power into Nie Tian through the contact.

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph as he drove his fist forward with great force, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    He converged wisps of flesh power on his fist, and as his fist bombarded the Stoneman¡¯s palm, they instantly burst forth, giving rise to a thunderous sound.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    Wisps of flesh power were sent into the Stoneman¡¯s body upon contact. At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s devastating bloodline talent was instantly activated.

    Meanwhile, as the Stoneman¡¯s flesh aura tried to enter Nie Tian¡¯s body, it was instantly ripped to shreds by Nie Tian¡¯s raging flesh power.

    The Stoneman that was broad and strong like a mountain stumbled backwards upon the terrifying impact.

    Eyes filled with disbelief and confusion, he stared at Nie Tian, who didn¡¯t back up a bit, as if he had never expected that a human could possess such strong flesh power.

    However, in the next moment, he threw his head back and roared into the sky, his face growing distorted.

    As he did, he actually shrank at a noticeable rate, as if his rich internal flesh power was being rapidly drained, like a pool being drained of water.

    Before he could cry out to the others, Nie Tian approached him with a swift lunge and drove the me Star into his heart.

    ¡°I am Nie Tian! Members of the Ice Pavilion Sect are going to arrive soon! Let¡¯s work together and kill these outsiders!¡±

 Chapter 542: Formidable Outsider Enemies

    As Nie Tian drove his me Star into the Stoneman¡¯s chest, he felt unprecedented resistance from his stony skin and muscle. Fortunately, he was being rapidly drained of flesh power, which stopped him from summoning any effective defenses. Thus, the me Star went through his heart eventually.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The Stoneman let out onest agonized scream, and died.

    One wisp of engorged flesh power after another followed the me Star back to Nie Tian¡¯s body after draining everyst bit of the Stoneman¡¯s flesh power.

    Nie Tian gasped slightly as he sensed the wisps of extremely rich flesh power that came pouring back into him, along with thriving life force.

    At this moment, the green aura coiled up in his heart was still dormant.

    The green aura was branded with the endless profound mysteries of bloodline power. Even though it was dormant, Nie Tian was able to use any of his awakened bloodline talents.

    As he had unleashed the Life Drain earlier, he hadn¡¯t felt any obstructions or anomalies.

    Meanwhile, the dormant green aura didn¡¯t try to absorb the rich flesh power Nie Tian had taken from the Stoneman. Therefore, the rich flesh power scattered and dispersed into every corner of his body, infusing every bone and every muscle with great power and vigor, and quietly tempering his whole body.

    The flesh power he had consumed during his battle against the Stoneman was instantly restored.

    The extra flesh power kept nourishing his body, making him feel full of vigor.

    Then, as he slowly pulled his me Star out of the Stoneman¡¯s chest, he discovered to his surprise that, after his Life Drain was done with him, the originally bulky outsider had actually shrunk significantly.

    He could no longer detect a shred of flesh power from his shriveled corpse, as if even his blood had been drainedpletely.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re Nie Tian from the Realm of me Heaven?!¡±

    Ye Qin from the Yin Sect and Chen Hao from the Yang Sect eximed almost simultaneously.

    The two of them were the Yin Sect¡¯s and the Yang Sect¡¯s most valued core disciples. Their sects had poured many cultivation resources into them. However, they hadn¡¯t been there when Nie Tian had sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations with his three fragmentary star marks.

    Back then, the Soul realm Xing Huanyue and Li Muyang were there to lead their teams of Profound realm and Worldly realm experts.

    Even though Ye Qin and Chen Hao were core disciples, since their cultivation bases had been too low to make a difference, they hadn¡¯t been allowed to join the operation.

    None of the other Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples had witnessed the sealing process, or seen Nie Tian in person.

    Even so, Nie Tian¡¯s name was known to every man and woman in the sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    They all knew that if Nie Tian hadn¡¯te and sealed that spatial rift, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations would most likely have been flooded by invading Demons.

    Because of this, they had developed special feelings for Nie Tian. The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had even risked going to war with the Heaven Pce Sect just to support Nie Tian¡¯s decision.

    Now that they had heard the neer was Nie Tian, they were both shocked and overjoyed.

    Then, after seeing that Nie Tian had so quickly killed a Stoneman and learning that people from the Ice Pavilion Sect were on their way here, they all felt, to a great extent, relieved.

    The tallest Stoneman, who seemed to be the leader, gazed coldly at Nie Tian and asked in broken humannguage, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    He was also rather shocked to see that Nie Tian was able to kill one of his nsmen within such a short time.

    ¡°Your enemy. Let¡¯s just leave it at that.¡± Then, with a ferocious grin, Nie Tian swung his me Star in the air, sending a de light that was more than ten meters long flying directly towards the Stoneman leader. Glorious sparks of starlight could be seen in the long streak of de light.

    The Stoneman gasped with astonishment upon seeing the sparkling starlight. ¡°Sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    It seemed as if not only had he heard of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s awe-inspiring reputation, but he had personally witnessed the mighty strength of sessors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Therefore, the mere sight of the dazzling starlight rattled him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Ye Qin from the Yin Sect eximed. ¡°Help me kill him! He¡¯s the leader!¡±

    Ye Qin was a young woman of graceful beauty. She was dressed in a in, silver-white robe, which was embroidered with moons and flowers at the cuffs. With every move she made, she filled her surroundings with chilly moonlight.

    As she formed an elegant hand seal, a glowing, crescent-moon-shaped de that was about a meter long suddenly appeared in the air, and started attacking the Stoneman leader¡¯s vital parts repeatedly, such as his neck and eyes.

    Ye Qin floated about in the air as lightly as a feather, always keeping a safe distance from the Stoneman leader.

    She seemed to know that her spiritual tool and the profound moon power within it wouldn¡¯t be able to prate the Stoneman¡¯s stony, thick skin, and that fighting him at close quarters would put her in danger. Therefore, she attacked him from a safe distance, and she only aimed at his eyes, neck, and parts that weren¡¯t protected by his armor-like skin.

    ¡°Happy to!¡± Nie Tian let out a wildugh as his de light flew closer and closer to the Stoneman leader.

    The de light that was more than ten meters long was a mixture of zing me power, wisps of green wood power, and sparks of mysterious star power.

    The Stoneman let out an explosive roar and eximed in broken humannguage, ¡°You¡¯re courting death! Bloodline magic: Rock Dance!¡±

    Channeled by his bloodline magic, onerge rock after another rose into the air, where they floated and spun,pletely defying gravity.

    In a split second, dozens of floating rocks formed a spell formation in between him and Nie Tian.

    Then, as Nie Tian¡¯s de light arrived, the rock formation instantly morphed into a stone mountain that was about a hundred meters high.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Even after making contact with the stone mountain, the sharp and forceful de light continued to inch forward, slowly reducing it to falling broken rocks.

    As the stone mountain eventually crumbled, the forceful strike Nie Tian hadunched with the me Star dissipated.

    However, the broken, small rocks didn¡¯t fall to the ground, but instead halted right before hitting the ground.

    With a disdainful snort, the tall Stoneman leader bellowed in humannguage, ¡°Bloodline magic: Rubble Storm!¡±

    Thousands of small rocks that were the size of fists suddenly shot up into the air, filling the sky and blocking the sun, and then stormed down towards Nie Tian like an intense meteor shower.

    The whistling sounds created by the falling rocks were so sharp that they hurt Nie Tian¡¯s eardrums.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian summoned his different types of power and formed a chaotic maic field around him.

    As soon as the chaotic maic field was established, the rocks that fell into it slowed down and stopped traveling in a straight line, as if they were being pulled back by invisible hands.

    As they finally fell on Nie Tian, Nie Tian simply took them on with his fleshy body, not moving in the slightest.

    Momentster, all of the rocks fell from the sky, forming a pile of rocks that buried Nie Tian.

    However, with a few shakes of his shoulders, the rocks that had buried him rolled to the side, and he emerged from the pile of rocks.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Xuan Ke and the others from the Ice Pavilion Sect rushed to the site.

    Upon seeing the outsiders, they summoned their spiritual tools without even thinking and hastily joined the battle against the Stoneman.

    It was a verymon problem among humans that they would usually fight each other when they didn¡¯t have amon enemy.

    Whenever powerful outsider races didn¡¯t invade the Domain of the Falling Stars, internal conflicts would constantly break out between sects in different realms. These wars could easilyst years or even decades.

    However, once they learned that outsiders were going to invade them, like the time when the three spatial rifts had appeared, sects from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars would suddenly be surprisingly united.

    Zhao Shanling and the me God Sect had only started their operations in the Realm of Unbounded Destion after knowing that the three spatial rifts had been sealed and that they weren¡¯t facing any more external threats.

    It was the same situation now.

    Before the Stonemen had appeared, the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from all the major sects had fought each other to the death over precious materials.

    It was the appearance of the Stonemen that had turned the situation around, where all of the human Qi warriors united in fighting external enemies.

    ¡°Kill these outsiders!¡± Xuan Ke eximed, his expression as cold as a thousand-year-old piece of frigid ice. Exuding a frosty aura, he dashed to Ye Qin¡¯s aid.

    The other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples picked their own targets and joined the fight.

    Nie Tian, however, came to a stop after the strike with his me Star.

    As he nced across the battlefield, his eyes suddenlynded on the strange teleportation portal the Stonemen had used to teleport to this ce.

    At this moment, it was still slowly rotating in the air, indicating that it was still working perfectly.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. No longer paying any attention to the ongoing fights around him, he jumped directly towards the outsiders¡¯ teleportation portal in an attempt to destroy it.

    The exceptionally tall and burly Stoneman, who was handling Ye Qin and Xuan Ke simultaneously, was rmed the moment he discovered that Nie Tian was flying towards the teleportation portal. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

 Chapter 543: Potential Danger

    The pentagonal teleportation portal continued to spin slowly in the air.

    The threeyer teleportation portal constantly emanated beams of bright light, along with spatial energy fluctuations.

    On his way to the floating teleportation portal, Nie Tian unleashed a de light with his me Star in midair, which shot towards the topyer of the teleportation portal.

    The way he saw it, since the topyer was paved with Space Spirit Jades, it should be the most crucial part of the teleportation portal. As long as he could destroy thatyer, the whole teleportation portal would fall apart and lose all functionality.

    The outsiders they were now fighting seemed to only possess fourth grade bloodline power, which meant that they were nothing but small fry.

    If more powerful outsiders were to swarm into this ind after them, it would put the human Qi warriors on this ind in a very unfavorable situation.

    The burly Stoneman, who was fighting Xuan Ke and Ye Qin single-handedly, grew anxious and restless after seeing that Nie Tian was going to attack their teleportation portal.

    However, after Nie Tian unleashed his attack, the Stoneman suddenly settled down, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    BANG!

    The long de light Nie Tian had created with his me Star was suddenly stopped by a terrifying force before it could reach the topyer of the teleportation portal.

    As that happened, the teleportation portal stopped spinning.

    But in the next moment, ayer of watery, white aura spread out, forming a spherical ward around the whole teleportation portal.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that it was this originally-invisible ward the me Star¡¯s de light had hacked into.

    Met with a devastating force, the de light that was more than ten meters long shattered like broken ss, filling the air with glittering sparks.

    Afterwards, the counterforce from the white ward condensed into a beam of bright light that shot directly towards the me Star like a bolt of lightning.

    Raging energy poured into the me Star like an unstoppable flood, and then followed the me Star, spiraling into Nie Tian¡¯s arm. Hit by the strong blow, Nie Tian, who was still rising in the air, instantly fell towards the ground like a plummeting meteor.

    As he let out a muffled groan, a stream of blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth. Then, he examined himself with his psychic awareness, and discovered that countless pale-gray sparks were rampaging inside of him.

    Under the effect of the pale-gray sparks, his exceptionally strong body started to stiffen.

    He felt as if his meridians were being clogged, as his muscles seemed to be gradually petrifying. He found it increasingly hard to move his limbs.

    With some difficulty, Nie Tian turned his head around to look at the burly Stoneman, who was now chuckling viciously.

    He immediately realized that he had known that the pentagonal teleportation portal was protected by unique defenses all along.

    Knowing that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to breach the defenses, he had acted anxious to lure Nie Tian intounching an attack, hoping that Nie Tian would be bombarded to death by the counterforce of the teleportation portal.

    With a cold snort, Nie Tian thought to himself, <i>¡°These are some truly intelligent outsiders, far more intelligent than normal spirit beasts...¡±</i>

    In the meantime, he suspected whether it was the Stonemen before him that had forged this incredible teleportation portal, considering the profound power it possessed.

    With these thoughts in mind, hemunicated with the me Dragon Armor with his psychic awareness while stabilizing his injuries with his flesh power and wood power.

    Even though the pale-gray sparks inside of him carried the Stonemen¡¯s unique bloodline power, as he went all-out to heal himself, everyst pale-gray spark was soon expelled from his system.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding, the Blood Core at its chest like an erupting volcano, unleashing heaven-shaking and earth-shattering me power.

    The me Dragon Armor had already fully refined the earthme essence he had received from Zhen Hun back when they had been in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Later, during his battle against Yang Kan, the me Dragon Armor had absorbed copious amount of earthme essence and earthme crystal strings from Yang Kan¡¯s six fiery stone columns.

    After spending the recent period of time refining them, the me Dragon Armor had recovered to its peak, and started exuding torrential mes again.

    As soon as the me Dragon Armor flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding, it suddenly morphed into a fierce me dragon, which charged directly towards the teleportation portal with a might that could destroy the Heavens and extinguish the Earth.

    The pale-gray ward surrounding the pentagonal teleportation portal was instantly prated by the raging me dragon.

    BOOM!

    With a devastating force, the me dragon that was wreathed in zing mes rammed into the topyer of the teleportation portal.

    All of the Space Spirit Jades that filled the topyer were instantly shattered and reduced to flying crumbs.

    The burly Stoneman, who was still fighting with Ye Qin and Xuan Ke, let out a agonized roar as he saw the topyer of the teleportation portal being shattered by the me dragon.

    In the next moment, channeled by his bloodline magic, numerousrge rocks flew over from his surroundings, forming a wall of rocks before Ye Qin and Xuan Ke.

    Then, he stomped hard on the ground and bounced towards the floating teleportation portal.

    Meanwhile, the damaged teleportation portal suddenly descended, as if it were answering the Stoneman¡¯s summons.

    After leaping onto the dpidated teleportation portal, which only had twoyers left now, he sprayed out a mouthful of blood, which rapidly formed a bloody mist around the teleportation portal.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± He thundered in outsider¡¯snguage as he controlled the damaged teleportation portal to swoop across the battlefield, where the other Stonemen were still fighting their opponents.

    Faces filled with bitterness and anger, the Stonemen jumped onto the teleportation portal one after another.

    After picking up all of the surviving Stonemen, the teleportation portal steered clear of the me Dragon Armor and flew directly towards the coast.

    The Stoneman leader had believed that the defenses of the teleportation portal were something a Qi warrior like Nie Tian would never be able to breach. Not only that, but Nie Tian might even die or get seriously injured trying.

    He had never expected that Nie Tian had such a formidable spiritual tool like the me Dragon Armor at his disposal.

    Now that the me Dragon Armor had destroyed the topyer of the teleportation portal, it wouldn¡¯t be able to continue to teleport more Stonemen to this ind.

    With the men they now had, it would be very difficult for them to kill the people from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Ice Pavilion Sect.

    Therefore, upon realizing the unfavorable situation, he made his decision without any dy, and flew his men away with the teleportation portal before Nie Tian and the other human Qi warriors could react. Right before disappearing into the distance, he turned around to look at Nie Tian, and shouted in broken humannguage, ¡°You¡¯re all going to die, puny humans! Powerful experts of other races are arriving on a nearby ind. I¡¯m going to tell them about you lot, and we¡¯lle back to kill every one of you!¡±

    The teleportation portal quickly disappeared from the crowd¡¯s sight. Only Nie Tian was still able to see it sailing through the air at full speed with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he hastily called the me Dragon Armor back and chased after the Stonemen.

    All of the others were deeply shaken and looked iparably grim after hearing the Stoneman leader¡¯s words.

    But upon seeing that Nie Tian had sped off, they snapped out of their daze and quickly ran after him, shouting as they did.

    However, soon, Nie Tian came to a stop, where he watched the damaged teleportation portal fly over the ck sea towards a distant and vaguely visible ind.

    At this moment, he finally realized that Xuan Ke¡¯s assessment of this ce was urate. The ind they were on was indeed only one of many inds in this boundless ck sea.

    Since the Stonemen¡¯ teleportation portal had already flown over the sea, Nie Tian could only stop on the coast and sigh in frustration.

    Momentster, Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, Chen Hao, and the others arrived beside Nie Tian one after another, though none of them could do anything to stop the Stonemen either.

    After a moment of silent pondering, Xuan Ke summoned his air-transportation spiritual tool that was forged with ice. To his surprise, the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s special air-transportation spiritual tool floated before him.

    ¡°It seems that we can use air-transportation spiritual tools here...¡± Xuan Ke went nk briefly before his eyes suddenly blossomed with joy and excitement. ¡°This means we can fly across the sea and pursue them!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Ye Qin interrupted him, her moist and glittering lips curled in a bitter manner. ¡°Their teleportation portal travels at an extremely fast speed. I don¡¯t think your Ice Crystal Shuttle can catch up to it. Also, right before they left, that Stoneman said that there are powerful experts of other races on the nearby inds.

    ¡°If we rush over there without knowing the situation, we may end up in a very dangerous position, which would be very unwise.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, Xuan Ke calmed down and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°Do any of us know why outsiders areing to this ce?¡± Chen Hao asked with a grim expression. ¡°If we knew that outsider races were alsoing to this ce, we wouldn¡¯t have fought among ourselves, but instead preserved our strength.¡±

    He inwardly regretted killing the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect disciples over the ¡®veins¡¯ which they had believed contained spiritual materials.

    Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect let out another deep sigh. Shaking his head, he said, ¡°It¡¯s not just us. All of the other sects have been fighting each other to the death to secure precious materials. They might still be doing that because they don¡¯t know that we¡¯ve encountered powerful outsiders.¡±

    A hint of a concerned look appeared on Ye Qin¡¯s nobly beautiful face as she turned to issue an order to the other Yin Sect disciples, ¡°Spread out and search for people from the other sects. Once you do, inform them of the appearance of the outsiders. Also, tell them that if we don¡¯t stop fighting among ourselves and act soon, the outsiders will soon join up and wipe out everyst human Qi warrior from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Got it, senior martial sister!¡± With these words, all of the Yin Sect disciples spread out and left in different directions.

 Chapter 544: A Vague Awareness

    Nie Tian stood as straight as a spear on the coast, facing the boundless ck sea.

    Behind him stood Ye Qin, Chen Hao, and the others. Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything as they issued orders to their people.

    He focused all his attention on his eight Heaven Eyes, which, under his control, chased after the Stonemen¡¯s teleportation portal towards the distant ind.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the Heaven Eyes reached the limit of their effective range. If they flew any farther, Nie Tian would lose contact with them, yet they were still a significant distance from the ind.

    Hence, he realized that it would be impossible for him to observe the situation on that ind with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    The eight Heaven Eyes floated in the air over the ck sea between the ind where Nie Tian was standing and the distant ind he could barely see.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word, his eyes clouded by a faint haze.

    If the Stoneman leader had told the truth, and powerful outsider experts were gathered on that ind, the human Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars were now in a very unfavorable situation.

    After fighting among themselves for months, the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars had already lost about half of their people.

    Due to the temptation of precious materials, simr fights might be taking ce on the other ind at this very moment.

    He didn¡¯t know how many people they could raise to contend against the powerful outsiders on that other ind.

    Furthermore, he had no idea what kind of power those outsiders possessed. If they were all outsiders that possessed fourth grade bloodline power, which was equal to that of Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors, they might still be able to manage with some effort. However, if they consisted of outsiders that possessed fifth grade bloodline power, the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars would be doomed.

    At this moment, the Stonemen had already passed the ck sea on their teleportation portal and arrived on the distant ind.

    ording to Xuan Ke, it seemed that, aftering to the coast of the ind, air-transportation spiritual tools had somehow be functional again, which meant that those Stonemen might very well fly back with reinforcements.

    After pondering for some time, Nie Tian once again focused his mind on his Heaven Eyes, hoping that he would be able to uncover some secrets about the ck sea.

    Under his control, the eight Heaven Eyes slowly descended to a ce one meter above the sea¡¯s surface, where they unleashed psychic awareness down into the unfathomable sea.

    However, as soon as his psychic power made contact with the ck seawater, it vanished like a snowke against the sun¡¯s rays.

    Nie Tian could only sense that his psychic awareness seemed to be plunged into darkness, and instantly lost contact with him.

    Vignt, he pondered for a while before deciding to make another attempt.

    This time, he sent his eight Heaven Eyes, which could only be detected by Worldly realm or Profound realm experts, piercing into the depths of the bottomless sea.

    He wanted to learn more about the ck sea so that they could be better prepared for the battles toe.

    The moment his Heaven Eyes dove into the ck sea, the psychic power within them was instantly washed away.

    Each and every Heaven Eye had been formed with his psychic power and mystic soul power from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul, in a profound way he had learned from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The hearts of the Heaven Eyes were the soul power in them, which was wrapped with wisps of psychic power.

    At this moment, the psychic power that wrapped the soul power was instantly stripped away and scattered as the Heaven Eyes dove into the ck sea.

    Only the eight clusters of soul power that were the hearts of the Heaven Eyes remained intact, and continued diving down towards the deepest parts of the pitch-ck sea.

    As they did, Nie Tian scanned their surroundings through them.

    Under the pitch-ck sea, the eight clusters of soul power emanated faint starlight, lighting up limited areas around them.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before he discovered that numerous outsider corpses were floating in the depths of the strait between the two inds.

    There were dead Bonebrutes, Phantasms, Fiends, Demons, and Stonemen that looked exactly like the ones that had escaped from them earlier.

    To his surprise, all of their corpses seemed to be well-preserved. Even the noble battle armor they were wearing and the strangely-shaped spiritual tools in their hands were in good condition.

    He couldn¡¯t sense any corrupted aura from them, as if the ages hadn¡¯tpromised them at all.

    Normally, speaking, since the corpses hadn¡¯t rotted, they should still contain copious amounts of power. Perhaps their bones and flesh could be harvested for equipment forging.

    However, with the help of his soul power, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t detect a single shred of power from them.

    Even their exquisite spiritual tools and elegant armor seemed to have lost all of their power.

    Gradually, the eight clusters of soul power started to grow dim, as if they were consuming their limited amount of power as they observed the situation under the sea.

    With theirst remaining soul power, Nie Tian controlled them to dive deeper.

    That was when he discovered even more dead outsiders, along with the corpses of enormous spirit beasts.

    From the look of it, they had been at the sixth or seventh grade before they had died.

    Gasping with astonishment, Nie Tian decided to control his soul power to go further down to see what was there. However, his soul power finally wore outpletely and was extinguished.

    However, just before that, he detected very subtle, almost undetectable soul fluctuations in the deepest parts of the dark sea.

    Furthermore, they didn¡¯te from one spot, but instead, they seemed to being from all directions in the depths of the sea.

    That gave Nie Tian a feeling that as if a boundless ancient soul awareness filled every inch of the deepest parts of this ck sea.

    That feeling bbergasted Nie Tian. He stared nkly at the ck sea before him, shock and confusion filling his face.

    If there were indeed an ancient, unknown soul awareness in the depths of the sea, what or who could it be?

    While he was absorbed in thought, Ye Qin¡¯s voice echoed out. ¡°Nie Tian??¡±

    Subconsciously, Nie Tian jerked his head to look at her.

    Ye Qin, who was wearing in but clean garments, looked somewhat skinny. Her waist was very slender, yet her chest was by no means small. She gazed curiously at Nie Tian, as if she had been calling him for some time.

    After clearing his mind, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Only at this moment did he notice that Ye Qin, Chen Hao, and Xuan Ke were now the only ones behind him; the other Yin Sect, Yang Sect, and Ice Pavilion Sect disciples were gone.

    Chen Hao and Xuan Ke were also looking at him with inquiring gazes.

    Ye Qin¡¯s slender eyebrows furrowed slightly as she said, ¡°We¡¯ve arranged for our people to search and gather every survivor we can find to this ce. When everyone returns, do we fly across the strait to that other ind? I¡¯m afraid that if we keep waiting while those outsiders gather more forces and head back to us, we¡¯ll be in a very passive position. Don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Only after hearing these words did Nie Tian realize what the others had been up to.

    Nie Tian gazed off at the distant ind and said, ¡°To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t have an answer either. I think we¡¯d better wait for the other forces toe and then ask for their opinions.¡±

    Ye Qin nodded and said, ¡°Alright." Afterwards, she blinked a few times and added, ¡°I hope you won¡¯t make any rash moves when the otherse.¡±

    At this moment, Chen Hao chimed in, ¡°Brother Nie, I heard from Xuan Ke that you killed quite a number of Heaven Pce Sect, Thunder Mountain Sect, Heaven Expanse Sect, and Poison Sect disciples. Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect seemed to have taken an Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye that belonged to you. We¡¯ve seen what you¡¯re capable of, but I still hope you can think about the bigger picture here and hold your temper.

    ¡°Besides, you¡¯ve already killed Guan Ye from the Heaven Pce Sect and helped Dong Li take that eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse.¡±

    While Nie Tian had scanned the depths of the ck sea with his Heaven Eyes, Ye Qin and Chen Hao had learned of his doings from Xuan Ke.

    Now, as the two of them looked at Nie Tian, their eyes were filled with respect, but also worry.

    Only after hearing these words did Nie Tiane to realize that they were worried that he would take back what had been his with force, therefore ruining the fragile peace among the different forces of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    With a casualugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°I won¡¯t start a fight as long as they don¡¯t do anything to provoke me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Ye Qin sounded greatly relieved.

    Chen Hao and Xuan Ke also seemed relived after hearing his words.

    Nie Tian took out his Sound Stone and tried to contact Dong Li, but failed to receive any response. Then, he realized that Dong Li probably hadn¡¯t finished her breakthrough.

    Now that disciples of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Ice Pavilion Sect had left to spread word of the appearance of the outsiders, he assumed that none of the human survivors would try to make any moves against Dong Li anymore.

    After feeling relieved himself, Nie Tian chatted briefly with Ye Qin and Chen Hao, learning that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had joined hands to take thest spatial rift that led to this dimension.

    Then, the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect hadpromised under the joint pressure from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, and eventually agreed to share the spatial rifts among the four sects.

    Therefore, the four sects had entered this dimension through thatst spatial rift.

    After learning about why the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had shown up here, Nie Tian imed that he needed to recover his strength, and ended his conversation with Ye Qin and Chen Hao. Then, he sat down in the lotus position facing the ck sea.

    Ye Qin had heard about Nie Tian¡¯s incredible deeds in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and thus had been very curious about him.

    Originally, she had been rather eager to talk to him to deepen their understanding of each other, but after seeing that all Nie Tian wanted was to recover, she could only give up on the idea.

    Soon afterwards, the four people that remained on the coast sat down in different locations and started recovering their strength with spirit stones, preparing for their uing battle against the outsiders.

    Nie Tian held a spirit stone in his hand, yet he didn¡¯t absorb its power. The most he had consumed during his battle against the Stonemen was actually his flesh power.

    However, after he had killed the first Stoneman and drained his flesh power with Life Drain, he had not only recovered the flesh power he had consumed, but even had some surplus, which then dispersed to his every bone and muscle.

    Since the green aura was now coiled dormantly in his heart, all of the flesh power he had absorbed had been used to recover and refine his body.

    With these thoughts in mind, he cooked and consumed pieces of spirit beast meat from time to time, hoping to refine his body as much as he could, while the green auray dormant.

    At the same time, he continued to explore the depths of the ck sea with the help of the mysterious soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    It was undetectable when wisps of soul power flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s attentive eyes.

    However, they flickered with starlight as soon as they fell into the ck seawater, as if they had somehow materialized.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡± Ye Qin, who was in the middle of her cultivation, identally caught sight of the flickering spots, which rapidly sunk into the depths of the sea and disappeared.

    As Chen Hao and Xuan Ke heard her exmation and looked over with rapt attention, they failed to see anything.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t move a muscle. He focused on controlling his wisps of soul power to dive towards the deepest parts of the sea at full speed.

 Chapter 545: Corpses In the Depths of the Sea

    Chen Hao followed Ye Qin¡¯s gaze and looked at the empty, ck sea before him. Confused, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡±

    Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect also shot a nce at the sea. After seeing no anomalies, he closed his eyes again and resumed his cultivation, not showing the least interest in talking.

    Ye Qin pointed at the location where she had seen the flickering spots earlier and said, ¡°Over there. I saw something flicker at the sea¡¯s surface and then quickly sink into the sea.¡±

    ¡°The reflecting light might have dazzled your eyes,¡± Chen Hao muttered, turning his eyes away.

    After hearing his words, even Ye Qin started to question herself. She snuck a nce at Nie Tian, and discovered that he hadn¡¯t moved at all this time, so she calmed herself and resumed her cultivation.

    However, as she did, she secretly kept an eye on the sea¡¯s surface.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was focused on exploring the world under the ck sea, relying on his profound connection with his soul power.

    Soon, Nie Tian started to have a feeling that nothing but his soul power could light up the pitch darkness in the depths of the ck sea.

    His psychic power would dissipate immediately after falling into the ck seawater, not allowing him to see anything.

    Even his soul power, which carried profound mysteries from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul, wouldn¡¯tst very long in the mysterious, ck seawater.

    Even floating still in one ce, his clusters of soul power lost their power rather rapidly.

    However, as he controlled them to sink deeper into the sea, they would start losing their power at a much faster speed.

    This reminded him of the time when he had tried to observe and learn the profound contents of the three fragmentary star marks with wisps of his soul power, which had also worn out very quickly.

    He also noticed that, as he continued to draw upon his soul power, the nine sparkling fragmentary stars in his soul shrunk noticeably.

    Two fragmentary stars had been added to his seven original ones, and they had expanded significantly after he had revisited the fiery heaven and earth, where he had purged the Spirit Pearl and absorbed its soul power with the help of his me Dragon Armor.

    Even so, every time he consumed some soul power, the fragmentary stars in his soul would shrink slightly.

    Since he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Worldly realm, and hadn¡¯t transformed his psychic power into soul power, he wasn¡¯t able to replenish his soul power through cultivation.

    This made him realize that the soul power from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul was very precious and nonrenewable.

    However, he was so fascinated by what he had seen in the depths of the ck sea, and was so curious to continue to explore it, that he eventually decided to conduct a deeper exploration with his precious soul power.

    As the sparkling clusters of soul power sunk deeper into the pitch darkness, they kept sending images back to Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Soon, he came across a corpse that looked very familiar.

    It was the corpse of a Profound realm human Qi warrior. With a closer look, he discovered that it was Lu Bai from the Poison Sect!

    Lu Bai was the leader of the Poison Sect¡¯s team in this dimension. Nie Tian wondered what had happened that had killed such a powerful expert and left his body in the depths of the ck sea.

    Just like the outsider experts¡¯ corpses floating around it, Lu Bai¡¯s corpse was also bereft of any residual power or aura of corruption.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian summoned all of his clusters of soul power to the area where he had discovered Lu Bai¡¯s body.

    After searching for a while, he found the corpses of a few more powerful human Qi warriors, Lu Jianfan from the Spirit God Sect being one of them. The others were mostly at the Worldly realm.

    Lu Bai and Lu Jianfan were both Profound realm experts, yet they had both been killed and left in the depths of the ck sea, which made Nie Tian wonder.

    Just as he was about to conduct a thorough examination of them, the clusters of soul power flickered a few times and went out.

    Then, as his awareness returned, he opened his eyes. Face grim, he gazed at the dead, silent, and ck sea, where not even a leaf could be seen.

    His heart was still shaken by the corpses of powerful human experts he had discovered. He started to wonder whether some mishap had urred when the swirling band had carried them to this ce.

    Otherwise, why would their bodies have appeared in the depths of the ck sea?

    He was aware that the ck sea covered a extremely vast area, and the area he had explored with the help of his soul power was only a drop in the bucket.

    Could there be more dead human experts in other parts of the unfathomable sea?

    Had they died fighting each other, from idents, or at the hands of outsiders?

    Questions exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s head. As hard as he tried, he couldn¡¯te up with answers. He only felt that the ck sea before him was now filled with unpredictable danger. Thus, he inwardly reminded himself that he shouldn¡¯t fall into the ck sea in the future, no matter what.

    Since his soul power was far too precious, he decided to put the exploration of the ck sea on hold now that he hade to a fairly good understanding of what was under there. Instead, he spent his time consuming spirit beast meat and cultivating with spirit stones.

    Days passed before the Yin Sect, Yang Sect, and Ice Pavilion Sect disciples returned one after another with the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors they had found.

    There were members of the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Poison Sect, and the me God Sect.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian finally got in touch with Dong Li through his Sound Stone, learning that she had sessfully entered thete Greater Heaven stage. After he informed her of the appearance of the outsiders, she and the others started rushing towards his location.

    On this day, Dong Baijie, who had been gone for a long time, came to the location where Nie Tian and the others were gathered.

    With a single nce at him, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes narrowed. He felt that Dong Baijie was somehow giving off an extremely intense bloody aura.

    He instantly realized that Dong Baijie must have killed many opponents, and his strength must have improved significantly.

    Dong Baijie and Qian Xin had broken through to thete Greater Heaven stage before they hade to this continent through the faint, colorful mist. However, he hadn¡¯t exuded such a dangerous aura back then.

    Nie Tian wondered what Dong Baijie had encountered to have made him so formidable.

    Upon arriving, Dong Baijie called out with a grin, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    He walked straight towards Nie Tian, grabbed a bottle of alcohol out of his inner pocket, and said, smiling, ¡°Nice. I see that you¡¯ve broken through into the middle Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    ¡°Have you heard about our encounter with the outsiders?¡± Nie Tian asked, frowning slightly.

    Dong Baijie nodded, smiling. ¡°Yeah, the Ice Pavilion Sect disciple who found me told me about it.¡±

    ¡°Did you gain a great fortune or something?¡± Nie Tian was curious.

    ¡°Hahah! How did you know?¡± Dong Baijie asked, overjoyed. ¡°This continent is blessed with many treasures, and I got quite lucky.¡±

    Even though he spared the details, Nie Tian was certain that he must have discovered some treasures that allowed his strength to improve so greatly over such a short time.

    Shortly afterwards, Yang Kan from the me God Sect and Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect appeared, exhaustion filling their faces.

    After quickly ncing over the crowd, they briefly greeted the few Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors they knew, then found a ce to sit.

    Yang Kan would gaze across the crowd at Nie Tian with aplicated look in his eyes every once in a while. However, he also seemed to understand that he wasn¡¯t in a ce where he could contend against Nie Tian, and thus struggled to restrain himself from making any rash moves.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to create any more trouble than they already had, and thus ignored him.

    Another day passed, and Dong Li, Qin Yan, Qian Xin, and the others from the Realm of a Hundred Battles arrived.

    Dong Li seemed to havemunicated with her brother via her Sound Stone previously, since she didn¡¯t seem surprised at all to see Dong Baijie in this ce. She only nodded at him with a smile.

    Meanwhile, Dong Baijie seemed to have learned that his sister had found and refined an eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, and that she had also entered thete Greater Heaven stage. Thus, he didn¡¯t asked her about her encounters in front of the others.

    Soon after the arrival of Dong Li and the others, Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect arrived with two other Greater Heaven stage Heaven Pce Sect disciples.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Dong Baijie, who was now wreathed in a formidable aura, the white-garbed Su Lin grew rather uneasy.

    After a moment of hesitation, and before Dong Li could say anything, she took out the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye and tossed it towards Dong Li without saying a word.

    Smiling, Dong Li caught the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye with one hand and taunted, ¡°Why bother to take it from me in the first ce?¡±

    The expressions of the two Heaven Pce Sect disciples beside Su Lin turned cold upon hearing Dong Li¡¯s sarcasm.

    ¡°It¡¯s time we put our petty differences aside.¡± Su Lin was surprisingly sensible about the bigger picture. Without mentioning the deaths of Guan Ye and her other sectmates, she said to everyone with a solemn expression, ¡°Killing the outsiders is our primary task now. If we can¡¯t do that, every one of us will die on this strangend!

    ¡°You don¡¯t need me to tell you how brutally those outsiders will treat us once they capture us.¡±

    As soon as she started to talk, the moring crowd fell silent.

    She was one of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s core disciples. After Ning Yang¡¯s death, she had already shown signs of taking his position as the most prominent of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s younger generation.

    Even though her cultivation base wasn¡¯t very impressive so far, with the whole Heaven Pce Sect at her back, she would be a bright star sooner orter.

    She represented the Heaven Pce Sect, and the Heaven Pce Sect was the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Even though the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s force had suffered losses and wasn¡¯t currently in a good ce, they were still revered by the people from the other sects.

    Furthermore, her act of returning the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye to resolve her conflict with Dong Li impressed everyone present.

    Therefore, everyone listened attentively as she spoke.

    ¡°Since we¡¯ve spent months searching this ind for treasures, there isn¡¯t much left to find.¡± Su Lin took her time addressing the crowd in a soft, clear voice.

    ¡°All of us have gathered good amounts of precious materials and spirit beast corpses. Many of you even gained treasures that we don¡¯t have in the Domain of the Falling Stars. As long as we can return safely to the Domain of the Falling Stars with them, we¡¯ll be able to trade them for copious amount of spirit stones, medicinal pills, or other resources.

    ¡°However, the great task we¡¯re facing now is that we¡¯ll have to kill the outsiders on that other ind if we want to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With these words, she reached out with one hand and pointed at the distant ind.

    ¡°Does anyone know how many outsiders are on that ind, and what grades they¡¯re at?¡± She asked.

    Everyone remained silent, giving each other sidelong looks.

    ¡°Well, if no one knows, my suggestion is that we send someone to that ind and find out. If there aren¡¯t many outsiders there, we can head over right away and kill them all. If they¡¯re stronger than we are, we can set up defenses in this ce and hold fast to them.¡± With these words, Su Lin¡¯s gaze swept across the crowd as she raised her voice, ¡°We can¡¯t all just sit here and wait for death! We need to figure out our enemies¡¯ situation and make decisions ordingly!¡±

    At that moment, Ye Qin chimed in, ¡°I agree with your proposal, but the issue is who will go?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s gazes became evasive. Apparently, none of them wanted to go to that ind, knowing that it might be roamed by powerful outsiders and fearing that it would be a ce where they wouldn¡¯te out alive.

 Chapter 546: An Exorbitant Price

    The disciples of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Ice Pavilion Sect had personally fought Stonemen in battle, and thus knew how hard they were to deal with.

    If the Stoneman leader had told the truth, and there were indeed more powerful experts of different races on that other ind, then scouting the ind might very well mean their death.

    Knowing the deadliness of the mission, no one offered to go.

    However, they also knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to make preparations without knowing the outsiders¡¯ strength.

    Only after getting a good understanding of the outsiders¡¯ strength and intentions would they be able to decide whether to strike out or stand their ground.

    Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Su Lin frowned slightly. ¡°Any volunteers to scout out the outsiders¡¯ strength and movements on that ind? Whoever is going had better possess life-saving means. Of course, it¡¯s preferable that the person has special means that will allow him or her to get a grasp of the situation in secret.¡±

    With a faint smile, Ye Qin from the Yin Sect said, ¡°Miss Su, we all know what we¡¯ll face if we go scouting on that ind. I don¡¯t think anyone is going to volunteer to go on a death mission. Don¡¯t you think?¡±

    Su Lin nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. I actually have a proposal regarding that issue.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears,¡± Ye Qin said, looking intrigued.

    Su Lin took a deep breath and said, ¡°Whoever goes on that scouting trip will be doing it for the safety of everyone. It won¡¯t be fair if the person is not rewarded. Each of us must have gathered some valuables from this ind. I propose that we each take some spiritual materials out as a reward for the person¡¯s heroic action. What do you say?¡± Her eyes ran through the crowd.

    Upon hearing her proposal, the leaders all whispered in each other¡¯s ears in discussion.

    It wasn¡¯t long before everyone reached a mutual understanding, and expressed their support for Su Lin¡¯s proposal by nodding at her.

    Nie Tian, who stood off to the side, also nodded after watching Su Lin talk eloquently, sorting out the crucial problem and providing a solution.

    Even though her cultivation base wasn¡¯t very impressive, she was apparently a very good diplomat. She knew how to tackle tough matters while paying enough attention to people¡¯s feelings.

    After pondering for some time, Nie Tian was somewhat moved, his eyes glittering. <i>¡°There¡¯s going to be a reward...¡±</i>

    He knew that there wouldn¡¯t be a person more suited for this mission than him. He had nine Heaven Eyes at his disposal. Once he arrived on that ind, he would be able to obtain a thorough understanding of the outsiders¡¯ strength within a short time with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    In the meantime, his Life Stealth bloodline talent would allow him to travel in stealth.

    Even if he was somehow discovered, he would be able to escape with Starshifts.

    He also possessed a Sound Stone, which would allow him to instantly transmit the information he had acquired to Dong Baijie and Dong Li.

    All these reasons aside, he was personally very curious as to whaty beyond the strait on that distant ind.

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian broke the silence by stepping out of the crowd. With a smile, he said to Su Lin, ¡°Miss Su, what are you willing to give as remuneration?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gazes fell on him and Su Lin.

    At this moment, everyone present had learned that he was the final winner of the Heaven Gate trial, and the only sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They had also heard that he had killed multiple Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors to protect Dong Li while she had refined the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse. By doing that, he had even forced a cruel killer like Yang Kan to avoid him like avoiding a sharp de.

    When Su Lin had arrived, not only had she not mentioned the Heaven Pce Sect disciples he had killed, but she had also voluntarily handed over the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s eye.

    Even though Yang Kan from the me God Sect knew that the me Dragon Armor was in Nie Tian¡¯s possession all along, he had kept quiet about it.

    All of these had proven Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness and formidableness.

    All those who had personally witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess viewed him as the most formidable adversary there would be, and would try everything in their power to avoid conflicts with him.

    Su Lin was worried that no one would want to take on the heavy responsibility of being a scout, so when she saw that Nie Tian had stepped up, her eyes lit up as she asked, ¡°Are you volunteering to go, Nie Tian?¡±

    Dong Li rushed out of the crowd, her face filled with worry. ¡°Nie Tian! What are you doing?!¡±

    Regardless of how the others might judge her, she grabbed Nie Tian by his arm in an attempt to drag him back into the crowd, where Dong Baijie and the others from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were standing.

    Upon seeing the spontaneous concern and intimacy Dong Li was showing towards Nie Tian, Gu Haofeng instantly fumed with rage.

    Dong Baijie chuckled softly with a meaningful look in his eyes.

    Envious expressions appeared on many members of the other sects after they saw Dong Li, who was steaming hot, pulling Nie Tian by his arm in front of everyone without any scruples.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Nie Tian¡¯s expression was the same as ever, not embarrassed at all. He grabbed Dong Li¡¯s milky white arm with a bit of force and fixed her with a determined gaze.

    Dong Li met his gaze, and saw great determination and confidence in his eyes.

    For some reason, Dong Li instantly felt reassured and that Nie Tian must have his reasons for such a decision.

    She looked down, and after a brief consideration, slowly let go of Nie Tian¡¯s arm. Then, she turned to Su Lin and said, ¡°Miss Su, you¡¯d better give Nie Tian enough remuneration now that you want him to go on this suicide mission. If you don¡¯t, no matter what you say, I won¡¯t let Nie Tian go.¡±

    ¡°Alright, what do you want, Nie Tian?¡± Su Lin asked with a faint smile.

    ¡°I¡¯ll need an air-transportation spiritual tool to go to that ind. Unlike all of you, I don¡¯te from a wealthy and powerful background. So I want one of your Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tools.¡± Nie Tian demanded an exorbitant price.

    He had always admired the core disciples of the other sects for the air-transportation spiritual tools they possessed.

    One air-transportation spiritual tool alone cost more than a million spirit stones, which wasn¡¯t something he could afford. Since he would have to rely on an air-transportation spiritual tool to go to the other ind, he naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to obtain one.

    The faces of Su Lin and the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples dropped the moment they heard that Nie Tian was demanding an air-transportation spiritual tool from them.

    Even though the Heaven Pce Sect was very wealthy, not every disciple possessed air-transportation spiritual tools. Only their core disciples and those who had made significant contributions to the sect would be bestowed air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Su Lin did possess an air-transportation spiritual tool. However, it was the only one she had. It would be like cutting flesh off of her if she were to give it away.

    One of the Heaven Pce Sect disciples couldn¡¯t hold his temper any longer. He burst with rage and shouted, ¡°Junior Martial Sister Su! This is outrageous! He¡¯s clearly taking the opportunity to rob us!¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Su Lin smiled bitterly as she asked Nie Tian, ¡°Is there anything else that we can give you instead?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Well... How about I let you use it for now, and you can return it afterwards?¡± Su Lin struck a bargain.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°You¡¯ll let me use it for now? Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to pass the information back to you after I arrive on that ind, but there¡¯s also a good chance that I¡¯ll get myself killed there. How would I return it to you if I¡¯m dead? Also, you really don¡¯t think my life is worth an air-transportation spiritual tool?¡±

    Su Lin fell silent. Momentster, gritting her teeth, she summoned her air-transportation spiritual tool and controlled it to fly to Nie Tian¡¯s side as she said, ¡°Alright! This Golden Chariot belongs to you now. Thispass will allow you to control the war chariot with nothing but your psychic awareness. You¡¯ll only need to embed it into the war chariot.¡±

    An exquisite metalpass followed the Golden Chariot to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian raised his hand and grabbed thepass, and then, with a swift leap, hended in the Golden Chariot, where he ced the metalpass in a groove in the travel device.

    As thepass slowly sank into the groove, the spirit stones that filled the bottom of the war chariot were rapidly drained of power.

    Then, as he sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the special spell formation within thepass, he instantly gained control of the Golden Chariot.

    This Golden Chariot had been forged by one of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s equipment forgers, with numerous precious materials. It was even more expensive than Dong Li¡¯s Rainbow Lightning, which she had purchased from the Tool Sect.

    After gaining the Golden Chariot, Nie Tianughed broadly and nodded. ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect has proved their ample support for my mission. Now it¡¯s your turn.¡±

 Chapter 547: Ample Compensation

    Nie Tian nced over the other so-called chosen ones.

    Upon meeting his eyes, all of them looked awkward and hesitant.

    With a cunning smile, Nie Tianid his eyes on the me God Sect¡¯s core disciple and said, ¡°Yang Kan, I bet you know what I want. Quit hiding your earthme essence and earthme crystal strings. I only want enough to match the value of the Golden Chariot. I¡¯m not a greedy person.¡±

    Fuming with anger, Yang Kan blurted, ¡°Hide?! The me Dragon Armor already took all of the earthme crystal strings and earthme essence my sectmaster bestowed upon me before we came here! Where do I get more to give you!?¡±

    ¡°Oh, is that so? How about I give the Golden Chariot to you, and you go scouting on that ind?¡± Nie Tian proposed, smiling.

    Yang Kan¡¯s expression froze.

    Considering his awkward situation, that he was now stuck between the Greater Heaven stage and the Worldly realm, he wasn¡¯t even as powerful as he had been when he had been at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    That was why he had taken the initiative to leave after seeing Nie Tian massacre all those men to protect Dong Li.

    Now that he was at this undefined stage, and his strength had regressed, he knew that he would have an eighty or ny percent chance of dying on that ind if he so daringly went there.

    After an extended, painful contemtion, he summoned the six crimson stone columns from within his ring of holding. Eyes filled with ming hatred, he gritted the words, ¡°Here. You practice fire-attribute incantations. You should know how valuable they are to you!¡±

    At the same time, a jade slip few out of Yang Kan¡¯s hand andnded in Nie Tian¡¯s, which recorded the instructions for the six crimson stone columns.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian sent a wisp of psychic awareness into it, and immediately learned that he would need to infuse them with earthme essence and earthme crystal strings, then refine another crimson crystal ball that would carry the jade slip inside. All these things done, he would be able to use the six crimson stone columns at will.

    ¡°I believe this should be enough for me and Lu Jian both, right?¡± Yang Kan¡¯s words were filled with anger and hatred.

    He was right. The six crimson stone columns and the jade slip he had given out were even more valuable than the Golden Chariot.

    However, he was thinking that, once he entered the Worldly realm, he would be able to take everything back from Nie Tian, including the me Dragon Armor.

    After figuring out the profound use of the six crimson stone columns, Nie Tian seemed to be in a good mood. ¡°Not bad,¡± he said. ¡°Okay, Lu Jian won¡¯t need to pay anymore.¡±

    Then, he cast a nce at Zhang Jiu from the Poison Sect and, with a cold snort, he said, ¡°All I want from you is a piece of information.¡±

    Zhang Jiu had originally been torn about what to give Nie Tian, but upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, he instantly felt relieved, and hastily asked, ¡°About what?¡±

    ¡°Is Pei Qiqi still alive, and where is she now?¡± Nie Tian asked, exuding intense killing intent.

    ¡°That bitch...¡± As soon as he uttered these words, Zhang Jiu realized that he had used the wrong words, and thus hastily added, ¡°Miss Pei should be fine. She rushed to the end of our segment in the swirling band soon after her arrival. Even though the colorful mist at the end stopped other Greater Heaven stage cultivators from entering, it didn¡¯t seem to work on her. She went into it without meeting any resistance, and I¡¯ve no idea where she went after that.¡±

    ¡°How do I know that you¡¯re telling the truth?¡± Nie Tian confronted him with a stern look in his eyes.

    Zhang Jiu hastily swore that, if any of his statements were proven to be false, he should have his flesh torn and his bones crushed. (Idiom: die the most cruel death)

    The other Poison Sect disciples chimed in, saying that Pei Qiqi must be fine.

    Staring coldly and silently at them for a while, Nie Tian finally nodded and let them off.

    He didn¡¯t think Zhang Jiu was lying, but he had a feeling that, if he was telling the truth, considering Pei Qiqi¡¯s strength and temperament, she should have killed Zhang Jiu and his men already.

    Meanwhile, he had always suspected what had made Pei Qiqi leave him so suddenly.

    ¡°You gave up a million spirit stones just for some information on Pei Qiqi?!¡± While he was absorbed in thought, Dong Li snorted coldly, her eyes filled with grudges.

    Clearly, she was very unhappy about the fact that Nie Tian had just given up on demanding huge remuneration over nothing but some information on Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Keh! Keh!¡± Nie Tian cleared his throat, pretending that he hadn¡¯t seen the anger in her eyes. He turned to face the members of the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect, and said, ¡°It¡¯s your turn now.¡±

    Even though only five remained of the joint team of the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect, all of the survivors were elites. Liao Yan from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Yu Yang from the Heaven Expanse Sect were their respective sect¡¯s core disciples.

    They hadn¡¯t been there to witness Nie Tian ughter their sectmates while guarding the eighth grade ck phoenix, but they hadter learned about Nie Tian¡¯s doings.

    Both groups bore bitter hatred toward Nie Tian, though they knew they couldn¡¯t do anything to him now, considering his formidable strength and the fact that he had the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles at his back.

    Furthermore, since they were now facing a great threat from the outsiders, they knew they had to unite with all of the other forces to fight the outsiders. Therefore, they didn¡¯t dare to confront Nie Tian and ruin that alliance.

    As Nie Tianid his eyes on them, Liao Yan and Yu Yang were clearly struggling to suppress their anger. ¡°What do you want?¡± Liao Yan asked.

    ¡°Spiritual materials of fire, wood, and star attributes.¡± Nie Tian answered casually, not worried that they would have an outburst at all.

    He had never had any favorable impressions towards the Heaven Expanse Sect or the Thunder Mountain Sect, which were the two major sects in the Realm of Earth Sieve. He still remembered what their disciples had said right before entering the Heaven Gate in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Furthermore, the Realm of Earth Sieve had never given up the idea of invading the Realm of me Heaven.

    Liao Yan shook his head and said, ¡°We don¡¯t have the spiritual materials you want.¡± Then, with a angry and reluctant expression on his face, he took out a ssware from with his ring of holding, which contained a shriveled, gray heart inside, and added, ¡°This heart belonged to a powerful Fiend. He was long dead when we found him, but his heart still contains deadly toxins.

    ¡°I believe it¡¯s more than enough as remuneration for your service from both the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect.

    ¡°Two of my junior martial brothers were poisoned to death gouging this heart out of the Fiend¡¯s chest and putting it into the sealed ssware. I originally nned to trade it for valuables from powerful Poison Sect experts after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s yours now.¡±

    The eyes of Zhang Jiu, who was from the Poison Sect, couldn¡¯t widen more upon seeing the heart.

    He knew that Fiends were extremely poisonous beings, and that a Fiend¡¯s heart was their source of power, which made it the most poisonous part of the Fiend.

    If some powerful expert from the Poison Sect could refine the toxins within it for their use or derive enlightenment from the profound mysteries of it, that person would surely benefit significantly.

    Not only Zhang Jiu, but all the other Poison Sect disciples appeared iparably excited upon seeing the Fiend¡¯s heart.

    Liao Yan snorted and reminded Nie Tian, ¡°You should know that this heart isn¡¯t something Zhang Jiu or his people can afford. Plus, since we haven¡¯t assessed the grade of the owner of this heart, we can¡¯t determine its exact value for now. You¡¯d better keep it safe and not try to examine it yourself. Otherwise, you might get yourself killed.¡±

    As he said these words, Nie Tian saw wisps of green mist rising from the shriveled heart, which was sealed within the ssware.

    The wisps of green mist were like fine tentacles swaying within the ssware, which was filled with a faint, green mist. It was as if the slightest leakage of the green mist would doom everyone present.

    He sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the ssware in an attempt to learn its mysteries.

    However, the moment his psychic awareness flew into the ssware and made contact with the poisonous mist, it was instantly devoured.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the poisonous mist actually devoured my psychic awareness!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. He stared closely at the heart and started to believe that it was something that could kill people very easily.

    No longer daring to conduct any more examinations, he quickly stored the ssware in his ring of holding and said, ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it for the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect.¡±

    The only forces that hadn¡¯t given their remuneration were the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and those from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Upon hearing his words, Ye Qin and Chen Hao smiled bitterly, exchanged a nce, and were going to speak.

    However, Nie Tian waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. You don¡¯t need to give me anything.¡±

    Ye Qin¡¯s and Chen Hao¡¯s eyes lit up as they hastily bowed slightly towards him to show their gratitude.

    Dong Li rolled her eyes at him. ¡°What about us? Hmm?¡±

    Dong Baijie also looked at him with a faint smile.

    Nie Tian gave a dry smile. ¡°S-sure, you don¡¯t need to pay me either.¡±

    Dong Li snorted, smiling. ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±

    Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect hesitate briefly before saying, ¡°Umm...¡±

    Nie Tian nced at him and, with a wave of his hand, said, ¡°Forget it.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples hastily expressed their gratitude.

    Xuan Ke nodded at Nie Tian and said, ¡°The Ice Pavilion Sect won¡¯t forget about this, and neither will I.¡±

    ¡°Alright, everyone, I¡¯ll be off now. Just wait for my good news.¡± With a thought, Nie Tian sent the Golden Chariot whistling towards the distant ind where powerful outsiders were possibly gathered.

    Everyone watched him fly away withplicated looks in their eyes.

 Chapter 548: Exploring Alone

    ¡°I hope the price we¡¯ve paid will be worth it,¡± Zhang Jiu said, gritting his teeth.

    A hint of hope could be seen in his cold eyes as he watched the Golden Chariot speed off into the distance.

    All the others remained silent, though they also inwardly hoped that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t die on this mission.

    Most of the core disciples of the sects that were present weren¡¯t fond of Nie Tian.

    The only reason they wished for Nie Tian to survive was because they wanted to learn the situation of the outsiders on that other ind through him. Furthermore, they fancied that they could demand their valuables back from him after their battles against the outsiders came to an end.

    Even though Nie Tian possessed incredible battle prowess, he was only one person, after all. He wasn¡¯t a disciple of a powerful sect.

    In their eyes, the Cloudsoaring Sect in the Realm of me Heaven wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    After they tided over this outsider crisis and reunited with their Profound realm seniors, they would have plenty of means to catch Nie Tian and force him to cough up the items he had taken from them.

    Even though they couldn¡¯t do it in this strange dimension, they believed that they would be able to get them back from Nie Tian after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, if Nie Tian died on this scouting mission, all of their valuables would end up in the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    Their hands would be tied when it came to getting their valuables back from the outsiders.

    All said, they didn¡¯t think Nie Tian would be able to defy or contend against them and their sects with just his own strength.

    Qin Yan walked up to Dong Li, shoulder-bumped her softly, and then with faint smile, she said in a low voice, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Nie Tian actually had the audacity to go on such a dangerous mission by himself. Do you think your little lover is going to return from that ind alive?¡±

    Dong Li shot a side nce at her and said with a cold smile, ¡°If he can¡¯t, none of us would be able to.¡±

    Apparently, she considered Nie Tian to be the most powerful of those who were present, and her casual and determined tone indicated that she had faith that Nie Tian would finish this mission.

    Her faith in him stemmed from the repeated losses she had suffered from him in the Realm of Split Void.

    She was the kind of woman who was drawn by strength. Only those who could put her at her wit¡¯s end would get her attention.

    Later, she had gradually lost her hatred for Nie Tian, and made him go to the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of Unbounded Destion with her.

    After spending more and more time with him, she hade to a very deep understanding of his strength and uniqueness.

    Nie Tian had repeatedly disyed abilities that were far beyond his cultivation base, such as refining the Spirit Pearl, obtaining Fruits of Life, and locating Zhao Shanling...

    Every time she had found them in what seemed like a hopeless situation, Nie Tian had always been able to find a way out.

    Gradually, her confidence in him built up to the point where she didn¡¯t think anything or anyone would truly trap Nie Tian and stop him from rising to prominence.

    In her eyes, no matter whether it was the chosen ones from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars or the outsiders, they were all Nie Tian¡¯s stepping stones on his way to glory.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re right,¡± Qin Yan said in a low voice.

    ...

    The Golden Chariot traveled at full speed over the vast, ck sea. The distant ind gradually became clearer in Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    With a wisp of psychic awareness he had infused into the metalpass, which was now embedded in the war chariot, he detailedly manipted its speed and direction. He found it very fascinating.

    This being his first time flying an air-transportation spiritual tool, he constantly changed its speed and direction with his mind. One second he was soaring into the heavens, the next he was plummeting towards the ck sea.

    This Golden Chariot forged by the Heaven Pce Sect was his from now on. He hoped to get familiar with it before he reached his target ind.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he learned how it functioned, and was able to control it skillfully.

    Soon, the ind was fully visible before Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    He slowed the Golden Chariot down and circled around the ind, hoping tond on the opposite side.

    He did this because he was worried that the Stonemen would be watching the direction he hade from, and thus discover him as he approached.

    After all, he didn¡¯t want to expose himself before getting a full understanding of the strength of the outsiders on this ind.

    After moving in arge circle, his Golden Chariot approached the ind from the opposite direction. He unleashed and spread out his Heaven Eyes, which flew directly towards the ind along with his whizzing war chariot.

    Then, he intentionally slowed down to give his Heaven Eyes a head start.

    Momentster, his nine Heaven Eyes finally beat his Golden Chariot to the ind.

    Floating high in the air, they reflected one image after another in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Through them, he saw that the ind was filled with rivers,kes, forests, marsnds, and grasnds. However, he didn¡¯t see a single outsider, nor did he detect any auras of flesh and blood.

    The ind he hade from had a majestic mountain peak at its center, and rolling mountain ranges around it.

    However, he didn¡¯t see a single mountain on this ind. It was a vast, open area with nothing that would really block a man¡¯s sight.

    Unable to capture any signs of life in the area where he was about tond, Nie Tian felt slightly relieved, and controlled the Golden Chariot to fly at a faster speed.

    Momentster, the Golden Chariot arrived by the edge of the ind. As soon as it did, a strange maic field appeared, causing the war chariot to shake violently. Afterwards, no matter how the spirit stones unleashed power, the war chariot lost its drive, and quicklynded on the coast.

    This made Nie Tian realize that, just like the ind he hade from, air-transportation spiritual tools wouldn¡¯t work over this ind either, only on the coast.

    After storing the Golden Chariot in his ring of holding, Nie Tian took out his Sound Stone and tried to get in contact with Dong Li. The special Sound Stone Dong Li had given him was effective over a very long distance.

    ¡°I¡¯ve arrived,¡± he whispered into the Sound Stone. ¡°I haven¡¯t spotted any outsiders yet. There aren¡¯t any mountains on this ind, only rivers,kes, marsnds, and all kinds of vegetation. Also, my air-transportation spiritual tool failed the moment I entered the ind...¡±

    In reply, Dong Li urged him to be careful, that his safety was of paramount importance, and that he didn¡¯t need to risk his life just to fulfill this mission.

    She also told him to y it by ear, and gather precious spiritual materials when opportunities presented themselves.

    Furthermore, if the outsiders were actually very weak, he could forget about those from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and kill them to maximize his own gains.

    If that wasn¡¯t the case, he should ask for help and stay safe.

    All of the suggestions Dong Li gave him were for his own benefit,pletely regardless of the benefit of the chosen ones from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After thanking Dong Li for her suggestions, Nie Tian ended their contact. He unleashed Life Stealth to mask his aura of flesh and blood, and snuck into the ind.

    He knew that most of the outsider races were skilled in searching for targets by tracing their aura of flesh and blood.

    Only Phantasms and very few other outsider races that were skilled in using soul power were able to locate living beings by capturing their soul fluctuations.

    Since Life Stealth immunized him from all detection that targeted flesh and blood, he wouldn¡¯t be discovered as long as he didn¡¯t encounter any outsiders that possessed simr abilities as Phantasms.

    Over the following period of time, Nie Tian roamed the vast ind like an intangible ghost that was bereft of any aura of flesh and blood, doing his utmost to get a thorough understanding of the situation through his Heaven Eyes and keen perception.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before he found a few high-tier Demons by ake. From the look of it, they were only at the fourth grade, which meant their strength was roughly equal to that of Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors.

    They were all dressed in elegant garments, d in fine armor that was engraved with detailed patterns, and holding oddly-shaped weapons.

    They were scattered by theke, as if they were trying to detect something with their unique bloodline magic.

    Under his control, the Heaven Eyes gradually descended from the heavens to eavesdrop on their conversation.

    If he hadn¡¯t learned from Wu Ji, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to understand theirnguage. Fortunately, Wu Ji had put in plenty of time and effort to teach him thenguages of all of themon outsider races, especially thenguages of Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends, which had once lived in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After listening for a short while, he learned that those Demons were looking for a female human.

    ¡°A female human who¡¯s skilled in using spatial magics! Pei Qiqi!¡±

 Chapter 549: What People Want

    ¡°Why is Pei Qiqi here?¡± Nie Tian was deeply puzzled. Every human Qi warrior, including him, had originally arrived at that other ind.

    However, for some reason, Pei Qiqi had ended up on this ind where the outsiders were gathered.

    Even so, it was good news to know that those high-tier Demons were looking for Pei Qiqi.

    At least, this proved that Pei Qiqi was still alive.

    As long as she was alive and on this ind, he would have a good chance to run into her here.

    Meanwhile, since those high-tier Demons were all at the fourth grade, he believed that, if he were to sneak up on them, he would probably be able to kill them by himself.

    However, he didn¡¯t do it.

    After all, he wasn¡¯t sure whether there were other outsiders in the vicinity. Once he made a move against them, he would most likely be exposed. He was worried that other nearby outsiders woulde to their friends¡¯ aid.

    Therefore, he decided to steer clear of these high-tier Demons and continue to scout with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    Soon, he discovered that there were other groups of Demons scattered around theke, all of which consisted of several high-tier Demons.

    From the look of it, they were all wreathed in intense killing intent while searching for Pei Qiqi.

    From their conversations, Nie Tian learned that Pei Qiqi had killed many outsiders on this ind, the Demons among them.

    Therefore, they became rather scared of her, and only dared to travel in groups.

    Furthermore, they had already learned about the human Qi warriors on the other ind through the Stonemen that had recently returned. However, they still considered Pei Qiqi the bigger threat, and thus decided to get rid of her before finding an opportunity to kill the humans on the other ind.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe that Pei Qiqi has kept so many outsiders upied by herself!¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

    His Heaven Eyes slowly floated and searched along thekeshore, yet failed to discover any signs of her.

    After realizing that Pei Qiqi had probably already left this area, Nie Tian stopped searching and headed forward, masking his aura with Life Stealth andpletely ignoring the Demons.

    Roughly an hourter, he discovered a few groups of Phantasms by a long and winding river.

    The Phantasms also seemed to be at the fourth grade, meaning that they were as strong as Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors.

    After spotting the Phantasms, Nie Tian started to move more discreetly. He kept a rather long distance from them, fearing that they might be able to sense his existence.

    Most Phantasms were well-versed in soul magics. Even though he had masked his aura of flesh and blood with Life Stealth, the Phantasms would be able to detect him with their unique soul magics if he were to get too close to them.

    After a brief observation through his Heaven Eyes, he learned that they were also searching for Pei Qiqi.

    As he left the area where the Phantasms were gathered, Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim. Even though all the Phantasms and Demons he hade across along his way were only at the fourth grade, together they were in great numbers.

    Counting just the ones he had discovered, there were about thirty high-tier Demons and Phantasms, which was already greater than the total number of human Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Not to mention that these were only the Demons and Phantasms.

    Back on the move, Nie Tian soon came to a marsnd, where he discovered a number of Fiends.

    Each and every one of them was wreathed in toxic mists of different colors. Since they absorbed and cultivated different toxins, the toxic mists they released varied.

    All of them had dark-green skin and gruesome, green eyes that looked like burning, ghostly mes.

    The marsnd where the Fiends were gathered also looked very strange.

    The water in the marsnd was multi-colored, with a multi-colored miasma rising from it.

    Not only weren¡¯t the Fiends affected by the miasma as they roamed about in the marsnd, but they even breathed deeply, as if they were taking the toxins in intentionally.

    Every once in a while, the Fiends would cheer in loud voices as they picked flowers and nts that seemed extremely poisonous from the marsnd.

    They ate some of them right away, but put others away very carefully, as if they were for pill-making or refining use in the future.

    From the look of it, they weren¡¯t trying to look for Pei Qiqi, but were instead focused on searching for poisonous nts and ingredients they could use in the special marsnd.

    Compared to the Demons and Phantasms he had discovered earlier, they were in smaller numbers.

    However, Nie Tian could feel that these Fiends, who released toxic mist even as they spoke, must be very hard to kill.

    Therefore, he decided to y it safe, and left the area quietly.

    Over the following hours, he discovered a few groups of outsiders that he wasn¡¯t familiar with along his way.

    They were in smaller groups and seemed weaker than the Fiends, Phantasms, or Demons. They seemed to possess strength that was roughly equal to the Stonemen.

    They had all seemed to have learned from the Stonemen that human Qi warriors were gathered on a nearby ind.

    However, none of them seemed eager to cross the strait and kill the humans.

    It was as if most of them had suffered great losses from Pei Qiqi, and thus were bent on finding and killing her before marching to that other ind.

    Moreover, it seemed that a few minor outsider races had juste to this ind, and were still consumed with the idea of searching the ind for valuable spirit ingredients and toxic nts, hoping to go take care of the humans after they had gained enough treasures.

    The outsiders¡¯bined strength was unquestionably greater than that of the human Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t covered the entire ind yet, but the number of the outsiders he had discovered so far was already so great that it would discourage the chosen ones¡¯ desire to take the initiative to attack the outsiders.

    Through his Sound Stone, he described the siltation to Dong Li.

    ...

    ¡°A day and a half,¡± Dong Li, who possessed a special timing device, said as she took out her Sound Stone and listened to the message.

    Momentster, she lowered her Sound Stone and said to the crowd, ¡°Nie Tian said the outsiders on that ind are in much greater numbers than us. He has only searched part of the ind, but the number of outsiders he has discovered is already a few times more than us.

    ¡°The good news is that the outsiders all seem to be at the fourth grade. He didn¡¯t discover any very powerful outsider experts.

    ¡°But even so, we¡¯ll be outnumbered if we¡¯re going to take the initiative to strike out.

    ¡°So, what do you think?¡±

    After hearing her words, all of the chosen ones from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars fell silent.

    They had expected that there might be arge number of outsiders of that other ind. The Stonemen leader¡¯s threat right before leaving had prepared them for such a situation.

    After the outsiders had gathered enough spiritual materials and medicinal nts on that other ind, they would surely cross the strait to attack them on this ind.

    If it came down to that, they would soon be swamped by the outsider forces.

    Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect spent a while pondering in silence before saying, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, our only option would be to form defenses here and hold fast to them when the outsiderse.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qin Yan asked, ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s wise to do that?¡±

    Su Lin smiled bitterly. ¡°What? Do you think we should leave? Sure, we can evacuate this ind on our air-transportation spiritual tools. But where would we go? At least we now have a rough idea of the number and strength of the outsiders on that other ind. We can predict the danger we¡¯re getting into. But if we go somewhere else, who knows what we¡¯ll run into.

    ¡°What if we run into outsiders that are even more powerful, or other dangers? We can easily get killed.¡±

    After she uttered these words, a mor broke out in the crowd. Some suggested leaving, while others believed that leaving would mean a quicker death.

    The mor went on and on, and they couldn¡¯t agree on what to do.

    After some time, Ye Qin from the Yin Sect stepped forward and said, ¡°How about this: we split into two groups. One group is in charge of building defenses here, while the other group explores the areas around this ind on air-transportation spiritual tools. If we find a safer ce, we¡¯ll go there together. If not, we can still stay here, surrounded by our defenses. What do you think?¡±

    With a sigh, Su Lin said, ¡°Explore? What if they run into powerful outsiders? Or are secretly discovered? Outsider experts might follow them back to this ce. Won¡¯t that be worse? Our defenses will only ward off fourth grade outsiders. They¡¯ll bepletely useless in the face of fifth or sixth grade outsiders.¡±

    The few young leaders all had their own ideas and reasons. After debating for a long time, they still failed toe up with a solution that everyone was happy with.

    The fundamental reason behind this was because they didn¡¯t have a leader who they all looked up to.

    There wasn¡¯t a person who could make the decision for everyone.

    ¡°How about we ask for Nie Tian¡¯s opinion?¡± Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect, who had remained silent this whole time, suddenly proposed. ¡°He only gave us the information, but he didn¡¯t give any suggestions. He¡¯s on that ind, and he has some first-hand experience. We should hear what he has to say.¡±

    Surprisingly, upon hearing his words, everyone fell silent. Many in the crowd nodded slightly.

    Even Yang Kan and Lu Jian nodded in assent.

    After a moment of silence, Su Lin said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯m willing to hear Nie Tian¡¯s opinion on this matter.¡±

    Zhang Jiu from the Poison Sect chimed in, ¡°Sure, let¡¯s see if he has any suggestions.¡±

    Liao Yan and Yu Yang from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect nodded in silence.

 Chapter 550: The Unique Nie Tian

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes glittered as the tips of her brows rose. She was clearly very pleased by the situation.

    She secretly nced over the crowd, realizing that these chosen ones from the most powerful sects throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars had all inwardly acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s strength and started to respect him.

    As noble as Su Lin was, she hadn¡¯t been acknowledged by the crowd because of her unimpressive cultivation base. They only acknowledged Nie Tian, who had repeatedly proven his unmatched strength.

    After all, all of these so-called future stars in the Domain of the Falling Stars had directly or indirectly suffered great losses at Nie Tian¡¯s hands, without any exceptions.

    Even though many of them hated Nie Tian deeply, that didn¡¯t diminish their reverence of his terrifying strength. If they were to pick a leader from among them, Nie Tian would be the only candidate these arrogant youngsters could agree upon.

    ¡°So? Shall I ask Nie Tian for his opinion?¡± Dong Li asked with a broad smile on her face.

    No one objected.

    From the look of it, these chosen ones had indeed attached great importance to Nie Tian¡¯s opinion.

    For some reason, their attitude made Dong Li very happy and proud.

    Then, she tried tomunicate with Nie Tian through her Sound Stone.

    Everyone quieted down, their gazes fixed on the Sound Stone she was using tomunicate with Nie Tian, anticipating Nie Tian¡¯s suggestion.

    After about a minute, Dong Li put her Sound Stone away in a graceful manner, a smile gradually spreading across her face.

    Everyone stared at her with inquiring looks in their eyes.

    ¡°Well...?¡± Qin Yan asked the question everyone meant to ask.

    With a casual chuckle, Dong Li said, ¡°Nie Tian said that even though there are a lot of outsiders on that ind, they¡¯re scattered in different locations right now. As long as we don¡¯t provoke them and make them gather quickly to one ce, he¡¯ll be able to sneak up on and kill some of them.

    ¡°He said that he¡¯s confident that he¡¯ll be able to take out at least half of the outsiders in the following days.

    ¡°We can just recuperate and wait here while he dances around with those outsiders on that ind. He¡¯ll inform us of his battle results from time to time.¡±

    As soon as she was finished, a mor broke out among the crowd.

    ¡°He wants to single-handedly kill those outsiders?!¡±

    ¡°He can take out half of them in just a few days?! Did he really say that?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he afraid that he¡¯ll be theirmon target and get captured?¡±

    ¡°How is that even possible?!¡±

    ¡°Do we want to trust him?¡±

    Everyone was unprecedentedly loud as they expressed their concerns or doubts.

    Almost every one of them had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s formidable strength, but they still doubted that he would be able to single-handedly take out so many outsiders.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he¡¯s stupid enough to believe that he won¡¯t be discovered after killing those outsiders!¡±

    ¡°What makes him think he¡¯ll be able to keep striking after the outsiders are stirred to action?¡±

    The mor went on and on. People looked either confused or doubtful.

    Dong Li, however, remained silent after rying Nie Tian¡¯s words. Eyes narrowed, she nced over the moring crowd with a smile, as if she enjoyed them discussing Nie Tian very much. All of a sudden, she cleared her throat.

    Everyone turned to look at her.

    ¡°I have faith in him.¡± Dong Li made her stance clear. ¡°To assure you of his capability, I want to tell you a story, a story that embarrasses me every time I think of it.¡±

    Eyes filled with curiosity, everyone fell silent and waited for her to finish.

    ¡°Years ago, he used to be my enemy. I gathered many forces, hoping to surround and catch him. At that time, my cultivation base and the cultivation base of almost everyone with me was higher than his.

    ¡°However, we exhausted every means we could think of, and still failed to catch him. Not just that, he even managed to kill many of us.

    ¡°That was my most humiliating experience of my whole life.

    After hearing these words, all of the young leaders¡¯ expressions flickered slightly, and they contemted her words with furrowed brows.

    Momentster, Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I agree to put our operations on hold and wait for good news from Nie Tian.¡±

    After her, all the other leaders expressed their support for Nie Tian¡¯s n one after another.

    Dong Li was full of smiles, as if she were pleased with their attitudes. With her jade-like fingers, she tucked a few loose hairs behind her ears. Eyes glittering with charming light, she said in a slow and casual manner, ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s wait for Nie Tian¡¯s update. I personally believe that you won¡¯t be disappointed by the results. It won¡¯t be long before you realize that the price you paid was well worth it.¡±

    Everyone could see the unwavering confidence she had in Nie Tian. With every word she said, she seemed to be defending Nie Tian¡¯s unmatched battle prowess.

    Standing among the people from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, Gu Haofeng looked very grim, as if his heart was filled with bitterness.

    The way Dong Li had defended Nie Tian, the unwavering confidence she had in him, and the heartfelt joy in her eyes when she talked about him had made Gu Haofeng realize how special Nie Tian was to Dong Li.

    That joyful look that appeared in her eyes when she mentioned Nie Tian¡¯s name was something he had never seen before.

    At this moment, Gu Haofeng finally realized that, in Dong Li¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian waspletely different from the other men she had yed like puppets.

    ...

    After receiving support from Dong Li and all the other team leaders, Nie Tian ended his scouting and prepared to spill some outsider blood.

    After scouting the ind for so long, he had realized that the outsiders of different races seemed to know that they would encounter humans aftering to this ce.

    Therefore, after their arrival, they hadn¡¯t started killing other outsider races the way human Qi warriors had killed each other the moment they set foot on the ind.

    Instead, they hade together and divided the ind, and only gathered spiritual materials and medicinal nts in the areas assigned to them.

    High-tier Demons were gathered by theke, Phantasms were searching along the river, and Fiends were roaming the marsnd.

    Since the high-tier Demons and Phantasms were both looking for Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian suspected that she must have beenst seen in those areas.

    He didn¡¯t n to attract the attention of the high-tier Demons and the Phantasms before finding Pei Qiqi.

    Therefore, he decided to start with the weaker outsiders.

    After searching for a short time, he discovered three outsiders with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    They were tall, burly, and covered in ck scales. Their bodies exuded intense auras of flesh and blood.

    Convinced that there weren¡¯t any other outsiders in the vicinity, Nie Tian snuck over and suddenly pounced on them.

    He finished them off within a very short time.

    With the three corpses lying before him, Nie Tian sent a wisp of flesh power into each of them as he unleashed Life Drain.

    Momentster, wisps of extremely rich flesh power flew back to him, filling him with vigor and life force.

    The three outsiders were all roughly two meters tall. Even though they were significantly smaller than fourth grade spirit beasts, their flesh power was equal to theirs, if not stronger.

    Freshly killed spirit beasts wouldn¡¯t lose all of their flesh power immediately after their deaths. The same went for outsiders.

    Upon entering his body, the wisps of rich flesh power Nie Tian had withdrawn from the outsider corpses quickly morphed into tiny, crimson crystals that flowed to every corner of his body, strengthening his vigorous aura of flesh and blood, as well as his meridians, bones, and internal organs.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he finished refining the rich flesh power. Then, after disposing of the three corpses, he headed towards his next target.

    Over the following days, he struck at and killed groups of minor outsider races like a bloodthirsty ghost.

    Every time he took out a group of outsiders, he would message Dong Li, informing her of his battle results.

    He did this to assure the people on the other ind of the smooth progress of his n, and to urge them not to interrupt his hunt.

 Chapter 551: Eliminating Suspicion

    On the ind where the Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors were gathered.

    A number of stone columns that were carved with detailed patterns were nted into the ground in a circle, with lightning shing across them every once in a while.

    At the center of the circle of stone columns, numerous glittering spirit stones filled a slender hole in the ground, along with wooden slips. Together, they seemed to be forming a special spell formation.

    This was the main defense they had set up to ward off the outsiders¡¯ attacks once they came.

    Disciples of various sects were still bustling to add stronger and moreplicated defensive spells to them.

    As Dong Li took out her Sound Stone and once again attempted to contact Nie Tian, the young leaders all put their work on hold and gathered around her.

    Holding the Sound Stone to her ear, Dong Li smiled like a blossoming flower as she said to the so-called chosen ones, ¡°He just killed another three outsiders. It¡¯s only been two days since he started, and he¡¯s already taken out thirteen fourth grade outsiders. A bit shocking, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Complicated expressions appeared on those gathered before her. None of them said a word.

    After a moment of silence, Liao Yan from the Thunder Mountain Sect said, ¡°I wonder if the guy is telling the truth.¡±

    He had heard about Nie Tian¡¯s deed of ying multiple Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect disciples while protecting Dong Li while she had refined the eighth grade ck phoenix.

    However, he hadn¡¯t seen it himself, and thus was somewhat suspicious.

    He wondered whether Nie Tian¡¯s reports were truthful, that he had indeed killed thirteen powerful outsiders within merely two days.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one. Yu Yang from the Heaven Expanse Sect, Zhang Jiu from the Poison Sect, and a few others were also rather suspicious.

    They were worried that Nie Tian would provide them with false information for his own benefit.

    After all, they were nothing but words. They hadn¡¯t seen any of his battle results with their own eyes.

    Dong Li nced over the people before her and immediately realized what they were thinking. She pursed her lips into a smile and said, ¡°You don¡¯t seem to quite believe him, do you? It¡¯s too bad that we¡¯re not there and you can¡¯t see the outsiders he¡¯s killed for yourself. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have anything to say.¡±

    Yu Yang let out a soft snort and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got to admit that I have doubts. What if he¡¯s lying to us? How would we tell? What if there actually isn¡¯t a single outsider on that ind, and he¡¯s just roaming the ind and gathering precious spiritual materials?¡±

    A few people nodded along, and chimed in, saying that was a possibility.

    ¡°If you really think that¡¯s the case, you might as well go over there and take a look for yourself,¡± Dong Li said coldly.

    At this moment, Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect jumped in and said, ¡°Miss Dong, I¡¯ve got a method that will answer everyone¡¯s questions and eliminate their doubts.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± Dong Li looked intrigued.

    Xuan Ke summoned a piece of crystal-clear ice from within his ring of holding. It was the size of a table, sparkling, and exuding a frigid cold aura.

    ¡°This piece of ice is a spiritual tool forged by powerful experts from my sect. It¡¯ll allow us to have a peek of what others are seeing.¡± Xuan Ke ced the ice on the ground and continued, ¡°All you need to do is ce your Sound Stone on the ice and then tell Nie Tian to concentrate on the image he was looking at before closing his eyes.

    ¡°This ice crystal will process the message from him and reproduce what he hasst seen. The image will exist for three to five seconds.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect eximed in admiration. ¡°That way we¡¯ll be able to tell whether Nie Tian is telling us the truth!¡±

    Everyone else nodded in assent.

    Even Su Lin, Yang Kan, and a few others who believed in Nie Tian¡¯s strength nodded repeatedly, urging Dong Li to do as Xuan Ke had said.

    Dong Li, who had unwavering faith in Nie Tian, gave a hearty smile and said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    She had confidence that not a single word of Nie Tian¡¯s report was false, and she had nothing to worry about.

    Thus, after informing Nie Tian of their decision through her Sound Stone, she ced it at the center of the table-sized ice.

    As soon as the Sound Stone made contact with the ice, wisps of frosty aura that carried faint traces of soul power slowly rose from the ice and wreathed the small Sound Stone.

    The soul power from the ice seemed to have unlocked the Sound Stone, and was decoding the messages from it.

    Soon, the Sound Stone started to flicker with a faint light, as if the messages were being transformed.

    At the same time, the sparkling and crystal-clear ice started to shine brightly as an image quietly appeared in the ice, like a reflection in a silent well.

    All of the young leaders leaned over to have a close look. They soon saw the corpses of two bulky outsiders.

    They were covered in ck scales, and seemed to have had their hearts pierced through by some sharp weapon.

    Judging from the nasty wounds in their chests, they must be the work of Nie Tian¡¯s me Star.

    Strangely, the tall and bulky outsiders looked somewhat shriveled. Not much blood could be seen around the burnt puncture wounds in their chests. However, the looks on their faces were distorted and filled with horror.

    After a few seconds, the image in the ice dissipated.

    Everyone present fell silent. Apparently, no one doubted the authenticity of the information Nie Tian had given anymore.

    ¡°This piece of ice can only transmit the image Nie Tian saw right before he closed his eyes,¡± Xuan Ke exined calmly. ¡°If he wasn¡¯t looking at those dead outsiders, but instead imagining them, they wouldn¡¯t have shown up here. So I can promise you that what we just saw was what Nie Tian was looking at, and everything was real.¡±

    ¡°I believe you,¡± Su Lin said softly.

    The others also nodded slightly.

    Now, the chosen ones were all convinced that Nie Tian had indeed killed more than a dozen outsiders over the past two days, even though they would rather it wasn¡¯t true.

    After all, the fact that Nie Tian had managed to single-handedly take out so many outsiders within such a short time was a bit hard to take in for them.

    Where were Nie Tian¡¯s limits?

    How had he managed to do that?

    Why wasn¡¯t he surrounded by outsiders?

    What were those outsiders doing?

    A series of questions rose in their hearts. All those who hated Nie Tian looked very grim and bothered, while those who were friendly with Nie Tian, like Dong Li and Ye Qin, looked deeply shocked and excited.

    While everyone was considering how they should treat their rtionships with Nie Tian in the future, the Sound Stone Dong Li had ced on the ice once again flickered with a new message.

    As it did, the ice under it started to shine brightly again.

    A brand-new image quickly appeared within the ice.

    Everyone leaned over and saw a tall outsider falling from the sky.

    As a blinding de light shed across the air, the outsider¡¯s throat was slit open, blood immediately spurting out of it.

    The imagested a few seconds, then dissipated again.

    However, the shocking image lingered in the minds of everyone staring into the ice.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we need to see more of it.¡± Xuan Ke cleared his throat and nodded at Dong Li. ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say that none of us will question the authenticity of Nie Tian¡¯s reports anymore. Thank you, Miss Dong.¡±

    Only after hearing Xuan Ke¡¯s words did a few people snap out of their daze, and leave without saying a word.

    After rejoining their subordinates, they told them to just focus on forming defenses and wait for more news from Nie Tian. There was no need toe up with other ideas.

    All those who left were people who weren¡¯t fond of Nie Tian, like Su Lin and Yang Kan.

    All those who stayed were the leaders from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Ice Pavilion sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    With a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, Ye Qin looked at those who left and said with a meaningful tone, ¡°Perhaps they need to reconsider whether they¡¯ll still be able to get their treasures back from Nie Tian like they have nned. It¡¯ll be a question of what price they¡¯ll pay if they¡¯re going to try.¡±

    Dong Liughed heartily and charmingly.

    Xuan Ke put the ice away and said with a serious expression, ¡°Miss Dong, I think we can form a small alliance around Nie Tian to make our operation in this ce smoother. Just the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Ice Pavilion sect, and you from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. We can prevent fighting among ourselves and share information and resources. What do you think?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Ye Qin and Chen Hao¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Qin Yan hastily nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s brilliant!¡±

    Dong Li chuckled, knowing that the reason why Xuan Ke had made such a proposal waspletely because of Nie Tian.

    If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, as arrogant as Xuan Ke was, he would have disdained to join up with other forces.

    ¡°What would you and the Ice Pavilion sect do if those other forces team up and seek trouble with Nie Tianter?¡± Dong Li asked, smiling.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stand by Nie Tian,¡± Xuan Ke answered with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    ¡°Good! Then I agree to your proposal!¡± Dong Li nodded, looking satisfied.

    The reason why she didn¡¯t ask Ye Qin or Chen Hao was because she knew that, considering their sects¡¯ friendly rtionship with Nie Tian, they would support Nie Tian no matter what.

 Chapter 552: Hunting

    As the chosen ones from the Domain of the Falling Stars were shocked by how Nie Tian was striking at and killing the outsiders, another person benefited from his actions.

    That person was Pei Qiqi.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi was hiding inside an ancient, hollow tree that would take three people with arms outstretched to epass its trunk.

    Multiple spatial wards wrapped around her,pletely masking her fluctuations of flesh and soul.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes failed to detect anything as they scanned past this region.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi had already entered thete Greater Heaven stage, thanks to the enlightenment she had derived from the tiny spatial energy des inside of her.

    However, after a series of fierce battles and killing numerous powerful outsiders, she had sustained serious injuries herself.

    After parting with Nie Tian, she had continued to study the profound bloodline mysteries within that unknown outsider expert¡¯s spatial power, which had filled her flesh and bones with minor damage.

    Without Nie Tian to help her recover using his Heavenly Wood Heal, she had recovered at a very slow rate.

    Soon aftering to this ind, she had run into the high-tier Demons and Phantasms. After a few intense battles with them, she had killed many of them, but had also suffered more injuries, which rendered her unsuitable for more battles.

    Therefore, she could only hole up inside this huge tree. With her remaining power, she had formed multiple spatial wards to protect her from the outsiders¡¯ life detection.

    To keep the wards up, she had been consuming power, and thus couldn¡¯t focus on healing herself.

    While hiding there, she had sensed Demonsing to search in her surroundings from time to time. Hence, she had no choice but keep burning her power to keep the spatial wards up.

    However, over the past few days, as she slowly healed herself, she discovered that the Demons and the Phantasms seemed to have stopped their inch-by-inch search and left the area.

    She was rather curious as to what had happened.

    After some time, realizing that the Demons and the Phantasms weren¡¯ting back, she carefully canceled her spatial wards to stop her power loss.

    Finally, she could focus her attention and power on healing herself.

    What she didn¡¯t know was that the reason why the Demons and the Phantasms had left was actually because they had learned about Nie Tian¡¯s killing spree in another area, and thus rushed over there.

    Since they didn¡¯t know who was behind it, they thought that Pei Qiqi had secretly healed herself, snuck to that area, and started killing those of minor outsider races.

    ...

    In the dense forest.

    A Demon dragged out two corpses from under a pile ofrge tree leaves.

    Standing beside him were a few other high-tier Demons and Phantasms.

    ¡°Dead ckscales,¡± a handsome high-tier Demon named Tago said, looking down at the two outsiders that had died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. ¡°ording to the information the ckscales gave us, they already have more than a dozen members missing. From the look of it, someone has killed them all.¡±

    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t look like the doing of that woman.¡± A Phantasm named Abreu said, the image of the two dead ckscales reflecting in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows. ¡°That woman uses spatial magics. Those who died at her hands were all badly mangled. Some even lost their limbs. Plus, these two seem to have died recently, but there isn¡¯t a shred of flesh power left in them.¡±

    ¡°That woman seemed to be getting stronger and stronger every time we met her in battle,¡± Tago said. ¡°Perhaps she hase to new understandings and developed some new magics during this time.¡±

    Abreu nodded. ¡°I guess that¡¯s possible... Well, the Stonemen said that humans are gathered on a nearby ind. Apparently, their strength is rather limited, so we need to find and finish off that woman as quickly as possible, and then we can march off to that ind without scruples.¡±

    ¡°The other forces are gathering precious materials while waiting for us,¡± Tago said with a frown. ¡°The Fiends offered to help us capture and kill that thorny woman, if we need them to.¡±

    Abreu, the Phantasm leader, pondered briefly, then said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. Just tell the minor races to stay together so that they don¡¯t get more of their members snuck up on and killed.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s search this area and see if we can find traces of that woman,¡± Tago said.

    ...

    Nie Tian saw the arrival of the Demons and Phantasms through one of his Heaven Eyes.

    He even heard their conversation, and was happy to learn that they actually thought it was Pei Qiqi who had done this.

    Now he knew that Pei Qiqi must be holed up somewhere, recuperating.

    He suspected that she might have sustained injuries, and thus was trying her best to avoid battles. If that was the case, him killing those outsiders and attracting the Demons and Phantasms to this location must have lifted the burden off her shoulders, thus facilitating her recovery.

    However, now that his recent actions had caught the outsiders¡¯ attention, it wouldn¡¯t be as easy to kill more outsiders.

    After pondering for some time, he decided to evacuate from the ckscales¡¯ territory and go to areas that were more remote.

    Having made up his mind, he shed away without dy.

    Up till this point, he had ughtered more than a dozen outsiders, all of which were at the fourth grade, and possessed flesh power that was even richer than that of spirit beasts at the same grade.

    After every kill, he had drained them of flesh power with Life Drain, so that he could temper his body with it.

    At this moment, rich life force was refining every bone, meridian, and muscle of his body in full swing, which made him very happy.

    In his experience, it was always his body refinement that had dyed his breakthroughs in cultivation.

    That was because earlier, whenever he had acquired flesh power from spirit beast meat, the green aura in his heart would channel it right away. Now that the green aura was dormant, he was finally able to refine his body with the rich flesh power he absorbed.

    He had lootedrge amounts of spiritual materials and medicinal nts from the ckscales he had killed as well, though he didn¡¯t recognize most of them. However, he thought that since the ckscales had been gathering them, they must be of great value.

    The ckscales were only a minor group, and none of those he had killed seemed to be of lofty status. Perhaps that was why they hadn¡¯t even possessed any storage tools to contain the spiritual materials and medicinal nts they had collected. They had simply bundled them up and carried them on their backs.

    Since Nie Tian had looted quite a few rings of holding from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect disciples he had killed, he used them to store the spiritual materials and medicinal nts he had taken, which, if they were to be brought out, could now be piled into hills.

    He needed to look for someone with profound knowledge regarding medicinal ingredients and spirit nts after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars, and have that person help him determine their value so that he would be able to trade them for cultivation materials.

    A few hourster, Nie Tian finally left the ckscales¡¯ territory and entered territory that had been allocated to another outsider race.

    From the conversation between Tago and Abreu, he had learned that that specific outsider race was called Birdmen.

    Compared to Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends, minor races like Birdmen, ckscales, and Stonemen were generally less powerful.

    Even though Birdmen possessed the ability to fly, their fleshy bodies weren¡¯t exceptionally tough like the other outsider races, perhaps only slightly tougher than the frail humans.

    That was proven to be the truth soon after Nie Tian came across a couple of Birdmen and examined them through his Heaven Eyes.

    Compared to the Stonemen and ckscales he had killed earlier, the flesh power these Birdmen possessed was far weaker.

    Soon, he hunted them down andunched a storm of attacks on them.

    The two Birdmen were both skinny, and flew around lightly in the woods with the help of their wide, feathered wings that grew out of their backs. However, under Nie Tian¡¯s smashing attacks, they soon fell from the air and died.

    As Nie Tian absorbed their flesh power with Life Drain, the amount of flesh power he gained was far less than that of the other outsiders he had killed.

    He shook his head in dissatisfaction as a few scattered crimson sparks flowed into this blood and organs.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Soon after the two Birdmen died, the other Birdmen that had been roaming in the vicinity sensed their friends¡¯ deaths, and thus rapidly converged on their location.

    Through one of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian discovered that, among them, a female Birdman with snow-white, feathered wings was constantly yelling in theirnguage, as if she were summoning more of their people to this location.

    Even though the female Birdman was scrawny and had a very thin waist, the feathered wings behind her back seemed as if they consisted of sharp swords instead of feathers.

    With a rather tall nose, she wasn¡¯t exactly beautiful. As she flew over, pping her wide, gorgeous wings, Nie Tian examined her and those with her with the help of his Heaven Eyes. He discovered that none of them were wreathed in a vigorous aura of flesh and blood.

    However, they sailed through the air at an exceptional speed, and they possessed better, airborne views.

    ¡°Even if I kill these Birdmen, I won¡¯t be able to gather much flesh power. I might as well leave them for those from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡± With this thought in mind, heunched a Starshift and silently disappeared from the Birdmen¡¯s territory.

    Immediately afterwards, a cluster of blinding starlight suddenly appeared by a enormouske that was filled with ck water.

    As the starlight dimmed, Nie Tian emerged. With a single nce at the ckke, his expression flickered with shock.

 Chapter 553: An Outsider Descends

    After arriving on this ind, Nie Tian hade across quite a number ofkes and swamps. However, all of them were so clear that he was able to see the bottoms, and surrounded by green, thriving nts and vegetation.

    The vastke before him, however, was ink-ck, and not a single de of grass could be seen around it. Everything was deadly silent.

    Nie Tian suspected that theke water might be from the ck sea, since just like the ck sea water, he couldn¡¯t see anything within it with his bare eyes either.

    Yet this wasn¡¯t the thing that surprised him the most.

    The truly strange thing was that a vast, colorful mist was floating directly above the ckke.

    Like a sea of colorful clouds, it floated quietly in the air, swaying slowly but never leaving the area above theke.

    With a single nce at the mist, Nie Tian realized that it was the same as the one he and the others had entered to arrive on that other ind.

    Not only that, but as he looked over with rapt attention, he discovered that bright light was flickering within the heart of the colorful mist.

    Without dy, he summoned his Heaven Eyes over the mist. With their help, he instantly discovered that the flickering, bright light was actually from a number of spatial rifts!

    Filled with flowing, bright light, those spatial rifts fluctuated between contracting and snapping open.

    As one of them expanded to its limit, the tall figure of an outsider could be vaguely seen within it, as if he were trying to pass through it into this dimension.

    However, just as the tall outsider was about toe through, some unknown force seemed to suddenly tear him to bits. The outsider suffered a miserable death.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he continued to observe the spatial rifts in the depths of the colorful mist.

    Momentster, he saw another spatial rift snapping wide open, with another vague figure appearing within it.

    That figure seemed to have a pair of wide feathered wings like the Birdmen.

    However, he also failed to pass through that spatial rift, and was killed during his attempt.

    After observing for some time, Nie Tian realized that every once in a while, one of the spatial rifts would snap wide, and at that time, outsiders would try to charge through it into this realm.

    However, with no exception, all of them had died miserably in those spatial rifts.

    Nie Tian soon realized that those spatial rifts were how all the outsiders had descended upon this ind.

    As he thought about it, he recognized that those spatial rifts looked exactly like the six spatial rifts that had mysteriously appeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    He and all the other human Qi warriors had passed through them onto the floating continents above the separating gray mist.

    Later, through the endless band that spiraled downward, they came to the bottom continent.

    However, it seemed that the outsiders hade directly from their own realms to the bottom continent through these spatial rifts.

    ording to Zhen Hun, a grandmaster of spatial power, the spatial rifts that they had entered hadn¡¯t been stable all the time. They could only go through them without being harmed during certain periods.

    If they were to leap into them before they stabilized, chances were that they would suffer miserable deaths.

    After contemting for a short while, Nie Tian realized that these spatial rifts in the heart of the colorful mist must have been stable over a period of time, during which the high-tier Demons, Fiends, and Phantasms had rushed through them onto this ind.

    However, now that the spatial rifts had be unstable and violent again, those who dared to enter them at this point would have a ny percent chance of dying in them.

    Even so, some of the outsiders on the other side of the spatial rifts were obviously unwilling to give up, and thus made attempts risking their lives.

    From the look of it, most of these gamblers had died before they could emerge from these spatial rifts.

    After observing for a long time, and seeing that not a single outsider had managed toe through those unstable spatial rifts, Nie Tian slowly put his heart at ease.

    Instead of leaving thiske for other areas, where he might be able to find and kill more less powerful outsiders, he stood on thekeshore and scanned the vicinity for signs of outsiders.

    He thought that if the joint team of Phantasms and Demons wasing to search this area, he would leave as soon as possible with Starshifts.

    <i>¡°I wonder what¡¯s in this vast, ckke...¡± </i>After making sure that there weren¡¯t any outsiders in the vicinity, he finally decided to examine theke.

    As soon as a small cluster of star power flew out of one of the fragmentary stars in his mind and made contact with the ckke water, it started to shine dazzlingly brightly.

    With rapt attention, he controlled it to dive towards the deepest parts of theke.

    Like a lone star that shone in the night sky, the cluster of soul power flickered as it plunged into the pitch darkness.

    With the misty starlight it emanated, it lit up a small area around it.

    Not a single outsider or human corpse entered its limited detection range. ck water was all that Nie Tian could see through it.

    Then, as the cluster of star power came to a stop in the depths of theke, Nie Tian focused all his attention on scanning the environment.

    Soon, he sensed a faint but powerful wisp of awareness looming from an extremely far location.

    That faint awareness felt very ancient and vast, as if it had instantly appeared and taken up the entireke.

    At this moment, the cluster of soul power wore out its power and died out.

    Nie Tian found himself staring at the vast, ckke. Quiet and rippleless, nothing seemed to have happened.

    However, Nie Tian was almost certain that a wisp of very profound awareness and unknown origin had just been infused into theke.

    <i>¡°Unlike in the ck sea, there aren¡¯t any outsider or human corpses in theke. Empty, pitch-ck water is all there is. Since the soul power was too weak to reach the bottom of theke, I still don¡¯t know what¡¯s down there.¡± </i>He pondered whether he should gather soul power and conduct another scan.

    However, at that moment, through one of his Heaven Eyes that were floating above the colorful mist, he saw a vague shape shing out of one of the spatial rifts.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he quietly backed away from the barrenkeshore and hid himself in the tall bushes far away from thekeshore.

    From there, he discovered that it was a Phantasm d in a fine suit of armor that had shed out of that spatial rift.

    However, his garments were torn, and his armor was badly damaged. Blood could be seen flowing out of gashes under his ripped armor.

    From the look of it, his journey through the spatial rift had been full of danger.

    Even though his life-saving armor was ruined and he was covered in injuries, he hade out alive, which made him the first one that had managed to do so after Nie Tian had arrived.

    This Phantasm was also at the fourth grade, a prismatic crystal shining between his eyebrows.

    As soon as he steadied himself in midair, instead of examining his injuries, he jerked his head up to stare at that Heaven Eye of Nie Tian¡¯s, which should have been invisible.

    ¡°What the hell is that!?¡± He muttered in the Phantasms¡¯nguage. Immediately afterwards, a profound soul magic suddenly formed in the depths of the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    That Heaven Eye instantly suffered a strong blow, as if it were being pierced by countless spears.

    In the next moment, the Heaven Eye exploded. Nie Tian instantly lost contact with it.

    The Phantasm let out a cold harrumph as he unleashed profound soul fluctuations to scan his surroundings.

    A pained look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he hastily moved his other Heaven Eyes away from him.

    After failing to find other potential dangers, floating in the colorful mist, the Phantasm took out a conch shell and said into it in Phantasms¡¯nguage, ¡°Where are you, Abreu?¡±

    The conch shell seemed to have simr functions to the Sound Stones that humans used. Phantasms could contact each other through them.

    Soon, the conch shell hummed, as it appeared that another Phantasm had given a response.

    The Phantasm held the conch shell to his ear and then whispered something into it. Afterwards, he jumped from the colorful mist andnded lightly on the shore of the ckke.

    The ce hended was very close to where Nie Tian was hiding.

    As soon as his feet touched the ground, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows started to shine with cyan light.

    He chuckled, looking at the ce where Nie Tian was hiding. ¡°Why don¡¯t you show yourself? It¡¯s very impressive that you¡¯re able to hide your aura of flesh and blood. However, your soul fluctuations gave you away. You might be able to hide from the others, but you can¡¯t hide from me, Armes.¡±

    Nie Tian, who had already scattered his Heaven Eyes on the perimeter, hadn¡¯t discovered any sign of outsiders in the area.

    Thus, he walked slowly out of the bush. Facing the Phantasm, who referred to himself as Armes, he smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m Nie Tian, from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

 Chapter 554: A Chatterbox

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars? Hahaha!¡± Armesughed wildly, a disdainful expression stretching across his face, as if, in his eyes, the Domain of the Falling Stars wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    After the wildugh, he continued in perfect humannguage, ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars was originally one of our rangnds. If the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadn¡¯te along, there wouldn¡¯t be a single human living there now.

    ¡°I heard that experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have long since left the Domain of the Falling Stars. Is that right? Now that it¡¯s been abandoned by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, it¡¯s destined to fall back into our hands.¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has abandoned the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Nie Tian said.

    If they had, why would the Heaven Gates have still appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars?

    How would he have been able to obtain those three fragmentary star marks and be their only acknowledged sessor?

    Ever since those three fragmentary star marks had been branded into his chest, he had felt that he shouldered great responsibilities, even though he wasn¡¯t yet sure what they were.

    With the fragmentary star marks, he had managed to seal the spatial rifts in three realms and crush the Demon¡¯s invasion n. During that time, he had discovered an air-transportation spiritual tool that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left in one of the lofty mountain peaks in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Later, he had discovered that the the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void seemed to be constantly channeling meteors from the depths of the starry river.

    Not just that, he had also discovered a mysterious ward underneath that forbidden region, which also seemed to be have been left there by experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. However, even as the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he hadn¡¯t been able to figure out what secrets were hidden under there.

    As far as he knew, even though the powerful experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left, they had left legacies and secret arrangements behind.

    He even had a feeling that powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been observing the Domain of the Falling Stars through some very profound methods.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Armes shook his head and looked at him with a pitiful gaze. ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve never been out of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and you have no idea what the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce really is. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce controls countless domains like the Domain of the Falling Stars. They don¡¯t care about it as much as you think.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly upon hearing these words.

    Armes seemed to be from some Phantasm realm, yet he seemed to be rather familiar with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Nie Tian had even discovered that a hint of a scruple appeared in his eyes when he talked about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    This indicated that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce must be a very powerful human force somewhere in the boundless starry river.

    Nie Tian knew that the Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars had gradually lost contact with powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after they had left the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If what Armes had just said was the truth, that the Domain of the Falling Stars was just a remote ce neglected by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, then why would they still try to choose sessors from there from time to time? And why would the Demons and Phantasms still exert all means toe back?

    He suspected that there were still secrets of the Domain of the Falling Stars that he didn¡¯t know about. Perhaps only after he had refined the second and third fragmentary star marks and risen to a higher cultivation stage would he be able to derive some enlightenment regarding that.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had fallen silent and seemed absorbed in thought, Armes chuckled and asked, ¡°Do you know why you and the other humans from the Domain of the Falling Stars havee to this dimension?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked with an intense look in his eyes.

    Armesughed wildly. ¡°It was thanks to our efforts that those six spatial rifts reappeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian instantly recalled the few Phantasms that had descended upon the forbidden region in meteors.

    They had mysteriously disappeared soon after their arrival. Only a few members of the Blood Skull, Wild Fire, and Dark Moon had seen them briefly in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Later, the same Phantasms had appeared in the Realm of Dark Underworld, where they had summoned their ancient starship from the bottom of ake and charged out of the realm.

    Even though he had seized and refined the Spirit Pearl by chance, the ancient starship had still managed to sail into the starry river.

    The few Phantasms had gone with it.

    Upon hearing Armes¡¯ words, Nie Tian¡¯s heart was slightly shaken, fearing that those six spatial rifts were indeed part of the Phantasms¡¯ n.

    What did they want by luring people from the Domain of the Falling Stars through those spatial rifts into this strange dimension?

    ¡°Our ancestralnd was up there... once,¡± Armes said, pointing up at the misty gray heavens, a subtle,plicated look appearing in his eyes. ¡°Those six spatial rifts were originally the means through which we traveled back and forth between our home and the Domain of the Falling Stars with Demons, Fiends, Bonebrutes, and other races.

    ¡°Due to some reason, our continent eventually exploded, and we were forced to emigrate.

    ¡°After we lost our ancestralnd, those six spatial rifts also lost their effect.

    ¡°There are three major spatial rifts that connect the Domain of the Falling Stars and the realms we now live in.

    ¡°However, after the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce took the Domain of the Falling Stars from us, they sealed those three spatial rifts, and thus stopped us from returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Only recently did we manage to reopen the six spatial rifts that connected our ancestralnd with the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°We only went through great lengths to reopen them to facilitate our future return. The reason why we showed you those spatial rifts was because this dimension was filled with all kinds of energy, which makes it a more suitable battle environment for us.

    ¡°However, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has modified the Domain of the Falling Stars, and turned the energies that we¡¯re ustomed to into the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that suits humans¡¯ needs.

    ¡°If we rush over to the Domain of the Falling Stars before filling it with our energies, our battle prowess will bepromised.

    ¡°But here, we can disy our battle prowess to the fullest.

    ¡°We¡¯ll kill all of your experts that havee to this dimension first, and then march our army through those six spatial rifts and retake the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, instead of rushing into battle with him, Armes went on and on like a chatterbox.

    The more he listened, the more strongly he believed that the appearance of the six spatial rifts was part of the outsiders¡¯ scheme.

    At first, he was rather puzzled as to why this Phantasm would reveal such important information to him.

    However, as time passed, he soon noticed that the gashes under Armes¡¯ torn armor had stopped bleeding. To his surprise, most of his wounds had actually healed within such a short time.

    Armes¡¯ strong self-healing ability shocked him.

    That was when he realized that he was only saying those things to buy him time to recover from the serious injuries he had sustained passing through the spatial rift.

    Also at that moment, through one of his Heaven Eyes, he saw a number of Birdmen pping their feathered wings vigorously as they flew very fast towards his location from different directions.

    He instantly realized that Armes must have had discovered him when he had whispered something into the conch shell, before he had descended on thekeshore and dared him toe out. He must have lowered his voice to summon other outsiders to this ce to surround him before he realized it.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve only said this much to buy time for your recovery and for your friends toe, right?¡± Nie Tian asked with a determined look in his eyes.

    Armesughed out loud. ¡°Mostly to stabilize my injuries. After all, I paid a serious price passing through that spatial rift.

    ¡°But now that my injuries are pretty much healed, you can die now.¡±

    With these words, blinding cyan light burst forth from within him, along with terrifying energy fluctuations.

    His suit of armor, which had had been terribly damaged on his way through the spatial rift, suddenly exploded like a shattered turtle shell.

    Pieces of broken armor shot violently in all directions, giving rise to sharp whooshing sounds, apanied by beams of frosty and piercing light.

    Momentster, all of the broken pieces seemed to receive Armes¡¯mands, as they all bent their tracks towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian sensed that every piece of broken armor carried mysterious soul power.

    As he focused his attention on trying to determine the paths of the flying armor pieces, an excruciating twisting pain suddenly came from his head.

    With a deep frown, Nie Tian turned to look at Armes, and discovered that he was wreathed in a cyan light shield, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows shining with dazzling light.

    As he gazed into that prismatic crystal, he suddenly felt light-headed, as if his soul had been plunged into a bottomless abyss.

 Chapter 555: A Powerful Opponent

    In a split second, the nine fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul blossomed with blindingly bright light.

    As soon as the light of the floating fragmentary stars shone upon his sea of awareness, all dizziness and difort were eliminated.

    His stirred soul was instantly soothed, and he recovered a clear mind.

    ¡°What the-?!" Armes gasped, shock appearing in his eyes. <i>¡°I thought humans at the Greater Heaven stage wouldn¡¯t have developed their soul power yet. Was I mistaken?!¡±</i>

    He seemed to be rather familiar with human cultivation, and thus had expected that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand his soul attack, and would fall into bewilderment.

    The fact that Nie Tian had so effortlessly neutralized his soul magic took him by surprise.

    At this moment, Nie Tian realized that the pieces of broken armor wreathed in a misty, cyan aura were already rather close to him.

    With a cold snort, he cast a short-range Starshift, and suddenly appeared before Armes.

    Dragging a tail of zing mes, the me Star in his hand shed down with the crushing momentum of thunder.

    At the same time, his chaotic maic field instantly enveloped Armes.

    But what surprised Nie Tian was that Armes didn¡¯t seem to experience any difort. He only frowned slightly, and nothing more than a minor stir seemed to ur in his soul.

    In his experience, when his previous opponents had been enveloped by his chaotic maic field, their spiritual seas would have been thrown into disorder, and their souls would have been distorted, causing great pain.

    However, this Phantasm stood unwavering in his chaotic maic field, as if nothing had happened.

    CLANK!

    As Armes raised his hand, his fingers suddenly became as translucent as jade. Wisps of cyan aura flowed within his jade-like fingers. All of a suddenly, the Phantasm¡¯s unique, terrifying power burst forth from those fingers, with which he effortlessly stopped the me Star¡¯s crushing momentum.

    Glorious sparks sputtered from the contact point, as if the me Star had hacked onto a piece of solid iron.

    Before Nie Tian could unleash the various powers he had vested the me Star with, they were scattered by the cyan aura that exploded out of Armes¡¯ fingers.

    With a low chuckle, fine cyan lightning could be seen swimming in the depths of Armes¡¯ unfathomable eyes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Armes syed his other hand and pressed it towards Nie Tian¡¯s unprotected chest.

    As he did, a cluster of cyan light was quickly born within his palm, which then suddenly exploded, creating a storm of countless fine cyan lightning bolts that instantly engulfed Nie Tian.

    Each and every bolt of cyan lightning contained shocking amounts of flesh power, as well as Armes¡¯ profound soul power.

    Aching and sore all over, Nie Tian felt as if he had been caught in a electric. Even his inner spiritual power flow was slowed down, holding him back from unleashing powerful counterattacks.

    Armes shoved his palm into Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    Feeling as if he had been hit by a mountain of steel, Nie Tian was thrown into the air, and fell with a loud crash.

    As he struggled to assume a firm foothold, he could still see cyan lightning bolts slithering all over him. Formed with copious flesh and soul power, they were madly drilling into his flesh in an attempt to destroy his meridians and bones.

    Cracks appeared in several of his ribs after he took Armes¡¯ violent palm strike.

    With a thought, he cast Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Refined wood power was instantly summoned out of his spiritual sea, which morphed into bright sparks of life force and infused into his damaged ribs.

    Simultaneously, his heart started pounding violently. The blood it pumped into his veins made it seem as if it were seething.

    Like an erupting volcano, his raging flesh power wiped out all of the cyan lightning from Armes.

    In no more than a few seconds¡¯ time, everyst bit of Armes¡¯ flesh power and soul power was washed away from Nie Tian¡¯s body, like smoke blown away by a severe gale.

    Confusion and shock filled Armes¡¯s eyes that looked like a pair of cyan gems. ¡°You... I can¡¯t believe you survived my attack! Are you not human? Why do you possess such strong flesh power?!¡±

    With these words, he dashed over, wreathed in cyan light shields.

    Even though he was only at the fourth grade, he was much faster than spirit beasts at his grade.

    He practically teleported to Nie Tian¡¯s face. Within arm¡¯s reach from him, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t possible disy the might of his me Star, which was about two meters long.

    Therefore, he quickly put his me Star away in his ring of holding, and started fighting Armes with punches and kicks at this very limited distance.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Every time their fists and feet shed, it gave rise to thunderous sounds, as if two gigantic beasts were charging into each other and trying to tear each other to bits.

    Armes¡¯ battle prowess was surprisingly high. At first, Nie Tian could only struggle to defend himself against Armes¡¯ storming attacks.

    Armes¡¯s punches and kicks were so fast that they dazzled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. He even felt that the speed at which his spiritual power circted wasn¡¯t fast enough to support his defensive efforts.

    However, in contrast, his rich flesh power that was now scattered in every bone and muscle all over him could flow very rapidly to any part he wanted it to.

    The defensive shield he formed with his spiritual power was easily smashed by Armes¡¯ deluge of attacks.

    BANG BANG BANG!

    Armes¡¯ attacks with his fists, palms, elbows, knees, and feet were all as swift as lightning.

    Nie Tian felt as if he were being attacked by a dozen fierce beasts in a variety of ways at the same time.

    As he defended against these moves, and with every sh, the flesh power he had absorbed from the outsiders earlier was rapidly being drained.

    Soon, his spiritual power failed to support such intense and high frequency exchanges, and thus he could only keep fighting with his flesh power.

    His whole life, he had had great confidence in his ability to fight with his bare hands.

    Almost all of the opponents he hade across growing up had greatly relied on their exquisite spiritual tools or all sorts of spiritual incantations.

    This had given him a great advantage when they had to fight with bare hands. Thanks to his exceptionally tough body, he had won almost every time when it hade to that.

    However, this Phantasm named Armes was nothing like the other opponents he had encountered before. The vigor of his flesh power was something he had never seen before.

    ording to his master, Wu Ji, Phantasms weren¡¯t even the outsiders that possessed the strongest fleshly bodies.

    However, the terrifying close-up battle skills Armes disyed shocked Nie Tian deeply.

    As the fight went on and his heart pounded more and more violently, his veins were about to explode with seething flesh power.

    Having defended passively for so long, his heart was now brimming with rage. At this moment, he suddenly summoned his burning rage and formed a Rage Punch along with his flesh power and all sorts of spiritual power.

    With this punch that contained one third of his overall strength, he met Armes¡¯ iing attack with his syed, translucent palm.

    BOOM!

    Upon contact, Armes, who had been attacking actively this whole time, coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered a few steps backwards.

    The wounds that had closed up and healed to a great extent once again burst open, blood spilling from them.

    A shocked look once again appeared in Armes¡¯ eyes as he eximed, ¡°Who are you exactly?!¡±

    After unleashing the Rage Punch, Nie Tian still hadn¡¯t recovered from his mental state, and was still panting with rage.

    At that moment, when he finally had the opportunity to catch his breath, he saw through his Heaven Eyes that more and more Birdmen were flying towards his location.

    Nie Tian took a deep look at Armes and said, ¡°I¡¯ve told you. I¡¯m from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    SHEW!

    His voice still lingered, but he was already nowhere to be seen.

    With a grim look in his eyes, Armes was just about to put on a new suit of armor and really get into the fight with Nie Tian when he realized that Nie Tian had vanished into thin air right before his eyes.

    He looked into the air and saw the iing Birdmen, and thus thundered, ¡°Get the hell away! Don¡¯t you dare interrupt my battle with him!¡±

    The prismatic crystal between his eyebrows thrummed with ripples of invisible soul fluctuations as he started to scan the vicinity for signs of Nie Tian.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill that human kid named Nie Tian by myself. Stay out of my way!¡±

    Upon hearing his angry roars, all of the Birdmen that had rushed to this ce kept their distance from him, as if they were intimidated by his strength and status.

    With the help of the Phantasm¡¯s special soul magics and his profound bloodline talent, he quickly determined the direction Nie Tian had left in, and then sped away in that direction.

    Cowed by his warnings, the Birdmen could only remain in ce and watch him disappear into the distance.

    Momentster, Abreu arrived with Tago and other Phantasms and high-tier Demons.

 Chapter 556: Waiting

    ¡°What happened?" Abreu asked, looking grimly at a female Birdman. ¡°Where¡¯s my brother?¡±

    Awkward and nervous, the female Birdman said, ¡°Lord Armes went after that human named Nie Tian.¡±

    After a brief pause, she added, ¡°And he forbade us to interrupt his battle with him. I think Lord Armes found that man a worthy opponent, so wanted to finish him off alone?¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Tago, the Demon leader, blurted with a frown. ¡°How can some human intrigue Lord Armes?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the Phantasms and Demons fell silent, somewhat confused.

    At that moment, a dpidated teleportation portal flew over with a burly Stoneman on it.

    Upon his arrival, therge Stoneman leader asked for a description of Nie Tian and said, ¡°That same person damaged our teleportation portal on that nearby ind. It was him who forced us toe back.¡±

    Tago gasped. ¡°That¡¯s the guy you told us about?¡±

    The Stoneman leader, who was named Stonemountain, nodded vigorously. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be mistaken. Of all the humans we met, that person is the only one that possessed such battle prowess. He destroyed ayer of our teleportation portal with what seemed to be a human¡¯s Spirit Channeling grade treasure.¡±

    ¡°Is he really that good in battle?¡± Tago asked, frowning.

    ¡°He¡¯s very hard to deal with,¡± Stonemountain said with all seriousness. ¡°He killed several of my men without breaking a sweat. I don¡¯t even think I¡¯d be able to take him by myself.¡±

    Tago was astounded. ¡°What?!¡±

    All of the other outsiders also gasped with astonishment.

    Admittedly, Stonemen were a minor race, yet Stonemountain¡¯s strength was superior to the others of his generation, making him like a crane in a flock of chickens.

    Even Tago and Abreu didn¡¯t think they would be able to beat Stonemountain in a battle, considering they hadn¡¯t awakened their races¡¯ most powerful bloodline talents.

    The Stonemen might not be a powerful race, but Stonemountain had already awakened most of his race¡¯s powerful bloodline talents, which made him one of the top fighters at his grade.

    Various expressions shed across Abreu¡¯s face. ¡°No wonder he intrigued my brother...¡±

    Then, after a moment of silence, he seemed to loosen up and said, ¡°Anyways, since my brother has set his mind on this guy, he¡¯s going to die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    ¡°As you know, the reason why he didn¡¯te here with us was because he was busy awakening one of our race¡¯s core bloodline talents.

    ¡°The fact that he managed toe through that unstable spatial rift means that he has already finished awakening that bloodline talent.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the other outsiders looked deeply surprised.

    Phantasms were a very powerful race, and Armes was one of the most promising of their younger generation.

    It seemed that all of the outsiders present, no matter the race, had great respect for Armes¡¯ formidable strength. They agreed with Abreu that whoever he meant to kill wouldn¡¯t get to live another day.

    After a moment of hesitation, Abreu went on, looking somewhat apprehensive, ¡°You know my brother¡¯s temperament. Since he told us to stay out of it, we¡¯d better just do that. Even I will be in serious danger if I dare to disobey him, not to mention you guys.¡±

    The crowd of outsiders couldn¡¯t help but shudder slightly upon the thought of Armes¡¯ ferocity and brutality.

    With a dark smile, Abreu added, ¡°We have nothing to worry about. Now that my brother wants that guy dead, that Nie Tian person will have no chance of escaping death, no matter how good he is. He might be able to hide his traces from us, but he can never fool my older brother!¡±

    All of the other outsiders nodded slightly. Apparently, they were no stranger to Armes¡¯ shrewd perception and formidable battle prowess.

    ...

    SHEW!

    With a few Starshifts, Nie Tian had long since escaped the blockade formed by the converging outsiders like a sh of starlight.

    He arrived in a dense forest on the other side of the vast ckke.

    With his Heaven Eyes hanging high in the sky, he was keeping a close watch on everything around him.

    Through them, he overheard the conversation between Abreu, Tago, and the others, and discovered that they had actually stopped helping Armes fight him just because Armes had told them to.

    They all seemed to be very confident that now that Armes had made him his target, he would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    <i>¡°This Armes must be like the chosen ones from human ns and sects, and has been cultivated as their race¡¯s future leader.¡± </i>A grim look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he was convinced of Armes¡¯ lofty status, as well as his formidable battle prowess.

    Clearly, Armes¡¯ abilities weren¡¯t at the same level as that of the other outsiders he had met before.

    Furthermore, he hadn¡¯t actually unleashed his most powerful bloodline talents or special spiritual tools.

    He had only fought him with his explosive power and exquisite close-up battle skills, nothing more.

    If he hadn¡¯tunched a Rage Punch to end his battle against him, he would have continued to be dominated.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s true that the Rage Punch that I learned from the titan in that mysteriousnd is iparably explosive and powerful, but it takes too much power to use it.¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself. After all, with a single strike, he had consumed about a third of his spiritual powers and flesh power.

    Now that he had entered the middle Greater Heaven stage, he had confidence that, with the same punch, he would have been able to shatter the body of another human cultivator at his stage.

    Even Guan Ye from the Heaven Pce Sect wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand such an explosive and violent force, and would have been instantly torn to bits.

    However, Armes had only spit out a mouthful of blood, and had some of his healed wounds split open. He was still able to move freely.

    Furthermore, when Armes had initiated the battle, he hadn¡¯t fully recovered from the injuries he had sustained passing through the spatial rift.

    If this Armes person had entered that other ind, he would be a god of death. Aside from Dong Baijie, who had be mysteriously powerful, and Dong Li, who had absorbed the strength of an eighth grade ck phoenix, none of the others would stand a chance fighting him, not even Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect.

    Soon, Nie Tian noticed that Armes was rapidly closing in on his location. ¡°What? He¡¯se so quickly?¡±

    ¡°He wants to finish our battle, doesn¡¯t he? ...Okay then." With a grin, Nie Tian calmed himself to recover strength and prepare himself for the uing battle with this formidable opponent.

    However, at this moment, a message from Dong Li came from the Sound Stone in his inner pocket.

    Dong Li had sent him a message asking about his situation since it had been some time since thest time she had received word from him.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that he hadn¡¯t informed her of his battle results after killing those few Birdmen, considering their numbers and strength were both limited.

    Later, after Armes hade along, his suffocating attacks had made it impossible for him to send Dong Li any messages. Therefore, it had indeed been quite a long time since he hadst contacted her.

    As briefly as possible, he informed Dong Li of the current situation, that he had run into a powerful Phantasm, and that they should remain on that other ind and wait for his good news.

    Afterwards, he quickly sat down in the lotus position and started recovering strength.

    To be safe, he summoned the seventy-two tree branches from his ring of holding and established a spell formation around him with them.

    As soon as the hemispherical green ward, which contained numerous tree patterns, came to form over his head, he discovered that the wood power of every tree and nt within a five kilometer radius started to converge on it.

    Unlike that other ind, there were arge amounts of trees, nts, and all sorts of vegetation on this ind, all of which contained rich wood power.

    The special spell formation he had picked up from the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd seemed to have the ability to automatically absorb wood power from its surroundings.

    Sitting in the spell formation, he didn¡¯t even need to use any wood-attributed spiritual materials. He already felt enlivened and full of vigor just by refining the wood power brought into himself from his surroundings.

    As his vortex of wood power spun madly, drop after drop of liquidized wood power formed at the bottom of the vortex, rapidly supplementing the consumption of his Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Eyes closed, he examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that fine ruptures and damage had urred in many ces inside of him.

    Once again, heunched the profound Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The moment he did, the numerous tree patterns in the green ward over his head started moving about, as if to realign themselves.

    In the next moment, a sea of vast wood power rushed out of the center of the green ward and poured down into Nie Tian like a magnificent waterfall of green energy.

    In a split second, green sparks of rich life force filled every injury he had sustained from his battle against Armes. Like divine needles and thread, the green sparks fixed the damage at an rming speed.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that I could actually couple Heavenly Wood Heal with this spell formation like this!¡±

 Chapter 557: Divine Body Refinement Method

    Nie Tian was deeply shaken.

    He had acquired Heavenly Wood Heal from the magicalnd where he had discovered a Tree of Life, or technically speaking, from that sleeping titan.

    He had derived his knowledge of Heavenly Wood after spending a long period of time sorting through the broken message he had received from that titan.

    Heavenly Wood consisted of two magics, Heavenly Wood Heal and Heavenly Wood Thorns.

    Meanwhile, the seventy-two tree branches had be magical after he had duplicated the grand spell formation that had protected the Floragrim¡¯s ancestralnd and mysterious tree patterns had infused into them.

    Simr enormous trees grew in both these two magical ces, as if they were somehow rted.

    During his previous battles, he had identally enhanced the might of Heavenly Wood Thorns with the tree branches.

    However, he had never expected that the effect of Heavenly Wood Heal would be so greatly enhanced when he cast it within the unique spell formation formed by the tree branches.

    Streams of rich and pure wood power continued to converge from his surroundings and infuse into him.

    As he examined himself with soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul, he could see with absolute rity that every torn muscle and cracked bone was healing at an eye-dazzling speed.

    Within a few moments, all of his injuries were healed, both internal and external.

    That was when he realized that rich wood power was still pouring into his body.

    Upon seeing this, he didn¡¯t stop his Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Then, he discovered that the rich wood power morphed into numerous wisps of green aura after entering his body and started converging on his ribs, which had sustained the most damage from his previous battle against Armes.

    As he continued to observe them with devoted attention, he saw, to his surprise, that his already healed ribs were actually turning from white to translucent and sparkling!

    At the same time, his changing ribs seemed to be absorbing his flesh power.

    Soon, his ribs turned emerald green and translucent, very simr to the tree branches after being activated.

    He had a very strong feeling that, after the change, his ribs had be iparably tough and resilient.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open, shock and disbelief written across his face. ¡°What a way to refine my body!¡±

    He had always considered Heavenly Wood Heal a powerful healing magic.

    However, now, after witnessing the grand changes his ribs had gone through, he realized that it could not only be used to heal injuries, but it was also a very profound body refinement magic!

    Perhaps because his cultivation base had been too low before, or his body hadn¡¯t been ready for such a revtion, the effect of Heavenly Wood Heal had been limited to healing injuries.

    However, now that he had entered the middle Greater Heaven stage, and had taken in copious amount of flesh powertely, subtle changes had urred, which readied him for this new body refinement method!

    After a moment of disbelief, he felt overjoyed, and without hesitation, summoned his flesh power to cooperate with the rich wood power in refining more of his bones with this divine method.

    He discovered that the bones that had been damaged during his battle against Armes seemed to be specially favored by Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The wisps of refining aura seemed to be unhappy about those previously weakened bones, and thus provided them with extra care, infusing them with power and refining them unceasingly.

    <i>¡°It seems that I might have to thank Armes for the damage he caused me!¡± </i>he thought to himself.

    After another round of refinement, all of his previously damaged bones turned emerald green and translucent. At that moment, the changes seemed toe to a stop.

    <i>¡°Construction after destruction! Heavenly Wood Heal will only have optimal effects on damaged bones!</i>

    <i>¡°Armes crushing my bones seemed to stir the Heavenly Wood Heal¡¯s dissatisfaction with my fragile body. And it¡¯s now taking it upon itself to refine my damaged bones with flesh power and wood power!¡±</i>

    Aftering to such a shocking conclusion, a vicious look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°Armes! As powerful as you are, you will serve as a perfect whetstone for my body!¡±

    With this thought in mind, he summoned the seventy-two tree branches back to his ring of holding and rose to his feet, waiting for Armes¡¯ arrival.

    Not only did he not mask his aura with Life Stealth this time, but he even intentionally released a stronger aura into his surroundings.

    As he had expected, Armes found him within a short time.

    ¡°Decided to stop running, have you?¡± With these words, Armes walked casually into Nie Tian¡¯s view, as if he were strolling in his own courtyard, Nie Tian¡¯s image reflected in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    Nie Tian gazed deeply at him and also discovered his own image in the prismatic crystal between Armes¡¯ eyebrows.

    As soon as he did, he had a feeling as if Armes had locked him down, that no matter where he went, he would be able to locate him.

    Nie Tian snorted. ¡°I realize that you didn¡¯t tell your other friends to help you surround me, so why would I still run?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Armes said, ¡°All those who came before me either haven¡¯t awakened their core bloodline talents, like my never-do-well little brother, ore from weaker races, who have awakened their core bloodline talents, but still can¡¯t withstand a single blow, like Stonemountain. None of them are presentable. Why would I want them to help me with a battle?¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Grinning, Nie Tian suddenly shed to right in front of Armes, but he didn¡¯t summon his me Star or any other weapons.

    Armes went nk briefly. Recalling that he had just suffered a serious blow from Nie Tian¡¯s Rage Punch, he subconsciously wanted to unleash the core bloodline talent he had recently awakened.

    However, he quickly noticed that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t bearing any weapons in his hands. From the look of it, Nie Tian still wanted to fight him with his bare hands. Thus, he instantly changed his mind.

    ¡°That fist strike of yours was pretty interesting,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can hurt me with it this time!¡±

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, Armes put away his fine suit of armor beforeunching any attacks.

    In a split second, they were once again engaged in a fierce, close-up battle.

    Their shes created terrifying energy fluctuations, as if two vicious beasts were trying to tear each other to pieces.

    What Nie Tian had expected happened.

    Thanks to his exquisite battle skills, Armes quickly gained the upper hand, and continued to rain attacks on Nie Tian.

    The only difference was that Nie Tian didn¡¯t exert all means to defend himself this time. Instead, he continued exchanging attacks with Armes, heedless of the repeated heavy blows he was receiving from him, as if he had no fear of death.

    Armes was gradually enraged by Nie Tian¡¯s arrogance. After all, he had only dared to go through the unstable spatial rift because of his great confidence in his powerful spiritual armor and exceptional self-healing ability. <i> ¡°As a human, he actually dares to exchange attacks with me like this. Does he not know that humans have the weakest fleshly bodies of all races, and that their healing ability is far inferior to ours? What the hell is he thinking?¡±</i>

    He had healed most of his wounds soon after passing through that spatial rift.

    He refused to believe that this human youngster would be able to heal himself faster than him.

    Their fierce battle went on for some time before Nie Tian realized that many of his bones were cracked, and his battle prowess started to drop significantly.

    However, he discovered that all of the bones that had been refined by Heavenly Wood Heal and be translucent and sparkling like emeralds remained perfectly fine.

    After achieving his goal, Nie Tianughed wildly, disregarding the blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth. ¡°I dare you toe and get me!¡±

    With these words, he vanished again with a Starshift.

    After Nie Tian left, Armes got down on one knee, panting heavily. Many of the wounds he had healed earlier had once again burst open, blood spilling from them.

    Staring furiously in the direction Nie Tian had left in, he took out a red item that looked very much like a heart, and started munching on it.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

 Chapter 558: Crystal Bones

    Over the next two days, Armes sought Nie Tian out and fought him six times.

    Every time, Armes inflicted serious damage on Nie Tian, so much so that he believed Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to escape death.

    However, every time, Nie Tian managed to escape with an escape magic he had never seen before. By the time he sought him out again, he had recovered from his severe injuries, and was ready to fight again.

    After a few times, Armes started to feel that Nie Tian might be actually inviting him to hurt him. The notion bothered him.

    As powerful as he was, after every battle against Nie Tian, he would be covered in injuries himself.

    He would have to devour spirit beast hearts to restore his vigorous flesh power.

    As time passed, he feel more and more uneasy and insecure.

    Through these battles, Nie Tian gradually perfected his originally simple and basic battle skills.

    Not only that, but Nie Tian¡¯s human body, which should have been fragile, had be increasingly tough and resilient after taking repeated heavy blows from him.

    As far as he knew, humans probably possessed the weakest bodies among all of the higher beings.

    The majority of humans would focus on cultivating their spiritual sea or strengthening their soul power, but very few would put emphasis on the refinement of their bodies.

    That was because humans were born with fragile bodies. Even if they did everything within their power to refine their bodies, the toughness of their bodies wouldn¡¯t rise to the same level as outsiders¡¯ would.

    However, this Nie Tian person somehow possessed an inhumanly tough body, and his superb self-healing ability was simply astonishing.

    Even he himself was barely able to recover his damaged body by wolfing down one spirit beast heart after another.

    He would usually start chasing after Nie Tian while his injuries started to heal, instead of when they were fully healed.

    It would usually take him about four to six hours to find Nie Tian and start another battle with him.

    However, when he found him, Nie Tian would always be full of vigor again, every bone he had previously shattered bing tougher than ever.

    Armes also gradually noticed that, when he struck Nie Tian¡¯s chest again where he was sure he had broken several bones in their previous battles, he somehow remained unscathed.

    Then, as he paid more attention regarding such anomalies in their most recent battle, he realized that Nie Tian¡¯s broken bones seemed to be changing, or, to be exact, transforming.

    <i>¡°Who the hell is this person? Could he be doing this intentionally? By provoking me to attack him repeatedly, he¡¯s actually using me to temper his body?¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Armes swallowed another fourth grade spirit beast¡¯s heart and practiced his bloodline magic to converge all of the flesh power he acquired from the heart to his injured areas.

    Infused with a copious amount of flesh power, his opened wounds once again healed within a short time.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only got one spirit beast heart left. If I fail to finish Nie Tian off during our next encounter, it¡¯s gonna be very troublesome.¡± His eyebrows knitted together.

    ...

    In a forest of tall and lush trees.

    Wisps of green aura were being channeled from all directions by a dark-green ward, before converging into a stream and pouring down onto Nie Tian, who was sitting under the ward.

    A hint of a smile appeared on his calm and peaceful face.

    Faint green light could be vaguely seening from under his garments and skin. It was his bones that were emanating such light.

    As he examined himself with rapt attention, he could see that every bone in his body had be translucent like emeralds, emanating a misty green light.

    Even his smallest knuckle and toe bones had been refined with Heavenly Wood Heal and be translucent and sparkling.

    <i>¡°Is this the actual purpose of Heavenly Wood Heal turning my regr bones into crystal bones?</i>

    <i>¡°I suppose it¡¯s possible that crystal bones can just be an early phase. Are there going to be more changes if I continue to refine my body with this profound magic?</i>

    <i>¡°All these years, I have never forgotten about my body refinement. I¡¯ve absorbedrge amounts of flesh power and refined my bones and flesh with it.</i>

    <i>¡°But it looks as if I¡¯ve only just started to really refine my body, now that I¡¯ve discovered this wondrous use of Heavenly Wood Heal.</i>

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe it took me this much effort and luck to finally be able to refine my body with Heavenly Wood Heal.</i>

    <i>¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been possible if it weren¡¯t for Armes¡¯ appearance, the magical tree branches, and the rich wood power on this ind.</i>

    <i>¡°However, after going through so much, my body only seems to have entered the first phase.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian caught Armes¡¯ aura through the Heaven Eyes he had scattered in the vicinity.

    ¡°Here hees...¡± With a meaningful smile, Nie Tian rose to his feet and summoned the translucent and sparkling tree branches back into his ring of holding.

    At this point, he had long since stopped detesting Armes. After all, it was this formidable opponent who had forced out his potential, allowing him to discover Heavenly Wood Heal¡¯s true use.

    Now that he had finished crystallizing his bones, he had also consumed all of the flesh power he had umted from the outsiders he had killed earlier during the process.

    He could feel that he had rather limited flesh power inside of him now.

    However, with the toughness of his body rising to a whole new level, he wouldn¡¯t need as much flesh power as before to contend against Armes.

    Furthermore, after his previous battles against Armes, his battle skills had also improved significantly.

    He suddenly summoned the me Star into his raised hand.

    CRUNCH!

    Without infusing it with all sorts of powers as he always had, he shed it vigorously down on his other hand, which was open with fingers together.

    The me Star¡¯s iparably sharp de easily cut open the flesh on his fingers. However, when it met his knuckle bones, a crisp metallic sound echoed out, as if it had hacked on a piece of steel.

    The me Star could only split his skin and flesh, but it failed to break his knuckle bones, which were probably the weakest of all of his bones.

    He examined his knuckle bones with rapt attention, and couldn¡¯t discover even the smallest fissure in them.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t infused the me Star with extra powers, as sharp as it was, and considering his exceptional strength, he would have cut a human Qi warrior at his stage in two before they could even raise their spiritual power ward.

    Even powerful spirit beasts would have sustained serious injuries from such a vigorous cut.

    However, his crystallized bones had withstood it and remained unscathed.

    Putting the me Star away, Nie Tian healed his hand with Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The gashes on his fingers were instantly wreathed in a misty green aura. Momentster, they healedpletely, as if nothing had happened.

    With a joyous smile on his face, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°If he hase to fight me up-close again, perhaps I¡¯ll put him out of his misery this time.¡±

    As he intentionally unleashed his vigorous life force into his surroundings, in Armes¡¯ senses, he seemed like a fierce beast that was roaring in a dense forest and waiting for its prey to arrive.

    After tracking Nie Tian¡¯s aura to this location, Armes scanned him from afar with his bloodline magic. He couldn¡¯t help but shudder in shock.<i> ¡°H-his aura ispletely different from before! This is so strange...¡±</i>

    Shortly afterwards, Armes entered Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    With a wildugh, Nie Tian shed to right in front of Armes and started another battle with his bare hands, the same as their previous encounters.

    However, this time, Armes gasped as he discovered that the mountain-toppling and sea-draining force he used to bombard Nie Tian failed to break a single bone.

    In contrast, with every move he made, even with his little fingers, Nie Tian was able to inflict noticeable damage on him.

    PHOOH!

    With his strong fingers, Nie Tian actually ripped a piece of bloody flesh off Armes¡¯ shoulder.

    This was something Nie Tian had never done before.

    For the first time, Armes felt somewhat scared of Nie Tian, and started avoiding his attacks.

    <i>¡°How did his fleshly body be so much tougher? The toughness of his body and his self-healing ability can even match that of the Demons or Bonebrutes!¡±</i> With these thoughts, Armes hastily jumped backwards, where he stared at Nie Tian with his face filled with shock and disbelief. Reflected in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, Nie Tian stood unwavering and confident. The mysterious green light Nie Tian was exuding made him seem like a god, as well as a demon.

    ¡°Are you really a human?¡±Armes asked.

    Nie Tian tilted his chin, grinning. ¡°I¡¯m Nie Tian from the Domain of the Falling Stars. You¡¯d better remember it this time.¡±

    With a grim expression, Armes said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so pleased with yourself just yet, Nie Tian! We Phantasms aren¡¯t known for our tough fleshly bodies. Of all races, Demons and Bonebrutes have the strongest fleshly bodies and body-rted bloodline talents. After they have awakened their core bloodline talents, their bodies can be considered truly impregnable.

    ¡°You may think your body is very tough, butpared to theirs, yours is far inferior.¡±

    ¡°We Phantasms are only average in this aspect.

    ¡°Our true strength lies in our soul power and soul-power-rted bloodline talents.

    ¡°It seems that it¡¯s about time I let you see my true power.¡±

 Chapter 559: Soul Burning Seals

    Nie Tian was aware that neither Armes nor himself had gone all-out to kill each other over the past few days.

    During those battles, he hadn¡¯t used his me Star, me Dragon Armor, Heavenly Wood Thorns, or other exquisite spiritual incantations.

    Simrly, Armes hadn¡¯t unleashed the Phantasm¡¯s most powerful soul magics and bloodline talents.

    They had fought with nothing but their flesh power, trying to finish each other off in the most brutal and violent way.

    Armes always had great confidence in himself, and believed that he would be able to overtake Nie Tian simply by relying on his tough body and profound flesh power.

    However, now that Nie Tian had crystallized his bones with Heavenly Wood Heal, Armes finally realized that he would have to bring out more powerful means in order to overtake him.

    Thus, he abandoned the most primitive means of battle, and instead resorted to the Phantasm¡¯s bloodline power, which had allowed their race to rise to prominence and overshadow numerous other races.

    A fine suit of armor graduallye to form over Armes, as if it had appeared out of thin air. Countless detailed patterns could be seen branded on the armor, which seemed to be somehow connected to Armes¡¯ meridians.

    The moment the armor appeared, Armes¡¯ aura of flesh and blood instantly skyrocketed.

    At the same time, his eyes and the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows started to shine with intimidating cyan light.

    All of a sudden, three clusters of light that were only the size of thumbs flew out of each of his eyes and the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    Armes pped his own chest and spit out a mouthful of blood, which instantly split into three strings and infused into the three beans of cyan light.

    Immediately afterwards, the three clusters of light started to burn with ghostly cyan mes.

    Wreathed in gruesome and frosty auras, they floated towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Have a taste of my bloodline power!¡± Armes roared.

    Like demons¡¯ eyes, the three clusters of ghostly mes floated inpletely unpredictable paths towards Nie Tian.

    Watch them floating closer and closer, Nie Tian felt a strong sense of danger. Expression flickering, he attempted to examine them with his psychic awareness.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    His psychic awareness was set on fire as soon as it made contact with the three clusters of strange mes.

    Experiencing a stabbing pain in his mind, Nie Tian quickly discovered that his psychic awareness had been eliminated like a couple of snowkes that had been vaporized by zing mes.

    A disdainful expression appeared on Armes¡¯ face as Nie Tian¡¯s reflection appeared in each of his eyes and the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows. ¡°You haven¡¯t even entered the Worldly realm and developed soul power! With what do you n to resist my Soul Burning Seals?!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was hit by a feeling that, no matter where he went, as long as he remained in Armes¡¯ sight, he would have no way of escaping the pursuit of those three clusters of ghostly mes.

    With a grim expression, he summoned the me Star and formed a chaotic maic field around him.

    With a few vigorous swings of the me Star, he sent out de lights, along with thunderous sounds that seemed as if they could split heaven and earth.

    However, the de lights shot right through the iing ghostly mes like cutting through air. The clusters of cyan mes seemedpletely unaffected as they continued to float towards him, burning as strongly as ever. ¡°Our bloodline magics perfectly match the use of our soul power. You can¡¯t neutralize them unless you possess soul power or practice lighting-attributed incantations.¡±

    With a sinister smile on his face, Armes looked coldly at Nie Tian, waiting for his cyan mes to hit Nie Tian, as if he could see Nie Tian¡¯s soul being breached by his Soul Burning Seals and reduced to to a sea of zing mes until all of his memories, thoughts, and awareness were burned away.

    ¡°Damn Phantasms!¡± Having failed to affect the three clusters of ghostly mes in the slightest with the de lights that were infused with his various powers, Nie Tian finally realized how powerful Armes¡¯ Soul Burning Seals were.

    They were the product of the perfect fusion of Armes¡¯ soul power and unique bloodline talents, making thempletely different from the soul attacks he had seen before. This was what soul magics should be like.

    Unlike humans, Phantasms didn¡¯t have to wait till they rose to certain grade to develop the ability to practice soul power.

    They were born with iparably strong souls. As they grew and cultivated, they would gradually awaken their bloodline talents, and thus acquire the ability to channel soul power and cast powerful soul magics.

    This was what the Phantasms had relied on to stand out from among so many outsider races.

    <i>¡°Only with lightning magics or simrly profound soul magics will I be able to resist his soul attacks...¡± </i>As his train of thought came to this point, Nie Tian realized that he would have to resort to his soul power.

    Eyes fixed on the zing ghostly mes that were floating closer and closer, he concentrated his awareness on the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The three Soul Burning Seals finally entered his chaotic maic field.

    They flickered and swayed slightly at first, but rapidly stabilized again.

    ¡°Soul de!¡± Nie Tian suddenly closed his eyes and, with a thought, he forged a glowing de with the soul power he summoned from the nine fragmentary stars.

    In the eyes of a normal person, nothing was happening at all. Only those who possessed soul power would be able to see the glowing de forming over Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    It was the same soul de he had used to kill Spirit God Sect disciples and annihte numerous discarnate souls from their Soul Banners back when he had encountered them in the swirling band.

    The slender soul de shed vigorously down from the air and hit the three clusters of cyan mes one after another.

    Upon contact, beams of dazzlingly bright light burst forth from the hearts of the three Soul Burning Seals, while the nine fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul suddenly blossomed with blinding light.

    Immediately afterwards, the three clusters of cyan mes exploded as Nie Tian¡¯s soul de shattered inch by inch from tip to hilt.

    Nie Tian and Armes almost simultaneously let out muffled groans, their faces turning pale.

    After a brief examination of himself, Nie Tian noticed that the nine fragmentary stars in his soul had be somewhat dimmer and smaller.

    This indicated a major consumption of his soul power.

    ¡°You¡¯re a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Armes eximed, blood flowing out of the corners of his eyes, giving him a scary look.

    He suddenly recalled that he had once heard the senior members of his n talking about the three major spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars being sealed by some human.

    From the word they had received from the Demons, someone in the Domain of the Falling Stars had indeed obtained the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He had even heard that the fact that one of their Spirit Pearls had gone missing had something to do with that sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    However, ording to his seniors, the sessor was still very weak and young.

    Their n was that, once they had marched through the spatial rifts into the Void Illusion Mountain Range, their powerful experts would track him down by relying on their connection with the Spirit Pearl and kill him while he was still weak.

    He had never expected that, not only had the sessor so daringlye through those spatial rifts into this dimension, but he was looking at him right now.

    Heedless of the blood rolling down his cheeks, Armes stared at Nie Tian. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you¡¯re the one who has obtained the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! No wonder you are able to resist my Soul Burning Seals!¡±

    With these words, he instantly took out his conch shell and sent a whispered soul message into it.

    As he did, Nie Tian suddenly discovered that the nine fragmentary stars hadn¡¯t gone dim after the exchange.

    Mountains of corpses and seas of blood somehow appeared in his mind, along with countless vicious ghosts and sinister devils.

    That was when he realized that sparks of the Soul Burning Seals¡¯ residual power must have found their way to his soul, and thus caused these illusions.

    However, as the bright light from the nine fragmentary stars shone upon them, the illusions soon unraveled, and all of the Soul Burning Seals¡¯ residual influence washed away.

    At that moment, he noticed that Armes had already finished sending his message via his conch shell.

    He channeled his Heaven Eyes in the vicinity and quickly realized that numerous outsiders had started converging on them from different directions.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯d beat me in a fair battle?¡± Nie Tian asked with a cold smile. ¡°Why are you calling for help now? Lost your confidence, have you?¡±

    A hint of respect could be seen in Armes¡¯ eyes as he said, ¡°I admit that you¡¯re a worthy opponent. But since you¡¯ve received the profound legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, it means that they¡¯ve chosen you to be one of the Sons of the Stars. I bet you don¡¯t even know what that means.

    ¡°That means the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will choose one of you that will be the Lord of Stars!

    ¡°We need to go all-out to kill every Son of the Stars wee across, no matter the cost!

    ¡°You¡¯re very stupid, Nie Tian! Considering you¡¯re only at the Greater Heaven stage, I bet you haven¡¯t even refined all of your fragmentary star marks, and have no idea what kind of responsibility you¡¯re shouldering, and how much hope the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has ced in you! Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t havee to this ce!

    ¡°To the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you are far more important than the Domain of the Falling Stars!

    ¡°Since you¡¯re a Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I can¡¯t afford to let you escape.

    ¡°Abreu, gather the others and get the hell over here now!¡±

 Chapter 560: The Son of the Stars

    Abreu lowered his conch shell. With a grim expression, he looked at Tago and Stonemountain and said, ¡°My brother told us to get over to his location.¡±

    The whole crowd of outsiders around him looked deeply surprised. Apparently, none of them had expected that Armes would summon them.

    Eyebrows furrowed, the Birdmen¡¯s female leader said, ¡°Lord Armes told us specifically not to interrupt his battle with that human before he left. Can it be that Lord Armes has failed to kill that man during the past few days?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible!¡± Tago, the Demon leader, said with a deep frown. ¡°Lord Armes is more powerful than all of usbined! I suspect that Lord Armes is having trouble locating that man, and he wants us to go help him find him.¡±

    ¡°Actually... ording to my brother, that man is a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡± Abreu¡¯s words resonated over the silent crowd.

    After a moment of silence, a mor suddenly burst out among the crowd of outsiders.

    ¡°Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t those humanse from the Domain of the Falling Stars? The Domain of the Falling Stars has long since been abandoned by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Why on earth would they take in someone from there?¡±

    At that moment, Tago snapped out of his daze and asked, ¡°Do you not remember that the three spatial rifts that lead to the Domain of the Falling Stars have been recently resealed? If it weren¡¯t for the legacies the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left in the Domain of the Falling Stars, how would those humans have sealed those spatial rifts?¡±

    Stonemountain also seemed deeply shaken as he chimed in, ¡°Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! That¡¯s the humans¡¯ oldest and most powerful sect. Its profound influence stretches to almost every corner of the boundless starry river. They and a few other ancient sects were the reason for the rise of humans hundreds of thousands of years ago!

    ¡°Every sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce possesses terrifying strength. No wonder Lord Armes has failed to kill him over the past few days.¡±

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was known throughout the starry river. Millions of outsiders were awed upon hearing its name.

    Those who knew its name must have heard about its profound power.

    Bitterness filled the corner of Abreu¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°But he¡¯s not an ordinary sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. If he was, as powerful and proud as my brother is, he wouldn¡¯t have attached so much importance to him to ask for our assistance.¡±

    ¡°You mean...¡± Tago said, disbelief filling his eyes.

    ¡°He¡¯s one of the chosen,¡± Abreu said with a heavy tone.

    It seemed that almost every outsider in the crowd knew very well what a Son of the Stars meant, and was rather sensitive about it. Another mor burst out among them.

    ¡°What?! He¡¯s a Son of the Stars?!¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?! Why on earth would they choose a Son of the Stars from the Domain of the Falling Stars? Plus, every Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce possesses unlimited resources. Every one of them is revered throughout the starry river, and has dozens of domains to their name!¡±

    ¡°Even the weakest domain they own must be stronger than the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars was just one of our many rangnds! We used it to breed spirit beasts and low-tier Demons. It had very limited resources and energy of heaven and earth!¡±

    ¡°Only small ns like ours would think of taking such a ce where birds don¡¯t eveny eggs. (Idiom: remote and deste ce) None of the truly powerful ns would even consider it worth owning!¡±

    ¡°Why would a Son of the Stars appear in a ce that can¡¯t even produce a single Void Domain expert?!¡±

    Ever since of the establishment of their ns, their ancestors had been fighting human Qi warriors in different regions of the starry river.

    However, the Qi warrior forces they had contended against were only second-rate or even third-rate Qi warrior sects.

    They could only look up to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which was so powerful that they had brought the entire human race up to the ranks of the most powerful races throughout the starry river, and wouldn¡¯t fear challenges from any race.

    Each and every Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had numerous domains and realms to their name, and had countless powerful experts that tookmands from them.

    Any of the Sons of the Stars would be able to take out their ns, root and stem, if they wanted to.

    They wouldn¡¯t even need to do it themselves. All they needed to do was summon the sects and ns that depended on them.

    Abreu took a deep breath and said, ¡°The man¡¯s name is Nie Tian. Since he¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage, it seems that he¡¯s only been chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce recently. Also, it seems that he hasn¡¯t refined all three fragmentary star marks or visited the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet. He might not even know how noble and important he is now.

    ¡°After he enters the Worldly realm, he will probably be able to find the things the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has left for him in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and then sail across the starry river to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°He¡¯s still growing and on his way to prominence. Right now, his strength can¡¯t bepared to that of the other Sons of the Stars.

    ¡°This gives us a perfect opportunity! If we can kill him now, those truly powerful ns of our race might finally attach importance to our ns, and bestow copious amounts of resources upon us, maybe even some domains!

    ¡°My brother must have seen that the value of this Son of the Stars is far higher than the Domain of the Falling Stars. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have summoned us to help him kill that person.

    ¡°So... shall we go kill a Son of the Stars?¡±

    After hearing these words, Tago, Stonemountain, and the Birdmen¡¯s female leader all started to breathe heavily, their eyes shining with the light of excitement.

    Abreu nodded as he nced over at them. ¡°I take that as a yes. Sylon and the Fiends have been obsessed with gathering valuable materials, and basically ignored everything else, since we arrived on this ind.

    ¡°This shoulde as a big surprise for him.¡±

    With these words, he took out his conch shell, and whispered a soul message that was a brief description of the situation into it. Afterwards, without any dy, he led Tago, Stonemountain, and the others towards the location Armes had given him.

    ...

    In a marsnd filled with a toxic mist, a Fiend that was wreathed in a thick, green aura suddenly let out a sharp screech.

    Immediately afterwards, others Fiends hastily gathered from all directions. Upon arriving, they asked in the outsiders¡¯nguage, ¡°What¡¯s so urgent, Lord Sylon?¡±

    ¡°One of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Sons of the Stars hase to this ind!¡± Sylon said, his eyes brimming with excitement.

    Upon hearing of the appearance of a Son of the Stars, every Fiend started to panic and despair. None of them showed the slightest intention of fighting.

    ¡°What?! A Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡±

    ¡°What should we do?! If that¡¯s true, none of the powerful experts of all our races will get out of here alive, not to mention us!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to our realm now, Lord Sylon!¡±

    ¡°The spatial rifts over that ckke lead to our realms. Once the Son of the Stars finds them and goes through them to our home, all of our ns will be turned to dust!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re done for! Why would a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pcee to this ce?¡±

    Sylon fixed them with a nasty re. ¡°Damn you, good-for-nothings! It¡¯s not one of the Sons of the Stars you know! If it is, would I still be wasting my breath talking to you now?! You think I don¡¯t know what kind of disaster that would be for us?¡±

    ¡°So what¡¯s going on, Lord Sylon?¡± asked one of the Fiends.

    ¡°This one must have been chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce recently,¡± said Sylon. ¡°He¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage now. ording to the other races, they doubt that he has visited the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters yet, and he might not even know what he really is.¡±

    With these words, Sylon raised his voice. ¡°This is a perfect opportunity for us! As long as we can kill him and bring his body back to our realm, the fame of our n will soon spread far and wide within our race!¡±

    A wild and sinister look appeared on Sylon¡¯s face as the others mored.

    ¡°Ohhh... so this isn¡¯t one of those who are feared throughout the starry river and have been suffocating those powerful ns?¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage now, we can kill him and bring our n to prominence!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go kill him! If we can bring back the corpse of a Son of the Stars, we won¡¯t need the Domain of the Falling Stars anymore!¡±

    The crowd of Fiends seethed with excitement, their eyes filled with fanatical mes. At this moment, they cast the precious materials, the Domain of the Falling Stars, and everything else out of their minds, leaving nothing but the thought of killing Nie Tian.

 Chapter 561: Since You Want Me to Stay, I Will!

    A strong shudder ran through Nie Tian as he stared at Armes, bbergasted. ¡°Son of the Stars?¡±

    ording to Armes, in the eyes of the outsiders, the value of a Son of the Stars was far greater than that of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    How was this possible!?

    Even though he had had a feeling that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was very powerful, and that their headquarters probably stood in prosperity somewhere in the boundless starry river for thousands of years, or even longer.

    However, why would a single person they chose be even more important than the entire Domain of the Falling Stars?

    Armes¡¯s face was filled with seriousness and respect as he said, ¡°Kid, you probably have no idea of what a Son of the Stars is because your cultivation base doesn¡¯t allow you to fully refine the fragmentary star marks you¡¯ve obtained yet. If you can make it out of here alive and refine those fragmentary star marks after entering the Worldly realm, you might understand what it means to be a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°But unfortunately, you won¡¯t have the opportunity to do that, because your life hase to its end!¡±

    With these words, Armes once again spit out a mouthful of blood as three clusters of cyan light shot out of his eyes and the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    As wisps of blood merged with the clusters of cyan light, they once again turned into three Soul Burning Seals.

    However, unlike before, this time they vanished into thin air right aftering to form.

    Before Nie Tian could figure out Armes¡¯ intentions, three of his Heaven Eyes were suddenly hit by the Soul Burning Seals.

    He instantly lost contact with them.

    At the same time, he sensed that Armes¡¯ three Soul Burning Seals didn¡¯t dissipate after destroying those three Heaven Eyes of his, but instead, they went on to search for the other Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve learned about your status, I finally understand what those small things you deploy in the vicinity are,¡± Armes said with a cold face. ¡°As I think about it now, only Sons of the Stars are able to wield soul power at the Greater Heaven stage. This is why the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are so powerful, and why the Sons of the Stars are so formidable.¡±

    BANG! BANG!

    As Armes spoke, Nie Tian¡¯s other Heaven Eyes exploded one after another, as they were apparently found and destroyed by the Soul Burning Seals.

    As a result, Nie Tian suddenly lost the images of his surroundings that reflected in his mind through those Heaven Eyes.

    He knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the other outsiders came from other parts of the ind to surround him.

    Armes alone was already hard to deal with. If his helpers arrived, Nie Tian would be in a very unfavorable position.

    Armesughed sinisterly. ¡°I¡¯m not letting you escape this time! Killing you will ensure the rise of my n from among all the other Phantasm ns! We can even forget about retaking the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    ¡°Dark Soul Ward!¡± With these words, the prismatic crystal between Armes¡¯ eyebrows suddenly blossomed with bright cyan light. One drop of blood after another merged with the cyan light, and rapidly morphed into a magical restrictive ward that enveloped a veryrge area around him.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, heaven and earth within a two kilometer radius suddenly darkened. A gruesome and suffocating feeling quickly crept up on him.

    With a cold snort, he summoned star power and cast a short-range Starshift.

    BOOM!

    He rammed hard into an invisible ward, a twisting agonying from his mind as he did.

    He felt as if his soul were being torn from his fleshly body.

    Half of him was already through the ward, but the unbearable pain forced him to shrink back.

    It seemed that Armes¡¯ Dark Soul Ward allowed him to confine souls to certain area. If he forcibly charged out of the ward, his soul would be ripped from his body and kept within the ward.

    Considering his current cultivation base, he was far from being able to separate his soul from his body. The forcible separation would instantly result in his death.

    Furthermore, Armes was a Phantasm. Their bloodline talents perfectly agreed with the use of their profound soul power.

    Even if he were able to separate his soul from his body, once his unprotected soul was exposed before Armes, Armes would annihte it without any hesitation.

    Suffering the agony from his soul, Nie Tian could only shrink back into the ward.

    At this moment, he could already hear the other outsiders¡¯ vague shouts in the distance.

    He instantly realized that the other outsider races had answered Armes¡¯ summons and were converging on him from all directions like a flood.

    Their shouts were filled with excitement and ecstasy, as if they had discovered an extremely precious treasure.

    <i>¡°Is this because they learned that I¡¯m a Son of the Stars?¡± </i>he thought to himself.

    With an icy expression, Nie Tian channeled soul power from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul into his eyes as he gazed at the invisible ward.

    Then, as sparks of starlight started to flicker in the depths of his eyes, he was able to see the Dark Soul Ward which should have been invisible.

    It was a thin, dark-gray ward dotted with scattered spots of blood-colored light, which looked like tiny bugs resting on the ward.

    Armes paced slowly towards Nie Tian, and took his time to say, ¡°If you had entered the Worldly realm and transformed your soul, my Dark Soul Ward probably wouldn¡¯t be able to keep you from escaping with that escape magic of yours. However, since you¡¯re still at the Greater Heaven stage, your soul can¡¯t be separated from your body. There¡¯s no way you can escape from my Dark Soul Ward!

    ¡°You might as well just quit trying to escape and embrace your death!¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Do you really think you can keep me here?¡±

    With these words, sparkling, emerald green tree branches flew out of his ring of holding one after another, giving rise to whooshing sounds. They quickly spread out in the air in a certain formation before plunging vigorously into the solid ground.

    Some of them were nted into the ground within the Dark Soul Ward, while others ended up on the other side of the ward.

    From this, Nie Tian realized that Armes¡¯ Dark Soul Ward had no restrictive effect on soulless objects.

    The seventy-two tree branches instantly formed the powerful spell formation that the Floragrims had used to protect their ancestralnd.

    A dark-green ward spread out over Nie Tian¡¯s head like an veryrge umbre opening.

    Countless mysterious tree patterns swam about within the dark-green ward, as if they were the souls of the Floragrim monarchs, trying to protect their descendants.

    As soon as the dark-green ward was formed, it crossed and shattered Armes¡¯s Dark Soul Ward as if it were made of paper.

    As Armes¡¯s Dark Soul Ward exploded, Nie Tian could very well put his tree branches away and leave with a Starshift.

    However, he didn¡¯t.

    He took out his Sound Stone and whispered into it, ¡°You cane over now. The outsiders are not as powerful as we expected. I¡¯ll take some of them myself. The rest are yours.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t had such strong confidence before, but after he had consecutively broken Armes¡¯ Soul Burning Seals and Dark Soul Ward, his confidence soared. He now believed that, with the help of the other young chosen ones, they would be able to beat these outsiders, who plotted to take the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Armes gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    With blood spilling from the corner of his mouth and eyes wide, he looked rather miserable and in a lot of pain.

    As the Dark Soul Ward, which he had formed with his newly-awakened core bloodline talent, was torn to shreds by Nie Tian¡¯s dark-green ward, he instantly suffered a serious bacsh.

    In fact, at this moment, after taking numerous hits from Nie Tian and having his Soul Burning Seals and Dark Soul Ward destroyed by Nie Tian, Armes had already suffered different degrees of injuries to both his body and soul.

    With a disbelieving look in his eyes, he gazed at the dark-green ward and the mysterious tree patterns swimming in it, and quickly recognized the spell.

    ¡°Since you so strongly want me to stay, I will!¡± Nie Tian said with a vicious smile as he sensed rich wood power being channeled to him from his surroundings by the spell formation.

    He took a few steps backwards and sat down directly under the center of the dark-green ward, where he started to absorb the rich and pure wood power.

    With the misty green aura pouring down on him, he recovered the wood power he had consumed during his battle against Armes at an rming rate.

    As drop after drop of liquidized wood power came to form at the bottom of his vortex of wood power, he found that the weariness from his previous battles against Armes waspletely eliminated.

    At that moment, Abreu and Tago finally arrived.

    ¡°Brother!¡±

    ¡°Lord Armes!¡±

    However, they were shocked to see the horrible condition Armes was now in. Apparently, he had not only overconsumed his power, but also sustained serious injuries.

 Chapter 562: Do We Go Save Him?

    On the ind where the other human Qi warriors were.

    A number of thick stone columns stood in a certain formation. Every stone column seemed to contain copious amounts of power, as they were all carved with spirit beasts, nts, or other magical patterns.

    Trenches had been dug in certain patterns too, and were now filled with spirit stones.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was also being channeled from the surroundings to this location by the chosen ones in order to elerate their cultivation.

    Dong Li lowered the Sound Stone in her hand, her slender eyebrows slightly furrowed.

    Upon seeing this, Su Lin, Yang Kan, and the other young leaders gathered towards her.

    Her bright eyes shone with fighting spirit as she said, ¡°Nie Tian just told me that we can march over and kill the outsiders on that other ind now. He also said that the outsiders on that ind aren¡¯t as powerful as we think. He¡¯ll be able to kill a third of them by himself, and maybe even more!

    ¡°All we need to do is cooperate with him so that we can crush those outsiders and take that ind.¡±

    Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect looked rather surprised, but after a moment of silence, he turned around to summon his sectmates.

    The eyes of the leaders of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles also lit up before they turned around to do as they were bid.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Su Lin suddenly stopped everyone, frowning with deep concern. ¡°Why would Nie Tian suddenly change his mind? Didn¡¯t he tell us to hold fast here?¡±

    With these words, she pointed at the defenses they had gone to great lengths to establish. ¡°We set up these defenses with our precious materials so that we¡¯ll be better prepared when the outsiderse to us. Is it wise to abandon all these and fight the outsiders on that other ind?¡±

    With a coldugh, Yang Kan from the me God Sect said, ¡°Didn¡¯t that guy say that he¡¯d be able to single-handedly take out half of the outsiders?¡±

    Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sectughed sarcastically and chimed in, ¡°We don¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on on that ind. We can¡¯t just march over there without knowing what we¡¯re getting into.¡±

    ¡°I suggest that we get ahold of the situation over there before we make any decisions,¡± Yu Yang said with a serious tone.

    Dong Li had only delivered Nie Tian¡¯s message, but didn¡¯t know the situation over there. Upon hearing Yu Yang¡¯s words, she hesitated briefly before turning to look at Xuan Ke.

    Without saying a word, Xuan Ke summoned his table-sized, crystal-clear piece of ice and ced before everyone.

    Afterwards, Dong Li ce her Sound Stone at the center of the ice, and told Nie Tian to concentrate on what he was seeing.

    Momentster, the crowd saw a very clear image in therge piece of ice that exuded a frosty aura.

    It was from Nie Tian¡¯s point of view as he sat in the middle of dark-green ward, around which gathered dozens of outsiders of different races.

    Each and every outsider looked extremely excited, their eyes glittering with a fanatical thirst for blood, as if they were hunters who had finally chased down their prey and were ready to im their rewards.

    The image onlysted five seconds before vanishing.

    ¡°Nie Tian is surrounded! He must have asked us to rush to his aid because he knew that he¡¯s deep in trouble!¡± Lu Jian eximed, looking stirred and panicked. ¡°The outsiders are clearly in much greater numbers than us!¡±

    Yang Kan gave a cold snort and said, ¡°He knows that he¡¯s surrounded and he won¡¯t be able to survive on his own, so he asked us to go save him.¡±

    With a faint, cold smile at the corner of his mouth, Liao Yan shook his head and said disdainfully, ¡°If we abandon all of the defenses we¡¯ve devoted so much effort to set up, and rush to his aid on that ind, we might end up in the same situation as him. Does Nie Tian take us for fools?¡±

    Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect remained silent for a few seconds before saying, ¡°I agree. It¡¯s very risky and unwise to go fight the outsiders on that ind. As far as I see it, we¡¯d better hold fast here, and wait for those outsiders toe to us. Our spell formations will give us an advantage if we fight them here.¡±

    Yang Kan, Lu Jian, Yu Yang, and Liao Yan all nodded in assent.

    In fact, after seeing the actual image of Nie Tian¡¯s predicament, Dong Li was was very worried about his safety. Now, seeing that the Heaven Pce Sect and some other forces were opposed to the idea of leaving for that other ind, she felt very upset.

    She spent a moment to suppress her anger before turning to Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, and Chen Hao, and asking, ¡°So what do you say?¡±

    Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect was the first to express his stance, ¡°I¡¯ll go!¡±

    Ye Qin and Chen Hao didn¡¯t say a word, but nodded vigorously with determined looks in their eyes.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s expression was the same as ever as he gave a faint smile and said, ¡°It goes without saying that we from the Realm of a Hundred Battles will go through heaven and hell with Nie Tian.¡±

    Then, he turned to look at the leaders of the Cao n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, and Qin Yan nodded sessively.

    Gu Haofeng was the only one who seemed hesitant. However, after realizing that the other forces had all given their consent, he nodded somewhat reluctantly and said softly, ¡°Alright...¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡± With these words, Dong Li shot a nasty re at Su Lin and the others and said, ¡°I hope you won¡¯t regret your decision!¡±

    Yang Kan gave a cold harrumph. ¡°I¡¯d heard that you were a smart woman. Who would have known that you¡¯re just as dumb as the others when ites to the man you like. No one will hold you back if you want to get yourself killed, but don¡¯t you imagine that you can drag us down with you. We¡¯ll regret it? You lot will regret your decision soon enough!¡±

    Lu Jian shook his head. ¡°Women... Once they fall in love, they lose their senses. Who would have thought that such a smart woman still can¡¯t escape this principle. Those of you who want to die, be my guest, but leave us out of it.¡±

    ¡°Good! As you wish!¡± Gritting her teeth, Dong Li summoned her Rainbow Lightning. As she waved her hands, the few Dong n members and Dong Baijie jumped into it.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, and Chen Hao also summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools and beckoned for their members to get in.

    Soon, the members of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles, who had secretly formed an alliance, flew off towards the nearby ind on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Liao Yan snorted disdainfully and said with a nasty look on his face, ¡°A band of moths flying towards zing mes!

    ¡°They have a death wish, so be it. Alright, everyone, let¡¯s hold fast here while they fight the outsiders to death. Perhaps the outsiders will have only half of their forces left when they¡¯re finished with them ande at us, then we might be able to take them without much effort.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone seemed settled and went back to their work or cultivation.

    All of them thought that they wouldn¡¯t see Nie Tian or those from the other forces again.

    ...

    Quickly wiping the blood off the corner of his mouth, Armes held out his hand towards Abreu and said coldly, ¡°Give me one of your fourth grade spirit beast hearts!¡±

    Surprised, Abreu asked, ¡°What happened to yours?¡±

    The corner of Armes¡¯ mouth twitched as he thundered, ¡°I used them all!¡±

    Shocked, Abreu shot a nce at Nie Tian. His expression flickered slightly as he hastily fetched a bloody heart and handed it to Armes.

    Armes grabbed it with a quick motion and, without even looking at it, stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing hardly three times, he swallowed it down and said fiercely, ¡°I need a little bit of time to recover. You and the others go strike him down with everything within your power!¡±

    Tago, the Demon leader, looked astonished as he asked, ¡°Y-you¡¯ve suffered injuries, Lord Armes?! Is he really that powerful?¡±

    Fuming with anger, Armes blurted, ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! What do you think?!¡±

    A respectful expression spread across Tago¡¯s face. ¡°A Son of the Stars...¡±

    Then, as he came to discover that Nie Tian was sitting in a dark-green ward, he couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°What the hell is that?!¡±

    Stonemountain, the Stoneman leader, recognized the spell formation, and eximed, ¡°That¡¯s the ancient spell formation the Floragrims used to protect their ancestralnd! How in the world did hee to possess it? That ancient spell formation took a few Floragrim monarchs a lifetime to forge. They infused it with magical tree patterns they copied from the ancient Tree of Life, and refined them with their own blood essence.¡±

    ¡°Who knows?!¡± Armes said furiously.

    At that moment, Nie Tian, who was sitting under the dark-green ward, suddenly jumped out of it, threw his head back, and let out a heaven-shaking roar.

    He reached his hand out into the air, as if he wanted to grab the heavens and pull them right down.

    The rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and the violent, ripping power within the boundless gray mist answered his summons, and quickly formed a energy ball in his hand.

    The energy ball was dark-gray and the size of a watermelon. It thrummed with violent, mixed energy fluctuations.

    SHEW!

    It suddenly shot towards the location where the Stonemen were gathered and exploded, giving rise to an explosive force that seemed to be able to shatter domains and rip the highest heavens apart.

    Three Stonemen were instantly engulfed by the grayish light created by the explosion. Even though their bodies were as tough as steel, they couldn¡¯t stop screaming miserably.

    Shocked, the other outsiders looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that their skin and flesh had already been ripped open, and their whole bodies were covered in blood.

 Chapter 563: Killing Spree

    ¡°Nie Tian!!¡± Enraged, Stonemountain unleashed his bloodline talent, causing the earth to crackle. One huge rock after another, which had originally been buried underground, was lifted as if by a god¡¯srge hand and thrown into the air.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found dozens of huge rocks shooting towards him under Stonemountain¡¯s control.

    ¡°Starshift!¡± Nie Tian blurred and vanished into thin air as the huge rocks bombarded nothing but the solid ground. In a split second, he reappeared among the three severely injured Stonemen.

    The me Star in his hand shone with dazzling starlight, as if it were the brightest star in the depths of the starry river, which had been summoned to this ce to unleash its evesting, magical starlight.

    Before the three Stonemen had a chance to react, the dazzling starlight pierced into their stone-solid bodies.

    Even though the toughness of the Stonemen¡¯s bodies was only second to that of the Demons and Bonebrutes, the moment the starlight entered their bodies, they shattered from inside like a exploding earthen urn.

    Pieces of their flesh rained from the air, and their blood painted the ground red.

    Abreu¡¯s face turned pale with shock. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that he can even gather the ripping power from the the mixture of energies up there... !

    ¡°But I¡¯ve noticed that it takes time for him to form those energy balls. Let¡¯s not give him another chance to form more of them! Don¡¯t give him time to summon those powers!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the Birdmen pped their wide wings and swooped towards Nie Tian one after another.

    Tago, the Demon leader, also threw his head back and let out a long roar before unleashing his Bloodline magics.

    The remaining few ckscales spread out andunched attacks whenever they saw chances.

    One streak of glorious bloodline aura after another stormed towards Nie Tian, some of which looked like bloodthirsty spiritual snakes, while others looked like lightning bolts.

    Each outsider either unleashed their bloodline magics or their spiritual tools on Nie Tian.

    Standing among the broken remains of the three Stonemen, Nie Tian put his hands together, and in the next moment, the remains of the Stonemen regathered into a nasty ball of bones and flesh that floated before him.

    Then, as he unleashed Life Drain, wisps of his flesh aura rapidly flew into the bloody ball of remains.

    The remains of the three Stonemen who had just died still contained copious amounts of flesh power. As the wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura drained them of their flesh power at an rming speed, they quickly thickened.

    In a sh, the wisps of flesh aura flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    As soon as they did, Nie Tian was struck by a pleasant feeling of the flesh power he had consumed fighting Armes being rapidly restored.

    However, he suddenly experienced a stabbing pain in his eyes, and that was when he discovered that the speed at which he could circte his energies had dropped significantly. Afterwards, he started to feel light-headed and hurt all over, as if he were being stabbed by countless needles.

    He struggled to open his eyes, and saw that numerous streaks of dazzling light were already very close to him. They were like a storm that was going to swallow him in the next moment.

    It was none other than these outsiders¡¯ bloodline magics that were causing agony to his body and soul.

    ¡°Starshift!¡± He vanished into thin air.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The area where he was standing a moment ago was instantly enveloped in a world of blinding light. The terrifying energy the explosions created could even kill a Worldly realm expert on the spot.

    A huge crater that was about ten meters deep appeared as the light went out and the dust cleared, with cyan, ck, and pale-gray auras rising from it.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian appeared right in front of one of the ckscales and swung his me Star down from the air.

    At the same time, he caught sight of the huge crater where he stood a moment ago, his expression flickering in shock.

    He realized that if he had attempted to resist those powerful attacks head-on, instead of leaving with a Starshift, he might have exploded already. His crystallized bones might be scattered all over the area now.

    POOH!

    As shocked as he was by the outsiders¡¯ collective force, he drove the me Star into the ckscale¡¯s heart, and at the same time, sent wisps of flesh aura into his victim¡¯s chest and unleashed Life Drain.

    The very moment the ckscale had his heart pierced through by the me Star, and right before he died, he felt as if a pump was madly draining his flesh power from his body.

    Holding the me Star that he had plunged into the ckscale¡¯s chest, Nie Tian gave a vicious smile. He looked over his shoulder at the outsiders who were searching him with their gazes and asked, ¡°You thought that since you had the numbers, you¡¯d be able to trap me, didn¡¯t you? Didn¡¯t your seniors teach you that numbers don¡¯t determine the result of a battle?¡±

    Stomping with fury, Armes thundered, ¡°Damn it, fools! He¡¯s a Son of the Stars! Even though he¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage, he can still cast the profound escape magics he acquired from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! If you want to kill him, you¡¯ll have to stop him from using his escape magics, or keep up with his pace!¡±

    Since the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was able to contend against the most powerful outsider forces and spread its influence far and wide, it most certainly had its unique assets.

    The variety of secret magics made up an important part of those profound assets. As one of their most famous and powerful escape magics, Starshift allowed its user to achieve effects that were simr to teleportation.

    The fact that Nie Tian was able to shift between ces at a speed faster than lightning was the reason why the outsiders were failing to trap him.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian cast Starshifts repeatedly, and every time he did, he would appear in front of one or two singled-out outsiders, andunch his fatal attacks.

    Within a few minutes, he managed to ughter several ckscales and Stonemen with this identical method.

    Upon seeing this, Armes¡¯ furious roars even stirred up the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the vicinity. The outsiders of various races knew that they would have to stop Nie Tian from using Starshift, yet they simply couldn¡¯t.

    Laughing wildly, Nie Tian shed among different locations andunched fatal strikes, like a bloodthirsty beast that had charged into a herd of sheep.

    In the meantime, he consumed his star power and power of other attributes at an rming rate.

    Every time he killed an outsider, he would do his best to drain their flesh power with Life Drain with the limited time he had.

    The Stonemen and ckscales were physically tough, and possessed vigorous auras of flesh and blood. Even though he didn¡¯t spend much time absorbing their flesh power, the results were rather productive.

    Since he couldn¡¯t stay in one ce for too long, he could only absorb up to thirty percent of his victims¡¯ flesh power before he had to shift to other locations with Starshifts. Otherwise, he would be trapped by the other outsiders and their bloodline magics.

    Even with the flesh power he absorbed, he had consumed more than half of his power reserve after killing a few outsiders in a row, especially his star power.

    Havingunched Starshifts repeatedly to escape the outsiders¡¯ attacks, he had already consumed two thirds of his star power.

    Looking somewhat anxious, he turned to look at the Floragrim¡¯s ancient spell formation he had formed with seventy-two tree branches from time to time. At the same time, he gradually took his battle to areas that were closer to the spell formation.

    He thought that, when he used up his star power and couldn¡¯tunch another Starshift, he would retreat into the spell formation, where he could recover with Star Stones and wait for the arrival of Dong Li and the other Qi warriors.

    He looked anxious, but, as the leader of the outsider forces, Armes looked even more anxious.

    After summoning forces of the other outsider races to this ce, things didn¡¯t go as he had nned at all. Not only had they failed to kill Nie Tian within a short time, but they had also suffered heavy losses themselves.

    What shocked and frustrated Armes the most was that even though Nie Tian had taken out more than a dozen outsiders already, he still didn¡¯t show any signs of exhaustion.

    ¡°Where are the damn Fiends?!¡± Armes shouted. ¡°What the hell is Sylon doing?!¡±

    ¡°The Fiends, exactly!¡± said one of the ckscales. ¡°The Fiends might be able to subdue him!¡±

    ¡°Sylon!!¡± The Stonemen and ckscales, who had lost the most people, shouted angrily into the heavens.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ming!¡± A gloomy voice echoed out from the distance, silencing the moring crowd of outsiders.

    A momentter, Sylon, the Fiend leader, was the first to arrive.

    Standing among the other outsider leaders, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    Color drained from his face the moment he saw the situation. ¡°Even teamed up, you lot still failed to kill this kid?! And you¡¯ve lost so many of your own? What good are you?¡±

    Abreu stared hard at him. ¡°Sylon! Quite lecturing us and trap him with your race¡¯s bloodline magics! He¡¯s a Son of the Stars! He keeps using the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s escape magics, so we can¡¯t get him!¡±

    Sylon nodded as he finally understood the reason behind this, and he said, ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s the reason...¡±

    After another scan of the battlefield, he raised his voice. ¡°Get out of here, all of you! Leave this Son of the Stars to me and my people! I think it goes without saying that if he dies at our hands, his corpse will belong to us!¡±

    With these words, clusters of thick, green mist rose from all over Sylon, which looked like the miasma that pervaded the depths of marsnds. Spots of blood-colored light could also be seen in the mist.

    The thick, green mist spread at an rming rate, and quickly engulfed the area where Nie Tian was standing.

 Chapter 564: Finding a Way to Survive

    Upon seeing that Sylon had unleashed his bloodline magic, all the other outsiders quickly backed away, including Armes. No one dared to get anywhere near the spreading green mist.

    In less than a minute, every inch of heaven and earth within a two kilometer radius around Nie Tian was enveloped in thick, green mist. That was when Sylon quietly activated his bloodline talent.

    Submerged by the mist, Nie Tian started to feel soreness and pain over all his body.

    He looked down at himself with rapt attention, and discovered that his exposed skin was being corroded bit by bit. He could feel his life force slipping out of him.

    Short-range Starshifts only allowed him to travel a limited distance. Now that the mist had covered a vast area around him, in order to get out of it, he might have tounch three short-range Starshifts in a row.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    After three short-range Starshifts, he made it out of the thick, green mist. However, Sylon let out a low chuckle as heunched another bloodline magic.

    The mist rapidly floated over from where he was standing a moment ago, and once again enveloped him.

    ¡°This is a bit tricky...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly, as he hadn¡¯t expected that the mist Sylon had created with his bloodline magic could move so fast.

    Standing in the mist, his flesh suffered continuous corrosion from the toxins, which caused him to lose his flesh power at a rapid speed.

    He had very limited star power left in him now. After a couple of Starshifts, he would probably exhaust it.

    Once he lost his star power, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape the outsiders¡¯ blockade anymore, and would eventually be trapped, unless he retreated into that spell formation he had established.

    He had confidence that he would prevail when facing one or two outsiders at a time. However, if he were to be surrounded and attacked by dozens of outsiders at the same time, he doubted that he would survive.

    Their previous joint strike was still fresh in his memory. Even Worldly realm experts might not be able to survive that devastating strike.

    At that moment, he suddenly jerked his head around to look at the spell formation formed by the seventy-two tree branches, pondering whether to retreat into it until the chosen ones from the human sects arrived.

    While he was torn with indecision, the other Fiends arrived.

    There were about a dozen of them, each wreathed in rich, poisonous mists, and with fierce looks in their eyes.

    Seeing that their leader had already unleashed their core bloodline magic, they all gasped in shock. ¡°Lord Sylon! What¡¯s going on?!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no time for that!¡± Sylon eximed. ¡°Get over here now and help me erge the mist threefold!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the other Fiends unleashed their bloodline power without the slightest hesitation.

    One cluster of thick, green mist after another that was mixed with purple, ck, and pale-gray spots were infused into the vast mist Sylon had created.

    Within a short time, the poisonous green mist expanded to cover an area that was three times its original size.

    Not only that, but the newly-arrived Fiends took out ssware that contained a mysterious green liquid with a faint mist rising from it, and then emptied them into the vast green mist.

    The acidic and poisonous liquid they had gathered seemed to be able to cooperate with their bloodline magics on its own. It broke into drops as it fell into the mist, but, upon entering, came to a stop in midair.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, it seemed like a pouring rain that had suddenly froze before touching the ground.

    Countless drops of poisonous liquid hung in midair, glistening and reflecting lights of different colors. It was a splendid scene.

    Snapping out of his daze, Nie Tian hastily summoned me power and wood power to raise a light shield around him, hoping that he would be able to defend against the poisonous rain with it.

    However, as the drops of deadly liquid touched his light shield, they started corroding it, giving rise to sizzling sounds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he realized that he was rapidly losing his spiritual power.

    Not just Nie Tian, but the other outsider races also looked rather apprehensive and fearful upon seeing the Fiends pouring their mysterious poisons into the thick, green mist.

    Clearly, they were familiar with the might of the Fiends¡¯ poisons and bloodline magics. Even though they were standing quite some distance from Nie Tian, they couldn¡¯t help but back further away.

    It was as if they were afraid that Nie Tian would suddenly shift to where they were standing, bringing the poisonous mist and liquid to them.

    In the meantime, Nie Tian realized that he had been trapped deep in the poisonous mist.

    Now, with the expansion of the poisonous mist, he would have to cast at least seven short-range Starshifts in a row to make it back into the Floragrim¡¯s spell formation he had established earlier.

    However, he didn¡¯t think his remaining star power would allow him to cast so many short-range Starshifts.

    ¡°What are you waiting for?! Get in there and kill him!¡± Sylon issued another order.

    Upon receiving his order, the dozen Fiends charged directly into the poisonous mist with cold smiles on their faces.

    The poisonous mist and liquid might prove deadly to other races, however, not only were the Fiends not hurt, but they even seemed strengthened as they entered the mist.

    Nie Tian saw that, bathing in the poisonous mist, the Fiends¡¯ auras seemed to gain a strong boost, and perhaps their battle prowess too.

    That was when the drops of acidic and poisonous liquid that had been suspended in the air started to move again, as if they were answering the silent summons of the Fiends.

    In a split second, each and every drop of deadly liquid stormed towards Nie Tian.

    Startled, Nie Tian no longer dared to stay where he was. However, instead of using Starshifts, he ran at a very high speed by drawing upon his vigorous flesh power.

    Then, he discovered that, as long as he kept moving at this rate, the poisonous rain wouldn¡¯t be able to catch him.

    <i>¡°These damn Fiends are so hard to deal with...¡±</i> he thought to himself.

    While springing between locations, Nie Tian moved closer and closer towards his spell formation.

    At this moment, the poisonous liquid had almost worn out amidst all the zig-zagging, though the thick, green mist hadn¡¯t grown fainter at all. Sizzling sounds still came from the light shield he had surrounded himself with constantly.

    He knew that he was still losing his spiritual power, but it was bearable.

    Since none of the outsiders of the other races dared to enter the vast area enveloped in the Fiends¡¯ poisonous mist, Nie Tian now faced a dozen Fiends and no one else.

    Right now, they were chasing after him while channeling the poisonous mist to move with him using their bloodline magics.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian grinned andid his eyes on one of the Fiends that was a bit singled out from the rest.

    Then, without any warning, he suddenly shed to him and drew his me Star. The me Star shone gloriously as his wood power and me power rushed through his meridians into it, and after being strengthened by the spell formations within it, the powers shot out in form of a bright de light.

    ¡°Bloodline magic! Miasma Shield!¡± The Fiend bellowed and summoned the drops of poison that were floating nearby into himself. Immediately afterwards, a misty green aura rose from him, forming a shield around him.

    Specks of blood-colored light could be seen flickering in the shield, which reeked of a sour and pungent smell.

    PHOOH!

    The glorious de light shed hard into the Miasma Shield as if it were the divine de of a god. The green shield that was as thin as a cicada¡¯s wings was instantly split open.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power madly gathered to his me Star-bearing hand to strengthen the sh.

    PHOOH!

    With its mountain-splitting force, the me Star cut the Fiend in half!

    Nie Tian went nk, but only for a moment before he came to realize that the Fiends¡¯ bodies were far more fragile than those of Demons or Bonebrutes, and not even as tough as the Phantasms.

    The toughness of their fleshly bodies might just be as poor as Birdmens¡¯.

    <i>¡°If their bodies aren¡¯t as strong as the other outsiders, perhaps they aren¡¯t very good at fighting at close quarters either.¡± </i>With this thought in mind, he felt confident again. With a brutal look in his eyes, he shed to another Fiend, where he descended from the air with a vigorous fist strike.

    BANG!

    Like a iron hammer, his fist shattered the shield, which the Fiend had formed in a haste, upon contact, and with the force of a falling meteor, it continued its way down.

    CRACKLE!

    A bone-cracking sound echoed from the Fiend¡¯s skull as he copsed to the ground and died.

    <i>¡°It seems that as long I can resist the poisonous mist and the other poisons they cast at me, these Fiends aren¡¯t that scary after all!¡±</i> Aftering to this realization, Nie Tianunched a few more lightning-quick strikes as he moved closer and closer to his spell formation.

 Chapter 565: Wood Thriving Formation

    Upon killing the Fiend, Nie Tian attempted to drain the Fiend¡¯s flesh power with Life Drain the same way he had drained the flesh power from the other outsiders he had killed.

    However, it turned out that even the Fiends¡¯ flesh power contained toxins.

    As wisps of flesh power poured back to him, not only did he not benefit from it, but he even suffered internal damage. Astonished, he hastily ceased the effort.

    <i>¡°The Fiends are indeed the strangest race in this world,¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself. <i>¡°Not only do they thrive in poisonous waters and swamps, but everything they possess is poisonous.¡±</i>

    Considering this, he had to give up on the idea of draining the Fiends¡¯ flesh power.

    After killing another two Fiends, he found himself rather close to the spell formation he had previously formed with the seventy-two tree branches.

    The other Fiends were both shocked and furious upon seeing their friends being ughtered one after another.

    Even Sylon, who was controlling the poisonous mist from the outside, looked very grim upon seeing the deaths of his nsmen.

    ¡°A Son of the Stars is indeed far more powerful than those other puny human Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars! The kid is true to his title.¡± With these words, intense killing intent burst forth from within Sylon¡¯s eyes as he suddenly charged into the thick, green mist and rapidly approached Nie Tian.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Eye of Wither!¡± he yelled.

    All of the remaining drops of extremely poisonous liquid that were still floating in the thick mist answered the summons of his bloodline talent and instantly converged on him.

    In a sh, tens of thousands of drops of poison condensed into a giant eyeball.

    The eyeball reflected multicolored light as it slowly rolled about. All of a sudden, its gazended on Nie Tian.

    For some reason, upon seeing that Sylon had unleashed another profound bloodline magic, the other Fiends quietly backed away from Nie Tian.

    Curious, Nie Tian, who was moving towards his spell formation, looked over his shoulder at the uncanny eye.

    However, the moment his eyes met it, a violent shudder ran through him.

    A vicious and destructive force seemed to have instantly passed to him through the exchange of looks.

    At that moment, the originally huge Eye of Wither started to shrink in size, which meant its power was being consumed at a very high rate.

    In a way Nie Tian couldn¡¯t fathom, its vanishing power was somehow inflicting damage and negative influence on him.

    The spiritual power ward Nie Tian had formed with his powers of various attributes didn¡¯t seem to be able to defend against this influence at all.

    Nie Tian was soon struck by a feeling that the rich flesh power that swam around in his internal organs was rapidly slipping away from him, like an ancient tree that had existed for thousands of years rapidly losing its vigor.

    The rapid loss of flesh power gave him the terrifying feeling that he was going to die soon.

    Gasping with astonishment and fear, he hastily broke eye contact with the Eye of Wither.

    As soon as he did, its evil, blighting power seemed to have a weaker effect on him.

    However, it seemed that as long as he remained in the sight of the Eye of Wither, he would still continue to lose his flesh power.

    He also noticed that all of the other Fiends, who had originally backed away, were now gathered around and guarding the Eye of Wither.

    <i>¡°It seems that I¡¯ll have to destroy that Eye of Wither if I want to get rid of its negative influencepletely,¡±</i> he thought to himself. <i>¡°The fact that all the Fiends are now there to protect it indicates that it¡¯s fairly fragile. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been so eager to form defenses around it.</i>

    <i>¡°But how should I do it now that the Fiends are guarding it, let alone Sylon, who seems unfathomable, and has been controlling everything from the outside?¡±</i>

    After a moment of pondering, he decided that it would be too risky to do that, and thus gave up on the idea of rushing over to destroy it. Instead, he turned back around and sprang towards the Floragrims¡¯ ancient spell formation that he had established with the seventy-two tree branches.

    He had confidence that the spell formation that contained endless profound mysteries would ward off everything that was harmful to him.

    Even though the thick, poisonous mist Sylon had created had already pervaded heaven and earth over a veryrge area, the dark green ward over the ancient spell formation had managed to ward off the poisonous mist, not letting a single wisp through.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Light flickered at the points where the thick mist made contact with the dark-green ward as, in areas close to the ward, the mist faded slightly.

    After entering the ancient spell formation, Nie Tian found to his delight that the Eye of Wither¡¯s damage to his flesh, bones, and insides instantly stopped.

    He could see that Sylon¡¯s Eye of Wither was still staring directly at him, yet its blighting power couldn¡¯t seem to infiltrate the Floragrims¡¯ powerful ward in the slightest.

    <i>¡°What a brilliant spell formation!¡± </i>Nie Tian marveled inwardly as he dropped to the ground in a relieved fashion, and started recovering strength with spiritual materials,pletely ignoring the outsiders outside the ward.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had retreated to the spell formation, Sylon muttered, looking rather frustrated, ¡°That spell formation...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the spell formation the Floragrims used to protect their ancestralnd!¡± Abreu said with a very grim expression. ¡°But he¡¯s human! How did he get it?¡±

    Tago also seemed deeply confused as he chimed in, ¡°That grand Wood Thriving Formation was the work of several Floragrim monarchs. They copied the mysterious tree patterns of the ancient tree of life and refined them into the spell formation with their own blood essence. Its most curious feature is that it can automatically power itself by channeling wood power from its surroundings. What did that kid do that made the grand spell formation acknowledge him?¡±

    At this point, Armes, who had already restored part of his strength, suddenly sprang to his feet, gave a cold harrumph, and said, ¡°The Wood Thriving Formation can ward off not only our bloodline power, but even our detection with soul awareness. But even so, that doesn¡¯t make it impregnable, especially now that it¡¯s in the hands of a human. There¡¯s no way he can disy its full might.¡±

    After a brief pause, Armes nced around and added, ¡°The Wood Thriving Formation greatly relies on the woods and nts in its surroundings, which serve as its source of power. Considering his knowledge regarding wood power and the grand spell formation, I bet this spell formation can only absorb wood power from within a five kilometer radius, or maybe even less.

    ¡°If it were operated by a Floragrim monarch, every tree and nt on this entire ind would be its source of power.

    ¡°If that were the case, we could forget about breaking it. However, since it¡¯s a human that¡¯s operating it now, things arepletely different.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Sylon suddenly became refreshed as he said in a loud voice, ¡°That¡¯s right!

    ¡°This grand spell formation was originally used to protect the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd, where they grew heavenly trees. Every heavenly tree contained incredibly rich wood power, so they could provide the Wood Thriving Formation with unlimited power.

    ¡°If the grand spell formation were in that state, even our seniors with eighth grade bloodline power wouldn¡¯t be able to breach it given thousands of years, not to mention us.

    ¡°However, now that there aren¡¯t any heavenly trees here, and Nie Tian is the one who¡¯s using it...¡±

    Abreu came to some realization and jumped in, saying with aprehending smile, ¡°We can continue to bombard it to wear it out! When it¡¯s used up the wood power it¡¯s drawn from the vicinity, it¡¯s gonna lose its effect!¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± With these words, Sylon waved hisrge hand, and the Eye of Wither, which was the condensation of countless drops of deadly poison, rapidly floated to the area above the Wood Thriving Formation. ¡°Not to mention that our race¡¯s blight power has a naturally strong destructive effect on the Floragrims¡¯ spell formations. Let¡¯s bombard it together. I don¡¯t believe this spell formation will hold forever!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Armes thundered, ¡°Get on with it, all of you! Exhaust this Wood Thriving Formation¡¯s power as soon as you can!¡±

    Numerous outsiders of different races circled around the Fiends¡¯ poisonous mist and approached the Wood Thriving Formation from another direction.

    It wasn¡¯t long before all sorts of bloodline magics and magical tools stormed towards the Wood Thriving Formation.

    As they did, the dark green ward instantly blossomed with dazzling light. Glorious sparks of various colors sputtered off the parts where the outsiders¡¯ attacks shot into the bright ward, as if they were the most beautiful fireworks in this world.

    Meanwhile, the trees, bushes and other nts in the vicinity started to darken and wither at an rming rate as they were rapidly drained of their wood power by the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Sitting in the spell formation, Nie Tian soon discovered that he was no longer able to gain copious wood power from the spell formation.

    That was when he realized that all of the wood power the spell formation had absorbed was being used to defend against the outsiders¡¯ storm of attacks. There was simply none left for him.

    <i>¡°I¡¯ve got to recover my strength soon!¡±</i> With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian focused all of his attention on replenishing his spiritual power, hoping he would be able to restore his battle prowess to a high level before the spell formation shattered.

 Chapter 566: The Impregnable Ward

    ¡°What¡¯s going on out there? Why have those Demons and Phantasms stopped searching for me?¡± Holed up in the hollow tree, Pei Qiqi slowly opened her eyes, fine spatial des glowing in the depths of her eyes, as if her mere gaze carried a force that could pierce through a person¡¯s heart.

    After spending the recent period time recuperating, not only had she stabilized her injuries, but her understanding of spatial power had also risen to a new level.

    None of this would have been possible if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t showed up and drawn the Demons and Phantasms away, and she still had to consume spatial power to keep her wards up in order to hide from them.

    Now, with every outsider on this entire ind making Nie Tian, the Son of the Stars, their primary target, she was in a much better ce.

    Her battle prowess had even benefited significantly from her recent enlightenment regarding the profundity of spatial power.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    As a few spatial des shed by, a hole was cut open in the trunk of the ancient tree, and she jumped out of it.

    After a brief scan with her psychic awareness, she became even more convinced that something had happened. <i>¡°Something must have happened. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t be sensing no outsiders at all in this area.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°What happened exactly?¡± </i>With these thoughts in mind, she swiftly shed about in the dense forest like a bolt of lightning, searching for signs of outsiders. She hoped that she could capture an outsider or two, and find out about the situation through them.

    ...

    Meanwhile, the people from the small alliance that had formed around Nie Tian crossed the ck sea and arrived on this ind.

    As soon as they flew to the coastal area, their air-transportation spiritual tools started to shake violently, and lost their power.

    Therefore, the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars had tond on the coast, put away their air-transportation spiritual tools, and start marching on foot.

    ¡°Nie Tian gave me directions,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°Follow me, and I¡¯ll take you to him.¡±

    During the past few days, she had kept in contact with Nie Tian via her Sound Stone. Thus, she was already had a rather thorough understanding of this ind and the paths Nie Tian had taken.

    ording to Nie Tian¡¯s descriptions, she had drawn up a map in her mind. Even though she hadn¡¯t been here before, she had no problem getting her bearings.

    Xuan Ke, Chen Hao, and Ye Qin nodded back at her and turned around to tell their nsmen to raise their guard.

    Knowing what they were getting into, everyone looked rather grim, as if they were marching towards formidable foes.

    ¡°Is it really worth it to risk our lives just to save that Nie Tian person?¡± A member of the Gu n asked Gu Haofeng in a low voice, his face filled with reluctance.

    Gu Haofeng also looked somewhat reluctant as he said, ¡°Well...¡±

    However, Dong Baijie, who was marching not far from him, overheard them, and said to the Gu n member, ¡°Gu Lang, we¡¯re all in Nie Tian¡¯s debt, since he volunteered toe to scout out this ind. None of us would have had the faintest idea of the situation here if he hadn¡¯te.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t he demand valuables in return?¡± Gu Lang muttered in a low voice.

    Smiling, Dong Baijie said, ¡°You¡¯re right. He did. But did he demand anything from your n?¡±

    ¡°Umm, no...¡± Gu Lang¡¯s voice dropped even lower.

    ¡°There you go.¡± With these words, Dong Baijie turned to nce over the crowd. ¡°In fact, none of us here gave him anything for his service. So what right do we have to sit back and do nothing when we know that his life is in danger?¡±

    Gu Lang knew that he was in the wrong, and thus fell silent.

    However, Dong Li wasn¡¯t good-tempered like his older brother. She gave a cold snort and said with an irritated expression, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to go, just leave! It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll make a difference!¡±

    She was consumed with the thought of rushing to Nie Tian¡¯s aid, especially after learning that he was surrounded by outsiders.

    Gu Lang making such an inappropriatement at this moment instantly got on her strained nerves, causing her tosh out at him.

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Cao Qiushui tried to smooth things over. ¡°We¡¯re all from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. We should unite as one. Let¡¯s not ruin that over some unwantedments. Also, they way I see it, Nie Tian might not actually be in serious trouble. Common sense doesn¡¯t apply to that guy.¡±

    Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect chimed in, ¡°The fact that Nie Tian was able to kill more than a dozen outsiders by himself is enough evidence of his exceptional strength. We should all hope that he¡¯s fine, because only when he¡¯s alive will those outsiders be apprehensive. If something happens to him, I doubt that we¡¯ll be able tost very long, even if we held fast to our defenses on that other ind.¡±

    ¡°Well, all I know is that I have toe and help Li save her little lover,¡± Qin Yan said, smiling.

    Dong Li gave her a hard look, and was the first to speed off into the distance.

    Upon seeing this, the others followed along almost without hesitation.

    Only the few Gu n members remained in ce, and fixed Gu Haofeng with inquiring gazes.

    ¡°What do you say, young lord?¡± Gu Lang asked.

    ncing over the few survivors of his n, Gu Haofeng let out a long sigh and said, ¡°In fact, It¡¯s not necessarily a wise thing to go back to that other ind and wait for the outsiders to initiate the attack with those from the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, and the Spirit God Sect.¡±

    ¡°So... are you saying that we should go with Dong Li?¡± Gu Lang asked.

    ¡°As much as I detest Nie Tian, given the current situation, I hope he¡¯s alive.¡± It seemed that Gu Haofeng was still able to think straight. ¡°He¡¯s already killed arge number of outsiders. As long as he¡¯s alive, the outsiders will consider him their primary target. This will take a lot of weight off our shoulders.¡±

    The other Gu n members pondered his words for a brief moment beforeing to realize what they should do.

    Immediately afterwards, they sped off after Dong Li and the others.

    ...

    Numerous outsiders continued to bombard the dark-green ward with their most powerful bloodline magics and spiritual tools. However, a morous discussion now burst through them.

    ¡°There isn¡¯t a shred of wood power left within a five kilometer radius now!¡±

    ¡°But the Wood Thriving Formation is absorbing wood power from the trees and nts in further areas to resist our attacks!¡±

    ¡°How is this possible?! Even if the Wood Thriving Formation was operated by a fourth grade Floragrim with their matching bloodline talent, five kilometers should have been the limit of its range!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on!? How is he doing this?!¡±

    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any connection between the Floragrims and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! Even though he¡¯s a Son of the Stars, it¡¯s very unlikely that he can bring out a better effect from the Wood Thriving Formation than a Floragrim!¡±

    At this moment, Sylon was further activating his bloodline talent to strengthen the Eye of Wither, with which he continued to consume the wood power that the Wood Thriving Formation was channelling from its surroundings.

    They had expected that the spell formation would have exhausted its power and copsed after the vegetation within a five kilometer radius had withered away. Therefore, they had been sparing no effort to bombard the ward.

    At this point, they could see Nie Tian recovering his star power with one Star Stone after another, sitting behind the ward with his eyes closed.

    Looking at Nie Tian and the seemingly impregnable ward over him, they felt rather frustrated and exhausted, yet there wasn¡¯t much they could do.

    Armes saw the frustration and weariness in everyone¡¯s eyes, and thus thundered, ¡°Don¡¯t stop! Keep bombarding that ward! There isn¡¯t a ward in this world that¡¯s impregnable! Given enough force and patience, any ward can be shattered! It¡¯s true that he can do better than channeling wood power from just five kilometers around him, but I don¡¯t believe that he¡¯ll be able to channel wood power from the trees and nts that are fifty kilometers away!

    ¡°As long as we keep working together and give it a little more time, that spell formation is going to give eventually!¡±

    With these words, he once again held out his hand towards Abreu and demanded another fourth grade spirit beast¡¯s heart. He grabbed it with a violent move and stuffed it down his throat. ¡°We can take turns to recover strength while bombarding the Wood Thriving Formation!¡±

    Inspired by Armes¡¯ suggestion, Sylon said, his fighting spirit provoked, ¡°That¡¯s right! It doesn¡¯t hurt to prolong the process a little bit. On the contrary, if we take turns to recover our strength, we¡¯ll be able to keep our battle prowess at a rtively high level at all times!¡±

    Afterwards, the outsiders did as Armes suggested. The Birdmen, ckscales and Fiends continued to attack the spell formation, while the other outsiders recovered their strength with spirit beast hearts, spirit medicine, and magical blood.

    Two hours passed...

    The Wood Thriving Formation finally started to flicker, as if it had finally drained every tree and nt within its range of their wood power.

    ¡°The spell formation is going to break!¡± Armes shouted excitedly.

    ¡°Son of the Stars or not, this man is destined to fall in this ce!¡± Sylon eximed, his eyes brimming with excitement. ¡°Just one more push everyone!¡±

 Chapter 567: One vs Many

    Sitting in the Wood Thriving Formation, Nie Tian finally opened his eyes.

    After a brief examination, he discovered that he had already replenished about fifty percent of the star power he had consumed during his recent battles.

    Meanwhile, even though he hadn¡¯t recovered much of his me power and wood power, the injuries Sylon had inflicted on him with his poisonous mist and Eye of Wither had healedpletely.

    This was, to a great extent, thanks to the fact that he had absorbed copious amounts of flesh power when he had killed the ckscales and Stonemen earlier. That concentrated essence of flesh filled his every bone and internal organ. He even had a significant amount left after his injuries were rapidly and fully healed.

    Now, he was ready to fight again.

    Seeing that the Wood Thriving Formation was having great difficulty powering the ward by absorbing wood power from further areas, he sprang to his feet.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s sudden move, Armes¡¯ expression flickered. Without much thought, he once againunched his bloodline soul magic, enveloping heaven and earth where Nie Tian was standing. ¡°Bloodline magic! Dark Soul Ward!¡±

    Armes did this because he knew that Nie Tian would be able to escape with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Starshift if he didn¡¯t.

    Should Nie Tian escape from this area, he might very well establish the Wood Thriving Formation again in another location that was surrounded by lush nts and vegetation.

    He also knew that it wouldn¡¯t take arge amount of energy for him to reestablish the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Once it was established, it would automatically absorb wood power from its surroundings to power itself.

    If Nie Tian managed to do that, it meant they would need to spend hours, or even days, to break the spell formation all over again.

    With his Dark Soul Ward, Armes could prevent Nie Tian from leaving the area with Starshifts, since Nie Tian couldn¡¯t separate his soul from his body yet.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The outsiders¡¯ raging attacks continued to storm down on the dark green ward around Nie Tian, filling the air with lightning bolts, blood-colored light, and rolling thunder.

    Bereft of replenishing wood power, the dark green ward finally shattered.

    The moment it did, Nie Tian¡¯s hand wove a few times in the air, and the translucent sparkling tree branches flew back into his ring of holding like swallows returning to their nest.

    At the same time, he let out an explosive roar. ¡°Let¡¯s y!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor, which hadin dormant for a long time, flew out of his ring of holding like a flood dragon whooshing out of an unfathomableke.

    In a split second, Nie Tian was d in the majestic me Dragon Armor.

    Since it was almost as heavy as a mountain, every time he had worn it before, he had experienced great difficulty moving about. However, he felt that its weight was rather bearable this time.

    After a moment of pondering, he quickly realized that, after he had refined his body with Heavenly Wood Heal, crystallizing his bones, his body had already be much stronger than before.

    In the next moment, he sensed wisps of his fierce flesh power seeping out of his pores and flying into the me Dragon Armor, bonding him and the me Dragon Armor in an unprecedentedly close way.

    Furthermore, the flesh power the me Dragon Armor channeled from him was mixed with me power, as it seemed that this armor with a mysterious origin could only be infused with me power and flesh power together.

    Numerous detailed and beautiful me patterns could be seen on the armor, as if they were clusters of zing mes.

    Immediately afterwards, crackling and burning sounds filled the air around Nie Tian, as iparably fierce mes that could burn the heavens and destroy the earth burst forth from within him.

    With a vicious grin, he suddenly shot up into the sky.

    All of the outsiders roared as they fixed their gazes on Nie Tian, their eyes brimming with endless killing intent. ¡°He¡¯se out of the ward!¡±

    ¡°Kill him! We can¡¯t let this Son of the Stars escape!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! If he survives this incident, after he returns to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and makes advancements in his cultivation, he¡¯ll definitelye to wipe out our ns!¡±

    Nie Tian, however, morphed into a streak of zing mes and, in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint, flew to the Eye of Wither that was suspended in midair.

    The me Star shed down with full force.

    He could sense with great rity that streams of mes flew out of the Blood Core embedded in the chest of the me Dragon Armor.

    As the streams of mes poured madly into the me Star, the fiery spell formations engraved within it shook as they seemed to reach their maximum volume.

    The me Star sent out a de light that was a mixture of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s fierce me power and Nie Tian¡¯s me power and flesh power. In midair, it rapidly morphed into a me dragon that was capable of destroying heaven and earth.

    Roaring furiously, the de light that looked like a me dragon instantly engulfed the Eye of Wither, which Sylon had formed with his bloodline power, with its devastating mes.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    As powerful as Sylon was, he let out agonized screams, standing among the other Fiends.

    His eyes stuck out as blood spilled from the corners of his eyes. His body, which contained deadly toxins, was also instantly covered in countless fine wounds.

    Blood flowed out of the weaving wounds that looked like cuts as he wobbled a few steps and fell to the ground.

    ¡°Lord Sylon!¡±

    ¡°Lord Sylon has suffered a serious bacsh from his bloodline magic!¡±

    ¡°How did that guy be so powerful all of a sudden?¡±

    The other Fiends all gasped with fright as they hastily dragged Sylon away from Nie Tian, hoping to get him out of Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The zing de light morphed into a sea of mes that engulfed and tore the Eye of Wither to shreds, burning away everyst drop of the poison that had formed it.

    Gone with it was Sylon¡¯s copious amount of soul power that he had infused into the tens of thousands of drops of poison.

    This was the reason why Sylon had suffered such a strong bacsh.

    After unleashing the strike, Nie Tian crashed heavily into the ground again.

    The me Dragon Armor continued to unleash fierce, crimson mes. Bathed in raging mes, he looked like a man made of fire. No god or demon would want to get anywhere near him.

    A mor burst through the outsiders as a hint of fear could be seen in all of their eyes.

    ¡°A Spirit Channeling grade treasure!¡±

    ¡°That suit of armor is at least at the Spirit Channeling grade. It seems to possess power that could shatter mountains and drain seas!¡±

    ¡°That must have been bestowed upon him by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! Only they would give a Spirit Channeling grade treasure to a sessor that¡¯s still green!¡±

    As far as they knew, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was the most ancient and powerful human Qi warrior sect there was. As one of the few sects that were revered by all races, they dominated a vast area in the depths of the starry river.

    It was a natural thing that such a strong sect would bestow Spirit Channeling grade treasures upon their Sons of the Stars.

    While all the outsiders were shocked and awed, Nie Tian secretlymunicated with the me Dragon Armor and learned that, nourished by therge amounts of earthme crystal strings and earthme essence, it had not only recovered its full strength, but also gone through some changes and be even more powerful.

    After destroying Sylon¡¯s Eye of Wither with a single strike, he examined the me Dragon Armor, and discovered that its Blood Core was still brimming with endless me power.

    That meant that not only could he use the me Dragon Armor to protect himself, but he could also draw on its me power on top of his own. Now, with every move he made, he emanated the mighty me power of an ancient me dragon.

    Aftering to this realization, Nie Tianughed wildly as he cast Starshifts repeatedly, shing among the outsiders that had scattered in arge circle around him.

    Every time he appeared, he would bear the attacks of one or two outsiders. However, the ward of mes created by the me Dragon Armor would ward them off with ease.

    However, as he swung his me Star, the devastating me power he drew from the Blood Core of the me Dragon Armor wasn¡¯t something those outsiders could resist.

    With every Starshift, he would ughter one or two outsiders with his me Star.

    The defensive effect of the ward of mes was far inferior to that of the Wood Thriving Formation, and there was no way that it could ward off the joint attacks of dozens of outsiders. However, the Wood Thriving Formation was stationary, while the ward of mes created by the me Dragon Armor could follow him wherever he shifted.

    Since the outsiders couldn¡¯t lock him down and attack him at the same time, after many attempts, they still couldn¡¯t shatter his ward of mes.

    Therefore, in the same manner, he shifted about among the outsiders like a shadow, summoning me power from the Blood Core and cutting outsiders down one after another.

    While one outsider after another was engulfed by the mighty me power of an ancient me dragon, Nie Tian managed to ward off most of the outsiders¡¯ attacks with the ward of mes, which made him seem like an invincible god of ughter.

    While he slew the outsiders without meeting any effective resistance, Dong Li¡¯s voice echoed out from the distance, ¡°Nie Tian is over there!¡±

    ¡°Finally.¡± A smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face, as he felt even more assured of his victory.

    ncing around at the outsider corpses, he realized that, with Dong Li and the othersing, his extended battle against the outsiders was finally going to end.

 Chapter 568: Excellent Battle Results

    The young human Qi warriors sped through and where every tree and nt had been drained of wood power and withered away.

    Dong Li was the only one who was able to travel through air with the help of her ck phoenix. High in the air, she stared into the distance where she had spotted Nie Tian, a deeply concerned look filling her eyes.

    After obtaining copious power from the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, her ck phoenix beast spirit had gone through some changes.

    Before, her ck phoenix beast spirit had seemed rather illusionary and intangible, but now it had not only berger, but also seemed more tangible. Even the finest feathers on its wings could be seen with great rity.

    Meanwhile, its deep, ck eyes emanated frightening, icy light that seemed as if it could capture people¡¯s souls.

    At this moment, Dong Li was wearing a ck dress, which brought out her milky white skin and curvaceous body. Any man would be intoxicated by her singr beauty.

    However, an iparably fierce aura suddenly burst forth from her deep, obsidian-like eyes and wreathed her perfectly-shaped body.

    Eyes fixed on the area Nie Tian was in, she constantly urged the others to hurry up in a loud voice.

    However, unable to use their air-transportation spiritual tools and without airborne beast spirits to use, none of the others could keep up with her.

    WHOOSH!

    Looking very anxious, Dong Li once again pointed out the direction for the others traveling on the ground, and finally swooped into the distance alone.

    It wasn¡¯t long before she arrived at the area where Nie Tian was ying outsiders one after another. She nced down and dead outsiders filled her view.

    Nie Tian, however, was wreathed in raging mes, as if he were a god of mes. At this very moment, he had just taken out an outsider, and was holding his me Star with the poise of a bloodthirsty tiger.

    Confident like a monarch, Nie Tian looked up at Dong Li, and with a hearty smile, he said, ¡°You¡¯vee.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes glittered as a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. ¡°It¡¯s so nice to see that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    She wasn¡¯t very surprised by the dead outsiders scattered all over the area.

    In her eyes, this was exactly how the man who had won her heart was supposed to be.

    In the next moment, Dong Li pped her arms in midair and shot beams of dark spiritual aura out of the tips of her fingers.

    One of the Birdmen in the vicinity gave a miserable wail and fell from the sky.

    The Birdman had her body and feathered wings pierced through by Dong Li¡¯s dark spiritual power, and died before even hitting the ground.

    Like a totem, the ck phoenix beast spirit that floated behind Dong Li suddenly let out a sharp screech. Immediately afterwards, Dong Li¡¯s aura soared as she started dashing between different locations at lightning speed.

    As she did, countless beams of dark spiritual power pierced through more Birdmen in the air like ck spears cast by some monarch of dark forces.

    One Birdman after another screamed miserably as they pped their wings a few times before falling to the ground.

    Many outsiders¡¯ expressions flickered drastically as they saw Dong Liing out of nowhere and starting to ughter Birdmen without any warning.

    ¡°Herees another human!¡±

    ¡°This woman is very powerful!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s at the peak Greater Heaven stage, only one step away from entering the Worldly realm!¡±

    ¡°Howe she carries the fierce bloodline aura of an ancient ck phoenix!?¡±

    ¡°Dammit! She¡¯s the Birdmen¡¯s natural bane!¡±

    Nie Tian was also shocked by her battle prowess.

    In fact, the Birdmen had been giving him a headache, since they could soar high into the sky, and he had failed to kill them the way he had killed the other outsiders.

    This was the reason why the Birdmen had lost the fewest members at his hands during this battle.

    However, since Dong Li also possessed the ability to sail through the air, she chased the Birdmen down and ughtered them without mercy.

    Not only that, but Nie Tian also noticed that Dong Li seemedpletely unaffected by the Dark Soul Ward which Armes had formed with his bloodline power when she flew over.

    She passed through it without meeting any resistance. Both her body and soul entered the ward, safe and sound.

    While Nie Tian was inwardly marveling at Dong Li¡¯s changes, Dong Li flew to the Dark Soul Ward.

    With a coldugh, she eximed, ¡°Break it!¡±

    The ck phoenix behind her, which was significantlyrger than before, spread its wide wings that were like two iparablyrge des.

    With them, it easily cut the Dark Soul Ward, which Armes had formed with great effort, to pieces.

    ¡°Kill her! Kill that woman!¡± Armes thundered madly.

    As he did, drops of blood flowed from the corners of his eyes. Apparently, just like Sylon, he also suffered a severe bacsh when his bloodline magic was shredded.

    ¡°Over there!¡±

    ¡°Come with me!¡±

    At that moment, people from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles finally rushed onto the battlefield.

    Aftering to a stop, Xuan Ke took a nce at their surroundings, and his expression flickered in shock. ¡°What?!¡±

    Qin Yan also went nk as she nced over at the approximately two dozen dead outsiders scattered around them. Astounded to her very core, she asked uprehendingly, ¡°N-Nie Tian, you killed all these outsiders by yourself?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled subtly, not saying a word.

    In fact, they didn¡¯t need to ask. It was rather obvious who had killed those outsiders.

    Before rushing to this ind, they had seen Nie Tian being deeply surrounded by outsiders through that magical ice of Xuan Ke¡¯s.

    There wasn¡¯t another human on this ind, and Dong Li had only beaten them to this ce by a short time. Who would it have been, if not Nie Tian?

    Cao Qiushui gasped, his hand on his chest. ¡°Oh my god!¡±

    The disbelieving expression on his face indicated that he couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    Gu Haofeng¡¯s expression froze as his body wentpletely still like a stone statue.

    The eyes of the members of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect were also filled with respect and awe as they tore their gazes from the dead outsiders andid them on Nie Tian.

    Before arriving, most of them had expected that Nie Tian might have suffered serious injuries and been in a very dangerous situation, considering he had been surrounded by a great number of outsiders.

    Never had they imagined that Nie Tian was actually unscathed, much less that he had single-handedly in so many outsiders.

    Tago, the Demon leader, lunged forward and held the furious Armes down. With a deep voice, he said, ¡°Lord Armes! I¡¯m afraid we need to leave this ind now!¡±

    ¡°You scared?! Is that it?!¡± Armes asked, fury filling his face.

    Tago was somehow still able to keep a calm mind as he said, ¡°That Son of the Stars is too powerful for us to handle, and that woman also seems very hard to deal with. Plus, there¡¯s another powerful human on this ind, a woman well-versed in the use of spatial power. She¡¯s also a good fighter. Even I don¡¯t have the confidence to take her in a battle.

    ¡°Besides, even though these neers don¡¯t seem very powerful, they havee inrge numbers.

    ¡°We, on the other hand, have consumed a significant amount of strength when we bombarded the Wood Thriving Formation, and we¡¯ve lost too many people to that Son of the Stars. We¡¯re not in a good ce to fight now.¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, that Son of the Stars is now capable of channeling unlimited me power to attack us.¡±

    ¡°If we stay, we¡¯ll only lose more people.¡±

    At that moment, Abreu chimed in in a low voice, ¡°You¡¯re suffering from a severe bacsh, brother. So is Sylon. All of the neing humans, however, seem full of vigor and fighting spirit. A Son of the Stars, two powerful women, and those others, this is really not a battle we can win.¡±

    Mixed emotions shed across Armes¡¯ face, as if he simply couldn¡¯t swallow such a defeat and leave.

    ¡°We have to evacuate this ind to restore our strength, or find our seniors,¡± said Tago.

    While Armes hesitated, Tago saw Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect turning a Demon into a statue of ice with his sect¡¯s secret icy magic, and thus shouted, ¡°Lord Armes! If you insist on staying, I¡¯ll have to take my men and leave!¡±

    With these words, Tago let out a long roar.

    Upon hearing his roar, all of the Demon survivors ended their battle and scattered in different directions.

    Upon seeing this, Stonemountain hesitated briefly, then also issued the order to evacuate.

    The same went for the ckscales and Birdmen. They all chose to avoid the humans while their des were sharpest.

    Like Armes, Sylon, the Fiend leader, was also very reluctant to leave. However, upon seeing that the Demons, Stonemen, ckscales, and Birdmen were leaving, he eventually gave themand, though reluctantly, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±

    ¡°Brother!¡± Abreu tried to awaken Armes to reality.

    Armes gritted his teeth so hard that his gums started to bleed. The pain finally helped him recover his senses, and thus, like a trapped beast, he thundered, ¡°Abandon this ind!¡±

    Upon hearing his order, all of the remaining outsiders let out sighs of relief and hastily escaped in different directions.

    ¡°Chase after them!¡± Dong Li gave the order. ¡°Kill as many as you can!¡±

    She nced down at Nie Tian, and after realizing that he was unhurt, she dashed after the fleeing Birdmen at full speed.

    The others from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles also knew that this was the perfect opportunity to maximize their victory, and thus spread out to chase the fleeing outsiders.

    Nie Tian was the only one who remained in ce. After everyone chased off after the outsiders, his hands quickly wove in the air.

    As he did, the dead outsiders were channeled to form a huge ball of corpses that floated right in front of him.

    He ced his hands on the ball of corpses. His eyes narrowed as he unleashed Life Drain.

 Chapter 569: Meeting Pei Qiqi Again

    As wisps of rich flesh power were drained from the floating ball of outsider corpses, it shriveled rapidly, like a deting balloon.

    The reason why Nie Tian had given up chasing after the outsiders was that he knew that the outstandingly rich flesh power within the dead outsiders would be of great help for him to refine his body.

    Most of the outsiders he had killed were ckscales, Stonemen, and Demons. Every single one of their corpses contained flesh power even richer than that of fourth grade spirit beasts.

    Even though some of them had been cut in half by his me Star, while others were now just mangled body parts, they still contained considerable flesh power.

    He could feel wisps of concentrated essence of flesh and blood entering his body, turning into small crimson spots, and flowing to every muscle and bone in his body.

    A very intense and fierce aura gradually built up inside of him.

    Still d in the me Dragon Armor, he started tomunicate with it at a spiritual level.

    Ever since his Wood Thriving Formation had been broken, he had killed outsiders by relying on the mighty me power from the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core.

    The raging me power he had drawn from the Blood Core had helped him defend against the outsiders¡¯ attacks and strengthened the might of his me Star, making him almost invincible.

    However, he knew that it was almost impossible for him to replenish the Blood Core¡¯s me power.

    He had only used it for a short time, yet he could tell that the Blood Core had already lost quite a bit of me power.

    If he tried to replenish the me Dragon Armor¡¯s me power with regr fire-attributed materials, the effect would be none other than trying to put out a burning cart of firewood with a cup of water. Only precious treasures like earthme essence and earthme crystal strings would contain enough me power to make a difference.

    Another reason why he didn¡¯t chase after the fleeing outsiders was that he had consumed a significant amount of all of his powers during this extended battle.

    If he continued to kill more outsiders, he would inevitably draw more me power from the Blood Core.

    After the Blood Core lost a certain amount of me power, the me Dragon Armor would once again fall dormant.

    This strange dimension was full of danger, and he hadn¡¯t encountered any powerful outsider experts yet. If he did encounter fifth grade outsiders in the future, he might be able to contend against them on the condition that the me Dragon Armor was still functional. But without the me Dragon Armor, that would be wishful thinking.

    For that reason, he tried to save this secret weapon for crucial moments.

    While he was absorbing flesh power from the ball of outsider corpses, the shape of a woman suddenly shed into appearance.

    He had failed to sense the slightest fluctuation of life in the vicinity before the shing figure caught his eyes.

    His expression flickered drastically as he became very vignt, but as he saw the figure¡¯s face, he let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, ¡°Nice to see you again, Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, however, showed up with her usual straight face. Like a snow lotus that grew alone on top of a snow-covered mountain peak, she looked frosty and proud.

    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been here for some time.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi walked to him, fine spatial des looming in the depths of her eyes, which looked like two icy crystals. ¡°You lured those outsiders to this ce, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled heartily, and said in a casual manner, ¡°I did. Soon after I came to this ind, I overheard a conversation between some Demons and Phantasms, and learned that they had been searching for you. So I killed a few outsiders to draw them away. Soon, all of the outsiders made me their target and came at me together.

    ¡°I¡¯m lucky that these outsiders... aren¡¯t very powerful.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that they¡¯re weak, but rather that you¡¯ve be stronger.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi gave him a meaningful look. ¡°Anyhow, I¡¯ve got to thank you for distracting them. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have recovered so quickly. I encountered those Demons and Phantasms as soon as I descended on this ind. shes broke out instantly. I had to face their joint attacks, and thus sustained injuries after several exchanges. Afterwards, I had no choice but to hole up somewhere.

    ¡°The truth is that I¡¯d have been in trouble if you hadn¡¯t shown up.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian finished draining the floating ball of outsider corpses of its flesh power.

    He withdrew his hands and turned to face Pei Qiqi directly. With a concerned expression, he asked, ¡°Do you need me to heal your injuries for you, Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡±

    As he did, the ball of outsider corpses fell to the ground and copsed.

    ¡°Not now.¡± Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°I can see that you¡¯ve consumed a substantial amount of strength yourself, and you need to spend some time to recover your own strength. We¡¯ll talk when you¡¯re fully recovered.¡±

    In order to heal Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries, he would have to use Heavenly Wood Heal, which would require a significant amount of wood power.

    However, at this moment, he had a very limited amount of wood power left in his spiritual sea after contending against the outsiders single-handedly for so long.

    Furthermore, since every tree and nt in this area had all been drained of wood power, he wouldn¡¯t be able to use the Wood Thriving Formation here. After a brief moment of pondering, he nodded slightly and said, smiling, ¡°Alright. The outsiders are evacuating from this ind anyways. We¡¯ll have plenty of time when they¡¯re gone. I¡¯ll find a ce where the nts and vegetation are exuberant to recover. Then, once I¡¯ve got my strength back, I¡¯ll help you heal your injuries.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but I don¡¯t want to see the others,¡± Pei Qiqi said, frowning.

    By ¡®others¡¯ she meant anyone other than Nie Tian.

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to.¡± Pei Qiqi seemed reluctant to provide an actual answer. She suddenly held out her hand towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°You must have looted storage rings from some of the outsiders you killed. Give them to me. I¡¯ll break the seals for you.

    ¡°The outsiders¡¯ storage rings are basically the same thing as our rings of holding, just named differently.

    ¡°However, the way they forge their storage rings varies from how we forge our rings of holding, so I doubt that you¡¯ll be able to break the seals on them.¡±

    Only at that moment did Nie Tian notice the few sparkling items in the copsed ball of outsider corpses on the ground.

    They were none other than storage rings that had belonged to some of the more powerful outsiders he had killed.

    Nie Tian crouched down, gathered them one by one, and handed them to Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi received them with her syed hand. As bright spatial auras flew out of her fingertips and into the oddly-shaped rings, their seals were instantly removed.

    Afterwards, Pei Qiqi returned the rings to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯ve checked them for you. They mostly contain the spirit nts and herbs they gathered from this ind, and spirit beast hearts they had prepared for recovery, along with some items that are unique to their races. You can check them outter when you have the time.¡±

    After storing all of the storage rings in the cloth pouch on his waist, Nie Tian expressed his gratitude with a bright smile.

    However, something suddenly urred to him as he asked curiously, ¡°Right, senior martial sister, how did you end up on this ind when everyone else arrived on that other ind?¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± After hesitating for a while, instead of giving an answer, she said, ¡°There¡¯s something you need to know, Nie Tian, that you¡¯d better stay on this ind or that other ind you first came to. Only Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors and fourth grade outsiders are allowed on these two inds.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be rejected if you try to enter other territories.

    ¡°Simrly, fifth and sixth grade outsider experts won¡¯t be able to enter these two inds either.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about this!¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to ask her the reason behind it, Pei Qiqi dashed lightly into the distance. Lingering in the air were the words, ¡°I¡¯ll stay on this ind, ande find youter.¡±

    Soon after she left, Nie Tian noticed that Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had returned, her head sagging low in frustration.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that Pei Qiqi must have sensed Qin Yan¡¯s return, and thus left in a hurry.

    Clearly, Qin Yan was among the people she didn¡¯t want to see.

    ¡°Damn those outsiders! They¡¯re all too fast to catch!¡± she muttered in frustration. By the time she caught sight of Nie Tian, she said with aplicated expression, ¡°You... you¡¯re truly a freak! I saw that you¡¯d killed so many outsiders by yourself, so I figured they must not be very hard to kill. Who would have known...¡±

    Just now, she had chased after a handful of ckscale survivors with other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. Who would have known that one of the ckscales had suddenly be enraged, and pounced on one of them, tearing the man to shreds within seconds.

    That was when she had realized that, unlike what she had pictured in her mind, none of the outsiders on this ind were easy to deal with.

    The fact that Nie Tian had single-handedly taken out such arge number of outsiders just proved Nie Tian¡¯s freakish strength, not the weakness of the outsiders.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Feng Ying returned with the other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. Judging from the terrified look on her face, she had not yet recovered from what she had just witnessed.

    She took a deep look at Nie Tian, whose pupils seemed to be filled with mysterious tiny stars, and said with nothing but admiration on her face, ¡°Big Brother Nie, I finally understand how powerful you are... If you hadn¡¯t killed those outsiders, I¡¯m afraid we would have been killed the moment we set foot on this ind.¡±

    Qin Yan nodded slightly. ¡°Li is such a lucky girl.¡±

 Chapter 570: Opening Up

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word as Qin Yan gazed at him, her eyes filled with admiration and a hint of desire. <i>¡°What if I had met him first, not Dong Li?¡±</i>

    A shade of redness appeared on Qin Yan¡¯s cheeks as she was carried away by her thoughts. Even her bright eyes glittered with mixed emotions. <i>¡°I¡¯m just not as lucky as Dong Li. If I had met this guy before Dong Li did, things might have beenpletely different...¡±</i>

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the members of the Gu n, the Cao n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect returned one after another. They all frowned deeply, as it seemed that none of them had caught or killed any outsiders.

    Soon afterwards, Xuan Ke returned with a bundle of spirit nts in his hand. He was the only one who returned in high spirits.

    ¡°I killed one of the Stonemen and got these spirit nts from him.¡± With these words, he took a deep look at Nie Tian and added, ¡°Only after fighting those outsiders personally did I realize how powerful Brother Nie is.¡±

    The other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples who had returned with him nodded slightly, respect filling their faces.

    Among them, Wang Rong and Luo Xue inwardly admired their leader¡¯s keen judgment of talent.

    If Xuan Ke hadn¡¯t made those farsighted decisions and repeatedly urged them not to provoke Nie Tian, they probably wouldn¡¯t have be allies with him.

    Only just now, when they had chased after the scattered Stonemen personally, did they finally realize how powerful those outsiders were.

    Compared to Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends, Stonemen were only a minor and rtively weak race.

    It was hard for them to imagine how powerful Nie Tian really was, considering he had not only scouted out this ind, but also managed to ughter so many outsiders single-handedly.

    With these thoughts in mind, they inwardly marveled that Xuan Ke¡¯s decisions couldn¡¯t have been wiser.

    If they had somehow be Nie Tian¡¯s enemies, then considering their strength, Nie Tian probably would have no problem annihting them all by himself.

    Gu Haofeng and the others from the Gu n had remainedpletely silent since they had returned.

    After a short while, the members of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Dong n also returned sessively.

    Among them, Dong Li and Dong Baijie were the only ones who had killed a couple of Birdmen and Phantasms, and looted some valuables.

    Still, everyone looked rather grim upon returning, as if they had all been shocked by the outsiders¡¯ formidable strength.

    Before this, even though they had learned that Nie Tian had single-handedly taken out more than a dozen outsiders, they had had no idea how powerful those outsiders were, and thus hadn¡¯t been so shaken by Nie Tian¡¯s battle results.

    However, now that they had personally dealt with those outsiders, and learned how bizarre and powerful their bloodline magics were, they finally had a first-hand judgement regarding the outsiders¡¯ formidableness.

    They simply couldn¡¯t understand how Nie Tian had not only managed to survive the joint attacks of so many outsiders, but also killed arge number of them without sustaining injuries himself.

    Just like them, Nie Tian was also still at the Greater Heaven stage. Why did their battle prowess vary so greatly?!

    ¡°Where are those from the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Poison Sect?¡± Nie Tian asked, frowning.

    Ye Qin from the Yin Sect snorted a smile, and said with a disdainful look on her face, ¡°They all believed that you¡¯d die beyond the shadow of a doubt, and that abandoning the defenses they¡¯d set up and rushing to your aid was none other than seeking death. So we parted ways. They chose to hold fast to their defenses, since they believed that was the safest thing to do.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see...¡± Then, he smiled and added, ¡°Since they decided not toe, they shouldn¡¯t be wee here anymore.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Cao Qiushui asked.

    With a casual tone, Nie Tian exined, ¡°We¡¯ve already spent months searching for valuables on that other ind. There isn¡¯t much left to find now. This ind, however, hasn¡¯t been over-explored by the outsiders. There¡¯s probably still a good amount of spiritual materials for us to find. I suggest that we split up into groups and allocate regions to different groups. People will keep whatever they find in their allocated regions.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Just as Nie Tian had said, none of them hade across anything valuable on that other ind over the past weeks.

    Thest major discovery was the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse, which Dong Li had eventually refined.

    In their eyes, it was already not worth it to stick around on that other ind.

    Now that the outsiders had evacuated this ind, this gave them a newnd to explore for more spiritual materials and magical herbs.

    Nie Tian pointed at Dong Li and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you determine how we should allocate the regions?¡±

    With a charming smile, Dong Li said, ¡°dly. All we need to do is divide this ind evenly, and make sure there are no oveps.¡±

    Then, with a wave of her hand, she beckoned for Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, Chen Hao, and the other leaders toe closer.

    She took out her cyan awl and drew up a map of the ind on the ground ording to the information Nie Tian had given her. Afterwards, she started allocating different regions to each force.

    Everyone realized that Nie Tian trusted her, and that without Nie Tian, they wouldn¡¯t have driven the outsiders away and taken the ind for their own. Therefore, everyone listened to her.

    Momentster, Dong Li finished dividing the ind among the forces present.

    After learning about the regions they were being allocated to, the leaders rapidly led their groups away in different directions, their eyes glittering with the light of excitement.

    Dong Li was the only one who stayed with Nie Tian.

    After everyone was gone, she made sure that no one was around before suddenly springing into Nie Tian¡¯s arms. With her ripe, red lips, she gave Nie Tian a vigorous kiss on his cheek. Then, she once again held tightly to Nie Tian, burying her head in his broad chest, and said, ¡°I knew you¡¯d be okay, but I was still worried sick. I, I was afraid that I¡¯d never see you again...¡±

    She whispered softly, her pleasant scent flying into Nie Tian¡¯s nose, making him feel as light as a feather.

    This was the first time Dong Li had revealed her true feelings to him.

    With a great beauty suddenly rushing into his arms, Nie Tian, who had just rxed from a fierce battle, subconsciously held her and felt her stic body. After a moment of bewilderment, he said, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t worry. I can manage.¡±

    ¡°I knew you could, but I just couldn¡¯t stop myself from worrying.¡± Dong Li¡¯s voice was as soft and smooth as water.

    With Nie Tian¡¯s arms wrapped around her, she was truly happy. Even the corner of her mouth was filled with happiness. However, after a short while, she took the initiative to break away from his arms and said with a serious tone, ¡°Many uncertainties still lie ahead. You¡¯d better recover your strength as soon as possible. I saw you using your me Dragon Armor on my way here. I knew that you wouldn¡¯t have summoned it if you had a choice.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. I think I¡¯ll go recover by that ckke. The wood power over there is the richest.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to go with you?¡± Dong Li asked, a longing smile filling her face.

    Nie Tian shook his head, smiling. ¡°That¡¯s okay. Now that the outsiders are gone, I¡¯ll be safe. You should lead your n members to look around and gather as many spirit nts as you can. Many of the spirit nts here are rare species that you can¡¯t find in the Domain of the Falling Stars. You¡¯ll be able sell them for good money after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about spirit nts,¡± Dong Li grumbled in a flirtatious manner, mesmerizing charm filling her deep, obsidian-like eyes. ¡°I just want to stay by your side, fool!¡±

    With a wry smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Alright, alright, I really need to focus on my recovery. You being there will affect me.¡±

    Dong Li stared at him. ¡°How would I affect you? Tell me. If I¡¯m happy with your answer, then I¡¯ll leave you alone.¡±

    Nie Tian cleared his throat and said, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to concentrate if you¡¯re there.¡±

    Dong Li smiled, making her look ravishingly beautiful. ¡°A sweet tongue you¡¯ve got there.¡±

    Then, after hugging him again with great force, she broke from his arms and said, ¡°I¡¯m off then. Remember to contact me with your Sound Stone as soon as you¡¯ve recovered your strength.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded repeatedly. ¡°Got it, got it.¡±

    Watching her speed off into the distance, he left for the ckke.

    Unlike the other Qi warriors, he didn¡¯t go to gather rare spiritual materials or spirit nts. He knew that with the treasures he had gained so far, he wouldn¡¯t fall behind the others on that front.

    After all, he had already looted the valuables of the two dozen outsiders he had killed earlier. It must have taken those outsiders a long time to gather those precious materials.

    Thus, he was already rather satisfied with his gains.

    A few hourster, he once again arrived by the vast, ckke. He sat down by the shore and summoned the seventy-two tree branches to form the Wood Thriving Formation.

    As the Wood Thriving Formation came to form, a dark-green ward spread over his head and rapidly enveloped him.

    He looked up, and discovered that there were still as many mysterious tree patterns floating about in the dark-green ward as before, and that the might of the ward hadn¡¯t weakened at all after being shattered by the outsiders.

    ¡°This grand spell formation, which Floragrim monarchs forged with tree patterns from the tree of life and their own blood essence, is indeed full of unfathomable wonders.¡±

    Sitting in the lotus position, Nie Tian soon sensed streams of rich wood power pouring down on the top of his head and converging directly on the vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea.

    He calmed down and submerged himself in his cultivation,pletely ignoring everything in the outside world.

    ...

    On the other ind, Lu Jian gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Nie Tian should have been killed by now, right? I still can¡¯t believe those fools from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles dared to rush over to the ¡®tiger¡¯s den¡¯ to save him. I suppose we won¡¯t see them again.¡±

    ¡°Forget about them,¡± Yu Yang said. ¡°All we need to do is hold fast to our defenses here.¡±

    Su Lin¡¯s expression flickered as she eximed, gazing into the ck sea, ¡°Wait! I, I see outsiders fleeing from that ind!¡±

 Chapter 571: Hidden Intentions Being Revealed

    Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect had been paying close attention to even the most subtle changes on the other ind.

    Instead of cowering behind the major defensive spell formation they had set up, she stood on the seashore and gazed off into the distance.

    The other ind, which she knew was crawling with outsiders, seemed rather indistinct in her view. Her current cultivation base didn¡¯t allow her to have a clear view of everything happening on that ind.

    However, as the outsiders fled the ind, due to their sense of urgency, they left the ind in different directions.

    Some of them happened to evacuate the ind from the area Su Lin was observing. Only after flying a short while in Su Lin¡¯s direction did they get ahold of their bearings and change directions.

    That was why Su Lin was able to see the fleeing outsiders.

    After a moment of pondering, she realized that, considering that the outsiders seemed to be rushing away from that ind with great urgency, it must be because that ind was no longer safe for them.

    Since she didn¡¯t see a single human Qi warrior leaving the ind, the only exnation would be that the human Qi warriors had prevailed.

    Upon hearing her exmation, all the chosen ones who had chosen to stay there rushed over to her. Their expressions flickered drastically as they stared off into the distance.

    Yang Kan, Lu Jian, Yu Yang, Liao Yan, and the others followed Su Lin¡¯s pointing hand, and saw a few Stonemen flying towards the depths of the ck sea on their dpidated teleportation portal.

    Lu Jian, who had mocked Dong Li and the others for going earlier, was too shocked to finish his sentence, his facepletely frozen. ¡°What¡¯s...¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yang Kan and the other chosen ones wracked their minds for an exnation. However, there only seemed to be one rational exnation, which was that Dong Li and the others had driven those outsiders off of that ind.

    ¡°They won?! How is that possible!?¡± Zhang Jiu eximed. Then, with a grim look in his eyes, he pondered in silence for some time before saying, ¡°Ah... I got it.¡±

    Everyoneid their eyes on him.

    He took a while to sort through his thoughts, and then said, ¡°Even though Nie Tian is exceptionally powerful, he¡¯s only at the middle Greater Heaven stage. He was able to take out outsiders one by one before more outsiders came to surround him. Doesn¡¯t this suggest that those outsiders aren¡¯t as hard to deal with as we expected?

    ¡°This is the only exnation as to why he was able to kill them without effort.

    ¡°And the outsiders would only join up to kill him if they weren¡¯t strong enough on their own. Thus, when those from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s aid, they easily gained the upper hand.

    ¡°Perhaps any of us can single-handedly deal with two to three outsiders.

    ¡°I think this is the only reasonable exnation.¡±

    The reason why he reached such a conclusion was that he had never battled outsiders personally. In fact, none of them had.

    The disciples of the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had been the first to discover and fight the Stonemen. Later, the people from the Ice Pavilion Sect had joined the fight.

    None of the people who had stayed on this ind had ever faced a single outsider, so their understanding of the outsiders¡¯ strength was very limited and inurate.

    Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect looked enlightened by his words, and thus chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s very possible! It seems that we overestimated the outsiders¡¯ strength. Numbers alone can¡¯t determine the result of a battle. Only that can exin why Nie Tian managed to kill so many of them by himself, and why those outsiders fled the ind as soon as the others arrived.¡±

    Then, after a moment of silence, Yang Kan joined the conversation. ¡°We¡¯ve explored this ind for a long time now. There aren¡¯t any secret fortunes to find here anymore. If we continue to hold fast here, we won¡¯t be getting any more valuables. However, we still don¡¯t know much about that ind. For all we know, there still might be all sorts of precious materials waiting to be gathered there.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s eyes instantly lit up.

    With a vicious expression, Yu Yang chimed in, ¡°Those guys just had a battle with the outsiders. They must have suffered losses as well. It might be a good chance for us to go there now. Also, as long as our collective strength is stronger than that of whatever¡¯s left of them, we¡¯ll be able to force Nie Tian to return what he took from us!¡±

    Yang Kan was the first to second his proposal. With a cold tone, he said, ¡°Those six crimson stone columns were my most precious spiritual tools. I¡¯ve got to get them back!¡±

    ¡°That Fiend¡¯s heart was also of great value,¡± Liao Yan said. ¡°My heart bled when I had to give it to that guy.¡±

    That was when everyone¡¯s gazesnded on Su Lin, as if they were waiting for her to make the decision for everyone.

    Su Lin also felt heartache as she thought of the Golden Chariot she had given to Nie Tian. After a moment of pondering, she felt that the others had made good points, and thus nodded slightly and said, ¡°I agree that we should go and check out the situation on that other ind, and then act ordingly.¡±

    ¡°What are we waiting for then? Let¡¯s move out!¡± Liao Yan urged.

    Even though none of these chosen ones had had the courage to scout out the ind, now that they were convinced that fortunes were waiting to be gathered on that ind, they summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools without the slightest dy.

    Under their control, air-transportation spiritual tools of a variety of shapes rapidly rose into the air and left the seashore one after another.

    Close to the seashore on the other ind...

    Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce stared down at a number of purple spirit nts that were growing by a small pond. After a brief examination, her eyes lit up as she eximed, ¡°Purpleblooms! These are sixth level Premium grade spiritual materials, and the main material to make Purplebloom Pills! One Purplebloom alone is worth thirty thousand spirit stones in the Domain of the Falling Stars. And there are at least six dozen of them here!

    ¡°If we take them back to the Domain of the Falling Stars, we can sell them for at least two million spirit stones!¡±

    As a core member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, she had an urate knowledge regarding all sorts of spirit nts. Not only was she able to tell the nts¡¯ name at first sight, but she also managed to determine their value right away.

    Feng Ying almost skipped with joy. ¡°We made a very wise decision bying here!¡± With a bright smile, she added, ¡°It seems that as long as we stick with Big Brother Nie, we can expect plenty of fortunes! If we had stayed on that other ind with those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects, we never would have seen these Purpleblooms.¡±

    Qin Yan was also full of smiles as she nodded gently and said, ¡°That guy truly is a star of fortune. If it weren¡¯t for him, how would Li have possibly obtained a Fruit of Life from the Realm of Unbounded Destion? Ever since she entered a close rtionship with him, she¡¯s made consecutive breakthroughs in her cultivation, not to mention that she recently refined that eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse. So it seems that Nie Tian always brings great luck to himself and others around him.¡±

    Another member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce chimed in, ¡°Otherwise, why would the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce happen to choose him to be their sessor?¡±

    Qin Yan nodded, her bright eyes glittering. ¡°Good point. From now on, we¡¯ll stick with this star of fortune. Perhaps other good fortunes will fall upon us too.¡±

    The other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce nodded in assent one after another.

    Feng Ying suddenly sensed an anomaly, and thus eximed, ¡°Senior martial sister! Look! Those guys are here!¡±

    Everyone followed her hand, and discovered that a number of air-transportation spiritual tools were sailing across the ck sea and rapidly approaching the part of the ind where they were standing.

    Momentster, all of the young Qi warriors from the other indnded in the area Dong Li had allocated to the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. They quickly put away their air-transportation spiritual tools and marched over to Qin Yan.

    With a single nce at the spirit nts by the pond, Su Lin said, her eyes wide, ¡°Purpleblooms! Sixth level Premium grade spirit nts! They are very hard to find in the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    Even though many of the other Qi warriors with her didn¡¯t recognize Purpleblooms, they must have heard about them. Their eyes all shone with greedy light.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Qin Yan asked coldly.

    Zhang Jiu from the Poison Sect let out a cold snort and said with a disdainful look on his face, ¡°You cane here. Why can¡¯t we? Now that the outsiders are gone, this ind has be unimed territory. Anyone has the right to explore it. We went to great lengths and suffered great losses toe to all this way to this ce from the Domain of the Falling Stars. We did all that to gather precious materials in this ce, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    ¡°But Sister Dong Li has already allocated this area to the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce!¡± Feng Ying suddenly eximed.

    ¡°Dong Li?¡± Yang Kan grinned viciously. ¡°Who put her in charge? She says this area is yours, and we¡¯ll have to live by it? What happened to Nie Tian? Did he die at the hands of the outsiders?¡±

    Liu Jian sneered. ¡°He was surrounded and attacked by dozens of outsiders for quite some time. Even if those outsiders were fairly weak, he should have suffered severe injuries, if he hasn¡¯t died yet.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about time we got those things we asked him to keep for us back,¡± Liao Yan said with an insidious expression.

    Panting with exasperation, Feng Ying eximed, ¡°Those things were the remuneration you paid for Nie Tian to go on a dangerous mission that none of you dared to! How can you dare to call them things you asked him to keep for you?! How shameless are you!?¡±

    Liao Yan fixed her with a murderous gaze. ¡°They are what I say they are. I don¡¯t want to repeat myself.¡± Then, he turned to Su Lin and asked in a low voice, ¡°Miss Su, what do you think we should do? I say we take out the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce first, and then cleanse this ind one group at a time. After that, we¡¯ll have this whole ind to ourselves.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Qin Yan¡¯s expression flickered drastically as she instantly shouted out an order, ¡°Leave those Purpleblooms! We need to get out of here now!¡±

    The other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were also rattled upon hearing Liao Yan¡¯s proposal. The moment they heard Qin Yan¡¯s order, they tore their longing gazes from the Purpleblooms and sped off towards the heart of the ind without the slightest hesitation.

    Su Lin frowned as she watched them run, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s find out about the situation first. At least, we need to know if Nie Tian is still alive, and if he is, how badly injured he is.¡±

    However, before she could finish, Yang Kan, who didn¡¯t seem to have heard her at all, shouted, ¡°They¡¯ve split up to explore their allocated regions. That means this is the perfect opportunity for us to take them out one group at a time! Now that the outsiders are out of the picture, we¡¯re the only ones on this ind. Conflicts are going to break out anyways! Since there are Purpleblooms on the coast, there must be more precious spirit nts ind. If we want any of them, we¡¯ll need to strike first to gain the advantage!¡±

    With these words, he sped off after the fleeing members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Before Su Lin could object, the members of the Poison Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect rushed out after him.

 Chapter 572: Unexpected Fortune

    It was human nature to fight among themselves.

    Throughout history, humans had only united as one when they had faced great threats from foreign forces. Other than that, wars had broken out among themselves year-round.

    This was true of the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars, as well as other human realms and domains throughout the starry river.

    The moment Yang Kan and his lot had seen the outsiders leave, they had been convinced that the outsiders were weak, and no longer a threat. Therefore, they instantly had other ideas.

    Su Lin wanted to stop everyone from chasing after the members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, yet Yang Kan and the others had already sped off into the distance, screaming madly.

    Even the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples thought Yang Kan was making the right move. They had endured Nie Tian for a long time now. Knowing that he had turned down their sect¡¯s offer and killed their sectmates, every one of them hated Nie Tian¡¯s guts.

    Su Lin was the only one who had a clear understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s formidable strength.

    She wanted to figure out Nie Tian¡¯s situation before making her decision, yet everything happened too fast. Things got out of hand before she could do anything.

    A bloodcurdling shriek echoed out from the distance as a member of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce that hadgged behind was killed by the ferocious Yang Kan and those who had gone with him.

    Knowing that there was no going back now, Su Lin sighed and reluctantly gave the order, ¡°The damage has been done. We can only go down this road now.¡±

    Standing beside her, the few Heaven Pce Sect disciples smiled coldly upon hearing her words, and then hurried off into the distance as well.

    All of these men believed that Nie Tian must have sustained heavy injuries, even if the outsiders hadn¡¯t killed him. In such a state, there would be very little he could do when facing them.

    Just like that, all of the young Qi warriors joined the operation of chasing down and killing members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    A battle broke out again.

    ...

    By the vast, ckke, Nie Tian was sitting in his Wood Thriving Formation and cultivating wholeheartedly.

    A stream of rich wood power was pouring down through the top of his head all the way to the vortex of wood power in his spiritual sea, where it rapidly condensed and liquidized.

    Since this required almost no effort on his part, he took out some Star Stones, and started recovering star power with them.

    At this moment, he had already put the me Dragon Armor back in his ring of holding, and with the outsiders gone, he didn¡¯t consume his precious star power to form Heaven Eyes to keep watch over his surroundings.

    Furthermore, since all the chasing was taking ce in the coastal areas, he knew nothing of it.

    All he did was focus on his cultivation.

    He couldn¡¯t refine his body with Heavenly Wood Heal while replenishing his spiritual power. The copious amount of flesh power he had absorbed from the ball of outsider corpses was still roaming his every bone and muscle, making him feel full of vigor.

    As he continued to absorb star power from the Star Stones in his hand with the Fragmentary Star Incantation, a strange phenomenon caught his attention.

    He sensed that the speed at which he channeled star power by this mysterious ckke was at least sixty percent faster than in other ces.

    He was certain of this because he had recovered his star power when the outsiders had forced him to retreat to his Wood Thriving Formation.

    Surprised, he examined himself with rapt attention, and then confirmed his feeling.

    <i>¡°Could it be caused by this ckke?¡± </i>With this thought, he stopped channeling power from his Star Stones and gazed into the vast, ckke before him.

    Nothing was happening on theke¡¯s surface. Not a single ripple could be seen. As to what was going on under the surface, since the water was pitch ck, he couldn¡¯t see anything with only his eyes.

    Even after channeling a bit of his soul power from the fragmentary stars in his mind to his eyes, he still couldn¡¯t see any anomalies.

    He realized that only by sending a cluster of soul power to the bottom of theke would he be able to get a full understanding of what was going on.

    However, thest time he did that, he had found nothing but pitch-ck water under there.

    He only suspected that this mysterious ckke was somehow linked to the ck sea through its bottom, since he had sensed an ancient and immense awareness during his previous exploration of thiske.

    However, it seemed to him that what he had sensed was merely a shred of the unfathomable awareness there.

    ¡°It seems that I¡¯ll have to do another scan of thisketer when I¡¯ve recovered my strength,¡± he muttered.

    Afterwards, he refocused on recovering his star power with the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    One Star Stone after another was reduced to ordinary stone and cracked after losing its star power.

    As his star power recovered at a fast rate, he would be able tounch the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret magics again if he were to battle more powerful enemies.

    Colorful mist was still floating over the ckke, swaying slightly and never leaving theke.

    A number of glowing spatial rifts could be seen half-hidden in the mist. They contracted and snapped open from time to time.

    However, not a single outsider seemed to dare to go through them anymore.

    After an unknown period of time, ripples suddenly spread on the originally silentke.

    Something seemed to be sparkling deep in the ink-ckke water. As the ripples grewrger, sparks that looked like small stars gradually rose from the bottom of theke.

    Nie Tian suddenly snapped out of his cultivation and stared at them, shock and confusion filling his face.

    Momentster, the sparks seemed to be channeled by the three fragmentary star marks on his chest, and showered down on him like a rain of starlight.

    Within seconds, he recovered all of the star power he had consumed during his battle with Armes and the other outsiders. The bottom of his vortex of star power was once again brimming with stardew.

    Not only that, but as more sparks continued to fall on him, his vortex of star power started to expand.

    This unprecedentedlyrge volume of star power even caused a swelling pain in his dantian region as it poured into his vortex of star power.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian.

    It was as if this immense star power of unknown origin was forcing itself on him. He had to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation to refine it.

    As his vortex of star power spun at an incredible speed, theke of stardew at its bottom looked as if it were being stretched by some force from the inside, expanding at a noticeable rate.

    He knew that every time he made a breakthrough in cultivation, he would have to brim his vortexes with refined power before they would start expanding at a slow rate.

    However, this time, his vortex of star power expanded as soon as star power came flooding into it. Such efficiency astounded him. However, he didn¡¯t have time to think about the reason behind the sudden change.

    He could only exert himself to practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation to keep pace with the sparks of starlight that came pouring into him. Only in this way would he be able to relieve the swelling pain in his dantian region and prevent his vortex of star power from bursting.

    In less than a quarter hour, his vortex of star power expanded to its limit, theke of stardew at its bottom brimming with stardew.

    Only then did the sparks of starlight stop rising from the ck water to pour down on him.

    However, as the sparks disappeared, the small water ripples suddenly turned into huge waves. An immense awareness seemed to suddenly descend upon theke from the depths of the ck sea.

    Without much thought, Nie Tian sent a cluster of his soul power into theke.

    As soon as he did, the immense awareness infused into his cluster of soul power, giving rise to a deep, resounding voice. ¡°ording to our agreement, you people from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce shouldn¡¯t havee here until a hundred yearster. Why are you here so early?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk shortly before replying through his soul, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    The immense awareness seemed confused as it said, ¡°You¡¯re from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and you carry three fragmentary star marks. As a Son of the Stars, how can you not know who I am?¡±

    ¡°I...¡± After a brief hesitation, Nie Tian decided to tell the truth. ¡°I¡¯ve only obtained these fragmentary star marks recently. I haven¡¯t gotten in contact with anyone from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet, and I haven¡¯t visited the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    The awareness was surprised. ¡°A newborn Son of the Stars?¡± After pondering for a short while, it said, ¡°Did you lead the other humans and those outsiders to this ce?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°Actually, they led me to this ce.¡±

    After a moment of silence, the mysterious awareness went on with a snort, ¡°Who would have thought that a Son of the Stars that knows nothing would enter this ce by ident. So this is all just a mistake...

    ¡°Since the agreed time hasn¡¯te yet, I won¡¯t deliver my half of the agreement now. Also, where did youe from?¡±

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Nie Tian hastily replied.

    ¡°In two weeks, I¡¯ll open a spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars here and send you out.¡± The awareness started to sound somewhat impatient as it continued, ¡°You woke me ahead of the agreed time. You made me waste a tremendous amount of strength to bridge the top and the bottom continents toe and talk to you. I¡¯ll settle this with your seniors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in a hundred years.¡±

    ¡°I still don¡¯t know who you are,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°And what¡¯s going to happen in a hundred years?¡±

    The awareness grew increasingly impatient. ¡°You¡¯ll get your answer when you visit the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as a Son of the Stars. Onest reminder for you. The vortex that brought you here and these inds are all part of the arrangements of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. These two inds only allow Greater Heaven stage humans and fourth grade outsiders to enter.

    ¡°However, if any of you breaks through into the Worldly realm, or any of outsiders advances to the fifth grade here, the restrictive spell will lose its effect.

    ¡°Good luck.¡±

    With these words, the immense awareness was gone. The waves quieted, and peace was restored to the vast, ckke, leaving Nie Tian inplete confusion.

 Chapter 573: Turbulences Rise Again

    <i>¡°The arrangements of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce again...¡± </i>Staring at the silentke surface and the colorful mist over it, Nie Tian drifted away in his thoughts.

    Now that the immense awareness of unknown origin had revealed some secrets about this ce, Nie Tian looked back, and started to connect the dots.

    He still remembered that back when he had entered the Heaven Gate trial, he had ended up in a mysterious pce that had been divided into different sections by unique wards of light.

    Participants at the Lesser Heaven, Heaven, and Greater Heaven stages had been brought to their respective sections.

    Only by breaking through into the next stage had he been able to pass through the wards to a higher section.

    Simr arrangements had been applied to the swirling band that had brought them to this ce. Cultivators of different cultivation bases had been confined to their respective sections. No one had been able to cross the barriers to other sections.

    Then, only Greater Heaven stage human Qi warriors and fourth grade outsiders had been allowed on these two inds.

    It seemed that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce liked to make such arrangements to separate people at different cultivation stages.

    <i>¡°Where in the world did that ancient and immense awarenesse from? Who is he?</i>

    <i>¡°Also, what¡¯s his agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Why does he have to wait for another hundred years to deliver his half of the agreement?¡±</i>

    A series of questions shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind, making him more and more puzzled.

    The only thing he was certain of was that the awareness was going to create a spatial rift in the colorful mist over the ckke two weeks from now, so that he would be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars through it.

    Then, he cleared these thoughts from his mind and tried to calm himself. That was when he realized that his vortex of star power was now fully refined and brimming with stardew.

    Gazing into the ckke, he realized that it must have been that ancient awareness that had basically forced such copious amounts of star power on him to help him recover. However, that star power might be only the tip of an iceberg,pared to the tremendous star power the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left in this ce.

    Now, his vortex of star power had gone through great changes, but his vortexes of me power and wood power were still far from fully refined.

    He pondered the matter, and thought that he might be able to finish the refinement of his vortex of wood powerter, considering the exceptionally rich wood power in this ce, and the Wood Thriving Formation, which would be of great use on that front.

    However, as for the refinement of his vortex of me power, since there didn¡¯t seem to be a specific fiery environment in this dimension, he might have to put that on hold.

    At that moment, sounds came from his Sound Stone, which was in his inner pocket.

    He reached for it, and as soon as his hand touched it, Dong Li¡¯s message came through. His face dropped and killing intent appeared in his eyes. ¡°They want to swoop in and take our spoils? They must have a death wish!¡±

    Within a split second, he summoned his soul power, forming nine Heaven Eyes, and then vanished into thin air.

    ...

    In the marsnd where the Fiends had explored earlier.

    A thick miasma pervaded the marsnd, where the Dong n members were searching for spirit nts while enveloped in their protective wards. They stayed their hands as the bedraggled Qin Yan and Feng Ying ran up to them.

    The two of them were both covered in blood. Their garments were torn in ces, and their faces were filled with anger and grief.

    The other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had all died at the hands of Yang Kan and the other pursuers. The two of them were the only ones who had made it to the Dong n¡¯s territory.

    After informing Nie Tian of the situation, Dong Li stared coldly in the direction Qin Yan and Feng Ying hade from and spat, ¡°Despicable bastards!¡±

    Sparkling and crystal-clear tears rolled down Feng Ying¡¯s cheeks as she cried, grief-stricken, ¡°Sister Dong Li, those people killed all the others! Sister Qin Yan and I are the only survivors! They didn¡¯t just want our Purpleblooms, they wanted to kill us all. They said that they¡¯re going to get their valuables back from big brother Nie, and that they only gave those things to him so he could keep those things for them.¡±

    With a grim expression, Dong Baijie took out his Sound Stone and whispered into it, ¡°Come to the marsnd now. The bastards from the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects are here!¡±

    Fuming with anger, Qin Yan blurted, ¡°The cowards didn¡¯t dare toe to this ind when they knew the outsiders were here! Now that they¡¯ve noticed that the outsiders have left, they¡¯ve marched over here at the first possible moment to steal our battle gains! We should have dealt with them before we came here!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s cold eyes were filled with intense killing intent. ¡°It¡¯s not toote to fix that.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Yang Kan and the others arrived.

    ¡°The Dong n.¡± With a nasty grin, Yang Kan unleashed his psychic awareness to scan the vicinity. Convinced that the other groups weren¡¯t anywhere nearby, he put his heart at ease and waved at the people standing behind him. ¡°Alright guys, we need to finish them off as quickly as possible. Otherwise, it¡¯s gonna be a lot harder when the people from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the other forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles arrive.¡±

    Zhang Jiu agreed by saying, ¡°Exactly. If we can finish them off now, we¡¯ll have much less pressure dealing with the other forces. As for that Nie Tian, as powerful as he might be, I doubt that he¡¯d be able to turn the situation around by himself. Not to mention that the outsiders must have got him good. His battle prowess must have dropped greatly now. He¡¯ll probably just be another piece of meat on our te.¡±

    Everyone around him nodded in assent.

    ¡°Yang Kan!!¡± Dong Baijie shouted furiously. He was instantly wreathed in a fierce, bloody aura, and a huge gray wolf rapidly came to form in the air behind him.

    Its every hair could be seen with great rity, and they trembled slightly as it threw its head back and howled into the heavens. As it did, its aura surged like an ocean in storm.

    After sensing Dong Baijie and his beast spirit¡¯s overwhelming auras, Yang Kan¡¯s expression instantly grew grim.

    The pressure he was feeling now waspletely different from when he had single-handedly dealt with Dong Li and Dong Baijie in the colorful band.

    Back then, Dong Baijie had been at the middle Greater Heaven stage. He had recently advanced to thete Greater Heaven stage, and his battle prowess had gained a strong boost from his mysterious discoveries on that other ind.

    At the same time, Dong Li summoned her ck phoenix and, with its help, soared up into the sky.

    Compared to Dong Baijie, Dong Li, who had refined the essence of the eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse into herself, didn¡¯t seem any weaker. Streams of dark spiritual aura swam across her milky-white skin as they wreathed her curvaceous body.

    ¡°Kill them all!¡± Yang Kan called out.

    A fierce battle broke out upon his words.

    Yang Kan, Zhang Jiu, Lu Jian, and their people instantly pounced on the Dong n members, as well as Qin Yan and Feng Ying.

    Meanwhile, the disciples of the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect were rushing to this ce after chasing down and killing all the other Water Moon Chamber of Commerce members.

    At this moment, Su Lin, who had given consent for her senior martial brothers from the Heaven Pce Sect to join the battle, arrived.

    She was shocked as soon as she caught sight of the huge ck phoenix and gray wolf. With the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s unique magic, she examined them from afar. Soon, her eyebrows slowly furrowed. ¡°Such strong auras!¡±

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s fierce and explosive auras didn¡¯t seem to belong to cultivators who were only at thete Greater Heaven stage. Instead, they even looked as formidable as a couple of Worldly realm experts.

    Su Lin was well-aware that her battle prowess was limited, and thus instead of rushing onto the battlefield, she observed from the side.

    As the battle went on, her eyes switched back and forth among the members from the different forces. The longer she observed, the more shocked she became.

    Not only was Yang Kan, who was caught between the Greater Heaven stage and the Worldly realm, failing to subdue Dong Baijie, but he was even gradually falling into a disadvantaged position.

    After losing his six crimson stone columns to Nie Tian and with his cultivation base in an awkward position, Yang Kan seemed to have lost his trump cards to win a battle.

    Dong Baijie, however, summoned a greenish-ck spiked club into his hand. As he brandished it with great force, his huge, gray wolf unleashed its bloodthirsty and violent nature, forcing Yang Kan to focus on defense.

    Meanwhile, Zhang Jiu and Lu Jian had teamed up on Dong Li, but the two of them didn¡¯t seem to be able to handle her.

    Like a phoenix that soared in the highest heavens, Dong Li sailed through the air and cast profound spells down on Zhang Jiu and Lu Jian. Bitter expressions appeared on their faces as they exerted themselves to defend against her storm of attacks.

    Due to the rise of Dong Li and Dong Baijie, they seemed to gain a noticeable upper hand in this battle of chosen ones.

    In contrast, the disciples of the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect seemed to be pressing down on the other Dong n members. One of the Dong n members had his soul breached by a discarnate soul while trying to protect Feng Ying. The discarnate soul rapidly gnawed his soul away and killed him.

    With a deep sigh, Su Lin muttered, ¡°Things arepletely out of my control now. I just hope that Nie Tian has indeed suffered serious injuries and can¡¯t join this battle.¡±

    At that moment, the people from the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect rushed onto the battlefield, joining the others in attacking Qin Yan, Feng Ying, and the other Dong n members.

    Their arrival instantly gave them an overwhelming advantage in the ongoing battle. Even though Dong Baijie and Dong Li¡¯s performances were still outstanding, they wouldn¡¯t be able to win the battle when they were outnumbered by their enemies by such a great margin.

    Gradually, Dong Baijie and Dong Li started to feel the pressure as the other Dong n members struggled and suffered more and more injuries.

    It seemed that they would lose the battle before the other forces could arrive. However, just as a Thunder Mountain Sect disciple attempted to cast a thunderball towards Feng Ying, something strange happened.

 Chapter 574: Flesh And Blood Flying in Every Direction

    Just as that Thunder Mountain Sect disciple was about to cast the thunderball in his hand towards Feng Ying, a fine, horizontal, blood-colored line appeared on the man¡¯s neck.

    At this point, Feng Ying had already sustained serious injuries, and lost the ability to resist. The Dong n member who had attempted to protect her had just been killed by one of the discarnate souls unleashed by the Spirit God Sect disciples.

    She knew that she wouldn¡¯t escape death this time. However, to her surprise, the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple suddenly froze, and the thunderball didn¡¯t leave the man¡¯s hand.

    Then, she stared closely at the man, and noticed the blood-colored line on his neck.

    In the next moment, the man¡¯s head fell off his neck, and blood came spurting out in every direction.

    After her incredible and narrow escape, Feng Ying stared at the man¡¯s corpse that had fallen on its back, and she went nk.

    Shortly afterwards, she nced around, but still couldn¡¯t see who had done it. ¡°Was that Big Brother Nie? But if it was him, why would he not show himself?¡±

    In her eyes, Nie Tian was almost invincible, so she instantly linked him with the strange and sudden death of that Thunder Mountain Sect disciple.

    However, after a moment of contemtion, she thought it didn¡¯t seem like Nie Tian¡¯s way. With his overwhelmingly high battle prowess, he didn¡¯t need to hide and attack people from the dark at all. If it were him, he probably would have struck the man down openly.

    FIZZ!

    A blinding light shed by, and a bloody hole appeared between the eyebrows of one of the Heaven Expanse Sect disciples.

    The man died instantly, without making a sound.

    The deaths of the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple and the Heaven Expanse Sect disciple were only the beginning.

    It wasn¡¯t long before members of the Poison Sect also suffered sudden deaths.

    After another three people died in such an unimaginable way, everyone on the battlefield started to panic.

    At that moment, Su Lin, who had been observing from the side, suddenly eximed, ¡°Watch out, Senior Martial Brother Lu!¡±

    However, just as she uttered these words, a bloody hole appeared on the chest of that middle Greater Heaven stage disciple of the Heaven Pce Sect while he was manipting his sword with his psychic power to attack Qin Yan.

    ¡°It¡¯s Pei Qiqi!¡± Su Lin finally solved the mystery. Deep in shock, she hastily put on a fine suit of armor and raised a shield of spiritual power around her.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi?!¡±

    ¡°Pei Qiqi?! Master Zhen¡¯s disciple?!¡±

    People from both sides eximed and nced around from time to time while handling their enemies.

    The eyes of the struggling Dong n members, Qin Yan, and Feng Ying lit up as soon as they heard the exmation.

    All she had killed were members of the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Poison Sect, and the Heaven Pce Sect. It went without saying which side she was on.

    Realizing that Pei Qiqi hade to help them, the Dong n members¡¯ spirits were greatly lifted.

    In contrast, Yu Yang, Liao Yan, Yang Kan, and Lu Jian all looked as if they were facing an army of formidable foes. They started to look apprehensive as they attacked Dong Li and Dong Baijie.

    They secretly unleashed their psychic awareness to scan their surroundings, but failed to sense Pei Qiqi¡¯s presence. However, the mangled bodies of their sectmates and Su Lin¡¯s exmation indicated that she was here.

    The fact that she couldpletely mask her traces and aura while making lightning-quick kills rattled every one of them.

    One side grew apprehensive, while the other side rose with force and spirit. The course of the battle underwent a major change.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, a spatial de appeared out of nowhere and pierced sharply down from the air.

    Su Lin gasped with astonishment as she instantly sat down, her hands weaving before her to form secret hand seals.

    As she did, one flower petal after another flew out of her fingertips into the glowing shield around her.

    In the next moment, the spatial de shattered the glorious shield, turning the translucent and sparkling petals into glittering dust. However, the spatial de didn¡¯t slow down a bit, but rather it kept its piercing momentum. It only stopped and disappeared after it pierced into Su Lin¡¯s fine suit of armor.

    Su Lin let out a muffled groan, a pained look appearing on her face as she gazed down at her chest.

    After this strike, a noticeable crack had appeared on this fifth level Premium grade spiritual armor of hers. Given a few more strikes, the armor might break andpletely lose its effect.

    She suddenly jerked her head around.

    As she looked over, Pei Qiqi had already mysteriously appeared, standing on a piece of drynd like a nature spirit.

    Dressed in white, Pei Qiqi looked like a woman of singr beauty from a scroll. She stood there, silent and graceful. Her Ethereal Swords wreathed her, appearing intermittently, as if they were traveling back and forth between different spaces.

    Suspended in the sky was Dong Li, who looked gorgeous in her tight, ck garments. They were both unearthly beautiful, but they were beautiful in different ways.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Dong Li eximed.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t say anything back, as if she didn¡¯t hear her. Instead, she went on to spill her enemies¡¯ blood with her Ethereal Swords.

    Every time, her Ethereal Swords would suddenly appear by disciples of the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and other sects, and pierce through their chest, head, or neck with one strike.

    ¡°Lu Jian! Zhang Jiu! Go kill that bitch!¡± Yang Kan shouted.

    With beads of sweat on her forehead, Su Lin hastily ordered the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples to end their battles with the Dong n members toe and help her deal with Pei Qiqi.

    Facing Pei Qiqi, who had mysteriously appeared, she experienced a strong sense of danger, feeling as if she wasn¡¯t weaker than Nie Tian in the slightest.

    ¡°When did this woman be so powerful?!¡± She marveled inwardly.

    Without saying a word, Lu Jian, Zhang Jiu, and a few Heaven Pce Sect disciples rushed towards Pei Qiqi.

    Not the slightest rattled look could be seen in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes. With a casual fling of her hand, she cast out her spiritual tool called ¡®Thousand Prisons¡¯. A of silver light rapidly spread out, giving rise to terrifying and mysterious spatial fluctuations. Each and every grid seemed to be connected to unknown realms.

    Watching the Thousand Prisons expand to block the sky over them, Zhang Jiu, Lu Jian, and the few Heaven Pce Sect disciples were instantly struck by a feeling that there was no way to escape this.

    Lu Jian from the Spirit God Sect unleashed his Soul Banners. However, as one discarnate soul after another flew out of the banners, they were rapidly sucked away into the grids of the Thousand Prisons and disappeared, as if they had been teleported to some dead and silent realm, where they would stay for eternity.

    Lu Jian gasped with astonishment, no longer daring to unleash the rest of his discarnate souls against Pei Qiqi.

    Zhang Jiu¡¯s face also turn pale with fright as he eximed, ¡°Is this a Spirit Channeling grade treasure!? She¡¯s Master Zhen¡¯s disciple! Be careful, everyone. Pay special attention to her spiritual tools!¡±

    Zhen Hun was a renowned equipment forging master throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. It was only natural that her disciple possessed the most profound and powerful spiritual tools.

    ¡°Like Zhao Shanling, this woman also specializes in the art of battling with spatial power. She¡¯s a very skilled killer!¡± With these words, Lu Jian started to cower, as if he regretted rushing over here and ending up under Pei Qiqi¡¯s Thousand Prisons.

    ¡°Just like Nie Tian, this woman also possesses freakishly high battle prowess!¡± Another Heaven Pce Sect disciple eximed.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s sudden arrival destroyed Yang Kan¡¯s n of winning the battle and killing all of the Dong n members, as well as Qin Yan and Feng Ying, within a short time. The battle went into a stalemate.

    Momentster, while Liao Yan was bombarding Dong Li with one thunderball after another, he suddenly sensed strong killing intent from behind him.

    The shape of a person suddenly appeared out of thin air, and Liao Yan found himself enveloped in a chaotic maic field.

    His thunder power and spiritual sea were instantly distorted and thrown into chaos. Because of this, his thunderballs missed their target.

    Shocked, he hastily turned around, and found Nie Tian staring at him with a sinister grin.

    In the next moment, the me Star blossomed with dazzling light as Nie Tian crushed his spiritual power shield with it.

    Then, Nie Tian seemed to channel power from the entire starry river to the mysterious formation of stars in his other palm as he pressed it on Liao Yan¡¯s chest.

    BOOM!

    The slithering lightning Liao Yan had wreathed himself with exploded like crushed spiritual snakes.

    After a miserable wail, his badly mangled body fell into the ck marsnd.

    BLUB BLUB

    A few bubblester, the ck water returned to peace.

    Yu Yang, who was also attacking Dong Li, shouted with his eyes filled with fear, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    He had never expected that Nie Tian would ughter Yu Yang with such unstoppable force upon appearing.

    From the look of it, Nie Tian had be even more powerful than when he had left the ind. He didn¡¯t seem wounded in the slightest, much less severely wounded.

    ¡°Go to hell!!¡± Without Liao Yan to distract her, Dong Li let out a long cry as she swooped down from the air with her huge, ck phoenix at her back, engulfing Yu Yang in her dark spiritual power in a split second.

    Nie Tian looked up and saw that Yu Yang from the Heaven Expanse Sect was instantly swallowed by a sea of ck aura. His signs of life rapidly became imperceptible.

    At the same time, a sword of ice exuding a frosty aura flew into appearance, turning a Poison Sect disciple into a block of ice.

    Then, as the ice exploded, the man was reduced to pieces of frozen flesh that rained down on the ck marsnd.

    ¡°Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect!¡± Qin Yan eximed, looking thrilled. Then, with a fierce look on her face, she cried out, ¡°Kill these shameless bastards! Don¡¯t let any of them leave here alive!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easy enough,¡± Nie Tian said in deep voice.

 Chapter 575: Crushing the Enemy

    The me Star once again blossomed with dazzling light.

    As Nie Tian rapidly shed about among the Thunder Mountain Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect disciples, his me Star shed through the air, shattering their light shields and spiritual armor one after another.

    Even though they were all roughly at the same stage as Nie Tian, none of them were able to put up the slightest resistance.

    As miserable shrieks echoed out here and there, the disciples of the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect rapidly died out.

    Even their leaders, Yu Yang and Liao Yan, had been killed the moment Nie Tian had showed up, not to mention thesemon disciples.

    Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect gasped with shock and fear. ¡°Nie Tian!!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s arrival hadpletely turned the situation around.

    The deaths of Yu Yang, Liao Yan, and the other disciples of the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect made her realize that they had all underestimated Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess.

    Even she had believed that, since he had been surrounded by arge number of outsiders, Nie Tian must have suffered serious injuries, if he hadn¡¯t died.

    She had believed that, after joining up, the forces they had on their side would have been enough to take this ind from Nie Tian and the others, and force the alliance that had formed around him to leave.

    However, she had never expected that Dong Li and Dong Baijie¡¯s battle prowess had risen to such a high level.

    Other than them, Pei Qiqi¡¯s sudden arrival also came as a surprise.

    However, Nie Tian was the one who had surprised her the most.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples rushed onto the battlefield after Xuan Ke.

    That was when Su Lin realized that the battle was lost. Her expression flickered as she watched the people on their side fall one after another. Finally, she made her decision.

    Without informing anyone, she quietly backed out of the battlefield.

    After sneaking off the battlefield, she unleashed the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s secret escape magic and sped off like a bolt of lightning.

    Yang Kan, who was barely able to handle Dong Baijie¡¯s storm of attacks, was the first to notice Su Lin¡¯s escape. After a moment of hesitation, he swallowed a medicinal pill, dodged the huge, gray wolf¡¯s sharp fangs, and fled like a streak of mes.

    The direction he left in was opposite to the direction Su Lin had left in.

    Qin Yan, who hadn¡¯t been attacked at all after Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, noticed Su Lin and Yang Kan¡¯s actions, and thus notified the others in a loud voice, ¡°Su Lin and Yang Kan escaped!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, a few disciples of the Ice Pavilion Sect ran off in the direction Su Lin had left in.

    With a smile, Dong Baijie chased after Yang Kan. From the look of it, he didn¡¯t want to release the tiger back into the mountains. He was bent on killing Yang Kan on this ind.

    AHHH!!

    Trapped by Pei Qiqi¡¯s Thousand Prisons, Lu Jian let out an agonized shriek.

    At this moment, he was waving his Soul Banners, covered in fine wounds. However, the banners exploded one after another, and the discarnate souls within them were rapidly sucked into the countless grids of the Thousand Prisons, as if they had been banished to some hell and would never find their way back.

    Nie Tian nced over and assessed that, if there were no mishaps, Zhang Jiu and the other Heaven Pce Sect disciples wouldn¡¯t be able to escape Pei Qiqi¡¯s Thousand Prisons either.

    Upon seeing this, he felt that the Thousand Prisons, which Zhen Hun had forged with her borate skills, had suddenly be even more mysterious.

    The extremely fierce aura Pei Qiqi emanated also took him by surprise. He even felt a stabbing pain in his eyes as he looked at her.

    It was as if Pei Qiqi were wreathed in some invisible spatial energy that would cause damage to people if they dared to look at her when she was in battle mode.

    At this moment, the disciples of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the other forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles arrived.

    The moment Pei Qiqi caught sight of them, she surprisingly withdrew her Thousand Prisons, which was putting Zhang Jiu and the Heaven Pce Sect disciples under great pressure. With an expressionless face, she shot Nie Tian a nce and said, ¡°You guys can take it from here.¡±

    Standing perfectly still, she started to thrum with subtle spatial fluctuations.

    Nie Tian examined her through his Heaven Eyes, and learned that every time Pei Qiqi engaged in battle, she would sustain some minor internal injuries. The reason why she had stopped attacking those people might be because she deemed that, with the new iing forces, Nie Tian and the others would be able to finish off the remaining enemies without her help.

    She also did it to save her strength.

    ¡°Shameless bastards!¡±

    ¡°Kill them all! Don¡¯t let anyone escape!¡±

    The Yin Sect and Yang Sect disciples shouted furiously as they charged onto the battlefield. Facing Zhang Jiu and the others, they held nothing back and struck to kill.

    As of this moment, they had already forgotten about the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s influence, and the fact that the Heaven Pce Sect might seek trouble with them after they returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian wanted to get rid of Su Lin, but as he attempted to locate her with the help of his Heaven Eyes, he couldn¡¯t find any traces of her.

    It seemed that she practiced some Heaven Pce Sect secret magic, or possessed some unique spiritual tool, that allowed her to escape the detection of his Heaven Eyes. Even though she hadn¡¯t left for long, it seemed as if she had vanished into thin air.

    After realizing that Yu Yang and Liao Yan had died, while Su Lin and Yang Kan had left without saying a word, the ones they had left behind cursed in loud voices as they scattered and fled in different directions like a bunch of scared rats.

    The people from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles didn¡¯t show any mercy. They split up and chased after them.

    Dong Li and Dong Baijie also joined the hunt, and soon disappeared into the distance.

    After giving Nie Tian another nce, Pei Qiqi also sped away. Even though it looked like she was chasing after the fleeing enemies, Nie Tian knew that she was actually going into hiding again. She didn¡¯t want any more contact with any of them.

    Momentster, Nie Tian, Qin Yan, and Feng Ying became the only ones that remained in this ce.

    Qin Yan and Feng Ying didn¡¯t leave because they had suffered severe injuries, and thus had to stay.

    After taking a few medicinal pills, Qin Yan¡¯s face still looked rather pale. Looking somewhat embarrassed, she said, ¡°Umm... Would you tell Miss Pei thanks next time you see her? I can tell that she doesn¡¯t like me. But if it weren¡¯t for her, Feng Ying and I probably would have been killed before you arrived.¡±

    Nie Tian took a nce at Qin Yan and said with an expressionless face, ¡°Sure.¡±

    Seeing his indifferent attitude, Qin Yan muttered, looking downcast, ¡°I don¡¯t know what she went through recently that has raised her strength to such a high level that even I felt terrified by her. If I possessed such formidable battle prowess, I would have been able to save my friends from the ws of Yang Kan and the others.¡±

    With these words, she was interrupted by a violent cough. A mouthful of blood escaped her mouth.

    Looking even more pale, she continued with a bitter expression, ¡°I admit that I was in the wrong. I shouldn¡¯t have said those things to make Gu Haofeng hate you. I, I only did it...¡± She snuck a nce at Feng Ying, and didn¡¯t finish her sentence.

    Nie Tian wasn¡¯t sure what she wanted to say, but seeing that she had admitted to her misdeed and that she was in such a sorry state, he decided to forgive her.

    ¡°Forget about it. That¡¯s already in the past. Seeing you like this, I¡¯m not in the mood to find fault with you.¡± He waved his hand, beckoning for her to sit down. ¡°You¡¯d better sit down and recover. It¡¯s hard to say whether the outsiders will gather more forces ande back for us.¡±

    Qin Yan listened to him and sat down in the lotus position. In a soft voice, she said, ¡°You¡¯re right. Even though the outsiders are gone for now, the threat is far from over. I can¡¯t believe that Su Lin would lead those people here and make an attempt on our lives. I thought she understood the bigger picture. Who would have known...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with contempt as he said, ¡°Even if she tried to tell them off, she wasn¡¯t strong enough. By just by relying on her status, she can¡¯t make madmen like Yang Kan follow her orders. If she were as strong as Pei Qiqi, then adding in the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s influence, she might be able to bring those people to heel.¡±

    Qin Yan nodded slightly. ¡°Good point.¡±

    Off to the side, Feng Ying couldn¡¯t help but give a agonized groan. Immediately afterwards, she said in a low and apologetic voice, ¡°S-sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to interrupt you. I¡¯m just in a lot of pain.¡±

    Nie Tian looked over, and after examining her with the help of his Heaven Eyes, he frowned.

    Even though he detested Qin Yan, Feng Ying had given him a good impression.

    After determining Feng Ying¡¯s injuries, he pondered briefly, and then moved behind her with a swift move. ¡°Try to calm yourself and let your guard down. I¡¯ll help you heal your injuries.¡±

    With these words, he practiced Heavenly Wood Heal and started healing her with his rich wood power.

    As soon as the wisps of wood power flowed through his hands into Feng Ying¡¯s back, her eyes lit up. The painful expression on her face was instantly eliminated.

 Chapter 576: Temporary Peace

    Feng Ying had sustained most of her injuries from Zhang Jiu and Lu Jian.

    Residual toxins and the discarnate soul¡¯s bleak power still lingered inside of her.

    At this moment, they were quietly corroding Feng Ying¡¯s flesh bit by bit.

    The Spirit God Sect secret magics Lu Jian had used contained bizarre, decaying power, which was stopping Feng Ying, who practiced wood-attributed incantations, from drawing wood power from her spiritual sea to heal her injuries.

    Besides, since Feng Ying had consumed too much power running and battling, her vortex of wood power was almost drained.

    Therefore, she could do nothing to stop the two destructive forces from causing her more and more internal damage.

    ¡°Residual power from a discarnate soul...¡± After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian channeled a bit of his soul power into Feng Ying¡¯s body.

    The residual power from the discarnate soul seemed very restless inside of Feng Ying, as it kept surging up towards Feng Ying¡¯s neck in an attempt to rush through her neck to ravage her soul.

    However, the wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s soul power eliminated the residual power from the discarnate soul soon after they flowed to her neck.

    Immediately afterwards, he practiced Heavenly Wood Heal to drive out the residual toxins Zhang Jiu had left inside of her with his extremely rich wood power.

    Within a very short time, the two types of harmful forces inside Feng Ying werepletely neutralized.

    Nie Tian withdrew his hand and said inly, ¡°Alright, all you need to do now is recover your wood power with wood-attributed spiritual materials and heal your external injuries with your wood-attributed incantations.¡±

    Feng Ying, who had seemed to be in great pain moments ago, now seemed very enlivened. Even though her aura was still weak, it was gradually growing stronger and stronger.

    Although she didn¡¯t understand how Nie Tian had done it, she could tell that, after Nie Tian¡¯s treatment, she had be much better.

    Feng Ying smiled heartily, her adorable eyes glittering with gratefulness. ¡°Many thanks, Big Brother Nie. I knew that, with you here, those bad people from the Heaven Pce Sect would never have their way.¡±

    After a brief pause, a grieved expression appeared on her face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she said, ¡°Unfortunately, the other sisters didn¡¯t hang on till your arrival.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice. ¡°Those people will pay for their crimes.¡±

    Feng Ying sighed. ¡°But... I wonder if we¡¯ll be able to make it back to the Domain of the Falling Stars. None of us knew that we¡¯d run into outsiders here before we came. Even if we somehow manage to get back to the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Thunder Mountain Sect probably won¡¯t let this slip so easily. I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯ll seek trouble with you.¡±

    Nodding, Qin Yan chimed in, ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible to cover up the fact that we¡¯ve killed Liao Yan, Yu Yang, and the others in here. If we let any of their survivors slip back to the Domain of the Falling Stars, the news will spread.

    ¡°By joining up against those forces, we might still manage to ride this one out. But you... you¡¯re not a disciple of a powerful sect. Plus, the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect already consider you their most wanted enemy. They¡¯ll stop at nothing to find you once you go back. You¡¯ve got to make sure that you don¡¯t expose yourself after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    She started to look very embarrassed as she continued, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have revealed your true identity back when we were in the colorful band. It wouldn¡¯t have been this troublesome if they didn¡¯t know about it... But, you know, I was certain that I was going to die. That was why I did such a distasteful thing. I hope you can ept my sincerest apologies.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep look at her, and after a moment of silence, he said, ¡°That¡¯s all in the past. As for the future, I¡¯ll cross that bridge when Ie to it.¡± Then, he turned his eyes away from her and added, ¡°But as far as I see it, Su Lin, Yang Kan, and the others won¡¯t be leaving here. None of them will get to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars alive. Even if they do, I don¡¯t care what the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect attempt to do to me.¡±

    Ever since he had learned from Armes that he was a Son of the Stars, he had be even more sure of himself.

    ording to Armes, after breaking through into the Worldly realm and refining the second fragmentary star mark, he would probably be able to find the key to walk out of the Domain of the Falling Stars into an even vaster heaven and earth.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was a formidable force in the starry river. Compared to it, the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect, which hadn¡¯t produced a single Void domain expert, were nothing but a couple of puny insects.

    Once he got in contact with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, none of the so-called powerful sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars would dare to make any moves against him.

    All of this depended on whether he was able to enter the Worldly realm and refine the second fragmentary star mark in the near future.

    ¡°Big Brother Nie, can you help Senior Martial Sister Qin?¡± Feng Ying asked, looking concerned.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had helped her stabilize her injuries so effortlessly, she assumed he could do the same to Qin Yan, who had also suffered serious injuries.

    With a quick nce at Qin Yan, Nie Tian said with a faint smile, ¡°She¡¯ll be fine. She¡¯s got plenty of valuable medicinal pills.¡±

    He had long since sensed that a powerful medicinal pill had been releasing copious life force to every corner of her body from her stomach.

    ¡°Indeed, I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Qin Yan said.

    ¡°Now that Dong Baijie, Dong Li, and the others are after those people, I supposed they¡¯ll get to kill most of them. Whoever remains will be too weak to cause us any more trouble.¡± With these words, Nie Tian nced around at the corpses lying on the ground, all of which still had their rings of holding on, and then said, ¡°Let Dong Li distribute the loot after she gets back.¡±

    Qin Yan nodded. ¡°For sure.¡±

    ¡°Good, I need to spend some time cultivating myself.¡± After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian added, ¡°Two weeks from now, a spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars will open in this ce. I¡¯ll lead everyone through it when the timees. Before that, everyone can take their time to gather precious spiritual materials and herbs on this ind. But remember: don¡¯t leave this ind.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t leave this ind, none of the outsiders with bloodline power higher than the fourth grade will be able to get to us.

    ¡°Onest thing: don¡¯t ever try to break through into the Worldly realm here. Once someone advances to the Worldly realm on this ind, the restrictive spell on the ind will stop working.

    ¡°This is very important!¡±

    Qin Yan was taken aback. ¡°How do you know about the restrictive spell? And how do you know that a spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars will open in two weeks?¡±

    In her eyes, it seemed as if Nie Tian was able to see through everything, which confused her to a great extent.

    He hadn¡¯t received such information from his sect. That was for sure. But where?

    She knew nothing of the things he had just revealed to her, and neither did Dong Li or the other chosen ones.

    No matter how hard she searched in her mind, she couldn¡¯t find an reasonable answer.

    ¡°Just remember my words and tell the others.¡± Instead of exining, Nie Tian blurred into motion and disappeared into the distance.

    He didn¡¯t spare another nce at the human Qi warriors that had died at his hands, or their rings of holding.

    Humans possessed very limited flesh power. Even if he absorbed their flesh power with Life Drain, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to make it worth the effort.

    As for those people¡¯s rings of holding, he believed that, once Dong Li was back, she wouldn¡¯t forget about him when she distributed the loot.

    With these thoughts in mind, he returned to the vast, ckke, where he formed another Wood Thriving Formation and nned to refine his vortex of wood power to the limit within two weeks with the help of the profound spell formation, as well as the extremely rich wood power in that area.

    What Armes had said to him hade as a great shock to him. It made him realize that the Domain of the Falling Stars was indeed not worth mentioning.

    As a Son of the Stars, he would eventually sail across the starry river, enjoy copious resources, and bring people to his heel.

    Therefore, he was rather eager to advance to the Worldly realm and refine the second fragmentary star mark, so that he would be able to solve some of the mysteries that came along with his status.

    A few hours after he had left, people returned from their pursuit one after another.

    Unlike when they had chased after the fleeing outsiders, almost all of them had hunted down and killed someone. At this moment, each and every one of them was wreathed in intense killing intent.

    Other than Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect, most of the other runaways had been killed.

    Under Dong Baijie¡¯s unrelenting pursuit, Yang Kan from the me God Sect had suffered serious injuries and eventually fled the ind. Since Dong Baijie feared that outsiders might be waiting in ambush somewhere beyond this ind, he decided to let Yang Kan live or perish on his own.

    After everyone returned, Dong Li started to distribute the loot among them.

    Qin Yan also delivered Nie Tian¡¯s words and told everyone that a spatial rift would appear on this ind in two weeks.

    Upon hearing this, everyone was very thrilled, but also very curious as to how Nie Tian had managed to acquire such information.

    All of them had already gathered considerable amounts of precious spiritual materials and herbs on both inds. After returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars, every one of them would be able to trade their gains for copious amounts of cultivation materials.

    In fact, what had worried them the most was how they would return. Now that Nie Tian had showed them the way, they all felt greatly relieved.

    Soon, all of the loot was distributed under Dong Li¡¯s instructions, and everyone returned to their previously allocated areas to resume their collection of spiritual materials.

    Nie Tian, however, was sitting by the vast, ckke, focused on refining his wood power and preparing himself for his next breakthrough in cultivation.

    A few days passed...

    Somewhere on the boundless, ck sea, Armes and Abreu finally received word from their n seniors.

    This meant that they were finally in contact with the powerful seniors from their n, and they were ready to turn back.

 Chapter 577: A Freak?

    Eight days passed in the blink of an eye.

    Over this period of time, Nie Tian moved between ces by the vast, ckke to form new Wood Thriving Formations.

    Once all the trees and nts around him withered away, he would move to another location covered in lush nts and vegetation.

    Each time, he would just sit in the profound spell formation, allowing the concentrated wood power the spell formation channeled from the vicinity to pour into his spiritual sea.

    He had filled his vortex of wood power with pure wood power soon after he had started. What he had been doing over the past few days was expanding and refining his vortex of wood power with the copious amount of wood power that continued to converge on him from the trees and rare spirit nts in his surroundings.

    It soon urred to him that he would probably be able to finish the refinement of his vortex of wood power within two weeks or so.

    Once that was aplished, it meant he was ready for his next breakthrough in cultivation.

    Recently, he would examine the green aura in his heart from time to time.

    That green aura was the embodiment of his bloodline. This time, it hadin dormant for an unprecedentedly long time.

    Up until now, it hadn¡¯t showed any sign of finishing its transcendence and awakening a brand new bloodline talent.

    On this day, he once again switched to another location by theke, and just as he was about to focus on refining his vortex of wood power, Pei Qiqi appeared quietly.

    Dong Li and the others hadn¡¯te to check on him recently because they knew that he was busy with his cultivation, and had been busy gathering rare spiritual materials on this ind instead.

    No one was anywhere near the vast, ckke but him.

    Pei Qiqi paced towards him and stopped right in front of the Wood Thriving Formation. ¡°I overheard the others¡¯ conversations and they said it won¡¯t be long before a spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars will open in this ce.¡±

    Then, eyes glittering with curiosity, she gazed up into the colorful mist that floated over the vast, ckke and added, ¡°I thought those spatial rifts led to outsiders¡¯ realms, don¡¯t they?¡±

    No one, including Pei Qiqi, knew about the conversation between Nie Tian and the ancient awareness he had encountered in the depths of theke.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right, but changes will happen in a few days. Remember toe here by then. We¡¯ll return to the Domain of the Falling Stars together.¡±

    ¡°Why are you so sure of it?¡± Pei Qiqi asked curiously.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Trust me. I won¡¯t be mistaken.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up upon hearing his words. But in the next moment, her expression turned grim as she said, ¡°So I guess this is not the realm where the Void Pce Sect immigrated.¡±

    ¡°Probably not,¡± Nie Tian agreed.

    He had long since suspected that Pei Qiqi had something to do with the Void Pce Sect, which had once been the ruler of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Her parents might be members of the Void Pce Sect, who had gone to that promising realm to explore new heaven and earth, but never returned.

    Back when she had heard that the six spatial rifts that had mysteriously appeared in the Void Illusion Mountain Range might have something to do with the Void Pce Sect, she had be very excited, and insisted on going through them.

    However, after his conversation with the ancient awareness, Nie Tian realized that this realm didn¡¯t seem to have any connection to the Void Pce Sect. Rather, it had profound connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Although this realm doesn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with the Void Pce Sect, we¡¯ve gained incredible fortunes here.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t seem thrilled at all as she said these words. After a moment of silence, she added, ¡°I still haven¡¯t gotten in touch with my master.¡±

    Nie Tian tried tofort her by saying, ¡°Considering Master Zhen¡¯s profound knowledge of spatial power, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll find her own way to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars. You don¡¯t need to worry about her.¡±

    Pei Qiqi sighed, looking down. ¡°I hope you¡¯re right...¡± Then, she took a quick nce at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Can you help me heal my injuries now?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nie Tian answered without hesitation. With a thought, he removed one of the tree branches, and the ward instantly disappeared. Then, after she was inside the formation, he ced that tree branch back, and the ward was reactivated.

    Standing behind Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian ced his hand on her back and practiced Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Inside of her, he could see that quite a number of spatial des were still damaging her meridians, flesh, and bones.

    Then, he healed her internal injuries with the extremely rich wood power the spell formation continuously channeled into him from the vicinity. He didn¡¯t need to consume much of his own power.

    After sensing that her injuries were fully healed, Pei Qiqi said in a very soft and cautious voice, ¡°The spatial power I allowed into myself back when we were at that floating volcano contains the bloodline essence of a powerful outsider. Even though I don¡¯t know who that person is, I derived bits of enlightenment from it, enlightenment that benefited me greatly.

    ¡°I... I¡¯m not like the others. Actually, I am not exactly human.¡±

    Nie Tian withdrew his hands from her back and asked, shocked, ¡°Is that why you don¡¯t want unnecessary contact with other people?¡±

    Still with her back facing him, Pei Qiqi said, looking downcast, ¡°I¡¯m a freak.¡±

    ¡°No, you¡¯re not,¡± Nie Tian said in a soft voice. ¡°If what you said is true, then we¡¯re the same.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered. She sprang around and asked, her eyes shining with excitement, ¡°Are you also...?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly.

    In the next moment, he noticed that Pei Qiqi¡¯s sweet shoulders shivered, as if huge waves of emotion were surging in her heart.

    She only calmed down after a long time. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she said, ¡°I see.¡±

    It seemed that, the moment she learned that Nie Tian and she were the same, she felt very relieved. Her face beaming again, she said, ¡°I suspected this before, but since I never saw proof, so I didn¡¯t think it was true.¡±

    She suddenly felt closer to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian lowered his voice and said, ¡°You¡¯re the only one I¡¯ve told about this. Even Dong Li doesn¡¯t know about it.¡±

    Pei Qiqi gave him a hard look before rising to her feet and saying, ¡°Alright, I¡¯lle back when the spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars opens. We¡¯ll return together.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good. We came together, and we¡¯ll return together.¡±

    With these words, Pei Qiqi shed away, light as a feather.

    The smile on Nie Tian¡¯s face lingered as he resumed his cultivation.

    Time flew. Two days passed...

    On the tenth day, the colorful mist over the ckke suddenly started to surge like a sea in storm. The spatial rifts in the depths of the mist began to thrum with extremely unstable power.

    High in the distant sky, the boundless gray clouds started converging on one spot, and soon, an enormous vortex came to form.

    Awoken from his cultivation, Nie Tian jerked his head up to examine the great changes.

    The vortex was so enormous that people would be able to see it even from ten thousand miles away.

    This vortex was the very one that had sent them to his ce. It was just that now it was upside down, with its wide end at the bottom and its pointed tip piercing into the gray clouds.

    The sudden changes not only stirred Nie Tian, but also the others that had been searching for spiritual materials in other parts of the ind.

    Soon, Dong Li, Ye Qin, Chen Hao, Qin Yan, and the others arrived by the vast, ckke.

    Each and every one of them looked very excited, as if they were looking at the gate to their home.

    Until now, some of these people had been suspicious about Nie Tian¡¯s previous statement that a spatial rift that led back to the Domain of the Falling Stars would appear within two weeks.

    Now that they were looking at the huge vortex that had mysteriously appeared in the sky, they now believed that Nie Tian was right.

    However, it was Nie Tian, who had promised everyone a way to return home, that seemed rather puzzled, since the agreed two weeks¡¯ time hadn¡¯te yet.

    ¡°It seems that the time hase!¡± Qin Yan tore her glittering eyes from the surging, colorful mist and turned to ask Nie Tian, ¡°Which of those spatial rifts leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Looking suspicious, Nie Tian said, ¡°The time hasn¡¯te yet. We still need to wait.¡±

    ¡°But thedder to the top continent has clearly formed,¡± Cao Qiushui said, frowning. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean that the gate to the top continent is open now? Alright, how do we go through it? Do we go through those spatial rifts in the colorful mist, or do we fly to the vortex on our air-transportation spiritual tools?¡±

    ¡°Did I not make myself clear?¡± Nie Tian blurted. ¡°I said that a spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars would appear in two weeks, right in the middle of that colorful mist. We don¡¯t need to go through that vortex to the top continent and go back through the spatial rifts that we used toe here. All we¡¯ll need to do is go through that new spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what you meant,¡± Cao Qiushui said.

    The others also seemed as if they had just understood.

    Meanwhile...

    On inds far across the ck sea, the surviving Worldly realm and Profound realm human Qi warriors also caught sight of the upheaval in the sky.

    They had gone through a series of fierce battles with the outsiders and lost many people. Ecstasy appeared on their stricken faces.

    They either sailed across the ck sea on their air-transportation spiritual tools, or soared through the sky by relying on their advanced cultivation bases. Either way, they rushed towards the vortex at their fastest possible speed.

    All of them assumed that the enormous vortex was their only chance of returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars. Once they missed it, they would probably have to wait for a very long time before the gate opened again.

    At the same time, numerous fifth grade, sixth grade, and even seventh grade outsider experts also caught sight of the changes in the distant sky, and rushed over at full speed.

    At that moment, a sharp ring came from Xuan Ke¡¯s Sound Stone, which he kept in his inner pocket. He reached for it and held it to his ear. Momentster, he said, ¡°It¡¯s our senior. They asked where we are and told us to go through that vortex as soon as possible.¡±

    Then, Ye Qin, Chen Hao, Qin Yan, and Dong Baijie¡¯s Sound Stones made sounds one after another.

    ¡°The effective range of our Sound Stones should have been quite limited, but why are they all able to get in contact with us all of a sudden?¡± Dong Li asked, looking suspicious and puzzled. ¡°We tried everything to get in contact with our seniors, but nothing worked. So why do our Sound Stones suddenly seem to be able to work over such long distances?¡±

    ¡°It seems that the formation of the vortex has triggered some kind of change.¡± Ye Qin said.

    ¡°Nie Tian, what do you think?¡± Xuan Ke asked with a grim expression. ¡°Should we listen to our seniors and go through the vortex, or should we keep waiting here?¡±

    The others also shot their inquiring gazes towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°The choice is yours. You can leave if you want to,¡± Nie Tian said, looking as calm as ever. ¡°But those of you who trust me should stay here and return to the Domain of the Falling Stars with me.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, many began to hesitate, not sure what the right thing to do was.

 Chapter 578: The Start of a Catastrophe

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    One Sound Stone after another made sounds as messages came through from the chosen ones¡¯ seniors.

    Gasping with astonishment, Dong Baijie eximed, ¡°Senior Dong Tuodi and three Worldly realm members were the only survivors!¡±

    Cao Qiushui looked as if he had lost his dearest family members as he muttered soullessly, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he died...¡±

    The person he was talking about was the Profound realm Cao Zhaoji from the Cao n.

    Ye Qin from the Yin Sect and Chen Hao from the Yang Sect also looked very gray as they almost copsed.

    Facing everyone¡¯s inquiring gazes, Ye Qin said, her voice filled with sorrow, ¡°All of our Profound realm seniors have died in battle. Only a few Worldly realm disciples survived.¡±

    Chen Hao looked stunned as he said, ¡°It¡¯s the same with my sect. All of our Profound realm experts are dead.¡±

    As for Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the hand he used to hold his Sound Stone couldn¡¯t stop shivering as he said, ¡°One of our Profound realm seniors survived, along with a handful of Worldly realm disciples.¡±

    ¡°My grandfather Qin Yi also fought to the death...¡± Qin Yan said, her voice filled with grief. ¡°Only a few Worldly realm members are still alive.¡±

    Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect looked very grim as he said, ¡°Senior Zhong Pu has sustained heavy injuries, but luckily, he¡¯s still alive.¡±

    Gu Haofeng looked dispirited like a frost-stricken bud as he said, ¡°Our Profound realm senior also died at the hands of outsiders.¡±

    Of the five Profound realm experts from the five forces of the Realm of a Hundred Battles, Dong Tuodi from the Dong n and Zhong Pu from the Pill Pavilion Sect were the only ones that were still alive.

    Meanwhile, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had lost all of their Profound realm seniors, and the Ice Pavilion Sect had only one Profound realm expert that survived the battles.

    After learning about the current situation, each and every young leader looked as if they had lost their souls.

    Back when they had discovered the fourth grade outsiders, they had suspected that more powerful outsider experts had alsoe to this boundless ck sea.

    It was just that those fifth, sixth, and even seventh grade outsiders must have been on other inds.

    They had felt that the situation didn¡¯t favor them, and that their seniors might also face tough challenges and suffer losses.

    However, this was something they had never imagined. The deaths of their Profound realm experts struck them like a sharp de through the heart.

    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Everyone turned to look at him.

    ¡°From my conversation with Armes, the Phantasm in charge, I learned that the six spatial rifts that led us into this dimension had been arranged by the outsiders.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t intend to hold anything back. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ve heard that Phantasms have been spotted in the Realm of Split Void recently. Those Phantasms traveled across the starry river to the Domain of the Falling Stars with great effort. Their goal was to open those six spatial rifts and lure us in.¡±

    Astonished, Xuan Ke eximed, ¡°You¡¯re saying that this is all just a scheme of the outsiders?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°They made those arrangements to lure us into this dimension. So it¡¯s only natural that they¡¯d send their powerful experts to take our seniors out one by one after we entered.¡±

    After a brief pause, Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim, and he continued, ¡°This is only the first step of their n.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more to it?¡± Ye Qin asked, looking rattled.

    Frowning, Nie Tian said, ¡°After this, they¡¯ll probably go through those six spatial rifts to the Realm of Split Void, and from there, invade the Domain of the Falling Stars. I suppose, as we speak, the powerful experts of different outsider races are also rushing towards that huge vortex at full speed, hoping to go through it to the top continent. It means that our survivors are still in danger. Not all of them will make it back home.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure how many outsiders are now in this dimension, and how long it will take for the outsiders to find those spatial rifts on the top continent and descend upon the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°But I¡¯m sure that it won¡¯t be very long before an army of outsiders marches into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°The repercussions will be catastrophic.¡±

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, the chosen ones, who were drowning in grief, were then plunged into great fear.

    They realized that the deaths of their Profound realm experts were not the end, but the start of a new catastrophe.

    While silence pervaded over the crowd of young leaders, their Sound Stones made sounds one after another.

    It was their seniors or sect members urging them to go to the huge vortex and telling them that it was the only way out of this horrible ce, and that they shouldn¡¯t waste any time.

    One after another, they snuck nces at Nie Tian as they told them about Nie Tian¡¯s take on the matter.

    They said that this was all part of the outsiders¡¯ scheme, and that a spatial rift that led directly to the Domain of the Falling Stars would appear on this ind in four days.

    Momentster, Xuan Ke lowered his Sound Stone and cast a respectful gaze towards Nie Tian as he said, ¡°Our senior confirmed with me that he also learned that the appearance of those six spatial rifts were the outsiders¡¯ scheme, and that many outsider experts are indeed nning on invading the Domain of the Falling Stars through them.

    ¡°However, they had doubts about your statement that a spatial rift will appear on this ind that will take us back to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With aplicated look in his eyes, Qian Xin chimed in, ¡°Our senior held the same opinion. He also told me to join them and go through that vortex to the top continent. Perhaps the path will be full of danger, and we might have to face the outsiders¡¯ pursuit, but that will be the only way to leave here. Once we miss it, we might be stuck here forever.¡±

    Calm as ever, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes narrowed as he said, ¡°I told you. Stay here if you trust me. If you don¡¯t, you¡¯re wee to leave. I won¡¯t try to stop you.¡±

    ¡°The Dong n stays!¡± Dong Baijie said with great determination. ¡°Nie Tian, if what you just said is true, can I tell our surviving n members toe to us so that they can figure out a way to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars with us?¡±

    The eyes of many people in the crowd lit up.

    All of their seniors had told them that their way back would be full of danger, and perhaps crawling with outsiders.

    None of them were absolutely confident that they would make it back to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If it was true that they could return directly to the Domain of the Falling Stars through a spatial rift on this ind, it would definitely be the safer choice.

    Not only that, if this worked, they might be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars months before the outsiders could find those spatial rifts.

    Therefore, they all started to consider Dong Baijie¡¯s proposal.

    ¡°They cane, but others can¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°As you know, Worldly realm and Profound realm cultivators won¡¯t be able to enter this ind. I don¡¯t know how things will work out. So even if you all invite your sect members toe here, it doesn¡¯t mean that they¡¯ll get to enter. Besides, if they somehow find a way to enter this ind, that means the fifth and sixth grade outsiders will be able to enter as well.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need me to tell you how that will end for us.¡±

    After a brief pause, he added, ¡°One more thing. If any of you advance to the Worldly realm on this ind, everyone¡¯s life will be in danger.¡±

    ¡°The Yin Sect also stays.¡± Ye Qin made her stance clear.

    Chen Hao nodded and said with a dispirited tone, ¡°All of our Profound realm experts have died. It¡¯ll be a suicide mission if we try to go return through that vortex with just the handful of us. We might as well gamble on Nie Tian¡¯s judgment.¡±

    ¡°The Pill Pavilion Sect stays!¡± Qian Xin said.

    ¡°The Water Moon Chamber of Commerce stays,¡± Qin Yan said with a sad tone.

    Her grandfather, Qin Yi, had died, along with many Worldly realm members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. Without powerful experts to protect her, her best chancey with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, sat down and didn¡¯t say a word. He even closed his eyes.

    The members of the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, and the Gu n huddled up and discussed what they would do in low voices.

    Their discussion went on for an hour before Xuan Ke, Cao Qiushui, and Gu Haofeng came back and said that they decided to trust Nie Tian and stay.

    At this point, every force of the small alliance that had formed around Nie Tian agreed on this matter.

    They all gambled their lives on Nie Tian¡¯s judgment.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes, and with a faint smile, he said, ¡°There are five days to go. Let¡¯s cultivate while we wait. You can also go around to gather spirit nts during the first four days, but you¡¯ve got to stay by my side on thest day. I won¡¯t wait for any of you.¡±

    Despite Nie Tian¡¯s words, none of the young leaders were in the mood to gather spirit nts. They were all submerged in great sorrow.

    They all sat close to Nie Tian, with their sect members. They either discussed things in low voices, or sobbed softly.

    Nie Tian, however, sat in his Wood Thriving Formation,pletely focused on refining his vortex of wood power with the few days he had left.

    None of them knew that outsiders would arrive in three days.

 Chapter 579: A Dilapidated Starship

    It was two days before the agreed time between Nie Tian and that ancient awareness. Nie Tian had thought that he would be able to ride out these two days peacefully. Never had he thought that another unforeseen event woulde.

    All of the young Qi warriors stopped chatting and gazed up into the sky.

    An enormous object had suddenly appeared, floating over the ind. It was sorge that it looked like one of the floatingnds they had seen on the top continent.

    However, it seemed to be made of pure metal, since it emanated an ice-cold, metallic luster throughout its body.

    It was one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships.

    It looked very simr to the one Nie Tian, Dong Li, and the others had seen in the Realm of Dark Underworld. The only difference was that this one looked more dpidated.

    Many structures on the ancient starship were broken. Deep gashes could be seen in many ces. It was in such a poor state that it looked as if it would explode at any moment.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships!¡± Cao Qiushui eximed, fear filling his eyes. ¡°High-tier Phantasms havee for us! What do we do?¡±

    Everyone looked very grim, as they all felt that they were facing certain death.

    Nie Tian also ended his cultivation and gazed up at the dpidated, ancient starship that was now parked high in the sky, a worried expression appearing on his face.

    Even so, he tried tofort the others by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t panic everyone. This ind will prevent all air-transportation spiritual tools from descending on it. Our air-transportation spiritual tools were subject to its restrictions, so the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships should be subject to it as well. So even if there are high-tier outsiders on that starship, they probably won¡¯t be able to get to us on this ind.¡±

    ¡°Is that true, Big Brother Nie?¡± Feng Ying asked, her lips trembling with fear.

    In fact, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t sure of it himself, but he forced himself to say, ¡°Of course!¡±

    Now that the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship was here, it went without saying that it was carrying very powerful Phantasm experts.

    His previous conversation with the ancient awareness had been rather brief, and he actually hadn¡¯t acquired much information about this ce from it.

    Therefore, he wasn¡¯t sure if the restrictions of this ind would be able to stop the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship and their most powerful experts from entering.

    If they somehow passed through the restrictions and arrived on the ind, then none of Nie Tian or the others would be able to escape.

    The group of chosen ones from the Domain of the Falling Stars stared nkly at the ancient starship in the heavens, not having the faintest idea as to what to do.

    None of them said a word, but they all asked themselves questions inwardly.

    <i>¡°Are the restrictions of this ind really going to hold when that ancient starship or high-tier outsiders try to enter?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Even if Nie Tian is right, the spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars won¡¯t appear for two more days. Will we be able to live out these two days?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°It seems that all of us are going to die here...¡±</i>

    Nothing but despair and fear could be seen in their eyes.

    They could sense the uncertainty in Nie Tian¡¯s words, and thus prepared to fight to the death.

    High in the sky.

    By the edge of the ancient starship stood a number of outsiders, including Armes, Abreu, Sylon, Tago, and Stonemountain. Standing in front of them was a middle-aged Phantasm who had a solemn expression on his handsome face.

    ¡°Lord Basto, that newborn Son of the Stars is right under there, on that ind,¡± Armes said with great respect.

    As powerful as he was, he seemed to be in fear and trepidation as he talked to that middle-aged Phantasm. It waspletely different from the arrogant and domineering way he had previously spoken.

    This middle-aged Phantasm was the very Phantasm lord who Dialo had contacted back when he had lost the Soul Pearl to Nie Tian.

    The prismatic crystal between Basto¡¯s eyebrows suddenly blossomed with blinding cyan light that filled the entire heavens. At the same time, an immense soul awareness was unleashed and rapidly spread out in the sky.

    Not only Armes, Sylon, Tago, and Stonemountain, but also the few fifth and sixth grade Phantasm experts gasped in astonishment upon seeing this.

    As Basto unleashed his soul magic, they all had a terrifying feeling that their souls were going to be torn from their bodies.

    It was as if it would only take a thought from Basto to annihte all of their souls instantly.

    The ink-ck sea water around the ind began to churn, giving rise to huge surging waves.

    However, a hemispherical, pitch-ck ward slowly rose and enveloped the entire ind. Even the wind couldn¡¯t seem to prate the ward.

    The moment Basto¡¯s cyan light shone on the ck ward, his expression flickered.

    In three breaths¡¯ time, Basto canceled his soul magic with a shocked look in his eyes.

    ¡°This ind is under his protection,¡± Basto muttered, a hint of fear appearing on his face. ¡°He¡¯s probably still asleep, but if I go all-out to break the restrictions he has set up, it¡¯ll definitely wake him from his slumber. Once he¡¯s awoken...¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Basto said, ¡°Armes, you and your fourth grade friends will go to that ind again to kill that newborn Son of the Stars.¡±

    ¡°But Lord Basto, that Son of the Stars is quite hard to deal with.¡± Armes said, looking awkward. ¡°He has a Spirit Channeling grade treasure in his possession, and there are quite a few human Qi warriors on that ind too. They forced us to evacuate the ind before. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to kill that Son of the Stars if we go back again.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t you enter by force, Lord Basto?¡± Abreu asked in a low voice.

    Basto let out a cold harrumph. ¡°You juniors have no idea what this ce is. The reason why our attempt to invade the bottom continent failed and we were forced to move to other realms was because none of us knew that an ancient being had been sleeping in the depths of the bottom continent.

    ¡°It awoke and crushed our joint armies of various races. Many monarchs fell under his wrath.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he¡¯s asleep most of the time, we wouldn¡¯t have had the audacity toe here.

    ¡°Now that this ce is under his protection, we¡¯d better not challenge his authority by breaking the restrictions he set up.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the junior Fiends, Stonemen, Demons, and other junior outsiders all gasped with shock, as if this were the first time they had heard about the reason why their ancestors had lost the war and moved out of their ancestralnd.

    Even some of the fifth and sixth grade Phantasm experts frowned, as if they were also new to this story.

    ¡°That was a huge humiliation to all of our races. It¡¯s natural that your seniors haven¡¯t told you about it.¡± With a grim expression, Basto took out a long saber, and handed it solemnly to Armes, saying, ¡°Take this Nethersoul Saber and kill that Son of the Stars with it. Considering the grade of your bloodline power, you¡¯ll have to gather all of your soul power and bloodline power to cast just one strike with it.

    ¡°Even if that Son of the Stars possesses a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, I doubt that he¡¯ll be able to survive it.

    ¡°You go kill that Son of the Stars, while the others finish off the other human insects. Don¡¯t take too long. We still need to head to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Very excited, Armes held the Nethersoul Saber with both hands and said, ¡°I won¡¯t disappoint you, Lord Basto! I¡¯ll definitelye back with his head! If he didn¡¯t have that Spirit Channeling grade treasure to protect himst time, I would have killed him already!¡±

    ¡°Good! Go!" Basto said, waving his hand.

    Immediately afterwards, one prismatic war chariot after another shot out of the ancient starship. They rapidly flew down from the heavens andnded on the edge of the ind. Numerous fourth grade outsiders went ashore, gathered together, and then marched towards Nie Tian¡¯s location at full speed.

    ¡°They¡¯reing!¡± Dong Baijie eximed upon seeing the war chariots that came whooshing down from the sky.

    With an ice-cold expression, Xuan Ke said, ¡°It seems that Nie Tian¡¯s right. Those are all fourth grade outsiders, and they seem to be the same group that we drove away. There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of if it¡¯s just them.¡±

    Dong Li shook her head, looking very grim. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They suffered a defeatst time, but they still dare toe back again. They must have brought something powerful with them this time!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re here for me.¡± Nie Tian said. From his previous conversation with Armes, he had learned that, as a Son of the Stars, he was even more valuable to the outsiders than the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The fact that Armes and the other dared to return meant that they must have gained some sort of assurance.

    After a moment of silent pondering, Nie Tian said in a loud voice, ¡°Those with lower cultivation bases stay close to me. Once you feel that you aren¡¯t be able to carry on with the fight anymore, just run to where I¡¯m standing now.¡±

    He removed one of the tree branches to deactivate the Wood Thriving Formation, and then stepped out of the spell formation.

    Afterwards, he summoned the me Dragon Armor without hesitation. d in the magnificent armor, he strode to a ce in front of everyone and dered, ¡°We just need to hold them off for two days. Once the spatial rift opens, we¡¯ll be able to get out of this hellhole! Let¡¯s do this!¡±

    Half a day passed, and Armes arrived with the other outsiders.

    ¡°Leave Nie Tian to me. You go take care of the other humans!¡± Then, with an explosive roar, Armes held out the Nethersoul Saber with two hands and infused his soul power and bloodline power into the peerless weapon.

 Chapter 580: The Might of A Single Strike

    Armes gripped the long, ck saber tightly with both hands, as if he were worried that something would happen to the extremely precious weapon.

    Seeing him holding the saber with great caution, Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed slightly, as he started to feel a strong sense of danger.

    Before Nie Tian could give the saber a closer look, Pei Qiqi, who had disappeared a few days ago, suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

    The moment she appeared, she called out to Nie Tian, as if she were facing formidable foes, ¡°Nie Tian! Watch out for that saber! I can see fine spatial fissures slithering around its de! It seems that even the space around it can¡¯t withstand its might! You need to go back into your spell formation right now!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian examined the saber with rapt attention, and confirmed Pei Qiqi¡¯s statement.

    There were indeed very fine and subtle fissures around the de of the long, pitch-ck saber. They contracted and snapped open from time to time.

    At the same time, upon hearing Pei Qiqi¡¯s words, the chosen ones from the Domain of the Falling Stars unleashed their psychic awareness to examine the saber¡¯s wonders.

    However, the moment they did, they each let out a muffled groan.

    As soon as their psychic awareness made contact with the long saber, severe, twisting pain came from their souls.

    It was as if their souls were suddenly seized by some violent force, which was going to rip their souls from their bodies and imprison them in the Nethersoul Saber.

    They struggled to suppress their souls¡¯ unusual movements, not daring to give the saber another nce.

    Gasping with astonishment, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Get in here now, all of you!¡±

    In a split second, all of the chosen ones and the other Greater Heaven stage young Qi warriors dashed into the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Pei Qiqi also rapidly backed to Nie Tian¡¯s side upon hearing his urging words.

    With a thought, Nie Tian adjusted one of the tree branches, and the Wood Thriving Formation unleashed a green ward that quickly spread, enveloping everyone inside.

    Armesughed sinisterly, as if he didn¡¯t seem concerned with Nie Tian¡¯s actions at all, and he didn¡¯t do anything to stop them.

    It seemed that he waspletely confident that, even though Nie Tian and the others were hiding behind the Wood Thriving Formation, they weren¡¯t going to survive a strike from the unmatched saber in his hands.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work. This saber of Lord Basto¡¯s isn¡¯t something you can defend against!¡± With these words, he gripped the hilt with great force as he infused every bit of his soul power and bloodline power into the long, pitch-ck saber.

    Upon seeing this, the outsiders who stood beside Armes all swiftly backed away from him, fear appearing in their eyes.

    In a split second, there was not a single person standing between Nie Tian and Armes.

    Armes¡¯ hands, which he used to grip the long saber, were instantly wreathed in wisps of cyan aura, which were the condensation of Armes¡¯ internal power that was now madly infusing into the saber in his hands.

    His arms were originally exceptionally thick and muscr, but at this moment, they were shriveling at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye.

    Not only that, but even his whole body began to shrivel, as if every bit of his flesh power was being infused into the long saber.

    At the same time, wisps of blood flowed slowly from the corners of his eyes, his nose, and his ears.

    These were signs of him overdrawing his soul power.

    An overwhelming aura that could shatter heaven and earth and annihte all living beings rapidly built up within the Nethersoul Saber.

    In the next moment, sharp shrieks of discarnate souls echoed out in every young Qi warrior¡¯s mind.

    Even the Wood Thriving Formation couldn¡¯t iste the waves of ear-piercing shrieks. Hiding in the spell formation, the chosen ones covered their ears with their hands and groaned in agony.

    Even still, wisps of blood could be seen flowing through their fingers.

    Just a soul attack by the long saber made the Greater Heaven stage Qi warriors feel as if their souls were going to be torn to pieces.

    One by one, they dropped to the ground and sat in the lotus position. They kept their hands over their ears as they went all-out to summon their psychic power to defend their souls.

    Even Dong Baijie and Dong Li did the same.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were the only ones who were still standing.

    However, from the look on Nie Tian¡¯s face, it appeared that he was also in great pain.

    Before the actual battle even began, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul had shone with dazzling light, filling every corner of his soul with soul power and protecting him from the soul attack.

    He eventually warded off the discarnate souls¡¯ mad shrieks at the expense of arge amount of his soul power from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Bleeding from his nose, mouth, eyes, and ears, Armes let out a hysterical roar and lunged directly towards Nie Tian, bringing the saber down with two hands, as if he were going to split the whole ind in two. ¡°Nie Tian! If you can survive a sh from this saber, I¡¯ll immediately turn around and march out of here!¡±

    On the de of the Nethersoul Saber, patterns that looked like countless fine veins suddenly blossomed with blinding light, and a long, cyan de light quickly came to form.

    The de light was so wide that it looked like a river of dazzling light, from which the shadows of tens of thousands of vicious discarnate souls could be seen.

    They seemed to be confined in the de light, where they bore their fangs at each other and built up their endless thirst for blood and desire for killing.

    CRACKLE!

    As the enormous, cyan de light shed down from the air, the space around it crackled, creating flying sparks that quickly converged on the de light, further boosting its might.

    BOOM!

    The wide de light finally mmed onto the ward of the Wood Thriving Formation.

    In a split second, every tree and nt within ten kilometers withered and died.

    Afterwards, the mysterious tree patterns that were swimming within the green ward lost their supply of wood power, and thus suddenly left the ward and flew back into the seventy-two tree branches.

    The ward, which had withstood the unrelenting attacks of dozens of outsiders for hours, shattered under the crushing force of the de light!

    The moment the Wood Thriving Formation gave, the Qi warriors under it started to experience even more intense, sharp shrieks of discarnate souls.

    They all started to scream as they covered their ears and exerted all their power to defend against the soul attack.

    As the de light continued toe down, Pei Qiqi called out,

    ¡°Nie Tian! I can help you reduce the might of this sh, but only by a bit!¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi sat down on the ground and wove her hands in the air, forming a profound hand seal. In the next moment, her fingertips became translucent, and countless fine spatial des burst forth in all directions.

    The spatial des seemed to contain the unfathomable power from that mysterious outsider expert.

    Then, a spatial magic that she had recently derived but hadn¡¯tpletely mastered was unleashed. ¡°Space Freeze!¡±

    As she uttered these words, the fluctuating space over everyone¡¯s heads seemed to be suddenly frozen.

    For a moment, everyone could no longer hear the ear-piercing shrieks. They felt as if both time and space had frozen.

    They could no longer feel the flow of the wind, nor could they see the withered nts around them sway. They even felt that their hearts had stopped, and their blood had ceased flowing.

    They felt as if they had suddenly been submerged in a giant drop of pine gum, and they were like the insects within it. No one was able to move a finger.

    Also subject to such influences was the broad de light of the Nethersoul Saber.

    Other than Armes, who was bringing the saber down towards Nie Tian, the other outsiders all gasped with astonishment and fear.

    At the same time, their expressions seemed to be frozen, not a single muscle on their faces moving.

    Apparently, even though they were standing quite far from Pei Qiqi, the moment she cast that strange spatial magic, none of them could escape its influence.

    If she wanted to, she could probably ughter them all with her spatial des without meeting any resistance.

    However, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t seem to have enough strength left to do so.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Crackling sounds came from the broad, cyan de light, as if the frozen space were like a piece of ice fissuring under great pressure.

    POOH!

    Pei Qiqi coughed up a mouthful of blood and fainted, her face pale as paper.

    Armes shot Pei Qiqi a quick nce, and then refocused on pressing the saber down towards Nie Tian with both hands.

    Then, the cyan de light once again went down towards Nie Tian as the Nethersoul Saber started moving again.

    BOOM!

    One cluster of crimson me after another rose from the me Dragon Armor on Nie Tian, rapidly turning him into a burning man.

    Crackling burning sounds echoed out around him as he summoned his me Star. He took a step forward as he gathered his various types of power and rage in the same way he would cast a Rage Punch.

    At this moment, he no longer held anything back. He emptied his me power, wood power, star power, and flesh power into his me Star, along with the raging me power from the Blood Core of the me Dragon Armor.

    As that happened, the resounding furious roar of a titan echoed from the few spatial rifts in the colorful mist that floated over the ckke, which should have been the passage between this ce and the outsiders¡¯ realms.

 Chapter 581: Stand Unwavering

    The titan¡¯s furious roar resounded through heaven and earth, but it seemed as if Nie Tian and Armes were the only ones who were able to hear it.

    As that happened, the discarnate souls swarming within the broad de light instantly stopped letting out bloodcurdling screams.

    Then, the young Qi warriors from different sects were finally relieved from their suffering.

    They all jerked their heads towards Nie Tian.

    What they saw was Nie Tian shooting up into the air like a flood dragon out of a bottomlesske. Wreathed in raging mes, he dragged a long, burning tail behind him as he mmed hard into the wide de light of the Nethersoul Saber.

    Upon contact, blindingly bright light blossomed, sending out countless shreds of bright aura that lit up the entire sky.

    Even the space around where the contact took ce seemed to start to fissure as the earth beneath it was quickly riddled with holes.

    AHHH!!

    Armes screamed, his face covered in blood. His sleeves exploded, revealing his mangled arms as numerous fine cuts appeared throughout his body, from which blood was spilling out.

    At the same time, Nie Tian coughed up a mouthful of blood. Many of the meridians in the arm he used to wield the me Star had burst.

    Armes, who was holding the saber with both hands, felt as if he had been hit by a rampant ancient beast, as he was knocked flying back a hundred steps before he could assume a firm foothold.

    He discovered that he had used up all his soul power and bloodline essence after unleashing this single sh.

    Without any more power to operate on, the Nethersoul Saber had lost its radiance, and now looked no different from an ordinary weapon.

    Armes jerked his head in Nie Tian¡¯s direction, and discovered that his hands were trembling nonstop as blood kept rolling down his arms.

    Through the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, Armes quickly learned that Nie Tian had also drained all his powers.

    However, the originally weak aura of flesh and blood within Nie Tian was rapidly growing stronger.

    Armes gasped with astonishment. He had never imagined that Nie Tian would be able to survive the full-force attack he had formed with the Nethersoul Saber, much less that Nie Tian was now in a better condition than him.

    The other outsiders, who were observing from afar, all stared at Nie Tian as if they were looking at a mysterious monster.

    They didn¡¯t say a word, but each and every one of them was deeply shaken.

    <i>¡°A Son of the Stars! I-is this the true strength of a Son of the Stars?!¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Even Armes¡¯ full-force attack with Lord Basto¡¯s Nethersoul Saber failed to kill him! And he¡¯s only a newborn Son of the Stars!¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Is it still necessary for this battle to go on?¡±</i>

    Questions shed across their minds as they stood in ce, not daring to make any rash moves.

    At that moment, Basto¡¯s voice echoed out from the Nethersoul Saber Armes was still gripping tightly. ¡°Time toe back.¡±

    After a brief moment of hesitation, he turned back to look at his brother and said, ¡°Take me out of here.¡±

    He was too weak to even leave this ind himself.

    Without thinking, Abreu dashed over, hoisted Armes onto his back, and sped off towards the edge of the ind.

    Upon seeing this, the other outsiders also quickly retreated like a ebbing tide.

    By the vast, ckke, Dong Baijie and the other Qi warriors looked deeply at Nie Tian.

    Xuan Ke broke the silence by asking, ¡°Do we go after them, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Nie Tian asked softly.

    Frowning slightly, Xuan Ke said, ¡°I¡¯ve basically drained my psychic power, but my spiritual power is still at a fairly high level.¡±

    Nie Tian nced over the others, and saw that they all nodded upon meeting his gaze, indicating that they were in simr state.

    Nie Tian waved his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. Let them go. We don¡¯t have much time to spare. The spatial rift that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars will open soon. If we get into trouble by chasing after those outsiders, we may not be able to return in time, therefore missing our one chance to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the crowd of youngsters, who were originally rather keen on chasing after their enemies, quickly settled down.

    Then, Nie Tian turned to look at Pei Qiqi, who was lying on the ground, unconscious. Concerned, he crouched down and held his finger to her nose. After a few seconds, he discovered that her breaths were still regr. She just seemed to have passed out from overconsuming her strength.

    With a wave of his hand, the seventy-two tree branches flew back into his ring of holding as he strode towards another location that was covered in lush nts and vegetation. ¡°Come with me. We need to go to a different location.¡±

    The others quickly followed along.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before they reached the other side of the ckke, where Nie Tian established another Wood Thriving Formation.

    Since the mysterious tree patterns had returned to the seventy-two tree branches, the tree branches were now translucent and sparkling, as if their wooden nature had been altered.

    With that devastating sh with the Nethersoul Saber, Armes had only managed to shatter the ward of the Wood Thriving Formation, but hadn¡¯t destroyed any of the tree branches.

    Now that the Wood Thriving Formation was once again surrounded by a copious amount of wood power, a green ward once again formed over Nie Tian. Standing in the spell formation, he said to the others on the outside, ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt me unless that spatial rift appears.¡±

    With these words, he sat down in the lotus position.

    The chosen ones all cast respectful gazes towards him as they sat down in ces around the formation, and took it upon themselves to stand guard for him.

    They couldn¡¯t help but ask themselves, if they had been in Nie Tian¡¯s shoes, would they have survived Armes¡¯ attack with that saber?

    The thought made them curl their lips bitterly.

    They were all well-aware that, considering their strength, even if they had brought out everything within their power, they wouldn¡¯t have survived that crushing sh.

    Nie Tian, however, had not only survived it, but he had ended up in better shape than Armes, who had suffered more serious injuries, and had to ask his brother to carry him away.

    ...

    After running to the edge of the ind, the outsiders summoned their prismatic war chariots and rushed back to their dpidated ancient starship, tugging their tails.

    Basto stood where he had been before. As Armes returned, he raised his hand, and the Nethersoul Saber flew into his palm and disappeared.

    With Abreu¡¯s help, Armes trudged to Basto and said, looking very shamefaced, ¡°Lord Basto, I...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡± Basto¡¯s expression was surprisingly calm and peaceful. ¡°Even though I couldn¡¯t see what happened on the ind due to the barrier that one used to iste this ind, through the Nethersoul Saber, I learned that you did your best. In fact, you threw a very powerful sh, even more powerful than I had anticipated. It¡¯s just that...¡±

    Basto pondered briefly before continuing, ¡°As a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, that kid is indeed far beyond ordinary. I¡¯ve underestimated him. Also, I have a feeling that he¡¯s different from the other Sons of the Stars, though I still don¡¯t know how, since I haven¡¯t gotten a chance to face him personally...¡±

    Then, after a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, ¡°Forget it. Let him be if he¡¯s bent on hiding on that ind like a turtle drawing in its head and legs. As long as he continues to stay here, he won¡¯t be able to find his way back to the Domain of the Falling Stars. Let¡¯s focus on our operation in the Domain of the Falling Stars first. We¡¯ll have plenty of ways to deal with him as long as he doesn¡¯t leave here.

    ¡°Plus, don¡¯t imagine that he¡¯ll be able to neutralize that sh so easily!¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at one of the Phantasms.

    Without any dy, the Phantasm turned around and went to start the dpidated ancient starship. It quickly flew towards the vortex in the distant, gray sky.

    ...

    By the ckke on the ind, the crowd of young Qi warriors fixed their gazes on the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship as it started, making loud rumbling noises, and as it gradually sailed towards the distant sky, they finally let out sighs of relief.

    ¡°If Big Brother Nie had failed to counter that sh, we¡¯d all be dead already,¡± Feng Ying said, still shaken from the incident.

    ¡°Miss Pei was very helpful too,¡± Qin Yan said with a grim expression as she looked at Pei Qiqi, who was still unconscious. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that Miss Pei¡¯s mastery of spatial power is so profound that she was actually able to freeze space.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, everyone¡¯s expressions flickered as they recalled the few moments when they couldn¡¯t even move their fingers.

    Pei Qiqi had clearly focused on the Nethersoul Saber, and they had only been the affected unintentionally.

    Even so, they had felt as if they had been locusts wrapped inside a drop of pine gum, not able to move a muscle.

    If they had been Pei Qiqi¡¯s target, instead of the Nethersoul Saber, they couldn¡¯t imagine how they would survive.

    In their eyes, both her and Nie Tian were freakishly powerful.

    Byparison, they, the so-called chosen ones, had a strong sense of inferiority.

    They all decided that, after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars, they would instantly start secluded cultivation to build up their cultivation bases, and at the same time, pick their sects¡¯ most difficult and powerful incantations to learn, so that next time theypared themselves to Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian, they wouldn¡¯t feel so small and weak.

    Enveloped by the Wood Thriving Formation, Nie Tian examined himself with his eyes closed, and soon discovered that he had basically drained his spiritual sea after neutralizing Armes¡¯ attack with the Nethersoul Saber.

    Not only that, but even the nine fragmentary stars in his soul had be dimmer afterwards.

    Meanwhile, he had sustained injuries of different degrees to his meridians, internal organs, and muscles. His bones, which had crystallized with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal, were the only parts on him that remained unscathed.

    He realized that he needed some time to heal all these injuries.

    However, as he attempted to practice Heavenly Wood Heal with the copious amount of wood power the Wood Thriving Formation had channeled from its surroundings, he instantly experienced stabbing pain all over.

    His expression flickered as he hastily conducted a more thorough examination of himself with a bit of his soul power.

    To his surprise, he discovered that his meridians, internal organs, and muscles were covered in very small, cyan spots.

    The spots were so small that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to discover them without using his soul power.

    Each and every cyan spot contained the aura of discarnate souls. Apparently, when the Nethersoul Saber¡¯s de light had exploded, the screaming discarnate souls within it had shattered, and tiny bits of them had entered his body.

    It was none other than those cyan spots that were causing his pain.

    At this moment, he had very little spiritual power he could use, and the green aura in his heart was still dormant.

    He could only resort to using his remaining flesh power to try to refine the cyan spots, but soon, he realized that that was a dead end.

    In order to burn those cyan spots away, along with the aura of discarnate souls within them, he would have to resort to using his soul power.

    Just as he was about to draw upon his precious soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul, he sense an unusual movement.

    The movement was from the prismatic crystal he had acquired from a floating Phantasm corpse back when he had been in the colorful band.

    Surprised, he took the prismatic crystal out from within his ring of holding.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

 Chapter 582: A Shocking Glimpse

    The prismatic crystal could be considered the only interesting item Nie Tian had obtained by himself in this strange dimension.

    Back when he had been recovering in the colorful band, the corpse of a Phantasm had floated by. After what could be thousands of years, it had already be very fragile. A mere touch had reduced it to flying dust.

    The prismatic crystal between the eyebrows of the Phantasm was the only thing that had remained intact.

    As soon as he took it out of his ring of holding, the tiny cyan spots that the Nethersoul Saber had somehow sent into his body seemed to be suddenly channeled by it, and started converging on it from every corner of his body like swallows returning to their nest.

    Like they were drawn by a ma, the countless tiny, cyan spots rapidly flew out of him and disappeared into the prismatic crystal.

    After receiving the cyan spots, the originally in-looking crystal suddenly started to emanate misty, cyan light.

    Nie Tian had long since realized that the prismatic crystal between the eyebrows of a Phantasm was their most vital body part, perhaps even more vital than their heart.

    No matter whether it was Armes, Abreu, or other Phantasms, they all needed to cast their race¡¯s unique magics with the help of the prismatic crystals between their eyebrows.

    The fact that the ages had only failed to corrupt the prismatic crystal between its eyes also proved how special it was to a Phantasm.

    After all of the tiny, cyan spots left Nie Tian¡¯s body and disappeared into the prismatic crystal, an idea suddenly urred to Nie Tian as he took out the skull he had acquired from a Spirit God Sect disciple after saving Qian Xin from him.

    A Phantasm¡¯s soul was still trapped within the skull.

    The moment he took it out, he could sense with great rity that the soul had be very excited, as it repeatedly threw itself into the restrictive ward within the skull in an attempt to break free.

    Nie Tian was fascinated.

    The Phantasm¡¯s soul had seemed simrly restless when he had first obtained the prismatic crystal.

    However, after he had strengthened the restrictive ward within the skull with his soul power, it had soon realized that the soul power in the ward could easily annihte it, and thus had stopped trying to escape.

    But why did it suddenly be so restless again? Could it be because something had changed after the prismatic crystal had absorbed all those cyan spots?

    He pondered and examined the crystal for a while, and after failing to figure out an answer, he stored the skull and the prismatic crystal back in his ring of holding again.

    Then, he refocused on healing himself with Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation.

    A day passed before he knew it.

    During this time, he reattached his severed meridians and fixed his damaged muscles. Everything looked as good as new.

    He had a feeling that, given more time, he would be able to finish the next stage of his body refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal in this unique environment filled with extremely rich wood power.

    He wondered what the next stage was after bone-crystallizing.

    He felt that the series of strong blows he had taken, his meridians being severed, and his flesh bursting, had stimted Heavenly Wood Heal and readied him for the next stage of body refinement.

    ¡°Today is the day!¡± Chen Hao eximed softly.

    Apparently, the time measuring instrument in his hand allowed him to tell time urately, even in ces where there were no suns, moons, or stars.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally time to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Ye Qin chimed in.

    Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation and nced over the others. He could see that, after going through so much and losing so many friends and seniors in this strange dimension, they had long since grown tired of this damned ce, and didn¡¯t want to stay a moment more than necessary.

    With outsiders lurking in this heaven and earth, they knew that they would never be safe here.

    They were also well-aware that if they missed this chance to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars, they would probably eventually die at the hands of the outsiders when the outsiders recovered and came back for them.

    ¡°Eh..." Pei Qiqi, who had slept for a whole day, finally woke up and slowly sat upright.

    Nie Tian instantly fixed her with a concerned gaze and said softly, ¡°Are you alright, Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡±

    The others also turned to look at her.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t pay any attention to the others. Instead, she only answered Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯m fine. You?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay. I just need to recover the spiritual power I¡¯ve consumed after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars after I get some more spirit stones.¡± With a bright smile, Nie Tian asked, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi closed her eyes,pletely ignoring the others¡¯ gazes.

    Qin Yan, who had intended to express her apologies in person, saw her attitude and gave up on the idea, looking somewhat embarrassed.

    Dong Li, however, gave Nie Tian a nasty look, as if she were ming him for using a tone that was too caring when talking to Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Nie Tian, things will happen as you said they would, right?¡± Dong Baijie¡¯s voice was filled with concern.

    ¡°They will. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°All we need to do is wait.¡±

    Thus, everyone waited, hoping that Nie Tian was right.

    Half a day passed...

    Ripples once again appeared on the silent surface of the vast, ckke, and the colorful mist over theke started to surge out like a sea of mist.

    The mist gradually spread and descended from the air, until it almost touched and covered the surface of the entireke.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped open. Eyes wide, she gazed into the depths of the colorful mist, as if she had noticed something very strange.

    She had sensed that a brand new spatial rift had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and was stabilizing at a very impressive speed.

    Deeply shocked, she jerked her head towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°A spatial rift has indeed formed!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone present cheered loudly, since they all assumed that now that Pei Qiqi, who was an expert in spatial power, had confirmed Nie Tian¡¯s prediction, it wouldn¡¯t be a mistake.

    It was just that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t received any directions from the immense awareness, and thus didn¡¯t feel very assured. He turned to Pei Qiqi and asked, ¡°Is it okay if we go through that spatial rift now, Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Sure, it¡¯s already stable enough for us to go through.¡±

    After getting her positive answer, Nie Tian gave an order without hesitation, ¡°We¡¯ll be able to tread on the colorful mist now. You can just follow Senior Martial Sister Pei to the spatial rift that has just formed, and return to the Domain of the Falling Stars through it.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡± Dong Li asked, looking very concerned.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go in once you¡¯re all in,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Pei Qiqi was the first to rise to her feet. With a swift leap, shended on the colorful mist close to thekeshore. Looking as if she were standing on clouds, she said, ¡°Hurry up. I¡¯m not sure how long this spatial rift will remain stable.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the crowd of people no longer dared to dy. One after another, they rapidly jumped onto the colorful mist and ran towards the heart of the mist under Pei Qiqi¡¯s leadership.

    Nie Tian followed them onto the colorful mist, and watched them find the spatial rift and jump into it one by one under Pei Qiqi¡¯s directions.

    It wasn¡¯t long before everyone, including Pei Qiqi, had disappeared into the spatial rift, and he was the only one still standing before it.

    Only at this moment, he sent a cluster of his soul power down into the depths of the ckke underneath, where he once again sensed the presence of that ancient and immense awareness.

    ¡°Newborn Son of the Stars, I hope to see you here again in a hundred years.

    ¡°I bet you can¡¯t imagine the immensity of the agreement between me and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Let me give you a glimpse of what this ce really looks like.

    ¡°Perhaps, your cultivation will allow you to meet me in person in a hundred years. I¡¯ll look forward to talking to you.¡±

    BOOM!

    A full image instantly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. He felt as if he had suddenly turned into an ancient soul that shot straight up into the highest heavens and nced down from there.

    To his surprise, he found that the ind he was on was like a grain in a sea.

    There were dozens of other inds that were simr to this one in the ck sea.

    However, even the ck sea was only like a small pond in the heaven and earth he was seeing now.

    Beyond the ck sea, he could see mountains that towered into the clouds, boundless forests of ancient trees, deserts that were hot and dry, andnds that were covered in snow and ice.

    Meanwhile, many pieces ofnd, which seemed to havee from the top continent, had been plunged deeply into these areas, and had already be part of this enormous continent.

    Looking at them, Nie Tian suddenly realized that the ancient beings from the bottom continent must have won the final war between them and the numerous outsider races from the top continent.

    This was what the whole bottom continent should look like.

    This ancient realm seemed to be evenrger than the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Starsbined!

    Before Nie Tian could get a closer look at the different areas, he felt a sudden force that pulled him back to the ce where he stood beside that spatial rift that led to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The curious feeling of his soul leaving his body and ncing down at all things was gone.

    Then, he was pushed into the spatial rift, and left this boundless continent.

 Chapter 583: Return

    In the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void.

    People flew out of a spatial rift one after another. They all subconsciously surrounded themselves with spiritual power shields as they did so.

    ¡°Nie Tian wasn¡¯t mistaken! We¡¯re finally back!¡± Cao Qiushui eximed excitedly.

    Afternding on the ground, they rapidly nced around and realized that they had indeed returned to the Realm of Split Void.

    Pei Qiqi flew out of the spatial rift after the others, and then stood in silence, waiting for Nie Tian.

    Ye Qin unleashed her psychic awareness to scan the vicinity, and then said with her face filled with confusion, ¡°This is strange. Why can¡¯t I sense any signs of life here? What happened here?¡±

    Upon hearing her words, the others also scanned their surroundings, and soon realized that there was indeed not a single soul in this area.

    While they were deeply puzzled, Nie Tian flew out from the spatial rift andnded in the middle of the crowd.

    Immediately afterwards, Pei Qiqi shrewdly discovered that the spatial rift, which was originally very stable, instantly started to fluctuate with glowing light, as if it had now be full of danger.

    She also believed that even if the other end of the spatial rift continued to exist on the ind they had juste from, the outsiders wouldn¡¯t be able to go through it and survive.

    It seemed as if the appearance of this spatial rift had been designed for Nie Tian personally. Once he had gone through it, it instantly became turbulent and dangerous again.

    That was when she realized why Nie Tian had insisted on entering the spatial rift after everyone else.

    He had been aware that this would happen.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had alsoe out of the spatial rift, all the chosen ones expressed their gratitude towards him.

    ¡°As long as I¡¯m with the Ice Pavilion Sect, I¡¯ll do everything within my power to make sure that you¡¯re the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s friend,¡± Xuan Ke said with all seriousness.

    The other Ice Pavilion Sect disciples also bowed respectfully towards Nie Tian, sharing Xuan Ke¡¯s attitude.

    Ye Qin and Chen Hao exchanged a nce, then also expressed that no matter what, no matter when, Nie Tian would always be the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect¡¯s friend.

    Then, Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect, Cao Qiushui from the Cao n, and Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce expressed their gratitude one after another.

    Even Gu Haofeng from the Gu n, who had always considered Nie Tian as an unpleasant adversary, said after a moment of hesitation, ¡°The Gu n owes you one.¡±

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li didn¡¯t say much to thank Nie Tian. They just stood closely beside him.

    ¡°I hope that all of us will remember what Nie Tian has done for us, and keep what he has done to those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect a secret,¡± Dong Li urged everyone with a serious expression. ¡°Even though those people were despicable, and even death couldn¡¯t atone for their deeds, their sects are still very powerful.

    ¡°Now, most of them are dead, and the rest may not make it back either.

    ¡°However, once they learn about what happened in that dimension, none of us will be able to escape their fury, especially Nie Tian!¡±

    Everyone nodded, showing that they understood, and that they would guard their mouths like a covered bottle. (Idiom: keep their mouths shut)

    Then, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Nie Tian, now that we¡¯re back in the Domain of the Falling Stars, I think you¡¯d better make some alterations to your appearance and use a different identity.¡±

    These words seemed to wake him from his thoughts. He nced bewilderingly over the crowd and said, ¡°Um, you¡¯re right.¡±

    Even though the ancient awareness had only allowed him a brief glimpse of the entire bottom continent before putting him through the spatial rift, it was enough to shake him deeply.

    It allowed him to understand that the two inds he had been to, even including the ck sea, were only the tip of an icebergpared to the whole continent.

    He wondered how long that boundless continent had existed, and how many mysteries were still waiting for him to uncover.

    Everyone present had gained considerable amounts of spiritual materials from the two inds, many of which had gone extinct or never appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars. It was very hard to put a price on them.

    It was safe to say that each and every one of them had gained a great fortune from their trip.

    However, what they had gained was only from two inds...

    ¡°Nie Tian, are you listening to me or not?¡± Dong Li sounded somewhat displeased.

    Only then did he snap back to his senses. He cast these other thoughts out of his mind and nodded, saying, ¡°I¡¯m listening. I hear you.¡±

    ¡°For all we know, the outsiders are trying to go through that huge vortex to the top continent,¡± Qin Yan said with a grim face. ¡°Perhaps it won¡¯t be very long before they find those spatial rifts and march into the Domain of the Falling Stars through them. Now that we¡¯re back, we need to inform our sects and ns as soon as possible. Hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to figure out a way to close them.¡±

    ¡°Seal those spatial rifts?¡± Xuan Ke shook his head. ¡°The other sects still have people in there. They still need to go through those spatial rifts if they want to return. Besides, I doubt that we have experts who are capable of sealing those spatial rifts.¡±

    ¡°Even so, we need to inform all the sects right away,¡± Qin Yan said.

    ¡°Right.¡± Xuan Ke said, nodding, and then turned to Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s time to part ways.¡±

    All the other chosen ones were eager to inform their elders of what had happened, and thus they also all quickly bid their farewells to Nie Tian.

    At that moment, a strong wave of soul fluctuations came from the distance.

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered as they jerked their heads in that direction. Soon, a scrawny Qi warrior in ragged garments entered their sight.

    ¡°Li Langfeng!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed.

    Nie Tian also looked deeply surprised to see him.

    Meanwhile, Li Langfeng also seemed surprised to see the group of chosen ones in this ce. He went nk briefly before asking, ¡°Where did youe from?¡±

    Dong Li pointed at the spatial rift behind them.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes lit up. Like a sh of lightning, he shifted to the spatial rift, where he started examining it so closely that it seemed that he wanted to go through it very much.

    Nie Tian hastily called out, ¡°Don¡¯t go in!¡±

    The voice sounded familiar to Li Liangfeng, so he stopped and turned around to fix Nie Tian with a confused gaze. ¡°You sound very familiar.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Hua Tian,¡± Nie Tian said with a faint smile.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes widened as he eximed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s you!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation in the Realm of Split Void now?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Since he had helped Li Langfeng break through into the Worldly realm, and in return, Li Langfeng had helped him kill Ning Yang, he assumed that Li Langfeng would tell him about the current situation once he stated his identity.

    ¡°That spatial rift is now very turbulent and dangerous.¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly. ¡°You¡¯ll get yourself killed if you enter it.¡±

    Dong Li chimed in, ¡°Even if you somehow survive the spatial rift, you¡¯ll get kill in that damned dimension. We almost died there.¡±

    Li Langfeng grew hesitant, then eventually gave up on the idea. Then, he said, ¡°Only two people came back before you.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Li Langfeng looked at Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Your master came back, covered in wounds, and she brought a kid named Wu Ling back with her.¡±

    Upon learning that Zhen Hun was still alive and back in the Realm of Split Void, Pei Qiqi felt greatly relieved.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Wu Ling also survived.¡± Surprised, Nie Tian suspected that he must have only managed to escape from those from the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect by relying on some remarkable spiritual tool.

    Upon further thought, it urred to him that Wu Ling was Wu Langxie¡¯s only son. It wouldn¡¯t be more natural for him, a Soul realm expert, to give his son some life-saving means.

    ¡°However, serious blood was spilled after the return of Master Zhen and Wu Ling,¡± Li Langfeng went on in a in tone, as if none of this concerned him. ¡°Master Zhen came back with news that Yao Shou from the Spirit God Sect and Gongsun Pu from the me God Sect had turned on her and those from the Tool Sect, which resulted in Bai Yu¡¯s death, and Master Zhen being seriously injured.¡±

    ¡°That is what happened,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Wu Langxie was infuriated by the news, and marched to the Realm of Dark Underworld, where he massacred disciples of the Spirit God Sect and me God Sect, including five of their Profound realm experts. The me God, Xia Yi, is still in the middle of his secluded cultivation. Since none of the me God Sect elders were able to contend against Wu Langxie, they shrank behind their grand spell formation.¡±

    ¡°What happened to the Spirit God Sect?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°The Spirit God Sect isn¡¯t any better,¡± Li Langfeng said,ying his eyes on Pei Qiqi. ¡°Someone named Hua Mu started another massacre in the Spirit God Sect because of your master¡¯s injuries. He single-handedly killed more than half of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s Profound realm experts, along with dozens of their Worldly realm disciples.

    ¡°The killing is still going on in the Realm of Dark Underworld as we speak.

    ¡°That Hua Mu person even destroyed the Spirit God Sect¡¯s grand spell formation, leaving their disciples nowhere to hide.

    ¡°Like Xia Yi, the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect was also in the middle of secluded cultivation, but he was forced toe out and fight Hua Mu.

    ¡°Many forces throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars are paying close attention to the battle between Hua Mu and the Spirit God Sect. Some of them have even sent people there to collect information.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Mr. Hua would spill so much blood for my master!¡±

    Nie Tian was also shocked.

    In his eyes, Hua Mu was a mysterious person who liked to keep a low profile.

    He had never expected that he would unleash his wrath upon the Spirit God Sect and ughter so many of their disciples because of Zhen Hun.

    <i>¡°It seems like that Fruit of Life has indeed solved Uncle Hua¡¯s lifespan problem and relieved him from his burdens.</i>

    <i>¡°I didn¡¯t know that Uncle Hua was actually such a fierce character!¡±</i>

    The chosen ones were also taken aback upon learning that bloody conflicts were taking ce in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    After a brief pause, Li Langfeng added, ¡°However, many don¡¯t think the conflict between Hua Mu and the Spirit God Sect will end in Hua Mu¡¯s victory. He seems to have sustained some injuries when he breached the Spirit God Sect¡¯s grand spell formation. He and the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect are both at the middle Soul realm.

    ¡°Now that he¡¯s injured, it¡¯s more likely that he¡¯ll lose the battle against the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°Besides, Xia Yi mighte out of his secluded cultivation soon. It¡¯s believed that he¡¯ll be at the peak Soul realm once hees out. If that¡¯s true, then even if Wu Langxie and Hua Mu join hands, they probably won¡¯t be able to beat him.¡±

 Chapter 584: Recovering Strength

    Dong Li sighed and said, frowning, ¡°It¡¯s never peaceful in the Domain of the Falling Stars when there aren¡¯t threats from the outsiders. I bet that they still don¡¯t know that outsiders areing. This time, we won¡¯t be dealing with Demon invaders alone, but rather, we¡¯ll be facing invaders of many races at the same time.¡±

    Thest time the three major spatial rifts had opened, the Demons had been the only race that had rushed through them into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, this time, they had seen Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Stonemen, ckscales, and Birdmen in that strange dimension, which meant that they nned on marching their joint army into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim uponing to that thought.

    He suspected that Zhen Hun hadn¡¯t had a chance to learn about the outsiders¡¯ n before her return.

    Perhaps she had sustained severe injuries when Yao Shou and the others turned on them soon after entering that dimension. She had realized that she hadn¡¯t been fit to go through that vortex to the bottom continent, and thus ended her trip ahead of time.

    She probably hadn¡¯t encountered any outsiders before she had left.

    If she had learned that outsider experts had been nning to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars, she would have probably stopped Wu Langxie and Hua Mu from getting their revenge right away.

    ¡°Do you know where my master is now?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°She¡¯s in Shatter City,¡± Li Langfeng answered.

    ¡°I¡¯m off to Shatter City then.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi shot Nie Tian a nce. ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°You go ahead,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you there soon.¡±

    Very concerned with her master¡¯s condition, Pei Qiqi immediately summoned her Lightning Shuttle and sailed off into the distance.

    Upon hearing about the recent changes in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the other chosen ones also seemed eager to return to their sects and ns to inform their seniors of their encounters and have them make preparations as soon as possible. Therefore, they bid their farewells and left one after another.

    Soon, the Dong n members and Nie Tian were the only ones that remained in this ce.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes were filled with anticipation as she gazed at Nie Tian and asked him to go with her. ¡°This will be the first stop for those powerful outsiders. The Realm of Split Void will soon be plunged into turmoil. I really don¡¯t think you should stay with Pei Qiqi. It¡¯ll be much safer if youe to the Dong n with us.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got my own ns.¡±

    With these words, he untied the leather pouch from his waist and handed it over to Dong Li. ¡°These are the valuables I looted from the cultivators and outsiders I killed, storage rings and other things.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much they¡¯re worth, and right now I don¡¯t have the time to sort them through and trade them.

    ¡°I hope you can trade them for some spirit stones and spiritual materials that suit my cultivation needs after you get back to your n. Oh, right, I could also use some meat from high grade spirit beasts.¡±

    Dong Li was somewhat pleased that Nie Tian had asked her to handle his loot, instead of Pei Qiqi.

    With a smile, she put the leather pouch away and said, ¡°Alright then. You cane find me in my n at any time. Or you can let me know where you¡¯ll be, so I cane to you when I¡¯m finished.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here in the Realm of Split Void for a while,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Afterwards, I might visit the Realm of Dark Underworld.¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Dong Baijie grinned and said to Nie Tian, ¡°It¡¯s about time we leave. You take care!¡±

    With these words, he summoned a Rainbow Lightning. After every Dong n member was on board, they sailed off into the distance.

    Nie Tian knew that the Dong n had their own secret teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void. All of the other forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles hade via their portal.

    Therefore, even though the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon had lost their teleportation portals to other sects, they would be able to return home safely.

    Their leaving left Nie Tian and Li Langfeng the only ones by the increasingly turbulent spatial rift.

    At this moment, Nie Tian took a close look at Li Langfeng. His eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    Before killing Ning Yang, he had helped Li Langfeng break through into the Worldly realm, but he hadn¡¯t expected that he had already made another breakthrough, and was now at the middle Worldly realm.

    It was just that he looked even more scrawny than before. Even though the aura he emanated was strange and fierce, it seemed to beced with a hint of death.

    This suggested that Li Langfeng¡¯s fleshly body had already sustained too much damage, and he was now on the verge of dying.

    He knew that Li Langfeng had chosen this self-damaging cultivation path because he needed to achieve rapid advancement in his cultivation, so that he could have his revenge. In order to do that, he was even willing to give up his health.

    Therefore, it was a possibility that he would die from the toxins he had allowed into himself before he could y his enemy with his own hands.

    As his cultivation base rose, he got closer and closer to death.

    Li Langfeng nced around to see if there were others around before saying with a bitter smile, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve made another breakthrough in my cultivation, but that means another step closer towards death. My only fear is that I can¡¯t kill that man and avenge my parents and little sister before I die.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯m not in good shape right now. I hope you can guard me while I spend some time recovering my strength.¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± Li Langfeng said without hesitation.

    He even seemed to be looking forward to this, as if he was hoping that, in return, Nie Tian would help him efficiently umte strength again.

    A major reason why he had been able to enter the Worldly realm within a very short period of time was because Nie Tian had formed spiritual energy balls for him to absorb concentrated toxins from.

    ¡°Great! Let¡¯s go find a suitable location!¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian summoned the Golden Chariot he had gotten from Su Lin from within his ring of holding, and leaped on board.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°A Golden Chariot of the Heaven Pce Sect! I heard that you had refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect, did you not?¡±

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t sumb to their pressure,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile. ¡°I demanded this Golden Chariot from one of their disciples.¡±

    Li Langfeng was very impressed. ¡°You demanded it from the Heaven Pce Sect? No wonder you¡¯re the only sessor the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has chosen in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With these words, he also leaped onto the war chariot, which then rose high into the sky.

    With the help of an air-transportation spiritual tool, it took them a much shorter time to travel to the forbidden region where meteors constantly fell from outer space.

    Merely an hourter, they arrived in the forbidden region where they had killed Ning Yang together.

    Nie Tian picked a random huge crater andnded the Golden Chariot on therge, dark-brown meteor within it. Then, he put the Golden Chariot away and sat down in the lotus position.

    He piled arge number of Star Stones in front of him, along with fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials.

    To contend against Armes¡¯ strike with the Nethersoul Saber, he had drained almost all of his powers. Afterwards, before the spatial rift leading to the Domain of the Falling Stars had opened, he had only recovered some of his wood power with the help of the Wood Thriving Formation.

    He hadn¡¯t had the chance to attend to his other powers.

    Therefore, he spent the following days recovering wholeheartedly with the materials before him.

    Five dayster, his powers were all fully recovered.

    After the previous refinement, his vortex of star power was already ready for his next breakthrough. His vortex of wood power was also close to being ready. Only his vortex of me power still needed refinement.

    Meanwhile, the previous series of battles had forced him to consume a considerable amount of his soul power from the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Since he hadn¡¯t yet entered the Worldly realm, there didn¡¯t seem to be any ways for him to replenish his soul power, which frustrated him.

    Then, he formed Heaven Eyes with his soul power and once again attempted to pry into the depths of the earth.

    He had long since realized that this forbidden region, which continued to attract meteors from outer space, must have some secrets, and those secrets were rted to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Then, after his conversation with Armes, he had be even more convinced that whatever was lying under there was meant for him, a Son of the Stars.

    Whether he would be able to step out of the Domain of the Falling Stars and explore the wider heaven and earth would depend on him uncovering those secrets that had been hidden deep underground.

    However, even though he had entered the middle Greater Heaven stage, he still couldn¡¯t see through that mysterious ward and pry into its secrets. <i>¡°It seems that only after I enter the Worldly realm, when my soul has transformed, will I be able to see through the barrier.¡± </i>

    Afterwards, he withdrew his Heaven Eyes, opened his eyes, and smiled at Li Langfeng. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Li Langfeng smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± Then, he started to look awkward. ¡°You know... I want to enter thete Worldly realm as soon as possible, since only after entering thete Worldly realm will I have the confidence to y my enemy. So can you help me again?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said softly, ¡°Are you aware how poor your condition is?¡±

    Li Langfeng let out a long sigh. ¡°Of course I am.¡±

    ¡°Do you know the consequences of you entering thete Worldly realm? The way I see it, there¡¯s a fifty percent chance of you dying trying to break through into thete Worldly realm.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to sweeten his words.

    ¡°I know,¡± Li Langfeng said with a wry smile. ¡°Actually, your estimation is conservative. I think there¡¯s a sixty percent chance of me dying trying to achieve that breakthrough.¡±

    ¡°Then why do you still want to do it?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

 Chapter 585: The Li Clans Blood Feud

    Nie Tian examined Li Langfeng briefly with his soul power, and soon realized that the internal damage he was suffering from was far worse than Pei Qiqi.

    Li Langfeng had allowed too many toxins into himself.

    Even though those toxins contained a significant amount of power, and they had helped him achieve rapid progress and breakthroughs, he wasn¡¯t a Fiend. The toxins were inflicting serious damage on him at the same time.

    In Li Langfeng¡¯s spiritual sea, profound spiritual power and deadly toxins were mixed together.

    His whole body was under the unceasing influence of the toxins. Even his meridians and internal organs had be deeply eroded.

    The reason why he would spit out grimy blood from time to time was because he had been suppressing his injuries with his spiritual power, and continuously forcing the most deadly kinds of toxins out of his system.

    However, as long as he kept practicing his special incantations, he would allow more toxins into himself, which would form more toxic residue and further the erosion of his insides.

    As this continued, Li Langfeng¡¯s body would soon be drained of its essence, and his lifespan would drop significantly.

    It was these toxins inside of him that made him so powerful, but they also riddled him with injuries, pushing him closer and closer towards death.

    In order to advance to thete Worldly realm, he would have to allow more toxins into his body, which was already afflicted with severe damage.

    If he did that, Nie Tian deemed that he would be like a flickering candle in the wind that could go out at any moment.

    Li Langfeng sighed and said with a frustrated look on his face, ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice.¡±

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s inquiring gaze, he remained silent for a short while before slowly telling his story. ¡°My n was originally one of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s subordinate ns in the Realm of Dark Underworld. We were given the responsibility of managing a mine for the Spirit God Sect. In return, the Spirit God Sect would bring us under their protection.

    ¡°One day, my father, the head miner, discovered a stone room in the depths of the mine by ident.

    ¡°It was a built in the Phantasm¡¯s typical style. Inside the stone room, he found a skull, along with a few other small items.

    ¡°Then, he was surprised to discovered that there seemed to be a soul inside that skull.¡±

    ¡°A skull...¡± Nie Tian muttered with an intense look in his eyes.

    Li Langfeng didn¡¯t stop because of Nie Tian¡¯s reaction, but went on telling his story. ¡°Then, my father nned to inform their backer in the Spirit God Sect of his discovery, hoping they would give some advice as to what they should do with that stone room.

    ¡°However, someone in the n leaked the information to another person from the Spirit God Sect first.

    ¡°That person was at the middle Worldly realm back then, and he happened to have asting feud with our n¡¯s backer in the Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°When he had learned about our discovery, he nted evidence of some random crime on our n and massacred my nsmen.

    ¡°He wiped out my entire n. My parents and younger sister all died at his hands.

    ¡°I only survived because I was sent to the Spirit God Sect to give word of our discovery to our backer in the Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°In order to suck up to Chang Qiu, one of the Spirit God Sect¡¯s powerful elders, the manter gave everything we had discovered in the stone room to him.

    ¡°By the time I arrived in the Spirit God Sect, I learned of that man¡¯s monstrous crime.

    ¡°However, our n¡¯s backer didn¡¯t want to confront Chang Qiu, so he eventually drove me away and told me to forget about what had happened.

    ¡°I was afraid that that man would try to silence me if I continued to stay in the Realm of Dark Underworld, so I went to the Realm of ck Marsh, where I took on a new name and joined the Poison Sect. There, I only learned and practiced the incantations that would allow my cultivation to progress the fastest, since all I could think about was bing strong enough to avenge my family and nsmen within the shortest time possible.

    ¡°However,ter when my master in the Poison Sect learned about my true identity and my feud with the man in the Spirit God Sect, not only did he not help me, but he even talked to that man and nned to give me to him.

    ¡°I learned about his n by ident, so I fled the Realm of ck Marsh overnight. That¡¯s how I ended up in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Li Langfeng looked down at the ground, his eyes brimming with hatred. ¡°That fucker who killed my whole family is named Wu Qinghe. He¡¯s probably already entered thete Worldly realm, considering that he has ess to the Spirit God Sect¡¯s profound cultivation resources.

    ¡°I, on the other hand, have no sect at my back. My cultivation base was way lower than his when I made up my mind to kill him. If I cultivated the regr way, I¡¯d never have the chance to y him myself.

    ¡°While I make progress in my cultivation, he¡¯s making progress in his. That way, he¡¯ll always be stronger than me.

    ¡°So I could only find another way to cultivate, a way that would allow me to make rapid advancements, even if theye with a price. All I want is to kill him before the toxins kill me.

    ¡°Wu Qinghe is a lucky bastard. He didn¡¯t die at Hua Mu¡¯s hands.

    ¡°I have to enter thete Worldly realm as soon as possible since I want to y him myself. I can¡¯t allow him to die at someone else¡¯s hands!¡±

    With these words, Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes became wide and bloodshot, while his whole body was wreathed in intense killing intent.

    Nie Tian let out a sigh, as he felt for Li Langfeng.

    ¡°Chang Qiu from the Spirit God Sect...¡± Nie Tian muttered. He pondered for a few seconds before asking, ¡°Who¡¯s Chang Yuan to him?¡±

    ¡°Chang Yuan is Chang Qiu¡¯s son,¡± Li Langfeng said bitterly. ¡°I heard that Chang Qiu gave the our findings Wu Qingyuan had presented to him as a gift to his son. Chang Yuan is one of the chosen ones of the Spirit God Sect. With Chang Qiu there to protect and support him, his future should be very promising.¡±

    ¡°Interesting.¡± Nie Tian snorted a smile as he took out a skull from his ring of holding. ¡°Is this the skull your father discovered in that stone room?¡±

    Li Langfeng was taken aback. ¡°Exactly! Howe it¡¯s in your possession?¡±

    ¡°I killed Chang Yuan in that dimension we went to, and this was on him,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Li Langfeng looked very pleased as he said, ¡°Even though Chang Qiu isn¡¯t the one who ughtered my family and nsmen, he¡¯s still involved. Even though I can¡¯t believe that you actually killed his son, this gives me great relief!¡±

    ¡°Lu Jian died too,¡± Nie Tian added.

    Li Langfeng gasped with astonishment. ¡°Lu Jian too?! Lu Jian is by no means an insignificant character. His status in the Spirit God Sect is even more noble than Chang Yuan¡¯s! Word has it that he¡¯s the bastard son of the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect! If you¡¯ve killed him, the entire Spirit God Sect will make you their sworn enemy!¡±

    Nie Tian curled his lips. ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t kill him myself, but I contributed to his death. Plus, not only the Spirit God Sect, but the Poison Sect, which you also hate, is going to make me their sworn enemy. Zhang Jiu¡¯s death also had a good deal to do with me.¡±

    Li Langfeng was bbergasted. ¡°What the hell did you do in that dimension?¡±

    ¡°I killed about half of the major sects¡¯ chosen ones from throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Nie Tian said with an expressionless face.

    As unruly as Li Langfeng was, he stuttered in shock while staring closely at Nie Tian in a way as if he were staring at a demon from hell. ¡°H-how did you dare to do these things?!¡±

    At that moment, something seemed to suddenly ur to Nie Tian as he eximed, ¡°Li Langfeng! It just urred to me that I can help you with your internal injuries!¡±

    Li Langfeng was intrigued. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°What if I told you that I can treat your injuries, and at the same time, elerate your cultivation advancement?¡± Nie Tian asked excitedly. ¡°What if I could prolong your lifespan and make sure that you get to y your enemy yourself?¡±

    A shudder ran through Li Langfeng¡¯s body as he eximed, ¡°If you can do that, then my life will be yours!¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°Actually, what I can bring you might exceed your expectations!¡±

    With these words, he took out the ssware that contained the Fiend¡¯s heart and handed it to Li Langfeng. ¡°This heart belonged to a Fiend. If you can make good use of it, perhaps it can even help you advance to the Profound realm!¡±

    The Poison Sect was based in the Realm of ck Marsh, which used to be home to Fiends. Therefore, many of the Poison Sect¡¯s secret magics had profound connections to the Fiends.

    In order to make rapid progress in his cultivation, Li Langfeng would need arge amount of deadly toxins. However, a Fiend¡¯s heart happened to be the part that held most of a Fiend¡¯s toxins.

    Nie Tian believed that, if Li Langfeng was able to refine that Fiend¡¯s heart, his cultivation base and battle prowess would progress by leaps and bounds.

    As for the bacsh Li Langfeng suffered from practicing poisonous incantations, he was confident that he would be able to help him with Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation.

    The way he saw it, as long as Li Langfeng could find a way to survive the bacsh from his cultivation, he would eventually join the ranks of the most powerful and fierce experts throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If he were to be Li Langfeng¡¯s means of surviving the bacsh from his cultivation, that meant he would be forever in his debt.

    Meanwhile, he could use a person like Li Langfeng to take care of certain things for him, especially before his cultivation reached a fairly high level.

    With such a fierce and relentless person by his side, he would be able to ride out some deadly tribtions more easily.

    ¡°Is there a ce in the Realm of Split Void that¡¯s covered in lush vegetation?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Umm... Actually, there is!¡± Li Langfeng said as his eyes lit up.

    ¡°Take me there, and I¡¯ll help you stabilize your injuries first, so that you¡¯ll be able to head towards your next breakthrough without any scruples.¡± With these words, Nie Tian sprang to his feet, summoned his Golden Chariot, and urged Li Langfeng to jump on board.

    With a swift leap, Li Langfeng jumped on board and called out. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way!¡±

 Chapter 586: A Storm Brews

    In the east of the Land of the Abandoned in the Realm of Split Void.

    The entire region was covered in lush trees and nts that looked like a thick carpet of vegetation.

    This had originally been a dense forest. After the upheaval, poisonous energy had poured into the Realm of Split Void and killed most of the vegetation in the realm,pletely changing the environment of the Realm of Split Void. However, a small proportion managed to survive the hostile environment. They mutated over time, and thrived in new forms.

    After their mutation, the trees and nts had be taller, but also more dangerous.

    Some of the nts had branches and leaves that were as sharp as des, making them look very scary. If Qi warriors with low cultivation bases were to pass through this region, the nts would give them deep cuts all over.

    The Land of the Abandoned was under the Dark Moon¡¯s governance. As one of the Dark Moon¡¯s guest elders, Li Langfeng knew this region like the back of his hand.

    After arriving in the region, Nie Tian established the Wood Thriving Formation without hesitation. A hemispherical, dark-green ward instantly formed over his head.

    In the dark-green ward, numerous mysterious tree patterns could be seen swimming about like fish in the sea as they rapidly channeled wood power from the vicinity.

    The wood power in this region was far fainter than in the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd, where he had obtained the Wood Thriving Formation, or the ind that he had recentlye back from.

    However, in his senses, the wood power in this region was richer than in most realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He thought about it, and suspected that this could be a result of the nts¡¯ mutation.

    Without any dy, he started healing Li Langfeng¡¯s festering wounds and eroded insides, and refining his whole body for him with Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Since Li Langfeng¡¯s internal damage hadsted for many years, it was harder to tackle than Nie Tian had imagined.

    After moving to seven different locations to get fresh wood power from their surroundings, he had barely healed Li Langfeng¡¯s most serious injuries. During the process, he had even consumed a significant amount of his own wood power.

    Even so, what Nie Tian had healed amounted to only half of Li Langfeng¡¯s injuries.

    Two weekster, Nie Tian stopped and withdrew his hands. Somewhat frustrated, he said, ¡°Your injuries are much more serious than I had imagined. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll take a long time to heal them bit by bit.¡±

    He seemed to be rather sorry that his current cultivation base didn¡¯t allow him to heal Li Langfengpletely in one go.

    However, Li Langfeng seemed that he couldn¡¯t be happier.

    As he sensed Nie Tian withdrawing his hand, his eyes snapped open, blossoming with suffocating light. Like a serpent that had juste out of its hibernation, he licked the corner of his mouth, and smiled dangerously. ¡°Good! This is already good enough! Now I can seek my next breakthrough with the help of that Fiend heart without worrying about dying during the process!¡±

    Before meeting Nie Tian, he had prepared himself for death during his breakthrough into thete Worldly realm.

    After all, he knew his own condition better than anyone.

    However, now, after moving to seven different locations, Nie Tian had healed arge proportion of his old injuries and damage, much of which he had deemed permanent and irreversible.

    Before, he had spent massively to get medicinal pills that could help nourish one¡¯s fleshly body from the Dark Moon. However, none of them really helped.

    Therefore, he had long since given up on finding cures for his condition. Who would have thought that thebination of Nie Tian¡¯s Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation could have such miraculous effects?

    His primary headache had been his eroded internal organs, but after Nie Tian¡¯s unrelenting efforts, they were now fully healed.

    Now, he could finally seek his next breakthrough without worrying about dying in the process.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, I believe that you won¡¯t have any life-threatening issues for now, but I suggest that you make proper use of that Fiend¡¯s heart, and don¡¯t strain yourself. Even I can¡¯t tell what grade that Fiend was at when they were alive, so you¡¯d better be very cautious when you extract its toxic essence.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Li Langfeng said,ughing broadly. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and focus on my cultivation. I won¡¯t go anywhere for now.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Nie Tian said. Then after a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°I¡¯ve got things to take care of in Shatter City. If you need me, juste to Shatter City and find a person named Hu Rong.¡±

    Li Langfeng nodded.

    Nie Tian summoned his Golden Chariot and flew off towards Shatter City.

    Great changes could take ce in the Realm of Split Void at any moment. Perhaps the powerful outsiders had already made their way to the top continent and discovered the few spatial rifts leading to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Meanwhile, he wondered how the battle between Hua Mu and the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect was going.

    He also wanted to know what the major sects¡¯ reaction would be now that their chosen ones had returned to their sects with word of what had happened in that dimension.

    The Golden Chariot sailed through the air at a very high speed, and eventuallynded outside Shatter City.

    He had passed regions that should have been roamed by hunters on his way to Shatter City, yet he didn¡¯t see a single hunter.

    He had even unleashed his Heaven Eyes and used them to scan his surroundings, but still failed to detect any signs of human Qi warriors along his way.

    He wondered where those hunters had gone.

    As soon as he stepped through the city gate, he discovered that there were only a handful of people in the streets,pletely different from how he remembered the city to be. It seemed that many of the fierce-looking ouws that had lived in the city for years had left.

    Now, most of the pedestrians he saw were at the Heaven stage, with very few Greater Heaven stage cultivators.

    He walked straight to the courtyard where Pei Qiqi lived.

    Standing before the gate, he instantly had a feeling that numerous wisps of soul awareness had flown over to examine him.

    KREEEN!

    The wooden gate opened by itself, and Nie Tian strode into the yard. He instantly saw that a few familiar people were standing in the middle of the yard.

    They were Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi, Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor, Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, and a few Worldly realm members of the Blood Skull. Many of them seemed very surprised to see him, while some didn¡¯t seem to know who he was.

    Zhen Hun looked ghastly, though a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she saw Nie Tian walk in. Then she turned to the others and said, ¡°Some of you might recognize him, but you probably don¡¯t know who he really is. Allow me to introduce Nie Tian, also known as Hua Tian, the only sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Cai Lan¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    Hu Rong, who had long since learned about his true identity, nodded, smiling.

    Nie Tian was very surprised that Zhen Hun would reveal his true identity. Before entering that other dimension, Zhen Hun had even given him a special mask to prevent others from recognizing him, especially people from the me God Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    However, her actions now confused him deeply.

    Zhen Hun saw through his confusion, and thus exined, ¡°Times are different. Knowing that a joint outsider army is going to march into the Domain of the Falling Stars, none of the sects are in the mood to start strife among ourselves now. Not to mention that you have the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect at your back. The five forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the Spirit Condor will also be happy to shelter you. I¡¯m certain that the me God Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect won¡¯t seek trouble with you at such a time.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before asking, ¡°What¡¯s the situation now?¡±

    Zhen Hun then briefly exined the situation in the Realm of Split Void and the overall situation of the Domain of the Falling Stars to him.

    Thanks to the return of the chosen ones, all the major sects gained a thorough understanding about what had happened in that mysterious heaven and earth.

    Now everyone was aware that outsiders would invade the Domain of the Falling Stars before long.

    The reason why the hunters had all evacuated the Realm of Split Void was because they had learned that the Realm of Split Void might be the main battlefield once the outsider army arrived.

    Meanwhile, since all the teleportation portals in the Realm of Split Void had recently opened to the public, hunters or normal citizens, everyone was free to leave the Realm of Split Void, just as others were free toe.

    As a result, about eighty percent of the Qi warriors that had lived in the Realm of Split Void had chosen to leave.

    Furthermore, since the entire Domain of the Falling Stars was facing an outsider invasion, the Heaven Pce Sect and a few other powerful sects had stepped up and stopped the conflicts in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Through intermediation, Wu Langxie had withdrawn from the me God Sect, and Hua Mu had ended his battle with the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect.

    Each and every major sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars was dispatching their powerful experts to the Realm of Split Void, where they were preparing for engagement with the outsiders.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you seal those few spatial rifts, Master Zhen?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Upon hearing these words, everyone present smiled bitterly.

    Zhen Hun let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. ¡°I tried, and so did Wu Ya, a spatial power expert from the Heaven Pce Sect, as well as a few other top spatial power experts. As it turns out, there¡¯s very little we can do. Those spatial rifts are extremelyplicated, and ever-changing. None of us were able to seal them.¡±

 Chapter 587: Obstruction

    ording to Zhen Hun, every expert of spatial power throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars had been to the Void Illusion Mountain Range over the past two weeks, attempting to seal the six spatial rifts.

    However, none had seeded.

    Seeing that they wouldn¡¯t be able to prevent the outsiders from invading, the sects from throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars were forced to assemble their forces to prepare for the uing war against the outsider invaders.

    Nie Tian stood there in silence, listening as Cai Lan, Hu Rong, and the others discussed the situation.

    From them, he learned that many cultivators that lived in the Realm of Split Void had abandoned their homes and left because of the uing war.

    Meanwhile, the sectmasters and heads of forces from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars were dispatching their Worldly realm and Profound realm members to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, as well as those from their subordinate sects and ns.

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before Worldly realm and Profound realm experts started pouring into the Realm of Split Void.

    Nie Tian listened for a while, and soon realized that there was very little he could do to prevent this tribtion from happening. Thus, after a moment of pondering, he asked Cai Lan if he could use one of the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms to recover his strength.

    After learning about his true identity and considering his close rtionship with Zhen Hun, Cai Lan granted him permission without hesitation.

    At this time, the Blood Skull was no longer the overlord of the Realm of Split Void. With powerful experts from the major powers pouring into the Realm of Split Void, he couldn¡¯t see where the future of the Blood Skully.

    In fact, this was the reason why he had sought Zhen Hun out.

    After learning that Nie Tian would spend some time cultivating in one of the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms, Zhen Hun told him to be careful, and saw him off as he left the courtyard.

    Soon, Nie Tian arrived at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    To his surprise, he ran into Shi Qing.

    He was surprised that Shi Qing had survived the pursuit of those from the Thunder Mountain Sect. Shi Qing became very hospitable the moment he saw him.

    After he stated his intentions, Shi Qing quickly led him upstairs and opened one of the cultivation rooms that was designed for Greater Heaven stage cultivators. Furthermore, he said that it would be free of charge, no matter how long he used the room.

    Right before Nie Tian stepped into the room, Shi Qing once again expressed his gratitude, saying that if it hadn¡¯t been for him and Pei Qiqi, he wouldn¡¯t have made it back to Shatter City alive.

    Afterwards, he even advised Nie Tian to leave the Realm of Split Void as soon as possible, because things would get very messy here soon.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word. With a smile, he nodded and entered the cultivation room, where he started cultivating wholeheartedly.

    A month passed.

    Not only had Nie Tian fully recovered the wood power he had consumed to heal Li Langfeng, but he had also expanded and refined his vortex of wood power to the point where it was ready for his next breakthrough.

    During this time, his eight vortexes of spiritual power also went through rapid expansion and refinement.

    Inparison, the development of his vortex of me power was rather slow, since no special events had happened that provided him with opportunities to achieve rapid progress.

    Ending his cultivation, he opened the door to his cultivation room. The moment he stepped through it, he looked down and saw Shi Qing, who was standing on the ground floor.

    ¡°Are you finished?¡± Shi Qing asked, full of smiles. ¡°It seems about time. People came for you repeatedly during the past month. Besides, under the Spirit Condor¡¯s instructions, the Blood Skull is going to host a trade fair for spiritual materials and spiritual tools in three days. Many rare and precious materials and high-grade spiritual tools will be presented at the trade fair.¡±

    ¡°Who came for me?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    With these words, he subconsciously unleashed his psychic awareness, and discovered that the originally lifeless Shatter City was somehow vibrant with life again.

    However, his psychic awareness caught the attention of many powerful experts. Their auras started to rapidly converge on him.

    He hastily withdrew his psychic awareness and asked curiously, ¡°What happened here? Why is Shatter City suddenly filled with people again?¡±

    ¡°The Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Tool Sect, and the forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles have sent Worldly realm and Profound realm experts here,¡± Shi Qing answered with a somewhat reluctant smile. ¡°They¡¯re all here to fight the outsiders that may descend at any moment. Master Zhen established another inter-realm teleportation portal in the city. It was through that portal that those experts got here.

    ¡°All of the sects with profound reserve power have dispatched forces to the Realm of Split Void. Some of their Worldly realm and Profound realm experts are currently stationed in Shatter City.

    ¡°The others were sent to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, where they¡¯re setting up defenses by those six spatial rifts with powerful experts from the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, and the other sects.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before asking with a grim expression, ¡°Did anyone or any outsiders came through that spatial rift while I was in there?¡±

    ¡°So far, no,¡± Shi Qing said.

    Nie Tian seemed slightly relieved, then he went on and asked, ¡°Right, who came for me?¡±

    ¡°People from the Realm of me Heaven,¡± Shi Qing said.

    ¡°People from the Realm of me Heaven?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What are they doing here?!¡±

    ¡°Now that we¡¯re facing a great tribtion, every sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars is required to sent at least half of their Worldly realm and Profound realm experts here to join the battle against the outsiders,¡± Shi Qing exined. ¡°Even though the Realm of me Heaven is a weak realm, there are still a number of sects in the Realm of me Heaven, and they do have Worldly realm and Profound realm members. Also, since the forces from the other realms demanded that they join the action, they had no choice.¡±

    ¡°Who came?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Umm... I¡¯m not very familiar with them,¡± Shi Qing said with an awkward smile. ¡°But I know that they were arranged to live in the same block as Hu Rong. You¡¯ll know who came once you go there.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and asked, ¡°Hu Rong¡¯s block? The run-down block assigned to the Spirit Condor?¡±

    The block where the Spirit Condor had set up their secret quarters was the most gutted area of Shatter City. Only the poorest people lived in those small and dpidated buildings.

    Keh! Keh! With a embarrassed smile, Shi Qing said, ¡°The head didn¡¯t mean to disrespect them. As you know, none of the sects in the Realm of me Heaven have ever produced a Soul realm expert. Now, powerful experts from the other sects that have longer histories and more profound strength have also gathered in Shatter City.

    ¡°Actually, it might not be a bad idea to separate the sects from the Realm of me Heaven from them.

    ¡°That way, it¡¯ll be more unlikely for conflicts to break out between them and those from the more powerful realms, due to attitude problems. Plus, the head consulted Master Zhen about such arrangements. Master Zhen agreed to them as well.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded reluctantly. ¡°I see.¡±

    Afterwards, he bid farewell to Shi Qing and left the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters for the poorest area of Shatter City.

    After turning into the narrow block, Nie Tian sighed as he nced over the short, dpidated buildings on both sides of the street, as well as the unattended weeds that grew everywhere.

    Due to the fact that the Realm of me Heaven hadn¡¯t produced a single Soul realm expert, the other realms had always attached little importance to the Realm of me Heaven. Sects from the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of ck Marsh had even plotted to invade the Realm of me Heaven.

    When it came to benefits, none of the major sects from the other realms would think of the Realm of me Heaven.

    For example, when the powerful sects had arranged forces to go through the six spatial rifts to explore the new heaven and earth they had discovered, the sects in the Realm of me Heaven had long since been informed that they wouldn¡¯t be allowed to join them.

    However, now that outsiders were about to invade, each and every sect in the Realm of me Heaven had been made to send forces to join the uing battle.

    Before Nie Tian could walk into the block, the sounds of people arguing echoed from one of the dpidated courtyards and caught his ears.

    They argued so loudly that he could hear them with great rity from a hundred meters away. Then, he put on the mask Zhen Hun had gifted him and rushed over.

    After going through an open gate, Nie Tian saw that many of his acquaintances from the Realm of me Heaven were standing in the courtyard, including Chang Sen from the Hell Sect, Li Jing from the Blood Sect, Ghost Eye from the Ghost Sect, Jiang Zhisu from the Cloudsoaring Sect, and Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    Sitting in a stone chair in front of them was a Profound realm Qi warrior from the Heaven Expanse Sect.

    Behind that person stood three male and one female disciple of the Heaven Expanse Sect. The three males were at the Worldly realm, and the female was at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Many in the crowd gave Nie Tian a quick nce as he walked in, but none recognized him.

    Under the mask he had gotten from Zhen Hun, he looked no different from a normal Qi warrior at the middle Greater Heaven stage who practiced me power.

    Looking like that, he was easily ignored by the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts in the courtyard.

    Ji Qingyun, the one who was sitting in the face of a whole crowd of Qi warriors from the Realm of me Heaven, said slowly and expressionlessly, ¡°Our sects agreed that you lot from the Realm of me Heaven would need to send all of your Profound realm members to join the battle. Howe Wu Ji isn¡¯t here?¡±

    Jiang Zhisu from the Cloudsoaring Sect said, while struggling to suppress his anger, ¡°My martial uncle is still in the middle of his secluded cultivation. We couldn¡¯t get word to him even if we wanted to. We¡¯ll inform him the moment hees out.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one... Also, why are you lot still in Shatter City?¡± Ji Qingyun asked coldly. ¡°You need to march to the Void Illusion Mountain Range right away, and set up defenses in front of one of the spatial rifts!¡±

    ¡°People from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Ice Pavilion Sect are also in Shatter City. They¡¯re also going to attend the trading fair the Spirit Condor is holding in three days. Why didn¡¯t you tell them to go right away?¡± Ghost Eye confronted him angrily.

    With a cold smile, Ji Qingyun said, ¡°Who do you think you are? You¡¯ll get to enjoy the same treatment they¡¯re receiving when you also have Soul realm experts in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    From what he had heard so far, Nie Tian already knew what was happening. Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect was here to force the experts from the Realm of me Heaven to be at the forefront of their defenses, and to be the first ones to shoulder the outsiders¡¯ wrath.

    They didn¡¯t dare to demand such a thing from the other powerful sects, so they picked the weakest ones and intended to use these folk from the Realm of me Heaven to test the outsiders¡¯ strength and determination.

    If the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven did as they were told, even if the humans eventually beat the outsider invaders, they wouldn¡¯t live to see that.

    By that time, the snakes from the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of ck Marsh would be able to take the Realm of me Heaven without breaking a sweat.

    Jiang Zhisu and the others had long since seen through Ji Qingyun¡¯s intentions, yet they didn¡¯t dare to oppose him directly.

    At this moment, Nie Tian stepped out of the crowd and stood unwavering before Ji Qingyun. ¡°Is it just your sect¡¯s opinion, or that of all the sects that the forces from the Realm of me Heaven should be the at the forefront of the defenses?¡±

    Ji Qingyun snorted coldly. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Then, he nced at Jiang Zhisu and Chang Sen from the corner of his eyes and asked, ¡°Do you not discipline your juniors? How does he dare to interrupt our conversation?¡±

    Jiang Zhisu and the other sectmasters were very confused as they sized Nie Tian up, who none of them knew.

    They had long since warned their juniors not to join the important conversations, so they all wondered who this young man was and what he intended to do by confronting Ji Qingyun in such a direct manner.

 Chapter 588: Fearless

    ¡°How can you prove that you represent all of the other sects?¡± Nie Tian asked with a calm expression. ¡°If you want the sects from the Realm of me Heaven to set up defenses on the frontline, you¡¯ll have to obtain written agreement from all of the other sects, at the very least. If you¡¯ve got none of that, don¡¯t you imagine that the sects from the Realm of me Heaven will listen to you!¡±

    Ji Qingyun burst into a ming rage. ¡°Shut up! How dare you, a Greater Heaven stage junior, question me!? One more word, and I¡¯ll give you something to remember!¡±

    Chang Sen, Li Jing, and the other sectmasters felt rather helpless as they watched Ji Qingyun ranting arrogantly.

    They also wondered whether Ji Qingyun just represented the Heaven Expanse Sect, or all the other sects as well.

    Since they didn¡¯t have a single Soul realm expert in the Realm of me Heaven, they hadn¡¯t even been invited to attend those important meetings.

    Ji Qingyun was only at the middle Profound realm, which was not enough to make them hesitate over confronting him.

    However, they were apprehensive because they assumed that he now represented the Heaven Expanse Sect and the other powerful sects.

    They were afraid that if they stood up against him, they would anger those Soul realm experts, who could wipe all of their sects out effortlessly.

    This was why they had chosen to bear Ji Qingyun¡¯s provocativenguage so far.

    Now, Nie Tian had showed up, and the questions he asked were exactly the ones they had meant to ask, but didn¡¯t dare to.

    Nie Tian shot Ji Qingyun a gaze out of the corner of his eyes and asked casually, ¡°So do you mean that you¡¯re going to discipline me yourself?¡±

    Ji Qingyun grew increasingly furious now that Nie Tian had suddenly appeared and interfered with his n to bring those from the Realm of me Heaven to his heel. Seeing that Nie Tian actually dared to provoke him, he waved his hand and shouted angrily, ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to be disciplined by me personally! Yu Wei! Go teach him a lesson!¡±

    Yu Wei was the only female disciple standing behind Ji Qingyun. She was at thete Greater Heaven stage, while the other three male disciples were at the Worldly realm.

    In Ji Qingyun¡¯s eyes, Yu Wei was more than enough to give Nie Tian some serious injuries, and by not having a Worldly realm disciple do it, he wouldn¡¯t be used of bullying the weak.

    Dressed in a long, white dress, Yu Wei was rather tall and slender. A hint of arrogance could be seen on her gracefully beautiful face. It seemed that she had long since found Nie Tian an eyesore, so upon hearing Ji Qingyun¡¯s order, she instantly stepped forward.

    Chang Sen, Li Jing, and the other experts from the Realm of me Heaven exchanged awkward nces.

    Since none of them knew who Nie Tian was, they were all hesitant, unsure of what to do.

    While they were pondering whether to put a stop to this, Yu Weiunched a lightning-quick, murderous attack.

    She summoned a jade ruler into her hand as she jumped into the air and rapidly fell towards Nie Tian.

    A spiritual fish could be seen swimming around in the cyan jade ruler, and as it did, the jade ruler was quickly wreathed in a cyan, watery mist.

    Afterwards, drops of cyan water formed around the jade ruler before they rained down on Nie Tian at full speed.

    As insignificant as the raindrops seemed, they were actually as heavy as mountains. Anyone weaker than Nie Tian would have been forced to kneel and beg for mercy.

    A faint, disdainful smile appeared at the corner of Yu Wei¡¯s mouth as she saw that Nie Tian didn¡¯t move a bit when the cyan raindrops fell heavily on his shoulders.

    Then, she swished the jade ruler down towards Nie Tian¡¯s right shoulder with a force so great that it seemed that she was hoping to crush his shoulder with this single strike.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, and still didn¡¯t move in the slightest, like a sharp sword that had been plunged deep into the ground. Only when the jade ruler came close enough did he summon his strength and meet it with his clenched fist.

    Yu Wei was taken aback. ¡°H-he can still move his arm!?¡±

    BOOM!

    Mountain-shattering force burst forth from Nie Tian¡¯s fist as he mmed it into the iing cyan jade ruler. Like small snakes, wisps of crimson, green, and white aura instantly drilled into the jade ruler.

    The hand Yu Wei used to hold that ruler instantly became badly mangled, blood spilling from it continuously.

    Gasping with astonishment, she hastily jumped backwards, holding her hand. Her eyes were filled with fear as she struggled to summon her spiritual power to neutralize the powers that had been sent into her hand. ¡°Who are you?!¡±

    Ji Qingyun¡¯s eyes were very wide as he sprang to his feet and shouted furiously, ¡°How dare you?!¡±

    Just as he was going to strike Nie Tian himself, a voice echoed out from just outside the courtyard. ¡°Wait, Elder Ji!¡±

    In the next moment, a thin little man with a small beard walked through the courtyard gate.

    Full of smiles, he bowed towards the experts present. His manners made him seem like a businessman.

    ¡°You are?¡± Ji Qingyun asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

    Clearly, he didn¡¯t know Hu Rong.

    Hu Rong smiled and bowed as he answered, ¡°This one is the Spirit Condor¡¯s representative in the Realm of Split Void. Hu Rong is the name. The trade fair that¡¯s taking ce in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters in three days will be presided over by me.¡±

    The experts from the Realm of me Heaven all gasped upon hearing the Spirit Condor¡¯s name. ¡°The Spirit Condor!¡±

    Before, everyone had considered the Spirit Condor to be a secret organization that only dealt in information.

    Since it had always kept a low profile and stayed away from the public, many didn¡¯t know much about it.

    However, its name had be very well-known recently.

    That was because Hua Mu, who was a senior member of the Spirit Condor, had single-handedly killed numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm experts in the Spirit God Sect, destroyed their grand spell formation, and forced the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect toe out of his secluded cultivation. The battle between them hadsted two weeks, and a winner still hadn¡¯t emerged.

    He had only ended his massacre under the intermediation of many sects, knowing that they were facing threats from outsiders.

    In the eyes of many people, the fact that Hua Mu had dared to march to the Spirit God Sect by himself and managed to kill so many of their disciples proved that Hua Mu was definitely one of the most powerful experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The strange thing was that very few people had heard his name, much less what he had done before this.

    Furthermore, many believed that Hua Mu was only one of the Spirit Condor¡¯s Soul realm experts. There might be other experts in the Spirit Condor that were equally powerful or even more powerful than him.

    People had started to learn about the formidable reserve power of this mysterious organization.

    Some even said that if Hua Mu hadn¡¯t consumed a significant amount of strength killing those Worldly realm and Profound realm experts, and if he hadn¡¯t sustained injuries shattering the Spirit God Sect¡¯s grand spell formation, he might have won the battle against the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°The Spirit Condor!¡± Ji Qingyun¡¯s face twitched slightly.

    Unlike those from the Realm of me Heaven, as an elder of the Heaven Expanse Sect, he had long since learned about the Spirit Condor¡¯s hidden strength. The sectmaster of the Heaven Expanse Sect had even once said that the Spirit Condor might be strong enough to contend against the Heaven Pce Sect.

    After learning that Hu Rong was with the Spirit Condor, he could only suppress his fury and say, ¡°Is he also with the Spirit Condor?¡±

    Hu Rong gave Nie Tian a sideways look and said, smiling, ¡°Sort of.¡±

    Ji Qingyun¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he asked, looking deeply confused, ¡°Since when does the Spirit Condor have connections with the sects from the Realm of me Heaven? As far as I know, the Spirit Condor prefers to stay out of others¡¯ business. Why make an exception this time?¡±

    ¡°Because of him,¡± Hu Rong said as heid his eyes on Nie Tian, still smiling.

    Ji Qingyun was even more confused.

    At this moment, Chang Sen from the Hell Sect seemed to sense something. His eyebrows rose as he gazed at the courtyard gate. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Soon, the others also sensed movements outside the courtyard and focused their gazes on the gate.

    A momentter, a group of Qi warriors that were dressed in noble garments came through the gate, talking gracefully and cheerfully to each other as they did.

    The hearts of the experts from the Realm of me Heaven grew heavy as they watched these famous figures enter the courtyard one after another.

    ¡°That¡¯s Kong Hong, one of the Yang Sect¡¯s elders, and Chen Hao, the Yang Sect¡¯s chosen one and the most promising among the Yang Sect¡¯s younger generation!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Lu Ling, a Yin Sect elder, and Ye Qin, who survived their trip to that dimension!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Qian Qiong, an Ice Pavilion Sect elder, and their chosen one, Xuan Ke!¡±

    They thought that they shared the same intentions with Ji Qingyun, that they were also here to force them to stand on the frontline when the outsiders came.

    Face very grim, Jiang Zhisu sighed secretly as he thought to himself, ¡°It seems that there¡¯s no way around this. Now that the major sects have made their decision, we can only do as we¡¯re bid. Otherwise, those powerful sects might march into the Realm of me Heaven and wipe us out as an example to those who dare to oppose them.¡±

    Li Jing, Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and the others also bowed their heads slightly in frustration, as if they were also ready to give in.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Ji Qingyunughed as he hastily trotted over to greet these renowned figures in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the three elders of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Ice Pavilion Sect all ignored him.

    Qian Qiong from the Ice Pavilion Sect was the most impatient with him, for he even pushed him out of his way with one hand.

    Then, under everyone¡¯s gaze, Qian Qiong, who was tall and bulky like a ice-covered mountain, strode to Nie Tian, bowed slightly, and said, ¡°Thank you for taking care of Xuan Ke and the others from our sect, so that they returned to our sect safely.¡±

 Chapter 589: Strong Support

    The morous courtyard instantly went dead silent because of Qian Qiong¡¯s words and actions, so silent once could hear a pin drop.

    After the arrival of the members of the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect, the small courtyard became increasingly crowded.

    Ji Qingyun, Yu Wei, and the other Heaven Expanse Sect disciples were pushed away from the center of the courtyard by the new arrivals.

    Ji Qingyun looked very embarrassed, since Qian Qiong had pushed him out of his way when he had trotted over to greet him, full of smiles.

    However, he rapidly adjusted himself and smiled tteringly towards Qian Qiong.

    That was because he was fully aware of how formidable Qian Qiong was.

    Qian Qiong was at thete Profound realm. It was said that he had recently derived new enlightenment, and was only a step away from entering the Soul realm. All hecked was an opportunity.

    Meanwhile, the strength of the Ice Pavilion Sect was second only to that of the Heaven Pce Sect throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, since they had two Soul realm experts in their sect.

    Compared to the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect was weaker, and Ji Qingyun¡¯s personal status in the Heaven Expanse Sect was also lower than Qian Qiong¡¯s in the Ice Pavilion Sect.

    While everyone was deeply confused, Nie Tian bowed respectfully towards Qian Qiong and said, ¡°You¡¯re being too kind, Senior Qian.¡±

    As he straightened his back, he saw Xuan Ke nodding slightly at him, smiling.

    He instantly realized that it was Xuan Ke, who was rather familiar with his mask, that had told Qian Qiong about his actual identity.

    Smiling at him, Xuan Ke said, ¡°I learned from Shi Qing that you finished using that cultivation room and came here.¡±

    Lu Ling from the Yin Sect smiled like a blossoming flower as she said, ¡°Hahaha, sorry for showing up here without notice. We want you to know that the sects in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations will always stand by your side.¡±

    With these words, she gave Kong Hong a sideways look.

    Upon receiving his look, Kong Hong from the Yang Sect smiled as he said, ¡°Of course! Every sect in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations will support you, no matter what!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Jiang Zhisu, Fang Hui, and the others from the Realm of me Heaven became even more confused.

    As the only one who knew what was going on, Hu Rong didn¡¯t seem surprised at all. Instead, he continued smiling.

    At this moment, Yu Wei, who was seriously injured by Nie Tian, finally stabilized her injuries, and thus asked again, ¡°Who are you exactly?!¡±

    Only then did Nie Tian take his mask off and say with a stern face, ¡°I¡¯m also from the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Li Jing from the Blood Sect and Jiang Zhisu from the Cloudsoaring Sect gasped at the scene.

    ¡°He¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that it¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    Ghost Eye, Fang Hui, and the others also widened their eyes in shock.

    However, they still didn¡¯t know why Qian Qiong and the other experts were here.

    Nie Tian had assumed a different identity when he had gone through the spatial rift to that strange dimension.

    Those from the Realm of me Heaven had assumed that Nie Tian was still holed up somewhere to avoid the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect.

    They had absolutely no idea what Nie Tian had done in that strange dimension.

    By the time they had arrived in the Realm of Split Void, they had only learned from the Blood Skull that Nie Tian was also in Shatter City, and that he was cultivating wholeheartedly in one of their cultivation rooms.

    However, after their return to their sects, Xuan Ke, Chen Hao, Ye Qin, and the other chosen ones had informed their seniors that it was under Nie Tian¡¯s leadership that they had fought off outsiders, defeated those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects, survived Armes¡¯ devastating strike, and made it back to the Domain of the Falling Stars alive.

    The fact that no one had returned one month after their return also proved how special Nie Tian was.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± An exmation escaped Ji Qingyun¡¯s mouth. ¡°The sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Yu Wei was also bbergasted as she stared at Nie Tian, as if she now found it eptable that she had been defeated by him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s name had long been imprinted in their minds since he had obtained the three fragmentary star marks, sealed the three major spatial rifts, and refused to join the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°What was happening here?¡± Qian Qiong asked coldly.

    Hu Rongughed softly and briefly exined the matter to him.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qian Qiong red at Ji Qingyun, and with a cold snort, he asked, ¡°Howe I didn¡¯t know about this agreement among the sects that the forces from the Realm of me Heaven would have to send all of their powerful members to set up defenses on the frontline?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear of such arrangements either,¡± Lu Ling from the Yin Sect chimed in with a sarcastic tone.

    With an unpleasant expression, Kong Hong asked, ¡°Since when can the Heaven Expanse Sect make decisions on behalf of all the sects?¡±

    Cornered by the three, Ji Qingyun¡¯s expression flickered as he wanted to argue. However, he couldn¡¯t find any proper excuses.

    Lu Ling gave a soft chuckle and added, ¡°You might want to know that, not just us, but the Dong n, the Gu n, the Cao n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce from the Realm of a Hundred Battles will also stand by Nie Tian. If the Heaven Expanse Sect dares to plot against Nie Tian, you¡¯d better think about the consequences first!¡±

    ¡°Also, don¡¯t forget that Nie Tian went to explore that new dimension upon Master Zhen and the Tool Sect¡¯s invitation,¡± Kong Hong added.

    At this moment, Hu Rong smiled as he bowed slightly towards Ji Qingyun and said, ¡°Sorry, but the Spirit Condor share their attitude on this matter. After all, Nie Tian is Mr. Hua¡¯s nephew.¡±

    Ji Qingyun was at a loss for words.

    With a shocked and uprehending gaze, he nced over Kong Hong, Lu Ling, and Hu Rong, who seemed very respectful, but didn¡¯t make him feel any better.

    He knew nothing of the fact that Nie Tian was the reason why the chosen ones had returned safely to the Domain of the Falling Stars, and why the sects had learned about the outsiders¡¯ invasion n.

    It was unprecedented that a young man from a remote ce like the Realm of me Heaven should receive support from so many powerful forces from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°The Realm of Endless Ice, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Realm of Unbounded Destion, and the Spirit Condor...¡± Ji Qingyun weighed the matter in his mind for a short while, and came to the conclusion that he had to back down. He believed that even the Heaven Pce Sect would do the same if they were facing pressure from such a powerful alliance.

    Perhaps only by forming another alliance with the other powerful sects would they be able to contend against them.

    However, he knew perfectly well that the entire Domain of the Falling Stars was now facing threats from outsiders. The other powerful sects like the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect had all agreed to deal with the outsiders first.

    After all, they didn¡¯t want to fight among themselves at such a crucial moment. Otherwise, the outsiders would be able to take advantage of the situation and crush them all effortlessly.

    Soon, Ji Qingyun realized what to do. With a dry smile, he said, ¡°Well, what I said just represented myself, not the Heaven Expanse Sect, nor the other sects.¡±

    He sped his hands and apologized, ¡°I didn¡¯t know about the situation, so I said those things I didn¡¯t mean. Sorry, sorry.

    ¡°As for the arrangements of the forces from the Realm of me Heaven, I¡¯ll wait for the opinions of all the sects, and I won¡¯t decide for myself again.¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, he rapidly gave Yu Wei and the others a meaningful gaze, and rushed towards the gate to the courtyard.

    Just as the members of the Heaven Expanse Sect were about to rush through the gate, Nie Tian suddenly asked, ¡°Yu Wei, is it? Who¡¯s Yu Yang to you?¡±

    Yu Wei came to a stop and jerked around to look at Nie Tian. ¡°He¡¯s my older brother. Why?¡±

    ¡°Ahh, no wonder I thought you looked familiar,¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly. ¡°He, Liao Yan, and all the other disciples of the Heaven Expanse Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect that entered that dimension were torn to pieces by the outsiders on one of the inds.¡±

    Yu Wei was so grieved that she was barely able to ask, ¡°How... How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°I was there and I watched it happen.¡± Nie Tian said.

    Xuan Ke, Chen Hao, and the others exchanged gazes with each other, but didn¡¯t say a word. They were well-aware that it was him and Dong Li who had killed Yu Yang and Liao Yan.

    Ji Qingyun¡¯s face turned ashen as he asked, ¡°If you were there, why didn¡¯t you try to help them?¡±

    ¡°Why would I?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face was still expressionless. ¡°They had tried to kill me and take my valuables before the outsiders appeared. When the outsiders swarmed onto the ind, I was fast enough to escape. It was because the outsiders were busy killing them that I was able to leave unhurried.

    ¡°Come to think of it, I¡¯ve got to thank them.¡±

    ¡°Good! Nie Tian! Good!¡± Ji Qingqun said, gritting his teeth furiously. After giving Nie Tian a murderous gaze, he dragged Yu Wei out of the courtyard.

 Chapter 590: Important News

    After watching Ji Qingyun and his subordinates tuck their tails and leave, Qian Qiong from the Ice Pavilion Sect spat, his face filled with disdain, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that a clown like him dared to threaten others.¡±

    Given his cultivation base and status, he had the right to ignore Ji Qingyun, and he wouldn¡¯t need to worry that Ji Qingyun or the Heaven Expanse Sect would retaliate against him.

    Standing in the courtyard, Jiang Zhisu and the others from the Realm of me Heaven were happy to see Ji Qingyun and his people get what they deserved. However, they were still worried.

    It had been a long time since the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect from the Realm of Earth Sieve had plotted with the other two neighboring realms to take the Realm of me Heaven, considering that there wasn¡¯t a single Soul realm expert in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Lu Ling from the Yin Sect chuckled. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s forget about those vile people from the Heaven Expanse Sect. Nie Tian, we¡¯re here to express our gratitude, but we¡¯re also here to get your opinion on something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears, Big Sister Lu,¡± Nie Tian said, a faint smile appearing on his face.

    Lu Ling had been the one who had escorted him out of the Realm of a Thousand Devastations to the Realm of a Hundred Battles after he had finished sealing the spatial rift.

    It was she who had put him in Qin Yan¡¯s hands and told her to take care of him. Therefore, he had a rather positive impression of her.

    Lu Ling was pleased by his attitude as she said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you sweet?¡± However, she then grew hesitant as she nced over the people from the Realm of me Heaven. ¡°Umm...¡±

    Apparently, she wanted privacy. At this moment, many experts from the Realm of me Heaven were gathered in the courtyard, and she wasn¡¯t sure who Nie Tian could trust.

    Jiang Zhisu and the others were all very seasoned and sensible. Upon seeing this, they immediately knew what she meant.

    Even though they wanted to stay and find out what they were going to discuss, they figured that they had better leave.

    Jiang Zhisu broke the silence by saying with a somewhat forced smile, ¡°Excuse me. There¡¯re still things that require my attention.¡±

    Chang Sen, Fang Hui, Ghost Eye, and the others also realized that Lu Ling didn¡¯t want them to be there when they discussed what must be very important matters, so they found excuses and left one after another.

    However, as they did, Nie Tian suddenly said, ¡°Senior Fang, Senior Li, I still have things to discuss with you.¡±

    Li Jing and Fang Hui¡¯s eyes lit up as they came to a stop in front of the courtyard gate.

    Hearing this, Jiang Zhisu from the Cloudsoaring Sect sighed inwardly, knowing that Nie Tian must find Li Jing and Fang Hui trustworthy and felt close to them. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have stopped the two of them from leaving.

    The fact that Nie Tian had asked them to stay, but not him, when the Nie n was a subordinate n of the Cloudsoaring Sect, and Nie Tian¡¯s master was Wu Ji, a member of the Cloudsoaring Sect, indicated how distant he felt towards the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    He was well-aware that the reason Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a sense of belonging with the Cloudsoaring Sect was because some of the Cloudsoaring Sect elders had ignored the Nie n and mistreated Nie Tian¡¯s grandfather and aunt.

    He wouldn¡¯t have felt so frustrated if it were another person, but seeing Nie Tian now...

    Jiang Zhisu shook his head and walked out through the courtyard gate with mixed emotions.

    Soon, Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the people from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Ice Pavilion Sect were the only ones that remained in the courtyard.

    Qian Qiong cleared his throat, signaling for the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples other than Xuan Ke to wait outside the courtyard.

    Simrly, Lu Ling instructed the Yin Sect disciples other than Ye Qin to step outside, and Kong Hong instructed the Yang Sect disciples other than Chen Hao to leave the courtyard.

    Meanwhile, since no one told Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor to leave, he just stood there and smiled at everyone.

    Qian Qiong raised his hand, and countless sparkling and crystal-clear bits of ice flew up into the air, forming a frosty ward that covered the entire courtyard.

    ¡°Alright, no one in Shatter City can hear us now, since there isn¡¯t a single Soul realm expert in the city.¡± With these words, Qian Qiong¡¯s expression grew serious. ¡°Xuan Ke told us about what had happened in that new dimension as soon as he came back. After hearing what he said, I instructed the other returned disciples to go into secluded cultivation right away.¡±

    ¡°We did the same with ours, except Ye Qin,¡± Liu Ling chimed in.

    ¡°It¡¯s the same with us,¡± Kong Hong said. ¡°All those who came back with Chen Hao are not allowed to leave the sect.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Li Jing and Fang Hui widened their eyes, curious as to what had happened in that dimension and why they had forbidden their disciples to leave their sects.

    Nie Tian, however, knew exactly why.

    On the second ind, after they had been attacked, he had joined up with Dong Li, Xuan Ke, and the others, and almost killed off all the young, talented disciples from the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, and the other sects.

    Once word of that leaked out, it would surely affect the unity among the sects.

    Even though Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, and Chen Hao were their trustworthy core disciples, Qian Qiong and the other seniors didn¡¯t have the confidence that their other disciples would also keep the information to themselves.

    Therefore, they had been ordered to stay in their sects at such a sensitive time.

    Qian Qiong finally seemed somewhat relived as he said, ¡°The good news is that no one else hase back from that dimension since you did. Sun Lin and Yang Kan managed to escape from you, but considering they¡¯re only at the Greater Heaven stage, I doubt that they¡¯ll make it back. I reckon none of those Worldly realm or Profound realm experts witnessed what you did, so we don¡¯t need to worry about them too much either.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly.

    After a moment of silence, Qian Qiong fixed Nie Tian with a deep look and asked, ¡°How did you know that a spatial rift would appear on that ind, and that you¡¯d be able to return through it? You even knew the exact time of its appearance?!¡±

    This was the main reason why he hade.

    Lu Ling and Kong Hong also looked at him, their faces serious.

    ¡°About that, I can only tell you that it has something to do with the legacies I obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Nie Tian answered in a soft voice.

    Qian Qiong¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is involved?!¡±

    Lu Ling looked slightly anxious as she asked, ¡°Nie Tian, do you know what grades the outsiders that n to invade us will be at?

    ¡°As you know, after learning about the outsiders¡¯ invasion n, sects from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars are sending their Worldly realm and Profound realm experts here to set up defenses near those spatial rifts.

    ¡°But if there are going to be seventh grade outsiders, whose strength can only be matched by Soul realm experts, in the invading army, then we¡¯ll be in a very disadvantaged situation.

    ¡°Not only are there very few Soul realm experts throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, but they¡¯re also usually in secluded cultivation. They normally wouldn¡¯te out of their secluded cultivation unless it was a matter of life and death.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be hard to persuade them to go help defend those spatial rifts if we don¡¯t know for sure whether seventh grade outsider experts areing or not.¡±

    Kong Hong chimed in, ¡°So we¡¯re wondering if you know whether we should expect seventh grade outsiders, and if so, how many?¡±

    Nie Tian instantly saw through their concerns. After a moment of pondering, he said, ¡°During my final battle against Armes, one of their ancient starships was hovering right above us. And Armes attempted to kill me with a very powerful spiritual tool. As far as I could tell, it was no ordinary spiritual tool, and it didn¡¯t belong to Armes. Its owner must have been a seventh grade Phantasm expert.

    ¡°So I believe there will be at least one seventh grade outsider expert in the invading army, probably more.¡±

    Qian Qiong gasped with astonishment and said with his eyes wide, ¡°I see. Thank you for such an important piece of information. I¡¯ll inform the other sects of the situation as soon as I can, and have them tell their Soul realm experts to prepare toe out of their secluded cultivation.¡±

    Kong Hong and Lu Ling also looked shocked upon hearing the news.

    After all, not a single Soul realm expert hade to the Realm of Split Void so far.

    Under such circumstances, once the outsider army arrived, the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts that were now garrisoned in the Void Illusion Mountain Range would face massive casualties.

    It was crucial that they inform their Soul realm experts and have theme to join the defending forces as soon as possible.

    Burning with anxiety, the three seniors bid their farewells and left with their juniors.

    Before they left, Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, and Chen Hao told Nie Tian that they would attend the trading fair that would be held in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters in three days, where they would sell the precious spiritual materials they had obtained from that other dimension.

    In reply, Nie Tian told them that he would go as well.

    Soon, Hu Rong, Li Jing, Fang Hui, and Nie Tian were the only ones left in the courtyard. With a smile, Hu Rong said to Nie Tian, ¡°To tell you the truth, we¡¯re only holding that trading fair because of you and the others that have returned from that dimension. I heard that you all got quite some fortune from there. I¡¯m hoping to broaden my horizons at the fair.¡±

    ¡°Dong Li has all of the things I got from that dimension,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Oh, I see, but that won¡¯t be a problem. The chosen ones from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were also invited to join the trading fair.¡± With these words, Hu Rong bowed and walked towards the courtyard gate. He stopped before leaving, turned around, and said, ¡°By the way, don¡¯t you worry about Ji Qingqun. He won¡¯t dare to do anything to you.¡±

    As soon as he was gone, Li Jing said, ¡°Nie Tian, I brought the Bone Blood Demon here. Once you give it life again, you won¡¯t have to pay attention to people like Ji Qingyun anymore.¡±

 Chapter 591: New Discoveries

    In the Blood Sect¡¯s temporary residence in the dpidated block...

    The enormous Bone Blood Demon was lying silently on the ground, facing up. Not a shred of flesh aura could be sensed from it.

    However, Nie Tian knew very well that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s soul still existed, and it still possessed formidable battle prowess.

    The only reason why it was bereft of any signs of life was because it had burned its me of life force away. Once it was infused with new life force, it would rise again.

    Only Li Jing, Shen Xiu, and a few Worldly realm Blood Sect Qi warriors lived in this residence.

    Yu Tong, who Nie Tian knew rather well, wasn¡¯t among them.

    Shen Xiu was rather confused to see Li Jing return to the residence with Nie Tian.

    ¡°The Bone Blood Demon...¡± Shen Xiu wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought, a reluctant expression appearing on her face.

    Li Jing saw through her thought and thus said, ¡°This Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t have awoken if it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian. And he¡¯s the only one who can make it disy its true might.¡±

    Shen Xiu let out a sigh and didn¡¯t say another word.

    She was aware that Nie Tian had saved their lives in the Realm of Unbounded Destion by directing Tool Sect elders to their location. Besides, Li Jing had always attached great importance to Nie Tian, and would spare no effort to deepen their rtionship. It would only be a matter of time before the Bone Blood Demon left with him.

    ¡°How did you manage to bring it to the Realm of Split Void?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Through arge-scale inter-realm teleportation portal,¡± Li Jing replied.

    ¡°Can this big guy be stored in a ring of holding?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    After a moment of pondering, Li Jing said, ¡°Umm... probably. Even Spirit Channeling grade treasures can be stored in rings of holding. I don¡¯t see why we can¡¯t store this Bone Blood Demon in one. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s toorge to be stored in a regr ring of holding. A regr ring of holding doesn¡¯t have enough space.¡±

    Looking at the Bone Blood Demon, which was more than thirty meters long and took up a veryrge area on the ground, Nie Tian had a headache over how to carry it around.

    None of the rings of holding he had ever seen had enough space to store something thisrge. No wonder Sectmaster Li just let it lie around in the open.

    ¡°I suspect that this Bone Blood Demon was at the eighth grade when it was alive,¡± Li Jing said. ¡°The strength of an eighth grade Bonebrute equals that of a Void domain human Qi warrior. However, since it died, after we refined it with our unique methods, we could only restore its strength to the sixth grade, which is equal to the strength of a Profound realm human Qi warrior.

    ¡°Even so, if you can awaken it again, you won¡¯t need to be afraid of people like Ji Qingyun at all.¡±

    ¡°Eighth grade...¡± Nie Tian marveled inwardly.

    He ran his gaze up and down the Bone Blood Demon, but didn¡¯t do anything else.

    After all, it would require him to practice his Life Transfer bloodline talent and consume his own blood to light its me of life force again.

    Technically, it would be operable even though the green aura in his heart was still dormant.

    However, ording to previous experience, the Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t stay active for a long period of time. Once it burned out its me of life force, it would go back into a deep slumber again.

    It would be a waste of his strength for him to awaken it at this point, when they weren¡¯t facing any formidable enemies.

    ¡°I¡¯ll look for a ring of holding that has enough space to hold this Bone Blood Demon at the trading fair that¡¯s going to be held by the Spirit Condor in three days,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Li Jing¡¯s expression changed slightly as she said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that kind of ring of holding will cost a fortune. Do you have that kind of money?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve got enough valuables to trade for a ring of holding like that.¡±

    If he could carry a Bone Blood Demon whose strength equaled that of a Profound realm expert wherever he went, perhaps it could save his life at critical moments.

    For that, no matter how many spirit stones and precious materials it cost, it would be well worth it.

    Furthermore, now that the Blood Sect had given the Bone Blood Demon to him, wouldn¡¯t it be ironic if he couldn¡¯t take it?

    Seeing that Nie Tian was examining the Bone Blood Demon, absorbed in his thoughts, Shen Xiu lowered her voice and asked Li Jing with a worried expression, ¡°How did the meeting go, sectmaster?¡±

    When Ji Qingyun hade, the sectmasters of all the sects from the Realm of me Heaven had been summoned to meet him.

    Shen Xiu had been left behind to take care of other business, and thus didn¡¯t know what had happened during their meeting.

    Li Jing gave Nie Tian a sideways look and said in a soft voice, ¡°Because of him, Ji Qingyun¡¯s despicable n didn¡¯t work.¡±

    Shen Xiu was taken aback. ¡°I heard that people from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect also went there. Didn¡¯t they share the same intentions as those from the Heaven Expanse Sect?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Li Jing shook her head. ¡°They were there to thank Nie Tian.¡±

    Then, in a low voice, she exined everything to Shen Xiu.

    After learning what had happened at their meeting, Shen Xiu took a deep look at Nie Tian, the look in her eyespletely different from before.

    It was as if she no longer felt heartache over the Bone Blood Demon, which she and the Blood Sect had spent endless time and effort on.

    She grew especially intrigued after learning that Nie Tian had only asked Li Jing and Fang Hui to stay and observe when he had talked to Qian Qiong and the others.

    This meant that, of all the forces from the Realm of me Heaven, the Blood Sect and Fang Hui were the only ones he felt he could trust.

    As for Fang Hui, he was clearly asked to stay because of his deep friendship with Wu Ji, not because of the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s give Nie Tian some room. We also have our own things to attend to.¡± With these words, Li Jing waved her hand, and the crowd of Blood Sect members left with her.

    The Bone Blood Demon was ced on a piece of barren, emptynd behind the Blood Sect¡¯s temporary residence.

    After the Blood Sect members left, Nie Tian circled around the Bone Blood Demon and examined it with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    At this point, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones had already be translucent like jade.

    Meanwhile, there seemed to be fine meridians and veins within its bones. Upon closer examination, there even seemed to be blood running slowly within those veins.

    At the same time, he started to sense a deeply hidden, but very profound fleshly aura from it.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± With a soft exmation, he was convinced that its aura had be much more profound than when he had awakened it the first time.

    After searching through his memories, he recalled that, soon after he had awakened the Bone Blood Demon, it had ughtered hundreds of low-tier Demons under hismand.

    It had split many of them in half and absorbed the essence of their blood.

    It appeared that, after being turned into a Blood Demon with the Blood Sect¡¯s unique methods, the Bone Blood Demon had possessed the ability to practice the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation to strengthen itself with the low-tier Demons¡¯ blood.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin. ¡°Li Jing was wrong.

    ¡°This Bone Blood Demon did only possess sixth grade bloodline power when it had first been awakened, but after that fierce battle against the Demon invaders, it absorbed a tremendous amount of blood essence from thoserge, low-tier Demons.

    ¡°Over the years, the vigorous power within its blood has already sunk into its bones, meridians, and veins.

    ¡°Considering its current condition, it seems that it can even fight an early Soul realm expert at this moment.¡±

    Till this day, the Realm of me Heaven hadn¡¯t even produced a single Soul realm expert, and this was the reason why powerful sects like the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect dared to ride roughshod over the sects from the Realm of me Heaven.

    If the Bone Blood Demon that was lying before him could disy the strength of a seventh grade Bonebrute, which matched the strength of an early Soul realm expert, would it change the situation from the root?

    Both Li Jing and Shen Xiu believed that the strength of the Bone Blood Demon was still equal to that of a Profound realm expert.

    How would they feel if they learned that this Bone Blood Demon might be able to match an early Soul realm expert in battle once he lit its me of life force again.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes blossomed with the light of excitement. ¡°What a wonderful puppet! I shall get a ring of holding that can hold it, no matter the cost! With it in a ring of holding, it¡¯ll be like having a Soul realm expert to protect me at all times. If that happens, I¡¯ll have very little to fear throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars!

    ¡°It seems that the strength this Bone Blood Demon can disy doesn¡¯t stay the same through time.

    ¡°If I infuse it with more outsider blood after I awaken it this time, will it be even stronger?

    ¡°With enough blood, will I be able to restore its strength to the same grade as when it was alive?

    ¡°Many outsiders are bound to swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars during their uing invasion. Perhaps this will be a perfect opportunity!¡±

    Aftering to these thoughts, Nie Tian grew increasingly excited. In his eyes, the enormous Bone Blood Demon that was lying before him now was none other than an unearthly treasure.

    He jerked his head in the direction of the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, anticipation filling his eyes.

    At this moment, his only worry was that he wasn¡¯t sure how much the spiritual materials and herbs he had looted from the outsiders were worth.

 Chapter 592: The Trading Fair

    Three dayster...

    Hu Rong, who lived on the same block as them, visited Nie Tian and nned to take him to attend the trading fair, which was going to be held in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Li Jing from the Blood Sect instructed the other Blood Sect members to stay in their residence as she left with Hu Rong and Nie Tian.

    Shortly afterwards, Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Fang Hui also left their residences for the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    As soon as he left the dpidated block, Nie Tian started to see people everywhere, who were all flowing towards the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters like a flood.

    Nie Tian briefly nced around, and discovered that not a single one of them was at the Greater Heaven stage or lower.

    Even though their cultivation bases were all rather impressive, many of them were dressed in garments that didn¡¯t belong to ancient, powerful sects like the Yin Sect or the Yang Sect.

    Hu Rong saw through his thoughts, and exined, ¡°Other than the powerful and renowned sects that have Soul realm experts, there are a muchrger number of small sects and ns that are like the Cloudsoaring Sect and the Nie n. All of those sects and ns cling to major sects or powers like the Heaven Pce Sect and Ice Pavilion Sect.

    ¡°Even though they don¡¯t have Soul realm experts, they do have Worldly realm or Profound realm experts in their sects or ns, so they were also drafted to help defend against the outsiders¡¯ invasion.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    Afterwards, Hu Rong went on to exin, ¡°We organized this trading fair because battles could break out at any moment now. Everyone who¡¯s here needs to be prepared for the uing battles. We hope everyone will trade the spiritual materials they don¡¯t need for spiritual tools or medicinal pills that will help with their performance in battle.

    ¡°Besides, many of the treasures you¡¯ve brought back from that dimension have gone extinct or never even existed in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°We hope those magical items will be put to good use.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that many people¡¯s battle prowess will improve significantly if they got their hands on some of the treasures you¡¯ve brought back from that dimension. Meanwhile, you¡¯ll be able to get a tremendous amount of spirit stones or materials that will help you progress in your cultivation in return.

    ¡°This time, we¡¯ve arranged for a few very experienced experts to be at the trading fair to evaluate the spiritual materials and tools for everyone. They¡¯ll try to be fair, and their service will be free of charge.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded repeatedly as he listened to Hu Rong exin the details of the trading fair. Soon, he understood the reason why Spirit Condor had decided to hold this trading fair.

    Facing the outsiders¡¯ uing invasion, they mainly hoped that the experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Star would be able to improve their battle prowess as much as possible through this trading fair.

    If they couldn¡¯t turn the precious materials and tools they had obtained from that dimension into battle performance, those things would be of very little help when the outsiders came.

    For this very reason, this small trading fair, which was held in a remote corner, had attracted powerful experts from almost every sect from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    As soon as Nie Tian arrived at the front gate of the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, a loud mor caught his ears. After a brief scan with his psychic awareness, he rapidly learned that at least hundreds of Qi warriors were now gathered in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Most of them were experts at the Worldly realm or Profound realm.

    With a softugh, Hu Rong said, ¡°At least a third of the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars are now gathered in this ce. It¡¯s all because of the uing war against the outsider invaders. It¡¯s not likely that the Spirit Condor alone would attract so much attention.¡±

    ¡°The rare spiritual materials we¡¯ve obtained from that dimension also yed a major part, I assume,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Of course! Of course!¡± Hu Rong replied, full of smiles. ¡°It¡¯s exactly because talented youngsters like you have brought a good amount of rare and magical items from that dimension that these lofty experts woulde to Shatter City from the Land of the Abandoned, Ash City, and the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Nie Tian was aware that the other two major cities in the Realm of Split Void must also be crowded with people.

    The Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Poison Sect, and the many small sects and ns that clung to them, were now gathered at the other two rally-points and the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    To attend this trading fair, powerful experts from all over Domain of the Falling Stars almost flooded the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Led by Hu Rong, Nie Tian threaded through the crowd and rapidly made it to the central square within the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Standing in the middle of the square, Nie Tian nced around, and saw numerous people crowding together and moving back and forth as far as he could see.

    He didn¡¯t know most of them, but there were also familiar faces like Ji Qingyun in the crowd.

    Many Worldly realm and Profound realm experts found locations in the square, where they took out and ced their collection of valuable items on a piece of cloth in front of them.

    All kinds of items could be seen, including spiritual materials, tools, incantation scrolls, medicinal pills, spell formations, etc.

    Li Jing and the others from the Realm of the me Heaven were among the crowd that walked around and checked the treasures the Qi warriors had to sell. Their expressions flickered from time to time as she did.

    Most of the sellers were Worldly realm or Profound realm experts. Almost all of the items they were selling were of great value, and very hard to find. It was overwhelming to see so many treasures being piled in front of them in the same manner that vegetable vendors sold vegetables.

    ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ll take you to the ce you should be.¡± With a smile, Hu Rong led Nie Tian towards the Blood Fighting Pit.

    However, at this moment, the walls of the Blood Fighting Pit had already been torn down.

    As he came closer to the Blood Fighting Pit, Nie Tian saw Dong Li, Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, Chen Hao, and the other chosen ones who had returned from the other dimension with him.

    Powerful experts from their ns and sects were standing beside them, and the rare materials they had gained from that other dimension were now ced in front of them.

    It wasn¡¯t just the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect. The five forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had also confined their returning disciples to their respective sects and ns.

    Their seniors hade with the spiritual materials they had obtained, so they could trade them for items they were in urgent need of.

    Of course, Nie Tian knew that they must have kept the treasures they needed in their sects. The items they had brought to this trading fair were those they didn¡¯t need.

    Only those who had returned from that other dimension were selling treasures within the Blood Fighting Pit.

    However, even more people came shopping in this ce than the other ces. Arge number of powerful experts were gathered before Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, and the other chosen ones, asking questions about the valuables they had for sale with excited looks in their eyes.

    Of all of them, Dong Li was the one that attracted the most attention.

    That was because Dong Li had the most items in front of her. The rare materials and treasures around her were practically piled into hills.

    However, Dong Li looked very careless as people asked her about the things she had to sell. Instead, she was constantly ncing around.

    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for you,¡± Hu Rong said with an envious smile on his face. ¡°You¡¯ve probably noticed that the spiritual materials before her have been divided into two piles. It seems that the smaller pile are the things Dong Baijie, Dong Li, and the other Dong n members have for sale. That pile of spiritual materials that looks much bigger must belong to you, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly.

    At this moment, Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the others from the Realm of me Heaven had already followed him to this ce. Upon hearing Hu Rong¡¯s words and seeing Nie Tian nod, Li Jing and Fang Hui both gasped with astonishment.

    As far as they could tell, thatrger pile of spiritual materials in front of Dong Li seemed evenrger than the piles of the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the others put together.

    And all of those materials belonged to Nie Tian?!

    Fang Hui¡¯s expression flickered as he asked in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian, how did you manage to gather so many spiritual materials?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t go around to gather those things at all,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice, rubbing his nose. ¡°I got all of my spiritual materials and medicinal nts from others. I only looted the most stuff because I killed the most enemies and outsiders.¡±

    Hu Rong, who had long since learned about this, remained calm andposed.

    However, Li Jing, Fang Hui, Chang Sen, Jiang Zhisu, and the others from the Realm of the me Heaven all gasped upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    <i>¡°Damn those shortsighted fools!¡± </i>Jiang Zhisu thought to himself. <i>¡°If they took just a bit better care of the Nie n back in the day and won Nie Tian¡¯s recognition, we wouldn¡¯t be in such a bad ce now!¡± </i>

    He was so angry that he felt like coughing up blood.

    The light of excitement could be seen in the depths of Ghost Eye¡¯s emerald green pupils as he sighed and said, ¡°Nie Tian, no matter what happened, you¡¯re from the Realm of me Heaven. You shoulde back to visit your home realm more often in the future.¡±

    Fang Hui also let out a sigh. Instead of looking at Nie Tian, he gave Li Jing a quick nce and said, ¡°Sectmaster Li, I envy your sight for talent.¡±

    Li Jing, who was graceful and of few words, was dressed in in but elegant garments. A hint of a smile appeared on her face as she said, ¡°My sect and I did spend quite a fortune on him.¡±

    ¡°Whatever you spent on him was well worth it,¡± Fang Hui said.

    Li Jing nodded, smiling. ¡°I think so too.¡±

    At that moment, Dong Li, who had been searching for quite some time, finally saw him in the crowd, and thus immediately called out to him, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said to Li Jing, ¡°Senior Li, you¡¯re wee toe and pick whatever you like from the things I brought back. Consider this my way ofpensating you and your sect for the Bone Blood Demon.¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s eyes lit up as she said, smiling, ¡°It seems that it¡¯d be rude to refuse this sincere offer of yours.¡±

 Chapter 593: Come to the Stage

    Dong Li was the one who attracted the most attention inside the whole Blood Fighting Pit. Her shout instantly pulled the gazes of those swarming before her in Nie Tian¡¯s direction. They eagerly searched for Nie Tian in the crowd.

    The few Dong n members who were standing beside Dong Li also jerked their heads in Nie Tian¡¯s direction and started searching.

    Most of them hadn¡¯t seen Nie Tian in person. However, his name had be more and more well-known among them, especially after the Dong n juniors had returned to their n this time. Those juniors¡¯ eyes had been filled with respect when they had talked about him. Even Dong Li couldn¡¯t mask her happiness whenever his name was mentioned.

    This had made these Dong n seniors more and more curious.

    All of the Dong n seniors knew that, even though Dong Li had a bad name, she had actually preserved her moral integrity.

    Knowing Dong Li well, they knew that she just liked to trick the so-called talented youngsters who drooled over her beauty. However, whenever she talked about those lechers, her eyes were always filled with disdain and contempt, which waspletely different from her happy and beaming expression when she talked about Nie Tian.

    Not just her, even Dong Baijie, who the entire Dong n spoke highly of, had given an unprecedentedly high opinion of Nie Tian after he had returned from that dimension.

    Dong Baijie made an assumption that, if there were no mishaps, Nie Tian would soon be the brightest star that outshone all of the so-called chosen ones throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Some of the Dong n seniors might still have doubts about Dong Li¡¯s sense of judgment, but they had been very surprised that Dong Baijie would have such a high opinion of him.

    Upon hearing Dong Li calling out to Nie Tian, the Dong n members rapidly found Nie Tian in the crowd.

    ¡°You go ahead. I still have business to take care of.¡± With these words, Hu Rong gave Nie Tian a meaningful look, signaling Nie Tian to go to the Dong n members before leaving quietly.

    Therefore, under everyone¡¯s curious gazes, Nie Tian walked towards the Dong n members with a smile on his face.

    Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the others followed along.

    The bustling crowd suddenly stopped and split up, forming an open path for Nie Tian.

    Dong Li, who had applied a bit of makeup, appeared more and more gorgeous as Nie Tian looked at her.

    She was wearing close-fitting ck garments, which brought out her perfectly-proportioned body.

    A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she stood and waited for Nie Tian before the other Dong n members. Her unmatched beauty made her stand out, and attracted almost everyone¡¯s attention.

    Even some self-possessed Profound realm experts found it hard to tear their eyes from her.

    Even Qin Yan, who was standing not far from her, was overshadowed by her singr beauty.

    ¡°Does this whole pile of spiritual materials belong to him, Ms. Dong?¡± One of the Profound realm experts from the Poison Sect asked, frowning in disbelief.

    Dong Li smiled charmingly as she nodded and said, ¡°Exactly, he¡¯s the one I¡¯ve been waiting for.¡±

    The Poison Sect expert named Hou Qingsen had his eyes on an item in therger pile of spiritual materials before Dong Li. He had proposed to trade or purchase it from her, but Dong Li had shaken her head and told him that she wouldn¡¯t make any decisions before the owner of the spiritual materials arrived.

    Considering that, Hou Qingsen could only wait.

    There were many more like Hou Qingsen, who had set their minds on items in Nie Tian¡¯s pile of spiritual materials, but had to wait under Dong Li¡¯s instruction.

    The Worldly realm and Profound realm experts, who had been gathered before Dong Li for some time, started discussing the matter with each other in low voices, and gradually figured out who Nie Tian was.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    ¡°That name sounds so familiar. Where have I heard it before?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian... Nie Tian... Is he the Nie Tian from the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    ¡°Is he the one who obtained the legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and sealed the three spatial rifts with secret magics?¡±

    ¡°It must be him. Who else could it be?¡±

    Seeing that Dong Li didn¡¯t deny it, but instead nodded smilingly, they all gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°So it is him!¡± Someone eximed.

    Most of the Qi warriors from the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars hadn¡¯t met Nie Tian in person before, since he had assumed different identities and stayed off the grid to avoid the me God Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    For the same reason, their knowledge of Nie Tian was basically limited to that he was from the Realm of me Heaven, and had risen to prominence after obtaining fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial and sealing the three major spatial rifts.

    In fact, this was the first time Nie Tian had presented himself before powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Upon hearing that the person Dong Li had been waiting was the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, many Qi warriors who had been originally gathered before Ye Qin, Qian Xin, Cao Qiushui, and the other chosen ones from the major sects had their interest piqued.

    They either quietly gathered towards her, or gazed in her direction from afar.

    Seeing that Dong Li only smiled admiringly at Nie Tian as he approached, Dong Baijie hastily introduced his n members to Nie Tian. ¡°This is our n senior, Dong Tengfei.¡±

    Dong Tengfei smiled and nodded slightly at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully in return and said, ¡°Greetings, Senior Dong.¡±

    Dong Tengfei waved his hand, signaling him to not stand on ceremony. With a warm smile, he said, ¡°No need to be so courteous. I¡¯m only here to help Baijie and Li. Don¡¯t mind me. Also, I heard what you¡¯ve done for our juniors. You did a good job.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Dong Li interrupted him with a bright smile on her face. She quickly nced over the ones who had waited for quite some time and said, ¡°Now that the owner is here, you can ask him about whatever you¡¯re interested in.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Nie Tian called out softly as he bowed slightly towards Li Jing. ¡°Would youe and choose first, Senior Li?¡±

    The way he saw it, the value of the Bone Blood Demon, which had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive, had immeasurable value to him.

    Therefore, he felt that he owed the Blood Sect and Li Jing a great deal. He would only be happy if Li Jing had her eyes on some of the spiritual materials he had obtained.

    ¡°It¡¯d be rude for me to turn down such an offer.¡± With these words, Li Jing smiled slightly, and walked up to therge pile of spiritual materials. Soon, her eyes were dazzled by the numerous rare spiritual materials, many of which had clearly been looted from outsiders.

    She then unleashed her soul awareness to roam the pile of spiritual materials. Momentster, her eyes snapped open as she pointed at three items.

    They were a fist-sized piece of crimson jade, a spirit nt with six leaves that was wreathed in a rich, bloody aura, and a crimson eye from some spirit beast.

    Standing beside Dong Li, an old man who had gray hair and the Spirit Condor¡¯s pattern embroidered on his garments, looked down at the three items and said slowly, ¡°A seventh level Premium grade Blood Essence Stone... They¡¯ve long since disappeared from the Domain of the Falling Stars. In fact, they could be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars when it was still a paradise for outsiders, but the outsider elders mined them and took them all away when they evacuated.

    ¡°Even though this kind of spiritual material doesn¡¯t have a noticeable effect on most human Qi warriors, they seem to be extremely helpful for outsiders to upgrade their bloodline power.

    ¡°In outsiders¡¯ realms, a Blood Essence Stone like this can be traded for five hundred thousand spirit stones at the very least.¡±

    Upon hearing this, many people in the crowd gasped with shock.

    ¡°As for this six-leaf Spirit Blood Grass, it¡¯s a sixth level Premium grade medicinal nt, and it also disappeared from the Domain of the Falling Stars long ago. This kind of spirit nt only grows after absorbing a copious amount of the blood of outsiders or spirit beasts, so they went extinct soon after the outsiders left the Domain of the Falling Stars. A Spirit Blood Grass like this is easily worth three hundred thousand spirit stones.

    ¡°Thest one is an eye of a seventh grade Blood Eye Crocodile. The most powerful parts of a Blood Eye Crocodile are its eyes. It¡¯s said that just by looking at living beings with its eyes, a Blood Eye Crocodile can cause destructive disorder to their blood. The strength of a seventh grade Blood Eye Crocodile is equal to that of a Soul realm expert. An eye from it is worth at least two million spirit stones.¡±

    The old man from the Spirit Condor smiled slightly and turned to Li Jing, ¡°You¡¯ve got a good sense of judgment. These three things you picked suit the needs of your sect very well. Now that you have them, you¡¯ll have a much easier time when you try to break through into the Soul realm.¡±

    Li Jing smiled and said with aplicated look in her eyes, ¡°Just these three items alone are worth about three million spirit stones!¡±

    The old man from the Spirit Condorughed and said, ¡°Those are only the prices from before. The fact that they¡¯re long extinct in the Domain of the Falling Stars has made them even more valuable. It¡¯d bepletely reasonable to double those prices.¡±

    Fang Hui let out a soft sigh and said, ¡°Congrattions, Sectmaster Li.¡±

    He was well-aware that, after gaining those three precious materials, Li Jing would probably progress faster than all of the other Profound realm experts in the Realm of me Heaven, and this was all because she had outstanding vision and cultivated her rtionship with Nie Tian at an early time.

    Nie Tianughed heartily as he stuffed the three items she had picked into her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me, Senior Li. I¡¯m actually d that I have something that I can use to pay you back for the Bone Blood Demon. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t feel right to take it.¡±

    Li Jing received the precious cultivation materials and put them away in her ring of holding. With a warm and grateful expression, she said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony with you, Nie Tian. To tell you the truth, these three items are indeed very useful to me. If I can somehow enter the Soul realm someday, I won¡¯t forget what you¡¯ve done for me today.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to say that, given our rtionship,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Li Jing was overjoyed to receive the three unearthly treasures, even though she did her utmost to mask her joy as she quietly stepped aside.

    ¡°Alright, time for you to state your needs.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took a nce at Hou Qingsen from the Poison Sect and said, ¡°What do you need?¡±

    ¡°Those outsider incantation scrolls!" Hou Qingsen said, pointing at the few scrolls made of animal skin. ¡°What¡¯s the price?¡±

    Nie Tian took a quick nce at them and realized they were the scrolls he had looted from one of the Fiends he had ughtered.

    The contents of those scrolls seemed to be some of the Fiends¡¯ secret magics. It was said that the Realm of ck Marsh used to be home to Fiends. Meanwhile, the Poison Sect practiced numerous spiritual incantations that had countless ties with the Fiends.

    That exined why an expert from the Poison Sect would show such a strong interest in the Fiends¡¯ scrolls.

    ¡°I¡¯m Hou Qingsen, one of the Poison Sect¡¯s elders. Whatever you want in exchange for those scrolls, even if I don¡¯t have it right now, the Poison Sect will spare no effort to get it for you within the shortest time possible!¡± With these words, Hou Qingsen took a deep breath and waited for Nie Tian¡¯s reply, as if he knew that the contents of those Fiend scrolls would have a profound influence on the whole Poison Sect¡¯s future.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name again?¡± Nie Tian asked, his brow furrowed.

    ¡°Hou Qingsen.¡±

    ¡°No deal!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s attitude took a sharp turn. He reached out and put the few animal skin scrolls away in his ring of holding. ¡°I just remembered that I¡¯ve already promised these scrolls to someone else.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Hou Qingsen asked anxiously.

    Nie Tian gave a cold snort. ¡°The person who you betrayed so you could kiss up to your friend in the Spirit God Sect.¡±

    ¡°That traitor Li Langfeng?!¡± Hou Qingsen eximed, shock spreading across his face.

 Chapter 594: Unforeseen Fortune

    In fact, the name Li Langfeng had already be somewhat vague in Hou Qingsen¡¯s memory.

    Li Langfeng was too insignificant a person for him to remember.

    After all, Li Langfeng hade from a small n. Compared to the other disciples in a major sect like the Poison Sect, his background was too low to be memorable.

    The Li n had been among the smallest of all of the subordinate ns of the Spirit God Sect.

    Therefore, when he had learned that Li Langfeng had only taken him as his master and cultivated hard because he had sworn to himself that he would make Wu Qinghe from the Spirit God Sect pay for his crime, he betrayed him without even thinking about it.

    After all, Wu Qinghe, who was also from a major sect, was in the same ss as him, not to mention that he had Chang Qiu, one of the Spirit God Sect elders, at his back.

    If Li Langfeng somehow made high achievements in his cultivation and threatened Wu Qinghe¡¯s safety, he, as Li Langfeng¡¯s master, would be in trouble.

    The choice was easy to make, since it had been between Li Langfeng, who was from a low background, and Chang Qiu, who was a powerful figure from the Spirit God Sect.

    He never expected that Li Langfeng was the reason why Nie Tian would refuse to sell those Fiend scrolls to him.

    Hou Qingsen struggled to suppress his anger, and asked with a slightly distorted face, ¡°Are you sure that you want to start a feud with the Poison Sect just for a puny insect like Li Langfeng?¡±

    The numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the other sects also looked rather confused.

    People had a strong sense of hierarchy in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Lowborn Qi warriors like Li Langfeng, who didn¡¯t have any powerful sects to back them, were usually ignored.

    Powerful sects that had long histories and Soul realm experts would only treat Qi warriors from sects that were equally powerful with respect.

    To them, those from insignificant backgrounds were nothing but punching bags that they could bully and humiliate all them wanted.

    The reason why Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect had dared toe by himself and make those unreasonable demands was exactly because the sects from the Realm of me Heaven weren¡¯t even worth mentioning to them.

    Nie Tian gave a soft chuckle and said, ¡°I¡¯m one hundred percent sure. Also, I¡¯m gonna give these scrolls that I¡¯ve obtained from the Fiends to Li Langfeng as a gift,pletely free of charge. Do you have a problem with that?¡±

    Hou Qingsen burst into a ming rage as he blurted, ¡°Do you know how many spirit stones my sect is willing to give for those scrolls?! Do you know that you¡¯re giving up millions of spirit stones for Li Langfeng?!¡±

    Many in the crowd were bbergasted, not daring to believe their own ears.

    ¡°Millions of spirit stones?!¡±

    ¡°It seems that the Poison Sect is bent on getting those scrolls!¡±

    ¡°Are those few old scrolls really worth millions of spirit stones?! Is Hou Qingsen out of his mind?!¡±

    Even Dong Tengfei and other senior experts from the Dong n were taken back.

    The old man from the Spirit Condor seemed to be only one whose expression didn¡¯t change a bit.

    That was because he was well-aware that some of the Poison Sect¡¯s incantations had close connections with Fiends. However, due to the physical differences between humans and Fiends, humans normally couldn¡¯t practice those incantations to advanced levels. If they made reckless attempts, they would die from a fatal bacsh.

    However, those were the incantations Li Langfeng had been practicing.

    Perhaps the contents of the scrolls would help him relieve or fix the damage he had been causing himself by practicing those incantations.

    This was the same reason why the Poison Sect had been so eager to get those scrolls. Even if Nie Tian demanded ten million spirit stones in exchange for them, they would agree to it.

    A in-looking Worldly realm Qi warrior was observing all this closely from a remote corner of the crowd of onlookers.

    He was Li Langfeng.

    After he had advanced to the Worldly realm with the Fiend heart Nie Tian had given him, he had heard of this trading fair, and thuse over, on the one hand, to broaden his horizons, and on the other, to see Nie Tian.

    Soon after he hade to the venue, he had spotted his former master, Hou Qingsen, and thus quietly hid himself in the crowd.

    After years of reckless cultivation, his appearance and aura had gone through great changes. Because of this, Hou Qingsen didn¡¯t notice him.

    After Nie Tian had been spotted in the crowd and received everyone¡¯s attention, he decided to stay hidden and observe.

    At this moment, when he heard that Nie Tian was willing to give up millions of spirit stones just to save those precious scrolls for him, he felt a warm current filling his heart. He even felt it in his eyes, which hadn¡¯t gone wet in years.

    After ncing over the crowd of Worldly realm and Profound realm experts, who found Nie Tian¡¯s decision iprehensible, and his former master, who was fuming with rage, he quickly dabbed his eyes with his cuff.

    No one noticed.

    Unlike Xue Long and many others, he had continued to use his own name after fleeing to the Realm of Split Void and bing a guest elder of the Dark Moon.

    He had only dared to do that because he had been aware that, in the eyes of Hou Qingsen and Wu Qinghe, he wasn¡¯t even worth being concerned about.

    Neither of them would be afraid of his retaliation.

    As far as they saw it, no matter how hard he cultivated, he wouldn¡¯t be able to pose any threat to them.

    In fact, they felt that the day he dared toe knocking on their doors would be the day he died.

    Hou Qingsen had the Poison Sect at his back, while Wu Qinghe had the Spirit God Sect. Since they both had ess to rich cultivation resources, their cultivation bases and battle prowess would always be higher than his.

    Another possibility would be that he would die from the bacsh he suffered from the dangerous incantations he practiced before he could even seek revenge on them.

    As far as Li Langfeng was concerned, he felt sad that neither Hou Qingsen nor Wu Qinghe had ever tried to gather information about his situation in the Realm of Split Void or kill him after so many years.

    Just like the toxins in his system, Hou Qingsen and Wu Qinghe¡¯s disregard was consuming him bit by bit.

    His heart that was as hard and cold as a piece of ice seemed to be pierced through its exterior, and infused with something that was very warm.

    Fuming with anger, Hou Qingsen spat in a manner as if he wanted to eat Nie Tian alive. ¡°Fine! You¡¯ll regret this, Nie Tian!¡±

    Upon seeing this, the old treasure appraiser from the Spirit Condor took his time to say, ¡°Every transaction should be made through mutual consent at this trading fair. If Nie Tian doesn¡¯t want to sell his merchandise to you, you can¡¯t force him to.¡±

    With a disgusted look on his face, Nie Tian waved his hand and said, ¡°Next!¡±

    With a cold expression, Dong Pengfei from the Dong n said to Hou Qingsen, ¡°You¡¯d better watch yourself. If you dare to do anything to Nie Tian, don¡¯t me us for not warning you!¡±

    Qian Qiong also let out a cold snort and said from afar, ¡°The Ice Pavilion Sect shares the same attitude on this matter!¡±

    After him, Lu Ling from the Yin Sect, Kong Hong from the Yang Sect, as well as Profound realm experts from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect also made it clear that Nie Tian was under their protection.

    Hou Qingsen¡¯s expression flickered as he nced over them, then he turned around and left hastily without saying a word.

    ¡°So it¡¯s true...¡± someone in the crowd muttered in a low voice. ¡°I heard that Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect went to force his will on the sects from the Realm of me Heaven. However, due to Nie Tian and the strong support he received from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Spirit Condor, Ji Qingyun had to tuck his tail and run.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, people started to see Nie Tian with a new sense of respect.

    Soon, a Profound realm Qi warrior from a minor, unknown sect broke the silence bying to stand before Nie Tian. Pointing at one of the items Nie Tian had for sale, he asked, ¡°How much is that?¡±

    The item he pointed at was a horn that was slightly curved, and shining with dazzling, golden light, as if it were forged from gold.

    Before Nie Tian said anything, Gao Fu from the Spirit Condor took it upon himself to exin the origin of the horn at a slow pace. ¡°That¡¯s the horn of a seventh grade Gold Horn Beast. Even though we have Gold Horn Beasts in many realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, most of them are at only the third grade.¡±

    ¡°Only in certain special environments would Gold Horn Beasts keep growing and advancing in grade. And only in ces with a tremendous amount of metal power would they be able to advance to the seventh grade. However, there isn¡¯t a single piece ofnd like that throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°The strength of a seventh grade Gold Horn Beast is equal to that of a Soul realm human Qi warrior. Their horns are their most valuable part. In the hands of an experienced equipment forger, they could be forged into metal-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    ¡°ording to my assessment, this Gold Horn Beast horn should be priced at four million spirit stones.¡±

    The man tightened his lips, and after a moment of hesitation, he eximed, ¡°Alright! I want it!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled as he nodded and said, ¡°I trust the judgment of an appraiser from the Spirit Condor. Four million spirit stones it is.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡± Without any dy, the man took out a ring of holding that was filled with spirit stones, and transferred arge amount of spirit stones into it from the ring of holding he was wearing, before he handed it to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Here. Feel free to count them yourself.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the ring of holding and rapidly scanned its contents with a wisp of his psychic awareness, then he said, ¡°The number is right.¡±

    The Profound realm Qi warrior, who practiced metal power, looked overjoyed as he picked up the seventh grade Gold Horn Beast¡¯s horn and quickly left the Blood Fighting Pit, as if he couldn¡¯t wait a moment longer to find an equipment forger that could forge Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    Joy filled Nie Tian¡¯s heart as he eximed inwardly, <i>¡°A horn alone made me four million spirit stones! My trip to that mysterious dimension has indeed turned out to be very productive!¡± </i>

    Back when he had killed hunters with great effort in the Realm of Split Void and looted their belongings, he had only managed to trade them for several hundred thousand spirit stones, which had been barely enough for Li Ye to forge the me Star.

    He had never expected that his gains from the kills he had made on those two inds could actually bring him such a great fortune.

    Even the Cloudsoaring Sect wouldn¡¯t dare to imagine that they could umte four million spirit stones within a couple of years, much less the Nie n.

    He, who had never owned so many spirit stones, nced over the nearly one hundred strange and rare items in front of him. He frowned as he took out a piece of paper and started writing on it, then he hung it over the spiritual materials and called out, ¡°Aside from spirit stones, you can also make your purchases with fire-attributed materials, wood-attributed materials, or materials that contain star power.

    ¡°Plus, I¡¯m in need of a ring of holding with outstanding storage room. Whoever has one cane to the front and make their purchase first.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, many eagerly elbowed their way to the front.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got earthme essence and a few earthme crystal strings!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got Star Iron that I extracted from Star Stones. As a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you¡¯ll definitely need Star Iron!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll need my Soul Convergence Pills! Since you¡¯re at the Greater Heaven stage, Soul Convergence Pills will be very helpful when you enter the Worldly realm and transform your psychic power into soul power!¡±

    Waving precious items in their hands and shouting loudly, many scrambled to the front.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes glittered with the light of joy and excitement as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯ll all get your turn! One at a time!¡±

 Chapter 595: Weve Met Before

    Nie Tian had attracted the attention of almost every single Worldly realm and Profound realm expert in the Blood Fighting Pit.

    The people from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of a Hundred Battles all felt left out.

    However, they were fully aware that the reason behind such a scene was twofold.

    For one thing, Nie Tian had indeed obtained the most valuables on those two inds. For another, as chosen ones of each of sects, they had given the most precious and useful of their loot to their seniors.

    Major sects like the Ice Pavilion Sect had numerous powerful disciples, and thus their efficiency at digesting resources was fairly high.

    With the most valuable spiritual materials divided among their own seniors, it was only natural that the spiritual materials they had brought to the Blood Fighting Pit for sale were far less impressive than the ones Nie Tian had to sell.

    Because of this, they weren¡¯t surprised to see that almost everyone was attracted to Nie Tian¡¯s collection.

    After all, Nie Tian¡¯s collection consisted of not only spiritual materials from that strange dimension, but also spiritual materials he had looted from the outsiders, most of which had long since disappeared from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Since Xuan Ke and the other chosen ones had only killed one or two outsiders, they hadn¡¯t obtained many curious items from their kills.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, had killed dozens of outsiders, so it was natural that his collection of spiritual materials contained those he had looted from Fiends, Phantasms, Demons, Stonemen, ckscales, and Birdmen.

    What they had had on them might not be very valuable in their own realms.

    However, since they couldn¡¯t be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars, they were extremely desirable to sects like the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect, which had close connections to the outsiders.

    Standing beside Nie Tian, Gao Fu from the Spirit Condor continued to exin the origin and prices of the spiritual materials as people asked.

    They waved precious cultivation materials in their hands as they pushed their way to the front and shouted out the items they hoped to get.

    Under Gao Fu¡¯s instructions, Nie Tian rapidly traded the spiritual materials before him for materials he needed.

    Star Iron, Earthme Essence, Earthme Crystal Strings, Soul Convergence Pills, Immortal Wood, Crimson Dragons Meridians, Hundredgrass Fortune Pills, spirit stones, spirit jades...

    Nie Tian smiled as he watched them fly into his ring of holding one after another.

    As the spiritual materials before him gradually disappeared, copious amounts of materials that suited his needs were added to his ring of holding, along with ten million spirit stones and more than five hundred spirit jades.

    Some of the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts gathered around him looked rather envious, and had hostility in their eyes, as what Nie Tian had gained at this trading fair alone was more than what a normal Profound realm expert could gather throughout his or her entire life.

    Even some minor sects might not have as many valuables as he currently had in his possession!

    On top of that, he was only at the Greater Heaven stage now.

    As far as they saw it, Nie Tian was like a moving vault, since his cultivation base was still rather low...

    Dong Tengfei noticed the killing intent in some of the people¡¯s eyes, and thus said coldly, ¡°It was thanks to Nie Tian that we learned about the outsiders¡¯ invasion n. He also has a lot of experience fighting outsiders. Therefore, he¡¯ll y a crucial role in our uing war, which will determine the life or death of everyone in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If any of you dare to make any move against him...¡±

    Before he could finish, Qian Qiong jumped in and said, ¡°Whoever dares to make a move against Nie Tian, we¡¯ll kill them and ughter every single one of their rtives!¡±

    Upon hearing Dong Tengfei and Qian Qiong¡¯s words, all those who had wicked ideas took deep breaths and started weighing the matter in their minds.

    Shortly afterwards, their eyes grew dim as most of them dropped their evil ideas.

    However, some rogue cultivators still seemed to harbor the intention of seeking an opportunity to kill Nie Tian, take his belongings, and hole up in some remote ce away from the Realm of Split Void, where they would make rapid progress in their cultivation.

    Since some of them were at the Profound realm, if they could enter the Soul realm before others found them, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much.

    As for the threat from the outsiders, these rogue cultivators, who were only concerned with their own cultivation and benefit, wouldn¡¯t care about it at all.

    They wouldn¡¯t even blink if the Domain of the Falling Stars fell, millions of lives perished, and numerous sects were turned to ashes.

    Nie Tian also noticed the hostility in those people¡¯s eyes, though he didn¡¯t seem concerned at all. He took a nce at the remaining spiritual materials, which were roughly one fourth of the original amount, and said, ¡°For all of these remaining spiritual materials, I just want one item in exchange: a ring of holding with exceptional storage room.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, those who were still waving their fire-attributed and wood-attributed materials, hoping to make deals with Nie Tian, all froze.

    With a calm expression, Nie Tian sat down behind his remaining spiritual materials, ignoring their shouts and pleadings. It was obvious that he was bent on trading them for a ring of holding with enough storage room.

    After realizing that some people already harbored evil intentions towards his fortune, he was now in even more urgent need of a storage tool that had enough room to hold the Bone Blood Demon.

    Only when he was able to carry the Bone Blood Demon wherever he went would he feel safe to travel freely.

    Otherwise, he was afraid that greedy mad men would try to ambush him as soon as he left Shatter City.

    Since he couldn¡¯t hide behind the wings of the Spirit Condor and the other powerful sects all the time, he would have to be strong enough to protect himself eventually.

    Right now, the Bone Blood Demon was the most powerful means at his disposal.

    Seeing that, no matter how they demanded or implored, Nie Tian still remained silent, the crowd of cultivators gradually started to scatter and leave.

    After all, they didn¡¯t have what Nie Tian wanted.

    People started to stroll back to the stalls of the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect.

    ¡°Why do you need a ring of holding withrge storage room so badly?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    ¡°It¡¯d be of great use to me,¡± Nie Tian said. Then, with a somewhat reluctant smile, he lowered his voice and said, ¡°The Blood Sect gave their Bone Blood Demon to me. It¡¯s very powerful. With it by my side, I¡¯ll have very little to fear. I just need a ring of holding to store it.¡±

    Dong Li nodded and said quietly, ¡°I see, but that kind of ring of holding is very hard to find.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I know.¡±

    Gao Fu, who had been standing beside Nie Tian the whole time, chimed in unhurriedly, ¡°Actually, that kind of ring of holding is not very hard to forge. Master Zhen is one of those who know how to forge them. The truly difficult part is finding special materials that contain rich spatial energy. It still won¡¯t work out if you only have someone who can forge one, but not the necessary materials.¡±

    ¡°But I¡¯ve already got enough cultivation resources,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning slightly. ¡°All I need now is a ring of holding like that.¡±

    Gao Fu shook his head and said, ¡°Well, you¡¯ll need some luck toe across one. It¡¯s normal that hundreds of years go by without one ring of holding like that being spotted. Only those who are skilled in spatial magics and have been to realms with rich spatial power resources would be able to obtain the materials to forge that kind of ring of holding. But right now, throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, there...¡±

    Before he could finish, a cyan ring of holding suddenly appeared and floated in the air right in front of Nie Tian.

    The ring of holding was engraved with detailed andplicated patterns, which seemed to carry the profound truths of spatial power.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Gao Fu gasped with astonishment as he stared at the mysterious ring of holding and sensed the spatial fluctuations it thrummed with. In the next moment, an exmation escaped his mouth. ¡°Nie Tian! This is exactly the kind of ring of holding you want!¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian.

    ¡°Whose is it?¡± Dong Tengfei shouted.

    His sudden shout once again attracted the attention of the Worldly realm and Profound realm cultivators who were now gathered before the other stalls.

    At that moment, a middle-aged man who looked like a bag of bones swaggered towards Nie Tian. Eyes filled with insanity and paranoia, he said, ¡°It¡¯s mine.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gazes instantlynded on the scrawny man. However, most of them looked rather puzzled, as they didn¡¯t know who he was.

    However, fear and intense hatred spread across the faces of the few Tool Sect experts present the moment they saw him.

    After getting a clear view of the man, Dong Tengfei called out, a panicked look shing across his eyes, ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡±

    The expressions of almost every Qi warrior flickered drastically as they realized who the man was. ¡°Z-zhao Shanling!!!¡±

    Those who were standing close to him seemed as if they were looking at a ghost. They hastily pushed each other aside as they backed away, forming a wide and open path for him to walk to Nie Tian.

    As they did, many got stomped on or squeezed hard, yet none of them dared to make a sound. They all bit their lips and looked nervously at Zhao Shanling.

    WHOOSH!

    With a wave of his hand, the remaining spiritual materials in front of Nie Tian rapidly flew into the ring of holding on his finger.

    Then, he gave a soft chuckle and fixed Nie Tian with a piercing look. ¡°We¡¯ve met before.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he said somewhat nervously, ¡°Indeed. I had the pleasure of meeting you once, Senior Zhao.¡±

    No matter how he disguised himself or altered his appearance, he couldn¡¯t hide his true identity from Zhao Shanling, who was one of a handful of the most powerful experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Considering Zhao Shanling¡¯s cultivation attainments, he was able to recognize anyone he had met before, unless their cultivation base was higher than his.

    ¡°I knew that you were extraordinary back then, but I never expected that you were actually a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Hmm, interesting.¡± Zhao Shanling smiled wildly as he nced at Dong Tengfei and Gao Fu, who looked as if they were facing a formidable foe. ¡°Rx. I¡¯m not here to spill blood.¡±

    Only after hearing these words did Dong Tengfei and Gao Fu let out sighs of relief.

    ¡°If I were, none of you would be able to stop me,¡± Zhao Shanling said calmly and arrogantly.

    No one refuted his statement, as they were all well-aware that only another Soul realm expert would have a chance at stopping him from killing them.

    However, that was it.

    If he were bent on leaving, no one throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars would be able to stop him.

    Even the one from the Heaven Pce Sect, who was trying to break through into the Void domain through secluded cultivation, wouldn¡¯t be able to do that.

    This was how formidable Qi warriors who practiced spatial power were.

    ¡°That¡¯s the kind of ring of holding you want. I doubt that there¡¯s another ring of holding like that in the Domain of the Falling Stars now.¡± Then, he looked Nie Tian up and down. ¡°So you¡¯re the one who ruined my n in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    With a wildugh, his figure blurred and vanished into thin air.

    While hisughter still lingered in the air, his aura had already bepletely untraceable.

 Chapter 596: A Ring of Holding with Exceptional Storage Room

    The sudden appearance of Zhao Shanling made everyone in the Blood Fighting Pit hold their breath, their eyes filled with fear and uneasiness.

    Even after he left, the entire Blood Fighting Pit remained silent. Not a single person dared to speak.

    Only after a long time, when people were convinced that he wasn¡¯ting back, did a uproar burst out among them.

    ¡°Why is he here in the Realm of Split Void?!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s he doing here? What does he want?¡±

    ¡°Could it be that the Heaven Pce Sect asked him to help seal those spatial rifts?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s looking forward to the outsiders¡¯ arrival!¡±

    ¡°Who knows whether him being here is a good thing or a bad thing!¡±

    People discussed it on and on. The trading activity in the Blood Fighting Pit was interrupted by Zhao Shanling¡¯s appearance.

    Nie Tian, however, had a grim expression on his face as he held the ring of holding Zhao Shanling had forged in his hand. Zhao Shanling¡¯sst words and scaryugh made it clear that he was fully aware that the person who had revealed his hiding ce to the Tool Sect experts was him, not Dong Li.

    Throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, anyone besides that one from the Heaven Pce Sect would have a serious headache once they were targeted by Zhao Shanling.

    After all, he was the most fiendish killer throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Back when he had forged the Death Reign, he had unleashed it on the other sects in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. As a result, the Tool Sect was now the only remaining sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    The crime he hadmitted had shocked powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After knowing that they were targeted by a person like him, any normal Qi warrior would lose both appetite and sleep.

    Nie Tian knew that even if he awakened the Bone Blood Demon, if Zhao Shanling wanted him dead, he would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s battle prowess would be around the same level as that of an early Soul realm expert, Zhao Shanling was at the middle Soul realm.

    ¡°Damn!" Dong Li said with a very concerned expression. She was worried that Zhao Shanling would try to kill Nie Tian.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much.¡± Gao Fu from the Spirit Condor tried to put her heart at ease. ¡°If Zhao Shanling wanted to kill Nie Tian, he¡¯d have already done it. He doesn¡¯t care about the threat we¡¯re facing from the outsider invaders.

    ¡°Also, like he said, if he wanted to spill blood, not a single person in the Realm of Split Void would be able to stop him.

    ¡°If he really wanted Nie Tian dead, Nie Tian¡¯d be dead now.¡±

    Dong Tengfei nodded, agreeing with Gao Fu, then with a bitter smile, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, I believe he¡¯s only here to get some spiritual materials. Even though we don¡¯t know why, it seems that he doesn¡¯t want to kill you for the time being. That man is too strange to predict.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Nie Tian felt slightly relieved, and thus sent a wisp of psychic awareness into the ring of holding.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes gradually lit up.

    The storage room of the ring of holding Zhao Shanling had left him was ten timesrger than that of a regr ring of holding.

    Not to mention one Bone Blood Demon, even if he had three, he would be able to store them in this ring of holding, and there would still be room to spare.

    Furthermore, the ring of holding wasn¡¯t sealed by any spatial wards. He could use it freely.

    Whatever Zhao Shanling¡¯s intentions were, this ring of holding had indeed satisfied Nie Tian¡¯s most urgent need. He was finally able to carry the Bone Blood Demon wherever he went.

    The mor due to Zhao Shanling¡¯s appearance was still going on in the Blood Fighting Pit.

    Nie Tian, who had finished trading the valuables he had brought back from that other dimension, prepared to leave.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Tengfei stopped him. ¡°For the time being, don¡¯t leave Shatter City. In fact, I suggest that you stay with us in our n¡¯s residence.¡±

    Dong Li grew worried again as she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that Zhao Shanling won¡¯t try to kill him?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about Zhao Shanling.¡± With these words, Dong Tengfei let out a cold snort as he nced over the few in the crowd who snuck nces at Nie Tian from time to time. ¡°Considering Zhao Shanling¡¯s status and strength, he would have already killed Nie Tian if he wanted to. He¡¯d never respect the no killing rule agreed upon by the sects.

    ¡°What really worries me is that some scoundrels might make attempts on Nie Tian¡¯s life.¡±

    Qian Qiong also shot a stern nce in Nie Tian¡¯s direction, as if to tell him that he should be careful.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ve got my own ns. Let them try. If they actually dare toe at me, I¡¯ve got a big surprise for them.¡±

    With these words, he nodded respectfully and walked away.

    Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the others from the Realm of me Heaven saw that he was leaving, and thus rapidly converged on him.

    ¡°Where are you going?!¡± Dong Li called out to him, looking very concerned.

    ¡°The ce where Qi warriors from the me Heaven realm should be.¡± Then, with a longugh, Nie Tian strode towards the gate of the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters.

    Dong Li was eager to run after him, but was stopped by Dong Tengfei. ¡°We still have items to sell,¡± he said. ¡°We need you and Baijie here until we¡¯re finished. Plus, those from the Realm of me Heaven who went with him are all at the Profound realm. This is Shatter City. No one would be stupid enough to make moves against him here.¡±

    Gao Fu from the Spirit Condor took his time to say, ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯ll be fine. Even a maniac like Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t make an attempt on his life here. I seriously doubt that others will.¡±

    Only after hearing these words did Dong Li feel somewhat relieved.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian cast what had just happened in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters out of his mind as he returned to the dpidated block with Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the other experts from the Realm of the me Heaven.

    Seeing that Nie Tian was heading directly towards the ce where the Bone Blood Demon was lying in a deep slumber, Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the others followed along.

    As soon as they arrived, Nie Tian sent a wisp of his psychic awareness into the ring of holding Zhao Shanling had given him. Immediately afterwards, a strong and mysterious connection was established.

    The Bone Blood Demon, which was more than thirty meters long, was channeled by that force and started floating towards the ring of holding.

    Then, the enormous Bone Blood Demon rapidly shrank into a streak of white light and disappeared into the ring of holding.

    ¡°It worked!¡± Nie Tian eximed with a broadugh.

    Li Jing also let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Now that you have this Bone Blood Demon by your side, those who have ill intentions towards you and your valuables won¡¯t be able harm you anymore. As long as you¡¯re not facing middle orte Profound realm experts, you¡¯ll be fine. The Bone Blood Demon won¡¯t let them get through.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and didn¡¯t say anything.

    That was because he knew that this Bone Blood Demon¡¯s current battle prowess could actually match that of an early Soul realm expert.

    If experts at the middle orte Profound realm dared to make any moves against him, they would also be seeking their own deaths.

    The tips of Chang Sen¡¯s eyebrows rose as he suddenly jerked his head in a direction, where a man gradually approached. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s expression gradually grew cold and vignt as she thought to herself, <i>¡°Who¡¯s that? He¡¯s only at thete Worldly realm. Don¡¯t tell me that he actually dares toe for Nie Tian while we¡¯re all here.¡±</i>

    ¡°He¡¯s a friend,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    The man slowly walked over and stopped in front of Nie Tian, then in a low voice, he said, ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    A puzzled expression spread across Li Jing¡¯s face. ¡°He is...?¡±

    ¡°This is Li Langfeng,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Everyone instantly felt enlightened.

    It was because of this man that Nie Tian had given up five million spirit stones and started a feud with the Poison Sect.

    Even though they had considered his decision very unwise, they hadn¡¯t thought it was their ce to stop him.

    Anyhow, now that they knew the man was friendly, they felt relieved.

    ¡°I want to stay here for some time,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I believe I¡¯ll be fine by myself.¡±

    Fang Hui nodded. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll be in the neighborhood, watching out for you. You¡¯ll be safe here as long as no Soul realm expertse for you.¡±

    With these words, the Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven left one after another.

    After they were all gone, when Nie Tian and Li Langfeng were the only ones there, Li Langfeng said in a low voice, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done it.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°You mean refusing to trade with Hou Qingsen? To tell you the truth, I killed quite a number of Poison Sect disciples in the dimension I returned from. The Poison Sect and I are already as ipatible as fire and water. They just don¡¯t know it yet, since none of their disciples came back.¡±

    With these words, he took out the few animal skin scrolls he had looted from the Fiends, and asked, ¡°Can you read Fiend¡¯snguage?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the only outsidernguage I can read,¡± Li Langfeng replied. ¡°I learned it because I knew the kinds of poisonous incantations I practice have close connections to Fiends.¡±

    Nie Tian handed the scrolls to him. ¡°That¡¯s good. I hope the secret magics in them will help you with your cultivation and make you suffer less.¡±

    Li Langfeng received the scrolls in a very respectful manner. His fingers even trembled slightly. ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    He knew better than anyone how helpful these few unimpressive-looking scrolls would be to him.

 Chapter 597: Streaming Flame Pill

    After Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian left, the trading fair at the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters became much less exciting.

    After the trading fair was over, the majority of the attendants returned to Ash City, the Land of the Abandoned, and the Void Illusion Mountain Range through the teleportation portal Zhen Hun had reestablished in Shatter City.

    However, some weren¡¯t in a hurry to leave.

    That night, Hou Qingsen from the Poison Sect sought out Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect at his residence.

    He did it because he knew Ji Qingyun had also been humiliated by Nie Tian three days ago.

    He cut to the chase by saying, ¡°That brat was so fucking arrogant. We need to teach him a lesson that he¡¯ll remember his whole life! And I won¡¯t rest before I get those Fiend scrolls!¡±

    Ji Qingyun gave him a sideways nce, and with a bitter smile, he said, ¡°He¡¯s got the Spirit Condor and all those sects to protect him. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy for us to get to him. As you know, since these are sensitive times, even the Heaven Pce Sect has agreed to stop all strife among ourselves.¡±

    Hou Qingsen appeared to have a n cooked up as he said, ¡°Of course we won¡¯t do it ourselves, but we can have others do it for us.¡±

    After a short pause, he said in a low voice, ¡°Some rogue cultivators only care about their own benefits. The bigger picture won¡¯t concern them at all. We can pay them to do it. Sessful or not, we won¡¯t be held responsible for what they do.¡±

    With a slight frown, Ji Qingyun said, ¡°It does sound feasible, but isn¡¯t it a bit too risky to do it in Shatter City? After all, Nie Tian is surrounded by those from the Realm of me Heaven. Chang Sen, Li Jing, Fang Hui, and Ghost Eye are all at the Profound realm, not to mention that Qian Qiong from the Ice Pavilion Sect and the others who have sworn to protect him are also in Shatter City.

    ¡°Whoever kills Nie Tian won¡¯t live to leave Shatter City. Who would want to do such a thing?¡±

    Hou Qingsen smiled viciously and said, ¡°Of course we¡¯re not doing it in the city, but I don¡¯t believe that brat will never leave! Also, those Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven won¡¯t be able to follow him all the time. As long as he dares to leave the city, we can have him ambushed.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s worth a shot,¡± Ji Qingyun said softly.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hou Qingsen continued, ¡°Since Nie Tian dared to openly start a feud with my sect for Li Langfeng, I¡¯ll go talk to Wu Qinghe from the Spirit God Sect. With those scrolls and rare materials from Nie Tian, that abandoned disciple of mine might actually make rapid progress in his cultivation. If that¡¯s the case, Wu Qinghe definitely won¡¯t want Nie Tian to be alive.¡±

    Ji Qingyun¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Good! We¡¯ll have better odds if the Spirit God Sect agrees to help!¡±

    ...

    Deep in the night, the sky was pitch-ck.

    In the broken courtyard, Li Langfeng was reading a animal skin scroll in the flickering light of a oilmp. He held it with great caution, as if he were holding an unearthly treasure.

    Nie Tian, who was sitting beside him, was transferring all of his belongings from his original ring of holding into the ring of holding forged by Zhao Shanling.

    Ten million spirit stones, five hundred spirit jades, numerous cultivation materials, the six crimson stone columns he had obtained from Yang Kan, and the Golden Chariot he had obtained from Su Lin...

    Even after he finished transferring all of his belongings into his new ring of holding, there was still much room to spare.

    Then, Nie Tian took out one of the crimson stone columns and infused it with the earthme essence he had recently gained through trade. To avoid attracting unnecessary attention, he didn¡¯t take out all six crimson stone columns at once.

    One after another, he soon finished infusing all six stone columns with earthme essence.

    Afterwards, he took out the jade slip Yang Kan had given him, and under his precise maniption, a few translucent and sparkling earthme crystal strings flew into the jade slip.

    The jade slip was the key to activating the Spiritual Hexame Formation. As wisps of earthme crystal strings flew into it, fiery patterns appeared and started flowing on the surface of the jade slip.

    Within them were branded the methods to activate and use the powerful spell formation.

    He touched and scanned the jade slip with his psychic awareness. After a while, he learned that he wouldn¡¯t need to forge another crystal ball of mes to control the Spiritual Hexame Formation. Instead, he could also achieve that with the jade slip.

    The stone columns would be powered by earthme essence, and the earthme crystal strings within the jade slip would create profound connections between him and the stone columns, allowing him to channel and manipte the stone columns and the me power within them with his mind.

    This spell formation could not only be used to form barriers to hold off enemies and their attacks, but he could also channel the earthme essence from within the stone columns to attack his enemies, which would give a strong boost to his battle prowess.

    After figuring out how to use the spell formation, he wasn¡¯t very eager to try it out, since he didn¡¯t want to attract unnecessary attention.

    He put the crimson stone columns and the jade slip away in his ring of holding, and sent in a wisp of awareness to check out the other items.

    A ss bottle that contained seven red medicinal pills was then summoned from within the ring of holding.

    Each and every medicinal pill seemed to be wreathed with flying streams of fire, which gave the medicinal pills a very curious look, as if they were fiery spirits.

    These were Streaming me Pills that he had obtained at the trading fair.

    ording to Gao Fu, these very valuable pills could speed up a Qi warrior¡¯s cultivation of me power and elerate the expansion of their vortex of me power.

    He had always known that since he cultivated me power, wood power, and star power simultaneously, his advancement in cultivation would be slower than that of a Qi warrior who only cultivated power of one attribute.

    Furthermore, due to the uniqueness of his fleshly body, his advancement in cultivation would also depend on the refinement of his fleshly body.

    Because of this, it would take him a longer time to make a breakthrough in his cultivation.

    Like Dong Li and Dong Baijie, some of the chosen ones who only cultivated one attribute, had shattered barriers and entered new cultivation stages after their rich encounters in that dimension.

    Pei Qiqi, who focused on the cultivation of spatial power, had achieved even greater advancements in her cultivation, since the profound truths of spatial power she had obtained happened to agree with her.

    As far as humans were concerned, if they couldn¡¯t make breakthroughs in their cultivation every once in a while, they would soon reach the end of their lifespan and die from old age.

    Both Hua Mu and Wu Ji had faced this kind of problem.

    However, due to his uniqueness, he could continue to practice incantations of three attributes at the same time, and he still wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his lifespan.

    Even though his advancement in cultivation was fairly slow, since he cultivated three types of powers at the same time, the total sum of the spiritual power within his spiritual sea was far greater than that of Qi warriors at the same stage as him.

    The fact that he had been able to ughter Qi warriors at higher stages than him repeatedly was, to a great extent, thanks to his bloodline magics, but it also had something to do with his profound spiritual power.

    Right now, both his vortexes of wood power and star power had been fully refined during his adventure to that dimension, and thus had reached the breakthrough point.

    Only his vortex of me power still needed refining.

    Earthme essence was too fierce for him to extract me power from and use to refine his vortex of me power.

    Earthme crystal strings were made of crystallized earthme essence. Each and every one of them carried the profound truths of me power, which wasn¡¯t something he couldprehend for the time being.

    These Streaming me Pills, however, suited his current needs perfectly.

    As he swallowed one of the Streaming me Pills, he felt as if he had stuffed a miniature sun down his throat.

    The pure and fierce me power within it was rapidly channeled into his vortex of me power. He could sense very clearly that, thanks to this Streaming me Pill, the efficiency of the refinement and expansion of his vortex of me power had risen to a whole new level.

    Thrilled by the feeling, he was soonpletely submerged in his cultivation, ignoring everything in the outside world.

    Meanwhile, Li Langfeng was absorbed in the Fiends¡¯ secret magics recorded in the scrolls. He didn¡¯t make a sound either.

    Two weekster, Nie Tian finally finished the refinement of his vortex of me power.

    <i>¡°These pills are such good stuff! Without them, it might have taken me years to refine and expand my vortex of me power to its limit.¡±</i>

    He even had a feeling that, given the right opportunity, he could advance to thete Greater Heaven stage at any moment now.

    As he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find that Dong Li was also there, sitting beside him.

    ¡°Miss Dong has been waiting for you to wake up for ten days,¡± Li Langfeng said softly.

    Dong Li gave Nie Tian one of her sideways looks and said, ¡°This is the fifth time I¡¯vee here for you. I even got familiar with this weird guy during this time...¡±

    Back when she had lived in the Realm of Split Void under the name Song Li, as the leader of the Fang, she had actually crossed Li Langfeng once.

    With a low chuckle, Li Langfeng said, ¡°From now on, I¡¯m Nie Tian¡¯s tomand. My life is his.¡±

    Dong Li let out a soft snort and said, ¡°That¡¯s only natural. After all, Nie Tian gave up five million spirit stones and started a feud with the Poison Sect for you.¡± With these words, Dong Li handed a ring of holding to Nie Tian. ¡°Inside is the spirit beast meat I got for you. Some of the items you looted from the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect disciples weren¡¯t fit to be traded at the trading fair, so I traded them for spirit beast meat at the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as he grabbed the ring of holding and transferred all of the spirit beast meat into his own ring of holding.

    ¡°You might wanna know that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void is going through strange changes,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°It seems that it won¡¯t be long before the outsiderse.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped upon hearing these words.

 Chapter 598: Leaving the City

    In the beginning, the Realm of Split Void had been filled with extremely rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, the richest of all the realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Back then, the Realm of Split Void had been the optimal ce for cultivation. Its status was even higher than the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Meanwhile, the Void Pce Sect, which was based in the Realm of Split Void, was the most powerful sect throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, after that devastating upheaval, impurities and various toxic and corrosive energies from outer space had flooded the Realm of Split Void,pletely changing its environment.

    The mixed Qi that had leaked into the Realm of Split Void had even contained foreign energies that could dement people and spirit beasts.

    The overwhelming changes to the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had eventually driven the powerful Qi warriors out of the Realm of Split Void.

    That was when the Realm of Split Void had been ostracized from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Before, Phantasm Qi, Demon Qi, and Fiend Qi didn¡¯t make up arge proportion of the energy of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void. However, recently, intense Phantasm Qi, Demon Qi, and Fiend Qi kept pouring out through the six spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    This had made the environment in the Realm of Split Void even more uninhabitable.

    With a grim expression, Dong Li said, ¡°As you know, we humans have to make efforts to defend against the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth if we want to go out to open areas in the Realm of Split Void. Now, with the recent changes, we¡¯ll be under even greater pressure if we leave Shatter City, Ash City, or the Land of the Abandoned, which are protected by grand spell formations.

    ¡°However, the outsiders have extremely tough fleshly bodies. Such changes won¡¯t affect them at all.

    ¡°In fact, they would even be able to absorb energies that agree with them from the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in battle. Their cultivation and recovery efficiency would both be elevated.

    ¡°This means that the environment of the Realm of Split Void is bing more and more habitable for outsider races, and more and more uninhabitable for us.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Li Langfeng chimed in, ¡°She¡¯s right. I sensed the changes in the energies of Heaven and Earth on my way to Shatter City to attend the trading fair. But I didn¡¯t give it much thought back then. I didn¡¯t expect that the environment of the Realm of Split Void would worsen so much within just a month.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian quickly linked the phenomenon with the uing outsider invasion.

    Apparently, the outsiders were quietly and gradually turning the Realm of Split Void into an ideal battlefield for them.

    ¡°How are our defenses?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°During this month that you cultivated wholeheartedly, almost every Worldly realm and Profound realm expert in Shatter City was summoned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. That includes the experts from the Realm of me Heaven. They¡¯ve all teleported to the Void Illusion Mountain Range by now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly grew grim as he asked, ¡°Are they deployed at the forefront? Will they be used as cannon fodder?¡±

    Dong Li smiled, squaring her shoulders. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. The new alliance won¡¯t allow the Heaven Expanse Sect to call the shots. With the support of my n, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Spirit Condor, the sects from the Realm of me Heaven are now being treated fairly. We won¡¯t let them be sent to their graves while others sit back and watch.¡±

    Nie Tian felt slightly relieved as he asked, ¡°So how¡¯s our strength in the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression grew grim as she said, ¡°After you told us that there will be seventh grade outsiders in the outsiders¡¯ army, no sect dared to treat this war lightly. Zhao Luofeng, the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, and Ling Dong, their grand elder, have alreadye and joined our defensive forces. A few other Soul realm experts, who hardly ever leave their cultivation rooms, are also here, waiting for our formidable foes.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong were respectively at the middle and early Soul realms, and with a few other Soul realm experts joining the defensive forces, Nie Tian believed that the outsiders would be quite surprised when they marched through those spatial rifts.

    He was convinced that the outsiders didn¡¯t know that he had already returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars with a few chosen ones.

    They probably still assumed that the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars were unaware of their invasion n.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, does that mean there aren¡¯t many powerful experts left in Shatter City?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Dong Li nodded slightly. ¡°That¡¯s right. Most of them have left for the Void Illusion Mountain Range. But there are still some rogue cultivators who have either refused to answer the summons or stayed after finding some excuses. I bet some of them still harbor ill intentions towards you and your valuables. My n seniors have reminded me repeatedly that I shouldn¡¯t let you leave Shatter City.¡±

    Li Langfeng nodded and chimed in, ¡°Since all of the Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven have been summoned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, it¡¯s indeed very unsafe for you to leave the city, Nie Tian.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin as he said, ¡°But I am going out of Shatter City to examine the changes to the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.¡±

    Since Shatter City was protected by a grand spell formation that could ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, he would have to leave the city to see how bad the environment had be.

    More importantly, he wanted to shock and awe those who harbored evil intentions towards him with the Bone Blood Demon.

    Another reason was that he wanted the newly-formed alliance to know that the Realm of me Heaven now had a Soul realm expert equivalent!

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon wasn¡¯t a human Qi warrior, as long as it followed hismand, and possessed the formidable battle prowess of a Soul realm expert, it would be enough to make those who would plot against the Realm of me Heaven reconsider.

    Exasperated, Dong Li eximed, ¡°What?! You want to leave the city?! Are you out of your mind?! Do you know that those rogue cultivators have absolutely no respect for the rules agreed upon by the sects. They won¡¯t care if the Domain of the Falling Stars falls or not. They only know that you¡¯re a piece of greasy meat. I bet many of them are waiting for an opportunity to kill you, take your valuables, and hole up in some remote corner, where they can make rapid progress in their cultivation! They won¡¯t care who¡¯lle for them!¡±

    ¡°Are any of them at the Soul realm?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    ¡°No...¡± Dong Li answered. ¡°All of the Soul realm experts are now in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and they¡¯re all bound by the ¡®no killing among ourselves¡¯ rule. Even if they weren¡¯t, I doubt that they would lower themselves by killing you personally.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no problem then.¡± With these words, Nie Tian slowly rose to his feet and walked towards the gate to the courtyard. ¡°As long as there aren¡¯t Soul realm experts among them, I¡¯ve got nothing to fear. No matter how many Profound realm expertse at me, I¡¯ll have them all killed! Just watch!¡±

    Dong Li was bbergasted, but since he looked so confident, she decided to say no more, and followed along.

    Li Langfeng, who was also shaken, didn¡¯t know what to say either, and thus followed him out of the courtyard.

    ¡°What?!! Nie Tian is going outside the city?!!¡±

    In a spacious, six-story stone pavilion on a high-end block of Shatter City, an exmation escaped Qin Yan¡¯s mouth.

    She was sitting at a table with Dong Baijie, Qian Xin, Cao Qiushui, Gu Haofeng and a handful of Worldly realm members, discussing what they would do when the outsiders started swarming into the Realm of Split Void.

    Upon learning that Nie Tian was going out of the city, they were all bbergasted.

    With aplicated look in his eyes, Qian Xin broke the silence by saying, ¡°All of our Profound realm seniors are now in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Who can protect him if he leaves the city?¡±

    Cao Qiushui¡¯s expression quickly turned grim. The same went for the others. ¡°Our seniors reminded us very specifically that we can¡¯t let Nie Tian leave the city. Dong Li must have told him not to, but why does he still insist on doing such a dangerous thing?¡±

    Qin Yan¡¯s expression was very stern as she said, ¡°Many rogue cultivators didn¡¯t answer the summons of our alliance. They don¡¯t belong to any sect, and they¡¯re bound by no rules. Some of them are definitely thinking of ways to take Nie Tian¡¯s numerous precious spiritual materials.¡±

    ¡°No matter what, let¡¯s go find him. Hopefully we¡¯re not toote to bring him back.¡± With these words, Dong Baijie was the first to jump off the balcony and dash towards the city gate.

    Meanwhile, Xuan Ke from the Ice Pavilion Sect, Ye Qin from the Yin Sect, and Chen Hao from the Yang Sect also received word of Nie Tian leaving the city.

    They were all shocked, and rushed to the city gate.

    In the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, Shi Qing tumbled into Cai Lan¡¯s private cultivation room and eximed, ¡°My lord, Nie Tian has left the city!¡±

    Taken aback, Cai Lan asked, ¡°What?! Is he crazy?! Doesn¡¯t he know that many people will be after his valuables?! Howe he dares to leave the city?!¡±

    With a bitter smile, Shi Qing shook his head, showing that he didn¡¯t understand either.

    Cai Lan let out a sigh. ¡°Master Zhen isn¡¯t in Shatter City right now. And we¡¯ve long since lost actual control of this city. Some of the rogue cultivators are even at higher realms than me. If they¡¯re really going to do something to Nie Tian, I doubt we¡¯ll be able to stop them.¡±

    ¡°What should we do now?" Shi Qing asked, his voice filled with distress.

    A bitter expression spread across Cai Lan¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Beats me... It¡¯s probably already toote to contact the Profound realm experts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. What the hell was that kid thinking?!¡±

 Chapter 599: Slaughtering Profound Realm Experts!

    Five miles from the gate of Shatter City...

    Standing on the barrennd, Nie Tian took his time to summon the Bone Blood Demon from his ring of holding. Then, he climbed onto its chest and cut his hand to let his blood that contained rich life force drip onto its enormous heart.

    In the next moment, the heart of the Bone Blood Demon, which was lying on the ground,pletely bereft of life, absorbed Nie Tian¡¯s blood like a sponge absorbing water.

    He knew that his special bloodline had vested each drop of his blood with the most profound life power in this world.

    The life power within his blood could ignite the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s extinguished me of life, therefore restoring life to the Bone Blood Demon, which had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive.

    Soon, the grayish-brown eyes within its enormous skull started to flicker with ghostly, green light.

    It looked as if they were two oilmps that had burst into green mes.

    With its me of life reignited, blood started running in the veins that were hidden within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon still didn¡¯t move at all, Nie Tian sensed with great rity that it was gradually awakening, and a curious connection was being reestablished between him and it.

    He knew that it was none other than the unique life power within his blood that was causing these incredible changes.

    ¡°This... This is the Bone Blood Demon you talked about?!¡± Dong Li asked with a shocked expression.

    Her curvaceous body was enveloped by a spherical, dark ward, which gave her a mysterious look.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Exactly.¡±

    Standing beside them, Li Langfeng looked calm andposed even though he didn¡¯t try to protect himself from the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth at all.

    After years of reckless cultivation, his body had already been ravaged by countless deadly toxins.

    Compared to the toxins in his system, the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void was much weaker.

    Because of this, he didn¡¯t feel a thing, even though he was exposed to the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    After reigniting the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s me of life, Nie Tian, who had been surrounded by a cyan ward created by the cyan jade bracelet on his wrist, thought briefly, and then took the bracelet off.

    Then, like Li Langfeng, he was also exposed to the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Dong Li gasped with astonishment. ¡°Nie Tian! What are you doing?!¡±

    Fizzing sounds constantly came from the dark ward around her as a few dark sparks sputtered off the ward from time to time. This was caused by the corrosive effect of the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on her protective ward.

    She had to continuously draw upon her dark spiritual power to resist the increasingly strong toxic and corrosive energies.

    She was astounded by the fact that Nie Tian had voluntarily deactivated his protective ward and exposed himself to this harsh environment.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t answer her. He stood still in the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and sensed it with his eyes closed.

    As soon as the cyan ward was canceled, the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that contained all kinds of corrosive and toxic impurities engulfed him.

    To his surprise, he found that the fleshly aura he released instantly formed an invisibleyer directly over his skin, warding off all of the toxins and impurities.

    He even felt that wisps of filtered spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth were starting to prate his skin and flow into his spiritual sea, as if they were naturally drawn to his spiritual sea.

    ¡°Exactly as I expected!¡± he muttered.

    After he had refined it with Heavenly Wood Heal, his body had already be simr to that of an outsider, since he was now able to resist the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void.

    All he needed to do was to form ayer of fleshly aura over himself.

    Not only that, but he could even extract energies that benefited him from the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    As he conducted a deep scan of himself, he discovered that not only were wisps of pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth flowing into his spiritual sea, but there was also a small amount of wood power as well.

    Even though the wood power he was now receiving was much fainter than when he had cultivated on the two inds in that other dimension, it was richer than most ces in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He soon figured out the reason. <i>¡°Considering that Floragrims used to live on the top continent, it¡¯s only natural that there is wood power there. This exins why the mixed Qi that is leaking into the Realm of Split Void contains wood power.¡±</i>

    ¡°A-are you alright?¡± Dong Li asked with her eyes wide.

    Li Langfeng also had a confused expression as he looked deeply at him. Apparently, neither of them saw through how he was able to remain unharmed in the harsh environment of the Realm of Split Void.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t exin. He put the cyan jade bracelet back on, and after he was once again enveloped in a cyan ward, he said, ¡°You were right. The environment has indeed gone through great changes. The outsiders will find it quite agreeable after they swarm into the Realm of Split Void. Of all the realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, this one will be their most ideal battlefield.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and sat down, gazing coldly in the direction of Shatter City.

    Soon, he saw a few figures flying towards him from that direction.

    Even though he didn¡¯t unleash his Heaven Eyes, he could tell that they were all Profound realm experts, since they were able to fly through the sky.

    He gave a cold harrumph and summoned the Bone Blood Demon with a thought.

    As he did, the Bone Blood Demon slowly sat up and rose to its feet, ghostly, green light flowing within its grayish-brown eyes.

    Nie Tian sprang up into the air andnded steadily on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    As the Bone Blood Demon stepped forward, the ground trembled, giving rise to deep, resounding sounds that he could feel in his chest.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the five rogue cultivators arrived before him. Three of them were at thete Profound realm, and two were at the middle Profound realm. All of them had been bought off by the Spirit God Sect, the Poison Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect.

    One of them, who seemed to practice fire-attributed incantations,ughed wildly and called out, ¡°Nie Tian! We¡¯ve waited for an opportunity like this for a month. Now, you¡¯re finally out of Shatter City!

    ¡°All of his earthme essence, earthme crystal strings, and other fire-attributed spiritual materials will be mine!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take his wood-attributed spiritual materials!¡± Another one chimed in.

    ¡°His identity is very sensitive. We need to finish him off, take his ring of holding, and leave the Realm of Split Void as quickly as we can.¡± Thestte Profound realm expert seemed to be more prudent than the others. ¡°Don¡¯t waste our time anymore. We don¡¯t want to wait until those experts who are protective of him return from the Void Illusion Mountain Range for us.¡±

    ¡°Good point!¡± The first man to speak said, nodding.

    With a fling of his arm, a zing hammer shot out of his hand. It made crackling sounds and created a sea of raging mes as it flew directly towards Nie Tian.

    BAAAM!

    The Bone Blood Demon that was asrge as a mountain swung its long arm and pped the zing hammer hard.

    The zing hammer, which was a seventh level Premium grade spiritual tool, failed to withstand the terrifying force, and exploded instantly.

    The man let out a muffled groan. His expression flickered drastically as he stared nkly at the Bone Blood Demon.

    He had discovered it the moment they had arrived, but he hadn¡¯t attached any importance to it.

    After all, he had never heard of any puppet that possessed such devastating power throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Being at thete Profound realm himself, how would he fear a soulless thing like that?

    ¡°Kill them all,¡± Nie Tian whispered with a vicious smile.

    With a surprisingly swift move, the Bone Blood Demon lunged forward, and brought its sharp, de-like left hand down from the air towards the head of thete Profound realm expert who practiced fire-attributed incantations.

    The man let out a furious roar as he burst into mes. With the raging mes, he rapidly formed a zing ward.

    However, like a great sword that could shatter heaven and earth, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s left hand went right through his zing ward and cut the man in half.

    Just like that, ate Profound realm expert was in by the Bone Blood Demon with a single strike.

    ¡°What the...?! Why does this puppet possess such devastating power?!¡±

    ¡°Its battle prowess can easily match that of an early Soul realm expert!¡±

    ¡°Damn those bastards! They fed us the wrong information!¡±

    Now that the Bone Blood Demon had received Nie Tian¡¯s order, itpletely ignored those people¡¯s exmations. It swiftly shed its arms, which seemed as if they were forged from pure steel, a few more times across the air.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Its iparably sharp hands shattered the Profound realm experts¡¯ defensive wards and spiritual tools, and eventually their fleshly bodies.

    Nie Tian, however, only held on tightly to the Bone Blood Demon as he watched his enemies being torn to pieces. Horror and confusion could still be seen on their faces after they perished.

    At that time, a few other rogue cultivators arrived, all of whom were at the Worldly realm. They saw the bloody scene the moment they arrived, and thus ran for their lives without the slightest hesitation.

    The fact that the Bone Blood Demon had killed five Profound realm experts within such a short time shocked them to their very core, and made the idea of stealing Nie Tian¡¯s valuables shoot right out of their minds.

    Nie Tian gave a cold snort. ¡°A bunch of clowns!¡±

    He didn¡¯tmand the Bone Blood Demon to chase after them because he wanted them to spread word about what they had seen.

    While the rogue cultivators fled in different directions, Dong Baijie, Qin Yan, Xuan Ke, and the other chosen ones rushed to the site.

    ¡°Nie Tian!!¡±

 Chapter 600: The Greatest Honor of the Realm of Flame Heaven

    Dong Baijie and the others werepletely shocked as they arrived on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Nie Tian was sitting on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, unwavering and unscathed. A hint of a cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

    Badly mangled bodies were scattered around the Bone Blood Demon. A faint bloody smell filled the air.

    ¡°You¡¯re only one step toote,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Qin Yan¡¯s charming face was filled with shock and disbelief as she asked, ¡°Did you kill all these people with this puppet? Those were five Profound realm experts!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Indeed they were, but unfortunately for them, this puppet of mine has no problem killing any Profound realm expert! Not to mention that there were only five of them, even if more Profound realm experts came, they would have been killed all the same!¡±

    After ughtering the five Profound realm experts, the Bone Blood Demon didn¡¯t try to absorb and refine their blood with the Blood Refining Incantation as Nie Tian had expected.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian came to the conclusion that, even though they were Profound realm experts, they were still humans.

    Normally, humans¡¯ flesh power wouldn¡¯t be more profound as they made advancements in their cultivation.

    The source of humans¡¯ power was mainly the spiritual power in their spiritual sea. Therefore, evenbined, the five Profound realm experts wouldn¡¯t have as much flesh power as a third grade outsider.

    Only copious amounts of flesh power would help the Bone Blood Demon with its battle prowess.

    That was the reason why it hadn¡¯t showed the slightest interest in the five Profound realm experts¡¯ corpses.

    ¡°Nie Tian!!¡± Dong Li called out with an extremely excited expression. ¡°This puppet of yours killed those five Profound realm experts so effortlessly. Does this mean that its actual battle prowess is equal to that of a Soul realm expert?¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°I believe it¡¯d be able to contend against an early Soul realm expert!¡±

    Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect let out a sigh and said, ¡°No wonder you dared to leave the city. It seems that we worried too much. I knew you wouldn¡¯t make rash decisions.¡±

    Nie Tian stared coldly in the direction of Shatter City and said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay here a while longer. I wanna see who else dares toe and try to take my spiritual materials!¡±

    ...

    By one of the spatial rifts that continuously leaked cyan Phantasm Qi into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Qi warriors from the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect had set up defenses a certain distance around it.

    By a river not far from that spatial rift stood a small-scale teleportation portal that led only to Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned.

    At this moment, Qian Qiong from the Ice Pavilion Sect, Dong Tengfei from the Dong n, and various seniors of the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the sects from the Realm of me Heaven were all ring at Hou Qingsen from the Poison Sect.

    Upon receiving word that Nie Tian had left Shatter City and five Profound realm rogue cultivators had gone after him, they had realized that Nie Tian was in danger.

    This small-scale teleportation portal was the closest one to where they had set up defenses. Through this portal, they would be able to return to Shatter City within the shortest time.

    However, under their gazes, Hou Qingsen said with a helpless and apologetic expression, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. The teleportation portal broke down because too many people have been using it recently. It¡¯ll take at least an hour to fix it.¡±

    With these words, he took a step back, showing that Qian Qiong and the others were wee to check it personally.

    Qian Qiong stepped forward, and quickly realized that a minor spell formation within the teleportation portal had been destroyed. At this moment, a Qi warrior from the Poison Sect was fixing it with caution.

    Dong Tengfei let out a cold snort and said, ¡°We¡¯ve just received word that Nie Tian has left Shatter City, and five Profound realm rogue cultivators went after him. And this teleportation portal happened to break down at this moment. A bit too coincidental, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, who would have known,¡± Hou Qingsen said with a faint smile. ¡°Don¡¯t read too much into it though. I¡¯ve got nothing to do with those rogue cultivators. As you know, those rogue cultivators always act on their own, and never answer the summons of any sect.¡±

    Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect added in a low voice, ¡°Who knows why Nie Tian won¡¯t stay in Shatter City. He courts death by leaving the city. You can¡¯t me that on us, right?¡±

    Qian Qiong and the other experts also didn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian would ignore their warnings and leave the city, and thus couldn¡¯t refute their statement.

    However, they were sure that those five profound realm rogue cultivators had sent by the few people in front of them.

    Otherwise, the five of them wouldn¡¯t have acted simultaneously.

    It was just that, since they didn¡¯t have any solid proof, they couldn¡¯t do anything to Hou Qingsen or Ji Qingyun.

    Only if those five rogue cultivators agreed to testify against them would they be able to determine that they were guilty.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Hou Qingsen said casually. ¡°Now that we¡¯re in the same alliance, I¡¯d never try to stop you from using our small-scale teleportation portal. You just need to wait for an hour. You¡¯re wee to use it all you want once it¡¯s fixed.¡±

    Li Jing sighed inwardly. ¡°An hour...¡±

    When they had received word of Nie Tian leaving, the five Profound realm rogue cultivators had already gone after him. Considering their strength, any one of them would be able to kill Nie Tian within seconds. Therefore, they were afraid that Nie Tian¡¯s body would be cold in an hour.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the other nearby teleportation portals!¡± Qian Qiong said decisively.

    There were other small-scale teleportation portals in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. It was just that the others were all rather far from this location, but now that this teleportation portal had broken down, they couldn¡¯t think of a better choice.

    ¡°It¡¯s already toote,¡± Fang Hui said, his expression very grim.

    He knew that even if they went to another teleportation portal now, they wouldn¡¯t make it back in time to save Nie Tian.

    Anger filled Dong Tengfei¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Why did Nie Tian ignore our warnings and leave the city anyways?! I told Dong Li repeatedly before we left that she shouldn¡¯t let Nie Tian take one step outside Shatter City! Why would he still do such a rash thing!?¡±

    This was the biggest question of all those who cared about Nie Tian.

    Seeing them feel frustrated and anxious, Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun exchanged a nce and smiled subtly, as they both thought that Nie Tian would die beyond the shadow of a doubt this time, and they finally had their revenge.

    At that moment, rapid sounds came from within Dong Tengfei¡¯s cuff.

    With a grim and anxious expression, Dong Tengfei took out his Sound Stone, assuming that it was Dong Baijie messaging him to inform him of Nie Tian¡¯s death.

    Soon after sending a wisp of psychic awareness into the Sound Stone, his expression quickly became very strange.

    At that moment, the Sound Stones of Qian Qiong, Lu Ling, Kong Hong, and the others also rang one after another.

    They also assumed it was their juniors messaging them to inform them of Nie Tian¡¯s death at the first possible moment.

    However, like Dong Tengfei, their expressions also grew very strange after they received their messages via their respective Sound Stones.

    Seeing this, Dong Tengfei quickly put his Sound Stone away and asked, ¡°Y-you¡¯ve received the same messages, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Qian Qiong nodded and said numbingly, ¡°I didn¡¯t see thising... at all.¡±

    Mixed emotions rose in Kong Hong¡¯s heart as he said, ¡°It seems that we¡¯ve all underestimated him. That young man is special indeed!¡±

    Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the others who hadn¡¯t received any messages looked deeply puzzled, not knowing what they were talking about.

    The same went for Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun.

    However, Qian Qiong didn¡¯t exin anything to Li Jing and the others. Instead, he took a deep look at Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun and said, ¡°You¡¯d better watch out.¡±

    With these words, he signaled Li Jing and the others, who had been very anxious a moment ago, to leave.

    After they were all gone, Hou Qingsen took out his Sound Stone. With a wisp of his awareness, he asked confusedly, ¡°What the hell happened?"

    Momentster, one of the Poison Sect disciples that he had deployed in Shatter City replied, ¡°All five Profound realm rogue cultivators were killed!¡±

    At the same time, a sharp sound also came from Ji Qingyun¡¯s Sound Stone. His face dropped as he sent a wisp of awareness into it.

    Hou Qingsen couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°That kid had a puppet whose battle prowess is equal to that of a Soul realm expert! How is that possible?! How can a puppet possess such formidable battle prowess?!¡±

    ¡°Three of them were even at thete Profound realm! Only someone with Soul realm battle prowess could have killed all five of them within such a short time!¡± With these words, Ji Qingyun finally realized why Qian Qiong and the others had looked so strange after receiving their messages.

    Hou Qingsen took a deep breath, his expression iparably grim. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the Realm of me Heaven possesses Soul realm battle force now! Even though it¡¯s only a puppet, it¡¯s as powerful as a Soul realm expert. From now on, whoever wants to ride roughshod over the sects from the Realm of me Heaven will have to think about the consequences.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t long before Li Jing realized that Qian Qiong wasn¡¯t leading them towards any of the other teleportation portals. She could no longer suppress her curiosity, and thus asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    All of the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven hade to the Void Illusion Mountain Range to help with the defenses, and they didn¡¯t have any informants in Shatter City. Therefore, Li Jing hadn¡¯t received any word of what had happened outside Shatter City.

    She knew that powerful sects like the Ice Pavilion Sect and the Spirit Condor were only taking special care of the sects from the Realm of me Heaven because of Nie Tian.

    If Nie Tian died, would they still care for them?

    Without Nie Tian, would they be once again used as cannon fodder in the uing battle against the outsiders?

    If the alliance tided over the outsiders¡¯ invasion, would those forces still stand by their side when the Heaven Expanse Sect and Poison Sect sought trouble with them?

    Qian Qiong sighed with a smile, and decided to tell Li Jing and the others the truth. ¡°Your realm has produced an extraordinary Qi warrior. Nie Tian killed all five Profound realm experts with a puppet outside Shatter City, and three of them were at thete Profound realm. The battle prowess of that puppet is equal to that of an early Soul realm expert. From now on, people won¡¯t dare to ride roughshod over the Realm of me Heaven anymore.¡±

    A shudder ran through Li Jing¡¯s body. ¡°W-what?!¡±

    ¡°Soul realm experts are the true foundation of major sects,¡± Dong Tengfei chimed in. ¡°Only those that have Soul realm experts can be considered major sects. Now that the Realm of me Heaven possesses Soul realm battle force, no one will dare to slight you anymore, even though it¡¯s only a puppet.¡±

    Fang Hui, Chang Sen, and Ghost Eye were also bbergasted upon hearing these words.

    Not having a Soul realm expert was the fundamental reason why the Realm of me Heaven hadn¡¯t been acknowledged by the other eight realms over the recent centuries.

    It was also because of this that the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of ck Marsh had dared to plot to take the Realm of me Heaven.

    But now, since the Bone Blood Demon which Nie Tian had awakened possessed Soul realm battle force, it hadpletely changed the situation.

    As Fang Hui, Li Jing, and the others exchanged nces, they could see great excitement and joy in each other¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s the greatest honor of the Realm of me Heaven that Nie Tian is from the Realm of me Heaven!¡±

 Chapter 601: Grand Return

    Outside Shatter City...

    Nie Tian waited for an hour, but no other Profound realm experts dared toe for him.

    Apparently, the Worldly realm rogue cultivators, who had witnessed the Bone Blood Demon cutting the five Profound realm experts down like melons, had already spread the word.

    Even joined up, the five Profound realm experts had failed to take a thing from Nie Tian. Not only that, but they had all been in by the Bone Blood Demon. Who would still dare toe after that?

    ¡°No one else ising,¡± Dong Li said, smiling and holding five rings of holding in her hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go back. Inside these rings of holding are the fortunes those Profound realm experts spent their whole lives gathering. I¡¯ve scanned their contents briefly. The total value can¡¯t be less than ten million spirit stones.¡±

    Ye Qin smiled and chimed in, ¡°Nie Tian, I believe no one with a cultivation base lower than the Soul realm will ever dare to seek trouble with you again!¡±

    After a brief hesitation, she took a sideways nce at the Bone Blood Demon, which Nie Tian was still sitting on. Slightly frightened, she said, ¡°Even an early Soul realm expert won¡¯t haveplete confidence that they will be able to get through it and kill you.

    ¡°How many middle andte Soul realm experts are there throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars?

    ¡°Not to mention that we¡¯re now facing a great threat from the outsiders. They¡¯ll never do anything to you at such a crucial time.¡±

    The other juniors also spoke up, telling Nie Tian that there was no need for him to continue to wait there.

    No matter how long he waited, no one would have the audacity toe at him anymore.

    Nie Tian thought they made good sense, and thus nodded and said to Dong Li, ¡°Would you trade the contents of those Profound realm cultivators¡¯ rings of holding for me? You know what I need. As for grade, the higher the better.¡±

    Dong Li went nk briefly before asking, ¡°What I got for you wasn¡¯t enough?¡±

    She was aware that Nie Tian had an incrediblyrge demand for spirit beast meat. However, she had already secretly traded his spiritual materials that hadn¡¯t been fit to be brought to the trading fair for a significant amount of fourth grade spirit beast meat through the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    She had doubted that Nie Tian would be able to consume that much spirit beast meat in five years.

    She had never expected that Nie Tian would ask her to trade the lifelong collections of those Profound realm cultivators for more spirit beast meat.

    Why would Nie Tian need so much spirit beast meat?!

    Nie Tian, however, was well-aware that, if he were to consume it the regr way, it would take him years to finish the spirit beast meat Dong Li had traded for him.

    However, since he had awakened his Life Drain bloodline talent, he was now able to absorb the flesh power of the spirit beast meat much more efficiently.

    Because of this, even the spirit beast meat that could be piled into mountains didn¡¯t seem like much.

    Meanwhile, he was aware that the reason why he didn¡¯t feel an urgent need for flesh power was because the green aura in his heart was still dormant, waiting to awaken its next bloodline talent.

    However, once it awakened a brand new bloodline talent, it would once again show its endless desire for flesh power.

    After the awakening of his previous bloodline talents, he now had a feeling that as he continued to awaken new bloodline talents, he would need more and more flesh power.

    The spirit beast meat Dong Li had purchased for him might not be enough for its next bloodline talent awakening cycle.

    Furthermore, in order to further the refinement of his body, he would need copious amount of wood power, as well as rich flesh power.

    Therefore, his demand for flesh power was much greater than Dong Li had expected.

    ¡°Not enough,¡± Nie Tian answered softly. ¡°I need much more.¡±

    Dong Li nodded slightly and said with a confused expression, ¡°I see.¡±

    The others didn¡¯t understand what the two of them were talking about.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t exin either. Seeing that everyone had been consuming spiritual power to ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, he finally decided to return to the city.

    As soon as the thought entered his mind, the Bone Blood Demon started charging towards Shatter City at an rming speed.

    With a Soul realm expert¡¯s battle prowess, the Bone Blood Demon could actually sail through the sky. Nie Tian could very well use it as an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    However, he knew that the Bone Blood Demon ran on the life force he had given him, which was basically the essence of flesh power.

    If hemanded it to fly instead, it would consume its precious life force much more rapidly. In contrast, running would be much more economical.

    However, even by running, the Bone Blood Demon was almost as fast as Dong Baijie¡¯s Rainbow Lightning.

    By relying on the profound connection between Nie Tian and the blood he had given to the Bone Blood Demon, he could tell that the life force he had infused it with was only enough tost for a day.

    Afterwards, the Bone Blood Demon would fall into a deep slumber again.

    Since he wanted to hold people in awe, he didn¡¯t get down and store the Bone Blood Demon in his ring of holding. Instead, he sat up broadly on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder. With a calm expression on his face, they rapidly approached Shatter City.

    Momentster, the gate to Shatter City entered his view.

    To his surprise, he could see from afar that the normally closed city gate was now wide open.

    Standing atop the gate were Cai Lan, Shi Qing, and many other Blood Skull members, all of whom were sticking their necks out and gazing in his direction.

    Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor and Gao Fu, the treasure appraiser, were also among the crowd.

    Besides them, a number of Worldly realm Qi warriors with unknown identities were crowding the city gate as well, fixing him with bbergasted gazes from afar.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after another flew through the city gate, where Dong Baijie and the other chosen ones got off.

    Shortly afterwards, the Bone Blood Demon stopped its dashing momentum in front of the city gate with Nie Tian sitting on its shoulder. Cai Lan took a deep breath and said with an apologetic tone, ¡°Nie Tian, I hope you understand that it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t want to go help you... It¡¯s just that I¡¯m only at thete Profound realm. Even if I went to your aid, there would be very little I could have done. After all, there were five of them, and three of them were at the same realm as me.

    ¡°The only thing I could do was inform the Profound realm experts who care a great deal about you of your plight.

    ¡°However...¡± Cai Lan didn¡¯t finish, since he didn¡¯t know why Qian Qiong and the other experts still hadn¡¯t showed up.

    At that moment, Xuan Ke said with a cold tone, ¡°Senior Qian Qiong from my sect and many seniors of the other sects were going to return to Shatter City through the teleportation portal that was closest to them as soon as they received word of what had happened. However, that teleportation portal happened to be guarded by people from the Poison Sect and Heaven Expanse Sect, and the portal somehow broke down.

    ¡°They were told that it would take an hour to fix it. But before they could head toward a different portal, Nie Tian finished those five Profound realm rogue cultivators off with his puppet, and we informed them of the situation at the first possible moment.

    ¡°After learning that Nie Tian was no longer in danger, they no longer felt the need to rush back.¡±

    His exnation instantly enlightened Cai Lan, who then said, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Nie Tian knew that Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun were behind the premeditated actions of those five Profound realm cultivators.

    However, since the Bone Blood Demon had ughtered all five of them, there was no one left to testify against Hou Qingsen or Ji Qingyun.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have any proof. It would be difficult to determine that they were responsible for this.

    However, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to have his revenge. He decided to bury this incident in his heart for the time being, and settle it with them in the future. ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself, Lord Cai. I only left the city because I had utter confidence in my safety.¡±

    Then, he took a nce at therge crowd of onlookers gathered by the city gate before taking out the guest elder identity medallion the Blood Skull had given him.

    He held it high in the air, and with a smile, he said, ¡°I had this identity medallion on me this whole time. After all that has happened, I still consider myself a guest elder of the Blood Skull. I just don¡¯t know if you still...¡±

    Upon seeing this, Cai Lan shuddered.

    Before Nie Tian could finish, he hastily said, ¡°As long as you still acknowledge that identity, you¡¯ll always be the Blood Skull¡¯s most distinguished guest elder!¡±

    He was well-aware that the Blood Skull had long since lost actual control of Shatter City. The powerful experts and fierce rogue cultivators from foreign realms didn¡¯t consult Cai Lan with what they did at all.

    In name, the Blood Skull was still the ruler of Shatter City, but they actually seemed more like a butler caught in an awkward ce.

    By reasserting his identity as a guest elder of the Blood Skull, Nie Tian had offered the Blood Skull charcoal in snowy weather. (Idiom: offer very timely help)

    At this moment, Nie Tian, who now had a puppet with early Soul realm battle prowess at his disposal, had be Cai Lan¡¯s strong supporter.

    He believed that, as word of this spread in Shatter City, the Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors would have to think twice before they did something reckless.

    From now on, Nie Tian and his Bone Blood Demon would be the Blood Skull¡¯s backer.

    ¡°The Blood Skull has treated me with respect, and I¡¯m friends with Cai Yuan,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious expression. ¡°Besides, Uncle Shi provided me with assistance on many asions. For this, I¡¯ll carry this guest elder identity medallion with me wherever I go.¡±

    Standing next to Cai Lan, Shi Qing became very emotional as he said hastily, ¡°It¡¯s my great honor to receive your acknowledgment!¡±

    ¡°My humble son is also lucky to be your friend!¡± With these words, Cai Lan hurried down from the city wall and ushered Nie Tian inside personally.

    The crowd of Qi warriors gathered at the city gate all examined the mountain-like Bone Blood Demon curiously. Within the grayish green beads of its eyes, they saw an endless aura of death.

    They all shuddered upon meeting its gaze. ¡°They¡¯re right! This puppet must possess Soul realm battle prowess! Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have felt as if I were looking at Death when it looked back at me!¡±

 Chapter 602: Exploring New Heaven and Earth

    After stepping into Shatter City, Cai Lan insisted that Nie Tian live in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters, while Dong Li and Dong Baijie hoped that Nie Tian would stay with them in the Dong n¡¯s residence.

    However, Nie Tian refused them both.

    Instead, he said that he would stay in Zhen Hun¡¯s residence, where he had lived before with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    As agreed by the alliance, all sects would have to send their Worldly realm and Profound realm experts to set up defenses by the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Since Dong Li and the other chosen ones were all at the Greater Heaven stage, they could either stay in Shatter City, Ash City, or the Land of the Abandoned, or they could leave the Realm of Split Void.

    Dong Li wanted to go with Nie Tian, but since she was afraid that others would frown upon it, and that Nie Tian would think that she was too needy, she could only return to the Dong n¡¯s residence with Dong Baijie.

    Later, when Nie Tian arrived at Zhen Hun¡¯s residence, he discovered that neither Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi, or Li Ye were there.

    A man who worked for Li Ye told him that Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi had gone to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Before she had left, Zhen Hun had told him that if Nie Tian were toe over, they should treat him as the owner of the residence.

    Nie Tian stored the Bone Blood Demon in his ring of holding and told the man to find a room for Li Langfeng.

    Afterwards, he went to his room, where he rested and waited for news from the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Night fell...

    Nie Tian was sitting in the lotus position, examining his overall condition.

    At this point, all of his vortexes of spiritual power had already been refined to their limit.

    Meanwhile, he had refined his fleshly body and crystallized his bones with Heavenly Wood Heal, which meant that his body was also ready for his breakthrough into thete Greater Heaven stage.

    The reason why he hadn¡¯t chosen to use one of the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms was that he knew that he had already finishedying the foundation for his next breakthrough.

    All he needed was an opportunity.

    This opportunity might be enlightenment from an umon experience, or a desperate situation in the middle of a fierce battle, or when he pondered a profound incantation.

    After midnight, Nie Tian was suddenly awoken from his extended contemtion.

    He sent a wisp of psychic awareness into the ring of holding forged by Zhao Shanling, and found to his surprise that spirit beast blood was streaming out of a few barrels in a remote corner into the Bone Blood Demon.

    Meanwhile, the Bone Blood Demon was sitting in the lotus position in the spacious room within the ring of holding, its eyes flickering with ghostly green light. It was refining the barrels of spirit beast blood with the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation!

    It would still be hours before the Bone Blood Demon would run out of its life force and fall into a deep slumber again.

    It seemed to have noticed the barrels of spirit beast blood, and thus taken it upon itself to refine them.

    The Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation only allowed its caster to absorb flesh power from spirit beast blood, and the efficiency was rather limited.

    However, the Life Drain bloodline talent Nie Tian had awakened allowed him to absorb everyst shred of the flesh power thaty in a powerful being¡¯s blood, flesh, and even bones.

    His efficiency of absorbing and refining flesh power had risen to a whole new level since he had added Life Drain to his skill set.

    And since then, he had never used the Blood Refining Incantation again.

    ¡°Interesting!¡± He noticed that, as the Bone Blood Demon continued to channel spirit beast blood to stream towards itself, the mysterious light in its unfathomable eyes became more and more frightening.

    Furthermore, from the increasingly strong aura of life it released, he realize that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s strength was growing by the second.

    However, it seemed that the Bone Blood Demon couldn¡¯t absorb flesh power from the spirit beast meat Dong Li had traded for him. The few barrels of spirit beast blood seemed to belong to third and fourth grade spirit beasts.

    From the look of it, given enough blood from high-grade spirit beasts, the Bone Blood Demon could be even stronger.

    That was when it suddenly urred to him that there were arge number of mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void. After their mutation, they had be adjusted to the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and more powerful. However, at the same time, the mutation had made their flesh and blood uneatable, but that didn¡¯t concern the Bone Blood Demon, since all it needed was the copious flesh power within their blood.

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian rose to his feet and went to Li Langfeng¡¯s room.

    ¡°Do you know a ce in the Realm of Split Void where I can find arge number of high-grade spirit beasts?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°There are several ces like that,¡± Li Langfeng said, looking somewhat surprised. ¡°But those mutant spirit beasts¡¯ flesh and blood have been polluted. They¡¯re of no use to us cultivators.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°I can¡¯t agree. Take me to one of those ces. We¡¯re doing some mutant spirit beast hunting!¡±

    ¡°What grade do you want?¡± Li Langfeng asked.

    ¡°The higher the better, as long as they¡¯re under the eighth grade,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Increasingly confused, Li Langfeng nodded and said, ¡°Alright, let teleport to Ash City first through the teleportation portal in Shatter City. We¡¯ll go to that ce from there.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡± With these words, Nie Tian, who had barely spent one night after returning to Shatter City, left quietly with Li Langfeng in the middle of the night.

    Since battle with the outsiders could break out at any moment now, people were free to use the teleportation portals in Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned.

    Soon, Nie Tian and Li Langfeng arrived in Ash City, which was the Wild Fire¡¯s territory. The Wild Fire members by the teleportation portal were very surprised to see him.

    Some of them had attended the trading fair that had taken ce in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters not long ago, where they had seen Nie Tian personally.

    On that very day, Nie Tian had ughtered five Profound realm rogue cultivators outside Shatter City. Word of it had traveled across the entire Realm of Split Void. Even people in the other nine realms were learning of it.

    As one of the three major local forces, it was only natural that members of the Wild Fire had heard about Nie Tian¡¯s deed.

    Under their shocked gazes, Nie Tian and Li Langfeng soon left Ash City.

    After they were three miles from the city gate, Nie Tian pondered briefly, and then summoned the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding.

    After he and Li Langfeng jumped onto its shoulders, hemanded it to charge forward.

    Under the dark sky, the Bone Blood Demon was instantly wreathed in torrential flesh power, and in the next moment, it charged right into the sky.

    The Realm of Split Void was actually thergest of all the realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and it had many unsolved mysteries. Only after a series of destructive changes had the sects finally decided to abandon it.

    Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned had been established around the Void Illusion Mountain Range. The area where they and the Void Illusion Mountain Range were only took up one fourth of the total area of the Realm of Split Void.

    It was just that, since there was little of value to humans in those remote areas, which were mostly inhabited by mutant spirit beasts, Qi warriors hadn¡¯t felt the need to explore them over the years.

    It was said that those areas were filled with danger, but no fortune to match it.

    Even Li Langfeng, who was fierce and reckless, wouldn¡¯t go to those areas.

    For one thing, he might encounter unforeseeable dangers there. For another, he probably wouldn¡¯t gain any fortune that was worth risking his life for.

    Over the barrennd that stretched as far as the eye could see, the Bone Blood Demon was wreathed in a rich bloody aura as it sailed through the sky facedown.

    Nie Tian unleashed his nine Heaven Eyes, and with them, he continued to scan his surroundings for signs of life. However, he failed to discover a single mutant spirit beast.

    Instead, he discovered an abandoned city after flying for quite some time.

    It wasn¡¯t arge city, but it was fairly well-preserved, as if it hadn¡¯t been ravaged by wars.

    However, the years had covered it in thick dust.

    With a thought, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to fly towards the ancient city. Momentster, they arrived, whereupon they stopped in the air directly above the city.

    ¡°Why is a city here?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°This is no strange thing,¡± Li Langfeng said casually. ¡°Back when the Void Pce Sect was the most powerful force in the Realm of Split Void, it was based close to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Ash City was once their headquarters. Aside from the Void Pce Sect, there were many other smaller sects or ns in the Realm of Split Void as well.

    ¡°All of them were subordinate forces of the Void Pce Sect.

    ¡°However, after the Void Pce Sect left and never came back, and great changes urred in this heaven and earth, this realm soon became uninhabitable. Therefore, they were all forced to move to other realms.

    ¡°This city probably belonged to one of those forces. They must have taken away whatever they could and left this city to rot.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is...¡± With these words, Nie Tian scanned the city with his Heaven Eyes, and discovered that there was indeed not a single soul in the city. Therefore, to not waste any more time, he followed Li Langfeng¡¯s directions andmanded the Bone Blood Demon to fly forward again.

    In the dark sky, the Bone Blood Demon traveled at a very fast speed.

    By the time there was a silver lining on the distant horizon, they came to a ce that was covered in lush trees and nts. All of the trees had strange-looking thorns, as if they were from Demon realms.

    As soon as they entered the area, Nie Tian had a feeling that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s me of life was about to go out.

    Therefore, hemanded it to descend. Afternding, Nie Tian jumped off the Bone Blood Demon and stood at the edge of the forest of sinister-looking trees. Eyes closed, he sensed his surroundings.

    Momentster, his eyes snapped open as he eximed, ¡°The wood power in this ce is so much richer than I expected!¡±

    With these words, he once again closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings.

    It wasn¡¯t just the wood power, but the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was also richer here than in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. It suddenly urred to him to wonder why these energies were richer here than in the Void Illusion Mountain Range where the spatial rifts were. Weren¡¯t these foreign energies supposed to have leaked into the Realm of Split Void through those spatial rifts? He frowned as he searched for an answer in his mind.

    ¡°Why is the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth so much richer in such a remote corner of the Realm of Split Void?¡± he thought out loud.

    Upon hearing his words, Li Langfeng shook his head and said, ¡°I normally stayed in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and the adjacent areas. In fact, I¡¯ve nevere this far to explore these remote areas.¡±

    Nodding, Nie Tian asked, ¡°How is your refinement of that Fiend heart going? Are you feeling better or worse?¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes lit up, as if he was excited that Nie Tian had finally asked him about it. ¡°The toxins within that Fiend heart are indeed very strong! I only extracted a small portion, but I already managed to advance to thete Worldly realm. The way I see it, I can continue to make good use of it.

    ¡°However, the damage it has caused to my body was also greater than I expected. I¡¯m actually not in good shape.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can see that,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°The environment of this area is very helpful for me to heal you. Come on. We still have plenty of time to hunt mutant spirit beasts. I¡¯ll heal you first.¡±

    With these words, he summoned the seventy-two tree branches from within his ring of holding and formed the Wood Thriving Formation.

 Chapter 603: Heart Refinement

    Nie Tian moved deeper and deeper into the forest of sinister-looking trees and nts as he formed new Wood Thriving Formations to heal Li Langfeng.

    Wood power was very rich in this forest, which was named Graydusk Forest. However, as Nie Tian moved from one ce to another, the areas he covered rapidly became bereft of wood power, and the odd-looking trees and thorny nts rapidly withered and died.

    As the Wood Thriving Formation continued to channel rich wood power from its surroundings, Li Langfeng¡¯s festering wounds, severed meridians, and damaged muscles were quickly healed.

    All the damage he had sustained by breaking through into thete Worldly realm was rapidly fixed.

    Time flew. Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

    During this time, Nie Tian didn¡¯t summon the Bone Blood Demon and reignite its me of life.

    That was because he hadn¡¯t detected any mutant spirit beasts in his surroundings as he slowly moved deeper and deeper into Graydusk Forest.

    Every time he formed the Wood Thriving Formation to heal Li Langfeng¡¯s injuries, it would take him arge amount of time and effort.

    Because of this, it took him five days to march only fifty kilometers into Graydusk Forest.

    However, he left a trail of dead trees and nts behind him.

    On the sixth day.

    After Nie Tian moved to a new location and established another Wood Thriving Formation, Li Langfeng took the initiative to say, ¡°I¡¯m good now. Given my current condition, I can take care of my injuries for the time being. I won¡¯t sustain any more significant damage for a while, before I advance to the Profound realm.¡±

    After Nie Tian¡¯s unrelenting efforts, Li Langfeng¡¯s face was no longer as pale as a piece of paper, and he no longer coughed up blood all the time.

    Even his shriveled figure became somewhat muscr.

    Looking at him now, Nie Tian could no longer see the gruesome, scrawny person who looked like a corpse that had crawled from hell.

    Instead, he now looked somewhat gentle and graceful, like an experienced schr who taught in a school.

    Looking up at the Wood Thriving Formation that he had just established, Nie Tian nodded, smiling. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s your turn to help me now.¡±

    With this spell formation, he nned to recover the power he had consumed to heal Li Langfeng and restore himself to his peak state so that he could make his breakthrough whenever an opportunity presented itself.

    ¡°No problem!¡± Li Langfeng replied.

    On the seventh day, Nie Tian continued to form new Wood Thriving Formations as they moved deeper into the forest.

    By this time, he had already replenished the liquidized wood power in his vortex of wood power, and recovered all the power he had consumed recently.

    He wondered if he was now able to start the next round of refinement of his fleshly body with Heavenly Wood Heal and the newly-established Wood Thriving Formation.

    However, before he could act on it, he finally detected the movements of mutant spirit beasts through one of his Heaven Eyes that he had scattered in the vicinity.

    This was the first time he had discovered spirit beasts over the seven days he had entered Graydusk Forest, and there were five of them.

    In the Wood Thriving Formation, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open as he called out to Li Langfeng, who was standing on guard outside the spell formation, ¡°There are mutant spirit beasts in the vicinity. There¡¯re two fourth grade Golden Stone Rhinos, two fourth grade Blood Eye Crocodiles, and a fifth grade Strongwind Beast.¡±

    With a pondering expression, Li Langfeng said, ¡°If that¡¯s it, you don¡¯t need to summon your Bone Blood Demon. I can hunt them for you.¡±

    The strength of a fifth grade Strongwind Beast matched that of a Worldly realm human Qi warrior. Meanwhile, Li Langfeng was at thete Worldly realm, and he practiced special poisonous incantations, which made his actual battle prowess higher than most at thete Worldly realm.

    Seeing the determination and confidence on his face, Nie Tian decided to grant him the opportunity, and thus said, ¡°Okay, but be careful though. The mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void are no ordinary spirit beasts.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Li Langfeng said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°But also, try not to pollute their flesh and blood too much with your deadly toxins. I¡¯ll have an important use for them.¡±

    Li Langfeng went nk briefly before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll try my best.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he dashed off in the direction Nie Tian pointed out for him.

    Nie Tian, however, sat unwavering in the Wood Thriving Formation. Through his Heaven Eyes, he kept a close watch on Li Langfeng and the mutant spirit beasts he was after.

    As Li Langfeng had promised, he returned in fifteen minutes with the bodies of the five mutant spirit beasts.

    As he did, his whole body was still wreathed in an intense spiritual aura, which was filled with deadly toxins that could rot the flesh of any living being.

    Even though the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void were tougher than those in other realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and they had already developed a strong resistance to the various toxins in the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, they had still fallen under Li Langfeng¡¯s fatally poisonous attacks.

    Meanwhile, Li Langfeng had heeded Nie Tian¡¯s reminders, and only attacked their heads. As soon as they had fallen, he had rush over and cut their poisoned heads off.

    He had done that to stop the deadly toxins from flowing to other parts of the mutant spirit beasts¡¯ bodies. That way Nie Tian would still be able to use the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh and blood as he wished.

    After cing the five headless bodies in front of Nie Tian, Li Langfeng said, ¡°You were right. These mutant spirit beasts were hard to kill, especially that fifth grade Strongwind Beast. I could only attack their heads with my poisonous magics and cut their heads off afterwards.¡±

    Nie Tian, who had already seen everything through his Heaven Eyes, nodded slightly as he deactivated the spell formation and let Li Langfeng in.

    After Li Langfeng dragged the bodies of the mutant spirit beasts into the spell formation, Nie Tian ced his hands on two of the fourth grade mutant spirit beasts¡¯ bodies and unleashed Life Drain.

    Like crimson snakes, wisps of blood-colored light flew out of his fingertips and infiltrated the corpses.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, shock filling his face.

    Under his gaze, the two corpses rapidly shriveled and shrank like deting balloons.

    As they did, the originally pungent bloody smell on the corpses quickly became fainter and fainter.

    From that, Li Langfeng could tell that the dead mutant spirit beasts were quickly being drained of their profound and pure flesh power.

    Momentster, not a shred of flesh aura could be sensed on the two corpses anymore.

    Then, Nie Tian took a deep breath and applied the same method to two of the other dead mutant spirit beasts.

    Simrly, they also shriveled rapidly and looked like dried up meat that had been left in fierce sunlight for years.

    <i>¡°Herees thest one!¡±</i> Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement as he ced both hands on the fifth grade Strongwind Beast. Even Li Langfeng, who was standing off to the side, looked somewhat afraid.

    The Strongwind Beast, which was eight meters long, also rapidly shriveled as Nie Tian unleashed Life Drain.

    Momentster, it shrank to one third of its original size.

    Li Langfeng was bbergasted by the scene, feeling that he had discovered a prodigious secret of Nie Tian¡¯s.

    However, he said nothing.

    Shortly afterwards, Nie Tian pulled his hands back from the dried up corpse.

    Without saying anything to Li Langfeng, he restarted the Wood Thriving Formation to channel wood power from the trees and nts in a ten kilometers radius.

    At the same time, he closed his eyes to concentrate on himself.

    <i>¡°Such rich flesh power!¡± </i>he marveled inwardly.

    The flesh power of mutant spirit beasts was richer than that of regr spirit beasts to begin with, not to mention that they were four fourth grade and one fifth grade mutant spirit beasts.

    The strength of a fifth grade mutant spirit beast wasn¡¯t any weaker than that of a fifth grade outsider.

    After channeling such copious flesh power into himself, Nie Tian felt as if a sea of flesh power was storming inside of him.

    He sensed it with rapt attention, and discovered that the torrential flesh power first flowed into his bones, and then his internal organs, meridians, muscles, and eventually his blood.

    Instead of rushing into cultivation, he took his time to observe the process. Suddenly, a realization came to him.

    He realized that the refinement of his body would follow the sequence of the parts that his flesh power naturally flowed to.

    Bones first, then internal organs, meridians, muscles, and finally blood.

    That was when the five steps of refining his body with Heavenly Wood Heal suddenly appeared in his mind. <i>¡°Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, Meridian Toughening, Muscle Tempering, and Blood Condensing!¡±</i>

    It seemed that crystallizing his bones was only the first step. Bones were the foundation of people¡¯s bodies. Meanwhile, since they were the most solid, they were the easiest to refine.

    The following steps would be more and more difficult, and would each take more time to achieve.

    Aftering to such enlightenment, he started channeling the raging flesh power and rich wood power, andunched Heavenly Wood Heal without the slightest hesitation.

    One after another, streams of crimson flesh power and green wood power fused into rivers that rushed into his heart.

    Since the heart was the most important of his internal organs, it needed to be the first to be nourished and refined.

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    His heart suddenly started to race.

    However, the green aura was still lyingpletely still at the bottom of his heart, like a snake during hibernation.

    Every time his heart pounded, he felt as if he were being stabbed with a thousand needles.

    He could see with great rity that as the essences of flesh and wood poured madly into his heart, every fiber of his heart was being rapidly severed and reattached.

    Every part of his heart was being transformed and bing more resilient.

    He even felt as if he was being reborn.

    However, to be reborn, he had to die first. The excruciating pain he was now experiencing wasn¡¯t something anyone could bear.

    Within seconds, sweat started to roll down his distorted face as he panted heavily.

    Three days passed as he struggled with pain he had never imagined was possible, until he finally used up all of the flesh power he had absorbed from the mutant spirit beasts. However, he had only finished one third of the refinement of his heart.

    His eyes snapped open. <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe that it requires so much flesh power to refine my heart!¡±</i>

    Eyes glittering with fierce light, he said to Li Langfeng, ¡°Let¡¯s move to another location! And I need you to kill more mutant spirit beasts! Fifth grade mutant spirit beasts would be the best!¡±

    Li Langfeng sprang to his feet. ¡°No problem!¡±

 Chapter 604: Outsiders Descend

    As the two of them moved closer to the heart of Graydusk Forest, it became easier for them to find mutant spirit beasts.

    Through one of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian located another group of mutant spirit beasts and determined their grades.

    <i>¡°None of them are at the sixth grade or higher. Li Langfeng will be able to handle them himself.¡±</i> With these thoughts, Nie Tian pointed out their direction to Li Langfeng, and Li Langfeng dashed off to kill them, while he stayed and formed another Wood Thriving Formation.

    A hour passed...

    Li Langfeng dragged the bodies of seven mutant spirit beasts back to Nie Tian¡¯s location. Looking somewhat tired, he said, ¡°Two of them are at the fifth grade, the rest are at the fourth grade.¡±

    He had also cut off these mutant spirit beasts¡¯ heads in the same manner as before.

    Nie Tian nodded and signaled for him to leave the corpses in the spell formation, so he could absorb their flesh power with Life Drain.

    However, as soon as heunched Life Drain, he discovered something different. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    The speed at which he could absorb flesh power from these mutant spirit beasts had be twice as fast as before.

    In just a couple of minutes, hepletely drained a fifth grade mutant spirit beast of its flesh power.

    Watching the fifth grade mutant spirit beast being drained dry within such a short time, Li Langfeng was also surprised.

    <i>¡°Does it have something to do with the recent refinement of my heart?¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself. It seemed to be the only exnation for such a pleasant change.

    His eyes lit up. <i>¡°I¡¯ve only finished one third of the refinement of my heart, and the efficiency of my Life Drain has doubled...¡±</i>

    However, he didn¡¯t dwell on it, but continued to absorb flesh power from the other mutant spirit beasts, and conducted a second round of refinement of his heart with Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Several days passed, and when he was finished, the refinement of his heart was two-thirdsplete.

    As he opened his eyes, he found, to his surprise, that about ten more dead mutant spirit beasts were piled up right outside his spell formation, three of which seemed to be at the fifth grade.

    Smiling brightly, Li Langfeng said, ¡°These mutant spirit beasts passed by during the past few days, so I killed them all for you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded with an impressed look in his eyes, and said, ¡°We need to switch to another location. I¡¯ve already absorbed all of the wood power in the vicinity.¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Li Langfeng seemed somewhat hesitant and shamefaced. ¡°If we go any further, we might encounter sixth grade mutant spirit beasts. As you know, sixth grade mutant spirit beasts are as strong as Profound realm Qi warriors. I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to kill them by myself.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took his time to summon the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding. Then, he cut his palm and dripped his blood on its exposed, smooth bones.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s me of life was instantly ignited. Uncanny, grayish-green light flickered in the depths of its beady eyes. In the next moment, it jerked its head towards the few mutant spirit beasts Li Langfeng had recently ughtered.

    Apparently, it had sensed the rich bloody aura, which it could use to strengthen itself, within them.

    With a thought, Nie Tian stopped the Bone Blood Demon from acting on its thought. Instead, hemanded it to carry all the dead mutant spirit beasts as they marched deeper into Graydusk Forest.

    After marching a few dozen kilometers, he stopped to establish a new Wood Thriving Formation, andmanded the Bone Blood Demon to ce all of the dead mutant spirit beasts inside the spell formation.

    He once againunched Life Drain.

    This time, he waspletely convinced that the refinement of his heart, which he had achieved with Heavenly Wood Heal, had a great enhancing effect on the efficiency of Life Drain.

    That was because after his second round of heart refinement, the speed at which he could channel flesh power into himself had doubled again.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe that the refinement of my body can actually strengthen my bloodline talent! This is brilliant!¡±</i>

    After draining the mutant spirit beasts of their flesh power, he left the Bone Blood Demon and Li Langfeng outside his Wood Thriving Formation, and told them to kill any mutant spirit beasts that strolled into this area.

    Afterwards, he focused on thest refinement of his heart.

    This time, the refinement processsted ten days, which was longer than the two times before.

    As he consumed all of the newly-acquired flesh power, and the lush vegetation around him withered and died, he finally finished thest step of the refinement of his heart.

    During the process, he saw every strand of tissue in his heart being severed and reattached, and as they did, his heart ballooned up and shrank down from time to time.

    Now, as the refinement of his heart was finallyplete, thest obstacle in his path to his next breakthrough had been shattered.

    The vortexes of spiritual power in his spiritual sea suddenly started to be active.

    Nie Tian was surprised to realize that he could try to break through into thete Greater Heaven stage right away!

    Without the slightest hesitation, he summoned spirit jades and spiritual materials of different attributes from within his ring of holding, which rapidly piled up in front of him.

    Only then did it ur to him to scan his surroundings. He discovered that the Wood Thriving Formation had already lost its effect, since it had drained all of the wood power in the vicinity.

    The Bone Blood Demon had also fallen into a deep slumber.

    ced next to it were a dozen dead mutant spirit beasts, some of which seemed to be at the fifth grade.

    It was just that they had apparently been drained of their blood by the Bone Blood Demon. Even so, there were still copious amounts of flesh power within their bones, internal organs, and meridians.

    However, it was beyond the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s ability to absorb flesh power from those parts with the Blood Refining Incantation.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re finally awake,¡± Li Langfeng said, smiling. ¡°I didn¡¯t do much this time. It was your puppet that killed all these mutant spirit beasts for you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t need to go any further for now. I¡¯m ready to make my breakthrough.¡±

    With these words, he walked to the Bone Blood Demon and once again ignited its me of life with his blood.

    As the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s eyes started to flicker with grayish-green light again, he sat back down.

    Since he wouldn¡¯t need much wood power to make his breakthrough, he didn¡¯t move to a new location or establish a new Wood Thriving Formation.

    Furthermore, if he moved closer towards the heart of the Graydusk Forest, it would be hard to predict what kind of powerful mutant spirit beasts they might encounter.

    To be safe, he decided to stay away from unnecessary risks when he made his breakthrough to thete Greater Heaven stage.

    Just as he picked up a piece of spirit jade to channel its immense spiritual power, a sharp sound came from the Sound Stone in his cuff.

    This Sound Stone had been given to him by Dong Baijie, and allowed him, Dong Baijie, and Dong Li tomunicate over rather long distances.

    However, for some reason, he had never received any messages from Dong Baijie this whole time. It had always been Dong Li who had contacted him.

    But it turned out to be Dong Baijie this time.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re finally responding!¡± Dong Baijie sounded anxious. ¡°Dong Li and I have been looking for you for quite some time. We¡¯ve sent you many messages, but you never responded!¡±

    ¡°I was cultivating,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Even the noise of the Bone Blood Demon ughtering nearby mutant spirit beasts had failed to awaken him, not to mention the chirping sounds of the Sound Stone.

    ¡°The outsiders are here, and they¡¯reing at us with overwhelming force!¡± Dong Baijie sounded very nervous. ¡°I¡¯m not in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but ording to the word I received, our defensive forces are now in a very unfavorable situation! Ten seventh grade outsider experts have descended through those spatial rifts!

    ¡°Our alliance suffered setback after setback. Now they¡¯ve almost been forced out of the Void Illusion Mountain Range!

    ¡°Many powerful experts have sensed the seriousness of the matter, and thus demanded that every single Soul realm expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars stop whatever they¡¯re doing ande to the Void Illusion Mountain Range immediately!

    ¡°That puppet of yours is also on the list.

    ¡°People are now searching for you. They want you take it to the Void Illusion Mountain Range and join the battle as soon as possible.

    ¡°But the decision is yours, Nie Tian. If you don¡¯t want to join the battle, just stay stay out of sight. I¡¯ll pretend that I¡¯ve never gotten in contact with you.¡±

    Dong Baijie didn¡¯t ask where Nie Tian was, or what Nie Tian was doing. He only quickly exined the situation to him and let him decide what to do.

    After sending these words, he took the initiative to end their conversation, as if he were afraid that someone would notice.

    Various expressions shed across Nie Tian¡¯s face as he put his Sound Stone away.

    ¡°What happened, Nie Tian?¡± Li Langfeng asked curiously.

    As a lone wolf, Li Langfeng had no friends. Therefore, he didn¡¯t have any means of receiving news from the outside world.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°The outsiders are finally here.¡±

    Li Langfeng gasped with astonishment. ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows knitted as he said, ¡°Our alliance is in a very bad ce. Apparently, ten powerful seventh grade outsiders havee to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Our Soul realm experts are at a noticeable disadvantage in the battle against them. It seems that the Void Illusion Mountain Range will fall into the outsiders¡¯ hands soon.¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes were filled with fear as he said, ¡°Once the Void Illusion Mountain Range falls, the outsiders will be able to swarm into Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned without meeting any obstacles. From there, they¡¯d be able to teleport to the other realms. Then, the entire Domain of the Falling Stars will be soon filled with outsiders. If it reallyes to that, the people of the Domain of the Falling Stars will be plunged into an abyss of misery.¡±

    ¡°Some Soul realm experts have ended their secluded cultivation and are now rushing to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡± After a short pause, Nie Tian added, ¡°They want me to join the battle as well.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Li Langfeng instantlyid his eyes on the slumbering Bone Blood Demon. Frowning slightly, he asked, ¡°So what do you think?¡±

    After another pause, Nie Tian snorted and said with a stern face, ¡°Whatever happens, I need to enter thete Greater Heaven stage first!¡±

    With these words, he once again awakened the Bone Blood Demon with enough blood to keep it active for two weeks.

    He was afraid that the Void Illusion Mountain Range would fall shortly, and that outsiders would roam into this area before he was finished.

    Afterwards, hemanded the Bone Blood Demon to take him and Li Langfeng to a ce far from Graydusk Forest, where he established a Wood Thriving Formation and focused on his breakthrough into thete Greater Heaven stage with spirit jades and all sorts of spiritual materials.

    <i>¡°I hope those people can hold on for a bit longer,¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

 Chapter 605: The Calamity Descends

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range...

    Glowing auras surged about in the depths of the void as rivers of tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth poured into the Realm of Split Void.

    All sorts of heaven-shaking, earth-shattering energies ravaged the entire mountain range. In some areas, snowstorms froze valleys and mountain peaks. In other areas, torrential mes burned across mountains and rivers.

    In other parts of the mountain range, lightning bolts condensed into enormous lightning dragons that swam across the sky, unleashing devastating thunder power.

    Meanwhile, a mountain peak that towered over arge area was shining with golden light, as if it was formed by a powerful Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    Bloodcurdling shrieks could be heard in every corner of the mountain range; wide ravines cracked open in the pale-gray earth; clear creeks were painted red by blood.

    By one of the spatial rifts...

    Basto, the Phantasm lord, was swinging his Nethersoul Saber, unleashing cyan de lights that were as long as rivers. In those de lights, millions of ferocious souls could be seen swarming and screaming madly.

    Wherever his de lights went, mountain peaks exploded, and the earth split open.

    Zhao Luofeng, the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, and Ling Dong, the grand elder of the Heaven Pce Sect, were contending against Basto¡¯s de lights with great effort, using their countless swords of frigid ice, and that glittering, golden mountain peak that looked as if it had been forged from pure gold.

    The formation of huge stones, which the Heaven Pce Sect experts had established to form a defensive ward, was now crumbling bit by bit.

    On another front...

    Qi Bailu and Wu Langxie from the Tool Sect were fighting Auden from the fourth Demon Realm.

    Auden, who was d in heavy, ck armor and wearing a sinister mask, was sitting on an enormous, ck warhorse, his eyes burning with mysterious, ck mes.

    The spear he was holding was also pitch-ck, like an eternal night. Every time he thrust it, raging Demon Qi would shoot out of its tip.

    Qi Bailu, who was at the middle Soul realm, had channeled furious mes from fiery realms with his me Mirror, but he was only struggling to defend against Auden¡¯s attacks.

    In the ce where people from the Ice Pavilion Sect had set up defenses.

    Qian Qiong had retreated three kilometers, where he watched the two Soul realm experts of his sect unleash frigid auras that froze heaven and earth.

    However, in the frigid coldness, two seventh grade Fiend experts channeled the deadly toxins from the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and with their unique bloodline magics, formed a multicolored miasma that spread rapidly.

    In the frigid heaven and earth that the two Soul realm experts had created, their ice power and the Fiend experts¡¯ toxic power shed violently.

    Gradually, the frozen earth and the thick ice on it started to crack open.

    Tainted blood seemed to be flowing in the depths of those ravines, giving rise to toxic mists.

    Observing from a great distance, Qian Qiong saw the changes, and realized that the frigid realm created by his sect elders was under too much pressure, and it was copsing.

    The forces from the Realm of a Hundred Battles were defending by another spatial rift.

    Dong Wangling, the middle Soul realm expert of the Dong n, was standing on top of the head of a huge, red ape, fighting a seventh grade Phantasm expert.

    That huge, red ape was his beast spirit, which was roughly as mighty as the Bone Blood Demon.

    However, at this moment, numerous vicious spirits and sinister ghouls were hanging all over it.

    Those spirits and ghouls were created and being manipted by the seventh grade Phantasm through the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows. Now, they were gnawing at the enormous ape like ants gnawing at an elephant.

    Watching his beast spirit being weakened bit by bit, Dong Wangling looked very grim, as he couldn¡¯t think of a solution.

    In a location not far from him, three Soul realm experts from the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, and the Gu n were also fighting three seventh grade outsider experts. Their situation was also very worrying.

    Battles like these were now taking ce throughout the entire Void Illusion Mountain Range. Experts from the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Spirit God Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect were all at a disadvantage in their battles against the seventh grade outsider experts.

    The monarch of the Heaven Pce Sect, who was at thete Soul realm, was now at the most crucial moment of his breakthrough into the Void domain.

    He wouldn¡¯t end his cultivation and rush to the Realm of Split Void even if heaven and earth were turned upside down in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Xia Yi from the me God Sect was also in the middle of his breakthrough into thete Soul realm. He had long since spread the word that he would not end his secluded cultivation before entering thete Soul realm.

    With two powerful Soul realm experts absent, the humans in the Void Illusion Mountain Range were being overpowered by the outsiders.

    Therefore, they could only back slowly away from those spatial rifts. Even though the six spatial rifts shrank and expanded from time to time, they also stabilized sometimes.

    Whenever one of them did, outsiders would swarm through it into the mountain range.

    However, they were mostly at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade, and they didn¡¯t seem to be in a hurry to join the battle. Instead, they stood there and observed the battles between their experts and the human experts, as if they were waiting for something.

    The formidableness of the outsiders and the perilous situation exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations. People started to grow desperate.

    Many Qi warriors that had stayed in Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned fled the Realm of Split Void after learning about the outsiders¡¯ strength.

    Among them, rogue cultivators were the first to flee after learning that the Soul realm experts from the major sects were losing the battle for the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Upon seeing the unfavorable situation, Qian Qiong, Dong Tengfei, and the other Profound realm experts had already issued orders that their Greater Heaven stage juniors should return to their sects or ns, activate their grand protective spell formations, and stay behind them.

    All of the major sects and ns knew that peace wouldn¡¯tst. Over the past hundreds of years, they had used their savings to build up and strengthen all kinds of impregnable profound spell formations.

    Almost all of those spell formations were strong enough to hold off the attacks of seventh grade outsiders.

    Right now, they had ordered their core disciples to stay behind their grand spell formations for the purpose of protecting their future.

    After receiving such orders, Xuan Ke, Ye Qin, Qin Yan, and the other Greater Heaven stage seniors left the Realm of Split Void.

    Even Dong Li was dragged back to her n by Dong Baijie.

    Soon, Shatter City became a dead city. Throughout the entire city, only a couple of Qi warriors could be seen in the streets.

    In the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters...

    Cai Lan stood on the balcony of the tallest tower. With a very grim face, he gazed off into the distance.

    Standing beside him, Shi Qing let out a sigh and said with a sad tone, ¡°All those who can be useful in battle, no matter how remotely, have been summoned to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Those with poor strength have all returned to their own sects or ns. As for rogue cultivators, they were the first to flee the realm. Right now, our members are basically the only ones that haven¡¯t left.¡±

    Cai Lan¡¯s heart was filled with desperation and helplessness as he said, ¡°Compared to the grand spell formations of those old sects and powerful ns, ours is not even worth mentioning. Even a handful of sixth grade outsiders would be able to break our defenses with ease, let alone seventh grade outsider experts.

    ¡°Meanwhile, our organization has never been epted by the sects from the other realms. Even if we were to willingly give up Shatter City and move to another realm, those powerful sects and ns would probably refuse to shelter us.¡±

    Shi Qing nodded with a bitter smile.

    He was well-aware that, in such a perilous time, major sects like the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, and the Dong n would only shelter their own members and those who had been serving them for hundreds of years.

    The Blood Skull was clearly not on that list.

    Without powerful ns and sects to take them in, even if they abandoned their own base and moved to another realm, they would also be the first to be ughtered when the outsiders descended.

    In such a tough situation, even Cai Lan didn¡¯t know where the future of the Blood Skully.

    ¡°I wonder where Nie Tian is now,¡± Shi Qing said with another sigh. ¡°If he were in the city with his Bone Blood Demon, we¡¯d be able to hold on a little longer at least. Perhaps if things get bad enough, we could go the Realm of me Heaven with him. As long as we have that Bone Blood Demon to protect us, we¡¯d be much safer.¡±

    ¡°No one knows where he is,¡± Cai Lan said, sounding powerless. ¡°Perhaps he has already learned of the situation and left. With that Bone Blood Demon by his side, as long as he doesn¡¯t run into powerful seventh grade outsiders, he¡¯d be safe wherever he goes.¡±

    ¡°My lord, it seems that we¡¯re losing the battle in the Void Illusion Mountain Range for sure. Do... do we leave or not?¡± Shi Qing asked in a low voice.

    Cai Lan nced down at the empty city. His eyes reddened as he said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that we have a choice. This city is my lifelong achievement. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t keep it!¡±

    ...

    Qian Qiong tore his eyes from the frozen heaven and earth, which was gradually being filled with miasma, and shouted at Chang Sen, Li Jing, and the others from the Realm of me Heaven, ¡°Go! We no longer need you here. It seems that we won¡¯t be able to hold the Void Illusion Mountain Range for much longer. Those Soul realm experts will probably decide to leave soon as well.¡±

    Li Jing gazed into the distance, and all she could see was miasma that stretched as far as she could see. Feeling very powerless, she said, ¡°Even if we return to the Realm of me Heaven now, our sect-protecting spell formations won¡¯t hold against the attacks of seventh grade outsiders.¡±

    ¡°I wish we could shelter you.¡± Qian Qiong sounded reluctant but helpless, ¡°But there are simply too many that we need to take into our grand spell formation. We¡¯ll even have to abandon many of our own. Most of themoners will probably die under the ws of the outsiders.¡±

    After a pause, he added, ¡°I have a suggestion for you though. After returning to the Realm of me Heaven, you can hole up in one of the small realms that you used for trials. Even though there might not be rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in them, you¡¯ll be able to survive at least. Destroy the entrance once you¡¯re in. Rebuild teleportation portals that lead to the Realm of me Heaven when you think it¡¯s safe again.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the Profound realm experts from the Realm of me Heaven all fell silent.

    There weren¡¯t even high grade spirit beasts in small realms like the Green Illusion dimension. If they holed up in it, they would have to rely on spirit stones to cultivate.

    However, no matter how many spirit stones they brought, they would run out eventually.

    When it came to that, not only would they not progress in cultivation, but they would even regress.

    That would be hard to ept.

    Qian Qiong waved his hand, his expression very grim. It was as if he had suddenly aged by decades. ¡°Go. We¡¯ll be leaving soon as well. All of our Profound realm and Worldly realm will also return to our sect and hold fast behind our grand spell formation.¡±

 Chapter 606: Desperate Ones

    In Graydusk Forest...

    Li Langfeng was sitting by the Wood Thriving Formation and gazing off into the distant sky with a grim expression on his face.

    The Bone Blood Demon was standing straight like a mountain beside him.

    More than three dozen dead mutant spirit beasts were scattered by its feet.

    Most of the mutant spirit beasts were at the fourth or fifth grade. Two were at the sixth grade, which meant they had been as powerful as Profound realm experts when they had been alive.

    All of them had died at the hands of the Bone Blood Demon, and the Bone Blood Demon had already drained them of their rich blood with the Blood Refining Incantation.

    Even so, the bones, meridians, and internal organs of those corpses still contained copious amounts of flesh power.

    After observing his surroundings for some time, Li Langfeng came to a realization. <i>¡°The tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth seems to be converging on the deepest parts of Graydusk Forest...¡±</i>

    The thought made him wonder what existed at the heart of the forest. Something dangerous, he bet.

    Eight days had passed, and Nie Tian was still trying to break through into thete Greater Heaven stage with numerous spirit jades and cultivation materials of different attributes.

    Li Langfeng had noticed that, over the past eight days, Nie Tian had drained dozens of spirit jades and many other cultivation materials.

    But even so, he still hadn¡¯t finished his breakthrough.

    <i>¡°Why would it take so many materials for him to make a breakthrough in cultivation? Even though he cultivates three types of power at the same time, he shouldn¡¯t need this much spiritual energy.¡±</i>

    Back when Li Langfeng had entered thete Greater Heaven stage, the spirit jades and spirit stones he had consumed weren¡¯t even one fifth as many as Nie Tian had consumed so far.

    He had heard that the more powerful a Qi warrior was, the more spiritual energy they would require when they tried to make breakthroughs in their cultivation.

    However, after seeing Nie Tian consume so many materials, he still hadn¡¯t sensed any changes from Nie Tian. How profound and solid was his cultivation base?

    SSS! SSS!

    Shuffling sounds came from the distance. Li Langfeng didn¡¯t even turn to look, as he assumed that more mutant spirit beasts hade to their own grave.

    However, as the sounds came closer, Li Langfeng frowned and thought to himself, <i>¡°They¡¯re not mutant spirit beasts. If they were, their steps wouldn¡¯t be this light. Can they be outsiders...?¡±</i>

    Upon this thought, his face suddenly turned grim.

    He had learned of the perilous situation in the Void Illusion Mountain Range from Nie Tian, and that even the Soul realm experts from the powerful sects were failing to stop the seventh grade outsiders.

    Once the Void Illusion Mountain Range fell into the outsiders¡¯ hands, nothing would stop them from pouring into the three major cities and the rest of the Realm of Split Void.

    He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the outsiders came to this area.

    Therefore, he unleashed his soul awareness and scanned the source of the movements. Aplicated look appeared in his eyes as he thought to himself, ¡°They¡¯re humans...¡±

    Then, he instantly turned to the Bone Blood Demon and said, ¡°Please don¡¯t kill them if theye here. I have questions to ask them.¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s grayish-green eyes glittered slightly, but Li Langfeng wasn¡¯t sure what that meant.

    However, he didn¡¯t have the time to check if it had understood.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± he shouted.

    The group of people, who actually weren¡¯t heading in his direction, were thrilled to realize that there were other humans in the vicinity, and thus hurried over.

    Momentster, a group of cultivators appeared in front of Li Langfeng.

    Li Langfeng was taken aback as he thought, <i>¡°Fu Heng from the Wild Fire!¡± </i>

    ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡± A woman in a water-blue dress eximed as soon as she caught sight of Nie Tian, who was still cultivating inside his Wood Thriving Formation.

    She was Hu Han, who had betrayed him once.

    Back when Nie Tian had firste to hide in Shatter City, even though he had adopted the name ¡®Hua Tian¡¯, he hadn¡¯t altered his appearance.

    Because of that, Hu Han was able to recognize him at first sight. It was only recently that she had learned that ¡®Hua Tian¡¯ was actually Nie Tian.

    A skinny, small young man, who was holding Hu Han¡¯s hand, had two fingers missing from his left hand. With a curious and surprised expression, he gazed at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Big sister, is that the Nie Tian people have been talking about?¡±

    Hu Han lowered her voice and said with a sigh, ¡°Yes, he is. Back when you were held hostage by Ma Jiu from the Dark Moon, I had no choice but to trick him to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. He was almost killed on that trip.¡±

    Hu Xuan lowered his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I should have been more careful.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s already in the past.¡± With these words, Hu Han, who had a curvy physique, smiled bitterly and sped her hands towards Li Langfeng. ¡°Greetings, Mr. Li.¡±

    Hu Han had worked with the Dark Moon for a period of time, and Li Langfeng used to be a famous guest elder of the Dark Moon. Therefore, it was only natural that she knew him.

    However, Li Langfeng didn¡¯t seem to remember her. After giving her a quick, puzzled look, he turned to look at Fu Heng and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Li Langfeng noticed that some of them were Wild Fire members, and others were cultivators from Ash City. Most of them didn¡¯t look familiar.

    Back in the day, Fu Heng had been themander of the Wild Fire¡¯s forces in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. He, Ma Jiu from the Dark Moon, and Gu Yu from the Blood Skull had been rather powerful and well-known.

    However, years had passed, and many things had changed. Fu Heng was only at the early Worldly realm, but Li Langfeng had already entered thete Worldly realm. Now, he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if he were to fight Li Langfeng, not to mention that the Bone Blood Demon, whose fame had already spread across the entire Realm of Split Void, was staring down at him like a tiger staring at its prey.

    Fu Heng gave a bitter smile and said, ¡°Brother Li, I didn¡¯t expect that we¡¯d run into you and Nie Tian here. Many people thought you had already left the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    ¡°I asked: why did youe here?¡± Li Langfeng sounded somewhat impatient.

    Fu Heng sighed. ¡°It seems that you still haven¡¯t heard what happened. The Void Illusion Mountain Range has already fallen into the outsiders¡¯ hands. An early Soul realm expert from the Ice Pavilion Sect was killed by a seventh grade outsider. Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong from the Heaven Pce Sect also sustained serious injuries. All of the Soul realm experts have retreated from the Void Illusion Mountain Range by now.¡±

    Li Langfeng gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    Desperation could be seen in Fu Heng¡¯s eyes as he went on. ¡°The other Soul realm experts were also injured, some more seriously than others. People finally decided to evacuate from the Realm of Split Void. Naturally, those from the major sects were the first to return to their sects through the teleportation portal in Ash City. We could only watch them leave, one group after another.¡±

    With these words, Fu Heng took a pause. An angry expression appeared on his face as he continued, ¡°The bastards from the Thunder Mountain Sect left a thunderball in the portal. The portal exploded right after they disappeared.

    ¡°Those who were stuck in the Realm of Split Void could only split up and run in different directions, hoping to escape the merciless outsiders.

    ¡°We are one of the groups that escaped. We didn¡¯t dare to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. None of Shatter City, Ash City, or the Land of the Abandoned were safe, so we could onlye to this remote, uninhabited area. Hopefully, the outsiders won¡¯te looking here.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Li Langfeng said, ¡°I suppose those people from the Thunder Mountain Sect destroyed your teleportation portal because they were afraid that outsiders would go to their realm through it. But why didn¡¯t they destroy it after you left through it?¡±

    Fu Heng gritted his teeth. His eyes were wreathed with ming rage as he said, ¡°They knew that if they left us behind, we¡¯d scatter and run, so it would take the outsiders some time to take care of us. During this time, they would be able to get those they want to protect behind their grand sect-protecting spell formation.¡±

    Li Langfeng let out a cold snort. ¡°That does sound like them. You¡¯ve only got this many?¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, he saw that the group started to look very aggrieved and bitter.

    ¡°Our group was muchrger than this.¡± With these words, Fu Heng nced over his shoulder at the dozen people standing behind him. ¡°Originally, we had about a hundred people in our group. However, as we marched deeper into Graydusk Forest, we started to encounter mutant spirit beasts. The deeper we went, the higher the grade of the mutant spirit beasts became. The others all died at the fangs and ws of the powerful mutant spirit beasts.¡±

    Li Langfeng was well-aware that they must have gone through fierce battles against mutant spirit beasts, and suffered great losses.

    ¡°Then why did you stille this deep into the forest?¡± He asked curiously.

    ¡°Sure, the mutant spirit beasts are formidable, but the outsiders are more dreadful,¡± Fu Heng said. ¡°We thought that since there are powerful mutant spirit beasts in the depths of Graydusk Forest, if we go deep enough, perhaps the outsiders will sense the danger, and give up on searching for us in these woods. ¡°

    Li Langfeng pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Actually, you¡¯re very lucky to have made it this far. If the Bone Blood Demon didn¡¯t kill off the mutant spirit beasts in the vicinity, you¡¯d be all dead before you could get here.¡±

    He thought Fu Heng and his group was indeed very lucky.

    Considering their cultivation bases and strength, it was almost unimaginable that they could make it this deep into the forest.

    The reason why they still had a dozen people with them was because the route they had picked happened to be the same as Nie Tian¡¯s.

    They had only made it to this part of the forest because the Bone Blood Demon had already killed most of the mutant spirit beasts that lived on this route.

    Fu Heng had also realized this the moment he had arrived and caught sight of the numerous dead mutant spirit beasts.

    He understood what Li Langfeng meant, and thus said with a imploring tone, ¡°Yes, we know that we can¡¯t go any deeper. So would you please let us set up camp here with you, since we¡¯re all sufferers of the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    He knew that with the Bone Blood Demon to protect them, they would be safe as long as no seventh grade outsiders came after them.

    In the eyes of Fu Heng and the others, the Bone Blood Demon would be a powerful backer.

    After a moment of hesitation, Li Langfeng said, ¡°I can¡¯t make the decision for Nie Tian. But I¡¯ll let you stay here until he wakes up. Then, he¡¯ll decide for himself as to whether you can stay with us.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± Fu Heng expressed his gratitude solemnly.

    The others, including Hu Han, also bowed gratefully.

    ¡°You can set up camps five hundred meters from here,¡± Li Langfeng instructed. ¡°And don¡¯t try to approach Nie Tian.¡±

    Fu Heng and the others quietly backed away, but Hu Han and her younger brother didn¡¯t.

    ¡°Why are you still here?¡± Li Langfeng sounded slightly impatient.

    Somewhat hesitant, Hu Han knelt towards the Wood Thriving Formation and said, bowing her head, ¡°I betrayed Nie Tian once. I just want to kneel here until he wakes up. Hopefully, he¡¯ll forgive me.¡±

    ¡°Sister!¡± Hu Xuan eximed, his voice filled with heartache.

    ¡°Go with the others!¡± Hu Han said. ¡°This has nothing to do with you. I did a terrible thing, and I need to atone for it. I¡¯ll let him decide what he wants to do with me when he awakens.¡±

 Chapter 607: Extracting Blood Essence

    Eventually, Li Langfeng consoled Hu Han and urged her to stay with the others.

    Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough was a matter of great importance. He knew that Nie Tian had his secrets, and thus insisted on her leaving, so that she wouldn¡¯t see anything she shouldn¡¯t.

    Therefore, all of the survivors that had fled to this location from Ash City settled down in a ce far from Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation.

    Time flew. Three days passed.

    During this time, not a single outsider or mutant spirit beast hade to their location.

    However, the dozen survivors still suffered a great deal.

    As the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth grew thicker and thicker, they started to have a hard time warding it off.

    Since this wasn¡¯t Ash City, and there wasn¡¯t a grand spell formation that could ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth for them, they had to contend against it themselves at all times.

    Fu Heng¡¯s cultivation base was fairly higher, and he possessed unique spiritual tools. Therefore, he didn¡¯t seem to be in trouble.

    However, Hu Han¡¯s younger brother¡¯s cultivation base was very low. Even though the gadget he used to form a protective spiritual power ward had worked fine in other areas, it started to flicker now.

    Anxious, Hu Han could only infuse it with her own spiritual power to help him ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    A few others also had bitter expressions on their faces as they struggled to ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    If they couldn¡¯t find a solution soon, it wouldn¡¯t take any outsiders or mutant spirit beasts toe; their skin and flesh would be corroded by the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and they would die miserable deaths.

    Li Langfeng, however, ignored their plight. He still stood guard for Nie Tian and waited silently for him to wake up.

    Two more days passed, and Nie Tian had finally formed his ninth vortex of spiritual power, which marked his sessful breakthrough into thete Greater Heaven stage.

    However, a shudder ran through him as soon as he made the breakthrough.

    He examined himself, and noticed that the numerous crystal-like chains within the green aura, which hadin dormant in his heart for quite some time, had suddenly started to flicker.

    Like fish made of stars, thousands of them flickered with bright, cyan light as they swam within the green aura. With his psychic awareness, he watched closely as the green aura went through these changes. All of a sudden, a brand new bloodline talent was awakened.

    ¡°Blood Essence Extraction!¡±

    In that moment, everything about this bloodline talent was eternally branded in his mind.

    Blood Essence Extraction was the secret magic of extracting essence from his own blood.

    From the knowledge that was branded in his mind, he knew that he could only form up to ten drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    That would be his limit.

    To extract one drop of Blood Essence would take one hundred drops of his blood.

    However, he was still somewhat blurry on how to use the Blood Essence afterwards.

    However, he remembered that, during his conversation with Armes, Armes had told him that, for outsiders, Blood Essence was the essence of their blood. Many powerful bloodline magics and profound bloodline talents would need it to perform.

    Back then, Armes had consumed all of his Blood Essence to unleash that heaven-shaking, earth-shattering attack with the Nethersoul Saber.

    Therefore, Nie Tian knew that Blood Essence was of great significance to all outsiders.

    The reason why he didn¡¯t know how to use Blood Essence was because he wasn¡¯t from a outsider n. None of his seniors had taught him about the profound uses of Blood Essence. If he wanted to learn about it, he would have to either learn from outsider experts, or learn by making attempts.

    An idea suddenly urred to him, ¡°My master might know how to use Blood Essence!¡±

    With this thought, he settled down andunched Blood Essence Extraction. In the next moment, his blood suddenly started to rush back into his heart.

    At the same time, his heart pounded violently. As Blood Essence was extracted from the blood that rushed back to his heart, the green aura also glittered with dazzlingly glorious light.

    Soon, ten drops of Blood Essence that looked like red agates came to form in his heart.

    As they did, he was struck by an intense powerless feeling.

    He examined himself, and realized that arge portion of his blood had been summoned into his heart, where it was turned into ten drops of Blood Essence.

    The sudden blood loss was the reason why he felt so weak and tired.

    He snapped his eyes open andid his gaze on the numerous dead mutant spirit beasts that were piled up outside his Wood Thriving Formation. Then, he said to Li Langfeng, ¡°Get those corpses in here for me, will you?¡±

    With these words, he reached out with one hand, and one of the tree branches that formed the Wood Thriving Formation left the earth and flew into his palm

    The ward instantly disappeared.

    The fact that this Wood Thriving Formation hadsted this long was because he hadn¡¯t channeled much wood power from it during his breakthrough into thete Greater Heaven stage.

    The Wood Thriving Formation would only madly draw power from the vegetation in its surroundings when he channeled wood power from it, or it was attacked by external forces.

    During this time, he had been busy with his breakthrough. None of those conditions were met, so the spell formation hadsted a fairly long time.

    Li Langfeng seemed overjoyed as he eximed, ¡°You¡¯ve made your breakthrough!¡± Then, he turned to gaze into the distance and added, ¡°People are here...¡±

    The moment Nie Tian had opened his eyes, he had reestablished his connections with his nine Heaven Eyes. Thus, he had already noticed the group of people who were struggling to ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    He nodded slightly at Li Langfeng, showing that he understood.

    After Li Langfeng dragged the enormous mutant spirit beast corpses into the spell formation, Nie Tian said, ¡°Tell them to move farther away. I don¡¯t want them to see me.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡± Li Langfeng then marched over to Fu Heng and the others and told them to move farther away.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian stood by one of the dead mutant spirit beasts, ced his hands on it, and unleashed Life Drain.

    After his recent refinement of his heart, the efficiency of his Life Drain had improved by leaps and bounds. Within minutes, the fifth grade mutant spirit beast waspletely drained of its flesh power.

    Wisps of extremely rich flesh power naturally flowed towards his heart after entering his body, where it was rapidly turned into blood that was pumped into his arteries.

    It seemed as if the green aura knew that he had lost arge amount of blood and was in urgent need of flesh power. Therefore, it remained silent during this process.

    However, Nie Tian was well-aware that, after he recovered, the green aura was bound to once again show its endless demand for flesh power.

    Even though the dead mutant spirit beasts had been drained of their blood by the Bone Blood Demon, there were still copious amounts of flesh power in their bones, internal organs, and flesh. Therefore, Nie Tian went on to absorb flesh power from the rest of the mutant spirit beast corpses.

    The efficiency of his heart turning flesh power into blood was beyond his expectations.

    Rivers of rich flesh power were rapidly being turned into blood in his heart and pumped to every corner of his body.

    Soon, as every part of him was once again provided with enough blood flow, his weak and exhausted feeling was greatly alleviated.

    After a short while, all of the blood he had consumed to form the ten drops of Blood Essence had been fully recovered.

    However, he hadn¡¯t finished absorbing the flesh power of the dead mutant spirit beasts. Two sixth grade mutant spirit beasts were still untouched.

    Therefore, he went on to absorb their flesh power with Life Drain.

    Just as he had expected, as soon as those wisps of rich flesh power entered his body, they were channeled into his heart by the green aura, where they were madly devoured.

    A sixth grade mutant spirit beast was as powerful as a Profound realm human expert. Even though the Bone Blood Demon had drained them of their blood, there were still tremendous amounts of flesh power in their bones, meridians, and internal organs.

    Even though the efficiency of Life Drain had doubled, it still took Nie Tian quite some time to drain them of their flesh powerpletely.

    However, even after the two sixth grade mutant spirit beasts had shrunk to one fourth of their original size and be shriveled like dried meat, the green aura in his heart was still yearning for more flesh power.

    It was as if the flesh power within the two sixth grade mutant spirit beasts was far from enough to satisfy it.

    <i>¡°It seems that the amount of flesh power it needs multiplies every time a new bloodline talent is awakened.¡± </i>With this thought, Nie Tian observed the ten drops of newly-formed Blood Essence in his heart, and wondered how he would make use of them.

    He had a feeling that those ten drops of Blood Essence, each of which contained extremely pure and refined flesh auras, would be very important to him.

    He assumed that one drop would be enough to keep the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s me of life aze for half a year, or even longer.

    Somewhat excited, he ended that thought, and jerked his head towards Li Langfeng. ¡°Why are those people here?¡±

    Li Langfeng quickly exined the reason to him.

    After Li Langfeng was finished, Nie Tian¡¯s expression turn grim as he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the situation in the Realm of Split Void worsened so fast... All of the Soul realm experts have evacuated... The Void Illusion Mountain Range, Ash City, Shatter City, and the Land of the Abandoned are lost... From the look of it, we won¡¯t even be able to find a teleportation portal to use if we want to leave the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Li Langfeng sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Experts from the other realms have destroyed our teleportation portals to stop the outsiders from swarming right into their realms. We¡¯re stuck in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort. ¡°That was so naive of them. I can¡¯t believe that they actually thought that destroying those teleportation portals would stop the outsiders from invading their realms. Many of the countless spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range lead to other nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars. The outsiders arepletely capable of invading the other realms through those spatial rifts.¡±

    Nie Tian jogged his memory, and recalled that soon after a few Phantasms had descended in the Realm of Split Void, they had somehow appeared in the Realm of Dark Underworld, where they had recovered their ancient starship.

    That meant the outsiders had their means of leaving the Realm of Split Void, perhaps more than one.

    ¡°By the way, a woman in that group named Hu Han wanted to see you,¡± Li Langfeng said.

    ¡°Oh... sure,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    Li Langfeng then left and fetched Hu Han.

    After Hu Han came, Li Langfeng sensibly left her alone with Nie Tian. Nie Tian was awake, and he had the Bone Blood Demon by his side. He had nothing to worry about.

    Watching Li Langfeng disappear into the distance, Hu Han suddenly knelt on the ground. Bowing her head, she said, ¡°I made a terrible mistake, Nie Tian. I set you up to save my younger brother. As long as you let my brother live, you can dispose of me however you want. You can kill me, or have me as your servant, or anything. I won¡¯t say anything.¡±

    Nie Tian gazed coldly at her, not uttering a word.

    Seeing this, Hu Han became even more anxious. Biting her lip, she removed her garments one after another. Kneeling naked before Nie Tian, she bowed her head even lower as she said, ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m a beauty, but I¡¯m still a young woman. If you like, I¡¯d be willing to give myself to you.... as long as you can spare my brother¡¯s life.¡±

 Chapter 608: Plight

    Hu Han didn¡¯t have a single piece of cloth to cover herself as she knelt before Nie Tian. The curves of her back and bottom were very tempting.

    She bowed her head and didn¡¯t dare to meet Nie Tian¡¯s gaze. She was barely able to cover her breasts with her crossed, slightly trembling arms. Even so, arge proportion of her milky white breasts were shown.

    Cheeks flushed, she looked like a beautiful flower waiting to be picked.

    Nie Tian, however, gazed coldly at her as he walked up to her. He stopped before her and didn¡¯t utter a word.

    Hu Han¡¯s appearance was only slightly above average. Even Ye Qin and Qin Yan were more beautiful than her, not to mention Dong Li or Pei Qiqi, who possessed city-felling beauty.

    Nie Tian knew that she had betrayed him to save her younger brother. However, Ma Jiu had cut off her brother¡¯s fingers anyways.

    Seeing that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t talking, Hu Han felt increasingly nervous. She couldn¡¯t help looking up at Nie Tian, but all she could see in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was coldness. Not a shred of desire could be seen.

    With a sorrowful sigh, she said, ¡°I know that, considering your status, you must have met many beautiful, young women. Clearly, I can¡¯tpete with them, but I... I¡¯ve preserved myself all these years. In order to save my younger brother, I sold out many others, and did many terrible things, but I never sold myself.¡±

    After a short pause, she added, ¡°I¡¯m still... clean.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly.

    He had expected that Hu Han must have abandoned all her principles to save her brother, and had thus been with many men over the years. He had never expected that she actually had a line that she wouldn¡¯t cross.

    ¡°If you¡¯ve already saved yourself this long, why would you spoil your chastity now?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Because I¡¯ve run out of things I can offer,¡± Hu Han said bitterly. ¡°Back when I was with the Dark Moon, I was at the middle Greater Heaven stage, and I knew something about equipment forging, so I had my value. Later, they arranged for me to be their spy by Li Ye¡¯s side.

    ¡°Even though you managed to escape from the Void Illusion Mountain Range, my capability was acknowledged, since I managed to trick you into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°Soon after that incident, I entered thete Greater Heaven stage, and started to work for the Wild Fire in secret. With their help, I finally rescued my younger brother from the Dark Moon.

    ¡°Afterwards, I became a guest elder of the Wild Fire, and because of that, my brother and I established a foothold in Ash City.¡±

    With these words, she sighed again. ¡°I was somewhat useful to the Dark Moon or the Wild Fire, but to you... I really don¡¯t know how I can prove myself to be useful...¡±

    She knew that Nie Tian didn¡¯t have his own gang, and thus wasn¡¯t in need of a subordinate.

    The little equipment forging knowledge she had could be considered useful by the Wild Fire or the Dark Moon, but Nie Tian had Li Ye and Master Zhen. How would he value her shallow equipment forging skills?

    Furthermore, she was only at thete Greater Heaven stage. With the Bone Blood Demon and Li Langfeng by his side, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have any reason to value her battle prowess.

    She wracked her mind, and came to the conclusion that her undefiled body was the only valuable thing she had.

    Considering the perilous environment of the Realm of Split Void, even if they didn¡¯t encounter any outsiders or mutant spirit beasts, they might not be able to hold on for a long time.

    Since she had almost gotten Nie Tian killed before, she could only try to buy her younger brother¡¯s life with her body.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said slowly, ¡°Put your clothes back on.¡±

    Hu Han looked up at him, confused.

    ¡°It would be easy for me to kill you, but I doubt that killing you would make me feel any better. As for your offer, keep it. I don¡¯t want it like this.¡±

    Hu Han¡¯s eyes lit up as she swiftly gathered her garments from the ground and put them on. Then, she stood respectfully before Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯m still yours to take whenever you like. I¡¯m willing to do anything else as well, to repay your kindness.¡±

    With a snort, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What can you do for me?¡±

    ¡°I... I...¡± Hu Han didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°You may leave now. I don¡¯t need you to do things for me.¡± Nie Tian waved his hand, signalling for her to leave.

    ¡°My brother...¡± Hu Han wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    ¡°He¡¯s your brother. Keep him safe if you can.¡± Nie Tian sounded somewhat impatient.

    Then, he called out to Li Langfeng, ¡°Tell Fu Heng toe and see me.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Li Langfeng answered from afar.

    Shortly afterwards, Li Langfeng brought Fu Heng to Nie Tian. A strange look appeared in Fu Heng¡¯s eyes as he saw Hu Han.

    However, he quickly withdrew his gaze and greeted Nie Tian. With a imploring tone, he said, ¡°Please let us stay with you, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a member of the Wild Fire, so I don¡¯t have a duty to keep you safe,¡± Nie Tian said indifferently.

    He didn¡¯t seem to care that Hu Han still hadn¡¯t left as he asked, ¡°You have a Sound Stone that you can use to contact other survivors, right?¡±

    Fu Heng nodded. ¡°Yes, I do.¡±

    ¡°Do you know if there are any teleportation portals that people can still use to leave the Realm of Split Void?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Fu Heng shook his head. ¡°If there were any, we wouldn¡¯t have lost so many people seeking shelter in Graydusk Forest.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that experts from the other realms have already destroyed every inter-realm teleportation portal before they left?¡± Nie Tian asked in a deep voice.

    ¡°It appears so,¡± Fu Heng said with a sigh. ¡°Neither us nor the Dark Moon were given a choice. Experts from the major sects destroyed our teleportation portal before we could go with them. But the Blood Skull was lucky. I heard that the Ice Pavilion Sect and a few other sects allowed them to evacuate before they destroyed their teleportation portal.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean the Blood Skull have evacuated safely?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± Fu Heng sounded frustrated. ¡°We were originally adversaries with the Blood Skull. Even though we started tomunicate much more after learning about the outsiders¡¯ invasion n, we were far from considering each other close friends. ording what we learned, those sects did give them the opportunity to evacuate, but who knows how they chose.¡±

    ¡°So where are the other Wild Fire members now?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Fu Heng¡¯s face turned increasingly grim as he answered, ¡°Holing up in the most remote corners of the Realm of Split Void like us. We¡¯ve never explored these areas before. Who would have known there were so many mutant spirit beasts in these areas? We split into several groups, and like us, every group has encountered powerful mutant spirit beasts.

    ¡°We¡¯ve even lost contact with some of them. They are probably in worse condition than us. They might have died out, for all we know.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian went on to ask, ¡°Do you have any idea how the outsiders are deploying forces in the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    ¡°That I don¡¯t know,¡± Fu Heng said. ¡°Cultivators have long since evacuated from the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned. Everyone ran for their lives. No one dared to remain in those ces.¡±

    Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian pondered for a while before waving at him, showing that he might leave now.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I...¡± Fu Heng wanted to implore again.

    However, Nie Tian interrupted him by saying, ¡°Unlike you, I¡¯m not nning to stay here forever. I only have one suggestion for you. That is, don¡¯t go any deeper into Graydusk Forest. If my spections are correct, there are even more powerful mutant spirit beasts in there. Considering your strength, there¡¯s no way that you¡¯ll survive them.¡±

    Fu Heng sighed. ¡°I know.¡±

    Then, after a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian summoned a number of spirit stones from within his ring of holding, piled them up before him, and said, ¡°These spirit stones are for you and your group. I hope they¡¯ll help you survive a bit longer.¡±

    He knew that they would have to rely on spirit stones to continue to ward off the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    From Nie Tian¡¯s point of view, by giving them some spirit stones and letting them live and die on their own, he was already doing everything humanity and duty called for.

    It wasn¡¯t his duty to stay here and provide these people with shelter, especially when he knew that the outsiders had their own means of traveling to other realms.

    Seeing that Fu Heng still wanted to implore him to stay, Nie Tian signaled Li Langfeng with a nod, and the two of them jumped onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulders.

    In the next moment, under Fu Heng and Hu Han¡¯s desperate gazes, the Bone Blood Demon shot up into the heavens.

    Fu Heng was taken aback. ¡°That direction... Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s going to the Void Illusion Mountain Range!?¡±

    Hu Han went nk shortly before muttering, ¡°Powerful outsiders must be garrisoned in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. I¡¯m afraid even his puppet won¡¯t be able to keep him safe there. Isn¡¯t it a better choice to stay in Graydusk Forest? Even though there are mutant spirit beasts here, at least the outsiders haven¡¯te looking in these areas yet. He¡¯ll be safe here for the time being.¡±

    Fu Heng pondered briefly, then suddenly said, ¡°I see! He must have people he wants to protect, probably someone from the Realm of me Heaven. Since all of the inter-realm teleportation portals have been destroyed, he can only try to return to the Realm of me Heaven through the unstable spatial rifts in the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    ¡°But he doesn¡¯t practice spatial magics,¡± Hu Han said.¡± It¡¯d be very unlikely that he¡¯d find a spatial rift that leads to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Fu Heng sighed. ¡°Common sense doesn¡¯t apply to that man.¡±

    Hu Han¡¯s eyes were filled with desperation as she asked, ¡°Now that he¡¯s gone, what should we do?¡±

    Looking at the spirit stones Nie Tian had left for them, Fu Heng said, ¡°Compared to those major sects, he was already very kind to us. These spirit stones can help us through a fairly long time. Let¡¯s hope the situation in the Realm of Split Void has turned around by that time.¡±

    Sitting on the Bone Blood Demon, Li Langfeng seemed uneasy. ¡°Where are we heading, Nie Tian?¡± he asked. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen any outsiders in Graydusk Forest so far. It seems to be safe to stay there for some time. Are we going to the Void Illusion Mountain Range?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t necessarily have to go to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, but we do need to find an outsider. It¡¯s the only way we can get some useful information.¡± It seems that Nie Tian has long since had a n. ¡°Fu Heng and his group are like scared rats. Escaping from the outsiders was all they knew. Only from an outsider will we be able to get a thorough understanding of the situation.

    ¡°Then, we¡¯ll know if there are still ways to leave the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Li Langfeng said, ¡°If the outsiders know how to leave the Realm of Split Void, then there isn¡¯t a single realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars that¡¯s safe anymore. If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s not a bad choice to stay in Graydusk Forest.¡±

    The faces of Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Wu Ji shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he said, ¡°I have to leave. I have my own reasons.¡±

    All of them were in the Realm of me Heaven, and there wasn¡¯t a single Soul realm expert or a grand spell formation that was strong enough to resist the attacks of seventh grade outsiders and protect the Realm of me Heaven.

    What would those he cared about do if the outsiders swarmed into the Realm of me Heaven?

    ¡°I see,¡± Li Langfeng said softly.

    Now, he was more convinced that Nie Tian was different from the others he had met in his life.

    Even though he knew perfectly well that the road ahead was full of dangers, he was still determined to go. Seeing the determined look on his face, Li Langfeng decided not to say another word.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the Bone Blood Demon left Graydusk Forest. However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t discover a single outsider through his Heaven Eyes. While he felt puzzled, a person suddenly entered the detection range of his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s here!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

 Chapter 609: Ill Even Die If I Have To

    In the middle of the abandoned but well-preserved city that Nie Tian had seen on his way to the Graydusk Forest, a man was sitting in the lotus position. Five Birdmen and ckscales were bound by belts of spiritual power and floating over his head.

    All of them were covered in wounds. Spatial des were still shing across them every once in a while, creating more gashes on their badly mangled bodies. Even their bones were exposed in some ces.

    A dozen more dead Birdmen and Stonemen were scattered around that man.

    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡± Li Langfeng asked cautiously.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡± Nie Tian said, his expression flickering.

    Li Langfeng was taken aback upon learning that Zhao Shanling was still in the Realm of Split Void, then he asked, ¡°You saw him?! Did he see you?!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Considering his cultivation base, since I saw him, he must have seen me as well.¡±

    Li Langfeng felt a numbness in his scalp as he said, ¡°Yeah... So what do we do?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we have a choice. We can only go and meet him now.¡± Somewhat helplessly, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to fly towards the abandoned city.

    In fact, the moment Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes flew close to that city, Zhao Shanling had noticed them.

    Knowing Zhao Shanling¡¯s strength, and the fact that he practiced spatial power, which was probably the most mysterious and profound power in this world, Nie Tian knew that there was no way he would be able to escape from him.

    As long as Zhao Shanling wanted to catch up to him, even the Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t be of much help.

    Therefore, he might as well go over there and meet him openly to see what he had to say.

    After killing arge number of mutant spirit beasts in the Graydusk Forest, the Bone Blood Demon had absorbed tremendous amount of blood, and enhanced its battle prowess noticeably.

    The way Nie Tian saw it, with the Bone Blood Demon by his side, even if Zhao Shanling wanted to kill him, he wouldn¡¯t seed so easily.

    A few minutester, the Bone Blood Demon flew into Zhao Shanling¡¯s sight with Nie Tian and Li Langfeng on it.

    Zhao Shanling seemed surprised. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s you.¡±

    Even though he had long since discovered Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes, he hadn¡¯t linked them with Nie Tian at the first moment. Actually, he had thought it was some Worldly realm or Profound realm cultivator from the Wild Fire or the Dark Moon who was so daring as to peep at him.

    Nie Tian thenmanded the Bone Blood Demon to descend. ¡°Greetings, Senior Zhao,¡± he said.

    However, he still kept a rather safe distance from Zhao Shanling. Furthermore, he had instructed the Bone Blood Demon with his thoughts that, if Zhao Shanling made any aggressive move, it should attack him immediately and with full force.

    ¡°From the look of it, the ring of holding I gave you is indeed of an important use,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a gruesome smile. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you actually harnessed a puppet that possesses Soul realm strength. Impressive, very impressive.¡±

    At that moment, one of the ckscales that were bound by spiritual power belts and floating in the air recognized Nie Tian. His expression flickered as he eximed in the humannguage, ¡°You¡¯re that Son of the Stars! H-how did youe back?!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian looked up at him. After searching briefly in his mind, he suspected that this ckscale might have been among the ones that survived and escaped from the ind.

    Since he had faced arge number of outsiders back then, and this specific ckscale wasn¡¯t one of the most powerful ones, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have any memory of him.

    Upon hearing those words, the look in Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes suddenly became meaningful as he gazed at Nie Tian. ¡°A Son of the Stars...¡±

    PHOOH! PHOOH! PHOOH!

    One spatial de after another shed across the sky, killing every Birdman and ckscale that was fastened like floating balloons.

    Zhao Shanling frowned as he watched them crash heavily to the ground, as if he were pondering something.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t say a word. He secretly circted spiritual power within him and snuck a nce at Li Langfeng, signaling for him to be prepared.

    Nie Tian knew that Zhao Shanling was an unpredictable man. As a man with no scruples, it would never ur to him to follow the rules made by the major sects.

    Perhaps he wasn¡¯t even concerned with the cmity the Domain of the Falling Stars was facing.

    Perhaps even if the Realm of Split Void was lost and the other realms were also plunged into the abyss of misery, he wouldn¡¯t be stirred.

    It seemed that all that he cared about was himself. No turbulence or cmity in the outside world would affect his state of mind.

    After a short while, Zhao Shanlingid his eyes on Nie Tian. His face split into a smile as he asked, ¡°Why haven¡¯t you returned to the Realm of me Heaven, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I was dyed by some trivial matter,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°You were at the middle Greater Heaven stage thest time I saw you, but now you¡¯re already at thete Greater Heaven stage,¡± Zhao Shanling said, ¡°It seems that you failed to leave the Realm of Split Void in time because you were in the middle of your breakthrough. But now, it won¡¯t be that easy to return since you¡¯ve missed your chance.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, he let out a low chuckle and went on, ¡°The situation in the Realm of me Heaven doesn¡¯t look good, you know.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart jolted as he heard these words.

    ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s actually quite interesting...¡± Zhao Shanling said. With a strange expression, he turned to look in the direction of the Void Illusion Mountain Range. ¡°There are arge number of unstable spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, all of which are veryplicated. Most of them lead to realms that aren¡¯t fit for humans to cultivate, and don¡¯t produce useful spiritual materials.

    ¡°However, a few of them were created by the Void Pce Sect a long time ago, and lead to the other realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Those spatial rifts are very hard to find. I suppose even the outsiders would have to go through some trouble to find them. But the strange thing is that a spatial rift that leads to the Realm of me Heaven somehow appeared after all those so-called major sects had left.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What?!¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s expression also flickered upon hearing these words.

    ¡°Let me put it this way then,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a cunning smile. ¡°Someone deliberately exposed that spatial rift that leads to the Realm of me Heaven, so that the outsiders would be directed to the Realm of me Heaven. Since those from the major sects destroyed every single inter-realm teleportation portal before they evacuated, the outsiders will have to rely on the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range to invade the other nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Originally, it would have taken them quite some time to find spatial rifts that lead to the other nine realms in all those unstable spatial rifts.

    ¡°However, who would have known that someone was kind enough to give them a hand. They actually presented a spatial rift that leads to the Realm of me Heaven to the outsiders.¡±

    ¡°Who did this?!¡± Nie Tian asked furiously.

    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea.¡± Looking at Nie Tian, who was fuming with fury like a erupting volcano, Zhao Shanling took his time to say, ¡°As far as I know, arge amount of outsiders have already swarmed into the Realm of me Heaven through that spatial rift. The situation in the Realm of me Heaven now doesn¡¯t look good.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart burned with anxiety, as he wished he could grow wings and fly to the Realm of me Heaven.

    Upon thinking of those who he cared a great deal about being stranded in the Realm of me Heaven, where they had no powerful spell formations or Soul realm experts to protect them, Nie Tian¡¯s heart sank. Bloody images kept appearing his mind.

    ¡°I¡¯ll find out who exposed that spatial rift to the outsiders! I swear it!!¡± Nie Tian roared like a beast.

    ¡°It seems that you want to return to the Realm of me Heaven.¡± Zhao Shanling said, raising his eyebrows.

    After all, even with the Bone Blood Demon by his side, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to turn the situation around. The way he saw it, it would be a very unwise decision.

    ¡°I do!¡± Nie Tian said with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    ¡°Every existing inter-realm teleportation portal has been destroyed,¡± Zhao Shanling said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m the only one who can get you to the Realm of me Heaven now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind suddenly cooled down. ¡°Senior Zhao, what do you want in return for helping me return to the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    This maniac before him, who was a Soul realm expert in spatial magics, might be the only one who could get him to the Realm of me Heaven by establishing another teleportation portal, or through some other means.

    Zhao Shanling snorted with a smile on his face and said, ¡°Not so quickly. Let me tell you about the situation in the Realm of Split Void before you make your decision. There are only two seventh grade outsiders in the Realm of Split Void now. It appears that the outsiders are only using the Realm of Split Void as a transfer station.

    ¡°Most of the outsiders that are currently in the Realm of Split Void are still garrisoned in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They didn¡¯t spread out to kill humans in remote areas like Graydusk Forest.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t seem to be interested in chasing humans to those ces just to kill them.

    ¡°So unlike what most would think, the Realm of Split Void is actually safer than the other realms right now. It¡¯s not necessarily a bad choice to stay here. Perhaps going to the other realms would be the wrong thing to do.¡±

    ¡°So what are you suggesting, Senior Zhao?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I suggest that you hole up in Graydusk Forest. With that puppet by your side, you¡¯d be safe there.¡± Then, with a cold snort, he added, ¡°You¡¯d be seeking death by returning to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°I must go back!¡± Nie Tian said with great determination. ¡°I¡¯ll even die if I have to!¡±

    Zhao Shanling took a deep look at him, then shook his head. ¡°Stupid young man... Forget it. I¡¯ll help you. But you¡¯ll have to do something for me if you somehow survive this tribtion.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked instantly.

    ¡°You¡¯ll need to survive first,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a disdainful snort. ¡°The way I see it, you¡¯ll most likely die in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly, not saying a word.

    ¡°Follow me closely.¡± With these words, numerous mysterious sparks that seemed like time nodes started to shine in the depths of Zhao Shanling¡¯s pupils.

    Fizzing sounds echoed out from the space between him and Nie Tian, and soon, a slender spatial rift appeared. His figure blurred and shot right into it.

    Without dy, Nie Tian summoned the Bone Blood Demon, and they both disappeared into the spatial rift. Li Langfeng followed along.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found himself in one of the huge craters in the forbidden region. At the bottom of the crater was arge meteor.

    CRACK!

    A crack appeared on the meteor, which quickly grew wider and wider. Nie Tian stored the Bone Blood Demon in his ring of holding, and walked into the crack with Li Langfeng.

    In the crack stood a simple, unsophisticated teleportation portal, which was thrumming with waves of spatial fluctuations.

    ¡°Get in. I¡¯ll take you to the Realm of me Heaven.¡± Zhao Shanling said with a casual tone.

 Chapter 610: Wu Ji

    In the Realm of me Heaven, a crack appeared at the bottom of a wide river. Inside, a teleportation portal made of Space Spirit Jades appeared.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Three figures appeared in the teleportation portal. They were Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, and Li Langfeng.

    Zhao Shanling grabbed Nie Tian and Li Langfeng by the shoulder and shot right out of the river before theynded smoothly on the ground.

    As soon as they did, the crack in the river bottom strangely closed up by itself, as if nothing had happened.

    ¡°Where are we?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven, somewhere in the Ghost Sect¡¯s territory,¡± Zhao Shanling exined casually. ¡°I¡¯ve set up teleportation portals in every realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars, so I can travel wherever I want whenever I want.¡±

    ¡°No wonder you dared to stay in the Realm of Split Void when the others all left,¡± Nie Tian said, looking very impressed.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes were filled with arrogance as he said, ¡°Even without these teleportation portals, I can still travel freely across heaven and earth. The most powerful of the outsiders that invaded the Realm of Split Void was still only at the seventh grade, which means they¡¯re roughly as powerful as Soul realm humans. However, none of them are skilled in using spatial magics, so even if they ganged up on me, they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch me.

    ¡°My spatial magics would allow me to create spatial rifts at any time, and travel to any part of the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°Given the size of the Realm of Split Void, even if those outsider experts somehow surrounded me, I¡¯d be able to escape if I wanted to.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, curling his lips. ¡°You¡¯re indeed strong enough to ignore those outsiders. Perhaps you¡¯re the only one who can throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Zhao Shanling had even managed to find his way back after being banished to some space disruption zone in the depths of the starry river.

    It was only natural that he could travel freely within any realm by relying on his profound knowledge of spatial power.

    Meanwhile, he was a lone wolf, free of all constraints and attachments. Even if he found it difficult to contend against multiple seventh grade outsiders, he would be able to escape whenever he wanted.

    Even the outsiders wouldn¡¯t have effective methods to deal with a freak like Zhao Shanling.

    Nie Tian then ended his thoughts, and was about to summon the Bone Blood Demon to take him to ck Cloud City as soon as possible.

    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Zhao Shanling asked.

    ¡°ck Cloud City,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°My family is there.¡±

    ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll take you there.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling once again created a spatial rift before him, and through it, they directly arrived outside ck Cloud City.

    ¡°Here,¡± Zhao Shanling said as the spatial rift behind him rapidly shrank into nothing.

    Without any dy, Nie Tian unleashed his Heaven Eyes to learn the situation in the city.

    As his nine Heaven Eyes rapidly spread out in all directions, he discovered that the farnds outside ck Cloud City were deste. Commoners were trembling behind their doors, not daring to take one step outside of their homes.

    Inside the city, many Qi warriors with low cultivation bases had nothing but desperation in their eyes, as if they were waiting for the end of their lives.

    He didn¡¯t discover a single familiar face in the Nie n or the An n.

    However, what surprised him the most was that there wasn¡¯t a single outsider in ck Cloud City.

    <i>¡°What¡¯s going on? Where are the outsiders?¡± </i>He thought to himself.

    Neither his grandfather, his aunt, nor the few An n members he cared about were in ck Cloud City.

    Just as he was wondering where they were, Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered, and he eximed softly, ¡°Hmm?¡±

    ¡°What is it, Senior Zhao?¡± Nie Tian asked instantly.

    He knew that the detection range of Zhao Shanling¡¯s profound soul power would be muchrger than that of his Heaven Eyes¡¯.

    ¡°There¡¯s something strange at the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain.¡± Frowning, Zhao Shanling grabbed Li Langfeng and Nie Tian and sped through the sky.

    Since ck Cloud City was rather close to Cloudsoaring Mountain, he didn¡¯t resort to his spatial magics, but flew instead.

    Even so, he traveled as fast as a bolt of lightning. He could cover a few dozen kilometers within a second, which was much faster than Nie Tian¡¯s Golden Chariot or the Bone Blood Demon.

    Held by Zhao Shanling, Nie Tian looked down, and saw hills and rivers flying past at lightning speed.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Cloudsoaring Mountain entered their sight.

    That was when Nie Tian saw numerous outsiders, including Demons, Fiends, Phantasms, Birdmen, and ckscales, in every corner of the Cloudsoaring Sect and the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain, where his master Wu Ji lived.

    Zhao Shanling came to a stop in midair.

    Nie Tian looked down with rapt attention, and discovered that the gate of the Cloudsoaring Sect and their grand spell formation had already been breached.

    Corpses of Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm Qi warriors could be seen everywhere, along with a small number of dead outsiders.

    Judging from their garments, there were also disciples of the Hell Sect, the Ghost Sect, and the Blood Sect among the dead.

    At the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain, Chang Sen, Li Jing, and Ghost Eye, who he knew well, were engaged in fierce battles with outsiders at this very moment.

    However, what got him wondering was the battle that was taking ce in the depths of a cluster of thick mist over the mountain.

    A Phantasm expert unleashed his bloodline magics, and numerous evil ghosts swooped out of the pores all over him, screaming madly as they did.

    At the same time, close to a thousand clusters of zing cyan mes floated around him, all of which emanated gruesome, ghostly auras.

    With a single nce at the cyan mes, Nie Tian realized that it was the same Phantasm magic as the one Armes had once used to attack him. ¡°Soul Burning Seals!¡±

    It was just that, limited by his strength, Armes had only been able to form three clusters of mes. However, that Phantasm expert now had close to a thousand clusters of mes around him.

    The Soul Burning Seals seemed to have stimted the evil spirits¡¯ potential, as they filled heaven and earth with a dreadful aura that could devastate all living beings.

    As a high-tier Demon, Nnte was dressed in noble garments. As he brandished a ck wheel, a torrential dark aura poured out of it.

    Nnte stood in a sea of pitch-ck Demon Qi, which was constantly changing. In one moment, it turned into a huge, ck dragon. In another, it turned into some ancient magical beast that he didn¡¯t recognize.

    It seemed that Nnte and that Phantasm expert were teaming up against a human expert.

    That human expert turned out to be Wu Ji.

    In the thick, white mist, Wu Ji was sitting on a silver boat, looking distressed. The white of his hair and eyebrows made him look much older than Nie Tian remembered.

    As he repeatedly waved his hands, streams of silky white light shot out of his silver boat.

    Wherever the light went, the evil spirits that had been stimted by the Soul Burning Seals were reduced to wisps of ck smoke that rapidly vanished in the wind.

    Every once in a while, the silver boat would circle in the air and charge towards Nnte. Whenever it did, Nnte would m it with his ck wheel. However, upon every sh, Nnte would let out a muffled groan, with blooding from his mouth.

    No one dared toe anywhere near Wu Ji and those two outsider experts, both humans and outsiders.

    Meanwhile, the thick, white mist seemed to be changing in a very subtle and mysterious way, as if it had created a time-bending maic field.

    ¡°Master!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes reddened as rich flesh power instantly exploded from within him. He somehow struggled free from Zhao Shanling and dashed down towards the white mist.

    However, as soon as he entered the thick, white mist, he was struck by a terrifying feeling that he was aging in reverse.

    His ninth vortex of spiritual power, which had formed recently, started to shrink at a noticeable rate.

    Meanwhile, his copious flesh power seemed to be leaving his body, and the refinement of his heart seemed to be reversing.

    His face turned pale with fright as numerous images of his past rapidly shed across his mind.

    In a state of bewilderment, he felt as if he wasn¡¯t in the Realm of me Heaven, but rather back on that strange ind, where he was fighting outsiders.

    ¡°Moron! Get back here!!¡± Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph as he quickly made a grabbing motion in the air, and a ribbon of spiritual power shot down and pulled Nie Tian out of the white mist.

    However, even as strong as Zhao Shanling was, his expression flickered drastically as he tried to pull Nie Tian back with great effort.

    He also felt like he was being dragged into his past, where he struggled in pain and desperation as he looked for a way back from that remote space disruption zone. Even his early Soul realm cultivation base seemed to be regressing.

    WHOOSH!

    Only after his ribbon of spiritual power left the white mist with Nie Tian did Zhao Shanling stop experiencing the strange sensations.

    His slightly regressed cultivation base was also instantly restored to its original state.

    Simrly, Nie Tian also sensed his ninth vortex of spiritual power and his heart being quickly restored to their original state as soon as he was pulled out of the white mist.

    The strange feeling of reliving the past was also gone.

    With a shocked expression, he turned to Zhao Shanling and asked, ¡°What happened just now?¡±

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that there¡¯s such an astounding figure in a small ce like the Realm of me Heaven!¡± His eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared at Wu Ji, as if he were looking at something that shouldn¡¯t have happened in this world. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that someone in the Domain of the Falling Stars has actually mastered time power!¡±

    ¡°Time power!?¡± Nie Tian eximed, confused.

    Li Langfeng was also deeply puzzled, as apparently, neither of them had even heard of such a type of power.

    ¡°Those two outsider experts are both at the seventh grade, which means their strength is roughly at the same level as Soul realm human experts.¡± Zhao Shanling sounded very serious. ¡°But your master is only at thete Profound realm. What do you think allows him to contend against them at the same time and not lose?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, he let out a strangeugh and said, ¡°I bet no one ever thought there was a strange talent like Wu Ji in a remote corner like the Realm of me Heaven! At thete Profound realm, he can actually create a time realm. Any living beings will experience a regression once they enter it.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid those seventh grade outsiders have already regressed centuries in that time realm, and now they can only disy the battle prowess of sixth grade outsiders.

    ¡°But unfortunately, there¡¯s a great price to learning and practicing profound time magics --- the caster¡¯s lifespan, which happens to be the most precious thing for human cultivators.

    ¡°Once the caster creates a time realm, those who enter it will experience regression, but the caster himself will fast forward. While his strength will soar, his lifespan will also run out many times faster.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling rubbed his chin and thought out loud, ¡°The strange thing is... His mastery of time power has already risen to such a profound level. His lifespan should have run out long ago...¡±

 Chapter 611: Two Deals

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes were filled with shock and confusion, as if he couldn¡¯t find a rational exnation, no matter how hard he thought.

    However, as he thought out loud, Nie Tian caught his every word, and gradually gained a general understanding of his master¡¯s situation.

    ording to Zhao Shanling, Wu Ji would have to consume his own lifespan just to derive enlightenment of time power. This was probably why Wu Ji had run short on his lifespan so quickly before.

    The fact that Wu Ji was still alive and could contend against two seventh grade outsiders single-handedly was to a great deal thanks to the Fruit of Life Nie Tian had given him.

    He had brought two Fruits of Life back from the Realm of Unbounded Destion. He had given one to Hua Mu, and the other one to Wu Ji.

    Both Hua Mu and Wu Ji were humble people who liked to keep a low profile. Neither of them had said anything to anyone else after obtaining the Fruits of Life. Therefore, almost no one knew about it.

    All people knew was that Dong Li had somehow found a Fruit of Life that she had given to the patriarch of her n, Dong Wangling.

    Therefore, it was natural that Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t link the fact that Wu Ji had lived to enter the Profound realm and still had enough lifespan to create a Time Realm with a Fruit of Life.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head and sighed. ¡°Even though time power is very profound and mysterious, human cultivators are too limited by their lifespans. Your master is such a rare genius. If he were a outsider with a long lifespan, his achievements would probably be beyond our imagination.

    ¡°Once he creates a Time Realm, he¡¯ll start consuming his lifespan at an rming rate.

    ¡°But if he has enough lifespan to use, as long as he doesn¡¯t get killed the moment heunches the Time Realm, he¡¯ll most likely be the winner eventually.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid only a master of time power like him can single-handedly deal with two seventh grade outsiders.¡±

    At that moment, Li Langfeng, who was still held tightly by Zhao Shanling, asked somewhat cautiously, ¡°What will happen if his Time Realm doesn¡¯t end?¡±

    Apprehension once again appeared on Zhao Shanling¡¯s face as he said, ¡°His strength will keep advancing, while the others¡¯ will keep regressing. What do you think will happen?¡±

    A shudder ran through Li Langfeng as he said, ¡°Those two seventh grade outsiders will be weaker and weaker. Their battle prowess might regress to the same level as that of fifth grade outsiders, or even lower.

    ¡°But Senior Wu Ji will be more and more powerful as time passes.

    ¡°That means, as long as they remain in his Time Realm, there¡¯s no way he¡¯ll lose!¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s such a curious and profound magic!¡± Li Langfeng marveled.

    Zhao Shanling then said, ¡°However, nothing is wless. Even though Time Realm is iparably powerful, it still has a great disadvantage: the caster will have to overconsume their lifespan to use it. The reason why Wu Ji doesn¡¯t have widespread fame is that he must know the disadvantage of this magic so well that he has rarely used it over the years.

    ¡°Perhaps this is the first time he has ever used this powerful time magic in battle.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s also possible that this will be thest time as well. After all, he¡¯s human, and his lifespan can¡¯t match that of an outsider¡¯s.¡±

    Upon hearing that it might be his master¡¯sst time using this Time Realm, Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly flickered.

    He looked down at the ring of holding on his finger, which had been forged by Zhao Shanling, and nned to summon the Bone Blood Demon from it.

    However, just as he was about to take action, Zhao Shanling saw through his intentions and instantly pressed his hand on his ring of holding. ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t stand in my way, Senior Zhao!¡± Nie Tian blurted angrily.

    Zhao Shanling snorted coldly. ¡°Stop, fool! I have a solution to end the troubles in the Realm of me Heaven once and for all. Don¡¯t you want to hear it?¡±

    Astounded, Nie Tian said urgently, ¡°Umm, yes please.¡±

    ¡°Originally, I had thought taking you to the Realm of me Heaven would be a losing deal,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°I had thought that you¡¯d only get yourself killed, and nothing would be changed.¡±

    Then, he gazed down at Wu Ji. ¡°Who would have known that your master is actually such a curious figure. Now, it seems that you¡¯ll probably survive this trip, so our deal is not only not a losing one, but we can even make another deal.¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡± Nie Tian sounded somewhat impatient.

    Zhao Shanling took his time to exin, ¡°You promised to do something for me if I could take you to the Realm of me Heaven. Now that you¡¯re probably going to survive this trip, I might as well tell you about it. After this tribtion is over, I¡¯ll take you and your puppet to a ce where the environment is extremely harsh. Only those with exceptionally tough bodies can survive.

    ¡°Even I can¡¯t get very deep into it. Perhaps you can have your Bone Blood Demon go and get something for me.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you got it,¡± Nie Tian blurted.

    Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°Good! But that¡¯s only our first deal. As for our second deal... since you¡¯re a Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you¡¯re bound to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars some day. I want you to take me with you. I don¡¯t care if people from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pcee to take you, or you find your own way to go there.

    ¡°I¡¯ve long since been sick of this shithole!¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised by his demand. ¡°Can¡¯t you leave on your own?¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face grew serious. ¡°No, not before I enter the Void domain. Now, I still need a ancient starship if I want to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Fine! But what can you do for me?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    The battle between Wu Ji and the two seventh grade outsiders was still going on underneath them. As time passed, the outsiders gradually fell into a disadvantaged position, while Wu Ji gained the upper hand in battle.

    However, Wu Ji was paying the price with his lifespan, which wasn¡¯t something Nie Tian wanted to see.

    The years the Fruit of Life had given Wu Ji were limited. If he wasted them on this battle against the outsiders, he would have no hope of entering the Soul realm for the rest of his life.

    With a cold smile, Zhao Shanling added, ¡°I can find the spatial rifts through which the outsiders swarmed into the Realm of me Heaven and seal them. Once they¡¯re sealed, these outsiders won¡¯t be able to return to the Realm of Split Void, and the outsiders in the Realm of Split Void won¡¯t be able toe to their aid.

    ¡°After that, you and your master will be able to kill every single outsider that hase to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°That way, the trouble in the Realm of me Heaven will be ended, right?¡±

    Nie Tian seemed puzzled. ¡°Since you can seal those spatial rifts, why didn¡¯t you seal the ones in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and prevent the outsiders from invading in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s different,¡± Zhao Shanling said, frowning. ¡°Those six spatial rifts were there long before we came along. They were probably created by outsiders who were very skilled in using spatial power. Even I don¡¯t know how to seal those six spatial rifts. I can only the spatial rifts that lead to the other realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, which were created by the Void Pce Sect.¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s words reminded Nie Tian of the floating volcano he had seen in the strange dimension he had recently returned from. That floating volcano had contained spatial power from a powerful outsider.

    Pei Qiqi had extracted it and refined it into herself.

    Therefore, Nie Tian started to think that the six spatial rifts might have something to do with that very outsider, who had spatial power as his bloodline power.

    ¡°Summon your air-transportation spiritual tool and wait here,¡± Zhao Shanling instructed. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a moment. Don¡¯t summon your puppet before Ie back. Otherwise, you¡¯ll alert those two seventh grade outsiders. Considering their strength, they¡¯re more than capable of rushing to the spatial rift within a breath¡¯s time and returning to the Realm of Split Void through it before I can seal them.

    ¡°If they make it back to the Realm of Split Void, they¡¯ll gather more powerful outsiders and return to the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°If that happens, I doubt that anyone will be able to save the Realm of me Heaven. Even your master won¡¯t be able to contend against multiple seventh grade outsiders with his Time Realm forever.

    ¡°Alright, just do as I say. Don¡¯t move. I¡¯ll be back soon, and your master will be fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay...¡± Nie Tian then summoned the Golden Chariot and jumped on board with Li Langfeng.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything to alert those two seventh grade outsiders. You hear me?!¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling split open a spatial rift and disappeared into it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t summon the Bone Blood Demon...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he noticed that, even though the two seventh grade outsiders were at a great disadvantage, they didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest intention of leaving.

    But then it urred to him that perhaps they also knew that Wu Ji was overconsuming his lifespan to keep the Time Realm up.

    They doubted that Wu Ji would be able to hold on for much longer.

    Once the Time Realm vanished, their battle prowess would immediately bounce back to the seventh grade.

    By that time, Wu Ji, who was only at thete Profound realm, wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand a single strike from them.

    This was why they dared to stay and fight even after sustaining serious injuries.

    ¡°As long as we stay away from those outsider experts, we can go y outsiders in other ces!¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned the Golden Chariot around and flew down from the sky.

    Li Jing, Chang Sen, and Fang Hui, who were fighting outsiders in the Cloudsoaring Sect, soon discovered Nie Tian. They all cheered loudly as soon as they saw him on the Golden Chariot, as if their savior had finally arrived.

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    ¡°This is terrific! We¡¯re saved!¡±

    They all knew that Nie Tian now possessed a Bone Blood Demon that was as powerful as a seventh grade outsider.

    Since Wu Ji was single-handedly dealing with the two seventh grade outsiders with his shockingly powerful Time Realm, the arrival of Nie Tian and his Bone Blood Demon would definitely turn the situation around.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether the Bone Blood Demon was there to help them or Wu Ji. It would achieve a decisive effect either way.

    However, to their surprise, Nie Tian didn¡¯t summon the Bone Blood Demon as he fell from the sky in his Golden Chariot.

    POOH!

    A beam of blinding light shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s me Star and pierced through the chest of a fourth grade Birdman.

    By doing that, Nie Tian caught the attention of the other Birdmen that were flying in the sky. A female Birdman¡¯s expression flickered drastically as she screamed in theirnguage, ¡°It¡¯s the Son of the Stars from that ind!¡±

    ¡°What?! That Son of the Stars!? How did he return to the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he still be stranded on that ind?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! It may not be a bad thing! Now that he¡¯s here, it¡¯s easier for us to kill him!¡±

    ¡°Kill that Son of the Stars first! He¡¯s more valuable than the entire Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    After that female Birdman revealed Nie Tian¡¯s identity, arge number of outsiders that had originally been fighting Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm Qi warriors suddenly changed their target and converged on him from all directions.

    The Birdmen, who could fly through the sky, were the first to arrive.

    Momentster, Nie Tian found himself surrounded by arge number of fevered Birdmen.

    On the ground, Li Jing, Chang Sen, and the others saw Nie Tian being surrounded, yet none of them seemed worried.

    They all assumed that Nie Tian would summon the Bone Blood Demon in the next moment.

    ¡°Watch out, Nie Tian!¡± Li Langfeng eximed. ¡°We¡¯re surrounded by more than one fifth grade outsider!¡±

    ¡°Come out!¡± Nie Tian shouted, his whole body wreathed in strong killing intent.

    Li Jing, Fang Hui, and the other experts all gazed up, hoping to see the Bone Blood Demoning to their aid.

    However, it wasn¡¯t the Bone Blood Demon that Nie Tian summoned.

    It was the me Dragon Armor.

    They were all taken aback by Nie Tian¡¯s decision.

    As the me Dragon Armor descended on Nie Tian, and he infused it with his rich flesh power, he found to his surprise that the extremely heavy suit of armor seemed to have be much lighter.

    However, he quickly came to realize that it wasn¡¯t that the me Dragon Armor had be lighter. It was that his fleshly body had be much tougher than before, after his recent rounds of body refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal.

 Chapter 612: Time Freeze!

    A fourth grade Birdman spread his wings and swooped towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Bloodline magic! Wind de!¡±

    With a few vigorous ps of his wings, he sent numerous gray wind des that were as sharp as knives towards Nie Tian.

    However, each and every wind de bounced right off the me Dragon Armor, not leaving a single scratch on its surface.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and shed behind the Birdman with a short-range Starshift. Then, he formed a hand de his empty hand and thrust it into the Birdman¡¯s back.

    PUFF!

    Without much effort, his hand pierced through the fourth grade Birdman¡¯s back and stuck out of his chest.

    ¡°What...?!¡± Nie Tian muttered as he bounced back onto his Golden Chariot.

    Only then did the fourth grade Birdman stop struggling and fall to the ground.

    Li Langfeng also seemed very surprised as he asked, ¡°Nie Tian, why are these outsiders even more fragile than us?¡±

    It was known that any outsider race had tougher fleshly bodies than humans. However, Nie Tian¡¯s hand had gone through that Birdman¡¯s back as easily as a metal awl through a piece of tofu.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that their bodies are more fragile than ours, it¡¯s that...¡± Before Nie Tian could finish, a fifth grade Birdman flew towards him in rage.

    ¡°Leave this one to me!¡± Li Langfeng snorted coldly, and streams of ghostly, green aura shot out of his fingertips.

    Simultaneously, his whole body was instantly wreathed in deadly toxic energy, and his eyes suddenly turned green, as if he had turned into an evil spirit from the underworld.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    The streams of green aura rapidly found their way into the Birdman¡¯s spread wings, as if they had their own awareness.

    Then, under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, feathers started to rot and fall off the Birdman¡¯srge wings.

    The fifth grade Birdman let out miserable wails, as he obviously hadn¡¯t expected that the unimpressive human could actuallyunch poisonous incantations that were as deadly as the Fiends.

    In a brief moment, the fifth grade Birdman¡¯s wings melted away entirely.

    Then, Li Langfeng bolted out of the Golden Chariot. As he shed past the struggling Birdman, the Birdman became bereft of any sign of life, then fell uncontrobly towards the ground.

    The other Birdmen that rushed over after those two were shocked by the formidable battle prowess Nie Tian and Li Langfeng had disyed.

    ¡°Watch out! That human has mastered the Fiends¡¯ poisonous incantations!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let his aura get anywhere near you!¡±

    At that moment, a high-tier Demon with a handsome appearance flew over on a giant, bat-like beast, roaring, ¡°Get the hell down!¡±

    Before Nie Tian had the time to react, a dozen pale-gray bone spears pierced through the Golden Chariot he had demanded from Su Lin, riddling the Golden Chariot with holes.

    With the spell formation built within the Golden Chariot destroyed, it started crashing towards the ground.

    Watching the expensive Golden Chariot being destroyed, Nie Tian felt a heartache. ¡°Dammit!¡±

    At that moment, Li Langfeng¡¯s cry caught his ears. ¡°Nie Tian! Watch out for that sixth grade outsider!¡±

    He jerked his head down, and saw that a Phantasm expert was already waiting in the ce where the Golden Chariot was going to crash.

    That Phantasm expert had originally been overpowering Ghost Eye in a battle.

    Facing the Phantasm expert, who was well-versed in all sorts of soul magics, Ghost Eye¡¯s secret magic that he used to filled the sky with evil spirits seemed much inferior.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t shown up, and that sixth grade Phantasm expert hadn¡¯t ended his battle against Ghost Eye, he might have been killed already.

    At this moment, Ghost Eye was suffering from a severe bacsh. The light in his eyes was dim, and blood wasing out of his nostrils and ears. He couldn¡¯t help Nie Tian even if he wanted to.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°A sixth grade Phantasm that¡¯s skilled at soul magics!¡±

    He knew that Phantasms were very good atunching soul attacks. His memory of his battle against Armes was still fresh.

    A sixth grade outsider was as powerful as a Profound realm human expert. Therefore, if he unleashed his profound soul magics on him, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against them, even though he was wearing the me Dragon Armor.

    While he had a headache over the perilous situation, he suddenly noticed that increasingly fierce cyan light was gathering in the prismatic crystal between the Phantasm expert¡¯s eyebrows.

    He instantly realized that he was going to attack him with the Phantasms¡¯ most powerful soul magic.

    ¡°Crap!" Li Langfeng also noticed the unfavorable situation they were in.

    In the next moment, the Golden Chariot that was falling from the sky like a streak of golden lightning suddenly came to a stop.

    ¡°What?!¡± The vortexes inside Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea all suddenly froze.

    Even his heart seemed to have stopped beating.

    His connection with his Heaven Eyes was also lost instantly.

    He waspletely confused, wondering what was happening.

    However, it wasn¡¯t only him. Every living being and nt, the river and even the air seemed to be suddenly frozen.

    Not a single sound could be heard.

    The sixth grade Phantasm that was waiting for Nie Tian on the ground also seemedpletely frozen. The light in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows had stopped growing stronger.

    WHOOSH!

    High in the sky, a spatial rift had just been opened. Zhao Shanling was halfway into the spatial rift, his eyes filled with astonishment.

    As powerful as he was, he was frozen before he could escape the potential danger through that spatial rift. Even his mind stopped.

    However, countless bright spots that looked like time nodes gradually floated in the depths of his eyes as he let out an explosive roar. Then, he finally struggled free from the strange sensation.

    But as he looked down, his expression flickered drastically. ¡°Time... Time Freeze...¡±

    Everything and everyone in his view had bepletely still, as if time had stopped.

    Even the two seventh grade outsiders that were fighting Wu Ji had frozen in the motion of attacking Wu Ji.

    At this moment, only two people in this entire heaven and earth were able to move freely.

    One was Zhao Shanling, and the other was Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji was now sitting in his silver boat. Sands of time seemed to scatter through his fingers as he formed various hand seals.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Tens of thousands of silver lights shot out of the small, silver boat. Some of them pierced the two seventh grade Phatasms through their hearts and the crystals between their eyebrows.

    The crystals between their eyebrows were the vessels for their souls, while their hearts were where their bloodliney.

    As the silver lights pierced through those ces like sharp strings, the two outsider experts remainedpletely still. Just like that, they were ughtered without much effort, not even having a chance to struggle.

    Then, thousands more silver lights spread out in all directions. Like slender des that were thirsty for outsider blood, they rapidly pierced through numerous other outsiders, through their hearts and the ces between their eyebrows.

    Not a single outsider that was on Cloudsoaring Mountain and in the valley nearby was spared.

    ¡°One, two, three!¡± Zhao Shanling counted inwardly. Three secondster, he saw all of those outsiders copse to the ground.

    At the same time, all of the human Qi warriors those outsiders had been fighting regained the ability to move freely.

    Most of them were still in the stance of fighting their outsider opponents as they found out that the outsiders that were like evil monsters from hell had all died for some reason.

    Deeply puzzled, Ghost Eye muttered, ¡°What happened? What killed all these outsiders?¡±

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Golden Chariot finally crashed heavily into the ground. Panic-stricken, Nie Tian and Li Langfeng jumped out right before the crash.

    As soon as Nie Tian assumed a firm foothold on the ground, he caught sight of the Phantasm that had nned to kill him with his most powerful soul magic. The prismatic crystal between his eyebrows had been shattered, and blood was spilling from a small hole in his chest.

    Nie Tian was also unaware of what had just happened.

    ¡°Nie Tian, all of the outsider invaders are dead!¡± Li Langfeng¡¯s voice was trembling slightly. ¡°What the hell happened?! All of them were killed in the blink of an eye, without warning! The strangest thing is that none of us saw what killed them! Even Zhao Shanling isn¡¯t capable of doing something like this, is he?¡±

    Nie Tian nced around, and saw that Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, Li Jing, and the other experts looked just as confused.

    It seemed that no one had the faintest clue as to what had just happened, and what had killed all of the outsiders.

    While they mored about the strange happening, Zhao Shanling, who was floating high in the sky, still hadn¡¯t recovered from the shock. His face twitched subtly.

    Other than Wu Ji, he was the only one who knew what had just happened.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face had never been this pale as he thought to himself, <i>¡°Time Freeze! Even though it onlysted three seconds, it was more than enough for Wu Ji to finish off all of the outsiders! Even I was only able to break away from it after half a second. But if it¡¯s a battle between powerful experts, a split second is all it takes to determine the result of the battle. Half a second would be more than enough for Wu Ji to kill me, unless I could predict his moves.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Zhao Shanling enveloped himself with multipleyers of spatial energy.

    As soon as he was, he seemed to be in apletely different space. Under such circumstances, anyone who wanted to kill him would have to break his spatial barriers and find which space he was hiding in before they could make an attempt on his life.

    If he could unleash this magic before Wu Ji unleashed his Time Freeze, he had confidence that Wu Ji wouldn¡¯t be able to find and kill him within just half a second.

    ¡°This man is only at thete Profound realm now. The stronger his opponents are, the less effective Time Freeze will be when he uses it on them. Those whose cultivation bases are higher than his will be able to break away from the influence within a short time. For example, he can only affect me for half a second so far. It¡¯s not too bad if I can prepare myself.

    ¡°But once he enters the Soul realm...¡±

    The look in Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes flickered as his train of thought reached that point. ¡°Once he enters the Soul realm, I¡¯ll be subject to the influence of his Time Freeze for a longer time. Then, even by hiding in another space, I may not survive!¡±

    For the first time in his life, Zhao Shanling was apprehensive of another cultivator.

    He had traveled the Domain of the Falling Stars without fearing anyone ever since he had entered the Soul realm. He hadn¡¯t even truly feared thete Soul realm patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    That was because he was confident that even if he couldn¡¯t match him in battle, he would be able to split space and escape whenever he wanted.

    However, if Wu Ji was at the same realm as him, once he was affected by his Time Freeze, he wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to create a spatial rift. Therefore, the unique spatial magic that he relied on to travel freely through heaven and earth would bepletely useless.

    Throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, Wu Ji might someday be the only person who could kill him.

    Killing intent suddenly appeared in Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes as he thought to himself, ¡°Do I take care of this potential trouble now? He probably won¡¯t be able to use Time Freeze again so soon. I still can kill him now that he¡¯s at thete Profound realm, but once he enters the Soul realm, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯ll be nothing I can do.¡±

    With these thoughts, he suddenly dashed down towards the back of Cloudsoaring Mountain, wreathed in fluctuating spatial energy.

    The Time Realm was already gone. With a grim face, he looked deeply at Wu Ji, who was sitting in his silver boat with his eyes closed.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling?¡± Wu Ji opened his eyes and asked in a soft voice. ¡°Are you here to kill me?¡±

    ¡°To be honest, you¡¯re the only one so far who can make me feel insecure and uneasy,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that there was a person like you in the Realm of me Heaven. How ill-informed am I?¡±

    Wu Ji closed his eyes again and said, ¡°You may try and see if you can kill me. But as soon as you make a move, the two of us will die simultaneously. Even if I can¡¯t defeat you, I¡¯m rather certain that I¡¯ll be able to take you down with me.¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered once again.

 Chapter 613: Not Daring Enough

    Misty clouds wreathed the top of mountain.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered as he nced down at the two seventh grade outsiders¡¯ corpses and wrestled with a dilemma.

    Before today, he had known very little about Wu Ji.

    Not only that, but he had also selectively ignored everything about the Realm of me Heaven.

    Since it was a realm that hadn¡¯t produced a single Soul realm expert, and had been ridden roughshod by the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of ck Marsh, it was understandable that he had attached no importance to it.

    However, he was apprehensive that Wu Ji and his uncanny time-manipting magics would be a true threat to him.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he weighed the matter in his mind, and couldn¡¯t make up his mind.

    Wu Ji, however, seemed surprisingly calm as he sat in his small, silver boat with his eyes closed.

    That made him one of the few people Zhao Shanling couldn¡¯t fathom.

    After this battle, more white was quietly added to Wu Ji¡¯s gray hair.

    It had only been a while after the battle, and he seemed to have recovered some of the lifespan and time power he had consumed during the battle.

    ¡°If I kill Wu Ji, I can forget about the deals I made with Nie Tian,¡± Zhao Shanling thought to himself. ¡°Since Wu Ji has unleashed Time Freeze to ughter all of the outsiders, he probably won¡¯t have enough lifespan left to enter the Soul realm.

    ¡°If he can¡¯t enter the Soul realm, then he won¡¯t be that big a threat to me.¡±

    With these thoughts, Zhao Shanling smiled and backed away from Wu Ji a bit.

    Even though he had found some rational reasons to not kill Wu Ji, he knew that, deep down, he didn¡¯t dare to make the attempt.

    He was worried that Wu Ji would be able to kill him as he died.

    Sensing that he had taken a step back to make his stance clear, Wu Ji reopened his eyes and said with a smile, ¡°You did the Realm of me Heaven a big favor by bringing my disciple back and sealing that spatial rift. I¡¯d like to thank you for that.¡± He sped his hands.

    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony,¡± Zhao Shanling said expressionlessly. ¡°I only help those who can bring me benefit. I don¡¯t do charity. Your precious disciple happens to be useful to me.¡±

    ¡°That does sound like you,¡± Wu Ji said, looking at Zhao Shanling.

    While a subtle undercurrent passed between the two, the other human Qi warriors on Cloudsoaring Mountain were still in confusion.

    The Bone Blood Demon, which Nie Tian had unleashed after seeing that the battle was over, didn¡¯t care about what had happened. It had already started channeling the blood of the numerous outsiders into itself.

    Soon, Fang Hui, Li Jing, Jiang Zhisu, and the other experts gathered to Nie Tian.

    ¡°How did youe back, Nie Tian?¡± Li Jing asked curiously. ¡°Also, why didn¡¯t you summon the Bone Blood Demon as soon as you joined the battle?¡±

    ¡°If I summoned the Bone Blood Demon, those two seventh grade outsiders might have sensed the unfavorable situation,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°They might have shed to the spatial rift with their bloodline magics and gotten away. There are other outsider experts in the Realm of Split Void. Once they learned of what was going on in the Realm of me Heaven, they¡¯d descend upon us within a breath¡¯s time.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t summon the Bone Blood Demon because I was waiting for Zhao Shanling to seal that spatial rift first.¡±

    Surprised, Fang Hui asked, ¡°Zhao Shanling is here?!¡±

    ¡°Did he bring you back to the Realm of me Heaven?¡± Jiang Zhisu asked, looking shocked as well. ¡°Zhao Shanling always travels alone. Why would he help you and the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    Everyone that was gathered around Nie Tian felt deeply puzzled. They had all heard stories about that maniac, and knew that this fierce figure, whose name was known throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, wouldn¡¯t even listen to the major sects.

    None of them could think of a reason why he would agree to help Nie Tian and the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°He needs my help with something.¡± With these words, Nie Tian jerked his head towards the mountaintop that was wreathed in thick clouds, and said with a concerned look on his face, ¡°I wonder how my master is doing.¡±

    Then, he shouted at the Bone Blood Demon, ¡°Take me there!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon, which was still absorbing blood from outsider corpses, looked somewhat reluctant as it jumped over, grabbed Nie Tian and flew directly towards the top of the mountain.

    Upon seeing this, Fang Hui, Chang Sen, and the other experts soared after him.

    Momentster, Nie Tian and those few Profound realm experts arrived at the top of the mountain, one after another.

    As soon as they arrived, they saw the corpses of the two seventh grade outsiders, who had their foreheads and hearts prated, lying by Wu Ji¡¯s feet.

    Wu Ji, however, was talking calmly with Zhao Shanling.

    Before Nie Tian could stop it, the Bone Blood Demon set its eyes on the corpses of the seventh grade outsiders, and rushed over to harvest their blood.

    Nie Tian rushed to Wu Ji and asked concernedly, ¡°Master! Are you okay?!¡±

    Chuckling, Wu Ji shook his head and answered, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±

    Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and the other Profound realm experts all stared at Wu Ji withplicated expressions on their faces.

    They had originally believed that they were going to lose the Realm of me Heaven to the outsiders. None of them had expected that Wu Ji was able to stall these two seventh grade outsiders by himself with his Time Realm, much less kill them.

    If it weren¡¯t for Wu Ji, each and every human Qi warrior in this area would have died by now.

    Even Fang Hui, who was sworn friends with Wu Ji for many years, had never thought that this old friend of his had actually mastered time power, and that he could single-handedly deal with two seventh grade outsiders with magics he couldn¡¯t even fathom.

    At that moment, Wu Ji had suddenly be very mysterious in their eyes.

    ¡°Time power...¡± Chang Sen from the Hell Sect smiled bitterly.

    He recalled, during the time when the Blood Sect and the Ghost Sect had joined up and invaded the Spiritual Treasure Sect, he hade to this very ce to stop Wu Ji from rushing to the Spiritual Treasure Sect¡¯s aid.

    If Wu Ji had unleashed Time Realm on him back then, would he still be able to live till this day?

    The mere thought of it made him shudder with fear.

    ¡°Are the sudden deaths of all of the outsiders your doing, old friend?¡± Fang Hui asked with an expectant expression.

    After seeing the two seventh grade outsiders¡¯ corpses by Wu Ji¡¯s feet, they had long since suspected the answer to that question. They just needed confirmation.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Wu Ji sounded quite humble. He then cleared his throat and said, ¡°You may go and dispose of the bodies now. The Realm of me Heaven won¡¯t face the invasion of any more outsiders in the near future. As for the disciples we¡¯ve arranged to wait out the cmity in the arcane realm, contact them and tell them to hold on cutting off their connections with the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    Jiang Zhisu nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll make the arrangements right away.¡±

    He failed to mask the joy and pride in his eyes as he said these words. After all, Wu Ji was a member of the Cloudsoaring Sect. It was him who had single-handedly saved the Realm of me Heaven this time. From now on, the Cloudsoaring Sect would rece the Hell Sect and be the most renowned and respected sect in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Meanwhile, once word of Wu Ji¡¯s incredible deed spread out, those from the Realm of Earth Sieve, the Realm of Dark Underworld, and the Realm of ck Marsh wouldn¡¯t dare to ride roughshod over them anymore.

    Not to mention that they now had Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon to protect them as well.

    Even though Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a strong sense of identity with the Cloudsoaring Sect due to the absurd actions of some of the sect elders, he was still a disciple of the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    <i>¡°The Cloudsoaring Sect is bound to rise to prominence and be known throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡± </i>Full of excitement, Jiang Zhisu rushed down the mountaintop to make the arrangements.

    Wu Ji took a nce at Chang Sen and the other Profound realm experts before ncing at Zhao Shanling and saying, ¡°I¡¯d like to have a few words with Nie Tian alone.¡±

    Chang Sen and the other Profound realm experts were rather sensible. They all felt rxed now that they knew that they wouldn¡¯t face further invasions from more outsiders.

    They each left some medicinal pills for Wu Ji, expressed their gratitude, and left.

    Zhao Shanling, however, waited for them to leave to say to Nie Tian, ¡°The Realm of me Heaven is safe for the time being. There won¡¯t be any more trouble from the outsiders unless they find new ways to invade the Realm of me Heaven. I¡¯ll stay in the Realm of me Heaven for a few more days. If you want to leave the Realm of me Heaven, you can find me at the teleportation portal I used to get you here.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation in the other realms?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling snorted and said with a disdainful smile, ¡°Like turtles, they¡¯ve all shrunk back into their headquarters, and don¡¯t dare to take one step out of their grand spell formations. The Heaven Pce Sect is waiting for their patriarch to enter the Void domain, so that he¡¯ll be able to turn the situation around for the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°The other sects have received word from the Heaven Pce Sect, and are also waiting for that patriarch to advance to the Void domain to wipe out all of the outsider forces.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°If only advancing to the Void domain were that easy. It¡¯s still uncertain whether he¡¯ll be able to make the breakthrough at all. Even if he can make the breakthrough, it¡¯s hard to tell how long it¡¯ll take.¡±

    With these words, he created another spatial rift and vanished into it.

    ¡°If that man from the Heaven Pce Sect can actually enter the Void domain within a short time, the turbulences in the Domain of the Falling Stars will soone to an end.¡± With these words, Wu Ji then sighed. ¡°But what if he fails? If he does fail, turbulences will be the main theme of the Domain of the Falling Stars for a very long time.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly.

    He knew that there wasn¡¯t a single eighth grade outsider in the outsider forces that hade to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars this time.

    The strength of a Void domain human expert was equal to that of a eighth grade outsider. If the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect could actually advance to the Void domain, he would have the ability to crush all of the seventh grade outsider invaders and restore peace to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, every breakthrough in cultivation came with danger and mishaps. This was more true as cultivators advanced in their cultivation.

    Advancing from the Soul realm to the Void domain would be full of danger. For thousands of years, numerouste Soul realm experts had failed in their attempts to cross that threshold, and lost their lives.

    Only a very small proportion had seeded. However, those who had seeded hadn¡¯t stayed in the Domain of the Falling Stars for long. They had all gone to the other domains through different means and never returned.

    As far as Nie Tian knew, after entering the Void domain, Qi warriors would acquire the ability to travel across the starry river without relying on ancient starships.

    Furthermore, after entering the Void domain, Qi warriors wouldn¡¯t be able to find the precious materials they needed to progress in their cultivation in the Domain of the Falling Stars anymore.

    In order to press forward in their cultivation path, they would have to leave this cage for a wider heaven and earth, even if it meant more dangers and risks.

    ¡°Master, Zhao Shanling told me that you¡¯re consuming your own lifespan to use time power.¡± Nie Tian sounded very worried. ¡°Do you still have enough lifespan?¡±

    With a warm smile, Wu Ji said, ¡°Zhao Shanling¡¯s understanding of time power is still rather shallow. Don¡¯t you worry about that. I¡¯ve already taken the hardest step. The Fruit of Life you gave me has already helped me through that crucial period.¡±

 Chapter 614: Master and Disciple Open Hearts to Each Other

    ¡°Do you mean that you don¡¯t need to worry about your lifespan, master?¡± Nie Tian asked, deeply amazed.

    ording to Zhao Shanling, the caster would consume their own lifespan to use time power and create a Time Realm.

    However, humans had very limited lifespans, and the Fruit of Life he had obtained for Wu Ji had only given him a hundred more years.

    For a cultivator like Wu Ji, a hundred years was still too short.

    Just now, Wu Ji had unleashed profound time magics to kill all of the outsider invaders. He should have consumed a considerable amount of his own lifespan.

    Wu Ji smiled warmly and said, ¡°I derived brand new understandings of time power after entering thete Profound realm. Now, I can freeze myself in a certain point of time with only a small amount of time power. Afterwards, I won¡¯t consume my lifespan if I don¡¯t cast time magics, not until I enter the Soul realm.

    ¡°Furthermore, I¡¯ve learned a way to extract myself from my fleshly body to derive enlightenment of the profound truths of time power and the Dao of cultivation.

    ¡°A breakthrough in cultivation requires the right enlightenment and an umtion of power. Of the two, the right enlightenment is especially important.

    ¡°Once Ie to the right enlightenment that readies me for my breakthrough into the Soul realm, I¡¯ll quickly build up my strength with precious materials and medicinal pills, and then make the breakthrough.

    ¡°During this whole process, I¡¯ll be frozen in a point of time, and won¡¯t lose any of my lifespan.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°So that means you won¡¯t have to consume your lifespan before entering the Soul realm?¡±

    Wu Ji smiled. ¡°That¡¯s it. Once I enter the Soul realm, I¡¯ll gain more years. By that time, my understanding of time power might rise to a whole new level. Perhaps then, I won¡¯t even need to consume my lifespan at all to use time power.¡±

    ¡°Time power is such a divine power!¡± Nie Tian marveled.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I only came to learn time power by ident,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°I started very low and progressed very slowly. Even now, my understanding of it is rather limited. After all, there¡¯s not a single person in the Domain of the Falling Stars I can learn from. Therefore, it¡¯s a long and hard road, with many unforeseeable things lying ahead.¡±

    He let out a sigh and went on. ¡°For the time being, I won¡¯t be able tob through my understanding of it and pass it on to you.¡±

    Then, Nie Tian went on and asked about the situation in the Realm of me Heaven, and learned that Li Jing, Chang Sen, and the other Profound realm experts had arranged for their weaker disciples to hide in arcane realms like the Green Illusion Dimension soon after their return to the Realm of me Heaven.

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian were among the first ones to be moved.

    However, it seemed that the outsiders had arrived before they could get everyone in.

    Soon after their arrival, the outsiders had breached the grand spell formation of the Cloudsoaring Sect, which was the weakest among all the sects. Wu Ji had been forced to end his secluded cultivation ahead of schedule and summon powerful experts from the other sects to defend against the outsiders in the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    While the experts had fought the outsider invaders, their younger and weaker disciples took the opportunity to retreat to arcane realms like the Green Illusion Dimension.

    ¡°The outsiders came too soon,¡± Wu Ji said with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°If they hade a few dayster, we wouldn¡¯t have lost so many people. Many more would have been evacuated safely.¡±

    ¡°Someone deliberated exposed a spatial rift that leads to the Realm of me Heaven!¡± Nie Tians said angrily. ¡°That¡¯s why the outsiders came so fast!¡±

    Wu Ji was taken aback. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling told me,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Wu Ji¡¯s expression also turned very grim after learning about this. ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to have any reasons to lie about that... Who would have known that someone would still set us up at such a difficult time, hoping to buy themselves more time by sacrificing everyone in the Realm of me Heaven?¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold snort. ¡°I don¡¯t even have to think about it to know that the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Spirit God Sect were behind this!¡±

    ¡°Still, we can¡¯t settle things with them at such a time,¡± Wu Ji said softly. ¡°Plus, I did consume a substantial amount vital energy to kill those outsiders. But once I enter the Soul realm...¡±

    A shred of killing intent shed across his eyes.

    Then, all of a sudden, his eyes widened as he seemed to remember something. He took out the Spirit Pearl and handed it to Nie Tian. ¡°The star map in this Spirit Pearl, I solved it. It¡¯s a star map of a vast area with numerous realms. It¡¯s muchrger than the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that it¡¯s so far away from the Domain of the Falling Stars. You¡¯ll have to use an ancient starship if you want to go there.

    ¡°And I don¡¯t know what kinds of beings are living there.

    ¡°Also, this star map seems to have been made by Phantasms. It needs to absorb arge number of souls and spirits to work. Perhaps if you can find an ancient starship in the Domain of the Falling Stars, you¡¯ll be able to use the Spirit Pearl to set up the route and arrive in the area in the star map.¡±

    ¡°An ancient starship...¡± Nie Tian pondered briefly, then suddenly said, ¡°There¡¯s a forbidden region close to Ash City in the Realm of Split Void. Meteors would fall in that region from time to time. I had a feeling that there were some secrets hidden under that area, and that they have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯m limited by my cultivation base, and can¡¯t pry into them for the time being.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Perhaps the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left an ancient starship in the depths of the earth for you!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If that¡¯s true, does that mean I¡¯ll be able to use it and the Spirit Pearl to travel to the area in the star map?¡±

    Excitement could also be seen on Wu Ji¡¯s face as he said, ¡°That¡¯s very likely!¡±

    Afterwards, Nie Tian went on and exined what he had seen and experienced in the strange dimension he had recently gone to, as well as his deals with Zhao Shanling.

    For a long time after he was finished, Wu Ji remained silent.

    Then, he sighed deeply and said, ¡°It seems that our understanding of this boundless starry river is still very limited. There are still so many things we don¡¯t know. Only by going out of the Domain of the Falling Stars will we know how vast and varied this world truly is.¡±

    With these words, he took a deep look at Nie Tian. ¡°Since you¡¯ve received those legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and those outsiders call you a Son of the Stars, you¡¯re bound to find a way to step out of the Domain of the Falling Stars. It won¡¯t take long. Perhaps what you need is lying right underneath that forbidden region.¡±

    ¡°But you...¡± Nie Tian wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about me,¡± Wu Ji said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ll have nothing to fear once I enter the Soul realm.¡±

    However, his face suddenly fell as he added, ¡°But you need to watch out for Zhao Shanling. That man is only helping you because he¡¯s sick of this ce and needs you to get him out. Once you lose your value, he might change his attitude instantly andy his murderous hands on you.

    ¡°Making deals with people like Zhao Shanling is like living with a tiger. When you grow weak, it¡¯ll bepletely up to him to kill you or let you live.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t mentioned a word about his conversation with Zhao Shanling, and only warned Nie Tian to always keep an eye on him.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve said everything I need to say,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°Now, I¡¯d better spend some time getting my strength back. What¡¯s your n? Do you want to stay in the Realm of me Heaven, or do you want to leave?¡±

    ¡°I think I need to go to the Realm of a Hundred Battles,¡± Nie Tian said somewhat embarrassedly.

    ¡°The Realm of a Hundred Battles?¡± Wu Ji thought for a moment, then asked, ¡°Are you going because of that girl from the Dong n?¡±

    ¡°Sort of.¡±

    ¡°Now that Zhao Shanling has sealed the spatial rift that connects the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of me Heaven, it¡¯s rtively safe here, but the other realms...¡± Wu Ji stopped to take a nce at the Bone Blood Demon, then went on. ¡°With it by your side, you¡¯ll probably have the ability to protect yourself, but you¡¯ll still face many dangers by going to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. I¡¯m worried that...¡±

    Nie Tian bowed his head and didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Forget it.¡± Wu Ji waved his hand. ¡°Your life is destined to be unique and full of dangers. Considering the things you¡¯ve survived over all these years, you¡¯ll probably be fine this time too. So go if you want.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, master!¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°But return after you¡¯re finished there,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°I have something for you.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t get to finish it before the outsiders arrived,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°But you¡¯ll see it soon enough.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 615: Talents and Magics

    While the master-disciple pair talked, the Bone Blood Demon drained the corpses of the two seventh grade outsiders of their blood.

    Afterwards, they both looked shriveled and considerably smaller.

    However, awe-inspiring light shone in the depths of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s unfathomable grayish-green eyes from time to time.

    Surprised by the change, Nie Tian examined it with his psychic awareness.

    To his surprise, he could hear the sound of blood running in its veins that were hidden within its bones.

    Before, the sound of blood running inside of it had been as subtle as that of a small creek, almost imperceptible.

    However, it now sounded as if countless torrential rivers were rushing inside the Bone Blood Demon.

    He had a feeling that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s battle prowess had gained another boost after absorbing the blood of the two seventh grade outsiders.

    Even Wu Ji looked shocked after he spent a split second to examine the Bone Blood Demon. ¡°This puppet... I can¡¯t believe that it can actually use the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation on its own!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t know why either. It could only disy sixth grade battle prowess when I first awakened it. But it absorbed a copious amount of Demon blood and refined it with the Blood Refining Incantation thest time the Demons invaded. Afterwards, its strength improved significantly.

    ¡°And this time, it¡¯s the blood of two seventh grade outsiders...¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes lit up as he said with great certainty, ¡°I sensed it when you summoned this puppet earlier, and it seemed to me that its battle prowess was only roughly the same as that of an early Soul realm human expert back then. But now, after it has absorbed the blood of these seventh grade outsiders...

    ¡°If my judgment is correct, it¡¯s capable of contending against a middle Soul realm expert now.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°In fact, for outsiders, their grades can also be further divided, simr to how we humans divide ours,¡± Wu Ji exined. ¡°Just like ours, each outsider grade can also be divided into early, middle, and high grades.

    ¡°The grades are divided ording to the richness of their blood, and the intensity of their flesh power.

    ¡°These two outsiders I just killed were both at the early seventh grade.

    ¡°But, this puppet of yours seems to be at the middle seventh grade, judging from the intensity of its flesh aura, which means it¡¯s roughly as powerful as a middle Soul realm human expert.¡±

    His eyes were filled with delight as he continued, ¡°It seems that this puppet the Blood Sect refined has been strengthening itself after you awakened it. Given enough blood, perhaps it can even recover to the same grade as when it was alive.¡±

    ¡°It was at the eighth grade when it was alive!¡± Nie Tian blurted excitedly.

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°The eighth grade?!¡± Then, he took a deep breath and said, ¡°The strength of an eighth grade outsider is equal to that of a Void domain human expert. If it can actually recover its eighth grade bloodline power, the plight the Domain of the Falling Stars is facing will be solved instantly.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed very spirited after hearing these words.

    Right now, the most powerful cultivator in the Domain of the Falling Stars was the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect, who was at thete Soul realm, and was doing his utmost to break through into the Void domain. It was still unknown whether he would seed.

    If the Bone Blood Demon could recover its eighth grade bloodline power, even that patriarch wouldn¡¯t haveplete confidence in overtaking it in battle.

    ¡°But if it returns to the same grade as when it was alive, will the outsiders also send eighth grade experts to the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°I doubt they will. As far as I can tell, the outsiders that have invaded our domain aren¡¯t from powerful ns. For powerful ns that have eighth grade experts, the Domain of the Falling Stars isn¡¯t even worth taking.

    ¡°Those eighth grade experts will never set their mind on a remote corner where it would take thousands of years to produce a Void domain Qi warrior.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a short while, and thought his master¡¯s words made sense.

    From the conversations he had had with Armes and the other outsiders, he had also sensed the disdain they had for the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They had even valued him, a newborn Son of the Stars, more than the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    That said, it seemed that, if the Bone Blood Demon could recover to its original grade, the outsider invaders would have to either withdraw from the Domain of the Falling Stars or die at the hands of the Bone Blood Demon.

    The truly powerful outsider ns probably wouldn¡¯t send their eighth grade experts to the Domain of the Falling Stars, since it was simply not worth taking.

    The gains wouldn¡¯t match the risks.

    ¡°Master!¡± Nie Tian suddenly remembered his Blood Essence, and thus circted his spiritual power to summon a drop of Blood Essence from his heart.

    Wreathed in rich flesh aura, it flew out of his heart and floated in the air before him like translucent and sparkling agate.

    ¡°Blood Essence!¡± Wu Ji shuddered in shock. ¡°You can actually form Blood Essence now?!¡±

    Meanwhile, the grayish-green eyes of the Bone Blood Demon, which had just finished absorbing the blood of the seventh grade outsiders, suddenly lit up.

    It fixed its yearning gaze on the drop of Blood Essence, as if it had never seen anything that contained such a concentrated form of flesh power.

    ¡°Master! Can you refine this drop of Blood Essence and use it to prolong your lifespan?¡± Nie Tian asked with excitement in his voice.

    Wu Ji seemed very touched as he shook his head slightly. With a bitter smile, he said, ¡°Little Tian, your bloodline contains the profound truths of life. So this drop of Blood Essence also contains extremely rich life essence. It would have a simr effect to a Fruit of Life. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m not a outsider. None of the incantations I practice have anything to do with flesh power.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°So I won¡¯t be able to absorb the copious life essence within this drop of Blood Essence,¡± Wu Ji said, looking sorry. ¡°Only the outsiders who base their cultivation on the cultivation of their flesh power can.

    ¡°Humans, on the other hand, cultivate spiritual power and soul power.

    ¡°We can¡¯t extract the precious life essence from this drop of Blood Essence with either of these two kinds of power.¡±

    Nie Tian felt frustrated as he stored the drop of Blood Essence back in his heart. ¡°I see... Do you know how I can use my Blood Essence, master?¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s face warmed up again. ¡°You can use it to strengthen your bloodline talent and cast unique bloodline magics, among other things. I really never expected that you could actually form Blood Essence now. The thing I want to give you... It happens to have something to do with Blood Essence.¡±

    ¡°How do you know so much about Blood Essence, master?¡± Nie Tian looked excited.

    ¡°I¡¯m still researching and making hypotheses, which I will need you to test,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°Also, I¡¯m not finished yet. That¡¯s why I wanted you toe to find meter. The things I¡¯m preparing for you contain methods to use Blood Essence, which is also known as bloodline magic. Bloodline magics are simr to the spiritual magics that we humans use. Outsiders acquire their bloodline magics through two main ways.

    ¡°One is learning them from their seniors.

    ¡°And the other is acquiring them from their unique Blood Realms. I¡¯ve studied outsider culture and bloodlines for a long time now, but I¡¯ve only recentlye to learn that many ancient and powerful outsiders have their own unique Blood Realms.

    ¡°However, I¡¯m still not sure what those Blood Realms are. I only know that some powerful outsiders can establish connections between themselves and their Blood Realms by relying on their bloodline at certain moments.

    ¡°The outsiders¡¯ bloodline talents are usually awakened as they grow stronger and stronger. Even though many bloodline talents are iparably powerful, few of them are for battle purposes.

    ¡°However, bloodline magics are usually designed for battle, and they are derived by their ancestors. As descendants, they can acquire them from Blood Realms.¡±

    Wu Ji went on and briefly exined the outsiders¡¯ bloodline talents, bloodline magics, the inheritance of Blood Realms, and many other subjects that most humans Qi warriors had never even heard of.

    Afterwards, Wu Ji fell into a moment of silence, then said, ¡°I¡¯ve never known any outsider to carry a Life Bloodline like you. So it seems to me that it¡¯s impossible for you to learn bloodline magics from seniors that share your bloodline. Your only option is to enter Blood Realms that belong to your race, and acquire bloodline magics from there.

    ¡°I still need some time to finish up with the fewmon bloodline talents I¡¯ve gathered for you. However, I¡¯m notpletely sure if you¡¯ll be able to use them.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, master!¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    Wu Ji¡¯s words had, to a great extent, expanded his understanding of bloodline talents and bloodline magics.

    The way he saw it, this master of his might not be the most skilled fighter in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but he must be the most learned. He doubted that any Soul realm expert had a deeper understanding of outsiders.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    With a wave of his hand, Wu Ji summoned the corpses of the two seventh grade outsiders and a few sixth grade Fiends, Birdmen, ckscales, and Demons from the vicinity. They flew into his ring of holding one after another.

    ¡°These outsiders are of different races, and their bloodline power is quite high,¡± Wu Ji said, his eyes filled with curiosity. ¡°I¡¯ll learn about their bodies carefully and see how different their meridians and internal organs are from ours. Perhaps I can derive deeper enlightenments of the outsiders¡¯ bloodline talents and bloodline magics from them.¡±

    In fact, Nie Tian had originally thought about absorbing the flesh power of those two seventh grade outsiders with Life Drain. However, seeing that Wu Ji had stored them away, he dropped the idea.

    After all, what Wu Ji could learn from these corpses would be much more important than the flesh power he could absorb from them.

 Chapter 616: Leaving Again

    Nie Tian flew down from the mountaintop on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder.

    As he did, he nced down, and saw survivors of different sects piling outsider corpses up after taking their storage rings.

    The corpses of powerful outsiders were useful to human cultivators.

    Just like powerful spirit beasts, their fleshly bodies were also very tough, and their bones could be used for equipment forging.

    Meanwhile, the contents of these outsiders¡¯ storage rings were mostly materials people couldn¡¯t find in the Domain of the Falling Stars. They could be traded for great amounts of spirit stones.

    Furthermore, ancient records from the Phantasms and Fiends were also very valuable to sects like the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect.

    As he flew down, Nie Tian originally harbored the thought of having the Bone Blood Demon absorb the outsiders¡¯ blood.

    However, he then realized that, by draining the outsiders of their blood, he would take a big part of their value, therefore undermining the benefit of the sects in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Even though the Realm of me Heaven had ridden out this tribtion, they had suffered heavy casualties. As Nie Tian nced around, he could see many survivors sobbing, covering their faces.

    They were gathered by friends and family who had died at the ws of the outsiders on the Cloudsoaring Mountain and in adjacent areas.

    Nie Tian sighed over how cruel inter-race wars could be.

    Once the outsiders gained the upper-hand in battle, they would ughter their human opponents like sheep. They wouldn¡¯t show any mercy.

    They were lucky that Wu Ji had disyed his unmatched strength by trapping and killing all of the outsider invaders with his time-manipting magics.

    If the outsiders had scattered to ck Cloud City and othermoners¡¯ cities, the consequences would have been catastrophic.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demonnded heavily next to Li Langfeng.

    Jiang Zhisu hastily rushed over and asked with a concerned expression, ¡°How is martial uncle? Will he run out of his lifespan soon after this battle?¡±

    As the sectmaster of the Cloudsoaring Sect, he had ced all of his hopes on Wu Ji. If something were to happen to him, the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s status in the Realm of me Heaven would bepletely different, and the Realm of me Heaven would also face more trouble from the outside.

    ¡°He¡¯s okay,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Jiang Zhisu felt relieved upon hearing these words.

    Not far from where they were standing, a few elders of the Cloudsoaring Sect were cowering in silence, as if they were afraid that Nie Tian would see them.

    ¡°What¡¯s with them?¡± Nie Tian asked, his brow furrowed.

    Jiang Zhisu cleared his throat embarrassedly and said, ¡°Umm... They¡¯re the few elders that weren¡¯t very warm towards your n. They are afraid that you¡¯ll find fault with them, so they figured they¡¯d better keep some distance.¡±

    With a cold snort, Nie Tian said, ¡°A bunch of clowns.¡±

    Then, Jiang Zhisu¡¯s expression suddenly turned serious as he said, ¡°But don¡¯t you worry. I can guarantee you that the Nie n will receive special attention from the Cloudsoaring Sect from now on. This time, I arranged for the members of the Nie n to be the first ones to be evacuated to the Green Illusion dimension.

    ¡°Even the disciples of the Cloudsoaring Sect went after your grandfather and aunt.

    ¡°None of the elders who had their differences with you in the past dared to oppose my decision. Because of you, the Nie n will be the most respected n in the Realm of me Heaven. As long as the Realm of me Heaven doesn¡¯t fall, the Nie n will stand!¡±

    Nie Tian curled his lips as he shot a cold nce at those elders. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sectmaster. I¡¯m not in the mood to seek trouble with them. If I were, they¡¯d already be dead.¡±

    ¡°Good...¡± Jiang Zhisu felt somewhat rxed. ¡°We¡¯ve looted quite a number of items from the outsiders. You¡¯re wee to take whatever you need.¡±

    At this moment, Li Langfeng seemed to want to speak, but stopped on second thought.

    Nie Tian instantly understood what he was thinking, and thus said, ¡°I need some ancient records from the Fiends.¡±

    Jiang Zhisu took a quick nce at Li Langfeng and said with aprehending expression, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make the arrangements right now.¡±

    After he left, Li Langfeng said to Nie Tian, ¡°Many thanks,¡±

    The Fiends¡¯ records of their bloodline magics and their profound use of poisons would be very helpful to him.

    The poisonous incantations he practiced were wed. If those ws could be fixed, his advancement in cultivation would be faster, and his performance in battle would improve.

    ¡°No need to stand on ceremony with me,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Momentster, Jiang Zhisu returned with a number of scrolls made of animal skin. He handed them to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Here are the records you need.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed and gave them to Li Langfeng.

    Li Langfeng received the Fiends¡¯ scrolls and put them away in his ring of holding in a very respectful manner. Afterwards, he stepped to the side and remained silent.

    Jiang Zhisu also left after seeing that Nie Tian had no more business with him.

    Shortly afterwards, Li Jing from the Blood Sect descended before Nie Tian on her Blood Lotus.

    ¡°Where are the An sisters, Senior Li?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°They were arranged to wait out this tribtion in an arcane realm,¡± Li Jing said. ¡°Now that the crisis has passed, I n to send people to bring them back soon.

    ¡°What is it? You want to see them now? Do you want me to take you to them?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°If they¡¯re in an arcane realm, I¡¯ll see them another time. I¡¯lle back before too long anyways.¡±

    Aside from Nie Donghai and Nie Qian, An Shiyi was the only one he truly cared about in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Back when he was growing up, An Shiyi had treated him well, and he had always kept that in mind.

    Deep down, he considered An Shiyi an older sister. Now that he learned that she was safe, he felt rxed.

    ¡°So where are you going?¡± Li Jing asked, looking somewhat surprised. ¡°Now that Zhao Shanling has sealed that spatial rift, this is probably the safest ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Why would you leave?¡±

    ¡°The same reason I insisted oning back to the Realm of me Heaven, knowing how dangerous it would be,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°There are some ces and people I can¡¯t abandon.¡±

    Li Jing took a deep look at him, and after a moment of silence, she said, ¡°I see.¡±

    Seeing that Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and Fang Hui were also gathering to him with inquiring expressions, Nie Tian said to Li Jing, ¡°My master is fine. Tell them not to worry.¡±

    With these words, he sent Li Langfeng a signal with his eyes, and the two of them jumped onto the Bone Blood Demon simultaneously.

    In the next moment, the Bone Blood Demon shot up into the heavens.

    ¡°Where is he going?¡± Chang Sen asked confusedly after arriving by Li Jing¡¯s side.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s leaving the Realm of me Heaven again,¡± Li Jing replied.

    Chang Sen was taken aback. ¡°He¡¯s leaving the Realm of me Heaven?! Right now, the Realm of me Heaven is the safest ce to be. Why would he choose to leave now? Also, will he be able to? We¡¯ve dismantled all of our inter-realm teleportation portals already.¡±

    ¡°If Zhao Shanling agrees to help him, where can¡¯t he go?¡± Li Jing asked.

    Chang Sen nodded and muttered, ¡°Good point. From now on, the Realm of me Heaven will belong to him and his master. Although, at least that way, those from the other realms will have to think twice before trying anything on us in the future.¡±

    ...

    On their way to Zhao Shanling¡¯s teleportation portal, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s me of life ran low. Therefore, Nie Tian infused it with more of his blood.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon showed a strong desire towards his Blood Essence, Nie Tian cherished it greatly, and didn¡¯t give any to the Bone Blood Demon.

    Shortly after the Bone Blood Demonnded close to that river, Zhao Shanling noticed their arrival, and suddenly appeared in front of them.

    With a single nce at the Bone Blood Demon, his expression flickered as he said, ¡°That puppet of yours has be even more powerful.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled meaningfully and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, Senior Zhao. This puppet is now at the middle seventh grade, and its strength is roughly equal to that of a middle Soul realm expert. The stronger it is, the more easily it can get that thing you want from that special ce, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Zhao Shanlingughed, getting the meaning behind Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    He was at the early Soul realm, while the Bone Blood Demon was at the middle seventh grade. It might not be easy for him to overtake it in battle anymore.

    However, he didn¡¯t fear the Bone Blood Demon at all.

    He didn¡¯t even fear thete Soul realm patriarch from the Heaven Pce Sect. Why would he fear a puppet?

    The only person he was apprehensive about was Wu Ji.

    After all, once Wu Ji unleashed Time Freeze, he wouldn¡¯t even have a chance to escape through a spatial rift.

    As for the others, no matter how profound their cultivation bases were, they didn¡¯t have such a formidable ability.

    In his eyes, it wasughable that Nie Tian would try to threaten him with the Bone Blood Demon.

    No matter how strong it became, it wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him from leaving with his spatial magics.

    A disdainful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he asked casually, ¡°Where do you want to go this time?¡±

    ¡°The Realm of a Hundred Battles,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Zhao Shanling nodded, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Sure, but this will be thest time. Consider it a favor thates with our second deal. I won¡¯t help you again afterwards.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± Nie Tian agreed.

    He was well-aware that people like Zhao Shanling would never follow him around and take orders from him. The fact that he had taken him to the Realm of me Heaven and sealed the spatial rift was all business.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± With a wave of his hand, the river split open, and a deep crack appeared in the bottom of the river. Inside, the secret teleportation portal appeared.

    Nie Tian stored the Bone Blood Demon in his ring of holding before entering the teleportation portal with Li Langfeng under Zhao Shanling¡¯s instructions.

    In a mountain valley in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, loud rumbling sounds came from the earth. In the next moment, the earth cracked open, revealing a secret teleportation portal.

    Nie Tian, Li Langfeng, and Zhao Shanling then jumped out of it.

    Before Nie Tian could unleash his Heaven Eyes, the tips of Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyebrows rose as he said, ¡°The situation here is much worse than in the Realm of me Heaven. But what is it to me even if the Domain of the Falling Stars falls into the outsiders¡¯ hands? I¡¯ve long since been sick of this damned ce.¡±

    Nie Tian summoned the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding and jumped on it with Li Langfeng. Then, Zhao Shanling pointed out the direction of the Dong n for them, and they flew off.

    Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t go with them. He remained in ce after the teleportation portal once again sunk back into the earth. Eyebrows furrowed, he examined the situation in his surroundings.

    As the Bone Blood Demon sped through the sky, Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes spread out with him at the center, reflecting everything on the ground in his mind with great rity and detail.

    Soon, his expression grew grimmer and grimmer, and his temples started to throb.

 Chapter 617: Hell on Earth

    Images of everything within the Heaven Eyes¡¯ detection range entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind one after another.

    Thick, ck smoke was rising from empty human viges.

    In the central square of a small city, deadmoners were piled into a hill with flies buzzing around them.

    From the way they were ced, the outsiders seemed to have used them as sacrificial offerings to their ancestors.

    Many old people, women, and children could be seen in the stinking hill of corpses.

    Apparently, these people had been dead for days, but their lifeless faces were still filled with pain and horror.

    The foul smell of rotting corpses pervaded the entire city. Dried blood could be seen everywhere.

    As the Bone Blood Demon flew on, Nie Tian discovered vige after vige and city after city like this. Every singlemoner had been ughtered and used as sacrificial offerings to the outsiders¡¯ ancestors.

    As more and more images like this were sent to Nie Tian¡¯s mind by his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian¡¯s expression became increasingly grim.

    Li Langfeng, who had recently entered thete Worldly realm, also saw the devastating situation on the ground with the help of his soul awareness. As cruel as he was, he fell silent, killing intent slowing building up in his eyes.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t see a singlemoner survivor along his way.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s eyelids throbbed as intense killing intent burst forth from his eyes. ¡°This is outrageous! These outsiders are treating themoners of the Realm of a Hundred Battles as animals! No matter what, we¡¯re still intelligent beings. How do they dare do such a monstrous thing?¡±

    ¡°I might have held a bit of fantasy with inter-race wars before today, but I won¡¯t anymore,¡± Nie Tian said, his face very cold. ¡°It¡¯s either kill or be killed, simple as that. So we need to kill as many outsider invaders as we can! We¡¯d best not let a single outsider leave alive!¡±

    Li Langfeng sighed deeply. ¡°I¡¯m no stranger to conflicts among the realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars. But our internal conflicts have never affected the lives of themoners, andmoners don¡¯t concern themselves with the conflicts among the various Qi warrior sects. No matter which sect obtained the dominion of a realm, they¡¯d get along with themoners. They¡¯d never do such a monstrous thing.¡±

    As the Bone Blood Demon continued to fly in the Dong n¡¯s direction, Nie Tian finally saw some outsiders.

    They were a handful of high-tier Demons. They seemed to be taking their time riding towards the Dong n on their spirit beast mounts, chatting andughing as they did.

    However, they were feasting on white and tender human arms at the same time.

    Blood dripped from their fangs and streamed from the corners of their mouths.

    A furious and sorrowful roar escaped Li Langfeng¡¯s mouth as he got a clear view of what they were eating. ¡°They¡¯re eating the arms of young women!¡±

    Before Nie Tian could react, he jumped off the flying Bone Blood Demon and unleashed numerous belts of deadly poisonous auras, which danced in the air like mad snakes before piercing into the few fourth grade Demons.

    Like they were bitten by numerous serpents, the Demons quickly dropped dead.

    Fighting to suppress his fury, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to descend from the sky. Looking at the dead Demons and the tender arms they were holding, he said angrily, ¡°These high-tier Demons consider themselves as higher beings, but they even feasted on the arms of human girls!¡±

    ¡°Damn monsters!¡± With these words, Li Langfeng summoned a sword from his ring of holding and mangled the Demon¡¯s corpses badly, as if he would only feel better this way.

    ¡°This cmity must be ended as quickly as possible!¡± Nie Tian said, gritting his teeth.

    Li Langfeng took a deep breath and said, ¡°Fortunately, your master single-handedly turned the situation around in the Realm of me Heaven. Those outsiders must not have expected that your master has mastered time power. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to attack the Cloudsoaring Sect first with full force. If they had also spread out and massacredmoners, the Realm of me Heaven would have be hell on earth too.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew very grim. ¡°The Realm of me Heaven was lucky to have escaped such a fate, but the Realm of a Hundred Battles... Are the other realms suffering the same fate as the Realm of a Hundred Battles?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Li Li Langfeng fell silent.

    While they talked, the Bone Blood Demon swiftly drained the handful of Demons of their blood.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian gazed off in the direction of the Dong n and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon took off with them again.

    As they sped through the sky, Nie Tian saw arge number of Phantasms through his Heaven Eyes that were swarming towards the Dong n from different directions.

    Floating over them were countless evil spirits, which had been made from the hundreds of thousands ofmoners they had massacred.

    Manipted by the Phantasms, the evil spirits flooded towards the Dong n.

    Over the clouds, Nie Tian soon came to see the Dong n, which was surrounded by millions of evil spirits.

    Like a sea of locusts, the evil spirits were storming the Dong n¡¯s grand spell formation and gnawing on the protective ward.

    At the same time, more evil spirits that had been made from the massacredmoners were still converging on the Dong n from all directions.

    From the look of it, the outsiders nned to breach the Dong n¡¯s ancient spell formation with an army of evil spirits.

    Arge number of Demons, Phantasms, ckscales, and Stonemen were surrounding the Dong n, watching the army of evil spirits storm the Dong n¡¯s grand spell formation.

    Li Langfeng also saw the situation at the Dong n, and said with a grim expression, ¡°The Dong n is under siege. The outsiders are wearing their spell formation down bit by bit. It¡¯s hard to say how much longer it will hold. Nie Tian, if we fly any closer, the outsiders will probably discover us. Once they do, they¡¯ll send powerful members after us.¡±

    Right now, they were still a significant distance from the Dong n, which, from Li Langfeng¡¯s point of view, was still safe.

    Even seventh grade Phantasms that were skilled in soul magics wouldn¡¯t sense them from such a distance.

    However, if they flew any closer, the Bone Blood Demon would most likely be exposed and attract the attention of powerful outsiders.

    By then, they would probably have to face more than one seventh grade outsider.

    Even the Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t necessarily win such a battle.

    Therefore, they needed to determine how many seventh grade outsiders were gathered around the Dong n before deciding whether they would further approach the Dong n.

    Nie Tian took out his Sound Stone. ¡°Let me contact the Dong n first.¡±

    ...

    In the Dong n.

    Many Dong n members were gathered around arge-scale teleportation portal that was thrumming with intense spatial fluctuations.

    Dong Wangling, the patriarch of the Dong n, was gazing silently at the teleportation portal. His expression wasplicated as the other n members argued anxiously.

    Face grim, Dong Tengfei said, ¡°Patriarch! We can¡¯t afford to wait any longer. Once our grand spell formation is breached, the consequences will be catastrophic! In my opinion, it¡¯s time we abandoned the Realm of a Hundred Battles and move to the Dark Shadow Dimension. Even though the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth there is quite faint, making it problematic for cultivation, we¡¯ll get to live at the very least.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, patriarch,¡± Another elder said. ¡° In order to sustain our grand spell formation, we¡¯re draining millions of spirit stones every day. It¡¯s already been two weeks. If we don¡¯t make any changes soon, we¡¯ll use up our spirit stones eventually.

    ¡°By then, we won¡¯t have any spirit stones to use in the Dark Shadow Dimension. Our life there will be even harder.¡±

    Dong Qianqi, the current nmaster of the Dong n, chimed in with a grim expression, ¡°If we leave for the Dark Shadow Dimension, we¡¯ll need to destroy this teleporation portal as soon as we leave, so that the outsiders won¡¯t be able to follow us there. But once we do that, it¡¯ll mean that we¡¯re abandoning everything we have in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. It might be a thousand years before we can return.

    ¡°Besides, the Gu n, the Cao n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect are also struggling to hold on.

    ¡°If we leave, we¡¯ll be abandoning them as well. When their grand spell formations are breached, they¡¯ll have to not only face their own opponents, but also the two seventh grade outsiders that are attacking us.

    ¡°Even if we run out of options and have to evacuate, we¡¯ll have to inform them of our decision first, so we can evacuate at the same time.¡±

    Dong Tengfei sighed. ¡°It seems to me that it¡¯s about time we contacted them and retreated to our arcane realms. The crisis in the Domain of the Falling Stars will be lifted naturally if the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect manages to break through into the Void domain. But... who knows whether he¡¯ll seed?¡±

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li were also gathered by the teleportation portal, but it wasn¡¯t their ce to state their opinions on such an asion.

    By now, many of the Dong n¡¯s subordinate ns had already moved to the Dark Shadow Dimension, along with the Dong n members whose cultivation bases were lower than the Greater Heaven stage.

    These people had only stayed because they hoped for a favorable turn of events.

    However, nothing seemed to be happening.

    The major sects in the other realms had also been forced to hole up behind their grand spell formations under the great pressure from the outsiders.

    Dong Wangling finally opened his mouth. ¡°Once we leave, we¡¯re noting back any time soon. Our ancestors spent thousands of years and went through many hardships to make our n one of the most powerful forces in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If we abandon everything and retreat to the Dark Shadow Dimension, our n will definitely decline.¡±

    ¡°But at least we¡¯ll get to live on,¡± Dong Tengfei said sadly.

    At that moment, sharp sounds suddenly came from Dong Li¡¯s Sound Stone, which was in her inner pocket.

    Dong Baijie shuddered. ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    He knew that only Nie Tian could contact Dong Li through that Sound Stone. It must be him.

    Now that Dong Li¡¯s Sound Stone was making sounds, there was only one exnation: Nie Tian was in the vicinity!

    Dong Li¡¯s expression also flickered as she eximed, ¡°Why is he in the Realm of a Hundred Battles?!¡±

    She also knew that that special Sound Stone couldn¡¯t be used to transmit messages between realms. Now that it was making sounds, Nie Tian had to be close!

    Dong Qianqi, the nmaster of the Dong n, was taken aback. ¡°The sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! Shouldn¡¯t he be in the Realm of Split Void right now?¡±

    ¡°Ask him what¡¯s going on!¡± Dong Wangling, the patriarch of the Dong n, eximed.

    Dong Li, who was already holding the Sound Stone, thenmunicated with Nie Tian. Soon, the tips of her eyebrows rose, and joy appeared on her gorgeous face. ¡°The crisis in the Realm of me Heaven was lifted! Nie Tian is here to help us deal with the outsiders!¡±

 Chapter 618: Zhao Shanlings Stubbornness

    Through Dong Li, the Dong n members that were gathered by the teleportation portal learned what had happened in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Immediately afterward, they fell into a mor.

    ¡°The Realm of me Heaven?! Wu Ji?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe there¡¯s such a figure in a ce like the Realm of me Heaven!¡±

    ¡°He has actually mastered time power!¡±

    ¡°This master of Nie Tian¡¯s is far beyond ordinary!¡±

    The crowd of Dong n members were deeply shaken by the incredible power Wu Ji had disyed, and the fact that Wu Ji had ughtered two seventh grade outsiders by himself.

    Dong Qianqi, the nmaster, then asked, ¡°If Nie Tian possesses a puppet with middle Soul realm battle prowess, perhaps he¡¯ll be able to help us turn the situation around.¡±

    Dong Tengfei, who had been suggesting evacuation, chimed in, ¡°It seems that a favorable turn has finally appeared!¡±

    Many of the Dong n members looked at Dong Li with grateful looks in their eyes.

    ¡°You do have an eye for true talent,¡± Dong Qianqi said to Dong Li, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth. ¡°This Nie Tian person is not only the only sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but he also has Wu Ji as his master. On top of that, he¡¯s got a good heart. He must have known what he would face if he came to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, but he came anyways.¡±

    Dong Tengfei sighed with admiration and said, ¡°That young man is indeed beyond ordinary. It¡¯ll be our n¡¯s fortune if we can maintain a close rtionship with him.¡±

    Dong Li bit her lower lip as she listened to the other Dong n members praise Nie Tian. Even her eyebrows rose with joy.

    She was the reason why Nie Tian hade to the Dong n¡¯s aid. It didn¡¯t have much to do with his rtionship with the Dong n.

    She was deeply touched by the fact that Nie Tian hade to the Realm of a Hundred Battles despite all the danger and difficulty when he could have stayed safely in the Realm of me Heaven.

    With a hearty smile, Dong Qianqi turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°He seems to be rather reliable at crucial moments. If he can help us through this crisis, we¡¯ll stand by him even if he decides to go to war with the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect in the future!¡±

    Many of the Dong n members seemed rxed, knowing that Nie Tian hade to their aid with the Bone Blood Demon that possessed middle Soul realm strength.

    However, Dong Wangling, the patriarch of the Dong n, was still frowning deeply.

    He cleared his throat, and the thrilled Dong n members instantly fell silent, waiting for him to state his opinion.

    Dong Wangling then analyzed, ¡°The Water Moon Chamber of Commerce has already evacuated to the Realm of Endless Ice due to their close rtionship with the Spirit Condor. Of the forces that have stayed in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Gu n, and the Cao n each have one early Soul realm expert. Right now, we¡¯re surrounded by two seventh grade outsiders, one at the early seventh grade, and the other at the middle seventh grade.

    ¡°The Pill Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, and the Gu n are each facing one seventh grade outsider. I¡¯m not sure of their specific grade.

    ¡°If we decide to stay and fight the outsiders, we mustmunicate with the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, and the Gu n to make sure we¡¯re on the same page.

    ¡°Then, adding that puppet of Nie Tian¡¯s to our side, we might actually win this battle.

    ¡°However...¡±

    With these words, Dong Wangling suddenly fell silent. After a short pause, he continued, ¡°Once we step out of our grand spell formation to fight the outsiders to the death, we¡¯ll be facing another problem.¡±

    ¡°What problem?¡± Dong Tengfei asked with an anxious expression.

    Dong Wangling¡¯s expression grew grim as he exined, ¡°The seventh grade outsiders in the other realms might learn of our operation, and rush over unless Zhao Shanling agrees to help us seal the spatial rift that connects the Realm of a Hundred Battles and the Realm of Split Void. Only if Zhao Shanling agrees to help us will we have a chance at winning this battle.¡±

    The crowd of Dong n members gasped upon hearing these words. ¡°Zhao Shanling...¡±

    Each and every one of them had a bitter expression on their face.

    Everyone had heard of Zhao Shanling¡¯s temperament and knew that it would be very difficult to persuade him to help seal the spatial rift in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    The fact that the crisis in the Realm of me Heaven had been lifted was thanks to Wu Ji¡¯s miraculous performance in battle, as well as the fact that Zhao Shanling had eliminated the possibility for reinforcements.

    If Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t cooperate, even if the Dong n, the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect charged out of their grand spell formations at the same time to fight the outsiders with the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s assistance, their victory wouldn¡¯t be guaranteed.

    Dong Wangling took a nce at Dong Li and said, ¡°I¡¯llmunicate with the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect to inform them of Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, and see what they think of this n. You contact Nie Tian and see if he knows where Zhao Shanling is. I want to talk to him and find out what it will take for him to help us.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Dong Li nodded and did as she was bid.

    ...

    In the depths of cotton-like, thick clouds.

    Li Langfeng watched Nie Tianmunicate with Dong Li through his Sound Stone.

    After some time, Nie Tian put his Sound Stone away and said with a frown, ¡°It appears we need Zhao Shanling to help us again.¡±

    Li Langfeng asked him why, and Nie Tian told him that the Dong n was apprehensive that outsiders would send reinforcements to the Realm of me Heaven, and thus they wanted Zhao Shanling to help them seal their spatial rift, just as he had sealed the one in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Only that way would they be able to charge out of their grand spell formation with those from the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Gu n, and the Cao n and fight the outsiders to the death without scruples.

    However, Zhao Shanling had already made it very clear that his part of their deals was finished.

    It was even hard to say if Zhao Shanling was still in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go find Zhao Shanling!¡± Nie Tian said with great determination. Without the slightest hesitation, hemanded the Bone Blood Demon to turn around and head back towards Zhao Shanling¡¯s teleportation portal.

    As the Bone Blood Demon traveled through the air at full speed, hellish images once again entered Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    Face grim, Nie Tian decided that he would persuade Zhao Shanling to help him no matter the cost.

    Upon his arrival, Nie Tian saw Zhao Shanling sitting there immediately.

    Slightly relieved, he jumped off the Bone Blood Demon and stood in front of Zhao Shanling. ¡°Senior Zhao...¡±

    ¡°Why are you back?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°Umm, would you please help me seal the spatial rift that connects the Realm of a Hundred Battles and the Realm of Split Void?¡± Nie Tian asked in a soft voice.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already delivered my part of our deals. I won¡¯t help you again.¡± Zhao Shanling snorted coldly and added, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s very easy to seal a spatial rift? I¡¯ll have to consume arge amount of power to seal one.¡±

    ¡°But the patriarch of the Dong n said he wants to talk to you directly, and he¡¯s willing to pay any price, as long as you agree to help them!¡± Nie Tian said anxiously.

    ¡°The Dong n?¡± Zhao Shanling smiled, his eyes filled with disdain. ¡°Even the Dong n, the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sectbined won¡¯t have anything that¡¯ll be worth me doing this for them. They think they can interest me with some spirit stones and cultivation materials?¡±

    ¡°The people in the Realm of a Hundred Battles are already in a world of misery and suffering,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°If things don¡¯t change soon, even more will die. Would you please help us, considering that we¡¯re the same, Senior Zhao?¡±

    ¡°Are we?¡± Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°Everyone cheered when I was banished from the Domain of the Falling Stars and rotted in a remote space disruption zone. Who would feel sad if I died? My master might be the only one who did, but he¡¯s gone now...¡±

    Then, before Nie Tian could say anything, he continued, ¡°Nie Tian, you let yourself be bound by too many scruples. It¡¯s not good for you. My advice is that you should take care of yourself, and don¡¯t concern yourself with anything else. Do you know how many humans are in this endless starry river? Do you know how many die every day?

    ¡°Every time a war breaks out between different races, millions will die. Some minor races may even be wiped out from this world.

    ¡°If you spend too much time helping others, you might as well not cultivate at all.

    ¡°The reason why I was able to rise to my current cultivation base was because I cultivated wholeheartedly, and didn¡¯t concern myself with the business of others. And only in this way can you make greater achievements on this cruel cultivation path.¡±

    Nie Tian had wanted to persuade Zhao Shanling, but he ended up receiving a lesson from Zhao Shanling instead.

    From the look of it, he didn¡¯t even care what the Dong n had to offer, and he didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of saving the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Nie Tian finally gritted his teeth and roared, ¡°Senior! If you don¡¯t agree to help us, I¡¯ll go help them myself! If I get killed by the outsiders, you can forget about the deals we¡¯ve made! All that you¡¯ve done will be in vain! And you¡¯ll have to wait till you enter the Void domain to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face split into a grin. ¡°Are you threatening me with your life? You¡¯re still too green, Nie Tian. Do you think I¡¯ll let you die? Why do you think I haven¡¯t left the Realm of a Hundred Battles? You can try if you like, but rest assured. I¡¯ll take you out of the battlefield before you die.

    ¡°I never make losing deals. Even if you want to seek death, you¡¯ll have to do it after you deliver your part of our deals!¡±

    Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    Zhao Shanling, however, took his time to continue, ¡°Also, if you kill yourself, I¡¯ll return to the Realm of me Heaven and kill every one of your family and friends. You¡¯d better think very carefully.¡±

    Nie Tian waspletely bbergasted.

    Gazing at Zhao Shanling, who couldn¡¯t be swayed in the slightest, he was at his wit¡¯s end.

    ¡°On what condition will you agree to help us, Senior?! You name it!¡± Nie Tian bellowed.

    ¡°You can have my senior martial brother kneel before me, say that he was wrong and I was right, and make me the sectmaster of the Tool Sect,¡± Zhao Shanling said.

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian went nk. ¡°What I¡¯m asking has nothing to do with the Tool Sect. How do you expect me to be able to persuade him to do that?¡±

    With a cunningugh, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°It has nothing to do with the Tool Sect? You¡¯re a fool indeed! If I help you seal the spatial rift in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Dong n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, the Gu n, and your Bone Blood Demon will be enough to kill all of the seventh grade outsiders that have invaded the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°Your master has already killed two seventh grade outsiders. If you manage to kill the seventh grade outsiders here, the outsiders¡¯ overall strength will suffer a serious setback.

    ¡°Dong Wangling and the other three are all at the Soul realm. If they can finish the outsiders here, then they¡¯ll be able to go help those in the other realms.

    ¡°That way, they won¡¯t even need to wait for the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect to enter the Void domain to lift the crisis in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°My decision will determine the destiny of the Domain of the Falling Stars. So you tell me if it¡¯s worth it for Qi Bailu to kneel before me and admit that he was wrong?¡±

 Chapter 619: Zhao Shanling Getting His Way

    After a moment of pondering, as much as he didn¡¯t want to admit it, Nie Tian felt that Zhao Shanling¡¯s words made sense.

    If they could kill the seventh grade outsiders that were currently in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, then adding the two his master had killed in the Realm of me Heaven, they would have killed seven seventh grade outsiders in total.

    After they were finished, the four Soul realm experts of the Realm of a Hundred Battles would be able to go help defend the Tool Sect, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the other major sects.

    The humans¡¯ overall strength would outmatch the outsiders¡¯.

    By that time, the outsider invaders would face a joint attack by human experts. They might not even get to return to their own realms alive.

    If that happened, Zhao Shanling would have saved the Domain of the Falling Stars from this cmity.

    What he wanted in return was for Qi Bailu to kneel, admit that he was wrong, and give up the position of the sectmaster of the Tool Sect.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that what Zhao Shanling was asking was immoral, but considering the bigger picture, it would probably achieve good results.

    The question was: would Qi Bailu set his dignity aside for the Domain of the Falling Stars?

    ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to talk to the sectmaster of the Tool Sect,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning.

    Zhao Shanling let out a cold snort. ¡°Of course you won¡¯t, but you can tell the Dong n about my stance and have them talk to my senior martial brother.¡±

    ¡°Senior Zhao, did you know from the beginning that you had the ability to end this cmity for the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanlingughed but didn¡¯t say a word.

    Looking at Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression, Nie Tian had an increasingly strong feeling that he had known how things would develop from the very beginning, and that he would be the one to determine the fate of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He even started to suspect that this person was actually capable of sealing those six spatial rifts...

    Perhaps he only didn¡¯t do it because the outsiders¡¯ invasion suited his needs.

    However, was all he wanted really just for Qi Bailu to admit that he was wrong and hand over the position of the sectmaster of the Tool Sect?

    Was that worth being spit on for ignoring the lives of millions for thousands of years?

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t find the answer.

    The way he saw it, Zhao Shanling was a maniac, whose way of thinking couldn¡¯t be understood by normal people.

    He pondered the matter for some time with aplicated expression. Eventually, he decided to go talk to the Dong n, and get their opinion about Zhao Shanling¡¯s demand.

    Then, he took out his Sound Stone.

    In the Dong n...

    Everyone had their eyes on Dong Li as they waited for word from Nie Tian.

    The moment her Sound Stone rang, the Dong n members¡¯ eyes lit up. They even started to breathe heavily.

    Soon, Dong Li lowered her Sound Stone with a deep frown on her charming face.

    ¡°How did it go?¡± Dong Qianqi couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    ¡°That maniac didn¡¯t show the slightest interest in what we have to give him,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°He demands only one thing, which is for Qi Bailu, the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, to kneel before him, admit his mistakes, and hand over the position of sectmaster of the Tool Sect.¡±

    ¡°What does Qi Bailu have to do with what we¡¯ve asked of him?¡± Dong Tengfei asked furiously.

    ¡°A lot, actually.¡± Dong Wangling seemed to have seen through Zhao Shanling¡¯s logic. ¡°Once we¡¯ve killed all the seventh grade outsiders in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the four of our Soul realm experts will be free to join the battles against the outsiders in the other realms. We¡¯ll be able to overwhelm them with our superior numbers on the other battlefields.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the other Dong n members were suddenly enlightened.

    Dong Tengfei¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°So that means if we can win our battle in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the cmity that the entire Domain of the Falling Stars is suffering from wille to an end soon? Not only that, but we¡¯ll also teach the outsider invaders a good lesson! Perhaps even for a thousand years after this war, they won¡¯t even think of invading us again!¡±

    Dong Wangling took a deep breath and said with determination in his voice, ¡°This n seems to be feasible! We need to teach these outsiders a lesson and make them remember what will happen to them if they dare to invade us!

    ¡°Is it possible that this is what Zhao Shanling actually wants? That he¡¯s been waiting because he wants the outsiders to suffer aplete defeat so that we can avoid future trouble?¡±

    Dong Tengfei snorted disdainfully and said, ¡°He¡¯d never be that kind! The way I see it, he only did it to have Qi Bailu apologize to him and admit that he was right in front of everyone. To achieve that goal, he can even sit back and watch people from different realms be massacred. He cares about no one but himself. The lives or deaths of others don¡¯t concern him at all.¡±

    Dong Wangling shook his head and sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t see through that person...¡± Then, he turned to Dong Qianqi and said, ¡°The Tool Sect probably still has their teleportation portal. Why don¡¯t you make a trip there and see if Qi Bailu is willing to set aside his dignity and morals for the time being to save us from this cmity?¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± With these words, the nmaster of the Dong n set out.

    ...

    In the Tool Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Evil spirits were screaming madly as they threw themselves into the Tool Sect¡¯s grand spell formation. Multi-colored miasma was corroding the grand ward of mes, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    Qi Bailu was standing among Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi, Wu Langxie, and many Tool Sect elders.

    Each and every one of them looked very grim, as they were suffering from the same situation as the Dong n.

    They had sent their juniors into small arcane realms. Now, they were hesitant over whether they should abandon the Realm of Unbounded Destion and evacuate to those realms as well.

    ¡°What should we do, sectmaster?¡± One of the sect elders asked with a bitter expression. ¡°We¡¯ve connected the fiery realms we own to our grand spell formation. The only reason the grand spell formation has held this long is because it¡¯s draining earthme essence from those realms. If we don¡¯t act soon, the me power in those fiery realms will be weaker and weaker.

    ¡°If we evacuate toote, we might even have no me power to use after moving to those realms.

    ¡°Most of our disciples practice fire incantations. If we drain those realms of their me power, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    Qi Bailu sighed, looking down. ¡°If we leave, we¡¯ll have cut our connections with the Realm of Unbounded Destionpletely. And we¡¯ll have to destroy all of the teleportation portals that lead to those fiery realms we own. If we do that, we¡¯re throwing everything we have away. I¡¯ve only waited this long because I hoped the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect would enter the Void domain and turn the situation around.¡±

    One of the sect elders smiled bitterly and said, ¡°That¡¯s far too difficult. It¡¯s hard to say when he¡¯ll be able to enter the Void domain. Actually, he might not even seed at all.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At that moment, intense spatial fluctuations came from the teleportation portal not far from the crowd.

    In the next moment, Dong Qianqi walked out of it.

    He stepped directly towards Qi Bailu, bowed respectfully, and said, ¡°Sectmaster Qi, I have a piece of information that may save the Domain of the Falling Stars from this cmity.¡±

    Qi Bailu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I¡¯m all ears!¡±

    However, Dong Qianqi grew hesitant. He looked down to avoid eye contact with Qi Bailu as he said, ¡°Zhao Shanling said that if you can...¡± He went on and exined everything.

    One of the elders burst into a ming rage. ¡°That traitor actually dares to use this to threaten sectmaster!¡±

    Every single Tool Sect elder then showed their strong disdain towards Zhao Shanling. Theypeted to use Zhao Shanling of his despicable deeds, as if they would never agree to his outrageous proposal.

    ¡°He got countless innocents killed, including ourte sectmaster. That was clearly his fault! How does he dare to demand that we admit that it was our fault!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he afraid that he¡¯ll be spit on by people for distorting the truth so deliberately?¡±

    ¡°If he has the ability to stop this cmity, why didn¡¯t he do something?¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster! Don¡¯t listen to him! The Tool Sect can¡¯t be given to someone like him!¡±

    ¡°Not so long ago, he associated himself with the me God and spilled innocent blood in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Such a person doesn¡¯t deserve to be the sectmaster of the Tool Sect!¡±

    Dong Qianqi stood in silence, knowing that Zhao Shanling¡¯s demand was very unreasonable.

    Qi Bailu was the only one who seemed to be pondering Zhao Shanling¡¯s proposal with aplicated look on his face.

    After a long while, Qi Bailu lifted his buried head and said with a grim face, ¡°Tell him that I¡¯ll kneel before him, admit that I was wrong, and make him the sectmaster of the Tool Sect after he helps the Domain of the Falling Stars through this cmity.¡±

    Dong Qianqi¡¯s expression flickered.

    Upon hearing these words, all of the Tool Sect elders advised against it in loud voices.

    Even Zhen Hun chimed in, ¡°You don¡¯t need to agree to such terms.¡±

    ¡°Enough,¡± Qi Bailu said, waving his hand with determination. ¡°That¡¯s my decision, and my decision is final!¡±

    Dong Qianqi sighed inwardly before saying, ¡°Every sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars will remember what you¡¯ve done to save the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With great respect, he once again bowed towards Qi Bailu, and then walked away.

    As he entered the teleportation portal, he could still hear the elders cursing Zhao Shanling furiously, but he didn¡¯t turn his head to look.

    Soon, he returned to the Dong n and exined Qi Bailu¡¯s attitude to everyone.

    Dong Wangling sighed deeply. ¡°Zhao Shanling has torn what Sectmaster Qi has held dear his whole life, his dignity and his notion of right and wrong, to shreds. But since that maniac threatened him with the fate of the Domain of the Falling Stars, what choice does he have? After all, he¡¯s not like Zhao Shanling. He can¡¯t abandon the Tool Sect and the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Immediately afterward, Dong Li took out her Sound Stone and contacted Nie Tian.

    After receiving her message, Nie Tian looked at Zhao Shanling, who had sat with his eyes closed after making his demand, and said, ¡°Senior Zhao, Sectmaster Qi has agreed to your terms. He will kneel before you, apologize, and give up the position of sectmaster after this cmity is over.¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes snapped open and shone with a light that made Nie Tian nervous.

    Then, he burst into a wildugh.

    Hisughter shook heaven and earth. Even the space around him seemed to be trembling.

    As an iparably terrifying aura rapidly built up within him, fine spatial des shed across the depths of his eyes, as if new space nodes were connecting intos.

    ¡°Hahaha! What¡¯s moral and what¡¯s immoral? I can determine it all!¡±

    ¡°Whatever I say is right will be right! If you don¡¯t agree, then I¡¯ll make you agree!¡±

    At this moment, it seemed that a shackle that had been chaining Zhao Shanling for years was suddenly broken.

    All this was because Qi Bailu had agreed to lower his head towards him and give him what he wanted.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally shattered the emotional knot that has been weighing on my mind for years. Thanks to this, my cultivation base shall advance to the middle Soul realm!¡±

    With a casual wave of his hand, a spatial rift appeared in front of him. Nie Tian, Li Langfeng, and the Bone Blood Demon were suddenly pulled into it by an unknown force.

    In the next moment, they appeared in the air above the Dong n.

 Chapter 620: Demon Ancestral Awakening

    A spatial rift split open high above the Dong n.

    As Zhao Shanling looked down, numerous fine spatial des swam in the depths of his eyes like a shoal of glowing fish.

    On the ground, arge number of outsiders looked up at them, their faces filled with confusion.

    The Dong n members also looked up at them through the translucent and sparkling ward, their expressions flickering with excitement.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to seal the spatial rift that leads to the Realm of Split Void first, Senior Zhao?¡± Nie Tian asked urgently.

    He had a feeling that Zhao Shanling had made a breakthrough in his cultivation after he was freed from his long-standing emotional knot.

    It seemed that his cultivation base had already entered the middle Soul realm, though he might still need some time to stabilize it.

    Zhao Shanlingughed wildly and said, ¡°I sealed that spatial rift soon after you left for the Realm of a Hundred Battles!¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Y-you knew that things would develop this way?! And you were certain that your senior martial brother would agree to bend his knees?!¡±

    Zhao Shanlingughed as he summoned his Death Reign, not saying a word.

    In the next moment, a cluster of white mist flew out of Zhao Shanling¡¯s ring of holding. It rapidly expanded, enveloping arge part of the Dong n.

    An aura of death quickly built up from the heart of the white mist and spread to every corner of it.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± A Phantasm expert who was manipting thousands of evil spirits with the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows shouted into the sky in fluent humannguage.

    As soon as he uttered these words, thousands of evil spirits that were clinging to the grand ward that was protecting the Dong n suddenly started to converge on one point.

    In merely three seconds, all of the evil spirits came together and formed a gigantic spiritual monster that was about three hundred meters tall.

    The enormous spiritual monster that had thousands of evil spirits surging within it had giant horns growing out of its forehead. Many evil spirits could be seen flying in and out of its eyes and nose, giving it a very terrifying look.

    Zhao Shanlingughed wildly. ¡°Who am I? I¡¯m the one who is going to destroy your invasion and make you realize all that you¡¯ve done is merely a joke.¡±

    Fizzing sounds came from the depths of the white mist before a huge de of fluctuating spatial power suddenly shot out of it.

    The heaven and earth enveloped by the Death Reign was instantly filled with dazzling light that hurt the onlookers¡¯ eyes and made them water.

    The de, which was nearly a thousand meters long, seemed like the divine weapon of an ancient god of space.

    Exuding a terrifying spatial aura, the enormous de shed down from midair, as if to cut the entire Realm of a Hundred Battles in half.

    The sinister, three hundred-meter-tall spiritual monster was instantly split in half like a piece of tofu.

    Wisps of spatial power few out of the enormous de, finding and vaporizing the evil spirits that scattered from the destroyed giant monster.

    In the meantime, numerous slender spatial rifts appeared in the sky over the area, making the sky look like a giant, cracked mirror. Each and every crack seemed to lead to a space disruption zone that was deadly silent.

    Many of the evil spirits that weren¡¯t vaporized were sucked into the spatial rifts, like streaks of light, and vanished forever.

    The face of the middle seventh grade Phantasm expert, who was as powerful as a middle Soul realm human expert, suddenly turned pale with fright.

    In such a short time, he had lost about one-fifth of his evil spirits.

    HOWL!

    At that moment, a bulky seventh grade Demon howled as he made a grabbing motion in the air.

    Then, the ink-ck Demon Qi around him rapidly morphed into two ck dragons.

    PUFF!

    The Demon expert sprayed out a mouthful of Blood Essence, which contained his profound bloodline power, on the two ck dragons.

    The two ck dragons were originally in an illusory state, but after receiving the Blood Essence, they seemed to instantly enter a physical form.

    They were covered in pitch-ck scales, each of which reflected an ice-cold metallic luster. Their anchor-like ws seemed to be sharp enough to split open the heavens. Their ck eyes were also brimming with an intense thirst for blood. Baring their fangs and ws, they flew directly towards Zhao Shanling.

    Standing on the shoulder of the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian pointed at the ck dragons and shouted, ¡°Go!¡±

    In the next moment, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s grayish-green eyes suddenly burst into two clusters of ghostly, green me.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Its fleshless joints made cracking sounds as it pierced its de-sharp, bony hand towards one of the giant, ck dragons.

    As the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s sharp fingers pierced into the dragon¡¯s belly, beams of ck light shot out from its wounds.

    However, the ck light then morphed into wisps of ck smoke that were devoured by the ck dragon.

    The seventh grade Demon expert gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Dragon Coil!¡±

    The two ck dragons instantly flew away from the Bone Blood Demon. They coiled around each other, unleashing raging Demon Qi, as they begun flying towards Zhao Shanling.

    ¡°Have a death wish, do you?¡± Zhao Shanlingughed disdainfully as he summoned his Death Reign.

    In a split second, the white mist engulfed the iing dragons like a mouth that could devour heaven and earth.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the two demon dragons seemed to return to their illusory form again as soon as they were enveloped by the Death Reign.

    Dong Wangling, the Dong n patriarch, let out an explosive roar as he bolted up into the sky. ¡°Our domain isn¡¯t some rangnd where you cane and go as you want!¡±

    He shot through the grand protective ward towards the Demon expert without meeting any resistance.

    WHOOSH!

    A giant, red ape gradually emerged over his head. Even its hairs could be seen with great rity.

    Like a sh of lightning, Dong Wangling entered the giant ape¡¯s chest before it let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar.

    As the giant red apended, a few Demons and ckscales were reduced to a bloody mess.

    Eyes brimming with intense killing intent, the giant ape leaped towards the Demon expert like an erupting volcano.

    The seventh grade Demon expert¡¯s expression flickered as he saw the giant apeing at him with mountain-toppling, sea-turning force.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Ancestral Awakening!¡± The well-built, handsome Demon expert bellowed. The Blood Essence in his heart seemed to be burning at an rming speed.

    Originally, it was only slightlyrger than a regr human. However, at this point, as his blood surged within him, crackling sounds came from his body. Like an inting balloon, he rapidly expanded.

    In merely five seconds, he turned into a huge monster that was about three hundred meters tall!

    This seemed to be the original form of the Demon ancestors. It had sharp bones sticking out of its spine and numerous small holes around its waist, through which it was releasing raging Demon Qi.

    As its aura built up, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was gradually turned into ink-ck Demon Qi.

    Countless streaks of ck light were swirling in the depths of the giant monster¡¯s pitch-ck eyes, which were now fixed on Dong Wangling¡¯s huge, red ape. Soon, the ck lights condensed into ck mes.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    As the huge monster stepped forwards, the earth trembled violently.

    Many low-grade outsiders fell over, while some even puked blood from the shock waves.

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°Ancestral Awakening!¡±

    He then remembered what his learned master had taught him about the Demons.

    ording to his master, high-tier Demons had all been developed from low-tier Demons.

    At the very beginning, the Demon ancestors had been asrge as mountains.

    However, as their bloodlines were carried on through generations, hybrids were born. Gradually, the purity of their ancestral bloodline grew lower and lower, and they grew smaller and smaller in size.

    However, the high-tier Demons gradually developed a special bloodline talent: Ancestral Awakening.

    That meant the high-tier Demons would be able to enter their ancestor¡¯s form by relying on the marks their ancestors had left in their bloodline.

    Under this form, the Demons possessed might capable of destroying the heavens and extinguishing the earth.

    More importantly, they would have an incredible self-healing ability in this form.

    The transformed Demon, which seemed to Nie Tian to only be at the early seventh grade, quickly entered a fierce fight with the giant, red ape.

    Even though the giant ape tore pieces of flesh off the transformed Demon, those wounds healed at an incredible rate.

    ¡°The Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form!¡± A ckscale shouted, gazing at the transformed seventh grade Demon with nothing but awe in his eyes.

    Judging from his grade, the Demon expert¡¯s battle prowess should be equal to that of an early Soul realm human expert. However, after his transformation, he gained a noticeable upper hand in his battle against Dong Wangling, who was at the middle Soul realm.

    Even though Dong Wangling had be one with his giant red ape, it didn¡¯t possess the ability to heal itself.

    Dong Wangling¡¯s faint, pained groans could be heard from within the huge, red ape as it took heavy blows from the transformed Demon.

    Zhao Shanling, on the other hand, was at an advantage in his battle against the middle seventh grade Phantasm, by relying on his profound mastery of spatial magics.

    After observing for some time, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to join Dong Wangling in fighting the transformed Demon. ¡°Go, kill him!¡±

    Blood surged like tides within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones as it bolted towards the gigantic Demon like a huge drill made of bone.

    As it did, emerald green light could be seen flickering in the depths of its grayish-green eyes.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found to his surprise that the Bone Blood Demon suddenly split into numerous bone spears that filled the sky.

    Nie Tian and Li Langfeng were both forced to jump off andnded among the other outsiders.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    One sharp bone spear after another pierced into the enormous Demon.

    In great pain, it threw his head back and let out an angry roar. Simultaneously, clusters of ck mes flew out of his waist.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had just made a dangerous move, Dong Li called out at the top of her lungs, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    After all, the Bone Blood Demon was only a puppet. It wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to remember to protect its master at all times. Dong Qianqi¡¯s expression flickered as he shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s go kill these outsider invaders outside the spell formation! And tell the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect to do the same!¡±

 Chapter 621: Tangled Battles

    In the Pill Pavilion Sect.

    A handful of people were sitting at arge stone table on the top floor of a bluestone tower.

    They were all at the Worldly realm or higher.

    Among them, Qian Buhui from the Pill Pavilion Sect, Cao Mou from the Cao n, and Gu Yuan from the Gu n were at the early Soul realm.

    Soon after receiving word of Nie Tian¡¯s appearance, they had gathered to this location via their respective teleportation portals.

    They had been waiting for word of Qi Bailu¡¯s attitude towards Zhao Shanling¡¯s demand and thetest news of the situation in the Dong n.

    Originally, the three of them had hesitated over whether they should abandon the Realm of a Hundred Battles, move to their arcane realms, and cut off their connections with the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, after learning of Nie Tian¡¯s arrival with his Bone Blood Demon, and that Zhao Shanling had the ability to seal the spatial rift, the idea of staying and fighting to the end reentered their minds.

    At this moment, none of them were making a sound, as they were waiting anxiously for thetest news from the Dong n.

    The tips of Qian Buhui¡¯s eyebrows rose as he sprang to his feet and eximed, ¡°Zhao Shanling has joined the battle! Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm members,e with me to the Dong n!¡±

    A bright light shed across Gu Yuan¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Even though the outsiders can still travel within our realm after their route of retreat is cut off, the low-grade ones won¡¯t be able to travel between locations very efficiently. Perhaps only the three seventh grade outsiders possess such an ability.

    ¡°We, on the other hand, can teleport to the Dong n within a split second through our teleportation portals!

    ¡°The Dong n will be where we defeat the outsider invaders!¡±

    Immediately after hearing these words, numerous Qi warriors from the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, and the Gu n, who had been waiting in this ce, started taking turns to enter the teleportation portal.

    ...

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streaks of bright light shot out from within the translucent and sparkling ward that protected the Dong n, each of which was a Dong n member.

    Dong Qianqi, Dong Tengfei, and many other Dong n elders flew out of the grand spell formation and rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s location at the first moment.

    Since the Bone Blood Demon was going all-out to fight that Demon, who had awakened his ancestor¡¯s bloodline, Nie Tian and Li Langfeng were forced tond among the outsiders.

    Uponnding, he heard a few fourth grade outsiders shout, ¡°He¡¯s that Son of the Stars!¡±

    Apparently, they had been on that ind and thus recognized Nie Tian at first nce.

    As soon as they heard that Nie Tian was a Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, powerful outsiders in the vicinity ended their respective battles and made him their main target.

    In the blink of an eye, numerous fifth and sixth grade outsiders started converging on Nie Tian and Li Langfeng.

    Without the time to think, Nie Tian summoned his seventy-two tree branches, forming a Wood Thriving Formation at the first possible moment.

    Fifth and sixth grade outsiders were roughly as powerful as Worldly realm and Profound realm human Qi warriors, and they wereing after him inrge numbers. No matter how confident Nie Tian was, he knew that he wasn¡¯t going to beat them single-handedly.

    He would have to rely on the mysterious Wood Thriving Formation, which he had acquired from the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd.

    The Dong n was surrounded by thick forests, so there were copious amounts of wood power he could use.

    As soon as the Wood Thriving Formation came to form, a dark-green ward enveloped him and Li Langfeng.

    Numerous unfathomable tree patterns started swimming around in the ward and madly channeling wood power from its surroundings.

    A sixth grade Stoneman that was short and bulky eximed, ¡°That¡¯s the spell formation the Floragrims used to protect their ancestralnd!¡±

    Immediately afterward, heunched his bloodline magic. Rocks that were the size of tables started rising from the earth as if they were no longer bound by gravity.

    Soon, there were hundreds of rocks of that size floating in the air.

    At first nce, it looked as if a forest of rocks of different shapes had appeared above the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Each and every rock was spinning at an increasingly high speed.

    Momentster, the rocks suddenly fell from the air simultaneously.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As they fell on the dark-green ward, the ward flickered at the violent blows. One after another, the mysterious tree patterns rapidly returned to the tree branches.

    To defend against the sixth grade Stoneman¡¯s intense attack, the Wood Thriving Formation drained the wood power within a twenty-kilometer radius in a split second.

    Many trees and nts even exploded upon the sudden dissociation of power.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily summoned and put on the me Dragon Armor.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    In the next moment, the Wood Thriving Formation shattered, and the numerous stones crashed around Nie Tian, causing him to wobble.

    Then, the outsiders in the vicinity all charged towards Nie Tian with their bloodthirsty eyes fixed on him.

    Dong Qianqi, the nmaster of the Dong n, rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s side the moment his Wood Thriving Formation went down. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare! Thunderbird!¡±

    As he eximed these words, a giant bird that shone with silver light flew into Nie Tian¡¯s sight. With violent ps of its wings, it sent out numerous silver lightning bolts in all directions, stopping the iing outsiders froming any closer.

    Tiny lightning bolts wreathed Dong Qianqi¡¯s fingers as he cast numerous glowing thunderballs out of his cuffs.

    In the next moment, as loud rumbles that shook thend and rocked the mountains echoed out around Dong Qianqi, a few fourth and fifth grade ckscales and Stonemen were hit by the thunderballs and instantly exploded. Parts of them evennded close to Nie Tian.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One Dong n member after anothernded by Nie Tian¡¯s side, and then summoned their respective beast spirits.

    Hissing pythons, furious rhinoceroses, swift foxes, and many other beast spirits of various kinds appeared over their heads.

    Dong Baijie¡¯s gray wolf and Dong Li¡¯s ck phoenix were among them.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    At that moment, more figures shot out of the Dong n like streaks of bright light.

    The first three were wreathed by mountain-toppling, sea-turning auras. Clearly, they were Soul realm experts.

    ¡°The Cao n! The Gu n! The Pill Pavilion Sect!¡± Dong Li eximed with a thrilled expression. ¡°Perhaps the cmity of the Domain of the Falling Stars is turning around in our realm!¡±

    As soon as the three early Soul realm experts arrived, they split up to join the battles against the seventh grade Demon and Phantasm.

    Nie Tian looked up and saw Qian Buhui from the Pill Pavilion Sect spit out a golden pill.

    The golden pill blossomed with dazzling golden light. Each beam of golden light was like a sharp sword, as they riddled the transformed Demon with bloody holes, making him howl with pain.

    Gu Yuan from the Gu n was standing on a floating yellow river. Streams of water left the yellow river and flew towards the Phantasm expert.

    As soon as the evil spirits hovering around the Phantasm expert were touched by the water, they vanished, as if they had been channeled to the depths of the yellow river, where they were smothered.

    CRACKLE!

    However, what bbergasted him the most was the Bone Blood Demon.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones once again came together, and in a few seconds, it returned to its original form.

    Blood could be seen on each of its bones, which seemed to be from the outsiders its bones had just pierced through.

    At this moment, the blood seemed to be rapidly seeping into its bones, strengthening its aura.

    Gasping with astonishment, Nie Tian suddenly remembered Meng Qing, who he had seen in the Bone Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Back then, Meng Qing had manipted a mountain of bones, which had a simr function. It could split into bones and alsoe together into its original form.

    It was said that the incantations the Bone Sect practiced had extensive connections to the Bonebrutes that had once lived in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    This made Nie Tian suspect that it was a unique bloodline talent of the Bonebrutes.

    Only a fleshly race like the Bonebrutes would be able to transform this way, and turn their bodies into weapons like this.

    With a very concerned look on his face, Dong Tengfei eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! You don¡¯t have to take part in this battle! You just make sure of your own safety and the proper functioning of your puppet! You¡¯ve done enough for the Dong n and the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be our n¡¯s most respected guest from now on, no matter what!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes were brimming with affection as she said softly, ¡°I¡¯m so happy you came.¡±

    At that moment, Dong Baijie smiled heartily and said to Dong Tengfei, ¡°Nie Tian is not a guest. He¡¯s one of our own.¡±

    Dong Tengfei went nk briefly, and then he burst intoughter. He nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s one of our own.¡±

    He gazed at Nie Tian as if he were looking at a son-inw who he liked a great deal.

    At that moment, Ye Qin, Cao Qiushui, and Qian Xin appeared within the Dong n¡¯s grand spell formation. They all waved at Nie Tian upon seeing him.

    They were eager to charge out of the ward to join the battle. However, their elders stopped them and told him not to step out of the protective ward.

    Dong Qianqi¡¯s expression flickered as he stared into the distance. ¡°The other three seventh grade outsider experts are here!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian looked up and saw three outsiders in the distance. They were roaring angrily as they sped through the air, stirring the sea of clouds in the distant sky.

 Chapter 622: Turning the Situation Around

    Since the Realm of a Hundred Battles was rather vast, most of the outsiders didn¡¯t possess the ability to travel across it within a short time.

    However, members of the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavillion Sect had managed to arrive in the Dong n in the blink of an eye through their teleportation portals.

    Upon hearing of the sudden change in the situation at the Dong n, the three seventh grade outsider experts who had originally been attacking the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect had converged on the Dong n at full speed.

    At this moment, Nie Tian gazed into the distant sky and saw that three streaks of light wereing towards them.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, each outsider expert was wreathed in incredibly profound flesh power.

    The grand spell formation was still protecting the Dong n. Members with low cultivation bases were ordered to stay behind it.

    Qian Xin, Cao Qiushui, and Qin Yan were among them.

    Nie Tian quickly refocused on the battles between Soul realm experts and the seventh grade outsiders.

    Soon, he came to notice that, due to the arrival of Qian Buhui, Gu Yuan, and Cao Mo, the two seventh grade outsiders suffered serious injuries within a short time.

    The seventh grade Demon, who was as huge as a mountain after unleashing his Ancestral Awakening, was now wreathed in clusters of ck mes and slithering, ck lightning bolts.

    However, under the storm of attacks from Dong Wangling¡¯s giant, red ape, Qian Buhui¡¯s golden pill, and the Bone Blood Demon, the speed at which he healed himself started to fall behind the speed at which he sustained injuries.

    Within moments, his mountain-like body was covered in deep wounds. Many of the sharp bones that protruded from his spine were snapped.

    The Demon roared angrily as ck mes shot out of its zing ck eyes, engulfing heaven and earth around him. Even Dong Wangling¡¯s giant ape cowered slightly after being engulfed by the ck mes.

    However, as an outsider, the Bone Blood Demon didn¡¯t seem to fear the ck mes in the slightest. It repeatedly shed the Demon with itsrge, de-sharp hands, leaving deep, bone-revealing gashes.

    Nie Tian thenid his eyes on the seventh grade Phantasm.

    The Phantasm expert was at the middle seventh grade. Normally speaking, he should have been stronger than Zhao Shanling.

    However, Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign was unfathomably powerful, as if it connected the space they were in with some remote space disruption zone. Once evil spirits were sucked into it, they were nowhere to be found again.

    Meanwhile, the enormous de Zhao Shanling had formed with a profound spatial magic seemed to be sharp enough to split heaven and earth, which was giving the Phantasm a strong headache.

    However, Zhao Shanling seemed to be constantly traveling back and forth between different spaces, which made it impossible for the Phantasm expert to catch him. Now that Cao Mou and Gu Yuan had joined the battle, the Phantasm expert suffered a series of heavy blows and was now at an obvious disadvantage.

    Since the other three seventh grade outsiders hadn¡¯t yet joined the battle, the human experts were now dominating the outsiders.

    In other areas, members of the Dong n, the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect were also at an advantage in their battles against fifth and sixth grade outsiders.

    At this moment, more fifth and sixth grade outsiders were still gathered around the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Gu n, and the Cao n. Even if they started marching towards the Dong n right away, they probably wouldn¡¯t make it before the battle ended.

    ¡°It seems that the crisis in the Realm of a Hundred Battles can finallye to an end.¡± Nie Tian muttered, finally rxing his strained mind.

    Even though Dong Li and Dong Baijie had both summoned their beast spirits, instead of joining the battle, they stood by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    After all, with numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm members from the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect here, they weren¡¯t needed so much in the battle.

    The brother-sister pair and Li Langfeng just stood by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    After all, they needed Nie Tian to be safe for the Bone Blood Demon, which possessed Soul realm battle prowess, to y an important role in their battle against the outsider experts.

    Dong Baijie took a deep breath and said with a tone that was both excited and slightly disappointed, ¡°It seems that our participation in this battle is no longer necessary. But someday, we¡¯ll take their ce, and became the main force to defend the Domain of the Falling Stars against outsider invaders. I hope we can do as good a job as they¡¯re doing now.¡±

    ¡°Of course you will, brother,¡± Dong Li said with an encouraging look in her eyes.

    Dong Baijie smiled heartily.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the Dong n members or the members of the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Cao n, and the Gu n, who had joined the battleter; they all knew how important Nie Tian was, and thus secretly kept an eye on him while fighting the outsiders.

    At this moment, it suddenly urred to Nie Tian that his master had told him that there was a star map within the Spirit Pearl.

    A star map that marked a remote ce of numerous realms.

    It was just that it would need arge number of spirits for the star map to light up.

    ¡°Spirits...¡± He pondered briefly, then secretly summoned the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearlnded in his palm, a mysterious maic field was born around it and started spreading at an rming rate.

    The expressions of Dong Li, Dong Baijie, and Li Langfeng, who were standing beside him, all flickered.

    Nie Tian noticed the changes on their faces, and thus asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    With wide eyes, Li Langfeng said, ¡°Nie Tian, this pearl of yours seems to have the ability to channel spirits and souls from its surroundings. Even my soul was a bit stirred and wanted to leave my body the moment you took it out.¡±

    ¡°This is...¡± Dong Li went nk briefly before suddenly realizing that it was none other than the mysterious pearl Nie Tian had obtained from the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Back when they had traveled in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, she had sensed the Spirit Pearl channeling discarnate souls of the newly dead from heaven and earth.

    While she was carried away by her thoughts, Li Langfeng¡¯s expression flickered again, and he closed his eyes.

    After a few seconds, his eyes snapped open again.

    With his Worldly realm soul awareness, he noticed that single discarnate souls within a twenty-kilometer radius were converging on the pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand from every direction.

    Among them were discarnate souls of the newly killed outsiders, as well as those of humans.

    The pearl then started to glow with a faint, cyan light. Like a mysterious ck hole, it continued to channel wisps of discarnate souls from its surroundings.

    Since Dong Baijie, Dong Li, and Li Langfeng were all his close friends, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel the need to hide the truth from them. With a smile, he said, ¡°This thing is called a Spirit Pearl. I got it from a Phantasm¡¯s ancient starship in the Realm of Dark Underworld. Inside of it, there¡¯s a star map. In order for the star map to show itself, it needs to absorb discarnate souls and spirits. Now is the perfect time to do that.¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°It¡¯s an item from the Phantasms!¡±

    Then, after another close examination, he discovered that even the discarnate souls gathered around the seventh grade Phantasm started converging on the pearl after being scattered by Zhao Shanling and Gu Yuan.

    Even the beast spirits of the Dong n members seemed to be affected.

    As Nie Tian sent a wisp of his awareness into the Spirit Pearl, he could vaguely see that there was now arge number of glowing spots floating inside the pearl, lighting up its originally dim inner space.

    It seemed as if each of the glowing spots represented a remote realm.

    That was when he knew that his master was right. As the Spirit Pearl was infused with more and more discarnate souls, the star map would be clearer and clearer.

    Furthermore, he remembered that the Spirit Pearl had another wonderful use.

    He could take it to the magical heaven and earth where the titans were buried, and refine the souls and spirits within it with the grand spell formation formed by the enormous me dragon skeletons.

    Through refinement, all of the discarnate souls and evil spirits would be purged of their impurities, grudges, and other negative emotions.

    After that process, nothing but pure soul power would remain. Then, he could absorb it, and the nine fragmentary stars in his soul would get to expand upon gaining more power.

    Right now, he was at thete Greater Heaven stage, only one step away from entering the Worldly realm.

    Once he entered the Worldly realm, his soul would undergoplete changes.

    His psychic power would transform into soul power. Perhaps the nine fragmentary stars would also undergo new changes.

    If he could gather a copious amount of soul power before that, when he broke through into the Worldly realm, the transformation of his soul would be much easier, and he would have soul power to use immediately after the breakthrough.

    Within these thoughts in mind, he let go of himself and allowed the Spirit Pearl to absorb as many discarnate souls as it could.

    After a moment of silent pondering, Li Langfeng said, ¡°All living beings possess spirits. It¡¯s true of humans, outsiders, and spirit beasts. However, once they die, their souls will quickly vanish into heaven and earth. Only extremely powerful Phantasms or human experts who are very skilled in soul magics can stop their souls from scattering after their fleshly bodies perish.

    ¡°However, this pearl can gather arge number of discarnate souls that haven¡¯t scattered into heaven and earth by itself. This makes it very powerful, but also very dangerous.

    ¡°You¡¯d better use it with great caution. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    Nie Tianughed softly and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I have my way of keeping it under control.¡±

    The way he was referring to was taking the Spirit Pearl to that magical heaven and earth, where he could refine the spirits within it with the profound spell formation of me dragon skeletons, using the pure me power within the Blood Core.

    Some Phantasms sensed the abnormal movements of the discarnate souls. They jerked their heads in Nie Tian¡¯s direction and saw the pearl in his hand instantly.

    ¡°That¡¯s our Spirit Pearl!¡±

    ¡°The Spirit Pearl that we left in the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he has it!¡±

    Even the seventh grade Phantasm expert, who had sustained numerous wounds from his battle against Zhao Shanling, was taken aback. ¡°The item Lord Basto has been searching for is actually in his hands!!¡±

 Chapter 623: Start Butchering

    Basto was the highestmander of the Phantasm force, and also one of the decision-makers of this invasion operation.

    Part of the reason why he had decided to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars was to recover their lost Spirit Pearl.

    It was just that Basto was currently in the Realm of Mystic Heaven,ying siege to the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Tens of thousands of years ago, due to the arrival of the powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, numerous Phantasms had been ughtered. During their hurried evacuation, they had lost the Spirit Pearl, which was of special significance to them, in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After that, they had sent small forces back to the Domain of the Falling Stars several times to recover it.

    However, during theirst effort, they had recovered their ancient starship, but not the Spirit Pearl, which made the operation a failure.

    This time, Basto had led a force to join the invasion with the intention of retrieving the Spirit Pearl and taking it back to his n.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the long-lost Spirit Pearl had suddenly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that Lord Basto isn¡¯t here,¡± The Phantasm expert muttered. ¡°Otherwise, he¡¯d be able to take it back!¡±

    As the expert shed about in the sky, numerous streaks of sparkling aura filled the heavens. Like crystal chains, they contended against the Death Reign with great effort.

    However, he nced towards the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand from time to time, strong desire filling his eyes.

    At this moment, Cao Mou, Gu Yuan, and Qian Buhui had already split up to face the three iing outsider experts.

    The three outsider experts were all at the seventh grade. One was a Fiend, one was a Stoneman, and thest one was a ckscale.

    The moment they arrived, they engaged in fierce battles against Cao Mou, Gu Yuan, and Qian Buhui.

    Because of this, the pressure on the seventh grade Phantasm was somewhat relieved. However, he still couldn¡¯t find a way to harm Zhao Shanling.

    On the ground, Nie Tian ignored everything else as he held the Spirit Pearl up in the air to let it channel the discarnate souls of the newly-killed.

    As time passed, the star map within the Spirit Pearl gradually became clearer and clearer.

    Inside the Dong n...

    Qin Yan¡¯s expression suddenly flickered, joy filling his eyes.

    Qian Xing and Cao Qiushui, who were standing beside her, looked at her, confused.

    They both knew that the other members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce had long since evacuated from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    That was because their actual backer was the Spirit Condor.

    Since the Spirit Condor was based in the frigid Realm of Endless Ice, it was safest for the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce to move into the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of Endless Ice.

    Qin Yan had only stayed behind because they needed up-to-date information on the situation in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Qin Yan was the contact the Spirit Condor had left in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°The Spirit Condor and the Ice Pavilion Sect have moved out!¡± Qin Yan eximed. ¡°They¡¯re going to send their Soul realm experts to help us eliminate the outsiders in the Realm of a Hundred Battles!¡±

    Before this point, Qin Yan had informed the Spirit Condor of the great changes in the Realm of me Heaven and the turn of events in the Realm of a Hundred Battles via a secretmunication magic.

    The senior members of the Spirit Condor had been shocked after learning that Wu Ji had killed the two seventh grade outsiders that led the invasion of the Realm of me Heaven with his profound time-manipting magics.

    Later, they had been shaken by the news that Qi Bailu had agreed to abdicate, and Zhao Shanling had promised to help seal the spatial rift that connected the Realm of a Hundred Battles and the Realm of Split Void.

    Then, when Zhao Shanling had personally joined the battle against the outsiders, the Soul realm experts of the Spirit Condor and the Ice Pavilion Sect had sat together to discuss their next move.

    Now, they had finally reached a consensus that they woulde to the Realm of a Hundred Battles as soon as possible through their inter-realm teleportation portals.

    The reason why they hadn¡¯t acted on such a thought until now was that they had known that if they could go to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, so could the outsiders that were attacking their headquarters.

    But now that they were certain that no more outsiders were able to rush into the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and their grand spell formations could hold for some time, they finally acted without scruples.

    Eyes glittering with excitement, Qin Yan gazed at the inter-realm teleportation portal, which had started to thrum with spatial fluctuations. ¡°They¡¯re here!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Four figures appeared and walked out of the teleportation portal, the first of which was Hua Mu.

    Behind Hua Mu were two old men, one at the middle Soul realm, and the other at the early Soul realm. They were both leading figures of the Spirit Condor.

    Thest one was the middle Soul realm patriarch of the Ice Pavilion Sect.

    ¡°Greetings, seniors!¡± Qin Yan said with great respect.

    Even though the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce was backed by the Spirit Condor, she hadn¡¯t met Hua Mu and the other senior members of the Spirit Condor in person until now.

    However, just judging from their dominating auras, she suspected that they were the three legendary potentates of the Spirit Condor.

    Upon arrival, Hua Mu sighed and said, ¡°In order to save the Domain of the Falling Stars, brother Qi made great sacrifices by giving in to Zhao Shanling. I hope it won¡¯t affect his future advancement in cultivation. We, however, need to ughter the outsiders and end their invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars as soon as possible to give him what he has sacrificed his dignity for!¡±

    With these words, Hua Mu exploded towards the one of the seventh grade outsiders.

    The other three Soul realm experts didn¡¯t say a word. Like three bolts of lightning, they also shot towards the seventh grade outsiders.

    Qin Yan felt greatly relieved as she muttered, ¡°It¡¯s over. The turbulences in the Realm of a Hundred Battles have finallye to an end.¡±

    Then, she nced at one of the Dong n members who seemed to be in charge, and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to power this grand spell formation with more spirit stones anymore.¡±

    That Dong n member smiled, and then instructed a few other Dong n members to spread out to deactivate the hubs that controlled the grand spell formation.

    Soon, the grand spell formation that had protected the Dong n for more than a month gradually came down.

    Seeing the four Soul realm experts shooting into the heavens, Dong Li was convinced that the outsider invaders, who had been cut off from the outside world, would now die in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. ¡°Let¡¯s retreat to our n, Nie Tian. We¡¯re no longer needed in this battle. The results have already been determined.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    He also noticed that Hua Mu and three other Soul realm experts had joined the battle, and thus knew that the outsiders were doomed.

    Even though the Realm of a Hundred Battles was a vast one, now that the spatial rift had been sealed, the outsiders had no means of evacuation.

    Given a bit of time, Hua Mu and the other Soul realm experts would eventually ughter all of the outsider invaders, not sparing a single one.

    The seventh grade Phantasm¡¯s expression flickered after seeing four more Soul realm experts joining the battle. ¡°Damn it!¡±

    If it were just Cao Mou, Gu Yuan, and Qian Buhui, since they had three seventh grade allies joining them, they might not necessarily lose the battle, even though they were currently at a disadvantage.

    However, the arrival of Hua Mu and the other three had changed the situationpletely. Now they knew that they had no chance at winning this battle, not anymore.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± The Phantasm expert cried sharply before suddenlyunching a escape magic.

    His fleshly body became somewhat illusory and blurry.

    Countless evil spirits could be seen weeping inside his translucent body as an explosive force rapidly built up within him.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, he turned into a wisp of aura and shot out of the battlefield.

    Afterwards, the seventh grade Demon, Fiend, Stoneman, and ckscale each unleashed their own secret magics and escaped.

    Zhao Shanling was iparably calm as heughed wildly and said, ¡°Idiots! I¡¯ve already sealed the spatial rift that connects the Realm of a Hundred Battles to the outside world. Where do you imagine you can escape to?¡±

    With these words, he made a grabbing motion in the air, and a spatial rift appeared before him.

    ¡°Follow me. I¡¯ll take you to the spatial rift that they¡¯re nning to evacuate through.¡± Then, he took the initiative to enter the spatial rift he had just created.

    The other Soul realm experts exchanged a nce, and then followed Zhao Shanling into the spatial rift one after another.

    Barely a minute after the arrival of Hua Mu and the other three Soul realm experts, the outsider force copsed, all of the seventh grade outsiders escaping at their fastest speed.

    Now that they had left, the fifth and sixth grade outsiders had bembs that were waiting to be ughtered. They were swamped by Worldly realm and Profound realm experts within seconds.

    Since their invasion, those outsiders had turned the Realm of a Hundred Battles into hell on earth. Millions had been butchered and used as sacrificial offerings to their ancestors.

    These local Qi warriors hated their guts, and thus would show no mercy.

    Therefore, the massacre of the outsider invaders officially began. The people in the Realm of a Hundred Battles that had been gued by the outsiders finally lifted their butcher¡¯s knife.

    ¡°It¡¯s finally over...¡±

    Nie Tian sighed softly and followed Dong Li to the Dong n. As he did, he gripped the Spirit Pearl firmly, which was still channelling discarnate souls from the vicinity.

    From now on, the discarnate souls that were channeled into it were all from the freshly-killed outsiders.

    Eyes glittering brightly, Qin Yan stared at the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°Nie Tian, is this the thing you obtained from the Realm of Dark Underworld?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian answered without the slightest intention of hiding the truth.

    This time, he was no longer worried that those who had gone on the trip to the Realm of Dark Underworld with him would demand the Spirit Pearl from him.

 Chapter 624: Turbulences Coming to An End

    Face filled with admiration and envy, Qin Yan said, ¡°This precious treasure from the Phantasms must have many profound uses, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    Since her cultivation base was still at thete Greater Heaven stage, her psychic power hadn¡¯t transformed into soul power yet. Therefore, she couldn¡¯t tell that the Spirit Pearl was absorbing discarnate souls from its surroundings.

    All she knew was that it seemed to be the most essential part of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship. Since the Phantasms attached such great importance to it, it must be far beyond ordinary.

    Qian Xin and Cao Qiushui alsoid their curious gazes on the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t figured out how to use it yet,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    It was only natural that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t tell them about its magical use of absorbing discarnate souls, which could be refined into pure soul power.

    Every single Dong n member practiced the Beast Spirit Incantation. If they could infuse their beast spirits with pure soul power, their beast spirits would be able to upgrade.

    This was the reason why Dong Li had expressed a strong desire for Nie Tian to use it to nourish her ck phoenix after learning about this wonderful use of the Spirit Pearl.

    It was even more natural that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t reveal that there was a star map, which marked out a remote area in the starry river, hidden within the Spirit Pearl.

    It was too important to tell just anyone.

    While they talked in the Dong n in a rxed manner, the Worldly realm and Profound realm members of the Dong n, the Cao n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Bone Blood Demon massacred the stranded outsiders.

    Since all of the seventh grade outsiders had decided to evacuate through the spatial rift, which they didn¡¯t know had already been sealed, and the Soul realm experts had gone after them, the Bone Blood Demon, which possessed middle Soul realm battle prowess, became unrivaled on the battlefield.

    As Nie Tian looked over from time to time, he would see the exceptionally tall Bone Blood Demon striding among the outsiders and cutting them to pieces with effortless swings of its sharp hands.

    Each and every outsider carried rich flesh power within them, which could be used by the Bone Blood Demon to strengthen itself.

    Therefore, it didn¡¯t relent. After receiving Nie Tian¡¯s consent, it continued to ughter outsiders and channel their blood into itself with the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation.

    The discarnate souls of the outsiders it ughtered and those killed by the human Qi warriors were all channeled by the Spirit Pearl and flew towards it from all directions.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Gradually, Qi warriors with high cultivation bases started to notice the unusual movement of the discarnate souls. They sensed their surroundings with their soul power and then discovered that the discarnate souls were all converging on the curious pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    They were all bbergasted.

    Spiritual tools that could automatically channel discarnate souls from their surroundings only existed in legends. None of them had ever seen one in real life.

    However, it seemed that the Spirit Pearl could not only absorb the discarnate souls, but also dy the dissipation of the souls so that they would still contain a considerable amount of power when they were channeled into the Spirit Pearl.

    None of them had even heard of any spiritual tool that possessed such profound functions.

    Nie Tian, however, ignored their gazes. Instead, he examined the Spirit Pearl with his psychic awareness. He discovered that as more and more discarnate souls entered the Spirit Pearl, the star map that was originally hidden inside of it became clearer and clearer.

    Once the star map was fully shown, he would only need to find an ancient starship to travel to the marked area in the starry river, following the guidance of the star map.

    That area was far more vast than the Domain of the Falling Stars and had a muchrger number of realms.

    Perhaps many different races were living there together, humans and outsiders. It probably was a heaven and earth that was much more developed and prosperous than the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Four hourster, everyst outsider that was gathered around the Dong n had been wiped out.

    The Bone Blood Demon had only harvested the outsiders¡¯ blood and turned a blind eye to their storage rings. Thanks to the copious amount of blood it had gained, the sound of blood running within its bones became increasingly vigorous.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Dong Qianqi, Dong Tengfei, and the other Profound realm experts returned after chasing the fleeing outsiders for hundreds of kilometers and killing them.

    The other Qi warriors from the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect also returned one after another.

    Wreathed in an intense killing aura, Dong Qianqi said, ¡°The battle here is basically over, but there are stillrge amounts of outsiders gathered outside the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect. Limited by their grade, they couldn¡¯t have marched over here in time for the battle, so they stayed put.

    ¡°Let¡¯s teleport to the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect and eliminate every single outsider invader over there! These outsiders massacred the people of the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Manymoners and Qi warriors from minor ns were brutally butchered before they could make it to our grand spell formations!

    ¡°We have to kill them all to avenge those who died at their ws and fangs!¡±

    The experts from the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect were also covered in outsider blood and wreathed in strong killing intent.

    Soon, another round of ughter began.

    Nie Tian joined the operation with his Bone Blood Demon so that the Bone Blood Demon would absorb blood to its fill, and more ideally, make another breakthrough in strength.

    This time, the massacre went on for four days and five nights.

    Nie Tian sat on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder as they followed the local Qi warriors to other regions of the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Once he sensed the presence of outsiders, he wouldmand the Bone Blood Demon to annihte them with the help of the local Qi warriors.

    As the Bone Blood Demon continued to absorb the blood of the fourth and fifth grade outsiders with the Blood Refining Incantation, more and more discarnate souls of the dead outsiders were channeled into the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    After the massacre came to an end, Nie Tian put the Bone Blood Demon back into his ring of holding, where it could take its time to refine the blood it had absorbed.

    In the meantime, the star map within the Spirit Pearl was finallypletely revealed.

    Dong Li and Li Langfeng had followed him this whole time.

    As they returned to the Dong n, Nie Tian learned that Hua Mu, Zhao Shanling, and the other Soul realm experts were still chasing the seventh grade outsiders around the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Members of the Cao n, the Gu n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect had returned to their own ns and sects to dispose of the corpses and gather storage rings and valuables from the dead outsiders.

    Only Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce stayed in the Dong n, responsible formunicating with the Spirit Condor and obtaining thetest news on the situation in the other realms.

    The Spirit Condor had contacts and informants in every realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and they had their unique means ofmunication.

    Since the three potentates of the Spirit Condor were all busy hunting outsider experts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the people at the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters needed to get information on the situation in the Realm of a Hundred Battles through Qin Yan.

    By the time Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Li Langfeng arrived in the Dong n, Nie Tian noticed the grim looks on Dong Qianqi and Dong Tengfei¡¯s faces.

    Qin Yan¡¯s charming eyebrows were also knit together.

    Puzzled, Dong Li asked, ¡°What happened, Qin Yan? Why the grim face?¡±

    Nie Tian was also confused.

    Right now, the crisis in the Realm of a Hundred Battles had ended, with only a handful of seventh grade outsiders on the run. However, with the Soul realm experts chasing after them, their deaths were only a matter of time.

    After the seventh grade outsiders were killed, the three potentates of the Spirit Condor, the patriarch of the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the four Soul realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles would be free to join the battle in whichever realm they wanted, turning the situation around there. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the outsiders¡¯ invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars was terminated.

    He didn¡¯t understand why Qin Yan seemed so bothered.

    Qin Yan sighed softly and said, ¡°Word hase from the Spirit Condor that the outsiders in the other realms have united. The outsiders in the other realms have all swarmed into the Realm of Mystic Heaven through spatial rifts. It seems that those outsiders have learned about what happened in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°It¡¯s no longer an option to separate them and kill them in different realms.

    ¡°Right now, all of the outsider experts are gathered around the Heaven Pce Sect. Apparently, they want to take the Heaven Pce Sect out first to set an example. The Heaven Pce Sect is known as the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Once it falls, and their Soul realm experts are killed, they¡¯ll march on their next target with confidence.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect has also learned of what happened in the Realm of me Heaven and our realm.

    ¡°Now, they¡¯re demanding that all Soul realm experts rush to their aid in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°Nie Tian, your puppet was also on the list of those whose presence is demanded.

    ¡°They even demanded that your master go to their sect as soon as possible.¡±

 Chapter 625: Constant Change of Events

    Nie Tian let out a coldugh. ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect? What right do they have tomand the other sects?¡±

    ¡°Plus, every time my master uses his time power, he shortens his own lifespan.

    ¡°He has already made great contributions to the Domain of the Falling Stars by ughtering two seventh grade outsiders in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way that he¡¯s going to help defend the Heaven Pce Sect!¡±

    Nie Tian had a deep-rooted hatred towards the Heaven Pce Sect, which had dominated the Domain of the Falling Stars over the years.

    They had bossed the other sects around by relying on the fact that they had the onlyte Soul realm expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Whenever an opportunity to gain benefits presented itself, they were always the first to take a big piece of the cake. However, they had always failed to turn the situation around when the Domain of the Falling Stars faced cmities.

    It was the same this time.

    Even though the outsiders had changed their ns and decided to focus their power to sack the Heaven Pce Sect first, the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s patriarch still refused to end his secluded cultivation before he entered the Void domain.

    Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong knew that, with just the two of them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to protect the Heaven Pce Sect. Therefore, they demanded that Wu Ji, Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon, and the Soul realm experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battlese to their aid.

    Nie Tian spat on such a unteral decision from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Don Qianqi exined, ¡°Those from the Heaven Pce Sect mean that since the outsiders have united against one of our sects, we should do the same. Especially now that the seventh grade outsiders in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles are almost wiped out, we¡¯d have an advantage in numbers after joining up.¡±

    ¡°Oh, one more thing,¡± Qin Yan said, somewhat gloatingly. ¡°The Realm of Earth Sieve has fallen.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°What!?¡±

    ¡°The outsiders destroyed the grand spell formations of the Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect,¡± Qin Yan took her time to exin. ¡°When their grand spell formations shattered, the majority of their disciples were already evacuated to their arcane realms. Even still, quite a few of their disciples were killed by the outsiders.

    ¡°Their Soul realm experts have already teleported to the Heaven Expanse Sect.

    ¡°They blew up their inter-realm teleportation portals when they left.

    ¡°They¡¯ve suffered serious losses this time. Right now, they¡¯re in the Heaven Expanse Sect, helping with the defenses.

    ¡°The situation in the Realm of Dark Underworld is not so good either. Most of the disciples of the Spirit God Sect have long since evacuated their sect.

    ¡°That¡¯s because they knew that since Hua Mu had recently shattered their grand spell formation, it hasn¡¯t recovered from the damage yet. Right now, the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect, who has been hiding in the me God Sect, is preparing to answer the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s summons and go help them defend against the outsiders. But it seems that Xia Yi, the me God, who¡¯s in a crucial moment in his breakthrough, doesn¡¯t n to end his secluded cultivation.¡±

    Dong Qianqi sighed and chimed in, ¡°As much as I¡¯m pleased to know that the Realm of Earth Sieve has gotten what they deserve, it¡¯s not good news for us.¡±

    ¡°What should we do, sectmaster?¡± Dong Tengfei asked him in a solemn voice. ¡°Do we answer the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s summons and march all of our powerful experts into the Realm of Mystic Heaven?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t seem to have a choice,¡± Dong Qianqi said with a grim face. ¡°Right now, we need to stand as one. If the Heaven Pce Sect is indeed sacked by the outsiders, and Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong are killed, the advantage we¡¯ve gained with great efforts will vanish. Also, if they are able to sack the Heaven Pce Sect, there¡¯s no reason why they can¡¯t take the other sects one by one.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have to win the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.¡±

    After a short pause, Dong Qianqi smiled bitterly and continued, ¡°Plus, the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect is trying to break through into the Void domain. If he seeds, he¡¯ll be the only Void domain expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If he decides to settle ounts with us after defeating the outsiders, none of us will stand a chance fighting him.

    ¡°One more thing...¡± With these words, he gazed off into the distance. ¡°Zhao Shanling is Zhao Luofeng¡¯s younger brother. He made great contributions to our victory in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Even though they say they¡¯ll grow old and die without saying a word to each other, they¡¯re still brothers.

    ¡°If Zhao Shanling sides with his brother on this matter, and if we refuse to go help defend the Heaven Pce Sect, he¡¯s more than capable of reopening the spatial rifts that lead to the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles for the outsiders.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Dong Qianqi nodded at him, looking frustrated. ¡°It¡¯s true. Only a few people know about their rtionship.¡±

    After learning that Zhao Shanling was Zhao Luofeng¡¯s younger brother, Nie Tian felt a headache. He was worried that Zhao Shanling would retaliate by unsealing the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles for the outsiders and restoring chaos to the two realms.

    That maniac could never be predicted. If he suddenly started to value familial love, he waspletely capable of doing such a crazy thing.

    Dong Qianqi and Qin Yan¡¯s words silenced everyone present. They started to feel that the situation was once again clouded by many uncertainties, and were no longer confident that they would ride out this cmity.

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for our Soul realm experts to return so we can hear their opinions,¡± Dong Qianqi said with furrowed eyebrows.

    Therefore, everyone waited in the Dong n.

    In the following days, Qin Yan contacted the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters from time to time, and learned that the Soul realm experts of the Tool Sect from the Realm of Unbounded Destion, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Poison Sect from the Realm of ck Marsh had all gone to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, where they were prepared to fight the outsiders to the death.

    Meanwhile, the Heaven Pce Sect had sent a few more messages demanding that the Soul realm experts join the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven after finishing off the outsiders in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Another day passed...

    Qin Yan received shocking news from the Spirit Condor, which was that Xia Yi, the me God, had sessfully entered thete Soul realm.

    The Domain of the Falling Stars finally had its secondte Soul realm expert.

    As soon as Xia Yi entered thete Soul realm, he spread the word that if Nie Tian returned the me Dragon Armor to him, he would go to the Heaven Pce Sect and contend against thete seventh grade Phantasm expert named Basto.

    ording to him, since he had just entered thete Soul realm, he would have to rely on the me Dragon Armor, which agreed with his incantations perfectly, to fight Basto.

    Furthermore, he imed that the me Dragon Armor had originally belonged to the me God Sect, and that he was just demanding that it be returned to its rightful owner.

    By now, he had received the support of the Heaven Pce Sect, the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the Spirit God Sect.

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. ¡°There¡¯s no way that I¡¯m going to give up the me Dragon Armor! Xia Yi never possessed the Blood Core of the me Dragon Armor. What he had back then was just an empty shell! The me Dragon Armor is onlyplete and repaired because of what I¡¯ve done over the years! He can quit imagining that I¡¯ll give it to him!¡±

    Nie Tian made his stance perfectly clear.

    ¡°The experts from the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Realm of Unbounded Destion tried to negotiate with Xia Yi on this matter,¡± Qin Yan said with a serious expression. ¡°Xing Huanyue, Li Muyang, and Qi Bailu suggested that Xia Yi borrow the me Dragon from you and return it to you when the crisis is over. However, Xia Yi has maintained a strong attitude on this matter. He insists that the me Dragon Armor belongs to him.

    ¡°He imed that only after getting it back will he go fight the most powerful outsider named Basto. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to fight ate seventh grade outsider.

    ¡°Since the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect is still in the middle of his secluded cultivation, Xia Yi is the only one who has a chance at stopping Basto. If he refuses to step up, it¡¯ll take several middle Soul realm experts to join up to defend against Basto.

    ¡°Then, even if we get all of the other Soul realm experts to the Heaven Pce Sect, we still might not be able to defeat the outsiders.

    ¡°That means that Xia Yi is now the person who can determine the result of this war.¡±

    Sitting on the ground in the lotus position, face grim, Nie Tian said with great determination, ¡°I won¡¯t give him the me Dragon Armor, no matter what!¡±

    Dong Qianqi and the others looked nkly at him, not knowing what to say. They all sighed inwardly and remained silent.

    Xia Yi¡¯s action was actually very simr to Zhao Shanling¡¯s. They both threatened to refuse to save the day to get what they wanted.

    Qi Bailu had eventually given in to Qi Bailu. What would Nie Tian choose?

 Chapter 626: I Wont Even Lend It to Him!

    In a remote corner of the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    The corpse of thest seventh grade outsider was being burned by zing mes over ake.

    Underneath the seventh grade Fiend, numerous dead fish could be seen floating on the surface of theke. There were also many dead low-grade spirit beasts around theke. Some had even been reduced to pools of blood.

    Faint, deadly smoke filled this area, corroding heaven and earth.

    Zhao Shanling, Hua Mu, Dong Wangling, and the others had formed a circle around the seventh grade Fiend and watched him being gradually burned to ashes.

    The corpses of the other seventh grade outsiders they had killed were floating beside them. Apparently, they had kept their corpses after killing them.

    Not counting the seventh grade outsiders¡¯ storage rings, just their bones alone had many uses.

    The seventh grade Fiend was the only one that none of the human experts dared to take.

    That was because every inch of the Fiend contained deadly toxins. Even the toxic smoke that had leaked from his pores before he had been killed had poisoned the fish in theke.

    When he had sustained injuries, his blood had touched some nearby low-grade spirit beasts. Those spirit beasts were instantly reduced to pools of blood.

    Hua Mu and the other experts had all agreed that they must not keep this Fiend¡¯s body, and thus decided to burn it away with all sorts of fire-attributed materials.

    Only after they watched the Fiend¡¯s body burn to ashes did they feel rxed.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want his storage ring, do you?¡± Qian Buhui from the Pill Pavilion Sect said with curled lips. ¡°Perhaps only people from the Poison Sect would be interested in his possessions.¡±

    At this point, the outsider invaders had finally been wiped out.

    With Zhao Shanling, who was an expert in spatial magics, on the team, the Soul realm experts had located and ughtered the fleeing outsider experts one by one without much effort.

    Now, it was time to split the spoils.

    ¡°I can take that Fiend¡¯s storage ring back to the Spirit Condor,¡± Hua Mu said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think it¡¯s time for us to split the spoils. Instead, we might want to think about our next move.¡±

    Even Qin Yan had received word of the current situation from the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters. It was only natural that Hua Mu had a thorough understanding of the current situation.

    From him, these Soul realm experts had long since learned that the outsider forces had already pulled out of the other realms and gathered outside the Heaven Pce Sect.

    They also knew that the Heaven Pce Sect had demanded that they go help defend their sect.

    ¡°Word hase that Xia Yi has entered thete Soul realm,¡± Hua Mu said, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Xia Yi has said that he¡¯s willing to go contend against Basto, the outsidermander. Basto is at thete seventh grade. If we¡¯re considering fighting him one on one, Xia Yi is probably the only one who can.

    ¡°However, he insists that only if Nie Tian gives him the me Dragon Armor will he be strong enough to fight Basto.

    ¡°Many sects, including the Heaven Pce Sect, the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the Spirit God Sect, have stated that Nie Tian should put the general interest first, and give that Spirit Channeling grade treasure back to Xia Yi.

    ¡°Meanwhile, Li Muyang and a few others have suggested that Nie Tian should let Xia Yi borrow it for the time being, and Xia Yi should return it to Nie Tian after the war is over.

    ¡°To this point, a mutual understanding hasn¡¯t been reached.

    ¡°It seems to me that, aside from Brother Zhao, the rest of us will all want to support Nie Tian. So what are your opinions on this matter?¡±

    Hua Mu wasn¡¯t sure what kind of rtionship Nie Tian had with Zhao Shanling, but he knew that Nie Tian had put himself in great danger bying to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, so the local forces would probably stand by Nie Tian in his time of need.

    As one of the Spirit Condor¡¯s potentates, he was very close to Nie Tian, so the Spirit Condor would naturally stand by Nie Tian as well.

    As for the Ice Pavilion Sect, it was because of Nie Tian that Xuan Ke had made it back from that other dimension. If there were no mishaps, they would choose to support Nie Tian as well.

    Zong Zheng, the patriarch of the Ice Pavilion Sect, was the first to state his opinion. ¡°Together, we can pressure Xia Yi into agreeing that he¡¯ll only borrow the me Dragon Armor for now and that he¡¯ll return it to Nie Tian after the war is over. He has just entered thete Soul realm. It¡¯s true that he¡¯ll need an agreeable fire-attributed spiritual tool to defeat Basto.

    ¡°And the me Dragon Armor will be the ideal spiritual tool.

    ¡°This battle will determine the life or death of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. So I think it¡¯s eptable that he borrow the me Dragon Armor for now. I know it¡¯s too much to ask if he demands that Nie Tian give it to him.¡±

    Qian Buhui nodded. ¡°I think so too.¡±

    The others nodded one after another, agreeing that this was a fair and reasonable solution.

    Only Zhao Shanling smiled and said, ¡°I doubt that you lot can decide for Nie Tian.¡±

    Everyone was taken aback.

    Zhao Shanling then created a spatial rift that led to the Dong n.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious what Nie Tian will have to say,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a meaningful look on his face. ¡°My senior martial brother gave in to me to save the countless lives in the Domain of the Falling Stars from this cmity. However, if he let himself bound by no scruples, he could have sent the Tool Sect disciples into those fiery realms and ignored my demand.

    ¡°But I knew that he would sumb, and he did.

    ¡°Now, I wonder how Nie Tian will choose, facing a simr situation.¡±

    With these words, he took the initiative to enter the spatial rift and arrive in the Dong n within a breath¡¯s time.

    The other Soul realm experts exchanged nces, absorbed in their thoughts.

    A few secondster, Hua Mu nodded and said, ¡°He¡¯s right. We should hear Nie Tian¡¯s opinion first.¡±

    Afterward, all of the Soul realm experts that were gathered in this ce entered the spatial rift, taking the outsider corpses with them.

    Inside the Dong n...

    Zhao Shanling and the other Soul realm experts walked out of a spatial rift one after another.

    At first nce, Hua Mu saw Nie Tian, who was sitting silently on the ground, his eyes closed.

    Dong Qianqi, Dong Tengfei, Qin Yan, and many Dong n members were standing beside Nie Tian. They were all looking at him as if they were hesitant to talk to him.

    Upon seeing the returning Soul realm experts, Qin Yan hastily stepped over and bowed. ¡°Greetings, Seniors.¡±

    Upon seeing Hua Mu, Nie Tian rose to his feet and bowed respectfully. ¡°Uncle Hua.¡±

    Seeing that Hua Mu and Dong Wangling didn¡¯t say anything, Zong Zheng said, after a moment of hesitation, ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯m Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect. You must have learned of the situation. Our opinion is that we can pressure Xia Yi into agreeing that he¡¯ll only borrow your me Dragon Armor so that he can deal with Basto. He¡¯ll return the me Dragon Armor to you as soon as the war is over.

    ¡°If he refuses to do so, we¡¯ll join up and force him to hand it over. The bottom line is that the me Dragon Armor belongs to you. We certainly won¡¯t allow him to take what is yours.¡±

    After hearing this, Nie Tian¡¯s gaze swept across the faces of the Soul realm experts, one after another. Finally, he asked, ¡°Do you all agree to this solution?¡±

    ¡°It has nothing to do with me,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an indifferent expression.

    After a moment of silence, Hua Mu said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you, Nie Tian.¡±

    Dong Wangling chimed in, ¡°Mr. Hua and I share the same opinion. We want you to decide for yourself.¡±

    Zong Zheng, Qian Buhui, and the others seemed surprised by these two¡¯s words.

    Nie Tian remained silent for some time before turning to Zhao Shanling and asking, ¡°If I refuse to give in to Xia Yi, will you unseal the spatial rift so that Xia Yi and your brother in the Heaven Pce Sect will be able to seek trouble with the Realm of me Heaven in the future?¡±

    He knew that Zhao Shanling had worked with Xia Yi before to take the Realm of Unbounded Destion and that Zhao Luofeng was Zhao Shanling¡¯s older brother.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s attitude would mean a great deal.

    If he decided to side with the Heaven Pce Sect and Xia Yi, the Realm of me Heaven would be in trouble if he refused to cooperate.

    Zhao Shanling took his time to say, ¡°I promised you that I¡¯d seal that spatial rift. If I unseal it, I¡¯ll be viting our deal. So whatever you decide to do, nothing will happen to that spatial rift.¡±

    Nie Tian felt slightly relieved.

    However, Zhao Shanling then added, ¡°But there still are inter-realm teleportation portals in the Realm of me Heaven. Once the outsiders are taken care of, the local sects might reopen those teleportation portals. If they do, the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects would still be able to send forces there.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression remained calm as he asked, ¡°I just want to know whether you¡¯re going to help the Heaven Pce Sect and Xia Yi.¡±

    He knew that if the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects decided to seek trouble with his friends and family, they would be able to retreat to arcane realms like the Green Illusion dimension and hole up there.

    As long as Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t help them reestablish the connections, his master, Nie Donghai, and the others would be safe.

    Then, when his cultivation base was high enough to solve the mystery hidden under the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void, he would probably have the ability to get them out of the Green Illusion dimension.

    With a cunningugh, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°I¡¯ve long since forgotten what familial love is. As for friendship... Hehe... Do you think I¡¯m friends with Xia Yi? People like me don¡¯t need friends, and won¡¯t have friends.

    ¡°The only thing you need to consider is the fate of the Domain of the Falling Stars because that¡¯s what Xia Yi is using to threaten you.

    ¡°My senior martial brother didn¡¯t want this cmity to go on, and he didn¡¯t want to watch more people die, so he gave in to me.

    ¡°So what about you? What¡¯s your decision going to be?¡±

    After a quick nce over the crowd, Nie Tian said with determination, ¡°I won¡¯t even lend the me Dragon Armor to him!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Zhao Shanling let out a wildugh and said loudly, ¡°Good! Now you¡¯re talking!¡±

    Though he had known Nie Tian for some time now, he had never thought highly of him just because he had been chosen to be the sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, or because he possessed the powerful Bone Blood Demon that followed him wherever he went.

    But now, after Nie Tian made a decision that waspletely different from his senior martial brother¡¯s, approval and respect appeared in his eyes for the first time as he looked at him.

 Chapter 627: Selling Tickets

    Nie Tian¡¯s tough stance deeply surprised Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect.

    Qian Buhui, Gu Yuan, and Cao Mou also had awkward expressions on their faces, not knowing what to say.

    As far as they saw it, it wasn¡¯t that hard to ept if Xia Yi was only borrowing the me Dragon Armor so that he could defeat Basto. They didn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian was being so stubborn.

    However, they also knew that if Nie Tian hadn¡¯te to the Realm of a Hundred Battles with Zhao Shanling, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to turn the situation around by themselves. Therefore, they were all in Nie Tian¡¯s debt.

    The other two Soul realm experts from the Spirit Condor remained silent the whole time, as if Hua Mu could speak for them.

    Dong Wangling didn¡¯t utter a word either.

    Only Zhao Shanling expressed his approval of Nie Tian¡¯s decision.

    Hua Mu pondered in silence for some time before breaking the ice byughing and saying, ¡°Good, if that¡¯s your decision, then we¡¯ll respect it. I doubt that Xia Yi and the Heaven Pce Sect will try anything on you before the war against the outsiders ends. Even if they want to seek trouble with you, they¡¯ll probably do it after the trouble with the outsiders is over.¡±

    ¡°The reason Xia Yi dares to threaten me is that he assumes that he¡¯s the only one who¡¯ll be able to contend against Basto.¡± Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph as heid his eyes on the corpses of the several seventh grade outsiders. With a soft voice, he said, ¡°Seniors, I have a favor to ask.¡±

    ¡°Just name it,¡± Dong Wangling said.

    ¡°I wonder if you can give the corpses of these seventh grade outsiders to me,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Reluctance appeared on Zong Zheng and Qian Buhui¡¯s faces.

    Like seventh grade spirit beasts, these seventh grade outsiders¡¯ corpses could be put to great use.

    Considering these experts¡¯ cultivation bases and strength, they would be able to extract many precious materials from these corpses, which they could use to either forge spiritual tools or refine medicinal pills. Either way, their strength would benefit greatly from them.

    Compared to seventh grade spirit beasts, seventh grade outsiders were much more difficult to find, so they all seemed somewhat reluctant to give them up.

    Hua Mu was the first to state his stance. ¡°We¡¯ll give you whichever outsider corpses the Spirit Condor should get.¡±

    Dong Wangling chimed in, ¡°Whichever the Dong n should get is yours to take too!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll only need their corpses. You can still have their storage rings.¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°Their corpses will be put to a very important use. For this, I¡¯m willing to promise you one thing.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zong Zheng asked curiously.

    ¡°One day, I¡¯ll help you walk out of the Domain of the Falling Stars to a wider heaven and earth,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Upon hearing these words, every Soul realm expert¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°What makes you think that you¡¯ll be able to help us walk out of the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Cao Mou asked hastily.

    Zong Zheng, Qian Buhui, and the others also breathed heavily as strong desire brimmed their eyes, as if they had cultivated their whole lives for this very purpose.

    ¡°He does have such an ability,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an expressionless face.

    Hua Mu took a deep look at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Has your master resolved that star map?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Zhao Shanling and Hua Mu¡¯s words made the other Soul realm experts¡¯ eyes light up. All of the Dong n members that were gathered in this ce exchanged awed nces with one another.

    Before Zong Zheng could ask about the details, Hua Mu said, ¡°Now is not the time to discuss the details. You only need to know that Nie Tian will be able to get you out of the Domain of the Falling Stars in the foreseeable future. The Spirit Condor can guarantee that Nie Tian¡¯s promise is well-based.¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± Zong Zheng eximed. ¡°I¡¯m willing to give up the seventh grade outsider corpse that belongs to me. Consider it my ticket to the ship that¡¯ll take me out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Same with me!¡± Qian Buhui also said excitedly.

    The other Soul realm experts then took turns to express that they were also willing to give Nie Tian the outsider corpses that should have belonged to them.

    With a solemn expression, Hua Mu said, ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to the Heaven Pce Sect, Nie Tian. You can be assured that Xia Yi won¡¯t dare to try to seek trouble with the Realm of me Heaven anytime soon.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± Nie Tian said.

    Hua Mu smiled heartily. ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me. If you hadn¡¯t found me that Fruit of Life, perhaps I wouldn¡¯t be standing here now.¡±

    Zong Zheng gasped with astonishment, then gazed at Nie Tian with apletely different look in his eyes.

    Hua Mu had kept this matter a secret. Until now, the other two Soul realm experts from the Spirit Condor were the only ones who knew about it. Even Zong Zheng, who was their ally in the Realm of Endless Ice, knew nothing of it.

    Since the Spirit Condor and the Ice Pavilion Sect were both based in the Realm of Endless Ice, Zong Zheng had known Hua Mu from long ago.

    He knew that Hua Mu was running out of lifespan. For many years, he had roamed different realms and used the Spirit Condor¡¯s resources to look for magical items that could slow his aging.

    However, when he had heard that Hua Mu had shattered the Spirit God Sect¡¯s grand spell formation and ughtered their disciples for what they had done to Zhen Hun, he had realized that Hua Mu¡¯s lifespan problem must have been solved.

    However, he hadn¡¯t known how Hua Mu had solved it.

    Only now did he realize that the reason why Hua Mu was still alive was because Nie Tian had found him a Fruit of Life. He finally understood why Hua Mu and the Spirit Condor had supported Nie Tian at every chance.

    Nie Tian looked at Dong Wangling and asked, ¡°Senior Dong, would you please find me a secluded location where I can go into secluded cultivation for a few days?¡±

    ¡°Of course,e with me.¡± With these words, Dong Wangling strode away.

    He made a grabbing motion in the air, and a few resilient belts of pure spiritual power shot out and wrapped themselves around the floating seventh grade outsider corpses. Then, he pulled them away like floating balloons.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As he came close, the teleportation portal in the Dong n started rotating and set to a specific location.

    Nie Tian took a look at Zhao Shanling. ¡°Please remember our deals, Senior Zhao.¡±

    Then, he turned to Hua Mu and said, ¡°Uncle Hua, I hope you can keep an eye on my master for me.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded with an assuring look in his eyes.

    Zhao Shanling snorted with a smile and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since I gave you my word, nothing will change it.¡±

    His heart finally put at ease, Nie Tian followed Dong Wangling into the teleportation portal.

    Dong Li wanted to catch up to Nie Tian, but Dong Baijie shook his head at her, signaling for her not to do so. She then wanted to speak, but also stopped on second thought.

    There were too many Soul realm patriarchs here. In their presence, Dong Li and Dong Baijie were juniors of juniors. It wasn¡¯t their ce to speak their opinion.

    She had wanted to defend Nie Tian on a few asions, but Dong Baijie had stopped her with stern looks every time.

    Watching Nie Tian follow the patriarch of her n to his personal cultivation location, she felt somewhat anxious. She wanted to stay by Nie Tian¡¯s side as he cultivated.

    ¡°Nie Tian needs some time to gather his thoughts and n his next move,¡± Dong Baijie said in a low voice. ¡°Right now, he doesn¡¯t need you to be by his side. Since our patriarch is going with him, nothing will happen to him.¡±

    ¡°Alright...¡± Dong Li said, nodding reluctantly.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for us to head to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, everyone,¡± Hua Mu said.

    Everyone nodded. ¡°Alright."

    Afterward, they had the Dong n members set up the teleportation portal, and then entered it somewhat anxiously.

    Only Zhao Shanling remained here.

    ¡°Senior Zhao, aren¡¯t you...?¡± Dong Qianqi, the nmaster of the Dong n, asked in confusion.

    ¡°What happens in the Realm of Mystic Heaven has nothing to do with me,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an expressionless face. ¡°Now that the outsiders are gathered in one realm, they must have learned that someone has sealed the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles. The spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven must be heavily guarded right now. I wouldn¡¯t do such a stupid thing as going there now.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already gotten what I wanted from my senior martial brother.

    ¡°The final battle between the humans and the outsiders in the Realm of Mystic Heaven won¡¯t concern me in the slightest.¡±

    With these irresponsible words, Zhao Shanling ignored the strange looks in the Dong n members¡¯ eyes and disappeared into a spatial rift behind him.

    Perhaps he was the only person who wouldn¡¯t be affected if the Domain of the Falling Stars fell into the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    Given his cultivation base and profound mastery of spatial magics, he would be able to escape to a remote space whenever he wanted to.

    ...

    Inside a spacious, closed room, shock filled Nie Tian¡¯s face as he looked around at arge number of extremely pure spirit jades.

    Dong Wangling smiled proudly and said, ¡°We¡¯re in an underground stone room that I built in the heart of a rich spirit jade vein. The spirit jades you¡¯re looking at are all tens of thousands of years old. Even though spirit crystals haven¡¯te to form yet, this is still a good ce for Qi warriors under the Void domain to cultivate in.¡±

    ¡°Good doesn¡¯t describe it!¡± Nie Tian marveled. ¡°Aside from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s grand hall, which I visited during the Heaven Gate trial, I¡¯ve never been to another ce where the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth is this rich.¡±

    Compared to this room, the cultivation rooms in the Blood Skull¡¯s headquarters were not even worth mentioning.

    All that Nie Tian did was stand there, but he could still sense wisps of pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth flooding into his spiritual sea and entering his nine vortexes of spiritual power.

    He believed that by cultivating in this room, the efficiency at which he expanded and refined his vortexes of spiritual power would improve ten-fold.

    No wonder Dong Li would progress in her cultivation every time she finished an adventure and returned to the Dong n.

    The reserve power of ancient ns like the Dong n was indeed shocking. They had the ability to help their members rapidly umte strength and make breakthroughs soon after they achieved the right mental state.

    If his master Wu Ji had a cultivation room like this one, perhaps he would have umted enough spiritual power to break through into the Soul realm.

    After a moment of pondering, Dong Wangling said, ¡°I won¡¯t ask you how you n to deal with those outsider corpses, Nie Tian. You¡¯re wee to use this cultivation room for as long as you like. Our n owes you this much. Dong Li told me how she obtained the Fruit of Life when she gave it to me.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t have gained these extra years of lifespan. Even though, unlike your master, I still had some lifespan to spare, any human would appreciate some extra years. After all, our lifespans are rather limited.

    ¡°I also heard that you helped Dong Li gain the corpse of an eighth grade ck phoenix, and brought most of our n members back from that dimension.

    ¡°Even though Zhao Shanling yed a very important role in ending the crisis in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, it was you who persuaded him toe to our aid.

    ¡°We¡¯ll remember what you¡¯ve done for our n.¡±

    ¡°I only did what I thought was right,¡± Nie Tian said modestly.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave you to it,¡± Dong Wangling said, smiling. ¡°I still have to go to the Realm of Mystic Heaven. I¡¯ve got to give the Heaven Pce Sect face. Who knows whether their patriarch can advance to the Void domain or not. Even though the odds are against him, if he somehow seeds, and finds fault with our n in the future, it¡¯ll be very troublesome for us.¡±

    With these words, he left through the teleportation portal, which only led to the Dong n.

    As soon as he vanished in the portal, Nie Tian summoned the Bone Blood Demon and had it drain the blood of all of the seventh grade outsider corpses.

    The Bone Blood Demon had possessed middle Soul realm battle prowess before Nie Tian had taken it to the Realm of me Heaven.

    In the Realm of me Heaven, it had absorbed and refined a copious amount of blood from numerous fourth and fifth grade outsiders.

    This time, it had once again massacred arge number of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade outsiders around the Dong n, the Gu n, the Cao n, and the Pill Pavilion Sect, and refined their blood.

    If it went on and refined the blood of these seventh grade outsiders, would its strength rise to a new level?

 Chapter 628: Hanging by A Thread

    A total of five seventh grade outsider experts had led the invasion of the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    They were one middle seventh grade Phantasm, and an early seventh grade Demon, Fiend, ckscale, and Stoneman.

    Because every inch of the Fiend expert contained deadly toxins, and even in hisst moments, he had released deadly toxic smoke, Hua Mu and the other human experts had decided to burn his corpse to ashes.

    The four remaining seventh grade outsider corpses had now be the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s target.

    Sitting in silence, Nie Tian watched the Bone Blood Demon activate the Blood Refining Incantation to drain the seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse of its blood first.

    When the seventh grade Demon had unleashed Ancestral Awakening, his size had multiplied, and the flesh power within him had also be as unfathomable as the sea.

    Compared to the fourth and fifth grade outsiders, it took the Bone Blood Demon a much longer time to drain the seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse of its blood.

    As the Demon¡¯s corpse gradually lost its blood, it started to shrivel.

    After a long time, the seventh grade outsider¡¯s corpse was finallypletely bereft of blood.

    However, the Bone Blood Demon didn¡¯t hurry on to its next target. Instead, it stood in silence. Like two ghostlynterns, its grayish-green eyes lit up the whole room, giving it a gruesome look.

    Nie Tian sensed it with rapt attention and discovered that the blood flow within its bones was bing more and more vigorous.

    Meanwhile, as its blood flowed abnormally vigorously within its bones, its bones started to lose their original pale-gray color.

    Nie Tian then knew that the reason why it hadn¡¯t moved on to its next target right away was because it was taking the seventh grade Demon¡¯s blood in with its unique method.

    After all, the blood was from a seventh grade Demon. The flesh power within his blood was far richer than that of fourth and fifth grade Demons.

    It was the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s skull that was the first to grow translucent, and start to have a jade-like gloss.

    After its skull was its neck.

    It seemed that the Bone Blood Demon was using the seventh grade Demon¡¯s blood to refine its body.

    However, the change was rather slow. It seemed that it would take some time for the Bone Blood Demon to finish the refinement of its body.

    Nie Tian observed it for a while, and assumed that the Bone Blood Demon would probably move on to the next seventh grade outsider after it exhausted the power from the seventh grade Demon¡¯s blood.

    ¡°It appears that you no longer need the corpse after draining its blood,¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    He walked to the shriveled seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse and pressed his hands on its forehead and heart.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡± With a thought, he sent wisps of his own flesh aura into the seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse.

    Like snakes, the wisps of flesh aura slithered to every corner of the outsider¡¯s corpse, digging flesh power from its flesh, internal organs, and bones.

    As they collected flesh power, the wisps of flesh aura that were originally the size of hairs rapidly expanded.

    Nie Tian then realized that there was still an incredible amount of flesh power in the Demon¡¯s corpse.

    It was just that that flesh power was deeply rooted in the Demon¡¯s body. The Bone Blood Demon couldn¡¯t absorb it with the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation.

    Only his Life Drain bloodline talent would allow him to extract it in the most subtle way.

    Nie Tian contemted while using Life Drain, his eyes glittering brightly in the dim room. <i>¡°This Demon must have refined and strengthened his body a thousand times over with their race¡¯s secret method, which is probably simr to Heavenly Wood Heal.¡± </i>

    He had learned that when he refined his body with Heavenly Wood Heal, there were five steps: Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, Meridian Toughening, Flesh Tempering, and Blood Condensing.

    It would require arge amount of flesh power and wood power to work in a profound way to finish each step.

    Now, he had just moved to the second step.

    The seventh grade Demon before him must have also refined his body with simr methods.

    His copious flesh power had sunk deep into his flesh, meridians, internal organs, and bones, bing one with his body. Because of this, his meridians and bones were ideal materials for equipment forging and pill making.

    It was only by relying on his profound bloodline talent, Life Drain, that Nie Tian managed to separate the flesh power that had merged with the Demon¡¯s meridians and bones.

    After absorbing copious amounts of flesh power, the wisps of flesh aura that had thickened a dozen times over started to flow back to Nie Tian.

    As soon as they returned to Nie Tian, the green aura in his heart instantly grew restless.

    Like blood-colored lightning bolts, the wisps of flesh aura were directly channeled into his heart, where they were savagely devoured by the green aura. Not a shred of flesh aura could escape.

    As this happened, Nie Tian opened his eyes and discovered that the seventh grade outsider¡¯s corpse had be even more shriveled.

    But even so, there was still copious flesh power within it.

    Because the outsider had been at the seventh grade, Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base and strength didn¡¯t allow him to drain it of its flesh power with one Life Drain.

    Feeling the green aura¡¯s endless desire for flesh power, he activated Life Drain again.

    With wisps of his own flesh aura, he gathered the fragmentary but copious flesh power from the depths of the outsider¡¯s internal organs, meridians, and bones.

    As time passed bit by bit, Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon repeated the process in the spirit jade cultivation room under the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ...

    In the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s majestic pce stood atop a mountain peak that rose above the clouds. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, it looked like a god¡¯s pce that loomed in the clouds.

    Countless golden, cyan, red, white, and yellow magical symbols could be seen floating on the stone pce walls. Like shoals of fish, they constantly realigned, forming different spell formations that contained profound truths of heaven and earth.

    From time to time, waves of strong spiritual power spread out into the distance from the stone pce like ripples on water.

    Wherever the waves of spiritual power spread to, gigantic boulders were instantly reduced to flying dust. Even space was affected, giving rise to faint fizzing sounds.

    Upon contact with the waves of spiritual power, numerous evil spirits vanished like smoke in thin air.

    Multi-colored miasma was also torn up like a carpet and pushed into the distance by the waves of spiritual power.

    ¡°Rise!¡± As a bulky Stoneman expert eximed in their ownnguage, a handful of dwarf mountain peaks dozens of kilometers away were channeled by his bloodline power. They were uprooted and started flying towards the Heaven Pce Sect.

    The sparsely vegetated mountain peaks floated like the floatingnds Nie Tian had seen in the other dimension.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As they rammed into the majestic pce, the countless magical symbols in the pce walls instantly lit up.

    Upon contact, the mountain peaks exploded, sending out countlessrge rocks.

    Then, a wave of spiritual power spread out from the pce, reducing the rocks to dust that filled the heavens.

    Afterward, a Phantasm expert, a Fiend expert, and a ckscale expert each unleashed their secret magics on the most magnificent pce in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s headquarters were tested by swarms of evil spirits, corrosive smoke, storms of rocks, and rivers of blood.

    With his hands sped behind his back, Basto stood in the rubble. Not a shred of impatience could be seen on his unearthly handsome face.

    It was as if he knew that the grand spell formation, which had protected the Heaven Pce Sect for thousands of years, would eventually crumble upon unrelenting bombardment.

    He knew that there wasn¡¯t a single impregnable spell formation in this world, no matter who built it.

    Every spell formation would consume power to hold. It would consume even more power to resist attacks.

    When the spell formation no longer had enough power to resist the attacks levied against it, then it would naturally shatter.

    ording to his assessment, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s grand spell formation failed.

    At that time, they would storm the Heaven Pce Sect and set the tone for their invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

 Chapter 629: Parting on Bad Terms

    Five hexagonal spell formations were operating at the center of the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Golden, cyan, white, red, and yellow auras continued to flow out of the five spell formations, which were paved with numerous spirit stones.

    Like streams of spiritual power, the multi-colored auras poured into a pool in the middle of the spell formations.

    There was a densework of tubes that looked like a man¡¯s meridians at the bottom of the pool. They carried pure energy to every corner of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    The pool was called a Fortune Pool, and the spell formation was called the Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Five Elements Fortune Formation was connected to five different arcane realms, each of which contained rich metal, wood, water, fire, and earth power.

    The five hexagonal spell formations channeled the five types of power into the Fortune Pool from the five arcane realms, where the powers were mixed in a profound way before being delivered to every corner of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Infused with power, the small spell formations in the pce walls would unleash waves of spiritual power every once in a while.

    These waves seemed to contain the profound truths of the fortunes of heaven and earth. Not only could it protect the heaven and earth, but it could also deal out massive damage.

    Upon contact with a spiritual power wave, anything or anyone would suffer an unimaginably heavy blow, regardless of whether they were tangible or illusory entities.

    The mountain peaks that the Stoneman experts used to attack the grand spell formation were instantly reduced to dust. Basto evenmanded their forces that were under the seventh grade to retreat to a location that was ten thousand meters from the Heaven Pce Sect, so they didn¡¯t get annihted by the waves of spiritual power.

    At this moment, almost all of the Soul realm experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars were gathered by the central hubs of the Five Elements Fortune Formation in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    With a grim face, Zhao Luofeng looked at Dong Tengfei, who was thest to arrive, and asked, ¡°Why isn¡¯t Nie Tianing with that puppet of his?¡±

    He was well aware that the Five Elements Fortune Formation would not hold very long, facing the outsiders¡¯ continuous bombardment.

    The Heaven Pce Sect possessed profound reserve power. One of the seven arcane realms they owned was now being used by theirte Soul realm patriarch as his private cultivation location.

    Another arcane realm was used to relocate their juniors.

    The other five were used to power the Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    Originally, the consumption of power by the Five Elements Fortune Formation had been eptable.

    However, after the outsider forces in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles had been wiped out, Basto had shrewdly sensed the anomaly, and thus summoned all of their forces to this realm.

    Under Basto¡¯smand, the seventh grade outsiders had started bombarding the Heaven Pce Sect with their secret magics as soon as they had arrived.

    Because of this, the Five Elements Fortune Formation now consumed an rming amount of power every day. It wouldn¡¯t be very long before the five arcane realms that the grand spell formation was connected to were drained of their power.

    ording to Zhao Luofeng¡¯s assessment, the Five Elements Fortune Formation would only hold another two weeks, at most.

    Then, it would be time for the final battle between the humans of the Domain of the Falling Stars and the outsider invaders.

    If the humans lost that battle, the Domain of the Falling Stars would be fated to fall into the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    A meaningful look shed across Dong Wangling¡¯s eyes. ¡°Nie Tian? He¡¯s just a Greater Heaven stage kid. What difference can he make to the situation? Perhaps you don¡¯t know this yet, Sectmaster Zhao. His Bone Blood Demon suffered serious damage while helping us kill the outsiders in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. It¡¯s not functional for the time being.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Even if his Bone Blood Demon can¡¯t be sent into the battlefield, he could have brought his me Dragon Armor. Everyone here should know that Basto is at thete seventh grade. Aside from Brother Xia, I¡¯m afraid none of us will be able to contend against him single-handedly.

    ¡°However, Brother Xia has just entered thete Soul realm. He¡¯s in need of a powerful fire-attributed spiritual tool to help him fight Basto.¡±

    Looking somewhat impatient, Hua Mu said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to dwell on this. I¡¯ve already made it perfectly clear that the me Dragon Armor doesn¡¯t belong to Xia Yi!¡±

    Sitting straight next to Zhao Luofeng, Xia Yi was bald and had crimson skin, as if mes were burning in his flesh.

    There seemed to be two ever-burning volcanoes in the depths of his eyes.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor was mine!¡± Xia Yi eximed, looking disgruntled.

    Not the slightest fear could be seen on Hua Mu¡¯s face as he said, ¡°All you had was an empty shell. It was Nie Tian whopleted it with the Blood Core and fixed its damage, restoring it to its original state.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Xia Yi snorted disdainfully and said, ¡°If you insist on thinking this way, then you¡¯ll have to figure out a way to deal with Basto yourself. I won¡¯t be able to help you.¡±

    With these words, he closed his eyes, as if none of this concerned him anymore.

    Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and the others grew anxious upon seeing his attitude.

    With their patriarch in secluded cultivation, Xia Yi was the onlyte Soul realm expert throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    That meant that only he had the ability to stop Basto.

    If he refused to contribute, the human alliance would have to send several middle Soul realm experts to contend against Basto, but even that wasn¡¯t safe.

    In this situation, once the Five Elements Fortune Formation failed, the Soul realm experts would face mountain-like pressure from the outsiders.

    Zhao Luofeng had a headache over the tough situation, and thus couldn¡¯t help but make a suggestion, ¡°Mr. Hua, I know that you¡¯re close to Nie Tian. How about this: You tell Nie Tian to bring his me Dragon Armor here, and I¡¯ll trade it with a Spirit Channeling grade treasure that agrees with him.

    ¡°As far as I know, Nie Tian practices me power, wood power, and star power.

    ¡°We happen to have a wood-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    ¡°If I trade it for Nie Tian¡¯s me Dragon Armor, then he has no reason to refuse, right?¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± Ling Dong called out with a deep powerful voice.

    Ling Dong had ced high hopes on one of the chosen from the Heaven Pce Sect. Ling Dong had assumed that that wood-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure had been prepared for that promising disciple.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Zhao Luofeng was actually willing to trade that treasure for Nie Tian¡¯s me Dragon Armor.

    Zhao Luofeng then jerked his head towards him and gave him a meaningful look.

    Ling Dong went nk briefly, and then fell silent.

    That was because he suddenly understood what Zhao Luofeng was nning.

    The Five Elements Fortune Formation wouldn¡¯t hold for very long. Once it failed, and Xia Yi refused to help, the Heaven Pce Sect would be the first to suffer from the outsiders¡¯ wrath.

    The entire Domain of the Falling Stars might fall if they lost this battle.

    At such a crucial moment, the only solution would be to trade the me Dragon Armor with that wood-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure, so that Xia Yi would join the battle.

    Then, after the crisis was over and their patriarch entered the Void domain, would Nie Tian dare to not give the wood-attributed treasure back if they asked?

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t persuade him to do that. That Spirit Channeling grade treasure has already merged with his flesh and soul. If he forcibly separates himself from it, it¡¯ll put him in great danger, even if it doesn¡¯t kill him.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Zhao Luofeng burst into a ming rage. ¡°Even this won¡¯t do?!¡±

    Xia Yi opened his eyes. Shock could be seen in his eyes as well, as he hadn¡¯t expected that even such an offer wouldn¡¯t be enough.

    Xia Yiughed sinisterly. ¡°The kid is a man of character! Well then, let¡¯s see who is going to stop Basto after the Five Elements Fortune Formation copses!¡±

    His gaze swept over Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and the others with them. The threat in his words couldn¡¯t be more obvious.

    All of those who met his gaze frowned, and had a headache over the difficult situation.

    They all knew that only Xia Yi possessed the battle prowess to contend against Basto. Any of the other Soul realm experts would run the risk of being killed while facing Basto on the battlefield.

    Since they only had two weeks left, negotiations went on amongst the Soul realm experts, all of whom wore worried faces. However, they failed toe to an agreement.

    Seeing this, Xia Yi shot a meaningful nce at Zhao Luofeng, and shut his eyes.

    Zhao Luofeng and the others also fell silent one after another, their faces long.

    The Soul realm experts that supported Nie Tian found an excuse and left the central hubs of the grand spell formation for a secret room.

    After soundproofing the room, Hua Mu sighed and said with a worried expression, ¡°If Xia Yi indeed won¡¯t join the battle after the Five Elements Fortune Formation fails, we three from the Spirit Condor will hold Basto off.¡±

    Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect looked surprised as he asked, ¡°Will you be able to do that?¡±

    ¡°We have a secret magic that¡¯ll allow us to stall Basto for two hours.¡± Hua Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°But only two hours. I hope you¡¯ll spare no means to ughter the enemy during that time.

    ¡°If things go well, perhaps you can finish off the other seventh grade outsiders with the help of those from the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects. Then, you cane back to Basto, and we may be able to kill him together.

    ¡°If that doesn¡¯t work...¡± Hua Mu shook his head and didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    They all knew that, if they failed to kill all the other seventh grade outsiders within two hours, then Basto would break free and kill them instead.

    After their battle in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, they knew that none of the seventh grade outsiders would be easy to deal with.

    The reason why they had won the battle in the Realm of a Hundred Battles was because they had superior numbers and the assistance from Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon.

    Even so, the battle hadsted days.

    It would be very difficult for them to ughter their opponents in just two hours.

    However, they also knew that, if Xia Yi refused to help, this would be their only workable n.

    While they frowned deeply, Xia Yiughed sinisterly by the hubs of the grand spell formation and said, ¡°If they refuse to make Nie Tian cough up the me Dragon Armor, then let them deal with Basto.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng nodded. ¡°This is their decision. They must shoulder the consequences.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Xia Yiughed wildly. ¡°We¡¯ll see who¡¯ll be there to protect Nie Tian after the Soul realm cultivators from the Spirit Condor, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and those other sects are killed in this battle!¡±

 Chapter 630: A New Idea

    In the Dong n...

    Under Dong Qianqi¡¯s leadership, the Profound realm and Worldly realm members of the Dong n arrived in the Realm of Mystic Heaven through their teleportation portal.

    The uing battle against the outsiders drew attention from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    All of the major sects had learned that the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Five Elements Fortune Formation would be breached within two weeks.

    Once the grand spell formation failed, a battle that would determine the fate of the Domain of the Falling Stars would take ce.

    Because of this, all of the major sects sent almost all of their Profound realm and Worldly realm disciples to the Realm of Mystic Heaven in preparation for the uing battle.

    Word of the dispute that had taken ce in the Heaven Pce Sect had also spread very rapidly. Many soon learned that Xia Yi had demanded the me Dragon Armor from Nie Tian, and Nie Tian had refused.

    Sects like the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect condemned Nie Tian for not seeing the bigger picture.

    Meanwhile, sects like the Tool Sect and the Ice Pavilion Sect chose to remain silent.

    However, a few of their disciples argued in private that Nie Tian should have agreed to Zhao Luofeng¡¯s terms and traded the me Dragon Armor for that wood-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure so that Xia Yi would be able to use it to fight Basto.

    Watching thest Dong n member disappear into the teleportation portal, Dong Baijie said with a grim face, ¡°I wonder how many of them will get to return after the battle.¡±

    The other Dong n members behind them, who were there to see their fellow n members off, also looked rather worried. After all, a lot of uncertainties would be added to the battle if Xia Yi refused to contribute.

    Without ate Soul realm expert to contend against Basto, he would be able to turn the situation around by himself.

    If the human alliance was defeated, the numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm cultivators that had poured into the Realm of Mystic Heaven would all be doomed.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qin Yan sighed and said, ¡°Why would Nie Tian choose to go into secluded cultivation at such a crucial moment? Even if he doesn¡¯t want to give his me Dragon Armor away, he could have gone to join the defense of the Heaven Pce Sect. It was a formidable force, after all.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian must have his reasons,¡± Dong Baijie said.

    Disgruntled, Dong Li shot a cold nce at Qin Yan and asked, ¡°What if Nie Tian just doesn¡¯t go? Hasn¡¯t he done enough for the Domain of the Falling Stars? If he didn¡¯t help them seal that spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven a few years ago, the Heaven Pce Sect would have fallen long ago.

    ¡°But how did the Heaven Pce Sect repay his kindness afterwards?¡±

    Qin Yan smiled awkwardly. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that, Li.¡±

    Dong Li let out a cold snort. ¡°After he helped them through that crisis, the Heaven Pce Sect insisted that he join their sect. If the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect hadn¡¯t stood behind him, he would have been forced to join the Heaven Pce Sect by now. Everyone knows that the Heaven Pce Sect only did that because they wanted to take Nie Tian¡¯s fragmentary star marks and the legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce within them.

    ¡°He has already done so much for the Heaven Pce Sect and the Domain of the Falling Stars. But the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect still secretly searched for him afterwards.

    ¡°Because of that, he was forced to hole up in the Realm of Split Void for years.¡±

    Dong Li gritted her teeth as she recalled the unfairness Nie Tian had received over the years. ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect has done such heartless things. Why on earth would Nie Tian agree to their terms now? Considering their consistent way of doing things, even if Nie Tian agreed to trade the me Dragon Armor for that wood-attributed spiritual tool, the Heaven Pce Sect would still try to get it back afterwards.

    ¡°If their patriarch demanded that wood-attributed spiritual tool back after the crisis is over, could Nie Tian refuse to do so?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the juniors that were gathered around the teleportation portal all fell silent.

    After pondering for a while, they all thought Dong Li¡¯s words made sense.

    Once Nie Tian agreed to give the me Dragon Armor to Xia Yi, Xia Yi would never give it back again. After getting it, Xia Yi¡¯s strength would soar. Therefore, demanding it back would be impossible.

    Furthermore, even if he received that wood-attributed spiritual tool from the Heaven Pce Sect, its ownership would still be problematic in the future.

    Hence, it wouldn¡¯t matter if Nie Tian lent the me Dragon Armor to Xia Yi, or traded it for some spiritual tool. He would most likely end up losing in either case.

    Hua Mu must have seen through their scheme, and thus refused their offer at the price of their rtionship with the Heaven Pce Sect and me God Sect.

    ¡°I fear that the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect will seek trouble with Nie Tian after this war is over,¡± Qin Yan said softly.

    Dong Li, who would stand by Nie Tian no matter what, fell silent upon hearing these words.

    She felt mountain-heavy pressure.

    If the human alliance eventually prevailed, Nie Tian would probably face joint pressure from thete Soul realm Xia Yi, the Heaven Pce Sect, and sects like the Poison Sect. Nie Tian probably wouldn¡¯t get away.

    Even if the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect failed to break through into the Void domain, he would still be at thete Soul realm.

    If he and Xia Yi, who was also at thete Soul realm, were to find fault with Nie Tian, would Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and the others still be able to keep Nie Tian safe?

    Furthermore, would Hua Mu and the others sustain injuries or even die during the uing battle?

    If they were to suffer casualties, would they still dare to stand up to the Heaven Pce Sect and the me God Sect?

    With these questions in mind, Dong Li feared more and more for Nie Tian¡¯s safety.

    Dong Baijieforted Dong Li by saying, ¡°We¡¯ll cross that bridge when wee to it. Perhaps things will be different by that time. Nie Tian has worked miracles on many asions. Perhaps he¡¯ll work another miracle this time. Never underestimate him.¡±

    ¡°Miracles...¡± Qin Yan shook her head. She clearly didn¡¯t believe in miracles.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Miracles will happen!¡± Dong Li seemed spirited again.

    ...

    In the room built in a spirit jade vein.

    Nie Tian let out a long breath and opened his eyes, which shone like diamonds.

    Now that he had channeled everyst shred of flesh power from the seventh grade Demon¡¯s internal organs, meridians, and bones using Life Drain, the Demon¡¯s corpse had shrunk to half the size it had been when the Bone Blood Demon had finished draining its blood.

    Now, the seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse had lost its value to Nie Tian.

    Like a spirit stone that was drained of spiritual power, the seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse had be useless.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with astonishment as he examined the green aura in his heart and sensed its unsatisfied desire for more flesh power. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it still hasn¡¯t absorbed its fill!¡±

    He hadunched Life Drain a dozen times to drain the seventh grade Demon¡¯s flesh powerpletely.

    Even bereft of blood, the Demon¡¯s corpse had contained extremely rich flesh power.

    He had expected that the flesh power from this Demon¡¯s corpse would be more than enough for that green aura to devour its fill and go into dormancy again, preparing for the awakening of the next bloodline talent.

    However, it didn¡¯t.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe that the amount of flesh power such a small aura needs is actually such an astronomical figure! Plus, as more bloodline talents are awakened, it will need even more flesh power.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°I¡¯ve only awakened a couple of bloodline talents, and the residual flesh power within a seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse is already not enough for it to enter dormancy again.</i>

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t imagine howrge its appetite will be in the future.¡±</i>

    Nie Tian felt overwhelmed as he focused all of his attention on the mysterious green aura in his heart.

    Soon, he snapped back to reality and looked over at the Bone Blood Demon. He discovered that it was draining the blood of the seventh grade Phantasm¡¯s corpse.

    The corpses of the seventh grade Stoneman and ckscale were scattered to the side, both of which seemed noticeably smaller than they had been before.

    <i>¡°Fortunately, there are still three seventh grade outsider corpses left,¡± </i>he thought to himself.

    He blurred into action and started channeling flesh power from the ckscale¡¯s corpse with Life Drain, hoping to use its flesh power to satisfy the green aura¡¯s seemingly endless needs.

    After an unknown period of time, when heunched another Life Drain to absorb flesh power from the ckscale¡¯s corpse, he could no longer feel the rapid movements of the green aura.

    At this moment, there was already not much flesh power left in the seventh grade ckscale¡¯s corpse.

    ¡°Are you finally satisfied?¡± Nie Tian muttered as he sent a wisp of his awareness into his heart. As expected, he saw that the green aura had finally settled down.

    The countless fine crystal-like chains inside of it were shining with glorious green light as they slithered over one another, as if a new bloodline talent was brooding.

    From his previous experience, he had learned that the time it took to awaken a new bloodline talent varied greatly.

    Sometimes it would only take days, while at other times it could take months.

    The thickened flesh auras that hadn¡¯t been devoured by the green aura were now roaming about inside of him. An idea suddenly urred to him, and heunched Heavenly Wood Heal. Wisps of wood power flew out of his vortex of wood power, merged with the flesh auras, and started another round of refinement of his internal organs.

    The Internal Organ Nourishing was the step that was dedicated to the refinement of all of his internal organs. Right now, he had only finished refining his heart.

    As wisps of mixed energy flew into his liver, he started strengthening and refining his liver.

    To his surprise, he soon discovered that the refinement of his liver seemed much easier than the refinement of his heart.

    Apparently, heart refinement was the most difficult sub-step of Internal Organ Nourishing. After it wasplete, the refinement of the other internal organs would seem much easier.

    Time passed as Nie Tian continued to channel flesh power from the ckscale¡¯s corpse. With Heavenly Wood Heal, he mixed it with his own wood power, and used it to refine his liver.

    As the seventh grade ckscale¡¯s corpse waspletely drained of its flesh power, he finished the refinement of his liver.

    As he opened his eyes, he noticed that the Bone Blood Demon had already finished draining thest seventh grade outsider¡¯s blood.

    Looking at the remaining Stoneman and Phantasm corpses, Nie Tian sensed the torrential blood flowing inside of the Bone Blood Demon. All of a sudden, an idea hit him.

    The Bone Blood Demon had shown an extremely strong desire for his Blood Essence before, as if his Blood Essence would be very useful to it.

    Now, he needed the Bone Blood Demon to improve its battle prowess.

    It seemed that he would be able to recover his Blood Essence with the remaining two seventh grade outsider corpses if he were to give some to the Bone Blood Demon.

    <i>¡°I might as well take a shot.¡±</i> With this thought in mind, he summoned a drop of translucent and sparkling Blood Essence, which looked like a red agate, from within his heart. After a moment of hesitation, he controlled it to float towards the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 631

    A drop of Blood Essence flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s heart and dripped onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    Like arge sponge, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart absorbed Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence the moment it touched its heart.

    BOOM!

    An overwhelming aura suddenly burst forth from within the Bone Blood Demon. Nie Tian could sense with great rity that its heart had started pounding with unprecedented vigor.

    Gasping with astonishment, Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul to conduct a thorough examination of it.

    To his surprise, he saw thick, torrential blood pouring into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart like flooding rivers.

    At the same time, numerous sparkling spots started to form in its heart.

    Then, the sparkling spots gradually came together, forming sparkling, crystal-clear chains.

    It was just that the chains still seemed rather illusory and fragile.

    Furthermore, the change onlysted a few seconds before it suddenly stopped.

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian as he instantly realized what was happening to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart. ¡°Bloodline Crystal Chains!¡±

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart had remained intact after its death, the Bloodline Crystal Chains within it had long since been lost.

    However, Bloodline Crystal Chains were the embodiment of a race¡¯s bloodline and carried their most profound talents and magics.

    The green aura in his heart was the reason why he was able to keep awakening new bloodline talents.

    Bloodline Crystal Chains were what formed that green aura. Therefore, it was those Bloodline Crystal Chains that made it possible for him to awaken bloodline talents and unleash bloodline magics.

    ording to his master, Wu Ji, the heart was as important to outsiders as the spiritual sea to humans.

    It was said that, for high grade outsiders, even if they died, as long as their heart remained intact, after being given enough flesh power, they could stille back to life!

    There even was a saying that tenth grade outsider monarchs could reform bones, reattach meridians, regenerate flesh, and return to life by relying on just one drop of Blood Essence, and they would be able to recover their strength through time!

    The Bone Blood Demon had been at the eighth grade before it had died.

    Unlike those outsider monarchs, it couldn¡¯t return to life by just relying on one drop of Blood Essence.

    Even so, Bloodline Crystal Chains had reappeared in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart because of that drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    <i>¡°Apparently a drop of Blood Essence is far from enough,¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself.

    Nie Tian finally understood why the Bone Blood Demon had yearned for his Blood Essence so much.

    Once the Bone Blood Demon recovered its Bloodline Crystal Chains, it would be able to use the Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodline talents and magics again.

    Before, when the Bone Blood Demon had fought, it had only relied on its indestructible body and the Blood Refining Incantation the Blood Sect had forcibly infused into it.

    Due to the destruction of its Bloodline Crystal Chains, it hadn¡¯t been able to use the bloodline talents and magics that made Bonebrutes truly powerful.

    <i>¡°I need you to recover your battle prowess!¡±</i> Nie Tian eximed inwardly. <i>¡°You¡¯ll only be able to disy your full power when you can use your race¡¯s bloodline talents and magics!¡±</i>

    Without any hesitation, he summoned all of the Blood Essence that contained the profound truths of life from within his heart.

    One drop after another, they dripped onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    After taking in the remaining nine drops of Blood Essence, the miraculous change started again.

    More and more illusory, sparkling spots appeared and came together in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart as torrential blood entered its heart.

    Nie Tian focused all of his attention on its heart.

    Under his gaze, translucent and sparkling Bloodline Crystal Chains gradually came to form, one after another.

    Nie Tian expected that the process would take a fairly long time, and he felt exhausted after losing those ten drops of Blood Essence.

    Nie Tian rose to his feet and walked to the seventh grade Stoneman¡¯s corpse, where heunched Life Drain and started channeling its rich flesh power into himself.

    Momentster, flesh auras that had expanded dozens of times over returned to him.

    They followed his meridians to his heart, where they were gradually refined into new drops of Blood Essence.

    As the Bone Blood Demon reformed its Bloodline Crystal Chains with his Blood Essence, he recovered his Blood Essence one drop after another with the flesh power he absorbed from the seventh grade Stoneman¡¯s corpse.

    Later, as he regenerated the ten drops of Blood Essence in his heart, there was still a copious amount of flesh power left in the seventh grade Stoneman¡¯s corpse.

    He examined the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart and discovered that the changes had stopped again.

    Only a third of the fine, sparkling Bloodline Crystal Chains had grown solid and strong.

    Most of the Bloodline Crystal Chains still seemed illusory and fragile. Even though they were also flickering with bright light, it seemed that they could go out at any moment.

    <i>¡°Damn! That¡¯s still not enough!¡± </i>Nie Tian cursed inwardly as he tightened his lips and sent the newly-generated ten drops of Blood Essence into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart as well.

    As soon as they entered the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart, all of the illusory Bloodline Crystal Chains lit up like glorious stars in the highest heavens. An unfathomable change happened again.

    The chains of bright spots gradually materialized, as if they were morphing into chains made of tiny gems.

    Like this, the Bone Blood Demon slowly reforged its Bloodline Crystal Chains with the help of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    However, Nie Tian was aware that even those new ten drops of Blood Essence wouldn¡¯t be enough to finish the reforging process.

    Therefore, he went back to absorbing flesh power from the seventh grade Stoneman, generating new Blood Essence, and using it to reforge Bloodline Crystal Chains for the Bone Blood Demon.

    Time passed bit by bit...

    After two more rounds, Nie Tian had infused twenty more drops of Blood Essence into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    During this process, he no longer paid attention to the changes in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart. Instead, he focused all of his attention on absorbing flesh power and generating Blood Essence.

    That was when he realized that he had almostpletely drained the seventh grade Stoneman¡¯s corpse of its flesh power, and thus opened his eyes.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he examined the Bone Blood Demon with a wisp of soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    He discovered that the numerous fine Bloodline Crystal Chains in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart had finally be solid and resilient. Not a single one of them seemed illusory anymore.

    Meanwhile, the Bone Blood Demon started to release a strange aura that seemed to be able to silence everything in heaven and earth.

    A series of questions entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    <i>¡°Now that the Bloodline Crystal Chains have been restored to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart, it can probably use bloodline talents and magics in battle again, right?</i>

    <i>¡°How high is its current battle prowess?</i>

    <i>¡°Will it be able to contend against ate Soul realm expert?¡±</i>

    After all, the Bone Blood Demon was just a puppet with an iplete discarnate soul. It had lost its memories of the past and many profound things in its soul.

    All it could do now was follow Nie Tian¡¯s orders and fight whoever it was told to.

    Even so, he had a feeling that the Bone Blood Demon had changed. It had be stronger, but he didn¡¯t know how that was. He would have to test its current strength through a battle with a formidable enemy.

    However, there was one thing he was sure of: after helping the Bone Blood Demon reforge its Bloodline Crystal Chains with arge amount of his own Blood Essence, his connection with it had be closer and more profound, even though he didn¡¯t know what this would change.

    At that moment, something suddenly urred to him. <i>¡°Bloodline Crystal Chains reformed in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart after it was infused with my Blood Essence. I have another treasure that also possesses a ¡®heart¡¯!</i>

    <i>¡°The me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core, in its essence, is also a heart.</i>

    <i>¡°If my spections are correct, the Blood Core is probably a shriveled me dragon¡¯s heart!</i>

    <i>¡°If the Bone Blood Demon could recover its Bloodline Crystal Chains after getting my Blood Essence, would simr changes happen to the me dragon¡¯s shriveled heart after I infuse it with my Blood Essence?¡±</i>

    He knew that he could channel two types of power from himself to the me Dragon Armor: me power and flesh power.

    Furthermore, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s performance in battle would improve after gaining these two types of power from him. He could still remember that when he had worn it in battle, it had absorbed wisps of flesh power from him continuously.

    Blood Essence was the essence of his blood. Each and every drop contained a shocking amount of flesh power.

    Not just that, but the profound truths of lifey within his Blood Essence, which could work miracles. The reforming of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains was proof enough of that.

    <i>¡°I can probably strengthen the me Dragon Armor with my Blood Essence!¡±</i> he thought to himself.

    However, after pondering for some time, he eventually decided to forgo that thought for the time being. After all, he wasn¡¯t sure how long it would take for him to test that theory.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said to the Bone Blood Demon. ¡°I¡¯ve spent arge amount of my precious Blood Essence reforging your Bloodline Crystal Chains for you. Now it¡¯s time to test whether that was worth it.¡±

    With these words, he stepped into the teleportation portal and returned to the Dong n.

 Chapter 632: Joining the Battle

    The moment Nie Tian appeared in the teleportation portal in the Dong n, Li Langfeng eximed, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    He had sat by the teleportation portal without saying a word for the past ten days.

    He had heard the discussion amongst the Dong n members and thetest information Qin Yan had acquired from the Spirit Condor, though he had remained silent the whole time.

    He had been waiting for Nie Tian.

    Overjoyed to see Nie Tian, Dong Li let out a sigh of relief and said hurriedly, ¡°Nie Tian! Are you okay?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good, very good actually,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Dong Li had thought that the reason why he had asked to use their cultivation room was because he had overconsumed his power, and urgently needed to recover.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation now?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Since the few Dong n elders present didn¡¯t knew Nie Tian well, and Dong Li and Dong Baijie also knew about the current situation, they didn¡¯t say anything.

    However, they all had grim looks on their faces, frowning as if they were facing a great cmity.

    Dong Baijie let out a sigh and exined the failed negotiation in the Heaven Pce Sect to Nie Tian. He told him that Xia Yi had insisted that he give him the me Dragon Armor, but Hua Mu had refused him on his behalf.

    Then, Zhao Luofeng had proposed that the Heaven Pce Sect trade a wood-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure for the me Dragon Armor, but Hua Mu had refused that proposal as well.

    Because of that, the meeting had broken up in discord.

    Meanwhile, the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Five Elements Fortune Formation wouldn¡¯t be able tost much longer. The moment it failed, the final battle between the humans and the outsiders would break out.

    ¡°So the battle hasn¡¯t started?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    He didn¡¯t know how long he had cultivated and prepared for this battle in Dong Wangling¡¯s personal cultivation room.

    ¡°Actually, the battle has already started,¡± Qin Yan said.

    The others¡¯ faces became even grimmer upon hearing these words.

    ¡°Has the Five Elements Fortune Formation failed already?¡± Nie Tian asked in a heavy voice.

    ¡°Not yet, but the Heaven Pce Sect thought it was about time to fight back,¡± Qin Yan exined. ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Five Elements Fortune Formation is connected to five arcane realms. If any of the realms fails to continue to provide elemental power, the grand spell formation will fail.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect thought that the outsiders had already spent a great deal of power attacking the Five Elements Fortune Formation. Also, if the grand spell formation could be preserved, they would still be able to retreat into the spell formation and teleport to their arcane realms from there.

    ¡°Therefore, the human experts have already charged out of the Five Elements Fortune Formation and engaged in a fierce battle against the outsiders.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he quickly turned around and entered the teleportation portal. Without the slightest hesitation, he said, ¡°Get me there!¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Dong Li cried out. Somewhat panicked, she said, ¡°You, you don¡¯t have to put yourself in such danger! Plus, you have the me Dragon Armor with you. Once Xia Yi sees you, I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll force you to give it up, and he might receive support from the others!¡±

    The crowd of Dong n members had already discussed this matter a few times during the past few days.

    Dong Baijie and Dong Li had both reckoned that Nie Tian shouldn¡¯t go to the Heaven Pce Sect even if he returned in time to join the battle.

    If Xia Yi indeed refused to help, and the other Soul realm experts couldn¡¯t contend against the outsiders, what difference would Nie Tian make?

    They also deemed that, when it was a matter of life or death, even experts like Zong Zheng and Qian Buhui might not still want to defend Nie Tian against Xia Yi.

    Eyebrow furrowed, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Xia Yi... He might not necessarily have what it takes to take the me Dragon Armor from me!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, a figure suddenly shed into view before the crowd.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Senior Zhao! Why are you still here?¡±

    In his senses, after parting for just about ten days, Zhao Shanling somehow seemed even more mysterious.

    He looked at him and had a strange feeling that he wasn¡¯t in the same space as him, even though he was standing right in front of him.

    He then membered that Zhao Shanling had said that he would make another advance in his cultivation since Qi Bailu had given in to him, solving the emotional knot that had weighed on his mind.

    In fact, Zhao Shanling had already entered the middle Soul realm at that moment. It was just that his cultivation base hadn¡¯t stabilized then.

    It seemed that he had stabilized the transition of his cultivation base while Nie Tian had reforged the Bloodline Crystal Chains for the Bone Blood Demon.

    Right now, Zhao Shanling, who was an unmatched expert in spatial magics, had truly entered the middle Soul realm.

    Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you. You promised me something, remember? If you somehow get yourself killed, won¡¯t all that I¡¯ve done for the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles be in vain?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before asking, ¡°So are you going to the Realm of Mystic Heaven with me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a look that was as if he had nned this long ago. Then, eyes narrowed, he asked with a disdainful smile, ¡°Where¡¯s that puppet? Let me see how strong its flesh power is now.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Nie Tian then summoned the Bone Blood Demon.

    The moment it appeared in front of everyone, an intense fleshly aura pervaded the entire Dong n.

    Each and every Dong n member experienced anomalies in their blood flow, no matter what cultivation base they were at. They felt that the speed of their blood flow had be very unstable. They even felt as if their blood flow could reverse at any moment.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem affected at all. He stood there perfectlyposed.

    The Dong n members subconsciously backed away from the Bone Blood Demon, as if the closer they were to the Bone Blood Demon, the harder it was for them to control their blood flow.

    Even Li Langfeng, Dong Li, and Dong Baijie backed a few steps away, their expressions flickering with astonishment.

    ¡°Nie Tian, this puppet of yours seems to be different from before.¡± Li Langfeng, who had stayed near the Bone Blood Demon for a rather long time, spoke his mind. ¡°I¡¯ve never felt such pressure from it before. But when I stand close to it now, I feel like my blood is trying to escape my control and fuse into it.¡±

    ¡°Its aura of flesh and blood has be so much more vigorous than before!¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes flickered with a strange light, as if even he experienced instability in the flow of his qi and blood. He took a deep look at the Bone Blood Demon, and after a brief examination, his eyes suddenly widened.

    He sensed that the Bone Blood Demon was not only wreathed in an extremely intense aura of qi and blood, but it was also releasing a strange aura that could silence heaven and earth.

    Aplicated expression appeared on Zhao Shanling¡¯s face as a spection entered his mind. He then fixed Nie Tian with a shocked gaze. ¡°Are those...?¡±

    ¡°Senior Zhao, do you think this puppet will be able to contend against Basto? Also, if Xia Yi makes a move against me, will it be able to protect me?¡± Nie Tian asked these questions because he wasn¡¯t sure himself, but he believed that, considering Zhao Shanling¡¯s cultivation base and strength, he would be able to see through the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s current strength.

    Zhao Shanling gave a coldugh. ¡°It won¡¯t matter if it¡¯s Basto or Xia Yi. If either of them wants to kill you, you¡¯ll die beyond the shadow of a doubt.¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Why?¡± he asked.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes brimmed with ridicule as he said, ¡°The Bone Blood Demon won¡¯t be able to protect you from soul attacks. Basto is a Phantasm expert. You know what kinds of attacks Phantasms are good at, don¡¯t you? He¡¯ll be able to crush your soul with his immense soul power, and your puppet won¡¯t be able to do a thing.

    ¡°Xia Yi is now at thete Soul realm. He¡¯s more than capable of overtaking you with his soul magics as well. How do you n to resist those?¡±

    Dong Baijie couldn¡¯t help but say loudly, ¡°Senior Zhao is right, Nie Tian! Compared to them, your cultivation base is still too low, and your psychic power hasn¡¯t transformed into soul power yet. If they just attack you with their profound soul magics, you won¡¯t be able tost a second! I really don¡¯t think you should go to the Realm of Mystic Heaven. Your life will be in serious danger if you do.¡±

    Dong Li also implored Nie Tian not to go.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian fell silent.

    Truth be told, he hadn¡¯t thought much about what Zhao Shanling had just pointed out to him. He pondered his words, and realized that both Basto and Xia Yi possessed soul power that was far more profound than his. Either of them would be able to annihte him with a single soul attack.

    He couldn¡¯t think of a way to make up for the huge gap between the immensity of their soul power.

    Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°I might as well do a thorough job helping you. I¡¯ll go to the Heaven Pce Sect with you. Once we¡¯re there, you¡¯ll have to stay close by my side, and I¡¯ll put you inside one of my personal arcane realms. As long as you don¡¯te out of it, neither Basto nor Xia Yi will be able to kill you with their soul magics.¡±

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    Zhao Shanling snorted augh. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 Chapter 633: The Interracial War

    In a split second, Nie Tian appeared in a very spacious hall in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    A number of teleportation portals were flickering with bright light as Worldly realm and Profound realm cultivators came through them every once in a while.

    Among them, Nie Tian was the one who seemed the most insignificant.

    A Heaven Pce Sect elder with white eyebrows and a beard was in charge of the teleportation portals. Originally, he had bowed his head in silence, but at this moment, he suddenly raised his chin, his expression flickering.

    He wasn¡¯t looking at Nie Tian. Instead, his glittering eyes were fixed on Zhao Shanling, who was standing shoulder to shoulder with Nie Tian.

    The man¡¯s name was Wu Ya. He was ate Profound realm cultivator who also practiced spatial power.

    ¡°Brother Zhao!¡± Wu Ya sprang to his feet, and with an excited look in his eyes, strode towards Zhao Shanling.

    Zhao Shanlingughed coldly as he flicked his long sleeve, and a wave of profound power instantly pushed Wu Ya back a few steps.

    At the same time, cultivators from the other realms continued to arrive via the other teleportation portals. All of them were here to join the battle.

    Many of them recognized Zhao Shanling.

    Shocked to see him, they lowered their voices and discussed his arrival while slowly backing away from him.

    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±

    ¡°That maniac is here! Is he here to help us win the battle?¡±

    ¡°No way! He massacred all those innocents in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. He¡¯s even more merciless than the outsiders. There¡¯s no way that he¡¯s here to save us from this cmity!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m even more worried now that he¡¯s here. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he worked with the outsiders to kill us.¡±

    Wu Ya, who was pushed out of the way by Zhao Shanling, smiled nervously as he sped his hands and said, ¡°Brother Zhao! Our sectmaster has said that you... you¡¯re not wee in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.¡±

    With a broadugh, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Is my brother afraid that I¡¯ll get killed in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, or that I¡¯m here to massacre people like the outsiders?¡±

    Wu Ya shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t dare to presume the sectmaster¡¯s thoughts.¡±

    As a cultivator who practiced spatial power, he understood Zhao Shanling¡¯s formidable power better than anyone.

    After taking a deep look at Zhao Shanling, his eyes widened as he eximed, ¡°Congrattions, Brother Zhao! You¡¯ve made another advancement in your cultivation!¡±

    At that moment, a woman¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out from the side.¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    Nie Tian jerked his head towards the source of the voice. Surprised, he said, ¡°Sister Lu?¡±

    It was Lu Ling who had just teleported here from the Yin Sect and called out to him. Standing behind her were a few Worldly realm and Profound realm Yin Sect members.

    Lu Ling¡¯s expression suddenly turned cold as she asked, ¡°What are you doing here? Go now! You won¡¯t be able to help us win this war! Instead, you being here will only create trouble!¡±

    Wu Ya gasped with astonishment. ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    The numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm experts that had just stepped out of the teleportation portals allid their eyes on Nie Tian, their expressions flickering. ¡°He¡¯s Nie Tian?!¡±

    Recently, Nie Tian¡¯s name had spread wide and far in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Everyone learned that Hua Mu had parted on bad terms with Zhao Luofeng and Xia Yi because of Nie Tian and his me Dragon Armor.

    They were all very surprised that he would appear in the Heaven Pce Sect at such a sensitive time.

    A Worldly realm Poison Sect discipleughed and called out, ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯ve thought it through, haven¡¯t you? It¡¯s not toote. As long as you hand over the me Dragon Armor now, the me God will still join the battle. As long as the me God can stop Basto, we¡¯ll have a good chance of winning this battle!¡±

    A man from the Spirit God Sect chimed in, ¡°You¡¯vee around just in time. Your me Dragon Armor will finally be put to good use!¡±

    Many others also assumed that Nie Tian was here to give the me Dragon Armor to Xia Yi, and thus felt relieved.

    ¡°Get back in that teleportation portal now!¡± Before Nie Tian could say something, Lu Ling started dragging Nie Tian towards the teleportation portal.

    She genuinely feared for Nie Tian¡¯s safety and knew what unwanted things would happen if Nie Tian remained in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Chin slightly up, Zhao Shanling turned to look at Nie Tian with an inquiring gaze.

    Seeing that Lu Ling was forcing Nie Tian to leave, Wu Ya hurried over while eximing, ¡°Wait! You can¡¯t leave now! If you want to go, please leave the me Dragon Armor first!¡±

    ¡°Screw off!¡± Zhao Shanling grew impatient as he sent Wu Ya back with another flick of his long sleeve.

    Wu Ya was taken aback. ¡°Brother Zhao, didn¡¯t you escort him here for him to hand in the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    ¡°Who told you that?¡± Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t show the slightest intention of exining. Instead, he jerked his head towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Do you want to leave or stay?¡±

    ¡°Stay!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Zhao Shanling then made a grabbing motion in the air and Nie Tian escaped Lu Ling¡¯s control and flew to his side.

    SHEW!

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, he felt as if he had been dragged into a mini arcane realm. Now, he couldn¡¯t sense anyone else¡¯s aura except Zhao Shanling¡¯s.

    However, his vision and hearing werepletely unaffected.

    He could still see the people in the spacious hall and hear them discussing this unexpected event, but he couldn¡¯t sense their auras anymore.

    ¡°You¡¯re now in one of my personal void realms,¡± Zhao Shanling said casually. ¡°It¡¯s separated from the space that we live in by multipleyers of void. Due to my special arrangements, you can see and listen. But attacks of any form from our space won¡¯t be able to reach you.¡±

    ¡°Will I still be able to maintain my connection with my puppet?¡± Nie Tian asked instantly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling suddenly remembered something and thus asked, frowning, ¡°What happened to it? Why are there Bloodline Crystal Chains in that Bonebrute¡¯s shell now?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because it has absorbed arge amount of outsider blood,¡± Nie Tian lied.

    Zhao Shanlingughed coldly. ¡°Outsider blood? The Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation will only allow it to channel blood and absorb power from it. Since when can it restore Bloodline Crystal Chains to a dead heart?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± Nie Tian said, spreading his hands.

    ¡°It seems that you still have a lot of secrets that I don¡¯t know about,¡± Zhao Shanling said, his eyes narrowed, as if he wasn¡¯t worried in the slightest that their conversation would be overheard by others. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s just get ahold of the situation first. You need to remember that you can¡¯t take one step out of my void realm. Otherwise, even I won¡¯t be able to keep you safe.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, Wu Ya, Lu Ling, and everyone in the great hall vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    After a moment of dizziness, he found himself and Zhao Shanling high in the air above the Heaven Pce Sect and the Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    Rain was pouring down and bolts of lightning were slithering in the night sky.

    In the heavy rain, bloody battles were taking ce within a five hundred kilometer radius of the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Nie Tian gazed off in every direction, and all he could see were the bright lights created by spiritual tools shing with the outsiders¡¯ bloodline magics.

    Close to the Heaven Pce Sect, gigantic boulders were being manipted by powerful Stoneman, smashing Worldly realm cultivators into puddles of blood and flesh.

    A couple of powerful experts from the Yang Sect joined the battle. They manipted their glowing spiritual tools that looked like small suns to attack the Stonemen experts.

    In a further area, the falling rain was turned into ice shards that pierced through Birdmen like countless tiny daggers.

    Nie Tian then realized that powerful experts from the Ice Pavilion Sect were vesting the rain and water with frigid ice power, turning them into sharp weapons.

    In another area, the pouring rain was poisoned by deadly toxins and became as green as devils¡¯ eyes. As it rained on the Qi warriors¡¯ multicolored spiritual power wards, wisps of green smoke rose from them.

    Meanwhile, corpses and severed limbs could be seen everywhere. Some belonged to humans and some belonged to outsiders.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know how long the battle hadsted, but bloody scenes and fierce battles stretched as far as his eyes could see.

    Both the humans and the outsiders seemed to have lost their minds and were now driven solely by their bloodthirsty instincts. It seemed they wouldn¡¯t stop until they had ughtered everyst one of their enemies.

    ¡°Go there.¡± As Zhao Shanling said these words, the void realm that looked like a bubble in the heavy rain floated towards a location farther from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    As they moved, Nie Tian nced down and saw humans and outsiders engaged in fierce battles. From the look of it, the humans weren¡¯t at an obvious disadvantage.

    However, as Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm floated farther and farther away from the Heaven Pce Sect, Nie Tian finally saw battles between seventh grade outsiders and Soul realm human experts.

    These were the battles that would determine the result of this war.

    Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, Qian Buhui... They were all fighting seventh grade outsiders.

    Two Demons that had activated their Ancestral Awakening looked like ancient, evil gods that had dominated heaven and earth. As they breathed, endless Demon Qi came pouring out of their mouths. Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue were contending against them with their Spirit Channeling grade treasures that looked like a zing sun and a glowing moon.

    As they fought the Demons, the ¡®sun¡¯ and the ¡®moon¡¯ expanded and shrank from time to time, changing nonstop.

    However, the transformed Demons took up the space between heaven and earth. They unleashed pitch-ck demonlight from within pores all over their bodies, contending against the ¡®sun¡¯ and the ¡®moon¡¯.

    ¡°Look over there.¡± Zhao Shanling pointed in a direction and snorted a smile. ¡°He seems to be having a good time.¡±

    Nie Tian looked up and saw a man sitting in the lotus position high up in the sky, like a zing mountain in the heavy rain.

    Bald and muscr, he was ncing down at the battles with narrowed eyes, not showing the slightest intention to join the battles himself.

    ¡°Is he Xia Yi?¡± Nie Tian asked in a low but firm voice.

    A shred of grimness appeared in Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes for the first time. ¡°Yes, he is. After the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s patriarch, he¡¯s the second Qi warrior to advance to thete Soul realm throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian followed Xia Yi¡¯s gaze and saw Hua Mu and the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor fighting a Phantasm expert in the distance.

    The de that Phantasm expert was holding was none other than the Nethersoul Saber.

    ¡°Basto!¡± With a single nce at him, Nie Tian figured out the Phantasm expert¡¯s identity.

    The Nethersoul Saber in his hand seemed to have summoned countless weeping and screaming evil spirits from the depths of the Yellow Springs.

    Hua Mu and the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor were now in the middle of a sea of evil spirits. They had each summoned arge, ancient bronze bell, a translucent and sparkling jade ruler, and a miniature seven-story pagoda.

    These three Spirit Channeling grade treasures blossomed with glorious light that lit up the entire sky.

    Furthermore, they seemed to be forged by the same person, since they were all branded with the Spirit Condor¡¯s sigil.

    The three Spirit Channeling grade treasures shed about within the sea of evil spirits, unleashing blinding light to defend against the millions of evil spirits.

    Zhao Shanling looked impressed as he said, ¡°The Spirit Condor¡¯s reserve power is profound indeed. The three of them are actually able to contend against Basto with their Spirit Channeling grade treasures.¡± Then, he shook his head and added, ¡°But it seems that they won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer. Once their Spirit Channeling grade treasures are worn down by the evil spirits and stop functioning, those three are bound to die.¡±

    At that moment, Xia Yi noticed Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm. With a grin, he asked, ¡°You¡¯re here, Brother Zhao! The kid next to you is Nie Tian, right? I¡¯ve seen his portrait more than once.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded smiling. ¡°Yes, he is.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for bringing him to me, Brother Zhao.¡± Xia Yi then beckoned for Nie Tian toe to him with one hand. ¡°Give me the me Dragon Armor kid, and I¡¯ll forgive our previous feuds. I can even promise you that as long as you give me the me Dragon Armor, I¡¯ll personally make sure that the Realm of me Heaven will be safe for the next thousand years!¡±

 Chapter 634: The Bonebrutes Indestructible Form

    Considering Xia Yi¡¯s current cultivation base, he actually had the ability to keep the Realm of me Heaven safe for a thousand years. He wasn¡¯t being blindly arrogant.

    ¡°No way!¡± Nie Tian said with great determination.

    It was just that his voice didn¡¯t seem to spread out of the void realm.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Xia Yi looked at him from afar, but didn¡¯t seem to have heard him.

    With a disdainful smile, Zhao Shanling pointed his hand in the air, and the multipleyers of space that separated them from Xia Yi started to change. A special ward seemed to gradually peel open.

    ¡°Alright, he can hear you now,¡± Zhao Shanling said.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor belongs to me,¡± Nie Tian said, facing Xia Yi with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron, ¡°No one can take it away from me, not even you!¡±

    Xia Yi heard him perfectly clearly this time.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, Xia Yi didn¡¯t seem angered by his words. He nodded and said with curled lips, ¡°So it wasn¡¯t Hua Mu who refused to hand over the me Dragon Armor. It was you. You¡¯ve got some nerve, kid. You actually dare to refuse my demand. Alright. Since you¡¯ve made your choice, you can just open your eyes and watch those who you care about die miserably one by one.¡±

    With these words, he didn¡¯t attempt to take the me Dragon Armor from Nie Tian. Instead, he sat still in the air and closed his eyes again.

    Underneath them, Basto was brandishing his Nethersoul Saber, unleashing rivers of countless evil spirits that wept and screamed as they gnawed on the ancient bell, jade ruler, and miniature pagoda.

    The three Spirit Channeling grade treasures formed wards of blinding light to hold off the evil spirits with great effort.

    Distinct, vein-like patterns could be seen on the surface of the Nethersoul Saber. Like meridians, they seemed to have torrential flesh power flowing within them.

    All of a sudden, the Nethersoul Saber expanded a thousand times over. Wreathed in countless evil spirits, it took up almost all of the space between heaven and earth.

    ¡°The three potentates of the Spirit Condor won¡¯t be able to hold on much longer,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an expressionless face. ¡°The reason Xia Yi hasn¡¯t joined the battle yet is that he¡¯s been waiting for Basto to kill them. Once they are dead and there¡¯s no one to hold Basto off, it will spell doom for the other Soul realm cultivators.

    ¡°Unlike my senior martial brother, Xia Yi won¡¯t care how many people will die and how many sects will be wiped out in this cmity. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll even care if the me God Sect is annihted.

    ¡°As long as he lives on, he¡¯ll be able to rebuild the me God Sect. When he bes the strongest cultivator in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the me God Sect will be the most powerful sect.¡±

    After a short pause, Zhao Shanling snorted augh and said, ¡°Perhaps he will join the battle after Hua Mu and the other two are dead. After killing them, Basto will have consumed a significant amount of power. By that time, even without the me Dragon Armor, Xia Yi will probably be able to defeat Basto.¡±

    ¡°So are you saying that he¡¯s using Uncle Hua and his friends to wear Basto down so that he¡¯ll be able to swoop in and defeat him eventually?¡± Nie Tian asked with a grim face.

    ¡°Perhaps, I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s just my conjecture.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait anymore.¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath and summoned the Bone Blood Demon with a cry in his mind. In the next moment, the enormous Bone Blood Demon morphed into a streak of blood-colored light that flew out of his ring of holding.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered, as he seemed to know that even his void realm wouldn¡¯t be able to contain the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s formidable aura.

    Therefore, upon seeing this, Zhao Shanling hastily formed a hand seal, channeling that streak of blood-colored light from within the void realm.

    WHOOSH!

    After flying out of the void realm, the streak of blood-colored light rapidly expanded into the hundred-meter tall Bone Blood Demon, which stood unwavering in the middle of the sky,pletely ignoring the heavy rain and slithering lightning bolts.

    Separated by multipleyers of space, Nie Tian was still able to sense the intense flesh power fluctuations from the Bone Blood Demon.

    He even had a curious feeling that the Bone Blood Demon had be a part of himself that he could manipte with his thoughts under any circumstances.

    It was as if their bloodlines were somehow connected.

    With this thought in mind, he fixed the Bone Blood Demon with a gaze, and it instantly dashed down from the sky head first.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you can actually maintain a close connection with that puppet while you¡¯re in my void realm... Impressive...¡±

    After entering the middle Soul realm, his void realm had be even more profound. He had expected that Nie Tian probably wouldn¡¯t be able to manipte the Bone Blood Demon from within his void realm.

    He had even prepared to open a secret soul tunnel for Nie Tian to maintain his connection with the Bone Blood Demon.

    However, before he could create the tunnel, the Bone Blood Demon had already bolted directly towards Basto, which was enough proof that it had received a clear order from Nie Tian.

    He was deeply surprised that even his void realm couldn¡¯t cut off the connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon.

    Zhao Shanling suddenly burst into a wildugh and said, ¡°Excellent! With such a curiously close connection, I won¡¯t need to worry that you won¡¯t be able to maintain your connection with it after we go to the ce I mean to take you to.¡±

    SHEW!

    In a split second, the Bone Blood Demon shot down from the highest heavens and mmed hard into the expanded Nethersoul Saber.

    Basto was standing on the ground as he manipted the Nethersoul Saber high above him. With therge amount of evil spirits hovering around it, the Nethersoul Saber seemed to be wreathed in a river of souls.

    Hua Mu and the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor looked like three fish in that river of souls.

    As the Bone Blood Demon crashed hard into the Nethersoul Saber, the Nethersoul Saber shook violently.

    Countless cyan auras, which seemed to be refined from Basto¡¯s blood, flew out from within the wide de. Sounds of weeping souls could be heard from them as they did.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s image suddenly appeared in the prismatic crystal between Basto¡¯s eyebrows.

    ¡°A dead Bonebrute turned into a puppet!¡± Basto¡¯s eyes widened, surprised that someone could actually turn the corpse of a powerful Bonebrute into a battle puppet.

    With bloodcurdling screams, countless cyan auras shot into the Bone Blood Demon like sharp arrows.

    After its previous body refinement, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones had already shed their original pale-gray color and taken on a translucent and sparkling look that made them look like jade. Inside of them, blood was running in its unique meridians.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Cyan auras flew into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s jade-like bones like raindrops falling onto a hard rock. Cyan light sputtered from the contact points, but not a single change could be seen on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bones.

    ¡°The Bonebrutes¡¯ indestructible form!¡± Basto eximed as he stared at the Bone Blood Demon with a grim expression.

    The Bone Blood Demon had been a powerful Bonebrute during the time when the Realm of Unbounded Destion had still been home to the Bonebrutes.

    Later, it had been killed by powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and left deep underground. Thousands of yearster, humans had somehow discovered it. After being passed through many hands, it had eventually ended up in the Blood Sect¡¯s hands.

    Basto stared closely at the Bone Blood Demon. As a bright light shed across the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, the enormous Nethersoul Saber suddenly sank in the air.

    In the next moment, its iparably wide de shed up towards the Bone Blood Demon with a momentum that could split heaven and earth.

    Hua Mu and the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor were then flung out of the river of evil spirits. Enveloped in the protective wards created by their Spirit Channeling grade treasures, they stared up into the heavens, their faces filled with astonishment.

    CRACK!

    The Nethersoul Saber¡¯s wide de mmed into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s leg bone.

    As blinding light blossomed from the contact point, the Bloodline Crystal Chains within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart suddenly twisted tightly together to activate a special bloodline magic.

    In the next moment, a thinyer of misty white energy spread out on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s leg bone and soon covered its entire body.

    Nie Tian looked down with rapt attention and discovered that countless evil spirits had flown out of the Nethersoul Saber and converged into a river of spirits that poured madly into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s leg bone.

    However, the strange thing was that as soon as the river of spirits made contact with theyer of white energy, the countless evil spirits were reduced to sparks that flickered a few times before vanishingpletely.

    Not a single evil spirit could prate the ward and enter Bone Blood Demon¡¯s leg bone.

    After taking the Nethersoul Saber¡¯s devastating sh, its leg bone was still translucent and sparkling, like a piece of beautiful jade. Not even a dent could be seen on it.

    A shudder went through Basto. ¡°It¡¯s an eighth grade Bonebrute!¡±

    As this moment, he finally realized that the Bonebrute he was facing possessed eighth grade bloodline power.

    Even though the Bonebrute had already been turned into a puppet, and it couldn¡¯t use some of its bloodline magics without aplete soul, it had already recovered its indestructible form, which only eighth grade Bonebrutes would possess.

    The Bonebrutes¡¯ most formidable weapon was their iparably tough bodies. Only after thousands of years of body refinement would eighth grade Bonebrutes enter their indestructible form.

    After his failed attack, Basto realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to break the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s indestructible form with his Nethersoul Saber.

    Basto thus changed his way of thinking and looked up into the heavens. ¡°Since it¡¯s a puppet, it needs its owner to function. Killing its owner will deactivate the puppet!¡±

    With a single nce, he caught sight of Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian, who was hiding in a void realm.

    As soon as he tracked them down, their images appeared in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    Even separated by manyyers of space, he seemed to be able to lock onto them with the Phantasms¡¯ profound soul magics.

    ¡°He¡¯sing for you!¡± Zhao Shanling said with a cold harrumph, as if he had known that Basto would set his mind on Nie Tian after failing to kill the Bone Blood Demon.

    Xia Yi, who had originally closed his eyes, had opened them the moment the Bone Blood Demon swooped down from the heavens.

    ¡°Such a powerful puppet!¡± he muttered to himself.

    His expression flickered slightly as he witnessed the Nethersoul Saber, which had given Hua Mu and the other two a hard time, failing to shatter the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s leg. He finally understood why Nie Tian had dared to refuse his demand for the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if you¡¯ll be able to protect the kid¡¯s soul from being crushed, Zhao Shanling,¡± Xia Yi muttered with an expression as if he was enjoying an interesting show.

    ¡°Nie Tian, tell your puppet to attack Basto!¡± Zhao Shanling bellowed. ¡°I¡¯ll help you defend against his soul attacks!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Nie Tian said immediately.

    The Bone Blood Demon mmed the Nethersoul Saber vigorously with its translucent, bony arm. With a loud boom, the Nethersoul Saber was pounded into the ground.

    Basto¡¯s eyes shone with murderous light as he sprayed a mouthful of blood on the huge de. ¡°Rise!!¡±

    In the next moment, the numerous meridians rapidly expanded and suddenly broke free from the de.

    As thick as ancient trees and hundreds of meters long, the meridians rose into the sky like roaring dragons.

    In the blink of an eye, they wrapped themselves around the Bone Blood Demon like chains, binding it temporarily.

    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to have a taste of my soul power!¡± With these words, Basto spat out another mouthful of blood, which mixed with the pure soul aura that shot out from the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows and morphed into an enormous ghostly w that grabbed towards the void realm where Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian were hiding.

    As the gruesome w approached, Nie Tian was struck by a terrifying feeling, as if his soul was going to be ripped from him.

    The moment the ghostly w made contact with the void realm, fizzing sounds echoed out, as ifyers of space were being gradually prated.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the giant fingers of the w came closer and closer, as if they would reach him at any moment.

    Before he realized it himself, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul lit up on their own. Rays of chilly starlight poured down on his sea of awareness, stabilizing his soul from the influence of the ghostly w.

 Chapter 635: Sudden Changes

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Strange sounds kepting from Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm as it started to shine with bright light.

    The sinister, ghostly w Basto had formed with his Blood Essence and soul power seemed to be slowly going throughyers of space in an attempt to rip Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian out from the space where they were hiding.

    Underneath them, the Bone Blood Demon was struggling vigorously, hoping to break free from the meridians that had shot out of the Nethersoul Saber.

    Thick meridians busted from time to time as the Bone Blood Demon struggled with all its strength. However, the busted meridians rapidly reformed and continued to bind the Bone Blood Demon.

    Meanwhile, countless evil spirits continued to fly out of the Nethersoul Saber and into the meridians, providing the meridians with new power.

    Hua Mu, who was finally relieved of the pressure from Basto, looked up, and an exmation escaped his mouth, ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    Standing on his ancient bronze bell, he bolted up without hesitation. Unleashing dazzling golden light that was mixed with his soul power, he charged directly into the ghostly w.

    The golden light and his soul power twisted into extremely resilient strings that pierced right through the enormous w.

    Even so, the gruesome w remained in its motion of grabbing towards Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling.

    As Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph, unfathomable changes urred in the depths of his eyes. ¡°A Thousand Void Illusions!¡±

    Immediately afterward, Nie Tian was hit by a feeling that was as if the void realm he and Zhao Shanling was in suddenly started falling farther and farther away from the Realm of Mystic Heaven towards some unknown space.

    Images of numerous realms shed rapidly before his eyes.

    Therge w that was grabbing towards him seemed increasingly distant and illusory.

    He nced down at the ground and felt that he was separated from Hua Mu by endless void. In his eyes, Hua Mu looked like a reflection in the water that could disappear at any moment.

    Subconsciously, he looked behind him and saw concentric rings gradually appear and spread.

    There seemed to be a portal at the center of the rings. Glorious light could be seen shing across within it, as if it led to some mysterious heaven and earth where no living beings would survive.

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment upon seeing it.

    He had heard that Zhao Shanling had been banished to some distant space disruption zone and had his connection with the Domain of the Falling Stars cut off.

    It was a ce full of dangers and bereft of any spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. However, after a few years, he had miraculously found his way back.

    Therefore, no one in the Domain of the Falling Stars knew that heaven and earth better than Zhao Shanling.

    It seemed that if he escaped to that heaven and earth, no one would be able to catch him again.

    <i>¡°Is he going to take me to that heaven and earth?¡±</i> he thought to himself.

    While Nie Tian was overwhelmed by what was happening, he suddenly found to his surprise that he seemed to have stopped moving backward.

    The enormous, ghostly w that wasing at him a moment ago was also nowhere to be found.

    He nced around and discovered that Hua Mu and the fierce battles were also gone.

    Not just that, but even his connection with the Bone Blood Demon was cut off.

    Zhao Shanling let out a sigh of relief. Looking somewhat tired, he jerked his head towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Such powerful soul magic. It almost pierced through my sevenyers of space. I¡¯ve consumed a significant amount of power to protect you from that attack. You¡¯d better remember what you¡¯ve promised me.¡±

    ¡°Of course I will,¡± Nie Tian said without hesitation.

    ¡°Alright, Basto has probably refocused on Hua Mu and the other two from the Spirit Condor by now. We can go back now.¡± As soon as Zhao Shanling uttered these words, Nie Tian was hit by a feeling as if the distance between him and the Realm of Mystic Heaven was being rapidly shortened. The void realm he was in seemed to be traveling through space at an rming speed.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he found himself floating high over the battlefield again.

    At this moment, the Bone Blood Demon had already shattered the meridians that were binding it and broken free. However, after losing its connection with Nie Tian, it was now attacking a Demon that had activated Ancestral Awakening.

    Basto was now holding his Nethersoul Saber and swinging it at Hua Mu, though the light in his eyes seemed a bit dimmer than before.

    However, Hua Mu seemed to be in a worse condition than Basto. With an insecure and uneasy look on his face, he seemed to be worrying about something.

    The moment Nie Tian returned, the connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon was reestablished, and he made Basto its primary target again. ¡°Go!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon instantly ended its battle against that Demon expert and bolted towards Basto.

    Basto burst into a ming rage. ¡°You actually dare toe back?!¡±

    ¡°Go, Nie Tian!¡± Hua Mu shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°Get out of here!¡±

    With these words, fine veins started to be visible and bulge up on Hua Mu¡¯s face, as if they were tiny slithering snakes.

    At the same time, a mysterious light could be seen flickering in the depths of his eyes, as if something was about to charge out of him.

    Another potentate of the Spirit Condor looked astonished upon seeing the changes Hua Mu was going through. ¡°Damn it...¡±

    After a moment of bewilderment, he called out, ¡°Go! Everyone at the Profound realm or lower needs to retreat to the Five Elements Fortune Formation right now!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, many human experts who were fighting powerful outsiders went nk.

    Ling Dong from the Heaven Pce Sect, who was attacking a seventh grade ckscale, growled furiously, ¡°What are you talking about?! We¡¯re in the middle of a battle! And you¡¯re undermining our morale!¡±

    The Qi warriors from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Dong n, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect also looked rather confused, not sure what he was trying to do.

    However, no one seemed to want to stop fighting their opponents.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?" Nie Tian also looked deeply confused.

    No one seemed to know what was happening. Even Xia Yi frowned as he shot a confused look at Hua Mu, not knowing what he was up to at such a crucial moment.

    ¡°All members of the Spirit Condor, get as far as you can from Patriarch Hua Mu!¡± The man shouted again.

    The Qi warriors from the Spirit Condor that were scattered in different locations on the battlefield ended their battles immediately upon hearing these words and retreated like a falling tide.

    ¡°You¡¯re actually retreating at such a crucial moment!!¡± Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect thundered furiously. ¡°All sects will join in condemning the Spirit Condor for such an action after the crisis is over!¡±

    However, the two potentates of the Spirit Condor ignored himpletely. Like two streaks of light, they flew back towards the Heaven Pce Sect. As they did, they unleashed spiritual power belts with their jade ruler and miniature pagoda repeatedly. The Qi warriors that refused to leave the battlefield were all wrapped by the belts and pulled away from Hua Mu, no matter which sect they belonged to.

    Their strange actions confused everyone.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon suddenly came to a stop when it was almost upon Basto.

    Terrifying auras burned in the depths of its grayish green eyes as it fixed Hua Mu with a stare, as if it had sensed some danger, and thus refused toe any closer.

    Nie Tian followed its gaze and saw that a mysterious pattern that looked like some sort of vine had appeared between his eyebrows.

    The look in Hua Mu¡¯s eyes had also be very strange and gruesome.

    PHEW! PHEW! PHEW!

    All of a sudden, countless fine vines shot out from the mysterious pattern in Hua Mu¡¯s forehead. They twisted and interwove with each other in the air before instantly drilling into many fifth and sixth grade outsiders that were close to him.

    Even though those outsiders¡¯ bodies were exceptionally tough, the vines went through them as easily as if they were pieces of tofu.

    Not just that, but every vine seemed to find their hearts with stunning uracy.

    The moment they pieced into the outsiders¡¯ hearts, they started draining them of their blood like a pump draining a pool.

    Within seconds, the vines expanded from the size of hairs to the size of human arms.

    ROAAAARRRR!!

    Hua Mu let out a monstrous roar as more vines, which seemed to be some sort of powerful nt from the outsiders¡¯ realms, flew out from all over him.

    POOH!

    As a seventh grade Demon turned around, a thickened vine caught him off guard and pierced right through his heart.

    Even his impregnable form failed to stop the madly growing vine.

    As soon as his heart was pierced through, his enormous body started to shrink at a shocking rate.

    Meanwhile, the vine expanded at a noticeable rate. In the blink of an eye, the vine grew to a thousand meters long, covered in sharp thorns that had an ice-cold metallic luster.

    SHEW!

    The gigantic vine suddenly turned around and flew towards Basto, who was bbergasted by the scene.

    Startled, Basto hastily swung his Nethersoul Saber to meet the mad vine.

    BAM!

    As the Nethersoul Saber¡¯s wide de that was wreathed by numerous spirits made contact with the monstrous vine, the spirits were instantly scattered and vanished in the wind.

    At the same time, the Nethersoul Saber sank upon the terrifying impact and started to shrink down.

    With a very grim expression, Basto jerked his head towards the surviving Demon expert, who had activated Ancestral Awakening, and shouted, ¡°What the hell is going on with that man?¡±

    Seeing the vines flying towards him, the Demon expert hastily flew up into the heavens, consumed by fear, screaming, ¡°Heavenly Demonsbane! He has a Heavenly Demonsbane inside of him!¡±

    However, the vines seemed to have their own spirits. They chased him up into the heavens.

    ¡°Lord Basto, he¡¯s the one who went to the Third Demon Realm and stole a Heavenly Demonsbane seed from us!¡±

 Chapter 636: Hua Mu Turns

    The changes happened so suddenly. No one had foreseen that Hua Mu could actually disy such destructive force.

    Numerous sharp, pitch-ck vines that looked as if they were made of iron slithered in the air, reaping the lives of the nearby Demons.

    Every fourth and fifth grade Demon within a three hundred meter radius around Hua Mu had their hearts pierced through and were drained of their blood by the vines.

    After absorbing the Demons¡¯ blood, the vines rapidly grewrger and sharper.

    After killing everyst Demon in the vicinity, the expanded vines then targeted the Fiends, Phantasms, ckscales, and Stonemen.

    It seemed that the vines had their priorities.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    At an rming rate, the expanding vines pierced through more outsiders¡¯ hearts and harvested their blood.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    Thick outsider blood was rapidly channeled into the killer vines, providing them with nutrition and power.

    Momentster, there wasn¡¯t a single living being within a thousand meter radius around Hua Mu.

    Each and every outsider had died with terrified looks on their faces.

    ¡°What the hell is going on, Mr. Lu?!¡± Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect shouted, staring at one of the Spirit Condor¡¯s potentates.

    As of this moment, he finally realized why the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor had urged everyone to fall back into the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    ¡°Long story,¡± The potentate of the Spirit Condor named Lu Yuanxi said with a grim face. ¡°Just tell the disciples of all the sects to retreat to the Five Elements Fortune Formation as soon as possible.¡±

    Fortunately, he and that other potentate had ignored Zhao Luofeng¡¯s hindrance and pulled those who had refused to leave away from Hua Mu.

    Otherwise, those Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors would have died at Hua Mu¡¯s hands as well.

    At that moment, everyone could see that Hua Mu had already lost his senses.

    The look in his eyes was even more terrifying than that of the Demon expert who had activated Ancestral Awakening.

    With a flick of his fingers, Zhao Shanling controlled his void realm to float to Xia Yi¡¯s side. ¡°What happened while we were gone, me God?¡±

    At this point, Xia Yi had already lost his desire to deal with Nie Tian. Staring at Hua Mu with a grim expression, he exined without turning his head, ¡°After you went missing, Basto¡¯s giant w made Hua Mu its new target. Hua Mu fought that ghostly w and sustained some injuries to his soul. That¡¯s when it happened. Something inside of him seemed to stir and was very eager to charge out of him.

    ¡°Then, you came back and saw what happened afterwards.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Hua Mu actually has a nt from the Demons¡¯ realm growing inside of him. Even though I know nothing about that nt, since it killed a seventh grade Demon that easily, it must be far beyond ordinary.

    ¡°Hua Mu must have been suppressing it all these years. It must be the soul injuries he sustained that awakened the nt and caused such results.¡±

    As powerful as Xia Yi was, he started to look at Hua Mu with apprehension in his eyes.

    The truth was that he hadn¡¯t attached much importance to Hua Mu before this incident. He had thought that, even joining up with the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor, they wouldn¡¯t pose much of a threat to him.

    However, after witnessing the overwhelmingly destructive force of the madly growing vines, he started to feel uneasy around him.

    ¡°A powerful nt from a Demon realm... Uncle Hua has been to a Demon realm!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly recalled what Hua Mu had said to him years ago when he had tried to seal the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ording to him, the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations had opened a few times over the past thousands of years.

    It was just that, during those times, the Demons had been stopped from entering the Domain of the Falling Stars by some restrictive spell, but the humans from the Domain of the Falling Stars had been able to visit the Demons¡¯ realms through those spatial rifts.

    ording to Hua Mu, Qi warriors had formed exploration teams that had gone through the spatial rifts to the realms where the Demons lived.

    Most of those Qi warriors had never returned.

    Hua Mu had grown very sad when he had mentioned this, as if he had been reliving some very unpleasant memories.

    Back then, Nie Tian had had a feeling that Hua Mu must have been on one of the exploration teams, and that he was one of the few brave men who had walked out of the Domain of the Falling Stars in the recent thousands of years.

    Now, after seeing the formidable nt that had been hiding inside of him, he waspletely convinced that Hua Mu was one of those who had returned from the Demon realms, if he wasn¡¯t the only one.

    However, it seemed that he had paid a heavy price toe back alive; he hade back with a scary nt inside of him.

    Perhaps he had made great efforts to suppress the nt ever since he had returned, so the public didn¡¯t know about it.

    This time, the killer nt had only broken free from his restraint ande before the public eye because he had consumed too much power fighting Basto with the other two potentates of the Spirit Condor, and he had injured his soul contending against Basto¡¯s soul attack.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The enormous vines continued to fly through the air. They seemed to be sharp enough to pierce through solid steel after absorbing outsider blood to their fill.

    The parts of the vines that were close to Hua Mu were still rather thin. It was the parts that were far from him that had be as thick as man-eating pythons.

    The vines seemed to be very spiritual as they searched about by themselves for more fresh blood. Therefore, carried by the vines, Hua Mu started moving towards areas where living beings were gathered.

    Hua Mu seemed to be the movable root of the killer vines. He floated wherever the vines wanted to go.

    Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect saw that there were experts of the Ice Pavilion Sect in the direction where Hua Mu was heading, and thus eximed, ¡°Mr. Lu! Do you have a way to sober Hua Mu up and tell him to target only the outsiders?¡±

    Lu Yuanxi was holding his jade ruler as numerous streaks of spiritual light fell from him like willow leaves. ¡°No. If we knew how to do that, we would have done it already.¡±

    ¡°Brother Zong,¡± he said in a serious voice, ¡°The only way to save those disciples of your sect is to tell them to retreat to the Five Elements Fortune Formation as quickly as possible!¡±

    Zong Zheng pondered for a few seconds before issuing the order, ¡°All disciples of the Ice Pavilion Sect, steer clear of Mr. Hua and retreat to the Heaven Pce Sect immediately!¡±

    After hearing his words, Dong Wangling, Li Muyang, Qi Bailu, and the others also realized what they should do, and thus called out to the disciples of their own sects.

    Therefore, without consulting the Heaven Pce Sect, all of their Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors started retreating like an ebbing tide.

    ¡°Sectmaster! What should we do?!" Ling Dong asked loudly.

    After ncing around briefly, Zhao Luofeng gave the order. ¡°Retreat!¡±

    Upon hearing him, the disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect also ran as fast as they could from Hua Mu towards the Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    The Soul realm experts of the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect hesitated briefly, and then issued the same order.

    However, because they hesitated for a couple of seconds, Hua Mu flew to the area where their disciples were fighting outsiders. In the blink of an eye, numerous thick vines found their way through the Demons¡¯ hearts.

    Meanwhile, since many new vines had grown out of Hua Mu after the first round of killing, many vines couldn¡¯t find Demons to kill. Therefore, they no longer had a priority but instead killed whichever humans or outsiders were close to them.

    Many Worldly realm and Profound realm disciples of the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect failed to evacuate in time and thus fell prey to the killer vines.

    ¡°Hua Mu!!!¡± The sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect thundered furiously as he ended his battle against a seventh grade Birdman and bolted towards Hua Mu.

    Not long ago, Hua Mu had shattered the Spirit God Sect¡¯s grand spell formation and engaged in a fierce battle against him.

    Only after many other sects hade to intermediate between them had they ended their battle.

    At that time, the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect hadn¡¯t considered Hua Mu a very formidable opponent. If the outsiders hadn¡¯t started their invasion, he believed that he would have been able to defeat him eventually.

    Now that he saw Hua Mu entering such a state and start killing Qi warriors of the Spirit God Sect, he deemed that Hua Mu had done it on purpose. Then, recalling what Hua Mu had done before, he decided to ignore the outsiders and settle ounts with Hua Mu first.

 Chapter 637: Doomsday

    The fierce battle between the Soul realm experts and seventh grade outsiders broke off due to Hua Mu¡¯s unexpected change.

    However, in areas close to the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s magnificent pce, many Qi warriors and outsiders had yet to learn of what had happened, and thus were still engaged in fierce battle.

    At this moment, every Soul realm expert¡¯s gazended on Hua Mu.

    Ridicule filled the corner of Zhao Shanling¡¯s mouth as he said with narrowed eyes, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Lu Minhuang is seeking death this time. He probably thinks that he¡¯ll be able to take Hua Mu, judging from their previous fight in the Spirit God Sect.¡±

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°But he¡¯s wrong. The current Hua Mu isn¡¯t someone he can deal with.¡±

    Lu Minhuang was the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect. Zhao Luofeng, Zong Zheng, and the other Soul realm experts looked rather disgruntled after seeing that he had charged directly towards Hua Mu when even the outsiders hadn¡¯t gone after Hua Mu yet.

    Since Basto didn¡¯t fully understand what was going on with Hua Mu, he backed off a bit to keep a safe distance from him.

    ¡°Interesting!¡± Bastoughed as he took his time flying backwards with the Nethersoul Saber in his hand. Floating in a ce several thousand meters away from him, he said to the Demon expert while watching Lu Minhuang charge towards Hua Mu, ¡°Why would a Heavenly Demonsbane take root inside of him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± The Demon expert who had activated Ancestral Awakening said in the outsiders¡¯nguage. ¡°But I know that once a Heavenly Demonsbane grows out of someone, there¡¯s no getting rid of it again.¡±

    ¡°They either end up possessing the Heavenly Demonsbane, or the Heavenly Demonsbane ends up possessing them. If they let the Heavenly Demonsbane possess their body, the Heavenly Demonsbane will eat them up from the inside, and they will end up being a part of the nt.¡±

    Smiling, Basto nodded slightly. ¡°Let¡¯s see how things turn out.¡±

    SHEW!

    As the sectmaster of the Spirit God Sect sped through the sky, he cast a bronze coin out of his cuff.

    The few characters on the coin didn¡¯t seem to be in the humannguage or any outsidernguage. None of the observers seemed to know what they meant.

    However, as the bronze coin traveled through the air, it expanded rapidly, and a terrifying soul storm brooded in the hole at the center of the coin.

    The few strange characters on the coin then suddenly rose and morphed into evil spirits that joined up in channeling the soul storm in the hole in the coin.

    A bizarre aura that seemed to be able to tear all beings to bits rapidly built up in the hole. Then, as the expanding hole locked onto Hua Mu, a strong gravitational force was born in it.

    ¡°Nether-bridging Ghostly Coin!¡± One of the Soul realm experts recognized the bronze coin Lu Minhuang had just cast out.

    Even Basto¡¯s expression flickered in astonishment as he muttered, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that a human Qi warrior can actually learn my people¡¯s secret magic and disy such might.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The soul storm continued to build up within the hole in the expanding coin, giving rise to an irresistible gravitational force.

    At that moment, the vine pattern between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows suddenly blossomed with a mysterious light.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In a split second, thousands of sharp, pitch-ck vines exploded out of Hua Mu¡¯s forehead into the heavens.

    Dried-up corpses could be seen hanging on the tips of some of the vines as they thrashed vigorously at the gigantic Nether-bridging Ghostly Coin.

    Lu Minghuang¡¯s Spirit Channeling grade treasure shook violently as it was beaten by the vines.

    No matter how fiercely the evil spirits on the coin screamed, they didn¡¯t seem to be a match for the pitch-ck vines.

    The vine pattern between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows seemed to have long since be a part of him. It didn¡¯t seem affected at all by Grand Soul Grinder.

    WHOOSH!

    Eventually, the Nether-bridging Ghostly Coin could no longer bear the vigorous whipping from the killer vines. It ignored Lu Minhuang¡¯smands and flew directly into the distance.

    Lu Minhuang let out a muffled groan as blood spilled from his eyes and rolled down his face, giving him a broken-down look.

    Hua Mu, however, didn¡¯t seemed to notice any of that. Like dragons, thick vines swooped down from the heavens and started preying on the outsiders and humans on the ground.

    Soon, many outsiders were pierced through their hearts, falling victims to the killer vines.

    ¡°A Heavenly Demonsbane is drawn by rich flesh power,¡± The seventh grade Demon said with a grim face. ¡°Human bodies are fragile and don¡¯t contain much flesh power, so they¡¯ll never be its first choice. This Heavenly Demonsbane isn¡¯t easy to deal with, Lord Basto.¡±

    Meanwhile, after seeing Lu Minhuang be injured, the sectmaster of the Poison Sect was shocked and instantly gave up on the idea of joining him in attacking Hua Mu.

    Immediately afterwards, all of the Soul realm experts called out or contacted their subordinates via Sound Stones, telling them to end their battles and retreat to the Five Elements Fortune Formation as quickly as possible.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that Hua Mu¡¯s changes had changed the course of this interracial battle.

    The Demons were always the first choice of the killer vines that flew out of Hua Mu. After the Demons were the Phantasms and the Fiends, who also possessed rich flesh power, and then the Birdmen. Humans were theirst choice.

    The vines didn¡¯t seem to care very much as the humans retreated towards the Five Elements Fortune Formation. Instead, they flew to areas where outsiders were gathered.

    As powerful as Basto was, he decided to pause his actions and assess the mad vines that had burst forth from within Hua Mu first.

    Zhao Shanling rubbed his chin and said with an impressed expression, ¡°Nie Tian, it seems that your puppet won¡¯t be of much help anymore. If the outsiders can¡¯t figure out a way to deal with Hua Mu, they probably won¡¯t be able to further their invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars. The war, which would have swept across the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, will probably end in their failure.¡±

    ¡°But if no one can stop Uncle Hua and return him to normal, isn¡¯t he going to be another disaster?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Not necessarily. If no one can solve his problem, people can just evacuate from the Realm of Mystic Heaven and let him roam about in this realm.¡± Zhao Shanling sounded surprisingly casual. ¡°You don¡¯t like the Heaven Pce Sect anyways. Hua Mu can destroy whatever he likes once the humans have evacuated. Then, the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect can worry about how to deal with him after he enters the Void domain.

    ¡°If even he isn¡¯t able to stop Hua Mu, then it¡¯ll be simple. Humans will just need to abandon the Realm of Mystic Heaven and never return.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned very grim. ¡°That¡¯s a solution indeed, and I couldn¡¯t care less if the Heaven Pce Sect was destroyed. But it¡¯s just that if Uncle Hua can¡¯t get out of this state, I...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s something no one but himself will be able to fix,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an expressionless face. ¡°Only when his soul recovers will he be able to suppress the monstrous nt and regain control of himself.¡±

    ...

    ¡°What should we do, Lord Basto?¡± The seventh grade Demon asked.

    Lookingposed, Basto said, ¡°Be patient. Tell everyone to get away from that man for the time being. We just need to wait until our weapon of massive destruction arrives. At that time, that Heavenly Demonsbane will be easily annihted. After all, that Heavenly Demonsbane is far from being fully grown.¡±

    ¡°What weapon, Lord Basto?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll know soon enough.¡±

    After their conversation ended, every seventh grade outsider issued orders to their people, telling them to pull back.

    It didn¡¯t matter which race they were. Upon receiving the orders, those that were close to Hua Mu rapidly scattered and fled from his sight, fearing that the vines might catch a whiff of their flesh aura and start hunting them.

    The outsiders¡¯ actions made the Soul realm experts realize that even the outsiders didn¡¯t know how to deal with Hua Mu.

    However, since they hadn¡¯t evacuated from the Realm of Mystic Heaven, they seemed to be waiting for a turn of events.

    Nie Tian grew increasingly anxious as he watched Hua Mu, who had lost his senses, searching about for lives like some monster.

    He pondered hard for a way to restore Hua Mu to his senses and help him retake his body from that demonic nt.

    While Nie Tian wracked his mind for an answer, the Spirit Pearl within his ring of holding suddenly grew restless.

    He went nk for a split second before sending a wisp of awareness into the Spirit Pearl.

    After collecting arge amount of discarnate souls, the star map within it had be iparably bright and clear. The only difference was that an image now entered his mind as his awareness swam in it.

    A colossal, ancient starship was whooshing through the depths of the dark, cold void like a falling meteor.

    In his senses, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the ancient starship arrived in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he eximed, ¡°Dammit! The ancient starship the Phantasms previously recovered from the Realm of Dark Underworld is on its way here! It won¡¯t be long before it descends upon the Realm of Mystic Heaven!¡±

    Zhao Shanling was taken aback. ¡°What? How do you know?¡±

    ¡°I have something that used to be part of that ancient starship. Now it¡¯s getting more and more active due to the shortening distance between them.¡± Nie Tian spoke the truth.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered noticeably for the first time as he said, ¡°That ancient starship will allow them to travel back and forth among the nine realms, even if I sealed all of the spatial rifts. Once that ancient starship arrives, humans won¡¯t be able to escape death wherever they flee to.

    ¡°Even the isted arcane realms will no longer bepletely safe to hide in.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted upon hearing this.

    Frowning deeply, Zhao Shanling continued, ¡°It seems that the reason why Basto didn¡¯t grow anxious after Hua Mu¡¯s turn is that he has been waiting for their ancient starship. Once that ancient starship arrives, even Hua Mu, who¡¯s now possessed by the demonic nt, will no longer be a problem.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean the Domain of the Falling Stars is a lost cause?¡± Nie Tian asked, desperation rising in his heart.

    Zhao Shanling recovered hisposure as he said, ¡°Once Hua Mu is bombarded to death by that ancient starship, the other Soul realm Qi warriors will have a much slimmer chance of evacuating from this realm. I¡¯m afraid the Realm of Mystic Heaven is a lost cause, and it¡¯ll only be a matter of time before the other realms fall as well. You¡¯d better start making preparations. I¡¯ll take you and leave the moment things go south.¡±

 Chapter 638: Standing Up To the Heaven Palace Sect

    ¡°You may tell your puppet toe back now,¡± Zhao Shanling said.

    Nie Tian nodded, as he didn¡¯t seem to have any other options.

    As soon as his thought got through to the Bone Blood Demon, it exploded towards the heavens beforeing to a stop beside Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm.

    At this point, Nie Tian realized that neither the outsiders nor the humans were going to engage in fierce battles again before the berserk Hua Mu was taken care of.

    Possessed by the demonic nt, Hua Mu preyed on all living beings, humans and outsiders alike.

    Even Basto didn¡¯t seem to have an effective way to end Hua Mu¡¯s ranpage.

    He could only order his forces to fall back and keep a safe distance from him so that the vines that had grown out of him wouldn¡¯t be able to detect their flesh aura.

    Hua Mu, however, continued to roam the area, which was now covered in corpses, looking numbly for more flesh power to absorb. The vine pattern between his eyebrows continued to shine with terrifying demonic light.

    It seemed that he could only detect flesh auras within a certain range around him. As long as the others stayed far enough from him, they wouldn¡¯t attract his attention.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Lu Yuanxi, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, Li Muyang, and a few other Soul realm experts gathered around the Bone Blood Demon from different areas.

    As they did, Zhao Luofeng and some other Soul realm experts gathered around Xia Yi.

    Just like that, the Soul realm experts were divided into two groups, floating in the sky a thousand meters apart from each other.

    Meanwhile, the outsiders were naturally gathered around Basto.

    Instead of floating in the sky, they were gathered in a location far from Hua Mu on the ground.

    Basto seemed to have long since cooked up a n in his heart. Watching the Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors dash back to the Five Elements Fortune Formation, he didn¡¯t order his people to go after them.

    The way he saw it, once what he had been waiting for arrived, none of the humans would be able to escape their doom.

    Separated by a thousand meters, Zhao Luofeng shot a disgruntled look at Lu Yuanxi and said loudly, ¡°Mr. Lu! You really don¡¯t know how to handle Hua Mu in such a state? If he can recover his senses and only target the outsiders, we¡¯ll probably be able to end the outsiders¡¯ invasion in the Realm of Mystic Heaven!¡±

    He had noticed that even Basto, themander of outsider forces, was rather apprehensive towards Hua Mu.

    The fact that he had ordered all of the fifth and sixth grade outsiders to retreat from Hua Mu¡¯s location as quickly as they could proved that.

    Under such circumstances, if Hua Mu could sober up and unleash those mad vines on only the outsiders, the battle would soone to an end.

    Lu Yuanxi sighed. ¡°There¡¯s really nothing I can do now. If the me God had joined the battle from the beginning, Mr. Hua wouldn¡¯t have be like this. No one canmunicate with him or talk sense into him now that he¡¯s in such a state. Perhaps only by damaging the Heavenly Demonsbane heavily will we be be able to get him to sober up.

    ¡°However, once he sobers up, the Heavenly Demonsbane will be suppressed and lose its terrifying battle prowess.¡±

    ¡°Damaging the Heavenly Demonsbane heavily?¡± Lu Minhuang muttered with a grim face. ¡°It¡¯s much easier said than done. I almost died...¡±

    At that moment, Zhoa Luofeng¡¯s expression suddenly flickered drastically as he eximed, ¡°That¡¯s a Heavenly Demonsbane?!¡±

    As the sectmaster of the most powerful sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars, he seemed to have heard about Heavenly Demonsbanes before. Now that he had learned that the nt inside Hua Mu was a Heavenly Demonsbane, he was bbergasted.

    The grand elder of the Heaven Pce Sect, Ling Dong, frowned deeply as he said, ¡°If we can damage the Heavenly Demonsbane heavily, Hua Mu woulde back to his senses, but then he¡¯ll lose such powerful battle prowess. If that¡¯s the case, we might as well just leave him alone. After all, if we join up to attack the Heavenly Demonsbane, we¡¯ll probably sustain losses ourselves. Even if we get Hua Mu to sober up, he won¡¯t be of any use to us when he¡¯s bereft of his battle prowess.

    ¡°We might as well have Hua Mu wear the outsiders down while we gather strength.

    ¡°It¡¯s pretty clear that he prefers to kill the outsiders for their rich flesh power.¡±

    Fury brimmed Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he heard these words.

    Ling Dong had long since noticed the look in his eyes. He let out a cold harrumph and asked, ¡°Do you have a problem with that, kid? If you didn¡¯t refuse to contribute your me Dragon Armor to our cause, how would the situation have ended up like this? What good will the me Dragon Armor be in your hands? If the me God had it, he would have been able to contend against Basto single-handedly!

    ¡°If he could do that, then we¡¯d have a much better chance of winning this battle!¡±

    ¡°Also, what contribution did you make? If Hua Mu wasn¡¯t so eager to save you, he wouldn¡¯t have fought Basto¡¯s ghostly w head-on and injured his soul. The Heavenly Demonsbane wouldn¡¯t have gained control of him!¡±

    He had always disliked Nie Tian.

    As far as he saw it, the legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce should have belonged to Ning Yang, who had been considered the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s future star.

    Nie Tian was only a kid who had gotten lucky and taken what should have belonged to Ning Yang and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Because of this, back when Nie Tian hade to help them seal the spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, he had ignored him and hadn¡¯t thanked him at all afterwards.

    ording to him, they should have tricked Nie Tian into joining the Heaven Pce Sect after the three major spatial rifts had been sealed. Then, after they had found a way to strip the legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce from him, they would have been free to banish him or kill him as they liked.

    However, to his surprise, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue had meddled with his n and sheltered Nie Tian from their ws.

    With an ice-cold expression, Nie Tian said without showing him the slightest respect, ¡°What right do you have to demand that I give my me Dragon Armor to someone else, old man? Why didn¡¯t you have yourte Soul realm patriarch give up his breakthrough into the Void domain ande help us deal with the outsiders?¡±

    Ling Dong flew into a ming rage. ¡°How do you dare to talk to me like that?!¡±

    ¡°I just did, so what?¡± Not a shred of fear could be seen on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°You wanna see who¡¯s stronger, you or my puppet? I¡¯m not belittling you or the Heaven Pce Sect, but I really doubt that any of you here will be able to defeat my puppet in battle! Perhaps only your patriarch will be a worthy opponent to it!¡±

    Zhao Luofeng seemed to be angered by these words. He gave a cold harrumph and jerked his head towards Zhao Shanling, ¡°Shanling, the kid is hiding in your void realm. Give me face and get his me Dragon Armor for me. If Basto and his outsider forces can somehow finish Hua Mu off, they¡¯ll pay a serious price killing him.

    ¡°By that time, Xia Yi will be able to take the opportunity to kill Basto with the help of the me Dragon Armor. Then, the problems will all be solved!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gaze instantly converged on Zhao Shanling.

    Lu Yuanxi, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and Li Muyang subconsciously fixed Zhao Shanling with nervous gazes.

    They all knew the rtionship between Zhao Luofeng and Zhao Shanling. They were afraid that Zhao Shanling would side with his older brother at such a crucial moment.

    Nie Tian was side by side with him in his void realm. If he wanted to kill Nie Tian, Nie Tian would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    With a faint smile, Zhao Shanling nced over at Lu Yuanxi and the others, who looked very nervous, and said casually, ¡°Rx, people. If I wanted to deal with Nie Tian, I would have done it long ago. Why would I wait till now?¡±

    Then, with a soft chuckle, he turned to look at Zhao Luofeng and said, ¡°Big brother, I¡¯ve long since forgotten what familial love is. Now, I care about nothing but my own gains. I¡¯ll side with whoever is useful to me. It¡¯s true that, as the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, you can bring all sects to heel. However, you don¡¯t have the thing I want.¡±

    ¡°What can that kid give you that we can¡¯t?¡± Zhao Luofeng asked with a stern face.

    Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°That¡¯s none of your business. To tell you the truth, the things you lot struggle to protect will be all gone before long. Since the entire Domain of the Falling Stars will soon fall into the outsiders¡¯ hands, I need Nie Tian now more than ever.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you try to scare us, Zhao Shanling!¡± Lu Minhuang shouted with fear in his eyes. ¡°The Realm of Mystic Heaven still stands. How will the entire Domain of the Falling Stars fall into the outsiders¡¯ hands soon?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you see that we¡¯re at an advantage now?!¡± Ling Dong argued.

    ¡°Advantage?¡± Zhao Shanling gazed up into the gray sky, where rain was still falling heavily. With a sarcastic smile, he blurted, ¡°You know nothing!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s here!¡± Nie Tian eximed with a grim face.

    At that moment, Basto, who was standing on the ground, threw his head back and cried out into the heavens.

    The lightning bolts that were slithering in the depths of the misty gray heavens seemed to be startled by his long cry and started to converge on one point.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    A deep, muffled roll of thunder drummed on everyone¡¯s hearts, making them feel insecure and uneasy.

    Even the heavy rain seemed to be affected and started to grow lighter.

    That was when an ancient starship that seemed as if it were as old as the universe itself split the bright point and appeared in everyone¡¯s view.

    Every Soul realm expert looked up at the ancient starship as if they were looking at Death himself.

    ¡°An ancient starship!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships!¡±

    ¡°This must be what Basto has been waiting for! No wonder he didn¡¯t do anything.¡±

    ¡°Basto must have summoned it here! Unlike normal air-transportation spiritual tools, ancient starships can travel through space. None of the dashing meteors or spatial energy shes will be able to harm them!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! It¡¯s an ancient starship. We¡¯re truly doomed this time. It won¡¯t matter where we escape to. Even if we seal the spatial rifts and blow up all of our teleportation portals, the ancient starship will still find us!¡±

    ¡°Even strengthened by the Heavenly Demonsbane, Hua Mu won¡¯t be able to survive a single blow from the ancient starship!¡±

    It seemed that the appearance of the ancient starship had eliminated all of their hope.

    Panic rapidly brooded in everyone¡¯s hearts and spread to the deepest parts of their souls.

    Seeing the desperate look on everyone¡¯s face, Zhao Shanling said with a in tone, ¡°You¡¯d better take the time you have to organize your people to evacuate the Realm of Mystic Heaven. And then hole up in your arcane realms as soon as you each return to your realms. Perhaps those arcane realms aren¡¯t safe either, but at least it¡¯ll take some time for the ancient starship to locate them, and you¡¯ll get to live a bit longer.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars is a lost cause. This is it, everyone. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll see each other again.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling shot Nie Tian a nce and said, ¡°Put your puppet away. We¡¯re leaving now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly became very strange. ¡°No, wait! Something seems to be different!¡±

    He looked down his robe and saw that the three fragmentary star marks, which had long since fused with his flesh, had lit up, and he started to feel an increasingly strong burning sensation from them.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhao Shanling asked with an intense expression.

 Chapter 639: Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon

    Dialo, a Phantasm expert, berthed the ancient starship high in the sky and nced down at his kind on the ground, excitement appearing on his face. ¡°I¡¯m back, Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Because he had lost the Spirit Pearl, which was a crucial part of their ancient starship¡¯s guidance system, he had been forced to wait in the starry river ever since he had steered the ancient starship out of the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    Later, when he had received word from Basto that he would soon organize an invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars, he had finally put his heart at ease.

    Dialo was well-aware that, considering the strength of just the few of them, not only would they not be able to deal a heavy blow to the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but they would also most likely lose this ancient starship to the humans.

    Therefore, they had been waiting patiently. Only when they had received word from Basto that their forces had swarmed into the Realm of Split Void through those six spatial rifts did they start sailing back towards the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Today, they had finally returned.

    ¡°I sensed something very unsettling just now when we were going through the atmosphere of the Realm of Mystic Heaven,¡± one of the Phantasms said with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what it was, but I just knew it wasn¡¯t something good.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Dialo asked with aposed face. ¡°Lord Basto is right down there, and he¡¯sing up to us in a moment. He has the crystals that¡¯ll allow us to restart the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon after thousands of years. You should know how powerful the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon is!¡±

    The Phantasm felt relieved after receiving Dialo¡¯s reassurance. ¡°You¡¯re right. Once the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon is activated, we¡¯ll be able to annihte any humans under the Void domain with it!¡±

    The Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors in the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s Five Elements Fortune Formation panicked as they gazed up into the sky.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships!¡±

    ¡°Dear god! I can¡¯t believe that one of the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships has actually sailed through the starry river to our realm!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to win this battle anymore!¡±

    Even the ones who had believed that the humans would win the battle of the Realm of Mystic Heaven now wallowed in desperation.

    Soon, pressing sounds came from their Sound Stones with messages from their sectmasters or nmasters.

    ¡°Sectmaster orders that we need to evacuate the Realm of Mystic Heaven!¡±

    ¡°nmaster is ordering us to leave the Realm of Mystic Heaven immediately!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! The Realm of Mystic Heaven is lost. The earlier we leave, the better!¡±

    With these words, the Qi warriors, who had retreated to the Five Elements Fortune Formation since Hua Mu¡¯s unexpected change, started streaming into the inter-realm teleportation portals in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Fortunately, the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s reserve power was very profound. There were multiple inter-realm teleportation portals avable. One after another, people rapidly entered the portals and vanished.

    Wu Ya from the Heaven Pce Sect wanted to stop them from abandoning the Realm of the Mystic Heaven, but he realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to do so by himself. He could only watch them run like scared dogs.

    Just momentster, the Qi warriors of the Heaven Pce Sect were the only ones that remained in the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Even the disciples of the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect, who had promised to defend the Heaven Pce Sect till the end, had teleported back to their own realms.

    SHEW!

    A streak of cyan light suddenly shot up into the sky and reached the berthed ancient starship in the blink of an eye.

    As soon as it did, a dark cyan shield spread out, enveloping the entire ancient starship.

    Millions of evil spirits could be seen squirming within the shield as vein-like patterns gradually appeared on it, as if some profound protective spell formation had formed around the ancient starship.

    ¡°That¡¯s Basto!¡± Lu Minhuang cried out, his voice filled with desperation. ¡°He¡¯s entered that ancient starship! As a seventh grade Phantasm and the leader of this invasion, he must know how to use that ancient starship. We don¡¯t stand a chance fighting them anymore.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and the other Soul realm experts also fell silent.

    Even Xia Yi knitted his eyebrows as he gazed at the enormous starship floating in the sky. In a helpless voice, he muttered, ¡°I didn¡¯t know things would go this way. If I did...¡±

    He finally regretted that he hadn¡¯t joined the battle at the first possible moment.

    Having entered thete Soul realm, he actually had confidence in contending against Basto one-on-one. Even if he wouldn¡¯t be able to overtake him, he would be able to limit his actions to arge extent.

    If the three potentates of the Spirit Condor had joined him in attacking Basto, the four of them might have already killed Basto.

    Now that the outsiders¡¯ ultimate weapon was here, they would be able to sweep across the Realm of Mystic Heaven and then move onto the other realms. The me God Sect would suffer the same fate.

    Before, he had assumed that even if they lost this war, he would be able to hole up in an arcane realm with the surviving members of his sect.

    But now that the ancient starship was here...

    BOOM!

    While the Soul realm experts pondered their next move, a wide, bright energy beam shot down from the bottom of the ancient starship.

    As the beam stretched downwards, a overwhelming aura that seemed to be able to cleanse all lives spread with it. Even the space close to it seemed slightly bent.

    Upon a closer look, countless bright veins, which seemed to contain some profound truths of heaven and earth, could be seen within the glowing beam.

    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the terrifying beam didn¡¯t target Hua Mu.

    ¡°Our headquarters!¡± Zhao Luofeng eximed with wide eyes.

    The incredibly powerful beam¡¯s first target was actually the magnificent pce that was protected by the Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    As the thick beam of energy poured down from the sky like a river from the heavens, the protective ward that had protected the Heaven Pce Sect from the outsiders¡¯ attacks for more than a month was instantly reduced to multicolored spots that filled the sky.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Thend shook and mountains rocked. The splendid pce that had stood unwavering for a thousand years crumbled as if it were made of dirt.

    Miserable screams echoed out from the copsing pce, but secondster, dead silence hung over the ruins again.

    With that devastating blow, numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors of the Heaven Pce Sect were returned to dust.

    Gazing coldly at the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s remains, the Demon expert, who had activated Ancestral Awakening, asked loudly in the humannguage, ¡°How does the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon taste?

    ¡°There were only two of them left in Lord Basto¡¯s n. One is used to defend their n, and the other is used to explore other domains. Now that this third Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon has been recovered from the Domain of the Falling Stars, you might as well just ept your fate.

    ¡°In fact, you should be honored that your shithole of a domain will be cleansed by a Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    ¡°Over the past hundreds of thousands of years, not a single domain that has been conquered by Lord Basto¡¯s n¡¯s Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon was as weak as the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    The Soul realm experts were at a loss for words. No one made a sound as they listened to the Demon¡¯s arrogant, mocking words.

    Just a single blow from the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon managed to shatter the Five Elements Fortune Formation and turn the magnificent pce into ruins. Even if the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect had entered the Void domain, he might not necessarily be able to defend against such a devastating blow.

    What could they do besides wallow in silence?

    ¡°Please take me to the major spatial rift that I sealed a couple of years ago, Senior Zhao!¡± Nie Tian said in a determined voice.

    Zhao Shanling jerked his head towards him. Without saying a word, he created a spatial rift out of thin air and pulled Nie Tian into it.

    Lu Minhuang¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°Zhao Shanling has escaped with Nie Tian!¡± Then, he seemed to have suddenly remembered something as he added hastily, ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect is in ruins. All of the inter-realm teleportation portals are gone. Zhao Shanling is our only means of leaving the Realm of Mystic Heaven!

    ¡°The location of that spatial rift must be an ideal ce to build inter-realm teleportation portals! Zhao Shanling must have set up a secret teleportation portal there!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the other Soul realm experts widened their eyes.

    After witnessing the might of the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, none of them still imagined that they would win this battle for the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Under such circumstances, only by leaving the Realm of Mystic Heaven would they have a chance of surviving.

    Even though that might not change the final results, they would at least be able to catch a breath and make some arrangements if they could evacuate from the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± With a pained look in his eyes, Zhao Luofeng gave Ling Dong a nce and sped off towards the major spatial rift which Nie Tian had sealed years ago.

    As soon as Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian had disappeared into the spatial rift, it had vanished again. Therefore, the others could only fly. But since that major spatial rift wasn¡¯t very far from where they were, they all held dearly to this silver lining.

    Eyebrows furrowed, a seventh grade Fiend said, ¡°They¡¯re running away.¡±

    The Demon expert smiled disdainfully. ¡°Run? Where can they run to? As long as we have the ancient starship, there isn¡¯t a single ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars that we can¡¯t go. Even if they escape to the other realms, we¡¯ll take one realm after another, and eventually kill them all.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them. We¡¯ll have plenty of time to y cat-and-mouse with them after Lord Basto kills that one who¡¯s possessed by the Heavenly Demonsbane with the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.¡±

    The Fiend expertughed coldly. ¡°The humans don¡¯t ever change. With all of their powerful experts here, they didn¡¯t put up a fight together, but instead scattered and ran back to their own realms. With them separated, we won¡¯t even need to use the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon. We¡¯ll be able to kill them off one by one.¡±

    The outsider experts didn¡¯t seem worried as they watched Zhao Luofeng and the others run away.

    ...

    Standing atop one of the three exceptionally high mountain peaks, Zhao Shanling asked with a slightly anxious look in his eyes, ¡°What are you doing, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still a chance of turning the situation around!¡± With these words, Nie Tian tore his robe open with a violent move. The three ancient fragmentary star marks then flew out of his exposed chest. Dazzling like the stars in the sky, they rapidly streaked into the heart of the three mountain peaks.

    A shudder went through Zhao Shanling. ¡°These are...?!¡±

    Nine clusters of starlight started to shine brightly in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pitch-ck pupils as he said, ¡°The fragmentary star marks inside of me responded the moment the Phantasm¡¯s ancient starship entered the atmosphere of the Realm of Mystic Heaven. If my spections are correct, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has prepared for this. Once an ancient starship sails into the Domain of the Falling Stars, some special arrangement will be activated.¡±

    Zhao Shanling couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s special arrangement?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

 Chapter 640: Fixing the Tone with One Beat of the Gong

    The three fragmentary star marks rapidly flew into the hollow spaces within the hearts of the three lofty mountain peaks, where they merged with the star pagodas therein.

    Like magical keys, the moment the fragmentary star marks entered the star pagodas, they lit them up.

    Tens of thousands of mysterious star formations were engraved on the inner walls of the mountain peaks. As soon as the star pagodas were lit up, the star formations also started to shine with dazzling light simultaneously.

    In a split second, the mysterious hollow spaces inside the mountain peaks were turned into seas of stars.

    At that moment, loud rumbles came from the mountain peaks as misty starlight gradually rose from them.

    Zhao Shanling jerked his head towards the heavens.

    In the heavy rain, the sky was originally dark and lifeless. However, everything seemed to have changed at this moment.

    The sky had be clear and full of bright stars. Even the distance between the stars and the Realm of Mystic Heaven seemed to have be unnaturally close.

    Like beacons in the sea, the three lofty mountain peaks emanated glorious light, showing the way for the profound energy in the depths of the starry river.

    Under the guidance of the lofty mountain peaks, streaks of starlight then fell from the heavens and poured into the spaces at the center of the mountain peaks like an enormous, glowing waterfall.

    In the next moment, changes urred.

    A mysterious star formation rapidly came to form in the empty space between the three mountain peaks.

    The star formation seemed to consist of thousands of smaller star formations, each of which contained unfathomable power.

    Zhao Luofeng shed into view and instantly noticed the mysterious star formation that was gradually forming. Eyes glittering with the light of amazement, he eximed, ¡°What is that?¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Ling Dong, Lu Minhuang, Zong Zheng, Lu Yuanxi, and the other Soul realm experts arrived one after another.

    All of them, who had expected to see an inter-realm teleportation portal in this ce, were bbergasted by the mysterious star formation.

    Even Xia Yi was shocked by the incredible scene.

    ¡°That is the profound spell formation the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left to seal the spatial rift!¡± Lu Yuanxi¡¯s expression flickered as he jerked his head towards Nie Tian. ¡°Is he trying to activate it?¡±

    Streaks of starlight continued to fall from the depths of the starry river like an iparably wide waterfall.

    The mysterious star formation was changing and growing as it absorbed immense amounts of star power.

    The profound aura that came from the spell formation even made these Soul realm experts, who were the peak fighters in the Domain of the Falling Stars, have a suffocating feeling.

    They felt that if any of them dared to enter the star formation, they would instantly be turned into flying dust.

    In the distant sky, Basto was standing beside a giant crystal cannon that was pointing down at the ground. Hua Mu¡¯s image gradually appeared in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    He was aiming the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon at Hua Mu with a Phantasm¡¯s secret magic.

    Glowing energy rapidly gathered at the mouth of the huge Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    All of a sudden, Basto seemed to have sensed something.

    In shock, he jerked his head towards the distant sky, where he saw a tremendous amount of starlight streaking down from the heavens towards the central area between three lofty mountain peaks.

    A strong sense of danger suddenly filled his heart. His heart raced and even his blood flow became unstable.

    ¡°W-what the hell is that?!¡± Dialo cried out with fear, staring into the distance.

    ¡°That¡¯s the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Basto¡¯s voice trembled slightly. Without hesitation, he gave up on aiming at Hua Mu, instead focusing his immense soul awareness on the star formation in the middle of the three lofty mountain peaks.

    Following his soul awareness, the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon rotated to aim at the three mountain peaks from afar.

    SHEW!

    However, before he could activate it, the mysterious star formation shot towards his ancient starship.

    In the blink of an eye, the star formation morphed into a sea of stars that engulfed the area where the ancient starship was berthed.

    ¡°NO!!!!¡± Basto shouted, desperation and unwillingness filling his eyes as if he could not ept this result.

    By the lofty mountain peaks, the Soul realm experts were bbergasted as they watched the star formation fly off into the distance and turn into a sea of stars that engulfed the ancient starship.

    BOOM!

    In the next moment, the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship fell apart like a crumbling continent, filling the sky with blinding light.

    It was as if a small sun had exploded in the distant sky.

    Debris from the ancient starship that contained discarnate souls rained over a thousand kilometer radius, dragging long, zing tails as if they were small meteors.

    However, the area where the three lofty mountain peaks were located waspletely unaffected. Not a single piece of debris or discarnate soul found its way there.

    The Heaven Pce Sect was now in ruins after the devastating blow from the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    The demonized Hua Mu and the outsiders were the only ones that still remained in that area.

    The outsiders didn¡¯t seem to have any means to defend themselves, as they watched the storm of debris flying towards them like dashing meteors.

    As they were hit by the debris from the ancient starship, no matter what grade they were at, they all broke like hammered ss.

    ¡°The ancient starship is destroyed just... just like that?¡± Lu Yuanxi from the Spirit Condor said, sounding as if he was living a dream.

    He felt that what was happening before his eyes was too good to be true.

    The colossal ancient starship, the devastating Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, the seventh grade outsiders, and the awe-inspiring Basto...

    In the blink of an eye, the suffocating pressure weighing on the Soul realm experts¡¯ minds was all gone.

    They all fell silent, staring nkly at the raining debris that looked like falling meteors.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    At that moment, the three fragmentary star marks flew out of the hearts of the lofty mountain peaks and returned to Nie Tian, disappearing into his chest in a sh.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s vortex of star power waspletely drained, though the nine fragmentary stars still shone brightly in his soul.

    As soon as the fragmentary star marks disappeared into his chest, the connection between him and the three mountain peaks was cut off.

    The heavy rain, which had stopped earlier, came pouring down again. The bright, starlit sky was also covered up by a dark, misty sky.

    Heaven and earth returned to their original state.

    The star formation was gone, and the three lofty mountain peaks no longer emanated starlight.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s over.¡± Zhao Luofeng found it hard to even speak. He took a deep look at Nie Tian, wanting to say something but stopped on a second thought.

    The bald Xia Yi¡¯s face was very grim as he fixed Nie Tian was a long gaze. However, nothing but apprehension could be seen in the depths of his eyes.

    Nie Tian slowly turned his head. Nine fragmentary stars shining in his pupils, he fixed Ling Dong with a cold gaze and said, ¡°Elder Ling, it sounded to me that you nned to hold me responsible for not giving up the me Dragon Armor after peace was restored to the Domain of the Falling Stars, right?¡±

    With a sullen expression, Ling Dong didn¡¯t dare to answer him. Instead, he shot Zhao Luofeng an inquiring, sideways nce.

    A hint of bitterness appeared at that corner of Zhao Luofeng¡¯s mouth as he shook his head. ¡°No, he didn¡¯t mean that.¡±

    ¡°My master didn¡¯t answer your sect¡¯s summons ande to help defend your sect. Are you going to find fault with him?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°No, we won¡¯t,¡± Zhao Luofeng answered, looking deeply embarrassed.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good, because now I have a feeling that I¡¯ll be able to activate the grand spell formations in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations with my fragmentary star marks whenever I want. It seems that I¡¯ll be able to copy the strike that blew up the ancient starship, along with Basto and his Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong¡¯s expressions flickered drastically upon hearing these words.

    At that moment, Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect muttered, ¡°Basto is dead. Their ancient starship exploded... The crisis is really going to end...¡±

    ¡°Kill those remaining outsiders!¡± Li Muyang suddenly eximed.

    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s time to ughter the remaining outsiders!¡± Lu Minhuang shouted and took the initiative to speed off, as if he didn¡¯t want to stay in this ce a second longer than he had to.

    Completely wordless, Xia Yi also nned to leave.

    However, Nie Tian stopped him. ¡°Senior me God.¡±

    Xia Yi turned his head to look at Nie Tian sideways. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Nie Tian summoned the me Dragon Armor from within his ring of holding. He held it in his hand and asked, ¡°Do you still demand that I give you this fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure?¡±

    The crowd of experts that were leaving stopped upon hearing this. Their gazesnded on Xia Yi one after another.

    Zhao Shanling chuckled and said with an enjoyable expression, ¡°This thing actually suits you very much, Brother Xia.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the luck to own it.¡± With these words, Xia Yi snorted coldly and left, anger filling his belly.

 Chapter 641: Hua Mu Sobers Up

    After Xia Yi left, Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong also sped away quickly, bowing their heads as they did.

    Watching Zhao Luofeng leave from behind, Zong Zheng had a feeling that the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s time was over.

    The Heaven Pce Sect had sustained immeasurable losses in this battle. Their Five Elements Fortune Formation had been destroyed. Gone with it were their headquarters and all of their Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors.

    Those Worldly realm and Profound realm disciples had been their most valuable asset, yet none of them had escaped.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s foundation was badly hurt.

    Even if their patriarch managed to enter the Void domain, the Heaven Pce Sect was bound to lose their sovereign position in the Domain of the Falling Stars. After all, even after entering the Void domain, he wouldn¡¯t be able to defend against the heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing blow that had destroyed the ancient starship.

    The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s roots were in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. Therefore, even after they had rebuilt their headquarters, as long as Nie Tian activated that destructive spell formation again, their new headquarters would also vanish in a breath¡¯s time.

    The ¡®special arrangement¡¯ left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hung over the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s head like a sharp sword that could fall at any moment. Whenever they angered Nie Tian, Nie Tian would be able to deal a destructive blow to them.

    ¡°The time when the Heaven Pce Sect rules the Domain of the Falling Stars is over.¡± Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect sighed, smiling, as he turned to take a deep look at Nie Tian. ¡°Your time hase, Nie Tian.¡±

    Dong Wangling, Li Muyang, Lu Yuanxi, and the others all nodded in assent.

    Not to mention his Bone Blood Demon, just the fact that he could control the spell formations the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of me Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations was enough to make Nie Tian an awe-inspiring figure.

    As Nie Tian continued to rise to prominence with an unstoppable momentum, fewer and fewer people would dare to stand in his way.

    Not to mention that he still had Wu Ji, Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and many other powerful figures at his back.

    ¡°Seniors, let¡¯s go take a look at the remaining outsiders and Uncle Hua, shall we?¡± Nie Tian proposed.

    Zong Zheng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯d better take care of the remaining outsiders first.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you there.¡± Zhao Shanlingughed as he created a spatial rift with a casual swing of his hand.

    One after another, the experts flew into the spatial rift and vanished.

    Soon, Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian were the only ones that hadn¡¯t left.

    ¡°You were quite imposing back there,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a cunningugh. ¡°Tell me the truth. Can you really use the spell formation left here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to kill whoever you like in the Realm of Mystic Heaven?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled somewhat cunningly. ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°So you were threatening Xia Yi and Ling Dong?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to hide his intentions. ¡°When is a better time to threaten them but now? It¡¯s true that the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce only activated because it sensed the arrival of that ancient starship. But when my cultivation base is high enough, I¡¯ll probably be able to solve its mysteries and gain full control of the legacies the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has left in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°After all, they must have left these things for me.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. I also have a feeling that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has left all these legacies for their Son of the Stars. But I have a bolder guess.¡±

    ¡°What bolder guess?!¡± Nie Tian asked, intrigued.

    ¡°That they left the entire Domain of the Falling Stars for you, their Son of the Stars,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°Since you¡¯ve received their recognition and obtained those fragmentary star marks, it¡¯ll only be a matter of time before the entire Domain of the Falling Stars is yours tomand.

    ¡°As long as you don¡¯t die prematurely, you¡¯re bound to be the master of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling snorted a smile and shed into another nearby spatial rift.

    That spatial rift was the one that led to the Realm of Split Void, through which Basto and his outsider forces had poured into the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Not long ago, a seventh grade outsider had been ordered to guard it to prevent Zhao Shanling from sealing it.

    However, that outsider expert had left without hesitation when their ancient starship had arrived.

    That was because the arrival of their ancient starship had meant that whether the spatial rift remained open or not, it would no longer affect their invasion of the other realms.

    The ancient starship would have been more than capable of taking them to whichever realm they wanted to invade.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Soon, Zhao Shanling flew out of the spatial rift. As he wove his hands, which glittered with spatial sparks, the spatial rift gradually closed and vanished.

    With an easy expression, he said, ¡°Alright, they can kill off the remaining outsiders as easily as catching a turtle in a jar now.¡±

    Nie Tian realized that with Basto dead, their ancient starship gone, and many of them killed by the falling debris, the remaining outsiders¡¯ fate had already been determined.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go check on Uncle Hua.¡± With these words, Nie Tian disappeared into the spatial rift Zhao Shanling had just created.

    In the next moment, he appeared over the battlefield, where he saw Soul realm experts chasing down and killing fleeing outsiders.

    Deep craters could be seen everywhere. There were outsider corpses in many of them.

    Even the seventh grade Demon that had activated Ancestral Awakening seemed to have been killed by falling debris, and his enormous body was plunged deep into the earth.

    Nie Tian knew that just the debris of the ancient starship would have been far from enough to kill that seventh grade Demon.

    What had really taken his life was the residual force of the mysterious star formation that had fused with the flying debris.

    Standing on the shoulder of his Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian nced around and finally located Hua Mu. ¡°Uncle Hua!¡±

    At this moment, Hua Mu was wrapped tightly by numerous thick vines. At first nce, it seemed as if he was in a cocoon woven by vines.

    From the look of, Hua Mu had been hit by the falling debris as well.

    Many sharp, pitch-ck vines that were on the outside of the cocoon had been severed or burned.

    Nie Tian then realized that even though the residual power of the star formation had annihted the seventh grade Demon, it had failed to eliminate Hua Mu from this heaven and earth.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Suddenly, the demonic vines stretched out and started to p about like a blossoming devilish flower, revealing Hua Mu in the middle.

    Hua Mu seemed unscathed. The Heavenly Demonsbane pattern between his eyebrows lost its radiance and became fainter and fainter.

    Momentster, all of the huge vines gradually fell off of him, with only one fine vine that shrank back into him.

    At that moment, Hua Mu¡¯s closed eyes slowly opened.

    As he did, the Heavenly Demonsbane pattern between his eyebrows vanishedpletely.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that the Hua Mu he knew was back.

    In order to protect Hua Mu from the falling debris of the ancient starship, the Heavenly Demonsbane had exerted itself to form its ultimate defense.

    Apparently, it had sustained serious damage afterwards. It was even forced to fall back into dormancy. Because of that, Hua Mu¡¯s soul had reawakened, and he had regained control of his body.

    The reason why the Heavenly Demonsbane had made such a sacrifice was because it knew that once Hua Mu died, it would die with him.

    As long as Hua Mu lived, it would have opportunities to seize control of his body again.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Hua Mu asked, confusion filling his eyes.

    He nced around and saw the bottomless craters and the other Soul realm experts who were chasing down and killing fleeing outsiders.

    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Lu Yuanxi floated into view and said, ¡°The crisis is finally over. Not a single outsider will be able to escape from the Realm of Mystic Heaven.¡± Then, he took a nce at Nie Tian and continued, ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, it would have been the other way around. We would have be the ones that were doomed. However, Nie Tian ended the crisis with the special arrangements the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left behind.¡±

    Hua Mu was taken aback. ¡°Nie Tian??¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was him who lifted the dark clouds that loomed over the Domain of the Falling Stars and restored light to the nine realms,¡± Lu Yuanxi said with mixed emotions. ¡°Also, I would¡¯ve never thought that it would be the legacies that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left behind that would help us through this crisis when things got out of hand.¡±

 Chapter 642: Finding Clues

    Lu Yuanxi went on and briefly exined what had happened after he had been possessed by the Heavenly Demonsbane to Hua Mu.

    After he was finished, Hua Mu let out a deep sigh and said, ¡°Even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left this heaven and earth thousands of years ago, it was still thanks to their arrangements that we survived this outsider invasion.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Lu Yuanxi said bitterly.

    After pondering for a few seconds, Hua Mu said, ¡°Brother Lu, I think it¡¯s time that we opened the secret inter-realm teleportation portal we set up in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. The Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s headquarters is in ruins. All of their inter-realm teleportation portals are gone. Since Zhao Shanling has sealed the spatial rift that connects the Realm of Mystic Heaven with the Realm of Split Void, the surviving outsiders are going to flee to remote corners of the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°We should let those who left earlier return and reap the spoils from our victory.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Lu Yuanxi nodded and left.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk after this whole thing is over.¡± Hua Mu smiled at Nie Tian and then shot into the distance, where he went after the surviving seventh grade outsiders with the other Soul realm experts.

    Standing on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, Nie Tian nced down. Fleeing outsiders could be seen in every direction.

    He knew that the operation to kill off the remaining outsiders wouldst some time.

    Therefore, with a thought, hemanded the Bone Blood Demon to drain the seventh grade Demon¡¯s corpse of its blood.

    Afterwards, more corpses of fifth and sixth grade outsiders that had been killed by falling debris from the ancient starship were drained of their blood by the Bone Blood Demon.

    Three dayster, the hunt was still going on.

    After learning that the humans¡¯ victory in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was certain, and that the Spirit Condor¡¯s secret inter-realm teleportation portal had opened, the Worldly realm and Profound realm cultivators who had returned to their own realms came back to hunt down the fleeing outsiders in every corner of the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    WHOOSH!

    Zhao Shanling suddenly shed to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    ¡°Your timing is perfect, Senior Zhao,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°Would you please send me to the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    ¡°Are you done in the Realm of Mystic Heaven?¡± Zhao Shanling asked curiously.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°The result of this battle is already determined, but the cleansing operation might stillst months. I don¡¯t intend to take part in it. I¡¯d like to visit the Realm of Split Void and take a look at the situation over there.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°I¡¯ve already visited there.¡±

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°The outsiders that were garrisoned in the Void Illusion Mountain Range are long gone.¡± Zhao Shanling told him the truth. ¡°They must have learned of Basto¡¯s death and the fact that the spatial rift that links the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of Split Void has been sealed. With the numbers they had, they could only return to their own realms. What choice did they have?¡±

    ¡°As far as I see it, those outsiders have suffered great losses from this failed invasion.

    ¡°They must not be from powerful outsider ns. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have mobilized so many resources to take a ce like the Domain of the Falling Stars. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll have to spend centuries to regain their vital energy.

    ¡°During this time, you won¡¯t have to worry that more outsiders will set foot on thisnd that has been painted red by outsider blood.¡±

    Apparently, Zhao Shanling assumed that Nie Tian was going to the Realm of Split Void because he was worried that more powerful outsiders would swarm into it through those six spatial rifts.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ve misunderstood, Senior Zhao. I¡¯m not going to the Realm of Split Void because I¡¯m worried that more outsiders wille. I¡¯m going because I want to find out who intentionally revealed the spatial rift that allowed the outsiders to swarm into the Realm of me Heaven first.¡±

    Suddenly enlightened, Zhao Shanlingughed and asked, ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re nning to have your revenge now that the crisis is over?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian said coldly.

    ¡°Considering your current fame and power, you do have what it takes to settle that ount.¡± Zhao Shanling pondered briefly and added, ¡°Actually, you should have a feeling about who did it. Only a few sects have plotted against the Realm of me Heaven over the years.

    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll take you to the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling created a spatial rift out of thin air and took Nie Tian to the secret teleportation portal he had set up in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. From there, they teleported directly to the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void.

    After walking out of a portal hidden in a meteor, Nie Tian didn¡¯t rush to action right away. Instead, he closed his eyes and sent a wisp of his awareness towards the depths of the earth.

    Momentster, he opened his eyes and sighed in frustration. ¡°I still can¡¯t.¡±

    His awareness once again reached an immense ward of star power in the depths of the earth.

    If it wasn¡¯t him, the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who pried into the earth, even Soul realm experts wouldn¡¯t be able to detect that profound ward.

    Even though he could detect that immense ward, his awareness still couldn¡¯t go through it yet.

    Perhaps only when his psychic powerpletely transformed into soul power would he be able to pass through that ward and learn what the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had hidden underneath it. He pondered, frowning.

    ¡°You still can¡¯t do what?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, looking curious.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Nie Tian then gazed off in the direction of the Void Illusion Mountain Range. ¡°Let¡¯s go there.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhao Shanling said, curling his lips as he split open a spatial rift and pulled Nie Tian into it.

    Standing in the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Nie Tian unleashed his nine Heaven Eyes to scan his surroundings.

    Not a single life could be found within the detection range of his Heaven Eyes, outsider, human, or mutant spirit beast.

    He knew that after the invasion of the outsiders, the humans had been forced to withdraw from this area. Even the mutant spirit beasts had been cleared from this area.

    A number of outsiders had been deployed in this ce before the tune of the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven had been set. However, as Basto had died, the outsiders here had sensed their unfavorable situation, and thus retreated to their own realms.

    This was why this area was bereft of any aura of life.

    Zhao Shanling pointed in a direction and said, ¡°This is the spatial rift that leads to the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    He was pointing at a small mountain valley, where arge number of active spatial rifts were floating in the air.

    As Zhao Shanling pointed, one of the spatial rifts suddenly started to glow outstandingly brightly.

    ¡°This ce is fairly close to the location where people from the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Spirit God Sect were garrisoned.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling pointed in another direction. ¡°Over there is one of the spatial rifts through which the outsiders poured into the Realm of Split Void. The Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect were responsible for guarding it. But it¡¯s not gonna be easy if you want to find the person who did it by relying on such little information.¡±

    ¡°It seems that it must have been someone from those three sects then,¡± Nie Tian said with a cold snort.

    Back when he had left Shatter City and the few rogue cultivators had gone after him, he had heard them curse Hou Qingsen before they had been killed by the Bone Blood Demon.

    Even though he didn¡¯t have proof, he was convinced that Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun had been behind that incident.

    This time, the spatial rift that led to the Realm of me Heaven had been intentionally revealed to the outsiders, when people from the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Poison Sect, and the Spirit God Sect had happened to be garrisoned in the vicinity.

    Even though he still hadn¡¯t found any proof, his gut told him that it was those three sects that had directed the outsiders into the Realm of me Heaven.

    While he pondered with furrowed eyebrows, a spatial rift suddenly appeared before him.

    Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi walked out of it.

    ¡°What are you doing here, junior martial sister?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, smiling cunningly.

    Nie Tian bowed hastily. ¡°Senior Zhen, Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    Zhen Hun took a nce at Nie Tian. A warm smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she said, ¡°You¡¯ve done a good job, kid.¡±

    ¡°That was all thanks to the legacies the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left behind,¡± Nie Tian said modestly. ¡°I was merely the intermediary.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nced at him out of the corner of her eyes but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Zhen Hun thenid her eyes on Zhao Shanling and said, ¡°I came back from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations three days ago.¡±

    ¡°I came back to inform the members of the Wild Fire, the Blood Skull, and the Dark Moon, who have fled to the most remote and deste corners, that the crisis is over, and they cane out now.

    ¡°I only came here because I sensed your presence in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Zhao Shanling frowned slightly. ¡°What do you want to see me for?¡±

    ¡°Are you really going to have eldest martial brother kneel before you and apologize to you in front of everyone?¡± Zhen Hun asked with a bitter expression. ¡°Eldest martial brother already gave in to you for the greater good. Do you really need more?¡±

    Zhao Shanling gave a cold snort. ¡°Is this all that you want to talk to me about?¡±

    ¡°And also, do you really not know how to seal those six spatial rifts?¡± Zhen Hun asked with a helpless tone. ¡°As long as those spatial rifts exist, there¡¯ll always be a threat. Who knows if the outsiders are going to invade us in a few decades or centuries? If you know how to seal them, I implore you to seal them to save us from future trouble.¡±

    ¡°Truth be told, I indeed didn¡¯t have what it took to seal them. But now that I¡¯ve entered the middle Soul realm, perhaps I can take a shot.¡± With an arrogant smile, he added, ¡°But even if I can, I¡¯ll have to pay a big price to seal those six spatial rifts. Why would I do that for someone else? What can I get in return?¡±

 Chapter 643: Fame Spreads Far and Wide

    Zhen Hun remained silent for some time before suddenly saying, ¡°Nie Tian, Qiqi, give me and second martial brother a moment. There¡¯s something we need to talk about.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Nie Tian nodded and left with Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi took the initiative to stop in another location in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, her face expressionless.

    ¡°How are you doing, Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡± Nie Tian asked with a concerned expression.

    He knew that she had been resisting and deriving enlightenment from the profound spatial aura that she had obtained in that other dimension.

    Pei Qiqi nced at him out of the corner of her eyes. ¡°Good. Actually, I¡¯ve already fully refined that aura which contained the profound truths of spatial power. It helped me advance to the Worldly realm. I won¡¯t need to worry about it causing me any more damage.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The Worldly realm! Congrattions, senior martial sister.¡±

    ¡°I heard that you promised Zong Zheng and many other seniors that you¡¯ll take them out of the Domain of the Falling Stars someday. Is that true?¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes glittered subtly, as she was apparently fascinated.

    Nie Tian smiled heartily and nodded. ¡°Yes. In fact, that¡¯s why Senior Zhao agreed to help me repeatedly.¡±

    ¡°Can you really do that?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, subtle excitement filling her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure that I can, but I¡¯m certain that I¡¯ll find a way to step out of the Domain of the Falling Stars as my cultivation base rises,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    ¡°With the help of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡±

    ¡°Umm, when the timees, will you take me with you when you leave?¡±

    ¡°What? You want to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars too?¡±

    Pei Qiqi suddenly fell silent.

    After a long time, she said with a frustrated tone, sagging her head, ¡°I thought the dimension we went to was the ce the Void Pce Sect had discovered and moved to. But after we arrived there, I realized that it wasn¡¯t. If my family is still alive, they must be in that dimension they went to explore.

    ¡°Besides, I want to find the origin of my special bloodline.¡±

    Feeling enlightened, Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I see. Alright, I¡¯ll let you know when I find a way to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    Afterwards, as the two of them chatted, Nie Tian learned that, after evacuating from the Realm of Split Void, she and Zhen Hun had gone to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Later, when the Heaven Pce Sect had summoned powerful experts from all sects to help defend their sect, Qi Bailu had answered the summons and rushed to the Realm of Mystic Heaven with all of the Worldly realm and Profound realm Tool Sect disciples.

    Even though Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t joined them, they had learned about what had happened in the Realm of Mystic Heaven afterwards.

    After the crisis was lifted, Zhen Hun had taken her back to the Realm of Split Void and spread word to the members of the Wild Fire, the Blood Skull, and the Dark Moon that they no longer needed to hide.

    After some time, Zhen Hun came over to the ce where the two of them were talking.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t youe with me to Shatter City, Nie Tian?¡± Zhen Hun asked. ¡°I¡¯m rebuilding the inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City. It¡¯ll be put to use soon. When I¡¯m finished, you¡¯ll be free use it to return to the Realm of me Heaven or go wherever you want.¡±

    ¡°What happened to Senior Zhao?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about him. He¡¯ll need some time to seal those six spatial rifts.¡± Zhen Hun said with a grim expression. ¡°Those spatial rifts are very difficult to seal. Even he will have to put in a great amount of time and effort. So he won¡¯t be leaving the Void Illusion Mountain Range any time soon. But he told me that he¡¯ll go find you after he¡¯s finished in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°He actually agreed to do that?!¡±

    ording to his understanding of Zhao Shanling, he would never agree to do it unless he was paid well with enough benefits.

    Obviously, sealing those six spatial rifts wouldn¡¯t be an easy task. What had Zhen Hun promised him that made him agree to contribute?

    Zhen Hun sighed. ¡°That¡¯s not important. But I do have a tip for you: don¡¯t trust himpletely. Don¡¯t think that he¡¯s helped you a lot. That¡¯s only because you¡¯re still useful to him. Once you lose your value, or he thinks that you¡¯ve be a threat to him, he¡¯lly his murderous hands on you without the slightest hesitation.

    ¡°I know him too well. Unlike Hua Mu, he¡¯ll never take you as a promising junior and help you grow.

    ¡°Instead, he¡¯s a dangerous person.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly as he took her advice to heart and then said, ¡°Thank you for the reminder. I¡¯ll be very careful and try not to give him any reason to kill me.¡±

    ¡°Good, let¡¯s go back to Shatter City,¡± Zhen Hun said.

    Immediately afterwards, she created a spatial rift out of thin air and entered it with Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    In the next moment, the three of them appeared in Zhen Hun¡¯s residence in Shatter City. Then, Zhen Hun left for the central square to rebuild the inter-realm teleportation portal there.

    Full of smiles, Li Ye rushed out of his equipment forging room. ¡°Nie Tian! We finally meet again!

    ¡°Damn those people from the Spirit Condor. They lied to me, saying that they¡¯d take me to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Who knew they would bring me to their headquarters in the Realm of Endless Ice and force me to stay in that shitty ce for what felt like eternity. I should have gone to explore that new dimension with you and senior martial sister!¡±

    A surprised expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Have you also entered the Worldly realm?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! My cultivation talent is not to be joked about,¡± Li Ye said, seeming very pleased with himself. ¡°Since I had nothing to do in that boring ce, I spared some time to cultivate. You know, for me, making breakthroughs in cultivation is very easy. The so-called chosen from those major sects are nothing in my eyes. If I focused on cultivation, Ning Yang wouldn¡¯t have been the one that was known throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Li Ye was even fatter than before. His fat trembled as he talked.

    Back when the six spatial rifts had opened, and things in the Realm of Split Void started to get messy, Zhen Hun had arranged for Hu Rong from the Spirit Condor to trick Li Ye and teleport him somewhere safe.

    She had done it because even though she knew that Li Ye possessed unmatched talent, he hadn¡¯t been trained for fighting in battle. Instead, he had poured all of his time and effort into equipment forging.

    After realizing that the Realm of Split Void would soon enter a state of chaos and that she wouldn¡¯t be able to take care of both him and Pei Qiqi, she had eventually decided to send him away.

    Who would have thought that he had somehow managed to enter the Worldly realm just by spending a short time focusing on his cultivation?

    Even Pei Qiqi, who had gained considerable fortunes through numerous breathtaking encounters in that other dimension, had only just entered the same cultivation stage as him.

    Li Ye¡¯s freakishly high cultivation talent even made Nie Tian, who had always been confident about his own cultivation talent, feel that the world wasn¡¯t fair.

    If Li Ye hadn¡¯t been infatuated with equipment forging, but rather focused onbat fire-attributed incantations like Xia Yi, his future achievements might even be higher than Xia Yi¡¯s.

    Zhen Hun¡¯s two disciples were both beyond ordinary.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯ve made another breakthrough in my equipment forging skills,¡± Li Ye bragged, tilting his chin. ¡°Do you have any equipment forging needs? As long as you have enough materials, I can forge you a spiritual tool that¡¯s even better than the me Star! Since it¡¯s you, I can charge you fewer spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you can forge Spirit Channeling grade treasures now,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Li Ye seemed somewhat embarrassed. ¡°Umm... That... I can forge anything except Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools. I haven¡¯t tried to forge a Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool, so it might be a bit tricky. But I have no problem forging seventh level Premium grade spiritual tools now. As long as the materials are right, I¡¯ll be able to forge a spiritual tool that agrees with the user perfectly!¡±

    ¡°He already has a Spirit Channeling grade treasure. What would he need you for?¡± Pei Qiqi chimed in with an expressionless face. Then, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°The head of the Blood Skull has returned to Shatter City with the surviving Blood Skull members. If you want to use their cultivation rooms, I believe he¡¯d be happy to let you use them for free.¡±

    ¡°Not just that, Nie Tian can do whatever he likes in the Realm of Split Void now, and no one will say anything.¡± Li Ye sounded very jealous. ¡°It¡¯s not just the Blood Skull. If you¡¯re going to the Dark Moon or the Wild Fire¡¯s headquarters, they¡¯ll receive you with their highest standards as well. You dared to confront the Heaven Pce Sect, and Xia Yi even had to give up on demanding the me Dragon Armor from you. Who will dare to stand in your way anymore?¡±

    What had happened in the Realm of Mystic Heaven had already spread to every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Nie Tian had already be a household name.

 Chapter 644: People Come From All Directions to Pay Their Respects

    The inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City was still under construction.

    Therefore, Nie Tian still couldn¡¯t use it to return to the Realm of me Heaven to meet Wu Ji yet.

    Meanwhile, the cleansing operation in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was still ongoing. Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the major sects were hunting down the remaining outsiders to reap their spoils.

    Qi warriors in the Realm of Split Void had also heard about this.

    However, considering their status and strength, they wouldn¡¯t be allowed to split the spoils with the major sects even if the inter-realm teleportation portal was fully functional.

    After receiving Zhen Hun¡¯s notification, the members of the Wild Fire, the Blood Skull, and the Dark Moon who had fled to remote, deste corners of the Realm of Split Void had returned to their old headquarters.

    Then, as Li Ye unintentionally spread the word that Nie Tian had returned to Shatter City, Cai Lan, the head of the Blood Skull, came to visit Nie Tian with his son, Cai Yuan, and his daughter, Cai Yue.

    As soon as they arrived. Cai Lan presented a ring of holding that was filled with all sorts of spiritual materials and spirit stones to Nie Tian, and said that it was to thank him for what he had done.

    Nie Tian briefly examined the contents of the ring with a wisp of his psychic awareness, and discovered that it was stocked with fire-attributed and wood-attributed spiritual materials, as well as some Star Stones.

    Apparently, Cai Lan knew what Nie Tian needed and had gathered a careful selection beforeing.

    Afterwards, Cai Lan said that, as long as Nie Tian continued to acknowledge his identity as the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder, the Blood Skull would be happy to give him thirty percent of their annual ie as remuneration.

    After the recent messy incident in the Realm of Split Void, Cai Lan now had a clear understanding that if they didn¡¯t have a Soul realm expert to back them, whatever they umted in Shatter City could all be wiped out very easily.

    If a simr incident happened again, and powerful experts descended upon the Realm of Split Void again, the Blood Skull and Shatter City would fall victim to their unfair treatment again.

    In Cai Lan¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian would be a perfect backer.

    As long as people knew that Nie Tian was still the Blood Skull¡¯s guest elder, even if he didn¡¯t stay in Shatter City at all times, those who wanted to undermine the Blood Skull would have to think twice before making their moves.

    Because of this, both Cai Yuan, who had gone through a lot with Nie Tian, and Cai Yue, who had rather resented Nie Tian, behaved very cautiously this time.

    Like Li Ye, Cai Yuan and Cai Yue had both been arranged to wait out the crisis in the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters.

    They had returned with Li Ye.

    Looking at Nie Tian, Cai Yuan sighed inwardly, as he suddenly realized that inviting Nie Tian to be their guest elder was the wisest decision he had made his whole life.

    Cai Yue, who had never like Nie Tian and almost fought him over the use of the Blood Skull¡¯s cultivation rooms, started to look at Nie Tian with a admiring and respectful look in her eyes.

    At this point, Nie Tian no longer wore a mask.

    Even the Heaven Pce Sect and Xia Yi hadn¡¯t dared to harm him. Who else in the Domain of the Falling Stars would he feel the need to hide his identity from?

    After expressing his sincere gratitude, Cai Lan left with his children.

    Soon after he left, the heads of the Dark Moon and the Wild Fire came to visit Nie Tian with a number of their members.

    Like Cai Lan, they both presented gifts and expressed their gratitude.

    Compared to the gifts from Cai Lan, there were even more valuables in the rings of holding they gave Nie Tian.

    ording to them, if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t set the stage for the human alliance¡¯s victory in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, they would still have been cowering in remote areas and losing members to mutant spirit beasts.

    As long as there were still outsiders garrisoned the Void Illusion Mountain Range, they wouldn¡¯t have dared toe out from hiding.

    However, Nie Tian had solved their problem by ending the crisis in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Hu Han and Fu Heng from the Wild Fire were among the visitors that came to see him.

    They also thanked Nie Tian, saying that they perhaps wouldn¡¯t have lived to this point if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t left them those spirit stones.

    Pei Qiqi and Li Ye had hostile looks in their eyes when they saw Hu Han. Upon meeting their gazes, Hu Han expressed her gratitude repeatedly and remained very humble. Even though Pei Qiqi and Li Ye didn¡¯t hold her responsible for her deeds, they gave her some nasty res.

    Hu Han once again expressed, in a very subtle fashion, that she would be willing to offer herself to Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t show the slightest interest, but rather waved his hand, signaling for her to leave.

    Over the next few days, some rogue cultivators came to visit Nie Tian as well, hoping to form some ties with him.

    However, Nie Tian refused to meet them, telling them that he was in the middle of cultivation.

    During this time, he replenished the star power he had consumed in the Realm of Mystic Heaven with some Star Stones. Meanwhile, Zhen Hun finally finished reestablishing a brand-new inter-realm teleportation portal in Shatter City.

    Therefore, Nie Tian nned to return to the Realm of me Heaven through it.

    Just as he was about to leave, Li Ye came up to him and asked to go with him, saying that even if Nie Tian didn¡¯t have any equipment forging needs, he could forge suitable spiritual tools for his family.

    Nie Tian thought his grandfather and aunt might actually have such needs, and thus agreed to take him.

    Therefore, the two of them teleported to the Realm of me Heaven through the newly established inter-realm teleportation portal.

    In the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Elder Chen Musheng was the one who was in charge of the inter-realm teleportation portal in the Cloudsoaring Sect. He had always been cold towards the Nie n. Back when the Nie n had been bullied by others, he had chosen to turn a blind eye towards it.

    At this moment, he sprang to his feet as he saw Nie Tian and Li Ye appearing in the inter-realm teleportation portal.

    Under the shocked gazes of the Cloudsoaring Sect disciples, he bowed slightly and said, ¡°Long time no see, Nie Tian. I was in the wrong. I hope that you can forgive an old fool like me.¡±

    Nie Tian shot him a sideways nce and asked, ¡°Is my grandfather here?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is. I¡¯ll take you to him.¡± Chen Musheng answered as he hastily walked over to lead the way for Nie Tian. Turning his head back, he said, ¡°Well, many people have visited our sect recently. In fact, I¡¯ve never seen so many peopleing to our sect.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian unleashed his psychic awareness to scan his surroundings.

    He instantly sensed numerous powerful auras on Cloudsoaring Mountain and in the nearby valley.

    Many of them didn¡¯t seem to belong to the Cloudsoaring Sect. They probably weren¡¯t even from the Realm of me Heaven.

    Judging from the sense of familiarity he felt with some of the auras, he was certain that some of them were his acquaintances.

    ¡°What happened?¡± He asked.

    With a wry smile, Chen Musheng said, ¡°Word of what you did in the Realm of Mystic Heaven has long since spread across the Domain of the Falling Stars. The cleansing operation in the Realm of Mystic Heaven is reaching the end. Many didn¡¯t know where you went and assumed that you returned to the Realm of me Heaven, so they came to see you.

    ¡°Miss Dong and a few Dong n members were the first ones toe.

    ¡°As a core disciple of the Ice Pavilion Sect, Xuan Ke came soon afterwards, along with a handful of Worldly realm and Profound realm experts.

    ¡°The Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the Cao n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, and the Tool Sect have also sent people here.

    ¡°Even the Poison Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Spirit God Sect have sent people to pay their respects.

    ¡°They came with heavy gifts and asked to see your grandfather. However, Mr. Nie didn¡¯t ept their gifts, and they left after meeting martial uncle.

    ¡°People from the Heaven Pce Sect also came. They said that they would throw a victory party in a few days, and they came to invite you.¡±

    Chen Musheng detailedly exined what had happened in the Cloudsoaring Sect recently as he led the way for Nie Tian.

    During the time Nie Tian had stayed in Shatter City, waiting for the inter-realm teleportation portal to be constructed, the Cloudsoaring Sect seemed to have be the center of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, attracting countless powerful figures.

    Almost all of the major sects had sent people toe pay their respects with abundant gifts, with the me God Sect being the only exception.

    The Cloudsoaring Sect had politely told them to return to their sects after a brief stay.

    However, the Dong n, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect, which had stood by Nie Tian before, were received with great hospitality. They were provided with board and lodging, so they could wait for Nie Tian to return.

    Li Ye snorted with an envious expression. ¡°You lucky dog. You¡¯re probably the most popr person in the Domain of the Falling Stars now. Master shouldn¡¯t have arranged for me to go to the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters and cost me the opportunity toe to the center of the stage. Otherwise, Li Ye would have long since be a household name.¡±

 Chapter 645: Bamboo Forest

    There was a small bamboo forest between the Cloudsoaring Mountain and the short mountain peak where Wu Ji lived.

    Two clear creeks ran past a few nicely-designed bamboo buildings in the bamboo forest. Secluded and silent, it was an ideal ce to live.

    Before, this ce had belonged to an elder of the Cloudsoaring Sect. Now, it had been reassigned to the Nie n.

    Jiang Zhisu, the sectmaster of the Cloudsoaring Sect, had even personally established a secret spell formation with bamboo to channel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth toward it from its surroundings.

    In fact, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the bamboo forest had been rather rich to begin with. After the spell formation was established, more spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth gathered to this ce, making it even more suitable for Qi warriors to practice cultivation.

    Nie Donghai had settled down in this bamboo forest with Nie Qian and a few Nie n members with exceptional cultivation talent since they had returned from the arcane realm.

    Over the past two weeks, this secluded bamboo forest had be the most popr ce in the Cloudsoaring Sect, or perhaps even the entire Realm of me Heaven.

    Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the other realms hade to visit Nie Donghai all day long.

    None of them hade empty-handed. Some had brought spiritual tools and materials that suited Nie Donghai and Nie Qian¡¯s needs, while others had brought medicinal pills and armor, many of which were at the Premium grade.

    No matter how Nie Donghai had declined, they had insisted on leaving the gifts, saying that they were tokens of their regard.

    Some of them had even expressed that they were willing to take some of the young talented members of the Nie n to cultivate in their sects.

    That included Profound realm experts from the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Dong n, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the Tool Sect.

    However, Nie Donghai had declined them all, saying that he needed some time to consider their offers.

    Even so, those experts had left agreeable cultivation materials and authentication objects for the Nie n teenagers they had set their minds on.

    As long as Nie Donghai agreed, those Nie n teenagers would be able to join those powerful sects from different parts of the Domain of the Falling Stars, holding the authentication objects they were given.

    After seeing another group of visitors off, Nie Donghai stood at the opening of the bamboo forest. His face was filled with gratification as he looked down at the rings of holding they had left in his hand

    Only years ago, the Nie n had been an insignificant subordinate n of the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    Back then, any Nie n youngster who had wished to be an outer disciple of the Cloudsoaring Sect would have to enter the ninth level of Qi Refining by the age of fifteen.

    If they failed to do so, they wouldn¡¯t be allowed to join the Cloudsoaring Sect, even though the Nie n had managed spirit stone mines for the Cloudsoaring Sect for centuries.

    Who would have thought that, in just a few years, experts from sects that were much more powerful than the Cloudsoaring Sect woulde a long way to visit him in the bamboo forest, and offer to take in gifted Nie n youngsters as their disciples?

    Nie Donghai had never imagined that the Nie n would enjoy such treatment one day.

    While he and Nie Qian trained the Nie n youngsters in the bamboo forest, his two brothers and the other Nie n elders remained in ck Cloud City.

    His brothers, who had fought him for the position of the nmaster before, now begged him to return and preside over their n.

    The elders also behaved meticulously whenever they escorted n youngsters, who they deemed talented, to the bamboo forest, as if they were very afraid that they would anger him.

    Even though he almost never returned to ck Cloud City, all of the Nie n members in ck Cloud City tried everything within their power to smoothen their rtionships with him.

    After all, every Nie n youngster who was sent to the bamboo forest would receive agreeable spiritual tools, incantation scrolls, and medicinal pills from him, which wouldy solid foundations for their future cultivation.

    Almost all of these valuables had been given to him by Nie Tian.

    Then, provided with exceptionally rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, all of the Nie n youngsters progressed rather quickly in this blessed ce.

    Even many disciples of the Cloudsoaring Sect felt jealous of them since even the Cloudsoaring Sect couldn¡¯t give many of the precious materials and incantations that were generously given to the Nie n youngsters.

    That still didn¡¯t include thevish gifts the Worldly realm and Profound realm experts from the other realms had presented to him.

    Nie Donghai made some rough calctions and reached the conclusion that just the gifts he had recently received alone were more valuable than what the Cloudsoaring Sect had umted over the past thousand years.

    <i>¡°The Nie n is finally rising to prominence!¡± </i>Nie Donghai thought to himself, his eyes welling up with emotions.

    At that moment, he overheard some girls chatting andughing in the depths of the bamboo forest where Nie Qian lived. A gratified smile appeared on his face as he muttered to himself, ¡°I won¡¯t have to worry about Nie Tian¡¯s marital problems!¡±

    In the depths of the bamboo forest.

    Many well-dressed and beautiful girls were chatting merrily in Nie Qian¡¯s five-story residence.

    Ye Qin from the Yin Sect, Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, An Shiyi and An Ying from the An n, and Yu Tong from the Blood Sect were there. The rest were beautiful young women that Nie Tian had never met before.

    They were either chatting with girls from the Nie n or gathered around Nie Qian, asking to hear about Nie Tian¡¯s childhood.

    In a corner of the building, An Shiyi was gazing at the balcony on the first floor, where Nie Qian wasughing heartily at Dong Li¡¯s joke. A bitter look could be seen in her eyes.

    Dong Li had been the first toe here from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    It seemed that she had gained Nie Qian¡¯s trust and favor soon after they had met. She had behaved very warmly towards her, and now she even started to refer to her as aunt.

    Meanwhile, Nie Qian enjoyed Dong Li¡¯spany, who was a great beauty from a noble background and had a sweet mouth.

    Because of that, she had arranged for her to live in her residence, which was a privilege that none of the other young women had.

    Even An Shiyi and An Ying had been arranged to live in a small building beside Nie Qian¡¯s. Every time they went to visit Nie Qian, they would see Dong Li sitting beside her. Watching them talk andugh, the An sisters couldn¡¯t help but feel left out.

    An Ying snorted angrily. ¡°That woman is so daring! Isn¡¯t she known for seducing men and using her charms to get her way? How is she still unbesmirched?¡±

    An Ying had asked around and learned that Dong Li had somehow assured Nie Qian of her virginity soon after her arrival.

    After realizing that what she had heard about Dong Li were only stories made up by men who couldn¡¯t get her, Nie Qian had started to respect and like her more and more.

    Adding in that Dong Li had intentionally yed up to her, Nie Qian now believed that Dong Li would make an ideal wife for Nie Tian.

    An Shiyi gave her sister a hard look and berated, ¡°Don¡¯t you say that again! Miss Dong and Little Tian are made for each other. We should be happy for Little Tian.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯ve never thought about taking your rtionship with Nie Tian to the next stage,¡± An Ying said in a low voice. ¡°You know that Grandpa Nie likes you and that Senior Li from the Blood Sect also wants you to take that step. Even though she didn¡¯t say those exact words, she¡¯d like it if Nie Tian could marry you eventually.¡±

    An Shiyi snorted softly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about this ever again. Little Tian only sees me as his older sister. How can I harbor such improper thoughts towards him?¡±

    ¡°Is that really how you feel?¡± An Ying asked, frowning slightly.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± An Shiyi answered with an indisputable expression. However, a hint of helplessness shed across her eyes.

    At one of the clear creeks...

    Yu Tong from the Blood Sect was sitting alone on the edge of arge rock, with her hands propping up her chin and her slender, jade-like calves swaying idly in the creek.

    A desirable woman from the Blood Sect approached her without making a sound. Watching her staring nkly into the creek, the woman asked with a frown, ¡°What are you still doing here, junior martial sister? Have you even visited Nie Qian once since we came here?¡±

    ¡°Why would I want to visit her, Senior Martial Sister Lin?¡± Yu Tong asked expressionlessly.

    Lin He gave her a stern look and said with a berating tone, ¡°Our sectmaster demanded that you stay in this bamboo forest of all ces in the Cloudsoaring Sect since the day we arrived. Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t know why she made such an arrangement.¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know,¡± Yu Tong said indifferently.

    ¡°You¡¯re lying!¡± Lin He raised her voice slightly. ¡°Nie Tian is now the most popr person throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. You can see that almost all of the most beautiful young women from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars are now gathered in this bamboo forest. You must know what their seniors¡¯ intentions were in sending them here.

    ¡°You have your advantage over them. Why don¡¯t you use it? If you can cling to Nie Tian, that rapidly growing tree, not only will you be the sectmaster of the Blood Sect one day, but you¡¯ll lead the Blood Sect to a bright future.¡±

    Lin He paused briefly before continuing with an admonishing tone, ¡°I heard that Nie Tian took advantage of you on more than one asion. The way I see it, he must have an eye for you. As long as you take action, you¡¯ll have a good chancing of winning him over.¡±

    ¡°Would you stop already?!¡± Yu Tong blurted angrily. ¡°Since when has that be something to brag about? To me, it¡¯s a humiliation that I¡¯ll remember for the rest of my life.¡±

    Lin He shook her head, as she apparently didn¡¯t agree. ¡°Humiliation? If Nie Tian took advantage of me, I would have let people know and considered it my greatest fortune! I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a humiliation at all. In fact, if that little rascal wants to, I¡¯d beg him to take advantage of me!¡±

    Yu Tong let out a cold snort. ¡°Go beg him then. He¡¯s such a lustful asshole. He might actually do it.¡± Then, with a deep sigh, she added, ¡°I know what you mean, senior martial sister, but he and I are no longer at the same level. Before, I considered him my lifelong opponent, but I don¡¯t anymore.

    ¡°The gap between us has be sorge that I won¡¯t be able to catch up to him, no matter how hard I work.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Lin He sighed deeply in frustration and gave up on talking Yu Tong into action. ¡°Yeah, who would have thought that the kid would skyrocket to such a high level? Those powerful experts from the major sects even came to pay their respects to his grandfather... He¡¯s no longer in our league.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s way out of our league.¡± Yu Tong corrected her.

 Chapter 646: A Hundred Flowers Blossom at the Same Time

    Chen Musheng stood by the opening of the bamboo forest. In a humble manner, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, this is the residence our sectmaster has arranged for your grandfather to live in.

    ¡°Apart from the top of Cloudsoaring Mountain and the short mountain where your master lives, this bamboo forest has the richest spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this entire area. Besides, this location is secluded and quiet, which makes it a perfect ce to live in.¡±

    Nie Tian nced around and saw two clear creeks running through a forest of fresh, green bamboo, and a handful of well-designed buildings sitting by the creeks. He nodded in satisfaction.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave now if you don¡¯t need me anymore.¡± Chen Musheng asked for permission to leave.

    ¡°Thank you for bringing me here, Elder Chen,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°You¡¯re most wee.¡± A hearty smile finally appeared on Chen Musheng¡¯s nervous face as he sensed from Nie Tian¡¯s words that he had forgiven him and wouldn¡¯t try to find fault with him for the unfairness he had done to Nie Donghai and the Nie n.

    Ever since he had learned that Nie Tian had risen to prominence and won the acknowledgment of many major sects, he had been in a constant state of anxiety.

    He had feared that Nie Tian would seek him out one day to settle ounts with him.

    Earlier, Nie Tian had intentionally ignored him when they had met in the Realm of Split Void, which had made him realize that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t forgiven him.

    It was also at that time that he witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s strong influence and lofty status, and thus decided to do everything within his power to make up for his mistakes, hoping that Nie Tian would forgive him eventually.

    For that reason, he had visited the Nie n repeatedly to talk to Nie Donghai ever since he had returned to the Realm of me Heaven.

    Since he had apologized sincerely and amended his mistakes, Nie Donghai had already forgiven him.

    Today, Nie Tian saying ¡®thank you¡¯ to him finally relieved him from the fear that Nie Tian would find an opportunity to hold him responsible for his previous mistakes.

    Satisfied, Chen Musheng left.

    As soon as he left, Li Langfeng appeared and said in a respectful manner, ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Since when have you been here?¡±

    Upon seeing Li Langfeng, Li Ye¡¯s expression flickered as he subconsciously stepped back to keep a safe distance from him.

    Li Langfeng had a notorious name in the Realm of Split Void. Almost everyone had heard about his brutal means and merciless nature. Therefore, Li Ye was still apprehensive, even though he knew that Li Langfeng had decided to work for Nie Tian.

    After all, Li Langfeng, who practiced poisonous incantations, was very different from regr Qi warriors.

    ¡°I stayed in the Realm of a Hundred Battles when you left for the Realm of Mystic Heaven with Senior Zhao,¡± Li Langfeng exined. ¡°Then, when I learned that the crisis in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was over, and Miss Dong wasing to see you in the Realm of me Heaven, I came with her.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see. But why didn¡¯t you stay in the bamboo forest? You seem to havee from that direction.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Li Langfeng sagged his head and said, ¡°Wherever I go, misfortune follows. And I practice poisonous incantations. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll bring misfortune to your family, so...¡±

    Apparently, he had chosen to live in another location so that the bamboo forest wouldn¡¯t be polluted by his aura, which he was afraid would somehow bring bad luck to Nie Tian¡¯s family.

    Li Ye snorted augh. ¡°Who would have thought that a fierce person like you would believe in luck?¡±

    ¡°Come with us. You don¡¯t bring misfortune. It¡¯s just that you¡¯ve gone through some misfortunes in your life. That¡¯s all.¡± With these words, Nie Tian walked into the bamboo forest with a calm expression.

    Li Ye followed along without hesitation.

    Eyes filled with gratitude, Li Langfeng stood there for a few seconds, circting his spiritual power to suppress his aura. Only after he was certain that not a shred of his poisonous aura would leave him did he quietly trot after Nie Tian and Li Ye.

    As soon as Nie Tian entered the bamboo forest, he heard young women chatting andughing.

    A confused expression instantly appeared on his face.

    Li Ye gazed into the depths of the bamboo forest and saw numerous young women, who were dressed in fine garments and wearing makeup, in a bamboo building. Eyes wide, he eximed softly, ¡°There are a lot of pretty girls there! Ye Qin from the Yin Sect, Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, Xuan Yue from the Ice Pavilion Sect, Qi Yiren from the Tool Sect, and Cao Feifei from the Cao n...¡±

    Li Ye¡¯s beady eyes glittered with the light of excitement as he stated the names of the known beauties from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars as if he were introducing treasures from his collection.

    His fat body trembling in excitement, he hastily took out a bronze mirror to fix his poorly made bun and appearance.

    At that very moment, a girl with bright eyes and white teeth spotted Nie Tian from afar, and instantly skipped with joy. ¡°Ah! Big Brother Nie Tian!¡±

    She was Nie You. Now that a few years had passed, she had already grown into a beautiful young woman.

    She skipped to Nie Tian. Eyes glittering with joy and excitement, she eximed, ¡°You¡¯re finally back, big brother. Many big sisters are waiting for you.¡±

    At this moment, many bright eyes in the depths of the bamboo forest seemed to have found their target, and rapidly converged on Nie Tian.

    They had been chatting andughing a moment ago, but upon realizing that Nie Tian was here, they all fell silent andid their eyes on him, as if he were some sort of rare animal.

    ¡°Damn it! I should have clean up myself before I came!¡± Li Ye fixed his hair in such a hurry that he ended up messing it up even more.

    Nie Tianughed and ruffled Nie You¡¯s head in a doting fashion. ¡°You¡¯ve already entered the middle Lesser Heaven stage?¡±

    Back when Nie Tian had lived in ck Cloud City, Nie You had been one of the few who had considered Nie Tian a true member of the Nie n and a respectable older brother.

    At this moment, a ponytail had reced her towering braid on top of her head. It swung about as she walked, giving her a young, energetic look.

    Nie You¡¯s eyes smiled into the shape of crescent moons as she said, ¡°Yeah, and that¡¯s actually thanks to you, big brother. If you didn¡¯t save the Realm of me Heaven every time we were in danger, our n would have never enjoyed the treatment we¡¯re receiving today.¡±

    Apparently, Nie You wasn¡¯t a child anymore. She knew what had happened in ck Cloud City and the Nie n over the past few years.

    She also knew that the reason why the Nie n had been the first to be evacuated when the outsiders had invaded the Realm of me Heaven, and that Nie Donghai and Nie Qian had beenter invited to move to this bamboo forest, was all because the sects in the Realm of me Heaven had given Nie Tian face.

    Nie Tian smiled and didn¡¯t say anything.

    At that moment, he noticed that many beauties, each beautiful in their own way, were walking towards him from the depths of the bamboo forest.

    On the building that towered over all the others, Nie Donghai pushed his window open and looked quietly at Nie Tian, his body trembling slightly with emotions.

    However, he didn¡¯t rush downstairs and out of his residence to meet Nie Tian.

    Instead, he looked at him from afar, a gratified smiled filling his face.

    ¡°All of those girls have exceptional cultivation bases, powerful backgrounds, outstanding talent, and charming appearances. It seems that Little Tian is blessed with some happy trouble.¡± He chuckled and quietly closed his window, deciding not to get into those girls¡¯ way.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, Li Ye stepped forward, his fat body blocking Nie Tian from view. ¡°Dear beautiful sisters,¡± he said, ¡°my name is Li Ye. My master is Zhen Hun, the most powerful equipment forger throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars. I¡¯m a Premium grade equipment forger acknowledged by the Tool Sect myself. Nie Tian¡¯s me Star is one of my works. Also, my cultivation base is higher than this guy. I¡¯m at the Worldly realm.¡±

    Since he blocked Nie Tianpletely from view, the girls had toy their eyes on him.

    Many of them frowned and cursed him with disgusted looks on their faces.

    ¡°Who the hell is this fatty?¡±

    ¡°Li Ye? Howe I¡¯ve never heard of such a person? Since when did Master Zhen have such a fool as a disciple?¡±

    ¡°This moron actually dares to stand before Nie Tian! Get out of the way!¡±

    At that moment, a young woman in noble, fiery-red garments rushed over and pushed Li Ye out of her way. ¡°Get out of my way, fat-ass! You¡¯re stopping me from meeting my future husband!¡±

    Pushed to the side, Li Ye said embarrassedly, ¡°Junior Martial Sister Qi... What are you doing here?¡±

    This girl was Qi Yiren, Qi Bailu¡¯s granddaughter and a middle Greater Heaven stage cultivator. She cultivated fire-attributed incantations, but showed no interest in equipment forging. She had known Li Ye from long ago.

    Qi Bailu was Zhen Hun¡¯s senior martial brother and the sectmaster of the Tool Sect. As his granddaughter, Qi Yiren always did whatever she liked. She never called Li Ye senior martial brother when they met, and there was nothing Li Ye could do about it.

    Qi Yiren gave him a nasty look before turning to look at Nie Tian with a warm face. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she said in a soft voice, ¡°I¡¯m here to see my future husband! Hello, Nie Tian, I¡¯m Qi Yiren. My grandfather is the sectmaster of the Tool Sect. In my heart, only a hero like you is deserving of being my husband.

    ¡°I¡¯m only here to take a look at you. My grandfather has already prepared a generous dowry for our marriage. Once we get married, your family will have spiritual tools and spiritual materials they won¡¯t be able to exhaust in their lifetime.¡±

 Chapter 647: Returning with Glory

    Lin He from the Blood Sect walked over with Yu Tong. After seeing Qi Yiren revealing her intentions so bluntly, she said with a smile, ¡°That girl is such a bold one.¡±

    ¡°Junior martial sister, if you were bold like her, perhaps your rtionship with Nie Tian would bepletely different now.¡±

    Yu Tong snorted softly and didn¡¯t utter a word.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian looked nkly at Qi Yiren. Amused by her words, he said, smiling, ¡°I don¡¯t n to take a wife yet, young miss. But if I do n to get married, I¡¯ll give you some serious consideration. Okay?¡± He found the girl very amusing.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Qi Yiren said very generously. ¡°Come find me when you want to get married. I¡¯m still young anyways. I¡¯ll wait for you.¡±

    A noble young woman wreathed in a frosty aura stepped up and bowed slightly with her hands sped in front of her. ¡°Greetings, Big Brother Nie. I¡¯m Xuan Yue from the Ice Pavilion Sect. Thank you for taking care of my older brother and senior martial brothers in that strange dimension you went to. My brother spoke very highly of you every time your name came up. I¡¯m very curious as to what kind of person you really are, so I¡¯ve soe to see you in person so cheekily.¡±

    Xuan Yue¡¯s appearance resembled Xuan Ke¡¯s to arge extent. She was wearing sinct, whitebat garments. Even though she wasn¡¯t wearing any makeup, her face was jade-like and charming.

    Nie Tian bowed back to her with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you. Your big brother is one of the few people that I consider truly exceptional. He gave me a very deep impression back when we met during the Heaven Gate trial. I¡¯ve considered your brother a very strong rival ever since.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s my brother¡¯s honor that you¡¯d consider him a strong rival,¡± Xuan Yue said.

    After Qi Yiren and Xuan Yue, the girls crowding around Nie Tian took turns to state their identity, hoping to gain Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Greetings, Big Brother Nie. My name is Cao Feifei. Cao Qiushui is my older brother...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from the Pill Pavilion Sect. My name is...¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian bowed back to them one by one.

    He could see that these gorgeous young women from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars didn¡¯t juste upon their sects¡¯ request.

    Many of them were simply curious about him and thus hade to see him for themselves.

    Of course, their seniors must have reminded them before they hade that Nie Tian was now the brightest rising star throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars and that they would receive unconditional support from their sects if they could win his favor.

    Therefore, some of these lofty girls hade with the intention of sweeping Nie Tian off his feet, while others hade out of curiosity or admiration.

    Even after being pushed to the side, Li Ye mingled with the crowd of young women and introduced himself to them, showing them his most handsome angle as he did. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Li Ye. I¡¯ll bound to be the best equipment forger throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    However, most of the girls didn¡¯t show any interest in getting to know him. Very few actually talked to him.

    All of them fixed their eyes on Nie Tian as they sought opportunities to move to the front and talk to him.

    After handling the crowd of beauties for a while, Nie Tian felt a headacheing on, and then gazed into the distance. He saw that the unearthly gorgeous Dong Li was standing side by side with her aunt Nie Qian on the balcony of one of the bamboo buildings. She was eating grapes from a bunch as she talked andughed with Nie Qian. She pointed at him from time to time, as they were apparently making fun of him.

    ¡°They¡¯reughing at me...¡± Nie Tian said inwardly.

    As he withdrew his gaze, he discovered the An sisters, who were standing behind the beauties from the other realms. They seemed to be hesitating to squeeze through the crowd to see Nie Tian.

    He could tell that they were feeling inferior to the other girls. They wanted to meet Nie Tian, but they had scruples.

    They knew that even in the Realm of me Heaven, the An n was an insignificant n, which had been abandoned by the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    Compared to ancient powers like the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Tool Sect, and the Cao n, which had stood prosperous in the Domain of the Falling Stars for thousands of years, their n was nothing.

    Perhaps that was why the An sisters were so hesitant.

    Nie Tian had nned to visit his grandfather first. Considering his current cultivation base, he was able to locate Nie Donghai effortlessly with his psychic awareness.

    However, a moment ago, he had noticed that one of the windows of the building, which seemed to be Nie Donghai¡¯s residence, had shut after opening briefly.

    He smiled bitterly as he realized what Nie Donghai¡¯s intentions were. <i>¡°Grandpa must want to stay out of this mess, and thus chose to let me deal with these girls myself.¡± </i>

    As he walked through the crowd of beauties towards the An sisters, he caught sight of Yu Tong, who was standing behind the crowd.

    He nodded at her. ¡°Long time no see. You seem to have entered the Greater Heaven stage as well. Congrattions.¡±

    Composed, Yu Tong said softly, ¡°I¡¯m still not you.¡±

    Lin He, who was standing next to Yu Tong, hastily said with an expression as if she felt greatly honored, ¡°Nie Tian, Junior Martial Sister Yu always considered you as her target, and has been working very hard to catch up to you.¡±

    Yu Tong pulled her sleeve, signaling her to not seem too needy. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough.¡±

    Nie Tian then gave Yu Tong another look, before walking past them towards the An sisters. Standing before An Shiyi, he asked with a hearty smile, ¡°Howe you¡¯re here too? You weren¡¯t in the Realm of me Heaven thest time I was back, and I also had other tasks, so I didn¡¯t go to see you.¡±

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re such an important person, how do we dare to demand you visit us?¡± An Ying said sarcastically. ¡°We should consider ourselves lucky that you still remember us.¡±

    However, she had a joyous smile on her face since Nie Tian had ignored the chosen from the powerful sects ande to talk to them.

    An Shiyi took a deep look at him. smiling like a blossoming flower. Only after a few seconds did she say, ¡°You¡¯re... a grown man now. You¡¯re no longer the daring little rascal in the Nie n.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian recalled the time he had met her for the first time in the Nie n. A heartyugh escaped his mouth.

    Then, the three of them chatted casually about what they had all gone through over the past few years and funny stories from the past.

    The girls from the other realms also showed strong interest in the contents of their conversation, and thus quickly gathered around them and listened in silence.

    After an unknown period of time, only when it was getting dark did Nie Tian split off from the An sisters and walk towards Nie Qian¡¯s residence.

    Standing on the balcony, Nie Qian grabbed a peeled orange that Dong Li handed to her. ¡°The little punk is finallying here.¡±

    She seemed to worry that Dong Li would misunderstand their rtionship, and thus exined, ¡°Li, the An n and our n have been friends for many years. Back when we were in trouble, the An n exerted their power to help us.

    ¡°Because of that, that little punk took An Shiyi as his sworn sister. And they haven¡¯t seen each other for years, so...¡±

    Nie Qian had long since heard that Dong Li had stood by Nie Tian no matter what and defended him with everything within her power.

    Dong Li smiled heartily. ¡°You don¡¯t need to exin that to me, aunt. I know him. Gratitude is a precious virtue. I wouldn¡¯t have had my eyes on him if he were an ingrate.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s great that you can understand,¡± Nie Qian said, smiling.

    Approaching the bamboo building where Nie Qian lived, Nie Tian noticed that two young women were ying chess on the balcony of a nearby building.

    They were Ye Qin from the Yin Sect and Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    Since the two of them already knew Nie Tian rather well, they didn¡¯t join the chattering young women that had swarmed to him.

    Only when Nie Tian walked by did they turn to smile at him.

    Smiling, Nie Tian nodded back at them and went on towards the building where Nie Qian lived.

    After putting down a white chess piece, Ye Qin lifted her chin and asked Qin Yan, ¡°Why are you here, Qin Yan? I heard that Dong Li is your good friend.¡±

    The tips of Qin Yan¡¯s eyebrows rose as she ced a ck piece, saying, ¡°I¡¯m only here to take a look. Don¡¯t read too much into it. You, on the other hand, are a chosen one from the Yin Sect, which has a close rtionship with Nie Tian. You have quite a head start.¡±

    ¡°Unlike those girls, I¡¯m here for business,¡± Ye Qin said with a subtle smile.

    Qin Yan sighed and said, ¡°Even if we don¡¯t want to give up on him, we¡¯re still one step toote... I have to admit that when ites to judging talent, Dong Li is much better than me. She invested significantly in Nie Tian long before he disyed his remarkable talent. I¡¯m thinking that even if I got to know Nie Tian before her, I probably wouldn¡¯t have acted so decisively and gained such firm control of him.¡±

    ¡°Dong Li is indeed very outstanding in that aspect,¡± Ye Yin said. ¡°I¡¯ve got to give it to her.¡±

    As the two of them talked, Nie Tian went up to Nie Qian¡¯s residence and saw his aunt, who he missed deeply.

    Nie Qian gave him a stern look. ¡°You¡¯ve finally remembered toe here, huh? Bedazzled by those girls, are you? Do you still know who you are?¡±

    Nie Tian cleared his throat and replied hastily, ¡°I don¡¯t even know who they are.¡±

    ¡°But anyways, if your mother was still alive, she would be even prouder than I am.¡± Nie Qian¡¯s eyes welled up as mixed emotions rose in her heart.

    All these years, she had brought out her strongest side to face countless difficulties.

    On this day, after seeing that Nie Tian had gained such exceptional abilities and influence, she thought of herte sister and finally let her emotions overwhelm her.

 Chapter 648: Deriving Enlightenment

    Nie Tian spent the next two days in the bamboo forest.

    During this time, he caught up with Nie Donghai and Nie Qian and talked to Dong Li.

    As for the women that hade from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars harboring various intentions, he only met a handful that he was familiar with and shut his door to the others.

    Two dayster, he went to the mountain peak behind Cloudsoaring Mountain to meet Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji was sitting in the lotus position in his hut on the mist-wreathed mountaintop, as if he were in a different space and time. As Nie Tian approached him, he had a feeling as if time was being reversed, and his past started to sh before his eyes.

    Therefore, he stood there and waited. Only after a long time did Wu Ji awake, as if his soul had finallye back from a distant journey.

    Wu Ji smiled warmly as he opened his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re back. I¡¯ve heard about what happened in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. I also didn¡¯t expect that it would be you who finally defeated the outsiders by activating the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with your fragmentary star marks.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know I would either,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has disappeared for thousands of years, their spell formation is still secretly protecting the Realm of Mystic Heaven.¡±

    Wu Ji took a small book from his inner pocket and handed it to Nie Tian. ¡°Here, this is the book I told you about. I spent a long time collecting this information. I hope it¡¯ll prove useful to you. You can stay here and go through it. Ask me if there¡¯s anything you don¡¯t understand.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the book but didn¡¯t start reading right away. Instead, he said, ¡°Master, I managed to restore Bloodline Crystal Chains to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart with my Blood Essence in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. I didn¡¯t know that my Blood Essence actually had such a profound use.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Your Blood Essence carries the profound truths of life power, which is very rare. Even I don¡¯t know much about it. You¡¯ll probably have to see for yourself as to what kind of bloodline talent you¡¯ll awaken and whether you¡¯ll be able to enter some magical realm with the help of your bloodline to deepen your understanding of your bloodline power and mastery of your bloodline magics.

    ¡°The book only records the features of themonly seen outsider races¡¯ bloodlines.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly, showing that he understood.

    Afterwards, he didn¡¯t ask any more questions, but rather read the book Wu Ji had written for him wholeheartedly on arge rock atop the mountain peak.

    Wu Ji had notified Jiang Zhisu that no one shoulde to the back mountain during this time.

    Nie Tian needed absolute silence to derive enlightenment.

    Jiang Zhisu understood his concerns and thus informed all those who hade to the Cloudsoaring Sect to visit Nie Tian that Nie Tian was in the middle of secluded cultivation, and sent them back politely.

    Therefore, Nie Tian studied the thin book about outsider bloodlines without any distractions from the outside world.

    Even though the book only had a few dozen pages, it carried Wu Ji¡¯s deep understanding of outsider bloodlines, which turned out to be very eye-opening for Nie Tian.

    It said in the book that the advancement of outsiders¡¯ bloodline power was closely rted to the refinement of their fleshly bodies.

    Only when their fleshly bodies were strong enough would they gain rapid growth in their bloodline power.

    The awakening of their bloodline talents also, to arge extent, depended on the refinement of their fleshly bodies.

    At the same time, many of the outsiders¡¯ bloodline talents had the effect of strengthening their fleshly bodies, which would form a virtuous cycle.

    That was why most outsider races possessed fleshly bodies that were much tougher than those of humans.

    The outsiders emphasized the cultivation of their bloodline power, flesh power, and soul power, unlike humans, who mostly focused on the cultivation of their spiritual power.

    Outsiders gained the majority of their various bloodline magics by awakening their bloodlines, which was thanks to the umtion of their n ancestors.

    Only a few outsiders would have the opportunity to enter some mysterious spaces, where they could pick up divine bloodline magics left by ancient monarchs of their races.

    Meanwhile, outsiders could also stimte and magnify their bloodline power with tools. However, human spiritual tools couldn¡¯t achieve such results.

    Therefore, ording to Wu Ji, no spiritual tools forged by humans would allow him to disy his bloodline power to the fullest.

    However, the me Dragon Armor might be an exception.

    Nie Tian had discovered from his previous experience that not only would the me Dragon Armor take it upon itself to channel me power from him, but it had also shown a great demand for flesh power.

    The more flesh power he infused into the me Dragon Armor, the strong his bond with it would be, and the more powerful it would be.

    Because of this, he doubted that the me Dragon Armor had been forged by a human equipment forger. Even if it had been forged by a powerful human equipment forger, he or she must have had an extremely deep understanding regarding outsiders¡¯ bloodline power.

    Meanwhile, he had picked up his Rage Punch, Heavenly Wood Thorns, and the tree branches from mysterious realms where mighty outsiders used to live.

    All of these magical items and powerful incantations could be stimted by his flesh power, which contained the profound mysteries of his bloodline.

    It also said in the book that, as the essence of outsiders¡¯ blood and qi, Blood Essence could be used to strengthen bloodline talents and form different bloodline magics.

    It was just that Nie Tian tried themon Phantasm and Demon bloodline magics recorded in the book, and discovered that he couldn¡¯t get them to work.

    He spected that it was because his bloodline was different from Phantasms or Demons. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t use the Blood Essence he had formed to activate those bloodline magics.

    Wu Ji also pointed out to him that he should emphasize the refinement of his fleshly body, and at the same time, continue to use his flesh power to nourish the me Dragon Armor and other tools he might have that could be infused with flesh power. Furthermore, Wu Ji told him that it was possible that, when his bloodline power built up to a certain level, he might have a chance to enter the origin of his bloodline to find powerful bloodline magics that agreed with him perfectly.

    Nie Tian went through the book about a dozen times until all of its contents were branded in the depths of his soul, and then he burned it.

    He spent the following days refining his internal organs with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation.

    There was still a corpse of a seventh grade Phantasm in his ring of holding. Even though the Bone Blood Demon had drained it of its blood, it still contained a copious amount of flesh power.

    Therefore, it served as a source of flesh power that he used to refine his internal organs.

    With Life Drain, he channeled some flesh power from the Phantasm corpse and then used it to finish a round of refinement of his internal organs with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation. The refinement went on day and night, round after round.

    Before he knew it, two months had passed.

    The corpse of the seventh grade Phantasm had been drained of its flesh power, and the second phase of Internal Organ Nourishing wasplete.

    Meanwhile, he remained at thete Greater Heaven stage, since he hadn¡¯t practiced cultivation during this time.

    However, his internal organs seemed to have gone through great changes now that the second phase of the Internal Organ Nourishing was finished. His blood flow had be significantly faster than before, and he no longer needed to summon flesh power intentionally in order to prate metal and crush rocks.

    After seeing Nie Tian prating arge rock effortlessly with his bare hand, Wu Ji said with an impressed look in his eyes, ¡°It seems that the intensity of your fleshly body is already at the same level as that of a fifth grade spirit beast. This means even if you¡¯ve drained your spiritual power in battle, you¡¯ll still be able to maintain a high battle prowess.

    ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t even need to wear the me Dragon Armor, and you¡¯ll still be able to fend off most attacks with your body alone.

    ¡°Little Tian, the cleansing operation in the Realm of Mystic Heaven is over. The major sects from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars have looted valuables that could be piled into a mountain. Right now, they¡¯re discussing rewarding people with them ording to their contributions in the victory. Many of the spiritual materials are treasures that can¡¯t be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°They¡¯ve invited you to go there, and I think it¡¯s about time you leave here and go have a look around.¡±

    ¡°Are you going with me, master?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Wu Ji smiled as he shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not going. But people from the Spirit Condor came to Jiang Zhisu and expressed their strong hope that you¡¯ll make this trip. You¡¯ve made a decisive contribution to our victory. You deserve to go collect your reward.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Well, okay. Are there any materials that you want, master? I¡¯ll get them for you.¡±

    Wu Jiughed heartily as he handed him a list. ¡°I already have a list prepared. These are the spiritual materials that I¡¯ll need for my future breakthrough. Get me some if you can.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

 Chapter 649: The Victory Convention in the Thunder Mountain Sect

    In the Realm of Earth Sieve...

    As one of the oldest Qi warrior sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Thunder Mountain Sect wasn¡¯t based on just one mountain peak.

    Instead, the entire Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range was its headquarters.

    The Heaven Expanse Sect and the Thunder Mountain Sect had been breached one after another soon after the outsiders had poured into the Realm of Earth Sieve.

    The Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors from the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect had suffered heavy casualties before they finally retreated to their arcane realms.

    Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Di Ruyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect, who were both Soul realm experts, had destroyed their inter-realm teleportation portals when they had gone to the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Then, after the cleansing operation in the Realm of Mystic Heaven was over, they had returned to the Realm of Earth Sieve through the Spirit Condor¡¯s secret teleportation portal.

    Shortly after their return, a brand new inter-realm teleportation portal was established in an iparably spacious square in the Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars kept appearing in the newly established inter-realm teleportation portal.

    Soon, Nie Tian, Li Ye, Li Langfeng, and Dong Li walked out of it.

    To their surprise, the so-called victory convention was being held in the Realm of Earth Sieve, instead of the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    After stepping out of the teleportation portal, Nie Tian looked up and around and found that the square was surrounded by mountain peaks.

    Like enormous swords that pierced into the heavens, magnificent, pale-gray stone mountain peaks that were thousands of meters high towered into the clouds.

    Rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that wasced with thunder power filled the entire region.

    Lightning bolts shed passed from time to time in the depths of the clouds, giving rise to muffled rolls of thunder.

    Dong Li snorted augh as she muttered, ¡°Those people actually decided to hold their victory convention in the Thunder Mountain Sect... As far as I see it, there¡¯s another reason why they didn¡¯t dare to hold it in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, besides the fact that the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s headquarters had been destroyed.¡±

    Li Yeughed wildly. ¡°They were afraid of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s spell formation. I¡¯m afraid that, as long as those three lofty mountain peaks still stand there, Zhao Luofeng will feel a cold chill down his spine from time to time while he practices cultivation. Perhaps they should consider reestablishing their headquarters in another realm.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Mystic Heaven is vast and rich in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. If they¡¯re actually going to move to another realm, many sects would love to move there.¡± With these words, Dong Li smiled yfully and bumped Nie Tian with her shoulder. ¡°But whichever sect moves to the Realm of Mystic Heaven will have to y up to you.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and didn¡¯t say anything.

    He also knew that the Heaven Pce Sect and the other sects must have decided to hold the victory convention in the Realm of Earth Sieve because they were apprehensive about the spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As long as those three lofty mountain peaks in the Realm of Mystic Heaven still stood unwaveringly, any sects that were based in the Realm of Mystic Heaven would have scruples.

    Who wouldn¡¯t fear something that had turned the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship and Basto to ashes in a sh?

    Even if the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect entered the Void domain sessfully, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to fend off such a devastating strike.

    A Qi warrior from the Thunder Mountain Sect walked up to them. ¡°Where are you from, Misters and Miss?¡±

    ¡°The Dong n,¡± Dong Li said.

    The early Worldly realm Qi warrior took a closer look at Dong Li upon learning that they were from the Dong n, then he asked, ¡°Are you Miss Dong Li?¡±

    Dong Li nodded slightly.

    The man pointed in a direction in a humble fashion and said respectfully, ¡°This way please. I¡¯ll take you to the guests from your n.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Nie Tian stopped him. ¡°Where are the people from the Spirit Condor staying?¡±

    Not only had hee to attend the victory convention, but he had alsoe to see Hua Mu.

    The man smiled and said, ¡°They¡¯re over there too.¡±

    Without asking another question, Nie Tian followed the man out of the spacious square.

    As they came to a corner of the square, Dong Li suddenly came to a stop. Looking at a long stone table and the oddly-shaped rings on them, she asked, ¡°What are these?¡±

    The man answered hastily, ¡°These are the storage rings the Soul realm experts have looted from the outsiders. Apparently, these storage rings are simr to our rings of holding. They contain all sorts of rare materials that we don¡¯t have in the Domain of the Falling Stars, as well as corpses of sixth and seventh grade outsiders, their weapons, and scrolls that carry their bloodline magics.¡±

    Nie Tian took a quick nce and realized that there were more than a hundred storage rings on the long stone table. His eyes widened slightly.

    ¡°Are these the belongings of all of the outsiders that they¡¯ve killed?¡± Li Ye asked curiously.

    ¡°Pretty much all of the sixth and seventh grade outsiders¡¯ corpses and belongings are here,¡± the man exined. ¡°But as for the fifth grade outsiders, since their belongings are of limited value, their yers kept their belongings.¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°I see.¡± Then, with a thrilled smile, she winked flirtatiously at Nie Tian and said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve hit gold this time.¡±

    In her eyes, since they were going to split the spoils ording to contribution, whose contribution could match Nie Tian¡¯s?

    If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, not only would the crisis have not ended, but the humans might have lost the warpletely and been annihted.

    Since Nie Tian had secured the humans¡¯ victory with the help of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacy, Nie Tian would probably be free to choose from all of the precious items within those storage rings.

    <i>¡°I hope those people won¡¯t try to pull anything this time,¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself, his brow furrowed.

    Afterwards, the four of them left the spacious square under the Thunder Mountain Sect disciple¡¯s guidance.

    In a distant location in the square, a young woman in Heaven Expanse Sect garments, who was helping the Thunder Mountain Sect receive guests, stood still as she caught sight of Nie Tian and the others.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Junior Martial Sister Yu?¡± Lei Ze from the Thunder Mountain Sect asked, frowning.

    Lei Ze was the grandson of Lei Zhenyu, who was the Soul realm expert of the Thunder Mountain Sect. Lei Ze was at the early Worldly realm himself. The Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect were brother sects. Disciples of the two sects had been getting married for generations.

    Yu Wei was Lei Ze¡¯s fiancee.

    Pointing at Nie Tian, who was walking into the distance, Yu Wei¡¯s eyes brimmed with hatred and fury as she said, ¡°That man... That man is Nie Tian! I met him in Shatter City. He said that he watched outsiders kill my older brother and he did nothing. But now that he enjoys such a noble status, I¡¯m afraid I will never have my revenge!¡±

    Lei Ze watched Nie Tian disappear into the distance and said, ¡°So he¡¯s Nie Tian! That brat is a lowborn. If he didn¡¯t happen to obtain those fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial, he would never have risen to such a lofty ce. Let him have his fun for now. He won¡¯t be like this for much longer.¡±

    Ye Wei was taken aback. ¡°Right now, he¡¯s already taken Ning Yang¡¯s old ce and be the brightest star in the younger generations. He has the Spirit Condor, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Tool Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles behind him. Not just that, but he also possesses a formidable puppet, and the ability to activate the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s spell formation...¡±

    ¡°All these things you¡¯ve just said are external forces,¡± Lei Ze said with a disdainful expression. ¡°He¡¯s only at the Greater Heaven stage himself. None of those things will make up for his poor personal strength. Besides, he¡¯s angered too many people. Some of them aren¡¯t what he can imagine.¡±

    Yu Wei¡¯s expression flickered as she lowered her voice and asked, smiling, ¡°Are you saying that someone is going to deal with him?¡±

    Only after he was certain that Nie Tian and the others had vanished from their viewpletely did Lei Ze say in a very low voice, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you about that now. You just need to know that the Domain of the Falling Stars is still ruled by the Heaven Pce Sect and their friends. And both our sects stand with the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°Once the patriarch of Heaven Pce Sect enters the Void domain, the structure of the Domain of the Falling Stars is bound to go through heaven-shaking, earth-shattering changes!

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that he¡¯ll still get to enjoy his life by that time!¡±

    Yu Wei was suddenly spirited upon hearing these words. ¡°Nie Tian will die for what he¡¯s done, older brother. You just wait and see!¡±

    ...

    On one of the mountain peaks that surrounded therge square.

    People could be seen shing into and out of the numerous caves halfway up the mountain peak, like bustling bees leaving and returning to their hive.

    The Thunder Mountain Sect disciple came to a stop at the foot of the mountain peak, where he pointed for Dong Li and said, ¡°Guests from your n, the Spirit Condor, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Tool Sect, the Yin Sect, and the Yang Sect are all arranged to rest in the stone rooms in this mountain peak. I¡¯ll take my leave now if you don¡¯t need me for any other business.¡±

    Dong Li nodded at him, and he turned around and headed back towards the square.

    ¡°You¡¯re here too, Li!¡± Smiling, Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce waved from the mouth of one of the caves. Standing beside her were a few old members of the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce.

    ¡°Here! Big Brother Nie!¡± Qi Yiren from the Tool Sect waved excitedly from the mouth of another cave, beckoning for Nie Tian to go to her.

    Apparently, her exmation stirred many others, who then came out of their caves.

    Some of them were beautifuldies who had visited the bamboo forest, and recentlye to attend the victory convention.

    Each and every one of themid their eyes on Nie Tian.

    At that moment, Dong Wangling from the Dong n came out of one of the caves and said with a slightly grim face, ¡°This way, Nie Tian.¡±

    Zong Zheng, Li Muyang, and a few other came out after him, all of whom had furrowed eyebrows, as if they were discussing some urgent matter.

    Wondering what was going on, Nie Tian went towards Dong Wangling.

 Chapter 650: Hidden Crisis

    Watching Nie Tian follow Dong Wangling and the other Soul realm experts into the cave, many youngsters that were observing from their own caves had admiring looks in their eyes.

    Under Dong Wangling¡¯s instructions, Dong Li waited at the mouth of the cave.

    Even Dong Li wasn¡¯t qualified to enter, much less Li Ye and Li Langfeng.

    Every observing youngster knew that Soul realm experts from the powerful sects were gathered in that cave.

    It seemed that those powerful patriarchs considered no other junior but Nie Tian qualified to attend their meeting.

    No other juniors were allow to enter that cave.

    From the look of it, even though Nie Tian was just as young as them, and his cultivation base was just as low as theirs, his status matched that of those Soul realm experts.

    This was an acknowledgment.

    Inside the cave was a spacious stone room with numerous stone columns. Prayer mats were ced in a circle in the middle.

    Sitting on the prayer mats were figures that could summon wind and rain (Idiom: have ultimate authority) in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Zong Zheng, Lu Yuanxi, Li Muyang, Dong Wangling, and the other Soul realm experts all looked rather grim.

    After Nie Tian came inside, Zong Zheng pointed at the mouth of the cave, and with crackling sounds, a ward that was translucent and sparkling like ice sealed the mouth of the cave.

    Numerous small spell formations that were as fine as spider webs could be seen in the icy ward, which could not only soundproof the room, but also stop others¡¯ soul awareness from entering.

    ¡°Greetings, seniors,¡± Nie Tian said respectfully.

    He nced around and noticed that, aside from Hua Mu and another Soul realm expert from the Spirit Condor, all of the Soul realm experts that were close to him were present.

    Li Muyang from the Yang Sectughed broadly. Like the god of sun, he asked, ¡°Howe Zhao Shanling didn¡¯te with you?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s in the Realm of Split Void now, trying to seal those six spatial rifts.¡± With these words, Nie Tian jerked his head towards Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect. ¡°He agreed to try and see if he¡¯ll be able to seal those spatial rifts after Senior Zhen talked with him in private.¡±

    Mixed emotions appeared on Qi Bailu¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Regardless of his outrageous demands, that traitor has actually done a lot for the Domain of the Falling Stars this time.¡±

    ¡°Seniors...¡± Nie Tian paused briefly. ¡°It seems to me that something is bothering you. Is there a problem?¡±

    The threat from the outsiders was gone. The humans had gained aplete victory in the Realm of Mystic Heaven and looted arge amount of valuables. Normally speaking, everyone should be happy. However, all of these experts looked rather grim and worried.

    Dong Wangling sighed. ¡°It¡¯s worrisome that the Heaven Pce Sect has chosen to hold the victory convention in the Thunder Mountain Sect.¡±

    Frowning in confusion, Nie Tian asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°The Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s Heavenly Thunder Formation was the second most powerful grand spell formation throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, only slightly inferior to the Five Elements Fortune Formation,¡± Lu Yuanxi from the Spirit Condor said with a serious expression. ¡°Not only is it very profound and powerful, but it can also inflict an extremely high amount of damage. ording to the information we¡¯ve secured, even though the outsiders that invaded the Realm of Earth Sieve managed to breach the Heavenly Thunder Formation, they suffered heavy losses as well.

    ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Formation uses the lofty mountain peaks in the Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range as its foundation, with which it can channel thunder from the highest heavens and unleash heavenly punishment on its enemies.

    ¡°This spell formation is the Phantasms¡¯ bane. It can easily annihte any evil spirits or discarnate souls that dare toe to the Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range.

    ¡°In fact, the Thunder Mountain Sect was the only sect that managed to inflict serious damage on the outsiders with the help of their grand spell formation.¡±

    Dong Wangling chimed in, ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Formation was in bad shape after the outsiders¡¯ invasion. Who would have thought that they have actually repaired all of the damage within such a short time? As far as I see it, the Thunder Mountain Sect couldn¡¯t have gotten it back in operation so quickly with just their own strength.¡±

    Lu Yuanxi nodded and said, ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Formation is the most aggressive grand spell formation in the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. The Heaven Pce Sect must want to show us their alliance¡¯s strength by choosing the Thunder Mountain Sect as the venue of the victory convention.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Li Muyang from the Yang Sect said, ¡°What we¡¯ve looted from the outsiders will be very helpful to the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect. We all know that the Spirit God Sect has profound connections with the Phantasms. Many of their soul incantations and magics were derived from the Phantasms.

    ¡°The same goes with the Poison Sect. Their poisonous incantations and magics are also closely rted to the Fiends.

    ¡°This time, both Lu Minhuang from the Spirit God Sect and Zhang Zhongchi from the Poison Sect have gained a variety of records that are very helpful to them from the fifth and sixth grade Phantasms and Fiends they killed.

    ¡°They¡¯ve both announced that they will be going into secluded cultivation as soon as the victory convention is over, to make their breakthroughs into thete Soul realm.

    ¡°From the look of it, those records have benefited them greatly and set them up for their next breakthrough in cultivation. Furthermore, both their sects will benefit from what they¡¯ve gained in this war. Perhaps they¡¯ll get to develop and achieve breakthroughs in many of their iplete incantations and magics.¡±

    In a soft voice, Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect chimed in, ¡°Even though the Heaven Pce Sect has lost a significant amount of vital energy, it¡¯ll be mended once their patriarch enters the Void domain. As long as he can do that, the Heaven Pce Sect will continue to be the ruler of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and no other sect will be able to shake their supreme power.¡±

    ¡°Xia Yi is now at thete Soul realm,¡± Cao Mou from the Cao n said. ¡°He¡¯s not easy to deal with either.¡±

    The Soul realm experts had a heated discussion, not holding anything back because of Nie Tian¡¯s presence.

    Nie Tian sat on one of the prayer mats and listened as they talked. Gradually, he was infected by the grim atmosphere among them, and his originally light heart grew heavier and heavier.

    He could see that, now that the outsider problem was over, these seniors who had always stood by him were concerned for the future.

    Dong Wangling sighed deeply and said with a frustrated tone, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce only left spell formations in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven. We wouldn¡¯t have to worry this much if they had left simr spell formations in every realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Li Muyang turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Yeah, that spell formation was the reason why the Heaven Pce Sect decided to hold the victory convention here. But the Heaven Pce Sect won¡¯t rest until they eventually get rid of that spell formation.

    ¡°For them, those three lofty mountain peaks are like fishbones that got stuck in their throat. As long as they still stand unwavering, they won¡¯t feel at ease reestablishing their headquarters in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. However, the Realm of Mystic Heaven has the richest spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s the most ideal ce for Qi warriors to practice cultivation. The Heaven Pce Sect won¡¯t give it up so easily.¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed his chin as he realized these seniors¡¯ concerns. ¡°Senior Li, you mean that the Heaven Pce Sect will seek trouble with me?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Li Muyang answered with a serious face. ¡°I doubt that they¡¯ll make any moves against you before their patriarch enters the Void domain. But once he does, the Heaven Pce Sect definitely won¡¯t keep peace with you anymore!¡±

    ¡°Even if that guy doesn¡¯t enter the Void domain, as long as Zhao Luofeng doesn¡¯t stay in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, he¡¯ll have nothing to fear,¡± Zong Zheng said.

    ¡°You need to be very careful for now, Nie Tian,¡± Lu Yuanxi from the Spirit Condor said with all seriousness. ¡°That puppet of yours won¡¯t be able to protect you from soul attacks. If someone attacks you with soul magics, I¡¯m afraid you...¡±

    ¡°I know what you mean,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be careful.¡±

    He knew that these Soul realm experts were afraid that his life would be in danger if someone were to sneak up on him and unleash powerful soul magics.

    ¡°You¡¯d better stay with us and not go wandering around for the time being,¡± Lu Yuanxi said. ¡°Hua Mu will be here in two days, and the victory convention is opening in seven days. Here. This is a list of the valuables we¡¯ve looted from the outsiders. You can take a look at it first.

    ¡°If there¡¯s anything that you need on there, just let us know, and we¡¯ll try our best to get them for you.¡±

    With these words, Lu Yuanxi handed Nie Tian the list. Nie Tian grabbed it, and eximed the moment heid his eyes on it, ¡°Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon?!¡±

    The first item on the list was the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, which was marked ¡®broken¡¯.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Lu Yuanxi said. ¡°After our assessment, we¡¯ve determined that the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon is the most precious item among our loot, even though it has broken into three pieces. The Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon possessed such devastating might. With a single blow, it shattered the Five Elements Fortune Formation and turned that magnificent pce to ashes. Numerous Worldly realm and Profound realm disciples of the Heaven Pce Sect perished.

    ¡°That Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon marks the culmination of the Phantasms¡¯ equipment forging skills. Even though we might not be able to repair it, it is still a crystallization of the Phantasms¡¯ wisdom. Just by prying into its profound structure and spell formations, we¡¯ll be able to lift our equipment forging skills to a whole new level. Therefore, we put it in the first rank.

    ¡°After all, the devastating blow from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce shattered the ancient starship and annihted Basto, but the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon only broke into three pieces. This alone is enough proof of its uniqueness!¡±

    Qi Bailu¡¯s eyes lit up as he heard him talk about the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    As the sectmaster of the Tool Sect and one of the most brilliant equipment forgers in the Domain of the Falling Stars, he clearly knew how important the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon was.

    Somewhat excited, Lu Yuanxi smiled and said, ¡°Aside from the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, there are also nine seventh grade outsider corpses, along with a variety of other valuables. Many of these materials have never even been seen in the Domain of the Falling Stars before. Even we don¡¯t know their use. Check out the list, Nie Tian. Mark out the things you need.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take a look at the list.¡± With these words, Nie Tian left the stone cave.

 Chapter 651: Countless Treasures

    The lofty mountain peak was almost hollowed out by the hundreds of caves in it.

    As soon as Nie Tian walked out of the cave, a man that was waiting there escorted him to his own cave, which wasn¡¯t far from this one.

    After entering it, he sat down on one of the prayer mats, took out the list of valuable spiritual tools and materials that Lu Yuanxi had just given him, and started reading.

    The items on the list had been divided into five ranks. There was only one item in the first rank, which was the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    In the second rank were nine seventh grade outsider corpses and six outsider tools that, ording to the Spirit Condor¡¯s assessment, were equal to humans¡¯ Spirit Channeling grade treasures, along with a few attached items.

    In the third rank were some precious incantation scrolls, hearts of high grade spirit beasts, tools and corpses of sixth grade outsiders, and a number of spiritual nts that had long since gone extinct in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    In the fourth rank were mostly all sorts of spiritual materials, along with fifth grade outsider corpses and spiritual materials and tools that didn¡¯t have much value.

    In the fifth rank were mostly spiritual materials and nts, most of which could be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but there were also a few that the Spirit Condor failed to determine their uses and value.

    Together, there were thousands of items on the list, including outsider corpses, tools, scrolls, nts, and various materials.

    After going through the list, Nie Tian took out the list that Wu Ji had given him. Hepared the two and discovered that there were a few items that Wu Ji needed on the list that Lu Yuanxi had given him.

    Putting the two lists down, Nie Tian fell into a silent contemtion.

    There were a few items on Lu Yuanxi¡¯s list that he would like to have as well.

    What appealed to him the most wasn¡¯t the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon or the outsiders¡¯ profound tools, but rather the outsiders¡¯ corpses.

    Those corpses must still contain a copious amount of flesh power, which would prove very useful whether he would use it to feed the green aura in his heart or refine his body.

    Furthermore, if he wanted the Bone Blood Demon to grow even stronger, he would also need rich flesh power from high grade outsiders.

    Therefore, the nine seventh grade outsider corpses were his primary target.

    Then, he also marked out the few items that Wu Ji needed.

    Aside from these things, he also had his eyes on two rare spiritual materials.

    One was the eye of a Heaven me Beast, which had been categorized into the second rank by the Spirit Condor.

    Like Earth me Beasts, Heaven me Beasts were also fire-attributed spirit beasts.

    Earth me Beasts usually lived in the depths of the earth and cultivated with earthme essence.

    However, Heaven me Beasts had long since gone extinct in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Word had it that they were even more powerful than Earth me Beasts. Fully grown Heaven me Beasts would be able to charge through the atmosphere of realms into the starry river, where they could gather heavenme essence.

    ording to the Spirit Condor, the eye belonged to an eighth grade Heaven me Beast.

    The eye of an eighth grade Heaven me Beast could not only be used to forge Spirit Channeling grade treasures, but also to derive enlightenment from the profound truths of me power it contained.

    The price of this Heaven me Beast¡¯s eye seemed to be even higher than that of a seventh grade outsider corpse.

    <i>¡°My cultivation of fire-attributed incantations will surely benefit a great deal from this Heaven me Beast¡¯s eye. Not only that, but the me Dragon Armor will probably yearn for it as well.¡± </i>With these thoughts in mind, he took out a brush pen and ink and circled the Heaven me Beast¡¯s eye.

    Afterwards, heid his eyes on the Nine Stars Flower in the third rank.

    ording to the notes behind it, powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seemed to have searched for Nine Stars Flowers after arriving in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They seemed to have some special use for them.

    However, no Nine Stars Flowers had ever been found in the Domain of the Falling Stars. The Spirit Condor had only acquired such information from the special container that the outsiders used to contain the Nine Stars Flower.

    This Nine Stars Flower had been looted from a seventh grade Fiend.

    The people from the Spirit Condor had no idea how much the Nine Stars Flower was worth. They only knew that it would be useful to Nie Tian, and thus put it in the third rank.

    ¡°Hmm... Experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce searched for Nine Stars Flowers. It¡¯ll probably prove useful to me at some point.¡± Nie Tian muttered as he drew a circle around the Nine Stars Flower.

    Aside from the outsider corpses, the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye, and the Nine Stars Flower, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have eyes for anything else among the thousands of pieces.

    During the following days, he cultivated while waiting for the opening of the victory convention. However, he was interrupted repeatedly.

    Zhen Hun sought him out the first day he spent in his private cave to express her wish that he help her obtain the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    Lu Yuanxi from the Spirit Condor came the following day, expressing the same wish.

    Even Dong Li came to meet him in private, expressing their n and their patriarch Dong Wangling¡¯s desire for the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    ording to Lu Yuanxi, during these days, they had been discussing with the Heaven Pce Sect and other major sects, assigning contribution points to each party ording to their contributions in their recent victory.

    With contribution points, people would be able to purchase all sorts of spiritual materials, tools, and outsider corpses.

    The same went for the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    Since Nie Tian had activated the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s spell formation and annihted the ancient starship along with Basto, he was bound to have the most contribution points.

    Neither the Tool Sect, the Dong n, nor the Spirit Condor would have enough contribution points to purchase the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon on their own.

    The same went for the me God Sect, the Poison Sect, and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Only he would have enough contribution points to purchase the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, due to his unmatched contributions in their victory.

    It was agreed that all parties could only purchase items with contribution points. Trading or reciprocation with spirit stones or spiritual materials were not allowed. Because of this, Nie Tian had be very important.

    Almost all of the major sects had expressed strong interest in the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon after witnessing its devastating might, even though it had broken into three pieces.

    <i>¡°The Spirit Condor, the Tool Sect, and the Dong n have all expressed their strong desire for the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon. They¡¯re willing topensate me with a fair amount of spirit stones, materials, and tools.¡±</i> Nie Tian rubbed his chin, not knowing how to decide.

    All of the three parties had expressed that they would be willing to purchase the other items he wanted for him with their own contribution points.

    As long as he agreed to help them buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, they would not only give him those items, but also help him get any other spiritual materials, tools, or incantations he wanted.

    Meanwhile, these three parties were all very close to him, which put him in a dilemma.

    Eventually, an interim solution urred to him. ¡°If I can¡¯t think of a better solution, then I¡¯ll give the three pieces of the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon to each of the three parties, and let them take it from there.¡±

    Deep into the night on the third day that Nie Tian had spent in his private cave.

    A loud scream echoed out from the distant square.

    Experts from different sects jerked their heads towards the source of the scream and quickly came out of their caves.

    Nie Tian and Lu Yuanxi were among them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look!¡± With these words, Lu Yuanxi, who had happened to be visiting Nie Tian, grabbed him and flew directly towards the spacious square.

    The other Soul realm experts and numerous Profound realm disciples also converged on the square from different directions.

    Even juniors with insignificant cultivation bases sped over on air-transportation spiritual tools out of curiosity.

    Soon, Lu Yuanxi and Nie Tian came to a stop in the air above the square.

    They discovered that those who were at the square had allid their indignant gazes on a bald man wreathed in zing mes, who was the me God, Xia Yi.

    An old woman from the Thunder Mountain Sect questioned him, anger filling her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this, me God? The Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye was looted from the outsiders. You¡¯ll have to purchase it with contribution points if you want it. The parties are still not done calcting and determining the contribution points. What do you mean by taking the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t do this, Brother Xia!¡± Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect said in a thunderous voice, a bolt of lightning shooting straight up into the heavens like a lightning dragon.

    Even Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect eximed with a long face, ¡°me God! You¡¯ve got to respect the rules!¡±

    Xia Yiughed sinisterly, holding an eye in his hand. Fiery sparks could be seen flickering within it, as if they contained the profound truths of fire. ¡°What rules? Since I¡¯ve taken the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye, it¡¯s mine now. With all of the members of my sect in an arcane realm, I¡¯m free of all constraints.

    ¡°Anyone who¡¯s unhappy about this and wants to take the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye back is wee to find me in the Realm of Dark Underworld!¡±

    After uttering these words, he disappeared in one of the inter-realm teleportation portals, returning to the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t even join the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. He won¡¯t have a single contribution point. How does he dare to take the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye by force!?

    ¡°Clearly, he doesn¡¯t n to follow the rules we¡¯ve agreed upon. That¡¯s a man with no principles! He¡¯s doing whatever he likes now that he¡¯s entered thete Soul realm!

    ¡°Let¡¯s tear the me God Sect down! And force him to give up the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye!

    ¡°That¡¯s outrageous! Xia Yi doesn¡¯t respect any of the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    Numerous Qi warriors from the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Poison Sect, and the Heaven Pce Sect joined the condemnation of Xia Yi. Judging from their outraged expressions, they didn¡¯t seem to be faking it.

    Only the disciples of the Spirit God Sect, which were based in the same realm as the me God Sect, remained silent.

    ¡°The Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye!¡± Nie Tian also grew furious watching Xia Yi act with no scruples.

 Chapter 652: Argument

    Everyone condemned Xia Yi for his outrageous behavior, though no one seemed to want to personally rush to the Realm of Dark Underworld to get the treasure back.

    Nie Tian nced around and noticed that Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong from the Heaven Pce Sect also had long faces. It didn¡¯t seem like they had nned this with Xia Yi.

    Now that Xia Yi had taken the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye, even though Nie Tian still wanted it, there was nothing he could do.

    Even though he had the Bone Blood Demon at hismand, he didn¡¯t have confidence that he would be able to force Xia Yi to cough up the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye.

    With the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect in secluded cultivation, thete Soul realm Xia Yi was now the most powerful figure throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Anyone who attempted to take the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye back would probably end up failing, or worse, being killed.

    Floating in the air, Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect shot a cold gaze at Zhao Luofeng and asked, ¡°Do you have anything to say about this, Sectmaster Zhao? It was you who proposed to hold the victory convention here in the Thunder Mountain Sect. Now that such a change has urred, shouldn¡¯t you ount for it?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gazes then converged on Zhao Luofeng.

    Zhao Luofengughed bitterly, then said with a helpless tone, ¡°I admit that we¡¯re partially responsible. We¡¯ll atone for this incident as soon as our patriarch enters the Void domain. But right now... I¡¯m afraid that my sect and I don¡¯t have what it takes to take the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye back from Xia Yi. Also, I doubt that any of you have the ability to do so either.¡±

    Elder Ling Dong chimed in, ¡°My suggestion is that whoever can take it back from Xia Yi will get to keep it. What do you think?¡±

    Everyone remained silent.

    Lu Minhuang, who was also from the Realm of Dark Underworld, pondered briefly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to fight Xia Yi just to take back that Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye. Xia Yi said it himself; all of the members of his sect are still in an arcane realm.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, he¡¯s held back by nothing.

    ¡°Even if we join up to fight him, we might not be able to take him. What if he escapes andter seeks opportunities to unleash his fury on our sects? What will we do them?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the Soul realm experts present exchanged nces with one another, none making a sound.

    Nie Tian realized that even though Xia Yi had ignored the rules and taken the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye in front of everyone, since he was far too powerful, the others didn¡¯t seem to have a proper solution.

    From the look of it, Xia Yi would get to keep the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye for the time being.

    Everyone present looked somewhat frustrated. Without much discussion, they each returned to their temporary residences.

    On the fifth day after Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, Hua Mu came.

    Hua Mu met Nie Tian in private as soon as he arrived, expressing his desire to obtain the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    ¡°Uncle Hua, Master Zhen and the Dong n have alsoe to me to express their hope that I can help them obtain the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon,¡± Nie Tian said, without holding anything back. ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not very interested in keeping the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, and I¡¯m willing to help purchase it. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know who I¡¯m supposed to give it to...¡±

    ¡°I see your dilemma.¡± After pondering a few seconds, Hua Mu smiled and said, ¡°How about this: you just help us get the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon. Afterwards, we¡¯ll study it with the Tool Sect and the Dong n. If we can derive groundbreaking enlightenment from this pinnacle of the outsiders¡¯ equipment forging skills, all of the equipment forgers in the Domain of the Falling Stars will benefit from it!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be the best.¡± Nie Tian felt relieved after hearing Hua Mu¡¯s words, then with a concerned expression, he asked, ¡°Can you tell me about that demonic nt inside of you, Uncle Hua?¡±

    Hua Mu let out a deep sigh and said, ¡°I was on a team that went to a Demon realm. The trip was full of dangers, and I was barely able to make it back... with a mysterious seed. I didn¡¯t know how powerful it was back then, and thus tried to refine it after my return. As a result, that demonic nt got out of my hands and found its way into me through the spot between my eyebrows, eventually bing a part of me.

    ¡°It¡¯s called a Heavenly Demonsbane, the third most powerful among the killer nts in the Demon realms.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been doing my best to suppress it all these years, but it still grows inside of me. The higher my cultivation base bes, the faster it grows.

    ¡°Right now, I don¡¯t know how to get rid of it. All I can do is avoid sustaining heavy injuries.

    ¡°Once I suffer heavy injuries, and I¡¯m weakened, the nt will take control of my body. You¡¯ve seen what happens once it takes control...¡±

    ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s no way to get rid of it?¡± Nie Tian asked, surprise filling his eyes.

    Hua Mu smiled bitterly. ¡°Not that I know of. I even have a feeling that I¡¯ll have to live with it for the rest of my life. I can only hope that I¡¯m strong enough to stop it from possessing me again. Perhaps only if I can leave the Domain of the Falling Stars and visit other domains will I have a chance of learning a way to get rid of it.¡±

    With these words, he cast an anticipatory gaze at Nie Tian.

    Apparently, he considered Nie Tian his only hope of walking out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Then, after the two of them caught up briefly, Hua Mu left to inform Lu Yuanxi, Zhen Hun, and Dong Wangling of the agreement between him and Nie Tian regarding the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    On the sixth day, the sects finally determined every party¡¯s contribution points.

    Each sect was given points that matched their contributions in the victory.

    The prices of the thousands of valuable items were also determined by renowned appraisers from different parties.

    Nie Tian then received a brand new list where the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon was priced at 1.5 million contribution points.

    Below it were the seventh grade outsider corpses; each middle seventh grade outsider¡¯s corpse was priced at three hundred thousand contribution points, and each early seventh grade outsider¡¯s corpse was priced at one hundred thousand contribution points.

    The few precious tools that were equal to the humans¡¯ Spirit Channeling grade treasures were priced between three to five hundred thousand contribution points.

    Most of the other rare materials and incantation scrolls were priced less than a hundred thousand contribution points.

    Nie Tian noticed that the Nine Stars Flower, which was in the third rank, was only priced at fifty thousand contribution points.

    Meanwhile, after the joint efforts of Lu Yuanxi, Zong Zheng, and the other Soul realm experts, Nie Tian was eventually given a total of two million contribution points, which was more than enough to get the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    Among the major sects, the Heaven Pce Sect was the one that got the most contribution points, which was one million contribution points.

    This was because the decisive battle had taken ce at the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s headquarters, which had been razed to the ground by the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, along with their Five Elements Fortune Formation.

    The one milion contribution points were to reward the Heaven Pce Sect for their contribution in the battle, as well as make up for their heavy losses.

    The other major sects received between six to eight hundred thousand contribution points, with the Spirit Condor being given eight hundred thousand.

    These numbers had finally been agreed upon by the sects after rounds of meeting and extended argument.

    Now that the contribution points were determined, every sect studied the list of spoils and pondered what they should get for their sects and themselves.

    The Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect spread the word that they would only purchase Phantasm and Fiend corpses, along with their incantation scrolls and tools.

    The morning of the seventh day dawned very early.

    However, at first light, the Qi warriors from every sect had already been waiting on the spacious square.

    Five long stone tables were ced at the center of the square. On the first table sat the storage ring that held the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, which was very eye-catching.

    On the second table were about a dozen storage rings, which contained second rank outsider corpses, materials, and tools.

    Many more storage rings could be seen on the third, fourth, and fifth tables. All of them were stuffed with less valuable items.

    Standing in front of the first stone table, Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect announced with a resonant voice that traveled across the entire Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range, ¡°Alright, all of the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars are now gathered in this ce. The recent outsider invasion not only brought us a crisis, but also fortune.

    ¡°Thanks to our joint efforts, we destroyed the outsider forces and gained abundant spoils from our victory!¡±

    Zhao Luofeng¡¯s expression was grim sometimes and spirited at other times as he went on with his speech. Then, after a few inspiring words, he announced the opening of the victory convention.

    Di Ruyun, the Soul realm patriarch of the Heaven Expanse Sect, spoke as soon as Zhao Luofeng was finished. ¡°The Heaven Expanse Sect and the Heaven Pce Sect would like to purchase the broken Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon together! The Heaven Pce Sect has one million contribution points. We have six hundred thousand contribution points. Together, we have enough contribution points to purchase the cannon!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhao Luofeng said.

    From the look of it, the Heaven Pce Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect had long since set their minds on the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon and were determined to obtain it.

 Chapter 653: Sweeping Everything Away

    ¡°They are buying the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon together!?¡± Lu Yuanxi¡¯s expression flickered slightly, as he hadn¡¯t expected that the Heaven Pce Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect would make such a move.

    Never had they mentioned in their previous meetings that any two sects could purchase an item with theirbined contribution points.

    Since the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon was priced at one-and-a-half million contribution points, no one except Nie Tian would be able to purchase it alone. Because of that, Lu Yuanxi had deemed that it was already an apple in the hand.

    Who would have thought that such changes would ur so soon after the opening of the victory convention?

    ¡°Sectmaster Zhao, we never said that different parties could purchase the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon together,¡± Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect said in a stern voice.

    Dong Wangling let out a cold snort. ¡°If the Heaven Pce Sect can do it, so can we. We from the Realm of a Hundred Battles would like to buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon with ourbined contribution points as well!¡±

    ¡°The Spirit Condor and Ice Pavilion Sect would like to the purchase the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon too!¡± Zong Zheng said hastily.

    ¡°The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect would also like to buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon with our contribution points!¡± Li Muyang said with a stern face.

    Just like that, almost every sect expressed their strong desire for the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    Even the patriarchs of the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect exchanged a nce and called out, saying that they would like to buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon as well.

    Originally, the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect had only targeted the Fiends¡¯ and Phantasms¡¯ corpses, tools, and scrolls, since neither of them had enough contribution points to purchase the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon alone.

    However, upon seeing that the Heaven Pce Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect had changed the rules by joining up to buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, they changed their minds as well.

    An uproar then broke out in the square. Every sect or n leader focused their longing gazes on the storage ring that sat on the first stone table. No one was willing to give up the opportunity to obtain the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    ¡°If everyone wants it, then we¡¯ll have to draw lots for it,¡± Zhao Luofeng said, his eyes narrowed, as if he had long since thought the whole thing out. ¡°We¡¯d better count the parties that want to buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, and then arrange for a lot-drawing. The cannon will go to whichever party or parties draw the right lot.¡±

    ¡°Umm... alright,¡± Lu Yuanxi said with a frustrated tone.

    That was when he realized that the Heaven Pce Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect had done all this to minimize Nie Tian¡¯s chance of getting the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    If they didn¡¯t join up, Nie Tian would be the only party that had enough contribution points to purchase the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, which meant he would get it as long as he wanted to.

    However, if it came down to drawing lots, the Heaven Pce Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the other sects would all have a chance at obtaining it.

    Considering the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s lofty status and profound reserve power, if any of the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Poison Sect, or the Spirit God Sect were lucky enough to win the rights to buy the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, they would end up studying it together.

    The discussion went on for a bit longer before all of the leaders eventually agreed to decide this issue by drawing lots.

    However, before they could finish with the lots, a gruesomeugh came from the distance.

    ¡°Howe you¡¯re having such a grand convention, yet no one invited me?¡± With these words, a figure entered everyone¡¯s view and started walking towards the center of the square in a fashion as if he were the only one who mattered.

    Aftering to a stop in front of the five long stone tables, he nced over at the Soul realm experts with a defiant smile, and asked, ¡°Do I qualify to take my share of the spoils?¡±

    All of the Qi warriors that were gathered in this ce gasped with nervous looks in their eyes. ¡°Zhao Shanling!!¡±

    Both the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s alliance and the Dong n¡¯s alliance had intentionally ignored Zhao Shanling when they had calcted the contribution points.

    In their eyes, even though Zhao Shanling had made significant contributions, he had harbored ulterior motives.

    Furthermore, he was known to be a lone wolf who wouldn¡¯t stay long in any ce, and he hadn¡¯t shown any interest in mixing with the sects. Therefore, no one had taken his contribution into consideration or bothered to inform him.

    Who would have thought that he would actuallye to the victory convention without being invited?

    Many Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors, who were gathered around the center of the square, discussed him in a low voice while gazing back and forth between Zhao Shanling and the other Soul realm experts.

    ¡°The guy first helped end the crisis in the Realm of me Heaven, and then sealed the spatial rift in the Realm of a Hundred Battles,ying the foundation for the victory in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. If we didn¡¯t win the battle of the Realm of a Hundred Battles by eliminating those seventh grade outsiders, the outsiders wouldn¡¯t have been forced to focus all of their forces on the Heaven Pce Sect.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. If we¡¯re talking about contributions to our victory, I¡¯m afraid that guy¡¯s contribution wasn¡¯t any less than Nie Tian¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°But he only did all those things because Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect gave in to him. Qi Bailu even promised to give him the position of the sectmaster of the Tool Sect. What else does he want?¡±

    ¡°What on earth is he doing here?¡±

    Zhao Luofeng¡¯s eyebrows gradually knitted as he saw Zhao Shanling, as if he was also at his wits¡¯ end when it came to this younger brother of his.

    All of the other Soul realm experts were well-aware that Zhao Shanling had made a significant contribution to their victory, and that they were in the wrong by not inviting him to the convention. Therefore, they all remained silent.

    Smiling, Zhao Shanling walked up to the stone tables and said, ¡°I¡¯m the one who sealed the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of a Hundred Battles. If those two realms fell into the outsiders¡¯ hands, I¡¯m afraid that things would have beenpletely different, right?

    ¡°Without me sealing those spatial rifts, you people wouldn¡¯t have been able to take out those seventh grade outsiders and their troops like turtles in a jar, and force the remaining outsider forces to gather in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°What would you have done if they had escaped through those spatial rifts and regrouped?¡±

    After Zhao Shanling exined the crucial part he had yed in their victory, everyone present had to admit that he had indeed made significant contributions in ending this crisis, no matter how much they might detest him.

    ¡°I didn¡¯te until now because I was in the Realm of Split Void, sealing those six spatial rifts,¡± Zhao Shanling continued at a slow pace. ¡°Even if the outsiders recover their vital energy after hundreds of years, with those spatial rifts sealed, they won¡¯t be able to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars again.

    ¡°But since I can seal them, I can reopen them as well!¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly asked, ¡°What do you want, Brother Zhao?¡±

    The others¡¯ expressions also flickered drastically upon hearing his words.

    They knew that Zhao Shanling was capable of anything. If he actually reopened those spatial rifts, the people in the Domain of the Falling Stars would eventually be plunged into another cmity. Therefore, they all looked very uneasy.

    Zhao Shanlingughed wildly. ¡°What do I want?¡±

    Then, with a flick of his sleeve, every single storage ring on the first three stone tables flew into his sleeve.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡± Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect thundered. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    Di Ruyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect also grew furious. ¡°You¡¯re taking too much!¡±

    Zhao Luofeng, his older brother, was also angered. ¡°Give them back!¡±

    Hua Mu, Dong Wangling, and Zong Zheng also lost theirposure upon seeing Zhao Shanling sweeping all of the first, second, and third ranked spoils away.

    ¡°Time to go.¡± With a casual move of his other arm, Nie Tian was pulled to him, into his void realm. ¡°I¡¯ll split these spoils with Nie Tian. None of you qualify to take these valuables.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for me and Nie Tian, you lot would already be corpses. How dare you tell me what to take and what not to?¡±

    FIZZ!

    With a casual move of his hand, a spatial rift appeared in front of him, and his void realm instantly disappeared into it.

    Standing by the spatial rift, Zhao Shanling nced over at the experts, who were now panting with fury. With a mocking tone, he said, ¡°In fact, I respect the rules more than someone. What did you do after Xia Yi took that Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye? He didn¡¯t make any contributions in this battle. What right did he have to take the Heavenly me Beast¡¯s eye?

    ¡°Nie Tian and I are the ones who set the foundations for our victory. It¡¯s only right that we take the most valuable spoils.¡±

    With these words, he also disappeared into the spatial rift.

    Immediately afterwards, the spatial rift closed up and vanished into thin air.

    All of the powerful experts, who hade with the intention of purchasing the items they had eyes on with their contribution points, stood aghast.

    None of them had expected that Zhao Shanling would swoop in and take all of the valuable spoils away, including the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, seventh grade outsider corpses, and tools, scrolls, and materials that the Domain of the Falling Stars had never seen before.

 Chapter 654: Splitting the Spoils

    In the Realm of Unbounded Destion...

    An inter-realm teleportation portal appeared out of thin air in the middle of a rocky field surrounded by extinct volcanoes.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian walked out of the portal.

    With a casual flick of his sleeve, numerous storage rings flew out of his sleeve andnded on the ground in three piles, each pile belonging to a rank. ¡°You go ahead and take your pick. I¡¯ll take the rest.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling turned around and walked off towards a location filled withrge rocks in the distance.

    ¡°This man indeed doesn¡¯t y by the rules...¡± Nie Tian sighed inwardly.

    He had never thought that he would appear out of nowhere when the victory convention had just reached its high point, and sweep all of the valuable spoils away.

    The Heaven Pce Sect, the Spirit Condor, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Thunder Mountain Sect, and the other major sects had worked day and night to determine contribution points and price of therge amount of spoils.

    The Spirit Condor, the Tool Sect, and the Dong n had gone to great lengths to persuade Nie Tian to help them secure the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon; Zhao Luofeng had even cooked up a n to take the cannon themselves...

    At this point, all of these looked like a joke.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s appearance had upset all of their ns.

    Nie Tian looked up into the heavens and saw a dome-shaped ward made of spatial fluctuations that was almost invisible to the naked eye.

    He suddenly realized that Zhao Shanling must have established some restrictive spell over this region so that others wouldn¡¯t be able to notice their presence.

    Zhao Shanling should have been high-spirited after sweeping such arge amount of valuables away in front of everyone, but he wasn¡¯t. Instead, he left them all on the ground for Nie Tian to pick from, as if he didn¡¯t attach much importance to them.

    At this moment, Zhao Shanling was standing in front of a bunch of strangely-shaped rocks, with his back facing Nie Tian.

    Curious, Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention and discovered that there was a stone stele standing in the middle of therge rocks.

    On the stone stele, engraved in in writing, were the words: Beloved Master Xu Yingling¡¯s tomb.

    <i>¡°Xu Yinglong...¡± </i>It suddenly urred to Nie Tian that he had heard that the Tool Sect¡¯s previous sectmaster was named Xu Yinglong, who was Qi Bailu, Zhao Shanling, and Zhen Hun¡¯s master. The man had been well-versed in the art of equipment forging and the art of fighting with spatial power. Some even said that he had been the best fighter throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Word had it that Xu Yinglong had banished Zhao Shanling to a remote space disruption zone after his unforgivable crime in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    However, Xu Yinglong had died soon afterwards.

    The elders of the Tool Sect had imed that he had died because of Zhao Shanling. This was also why Qi Bailu hadn¡¯t forgiven Zhao Shanling after all these years.

    This ce must be Zhao Shanling¡¯s secret stronghold in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Who would have thought that he had actually set up his master¡¯s memorial stele here.

    Standing before the stone stele, Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t utter a word.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t know what this maniac was thinking, but it seemed that he felt rather guilty towards his master.

    Soon, Nie Tian withdrew his gaze from Zhao Shanling and focused on the storage rings before him.

    With his psychic awareness, he examined their contents one by one.

    He picked the storage rings that held the broken Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, the seventh grade outsider corpses, and the Nine Stars Flower, and set them aside.

    He didn¡¯t touch the other ones.

    After a long while, Zhao Shanling turned around and asked, ¡°Are you finished? What did you pick?¡±

    Nie Tian responded truthfully.

    ¡°You picked the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon for the Spirit Condor and the other sects, didn¡¯t you?¡± Zhao Shanling asked with a slightly disdainful smile.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Tian answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about equipment forging, so I¡¯m actually not interested in it myself. After all, it¡¯s broken into three pieces. There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to repair it or derive any enlightenment from it. However, the Spirit Condor, the Dong n, and the Tool Sect all came up to me and expressed their desire to obtain the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon before the convention opened.¡±

    ¡°Well then, now that you¡¯ve made your pick, the rest are mine.¡± With a flick of his sleeve, all of the other storage rings flew into Zhao Shanling cuff. ¡°Since I¡¯ve decided to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars, it¡¯s necessary that I umte some valuables. I¡¯ll probably be able to trade these items for materials that agree with me after we go to a new heaven and earth.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Umm... What do you n to do with the Tool Sect if you¡¯re leaving?¡±

    Zhao Shanling had only agreed to help save the Realm of a Hundred Battles from the crisis on the condition that his martial brother Qi Bailu would kneel before him and make him the sectmaster of the Tool Sect.

    This was also the reason why he had colluded with Xia Yi in their previous operation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    However, he now said that he had decided to leave...

    ¡°The Tool Sect?¡± Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°You really think I want to take that position? I¡¯m used to living a free life. I¡¯ll never agree to control and manage a sect. That position means responsibility, which to me, is pressure and restraint. I¡¯ll never take it.

    ¡°In fact, I didn¡¯tpete with my martial brother and sister to win that position back in the day. I only wanted to prove to everyone that I was the most talented among my master¡¯s three disciples.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before asking, ¡°Then why did you force Senior Qi to give his position to you?¡±

    Zhao Shanling gave a cold harrumph. ¡°I just wanted to prove my point. I don¡¯t ever want such a big burden. How free and happy am I alone? I can do whatever I want! If I have the entire Tool Sect on my shoulders, how will I do things without scruples?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Considering Zhao Shanling¡¯s profound understanding and mastery of spatial power, he could very well live his life however he wanted. No one would be able to force him to do anything.

    However, if he became the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, once he made some major mistake and left, the Tool Sect would be targeted and suffer because of him.

    After giving it a bit more thought, Nie Tian instantly realized that he was making a wise decision by not taking that position.

    ¡°You may summon your Bonebrute puppet and make use of those seventh grade outsider corpses now,¡± Zhao Shanling said casually. ¡°But you¡¯ll have to be extra careful with that Fiend¡¯s corpse.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he asked, ¡°How did you know I was going to strengthen it with those outsider corpses?¡±

    Zhao Shanling gave him a cold look. ¡°Do you take me as a fool? After the battle of the Realm of a Hundred Battles, you asked for seventh grade outsider corpses and then left with Dong Wangling. Later, when I met you again, that puppet of yours became noticeably stronger. I didn¡¯t even need to think to know that it was because you had strengthened it with those outsider corpses.¡±

    ¡°Ummm...¡± Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    ¡°Since we still have some time, you may strengthen your puppet as much as you can, because the stronger it is, the more it¡¯ll be able to help me.¡± Then, Zhao Shanling added with a smile, ¡°You¡¯ve still yet to deliver on your part of our deal. Come to think of it, we¡¯re connected by destiny, you and I. You got a Bonebrute for a puppet, and I forged my Death Reign thanks to the Bonebrutes¡¯ legacies.¡±

    Eyes wide, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you mean that your Death Reign has connections to the Bonebrutes?¡±

    Zhao Shanling gave him another cold look, as if he were talking to a moron. ¡°Of course! What did the Realm of Unbounded Destion use to be? It was home to the Bonebrutes before the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came along. The Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodline talents and magics were all about summoning and using death power. I was only able to forge my Death Reign because I came across a powerful item by ident in one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ relics. Then, after I refined it and added a few other materials to it, the Death Reign finally came to shape.

    ¡°The Death Reign is powered by death power, nothing else.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I said that we¡¯re connected by destiny. My Death Reign was only possible because of the Bonebrutes¡¯ legacies. And you earned your fame and respect thanks to your Bonebrute puppet. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have qualified to talk to those Soul realm old men.

    ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion is a fascinating ce. Even though you can¡¯t find a single de of grass in most areas, the Bonebrutes considered it a blessednd.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange that rumor has it that there are Fruits of Life in such a barren ce, where nothing can grow?¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then nodded with a puzzled expression. ¡°That¡¯s strange indeed.¡±

    With a cunningugh, Zhao Shanling then said, ¡°You¡¯re even stranger. For thousands of years, who knows how many people havee to the Realm of Unbounded Destion in search of Fruits of Life in theirst years, but no one seems to have seeded. You, however, came only once and managed to find a few Fruits of Life. You¡¯re quite a figure, Nie Tian.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered noticeably as he asked, ¡°How do you know about that?¡±

    With a disdainful smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you take Dong Li to the Realm of Unbounded Destion? Otherwise, how would she have been able to bring a Fruit of Life back to Dong Wangling?¡± Also, your master and Hua Mu both struggled with ways to prolong their lifespans. But they suddenly seem energetic and full of vigor again recently. If that wasn¡¯t thanks to Fruits of Life, what then?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian felt as if Zhao Shanling could see right through him. ¡°Well...¡±

    With a casual wave of his hand, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not interested in learning how you found those Fruits of Life. You¡¯d better start strengthening your puppet now. We can¡¯t stay here for too long. I need your puppet to be as strong as it can be.¡±

 Chapter 655: Nine Stars Flower

    With these words, Zhao Shanling left to make his own preparations.

    Before leaving, he reminded Nie Tian that he shouldn¡¯t walk around at will, and that he might catch others¡¯ attention once he left the range of his spell.

    The two of them had taken all of the most valuable spiritual materials. Many sects must not be happy about it.

    If Nie Tian was somehow discovered by people from the Heaven Pce Sect or the Spirit God Sect, he would most likely be in danger.

    With a thought, Nie Tian summoned the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding as Zhao Shanling disappeared behind the rocks.

    The seventh grade outsider corpses were also summoned from within their storage ring and ced on the rocky ground one after another.

    Only the Fiend¡¯s corpse, which contained deadly toxins, was left within the storage ring.

    He thought that he might give it to Li Langfeng after his business with Zhao Shanling was over.

    Li Langfeng, who practiced poisonous incantations, must have ways to extract substances that would help with his cultivation from it.

    <i>¡°You may take all of these outsider corpses¡¯ blood now.¡± </i>Nie Tian sent a wisp of a thought to the Bone Blood Demon.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s grayish-green eyes instantly beamed with the light of desire. Without any hesitation, it started draining and refining the outsider blood with the Blood Refining Incantation.

    <i>¡°Nine Stars Flower...¡± </i>As soon as he pointed at another storage ring, the ss utensil that held the Nine Stars Flower flew out of it and floated in the air.

    Through the ss, the Nine Stars Flower could be seen with great rity. It had a fleshy, green stem and roots. Each and every one of its nine silver blossoms was in the shape of a pentagram.

    Tiny sparks of starlight could be seen flickering around its blossoms. At first nce, it looked as if it was wreathed in a sea of tiny stars.

    <i>¡°If the powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce searched for these flowers after firsting to the Domain of the Falling Stars, they must be of great use to me.</i>

    <i>¡°But why did the outsiders carry them around?</i>

    <i>¡°Also, since they can¡¯t be found in the Domain of the Falling Stars, this one shouldn¡¯t be just in the third rank. The Spirit Condor must have intentionally lowered its rank since I¡¯m the only one who¡¯ll be interested in it.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian opened the utensil and took the Nine Stars Flower out by its stem.

    However, as soon as his fingers made contact with it, the vortex of star power in his spiritual sea seemed to be stirred.

    His vortex of star power suddenly elerated as wisps of star power started streaming out of it and flowing towards the flower in his hand.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    ¡°This flower is actually channeling star power from me? Shouldn¡¯t it be the other way around?¡±

    The nine blossoms of the nt glittered with silver light as it received Nie Tian¡¯s star power. Numerous sparks also started to shine brightly within them.

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before trying to channel star power from the nt in the same way he channeled star power from Star Stones.

    SHEW!

    To this surprise, the Nine Stars Flower instantly morphed into a streak of light that shot towards his spiritual sea.

    It vanishedpletely within the blink of an eye.

    Nie Tian then examined himself with rapt attention and discovered that the flower had appeared at the bottom of his vortex of star power, in the depths of theke of stardew.

    Stardew was the essence of star power.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether he channeled star power from Star Stones or the starry river in the heavens. After rounds of refinement, stardew would form and descend to the bottom of the smallke at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    That was where the Nine Stars Flower had taken root.

    Then, Nie Tian was surprised to find that the flower was actually draining his stardew.

    As the Nine Stars Flower rapidly channeled stardew into itself, it became increasingly full of vigor, like a fish that had been returned to water.

    Bits of starlight shone increasingly brightly within its nine blossoms.

    That wasn¡¯t all. Nie Tian also noticed that another vortex in his spiritual sea was going through changes: his vortex of wood power.

    His vortex of wood power was also spinning faster than usual, and the liquidized wood power at the bottom of it was also disappearing at a noticeable rate.

    What shocked him was that the disappearing liquidized wood power that contained rich life force was somehow reappearing at the bottom of his vortex of star power through some profound method he couldn¡¯t fathom.

    Like translucent and sparkling dew, drops of green, liquidized wood power gradually appeared on the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s stem, before its stem absorbed them like a sponge absorbing water.

    As the Nine Stars Flower continued to receive nourishment from his star power and wood power, Nie Tian had a feeling that the nt had be fully alive again.

    That was when Nie Tian came to the conclusion that, even though this Nine Stars Flower had been stored in this special utensil right after it had been picked, the container couldn¡¯tpletely stop it from withering.

    It would eventually die at a certain point since it couldn¡¯t receive the nourishment it needed.

    However, there were two kinds of nourishment that could restore life to it within his spiritual sea: concentrated wood power and star power.

    Now that the Nine Stars Flower had absorbed these powers from him, it gradually came back from the verge of death.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. <i>¡°This nt is so ironic. I got it to make me stronger with its power. Who would have thought that it would end up taking power from me...¡± </i>

    Since he was being quickly drained of his star power and wood power, he couldn¡¯t expand his spiritual sea and make preparations for his next breakthrough.

    From the look of it, it wouldn¡¯t be very long before his vortexes of star power and wood power werepletely drained.

    With a reluctant expression, Nie Tian took out some Star Stones and started channeling star power from them to form more stardew, so that the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s needs would be satisfied.

    As he did that, he finally found a phenomenon that cheered him up.

    He discovered that, with the Nine Stars Flower at the bottom of his vortex of star power, the efficiency of him channeling and refining star power had be considerably higher.

    From what he had discovered so far, this was the only benefit the nt had brought him.

    However, as he recovered wood power with some wood-attributed spiritual materials, the efficiency of him channeling and refining wood power didn¡¯t seem to have changed at all.

    Then, while the Bone Blood Demon continued to absorb outsider blood with the Blood Refining Incantation, he replenished his star power with one Star Stone after another.

    The new stardew was absorbed by the Nine Stars Flower as soon as it was generated in his vortex of star power, which made Nie Tian increasingly tired.

    ...

    On this day, as soon as he returned, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Get ready. We¡¯re leaving now.¡±

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and discovered that the Bone Blood Demon had already drained the blood of the eight outsider corpses.

    A death aura that was identical to the one in the depths of the Death Reign silently wreathed the Bone Blood Demon, as if it had formed a small, deadly realm around it. Any living being that dared to enter it would lose their lives.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling ran his gaze up and down the Bone Blood Demon, then said, ¡°It seems to me that this Bonebrute puppet of yours possesses the strength of ate seventh grade outsider now. So I guess even those outsiders¡¯ blood can¡¯t help restore it to its peak strength within a short time.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not that easy for it to recover its eighth grade bloodline power.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s only a limited amount of flesh power within the outsider blood, after all. After their death, those outsiders will continuously lose their flesh power as time passes. There¡¯s actually more flesh power left in their bones and internal organs. But this is already very impressive.

    ¡°Now,e with me.¡±

    With a casual flick of his sleeve, a glowing spatial rift was created in front of them.

    Nie Tian returned the Bone Blood Demon and the outsider corpses to his ring of holding, and then followed Zhao Shanling into the spatial rift.

    In the next moment, he and Zhao Shanling appeared at the heart of an extinct volcano in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    There should have been boilingva where they were floating, but it had now be an enormous empty hole that stretched into the depths of the earth.

    Meanwhile, strong, twisting spatial fluctuations continued toe from the bottomless hole.

    Nie Tian looked down and saw that streaks of light would sh across the pitch-ck hole from time to time.

    A strange feeling that he was sinking towards it sent a cold chill down his spine.

    ¡°Space disruption!¡± he eximed. ¡°Are you taking me to a space disruption zone?!¡±

    With a nasty grin, Zhao Shanling shoved him into the bottomless pit. ¡°Exactly!¡±

 Chapter 656: Space Disruption Zone

    In the mysterious space disruption zone.

    Unidentified light would streak across the void like falling stars.

    A floating bright spot suddenly expanded, and two figures flew out of it one after another.

    Nie Tian was the first to fly out of it. The moment he did, he started to feel a terribly strong twisting force.

    Affected by such a force, he felt a strange soreness all over, as if someone were trying to rip his flesh and meridians away.

    Not just that, he sensed that, just by floating still in the void, he was rapidly losing his spiritual power, me power, wood power, and star power. Even the vortexes within his spiritual sea started to rotate at a very slow speed.

    It seemed that, by doing nothing, Qi warriors would soon lose all of the various powers that they had umted with great effort.

    Meanwhile, there didn¡¯t seem to be a single shred of the energy of heaven and earth in this ce. People would have to replenish their spiritual power with spirit stones and other spiritual materials.

    ¡°Go!¡± An octagonal seal shot out of Zhao Shanling¡¯s palm towards the bright spot, which was now rapidly shrinking after the two of them had flown out of it.

    The moment the seal flew into it, the bright spot stopped shrinking at the size of a fist.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve cast an immobilizing spell on this spatial point. We¡¯ll need to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars through it.¡± Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and added with a grim expression, ¡°Back in the day, I was banished to this ce by my master. I found this location and returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars by luck when I was on myst breath.¡±

    It appeared that he still felt uneasy now that he recalled his previous experience in this ce.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°On yourst breath?¡±

    Zhao Shanling let out a deep sigh and exined, ¡°Space disruption zones are the strangest and most curious ces in this world. There isn¡¯t a shred of the energy of heaven and earth that we Qi warriors can use, but once we enter such a ce, we¡¯ll start to lose our spiritual power at an rming rate.

    ¡°Also, the higher our cultivation base, the faster we¡¯ll lose our spiritual power. No one can stop it.

    ¡°Back when I was banished to this ce, I had arge stock of spirit stones with me. I replenished my spiritual power with spirit stones day and night, but since I consumed it even faster, I ran out of spirit stones shortly afterwards.

    ¡°Sometimes, I woulde across dangers that I needed to defend against with spiritual power. That elerated my spiritual power loss.

    ¡°Once people run out of their spiritual power and spirit stones in this ce, all they can do is wait for death, because they won¡¯t be able to protect themselves when the next mortal danger appears.¡±

    As Zhao Shanling exined the features of this ce to him, Nie Tian examined his own spiritual sea and discovered that, even though he was losing all sorts of spiritual power, his flesh power remained unaffected.

    This meant that if powerful outsiders were toe to this ce, they would have great advantages over human Qi warriors.

    ording to Zhao Shanling, the ce he was going to suited beings with iparably tough bodies, and the Bone Blood Demon happened to be this kind of being.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to travel around in the void by using your spiritual power, since there is almost zero gravity in this ce.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling took out apass made from a turtle shell and started looking at it closely, as if he was trying to get ahold of his bearings. ¡°I hope this spatial point won¡¯t stray too far from this location by the time wee back. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be very troublesome to find it again.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian looked over at the spatial point through which they hade to this ce and noticed that it was indeed moving very slowly.

    Even though it had stopped swelling or shrinking, it seemed to be moving away from them on a certain track.

    That was when Nie Tian realized why Zhao Shanling had cast that immobilizing spell.

    If he didn¡¯t, it would be very likely that the spatial point would have floated to a distant and unknown location by the time they came back, and it would be very difficult to locate it again.

    Nie Tian also noticed that there were other bright spots like this one in the distance, which were flickering and floating slowly towards unknown locations.

    While he pondered this with his eyebrows furrowed, Zhao Shanling suddenly grabbed him by the arm and flew out of the way of a dashing streak of light.

    As powerful as Zhao Shanling was, he seemed very apprehensive about the lights that shed by, as if he knew that they would undoubtedly die if they were touched by any of them.

    Over the following days, Nie Tian traveled with Zhao Shanling in the endless void.

    Every few hours, Zhao Shanling would stop and tell him to recover with spirit stones so that he didn¡¯t drain his spiritual powerpletely.

    Zhao Shanling seemed to know this space disruption zone like the back of his hand. Apparently, he had spent many years roaming this ce.

    With him there to lead the way, they didn¡¯t encounter any noticeable dangers along their way.

    They only came across a few dashing lights, but Zhao Shanling grabbed Nie Tian and shed sideways to safe locations with his spatial magics every time.

    However, Zhao Shanling consumed a significant amount of power on each of those asions.

    It took an increasingly long time for him to recover his strength with all sorts of spiritual materials.

    <i>¡°Damn this Nine Stars Flower...¡±</i> he thought to himself.

    He needed his power more than ever now that he was in a space disruption zone. Every step was full of danger. However, the Nine Stars Flower was still absorbing his stardew and liquidized wood power.

    As his star power and wood power ran increasingly low, the Nine Stars Flower seemed to be regaining its vital energy, and its stem and leaves started to grow translucent and sparkling.

    Whatever little stardew and liquidized wood power that he went to great lengths to form would be taken away by the nt the moment they were generated, as if its needs were endless.

    He had a headache every time he thought of the Nine Stars Flower. He even somewhat regretted taking it in the first ce. <i>¡°Even though the green aura in my heart also has an endless desire for flesh power, it at least pays me back with brand new bloodline talents every once in a while. What good is this Nine Stars Flower?¡±</i>

    Not just that, but it even urred to him that it could be like the Heavenly Demonsbane in Hua Mu¡¯s body.

    What if it kept draining his power until it eventually possessed him and took control of his body?

    However, after he calmed down, a thorough contemtion diminished such a spection.

    Since the powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had searched for them wherever they had gone, they must be something helpful for their cultivation.

    Time flew as Nie Tian followed Zhao Shanling in the space disruption zone...

    On this day, he suddenly caught sight of a floating corpse.

    It was an old Qi warrior that seemed to have died a very long time ago. Dressed in noble garments, he had loose, gray hair.

    ¡°There¡¯s a human corpse...¡± he said in a soft voice.

    Zhao Shanling followed his gaze and discovered the corpse as well. After a moment of hesitation, he stopped moving towards his destination and said, ¡°Countless humans and outsiders havee to this ce over thousands of years. They either came on purpose or by ident. But most of them died here and became floating corpses like this one.

    ¡°Even the dead lose their spiritual power at an rming rate here. They lose their flesh power faster after they die.

    ¡°Even powerful seventh grade outsiders will be valueless bags of bones soon after their deaths.¡±

    With these words, he pointed at the floating corpse with one finger.

    PUFF!

    A streak of white light fell into the floating corpse, instantly turning it into ashes.

    Frowning, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to check it for valuables?¡±

    ¡°Valuables?¡± Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°This one has clearly died after running out of spiritual power. He must have used up all of his spirit stones and valuable materials long ago. Who knows how many years his corpse had been floating around in this ce. Even if he had any valuable tools on him, others must have taken them. We wouldn¡¯t have found anything useful even if we checked.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and moved on, saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go. You¡¯ll see many more like him. You¡¯ll grow used to it. Countless humans, outsiders, and spirit beasts havee to this ce, and most of them shared his fate. Very few got to return to their homes alive.¡±

    Like he said, Nie Tian came across more floating corpses like that one in the following days as the two of them traveled onwards.

    Some belonged to humans, some belonged to outsiders, while others belonged torge spirit beasts.

    All of the corpses had lost all of their power as time passed. Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t show the slightest interest in them, as if he knew that he would get nothing from them.

    Days passed before the two of them came across another floating corpse.

    It was a human female dressed in fine garments. She seemed to be in her thirties, and her face was bereft of any blood.

    Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t spare her a single nce as he flew past her.

    However, the woman¡¯s eyshes flickered right after the two of them flew past her.

    A streak of dazzling lightning shot out of the spot between her eyebrows towards Zhao Shanling¡¯s back.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Zhao Shanling was taken by surprise. However, just as the lightning was about to reach his back, it was stopped by an energy ward.

    ¡°Soul realm!¡± The woman¡¯s face turned pale with fright as she hastily backed away from them, drawing a sword as she did. With an anxious voice, she eximed, ¡°Senior, this sword is a Premium grade spiritual tool. I hope to trade it for some spirit stones. Would you...¡±

    Before she could finish, Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph, and the Death Reign flew out of the back of his neck.

    In the blink of an eye, the gray mist swallowed the woman.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re so good at faking death that you even fooled me, I¡¯ll let you die for real,¡± Zhao Shanling said, his face filled with disgust. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we¡¯de across people so soon this time. I wonder if this is good luck or bad luck.¡±

    SHEW!

    He reached out with one hand, and the sword flew out of the Death Reign and into his hand.

    Storing it in his ring of holding, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°There are many others who came here by ident. Perhaps only one out of a thousand people like her can find their way back, and that¡¯s given they all had high attainments in spatial maniption magics.

    ¡°Those who can¡¯t find their way back will only end up dying after using up their power. It can take months, it can take years, but the results are the same.

    ¡°If you want tost longer in this ce, you¡¯ll have to have arge amount of spirit stones on you, and you need to be lucky enough that no dangerous people find you.

    ¡°This woman ran out of spirit stones. Even if I didn¡¯t kill her, she wouldn¡¯t have been able tost longer than two weeks.

    ¡°She must have cultivated incantations that can help her hide her aura. Even I didn¡¯t detect any aura or fluctuations from her. Unfortunately, her cultivation base was too low. She¡¯s only at the Worldly realm. I can¡¯t believe that such a puny insect actually dared to try and jump me. She must have had a death wish.¡±

    ¡°So do we kill everyone wee across?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Killing them means I¡¯ll have to consume my power,¡± Zhao Shanling exined. ¡°In here, every shred of power is of great importance. We can¡¯t afford to waste power on irrelevant things.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian hastily examined the spirit stones and materials in his ring of holding with a wisp of his psychic awareness.

    Only after seeing that he still had piles of spirit stones and outsider corpses did he feel somewhat rxed.

 Chapter 657: Corpses Keep Appearing

    After traveling in the space disruption zone for an unknown amount of time, Zhao Shanling came to a stop and said, ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±

    However, gazing into the distance, his face sudden grew grim. ¡°Something is wrong...¡±

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention and discovered that there were a few human corpses floating in the direction Zhao Shanling was looking.

    In the middle of the floating corpses was a huge cluster of ck light, as if it was a ck sun, although it emanated an icy aura instead of heat.

    The cluster of ck light was also on the move, floating slowly in the void.

    Meanwhile, it swelled and shrank from time to time, as if it was ever-changing.

    As they approached the cluster of ck light, Nie Tian examined the few floating corpses with his awareness, and discovered that they still had faint amounts of flesh power.

    Unlike outsiders, humans usually had very limited flesh power, which would vanishpletely shortly after their deaths.

    In this ce, even powerful outsiders would lose all of their flesh power soon after their death.

    The fact that there was still faint traces of flesh power within those corpses could only mean that they had died very recently.

    ¡°These people died very recently,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a grim expression. Then, heid his eyes on the cluster of ck light and added, ¡°I¡¯m afraid others have discovered this ce. Some must have entered already. These people must have engaged in battle and got killed when they were about to enter.

    ¡°Of the six of them, three were at the Profound realm, two were at the Worldly realm, and one was at the Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°But that Greater Heaven stage junior¡¯s corpse now contains the richest flesh power, which means he must have focused on the refinement of his fleshly body, unlike most Qi warriors.

    ¡°I wonder where these people came from, and how they managed to find this ce.¡±

    Nie Tian heard his muttering and quickly painted a picture in his mind about what had happened in this ce.

    Judging from their garments, these six Qi warriors seemed to belong to the same side. They must have had conflicts with another group, and been annihted before entering the cluster of ck light.

    At this moment, the winners were probably exploring the realm that cluster of ck light led to.

    ¡°Where does this cluster of ck light lead to, Senior Zhao?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°It leads to the ce where a powerful spatial power patriarch was buried. That expert¡¯s cultivation base and strength was much more profound than mine. I need to secure something that¡¯ll help me with my breakthrough into the Void domain.

    ¡°He was only able to create an isted realm in a space disruption zone because of his unmatched attainments in space maniption magics, so that heaven and earth is very mysterious.

    ¡°Once we enter it, the speed at which we lose our spiritual power will multiply ten times!

    ¡°Back when I was here the first time, I only spent a few minutes in there, but I lost all of my spiritual power and had to get out of there.

    ¡°Even if you do nothing but recover spiritual power with spirit stones in there, you¡¯ll still end up losing your spiritual power at an rming rate. The higher your cultivation base, the faster you¡¯ll lose your spiritual power.¡±

    As he exined this, Zhao Shanling nced over at the few floating corpses, a hint of hesitation appearing in his eyes.

    Perhaps he would have taken Nie Tian and entered without any hesitation if no one else had beaten them to this ce.

    However, now that he knew others were already in there, their situation unknown, he started to have some doubts.

    After a brief pause, he jerked his head towards Nie Tian and continued, ¡°As long as those who went in there are Qi warriors, regardless of their cultivation bases, they¡¯ll lose all of their spiritual power and be no different frommoners. Only those who possess extremely tough fleshly bodies will be at an advantage in there.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what are we still waiting for?!¡±

    Zhao Shanling frowned and asked, ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed that dead junior? Judging from the rich flesh aura on him, he must have practiced special incantations that emphasized body refinement. The other five must have expected to rely on him after entering that realm. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have brought him in the first ce.¡±

    With aposed expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°Well, not many in this world can contend with my Bone Blood Demon. I believe that even if we¡¯re to encounter powerful enemies in there, the Bone Blood Demon will be able to keep us safe.¡±

    Zhao Shanling pondered briefly, then nodded. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. After all, that puppet of yours possesses the battle prowess of ate Soul realm cultivator now.¡±

    With these words, he reached out and grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    As the cluster of ck light expanded again, they flew into it.

    In a sh, they appeared in a whole other heaven and earth.

    Unlike in the void, they were now standing on solid ground.

    The two of them had drifted in the space disruption zone for an unknown amount of time, yet they hadn¡¯t seen a single piece ofnd, or even a rock.

    Lights that shed past every once in a while and bright spots that led to unknown realms were all there were.

    Apparently, this heaven and earth was isted from the space disruption zone.

    After assuming a firm foothold, Nie Tian quickly turned around and found that the cluster of ck light behind him and Zhao Shanling was still there, as if it was the one and only gate to this mysterious realm.

    Also at that moment, he sensed with great rity that his different types of power were rapidly disappearing from his spiritual sea.

    In less than a minute, he lost more than half of them.

    He looked up, and discovered that the sky was multicolored and ever-changing, like a sea of paint.

    It was as if different energies wereing in continuously from unknown origins, endlessly filling this sky with new vigor.

    The ground under his feet was pitch-ck. He gazed off into the distance, and there was nothing besides barren, cknd in his view; no trees, no nts, no mountains, orkes.

    He made an attempt to jump into the air, and he instantly shot up into the sky. He then realized that even though there was gravity in his special realm, it was almost negligible.

    ¡°Come back!¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered as he pulled Nie Tian back to the ground, using his rapidly disappearing spiritual power.

    Face extremely grim, Zhao Shanling blurted after pulling Nie Tian down, ¡°Don¡¯t ever let the flowing light in the sky touch you! It¡¯ll kill you instantly! Even I might get killed if I touch the light. Don¡¯t do it again.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, curling his lips slightly. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Afterwards, Zhao Shanling led him forward across the cknd.

    Soon, they came across two dead Qi warriors, both of whom had their foreheads pierced through by sharp des.

    They were wearing the same garments as the six dead people they hade across right before entering this realm. They all had the same pattern on their chests: three hanging swords.

    Apparently, these two and those six were from the same sect.

    Zhao Shanling searched hard in his memory, but couldn¡¯t think of any sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars that wore such a sigil. ¡°They seem to be Qi warriors from another domain. From the look of it, someone from their sect still got in, but these two got killed shortly afterwards.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian frowned and said, ¡°Now I¡¯ve lost all of my spiritual power.¡±

    All of his nine vortexes of spiritual power were drained, along with his vortexes of me power, star power, and wood power.

    There wasn¡¯t a single shred of spiritual power left in him now. If he wanted to use spiritual power again, he would have to leave this mysterious realm and recover with spirit stones in the space disruption zone.

    If he did it in here, he wouldn¡¯t get to keep any of the spiritual power he channeled from spirit stones, because he would lose it even faster.

    However, even though he didn¡¯t have any spiritual power left now, he was still full of flesh power, which made him fairly confident.

    Zhao Shanling sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m running out of spiritual power too. If wee across any danger in the future, we¡¯ll have to rely on you and your puppet. I¡¯ll be no different from amoner before very long...¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You can count on me.¡± Nie Tian was quite confident in his fleshly body, which he had refined repeatedly with Heavenly Wood Heal.

    After the two of them walked onward for some time,ughter came from the distance.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°As I expected, there are people here! Summon your puppet and prepare for battle!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡± With a thought, Nie Tian summoned the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the enormous Bone Blood Demonnded heavily on the ground, voices came from the distance, ¡°It seems that more from the Trisword Sect havee to their grave!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As soon as the Bone Blood Demonnded, numerous streaks of multicolored light shot down from the sky like multicolored lightning bolts, all of which targeted the Bone Blood Demon.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he eximed hastily, ¡°Summon it back!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face also turn pale with fright. In a hurry, he summoned the Bone Blood Demon back into his ring of holding.

    The moment the Bone Blood Demon disappeared, the dashing lights changed their direction and returned to the sky.

    ¡°Dammit! I can¡¯t believe the puppet will trigger some kind of restrictive spell!¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling jerked his head towards Nie Tian and shouted decisively, ¡°We need to get out of this damned ce now! Take the route we took to get here!¡±

 Chapter 658: Master Voidspirits Legacies

    The reason why Zhao Shanling had repeatedly agreed to help Nie Tian in the Domain of the Falling Stars was that he had hoped to use his puppet to achieve his goal in this unique realm.

    Who would have known that the appearance of the Bone Blood Demon would trigger some restrictive spell.

    Now that he had lost this secret weapon, he instantly lost hope and wanted to get out of this ce as soon as possible.

    After all, the situation was different from thest time he had been here.

    There hadn¡¯t been another soul in this ce thest time he hade here. Even if he lost all of his spiritual power here, as long as he still had the ability to move, he would still be able to leave safely.

    But this time, not only were there people here, but they also seemed to have made thorough preparations for their operation, which made him very apprehensive.

    The deep voice of a man came closer and closer. ¡°Over there! They must be reinforcements from the Trisword Sect! I can¡¯t believe that the Trisword Sect is so perseverant. They clearly didn¡¯t make preparations as well as us, but they still send more teams here to fight us for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies!¡±

    Zhao Shanling spun around and rushed towards the cluster of ck light as soon as he heard the man.

    However, since he had lost all of his spiritual power, and had to rely on his fleshly strength now, his speed was far slower than his usual speed.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t move in the slightest. Instead, he made an attempt to form Heaven Eyes with the power within the fragmentary stars in his soul, hoping to get ahold of the strength of the iing group.

    However, for some reason, his Heaven Eyes wouldn¡¯t form in this ce.

    Not only that, but he also discovered that he couldn¡¯t even send his psychic awareness out of his mind to examine those people.

    It was as if his own fleshly body had be an shell that would iste all psychic and soul fluctuations.

    That was when he realized that not only would people lose all of their spiritual power soon after entering this special realm, but they also wouldn¡¯t be able to use their psychic or soul power here.

    That meant even the most powerful Qi warriors would descend to bemoners in this ce.

    No wonder Zhao Shanling had turned around and sped off the moment he had realized that the Bone Blood Demon would trigger restrictions.

    After charging a significant distance towards the exit, Zhao Shanling noticed that Nie Tian was still standing there. Face twisting with anxiety, he shouted, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you moving, Nie Tian!? If you have a death wish, then don¡¯t me me for leaving you!¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling turned back and fled by himself.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Three figures arrived before Nie Tian, all of whom were rather young. There were two males and one female, all dressed in simr cyan battle garments.

    A middle-aged man arrived shortly after the three of them, panting heavily as he did.

    From the look of it, the middle-aged man¡¯s cultivation base was the highest, but since he had lost all of his spiritual power, he didn¡¯t seem built to travel by solely relying on his fleshly body.

    Since Nie Tian couldn¡¯t use his psychic awareness, he decided to explore a new path by trying to examine these people with his flesh power.

    In the next moment, his eyes lit up.

    He, who carried a unique bloodline, quickly detected the copious amount of flesh power within the three youngsters.

    Even though they all looked rather young, and their cultivation bases were unimpressive, they seemed to practice certain body refinement incantations.

    The vigor of their fleshly bodies was far superior to that of their senior¡¯s. If they were in the space disruption zone or any other realm, that middle-aged man¡¯s battle prowess would be far higher than those youngstersbined.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, the intensity of those youngsters¡¯ fleshly bodies was roughly at the same level as fourth grade spirit beasts or outsiders, which meant their battle prowess was still limited. Considering his vigorous flesh power, killing them would be as easy as turning his hand over. (Idiom: require no effort at all)

    The immensity of his flesh powerpared to theirs was like a boundless ocean to a few puddles.

    With a cunningugh, Nie Tian called out, ¡°No so quickly, Senior Zhao. Watch me take care of them for you.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Zhao Shanling, who was already rather far from Nie Tian, jerked his head back, his eyes filled with doubt.

    A tall, burly young man, who seemed to practice metal-rted body refinement incantations, said, ¡°Hmm? They¡¯re not people from the Trisword Sect.¡± He had faint, golden skin, which made his muscles look very pronounced. He stood there unwavering like a piece of solid gold, as if nothing could shake him in the slightest.

    Nie Tian suspected that the man had submerged and refined himself with a special liquid metal, which made his body much tougher than most Qi warriors, though his tough body would still not be able to withstand a single blow from him.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly activated his flesh power, changing his aura entirely. It was as if he had rivers of flesh power surging inside of him.

    As that happened, Nie Tian felt as if he was instantly given unlimited force, with which he could tear huge spirit beasts to pieces with his bare hands.

    He lunged forward and violently pped the man¡¯s shoulder.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Every single one of the man¡¯s bones shattered. Like a deted balloon, the man copsed to the ground.

    Zhao Shanling, who was hesitating to trust Nie Tian, gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°Senior martial brother!¡± The other young man and woman screamed in grief upon seeing the man being annihted by Nie Tian with a single strike.

    The middle-aged man, who was standing behind them, was shocked to his core. He turned around and fled without saying a word.

    With a low chuckle, Nie Tian further activated his flesh power. Like an unchained beast, he charged a hundred meters to the man in the blink of an eye and drove his fist, which was wreathed in flesh aura, through the man¡¯s back.

    As the man¡¯s corpse fell the ground, Nie Tian shook his head and muttered, ¡°As long as you lose protection from your spiritual power, no matter how high your cultivation base is, you¡¯re nothing but insects in my eyes.¡±

    The young woman¡¯s voice trembled as she asked, ¡°W-who are you? We, the Bliss Mountain Sect, discovered Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. We¡¯ve prepared for this operation for more than a hundred years, and have sent seven teams here already, we being the seventh team.

    ¡°We¡¯ll even forgive you for what you¡¯ve done if you get out now. Otherwise, you shall feel the full extent of our wrath!

    Threatening in manner but cowardly at heart, the woman¡¯s hand secretly reached into her cuff, as if she was trying to send messages to her friends.

    Nie Tian snorted disdainfully. ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect? I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He once again blurred into action. He leaped into the air and swooped down on the young woman like an eagle on its prey.

    ¡°Rise!¡± The young woman eximed as she hastily took out an animal bone.

    As soon as she did, a faint, yellowish fleshly aura rose from the bone, forming a ward over her.

    ¡°Hmm. She can actually summon flesh power from that bone from a sixth grade spirit beast. But how much residual flesh power can there be in a single bone?¡± With curled lips and a cold smile, Nie Tian bombarded theyer of yellowish aura with his fist.

    BOOM!

    The faint yellow ward burst instantly.

    Nie Tian stretched out his hands, and ten streaks of flesh aura shot out of his ten fingers.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    Like sharp des, the ten streaks of flesh aura left ten bloody holes in the young woman¡¯s chest.

    She wobbled briefly before crashing heavily to the ground.

    Without pausing for a moment, Nie Tian pounced on thest person, flesh aura rapidly gathering on his fingertips.

    ¡°Don¡¯t kill him yet!¡± Zhao Shanling shouted.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had killed three of them without breaking a sweat, Zhao Shanling finally felt relieved and started walking back towards Nie Tian.

    The young man¡¯s face was filled with horror as he said with a slight stutter, ¡°You, you actually dare to...! We¡¯ve already taken control of this heaven and earth created by Master Voidspirit. Don¡¯t you imagine that you can leave alive!¡±

    BOOM!

    The belt he was wearing around his waist was made of animal bones, all of which burst forth with rich flesh aura at this moment.

    Wisps of flesh aura rapidly came together, forming a misty, ck ward that enveloped him.

    BZZZ!

    However, the ck ward was instantly cut open by Nie Tian¡¯s sharp, de-like hand.

    With a few streaks of flesh aura, Nie Tian pierced through the man¡¯s spiritual sea and severed the meridians in his limbs without effort.

    Unable to move his legs or arms, and with his spiritual sea shattered, the man fell on his back.

    Zhao Shanling took his time to walk to him. Coming to a stop by the man, who was in agony, he slowly crouched down and took out a dagger, which he drove it into the man¡¯s abdomen and started twisting, making him let out miserable wails.

    ¡°I¡¯ll ask you some questions. If you answer truthfully, I¡¯ll give you a quick death.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling took out a brown medicinal pill and stuffed it down the man¡¯s throat. Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°The Bone Softening Pill will render himpletely powerless. He won¡¯t even have the strength to bite his own tongue to kill himself.¡±

    ring at Zhao Shanling, the man said with a powerless voice, ¡°You dare to kill disciples of the Bliss Mountain Sect! You¡¯ll die for this!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Zhao Shanling turned the dagger with a gruesome smile and said unhurriedly, ¡°If you don¡¯t cooperate, I¡¯ll kill you by slicing a thousand pieces from you. You don¡¯t know what I¡¯m capable of yet, but it doesn¡¯t matter. I have plenty of time. I¡¯ll let you taste all of my torture methods.¡±

    With these words, a few steel needles that were half a meter long appeared in Zhao Shanling¡¯s hand. With a smile, he shoved them into the man¡¯s body one after another.

    The man screamed miserably for a while before begging in tears, ¡°Let me die! Please let me die now!¡±

    Zhao Shanling chuckled and startedughing. ¡°So quickly? Alright.¡±

 Chapter 659: Sects from Another Domain

    As Zhao Shanling tortured the man, Nie Tian stepped over to the middle-aged man¡¯s corpse and looted his ring of holding.

    With a single nce inside, he discovered that there were a significant amount of spirit stones and spirit jades in his ring of holding, and thus transferred all of them into his own ring of holding.

    Then, he noticed that aside from the spirit stones and spirit jades, there were still a number of spiritual materials, medicinal pills, suits of spiritual armor, and a map.

    It wasn¡¯t an ordinary map. It was a star map, where the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was marked out.

    The star map was carved on a bone slip. Nie Tian only took one nce at it, and his expression flickered.

    This star map was identical to the one in the Spirit Pearl.

    The star map in the Spirit Pearl, which he had obtained from the Phantasms, also had the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries marked out as a destination.

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries consisted of more than a hundred realms, which made it muchrger than the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian pondered for a while before walking back to Zhao Shanling.

    The man had already died under Zhao Shanling¡¯s torture, lying there in a pool of blood.

    ¡°I¡¯ve found a star map, Senior Zhao,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°which is exactly the same as the one I obtained from the Phantasms. They both had the same location marked out as a destination: the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Back when that ancient starship charged out of the Realm of Dark Underworld, I seized its Spirit Pearl, which contained a star map. It must have lost the coordinates it needed to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, so it...¡± He went on and exined his spections of the situation.

    After hearing his words, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°There are more than a hundred realms in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Most of them aren¡¯t fit for humans to live in, and are only considered mines due to their production of unique spiritual materials.

    ¡°Only thirty-six of the realms are dominated by human Qi warriors, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries happens to be one of them...¡± Zhao Shanling took his time to exin the information he had obtained by torturing the man to Nie Tian.

    From him, Nie Tian learned that humans dominated the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and had numerous sects set up there.

    However, the Qi warriors in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were more powerful than those in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Their peak experts were at the Void domain.

    Some of the human forces in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries considered outsiders their enemies and waged wars with them from time to time, while other forces had friendly rtionships, and often made deals with the outsiders.

    The reason why that Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship had nned to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was probably because they had hoped to return to their own realms from there.

    The most powerful forces in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries already possessed the ability to build their own starships.

    The Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect were both from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The owner of this unique heaven and earth, Master Voidspirit, had been one of the seven peak experts in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Being at thete Void domain, he had been ranked fifth.

    Since he had been an expert of spatial magics, he had chosen this space disruption zone to make his breakthrough into the Saint domain.

    Many sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had learned about this as well.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, he had never returned to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Gradually, people began to specte that he must have failed to enter the Saint domain, and died in this space disruption zone.

    Since he was the fifth most powerful expert throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, many people had set their minds on his legacies.

    Over the past thousand years, sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had sent numerous teams of Qi warriors to search this space disruption zone for Master Voidspirit¡¯s lifelong umtions.

    The Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect were the luckiest of them. After putting in many years and endless resources, they had finally found some clues.

    Compared to the Trisword Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s exploration of this ce had been more sessful. They had discovered this unique heaven and earth created by Master Voidspirit first, and learned that Qi warriors would lose all of their spiritual power soon after entering.

    They had sent seven exploration teams into this unique realm, some of which had even been led by Soul realm experts.

    However, no matter how high their cultivation bases had been, they had soon lost all of their spiritual power and died miserable deaths, with only a few lucky ones escaping narrowly.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect had then learned from their lessons and realized that their cultivation bases wouldn¡¯t bring them sess in this ce.

    Since it was impossible to have their Profound realm and Soul realm experts focus on the refinement of their fleshly bodies instead of their own cultivation, and even if they had, they would only achieve limited results, they had chosen a number of children born with exceptionally tough bodies and spent many years training their physical strength and refining their fleshly bodies with special incantations.

    They had done all that for one purpose: have those juniors enter this unique realm and secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.

    This was the seventh team the Bliss Mountain Sect had sent to explore this mysterious realm. This time, they had sent every single one of this group of juniors. Clearly, they were determined to secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies this time.

    However, word of their operation had somehow leaked out before they had set out. Therefore, the Trisword Sect had also sent a team, which had encountered them by the cluster of ck light.

    However, the Trisword Sect had acted in such a hurry that,pared to the Bliss Mountain Sect, their preparations were far too insufficient. Some of their powerful experts had been killed during their first encounter by the entrance.

    The Qi warriors from the Trisword Sect were at an even greater disadvantage in this special realm. All of them had eventually been hunted down and killed.

    The remaining Bliss Mountain Sect disciples had been roaming the area to check if there were still any Trisword Sect survivors.

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries...¡± Zhao Shanling said with a smile, strong interest brimming his eyes. ¡°If your star map also has the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries marked out as its destination, we might as well go there after we¡¯re finished in this damn ce. That domain should be much more interesting than the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Void domain experts in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries already possess the ability to build starships.

    ¡°The powerful Qi warrior sects there can also stand up to outsider ns as equals. Some of the sects fight outsiders year-round, while others cooperate with outsiders. In some of the realms, outsiders even live and trade with humans.¡±

    ¡°Do we still go on and fight people from the Bliss Mountain Sect for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°That depends on you,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an enlivened look in his eyes. ¡°From what I can tell, your fleshly body is far tougher than that of those juniors from the Bliss Mountain Sect. But I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be of much help in here. All I can do is to try to stay out of your way. If you have confidence that you¡¯ll be able to overtake the juniors from the Bliss Mountain Sect who have received special body training, then we should keep going.¡±

    His eyes brimmed with anticipation as he said these words. Clearly, he was reluctant to give up on Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.

    As ate Void domain expert of spatial power, his legacies appealed to Zhao Shanling so much that he was even willing to risk his life to obtain them.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯vee this far and haven¡¯te across any worthy opponents, why don¡¯t we keep going?¡± Nie Tian said with a tentative tone.

    ¡°Good!¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s face split into a smile as he took out a suit of leather armor, on which was sewn numerous small and thin bone tes.

    Carefully, he put the armor on and said, ¡°This isn¡¯t spiritual armor. It can¡¯t be activated with spiritual power. It¡¯s made from the skin of a seventh grade Blood Stripe Python, which is tough enough to resist fire and water. The thin bone tes sewn onto it were made from the bones of a seventh grade Wind Spirit Beast.

    ¡°Wind Spirit Beasts¡¯ bones are very light. That¡¯s the only reason I¡¯m able to wear this armor in this ce.

    ¡°The other spirit beasts¡¯ leather and bones are far too heavy for me now. I have no problem wearing any armor out there when I can use my spiritual power, but not in here.¡±

    After he finished tying every knot, he added, ¡°I can be slightly rxed traveling in this ce now that I have this armor on. After all, it won¡¯t be very easy for people to prate it with nothing but their flesh power.¡±

    With these words, he took out a bottle of medicinal pills and handed it to Nie Tian with a hint of reluctance in his eyes. ¡°These are Blood Vitality Pills, which I had custom made by Qian Buhui from the Pill Pavilion Sect. ¡°They¡¯re refined from spirit beast blood. Unlike regr Blood Vitality Pills, these I had custom made can provide a stable stream of flesh power.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the bottle and stuffed a pill down his throat. Immediately afterwards, he felt wisps of flesh power spreading to his limbs.

    However, the flesh power it provided was too little for his needs, as if it was trying to put out a cart of burning firewood with a cup of water.

    Then he took a moment to think about it, and realized that, since Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t practice body refinement incantations, his body could only ept a limited volume of flesh power.

    If he was provided with flesh power that was too vigorous, it would not only be of no use to him, but it would also be his burden.

    These Blood Vitality Pills could provide a continuous but small stream of flesh power, which was enough to meet Zhao Shanling¡¯s need for flesh power as amoner in this special realm.

    However, even a hundred of these Blood Vitality Pills wouldn¡¯t meet Nie Tian¡¯s need for flesh power. If he wanted to replenish his flesh power, he would still have to absorb flesh power from the outsider corpses with Life Drain.

    Nie Tian shook his head and handed the bottle of Blood Vitality Pills back to Zhao Shanling. ¡°You keep them. They¡¯re no good to me. The flesh power they can provide is too little to meet my consumption.¡±

    Zhao Shanling gave a cold snort and grabbed the bottle. ¡°If I didn¡¯t have to ce all of my hopes in you, since your puppet can¡¯t be used in here, I wouldn¡¯t have given them to you in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright,.¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°Even though my puppet is out of the question, you can still rely on me.¡±

    Afterwards, the two of them looted spirit stones and spiritual materials from the dead, and then set out again with cautious expressions.

    Nie Tian knew that he couldn¡¯t use his psychic awareness, and neither could Zhao Shanling use his soul power. Therefore, he scanned his surroundings with his flesh aura.

 Chapter 660: The Nine-story Pagoda

    Over the following days, Nie Tian discovered a few more groups of Qi warriors from the Bliss Mountain Sect thanks to the keen perception of his flesh aura.

    Like the first group they had encountered, they all consisted of one senior and two to three vigorous youngsters who had spent years refining their fleshly bodies.

    However, all of them died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Not a single one escaped.

    Nie Tian then realized that this ce agreed with him very much, since no one had spiritual power to use.

    After a few rounds of body refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal, the toughness of his body wasn¡¯t something those juniors from the Bliss Mountain Sect could imagine. None of them could pose a threat to him.

    After killing another group of five people, Nie Tian took his time to gather their rings of holding, and said with a rxed expression, ¡°From the look of it, there¡¯s a good chance that we¡¯ll eventually take Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.¡±

    Zhao Shanling had seen him repeatedly eliminate juniors at his age from the Bliss Mountain Sect without effort, and thus felt assured as well.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling asked, rubbing his chin, ¡°Howe your body is so tough? I assumed that you had rich flesh power because you practiced the Blood Sect¡¯s best incantations, but from the look of it, it¡¯s not that simple.¡±

    He had long since conducted a thorough investigation of Nie Tian.

    He knew that Nie Tian had a close rtionship with the Blood Sect. Meanwhile, the Blood Sect was one of the few sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars that focused on the cultivation of flesh and blood aura.

    He had assumed that Nie Tian¡¯s vigorous flesh power was thanks to some profound incantations he had learned from the Blood Sect.

    However, from what he had noticed during his battle against the juniors from the Bliss Mountain Sect, he could tell that he hadn¡¯t used any of the Blood Sect¡¯s incantations.

    Most of the time, he had ripped his opponents apart by relying solely on his physical power, as if he were a terrifying spirit beast.

    Such abat style was usually seen among spirit beasts, Bonebrutes, or Demons, who were known for their tough bodies.

    Nie Tianughed and said, ¡°I also practice body refinement incantations, very powerful ones... We should be close to our destination now, right?¡±

    Zhao Shanling seemed somewhat uncertain as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t go this deepst time. Plus, the journey wasn¡¯t as smooth thest time I came. Last time, I came across spatial des that would sh past from time to time. I don¡¯t know why we haven¡¯t seen a single one this time.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Spatial des?¡±

    Zhao Shanling gazed into the distance and said, ¡°Yeah, I suppose they were formed by the residual spatial power left by Master Voidspirit after he failed during his attempt to break through into the Saint domain. Last time I was here, I encountered spatial des that shed right by me soon after entering. Considering I had lost all of my spiritual power and couldn¡¯t protect myself from those spatial des, I could only get out.

    ¡°But it¡¯s really strange that we haven¡¯te across a single spatial de so far.¡±

    The two of them talked in low voices as they marched towards the depths of the barren, cknd.

    Over the following days, they didn¡¯t encounter any more Qi warriors from the Bliss Mountain Sect. Everything seemed very smooth.

    One day, Nie Tian suddenly pointed in a direction and eximed in a low voice, ¡°Wait! I can sense numerous vigorous flesh auras in that direction. I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s where the rest of the Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors are gathered!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s be careful then!¡± Zhao Shanling said as they snuck forward.

    An hourter, a towering, nine-story silver pagoda entered their view.

    Under the sky filled with flowing multicolored light, the nine-story pagoda looked brilliant, while thrumming with intense spatial fluctuations.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Numerous glowing spatial des were hovering around the nine-story pagoda like a shoal of a thousand fish.

    A few dozen Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors could be seen standing beside the nine-story pagoda, most of whom were juniors with vigorous flesh auras.

    There were five elders among them. They all had grim faces as they were gathered in a location a bit farther away from the nine-story pagoda, an intense discussion going on among them.

    About a dozen badly mangled corpses of Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were scattered before the gate to the pagoda. From the look of it, they had been cut to pieces by the floating spatial des.

    The five elders seemed to be discussing how to enter the pagoda.

    Arge number of spatial des were hovering on every story of the pagoda. It looked like they would have to take care of the spatial des if they wanted to get in.

    From the look of it, they had already made a few attempts, all of which had failed.

    Looking rather excited, Zhao Shanling gazed at the pagoda from afar and said, ¡°I wondered where the spatial des had been. It seems that they¡¯ve all gathered here to guard this pagoda. This nine-story pagoda is a remarkable spatial spiritual tool. It must be at the Spirit Channeling grade! Its soul must have sensed danger from the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples, and thus summoned those spatial des back to protect it.

    ¡°We¡¯d better stay in hiding and wait. Let those from the Bliss Mountain Sect make more attempts at the price of their lives.¡±

    With these words, he grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s arm and slowly backed away to a more secluded location.

    Since no one could use their psychic power or soul power in this ce, none of the five elders sensed their presence.

    Furthermore, they had focused all of their attention on how to enter the nine-story pagoda. It didn¡¯t ur to them to nce around.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eye shone with the light of desire. Even his breath became heavier as he said, ¡°A Spirit Channeling grade spatial spiritual tool! If I can get it, I¡¯ll be able to defeat anyone in the Domain of the Falling Stars, even Xia Yi, who has entered thete Soul realm! I won¡¯t need to avoid anyone anymore!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a Spirit Channeling grade treasure already?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face grew grim as he said, ¡°No.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What about the Death Reign?¡±

    ¡°The Death Reign doesn¡¯t have its own soul. It¡¯s veryplicated. I can¡¯t exin it to you. Even if I could give it a soul, it doesn¡¯t agree with me very well.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling gazed deeply at the nine-story pagoda. ¡°That pagoda is what really agrees with me and can magnify my battle prowess to a great extent!

    ¡°After all, its former owner was a powerful master of spatial power!¡±

    Zhao Shanling sat on the ground in the lotus position, his eyes fixed on the top of the towering pagoda. His sight was blocked from seeing the Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors that were standing around it.

    Simrly, the Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors couldn¡¯t see him or Nie Tian.

    ¡°Even though those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect have juniors with strong fleshly bodies on their team, and they seemed to have made full preparations, they don¡¯t seem to have any spatial power experts among them, so they can¡¯t think of a way to stay away from those spatial des.¡± Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and continued, ¡°I¡¯m probably the only one who cultivates spatial power in this realm created by Master Voidspirit. I¡¯m destined to obtain his legacies!¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°He created such a vast realm all by himself?¡±

    Zhao Shanling snorted. ¡°Of course! This entire heaven and earth was created by Master Voidspirit. Every powerful expert who is at the three domains level has to create their own realm. This realm created by Master Voidspirit has close ties with that space disruption zone. Even its existence relies on that space disruption zone.

    ¡°Normally, when Void domain experts perish, their realms will fall apart and disappear along with them.

    ¡°Only under very special circumstances will their realm keep on existing after their deaths.

    ¡°Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm still exists because of his profound knowledge of space disruption zones, and the fact that he died in here...¡±

    Zhao Shanling only briefly exined this special kind of realm to Nie Tian before falling into silence with his eyes fixed on the distant pagoda.

    After a long time, Zhao Shanling closed his eyes and muttered, ¡°There are a total of nine thousand nine hundred and ny-nine spatial des around the pagoda, and they¡¯re constantly changing the pattern in which they move. It¡¯ll take a long time to figure them all out.¡±

    His eyebrows furrowed as he gradually grew irritated, as if he had started to think that his attainments in spatial power weren¡¯t enough to find a safe way to enter the pagoda by steering clear of the hovering spatial des.

    During this time, the five elders from the Bliss Mountain Sect made a few more attempts, all of which ended up in failure, and added more young corpses to the ground before the pagoda gate.

    Days passed as Zhao Shanling wracked his mind for a safe way to enter the pagoda. He gradually grew exhausted, both mentally and physically.

    However, the Qi warriors from the Bliss Mountain Sect didn¡¯t seem to have given up. They were still making attempts, which ended in more casualties.

    It was as if those juniors had been raised for such an asion. As long as they could secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, no matter how many young lives perished to achieve it, it would all be worth it.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect group grew smaller and smaller, yet they still hadn¡¯t seeded.

    At this moment, Zhao Shanling finally seemed toe to some discoveries. With a faint smile, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s wait a few more days. We¡¯ll take over when they¡¯ve lost too many people and decide to give up!¡±

 Chapter 661: Newcomers

    Nie Tian felt more relieved now that Zhao Shanling had made some discoveries. He continued to observe the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples from afar and wait in silence.

    When they had firste to this location, there had been dozens of Bliss Mountain Sect juniors gathered by the pagoda, aside from the five elders.

    But now, there were no more than ten juniors left.

    All of their previous attempts to enter the bright-silver nine-story pagoda had failed.

    Fear could be seen on the remaining juniors¡¯ faces as they nced uneasily at the corpses of their friends that were scattered in front of the pagoda¡¯s gate.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly discovered that the five elders seemed to havee to a good solution to their problem from their discussion.

    They beckoned for three juniors to go make another attempt to enter the pagoda.

    The three appointed juniors¡¯ expressions flickered drastically in fear.

    One of the elders¡¯ faces suddenly grew icy as a glowing purple sphere appeared in his palm.

    The numerous green sparks within the glowing sphere rapidly realigned to a formation that resembled the way the juniors were standing.

    The elder pointed his finger at the glowing purple sphere, and one of the green sparks exploded and vanished.

    The junior, who was waving his hands in the air, face filled with horror, shuddered.

    In the next moment, his eyes lost all of their radiance, as if his soul was suddenly snuffed out. He copsed to the ground without making a sound and didn¡¯t get back up again.

    All of the other Bliss Mountain Sect juniors¡¯ expression flickered as they saw this. None of them dared to say anything, desperation and fear filling their eyes.

    The elder¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest as he pointed at another junior and said something.

    Afterwards, three juniors charged towards the pagoda gate at full speed. Two of them in the front split up aftering close to the gate, hoping to get through the gaps between the spatial des.

    POOH! POOH!

    The ethereal spatial des shed lightly across them, and they were both cut to pieces that fell to the ground.

    The third junior took the opportunity to approach the pagoda gate as the spatial des all split to the sides.

    However, a spatial de appeared out of nowhere and came whooshing down from the air. The man was cut in half from head to toe.

    While these juniors made this attempt, the five elders didn¡¯t just stand there and watch. They also tried their best to stall the spatial des and buy some time for the juniors with the unknown tools in their hands.

    However, once again, they failed.

    Three dismembered corpses were added to the ground in front of the pagoda gate. The five elders exchanged a nce. Not only did they not seem frustrated, but they even seemed overjoyed, as if they had proved their theory.

    As they entered another exclusive discussion, the juniors looked very sullen and pale, looking at their friends¡¯ mangled bodies.

    Zhao Shanling also noticed what had happened. With an expressionless face, he said, ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect raised those juniors for one specific purpose: to obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. From the look of it, they weren¡¯t taught the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s core incantations.

    ¡°In the eyes of their elders, those juniors are simple some disposable assets. As far as I see it, they won¡¯t get to live whether they can secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies or not.

    ¡°They¡¯ll probably be sent to their graves one after another in attempts to obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. Even if they somehow manage to secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, they¡¯ll lose their value afterwards, and the Bliss Mountain Sect will probably kill them to prevent future troubles.

    ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect hasn¡¯t even considered them as their actual disciples.¡±

    After observing for some time, Nie Tian also gradually realized what was going on.

    With that purple glowing sphere, those elders could annihte all of the juniors with a flick of their finger.

    The juniors were being used as objects to test their theories about methods to enter the pagoda.

    No matter how many juniors died, those elders¡¯ faces remained as calm as the water in a silent well.

    Perhaps all of those juniors were already dead in the elders¡¯ eyes.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°It¡¯s so pathetic that all those young lives are being sent to their graves.¡±

    ¡°That has nothing to do with us,¡± Zhao Shanling said, his face expressionless. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit longer. We can go over there and take over when they find the method to enter the pagoda or decide to give up. Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies aren¡¯t that easy to get. The Bliss Mountain Sect has prepared for a century and sent seven exploration teams in here, but they¡¯re still stopped at that gate, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Mmm.¡±

    It appeared that the five Bliss Mountain Sect elders could influence the movement of the spatial des with their special tools, but only within a limited range.

    The elders¡¯ eyes gradually lit up as their juniors made repeated attempts to approach the pagoda gate at the price of their own lives, as if they were about to seed.

    One day, while Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling waited in silence, Nie Tian suddenly sensed a strong surge of flesh aura from behind him.

    He instantly jerked his head back.

    However, before he could inform Zhao Shanling, an elder and a junior had already entered his view.

    The elder was dressed in Trisword Sect garments with three swords hanging tips down on his chest. Dressed in ck, the junior was even taller and bulkier than Nie Tian.

    The intense flesh aura Nie Tian was sensing came from this ck-garbed young man.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, this young man was like a fierce beast, his eyes brimming with a strong thirst for blood.

    Several bones were sticking out of the junior¡¯s muscr shoulders, which made him look even more beastly and less human.

    While they walked closer, Zhao Shanling examined them closely. Eyes narrowed, he said to Nie Tian with an impressed expression, ¡°The sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries do have some extraordinary means. It seems that young man had most of his bones and meridians reced by spirit beasts¡¯ bones and meridians.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even think he can practice human incantations anymore after such changes.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that he actually survived the inhuman and agonizing process of breaking bones, severing meridians, and recing them with ones taken from spirit beasts.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered, as he had never expected that the ck-garbed young man had gone through such a terrifying transformation.

    No wonder he didn¡¯t seem very human in Nie Tian¡¯s senses.

    Aftering to a stop before Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling, the elder from the Trisword Sect said with a somewhat intense expression, ¡°We came across several groups of dead Bliss Mountain Sect disciples on our way here. Was that your doing?¡±

    Zhao Shanling chuckled softly and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, so?¡±

    Eyes slightly widened, the elder then said, ¡°You don¡¯t look familiar to me at all. Clearly, you¡¯re not from the Bliss Mountain Sect. Howe I didn¡¯t know that some other sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is also after Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.¡±

    ¡°Who said we¡¯re from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?¡± Zhao Shanling said with a taunting tone.

    The elder was taken aback. ¡°You¡¯re not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries? Where did youe from then?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling repeatedly snuck inquiring gazes at Nie Tian.

    He wanted to know whether Nie Tian would be able to take the ck-garbed young man so that he could prepare for what mighte.

    He felt relieved after seeing theposure and confidence in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    The elder hesitated briefly before cing his hand on the ck-garbed junior¡¯s shoulder and saying, ¡°Since we¡¯re all here for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, and we all consider the Bliss Mountain Sect our opponent, perhaps we can team up. What do you say?¡±

    The junior had fixed his eyes on Nie Tian and panted heavily since the moment they arrived. Clearly, he considered Nie Tian his opponent, but at this moment, he settled down slightly.

    After seeing the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples Nie Tian had killed along the way, the elder knew that Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with.

    Meanwhile, they didn¡¯t have the confidence to contend against the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect gathered by the nine-story pagoda with just the two of them. Because of this, the elder proposed for them to team up against those from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhao Shanling agreed. ¡°I suppose we can take care of those from the Bliss Mountain Sect first, and thene up with ways to secure and split Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± The elder said. ¡°I¡¯m Qi Jiuchuan from the Trisword Sect.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation at the Voidspirit Pagoda?¡±

    ¡°Those from the Bliss Mountain Sect haven¡¯t found a way in yet, but they¡¯ve already lost more than half of their people. We¡¯re waiting for them to find a way in or to lose most of their juniors, and then we¡¯ll go in.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan and Zhao Shanling talked cautiously with each other, while Nie Tian gazed towards the distant pagoda.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°One of them made it to the gate!¡±

    Zhao Shanling grinned as he said, ¡°Good! It¡¯s time we took over!¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan also smiled, looking rather spirited.

 Chapter 662: Half Man, Half Beast

    Qi Jiuchuan took out a fresh spirit beast heart, tossed it to the ck-garbed young man, and said with a stern,manding tone, ¡°Take it!¡±

    The junior grabbed the heart and stuffed it down his throat, barely chewing as he did.

    With blood dripping from his chin, he looked even more sinister and fierce.

    <i>¡°A fifth grade Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart...¡± </i>Zhao Shanling looked over his shoulder and asked, frowning, "Brother Qi, this junior of your sect had some of his bones and meridians reced by a Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s, right? Only if he did would a Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart give such a great boost to his strength.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuanughed.¡°You have a keen perception, Brother Zhao. Some of his bones and meridians have indeed been reced by those of a Mountainsplit Beast. With the strength from that Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart, he should be able to ughter most of those Bliss Mountain Sect juniors, if not all of them.¡±

    Zhao Shanlingughed wryly before saying, ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯m afraid his body won¡¯t be able to handle it, and he¡¯ll die after this.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change a bit as he said, ¡°If he¡¯s indeed that useless, then there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian noticed that, after swallowing that Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart, Liang Hao¡¯s eyes were now filled with beastly desires, as if he had already lost his senses and couldn¡¯t make out what Qi Jiuchuan had implied.

    HOWL!

    The bellow of a trapped beast escaped Liang Hao¡¯s mouth as a misty flesh aura was unleashed from within his pores, forming a blood-colored ward around him.

    As his flesh aura continued to build up, cracking sounds came from all over him, as if some of his bones were cracking.

    At this moment, even Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he felt a threat from him.

    Qi Jiuchuan took a deep breath and took out a medicinal pill. Swallowing it, he said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯re ready. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded wordlessly and beckoned for Nie Tian to lead the way.

    Without the slightest hesitation, Nie Tian bolted out. With each step, he could travel nearly a hundred meters forward.

    Eyes narrowed, Qi Jiuchuang gazed at Nie Tian from behind, then jerked his head towards Liang Hao, as if he wereparing who was stronger.

    Even though he was d in a suit of armor, Zhao Shanling still had misgivings about being too close to Qi Jiuchuan and Liang Hao. He followed along as Nie Tian charged out.

    He knew that even though Qi Jiuchuan was also at the Soul realm, since he had also lost all of his spiritual power, he wasn¡¯t a threat to him.

    However, Liang Hao, who took orders from Qi Jiuchuan, made him apprehensive. He had a feeling that he was able to shatter his armor and kill him without much effort.

    The five Bliss Mountain Sect elders who were standing by the towering Voidspirit Pagoda caught sight of Nie Tian. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    At this moment, that junior was already within arm¡¯s reach of the pagoda¡¯s gate. The elders¡¯ faces had been filled with the joy a moment ago, but their faced dropped instantly as they saw Nie Tian.

    One of the Bliss Mountain Sect elders examined Nie Tian¡¯s chest before saying with a frown, ¡°Hmm? You¡¯re not from the Trisword Sect. Have any sects besides ours and the Trisword Secte for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who they are,¡± another elder said. ¡°Just kill them and get it over with.¡±

    With a confident wave of his hand, he called out, ¡°Kill them all!¡±

    There were now seven juniors standing in front of the pagoda, other than the one that was about to open the pagoda¡¯s gate.

    Those juniors let out sighs of relief upon hearing these words.

    They seemed to feel that,pared to being sent to kill Nie Tian, being sent to approach the pagoda would be much more deadly.

    After witnessing so many of their friends be sent to their graves, they couldn¡¯t see any hope in that mission. Each and every one of them were afraid that they would be the next one sent to approach the pagoda.

    Upon receiving the order, they instantly spun around. Eyes filled with ecstasy, they charged away from the Voidspirit Pagoda towards Nie Tian at their fastest possible speed.

    All of them fixed their eyes on Nie Tian.

    Then, they exchanged hesitant nces with one another, as if they were thinking about whether they should prolong the process of killing him as much as they could.

    An elder with gray beard saw through their intentions and said with an icy voice, ¡°Ten breaths of time. That¡¯s all you have to kill him. You should know what the punishment will be if you fail to do so.¡±

    The seven juniors¡¯ hearts trembled, and they no longer hesitated.

    However, just as they were about to pounce on Nie Tian, Liang Hao¡¯s beastly roar rang out from behind him.

    Like a mad Mountainsplit Beast, he charged out and leaped over Nie Tian towards the seven Bliss Mountain Sect juniors.

    An extremely intense flesh aura spilled from Liang Hao¡¯s eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth. Along with the flesh aura, blood flowed out of these ces as well, giving him a very terrifying look.

    It seemed that Liang Hao couldn¡¯t fully digest and convert the power from the fifth grade Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart after all.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect elder with a gray beard let out a cold harrumph andid his eyes on Qi Jiuchuan, who was walking over from the distance. ¡°Qi Jiuchuan! You still haven¡¯t given up?!¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan walked in an unhurried fashion as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that you¡¯ll win just because you have the numbers, Han Chigui. I know that your sect discovered Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies first, and you worked to get them for many years. But since our sect also discovered this ce, you shouldn¡¯t have insisted on taking the legacies as your own.

    ¡°We could have cooperated, but you not only refused, but also killed our people.

    ¡°Since you refuse to work together, don¡¯t me me for using our ultimate weapon. Your sect made preparations, but so did we. We built Liang Hao for this specific task.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if any of your little ones can prove themselves worthy of him.¡±

    ROOOOOAR!!

    Just as he uttered these words, Liang Hao hammered a Bliss Mountain Sect junior to death with his bare fist.

    Sharp bones stuck out of Liang Hao¡¯s clenched right hand, making his fist look like arge hedgehog.

    Wisps of crimson flesh aura wreathed the protruding bones like dancing, red lightning bolts.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention and discovered that every time Liang Hao swung his fist, rich flesh power from the fifth grade Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart would gather to his exceptionallyrge fist, boosting his might.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect juniors also practiced body refinement incantation, which had made their bodies much tougher than normal Qi warriors.

    However, they didn¡¯t seem to have any effective method to deal with the rampant Liang Hao.

    None of their animal bones or other tools that contained flesh power could inflict noticeable damage on him.

    Qi Jiuchuan cast a displeased look at Zhao Shanling. ¡°Brother Zhao...¡±

    Zhao Shanling instantly realized what he meant, and thus nodded at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Since Liang Hao is at such an advantage dealing with the juniors, I might as well go take care of the elders,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Qi Jiuchuan said, looking overjoyed.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian sped off towards the elders.

    ¡°Take your Thousand Refinement Pills, all of you!¡± Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect gulped upon seeing Nie Tian charging at them. Expression flickering, he yelled, ¡°Get over here, Ji Long!¡±

    Fear appeared in the Bliss Mountain Sect juniors¡¯ eyes as soon as they received this order.

    However, none of them dared to ignore Han Chigui¡¯s order, so they each took out a red pill and stuffed them into their mouths.

    One of the juniors jumped over and stood in front of Nie Tian within a breath¡¯s time after taking the pill.

    He was Ji Long, who Han Chigui had referred to, and he was the strongest of all of the juniors.

    Nie Tian also noticed that the way the five Bliss Mountain Sect elders looked at him was different from the way they looked at the other juniors.

    It seemed as if he was the only one who they considered worthy of being a true disciple of the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Ji Long was short and lean. A faint golden color could be seen on his exposed skin, while golden sparks could be seen in the depths of his eyes.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Two golden animal bones shot out of Ji Long¡¯s cuffs and towards Nie Tian, releasing golden sparks as they sped through air.

    Meanwhile, loud beastly roars came from them, hurting Nie Tian¡¯s ears.

    Face grim, Zhao Shanling shouted, ¡°Watch out, Nie Tian! This one is by no means ordinary. Those two bones are from a fifth grade Goldskin Beast and have been refined with unique methods.¡±

    Calm as ever, Nie Tian snorted augh and said, ¡°A fifth grade Goldskin Beast only has the strength of a Worldly realm Qi warrior. How much residual power could be in just two of its bones?¡±

    With these words, he summoned the me Star and infused his torrential flesh power into it.

    Upon seeing him summon the me Star, Zhao Shanling shouted angrily, ¡°What are you doing, fool? No tools that need to be powered by spiritual power can disy their might in here!¡±

    However, he shut his mouth in the next moment, staring nkly at the me Star, at a loss for words.

 Chapter 663: A Successful Product of Hybridization

    The me Star instantly turned zing red, with fierce flesh power bursting forth from it.

    In Zhao Shanling¡¯s senses, the me Star in Nie Tian¡¯s hand seemed to be instantly infused with unlimited flesh aura and became bloodthirsty.

    CLANK!

    The me Star mmed hard into one of the Goldskin Beast bones, sending golden sparks in all directions.

    Ji Long¡¯s bone-bearing hand instantly sank, as he didn¡¯t seem to be able to contend against such heavy and explosive force. Golden sparks could be seen glittering within his exposed skin.

    At the same time, rich flesh power from the Thousand Refinement Pill flooded into his meridians, making his meridians bulge from under his skin.

    At this moment, Ji Long seemed to have turned into a terrifying beast, with bulging meridians that looked like golden earthworms.

    A terrifying force rapidly built up in the animal bone in his other hand.

    As he turned his wrist, numerous golden sparks shot out of the bone, while the faint roars of the Goldskin Beast could be heard from the bone.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like bits of melted gold, golden sparks that contained metal power instantly engulfed Nie Tian.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    Crisp shing sounds echoed out as the golden sparks mmed into Nie Tian¡¯s skin like golden needles on a steel te. Not the slightest mark was left on his skin.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t even feel much pain.

    It seemed that the damage this kind of force could inflict on his body, which had been tempered repeatedly with Heavenly Wood Heal, was almost negligible.

    ¡°Far too weak...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he ignored Ji Long. He blurred into action and suddenly appeared to the left of one of the Bliss Mountain Sect elders.

    He clenched his empty hand tightly into a fist and sent it whooshing towards the elder.

    At the same time, rage rapidly built up in his heart. With the method he had learned from that mysteriousnd, he channeled his rage into his fist along with his flesh power.

    Even crackling sounds came from the air around his fist.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect elder¡¯s expression flickered drastically. In his eyes, Nie Tian¡¯s iing fist seemed to fill all of heaven and earth as it smashed down towards him.

    Without the time to think, he hastily activated the suit of armor he was wearing, which was simr to the leather armor Zhao Shanling was wearing.

    Immediately afterwards, a blood-colored aura rose and formed a ward over the armor as a detailed pattern gradually appeared on the armor. Upon a closer look, the pattern, which was the condensation of the flesh aura from the armor, was a vivid, zing phoenix that was spreading its wings.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist mmed hard on the blood-colored ward.

    The pattern burst instantly, but Nie Tian¡¯s fist carried on as if he was a wrathful god that was going to eliminate all living beings.

    Then, as his fist bombarded the elder¡¯s leather armor, the detailed phoenix pattern on it scattered and disappeared like a reflection in a well that was disturbed by arge stone.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    The Bliss Mountain Sect elder¡¯s breastbone was instantly shattered, along with all of his internal organs. He trudged a few steps backwards before copsing to the ground and dying.

    Nie Tian shook his head, sneering. ¡°Soul realm experts... Unfortunately, you¡¯vee to the wrong ce. If we were outside, I wouldn¡¯t even dare to get anywhere near you. But in here, you¡¯re nothing but puny insects to me.¡±

    At this moment, Ji Long jumped over, brandishing his two animal bones.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The bones mmed vigorously into Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders, yet he stood unwavering like a statue, and then looked over his shoulder at Ji Long with a scary smile on his face.

    Tiny golden sparks flew out of the Goldskin Beast bones. Like puny golden insects, they hoped to drill into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work.¡± With a low chuckle, Nie Tian ignored Ji Long¡¯s insect-level attack and lunged towards a second Bliss Mountain Sect elder.

    Upon seeing this, that elder turned around and ran for his life.

    However, since he hadn¡¯t practiced any body refinement incantations, with his spiritual power gone, he was no different from amoner in this unique realm.

    ¡°Your friend is waiting for you. I¡¯ll send you to meet him now.¡± With these words, Nie Tian once again infused the me Star with his flesh power and cast it directly towards the elder¡¯s back, which was fully exposed as he tried to escape.

    SHEW!

    Like a spear made of blood, the me Star left Nie Tian¡¯s hand before easily prating the elder¡¯s armored back and nailing him to the ground.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The golden sparks from Ji Long¡¯s animal bones arrived once more and mmed into Nie Tian¡¯s back like golden rain.

    However, Nie Tian let out a disdainfulugh before bolting to the dead elder and pulling the me Star out of his back.

    ¡°Ji Long!¡± Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect cried out, his face turning pale with fear and anger. ¡°Our sect treated you as a core disciple. Howe you¡¯re so useless?!¡±

    The other two Bliss Mountain Sect elders were so scared by the scene that they split up and fled.

    Standing a safe distance from the Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression also flickered slightly as he looked down at his own armor, wondering if this suit of armor, which was made from Blood Pattern Python skin and Wind Spirt Beast bones, would be able to withstand such a strike from Nie Tian.

    Those two Bliss Mountain Sect elders had worn simr armor, yet Nie Tian had ughtered them as if they were defenseless chickens. Neither of them had even survived a single strike from Nie Tian.

    With aplicated look in his eyes, Zhao Shanling thought to himself. ¡°My god! Is he really a human?! How is his flesh power this profound?! For humans, even if they focus on the refinement of their fleshly bodies, since they¡¯re not endowed with tough bodies like the outsiders, their bodies can never be as tough as those of their outsider peers.

    ¡°But this kid...¡±

    He was overwhelmed by the shockingly high battle prowess Nie Tian was disying with pure flesh power.

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s expression also flickered as he turned to Zhao Shanling and asked, ¡°How did you build this little friend of yours, Brother Zhao? I searched many realms and found a few dozen kids that were born with tough bodies, yet only Liang Hao survived the transformation procedures. That Nie Tian kid seems to bepletely different from Liang Hao, but howe he¡¯s so fierce and tough?¡±

    Zhao Shanling chuckled disdainfully and said, ¡°My method is far beyond your imagination.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan instantly felt deep veneration towards him. ¡°From the look of it, the domain you¡¯re from is far more powerful than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Only this can exin why you¡¯re able to build something as powerful as Nie Tian!¡±

    In his eyes, Liang Hao was nothing but a puppet.

    He had selected a few dozen youngsters that were simr to Liang Hao for the purpose of securing Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. However, Liang Hao was the only one that had survived after having their bones and meridians reced by those of spirit beasts.

    Like the juniors of the Bliss Mountain Sect, Liang Hao would also be cast aside after this operation.

    Therefore, he took it for granted that Nie Tian was the same as Liang Hao, that he was built by Zhao Shanling for the sole purpose of securing Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhao Shanling said proudly. ¡°The domain Ie from is overseen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and is far more powerful than regr domains like the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes widened as he hastily said, ¡°Brother Zhao, if we can eventually obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, you take your pick first. I just want a small slice of the pie.

    ¡°I hope that we can establish a friendly rtionship after this cooperation.

    ¡°The Trisword Sect will always wee you, Brother Zhao. We¡¯ll treat you as our most honorable guest!¡±

    ¡°That sounds good,¡± Zhao Shanling said with an unfathomable smile.

    ¡°If I may ask, Brother Zhao,¡± Qi Jiuchuan said cautiously. ¡°It seems to me that Nie Tian is a sessful product of hybridization, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyebrows rose.

    ¡°I suppose a human can only possess an outsider¡¯s bloodline power by hybridization,¡± Qi Jiuchuan muttered to himself, his face filled with envy. ¡°It¡¯s said that some powerful and ancient sects have already acquired the method to breed hybrids. They vest their core disciples with powerful outsiders¡¯ bloodline power in order to change our inherently fragile bodies and short lifespans.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that we, the sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, can¡¯t do that yet.

    ¡°Many of our sects have made experiments by marrying outsiders. However, only one or two out of a thousand such marriages produce descendants. Meanwhile, most hybrids can¡¯t awaken the outsiders¡¯ bloodline talents, while having problems cultivating human incantations. As a result, they have all lived and died as failures.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s words created huge waves in Zhao Shanling¡¯s mind.

    He did his utmost to remain calm, yet the gaze with which he looked at Nie Tian had bepletely different from before.

    <i>¡°So he¡¯s a hybrid?!¡± </i>he said inwardly. <i>¡°Tough body, long lifespan, outsider bloodline power...¡±</i>

    As his train of thought came to this point, his eyes grew brighter and brighter, feeling as if the mysterious veil covering Nie Tian was finally partially lifted.

 Chapter 664: Mind Games

    While Zhao Shanling and Qi Jiuchuan talked, Nie Tian killed another elder.

    After that, only two of the five Bliss Mountain Sect elders were still alive.

    The two survivors had long since cast the Voidspirit Pagoda out of their minds and fled in sore straits.

    Ji Long howled nonstop as he chased after Nie Tian and tried to inflict serious damage on him while he annihted the elders relentlessly.

    However, Nie Tian ignored himpletely, since none of his attacks could cause any real damage to him.

    Han Chigui panickedpletely as he shouted at the top of his lungs at the Bliss Mountain Sect juniors that were dealing with Liang Hao, ¡°Come back here, all of you! Kill this little bastard first!¡±

    There were now four juniors left around Liang Hao.

    After swallowing a Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart, Liang Hao, who was half man and half beast, also disyed terrifying battle prowess.

    Even though the Bliss Mountain Sect juniors had taken Thousand Refinement Pills to bring out all of their potentials, they were still at a disadvantage against Liang Hao.

    Upon hearing Han Chigui¡¯s shout, they instantly disengaged from their battle against Liang Hao and bolted towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Senior Martial Brother Ji Long,¡± A small-built girl called out as she charged over. ¡°What¡¯s the situation with this one?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s even more powerful than Liang Hao!¡± Li Long said, frustration filling his eyes. ¡°He¡¯s already killed three of our elders! Let¡¯s team up and kill him first!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Han Chigui and the other surviving elder took an opportunity to circle around to behind Ji Long and other four juniors.

    Han Chigui fumed with fury as he thundered, ¡°You good-for-nothings! Since the Thousand Refinement Pills won¡¯t do, take your Blood Decay Pills! If you still can¡¯t kill him with the help of those pills, you should just kill yourselves!¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s eye widened slightly. ¡°Blood Decay Pills! It seems Han Chigui is truly desperate now. He¡¯s even forcing those juniors to take Blood Decay Pills.¡±

    Zhao Shanling was also taken aback. ¡°Blood Decay Pill...¡±

    Ji Long and the other juniors all looked very scared upon hearing Han Chigui¡¯s order.

    However, they didn¡¯t dare to disobey him, and thus each took out a red medicinal pill from their inner pockets and stuffed it in their mouths.

    As Nie Tian walked over to them, he discovered that their pupils had all turned blood-red.

    Meanwhile, crisp crackling sounds kepting from their bones, and their skins had turned as red as blood. Like Liang Hao, they were also bleeding from their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths, which made them look like desperate, bloodthirsty beasts.

    Their bodies thrummed with intense flesh aura as agony and struggle filled their faces.

    Nie Tian examined them with his flesh power and discovered that their internal organs were already showing fine fractures due to the over-intense flesh power they had received from the Blood Decay Pills.

    It seemed that the flesh power a Blood Decay Pill could produce was just as profound as that of a fifth grade Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart.

    Ji Long, who was short but quick, even grew taller under the terrifying effect of the pill.

    Bits of golden light could be seen glittering in the depths of his scarlet pupils.

    He let out a beastly howl as he suddenly exploded towards Nie Tian like a streak of golden light.

    With a cold smile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t even use his me Star.

    Instead, he raised his fist, which suddenly started to shine with blinding blood-colored light like a red sun, and mmed it towards Ji Long.

    BAAAM!

    Upon contact, the rampant Ji Long was sent staggering backwards a few steps.

    However, numerous tiny golden sparks still sputtered on Nie Tian¡¯s exposed skin, finally causing noticeable pain to him.

    He looked down and discovered that fine wounds had appeared in his flesh where the golden sparks had hit him.

    ¡°Finally some injuries...¡± With a low chuckle, Nie Tian shook the pain off.

    Seeing that the other four juniors were also pouncing on him from different directions, brandishing their own weapons made from spirit beast bones, Nie Tian closed his eyes, and a torrential flesh aura instantly burst forth from within him.

    By moving just his shoulders, he avoided their attacks with great precision. Then, like a ghost, he rapidly shed among the four juniors as he dealt heavy blows to them with either the me Star or his bare fist.

    Less than a minuteter, even though he sustained a few more wounds, he was still able to move freely.

    However, the four juniors that had teamed up on him were all covered in blood, their condition worrying.

    Qi Jiuchuan let out a cold harrumph and pointed at Han Chigui and the other Bliss Mountain Sect elder, who were cowering in the distance. ¡°Liang Hao!¡± he shouted.

    Liang Hao seemed to have lost his ability to think independently, and would only do whatever he was told.

    Because of this, he had been standingpletely still since the four juniors had left to attack Nie Tian.

    However, now that he had received Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s order, he seemed to be activated again and charged directly towards Han Chigui, his feet thumping heavily on the ground as he did.

    AHHHH!

    At that moment, an agonized shriek caught Qi Jiuchuan and Zhao Shanling¡¯s ears.

    They looked towards the Voidspirit Pagoda and saw the Bliss Mountain Sect junior, who had gone to great lengths to avoid the deadly spatial des and eventually made it to the pagoda¡¯s gate, fall on his back right in front of the pagoda¡¯s gate.

    After crashing to the ground, everyone could see the bloody holes in his chest.

    Countless silver light des could be seen slithering on the pagoda¡¯s silver gate. From the look of it, the junior had been killed by them as he had tried to open the gate.

    Qi Jiuchuan let out a coldugh. ¡°If only it were that easy to obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.¡±

    Then, he turned to Zhao Shanling and said, ¡°I know how to approach the pagoda safely, but I haven¡¯t figured out a way to enter it yet. Brother Zhao, do you...?¡±

    Zhao Shanling was surprisingly calm as he said, ¡°That can wait. Let¡¯s take care of these people from the Bliss Mountain Sect first.¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, that¡¯s exactly what I was thinking,¡± Qi Jiuchuan said, smiling.

    ¡°He got to the gate, but still failed to enter it?!¡± Han Chigui said furiously, as if he had lost all hope now that the junior, who he had ced all his hopes on, had died.

    ¡°We need to get out of here!¡± With these words, he shoved the other elder towards Liang Hao, who was charging directly towards them, without any warning.

    Then, he took out a fine cloak and threw it around his shoulders.

    The cloak was made of seven-colored feathers from spirit beasts. As soon as he put it on, each and every feather started to give off multicolored light.

    Han Chigui seemed to turn into a bird that started flying towards the cluster of ck light under the multicolored sky.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect elder who he shoved in Liang Hao¡¯s direction thundered at the top of his lungs as he scrambled away from Liang Hao, ¡°Han Chigui!¡±

    However, upon seeing that Han Chigui had soared into the sky and was flying away at a high speed, Liang Hao could only fix his eyes, which were wreathed in killing intent, on the elder that was still on the ground.

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Don¡¯t let Han Chigui escape, Brother Zhao! If he does, he¡¯ll definitely ambush us on the outside! He¡¯ll recover his battle prowess with spirit stones after returning to the space disruption zone and wait for us toe out!

    ¡°He¡¯s at thete Soul realm, while you and I are both at the middle Soul realm. Even if we can obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, we¡¯ll be too weak to defend ourselves against him when we step out of this special realm.¡±

    Zhao Shanling also realized the importance of this and thus turned his eyes away from Nie Tian and the battle among the juniors.

    He and Qi Jiuchuan chased after Han Chigui at the same time. However, since Han Chigui was wearing his multicolored feather cloak, not only could he soar in the sky, but his speed was also much faster than the two of them, which worried them very much.

    ¡°Liang Hao! Go after that man!¡± Qi Jiuchuan issued another order.

    As he shouted these words, a miserable wail echoed out from the distance where Liang Hao was.

    Apparently, the Bliss Mountain Sect elder that had been betrayed by Han Chigui was caught and killed by Liang Hao.

    Upon receiving the new order, Liang Hao closed in on Qi Jiuchuang and Zhao Shanling at an rming speed. Even though he couldn¡¯t travel through the air like Han Chigui, he could run almost as fast as him.

    With a gruesome smile, Qi Jiuchuan said, ¡°He can¡¯t get away. That seven-colored feather cloak of his runs on its own flesh power. He¡¯ll fall from the air once the flesh power within those feathers runs out. The moment he falls from the air will be the moment he dies!¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded, his expression gradually rxing. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed that too.¡±

    With these words, he secretly lowered his speed bit by bit to keep a safe distance from Liang Hao.

 Chapter 665: Misleading

    POOH!

    The me Star exploded with blinding blood-colored light as it shed the small-built young woman in half.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian jerked his head around and gave Ji Long a cold smile.

    At this moment, Ji Long had be the only surviving junior.

    He had gone rampant under the effect of the Blood Decay Pill. In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, he was now nothing but a witless beast.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian also noticed that the strong efficacy of the Blood Decay Pill was taking a toll on Ji Long¡¯s body. Many of his internal organs and meridians had already burst.

    Instead of engaging in close-up battle with him right away, Nie Tian shed about to avoid him, forcing him to chase after him, gasping for breath.

    Shortly afterwards, he smiled as he noticed that Ji Long¡¯s flesh aura had grown increasingly weak.

    After dancing around him for about ten minutes, Nie Tian noticed that Ji Long seemed to have lost most of his flesh power, since he started to drag his steps.

    Only then did Nie Tian sh behind him and smash the back of his head with his palm.

    CRACK!

    Ji Long¡¯s skull shattered from the explosive force.

    He finally crashed to the ground, bereft of any aura of life.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°Poor guy...¡±

    He knew that, even if he didn¡¯t kill them, Ji Long and the other juniors would eventually die from the side-effect of the Thousand Refinement Pills and Blood Decay Pills they had taken.

    He had only elerated the process but didn¡¯t change the results.

    These juniors only existed for the purpose of finding Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. Their destinies had long since been determined, perhaps with Ji Long being the only exception.

    However, even Ji Long had been abandoned when Han Chigui had felt that his life was in danger.

    Now, with Ji Long dead, there wasn¡¯t a single soul near the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    ncing around at Ji Long and the other juniors¡¯ cold bodies, Nie Tian hesitated briefly before deciding not to drain their remaining flesh power with Life Drain.

    He had something better.

    He took a seventh grade outsider corpse from within his ring of holding and started absorbing its flesh power with Life Drain.

    The flesh power he had consumed fighting Ji Long was rapidly replenished.

    Shortly afterwards, he sensed Zhao Shanling¡¯s aura approaching him.

    He quickly returned the outsider corpse to his ring of holding and sat up straight from the lotus position.

    Zhao Shanling returned alone. He gathered the rings of holding of the four Bliss Mountain Sect elders and walked to Nie Tian. ¡°Those four were all at the Soul realm. If they were in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the four of them alone could have formed a sect that was even more powerful than the Heaven Pce Sect.

    ¡°It¡¯s pity that they all lost their lives trying to get Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.¡±

    ¡°If there are Void domain experts in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, they must have many more Soul realm experts than us,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Each sect probably has multiple Soul realm experts, simr to the Profound realm experts in the sects from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Good point. How are you doing?¡±

    Nie Tian had just absorbed some flesh power with Life Drain but hadn¡¯t had the chance to use it to heal his wounds.

    From Zhao Shanling¡¯s point of view, Nie Tian was covered in deep cuts, and in a very worrying condition.

    However, Nie Tian knew that the injuries he had sustained were only flesh wounds, nothing serious.

    Once he was given the time to circte the flesh power he had recently absorbed with Heavenly Wood Heal, the open wounds would soon heal without leaving the slightest scar.

    ¡°I¡¯m alright,¡± Nie Tian answered casually. ¡°They are merely some shallow cuts.¡±

    ¡°Shallow cuts...¡± Zhao Shanling fell silent. After a moment of pondering, he asked with a serious expression, ¡°Do you think you can take that Liang Hao person?¡±

    ¡°I think so, yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered with confidence.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes lit up as he chuckled and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, don¡¯t address your wounds now. Qi Jiuchuan and Liang Hao will probably catch and kill Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect. I want them to see you covered in wounds when they return.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Why?¡±

    Rubbing his chin, Zhao Shanling said with a meaningful look in his eyes, ¡°I just want to know what Qi Jiuchuan will do after seeing you in such sore straits.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you saying that Qi Jiuchuan will want to kill us after seeing me badly injured? In fact, I overheard part of the conversation between you two. He seemed to be very interested in making friends with you after learning that you¡¯re from a ¡®superior¡¯ domain. You don¡¯t think he was faking all that, do you?¡±

    Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph. ¡°You¡¯re still too green, kid. I can¡¯t believe you actually believed him. He might y up to us and refrain from plotting against us if you continue to disy unmatched strength and battle prowess. However, once you show weakness, I doubt that he¡¯ll continue to do so.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly and saw the senses in his words. ¡°So you¡¯re luring him to make a move on us?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since I can¡¯t trust him, we¡¯ll have to deal with him.¡± Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t try to hide his intentions. ¡°I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ll be able to open that silver gate on my own. If we can obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies by relying on ourselves, then why should we share them with others?¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian agreed with his n.

    Not only did he postpone healing his wounds with the flesh power he had recently absorbed, but he even thought of a better idea: he activated his Life Stealth bloodline talent.

    Life Stealth would allow him to mask his flesh aura however he wanted.

    With this wondrous bloodline talent, he lowered the intensity of his flesh aura to the point that it was no different from that of amoner, and that was when he stopped.

    Zhao Shanling examined him and noticed that his vigorous flesh aura had gradually weakened.

    The weakening of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura was also reflected on his face. His cheeks were no longer radiant, and his eyes became lifeless, whichpletely changed the feeling he gave people.

    Just by looking into his eyes, one could tell that he wasn¡¯t in good shape.

    His numerous bloody wounds made it even more evident that was in bad condition.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°Marvelous! You¡¯re indeed a unique kid. I can¡¯t believe you actually can lower the intensity of your flesh aura! Even I can¡¯t see through your disguise. Qiuchuan will definitely fall for this! Let¡¯s see if he¡¯ll try to kill us after seeing you in such sore straits.¡±

    With these words, the two of them sat in a location not far from the Voidspirit Pagoda, where they waited for Qi Jiuchuan and Liang Hao to return.

    An hourter, Qi Jiuchuan returned with Liang Hao, panting heavily as he did.

    Aftering to a stop in front of Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian, heughed wildly and said, ¡°Liang Hao killed Han Chigui and proved his worth, Brother Zhao! Here. This is his ring of holding.¡±

    Zhao Shanling let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Fortunately, we teamed up. If it weren¡¯t for you, the two of us couldn¡¯t have taken out those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect by ourselves. If Han Chigui escaped and waited for us at the entrance, even if we were able to get Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to leave with them.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, exactly,¡± Qi Jiuchuan chimed in. ¡°People shouldn¡¯t refuse to take others¡¯ good advice. After we also learned about Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, we reached out to the Bliss Mountain Sect several times, hoping to discuss the possibility of working together with them.

    ¡°However, those from the Bliss Mountain Sect insisted on taking them as their own. Now, you¡¯ve seen the result of their poor judgment.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded as if he fully agreed. ¡°Exactly, both parties will benefit from cooperation. We wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat those from the Bliss Mountain Sect if we didn¡¯t team up.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan smiled as he jerked his head towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°This little friend of yours doesn¡¯t look well.¡±

    ¡°He killed five people by himself,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a shrug. ¡°How could he have done it without paying some price? I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll need quite a bit of time to recover. But it won¡¯t be a big deal since we¡¯ve already taken care of all the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect. We can take our time to figure out a way to enter the Voidspirit Pagoda safely.¡±

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes flickered slightly. Eyebrows furrowed, he pondered a few seconds before asking, ¡°Do you really not know how to enter that silver gate, Brother Zhao?¡±

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡±

    ¡°No?...¡± Qi Jiuchuan sighed, a frustrated look filling his face. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, my hands are tied.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, looking confused.

    Qi Jiuchuan backed away slowly to Liang Hao¡¯s side, whose pupils were still blood-red. With an apologetic tone, he said, ¡°Liang Hao still has his battle prowess now, but it won¡¯t be long before he suffers a fatal bacsh from the Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s heart.

    ¡°However, even though your little friend has sustained serious injuries, he¡¯ll probably be able to recover fully.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know whether you¡¯ll take care of us if ites down to that.

    ¡°So I might as well strike out first before that happens.¡±

 Chapter 666: Slaughter

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face gradually grew cold as he asked, ¡°So what you said earlier about us working together was all bullshit?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t want this to happen either,¡± Qi Jiuchuan said with an apologetic expression. ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice. Not to mention that you¡¯re from a domain that¡¯s much more powerful than the one I¡¯m from, I can¡¯t afford to wait for Nie Tian to recover his strength while Liang Hao withers away from the bacsh...

    ¡°I can¡¯t bet my life on the worthiness of your words, so I can only end that possibility beforehand.¡±

    With these words, Qi Jiuchuan stepped back to put a safe distance between him and Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling.

    Zhao Shanling seemed very upset. Even a hint of panic could be seen in his eyes as he hastily jumped backwards. Standing behind Nie Tian, he said, ¡°I was to about make friends with you and the Trisword Sect. Who would have thought that you¡¯d actually do this to me! Are you certain you want to do this, Brother Qi?¡±

    ¡°My apologies, but I¡¯ve already made up my mind!¡± With these words, intense killing intent built up in Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes as he waved his hand. ¡°Go kill them, Liang Hao!¡±

    Liang Hao was bing increasingly unstable, destructive flesh aura surging about inside of him.

    He was in desperate need of a vent.

    If he couldn¡¯t vent the violent flesh power within him on an opponent, it would build up and exceed his capacity, which would eventually cause him to explode and die.

    This was the reason why Qi Jiuchuan had decided to get rid of Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling as soon as possible.

    Watching Zhao Shanling set Qi Jiuchuan up while pretending to be in shock, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel inwardly, ¡°He¡¯s such a terrific actor...¡±

    He had a feeling that Zhao Shanling had never truly wanted to share Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies with Qi Jiuchuan.

    Immediately after confirming that he still had the strength to kill Liang Hao, Zhao Shanling had made the decision to rip off his pretender¡¯s mask.

    Zhao Shanling had needed a reason to justify his action, and that was why he had told him to show weakness.

    After making somements inwardly, Nie Tian slowly rose to his feet.

    He intentionally circted his flesh power to make his cuts split even wider.

    Blood spilled from the numerous wounds that covered his whole body. Trembling, he jerked his head towards Zhao Shanling and said, ¡°I, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to hold for too long...¡±

    ¡°You have to!¡± Zhao Shanling shouted with a fierce expression.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Liang Hao threw his head back and roared, and then two beams of blood-colored light burst forth from the depths of his eyes.

    CRACKLE!

    As he loosened his shoulders, scary crackling sounds came from the protruding bones in his shoulders and other bones that didn¡¯t seem to match his body.

    All of a sudden, he brought his fingers together and formed a sword with his right hand.

    As he drove it towards Nie Tian, three beams of scarlet light shot out of the tips of his three disproportionately long fingers.

    Without making a sound, Nie Tian gathered his flesh power to his left hand as he lifted it to fend off Liang Hao¡¯s piercing hand sword with his palm.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Liang Hao¡¯s two shorter fingers suddenly exploded, giving rise to an explosive force.

    Simultaneously, his remaining three exceptionally long fingers shed their skin and flesh, revealing thick, long finger bones.

    From the look of it, they were bones taken from a Mountainsplit Beast¡¯s w and transnted to his hand.

    PUFF!

    The blood-colored light and Liang Hao¡¯s fingers stabbed into Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    The skin and flesh in Nie Tian¡¯s palm was split and pierced through.

    However, Liang Hao¡¯s finger bones were stopped and couldn¡¯t go an inch deeper when they met Nie Tian¡¯s hand bones.

    Nie Tian¡¯s crystallized bones had been repeatedly refined with Heavenly Wood Heal. Each and every one of them was even harder than metal.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s expression flickered as he saw Liang Hao¡¯s vigorous attack being warded off by Nie Tian with nothing but his palm.

    The light of contemtion glittered in his eyes as he snuck a nce at Zhao Shanling from afar.

    After seeing theposed expression on Zhao Shanling¡¯s face, he knew that something was wrong.

    BANG BANG BANG!

    At this moment, the thick finger bones Liang Hao used to pierce into Nie Tian¡¯s palm exploded violently, sending three wisps of raging flesh aura rushing up Nie Tian¡¯s arm like bloodthirsty flood dragons.

    Nie Tian shook his head and let out a low chuckle. ¡°This one is much stronger than Ji Long and the others, but still not strong enough.¡±

    Then, he summoned the flesh power that was scattered in every corner of his body to trap the three flesh auras before activating Life Drain to absorb the violent flesh auras, which clearly didn¡¯t belong to Liang Hao.

    Before long, the invading flesh auras werepletely absorbed and vanished inside of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian sighed and lifted his unupied hand. ¡°You¡¯ll suffer less dead than alive. Let me end your misery for you.¡±

    With thirty percent of his flesh power, he adjusted his mind and threw a Rage Punch towards Liang Hao¡¯s chest.

    The faint, blood-colored ward over Liang Hao¡¯s entire body seemed to detect danger, and thus rapidly shrank, forming the pattern of a Mountainsplit Beast over his chest.

    Even though the pattern was only a condensation of flesh power, it was so vivid that it looked like a living Mountainsplit Beast.

    However, as Nie Tian¡¯s devastating fist mmed into his chest, the illusory Mountainsplit Beast was instantly reduced to flying blood-colored sparks that filled the air.

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike seemed to be branded with the rage and unyielding will of a titan that fought against the heavens. The unstoppable force shattered Liang Hao¡¯s transformed sternum, along with his heart that was protected by it.

    Like a deted balloon, Liang Hao¡¯s chest copsed. The blood-colored light in the depths of his eyes rapidly disappeared, restoring a sh of rity to his eyes.

    In that sh, he smiled faintly at Nie Tian. Instead of hatred, gratitude filled his face.

    From the look of it, he had wanted to die for a long time, but since he was controlled by Qi Jiuchuan, he couldn¡¯t even kill himself.

    Now, Nie Tian finally gave him the sweet relief of death.

    <i>¡°He had his own bones and meridians reced by those of a Mountainsplit Beast. Bearing the unbearable agony, he was neither a human, nor a spirit beast. He also became a ve to a person like Qi Jiuchuan, and became nothing but a tool to secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. He must also have known that, sessful or not, he would have been put down by Qi Jiuchuan after this mission...¡±</i>

    From the look in Liang Hao¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian sensed what was on his mind and the deep hatred he harbored towards Qi Jiuchuan.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The one whomitted such crimes against you will follow you to the Yellow Springs. I bet the thing you want most now is for him to die in this ce as well. I¡¯ll be a good guy and fulfill that wish for you.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian added a bit more force, and Liang Hao copsed to the ground.

    Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s face turned pale with fright as he started to step backwards. As he did, he called out, ¡°Brother Zhao! We can still talk about this! I¡¯m willing to give up my share of Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies and disappear forever.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were brimming with energy. Rich flesh aura even exuded from his pores. His previous bedraggled look was long gone.

    After witnessing Nie Tian annihte Liang Hao so effortlessly, he realized that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t affected by his injuries at all.

    That was when he realized that what he had seen upon his return had been fake. Zhao Shanling had misled him to initiate the attack.

    ¡°You¡¯ll disappear forever?¡± Zhao Shanling smiled broadly as he shook his head. Spreading his hands with a helpless expression, he said, ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to spare your life. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t afford to let you live. What if you leave this ce, but recover strength and ambush us on the outside?

    ¡°You went to great lengths to kill Han Chigui for the exact same reason. How can I be so imprudent with you?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t need Zhao Shanling to give him an order before bolting towards Qi Jiuchuan.

    He didn¡¯t have the slightest good feeling about him. In his eyes, Qi Jiuchuan was even more inhumane and damned than Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Han Chigui had only picked and trained children that had been endowed with exceptionally tough bodies in order to secure Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, but he hadn¡¯t done anything inhumane.

    Qi Jiuchuan, however, had searched for juniors like Liang Hao and reced their bones and meridians with those from a spirit beast. The inhumane process had made them half man, half beast, which was so much crueler and crazier than the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s method.

    ¡°Nie Tian, break his bones, severe his meridians, shatter his spiritual sea, and then you can leave him to me,¡± Zhao Shanling said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve got some questions to ask him. Perhaps I¡¯ll even learn the method to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries from him.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t do this!¡± Qi Jiuchuan ran for his life.

    Nie Tian chased after him with a cold face.

    A few minutester, Nie Tian dragged Qi Jiuchuan, who was covered in blood and on hisst gasp, back and threw him to Zhao Shanling¡¯s feet like a piece of trash, ¡°He¡¯s all yours.¡±

    Smiling broadly, Zhao Shanling crouched down and took out a sharp, shining de. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have a good talk, shall we?¡±

 Chapter 667: Each Getting Their Fortune

    Qi Jiuchuan had every single bone and meridian in his arms and legs shattered and his spiritual sea destroyed. Even amoner could kill him effortlessly.

    Nie Tian had witnessed Zhao Shanling¡¯s torture methods before, and thus knew that, no matter how tough Qi Jiuchuan was, he would break him eventually.

    As expected, Qi Jiuchuan yielded shortly after Zhao Shanling plunged his dagger into his abdomen and pierced his four limbs with steel needles.

    Zhao Shanling then asked his questions one by one. Qi Jiuchuan told him everything he wanted to know, even things he didn¡¯t ask about.

    After running out of questions, Zhao Shanling slit his throat with his dagger and ended his agony.

    Nie Tian stood beside him and listened to him interrogate Qi Jiuchuan.

    Abundant information entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, giving him a fairly thorough understanding of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°There are five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect are among them. These eight forces dominate the 36 realms in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, each having at least one Void domain expert.

    ¡°Almost all of the other sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries attach themselves to these eight major forces.

    ¡°Powerful sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries possess the ability to build starships, and use them to explore the unbounded starry river...¡±

    As Nie Tian sorted through the information, Zhao Shanling took out two talismans, which he had looted from Qi Jiiuchuan and Han Chigui¡¯s rings of holding.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°These two talismans will help us find the spatial joints through which they entered the space disruption zone. Even though we¡¯ll probably be able to enter the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries through either of these two spatial joints, there might be powerful experts from the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect garrisoned by them.

    ¡°So we can¡¯t make such a rash move as to go to either of these ces before getting more information.

    ¡°We¡¯d better return to the Domain of the Falling Stars first and try to find a better way to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. If we can¡¯t figure a better way out, then we can try to go through these spatial joints.¡±

    Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°I¡¯ve got a star map with which we can navigate to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but we still need an ancient starship to do so.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded and said, ¡°We won¡¯t need to spend a long time sailing through the starry river if we decide to go through those spatial joints. But it¡¯s not that easy to go through those spatial joints either. We¡¯ll have to deal with powerful experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect or the Trisword Sect. We¡¯ll be in trouble if they learn that we took Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.

    ¡°This can wait though. We¡¯ll have plenty of time to talk about it after I obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies and return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With these words, he handed a handful of rings of holding to Nie Tian and said, ¡°These six rings of holding belonged to Qi Jiuchuan, Han Chigui, and the other Soul realm elders you just killed. There must be abundant valuables inside of them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m destined to obtain Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, so I only took a few spatial tools that can be used to disturb the movement of the spatial des hovering around the Voidspirit Pagoda. The rest are all yours.¡±

    Then, he nced around at the numerous Bliss Mountain Sect juniors that had died in front of the Voidspirit Pagoda and added, ¡°I don¡¯t think these juniors have anything valuable on them. You can search them if you like, but don¡¯t get your hopes up.

    ¡°I believe the treasures in these six rings of holding alone will be enough tost you for a very long time.¡±

    Without any pleasantries, Nie Tian grabbed the six rings of holding.

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath. His face grew grim as he said, ¡°Alright, you can stay here and cultivate. I¡¯m going in.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Are you sure you can enter safely?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I am. I¡¯ve practiced spatial maniption magic all my life, after all. It¡¯s just that...¡± Zhao Shanling paused briefly. ¡°Nothing is for sure. Entering the Voidspirit Pagoda won¡¯t be a big problem, but I don¡¯t know what will happen in there.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, he took out apass made from a turtle shell and handed it to Nie Tian. ¡°I¡¯ve infused thispass with a wisp of my soul essence.¡±

    Nie Tian looked down at thepass and saw a flickering spot on it.

    Zhao Shanling smiled bitterly and said, ¡°It won¡¯t go out unless I¡¯m dead. If it scatters and disappears, then it means I¡¯ve died in the Voidspirit Pagoda. If ites down to that, you¡¯ll have to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars on your own. Remember, if even I fail to survive the danger in the Voidspirit Pagoda, don¡¯t try to enter. You¡¯ll only get yourself killed if you do.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°If you die in there, how am I supposed to find my way back?¡±

    ¡°Thispass will show you the way to the spatial joint through which you¡¯ll be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s just that I won¡¯t be there to protect you on your way back. You¡¯ll have to depend on yourself.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling showed Nie Tian how to use thepass. After making sure that Nie Tian had mastered it, he continued, ¡°Let¡¯s pray for good luck for the both of us.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling strode directly towards the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A white chess piece, a small drum, a bronze sword, an animal bone, and a golden piece of paper suddenly flew out of his ring of holding and floated in the air.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and realized that they were the spatial tools Han Chigui and the other elders of the Bliss Mountain Sect had used to influence the movement of the spatial des.

    The five items were made from unknown materials. Even though not the slightest spatial fluctuations could be sensed from them, as they came together, they gave rise to a mysterious maic field, which could influence the movement of the spatial des.

    Surrounded by the five spatial tools, Zhao Shanling walked slowly and cautiously towards the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s gate. Bright light flickered in his eyes, as if he was looking for an opportunity to enter.

    Momentster, he suddenly closed his eyes.

    With the five items hovering around him, he stepped slowly towards the gate like a blind person. However, even though his eyes were closed, he constantly changed direction as he zig-zagged towards the gate.

    As he approached the gate, the flying spatial des seemed to notice his presence, and thus started moving at an even faster speed.

    Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t stop. He went on as the five tools constantly changed positions around him, forming different formations to strengthen the maic field.

    For some reason, the spatial des would suddenly change directions right before touching his fragile body, which had lost the protection of his profound spiritual power.

    ¡°He¡¯s indeed the most skilled spatial magic expert throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars!¡± Nie Tian marveled inwardly.

    From the look of it, Zhao Shanling had already found the patterns the spatial des moved in. Even without those five spatial tools, he would still be able to make it to the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s gate.

    It was just that with the help of those tools, he seemed more confident andposed.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before he finally weaved through the densework of moving spatial des and stood in front of the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s shining silver gate.

    As soon as he did, the flying spatial des behind him suddenly elerated and became rampant.

    Countless fine patterns could be seen carved in the broad silver gate.

    Each and every pattern thrummed with fluctuating silver auras, as if they were alive and had their own awareness.

    Thest Bliss Mountain Sect junior had died miserably as he had attempted to push the gate open. Standing in front of the gate, Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t dare to make a move. He finally opened his eyes and examined the fine patterns without blinking.

    This examination went on for several hours.

    As Nie Tian grew bored of looking at him, Zhao Shanling finally took out a Blood Vitality Pill that was custom-made for him and swallowed it. Then, he sat down and closed his eyes without saying a word, as if to sort through the information he had acquired.

    After some time, he stood back up and fixed his eyes on the fine patterns on the gate again.

    This went on and on.

    As Nie Tian sensed Zhao Shanling with rapt attention, he discovered that as Zhao Shanling examined the spatial patterns, the soul power within his mind, which he could unleash in this special realm, seemed to be rapidly disappearing.

    Soon, Zhao Shanling¡¯s face lost its color, and his eyes sank deep. It seemed that he had consumed too much of his soul power analyzing the profound spatial patterns on the gate.

    Even though Nie Tian couldn¡¯t tell time, he could tell that a very long time had passed as Zhao Shanling sat down and stood up more than a dozen times, exerting himself to derive enlightenment from the mysterious patterns.

    After a very long time, Zhao Shanling finally seemed to solve the mysteries within the spatial patterns. His eyes snapped open as he let out a longugh and eximed, ¡°I¡¯ll enter the Voidspirit Pagoda first, Nie Tian! You shouldn¡¯t let this wondrous environment go to waste!

    ¡°I¡¯m certain that once I¡¯m in, changes will take ce. If you can make use of them, perhaps you can take this opportunity to enter the Worldly realm.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and ced his hands on the silver gate.

    He ced his hands in areas where the patterns were the most densely carved. Then, he slid his hands across the gate as the patterns flowed, as if his hands were caught by some mysterious force.

    RUMBLE!

    Blinding light suddenly burst forth from within the silver gate as a resounding rumble echoed from the ground.

    The gate split wide open, and Zhao Shanling stepped inside, looking overjoyed.

    As soon as he was inside, the gate shut violently, and the patterns on the gate swam back to their original ces.

    However, the moment he entered the Voidspirit Pagoda, Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that the feeling of spiritual power being constantly drained from him was somehow gone.

    Then, he looked up and discovered, to his surprise, that even the multicolored light in the sky was streaming away like paint being drained from a sink, as if the restrictive spell that used to envelop this heaven and earth was lifted.

    At the same time, light auras started to rise quietly from the earth.

    ¡°Spiritual power! me power! Wood power! Thunder power! Water power...¡±

    Rich spiritual power of various kinds filled the auras, instantly turning the entire realm into a sea of vigorous spiritual power.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he eximed, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that it was this piece of earth that absorbed the spiritual power of every Qi warrior that entered this ce over the past centuries, and now that the restrictive spell is lifted, all sorts of spiritual power have returned to the air!¡±

    He shuddered in shock aftering to this realization. Without any hesitation, he sat down and adjusted his breathing and mindset, hoping to channel the powers in the air into him.

    At the same time, he sensed with great rity that his vortexes of spiritual power, which had stopped spinning since he had entered this mysterious realm, were elerating again.

    Torrential spiritual power was pouring down like a waterfall into his dried up vortex of spiritual power through the top of his head.

    Other than his vortex of star power, all of his nine vortexes of spiritual power, his vortex of me power, and his vortex of wood power were filled to the brim in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 668: Three Years Later

    ¡°Such pure and vigorous spiritual power!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he sensed wisps of spiritual power of various attributes madly converging on him from all directions.

    He waspletely certain that the ck earth he was standing on was releasing the various types of spiritual power it had absorbed over the past centuries from the Qi warriors that had set foot in this ce.

    It was unknown how many powerful experts hade to explore this ce and had their spiritual power drained from them.

    Most of them had eventually died here.

    After all, the spatial des had been scattered to every corner of this heaven and earth when the Voidspirit Pagoda hadn¡¯t faced any threats.

    Even Zhao Shanling had said himself that he had had several life-threatening encounters with the spatial des, and had been forced to leave thest time he had entered this special realm.

    Most hadn¡¯t been as lucky as him and hadn¡¯t had the chance to leave.

    Many of them were Worldly realm and Profound realm experts. Some were even Soul realm experts.

    They practiced different sorts of incantations, and the copious amounts of spiritual power within their spiritual seas filled this piece of cknd.

    Now that Zhao Shanling had solved the puzzles and entered the Voidspirit Pagoda, the restrictive spell that had enveloped this heaven and earth for centuries was finally lifted.

    As a result, various types of raging spiritual power burst forth from the depths of the earth.

    After figuring out what was happening, Nie Tian focused on channeling the vigorous spiritual power into himself.

    Momentster, an idea struck him: he could form spiritual energy balls with the rich spiritual energy in the air.

    ¡°This is a brilliant idea!¡± he thought to himself.

    Within seconds, a huge spiritual energy ball came to form on his palm.

    After a filtering process was applied, the spiritual energy ball was filled with nothing but refined spiritual power, me power, and wood power.

    Then, he started channeling the extremely refined energy within the spiritual energy ball into his spiritual sea.

    Soon, all of his vortexes of spiritual power, wood power, and me power brimmed with fully refined power.

    However, endless spiritual power of various attributes was still rising from the earth, filling the air.

    Without much thought, Nie Tian started expanding his vortexes of spiritual power with the copious amount of spiritual power in this ce.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that the moment Zhao Shanling had entered the Voidspirit Pagoda, another change had been triggered: no one else was allowed in, only those which were already here could remain.

    Even if more powerful experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Trisword Sect had been sent to this special realm, they would have been stopped at the entrance in the space disruption zone.

    All of these changes had been triggered by Zhao Shanling¡¯s entrance into the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Time flew as Nie Tian cultivated. After an unknown period of time, he slowly opened his eyes.

    ¡°It must have been a long time since he entered the pagoda,¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°Other than my vortex of star power, all of my other vortexes have been expanded to their limits. Even though the incredible environment has contributed greatly to my efficiency, a long time must have passed.¡±

    He jerked his head towards the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Everything seemed normal with the Voidspirit Pagoda. Numerous spatial des were still hovering around it.

    Zhao Shanling was nowhere to be seen, and he couldn¡¯t sense Zhao Shanling¡¯s aura either.

    He took out the turtle shellpass and looked at it. The wisp of soul essence was still there, which meant that Zhao Shanling was still alive.

    With a sigh of relief, he started analyzing the vigorous spiritual power that filled the air, his eyes narrowed.

    He discovered that there were more than a dozen types of spiritual power in the air. However, star power wasn¡¯t one of them.

    <i>¡°Star power is a rare type of spiritual power, after all. It looks like I¡¯ll have to recover my star power with Star Stones, inefficient as it is.¡± </i>With this thought in mind, he took out some Star Stones from within his ring of holding and started cultivating.

    At this moment, his vortex of spiritual power was the only vortex in his spiritual sea that hadn¡¯t been refined and expanded to its limit. All of his other vortexes had been refined and expanded to the point where they were ready for his breakthrough into the Worldly realm.

    Once his vortex of star power was fully refined and expanded, he would reach the threshold of entering the Worldly realm. Given an opportunity, he would be able to make the breakthrough.

    ¡°The Worldly realm...¡± Nie Tian slowly closed his eyes and started channeling star power from the Star Stones.

    Momentster, his eyes snapped open as he cursed, ¡°Damn the Nine Stars Flower!¡±

    The Nine Stars Flower had taken root at the bottom of his vortex of star power, in the middle of hiske of stardew. As soon as a drop of stardew formed, it would be absorbed by the Nine Stars Flower.

    While the Nine Stars Flower absorbed stardew, it also extracted liquidized wood power from the bottom of his vortex of wood power at a high rate.

    Since there was a copious amount of wood power in the air, he wasn¡¯t worried that he would run out of liquidized wood power.

    However, it was very frustrating to see the stardew, which he went to great lengths to condense, absorbed by the Nine Stars Flower the moment it formed.

    The only perk the Nine Stars Flower had brought him was that it had improved his efficiency of channeling power from Star Stones.

    It was just that he couldn¡¯t benefit from it for the time being.

    That was because no matter how much stardew he condensed, it would be absorbed by the Nine Stars Flower, preventing him from gathering enough stardew to refine and expand his vortex of star power.

    If he couldn¡¯t do this, even though all of his other vortexes had reached the breakthrough point, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the Worldly realm.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a pain in the neck!¡± Nie Tian said inwardly as he examined the mysterious nt with his awareness. Looking at its transparent stems and glittering blossoms that looked like stars in the sky, he felt very frustrated. ¡°I refuse to believe that your demand for Stardew is endless!¡±

    Gritting his teeth, Nie Tian took out more Star Stones. He madly channeled power from them and formed stardew for the Nine Stars Flower to absorb.

    As time passed, nearly a thousand drained Star Stones piled into a small hill beside him.

    Even so, the Nine Stars Flower still hadn¡¯t shown any sign of being satisfied.

    During this time, Nie Tian also had to replenish his wood power and condense more liquidized wood power to facilitated the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s absorption of star power.

    One day, while Nie Tian was channeling star power from Star Stones with a distorted face, Zhao Shanling suddenly walked out of the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Zhao Shanling looked much skinnier than when he had entered. His eyes had sunk deep into their sockets, as if they were depleted of soul power as well.

    However, his eyes were shining with the light of excitement, and acent smile could be seen on his face, as if he had obtained what he had yearned for.

    As soon as he stepped out of the Voidspirit Pagoda, the towering pagoda rapidly shrank down.

    In a couple of seconds, it shrunk to the size of a corn kernel and flew into his syed hand.

    ¡°Senior Zhao!¡± Nie Tian eximed joyously.

    Zhao Shanlingughed wildly and said, ¡°It¡¯s been three years, but I¡¯ve finally solved all of its mysteries and taken it into my possession!¡±

    Then, with a puzzled expression, he looked Nie Tian up and down and said, ¡°It¡¯s been three years, and you still haven¡¯t entered the Worldly realm? The spiritual Qi rising from the earth should have been more than enough for you to finish the transformation of your spiritual sea.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat anxious as he eximed in shock, ¡°It¡¯s been three years already!?¡±

    Since Zhao Shanling had a time-keeping instrument, he didn¡¯t question Zhao Shanling¡¯s words in the slightest.

    Frustration was written across Nie Tian¡¯s face as he exined his problem to Zhao Shanling. ¡°This is all because of the Nine Stars Flower that has taken root in my spiritual sea. During this time, I¡¯ve been...

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for that Nine Stars Flower, even though there isn¡¯t any star power in the air, I would have finished the upgrade of my vortex of star power by now with the help of the Star Stones.¡±

    Zhao Shanling was taken aback. After pondering for some time, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard anything about Nine Stars Flowers. But since it has such arge demand for star power, and it has taken root in your spiritual sea, I¡¯m sure that it will show its magical use some day.

    ¡°Normally speaking, the stranger the item, the more benefits it¡¯ll bring you. You¡¯ve hit gold there, kid.¡±

    ¡°Also, if this is your situation, I suggest you take your time providing the Nine Stars Flower with more star power. Your breakthrough into the Worldly realm can wait. The benefits it might bring you will probably exceed your imagination.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling sat down in the lotus position and added, ¡°I need to recover my spiritual power. We¡¯ll get out of here and return to the Domain of the Falling Stars once I get all my strength back.¡±

    SHEW!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda suddenly flew out of his palm and came to a stop over his head. Spatial power then started converging on him from all directions like surging sea waves in a storm.

 Chapter 669: Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect

    In the space disruption zone.

    Three Qi warriors from the Bliss Mountain Sect were floating by the cluster of ck light, frowning deeply.

    A middle-aged woman withdrew her soul awareness and said, ¡°Holy Daughter, the entrance to Master Voidspirit¡¯s secret realm is closed. If there have been no mishaps, our people have entered the Voidspirit Pagoda.¡±

    Mu Biqiong nodded slightly.

    She was the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect. It was almost certain that she would be the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s future leader. Even though she was still rather young, she had already entered the Worldly realm.

    With a graceful posture, Mu Biqiong was wearing a silk veil, which masked her deep, clear eyes that looked like frostyke water.

    The two Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors beside her were a couple. The woman¡¯s name was Yao Zhn, and the man¡¯s name was Tian Ziping, both at the Soul realm.

    Even though the couple¡¯s cultivation bases were much higher than hers, they didn¡¯t have a senior¡¯s pride when they talked to her. Instead, they both seemed rather modest.

    This was because the two of them knew perfectly clearly that she was bound to be the sectmaster of the Bliss Mountain Sect one day, if she didn¡¯t die prematurely.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect had poured all kinds of spiritual materials, incantations, and other resources into her.

    Thanks to her shockingly exceptional talent, she had entered the Worldly realm at the age of twenty.

    She didn¡¯t let the Bliss Mountain Sect down.

    ¡°The people from the Trisword Sect haven¡¯t returned to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries either,¡± Tian Ziping said. ¡°Can it be that they¡¯re also in there now?¡±

    Yao Zhn let out a disdainful smile. ¡°The Trisword Sect? Qi Jiuchuan from the Trisword Sect did build himself a powerful puppet named Liang Hao. I heard that he reced his bones and meridians with those from a Mountainsplit Beast. Even so, he only has one Liang Hao, but we¡¯ve sent nearly a hundred juniors in there. How can one person contend against a hundred?¡±

    Tian Ziping seemed rather henpecked, as he agreed without any hesitation. ¡°Good point. Everything seems to be going ording to our n. All we need to do is wait for Han Chigui toe out and escort Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies back to our domain.¡±

    ¡°Your status in the sect will further improve after getting Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, Holy Daughter,¡± Dong Li said, smiling.

    ¡°I hope everything goes well,¡± Mu Biqiong said. Her voice was very pleasing to the ear.

    ¡°Rest assured, Holy Daughter,¡± Tian Ziping said. ¡°I¡¯m sure they will.¡±

    ...

    Since Zhao Shanling had taken the Voidspirit Pagoda, terrifying rumbles were stilling from the depths of the cknd.

    With the Voidspirit Pagoda floating over his head, Zhao Shanling was madly channeling spatial power from the vicinity into himself, his aura rapidly building up.

    Every once in a while, he would stuff a medicinal pill into his mouth. Gradually, vigor returned to his eyes, as if the medicinal pills were helping him restore his soul power.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he watched the cknd slowly split open, creating rifts everywhere.

    It seemed as if it wouldn¡¯t be long before this ck continent crumbled and vanished.

    At this moment, other than his star power, all of his other powers had returned to their peak state.

    With the restrictive spell lifted, his psychic awareness could finally leave his body to scan his surroundings.

    Standing in ce, he attempted to form Heaven Eyes, and seeded. With nine Heaven Eyes, he gazed down at the earth and saw that the ck continent was rumbling and cracking as far as he could see.

    This special realm created by Master Voidspirit seemed to be on the verge of destruction now that Zhao Shanling had obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    As loud rumbles continued to echo from the depths of the earth, the aura of various attributes that rose from the earth was also gradually dissipating.

    After some time, Zhao Shanling let out a deep breath and said, ¡°Ready to go?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve long since been ready,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Not only had Zhao Shanling fully recovered his strength, but his battle prowess had also improved significantly due to his newly-acquired knowledge of spatial power.

    Not to mention that he had obtained a Spirit Channeling grade spatial spiritual tool: the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    It was said that the reason why the Void Pce Sect had been able to dominate the Domain of the Falling Stars for many years was because they had possessed a Spirit Channeling grade spatial spiritual tool.

    Furthermore, Zhao Shanling had said that once he obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, even though he was still at the middle Soul realm, he would be able to defeat Xia Yi in battle.

    With the Voidspirit Pagoda in his hands, as long as the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain, he would be invincible in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling made a grabbing motion in the air, and Nie Tian was instantly pulled into his personal void realm.

    In the next moment, his void realm started floating towards the cluster of ck light at an incredible speed.

    The fact that Zhao Shanling was able to use his void realm again made Nie Tian realize that Zhao Shanling had recovered his peak battle prowess.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    In a couple of minutes, Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm carried the two of them across a very long distance and arrived by the cluster of ck light.

    ¡°This cluster of ck light was sealed one-way since the moment I entered the Voidspirit Pagoda. No entries are allowed, only exits.¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s face then split into a grin. ¡°I received the acknowledgment of the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s soul as soon as I pushed its gate open. Like Master Voidspirit, I also practice spatial magics, so I was able to win the favor of the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s soul.¡±

    With these proud words, his void realm merged with the cluster of ck light and disappeared.

    Nie Tian¡¯s head instantly started spinning, as if everything around him was being distorted. However, such strange feeling onlysted for a moment before everything returned to normal again.

    That was when he found himself floating in the space disruption zone.

    BOOM!

    As soon as the two of them shed out of the cluster of ck light, it shrank to the size of a grain of sand and rapidly sank downwards in the bottomless void.

    Tian Ziping¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he eximed, staring at Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling, ¡°You¡¯re not from our sect! Who are you?¡±

    Only at this moment did Nie Tian notice that three people were floating before him and Zhao Shanling.

    Their garments were identical to Han Chigui¡¯s. Clearly, they were also from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Zhao Shanling let out a wildugh. ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect... I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d not only send people in there, but also have people guarding the entrance.¡±

    Yao Zhn¡¯s face turned ice-cold as she said, ¡°Have you taken Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies?! You two look very unfamiliar. Which sect are you from?¡±

    Zhao Shanling seemed somewhat impatient as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s cut the small talk. Both Han Chigui from your sect and Qi Jiuchuan from the Trisword Sect died at our hands, and I¡¯ve already obtained Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. If you want to take them away or avenge Han Chigui, why don¡¯t you get on with it?¡±

    Mu Biqiong was taken aback. ¡°You killed everyone in there?!¡±

    ¡°Are you blind, little girl?¡± Zhao Shanling said with a taunting smile. ¡°Since we¡¯re the only ones that havee out alive, it goes without saying that all of the others are dead. Hey, Nie Tian, this girl is quite a beauty. I say her looks are just as good as Dong Li¡¯s, and her cultivation talent must be very outstanding as well. At such a young age, she¡¯s already at the early Worldly realm.¡±

    Zhao Shanlingpletely ignored the icy look in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes. He went on and said to Nie Tian, ¡°She only seems to be in her early twenties, and she¡¯s already entered the Worldly realm. She has a great future before her. If you¡¯re interested, I can capture for you. She¡¯ll make a good concubine. What do you say?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Entering the early Worldly realm at her early twenties, such speed could never be seen throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    At this point, Nie Tian himself was in histe twenties.

    Most of the chosen ones in the Domain of the Falling Stars who had entered thete Greater Heaven stage were about his age, or even older than he was.

    ¡°You seem to be in a good mood, Senior Zhao,¡± Nie Tian said with a faint smile.

    Zhao Shanling had almost never joked with him before.

    Now that he had obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, not only was he overjoyed, but he even joked with him.

    In his senses, the middle-aged woman¡¯s aura was equally as profound as Xia Yi¡¯s, if not more profound, which meant she was also ate Soul realm expert.

    The middle-aged man beside her seemed slightly weaker. He was probably at the middle Soul realm.

    Judging by theirbined strength, they should be able to overtake Zhao Shanling with ease. However, Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t seem afraid in the slightest. Instead, he behaved extremely arrogantly. It appeared the Voidspirit Pagoda had given him confidence.

    Yao Zhn burst into a ming rage. ¡°How dare you insult our Holy Daughter. You must have a death wish!¡±

    With a flick of her sleeve, numerous drops of ck water flew towards Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm with crushing momentum.

    Each and every drop of ck water seemed as heavy as a mountain. Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as soon as they made contact with Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm.

    He examined them with rapt attention and discovered that the multipleys of spatial wards that formed Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm were shattering one after another as the drops of ck water inched towards him.

    Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph and said with curled lips, ¡°cke Heavy Water... Each and every drop takes great effort to refine. If I hadn¡¯t obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, I might have had to tuck tail and escape, but now... let¡¯s see who¡¯s going to run.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda suddenly flew out from between Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyebrows.

    As soon as the Voidspirit Pagoda appeared, his void realm became like an impregnable fortress. The drops of cke Heavy Water couldn¡¯t move an inch further.

    ¡°Go!¡± Thousands of spatial des suddenly flew out of the Voidspirit Pagoda and Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm. Like a shoal of bloodthirsty fish, they swam madly towards Yao Zhn.

    ¡°The Voidspirit Pagoda!¡± The three Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors couldn¡¯t help but exim simultaneously upon seeing the miniature pagoda.

 Chapter 670: Comes and Goes As He Pleases

    The three Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors¡¯ expressions flickered drastically upon seeing the miniature pagoda fly out from between Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyebrows.

    The Voidspirit Pagoda was very well-known in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Almost every Qi warrior from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had heard of it, no matter which sect or n they were from.

    This priceless treasure had been in Master Voidspirit¡¯s possession for centuries.

    Master Voidspirit had been ranked fifth among the peak experts in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. With histe Void domain cultivation base and strength, he had been feared by almost every sect.

    Yao Zhn had thought that even if Zhao Shanling had obtained Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, he couldn¡¯t have solved all of the secrets of the Voidspirit Pagoda and acquired its soul¡¯s acknowledgment within such a short time.

    Without help from the Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling wouldn¡¯t pose much of a threat to her, even if he practiced spatial power and was at the middle Soul realm.

    After all, she had long since entered thete Soul realm, practiced exquisite incantations, and possessed a number of profound tools.

    Besides, her husband Tian Ziping, who was at the middle Soul realm, would be able to assist her in battle.

    However, as soon as she saw the Voidspirit Pagoda, she realized that Zhao Shanling could disy doubled battle prowess now with its help, like a tiger that had grown wings.

    That was because Master Voidspirit¡¯s understanding of spatial power and space disruption zones was unparalleled throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It was said that the reason his strength had skyrocketed over the years had been because of his profound connections with space disruption zones and the fact that he had forged the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Now that the Voidspirit Pagoda had appeared in this space disruption zone, the most formidablebination had formed.

    Holding the Voidspirit Pagoda in his syed, skinny left hand, Zhao Shanling let out a soft chuckle.

    ¡°Spatial Imprisonment!¡± he eximed.

    Immediately afterwards, a mysterious surge of energy that could seal heaven and earth burst forth from within the pagoda. Nie Tian sensed his surroundings with rapt attention and quickly discovered that wherever the energy wave spread, every inch of space froze, along with everything within it, tangible or illusory. The void domain he and Zhao Shanling were in was the only ce that wasn¡¯t influenced.

    The numerous restless drops of cke Heavy Water that were still attempting to infiltrate Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm also becamepletely still.

    Yao Zhn, Tian Ziping, and Mu Biqiong, who was the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, also went still, their shocked expressions frozen on their faces.

    The three of them were like locusts in a piece of amber, unable to move a hair.

    What shocked Nie Tian the most was that even a streak of glorious light that was shing past was frozen in the middle of its movement.

    Zhao Shanling jerked his head towards Nie Tian and smiled. ¡°How¡¯s my Spatial Imprisonment, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Very impressive!¡± Nie Tian marveled.

    Zhao Shanling curled his lips. ¡°But I still need the Voidspirit Pagoda to cast it. Your master¡¯s Time Freeze is what¡¯s truly formidable. Freezing time is even more profound than freezing space. To tell you the truth, before I obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, the only person I feared throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars wasn¡¯t Xia Yi or the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect. It was your master.

    ¡°If your master enters the Soul realm one day, he¡¯ll pose a huge threat to me.

    ¡°Spatial Imprisonment can still be broken if you know the right method, but it¡¯s much harder to break free from Time Freeze.¡±

    As he uttered these words, numerous spatial des rapidly flew toward Yao Zhn and Tian Ziping.

    In the next moment, they started connecting and interweaving with each other.

    Soon, an enormous glowing de that was several hundred meters long came to form.

    Without any dy, the enormous de shed down on the three Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors with heaven-toppling and earth-shattering might.

    Nie Tian fixed his gaze on Yao Zhn, who was the strongest of the three of them.

    The shocked expression on her face didn¡¯t change a bit. However, as the gigantic de fell from the air, her eyes suddenly shone with fierce light.

    Immediately afterwards, two rivers flew out of her cuffs before scattering and forming a ward of glistening water that enveloped the three of them.

    Immediately afterwards, Yao Zhn broke free from the Spatial Imprisonment.

    As she wove her fingers in the air, forming a mysterious hand seal, the numerous drops of cke Heavy Water rapidly returned to her.

    As soon as the drops of cke Heavy Water entered the Profoundwater Domain she had just formed, the misty water spray was rapidly absorbed by the cke Heavy Water.

    Afterwards, the drops of cke Heavy Water became increasingly translucent and sparkling. Not just that, but each drop also seemed to be solid and angr. One drop after another, they shot up towards the enormous glowing de.

    Each drop of cke Heavy Water weighed as much as a mountain peak that was several thousand meters high.

    Loud shing sounds echoed out from the ces where the drops of cke Heavy Water mmed into the huge light de. The collisions gave rise to dazzling light that lit up the dark space disruption zone.

    CRACK!

    The enormous light de couldn¡¯t withstand the strong impact from the cke Heavy Water and suddenly crumbled, turning into countless glowing spots that filled the void.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°It seems that, even with the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, it¡¯s still not that easy to trap someone whose cultivation base is higher than mine.¡±

    Nie Tian noticed that only Yao Zhn, who was at thete Soul realm, had broken free from Zhao Shanling¡¯s Spatial Imprisonment.

    Tian Ziping, who was at the middle Soul realm, was only able to move about freely after Yao Zhn had countered it with her profound spells.

    However, Mu Biqiong, who was the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, still couldn¡¯t move a hair. She could only observe the battle between Zhao Shanling and Yao Zhn with her wide eyes.

    Even though she had unmatched cultivation talent, she was still limited by her Worldly realm cultivation base. There was nothing she could do but watch in a battle at this level.

    SHEW!

    The Spatial Imprisonment was deactivated, and the streak of glorious light resumed its motion, shing off into the distance.

    However, as the countless fine spatial patterns on the Voidspirit Pagoda started to move and change in a bedazzling way, the streak of light changed direction and started flying towards Yao Zhn.

    Yao Zhn gasped with astonishment.

    It seemed as if the previous gigantic de wasn¡¯t nearly as deadly as this streak of light in her eyes.

    Yao Zhn hastily sent a voiceless message to Tian Ziping, saying, ¡°That man can use the Voidspirit Pagoda to manipte the deadly lights that sh past in this space disruption zone. I can¡¯t defeat him here. Take the Holy Daughter and leave now!¡±

    ¡°Will do!¡± Tian Ziping replied. He knew that Mu Biqiong¡¯s safety was of paramount importance. They couldn¡¯t afford to let anything happen to her.

    Therefore, he prepared to find an opportunity to take her and escape. However, at that very moment, a smile appeared on Yao Zhn¡¯s face as she said, ¡°He¡¯s here!¡±

    In the distance, a hunched old man was standing on a golden sword and flying towards them like a golden lightning bolt.

    Zhao Shanling instantly sensed the anomaly. He let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Today is your lucky day!¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, the void realm he and Nie Tian were in morphed into a streak of light that shot into the opposite direction from the iing person.

    The countless fragmented spatial des followed along like arge shoal of fish.

    There was nothing Yao Zhn could do to stop Zhao Shanling. She could only watch Zhao Shanling leave with his nose in the air as she did everything within her power to avoid the streak of deadly light.

    After surviving the light, she muttered, covered in cold sweat, ¡°Who is that man? How did he learn about Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. Not just that, but he even eliminated all thepetition by killing Han Chigui and Qi Jiuchuan, and eventually obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda.¡±

    ¡°I suppose he¡¯s not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Mu Biqiong said with an expressionless face. Only after Zhao Shanling left did she finally struggle free from the Spatial Imprisonment¡¯s influence. ¡°I don¡¯t remember there being a spatial power master like him in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Yao Zhn¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°If he¡¯s not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, does it mean he¡¯s from a more advanced domain?¡±

    Tian Ziping nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably the case. Since the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s soul has acknowledged him, he must be beyond ordinary. I suppose only a more advanced domain can produce such a powerful figure.¡±

    SHEW!

    The hunched old man arrived on his golden sword. With a testy tone, he asked, ¡°Who was that man? Why does he have Master Voidspirit¡¯s pagoda?¡±

    With an angry face, Yao Zhn said, ¡°Who knows? He took out the entire team we sent in there, and he killed Qi Jiuchuan from your sect too.¡±

    ¡°What are you still waiting for then?¡± The hunched old man asked furiously.

    ¡°The Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s soul has already acknowledged him as its master. Since we¡¯re in a space disruption zone, who can stop him if he wants to leave?¡± Yao Zhn replied with a rhetorical question.

    Upon hearing these words, the hunched old man¡¯s eyes widened in shock. ¡°He¡¯s already gained total control of the Voidspirit Pagoda?!¡±

    ¡°If not, would I be standing here, at my wit¡¯s end, when he¡¯s only at the middle Soul realm?¡± Yao Zhn said, huffing.

    ¡°Who would have thought that even though both our sects have nned and prepared for years, someone else would swoop in and take the spoils.¡± The old man sounded rather frustrated.

 Chapter 671: Journey Home

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is indeed a powerful domain. The fact that another Soul realm expert came to their aid is enough proof of that. People have to learn to choose their battles sometimes.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling manipted his void realm to leave the battlefield at full speed. Within just a breath¡¯s time, they had covered tens of thousands of meters.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Another Soul realm expert came?!¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, not just any Soul realm expert, ate Soul realm expert. Twote Soul realm experts and a middle Soul realm expert. Even I couldn¡¯t defeat them all at the same time. Plus, we didn¡¯t know whether they had more reinforcementsing. So the wise thing to do was to avoid that unpredictable risk and leave.¡±

    Then, with a grin, he added, ¡°Anyways, we both gained quite a fortune from this journey. We¡¯ve already got what we came for.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just that we didn¡¯t learn how to enter the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°I guess you¡¯ll have to find a way for us,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°I¡¯ve obtained the coordinates to the spatial joints through which the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect came to this space disruption zone. But it¡¯s very likely that the other side of the spatial joints is inside the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect. Both those sects have Void domain patriarchs. We¡¯d be seeking death if we went to their sects with just the two of us.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, agreeing with him.

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before the news of Zhao Shanling obtaining the Voidspirit Pagoda spread in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect would surely want to take it as their own. If they dared to go to their domain now, they would probably have to face multiple Void domain experts.

    Zhao Shanling was only at the middle Soul realm. Even with the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, he wouldn¡¯t be able toe and go as he pleased in the Trisword Sect or the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyebrows rose as he asked, smiling, ¡°Oh, right, have you checked the contents of the six rings of holding I gave you? Those six rings of holding belonged to six Soul realm experts. I bet there are many priceless treasures in them. You¡¯d better make good use of them.¡±

    Only after hearing these words did Nie Tian remember those rings of holding.

    Previously, he had been consumed with refining and expanding his spiritual sea with the extremely rich spiritual energies of heaven and earth, and thus hadn¡¯t had the chance to examine the contents within those rings of holding.

    Now, Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm had crumbled, and the two of them had set off on their journey home.

    It would still be some time before they arrived in the Domain of the Falling Stars. He could take this time to examine those rings of holding and see whether there were spiritual materials and tools that would be of great help to him.

    ¡°Those six Soul realm cultivators were as fragile as paper in Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm. They must have felt very frustrated when they died.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling took a deep look at Nie Tian. ¡°You were very helpful this time. Without your help, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to take the Voidspirit Pagoda.¡±

    Without Nie Tian, he would probably have suffered the same fate as Qi Jiuchuan and Han Chigui. He would have been killed by either Liang Hao or the vigorous juniors from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Now that he had obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, he was confident that he would be able to take another step in his cultivation within a short time by entering thete Soul realm.

    With the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, he even felt that advancing to the Void domain wasn¡¯t just a dream anymore.

    Rubbing his chin, he muttered. ¡°Come to think of it, you¡¯re quite a lucky star. Those who¡¯re close to you have all gained great fortunes. Hua Mu and Wu Ji got Fruits of Life because of you. Now they¡¯re no longer bothered by their lifespan problem. Also because of you, Dong Li got a Fruit of Life for Dong Wangling, and her own strength improved significantly...¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled and said, ¡°If you want to thank me for what I¡¯ve done, then you can protect me after we return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled heartily. ¡°Sure, of course. As long as the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect doesn¡¯t enter the Void domain, you¡¯ll have no one to fear in the Domain of Falling Stars. Now that I have the Voidspirit Pagoda at my disposal, Xia Yi won¡¯t be able to pose any threat to me anymore.¡±

    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s to a great extent thanks to you. It seems that people will never lose by doing business with you.¡±

    The two of them talked as Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm sped through the void.

    Zhao Shanling seemed much more confident on their way back now that he had the Voidspirit Pagoda in his possession.

    He was no longer apprehensive about the deadly lights that would sh across every once in a while. Whenever a streak of light sh by, he would change its direction with the Voidspirit Pagoda, and he didn¡¯t even need to break a sweat to do so.

    Completely rxed, Nie Tian took out the six rings of holding and started examining their contents within Zhao Shanling¡¯s void realm.

    His face was gradually filled with a bright smile as he went through the contents.

    The contents within these Soul realm experts¡¯ rings of holding made his eyes widen. Each and every one of them was filled with arge amount of spirit jades.

    Besides, there were all kinds of spiritual materials, medicinal pills, and spiritual tools inside of them.

    ¡°Take a look at this spiritual tool, Senior Zhao.¡± With these words, he took out a small silver hammer and showed it to Zhao Shanling. ¡°I can sense faint soul fluctuations from this hammer.¡±

    Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t seem surprised at all. With a single nce at it, he said, ¡°That¡¯s a thunder-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure. It¡¯s only natural that powerful sects like the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect have the ability to forge their own Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools. This hammer must be of great value.¡±

    Nie Tian took out a windbell and said, ¡°Check this one out.¡±

    As he shook it, he sensed intense wind fluctuations from it.

    Zhao Shanlingughed and said, ¡°This is a wind-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure. Spirit Channeling grade treasures are hard to find in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Almost every Spirit Channeling grade treasure is the signature treasure of a major sect, but apparently, that¡¯s not the case in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    With an increasingly bright smile, Nie Tian took out another spiritual tool and said, ¡°What about this sword?¡±

    ¡°Ah, this one is also a Spirit Channeling grade treasure. It seems to be Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s spiritual sword. Numerous metal power spell formations are branded inside of it, making it a mighty weapon.¡± Zhao Shanling seemed to be rather happy for Nie Tian as he added, ¡°You¡¯ve gained such a great fortune from this trip to the space disruption zone. Just counting the Spirit Channeling grade treasures alone, you got three of them.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the people in the Domain of the Falling Stars will go crazy if they learn that you have so many Spirit Channeling grade treasures in your possession.

    ¡°Many of the major sects only have one or two Spirit Channeling grade treasures throughout their sect, and most of them are in the hands of their Soul realm patriarchs. The me God Sect, which Xia Yi built single-handedly, has limited reserve power. They don¡¯t even have a single fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    ¡°However, not only do you have the me Dragon Armor, but you¡¯ve also obtained three other Spirit Channeling grade treasures. If you were at the Soul realm, you¡¯d be able to found your own sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Overjoyed, Nie Tian took out other items for Zhao Shanling to look at.

    In most cases, Zhao Shanling was able to tell him what those items were, and how much they were worth.

    ording to Zhao Shanling, almost every spiritual material and spiritual tool were of great value.

    Since they were from the collections of Soul realm experts, it was only natural that all of them were of great value to a Greater Heaven stage cultivator like him.

    As they flew through the void, Nie Tian showed Zhao Shanling items that he didn¡¯t recognize from time to time, and Zhao Shanling exined their value and use to him.

    Time flew...

    After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian finally returned to the spatial joint through which they hade to this space disruption zone.

    ¡°Alright, time to go home.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling shed into the spatial joint with Nie Tian.

 Chapter 672: Changes in the Tool Sect

    Atop an enormous, grayish-brown extinct volcano in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    WHOOSH!

    Zhao Shanling appeared out of thin air, grabbing Nie Tian¡¯s arm with one hand.

    Releasing Nie Tian, he took a deep breath, then with an enjoyable expression, he said, ¡°It¡¯s been four years. I¡¯m finally back.¡±

    From the look of it, even though he was very keen on leaving the Domain of the Falling Stars, he actually had emotional ties with this piece ofnd deep down.

    Bright stars shone in the night sky that looked like the depths of the ocean. It was dead silent in this entire area.

    Standing atop one of the extinct volcanoes, Nie Tian gazed off into the distance and couldn¡¯t see a single living being. All he could see were more extinct volcanoes that had long since run out of their earthme essence.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    His eyebrows rose as he shrewdly discovered that a curious attractive force was born from within the Nine Stars Flower, which had taken root at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    Meanwhile, chilly starlight started streaming down from the heavens.

    Each and every one of the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s blossoms spread wide, as if they were bing increasingly vigorous as they were bathed in starlight.

    After a close examination, he discovered to his surprise that the Nine Stars Flower was quietly channeling starlight into its blossoms.

    His eyes lit up. ¡°What the hell...?!¡±

    Afterwards, he exined the strange phenomenon to Zhao Shanling, ¡°The Nine Stars Flower didn¡¯t show any special features when it first took root in my spiritual sea. However, now that we¡¯ve returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, it has started channeling star power from the heavens on its own.¡±

    Zhao Shanling pondered briefly before saying, ¡°The Nine Stars Flower must have been very weak or in a dormant state when you first got it. Like a badly wounded Qi warrior, it couldn¡¯t disy its power in such a poor state. Now that it has recovered its strength in your spiritual sea, it has started to show its magical features again.

    ¡°If it can channel star power from the heavens on its own now, why don¡¯t you try to channel star power from Star Stones and see if it¡¯ll still steal refined star power from you?¡±

    ¡°Good idea!¡± With these words, Nie Tian took out a handful of Star Stones and activated his Fragmentary Star Incantation to channel power from them.

    In the next moment, his eyes lit up.

    He found, to his surprise, that the efficiency of him channeling star power from the Star Stones had improved significantly.

    Not just that, but he also discovered that as he activated the Fragmentary Star Incantation, the bright stars in the heavens also seemed to be influenced. Star power streamed down from all directions, pouring into his vortex of star power.

    One drop of stardew after another rapidly came to form at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    As Zhao Shanling had said, the Nine Stars Flower no longer absorbed the stardew he generated.

    Then, it urred to him that Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm was a unique heaven and earth that was isted from this starry river. He hadn¡¯t had any ess to the stars in there even if he had wanted it.

    Perhaps this was the reason why the Nine Stars Flower had been forced to absorb the stardew he had formed and use it to nourish itself back to health.

    Now that he had returned to the normal world, the Nine Stars Flower, which had already recovered its strength, had a new source of energy: the countless shining stars in the boundless starry river.

    The corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth was gradually filled with a smile as he watched one drop of stardew after anothere to form at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the problem that had bothered him for a long time would solve itself upon his return.

    As far as he had noticed, the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s existence in his spiritual sea could greatly improve his efficiency of channeling power from Star Stones and the stars in the depths of the heavens.

    Thanks to this, the efficiency of his star power cultivation would improve severalfold.

    From now on, his cultivation of star power would be faster than his cultivation of other powers.

    ¡°This perk alone is brilliant,¡± Nie Tian muttered, joy filling his face. ¡°No wonder powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce searched for them upon their arrival in the Domain of the Falling Stars. A Nine Stars Flower can surely give a strong boost to a cultivator who practices the Fragmentary Star Incantation. It¡¯s like giving a tiger a set of wings.¡±

    Watching him smile heartily, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°What did I tell you? I told you that mysterious nts like the Nine Stars Flowers will show their curious features as time passes.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded repeatedly, looking overjoyed.

    Zhao Shanling waved his hand at him, beckoning for him to calm down, saying, ¡°Alright, you¡¯ll have plenty of time to cultivate in the future. ording to my calctions, four years have passed since we went to that space disruption zone. We¡¯d better find out if any major changes have taken ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars during this time.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling created a spatial rift with a casual flick of his sleeve and dragged Nie Tian into it.

    Before long, the two of them appeared in front of the magnificent volcano where the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters was located.

    A number of stone pavilions stood at the foot of the volcano. They were normally used as temporary residences for visitors from the other sects.

    Most powerful Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars would be arranged to live there when they came to the Tool Sect to purchase spiritual tools or discuss other matters.

    Only those who had close ties with the Tool Sect, like Zhen Hun, would be invited to stay in the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Standing on the barren crimsonnd, Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression grew grim as he examined the stone pavilions from afar.

    An icy light appeared his eyes as he squinted at the buildings. ¡°This is strange. There aren¡¯t any Tool Sect disciples here. Instead, these buildings are guarded by some Thunder Mountain Sect disciples. Can it be that the Thunder Mountain Sect has sacked the Tool Sect after we left? That doesn¡¯t seem to be likely. Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect has the same cultivation base as my senior martial brother. What did he rely on to take the Tool Sect?¡±

    Nie Tian was also rather confused. ¡°Considering the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s strength, it¡¯s not likely that they could sack the Tool Sect by themselves.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zhao Shanling said ¡°Someone¡¯sing. I¡¯ll catch him and ask him about it.¡±

    Nie Tian could tell that he had grown angry.

    He knew that Zhao Shanling still had a sense of belonging towards the Tool Sect. After all, the Tool Sect had raised him and made him who he was today.

    The fact that he had established a gravestone in his secret valley and that he had been filled with regret standing before it proved that he still had feelings for his master and the Tool Sect.

    Even though he had threatened Qi Bailu and forced him to kneel before him, admit that he was wrong, and give up the position of the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, now that they had won, he hadn¡¯t demanded that it be done.

    Furthermore, after his extended private conversation with Zhen Hun, he had eventually agreed to seal the six spatial rifts in the Realm of Split Void.

    All of this indicated that, even though the Tool Sect had considered Zhao Shanling a traitor and a sinner, deep down, he still considered himself a member of the Tool Sect.

    Right now, he was infuriated upon seeing that the Thunder Mountain Sect was guarding the Tool Sect¡¯s properties.

    SHEW!

    Zhao Shanling quickly grabbed Nie Tian and flew off into the distance. In the blink of an eye, they stopped right in front of a Thunder Mountain Sect disciple. Zhao Shanling caught him by hispel and asked with an icy tone, ¡°Why are there disciples of your sect in the Tool Sect?¡±

    The young man seemed to be on his way back to the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters from Deste City.

    Shortly afterwards, his expression flickered as he recognized Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian. ¡°Z-zhao Shanling! Nie Tian!¡±

    Even though he was caught, he spoke holding his head high.

    Both Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian had attended the victory convention that had been held in the spacious square in the Thunder Mountain Sect, so many Thunder Mountain Sect disciples had seen the two of them in person.

    They had swept away all of the most valuable items that had been looted from the outsiders under everyone¡¯s gaze, which had left a very deep impression on the Thunder Mountain Sect disciples.

    However, even though the man had already recognized Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian, he still held a tough stance.

    ¡°Let me go!¡± he shouted. ¡°Times have changed. You can¡¯t do whatever you want in the Domain of the Falling Stars anymore. We, the Thunder Mountain Sect, rule the Domain of the Falling Stars now!

    ¡°If you¡¯re smart, let go of me ande see our seniors with me, so you can return the valuables you seized years ago!¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled, as if he were amused by the man, then he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that a Heaven stage junior actually dares to talk to me like this! I wonder what gave him the courage and confidence.¡±

    SHEW!

    With these words, a wisp of soul awareness that wasced with spatial power flew out of Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes and shot directly into the young man¡¯s soul.

    Since this wasn¡¯t Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm, Zhao Shanling could use his spiritual power and soul power freely. Facing such a Heaven stage junior, he didn¡¯t even need to torture him for information. He could simply pry into his soul and learn everything he wanted from his memories.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s soul awareness shed back and forth within the man¡¯s mind, capturing clusters of glowing light, which held his memories.

    In a very profound way, he rapidly extracted the information he needed from the man¡¯s memories.

    As pieces of information flew back to his mind, Zhao Shanling¡¯s face grew increasingly grim.

    Momentster, as the man¡¯s soul crumbled and he copsed to the ground, Zhao Shanling had obtained all the information he needed.

    Gazing up at the magnificent volcano that used to belong to the Tool Sect, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°He was telling the truth, Nie Tian. The Thunder Mountain Sect has indeed be the ruler of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Heaven-shaking, earth-toppling changes took ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars during these years when we were gone. Powerful sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have traveled across the starry river and descended upon our domain.¡±

 Chapter 673: The Lei Clan

    As Zhao Shanling ryed the information to him, Nie Tian learned what had happened in the Domain of the Falling Stars during the time when they were gone.

    A year ago, an ancient starship had arrived in the Domain of the Falling Stars after taking a long journey through the starry river.

    It was a starship from the Lei n in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Lei n was a subordinate n of the Divine me Sect, which was one of the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The Lei n had sent an early Void domain expert to lead this trip to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Soon after their arrival, they had discovered that many of the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s incantations were identical to their n¡¯s.

    That early Void domain expert then visited the Thunder Mountain Sect and asked Lei Zhenyu about their sect¡¯s founder. That was when he had realized that the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s founder had been an elder of their n.

    Thousands of years ago, that elder of the Lei n had left the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to explore the starry river. However, he had never returned.

    Who would have known that he had actuallye to the Domain of the Falling Stars by ident and put down roots here. It was that elder who had single-handedly founded the Thunder Mountain Sect.

    After learning about this, the Thunder Mountain Sect had acknowledged their origin immediately by deciding to be a subordinate sect to the Lei n.

    Later, the Lei n had chosen the Realm of Unbounded Destion to be the ce to establish their foothold, so that they could bring the Divine me Sect, their master sect, into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    As one of the most powerful sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Divine me Sect ruled multiple realms.

    After realizing that there were only nine realms and not a single Void domain expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Lei n had nned for the Divine me Sect to take control of the Domain of the Falling Stars and make its nine realms their colonies.

    That way, the Lei n would be rewarded for such a significant contribution.

    The Divine me Sect would surely set up a branch in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Since most of the Divine me Sect disciples practiced me-rted incantations, the Realm of Unbounded Destion had be an ideal ce to establish their branch. For this reason, the Lei n had expelled the Tool Sect from their headquarters.

    Since the Lei n had a Void domain expert and were backed by the formidable Divine me Sect, the Tool Sect had been forced to leave the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Aftermunicating with the sects in the Realm of me Heaven, the Tool Sect had moved to a location in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, where they had built their new headquarters.

    Meanwhile, the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were separated by the endless starry river. It wasn¡¯t an easy task to bring the powerful experts of the Divine me Sect to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    At this moment, the members of the Lei n were looking for suitable locations between the two domains to set up spatial teleportation portals.

    They hoped that, with enough teleportation portals, they could soon link the two domains up.

    The Lei n had already sent word to every sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars that it wouldn¡¯t be very long before the connection was established.

    At that time, the Divine me Sect would set up a branch in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Like the Lei n, every major sect and n in the Domain of the Falling Stars would be the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate, to whom they would give tribute every year.

    Even though almost every sect and n in the Domain of the Falling Stars had been infuriated by this, their hands had been tied.

    After all, the early Void domain expert from the Lei n was an unparalleled force, since that the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect had yet to enter the Void domain. No one dared to stand up against the Lei n.

    Even if the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect entered the Void domain, it wouldn¡¯t change anything, since the Lei n was backed by the Divine me Sect, which was even more powerful.

    The Divine me Sect had multiple Void domain experts, some of whom were even at thete Void domain.

    The Divine me Sect was far more powerful than the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars. It weighed on the sects¡¯ shoulders like a lofty mountain peak.

    At this moment, Deste City was also controlled by the Lei n. The Thunder Mountain Sect, which had submitted to the Lei n, was now taking Deste City as their headquarters, and worked as a liason for the Lei n and the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Several sects that had been friendly with the Thunder Mountain Sect, like the Heaven Expanse Sect, had already made their stance clear that they would be willing to take the Divine me Sect as their master sect when the powerful experts of the Divine me Sect arrived.

    However, even more sects were still hesitating and hadn¡¯t made any statements.

    The Void domain expert of the Lei n had spread word that, by the time people from the Divine me Sect arrived, he would like every Soul realm expert throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars toe and pay their respects.

    Those who refused to do so would have their sects banished from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and would never be allowed to return.

    Now that no sect or n dared to challenge the Lei n, the Thunder Mountain Sect had finally changed their fate. Their disciples had be even more arrogant and unreasonable than the Heaven Pce Sect.

    The disciples of the Thunder Mountain Sect had been doing whatever they liked in all of the nine realms,pletely unrestrained by rules. Even Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect had warned their disciples against getting into conflicts with them.

    After hearing about the current situation, Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim as he said, ¡°No wonder that man dared to talk so arrogantly even after realizing who you were. Who would have known that while we worried about not knowing a way to enter the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, people from there had alreadye to the Domain of the Falling Stars. By the time the connection is established between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, I¡¯m afraid the entire Domain of the Falling Stars will be a colony to the Divine me Sect. Everyone in the Domain of the Falling Stars will have to follow the whims of the Divine me Sect.¡±

    BOOM!

    As Zhao Shanling flicked his sleeve, the Thunder Mountain Sect junior who he had just used Soulsearch on was instantly reduced to a bloody mist.

    He must be furious. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have vented his anger on the man¡¯s corpse.

    With an icy look in his eyes, he gazed in the Tool Sect¡¯s direction before jerking his head around in Deste City¡¯s direction and saying, ¡°The Divine me Sect!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they actually dared to expel the Tool Sect. I¡¯ll settle ounts with them after advancing to the Void domain!

    ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯ll spend some time going over the spatial incantations I got from Master Voidspirit. I need to enter thete Soul realm first.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve learned about the situation, you¡¯d better be more discreet and learn to choose your battles.¡±

    ¡°Since the Lei n has established their foothold in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, and their early Void domain expert is probably here, I can¡¯t cultivate here. I¡¯m going to spend some time in the Realm of Split Void and figure something out after I enter thete Soul realm. What about you? Where you do want to go? I¡¯ll give you a ride.¡±

    ¡°I want to visit Hua Mu first. I promised that I¡¯d give the broken Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon to the Spirit Condor, the Tool Sect, and the Dong n.¡± After a brief pause, he added, ¡°Also, the Spirit Condor are well-informed. I want to ask them about the Divine me Sect¡¯s arrival.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you to the Realm of Endless Ice. Then you can go find Xuan Ke, and he¡¯ll show you to the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    With these words, he created a spatial rift and took Nie Tian to his secret stronghold in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ...

    The moment they appeared in the mountain valley, Zhao Shanling cursed furiously, ¡°Dammit!¡±

    The spatial wards that had protected the secret stronghold were gone, exposing the entire mountain valley.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s secret inter-realm teleportation portal was also nowhere to be seen. It seemed that someone had discovered it, and taken it for their own.

    Not just that, but the stone stele Zhao Shanling had established for his master was also broken, its pieces blending with the rocks around it.

    Zhao Shanling stamped with fury. ¡°This must be the Lei n¡¯s doing!! The spatial wards I used to iste this ce should have been able to prevent Soul realm cultivators from sensing the subtle fluctuations the inter-realm teleportation portal emanated. The person who discovered it must be at the Void domain or higher.

    ¡°The Lei n searched the Realm of Unbounded Destion for Fruits of Life. Their Void domain expert must have found this ce during their search.

    ¡°I can live with the fact that they took my inter-realm teleportation portal, but they even broke my master¡¯s stele! I¡¯ll never forgive such an action! Reckoning wille the day I enter thete Soul realm and fully refine the Voidspirit Pagoda! Even the Divine me Sect won¡¯t be able to shelter them!¡±

    Apparently, he had beenpletely infuriated upon seeing his master¡¯s stele shattered.

    ¡°Can we still leave the Realm of Unbounded Destion without that inter-realm teleportation portal?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath to calm himself before saying with an arrogant expression, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The Voidspirit Pagoda has many miraculous uses. Even without that teleportation portal, I¡¯ll still be able to get you to the Realm of Endless Ice. It¡¯ll just take a bit more work. That¡¯s all.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda flew out from between his eyebrows. Immediately afterwards, iparably intense spatial fluctuations filled the entire region. Numerous spatial des flew out of the Voidspirit Pagoda, forming arge glowing spatial rift.

    As Zhao Shanling closed his eyes, his spiritual power and soul power was madly infused into the spatial rift.

    Momentster, he let out a sigh of relief, and said, ¡°Fortunately, my secret inter-realm teleportation portal in the Realm of Endless Ice is still untouched. With that inter-realm teleportation portal and the Voidspirit Pagoda, we can still travel there now.¡±

    With these words, he grabbed Nie Tian and pulled him into the glowing spatial rift.

    In the next moment, they appeared in his inter-realm teleportation portal in the Realm of Endless Ice. After pointing out the way to the Ice Pavilion Sect for Nie Tian and giving him some advice, he teleported to the Realm of Split Void through the same portal.

 Chapter 674: The Ice Pavilion Sect Gives In

    In the frigid Realm of Endless Ice, ciers could be seen everywhere.

    Clean, white snowkes were falling from the sky like tiny blossoms. After Zhao Shanling left, Nie Tian summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool from within his ring of holding.

    It was the Sun Chaser, which he had obtained from Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Since it had been in Han Chigui¡¯s collection, it was only natural that it wasn¡¯t an ordinary tool. It seemed even more advanced than Hua Mu¡¯s Lightning Shuttle.

    Zhao Shanling had long since erased the seal Han Chigui had applied to it. Therefore, as soon as Nie Tian stepped on board and sent a wisp of psychic awareness into it, a mysterious connection was established between him and the Sun Chaser.

    As a thought entered his mind, the Sun Chaser immediately blossomed with blinding light, and then shot off into the distance.

    One ice-covered mountain after another shed behind him as the Sun Chaser traveled at full speed in the snowy sky.

    An hourter, the Sun Chaser arrived at the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    It was at the heart of an ocean. Numerous ciers stuck out from the bottom of the ocean and pierced into the heavens like enormous swords of ice.

    Surrounded by the ciers was a vast ind. Lofty pavilions made of rocks and ice stood in every part of the ind.

    The ciers that surrounded the ind kept emanating frigid ice power, forming a translucent and sparkling ward that enveloped a vast area.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Sun Chaser had to stop before the grand spell formation.

    Soon, a few Ice Pavilion Sect disciples flew to him on a Rainbow Lightning, which had been made by the Tool Sect. As they approached, they shouted, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    As they came close enough, one of the Ice Pavilion Sect disciples took a deep look at Nie Tian before eximing, ¡°Big Brother Nie?!¡±

    ¡°Xuan Yue,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dressed in clean, white battle garments, Xuan Yue looked like a flower that grew on the cier. Her clear bright eyes lit up as she eximed, ¡°It¡¯s really you!¡±

    As Xuan Ke¡¯s younger sister, Xuan Yue was also a core disciple of the Ice Pavilion Sect. She had met Nie Tian in person once in the green bamboo forest. She was one of the beauties that had gone there.

    With a hearty smile, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your brother?¡±

    Instead of answering his question, Xuan Yue asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you leave with that maniac Zhao Shanling, Big Brother Nie? Rumor has it that he took you to a space disruption zone and disappeared ever since. Many suspected that you already died at his hands and would never return again.¡±

    ¡°We did go to a space disruption zone,¡± Nie Tian exined, ¡°but Senior Zhao is a man of his word and didn¡¯t try to kill me.¡±

    Upon hearing that it was Nie Tian, who had disappeared for four years, the few Ice Pavilion Sect juniors beside Xuan Yue eximed, ¡°Big Brother Nie? He¡¯s Nie Tian?!¡±

    ¡°Is he THE Nie Tian?!¡±

    Their eyes were filled with admiration and respect as they gazed at Nie Tian. It seemed that they all took Nie Tian for their idol.

    Xuan Yue jerked her head back to take a quick nce at the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s headquarters before turning her head around and saying, ¡°Come with me, Big Brother Nie.¡±

    Instead of taking him to the ind where their headquarters was, she took Nie Tian to one of the ciers that surrounded it.

    After arriving at a location halfway up the cier, she took out a talisman that was made of frigid ice and pressed in on a frosty rock.

    Immediately afterwards, the rock split open into a door, and Xuan Yue showed Nie Tian inside. Meanwhile, she said to herpanions, ¡°You may go back now, but don¡¯t tell anyone that you¡¯ve seen big brother Nie.¡±

    The few juniors nodded before riding their Rainbow Lightning back to the ind where the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s headquarters was.

    Confused, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Why are you being so discreet? I only came to ask your older brother to take me to the Spirit Condor.¡±

    A translucent and sparkling ward appeared after them, sealing the mouth of the cave. Like a curtain of translucent pearl, it seemed to be able to soundproof the cave.

    ¡°People from the Lei n are in our headquarters now,¡± Xuan Yue said. ¡°How much do you know about the changes that have taken ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars while you were gone, Big Brother Nie?¡±

    Looking rather confused, Nie Tian said, ¡°I heard that a powerful n from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries named the Lei n came on an ancient starship.¡±

    With a weak sigh, Xuan Yue said, ¡°That¡¯s right. The Lei n expelled the Tool Sect and took the Realm of Unbounded Destion for their own. They even sent word that every Soul realm expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars shoulde to pay their respects when people from the Divine me Sect arrive.

    ¡°Recently, people from the Thunder Mountain Sect are showing the Lei n Qi warriors around to explore spiritual materials in every realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Two weeks ago, Lei Ze, Lei Zhenyu¡¯s grandson, showed a Lei n Qi warrior to the Realm of Endless Ice and soon, that Qi warrior from the Lei n discovered an Icy Crystal vein. He even detected Icy Crystal Essence with a special detector.

    ¡°ording to him, Icy Crystal Essence is very hard to find. It¡¯s extremely valuable even in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°The Lei n has sent a group of their members here this time to inform us that they¡¯re going to take over and mine Icy Crystal Essence from that Icy Crystal vein.

    ¡°We¡¯ve long since discovered that Icy Crystal vein, and we¡¯ve been mining Icy Crystals from it for cultivation.

    ¡°We just didn¡¯t know about the existence of Icy Crystal Essence. However, the Lei n members made their stance clear that we need to withdraw our disciples from that mine as soon as possible so that they can take over.

    ¡°Right now, our elders are negotiating with those representatives of the Lei n.¡±

    Xuan Yue gritted her teeth as she said these words. Apparently, she was indignant about the Lei n¡¯s bandit-like actions.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Lei n again...¡± Nie Tian muttered, frowning.

    However, he didn¡¯t know how to console her. Even the Heaven Pce Sect had be silent and submissive before the Lei n. What could the Ice Pavilion Sect do?

    He suspected that the Ice Pavilion Sect would also choose to give in and let the Lei n take their Icy Crystal mine in order to avoid conflicts with them.

    After all, the Lei n had a Void domain expert, and they were backed by the Divine me Sect. Every sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars could only give them what they wanted.

    Xuan Yue seemed to think of something else as she said hastily, ¡°Also, you have to keep your return a secret, Big Brother Nie. Don¡¯t let those from the Lei n know about your return. They¡¯ve already heard about you and Zhao Shanling taking all of the most valuable loot from the outsiders.

    ¡°ording to my brother, they¡¯ve been searching for you two. They seem to have a great interest in the shattered Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    ¡°The Qi warrior sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries are not like us. Many of them have close ties with outsiders. I believe they¡¯re nning to trade that Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon with Phantasms for materials they need. So you¡¯d better stay out of their sight.

    ¡°I also heard that they showed great interest after learning about your special connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°They went to examine the three major spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, along with the lofty mountain peaks surrounding them. Even their Void domain expert failed to discover anything valuable from them, so they could only put that on hold.

    ¡°However, if they somehow learn about your return, they¡¯ll definitely try to catch you and force you to tell them about the secrets of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Xuan Yue went on and told Nie Tian almost everything that would concern him.

    From her, Nie Tian learned that Dong Li and Dong Baijie had already entered the Worldly realm.

    Qin Yan and many other chosen ones from the major sects had also achieved significant growth during these four years and entered the Worldly realm.

    However, all of their sects were at their wits¡¯ end when facing the Lei n.

    All of them had been used to dominating their realms. Never had they thought that they would descend to the point where they would have to cling to another sect and give annual tribute.

    Many sects, including the Heaven Pce Sect, were very unhappy about the arrival of the Lei n and the Divine me Sect.

    Their talk went on for a long time before Xuan Yue received a message through her Sound Stone, saying that the people from the Lei n had left the Ice Pavilion Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Meanwhile, she learned that, after an extended negotiation, Qian Qiong had eventually given in to the Lei n and agreed to withdraw their disciples from that Icy Crystal mine.

    Xuan Yue sagged her head in frustration after receiving such news. Then, she escorted Nie Tian back to their headquarters on the ind.

    At the same time, Qian Qiong received Xuan Yue¡¯s message, learning about Nie Tian¡¯s return. Therefore, he received Nie Tian and took him to see Zong Zheng, their patriarch, the moment Nie Tian arrived.

    After Nie Tian expressed his reason foring to the Ice Pavilion Sect, Zong Zheng immediately activated their teleportation portal and personally took Nie Tian to the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of Endless Ice.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters sat in a blessednd surrounded by silent ice-covered mountains, where it felt like spring all year round.

 Chapter 675: The Condor

    After walking out of the teleportation portal with Nie Tian, Zong Zheng said, ¡°That¡¯s the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised to find himself in a mountain valley that brimmed with vigor and vitality. There were many herb gardens in the valley, in which many Greater Heaven stage young men and women were working. They were either picking herbs or doing repair work.

    A small creek that contained rich wood power flowed quietly past the herb gardens.

    As he and Zong Zheng walked out of the teleportation portal to the center of the mountain valley, they found themselves standing before a number of thatched cottages. Fresh vines could be seen hanging from the cottage roofs.

    He looked up and saw that, as the sparkling snowkes fell from the sky, they were stopped and melted by some kind of energy ward.

    Numerous magical symbols could be seen glittering like stars on the ward that enveloped the entire mountain valley, making it look very profound and mysterious.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and immediately felt refreshed. That was when he realized that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was very rich in this ce.

    Not just that, but the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth contained a copious amount of wood power, which could nourish the earth and allow the spirit nts and herbs here to grow faster.

    The young men and women talked andughed, as if they didn¡¯t have a clue about the great changes that had taken ce in the outside world.

    Many of them nodded slightly upon seeing him and Zong Zheng, but none rushed over to greet them.

    A brown condor could be seen perched in an ancient, lush tree not far from them. It wasbing through its brown feathers in an idle fashion. Every once in a while, it would grab a bunch of grapes with its w and throw them into its mouth.

    The condor saw Zong Zheng from afar. The light of intelligence glittered in its brown eyes.

    While Nie Tian nced around, a wry smile appeared on Zong Zheng¡¯s angr face that looked like an icy rock as he nodded at the condor and said respectfully, ¡°Long time no see, Lord Condor.¡±

    The condor gave a cold snort and said, ¡°What are you doing here, little one?¡±

    Nie Tian stood aghast.

    He had seen quite a number of spirit beasts throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, including his master¡¯s very intelligent Thunder Beast. However, he had never met a spirit beast that could speak the humannguage.

    ¡°We¡¯re here for Hua Mu, Lord Condor,¡± Zong Zheng answered.

    ¡°Little Hua isn¡¯t here. It¡¯s Little Lu that¡¯s been serving metely.¡± The condor sounded rather arrogant. ¡°Did you find me any beautiful birds, little one?¡±

    Zong Zheng grew embarrassed. ¡°Umm...¡±

    At this very moment, Lu Yuanxi walked out of one of the cottages.

    ¡°Nie Tian?!¡± He eximed, joy filling his face. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Greetings, Senior Lu.¡±

    The condor seemed rather disgruntled as it shouted in a sharp voice, ¡°Hey, you with thest name ¡®Nie¡¯. You haven¡¯t greeted me yet.¡±

    Zong Zheng hastily gave Nie Tian a meaningful look, signaling him to do as the condor told him and pay his respects.

    With a weak chuckle, Nie Tian sped his hands and said with pretended respect, ¡°Greetings, Lord Condor.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡± The condor flicked its feathered brown wing towards Nie Tian, as if it was finally satisfied, and then it said with its nose in the air, ¡°I heard Little Hua and the others talk about you. It sounds like you¡¯re kinda good. But next time youe to my turf, you¡¯d better bring me some beautiful birds and delicious spirit fruits.¡±

    Standing off to the side, Lu Yuanxi looked embarrassed as he exined to Nie Tian, ¡°Lord Condor has been our founder¡¯s good friend since he was young. Then, after our founder broke through into the Void domain and gained the ability to travel across the starry river, he left the Domain of the Falling Stars to explore the boundless universe and never returned.

    ¡°That heartless bastard must have died already,¡± The condor said. ¡°I pitied him when he was young and looked after him ever since. He, however, abandoned me and left alone as soon as he entered the Void domain, leaving generations of disciples to me. Meanwhile, you all turn out to be such disappointments...¡±

    With bitter hatred, the condor berated the Spirit Condor¡¯s founder andined about how useless Lu Yuanxi and the others were.

    Lu Yuanxi smiled wryly as he nodded repeatedly to agree with it.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s the Spirit Condor¡¯s founder¡¯s old friend...¡±</i> Nie Tian suddenly realized why this condor enjoyed such respect and a high status within the Spirit Condor.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any beautiful birds with me now, Lord Condor.¡± With these words, he grinned and took out a few green spirit fruits from within his ring of holding. He handed them to the condor and said, ¡°But I hope you¡¯ll like these spirit fruits.¡±

    The condor threw the green fruits into its mouth and then said, looking rather pleased, ¡°Hmm! Nice! You¡¯re much smarter than Little Zong. Sixth level Premium grade spirit fruits do taste good.¡±

    These spirit fruits were obtained from the Soul realm experts he had killed in Master Voidspirit¡¯s special realm. Each and every one of them was of great value.

    With sleepy eyes, the condor flicked its wing at them, signaling them to leave. ¡°It¡¯s about time I have some rest. You may find another ce to talk so that you won¡¯t disturb my sleep.¡±

    As it flicked its wing, Nie Tian noticed that even though it was a casual flick, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the entire mountain valley seemed to go through subtle changes because of it.

    Upon hearing these words, Lu Yuanxi looked as if he were absolved from the death penalty. Without any hesitation, he took Nie Tian and Zong Zheng to his cultivation cottage.

    After closing the door behind them, Lu Yuanxi said with an apologetic tone, ¡°Lord Condor has always shown a strong interest in people he hasn¡¯t met. Our founder told us that it was of paramount importance that we take good care of Lord Condor before he left the Domain of the Falling Stars. Without Lord Condor, the Spirit Condor wouldn¡¯t exist, and he wouldn¡¯t have entered the Void domain.

    ¡°However, since it¡¯d be very dangerous to travel across the starry river, our founder didn¡¯t have confidence that he would be able to keep Lord Condor safe if he took him with him. He snuck away and left Lord Condor behind.

    ¡°For this, Lord Condor cursed him for many years.¡±

    After a brief exnation of the condor¡¯s origins, Lu Yuanxi¡¯s expression grew serious as he asked Zong Zheng, ¡°Did you agree to the Lei n¡¯s terms?¡±

    Zong Zheng nodded in silence.

    Lu Yuanxi sighed. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. After all, the Lei n has unparalleled strength and the Divine me Sect at their back. Our hands are truly tied.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s uncle Hua, Senior Lu?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°He¡¯s currently in the Realm of Split Void,¡± said Lu Yuanxi. ¡°Zhen Hun is trying to break through into the Soul realm. Hua Mu was worried that something might happen during the process, so he went there to guard her. By the way, where did you and Zhao Shanling go?¡±

    ¡°Some space disruption zone,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Both Lu Yuanxi and Zong Zheng¡¯s eyes widened as Lu Yuanxi asked, ¡°That maniac is back too?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Lu Yuanxi and Zong Zheng were apparently very curious about Nie Tian¡¯s encounters in the space disruption zone.

    However, they knew that Hua Mu was the one who Nie Tian truly trusted, so they suppressed their curiosity and buried the questions in their hearts.

    Nie Tian took out the broken Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon from within his ring of holding and ced it on the ground. ¡°This is the shattered Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon. I promised uncle Hua that I¡¯d give each of the three pieces to the Spirit Condor, the Dong n, and the Tool Sect. I¡¯ll leave it to you to decide which parts you¡¯ll take.¡±

    Ecstasy filled Lu Yuanxi¡¯s face as he couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°The Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon?!¡±

    Then, he took a deep look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Thank you very much. I¡¯ll inform Qi Bailu and Dong Wangling about this and see if we can work together to fix it.¡±

    After a short pause, his expression grew serious as he added, ¡°You¡¯d better stay here for now. The Lei n showed great interest in the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon and the fragmentary star marks you obtained during the Heaven Gate trial. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯lle up with evil ideas once they learn about your return.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to get your family and the Realm of me Heaven in trouble, I suggest that you stay put for the time being.

    ¡°We can wait until people from the Divine me Secte and figure out what they want. Then, we can act ordingly.¡±

    Zong Zheng chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right, Nie Tian. You¡¯d better stay out of sight for now.¡±

    ¡°When will people from the Divine me Sect arrive?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Lu Yuanxi said truthfully, ¡°but ording to the information we¡¯ve gathered, that Void domain expert from the Lei n is sailing their ancient starship in the starry river, looking for dead realms to set up teleportation portals that¡¯ll form a path between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and our domain. Once the path is clear, people from the Divine me Sect wille to the Domain of the Falling Stars after a few transits.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for some time before finally saying, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll stay here and see if there will be any changes.¡±

    Lu Yuanxi let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. We have branches in every realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Whatever happens in the nine realms, we can learn about it within a short time. I¡¯ll let you know as soon as we receive word about things that concern you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯d be good. Many thanks.¡±

    Afterwards, he was shown to his temporary residence, where he started making preparations for his breakthrough into the Worldly realm.

 Chapter 676: A Sudden Change in the Situation

    After learning that everything was still well in the Realm of me Heaven, and that his family was still safe, Nie Tian finally set his mind at ease and settled in.

    Lu Mingfei was the Spirit Condor¡¯s founder and Lu Yuanxi¡¯s forefather.

    He had built a grand spell formation to protect the entire mountain valley before leaving to explore the starry river. ording to Lu Yuanxi, even the early Void domain expert from the Lei n wouldn¡¯t be able to sense the existence of their headquarters as long as that spell formation was activated.

    For this reason, the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters¡¯ exact location was a mystery to most people.

    As Nie Tian cultivated in a secluded open area in the valley, he discovered that that mysterious ward wouldn¡¯t stop starlight froming through.

    Therefore, as he cultivated with the Fragmentary Star Incantation, the Nine Stars Flower, which had taken root at the bottom of his vortex of star power, continued to absorb star power and grow.

    Thanks to the Nine Stars Flower, the efficiency of him refining and expanding his vortex of star power had improved significantly.

    Now that the upgrades to his vortexes of spiritual power, wood power, and me power had all beenpleted, all he needed was for his vortex of star power to be upgraded, and he would be set for his next breakthrough.

    Then, given the right enlightenment or opportunity, he would be able advance to the Worldly realm.

    He had a feeling that once he entered the Worldly realm and transformed his psychic power into soul power, he would be able to unveil what the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left underneath the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void.

    Perhaps by that time, he would also be able to get that air-transportation spiritual tool and the two scrolls that seemed to have connections to the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect out of the three lofty mountain peaks in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Both Hua Mu and Zhao Shanling had reckoned that since the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had chosen to open Heaven Gates and select their sessor in the Domain of the Falling Stars, they must have left something for their sessor.

    That something might very well be the means by which he would be able to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars and visit the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    His master, Wu Ji, suspected that the reason why Nie Tian, who had already obtained three fragmentary star marks, was still trapped in the Domain of the Falling Stars was that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadn¡¯t finished testing him.

    If he was able to umte enough strength and make consecutive breakthroughs without their help, then they would fully acknowledge him and eventually show him the way to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He believed that advancing to the Worldly realm was the key to prying into the depths of the earth under the forbidden region and obtaining what the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him.

    Therefore, Nie Tian spent day and night cultivating. He even threw in extra Star Stones to improve his efficiency.

    During this time, he acquired some information through the Spirit Condor.

    People from the Lei n were still traveling among the nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, detecting spirit minerals with their special tools.

    They discovered many spirit mineral veins in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and the other realms. Some were already being explored by local powers, while others were discovered for the first time.

    Immediately after their ¡®discoveries¡¯, the Lei n imed those that contained rare minerals like Icy Crystal Essence.

    The Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, the powers from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and many other sects all made the same decision as the Ice Pavilion Sect, and gave up their right to those mineral veins.

    Not just that, but members of the Lei n and the Thunder Mountain Sect did whatever they liked wherever they liked. Many crimes weremitted.

    However, many major sects, including the Heaven Pce Sect, chose to keep silent and bear with them.

    Shortly afterwards, Nie Tian learned through the Spirit Condor that Xia Yi seemed to have reached some sort of agreement with the Lei n. He was willing to join the Divine me Sect along with all of his sect members when the Divine me Sect arrived.

    In return, the people from the Lei n promised him that, since he practiced me incantations, he would mostly likely win the Divine me Sect¡¯s favor and be rewarded with the position of an elder of the Divine me Sect.

    If Xia Yi, who had already entered thete Soul realm, could actually be an elder of the Divine me Sect, then he would be able to learn even more profound me incantations and gain ess to all kinds of precious materials that he would need to break through into the Void domain.

    Deeply tempted, Xia Yi now couldn¡¯t wait for the people from the Divine me Sect to arrive so that they could discuss the details.

    After a few days, Nie Tian received word that Zhang Zhongchi from the Poison Sect and Lu Minhuang from the Spirit God Sect had both entered thete Soul realm.

    The fact that the two of them were able to break through into thete Soul realm in just four years¡¯ time had a great deal to do with the outsider invasion.

    The Poison Sect¡¯s poisonous incantations and the Spirit God Sect¡¯s soul incantations had profound connections with the Fiends and the Phantasms.

    After the humans of the Domain of the Falling Stars had won the war against the outsider invaders, the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect had exerted all means to obtain records regarding the Fiends and Phantasms¡¯ bloodline power, which they had looted from the outsiders.

    Those records had turned out to be extremely helpful to Zhang Zhongchi and Lu Minhuang. Their understanding of poisonous and soul incantations had risen to a whole new level, which had eventually resulted in their breakthroughs in cultivation.

    After ending their secluded cultivation, the two of them soon announced that they were willing to be subordinate sects of the Divine me Sect.

    Adding the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the me God Sect, there were already five major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars that had chosen to submit to the Divine me Sect, even though their representatives hadn¡¯t actually arrived yet.

    The submission of these five sects fueled the Lei n¡¯s arrogance. They sent word that any sect or n in the Domain of the Falling Stars that refused to be a subordinate force of the Divine me Sect would have to leave their realms and move to their arcane realms.

    Upon receiving such warnings, the sects and ns that hadn¡¯t submitted grew restless, and started to met each other in private to discuss their options.

    On this day...

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open while he was cultivating with Star Stones in his thatched cottage in the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters. <i>¡°I¡¯ve finally refined and expanded my vortex of star power to its limit! Now theke of stardew can hold three times as much stardew as before!¡±</i>

    He looked up at the starlit sky through the half-open door, nine sparks shining brightly in the depths of his eyes.

    In his senses, his nine vortexes of spiritual power were growing increasingly active in his misty spiritual sea, giving him a curious feeling, as if they were going to merge.

    Ever since he had entered the Lesser Heaven stage, every time he had made a breakthrough in his cultivation, a new vortex of spiritual power woulde to form in his spiritual sea.

    At this moment, he had a total of nine vortexes of spiritual power in his spiritual sea, all of which brimmed with power of the same attribute.

    These nine vortexes were now spinning rapidly at the center of his spiritual sea. From time to time, they would scatter to the edge of his spiritual sea and then gather to the center. Every time they gathered to the center of his spiritual sea, he would have a feeling that they were going to merge and be one. However, it never happened.

    As for his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power, they were scattered in three spots on the edge of his spiritual sea, forming a triangle that enveloped all of the vortexes of spiritual power.

    These three vortexes of different powers didn¡¯t show any signs of merging with each other.

    However, Nie Tian had a feeling that once his nine vortexes of spiritual power merged with each other, they would also go through changes.

    KREEEN!

    The door to his cottage was pushed wide open, and Hua Mu walked inside. Smiling, he said, ¡°I sensed that you were finished with your cultivation.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re back, Uncle Hua!¡± Nie Tian eximed happily. ¡°How did it go with Senior Zhen?¡±

    Hua Mu smiled. ¡°She¡¯s entered the Soul realm.¡±

    With these words, the smile gradually drained from his face as he asked, ¡°What happened during the four years you spent roving the space disruption zone with Zhao Shanling?¡±

    Even though he hadn¡¯t shared his encounters with Lu Yuanxi or Zong Zheng, he didn¡¯t keep any secrets from Hua Mu.

    Bit by bit, he exined in detail what he had experienced in the space disruption zone during the past four years to Hua Mu.

    After Nie Tian was finished, Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered in shock as he said, ¡°You actually eliminatedpetition from the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect and took Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies?! You¡¯re such a couple of daring maniacs! If what you said is true, sects like the Divine me Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect are powerful ancient sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. You can never tell anyone about you killing their elders!¡±

    Nie Tian gave a dryugh and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that some n from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would happen to find our domain.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hua Mu said, ¡°People from the Divine me Sect are going to arrive soon, and I¡¯m going to meet them in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The Spirit Condor is going to submit to them as well?!¡±

    With a helpless expression, Hua Mu said, ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice. Since we aren¡¯t powerful enough, we can only live by their rules. But as the Lei n¡¯s master sect, perhaps the Divine me Sect won¡¯t be as hard tomunicate with as the Lei n. The reason why I¡¯m going to the Realm of Unbounded Destion is because I want to see what kind of terms the Divine me Sect will give us. If their terms are eptable, I guess it won¡¯t be the end of the world to be their subordinate force.¡±

    ¡°Will you only have to give spiritual materials as tribute to them if you be their subordinate force?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°Of course it¡¯s not that easy. If a master sect gets into a war with other sects or outsiders, their subordinate forces would have to answer summons and assist their master sect to win the war. What I fear the most is that the Divine me Sect might use the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars as cannon fodder in their future battles, sacrificing our people to win their battles.

    ¡°If that¡¯s really what they¡¯re thinking, we might as well move to our arcane realms and wait for opportunities there.¡±

    ¡°I want to go to the Realm of me Heaven and talk to my master.¡± Nie Tian said.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression grew grim as he said, ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. Your master is also going to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. He¡¯s also on the list of experts that are required to go pay their respects to the people from the Divine me Sect.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian said, ¡°But my master isn¡¯t at the Soul realm.¡±

    ¡°Even though he hasn¡¯t entered the Soul realm, he practices time maniption magics, which is very rare,¡± Hua Mu said. ¡°Your master is going to represent the sects from the Realm of me Heaven. I assume that the people from the Divine me Sect will have a strong interest in his knowledge. It¡¯s very likely that your master will win their favor and be treated as an honored guest.¡±

 Chapter 677: Chain Reaction

    WHOOSH!

    While Nie Tian and Hua Mu talked, a figure suddenly shed into the cottage, his face pale.

    Hua Mu was taken aback. ¡°What happened?¡±

    It was Lu Yuanxi, one of the three potentates of the Spirit Condor.

    Nie Tian had met him on many asions, and he had always beenposed and calm. Never had he seen him so panicked.

    Apparently, something bad had happened.

    ¡°I just received word that Zhao Shanling has started a massacre in the Realm of Unbounded Destion!¡± Lu Yuanxi said urgently. ¡°That maniac has entered thete Soul realm!¡±

    Hua Mu had expected that Zhao Shanling would soon enter thete Soul realm, after learning from Nie Tian that he had obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda and gone to the Realm of Split Void to focus on his cultivation.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected that Zhao Shanling would make the breakthrough within such a short time.

    It had only been a few months since their return to the Domain of the Falling Stars, and he had already advanced to thete Soul realm. This proved how helpful Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies were to him.

    ¡°He¡¯s started killing people in the Realm of Unbounded Destion...?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly realized that the people Zhao Shanling was killing must be the Lei n members.

    After descending upon the Realm of Unbounded Destion, members of the Lei n had not only expelled the Tool Sect, but also taken his inter-realm teleportation portal and destroyed his master¡¯s stele in his secret stronghold.

    Before he had gone to the Realm of Split Void, Zhao Shanling had told Nie Tian that he intended to settle ounts with the Lei n once he entered thete Soul realm.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected his retaliation toe so soon.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation over there?¡± Hua Mu asked, his face grim.

    After taking a deep breath, Lu Yuanxi said, ¡°Zhao Shanling killed quite a few members of the Lei n and the Thunder Mountain Sect when he tried to breach the protective ward the Lei n has established around the volcano where the Tool Sect was located. That early Void domain expert from the Lei n is still away building transit teleportation portals in the starry river.

    ¡°Ate Soul realm expert from the Lei n that stayed behind, Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect, Zhang Zhongchi from the Poison Sect, and Lu Minhuang from the Spirit God Sect teamed up on Zhao Shanling, but they were only able to force him to leave.

    ¡°Lei Zhenyu, who¡¯s only at the middle Soul realm, was badly injured during the battle.

    ¡°Holding a mysterious miniature pagoda in his hand, Zhao Shanling killed numerous Qi warriors from the Lei n and the Thunder Mountain Sect while contending against the four experts.

    ¡°Before leaving, that maniac imed that he would wipe out the entire Lei n.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment after hearing Lu Yuanxi¡¯s words.

    Zhao Shanling, who had just entered thete Soul realm, was able to contend against threete Soul realm and a middle Soul realm experts at the same time. Not only did he manage to leave unharmed, but he even inflicted serious damage on Lei Zhenyu. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but admire such formidable battle prowess.

    After a deep sigh, Hua Mu said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that it¡¯s that maniac who took the initiative to strike the Lei n when all of the major sects have chosen to either keep silent or be submissive.¡±

    ¡°He only dared to do so because he¡¯s all alone,¡± Lu Yuanxi said, his face gray. ¡°He has no ties anywhere, and he practices spatial magics.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Of all of the Soul realm cultivators in the Domain of the Falling Stars, he¡¯s the only one who doesn¡¯t have any disciples or people who depend on him. Now, with the help of that Spirit Channeling grade treasure, I even doubt that early Void domain expert from the Lei n will be able to take him in battle. Besides him, who else dares to ignore all consequences and make a move against the Lei n?¡±

    ¡°This is bad news.¡± With these words, Lu Yuanxi shot a nce at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before pointing at himself and asking, ¡°What does it have to do with me?¡±

    Lu Yuanxi¡¯s face was grim as he exined, ¡°The fact that he showed up and started a massacre in the Realm of Unbounded Destion means that he¡¯s back. A few years ago, he left with you. Now that he¡¯s back, it means you must be back in the Domain of the Falling Stars as well.

    ¡°Those from the Lei n have long since set their mind on the legacies you obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They would probably forget about it if you died in some remote corner of the starry river, or vanishedpletely.

    ¡°But if they¡¯re convinced that you¡¯re alive and in the Domain of the Falling Stars, they¡¯ll do everything within their power to catch you.

    ¡°Even though there¡¯s very little they can do to Zhao Shanling, they can do plenty of things to you.¡±

    At this moment, Hua Mu seemed to think of something, and thus interrupted Lu Yuanxi by saying, ¡°We need to arrange for our people to go to the green bamboo forest to bring Mr. Nie and Nie Tian¡¯s aunt here now.¡±

    ¡°I already did,¡± Lu Yuanxi said in a worried voice. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope that we¡¯re being overly cautious.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he asked, ¡°Are you saying that those from the Lei n might try to kidnap my grandfather and aunt?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, since you haven¡¯t shown yourself, they can only kidnap your family and use them to draw you to them,¡± Hua Mu said.

    Nie Tian gnashed his teeth furiously and thundered, ¡°The Lei n!!!¡±

    Lu Yuanxi smiled bitterly as he said, ¡°My only fear right now is that we¡¯re already toote. We pulled our branch in the Realm of Unbounded Destion back soon after the Lei n expelled the Tool Sect. Because of this, we didn¡¯t receive word of Zhao Shanling¡¯s deed in the Realm of Unbounded Destion until after the battle ended and he had left.

    ¡°If the Lei n thought of making such a move, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re already toote.¡±

    With these words, Lu Yuanxi took out a glowing sphere, inside of which numerous magical symbols would light up from time to time.

    Lu Yuanxiid his hand on the glowing sphere. Every time a magical symbol lit up, he seemed to be able to receive a piece of information from it.

    Nie Tian noticed that Lu Yuanxi fixed his eyes unblinkingly on a brown magical symbol. The same went for Hua Mu.

    It was as if once that magical symbol lit up, it would mean that they had received word from their branch in the Realm of me Heaven.

    A long time passed before that brown magical symbol finally lit up.

    A wisp of light left Lu Yuanxi¡¯s palm and flew into the brown magical symbol at the center of the glowing sphere.

    In the next moment, his face gradually fell as he let out a frustrated sigh and said, ¡°We¡¯re toote. People from the Lei n have already brought your grandfather and aunt to the Realm of Unbounded Destion under thepany of some powerful experts from the Poison Sect, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Spirit God Sect. Your master, however, left for Deste City days ago after the Lei n¡¯s ¡®invitation¡¯, where he¡¯s waiting to meet the people from the Divine me Sect.

    ¡°Since your master wasn¡¯t in the Cloudsoaring Sect at that time, no one was able to stop those Lei n members from taking your grandfather and aunt. I suppose they¡¯ve already been imprisoned by the Lei n.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes brimmed with burning rage as he roared, ¡°Damn those bastards!!¡±

    At that moment, another magical symbol lit up within the glowing sphere. Without any hesitation, Lu Yuanxi channeled the information into his mind.

    Afterwards, with a grim face, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°We¡¯ve got another piece of bad news.¡±

    Struggling to suppress his wrath, Nie Tian said, ¡°Go ahead and spill it.¡±

    With a reluctant expression, Lu Yuanxi said, ¡°That girl you know, Dong Li, also went to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, along with Dong Wangling and a few other Dong n members, where they were waiting to meet people from the Divine me Sect. But while she was walking in the street in Deste City, a band of Lei n members suddenly showed up and ¡®invited¡¯ her to the Lei n¡¯s stronghold.

    ¡°By the time Dong Wangling learned about it, Dong Li had already been taken to the volcano that the Lei n had seized for their own. Even though Dong Wangling immediately rushed over there to talk to thete Soul realm expert from the Lei n, Zhang Zhongchi, and Lu Minhuang, he failed to get her out of there.

    ¡°Dong Wangling is only at the middle Soul realm, and he was facing threete Soul realm experts. What could he have done?

    ¡°The way I see it, you¡¯re the reason why they ¡®invited¡¯ Dong Li to their stronghold. Many people know about your close rtionship with that girl. If it weren¡¯t for you, the Lei n wouldn¡¯t have any reason to kidnap a junior like her.¡±

    After hearing Lu Yuanxi¡¯s words, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes looked as if they were about to spew mes. With great force, he spit out the words, ¡°I¡¯m going to the Realm of Unbounded Destion, Uncle Hua.¡±

    Hua Mu seemed somewhat panicked as he eximed, ¡°No, you can¡¯t! You¡¯re not Zhao Shanling. You¡¯ll definitely be captured if you go! The reason why those people from the Lei n did this was to draw you to them, so that they could catch you and give you to the people from the Divine me Sect when they arrive.

    ¡°Since you have the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you¡¯re a precious treasure to them.

    ¡°They must want to present you to the people from the Divine me Sect as a gift. The Divine me Sect will probably try to strip those fragmentary star marks from you.

    ¡°Even if they can¡¯t do that, they¡¯ll probably use Soulsearch on you to learn everything you know about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°If they do that to you, your soul will sustain heavy injuries, if you¡¯re lucky enough to survive. But then, your cultivation will be finished.¡±

    Nie Tian had recently witnessed Zhao Shanling use Soulsearch on a junior from the Thunder Mountain Sect.

    He knew perfectly well what would happen if someone were to use it on him.

    At that moment, Lu Yuanxi chimed in, ¡°Don¡¯t make any rash moves, Nie Tian. We can wait a bit longer. Perhaps they don¡¯t know for sure that you came back with Zhao Shanling. They might just be flying a kite here.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Flying a kite? I don¡¯t think so.¡±

 Chapter 678: Outrageous Behavior

    The volcano that belonged to the Tool Sect had beenpletely taken over by the Lei n.

    Eight spheres filled with lightning bolts could be seen floating over the volcano.

    Each of them had numerous arm-thick lightning bolts stretching down from it. Together, they formed a curtain that surrounded the volcano.

    Those lightning spheres had been left by the Void domain expert from the Lei n. They hadn¡¯t been put to use until Zhao Shanling had suddenly shown up and started a massacre. Only then had thete Soul realm expert from the Lei n taken them out and enveloped the entire volcano with them.

    As powerful as Zhao Shanling was, he had only been able to kill the Lei n and Thunder Mountain Sect members at the foot of the volcano, who weren¡¯t protected by the lightning spheres.

    Just as he had gathered strength in an attempt to destroy the spell formation, thete Soul realm expert from the Lei n, Lu Minhuang, and Zhang Zhongchi rushed down toward him and prevented him from doing that.

    After the battle, arge number of unnaturally-formed holes and rifts could be seen around the volcano. The crimson barrennd seemed to have been carved and pierced repeatedly by enormous des.

    A Lei n member was sitting by the mouth of a cave halfway up the volcano, not making a sound.

    In the depths of the cave was a room that was originally used for equipment forging. All kinds of catalyzing materials and spirit stones could be seen in the room, as well as a three-legged cauldron that was filled with boilingva that was ced in the middle.

    Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li were standing in front of the cauldron, sweating heavily from the high temperature.

    Chains of lightning that looked like small, silver snakes were wrapped around their necks.

    Those chains had been put there by thete Soul realm expert from the Lei n. Not only were they stopping Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li from using spiritual power, but they had also infiltrated their minds. Once the idea ofmitting suicide entered their minds, the chains would immediately release enough lightning power to numb their bodies.

    BZZZ!

    The chains around Nie Qian¡¯s neck released tiny lightning bolts. Nie Qian let out a muffled groan and copsed to the ground.

    ¡°Auntie!¡± Heart aching, Dong Li rapidly helped Nie Qian to her feet. ¡°Don¡¯t make another idle attempt. It won¡¯t work. As soon as the idea of killing yourself enters your mind, these lightning chains will stun you. You¡¯ll only end up suffering even more.¡±

    Nie Donghai¡¯s face looked rather pale. A few burn marks could also be seen around his neck. He let out a deep sigh and said, ¡°Save your strength. It won¡¯t work.¡±

    Apparently, he had also tried to kill himself after learning the Lei n¡¯s intentions.

    However, every time he even thought of doing it, the lightning chains around his neck would stun him to the point where he couldn¡¯t even move a finger.

    Tears trickled down Nie Qian¡¯s cheeks as she said, ¡°This is all because we¡¯re so useless that we¡¯ve be Little Tian¡¯s burden. I don¡¯t want him to throw himself into danger just for us.¡±

    Dong Li consoled her by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much, Aunt Nie. And don¡¯t try tomit suicide again. Things might not be that bad.¡±

    Nie Qian touched Dong Li¡¯s cheek and said with an apologetic tone, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Little Li. We dragged you into this. You¡¯re a chosen one from the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Now you have to suffer with us because of Little Tian.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t say that,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°We¡¯ll be alright. I¡¯m sure people will think of a way to help us.¡±

    Even though Dong Li consoled Nie Qian, she actually felt very anxious deep down.

    As resourceful as she was, she couldn¡¯t think of a way for her n and those who wanted to help them to stop this.

    The Lei n had a Void domain expert and was backed by the Divine me Sect. Now that the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the me God Sect had all chosen to submit to the Lei n, who in the Domain of the Falling Stars would have the audacity and strength to force the Lei n to release them?

    Even Zhao Shanling, who was a man with no scruples and unparalleled battle prowess, had failed to sack the Lei n¡¯s stronghold, facing multiplete Soul realm experts.

    When the Void domain expert from the Lei n returned, and powerful experts from the Divine me Sect descended, it would be even less possible for the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars to revolt against them.

    Dong Li pondered the matter long and hard, but still failed to find a way to force the Lei n to let them go. Therefore, she gradually grew desperate, and only hoped that Nie Tian was still alive, but hadn¡¯t returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± The eyebrows of the Lei n member who was guarding the cave rose as he fixed his eyes on a spot in the air.

    Intense spatial fluctuations were rapidly brooding in the air outside of the curtain of lightning bolts.

    Numerous members of the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Lei n, the Heaven Expanse Sect, and the Spirit God Sect came out from their buildings to see what was happening.

    As the spatial fluctuations built up, a vague figure appeared in the air and rapidly grew clear.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling¡¯s void reflection!¡±

    Lei Tianhong, thete Soul realm expert from the Lei n, let out a cold harrumph as he stomped his feet and flew out from the very top of the volcano.

    He flew through the curtain of lightning bolts and thundered in a resounding voice that shook the heavens, ¡°Quit being deliberately mystifying! I dare you toe here yourself and see if we¡¯ll be able to kill you!¡±

    With a single nce at the floating Zhao Shanling in the spatial fluctuations, Lei Tianhong determined that it was merely a reflection in the void.

    At this moment, the real Zhao Shanling might be somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, or even another realm.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s reflectionughed wildly without showing the slightest fear. ¡°Even if Ie here, you still won¡¯t be able to defeat me. Your n is nothing but ackey for the Divine me Sect. I dared to kill people from the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect. Why would I be afraid of you?¡±

    As Zhao Shanling uttered these words, streaks of light flew over from Deste City.

    The streaks of light came to a stop, and they turned out to be Dong Wangling, Li Muyang, Qian Buhui, and the other experts.

    They were originally waiting for the people from the Divine me Sect in Deste City and rushed over after noticing the anomaly.

    With an icy face, Lei Tianhong said, ¡°Zhao Shanling, don¡¯t think that because you have the Voidspirit Pagoda and practice spatial magics, no one will be able to kill you. My eldest brother ising back in ten days. Representatives of the Divine me Sect will arrive in two weeks. By that time, it won¡¯t matter that you have the Voidspirit Pagoda. As long as you dare to show yourself, you won¡¯t be able to leave again!¡±

    Zhao Shanling sneered and said, ¡°Your eldest brother Lei Tianqi is only at the early Void domain. I¡¯ll be able to kill him as well once I enter the Void domain. At that time, I¡¯ll kill every single Lei n and Thunder Mountain Sect member I can find! Not only that, but I¡¯ll also go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and crush everyone I find in your n like insects!¡±

    Lei Tianhongughed. ¡°Do you really think you can do that? Even if you enter the Void domain, what will you be able to do? If you dare to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, we¡¯ll spread word of your arrival. Then, we won¡¯t even need to do anything ourselves. Just the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect alone will hunt you down and skin you alive. What were you thinking when you took Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies? Who do you think you are?¡±

    ¡°Enough with your crap!¡± Zhao Shanling said with a disdainful expression. ¡°I¡¯m here this time to tell you that you¡¯re wasting your time with Nie Tian¡¯s family. I got rid of him on our way back to the Domain of the Falling Stars. How could I see the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and not take them? If you want them, I¡¯m the person youe to.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling¡¯s void reflection disappeared into thin air.

    ¡°What?! He killed Nie Tian already?!¡± Qian Buhui eximed.

    Gu Yuan¡¯s eyebrows flickered as he sighed and said, ¡°Actually, that does sound like him. That maniac is definitely capable of doing such a thing.¡±

    A shudder ran through Dong Wangling, a lost look appearing in his eyes. But secondster, he settled down, an admiring look appearing in his eyes.

    The Spirit Condor had long since secretly informed him of Nie Tian¡¯s return and invited him to study the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon in the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters.

    However, since many troublesome matters had required his attention, and he was required to meet with the people from the Divine me Sect, he didn¡¯t go.

    Zhao Shanling had clearly said those things to help Nie Tian.

    After pondering for some time, Dong Wangling seemed toe to an idea. He blurred into action before appearing in front of Lei Tianhong and saying, ¡°Since Nie Tian is already dead, there¡¯s no point in detaining Dong Li or Nie Tian¡¯s family anymore. Why don¡¯t you release them now?¡±

    Qian Buhui, Gu Yuan, and the other experts also spoke out in an attempt to persuade Lei Tianhong.

    Face expressionless, Lei Tianhong waited for them to finish before taking his time to say, ¡°How do I know whether Zhao Shanling is telling the truth?¡±

    Before the others could say anything, he added, ¡°Even if he¡¯s dead, it won¡¯t change my decision. If I don¡¯t see Nie Tian in ten days, dead or alive, you should expect to collect those three¡¯s bodies.¡±

    Dong Wangling burst into a ming rage. ¡°This is outrageous!!¡±

    Still expressionless, Lei Tianhong said with an overbearing tone, ¡°So what? You can either go find Nie Tian or watch that girl from your n die. Your call.¡±

    With a cold snort, he flicked his sleeve and flew back to the top of the volcano, leaving Dong Wangling there, his eyes wide and bloodshot.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be impulsive, Brother Dong. We¡¯lle up with a n!¡± With these words, Qian Buhui and Gu Yuan dragged Dong Wangling back towards Deste City with great force, fearing that he would fly into battle with the Lei n right away and bring disaster to the Dong n.

 Chapter 679: Forced to Show Up

    Dong Wangling was dragged back to Deste City.

    By this time, powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars had gathered in Deste City. People from the Heaven Expanse Sect, the Poison Sect, and the Spirit God Sect, which had decided to submit to the Divine me Sect, had been invited to stay in the former Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters. People from all the other sects had been forced to stay in Deste City.

    Before, the Spirit Condor and Zhao Shanling had both set up secret inter-realm teleportation portals in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    However, the Lei n had taken Zhao Shanling¡¯s inter-realm teleportation portal away soon after their arrival. After learning about this, the Spirit Condor secretly withdrew their inter-realm teleportation portal from the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Because of this, experts from the major sects would have to enter and leave the Realm of Unbounded Destion through the inter-realm teleportation portal in Deste City.

    Dong Wangling was cursing loudly in a towering stone pavilion, berating the Lei n for being domineering and unreasonable.

    Li Muyang, Xing Huanyue, Qian Buhui, Gu Yuan, and Cao Mou, however, remained in silence, their eyebrows furrowed.

    Wu Ji was also sitting among these Soul realm experts.

    He also frowned deeply, failing toe up with a way to save Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    Soon after he had been ¡®invited¡¯ to Deste City by the Lei n, Zhao Shanling had shown up and engaged in a fierce battle with people from the Lei n.

    He hadn¡¯t given it much thought back then.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the Lei n would send people to the Realm of me Heaven through the inter-realm teleportation portal the Tool Sect had set up on that volcano immediately after their battle with Zhao Shanling, and ¡®invite¡¯ Nie Donghai and Nie Qian to their stronghold from that green bamboo forest.

    By the time he had learned about the Lei n¡¯s actions, it had already been toote.

    With threete Soul realm experts and Lei Zhenyu there to protect the Lei n, neither Wu Ji nor the other experts dared to make a rash move.

    ¡°Tell us the truth, Big Brother Dong,¡± Cao Mou said. ¡°Is Nie Tian currently in the Domain of the Falling Stars or not?¡±

    Wu Ji, who had remained silent since the beginning, fixed his eyes on Dong Wangling, waiting for his answer.

    Dong Wangling, who was stamping with fury, took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, ¡°He¡¯s in the Spirit Condor¡¯s headquarters right now.¡±

    Taken aback, Cao Mou said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that means Zhao Shanling actually said those words to help Nie Tian. He hopes that Nie Tian won¡¯t give himself up and that the Lei n will believe his words and release the hostages.¡±

    ¡°But the Lei n didn¡¯t fall for it,¡± Li Muyang from the Yang Sect said in a low voice.

    Gu Yuan let out a sigh and chimed in, ¡°The Lei n is in a dominant position right now. The powerful experts from the Divine me Sect will arrive soon. By that time, even if all of the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars unite as one, we still won¡¯t be able to contend against them. If we attack the Lei n now, we¡¯ll only bring cmity to ourselves and our sects. It¡¯s even possible that the Lei n is only holding those three hostage to provoke us to fight them, so that they can get us all at once. Then, they would be able to rule the Domain of the Falling Stars without any further resistance.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s heart grew even heavier. They all wracked their minds for a feasible n, but failed to find one.

    With a sigh, Qian Buhui from the Pill Pavilion Sect said, ¡°If there were any chance of sess, no matter how slim, I¡¯d be willing to try. After all, Nie Tian has helped us so much. However, the Lei n and the Divine me Sect are like two mountains that are weighing on our chests.¡± With these words, Qian Buhui turned to Dong Wangling and Wu Ji, an apologetic expression appearing on his face. ¡°I can¡¯t think of a way that we¡¯ll be able to defeat them.¡±

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Dong Wangling sighed weakly, not knowing whether these experts didn¡¯t want to help, or they actually thought there was no way they would win.

    ¡°Ten days...¡± Xing Huanyue said in a low voice. ¡°The Lei n only gave us ten days. Will Nie Tiane?¡±

    ¡°He will! I know it!¡± Li Muyang said with great determination.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I want him to do,¡± Dong Wangling said with a bitter expression. ¡°If hees, his grandfather, aunt, and Little Li will be safe, I suppose. After all, the Lei n won¡¯t have a reason to kill them. But if he doese, I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be able to hold onto his fragmentary star marks. Even his life will be in the Lei n¡¯s hands.¡±

    The other experts also knew perfectly well what Nie Tian would face if he dared to show up in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ¡°We still have ten days,¡± Wu Ji said, his face grim. ¡°I hope something will happen to turn the situation around.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not very likely,¡± Gu Yuan said with a frustrated tone. ¡°The Lei n and the Divine me Sect are far too powerful for us to handle.¡±

    Days passed without anything happening...

    Word of the Lei n holding Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li hostage and using them to force Nie Tian to show himself spread to every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Numerous Profound realm, Worldly realm, and even Greater Heaven stage cultivators streamed into Deste City, harboring different thoughts.

    The Lei n, however, didn¡¯t try to stop them from entering Deste City.

    Perhaps they hoped that they could use this incident to show all of the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars who was the boss now.

    Arge number of people could be seen entering and exiting the towering stone pavilions by the inter-realm teleportation portal at the center of Deste City.

    Members of the Lei n and the Thunder Mountain Sect were scattered in different areas, keeping order.

    Wearing a long, cyan dress, Qin Yan was standing on the balcony of one of the stone pavilions, gazing down at the inter-realm teleportation portal, her mind drifting away. ¡°Is Nie Tian currently in the Domain of the Falling Stars or not?¡±

    Beside her stood Cao Qiushui, Qian Xin, Dong Baijie, and Gu Haofeng.

    Eyes narrowed, Dong Baijie said, ¡°He¡¯lle for sure if he is in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If the Lei n hadn¡¯t show up, then considering Nie Tian¡¯s talent, it would only have been a matter of time for him to shine brightly over the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. But now, if he dares to show up in Deste City, he¡¯ll surely lose his three fragmentary star marks. It¡¯ll even depend on the Lei n¡¯s mood whether he¡¯ll get to live or not.¡±

    Qian Xin chimed in, ¡°Who would have thought that powerful forces from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would descend upon us so soon after the outsiders¡¯ invasion? If it weren¡¯t for these mishaps, I¡¯d have bet money that Nie Tian would be the strongest person in the Domain of the Falling Stars. But it doesn¡¯t seem that it¡¯s meaningful that we discuss that now.¡±

    ¡°I hope Nie Tian will get to live,¡± Gu Haofeng said, sounding surprisingly sincere.

    Before, he had been hostile towards Nie Tian and opposed Nie Tian at every opportunity. However, after fighting side by side with Nie Tian in that mysterious dimension, he had gradually changed his attitude towards Nie Tian.

    Later, after Nie Tian had blown up the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship with the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, crushing the outsiders¡¯ invasion, he had finally untied his emotional knots and admitted his rtionship with Dong Li.

    At this moment, he sincerely hoped that Nie Tian would survive this incident with the Lei n.

    At the same time, people from the Realm of me Heaven were gathered in a shorter stone pavilion. Jiang Zhisu, Li Jing, Chang Sen, Ghost Eye, and some others also had their eyes fixed on the inter-realm teleportation portal.

    ¡°I just hope that they won¡¯t kill Nie Tian after he gives his fragmentary star marks up,¡± Li Jing prayed out loud. ¡°He¡¯s saved the Realm of me Heaven from doom repeatedly, and we¡¯re all proud of him. Considering his talent and the kind of person he is, even without those fragmentary star marks, he¡¯ll probably still have a bright future.¡±

    Jiang Zhisu chimed in, ¡°I hope that the Lei n will leave some room for maneuver. As long as they spare Nie Tian¡¯s life, there¡¯ll still be a chance that he¡¯ll rise up and have his revenge.¡±

    Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect sighed and said, ¡°I doubt that the Lei n will give him that opportunity.¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Zhen Hun, who had just entered the Soul realm, was gazing unblinkingly at the inter-realm teleportation portal from the balcony of another stone pavilion. Pei Qiqi, Li Ye, and Li Langfeng were standing beside her.

    ¡°Nie Tian isn¡¯t Zhao Shanling,¡± Li Langfeng muttered. ¡°He¡¯lle for sure.¡±

    Since he had spent some time with Nie Tian, he had long since noticed that, unlike most people he had met, Nie Tian was a person who put great value on his family and friends.

    Therefore, he was convinced that Nie Tian would show up as long as he was currently in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    With a deep sigh, Zhen Hun said, ¡°I know that he¡¯lle, but I¡¯m hoping that he won¡¯t. If hees, then he¡¯ll be giving up his own life for the lives of his family and that Dong n girl. Now, I wish he could turn off his emotions and be as scrupleless as that maniac Zhao Shanling.¡±

    With her hands on the railing, Pei Qiqi fixed her bright, gem-like eyes on the inter-realm teleportation portal.

    <i>¡°That fool definitely wille,¡±</i> she said inwardly. <i>¡°I just hope that he¡¯ll survive this tribtion.¡±</i>

    Everyone who worried about Nie Tian or knew Nie Tian paid close attention to the inter-realm teleportation portal at the center of Deste City.

    Most of them knew what kind of person Nie Tian was, and were convinced that he woulde to Deste City. Perhaps this was why they had eache from their respective realms.

    Even though they knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to help him, they wanted to show him that there were still many who cared about him, hoping bying here, they would bring him some warmth andfort.

    On the ninth day, ck clouds filled the gloomy sky, as if a storm was brooding. Everyone felt suffocated by the depressing atmosphere.

    The inter-realm teleportation portal, which had stayed active all this time, suddenly shone with bright light under everyone¡¯s gazes.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian appeared in the middle of the teleportation portal with Hua Mu, instantly attracting everyone¡¯s attention.

    Many people didn¡¯t seem joyous upon seeing him. Instead, they sighed and felt sorry for him. ¡°He came after all...¡±

 Chapter 680: I Had To!

    Numerous figures flew out of the surrounding stone pavilions andnded by the teleportation portal one after another.

    Many shook their head and sighed with sorry faces.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Why did youe?¡±

    ¡°You must know what you¡¯ll face bying to Deste City. Why did you stille?¡±

    Nie Tian, however, stepped out of the teleportation portal and nced around, noticing that almost everyone he knew was here.

    Dong Wangling, Li Muyang, Qin Yan, Dong Baijie, Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi, Li Ye...

    Each and every one of them gazed at him, their eyes filled with sadness and pity.

    Nie Tian forced a smile and said, ¡°I had to.¡±

    Days had dragged by since he had learned that his grandfather, aunt, and Dong Li had been kidnapped by the Lei n. Every day he waited felt like torture.

    By the time he had learned that Zhao Shanling¡¯s efforts to help him had failed, he had realized that he was out of options.

    Even if he could break through into the Worldly realm within a short time and secure the legacies the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left in the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void, what would he be able to do with them?

    His grandfather, aunt, and Dong Li were being held hostage by the Lei n. Even if he could obtain those legacies, he wouldn¡¯t possibly gain the ability to contend against a Void domain expert within such a short time.

    Even his Bone Blood Demon, which had absorbed a copious amount of seventh grade outsider blood, was still only at thete Soul realm. It still had a long way to go before it could wield the battle prowess of a Void domain expert.

    Not only did the Lei n have an early Void domain expert and multiplete Soul realm experts, but they also had a powerful sect like the Divine me Sect at their back.

    He had wracked his mind, but still failed toe up with a way to force the Lei n to release his family and Dong Li.

    The only thing he could do was to do as the Lei n had demanded of him bying to the Realm of Unbounded Destion and seeing what they wanted from him.

    Wu Ji came through the crowd. ¡°I knew that you¡¯de.¡±

    With aplicated look in his eyes, he took a deep look at him and added, ¡°Do you know what awaits you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes, I do, master.¡±

    Wu Ji had a thousand words that he wanted to say to him, but in the end, they were reced by a deep sigh.

    With Lei Ze and Yu Wei standing beside him, Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect said with a taunting smile, ¡°I thought you¡¯d hole up somewhere like a scared turtle. I guess you¡¯re a bit more responsible than I thought. However, the days of you showing off your talent in the Domain of the Falling Stars will soone to an end.¡±

    With a cold face, Yu Wei blurted, ¡°You deserve this!¡±

    Lei Ze, who was Lei Zhenyu¡¯s grandson, held his head high and said arrogantly, ¡°I told you that his happy days wereing to an end. In the end, he¡¯s still only a guy who was lucky enough to obtain the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies. Without them, he¡¯s only a brat from a low family in the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe that those Profound realm losers actually failed to kill you outside Shatter City,¡± Hou Qingsen from the Poison Sect said with an icy smile. ¡°You¡¯re a lucky brat indeed, but you still don¡¯t deserve to have those fragmentary star marks. How can someone like you imagine to hold on to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies?¡±

    Nie Tian fixed him with a furious stare and said, ¡°So are you admitting that it was you who arranged for those rogue cultivators to ambush me back then?¡±

    Hou Qingsenughed out loud. ¡°What if I am? Nie Tian, I might as well tell you something else. We also singled out the spatial rift that led to the Realm of me Heaven for the outsiders.¡±

    Ji Qingyun let out a cold harrumph and chimed in, ¡°The Realm of me Heaven should have been sacked long ago!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the Qi warriors from the Realm of me Heaven all eyed Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun angrily.

    Of the numerous spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, the spatial rift that led to the Realm of me Heaven had been the first to be discovered by the outsiders.

    ording to Zhao Shanling, someone must have singled that spatial rift out for the outsiders on purpose.

    If the outsiders hadn¡¯t underestimated the resistance they would meet in the Realm of me Heaven, and Wu Ji hadn¡¯t unleashed his mighty time power and turned the situation around, the Realm of me Heaven would have been the first to fall into the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    Nie Tian had long suspected that it was the doing of the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Heaven Expanse Sect. However, he hadn¡¯t had any proof.

    Now, Hou Qingsen and Ji Qingyun admitted to it openly.

    Strong killing intent flickered in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    At this moment, Hua Mu patted him softly on his shoulder and shook his head at him, signaling him not to make any rash moves.

    Nie Tian knew that if he were to summon his Bone Blood Demon, he would be able to annihte Ji Qingyun and Hou Qingsen. However, his grandfather, aunt, and Dong Li might be killed because of this.

    After a few deep breaths, he calmed himself and asked loudly, ¡°Who here can take me to the Lei n?¡±

    As he uttered these words, pity and helplessness appeared on the faces of many experts that were gathered in this ce.

    They were well aware of what was waiting for Nie Tian if he went to the Lei n¡¯s stronghold.

    Lei Zhenyu appeared on the balcony of the loftiest stone pavilion. With a hint of acent smile on his pale face, he gazed down at the experts on the ground and said, ¡°There¡¯s no rush. The nmaster of the Lei n won¡¯t return until tomorrow.¡±

    Even though he still hadn¡¯t recovered from the injuries Zhao Shanling had inflicted on him two weeks ago, he seemed to enjoy this moment.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, Li Mu Yang, and many other Soul realm experts were gathered by the teleportation portal. Before, these experts had been on equal footing with him, if not higher.

    But now, they had be people who he could order around as he pleased, with the Lei n at his back.

    His gaze swept across the faces of these Soul realm experts, as if he enjoyed seeing the insecure and uneasy looks in their eyes very much.

    Hua Mu looked up. Face filled with awe-inspiring righteousness, he said, ¡°Brother Lei, now that Nie Tian is here, and he¡¯s willing to offer everything he knows and has about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I hope you can give us face and spare his life. As you know, it was Nie Tian who single-handedly sealed the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and killed the Demons¡¯ invasion in its cradle.

    ¡°Four years ago, because Nie Tian annihted the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s grand spell formation, we eventually got to win the battle of the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for him, I¡¯m afraid that the Domain of the Falling Stars would have long since be another rangnd of the outsiders. We all benefited greatly from his efforts, including your sect, so I hope that you can...¡±

    Before Hua Mu could finish, Lei Zhenyu interrupted him. Looking rather impatient, he said, ¡°Alright, alright, I don¡¯t have time to listen to this! I won¡¯t get to determine how we¡¯ll dispose of Nie Tian. He¡¯ll be our offering to the Divine me Sect. His life will be in their hands, not ours.¡±

    Hua Mu forced a smile on his grim face and said, ¡°I just hope that you can say something in Nie Tian¡¯s favor to the experts from the Divine me Sect.¡±

    Lei Zhenyu refused indifferently. ¡°Sorry, the powerful experts of the Divine me Sect won¡¯t be swayed by me.¡±

    At this moment, Xia Yi appeared on the balcony of another stone pavilion. In a casual manner, he called out, ¡°Brother Lei! I couldn¡¯t care less about Nie Tian¡¯s life. I only hope that you can talk to the Divine me Sect and see if I can have the me Dragon Armor in his possession. As you know, the me Dragon Armor belonged to our sect in the first ce.

    ¡°As long as they grant me this favor, I¡¯ll immediately pledge my loyalty to them and join their sect, along with all of my sect members!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get word to them through the Lei n,¡± Lei Zhenyu said.

    Xia Yi sped his hands towards Lei Zhenyu and said, ¡°Many thanks, Brother Lei! If they agree to this, I¡¯ll personally make sure your effort is well rewarded!¡±

    With these words, he gave Nie Tian a nasty grin, as if the me Dragon Armor in Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding had already fallen into his hands.

    ¡°Brother Lei!¡± Han Mu said loudly. ¡°Can we have a moment alone? There¡¯s something I¡¯d like to talk to you about.¡±

    Lei Zhenyu hesitated briefly before nodding slightly and saying, ¡°Alright,e with me.¡±

    Hua Mu shot up andnded lightly on the balcony where Lei Zhenyu was standing. Then, he followed him into the stone pavilion.

    With a wave of hisrge hand, Lei Zhenyu filled the six faces of the stone room with fine lightning bolts, soundproofing the room.

    Afterwards, Hua Mu took out a ring of holding and handed it to Lei Zhenyu. Lei Zhenyu¡¯s eyes widened greatly after he examined its content with his soul awareness.

    ¡°The Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon and three Spirit Channeling grade treasures,¡± Hua Mu exined. ¡°That hammer is a thunder-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure, which I believe will agree with you perfectly, Brother Lei. I only hope that I can buy Nie Tian¡¯s life with them. Nie Tian will cooperate and hand his fragmentary star marks over to the Divine me Sect. His survival is all that I¡¯m asking.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Lei Zhenyu put his ring of holding away and said, ¡°I can only tell you that I¡¯ll try to get through to them, but I can¡¯t promise you anything.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded. ¡°That¡¯d be great. Many thanks, Brother Lei.¡±

    With these words, Hua Mu turned around and left the room.

    After he left, Lei Zhenyu held that ring of holding close and fondled it, his eyes glittering.

    Sneering, he muttered, ¡°How can he not die? If he doesn¡¯t die, he¡¯ll still have the memories of the profound incantations he has learned from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce over all these years. With the help of those incantations, he¡¯d still be able to rise to an extremely high level. Since we¡¯ve already made a move against his family and lover, how would we still let him live, and give ourselves such big future trouble?¡±

    With an easy expression, Lei Zhenyu put the ring of holding away, not showing the slightest intention of talking to the people from the Lei n or the Divine me Sect.

 Chapter 681: Visitors from the Divine Flame Sect

    Inside a room, Hua Mu¡¯s face was clouded by deep concern as he said to Zong Zheng, Lu Yuanxi, Dong Wangling, and Wu Ji, ¡°I gave the stuff to Lei Zhenyu, and he said he¡¯d try to get through to the Divine me Sect. But he didn¡¯t promise that it would work.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Lu Yuanxi said, ¡°To him, those three Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools and the broken Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon are precious treasures that fell into hisp. Also, we¡¯re not asking for much. All we want is for them to spare Nie Tian¡¯s life. As long as he can survive this tribtion, he¡¯ll still have a chance to turn his fate around.¡±

    Hua Mu sighed and said, ¡°Actually, that¡¯s why I¡¯m worried they won¡¯t spare his life. He¡¯s so beyond ordinary.¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow, Lei Tianqi, the early Void domain expert from the Lei n, will arrive in the Realm of Unbounded Destion,¡± Dong Wangling said with a helpless tone. ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see what his attitude is going to be.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Lu Yuanxi sighed. ¡°The Lei n thought this through. They chose to establish their foothold in the Realm of Unbounded Destion for a reason. They must have learned that Nie Tian shattered the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship in the Realm of Mystic Heaven with the help of the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°If the Lei n set up their foothold in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of me Heaven or the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, instead of the Realm of Unbounded Destion, they wouldn¡¯t have behaved so shamelessly.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Dong Wangling let out a cold harrumph. ¡°If we were in either of those three realms, Nie Tian would probably be able to overbear the Lei n simply by relying on his fragmentary star marks.¡±

    ¡°Lei Tianqi is returning tomorrow. Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡± Zong Zheng asked.

    ¡°He said he wanted to spend some time alone.¡± With these words, Hua Mu turned to look at Wu Ji, who had remained silent the whole time. ¡°This must be very hard for you to swallow. I suppose he doesn¡¯t want us to see him down and vulnerable, so he locked himself up.¡±

    ¡°I hope he¡¯ll survive this tribtion,¡± Zong Zheng chimed in.

    That night...

    Nie Tian stayed by himself in a secluded stone pavilion in Deste City, and refused to meet anyone who came to console him.

    With his hands on the railing, he gazed off towards the volcano where the Lei n was now located, images of Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li shing across his mind.

    He wanted to visit them, but he worried that meeting them in person would only make everyone sadder.

    ¡°I just hope that they won¡¯t do anything to them.¡±

    After a very long time, he let out a deep sigh and finally walked inside.

    At dawn on the tenth day...

    A shining, ancient silver starship split the thick, dark clouds and appeared soundlessly high in the sky in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    As soon as it appeared, the numerous experts that had gathered in Deste City looked up at it.

    Many of them knew that Lei Tianqi from the Lei n had previously headed out into the starry river in that ancient starship to build teleportation portals on suitable dead stars in order to open a path between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The return of that ancient starship meant the early Void domain Lei Tianqi was back.

    His return would make the Lei npletely unchanged. Even if Zhao Shanling came back, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do any more damage.

    Standing in the street or on the balconies of their respective stone pavilions, Qi warriors from different sects gazed up at the ancient starship and said, ¡°Lei Tianqi is back!¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian also came to his balcony and looked up into the sky. He saw the ancient silver starship that was hundreds of meters long. A huge banner that had numerous lightning bolts on it could be seen on the starship, making it obvious that it was Lei n property.

    Qi warriors started discussing among themselves, looking at the Lei n¡¯s ancient starship.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Lei n¡¯s ancient starship? It looks much smaller than the Phantasms¡¯.¡±

    ¡°After all, the Lei n isn¡¯t among the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The Divine me Sect is. The Lei n is only one of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate ns, but it¡¯s already very impressive that they have an ancient starship to themselves.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that we¡¯re not in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. If we were, perhaps Nie Tian would be able to wield the power of the profound spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to destroy it!¡±

    ¡°Even if we were in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, I doubt that Nie Tian would do that. He can¡¯t risk the lives of his grandfather, aunt, and that Dong n girl. If he did that, those three would probably die.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. If he could ignore the safety of those three, he wouldn¡¯t have done as the Lei n demanded by showing up here in the first ce.¡±

    Most of them felt sorry for Nie Tian and deemed that, if the Lei n hadn¡¯t held Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li hostage, they probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to find Nie Tian at all.

    Considering Nie Tian¡¯s talent, if it weren¡¯t for this incident with the Lei n, he would have probably be the strongest cultivator throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars one day.

    Knowing that such a promising star would most likely die prematurely, they felt deeply sorry.

    WHOOSH!

    As the ancient starship flew to the point between Deste City and the volcano which had been seized by the Lei n, Lei Zhenyu took the initiative to fly out of his stone pavilion.

    Lei Tianhong, Lu Minhuang, Zhang Zhongchi, and a few other experts also flew out of the Lei n¡¯s headquarters on the volcano.

    Soon, the ancient starship berthed in the sky close to the volcano.

    Lei Tianhong and the others arrived one after another to meet Lei Tianqi.

    The early Void domain Lei Tianqi, who was the nmaster of the Lei n, was a scrawny old man.

    Even though he looked rather unimpressive, faint rolls of thunder could be heard from the area he was in, as if the thunder in the highest heavens would answer his summons and inflict heavenly punishment on his enemies at any moment.

    ¡°How did it go, brother?¡± Lei Tianhong asked his older brother.

    He was aware that they had already left several teleportation portals along their way when they had first steered their ancient starship to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    His older brother had only returned to the starry river to adjust the existing teleportation portals and set up a couple of new ones toplete the path between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    As he uttered these words, Lei Zhenyu rushed over and said with great respect, ¡°Greetings, nmaster.¡±

    Lei Tianqi sounded somewhat excited as he said, ¡°We¡¯ve already sent word to the Divine me Sect and received their reply. The Divine me Sect has put great value on this matter. They emphasized repeatedly that it¡¯s of paramount importance that we find the person who has obtained the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies.

    ¡°The grand elder of the Divine me Sect is going to arrive in the Domain of the Falling Stars in five days through the teleportation portals we built.¡±

    Overjoyed, Lei Tianhong eximed, ¡°The grand elder ising here himself?¡±

    Lei Tianqiughed. ¡°Exactly. Our n isn¡¯t ranked very high among the six subordinate forces of the Divine me Sect. But I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll rise to the top after this incident! There are considerable amounts of unexplored minerals and Qi warrior sects in the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars. The Divine me Sect will definitely reward us handsomely for our unparalleled contribution!¡±

    ¡°That Nie Tian kid is already waiting in Deste City, and so are the experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Lei Tianhong reported to his older brother.

    ¡°Good!¡± Lei Tianqi said, high-spirited. ¡°Now, we only need to wait for grand elder toe so we can present everything to him.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Lei Zhenyu said, ¡°nmaster, we can¡¯t let that Nie Tian kid live even after the Divine me Sect strips those fragmentary star marks from him. He¡¯ll pose a great threat to us all if we don¡¯t kill him. That kid possesses extraordinary cultivation talent and incredibly good luck. He¡¯s had many miraculous encounters. Even without the fragmentary star marks, there¡¯ll still a good chance that he¡¯ll be able to rise to prominence. We can¡¯t afford to leave ourselves such big potential trouble.¡±

    Lei Tianqi¡¯s eyes rolled back and forth as he said, ¡°This¡¯ll depend on the Divine me Sect¡¯s attitude towards him, but I¡¯ll try to put in a few words.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Lei Zhenyu didn¡¯t pursue the matter anymore, but instead asked, ¡°Do you want to see that kid?¡±

    Lei Tianqi waved his hand and said with a disdainful smile, ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. He¡¯ll probably die in five days. It won¡¯t matter whether I meet him in person or not. Since we have his family, I doubt that he¡¯ll dare to cause us any trouble.¡±

    With these words, the tips of his eyebrows rose. ¡°Make some alterations to the inter-realm teleportation portal in Deste City and put more hands on it. Make sure that people cane through it, but not leave. Five days to go. We need to make sure that kid doesn¡¯t change his mind and escape.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Lei Zhenyu volunteered to shoulder the task.

    Time flew, and five days passed...

    The inter-realm teleportation portal on the volcano the Lei n had seized suddenly started to emanate intense spatial fluctuations

    A short but iparably muscr old man appeared at the center of the portal.

    Numerous fine, fiery patterns could be seen on the old man¡¯s bare arms. Like tattoos of mes, they seemed as if they were burning furiously.

    As soon as he stepped out of the inter-realm teleportation portal, theva at the heart of the volcano, which the Tool Sect had sealed with a spell formation, seethed.

    Standing there, the old man looked like a fire god who could summon mes at will and single-handedly cause upheavals to the Realm of Unbounded Destion with the boilingva in the depths of the earth.

    Lei Tianqi and Lei Tianhong were the first to bow respectfully towards him. ¡°Greetings, grand elder!¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± the old man asked with a resounding voice that sounded like the tolling of arge bell. Fiery sparks seemed to sputter from the corners of his mouth as he spoke.

    ¡°He¡¯s in Deste City, which is not far from here,¡± Lei Tianhong said, bowing slightly and full of smiles. ¡°Rest assured, grand elder. Since we have his family, he¡¯s been waiting for you obediently. All you need to do is go there and take his fragmentary star marks.¡±

    The old man from the Divine me Sect gasped with astonishment as mes of anger appeared in his eyes. ¡°What!? I only told you to find him. Who told you to use such a method to force him to show up?!¡±

    Lei Tianhong¡¯s smile froze on his face. ¡°Umm...¡±

    With an awkward smile, he asked, ¡°How about I arrange for him toe here to greet you now?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll go see him!¡± With these words, the old man let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Bring his family to me now!¡±

    Even though Lei Tianhong was confused, he didn¡¯t dare to ask questions, so he left in haste. Momentster, he returned with Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li.

    Upon seeing the lightning chains around their necks, the old man from the Divine me Sect frowned and berated them angrily. ¡°You idiots!¡±

 Chapter 682: An Unforeseen Turn of Events

    Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li were brought in front of the grand elder of the Divine me Sect, helplessness filling their faces.

    Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect shot a nasty re at Lei Tianhong. ¡°What¡¯s with the lightning chains on their necks?¡±

    ¡°Umm... They are to prevent them from escaping ormitting suicide.¡± Lei Tianhong came out with the truth.

    After observing in silence for a while, Lei Tianqi finally couldn¡¯t help but say with a confused expression, ¡°Grand elder... We only did this so that you could strip Nie Tian of those fragmentary star marks as soon as you arrive.¡±

    ¡°Who told you that you could take it upon yourself to make such a decision?!¡± With these words, Yue Yanxi jerked his head towards Nie Donghai and made a grabbing motion towards his neck.

    ¡°Nie Tian already came as you demanded. What are you still doing?!¡± Dong Li shouted in her womanly voice.

    Nie Qian¡¯s face turned pale with fright.

    Nie Donghai, however, closed his eyes and didn¡¯t utter a word or move a bit, as if he knew that since they had lost their value, the Divine me Sect had decided to finish them off, leaving no future trouble.

    However, Yue Yanxiid his fingers gently on the lightning chains.

    BZZZ!

    With an effortless flick of his fingers, the lightning chains around Nie Donghai¡¯s neck snapped in an instant.

    Lei Tianhong gave a muffled groan, a hint of a pained look appearing in his eyes.

    It was him who had created those lightning chains and infused each of them with a wisp of his soul power, which was eliminated the moment the lightning chains snapped.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s eyes snapped open, and he stared at Yue Yanxi with a deeply confused look on his face.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Without saying a word, Yue Yanxi went on and snapped the lightning chains around Nie Qian and Dong Li¡¯s necks.

    ¡°Grand elder!?¡± Lei Tianqi eximed, looking deeply puzzled.

    With three wisps of his soul power eliminated, Lei Tianhong looked to be in quite arge amount of pain. Even still, he didn¡¯t dare to say a word.

    Yue Yanxi smiled somewhat embarrassedly as he asked with a surprisingly warm voice, ¡°Who are you to Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m his grandfather.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m his aunt.¡±

    ¡°Well... I¡¯m his fiancee.¡±

    The three of them answered one by one.

    By this point, they had all noticed Yue Yanxi¡¯s strange behavior and were wondering what this expert from the Divine me Sect wanted to do.

    ¡°The Lei n¡¯s previous behavior was very inappropriate. I¡¯d like to apologize to you on their behalf.¡± With these words, Yue Yanxi jerked his head towards Lei Tianqi and Lei Tianhong, fixing them with a stern look. Then, he turned his head back towards Nie Donghai and said, ¡°I instructed the Lei n to find the person who¡¯s received the legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but I meant no harm.

    ¡°However, these idiots misunderstood me and took it upon themselves to kidnap you to force Nie Tian to give himself up. I¡¯m very sorry for their despicable behavior.¡±

    With these words, the middle Void domain Yue Yanxi, whose status in the Divine me Sect was only second to the sectmaster, actually bowed respectfully towards Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li.

    The Lei brothers stood aghast.

    The same went for Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Deste City?¡± Yue Yanxi asked with a stern face.

    ¡°Not far from here,¡± Lei Tianqi answered hastily.

    Yue Yanxi then summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool that was in the shape of a bird and beckoned for Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li toe on board. Afterwards, he turned to the Lei brothers and ordered, ¡°Show me the way! We¡¯ll meet Nie Tian in Deste City!¡±

    The Lei brothers exchanged a nce, their faces growing grim, as if they knew something bad was going to happen.

    However, they didn¡¯t dare to say anything. Seeing the impatient look on Yue Yanxi¡¯s face, they hastily flew through the curtain of lightning bolts that surrounded the volcano, and traveled towards Deste City at a moderate speed.

    Yue Yanxi started the air-transportation spiritual tool and followed the Lei brothers into the distance.

    With a confused expression, Dong Li couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Senior, so your sect didn¡¯t tell the Lei n to do what they did?¡±

    ¡°We only wanted to find Nie Tian, but we never told them to use such a despicable method.¡± With these words, Yue Yanxi took a nce at the wounds around their necks, which had clearly been caused by the lightning chains. ¡°Rest assured. We¡¯ll make amends for what¡¯s been done to you and Nie Tian.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Donghai finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°If I may ask... What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Yue Yanxi hesitated briefly before saying, ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t discuss the details with you. I can only talk to Nie Tian about that. But I can assure you that we never harbored the intention of stripping Nie Tian of his fragmentary star marks. You have to believe that my sect has no evil intentions toward Nie Tian.¡±

    Seeing that Nie Donghai finally seemed to set his mind at ease, he said inwardly, <i>¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce arranged for those Heaven Gate trials for the sole purpose of picking a Son of the Stars. The fact that he obtained those fragmentary star marks proved that he¡¯s the Son of the Stars the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has gone to great lengths to find.</i>

    <i>¡°The Lei brothers are such a couple of morons!¡±</i>

    ...

    In Deste City.

    With an iparablyplicated look in his eyes, Qi Bailu gazed off in the Lei n¡¯s direction and said in a low voice, ¡°The representative of the Divine me Sect seems to have arrived. Theva at the heart of the earth suddenly became very active just now. Many volcanoes have started to show signs of erupting.

    ¡°Even the me power in the vicinity seems to be influenced somehow and is starting to converge on that area.

    ¡°His arrival alone brought such great changes to heaven and earth. It must be a powerful expert from the Divine me Sect.¡±

    Zhen Hun nodded slightly. ¡°I sensed the changes as well. Plus, today is the day they said the people from the Divine me Sect were going to arrive. That must be them.¡±

    Lei Zhenyu, Lu Minhuang, and Zhang Zhongchi were waiting by the inter-realm teleportation portal at the center of Deste City.

    ¡°This is it,¡± Lei Zhenyu said, his eyes narrowed. ¡°This is the day when everything is determined.¡±

    Standing beside him, Xia Yi chuckled and said, ¡°Please try to talk to the Divine me Sect and let them know that as long as they give the me Dragon Armor to me, I¡¯ll be willing to join the Divine me Sect along with my entire sect.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± Lei Zhenyu said, looking high-spirited and vigorous.

    Immediately afterwards, two lightning-wreathed figures appeared in the distant sky, flying towards Deste City from the Lei n¡¯s direction.

    Lei Zhenyu¡¯s expression flickered before his face split into a smile. ¡°The nmaster of the Lei n must being here to take Nie Tian back to their headquarters to meet the expert from the Divine me Sect. After they¡¯re finished with Nie Tian, they¡¯ll probably summon all of us to discuss the future of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian!?¡± he thundered.

    Nie Tian jumped off the remote stone pavilion where he had stayed by himself and refused to see anyone over the past few days. After a lightnding, he walked along the streets towards the center square.

    Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars within the towering stone pavilions on both sides of the street pushed their windows open or came to their balconies to see Nie Tian, sympathy filling their eyes.

    In their eyes, Nie Tian dragged his dreary steps, as if he knew that death awaited him.

    They felt even sadder as the things Nie Tian had done for the Domain of the Falling Stars over the years shed across their minds.

    Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect stood on the balcony of one of the stone pavilions with Ling Dong beside him. He sighed and said, ¡°He might have been the brightest star the Domain of the Falling Stars has ever seen. Who would have thought that he would suffer such a fate? Before, every time I thought of Ning Yang, I grew indignant, for he should have been the one to inherit the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies. But now, it seems that it¡¯s not necessarily a fortunate thing to possess the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies. I¡¯ve got to say that it¡¯s a pity to watch that kide to such an end.¡±

    Ling Dong, however, said with a gloating tone, ¡°That¡¯s because he doesn¡¯t deserve to have the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies in the first ce. After all, he¡¯s only a brat from a low background.¡±

    Those who resented Nie Tian fixed him with cold gazes while making taunting statements.

    However, those who admired him stepped out of their stone pavilions and followed him towards the central square in silence.

    After Nie Tian arrived at the central square, Lei Zhenyu said coldly, ¡°Wait here. The master of the Lei n ising to take you to the grand elder of the Divine me Sect.¡±

    Without uttering a word, Nie Tian nodded, expecting the worst case scenario.

    Soon, Soul realm experts, including Hua Mu, Wu Ji, Dong Wangling, and Zong Zheng gathered around the square, along with juniors like Dong Baijie, Qin Yan, and Li Ye. Each and every one of them had grim expressions on their faces.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Two streaks of lightning shed down from the sky, which turned out to be Lei Tianhong and Lei Tianqi.

    ¡°nmaster,¡± Lei Zhenyu said respectfully. ¡°Nie Tian is here, waiting to be taken away.¡±

    With aplicated expression, Lei Tianqi waved his hand at him and said, ¡°There¡¯s been a change of ns. The grand elder ising to Deste City himself.¡±

    As he uttered these words, the air-transportation spiritual tool that looked like a zing bird entered everyone¡¯s sight.

    Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect was standing in it with Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li.

    In everyone¡¯s eyes, the three of them were being used to force Nie Tian to give up his fragmentary star marks.

    WHOOSH!

    The air-transportation spiritual tool gradually came to a stop in the central square. Yue Yanxi nced down and spotted Nie Tian instantly. ¡°Are you Nie Tian, the one who received the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly. ¡°I¡¯ll do my utmost to cooperate so that you can strip the fragmentary star marks from me. All I ask is for you to release my family and friend.¡±

    Yue Yanxi gave an embarrassed smile. Just as he was going to exin, Xia Yi stepped forward, bowed, and said respectfully, ¡°My name is Xia Yi. I¡¯m the sectmaster of the me God Sect. I have a small favor to ask before you strip his fragmentary star marks. I hope that you¡¯ll grant me the me Dragon Armor, which is currently in Nie Tian¡¯s possession. It belonged to me originally.

    ¡°As long as you can grant me this favor, I¡¯ll pledge my loyalty to the Divine me Sect along with all of my sect members!¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°me Dragon Armor!?¡±

 Chapter 683: The Flame Dragon Armors Origin

    Xia Yi smiled and said, ¡°Yes, the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Several hundred years ago, someone showed up with the me Dragon Armor on a dead star that was close to the Realm of Dark Underworld. Back then, Brother Zhang from the Poison Sect, Brother Lu from the Spirit God Sect, and I were all at the early Soul realm, and were searching for spiritual materials on that dead star when we encountered that person.¡±

    Both Zhang Zhongchi and Lu Minghuang nodded, admitting that Xia Yi was telling the truth.

    Xia Yi went on to exin, ¡°The three of us exerted ourselves and won the close battle, then we prepared to kill him and take his valuables. However, just before he died, he cast the Blood Core of the me Dragon Armor through the atmosphere into space.

    ¡°The Blood Core held the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul and a considerable amount of me power. The three of us could only watch it disappear into the starry river.

    ¡°We had teleported to that dead star through an ancient teleportation portal, and didn¡¯t have the ability to travel through space to chase after the Blood Core.

    ¡°After that, the Blood Core vanished. I only had the iplete me Dragon Armor to myself.

    ¡°With the residual power within it, the Blood Core must have traveled very far, but somehow it ended up in the Realm of me Heaven and fell into Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    ¡°ording to the agreement that Brother Zhang, Brother Lu, and I had, I¡¯d get to keep this Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool. After aborious search, I learned that the Blood Core had appeared in the Realm of me Heaven...

    Xia Yi brought out his history with the me Dragon Armor in detail to show his desire for the me Dragon Armor, as well as his rightful im over it.

    Hua Mu interrupted him by saying, ¡°The me Dragon Armor you got was only an empty shell! The Blood Core is its most important part. Since Nie Tian got it, the me Dragon Armor should belong to Nie Tian! Back when Nie Tian first got the Blood Core, it had used up its me power and be a wonderless bone. It was Nie Tian who nourished it back to its original state and awakened its soul.

    ¡°Since you did none of that, you have no right to im the me Dragon Armor!¡±

    Xia Yi let out a cold harrumph. ¡°If we didn¡¯t kill that person, the Blood Core wouldn¡¯t have ended up in the Realm of me Heaven in the first ce!¡±

    The two of them entered a heated argument over the ownership of the me Dragon Armor.

    Nie Tian, however, stood off to the side and didn¡¯t say a word. He only looked up at Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li, who were standing in the air-transportation spiritual tool that looked like a zing bird.

    He felt somewhat relieved after seeing their calm expressions.

    However, he felt somewhat confused by the strange looks the three of them were giving him.

    From the look of it, they didn¡¯t seem very concerned with their safety or Nie Tian¡¯s, as if they knew that someone would protect them from harm.

    Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect nodded slightly. ¡°I see. So you¡¯re saying that you teamed up and killed the person who had the me Dragon Armor, right?¡±

    Lu Minhuang from the Spirit God Sect chuckled and said, ¡°Exactly. Also, both my sect and the Poison Sect have made our stance clear to the Lei n. We¡¯re willing to be subordinate sects of your honorable sect. Brother Xia¡¯s me God Sect will do the same as long as you promise him the me Dragon Armor, which belonged to him in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°Did you know who the person you killed was?¡± Yue Yanxi asked with a grim face.

    ¡°No, we didn¡¯t.¡± Lu Minhuang shook his head. ¡°But we knew that he wasn¡¯t from the Domain of the Falling Stars because none of us had ever seen him before.¡±

    Yue Yanxi took a deep breath, strong killing intent appearing in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re right. He wasn¡¯t from the Domain of the Falling Stars. He was from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and... he was our sectmaster¡¯s son!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the powerful experts that were gathered in this ce gasped in shock.

    The Lei brothers¡¯ faces were also filled with disbelief. Apparently, even they didn¡¯t know that the me Dragon Armor had originally belonged to the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster.

    Xia Yi, Lu Minhuang, and Zhang Zhongchi¡¯s faces turned pale with fright as soon as they learned that the person they had killed together was actually the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster.

    After exchanging a nce, they bolted towards the inter-realm teleportation portal, as if they were scared soulless.

    A brutal look appeared on Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Thank you for solving this long-standing mystery. I can¡¯t believe it was you three who killed our sectmaster¡¯s son! Today is the day when the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect are eliminated from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    WHOOSH!

    With these words, a fiery spark flew out from between his eyebrows.

    In the next moment, theva in the depths of the earth throughout the entire Realm of Unbounded Destion started to seethe violently.

    Even a few extinct volcanoes erupted, spewing torrential mes straight up into the heavens.

    At the same time, the fiery spark rapidly expanded and morphed into a fiery realm in the blink of an eye. Countless streaks of fiery light could be seen shing across the inside of the realm, which was filled with clusters of zing light.

    The fiery realm released so much heat that everyone around it was soon covered in sweat.

    Simultaneously, raging me power converged from all directions.

    Everyone gasped as they saw crimson clouds swarming into Deste City.

    Many cultivators with low cultivation bases felt as if Deste City had be a zing purgatory. One after another, they madly summoned their spiritual power, forming numerous glowing wards around them, hoping to ward off the unbearable heat.

    However, their wards couldn¡¯t withstand the heat, and exploded one after another.

    Within merely a few seconds, some of them already had their skin burned by the overly intense me power.

    Upon seeing this, many Soul realm experts formed hand seals to cover Deste City with all sorts of energy wards to prevent their n or sect members from being charred.

    WHOOSH!

    The floating fiery realm created by Yue Yanxi started to spin at an rming rate, unleashing zing auras that could turn heaven and earth to ashes.

    Xia Yi and the other two, who had already charged into the inter-realm teleportation portal, were busy undoing the seal that prevented anyone from leaving, which Lei Zhenyu had established, when the zing auras whooshed down and engulfed them. Therefore, they had to summon their spiritual tools, struggling to stay alive with their help.

    However, Yue Yanxi¡¯s fiery realm gradually descended from midair, while raining torrential me auras on them like an erupting volcano.

    In a sh, Xia Yi, Zhang Zhongchi, and Lu Minhuang were enveloped by the fiery realm and swallowed by a sea of mes.

    The three of them seemed to scream miserably inside, yet not the slightest sound came out.

    ¡°Come back!¡± Yue Yanxi said.

    With a casual flick of his sleeve, the fiery realm started to shrink rapidly.

    Three secondster, it shrank to the size of a grain of sand and flew back into Yue Yanxi¡¯s forehead between his eyebrows.

    The moment the fiery spot disappeared, the raging me power that was pouring into Deste City scattered and dissipated into the air.

    The anomaly with the seethingva at the heart of the earth also gradually vanished.

    Dong Baijie, who had just survived death, fixed the muscr short elder with a disbelieving gaze as he muttered, ¡°Is this the mighty power of a Void domain expert?! With a thought, he can cause upheavals to heaven and earth, and create a realm of his own, with which he can burn all lives away.¡±

    ¡°That was close...¡± Cao Qiushui said while wiping sweat off his face. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for our patriarchs, we would have been burned to ashes.¡±

    Experts from different sects also fixed Yue Yanxi with disbelieving and fearful gazes.

    Xia Yi, Lu Minhuang, and Zhang Zhongchi were allte Soul realm experts, and yet they were annihted by that fiery realm in barely a couple of seconds.

    Not just that, but every Qi warrior under the Profound realm felt as if they had been plunged into a sea of mes, and almost died from the repercussions.

    The only ones that remainedpletely unaffected the whole time were Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, Nie Tian, and Dong Li.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li were standing in seemed to have absorbed all of the me power in that small space, preventing the three of them from experiencing any difort.

    Nie Tian, however, stood close to Yue Yanxi.

    The moment Yue Yanxi hadunched his attack, he seemed to have formed a ward of soul power around Nie Tian, warding off the furious me power for him.

    Nie Tian had been surprised to find himself protected by the mysterious force, yet he didn¡¯t know where that force came from.

    He spent some time organizing his speech before saying with a stutter, ¡°Well... I¡¯ve got nothing to do with the death of your sectmaster¡¯s son. I just happened to obtain the Blood Core.¡±

    With these words, he summoned the me Dragon Armor from within his ring of holding. With a depressed look in his eyes, he added, ¡°Since it belonged to your sect, I now return it to you.¡±

    Many people had nervous expressions as they fixed their eyes on Nie Tian, suspecting that Nie Tian would suffer the same fate as Xia Yi, Lu Minhuang, and Zhang Zhongchi, and the reason why Yue Yanxi hadn¡¯t killed him yet was because he needed to strip the fragmentary star marks from him first.

    Yue Yanxi sighed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you have the me Dragon Armor. Perhaps this is fate. We don¡¯t want the me Dragon Armor back. Since you have it, it¡¯s yours.¡±

    A shocked expression filled Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Huh?!¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression grew serious as he said, ¡°Our sect only instructed the Lei n to find you, but didn¡¯t tell them to use such despicable methods. This was our fault. For this, I offer you our sincerest apologies. Also, we¡¯ll make amends for what¡¯s been done to you and your family.¡±

    ¡°W-what¡¯s happening?¡± Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    The Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars also stood aghast, staring unblinkingly at Yue Yanxi, confusion and shock filled their eyes.

 Chapter 684 Time for Payback

    ¡°Not only is he not taking Nie Tian¡¯s fragmentary star marks, but he¡¯s even apologizing to him?!¡± Dong Wangling muttered, his lifeless eyes gradually filling with vigor again.

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes also lit up instantly.

    ¡°What?!¡± Ling Dong from the Heaven Pce Sect eximed, standing among the crowd. Then, he turned to Zhao Luofeng and asked, ¡°What the hell is the Divine me Sect doing? Those marks contain the profound secrets of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re not taking them!¡±

    Zhao Luofeng observed Yue Yanxi¡¯s every move and noticed that the Lei brothers had been in fear and trepidation.

    Soon, he came to a realization. With a sigh, he said, ¡°It appears that the Divine me Sect is apprehensive about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Perhaps Nie Tian has already obtained some sort of status within the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after getting those three marks, even though he might not know it yet.

    ¡°That expert from the Divine me Sect must know about that, so he doesn¡¯t dare to do anything to Nie Tian.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is the most ancient and powerful Qi warrior sect throughout the starry river. I¡¯m afraid,pared to it, the Divine me Sect is not even worth mentioning.

    ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s showing so much respect to Nie Tian.¡±

    Ling Dong¡¯s expression flickered as he chimed in, ¡°Can it be that the sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have some sort of connection to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°Very likely,¡± Zhao Luofeng said.

    The others also entered heated discussions with each other upon hearing Yue Yanxi¡¯s words.

    A mor took over the central square of Deste City, and there was no signs of it ending anytime soon.

    By now, everyone had realized that, judging from Yue Yanxi¡¯s humble attitude towards Nie Tian, Nie Tian would probably be able to survive this incident, unlike what they had expected.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian shot a concerned gaze at Nie Donghai and said, ¡°So my grandfather and...¡±

    Yue Yanxiughed. ¡°I brought them here personally. Of course, they¡¯ll be safe from now on.¡± Then, he jerked his head towards Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li. ¡°I¡¯ve already apologized to you. I hope you can forgive us for being negligent.¡±

    Nie Donghai hastily said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. We¡¯re fine.¡±

    Nie Qian also expressed that everything was forgiven since no one was badly hurt.

    Dong Li, however, sensed the subtle change in the situation from Yue Yanxi¡¯s attitude towards Nie Tian. With a long face, she said, ¡°Ji Qingyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect seized me in the street with a band of Poison Sect and Spirit God Sect disciples. Not only did he drag me to that volcano, but he even pped me on the face.¡±

    ¡°Ji Qingyun!¡± Dong Wangling thundered.

    At this moment, Ji Qingyun was standing among the crowd, beside Lei Ze and Yu Wei.

    Upon hearing Dong Li¡¯s usation, he hastily jerked his head towards Lei Zhenyu, hoping he could put in a few words in his favor.

    Di Ruyun also rapidly turned to look at Lei Zhenyu with a begging look in his eyes.

    Just as he was about to say something, he noticed the icy stare Lei Tianqi, the nmaster of the Lei n, was giving him.

    Therefore, he shut his mouth.

    WHOOSH!

    A lightning bolt that looked like a cyan snake suddenly flew out of Lei Tianqi¡¯s cuff towards Ji Qingyun.

    Ji Qingyun¡¯s face turn pale with fright as he saw the lightning snake. Just as he was about to justify his actions, he experienced violent rumbles and turbulences in his mind.

    At this moment, his sea of consciousness started to crumble, along with all of his memories.

    Immediately afterwards, the cyan lightning bolt drilled into him through his nostrils. Buzzing sounds kepting from his shaking body, which was soon wreathed in tiny lightning bolts.

    Momentster, he copsed to the ground.

    Then, Dong Li raised her hand and pointed at Yu Wei. ¡°She, Yu Wei from the Heaven Expanse Sect, cursed me and Nie Tian¡¯s aunt. She called us ¡®bitches¡¯.¡±

    Nie Tian shot a cold look at Yu Wei, killing intent brooding in his heart.

    Scared out of her mind, Yu Wei screamed miserably, ¡°Please! No! Sectmaster, help me!¡±

    Di Ruyun, the sectmaster of the Heaven Expanse Sect, sagged his head in silence, as if he had be deaf, not showing the slightest intention of begging Lei Tianqi to spare her life.

    Apparently, he was well-aware that, now that things hade to this point, someone had to take the me and shoulder the consequences.

    In a casual manner, Lei Tianqi spit one word, ¡°Die!¡±

    As soon as he did, a bolt of lightning struck down on Yu Wei from the clouded heavens, with might that could annihte souls.

    Yu Wei¡¯s eyes were filled with tiny lightning bolts as she fell to the ground and died.

    ¡°Also...¡± Dong Li didn¡¯t finish her words on a second thought.

    She realized that since Ji Qingyun and Yu Wei were from the Heaven Expanse Sect, not the Thunder Mountain Sect, the Lei brothers wouldn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest before ending their lives.

    However, Lei Ze was from the Thunder Mountain Sect, and shared the same ancestors with the Lei n. If she were to use him of something, it would be hard to say what the Lei brothers would do.

    She snuck a nce at Lei Tianhong, hesitating over what to do.

    Both Ji Qingyun and Yu Wei were foot soldiers. It was Lei Tianhong who had issued those orders.

    After Lei Tianqi had left to build the teleportation portals, Lei Tianhong had been put in charge. It was him who had made the decision to seize Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and her immediately after Zhao Shanling¡¯s appearance.

    The lightning chains around their necks were also his doing.

    However, Lei Tianhong was a core member of the Lei n, and the Lei n had served the Divine me Sect for many years. Even though he had misunderstood the Divine me Sect¡¯s intentions, they had done everything for the Divine me Sect.

    Dong Li was only hesitant because she didn¡¯t know how far Yue Yanxi would go to atone for what had been done to the three of them, in order to win Nie Tian¡¯s trust.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Lei Tianhong suddenly stepped over and bowed respectfully towards Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li.

    Afterwards, he turned to Yue Yanxi and said with a bitter expression, ¡°My older brother left to build teleportation portals in the starry river and left me in charge. After a man named Zhao Shanling came to seek trouble with us, I took the liberty of seizing Nie Tian¡¯s family and using them to force him to give himself up. The fault was mine. For this, the Lei n will be willing to make amends for the losses that have been caused.¡±

    Lei Tianqi stepped forward and chimed in, ¡°Grand elder, we did make a big mistake, but we didn¡¯t cause irredeemable harm to Nie Tian, although his family suffered from a few fleshly injuries. Our n will right our wrongs and solve the matter in a way that Nie Tian would be happy with. Do you think that¡¯ll suffice?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Yue Yanxi smiled at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to answer, Hua Mu gave a cold smile as he held out his hand towards Lei Zhenyu and demanded, ¡°I suppose you should return the things I gave you to buy Nie Tian¡¯s life.¡±

    The Lei brothers jerked their heads towards Lei Zhenyu at the same time. ¡°What did you take from them?¡± Lei Tianhong asked, frowning.

    Lei Zhenyu gave a wry smile, and without any dy, handed the ring of holding, which held the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon and three Spirit Channeling grade treasures, to Hua Mu.

    Hua Mu grabbed the ring of holding. After a brief examination of its contents, he nodded. ¡°Good. They¡¯re all here.¡±

    After pondering for some time, Lei Tianqi said, ¡°Nie Tian, Xia Yi, Zhang Zhongchi, and Lu Minhuang are all dead. The me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect will be gone as well. After that, the Realm of Dark Underworld and the Realm of ck Marsh will be in an unimed state. I suppose you can take over their collections of treasures, as well as the dominion of those two realms.¡±

    Many experts present gasped in shock upon hearing these words.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered.

    The me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect had stood in the Domain of the Falling Stars for many years. Each of them had umted copious amounts of valuables, and those two realms were rich in all sorts of resources.

    Obviously, Lei Tianqi intended to use the them to make up for what had been done to Nie Tian and his loved ones.

    With a faint smile, Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect said, ¡°You¡¯re mistaken, Brother Lei. Since Nie Tian has obtained the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies, and he¡¯s from the Domain of the Falling Stars, that means the entire Domain of the Falling Stars is meant for Nie Tian. Apparently, there are things you don¡¯t know, but I do.¡±

    Lei Tianqi gasped with astonishment. ¡°What do you mean, grand elder?¡±

    Yue Yanxi let out a sigh. ¡°The fact that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce opened Heaven Gates in the Domain of the Falling Stars means that the Domain of the Falling Stars was meant for their sessor. The thought of taking the Domain of the Falling Stars hasn¡¯t even crossed my mind, since I know that a sessor has been chosen here.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll never vite the rules established by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng¡¯s face turned pale with shock as he eximed, ¡°What?! The entire Domain of the Falling Stars is meant for the sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Does that mean we¡¯ll have to depend on Nie Tian¡¯s whims from now on?¡±

    ¡°This can¡¯t be right!¡± Ling Dong found it utterly unrealistic and uneptable.

    Lei Tianqi went nk for a while before snapping to reality and saying, ¡°I see now, grand elder. Our n will make other arrangements to amend for our faults.¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded and said, ¡°Go take care of the remaining evil of the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect first. In the meantime, I¡¯ll have a talk with Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡± Lei Tianqi replied.

 Chapter 685: Secrets

    Standing in the air-transportation spiritual tool that was shaped like a bird, Yue Yanxi said to Nie Tian as they flew purposelessly in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, ¡°Our current sectmaster went on an exploration trip to a mysterious ce in the depths of the starry river when he was young. Lucky for him, he encountered an old man from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who showed him a way out of there.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for that old man, our sectmaster wouldn¡¯t have made it out of there alive, and the Divine me Sect wouldn¡¯t have be what it is today.

    ¡°Very few people know about this, but I happen to be one of those who do.

    ¡°Over the years, our sectmaster has been very grateful to that kind old man, and desired to establish a friendly rtionship with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. He even wouldn¡¯t mind if our sect were to be a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°However...¡± Yue Yanxi smiled bitterly. ¡°While it¡¯s true that our sect is among the eight major forces in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, we still don¡¯t qualify to be a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Perhaps only after our sectmaster enters the Saint domain will our sect be able to enter some kind of rtionship with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Right now, you don¡¯t even qualify to be a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded. ¡°Sadly, yeah. Only sects like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are the truly powerful Qi warrior forces that can dominate vast areas in the depths of the starry river. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has multiple Saint domain experts, and even a few God domain figures with divine abilities.

    ¡°Only because of the existence of powerful sects like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are humans able to contend against the various outsider races, instead of being enved by them.¡±

    After a brief pause, Yue Yanxi added, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce uses Heaven Gate trials as a method to pick their Sons of the Stars. Only those who can stand till thest minute and obtain the three fragmentary star marks will be chosen as their Sons of the Stars.

    ¡°As far as I know, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce currently only has a total of six Sons of the Stars.

    ¡°Each and every one of them rules over numerous realms and have countless powerful subordinates and subordinate forces.

    ¡°Since you obtained the three fragmentary star marks from the Heaven Gate trial, you¡¯ve be the seventh Son of the Stars!

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce always selects their next leader from among their Sons of the Stars. Even though you¡¯re a newborn Son of the Stars, you¡¯ll have the qualifications topete for the position of the Lord of the Stars.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and you¡¯ve obtained the fragmentary star marks, that means the entire Domain of the Falling Stars is your private property.

    ¡°Our sect will back out from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and so will the Lei n. The Domain of the Falling Stars will remain in your hands.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Are you saying that whichever domain I obtain the fragmentary star marks from will belong to me?¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded slightly. ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s the rule set by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce since ancient times. The Lei brothers don¡¯t know much about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Clearly, they didn¡¯t know about this particr rule.¡±

    He hesitated briefly before continuing, ¡°What they did was indeed very inappropriate, and I¡¯ll make sure that they make amends ordingly. It¡¯s just that the Lei n is one of our subordinate forces. Even though they misunderstood our intentions, they still exerted themselves to work for our sect.

    ¡°So I hope that you won¡¯t give them too hard a time. Consider it a favor to our sect, will you?¡±

    Nie Tian gave a bitter smile. ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to do anything to them even if I want to.¡±

    ¡°You will, sooner orter,¡± Yue Yanxi said.

    ¡°Well... Can you also tell me more about the me Dragon Armor?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°In fact, I know it only by name, but never had the honor to see it personally.¡± Yue Yanxi didn¡¯t hold anything back. ¡°Many many years ago, our sectmaster¡¯s son left to explore an unknown realm, along with other talented youngsters from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. They suffered severe casualties in that realm. Only a few managed to get out of there alive.

    ¡°As one of the survivors, our sectmaster¡¯s son obtained the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°With his secret magic, he sent word back to our sect, saying that he had gotten lost in the starry river and couldn¡¯t find his way back.

    ¡°I suppose he was in a ce close to the Domain of the Falling Stars at that time. Later, he went to a dead star by ident, where it seems he encountered Xia Yi and those two.

    ¡°Back then, our sectmaster¡¯s son was only at the early Soul realm, and he must have sustained injuries after closely escaping from that unknown realm.

    ¡°Xia Yi and those two teamed up on him, hoping to take all of his valuables, but they didn¡¯t expect that he would cast the so-called Blood Core into space.

    ¡°With its residual power, the Blood Core probably drifted in the starry river for years before exhausting its power and falling into the Realm of me Heaven, where it eventually ended up in your hands.

    ¡°Now that it¡¯s in your hands, we won¡¯t ask for it back. In fact, we heard that our sectmaster¡¯s son got it, but no one ever saw it in person.¡±

    After hearing these words, Nie Tian rubbed his ring of holding, which held the me Dragon Armor, as he said, ¡°Many thanks then.¡±

    He was the only one who knew that the me Dragon Armor wasn¡¯t just a regr Spirit Channeling grade treasure, but it had a huge secret.

    After umting enough power, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core would pull him into a mysterious heaven and earth where titans were partially buried. The secret magics he had learned in that dimension all turned out to be extremely powerful.

    He was certain that neither Xia Yi nor the Divine me Sect knew about this miraculous feature of the me Dragon Armor, and that the actual value of the me Dragon Armor was far beyond Yue Yanxi¡¯s expectations.

    In Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes, the me Dragon Armor was probably just another fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tool, which his sect had a lot of.

    This was most likely the reason why he showed no interest in getting it back.

    Yue Yanxi changed the subject by asking, ¡°By the way, can you tell me about your encounters in that space disruption zone with that man named Zhao Shanling? Don¡¯t worry. I just want to learn about what happened. I¡¯ll be able to protect you better if I do. I received word that the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Trisword Sect suffered great losses in that space disruption zone, and that they¡¯re searching for a man named Zhao Shanling everywhere.¡±

    After a brief pondering, Nie Tian decided to tell him the truth, with the exception of a few details. ¡°Both Qi Jiuchuan from the Trisword Sect and Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect died. Zhao Shanling obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, and I got those people¡¯s rings of holding. When we came out of there, we came across the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s Holy Daughter and two others named Tian Ziping and Yao Zhn.¡±

    He knew that, since he and Zhao Shanling had had conflicts with those from the Bliss Mountain Sect, word of this would soon spread across the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Since Yue Yanxi showed strong interest in establishing a friendly rtionship with him and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he supposed that he wouldn¡¯t betray him, and that it might be helpful to tell him about what had happened.

    With a strange expression, Yue Yanxi sighed and said, ¡°Who would have thought that, after decades of preparation, the Trisword Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect would eventually lose everything to that Zhao Shanling person. He must be quite a figure.¡± With these words, he fell silent, pondering the matter with furrowed eyebrows.

    Only after a long time did he say, ¡°We need to keep a low profile for the time being. If the sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries learned about the existence of the Domain of the Falling Stars, I¡¯m afraid that some of them will have evil ideas. If they somehow learn that the Voidspirit Pagoda is in Zhao Shanling¡¯s hands, and that Heaven Gates used to open in the Domain of the Falling Stars, they¡¯d definitely swarm in here.

    ¡°Right now, the Domain of the Falling Stars doesn¡¯t have the ability to protect itself. If sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were toe here, things will surely get messy. Not every sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is warm towards the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. So once your domain is exposed, I doubt that even our sect will be able to protect it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell those from the Lei n to garrison here for some time, in case some of them leak information once they return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Also, I¡¯ll tell the Lei brothers to take orders from you as a way to amend for their faults.

    ¡°We can make other arrangements after the matter with the Voidspirit Pagoda fades away.¡±

    After a short pause, Yue Yanxi added, ¡°There¡¯s a vast region around the Domain of the Falling Stars that used to be impassable for ancient starships. However, changes seem to have happened to that region in recent years, which is the reason why the Lei n was able to sail to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to learn more about that region, and from what we¡¯ve discovered, it appears that it was created for the sole purpose of preventing the Domain of the Falling Stars from being exposed. There must still be uncovered secrets in that region. If you¡¯re interested, I can arrange for people to take you thereter.

    ¡°Also, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise for Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars to visit the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but if you want to visit by yourself, I suppose we can arrange that.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as he listened to Yue Yanxi¡¯s advice.

    Yue Yanxi went on. ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone about the Domain of the Falling Stars after my return. I¡¯ll tell the Lei brothers that you¡¯ll be in charge of everything regarding the Domain of the Falling Stars, and that they¡¯ll take orders from you. Don¡¯t you worry. They won¡¯t dare to harm or disobey you.

    ¡°They¡¯ll stay here and serve you for now.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to take care of some things after I return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I¡¯ll inform you after I¡¯m done. Then, I¡¯ll be able to arrange for you to visit that protective region, if you like.¡±

 Chapter 686: The Guardian of the Domain of the Falling Stars

    Everyone in Deste City found it hard to believe how warm and respectful Yue Yanxi was towards Nie Tian.

    The Lei brothers headed towards the volcano where they had set up their base as soon as Nie Tian and Yue Yanxi left Deste City on that bird-like air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Since the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect had been the first ones to submit to the Lei n, all of their disciples had been arranged to stay in their quarters on that volcano.

    Xia Yi hade by himself, so there weren¡¯t any me God Sect disciples on that volcano or in Deste City.

    At this point, word of the deaths of Xia Yi and the other two hadn¡¯t spread outside of Deste City yet.

    Strong killing intent could be seen in the Lei brothers¡¯ eyes as the two of them flew directly towards the volcano.

    A heated discussion burst out among the crowd. Some were overjoyed to see what had happened to Xia Yi and the other two, while others sighed in sorrow.

    ¡°Those three sects are doomed.¡±

    ¡°Who would have thought that the grand elder of the Divine me Sect would treat Nie Tian this way?¡±

    ¡°This is so ironic. Xia Yi thought he was such a smart guy for seizing the opportunity to take the me Dragon Armor from Nie Tian. Who would have thought that the person the three of them killed together was actually the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is such a lucky man!¡±

    Lei Zhenyu from the Thunder Mountain Sect and Di Ruyun from the Heaven Expanse Sect snuck out of the central square to the Heaven Expanse Sect¡¯s temporary quarters in Deste City.

    With a bitter expression, Lei Zhenyu said, ¡°Brother Di, it wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t want to help you. It was just that my hands were tied. I never thought that the grand elder of the Divine me Sect would attach such importance to Nie Tian. Even the nmaster of the Lei n didn¡¯t dare to question his decisions. What could I have done?¡±

    Face grim, Di Ruyun said, sagging his head, ¡°What¡¯s done is done. I suppose I can only ept it now.¡±

    Neither Yu Wei nor Ji Qingyun were core members of the Heaven Expanse Sect. Yu Wei was only the granddaughter of one of their elders, while Ji Qingyun was one of their elders.

    Their deaths weren¡¯t that hard to swallow. What truly worried him was that Nie Tian might still find fault with the Heaven Expanse Sect.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give my apologies to Nie Tian when he¡¯s back,¡± Di Ruyun said. ¡°I hope that¡¯ll be enough for him let go of this matter.¡±

    With a bitter expression, Lei Zhenyu said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll also have to behave myself in front of Nie Tian from now on. Originally, Hua Mu gave me the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon and three Spirit Channeling grade treasures in exchange for Nie Tian¡¯s life. There was a thunder-attributed one I liked very much among them. Who would have thought that things would make such an unexpected turn?¡±

    ¡°The me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect are doomed,¡± Di Ruyun said, strong desire filling his eyes. ¡°Their realms will be open for a new owner.¡±

    Lei Zhenyu shook his head. ¡°But I¡¯m afraid that it won¡¯t have anything to do with us whatsoever.¡±

    ...

    Inside a isted room, Ling Dong messed up his own hair and bellowed like a trapped beast. ¡°What the hell happened?! How is this possible?! What did that Nie Tian brat rely on to make the grand elder of the Divine me Sect so cautious when facing him and so afraid that he would be displeased?¡±

    Ling Dong had always detested Nie Tian. He believed that it was Nie Tian who had stolen the fragmentary star mark that should have belonged to Ning Yang and the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Furthermore, he felt offended by the fact that Nie Tian had never showed much respect when facing him.

    He had truly hoped to see the Divine me Sect strip Nie Tian of his fragmentary star marks and kill him in a brutal manner.

    However, he didn¡¯t get what he had hoped for.

    Zhao Luofeng let out a deep breath and said, ¡°You need to restrain yourself from speaking against or doing anything that would offend Nie Tian from now on. The arrival of the Divine me Sect has turned the situation aroundpletely. Even if our patriarch manages to break through into the Void domain, it won¡¯t change anything.

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s unparalleled status in the Domain of the Falling Stars is already established, and no one can change that for now. If you still harbor intentions of dealing with him, you¡¯ll only bring trouble to our sect.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go meet him after he returns to show him our desire to establish a friendly rtionship with him.¡±

    With shock written across his face, Ling Dong eximed, ¡°Are you going to give in to him already, sectmaster?!¡±

    ¡°Have you still not seen the reality here? Since Nie Tian has received the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies, he¡¯s already be a crucial member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Even the Divine me Sect doesn¡¯t dare to do anything to him. What makes you think we can?¡± With a bitter smile, Zhao Luofeng added, ¡°Fortunately, we didn¡¯t make an attempt on Nie Tian¡¯s life. Otherwise, our entire sect would have been wiped out by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Ling Dong shuddered, not daring to make another counter-statement.

    ...

    Floating high in the sky, Hua Mu gazed off in the volcano¡¯s direction and eximed, ¡°Look! Over there! The Lei brothers have made their move!¡±

    Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, Lu Yuanxi, Dong Wangling, and the other experts all rose into the air. They either gazed with their eyes or sensed with their immense soul awareness.

    Either way, they all noticed that the volcano that had originally belonged to the Tool Sect was now wreathed in shing lightning and rolling thunder.

    Thick lightning bolts struck down from the highest heavens and infused into the eight floating thunder balls, plunging the entire volcano into an abyss of lightning and thunder.

    Zhong Zheng sighed and said, ¡°The Lei n is cleansing the Spirit God Sect and Poison Sect members. Since it was their sectmasters who teamed up and killed the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster, and the Divine me Sect¡¯s grand elder has given the order, of course they won¡¯t show any mercy. It seems that the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the me God Sect tried to steal a chicken, but ended up losing the rice used to lure it.¡± (idiom: try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off.)

    ¡°Brother Hua, do you think the Divine me Sect will set up a branch in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡± Qi Bailu asked, his voice filled with concern.

    The Realm of Unbounded Destion was originally the Tool Sect¡¯s territory, but they had been expelled from it by the Lei n. Previously, Qi Bailu had dropped the idea of returning to their headquarters in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, thinking that the Divine me Sect and the Lei n must be on the same side.

    However, now that he had witnessed the way Yue Yanxi treated Nie Tian, his hope was reignited.

    Hua Mu smiled. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. Don¡¯t worry. Let¡¯s wait for Nie Tian toe back. Only after he returns will we know for sure what the Divine me Sect¡¯s attitude is. It seems that your sect¡¯s fate will have a great deal to do with him. All we can do now is wait.¡±

    Dong Wanglingughed broadly, the haze clouding his face long gone. With a loud and resounding voice, he said, ¡°It seems to me that Nie Tian is the guardian of the Domain of the Falling Stars the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce chose for us. Even though Nie Tian has saved the Domain of the Falling Stars several times already, I didn¡¯t think he was going to save us from the fate of bing subordinate forces of the Divine me Sect this time. However, he did it again.

    ¡°It seems that as long as Nie Tian remains in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Falling Stars won¡¯t be in big trouble.¡±

    All of the experts knew that Dong Wangling had long since considered Nie Tian as half a Dong n member due to his rtionship with Dong Li. He had set his mind at ease and smiled heartily the moment he had seen how warm Yue Yanxi had acted towards Nie Tian.

    Even though everyone knew that Dong Wangling favored Nie Tian for a reason, after giving his words some thought, they all felt hisment made sense.

    Come to think of it, every time the Domain of the Falling Stars had faced cmity, it had always been Nie Tian who had made significant contributions and turned the situation around.

    It was actually not an exaggeration to call Nie Tian the guardian of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    At high noon, the air-transportation spiritual tool that looked like a zing bird returned to Deste City.

    Yue Yanxi and Nie Tian talked andughed as they came to a stop, and Nie Tian jumped off to the central square.

    Hua Mu and the other experts were waiting for them in the square with faint smiles on their faces.

    Lei Zhenyu and Di Ruyun, as well as Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, who had ended their private conversation, were standing in a farther location, their eyes fixed on Nie Tian as well.

    After Nie Tiannded in the square, Yue Yanxi swept his gaze across the powerful experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars with his eyes as he said with an ordering tone, ¡°The Lei n will erase the me God Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the Poison Sect from the Domain of the Falling Stars. Afterwards, the Lei n will remain in the Domain of the Falling Stars for some time to provide Nie Tian with whatever assistance he may need.

    ¡°Since the Domain of the Falling Stars belongs to Nie Tian, the Divine me Sect will not try to control it in any way.

    ¡°You local sects better give serious thought to how you¡¯re going to do things in the future. The teleportation portals that connect the Divine me Sect with the Domain of the Falling Stars will be preserved. If any of you dares to give Nie Tian any trouble, our sect will be happy toe over and help Nie Tian take care of you.¡±

    With these words, Yue Yanxi turned to smile at Nie Tian before steering his air-transportation spiritual tool towards the Lei n¡¯s base.

    Those who were close to Nie Tian gathered around him as soon as Yue Yanxi left, hoping to learn more about the situation.

    ¡°What did you talk about, Nie Tian? Howe he¡¯s so protective of you?¡±

    ¡°So does that mean you¡¯ll be in charge of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars from now on? Even the Lei n will take orders from you?¡±

    ¡°So the Divine me Sect won¡¯te?¡±

    Zhen Hun also rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s side with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye. ¡°Nie Tian, the Lei n took our headquarters from us,¡± she said. ¡°Can you make them give it back?¡±

    ¡°The Lei n will soon move to the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of Earth Sieve,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion will be returned to the Tool Sect.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Qi Bailu, who was just about to ask Nie Tian the same thing, instantly felt relieved, his furrowed eyebrows straightening.

 Chapter 687: Reentering the Realm of Dark Underworld

    Many Soul realm experts that were close to Nie Tian found a secret room in Deste City, where they gathered around him and asked about his talk with Yue Yanxi.

    After they learned from Nie Tian that the Divine me Sect would keep the teleportation portals that connected their sect to the Domain of the Falling Stars, it urred to many of them that they could take advantage of such a tie to start trading spiritual materials with the Divine me Sect.

    The Domain of the Falling Stars was only a remote corner of the boundless starry river, where limited sorts of spiritual materials were produced. However, Qi warriors would need a variety of spiritual materials to achieve advancement in their cultivation, forge spiritual tools, and refine medicinal pills.

    They all hoped to trade their spiritual materials with the Divine me Sect for precious materials that were hard to find in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    It would require arge amount of rare spiritual materials for them to make a breakthrough into the Void domain. It was almost impossible for them to gather all the required materials within the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect had only dared to make this attempt to break through into the Void domain after his secret deal with the outsiders.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that the Heaven Pce Sect had made a secret deal with the Demons when the three spatial rifts had opened. Thanks to that deal, the patriarch of the Heaven Pce Sect had obtained the necessary rare materials to make a breakthrough into the Void domain.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and many other experts were at the middle Soul realm. Once they entered thete Soul realm, they would face the same problem of finding arge amount of rare materials necessary to facilitate their breakthroughs into the Void domain.

    This step was of paramount importance to them.

    Over the past millennia, quite a few Qi warriors in the Domain of the Falling Stars had entered thete Soul realm.

    However, because the Domain of the Falling Starscked cultivation materials, many had spent hundreds of years searching for the necessary materials for their breakthroughs into the Void domain, before eventually running out of their lifespan.

    Back when they had won the battle of the Realm of a Hundred Battles, as Nie Tian had expressed that he would have the ability to take people out of the Domain of the Falling Stars, Zong Zheng and the other experts had given all of the seventh grade outsider corpses to him without the slightest hesitation.

    What they had desired the most was to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars for more advanced domains, where they could find rare spiritual materials.

    Even though they had felt insecure and fearful after the Lei n had descended and showed off their strength, they had actually had some expectations.

    They had thought if they remained obedient to the Lei n and the Divine me Sect, they might be able to get the materials they needed to break through into the Void domain.

    ¡°To enter the Void domain, cultivators have to build their own domains. To do that, they¡¯ll have to use all sorts of precious materials that agree with their cultivation attribute...¡± After Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and the others finished exining, Nie Tian fell silent, gradually starting to understand their concerns.

    Only after a long time did he finally open his mouth. ¡°Seniors, it¡¯s still not an option to establish frequentmunications between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Divine me Sect. The Divine me Sect has informed me that if the Domain of the Falling Stars is exposed, it¡¯d be very problematic for us. The reason why the Divine me Sect ordered the people from the Lei n to stay here is partially because they¡¯re worried that they would leak information about the Domain of the Falling Stars if they returned.

    ¡°The grand elder told me that he can only arrange for me to visit the Divine me Sect for the time being.

    ¡°How about this: after you enter thete Soul realm, I¡¯ll talk to the Divine me Sect about trading for the spiritual materials you¡¯ll need to enter the Void domain.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded slowly. ¡°The Divine me Sect made such arrangements for a good reason. We¡¯re being too eager.¡±

    Zong Zheng also calmed himself and said, ¡°Yeah, there¡¯ll still be some time before we enter thete Soul realm, not to mention the Void domain. Alright, we can put the matter of visiting the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries aside for now.¡±

    While they talked, Qian Qiong from the Ice Pavilion Sect said in a low voice right outside the room, ¡°Nie Tian, Zhao Luofeng hase to see you.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Luofeng?¡± Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Why is he here?¡±

    Dong Wangling curled his lips and said with a sarcastic tone, ¡°It seems that he¡¯s seen the trend. Times have changed, and now he wants to make friends with you.¡±

    ¡°Would you tell him that I¡¯m busy and can¡¯t see him now?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Sure,¡± Qian Qiong replied.

    Afterwards, they resumed talking. Many experts suggested that Nie Tian should advance to the Worldly realm as soon as possible before their meeting finally came to an end.

    In the following days, Nie Tian stayed in Deste City and caught up with his grandfather, his aunt, Wu Ji, and Dong Li.

    During this time, he got word to Lei Tianqi, the nmaster of the Lei n, through Lei Zhenyu that he wanted the Lei n to return the Realm of Unbounded Destion to the Tool Sect.

    The Lei n agreed without asking any questions and instantly started to make preparations to move.

    The Lei n had taken the Realm of Unbounded Destion not because of their own needs, but because they had thought it would be an ideal ce for the Divine me Sect to set up a branch.

    However, since Yue Yanxi had expressed that the Divine me Sect had no intentions of controlling any part of the Domain of the Falling Stars, Lei Tianqi had known what to do.

    The majority of the Lei n members practiced thunder power. The mountain range in the Realm of Earth Sieve, where the Thunder Mountain Sect sat, would be the ideal location for them to set up a base.

    Also, since Yue Yanxi had ordered them to take orders from Nie Tian, Lei Tianqi agreed and started to arrange their move without hesitation.

    A few days passed...

    The inter-realm teleportation portal at the center of Deste City was fully functional again, free of any restrictions.

    At the same time, Nie Tian received word from the Lei n that they, together with the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect, had cleansed the Spirit God Sect, the Poison Sect, and the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters. With almost all of their powerful members killed or captured, the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect had basically been wiped out from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Only the disciples of the me God Sect had holed up in some arcane realm, and thus escaped doom.

    This was because, after Xia Yi had stolen the Heaven me Beast¡¯s eye, he had feared that the other sects would seek revenge, so he had sent most of his sect members into an arcane realm.

    Later, after the Lei n had descended upon the Domain of the Falling Stars, Xia Yi had been uncertain about their attitude, and thus had ordered most of his sect members to remain in that arcane realm.

    Even though the majority of the me God Sect disciples had survived the Lei n¡¯s cleansing operation, the Lei n hadn¡¯t given up on searching for the arcane realm where they were hiding.

    ¡°The me God Sect...¡± Soon after receiving the news, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as an idea urred to him.

    The me Dragon Armor had shown an extremely strong desire for earthme essence, which contained a copious amount of me power.

    Not only would the umtion of me power allow the me Dragon Armor to fully disy its might, but it would also have a fantastic effect.

    Enough me power would allow the me Dragon Armor to send him into the mysteriousnd where titans were half-buried.

    The rage punch, chaotic maic field, and spiritual energy ball techniques, which he had picked up there, had all turned out to be mighty and useful on many asions.

    During these years, whenever he had time to himself, he would try to revisit that mysteriousnd to learn more secret magics from those titan¡¯s sky-reaching arms, yet he had never seeded due to ack of me power.

    After all, every time he used the me Dragon Armor, it would require a veryrge amount of me power.

    It would be next to nothing if he were to replenish its me power with regr fire-attributed materials. Only earthme essence or earthme crystal strings would achieve some noticeable results.

    Originally, the Realm of Unbounded Destion had been an ideal ce for the me Dragon Armor to absorb me power.

    However, after Xia Yi and Zhao Shanling¡¯s previous joint operation, they had drained almost every active volcano of their earthme essence. Thanks to this, Xia Yi had advanced to thete Soul realm shortly afterwards.

    Now, the only volcano that still contained a copious amount of earthme essence was the one where the Tool Sect¡¯s headquarters were located.

    The Tool Sect¡¯s livelihood depended on that earthme essence. Once they lost it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to forge equipment anymore.

    Other than the Realm of Unbounded Destion, the me God Sect was the only other ce where the me Dragon Armor could replenish its me power throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If it were before, Nie Tian would never have the audacity to go to the me God Sect.

    If he had, Xia Yi would have been overjoyed, as he would have been able to kill him and take the me Dragon Armor without much effort.

    However, times had changed. Xia Yi had died, and Nie Tian could be considered the monarch of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After he expressed his intention of going to the me God Sect to absorb earthme essence, the Lei n didn¡¯t even ask a question before offering to have Lei Tianhong go with him.

    However, Nie Tian was worried that Lei Tianhong would discover the me Dragon Armor¡¯s secrets, and thus declined their offer. Instead, he asked Zhen Hun, who also practiced fire-attributed incantations, to go with him.

    Zhen Hun dly agreed, and then teleported directly to the Realm of Dark Underworld with Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Li Ye through the inter-realm teleportation portal in Deste City.

    As they flew to the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters on Zhen Hun¡¯s Lightning Shuttle, Nie Tian nced down from the air and saw Qi warriors from the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect evacuating from the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Clearly, they had only received the order to leave recently.

    Lei Ze, who was Lei Zhenyu¡¯s grandson and Yu Wei¡¯s fiancee, was among them.

    He didn¡¯t even dare to meet Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he shrank into a lightning-wreathed air-transportation spiritual tool and urged his friends to drive away.

    Nie Tian saw him from afar, but didn¡¯t try to stop him from leaving.

 Chapter 688: Prying into the Flame God Sects Headquarters

    Li Ye chuckled. ¡°Hey, Lei Ze is down there too. He was Yu Wei¡¯s fiancee, you know? You can¡¯t imagine how domineering he was before the Divine me Sect¡¯s grand elder arrived.¡±

    ¡°He and those from the Thunder Mountain Sect were probably trying to find the entrance to the arcane realm, where the me God Sect disciples were hiding,¡± Zhen Hun chimed in. ¡°If there are no mishaps, they must have already cleared out the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    Gazing down from the sky, Nie Tian discovered that the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters was sitting on top of an enormous volcano.

    The setup of the me God Sect was simr to that of the Tool Sect, with only a few insignificant alterations.

    There were also arge number of stone caves halfway up the mountain, where Qi warriors of the me God Sect could cultivate.

    It was just that, as he conducted a closer examination with his Heaven Eyes, he discovered a number of deep holes on the mountaintop.

    It seemed that there used to be huge columns standing in them, but they were now gone.

    With a faint smile, Zhen Hun said, ¡°It seems that the me God Sect¡¯s grand spell formation, the me God¡¯s Wings, has also been take away by the Thunder Mountain Sect. When it was activated, huge wings of mes would cover the me God Sect¡¯s entire headquarters. The huge columns that formed the grand spell formation were made from Heavenme Stones.

    ¡°Those stones can only form around Heaven me Beasts when they breathe heavenly mes in the depths of the starry river.

    ¡°This kind of rare material shouldn¡¯t have appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars. I wonder how Xia Yi managed to get his hands on so many.

    ¡°Since the Heavenme Stones are very rare to begin with, and adding the fiery spell formations that were engraved on them, each and every one of those stone columns was of great value. If the Thunder Mountain Sect can have an expert of fire-attributed incantations reestablish the grand spell formation, it might be still be able to disy its might.¡±

    Apparently, Zhen Hun was rather interested in the Heavenme Stones and the me God¡¯s Wings.

    She practiced me power herself, and at the same time studied the profundity of spatial power. Because of this, her advancement in cultivation ended up being slower than Qi Bailu and Zhao Shanling¡¯s.

    Their master, Xu Yinglong, was one of the most powerful figures of the previous generation in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Like her, he had also been well versed in spatial and fiery magics.

    He had taught Qi Bailu fiery magics and the art of equipment forging. Since Qi Bailu had turned out to be less talented in spatial magics, he had dropped that branchpletely and focused on the other two. Now, he had be a middle Soul realm expert.

    Zhao Shanling had learned spatial magics and equipment forging skills from Xu Yinglong. Since he hadn¡¯t been born with a gift in fire-attributed incantations, he had had to rely on fire-attributed materials or earthme essence to forge spiritual tools.

    For this reason, he had devoted the majority of his time and energy to his cultivation of spatial power.

    He had even stopped forging spiritual tools after he had entered the Soul realm.

    Since he didn¡¯t have any distractions, he had now be ate Soul realm expert. With the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, he was shaping up to be a very promising expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Zhen Hun was the only disciple who had inherited Xu Yinglong¡¯s legacies in fiery magics, spatial magics, and equipment forging kills.

    However, since she spread herself too thin with these three branches, Zhen Hun had been stuck in the Profound realm for a long time. Only recently had she finally entered the Soul realm.

    In fact, she was well-aware that, since humans had limited lifespans, the length of her cultivation path would suffer if she were to remain distracted.

    Because of this, she had only taught Pei Qiqi spatial magics, and Li Ye the art of equipment forging.

    Zhen Hun took a deep look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Nie Tian, the speed at which you make breakthroughs in cultivation is bound to be slower than others. You¡¯d better be prepared for it mentally. Look, you have so many miraculous incantations, you¡¯ve been working very hard, and you have all the spiritual materials you need. But you¡¯re still only at thete Greater Heaven stage.

    ¡°Li Yi, Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, Qin Yan, and many other talented juniors have entered the Worldly realm.

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re working even harder than they are, and you¡¯ve had more incredible encounters and survived more deadly tribtions than any of them. Even so, your advancement in cultivation has still turned out to be slower than theirs.

    ¡°Also, it doesn¡¯t seem that this will change in the future.

    ¡°So I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll run out of your lifespan sooner than the others. This is exactly why Dong Wangling, Zong Zheng, and the other experts suggested that you should try to enter the Worldly realm as soon as possible.¡±

    Clearly, Zhen Hun truly cared about Nie Tian. She drew lessons from her own experience and warned Nie Tian against a problem he might encounter in the future.

    Nie Tian smiled heartily. ¡°I¡¯m quite aware of my situation, Senior Zhen. Don¡¯t worry. My lifespan won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    With these words, he snuck a nce at Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi knew very well that he was different from most people, since he had blood of unknown origins running in his veins, which granted him a lifespan much longer than normal humans.

    Meanwhile, the fact that Zhen Hun had shown such deep concern for his lifespan indicated that Pei Qiqi had kept Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness a secret, even from her master.

    Zhen Hun was taken back. ¡°You won¡¯t have a problem with your lifespan?¡± After a moment of pondering, she seemed to realize something, then said, ¡°I see. You didn¡¯t obtain just two Fruits of Life in the Realm of Unbounded Destion back then, did you?¡±

    She assumed that the reason why Nie Tian wasn¡¯t afraid of running out of his lifespan was because he had more Fruits of Life in his possession.

    Nie Tian had indeed obtained one more Fruit of Life in that mysteriousnd where a Tree of Life grew. He had identally merged it into himself, which had ended up awakening a new bloodline talent.

    Nie Tian nodded, smiling.

    Zhen Huihan set her mind at ease. Nodding, she said, ¡°Hmm... so that¡¯s how it is. No wonder you have the courage to practice power of three attributes at the same time. If you indeed are free from the restrictions from your lifespan, it¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing to make advancements in cultivation at a slower rate. The more types of power you master, the higher your battle prowess will be.

    ¡°This means you can probably defeat any Qi warrior at your stage. This is also why you¡¯ve repeatedly defeated cultivators whose cultivation bases are higher than yours.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, but didn¡¯t exin. Instead, he said, ¡°It¡¯s about time we took care of business.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the me Dragon Armor flew out of his ring of holding.

    The crimson armor came to a stop in the air above the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters. The numerous fiery patterns started to drift about on the armor¡¯s surface like slithering snakes, as if they were forming some mysterious spell formation.

    Relying on the profound tie between him and the me Dragon Armor, he sensed it with rapt attention, his eyes narrowed. He immediately felt the me Dragon Armor¡¯s excitement and joy.

    He could also tell that the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was now searching for sources of me power with its own methods.

    Zhen Hun gazed unblinkingly at the numerous fiery patterns on the me Dragon Armor, tiny fiery sparks glittering in the depths of her pupils. ¡°This is so curious...¡±

    She unleashed her soul awareness to conduct a closer examination of the patterns. The longer she examined them, the more shocked she seemed. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen this Spirit Channeling grade treasure, which is known throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s so much more curious and profound than I thought.

    ¡°The fiery patterns on its surface are incredible. I¡¯ve never seen anything like them.

    ¡°I consider myself a seasoned equipment forger, and I practice fire-attributed incantations, but I still can¡¯t figure out how its forger managed to carve those patterns on the armor, and in what pattern they are moving.

    ¡°But what amazes me the most is that faint spatial fluctuations areing from the Blood Core, which is at the center of the chest area. Isn¡¯t the me Dragon Armor a fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure? Why can I sense faint spatial fluctuations from its Blood Core?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    After umting enough me power, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core could split space and drag him into that mysterious heaven and earth.

    Very few people knew about this secret.

    It seemed that Zhen Hun had realized that the me Dragon Armor wasn¡¯t just any fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    SHEW!

    Before she could pry into its secret features, the me Dragon Armor suddenly morphed into a streak of zing light and flew into a bottomless tunnel that stretched downwards.

    By relying on his profound ties with the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian scanned its surroundings as it flew deeper and deeper into the tunnel.

    In less than a minute, the me Dragon Armor reached a ce where it was burning hot.

    ¡°Senior Zhen, this tunnel connects the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters to an underground mineral vein, not the heart of the earth,¡± Nie Tian said while sensing around. ¡°There¡¯s a secret room in the middle of countless crystal-like, fiery stones. I suppose this is where Xia Yi used to cultivate.

    ¡°Hmm?! Something¡¯s not right!¡±

 Chapter 689: The Phantasms Equipment Forging Room

    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhen Hun asked curiously.

    Eyes closed, Nie Tian focused onmunicating with the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul shining more and more dazzlingly.

    Thanks to the profound tie between his nine fragmentary stars and the Blood Core, Nie Tian felt as if he himself was in that secret underground room.

    The room was built in the middle of a mineral vein. Each and every wall was filled with fiery, crystalline stones.

    After some time, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open. ¡°Let¡¯s get down there and take a look.¡±

    With these words, he flew downwards into the crimson stone pce atop the majestic volcano.

    On the bottom floor of the stone pce, he found the stone tunnel that the me Dragon Armor had entered and flew into it with Zhen Hun, Li Ye, and Pei Qiqi.

    Momentster, they came to the secret room deep underneath the enormous volcano where the me Dragon Armor was.

    The me Dragon Armor was floating in the middle of the room that was made of fiery crystals. zing patterns could be seen drifting about on its surface.

    One streak of crimson aura after another flew out of the fiery crystals in the walls before disappearing into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention and discovered that each and every crystal seemed to contain a copious amount of concentrated me power, which looked like boilingva.

    A number of stone shelves stood by the walls, and a tangerine cauldron could be seen in the middle of the room.

    The cauldron seemed to have been built into the room. At this moment, streaks of me power were also flying out of the crystals in the walls into the cauldron.

    Raging mes filled the cauldron. Like boilingva, they made the temperature in the room very high.

    Images of numerous evil spirits were engraved on the cauldron, along with symbols that looked like the Phantasms¡¯nguage.

    It seemed that the cauldron had been used for equipment forging, and that this room had belonged to a Phantasm equipment forger. With a soft exmation, Zhen Hun exined to Nie Tian, ¡°Phantasms that are not born with a gift to cultivate me power also have to find sources of me power in order to forge equipment and weapons.

    ¡°The special spell formations engraved on the cauldron allow it to take it upon itself to channel me power from the crystals in the walls and refine it.

    ¡°Then, the refined me power can be used to forge tools or cultivate.

    ¡°I suppose this is the reason why Xia Yi made such rapid advancements in his cultivation.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One streak of fiery aura after another flew out of the crystals in the walls into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core.

    However, the refined me power inside the cauldron didn¡¯t seem to be subject to the me Dragon Armor¡¯s channeling.

    Intrigued, Nie Tian stepped over to the cauldron and unleashed a wisp of his psychic awareness to examine it.

    However, before his psychic awareness even reached the cauldron, he experienced a strong stabbing pain in his head.

    Meanwhile, the numerous evil spirits that were engraved on the cauldron seemed toe back to life.

    ¡°Wait!!¡± Zhen Hun called out urgently. ¡°This Phantasm¡¯s equipment forging cauldron is guarded by evil spirits. Your cultivation base is still too low. Don¡¯t try to sense it with your psychic awareness!¡±

    ¡°Guarded by evil spirits...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    The Phantasms¡¯ knowledge regarding souls was more profound than that of most other outsider races. Zhen Hun¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as she exined, ¡°As you know, the Realm of Dark Underworld was originally the Phantasms¡¯ territory. Back in the day, the Spirit God Sect¡¯s founder discovered some Phantasm relics by ident. Aftering to unique understandings of soul power, he founded the Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°However, I didn¡¯t expect that Xia Yi had actually discovered this Phantasms¡¯ equipment forging room, and practiced cultivation with the help of this cauldron in secret.

    ¡°Phantasms normally rely on fierce me power to forge tools. Afterwards, they would vest those tools with soul spell formations. Those evil spirits on the cauldron seem to be a soul spell formation created by a Phantasm equipment forger.¡±

    With these words, she reached out and pointed at the cauldron with one finger.

    POOH!

    The tip of her finger blossomed with fiery light as the evil spirits on the cauldron were stirred, and started to roar soundlessly.

    Her expression flickered. A shred of fear shed across her eyes as she hastily withdrew her hand. ¡°This thing is far beyond ordinary. The evil spirits on the cauldron are much more powerful than I expected. Even I can¡¯t handle them very well.

    ¡°I suppose Xia Yi never figured out its mechanisms either. He probably only used it to channel me power to achieve rapid advancement in his cultivation.¡±

    ¡°Master,¡± Li Ye chimed in, ¡°do you think that Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon was made with a simr cauldron?¡±

    The eyes of Pei Qiqi, who had remained silent the whole time, grew wide as she heard these words.

    ¡°That¡¯s actually very likely!¡± Zhen Hun eximed. ¡°That Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon came with that ancient starship, and the Phantasms retrieved that ancient starship from the Realm of Dark Underworld. Since this is one of the Phantasms¡¯ equipment forging rooms, it¡¯s very likely that the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon was forged in a ce like this!¡±

    Very excited, Li Ye said, ¡°The Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon has broken into three pieces. Perhaps it¡¯s impossible to fix it with humans¡¯ equipment forging skills. But maybe we can fix it with this cauldron. That¡¯d be awesome, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±

    His words enlightened Nie Tian, who went nk briefly before saying, ¡°The Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon wasn¡¯t the only curious item on that ancient starship. There was something else.¡±

    With these words, he took out the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding.

    The moment it flew out, numerous fiery sparks shot out from within the equipment forging cauldron, giving rise to a muffled boom.

    Not just that, but the evil spirits that were engraved on the cauldron seemed as if they were somehow attracted to the Spirit Pearl.

    The evil spirits, which had been sealed within the cauldron for an unknown amount of time, started to struggle violently in attempts to charge out of it.

    At the same time, the Spirit Pearl escaped Nie Tian¡¯s control and flew into the zing mes in the cauldron in the blink of an eye.

    Immediately afterwards, the evil spirits that were struggling and howling madly suddenly fell silent.

    That was when Nie Tian noticed that the evil spirit engravings gradually grew blurry before vanishingpletely.

    Zhen Hun couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°That pearl has actually absorbed the evil spirits that were sealed within the cauldron!¡±

    Startled by the scene, Li Ye called out hastily, fearing that something dangerous might happen, ¡°Get that pearl out of there, Nie Tian!¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked rather nervous as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Nie Tian said calmly. He knew that nothing major would happen since the me Dragon Armor was still absorbing me power.

    Back in the day, the Spirit Pearl had hounded him in the Realm of Dark Underworld. At that critical moment, the me Dragon Armor had taken it upon itself to create a portal and drag him into that wondrous heaven and earth. The Spirit Pearl had followed along.

    However, the me Dragon Armor had forcibly refined the Spirit Pearl with a grand spell formation of me dragon skeletons. The torrential mes had purged the evil spirits inside the Spirit Pearl and turned them into pure soul power, which had caused two new fragmentary stars to form in his soul.

    Since the me Dragon Armor was still absorbing me power at its own pace, Nie Tian was convinced that the Spirit Pearl wouldn¡¯t be able to cause any major problems.

    Then, after a moment of hesitation, he took out a skull and a prismatic crystal from within his ring of holding.

    ¡°Senior Zhen, this is a skull I got from a Spirit God Sect disciple. A Phantasm¡¯s soul is sealed inside of it.

    ¡°I gained this prismatic crystal from a floating Phantasm corpse in the broken dimension we visited years ago. After what could be thousands of years, that Phantasm corpse was bereft of any flesh aura. A mere touch reduced it to flying ashes. Only this prismatic crystal between his eyebrows remained intact.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian handed the skull and the prismatic crystal to Zhen Hun, thinking that she might be able to see something in them.

    The Spirit Pearl, the skull, and the prismatic crystal had all belonged to Phantasms.

    He had preserved them for years and had tried to study them many times.

    However, the only thing he had found out was that the Spirit Pearl had the ability to collect souls, and there was a star map that had the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries marked out in it. He had learned nothing about the other two items.

    Zhen Hun was one of the most brilliant equipment forgers throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars. He wanted to see if she could discover something about them.

    Nie Tian reminded hastily, ¡°Be careful, Senior Zhen. The Phantasm soul within that skull has shown a strong desire for that prismatic crystal that¡¯s the size of a fingernail. There might be some special ties between them. Don¡¯t let it get its way.¡±

    Zhen Hun held the skull in one hand and the crystal in the other. After a brief examination, she discovered that, like Nie Tian had said, the soul within the skull was ramming into the special soul ward Nie Tian had established nonstop, as if it would stop at nothing to gain that crystal.

    ¡°Curious... This is so very curious.¡± Zhen Hun marveled repeatedly.

 Chapter 690: Soul Awakening

    Zhen Hun took a close look at the skull and the prismatic crystal, while unleashing her Soul realm expert¡¯s immense soul awareness to examine them bit by bit, like peeling an onion.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian noticed that crimson light gradually appeared on the surface of the skull and the prismatic crystal.

    The crimson light was abination of Zhen Hun¡¯s soul power and me power. At this moment, it was slowly infiltrating the skull and the prismatic crystal.

    During this process, the me Dragon Armor continued to float in the middle of the room, absorbing me power from the fiery crystals in the walls.

    Fizzing sounds kepting from the cauldron, which seemed to have be a part of this Phantasms¡¯ equipment forging room.

    As the evil spirit engravings rapidly disappeared from the cauldron¡¯s surface, Nie Tian could no longer sense anything curious from it.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl rose from the raging mes in the cauldron and started spinning in the air.

    Nie Tian made a grabbing motion toward it, and it flew into his palm. Then, he examined it with a wisp of psychic awareness.

    The star map within the Spirit Pearl had be even clearer than before. Meanwhile, numerous souls were gathered around the star map, as if they were there to fuel the star map with their soul power.

    Originally, each and every soul inside the Spirit Pearl had been refined into pure soul power by the me Dragon Armor.

    Later, when the outsiders had invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Spirit Pearl had absorbed numerous discarnate souls from the dead outsiders.

    Now, thanks to those discarnate souls, the star map was fully revealed, showing a clear path to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    As he examined the star map very closely, he discovered that a few souls that had been engraved on the cauldron¡¯s surface were now in the star map.

    Those powerful souls had left deep impressions on him, so he recognized them right away.

    At this moment, they were gathered at a location on the star map.

    <i>¡°That¡¯s somewhere between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries...¡±</i> he thought to himself.

    Increasingly intrigued, he examined that specific area with rapt attention. That was when he realized that small spots of light could be seen where those souls were gathered.

    On the star map, the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were separated by countless other domains and realms.

    There were ten shining spots in the area where the Domain of the Falling Stars was. Nine of them represented the current nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and thest one represented the Realm of Split Void, which had been discarded.

    Meanwhile, there were thirty-six shining spots where the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was, each representing one of its thirty-six realms.

    Aside from these shining spots, there were also a number of dark spots where the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were, which seemed to be dead realms where there was no longer any spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth.

    Nie Tian counted and realized that there were less than ten dark spots where the Domain of the Falling Stars was, but a few dozen dark spots scattered around shining spots of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Of the hundred realms in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, only thirty-six are still suitable to cultivate in, and they¡¯re currently controlled by the five major sects and three major ns,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Those dark spots are probably dead realms that were no longer suitable for Qi warrior sects to set up headquarters in.

    ¡°But those souls are not anywhere close to the Domain of the Falling Stars or the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Instead, they¡¯re in a ce between the two domains.

    ¡°Those spots aren¡¯t shining, so they¡¯re probably not realms. Meanwhile, they¡¯re not dark, so they can¡¯t be dead realms. So what are they exactly?

    ¡°And why are those powerful souls gathered in that area? Does this have some profound meaning?¡±

    A series of questions entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, and he wracked his mind for answers. After some time, his eyes suddenly lit up.

    ¡°Can it be...?!¡± He suddenly recalled what Yue Yanxi had told him previously.

    Yue Yanxi had told him that there had been a region between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars that had remainedpletely impassable for thousands of years.

    That was the reason why no ancient starships from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had been able to sail through that forbidden region to the Domain of the Falling Stars before.

    Only very recently had the Lei n discovered that changes had happened in that region, making it less deadly.

    Yue Yanxi had also said that the Divine me Sect was currently exploring that region, since they were convinced there were still secrets to uncover there. He had even invited Nie Tian to go there himself.

    Looking at the star map inside the Spirit Pearl and recalling Yue Yanxi¡¯s words, Nie Tian suddenly came to realize that the ce on the star map where those powerful souls were now gathered was most likely the forbidden region Yue Yanxi had referred to!

    As soon as this idea entered his mind, it urred to him to find Yue Yanxi and confirm his spections with him. It was just that he didn¡¯t know whether Yue Yanxi was still in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Nie Tian.¡± Zhen Hun interrupted his thoughts.

    She shook her head and said with a sorry tone, ¡°I can¡¯t seem to find anything worth noting about this skull or this prismatic crystal.

    ¡°I can only tell you is that the soul within this skull doesn¡¯t have any memories left. All it has now are its basic instincts.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s bereft of memories and intelligence, I couldn¡¯tmunicate with it. I tried a few times, but not once did it respond. Its only desire that I can sense is to merge with that prismatic crystal.

    ¡°However, I don¡¯t think the soul in the skull and that prismatic crystal belonged to the same Phantasm.

    ¡°Since you obtained this prismatic crystal from that other dimension, it probably belonged to another Phantasm that used to be very powerful. As far as I know, the prismatic crystals between a Phantasms¡¯ eyebrows have simr functions to our minds. They¡¯re vessels of soul power, memories, and awareness.

    ¡°Plus, Phantasms rely on them to summon soul power and cast soul magics.

    ¡°But sadly, I don¡¯t know much about the Phantasms, and I can¡¯t figure out that soul¡¯s motives behind such actions. Even still, it¡¯s too much risk to let it merge with that prismatic crystal.

    ¡°Well, if Lu Minhuang were still alive, perhaps he could give us an answer.¡±

    With these words, Zhen Hun put the skull and the prismatic crystal in Nie Tian¡¯s hand. Then, she took a nce at the cauldron and said, ¡°I¡¯m considering taking that cauldron back so I can study it with my senior martial brother, along with people from the Spirit Condor. If we¡¯re lucky, perhaps we can actually figure out a way to fix the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon with it.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright."

    Zhen Hun raised her hand, and hundreds of streaks of mes shot out of her palm. Like chains of refined steel, they wrapped themselves around the cauldron, and with a violent move, hauled it out of the floor of fiery crystals.

    In the next moment, the cauldron flew into her ring of holding.

    ¡°You can take your time to have your me Dragon Armor absorb me power from all these fiery crystals,¡± Zhen Hun said. ¡°Qiqi, Li Ye, and I will be waiting for you up there.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± said Nie Tian, his eyes fixed on the me Dragon Armor.

    Afterwards, Zhen Hun left the underground secret room with Pei Qiqi and Li Ye.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word as they did. He stared unblinkingly at the me Dragon Armor, overwhelmed by the scene of the me Dragon Armor madly absorbing me power from all the fiery crystals.

    Three dayster...

    The me Dragon Armor hadpletely drained the spiritual mineral vein that used to power the me God¡¯s Wings grand spell formation.

    Not a shred of me power could be sensed from the secret room made of crimson crystals.

    However, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core was now filled with unprecedentedly profound me power.

    It seemed that the me Dragon Armor had absorbed its fill.

    Originally, the connection between him and the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul had been subtle and vague, and it had required some effort to get messages through.

    However, now that the Blood Core had gathered enough me power, the soul within it seemed to have finally fully awakened. The connection between it and him was clearer than ever.

    A wisp of soul awareness came from the Blood Core, and Nie Tian captured it instantly. ¡°I¡¯ve finally truly awoken, master,¡± it said.

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian as he couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°You... You can actually talk to me now?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, master,¡± The soul responded instantly. ¡°We¡¯ll be able tomunicate more efficiently and directly from now on. Do you want to revisit that Ancientspirits¡¯ graveyard now?¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Ancientspirits¡¯ graveyard?¡±

    ¡°The ce where titans are buried, along with a few patriarchs of my kind, me dragons,¡± the soul answered.

    Completely puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are the Ancientspirits a race?¡±

    ¡°Yes, ancient beasts, dragons, and titans are all Ancientspirits. In ancient times, we Ancientspirits were the first owners of the starry river. Back then, we ruled almost every domain throughout the starry river. Later, other races gradually rose to prominence and gained the power to stand up to us as equals, so our sole dominion of the starry river came to an end.

    ¡°After that, humans, which were the weakest of all races, found their way to power as well, and also rose to the ruling circle in the starry river.

    ¡°Now is a time when many races thrive and rule different parts of the starry river. Now may be the most prosperous time this starry river has ever seen, but it may also be the most turbulent, since wars break out among different races without ceasing.¡±

 Chapter 691: Four Eras

    Deeply shaken, Nie Tian marveled, ¡°Ancientspirits!¡±

    He had never known that ancient beasts, dragons, and titans actually belonged to one race.

    ¡°So their time is the so-called ancient time?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Sorry, master,¡± the soul answered. ¡°I lost pretty much all of my memories when I was refined into this suit of armor and became its soul. If I were still a me dragon, and possessed all of my old memories, I might have been able to tell you more.¡±

    As the two of themmunicated, Nie Tian examined the me Dragon Armor with rapt attention and discovered that, like a streak of mes, a miniature me dragon that was a thousand times smaller than a regr one was swimming within the Blood Core.

    He immediately realized that it was the embodiment of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul.

    ¡°So tell me something you do remember,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°There were three eras before this one,¡± the soul said. ¡°I don¡¯t have any memory of the first era, or perhaps I never knew anything about it to begin with.

    ¡°The second era is called the Deste Antiquity Era, which was the era that belonged to us Ancientspirits.

    ¡°Back then, we were the masters of this boundless starry river. Enormous ancient beasts, dragons, and titans were all born with divine abilities. They could travel across the starry river even when they were very young.

    ¡°The third era was called the Remote Antiquity Era. During that era, Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and many other powerful races rose to prominence. They gained control of parts of the starry river and stood up to us Ancientspirits as equals.

    ¡°Now we¡¯re in the fourth era, which is called Near Antiquity Era. This is the time when humans finally rose to prominence and gained the ability to stand up to the other races.

    ¡°However, us Ancientspirits and the other races didn¡¯t enter a decline as humans grew stronger.

    ¡°Right now, different races are thriving in different parts of the starry river and ruling their own domains. It¡¯s an era of diversity.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian looked nkly at the floating me Dragon Armor. ¡°So there are a total of four eras, and the first one is so remote that you can¡¯t even remember anything about it...¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Of the other three eras, I can also only remember their names. I don¡¯t know what major events happened during those eras. Perhaps I knew them once, but now that I¡¯ve be the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, almost all of my memories are gone.¡± The soul sounded somewhat emotional.

    ¡°So do you know who turned you into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, and how many masters you had before me?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had two masters before you, but I have no idea who turned me into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul,¡± The soul exined. ¡°Like I said, I¡¯ve lost pretty much all of my memories before the point where I became the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul. The person who turned me into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul gave me to my first owner, whose seemed to be called the Daughter of mes.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, frowning, ¡°You can¡¯t be certain of it?¡±

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± the soul answered honestly. ¡°My old memories are fragmentary. I can only vaguely remember her name.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t even remember your first master¡¯s name?¡± Nie Tian started to question the truthfulness of the soul¡¯s words.

    ¡°That¡¯s because my second master refined me again after getting me. He erased all of my memories of my first master so that I¡¯d take him as my only master.¡± After a long pause, the soul added, ¡°I even have a feeling that my second master killed my first master. He might have erased my memories of my first master because he was worried that I would despise him or revolt against him.¡±

    ¡°So who was your second master?¡± Nie Tian asked, his eyebrows rising. ¡°Was he the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster?¡±

    ¡°No, not him. I was already very powerful when the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster got me. His cultivation base wasn¡¯t high enough to control me. So he hoped to bring me back to the Divine me Sect, where he could have powerful experts from his sect refine me again, but he ended up being killed by a group of people.

    ¡°Since he never truly owned me or received my acknowledgment, he was never my master.

    The more Nie Tian listened, the more intrigued he became. ¡°Alright, so who was your second master?¡±

    ¡°His name was Pang Chicheng. ording to my memories of him, he was only my master for ten years. During this time, all he did was fight in battles with my help. Since he considered me as nothing but a piece of equipment, he barelymunicated with me, and I didn¡¯t know much about him. During the tenth year since he had owned me, he took me to a ce called the Shatter Battlefield, where he was surrounded and killed.

    ¡°Oh, wait, perhaps he didn¡¯t die. His personal realm carried his soul out of the battlefield. In order to do that, he stimted all of my potential and exhausted all of the me power I had umted over the years. I fell into a deep slumber at that point.

    ¡°When I awoke again, I was already in the hands of the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster. I have no memories of what happened before that. The son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster helped me get arge portion of my strength back, allowing me to awaken bit by bit. However, he seemed to be fleeing from many people when he first gained me. Even his ancient starship was destroyed by his pursuers.

    ¡°I thought he was going to be my third master, but unfortunately, he died before he could take me back to the Divine me Sect. He only had me for around six months.

    ¡°Afterwards, I drifted in the starry river, relying on my remaining power before, for some reason, I ended up in your hands.¡±

    The soul exined its sad experience to Nie Tian in detail, yet Nie Tian gained very limited information from its words.

    However, it seemed to him that this me Dragon Armor was an ominous thing.

    Its first master, the Daughter of mes, had been killed by Pang Chicheng.

    After Pang Chicheng seized it and refined it again, it lost all its memories of the Daughter of mes, and Pang Chicheng became its second master. However, this onlysted ten years before Pang Chicheng was surrounded and probably killed by others.

    In order to escape, Pang Chicheng had stimted all of its potential at the risk of totaling it.

    After that, it had fallen into a slumber. When it had awoken, it had found itself in the hands of the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster. However, he had been killed by Xia Yi and his friends before he could be its third master.

    Now, he had be its third master...

    As his train of thought came to this point, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly while shaking his head.

    After a brief moment of silence, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Oh right, what¡¯s with the heaven and earth where titans and me dragons are buried?¡±

    The way he saw it, that mysterious dimension was what was truly valuable about the me Dragon Armor, since the me Dragon Armor was the key to that dimension. Without it, no one could enter that dimension.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the Ancientspirits¡¯ graveyards. The person who found it is probably the one who turned me into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, and that¡¯s probably why he made me the key to it. I¡¯m guessing he gave me to my first master, hoping she could derive some profound enlightenment from that dimension.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng exerted every method at his disposal to enter that dimension after getting me, yet he never seeded.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°What was his cultivation base?¡±

    ¡°Thete Void domain,¡± the soul answered.

    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t he enter that dimension?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to have enough me power to activate the portal. However, there¡¯s another precondition.¡±

    ¡°What precondition?¡±

    ¡°My master must possess a very rich flesh aura. Plus, such flesh aura must be from my master. If they acquire it from some powerful being, they won¡¯t be able to infuse it into the Blood Core either. Pang Chicheng learned about this, but he couldn¡¯t meet such a precondition no matter what he did.

    ¡°Even though he was a powerful Qi warrior, he was still a human, so he didn¡¯t have a vigorous flesh aura. The reason why he went to the Shatter Battlefield was because he hoped to find a way to build up his flesh aura there, yet he failed.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a short while before suddenly realizing that, if the me Dragon Armor¡¯s first master had been able to visit that strange dimension, she must have been an outsider, or carried some unique bloodline, like him.

    ¡°But how did you acknowledge me as your third master so easily?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°ording to what you just said, Pang Chicheng refined you again and erased your memories of your first master. Only by doing that did he be your second master. Later, the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster had you for six months, and he still didn¡¯t win your favor.

    ¡°What made me so special that I gained your acknowledgment without refining you whatsoever?¡±

    The soul remained silent for some time before giving an exnation. ¡°You kept me on you since you had me. Back then, I hadn¡¯t fully awoken, and my consciousness was clouded. However, I kept absorbing your flesh aura. Even though I didn¡¯t recognize the origin of your flesh aura, it felt unique.

    ¡°Even though I hadn¡¯t fully awoken back then, I could tell that your flesh aura caused extremely strong reactions after it was channeled into my Blood Core, which had never happened before.

    ¡°That was when it urred to me that perhaps you might even be able to help me recover my old memories.

    ¡°Because of that, I determined that you¡¯d be my third master even before I fully awoke.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he thought to himself,<i> ¡°It¡¯s my special bloodline again!¡±</i>

    It was his Blood Essence that had regenerated Bloodline Crystal Chains and restored life to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s withered heart, allowing it to awaken its bloodline talents.

    Nie Tian went on and asked a few more questions, but all of the answers the soul gave contained very little information. Therefore, he didn¡¯t get to learn much about the me Dragon Armor or the Ancientspirits¡¯ graveyard.

    After a long moment of contemtion, he left the secret underground room and left with Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi, and Li Ye.

    They headed towards the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void. From there, he hoped to revisit the mysterious heaven and earth and uncover its secrets.

    He only needed an opportunity to break through into the Worldly realm. He was convinced that the Ancientspirits¡¯ graveyard was where he would find it.

    A few dayster, he showed up alone in the forbidden region where meteors constantly fell from the heavens. He found a random huge crater, where he instructed the me Dragon Armor to open the spatial tunnel.

 Chapter 692: Exploring the Unknown

    On the altar in the mysterious dimension, a fiery spark rapidly expanded before a figure suddenly shed out of it.

    BAM!

    Nie Tian crashed heavily onto the altar. He raised his hand and made a grabbing motion. The me Dragon Armor disappeared into his hand in the next moment.

    The sky was filled with clouds that were the color of lead, giving Nie Tian a sense of oppression.

    However, extremely rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth seemed to be everywhere. A breath of it made him feel refreshed.

    Standing on the altar, Nie Tian nced around at the eight me dragon skeletons, his eyes narrowed.

    He still remembered the first time he hade here. The shockingly strong gravity had pushed him to the ground. He had found it very difficult to even stand up.

    However, things were different now. He was now at thete Greater Heaven stage, only one step away from entering the Worldly realm.

    His body had also gone through repeated refinement. After crystallizing his bones and nourishing his internal organs with Heavenly Wood Heal, his body had be as hard as steel and filled with vigorous flesh power.

    Thanks to his body refinement, he now had no problem fighting the exceptional gravity in this ce. After a few attempts, he was already good to walk around.

    <i>¡°The skulls of the eight me dragon skeletons contain mysterious spatial energy, and they all face the altar from different directions, as if they could generate spatial tunnels that lead to anywhere in the starry river. From the look of it, these eight me dragon skeletons and the me Dragon Armor could have belonged to the same person. And the me Dragon Armor was made to be the key to this secret dimension.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, he gazed beyond one of the me dragon skeletons that was more than a thousand meters long.

    In the distance, he saw a number of gigantic titan arms sticking out of the earth and piercing right into the gray sky.

    The arms were dark yellow. Observed from afar, they looked rather like several grayish-yellow mountain peaks that were thousands of meters high.

    <i>¡°My mobility was greatly limited by the excessively strong gravity every time I was here before, so I haven¡¯t had a chance to take a good look at this heaven and earth. Now that I can walk and have plenty of time to spare, I might as well walk around in this ce and observe those titan arms up close. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to derive more enlightenment from them.¡±</i>

    Therefore, he left the altar and walked towards the huge arms, passing one of the enormous me dragon skeletons as he did.

    The titan arm that was the closest to him was about five kilometers away. As an idea urred to him, he summoned the Sun Chaser from within his ring of holding.

    He had obtained the Sun Chaser from Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect. He had used it once in the Realm of Endless Ice, and it had turned out to be as fast as lightning.

    However, it couldn¡¯t even float in this heaven and earth. The gravity here was so strong that it plunged to the ground immediately after it flew out of his ring of holding.

    Fortunately, the Sun Chaser was much sturdier than the air-transportation spiritual tools from the Domain of the Falling Stars. Otherwise, it would have crashed and exploded.

    <i>¡°It seems that I can¡¯t use it in this ce.¡± </i>With a sigh of frustration, he put the Sun Chaser back in his ring of holding and continued marching forward.

    Even though, after a series of body refinements, his fleshly body was already strong enough to fight the gravity in this ce, it was still impossible for him to run like a sh of lightning here as he could in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If he were in the Domain of the Falling Stars, it would only take him a couple of minutes to cover five kilometers.

    However, it took him four hours to reach the enormous arm that looked like a mountain peak.

    The grayish-yellow arm reached into the heavens, its fist clenched. Endless rage could be sensed from it. This was none other than the arm from which he had derived the Rage Punch.

    Standing in the shadow of the arm, Nie Tian looked up and discovered that what he could see wasn¡¯t a whole arm.

    Instead, what was exposed only seemed to be two-thirds of an arm.

    However, just the two-thirds of the arm alone was already thousands of meters long. How huge would the titan be?!

    The eight me dragon skeletons, each of which was about a thousand meters long, already seemed extremelyrge to him when he first saw them.

    But they were nothingpared to these partially buried titans.

    He wondered how majestic the titans would look if they climbed out of the earth and stood in front of him.

    Compared to them, Demons, Phantasms, and humans were all as puny as ants.

    <i>¡°Is this what the Ancientspirits, who ruled the Deste Antiquity Era, look like? More than ten thousand meters tall, and born with extremely tough bodies and the ability to travel across the starry river... If such enormous beings engaged in a battle with each other, I¡¯m afraid mountains would be toppled and seas would be overturned.</i>

    <i>¡°It¡¯s hard to imagine how the other races could rise up and stand up to these creatures as equals.¡±</i>

    Standing in the huge arm¡¯s shadow, Nie Tian felt very weak and fragile.

    That was when images of titans, ancient beasts, and huge dragons flying across the starry river and engaging in fierce battles with one another entered his mind, making his heart pound with excitement. He thought that was how battles between beings at the peak of this universe should look like.

    At this moment, he suddenly recalled a special experience he had not very long ago in the dimension of two parallel continents.

    Outsider races, including Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Birdmen, and Floragrims had lived on the top continent, while the bottom continent had been home to all sorts of huge, powerful beings, including the dead ck phoenix that Dong Li had obtained and refined.

    Come to think of it, those huge beings on the bottom continents must have been Ancientspirits from the Deste Antiquity Era.

    An irreconcble war had eventually broken out between the two continents. As a result, the Ancientspirits from the bottom continent had won, and the top continent had shattered and be countless floatingnds.

    He had evenmunicated with a mysterious ancient awareness on an ind that was in the middle of the boundless ck sea.

    That ancient awareness seemed to be from the depths of the unfathomable sea, and also had some sort of connection to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He had wondered what that ancient awareness was back then. But now that he thought about it, standing in the shadow of this huge arm, he suddenly realized that it might have been the awareness of some powerful Ancientspirit like the titan before him.

    ¡°Before, I found it hard to believe that the enormous creatures from the bottom continent won the final war and shattered the top continent, which was the ancestralnd of Demons, Phantasms, and many other powerful races, but now it makes sense.¡±

    Just the titan¡¯s arms alone shook his heart deeply, and he started to realize how overwhelmingly formidable these beings from the Deste Antiquity Era were.

    After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Nie Tian unleashed a wisp of his flesh aura and the soul power from within the fragmentary stars in his soul, hoping to use it to examine the part of the titan that was underground.

    With his soul power, he would be able to detect even the most subtle soul fluctuations. His flesh aura, on the other hand, would allow him to sense even the faintest aura of life.

    He wanted to know whether this titan was really dead.

    As his flesh aura and soul power flew towards the depths of the earth, he scanned its surroundings with rapt attention.

    <i>¡°There aren¡¯t any soul fluctuations or any signs of life. It appears that this titan is dead. However, just by looking at this huge arm, I can feel rage stirring inside of me. Back in the day, I derived the Rage Punch by observing and imitating this arm.¡±</i>

    After a long time of fruitless examination, Nie Tian shook his head slightly.

    As reluctant as he was, he figured he had better move on to the second huge arm. Since these two arms were fairly close to each other, he thought they might belong to the same titan.

    It was from this huge arm that he had derived the spiritual energy ball magic.

    Momentster, he came to a stop in front of it. He examined it with the same method as he examined the first one, but still failed to discover anything noteworthy.

    Then, after a few hours¡¯ walk, he came to a ce between the third and fourth huge arm, the palms of which faced each other.

    From the look of it, the third and the fourth huge arms belonged to the same titan. It was from them Nie Tian had derived the method to form chaotic maic fields.

    With each huge arm to his left and right, Nie Tian took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes as he examined the titan underneath him with his fragmentary star power and flesh aura.

    However, he still failed to detect the slightest soul fluctuations or flesh aura. It seemed that this titan had been dead for a very long time as well.

    Standing where he was, he made an attempt to summon his different types of power to form a chaotic maic field.

    He wondered whether some changes would take ce if he did. After all, he had derived that magic from these two huge arms.

    A chaotic maic field quickly came to form around him, and gradually expanded into his surroundings.

    During this process, he squinted and examined the two mountain-like arms with rapt attention, hoping to capture even the most subtle changes in this area.

    However, nothing happened. His efforts once again turned out to be in vain.

    With a deep sigh, he left for the fifth huge arm.

 Chapter 693: Illusory Ancient Symbol

    ¡°Do you really not remember anything about this ce? You must havee here before with your first master, the Daughter of mes. Didn¡¯t she tell you anything?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t remember any of that.¡±

    ¡°How much do you know about the titans?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you everything I can remember about them.¡±

    ¡°What special bloodline did these titans carry? What grade was their strength at?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea.¡±

    Nie Tian asked the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul questions from time to time, but it failed to give him any useful information, which frustrated him.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll only be able to answer those questions after I get my lost memories back.¡±

    ¡°Lost memories? Are you sure you¡¯ll be able to get them back? Do you know how?¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that I¡¯ll be able to get some of my lost memories back if you give my Blood Core a few drops of your Blood Essence.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian turned the soul down without hesitation. ¡°I can¡¯t. Not now.¡±

    He stored the me Dragon Armor in his ring of holding, and then marched onward.

    He needed to remain in his peak state now that he hade to a crucial point in his cultivation. Only by doing this would he be ready for his breakthrough at all times.

    The way he saw it, the Blood Essence in his heart would also y an important role in his breakthrough into the Worldly realm. He needed to hold on to all ten drops of them.

    He would only consider giving some of his Blood Essence to the Blood Core after he entered the Worldly realm.

    Six hourster...

    He came to a stop in a ce between another pair of huge arms, their syed hands slightly pressed down towards the ground.

    Without saying a word, he sat down and concentrated on sensing the two huge arms that seemed to be trying to suppress something.

    After some time, he held his own hands in the same gesture as the huge arms, palms facing down.

    As he sensed his surroundings wholeheartedly, a feeling of sealing heaven and earth suddenly rose in his heart.

    That was when his psychic power, flesh power, and spiritual power somehow started to circte on their own, following his meridians into his arms.

    A chaotic maic field then came to form, covering a twenty meter radius around him.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A streak of light shed across his eyes as he suddenly realized that the chaotic maic field magic seemed to be have a close connection to the suppressing move he was trying to imitate now.

    Back in the day, he had derived the chaotic maic field magic from the two arms whose palms faced each other.

    Now, as he imitated the two titan arms by pressing his palms down towards the earth, a chaotic maic field came to form on its own, summoning all of his various types of power without him willing it.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Spiritual auras of different colors flew about within his chaotic maic field, along with wisps of psychic power which couldn¡¯t be seen by the naked eye.

    As the auras gradually mixed up and merged with one another, an extremely violent power rapidly built up.

    As different types of spiritual power, psychic power, and flesh power came together, some mysterious changes took ce.

    A vague ancient symbol quietly came to form within his chaotic maic field.

    ¡°Seal!¡± he eximed.

    Since he had learned the titans¡¯nguage from Wu Ji, he recognized the illusory symbol that was formed by auras of different colors at first nce.

    Even after the ancient symbol formedpletely, it continued to channel all sorts of power from him.

    However, only a short while passed before the ancient symbol that read ¡®seal¡¯ suddenly exploded.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Crimson, silver, and green auras instantly shattered, filling the air with multicolored sparks before they vanishedpletely.

    That was when he discovered that he had consumed about thirty percent of each of his types of power.

    This meant that the ¡®seal¡¯ symbol hadn¡¯t exploded because he had run out of power.

    <i>¡°First, my different types of power were channeled to form a chaotic maic field. Then, the powers within the maic field mixed up, forming an illusory ancient symbol.</i>

    <i>¡°After the ¡®seal¡¯ symbol was fully formed, it continue to summon power from me to activate its magical features. However, I might have to use new hand seals or make other changes in order for it to show its magical features.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian stayed in ce and made a few more attempts.

    Every time, he had to form a chaotic maic field before different types of power came together, forming a illusory ¡®seal¡¯ symbol.

    However, every time, the ¡®seal¡¯ symbol exploded and vanished soon aftering to form.

    After a few failed attempts, he saw the pattern, and thus left for another set of two huge arms that was nearby.

    They also had their palms facing down, as if they were hoping to seal or suppress something.

    The only difference was that their fingers were slightly curled.

    Nie Tian turned around and looked back at all of the titan arms he had passed. ¡°Hmm... interesting...¡±

    That was when it urred to him that he had passed eight huge arms that stuck out of the earth, which belonged to four titans.

    From the first titan¡¯s two arms, he had respectively derived the Rage Punch and the spiritual energy ball magic.

    However, the second, third, and fourth titans¡¯ arms all had their palms facing down, which seemed to be freeze-frames from a hand seal.

    The chaotic maic field he had derived from the second titan was merely the first step of the hand seal.

    The third and fourth titans had their arms pressing down. Their sealing gestures were based on the establishment of the chaotic maic field.

    The reason why the illusory ¡®seal¡¯ symbol had exploded earlier was probably because the whole process hadn¡¯t beenplete. There was still one step to go.

    The gesture of the fourth titan¡¯s arms with slightly curled fingers wouldplete the hand seal.

    ¡°That must be it!¡± he told himself.

    Therefore, standing in a ce between the arms of the fourth titan, he lifted his hands, palms facing each other, to form a chaotic maic field.

    As soon as the chaotic maic field came to form, he pressed his hands down towards the earth.

    Numerous streaks of multicolored auras rapidly came together, forming an illusory ancient symbol.

    At first, the symbol was indistinct and vague, but it continued to channel all sorts of power from him.

    At that moment, he moved his hands again, imitating the hands of the fourth titan.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As he did, his different types of power started to leave him at a rate that was several times higher than before.

    Each and every vortex in his spiritual sea started to spin at an rming rate, madly releasing power that was eventually infused into the illusory symbol.

    This time, the symbol didn¡¯t explode.

    Instead, the symbol that was formed byrge amounts of his spiritual power, flesh power, and psychic power rapidly be unprecedentedly clear.

    At the same time, he lost more than half of each type of power.

    Even though the ¡®seal¡¯ symbol was still illusory, it was clearer and more brilliant now than ever.

    At this moment, an ancient psychic awareness that could overbear all lives was suddenly born within the illusory symbol.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian was overwhelmed by a feeling as if he had be an ancient monarch, and all lives hade to kneel before him.

    He felt as if he had be a titan. Standing with his feet on the earth and his head rising into the heavens, he overlooked the entire realm, along with the puny lives in it.

    It was as if there were countless puny ant-like beings kneeling at his feet, treating him like an ancient god.

    As he looked up, he could see into the depths of the boundless starry river. As he looked down, he could see the burning underworld.

    He felt as if, with that illusory symbol, he would be able to control heaven and earth, along with every living being within it.

    A strange feeling that he had be a god filled his heart.

 Chapter 694: New Discoveries

    The god-like feeling onlysted for a few seconds before he snapped back to reality.

    As soon as he did, he noticed that the illusory ancient symbol was shaking violently while unleashing iparably strong sealing power.

    The symbol seemed to have be a raging beast that was trying to find prey.

    ¡°Crap, there isn¡¯t anything around that I can use it on...¡± he said to himself.

    In the next moment, the glowing illusory symbol slowly cracked and exploded to shreds.

    Countless sparks that carried chaotic force sputtered in every direction, creating numerous holes in the earth that was as solid as steel.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, his eyes shining with the light of excitement.

    At this very moment, he was struck by a feeling that the barrier that was stopping him from entering the Worldly realm had been shattered.

    There was more than simply umting spiritual power and refining vortexes of spiritual power to making a breakthrough in cultivation.

    Due to his uniqueness, he had to make sure his fleshly body was on the same page as his spiritual cultivation.

    Other than that, there was the right enlightenment.

    Sometimes, it could be some unforgettable experience, a new understanding of human nature, or sudden enlightenment regarding the energies of heaven and earth.

    Without the right enlightenment or state of mind, no matter how hard a Qi warrior cultivated, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to make the breakthrough.

    He had been well prepared for his breakthrough into the Worldly realm soon after his return from the space disruption zone, in aspects of power umtion as well as the refinement of his flesh body and spiritual sea.

    All hecked was an opportunity.

    Just now, as the ancient awareness had burst forth from within the illusory symbol, the opportunity he had been waiting for had finally befallen him.

    However, since the ancient symbol had consumed too much of his strength, he didn¡¯t get to make the breakthrough right away.

    Once his spiritual sea was replenished again and he recovered his psychic and flesh power, he would be able toplete the breakthrough process.

    <i>¡°I was right! The opportunity for me to breakthrough into the Worldly realm does lie within this mysterious heaven and earth! And I seized it!¡±</i>

    Without any hesitation, he sat down on the ground and took out Star Stones and materials of fire and wood attributes to recover power that didn¡¯t exist in this heaven and earth.

    After a few days, his vortexes of wood power, me power, and star power brimmed with power again.

    Then, with the spiritual energy ball magic he had derived in this ce, he filled his nine vortexes of spiritual power with refined spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    By the time they were filled to the brim, he went on to absorb flesh power from outsider corpses.

    With all of this done, he discovered that there wasn¡¯t a method that would allow him to recover his psychic power within a short time.

    After failing to find a solution, he put his mind back on exploring the other titan arms.

    He wondered what secretsy in the other huge arms.

    He nced around, and discovered that he had already examined all of the eight huge arms that were close to the altar.

    These four titans were buried closely together in a ce not far from the altar.

    Therefore, he marched towards another huge arm that was much farther from the altar.

    After a very long time, when he finally came to that huge arm, he went nk briefly staring at it.

    This huge arm was so far from the altar that he hadn¡¯t have been able to get a clear view of it until now.

    Standing in its shadow, a bitter smile slowly appeared on his face as he looked up at it with rapt attention.

    Both its gesture and the rage that could be sensed from it were identical to the one from which Nie Tian had derived Rage Punch.

    Even still, he spent some time examining it, hoping to learn something new from it. However, he failed, and thus moved on to another nearby huge arm.

    ¡°This arm is identical to the one I derived the spiritual energy ball magic from...¡±

    ¡°Next!¡±

    ¡°This one too! It¡¯s exactly the same as the one I derived the chaotic maic field magic from!¡±

    ¡°Next!"

    Days passed...

    He finally finished examining all of the eight huge arms in this region, which belonged to the four titans that were buried closely together in this ce.

    That was when he discovered that all of the huge arms in this region were identical to the ones in the region where he had firste to.

    Even so, he wasn¡¯t ready to give up yet.

    He spent the next two weeks exploring two other regions with half-buried titans. He exerted all effort for anything that was worth noting.

    However, as he had expected, each of these regions also turned out to have four half-buried titans, and their arms were identical to the ones he had discovered in the first region.

    This meant his wish to derive more powerful magics from these titan arms had turned out to be in vain.

    <i>¡°So there are a total of thirty-two arms, which belong to sixteen titans, and they¡¯re divided into four regions.</i>

    <i>¡°There are four titans in each region. With their arms sticking out from the depths of the earth, they¡¯re forming the same set of hand seals as those in the other three regions.</i>

    <i>¡°The four regions form a veryrge square, with each region on a corner.</i>

    <i>¡°Does this mean these sixteen titans are forming some sort of spell formation that¡¯s sealing something?</i>

    <i>¡°If these titans could climb out of the earth, each of them would be more than ten thousand meters tall. If they¡¯re indeed the cores of a grand spell formation, how powerful is it going to be?!</i>

    <i>¡°I wonder what they¡¯re sealing. And also, did they volunteer to be the cores of this grand spell formation, or they were enved and put here by something even more powerful?¡±</i>

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind exploded with questions.

    The more he thought about it, the more clueless and frustrated he became.

    He summoned the me Dragon Armor to ask its soul about these titans. However, the me Dragon Armor seemed to know even less about them than he did.

    <i>¡°If these titans are indeed forming some unparalleled grand spell formation, where is the center of this grand spell formation?¡± </i>With this question in mind, Nie Tian suddenlyid his gaze on the region at the center of the square.

    He hadn¡¯t explored that region yet. He had only moved along the four lines that connected the four regions where there were titans half-buried.

    <i>¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to find something there.¡±</i>

    An expectant look filling his eyes, Nie Tian marched on again.

    Several days passed...

    As Nie Tian gradually approached the central area, he started to sense extremely rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Eyes wide, he picked up his pace.

    Shortly afterwards, a gigantic, grayish-brown tree branch entered his sight.

    As he walked closer, he discovered that the tree branch was more than three hundred meters long, and was sticking out of a huge, bottomless hole in the ground like a sharp de.

    Without any hesitation, he formed nine Heaven Eyes, which came whooshing out of his forehead before stopping above the tree branch.

    With the help of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian examined the tree branch and the huge, dark hole in the ground.

    A misty, semi-translucent ward could be seen over the mouth of the huge hole. Through the ward, Nie Tian could see nothing butplete darkness; not a single spark of starlight could be seen.

    The hole seemed to be an unfathomable well that went through the continent he was standing on, leading to some unknown space.

    Meanwhile, the grayish-brown tree branch stretched down towards the depths of the pitch-ck hole.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the sixteen titans are here just to seal this tree branch, whose length is unknown?¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

 Chapter 695: The Beauty Never Seen

    Standing by the edge of the huge hole in the ground and gazing at the grayish-brown tree branch, Nie Tian was lost in his thoughts.

    ¡°Are the titans sealing this tree branch, or the ce this huge hole leads to?¡± With this question in mind, he examined the visible part of the tree branch with his both flesh aura and the soul power from the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    The tree branch was as thick as the trunk of thergest tree he had seen in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and it stretched into the unfathomable darkness.

    As the result, he failed to detect any signs of life or soul fluctuations from it.

    He couldn¡¯t even sense the slightest wood power from it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that this is nothing but a dead ancient tree,¡± he thought to himself.

    He summoned the me Star from within his ring of holding, infused it with spiritual power, and shed it down vigorously on the tree branch.

    BOOM!

    Arge amount of fiery sparks sputtered from the contact point, yet not the slightest mark was left on the tree branch.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Then, he summoned the me Dragon Armor and told it to assume its me dragon form and ram into the tree branch.

    However, after a loud boom, the me Dragon Armor flew back to his side, and he received messages from it that said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything this tough. I can topple a mountain peak with a vigorous strike, but this tree branch didn¡¯t move a bit.

    ¡°Plus, I can¡¯t detect any residual power from it, not even a shred of wood power.

    ¡°This means it¡¯s only a branch from some dead tree. The fact that a vigorous strike from me didn¡¯t even leave a mark on it is simply unbelievable.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped at the scene.

    After a moment of hesitation, he put the me Dragon Armor back into his ring of holding, along with the me Star.

    The misty spiritual power ward over the mouth of the bottomless hole seemed to be separating this mysterious heaven and earth from the rest of the starry river.

    However, that tree branch had managed to pierce through the spiritual power ward.

    If the titans were here to cut the connection between this heaven and earth and the rest of the starry river, this tree branch was clearly malicious.

    At this moment, he suddenly remembered the other magical dimension he had entered from the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    In that dimension, wood power was as thick as water, and sky-reaching ancient trees grew everywhere. He had even found a small Tree of Life, which had Fruits of Life growing on it, in that ce.

    However, what had shocked him the most was that the small Tree of Life had actually been rooted in the eye of a titan that was lying on his back, and all of those ancient, sky-scraping trees had been growing on the titan¡¯s body.

    <i>¡°But that Tree of Life was growing out of that titan¡¯s eye, and their rtionship seemed rather harmonious...¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

    That was when he came to realize that the tree branch probably had nothing to do with that Tree of Life.

    Then, he made an attempt to have the nine Heaven Eyes fly through the spiritual power ward to see whaty beyond it.

    However, it turned out that his Heaven Eyes couldn¡¯t go through that spiritual power ward.

    Shaking his head, he muttered, ¡°This is so odd...¡±

    Afterwards, he made a few more attempts. Yet all of them turned out to be in vain, as he failed to get a sneak peek at the secrets that hid in that bottomless hole.

    It suddenly urred to him to make an attempt with the seventy-two tree branches he had obtained from the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd.

    As the small tree branches flew out, he focused all of his attention on the huge tree branch, but still, nothing happened.

    Feeling rather frustrated, he went on to make a few more attempts with other magical items at his disposal. However, nothing worked.

    All of them failed to leave even the slightest mark on the incredibly tough tree branch.

    Neither could his awareness or flesh power could prate its exterior and examine its insides.

    After a long time and numerous failed attempts, he was finally convinced that he couldn¡¯t find out more about this tree branch or this mysterious heaven and earth.

    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ve wasted enough time here. It¡¯s about time I focused on my breakthrough into the Worldly realm.¡± As reluctant as he was, he finally decided to return to the altar and try to finish his breakthrough into the Worldly realm.

    He turned around and left.

    He didn¡¯t know that if his cultivation base was high enough, he would have been able to go through that spiritual power ward to the space that bottomless hole led to. He would have been bbergasted at the unforgettable scene he would have seen there.

    In some remote, forgotten ce in the starry river...

    Not a single star was in sight, which meant all of the stars were too far from this ce to be seen.

    An unimaginably huge ancient tree almost took up the entire dark void. No one knew for how many millennia it had been there.

    Meanwhile, numerous pieces ofnd were floating in the dark void, each of which looked like a realm where living beings used to live and multiply.

    There had to be hundreds of them, and they were scattered all over the void.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know that the piece ofnd Nie Tian was standing on was merely one of them.

    Even though the floatingnds were separated from one another by extremely long distances, and some were at the top while others were at the bottom, they all had one thing inmon.

    Each and every one of them was pierced through by a branch of the unimaginably huge tree, making them look like hundreds of sugar-coated haws on sticks.

    The tree had thousands of branches growing out of it.

    The tree branch Nie Tian had seen was merely the tip of one of the numerous branches.

    Each tree branch was longer than the width of any realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Meanwhile, about three-fourths of the tree branches had nothing on them at all.

    It was a pity that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base still didn¡¯t allow him to go through that spiritual power ward to see this magnificent and incredible scene.

    Even if he did, and told others about it, they probably wouldn¡¯t believe him.

    ...

    Frustrated, Nie Tian dropped to his butt on the altar that was surrounded by eight me dragon skeletons.

    <i>¡°Perhaps I got my expectations too high. I thought each of the sixteen titan arms carried their own hand seal or secret magic. Who would have thought that they¡¯re actually four sets of identical ones, which are forming some magnificent spell formation to seal something.</i>

    <i>¡°Also, I can¡¯t seem to find anything useful from that bottomless pit or the thick tree branch that grows out of it. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ve already gotten everything I can from this graveyard of the Ancientspirits.</i>

    <i>¡°Whatever secrets remain, I won¡¯t be able to uncover them any time soon.</i>

    <i>¡°I suppose I¡¯d better break through into the Worldly realm as soon as possible, and then look for an opportunity to test the might of that illusory ¡®seal¡¯ symbol after getting out of here.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, he took several deep breaths to recover from the strong sense of frustration.

    After recovering his calm, he focused on his breakthrough into the Worldly realm, not wasting any time.

    Spirit jades that contained highly concentrated spiritual power piled up in front of him, along with Star Stones and spiritual materials of me and wood attributes.

    Meanwhile, the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth would also be very helpful with his breakthrough.

    He took two spirit jades in his hands from the pile. Holding one in each hand, he activated the Qi Refining Incantation to channel spiritual power from them.

    The nine vortexes of spiritual power in his white, misty spiritual sea had already umted enough spiritual power. Normally, it would be very difficult to channel more spiritual power into his spiritual sea.

    However, as wisps of his spiritual power flew into his spiritual sea, great changes suddenly took ce.

    The white mists in his spiritual sea were stirred and started to surge violently.

    As wisps of spiritual power flew into his nine vortexes of spiritual power, they started to converge in one ce, while spinning at an rming rate.

    WHOOSH!

    Two of the vortexes of spiritual power collided and started to mix, instantly causing stabbing pain in his head.

    That was when he realized that changes were taking ce in his soul as well.

    Memories of his entire life that were branded in the depths of his mind morphed into countless rays of light before starting to converge on one point, along with the misty psychic power that filled every corner of his sea of awareness.

 Chapter 696: Spiritual Core Forms, True Soul Appears!

    Time passed bit by bit...

    Sitting on the ancient altar that was surrounded by eight me dragon skeletons, Nie Tian picked up spirit jades from time to time to absorb their copious spiritual power.

    The merging of the two vortexes of spiritual power caused splitting pain in his head and the transformation of his psychic power.

    His psychic power quietly gathered and became a cluster of white mist, along with his memories and knowledge of all sorts of power and incantations.

    This cluster of white mist kept releasing his unique soul aura.

    Violent soul fluctuations burned his mind like boilingva, making him dizzy.

    Like steel, wisps of psychic power were being hammered a thousand times over before being refined into soul power.

    The transformation of his psychic power was also causing changes to his memories, which were mixing and brooding in the cluster of white mist.

    As tiny dark spots exploded from time to time within the cluster of white mist, images shed across Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    It started with his childhood memories in ck Cloud City in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Brawls between him and the other Nie n children, his experience in the Green Illusion dimension, learning from Wu Ji, the fierce battles during the Heaven Gate trial...

    Scenes of his lifelong memories continued to appear and vanish before his eyes like a slideshow.

    The cluster of white mist expanded and shrank from time to time. In one moment, it would grow long and assume Nie Tian¡¯s figure, but in the next moment, it would shatter and shrink back into a cluster of mist.

    As that happened, his vortexes of spiritual power continued to merge with one another.

    CRACK!

    Another spirit jade was drained of spiritual power and cracked.

    Without saying a word or opening his eyes, he picked up a new one.

    He had long since known that his psychic power would transform into soul power and a true soul would form when he advanced to the Worldly realm.

    However, he hadn¡¯t been aware that such changes would take ce in his spiritual sea.

    Now, he knew that as he broke through into the Worldly realm, his nine vortexes of spiritual power would be one.

    His master, Wu Ji, had never told him anything about what changes would happen to him when he made breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    Wu Ji had done that so that he would get to examine and study the changes himself.

    Wu Ji had only told him that breakthroughs would take ce when he was ready, and that he didn¡¯t need to learn much about them beforehand.

    Meanwhile, it had never urred to Hua Mu, Zhen Hun, or the other seniors to tell him about the changes that would happen during his breakthroughs, because they had all assumed that Wu Ji had told him about them in detail already.

    After all, Fang Hui, Chang Sen, and every other expert from the Realm of me Heaven praised Wu Ji as the best mentor one could ever want.

    Wu Ji¡¯s method turned out to be brilliant.

    Every time Nie Tian tried to make a breakthrough, he didn¡¯t know what changes would ur. Because of this, he would act with great caution and pay close attention to every subtle change that took ce during his breakthrough.

    He had to observe closely and try to fathom the changes in order not to get into trouble.

    As one spirit jade after another was reduced to ordinary stones and piled up beside him, his nine vortexes of spiritual power finally finished merging and became one.

    However, he still experienced stabbing pain in his head as changes continued to take ce in his mind.

    More and more psychic power was turned into soul power as the cluster of white mist fluctuated.

    Gradually, Nie Tian started to have a feeling that the cluster of white mist had be the vessel of his soul.

    The wisps of soul power within it were like his soul¡¯s meridians and flesh.

    As one spirit jade after another was consumed, his mind gradually drifted away, reliving his previous experiences and enlightenments.

    Eventually, the extended breakthrough process came to an end.

    As the huge waves in his spiritual sea calmed, his nine vortexes of spiritual power had already merged into one.

    His new vortex of spiritual power was, to arge extent, simr to his original vortexes of spiritual power.

    The only difference was that it had a semi-transparent liquid core that was the size of a fist floating at its center.

    It seemed that the core contained highly concentrated, refined spiritual power.

    Liquidized spiritual power could be seen flowing in a mysterious way inside the core.

    ¡°Is this... a spiritual core?¡± It seemed that, by only looking at the mysterious core, he learned what it was called.

    The formation of the spiritual core seemed to mark the end of the violent changes in his spiritual sea.

    As a thought entered his mind, wisps of pure spiritual power streamed into his meridians. He could use such spiritual power to activate protective wards orunch attacks however he liked. He felt that he had been vested with endless battle prowess.

    As he continued to channel spiritual power from the spirit jades in his hands, wisps of spiritual power flowed into his new, single vortex of spiritual power, and after refinement, merged into that spiritual core.

    Then, he observed his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power, and discovered that they were floating around the new vortex of spiritual power.

    Some profound connection seemed to have been established between the three vortexes of different attributes and the new vortex of spiritual power that had a spiritual core at its center.

    However, his vortexes of me power, wood power, and star power didn¡¯t seem to have undergone any noticeable changes. They hadn¡¯t merged with each other or formed spiritual cores.

    Then, as he refocused his attention on his soul, a strange feeling hit him.

    He felt as if his awareness had returned home, and the cluster of white mist in his soul was the origin of his inner awareness.

    It was as if that was his true soul.

    Eyes narrowed, he examined it with rapt attention, and then quickly realized that his memories, soul imprints, and understandings of various incantations, which had been scattered in every corner of his soul, were now gathered inside his true soul.

    Unlike his spiritual core, which was in a liquid state, his true soul was illusory and mist-like.

    At this moment, his true soul was only a fluctuating cluster of white mist.

    He had heard that truly powerful Qi warriors possessed true souls of their own shapes and appearances. Not only did they look very distinct, but they could even fly out of their bodies and exist independently.

    However, his true soul was now nowhere near that level.

    <i>¡°It seems that this is what my true soul is like at the Worldly realm. Perhaps only when I make another breakthrough in cultivation will new changes ur. Perhaps only after I enter the Profound realm or the Soul realm will it be distinct, and assume my shape and appearance.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, his awareness slowly descended into his true soul.

    That was when he realized that there was a soul imprint at the heart of his true soul, which seemed to carry his lifelong memories and understandings of everything.

    Wisps of soul power were gathered closely around the soul imprint, as if they were protecting it.

    As long as a thought entered his mind, soul power would be able to fly out of his soul to scan heaven and earth.

    Before, the awareness he had used to scan his surroundings could only be referred to as psychic awareness, since it had stemmed from his psychic power.

    But now, it had be soul awareness.

    As wisps of soul awareness flew out of his mind, he closed his eyes and instantly discovered that the detection range of his soul awareness was many times vaster than that of his psychic awareness.

    Not just that, but he had a feeling that his soul awareness was now allowing him to truly explore heaven and earth.

    His perception of everything around him was much clearer than before, when he had to use his psychic awareness.

    Withdrawing his soul awareness, he noticed that the nine fragmentary stars in his soul hadn¡¯t undergone noticeable changes. They were still shining over his sea of awareness like bright stars.

    In fact, he didn¡¯t know much about them. Normally, he would only use them to form Heaven Eyes.

    He thought he might try it again, so he summoned power from them to form Heaven Eyes.

    As soon as the nine Heaven Eyes came to form, they scattered and sped off in different directions, their speed shockingly fast.

    Immediately afterwards, the images that they captured were reflected in his true soul. Through them, he could see even the tiniest fissures on the dpidated altar, and the fine fingerprints on the titan hands that were more than five kilometers away.

    The connection between him and his Heaven Eyes had be tighter than ever, and the perception of his Heaven Eyes had multiplied.

    ¡°Spiritual core forms, true soul appears, Worldly realm achieved!¡±

 Chapter 697: All is Quiet

    In the Realm of Split Void...

    A fiery spark suddenly appeared out of thin air in the forbidden region.

    The spark rapidly expanded, giving rise to increasingly intense spatial fluctuations. Immediately afterwards, numerous fine spatial rifts appeared around it.

    One of the spatial rifts slowly split wider and wider before the fiery spark suddenly merged with it, turning it into a zing spatial rift.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian flew out of it. Standing on the ground, he raised his hand and made a grabbing motion, and the zing spatial rift shrank into the Blood Core before disappearing into his ring of holding.

    Smiling, Nie Tian unleashed his soul awareness, which quickly morphed into nine Heaven Eyes, in an attempt to scan his surroundings.

    He then discovered a streak of fiery light in the distant sky, which was slowly bending its track towards him, as if it were attracted to something in this forbidden region.

    Nie Tian was wreathed in misty starlight as his soul awareness instantly locked onto the streak of fiery light in the sky.

    It turned out to be a gigantic plummeting meteor.

    For thousands of years, countless meteors had been attracted by some mysterious force when they had flown past the Realm of Split Void. As a result, they had bent their tracks and eventually crashed in this forbidden region. The reason for this phenomenon had always remained a mystery.

    ¡°Starfall!¡±

    As a thought entered his mind, he unleashed the secret magic he had learned from the first fragmentary star mark.

    As he rapidly lost his star power, wisps of soul awareness fused with power from the fragmentary stars in his soul. Then, like metal wires, they locked onto the plummeting meteor.

    At this moment, he felt as if he had wrapped numerous invisible strings around the gigantic meteor, and could manipte it to crash in whichever location he preferred.

    ¡°Fall!¡±

    Following his order, the burning meteor suddenly changed direction and crashed into a location not far from him, giving rise to heaven-shaking, earth-moving rumbles.

    An enormous hole was created at that location, while bits of mes could be seen around and within it.

    ¡°Such terrifying force! If Imanded it to fall on someone...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered, as he assumed that even the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s former magnificent pce would be severely damaged if hemanded a meteor to fall on it, not to mention a Qi warrior.

    He had mastered Starfall for some time now, but before, his cultivation base had been rather low, he had possessed limited star power, and his psychic power hadn¡¯t transformed into soul power.

    For such reasons, even though he had mastered the secret magic, he hadn¡¯t been able to disy its true might.

    Now that he had entered the Worldly realm, formed his spiritual core, and gained his true soul, he felt much more skilled as he effortlesslyunched Starfall.

    Like God¡¯s eyes, his nine Heaven Eyes gazed down at the earth, closely examining the region where the meteor had just crashed.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He suddenly caught sight of Li Langfeng through one of his Heaven Eyes.

    Thick, poisonous smoke was rising from him as he held the Fiend expert¡¯s heart with both hands, breathing and refining the poisonous smoke the heart was releasing.

    The Heaven Eye that was the closest to him descended from the heavens.

    As it approached Li Langfeng, he seemed to sense its presence. He instantly stopped his cultivation and looked up in its direction.

    With a deep icy look in his eyes, he blurted, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    Strong killing intent appeared on his face as he unleashed his soul awareness.

    WHOOSH!

    A dark-green poisonous mist flew towards Nie Tian¡¯s invisible Heaven Eye in attempt to engulf it.

    A weak chuckle escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth as he quickly pulled his Heaven Eyes back and sped in Li Langfeng¡¯s location.

    At the same time, Li Langfeng let out a cold harrumph. Wreathed in numerous green auras, he bolted into the air and chased after the Heaven Eye at full speed.

    In about a quarter hour, the two of them met in the middle.

    The icy look in Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes faded away as soon as he caught sight of Nie Tian, a surprised and delightful look taking its ce. ¡°Nie Tian!¡± he eximed.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian watched Li Langfeng withdraw his auras and slowly descend from the air. With a hearty smile, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you¡¯ve broken through into the Profound realm already.¡±

    Even though he didn¡¯t know what changes a Qi warrior would go through by advancing from the Worldly realm to the Profound realm, he knew that only Qi warriors at the Profound realm or higher would be able to travel in the air without air-transportation spiritual tools.

    The fact that Li Langfeng had sped through the sky to this ce showed that he had entered the Profound realm.

    Afternding in front of Nie Tian, Li Langfeng said respectfully, ¡°This is all thanks to you.¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, his eyes grew wide as he stared nkly at Nie Tian. Then, a smile appeared on his face as he said, ¡°Congrattions, Nie Tian.¡±

    Obviously, he noticed that Nie Tian had entered the Worldly realm.

    ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I had nowhere to be. I learned from senior Zhen that you hade to this region, so I came here to wait for you.¡± Li Langfeng¡¯s face grew grim as he added, ¡°Before, the only meaning of my life was to avenge my family. But now, as the Spirit God Sect and the Poison Sect were eliminated, all of my enemies have died.

    ¡°Now that they¡¯re dead, I¡¯ve had my revenge in a sense, but I don¡¯t feel like it, since I didn¡¯t get to y them myself.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a sigh, not knowing how tofort him.

    Li Langfeng practiced poisonous incantations at the price of his lifespan. All he had wanted was to avenge his family.

    However, just as he was about to gain the ability to do so, the Lei n had eliminated the Spirit God Sect, the Poison Sect, and the me God Sect from their realms.

    It appeared that the Lei n had done Li Langfeng a favor, but they actually made his lifetime effort seem meaningless.

    ¡°What do you intend to do from now on?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°My life is yours. I¡¯ll do whatever you want me to until the day I die,¡± Li Langfeng said with a sincere expression. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, I wouldn¡¯t be standing here today. In fact, I made a decision six months ago in the Realm of Unbounded Destion that if you get killed by the Lei n, I would make avenging you and looking after the Nie n my lifetime goals.

    ¡°However...¡± He smiled embarrassedly. ¡°It turned out that I was too pessimistic. Heaven helps the worthy. Who would have thought that the Divine me Sect¡¯s grand elder would actually show you such respect, and tell the Lei n to take orders from you?¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Nie Tian felt touched, yet with a surprised expression, he asked, ¡°It¡¯s been six months already?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been six months since you came here and disappeared,¡± Li Langfeng exined. ¡°I searched every inch of this region for you, but failed to find you. Later, Master Zhen, Hua Mu, and a few others came here one after another, hoping to find you. Yet none of them seeded.

    ¡°I only stayed here because Miss Dong told me that you¡¯d appear in the same ce you vanished from.

    ¡°She told me to wait for you here.¡±

    ¡°So it was her,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding.

    Back when they had gone on an exploration trip together in the Realm of Dark Underworld, Dong Li had witnessed the me Dragon Armor forming a spatial tunnel and sucking Nie Tian into it.

    After his disappearance, Dong Li had waited for him in that exact location until he had finally returned.

    Dong Li was the only person who knew about this special feature of the me Dragon Armor.

    Li Langfeng went on to exin, ¡°During the past six months, Miss Dong came back to this ce every once in a while, but since this isn¡¯t an ideal ce for her to cultivate, she would only stay for a few days before leaving again.

    ¡°She reminded me that I should inform her about your return, or tell you to see her once you return.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°What¡¯s the situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars during the past six months? Did anything major happen?¡±

    ¡°No, everything¡¯s been quiet,¡± Li Langfeng replied. ¡°The Lei n has already withdrawn from the Realm of Unbounded Destion and moved to the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of Earth Sieve. They have been spending most of their time in their quarters and rarely visited any ces. They also told the Thunder Mountain Sect and the Heaven Expanse Sect to behave themselves. After the elimination of the Poison Sect, the me God Sect, and the Spirit God Sect, the Realm of ck Marsh and the Realm of Dark Underworld have remained unimed.

    ¡°Many major sects have showed a strong interest in those two realms, but none have dared to act on their own to set up bases in them. The Lei n sent word that they would need to wait for you to decide how to deal with those realms. Because of this, Hua Mu, Dong Wangling, and many other experts have been searching for you everywhere. Yet none of them seeded.

    ¡°Chang Sen from the Realm of me Heaven entered the Soul realm while you were gone. He¡¯s now the first Soul realm Qi warrior the Realm of me Heaven has ever seen.

    ¡°The Yang Sect and the Yin Sect have also been looking for you. They seem to hope that you¡¯ll go to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and help them secure something.¡±

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian looked down at the ground he was standing on. ¡°The Yang Sect and the Yin Sect...¡±

    He knew perfectly well what Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue wanted, and he had promised to help them secure those things.

    The two of them had treated him well. During the time when the Heaven Pce Sect had demanded they give him up, they had sheltered him at the price of their rtionships with the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Later, when conflicts had burst out between him and the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s alliance, the Yin Set and the Yang Sect had stood by him the whole time.

    <i>¡°I¡¯ll see if I can pry into the secrets underneath this region first. Afterwards, I¡¯ll head to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and secure those two scrolls for the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.¡± </i>After making up his mind, Nie Tian sat down on the ground and closed his eyes, preparing to uncover the secrets that had been hidden in the depths of the earth.

    He had failed to pry into the underground restrictive spell before because his cultivation base had been too low, and his psychic power hadn¡¯t yet transformed into soul power.

    Now, he had formed his true soul, and his psychic power had transformed into soul power. He believed that it was about time he uncovered the secrets left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    With a thought, his soul awareness instantly plunged into the ground he was standing on and rapidly descended towards the depths of the earth.

 Chapter 698: The Palace That Rises to the Ground

    As Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness descended about a thousand meters underground, it once again ran into the mysterious ward left there by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Like an enormous film, the ward sealed a vast space under the forbidden region, not even letting air through.

    Nie Tian had made numerous attempts with his psychic awareness before, and not once had he managed to prate the ward and get a sneak peek at what had been lying there for thousands of years.

    However, this time was different.

    As his soul awareness touched the mysterious ward, changes suddenly urred to the three fragmentary star marks that were branded on his chest.

    He had only fully refined the first fragmentary star mark by now.

    The first fragmentary star mark recorded the first part of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, from which Nie Tian had learned three powerful magics: Starstrike, Starshift, and Starfall.

    However, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to refine the other two fragmentary star marks yet.

    Even so, it seems that that didn¡¯t prevent all three fragmentary star marks from serving their magical use. At this moment, they suddenly flew out of his chest, morphed into three bright stars, and sank deep underground.

    Through his soul awareness, which was in the depths of the earth, he saw that the three fragmentary star marks flew into the ward like rocks that were thrown into ake, causing ripples to appear on the mysterious ward.

    Immediately afterwards, his soul awareness was pushed up towards the earth¡¯s surface by an unknown force.

    Merely a couple of secondster, his soul awareness returned to him.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-moving quake came from the depths of the earth.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as his eyes snapped open, then he saw the earth fluctuating like a carpet that was being shaken.

    The rumbles grew more and more deafening as the fluctuations spread from the ce Nie Tian was sitting on far into the distance.

    Soon, Nie Tian realized that the entire Void Illusion Mountain Range had started to shake. Even Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned, which were rather far from this region, seemed influenced.

    At the center of the forbidden region, the rocky bottom of a huge crater suddenly crumbled and sank, creating a deep hole that rapidly spread in every direction.

    Whilends shook and mountains were rocked, something enormous gradually rose from the depths of the earth.

    ¡°W-what¡¯s hapening, Nie Tian!?¡± Li Langfeng asked with a stutter.

    He had a feeling that Nie Tian was causing these great changes.

    However, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been doing anything but sitting beside him with his eyes closed. Could he have caused such upheavals just by doing that?

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either.¡± With these words, Nie Tian rushed towards the central area, where something was rising from a deep hole in the earth, thinking that he was finally going to uncover the secret that had been hidden underground for an unknown amount of time.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The earth continued to tremble as all of the rocks in that area shattered and sank into the deep hole.

    The tip of a magnificent ancient pce rose to the earth¡¯s surface, like a huge monster that had barely gotten its head out of a deep pit.

    After rushing to the site, Li Langfeng¡¯s eyes brimmed with shock and disbelief as he asked, ¡°What... what the hell is that?! Why was there a pce in the depths of the earth?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know how to answer his questions.

    He only stared nkly at the grand pce that was still slowly rising, causing arger area around it to crumble and sink.

    The pce was greenish-ck. Countless star formations could be seen engraved on its surface.

    Upon first nce, Nie Tian realized that those star formations were very simr to the ones that were carved on the inside of the lofty mountain peaks in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations and the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    It was just that the star formations on the surface of this magnificent pce were now dim and lifeless, as if only when they were infused with star power would they disy their magical use.

    Like an enormous beast that had awoken from its deep slumber, the majestic pce gradually rose to the earth¡¯s surface.

    Loud rumbles continued to shake heaven and earth.

    Every Qi warrior in the entire Realm of Split Void felt the changes. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were in Shatter City, Ash City, the Land of the Abandoned, or the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    One figure after another started converging on the forbidden region from different directions with worried expressions on their faces.

    Several minutester, the ancient pce that had been buried in the depths of the earth for many years finally stood before Nie Tian.

    Compared to the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s former headquarters, which had been destroyed by the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship, this pce was evenrger and more magnificent. Its surface seemed to be covered in countless star formations. Not a single spot was left out.

    Now that the pce waspletely unveiled, the earth stopped rumbling.

    Nie Tian¡¯s three fragmentary star marks, which had flown out of his chest earlier, morphed into three streaks of starlight and returned to him.

    Gazing up into the heavens, Li Langfeng said, looking overwhelmed, as if he were in a dream, ¡°Great changes are happening to the Realm of Split Void!

    ¡°Look, Nie Tian! The air in the Realm of Split Void used to be filled with tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. We could almost never see a starlit sky like this.

    ¡°Also, it seems to me that the distance between those dazzling stars in the sky and us is now closer now than ever.

    ¡°And the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that used to fill the sky seems to have been purged somehow.¡±

    With these words, he took a deep breath, then his expression flickered violently as he eximed, ¡°No, the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth has not been purged! It¡¯s been changed! The Demon Qi, Phantasm Qi, Fiend Qi, and many other energies that were harmful to us cultivators are being refined and turned into rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he focused on sensing the air around him with his eyes closed.

    His perception of the changes in the air was deeper than Li Langfeng¡¯s. Since he practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation, he had shrewdly discovered the subtle change in the increase of star power in the air.

    The stars in the heavens were shining increasingly brightly since the magnificent ancient pce had risen from the depths of the earth.

    Countless wisps of star power seemed to be attracted by the ancient pce, as they quietly converged on it.

    Nie Tian wondered what kind of material the pce was made from, which actually allowed it to automatically channel star power from the heavens.

    Meanwhile, the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in an increasinglyrge area around the ancient pce was being converted into rich and pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    The Realm of Split Void was once thergest and most special realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Back in the day, the Void Pce Sect, which had possessed unparalleled power in the Domain of the Falling Stars and overshadowed the Heaven Pce Sect for many years, had been based in the Realm of Split Void.

    The Realm of Split Void was only crossed from the Domain of the Falling Stars because its once rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had been tainted by all sorts of impurities that had leaked into it through the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, which had rendered it unfit to cultivate in.

    Now, thanks to the appearance of the ancient pce, the various kinds of impurities in the air throughout the entire Realm of Split Void were going to be refined and turned into the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Originally, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void had been richer than that in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. It was just that it was polluted by all sorts of impurities.

    If all of the impurities could be refined and turned back into spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void would be even richer than it had ever been.

    Not just that, but poisonous foreign energies were still pouring into the Realm of Split Void through the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    If all of those energies were to be continuously turned into spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, it would make the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void even richer.

    Rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth would allow Qi warriors to gather power and make breakthroughs more efficiently.

    At the same time, if copious spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth filled every corner of the realm, it would eventually producerge amounts of spirit stones and spirit jades.

    From the look of it, the Realm of Split Void would be a blessednd in the near future.

    Perhaps powerful experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars would choose toe and cultivate in the Realm of Split Void.

    Li Langfeng ran his gaze up and down the majestic pce for a long time before finally saying, ¡°This pce... It has something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian said, ¡°That¡¯s right. It was left here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You¡¯d better stay here. I¡¯ll go take a look inside.¡±

    With these words, he strode towards the pce.

    The pce looked like a sealed fortress with only one huge stone gate, which was now tightly shut. All of the windows were also shut at this moment.

    After marching up to the stone gate, he reached out with both hands and summoned his star power.

    Misty starlight wreathed his hands as he gave the huge stone gate a vigorous push.

    WHOOSH!

    The heavy gate opened, and he stepped inside.

    As soon as he stepped through the gate into the spacious hall, he felt like he was reliving the time when he had fought for fragmentary star marks in the mysterious pce in the depths of the starry river during the Heaven Gate trial.

    The inside of this pce had so many simrities with that one.

    The dome of the hall was transparent, and he could see the starlit sky. Each and every star looked extremely close to him, as if he would be able to touch them just by extending his arms.

    The inner walls were also engraved with countless star formations. Numerous stone rooms surrounded the great hall.

    In the middle of the great hall stood arge-scale teleportation portal, through which he wondered where he could teleport to.

 Chapter 699: A Star Boat

    Nie Tian walked straight towards therge-scale teleportation portal.

    The base of the portal was octagonal, and paved with arge amount of Space Spirit Jades and other materials that contained spatial power, which were there to power the portal. There was also apass of stars inside, which seemed to be used for setting up coordinates.

    Four sets of spatial coordinates could be seen already set up on thepass. From the look of it, just by choosing from them, people would be able to teleport to any of those destinations.

    Nie Tian took a nce at them, and immediately realized that three sets were coordinates in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    He pondered the reason behind it. Each of those three realms had a grand spell formation that had been left there by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and each grand spell formation had three lofty mountain peaks as their cores.

    Therefore, he suspected that he would be teleported to a ce inside one of those lofty mountain peaks if he chose one of these three sets of coordinates and activated the teleportation portal.

    It seemed only natural that this pce had close connections with those grand spell formations in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    His eyebrows furrowed as heid his eyes on the fourth set of spatial coordinates. Then, his expression flickered.

    The fourth set of coordinates weren¡¯t for a location within the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, to Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, he felt a sense of familiarity as he looked at them.

    Without any hesitation, he took out the Spirit Pearl and sent a wisp of soul awareness to examine the star map inside of it, which had be perfectly clear after absorbing arge number of discarnate souls.

    He spent quite a while matching the coordinates on the map.

    The fourth set of coordinates turned out to be the ce on the map where the powerful spirits were gathered. It was none other than the special region between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, where, ording to Yue Yanxi, the Divine me Sect had been exploring recently. A shocked expression stretched across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    That region had been sealed for what could have been ten thousand years, and was full of dangers. No starships could have sailed through it until recently.

    Only because of the recent changes did the Lei n manage to sail through that deadly region and find the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Before that, due to the existence of that region, it had been impossible to establish any sort of connection between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Just earlier, Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect had even invited Nie Tian to go explore that region, saying that secrets had yet to be uncovered there.

    He had never expected that there would be a set of coordinates in this pce that had risen from the depths of the earth which were designated to that special region.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian pondered in silence. Only after a long time did he reach out with one hand and set thepass to the set of coordinates in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Immediately afterwards, therge amount of spatial power materials at the bottom of the teleportation portal had power channeled from them.

    The teleportation portal was then covered in misty starlight, and started to thrum with increasingly intense spatial fluctuations.

    Nie Tian jumped inside without dy.

    WHOOSH!

    In the blink of an eye, he appeared in a sealed, hollow space surrounded by stone walls.

    His expression flickered as he felt a strong sense of familiarity with this ce.

    There was a starlit pagoda in the middle of the hollow space, beside which was berthed a silver boat that was about seven meters long. Clearly, it was an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    He found himself standing in a small-scale teleportation portal between the starlit pagoda and the silver boat.

    From the look of it, the teleportation portal had just risen from underneath the rocky floor, where it had been hidden.

    He had had a peek at this ce when he had helped the Yin Set and the Yang Sect seal the spatial rift that had connected the Demon realms to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Both the silver boat and the starlit pagoda had left deep impressions on him.

    The only thing he hadn¡¯t seen that time was this small-scale teleportation portal.

    ncing at his surroundings, Nie Tian knew perfectly well where he was: the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    He knew that the starlit pagoda was the key to sealing that major spatial rift. Since he didn¡¯t know enough about it, he didn¡¯t dare to examine it.

    Then, he walked towards the small silver boat.

    The head and stern of the boat were both cone-shaped. The entire boat was covered in fine mysterious patterns, and shone with an icy metallic luster. Numerous Star Stones paved the bottom of the boat.

    This small boat seemed to run on Star Stones.

    Nie Tian summoned star power to wreath himself before leaping into the boat.

    That was when he discovered that the words ¡®Star Boat¡¯ were carved on the bow of the boat in an ancient style.

    This was probably the name of this air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Fascinated by the words that were carved in an ancient and simple style, he couldn¡¯t help but read them out loud. ¡°Star Boat...¡±

    As soon as he did, the three fragmentary star marks on his chest grew burning hot.

    One word after another flew out of the second fragmentary star mark, which he hadn¡¯t fully refined, before branding themselves in the depths of his soul.

    He instantly learned everything he needed to know about the Star Boat.

    The Star Boat was indeed an air-transportation spiritual tool. It was not only lightning fast, but also exceptionally powerful.

    Provided with enough star power, both the head and the stern of the Star Boat could unleash deadly starlight on his enemies.

    Other than that, with its sharp cone-shaped head and stern, he could charge it into and destroy his enemies¡¯ air-transportation spiritual tools.

    After learning all about the Star Boat, he lifted his hand and made a grabbing motion, then the Star Boat morphed into a streak of starlight and disappeared into his ring of holding.

    He had known that this air-transportation spiritual tool was meant for him the moment he had seen it years ago.

    However, as much as he had liked it, since his cultivation base had been rather low back then, he hadn¡¯t been able to take it into his possession.

    ¡°Other than this Star Boat, there are two other items inside these mountain peaks that I promised to get for Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, he pondered how to enter the hollow space inside the other two mountain peaks, so that he could secure those two scrolls for Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue.

    At this very moment, the small-scale teleportation portal, through which he hade to this ce, suddenly lit up.

    Two crystals gradually appeared, floating in the middle of the teleportation portal.

    One was in the shape of a crescent moon, while the other was in the shape of the sun. There was a scroll in each of the transparent crystals.

    Those scrolls were none other than what he was looking for.

    ¡°This is incredible...¡±

    Gasping, Nie Tian made a grabbing motion in the air, and the two icy crystals flew into his palms.

    That was when it urred to him that there must be special connections between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect.

    The Yin Sect disciples channeled power from the chilly moon, while the Yang Sect disciples channeled power from the zing sun.

    The sun, the moon, and the stars had been a whole since the beginning. There were moons, suns, and stars in every corner of the starry river.

    Even though there were only a limited amount of moons and suns, the stars were innumerable...

    A series of thoughts shed across his mind, making him more and more convinced that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect had special connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He went on searching inside the mountain¡¯s belly for a while, but found nothing more. Then, he returned to the grand pce in the Realm of Split Void through the small teleportation portal.

    From there, he adjusted thepass of stars and teleported to the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of Mystic Heaven sessively.

    He discovered nothing but starlit pagodas inside the lofty mountain peaks in those two realms.

    After returning, he set thepass to the fourth set of coordinates.

    As soon as he did, the teleportation portal started to thrum with even stronger spatial fluctuations, the spatial power materials that covered its bottom were rapidly drained of power.

    However, the expected teleportation didn¡¯t happen. Instead, the spatial fluctuations quieted down after a short while.

    There must also be a simr teleportation portal in the ce at the fourth set of coordinates. However, since the teleportation couldn¡¯t bepleted, it meant that something must have happened to that other teleportation portal.

    After all, he had no problem teleporting to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the Realm of me Heaven, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven using the teleportation portal before him.

    From the look of it, he would have to visit that ce some other way, and then find out what had happened to the teleportation portal there.

    With these thoughts, he went to check the other stone rooms that surrounded this great hall.

    He figured people from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had probably lived there once, yet now they werepletely empty.

    Failing to find anything noteworthy, he could only give up and walk back towards the gate to the grand pce.

 Chapter 700: The Abandoned Land Becomes the Blessed Land

    The full moon hung high in the clear, starlit sky.

    Cai Lan from the Blood Skull, Fan Zongshen from the Wild Fire, and Long Qi from the Dark Moon were gathered in front of the magnificent pce that stood towering in the forbidden region.

    Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi, and Li Ye were also with them.

    Cai Lan¡¯s face was filled with excitement as he gazed up the pce. ¡°A grand pce left here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    He seemed to be on the verge of shouting out loud to vent his excitement.

    Fan Zongshen and Long Qi also seemed overjoyed and excited. Even their shoulders trembled slightly.

    As the heads of the Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon, they had shrewdly discovered the changes in this region and rushed over.

    Looking at the magical pce that had risen from the depths of the earth, and sensing the changes in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, how could they not be excited?

    Because of the appearance of this pce, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth throughout the entire Realm of Split Void was going through thorough changes.

    The tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was being refined and turned into fuel that would boost Qi warriors¡¯ cultivation.

    With more foreign energies pouring into the Void Illusion Mountain Range through those spatial rifts, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void would only get richer and richer.

    They knew for sure that every corner of the Realm of Split Void would be filled with shockingly rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the near future.

    At that time, the Realm of Split Void would return to its most glorious time, or be even more prosperous than it had ever been.

    The Blood Skull, the Wild Fire, and the Dark Moon had slowly built themselves up in the Realm of Split Void over the years. They would definitely benefit from such dramatic changes.

    From now on, they would no longer need to consume spirit stones to power the grand spell formations that protected Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned from the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Exposed in a sea of rich spiritual Qi, they and their members would be able to make advancements in their cultivation much faster.

    It was as if they could see their organizations rising to prominence, taking advantage of this opportunity.

    Frowning, Zhen Hun gave the three of them a cold sideway nce. ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re so happy. You can see the Realm of Split Void rising up again. Do you think others can¡¯t? Do you think you¡¯ll be able to maintain your status in the Realm of Split Void just by relying on your own strength?

    ¡°If Nie Tian allows it, many powerful sects and ns from the other realms will give anything to move their headquarters here.

    ¡°If that happens, will you still be able to stay in the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    With a weak smile, Cai Lan said, ¡°Nie Tian has long since given me his word that he¡¯ll always be a guest elder of the Blood Skull. I believe he¡¯ll stand by us, and won¡¯t let them force us out of the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Fan Zongshen from the Wild Fire and Long Qi from the Dark Moon took a look at Cai Lan and gave bitter smiles.

    Fan Zongshen put a smile on his face before sping his hands towards Zhen Hun and saying respectfully, ¡°Master Zhen... What do you think I can do to prevent the Wild Fire from being forced out of the Realm of Split Void?¡±

    Long Qi also looked unblinkingly at her with an inquiring and respectful look in his eyes.

    Zhen Hun looked up at the magnificent pce and didn¡¯t answer him right away.

    In fact, she was also rather emotional, as she had never expected that there had been such a mysterious pce under everyone¡¯s noses for thousands of years, yet no one had discovered it until now.

    ¡°Thanks to the unearthing of this pce, great changes are happening in the Realm of Split Void, turning it into a blessednd once again,¡± said Zhen Hun.

    ¡°Major powers from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars are bound to drool over this blessednd.

    ¡°At that time, the powers that are friendly with Nie Tian, such as the Spirit Condor, the Dong n, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the sects from the Realm of me Heaven will think up every possible method to get a piece of this blessednd.

    ¡°Even though the Realm of Split Void is rather vast, there actually aren¡¯t many locations that are fit to set up headquarters.

    ¡°After all, many regions are still roamed by powerful mutant spirit beasts.

    ¡°If powerful sects are to move their headquarters here, Shatter City, Ash City, and the Land of the Abandoned will still be their best choices.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be surprised if you¡¯re forced out eventually.¡±

    Zhen Hun had lived in the Realm of Split Void and had been friends with Cai Lan for many years now. She didn¡¯t want to see the major sects taking the Realm of Split Void into their hands.

    She pondered in silence for a long time before finally saying, ¡°I have a suggestion for the three of you: cling to Nie Tian. Now, in the Domain of the Falling Stars, Nie Tian stands for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. If you cling to Nie Tian, you cling to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base is not high enough at the moment, and he hasn¡¯t established connections with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet, so many people have ignored the fact that he has the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce at his back.

    ¡°Right now, it¡¯s not likely that major sects like the Ice Pavilion Sect and the Dong n are willing to set their pride aside and cling to Nie Tian.

    ¡°So this gives you a chance. As long as you be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate organizations, things will stay the way they are, and you¡¯ll get to stay in the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°If you miss this opportunity, by the time Nie Tian gets strong enough and gets in contact with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you probably won¡¯t even qualify to be his subordinate forces.¡±

    Cai Lan went nk briefly before muttering with a thoughtful expression, ¡°Cling to Nie Tian and be his subordinate force...¡±

    Feng Zongshen and Long Qi also weighed Zhen Hun¡¯s suggestion with serious expressions.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, one air-transportation spiritual tool after another flew over from the Void Illusion Mountain Range, glorious like dashing meteors.

    Momentster, they descended in front of the pce one by one.

    Standing in the air-transportation spiritual tools were Hua Mu and Lu Yuanxi from the Spirit Condor, Zong Zheng, Qian Qiong, Xuan Ke, and Xuan Yue from the Ice Pavilion Sect, Xing Huanyue from the Yin Sect, and Li Muyang from the Yang Sect, as well as Dong Wangling, Dong Li, and Dong Baijie from the Dong n.

    Since they were all close to Nie Tian, they had teleported to Shatter City as soon as they had received word of the great changes in the Realm of Split Void.

    From Shatter City, they had teleported to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Then, they summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools and flew to this location at the fastest possible speed.

    Upon arriving, they were overwhelmed by the magnificent towering pce. Their expressions flickered as they sensed the subtle changes in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth first-hand.

    None of them had expected that the Realm of Split Void, which had been kicked out of the Domain of the Falling Stars, would rise to prominence again one day.

    ¡°Such a magnificent pce!¡±

    ¡°Dear god! Why would such a grand pce rise from the depths of the earth?!¡±

    ¡°The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth everywhere in the Realm of Split Void is being refined and changed!¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The thick, heavy stone gate was pushed open. As Nie Tian leveled his gaze, he was startled by the scene.

    Numerous air-transportation spiritual tools were floating before him, along with many people he knew.

    To his surprise, Xing Huanyue and Li Muyang were also among them.

    Meanwhile, everyone seemed rather excited to see him. They all called out to him, hoping to ask him what was going on. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Seeing that so many powerful experts hade to see Nie Tian, Cai Lan from the Blood Skull finally made up his mind.

    He rapidly walked up to Nie Tian. Before everyone realized what he was doing, he got down on one knee before Nie Tian, bowed his head, and said, ¡°I, Cai Lan, will follow from you from now on, and the Blood Skull will be yours tomand!¡±

    Fan Zongshen also hastily walked out of the crowd and knelt beside Cai Lan. ¡°I, Fan Zongshen, will also follow you from now on, along with all of my Wild Fire members!¡±

    Long Qi also got down on one knee and said with great determination, ¡°I, Long Qi, and every member of the Dark Moon will also be yours tomand from now on!¡±

    The abnormal behavior of the three of them confused Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and the others.

    They hadn¡¯t expected that the threergest local forces would ask to be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate forces at the same time.

    Hua Mu went nk for a few seconds before realizing what was going on. His eyes lit up as he chuckled weakly and said, ¡°These three are rather smart.¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What are you doing, Uncle Cai!?¡±

    Cai Lan raised his head and said sincerely, ¡°Allow us to follow you from now on. Our swords will be yours!¡±

    Fan Zongshen and Long Qi hastily chimed in, ¡°We wish for the same thing!¡±

    Nie Tian stepped over and helped Cai Lan to his feet. ¡°That can wait. You need to get up first.¡±

    Then, he gestured towards Fan Zongshen and Long Qi, beckoning for them to get up as well.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Cai Lan said, looking rather touched.

    The fact that Nie Tian hade to help him up, not Fan Zongshen or Long Qi, proved that Nie Tian valued him more than those two.

    This was all because the Blood Skull had maintained a friendly rtionship with Nie Tian over all these years.

    Fan Zongshen and Long Qi refused to get up. Instead, they gazed at Nie Tian eagerly and implored, ¡°Please allow us to follow you, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°I said we¡¯ll talk about thatter.¡± Nie Tian sounded somewhat displeased.

    Seeing this, Fan Zongshen and Long Qi exchanged a nce, then rose to their feet reluctantly.

    With a soft chuckle, Nie Tian took the crescent-moon-shaped and sun-shaped crystals out of his ring of holding. He tossed them to Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue, saying, ¡°Uncle Li, Aunt Xing, these are the things I promised to get for you.¡±

    Both Li Muyang¡¯s and Xing Huanyue¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as they saw the two crystals.

    With great caution, they caught the crystals and examined them with their soul awarenesses, which contained chilly power from the moon and zing power from the sun. Immediately afterwards, overjoyed expressions spread out across their faces.

    Li Muyang took a deep breath. He almost skipped with joy as he eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! T-there¡¯s actually theplete record of a domain-building method in it!¡± I can¡¯t thank you enough!¡±

    Xing Huanyue also smiled heartily, even though she didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Uncle Li, Aunt Xing, it¡¯s about time your sects set your differences aside and made peace with each other,¡± Nie Tian said with a sincere expression. ¡°Both your sects have special connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. If my spections are correct, the founders of your sects were most likely from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue exchanged a nce. With a faint smile, Li Muyang said, ¡°We came to the same conclusion after you told us about these crystals that were floating inside the lofty mountain peaks.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Xing Huanyueid his eyes on Li Ye, who was standing beside Zhen Hun, her gaze warm and apologetic. ¡°Well...¡±

    ¡°What are you looking at me for?¡± Li Ye asked, looking confused.

    Xing Huanyue¡¯s gaze made him feel very warm, yet deeply puzzled.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time you met your mother and father!¡± Zhen Hun said, her eyes brimming with emotions.

 Chapter 701: Speculations

    Li Ye stood aghast. ¡°My mother and father?¡±

    Looking nkly at his master, he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say I was an orphan?¡±

    Li Muyang¡¯s eyes grew red as he said in a slightly choked voice, ¡°You are not! And you never were! Conflicts break out between the Yang Sect and the Yin Sect all the time. The enmity our seniors held against each other was too deep to be reconciled, so...¡±

    He nced at Xing Huanyue. ¡°So in order not to enrage our seniors, your mother and I chose to hide our rtionship.

    ¡°In fact, when your mother and I were young, as chosen ones from the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect, we actually fought a lot. But as time passed, we gradually grew to have feelings for each other...

    ¡°However, fierce battles still kept breaking out between our sects. Even after we both became sectmasters, the grudge our sects held against each other was still unforgivable. We didn¡¯t dare to defy our sects¡¯ opinions, so we could only secretly put you in Master Zhen¡¯s hands.¡±

    Xing Huanyue¡¯s eyes welled up as she walked up to Li Ye. With an intense look in her eyes, she said, ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, son.¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Li Ye as he gazed back and forth between Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue, his eyes gradually reddening.

    ¡°Alright, you should find a ce where you can have a good talk,¡± Zhen Hun said.

    Xing Huanyue grabbed Li Ye¡¯s hand and walked away from the magnificent pce with him and Li Muyang. ¡°Come, son. We¡¯ll tell you whatever you want to know.¡±

    Nie Tian was astonished by the unexpected revtion. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Li Ye is actually their son!¡±

    Pei Qiqi, however, seemed to have known about this all along. Her expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest as she curiously examined the grand pce that was channeling starlight from the depths of the starry river.

    Everyone else seemed surprised as they started to discuss things with each other.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect actually have special connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°Who would have known that Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue not only secretly fell in love with each other, but also had a son.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t me them for what they did. The feud between the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect hassted generations. The previous sectmasters wouldn¡¯t stop fighting until the other side was annihted. What could those two have done?¡±

    ¡°If Nie Tian didn¡¯t secure those two items for them and confirm that the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect shared the same origin, the two of them still wouldn¡¯t reveal this matter. Now that they have those items, they¡¯ll be able to show their sect members that their brawls with each other have been meaningless.¡±

    Looking rather excited, Dong Li asked, ¡°How did you manage to get this pce to rise to the earth¡¯s surface, Nie Tian? And what¡¯s in there?¡±

    As soon as she asked these questions, everyoneid their eyes on Nie Tian.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°I realized that some something was hidden here a long time ago. It was just that my cultivation base was still too low back then, so I couldn¡¯t pry into it.¡±

    He didn¡¯t give a straight answer as to why the pce had risen to the earth¡¯s surface, and what was inside.

    ¡°You three may leave now,¡± Zhen Hun said. ¡°You can find another time to talk to Nie Tian.¡±

    Cai Lan exchanged nces with the other two, and then they left with reluctant expressions.

    After they left, all that remained in this ce were people from the Spirit Condor, the Ice Pavilion Sect, and the Dong n.

    They were all rather close to Nie Tian. Nie Tian didn¡¯t felt the need to hide the truth from them, and thus said, ¡°There¡¯s arge-scale teleportation portal in the pce.¡±

    ¡°Where can you go through it?¡± Hua Mu asked without dy.

    ¡°There were four sets of coordinates,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Three sets were coordinates for locations in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, the Realm of me Heaven, and the Realm of Mystic Heaven. The fourth set of coordinates was a little different. They¡¯re not for a location in the Domain of the Falling Stars. I tried to teleport to that location, but failed...¡± Nie Tian went on and told them about his teleportation attempts in detail.

    He hoped that Hua Mu, Zhen Hun, and the other experts could give him some useful information.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the problem is not on this end.¡± Zhen Hun was the first to express her opinion. ¡°Something must have happened to the teleportation device on the other end. It¡¯s either broken, or has run out of materials to power it.¡±

    Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably it.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I figured,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding. ¡°The location for the fourth set of coordinates is a ce between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries...¡± he went on and exined the matter in detail.

    Dong Wangling was deeply intrigued after hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words. ¡°What? There is actually such a region? And Yue Yanxi invited you to go explore it?¡±

    Hua Mu also seemed very intrigued as he said, ¡°The star map in the Spirit Pearl also has that region marked out? I wonder what secrets lie there.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, is it possible... that we go there with you and take a look?¡± Zhen Hun asked.

    Nie Tian gave a bitter smile. ¡°Yue Yanxi told me that the Divine me Sect will only have me go there. He¡¯s afraid that the Domain of the Falling Stars will get into trouble if the other sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries discover us ande for ournd and resources. I¡¯ll go first, and see what I can find out about that ce. I¡¯ll also try to find and fix the teleportation portal that connects that ce to here.

    ¡°If I can do that, then we won¡¯t need the Divine me Sect to visit that ce anymore. We¡¯ll be able to teleport there from the portal in this pce.¡±

    Dong Wangling pondered briefly before saying with a reluctant expression, ¡°It seems that we don¡¯t have a choice for now. Actually, it¡¯s about time we went out of the Domain of the Falling Stars and explored the universe. After all, we¡¯ll have to gather the precious materials necessary to build our inner domains after entering thete Soul realm.¡±

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and the other experts nodded along.

    Afterwards, the Soul realm experts split up to circle around the majestic pce and examine it carefully with their soul awareness.

    With a shocked expression, Zhen Hun eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! This pce left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has countless star formations carved on its surface, and they seem to be channeling star power from the heavens on their own. As far as I see it, since this pce has spent the past thousands of years in the depths of the earth, it must be in need of a great amount of energy. And once it has absorbed enough star power, it¡¯ll reveal its true form.

    ¡°I have a feeling that this whole pce... is a special ancient starship, which can charge out of the Realm of Split Void and sail into the boundless starry river.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he eximed, ¡°An ancient starship?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhen Hun said in an assertive tone. ¡°I believe this is an ancient starship that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left for you. Right now, the star formations on the pce¡¯s surface are still gathering power, so we can¡¯t see it for what it really is for the moment. But in several years, or perhaps decades, when it has umted enough power, it¡¯ll regain the ability to sail across the starry river.¡±

    Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°Those star formations are all dim and lifeless now, and we can¡¯t see anything from them. But when they have gathered enough star power, they¡¯ll definitely show us their profound use.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered their spections, and thought that they both made sense.

    At this very moment, Dong Li came to the closed stone gate to the pce and tried to push it open with her hands.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One streak of starlight after another appeared, weaving into a that covered the stone gate. Dong Li felt a sudden counterforce. She staggered a few steps backwards before falling to the ground.

    After getting back up, she said angrily, ¡°Howe I can¡¯t push this damn gate open?¡±

    Hua Muughed in an unrestrained manner and said, ¡°This pce was left here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. It¡¯s only natural that they¡¯ll only allow their sessor to enter. I can¡¯t even prate these walls with my soul awareness. That¡¯s how I knew it wouldn¡¯t be that easy to enter this pce. Otherwise, why haven¡¯t I tried?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, take me inside!¡± Dong Li said like a spoiled girlfriend. ¡°I want to see what¡¯s in there!¡±

    Zhen Hun¡¯s eyes lit up, as did the others¡¯.

    They were all curious about what was inside. Yet none of them dared to make rash attempts.

    Now that Dong Li had made such a demand, they wanted to see if that was possible.

    Nie Tianughed broadly before shing to the stone gate. With an effortless push, the stone gate opened.

    He stood sideways and beckon Dong Li. ¡°Come on.¡±

    Dong Li smiled heartily and walked through the gate. Upon seeing this, all of the experts gathered over. Seeing that Nie Tian was still standing there for them, they entered the pce one after another as well.

    ¡°There¡¯s not only rich star power in here, but also rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth!¡± Han Mu marveled.

    Dong Li nced around and saw the numerous stone rooms on each side of the great hall. A meaningful look appeared in her eyes as she grabbed Nie Tian and dragged him towards one of the stone rooms. ¡°I have something to say to you.¡±

    After entering the room, she closed the door behind them in an alluring manner.

    In the next moment, she threw herself into Nie Tian¡¯s arms, her charming red lips inches away from Nie Tian¡¯s face.

 Chapter 702: The Invitation from the Divine Flame Sect

    Dong Li¡¯s pleasant scent filled Nie Tian¡¯s nose.

    Before Nie Tian realized what was happening, the tip of Dong Li¡¯s tongue had already found its way into his mouth, like a slippery spirit snake.

    Nie Tian then knew what to do. However, just as he held Dong Li tightly in his arms and kissed her vigorously, Dong Li put her hands on Nie Tian¡¯s chest and separated herself from him.

    Dong Li hammered her fist on Nie Tian¡¯s chest and gave him a flirtatious look. ¡°You¡¯re so bad!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s hand still couldn¡¯t stop sliding over her back and bottom. He gave her a taunting smile, and said, ¡°What¡¯s with the sudden passion?¡±

    The stone rooms in this pce seemed to be soundproof. No one would be able to hear anything they said once the door was shut.

    Even so, the Soul realm experts, as well as juniors like Dong Baijie, Qin Yan, and Xuan Ke, were just outside, examining the great hall for anything noteworthy.

    The fact that Dong Li had pulled him into one of the stone rooms and thrown herself at him gave him a strong stimtion.

    He almost lost himself in Dong Li¡¯s sweet kisses and the warmth of her body. There was no way that he could stop voluntarily.

    It was Dong Li who put a stop to it and put sense back in his head. She pointed outside and said in a low voice, ¡°There are people outside.¡±

    With a flirtatious grin, Nie Tian said, ¡°What are you so afraid of? They won¡¯t be able to see or hear anything.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll know if we spend too long in here.¡± Dong Li eyed him somewhat angrily. ¡°The patriarch of my n and my older brother are both out there. I don¡¯t want them to find out and make fun of me.¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Are you kidding? They want me to seal the deal with you.¡±

    Dong Li suddenly grew serious. ¡°Nie Tian, my n and I have been treating you well, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Nie Tian said, while running his hands across Dong Li¡¯s curvy back and full bottom. ¡°You want something, don¡¯t you? Just tell me what is it.¡±

    ¡°I want you to keep my n¡¯s interests at heart,¡± Dong Li said without any hesitation. ¡°Now that the Poison Sect, the Spirit God Sect, and the me God Sect are gone, the Realm of ck Marsh and the Realm of Dark Underworld are currently unimed. Both those realms are vast and rich in cultivation resources. Many sects are drooling over them.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian realized what she was thinking, and thus asked, ¡°So your n is thinking about moving to one of those realms?¡±

    ¡°Who isn¡¯t?¡± Dong Li responded with a question.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What exactly do you want?¡±

    ¡°As you know, there are five powers in the Realm of a Hundred Battles: My n, the Gu n, the Cao n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce. Even though the Realm of a Hundred Battles is a vast realm, many regions are still roamed by very powerful spirit beasts. The five powers only control a small part of the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    ¡°However, my n has to share such a small part with the other four powers. We have long since thought about moving, but never had the opportunity...¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly felt a headache.

    Many powers, including the Dong n, the Spirit Condor, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Yin Sect, the Yang Sect, and the sects from the Realm of me Heaven, had especially close rtionships with him.

    All of them had provided him help or shelter as he grew to be the man he was today.

    He wondered what he should do if they all reached out to him and demanded a part of those two unimed realms.

    After all, he had never encountered simr problems before.

    Every sect and n in the Domain of the Falling Stars had seen one truth: he was now the owner of the Domain of the Falling Stars since the arrival of Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect.

    All of a sudden, he was put in a position so lofty that he could determine the ownership of the realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but then problems came along.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a while before saying slowly, ¡°Considering our rtionship, I definitely won¡¯t forget about your n. If it weren¡¯t for our rtionship, I wouldn¡¯t have given a piece of the broken Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon to your n. It¡¯s just that the other sects may also make simr demands, which will put me in a difficult position.¡±

    Dong Li sighed and said, ¡°My n has studied that Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon with the Spirit Condor and the Tool Sect for more than six months now, and they still haven¡¯t figured out a way to fix it. I know your dilemma. I¡¯ll try not to put too much pressure on you, as long as you remember me and my n.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s for sure.¡±

    With the matter settled, Nie Tian intended to resume his unfinished business with Dong Li. However, Dong Li¡¯s face blushed as she pushed him off and said, ¡°We can¡¯t stay here for too long. They¡¯ll know. We¡¯ll have plenty of time for this in the future.¡±

    With these words, she pushed the door open.

    Walking out, she said, ¡°Come to think of it, it¡¯s rather strange that I failed to push the main gate open, but I have no problem opening doors inside.¡±

    Nie Tian followed her out of the room, saying, ¡°You were invited in. It¡¯s only natural that you won¡¯t encounter any more restrictions in here.¡±

    People were scattered in different parts of the spacious hall, examining this curious pce.

    Hua Mu and Zhen Hun were gathered by therge-scale teleportation portal and marveling at its profundity.

    Zong Zheng and Dong Wangling were going from one stone room to another, hoping to find something that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left behind.

    Qin Yan, Cao Qiushui, and the other juniors were standing in the middle of the great hall, gazing up through the transparent dome into the boundless starry river.

    As they noticed that Nie Tian and Dong Li hade out of the stone room, they allid their eyes on them, meaningful smiles filling their faces.

    Dong Li avoided their gazes, while Nie Tian nced around with a calm, confident expression.

    At this moment, Li Langfeng¡¯s voice echoed out from outside the pce. ¡°Nie Tian, people from the Lei n are here, and they¡¯re asking to see you.¡±

    The whole pce waspletely sealed. No one could see or hear anything from the outside, nor could their soul awareness prate these walls.

    However, people inside had no problem sensing sounds or movements from the outside. Even juniors like Nie Tian could hear everything with great rity, not to mention the Soul realm experts.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s exmation caught everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°The Lei n,¡± Hua Mu muttered, his eyebrows furrowed. ¡°I wonder what they want.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯d better go meet them and see why they¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± With this word, Nie Tian walked towards the closed stone gate. He pushed it open and walked through it.

    As soon as he did, he saw Lei Tianqi standing next to Li Langfeng, along with a few Lei n members.

    At this moment, Lei Tianqi was examining the magnificent pce with a disbelieving expression. Apparently, he was deeply shocked by it.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, he hastily took a step forward and said in an excited voice, ¡°This... This pce was left here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Lei Tianqi looked up at the grand pce again. ¡°No wonder...¡±

    Then, he took a deep breath to calm himself before asking in a deep voice, ¡°What¡¯s inside, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Lei Tianqi instantly realized something. He smiled somewhat embarrassedly and said, ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m being rude. I¡¯m just very curious.¡±

    ¡°What do you want me for?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Umm, grand elder sent word to us that they¡¯ve discovered something in the region he told you about,¡± Lei Tianqi said. ¡°And their discoveries have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Grand elder wants me to ask you and see if you want to go there and take a look.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Do you know what discoveries exactly?¡±

    ¡°Well, grand elder didn¡¯t tell me the details,¡± Lei Tianqi said, looking embarrassed. ¡°As you know, our n is only one of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate forces. They don¡¯t tell us many things.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Will I be able to go there any time I want?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you can.¡± Lei Tianqi answered. ¡°All you need to do is to use our teleportation portal in the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters. You¡¯ll get there after a few transits. However, grand elder has already asked me about your decision a few times, so it seems rather urgent. We¡¯ve been looking for you everywhere, but didn¡¯t have any clue about your whereabouts. It seems that it took you a long time to make your breakthrough.¡±

    Considering Lei Tianqi¡¯s cultivation base, it was only natural that he could see that Nie Tian had already entered the Worldly realm.

    Therefore, he suspected that Nie Tian had conducted secluded cultivation somewhere during the time he had been missing.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll head to the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters and go meet the grand elder as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear!¡± Lei Tianqi said, secretly giving a sigh of relief.

    Yue Yanxi had sent word to him three times already during the past two weeks, instructing him to ask Nie Tian to go meet him. Therefore, he had been under great pressure.

    Now that Nie Tian had appeared, he could finally give Yue Yanxi a satisfactory reply.

    ¡°You may return to the Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range now, nmaster Lei,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon.¡±

    Lei Tianqi took another nce at the magnificent pce. In fact, he had hoped to stay and examine it. Yet now that Nie Tian had told him to leave, he could only do as he was bid.

    He was well-aware that Nie Tian still hadn¡¯tpletely forgiven his n for what they had done.

 Chapter 703: The Decline and Death of Realms

    The recent upheavals in the Realm of Split Void made it a fact that this realm would be the new center of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Soon after Lei Tianqi left, Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect arrived, along with Zhao Luofeng from the Heaven Pce Sect and experts from the Realm of me Heaven.

    They were all gathered in front of the majestic pce, gazing up at it with reverence.

    Originally, Nie Tian had nned to go visit Wu Ji, Nie Donghai, and Nie Qian in the Realm of me Heaven after this. However, they had alle to see him, along with many people he barely knew.

    Naturally, he was very warm to Wu Ji, Nie Donghai, and a few others. He took them into the grand pce, giving them a chance to see for themselves how remarkable it was.

    Of course, people like Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong weren¡¯t among those who were invited into the pce.

    Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and Zong Zheng conducted thorough examinations of the pce, and determined that it was indeed a unique ancient starship.

    ording to them, once it absorbed enough star power, it would regain the ability to sail into the starry river.

    Meanwhile, every expert showed a strong interest in therge-scale teleportation portal in the middle of the great hall, and the ce for the fourth set of coordinates.

    The way they saw it, it might be the key for them to leave the Domain of the Falling Stars to explore the boundless starry river.

    However, it was a pity that none of them were able to tell what had happened in that ce that was preventing sessful teleportation.

    Furthermore, they learned that Nie Tian was the only one who could open the heavy stone gate.

    Without him, no one would be able to enter or leave the pce.

    Aftering out of the pce, Nie Tian showed Wu Ji, Nie Donghai and a few others around the vicinity to let them sense the changes in the Realm of Split Void.

    Standing on arge meteor, Wu Ji gazed off at the distant Void Illusion Mountain Range. With a warm smile, he said, ¡°Little Tian, why don¡¯t you arrange for your grandfather, aunt, and those talented youngsters from the Nie n toe to live and practice cultivation in the Realm of Split Void? It won¡¯t be long before the Realm of Split Void bes the most blessednd for cultivators throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, why not?¡± Dong Li chimed in with a bright smile. ¡°You can have people build another bamboo forest beside that pce for your grandfather and the others.¡±

    Originally, Dong Li had been consumed with the thought of fighting for the Dong n¡¯s interests.

    However, after hearing the conversations among Dong Wangling, Hua Mu, and the others, she gradually came to realize that the Realm of Split Void would soon rise to be the center of the entire Domain of the Falling Stars, and a blessednd that every major sect would drool over.

    ¡°Is that possible?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking surprised. ¡°This region used to be a ce where no life could survive.¡±

    Wu Ji seemed to have long since conducted a thorough scan of this region as he said, ¡°Too much has changed after that pce rose from the depths of the earth. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth around the pce is richer than anywhere else. As long as there¡¯s rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, all sorts of nts will be able to grow here. All you have to do is to nt the seeds and water them well.

    ¡°So it won¡¯t be a hard thing to build another bamboo forest in this ce.

    ¡°The fundamental difference between the Realm of Split Void and the other realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars is that foreign energies keep leaking into the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Those energies of unknown origin will prevent the Realm of Split Void from declining and eventually bing a dead realm.¡±

    Astonishment filled Nie Tian¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Can realms die?¡±

    ¡°Everything in this universe is changing all the time. That¡¯s true of us Qi warriors as well as the realms.¡± With these words, Wu Ji pointed up towards the heavens. ¡°Each and every star in the sky is a realm. However, most of them are now ¡®dead realms¡¯ or ¡®dead stars¡¯.

    ¡°There used to be rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in many of those realms tens of thousands of years ago. However...¡± Wu Ji shook his head and sighed. ¡°As long as there¡¯s energy in a realm, no matter what sort of energy it is, that realm will be able to produce all kinds of living beings. Some realms are filled with Demon Qi, so they¡¯ll produce all sorts of demonic nts and animals, along with spiritual materials that agree with the Demons¡¯ cultivation.

    ¡°Some realms are wreathed in Phantasm Qi, so they¡¯ll be blessednds for Phantasms.

    ¡°There are also realms that are covered in spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. There, spiritual mines will form, along with all sorts of materials that contain spiritual power. Those realms will be a paradise for humans.

    ¡°However, none of those realms have inexhaustible energies. As different races appear and breed in those realms, they¡¯ll mine and unearth all sorts of resources and use them to refine their bodies or spiritual seas.

    ¡°That way, the energies that took unknown amounts of time to form will eventually run out.

    ¡°When that happens, even realms that were once very alive will be dead realms.

    ¡°Originally, there were more a dozen realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, as time passed, many of them became dead realms, and now only nine are left.

    ¡°Oh, sorry. There should be ten now. The Realm of Split Void should be included in the Domain of the Falling Stars again.¡±

    Wu Ji went on and told him that each and every realm could be considered to be a spiritual mine.

    Once the spiritual minerals there were exhausted, the mine would lose its value and be abandoned.

    Every realm went from being full of life force to declining and dying. Normally, this would happen over a very long time.

    What determined the length of the process was the number and strength of the beings that lived in the realm.

    Once living beings discovered a thriving realm, they would soon set up headquarters or branches in it and start mining its resources. Powerful experts would start absorbing the energies in the air.

    The more powerful they were, the faster they would exhaust the energies, and the faster the realm would die.

    Even if they weren¡¯t very powerful individually, but were in great numbers, they would also drain the realm of its resources at a fast speed.

    Now, there were Qi warrior sects in each realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars. As they continued to take in disciples build up their sects, they consumed more and more of their realms¡¯ resources, and pushed their realms closer and closer towards death.

    That meant each and every realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars would be dead realms one day.

    However, the current Realm of Split Void was a unique existence. Even though no one knew where those foreign energies wereing from, as long as they continued to pour into the Void Illusion Mountain Range, and turned into pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, the Realm of Split Void would never die.

    In fact, not only would it never die, but it would be more and more prosperous.

    Even the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries probably didn¡¯t have a realm this unique, not to mention a weak realm like the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    It was none other than the promising future of the Realm of Split Void that made Wu Ji realize that it was a good idea to have Nie Donghai and the others move here first.

    After hearing his exnation, Nie Tian¡¯s understanding of the development of realms and stars rose to a whole new level.

    He also realized that, if a powerful Qi warrior sect were to thrive forever, they would have to keep looking for realms with rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and move their headquarters from time to time.

    Another option would be to find a realm like the Realm of Split Void that had inexhaustible spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Other than that, the fourth set of coordinates in the teleportation portal in the grand pce would connect the Realm of Split Void to the outside world, which made the status of the Realm of Split Void even more special in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Wu Ji was well-aware of this, and so were the Soul realm experts from the other sects.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and many other experts sought opportunities to talk to Nie Tian, expressing their intentions to move their headquarters to the Realm of Split Void.

    Even though they hadn¡¯t encountered a resource shortage yet, they knew that their realms would eventually be drained of cultivation resources.

    Therefore, they all hoped to move to the Realm of Split Void. Also, from the Realm of Split Void, they would be able to explore the starry river in order to find the rare materials they needed to build inner realms.

    Nie Tian had a headache listening to their pleading, and thus bid them farewell and left for the Heavenly Thunder Mountain Range in the Realm of Earth Sieve.

    On the third day after Lei Tianqi had left, Nie Tian arrived in the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters, where Lei Tianqi personally received him and had him teleported to the designated location.

 Chapter 704: The Girl Who Comes in Flames

    Lei Tianqi didn¡¯t go with Nie Tian.

    He only briefly exined the situation to him before sending him on his way. He told him that the Lei n and the Divine me Sect had together established a total of seven inter-realm teleportation portals between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Yue Yanxi was currently in the region where the fourth teleportation portal was located.

    Following Lei Tianqi¡¯s instructions, Nie Tian teleported three times, and finally arrived in the region where Yue Yanxi was waiting for him.

    It was the region that was both marked out on the star map in the Spirit Pearl and designated as the fourth set of spatial coordinates in the teleportation portal in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian suddenly appeared in a teleportation portal.

    He looked around and found himself inside a spacious sealed cave surrounded by dark brown rocky walls, with a faint lightning ward over them.

    Lei Tianqi had long since told him what to do. He looked up at the dome of the cave, located a fine rift in the lightning ward, and made a vigorous leap.

    FZZZ!

    The lightning ward instantly split up, as did the rocks behind it.

    He went through without meeting any obstructions.

    In the next moment, he found himself standing on a meteor that seemed to be floating in the depths of the starry river.

    There wasn¡¯t even a shred of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth around him. There were only distant shining stars and countless meteors that floated wherever he looked at.

    Very close to one another, they filled up this entire region.

    If an enormous ancient starship were to sail into this region, it would definitely hit these floating meteors.

    All of the meteors seemed extremely solid; even ancient starships might not be able to survive collisions with them.

    Nie Tian finally realized why Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries hadn¡¯t been able to sail through this region to the Domain of the Falling Stars over the past thousands of years.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± As he looked back, Nie Tian realized that the rift he had just flown through waspletely healed again.

    Then, he was surprised to notice that about a dozen ice-cold human corpses were floating in ces not far from him, all of whom were dressed in Divine me Sect garments.

    He also noticed several air-transportation spiritual tools, which appeared to have been pierced by sharp weapons. Some had crashed into floating meteors, while others were floating in the dark ice-cold space with the dead Divine me Sect disciples.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± His expression flickered as he unleashed his soul awareness to examine his surroundings, but failed to sense any flesh auras or soul fluctuations.

    ¡°Who killed these people from the Divine me Sect?! What happened here?!¡± With these questions, he blurred into action and shed back and forth among the floating corpses to examine their cultivation bases.

    Soon, he came to a conclusion.

    All of these Worldly realm and Profound realm Divine me Sect disciples must have been waiting for him in this ce. Now, they were all dead, their air-transportation spiritual tools destroyed and their rings of holding taken away.

    They must have encountered powerful enemies while they had been waiting for him. Then, they had been killed while they had split up to flee.

    <i>¡°As one of the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Divine me Sect actually had their disciples ambushed by others. Those who did this must be from a sect that is equally powerful.</i>

    <i>¡°Can it be that the fact that the Divine me Sect discovered something in this region has somehow leaked?</i>

    <i>¡°It¡¯ll be very troublesome if that¡¯s the case!¡±</i>

    He frowned as he realized that his trip to this region might not be a pleasant one.

    At this moment, Yue Yanxi and the other powerful experts from the Divine me Sect might be exploring this mysterious region in further locations.

    Those dead disciples must have been charged with the mission of waiting for him and bringing him to them.

    However, even Yue Yanxi probably didn¡¯t know that these disciples had already been attacked and wiped out.

    Without people from the Divine me Sect to show him the way, he had absolutely no idea where to go.

    Furthermore, since someone had killed the Divine me Sect disciples in this region, they might still be in the vicinity. If he were to move around randomly, he might very well be discovered...

    Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian hastily unleashed his Heaven Eyes to conduct an extensive scan of his surroundings, fearing that someone might still be nearby.

    He decided to terminate this trip and return to Domain of the Falling Stars through the teleportation portal he hade from if he were to discover anyone who wasn¡¯t from the Divine me Sect.

    Standing on the meteor where the teleportation portal was hidden, he continued to scan his surroundings with his Heaven Eyes. Soon, he discovered more dead Divine me Sect disciples and their air-transportation spiritual tools in further locations.

    It seemed that everyone that had been waiting for him in this ce had been killed.

    However, the killers didn¡¯t seem to have discovered the secret teleportation portal, which was somewhat surprising.

    If they had discovered this teleportation portal, they would have been able to follow the vine to get the melon (idiom: track someone down by following clues), and descend upon the Thunder Mountain Sect after three transits.

    <i>¡°Lei Tianqi must have established a restrictive spell to hide this teleportation portal after setting it up. Lei Tianqi is at the early Void domain. Only cultivators at his level or higher will be able to sense the existence of his spell. Since the teleportation portal hasn¡¯t been discovered, there¡¯s only one possibility: there weren¡¯t any Void domain experts among those who came here and killed the Divine me Sect disciples.¡±</i>

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves. Standing on the meteor, he pondered his choices and waited, prepared to leave at any moment.

    Moments passed...

    A soaring firebird suddenly entered Nie Tian¡¯s view. The bird was wreathed in fierce mes as it charged directly towards him like a crashing meteor.

    A small figure of a female could be seen on the bird¡¯s back, as if she had be one with her mount.

    <i>¡°Such fierce me power... She must be from the Divine me Sect.¡± </i>Nie Tian felt slightly relieved.

    As the zing bird approached the meteor he was standing on, he took a close look at it, and discovered that it was actually an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    It seemed to be made from the skeleton of a bird. Each and every crimson bone was releasing raging mes.

    The small figure on it was surrounded by crimson mes, and thus couldn¡¯t be seen clearly.

    SHEW!

    As the spiritual tool flew closer, the small figure suddenly jumped off it. She turned out to be a young woman who was small, but extremely shapely. Brandishing a fire-wreathed long whip, she attacked Nie Tian without the slightest hesitation.

    The whip seemed to be made from a tail of an Earth me Beast. Hearing its whoosh, Nie Tian felt like an enraged Earth me Beast was roaring and charging at him.

    Even the soul awareness he unleashed to examine the long whip seemed to be burned, as he experienced a stabbing pain in his true soul.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The girl struck out with the whip a few times, and a huge zing came to form, which seemed to be able to turn anyone into ashes, along with their souls.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Nie Tian shouted as he summoned the me Star, gathered strength, and shed it towards the iing zing.

    Fiery light instantly came out of the me Star, extending the saber by several meters, as it approached the zing.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The moment his spiritual power made contact with the zing, a surge of fierce, unruly me power bombarded the me Star, as if it had finally found a vent.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he watched mes crawl up the me Star and his saber-bearing arm.

    His sleeve was instantly burned to ashes. The terrifying me power then made reckless attempts to infiltrate his skin through his pores, as if it were hoping to burn him to ashes as well.

    Frowning, he hastily summoned power from his spiritual core to contend against the invading me power, and was barely able to stop those mes from entering his body.

    Even so, his arm was burned and became as red as steel from a furnace.

    Shaking his arm, he bolted backwards to put some distance between him and the girl.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    As the girl struck the meteors that were even tougher than metal with her long whip, they crumbled and turned into flying dust.

    Then, the girl flipped her wrist again, and her whip thrashed towards him again like a roaring Earth me Beast.

    ¡°If you¡¯re from the Divine me Sect, you should know that I¡¯m the one you¡¯ve been waiting for!¡± Nie Tian shouted at the top of his lungs.

    The girl suddenly went nk, her life-iming whip freezing in midair. Then, she eximed in her soft voice, ¡°Tell me your name then!¡±

    ¡°My name is Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± The girl muttered, the zing long whip in her hand going out instantly.

    Afterwards, she jumped back onto her fire bird¡¯s back and said with a cold face, ¡°Get up now! I¡¯ll take you out of here!¡±

    ¡°Take me out of here?¡± Nie Tian asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

    The girl gave Nie Tian a nasty look and said with an urgent tone, ¡°That bitch from the Bliss Mountain Sect must still be looking for me in this area. I can¡¯t stay here for too long.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s not safe here, why don¡¯t we return through that teleportation portal and seek help from the Lei n?¡± Nie Tian suggested.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s opinion,pared to going to Yue Yanxi and the others, returning through the unexposed teleportation portal would be a safer choice.

    ¡°Nonsense! I¡¯ll never seek help from subordinate forces like the Lei n!¡± The girl said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    As she did, the firebird flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side, and she waved impatiently at him again.

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian hopped onto the back of the zing bird.

    Then, the girl stimted the firebird without dy, and the unique air-transportation spiritual tool soared away from the meteor at full speed.

 Chapter 705: Enmity

    Sitting on the fire bird¡¯s back, Nie Tian shook his right arm, grimacing in pain.

    The fierce me power the girl had unleashed had almost ckened his whole arm. Fiery sparks sputtered off his arm as he shook it.

    He examined the girl in front of him carefully with his soul awareness, and determined that she was at the middle Worldly realm.

    Then, he examined her with his flesh aura, which contained his bloodline power, and realized that she was only about twenty years old.

    Twenty years old... middle Worldly realm... Such advancing speed was simply shocking.

    Before her, the person whose advancing speed had shocked him the most was Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    He had met Mu Biqiong uponing out of Master Voidspirit¡¯s personal realm. She had been in her early twenties and at the early Worldly realm.

    Back then, both he and Zhao Shanling had been shocked by the speed at which she made advances in her cultivation.

    There wasn¡¯t a single talented youngster in the Domain of the Falling Stars who could enter the early Worldly realm in their early twenties.

    Compared to Mu Biqiong, the girl before him seemed a couple of years younger. Yet she was at the middle Worldly realm. How could he not be shocked?

    Furthermore, the girl¡¯s attacks contained terrifying me power, which had burned his right arm and inflicted a lot of pain on him. He was still suffering from it.

    He had realized from the beginning that she was from the Divine me Sect, and thus didn¡¯t bring out his full power.

    Meanwhile, he could also tell that the girl hadn¡¯t attempted to kill him with her whip strikes and the ming magic. She had only gone for capturing him.

    Even so, he had suffered injuries, which was enough proof of the girl¡¯s formidable strength.

    Eyes slightly narrowed, he examined the girl from behind.

    Even though she was small, she was very curvaceous. Her bosoms were so full that her garments almost couldn¡¯t contain them. Her slightly red cheeks were like ripe peaches that made people want to take a bite.

    In general, her beauty could even match Dong Li¡¯s.

    While he was sizing the girl up, the girl turned her head and gave him a cold, disgusted gaze.

    Her name was Qiao Yunxi. As a chosen disciple of the Divine me Sect, she enjoyed a lofty status in the Divine me Sect.

    This time, Yue Yanxi had only instructed her to wait for Nie Tian on that meteor, along with a group of other Divine me Sect disciples, but hadn¡¯t told her about Nie Tian¡¯s status.

    She only knew that a man named Nie Tian would soon arrive through the secret teleportation portal that had been set up by the Lei n.

    However, she knew nothing about their discovery of the Domain of the Falling Stars and the rtionship between Nie Tian and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    She had waited for months on that meteor with those Divine me Sect disciples.

    The fact that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t appeared after such a long time had already disgruntled her. Who would have thought that people from the Bliss Mountain Sect wouldter show up and kill everyone except her?

    Her survival was, to arge extent, because those Divine me Sect disciples had given their own lives to buy her time to escape.

    Other than that, her special air-transportation spiritual tool had been of great help.

    Her air-transportation spiritual tool was forged from the skeleton of an eighth grade Vermilion Bird, which was a powerful fire-attributed spirit beast. Its battle prowess had been equal to that of a Void domain expert when it had been alive.

    Therefore, even dead and forged into an air-transportation spiritual tool, it could fly at a shockingly high speed.

    Thanks to its high speed, she had managed to escape from the Bliss Mountain Sect pursuers.

    She had only circled back because she had been determined to finish the mission she had been charged with.

    In her eyes, this Nie Tian person, who had an unknown origin but was greatly valued by the grand elder, was the reason why all her friends were dead.

    If he hade earlier, she and her friends would have long since taken him and left that ce.

    Therefore, her expression was very unpleasant as she looked over her shoulder at Nie Tian.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked coldly.

    Nie Tian put a smile on his face and answered, ¡°Nothing. What happened back there? Why were so many of your people killed?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it all because of you?!¡± Qiao Yunxi blurted, gritting her teeth. ¡°If you hade earlier, we wouldn¡¯t have been attacked by that bitch from the Bliss Mountain Sect! They all died because we had to wait for you there.¡± Grief filled her eyes as she said these words.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said softly, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    It had been eight months since he had received Yue Yanxi¡¯s invitation through Lei Tianqi and confirmed that he woulde to this ce.

    Indeed, it had taken him a bit too long.

    ¡°Where did youe from?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Qiao Yunxi frowned. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars? Why haven¡¯t I heard of it before? What domain are your most powerful experts at in the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    She was rather intrigued, as she assumed that, since the grand elder had attached such importance to this person, he was probably from a domain more powerful than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°The peak experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars are at thete Soul realm, seeking to break through into the Void domain,¡± Nie Tian answered truthfully.

    Qiao Yunxi let out a cold snort with disdain written across her face. ¡°What?! You don¡¯t even have a single Void domain expert?!¡±

    But at the same time, she felt confused.

    Since the grand elder had told her that his person¡¯s safety was of paramount importance, she had assumed that this person must be very special. Who would have thought he was actually from a domain that was far inferior to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?

    Was it worth it to have more than a dozen of her friends die because of him?

    She didn¡¯t try to hide her contempt in the slightest. Nie Tian saw that, but didn¡¯t give an exnation.

    After a long time, Qiao Yunxi broke the silence by saying, ¡°I¡¯ll do everything within my power to bring you to the grand elder alive.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian answered, his face expressionless.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool, which was made from the skeleton of a Vermilion Bird, sped through the spaces among the floating meteors as quickly as a sh of lightning.

    Most of the gaps were very narrow. No starships would be able to go through them. Only air-transportation spiritual tools thisrge and agile could.

    Sitting on the Vermilion Bird¡¯s back, Nie Tian felt scorched by the fierce mes on its wings.

    Even though he practiced fire incantations as well, he was now covered in sweat and feeling a bit dizzy from the heat.

    However, Qiao Yunxi, whose cultivation base was only slightly higher than his, seemedpletely unaffected.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, her small body seemed to be quietly absorbing and refining the fierce me power as the air-transportation spiritual tool sped through space.

    Apparently, for her, this Vermilion Bird was much more than just an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Hours passed...

    An enormous meteor that was covered in craters entered Nie Tian¡¯s view. With great caution, Qiao Yunxi steered the air-transportation spiritual tool towards it.

    ¡°Are we there yet?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Qiao Yunxi gave a cold snort. ¡°We¡¯re not even close. Thatrge meteor is only arge piece from a dead realm that exploded long ago. There might have been spiritual minerals in it once, but they must have long since been mined.¡±

    ¡°Then why are we going there?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Will you stop asking questions?!¡± Qiao Yunxi blurted impatiently.

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool approached the huge meteor, Nie Tian unleashed his Heaven Eyes and flesh aura to scan it.

    ¡°There are people there!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Upon hearing these words, Qiao Yunxi stopped the Vermillion Bird and unleashed her soul awareness, which was more profound than Nie Tian¡¯s. Her soul awareness fanned out and spread towards that huge meteor.

    Within seconds, she withdrew her soul awareness and threw Nie Tian a nasty look. ¡°Howe I don¡¯t sense anyone?¡±

    ¡°There are people there! Believe me!¡± Nie Tian sounded very certain.

    ¡°Where are those people you¡¯re talking about?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked angrily.

    Squinting, Nie Tian pointed in a direction. ¡°Over there! They¡¯ve masked their soul fluctuations, but I can faintly sense their life auras.¡±

 Chapter 706: The Flame Bird

    The ce where Nie Tian was pointing at was a high-risen hill on the meteor.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t seem to trust his judgment.

    Her cultivation base was higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, yet she failed to discover anyone with her soul awareness.

    Nie Tian nodded vigorously, and answered with great certainty, ¡°There must be a few dozen people hiding over there! And I¡¯m a hundred percent sure that they¡¯re human cultivators! Outsiders¡¯ flesh auras are much more profound than humans¡¯.¡±

    Any living being would release two types of energies: soul fluctuations and flesh aura.

    Human Qi warriors were normally very sensitive when it came to soul fluctuations.

    However, they weren¡¯t even nearly as good at sensing flesh auras as outsiders.

    Outsiders had tough bodies and unique bloodline powers. Therefore, their perception of flesh auras was much shrewder than humans.

    Because of this, humans usually scanned their surroundings by detecting soul fluctuations, while outsiders sensed flesh auras by relying on their special bloodline power.

    With either of these two methods, they could locate living beings that were hiding in their surroundings, so they were equally effective.

    Since Nie Tian carried a unique bloodline called Life Bloodline, he was vested with the ability to sense flesh auras, which could also be referred to as life auras.

    He had scanned that huge meteor and discovered a few dozen life auras that were rather weak. Only humans¡¯ life auras would be that weak.

    If they were outsiders, their life auras would have been much more vigorous, like an ever-erupting volcano.

    Sitting on the air-transportation spiritual tool that was made from a Vermillion Bird, Qiaon Yunxi pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll trust you this time!¡±

    Then, instead of leaving at the first possible moment, she charged the air-transportation spiritual tool at the huge meteor at an even faster speed.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    He had warned her, and Qiao Yunxi had said that she would trust him this time, so why would she still want to jump into the trap?

    Qian Yunxi gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Will you shut up already?!¡±

    Nie Tian burst into a ming rage. ¡°If you have a death wish, can you at least leave me out of it?!¡±

    He was prepared to summon his Star Boat in the next moment and leave on his own.

    WHOOSH!

    Just as their air-transportation spiritual tool was about to reach the meteor, Qiao Yunxi suddenly changed directions and bounced away like a streak of mes.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Misty spiritual power suddenly burst out from behind the hill as one air-transportation spiritual tool after another shot up into the air.

    Standing on those air-transportation spiritual tools were numerous Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors. Their Holy Daughter, Mu Biqiong, was among them.

    The scene made Qiao Yunxi grow cold with fear. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you were actually right!¡±

    Even more fierce mes burst out from within each and every bone of the Vermillion Bird as the air-transportation spiritual tool sped into space like a dashing meteor.

    The distance between them and the pursuing Bliss Mountain Sect disciples grew longer and longer.

    Standing on the foremost air-transportation spiritual tool, ate Profound realm Qi warrior from the Bliss Mountain Sect thundered angrily, ¡°Dammit! How did she know that we were hiding there?

    ¡°I masked all of our soul fluctuations with my spiritual tool. Considering her cultivation base, she shouldn¡¯t have sensed our presence!¡±

    Wearing a veil, Mu Biqiong looked rather shapely. Her bright eyes that looked like gems were also filled with confusion.

    With the help of their special tool, they had detected a divine me seal on this sizable meteor.

    Divine me seals were usually used to pass on information between Divine me Sect disciples. From that divine me seal, Qiao Yunxi would be able to learn the whereabouts of the other Divine me Sect members, and then go meet up with them.

    As soon as they had found that divine me seal, they had realized that Qiao Yunxi would definitelye to this meteor.

    Therefore, they had prepared for a long time, masking their soul fluctuations with special spiritual tools, then waited for Qiao Yunxi to walk into their ambush.

    As they had expected, Qiao Yunxi had indeed sensed the divine me seal and found her way to this meteor.

    However, just as she was about tond to get that divine me seal, she seemed to sense the danger. Then, she gave up decisively and left at full speed.

    Mu Biqiong felt rather frustrated.

    Watching the zing Vermilion Bird fly farther and farther away from them, Mu Biqiong said with a grim face, ¡°Send word to the others and tell them to try their best to block her. It seems that we won¡¯t be able to catch up to her.¡±

    She knew that zing air-transportation spiritual tool of Qiao Yunxi¡¯s very well.

    Named the me Bird, it drew power from the skeleton of a Vermilion Bird, and it was the sixth fastest air-transportation spiritual tool throughout the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    It was none other than this me Bird that had helped Qiao Yunxi escape from them repeatedly.

    Even if Soul realm experts gathered all of their strength to speed through the sky, they still wouldn¡¯t be able to match the me Bird¡¯s speed.

    Only Void domain experts would be able to outfly and intercept it.

    However, Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t even have a single Soul realm expert on her team, much less any Void domain experts.

    She had long since realized that she would have to set up a trap and lure Qiao Yunxi in if she wanted to catch and kill her.

    As long as Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t fall into her trap, she would always be able to escape from them by relying on the unparalleled speed and agility of her me Bird before they could form a full blockade around her.

    ¡°I noticed earlier that there was another person standing beside that girl on her me Bird,¡± thete Profound realm Bliss Mountain Sect expert said, frowning. ¡°But I didn¡¯t see who he was, since they were rather far from us and I didn¡¯t dare to unleash my soul awareness, fearing that I¡¯d alert them. I¡¯m guessing he might be the one who sensed the danger.¡±

    Mu Biqiong nodded slightly. ¡°I saw that man too. He and Qiao Yunxi were both blocked from sight by the me Bird¡¯s fierce mes. I didn¡¯t see his face either. But I have a feeling that he isn¡¯t very powerful. Otherwise, even knowing that we were here, they would havended and fought us.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the Bliss Mountain Sect expert chimed in. ¡°That girl is well aware of our strength. The fact that she avoided fighting us means that the man with her isn¡¯t very strong.¡±

    Face grim, Mu Biqiong ordered, ¡°Send word to our people first. Tell them to do everything they can to block her and prevent her from reuniting with Yue Yanxi.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    The me Bird came to a stop on a medium-sized floating meteor hourster.

    At this point, they had long since lost the pursuing air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Qiao Yunxi jumped onto the me Bird¡¯s skull and stuffed a number of red stones that seemed to contain me power into its mouth.

    One stone after another slid into the bird¡¯s abdomen, following its neck.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of fiery aura started to rise from the bird¡¯s abdomen and spread to every one of its bones to replenish their me power.

    ¡°There was a divine me seal on that meteor,¡± Qiao Yunxi exined. ¡°I can detect them with a special instrument. Grand elder left several of them along his way as he traveled so that I would be able to learn his whereabouts through them. I have to find those divine me seals one after another in order to follow their track and eventually meet up with them.

    ¡°I bet Grand elder didn¡¯t expect that people from the Bliss Mountain Sect would alsoe to this region. Otherwise, he would have been much more cautious.

    ¡°From the look of it, that bitch found that divine me seal, set up a trap, and waited for me to walk into it.

    ¡°She¡¯s no stranger to my me Bird¡¯s speed. She knows that she¡¯ll never be able to catch me if she doesn¡¯t use traps.¡±

    As she exined, Qiao Yunxi continued to feed the me Bird with materials that contained me power.

    Nie Tian could tell that, since his reminder had helped them avoid danger, the girl had changed her attitude towards him somewhat.

    ¡°But the trouble is,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°since we can¡¯t get that divine me seal, I won¡¯t be able to follow the information left by the grand elder and find the next one,

    ¡°Without them to guide us, we won¡¯t be able to meet up with the grand elder.

    ¡°There must be other Bliss Mountain Sect disciples in this region. They definitely haven¡¯t given up on searching for me. Our lives will always be in danger before we meet up with the grand elder.

    ¡°If the Bliss Mountain Sect sends one of their Void domain experts after us, then...¡±

    She was well-aware that her me Bird would only allow her to outrun Worldly realm, Profound realm, and Soul realm experts, but if a Void domain expert from the Bliss Mountain Sect were toe after her, even the me Bird wouldn¡¯t be able to save her.

    The problem was would the Bliss Mountain Sect send a Void domain expert after her?

    She was the most valued core disciple of the Divine me Sect. Her status in the Divine me Sect was equal to Mu Biqiong¡¯s in the Bliss Mountain Sect. If she was killed, it would be very difficult for the Divine me Sect to find someone else that was strong enough to be their future sectmaster.

    The sectmaster of the Divine me Sect had already lost his son. If anything were to happen to her, the Divine me Sect would lose a great deal of vital energy.

    ¡°Without those divine me seals, we¡¯ll have nothing to give us directions...¡± Nie Tian pondered for a few seconds before adding, ¡°Let me see if I can find something.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He summoned the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding and sent a wisp of soul awareness into it.

    Momentster, his eyes lit up.

 Chapter 707: Guidance

    As soon as Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul awareness into the Spirit Pearl to examine the star map inside of it, he came to some discoveries.

    Back when he had been in the secret room underneath the me God Sect, powerful discarnate souls had flown out of a cauldron and ended up in the same location on this star map.

    That was the same location as the fourth set of coordinates that had been preset in therge-scale teleportation portal in the pce that had been left in the Realm of Split Void by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    That was the region where Nie Tian was right now.

    This entire region had been sealed for tens of thousands of years. No starships had been able to sail through it until recently.

    As soon as his soul awareness entered the region in the star map, the region seemed to be magnified by many times.

    The light spots that were scattered on the map became sizable clusters of light.

    He knew that each and every shining spot represented a living realm, while dark ones represented dead ones.

    However, as the map was magnified, he came to discover that there were also arge number of mysterious spots of light that were neither shining brightly norpletely dark.

    The powerful discarnate souls were now gathered by one of these strange-looking spots.

    Nie Tian suspected that there must be something special about that location.

    Then, he suddenly discovered a spot that was uniquely bright.

    He examined it with his soul awareness and felt that the extremely bright spot seemed to represent himself...

    In order to test his spection, he asked Qiao Yunxi to activate the me Bird again. As he stood on the speeding me Bird, he discovered that extremely bright spot was indeed moving the same direction he was.

    That was when he realized that he had his own marking on the star map.

    However, his marking was now very far from the mysterious spot where those powerful discarnate souls were gathered.

    It was hard to say whether that ce had something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, or was where Yue Yanxi was now exploring. However, there had to be something special about that ce.

    As his train of thought came to this point, he found himself in a dilemma, different expressions shing across his face.

    Qiao Yunxi did as she was asked, and steered the me Bird around for a while before noticing that Nie Tian seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Therefore, she stopped the me Bird and looked at him with a confused expression.

    After a while, she finally ran out of patience and asked, ¡°Have you found anything yet?¡±

    Nie Tian snapped out of his thoughts and said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve found a ce where there must be something very special. It¡¯s just that... it doesn¡¯t seem to be the ce where your grand elder and the others are. In fact, that ce seems to be in the opposite direction. If we go there, we might end up even farther away from those from your sect.¡±

    ¡°Have you been there before?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then, how did you know about that ce? And what makes you think there¡¯s something very special there?¡±

    ¡°I obtained this Spirit Pearl from an ancient starship of the Phantasms in the Domain of the Falling Stars. There¡¯s a vast star map inside of it. That ce is marked out on the map. It appears that it was the Phantasms who did it. With the help of the map, I¡¯ll be able to show you to that location.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi seemed surprised by his answer. ¡°Did the grand elder ask you toe here because of this star map of yours?¡± she asked.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    The reason why Yue Yanxi had asked him toe to this ce was because he was the sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Yue Yanxi had must have asked him repeatedly because he had discovered something that was rted to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qian Yunxi pondered in silence for a while before saying decisively, ¡°Show me the way then!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you sure that you want to go?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi sighed. ¡°Yeah, it seems that we probably won¡¯t be able to meet up with the grand elder for the time being. People from the Bliss Mountain Sect are still looking for me. That bitch found that divine me seal, which will allow them to find and follow the other seals to the grand elder¡¯s location.

    ¡°Since I can¡¯t get those divine me seals, it¡¯s practically impossible for us to find the grand elder and the others.

    ¡°So instead of wandering around, we might as well try out our luck by going to the ce you¡¯re talking about.

    ¡°Perhaps we¡¯ll find something valuable there.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before also giving up on the idea of finding Yue Yanxi. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, ¡°let¡¯s do this. I hope we won¡¯t encounter people from the Bliss Mountain Sect again.¡±

    ¡°Even if we do, as long as they don¡¯t send Void domain experts after us, we¡¯ll still be able to escape from them easily with the help of my me Bird,¡± Qiao Yunxi said with an arrogant tone.

    With these words, they headed out.

    Nie Tian took out and examined the Spirit Pearl from time to time to give Qiao Yunxi directions.

    The me Bird gradually flew away from the region roamed by Bliss Mountain Sect disciples.

    ...

    Standing on a prismatic meteor, thete Profound realm expert named Feng Lu said with a grim face, ¡°Holy Daughter, we can¡¯t seem to find that girl. She didn¡¯t go to get the second divine me seal. Our people did a thorough search of the area she¡¯d have to pass to meet up with the Divine me Sect¡¯s main force, but didn¡¯t find anything.¡±

    Looking at the meteors of various sizes that filled her view, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°That¡¯s understandable. Since she didn¡¯t get that first divine me seal, she didn¡¯t know where to find the second one, or where the main force of the Divine me Sect is now at. The connection between her and Yue Yanxi is nowpletely cut off.

    ¡°This entire region is filled with floating meteors. Her me Bird is too fast for us, and we don¡¯t have enough men. If we don¡¯t know where she¡¯s going, trying to find her will be like trying to find a needle in the sea.¡±

    With a frustrated expression, Feng Lu said, ¡°That girl¡¯s cultivation talent is one of a kind. As young as she is, she has already entered the middle Worldly realm. From the look of it, she might even be able to break through into the Soul realm in a hundred years. If we let her return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries alive, she¡¯ll definitely grow into your lifelong enemy one day.

    ¡°Our sect has long-standing feuds with the Divine me Sect. I¡¯m afraid the feuds between you and her might evenst a thousand years.¡±

    With a in tone, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m scared of her?¡±

    Feng Lu smiled somewhat embarrassedly and asked, ¡°So what do we do now, Holy Daughter?¡±

    ¡°Ignore her for now.¡± Mu Biqiong said calmly, ¡°We need to meet up with our main force as soon as possible. Since we got word of the changes in this region, the other sects might too. They might also send people to explore this region. We¡¯ll be in a lot of trouble if wee across the main force of another hostile sect.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ...

    Time flew. Three months passed.

    During this time, the me Bird traveled at full speed day and night under Nie Tian¡¯s guidance.

    He scanned his surroundings with his soul awareness from time to time, but failed to find any signs of life.

    It seemed that this region, which had been sealed for who knew how long, had already been forgotten by the other races, and they didn¡¯te across any valuable spiritual materials or herbs. Each and every one of the thousands of meteors they passed along their way was bereft of anything valuable.

    During these three months, Nie Tian practiced cultivation whenever he wasn¡¯t giving Qiao Yunxi directions.

    His spiritual core, which he had formed after entering the Worldly realm, was provided with rich spiritual power.

    Every once in a while, he would also observe his vortexes of star power, wood power, and me power. After his recent breakthrough, these three vortexes could now hold more power than they used to.

    Even though there wasn¡¯t any spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this mysterious region, the stars in the boundless starry river were releasing star power unceasingly.

    The Nine Stars Flower, which had taken root at the bottom of his vortex of star power, continued to absorb star power and grew without him noticing.

    ¡°How far is this ce?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re close,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°We¡¯ll be there in another month.¡±

    ¡°I hope we find something valuable in that ce. Otherwise, we¡¯ll have to return following the same route we took to get there.¡± Qiao Yunxi said, her eyebrows furrowed.

    She had drawn herself a map with a special tool as they traveled.

    If they were to find nothing in the ce Nie Tian was talking about, her n would be to return to the secret teleportation portal established by the Lei n. Then, she would return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries through it after a few transits.

    The two of them fell silent again. A few dayster, they suddenly saw an ancient starship that was shining with golden light in a ce where the floating meteors were unusually densely packed.

    The ancient starship was severely damaged and stuck between severalrge meteors.

    Spotting it from afar, Qiao Yunxi hastily stopped her me Bird and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Scan the area and see if there are people hiding over there.¡±

 Chapter 708: Golden Stone Sect

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian unleashed his soul awareness and flesh aura, and soon gave her an answer, ¡°I can¡¯t sense any soul fluctuations or life auras. I don¡¯t think there are people there to ambush us.¡±

    Qiao Yunqi nodded. ¡°Good.¡±

    She put her mind at ease and steered the me Bird towards the ancient starship that was shining with golden light.

    The ancient starship, which seemed to be forged from pure gold, was severely damaged and stuck between severalrge meteors.

    As the me Bird flew closer, Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention and discovered that it was covered in what seemed to be many scratches.

    They seemed to be caused by extremelyrge sharp hooks. Some even split the ship¡¯s solid exterior.

    ¡°This ancient starship of unknown origin seems to have been attacked by some enormous beasts!¡± Gasping with astonishment, Qiao Yunxi said, ¡°Golden Obsidian is the main material that was used to forge this ancient starship! Golden Obsidian is a seventh level Premium grade spiritual material, and is of great value. It¡¯s hard to believe that this ancient starship is almost entirely made from Golden Obsidian!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Seventh level Premium grade spiritual materials?!¡±

    He was well-aware that Premium grade spiritual materials were already very hard to find in the Domain of the Falling Stars, not to mention seventh grade Premium grade spiritual materials.

    Spiritual materials at this level could be used to forge Premium grade or even Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

    Since the owner of this ancient starship had forged it with such arge amount of Golden Obsidian, that indicated that he or she must havee from a very powerful background.

    ¡°Not a single sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would forge an ancient starship with pure seventh level Premium grade spiritual materials. They would have to throw in spiritual materials of lower grades as well. Premium grade materials would only be used to forge the crucial parts of the starship.¡± With these words, Qiao Yunxi steered the me Bird towards the shiny, ancient starship. Then, she suggested that they split up to examine it.

    Nie Tian agreed, and they flew in different directions to examine the ancient starship, along with its surroundings.

    A few minutester, the two of them reunited at the me Bird.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qiao Yunxi said, ¡°The core of the starship has been destroyed. There¡¯s no way we can fix it ourselves. Also, I didn¡¯t find any corpses in the vicinity.¡±

    Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°Yeah, me neither. If this ancient starship was indeed brought down by some enormous beasts, then could it be that the beasts also ate the remains of those who died?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking...¡± After a moment of silence, she added, ¡°This ancient starship belonged to the Golden Vast Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What? How do you know? Is it a sect from your domain?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi shook her head. ¡°Nope. I only read about it in some ancient records. Even though it¡¯s not from our domain, their members came to our domain before. ording to what I read, they were from a domain that was much more powerful than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Only powerful sects like them would have the kind of resources to forge ancient starships with pure Golden Obsidian.

    ¡°It¡¯s pity that we can¡¯t take this ancient starship apart and take it away.

    ¡°Otherwise, just the pieces alone could be sold at good a price in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    The ancient starship was toorge for any ring of holding. At the same time, the ancient starship was forged with Golden Obsidian, which was even tougher than steel. It would be extremely difficult to pry the Golden Obsidian off of it.

    Looking at the broken starship, Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi both had a frustrating feeling that they had found themselves standing in front of a mountain of treasures, yet were unable to take any away.

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t repair it or take its Golden Obsidian away, we... can only leave it here, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Qiao Yunxi looked rather dispirited as she said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have a choice. Who would have known that we went to great lengths to discover such a great treasure, yet we can¡¯t take it away. Talk about luck...¡±

    As she sighed in frustration and prepared to activate her me Bird again, a light shed across her eyes. ¡°Hop on board now!¡±

    Nie Tian did as he was told and jumped onto the me Bird. After a brief scan of his surroundings, his expression also flickered. ¡°People areing!¡±

    Those who wereing didn¡¯t try to mask their soul fluctuations, so both of them could sense their presence with great rity.

    There seemed to be hundreds of people in this group, and they were scattered and approaching the ce where they were from all directions.

    A loud and excited voice echoed out from behind a nearby meteor. ¡°We¡¯re here! The detected location is right up ahead!¡±

    Then, numerous air-transportation spiritual tools that were shining with golden light came whooshing out one after another.

    More air-transportation spiritual tools appeared and rapidly approached from other directions like streams of golden light.

    ¡°The Golden Stone Sect.¡± Qiao Yunxi gave a meaningful smile, and didn¡¯t seem to want to leave anymore.

    Nie Tian took a look at her and realized what was going on. ¡°Are they from your domain?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yeah, the Golden Stone Sect is only one of the Trisword Sect¡¯s subordinate forces. Their most powerful expert is only at the early Void domain. Plus, that person practices secluded cultivation year-round. He can¡¯t be here himself.¡± Qiao Yunxi seemed ratherposed now facing the Golden Stone Sect, which waspletely different from when she had faced those from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    She was considered the future sectmaster of the Divine me Sect, and the Divine me Sect was one of the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the same as the Three sects.

    The Golden Stone Sect, however, was only a subordinate force of the Trisword Sect. They were to the Trisword Sect what the Lei n was to the Divine me Sect.

    She seemed to be convinced that their only early Void domain expert wouldn¡¯t appear in this ce, so she didn¡¯t seem worried.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Within moments, numerous air-transportation spiritual tools that shone with bright, golden light arrived and surrounded the ancient starship.

    A middle Soul realm expert from the Golden Stone Sect was d in a suit of golden armor. Under his awe-inspiring appearance, his eyes shone with the light of greed.

    Heughed wildly and shouted, ¡°We¡¯ve finally found this ancient starship left by the Golden Vast Sect! Months of painstaking searching didn¡¯t go to waste!¡±

    Standing on other air-transportation spiritual tools, hundreds of other Golden Stone Sect Qi warriors seemed to be in high spirits upon hearing his words.

    Hundreds of years ago, the Golden Stone Sect had identally gained a special item that had turned out to be a piece from an ancient starship from the Golden Vast Sect.

    Afterwards, the Golden Stone Sect had scanned every realm in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with the help of that item, but had found nothing.

    However, about a hundred years ago, a powerful expert of the Golden Stone Sect had identally discovered that the item in his hands had shown changes as he passed by this forbidden region.

    Since then, he had been convinced that an ancient starship from the Golden Vast Sect had crashed, and been left in this region.

    At the beginning, exploration teams from the Golden Stone Sect hadn¡¯t dared to make any major moves, but only examined the outermost areas of the region.

    Butter, they had discovered that this region had gone through changes, and they had been able to enter it.

    Therefore, the Golden Stone Sect had sent out almost all of their most powerful experts to search for that ancient starship.

    However, the Golden Stone Sect and the Golden Vast Sect actually didn¡¯t have anything to do with each other. They just happened to practice incantations of the same attribute.

    That was why they had spared no cost to find the ancient starship lost by the Golden Vast Sect since the moment they had learned about the existence of that abandoned ancient starship.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± The smile froze on the face of the bulky old man in golden armor as he discovered Qiao Yunxi and Nie Tian.

    ¡°What are you doing here, Elder Mao?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked coldly.

    ¡°Miss... Miss Qiao!¡± Mao Mingyuan went nk briefly before waving at his people, signaling them to hold on and keep quiet.

    Many Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors from the Golden Stone Sect went silent upon seeing the me Bird, which was known throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    They all knew that its owner was the future sectmaster of the Divine me Sect. Every Qi warrior in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries knew that.

    Since Qiao Yunxi was here, there were probably other Divine me Sect disciples in the vicinity.

    Now that she was already standing before the ancient starship, it would be very difficult for them to take it from the Divine me Sect¡¯s hands.

    Mao Mingyuan appeared to be on the verge of tears as he sped his hands and bowed towards Qiao Yunxi. ¡°Miss Qiao, we¡¯ve been looking for this ancient starship from the Golden Vast Sect for hundreds of years now. Would you please be so kind as to let us have it? We¡¯ll be forever grateful!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been looking for it for hundreds of years?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked, seeming intrigued. ¡°So tell me how you came to know that it was here?¡±

    ¡°We gained a special item by ident, and that item turned out to be from this very ancient starship. We searched throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but failed to find anything. Only recently did one of our elders discover that...¡± Mao Mingyuan went on and briefly exined the matter. Then, he begged, ¡°Young mistress, this ancient starship is severely damaged. You can¡¯t fix it or take it back. You might as well do us a favor and give it to us.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi snorted coldly. ¡°I can¡¯t take it back, but my sect can.¡±

    Mao Mingyuan gave a dry smile and sighed. ¡°Well... How on earth will you agree to let us have it? We¡¯re willing to give anything in return.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi held her head high, an arrogant expression filling her face. ¡°That¡¯ll depend on whether you have anything that can make me change my mind.¡±

    Nie Tianughed inwardly as he watched her ckmail those from the Golden Stone Sect.

    He was well-aware that the two of them had long since lost contact with the Divine me Sect¡¯s main force.

    If these people from the Golden Stone Sect knew about that, they probably wouldn¡¯t have adopted such a tone. They might even try to attack them.

    However, they didn¡¯t.

    Considering Qiao Yunxi¡¯s lofty status, they had never known her to travel by herself. Even if she wanted to, the Divine me Sect wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    It was the Divine me Sect behind Qiao Yunxi that Mao Mingyuan was afraid of.

    He suspected that Qiao Yunxi had already informed the Divine me Sect of her discoveries, and powerful experts from the Divine me Sect would soon gather to this ce.

    If that was the case, each and every one of them would die if they dared to do anything to Qiao Yunxi.

 Chapter 709: A Piece from A Shattered Realm

    Mao Mingyuan smiled bitterly. ¡°Will you stop ying with me, Miss Qiao? How could youy eyes on things from my collection?¡±

    With these words, he slowly approached the wrecked ancient starship and threw his own ring of holding to Qiao Yunxi.

    ¡°My lifetime collection is in that ring,¡± Mao Mingyuan said. ¡°You¡¯re wee to take whatever you like.¡±

    Knowing that killing Qiao Yunxi wasn¡¯t an option, he could only let her take whatever she liked, hoping that would suffice.

    Qiao Yunxi made a grabbing motion in the air with her jade-white left hand, and the ring of holding flew into her palm.

    Then, a wisp of her soul awareness swam inside the ring of holding before her for a few seconds before her face grew increasingly cold. ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me with this crap!¡± she blurted.

    She threw the ring of holding back to Mao Mingyuan.

    Looking rather embarrassed, Mao Mingyuan bowed slightly and said, ¡°We can never match your sect¡¯s strength and resources. And I¡¯m not the sectmaster. It¡¯s only natural that you can¡¯t find anything you like in my collection. Is there anything else I can do?¡±

    All of the other Golden Stone Sect disciples looked rather frustrated as they fixed Qiao Yunxi with begging gazes from afar.

    Qiao Yunxi pondered in silence, and figured that she had better not waste too much time on these people. As an idea entered her mind, she said, ¡°So you were saying that you¡¯ve searched this region for quite some time now, right?¡±

    ¡°We?¡± Mao Mingyuan said. ¡°Yeah, my group has been searching this region for more than six months now.¡±

    ¡°So did youe by yourselves, or with people from the Trisword Sect?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    ¡°We came by ourselves, but we ran into people from the Trisword Sect after searching for a while.¡± Mao Mingyuan didn¡¯t try to hide the truth. ¡°Not just them, we also met people from the Beast-controlling Sect and the Chu n. They all seemed to have discovered a huge meteor that was wreathed in rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    ¡°ording to our master sect, the Trisword Sect, that meteor seemed to be a piece from a major realm that shattered.

    ¡°They gave us the location and urged us to go there as soon as possible. However, this ancient starship is what we came for, so we asked them to allow us a bit more time.

    ¡°But they were afraid that the Beast-controlling Sect and the Chu n would fight them over that meteor.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was taken aback. ¡°A piece from a shattered realm?¡±

    Mao Mingyuan nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah. ording to them, the countless meteors we¡¯re seeing now are all pieces from shattered realms. Most of the pieces have long since bepletely worthless.

    ¡°However, a small portion of them are still wreathed in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, so there might be valuable resources to be unearthed in them.

    ¡°The huge meteor the Trisword Sect discovered happened to be such a meteor, but the Beast-controlling Sect and the Chu n also discovered it, and now they¡¯re summoning reinforcements.¡±

    Seeming intrigued, Qiao Yunxi asked, ¡°Where exactly is that meteor?¡±

    Mao Mingyuan came up to her and took out a roughly-made star map on a piece of leather. Pointing at it, he said, ¡°This is the area, but we¡¯ve never been there ourselves.¡±

    As Qiao Yunxi examined the map with rapt attention, Nie Tian also looked down at it. With a single nce at it, his eyes grew wide.

    The location Mao Mingyuan was pointing at was none other than where they were heading.

    After looking for a while, Qiao Yunxi snapped the map from Mao Mingyuan¡¯s hands and said, ¡°Alright, this map is mine now.

    ¡°You¡¯re quite foxy, huh? Keeping the only valuable thing in your inner pocket. Why didn¡¯t you put it in your ring of holding?¡±

    Smiling embarrassedly, Mao Mingyuan said, ¡°It¡¯s not that valuable...¡±

    Qiao Yunxi gave a cold snort. ¡°It¡¯s much more valuable than the crap in your ring of holding.¡±

    With these words, she shot ast nce at the ancient starship behind her and flew away on her me Bird with Nie Tian.

    After they had gone far enough, Nie Tian said with a in tone, ¡°The ce that man pointed out for you is the ce where I¡¯m taking you.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered as she asked, ¡°What?! Are you sure?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi seemed rather surprised as she said, ¡°You¡¯re a strangely resourceful man. If you know that ce is special, do you know what makes it special?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    Qiao Yunxi seemed to be bothered by something as she said, ¡°The Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n all attached such importance to that ce; there must be secrets to be uncovered there. We¡¯ve remained peaceful with those three forces over the past three years, but if we go...¡±

    Nie Tian also pondered the matter.

    He had had a long talk with Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect. From him, he had learned about the five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The five major sects were the Pure Heaven Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, the Divine me Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    The three major ns were the Chu n, the Jian n, and the Guan n.

    Each of these eight major powers had ate Void domain expert as their patriarch, and their influence reached every corner of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Even if the Divine me Sect hadn¡¯t had conflicts with the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n before, if they had found something extremely valuable in this ce, they wouldn¡¯t have any regard for Qiao Yunxi¡¯s status.

    After all, the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n weren¡¯t weak subordinate forces like the Golden Stone Sect. They weren¡¯t afraid of the Divine me Sect.

    ¡°If we go there, we¡¯ll most likely run into people from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n. You¡¯d better think it over before making your decision.¡± Nie Tian suggested.

    Qiao Yunxi pondered briefly before saying, ¡°We¡¯ll only go and take a look. It¡¯ll probably be fine as long as we don¡¯t make any rash moves.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said.

    After traveling for a month, an enormous, green meteor entered Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    This was the location on the star map where the powerful discarnate souls had been gathered, and the location that Mao Mingyuan had pointed out for them earlier.

    As they approached, they discovered that the meteor only looked green because the entire meteor was covered in some kind of green nt.

    Like a huge nket, the green nt covered every inch of the meteor.

    Meanwhile, the meteor was wreathed in misty spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, which seemed to have remained unscattered for tens of thousands of years.

    Furthermore, there was an emerald greenke in the central area of the meteor. Observed from afar, it looked like a gemstone was embedded in the middle of the meteor.

    It seemed that wisps of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth were rising from thatke and filling every corner of the floating meteor.

    All sorts of flowers and grasses were thriving around theke, releasing the pleasant scent of nature.

    Numerous air-transportation spiritual tools could be seen berthed by theke. They were of a variety of shapes and materials. Some looked like Bone Dragons, while others looked like swords and pagodas.

    Nearly a thousand Qi warriors from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n were gathered by theke and having heated discussions with one another.

    However, each and every one of them seemed to have their eyes on a nt in the middle of the emerald greenke.

    The powerful experts from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n were gathered in a circle, as if they were discussing how to split their discovery.

    While approaching on her me Bird, Qiao Yunxi couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°This meteor is indeed a blessednd! The misty aura rising from theke is extremely concentrated spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth! The spiritual Qi is also mixed with rich wood power, which is nourishing this meteor and giving birth to all kinds of nts!¡±

    The people on the meteor soon sensed the iing me Bird. Their faces grew grim as they looked up at it.

    A stir broke out among the nearly a thousand Qi warriors on the ground.

    ¡°Qiao Yunxi! I can¡¯t believe that the Divine me Sect has found this ce too! Dammit! We¡¯ll have to split the spiritual materials with one more party!¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t the Divine me Sect¡¯s main force exploring another area? Why would she suddenly show up here?¡±

    ¡°Now that she¡¯s here, the others from the Divine me Sect will probably arrive soon.¡±

    Apparently, they weren¡¯t thrilled to see Qiao Yunxi.

    However, Qiao Yunxi ignored theirmentspletely andnded her me Bird under their gazes.

    Standing in front of a huge python, a well-built young woman fixed her and Nie Tian with an unweing stare. ¡°Where are the others from your sect, Qiao Yunxi?¡±

    The woman was even taller than most men. She was wearing a fur skirt and a piece of leather wrapped around her chest, revealing her waist, which didn¡¯t have a shred of fat.

    Judging from her tanned skin, she seemed to stay in the sun a lot. Her exposed arms, abdomen, and legs all seemed to contain explosive power. She looked wild, like a female lion.

    <i>¡°Such rich flesh power!¡± </i>Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he gazed at her, who was very different from the most women he had met before.

    This woman was either a hybrid, or born unique. With some special body-refining incantation, she had built her sexy but deadly physique.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the intensity of her flesh power could match that of a fifth grade Demon.

    That meant she could fight a fifth grade Demon by relying on nothing but her fleshly body.

    At the same time, her cultivation base was at thete Worldly realm, which was even higher than Qiao Yunxi¡¯s.

    Nie Tian secretly unleashed his flesh aura to examine the woman¡¯s age, and learned that she was only about thirty years old.

    He couldn¡¯t help but eximed inwardly, ¡°Another freak!¡±

 Chapter 710: Chosen Ones From Another Domain

    As young as Qiao Yunxi was, she had already entered the middle Worldly realm, which was rather shocking.

    Who would have expected that the young woman in front of him was not only at a higher cultivation level, but also possessed very profound flesh power?

    Behind the young woman, a python was coiled up into a small hill. The python was covered in ck and white rings, its eyes shining with frigid light, which made Nie Tian feel very uneasy.

    From the look of it, the python was a hybrid of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python. Because of that, it possessed both the Frost Python¡¯s profound frost power and the Blood Stripe Python¡¯s vigorous flesh power.

    As he sized the python up, the python threw a cold gaze back at him.

    He felt as if the python¡¯s gaze put a current of frost power in him, which even caused his blood flow to decelerate.

    ¡°It¡¯s at the seventh grade!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he averted his gaze.

    A seventh grade spirit beast¡¯s battle prowess would be equal to that of a Soul realm Qi warrior. Considering this python was a hybrid of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python, it would probably be even more powerful and ferocious.

    The woman seemed to have noticed the python¡¯s unusual behavior, and thus stroked the top of its head with her hand. ¡°Calm down.¡±

    An expression of joy appeared on the python¡¯s face as it rapidly settled down.

    Nie Tian then realized that the seventh grade python was this woman¡¯s pet.

    ¡°When did you get here, Yin Yanan?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked in a loud voice.

    The wild-looking young woman nced around, and didn¡¯t see anyone else from Divine me Secting, and then said, ¡°It¡¯s been some time.¡±

    At this moment, a slender young man with dashing eyebrows took a step forward and asked,

    ¡°Who¡¯s leading your exploration team this time?¡±

    <i>¡°Early Profound realm,¡±</i> Nie Tian said inwardly.

    Dressed in Trisword Sect garments, the man was wearing a warm smile, as if he were gentle and harmless.

    However,pared to Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect, Qiao Yunxi looked noticeably more cautious as she said to him, ¡°Our grand elder.¡±

    The man gasped with astonishment. ¡°Senior Yue Yanxi is here?!¡±

    The expressions of Yin Yanan and the other nearby Trisword Sect and Beast-controlling Sect disciples also flickered.

    A person stepped out of a crowd of Chu n members. Stopping in front of Qiao Yunxi, he said, ¡°Senior Yue is here. Does that mean you¡¯ve found something very important?¡±

    The three juniors from the Beast-controlling Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Chu n were now gathered in front of Qiao Yunxi with suspicious expressions.

    Nie Tian, however, listened in silence as they continued their conversation.

    It didn¡¯t ur to any of the three to ask about him, as if they all took him for Qiao Yunxi¡¯sckey, and thus ignored him.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a problem with this. He actually enjoyed the peace.

    After listening for a while, he realized that the wild-looking young woman was Yin Yanan, the most valued core disciple of the Beast-controlling Sect.

    The gentle-looking young man was Xing Beichen, an early Profound realm cultivator and the chosen one of the Trisword Sect.

    Thest young man was named Chu Bowen. He was at the middle Worldly realm. He was rather thin, but had alert eyes. He seemed to be cunning and resourceful.

    Adding Qiao Yunxi, the four of them were the chosen ones of the Divine me Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Chu n. However, since they were not the same age, and had started practicing cultivation at different times, their cultivation bases were different.

    Xing Beichen was the oldest, and had the highest cultivation base, the early Profound realm.

    Chu Bowen and Yin Yanan were about the same age, and Qiao Yunxi was the youngest. Even so, she had singr cultivation talent. She was now at the middle Worldly realm, the same as Chu Bowen and Yin Yanan.

    From their conversation, Nie Tian also learned that the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n hade to this forbidden region on their ancient starships.

    They had berthed their ancient starships at the perimeter and flown to this area on their individual air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Even though this region had gone through great changes, and starships could already sail into it, they didn¡¯t want to take the risk.

    Even though individual air-transportation spiritual tools weren¡¯t nearly as fast as ancient starships, and they couldn¡¯t withstand strong impacts, they were much smaller and more agile. They were built for traveling in meteor-filled regions like this.

    This was the first time these three parties had sent exploration teams to this region, so they didn¡¯t arrange for Void domain experts toe on this trip. The leaders and most powerful members of their teams were only at thete Soul realm.

    All of their Void domain experts enjoyed lofty positions in each of their sects. Normally, they spent most of their time practicing secluded cultivation, and rarely did chores like this.

    This time, these three parties had only intended to have their Soul realm members gain an overall understanding of this forbidden region. If they came to some important discoveries, then Void domain experts would teleport from their headquarters to the ancient starships that were berthed at the perimeter through their built-in teleportation portals.

    Because of this, Yin Yanan, Xing Beicheng, and Chu Bowen were all surprised to hear that Yue Yanxi hade to this ce personally.

    After all, Yue Yanxi¡¯s status in the Divine me Sect was second only to the sectmaster¡¯s. Only on very few asions would he leave the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    The fact that he was here must mean that the Divine me Sect had discovered something very important.

    At this moment, the leader of the Trisword Sect team took his time to walk out of the crowd.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Senior Yue, Qiao Yunxi?¡±

    It was a hunched old man, who looked significantly shorter than the others.

    His name was Wei Yu. As one of the Trisword Sect elders, he was at thete Soul realm.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know, but it was this man¡¯s arrival that had forced Zhao Shanling to end his battle against the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect in the space disruption zone and leave with him.

    Zhao Shanling had sensed him approaching at a fast speed, and had thus vanished into thin air with the help of his Voidspirit Pagoda.

    For this reason, he had never seen Zhao Shanling nor Nie Tian.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be a while before he gets here,¡± Qiao Yunxi answered.

    Wei Yu nodded. ¡°Hmmm... If that¡¯s the case, what we¡¯ve found here doesn¡¯t have anything to with the Divine me Sect for the time being.¡±

    ¡°But Senior Wei, I¡¯m here, aren¡¯t I?¡± Qiao Yunxi said, smiling.

    ¡°You?¡± Wei Yu gave a snort. ¡°You can¡¯t represent the Divine me Sect yet.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi looked disgruntled, but didn¡¯t try to refute him, as if she knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to persuade all those people to give her a share of the spirit nts that grew by theke.

    ¡°Try to pick all of the high grade spirit nts before the Divine me Sect gets here,¡± Wei Yu called out. ¡°Also, don¡¯t try to go into theke or examine it with your soul awareness.¡±

    The twote Soul realm experts from the Beast-controlling Sect and the Chu n chimed in one after another, ¡°We just tried. There¡¯s something strange about thiske. It¡¯ll absorb whatever soul awareness you send into it.¡±

    ¡°Even we can¡¯t get a view of what¡¯s at the bottom of theke, so you¡¯d better not waste your time.¡±

    The three of them then arranged for their members to spread out to harvest spirit nts.

    The spirit nts were all at the Medium or Premium grade. Nie Tian had never seen many of them before. Clearly, they didn¡¯t grow in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Even though these spirit nts weren¡¯t of very high grades, there were in great numbers and found densely around theke.

    The Qi warriors from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n rapidly spread out. They each took out all sorts of vessels to hold the spirit nts. None of them spared Nie Tian or Qiao Yunxi another nce.

    Since Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t get permission to gather spirit nts, if she acted on her own ount, she might anger the three parties, so she could only give up on that idea.

    Fortunately, those weren¡¯t extremely precious spirit nts, so she didn¡¯t mind watching the three parties collect them.

    Soon, she and Nie Tian became the only ones that remained in ce. Everyone else went off and started bustling.

    Then, fiery light flickered in the depths of her eyes as she fixed her eyes on the emerald greenke. However, the light went out momentster.

    She let out a muffled groan, as if she had been hurt.

    Clearly, she hadn¡¯t taken Wei Yu¡¯s advice to heart, and had tried to examine theke with her soul awareness. The result seemed unpleasant.

    Nie Tian saw what happened to her, and thus gave up on the idea of making an attempt himself. He sent a wisp of soul awareness into the Spirit Pearl in his ring of holding.

    Immediately afterwards, he discovered that the few powerful discarnate souls had be unprecedentedly restless.

    They had been from the cauldron Nie Tian had found in the secret room underneath the me God Sect¡¯s headquarters. The location they had been gathered at on the star map was none other than the meteor where Nie Tian was now.

    But at this moment, the restless discarnate souls were flying everywhere inside the Spirit Pearl, as if they were dying to break free and enter this heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian smiled coldly. ¡°It¡¯s not that easy to get out!¡±

    Then, he withdrew his wisp of soul awareness from the Spirit Pearl and used it to examine the skull that had a soul trapped inside.

    That soul was also throwing itself at the inside of the skull repeatedly. However, it was stopped by a ward of star power and couldn¡¯t break free.

    <i>¡°Strange...¡± </i>Nie Tian wasn¡¯t sure whether the powerful discarnate souls in the Spirit Pearl were Phantasm souls. However, he was certain that the soul that was trapped inside that skull was from a Phantasm.

    Nheless, the fact that they had all grown restless proved that there must be something special about this meteor.

    Once again, heid his eyes on the emerald greenke as he grew increasingly intrigued. <i>¡°Does thiske have something to do with the Phantasms?¡± </i>

    He had a feeling that it was theke that was causing the discarnate souls¡¯ unusual behavior.

    SSS! SSS!

    While he was pondering the matter, Yin Yanan¡¯s pet python slowly approached him. Its enormous body slithered on the ice-cold ground, giving rise to faint sounds.

    The python¡¯s eyes shone with the light of strong desire, and a thirst for blood.

    ¡°Mind your pet, Yin Yanan!!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted.

    Yin Yanan was now gathering spirit nts in a distant location. She instantly turned around upon hearing Qiao Yunxi¡¯s shout, a confused expression filling her face.

    WHOOSH!

    A white mist mixed with ice shards spewed from the python¡¯s huge mouth.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered as she noticed that the python wasn¡¯t attacking her. It was Nie Tian that it wanted.

 Chapter 711: The Seventh Grade Frost Blood Python

    Nie Tian had sensed the danger before the huge python even spewed the frosty mist.

    As soon as it opened its mouth, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered, and he jumped backwards without any hesitation.

    The white mist carried tiny ice shards and terrifying ice power that could freeze everything between heaven and earth. Wherever it spread, the green vegetation was first frozen, and then exploded.

    Not only was the mist frigidly cold, but it spread at an rming speed. Like a misty white river, it chased Nie Tian wherever he went.

    Even though the mist was still meters from Nie Tian, he felt that the bone-piercing coldness had already reached the depths of his soul, making him stiff and very ufortable.

    ¡°Yin Yanan!!¡± Qiao Yunxi thundered again as she summoned her me Bird.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As the me Bird fluttered its wings in front of Nie Tian, it was instantly wreathed in raging mes.

    BOOM!

    The frosty mist mmed into the zing me Bird like a thick ice pir.

    The me Bird shook violently as it spewed fierce mes from its mouth. Crimson mes and white, icy mist shed in a violent manner, giving rise to loud crackling sounds.

    A ward of mes came to form around the me Bird and expanded like a blossoming flower.

    The me Bird stood between the frosty mist and Nie Tian, keeping the unyielding frost mist from engulfing him.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    The python was unusually ferocious. Its red eyes shone with a strong thirst for blood.

    It was very unhappy to see that its frosty mist failed to freeze Nie Tian. It then slithered towards the me Bird at full speed.

    The ck and white rings on its body, which was more than ten meters long, looked unusually distinct.

    ¡°Stop!¡± At that very moment, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect finally rushed back. Shended swiftly on the python¡¯s head and muttered with a confused expression, ¡°What happened to you?¡±

    ¡°Yin Yanan! Did you tell it to do this?!¡± Qiao Yunxi asked furiously.

    Face cold, Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°Please keep an eye on your pet beast, Miss Yin!¡±

    He was also rather confused as to why the python had shown such a strong interest in him since the beginning.

    He had already masked his flesh aura, which was every bit as vigorous as Yin Yanan¡¯s, with his Life Stealth bloodline talent.

    Normally speaking, even outsiders more powerful than him wouldn¡¯t be able to see through his disguise.

    Furthermore, the fact that Yin Yanan, who also possessed vigorous flesh power, didn¡¯t seem to show any interest in him proved that even she had failed to see through his disguise.

    The fact that not a single Soul realm expert from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, or the Chu n had paid much attention to him showed that they didn¡¯t sense anything either.

    Who would have thought an animal would pursue him so unyieldingly?

    In fact, he had already sent a wisp of soul awareness into his ring of holding. He was on the verge of summoning me Dragon Armor and using this fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure to contend against the python¡¯s icy mist when Yin Yanan finally showed up.

    ¡°Master...¡±

    He suddenly received a soul message from the me Dragon Armor, asking about what had just happened.

    Nie Tian briefly exined the matter to it.

    The soul then said, ¡°Master, since that python is a hybrid of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python, it possesses the Blood Stripe Python¡¯s bloodline power, which allows it to shrewdly sense the flesh auras in its surroundings. Also, since it¡¯s at the seventh grade, it must be rather intelligent already.

    ¡°Many seventh grade spirit beasts even have the ability to take human forms.

    ¡°This hybrid python is a bit special. It might take even longer for it to gain the ability to transform. Even so, its bloodline power and intelligence already allow it to capture the unique flesh aura you¡¯re releasing, no matter how faint it is.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯ve lost most of my old memories, I can still sense your unique aura, and know for sure that the Blood Essence in your heart will help me a great deal.¡±

    Nie Tian then realized that, to that huge python, his unique flesh and blood were none other than the best nourishment pills.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Upon sensing the python¡¯s unusual behavior, Wei Yu, Xing Beichen, and the Soul realm experts from the Beast-controlling Sect and the Chu n rushed to the scene.

    Face grim, Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect asked Yin Yanan, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Then, heid his eyes on the python.

    ¡°It...¡± Yin Yanan sounded hesitant. ¡°It seemed to want to devour that man.¡±

    Yin Yanan pointed at Nie Tian.

    As the python¡¯s master, there was a vague soul connection between her and the python. She was aware that the python had shown a strong interest in Nie Tian when she had left to gather spirit nts earlier.

    Therefore, she had warned it against making any rash moves, which she knew would cause unnecessary trouble.

    Before, as long as she had issued an order, no matter what it was, the python would act by it with absolute obedience.

    She had thought it would be the same this time.

    To her surprise, soon after she had ordered the python to consume spirit nts, it had actually gone against her order and attacked Nie Tian.

    This was the first time the python had disobeyed her since she had tamed it.

    Hong Xian pondered briefly before saying, ¡°This is only a misunderstanding, kid. We¡¯ll restrain the Frost Blood Python and make sure things like this won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    After all, Qiao Yunxi had the Divine me Sect at her back, not to mention that Yue Yanxi was personally leading their exploration team this time.

    Hong Xian didn¡¯t want to break the temporary peaceful rtionship with the Divine me Sect over such a trivial matter.

    Qiao Yunxi snorted coldly. ¡°That beast almost injured me!¡±

    ¡°Is he a member of your sect, Qiao Yunxi?¡± Yin Yanan asked curiously.

    ¡°Nope,¡± Qiao Yunxi said with a displeased expression.

    ¡°He¡¯s not from your sect...¡± Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up as she proposed, ¡°My Frost Blood Python has shown a strong interest in him. Why don¡¯t you name your price? I¡¯ll buy him from you.¡±

    Enraged by her words, Nie Tian asked coldly, ¡°Do you think you can afford to buy me?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re merely an early Worldly realm nobody,¡± Yin Yanan said, disdain filling her face. ¡°People like you can be found everywhere. What kind of treasure do you think you are? Tell me, Qiao Yunxi, what do you want in exchange for him? My Frost Blood Python seems to be truly hungry. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have gone against my order to attack him.¡±

    Furious, Nie Tian pointed at Yin Yanan and said, ¡°Senior Hong, what¡¯s her price? I¡¯ll buy her from you!¡±

    Hong Xian¡¯s expression grew cold upon hearing these words. ¡°Watch your mouth, kid. Yanan is our chosen one. No one can put a price on her.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a coldugh. ¡°So what made her think that I can be priced?¡±

    Yin Yanan chuckled disdainfully. ¡°Who do you think you are? The Divine me Sect¡¯s future sectmaster?¡± She then fixed Qiao Yunxi with an inquiring gaze and added, ¡°So? What¡¯s his price?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not mine to sell,¡± Qiao Yunxi said coldly.

    Yin Yanan shrugged. ¡°Alright then.¡±

    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that serious of a proposal. She had expected that Qiao Yunxi would probably not agree to it. Therefore, slightly displeased, she stroked the Frost Blood Python¡¯s head with her hand and sent her soul awareness into it tofort it.

    The redness in the Frost Blood Python¡¯s beady eyes gradually faded, recovering their original, silver-white color.

    ¡°You¡¯d better keep a safe distance from it. It hasn¡¯t been very long since I tamed it. Even I can¡¯t promise that it¡¯ll listen to me at all times.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan shot Qiao Yunxi and Nie Tian a cold stare.

    At this moment, Hong Xian said, ¡°Alright, alright, this one was our fault. You two may walk around and gather a few spirit nts aspensation. But don¡¯t take too many. Also, Yanan was telling the truth. This Frost Blood Python still has its fierce nature. It may try to attack you again if you get too close.

    ¡°We don¡¯t want anything to jeopardize the peaceful rtionship between our sects, but you need to do your part as well so that we can avoid unnecessary conflicts.¡±

    Nie Tian fixed the Frost Blood Python with a cold look and said, ¡°Don¡¯t me me for ¡®returning the favor¡¯ if that beast tries to attack me again.¡±

    Yin Yanan gave a cold harrumph, not saying anything.

    Qiao Yunxi dragged Nie Tian onto the me Bird and flew away. After they were a significant distance from the Frost Blood Python, she asked, ¡°What makes you think you can ¡®return the favor¡¯ to that seventh grade Frost Blood Python?¡±

 Chapter 712: Extracting Wood Power

    As far as Qiao Yunxi saw it, Nie Tian was only bluffing and trying to enrage Hong Xian and Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    She hadn¡¯t thought much of Nie Tian since she had learned that the most powerful experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars were only at the Soul realm.

    Nie Tian¡¯s weak cultivation base and background made her assume he was only a lucky guy who had somehow won Yue Yanxi¡¯s favor.

    Besides, her group had suffered great losses because they had to wait for him.

    For these reasons, she found Nie Tian¡¯s imposing mannerughable.

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort. ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t help me just now, that Frost Blood Python wouldn¡¯t have been able to hurt me.¡± Then, eyes narrowed, he looked over his shoulder at Yin Yanan from afar. ¡°It¡¯s just a seventh grade beast. If it truly angers me, it¡¯s hard to say which one of us will be food!¡±

    Even from afar, he could still see the disdainful look in Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes.

    Qiao Yunxi turned to stare at him and said with a rhetorical tone, ¡°What? It¡¯s JUST a seventh grade beast?! Do you know how powerful that seventh grade beast is?¡±

    ¡°A regr seventh grade spirit beast is as strong as a Soul realm human expert, but that one back there is a hybrid of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python, which means its battle prowess at least equals that of a middle Soul realm expert!

    ¡°What makes you think that you can survive its deadly fangs?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was well-aware that she had suffered a great deal to ward off the Frost Blood Python¡¯s frosty mist for Nie Tian.

    If Yin Yanan hadn¡¯te over to restrain it, the only thing she could have done to save him would have been to take him as far away as possible with the help of her me Bird.

    It would have been wishful thinking to fight it head-on.

    Facing her taunting query, Nie Tian only curled his lips, not saying a word.

    Of course Nie Tian had been confident enough to stand up to Yin Yanan and say those words to Hong Xian for a reason.

    After all, the Frost Blood Python was no match for the Bone Blood Demon in his ring of holding.

    He believed that the Frost Blood Python would be amb waiting to be ughtered once he unleashed the Bone Blood Demon.

    The Bone Blood Demon had already absorbed and refined the blood of many seventh grade outsider experts. Nie Tian was confident that its battle prowess would prove far higher than that of the Frost Blood Python.

    Even though Hong Xian From the Beast-controlling Sect, Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect, and Chu Xuanji from the Chu n were all at thete Soul realm, Nie Tian reckoned the Bone Blood Demon would still win as long as they didn¡¯t team up on it.

    The reason why Nie Tian hadn¡¯t summoned the Bone Blood Demon was only because he was worried that it would put him in danger.

    After all, the Bone Blood Demon could only be used as a means to fight his enemies. It wouldn¡¯t be able to protect him the same way Zhao Shanling had, with his profound spatial magics that could protect his soul from soul attacks.

    Hong Xian and the other two were all at thete Soul realm. He would be in huge trouble if they were to unleash soul magics on him.

    Seeing that Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything, Qiao Yunxi snorted. ¡°I knew you were only bluffing.¡±

    Then, with the help of her me Bird, the two of them flew farther and farther away from those from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Apparently, she had taken Hong Xian¡¯s words to heart, fearing that the recently-tamed Frost Blood Python would attack Nie Tian again.

    With Hong Xian¡¯s permission, shended the me Bird in a remote area and started picking spirit nts.

    ...

    After the me Bird flew away, the Qi warriors that had gathered to this location out of curiosity gradually left to pick high grade spirit nts again.

    Hong Xian and Yin Yanan were the only ones who remained in ce.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hong Xian asked in a low voice, ¡°Yanan, you¡¯ve fully tamed that Frost Blood Python, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Yin Yanan answered quietly. ¡°There¡¯s something strange about that man, Senior Hong. As you know, even though the Frost Blood Python feasts on flesh, it¡¯s been extremely picky about its prey. It won¡¯t even look at spirit beasts of low grades. Also, it carries the Blood Stripe Pythons¡¯ bloodline, so its perception of flesh aura is iparably shrewd.

    ¡°Since humans don¡¯t have vigorous flesh power, it has never shown any interest in anyone.

    ¡°I¡¯m confident that it won¡¯t ignore my orders even if it¡¯s tempted by a sixth grade spirit beast.¡±

    Hong Xian pondered in silence for a while before nodding and asking, ¡°Did you say those things to provoke that man on purpose?¡±

    Yin Yanan smiled. ¡°Yeah, that man isn¡¯t from the Divine me Sect, but Qiao Yunxi took him around on her me Bird. He must not be just anyone. Qiao Yunxi has always been arrogant. She won¡¯t even allow any Divine me Sect disciples to ride with her on her me Bird unless it¡¯s a matter of life or death. The fact that she¡¯s traveling alone with that man has long since got my attention.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hong Xian chimed in, ¡°And that kid even asked me to put a price on you...¡±

    With a serious expression, Yin Yanan said, ¡°However, his eyes were filled with confidence when he spoke, so I don¡¯t think he was threatening in manner but cowardly at heart. He must have something special at his disposal! I have a feeling that he may actually have what it takes to inflict serious damage on my Frost Blood Python. That¡¯s why I tried so hard to calm it down. I didn¡¯t want it to be hurt.¡±

    Hong Xian gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?! You really think that man has what it takes to severely injure your Frost Blood Python?!¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded vigorously. ¡°I do!¡±

    Hong Xian fixed her with a deep look before nodding. ¡°I see. I¡¯ll pay more attention to that kid from now on.¡±

    Since he knew that his sect had viewed Yin Yanan to possess talent that could only be seen once in a thousand years, he trusted her judgment and instinct.

    ...

    Qiao Yunxi intentionally put a significant distance between them and the area where the Beast-controlling Sect disciples were. She found a remote corner of the uniqueke to berth her me Bird.

    As she jumped off to pick spirit nts, Nie Tian walked around casually. As he was impressed by the richness of the wood power in this ce, an idea suddenly urred to him.

    ¡°You go ahead and do what you¡¯ve got to do. I¡¯ll find a ce to practice cultivation. There¡¯s no need to mind me.¡± With these words, he walked away from her to a location where there weren¡¯t many flowers, but was covered in green vegetation.

    He summoned the seventy-two tree branches from within his ring of holding and nted them into the ground, forming a Wood Thriving Formation around him.

    There were a total of five steps to refining his body with Heavenly Wood Heal, which were Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, Meridian Toughening, Flesh Tempering, and Blood Condensing. At this point, he had only finished the first two steps.

    It required not only arge amount of flesh power, but also copious wood power to refine his body with Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The Wood Thriving Formation could take it upon itself to channel wood power from its surroundings. Because of this, it made a great team with Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Once the Wood Thriving Formation formed, its mysterious green energy ward would separate him from the outside worldpletely. People wouldn¡¯t even be able to detect his soul fluctuations.

    Just like that, he started another round of body refinement.

    He believed that, since he was rather far from the powerful experts from the three parties, and the Wood Thriving Formation had a perfect sealing effect, those people wouldn¡¯t be able to sense any anomalies.

    As soon as the Wood Thriving Formation formed, wisps of rich wood power quietly gathered from all directions.

    Sitting in the middle of the spell formation, Nie Tian looked up at the green hemispherical ward over his head and the numerous patterns swimming in it. He took a deep breath, and immediately felt enlivened by the iparably pure wood power.

    Then, he cleared his mind and focused on toughening his meridians.

    Soon, he got lost in his cultivation.

    A quarter hour passed.

    Qiao Yunxi, who was the person closest to him, was the first to sense a subtle change in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. She then scanned her surroundings with her soul awareness, and saw wisps of faint green aura slowly rising from every nt and de of grass she could see before flying in Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    She also discovered that the few Premium grade spirit nts she hadid her eyes on seemed to have lost some of their power while she picked them.

    Eyes narrowed, Chu Xuanji sensed his surroundings with rapt attention for a few seconds before saying, ¡°Something is channeling wood power from the spirit nts that grow by theke. If this goes on, the value of these spirit nts will suffer greatly.¡±

    His eyes followed the wood power flow before finally fixing in the direction that Qiao Yunxi and Nie Tian had left in. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±

    Hong Xian and Wei Yu also sensed the anomaly from their locations.

    Therefore, the powerful experts from the three parties tracked the wood power flow towards the location where Qiao Yunxi and Nie Tian were.

 Chapter 713: Meridian Toughening

    The majority of the nearly one thousand Qi warriors from the three parties were still focused on picking valuable spirit grasses and flowers. Those who had sensed the anomaly and gathered to Nie Tian¡¯s location were all important figures who didn¡¯t need to do such chores.

    Momentster, Hong Xian, Yin Yanan, Chu Xuanji, Chu Bowen, Wei Yu, and Xing Beichen tracked the wood power flow to Nie Tian¡¯s location, along with a few other Soul realm experts.

    By the time they arrived, Qiao Yunxi was already standing in front of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, was still sitting in the middle of the Wood Thriving Formation, enveloped by a hemispherical green ward.

    The wisps of wood power were so concentrated as they flowed into the spell formation that they were even visible to the naked eye.

    ¡°This spell formation is actually channeling wood power from its surroundings...¡± With these words, Chu Xuanji¡¯s attention was suddenly caught by the swimming tree patterns in the mysterious green ward. ¡°Those tree patterns seem to carry some very profound power! This spell formation is definitely beyond ordinary!¡±

    At the same time, he unleashed his soul awareness in an attempt to prate the green ward to conduct a close examine of Nie Tian and the spell formation.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A spot on the green ward suddenly shone with bright green light as his soul awareness was warded off.

    Afterwards, bright green light shone in a few other locations on the ward.

    Hong Xian, Wei Yu, and the few other Soul realm experts frowned as their soul awarenesses were also rejected.

    Furthermore, their attempts seemed to have provoked the protective mechanism of the spell formation.

    The speed at which it channeled wood power from its surroundings became even faster.

    ¡°That kid seems to be practicing cultivation in there,¡± Hong Xian said.

    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked with an unpleasant expression. ¡°He¡¯s only practicing cultivation. That doesn¡¯t affect you, does it?¡±

    She actually said these words with a guilty conscience.

    She had been the closest to Nie Tian, and thus she had been the first to notice the changes with the wood power.

    She was well-aware that they were here because they had also noticed the anomaly.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    The Frost Blood Python hade with Yin Yanan. Being so close to Nie Tian, it once again fixed its beady eyes on Nie Tian, its pupils gradually turning scarlet.

    Its unique bloodline power allowed it to sense the vigorous life force inside of Nie Tian.

    In its eyes, Nie Tian was like a piece of meat that was giving off a delicious smell. It couldn¡¯t wait to devour him with a single bite.

    Yin Yanan reached out with one hand and stroked the python¡¯srge head while trying to calm it with her soul awareness. ¡°Settle down.¡±

    ¡°Who in the world is he, Qiao Yunxi?¡± Hong Xian seemed eager to know. ¡°Spell formations that can absorb wood power are not exactly rare. What¡¯s rare is that this spell formation of tree branches is actually stopping our soul awareness from prating it. Also, I have a feeling that that spell formation has unusually high defensive force.

    ¡°I can¡¯t know your sect better. Every disciple of your sect is skilled in fire-attributed incantations, but I¡¯ve never known any of you to achieve high attainments in wood-attributed incantations.

    ¡°He¡¯s not just anybody, right?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi gave a cold snort and said, ¡°Our grand elder brought him here. I don¡¯t know what kind of incantations he practices. Grand elder just put him in my hands and told me to keep him safe.¡±

    Hong Xian was taken aback. ¡°Senior Yue brought him here...¡±

    After a moment of silent pondering, he added, ¡°Alright, since he¡¯s Senior Yue¡¯s guest, we¡¯ll give Senior Yue face and let him off this time. But you should get him to stop cultivating.

    ¡°His spell formation is channeling wood power from his surroundings, undermining the quality of the spirit nts here.

    ¡°Like I told you, you don¡¯t get a share of the spirit nts on this meteor. I won¡¯t have it if he continues to jeopardize our gains.¡±

    Wei Yu and Chu Xuanji nodded to show that they shared the same thoughts.

    There were arge number of spirit nts around theke, a third of which were Premium grade materials. Some of them were even hard to find in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    They wouldn¡¯t let someone with an unknown origin spoil those precious herbs.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell him to stop.¡± Qiao Yunxi had no choice but ept.

    Hong Xian¡¯s strained face eased a bit. ¡°Good. If you¡¯ll do that, I won¡¯t need to break that defensive ward. You have a quarter hour to stop him from hurting our gains.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi nodded reluctantly. ¡°Alright.¡±

    The important figures from the three parties once again fixed Nie Tian and his spell formation with an measuring gaze.

    However, since they couldn¡¯t send their soul awarenesses through the ward, they failed to find out more about Nie Tian or his spell formation.

    ¡°Remember: you¡¯ve only got a quarter hour.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan was the first to leave with her Frost Blood Python, which was unusually restless.

    She had a feeling that this Nie Tian person wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with.

    Furthermore, they had no reason to go to war with the Divine me Sect over a man like him.

    The others left after her, but didn¡¯t go very far. They gave orders while the other disciples of their sects did the gathering work.

    After they left, Qiao Yunxi shouted at Nie Tian, ¡°Stop what you¡¯re doing, Nie Tian!¡±

    However, no matter how loudly she shouted, Nie Tian didn¡¯t give any response, as if he couldn¡¯t even hear her. This made her rather angry.

    A quarter hourter...

    Just as Qiao Yunxi was about to flip out, Nie Tian opened his eyes and deactivated the Wood Thriving Formation.

    <i>¡°Meridian Toughening...¡± </i>he said inwardly.

    The third step of body refinement turned out to be much more difficult than the first step, ¡®Bone Crystallizing¡¯ and the second step, ¡®Internal Organ Nourishing¡¯.

    The rich wood power the Wood Thriving Formation channeled from the vicinity was only enough to start the process.

    It would probably take a long time to refine all of his meridians with this method.

    In fact, as soon as Hong Xian and the others had arrived, he had sensed their presence, and grown alert.

    However, he had felt relieved as he realized that none of them were able to send their soul awareness through the protective ward.

    After hearing Hong Xian say that he would have a quarter hour to stop, he refocused on cultivation, hoping to made good use of this time.

    ¡°You heard me, right? Why didn¡¯t you stop?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked furiously.

    ¡°Did they say I had a quarter hour to stop?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°I did exactly what they said. Is there a problem with that?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t know what to say, so she just gave him a nasty look.

    While Nie Tian had practiced cultivation with the help of the Wood Thriving Formation, he had discovered that the wood power that had been channeled into the spell formation was actually from the vegetation that covered this entire meteor, and the mixture of wood power and spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that continued to rise from theke. It wasn¡¯t just from the rare spirit grasses and flowers around theke.

    The way he saw it, the wood power in the air was the fundamental reason why this meteor was covered in thriving vegetation.

    Therefore, he decided to resume tempering his meridians with the help of this unique environment after the three parties finished gathering spirit nts.

    Time flew, and three days passed.

    The three parties finished gathering valuable spirit nts.

    After realizing this, Nie Tian reestablished the Wood Thriving Formation and resumed cultivation. The three parties, however, focused on examining the mysteriouske, and didn¡¯t mind him.

    Two more days passed, and the Qi warriors gathered by theke suddenly sensed changes in it.

    Strange fluctuations started toe from the bottom of theke.

    The emerald greenke started to shine brightly, as if some unique treasure were about to rise to the surface.

    However, at that moment, all of the Qi warriors had a strange feeling that their souls were being attracted by theke, and hoping to leave their bodies and fly into it.

    Nie Tian was awoken from his cultivation, his expression flickering.

    SHEW!

    The few powerful discarnate souls in the Spirit Pearl, which was still in his ring of holding, charged out of it and flew off towards theke.

 Chapter 714: Souls Losing Control

    The Spirit Pearl had been forged by the Phantasms. It had an unusually strong restraining force on souls. It was almost impossible for souls to break free once they were trapped inside.

    Furthermore, those souls had lost all of their memories. All they had left were negative emotions.

    Not once had a single soul broken free from the Spirit Pearl since Nie Tian hade to own it.

    However, now in this ce, those powerful discarnate souls somehow broke free from the restraints and flew out of the Spirit Pearl.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One discarnate soul after another flew directly towards theke like streaks of gray smoke.

    Meanwhile, the Spirit Pearl was still in Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding.

    Nie Tian gasped at the scene.

    He nced around with rapt attention, but couldn¡¯t see Qiao Yunxi anywhere.

    At this moment, the nearly one thousand Qi warriors that were gathered by theke were all holding their heads and howling in pain.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, which hadn¡¯t taken a distinct form yet, also seemed to be dragged by an invisible chain, and wanted to leave his sea of awareness.

    At his moment, the nine fragmentary stars that hung high over his sea of awareness suddenly shone as dazzlingly as diamonds.

    One wisp of cleansing star power after another poured down from the fragmentary stars and bound his true soul firmly.

    His true soul seemed as if it had taken root in his sea of awareness, and couldn¡¯t be moved in the slightest again.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous wisps of souls rose from the tops of many Qi warriors¡¯ heads and gradually flew towards theke, as if they were attracted by some mysterious force.

    ¡°What the...?!¡± Frowning, Nie Tian dashed off in theke¡¯s direction, hoping to learn what was happening.

    As he did, he saw the several powerful discarnate souls, which had broken free from the Spirit Pearl, devouring the Qi warriors¡¯ souls that had risen into the air while flying towards theke.

    Afterwards, those discarnate souls became even stronger.

    ¡°Get away from theke!¡± Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect called out, a streak of golden light shooting out of his cuff as he did.

    Carrying an immense aura, the streak of light rapidly expanded, turning into a huge, golden sword that floated high over Wei Yu¡¯s head.

    Like golden raindrops, sparks fell off the huge, mountain-like sword, each drop containing fine magical symbols.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The golden sparks then rained down on the powerful discarnate souls in an attempt to intercept and annihte them.

    As the fierce discarnate souls were touched by the golden sparks, holes appeared on their illusory bodies, as if they were pieces of ice that were exposed to a rain of bits of melted metal.

    However, the few discarnate souls rapidly changed direction and flew out of the golden sparks¡¯ attacking range. They pounced on the Qi warriors¡¯ souls that had risen into the air in an even fiercer manner.

    It seemed as if these discarnate souls had been vested with some kind of power on this strange meteor.

    Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect, Chu Xuanji from the Chu n, and the other Soul realm experts all brought out their most powerful magics.

    Since their souls were much stronger than the others, they were able to resist the mysterious attractive force from theke. They either formed spell formations to protect their weak sect members or attacked those powerful discarnate souls with their spiritual tools.

    <i>¡°They probably still don¡¯t know that those discarnate souls came from my possession,¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

    He grew more and more cautious as he slowly approached thekeside.

    ¡°Ahh!!!¡± Qiao Yunxi¡¯s sharp scream echoed out from a location not far from him.

    Nie Tian rushed over at full speed, and saw her holding her head with an agonized look on her face.

    Even though she possessed extraordinary cultivation talent, she was only at the Worldly realm. Unlike Nie Tian, she didn¡¯t have those mysterious fragmentary stars to steady her sea of awareness and protect her soul.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°She¡¯s been affected as well!¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian dashed to Qiao Yunxi¡¯s side and formed the Wood Thriving Formation around the two of them.

    He wondered whether the green energy ward of the Wood Thriving Formation would be able to stop Qiao Yunxi¡¯s soul from being sucked away by that unknown force.

    The moment the Wood Thriving Formation came to form, a green ward that was as thin as a cicada¡¯s wings enveloped the two of them.

    In the next moment, Qiao Yunxi stopped screaming, and gradually settled down.

    Nie Tian then realized that the Wood Thriving Formation, which he had derived from the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd, had worked.

    Qiao Yunxi came to her senses and said, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    She nced around at the tree branches on the ground that were glowing and translucent like jade, and realized that it was Nie Tian¡¯s unique spell formation, which he had used to practice cultivation, that had saved her.

    Covered in cold sweat, she said anxiously, ¡°Those people from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n must have done something that triggered such upheavals! Thatke seems to have turned into a deadly soul ma, and started channeling the souls of every living being in its surroundings!

    ¡°I almost lost my soul just now!¡±

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°Yeah, the closer you are to theke, the stronger the channeling force will get. It¡¯s not too bad where we are now.¡±

    He hade to such a realization earlier when he hade to Qiao Yunxi¡¯s aid.

    The fact that he arrived in time to save her was because she had a strong will, and she was still some distance from theke.

    While the two of them talked, Nie Tian suddenly heard hissing sounds. Eyebrows furrowed, he instantly jerked his head in the direction of the source of the sounds, and he saw Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect rushing towards him, riding her Frost Blood Python.

    Apparently, the seventh grade Frost Blood Python was able to resist the terrifying soul channeling force. At the same time, as Yin Yanan¡¯s pet beast, it was protecting her from it as well.

    However, even with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s help, Yin Yanan looked rather panicked, and was desperate to get away from theke.

    Aftering closer, Yin Yanan was deeply surprised to see Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi standing in the Wood Thriving Formation, looking rather rxed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you two are actually unaffected!¡±

    Yin Yanan stared nkly at them for a while before her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Qiao Yunxi! This spell formation can protect people from that strange force, right?! Tell him to open it and let us in!¡±

    At this moment, Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect also arrived with an anxious expression, wrapping his profound soul power around a few dozen of their sect members.

    As high as Hong Xian¡¯s cultivation base was, it was impossible for him to get all of their sect members to safety in one go.

    All those he had brought with him were weak juniors who werepletely unable to defend themselves.

    He was hoping that he could get these juniors to safety, and then return for the others.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi standing therepletely unaffected, he instantly cheered up and shouted, ¡°Qiao Yunxi, tell your friend to open the ward and let us in!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi looked hesitant as she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°It seems that all of our air-transportation spiritual tools lost their effect as soon as the changes took ce. That means none of us will be able to leave this meteor for now. So do you think you can let the disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect take shelter in your spell formation?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian refused with a cold tone.

    Faced with the deaths of his sect members, Hong Xian dropped his pleasant face. ¡°Hey, brat! I know you have something powerful at your disposal, but right now we have to stick together to survive this difficult time! If you refuse to open that ward for us, then don¡¯t me me for breaking it with force!¡±

    He threatened Nie Tian, and even assumed an attacking stance.

    Nie Tianughed disdainfully. ¡°You want to break my ward? If you begged me to help you, I might have given you face and allowed you in. But instead of doing that, you¡¯re threatening me. Alright, let¡¯s see what you can do.¡±

    ¡°Come on out!¡± With these words, he summoned the Bone Blood Demon.

 Chapter 715: Soul Crystals at the Lake Bottom

    Hong Xian and the others from the Beast-controlling Sect stood aghast upon seeing the Bone Blood Demon.

    Nie Tian had long since learned about the Wood Thriving Formation¡¯s special features. Due to his own uniqueness, the spell formation didn¡¯t have any restrictive effect on him, which meant he would be able to enter and exit it freely.

    However, any living being other than him would only be able to exit the Wood Thriving Formation.

    He unleashed the Bone Blood Demon inside the spell formation this time. Under hismand, it charged out of the spell formation with only three huge steps.

    As the Bone Blood Demon, which was more than thirty meters tall, stood in front of Hong Xian and the others, their expressions flickered drastically.

    The Bone Blood Demon was releasing a special aura that seemed to be able to annihte all lives and silence heaven and earth. This was the high-tier Bonebrutes¡¯ unique bloodline power.

    It didn¡¯t matter if it was Hong Xian or the Frost Blood Python, they all seemed puny whenpared to the Bone Blood Demon.

    The Frost Blood Python, which saw Nie Tian as a great nourishment pill, looked skywards at the Bone Blood Demon and sniffed its aura. In the next moment, fear appeared in its icy eyes.

    Thanks to its shrewd perception of auras, the Frost Blood Python instantly realized that the Bone Blood Demon was stronger than itself.

    ¡°This... This is a Bonebrute!¡± Yin Yanan eximed in shock.

    ¡°This is a Bonebrute turned into a puppet!¡± Hong Xian managed to see through the truth with a single nce at the Bone Blood Demon. He couldn¡¯t help but take a step back and raise his hand, warning his sect members against making any rash moves.

    In fact, even if he didn¡¯t warn them, Yin Yanan and the other Beast-controlling Sect disciples knew not to approach the Bone Blood Demon.

    A shudder ran through Qiao Yunxi as she shouted the words, ¡°Nie Tian! You own this Bonebrute puppet?!¡±

    At this moment, she finally realized what had given him the confidence to confront Hong Xian and Yin Yanan. He hadn¡¯t been bluffing at all.

    In her senses, this Bone Blood Demon¡¯s battle prowess was definitely higher than that of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s.

    He actually had the ability to ¡®return the favor¡¯ if the Frost Blood Python came after him again.

    Standing in the middle of the Wood Thriving Formation, Nie Tian stared at Hong Xian and said, ¡°Don¡¯t me me for unleashing it on you if you dare to make a move!¡±

    The fact that Hong Xian and the other experts had failed to send their soul awareness into the Wood Thriving Formation seemed to have given him confidence.

    He believed that as long as he didn¡¯te out of the spell formation, Hong Xian wouldn¡¯t be able to hurt him with his soul attacks.

    However, he would be able tomand the Bone Blood Demon to attack him or the other Beast-controlling Sect disciples.

    At this moment, theke was still emanating strange fluctuations. Hong Xian still had to spare some of his soul power to protect the Beast-controlling Sect disciples he had brought to this ce.

    Under such a circumstance, there was no way he could focus on fighting someone.

    If he did, those Beast-controlling Sect disciples would be in danger.

    Hong Xian¡¯s face grew very grim.

    He had long suspected that Nie Tian had something powerful at his disposal, but he had never expected it to be so powerful.

    In his senses, he didn¡¯t think he would be able to defeat the Bone Blood Demon even with the Frost Blood Python there to help him.

    On a second thought, he didn¡¯t need to fight Nie Tian to the death over this.

    At this critical moment, Yin Yanan broke the tension by saying, ¡°Forget it. Since he doesn¡¯t want to help us, let¡¯s get out of here now. Why don¡¯t you take them to a safe location first, Senior Hong? We didn¡¯te to this ce to fight people.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Hong Xian said, fixing Nie Tian with a cold gaze. With these words, he left with the weak members of the Beast-controlling Sect, protecting them with his soul power.

    Yin Yanan, however, didn¡¯t leave with them. She took another deep look at the enormous Bone Blood Demon, and said, ¡°Now that we¡¯re facing great danger, I hope we can help instead of fighting each other.¡±

    ¡°If you had asked in such a manner earlier, things wouldn¡¯t have gone this far,¡± Nie Tian said with an expressionless face.

    Yin Yanan shook her head in silence and left, riding her Frost Blood Python.

    ¡°What level is your puppet¡¯s battle prowess at, Nie Tian?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked rather excitedly.

    ¡°About the same level as that of ate Soul realm expert,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Qiao Yunxi suddenly grew angry. ¡°You asshole! Why didn¡¯t you unleash it on that bitch from the Bliss Mountain Sect when you sensed her ambushing us on the meteor we went to to get that divine me seal?! If you had, we wouldn¡¯t have needed to run from them. In fact, we might have killed those bastards already!¡±

    Nie Tian gave her a sideways look and said coldly, ¡°You never told me how many people were after you and how powerful they were. How would I know if there were other powerful expertsing to kill you or not!?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi fell silent.

    In fact, she had been rather cold to Nie Tian back then.

    Therefore, she hadn¡¯t told him about the number or cultivation bases of the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples who had been after her.

    Only after Nie Tian¡¯s warnings had helped her avoid walking into the trap had she finally opened up to Nie Tian. Even so, she still didn¡¯t tell him many things.

    After giving it some thought, she realized that Nie Tian¡¯s words actually made sense.

    ¡°Over there!¡±

    At that moment, people from the Trisword Sect and the Chu n came ran to Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s location.

    Upon arriving, they were even more shocked to see the Bone Blood Demon than the people from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Immediately afterwards, they noticed that Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi were standing in the middle of that spell formation,pletely unaffected.

    ¡°Miss Qiao, would you please allow our weak disciples to take shelter in this spell formation for now?¡± Chu Xuanji from the Chu n asked nicely.

    Qiao Yunxi threw Nie Tian an inquiring gaze.

    Nie Tian pondered for a few seconds before nodding and saying, ¡°Alright.¡±

    After all, unlike Yin Yanan and Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect, these people from the Trisword Sect and the Chu n hadn¡¯t offended him.

    Furthermore, since his rtionship with the Beast-controlling Sect had already gone sour, if he were to be the Trisword Sect and the Chu n¡¯s enemy too, then even if he had the Bone Blood Demon to protect him, he would face trouble as long as he was still trapped on this meteor.

    Therefore, he gave them permission to enter.

    The people from the Trisword Sect and the Chu n were overjoyed to see him nod.

    The leaders of Trisword Sect and Chu n teams hastily made arrangements.

    ¡°Hurry up! Into the spell formation! It can hold at least a hundred people!¡±

    ¡°Let the Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm disciples enter first! The Profound realm and Soul realm disciples can resist the influence to some extent and get away from theke on their own.¡±

    As their weak members came to the front of their groups, Nie Tian removed a tree branch, allowing them to enter the green energy ward. After they were inside, he put the tree branch back.

    However, he walked out of the spell formation himself.

    ¡°Stay inside and don¡¯te out,¡± Nie Tian said, looking at Qiao Yunxi. ¡°This spell formation will allow you to leave, but once you¡¯re out, you won¡¯t be able to enter again.¡±

    With these words, he jumped onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s broad shoulder, where he sat down andmanded it to move out.

    ¡°Where are you going?!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted hastily.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t respond, and the Bone Blood Demon strode towards thekeside with huge steps.

    To her surprise, while everyone was scrambling away from theke, Nie Tianmanded the Bone Blood Demon to take him to the most dangerous ce.

    On his way, he saw many juniors from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n who had already lost their souls and died. Their corpses were scattered everywhere.

    The few powerful discarnate souls that had broken free from the Spirit Pearl were nowhere to be seen. It was unknown whether they had been killed by Hong Xian and the other experts, or they had already flown into theke.

    As he marched closer and closer towards theke, his true soul came under increasingly heavy pressure. Even though the nine fragmentary stars in his soul had magical effects, their power wasn¡¯t limitless.

    Soon, he came to thekeside.

    As he looked at the emeraldke water with rapt attention, he discovered that there seemed to be pieces of ink-ck crystals at the bottom of theke.

    They were all of different sizes and emanating ck light.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    At this moment, Chu Xuanji flew over. Floating in the air, he said, ¡°Thank you for helping us. Those ck crystals at the bottom of theke are soul crystals, which are very valuable. Also, they don¡¯t form naturally, but artificially. Each and every one of them is the condensation of immense soul power. Since there are so many of them at theke bottom, I wonder who forged them and put them there.¡±

    Chu Xuanji¡¯s eyes shone with the light of desire as he talked about soul crystals, as if they had a strong appeal even to experts like him.

    Surprised, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°Soul crystals?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they can be used to cultivate soul power,¡± Chu Xuanji exined. ¡°In the same way we channel spiritual power from spirit stones and spirit jades, people can channel soul power from soul crystals and use the power to refine their true souls.¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you go collect them?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Chu Xuanji smiled bitterly. ¡°Of course I want to, but I haven¡¯t figured out a way yet...¡±

 Chapter 716: Each Showing Their Special Prowess

    While Nie Tian talked to Chu Xuanji, Hong Xian and Wei Yu also rushed to thekeside.

    Wei Yu¡¯s eyes shone with the light of greed as he stared unblinkingly at the numerous pitch-ck crystals at the bottom of theke. ¡°Soul crystals!¡±

    Chu Xuanji, however, didn¡¯t pay much attention to the curious crystals at theke bottom. Instead, he looked Nie Tian up and down with a measuring gaze.

    Chu Xuanji couldn¡¯t help but say in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re standing here.¡±

    Even so, Hong Xian and Wei Yu overheard him, and looked over with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

    Theke hadn¡¯t ceased emanating soul fluctuations since the beginning. Even though they werete Soul realm experts, they still had to expend some effort to suppress their stirring seas of awareness and lock their true souls down.

    As chosen ones of their respective sects, Yin Yanan, Chu Bowen, and Xing Beihuan were all at a higher realm than Nie Tian.

    However, none of them were able toe this close to theke.

    It was shocking that Nie Tian was able to suppress the unusual movements of his true soul when he was only at the early Worldly realm.

    Sensing the amount of attention he was receiving, Nie Tian felt somewhat uneasy. He could tell that the three experts wanted to examine him with their soul awareness.

    However, something seemed to be stopping them from doing so.

    As he unleashed his soul awareness, he realized what the problem was.

    As soon as his soul awareness flew out of his mind, it was drawn by the mysterious attractive force that originated from theke. Just like that, wisps of pure soul power plunged towards the bottom of theke.

    At the same time, his connection with those wisps of pure soul power was cut off, and he lost them for good.

    That was when he realized what was preventing Chu Xuanji and the others from examining him with their soul awareness and finding a way to gather those soul crystals at theke bottom.

    Like an enormous ma, the emeraldke was absorbing every wisp of soul power it could find.

    Once anyone dared to have their soul power leave their minds, a mysterious force would instantly drag it into theke.

    Under such circumstances, it seemed impossible to fish the soul crystals out of theke without jumping into it.

    ¡°This ce probably has a great deal to do with the Phantasms,¡± Nie Tian suddenly said.

    Chu Xuanji¡¯s eye widened slightly. ¡°Phantasms?¡± After a brief moment of pondering, he nodded and added, ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s actually very likely.

    ¡°Soul crystals don¡¯t form by themselves. One would have to gather arge number of souls in one ce in order to make them.

    ¡°Only when the souls are purged of all of their impurities and refined many times will they eventually crystallize. The Phantasms¡¯ exploration of souls and soul power leads most races. They have the ability to build spell formations to attract and refine souls, and turn them into pure soul power.¡±

    Wei Yu chimed in with a serious face, ¡°Soul crystals are very valuable and rare. That¡¯s even the case with the Phantasms. Many of their most powerful incantations and spells are soul-rted. Soul crystals can help them make advancements in their bloodline power and improve the might of their soul magics. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if these soul crystals were made by Phantasms.¡±

    ¡°So thiske is a spell formation built by the Phantasms...¡± Hong Xian said. ¡°But why is theke here?¡±

    From the look of it, they didn¡¯t know much about this region, which had beenpletely inessible for who knew how long, either. They didn¡¯t know what had happened here or why the Phantasms¡¯ spell formation would still exist after so long.

    What puzzled them the most was where the spell formation had channeled so many souls to form such arge amount of soul crystals.

    Everyone pondered in silence for a long time before Wei Yu said, ¡°We can¡¯t just stand here and make no attempts.¡±

    With these words, he summoned a golden sword, carved out arge rock from the ground beside him and cast it into theke.

    SPLASH!

    Therge rock fell into theke, causing water to ssh in every direction.

    However, the rock seemed to be subject to an unusually strong buoyant force.

    It only went a few meters underke¡¯s surface before being lifted back to the surface, where it floated like a feather.

    Wei Yu¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he said, ¡°The buoyancy in theke is beyond our imagination. Evenrge rocks can¡¯t fall to theke bottom!¡± However, he didn¡¯t seem to want to give up yet.

    WHOOSH!

    A glowing ward suddenly formed around him, with dozens of golden magical symbols swimming in the ward like fish.

    Each and every golden magical symbol seemed to be branded with the profound truths of metal power.

    Under everyone¡¯s amazed gazes, he jumped high into the air before diving steeply into theke, holding his golden sword as he did.

    As he went underwater, the golden ward around him didn¡¯t shatter upon contact with the emeraldke water.

    An overjoyed look appeared in Wei Yu¡¯s eyes. However, he instantly felt the shockingly strong buoyancy. He exerted himself to descend towards the bottom of theke with the help of the heavy golden sword in his hand.

    Even so, he only managed to sink a few meters deeper than therge rock.

    After that, he was pushed to theke¡¯s surface, and no matter how hard he summoned his spiritual power again, he couldn¡¯t sink an inch deeper.

    He could see the soul crystals with great rity, but he just couldn¡¯t reach them.

    After many failed attempts, as reluctant as he was, he finally gave up and flew out of theke.

    ¡°The buoyancy in theke is too strong. My heavy sword can¡¯t help me descend to the bottom.¡± Wei Yu sounded rather frustrated, then he sighed and added, ¡°This terrible feeling of being able to see the soul crystals but being unable to take them makes me want to puke blood.¡±

    Seeing that it wasn¡¯t dangerous to jump into theke, Chu Xuanji and Hong Xian itched to make their own attempts.

    In the same way Wei Yu had done, the two of them also formed protective wards around themselves and summoned their spiritual tools, hoping to sink to the bottom of theke by relying on the mass of their spiritual tools.

    However, their spiritual tools turned out to be even lighter than Wei Yu¡¯s golden sword, since they failed to even go as deep as him.

    After a quarter hour and many failed attempts, they gave up too, even though they were very reluctant to.

    Hong Xian¡¯s eyes rolled about in their sockets as he seemed to suddenly think of something. Then, he sped away.

    Originally, Nie Tian had wanted to make an attempt himself. However, after seeing Hong Xian¡¯s strange behavior, he decided to wait and see what Hong Xian was going to do first.

    A few minutester, Hong Xian returned with Yin Yanan, an excited look filling his eyes.

    He had wrapped his soul power around Yin Yanan, who was riding the Frost Blood Python, her eyes also shining with expectant light.

    Yin Yanan, who was dressed in a tight fur skirt and looked extremely curvy,manded the Frost Blood Python to dive into theke as soon as they arrived by thekeside.

    Each of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s eyes shone with a different light as it made contact with theke water. One eye shone with silver-white light, while the other shone with blood-red light.

    Meanwhile, the marks of two different bloodlines seemed to appear in the depths of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s eyes.

    At that very moment, a profound connection seemed to be established between Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python, and a soul aura from the Frost Blood Python started to help Yin Yanan resist the soul attracting force from the bottom of theke.

    Upon seeing this, Hong Xian stopped protecting Yin Yanan with his soul power.

    Yin Yanan then rode the Frost Blood Python towards the bottom of theke at a fast speed, as if they had be one.

    Watching her sinking at a much faster speed than any of them, Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect seemed to have seen through the reason behind it, and said to Hong Xian, ¡°That kid was born with a uniquely tough body. Later, she practiced your sect¡¯s special body refining incantations. After refining her body with spirit beast blood for many years, her body has be much heavier than ours.

    ¡°Now with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s help, she may actually seed.¡±

    Hong Xianughed broadly and said, ¡°Brother Wei, I heard that your sect somehow learned the location of Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies, and engaged in a fiercepetition over it with people from the Bliss Mountain Sect. One of your sect elders, Qi Jiuchuan, even made a freak called Liang Hao with the sole purpose of fighting for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies.

    ¡°However, Liang Hao was only a product of recing human bones with spirit beast bones. How can hepare to Yanan?

    ¡°If your sect sought our help back then, and had Yanan go to Master Voidspirit¡¯s personal domain instead of Liang Hao, you¡¯d have obtained Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies long ago!¡±

    Wei Yu let out a cold harrumph, but didn¡¯t try to refute him.

    ¡°Can I make an attempt, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± Nie Tian suddenly said, smiling.

    Chu Xuanji¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°You?!¡±

    Wei Yu took a deep look at the Bone Blood Demon and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. You have this puppet to help you. You might actually have a chance to reach theke bottom as well.¡±

    Hong Xian¡¯s smile froze on his face as he said, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you want to make an attempt, but don¡¯t disturb Yanan.¡±

 Chapter 717: Changes In the Lake

    Just as Nie Tian was about to jump into theke, Chu Xuanji¡¯s expression flickered, as if he had suddenly thought of something.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you should make any attempts, little friend,¡± he said.

    Nie Tian fixed him with a puzzled look.

    ¡°You¡¯re not Yin Yanan. Even though you can manipte your puppet, you don¡¯t necessarily have the ability to sink to theke bottom,¡± Chu Xuanji said. Apparently, he was warning Nie Tian for his own good. ¡°Normally speaking, the tougher one¡¯s body is, the heavier he or she will be. Since that puppet of yours is refined from a powerful Bonebrute, I suppose it¡¯ll have no problem sinking to the bottom.

    ¡°But you might not be able to resist the strong buoyancy.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be pushed to theke¡¯s surface. If you hold onto your puppet with all your strength, you may even end up being torn apart by the terrifying buoyancy.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent, pondering the situation he would face.

    ording to Chu Xuanji, the Bone Blood Demon would probably sink to theke bottom like piece of metal, but he would still float on theke¡¯s surface like a inted balloon.

    He shouldn¡¯t cling to the Bone Blood Demon as it went underwater. If he did, he might be torn to pieces by the opposing forces.

    Come to think of it, such a thing might actually happen to Qiao Yunxi, Xing Beichen, and others who hadn¡¯t spent much time and effort to refine their bodies.

    However, Chu Xuanji knew nothing of his unique body.

    ¡°Thanks for the reminder, senior.¡± Nie Tian said, smiling brightly. Then, hemanded the Bone Blood Demon to jump into the emeraldke with him standing on its shoulder.

    SPLASH!

    Water sshed in every direction as he and the Bone Blood Demon dived into theke.

    Seeing that Nie Tian didn¡¯t take his advice, Chu Xuanji frowned slightly, as if he were somewhat displeased, but he didn¡¯t say or do anything.

    ¡°The kid is just too stubborn,¡± Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect muttered. ¡°He clearly doesn¡¯t have a correct understanding of his own strength. It¡¯s wishful thinking to hope to reach theke bottom and collect the soul crystals just with the help of that puppet.¡±

    Wei Yu agreed, saying, ¡°It won¡¯t be long before he gives up and surfaces.¡± Then, his eyes narrowed. ¡°However, it¡¯s already very impressive that he cane this close to theke. Can he be protecting himself with his puppet¡¯s soul power? Does his puppet even possess residual soul power?¡±

    Chu Xuanji shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°Anyways, there¡¯s something strange with that kid,¡± Hong Xian chimed in. ¡°That puppet of his seems rather powerful. I have a feeling that it¡¯s even stronger us. Since he has such a powerful puppet at his disposal, wherever hees from, he must be from a powerful background.¡±

    Both Chu Xuanji and Wei Yu had thoughtful expressions after hearing these words.

    In the emeraldke.

    Layers of spiritual power wrapped around Nie Tian, separating him from theke waterpletely.

    To his surprise, he didn¡¯t experience a very strong attractive force on his soul as he started descending towards theke bottom

    As the Bone Blood Demon carried him downwards, he kept ncing around.

    The water was rather clear, so he had a fairly good view of things. From the look of it, there was nothing around him except Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect, who was riding the Frost Blood Python downwards ahead of him.

    At this moment, the Frost Blood Python had already sunk dozens of meters under theke¡¯s surface, and was about halfway down to the bottom of theke.

    Having absorbed the blood of numerous powerful outsiders, the toughness and mass of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body seemed to be far superior to the Frost Blood Python¡¯s.

    For this reason, he gradually caught up to Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan had noticed it the moment he dived into theke.

    At this moment, shock filled her eyes as she looked up at Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon, who were rapidly approaching her.

    Even though she had practiced a special body refining incantation for years, as the Frost Blood Python sank deeper and deeper, she experienced increasingly strong buoyancy. She was only able to descend so rapidly because she was clinging tightly to the Frost Blood Python.

    However, Nie Tian was standing unwavering on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, as if his feet had taken root. This confused her greatly.

    <i>¡°There¡¯s only one possibility: this guy also practices some profound body refining incantation, which makes him as tough as rock and as heavy as metal. Only that can exin why he¡¯s able to sink so fast with his puppet in this increasingly strong buoyancy. That also exins why the Frost Blood Python showed an insuppressible desire for his flesh and blood every time it saw him.¡±</i>

    Aftering to such a conclusion, Yin Yanan¡¯s expression grew grim as she fixed her eyes on Nie Tian.

    Standing on thekeshore, Wei Yu eximed, ¡°Hmm?! I can¡¯t believe that kid didn¡¯t rise to the surface!¡±

    Hong Xian¡¯s eyes grew wide as he said, ¡°I see what¡¯s going on!¡±

    Chu Xuanji¡¯s expression also flickered upon seeing this. ¡°Like Yanan, he must also practice some special body refining incantation that makes his body this tough and heavy!¡±

    The three of them rapidly reached the conclusion that, like Yin Yanan, Nie Tian also possessed a uniquely tough body.

    Hong Xian took a deep breath and said, ¡°No wonder he behaved so arrogantly earlier! Qiao Yunxi said that he was invited here by Yue Yanxi, and we¡¯ve never seen him in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. He must be from a superior human domain!¡±

    Both Chu Xuanji and Wei Yu nodded in agreement.

    While they marveled at Nie Tian¡¯s special prowess, the Bone Blood Demon caught up to the Frost Blood Python.

    They were now at the same depth, and about ten meters apart from each other.

    Even though the Frost Blood Python still yearned for Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and blood, it didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    Thanks to its shrewd perception of flesh auras, it knew that the Bone Blood Demon had the strength to annihte it.

    Therefore, it subconsciously kept a safe distance from the Bone Blood Demon, fearing that it would attack it under Nie Tian¡¯smand.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re actually afraid of him!¡± Yin Yanan muttered.

    She let out a cold harrumph while fixing Nie Tian with an angry stare.

    However, Nie Tian ignored her andmanded the Bone Blood Demon to continue downwards.

    Just as the Bone Blood Demon passed the Frost Blood Python, Nie Tian felt a strong sense of danger.

    It was also at this moment that the emeraldke water seemed to be instantly covered by ayer of ink.

    Hong Xian and the others on thekeshore couldn¡¯t see Nie Tian or Yin Yanan anymore.

    Hong Xian¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    Under theke¡¯s surface, fierce discarnate souls quietly appeared like a few bloodthirsty sharks.

    At this moment, they had be surprisinglyrge. Since they were still rather indistinct, some of them were in the shape of spirit beasts, while others looked like Demons. All of them gave Nie Tian a strong sense of familiarity.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°They¡¯re the powerful discarnate souls that escaped from the Spirit Pearl!¡±

    He had thought that they had already been eliminated by Hong Xian, Wei Yu, and Chu Xuanji.

    Who would have thought that they had actually been hiding in the depths of theke, where they hadn¡¯t been refined into soul crystals by this special spell formation?

    Staring at the discarnate souls, Nie Tian had a feeling that theke water was making them more powerful than ever.

    As he had expected, the fierce souls rapidly swam towards him and Yin Yanan like sharks bolting towards their prey.

    Vicious, ice-cold soul power quietly spread towards the two of them, coveringrge areas as it did.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    The Frost Blood Python seemed to suffer from a strong blow, and the soul connection between it and Yin Yanan was instantly cut off.

    The Frost Blood Python started thrashing violently. Its huge body balled up and stretched out wildly as it rushed towards theke¡¯s surface in fear.

    As it did, Yin Yanan was thrown off its back, experiencing a stabbing pain in her mind.

    At the same time, the nine fragmentary stars that hung high in Nie Tian¡¯s soul blossomed with dazzling light.

    Even so, he also suffered a heavy blow, and fell off the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder. As he attempted tomunicate with it, he discovered that it seemed to have be the fierce souls¡¯ target. Driven by its basic instincts, it was swimming up towards theke¡¯s surface at full speed, as if it was trying to escape from deadly enemies.

    The soul connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon also snapped like an overly strained rope.

    The fierce souls then madly chased after the Bone Blood Demon and the Frost Blood Python, as if they were very interested in them.

    Clearly, Nie Tian and Yin Yanan weren¡¯t their primary targets. They left them aside after the first strike.

    Abandoned by their pet and puppet, Yin Yanan and Nie Tian floated about ten meters from each other. They exchanged a nce, and saw the insecurity on each others¡¯ faces.

    After a second of silence, Yin Yanan took the initiative to wave at Nie Tian, signaling him toe to her, as if she were eager to talk to him about their options.

 Chapter 718: Riding Out Difficulty Together

    After a brief moment of hesitation, Nie Tian swam towards Yin Yanan.

    The Frost Blood Python and the Bone Blood Demon, however, seemed to havepletely forgotten about their masters, and were rushing towards theke¡¯s surface at full speed.

    Since the fierce souls had chased after them, Nie Tian and Yin Yanan were safe for the time being.

    However, once the Frost Blood Python and the Bone Blood Demon left theke, the two of them would probably be the vicious souls¡¯ new targets.

    If it came down to that, it would be hard to say whether their lives would be in great danger.

    In order to survive, Nie Tian also wanted to see if Yin Yanan had a n that would save them from this dangerous situation.

    Soon, the two of them came together.

    Wisps of soul power kept flowing out of Yin Yanan¡¯s ward and dispersing into theke water, and a pained look appeared in her eyes.

    It was the Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul guarding magics that had allowed her to sink this deep without her true soul being stripped from her mind.

    However, she had lost the protection of the Frost Blood Python after it fled by itself. Now, her true soul was suffering a strong attractive force, as if it were itching to fly out of her mind.

    In order to stop that from happening, she was now guarding her true soul with her own soul power.

    However, as soon as she drained her soul power, her mental defenses would give, and her true soul would sink to the bottom of theke.

    ¡°Come here!¡± Yin Yanan beckoned for Nie Tian to join her in her protective ward.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As Nie Tian¡¯s protective ward made contact with hers, bright sparks of spiritual power suddenly sputtered from the contact point.

    Nie Tian deactivated his protective ward just in time as he entered Yin Yanan¡¯s ward with a swift wiggle of his body.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s protective ward had a weak silver luster and emanated a faint flesh aura.

    Since Yin Yanan¡¯s protective ward was rather small, Nie Tian had to stay very close to her.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Yin Yanan asked anxiously while looking up. ¡°I wonder where those evil spirits came from. They¡¯ve already devoured the souls of many of our weaker members earlier. Even together, our seniors failed to annihte them.

    ¡°They seem even more dangerous now that they¡¯re in thiske. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll target us as soon as they¡¯re finished with my Frost Blood Python and your puppet.

    ¡°The worst part is that they¡¯re close to the surface, so we can¡¯t charge out of theke without encountering them.¡±

    Yin Yanan lost soul power unceasingly as she spoke, which made her even more anxious.

    If things didn¡¯t change soon, it wouldn¡¯t be long before she ran out of soul power and lost control of her true soul.

    However, if they rushed to theke¡¯s surface now, they would probably be intercepted by those powerful souls.

    She had never been in such a desperate situation. This was why it urred to her to seek Nie Tian¡¯s help.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian was a mysterious person from an unknown background, so he might have many resources at his disposal.

    Being so close together, Nie Tian could smell Yin Yanan¡¯s scent, which was healthy and full of vigor, and sense her rapid soul power loss. ¡°You¡¯re losing your soul power.¡±

    ¡°I know!!¡± Yin Yanan barked.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian was just about to say something to her when he discovered that the Frost Blood Python and the Bone Blood Demon had managed to charge through theke¡¯s surface and disappeared from their sight in the blink of an eye.

    After losing their favorite targets, the fierce souls finally remembered them, and whizzed down from above them at full speed.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°Oh no!"

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.

    Seeing that the evil souls were unleashing heaven-shaking, earth-shattering soul attacks as they came at them at full speed, Nie Tian no longer hesitated, and took out the Spirit Pearl.

    Holding the Spirit Pearl in his right hand, he fixed those evil souls with a fierce stare.

    He assumed that, since it was the Spirit Pearl that had sucked them out from the cauldron¡¯s surface, it might also be able to restrain them.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s curvaceous body shuddered as she saw the Spirit Pearl.

    He bright eyes suddenly lit up, an overjoyed look appearing on her face.

    As soon as Nie Tian took the Spirit Pearl into his hand, she stopped losing her soul power.

    Theke¡¯s strange attractive force on her soul seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

    Her soul no longer suffered any negative influence.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡± she asked curiously.

    Instead of answering her, Nie Tian raised the Spirit Pearl, which was glowing with faint cyan light, towards the iing vicious souls.

    As the evil souls came close to the Spirit Pearl, their powerful soul attacks were instantly melted away like snow that was scorched by mes.

    The evil souls roared ferociously, but didn¡¯t dare toe any closer to Nie Tian or Yin Yanan. They only hovered around them from a certain distance, as if even though they had be much more powerful in this ce, they were still rather afraid of the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°This pearl can restrain them?!¡± Yin Yanan asked, looking deeply surprised. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use it earlier?! If you did, my Frost Blood Python and your puppet probably wouldn¡¯t have fled in fear!¡±

    ¡°This is only a desperate attempt,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°I didn¡¯t know whether it would work or not.¡±

    Of course, he couldn¡¯t tell her that these powerful souls hovering around them had escaped from within the Spirit Pearl in the first ce.

    They had ughtered many members of the three parties. Who knew what Yin Yanan would think if she learned about this?

    Yin Yanan sighed deeply and said, ¡°Forget about it. I¡¯ve got to thank you for this. We would have probably died already if you didn¡¯t use that pearl. Also, it really wasn¡¯t my intention that my Frost Blood Python attacked you earlier. I only said those words to provoke you because I wanted to know how powerful you really are.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what happened, and I promise that simr things won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Apology epted. If you had adopted such an attitude back then, I would have allowed your people to take shelter in my spell formation.¡±

    Yin Yanan smiled somewhat bitterly upon hearing these words.

    Then, her bright eyes suddenly lit up as she proposed excitedly, ¡°Since this pearl can protect us from those vicious souls, we might as well continue to go down. What do you think? Soul crystals are simply too precious. They are extremely helpful when ites to the cultivation of true souls. Now that we¡¯re already halfway to theke bottom, there¡¯s really no reason for us to give up now.¡±

    She fixed Nie Tian with a measuring gaze as she realized that this man of unknown origin must have practiced some profound body refining incantation just like her. He was only able to float here because of his unusually vigorous flesh power, and his flesh, meridians, and bones that had been tempered hundreds of times over.

    Otherwise, he would have been pushed to theke¡¯s surface by the terrifying buoyancy as soon as the Bone Blood Demon had left.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Even though I don¡¯t know much about soul crystals, I can tell that they must be of great value from the way you all talk about them. Let¡¯s go then.¡±

    With these words, the two of them started sinking towards the bottom of theke again.

    The deeper they went, the stronger the buoyancy became, and the slower they could go.

    Shortly afterwards, Yin Yanan finally couldn¡¯t go down against the buoyant force anymore.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t seem to face much difficulty as he slowly continued downwards.

    ¡°Well... Give me a hand, will you?¡±

    Yin Yanan put on a smile as she reached out to Nie Tian with one hand. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that your achievements in body refinement are even higher than mine. I suppose you¡¯re capable of taking me down with you.¡±

    In a natural and graceful manner, she held out her hand towards Nie Tian, which slightly improved Nie Tian¡¯s opinion of her.

    Without much thought, Nie Tian grabbed her hand and carried her downwards.

    After a few more minutes...

    The two of them were only meters away from the bottom of theke, yet no matter how hard Nie Tian tried, he couldn¡¯t make them go an inch deeper.

    At this level, Yin Yanan was feeling a buoyant force that she couldn¡¯t resist by herself.

    It was Nie Tian who was pulling her down like a floating balloon. Therefore, it was only natural that Nie Tian had difficulty going downwards with her.

    After watching Nie Tian make a few attempts and fail, Yin Yanan looked somewhat embarrassed as she said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you let go of me? Without me, you¡¯ll be able to go a bit deeper.¡±

    Nie Tian nced around at the vicious souls that were swimming around and waiting for their prey. ¡°You¡¯ll be killed if I let go of you. If you dare to leave the influence of my Spirit Pearl, those fierce souls with immediately pounce on you and devour your true soul.¡±

    ¡°That seems about right...¡± Yin Yanan said bitterly. ¡°So what do we do?¡±

    ¡°Let me try something else.¡± Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian hesitated briefly before summoning the me Dragon Armor.

 Chapter 719: Collecting Soul Crystals

    Nie Tian was well-aware of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s unusually heavy weight.

    The me Dragon Armor flew out of his ring of holding and descended on Nie Tian over his head. Then, with the help of its unmatched mass, Nie Tian rapidly sank towards the bottom of theke again with Yin Yanan.

    As they did, Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered. She felt as if the strong buoyant force was going to tear her away from Nie Tian.

    After a brief moment of hesitation, she decided that holding Nie Tian¡¯s hand wouldn¡¯t do, and thus embraced Nie Tian as tightly as she could from behind.

    Her slender and muscr arms and legs wrapped around Nie Tian¡¯s chest and waist like snakes.

    She believed that only in this way would she stop herself from being separated from Nie Tian by the terrifying buoyant force.

    With Yin Yanan wrapped around him like an octopus, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    Yin Yanan was only wearing a fur skirt and short leather chest armor. Most of her tan skin was uncovered.

    As she hugged Nie Tian from behind, he could feel the explosive life force in her body.

    Meanwhile, since she had put her chin on Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder, her tempting scent rapidly filled his nose.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare have any wicked ideas,¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°I¡¯m only doing this to keep myself from being separated from you.¡± Nie Tian could feel Yin Yanan¡¯s breaths as she spoke.

    ¡°This suit of armor is a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, isn¡¯t it?¡± she added. ¡°I can sense the copious amount of flesh power within it. Perhaps that¡¯s why it¡¯s so much heavier than regr Spirit Channeling grade treasures.¡±

    She was also aware that only Qi warriors who practiced body refining incantations could bear the weight of such a rare treasure without expending much effort.

    She realized this from the shocking speed at which they descended after Nie Tian was d in the me Dragon Armor.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin. ¡°Those ideas didn¡¯t enter my mind until you said it.¡± Seeing that they would soon reach the bottom of theke, Nie Tian found himself in the mood for a bit of taunting.

    Yin Yanan gave a cold snort. ¡°As long as we can get those soul crystals, you can think all you want. It won¡¯t affect me anyways.¡±

    Then, she put one arm around Nie Tian¡¯s neck and threatened, ¡°But if you dare to take advantage of me, I¡¯ll teach you a lesson, even if that means I won¡¯t get to take those soul crystals!¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Teach me a lesson?¡± Not only did he not seem scared, but her words seemed to have provoked his desire to mess with her.

    He suddenly pressed hisrge hand on her soft hand and started stroking the back of her hand. Laughing flirtatiously, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you dare to kill me. If I die, do you think you¡¯ll be able to leave thiske alive?¡±

    PAM!

    With her other hand, Yin Yanan pped Nie Tian¡¯s naughty hand with great force.

    Nie Tian felt a burning pain from that hand.

    Surprised, Nie Tian realized that this woman, who was holding him tightly from behind, was indeed one of a kind.

    He had never met anyone who possessed such vigorous flesh power.

    In his senses, she was like a spirit beast in human form. With every move she made, she could channel immense flesh power and put him under great pressure.

    With his hand, Nie Tian gently tapped on her bare thigh that was wrapped around his waist. ¡°Alright, alright, we still have business to do. Time to gather soul crystals!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian found himself standing at the bottom of theke, a ck crystal about the size of a fist and of irregr shape lying by Nie Tian¡¯s feet.

    ¡°Soul crystals!¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up upon seeing the soul crystals, so she forgot to berate Nie Tian for his inappropriate behavior.

    ¡°I got it.¡± Nie Tian slowly bent down, grabbed the pitch-ck crystal, and picked it up.

    Holding it close, Nie Tian examined it with his soul awareness.

    ¡°Wow!¡± As soon as a wisp of soul awareness entered the soul crystal, he felt the immense soul power inside.

    At the same time, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul went through changes.

    A strong attractive force was suddenly born within the fragmentary stars, and the glittering ck crystal was rapidly drained of its soul power.

    The soul crystal lost its immense soul power at an incredible speed.

    Surprised by what was happening, Nie Tian only went nk for a split second, but the soul crystal in his hand rapidly went from the size of a fist to the size of a fingernail.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered, as if she was shocked by what Nie Tian was doing. ¡°You...!? Howe you can absorb soul power so efficiently?!¡±

    Then, with a disbelieving look in her eyes, she watched the soul crystal grow even smaller, and then vanishpletely.

    With his true soul, Nie Tian examined the nine fragmentary stars in his soul with rapt attention, and had a feeling that they seemed to have grown slightlyrger after draining that soul crystal.

    <i>¡°Those fragmentary stars have a strong desire for soul power! Even though I still don¡¯t know much about those fragmentary stars, it seems that these soul crystals can help them grow at a much faster speed!¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, he started moving towards another soul crystal,pletely ignoring Yin Yanan¡¯s question.

    Pitch-ck soul crystals were scattered widely across the bottom of theke.

    He went to the second soul crystal as fast as he could and picked it up the same way he did with the first one.

    Then, the crystallized condensation of pure soul power was rapidly drained of its soul power by the nine fragmentary stars in his mind. It shrank with an rming speed before vanishingpletely.

    After watching him draining another soul crystal with an incredible speed, Yin Yanan face grew long. ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t do this. We¡¯re in this together. Don¡¯t tell me that you intend to take all of the soul crystals? Also, you¡¯re only at the early Worldly realm. Your true soul has just formed. You don¡¯t need such arge amount of soul crystals. Will you be able to refine them all?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of desire as he said, ¡°I have no problem refining them. Don¡¯t you worry. Even if I can¡¯t refine them now, I¡¯ll gather and save them for another day. But don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll have your share of the soul crystals. However, since you didn¡¯t make any contributions and need me to protect you from those fierce souls, don¡¯t imagine that you¡¯ll be getting arge amount of them.¡±

    His words made Yin Yanan very angry. She yapped by Nie Tian¡¯s ears unceasingly, trying to change his mind.

    However, Nie Tian pretended that he didn¡¯t even hear her as he moved from ce to ce to gather soul crystals and use them to power the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Yin Yanan was at her wit¡¯s end watching him collect and drain one soul crystal after another.

    She could only continue to hold tightly onto him with her arms and legs. If she didn¡¯t, she would instantly be separated from him and float towards theke¡¯s surface.

    Losing the protection from Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl, she would instantly fall prey to the fierce souls, and her death would be certain.

    Seeing that her threats had failed, she then adopted another approach. She started to beg Nie Tian.

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost arge amount of soul power. Can you give me a soul crystal and let me recover my soul power first? Please!

    ¡°Just one! Will you please give me one?

    ¡°I beg you!¡±

    ...

    Finally, Nie Tian was sick of listening to her yapping, and thus said, ¡°Will you shut up, woman?¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Yin Yanan said with a determined tone. ¡°I¡¯ll keep talking until you give me a soul crystal!¡±

    ¡°Alright, give me a kiss and I¡¯ll give you a soul crystal,¡± Nie Tian said casually, looking deeply annoyed.

    ¡°Give you a kiss?¡± Yin Yanan went nk.

 Chapter 720: Bad Habit

    ¡°Yeah, give me a kiss and you¡¯ll get a soul crystal,¡± Nie Tian said yfully.

    In fact, he didn¡¯t expect Yin Yanan to agree to it. He only wanted her to stop annoying him while he gathered soul crystals.

    Yin Yanan gave a mischievous chuckle. ¡°Just a kiss? You should have told me earlier.¡±

    Her attitude took Nie Tian by surprise. He fixed her with a bewildered gaze and asked, ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m dead serious!¡± Yin Yanan said with a bright smile. Then, she breathed into Nie Tian¡¯s ear and said with a flirtatious tone, ¡°You¡¯re quite handsome. It¡¯s not so bad to give you a kiss.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian had just picked up another soul crystal from by his feet.

    Holding it in his hand, he chuckled and said, ¡°Well,e on then. Kiss me, and this soul crystal is yours.¡±

    A frosty light shed across the depths of Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Deal!¡±

    In the next moment, she gently put her charming red lips against Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    Feeling her soft lips against his neck, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but shudder. His heart started racing, and ideas started to enter his mind. ¡°Are you for real?¡±

    However, before he could enjoy Yin Yanan¡¯s sweet kiss, a agonized scream escaped his mouth.

    A strong stabbing pain came from his neck, and he felt as if he had been pierced by many steel needles. He could even feel the pain in his scalp.

    He looked down, and it turned out that Yin Yanan had bit him with great force after briefly touching his neck with her soft lips.

    Yin Yananughed yfully, looking at the conspicuous teeth marks on Nie Tian¡¯s neck. She shook her head and said, ¡°As I expected, you must practice certain body refining incantations. I couldn¡¯t even bite through your skin. How about this: I give you another kiss, and you give me two soul crystals? I¡¯ll use a bit more force with the next kiss, and try to rip a piece of skin off.¡±

    Nie Tian took in a breath of cold air and eximed, ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?!¡±

    ¡°You should know that I¡¯ve got a bad habit: I have a minor case of sadism,¡± Yin Yanan said with pretended innocence. ¡°I like to bite when I kiss someone. This is how I show my liking for you. What? You don¡¯t know about my special habit? Oh right, sorry. I just remembered that you¡¯re not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, so you probably haven¡¯t heard of it.¡±

    While Nie Tian grunted in pain, she stretched out her slender arm that looked like a spiritual snake and snatched the soul crystal out of Nie Tian¡¯s hand with great precision.

    ¡°Give it back!¡± Nie Tian said angrily.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes were filled with disdain as she said coldly, ¡°We agreed that I¡¯d give you a kiss, and in return, you¡¯ll give me a soul crystal. Don¡¯t tell me that a grown man like you is going to go back on your word? I already kissed you. If you dare to take advantage of me but refuse to make good on your promise, then let¡¯s die here together!¡±

    With these words, sharp light started to gather at the tips of her fingers as she held them close to Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he discovered that the spiritual power that was gathering on her fingertips was mixed with rich flesh power

    At this moment, he realized that having this woman so close to him was actually a great potential threat.

    She was not only at thete Worldly realm, but practiced powerful incantations. So even stranded in the depths of theke, she still had formidable battle prowess.

    If she actually discarded all scruples and made an attempt on his life from behind him, the consequences would be catastrophic.

    Nie Tian¡¯s whole body tensed up as he thundered, ¡°I told you to kiss me, not bite me!¡±

    Yin Yanan instantly put her cold face away. ¡°But biting is a more passionate way to show love. Don¡¯t you think?¡± She put on a warm smile and suggested, ¡°How about we have another go? I¡¯ll go for the other side of your neck this time.¡±

    She slowly ran her icy fingertips, which were wreathed in fierce spiritual power and flesh power, from one side of Nie Tian¡¯s neck to the other. ¡°What about here? Or you can pick whichever ce you think is exciting. Your call.¡±

    ¡°No, thanks!!¡± Nie Tian said angrily.

    Yin Yanan seemed rather disappointed as she said, ¡°Really? I¡¯m still not quite satisfied with the teeth marks from the first time. How about this: I¡¯ll kiss you twice for another soul crystal?¡±

    Nie Tian grew furious. ¡°I said I¡¯m good!!¡±

    Yin Yanan sighed, shaking her head. ¡°You¡¯re just a silly chump who can¡¯t appreciate my way of passion. Boring.¡±

    The corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth twitched as he decided not to talk to her anymore.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian seemed to have be a solid stone. No matter what Yin Yanan said, he ignored herpletely, and focused solely on gathering soul crystals and refining them with the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    Yin Yanan, however, didn¡¯t give up easily. She thought of every possible way to tease and provoke him, but Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay her the least attention.

    Finally, she settled down and focused her attention on the soul crystal in her hand. Eyes narrowed, she examined it for a short while before starting to channel and refine its pure, concentrated soul power.

    The two of them didn¡¯t have any interactions after that.

    Time passed bit by bit, and Nie Tian found and refined many soul crystals at the bottom of theke.

    He was holding another soul crystal in his hand when he noticed that the fierce souls that had been hovering around them from a safe distance had suddenly left for theke¡¯s surface.

    He looked up, and discovered that Hong Xian, Wei Yu, Chu Xuanji had jumped into theke at the same time.

    The fierce souls seemed to have summoned some profound power from theke water as they pounced on the three of them.

    The three of them only stayed underwater for a few seconds before their expressions flickered drastically and they fled in panic like the Frost Blood Python and the Bone Blood Demon.

    Nie Tian knew that all living beings would find themselves influenced by some restrictive spell.

    They wouldn¡¯t be able to cast any spells or magics that had anything to do with soul power.

    However, those fierce souls werepletely unaffected. Therefore, even though Hong Xian and the other two experts were all at thete Soul realm, they were at their wits¡¯ end when facing these fierce souls.

    Fleeing was their only option.

    After seeing them escape from theke, Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to attach much importance to it as he refocused on his own business.

    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

    Hong Xian and the other two expertsnded on thekeshore, their faces very grim.

    Standing beside them were the Bone Blood Demon and the Frost Blood Python, both of which were formidable creatures. It didn¡¯t seem to matter whether it was human experts, hybrid spirit beasts, or powerful puppets, all they could do was to stand here and watch theke.

    ¡°That kid seemed to be gathering soul crystals,¡± Wei Yu said, frowning. ¡°I took a nce at him right before surfacing, and I saw him holding a soul crystal in his hand. The girl from your sect was also holding a soul crystal. From the look of it, they¡¯ve seeded.¡±

    Hong Xian remained silent.

    He had seen what Wei Yu had seen too, but what concerned him at this moment weren¡¯t those soul crystals, but Yin Yanan¡¯s safety.

    Those fierce souls they saw in theke were clearly preying on the souls of those who dared to go into theke. The three of them had been attacked the moment they jumped in.

    Yin Yanan was down there, but how was she not being attacked by those fierce souls?

    As the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s chosen one, Yin Yanan was deemed to be the future of the Beast-controlling Sect. As valuable as the soul crystals were, they weren¡¯t nearly as valuable as her.

    Hong Xian was very worried that something would happen to her, and he would have be held responsible for it.

    With an profound look in his eyes, Chu Xuanji asked, ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed that the strange soul attracting force seems to be weakening?¡±

    Wei Yu nodded. ¡°I have the same feeling. Can it be the soul crystals being collected that¡¯s weakening the influence of some restrictive spell?¡±

    While the three of them talked, Soul realm and Profound realm Qi warriors gradually returned to thekeside.

    Originally, they had all fled from theke. They only returned now because they sensed the changes, and were convinced that it was now safe to return to thekeside.

    They gathered to their team leaders and asked about the situation. They were shocked to learn that Nie Tian and Yin Yanan were now gathering soul crystals at the bottom of theke.

    An hour passed...

    Even Worldly realm cultivators like Qiao Yunxi, Chu Bowen, and Xing Beichen exited the Wood Thriving Formation and gathered curiously by thekeside.

    They only dared toe out of the spell formation because they sensed that the strange soul attracting force waspletely gone.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked with a worried look.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    At this moment, people finally learned Nie Tian¡¯s name.

    ¡°He¡¯s at the bottom of theke with Yanan now,¡± Hong Xian exined.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What?!¡±

    At theke bottom...

    Nie Tian reached down and picked up a thirteenth soul crystal. As he tried to refine it with the nine fragmentary stars in his soul again, the fragmentary stars didn¡¯t channel soul power from it as they had done with the previous ones.

    Instead, it was his true soul that started channeling soul power from the soul crystal.

    However, the speed at which his true soul channeled soul power was much slower than the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    As wisps of pure soul power slowly flew into his true soul, Nie Tian had a peculiar feeling that an illusory version of him was refining power into itself.

    He then realized that this feeling came from his true soul.

    His true soul was channeling soul power from the soul crystal the same way he channeled spiritual power from spirit stones.

    As he examined the nine fragmentary stars in his soul, he noticed that they had be at least three times asrge as they had been, shining brightly over his sea of awareness.

    It appeared that each and every fragmentary star was now brimming with power.

    <i>¡°The speed at which my true soul absorbs and refines soul power is far too low. God knows how long it would take if I were to cultivate my true soul with soul crystals in this ce.¡±</i>

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian decided to put the cultivation of his true soul on hold.

    He figured he had better gather all of the remaining soul crystals first.

    As he went from ce to ce to gather soul crystals, something caught his attention.

    It was the skull in his ring of holding, which had a Phantasm soul sealed inside. The Phantasm soul suddenly charged through the soul barriers Nie Tian had established and flew out of the skull.

    In the blink of an eye, it flew into the prismatic crystal in his ring of holding.

    Immediately afterwards, the prismatic crystal that was only the size of a fingernail broke away from his ring of holding and flew into theke.

    A strong sense of danger rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 721: Soul Core

    Yin Yanan also noticed the prismatic crystal that flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding. She stopped channeling soul power from the soul crystal in her hand and looked at it with a confused expression. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    She thought that Nie Tian had unleashed it in an attempt to use it to collect soul crystals.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t answer her. Instead, he gazed unblinkingly at the prismatic crystal with a grim face.

    He knew that the Phantasm soul in the skull had long since yearned to fly into that prismatic crystal, but it had failed to do so due to the restrictive ward he had formed inside the skull with the power from the fragmentary stars in his soul.

    The Phantasm soul had thrown itself at the ward repeatedly, but had only ended up hurting and weakening itself. It had be so weak that Nie Tian had even forgotten about it.

    He had never expected that the strangeke would make the Phantasm soul so powerful that it could break free from the skull.

    The soul and the prismatic crystal didn¡¯t seem to belong to the same Phantasm. However, the soul had shown an unrelenting desire for that prismatic crystal, which must mean something.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank as his expression flickered drastically.

    The fingernail-sized prismatic crystal rapidly flew to a nearby soul crystal and sank into the soul crystal¡¯s surface.

    The soul crystal then shrank at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

    Nie Tian, who had refined multiple soul crystals himself, instantly realized that the soul crystal was being drained of its soul power at an rming speed.

    The prismatic crystal, which had be home to the Phantasm soul, was recovering its strength with that soul crystal.

    After what could be thousands of years, the Phantasm soul had lost almost all of its power, which was why it had failed to charge out of the skull before.

    Because of that, it was now in desperate need of soul power. There was still arge number of soul crystals at theke bottom, which made it a blessednd for it.

    With a grim face, Nie Tian hastily rushed over to the soul crystal that was embedded with the prismatic crystal.

    However, the prismatic crystal seemed to notice his movement as soon as he moved, and thus escaped with a speed even faster than his.

    ¡°Dammit!" Nie Tian realized that he was now in an unfavorable situation. Increasingly anxious, he summoned his profound flesh power and chased after the prismatic crystal at a faster speed.

    However, the prismatic crystal seemed to know what he was trying to do, and thus picked up its speed as well.

    At the same time, the soul crystal it was attached to grew smaller and smaller, and eventually vanished.

    After draining a soul crystal of its soul power, it seemed to have recovered its strength, and became even faster.

    Nie Tian then realized that he most likely wouldn¡¯t be able to catch that prismatic crystal here under this strangeke.

    Meanwhile, he noticed that the prismatic crystal had found another soul crystal, and started absorbing its soul power.

    Yin Yanan finally ran out of patience. Frowning deeply, she asked, ¡°What the hell are you doing?! What are you chasing that crystal for? Is it important enough for you to ignore the soul crystals you passed while chasing after it?

    ¡°Also, it doesn¡¯t seem that you¡¯re fast enough. You can chase it all you want, but you won¡¯t be able to catch it.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°You don¡¯t know squat!¡±

    Yin Yanan was enraged as she held her fingers to Nie Tian¡¯s neck again. ¡°Hey, asshole! You don¡¯t believe that I¡¯ll kill you?!¡±

    ¡°Shut the hell up!¡± Nie Tian thundered, giving Yin Yanan¡¯s thigh that wrapped around his waist a vigorous p. ¡°That prismatic crystal belonged to a powerful Phantasm! The soul of another Phantasm has settled inside of it! Right now it¡¯s absorbing soul power from the soul crystals!¡±

    The p ignited Yin Yanan, turning her into a volcano that was on the verge of erupting.

    However, she shuddered upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, and eximed, ¡°Are you sure that prismatic crystal came from a Phantasm, and that another Phantasm¡¯s soul has entered it?!¡±

    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure!!¡± Nie Tian barked.

    Yin Yanan started to panic as she said, ¡°The crystals between Phantasms¡¯ eyebrows are called soul cores!

    ¡°For Phantasms, their soul cores are even more important than their hearts!

    ¡°They have to rely on their soul cores to activate their bloodline talents and cast soul magics. Their soul cores are the home of their souls and the origin of their power! Now that a Phantasm soul has entered that soul core, it¡¯s like a human soul that¡¯s taken a body. It can start to use the Phantasms¡¯ incantations now!¡±

    Nie Tian continued to chase after the so-called soul core while listening to Yin Yanan¡¯s exnation of the Phantasms¡¯ special features.

    He was well-aware that the Phantasm soul was still rather weak at the moment. If he could catch it now, he might still be able to overpower it.

    However, if it continued to absorb soul power from soul crystals, once it awakened its bloodline talents and recovered its memories, it would be able to unleash all kinds of Phantasm magics on him.

    By that time, he wouldn¡¯t have a chance at controlling it again.

    However, even though he had thought this through, he still couldn¡¯t match its speed.

    The soul core was iparably fast and agile, as if it were born for a ce like this.

    It became more and more ethereal as it moved from ce to ce like a sh of lightning. Nie Tian often found it in front of him in the one moment, but behind him in the next.

    Yin Yanan, however, recovered a calm mind. After a moment of silent pondering, she suggested, ¡°If you can¡¯t catch it, you might as well try to gather all of the remaining soul crystals!

    ¡°That Phantasm soul can only refine one soul crystal at a time. If you quickly gather all of the remaining soul crystals and put them away in your ring of holding, it won¡¯t be able to get more soul power. That way you¡¯ll minimize its threat!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    He realized that Yin Yanan¡¯s advice was wise.

    Therefore, he stopped wasting time chasing after the soul core, but instead started looking for soul crystals and stuffing them into an unused ring of holding.

    As he did, he added a sealing ward to the ring of holding with the power from the fragmentary stars in his soul, in case the Phantasm soul tried to steal the soul crystals.

    Just like that, he gathered soul crystals as fast as he could.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had given up on chasing after it, the Phantasm soul that had lodged inside a soul core stopped at a ce about ten meters from him.

    At this moment, it was clinging to a soul crystal and rapidly absorbing its soul power.

    Nie Tian¡¯s reflection could be vaguely seen in in the spinning prismatic crystal.

    It seemed that the soul core had be an eye that was observing and secretly unleashing negative emotions at Nie Tian.

    It seemed to be displeased to see Nie Tian gathering the soul crystals which could be used to recover its strength. However, it also seemed to know that it was still very weak at the moment, and that if it dared to attack Nie Tian now, it would end up annihted or sealed away again.

    Therefore, it gave up on the idea, but focused on channeling soul power from soul crystals, hoping to gain enough strength to fight Nie Tian within a short time.

    Yin Yanan had realized the dangerous situation they were in, and thus remained silent while Nie Tian went from ce to ce to gather soul crystals with her on his back.

    She chose to bury Nie Tian¡¯s previous inappropriate actions in her heart for now, and find another time to settle ounts with him.

    After all, she was aware that if the soul crystal became much stronger, both her and Nie Tian would die in thiske.

    ...

    <i>¡°One hundred!¡±</i> After putting another soul crystal into his ring of holding, Nie Tian scanned around him for new targets.

    Having collected arge number of soul crystals, he finally felt slightly secure. He had noticed that the speed at which the Phantasm soul refined soul crystals was far slower than his speed in collecting them.

    At this moment, he realized that there were already very few soul crystals at theke bottom.

    He would have to search for a while before he could find a new one.

    Furthermore, he also noticed that the strange soul attracting force seemed to be weaker and weaker as he collected more and more soul crystals.

    Even the unknown ck substance that had covered theke¡¯s surface had faded away, restoring rity to theke again.

    <i>¡°Theke is going through changes as I collect the soul crystals. It seems that the strange soul attracting force will bepletely gone after I gather all of the soul crystals! By that time, perhaps Hong Xian and the others on thekeshore will be able to help me subdue or even refine that Phantasm soul!¡±</i>

    Nie Tian decided to get rid of the Phantasm soul as soon as an opportunity appeared, leaving no potential trouble.

    At this moment, the several powerful souls were still howling and hovering restlessly around him and Yin Yanan.

    However, they still seemed rather afraid of the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand, and thus didn¡¯t dare toe too close to them.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian noticed that the fierce souls had suddenly left him and Yin Yanan, but swam towards the soul core one after another.

    The soul core that was the size of a fingernail was now translucent and glowing with cyan light, as if there were a cluster of cyan mes burning inside of it.

    Nie Tian sudden came to a realization.<i> ¡°The Phantasm soul seems to have recovered enough strength tomand discarnate souls!¡± </i>

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One fierce soul after another started hovering around the soul core, forming a profound spell formation.

    As soon as the spell formation came to form, the speed at which the soul core drained soul crystals improved greatly. Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, a soul crystal rapidly shrank down and vanished.

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before suddenly eximing, ¡°The soul core is using those discarnate souls to improve the speed at which it absorbs soul power and recovers strength!¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    ¡°You need to let go of me now!¡± Nie Tian said with a very serious expression. ¡°Tell Hong Xian and the others to prepare for battle as soon as you surface!¡±

    ¡°What about you?!¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay and continue to gather soul crystals. We can¡¯t leave any soul crystals for it!¡± With these words, before Yin Yanan could say anything, he wiggled free from her arms and legs with great force.

    After being separated from him, Yin Yanan was instantly pushed to theke¡¯s surface by the terrifying buoyant force, like a balloon that had been cut loose.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian stared unblinkingly at the soul core, fearing that it would make a move on Yin Yanan.

    However, it seemed to be consumed with absorbing soul power, and didn¡¯t show any interest in her.

    Yin Yanan fixed her bright eyes on Nie Tian as she rapidly rose upwards towards theke¡¯s surface, aplicated expression filling her face.

    Standing at theke bottom, Nie Tian only waved at her in silence.

 Chapter 722: Soul Possessing

    SPLASH!

    Yin Yanan charged out of theke¡¯s surface. Her flexible but explosive body turned swiftly in the air andnded on thekeshore.

    ¡°Yin Yanan!¡± Hong Xian and a few other experts from the Beast-controlling Sect eximed simultaneously, letting out sighs of relief.

    Afterwards, many experts from the three parties refocused their gazes on theke, which was already rid of the ck substance. They could vaguely see the situation at theke bottom.

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine.¡± Hong Xian seemed very concerned with Yin Yanan¡¯s safety, but didn¡¯t care so much about Nie Tian¡¯s safety. ¡°So? Did you get some soul crystals? How many are there at the bottom of theke? I noticed that you seemed to be collecting soul crystals earlier with Nie Tian. How many did you get?¡±

    Full of smiles, Hong Xian asked a series of questions, deep concern filling his eyes.

    Wei Yu and Chu Xuanji also walked to Yin Yanan¡¯s side and fixed her with inquiring gazes.

    ¡°I only got one soul crystal,¡± Yin Yanan said with a bitter expression. ¡°And it was given to me by that guy. He has collected more than a hundred soul crystals at theke bottom, and he¡¯s still collecting more.¡±

    Wei Yu frowned and snorted disdainfully. His eyes shone with greedy light as he said, ¡°He has all of the soul crystals? We found this special ce. We can¡¯t let him take all of the spoils. No matter what powerful background he¡¯s from, he¡¯ll have to give the majority of the soul crystals to us!¡±

    Hong Xian grinned and agreed. ¡°As far as I see it, since he¡¯s made his contribution to collect those soul crystals, we can allow him to have a tenth of the soul crystals, which will be generous enough. We three parties will each take three tenths. What do you say?¡±

    Wei Yu nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking.¡±

    Chu Xuanji saw that they had already agreed on this. He thought briefly before nodding in assent.

    Qiao Yunxi was angered after hearing their conversation. ¡°What right do you have to take so many of the soul crystals? Nie Tian represents my sect, and he¡¯s the reason you¡¯ll have those soul crystal in the first ce. It¡¯s unreasonable to give us just one tenth of the soul crystals, right?¡±

    Hong Xian and Wei Yu exchanged a nce and ignored her, holding their heads high.

    The fact that the Divine me Sect¡¯s main force still hadn¡¯t arrived made the two of them realize that Qiao Yunxi and Nie Tian had traveled alone.

    Without Yue Yanxi at her back, Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t qualify to haggle with them.

    Because of this, they dared toe up with such an unfair distribution n in front of her.

    Yin Yanan also grew angry as she stared at Hong Xian and Wei Yu, and said, ¡°You don¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on and you¡¯re already talking about splitting spoils! It¡¯s a bit too early, isn¡¯t it?!¡±

    Hong Xianughed broadly and said, ¡°Yanan, the strange soul attractive force is already gone. Don¡¯t tell me that new changes will take ce after Nie Tian collects all of the soul crystals.¡±

    Since Yin Yanan knew about the situation they were in, she didn¡¯t look so rxed as she said loudly, ¡°A Phantasm soul escaped from within Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding and flew into the soul core of another Phantasm. Now, it¡¯s gathering strength at the bottom of theke. Other than that Phantasm soul, a few fierce spirits of unknown origin are also roaming the depths of theke.¡±

    ¡°Right before I surfaced, the Phantasm soul seemed to have recovered enough strength to control the fierce spirits.

    ¡°After the Phantasm soul gathers more soul power and bes even more powerful, it¡¯ll be a major threat to all of us. Nie Tian released me so that I could surface and tell you to get ready for the uing battle with that Phantasm soul!

    ¡°We can talk about splitting soul crystals after we get rid of that Phantasm soul and the fierce spirits it controls!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered as they heard these words.

    All of the Soul realm experts from the three parties had a certain knowledge of Phantasms. They knew that once a Phantasm soul found its way into a soul core, it would soon recover the ability to unleash all sorts of profound soul magics.

    Even though they didn¡¯t know how powerful that Phantasm soul was, they had witnessed the fierce spirits killing their sect members earlier, and knew they were already hard to deal with.

    Now that the Phantasm soul had recovered some of its strength and gained control of those fierce spirits, wouldn¡¯t it mean that it was even more formidable?

    ¡°What¡¯s Nie Tian still doing at theke bottom then?¡± Wei Yu asked with a grim face.

    ¡°That Phantasm soul needs soul crystals to recover its strength,¡± Yin Yanan answered. ¡°Nie Tian is gathering the remaining soul crystals so that it¡¯ll have fewer soul crystals to recover strength with.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t that Phantasm soul try to kill him?¡± Wei Yu asked.

    ¡°Well, he has a strange pearl that the Phantasm soul seems to be rather afraid of, but I don¡¯t think the Phantasm soul will fear it anymore after it¡¯s gathered enough strength...¡±

    Chu Xuanji, who had remained silent for a while, chimed in, ¡°Since the situation isn¡¯t as pleasant as we thought, let¡¯s prepare to kill that Phantasm soul!¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    ...

    At the increasingly clearke bottom.

    Nie Tian¡¯s temples throbbed as he madly summoned flesh power to move from ce to ce in search of soul crystals.

    At this moment, there were already very few soul crystals left, which made them rather difficult to find.

    There were already one hundred and sixty soul crystals in the ring of holding he was using to hold them. Even so, he still didn¡¯t feel relieved.

    He noticed that the efficiency of the Phantasm soul finding and draining soul crystals had improved significantly after gaining control of those fierce spirits.

    Furthermore, every time he saw the prismatic crystal, which was called a soul core, he could see his own reflection in it, which meant the Phantasm soul was observing him this whole time.

    At first, his reflection would only exist for a short while in the prismatic crystal before blurring and vanishing.

    However, his reflection in the prismatic crystal was now very distinct, and never vanished.

    From his previous experience of fighting Phantasms, he knew that the Phantasm soul had locked onto him, and was prepared to unleash soul attacks on him at any moment.

    Growing increasingly uneasy, he was prepared to defend against the Phantasm soul¡¯s attack at any time.

    A hour passed...

    The number of soul crystals in his ring of holding had risen to one hundred and eighty, and it had be very difficult to find new soul crystals.

    He felt an increasingly strong sense of crisis as he saw his own reflection in the prismatic crystal.

    Therefore, he decided to stop ying games with the Phantasm soul at the bottom of theke.

    WHOOSH!

    As the me Dragon Armor flew back into his ring of holding, he was pushed upwards towards theke¡¯s surface by the terrifying buoyancy like a cannonball.

    The Qi warriors from the three parties that were standing on thekeshore eximed, ¡°He¡¯s rising to the surface!¡±

    <i>¡°Fifty meters to go! Thirty meters! Twenty!¡±</i> Getting closer and closer towards theke¡¯s surface, Nie Tian knew that once he flew out of theke, even if the Phantasm soul chased him out as well, it would be everyone¡¯s problem.

    He wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it by himself.

    However, just as he was about to charge through theke¡¯s surface, fine soul strings suddenly appeared within the prismatic crystal and bound Nie Tian¡¯s reflection like a densely-woven.

    At the same time, Nie Tian instantly stopped dashing upwards only ten meters from reaching theke¡¯s surface.

    Like a frozen locust, he couldn¡¯t even move his limbs.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    About ten soul crystals suddenly gathered to the prismatic crystal by themselves from different corners of theke, as if they were attracted by some force.

    A gruesome, nastyugh then came through from the prismatic crystal to the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    In the next moment, the small crystal dashed towards Nie Tian from the bottom of theke like a cyan lightning bolt.

    Hovering around the prismatic crystal, the six powerful discarnate souls no longer seemed afraid of the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    The Spirit Pearl had been forged by powerful Phantasm experts.

    Therefore, it frightened any discarnate soul that wasn¡¯t a Phantasm soul.

    However, with the help of the powerful Phantasm soul, the discarnate souls around it were no longer subject to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s aweing effect.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes brimmed with fear as he watched the prismatic crystal fly towards him at full speed.

    Subconsciously, he summoned soul power to form a protective ward around his soul.

    BAM!

    The prismatic crystal that was the size of a fingernail mmed hard into Nie Tian¡¯s forehead and embedded itself between his eyebrows.

    As soon as it did, Nie Tian sensed a burning pain from between his eyebrows. The prismatic crystal seemed to unleash countless fine soul strings that pierced into his flesh.

    An icy, evil soul awareness rapidly followed the soul strings into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness in an attempt to possess his soul and be the master of his body.

    At this crucial moment, the nine fragmentary stars over his sea of awareness suddenly blossomed with immense, profound starlight, lighting up his entire soul.

    The dazzling starlight instantly shed with the dark-cyan evil soul awareness, sending off countless rays of mixed sparks in every direction, which gave Nie Tian a headache so strong that he wanted to give up on his soul to stop it.

    ROOOOOAR!!

    The six fierce discarnate souls assumed the forms of sinister monsters as they hovered around Nie Tian, as if they were helping the evil soul awareness infiltrate Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    However, after absorbing the soul power of numerous soul crystals, the fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s mind had be so unprecedentedly powerful that they actually stopped the evil soul awareness from further infiltrating his soul.

    Nie Tian could feel the Phantasm soul exerting itself.

    However, the Phantasm soul had consumed a significant amount of soul power in merely a few seconds, but still failed to gain an upper hand in the confrontation.

    WHOOSH!

    The countless soul strings retreated like an ebbing tide.

    While Nie Tian felt somewhat relieved, the Phantasm soul suddenly adopted another approach, and unleashed negative emotions, including violence, enmity, fear, madness, and a thirst for blood.

    It wreathed Nie Tian in these negative auras in an attempt to bend Nie Tian¡¯s will and lead him onto a path of violence and ughter.

 Chapter 723: â€œKill As Many As You Can!â€

    The negative emotions weren¡¯t vested with soul power, so they didn¡¯t cause any unwanted changes in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    However, they were trying to infiltrate his mind, and Nie Tian had to contend against them with his will.

    The Phantasm soul was aware that since it hadn¡¯t absorbed enough soul power, it still wasn¡¯t powerful enough to breach the defenses of the fragmentary stars in Nie Tian¡¯s soul. Because of this, it chose to influence Nie Tian through another approach.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Approximately ten soul crystals flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side under the Phantasm soul¡¯s control.

    Without much thought, Nie Tian made a grabbing motion in the air, and they disappeared into his ring of holding.

    As they did, the mysterious soul fluctuations in theke vanishedpletely.

    However, the negative emotions unleashed by the Phantasm soul were like an intangible devil that was slowly enchanting Nie Tian. It continued to bring out his darkest side, causing his evil desires to build up inside of him.

    Nie Tian knew that he had better not do anything at this moment, and focus on maintaining his positive state of mind, so that the Phantasm soul wouldn¡¯t slowly twist his mind.

    At the same time, he raised his hand and hooked his fingers to the prismatic crystal that had embedded itself between his eyebrows.

    He summoned spiritual power and flesh power to give it a vigorous pull in an attempt to stop it from bewitching him.

    However, the crystal seemed to have taken root in his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t tear it off.

    It seemed that the prismatic crystal¡¯s soul strings had long since pierced into and clung to his skull.

    He had a feeling that if he were to forcibly tear it off regardless of the consequences, it was very likely that the bones in his forehead and brow ridges woulde off with it.

    This wasn¡¯t what he wanted.

    <i>¡°From the look of it, I can only do my best to defend against its bewitchment first, and at the same time, try to find ways to eliminate the Phantasm soul in the crystal. Only that way will I be able to get it out eventually.¡±</i>

    He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to fend off the negative emotions, yet dark thoughts still came to him from time to time.

    Floating underwater, he looked up and saw Hong Xian, Wei Yu, and the other experts standing on thekeshore, looking down at him with unpleasant looks in their eyes.

    Then, he nced around at the other Qi warriors from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n, and felt that they all harbored evil intentions as they gazed at him.

    A strong desire to charge out of theke and kill them all rose uncontrobly in his heart.

    He knew that he would be in huge trouble if he did that, but he just couldn¡¯t suppress the desire to do so.

    ¡°No! I can¡¯t leave theke! If I did, I¡¯d walk right into the Phantasm soul¡¯s trap. That¡¯s what it¡¯s hoping for!¡±

    He did his utmost to calm himself and tell himself that he mustn¡¯t make any rash moves.

    However, Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect saw that he was floating right under theke¡¯s surface, and witnessed him putting ten soul crystals away in his ring of holding.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± he shouted.

    Upon hearing his unpleasant shout, Nie Tian¡¯s struggling eyes were instantly filled with malevolence.

    Hong Xiang let out a cold harrumph. ¡°What are you doing? Are you going to hide in theke forever? Even though you collected those soul crystals, don¡¯t you imagine that you can keep them all.

    ¡°You¡¯d better get out of there now. Give us the soul crystals, and we¡¯ll try to help you get rid of that soul core between your eyebrows.¡±

    Wei Yu chimed in with a cold tone, ¡°That soul core will try to possess you. The fact that it hasn¡¯t seeded means that it¡¯s not powerful enough. But considering your cultivation base, you clearly can¡¯t eliminate that Phantasm soul on your own.

    ¡°So you¡¯d better get out of there and give us the soul crystals in exchange for our help.¡±

    Standing beside Wei Yu and Hong Xian, Chu Xuanji didn¡¯t speak up with a domineering tone like they did, but he also had a strong desire for the soul crystals at heart.

    ¡°Senior Hong!¡± Yin Yanan said anxiously. ¡°We need to get rid of that Phantasm soul first!¡±

    Hong Xian waved at her, showing that he had everything under control, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That Phantasm soul hasn¡¯t even possessed him. It must not be very formidable. Plus, even if it manages to possess him, so what? He¡¯s only at the Worldly realm. The Phantasm soul won¡¯t be able to cause us much trouble with such a vessel.¡±

    Wei Yu chimed in, ¡°We can help him get rid of that Phantasm soul, but he¡¯ll have to give us the soul crystals first.¡±

    An urgent look could be seen in Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes. After all, she knew that Nie Tian had powerful means at his disposal, including the Spirit Pearl, the me Dragon Armor, and the Bone Blood Demon.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian¡¯s body was even tougher than hers. If he was indeed possessed by the Phantasm soul, he would definitely cause great trouble to them.

    However, Hong Xian and Wei Yu didn¡¯t take her reminders and warnings seriously.

    Instead, they threatened Nie Tian and fixed him with cold stares.

    Nie Tian was having enough difficulty handling the negative emotions that were trying to infiltrate his mind.

    The fact that Hong Xian and the other experts threatened him instead of helping him was like adding oil to the fire.

    As a result, their words finally ignited Nie Tian¡¯s desire for violence.

    SPLASH!

    Water sshed as Nie Tian charged out of theke andnded heavily beside Qiao Yunxi.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered as she summoned the me Bird without any hesitation. ¡°Nie Tian! Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    Since all of the soul crystals had been taken away from theke bottom, the strange fluctuations were gone, along with the restrictions on using air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Qiao Yunxi knew that, considering her me Bird¡¯s unmatched speed, even Hong Xian and Wei Yu wouldn¡¯t be able to catch them.

    ¡°You can leave, but he can¡¯t,¡± Wei Yu called out.

    Shining with golden light, a huge sword suddenly flew out and formed a wall of golden light between Nie Tian and the me Bird.

    One magical symbol after another quietly appeared in the wall of golden light, each of which seemed to contain enough power to damage the me Bird.

    Even so, Qiao Yunxi drove the me Bird directly into the wall of golden light. As she did, the magical symbols swam in the wall of golden light like a shoal of fish, generating a strong counterforce.

    BAM!

    The me Bird bounced off the wall of light and crashed heavily to the ground.

    Golden sparks sputtered off the me Bird¡¯s wings as Qiao Yunxi¡¯s head spun upon the violent crash.

    It was as if a fire were about to burst forth from within Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyes as she thundered, ¡°Wei Yu! You dare to make a move against me! Our grand elder is in this area. Have you considered the consequences?!¡±

    Wei Yu snorted disdainfully. ¡°Consequences? I¡¯ll worry about that when Senior Yue actually shows up. You think we don¡¯t know that you two are traveling alone? If Senior Yue were actually in the vicinity, he would have arrived long ago!¡±

    Hong Xian rose up and stopped in a ce a few meters from Nie Tian. Looking down at Nie Tian, he said, ¡°We¡¯re not being unreasonable here, kid. Just give me your ring of holding you used to store the soul crystals, and let me check how many you have in there. We three parties will each take three-tenths of the soul crystals, and you¡¯ll get to keep the remaining one-tenth.

    ¡°Also, we promise that we¡¯ll help you with the soul core between your eyebrows.

    ¡°What do you say?¡±

    Many other Profound realm and Soul realm experts from the three parties also rose into the air and quietly gathered around Nie Tian from different directions.

    Some of them had even taken shelter in Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation earlier.

    But now, when Hong Xian and Wei Yu were ready to force Nie Tian to cough up the soul crystals, they forgot about Nie Tian¡¯s kindness and joined them.

    Nie Tian nced around. ¡°You¡¯ll take ny percent of the soul crystals?¡± Then, heid his eyes on the Bone Blood Demon.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The Bone Blood Demon took huge steps to rapidly approach him like a moving mountain of bones.

    Nie Tian grinned as he felt the soul connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon was reestablished. Facing the greedy and disdainful gazes, he could no longer suppress his thirst for blood, and thus yelled, ¡°Fuck you!¡±

    At the same time, he sent the Bone Blood Demon a message.

    BAM!

    An aura of death that could wither everything around it burst forth from the mountain-like Bone Blood Demon as it raised its sharp bony hand and brought it down with shocking force.

    BOOM!

    The wall of golden light created by therge golden sword shook violently as the magical symbols within it rapidly went out like candles in the wind.

    In the next moment, the light screen that separated Nie Tian and the me Bird exploded, sending countless sparks in every direction.

    Wei Yu¡¯s hunched body shuddered violently. ¡°How dare you, kid!¡±

    Then, as he made a grabbing motion in the air, the golden sword shrank to the size of a regr sword and flew into his hand.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted. Apparently, she was also shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s action. She had never expected that Nie Tian would strike without even negotiating with them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care where you¡¯re from. You won¡¯t be able to leave with those soul crystals!¡± Wreathed in a strong killing aura, Wei Yu swung his golden sword, and numerous golden magical symbols flew out of it towards Nie Tian like a swarm of locusts.

    As he did, Nie Tian leapt onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder. Eyes shining with a thirst for blood, he gave the order, ¡°Kill as many as you can!¡±

 Chapter 724: â€œWhat Can You Do About It?â€

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    The Bone Blood Demon swatted the iing golden magical symbols with its huge bony hands like they were flies.

    The magical symbols contained Wei Yu¡¯s soul awareness, as well as his understanding of the profundity of metal power.

    However, they all seemed powerless facing the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s vigorous strikes, as they fell from the air and vanished one after another.

    The six fierce discarnate souls that had flown out of theke seemed to answer the Phantasm soul¡¯s summons as they started chasing and killing the weaker members of the three parties.

    Like ck clouds, the fierce souls swooped down from midair like falcons, carrying icy, gruesome soul auras.

    The souls of the Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm Qi warriors weren¡¯t nearly powerful enough to stop the six fierce souls from breaching their defenses and reaching the depths of their souls.

    Miserable screams escaped the mouths of the Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm members of the three parties as dark smoke came out of their eyes, nostrils, and ears.

    The fierce souls charged into their seas of awareness without meeting the slightest resistance.

    Their souls were annihted in a split second, and they copsed to the ground like pieces of boneless meat. Not a shred of life could be seen in their eyes anymore.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Even Chu Xuanji from the Chu n was enraged, and shouted madly.

    Within a few seconds¡¯ time, more than a dozen Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm members of the Chu n were killed, their souls being devoured and added to the fierce discarnate souls¡¯ strength.

    Chu Xuanji was convinced that the discarnate souls only started this massacre because of Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Phantasm soul between his eyebrows that¡¯s controlling those discarnate souls!¡± Yin Yanan called out in Nie Tian¡¯s defense, hoping Chu Xuanji and the others could see the matter objectively.

    However, at this moment, it was no longer possible for them to remain calm and talk to Nie Tian, and vice versa.

    It didn¡¯t matter if it was Nie Tian or the Soul realm experts from the three parties, they had all gone mad.

    Hong Xian panted as he shouted, ¡°The Phantasm soul between his eyebrows must have possessed him! He¡¯s not Nie Tian anymore, but a puppet of the Phantasm soul! Things have already worsened to the point where Nie Tian is beyond saving. All we can do now is kill him as quickly as possible.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking!¡± Wei Yu was the first to agree with him.

    A sinister grin appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Good! Very good!

    ¡°Let¡¯s say I¡¯m possessed. What can you do about it?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Countless blood strings that contained profound flesh power flew out of the Bone Blood Demon.

    As the blood strings rapidly filled the air, a mysterious maic field that could reverse the blood flow of every living being in its surroundings quietly came to form.

    In the next moment, the expression of every Qi warrior on the meteor flickered as they felt the changes in their blood flow.

    The Bone Blood Demon ran over to Wei Yu with two huge steps before lifting its gigantic bony foot and bringing it down with enough force to tten a mountain peak.

    ¡°Go!¡± The golden sword in Wei Yu¡¯s hand instantly morphed into countless rays of golden light that poured into the air like a reverse waterfall.

    As the same time, numerous magical symbols appeared in the river of golden light.

    The magical symbols rapidly aligned, forming an unfathomable spell formation that channeled spiritual power from Wei Yu unceasingly.

    Immediately afterwards, seven smaller golden swords came to shape within the spell formation, each of which seemed sharp enough to pierce through any shield in this world.

    The seven of them rapidly shot up in a line towards the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s descending foot.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    One golden sword after another shattered as they mmed into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s enormous bony foot with full force.

    As they shattered, they sent off arge amount of fragmented golden light. The fierce power it contained created fissures in the arch of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s bony foot.

    Even so, that enormous foot¡¯s crashing momentum didn¡¯t stop.

    Wei Yu¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily jumped away while shouting, ¡°This Bonebrute must have been at the eighth grade before it was refined into a puppet!¡±

    He was well-aware that even a seventh grade Bonebrute wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand such a powerful strike from him. If it did, its foot would have exploded to pieces.

    However, only a few fissures appeared on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s foot.

    This meant the Bonebrute must have been at an even higher grade, which had exceeded his expectations.

    The Bonebrutes were among the few outsider races in this universe that possessed the toughest bodies.

    After reaching a very high grade, Bonebrutes¡¯ bodies would be tougher than any kind of metal there was. Therefore, their bodies were their impregnable defense.

    In fact, Wei Yu¡¯s magics were already very powerful, yet he still failed to shatter the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s foot. This shook him greatly.

    At this moment, Hong Xian¡¯s face grew very grim as he muttered, ¡°Eighth grade...¡± Then, he shouted, ¡°We need to work together! You handle this puppet while I go take care of Nie Tian!¡±

    With these words, he sat down in the lotus position and fixed his glittering eyes on Nie Tian.

    All of a sudden, the soul seals of several beast spirits appeared in the depths of his eyes.

    This seemed to be a special soul incantation that he practiced. A fierce, ancient aura rapidly wreathed his whole body.

    Nie Tian gasped as he saw him.

    In his eyes, Hong Xian seemed to be rapidly infused with strength by numerous powerful ancient beasts, even though they weren¡¯t in flesh form and could only be sensed with soul awareness.

    This special incantation seemed to be very simr to the Dong n¡¯s Beast Spirit Incantation.

    The only difference was that the Dong n members could only refine one beast spirit, but Hong Xian had clearly refined more than one beast spirit.

    Nie Tian hastily summoned his soul power, nine starlight sparks appearing in the depths of his eyes as he did.

    Immediately afterwards, he saw Hong Xian¡¯s true soul leaving his sea of awareness and flying directly towards Nie Tian under the protection of tworge birds, one crimson Qilin, and a huge snake.

    Subconsciously, Nie Tian raised the Spirit Pearl, hoping to defend himself with it.

    As a unique treasure forged by the Phantasms, the Spirit Pearl had repeatedly shown its incredible effects on souls and spirits. Therefore, he hoped that it would work this time as well.

    However, just as he raised it, the Phantasm soul within the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows made a move.

    It unleashed misty cyan light that quickly formed a shield around the Spirit Pearl.

    The Spirit Pearl was instantly sealed away, and couldn¡¯t disy its wondrous effects anymore.

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment.

    He was well-aware that the Phantasm soul was hoping for him to lose his senses and engage in a fierce battle against the Qi warriors from the three parties. This way, Hong Xian and the other experts might be able to inflict serious damage on his soul.

    Once his soul sustained heavy injuries, it would be difficult for him to hold on to the ward that was protecting his sea of awareness. Then, the Phantasm soul would easily infiltrate his soul and possess him.

    At this moment, Hong Xian happened to target his secret magics on Nie Tian¡¯s soul, which agreed with the Phantasm soul¡¯s needs perfectly.

    The fact that it restrained the Spirit Pearl was because it hoped that Hong Xian would damage or even destroy Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, so that it would be able to be the new master of Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    ¡°Soul attacks!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he forced himself to ovee his strong desire to stay and fight to the death.

    Finally, a soul message came through to the Bone Blood Demon.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The Bone Blood Demon instantly turned around, picked Nie Tian up, and charged into the area where the weak members of the three parties were gathered, like a beast on the rampage.

    Many Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm Qi warriors failed to jump out of its way in time, and were stomped into heaps of mangled flesh.

    Momentster, the enormous Bone Blood Demon came to the ce where Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation was.

    The powerful experts from the three parties roared furiously from behind it.

    Hong Xian¡¯s true soul and four powerful beast spirits also came after him like sea waves that were hoping to engulf him.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Nie Tian flicked his sleeve, and the tree branches flew into his ring of holding, along with the inoperative Spirit Pearl.

    A deep, resounding roar suddenly came through from Hong Xian¡¯s true soul. ¡°You¡¯re not leaving!!¡±

    The prismatic crystal between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows shone with cyan light as a wisp of aura appeared inside of it, as if it were waiting to break into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness and take over his body, which could happen at any moment.

    SHEW!

    By the time thest tree branch disappeared into Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding, Hong Xian¡¯s immense soul power had already filled arge area around Nie Tian.

    While he faced a sea of deadly soul power, the nine fragmentary stars in his soul suddenly blossomed with dazzling divine light.

    ¡°Starshift!¡±

    Splitting pain came from every inch of his body as he vanished into thin air.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon, which could sense his location by relying on the soul connection between it and Nie Tian, flew out of the meteor like a bolt of lightning.

    Wei Yu and Chu Xuanji arrived only to watch Nie Tian vanish in a sh. They couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Escape magic!¡±

    They went nk for a short while beforeing back to their senses and chasing after the Bone Blood Demon.

    After losing its target, Hong Xian¡¯s true soul also returned to his mind. His eyes snapped open, and he sped off through air by relying on histe Soul realm strength.

    The six fierce discarnate souls were killing weaker members of the three parties as they noticed Nie Tian¡¯s disappearance, and then also flew after the Bone Blood Demon.

    SHEW!

    At the same time, Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird also charged out of the meteor, its wings unleashing zing mes.

    The other Qi warriors from the three parties also summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools and flew off after the Bone Blood Demon, staring unblinkingly at it and yelling furiously as they did.

    ¡°That man killed so many of our friends and took all of the soul crystals. He has to die!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t let him get away! The more powerful his escape magic is, the stronger bacsh he¡¯ll suffer! All we need to do is to follow that puppet to his location. Then he¡¯ll be a dead man!¡±

    ¡°His puppet killed our senior and junior martial brothers! We must offer his blood to our dead!¡±

    These people had long since forgotten that many of them were only alive because Nie Tian had allowed them to take shelter in the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect was the only one who didn¡¯t leave the meteor. Standing in ce, she stared nkly at the air-transportation spiritual tools as they flew into the distance. A bitter look appeared in her bright eyes as she muttered, ¡°Why the hell did thingse to this point!?¡±

    ¡°This wasn¡¯t his intention at all. He let me surface to ask for help. Who would have thought...¡± She sighed. ¡°It¡¯s the soul crystals that led us to such a situation.¡±

 Chapter 725: Titanâ€™s Wrath!

    In a remote corner of the forsaken region.

    Nie Tian suddenly appeared in midair with a meteor a hundred meters underneath him.

    WHOOSH!

    He plummeted towards the meteor like a cannonball.

    The long-range Starshift consumed thirty percent of his star power, causing his whole body to ache.

    Fortunately, after expending countless efforts in body refinement, his body had already be tough enough to resist the bacsh.

    Due to the profound connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon, even though they were very far apart, he could sense it flying towards his location at full speed.

    SHEW!

    He summoned the Star Boat and jumped on board. A connection instantly formed between his soul and the Star Boat. Then, with great precision, he steered the Star Boat towards the meteor under him.

    At this moment, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrowsunched another soul attack.

    Wisps of vicious icy soul strings rushed towards his sea of awareness and mmed violently into the ward the fragmentary stars had formed to protect his soul.

    He let out a muffled groan as an agonizing pain came from his mind.

    His expression flickered as he hastily ended the soul connection between him and the Star Boat, and focused solely on defending against the Phantasm¡¯s raging attack.

    One peculiar image after another entered his mind. He felt as if he were surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood, which were trying to reach the deepest parts of his soul.

    Numerous ghosts were wreathed in green mes as they clung to him and bit him madly.

    Meanwhile, images of Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and Dong Li being killed shed before his eyes.

    All of these illusory images were the magnification of his worst fears, and they were all for the purpose of breaking his mental defenses and forcing him to give up.

    ¡°These are all illusory!¡± Nie Tian struggled to hold onto his mental defense and his sanity.

    Through his true soul, he could see countless greenish-ck soul strings piercing into the misty, sparkling ward around his sea of awareness. However, they all exploded, and generated even more bewildering images.

    He tore his eyes from them and let out a roar from the depths of his soul, ¡°No matter how powerful you used to be and how much strength you¡¯ve recovered, you¡¯ll never be able to possess me!!¡±

    Just like this, an extended battle broke out between Nie Tian and the Phantasm soul.

    The nine fragmentary stars in his soul continued to shine dazzling starlight on his sea of awareness, protecting it from being invaded by the Phantasm soul.

    The Phantasm soul rapidly consumed its strength, which it had recovered with a few soul crystals.

    After some time, the Phantasm soul realized that its soul attacks didn¡¯t seem to have achieved good results, and that it wouldn¡¯t be able to breach Nie Tian¡¯s defenses within a short time. Therefore, it took the initiative to end the battle.

    Face covered in sweat, Nie Tian took a deep breath as the fierce soul battle ended.

    He opened his eyes and nced around. He found that there was nothing but meteors wherever he looked. Frowning slightly, he muttered to himself, ¡°The Phantasm soul must have consumed a significant amount of soul power, and can¡¯t afford to lose any more. However, I still have soul crystals that I can use!¡±

    With these thoughts in mind, he summoned a soul crystal from within his ring of holding, hoping to absorb its soul power.

    SHEW!

    As soon as the soul crystal flew into his palm, it was hooked by the Phantasm soul in some mysterious way.

    In the next moment, the soul crystal flew up and attached itself to the prismatic crystal between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows, then he experienced a cool sensation from it. Simultaneously, the soul crystal shrank down at a noticeable rate.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly flickered. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it can actually channel power from my soul crystals!¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly realized why the remaining soul crystals had risen from theke bottom on their own and let him take them so easily right before he had charged out of theke.

    Apparently, the Phantasm soul was able to control soul crystals in mysterious ways. As long as he took out soul crystals, the Phantasm soul would be able to channel power from them to strengthen itself.

    ¡°But it seems that the Phantasm soul can only absorb soul power from one soul crystal at a time,¡± he muttered.

    After pondering a few seconds, he decided to test this theory, and thus took out another soul crystal.

    As he had expected, the Phantasm soul didn¡¯t channel power from the second soul crystal. It was still busy channeling power from the first one, and didn¡¯t seem to be able to spare enough attention to get the second one.

    Then, without any dy, Nie Tian took a deep breath and started channeling power from the second soul crystal to the nine fragmentary stars in his soul, hoping to eventually oust the Phantasm soul in this extended war.

    However, he soon noticed that the speed at which the Phantasm soul channeled soul power seemed to be much faster than him. The soul crystal that had stuck to the prismatic crystal had already shrunk to the point where it was on the verge of vanishing.

    Before it did, Nie Tian quickly put the second soul crystal, from which had already been drained of most of its power, back into the ring of holding.

    He did it so that the Phantasm soul wouldn¡¯t be able to steal it from him.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the Bone Blood Demon finally entered Nie Tian¡¯s view and appeared in the distance.

    Nie Tian temporarily put his battle against the Phantasm soul aside, and looked over with rapt attention. To his surprise, he discovered that the Bone Blood Demon was actually faster than Hong Xian, Wei Yu, and Chu Xuanji.

    After he had reattached the Bloodline Crystal Chains in its heart with his Blood Essence, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s prowess seemed to have risen to a whole new level.

    Having refined the blood of multiple seventh grade outsider experts, it had already gained the ability to travel through the void at lightning speed.

    At this moment, Hong Xian and the otherte Soul realm experts were pursuing it from a long distance away.

    As for the air-transportation spiritual tools from the rest of the three parties, they were so far behind they couldn¡¯t even be seen.

    The only one that could keep up with the Bone Blood Demon was Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird.

    The me Bird was among the fastest air-transportation spiritual tools in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Therefore, it was noticeably faster than Hong Xian and the otherte Soul realm experts.

    ¡°Nie Tian!!¡± Qiao Yunxi¡¯s voice came from the distance as the me Bird passed the Bone Blood Demon and approached him like a zing phoenix.

    A thoughtful expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he rapidly put the Star Boat away.

    Momentster, the me Bird came close. Qiao Yunxi waved at him, and he leapt onto the fleeting me Bird.

    ¡°Wait a moment!¡± he eximed.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon flew over. He raised his hand, hoping to put the Bone Blood Demon away into his ring of holding.

    However, at this very moment, another wave of negative emotions flooded his mind in an attempt to enrage him and cloud his judgment so that he would stay and fight the pursuers from the three parties to the death.

    Rage rapidly filled his heart, causing it to race.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he noticed that the green aura that had been lying dormant in his heart seemed to be affected, and started to stir.

    Immediately afterwards, numerous fine Bloodline Crystal Chains blossomed with blinding light.

    At the same time, a brand new bloodline talent was born.

    The profound knowledge of this bloodline talent was instantly branded in the depths of his soul. ¡°Life Blend!¡±

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart also pounded rapidly, as if to echo Nie Tian¡¯s vigorous heartbeat.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian, who had nned to put the Bone Blood Demon away, suddenly jumped off of the me Bird.

    As soon as he did, he was drawn and stuck tightly to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest like a piece of metal to a ma. One wisp of flesh aura after another flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Like thousands of tiny blood snakes, they drilled into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s every bone, as well as its heart.

    Each bit of flesh aura contained the profound truths of life. Within seconds, Nie Tian seemed to be one with the Bone Blood Demon, and gained the ability to summon its immense flesh power.

    Under the wondrous effect of Life Blend, he had a feeling that an even more profound connection had been established between his soul and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s soul.

    At this moment, Nie Tian seemed to have merged with the Bone Blood Demonpletely.

    His confidence soared as he ignored Qiao Yunxi¡¯s urgent demand for him to return to the me Bird.

    Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect caught up. Wreathed in strong killing intent, he shouted, ¡°Nie Tian! Let¡¯s see if you can escape this time! You killed more than a dozen disciples of my sect! You¡¯ll die for this!¡±

    His golden sword flew out of his hand. It shone with gloriously as it shed across the void towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian stared coldly at him. As a thought entered his mind, the Bone Blood Demon moved ordingly. It¡¯s enormous hand clenched into a fist as torrential rage rapidly gathered to it.

    As the Bone Blood Demon threw its fist towards the iing golden sword, it also channeled flesh power from itself and all sorts of power from Nie Tian.

    At that moment, Nie Tian finally truly understood the profundity of the fist strike, and learned the actual name of the move which he had referred to as Rage Punch. ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s hammer-like fist mmed into the golden sword with enough force to destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

    BOOM!

    Upon impact, the countless golden magical symbols in the golden sword shattered and vanished.

    Even the sword¡¯s soul was annihted by the devastating fist strike.

    AHHH!!

    Wei Yu seemed to suffer a heavy bacsh as his Spirit Channeling grade sword was destroyed. Bloody gashes even appeared on his face, giving him a sinister look.

    Then, the Bone Blood Demon brought its other hand whooshing across the void, and swatted Wei Yu several hundred meters into the distance.

    The spiritual power ward he used to protect himself instantly shattered, and he sustained severe injuries.

 Chapter 726: Blending Might

    Upon seeing Wei Yu being knocked hundreds of meters away by the Bone Blood Demon, the Qi warriors from the Trisword Sect eximed, ¡°Elder Wei!!¡±

    Hong Xian and Chu Xuanji were bbergasted by the scene.

    Wei Yu was at the same realm as them, but he failed to even withstand a single strike from the Bone Blood Demon.

    Why did it suddenly be so powerful?!

    They also noticed that the Bone Blood Demond¡¯s devastating strike had destroyed Wei Yu¡¯s Spirit Channeling grade swordpletely.

    Even the sword¡¯s soul was eliminated.

    WHOOSH!

    With great effort, Wei Yu managed to stop himself from flying backwards, his face and garments covered in blood.

    The experts from the Trisword Sect rapidly flew to his side and pulled him onto one of their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    As soon as Wei Yu assume a foothold on the air-transportation spiritual tool, he red unblinkingly at Nie Tian and shouted furiously, ¡°Nie Tian!!!¡±

    BOOM!

    His ming fury disrupted his inner auras and stirred his sea of awareness, causing him to faint.

    Standing on the me Bird, Qiao Yunxi gazed nkly at Nie Tian and stammered, ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡±

    A moment ago, she had been burning with anxiety and ming Nie Tian for not putting his Bone Blood Demon away and escaping with her on her me Bird.

    She had been convinced that Nie Tian was making a terrible mistake by flying to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest and fighting Wei Yu head-on.

    However, the result bbergasted her.

    She couldn¡¯t believe that Nie Tian¡¯s puppet actually managed to inflict severe damage on Wei Yu, causing him to pass out.

    At that moment, Chu Bowen, Xing Beichen, and Yin Yanan arrived in their air-transportation spiritual tools, along with many Worldly realm and Greater Heaven stage members of the three sects.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± they wondered.

    Yin Yanan looked ahead with rapt attention, and discovered that Wei Yu had lost consciousness.

    The disciples of the Trisword Sect looked very grim as they were all gathered by Wei Yu¡¯s side, instead of swarming on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, had his back stuck to the enormous Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, his face as cold as iron and his eyes brimming with a thirst for killing.

    ¡°His, his aura...¡± Chu Xuanji¡¯s eyes narrowed as he sensed Nie Tian¡¯s aura with rapt attention. Immediately afterwards, he eximed, ¡°He has merged with his Bonebrute puppet!¡±

    He discovered that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s flesh aura and soul fluctuations now carried Nie Tian¡¯s. Meanwhile, he could sense a flesh aura as immense as the sea from Nie Tian.

    It was as if Nie Tian had be the Bone Blood Demon, and the Bone Blood Demon had be Nie Tian. There was no way to tell which was which.

    Nie Tianughed sinisterly. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you¡¯d kill me and take the soul crystals?¡±

    At this moment, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s mind was synced with his and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heartbeat matched his perfectly.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon took another step in the void and arrived in front of Hong Xian. Before he could say anything, it gathered all sorts of power from Nie Tian and mixed them with its unfathomable flesh power tounch another Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    Its enormous fist came down towards Hong Xian with full force.

    In Hong Xian¡¯s eyes, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s descending fist seemed to be expanding endlessly.

    Looking up at the fist, he had a strange feeling that the entire void was filled with its wrath.

    As the fist went down, crisp booming sounds thundered across the entire area.

    The Profound realm Qi warriors close to Hong Xian and Chu Xuanji experienced great turbulence in their minds, their faces turning pale.

    In the next moment, devastating power exploded from within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s fist and rapidly swept over the entire area.

    It was as if a titan that was thousands of meters tall had unleashed all of its wrath in this instant.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Hong Xian¡¯s expression flickered as he formed arge azure ward over him and the weaker members that were close to him.

    BOOM!

    Like a meteor that had traveled in the void for thousands of years, the enormous fist mmed vigorously into the azure ward.

    Mysterious spell formations appeared one after another in the ward before rapidly exploding.

    After taking the strike, Hong Xian, who had exerted his spiritual power and soul awareness to raise this blue ward, staggered, bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

    ¡°Damn!¡± Chu Xuanji called out as he hastily unleashed nine purple banners.

    They were embroidered with mountains,kes, spirit nts, and spirit beasts, each having their unique uses.

    Hong Xian¡¯s azure ward shattered, and the banners arrived just in time to take its ce to protect the weaker members of the Beast-controlling Sect and the Chu n.

    HOWL!

    A heaven-shaking roar that could only be captured by Soul realm experts¡¯ true souls echoed out.

    Both Chu Xuanji and Hong Xian let out muffled groans, as if they had been attacked by some ancient patriarch, and huge waves stirred in their seas of awareness.

    BAM!

    The Bone Blood Demon continued to descend with unabated force.

    The images rapidly vanished from the purple banners, as if they were paintings that were being washed away from a canvas.

    Upon seeing this, Chu Xuanji eximed at the top of his lungs, ¡°Get back!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, all of the air-transportation spiritual tools flew madly away from the descending fist.

    Hong Xian and Chu Xuanji then formed profound hand seals to neutralize the residual power of the Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    After getting rid of the residual influence, both Chu Xuanji and Hong Xian were soaked in sweat, as if they had juste out of a pool.

    As they looked at Nie Tian now, their eyes were no longer filled with grim looks. Instead, they brimmed with fear and disbelief.

    Sitting astride the Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect muttered in disbelief, ¡°H-how is this possible?!¡±

    Even her Frost Blood Python trembled with fear, not daring to meet Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    The Frost Blood Python was intelligent enough to know that the might of the Titan¡¯s Wrath was more than enough powerful to turn it to ashes.

    It remembered that it had attempted to devour Nie Tian earlier, and instantly realized that it had been courting death.

    If Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon were separated, perhaps it wouldn¡¯t have feared either of them so much.

    However, now that Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon had be one with the help of the Life Blend bloodline talent, it had finally realized how dangerous its previous actions had been.

    Nie Tian threw his head back and let out a longugh, hisughter filled with unmasked arrogance and brutality.

    ¡°Come on! All of the soul crystals are in my hands. Don¡¯t you want them?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I was possessed by the Phantasm soul? I beg you toe and kill me!¡±

    In his sinisterugher, the Bone Blood Demon took another step forward in the void.

    Upon seeing this, Hong Xian, Chu Xuanji, and everyone else gasped in fear and hastily flew backwards, as if they were afraid that the Bone Blood Demon wouldunch another Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    Chu Xuanji¡¯s face was filled with bitterness as he said, ¡°Well, Nie Tian... Let¡¯s talk about this. At first, we only demanded a part of the soul crystals, and that¡¯s it. Things have onlye to this point because those discarnate souls started ughtering our disciples, and your puppet stomped some of our people to the death.¡±

    Hong Xian¡¯s face reddened, as he found Nie Tian¡¯s provoking words hard to swallow. However, just as he was about to say something back, Chu Xuanji stopped him by throwing him a stern look.

    However, Xing Beichen yelled coldly, ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯ve be our Trisword Sect¡¯s enemy now. Don¡¯t you imagine that you¡¯ll be able to get away with this!¡±

    A sinister grin appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°The Trisword Sect? Do you recognize this thing?¡±

    With these words, he took Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s spiritual tool from within his ring of holding and held it out for Xing Beichen to see.

    ¡°T-that¡¯s Elder Qi Jiuchuan¡¯s spiritual tool!¡± Many disciples of the Trisword Sect eximed simultaneously.

    Nie Tian then took out Han Chigui¡¯s spiritual tool and showed it to them. ¡°This one too.¡±

    ¡°That belonged to Han Chigui from the Bliss Mountain Sect!¡± Chu Xuanji eximed.

    Hong Xian gasped with astonishment and said, ¡°Not a single person on the exploration teams the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Trisword Sect sent into Master Voidspirit¡¯s private realm survived. Don¡¯t tell me that...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. They all died at my hands!¡± Nie Tian said fiercely. ¡°I dared to kill them. Do you think I¡¯ll be afraid to add you to the list?¡±

    Chu Xuan¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°You killed them!?¡±

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing left to say. Either you die, or I die.¡± With these words, Nie Tian¡¯s madughter ceased, and his eyes were once again filled with strong killing intent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do this, Nie Tian!¡± Yin Yanan called out with a begging tone.

 Chapter 727: Primal Chaos

    Riding her Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan passed the cowering disciples of the three parties as she slowly approached Nie Tian.

    The Frost Blood Python¡¯s silver-white eyes, which had a few blood strings inside, were filled with fear.

    Everyone could see how reluctant it was to approach Nie Tian, yet it had to, since Yin Yanan gave the order.

    The Frost Blood Python¡¯s enormous body tensed noticeably as it moved towards Nie Tian. The closer it got to Nie Tian, the slower it became, as if it were ready to flee at any moment.

    An intelligent hybrid spirit beast like the Frost Blood Python had an exceptionally shrewd perception of danger.

    Since it had realized that Nie Tian possessed the strength to kill it, it only hoped to stay as far away from him as possible, fearing that he would settle ounts with it.

    ¡°Yanan!¡± Hong Xian shouted.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay!¡± Yin Yanan shouted back.

    Momentster, Yin Yanan passed everyone and stopped in front of Nie Tian. ¡°You need to stop, Nie Tian,¡± she said. ¡°It agrees with the Phantasm soul¡¯s interest if we keep fighting each other. It¡¯s clouding your judgment and keeping you angry. It wants you to consume your spiritual power and soul power. Can¡¯t you see that?

    ¡°Even if you can kill us all with the help of your puppet, so what?

    ¡°By the time you run out of spiritual power and soul power, it¡¯ll swoop in and possess you.¡±

    She exined with great patience, hoping that Nie Tian would calm down and end this madness.

    Chu Xuanji and Hong Xian had long since lost their previous confidence and remained silent.

    After all, Nie Tian had be so overwhelmingly formidable after merging with the Bone Blood Demon.

    Wei Yu had already gone unconscious. After fending off a Titan¡¯s Wrath together, the two of them had also consumed arge amount of spiritual power. Under such circumstances, if Nie Tian were to fight them to the end, perhaps not a single person from the three parties would survive.

    In fact, they had both be afraid and wanted to find an excuse to end this conflict. The fact that Yin Yanan had stepped up agreed with their needs perfectly. Therefore, they chose to remain silent and let her handle the situation.

    Standing on her me Bird, Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect shouted from a ce far behind Nie Tian, ¡°Listen to her, Nie Tian! Let¡¯s end this madness!¡±

    She also didn¡¯t want the conflict to escte.

    Nie Tian was an important guest Yue Yanxi had invited to this ce. If he ughtered all of these people from the Trisword Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Chu n, the three parties would definitely not let this go easily.

    All of them had Void domain patriarchs. If they were to pressure the Divine me Sect together, even Yue Yanxi wouldn¡¯t be able to save Nie Tian.

    Perhaps they would even find fault with the Divine me Sect.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was very cold as he said, ¡°Now you want a truce? This isn¡¯t what you said earlier. Back when we were on that meteor, I didn¡¯t want more people to die, so I took the initiative to leave, but you decide to chase after me. If I didn¡¯t have any reserved means, I would have died at your hands already.

    ¡°Now you want a truce. It¡¯s toote!¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect there to be a truce when I told you about Qi Jiuchuan and Han Chigui.

    ¡°Every single one of you will die here today!¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°You intend to kill me as well!?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian answered, his eyes filled with a strong thirst for blood. At this moment, the desire to kill had already taken up his mind, and he no longer had any scruples.

    The Bone Blood Demon had consumed more than half of its strength after throwing two Titan¡¯s Wraths.

    After all, the Bone Blood Demon was only a puppet, and could only recover its strength if Nie Tian could find more powerful outsiders¡¯ blood for it.

    However, Hong Xian, Chu Xuanji, and the other experts could recuperate with spiritual materials.

    Even Wei Yu, who had sustained severe injuries, would be able to recover his peak state, given time and spiritual materials.

    If they were given the opportunity to recover fully, then Nie Tian would be in huge trouble.

    Letting them live would nt future trouble, so Nie Tian was determined to eliminate them all this time.

    Power of different attributes madly poured into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s clenched bony hand as rage that could shatter heaven and earth rapidly built up in it.

    ¡°He¡¯s serious! Run, Yanan!¡± Hong Xian shouted anxiously.

    Seeing that neither Yin Yanan nor Qiao Yunxi could persuade Nie Tian, Chu Xuanji finally had no illusions about solving this matter peacefully, and shouted, ¡°Anyone at the Profound realm or lower, run now! The others stay with me and kill this bastard!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after another flew away, carrying Profound realm, Worldly realm, and Greater Heaven stage cultivators.

    The Soul realm experts from the three parties spread out to form a circle around the Bone Blood Demon and Nie Tian, each summoning their most powerful spiritual tools as they did.

    Hong Xian opened a green, jade-like bottle gourd. Purple liquid poured from the mouth of the gourd and quickly morphed into thick, purple smoke.

    The shades of numerous spirit beasts appeared in the smoke before they became solid and pounced ferociously on the Bone Blood Demon.

    Chu Xuanji unleashed his banners. Images of mountains,kes, spirit beasts, and nts rapidly reappeared on the banners as he did.

    ¡°Every Phenomenon Seal!¡± Chu Xuanji roared.

    A mysterious sealing magic was activated around him, as if he was instantly enveloped by thousands of chains.

    ¡°The first move of Heaven Sever!¡± a middle Soul realm expert from the Trisword Sect thundered, swinging his rusty, long sword in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s direction.

    A sword light that was about a hundred meters long shed towards the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s waist with enough force to sever the heavens in two.

    ¡°Heaven Snake Strangle!¡± With these words, a Soul realm expert from the Beast-controlling Sect formed a huge, ck snake in front of him with his blood, spiritual power, and soul power. The snake whipped its long tail towards the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s neck.

    Each and every Soul realm expert from the three parties unleashed their most powerful magics, hoping to annihte Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon in one go.

    Panicked expressions appeared on Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan¡¯s faces as they saw the Soul realm expertsunching their killing moves.

    They hastily flew away from the Bone Blood Demon, riding the Frost Blood Python and the me Bird.

    Anxiety filled their eyes, as they were very reluctant to see things develop to this point. However, there was nothing they could do to stop this madness. They could only watch the two sides fight to the death.

    Facing the powerful magics that came with an overwhelming momentum, Nie Tian hastily canceled the Titan¡¯s Wrath, and instead activated the chaotic maic field.

    The chaotic maic field could twist and neutralize all sorts of attacking power, so it could be viewed as an effective means of defense.

    Limited by his cultivation base, the chaotic maic field could only cover a ten-meter radius around him.

    However, as he summoned all sorts of power from him and the Bone Blood Demon this time, the chaotic maic field instantly spread to cover a hundred-meter radius around him.

    Not just that, but a blurry image somehow appeared before his eyes as that happened.

    It was an image of a titan that propped up heaven and earth throwing his head back and letting out an enraged roar.

    Countless floatingnds and stars seemed to be moving in the void with him as their center.

    It was as if he was able to bend the starry river around him and change the course of the stars by relying on his maic field.

    The true profundity of the chaotic maic field was instantly reflected in the depths of his soul. That was when he realized that this magic was actually called ¡°Primal Chaos¡±.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of flesh aura flew out of the Bone Blood Demon and started to wreath him, along with sparks of starlight that were a condensation of Nie Tian¡¯s star power.

    Wood power and me power gathered and formed small void realms that floated around the Bone Blood Demon.

    Meanwhile, his soul power seemed to vest all of them with consciousness and life.

    The chaotic power rapidly filled a hundred-meter radius around him, then expanded to cover a thousand-meter radius.

    The Every Phenomenon Seal Chu Xuanji had formed with his banners instantly lost its effect.

    The spirit beasts formed from the purple smoke were torn apart and reduced to smoke again as soon as they charged into the Primal Chaos, bearing their teeth and ws.

    CRACK!

    The de light sent forth by the rusty sword was the only thing that made it to the Bone Blood Demon.

    However, the de light that was a hundred meters long was greatly weakened, and lost its fierceness.

    The Bone Blood Demon caught it with two fingers and snapped it effortlessly.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Then, the Bone Blood Demon dashed forward, swinging its enormous bony hands as it either crushed or pierced the Soul realm experts that entered the Primal Chaos.

    Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect had his chest pierced through by the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s sharp fingers and died instantly.

    It was as if these Soul realm experts were as fragile as tofu in the Primal Chaos.

    Chu Xuanji from the Chu n was the only one that survived this bloodbath because he had manipted his banners from outside of the Primal Chaos.

 Chapter 728: Scaring Powerful Enemies Away

    Chu Xuanji¡¯s face turned pale with fright as he stared nkly at Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon, his hands trembling slightly. ¡°They, they all died?!¡±

    He wondered what secret magic Nie Tian had just unleashed on these Soul realm experts that neutralized their attacks and plunged them into a chaotic state that allowed him to ughter them all with the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s terrifying strength.

    Numerous broken spiritual tools floated silently around the Bone Blood Demon, along with Hong Xian and the others¡¯ corpses.

    After the strike, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s flesh power that had been as immense as the sea seemed to rapidly run low.

    Chu Xuanji could tell that the Bonebrute puppet had consumed most of its power after this battle.

    Nie Tian, who was stuck to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, was panting as he tried to calm his raging inner aura. Even though a thirst for blood could still be seen in his eyes, he was clearly weakened.

    Chu Xuanji knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to kill him.

    However, he couldn¡¯t help but feel scared as his eyes met Nie Tian¡¯s.

    He hesitated briefly before eventually giving up on the idea. He stood on one of his flying banners and left like a streak of light.

    ¡°Senior Chu!¡± Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect called out to him in an attempt to stop him.

    However, Chu Xuanji acted as if he didn¡¯t hear her. He elerated and sped off into the distance without sparing her a single nce.

    Yin Yanan wasn¡¯t a member of the Chu n. It wasn¡¯t his responsibility to look after her. Now that Hong Xian had died, he naturally wouldn¡¯t risk his life for hers.

    ¡°You need to go, Yin Yanan!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted, standing on her me Bird.

    Now that Nie Tian had be one with the Bone Blood Demon and was bewitched by the negative emotions unleashed by the Phantasm soul, she felt like she didn¡¯t know him anymore.

    She was even afraid that he would continue killing under the Phantasm soul¡¯s influence.

    With Chu Xuanji gone, she and Yin Yanan were the only ones that remained in this ce. Even though she didn¡¯t care for Yin Yanan, she didn¡¯t want her killed by Nie Tian, which she believed would bring more trouble to the Divine me Sect.

    Yin Yanan was the most valued core disciple of the Beast-controlling Sect. They considered her to be the future of their sect, which made her much more important than thete Soul realm Hong Xian.

    They would offend the Beast-controlling Sect by killing Hong Xian and a few other Soul realm experts, but it would be salvageable.

    However, if Yin Yanan died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands, the Beast-controlling Sect would wage war and fight the Divine me Sect to thest man.

    ¡°Do I leave?¡± Yin Yanan fixed Nie Tian with a hateful stare. Clearly, she didn¡¯t want to leave just yet.

    Hong Xian and the other Soul realm experts from the Beast-controlling Sect had all died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Chu Xuanji had fled, while Wei Yu had sustained heavy injuries, passed out, and been carried away by their sect members.

    The three parties had suffered devastating losses.

    She desired revenge, but felt very helpless.

    At this moment, her Frost Blood Python didn¡¯t even have the courage to get anywhere near the Bone Blood Demon.

    She had thought that Chu Xuanji would stay and fight side by side with her. Who would have thought that he would flee without putting up a fight?

    While hesitating, she noticed that the six fierce discarnate souls, which also seemed rather afraid of Nie Tian, were hovering around in the vicinity.

    The reason why they hadn¡¯t chased after Chu Xuanji was probably because they knew that he was too powerful for them.

    Yin Yanan pondered for a few seconds before finally gritting her teeth and deciding to leave under the Frost Blood Python¡¯s protection.

    The Frost Blood Python suddenly turned around and sped off.

    Upon seeing this, the six fierce discarnate souls instantly pounced on it.

    They almost instantly caught up to the Frost Blood Python. Wisps of soul power flew out of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s icy eyes and engaged in a fierce battle against the discarnate souls.

    Qiao Yunxi also thought about leaving Nie Tian, who was currently very dangerous.

    However, her expression flickered as she saw what was happening to Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan still had a powerful hybrid spirit beast to protect her, while she only had the me Bird, which she didn¡¯t think would be able to protect her from soul attacks.

    Caught in a dilemma, she shouted, ¡°What happened to you, Nie Tian?!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was still enveloped in the Primal Chaos, lights of various colors flying about inside.

    The Bone Blood Demon was floating at the center,pletely motionless, with Nie Tian at its chest, his eyes closed.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to be able to hear her.

    From time to time, deadly powers would still dash across the Primal Chaos, which covered a thousand meter radius around him.

    Neither Qiao Yunxi nor Yin Yanan knew that Nie Tian only didn¡¯t pursue Chu Xuanji right after the first round because he simply couldn¡¯t.

    The Phantasm soul hadunched another soul attack.

    The icy soul awareness from the Phantasm soul once again generated all sorts of illusions to bewitch him and attack his sea of awareness with unique Phantasm magics.

    Nie Tian had consumed a significant amount of every sort of power to merge with the Bone Blood Demon with his newly-awakened bloodline talent and ughter all those experts.

    By the time the battle ended, the Bone Blood Demon had lost ny percent of its flesh power.

    Nie Tian himself had consumed almost all of his soul power, which had given the Phantasm soul an opportunity.

    In fact, the moment the Phantasm soul had attacked his soul, the Life Blend between him and the Bone Blood Demon hade to an end.

    Even though he was still stuck to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, his battle prowess had dropped sharply.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The wisps of soul power he had unleashed earlier returned from the Primal Chaos to help him defend his sea of awareness.

    Meanwhile, the Primal Chaos was also having a great influence on the Phantasm soul.

    It seemed to be stopping the Phantasm soul from bringing out the true might of its magics.

    After a few failed attempts, the Phantasm soul once again withdrew like an ebbing tide.

    Nie Tian let out a long breath as he opened his eyes.

    He examined the Bone Blood Demon, and realized that it had only ten percent of its strength left. Even if heunched Life Blend again, the amount of damage he could deal would be limited.

    This wouldn¡¯t change unless he could find more powerful outsiders¡¯ blood for the Bone Blood Demon to refine and recover strength.

    As a thought entered his mind, the Bone Blood Demon flew back into his ring of holding.

    At that moment, Qiao Yunxi saw that his eyes had be clear again, and she could no longer see the thirst for blood in them.

    ¡°Are, are you okay now?!¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, for now.¡±

    As Qiao Yunxi came over on her me Bird, he leapt on board and said, ¡°We need to get out of here and go as far as we can. We can¡¯t let people from those three parties find us.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi pointed at the Frost Blood Python, which was fighting the six fierce souls. ¡°Yin Yanan is still there. Those souls are attacking her.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the six fierce souls were hovering over the Frost Blood Python like arge vortex, which greatly resembled the Spirit God Sect¡¯s Grand Soul Grind.

    Both the Frost Blood Python and Yin Yanan seemed in agony. From the look of it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to hang on for much longer.

    ¡°That has nothing to do with us,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim face.

    ¡°She can¡¯t die!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted. ¡°If she dies, the Beast-controlling Sect will go crazy!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already killed Hong Xian and many others from the Beast-controlling Sect,¡± Nie Tian said indifferently. ¡°They¡¯ll go crazy anyways.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s different!¡± With these words, Qiao Yunxi ignored Nie Tian¡¯s attitude and flew the me Bird towards Yin Yanan.

    As she did, she eximed, ¡°Do something!¡±

    Seeing this, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he was forced to take out the Spirit Pearl.

    To his surprise, the Phantasm soul didn¡¯t try anything. Perhaps it had consumed too much power.

    As the me Bird flew close, the six discarnate souls scattered and fled in different directions.

    Yin Yanan was saved.

 Chapter 729: Truce

    The me Bird dashed over. It stopped in a ce about ten meters from the Frost Blood Python as Qiao Yunxi asked in a loud voice, ¡°What¡¯s your next n, Yin Yanan?¡±

    Yin Yanan nced at the six discarnate souls, which were now hovering around them at a safe distance. A bitter expression filled the corner of her mouth as she said, ¡°n? What n can I have? I wanted to get out of here, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be an option anymore.¡±

    The Frost Blood Python had suffered serious injuries from its battle against the six discarnate souls. Once she left Nie Tian, she would instantly be their target again.

    She was well-aware that she wouldn¡¯t be able to handle those fierce souls with just her and the Frost Blood Python.

    If she wanted to live, she would have to stay with Nie Tian. Only the Spirit Pearl would be able to awe those fierce souls and protect her from them.

    ¡°How about we help you get rid of those fierce souls first?¡± Qiao Yunxi proposed.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. ¡°That¡¯d be good!¡±

    With these words, she sent a soul message to the Frost Blood Python.

    In the next moment, the Frost Blood Python started to shrink at a noticeable rate.

    Secondster, the enormous Frost Blood Python shrank by more than ten times, and became a swift little snake.

    Qiao Yunxi turned to look at Nie Tian and said with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°I beg you to return to your senses, Nie Tian. It¡¯s not that big a deal that you¡¯ve killed Hong Xian, but you can¡¯t make an attempt on Yin Yanan¡¯s life. If she dies at your hands, my whole sect will be in trouble.¡±

    Nie Tian fixed Yin Yanan with a cold look, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    However, because of this, Yin Yanan didn¡¯t even dare to approach the me Bird.

    After pondering for a long while, Nie Tian finally nodded and said coldly, ¡°Alright then.¡±

    Neither Yin Yanan nor Qiao Yunxi knew that the Bone Blood Demon currently only had about ten percent of its power left. Even if Nie Tian used Life Blend again and became one with the Bone Blood Demon, their battle prowess would be very limited.

    Besides, Nie Tian had consumed a significant amount of his own power tounch two Titan¡¯s Wraths and activate Primal Chaos.

    Therefore, he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill thete Worldly realm Yin Yanan even if he wanted to.

    Qiao Yunxi waved at Yin Yanan. ¡°You cane over now.¡±

    Yin Yanan let out a sigh of relief after seeing that Nie Tian had finally agreed to a truce. She looked nervously at Nie Tian as she prepared to approach the me Bird with the Frost Blood Python.

    The ruthless and bloodthirsty look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was already gone as she looked into his eyes.

    Only after she was convinced that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t try to kill her did she finally approach the me Bird with the Frost Blood Python.

    There was limited room on the me Bird¡¯s back. It hadn¡¯t seemed crowded when it had just been Qiao Yunxi and Nie Tian, but now that she and the Frost Blood Python joined them, they had to sit almost shoulder to shoulder with each other.

    The three of them each harbored different thoughts and remained on guard against each other.

    Yin Yanan was afraid that Nie Tian would try to kill her. Nie Tian, who was in an unfavorable state, was worried that Yin Yanan would seek revenge. Qiao Yunxi, however, worried that conflicts would break out between the two of them.

    The Frost Blood Python, which had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s might, remained rather obedient on the me Bird.

    It also seemed to know that the six fierce souls would pounce on them as soon as something happened to Nie Tian or the Spirit Pearl in his hand.

    ¡°We only need to bear with each other until we lose those fierce souls,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°Afterwards, we¡¯ll be free to go our separate ways.¡±

    Both Nie Tian and Yin Yanan nodded slightly.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Bird dashed off into the distance.

    Like six wisps of dark smoke, the discarnate souls chased after the me Bird from afar.

    Even though the me Bird was faster than the discarnate souls, they seemed to be able to track it by relying on their profound connection with the Phantasm soul.

    Meanwhile, the me Bird couldn¡¯t fly at full speed forever. Qiao Yunxi would have to stop it to infuse it with special fire-attributed materials from time to time.

    Therefore, every time Qiao Yunxi did that, the fierce souls would catch up to them.

    ¡°Damn those foul things!¡± she cursed, looking deeply annoyed.

    As she stopped the me Bird again to refill it with fire-attributed materials, the discarnate souls once again entered her sight.

    Nie Tian, who was sitting on the me Bird and recovering strength with spirit stones, opened his eyes, and said, ¡°The Phantasm soul that resides in the crystal between my eyebrows is the reason why those discarnate souls keep finding us. As long as it doesn¡¯t die, those discarnate souls will always be able to track us down.¡±

    ¡°So what can we do?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    ¡°We can probably lose them by getting rid of the Phantasm soul,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Just do that then!¡± Qiao Yunxi said anxiously.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°If only it were that easy! I would have done it long ago if I knew how!¡±

    ¡°Kill the Phantasm soul...¡± Yin Yanan muttered. After a moment of pondering, she eximed, ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea!¡±

    ¡°You do?¡± Nie Tian fixed her with a doubtful gaze.

    Yin Yanan looked somewhat angered by Nie Tian¡¯s contemptuous tone. ¡°My cultivation base is higher than yours, and my true soul is more refined than yours. Also, I can use the Frost Blood Python¡¯s beast spirit to assist me!¡± Before Nie Tian could say anything, she added, ¡°I don¡¯t need you to do anything. Just let me try this out.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One wisp of her soul awareness after another flew out of her true soul and left her sea of awareness.

    Her soul awareness was mixed with that of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s. Like numerous small snakes, they reached the prismatic crystal between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows in a split second.

    Nie Tian focused on sensing the changes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul power attacked the prismatic crystal, the prismatic crystal suddenly blossomed with dazzling cyan light.

    Then, Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul power interacted in a profound way, activating a unique soul magic.

    ¡°Icy Crystal st!¡±

    The numerous fine wisps of soul power that looked like small snakes became as translucent and sparkling as ice before exploding violently in the next moment.

    The explosion sent out countless sharp ice shards that pierced right into the prismatic crystal where the Phantasm soul resided.

    In the dark space inside the prismatic crystal, the ice shards exploded one after another, giving rise to an ice storm that surged towards the Phantasm soul.

    In the depths of the dark space, the Phantasm soul roared as it gathered soul power and formed an iparablyrge hand. Like the hand of an ancient Phantasm god, it instantly reached out towards the ice storm.

    In the next moment, therge illusory hand wrapped tightly around the entire ice storm.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    As the sharp ice shards that were formed by pure soul power were crushed one after another, Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python lost their soul power at an rming rate.

    As Yin Yanan hastily withdrew theirst remaining soul power, her attempt to inflict serious damage on the Phantasm soul ended inplete failure.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face turned pale as her soul awareness returned to her mind. ¡°I failed. The Phantasm soul can form powerful soul magics inside that soul core. I can¡¯t defeat it in there.¡±

    The Frost Blood Python flicked its forked tongue, making weak hissing sounds, as it appeared to have also sustained soul injuries.

    ¡°The fundamental reason is that our true soul isn¡¯t powerful enough,¡± Yin Yanan said with a frustrated tone. ¡°If Senior Hong and the other Soul realm experts had attacked that Phantasm soul together, they would have been able to annihte it.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort and said, ¡°All they thought about after I surfaced was how to get the soul crystals in my hands. If they had helped me get rid of the Phantasm soul at the first possible moment, I wouldn¡¯t have flipped out under its influence, and the bloodbath wouldn¡¯t have happened.¡±

    With an embarrassed expression, Yin Yanan said, ¡°I realized what they intended to do and tried to persuade them, but they didn¡¯t listen to me.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t dwell on the matter. After a moment of silence, he said, ¡°It¡¯s not a good idea to fight the Phantasm soul in the soul core. So my suggestion is that we wait for the Phantasm soul to attack my sea of awareness, and when it does, you two join me in my sea of awareness.

    ¡°By moving the battlefield from the soul core to my sea of awareness, we¡¯ll have a better chance at defeating it.¡±

    With these words, he took out four soul crystals from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the first soul crystal flew into his palm, the Phantasm soul acted. A mysterious force instantly hooked the soul crystal and pulled it up to the prismatic crystal between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows.

    He rapidly handed out two of the other soul crystals, one to Qiao Yunxi and one to Yin Yanan, ¡°Here! Use them to recover your soul power!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he started channeling soul power from the one he left for himself to the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    The Phantasm soul could only channel soul power from one soul crystal at a time. This was the reason why Nie Tian dared to take out four soul crystals at once.

    Yin Yanan nodded vigorously. ¡°This is a good idea!¡±

    While she quickly handed the soul crystal to the Frost Blood Python, she took out the soul crystal Nie Tian had given her when they had been under theke together and started absorbing its soul power.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyes lit up as she grabbed the soul crystal and started channeling power from it without uttering a word.

    Once cultivators entered the Worldly realm, they would need to start cultivating their true soul. Copious soul power would be very helpful on that front.

    To prepare for their uing battle in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, the girls needed to absorb as much soul power from the soul crystals as they could.

    As Nie Tian absorbed soul power from the soul crystal in his hand, a streak of starlight suddenly shed across his eyes. Surprised, he tried to channel it with his awareness, and then it flew into the second fragmentary star mark on his chest.

    The second fragmentary star mark recorded the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s profound soul magics. He had been unable to learn them due to his inadequate cultivation base.

    Since the Phantasam soul couldn¡¯t spare enough energy to do anything to him now, he needed to make good use of the time to derive enlightenment.

    As his soul awareness flew into the second fragmentary star mark, numerous ancient magical symbols appeared, many of which instantly flew into the depths of his soul and became a part of him.

    ¡°Star souls! Starchain!¡±

 Chapter 730: The Profundity of Star Souls

    Numerous ancient magical symbols shone dazzlingly within the second fragmentary star mark.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness swam among them as he tried to derive more enlightenment.

    As he did, the ancient magical symbols disappeared one after another, to be branded in the depths of his soul and be his indelible memories.

    The ancient magical symbols recorded profound knowledge of star souls and Starchain. The magical symbols he learned first were about star souls.

    From them, he finally learned that the nine fragmentary stars in his soul were actually called star souls.

    Star souls were the souls of stars.

    Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would be able to gather star souls and cultivate with them after entering the Worldly realm.

    Star souls only existed in the cores of stars, so they were very difficult to find in the first ce.

    Then, it was even harder to merge them with oneself and turn them into star souls.

    It was hard for many Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to find a single star soul right after they entered the Worldly realm.

    Some couldn¡¯t even collect as many as nine star souls their whole lives.

    Apparently, he was different from most Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He was a Son of the Stars picked by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce through the Heaven Gate trial.

    Every Son of the Stars would receive nine star souls from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce immediately after passing the Heaven Gate trials.

    This meant that he had obtained these star souls right after he had passed the Heaven Gate trial.

    At first, they had hidden in his sea of awareness. Later, seven of them had appeared. Then when he had refined the discarnate souls within the spiritual soul into pure soul power, the other two hade to form.

    When star souls became strong enough, they could be viewed as sub-souls.

    Once sub-souls were branded with the profound power of one¡¯s true soul, they would be able to exercise the same functions as the true soul. Through them, the cultivator would be able to cast soul magics and derive enlightenment.

    The interesting thing was that even if a cultivator¡¯s true soul was destroyed, as long as they still had one sub-soul, they would be able to regather their true soul and return it to life.

    Furthermore, his nine star souls would have other incredible uses when he needed to build his inner domain and break through into the Void domain.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had chosen these star souls for him ording to his situation. Only in this way was he able to control and use them when his cultivation base was still low.

    He also learned that he could not only strengthen his star souls with soul crystals, which were very hard to find, but he could also cultivate them by detecting and collecting soul power from the cores of stars in this universe.

    <i>¡°There¡¯re star souls in each and every star. I can establish a profound connection with them and channel power from them to strengthen my own star souls. When my star souls are strong enough, I¡¯ll be able to brand them with my soul imprints and make them transform.¡±</i>

    As his awareness swam among the numerous ancient magical symbols to derive enlightenment about star souls, he also consumed his soul power at an rming rate.

    Soon, he felt deeply depleted, and had to stop deriving enlightenment of star souls. He didn¡¯t even get to the magical symbols that recorded Starchain.

    WHOOSH!

    He let out a deep breath and awoke with a much deeper understanding of the nine fragmentary stars in his soul.

    However, he also realized that he had consumed a significant amount of soul power after such a short time deriving enlightenment.

    His nine star souls had grown noticeably smaller, and the light they emanated had be dimmer.

    The soul crystal he had held fast in his hand had disappeared. Apparently, he had already drained it of its soul power.

    At this moment, the Phantasm soul that resided in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows seemed to sense his consumption of soul power.

    Therefore, itunched another soul attack.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Here ites again!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan, who were each holding a soul crystal in their hand, snapped out of their cultivation and opened their eyes simultaneously.

    Unlike Nie Tian, they didn¡¯t have star souls in their seas of awareness. Because of this, their efficiency at absorbing soul power was far inferior to Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s soul crystal still had more than half of its soul power left, while Yin Yanan¡¯s had shrunk more much considerably, but was still far from vanishing.

    This meant neither of the two girls had managed to drain their soul crystal of its power.

    However, the soul crystal Yin Yanan had tossed to the Frost Blood Python was now nowhere to be seen, which meant this hybrid spirit beast had absorbed everyst shred of soul power of that soul crystal.

    ¡°That Phantasm soul is attacking you again?!¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Nie Tian answered with one word before hastily shutting his eyes and focusing on defending his sea of awareness.

    Gritting her teeth, Yin Yanan instantly established a profound connection with the Frost Blood Python. ¡°Alright, here wee!¡±

    Her soul awareness quickly blended with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s, forming numerous fine wisps of pure soul power that flew directly into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Qiao Yunxi was also well-aware what would happen if Nie Tian were to be possessed by the Phantasm soul, and thus also sent her soul awareness into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness without any dy.

    Nie Tian sensed a peculiar feeling as Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s soul awareness flew into his sea of awareness.

    He felt as if a mysterious soul connection had suddenly formed among him, Yin Yanan, and Qiao Yunxi.

    Since the Frost Blood Python was a spirit beast, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a simr feeling with it.

    Eyes tightly shut, Nie Tian tried his best to see what was happening. He saw arge amount of Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan¡¯s auras floating close to the edge of his sea of awareness.

    A mysteriousyer of starlight was protecting his sea of awareness from the infiltration of any soul power that didn¡¯t belong to him.

    The soul awareness of Qiao Yunxi, Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python, and the Phantasm soul were like ghosts that floated out of an isted sea. He could sense their presence and unique features with great rity.

    The Phantasm soul¡¯s unique aura and fluctuations disgusted him as they suddenly morphed into countless needles of soul power, hoping to pierce his sea of awareness.

    Immediately afterwards, Qiao Yunxi, Yin Yanan, and the Frost Blood Python acted ordingly.

    The Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul awareness split into two different kinds of soul strings: some were crystal-clear, while others were scarlet like blood. They quickly came together and morphed into two spirit beasts: a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s awareness also split and rode these two spirit beasts as they fought the Phantasm soul¡¯s evil power by the edge of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Compared to her, Qiao Yunxi¡¯s soul awareness was much weaker, but carried the zing aura of me crystals that could be found at the hearts of volcanoes.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan¡¯s soul awareness took different forms as they engaged in a fierce battle against the Phantasm soul right outside Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s soul power that carried a zing aura was ripped apart by the Phantasm soul¡¯s fierce attacks and rapidly disappeared.

    However, Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python¡¯s mixed soul power managed to contend against the Phantasm soul¡¯s fierce attacks, and took a lot of pressure off of Nie Tian.

    Thanks to Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan¡¯s efforts, the Phantasm soul couldn¡¯t focus all of its power on infiltrating Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Only a few ghosts that were formed by the Phantasm soul made it to Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, but were soon eliminated.

    This battle of souls didn¡¯tst very long. The Phantasm soul¡¯s attacks were frustrated, and it soon retreated to the prismatic crystal between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows.

    Compared to the previous soul battles, with assistance from Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python, and Qiao Yunxi, Nie Tian won this battle much easier.

    He had feeling that he might be able to wear out the Phantasm soul¡¯s strength and get rid of itpletely before long.

    This was mostly thanks to the fact that Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python could create great difficulty for the Phantasm soul.

    While he let out a sigh of relief and his furrowed eyebrows gradually rxed, the Phantasm soul that hid inside the prismatic crystal once again attempted to influence him with negative emotions.

    Unlike the previous attempts, a new emotion was added to this wave of attack: lust.

    The Phantasm soul brought his desire for the opposite sex out from the bottom of his heart and magnified it by countless times.

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind stirred as he opened his eyes and fixed them on Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan, who were within arm¡¯s reach.

    The two of them had exceptional appearances to start with. Now, in his eyes, their beauty seemed to multiply, which caused his heart to race. His desire to have them right away rapidly took up his heart.

    Under the influence of the strong desire, wisps of his soul awareness took it upon themselves to fly out of his sea of awareness.

    Since Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan hadn¡¯t withdrawn their soul awareness yet at this point, their soul awareness mixed up instantly.

    Numerous images of intimacy among the three of them then entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Meanwhile, since their soul awarenesses were tangled up, the same images entered Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s minds as well.

    Even though their eyes were still closed, their cheeks flushed as soon as they realized what Nie Tian was thinking.

 Chapter 731: Lost

    Yin Yanan shuddered as the connection between her soul awareness and the Frost Blood Python¡¯s was suddenly cut off.

    The Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul awareness then flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s mind. Afterwards, the Frost Blood Python, which had shrunk to the size of a regr snake, fixed her and Nie Tian with a puzzled gaze.

    Yin Yanan bit on her lower lip as her cheeks flushed, and she started to breathe rapidly.

    The same went for Qiao Yunxi.

    The Frost Blood Python wasn¡¯t aware of what was happening in Nie Tian¡¯s mind at this moment.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness quickly wrapped themselves around Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s like entangling ropes.

    The two girls could see every single picture that entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    In each and every one of these indescribable pictures, they could see themselves tangling up with Nie Tian in a variety of positions.

    Since the three of them had their soul awarenesspletely tangled up, Nie Tian¡¯s seething desire gradually spread to the girls.

    Even though they weren¡¯t actually touching each other¡¯s bodies, the girls could feel Nie Tian¡¯s awareness turning into countless hands that stroked their skin and vited them at will.

    This sensation was even more stimting than actual physical contact.

    Soon, the girls lost themselves as well. They panted and sweated like they were drunk. They felt so ethereal that they didn¡¯t even realize where they were and what they were doing.

    They didn¡¯t know that, since their soul awareness hadn¡¯t withdrawn from Nie Tian¡¯s mind when the Phantasm soul had plunged Nie Tian into an abyss of lust, they had fallen as well.

    Now, as the three of them were all lost in the desire for intimacy, they gradually moved closer together.

    On the me Bird, the shrunken Frost Blood Python watched Qiao Yunxi gradually embracing Nie Tian from the front, and Yin Yanan hugging him from behind.

    Their eyes were all closed as Nie Tian reached one hand into Qiao Yunxi¡¯s garments and started fumbling with her bosom.

    At the same time, he put his other arm around Yin Yanan and started stroking her back.

    Even though the two of them were very red in the face, they seemed to enjoy this very much, as they were almost pressing their bodies into Nie Tian¡¯s.

    They held Nie Tian as tightly as they could while putting their ming lips on Nie Tian¡¯s chest and biting the back of his neck.

    Their body temperature soared as their hearts pounded harder and harder. They even took off their clothes that were in their way as they were eager to be a whole.

    At this moment, as the prismatic crystal between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows flickered with misty cyan light, and a blurry figure quietly appeared andughed cunningly at them.

    The Frost Blood Python seemed to notice something as the illusory figure appeared, and let out a sharp screech.

    The sharp screech went right into Yin Yanan¡¯s sea of awareness and pierced through her bewildered mind like a frosty sword.

    ¡°Eh..." Yin Yanan let out a weak exmation that sounded like sleep-talking as she snapped back to her senses under the stabbing pain.

    Her soul awareness instantly struggled away from Nie Tian¡¯s and returned to her sea of awareness.

    In the next moment, she opened her eyes.

    As soon as she did, she realized that she was embracing Nie Tian from behind, and there were a number of her teeth marks on the back of Nie Tian¡¯s neck.

    Her leather chest armor was nowhere to be found, and her full breasts were now squashing into Nie Tian¡¯s back.

    One of Nie Tian¡¯s hands was now fumbling between her legs, sending cold chills all over her and making her feel powerless.

    She went nk for a split second before letting out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering scream. Her flesh power exploded as she pushed Nie Tian away.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi, who were still closely entangled, flew off of the me Bird upon her vigorous push.

    The explosive force Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi felt on their backs pulled them back to reality.

    They snapped out of their overwhelming desire for physical love and opened their eyes.

    Immediately afterwards, Qiao Yunxi let out an ear-piercing scream as she broke away from Nie Tian in a hasty, clumsy manner. Then, shemanded the me Bird to fly over to pick her up.

    Her sharp screampletely awakened Nie Tian to what was happening.

    With a guilty conscience, he snuck a nce at Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan, who were now shrinking on a corner of the me Bird¡¯s back and scrambling to put their clothes back on.

    Their eyes were filled with shock and rage, as if they wanted to eat Nie Tian alive.

    The me Bird ran out of power and stopped close to a floating meteor.

    The pursuing fierce souls weren¡¯t as fast as the me Bird, and thus hadn¡¯t caught up to them yet.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian made an attempt to approach the me Bird, and discovered that, since the gravity was very weak, he could travel through the void even though he hadn¡¯t entered the Profound realm.

    ¡°Don¡¯te any closer!!¡±

    Seeing him approach, Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan once again let out ear-piercing screams.

    Nie Tian froze briefly before changing directions andnding on the floating meteor with a bitter smile on his face.

    Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan exchanged a nce and saw the fury in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Yin Yanan was just about to say something when she flushed even more, and a strange expression appeared on her face.

    She felt arge amount of sticky fluid sticking to her inner thighs and the inside of her fur skirt, making her feel very ufortable.

    After a brief pondering, she felt both shamed and angered. She summoned arge painting of mountains and rivers from within her ring of holding, with which she blocked Nie Tian¡¯s sight. Then, she quickly took out a new fur skirt and changed into it with her back facing Qiao Yunxi.

    Qiao Yunxi took a nce at her perfectly-shaped bottom, and an embarrassed expression appeared on her face.

    She then looked down and saw her own milky breasts covered in scratches, which was apparently Nie Tian¡¯s doing.

    Besides that, she also felt rather ufortable in her private parts, and thus hastily changed into another ming dress.

    Yin Yanan turned around and saw her putting her dress on in a panicking manner. Even her ears went red with fury as she said, gritting her teeth, ¡°The bastard took advantage of us! He did things to both our souls and bodies!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyes also brimmed with burning rage as she said viciously, ¡°He has to die!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking!¡± Yin Yanan agreed.

    WHOOSH!

    The painting flew back into her ring of holding as her well-built body suddenly dashed out of the me Bird towards Nie Tian.

    Upon seeing this, Qiao Yunxi also shot towards Nie Tian like a ball of mes.

    Watching the girlsing at him in a ming rage, Nie Tian hastily said, ¡°What are you doing!? It wasn¡¯t my intention to do that! I was influenced by the Phantasm soul just as you were! You know perfectly well what happened. I¡¯m a victim too!

    ¡°Plus, I have a fiancee! You ruined my chastity, and now you¡¯re trying to kill me for what happened!?¡±

    He might as well have not spoken at all. After hearing his words, Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi became even more furious.

    They didn¡¯t even care about the pursuing souls anymore. All they wanted was to tear Nie Tian¡¯s mouth to pieces and kill him right away to vent their rage.

    With a guilty conscience, Nie Tian shouted as he dashed from ce to ce to avoid them, ¡°Hey! Think about the consequences!¡±

    To their surprise, Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi couldn¡¯t catch him without the help of the me Bird.

    SHEW!

    As Nie Tianunched short-range Starshifts to avoid them, they chased him farther and farther on the floating meteor.

    However, the girls didn¡¯t seem to be willing to give up yet. One was like a ball of mes, while the other was like a mad spirit beast. They cursed while chasing closely after Nie Tian.

    ¡°You need to calm down! Those fierce souls will be here soon. If this continues, nothing good cane out of it!¡± Nie Tian tried to persuade them to stop.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted furiously.

    ¡°I¡¯m a victim too!¡± Nie Tian called out again. ¡°If we fight among ourselves, the Phantasm soul will be the only one who benefits from it!¡±

    ¡°This matter will hang over my head my entire life if I don¡¯t kill you now!¡± Yin Yanan shouted. ¡°You have to die, asshole!¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re bent on doing this, then don¡¯t me me for leaving you behind!¡± Nie Tian felt a headache over the situation as he saw his star power run low fromunching short-range Starshifts repeatedly.

    Seeing that the two of them wouldn¡¯t listen to him, he finally summoned the Star Boat from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the Star Boat flew out, he jumped in and steered it away from the meteor into the distance.

    Qiao Yunxi gasped with astonishment as she watched Nie Tian disappear from her sight in the blink of an eye. ¡°Why is his air-transportation spiritual tool so fast?!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the me Bird! We can¡¯t let that asshole get away!¡± Yin Yanan shouted.

    Qiao Yunxi nodded vigorously. ¡°Sure!¡±

    Momentster, they returned to the me Bird to refill it with fire-attributed spiritual materials. That was when they saw the six fierce souls in the distance.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Dammit! They¡¯re here!¡±

 Chapter 732: Chase

    The six fierce discarnate souls rapidly approached the me Bird, and a wave of evil soul power came flooding towards the girls.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered as she eximed, ¡°Dammit! That bastard left by himself. What should we do?!¡±

    Yin Yanan frowned deeply and said, ¡°My Frost Blood Python isn¡¯t strong enough to handle them yet.¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not toote to fly away.¡± Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t dare to waste any time as she started the me Bird in an attempt to escape from the fierce souls.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    The six fierce souls once again formed a special formation that resembled the Spirit God Sect¡¯s Grand Soul Grind.

    A strong soul attracting force was suddenly born, and started to channel Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan¡¯s true souls towards the formation.

    Their true souls were bound as if by hundreds of ropes and slowly dragged out of their seas of awareness. Once their true souls were pulled into the strange vortex that looked like a grinder, they would be ground to pieces.

    The girls had a hard time resisting the attractive force.

    At this moment, they finally realized that without Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl, they didn¡¯t stand a chance at fighting these fierce souls by themselves.

    SHEW!

    Just as their true souls were about to be separated from their seas of awareness, the Star Boat flew back to them like a dashing meteor.

    It stopped beside the me Bird in the blink of an eye.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian jumped onto the me Bird, and as he lifted his hand, the Star Boat disappeared into his ring of holding.

    With his other hand, he held the Spirit Pearl up as he fixed the fierce souls with a cold stare.

    Upon sensing the presence of the Spirit Pearl, the fierce souls hastily shrank back in fear and eyed it from afar.

    The attracting force they had unleashed on Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s souls also disappeared.

    The girls¡¯ true souls were finally free again.

    ¡°You finally remembered toe back for us?!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted, still furious.

    Nie Tian smiled somewhat embarrassedly as he exined, ¡°I only left so that you could return to your senses. I didn¡¯t actually want you to die.¡±

    He was aware that if the Phantasm soulunched another soul attack, the two of them would be able to provide him with some help, especially Yin Yanan.

    After merging her soul power with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s, Yin Yanan would be able to take a lot of pressure off of him, allowing him to resist the Phantasm soul¡¯s attacks on his sea of awareness fairly effortlessly.

    He believed that as long as he had Yin Yanan there to help him, the Phantasm soul wouldn¡¯t stand a chance at breaching his defenses.

    Not just that, but as it gradually drained its power, perhaps he would be able to find a way to get rid of it for good.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here first!¡± Yin Yanan said with a cold face.

    Even though they were still very angry with Nie Tian, they knew that this wasn¡¯t the time tosh out at him.

    Qiao Yunxi nodded as she steered the me Bird into the distance like a bolt of lightning.

    Momentster, the me Bird left the six fierce souls far behind.

    The tip of one of Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyebrows rose as she asked, ¡°That air-transportation spiritual tool of yours, where did you get it? It seems every bit as fast as my me Bird, if not faster. I didn¡¯t get a good look at it just now, but I have a feeling that it¡¯s even more advanced than my me Bird.¡±

    A shocked expression appeared on Yin Yanan¡¯s face.

    The me Bird was a famous air-transportation spiritual tool throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The other few air-transportation spiritual tools that were even more valuable than the me Bird were all in the hands of powerful patriarchs.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat was clearly not one of them, yet it turned out to be more advanced than the me Bird, which was quite shocking.

    Facing Qiao Yunxi¡¯s questions, Nie Tian onlyughed, but didn¡¯t give an answer.

    Yin Yanan grew angry again seeing himugh. That was when she suddenly noticed the teeth marks on the back of his neck.

    She couldn¡¯t help but make a fist and m Nie Tian¡¯s chest with it.

    BOOM!

    A drumming sound echoed out, and Nie Tian felt his chest almost explode. His expression flickered drastically as a muffled groan escaped his mouth.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s fist strike was even more explosive than the vigorous attack of a spirit beast. If he hadn¡¯t spent so much time and effort refining his body, each and every one of his ribs would have been shattered.

    He took a deep breath. With one hand on his chest, he stopped Yin Yanan fromunching another strike with the other, and said coldly, ¡°Are you done yet!?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Yin Yanan eximed.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    In the narrow space on the me Bird¡¯s back, Yin Yanan struck repeatedly, and Nie Tian handled her moves with his palms, knees, and elbows.

    A series of muffled shing sounds echoed out as they exchanged moves. The me Bird even shook violently because of it.

    Nie Tian had experience fighting powerful outsiders, so he was rather good at fighting in close quarters. However, he couldn¡¯t seem to gain an upper hand in his battle against Yin Yanan.

    BOOM!

    As quickly as lightning, Yin Yanan¡¯s right elbow went through Nie Tian¡¯s defenses and struck him hard in his shoulder, causing him to stumble back a step, almost falling off the me Bird¡¯s back.

    While the two of them fought, the me Bird gradually slowed down.

    ¡°Alright, alright!¡± Qiao Yunxi yelled as she found an opportunity to jump between them.

    Nie Tian rubbed his burning shoulder as he said with a grim face, ¡°You¡¯re such a female beast!¡±

    Each of Yin Yanan¡¯s strikes seemed to be vested with the power of a hundred ancient beasts. Nie Tian felt he could almost hear beast roars every time she struck.

    It was as if she had spirit beast blood running in her veins.

    Nie Tian had a feeling that she hadn¡¯t even used the slightest bit of spiritual power when she struck him.

    She only relied on her explosive flesh power, and the battle prowess she disyed already put Nie Tian under great pressure.

    It seemed that herbat techniques were even better than his. If it weren¡¯t for his exceptionally resilient body, he would have had his bones shattered in many ces already.

    Yin Yanan stopped attacking due to Qiao Yunxi¡¯s interference, but her expression was still very unpleasant as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t you imagine that we¡¯re even just because you saved me from the fierce souls. You killed many members of my sect and... and you defiled me. We¡¯ll settle these ounts sooner orter.¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Settle ounts with me? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve done anything wrong.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi gave a bitter smile and interrupted them. ¡°Let¡¯s think of a way to survive first. Those fierce souls keep chasing after us. As long as they don¡¯t give up, we can¡¯t leave your side.

    ¡°On the other hand, that Phantasm soul still hasn¡¯t given up on the idea of possessing you. If we follow you around, once that Phantasm soul actually seeds, we¡¯ll also be in danger.

    ¡°What¡¯s even more troublesome is that we¡¯ve lost our bearings, and don¡¯t know where to go.¡±

    The problems she pointed out were also bothering Yin Yanan. They both fell silent.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered for a long time before saying, ¡°It¡¯s about time we go our separate ways.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was taken aback. ¡°What!?¡±

    Pointing at the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯s summoning those fierce souls and giving them directions. As long as it¡¯s still here, those fierce souls will always be able to find me. Even your me Bird can¡¯t separate us from them long enough to cut the Phantasm soul¡¯s connection with thempletely.

    ¡°My suggestion is that I leave by myself while those fierce souls are still far from us. At the same time, you go in the opposite direction. This way, you should be able to break away from their pursuit.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi pondered briefly before saying, ¡°That¡¯s actually a feasible n.¡±

    Yin Yanan also thought her n made sense.

    ¡°Alright, this is goodbye then!¡± Without any hesitation, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat, jumped on board, and dashed off into the distance.

    The girls stared nkly at him as the Star Boat rapidly disappeared from their sight. For some reason, dejected expressions appeared on their faces.

    ¡°He... left just like that?¡± Qiao Yunxi said nkly.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyebrows were knitted and she didn¡¯t utter a word.

    After a while, Qiao Yunxi suddenly eximed, ¡°Wait! Our grand elder invited him here. He must have his reasons! Plus, it was him who led me to that strange meteor where we found those soul crystals! He must have cooked up some other ns, and didn¡¯t want us to stand in his way!¡±

    With these words, she gritted her teeth and said to Yin Yanan, ¡°Even without my me Bird, you can travel with the help of your Frost Blood Python. He¡¯s those fierce souls¡¯ target, so as long as you stay away from us, they won¡¯t pursue you anymore. You go ahead and leave. I¡¯ll follow him and see what he¡¯s up to.¡±

    Yin Yanan gazed off in the direction Nie Tian had left in. After a moment of silence, she said with great determination, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked confusedly.

    ¡°I still have to settle ounts with him.¡± After uttering these words, Yin Yanan¡¯s face grew grim. ¡°Also, I don¡¯t know where to go if I don¡¯t go with you. I don¡¯t want to drift around in this vast heaven and earth by myself.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was taken aback. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and said, ¡°Alright then.¡±

    She knew that it wasn¡¯t wise for anyone to wander around in this boundless unknown space alone.

    Therefore, the me Bird sped off after the Star Boat.

    Merely a quarter hourter, the me Bird caught up to the Star Boat, which was berthed on a floating, greenish-ck meteor.

    Nie Tian was sittingpletely still in his Star Boat, his eyes closed and his expression twisted.

    ¡°The Phantasm soul is attacking his sea of awareness again!¡±

 Chapter 733: Splitting Up

    The me Bird came to a stop next to the Star Boat.

    The girls leapt off of the me Bird andnded lightly in the Star Boat.

    Eyes fixed on the Star Stones that covered the bottom of the Star Boat, Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered as she said, ¡°This air-transportation spiritual tool actually runs on Star Stones! Does that mean this guy has something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°He does practice star power!¡± Qiao Yunxi chimed in.

    She had traveled with Nie Tian for some time and sensed star power on him on several asions.

    Earlier, when Nie Tian had activated Primal Chaos, she had noticed sparks of starlight in it, along with many other types of power.

    It was just that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wasn¡¯t the only sect in this universe to practice star power.

    Several minor sects had also found ways to channel star power and created star power incantations.

    However, their understanding of star powergged far behind the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and their influence wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning whenpared to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    She had thought Nie Tian to be from one of those sects.

    However, the Star Boat...

    This air-transportation spiritual tool was indeed more advanced than her me Bird. Besides, Nie Tian had Spirit-channeling grade spiritual tools like the me Dragon Armor and powerful puppets like the Bone Blood Demon in his possession.

    All of these indicated that Nie Tian had a powerful background. Adding in Yue Yanxi¡¯s reminder, she had to connect Nie Tian to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce now.

    Yin Yanan gasped with astonishment. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he¡¯s actually from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually quite likely,¡± Qiao Yunxi said.

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t he say so?!¡± Yin Yanan said angrily. ¡°If he had stated his identity back when we were at thatke, Senior Hong, Wei Yun, and Chu Xuanji wouldn¡¯t have treated him like that!¡±

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s name alone inspired awe throughout the starry river. The sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were far weaker.

    Those experts probably wouldn¡¯t have dared to touch him if they had known who he was.

    A sense of frustration rapidly filled Yin Yanan¡¯s heart as a train of thoughts entered her mind. <i>¡°If he¡¯s really from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, my sect won¡¯t be able to do anything to him even though he¡¯s killed Senior Hong and many others... Not to mention that he had an excuse to do so. After all, Senior Hong and the others demanded soul crystals from him first.¡±</i>

    ¡°Let¡¯s drop that matter for now,¡± Qiao Yunxi said with knitted brow. ¡°That Phantasm soul is attacking him now. What do we do? Once he¡¯s possessed, you and I will also be in trouble.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s cheeks flushed slightly as she grunted, ¡°You should know what will happen if we try to help him.¡±

    With a bitter expression, Qiao Yunxi said, ¡°Of course I do. However, I believe we can avoid the situation fromst time if we can withdraw our soul awareness from his mind quickly enough.¡±

    After hesitating for a long time, Yin Yananid her eyes on Nie Tian, whose face was twisted, as he seemed to be having a hard time handling the Phantasm soul¡¯s attacks. She gritted her teeth and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s help onest time!¡±

    The girls once again sent their soul awareness into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness to help him defend against the Phantasm soul¡¯s invasion.

    As soon as their soul awareness entered, they saw the Phantasm soul storming Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness with all kinds of profound soul magics.

    A misty ward was shining brightly as it protected Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Without any hesitation, the girls¡¯ soul awareness started attacking the Phantasm soul, but they also spared some attention to observe Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    They vaguely saw nine clusters of dazzling light at the center of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    It seemed that Nie Tian was relying on them to defend his sea of awareness against the Phantasm soul¡¯s waves of fierce attacks.

    They sensed an evesting aura from within the clusters of dazzling light, which strengthened their conviction: Nie Tian had something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Since they only knew that experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had visited the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries a very long time ago, and they didn¡¯t know much about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, they didn¡¯t know what those clusters of dazzling light were.

    ¡°He is from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!!¡± Eximing inwardly, the girls did everything within their power to help Nie Tian fight the Phantasm soul.

    The Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul power split into countless wisps of aura that morphed into Frost Pythons and Blood Stripe Pythons, which became the main force to contend against the Phantasm soul.

    Shortly after they joined the battle, this battle between souls once again ended in the Phantasm soul¡¯s retreat.

    Sensing the situation, Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi withdrew their soul awareness at lightning speed, not daring to dy one second.

    They were worried that the Phantasm soul would once again influence them and plunge them into an abyss of desire.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the six fierce souls caught up to them and started hovering over the meteor they were on.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open before he nced at Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan and asked with an unpleasant tone, ¡°Why did youe here?¡±

    ¡°You would have been possessed by the Phantasm soul if we didn¡¯t!¡± Qiao Yunxi said coldly.

    ¡°Are you really from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    ¡°Why do you care?¡± Nie Tian asked with an indifferent tone.

    Before Yin Yanan couldsh out, Qiao Yunxi couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?! If we didn¡¯t help you, you would have been possessed already! Not only didn¡¯t you not thank us, but you actually talked to us with such an attitude! Can you not tell good from bad?!¡±

    ¡°I can handle the Phantasm soul just fine!¡± Nie Tian said with an icy tone.

    In fact, he hade up with a n when he had decided to part ways with the girls. He had nned to use the me Dragon Armor to open the gate to the mysteriousnd where eight sets of me dragon skeletonsy in a spell formation.

    He had refined the discarnate souls in the Spirit Pearl there before.

    The Phantasm soul was by nature only a soul. Therefore, he believed that, once he went there, he would be able to get rid of it for good with the spell formation formed by eight sets of me dragon skeletons.

    In fact, this was the main reason why he had proposed to split up with the girls.

    Since the me Dragon Armor¡¯s former master was the son of the Divine me Sect¡¯s sectmaster, he didn¡¯t want to expose the me Dragon Armor¡¯s secret, especially to Qiao Yunxi, in case the Divine me Sect wanted it back in the future.

    Just now, he had actually been waiting for the six fierce souls when the girls had arrived and saw him defending himself against the Phantasm soul with great effort.

    He had nned to take care of those fierce souls together.

    If Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan hadn¡¯t showed up, he would have already opened the spatial portal with the me Dragon Armor and led those fierce souls into that magicalnd, where he would have refined them.

    Yin Yanan was so angered that her curvy body trembled slightly. ¡°Fine! You say whatever you want to say! See if I¡¯ll help you when that Phantasm soul invades your sea of awareness again!¡±

    ¡°You should apologize to us, Nie Tian!¡± Qiao Yunxi demanded.

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Apologize? Ladies, I¡¯ll say it one more time. I don¡¯t want you to follow me anymore. I don¡¯t want to see you. I¡¯m leaving now. Please let me go!¡±

    With these words, he flicked his sleeve, signaling to the girls to get out of his Star Boat.

    ¡°You think you¡¯re such a big deal just because you¡¯re from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted, fuming with anger.

    ¡°You¡¯re the most shameless person I¡¯ve ever met!¡± Yin Yanan said furiously.

    ¡°Fine! We¡¯ll have nothing to do with each other from now on! You take your open road, I¡¯ll cross my log bridge! (idiom: you go your way, I¡¯ll go mine)¡± With these words, Qiao Yunxi stormed back to her me Bird and said to Yin Yanan, ¡°Let¡¯s go, Sister Yanan!¡±

    Yin Yanan also flew back to the Frost Blood Python with the Frost Blood Python, her heart filled with disdain for Nie Tian.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian put the Star Boat away and also jumped onto the me Bird. ¡°I¡¯ll escort you for now. We¡¯ll split up as soon as you¡¯re safe.¡±

    With these words, he closed his eyes, holding the Spirit Pearl in silence.

    He knew that as long as he held the Spirit Pearl, the six fierce souls wouldn¡¯t dare toe close.

    Qiao Yunxi was also well-aware of this, and thus didn¡¯t throw him out. She refilled the me Bird with fire-attributed materials and headed out.

    An hourter, the six fierce souls were once again far behind them.

    ¡°Goodbye!¡± Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and flew off at a speed even faster than the me Bird.

    Watching the Star Boat disappearing from her sight, Qiao Yunxi cursed in a low voice, gritting her teeth, ¡°Bastard!¡±

    Face as cold as ice, Yin Yanan said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know he was such a big jerk!¡±

 Chapter 734: The Aura of A Grand Patriarch

    A Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship sailed across numerous domains and arrived at the floating meteor where Nie Tian and the three parties had discovered that strangeke.

    If Nie Tian were still here, he would have found this ancient starship to be very simr to the one he had seen in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The ancient starship berthed directly over theke.

    Many Phantasms stood on the ancient starship and looked down, theke¡¯s reflection appearing in their cyan pupils.

    Standing at the front was a noble female Phantasm with an unearthly beautiful appearance. A ray of blinding light shot out of the prismatic crystal between her eyebrows and quickly morphed into an enormous ring of light.

    The ring thrummed with mysterious soul fluctuations that could bewitch and bring all living beings to heel.

    The ring of light slowly descended and circled the entire meteor. Wisps of soul awareness infiltrated the meteor to examine the depths of theke.

    Among the numerous high-tier Phantasm experts that stood beside the noble female Phantasm, there was someone Nie Tian was rather familiar with: Armes.

    After some time, the female Phantasm withdrew her soul awareness. Frowning, she said, ¡°There isn¡¯t a single soul crystal left at the bottom of that Soul-devouring Lake now.¡±

    Shocked, Armes asked, ¡°What does that mean, Lord Yuna!?¡±

    The other Phantasm experts also looked deeply astonished and confused.

    The graceful female Phantasm, who was referred to as Yuna, said, ¡°Either no soul crystals formed here in this Soul-devouring Lake, or someone else beat us to collecting them.¡±

    ¡°How can no soul crystals have formed?!¡± Armes shouted.

    Yuna nodded. ¡°Yeah, there were probably some soul crystals at the bottom of the Soul-devouring Lake, but someone took them. There are signs of a battle on this meteor, and from the look of it, it didn¡¯tst long. This means more than one group found this ce. They engaged in a battle, and the winner took all of the soul crystals.¡±

    ¡°Who could they be?¡± Armes asked with a grim face. ¡°All of our allied races know that this Soul-devouring Lake belongs to us, along with the soul crystals in it. They would have informed us if they had discovered it.¡±

    ¡°Who said anything about our allied races?¡± Yuna snorted coldly.

    Armes was taken aback. ¡°Was it the humans who did this? Our Soul-devouring Lakes have their unique features. Humans have the weakest bodies. They can¡¯t get to the bottom, can they?¡±

    ¡°There are exceptions in everything!¡± Yuna said, shooting Armes a cold gaze. Then, she suddenly flew off the ancient starship and plunged into theke. She reached theke bottom within seconds.

    Due to the terrifying buoyancy, Hong Xian, Chu Xuanji, and the other human experts had been unable to descend to theke bottom.

    Even Nie Tian, who had tempered his body over and over with Heavenly Wood Heal, had only managed to descend to theke bottom with the help of the me Dragon Armor.

    She, however, reached theke bottom without breaking a sweat.

    As soon as she reached theke bottom, she unleashed her immense soul awareness, which rapidly spread to and thoroughly examined every corner of theke like thousands of tentacles.

    A strange expression then appeared on her face.

    Secondster, she shot up through theke¡¯s surface. She raised her hands, and theke that looked like an emerald embedded in this meteor rumbled loudly. Immediately afterwards, a strong force tore theke away from the meteor, along with its adjacentnd, which rose up andnded in the ancient starship.

    ¡°I sensed the faint residual aura of a grand patriarch of our race at the bottom of theke,¡± Yuna said after returning to the ancient starship herself.

    All of the Phantasm experts were shocked by her words, and started moring among themselves.

    ¡°How is that possible?!¡±

    ¡°No way!¡±

    Those who could be referred to as grand patriarchs were powerful experts at the ninth grade. These Phantasms didn¡¯t even have one grand patriarch in their n.

    Yuna, Armes, and all these other Phantasms were from the Greivis n, which only ranked in the middle among all of the Phantasm ns.

    Because of this, Armes had hastily led their forces back home when he had received word of the death of Basto, who had been at the seventh grade.

    After his return, he had reported to their n elders. The elders hadn¡¯t had a full understanding of the situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and thus hadn¡¯t sent another invasion army.

    Any grand patriarch would attract a lot of attention wherever they went. Why would a grand patriarch suddenly show up in a ce like this?

    ¡°That grand patriarch¡¯s aura is very weak,¡± Yuna said, her eyes narrowed. ¡°It seems his soul has sustained severe injuries, and he doesn¡¯t even have one tenth of his peak strength left. I suppose he came to this Soul-devouring Lake in an attempt to recover with the soul crystals at theke bottom. However...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Armes couldn¡¯t help but ask.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t seem to have seeded,¡± Yuna said, frowning. ¡°If he did, this entire Soul-devouring Lake wouldn¡¯t have been here anymore. He would have taken it with him. He must have been attacked when he was recovering with soul crystals. Otherwise, the aura I detected wouldn¡¯t have been this weak.¡±

    ¡°So what do we do now, Lord Yuna?¡± Armes asked.

    ¡°Find him!¡± Yuna said, gazing off into the distance. ¡°We can track his aura with the help of the Soul-devouring Lake. This is a ninth grade grand patriarch we¡¯re talking about. If we can find him and help him recover to his peak state, our entire n will benefit from it!¡±

    ...

    In a corner of the forbidden region.

    The Star Boat shone with dazzling starlight as it pierced into a floating meteor like a sharp sword.

    CRACKLE!

    The Star Boat went nearly a hundred meters into the meteor before finallying to a stop.

    Nie Tian put the Star Boat away in his ring of holding and then gazed at the mouth of the hole from the bottom of it.

    Holding the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core in his hand, he startedmunicating with its soul.

    Shortly afterwards, Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim as he muttered, ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±

    Looking at the six fierce souls that were flying down the deep hole, he eximed, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Raging mes suddenly burst forth from within the Blood Core. Scorched by the mes, the rocks around him started to make crackling sounds.

    Then, a mysterious spatial power drew out a few fine spatial rifts at the bottom of the hole.

    The spatial rifts rapidly wove with one another and morphed into a zing spatial portal. A cold smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he shot the six fierce souls a nce and flew right into the portal.

    The six souls howled fiercely as they followed him into the portal by relying on the profound connection between them and the Phantasm soul.

    Afterwards, the mysterious spatial portal gradually shrank to the size of a grain of rice before vanishing into thin air.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found himself standing on the altar that was surrounded by eight sets of me dragon skeletons. Titan arms that looked like mountain peaks could be seen around him.

    He was d in the me Dragon Armor, while holding the Blood Core in his hand.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The six fierce souls swarmed into this magicalnd after him. They hovered around him at high speed, but didn¡¯t dare toe too close.

    ¡°Refine them all!¡± With these words, Nie Tian tossed the Blood Core up into the air, seemingly determined to get rid of them for good in this ce.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Eight streams of me flew out of the Blood Core before instantly infusing into the eight sets of me dragon skeletons, each of which was about a thousand meters long.

    After receiving the mes, the me dragon skeletons seemed to have been ignited. Their bones instantly assumed the look of me crystals. Countless fiery veins could be seen inside the semi-transparent bones.

    Immediately afterwards, torrential me power poured out of the me dragons¡¯ open mouths and streamed into the dpidated altar.

    Standing on the altar, Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that he was engulfed by me power so fierce that it could destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    The torrential mes swallowed the entire altar, but he, d in the me Dragon Armor, wasn¡¯t affected at all.

    However, the six fierce souls that had chased him into this magical dimension instantly caught fire, giving rise to loud crackling sounds.

    The fierce souls let out agonized shrieks as their broken awareness and evil desires were all burned to ashes.

    Wisps of pure soul power then rose quietly from the raging mes.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s second fragmentary star mark suddenly flew out of his chest and floated in a ce close to his forehead.

    The wisps of pure soul power rapidly flew into the fragmentary star marks and, from there, entered his sea of awareness in a way he couldn¡¯t even fathom.

    His nine star souls, which had consumed a significant amount of power from his previous battles against the Phantasm soul, quickly absorbed the soul power like sponges absorbing water.

    Within a short time, the six fierce souls disappearedpletely, and the nine star souls recovered more than half of the power they had expended.

    Standing in the middle of the dpidated altar, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and issued another order. ¡°Next!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of Earthme Crystal Strings came to form in the sea of mes.

    Under the control of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, they pierced violently into the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows one after another.

    The Phantasm soul¡¯s shape then appeared in the cyan prismatic crystal. It had apparently sensed danger, and started struggling in an attempt to break away from the crystal.

    However, numerous scarlet strings had already pierced into the prismatic crystal, which was called a soul core.

    Each and every one of them pierced through the Phantasm soul, infusing it with zing auras that could refine everything in this universe.

    Crackling sounds echoed out as the Phantasm soul¡¯s vague shape started to shrink.

    Even the prismatic crystal started to shrink, like a soul crystal that was being drained of its soul power.

    At the same time, the countless strings that bound the prismatic crystal tightly to Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and skull were severed by invisible des.

    BAM!

    The prismatic crystal, which he hadn¡¯t been able to tear off no matter what, suddenly fell from between his eyebrows to the ground.

    Nie Tian instantly felt as if a heavy burden was lifted from his shoulders.

    He let out a sigh of relief. ¡°It worked!¡±

    Overjoyed, he looked down at the prismatic crystal as numerous fiery strings continued to refine the Phantasm soul inside of it.

    As the scarlet strings burst into destructive mes, the Phantasm soul¡¯s awareness and memories of its many profound soul magics were rapidly burned away.

    Before long, the prismatic crystal vanishedpletely, and the Phantasm soul that had hidden inside of it was exposed in the form of cluster of soul fire that was the size of a fingernail.

    It flickered as if it could go out at any moment.

    At this moment, the voice of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul came from the Blood Core. ¡°Master! It¡¯s nowpletely purged of its old memories. It¡¯s a brand new soul now. Like a newborn, it can now be used as the soul for a spiritual tool.

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before asking, ¡°It can be used as the soul for a spiritual tool now?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul answered. ¡°That pearl of yours was forged by the Phantasms. It¡¯ll work fine for this new soul.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°How do I do it?¡±

 Chapter 735: Soul Refining

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul answered, ¡°I¡¯m not a human equipment forger. How would I know about that?¡±

    The mes that had engulfed the entire altar gradually scattered and disappeared. The Blood Core, which had been floating over Nie Tian, also returned to the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°I¡¯ve consumed plenty of my me power,¡± it added, ¡°we can¡¯t stay here for much longer. You need to decide now whether to fuse that pure soul with that pearl of yours, or refine it thoroughly.¡±

    The raging mes soon dissipatedpletely, and all that was left was the cluster of soul fire that was flickering before Nie Tian.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he examined it with rapt attention, and didn¡¯t sense any danger from it.

    In his senses, this cluster of soul fire was a pure soul body. Even though it was still powerful, it was bereft of any memories.

    ¡°Fuse it with the Spirit Pearl...¡± With these words, Nie Tian slowly held the Spirit Pearl closer to the cluster of soul fire. As he did, he had a feeling that the Spirit Pearl had started to attract the cluster of greenish-ck fire on its own.

    Just as he pondered what he should do, the second fragmentary star mark that had flown out of his chest suddenly lit up.

    It recorded information about star souls, Starchain, and other secret soul magics from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The first fragmentary star mark recorded the usage of star power; the second one recorded soul rted contents; the third one recorded methods to build inner domains.

    Perhaps this was the reason why the second fragmentary star mark had been able to help him channel the pure soul power from the six fierce souls into his sea of awareness to strengthen his star souls.

    At this moment, the second fragmentary star mark actually flew to the flickering soul fire.

    Before Nie Tian realized what was happening, the cluster of soul fire was swallowed by the second fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he hastily sent wisps of his soul awareness into the second fragmentary star mark.

    BOOM!

    His soul awareness suddenly exploded within the second fragmentary star mark.

    Numerous mysterious magical symbols that carried his aura flew out and rapidly fused with the cluster of soul fire.

    The cluster of soul fire seemed to be instantly branded with his unique soul aura.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian was struck by a strong sense of exhaustion. He could see the nine star souls in his sea of awareness rapidly losing their soul power.

    His star souls were shrinking at a noticeable rate.

    It seemed that it would take a significant amount of soul power to brand that reborn soul with his own marks.

    Momentster, his nine star souls grew dimmer and dimmer.

    At the same time, the cluster of soul fire started to form its awareness bit by bit, as if it were a newborn, growing and examining this world.

    It gradually formed new memories as well.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the new soul flew out of the second fragmentary star mark into the Spirit Pearl.

    The Spirit Pearl had gathered numerous discarnate souls from the outsiders Nie Tian had killed, which had helped light up the star map inside of it.

    The moment the new soul flew into the Spirit Pearl, many discarnate souls gathered around it, bearing their fangs and ws in an attempt to devour it.

    However, the new soul didn¡¯t seem afraid in the slightest.

    Numerous discarnate souls rapidly surrounded the cluster of soul fire in ring upon ring. However, it ended up draining their soul power.

    The cluster of soul fire came from a powerful Phantasm expert, while the Spirit Pearl was a treasure forged by the Phantasms. The two seemed to agree with each other perfectly.

    The new soul was like a fish that had returned to the water. It rapidly strengthened itself with the power it absorbed from the discarnate souls.

    At first, Nie Tian was a bit worried that the new soul would be able to recover its old memories as it gathered more and more soul power.

    However, he examined it closely for a long time, and discovered that he was now its only memory.

    The cluster of soul fire had an extremely strong sense of belonging with him. Even though it was umting power, Nie Tian didn¡¯t sense the slightest threat from it.

    ¡°Does this mean the second fragmentary star mark has helped me erase all of its old memories, nt in my unique imprints on it, and made me its master?¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t tear his eyes from the cluster of soul fire as it grew stronger and stronger within the Spirit Pearl.

    At the same time, the remaining discarnate souls seemed to sense the danger, and thus stayed as far away from it as they could.

    ¡°From the look of it, it still needs some time to clear the Spirit Pearl and be its soul.¡± With this thought in mind, Nie Tian¡¯s awareness returned to his mind. He looked down and discovered that the second fragmentary star mark had already returned to his chest, and once again disappeared under his skin.

    At this moment, a message came through from the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul, telling him that it had consumed too much of its power, and it was about time they left.

    ¡°The problems are finally dealt with.¡± Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief and told the me Dragon Armor to open a spatial portal, through which he returned.

    In the next moment, he appeared at the bottom of a deep hole in the meteor he hade from, and put the me Dragon Armor back into his ring of holding.

    <i>¡°Nothing seems to have changed on the star map within the Spirit Pearl except that the meteor with that strangeke is now marked out.</i>

    <i>¡°I¡¯ve no idea where Yue Yanxi is now, or where the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s teleportation portals were.</i>

    <i>¡°So instead of drifting around, I might as well stay in one ce and recover my strength first.¡±</i>

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian sealed the mouth of the hole with broken rocks, sat down, and started recovering with all sorts of spiritual materials and strengthening his true soul and star souls with the considerable amount of soul crystals he had gathered.

    He had been in all kinds of dangerous situations since he hade to this forbidden region. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to practice cultivation.

    Now that he was finally free, he found that there were so many things he needed to do.

    After awakening the Life Blend bloodline talent, the green aura in his heart had once again shown its endless desire for flesh power. Only by satisfying it would it enter dormancy again and prepare for the next talent awakening.

    Fortunately, he still had some outsider corpses left in his ring of holding.

    Even though all of them had been drained of their blood by the Bone Blood Demon, their bones, meridians, and internal organs still contained considerable flesh power.

    Therefore, he took them out and started channeling flesh power from them to feed his bloodline aura.

    Time passed without him noticing it.

    On this day, he finally finished absorbing the flesh power of all of the outsider corpses in his possession, as well as the spirit beast corpses Dong Li had purchased for him.

    His bloodline aura had devoured everyst wisp of the flesh power he had absorbed, yet it still showed no signs of being satisfied at all.

    ¡°Dear god! How much flesh power do I have to gather in order for my bloodline to enter the sixth upgrade circle?¡±

    To this day, his bloodline had upgraded five times and awakened five bloodline talents, which were Life Transfer, Life Stealth, Life Drain, Blood Essence Extraction, and Life Blend.

    Every time it upgraded, the amount of flesh power it would need for the next upgrade would rise significantly.

    Even though he still had a small amount of spirit beast meat left in his ring of holding, since he still needed it for food, he couldn¡¯t refine it all.

    Therefore, he had no choice but stop channeling flesh power to the green aura, and started recovering with all sorts of spiritual materials.

    Fortunately, he still hadrge stocks of spirit stones, Star Stones, and spiritual materials of fire and wood attributes.

    After his spiritual core recovered and the three vortexes brimmed with power again, he went on to strengthen his star souls with soul crystals.

    His star souls had also consumed a significant amount of power to help him defend against the Phantasm soul¡¯s attacks, andter brand the soul fire with his unique imprints. Nie Tian drained ten soul crystals to recover the power they had lost.

    Afterwards, he continued to strengthen his star souls with soul crystals, while trying to derive enlightenment regarding star souls and Starchain, which were recorded in the second fragmentary star mark.

    After an unknown period of time, while his soul awareness was swimming in the second fragmentary star mark, the sound of something speeding through the air caught his attention.

    He summoned Heaven Eyes and flew them out of the deep hole. In the next moment, he eximed inwardly,<i> ¡°It¡¯s them!¡±</i>

    BOOM!

    The rocks that had sealed the mouth of the hole exploded, and Nie Tian flew out from the bottom of the deep hole.

    Qiao Yunxi was taken aback, standing on her me Bird. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    A few other air-transportation spiritual tools stopped beside her. Yin Yanan, Chu Bowen, Xing Beichen, and some other members of the three parties all fixed Nie Tian with bewildered stares.

    Every one of them looked rather bedraggled. Many were even covered in wounds. From the look of it, they had just been through a fierce battle.

    All of the Profound realm and Soul realm experts were nowhere to be seen. It was unknown where they were now.

 Chapter 736: Forced to Help

    Together, there were more than twenty Greater Heaven stage and Worldly realm cultivators from the three parties. Many of their air-transportation spiritual tools were damaged.

    All of them were injured to different extents. Some seemed to be in critical condition, as theyy in their air-transportation spiritual tools like dying men.

    Conspicuous wounds could also be seen in Yin Yanan¡¯s exposed tanned skin.

    Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect was the only one at the early Profound realm. His face grew icy as soon as he saw Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±

    Chu Bowen and the others also had unpleasant expressions, as if none of them wanted to see Nie Tian.

    Ignoring them, Nie Tian turned to Qiao Yunxi and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s aura was rather weak, and the light in her eyes was also dimmer than before.

    Nie Tian could sense significant spiritual power consumption from her, and thus knew they must have gone through a fierce battle.

    ¡°What happened to the crystal between your eyebrows?!¡± Qiao Yunxi eximed.

    At this moment, Yin Yanan also noticed the change, her gem-like eyes fixed on the spot between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows.

    The two of them had cursed Nie Tian when they had parted ways, saying that he would definitely be possessed by the Phantasm soul and be its puppet.

    Who would have thought now that they met again, not only was he not possessed by the Phantasm soul, but the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows was also somehow gone.

    Nie Tian smiled and said with an easy tone, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re talking about that Phantasm soul, right? I took care of it. It won¡¯t be a problem anymore.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was shocked. ¡°How did you do that?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Nie Tianughed, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here and not waste anymore time on this man,¡± Chu Bowen from the Chu n said with a grim face. ¡°Those Stonemen are still pursuing us. They¡¯ll catch up to us if we stay here for too long.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Stonemen?¡±

    ¡°We got in contact with the others soon after parting ways with you, but...¡± Qiao Yunxi said with a bitter expression. ¡°They turned out to be in a worse state than us. They ran into outsiders. Senior Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect was killed by Demons. Senior Chu Xuanji was also badly wounded. Their Profound realm and Soul realm members fought the outsiders with their lives to cover us while we escaped.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi went on and briefly exined what had happened after their separation with Nie Tian.

    From her, Nie Tian learned that it had been more than a month since their parting.

    During this time, the girls had reestablished contact with the others from the three parties.

    However, by the time they had met up with Xing Beichen, Chu Bowen, and the others, they had been on the run from the outsiders.

    As it turned out, the members of three parties had been resting on a floating meteor when Demons and Stonemen had suddenly showed up and started killing them.

    Before that, Wei Yu had been seriously injured by Nie Tian and lost much of his vital energy.

    Therefore, he hadcked battle prowess during his battle against the outsiders, and ended up being bombarded to death.

    Chu Xuanji, on the other hand, had led the other Soul realm and Profound realm experts into battle against the Demons and Stonemen, so that Xing Beichen, Chu Bowen, and their weaker members could evacuate safely.

    Xing Beichen and Chu Bowen had managed to leave the battlefield with their weaker members, but the Stonemen had pursued them unyieldingly.

    Even after joining up with Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan, the Stonemen had caught up to them a few times, and they had lost some people in battle.

    At the beginning, the Stonemen pursuers had been as strong as them, and they had been able to put up a fight.

    Butter, sixth grade Stonemen had joined the pursuit, as they seemed to have withdrawn from their battle against Chu Xuanji and the other human experts, which had put them under tremendous pressure.

    Fortunately, they had been able to escape with the help of their air-transportation spiritual tools. Otherwise, they would have been wiped out by the Stonemen already.

    After learning about what had happened, Nie Tian looked shocked. ¡°I heard that people from your domain have connections with those outsiders. Why were they so eager to kill you upon encountering you?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi snorted coldly. ¡°Our so-called connections are limited to spiritual material trade, which is very fragile and can be thrown away at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Why are you still wasting your breath with him?!¡± Chu Bowen asked with an unpleasant expression. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for him, we wouldn¡¯t have been so easily defeated by the outsiders!¡±

    The disciples of the Trisword Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect also fixed Nie Tian with angry res as they chimed in one after another.

    ¡°If he hadn¡¯t badly injured Senior Wei Yu and killed Senior Hong Xian and most of our Soul realm experts, we wouldn¡¯t have had to fear those Demons and Stonemen at all!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s all because of him that we¡¯re in such a difficult situation!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the one who caused this!¡±

    Face icy, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel the need to exin. Instead, he said to Qiao Yunxi, ¡°You can stay with me. And the others can fuck off.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was the person from the Divine me Sect who had been charged with the task of bringing him to Yue Yanxi.

    Yue Yanxi had treated him well. Plus, Qiao Yunxi hadn¡¯t truly offended him. Therefore, he wanted to keep her safe.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that we should go on our separate ways?¡± Qiao Yunxi sounded still disgruntled.

    Nie Tian smiled faintly. ¡°I only parted ways with you because I needed to focus on taking care of the Phantasm soul. I don¡¯t have a problem with you. You didn¡¯t try to harm me or anything. Now that I¡¯ve gotten rid of the Phantasm soul, I can keep you safe again.¡±

    ¡°What about them?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    Nie Tian shot a cold look at Xing Beichen, Chu Bowen, and the others. ¡°Their safety has nothing to do with me. They can live and die on their own.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi fell silent, fiery light flowing in the depths of her eyes, as if she was pondering the matter.

    She assumed that Nie Tian would still be able to merge with his Bone Blood Demon and disy unmatched battle prowess.

    ording to Xing Beichen and Chu Bowen, there weren¡¯t any eighth grade experts among the Demons and Stonemen they had encountered. Considering the shocking battle prowess the Bone Blood Demon had disyed before, she was convinced that Nie Tian did have the ability to keep her safe.

    However, she didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian was actually thinking of protecting her through another method.

    ¡°Listen to me, disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect,¡± Yin Yanan suddenly called out. ¡°We¡¯ll take a break on this meteor. Do you best to recover your strength.¡±

    Riding the Frost Blood Python, she was the first to descend on the meteor Nie Tian was on, and started recovering with spirit stones and medicinal pills.

    Even though the disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect didn¡¯t quite understand the reason behind this, they did as they were bid and alsonded, and started treating their wounds and recovering their strength.

    Chu Bowen was taken aback. ¡°What are you doing, Sister Yanan?¡±

    Without even looking at Nie Tian, Yin Yanan said with aposed expression, ¡°That bastard is here too. If the Stonemen pursue us to this meteor, he¡¯ll have to do something. That puppet of his is more than capable of killing all of the Stonemen pursuers for us. We¡¯ll just stick closely with him and see what he¡¯ll do.¡±

    The eyes of the disciples of the three parties lit up upon hearing her words, realizing that this was actually a good idea.

    A hint of a smile appeared on Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face, as she also felt that Yin Yanan¡¯s rascally approach might actually help them get rid of the pursuing Stonemen.

    They all assumed that Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon would still be able to disy the same terrifying battle prowess as before.

    Only Nie Tian knew that their assumption was wrong.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after anothernded on the meteor.

    The members of the three parties mored as they either treated the injured or recovered with spirit stones and medicinal pills, none of them paying any attention to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Have you forgotten that I said that I¡¯ll kill you all?¡± Nie Tian suddenly asked with an icy tone.

    Xing Beichen and the others¡¯ expressions instantly flickered.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether they were recovering or healing the injured, they all froze and fixed Nie Tian with vignt gazes.

    Like an enrage female beast, Yin Yanan leapt in front of Nie Tian in the blink of an eye. Fury filling her face, she said, ¡°Come on then! Kill me now!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi hastily rushed over and called out as she did, ¡°Nie Tian! Don¡¯t do it!¡±

    Face ice-cold, Yin Yanan looked right into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. Even her well-built body trembled slightly with emotion. ¡°I helped you twice when that Phantasm soul attempted to possess you. Let¡¯s see whether you¡¯re going to kill the person who saved you!¡±

    Seeing her sticking her neck out, Nie Tian recalled when her soul awareness had flew into his mind to help him fight the Phantasm soul.

    His heart grew soft.

    He let out a sigh and asked with a somewhat reluctant expression, ¡°How many Stonemen are chasing you, and what grade are they at?¡±

    His original n was to only keep Qiao Yunxi by his side. With Life Stealth, he would be able to mask their flesh auras.

    Stonemen weren¡¯t skilled in soul magics. They could normally only scan their surroundings by detecting flesh auras.

    As long as they hid in that hole and masked their flesh auras, the Stonemen wouldn¡¯t be able to sense their presence.

    However, now that Yin Yanan and the others were also staying with him, he had to think of another way.

    The fact that he asked about the number and grade of the Stonemen pursuers was because he wanted to know whether they would be able to fight them with their current strength.

    ¡°Most of them are at the fifth grade,¡± Qiao Yunxi hastily answered. ¡°Only two or three are at the sixth grade. The only two seventh grade Stonemen experts are fighting Chu Xuanji and the other seniors. So you should be able to take them out with the help of your puppet.¡±

    ¡°Three sixth grade Stonemen...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself.

    Sixth grade outsiders were as powerful as Profound realm human experts. Even though the Bone Blood Demon only had ten percent of its strength left and couldn¡¯t merge with him again, it wouldn¡¯t be very difficult for it to kill them by just relying on its remaining strength and its solid body.

    The Stonemen¡¯s flesh aura was much more vigorous than that of humans.

    By killing them, the Bone Blood Demon would be able to refine their blood to replenish its flesh power.

    Yin Yanan was at thete Worldly realm. Xing Beichen was at the early Profound realm. The others¡¯ cultivation bases weren¡¯t very low either. They would be able to handle the less powerful Stonemen to shoulder some of the pressure.

    As long as they could win this battle, the Bone Blood Demon would be able to recover strength with the dead Stonemen¡¯s blood, while he would be able to absorb their remaining flesh power with Life Drain to satisfy his bloodline aura¡¯s endless desire.

    With these thoughts in mind, he finally made a decision.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s wait for the Stonemen pursuers,¡± Nie Tian said loudly. ¡°But I want to be clear on one thing: I won¡¯t take any of their valuables after the battle, but I¡¯ll take their bodies.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡± Qiao Yunxi said decisively.

    Nie Tian shot a nce at Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan let out a cold snort. ¡°You¡¯ll be our main battle force. Their corpses are yours as long as we win.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

 Chapter 737: Ancient Hybrid

    The Phantasms¡¯ ancient starships came to a stop in the middle of the void.

    Looking at the Soul-devouring Lake, Yuna¡¯s emerald eyes were filled with a grim look as she said, ¡°The grand patriarch¡¯s aura is gone.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the powerful Phantasm experts beside her all fixed the Soul-devouring Lake with bewildered gazes. It was just that, considering their strength, they couldn¡¯t sense anything from it.

    ¡°What does that mean, mydy?¡± Armes asked respectfully.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yuna said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid something has happened to that grand patriarch. He left his aura here intentionally. He must have counted on his people to sense his aura and track it to his location, so he wouldn¡¯t have stopped leaving it willingly.

    ¡°Now that his aura is gone, there must have been a mishap. Perhaps, he¡¯s been... annihted.¡±

    A seventh grade Phantasm warrior gasped and said, ¡°The soul of a grand patriarch is not that easily annihted, right?¡±

    Yuna sighed. ¡°He would be very hard to kill if he still had his fleshly body and were at his peak state. But I didn¡¯t sense any flesh power from the aura he left behind. His fleshly body must have perished long ago. All he had left was his soul body.

    ¡°With only his soul body, he wouldn¡¯t be able to unleash our race¡¯s most powerful magics, so it¡¯s possible that someone annihted him.¡±

    Armes let out a sigh. ¡°But he¡¯s a ninth grade grand patriarch!¡±

    The other Phantasm experts also sighed rather emotionally. ¡°If he¡¯s really dead, it¡¯ll be a great loss for our race!¡±

    In their eyes, any ninth grade grand patriarch was an important figure who was capable of shaking heaven and earth.

    Since they didn¡¯t have a single grand patriarch in their n, if they could find that grand patriarch and win his favor, their n would rise to a high position among the numerous Phantasm ns.

    Yuna pondered for a while and added, ¡°Although, it¡¯s possible that he hasn¡¯t been annihted. He might just be too weak to release any aura. Send word to the other parties, and tell them to inform us as soon as they discover anything that has a connection to our race.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± The seventh grade Phantasm warrior answered loudly.

    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve lost our directions, we need to spread out in all directions with this starship as the center, and start searching for clues,¡± Yuna said. ¡°Once you find anything, report to me at once. Even if he¡¯s really dead, we¡¯ll need to confirm his identity.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± With these words, the Phantasm experts spread out and started searching for clues.

    ...

    On the unimpressive floating meteor.

    The weaker members from the three parties were doing their best to recover with spirit stones and medicinal pills.

    Some were summoning spiritual power and soul power with unique methods to repair their damaged air-transportation spiritual tools, hoping to get the spell formations within them to work again.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird was curiously structured and as solid as a piece of divine metal. Therefore, there wasn¡¯t a single scratch on it.

    After refilling it with fire-attributed materials, she sat down next to it and started channeling me power from Heavenme Stones she took out from her ring of holding.

    Nie Tian had long since noticed that she had overly consumed her spiritual power, but hadn¡¯t sustained any serious injuries.

    It was different with Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    She was sitting among the other Beast-controlling Sect disciples. A pained look filled her face as she seemed to be digesting the medicinal pill she had just swallowed.

    The wounded members of the three parties let out agonized screams and low sobs from time to time, filling the air with depression.

    The shoulders of a few Greater Heaven stage young women trembled as tears brimmed their eyes. They seemed to have lost their family in their previous battles against the outsiders.

    Expressionless, Nie Tian gazed off into the distance and waited for the Stonemen¡¯s arrival.

    He had seen and experienced so much over the years. This could no longer cause waves in his heart.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have any positive feeling towards the three parties. Therefore, no matter how many people they lost, it wouldn¡¯t have a strong impact on him.

    Gazing into the dark void where countless meteors of different sizes floated, Nie Tian started to feel a sense of uncertainty.

    <i>¡°Now that outsiders havee to this region, it has be dangerous to travel around in this heaven and earth.</i>

    <i>¡°If I can¡¯t get in contact with Yue Yanxi within a short time, my only option will be to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars through the teleportation portal the Lei n set up.</i>

    <i>¡°Then, I¡¯ll have to give up on searching for the teleportation portal the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce established in this region.¡±</i>

    SSSS! SSSS!

    The Frost Blood Python beside Yin Yanan suddenly let out agonizing hissing sounds as itsrge tail swung about, shattering nearby rocks.

    Yin Yanan sprang to her feet and said with a heartache, ¡°Are you still in pain?¡±

    The violent woman seemed surprisingly gentle when she talked to the Frost Blood Python.

    Overhearing her, Nie Tian looked over at them.

    Qiao Yunxi noticed his gaze, and thus exined to him, ¡°Without that seventh grade Frost Blood Python, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape from the Stonemen at all. It was their main force to deal with the Stonemen pursuers. However, the sixth grade Stonemen joined up and injured it with a special weapon.

    ¡°Many strange-looking thorns pierced deeply into its body, nearly killing it.

    ¡°Yin Yanan has been trying to figure out a way to get those thorns out this whole time, but has failed in all her attempts thus far.¡±

    Intrigued, Nie Tian started walking towards the Frost Blood Python.

    Seeing him approach, all of the Beast-controlling Sect disciples put their cultivation on hold. Staring at him, several of them asked with unpleasant expressions, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Yin Yanan was anxious for not being able to help the Frost Blood Python, and thus also said angrily, ¡°Get the hell out of here!¡±

    ¡°This Frost Blood Python helped me before,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Can¡¯t I even take a look at it?¡±

    Yin Yanan let out a cold snort and said with a mocking tone, ¡°It amazes me that you still remember that. If it weren¡¯t for it, that Phantasm soul would have possessed you long ago! How do you n to help it, ingrate?¡±

    Nie Tian ignored her mockery and went to the Frost Blood Python¡¯s side. He reached out with one hand and pressed it on itsrge body.

    Wisps of his flesh aura flew out of his palm and started swimming around inside of the Frost Blood Python.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He called out softly.

    As Qiao Yunxi had just said, there were indeed arge number of strange thorns in it.

    They had pierced deeply into the Frost Blood Python¡¯s veins, meridians, and bones, making even regr cirction difficult.

    Whenever the Frost Blood Python moved, those thorns would pierce even deeper, hurting it to the point where it wanted to die.

    It unleashed wisps of rich flesh power in an attempt to dissolve the strange thorns, but the result was almost negligible.

    Seeing what Nie Tian was doing, Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect said, ¡°Those things are called Bone-piercing Blood Thorns, which are small thorns from a special insect called the Bone-devouring Leech.

    ¡°Bone-devouring Leeches are an ancient and powerful species that has existed since the Deste Antiquity Era. The humans have killed them in all human domains and realms. Now, they can only be found in certain outsider realms.

    ¡°Once they cling to any living being, they¡¯ll drill into their bodies and start living on the nourishment from their host¡¯s blood and flesh. And they¡¯re very hard to get rid of.

    ¡°Even powerful outsiders with profound bloodline power can¡¯t always get them out once they enter their bodies.

    ¡°Unlike normal leeches, Bone-devouring Leeches have tiny bones, which can be refined into Bone-piercing Blood Thorns. When they pierce into living beings, they will achieve simr effects as Bone-devouring Leeches.

    ¡°Fortunately, those are only Bone-piercing Blood Thorns, which pierce into the host¡¯s bones and meridians and absorb the host¡¯s life force at a slower rate.

    ¡°If they were Bone-devouring Leeches, the Frost Blood Python wouldn¡¯t have lived for so long.¡±

    Yin Yanan shot Xing Beichen a nasty look. ¡°What did you tell him that for? Even if he knows what Bone-piercing Blood Thorns are, what will he be able to do? Don¡¯t tell me that he can help my Frost Blood Python get rid of those Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.¡±

    Xing Beichen touched his nose and said somewhat embarrassedly, ¡°Sorry, I couldn¡¯t help it.¡±

    ¡°Bone-piercing Blood Thorns...¡± Nie Tian muttered, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Let me try something out.¡±

    Soon, wisps of his flesh aura found the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns. Like tentacles, his flesh auras attempted to touch them, and immediately sensed strong flesh power from within them.

    The thorns were only about half a meter long, yet each of them contained rich flesh power, along with an ancient, tenacious aura that seemed to be from a Bone-devouring Leech, which seemed ipatible with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s aura.

    At the same time, he sensed the presence of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s auras, which were attempting to refine the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    However, no matter how much flesh power the Frost Blood Python summoned, it didn¡¯t seem to be able to harm those Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    <i>¡°I should be able to solve the problem by draining the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns of their flesh power.¡±</i> With this thought in mind, Nie Tian activated Life Drain without hesitation.

    As soon as he did, his flesh auras started to pull a mixture of flesh power from the Frost Blood Python and the Bone-devouring Leech out of the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    As his wisps of flesh aura rapidly grew thicker, the connections between the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns and the Frost Blood Python¡¯s meridians and bones were severed as if by an invisible de.

    The Frost Blood Python, which had been swinging its tail in agony, rapidly settled down.

 Chapter 738: â€œI Guess Youâ€™re Not A Total Jerkâ€

    The agony in the Frost Blood Python was gradually reced by serenity.

    Yin Yanan, who had a profound soul connection with the Frost Blood Python, immediately noticed the change. With a soft exmation, her furrowed eyebrows finally rxed.

    The Beast-controlling Sect had bred this hybrid python especially for her. Instead of a normal pet beast, it was more like a Dao Protector to her.

    The Frost Blood Python carried the mixed bloodlines of the Frost Python and the Blood Stripe Python. With its unlimited potential, it could even rise to the eighth or ninth grade some day.

    It was because of Yin Yanan¡¯s unique status in the Beast-controlling Sect that they had bestowed it upon her.

    Having lived and fought side by side with it for many years, she had long since considered it her best friend.

    Furthermore, the Frost Blood Python had saved her from desperate situations more than a few times before.

    Her feelings for the Frost Blood Python were hard to put into words. Therefore, it was even more painful for her to see it in agony than if she sustained injuries herself.

    The fact that the Frost Blood Python had settled down and the pained look in its eyes was gone made her very happy. Even the gaze she used to look at Nie Tian became slightly warmer.

    Xing Beichen kept a close watch on every move Nie Tian made. His face was filled with astonishment as he saw the changes in the Frost Blood Python. He walked over and asked, ¡°He¡¯s taken care of those Bone-piercing Blood Thorns?!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi also looked rather shocked as she gazed at Nie Tian from afar.

    Nie Tian was still standing by the Frost Blood Python as the wisps of his flesh auras, which had be much thicker after draining the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns of their flesh power, slowly flew back to him through his palm that was ced on the Frost Blood Python.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As soon as they returned, the green aura in his heart sensed their presence.

    The green aura became ecstatic as it madly channeled them into Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    As it devoured them, numerous blindingly bright cyan spots appeared within the translucent and sparkling Bloodline Crystal Chains that formed the green aura.

    Each and every one of those cyan spots was branded with the profound truths of life.

    Normally, new cyan spots would only form within the green aura after receiving a huge amount of flesh power. When the number of cyan spots built up to a certain point, the green aura would enter dormancy and prepare for the next upgrade.

    The flesh power he had absorbed from the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns was clearly not as rich as that of seventh grade outsiders.

    Even so, it achieved such great effects after being channeled into the green aura. A surprisinglyrge amount of cyan spots that carried the profound truths of life were created.

    <i>¡°Can this because Bone-devouring Leeches are an ancient species, and there¡¯s something special about their flesh power?¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself. <i>¡°If this is the case, then it means there¡¯s more to inducing bloodline upgrades than simply gathering flesh power. Certain types of special flesh power can help me elerate the upgrade of my bloodline and the awakening of my new bloodline talents!¡±</i>

    He was overjoyed toe to such a realization.

    He had never expected that he would actually be able to derive a brand new method to elerate his bloodline talent awakening while helping solve the Frost Blood Python¡¯s problem with the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    While he drifted away in his thoughts, Yin Yanan let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Yeah, it seems to be fine now. It¡¯s refining those strange thorns. Soon, they¡¯ll be gonepletely.¡±

    Nie Tian examined the Frost Blood Python again and noticed that it had wrapped its flesh auras around the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    In a mysterious way, those flesh auras were slowly dissolving the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns. Like icy shards that were scorched by fire, they rapidly shrank and disappeared.

    Knowing that the Frost Blood Python was fine now, Nie Tian withdrew his hand and took a step back.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s bright eyes rippled with green waves as she bit her lower lip lightly. After a few seconds of hesitation, she said, ¡°I guess you¡¯re not a total jerk.¡±

    With these words, she took out huge pieces of spirit beast meat from within her ring of holding and cast them towards the Frost Blood Python.

    The Frost Blood Python opened itsrge mouth and swallowed them one by one. With these pieces of fifth and sixth grade spirit beast meat, it started to recover its strength.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about the Stonemen pursuers anymore. Leave them to me.¡±

    Knowing that the Frost Blood Python had gotten rid of the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns, Yin Yanan became confident and domineering again. Gazing in the direction they hade from, she blurted, ¡°I don¡¯t believe they have any more Bone-piercing Blood Thorns that they can use! As long as they don¡¯t, they¡¯ll be no match for my Frost Blood Python!¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯re so confident, I¡¯ll just sit back and rx,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    ¡°If I may ask, what kind of method did you use to help the Frost Blood Python get rid of those Bone-piercing Blood Thorns?¡± Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect asked with a strange expression. ¡°From what I know, even seventh and eighth grade outsiders would find them hard to get rid of once they drilled into their flesh and bones.

    ¡°Cutting them out by force would only speed up the death of the wounded.

    ¡°So do you have some special approach?¡±

    Xing Beichen looked deeply at him, his eyebrows furrowed, as if he were very eager to know.

    Upon hearing his words, Yin Yanan also grew confused, and said, ¡°Yeah, how did you do it?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I have nothing to say.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned around and walked away.

    ¡°That man must have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Yin Yanan said in a low voice.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s expression instantly flickered. ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!? No wonder. Only ancient powerful human sects like that, which dare to contend against outsider races, would know how to deal with Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.¡±

    His face grew grim as he added, ¡°If he¡¯s really from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, then... we¡¯ll never be able to have our revenge.¡±

    Nie Tian had severely injured Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect. Because of that, he had been too weak to fight the outsiders, and eventually died in battle.

    Qi Jiuchuan from the Trisword Sect had also died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Xing Beichuan had long since made up his mind that he would return to their sect¡¯s ancient starship to report to their sect elders once they lost the pursuing outsiders.

    If the powerful experts from the Trisword Sect came after Nie Tian, even with the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s help, he wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to escape the fate of death.

    However, if he was from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...

    Yin Yanan also let out a deep sigh. ¡°I only didn¡¯t tell you about his identity earlier because I didn¡¯t want to put pressure on you. After all, as sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, we can¡¯t afford to offend someone from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Xing Beichen nodded nkly and said, ¡°The thing is we kind of started the conflicts with him.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean we¡¯ll have to let everything go?¡± Yin Yanan asked, her face filled with grievances.

    Nie Tian had killed Hong Xian and many Soul realm experts from the Beast-controlling Sect. During the time she had traveled with him, not only hadn¡¯t she had her revenge, but Nie Tian had even done things to her. She was reluctant to let all of these go.

    Xing Beichen smiled bitterly. ¡°What choice do we have?¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Qiao Yunxi said to Nie Tian, ¡°I n to return to the Divine me Sect through the teleportation portal the Lei n set up after we take care of the Stonemen. What about you?¡±

    ¡°I n to go to that portal as well,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°But I¡¯ll return to the Domain of the Falling Stars, not the Divine me Sect.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi shot a nce at Yin Yanan and said, ¡°Yeah, that seems to be our best choice. They¡¯re also going to leave for their ancient starships that are berthed by the edge of this forbidden region. They¡¯re probably going to bring more powerful experts here through the teleportation portals in their ancient starships. I assume they¡¯ll have Void domain expertse to this region, so it¡¯s not a bad idea that you leave.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Void domain experts?¡±

    At that very moment, the Stonemen finally arrived.

    Under their control, hundreds of thousands of rocks of various sizes came swarming towards Nie Tian and the others, filling their view.

    A few dozen Stonemen could be seen in the middle of those floating rocks,municating with each other. By the time they caught sight of the human juniors they had been pursuing, they grinned sinisterly, killing intent filling their eyes.

    ¡°These damned Stonemen, who do they think they are? If I don¡¯t teach them a lesson, they¡¯ll think they¡¯re invincible!¡±

    Yin Yanan bellowed as she jumped onto the Frost Blood Python, which was a few dozen meters long and also harbored deep hatred towards these Stonemen. Then, they flew right up into the void.

    WHOOSH!

    The seventh grade Frost Blood Python opened its mouth and spat a mouthful of frosty mist out towards the Stonemen.

    Crackling sounds came from the frosty mist, which carried countless ice shards. Together, they seemed to freeze heaven and earth, and turn every Stoneman into ice sculptures.

    As soon as the flying rocks entered the frosty mist, they were frozen and became still in the void.

    The frosty mist also carried wisps of explosive flesh auras, which seemed to be from the Frost Blood Python¡¯s Blood Stripe Python bloodline.

    As soon as the flesh auras made contact with the rocks, they exploded.

    The two Stonemen at the forefront were also engulfed by the frosty mist. Their bodies that were as tough as metal also instantly froze. As the flesh auras touched them, they exploded into countless pieces of frozen flesh, dying miserable deaths.

    Upon seeing this, the three sixth grade Stonemen stood aghast, not daring to believe their own eyes. ¡°Howe that python¡¯s still so powerful?!¡±

    They were well-aware of what Bone-piercing Blood Thorns could do. They had killed numerous seventh grade spirit beasts with them. They found it hard to believe that the Frost Blood Python had already gotten rid of the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    One of the Stonemen gazed down. His expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Hmm?! That man!!¡±

    That Stoneman was Stonemountain.

    Nie Tian had fought him on an ind in the ck sea on the bottom continent in a mysterious dimension.

    Later, he had joined the invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, since his status among the Stonemen was rather high, he had been arranged to stay in the Realm of Split Void with Armes and the others.

    After Basto, the Phantasmmander, had died in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, he and Armes had been the first to receive word of it, and had thus evacuated through the spatial rifts in the Realm of Split Void.

    Never had he thought that he would run into Nie Tian in this forbidden region.

    Nie Tian grinned and called out, ¡°Stonemountain! I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t die in the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

 Chapter 739: The Star Boat Overawes

    Stonemountain was also very surprised to see Nie Tian. His magnificent, mountain-like body shook as he eximed, ¡°It¡¯s him! This is unbelievable!¡±

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Even the rocks that floated near him exploded due to the violent fluctuations of his flesh power.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that, Stonemountain?!¡± another burly Stoneman asked in a deep voice in the outsider¡¯snguage.

    ¡°A Son of the Stars from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Stonemountain answered.

    The man gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?! A Son of the Stars?!¡±

    Their conversation took ce among the floating rocks, while Yin Yanan was unleashing fierce attacks with the help of the seventh grade Frost Blood Python.

    Adding in the long distance, the human juniors on the floating meteor didn¡¯t catch what they said to each other.

    However, just from their expressions, they suspected that they had old feuds with Nie Tian. Also, from the way they were looking at him, they realized that Nie Tian must be from a powerful background.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars...¡± Xing Beichen pondered for a long time, but still couldn¡¯t think of where this domain was.

    The other human juniors were also rather puzzled by Nie Tian¡¯s background.

    Among those who were present, Qiao Yunxi was the only one who knew that Nie Tian was from the Domain of the Falling Stars all along.

    However, ording to him, the most powerful experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars were only at thete Soul realm. They didn¡¯t even have a single Void domain expert.

    Why would such a weak Qi warrior domain produce a chosen sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? It seemed that these Stonemen had suffered losses there, but it didn¡¯t seem very likely.

    Questions also entered Qiao Yunxi¡¯s mind.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    While the juniors wracked their minds for answers, Yin Yanan had already charged into the crowd of floating rocks on her Frost Blood Python.

    The ck and white stripes on the python became unusually alive as a frosty mist rose from the Frost Blood Python¡¯s enormous body and enveloped arge area around it.

    Within the frosty mist, the Frost Blood Python was like a fish that had returned to water. It made sharp hissing sounds as it activated its bloodline talents of two different origins.

    Numerous wisps of bloodline power, which were branded with unique profound patterns, flew out of it and morphed into small Frost Pythons and Blood Stripe Pythons in the depths of the frosty mist.

    Each and every one of them was formed by countless wisps of blood-colored light, and carried auras that were extremely cold and ferocious.

    Arge number of the floating stones that were controlled by the Stonemen were frozen, and then exploded to pieces.

    Afterwards, the broken pieces were somehow channeled by the wisps of blood-colored light and started chasing after the Stonemen, as if they had been vested with the python¡¯s life and awareness.

    A few weaker Stonemen had their bodies pierced through by those rocks, and died instantly.

    Even though Stonemen had exceptionally strong bodies and the ability to change gravity and control rocks, they didn¡¯t seem very powerful when facing the seventh grade Frost Blood Python¡¯s wrath.

    Watching their people being ughtered, the three sixth grade Stonemen grew increasingly anxious.

    Since they weren¡¯t Phantasms, who were skilled with profound soul magics, they couldn¡¯t take out the Frost Blood Python¡¯s master by attacking Yin Yanan¡¯s soul directly.

    Meanwhile, Yin Yanan hated them deeply for injuring the Frost Blood Python with their Bone-piercing Blood Thorns, and thus spared no lives as she attacked.

    ¡°If even the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns failed to kill this seventh grade hybrid python, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to defeat it with just the three of us,¡± a burly sixth grade Stonemen said. Then, after a moment of pondering, he turned to Stonemountain and said, ¡°Get out of here and send word to the Demons about what¡¯s happening here! I believe the elders will rush over as soon as they receive your message!¡±

    Gritting his teeth, Stonemountain flew away from the battlefield on a rock in the direction they hade from.

    The other Stonemen hastily withdrew from the floating rocks they had brought with them to avoid the frosty mist, hoping to stall the Frost Blood Python until their allies arrived.

    Sitting on the Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan called out as she saw Stonemountain trying to escape, ¡°Don¡¯t let that one go!¡±

    She was well-aware that there were seventh grade experts among the outsider forces they had encountered earlier, along with a number of powerful Demons.

    If they received word and sent more powerful outsiders after them, they would be in a very difficult situation.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Leave him to me.¡± Nie Tianughed wildly as he summoned the Star Boat and chased after Stonemountain like a dashing meteor.

    Shocked by the Star Boat¡¯s speed, Xing Beichen couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Such a fast air-transportation spiritual tool!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird was already among the fastest air-transportation spiritual tools in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, yet even it was clearly not as fast as the Star Boat.

    Xing Beichen was increasingly convinced that Nie Tian was a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Only powerful sects with unfathomable reserve power like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce could provide their members with such advanced tools.

    ¡°Stop him!¡± With these words, a few Stonemen unleashed their bloodline magics, and dozens of huge rocks dashed towards the Star Boat, giving rise to ear-piercing whistling sounds.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph as he altered the patterns of the mysterious spell formations within the Star Boat.

    Rich star power rapidly built up at the prow as a beam of dazzling starlight shot straight forth, carrying surging energy.

    As that happened, both the Stonemen and the young chosen ones from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries experienced a peculiar feeling that both time and space were being twisted.

    Wherever the beam of starlight went, the floating rocks crumbled soundlessly, turning into flying dust.

    At the same time, the might of the starlight didn¡¯t wear off in the slightest as it shot towards the area where the Stonemen were gathered, as if a god had gathered power from this entire universe and formed this attack.

    One of the sixth grade Stonemen was hit by the beam of dazzling starlight, along with three fifth grade Stonemen. They didn¡¯t even get to make a sound before being reduced to a mist of blood and flesh.

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Chu Bowen from the Chu n¡¯s jaw dropped as he stared nkly at the bloody mist that filled the void.

    Yin Yanan, who was still attacking the other Stonemen with the help of the Frost Blood Python, was also bbergasted by the scene. She hastily jerked the Frost Blood Python away from the path of the beam of starlight.

    She had a feeling that the beam of starlight contained such rich star power that it would even be able to shatter arge meteor.

    Even the Frost Blood Python made anxious hissing sounds from underneath her.

    That meant this seventh grade hybrid spirit beast also sensed life-threatening danger from this devastating strike from the Star Boat.

    As the spellcaster, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he looked ahead, where nearly half of the Star Stones were gone. ¡°This is...¡±

    Since the moment he had gained the Star Boat, he had realized that this air-transportation spiritual tool the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him was not only shockingly fast and strong, but could also summon star power tounch attacks from its cone-shaped prow and stern.

    It was just that he had never thought that the dazzling starlight the Star Boat unleashed would be so mighty.

    ¡°Go! Don¡¯t let the blood go to waste!¡±

    Joy appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he summoned the Bone Blood Demon and told it to gather flesh power from therge mist of Stoneman blood.

    <i>¡°It seems that I¡¯ve underestimated the Star Boat! It must be many times more valuable than Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird!¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

    The me Bird only had exceptional speed, but couldn¡¯t be used as a weapon in battle. All of the spell formations that had been carved within the me Bird were for elerating purposes.

    The Star Boat was different.

    There were not only movement spell formations within it, but also numerous profound attacking spell formations, which vested it with fierce attacking force.

    An air-transportation spiritual tool could only hold a limited amount of spell formations.

    It was very difficult for equipment forgers to make air-transportation spiritual tools that could both travel at a high speed andunch attacks. The equipment forgers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries still didn¡¯t have the ability to carve arge number ofplicated spell formations in a rtively small air-transportation spiritual tool.

    However, apparently, the equipment forgers from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce could.

    Nie Tian was full of smiles as he thought to himself, <i>¡°This is so great! It¡¯s just that the amount of Star Stones it consumes tounch such an attack is a bit too many. Several dozen of them for one strike. With the Star Stones I have left, I can only use it a couple more times.</i>

    <i>¡°Even though a strike with the Star Boat isn¡¯t as mighty as that of the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, it¡¯s more than terrifying enough.</i>

    <i>¡°From now on, I¡¯ll be able to use the Star Boat to fight powerful enemies even if the Bone Blood Demon runs out of its flesh power! The guys from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have finally left me, their Son of the Stars, a useful spiritual tool.¡±</i>

    Then, as a thought entered his mind, the Star Boat adjusted its direction and rapidly closed in on Stonemountain.

    Behind him, the Bone Blood Demon floated in the void as it absorbed the bloody mist with the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation.

    Stonemountain, who was fleeing at full speed and hoping to get word to their allies, looked over his shoulder and was scared soulless. ¡°What the hell?!¡±

    He had never thought that Nie Tian would be able to eliminate the barriers the sixth grade experts had created for him so effortlessly.

    What was even more unbelievable was that the beam of dazzling starlight from the Star Boat had actually annihted one of the sixth grade experts.

    The terrifying might of the Star Boat shook him deeply, and made his scalp feel numb.

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to resist your fate, Stonemountain. It¡¯s meaningless.¡±

    As he was about to catch up to him, Nie Tian adjusted the might of the Star Boat with a thought, then, as more than half of the Star Stones were instantly drained of their power, another beam of dazzling starlight shot forth from the Star Boat¡¯s prow.

    BOOM!!

    The beam of starlight shot into Stonemountain¡¯s back, turning this lofty member of the Stonemen into a bloody mist and flying bits of flesh.

    ¡°This is way too easy!¡± With these words, Nie Tian looked down at the few Star Stones that were left at the bottom of the Star Boat. Feeling a slight heartache, he took out new Star Stones from within his ring of holding and spread them over the bottom of the boat to provide it with more power.

 Chapter 740: Regaining A Direction

    The terrifying might the Star Boat disyed shook even Nie Tian himself.

    However, he also realized that it would consume a significant amount of Star Stones for the Star Boat to unleash each beam of dazzling starlight. Meanwhile, Star Stones were rather hard to find, and Nie Tian didn¡¯t have many left in his possession.

    If he were to continue tounch such terrifying attacks with the Star Boat, he would soon run out of Star Stones.

    Therefore, he decided that he wouldn¡¯t use it again unless it was a matter of life or death.

    As he turned the Star Boat around, he saw that Yin Yanan had killed many more Stonemen with the help of the Frost Blood Python.

    The Bone Blood Demon moved from ce to ce and absorbed the bloody mists like a whale preying on shoals of small fish.

    Within a short time, the Bone Blood Demon finished absorbing and refining the blood it had gathered from the dead Stonemen.

    Still looking far from satisfied, it started flying about to pierce the remaining Stonemen with its de-sharp, bony hands and absorb power from their blood.

    Thanks to the unmatched strength of the Bone Blood Demon and the Frost Blood Python, the battle ended within a short time.

    By the time Nie Tian returned on his Star Boat, the Frost Blood Python had frozen thest Stoneman, who was at the fifth grade, but didn¡¯t kill him right away.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said with a rxed tone, ¡°ording to our agreement, you¡¯ll have the Stonemen¡¯s storage rings, along with the valuables inside, but their remains are mine.¡±

    At this moment, the chosen ones from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had already witnessed the Bone Blood Demon absorb and drain the Stonemen¡¯s blood in peculiar ways.

    They all knew that Nie Tian wanted the Stonemen¡¯s remains so that the Bone Blood Demon would be able to improve its battle prowess with them.

    Meanwhile, since the attack Nie Tian had disyed was so formidable, no one dared to oppose him.

    ¡°Sure,¡± Yin Yanan said expressionlessly.

    Afterwards, Xing Beichen and the others flew around in their air-transportation spiritual tools to loot storage rings from the dead Stonemen.

    At the same time, Nie Tian sent the Bone Blood Demon a soul message, and it gathered all of the Stonemen corpses and tied them up in a bundle with its enormous hands.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian jumped onto the Bone Blood Demon and flew to a remote area after saying, ¡°Please don¡¯t disturb me.¡±

    Yin Yanan, Xing Beichen and the others watched him from behind as he left, not knowing what to say.

    Chu Bowen from the Chu n was the first to snap out of his daze and said, ¡°Let¡¯s defrost this Stoneman and see what he knows.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Yin Yanan then cast the spell as the others rapidly gathered to her side to watch.

    Meanwhile, Xing Beichen held all of the storage rings in his hand and examined their contents with his soul awareness.

    After getting to a ce far away from the crowd of juniors, Nie Tian told the Bone Blood Demon to drain the dead Stonemen of their blood.

    Every time the Bone Blood Demon was finished with a corpse, it would cast it aside. Then, Nie Tian would walk up to it and channel the residual flesh power in its bones and internal organs into his heart.

    As soon as the wisps of flesh power flowed into his heart, the green aura would madly devour them. However, not many cyan spots were created in the Bloodline Crystal Chains within the green aura.

    Nie Tian frowned.

    The residual flesh power within these Stonemen corpses was much richer than the flesh power he had absorbed from the Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    However, for some reason, the Stonemen¡¯s flesh power didn¡¯t achieve results nearly as good as the faint flesh power within those Bone-piercing Blood Thorns.

    <i>¡°Bone-devouring Leeches are a species that has been around since the Deste Antiquity Era. Can it be that the older the creatures¡¯ bloodlines are, the more helpful their flesh power will be for the upgrade of my bloodline?¡±</i>

    As Nie Tian pondered the matter, one corpse after another was drained of their flesh power and became dried corpses.

    A quarter hourter, the Bone Blood Demon and Nie Tian finished refining all of the Stonemen corpses.

    Eyes narrowed, he sensed the changes in his bloodline aura with rapt attention, and gradually grew convinced that his spections were correct.

    The older and rarer a species was, the more helpful their flesh power would be for the upgrade of the green aura in his heart. It didn¡¯t matter how weak such flesh power was.

    <i>¡°Bone-devouring Leeches... Species from the Deste Antiquity Era...¡±</i>

    Then, he came to realize that he would have to find more ancient species like the Bone-devouring Leeches and gather their flesh power to elerate the upgrade of his bloodline aura.

    However, if only it were that easy to find ancient species from the Deste Antiquity Era...

    WHOOSH!

    While he was carried away by his thoughts, Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan suddenly flew over to him.

    As soon as they did, Yin Yanan noticed the Stonemen corpses that were lying around. She practiced body refining incantations herself, so her perception of flesh aura was also rather keen.

    She briefly sensed around, then her expression flickered as she asked, ¡°Why do those Stonemen corpses not have a shred of flesh power left in them anymore? Did that puppet of yours drain them of their flesh power? Howe I didn¡¯t know that Bonebrutes had such bloodline talents?¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that I don¡¯t want to be disturbed? What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°We found a divine me seal in one of the Stonemen¡¯s storage rings, Nie Tian!¡± Qiao Yunxi said excitedly.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°A divine me seal?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Qiao Yunxi answered, looking overjoyed. ¡°Our grand elder must have noticed the anomaly, and thus arranged for people to leave divine me seals for me, hoping that I¡¯ll be able to find them with their help!

    ¡°Now that we have that divine me seal, we can use it to find the other divine me seals and eventually meet up with our grand elder!

    ¡°The Stonemen must have only found this divine me seal recently, and soon afterwards, they ran into Wei Yu and the others. From the look of it, they didn¡¯t get to follow the vine to the melon.¡± (Idiom: track someone down by following clues)

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked. ¡°So are you saying that you now want to find Senior Yue Yanxi with the help of that divine me seal?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi nodded excitedly. ¡°That¡¯s right! I don¡¯t n to go back anymore. What about you?¡±

    ¡°If we can track down more divine me seals with it, I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Nie Tian said.

    After a short pause, he looked over at Yin Yanan and asked with furrowed eyebrows, ¡°What¡¯s their n?¡±

    ¡°Chu Bowen and most of the other members of the three parties will withdraw to their ancient starships that are berthed by the edge of the forbidden region. From there, they¡¯ll summon reinforcements from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡± With these words, Qiao Yunxi took a nce at Yin Yanan. ¡°But she and Xing Beichen hope to travel with us. What do you say?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s tone was filled with mockery as he said, ¡°They¡¯re not leaving with the others? That¡¯s quite bold of them.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± Yin Yanan fixed him with an angry stare.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Nie Tian answered casually. ¡°It¡¯s fine by me. But I¡¯ve got to make one thing clear: their safety is none of my concern. If we¡¯re caught up in a battle we can¡¯t win, I won¡¯t risk my life to save them. At best, I¡¯ll take you with me when I escape.¡±

    He had gotten some of his confidence back now that he had discovered another powerful use of the Star Boat, and the Bone Blood Demon had umted quite some strength with the Stonemen corpses.

    Since there was now a good chance that they would be able to find Yue Yanxi, he decided to stay. Even if they were to run into powerful outsiders, he would probably be able to escape from them with the help of the Star Boat.

    Yin Yanan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°We don¡¯t dare to presume to have you worry about us.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded at Qiao Yunxi. ¡°It¡¯s settled then. We¡¯ll move out when you¡¯re ready to go.¡±

    The girls then turned around and left.

    Chu Bowen and the juniors from the three parties prepared the wounded for the journey and left on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect and Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect stayed, hoping to go with Qiao Yunxi to see what the Divine me Sect was up to.

    Qiao Yunxi only agreed to take them with her and Nie Tian because of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s formidable strength and Xing Beichen¡¯s superior cultivation base.

    Besides, the two of them represented the futures of the Trisword Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect. She was afraid that their sects would find fault with the Divine me Sect for what Nie Tian had done, since they obviously wouldn¡¯t dare to hurt Nie Tian, who was a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Therefore, by agreeing to their proposal, she actually wanted to ease the tension with them.

    A few hourster, Qiao Yunxi, Yin Yanan, and Xing Beichen found Nie Tian again and told him that they were good to go.

    Nie Tian ended his cultivation and rose to his feet. He put his Star Boat away and leapt onto Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird. ¡°The consumption of my air-transportation spiritual tool is far too great. Let¡¯s use your me Bird for now.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Yin Yanan said with a cold face, ¡°There¡¯s limited space on the me Bird!¡±

    Even though the Frost Blood Python¡¯s battle prowess was unmatched, it couldn¡¯t travel at a high speed through the void. Therefore, she had it shrink down and stayed on the me Bird with her.

    Meanwhile, Xing Beichen was also on the me Bird¡¯s back. As Nie Tian jumped on board, it instantly became very crowded.

    ¡°Well, Nie Tian is an honored guest of our sect, so...¡± Qiao Yunxi said with a meaningful tone.

    Xing Beichen smiled bitterly. Seeing that no one else had the slightest intention of leaving, he said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take another air-transportation spiritual tool and follow you guys.¡±

    He jumped off the me Bird voluntarily and summoned the air-transportation spiritual tool the Trisword Sect had specially forged for him from within his ring of holding.

    Afterwards, he called out, ¡°Do you want to join me, Junior Martial Sister Yin?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m good,¡± Yin Yanan refused him without any hesitation.

 Chapter 741: Parties Meet Up

    Xing Beichen touched his nose and jumped onto his air-transportation spiritual tool without taking Yin Yanan¡¯s words to heart.

    The shape of his air-transportation spiritual tool was rather unique. It looked as if it had been formed by many swords without hilts.

    ¡®Broken Sword¡¯ was its name, and its speed was noticeably lower than the me Bird¡¯s.

    Xing Beichen sat in the lotus position on his Broken Sword as he followed the me Bird, which Qiao Yunxi intentionally slowed down for him, from about ten meters away.

    ¡°ording to that Stoneman, the Demons and the Stonemen aren¡¯t the only ones that havee to this region. The Phantasms havee too.¡± Face grim, Qiao Yunxi shot Nie Tian a nce. She seemed to want to say something, but gave up on it on second thought.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The Phantasms seem to be looking for that Phantasm soul,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°They¡¯ve spread word that once any outsider race discovers anything about that Phantasm soul, they should inform them at the first possible moment.¡±

    ¡°The Phantasm soul?¡± Nie Tian said with a cold snort. ¡°It¡¯s already gone.¡±

    ¡°That Phantasm soul seems to belong to a ninth grade grand patriarch of the Phantasms,¡± Qiao Yunxi said.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A ninth grade Phantasm!?¡±

    Aplicated look appeared in Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Ninth grade Phantasms are called grand patriarchs. Even if it¡¯s only a soul now and has lost most of its soul power, it¡¯s still the soul of a grand patriarch. Every grand patriarch of the Phantasms enjoys a lofty position. Only the most ancient and powerful ns have ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    ¡°If a grand patriarch decides to take the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the eight major powers would have to avoid fighting and take the initiative to back out from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Shaken by her words, Nie Tian said inwardly, <i>¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that Phantasm soul was actually so powerful. If that¡¯s the case, the Spirit Pearl will probably be very powerful once the Phantasm soul truly merges with it and bes its soul.¡±</i>

    Qiao Yunxi couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°How in the world did you get rid of that Phantasm soul?¡±

    Yin Yanan also looked over at Nie Tian with a curious expression.

    She had believed that Nie Tian would die beyond the shadow of a doubt soon after parting ways with them. Who would have thought he had actually taken care of the Phantasm soul without any help?

    This had been a major puzzle that she couldn¡¯t get over.

    ¡°Even grand patriarchs aren¡¯t invincible,¡± Nie Tian said with a meaningful tone.

    Seeing that he didn¡¯t want to give a straight answer, the girls were rather disgruntled, yet since there was nothing they could do, they fell silent.

    Nie Tian was rather happy now that they had stopped asking questions. He took out spirit stones and resumed cultivating his spiritual core with them.

    Time passed bit by bit...

    The four of them traveled cautiously as they scanned their surroundings with their soul awareness all the time, fearing that they would run into powerful outsiders.

    They had be very alert since they had learned that the Demons and the Stonemen weren¡¯t the only outsider forces that hade to this region.

    They prepared themselves for engagement with bands of outsiders at any moment.

    However, their trip went surprisingly smoothly, and they didn¡¯t encounter any outsiders.

    Two weeks passed...

    As the me Bird flew to a ring-shaped floating meteor, the tips of Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyebrows rose. Overjoyed, she eximed, ¡°I can sense another divine me seal over there!¡±

    The me Bird dashed over, and she jumped off, holding a special tool. Her garments fluttered lightly as she flew to the floating meteor, wreathed in a crimson aura.

    In a corner of the meteor that was covered in rubble, as she formed a hand seal, a streak of crimson light shot out from the depths of the ground.

    The glorious light came to a stop before her, and it turned out to be a magical seal that looked like a ball of fire. She made a grabbing motion, and it flew into her palm.

    Then, she merged her soul awareness with it to receive the information within it.

    After a short while, her eyes lit up as she flew back to the me Bird and said, ¡°I know where to go now!¡±

    In high spirits, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°How long will it take us to get to Senior Yue¡¯s location?¡±

    Xing Beichen also flew closer on his Broken Sword and listened attentively.

    ¡°Considering our speed, it¡¯ll take about a month or so for us to meet up with the grand elder,¡± Qiao Yunxi answered. Then, she fixed Nie Tian with a strange look. ¡°The grand elder and the others seem to havee to a major discovery. ording to the message I received from the divine me seal, they want me to take you to them as soon as possible.¡±

    Yin Yanan was taken aback. ¡°Him?!¡±

    ¡°Our grand elder invited him here,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°I suppose he needs him to help them with something.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before realizing that Yue Yanxi¡¯s discovery must have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Perhaps he had discovered the teleportation portal the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had set up in this forbidden region, which connected the Realm of Split Void and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Our grand elder must be worried that we¡¯ve lost our way, and therefore arranged for sect members to leave divine me seals in the vicinity, hoping that we¡¯d follow them to their location.¡± With these words, Qiao Yunxi frowned. ¡°But we¡¯re not the only ones who can find and trace those divine me seals.¡±

    Xing Beichen couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    A bitter expression appeared on Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face as she exined, ¡°Powerful outsider and human experts will also be able to sense their presence and extract information from them. Our grand elder must not know that people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and outsiders have alsoe to this region.

    ¡°Those divine me seals are none other than sets of coordinates. They¡¯ll lead others to our grand elder¡¯s location as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m now worried that the outsiders will follow those divine me seals to where the people from our sect are gathered.¡±

    ¡°People from the Bliss Mountain Sect are also here?!¡± Yin Yanan eximed in shock.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for that bitch Mu Biqiong, Nie Tian and I would have met up with our grand elder long ago!¡± Qiao Yunxi said, gritting her teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t ever let me see her again!¡±

    Xing Beichen sighed. ¡°From the look of it, the situation is getting more and moreplicated in this forbidden region.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Qiao Yunxi said decisively. ¡°We need to join our grand elder and the others as soon as possible.¡±

    Over the following days, she led the way and, as expected, found one divine me seal after another. She adjusted directions ordingly and gradually approached the area where Yue Yanxi and the others were.

    A month passed.

    On this day, they caught sight of a number of floating corpses while they sped through the void.

    The corpses were all dressed in Golden Stone Sect garments. Upon seeing them, Xing Beichen¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he eximed, ¡°Members of the Golden Stone Sect!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was also rather surprised as she said, ¡°Nie Tian and I ran into Mao Mingyuan from the Golden Stone Sect before. They seemed to have found a broken ancient starship that belonged to the Golden Vast Sect with the help of a special instrument. But that was a long time ago. How did they end up here?¡±

    Nie Tian also found this confusing. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that they somehow fixed that broken ancient starship.¡±

    Yin Yanan jumped off the me Bird and flew around on her Frost Blood Python to examine the dead Golden Stone Sect disciples. All of a sudden, she pulled a divine me seal from within the cuff of one of the corpses.

    ¡°A divine me seal?!¡± Qiao Yunxi eximed. ¡°They must have learned our grand elder¡¯s location from that divine me seal, and then marched towards it. But what happened to them? Why were they killed here?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the outsiders could get here so quickly,¡± Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect said with a grim face.

    The Golden Stone Sect was one of his sect¡¯s subordinate forces. The fact that their members had been killed in this ce, and it didn¡¯t seem to be the outsiders¡¯ doing, made him very angry.

    After finishing examining the corpses, Yin Yanan called out to Nie Tian and the others, ¡°Mao Mingyuan isn¡¯t among the dead. Most of these people were at the Worldly realm and the Greater Heaven stage. Only three of them were at the Profound realm. If the outsiders didn¡¯t do it, then it must be people from other sects. The Bliss Mountain Sect is highly suspect!¡±

    ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect?!¡± Xing Beichen bellowed.

    ¡°Yeah, we need to be extra careful from now on,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we won¡¯t run into those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect.¡±

    ¡°I swear we¡¯ll settle ounts with those bastards when our powerful experts arrive!¡± Xing Beichen bellowed furiously.

    Afterwards, the four of them set out again.

    Two dayster, they came across even more dead Golden Stone Sect disciples. And this time, Mao Mingyuan was among them.

    Gazing at Mao Mingyuan, who had died with his eyes open, Qiao Yunxi said, ¡°Their deaths most likely have something to do with the ancient starship they recently gained. If they could actually fix that ancient starship, it would be an invaluable treasure. None of the ancient starships the major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have can bepared to that one.

    ¡°None of the corpses have any sign of being burned, so it¡¯s definitely not people from our sect who did this.¡±

    She disassociated the Divine me Sect from the deaths of these Golden Stone Sect disciples, fearing that Xing Beichen woulde to such an idea.

    Face very grim, Xing Beichen said, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. I¡¯m not blind. Of course I can tell it wasn¡¯t your people¡¯s doing.¡±

    Yin Yanan reminded them by saying, ¡°From now on, we need to be very alert, because people from the Bliss Mountain Sect might be right ahead. I don¡¯t want to share these Golden Stone Sect disciples¡¯ fate.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that they¡¯ll dare to attack us!¡± Xing Beichen said, his voice filled with fury.

    ¡°You¡¯re nowhere near the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Even if they kill you, no one will know, so what do they have to fear?¡± Yin Yanan said with a mocking tone. ¡°Besides, the fight over Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies has already ruined the rtionship between your sect and the Trisword Sect. Do you really think they¡¯ll have any scruples?¡±

    Xing Beichen fell silent.

    Seven dayster...

    The golden ancient starship the Golden Stone Sect had discovered was floating among three vast meteors. Numerous Qi warriors were engaged in a fierce battle on the starship and the surrounding meteors. They dashed across from time to time, wielding their spiritual tools.

    ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n!¡± Qiao Yunxi eximed.

    Yin Yanan also called out, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have all sent people here! People from the Jian n and the Guan n have even beaten us to this location and started fighting people from the Bliss Mountain Sect! What happened?¡±

 Chapter 742: The Corpses of Two Eighth Grade Spirit Beasts

    Since they were still quite some distance from the battlefield, the battling Qi warriors were only the size of mosquitoes in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    However, the three floating meteors and the golden ancient starship were very eye-catching.

    One streak of spiritual aura after another shed across the void. Numerous spiritual tools unleashed dazzling lights that interwove in the air and lit up the entire area.

    Profound energy fluctuations spread out in all directions, turning smaller meteors in the vicinity into flying dust.

    The me Bird and the Broken Sword instantly came to a stop. The four of them all had serious looks on their faces, and didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    ¡°Do we go over there?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked in a low voice.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python, which had shrunk many times in size, suddenly wiggled violently as it ballooned up to its original size.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered as she was forced to jump off the me Bird with the Frost Blood Python due to its abnormal behavior.

    She quickly mounted it and unleashed her soul awareness tomunicate with it. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡±

    Secondster, her well-built body shuddered as she eximed, ¡°There¡¯s a dead eighth grade Frost Python on one of the meteors!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi eximed, ¡°What!?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered.

    He had long since learned that as spirit beasts grew stronger, their grades could also rise.

    For example, Frost Pythons were born to be second grade spirit beasts.

    However, as time passed, they could continue to grow stronger and upgrade their bloodline.

    After hundreds or thousands of years, a second grade Frost Python could grow into a eighth or even ninth grade spirit beast.

    Frost Pythons weren¡¯t powerful spirit beasts at birth. But even though it would be very difficult for them to reach the eighth grade, it wasn¡¯t impossible.

    As for a powerful species like the Blood Stripe Python, they were born as seventh grade spirit beasts, which was very rare among all spirit beast species.

    The Frost Blood Python was a hybrid of the Frost Blood Python and the Blood Stripe Python. Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python was born with seventh grade bloodline power, as well as the unique features of both the Frost Pythons and the Blood Stripe Pythons.

    It was thanks to the Frost Python blood that ran in its veins that it managed to sense the aura of an eighth grade Frost Python from a significant distance away.

    Even if it had died, its corpse would be of great help to the Frost Blood Python. After all, it had been tested by the years and somehow managed to advance from the second grade to the eighth grade.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Are the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n fighting over the corpse of that eighth grade Frost Python? An eighth grade Frost Python is as strong as a human Void domain expert. Its skin, bones, meridians, and blood are all treasures. They can be used to forge extraordinary spiritual tools. No wonder people are fighting over them.¡±

    Yin Yanan seemed to have an itch in her heart as she suggested, ¡°How about we go over and take a look? Those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n are currently caught up in a fierce battle. Perhaps they won¡¯t notice us. What do you say?¡±

    Her heart had clearly been stirred after she learned that the corpse of an eighth grade Frost Python was buried in one of the meteors.

    Considering its age, her Frost Blood Python was only a baby.

    If she could gain that eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse, its flesh and blood, which shared the same origin as her Frost Blood Python, would most likely help it advance to the eighth grade within a short time.

    If that happened, her Frost Blood Python would possess battle prowess equal to that of a human Void domain expert. Then, she would outshine all of the other young chosen ones in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Even her cultivation base might benefit from it, and advance to the Profound realm within a short time.

    Once she entered the Profound realm, even without the Frost Blood Python, and just by relying on her own strength, she would take Xing Beichen¡¯s ce and be the most powerful chosen one among the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Qiao Yunxi threw her a hard look and said, ¡°You need to calm down first! We don¡¯t have a full understanding of the situation over there yet. If the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect are at a dominating advantage, we¡¯ll be courting death if we rush over there.

    ¡°They only haven¡¯t discovered us because they¡¯re deep in battle and can¡¯t scan their surroundings with their soul awareness. We¡¯re safe for now, but if you rush over senselessly, you¡¯ll expose all of us and get us killed!¡±

    Xing Beichen hastily chimed in, ¡°She¡¯s right. You need to calm down first.¡±

    As they talked, Nie Tian pondered briefly before quietly unleashing his nine Heaven Eyes.

    As soon as his Heaven Eyes came to form, the other three, who had entered the Worldly realm or Profound realm and had their own true souls, noticed it.

    Qiao Yunxi was taken aback. ¡°What are those?¡±

    ¡°I have a unique soul perception method. Let me take a look first.¡± With these words, Nie Tian narrowed his eyes and started manipting his nine Heaven Eyes to fly towards the battlefield.

    As he had expected, every Qi warrior on the golden ancient starship and the three meteors was consumed with their opponents, and didn¡¯t notice his Heaven Eyes.

    After all, there were far too many spiritual souls and soul awarenesses in that area, along with all sorts of profound soul magics.

    For these reasons, his Heaven Eyes, which carried power from his star souls, didn¡¯t catch anyone¡¯s attention.

    His nine Heaven Eyes floated closer and closer to the meteors before stopping in a ce that was about a hundred meters from them. Then, the help of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian observed the battlefield with an aerial view.

    Signs of a collision could be seen at the front of the ancient starship.

    It seemed to have crashed into a crimson meteor, which was now floating nearby.

    Numerous wide holes could be seen on the crimson meteor, each of which was filled with Heavenme Stones.

    Under the semi-transparent Heavenme Stones, parts of an enormous creature could be vaguely seen.

    With the help of his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian examined the meteor closely from different directions. After a long time, Nie Tian shuddered and eximed, ¡°This is definitely not a Frost Python!

    ¡°It¡¯s a Heaven me Beast! What¡¯s lying under the Heavenme Stones is probably an eighth grade Heaven me Beast!¡±

    ¡°What?! A Heavenly me Beast?!¡± Qiao Yunxi lost herposure as well. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken? That python sensed the aura of an eighth grade Frost Python. Frost Pythons and Heaven me Beasts are spirit beasts ofpletely different attributes. You must be mistaken!¡±

    ¡°I am not!¡± Nie Tian said with indisputable certainty. ¡°There¡¯s definitely an eighth grade Heaven me Beast buried in the crimson meteor that the golden ancient starship crashed into!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi then turned to look at Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan was also rather confused, so she once againmunicated with the Frost Blood Python. Momentster, her eyes lit up as she eximed, ¡°Can you examine the other meteors too?¡±

    Nie Tian then sent his Heaven Eyes to conduct a thorough examination of the second meteor.

    This one was dark gray, and many holes had been created on its surface during the fierce battle among the Qi warriors from the three parties.

    Silver-white things could be seen in those holes.

    Those silver-white items seemed to be some kind of icy crystal, since they kept releasing a frigid aura that even gave his soul awareness chills.

    ¡°Silver-white crystalline items are buried in another meteor,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Even my soul awareness sensed a bone-piercing coldness from them!¡±

    Yin Yanan couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°That¡¯s the one! The remains of an eighth grade Frost Python must be under those icy crystals! It must be the eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s frosty aura that leaked into its surroundings and formed those icy crystals!¡±

    Xing Beichen gasped, ¡°An eighth grade Heaven me Beast is buried in one meteor, and an eighth grade Frost Python is buried in another. What about the third meteor?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi seemed unprecedentedly excited as she muttered, ¡°If I can get that eighth grade Heaven me Beast¡¯s corpse, it¡¯ll definitely elerate the advancement of my cultivation!¡±

    Nie Tian then examined the third meteor with his Heaven Eyes. The third meteor seemedpletely ordinary. It was a gray meteor that seemed no different from the others.

    Nothing but a deep gray rocky bottom could be seen in the holes on its surface.

    ¡°The third one seems to be an ordinary meteor. I can¡¯t see anything special about it.¡± With these words, Nie Tian refocused his attention on the battle among the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n. To his surprise, he saw Yao Zhn and Tian Ziping among them, who he had encountered once in the space disruption zone.

    The two of them were Soul realm experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect. Together with another Soul realm expert, they were fighting Soul realm experts from the Guan n and the Jian n.

    However, Mu Biqiong, who Qiao Yunxi hated to the bone (idiom: hate bitterly), was nowhere to be seen.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian noticed that Profound realm and Worldly realm Qi warriors were the main forces of the battle. There were only a handful of Soul realm experts, and not a single Void domain expert could be seen.

    It was unknown whether they hadn¡¯t sent any Void domain experts to this ce, or they were just currently in another location.

    After observing for a while, Nie Tian withdrew his Heaven Eyes and exined the situation to the other three in detail, ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect is at a bit of an advantage. There don¡¯t seem to be any Void domain experts. The Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s Holy Daughter, Mu Biqiong, is nowhere to be seen. And they haven¡¯t started to unearth the Heaven me Beast or the Frost Python¡¯s corpses yet.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi fixed Nie Tian with a begging gaze. ¡°Can ask you for a favor, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°What?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi seemed somewhat ill at ease as she said, ¡°Help me take that Heaven me Beast¡¯s corpse. Heaven me Beasts are powerful fire-attributed beasts. They¡¯re very useful to me.¡±

    Yin Yanan didn¡¯t say anything, but she also fixed Nie Tian with a deep burning gaze.

    Clearly, she wanted to get that eighth grade Frost Python corpse, so that both the Frost Blood Python¡¯s and her battle prowess would rise to a whole new level.

    Having witnessed the might of Nie Tian¡¯s Life Blend, and how he had managed to ughter Hong Xian and the other experts after merging with the Bone Blood Demon, she was convinced that, as long as Nie Tian agree to help her, then adding in the Frost Blood Python¡¯s assistance, it was very likely that they would be able to take the eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse from the three parties.

 Chapter 743: Bluffing

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. ¡°So you want the eighth grade Frost Python, and you want the eighth grade Heaven me Beast. May I ask what I will get?¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°Have you not gained enough?¡± Yin Yanan asked with an unpleasant expression. ¡°Don¡¯t you have all of the soul crystals that we discovered together at the bottom of theke? They are more valuable than those two eighth grade spirit beast corpsesbined. How insatiable are you?¡±

    ¡°I collected those soul crystals when none of you could,¡± Nie Tian said with a taunting tone. ¡°Your people almost killed me for them. I earned them, and they have nothing to do with what you¡¯re asking now. If you want me to pry the meat from those three parties¡¯ mouths, you¡¯ll have to give me something I want.¡±

    Yin Yanan gave a cold harrumph. ¡°My Frost Blood Python will also y a crucial part in this operation!¡±

    She meant that her Frost Blood Python would make enough of a contribution to earn the eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse.

    As for the Heaven me Beast, since Nie Tian had a close rtionship with the Divine me Sect and it was Qiao Yunxi who wanted it, he should be happy just to get it for her.

    ¡°Well, another option would be for us to circle around them and keep going,¡± Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect said with a wry smile. ¡°Even though I hate the Bliss Mountain Sect very much, I don¡¯t think we should take such a big risk. After all, there are a few Soul realm experts over there. No matter which side wins, they won¡¯t be happy to lose those two eighth grade spirit beast corpses to us.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have a strong desire for either the Frost Python or the Heaven me Beast. Therefore, he wanted to stay away from trouble.

    Yin Yanan fixed him with a cold stare. ¡°You can leave now, if you want to. It¡¯s not like we can¡¯t do this without you.¡±

    Even though Xing Beichen had the highest cultivation base among the four of them, since he didn¡¯t have powerful means like the Frost Blood Python or the Bone Blood Demon, Yin Yanan didn¡¯t seem very keen to persuade him to help them.

    Upon hearing these words, Xing Beichen¡¯s smile froze. He let out a cold snort and fell silent.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Qiao Yunxi looked at Nie Tian with her imploring eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll be in your debt if you do this for me. That eighth grade Heaven me Beast is very very helpful for me. How about you give our grand elder face and help me this one time?¡±

    Nie Tian looked somewhat irritated as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth. My puppet consumed too much strength during the battle against Hong Xian and the other experts. It hasn¡¯t really recovered yet. Now, it can barely contend against one Soul realm expert. It doesn¡¯t have the strength to crush all three parties and set the tone for the battle.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi went nk briefly before saying, ¡°That air-transportation spiritual tool of yours is also rather destructive.¡±

    ¡°The consumption is too huge,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°It takes about a hundred Star Stones tounch just one strike. I don¡¯t have enough Star Stones to kill so many Soul realm experts.¡±

    ¡°So by saying all that, you just want to tell us that you don¡¯t have the strength to fight them, right?¡± Yin Yanan¡¯s attitude instantly changed, her chin tilting. ¡°I thought you could massacre those people with the help of your puppet. It seems that I overestimated you. If you can¡¯t do it, just say so.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I can¡¯t.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem angry at all. Instead, he satzily on the me Bird and added, ¡°You can totally do that by yourself. Go ahead and take that Frost Python. I¡¯ll cheer for you from here.¡±

    Yin Yanan glowered at him. ¡°You!!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t stop there. He pointed at the battlefield from afar and said with a provoking tone, ¡°Go ahead. I wish you sess.¡±

    SSSS! SSSS!

    The Frost Blood Python between Yin Yanan¡¯s long, bare legs let out hissing sounds, its eyes shining with the light of desire.

    At the same time, a misty aura rose from its ck and white body as it thrummed with two different kinds of flesh power.

    Yin Yanan could sense its urgency with great rity, yet she could only try tofort it over and over with her soul awareness.

    ¡°Are you sure you won¡¯t be able to help?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked in a low voice.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Even after absorbing quite a number of Stonemen blood, the Bone Blood Demon could only contend against one Soul realm expert. Even though the Star Boat was very mighty, he didn¡¯t want to use it because of its terrifyingly high consumption of Star Stones.

    Besides, he had other worries.

    Tian Ziping and Yao Zhn had seen him and Zhao Shanling in the space disruption zone. They knew that they had taken Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies and killed people from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    If he showed up now, they might end their battle against the Jian n and the Guan n and point their weapons at him.

    He didn¡¯t want to stir up a fire only to burn himself. (Idiom: court disaster)

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t count on you, I...¡± Yin Yanan didn¡¯t finish her sentence. After a moment of silent pondering, she suddenly pped the Frost Blood Python¡¯srge head as she seemed toe up with some idea.

    The python, which had been waiting for too long, then slithered towards the battlefield at full speed.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s expression flickered as he subconsciously controlled his Broken Sword to shrink back. ¡°Has she lost her mind?!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was also shocked by Yin Yanan¡¯s behavior and eximed, ¡°What the hell is she doing?!¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Who knows?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Boat flew out of his ring of holding, and he jumped on board. He observed Yin Yanan with his Heaven Eyes from a safe distance, preparing himself for the worst.

    Xing Beichen seemed to suddenly realize that his air-transportation spiritual tool wasn¡¯t fast enough, and thus hastily flew to Qiao Yunxi. ¡°Take me with you, Junior Martial Sister Qiao!¡±

    Before Qiao Yunxi could say anything, he put his Broken Sword away and leapt onto the me Bird. ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s get out of here! That woman is crazy!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what she¡¯s up to first.¡± Nie Tian calmed down a bit as he stood in his Star Boat. Through his Heaven Eyes, he kept a close watch on Yin Yanan.

    As she came close to the battlefield, Yin Yanan called out at the top of her lungs, ¡°Scum from the Bliss Mountain Sect! The Trisword Sect has already learned about the fact that you¡¯ve killed people from the Golden Stone Sect and taken the golden ancient starship from them! Elder Hong Xian from my sect, Elder Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect, and Senior Chu Xuanji from the Chu n are all on their way here!

    ¡°I¡¯ve already spread word of your despicable deeds. You¡¯d better get ready to suffer the Trisword Sect¡¯s wrath!¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s words shook heaven and earth. Even without the help of the Heaven Eyes, Qiao Yunxi and Xing Beichen caught every word she said.

    Qiao Yunxi gasped. ¡°Is, is she trying to scare the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect?¡±

    Xing Beichen¡¯s eyes lit up as he gave a snort. ¡°It seems that the woman didn¡¯t go mad. Her little scheme might actually work!¡±

    Nie Tian was also impressed by Yin Yanan¡¯s tact, and thus stayed to see how things would go.

    The people from the Bliss Mountain Sect surely didn¡¯t know that Hong Xian, Wei Yu, Chu Xuanji, and the others had already died or fled the region.

    In their eyes, the future leader of the Beast-controlling Sect would never show up by herself without a good reason.

    Meanwhile, they had a guilty conscience from killing people from the Golden Stone Sect, so they would be easily stirred to hear that Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect wasing for them.

    ¡°It¡¯s Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect!¡±

    ¡°Did she just say that Hong Xian, Wei Yu, and Chu Xuanji areing here?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s lying, right?¡±

    As they discussed her words amongst themselves, countless wisps of their soul awareness spread out with their battlefield as the center.

    Like invisible lightning bolts, the Soul realm experts¡¯ soul awareness rapidly covered the entire area.

    Nie Tian, Xing Beichen, and Qiao Yunxi felt that soul power, which was either icy, scorching, sharp, or silky, rapidly filling the space around them.

    The few Soul realm experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect instantly sensed the presence of Nie Tian, Qiao Yunxi, and Xing Beichen. Their expression flickered as they eximed, ¡°Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect!¡±

    ¡°Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect is also here!¡±

    ¡°The... The kid we met in that space disruption zone!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi and Xing Beichen enjoyed lofty statuses in the Divine me Sect and the Trisword Sect. The fact that they were here most certainly meant that their protectors were also in the vicinity.

    After sensing the presence of Qiao Yunxi, Xing Beichen, and Nie Tian, Yao Zhn, who was fighting Jian Gao from the Jian n, finally looked shaken.

    Like tiny arcane realms wrapped in pitch-ck water, numerous drops of cke Heavy Water rapidly flew back to her from all directions. Each and every drop had her soul shadow in it, and carried countless mysterious symbols.

    ¡°Fall back to the golden ancient starship! Let¡¯s leave and meet up with Elder Jiang Feng first!¡± Qiao Zhn shouted fiercely.

    One figure after another flew into the golden ancient starship like streaks of lightning.

    A misty golden shield then rose from the ancient starship and enveloped the Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors as countless golden patterns appeared on its surface.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    As a deafening rumble came from the golden starship, which had belonged to the Golden Vast Sect, it turned around and sailed away from the battlefield.

    The Jian n and Guan n Qi warriors looked grim as they watched the golden starship sail away at a rather slow speed, but no one dared to try to stop it.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that her n actually worked,¡± Xing Beichen said with a strange expression.

 Chapter 744: Metal-devouring Bug

    ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect is so far over the line!¡± Jian Gao from the Jian n spat furiously as he watched the ancient golden starship leave.

    The Qi warriors from the Jian n and the Guan n seemed to know that they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the ancient starship that had belonged to the Golden Vast Sect.

    Jian Gao let out a sigh of relief and said to Yin Yanan with his face filled with smiles, ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re here. When will brother Hong Xian and Wei Yu arrive?¡±

    Yin Yanan gave him a bitter smile. ¡°They¡¯re noting. I only said those things to scare those from the Bliss Mountain Sect away.¡±

    Guan Qi from the Guan n was a fat man with a benign face. Frowning and narrowing his small eyes, he said, ¡°What?! That doesn¡¯t make sense. Both you and Xing Beichen are here. They should be in the vicinity to protect you, right?¡±

    While he spoke, Qiao Yunxi flew over with Nie Tian and Xing Beichen on her me Bird.

    Yin Yanan fixed Nie Tian, who was sittingzily on the me Bird, with a sideways look, gave a disdainful snort, and said, ¡°I solved the problem with the Bliss Mountain Sect without your help, see?¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re the man.¡±

    The Jian n and the Guan n had lost more than a hundred Qi warriors during this battle against the Bliss Mountain Sect. Their corpses were scattered on the three floating meteors, along with several dozen Bliss Mountain Sect disciples.

    At this moment, their disciples were disposing of the dead and treating the wounded, grim looks clouding their faces.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qiao Yunxi asked Jian Gao and Guan Qi, ¡°Seniors, how did youe to fight those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect?¡±

    Jian Gao answered, ¡°We came to this ce first...¡± He went on and exined the situation to her.

    ording to him, the Jian n and the Guan n¡¯s joint forces had entered this forbidden region after berthing their ancient starships at the edge of the region.

    Even though they hadeter than the other forces, they happened to have entered from a ce that was close to this area.

    They had discovered a divine me seal soon after they had started exploring. Then, they had cracked the information it held, ording to which, they had found more divine me seals, and followed them to this ce.

    While they had rested on one of the floating meteors, the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect hade on the gold starship they had stolen from the Golden Stone Sect.

    Since they had only recently seized the golden starship, they hadn¡¯t been very skilled at controlling it, and thus crashed into one of the meteors.

    The collision had created huge holes in that meteor, revealing numerous Heavenme Stones, along with parts of the corpse of a Heaven me Beast.

    It turned out that there had been a dead Heaven me Beast right under the Jian n and Guan n members¡¯ feet, but some sealing spell must havepletely sealed the aura and stopped them from detecting it.

    After realizing that a Heaven me Beast was buried in one of the meteors, they had bombarded another meteor and found the corpse of an eighth grade Frost Python.

    The discovery of the eighth grade spirit beasts had stirred the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s greed. They had demanded them by relying on their superior strength. Of course, the Jian n and the Guan n hadn¡¯t agreed to it, so a fierce battle had broken out between them.

    ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s team is lead by Jiang Feng, but he left with their Holy Daughter, Mu Biqiong, shortly after the battle broke out,¡± Guan Qi said, gazing off into the distance. ¡°It¡¯s only because of Jiang Feng that they dared to demand both eighth grade spirit beast corpses from us.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The middle Void domain Jiang Feng?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Jian Gao¡¯s face grew very grim. ¡°We didn¡¯t expect to see him here at all. After all, this region has just opened up after beingplete inessible for thousands of years.

    ¡°We came here out of pure curiosity, so we didn¡¯t have our most powerful expertse with us.

    ¡°Those from the Bliss Mountain Sect only dared to be so domineering because they saw that we didn¡¯t have any Void domain experts on our teams.¡±

    Yin Yanan and Xing Beichen¡¯s face slowly dropped after hearing these words.

    Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect was at the middle Void domain, the same as Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect. He was one of the few powerful figures who could shake the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Our grand elder has alsoe to this region. He and the others should be close.¡± With these words, Qiao Yunxi sighed. ¡°Jiang Feng and that bitch Mu Biqiong probably found their trace and went after them.¡±

    Guan Qi gasped. ¡°Senior Yue is also here?!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi nodded.

    ¡°What kind of important discovery did your sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect find that made you send such heavy forces to this region?¡± Jian Gao asked, looking deeply surprised.

    Xing Beichen and Yin Yanan also fixed Qiao Yunxi with curious gazes, suspecting that there must be some reason behind the Divine me Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s unusual arrangements.

    Qiao Yunxi shook her head. ¡°Well... I¡¯ve no idea.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the outsiders.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out.

    Guan Qi¡¯s expression further flickered. ¡°Outsiders?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We encountered outsiders and suffered great losses.¡± Yin Yanan snuck Nie Tian a nce. ¡°Elder Hong Xian from my sect and Elder Wei Yu from the Trisword Sect died at the outsiders¡¯ hands. We don¡¯t know whether Senior Chu Xuanji is dead or alive...¡±

    She didn¡¯t tell the truth, that Nie Tian was the one who had killed Hong Xian and Wei Yu.

    Jian Gao gasped. ¡°God! What kinds of secrets are hiding in this strange region? I can¡¯t believe that even the Demons and the Phantasms have also sent forces to this region.¡±

    ¡°Brother Jian, I think we need to send people back to our ancient starships and summon our Void domain seniors here!¡± Guan Qi said with an urgent tone.

    Jian Gao nodded. ¡°Yeah, I agree.¡±

    The fact that not only Void domain experts like Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng, but powerful outsiders had alsoe to this region meant there must be some heaven-shaking, earth-moving secrets in this forbidden region.

    Their discovery of the two eighth grade spirit beast corpses strengthened their conviction.

    Both Jian Gao and Guan Qi realized that, with just the people they had, they might not even be able to survive, not to mention gaining a share of the fortune that might be hidden here.

    The two of them then reached a mutual understanding, and both sent a few Profound realm members back to call for reinforcements.

    Yin Yanan shot a nce at the meteor where the eighth grade Frost Python was buried, and said somewhat embarrassedly, ¡°Seniors, I... I scared those from the Bliss Mountain Sect off. Otherwise, I believe you¡¯d have suffered greater losses. That eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse is going to be very helpful to me, so will you please give it to me?¡±

    She finally expressed her desire for the eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse.

    Jian Gao and Guan Qi exchanged a nce, reluctance appearing on their faces.

    Nie Tian, however, knew that the ownership of the Frost Python and the Heaven me Beast wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with him, and thus jumped to the third meteor.

    The three meteors floated rather closely together, and the gravity in this region was almost negligible, so he was able to jump over to the nearby meteor without using the Star Boat.

    Quite a number of wide holes could be seen on the meteor¡¯s surface. Apparently, this meteor had also been explored.

    It was just that there was nothing special in those holes.

    Some Qi warriors from the Jian n and the Guan n were still scattered on the meteor and examining those holes. A tall, plump woman, who resembled Guan Qi, came over to him. With furrowed eyebrows, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your time on this meteor. We did a thorough search and found nothing.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a politeugh and said, ¡°I just want to take a look around.¡±

    The tall plump woman asked. ¡°Who are you by the way?¡±

    ¡°I came with Qiao Yunxi,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°I guess that makes me the Divine me Sect¡¯s guest.¡±

    A skeptical expression appeared on the woman¡¯s face. ¡°The Divine me Sect¡¯s guest?¡±

    At this moment, Xing Beichen descended on his Broken Sword and said, smiling, ¡°He is a respected guest of the Divine me Sect, Big Sister Guan. Long time no see. I see that you¡¯ve entered thete Worldly realm. Congrattions.¡±

    The woman gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Are you mocking me? I¡¯m older than you. You¡¯ve already entered the Profound realm, but I¡¯m still struggling at the Worldly realm. What¡¯s there to congratte me for?¡±

    ¡°Uhh... I just wanted to congratte you from the bottom of my heart.¡± Xing Beichen said embarrassedly.

    He and Guan He seemed to know each other rather well. He went on and talked to her, but kept sneaking nces at Nie Tian.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t see through Nie Tian, he had a feeling that every move Nie Tian made had reasons behind it.

    Both Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan had a spirit beast corpse they wanted. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t get a share from the Jian n or the Guan n. Therefore, he followed Nie Tian to the third meteor, wondering whether something special was buried in this meteor too.

    ¡°From the bottom of your heart?¡± Guan He seemed to hold a certain grudge towards him as she spoke. ¡°Back in the day, my n wanted to strengthen our rtionship with your sect through a marriage. However, you refused the proposal because I¡¯m older than you and I¡¯m not pretty. I know what kind of heart you have.¡±

    ¡°I, I just don¡¯t like arranged marriages. I didn¡¯t refuse the proposal because of you.¡± Xing Beichen bowed repeatedly as he apologized, a bitter smile filling his face.

    ¡°Save it!¡± Guan He spat angrily. ¡°If you thought I was ugly, you should have just said it! Hypocrites like you are the worst!¡±

    A strange expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as the two of them bickered.

    Instead of listening to them bicker about their past, Nie Tian went to the edge of a huge hole, where he unleashed his unique life aura to examine what was underneath. His eyes suddenly lit up.

    SHEW!

    He jumped directly into the huge hole, which seemed to have been created by the Guan n and the Jian n.

    He summoned the me Star and gathered spiritual power. Dazzling light then shot out of the me Star¡¯s tip as he started cutting the rocks at the bottom of the hole with it.

    Guan He shot a nce in Nie Tian¡¯s direction, a disdainful look filling her face. ¡°What a waste of time!¡±

    Nie Tian ignored herpletely and continued to shatter rocks with his me Star as he sank deeper and deeper towards the heart of the meteor.

    After some time, with a loud clunk, the me Star pierced into a surprisingly hard rock.

    In the next moment, golden light burst forth from the rock as it shattered.

    Then, a golden thing that looked like a silkworm chrysalis revealed itself.

    It was covered in needle-like hair and emanating golden light.

    Nie Tian realized that it was this thing that made him feel as if he had hit a piece of metal with the me Star.

    However, since he was deep under the surface and had blocked most of the golden light, no one on the surface seemed to notice anything.

    However, Xing Beichen¡¯s eyebrows flickered slightly as he found an excuse and ended his conversation with Guan He, then he went down the deep hole where Nie Tian was.

    As soon as he reached the bottom, he saw the thing that was shining with golden light. He then lowered his voice and said rather excitedly, ¡°That¡¯s a Metal-devouring Bug! Like Bone-devouring Leeches, they¡¯re also from the Deste Antiquity Era!¡±

 Chapter 745

    Xing Beichen fixed the shining bug with a zing gaze as he lowered his voice as much as he could and said, ¡°Metal-devouring Bugs are good stuff. They feast on all kinds of metal. Even though they¡¯re small, they¡¯re harder than any kind of metal.

    ¡°Also, Metal-devouring Bugs can merge with almost any spiritual tool. They can, to a great extent, improve the spiritual tool¡¯s hardness and sharpness. The higher grade the Metal-devouring Bugs are, the better the strengthening effect they will have on spiritual tools.

    ¡°They are very ancient and extremely hard to find. I can¡¯t believe you actually found some here in the heart of this meteor.¡±

    While Xing Beichen talked, he constantly looked up at the mouth of the hole, fearing that Guan He would notice something.

    An unpleasant look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he put the Metal-devouring Bug that was only the size of his thumb into his ring of holding, and said, ¡°You¡¯re quite a wordy guy.¡±

    If Metal-devouring Bugs were like Bone-devouring Leeches and were also an ancient species from the Deste Antiquity Era, they should be exceptionally helpful for the upgrade of his bloodline as well.

    However, since Xing Beichuan was there, Nie Tian didn¡¯t choose to drain it of its flesh power with Life Drain and refine it into his heart right away.

    Nor did he dig deeper to search for more Metal-devouring Bugs, even though he sensed with the help of his unique bloodline aura that there were more Metal-devouring Bugs buried in this meteor.

    Not just that, but he even sensed the presence of a shockingly strong aura, which he believed belonged to a high grade Metal-devouring Bug.

    The reason why the Qi warriors from the Jian n and the Guan n had failed to discover the Metal-devouring Bugs was because most human Qi warriors didn¡¯t develop a keen perception of flesh aura.

    The Metal-devouring Bugs were small and buried in the depths of the meteor. Plus, their flesh aura was rather weak. Therefore, it was understandable that they didn¡¯t discover them.

    ¡°Are there more Metal-devouring Bugs here?¡± Xing Beichen asked in a low voice.

    ¡°I guess not,¡± Nie Tian answered with an indifferent tone.

    ¡°How did you know that there was a Metal-devouring Bug down here?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you.¡±

    Looking somewhat frustrated, Xing Beichen gave a weak sigh, but still refused to leave.

    Since he refused to leave, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t do anything. After pondering for a moment, he shot out of the hole without saying anything to Xing Beichen.

    At that moment, Nie Tian started to feel that there was something strange with Xing Beichen. He had seriously wounded Wei Yu, and before that, killed Qi Jiuchuan and many other Trisword Sect disciples, but Xing Beichen didn¡¯t seem very angry about any of that.

    Nie Tian even had a feeling that Xing Beichen had faked the anger he had shown earlier when he had discovered that people from the Bliss Mountain Sect had assaulted and wiped out the Golden Stone Sect team.

    The Trisword Sect had poured their cultivation resources into this man and viewed him as the future of their sect. However, unlike Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi, he didn¡¯t seem to care very much about the deaths of their powerful experts.

    Just as Xing Beichen couldn¡¯t see through him, he also couldn¡¯t see through Xing Beichen. He knew in his heart that this harmless-looking man must have many secrets.

    WHOOSH!

    With these thoughts, hended on the meteor¡¯s surface.

    Seeing him, the plump Guan He asked indifferently from afar, ¡°Found anything?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°I told you that you were wasting your time. We¡¯ve already done a thorough scan of the area. We didn¡¯t find anything, but you thought you could?¡± With these words, Guan He jumped onto her air-transportation spiritual tool and left for the meteor where Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi were, along with all of the other members of the Jian n and the Guan n who hade to search this meteor.

    SHEW!

    After she left, Xing Beichen took his time to surface from the hole. Stopping beside Nie Tian, he said, ¡°How about you sell me that Metal-devouring Bug? Just name your price.¡±

    ¡°Are you really so interested in it?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    With a warm smile, Xing Beichen said, ¡°As you know, I¡¯m from the Trisword Sect. My most suited spiritual tools are swords. I¡¯m hoping to take that Metal-devouring Bug back to my sect and have our best equipment forger refine it into my spiritual sword.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°it¡¯s not for sale. Sorry.¡±

    Since the Metal-devouring Bug could help him elerate the upgrade of his bloodline, he surely wouldn¡¯t sell it for any amount of spirit stones.

    ¡°Umm, okay...¡± Xing Beichen said with a dry smile.

    At that moment, Qiao Yunxi flew over on her me Bird, muttering something as she did, looking disgruntled.

    Nie Tian gazed off at the meteor which she had just left, and saw Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect in ecstasy, as if she had reached some mutual understanding with the Jian n and the Guan n.

    Qiao Yunxi snorted coldly and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. That woman isn¡¯t leaving any time soon.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Xing Beichen asked. ¡°She managed to persuade the Jian n and the Guan n to give her the eighth grade Frost Python, didn¡¯t she?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Qiao Yunxi looked rather discontent. ¡°I told them the same thing, that as long as they give the Heaven me Beast to me, my sect will definitely repay them generously. But they refused and kept the Heaven me Beast for themselves.¡±

    Xing Beichen didn¡¯t seem very surprised as he said, ¡°Yin Yanan showed up and scared those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect off, which relieved them from further casualties. I suppose they only agreed to her request in light of such a contribution. Since none of us made any sort of contribution, it¡¯s only natural that they don¡¯t want to give the Heaven me Beast¡¯s corpse to you. Plus, they already agreed to give the eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse to Yin Yanan. How can you expect them to give the only remaining Heaven me Beast¡¯s corpse to you?¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright! Enough of that!¡± Qiao Yunxi was in a bad mood, so didn¡¯t want to listen to his reasoning.

    Then, she beckoned for Nie Tian to join her on her me Bird.

    ¡°I want to stay here and practice cultivation for some time,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Upon hearing these words, a hearty smile appeared on Xing Beichen¡¯s face as he chimed in, ¡°I want to stay and cultivate for a while too.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi went nk briefly before asking with a confused expression, ¡°What the hell are you two doing?¡±

    Xing Beichen smiled, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian gazed off towards the ce where the Guan n and the Jian n members were gathered. Only after making sure that none of them were spying on them did he say, ¡°There are Metal-devouring Bugs under our feet.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was taken aback. ¡°Metal-devouring Bugs!?¡±

    Xing Beichen¡¯s eyes lit up as he finally confirmed his spection that there was more than one Metal-devouring Bug buried in this meteor.

    ¡°Shh!¡± Nie Tian shot Qiao Yunxi a warning nce.

    Qiao Yunxi then nodded and rapidly calmed down. ¡°Those from the Jian n and the Guan n won¡¯t stay here for very long. They¡¯re afraid that the outsiders wille to this area. Besides, they think that there might be other spirit beast corpses hidden in nearby meteors, so they¡¯re nning to go and do a quick examination of all of them.¡±

    Xing Beichen chimed in, ¡°Given their strength, it won¡¯t be very long before they unearth that Heaven me Beast¡¯s corpse, so all we need to do is wait.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± The three of them exchanged a nce and reached a mutual understanding.

    Time passed bit by bit...

    As loud rumbles echoed, the Heavenme Stones were first unearthed and collected from the meteor where the Heaven me Beast corpse was buried.

    Shortly afterwards, with the Jian n and Guan n members¡¯ joint efforts, the enormous Heaven me Beast corpse gradually appeared.

    Even though it had long since died, the eighth grade Heaven me Beast still emanated a shockingly strong flesh aura, along with torrential me power.

    Even the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was stirred, and sent soul messages to Nie Tian to express its strong desire for it.

    The me Dragon Armor had consumed a significant amount of me power to refine the six fierce souls and the Phantasm soul.

    It yearned for such raging me power so that it could recover its strength.

    The eighth grade Heaven me Beast¡¯s corpse would provide it with ideal nourishment.

    However, Nie Tian could only ignore its repeated requests. He knew that there was no way he could take the Heaven me Beast corpse from so many powerful Guan n and Jian n experts.

    The Heaven me Beast slowly rose from the depths of the meteor. However, before Nie Tian could get a good look at it, it was sucked into Guan Gao¡¯s ring of holding.

    After finishing with the Heaven me Beast, Guan Qi flew over from that meteor and asked Qiao Yunxi, ¡°Are youing with us?¡±

    ¡°Thank you for your kind offer, but we¡¯ll stay and wait for Yin Yanan,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°After all, we came together.¡±

    Guan Qi nodded slightly. ¡°Alright then. We¡¯ll keep the Heaven me Beast corpse intact for some time. If we run into Senior Yue soon, and he happens to have something that suits our needs better, perhaps the Heaven me Beast corpse will end up being yours eventually.¡±

    After hearing these words, Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face warmed up a bit as she said, ¡°Exactly! Keep it intact. Our grand elder will definitely have something better to trade with you for it!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll keep it for you for some time.¡± Guan Qi smiled and returned to the meteor where the members of the two ns were gathered. Then, they got on their respective air-transportation spiritual tools and left.

    On another meteor, Yin Yanan had dug deep into the meteor to help her Frost Blood Python absorb the remaining power within the corpse of the eighth grade Frost Python.

    ¡°They¡¯ve left!¡± Xing Beichen said, smiling. Before Nie Tian could say anything, he took the initiative to dash down the hole where Nie Tian had found the Metal-devouring Bug.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Isn¡¯t he quick?¡±

 Chapter 746: Mother Bug

    Standing in ce, Nie Tian looked coldly at the hole Xing Beichen had just went down, a hint of a sneer appearing on his face.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    All of a sudden, a heaven-shaking, earth-moving rumble came from the hole Xing Beichen had just gone down.

    At the same time, an extremely fierce sword intent came bursting from the mouth of the deep hole.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Steel-hard rocks cracked and exploded after being touched by the fierce sword intent.

    Nie Tian scanned the wisps of fierce sword intent with his soul awareness, but his expression flickered as he experienced a stabbing pain in his mind.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that man possesses such formidable power!¡± he muttered.

    Nie Tian had traveled with Xing Beichen for some time, but had never really seen him attack anyone. Therefore, he didn¡¯t have a good understanding of his battle prowess.

    However, from the way Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi had guarded against him, he had assumed that the man must be well beyond ordinary.

    But even though he had been prepared mentally, he was in shock when he felt the iparably fierce sword intent firsthand.

    The wisps of power it carried seemed capable of tearing apart heaven and earth, along with everything in this world.

    From what Nie Tian could tell, if Xing Beichen had gathered his sword intent instead of spreading it, he might even be able to contend against a middle Profound realm expert with it.

    Qiao Yunxi didn¡¯t seem at all surprised by the mighty power Xing Beichen disyed as she said, ¡°Watch out for that man. If you and Yin Yanan weren¡¯t here, I would never dare to travel with him. The reason why Yin Yanan and I refused to let him board the me Bird was because we need to guard against him at all times.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems that the three of us indeed won¡¯t be able to defeat him without the help of my puppet and Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°He¡¯s a legendary figure among the younger generation throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries! Back in the day, when he had just entered thete Worldly realm, he managed to ughter multiple early Profound realm cultivators, which made a hit among us. Plus, no one seems to know where he came from. It was like he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and the Trisword Sect found him and started to view him as their future.

    ¡°He was only at the early Worldly realm when he joined the Trisword Sect, but he entered thete Worldly realm within a very short time.

    ¡°The former chosen one of the Trisword Sect took part in a trial with him, and somehow died during that trial. The Trisword Sect sent more than a dozen talented young disciples to take that trial, but he was the only one who came back alive.

    ¡°Word has it he killed them all to establish his unchallenged status in the Trisword Sect.

    ¡°Now, he¡¯s well versed in all of the Trisword Sect¡¯s secret sword incantations. I also heard that he managed to master a profound sword incantation that no one could for the past decades.¡±

    With aplicated expression, Qiao Yunxi further lowered her voice and added, ¡°Besides, he doesn¡¯t appear to have a strong sense of belonging with the Trisword Sect. Even though the Trisword Sect has poured cultivation resources his way over the years, he has refused their arrangements on many asions. The Trisword Sect wanted to strengthen their rtionship with the Guan n through his marriage with Guan He, but he refused.

    ¡°After that, the Guan n said that he could pick any girl he liked within their n, but he still refused.

    ¡°The Trisword Sect even had a conflict with the Guan n over this matter.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face grew very serious as she talked about Xing Beichen. Apparently, she was rather afraid of the man.

    SHEW!

    Xing Beichen suddenly flew out of the hole, withdrawing the shockingly fierce sword intent he had unleashed earlier.

    Heughed embarrassedly and said, ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be any Metal-devouring Bugs down there anymore.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°There are, but surely not everyone can find them. Also, I have to make one thing clear: the Metal-devouring Bugs will belong to whoever finds them.¡±

    A bitter smile appeared on Xing Beichen¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    Then, Nie Tian unleashed wisps of flesh aura that stretched downwards like countless tiny tentacles to capture even the faintest signs of flesh aura.

    Shortly afterwards, he shed to the mouth of another hole without uttering a word, and started drilling downwards with his me Star.

    BOOM!

    Momentster, a rock cracked open and golden light burst forth from within it.

    After shedding the rocky part that wrapped it, a strange-looking bug that was the size of a thumb appeared.

    Xing Beichen suddenly looked spirited. ¡°There ARE more!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi went nk briefly before giving a cheer and dashing to a nearby hole to copy Nie Tian¡¯s method.

    Xing Beichen observed Nie Tian from a certain distance, confused as to what allowed him to locate the Metal-devouring Bugs with such precision.

    He knew that Nie Tian surely wouldn¡¯t tell him about it. Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, he picked another hole and started digging aimlessly by himself.

    Even though his cultivation base was rather high, since he didn¡¯t have Nie Tian¡¯s unique bloodline power, he couldn¡¯t sense the faint flesh aura the Metal-devouring Bugs released.

    He and Qiao Yunxi bustled back and forth between holes. They dugboriously, but still failed to discover anything.

    Nie Tian, however, would gain at least one Metal-devouring Bug from every hole he dug in.

    Every time they heard a metal clunking sound and suddenly saw a sh of golden light, they would know that Nie Tian had found another one. This made them feel very frustrated.

    Without him noticing, four hours passed, and Nie Tian had a few dozen Metal-devouring Bugs in his possession.

    At this moment, Yin Yanan was still with the Frost Blood Python, which was refining the residual power in the eighth grade Frost Python¡¯s corpse in the depths of that other meteor.

    Seeing that the Frost Blood Python¡¯s work had gotten on track, Yin Yanan finally had the time to check on Nie Tian and the others.

    She soon noticed the anomaly. After a brief soulmunication with the Frost Blood Python, she flew over from that meteor.

    As she did, she looked down and saw Nie Tian pick up a Metal-devouring Bug that shone with golden light from the bottom of a hole in the ground.

    <i>¡°Is that a Metal-devouring Bug!? I can¡¯t believe that there are Metal-devouring Bugs buried in that meteor!¡±</i>

    Spirited, Yin Yanan then noticed that Qiao Yunxi and Xing Beichen were apparently doing the same work as Nie Tian.

    Without saying anything, shended on the meteor and joined the search for Metal-devouring Bugs in the holes dug by the Jian n and the Guan n.

    Unlike Xing Beichen and Qiao Yunxi, she had a shrewd perception of flesh aura. However, since the Metal-devouring Bugs were very small and their residual flesh aura was rather weak, she couldn¡¯t locate them as urately as Nie Tian.

    An hour passed...

    CLUNK!

    An unusually loud clunking sound suddenly came from the hole Nie Tian was digging in, along with a sh of bright golden light.

    The three others, who had still gained nothing, gathered to the mouth of the hole and looked down.

    A skull-sized rock cracked, and a Metal-devouring Bug revealed itself.

    However, this one was at least ten timesrger than the other ones Nie Tian had unearthed. Furthermore, there seemed to be fine dense patterns all over its hard exterior.

    The profound truths of metal power seemed to lie in those mysterious patterns.

    ¡°This is the one!¡± Nie Tian muttered excitedly.

    Before the other three could get a close look at it, Nie Tian rapidly put it away in his ring of holding.

    In his senses, this was thest Metal-devouring Bug in this meteor.

    The residual flesh power within this Metal-devouring Bug was richer than all of the othersbined.

    The reason why he had saved it for thest was because this one was far from any of the holes the Guan n and the Jian n had created, and was buried the deepest underground.

    Therefore, he decided to unearth the easier ones as quickly as possible before focusing on digging out thisst and most powerful Metal-devouring Bug.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s a mother bug! All of the other Metal-devouring Bugs in this meteor came from it. It¡¯s sooo much more powerful than the other one. It¡¯s...¡±

    ¡°Mine.¡± Nie Tian finished his sentence for him from the bottom of the hole.

    The corner of Xing Beichen¡¯s mouth rose, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face. ¡°Nie Tian, you got all of the soul crystals from thatke, and now you¡¯re nning to take all these Metal-devouring Bugs?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°As I recall, I made it perfectly clear that the Metal-devouring Bugs would belong to whoever found them.¡±

    ¡°But you have all of the Metal-devouring Bugs to yourself,¡± Xing Beichen said. ¡°Nie Tian, it¡¯s not smart to leave no room for maneuver. Why don¡¯t you give a few Metal-devouring Bugs to us?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s not possible,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Xing Beichen then turned to look at Yin Yanan instead, and said seriously, ¡°I have a little suggestion, Junior Martial Sister Yin. You and I join up. You can probably stop his puppet, whose battle prowess has dropped significantly, with your seventh grade Frost Blood Python, while I take care of him and Qiao Yunxi. Afterwards, we¡¯ll split the soul crystals and the Metal-devouring Bugs. What do you say?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°What!?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face suddenly grew grim.

    Astonishment filled Yin Yanan¡¯s face, and immediately afterwards, she frowned as if to start weighing the matter.

 Chapter 747: Turning

    Yin Yanan pondered in silence for a long time before saying, ¡°But he¡¯s from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Xing Beichen asked.

    ¡°If he dies and the truth is somehow brought to light, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce won¡¯t let us off,¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°Even the Trisword Sect won¡¯t be able to protect you from them.¡±

    Xing Beichen gave a coldugh and said, ¡°You said it yourself. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will only find fault with us if the truth is brought to light. But as long as both he and Qiao Yunxi die here and the two of us don¡¯t tell anyone, who will know? Not to mention that who can guarantee that every member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will stay safe while traveling this starry river?

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will send an army into the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries for the uncanny death of one person.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still too big a risk,¡± Yin Yanan said with a bitter expression. ¡°Even without the puppet, that air-transportation spiritual tool of his is still going to be very difficult to deal with. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    Xing Beichen slowly narrowed his eyes. The warm smile that he wore all the time gradually faded away.

    When he was not smiling, his face became very angr and ice-cold. The feeling he gave peoplepletely changed.

    He let out a weak sigh. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Yin Yanan had a bad feeling.

    BOOM!!

    A fierce sword intent that filled heaven and earth suddenly burst forth from within Xing Beichen. As he spread his arms, the sword intent split in two and mmed hard towards Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi, who were standing nearby.

    His hands became translucent and sparkling like jade. Even his bones and meridians could be seen through his skin with great rity.

    Wisps of glittering spiritual power madly flowed through his meridians as his hands seemed to fill Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s sight, giving them a strong sense of crisis.

    A cluster of fierce mes shot out of Qiao Yunxi¡¯s chest as she cast a profound fire incantation.

    Yin Yanan also let out an explosive roar, and countless wisps of flesh power and spiritual power shot out of her, forming the vague shapes of spirit beasts from the Deste Antiquity Era.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Xing Beichen¡¯s hands mmed vigorously into the cluster of mes and the vague shapes of spirit beasts. Then, the girls¡¯ shapely bodies were knocked flying backward beforending on the ground with loud crashes.

    Afternding, Yin Yanan¡¯s inner aura stirred uncontrobly, and her face reddened as she thundered, ¡°Are you out of your mind!?¡±

    Blood spilled from the corner of Qiao Yunxi¡¯s mouth. Her eyes grew dim as she panted heavily and couldn¡¯t even speak.

    Everything happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a chance to react, and Xing Beichen was already finished with his strike.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°You must have a death wish!¡±

    With these words, he nned to summon the me Dragon Armor and the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding.

    However, in the next moment, he experienced a splitting pain in his mind.

    That was when he discovered that he somehow couldn¡¯t send his soul awareness out of his sea of awareness.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple lights shot out of seven holes in their surroundings. Dragging glorious tails, they flew up into the air and floated above the area where Qiao Yunxi, Yin Yanan, and Nie Tian were.

    With a closer look at them, Nie Tian discovered that there was a spiritual sword that was as thin as a cicada¡¯s wings within each streak of light.

    The spiritual swords emanated dazzling light that wove into a of light that blocked the sky from sight.

    Meanwhile, each and every spiritual sword was branded with Xing Beichen¡¯s will. In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, there seemed to be seven Xing Beichens.

    Even though the spiritual swords hung high in the air, Nie Tian had a feeling that the light they were emanating was piercing into his mind and restraining his sea of awareness, causing a splitting headache every time he wielded his soul awareness.

    Since he couldn¡¯t send his soul awareness into his ring of holding, he couldn¡¯t summon the me Dragon Armor or the Bone Blood Demon.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face turned pale with fright as she eximed, ¡°Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation!¡±

    She also failed to summon her long whip from within her ring of holding, along with other battle items.

    The shining spiritual swords formed a formation in the void that restrained their seas of awareness. Any of them who dared to summon soul awareness would suffer a sword intent strike.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian, who had been at the bottom of the hole, summoned spiritual power and flesh power and shot to the surface.

    As soon as he did, he saw Yin Yanan jumping away in an attempt to head back to the meteor where her Frost Blood Python was.

    Like a ghost, Xing Beichen suddenly appeared in front of Yin Yanan. With an icy tone, he said, ¡°You can¡¯t get away, Junior Martial Sister Yin.

    ¡°As long as you¡¯re under my Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation, you won¡¯t be able to send your soul awareness out of your sea of awareness.

    ¡°Your Frost Blood Python is currently focused on refining that Frost Python corpse. It won¡¯t be able to sense the danger you¡¯re in by itself.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you imagine that your Frost Blood Python wille to your aid.¡±

    While he spoke at a slow pace, it started to rain seven-colored light in this area.

    The raindrops were bits of light that fell from the spiritual swords of seven colors.

    They vanished as soon as they fell on the top of Nie Tian¡¯s head, but in the next moment, they reappeared in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    As soon as the rain of multicolored light infiltrated his sea of awareness, the nine star souls that hung over his sea of awareness sensed the danger, and unleashed countless dazzlingly bright spots that instantly shed with the multicolored light.

    The sh created glorious sparks and caused a wrenching pain in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, making him let out low howls.

    Miserable screams also escaped Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan¡¯s mouths. Yin Yanan, who was eager to fly out of the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation, suddenly came to a stop in midair, as if she were struck by a bolt of lightning.

    At the same time, Qiao Yunxi fell to the ground in a ce a few dozen meters away from her berthed me Bird on her way dashing to it.

    The light in her eyes flickered, and her eyelids twitched unceasingly, as if her soul had suffered a heavy blow.

    ¡°Xing Beichen! I¡¯ve reconsidered your offer!¡± Yin Yanan called out at the top of her lungs. ¡°I¡¯ll help you kill Nie Tian. You can take the majority of his valuables. I¡¯ll just take a few soul crystals!¡±

    She had apparently stopped hesitating after seeing the unfavorable situation they were in.

    Xing Beichen shook his head as a heavy, ck spiritual sword appeared in front of his chest. ¡°It¡¯s toote.¡±

    He grabbed it with a vigorous motion, and it was like he had grabbed the entirety of heaven and earth. With a casual swing, rays of refined spiritual power shot forth in all directions.

    Roaring furiously, Yin Yanan formed hand seals to channel her spiritual power and flesh power, forming a protective ward around her.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Thousands of rays of spiritual power mmed her protective ward like a rainstorm.

    Yin Yanan let out a muffled groan as she trudged backwards. With every step she took, the rocks under her feet shattered.

    ¡°Nie Tian! We need to work together to kill him!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted wildly.

    Upon hearing this, Nie Tian exploded towards Xing Beichen.

    The rain of seven-colored light was still guing his sea of awareness, giving him splitting headaches. However, thanks to his nine star souls, he could hang on.

    SHEW!

    Star power, me power, wood power, and spiritual power poured into the me Star in Nie Tian¡¯s hand as a de light that was more than ten meters long split the void and shed towards Xing Beichen.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s face was filled with disdain as he said, ¡°You¡¯re from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, so what? You¡¯re nothing but an ordinary Worldly realm Qi warrior without your puppet and air-transportation spiritual tool. How can you possibly fight me?¡±

    As he turned his wrist, the countless fine rays of spiritual power that shot out of the ck spiritual sword suddenly came together and became one thick beam.

    BOOM!!

    The two beams of power shed violently, giving rise to a deafening sound.

    The beam of refined spiritual power that was mixed with fierce sword intent crushed Nie Tian¡¯s attack with the me Star, extinguishing the various types of spiritual power he had infused into it.

    Rays of spiritual power shot out of the ck spiritual sword. Like strings made from the finest steel, they pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s saber-bearing arm.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    In a sh, numerous gashes split open in Nie Tian¡¯s right arm, blood spilling from them.

    Even so, all of his bones and meridians remained intact, as if they were made from some divine metal. Not a single fracture or tear appeared on them.

    Taken aback, Xing Beichen eximed softly, ¡°It seems that you do have some special means.¡±

 Chapter 748: Fierce Battle

    Face very grim, Nie Tian cast a spell. ¡°Heavenly Wood Heal!¡±

    In the next moment, tens of thousands of wisps of wood power and flesh power mixed up and stopped the gashes in his right arm from bleeding.

    As the two types of essence that shared the same origin gathered to his me Star-bearing arm, the gashes healed at an unimaginable speed.

    In a few seconds, Nie Tian stopped feeling agonizing pain, and the wounds in his right arm stabilized.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Yin Yanan¡¯s protective ward suddenly exploded. Numerous sword lights that were as fine as hair pierced towards her chest.

    The leather armor that wrapped her ample chest shone with silver light as an ancient flesh aura suddenly burst forth from within it, stopping Xing Beichen¡¯s fierce sword lights from piercing into her flesh.

    Even so, she let out another muffled groan as she stumbled backwards, as if her body that was as muscr and beautiful as a cougar¡¯s had been hit by a rampaging war chariot.

    WHOOSH!

    Qiao Yuxni suddenly gave up on returning to her me Bird, and instead pounced towards Xing Beichen like a soaring phoenix.

    As she formed a hand seal, raging me power shot out of her spiritual sea and morphed into fireballs.

    Each and every fireball had a talisman that resembled the divine me seal inside of it. Those talismans seemed to be branded with the profound truths of fire, making the fireballs ze like the sun.

    ¡°Nine Yang Pearls!¡±

    The nine crimson fireballs spun like nine small suns.

    Yin Yanan instantly realized that their only choice would be to kill or severely injure Xing Beichen. Otherwise, none of them would be able to escape from the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation.

    Wisps of mixed spiritual power and flesh power interwove in front of her, morphing into an illusory Frost Blood Python. ¡°Illusory Beast Incantation!¡±

    Even though the Frost Blood Python wasn¡¯t in physical form, it looked very vivid and alive. Even the flesh power it thrummed with was very simr to that of the real Frost Blood Python.

    The illusory Frost Blood Python let out a furious roar as it pounced on Xing Beichen, baring its fangs.

    Seeing that Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi had reached a mutual understanding, Nie Tian also let out an explosive roar. Regardless of the stabbing pain in his mind, he madly summoned his various types of power with the exception of his soul power.

    As torrential power gathered, rage rapidly filled his heart. He clenched his left hand into a fist and prepared tounch Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    With aposed expression, Xing Beichen assumed a tighter grip on his ck spiritual sword. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that your cultivation bases aren¡¯t high enough.¡±

    He cast the ck spiritual sword high into the sky, where it began to float. ¡°Sword Condensing Incantation!¡±

    The sword slowly rotated as thousands of tiny sword lights that were as translucent and sparkling as ice shards shot out in all directions.

    Each and every sword light was like a tiny sword, which carried Xing Beichen¡¯s soul awareness and iparably fierce sword intent.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, Xing Beichen seemed to have merged with his spiritual sword and be a huge sword that pierced into the heavens.

    He seemed to turn into a god of swords, who could wield every spiritual sword in this universe. Countless tiny sword lights fell from the sky, turning the area around him into a sea of swords.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s Nine Yang Pearls were struck by the sword lights when they were still about ten meters from Xing Beichen.

    The Nine Yang Pearls exploded one after another.

    The me power they carried wasn¡¯t extinguished right away, but rather stayed together like fiery clouds.

    However, more sword lights shot over, carrying Xing Beichen¡¯s heaven-ripping sword intent. Like ferocious bugs, they gnawed on the fiery clouds, which grew smaller and smaller.

    At the same time, arge number of sword lights formed a slender, semi-transparent sword.

    That sword shed down and split the illusory Frost Blood Python, which Yin Yanan had created with flesh power and spiritual power, in half.

    Like a trapped beast, Yin Yanan roared, ¡°It¡¯s not that simple!¡±

    The spirits of ancient beasts appeared in the depths of her bright yet wild eyes.

    In the next moment, the split Frost Blood Python morphed into two different pythons.

    One was translucent and white like ice, while the other was crimson like blood. They split up and threaded through the numerous sword lights in an attempt to drill into Xing Beichen¡¯s nks.

    In the blink of an eye, the two pythons disappeared into Xing Beichen¡¯s nks.

    One side of his ribs was instantly covered in translucent ice, while the other side thrummed with blood-colored light, as if a spiritual snake was gnawing on his flesh.

    Xing Beichen gritted his teeth, as he was apparently in pain. He threw Yin Yanan an approving gaze and said, ¡°I knew you¡¯d be the biggest threat to me, but your efforts won¡¯t change anything.¡±

    As he uttered these words, his ten fingers suddenly turned translucent and sparkling like jade.

    Then, he stabbed his fingers, which seemed to have turned into ten small swords, into his own nks.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The ice that covered one side of his ribs shattered and scattered in the air.

    The blood-colored light that slithered over his other side died out like snakes that had been stabbed to death.

    Seeing how effortlessly he had neutralized their attacks, both Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan started to feel powerless, bitter expressions appearing on their faces.

    Of course they had other attacking means, but all of their powerful spiritual tools and magical items were in their rings of holding.

    Apparently, they wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Xing Beichen without ess to them, and just by relying on their own power alone.

    After all, not only could Xing Beichen use his spiritual tools at will, but he could also vest them with his soul awareness to boost their might.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s explosive roar caught the girls¡¯ ears. ¡°Let me try something out!¡±

    Shock filling their eyes, they subconsciously turned to look at Nie Tian, though they didn¡¯t have high hopes.

    Like Xing Beichen had said, what made them fear Nie Tian was his formidable Bone Blood Demon and mysterious Star Boat.

    Nie Tian himself was only at the early Worldly realm. Even though his body was extremely tough, he couldn¡¯t possibly pose a serious threat to Xing Beichen.

    After all, Xing Beichen was at the early Profound realm, which was a whole realm higher than Nie Tian¡¯s.

    However, Nie Tian surprised them all.

    In a sh, Nie Tian vanished from their sight.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Xing Beichen¡¯s expression flickered slightly as Nie Tian suddenly reappeared right in front of him with a short-range Starshift.

    Nie Tian had summoned half of his inner powers within his clenched right hand, which he now mmed towards Xing Beichen¡¯s chest with enough force to shatter the earth.

    Like fierce mes, endless rage could be seen burning in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Xing Beichen even thought he heard an angry roar from some ancient god. Even his stone-solid mindset was swayed.

    He hastily shaped his hand into a sword and met Nie Tian¡¯s fist with it. Immediately afterwards, golden light burst forth from the contact point.

    CLANK!

    Xing Beichen felt as if he had hacked into a piece of steel, sparks flying in all directions.

    Fine cuts appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s fist, but its crushing momentum didn¡¯t stop. Heavy as a mountain, his fist still managed to hammer on Xing Beichen¡¯s chest.

    BOOM!!

    Xing Beichen¡¯s upper garment instantly exploded and became flying rags, revealing a golden piece of chest armor, which blossomed with dazzling light to protect his heart.

    However, even though the chest armor was very advanced, it couldn¡¯t neutralize the Titan¡¯s Wrathpletely.

    The torrential rage it carried prated the armor and flooded into Xing Beichen¡¯s chest.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s spiritual core suddenly expanded severalfold inside his spiritual sea.

    Countless fine wisps of golden spiritual power shot out of it like golden lightning and wrapped around his internal organs, making them look like pieces of gold.

    Then, the endless rage from the Titan¡¯s Wrath mmed into his internal organs repeatedly like strong waves.

    Xing Beichen let out a muffled groan and slowly stepped backward.

    With every step he took, a metallic shing sound came from his chest as golden light sshed out of him like a rain of liquid gold.

    Soon, his entire body turned golden, as if he had be a person made of pure gold.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, seven starsparks formed a star formation and shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    As bright as the Big Dipper in the sky, the seven starsparks emanated a profound, inextinguishable aura as they shot towards the spot between Xing Beichen¡¯s eyebrows.

    ¡°That¡¯s Starstrike, a secret magic from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Xing Beichen eximed as the ck spiritual sword that hung high above his head answered his summons and sent hundreds of sword lights swarming down towards the star formation.

    Like a swarm of flies, the sword lights rapidly engulfed the star formation. Sharp shing sounds kepting from the heart of the swarm of sword light, and the star formation¡¯s light flickered dimmer and dimmer.

    SHEW!

    At this very moment, Yin Yanan suddenly appeared behind Xing Beichen¡¯s back andunched a murderous attack without the slightest hesitation.

    HOWL!

    An illusory spirit beast with a snow-white tail charged right into Xing Beichen¡¯s back.

    Qiao Yunxi also seized the opportunity to cast her Nine Yang Pearls again, which exploded in midair, forming fiery clouds that descended on Xing Beichen.

    At the same time, me power, wood power, and star power poured into the me Star as Nie Tian charged towards Xing Beichen with it.

    Xing Beichen snorted disdainfully and looked up.

    As he did, countless lights fell out of the spiritual swords that formed the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation.

    However, the rain of light no longer infiltrated Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ seas of awareness, but instead merged with the sword lights his ck spiritual sword unleashed, as if to vest each of them with a spirit.

    In the next moment, the thousands of sword lights all seemed to turn into Spirit Channeling grade flying swords. All sorts of evil intentions rapidly came to be born within them.

    With soaring might, the sword lights started hovering around Xing Beichen like a shoal of fierce fish.

    Neither Nie Tian nor the girls managed to prate the hovering sword lights. Not even a shred of their power could reach Xing Beichen.

 Chapter 749: Backlash

    The sword lights spun faster and faster around Xing Beichen and eventually turned into a storm of sword lights, nearly blocking Xing Beichen from sight.

    BANG! BANG!

    Loud sounds came from behind Xing Beichen¡¯s back as Yin Yanan let out pained screams, as if she had suffered heavy blows.

    The fiery clouds Qiao Yunxi had created with her Nine Yang Pearls were torn to shreds like a piece of canvas as they descended on the storm of sword lights.

    At the same time, a terrifying gravitational force was born within the storm of sword lights, where Xing Beichen was.

    Many small rocks in the surroundings were attracted and flew towards Xing Beichen from all directions.

    As soon as they fell into the storm, they were chopped up and became flying dust that filled the sky.

    Nie Tian, Qiao Yunxi, and Yin Yanan also instantly sensed the gravitational force, and started moving uncontrobly towards Xing Beichen as well.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see Yin Yanan, who was blocked from sight by Xing Beichen. However, he could see Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face turning red as she did her utmost to fight the strong gravitational force.

    FZZZ!

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s garments were suddenly ripped from her, leaving only a tight suit of armor.

    The suit of armor was as thin as cicadas¡¯ wings, and seemed to be made of the skin of some fire-attributed spirit beast. It matched her curves perfectly, and somehow managed to stay on her without being ripped to shreds by the strong gravitational force.

    Meanwhile, Qiao Yunxi¡¯s curvaceous body loomed under the suit of thin armor.

    She looked very anxious, yet didn¡¯t know what to do. She turned to look at Nie Tian repeatedly, hoping he could somehow match Xing Beichen¡¯s terrifying battle prowess.

    Originally, she had been the farthest away from Xing Beichen. However, under the irresistible gravitational force, she couldn¡¯t help but stumble towards the storm of sword lights, as if she was eager to charge into it and turn herself into mangled flesh and bones.

    At this crucial moment, Nie Tian once againunched a secret magic he had learned from the titans. ¡°Primal Chaos!¡±

    A variety of powers mixed, forming a maic fieldpletely different from Xing Beichen¡¯s.

    However, since he couldn¡¯t use his soul power, the Primal Chaos was less mighty than it should have been.

    As the Primal Chaos spread with Nie Tian at its center and came into contact with the storm of sword lights, numerous spots of light seemed to be attracted and started swarming towards Xing Beichen, along with a mysterious force that could twist heaven and earth and render all other forces disordered.

    Xing Beichen gasped upon seeing this.

    Numerous spots of light exploded like fireworks after entering the storm of de lights. Xing Beichen¡¯s gasp turned into a muffled groan.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian saw every bit of the power of the Primal Chaos flying uncontrobly into the storm of sword lights, along with every dashing light and shining spot.

    The hovering sword lights, which had been vested with spirits by the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation, instantly fell into chaos.

    Originally, they had never collided with one another, even though there were thousands of them.

    However, now that Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos had ¡®merged¡¯ with the storm of sword lights, the sword lights started flying into one another, giving rise to loud clunks.

    Because of this, not only did the storm of sword lights instantly fall apart, but Xing Beichen also suffered a severe bacsh.

    One sword light after another rapidly shot uncontrobly in every direction.

    The flying sword lights first reached Yin Yanan and Nie Tian, who were the closest to Xing Beichen. Numerous tiny bloody holes were created in Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders, chest, and arms.

    Soon, he was covered in blood.

    Yin Yanan also let out sharp screams, as she apparently suffered from the same situation.

    Qiao Yunxi, however, scrambled backwards as soon as the storm of sword lights fell apart and the gravitational force disappeared. Since she was the farthest from Xing Beichen, she managed to escape in time, and didn¡¯t sustain any serious wounds.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    As the flying sword lights crashed to the ground, Xing Beichen¡¯s figure once again appeared.

    He was still holding that ck spiritual sword in hand, though blood was now flowing from the corners of his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, giving him a sinister look.

    Panting heavily, Xing Beichen fixed Nie Tian with a bewildered gaze. ¡°Such a strong field power... You¡¯re only at the Worldly realm. How did youe to master such a strange field power?!¡±

    Even though Yin Yanan was covered in blood, her eyes brimmed with ecstasy as she eximed, ¡°The Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation has fallen apart! Xing Beichen! Now that your soul is injured, you won¡¯t be able to use your Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation anymore!¡±

    After hearing her exmation, Nie Tian and Qiao Yunxi also quickly noticed that the strange force that had restrained their soul awareness had disappeared.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor instantly flew out and descended on Nie Tian, giving a strong boost to his aura.

    ¡°Master, I¡¯ve overconsumed my power by taking you to that other ce and refining those souls,¡± The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul said weakly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be of much help to you.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a snort. ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡±

    That was when the Bone Blood Demon and the Star Boat also flew out of his ring of holding.

    ¡°Xing Beichen!¡± Yin Yanan shouted. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you¡¯re going to escape this time!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi let out a sigh of relief as she rapidly took out new garments and put them on before she dashed towards the me Bird.

    Regret filled Xing Beichen¡¯s face as he said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that I actually lost this battle, but never mind. I¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities to deal with you in the future.¡±

    ¡°There won¡¯t be any future for you!¡± Yin Yanan said, every word filled with bone-piercing coldness. ¡°You¡¯re truly insane. I can¡¯t believe you actually dared to try to kill Qiao Yunxi and me. Even your status as the chosen one of the Trisword Sect won¡¯t save you now!¡±

    ¡°See you guys,¡± Xing Beichen said with an expressionless face.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The seven spiritual swords of different colors suddenly flew down from the sky and rapidly interwove into a mysterious formation.

    Xing Beichen jumped lightly onto the sword formation, where he stood and flew away at a shocking speed.

    In Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ eyes, the sword formation was like some sort of escape magic, and its speed was even faster than the me Bird¡¯s.

    Just as Qiao Yunxi hoped to chase after him on her me Bird, she saw the sword formation disappear and reappear from time to time as it flew farther and farther away.

    Every time it reappeared, it would be in a ce several kilometers farther away. Within seconds, it disappearedpletely from their sight.

    Yin Yanan gritted her teeth as she said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he can actually use those spiritual swords as a means of escape!

    ¡°That man is as cunning as a fox. He had a flying means that¡¯s faster than the me Bird in his possession all along. Yet he fooled us with his Broken Sword!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi gazed in the direction Xing Beichen had disappeared in and chimed in with an angry expression, ¡°He didn¡¯t harbor good intentions towards us this whole time. But that sword formation isn¡¯t an air-transportation spiritual tool. It¡¯ll inflict a bacsh on him to use it. He¡¯s only using it because he¡¯s out of options.¡±

    Nie Tian remained silent, but he was well-aware that the sword formation Xing Beichen used was simr to his long-range Starshift.

    Such escape magics could allow the casters to instantly extract themselves from the battlefield, yet they would usually inflict a bacsh on the casters as well. Adding in that Xing Beichen had been injured by the Primal Chaos, he would definitely remain off the grid for some time.

    Still in disbelief, Qiao Yunxi asked, ¡°Is he insane? How did he dare to make an attempt on our lives? Didn¡¯t he worry that even the Trisword Sect wouldn¡¯t be able to protect him if things somehow leaked?¡±

    Yin Yanan pondered briefly before saying slowly, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that he¡¯s not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The sectmaster of the Trisword Sect brought him to our domain from some other ce. Perhaps for this reason, he doesn¡¯t have a sense of belonging with the Trisword Sect, and never treated the Trisword Sect his home.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t even attach much importance to the sect that provides him with everything he needs. It¡¯s only natural that he doesn¡¯t care about our status.

    ¡°I¡¯m guessing the domain he¡¯s from is more powerful than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. And he¡¯s only with the Trisword Sect for the time being.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was shocked. ¡°How do you know all that?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s my sect¡¯s secret,¡± Yin Yanan said.

    While the two of them talked, Nie Tian sat down in silence and started recovering his spiritual power with spirit stones.

    He had almost died in this battle against Xing Beichen, and had consumed too much power byunching Titan¡¯s Wrath and Primal Chaos. He needed to recover as soon as possible.

    Besides, he¡¯d suffered serious injuries, and needed to heal the bloody holes all over him with Heavenly Wood Heal right away.

    After realizing that Xing Beichen¡¯s sword formation was actually an escape magic, Yin Yanan also gave up on summoning the Frost Blood Python to chase after him.

    As she noticed that Nie Tian had already started healing himself and recovering his strength, she ended her conversation with Qiao Yunxi and jumped back to the meteor where the Frost Blood Python was, bearing the pain from her wounds.

    Clearly, she feared that Xing Beichen would returnter, and believed that she would be the safest by her Frost Blood Python¡¯s side.

    As Yin Yanan turned around and left, Qiao Yunxi reminded Nie Tian, sounding as if she still hadn¡¯t recovered from the near-death experience, ¡°You¡¯d better not put that puppet of yours back in your ring of holding again.¡±

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and nodded at her. Then, he threw a soul crystal to her and said, ¡°Recover as quickly as you can.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi grabbed the soul crystal, a hint of gratitude appearing on her face. However, she didn¡¯t say anything, but rather sat down and started recuperating.

    Yin Yanan suddenly turned back and stretched her hand towards Nie Tian. ¡°Give me one. My true soul was injured by the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation too. We fought enemies side by side. You wouldn¡¯t be so stingy as to turn me down, right?¡±

    With a cold snort, Nie Tian cast a soul crystal to her. ¡°It¡¯s only a soul crystal. Here.¡±

 Chapter 750: The Thriving Nine Stars Flower

    A hint of joy shed across Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes as she grabbed the soul crystal. She nodded at Nie Tian before turning back and dashing towards the meteor where the Frost Blood Python was.

    Blood dripped from her body as she did, filling the air with a strangely sweet smell.

    She had also been seriously wounded by Xing Beichen¡¯s sword lights, and had yet to stop those wounds from bleeding.

    Qiao Yunxi snorted disdainfully and said, ¡°Why did you give her a soul crystal? Don¡¯t tell me that you like her? Don¡¯t forget that she asked to join Xing Beichen in killing you as soon as she saw the unfavorable situation we were in.¡±

    ¡°I only did that because we need her to recover as soon as possible,¡± said Nie Tian.

    Now that Xing Beichen had turned on them, the three of them had to rely on each other. No one knew whether the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect woulde back for them, or when Xing Beichen would recover from his injuries ande for them again.

    Besides, it was also possible that outsiders would find the divine me seals and track them to their location.

    The Bone Blood Demon currentlycked strength. If a Soul realm expert came for them now, even with the help of the Bone Blood Demon and the Star Boat, Nie Tian would struggle to fight him or her.

    If there was more than one Soul realm expert, escape would be Nie Tian¡¯s only choice.

    However, if Yin Yanan recovered quickly, she and her Frost Blood Python would provide him with significant help in battle.

    She would need her true soul to be strong to smoothen hermunication with the Frost Blood Python, and a soul crystal would help her recover the soul power she had lost within a short time.

    Looking worried, Qiao Yunxi asked in a low voice, ¡°How do you know that she won¡¯t turn on us too? Were you telling the truth when you said that your puppet no longer has the same kind of battle prowess as when it killed Hong Xian and the other experts?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m afraid it doesn¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we¡¯d better keep an eye on her too,¡± Qiao Yunxi said with a worried face. ¡°What if she tries to kill you for the soul crystals and Metal-devouring Bugs in your possession after her Frost Blood Python finishes refining that spirit beast corpse? What will you do then?¡±

    With a carefree smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°She doesn¡¯t have anything like Xing Beichen¡¯s Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation, so she won¡¯t be able to restrain my soul awareness like he did. I¡¯ll be able to get away from her on my Star Boat if she tries anything. So don¡¯t worry. Even if we can¡¯t defeat her, she won¡¯t be able to stop us from leaving. And if she really angers me, I¡¯ll teach her a lesson even if that means I have to consume all of my Star Stones.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi nodded somewhat reluctantly. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Afterwards, the two of them stopped talking and closed their eyes to recover with spirit stones, medicinal pills, and soul crystals.

    At the same time, Nie Tian secretly sent a wisp of his unique flesh aura into his ring of holding to find the mother Metal-devouring Bug, and then activated Life Drain.

    One wisp of golden flesh power after another, which shone with dazzling golden light, was drained from the mother bug.

    The mother bug¡¯s grade was unknown. Even though it was significantlyrger than the other Metal-devouring Bugs, it was still only the size of a fist, which was much smaller than any spirit beast or outsider that carried powerful bloodlines.

    Even so, its insignificant body contained a copious amount of flesh power. As it gradually lost its flesh power, the mysterious patterns on its exterior that seemed to carry the profound truths of metal power faded until they disappearedpletely.

    At the same time, numerous new cyan spots were born within the Bloodline Crystal Chains that formed the green aura in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Each and every cyan spot shone as brightly as stars, as if the profound truths of lifey within them.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that in order for him to awaken a new bloodline talent, he would have to let more cyan spots be born.

    Those bright cyan spots were his bloodline seals.

    The generation of new bloodline seals would elerate the upgrade of his bloodline, as well as the awakening of new bloodline talents.

    He grew excited as he saw more and more bloodline seals shining within the green aura.

    Two hours passed...

    The mother Metal-devouring Bug waspletely drained of its flesh power.

    After losing all of its residual power, it crumbled and became golden powder within his ring of holding, bereft of any wonder.

    However, the green aura still hadn¡¯t umted enough flesh power to enter dormancy again.

    He cursed inwardly and went on to absorb the flesh power of the other Metal-devouring Bugs.

    Soon, a Metal-devouring Bug that was the size of a thumb was rapidly drained of its flesh power and reduced to golden powder.

    Nie Tian took a close look at the green aura, and discovered that the flesh power of the Metal-devouring Bug didn¡¯t cause any changes in it. Not even a single bloodline seal appeared within it.

    He pondered the matter briefly before realizing that a Metal-devouring Bug only contained a very limited amount of flesh power.

    The fact that numerous bloodline seals had been created earlier was probably because the mother bug¡¯s ancient bloodline had activated part of his bloodline.

    Since that mother bug had given birth to all of the other Metal-devouring Bugs, none of their bloodlines were asplete as hers.

    Now that he had already channeled the mother bug¡¯s bloodline into his, the other Metal-devouring Bugs naturally proved almost useless to him.

    After all,pared to powerful outsiders or spirit beasts, the residual power within their tiny bodies was almost negligible.

    <i>¡°Forget it. Since they¡¯re not going to provide me with any noticeable help anymore, I might as well save them for selling, or refine them into spiritual tools.¡±</i> He said inwardly.

    Then, he went on to recover his battle prowess with soul crystals, all kinds of spiritual materials, and spirit beast meat.

    He first restored soul power to his star souls and true soul, and then replenished his spiritual core, vortex of wood power, and vortex of me power.

    Eventually, he refilled his vortex of star power with the help of a few Star Stones.

    As he refined the Star Stones, he noticed that his efficiency at channeling star power had be much higher than he remembered.

    Deeply surprised, he examined his vortex of star power closely, and discovered that the Nine Stars Flower that had taken root in theke of stardew had gone through changes.

    Three of its nine blossoms had be unprecedentedly translucent and sparkling, as if they had turned into three dazzling stars.

    The Nine Stars Flower never stopped channeling starlight from the boundless starry river, refining it, and using it to nourish its blossoms.

    Upon a closer look, Nie Tian saw numerous dazzlingly bright spots within each blossom, as if they carried extremely refined star power.

    He suddenly had a feeling that, even if his vortex of star power ran dry, he would still be able to channel star power from this Nine Stars Flower and fight with it.

    He felt that the amount of star power within the Nine Stars Flower wasn¡¯t any less than the star power within theke of stardew.

    <i>¡°Does this mean that, with the Nine Stars Flower, it¡¯s like I now have two vortexes of star power to provide me with power?¡± </i>he thought to himself.<i> ¡°No wonder the powerful Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce went to great lengths to find them!¡±</i>

    His eyes snapped open, glittering with delight. He came to realize that this strange flower, which he had rather detested at first, would be very important to him in the future.

    He fixed Qiao Yunxi with a surprised look. ¡°Hmm? You¡¯re awake already?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi was sitting on her me Bird and gazing unblinkingly at him, curiosity written across her face.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t sustain any serious injuries, and I only practice me power. It¡¯s only natural that I recover faster than you.¡± With these words, she pointed at the meteor where Yin Yanan was. ¡°She¡¯s almost finished too.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°While you were cultivating, I heard the Frost Blood Python make a joyous sound,¡± Qiao Yunxi answered. ¡°I suppose it finished refining that corpse.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    After a short while, Yin Yanan flew over from that meteor, looking enlivened and in high spirits.

    The Frost Blood Python had somehow be a tattoo on her perfectly t abdomen, as if it had merged with her.

    The Frost Blood Python seemed to be in a unique dormant state. Even with the help of his bloodline power, Nie Tian could only sense its flesh aura very faintly.

    As he sent his flesh aura towards that other meteor, he could no longer sense the aura of the eighth grade Frost Python.

    It had been eitherpletely refined or put away in Yin Yanan¡¯s ring of holding.

    Meanwhile, not the slightest sign of injury could be seen on Yin Yanan. Her aura was rich and vigorous, making her look radiant.

    With a surprised tone, Yin Yanan said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you also recovered within such a short time. I can¡¯t even see a single scar on you.¡±

    She had her unique healing magics, but didn¡¯t expect that Nie Tian could heal himself so quickly too.

    ¡°We¡¯d better not stay here anymore, and we need to change our direction,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°Even if it means we¡¯ll have to take a detour to get to our destination, we have to steer clear of the direction that the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect left in.

    Both Yin Yanan and Nie Tian nodded in assent.

    Then, they jumped onto the me Bird and headed out in a different direction.

    As they flew, they saw signs of exploration on many meteors they passed.

    They assumed that the Jian n or the Guan n had hoped to find more treasures in this area, and thus had explored these meteors. It was just that they didn¡¯t know whether they had found anything or not.

    They tried to steer clear of those meteors as well, until Qiao Yunxi sensed the presence of another divine me seal one day.

    They gathered it, and Qiao Yunxi learned from it that they were close to the Divine me Sect disciples¡¯ current location.

    A few more days passed before the me Bird passed through an area that was densely packed with floating meteors, and came to an enormous floatingnd.

    ¡°That¡¯s the ce!¡± Qiao Yunxi eximed. ¡°That¡¯s where our grand elder and the others are, and it used to be the core of a vast realm! Even now, there is still the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth on that floatingnd!¡±

 Chapter 751: A Broken Realm

    Nie Tian, who was originally sitting on the me Bird, suddenly sprang to his feet and gazed off into the distance, shock spreading across his face.

    The area they hade from was filled with floating meteors, which had blocked their sight.

    Now, they hade to this opening, and there wasn¡¯t a single thing between them and the enormous floatingnd.

    In his eyes, the floatingnd was like a huge hemisphere, with its t side facing up.

    Countless thick, ck vines that looked like huge chains wrapped around the entire floatingnd.

    Upon a closer look, he saw that the hemisphericalnd had already cracked.

    If it weren¡¯t for those vines, it would have already fallen apart and be numerous floating meteors.

    It was those vines that were holding the hemisphericalnd together.

    The fact that he could see those vines from such a long distance away proved that every one of them was shockingly thick and long.

    ¡°That floatingnd used to be the core of a realm?!¡± Yin Yanan eximed.

    Qiao Yunxi took a deep breath and said with a serious expression, ¡°That¡¯s right. ording to the information within the divine me seal, that realm must have been dozens of timesrger than any realm in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries! The sea of floating meteors we crossed to get here all came from that vast realm.

    ¡°Something happened and caused the disintegration of this vast realm.¡±

    ¡°A war!¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice. ¡°A war among different races!¡±

    It had been the case with the mysterious dimension he had gone to through the spatial rifts in the Realm of Split Void.

    As a result of a devastating interracial war, the upper continent had shattered and be pieces of floatingnd.

    The Demons, Phantasms, Floragrims, and Bonebrutes that had lived on the upper continent had been defeated by the Ancientspirits, and had thus been forced to leave.

    Due to the disintegration of their ancestralnd, they had had to seek a new heaven and earth to live in.

    The Domain of the Falling Stars was one of the ces they had found.

    The floatingnd before Nie Tian¡¯s eyes must have gone through a simr war, though it was unknown who had been the winner, the Ancientspirits or some other race.

    He only knew that the forbidden region they were now in probably used to be a thriving domain where many races hade to live, perhaps even more prosperous than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Yin Yanan let out a sigh. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. It was probably an interracial war. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have found the dead Frost Python, Heaven me Beast, and Metal-devouring Bugs in those meteors. Who would have thought that such a vast, thriving realm would end up in such a sorry state?¡±

    ¡°We need to be even more careful from now on, because we may run into powerful experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect or other sects at any moment now.¡± Qiao Yunxi sounded very concerned. ¡°Even outsiders may show up in this ce. I just hope that we won¡¯t run into them before meeting up with our grand elder.¡±

    Yin Yanan gave a cold snort. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to meet Xing Beichen again!¡±

    She had be much more confident now that her Frost Blood Python had refined the corpse of that eighth grade Frost Python. She hadplete confidence in killing Xing Beichen if he dared to show himself.

    The Frost Blood Python had already be a tattoo that coiled around her waist. Even with his Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation, Xing Beichen wouldn¡¯t be able to stop her from summoning it anymore.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian took a nce at her abdomen and asked, ¡°When will your Frost Blood Python upgrade again?¡±

    Yin Yanan was as curvaceous and powerful as a female leopard. Now that the Frost Blood Python had be a tattoo on her t abdomen, she had be even more wildly attractive.

    ¡°Upgrade? It¡¯s just a matter of time.¡± Yin Yanan said, looking very proud. ¡°Even now, my Frost Blood Python¡¯s battle prowess shouldn¡¯t be any inferior to your puppet¡¯s when it killed Elder Hong Xian and the other experts.¡±

    It was quite clear that she didn¡¯t fear the Bone Blood Demon anymore now that it wasn¡¯t at its peak state.

    With a chuckle, Nie Tian said, ¡°You should know that, aside from my puppet, my air-transportation spiritual tool can also pose a serious threat to your Frost Blood Python.¡±

    Yin Yanan snorted coldly and said, ¡°I won¡¯t start anything with you for now, considering that we fought Xing Beichen together and you gave me a soul crystal afterwards.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    The me Bird sped through the void and rapidly approached the hemisphericalnd as they talked.

    ¡°God! Howrge are those vines!?¡± Qiao Yunxi marveled, as if she were in a dream.

    As they came closer and closer, the vines that wrapped around the vast floatingnd became clearer and clearer.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, they looked like endless mountain ranges.

    Meanwhile, even after thousands of years, those vines were still as flexible as rubber and as hard as steel, and contained rich wood power.

    While Nie Tian was overwhelmed by the scene, he suddenly felt the three fragmentary star marks on his chest bing increasingly hot.

    Eyes shining with the light of excitement, he was convinced that there must be something on the floatingnd that had a close connection to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He strongly suspected that it was a teleportation portal left there by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    Yin Yanan suddenly pointed into the distance at a cluster of tiny spots and eximed, ¡°Look! Over there! The people from the Guan n and the Jian n!¡±

    Those distant spots turned out to be air-transportation spiritual tools. Yin Yanan examined them closely, and determined that they belonged to the Guan n and Jian n members who had parted with them earlier.

    Therefore, the me Bird flew over at full speed.

    Soon, they arrived at the ce where the Guan n and Jian n members were gathered.

    Shock filled Guan Qi¡¯s face, as he said, ¡°It¡¯s you guys! Where¡¯s Xing Beichen?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear his name ever again,¡± Qiao Yunxi said with an icy face. ¡°That bastard turned on us shortly after you left! He actually tried to kill us! But he failed and escaped.¡±

    Guan Qi gasped. ¡°That¡¯s not possible! How could he dare to try to kill you two? Besides, didn¡¯t Yin Yanan have her Frost Blood Python with her? What made him think he would be able to defeat it?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi snorted coldly. ¡°He used the Trisword Sect¡¯s Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation to restrain our seas of awareness. Not only did it stop us from summoning our spiritual tools, but it also cut the soul connection between Senior Martial Sister Yin and her Frost Blood Python, which was refining the Frost Python corpse on a different meteor.¡±

    Guan Qi¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Has the Trisword Sect passed the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation to him already?! Those spiritual swords were among the Trisword Sect¡¯s most important treasures. But since he¡¯s only at the early Profound realm, even if he has mastered the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation, he shouldn¡¯t be able to disy its true might yet.¡±

    Yin Yanan chimed in, ¡°We only escaped from his ws because his cultivation base doesn¡¯t allow him to bring out the Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation¡¯s true might yet.

    Guan Qi shook his head in confusion. ¡°Outsiders could show up at any moment, and the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect stole the ancient starship from the Golden Stone Sect. I can¡¯t believe he would create enemies by making an attempt on your lives at such a time. Did he lose his mind?

    ¡°Besides, he would have to travel by himself after turning on you. That was very unwise.¡±

    ¡°Enough about him,¡± Qiao Yunxi said, looking irritated by the topic. ¡°Did you discover anything after parting ways with us?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Guan Qi and Jian Gao shook their heads with bitter smiles. The other Jian n and Guan n members also looked rather frustrated.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go to that floatingnd?¡± Yin Yanan asked with a puzzled expression.

    Guan Qi¡¯s expression grew even more bitter as he exined, ¡°We knew Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect and Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect were there. Of course we didn¡¯t dare to rush over with just the people we have. We¡¯re here waiting for our elders toe, so that we¡¯ll be able to match Jiang Feng¡¯s strength, at least.¡±

    After a short pause, Guan Qi added, looking somewhat embarrassed, ¡°Besides, we did attempt to approach that floatingnd, but failed.¡±

    ¡°All sorts of disordered powers and mysterious auras seem to wreath the floatingnd, forming some profound restrictions,¡± Jian Gao chimed in. ¡°From the look of it, we won¡¯t be able to approach it without a Void domain expert to create a path for us. The two of us tried a few times, but failed, so we could only back away from it.¡±

    ¡°What?! None of you can approach it?¡± Yin Yanan eximed.

    Both Guan Qi and Jian Gao were at thete Soul realm. Even they had failed to charge through those disordered energies. Did it mean the three of them would fail to do so as well?

 Chapter 752: Let Me See

    With a grim expression, Guan Qi said, ¡°There¡¯s not just the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on that floating continent.

    ¡°The majority of the energies there are the extremely strong auras that ancient spirit beasts and powerful outsiders unleashed during battle.

    ¡°Those auras still carry the bloodline power and unyielding will of the ancient spirit beasts and outsiders.

    ¡°Normally speaking, the auras of living beings will scatter and disappear into heaven and earth soon after a battle ends.

    ¡°However, for some reason, their auras have remained intact even till now.

    ¡°A devastating battle must have taken ce on that floating continent. Many eighth and even ninth grade outsiders and ancient spirit beasts fought in the battle.

    ¡°Their bloodline power and unique flesh auras are terrifyingly strong, and of various types.

    ¡°They¡¯ve tangled up with each other. Even now, after what could have been tens of thousands of years, they¡¯re still fighting each other.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, cultivators with low cultivation bases will be greatly influenced as they approach the continent. Both Jian Gao and I have made attempts, but even our cultivation bases didn¡¯t allow us to enter. We could only observe it from here.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Flesh auras?!¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°Did you see Yao Zhn and the others from the Bliss Mountain Sect, and that golden ancient starship? They left for this location before we did. If there were no mishaps, they should have arrived here before you did. If they¡¯re not here, can it be that they¡¯ve already entered that floating continent?

    ¡°They didn¡¯t have any Void domain experts on their team either. How could they have entered?¡±

    Jian Gao answered, ¡°No, we didn¡¯t see them. But you might be right. They might have already entered. After all, Jiang Feng and Mu Biqiong came here early. If Yao Zhn and those people got here and met up with Jiang Feng, the Void domain Jiang Feng would have been able to help them through theyer of disordered energies tond on the floating continent.¡±

    Yin Yanan looked over at Qiao Yunxi and asked, ¡°Junior Martial Sister Qiao, was there any exnation of such aplicated situation in your sect¡¯s divine me seal?¡±

    ording to Qiao Yunxi, Yue Yanxi and the others from the Divine me Sect had been the first to find this ce.

    They had left divine me seals for her along their way, but now they were nowhere to be found. That meant they had probably entered the floating continent already.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qiao Yunxi pondered the matter briefly before adding, ¡°No, there wasn¡¯t. But I think our grand elder and the others are already in there. They must know Nie Tian and I won¡¯t be able to enter on our own, so grand elder maye out of there to check every once in a while.

    ¡°If he doesn¡¯te out at all, then there¡¯s only one exnation: they¡¯re in trouble in there and can¡¯t extract themselves from whatever situation they¡¯ve found themselves in.¡±

    ¡°We haven¡¯t been here for long, and we haven¡¯t seen anyone from your sect so far,¡± Guan Qi said. ¡°We¡¯re going to keep waiting until the Void domain elders of our sects arrive.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll wait here for now too,¡± Qiao Yunxi said.

    Nie Tian frowned as he looked at the floating continent before him, which seemed to be wrapped by innumerable wisps of energies.

    At this moment, the three fragmentary star marks on his chest had be scalding hot. Apparently, they were attracted by something on that continent. He couldn¡¯t wait to go there and see what it was.

    However, if even the Soul realm experts from the Guan n and Jian n had failed to prate thatyer of chaotic energies, would he be able to do anything different?

    While Nie Tian was hesitating over whether to make an attempt himself, Yin Yanan was the first to go into action. ¡°Let me take a shot!¡±

    With these words, the Frost Blood Python tattoo around her waist suddenly came alive, and started to wiggle slightly.

    As the ck and white stripes on the Frost Blood Python fluctuated as smoothly as water ripples, tiny grains of frosty crystals appeared on her steaming hot body.

    Each and every one of them contained a bone-piercing aura that could freeze heaven and earth.

    In a split second, every inch of her exposed skin was covered in tiny grains of frosty crystals, turning her into a frozen goddess.

    SHEW!

    Like arge piece of ice, she shot towards the floating continent under everyone¡¯s shocked gazes.

    Nie Tian also looked over with rapt attention.

    As soon as Yin Yanan¡¯s translucent and sparkling body entered thatyer of energies, many cyan and dark purple auras were disturbed.

    The auras that had belonged to high-tier Phantasms and Demons seemed to be somehow provoked as they suddenly gathered towards Yin Yanan.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    The tiny frosty crystals that covered Yin Yanan rapidly cracked.

    A white, frosty mist rose from the cracked crystals, yet it grew fainter and fainter as it passed through by all sort of energies.

    Yin Yanan only managed to hold on for less than a minute at the edge of the floating continent before letting out a pained scream and flying back in a poor condition.

    Her ample breasts went up and down like a mountain range as she panted heavily.

    More than half of the frosty crystals that had covered her had disappeared within such a short time, leaving only a very thinyer of icy crystals to protect her.

    However, the remaining icy crystals continued to crack even after she came back, as if residual auras were still attacking her defenses repeatedly.

    Facing everyone¡¯s gaze, she shook her head and gave a bitter smile. ¡°It¡¯s really powerful. As soon as I entered, I sensed the residual flesh auras of powerful Demons, Phantasms, and ancient spirit beasts. Those flesh auras are still very powerful after what could have been tens of thousands of years. Also, they seemed to have their own will and awareness, since they swarmed over and attacked me.

    Jian Gao let out a weak sigh and said, ¡°If even you, who has outstanding talents and is well-versed in flesh power incantations, failed to enter, then...

    ¡°The auras and energies that wreath the floating continent carry the profound bloodline secrets of powerful outsiders and ancient spirit beasts, which makes this ce inessible to most humans.

    ¡°But it might be a blessednd for outsiders.

    ¡°If outsiders can also discover those profound secrets of bloodline power and derive enlightenment from them, they can probably upgrade their bloodlines, and even develop unique bloodline magics.

    ¡°You carry the Frost Blood Python¡¯s aura, but even still, you failed. It¡¯s gonna be even harder for others to enter.¡±

    Many members of the Jian n and the Guan n had ced their hopes on Yin Yanan when they saw her flying over towards the floating continent. After all, she had the Frost Blood Python to help her.

    Who would have thought even she would fail to figure out a way to go through thatyer of mixed energies?

    Originally, Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect had hoped to make an attempt herself, but she gave up on the idea after hearing these words.

    ¡°Keh!¡± Nie Tian cleared his throat and said with a faint smile, ¡°Well, let me try my luck.¡±

    Desire stirred in his heart after he learned that there were flesh auras of powerful outsiders and ancient spirit beasts within theyer of mixed energy that wreathed the floating continent.

    He had a feeling that if he could channel those residual flesh auras into his heart and feed them to his bloodline aura, it might go dormant again to prepare for the awakening of his next bloodline talent.

    Even though he was human, he carried a unique bloodline, which set him apart from Yin Yanan and all the other people.

    That was also the reason why he still dared to make an attempt after Yin Yanan¡¯s failure.

    ¡°You?¡± Eyes narrowed, Guan Qi had a good look at Nie Tian for the first time. ¡°You really think you can do that?¡±

    Jian Gao also went nk briefly before turning to Qiao Yunxi and asking, ¡°Is he a disciple of your sect?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Qiao Yunxi exined. ¡°He¡¯s our guest.¡±

    A thoughtful expression appeared on Jian Gao¡¯s face. ¡°Guest...¡±

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay any attention to them. He took a deep breath to calm himself before flying slowly towards the floating continent.

    He didn¡¯t summon his Star Boat, the Bone Blood Demon, or the me Dragon Armor.

    In the eyes of the Jian n and Guan n members, he was nothing but an ordinary early Worldly realm Qi warrior,pletely not worth mentioning.

    ¡°What is he thinking?¡± Guan Qi said, his eyebrows furrowed.

    Jian Gao gave a weak chuckle. ¡°Good luck to him.¡±

    Clearly, neither of them thought Nie Tian would seed, since even Yin Yanan had failed.

    <i>¡°If he can¡¯t get through thatyer of energies either, then we¡¯ll have to wait for Void domain experts toe and lead us through it,¡± </i>Yin Yanan muttered quietly.

    Both Guan Qi and Jian Gao¡¯s expressions flickered as they heard these words. ¡°What?"

    The chubby Guan He couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he has some unique qualities.¡±

    With an unfathomable expression, Yin Yanan said, ¡°You¡¯ll see soon enough.¡±

    A shred of hope rose in her heart as she watched Nie Tian go.

 Chapter 753: Meridian Toughening

    Many Guan n and Jian n members fixed Nie Tian with taunting or questioning gazes as he went farther and farther.

    None of them knew anything about Nie Tian. Many hadn¡¯t even noticed his presence back when they had met at those three floating meteors.

    They had paid all of their attention to the three chosen ones from the Beast-controlling Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Divine me Sect.

    Why would they pay any attention to an early Worldly realm young man with an unknown background?

    They only started to attach importance to him after Yin Yanan indicated that he might have a chance at charging through thatyer of energies andnding on that floating continent.

    But even so, deep down, they still didn¡¯t believe he would seed.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian finally flew into theyer of various foreign energies, his expression flickering strongly as he did.

    He suddenly came to a stop in the void, and his face started to twist.

    Countless flesh auras that belonged to different races swarmed madly towards him like sharks that had found prey.

    In a split second, fine cuts appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s exposed neck and lower arms.

    Nie Tian trembled at the outermostyer of energies that wreathed the floating continent like an atmosphere, beads of sweat starting to appear on his forehead.

    Flesh power of different sources started to attack his body from within. Numerous flesh auras of different colors fought fiercely, as if they had been vested with their own spirits.

    Soon, more cuts appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s body, and his meridians started to show signs of rupturing.

    A bone-piercing pain rapidly spread across his entire body, making him scream miserably.

    Bearing the heart-wrenching pain, he attempted to activate Life Drain to absorb the flesh power within the various auras that hadsted tens of thousands of years after the battle had ended.

    However, his bloodline talent, which had brought him many happy surprises before, didn¡¯t do so this time.

    He activated Life Drain, but the violent, bloodthirsty flesh auras didn¡¯t seem affected in the slightest.

    These flesh auras were a mixture of flesh power that had belonged to many different races. Even after such a long time, they still carried the powerful outsiders and ancient spirit beasts¡¯ unbending will.

    This made thempletely different from the flesh power he had absorbed before.

    The residual flesh power within the seventh grade outsiders had been very pure and rich as well. However, it hadn¡¯t been branded with such high fighting spirit.

    In his senses, that flesh power had be spiritless after the deaths of their hosts.

    However, the flesh power in this ce were as if it had been given life and inherited their hosts¡¯ unbending will to fight.

    For this reason, not only were the various auras immune to Life Drain, but they even fought among themselves within Nie Tian.

    Within seconds, Nie Tian found himself covered in wounds, and his meridians were damaged in many ces, causing him burning pain.

    Therefore, he hastily activated Heavenly Wood Heal in an attempt to heal himself. However, immediately afterwards, he noticed that his vortex of wood power started to spin at an rming rate.

    Waves of pure wood power rapidly converged on him from all directions and infiltrated his body.

    This pure wood power seemed toe from the huge vines that held the continent together, which seemed to be somehow influenced by Nie Tian¡¯s Heavenly Wood Heal.

    However, he also realized that he was sustaining more injuries with every passing second.

    WHOOSH!

    After a moment of hesitation, he flew out of there as fast as he could.

    Once he left the atmosphere of energies, the flesh auras that madly rushed about and damaged him from within rapidly settled down, their strong fighting will fading.

    His eyes lit up as a soft eximation escaped his mouth.

    The auras then attempted to fly out of his body. However, they found themselves bound by Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power and locked inside of him.

    Aside from the flesh auras, wisps of wood power that contained rich life force were also trapped within him.

    After a few seconds of pondering, he once again activated Heavenly Wood Heal, hoping to use these powers to finish another round of Meridian Toughening.

    He knew that he would achieve better results if he tried to refine and toughen his meridians when they were damaged.

    The result of Heavenly Wood Heal, however, depended on the cooperation of wood power and flesh power. First, the flesh power would break his meridians on purpose. Then, the flesh power and wood power would work together to repair the damage.

    After the repair, the damaged parts would be even more resilient, and would be able to resist heavier blows.

    Now, the rupturing of his meridians happened to be very helpful to the Meridian Toughening process. At the same time, the flesh auras that had lost their fighting will and the wood power that was trapped within him served as his source of power as he repaired and refined his meridians.

    Without uttering a word, he flew back into the atmosphere of energies, and shortly afterward, flew out of it at an even faster speed.

    Then, floating in ce right outside theyer of violent energies, he activated Heavenly Wood Heal and started tempering his meridians.

    Many youngsters from the Jian n and the Guan n discussed his actions in low voices, mockery filling their faces.

    ¡°Such a disappointment. He escaped from there much quicker than Senior Martial Sister Yin.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only at the early Worldly realm, and unlike Senior Martial Sister Yin, he doesn¡¯t have a seventh grade Frost Blood Python to help him. It¡¯s only natural that he can¡¯t stay in there for too long.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. We ced too much hope in him.¡±

    ¡°He was lucky that he got out of there alive.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Guan Qi and Jian Gao rapidly withdrew their gazes from Nie Tian, and started discussing how they were to deal with outsiders if they were to show up here.

    The fact that Nie Tian had flown back out after merely a few seconds made them lose their interest in him.

    Even though they both had high cultivation bases, they didn¡¯t practice any flesh power incantations. Therefore, they couldn¡¯t possibly know what Nie Tian was doing, and what was happening within his body.

    Even Yin Yanan could only vaguely sense the flesh auras within Nie Tian, and was not exactly sure of what was going on.

    Therefore, without giving an exnation, she asked Qiao Yunxi to fly closer to Nie Tian.

    Qiao Yunxi then steered the me Bird to Nie Tian¡¯s side. Looking somewhat worried, she asked Nie Tian, ¡°Are you okay?¡±

    Upon seeing them, Nie Tian didn¡¯t stand on ceremony, and flew onto the me Bird right away.

    Sitting on the me Bird, he closed his eyes and continued to practice Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The numerous cuts on his exposed neck and arms were closing as if being sewed up with invisible needles and thread. Within seconds, the cuts not only stopped bleeding, but also healed to a great extent.

    Meanwhile, since the me Bird¡¯s zing wings blocked the Guan n and Jian n members¡¯ sight, and they had stopped paying attention to Nie Tian, they didn¡¯t see the shocking changes Nie Tian was going though.

    However, Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi, who were also sitting on the me Bird, saw the changes with great rity.

    Even Qiao Yunxi, who didn¡¯t know much about body refinement or flesh power incantations, covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from eximing out loud.

    Astonishment filled Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes as she asked, ¡°What incantation is this? Such terrifyingly fast healing speed... It¡¯s almost equal to that of the Demons and Bonebrutes¡¯ Indestructible Form!¡±

    As unique and well-versed in ancient incantations as she was, she couldn¡¯t heal herself at a rate that was visible to the naked eye, like Nie Tian had just done.

    It was said that only high-tier Demons and Bonebrutes could activate their unique bloodline talents and heal themselves at such an unimaginable speed.

    ¡°H-he¡¯s a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after all,¡± Qiao Yunxi said in a low voice, sounding like she was still in shock.

    Yin Yanan went dumbstruck for a few seconds before muttering, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is really so incredibly powerful...?¡±

    Afterwards, the girls fell silent while fixing Nie Tian withplicated gazes.

    A hour passed...

    Nie Tian was covered in dried blood, looking rather bedraggled.

    However, Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi saw that all of his cuts had beenpletely healed.

    All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open, and he nodded at them before flying off the me Bird once again.

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t given up yet?!¡± Qiao Yunxi shouted loudly.

    Eyebrows deeply furrowed, Yin Yanan didn¡¯t try to stop him, as if she knew that Nie Tian¡¯s life wouldn¡¯t be in danger.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian once again entered the atmosphere of mixed energies.

    The Jian n and Guan n members noticed his action while talking to one another. They cast disdainful gazes towards him, as if they all thought he was being foolish.

    Just as they had expected, Nie Tian flew back to the me Bird in about ten seconds, bedraggled and covered in deep cuts.

    <i>¡°A couple of seconds longer...¡± </i>Yin Yanan said inwardly.

    After recuperating for an hour, he charged into the atmosphere of mixed energies once again. This time, he spent twenty seconds in there before flying back to the me Bird, gritting his teeth in pain.

    <i>¡°He can stay in there longer with every attempt!¡± </i>Yin Yanan marveled inwardly. <i>¡°And the flesh power fluctuations he emanates are bing stronger and stronger.¡± </i>

 Chapter 754: Crisis Looms

    Nie Tian¡¯s abnormal behavior soon caught the attention of the Jian n and Guan n members again.

    That was because he entered and exited the atmosphere of energies over and over again over the following days.

    Every time, he would be able tost longer in there than his previous attempt.

    It went from a few seconds to a few minutes in three days.

    That was when Jian Gao started to be interested in Nie Tian¡¯s identity. He came over while Nie Tian was recuperating with Heavenly Wood Heal, and started asking Qiao Yunxi questions in a devious manner.

    The answer Qiao Yunxi gave him was still the same: he was a honored guest of the Divine me Sect.

    Even though Jian Gao didn¡¯t know much about body refining incantations, he could sense an increasingly vigorous flesh power from Nie Tian as he practiced cultivation.

    Normally, limited by their body features, humans wouldn¡¯t spend much time and energy on refining their bodies.

    Only those who were born with unusually tough bodies and had ess to ancient body refining incantations like Yin Yanan would chose to practice body refining incantations and spiritual power incantations at the same time.

    He suspected that Nie Tian was such a kind of person.

    However, there were only a handful of this kind of people throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and he knew every single one of them. Clearly, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t among them.

    <i>¡°Is he from another domain?¡±</i> Jian Gao thought to himself.

    Soon, two weeks passed.

    During this time, Nie Tian focused on tearing his meridians and rebuilding them with the help of the atmosphere of mixed energies.

    The process of Meridian Toughening went fast and smoothly.

    Even though he didn¡¯t talk to anyone during this time, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect kept a close watch on him.

    Jian Gao failed to get any information regarding Nie Tian¡¯s background. Therefore, he could only give up, and went back to waiting anxiously for their Void domain experts.

    They were worried that outsiders would find their way to this ce before their experts arrived.

    Qiao Yunxi also began to worry, since they had waited here for two weeks already, but Yue Yanxi still hadn¡¯t flown out of that floating continent to take them in.

    She assumed that the people from the Divine me Sect must have gotten into trouble in there. Otherwise, someone would havee out every once in a while to check whether she and Nie Tian had arrived. After all, they had left all those divine me seals for them, and they must know the unique features of this atmosphere of mixed energies.

    A few more days passed.

    On this day, rapid sharp sounds rang out from a Sound Stone within Jian Gao¡¯s sleeve.

    Every Jian n and Guan n member shouted in high spirits, assuming that they were finally going to get what they had been waiting for, ¡°Our elders areing!¡±

    A hint of delight also appeared on Jian Gao¡¯s face as he sent a wisp of soul awareness into his Sound Stone to receive the new message.

    However, his face dropped in the next moment.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Guan Qi asked in a concerned voice.

    ¡°There¡¯s been a mishap!¡± Jian Gao turned his head sideways. Gazing angrily into the distance, he continued, ¡°The elders from our ns were ambushed on their way here, and they suffered heavy casualties!¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?!¡± Guan Qi couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing. ¡°Our sects received our messages! Knowing that there are Void domain experts like Jiang Feng here, they must have sent in Void domain experts as well!¡±

    Their exmation caught Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi¡¯s attention. The two of them then listened with rapt attention.

    ¡°Did they encounter those scum from the Bliss Mountain Sect?¡± Guan He asked angrily.

    Face very grim, Jian Gao answered, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then it must be the outsiders!¡± Guan He blurted.

    Jian Gao shook his head. ¡°Not the outsiders. They were a group of Qi warriors with unknown identities. And they had more than one Void domain expert on their team!

    ¡°What¡¯s unbelievable is that Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect was among them.

    ¡°It seems as if it was him who summoned those Qi Warriors to this region!¡±

    ¡°Xing Beichen!!¡± Yin Yanan spat.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Jian Gao said with a grim face. ¡°ording to the message, those Qi Warriors even seemed to treat Xing Beichen with great respect!¡±

    ¡°Xing Beichen...¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°The sectmaster of the Trisword Sect brought him back to the Trisword Sect from one of his trips and made him a disciple. He¡¯s not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Not many people knew this secret. Even Guan Qi and Jian Gao gasped after hearing about it.

    ¡°No wonder he dared to do such a crazy thing as to make an attempt on your lives,¡± Qiao Yunxi chimed in. ¡°He must have sent word to his original sect and told them about the uniqueness of this forbidden region soon aftering here. His old sect probably sent powerful experts here through some special teleportation device after receiving his message.

    ¡°If they have sent multiple Void domain expert here and the experts all treat him with respect, then it must mean that he enjoys a lofty position within that sect.

    ¡°I bet that sect is more powerful than the Trisword Sect. Only that can exin why he had the audacity to try to kill you and I.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking.¡±

    After learning about the situation, the Guan n and Jian n members started to grow restless, not knowing what to do.

    Now, the floating continent before their eyes was still enveloped by an atmosphere of strange energies, making it inessible for them. Meanwhile, their aid had been assaulted by Xing Beichen and his foreign Qi Warrior friends. It remained a question of where the future would lead them.

    SHEW!

    At this very moment, Nie Tian once again flew back to the me Bird from the atmosphere of chaotic energies.

    Just as he was about to resume toughening his meridians with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal, he shrewdly discovered the distress and bitterness on everyone¡¯s faces.

    He then asked Qiao Yunxi about it, and learned of what was going on.

    During the past period of time, he had focused on strengthening himself with the help of the powers left by powerful outsiders and ancient spirit beasts, and had long since forgotten about charging through the atmosphere tond on the floating continent.

    The way he saw it, his most important task right now was to find a secluded location to stabilize what he had recently achieved with Meridian Toughening.

    Who would have thought that he would have to give up on that thought due to the sudden change in the situation?

    The effective range of Sound Stones was normally very limited. Since Jian Gao has received a message from their reinforcement team, that meant they weren¡¯t far from this location. The same went for Xing Beichen and his people.

    Perhaps they would arrive soon.

    If their reinforcement team was no match for those foreign Qi Warriors, then adding in Jian Gao and these people probably wouldn¡¯t change anything.

    Facing Void domain experts, none of their means would work. Therefore, their only hope to survive this perilous situation was to meet up with Yue Yanxi as soon as possible.

    ¡°Dammit! Why does it have to be now?!¡± Yin Yanan spat. ¡°My Frost Blood Python is now at a crucial juncture, and can¡¯t unleash its full strength. Otherwise, I¡¯d be able to go through thatyer of mixed energies with ease!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi also grew uneasy. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡±

    After pondering for a moment, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and jumped in. Then, he beckoned the girls. ¡°Put your me Bird away. I¡¯m notpletely sure that this spiritual tool will be able to get us through the atmosphere of energies, but I¡¯ll take my chances. Do you want to join me?¡±

    The girls sudden remembered that the Star Boat was a magical item from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. A shred of hope was born in their hearts.

    After a moment of hesitation, Qiao Yunxi put the me Bird away, and the two of them leapt into the Star Boat.

    ¡°Good luck to you.¡± With a quick nce at Jian Gao and Guan Qi, Nie Tian took out Star Stones from within his ring of holding and spread them across the bottom of the Star Boat.

    Immediately afterwards, he activated the Star Boat, which pierced into the atmosphere of chaotic energies like a shooting star.

 Chapter 755: A Blessed Land

    As the Star Boat dashed into the clouds at full speed, both Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi looked rather nervous and insecure.

    As the Frost Blood Python¡¯s bloodline power was activated, grains of frosty crystals rapidly spread out and covered Yin Yanan¡¯s extremely curvaceous body.

    She was preparing for what might happen.

    A bitter expression appeared on Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face as she also summoned spiritual power to form zing protective wards around her.

    Unlike Yin Yanan, she could only try to defend against the violent energies by relying on her own strength.

    Even with the Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan had failed to stay in the atmosphere of energies long enough to go through it. Would they really be able to charge through it with the Star Boat¡¯s unmatched speed?

    Taken aback, the people from the Jian n and the Guan n watched the three of them shoot directly into the atmosphere of energies after Nie Tian¡¯s blessing.

    Like a falling star, the Star Boat was even faster than the me Bird, which made them wonder about Nie Tian¡¯s identity.

    But even though the Star Boat was unusually fast, would it be able to survive the atmosphere of destructive energies?

    Would the three juniors really be able to go through it and enter the floating continent when none of them could?

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a beam of dazzling starlight shot forth from the prow of the Star Boat.

    The beam of starlight was immense, pure, sharp, and fierce, as if it was the condensation of every bit of star power in this boundless starry river.

    FZZZ!

    Like a long, sharp awl, the beam of starlight pierced right into the atmosphere of surging energies, creating a clear path ahead of them.

    Then, the Star Boat shot into that path like a bolt of lightning.

    As it traveled forward at an extremely high speed, the path it passed through was rapidly flooded by raging energies and auras once again.

    At the same time, the beam of dazzling starlight that shot of the Star Boat¡¯s prow continued to clear a new path.

    One after another, the Star Stones that paved the bottom of the Star Boat were drained of their power and reduced to flying dust.

    Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi were bbergasted as they looked behind, and then turned around to look ahead.

    There wasn¡¯t a single shred of chaotic energy in their path. As long as they stayed within the cleared path, none of the fierce flesh auras left by powerful experts of different races would be able to harm them.

    Furthermore, the Star Boat flew fast enough that it would fly off before the scattered energies flowed back to flood the newly-created path again.

    At this point, the girls¡¯ preparations seemed a bit redundant.

    Qiao Yunxi couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°You knew that this air-transportation spiritual tool from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would help you get through thisyer of deadly energies, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    With a slightly rxed expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°No, I only realized it after we entered.¡±

    Under his garments, the three fragmentary star marks on his chest grew increasingly hot.

    Watching the beam of dazzling starlight creating a new path ahead of them, he grew more and more rxed as he thought to himself, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left the Star Boat for me, and it happens to be able to create a clear path, allowing me to enter this floating continent...¡±

    His narrowed eyes shone with the light of excitement.

    Yin Yanan sighed slightly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Jian n and the Guan n are going to face big trouble. If it weren¡¯t for this air-transportation spiritual tool of yours, and we had to stay out there with them, we¡¯d probably have to face Xing Beichen again. The foreign Qi warriors he summoned must havee for whatever is hidden on this continent, and Xing Beichen would definitely not let us off this time.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°We won¡¯t need to be afraid of him anymore once we meet up with our grand elder.¡±

    Yin Yanan looked deeply worried, but didn¡¯t say anything to her, even though she knew that Xing Beicheng was well-aware that Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng hade to this ce.

    He knew perfectly well that the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Divine me Sect had sent their middle Void domain experts here, but he still dared to do things without scruples. He must have something or someone very powerful that he could rely on.

    WHOOSH!

    In merely a minute, the Star Boat sailed through the atmosphere of mixed energies.

    Both Nie Tian and Yin Yanan had made repeated attempts before, but had failed to go very deep into the atmosphere of mixed energies. The deeper they had gone, the greater pressure they had suffered.

    It was different with the Star Boat. They didn¡¯t feel anything this time as they sailed through the deadly environment within a very short time.

    As soon as the Star Boat came to a stop, Qiao Yunxi took a deep breath and eximed joyfully, ¡°Such rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth!¡±

    At this moment, the atmosphere of surging energies behind them, which had existed for who knew how many years, recoveredpletely. No signs of being disturbed could be seen from it.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian instantly discovered that they were floating in a ce high above the continent. He gazed off into the distance and saw mountains,kes, and all sorts of nts.

    Rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth filled the air, along with pure wood power.

    The distant mountains were covered in thriving vegetation. The creeks in the valleys were so clear that he could see their bottoms. Thend was dotted with gem-likekes. Flowers and grass that emanated rich spiritual energy could be seen everywhere.

    The spring-like weather, the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and more spirit nts than one could count made this ce seem like a celestial paradise or a holynd.

    Yin Yanan spent a few seconds to sense the environment and instantly became thrilled. ¡°The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here is richer than in any realm of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries! If any sect were to move their headquarters to this ce, the speed at which their disciples progressed in cultivation would soar through the ceiling!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded numbingly.

    All three of them had assumed that the environment beyond the atmosphere of violent energies would be full of danger.

    None of them had thought that the environment inside would bepletely different from the outside.

    RING! RING!

    At this moment, sharp sounds suddenly came from the Sound Stone in Qiao Yunxi¡¯s sleeve. Overjoyed, she eximed, ¡°The connection must have been cut off by the thickyer of energies when we were outside. Now that we¡¯re inside, and my Sound Stone instantly received a message. It seems that the connection has been restored!¡±

    With these words, she quickly took out the Sound Stone and sent a wisp of her soul awareness into it.

    Immediately afterwards, her eyes lit up as she said excitedly to Nie Tian, ¡°Our grand elder is here indeed!¡±

    ¡°Ask him about the situation!¡± Nie Tian said loudly.

    Qiao Yunxi nodded and resumedmunication with the Divine me Sect¡¯s team with her eyes narrowed. Afterwards, she said to Nie Tian, ¡°Our grand elder has waited here a long time. They¡¯ve done a thorough investigation of this continent, and learned that this hemispherical continent is divided into six regions. In five of them, aside from the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, there are also metal, wood, water, fire, earth elemental powers.

    ¡°The region we¡¯re currently in is the one that¡¯s filled with rich wood power.

    ¡°Beside this one, there¡¯s a region that¡¯s deste and filled with volcanoes. Every one of them is active. Torrential mes would shoot into the sky every once in a while.

    ¡°Then, there¡¯s this other region, where there are manykes and pervading watery mists. Every singleke contains rich water power. Numerous water-attributed spirit materials and nts can be found atke bottoms and around thekes.

    ¡°There¡¯s another region where the mountain peaks shine with golden light.

    ¡°And in another region, everything is covered in ice and snow year-round. ciers pierce high into the heavens...

    ¡°The five regions are like blessednds of the five elements, where the shockingly rich five elemental powers lie. Qi warriors of different attributes will enjoy a much higher cultivating efficiency with the help of the variety of spiritual materials present here. The speed at which they derive enlightenment will quicken as well.

    ¡°Surrounded by the five regions is an empty region, where an ancient pce stands towering.

    ¡°Our grand elder is at that grand pce, but still hasn¡¯t figured out a way to get in.

    ¡°Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect is also there. Since the two sides are equally strong, they have refrained from conflicts, but instead focused on looking for a way to enter the pce.

    ¡°The only reason our grand elder didn¡¯te out to pick us up is that he was afraid that once he left, the Bliss Mountain Sect wouldy their murderous hands on the other Divine me Sect disciples.¡±

    Holding the Sound Stone, Qiao Yunxi ryed every piece of information she received without holding anything back.

    ¡°A pce?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

 Chapter 756: Itâ€™s Meant for Me!

    Nie Tian smiled heartily.

    He could totally imagine a magnificent pce that resembled the one in the Realm of Split Void standing in the ce where the Divine me Sect and Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were gathered.

    If his spection was correct, there should be a teleportation portal in that pce as well.

    The fact that Yue Yanxi and the others had found the pce but failed to enter it was because none of them were sessors chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was very likely that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left that pce, and even this entire floating continent, for no one else but him.

    Furthermore, he wasn¡¯t just any sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but a Son of the Stars.

    Sons of the Stars were usually cultivated as future Lords of the Stars. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would ce high hopes in each and every Son of the Stars, and pour their cultivation resources in their direction.

    As a newborn Son of the Stars, Nie Tian had been given nine star souls from the very beginning, which had separated him from ordinary Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He no longer tried to save his Star Stones. With his mind, he controlled the Star Boat to sail off at full speed.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need me to give you directions?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked, looking surprised.

    The continent underneath them was even vaster than the Realm of Split Void.

    Qiao Yunxi assumed that Nie Tian would only be able to find the ce where the Divine me Sect and Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were gathered if she showed him the directions ording to the information she had received via her Sound Stone.

    However, Nie Tian started the Star Boat without asking her anything, as if he somehow knew where to go.

    This didn¡¯t make sense to her.

    Nie Tian let out a weak chuckle. ¡°There¡¯s no need. This whole ce is meant for me. Now that I¡¯m here, how would I not know where to go?¡±

    Yin Yanan snorted coldly. ¡°Meant for you?! Are you kidding?!¡±

    This was a blessednd where the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was richer than any realm in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and its six regions were rich in all sorts of spiritual materials.

    Countless spiritual nts and materialsy in the hearts of those mountains and the depths of thosekes.

    For any sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, this ce would be a blessednd that they could only dream of. What made Nie Tian think that this whole continent was meant for him?

    Qiao Yunxi also felt that Nie Tian was being far too arrogant.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t give them an exnation. With an unfathomable smile, he steered the Star Boat.

    Lofty mountains and clearkes shed past one after another as they sped through the air. ording to the heat of the three fragmentary star marks on his chest, Nie Tian kept adjusting their direction.

    Shock filled Qiao Yunxi¡¯s eyes as shemunicated with the other Divine me Sect disciples through her Sound Stone.

    Yin Yanan turned to look at her with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°Well...? Is he flying in the right direction? Don¡¯t let him go randomly and stray into dangerous areas.¡±

    ¡°He, he is actually heading in the right direction...¡± Qiao Yunxi said in disbelief. ¡°This air-transportation spiritual tool is rapidly approaching the location where the people from my sect are waiting.¡±

    Yin Yanan was taken aback.

    Nie Tian suddenly became even more mysterious in the girls¡¯ eyes. Both of them found the fact that he knew where to go incredible.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what he said is actually true, and this ce is actually meant for no one but him!?¡± Yin Yanan muttered in a low voice.

    Qiao Yunxi stroked her hair that was beside her cheek. ¡°This is so weird!¡±

    An hour passed...

    A magnificent, awe-inspiring pce appeared on the distant, empty horizon.

    The pce¡¯s surface was covered in countlessplicated star formations. Nie Tian only took a quick nce at it from afar, and realized that the pce must be the work of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He was increasingly convinced that everything in this ce was meant for him, a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As the grand pce came into view, they also saw numerous tiny figures that looked like grains of sand gathered in front of the pce, who must be the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Divine me Sect.

    In front of the magnificent pce, Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes suddenly burst forth with fierce light like two small suns.

    ¡°What is it, grand elder!? Are Qiao Yunxi and that Nie Tian personing?¡± A person asked.

    Yue Yanxi nodded vigorously. ¡°They¡¯re finally here!¡±

    By this time, all of the Divine me Sect experts had learned of Nie Tian¡¯s rtionship with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They all seemed rather thrilled to hear these words.

    Meanwhile, many Bliss Mountain Sect disciples gazed unblinkingly at the Star Boat in the distant sky, confusion filling their faces.

    A white-faced, strapping, middle-aged man with a short beard suddenly opened his closed eyes.

    Beside him sat Yao Zhn, Tian Ziping, Mu Biqiong, and many other Bliss Mountain Sect experts.

    The ancient golden starship they had seized from the Golden Stone Sect¡¯s hands was berthed behind them.

    ¡°Elder Jiang!¡± Yao Zhn said to the middle-aged man, pointing into the distance. ¡°That young man¡¯s name seems to be Nie Tian. It was him and another powerful expert who took Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. That other expert, who was well-versed in spatial magics, even refined the Voidspirit Pagoda.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Jiang Feng shrewdly discovered the excitement on Yue Yanxi¡¯s face, then said in a low voice, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that entric Yue has been waiting for him.¡±

    Mu Biqiong shook her head. ¡°Him? That doesn¡¯t seem very likely.¡±

    The people from the Bliss Mountain Sect had also found this ce by following the divine me seals. Jiang Feng and Mu Biqiong had been the first to arrive here.

    Yao Zhn and the others had run into people from the Golden Stone Sect, and set their minds on their ancient golden starship, so they had stayed to kill them all and take the ancient starship.

    Later, they had been further dyed due to their battle against the people from the Guan n and the Jian n.

    They had only managed to reconvene with Jiang Feng and Bi Qiong here because the ancient golden starship had helped them through the atmosphere of deadly energies.

    However, it didn¡¯t matter whether it was the Divine me Sect or the Bliss Mountain Sect, they could only watch the splendid pce, but couldn¡¯t enter.

    During this time, they had tried every method they could think of, but all had failed.

    While they had made repeated attempts, the Divine me Sect disciples had only fixed them with disdainful gazes, but hadn¡¯t tried to stop them.

    Since their strengths were roughly equal, if a battle were to break out between them, both sides would suffer great casualties. Therefore, they had been refraining from doing so.

    The way they saw it, the time when the pce opened up and they discovered what was hidden inside would be the time when they tore their fake friendly faces off and entered a fierce battle.

    As for the innumerable spiritual materials in the other five regions of this continent, they weren¡¯t in a hurry to gather them.

    After all, they knew very well that this pce was of the utmost importance.

    Taking this pce along with its secrets was more important than anything else.

    A shudder ran through Jiang Feng as he eximed, ¡°That air-transportation spiritual tool!¡±

    As the Star Boat flew closer, he noticed that it was shining with dazzling starlight, and also covered in all sorts of detailed star formations.

    Those star formations were identical to the ones carved on the pce walls, which indicated a close connection between the Star Boat and the pce.

    Jiang Feng had long since realized that this pce was built by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. The reason why he had been eager to enter it was because he hoped to establish a connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    At first, he didn¡¯t pay much attention to Nie Tian. However, now that he examined him with his profound soul power, he instantly sensed intense star power from him.

    Immediately afterwards, Jiang Feng realized his identity. His expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°He¡¯s a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Yao Zhn stood aghast. ¡°What?! He¡¯s from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!?¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!?¡± The veil that covered Mu Biqiong¡¯s face fluttered slightly even though there wasn¡¯t any wind. Apparently, she was also deeply shocked.

    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± Yue Yanxiughed heartily. ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re finally here!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi saw Mu Biqiong from afar. Gritting her teeth, she whispered into her Sound Stone, ¡°That bitch Mu Biqiong! Grand elder, those Bliss Mountain Sect scum attacked my team when we were waiting for Nie Tian. I was the only one who managed to escape with the help of my me Bird!¡±

    Yue Yanxi snorted coldly and said, ¡°I knew it.¡±

    At this moment, Tian Ziping lowered his voice and said, ¡°Elder Jiang, now that they¡¯re here, those from the Beast-controlling Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Chu n might also arrive soon. Besides, the Jian n and the Guan n are also in the vicinity. I reckon it won¡¯t be too long before their powerful experts find their way to this ce as well.¡±

    With a grim face, Jiang Feng took a deep look at Nie Tian. ¡°Howe he¡¯s only at the Worldly realm?¡±

    An intense look appeared in his narrowed eyes as he spoke.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat flew to the ce where the Divine me Sect disciples were gathered. Nie Tian and the girls jumped off it. Nie Tian sped his hands and bowed respectfully. ¡°Greetings, Senior Yue.¡±

    Yin Yanan also bowed hastily. ¡°Greetings, Senior Yue.¡±

    Yue Yanxi waved his hand, signaling that they didn¡¯t need to stand on ceremony. Immediately afterwards, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°This pce...¡±

    With a hearty smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Thank you very much for finding this ce for me, Senior Yue. Otherwise, it would have been very hard for me to find it on my own. My sect elders from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left this ce specially for me.¡±

    He raised his voice as he said thest sentence, so that even the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect caught every word with great rity.

    Everyone gasped. ¡°This whole ce is meant for you!?¡±

 Chapter 757: Entrance Denied

    Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect frowned deeply, looking confused.

    Yao Zhn, Tian Ziping, and Mu Biqiong also stood aghast, as if someone had bound their arms and legs.

    Only after a few moments did Jiang Feng mutter in a low voice with a bitter look on his face, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...¡±

    As soon as he had taken Mu Biqiong through the atmosphere of violent energies to this floating continent and seen this magnificent pce, he had warned Mu Biqiong against any rash moves.

    Later, when Yao Zhn and the others had arrived on that ancient golden starship, he had demanded that they be very careful as well.

    Even he had exercised great caution every time he had attempted to examine the pce. However, his soul awareness had failed to prate the pce walls and learn the situation inside.

    He had even issued orders that the disciples of the Bliss Mountain Sect shouldn¡¯t touch a single flower or de of grass on this floating continent.

    The reason behind all this was fear.

    He was afraid that he would offend the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and draw ire towards the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    He had only made repeated attempts to examine the pce because he had hoped to somehow establish a friendly rtionship with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce through it.

    They didn¡¯t want to or have the strength to be the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s enemy.

    However, he had never expected that a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who seemed to know Yue Yanxi from long ago, would arrive with Qiao Yunxi.

    Could it be that the Divine me Sect had already formed some kind of connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?

    A train of thoughts entered Jiang Feng¡¯s mind, making him more and more apprehensive.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a bolt of lightning, Nie Tian shed to the towering pce¡¯s huge stone gate, which was covered in mysterious star formations.

    Naturally, everyone¡¯s gazes focused on him.

    ¡°Elder Jiang!¡± Tian Ziping eximed softly from behind him.

    Without turning his head, Jiang Feng half-lifted his hand, signaling him to stop.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Yue Yanxiughed wildly and said to Jiang Feng from afar, ¡°Neither you nor I can get a glimpse of the inside of this pce with our soul awareness. Neither of us knows whether powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are practicing secluded cultivation in there.¡±

    Jiang Feng¡¯s expression flickered upon hearing these words.

    This was exactly the reason why he hadn¡¯t dared to make any moves and kept his people from taking any spiritual nts or materials.

    As a Void domain expert himself, of course he knew that the secluded cultivation of experts of the three domain levels might very wellst decades.

    This floating continent that had been sealed away for who knew how many years must be someone¡¯s work, very likely the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s.

    If that was actually true, then it was possible that some powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were still cultivating inside.

    Then everything in this ce would belong to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Taking the spiritual materials and nts here without permission would definitely draw the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s ire.

    Standing in front of the stone gate, Nie Tian gave a faint smile.

    However, just as he was about to push the gate in, Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng¡¯s expressions flickered.

    Their gazes suddenly left Nie Tian and fixed on the same ce in the heavens.

    ¡°Someone ising,¡± Jiang Feng eximed softly.

    It would trigger changes in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth once a Void domain expert prated the atmosphere of energies and entered this heaven and earth.

    Since Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ cultivation bases were rather insignificant, when they had entered, it was like throwing small rocks into a hugeke. The ripples they had created were almost negligible.

    However, if a Void domain expert entered this heaven and earth, it would be like an enormous meteor crashing into the earth. It was only natural that Jiang Feng and Yue Yanxi sensed it the moment it happened.

    After hearing that others might havee in, Nie Tian stayed his hand.

    He wanted to know whether it was Xing Beichen and the foreign Qi warriors with him that had broken in.

    ¡°Grand elder, Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect colluded with Qi warriors from another domain...¡± Qiao Yunxi went on and briefly exined how Xing Beichen had tried to kill them earlier with his Seven Ultimate Soul-splitting Sword Formation. ¡°...They even attacked the Jian n and the Guan n¡¯s reinforcement team and killed many of them.¡±

    Yao Zhn¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Xing Beichen and experts from another domain?!¡±

    They had flown directly to this ce after evacuating from the three floating meteors without pausing for a moment.

    Therefore, they knew nothing about Xing Beichen and the foreign Qi warriors, and were rather shocked to hear that Xing Beichen had led a group of foreign Qi warriors to attack the Jian n and the Guan n¡¯s reinforcement team.

    ¡°Experts from another domain!¡± Face grim, Yue Yanxi exchanged a nce with Jiang Feng, instantly reaching some mutual understanding.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Ear-piercing sounds of Void domain experts speeding through air echoed out in the distance. The Void domain experts who had just entered didn¡¯t need anyone to give them directions. They learned their location just by tracking the profound spiritual power fluctuations Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng exuded.

    An early Void domain old man from the Jian n flew over in a spherical personal realm that seemed to be made of ss. ¡°Brother Yue!¡±

    There were also a number of other Jian n and Guan n members within his personal realm, Jian Gao, Guan Qi, and Guan He among them.

    ¡°Jian Tong!¡± Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered as he sensed the old man, and found his aura very weak.

    Jian Tong was as scrawny as a dried-up corpse. Face very pale, he said, ¡°Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect has colluded with powerful foreign experts and ambushed us. Guan Pu is stalling them outside so that I could bring our weaker members here first. But even Guan Pu might not be able to hold them for long. They coulde in here any moment now.¡±

    Jiang Feng¡¯s eye widened. ¡°Even Guan Pu can¡¯t hold them off?!¡±

    Jian Tong was at the early Void domain, which was slightly lower than his and Yue Yanxi¡¯s cultivation bases.

    However, Guan Pu from the Guan n had recently entered the middle Void domain, which made him almost equally as powerful as him and Yue Yanxi.

    If Guan Pu couldn¡¯t stop the foreign experts, would he and Yue Yanxi be able to?

    Jian Tong panted heavily as the Jian n and Guan n members left his personal realm and descended to the ground. ¡°They had five Void domain experts. Two are at the middle Void domain, and three are at the early Void domain,¡± he said. ¡°Xing Beichen from the Trisword Sect is the one who summoned them. From the look of it, they¡¯re going to kill everyone from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries they see!¡±

    Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng¡¯s faces grew even grimmer.

    Five Void domain experts from another domain... Two were at the middle Void domain, the same as them, and three were at the early Void domain. Xing Beichen summoned them here. What on earth were they after?

    Suddenly, Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng felt it was a wise decision to refrain from going to war with each other.

    Otherwise, after both their groups had suffered heavy casualties, those foreign Qi warriors would be able to ughter them all and gain control over this ce without much effort.

    Eyebrows knitted, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°Even if Guan Pu manages to return alive, he¡¯ll probably suffer severe injuries. This force is far too powerful. Even together we might not be able to handle them.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi smiled bitterly. ¡°Grand elder, we can¡¯t forget that outsiders might also arrive.¡±

    The people from the Bliss Mountain Sect stood aghast. ¡°Outsiders?!¡±

    The areas they had been to were very far from where Nie Tian and the others had encountered outsiders, and they hadn¡¯t run into any outsiders themselves. Therefore, they had assumed all those who hade to this forbidden region were Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After hearing that outsiders had appeared in this region, they felt even more insecure and uneasy.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes flickered slightly before hastily turning to Nie Tian and saying, ¡°You can enter that pce, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, cing one hand on the stone gate.

    The mysterious star formations that covered the whole gate suddenly shone with dazzling light. Simultaneously, the three fragmentary star marks on Nie Tian¡¯s chest grew scalding hot.

    The stone gate that exuded star power instantly worked in a mysterious way as the star formations on it started to morph.

    CREEN!

    The stone gate, which neither Jiang Feng nor Yue Yanxi could open, was pushed open by Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Yue Yanxi eximed softly. ¡°Can our people take shelter in the pce with you?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nie Tian said without hesitation.

    ¡°Enter the pce now, everyone!¡± Yue Yanxi ordered.

    As soon as he uttered these words, Yin Yanan was the first to bolt towards Nie Tian.

    Immediately afterwards, Qiao Yunxi and the others went into action and dashed towards Nie Tian one after another.

    Nie Tian propped the stone gate open with one hand to stop it from shutting.

    Yin Yanan was the first to sh past him into the pce. After her were numerous Profound realm and Soul realm experts from the Divine me Sect.

    ¡°Little brother!¡± Jian Tong called out anxiously.

    Even Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect hesitated a few seconds before asking, ¡°Well... Can our people take shelter in there too?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian refused coldly.

    After thest Divine me Sect disciple shed into the pce, Nie Tian stepped inside and closed the stone gate behind him.

    He didn¡¯t allow those from the Jian n and the Guan n in either.

 Chapter 758: Test?

    By the time all of the Divine me Sect disciples had entered the pce, Yue Yanxi¡¯s furrowed eyebrows finally rxed.

    He was now free of worries.

    Even though the foreign Qi warriors Xing Beichen had summoned here were all at the Void domain, he was confident that he would be able to escape from them if things went south quickly.

    He might not be able to defeat multiple Qi warriors at his domain at the same time, but it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to kill him either.

    The pce left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seemed to have many secrets. Yue Yanxi had repeatedly tried to enter it, but failed every single time.

    He didn¡¯t think it would be any different with the Qi warriors who wereing with Xing Beichen.

    Now that the safety of the other Divine me Sect disciples was guaranteed, what worries did he still have? If he found himself in an unfavorable situation, he could simply run back to their headquarters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and seek help.

    Tian Ziping from the Bliss Mountain Sect looked very grim as she stared coldly at the closed stone gate. ¡°Little bastard! I can¡¯t believe he actually closed the gate in our face!¡±

    Jiang Feng, however, didn¡¯t seem very upset. After a moment of hesitation, he said, ¡°Go start that ancient golden starship now, and leave the central region. Xing Beichen and those foreign experts will get here soon. This pce will be their first and primary target. Only after they¡¯re finished here will they spread out to find you.

    ¡°So you need to go to the other regions of this continent and wait for my message. If I... am lost, you just get out of here on that ancient golden starship.¡±

    The Bliss Mountain Sect disciples looked rather frustrated after hearing these words.

    They had gone to great lengths to find this ce, which would be a perfect new location for their sect¡¯s headquarters. They had strongly desired to take it for their own.

    However, now it seemed that all of their efforts and schemes would go to waste.

    SHEW!

    Face covered by a thin veil, Mu Biqiong was the first to jump up andnd lightly on the berthed ancient golden starship.

    Upon seeing this, the other experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect realized her stance on the matter.

    Therefore, they rapidly flew into the ancient starship as well under Jiang Feng¡¯s urging.

    Seeing the ancient golden starship slowly rising up after all of the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples had gotten on board, the members of the Jian n and the Guan n also looked rather downcast.

    Jian Tong sighed. ¡°They¡¯re making the right decision. Since that little brother refused to take our members in, you shouldn¡¯t stay here either. Without an ancient starship of our own, you might not be able to leave this continent, but you can spread out and hole up in remote corners of this continent.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and handle the foreign Qi warriors with Jiang Feng and Yue Yanxi.¡±

    After hearing these words, the Guan n and Jian n members did as they were bid and left with bitter expressions.

    Momentster, the three Void domain experts were all who remained in front of the pce, waiting for the powerful foreign experts Xing Beichen had summoned from another domain.

    ...

    Inside the grand pce.

    The Divine me Sect disciples kept ncing around and discussing with one another after entering.

    ¡°Such rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth! The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in here is three times richer than out there!¡±

    ¡°Aside from the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, there¡¯s also rich star power here, which makes this ce a perfect ce for Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to practice cultivation.¡±

    ¡°It seems that no one from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is here.¡±

    Yin Yanan, who had been the first to enter the pce, stepped into the middle of the great hall, where there stood arge-scale teleportation portal.

    ¡°Just as I expected!¡± Standing at the gate, Nie Tian took a brief nce around, and realized that this pce was almost identical to the one that had risen from the depths of the earth in the Realm of Split Void.

    The dome of the great hall was semi-transparent. The immense starry river could be seen through it, along with countless shining stars. It gave people a distant and mysterious feeling.

    However, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and the star power inside the great hall were several times richer than in the pce he had found in the Realm of Split Void.

    He therefore believed that this ce was the ideal ce for him to practice cultivation.

    Not only would he be able to gather power and refine his spiritual sea more efficiently with the rich powers within this pce, but he also felt very rxed here, both physically and mentally, which he believed would help him derive enlightenment.

    Besides, the fire-attributed and wood-attributed regions on this continents would also be very helpful to his cultivation.

    In the wood-attributed region, he would be able to absorb and refine wood power with his Wood Thriving Formation. The refinement of his vortex of wood power and his fleshly body would elerate significantly.

    The endless flesh auras of outsiders and ancient spirit beasts that surrounded this continent would further speed up his Meridian Toughening process.

    The fire-attributed region was filled with erupting volcanoes that contained rich, fierce me power. If his spections were correct, there must be arge amount of earthme essence and earthme crystal strings there as well.

    Then, the me Dragon Armor would be able to fully recover the me power it had consumed to refine the Phantasm soul before.

    The refinement of his vortex of me power would also achieve twice the results with half the effort.

    ¡°This ce is such a hiddennd of peace and prosperity. If my grandfather, aunt, and Dong Li coulde to practice cultivation in this ce through the teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void, then their cultivation efficiency would soar through the ceiling.¡± Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian felt overjoyed as he became increasingly certain that this pce and this entire floating continent were left here for him by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    At this moment, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect finally couldn¡¯t help but ask in a loud voice, ¡°Nie Tian! Do you know where you can go through this teleportation portal?¡±

    At this moment, Qiao Yunxi and two Soul realm experts from the Divine me Sect were also standing beside her. They had all observed the teleportation portal for quite some time.

    Nie Tian snapped back to reality. With a faint smile, he took his time to walk over to them and said, ¡°I do, but I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s something wrong with this teleportation portal. I haven¡¯t been able to establish a connection with it since I came here from the Domain of the Falling Stars. Can you tell where its problem lies?¡±

    Taken aback, Qiao Yunxi asked, ¡°It connects this ce to the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    ¡°Well, the Domain of the Falling Stars is one of the two locations it connects to. The other is somewhere else that has a close connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡± Standing in front of the teleportation portal, Nie Tian ced one hand on the control panel and sent a wisp of soul awareness into it. Immediately afterwards, he sensed the existence of two sets of coordinates within it.

    As he had expected, one set of coordinates led to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The other set of coordinates seemed to lead to somewhere that had close connections with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    An old man from the Divine me Sect named Tang Yong, who was squatting and examining the spell formation, answered, ¡°I don¡¯t see any problem with this teleportation portal. It might have just run out of materials that contain spatial power. Teleportation portals run on spatial power.

    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s just been too long since anyone used this portal, and the fueling materials within it have lost their power and vanished.

    ¡°I think it¡¯ll work again once it¡¯s refilled with new fueling materials.¡±

    Nie Tian looked down with rapt attention, and discovered that, just as the man had said, the ce at the bottom of the teleportation portal that held spatial energy materials like Space Spirit Jades was now empty.

    ¡°So it just needs new fueling materials,¡± He muttered.

    Shiny, immacte stones that contained spatial power flew out of Tang Yong¡¯s palm to the bottom of the teleportation portal.

    As the stones gradually filled the bottom of the portal, the spell formation that might have not been activated for the past ten thousand years started to thrum with strong spatial fluctuations.

    Tang Yong¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. He subconsciously took a step back and looked over at Nie Tian. ¡°The spell formation is working again.¡±

    Yin Yanan, Qiao Yunxi, and the others also fixed him with anticipating gazes and waited for his next move.

    All of them assumed that Nie Tian would teleport to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters through this teleportation portal.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian moved his fingers very subtly, and as a thought entered his mind, the spell formation was set to the coordinates of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, he didn¡¯t open his eyes right away, but rather focused on examining the other set of coordinates, hoping to learning where it lead to exactly.

    After all, this was the main reason why he hade on this trip.

    However, even though he did his utmost to hold onto the second set of coordinates with his soul awareness, he couldn¡¯t. He felt as if something was keeping him from doing so.

    It was a familiar feeling.

    Before he had entered the Worldly realm, when his true soul hadn¡¯t formed yet, he had had simr feelings when he had attempted to prate the mysterious ward over the hidden underground pce in the Realm of Split Void.

    Only after he had entered the Worldly realm had he ovee the obstacles and been able to send his soul awareness through the ward to touch that pce, which had caused it to rise to the earth¡¯s surface.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s either because of my inadequate cultivation base, or my insufficient understanding of the fragmentary star marks.</i>

    <i>¡°The powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had all this nned for me thousands of years ago, yet they set up restrictions as well.</i>

    <i>¡°This must be some sort of test, a test for their Son of the Stars!¡±</i>

 Chapter 759: Starchain Obtained

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Nie Tian?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian slowly withdrew his hand from the control panel. ¡°This teleportation portal contains two sets of coordinates. The one that leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars is usable now.¡±

    Now that he had set the spell formation to the coordinates that led to the Domain of the Falling Stars, he would be teleported to the Realm of Split Void by simply entering the portal.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t know exactly where the second set of coordinate leads,¡± he exined, frowning. ¡°It seems we won¡¯t be able to use that set of coordinates for the time being.¡±

    Tang Yong from the Divine me Sect sighed. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars? I thought you could use it to teleport to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters...¡±

    The other Divine me Sect members also seemed rather disappointed.

    Soon after following Yue Yanxi to this ce and finding this pce, they had learned from Yue Yanxi that the person who they had been waiting for was from a domain called the Domain of the Falling Stars, which had recently been discovered by the Lei n.

    That person was a sessor chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but he hadn¡¯t gotten in touch with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet.

    The most powerful experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars were only at thete Soul realm. They didn¡¯t even have a single Void domain expert.

    For this reason, the Lei n, one of their subordinate forces, had been able to do whatever they had wanted there.

    Now, since this teleportation portal could only connect to the Domain of the Falling Stars for the time being, it meant that the forces in the Domain of the Falling Stars were the only ones they could turn to now.

    Facing the five Void domain experts Xing Beichen had summoned here, what kind of help would the Domain of the Falling Stars be able to provide?

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian turned to Tang Yong and said, ¡°Let¡¯s keep everyone in this pce for now. You¡¯ll be safe here at the very least.

    ¡°As for Senior Yue, considering his cultivation base, even facing five Void domain experts, he¡¯ll probably be able to get himself to safety. We don¡¯t need to worry too much about him.¡±

    Tang Yong nodded. ¡°We don¡¯t seem to have any other options.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going to practice cultivation now. Suit yourselves.¡± With these words, Nie Tian found an empty spot, sat down in the lotus position, and started practicing cultivation.

    Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect had looked around for some time after entering the pce, but still failed to find anything useful to her.

    She then realized that Nie Tian would be the only one who could solve the secrets of this pce.

    Even so, since her safety was guaranteed, she had nothing toin about.

    Therefore, while Nie Tian was cultivating, she found a spot close to Nie Tian and also sat down in silence.

    Shortly afterwards, Tang Yong and the others also spread out, sat down, and waited in silence.

    Tang Yong examined the numerous stone rooms inside the pce with his soul awareness, but failed to find a single item in them.

    Since this wasn¡¯t the Divine me Sect¡¯s territory, they didn¡¯t dare to walk around to conduct a thorough examination of the pce.

    Therefore, they just sat there and practiced cultivation, while waiting to see how things would go.

    Eyes closed, Nie Tian thought to himself,<i> ¡°Advancement in cultivation requires umtion over a long period of time. However, by refining and deriving enlightenment from the second fragmentary star mark, I sped up my advancement.¡±</i>

    Therefore, he channeled power from his star souls, mixed it with his soul awareness, and sent it into the second fragmentary star mark to continue to derive enlightenment of Starchain.

    While his soul awareness swam within the second fragmentary star mark, peace and rity were restored to his mind. He even felt as if he could think more thoroughly than before.

    An astonished expression appeared on his face as he instantly realized that the efficiency of him deriving enlightenment inside this pce was much higher than anywhere else he had been.

    The ancient magical symbols that recorded Starchain were originally very hard to understand, but this time, as he tried to derive enlightenment from them, many points he hadn¡¯t been able to understand before suddenly became in and clear.

    <i>¡°This pce is so full of wonders!¡±</i>

    Then, hepletely ignored the things around him and focused solely on deriving enlightenment of Starchain.

    In the pce, Yin Yanan and the Divine me Sect disciples gradually settled down and practiced cultivation in silence.

    However, shortly afterwards, they opened their eyes one after another, shock filling their faces.

    Even they discovered that their efficiency of channeling spiritual power into their spiritual seas had be significantly higher than before, and they would have feelings of being suddenly enlightened from time to time.

    This meant that not only Nie Tian, but others could also take advantage of the unique traits of this ce to cultivate and derive enlightenment more efficiently.

    The Divine me Sect disciples were overjoyed by this shocking discovery, and they started to seize every minute to go through the profound incantations they hadn¡¯t understood before.

    It was very consuming to try to derive enlightenment of Starchain. Only after a short while, Nie Tian started to experience a strong sense of depletion.

    He thus withdrew his soul awareness, and discovered that the nine star souls over his sea of awareness had lost quite some power, and had be noticeably dimmer.

    It would take a long time for him to recover soul power on his own.

    However, he currently had arge number of soul crystals in his possession.

    A soul crystal flew out from within his ring of holding into his palm.

    As soon as it did, his nine star souls started to madly channel pure soul power from it, like dried sponges that had finally found water.

    The star souls gradually shone brighter and brighter again.

    As he gradually recovered the soul power he had consumed, he soon felt enlivened and full of vigor again.

    After the soul crystal was drained of its power and crumbled, he once again summoned his soul awareness to derive enlightenment of Starchain.

    After an unknown period of time, the mysterious magical symbols that carried the profound knowledge of Starchain gradually vanished.

    This indicated that Nie Tian had learned everything there was to learn about Starchain, and hadpletely mastered it.

    <i>¡°Starchain allows me to use my true soul to summon power from my star souls, and forge it into chains that can bind or seal souls.¡±</i>

    As a thought entered his mind, the Spirit Pearl flew out of his ring of holding.

    Immediately afterwards, he sent a wisp of his soul awareness into it, and saw that the Phantasm soul, which had been purged and turned into a pure soul, had somehow be much stronger than before.

    The soul had already been erased of its old memories and branded with Nie Tian¡¯s unique origin marks.

    As soon as the wisp of his soul awareness entered, he heard what sounded like cheers.

    Like a cluster of mist, the soul took the initiative to approach him like a child skipping towards their father.

    Nie Tian was taken by surprise. <i>¡°This is...¡±</i>

    He hadn¡¯t expected that it had grown so much over the past two months, and it seemed to have already established a firm foothold within the Spirit Pearl.

    All of the discarnate souls, which had been in the Spirit Pearl long before it hade along, seemed to be afraid of it, as they all stayed far away from it.

    The aura the soul was exuding was stronger than that of any discarnate soul within the Spirit Pearl.

    Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of soul awareness didn¡¯t spend too much time examining it, but rather found a random discarnate soul to test out his newly-acquired knowledge about Starchain.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As a thought entered his mind, bits of starlight flew out of his mind into the Spirit Pearl.

    Pure soul power rapidly came together, forming a glowing chain of many links.

    Immediately afterwards, the Starchain shot towards a discarnate soul.

    As it did, the blurry discarnate soul that looked like a cluster of smoke trembled with great fear.

    Even so, the Starchain caught and wrapped around it in the blink of an eye. Unable to move in the slightest, the discarnate soul rapidly shrank down and became increasingly illusory. Eventually, it turned into a puff of smoke and vanishedpletely.

    <i>¡°It can actually refine the soul after binding it!¡±</i>

    Expression flickering, Nie Tian noticed that the Starchain still had power left within it, even after the discarnate soul had vanishedpletely.

    This proved that it hadn¡¯t consumed much power to refine that discarnate soul, and it might be able to refine other discarnate souls.

    The other discarnate souls that were gathered around the perimeter instantly scattered like birds that were startled by the twang of a bow-string.

    <i>¡°I finally have my own soul magic now!¡±</i>

    A hearty smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he withdrew his soul awareness from the Spirit Pearl.

    He didn¡¯t go on to learn the new magical symbols that came to appear in his second fragmentary star mark.

    Instead, after a moment of pondering, he unleashed his Heaven Eyes.

    Like nine invisiblenterns, his Heaven Eyes floated in midair in the middle of the great hall.

    With his Heaven Eyes¡¯ keen perception, wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness spread like water towards the pce walls and infused into the countless profound star formations that were carved in them.

    Immediately afterwards, a sea of information left the pce walls and surged towards the nine Heaven Eyes from all directions.

    This information seemed to carry a profound method to summon and use the power of the pce.

    <i>¡°This whole pce is a grand spell formation!¡±</i>

    Eyes lighting up, Nie Tian suddenly recalled the time when he had activated the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s spell formation with his fragmentary star marks in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and destroyed the ancient Phantasm starship, along with Basto, with a single strike.

    <i>¡°This pce is meant for me, along with everything here. It¡¯s only natural that I can use this grand spell formation!¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, he focused on gathering information with his nine Heaven Eyes, sorting through and realigning it in his mind, until every detail of the spell formation was fully disyed in his mind.

 Chapter 760: â€œWe Want Them All!â€

    Outside the magnificent pce.

    Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, and Jiang Tong were sitting with their eyes closed. Three small vortexes were floating over the top of each of their heads.

    Even though the vortexes were small, they were channeling and changing the movement of the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on this continent in a profound way.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped open. Two clusters of mes seemed to be burning in the depths of his eyes.

    A loud rumble that sounded like a volcanic eruption echoed out from within him. At the same time, in the very distant fire-attributed region, clusters of mes seemed to be somehow attracted by him, and started to gather towards him.

    The sky seemed to be painted red by the sea of mes that was surging towards his location.

    SHEW!

    A man covered in blood suddenly appeared out of thin air before them.

    Jian Tong instantly sprang to his feet and asked with a worried expression, ¡°How are you doing, Big Brother Guan?!¡±

    The man had fine cuts all over him. Some were so deep that bones could be seen, as if he been cut by many sharp des. Blood spilled from the cuts continuously.

    Even now, numerous small, snake-like de lights were still slithering within his split wounds, inflicting damage to his body.

    The burly tall man was Guan Fu, the middle Void domain reinforcement Guan Qi had summoned from their n.

    A grayish-yellow maic field seemed to be greatlypressed, and only enveloped a three meter range around him now.

    That was his personal domain.

    Within the grayish-yellow domain, fierce sword intent was still shing across with enough might to tear the heavens to bits.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At the same time, Guan Fu¡¯s own power constantly shed with the sword intent, giving rise to small explosions and bright lights.

    With every explosion, Guan Fu would let out a muffled groan, and his wounds would further split.

    ¡°They are here.¡± Guan Fu bellowed weakly, looking behind him with bloodshot eyes.

    Several figures appeared in the distant sky. Each and every one of them looked elegant and carefree as they soared over on their swords.

    Xing Beichen was among them.

    With his usual harmless smile, Xing Beichen was flying behind the five Void domain experts, who were all dressed the same. Instead of a pursuing killer, he looked more like a young schr who was out on a sightseeing tour. Not the slightest killing intent could be sensed from him.

    The five Void domain experts all had indifferent looks in their eyes, and couldn¡¯t be any calmer.

    They were wearing garments with sleeves that were not only wide, but also long. On each of their chests was embroidered a mountain that had countless swords plunged into it.

    From the look of it, that must be their sect¡¯s sigil.

    Guan Pu gave a pained groan and said to Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, and Jian Tong, ¡°They¡¯re from the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect is the name of their sect. ording to them, the Trisword Sect in our domain was founded by someone from their sect. Xing Beichen was originally a chosen one of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. However, he offended some important figure in the Domain of Heaven Python, and thus had toe to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to lie low until the wind blew over. (Idiom: stay away from trouble)

    ¡°Now, his seniors have already solved the problem for him, and he can return to the Domain of Heaven Python at any time now.¡±

    Guan Fu had engaged in battle against the five Thousandsword Mountain Sect experts, during which he had obtained this information.

    Confused expressions appeared on Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng¡¯s faces as they muttered, ¡°The Domain of Heaven Python... The Thousandsword Mountain Sect...¡±

    Obviously, they hadn¡¯t heard of such a domain.

    ¡°Their domain is very far from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, so we never got in touch with them before,¡± Guan Fu exined. Then, his face grew very grim as he added, ¡°Their peak experts are at the Saint domain.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Yue Yanxi and the other experts finally gasped. ¡°The Saint domain?!¡±

    Their expressions grew unprecedentedly somber as they looked at the iing experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    After arriving in front of the pce, Xing Beichen still stood behind the five Void domain experts. Eyes fixed on the grand pce, he eximed weakly, ¡°It¡¯s a pce built by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    ¡°Who would have thought there would be a pce of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce on this continent wreathed in rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth! So does it mean Nie Tian...¡±

    The five Thousandsword Mountain Sect experts¡¯ expressions grew serious as they examined the pce carefully with their eyes.

    However, they didn¡¯t pay much attention to Guan Pu, who they had seriously wounded, and the other experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After a moment of hesitation, Xing Beichen said with a reluctant expression, ¡°Martial Uncle Ke, that kid named Nie Tian seems to be from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I heard that he came here shortly before us. But since he¡¯s not here now, it¡¯s very likely that he has already entered this pce.¡±

    Ke Jinpeng frowned, not uttering a word.

    On their way here, he had learned from Xing Beichen that there was a young man named Nie Tian, who was supposed to be a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and he had obtained arge amount of soul crystals and Metal-devouring Bugs.

    He had assumed that if Nie Tian was an ordinary member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce who hade here on a tour, so even if they killed him, they probably wouldn¡¯t draw ire on themselves.

    However, this pce before him was clearly the work of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    This pce had been here for who knew how many years, and now a sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce suddenly came to find this ce...

    Ke Jinpeng couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on, and thus found the matter somewhat intractable.

    Just now, as soon as he had entered the atmosphere and sensed the surprisingly rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce, he had decided to take this continent for their sect and add it to their sect¡¯s arcane realms.

    However, now that he realized what that pce stood for, he suddenly grew hesitant.

    The existence of the pce proved that this ce already had a owner, which was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    How would he not ponder the matter carefully if he wanted to seize this unique heaven and earth from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s hands?

    After a moment of silence, Xing Beichen said, ¡°Martial uncle, that Nie Tian is only at the Worldly realm, and he didn¡¯t have others from his sect with him. Perhaps the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has long since abandoned this ce, or the powerful expert who had created this ce died a long time ago.

    ¡°And Nie Tian wasn¡¯t sent here by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but he just happened to find this ce by ident.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we may actually take this unwanted ce, and it¡¯ll be alright.¡±

    The other four Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect nodded after hearing these words, greed shing across their eyes.

    Even in their domain, they couldn¡¯t find a ce with such rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, not to mention that this continent was divided into six regions, and each region had their unique wonders, along with arge number of rare nts and precious materials.

    If they managed to take this ce for the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, every one of them would be heavily rewarded for it.

    With these thoughts, a middle Void domain expert named Sha Yan turned to look at Yue Yanxi, who was standing the closest to the pce gate. With a faint smile, he said, ¡°Fellow cultivators, is that Nie Tian person in there?¡±

    Yue Yanxi smiled coldly. ¡°That¡¯s right. He is in the pce. But we can¡¯t tell who¡¯s in there with him. Perhaps powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are still practicing secluded cultivation in there.¡±

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect experts¡¯ expressions flickered noticeably.

    In the next moment, five strands of immense soul awareness morphed into enormous swords and pierced towards the magnificent pce.

    They were hoping to pry into the pce and learn the situation inside.

    If Nie Tian was the only one in there, they would seriously consider killing him and taking this ce.

    However, if, like Yue Yanxi had just said, powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were practicing cultivation inside, then they would have Xing Beichen apologize to Nie Tian. If Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t let it go no matter what, they would even give Xing Beichen up to gain the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s forgiveness.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Starlight sparks suddenly floated out of the pce walls like numerous dazzling stars.

    They interwove into a mysterious star formation, warding off the Void domain experts¡¯ soul awareness.

    The giant swords that the five experts had formed with their soul awareness could easily prate metal and shatter stone, yet they couldn¡¯t infiltrate the pce in the least.

    Secondster, the five experts had to withdraw their soul awareness, their expressions grimmer and more hesitant.

    CREEN!

    At this moment, the closed stone gate was suddenly pushed open from the inside.

    Nie Tian slowly walked halfway through it. With half of his body out of the pce and the other half inside the pce, he leaned against the stone gate and said to Xing Beichen with a disdainful tone, as if he knew that he had strong backing, ¡°What? You want to kill me? Do you want my soul crystals, Metal-devouring Bugs, or this continent?¡±

    The moment the stone gate was pushed open, Sha Yan and the others took the opportunity to send their soul awareness inside.

    Their soul awareness that was as thin as hair rapidly flew through the open gate and circled around within the pce.

    Eyes narrowing, Ke Jinpeng said with a respectful tone, ¡°There are quite a few people in the pce, but there don¡¯t seem to be any seniors from your sect among them.¡±

    An icy smile appeared at the corner of Sha Yan¡¯s mouth as he nodded at Xing Beichen and said, ¡°Your spection seems to be correct.¡±

    Xing Beichenughed. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t havee out, Nie Tian. If you didn¡¯t, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to learn the actual situation inside the pce. It was very foolish of you toe out and allow us to learn that there aren¡¯t any powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce inside.

    ¡°Now I can tell you what we want.

    ¡°Your soul crystals, Metal-devouring Bugs, and this continent. We want them all.¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°Come and get them then!¡±

 Chapter 761: A Death Wish!

    ¡°Foolish!¡± Guan Pu, who was still covered in blood, spat exasperatedly after seeing Nie Tianing out of the pce.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s face also twisted as he shouted, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t havee out of there!¡±

    Jiang Feng¡¯s eyes flickered as he took out a Sound Stone and secretly whispered something into it.

    He told the other Bliss Mountain Sect disciples to evacuate from this continent as quickly as possible on that ancient golden starship.

    He already knew what would happen.

    As long as the experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect decided to kill Nie Tian, everyone here would suffer the same fate.

    They would never allow anyone to leak the fact that they had killed a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Once the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce learned what happened here, doom would befall the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Inside the pce.

    Now that the stone gate was open, Yin Yanan, Qiao Yunxi, and the others also learned what was going on through the open gate, and heard Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    Tang Yong yelled from behind Nie Tian, ¡°Get back here!¡±

    Deeply anxious, Qiao Yunxi eximed, ¡°What the hell are you doing, Nie Tian!? Why did you open the stone gate without saying anything?! Now that they¡¯ve learned the actual situation, they¡¯ll probably try to kill us all!¡±

    Yin Yanan also gave a cold harrumph and said, ¡°What the hell are you thinking?!¡±

    The way they saw it, by pushing the stone gate open, Nie Tian had put not only Yue Yanxi, but also all of them in danger.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t opened the gate, the experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect wouldn¡¯t be able to learn the situation inside the pce, and thus wouldn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    In fact, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s name would have inspired enough awe to stop them from trying anything.

    However, now that they had learned that there wasn¡¯t a single expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in here, they would probably change their minds immediately.

    At this moment, deafening rumbles suddenly came from the distant sky.

    The ancient golden starship was emanating dazzling golden light as it shot up towards the atmosphere of violent energies.

    ¡°The ancient starship that belonged to the Golden Vast Sect!¡± Xing Beichen¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily turned to Sha Yan. ¡°Martial uncle, that ancient starship can prate theyer of violent energies that surrounds this floating continent!¡±

    ¡°The Golden Vast Sect?!¡± Sha Yan said with a surprised expression.

    ¡°Stop them!¡± Ke Jinpeng ordered.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s already toote,¡± Sha Yan said with a bitter smile.

    The ancient starship kept rising, giving rise to loud rumbles. Like a golden sword of light, it pierced directly towards theyer of surging energies.

    Even the Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect frowned deeply, looking worried.

    Now that they were going to make a move against Nie Tian, they couldn¡¯t afford to let word of it leak out. If the golden ancient starship escaped, then it would only be a matter of time before the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce learned about what had happened here.

    Unless they called off their n...

    BANG! BANG!

    Arge amount of starlight suddenly came to shine in the depths of the atmosphere of outsider and ancient spirit beast auras. The ancient starship then seemed to be suppressed by a boundless river of stars, and started to have great difficulty flying upward.

    Secondster, the ancient golden starship, which had hoped to escape while the experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were caught up in a stalemate with Nie Tian and the others, couldn¡¯t fly an inch further upward.

    BOOM!!

    An invisible force suddenly pressed down on the golden starship, causing it to dive from the sky.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡± Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect couldn¡¯t help but exim, disbelief filling his face.

    The golden starship had gone through theyer of mixed energies without much difficulty when they hade to this ce.

    Why would theyer of mixed energies all of a sudden be imprable now?

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s face was also filled with confusion as he jerked his head towards Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Nie Tian put on a meaningful smile, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    Sha Yan went nk briefly before saying with a smile, ¡°They can¡¯t leave? Good! As long as they can¡¯t get away, all of them will have to die here!¡±

    SHEW!

    While they spoke, Jiang Feng¡¯s figure suddenly blurred.

    In the next moment, he vanished from before everyone¡¯s eyes with the help of some profound escape magic.

    ¡°Up there!¡± Ke Jinpeng eximed softly, fixing his scorching eyes in the sky. ¡°He¡¯s trying to go through it himself. Let¡¯s give him this chance.¡±

    Then, everyone¡¯s gazes converged on Jiang Feng.

    They all wanted to know whether the Void domain Jiang Feng would be stopped by theyer of energies just like that golden ancient starship.

    In fact, Jiang Feng was doing this to fight for a chance for the other Bliss Mountain Sect disciples to escape. However, he had to make sure that he could go through theyer of mixed energies beforeing back to take the other Bliss Mountain Sect disciples through it.

    Numerous rays of silver-gray light instantly filled Jiang Feng¡¯s private domain. Like a god wreathed in dazzling silver light, he shot directly into the atmosphere of mixed energies.

    In the next moment, a sea of starlight sparks suddenly appeared in the area Jiang Feng was heading towards.

    A river of stars seemed to form within the atmosphere of multicolored energies, rendering Jiang Feng¡¯s private domain assable.

    Numerous flesh auras infiltrated it and stifled the silver-gray light within it.

    Jiang Feng only held on for a few seconds before falling out of the sky, like a silver god that had his wings broken. With a pale face, he hastily escaped from the starlight-filled area.

    ¡°He failed too!¡± At this moment, even Ke Jinpeng started to sense that something had gone wrong.

    Sha Yan fixed Nie Tian with a cold stare. ¡°It must be him!¡±

    A strand of ethereal soul power rapidly came to form. Carrying Sha Yan¡¯s fierce sword intent, it shed towards Nie Tian¡¯s mind in an attempt to strip his memories from him.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Get back inside now!¡± Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    A crimson figure suddenly shot out from the spot between Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyebrows. As soon as it did,nd-shaking fluctuations came from the numerous volcanoes in the fire-attributed region, as if they were answering its summons.

    But even though that zing figure carried his profound understanding of fire power, it turned out to be slower than Sha Yan¡¯s soul attack.

    Seeing that Nie Tian¡¯s mind was going to be breached by Sha Yan¡¯s soul power in the next moment, he inwardly med Nie Tian for being too arrogant and careless.

    Nie Tian smiled, lookingpletely carefree. ¡°Thanks for your concern.¡±

    At the same time, he ced one hand on the stone gate with a swift motion.

    The star formations on the stone gate instantly started to change. Dense, water-like starlight started to flow following the vein-like patterns.

    A vast, boundless aura burst forth from within the stone gate.

    At the same time, countless star formations on the pce walls also became enlivened. Each and every one of them looked like a sea of stars that gave off an aura of eternity.

    Sha Yan¡¯s soul power was melted away soundlessly just as it was about to reach Nie Tian.

    Sha Yan¡¯s eyes dimmed as he experienced a stabbing pain in his mind. ¡°You...!!¡± he shouted.

    Nie Tian stared coldly at him with narrowed eyes. ¡°I what? You think you can enter and leave this continent as you wish? Not paying your respects after seeing this pce is one thing, but you actually made a move against me?! You lot must have a death wish!¡±

    BZZZ!

    The zing figure that carried the profound truths of me power instantly came to a stop in the air before flying back to Yue Yanxi at full speed.

    Covered in cold sweat, he hastily returned the figure to his true soul. His expression grew very strange as he listened to Nie Tian taunt Sha Yan recklessly.

    He wondered what had happened within the pce after Nie Tian had gone into it.

    However, seeing that even Void domain experts¡¯ soul awareness failed to touch Nie Tian, he knew that a profound connection had been established between this pce and Nie Tian.

    This meant Nie Tian was now able to borrow power from the countless star formations that covered the entire pce.

    With this thought in mind, he looked up into the heavens, and felt that the sudden change in theyer of mixed energies was probably Nie Tian¡¯s work as well.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t think about leaving again. Help yourselves please. I¡¯ve got something to take care of.¡±

    With these words, he waved at Yue Yanxi. ¡°Senior Yue, why don¡¯t youe in here so we can catch up?¡±

 Chapter 762: Vitality-returning Celestial Stone

    ¡°Sure!¡± With a hearty smile, Yue Yanxi prepared to enter the magnificent pce right away.

    After realizing that profound changes had already taken ce in this heaven and earth, stopping even Jiang Feng from leaving, he grew calm instead of worried.

    He knew that Nie Tian was behind all these changes.

    He recalled back when he had learned Nie Tian¡¯s identity, he had berated the Lei n for their deeds and made efforts to be friends with Nie Tian.

    At this moment, he realized what a wise decision that had been.

    Now that he knew that it was Nie Tian who had made changes to this heaven and earth by using the pce in a profound way, he knew that he would be safe, considering his rtionship with him.

    ¡°Senior martial brother!¡± Sha Yan from the Bliss Mountain Sect called out.

    ¡°Martial uncle!¡± Xing Beichen eximed towards Ke Jinpeng, looking very anxious. ¡°Once Yue Yanxi and Nie Tian enter the pce, it¡¯ll be very hard to force them out again to figure out what¡¯s going on here!¡±

    Ke Jinpeng nodded vigorously.

    WHOOSH!

    A spot of golden light suddenly shot forth from between Ke Jinpeng¡¯s eyebrows. Originally, it was only the size of a grain of rice, but momentster, it expanded a thousand times over.

    It was his private domain, which was filled with dazzling golden light and fierce sword intent.

    ¡°Heavenly Metal Domain!¡± he shouted.

    Endless sword intent and golden light rapidly forged into a huge golden sword.

    As soon as it came to form, it triggered changes around him, causing the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to explode.

    The huge golden sword seemed as if it was being wielded by many invisible gods together, even causing space to bend. Wherever its sword intent went, bottomless rifts were created in the earth.

    Standing by the stone gate, Nie Tian only looked at the huge golden sword, and tears began flowing uncontrobly from his pained eyes.

    He unleashed his soul awareness, hoping to derive enlightenment from the huge golden sword¡¯s sword intent. However, numerous fine rifts immediately appeared within his sea of awareness.

    ¡°Get back inside!¡± Yue Yanxi yelled.

    Nie Tian let out a muffled groan. Hiding behind the stone gate, he pressed his hands, which were shining with blinding starlight, on the stone gate with great force.

    The mysterious ancient patterns once again came alive and started to change in an unfathomable way. At the same time, the entire pce gave rise to loud rumbles.

    Starlight that was as thick as water seemed to be infused into the pce walls, where it flowed like creeks.

    He hastily tore his eyes from the huge golden sword, not daring to sense the torrential sword intent with his soul awareness anymore.

    WHOOSH!

    At the same time, raging mes burst forth from within Yue Yanxi, forming a zing domain around him. Yue Yanxi, like the god who owned it, stared coldly at Ke Jinpeng from the depths of the domain.

    FZZZ!

    The huge golden sword Ke Jinpeng had forged with his Heavenly Metal Domain suddenly shed down from the sky, creating countless fine spatial rifts and illusions as it did.

    It was as if the golden mountains in the distance were answering Ke Jinpeng¡¯s summons, along with the spiritual energies filling this heaven and earth.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the golden sword seemed to have summoned every bit of metal power on this continent to form this devastating attack.

    However, not the slightest fear could be seen on his face. Instead, a hint of gloating appeared in his eyes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t fight him, Senior Yue,¡± Nie Tian said in a loud voice. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡±

    Yue Yanxi was taken aback.

    At this very moment, the spiritual energies and metal power Ke Jinpeng had channeled from the vicinity into the huge golden sword suddenly changed.

    The huge sword that was shining with dazzling golden light started to shake violently in the air. The spiritual energies and metal power Ke Jinpeng had channeled from the vicinity turned from guests into hosts, and started to control and devour his power!

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Ke Jinpeng could even hear cracking sounds as his power within the huge golden sword was gradually gnawed away.

    Shaking unceasingly, the giant golden sword rapidly grew smaller and smaller.

    At the same time, a strong attractive force was born from the depths of the earth.

    Immediately afterwards, power started to madly spill from every expert¡¯s spiritual sea.

    It was as if a mysterious ma existed in the depths of the earth, which was now channeling spiritual power of all attributes towards it.

    Even Yue Yanxi was shocked as he shrewdly noticed that the raging me power within his ming domain started to leave his side and shoot down towards the depths of the earth.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°W-what¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Come inside and you won¡¯t be affected anymore,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    At this moment, Ke Jinpeng had long since lost the desire to fight Yue Yanxi, but was doing everything he could to stop himself from losing spiritual power.

    SHEW!

    Yue Yanxi shed through the stone gate, and was instantly free of the unusual influence.

    He now realized that he wouldn¡¯t lose a single shred of spiritual power as long as he remained in the pce.

    AHHH!! AHHH!!

    In the distance, the ancient golden starship had crashed into the earth. Some Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were wailing, while many had already died from the terrifyingly strong impact.

    Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect was standing at the prow of the starship and gazing up at the atmosphere of mixed energies. A pained look appeared in her eyes.

    ¡°Holy Daughter! This ce...¡± Yao Zhn eximed, looking deeply panicked. ¡°Howe this ce is going through the same thing as Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm?¡±

    It was Mu Biqiong who had initiated the operation to look for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. She had led the first few exploration trips.

    Unlike Yin Yanan, she didn¡¯t have an unusually strong fleshly body. Every time, she had had to return shortly after entering due to the rapid spiritual power loss she had experienced.

    Any Qi warrior who had entered Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm lost all of their spiritual power over a short period of time.

    Right now, the exact same thing was happening on this continent. Everyone was being drained of their spiritual power at an rming rate. How would they not be shocked?

    ¡°Can it be that Master Voidspirit came here before?¡± Tian Ziping muttered with a grim expression. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe how simr this ce is to the arcane realm where Master Voidspirit perished! Did he obtain something here and then merge it with his own realm?!¡±

    ¡°Who knows!¡± Mu Biqiong said bitterly.

    WHOOSH!

    Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect suddenly flew into the golden starship.

    Face filled with shock and fear, Yao Zhn said, ¡°Elder Jiang...¡±

    She saw wisps of spiritual power flying out of his body uncontrobly.

    ¡°There¡¯s an Earth Cultivated grade treasure in the depths of the earth, and it has be a part of this continent,¡± Jiang Feng said with a grim expression. ¡°It seems to be controlled by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and can be used to channel spiritual power from all living beings.

    ¡°Unlike Elementary, Medium, and Premium grade items, Earth Cultivated grade treasures possess their own spirit and awareness.¡±

    Tian Ziping gasped with astonishment. ¡°Earth Cultivated grade treasures!¡±

    Almost at the same time, Sha Yan from the Bliss Mountain Sect shouted, looking down at the earth under his feet, ¡°Vitality-returning Celestial Stone! It must be a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone! Only a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone can achieve such unbelievable effects and absorb the spiritual power Qi warriors have gone to great lengths to gather!¡±

    Ke Jinpeng¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°That must be it! There¡¯s a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone in the depths of this floating continent! This is terrible news for us. If we continue to stay here, everyst bit of our spiritual power, which took us many years to gather, will be taken from our spiritual seas to nourish this piece ofnd and enrich the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce!

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this damned ce is a trap set up by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! Thatyer of mixed auras seems to be an obstacle, yet it was actually put there to provoke explorers¡¯ curiosity, and tempt them into charging through it at all costs!

    ¡°I even suspect that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here is only so rich because arge number of powerful experts have been tempted into this ce, and had their spiritual power drained by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone. Only after a long period of umtion did the density of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth build up to such a high level.¡±

    Even though Guan Fu from the Guan n and Jian Tong from the Jian n had never heard of Vitality-returning Celestial Stones, their expressions flickered after hearing Ke Jinpeng¡¯s words.

    ¡°What Earth Cultivated grade treasure?!¡± Jian Tong eximed. ¡°It should be called a life-iming item instead!!¡±

    Standing behind the stone gate, Nie Tian rubbed his chin and sad, ¡°A Vitality-returning Celestial Stone... Earth Cultivated grade... What does Earth Cultivated grade mean, Senior Yue?¡±

    Yue Yanxi seemed to be in a good mood as exined, ¡°Spiritual materials can be divided into many grades. Other than the Elemental, Medium, and Premium grades, there are also Earth Cultivated and Heaven Nourished grades, which are truly rare and unique treasures. Such treasures are born with a vague level of awareness, and can¡¯t be treated as lifeless and ordinary spiritual materials.

    ¡°You know people say that everything in this world has a spirit, and that¡¯s because there¡¯s a slim chance for even trees, grass, rocks, and mountains to develop awarenesses.

    ¡°These materials that have developed an awareness are called either Earth Cultivated or Heaven Nourished treasures. And they have endless wonderful uses.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, but never seen any throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

 Chapter 763: Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian finally shut the heavy stone gate.

    This meant that the connection between them and the outside world was nowpletely cut off. The Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were all shut out, along with Guan Fu and Jian Tong.

    None of them could send their soul awareness through the pce walls to learn the situation inside.

    However, Yue Yanxi unleashed his soul awareness, and discovered that he had no problem examining the changes on the outside from inside the pce.

    He sensed with great rity that the spiritual power fluctuations Sha Yan, Ke Jinpeng, Guan Fu, Jian Tong, and the others emanated were growing increasingly weak.

    He then realized that their spiritual power was being taken away by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone at a shocking speed.

    ording to his estimation, Ke Jinpeng and the other experts would lose all of their spiritual power and be no different frommoners within three days. By that time, they would bembs waiting to be butchered.

    ¡°Did you know there was a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone hidden in the depths of this continent, Nie Tian?¡± Yue Yanxi asked.

    Yin Yanan, Qiao Yunxi, and the others let out sighs of relief after seeing them entering and closing the stone gate behind them.

    Through Nie Tian and Yue Yanxi¡¯s conversation, they learned what was going on outside the pce.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°No. I only knew that this continent was divided into six regions, which form an Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation with this pce as its heart. Just now, I merged my soul awareness with the pce and received many pieces of information.

    ¡°From them, I learned about the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation and how to operate it.

    ¡°The moment I stepped through the gate, I activated the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation.¡±

    Astonishment spread across Yue Yanxi¡¯s face as he eximed, ¡°Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation?! What magical use does it have?¡±

    ¡°Everything will remain normal when it¡¯s not activated. Qi warriors whoe to this continent will be able to practice cultivation and derive enlightenment with the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here.¡± With these words, Nie Tian smiled meaningfully. ¡°But once it¡¯s activated, the situation will reverse. This continent will channel spiritual power from those whoe here andpletely drain their spiritual power within a short period of time.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi chimed in, ¡°This ce is such a trap carefully prepared by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded slightly and said with a bitter face, ¡°Perhaps the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here is only so rich because the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation has tempted countless powerful experts to this ce and drained them of their spiritual power, which they had spent centuries or even millennia to umte, and then used that power to nourish this continent.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cunningugh. ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    That was exactly what he was thinking.

    ¡°Have you ever heard of Vitality-returning Celestial Stones, grand elder?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    Yue Yanxi shook his head. ¡°No, but the people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect seem to know about them. If they¡¯re indeed Earth Cultivated grade treasures, they must be far beyond ordinary!¡±

    ¡°Earth Cultivated grade treasures!¡± Yin Yanan eximed. ¡°I heard that Earth Cultivated grade treasures possess their own awareness. They can be forged into Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools with minimal processing. In fact, every Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material can be viewed as a Spirit Channeling grade treasure. Most importantly, since Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials possess their own spirits, people won¡¯t need to find spirits for them when forging them into Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    ¡°If an expert gains a Spirit Channeling grade treasure that¡¯s forged from an Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material and agrees with their cultivation attribute, then the might they can disy will be beyond imagination.¡±

    Yue Yanxi gave her an approving look. ¡°You¡¯re right. Spirit Channeling grade treasures forged from Earth Cultivated spiritual materials are indeed extremely rare and powerful.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry, everyone,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°You just stay here and three days from now, I¡¯ll change the spell formation again. By that time, the people out there probably won¡¯t have any spiritual power left in them.¡±

    With a smile, he turned to Yue Yanxi and added, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the other stuff after the people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect are taken care of.¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded. ¡°Sounds good.¡±

    Then, everyone fell silent again.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian sat down in the lotus position, and his mind drifted away.

    <i>¡°There was a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone within Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm. But that one was far less powerful than the one in the depths of this continent. Could that one be a piece that had been taken from here?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Had Master Voidspirit evere to this forbidden region before?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°This region had been hidden away behind a veil for hundreds of thousands of years. No starships could sail into it. Many powerful experts who came here never returned again.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°But Master Voidspirit is different. He was an expert of spatial magics.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°He probably knew about the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone¡¯s incredible use. If he were still alive, perhaps I¡¯d be able to get more information from him.¡±</i>

    While Nie Tian was consumed with these thoughts, Xing Beichen and the others who were stranded outside the pce grew increasingly panicked.

    Even Ke Jinpeng lost hisposure as he felt his spiritual power slipping away from him, and could do nothing to stop it.

    In another location, Jiang Feng shouted at Tian Ziping and the others, urging them to start the ancient golden starship again.

    He still hoped to charge through theyer of mixed auras and get as far away from this bizarre continent as possible with the help of the starship.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The ancient golden starship was started, and once again sailed into the atmosphere of mixed auras.

    However, it fell from the sky again shortly afterwards, only to inflict more casualties on the Bliss Mountain Sect group.

    At the same time, Ke Jinpeng and the other Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect sought methods to leave this continent with panicked expressions.

    However, it didn¡¯t matter whether it was escape magics or space maniption magics, they all failed.

    Every one of them ran into impassable obstacles when they tried to go through the atmosphere of mixed energies, and thus had to return to the ground with even less spiritual power within them.

    Guan Fu and Jiang Tong, however, got away from the pce before they ran out of spiritual power.

    By the time they met up with their n members, they realized that they were also losing spiritual power at a terrifying rate, and their eyes were filled with despair.

    Upon seeing Guan Pu, Guan He shouted with a panicked expression. ¡°Patriarch! We¡¯re all losing our spiritual power! It¡¯s like there¡¯s a monster in the depths of the earth that¡¯s devouring our spiritual power.¡±

    Guan Fu sighed. ¡°I¡¯m just d that you¡¯re not hurt. Don¡¯t you worry. The worst case is that we lose all of our spiritual power. We never had any conflicts with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce or that Nie Tian. Plus, Yue Yanxi and I have known each other for a long time. So I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll try to harm us.¡±

    Guan Qi chimed in, ¡°I guess I can offer Qiao Yunxi that Heaven me Beast corpse next time we meet up with them in exchange for our safety.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry too much. We¡¯ll be alright.¡± Jian Tong tried tofort the crowd. ¡°The people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect are those who should be worried. They had feuds with Nie Tian before and aftering to this continent. By the time the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone drains their spiritual powerpletely, Nie Tian will probably deal with them first.¡±

    After hearing his words, everyone came to realize there was indeed no reason for Nie Tian to target them.

    ...

    Three dayster...

    Everyone on this continent had everyst shred of their spiritual power taken away by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone. No matter how fast they channeled spiritual power from spirit stones, it all turned out to be in vain.

    As soon as new spiritual power flew into their spiritual seas, it would be taken away again.

    By this time, people had already given up after many failed attempts.

    CREEN!

    The heavy stone gate was pushed open, and Nie Tian emerged. He nced around at this heaven and earth, which didn¡¯t seem to have changed at all, a faint and cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    Frowning slightly, Yue Yanxi called out from inside the pce, ¡°Nie Tian! If they¡¯ve only lost their spiritual power, then it¡¯s still not safe for you to leave the pce.

    ¡°Void domain cultivators can also prate metal and cut rocks with their soul power. You still won¡¯t be able to withstand a single strike from them.¡±

    With an unrestrained smile, Nie Tian was just about to say something when his eyebrows suddenly furrowed.

    The thick atmosphere of mixed auras that surrounded this entire continent suddenly started to billow.

    Nie Tian gazed up into the heavens, his heart starting to race.

    Even from very far, he could vaguely sense the presence of two immense, sea-like flesh auras beyond the atmosphere of mixed auras.

    He had never sensed flesh auras so strong from any living beings he had met. ¡°Eighth grade bloodline power?!¡±

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Yue Yanxi asked with a grim face.

    ¡°Outsiders have arrived following the divine me seals you left behind,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Outsiders?! They don¡¯t use spiritual power. If they got here, they probably wouldn¡¯t be affected by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone!¡±

    This was exactly what was worrying Nie Tian.

 Chapter 764: Asking For Peace?

    Standing on an ancient starship that was berthed right outside the hemispherical continent, Yuna, the Phantasm expert, said, gazing forward, ¡°This is it.¡±

    Beside her was berthed a starship that was filled with Demons, ckscales, and Birdmen. A young, high-tier Demon with a face as beautiful as a female¡¯s was standing at the prow.

    Even though he looked very young, he gave off a very ancient feeling, as if life had tempered him for millennia.

    All of the other Demons, ckscales, and Birdmen kept a considerable distance from him, as if to show their respect.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he said in a gentle voice, ¡°Yuna, you should be able to tell that this continent is wreathed in flesh auras of powerful Ancientspirits and experts of our races. ording to ancient records, we were on the losing side of the ultimate war that broke out here. Many grand patriarchs of our races died during the war.¡±

    Yuna was graceful and curvaceous like a tempting female serpent. Every inch of her exuded a mature and intoxicating quality.

    Nodding slightly, she said, ¡°That¡¯s right. But you have to know, Terry, that the Ancientspirits weren¡¯t the winners either. After the war, the entire domain was destroyed, with every single realm reduced to fragments.

    ¡°Soon after we evacuated from here, the Ancientspirits also left here for good.

    ¡°If it were up to me, I¡¯d say neither side won. It¡¯s just that we were in such a hurry to evacuate that we failed to take the corpses of our dead grand patriarchs away with us.¡±

    The eighth grade Demon expert, who she referred to as Terry, then said, ¡°Why is this continent still rtively intact? And why are the flesh auras of our deceased grand patriarchs and powerful Ancientspirits still gathered around it after so many years?¡±

    Yuna pursed her lips into a smile and said, ¡°We came to find the answer, didn¡¯t we?¡±

    While the two of them talked, the other outsiders listened inplete silence. No one dared to make a sound.

    The outsiders attached great importance to hierarchy. Higher-tier outsiders had absolute authority over lower-tier ones.

    Yuna and Terry were both eighth grade experts, only one step away from entering the ninth grade. Once they made that step, they would be grand patriarchs of their own races, and enjoy an unchallenged and lofty status throughout their races.

    The two of them exchanged a nce, and Yuna asked, ¡°You go first, or should I?¡±

    ¡°Let me check out the situation first.¡± With a faint smile, Terry jumped off the Demons¡¯ ancient starship and flew towards the atmosphere of mixed auras in a manner as if he were strolling idly in his courtyard.

    ...

    On the floating continent.

    After pushing the stone gate open, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t in a hurry to go anywhere. Instead, he just gazed up into the sky with a grim expression.

    Even separated by a great distance, he was sensing heavy pressure from the two eighth grade outsiders¡¯ torrential flesh auras.

    He knew perfectly well that outsiders were now gathered right outside this floating continent.

    Right now, he was worried that the atmosphere of mixed auras would not only fail to stop the outsiders from entering, but even be used to strengthen them.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s voice echoed out, ¡°Nie Tian, will the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone work on outsiders?¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There are two eighth grade experts among the outsiders who havee.¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression instantly grew less intense. ¡°Just two?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he said with confidence, ¡°Let me talk to Guan Pu and Jian Gao! We can let them take shelter in this pce for the time being, along with their sect members. They need to recover their strength as soon as possible so that we¡¯ll be able to fight the outsiders together when they swarm in here.¡±

    Guan Fu was at the middle Void domain and Jian Gao was at the early Void domain.

    Jian Gao hadn¡¯t sustained any injuries recently. He had just been drained of his spiritual power by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone.

    Guan Fu, on the other hand, had sustained serious injuries when they hade to this continent. However, since he was at the middle Void domain, he would still be a strong force after getting his spiritual power back.

    Most importantly, the Divine me Sect didn¡¯t have any feuds with the Jian n or the Guan n. Yue Yanxi had been rather close to the two of them.

    He hadn¡¯t thought about dealing with them before the outsiders hade along. But now that two eighth grade outsiders might enter at any moment, he had to make good use of the Guan n and Jian n¡¯s forces.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright. Go ahead andmunicate with them.¡±

    His original n was to drain everyone¡¯s spiritual power with the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation.

    Afterwards, he would take care of the eyesores from the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect first, and then talk to the people from the Guan n and Jian n. That way his words would carry more weight.

    However, now that outsiders were here, he would have to make changes to his n, instead of dealing with them as he pleased.

    Fiery light burned in the depths of Yue Yanxi¡¯s narrowed eyes as he established a connection with Guan Fu and Jian Tong right away. ¡°The Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation doesn¡¯t seem to have taken their soul power from them.¡±

    In the region filled with vigorous wood power, the members of the Jian n and the Guan n were sitting in silence. Everyone seemed to be in low spirits.

    They had long since stopped wasting time recovering spiritual power with spirit stones.

    That was because no matter how fast they channeled spiritual power into their spiritual seas, they would lose it even faster due to the effect of the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation.

    Therefore, they only sat in silence and waited for Nie Tian toe and find them, and see what he would have to say to them.

    Jian Gao¡¯s eyes lit up as he instantly jerked his head in the pce¡¯s direction and said, ¡°It¡¯s Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect! Yue Yanxi said we¡¯ll be allowed to take shelter in that pce with all of our members!¡±

    ¡°On what condition?¡± Guan Fu asked weakly.

    He had sustained heavy injuries when he had escaped from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect experts¡¯ blockade. Now that he had lost all of his spiritual power, he even failed to receive Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul message at the first moment.

    ¡°None,¡± Jian Gao said, looking up into the sky. ¡°Outsiders have arrived. Their leaders are two eighth grade experts. Yue Yanxi and that Nie Tian don¡¯t know whether the grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will work on outsiders, so they thought of us.

    ¡°They harbor deep hatred towards those from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect, so they¡¯ll never try to have their forces join them.

    ¡°Now, they¡¯re hoping to add our strength to theirs.¡±

    Guan Fu¡¯s spirit lifted as he said, ¡°That¡¯s good!¡±

    He jerked his head towards the Jian n and Guan n members and said with a serious tone, ¡°You¡¯ve got to remember not to hold a grudge towards that Nie Tian. Even though he didn¡¯t take us in before, and we lost all of our spiritual power to the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone because of it, this is his territory after all, and we¡¯re guests.¡±

    Originally, the members of the two ns had seemed to hold a grudge towards Nie Tian, but they nodded somewhat reluctantly after hearing these words.

    With an envious expression, Guan Pu said, ¡°Yue Yanxi is a smart man. I wonder how he managed to establish a connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. With such a powerful connection, the Divine me Sect will definitely be a stronger force in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Now that we have an opportunity to do the same, we¡¯d better do everything we can to seize it!¡±

    With these words, they got on air-transportation spiritual tools and sailed towards the pce.

    Even though every Qi warrior on this continent had lost all of their spiritual power due to the influence of the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone, they could still use air-transportation spiritual tools that were powered by spirit stones.

    Therefore, even though the Guan n and Jian n members didn¡¯t have a shred of power in their spiritual seas, they had no problem flying on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    As soon as they moved out, Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect noticed their movement. ¡°Those people from the Jian n and the Guan n are returning to the pce that was built by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. What are they doing? Taking the initiative to surrender to that Nie Tian kid?¡±

    ¡°What should we do, Elder Jiang?¡± Tian Ziping said with a desperate expression.

    ¡°You stay here,¡± Jiang Feng said. ¡°I¡¯ll fly over there on an air-transportation spiritual tool and see whether I cane to some sort of terms with that kid. After all, our sect doesn¡¯t have any irredeemable feuds with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. We only had conflicts with the Divine me Sect over some issues in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    With these words, Jiang Feng also headed towards the pce on an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Ke Jinpeng, who had made many attempts and failed to escape from this continent, also noticed the anomaly.

    After a moment of hesitation, he said, gritting his teeth, ¡°I¡¯ll go and try to talk to that Nie Tian. You stay here.¡±

    He knew that their only chance of survival nowy with Nie Tian. Therefore, he decided to make a final attempt to see whether it was possible for Nie Tian to forgive them.

 Chapter 765: Awareness That Covers Hundreds of Thousands of Kilometers!

    Gazing into the distant sky, Yue Yanxi spread his soul awareness like an endlessly unrolling carpet, gaining a full grasp of the Guan n and Jian n members¡¯ movements. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±

    Then, his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he said with a grim face. ¡°Jiang Feng and Ke Jinpeng are alsoing.¡±

    ¡°What are they doing here?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking puzzled.

    Yue Yanxi smiled coldly. ¡°I suppose they¡¯reing to ask for peace. After all, they¡¯ve lost all of their spiritual power, and all they have left is their soul power. But their soul power will only work on those whose cultivation bases are significantly lower than theirs. If they want to fight me with only their soul power, they¡¯d be courting death.¡±

    Void domain experts relied on their spiritual power to activate and wield their private domains. Without spiritual power, they weren¡¯t able to bring out the full might of their private domains.

    Now that Yue Yanxi was the only Void domain expert who could still use his private domain, he had unchallenged authority.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The Jian n and Guan n air-transportation spiritual tools descended from the air andnded outside the pce one after another.

    Guan Fu and Jian Tong jumped off their air-transportation spiritual tools first, then beckoned for the others to do the same.

    Full of smiles, Jian Tong said, ¡°Brother Yue, could you allow our n members to take shelter in the pce for the time being? We¡¯ll do everything within our power to help you deal with the outsiders when theye.¡±

    Yue Yanxiughed. ¡°I¡¯m not the host.¡±

    After hearing these words, Guan Fu and Jian Tong jerked their heads towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded and turned sideways to present an open path. ¡°Come on in.¡±

    Seeing that Nie Tian had given them permission to enter, Guan Fu let out a sigh of relief and, without any hesitation, arranged for their n members to put away their air-transportation spiritual tools and stream into the pce.

    The hall inside the pce was surprisingly spacious. It could easily hold thousands of people and still not seem crowded.

    Only after all of the other Jian n and Guan n members had entered the pce did Guan Fu and Jian Tong enter.

    As soon as they all entered the pce, they started recovering their spiritual power with spirit stones without saying a word.

    Even Jian Tong and Guan Fu only nodded slightly at Nie Tian before sitting down in the lotus position and going into recuperation with spirit stones and medicinal pills.

    They all discovered that they were no longer affected by the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation as soon as they went through the pce gate.

    Not just that, but they also discovered that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the pce was even richer than outside. As they practiced cultivation, they were able to begin concentrating faster, and new enlightenment woulde to them more frequently than before.

    The Jian n and Guan n members¡¯ eyes lit up as they instantly realized that this mysterious pce was a blessed ce.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Jiang Feng and Ke Jinpeng¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tools arrived.

    Jiang Feng, whose status in the Bliss Mountain Sect was only second to the sectmaster, had an embarrassed look on his face as he stood on his air-transportation spiritual tool, looking hesitant to get off.

    He withdrew every shred of his soul power, lest Nie Tian misread his intentions.

    With a very sincere expression, Jiang Feng smiled and said, ¡°Little brother, there aren¡¯t any irredeemable conflicts between you and my sect. We¡¯re ready to forget about the fact that you killed disciples of our sect during your pursuit of Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. Plus, this floating continent is rather close to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Now that you¡¯ve established a foothold here, you¡¯ll have to deal with sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries from time to time.

    ¡°It¡¯spletely unnecessary for you to be enemies with sects like ours. We might as well forget about our unpleasant past and work together for a bright future.¡±

    He adopted a very humble profile as he spoke.

    Keh! Keh!

    Ke Jinpeng from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect smiled wryly and chimed in, ¡°We really didn¡¯t know that this ce had been imed by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce when we first came here. But since things have alreadye to this point, I don¡¯t feel like making excuses. I think that you might have a moment of joy by killing us, but there must be other solutions that are more productive.¡±

    Both Jiang Feng and Ke Jinpeng admitted to their mistakes.

    They came here hoping to persuade Nie Tian to spare their lives and those of their other sect members.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian examined them with a smile, but didn¡¯t give any response.

    At this moment, Yue Yanxi whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°Let¡¯s not deal with them now. Why don¡¯t we wait and see how things go. Perhaps they¡¯ll prove to be useful. What do you say?¡±

    The Jian n and the Guan n members had learned about the outsiders¡¯ arrival, but Jiang Feng and Ke Jinpeng hadn¡¯t.

    Seeing that Nie Tian was still hesitating, Yue Yanxi gathered his voice into a very fine string and sent it into no one¡¯s but Nie Tian¡¯s ears, saying, ¡°I suggest you change the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation again so as to allow the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and Thousandsword Mountain Sect to recover their spiritual power. Then, when the outsiderse in here, we¡¯ll stay inside the pce and let them deal with the outsiders.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up slightly. With a hearty smile, he said to Jiang Feng and Ke Jinpeng, ¡°You¡¯re right. There are indeed no unforgivable conflicts between us.¡±

    The two were overjoyed to hear these words.

    Greatly relieved, Jiang Feng hastily said, ¡°Nie Tian! Our sect also admires the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce very much. If it¡¯s possible, I hope we can maintain a friendly rtionship between our sects. If you like, we¡¯d be happy to help you build a teleportation portal here that connects this ce and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°We can exchange spiritual materials and make mutually beneficial transactions.¡±

    Ke Jinpeng chimed in, ¡°We¡¯ll dispose of Xing Beichen however you like for attacking you and your friends! And we¡¯ll be willing to give you whatever spiritual materials you desire to atone for his actions.¡±

    It was hard to believe that he actually sold Xing Beichen out so easily.

    ¡°Alright, you may return to your people now. Perhaps you won¡¯t be affected by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone soon.¡± With these words, Nie Tian beckoned for them to leave.

    Upon hearing this, Jiang Feng and Ke Jinpeng felt increasingly assured and relieved. Smiling, they made some more promises, and then left in a good mood.

    ¡°Are you really going to change the spell formation?¡± Yue Yanxi asked.

    ¡°Not right now,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I need to learn about the outsiders¡¯ movements first. I have to make sure they don¡¯t get in here while the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation is activated.¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded gently. ¡°Alright."

    Nie Tian took a step forward and gazed up into the heavens, standing right in front of the stone gate.

    Unlike everyone else, he remainedpletely unaffected by the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation even after stepping out of the pce.

    He took a deep breath and unleashed his Heaven Eyes.

    The nine illusory Heaven Eyes rapidly came to form, and to his surprised, started to draw thick, water-like star power from the pce walls.

    The illusory Heaven Eyes soon grew solid, and became as dazzlingly bright as the nine star souls over his sea of awareness.

    In the next moment, every detail of the six regions in this entire continent, which was probably even vaster than the Realm of Split Void, was suddenly reflected in his mind.

    It was as if he had be the god of this heaven and earth, and could see everything on this continent with his nine eyes.

    It was not just the mountains and the various nts, but even the veins of the spell formations that were hidden inside the mountains had suddenly be iparably clear in his mind.

    He had never experienced such a strange feeling, that he could see every detail of everything.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he thought to himself,<i> ¡°My soul awareness... can... can actually cover every corner of this continent?! Someone with my cultivation base shouldn¡¯t have such a feeling that I have everything in the palm of my hand. It must be the wondrous reaction between my Heaven Eyes and this pce!¡±</i>

    Without telling Yue Yanxi about it, he sent his nine Heaven Eyes up into the atmosphere of mixed auras.

    As soon as his Heaven Eyes entered it, he sensed countless confusing awarenesses surging within the atmosphere of violent flesh auras.

    An awareness that was evidently different from the others instantly sensed the existence of his Heaven Eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m Terry of the Demon race. Who are you?¡±

 Chapter 766: Probing

    Terry was dashing through the atmosphere of unstable flesh auras, bitterness filling his unearthly handsome face.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Crisp sounds kepting from his joints all over, even though he had already activated the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form to stop the flesh auras from infiltrating his body.

    Those flesh auras belonged to Ancientspirits.

    Lights kept dying out around him as his eyebrows knitted deeper and deeper.

    Most of the flesh auras that had wreathed the hemispherical continent for an unknown amount of years were branded with the profound truths of bloodline powers.

    As soon as he entered, many flesh auras that belonged to ancient spirit beasts started attacking him frantically, as if they had finally found a vent for their fury.

    It was as if the war between the Ancientspirits and the outsider races had restarted after his entrance.

    He had be themon target of all the ancient spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras.

    Humans hadn¡¯t taken part in that war.

    Perhaps because of that, Yue Yanxi and the other Void domain experts hadn¡¯t encountered such strong resistance from the Ancientspirits¡¯ flesh auras when they had gone through the atmosphere of mixed auras.

    He, however, carried the Demons¡¯ bloodline, which was shrewdly discovered by the ancient spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras. Therefore, they converged endlessly on him from all directions.

    In Terry¡¯s senses, many of the flesh auras belonged to ninth grade ancient spirit beasts.

    Ninth grade ancient spirit beasts were as powerful as their grand patriarchs, so even he had great difficulty contending against their flesh auras.

    That was when he suddenly discovered a distinct awareness among the countless flesh auras. Such a discovery made him even more nervous than Nie Tian.

    That was why the message he sent to Nie Tian sounded so meticulous.

    Not only did he stop dashing forward, but he even secretly cringed backwards, thinking that he would back out of the atmosphere of chaotic auras the moment things went south.

    Standing in front of the pce gate, Nie Tian went nk briefly after receiving the soul message. ¡°Terry, the Demons...¡±

    Instead of answering Terry right away, he sent his Heaven Eyes to search for Terry¡¯s fleshly body.

    In the atmosphere of chaotic energies and auras, Nie Tian¡¯s nine Heaven Eyes shone as brightly as the stars in the sky,pletely unaffected by the flesh auras. Soon, they locked onto Terry.

    The image of a slender-built Demon whose face was even prettier than a woman¡¯s rapidly entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    At that moment, Terry sensed the anomaly. ¡°These, these are...¡±

    After a brief hesitation, he hastily flew out of the atmosphere of mixed auras and returned to the Demons¡¯ ancient starship.

    ¡°What did you find, Terry?¡± Yuna, the Phantasm expert, asked with a confused expression.

    Looking deeply shaken, Terry said in a loud voice, ¡°I saw nine sparks that shone as brightly as stars, and they seemed to be formed by soul power. However, they contained a very distinct soul awareness, which waspletely different from the residual awarenesses within the deceased flesh auras that wreathe this continent. Could it be that this ce has something to do with the humans¡¯ Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Yuna¡¯s expression instantly flickered. ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡±

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s name inspired awe throughout the starry river. To many outsiders, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was a colossus they would never dare to offend.

    After taking a moment to calm himself, Terry continued, ¡°This ce is not easy for us to enter. Theyer of chaotic energies and auras contains flesh auras that belonged to Ancientspirits, which are still very hostile towards us. As soon as I entered, countless flesh auras of ancient spirit beasts that were originally scattered around started converging on me and attacking me madly.

    ¡°Even though they¡¯re only flesh auras now, since many of them belonged to ninth grade ancient spirit beasts, they still carry their profound bloodline power.

    ¡°Therefore, even I had great difficulty neutralizing those powerful flesh auras¡¯ attacks.¡±

    After hearing these words, many of the outsider experts that were gathered here grew hesitant.

    After a moment of silent pondering, Yuna said, ¡°ording to the information we¡¯ve obtained, many humans have already entered this floating continent. How powerful do you think the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce expert who sent those soul power stars to examine you is?¡±

    Terry shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell for sure. In my senses, those stars of pure soul power seemed to be a part of this continent. They gave me an ethereal, boundless feeling.¡±

    Yuna¡¯s expression flickered upon hearing these words. ¡°We¡¯d better not enter it again before figuring out who that expert is and what cultivation level he¡¯s at.¡±

    Terry couldn¡¯t agree more.

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    The nine Heaven Eyes searched within the atmosphere of chaotic auras, but didn¡¯t find Terry again.

    After returning to his mind, Nie Tian turned to Yue Yanxi, who was standing behind him, and said in a low voice, ¡°A voice told me that he¡¯s a Demon, whose name is Terry. He entered theyer of foreign auras, but what surprised me was that the difficulty he encountered turned out to be much greater than what we had encountered. Since I didn¡¯t give any response, he backed out hastily, looking very nervous and insecure.¡±

    ¡°Terry!?¡± Yue Yanxi eximed.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you know him?¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded. ¡°Terry is from the Barten n in the Fifth Demon Realm. As their current n chief, he¡¯s currently at the eighth grade. It¡¯s very likely that he¡¯ll advance to the ninth grade and be a grand patriarch in the near future. Together, there are seven Demon realms, which are filled with numerous powerful ns. The Barten n is in the Fifth Demon Realm, which is fairly weak among the Demon realms.

    ¡°As far as I know, the Demon ns in the First Demon Realm and Second Demon Realm all have or had tenth grade grand monarchs.

    ¡°Demon ns in the Third Demon Realm and Fourth Demon Realm have or had ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    ¡°The Demon ns in the Fifth Demon Realm, the Sixth Demon Realm, and the Seventh Demon Realm are only some small ns.

    ¡°Demons attach great importance to hierarchy. For example, Terry¡¯s Barten n will only be able to move from the Fifth Demon Realm to the Fourth Demon Realm or the Third Demon Realm after Terry breaks through into the ninth grade and bes a grand patriarch.

    ¡°The higher a Demon realm ranks, the richer Demon Qi there will be in that realm, and the more suitable it will be for Demons to upgrade their bloodlines and improve their battle prowess.

    ¡°That Terry is a very ambitious man. He has been working extremely hard all these years, hoping to enter the ninth grade as soon as possible, so that the Barten n can join the noble ns in the Third Demon Realm or Fourth Demon Realm.¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s face grew grimmer as he continued, ¡°He¡¯s currently at the peak of the eighth grade, which means his battle prowess is equal to that of ate Void domain human expert. If he enters this continent, even if Jian Gao and Guan Fu had fully recovered their spiritual power, they wouldn¡¯t be able to match him in a battle. Besides, you said that there¡¯s another eighth grade outsider with him...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°But what if we have the five experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect join us?¡±

    ¡°Even then it may not be enough, but at least we can give the outsiders a fight,¡± Yue Yanxi said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll have to confirm the actual strength of that other eighth grade outsider. If that one is as powerful as Terry, then we¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±

    Nie Tian had a headache over the difficult situation.

    All of a sudden, Yue Yanxi asked, ¡°The teleportation portal here in this pce can take us to the Domain of the Falling Stars, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s furrowed eyebrows slowly rxed as he said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we don¡¯t have to worry too much. It¡¯s very efficient to travel through teleportation portals. If I have a disciple teleport to the Domain of the Falling Stars to find Lei Tianqi, and then return to our headquarters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries through the teleportation portals the Lei n has set up, to inform our sect of the situation, then our sectmaster will most certainlye here himself!

    ¡°Meanwhile, as powerful as the outsiders may be, it¡¯s not very likely that they¡¯ll sack this pce within a short time.

    ¡°By the time our sectmaster leads our elite force here, we won¡¯t need to fear Terry and his force anymore.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered the matter briefly before saying, ¡°This is a solid n, but let¡¯s not rush into action yet. I want to know whether those outsiders will even be able to enter this continent or not.¡±

    He left three of his Heaven Eyes in the atmosphere of mixed energies, and had the other six fly out of there, with which he kept a secret watch on Jiang Feng, Ke Jinpeng, and the others.

    Just as he was about to change the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation to deactivate the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone, he saw countless mysterious veins of spell formations in the depths of the mountains and the earth with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    He examined them with his Heaven Eyes and tried to resolve their mysteries with his soul. Then, he felt his understanding of star magics rising to a new level.

    That was when Starfall, a star magic he had learned years ago, entered his mind.

    ¡°Starfall!¡±

 Chapter 767: A Bloodbath!

    For Starfall to work, there had to be meteors around, and the spell caster would have to consume a significant amount of star power.

    Nie Tian had first learned Starfall in the special region in the Realm of Split Void, where a grand pce had been hidden underground. Meteors would somehow be channeled and crash in that region from time to time.

    Meanwhile, many of the meteors that had crashed in that region contained Star Stones.

    The majority of the Star Stones in his collection hade from that region. He had gathered some of them himself and looted the others from the Hunters he had killed.

    Even though his cultivation base had risen significantly since then, it would still be very difficult for him tounch Starfall with the amount of star power he had his vortex of star power.

    For this reason, he hadn¡¯t really used Starfall even though he had mastered it.

    He deemed that, for him to be able to use Starfall fairly effortlessly, he would have to advance to the Profound realm, or even the Soul realm.

    At this moment, he once again pondered the details of Starfall while examining the mysterious veins thaty in the depths of the mountains andkes, forming countless profound spell formations.

    Obviously, these spell formations had been created by powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Like meridians in a person, they covered every inch of the continent.

    As he examined the veins with his Heaven Eyes and tried to derive enlightenment of Starfall, the three fragmentary star marks on his chest once again grew burning hot.

    All of a sudden, he was hit by a peculiar feeling that his soul had somehow be one with this continent.

    This feeling was very simr to what he had felt when he had activated Life Blend and banded together with the Bone Blood Demon.

    He felt as if his soul awareness had flown into the continent under his feet, and then spread out into the starry river through the pce, connecting to the floating meteors in a profound way.

    ¡°Starfall!¡± As soon as a thought entered his mind, the countless star formations on the walls of the magnificent pce lit up.

    Almost at the same time, the outsiders that were gathered outside the hemispherical continent gasped in shock.

    From their points of view, the entirety of the vast floating continent that was wreathed in violent flesh auras had started to emanate misty starlight.

    Bright starlight seemed to being through the atmosphere of innumerable flesh auras and energies from within the continent.

    Very far away in the void.

    Numerous meteors, which the Jian n and the Guan n had searched earlier but failed to find anything from, floated motionlessly the same way they had for the past thousands of years.

    All of a sudden, they started to move.

    At first, they traveled very slowly. But soon, they started to pick up speed, as if they had been infused with power.

    There were hundreds of them, each of which was veryrge in size, yet they were somehow channeled into motion at the same time.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Deafening rumbles kepting from the meteors as they were drawn to the hemispherical continent like a swarm of locusts.

    Two hours passed...

    Both Terry and Yuna sensed danger. Insecurity and uneasiness shed across their eyes, which were fixed on the shining continent, as they spun around.

    Arge meteor entered their view, and was crashing towards them at an increasingly high speed.

    Immediately afterwards, a second, third... dozens of meteors entered their view.

    Like falling stars, they continued to pick up speed as they crashed towards the outsiders with devastating momentum.

    Terry and Yuna sensed the danger, but by the time they told their n members to start their ancient starships and fly away from the hemispherical continent, the swarm of meteors had already reached them.

    ¡°No!¡± Terry shouted. ¡°Run now! Get out of this ce!¡±

    With a panicked expression, Yuna game the same order to the Phantasms.

    However, the two ancient starships were originally berthed. It was impossible for them to push their speed to the limit within such a short time and shoot away from this ce like a bolt of lightning.

    The two enormous ancient starships had merely started, giving rise to loud rumbles, when an extremelyrge meteor shot past, scraping the Demons¡¯ ancient starship.

    The Demons¡¯ ancient starship then spun out of control in the void, as if the pilot was drunk.

    Every meteor that was flying toward the outsiders wasrger than their ancient starships, and carried devastating momentum.

    Even though the ancient starships had extremely hard exteriors, they couldn¡¯t withstand such strong impacts.

    All of a sudden, another meteor flew over and crashed head-on into the Demons¡¯ ancient starship, which was already spinning uncontrobly.

    BOOM!

    The ancient starship was knocked spinning away like a boat that was knocked over by arge shark.

    Many Demons, ckscales, and Birdmen were thrown out of the ancient starship as it spun violently.

    The outsiders that were thrown out of the ancient starship were mostly low grade ones. A mere touch from the dashing meteors reduced them to a bloody mist.

    The Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship was also hit by meteor after meteor, and went through the same thing as the Demons¡¯ ancient starship.

    Like raindrops, numerous Phantasms could be seen being thrown out of the madly spinning ancient starship.

    As soon as they were thrown out, the Phantasms hastily activated their bloodline talents in a panic to wrap themselves in wards of flesh power.

    However, their protective wards turned out to be as fragile as eggshells when facing the raging iing meteors. A mere touch of the meteors would shatter their protective wardspletely.

    Then, the impact of the meteors would reduce their unprotected bodies, as tough as they were, to mists of blood and smashed flesh.

    Even the ancient starships were rendered useless and covered in holes after taking repeated hits from the dashing meteors.

    Hundreds of outsiders¡¯ miserable screams filled the void as numerous meteors flew through them.

    Even seventh grade outsiders would cough up blood after being hit by the dashing meteors. A few more hits, and then they would die the same way the low grade ones did.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Hundreds of meteors dashed past, creating a bloodbath outside the hemispherical continent.

    One outsider after another perished, their blood and mangled body parts filling the void.

    ¡°Go! Now!¡± Terry thundered as he unleashed blood-colored strings that wrapped around the few core members of their n like tentacles, in an attempt to drag them out of the area.

    Yuna also shouted madly at her nsmen.

    She unleashed a cyan blood mist, which enveloped Armes and a handful of others, and then threaded through the dashing meteors like a ghost.

    At this moment, both she and Terry realized that the meteors had been channeled here by the hemispherical continent.

    The strange thing was that therge number of meteors didn¡¯t attach themselves to the hemispherical continent after flying over from all directions.

    Instead, they flew in a seemingly disordered manner around the hemispherical continent, but never touched the atmosphere of mixed auras that wreathed the continent.

    The area where their ancient starships and their people were gathered was the area where the meteor activity was the densest.

    Within such a short time, the two ancient starships that had taken countless resources to build were totaled.

    Most of their nsmen, who had followed them to this ce with the ambition to seize everything here, died miserable deaths.

    The two of them kept looking over their shoulders as they fled madly from the hemispherical continent, each carrying a handful of their nsmen.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Strong fear filled their hearts.

    They assumed that a grand expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce must be residing on this continent, and it was him who had directed all this, giving them a bitter blow they would remember for life.

    No matter how furious they were and how reluctant they were to leave, they couldn¡¯t watch all of their nsmen die before even entering the continent.

    All they could do was to take the few nsmen they couldn¡¯t afford to lose and leave while the meteors were still dashing about, reaping lives.

    After all, they were at the eighth grade. If they were bent on leaving, they werepletely capable of taking the few core members of their ns to safety.

    A quarter hourter, the two of them managed to carry the no more than ten nsmen to a ce far from the hemispherical continent with their profound bloodline power.

    Only then did theye to a stop and look back, and discovered that the meteors were still dashing about around the continent.

    Yuna examined the area with a Phantasms¡¯ secret soul magic. In the next moment, her face turned very grim as she said, ¡°Those who weren¡¯t able to leave with us have all died there.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Terry¡¯s iparably handsome face twisted with fury, giving him the look of a sinister devil.

    At this moment, the numerous meteors that had gone berserk and reaped countless outsider lives gradually slowed and settled down.

    Momentster, the hundreds of meteors, which were now covered in bloodstains, seemed to have lost the pull of a mysterious power and slowly spread out to float to further areas.

    After all of the meteors left the area around the hemispherical continent, Yuna and Terry looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the mangled body parts of their dead nsmen filled the whole area.

 Chapter 768: Set the Tune with One Beat of the Gong

    An intense bloody smell was carried by the spreading meteors and pervaded arge area.

    The ce where the outsiders had been gathered not long ago had already be hell on earth. Bits of mangled flesh were scattered everywhere. A single nce at the scary scene would give people nightmares.

    Terry¡¯s and Yuna¡¯s eyelids trembled as they gazed at the parts of their nsmen from afar.

    The core members of their ns they had carried to safety even lost the ability to speak, intense fear and panic filling their wide eyes.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Terry bellowed with a twisted face. ¡°It must be an expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce whounched this attack with some powerful spell formation on that continent.¡±

    Yuna didn¡¯t know what to say.

    The two of them had led considerable forces here after receiving word that this region had finally opened up after being sealing away for hundreds of thousands of years. Neither of them had expected that they would suffer such a great loss.

    All of the Birdmen, ckscales, and Stonemen they had brought here had been annihted.

    They had even lost the majority of their own nsmen that they had brought here.

    How would they exin it to their ns and the Birdman, ckscale, and Stoneman ns after their return?

    If they didn¡¯t return just yet, did they really want to charge into that continent at all costs, knowing that a grand expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was cultivating there?

    Perhaps the dashing meteors were merely a warning.

    If they were so insensible as to trespass on the property of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, what would they face?

    Terry and Yuna didn¡¯t even dare to think about the consequences, yet they were reluctant to just leave like this.

    That was when they noticed that as the meteors slowly spread out into the distance, the mangled body parts of their dead nsmen that had remained motionless also started to move slowly.

    The bloody mists and small bits of flesh were the first to float into the atmosphere of multicolored auras and energies.

    Then, the mangled bodies joined them in there.

    Only after a long while did Armes mutter in a bitter voice, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    While the meteors floated outwards, the remains of the dead outsiders seemed to be channeled inwards by the hemispherical continent.

    After witnessing such anomalies, no one would believe that this whole thing was an ident.

    Obviously, someone, or some mysterious force on the continent, had instigated this incident.

    Terry remaining silent for a long while before saying, struggling to suppress his reluctance, ¡°Since we¡¯re now certain that a powerful expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is cultivating on that continent, and he only gave us a warning instead ofing out to deal with us personally... we¡¯d better leave him alone and get out of here as soon as possible.¡±

    As an eighth grade expert and the n chief of the Barten n, he had a great chance at bing a grand patriarch in the near future.

    Of course he didn¡¯t want to lose his life over some task that he knew to be impossible.

    If he died, his n would enter an irreversible decline, and soon join the ranks of the weakest Demon ns.

    Yuna sighed. ¡°I¡¯m thinking the same thing. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is the most ancient and powerful human Qi warrior sect. It¡¯s strong enough to stand up to any race in this boundless starry river. If we misread the situation and insist on fighting that expert, the consequences would be catastrophic.¡±

    The two of them exchanged opinions, and then quickly led their remaining nsmen back to their home realms.

    ...

    A rain of blood fell on the hemispherical continent that was wreathed by an atmosphere of mixed auras. In the rain, mangled parts of dead outsiders fell out of the sky from time to time.

    BOOM!

    Half of a dead outsider suddenly fell on the ancient golden starship, startling Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    She jerked her head skywards. Fear and astonishment rapidly filled her eyes.

    The Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors that had survived the previous crash looked up into the sky and screamed, ¡°It¡¯s raining blood and mangled parts of dead outsiders!¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Jiang Feng muttered in a low voice, ¡°Outsider corpses...¡±

    Nie Tian had expressed his intention to change the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation, yet he didn¡¯t deliver.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t been able to recover his spiritual power yet.

    Facing the rain of outsider blood, the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect couldn¡¯t even form spiritual power wards to keep the falling blood away.

    Soon, every single Bliss Mountain Sect disciple was covered in outsider blood.

    ¡°There¡¯s such rich flesh power in the blood.¡± Jiang Feng¡¯s hair was painted red with blood, giving him a broken-down look.

    Gazing at a severed Demon arm, he eximed, ¡°This arm belonged to a seventh grade Demon!¡±

    ...

    In another location, Ke Jinpeng and the other experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were also being bathed in the rain of blood.

    ¡°Why are so many mangled outsider body parts falling out of the sky?!¡± Xing Beichen asked, looking deeply confused. ¡°The outsiders have arrived? But what happened to them? What could have possibly inflicted such heavy casualties on these outsiders and caused them to die so miserably?!¡±

    ¡°Many of them were even at the seventh grade,¡± Sha Yan chimed in, shock filling his face. ¡°Their strength could have matched that of Soul realm experts!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Ke Jinpeng said. ¡°He must know what happened to them!¡±

    ...

    Outside the magnificent pce.

    Looking exhausted, Nie Tian took out soul crystals to recover his soul power.

    Even the nine star souls in his sea of awareness had grown dim after losing a significant amount of soul power.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that he could actuallyunch Starfall in such a incredible way, with the help of this pce and the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation in the depths of this continent.

    Hundreds of meteors had been channeled by the continent he was standing on, and flown here from very distant ces.

    Now, he realized that he could actually cast Starfall with the help of spell formations created by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. By doing that, he would be able to bring out heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing might.

    He had almost drained all of his soul power to cast Starfall, but the star power within his vortex of star power remained almost untouched.

    That meant it was the pce and this continent that had channeled the meteors and wielded Starfall.

    Over the past hundreds of thousands of years, the pce walls had umted a copious amount of star power. As he had cast Starfall, that star power had joined his cause and magnified the might of Starfall to an extent that was beyond his imagination.

    Furthermore, during Starfall, his soul awareness had extended outside of this continent, allowing him to gain a clear view of every move the outsiders had made.

    He had seen Terry and Yuna, the two eighth grade leaders, shing through the gaps between the dashing meteors and carrying their core nsmen to safety.

    Only after Terry and Yuna¡¯s intense flesh auras hadpletely disappeared from his detection range did he withdraw his soul awareness. ¡°They actually left...¡±

    He was convinced that the outsider leaders were so scared that they wouldn¡¯t dare toe back again.

    It was hard to believe that a single cast of Starfall had channeled so many meteors to this ce and lifted them from the difficult situation that had bothered them.

    <i>¡°With the help of this pce and this continent, I can channel scattered meteors from distant locations. Any living beings that dare to invade this ce will suffer destructive blows, and this will be my strongest defense!</i>

    <i>¡°Not only now, but I¡¯ll also be able to use it if I were to establish a foothold here!</i>

    <i>¡°On this continent, I¡¯ll be able to weaken human experts with the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation; outside this continent, I¡¯ll be able to summon meteors to kill anything that dares toe close!</i>

    <i>¡°This continent will be as solid as a piece of metal. I can move my family here from the Domain of the Falling Stars without worrying that people from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries wille and take it!¡±</i>

    Full of smiles, Nie Tian pushed the stone gate wide open and beckoned for Yue Yanxi and the others toe out and take a look.

    Yue Yanxi, Guan Pu, and Jian Tong stuck their heads through the gate, and saw the falling blood rain and pieces of outsider bodies.

    The three of them had concentrated on recovering spiritual power earlier, and thus hadn¡¯t sensed what was happening outside the pce until now.

    They were all bbergasted by the scene.

    An arrogant smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°Almost all of the outsiders that came here died miserable deaths. Only a handful escaped. We won¡¯t need to worry about them anymore. I trust that they won¡¯t dare to ever return again.¡±

    Shocked, Yue Yanxi eximed, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a broadugh. ¡°My sect left some good stuff behind for me, and this ce is a base they left for me. Even though my cultivation base is still low at the moment, I won¡¯t need to fear anyone as long as I¡¯m here.¡±

    ¡°So how do you n to deal with the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect?¡± Yue Yanxi asked.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°They seem to have lost their value.¡±

 Chapter 769: Crush

    The blood rain gradually settled.

    Standing outside the pce, Nie Tian examined his surroundings with his Heaven Eyes, and discovered that the rain of blood was actually absorbed by the earth, like it was raining into the sea.

    At the same time, the earth started to release rich life force into the air, as if to nourish this heaven and earth.

    Even the fallen mangled outsider remains had wisps of flesh power fly out of them, which were channeled away by the earth shortly afternding.

    Nie Tian had originally nned to summon the Bone Blood Demon and let it absorb the flesh power of the outsider remains.

    However, upon seeing what was happening, he could only sigh.

    Now that the threat from the outsiders was gone, the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had lost their value.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with killing intent.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect is a powerful sect from the Domain of Heaven Python. ording to Ke Jinpeng and the others, they have Saint domain experts in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be safe for you to let them return. If they have Saint domain experts in their sect, they won¡¯t necessarily be afraid of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve heard that quite a few powerful sects like theirs have extensive connections with ancient powers like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    At this moment, Jian Tong and Guan Fu stepped out of the pce and joined them.

    With a grim face, Guan Fu said, ¡°Those scum from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect wounded me badly and killed many of our nsmen. Nie Tian, if I may ask you to dole out justice and kill them here, both my n and the Jian n will be very grateful.

    ¡°If you evere to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, both our ns will treat you as our most honored guest!¡±

    Many members of the Guan n and Jian n had been ambushed by the experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect on their way to this ce, and suffered heavy casualties.

    Even Guan Fu had been seriously wounded, so it was only natural that they hated those from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect to the bone, and didn¡¯t wish to see them get away with it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan also rushed over and joined them at the stone gate.

    ¡°Xing Beichen is an insidious man who¡¯s full of evil ideas,¡± Qiao Yunxi said, her face filled with hatred. ¡°You can¡¯t let him live!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, I see.¡±

    With these words, the Bone Blood Demon suddenly flew out of his ring of holding.

    More than thirty meters tall and asrge as a mountain of bones, the Bone Blood Demon stood in front of them, wisps of vigorous flesh aura running within its bones, which had now be translucent and sparkling like jade.

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered upon seeing it.

    Among then, Guan Fu, Jiang Tong, and Yue Yanxi seemed the most shaken as they eximed simultaneously, ¡°This puppet takes orders from you?!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a smile as he sent out a thought.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The Bone Blood Demon then strode away under the guidance of Nie Tian¡¯s nine Heaven Eyes.

    Nie Tian turned his head back towards them and said with a rxed tone, ¡°Now it¡¯s off to kill Ke Jinpeng and the others from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    ¡°The Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation is still working. You¡¯ll have your spiritual power absorbed by the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone if you go after them. Since they¡¯ve lost all of their spiritual power, they won¡¯t pose much of a threat to my puppet with only their soul power.¡±

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, the Bone Blood Demon picked up speed and dashed off into the distance in the blink of an eye.

    Shortly afterwards, the gigantic Bone Blood Demon arrived at the ce where Ke Jinpeng and the other Thousandsword Mountain Sect Qi warriors were gathered.

    Xing Beichen¡¯s expression flickered drastically as the Bone Blood Demon entered his sight. ¡°That¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s puppet! Not only did he not keep his promise and allow us to recover our spiritual power, but he even unleashed this monster! What does he want to do?!¡±

    Confusion filled Ke Jinpeng¡¯s face.

    He had assumed that he had already won Nie Tian¡¯s forgiveness. He was even prepared to give Xing Beichen away for the cause.

    However, to his surprise, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t made good on his word and allowed them to recover their spiritual power.

    Now, the Bone Blood Demon had evene here wreathed in strong killing intent. Could it be that Nie Tian had turned on them?

    WHOOSH!

    While he was pondering the matter, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯srge foot descended on them.

    Ke Jinpeng and the others were all shadowed by the enormous foot. Having lost all of their spiritual power, they could only run in panic after seeing the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s foot crushing towards them with overwhelming flesh power.

    However, they were too slow as they ran.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Xing Beichen wailed.

    ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect will make you pay!¡± Sha Yan roared furiously.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The Bone Blood Demon, however,pletely ignored their threats and wails. It brought its enormous foot down repeatedly with full force, and crushed the six disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect one by one.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As their fleshly bodies were smashed to pieces, the five Void domain experts¡¯ true souls flew up into the sky.

    <i>¡°Their true souls can actually leave their fleshly bodies?!¡± </i>Nie Tian saw everything clearly with the help of his Heaven Eyes.

    Yue Yanxi, Guan Fu, and Jian Tong all spread their soul awareness into the area to check what was going to happen.

    They were all rather ted to see the Bone Blood Demon crushing every Thousandsword Mountain Sect expert to death with its enormous foot.

    However, as the five experts¡¯ true souls left their fleshly bodies, Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯d better annihte their true souls as well. Otherwise, if their true souls somehow flee this ce, they will be able to find new bodies and recover their peak strength, considering their profound cultivation bases!¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is...¡± A smile spread out on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he summoned the Star Boat.

    He blurred into action, and in the next moment, he was standing in the Star Boat, which shot off towards the five experts¡¯ true souls like a dashing meteor.

    Ke Jinpeng¡¯s true soul looked exactly the same as himself, only illusory. Floating in the midair, it let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering soul roar, ¡°Nie Tian! You went back on your word! You¡¯ll die in the most miserable way!¡±

    His soul¡¯s roar spread very far in all directions. Even Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect sensed it.

    Fear filling his heart, he said to Mu Biqiong, Tian Ziping, and the others beside him, ¡°Nie Tian... Nie Tian has made a move against those from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect!

    ¡°It seems that he has already killed them, since the five experts¡¯ true souls have emerged. That soul roar seemed to be from Ke Jinpeng¡¯s true soul, and it was full of the deep grudge he holds towards Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Yao Zhn, Tian Ziping, Mu Biqiong, and the other surviving disciples of the Bliss Mountain Sect screamed in fear.

    If the people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had indeed died, would they be next?

    If Nie Tian had even managed to kill the five Void domain experts, would they be able to escape the same fate?

    A helpless expression appeared on Jiang Feng¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I suppose all we can do is beg for Nie Tian to leave one side of the open for us. (Idiom: give a wrongdoer a way out) If he¡¯s determined to kill us, then there¡¯s no way that we¡¯ll escape death. Who would have thought that Nie Tian was so resourceful? If we did, we wouldn¡¯t have offended him in the first ce.¡±

    Yao Zhn, who had remained silent for a while, chimed in. ¡°Perhaps he will spare our lives. The truth is there isn¡¯t any irredeemable enmity between him and us. Even though I don¡¯t know what exactly happened in Master Voidspirit¡¯s realm, Nie Tian and that other expert took all of the legacies. We were the victims.

    ¡°Besides, in here, we¡¯ve only had conflicts with people from the Divine me Sect. He probably won¡¯t kill us all just to please those from the Divine me Sect, right?¡±

    In a low, gloomy voice, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°I don¡¯t agree. It seems to me that something is going on between that Nie Tian and the Qiao girl. Perhaps he¡¯ll be happy to kill us for her.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Yao Zhn didn¡¯t know what to say, but only sighed repeatedly.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Boat sped across the sky, rapidly approaching the area where Ke Jinpeng and the other experts¡¯ true souls were gathered.

    Yue Yanxi, who kept a close watch on the situation in that area with his soul awareness, suddenly eximed, ¡°Wait! Even though Ke Jinpeng and the other experts have lost their fleshly bodies, they¡¯re Void domain experts after all. Their true souls must still contain considerable amounts of soul power, which will still allow them to cast soul magics!¡±

    Guan Fu went nk briefly before snapping back to his senses and asking, ¡°Then why did Nie Tian go over there in such a hurry?¡±

    In an urgent voice, Jian Tong chimed in, ¡°Do we go and help him now?¡±

    Just as Yue Yanxi was about to agree to his proposal, he suddenly saw through his soul awareness that Nie Tian took out a pearl, facing Ke Jinpeng and other experts¡¯ true souls.

    As soon as the pearl appeared, Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul awareness that was in its surroundings went through changes.

    His soul awareness split uncontrobly into countless fine wisps and started moving towards the pearl, as if they were subject to some gravitational force.

    ¡°Wait! Don¡¯t go yet!¡± Yue Yanxi eximed. His expression flickered as he hastily tore his soul awareness away from the pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Both Guan Fu and Jian Tong frowned deeply, pain shing across their eyes.

    ¡°That pearl!¡± Exmations escaped their mouths.

    Clearly, they had experienced the same thing as Yue Yanxi, and sensed danger as well.

 Chapter 770: Merging â€˜Domainsâ€™

    Nie Tian raised the semitransparent cyan Spirit Pearl towards Ke Jinpeng and the other experts¡¯ true souls.

    The soul within the Spirit Pearl, which had been refined from the soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch, suddenly grew excited, like a shark that had sniffed blood.

    Misty cyan fluctuations instantly spread out from the mysterious pearl.

    The cyan waves rapidly spread to Ke Jinpeng¡¯s true soul, which was still giving out soul roars, and caused it to shriek miserably.

    Sha Yan and the other experts¡¯ true souls were also influenced by the pearl, and started to move uncontrobly towards it.

    They had been Void domain experts. Even though they had lost their fleshly bodies, they would still pose a great threat to cultivators with low cultivation bases.

    However, this clearly didn¡¯t apply to Nie Tian, who had the Spirit Pearl in his hand.

    Ke Jinpeng and the other experts¡¯ true souls screamed unceasingly as they moved uncontrobly towards the Spirit Pearl. At the same time, their originally distinct shapes rapidly grew blurry.

    Then, wisps of memories were quickly separated from their true souls and dissipated into heaven and earth.

    In merely ten seconds, their true souls were bereft of any memories.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One after another, they were forcibly channeled into the Spirit Pearl, where they were split into numerous fragmented souls.

    If these souls remained intact, they would still be very powerful.

    But once they were cut to pieces, these fragmented souls would be much weaker.

    As soon as Nie Tian sent a wisp of his awareness into the Spirit Pearl, he discovered that Ke Jinpeng and the other experts¡¯ fragmented souls were fleeing about.

    The discarnate souls that were originally in the Spirit Pearl, however, seemed to be driven by some force, and began chasing after the fragmented souls everywhere.

    At the same time, Nie Tian noticed that five spherical golden bubbles gradually rose from Ke Jinpeng and the other experts smashed corpses.

    They seemed to be their ¡®private domains¡¯, which they had forged themselves.

    However, they were illusory and fragile, like reflections on water, as if they could burst at any moment.

    Golden sword lights, which were branded with the profound truths of metal power, could still be seen within the golden bubbles. They didn¡¯t perish with Ke Jinpeng and the other experts¡¯ fleshly bodies.

    WHOOSH!

    Five golden bubbles floated towards the region where there stood numerous lofty, golden mountain peaks.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Puzzled, Nie Tian flew after them on his Star Boat.

    Soon, the five bubbles arrived at the region that was filled with metal power.

    The earth glimmered with faint golden light, and numerous mysterious spell formations began to be carved into the depths of the mountain peaks.

    One golden bubble after another merged with the golden earth and mountain peaks like drops of water. Ke Jinpeng¡¯s lifetime understanding of metal power and his sword intent that he had spent his entire lifetime cultivating seemed to be slowly carved into the region, and became a part of it.

    Nie Tian put the Spirit Pearl away and conducted a thorough scan of the region. He discovered that many golden patterns were added to the earth and mountains since the disappearance of the five golden bubbles.

    Many of the golden patterns were of swords, and contained strong sword intent.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe their private domains actually merged with the metal-attributed region!¡± Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul voice rang out as a cluster of crimson mist appeared in the air, which rapidly morphed to take Yue Yanxi¡¯s shape.

    Immediately afterwards, Guan Fu and Jian Tong¡¯s soul shadows appeared after Yue Yanxi¡¯s.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What?! Their private domains still existed after their bodies and souls were both eliminated?!¡±

    ¡°Only in certain magical ces is it possible for Void domain experts¡¯ private domains to persist after their deaths,¡± Yue Yanxi exined through his soul shadow. ¡°For example, Master Voidspirit died in the space disruption zone. Since many of the incantations and magics he practiced were spatial power-rted, his domain shared simr traits with that space disruption zone.

    ¡°Because of that, his private domain persisted within that space disruption zone.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°But Master Voidspirit¡¯s domain was in solid form, instead of illusory.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because something happened while Master Voidspirit was trying to break through into the Saint domain and he died. His private domain was upgrading from a void domain to a saint domain, turning from illusory to solid.¡± Yue Yanxi grew emotional as he continued, ¡°Master Voidspirit was at the peak of the Void domain, and among the most powerful figures throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°The fact that you were able to stand on solid ground in his private domain, as if you were in an arcane realm, proved that he had already finished the most important step, and the transformation of his private domain was almostplete.

    ¡°Who would have thought even so, he eventually failed to make the breakthrough?¡±

    At this moment, Guan Fu chimed in, ¡°There are too many mysteries in this heaven and earth. Ke Jinpeng and those people¡¯s private domains should have perished soon after the elimination of their fleshly bodies. However, they didn¡¯t dissolve and vanish at the first moment. Instead, they were channeled by the metal-attributed region, and had their lifetime understanding of metal power and sword intent branded in the depths of those mountains.¡±

    ¡°This is a truly blessednd!¡± Jian Tong¡¯s soul shadow eximed excitedly. ¡°Nie Tian, do you know what will happen when Ke Jinpeng and the others¡¯ private domains merge with that region?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    Jian Tong¡¯s soul shadow swayed slowly in the air as he said, ¡°When people who practice sword incantations or metal power magics go there, they¡¯ll be able to derive enlightenment from Ke Jinpeng and the others¡¯ understanding of sword intent and metal power. They¡¯ll benefit a great deal once they derive enlightenment from their profound sword and metal power incantations.

    ¡°Those experts¡¯ private domains carried the essence of their lifetime cultivation. Now that they¡¯ve merged with that region, it¡¯s like they¡¯ve left their legacies there.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up after hearing his exnation.

    After all, Ke Jinpeng and the other experts had all been at the Void domain. If he were to have his friends and family move from the Domain of the Falling Stars to this magical ce, those who practiced metal power incantations would benefit greatly from those legacies, and progress much faster.

    Heughed heartily. ¡°This is brilliant!¡±

    At this moment, Yue Yanxi said through his soul shadow, ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯ve long since noticed that there is rich elemental power in each of the five surrounding regions. Perhaps arge number of powerful Qi warriors¡¯ private domains have merged with each of those regions throughout the years.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he eximed, ¡°Really?!¡±

    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be mistaken.¡± Yue Yanxi sounded rather serious. ¡°That means each of those regions is a blessednd for deriving enlightenment. Those who practice the five elemental powers will be able to make rapid breakthroughs in their cultivation here, and may even gain sets of profound incantations and secret magics.¡±

    Guan Fu and Jian Tong hade in a hurry, and often found themselves in difficult situations, and thus hadn¡¯t had a chance to scan this heaven and earth thoroughly.

    Upon hearing Yue Yanxi¡¯s analysis, they were also deeply shaken, realizing that this heaven and earth was full of wonders.

    If a Qi warrior sect were to establish a foothold here, it would enjoy many unimaginable advantages.

    While theymunicated, a stealthy soul aura approached them in a careful manner.

    Yue Yanxi, Jian Tong, and Guan Fu¡¯s soul shadows sensed it simultaneously, and instantly turned to face it.

    The stealthy soul aura that had snuck to this ce rapidly fled like a bird that was scared by the twang of a bow-string.

    ¡°It¡¯s Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect,¡± Yue Yanxi said.

    Both Guan Fu and Jian Tong¡¯s soul shadows remained silent.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Senior Yue, about those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect, what do you think I should do?¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul shadow didn¡¯t release any soul echoes right away.

    Only after pondering in silence for a while did he say, ¡°My sect has had countless open and secret strifes with the Bliss Mountain Sect over the years, but...¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°But the Bliss Mountain Sect is based in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries after all, unlike the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, which is from the distant Domain of Heaven Python,¡± Yue Yanxi exined at a slow pace. ¡°The way I see it, you probably want to make this continent your base and have your friends and family move here in the future. This ce is rather close to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. With the help of a few teleportation portals,munications will be very convenient.

    ¡°If you want to build up your own force, you¡¯ll have tomunicate with our domain from time to time.

    ¡°Another reason why I don¡¯t think you should kill those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect is because perhaps when you be powerful enough, you might take the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries into your empire. By that time, every sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries will be your subordinate force, including the Bliss Mountain Sect.¡±

    Upon hearing his analysis, both Guan Fu and Jian Tong¡¯s soul shadows shook violently, as if they were shaken to their core.

 Chapter 771: Heâ€™s Into You!

    ¡°After all, you¡¯re not just any sessor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You¡¯re a Son of the Stars.¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul shadow gave a vast, resounding soul echo, shaking Guan Fu and Jian Tong to their souls.

    Guan Fu and Jian Tong, who were still standing in front of the pce gate, shuddered violently.

    They were so shaken that even their soul shadows flickered and split into countless flying wisps.

    With wide eyes, they turned to look at Yue Yanxi, who was standing within an arm¡¯s reach of them, and asked, ¡°Is he really a Son of the Stars?!¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded vigorously. ¡°How would he be acknowledged by this pce so easily if he wasn¡¯t? You heard him yourself that everything in this ce was left for no one but him by the grand patriarchs of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Why would they treat him like that if he were just an ordinary disciple?¡±

    Guan Fu and Jian Tong pondered the matter for a while before nodding to agree with him.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had numerous disciples, let alone their subordinate forces. Therefore, they wouldn¡¯t be very concerned with the death of an ordinary disciple.

    However, it waspletely different with their Sons of the Stars, who they cultivated carefully as candidates for their future Lord of the Stars.

    Even though the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was separated from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters by endless space, they knew perfectly well what being a Son of the Stars meant.

    They had heard that every Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was a bright star in the depths of the starry river.

    Not only did every Son of the Stars have extremely high cultivation bases and battle prowess, but they also had countless followers and subordinate forces.

    In the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, only Sons of the Stars were allowed to take in followers and build up their own forces.

    Aside from their personal strength, the strength of their subordinate forces would even be taken into consideration when theypeted for the position of Lord of the Stars.

    The more powerful experts and sects they had as their subordinates, the more likely they would be Lord of the Stars.

    Since this magical heaven and earth had been meant for Nie Tian, this Son of the Stars, it was very likely that the nearby domains would be absorbed into his empire once he had grown to a certain point, along with all of the cultivator forces in those domains.

    That was because every Son of the Stars had done this.

    Furthermore, many sects would take the initiative to y up to Sons of the Stars and try to cling onto these colossi.

    Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan, who were standing close to them, heard their conversation and muttered in disbelief, ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars?!¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul shadow continued to exin to Nie Tian how the other Sons of the Stars had built up their own forces, which they would use topete for the position of Lord of the Stars in the future.

    ording to him, now that Nie Tian had this magical ce as his base, he would most certainly include the nearby Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries into his territory when he became powerful enough.

    That was, unless he died prematurely.

    Nie Tian listened attentively, realized his destiny as a Son of the Stars, and understood the path he should take.

    <i>¡°Build my own forces, take in powerful experts and sects, expand my influence to nearby domains, and dominate a certain area of the starry river...¡±</i>

    Soon, a firm look appeared in his eyes as he said to Yue Yanxi, ¡°So I¡¯d better not kill those people from the Bliss Mountain Sect, right?¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded and said, ¡°I think you¡¯ve already inspired enough awe and fear. As long as they understand the meaning of your identity, they¡¯ll never dare to enter this ce again, and they won¡¯t try to do anything to harm you at the risk of having their sect annihted. And again, my sect has had strife with their sect, but you don¡¯t.

    ¡°You can make the decision yourself.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Then, he steered the Star Boat towards the golden starship where the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were stranded.

    The Bone Blood Demon, who had finished off Ke Jinpeng and the other experts, traced Nie Tian¡¯s aura and also flew towards that area.

    Momentster, the Bone Blood Demon and the Star Boat arrived in front of the ancient golden starship simultaneously.

    Standing in the starship, Jiang Feng¡¯s face was very grim as he saw the Star Boat and the Bone Blood Demon, as if he had given up all hope.

    Mu Biqiong, Yao Zhn, and the others also looked as if they had lost their parents,pletely losing their previous arrogant and domineering manner.

    The surviving Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were mostly at the Profound realm and the Soul realm. Misery filled their eyes as they gazed at the Star Boat and the Bone Blood Demon.

    They had already learned from Jiang Feng that Nie Tian had ughtered the five Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Even their discarnate true souls hadn¡¯t escaped Nie Tian¡¯s hands, and had been refined by him with a mysterious tool.

    This meant that, considering their current strength, if Nie Tian was bent on killing them, every one of them would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    A bitter expression filled Jiang Feng¡¯s face as he stepped to the prow and looked up at Nie Tian in the Star Boat. ¡°Nie Tian... I know what you did to Ke Jinpeng and the others with him. Are you here to kill us with the same manner?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian answered, looking very calm.

    The me of hope reignited in the eyes of the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples as soon as they heard this.

    Jiang Feng gasped. ¡°Then what are you...¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t answer him right away.

    Instead, he nced around, and realized that the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples hadn¡¯t touched a single de of grass in their surroundings. Everything remained the way it had been.

    He figured that he would demand something from these people from the Bliss Mountain Sect, yet he hadn¡¯t thought of what to demand yet.

    He pondered the matter in silence for a while before his eyes suddenlynded on Mu Biqiong and he said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ll reverse the grand spell formationter. Then, the restrictions in theyer of mixed energies that wreaths this continent will be lifted, and you¡¯ll be able to sail away in this golden starship. I¡¯ll allow you to leave, but you¡¯ll have to leave your Holy Daughter here.¡±

    ¡°Our Holy Daughter?!¡± Jiang Feng went nk, fixing Mu Biqiong with a confused look.

    Mu Biqiong, however, looked surprisingly calm as she said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stay as long as you let them go.¡±

    ¡°Why do you want our Holy Daughter to stay, Nie Tian?¡± Jiang Feng asked, frowning.

    The other Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors also looked secretly furious, though none of them dared to say a word.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll visit the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and have a good talk with your sect in the near future,¡± Nie Tian said in a meaningful fashion.

    <i>¡°Talk?¡± </i>Jiang Feng pondered Nie Tian¡¯s intentions. <i>¡°Little Qiong¡¯s beauty is known throughout the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Could it be that he¡¯s after Little Qiong¡¯s unearthly good looks? That must be it! He¡¯s at the right age. It seems that the man is a lecher! I should have thought of it long ago, considering the way he treated Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi!¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, not only did Jiang Feng not get angry, but he even got a bit excited.

    <i>¡°Little Qiong is more beautiful than either of those girls. Plus, Little Qiong is very smart and knows how to use her beauty. If she takes the initiative, this green hand will surely throw himself at her feet!</i>

    <i>¡°He¡¯s from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the owner of this blessednd. His future will be very promising!</i>

    <i>¡°If Little Qiong is to win him over and be his wife, then the Bliss Mountain Sect will be able to cling to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, this invincible colossus!¡±</i>

    A train of thoughts rapidly shed across Jiang Feng¡¯s mind, a smile slowly appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°Fine! We¡¯ll let Little Qiong stay here with you!¡± Jiang Feng said, not sounding reluctant at all.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Good. Besides that, I¡¯d like for you to keep the fact that I¡¯ve killed those people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect a secret.¡±

    Jiang Feng nced around at his sect members, and said to Nie Tian with a solemn tone, ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that. All these survivors are old members with tight lips. After our return, we¡¯ll tell people that we never saw Xing Beichen or people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    ¡°This is such a vast region, and outsiders came as well. Xing Beichen could have died anywhere.¡±

    With an approving look in his eyes, Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I like talking to smart men like you. Alright, it¡¯s about time your Holy Daughter came with me.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Feng asked with an embarrassed expression, ¡°Could I have a few words with Little Qiong in private?¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be over there waiting for you.¡± With these words, Nie Tian steered the Star Boat away from the ancient golden starship.

    After watching the Star Boat fly away, Jiang Feng took a deep breath and said to Mu Biqiong, delight and excitement filling his face, ¡°Kiddo, I¡¯m afraid that guy has his eyes on you!¡±

    A furious look appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she asked, ¡°Is he not keeping me as his prisoner and a hostage?¡±

    Jiang Feng shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. You must have noticed yourself that he¡¯s been taking good care of Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect and Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect. The way I see it, the reason why the Divine me Sect was able to cling to him was mostly because of Qiao Yunxi! Hahaha, but that girl is green and inexperienced. How can shepete with you?

    ¡°Little Qiong, whether our sect will be able to win the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s favor and rise to a whole new level will depend on you.¡±

    The fury in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes grew even stronger as she spat, ¡°You want me to cater to his pleasure?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to understand that this is a good chance for you, kiddo!¡± Jiang Feng tried hard to persuade her. ¡°He¡¯s from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and I¡¯m afraid the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce attaches great importance to him. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been acknowledged by this pce! If you can marry him, your future achievements will no longer be limited to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries!¡±

    ¡°Yin Yanan and Qiao Yunxi are not enough, and he still wants me?!¡± Mu Biqiong said with an icy expression. ¡°Men like him are so disgusting!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t act on impulse here!¡± Jiang Feng said, frowning. ¡°This is for your own good!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll never take the initiative to approach him!¡± Mu Biqiong said with great determination.

    After hearing Jiang Feng¡¯s words, both Yao Zhn and Tian Ziping realized the opportunities thaty behind this, and thus joined him in an attempt to persuade her.

    However, Mu Biqiong still shook her head and refused to listen to them.

    Finally, Jiang Feng was at his wits¡¯ end. He let out a sigh and said, ¡°How about this: you won¡¯t have to take the initiative to approach him, but don¡¯t ever offend him. Consider this a favor to our sect. Okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll try,¡± Mu Biqiong said reluctantly.

    Jiang Feng waved at her. ¡°Now go. He¡¯s waiting for you.¡±

 Chapter 772: â€œYouâ€™re Right! Iâ€™m Into You!â€

    Mu Biqiong jumped into the Star Boat and sat down in a corner that was the farthest from Nie Tian.

    She threw Nie Tian a disgusted look, her face ice-cold.

    Nie Tian took a nce at her, but didn¡¯t say anything. He started the Star Boat and flew away from the ce where the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples were gathered.

    The reason why he had demanded that Mu Biqiong stay here was because he nned to use her as a hostage when he went to negotiate with the Bliss Mountain Sectter.

    No one else among the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples was a better choice than her.

    If he had demanded Jiang Feng, Yao Zhn, or someone else, after the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation was deactivated and they were free of the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone¡¯s influence, they would be able to rapidly recover their spiritual power.

    If he were to keep any of those people by his side after Yue Yanxi and the other experts left, it would be like having a wolf by his side, and he would face a great threat from their presence.

    As for the other weaker disciples of the Bliss Mountain Sect, it wouldn¡¯t be meaningful if he held any of them hostage. Jiang Feng wouldn¡¯t care about their lives at all.

    Meanwhile, even though Mu Biqiong was at the Worldly realm, Nie Tian was confident that he would be able to overtake her even after she recovered her full strength.

    Furthermore, she was the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s Holy Daughter. The Bliss Mountain Sect had ced high hopes in her and poured countless cultivation resources her way. Therefore, they wouldn¡¯t allow anything to happen to her.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon also shot up into the sky and flew right under the Star Boat.

    Facing forward and with his back facing Mu Biqiong, Nie Tian was lost in thought. He pondered whether he should return to the Domain of the Falling Stars or stay here and practice cultivation after the grand spell formation was reversed.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Mu Biqiong looked silently at him from behind. After a while, she finally couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°You already have Qiao Yunxi and Yin Yanan. Why did you still demand that I stay here with you? You should know that I¡¯m not like them. I won¡¯t give you what you want!¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian turned around and asked with a confused smile, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Mu Biqiong, who was wearing a veil, sat with her slender legs crossed, anger filling her deep, icy eyes.

    Mu Biqiong snorted disdainfully. ¡°Save it. I¡¯ve met far too many men like you. You think you can have any woman you like by relying on your extraordinary background, don¡¯t you? I don¡¯t know what those two were thinking, but I¡¯m not like them. You¡¯d better drop the idea and leave me alone.¡±

    A confused expression filled Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°What idea?¡±

    He thought about it briefly, and then suddenly realized that she had misunderstood his intentions.

    ¡°Were you not thinking...?¡± Mu Biqiong said with an icy expression.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian ran his snaky gaze up and down her. With a meaningful smile, he said, ¡°You¡¯re right. I am thinking of it. I¡¯ve heard that the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s Holy Daughter has unearthly good looks, which is too appealing to men like me.

    ¡°Now that I have you in the palm of my hand, of course I¡¯ll take good advantage of the situation.¡±

    He never had a positive feeling towards Mu Biqiong. He even detested her.

    That was because she seemed to be the one who had been responsible for the search for Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies. It was under her instructions that the Bliss Mountain Sect had chosen arge number of youngsters and had them practice body refining incantations.

    Those youngsters had been nothing but chess pieces to them. It wouldn¡¯t have mattered whether they seeded in Master Voidspirit¡¯s domain or not, they would have been exterminated after the mission either way.

    The woman was catty, cruel, and treated human lives like dirt. She had attacked and killed quite a few Divine me Sect disciples who had waited for Nie Tian¡¯s arrival. Qiao Yunxi was the only one who had managed to escape with the help of the me Bird.

    She was by no means a nice person.

    Therefore, after realizing what she was assuming, not only did Nie Tian not exin his actual intentions, but he even yed along and teased her.

    A disdainful look filled Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°All you have is your status as a disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and that powerful puppet. You can only rely on external help. Do you still take yourself as some kind of hero? It seems to me that you just have a powerful background. You¡¯d be nothing without the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to back you.¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°You got that right. I can only rely on those things. What are you gonna do about it?¡±

    The disgusted look in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes grew even more intense as she finally closed her eyes and ignored Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian gave a smile and stopped teasing her.

    Shortly afterwards, the Star Boat berthed in front of the pce.

    Yue Yanxi, Guan Fu, and Jian Tong were stillmunicating in low voices by the open stone gate.

    As they saw Nie Tian return with Mu Biqiong, their expressions grew strange. Apparently, they misunderstood Nie Tian as well.

    Nie Tian cleared his throat, signaling for Mu Biqiong to get off first.

    With an icy face, Mu Biqiong slowly rose to her feet. Even though she was sitting in the lotus position, her slender, beautiful legs invited the imagination.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian discovered that this woman was actually very tall, only a bit shorter than him.

    He still hadn¡¯t even seen her face to this day, which made him rather expectant. He even had an urge to rip her veil off and take a look at her face.

    WHOOSH!

    Mu Biqiong jumped off the Star Boat.

    Nie Tian put the Star Boat back into his ring of holding and said to her, ¡°You may wait here.¡±

    With these words, he walked through the stone gate and entered the pce.

    ¡°Why did you bring that girl back here, Nie Tian?¡± Yue Yanxi asked confusedly.

    Qiao Yunxi stuck out her neck to take a look at Mu Biqiong, and then said with a cold face, ¡°She killed a lot of our people.¡±

    Eyebrows slightly furrowed, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only keeping her here so that I¡¯ll be able to demand things from the Bliss Mountain Sect.¡± With a brief exnation, Nie Tian sent his soul awareness into the pce walls and reversed the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation that covered this entire continent.

    The pce then shone with dazzlingly bright light.

    Soon, everyone noticed the subtle changes in the energy flow in the depths of the heavens and the earth.

    The feeling of a strange force channeling spiritual power from their spiritual seas gradually vanished.

    One after another, the people that had holed up inside the pce walked out to breathe the air and sense the changes that were taking ce in this heaven and earth. Their eyebrows rose as they discovered that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had be even richer than when they had firste.

    After pondering the matter briefly, they realized that the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone must be releasing the spiritual power it had absorbed from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and Bliss Mountain Sect disciples to nourish this heaven and earth.

    After a moment of silence, Nie Tian said, ¡°The Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s ancient golden starship is leaving soon. What¡¯s your n?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving too, Nie Tian,¡± Yue Yanxi said with a serious expression. ¡°I know that this ce has many secrets, and deriving enlightenment from the five elemental regions will help us greatly with our cultivation.

    ¡°But in the end, this ce belongs to you, and you¡¯ll make it your base.

    ¡°If we mastered the secret magics and incantations that are branded in those blessed regions, they would disappearpletely. We have numerous incantations and ancient records in our headquarters, so we can do without the ones here.

    ¡°I suppose you can leave them to people who are more important to you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°So do you want to leave on your own, or through that teleportation portal, Senior Yue?¡±

    Only the people from the Domain of the Falling Stars knew about the Domain of the Falling Stars. Since Guan Fu and Jian Tong didn¡¯t know about it, he was intentionally vague about it.

    He meant that he would allow the Divine me Sect disciples to teleport to the Domain of the Falling Stars through the teleportation portal in the pce. Then, they would be able to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries through the teleportation portals the Lei n had set up.

    Yue Yanxi waved his hand and said, ¡°No, we¡¯re good. We¡¯ll leave on our own. There might still be other secrets in this forbidden region. We don¡¯t intend to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries right away. We¡¯re hoping to do a bit more exploration and see if we cane to some discoveries.¡±

    Guan Fu chimed in, ¡°We¡¯re nning to do the same thing.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, if that¡¯s what you want.¡±

    He also wanted to spend some time alone. Instead of returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars, he intended to stay and practice cultivation in this ce.

    Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect seemed rather hesitant and embarrassed as she said, ¡°Well... Nie Tian, could I stay here for a while? Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t touch a de of grass here, and I¡¯ll try not to derive any enlightenment. I just want to stay until my Frost Blood Python is finished with the upgrade of its bloodline.¡±

    After pondering the matter for a few seconds, Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°You¡¯d better not try anything and draw doom on your sect, kid.¡± Yue Yanxi warned her.

    Yin Yanan snorted weakly and said, ¡°I know what to do and what not to do.¡±

    At this moment, the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation was finally fully reversed, and the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s ancient golden starship soared up into the heavens, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    They didn¡¯t even recover their spiritual power first. It appeared that they knew that a long night was fraught with dreams, (idiom: a long dy means trouble) and were afraid that Nie Tian would go back on his word.

    This time, the golden starship didn¡¯t run into much resistance in the atmosphere of mixed auras, and sailed through it sessfully.

    The members of the Divine me Sect, the Guan n, and the Jian n had already recovered a significant amount of their spiritual power in the pce. Furthermore, since they all had huge stacks of spirit stones in their possession, they weren¡¯t afraid that they wouldn¡¯t be able to replenish their spiritual seas after leaving here.

    Shortly afterwards, Yue Yanxi, Guan Fu, and Jian Tong each cast profound spells and took their members away from this continent.

    Soon, Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong were the only ones who remained in this blessednd.

 Chapter 773: Yin Yananâ€™s Burden

    The Vitality-returning Celestial Stone in the depths of the earth stopped working, and peace was restored to the continent.

    After the members of the Divine me Sect, the Guan n, and the Jian n left, both Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong practiced restraint and cultivated in silence by the pce.

    Even though they didn¡¯t wander to the other five regions, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce was more than rich enough for them to cultivate.

    Furthermore, neither of them practiced any of the five elemental powers. Therefore, they both practiced cultivation by themselves without approaching Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian also rapidly calmed his mind and started cultivating wholeheartedly.

    Sometimes he would form spiritual energy balls and channel pure spiritual power into his spiritual sea to refine his spiritual core over and over with the profound magic he had learned from the titan burial ground.

    Sometimes he would visit the fire-attributed region to elerate his vortex of me power and his umtion of me power with the fierce me power there.

    At other times he would visit the region that was covered in green vegetation, and replenish the liquidized wood power in his vortex of wood power.

    However, he didn¡¯t try to derive enlightenment from either of those regions.

    He only did everything he could to refine his spiritual sea and his vortexes of three different attributes in order to make his next breakthrough as soon as possible.

    He was well-aware that the fact that he practiced me power, wood power, and star power at the same time was hurting his cultivation advancement speed.

    Furthermore, his fleshly body was different from others¡¯, and he carried a unique bloodline, which meant his cultivation path was destined to be special.

    One and a half months passed without him noticing it.

    During this time, no human or outsider ever came to this continent.

    He had a good time practicing cultivation without distractions.

    On this day, he was channeling wood power into his vortex of wood power to form liquidized wood power with the Wood Thriving Formation in the wood-attributed region when his eyebrows suddenly rose.

    A surge of immense flesh aura burst forth from the pce¡¯s direction, stirring even his bloodline aura.

    He went nk for a moment before dashing to the pce in his Star Boat.

    In a location close to the pce wall, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect swallowed a few medicinal pills. She gritted her teeth as her well-built, cougar-like body turned as red as heated iron, fierce flesh power surging violently inside of her.

    The Frost Blood Python pattern could still be seen around her exposed waist, yet it wasn¡¯t moving in the slightest.

    Mu Biqiong, who had been practicing cultivation in the vicinity, walked quietly to her side, her deep eyes fixed on Yin Yanan. It was unknown what she was thinking.

    Upon seeing the Star Boat, Mu Biqiong took a couple of steps back to put some distance between her and Yin Yanan, and then said, ¡°She seems to be in trouble.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°She¡¯s in trouble?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°The body refining incantation she practices seems to be a secret one the Beast-controlling Sect only passes on to very few disciples, and it¡¯s very dangerous too. This specific incantation allows cultivators to refine spirit beast blood into their own body. However, conflicts among the blood of different spirit beasts will break out at certain points.

    ¡°Several disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect practiced this secret incantation before, but almost all of them died from the bacsh from the spirit beast blood.

    ¡°She must have suffered repeated bacshes herself over the years. It was just that, with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s help, she was able to suppress the violent flesh auras inside of her.

    ¡°But this time, the Frost Blood Python is at a crucial moment in its bloodline upgrade process, so it can¡¯t help her.

    ¡°If she fails to resist the bacsh from the spirit beast blood, perhaps she¡¯ll be dead when the Frost Blood Python finishes upgrading its bloodline.¡±

    As Mu Biqiong uttered these words, a shred of insecurity shed across her eyes.

    She went on and asked, ¡°The Frost Blood Python refined the corpse of an eighth grade Frost Python, right?¡±

    Even though she hadn¡¯t traveled with Yao Zhn and the others, she was well-aware of the battle that had happened at those three floating meteors.

    Back when Yao Zhn and the others had reconvened with her and Jiang Feng on this continent, Yao Zhn had told her everything about it.

    Upon seeing the Frost Blood Python pattern on Yin Yanan¡¯s waist, she had spected that she had obtained the corpse of that eighth grade Frost Python from the Jian n and the Guan n members. Also, only that could exin her Frost Blood Python entering dormancy and upgrading its bloodline.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Slight concern appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°She¡¯d better not die. If she dies and her Frost Blood Python enters the eighth grade, it¡¯ll most likely grow restless and violent after losing its master. It might vent its fury on you and me.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly upon hearing these words.

    It seemed that the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation in this heaven and earth could only deprive human Qi warriors of their spiritual power.

    It probably wouldn¡¯t have any effect on outsiders or spirit beasts.

    On the other hand, the meteors he had channeled from all directions with Starfall seemed to only be able to dash about outside of this continent.

    If Yin Yanan died, and the Frost Blood Python entered the eighth grade, it would be like a Void domain opponent suddenly descending on this continent.

    Even if the Bone Blood Demon recovered to its peak state, its strength would only be at the peak of the Soul realm.

    Not to mention that the Bone Blood Demon had consumed a significant amount of flesh power, which made itpletely impossible for it to match the eighth grade Frost Blood Python in battle.

    If the Frost Blood Python indeed turned out to be unaffected by the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation, he would probably have to hole up inside the pce.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian looked at Yin Yanan and said, ¡°This is indeed a bit tricky.¡±

    Then, he unleashed his Heaven Eyes to conduct a thorough examination of her.

    Soon, he noticed that there were some simrities between the secret body refining incantation Yin Yanan practiced and the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation.

    The Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation also allowed cultivators to strengthen themselves with spirit beast blood.

    The difference was that, with the Blood Refining Incantation, cultivators would be able to channel spirit beast blood into their spiritual seas to form a vortex of flesh power, instead of spreading the flesh power to every part of their bodies.

    For this reason, the Blood Sect disciples usually had advantages over disciples of the other sects in the toughness of their bodies, though such advantages were limited.

    On the other hand, the secret body refining incantation Yin Yanan practiced allowed her to channel flesh power from within spirit beast blood and use it to refine her bones and internal organs, which worked in a simr manner to Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Because of this, Yin Yanan¡¯s body contained immensely rich flesh power, which made her body iparably tough.

    However, Yin Yanan was not like him.

    No matter whether he absorbed flesh power through his digestive system or Life Drain, he wouldn¡¯t suffer any bacsh after the spirit beasts¡¯ flesh power entered his body.

    The wonders of his unique bloodline ran through his veins and filled his entire body. They had taken care of problems like this.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Numerous wisps of flesh aura exuded from Yin Yanan¡¯s pores. As fine as hair, they carried the auras of different spirit beasts. Even after leaving Yin Yanan¡¯s body, they were still fighting each other.

    Yin Yanan appeared to be in great pain as she let out bellows like a trapped beast, her veins bulging under her skin.

    Nie Tian looked up into the sky at the atmosphereposed of the flesh auras of outsiders and ancient spirit beasts, and that was when it urred to him that those various flesh auras that carried unyielding fighting will, even after hundreds of thousands of years, were still fighting each other. This was surprisingly simr to what was happening inside Yin Yanan.

    At this moment, Mu Biqiong suggested, ¡°I think we¡¯d better retreat into that pce, where we can wait and see how things will go.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°So you¡¯re saying we should leave her to die?¡±

    With an indifferent expression, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°This is her problem, and she needs to deal with it herself. Will you be able to help if you stay here?¡±

    ¡°Who told you that I won¡¯t be able to help her?¡± Nie Tian countered.

    With a taunting tone, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°If you can help her, then go ahead. I¡¯ll be happy to see how you¡¯re gonna do it.

    ¡°I suppose that by helping her with this you¡¯ll definitely win her favor. Perhaps she¡¯ll even thank you by letting you get intimate with her.¡±

    ¡°You know what, I actually have a stronger interest in you.¡± Nie Tian said, smiling broadly.

    ¡°Asshole!¡±

 Chapter 774: Rescue

    Yin Yanan¡¯s heart burned with anxiety as she listened to Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong¡¯s conversation.

    The bacsh she was suffering was much fiercer than the previous ones. Several groups of spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras were abnormally violent this time.

    Even she didn¡¯t know what exactly had happened.

    Normally, even without the Frost Blood Python¡¯s help, she would be able to suppress the bacsh from the spirit beast blood without much effort.

    However, a few flesh auras had surged surprisingly violently this time, while the Frost Blood Python happened to be in the middle of its bloodline upgrade.

    Since she had to suppress the violent flesh auras with just her own strength, she felt a great deal of pressure.

    She struggled to stop the flesh auras from surging uncontrobly inside of her with her spiritual power. However, wisps of fine flesh aura still managed to exude from within her pores, while still fighting each other.

    The fierce flesh auras surged madly inside her through her meridians. Each and every one of them was like a wild horse that refused to be bridled.

    With each passing second, Yin Yanan felt unbearable pain.

    At this moment, she also had to bear Mu Biqiong¡¯s mockery, while fearing that Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong would take advantage of her at this unfortunate moment.

    She kept panting, beads of sparkling sweat appearing on her exposed skin.

    Every now and then, she would open her eyes, which were filled with anxiety and insecurity. At the same time, ferocity would asionally sh across them.

    Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect seemed to suddenly grow calm as she said, ¡°Nie Tian, I don¡¯t care what decision you make, and I won¡¯t try to stop you, but can you at least let me take shelter in that pce?¡±

    Mu Biqiong was convinced that, without the Frost Blood Python¡¯s help, Yin Yanan wouldn¡¯t be able to survive this tribtion.

    If she died and the Frost Blood Python entered the eighth grade, things would definitely get out of hand.

    An eighth grade Frost Blood Python that went berserk would be able to tear her to bits without much effort. She didn¡¯t want to lose her life because of Yin Yanan.

    The pce was the only ce that would keep her safe. After all, even Jiang Feng had failed to affect it in the slightest.

    Therefore, she assumed that once she entered the pce, even if the Frost Blood Python shook the heavens and toppled the earth, she would still be safe. As long as she was safe, she wouldn¡¯t care about anything else.

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort. ¡°You would think that. Not everyone can enter that pce. Don¡¯t imagine that you can enter it before earning my trust!¡±

    The look in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes instantly grew cold. ¡°You!¡±

    Seeing that Yin Yanan¡¯s situation continued to worsen, Nie Tian was no longer in the mood to bicker with her. Instead, he summoned the Star Boat, jumped on board, and called out to Yin Yanan, ¡°Come on!¡±

    Wreathed in wisps of fierce flesh auras, Yin Yanan instantly jerked her head upwards, her expression confused and helpless.

    She intended to get on her feet. However, at this moment, her normally vigorous body trembled violently like a leaf in the wind, keeping her from jumping into the Star Boat.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian lowered the Star Boat as close to her as possible.

    Afterwards, he suddenly reached out and put his arm around her curvy waist.

    As he did, dozens of flesh auras instantly burst forth from Yin Yanan¡¯s waist where he made contact with her.

    The fierce flesh auras swarmed madly at him, carrying the violent auras of many spirit beasts.

    After a weak exmation, he exerted force and pulled Yin Yanan into the Star Boat. Then, he instantly withdrew his arm.

    As soon as his arm left Yin Yanan¡¯s curvy waist, the flesh auras returned to Yin Yanan and hovered around her.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat shot up into the sky. Like a burning meteor, it shot directly towards the atmosphere of mixed flesh auras.

    Standing on the ground, Mu Biqiong was dumbstruck as she watched Nie Tian pull Yin Yanan into the Star Boat and soar into the sky. A confused expression spread across her face, as she didn¡¯t understand what Nie Tian was doing.

    The atmosphere of outsider and ancient spirit beast flesh auras was off limits to her. She had only been able tond on this continent because she had stayed within the ancient golden starship¡¯s golden ward.

    Without such protection, she would have died beyond the shadow of a doubt after plunging into theyer of mixed auras, considering her current cultivation base.

    Since she was well-aware of this, she had settled down without even attempting to escape while Nie Tian had practiced cultivation.

    Now, seeing Nie Tian taking Yin Yanan into that atmosphere of mixed auras on the Star Boat, she suspected that Nie Tian was going to kill Yin Yanan to prevent future trouble.

    <i>¡°Is he going to let Yin Yanan die in the atmosphere of mixed auras, along with her Frost Blood Python?¡±</i> Mu Biqiong thought to herself. <i>¡°The Frost Blood Python is at a crucial stage in its bloodline upgrade process. Will it be affected by those fierce flesh auras, fail to make the upgrade, and eventually be gnawed away by the chaotic flesh auras, along with Yin Yanan?¡±</i>

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat suddenly came to a stop in the atmosphere of multicolored auras.

    As soon as it did, flesh auras that were branded with the unyielding will of powerful outsiders and ancient spirit beasts rushed over, as if they had sniffed out prey.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian let the flesh auras infiltrate and inflict damage to his solid body.

    It was with these very violent auras that he had broken and reconstructed his meridians with Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t seem panicked at all.

    Instead, he kept a close watch on Yin Yanan and paid attention to even the slightest changes in her.

    Flesh auras of different colors also instantly infiltrated Yin Yanan¡¯s body.

    As soon as that happened, the flesh auras that were originally surging about inside of her united against theirmon enemies.

    Nie Tianughed softly. ¡°It actually worked!¡±

    The book Wu Ji had given him recorded the special traits of the flesh power of numerous outsiders and spirit beasts, which had intrigued him deeply. Therefore, he was rather familiar with them.

    The problem Yin Yanan had encountered was that the flesh auras she had refined and channeled into herself started shing with each other.

    However, since those flesh auras had long since be a part of her, once they faced invading forces, they would naturally band together to deal with the external threat first.

    Quite a few of the flesh auras that infiltrated Yin Yanan¡¯s body had belonged to powerful outsiders. Having fought the ancient spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras for so many years, they had developed a strong enmity towards flesh auras that belong to spirit beasts.

    Therefore, as Yin Yanan entered the atmosphere, they instantly discovered this ¡®new opponent¡¯, and thus rushed into her body.

    As they did, arge number of other flesh auras, which seemed to share the same origin with the flesh auras Yin Yanan possessed, rapidly converged from all directions and flew into her, as if they hade to their aid.

    There must be close ties between these flesh auras and Yin Yanan¡¯s. They might even belong to spirit beasts of the same race.

    As these flesh auras flew into her wisp after wisp, her tensed expression rapidly rxed.

    Even a shred of delight appeared in her eyes.

    As a smart person, she realized that Nie Tian was actually helping her.

    She had tried to enter this atmosphere of mixed auras before. However, she had enveloped herself with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s flesh power ward to keep her from harm at that time.

    Back then, all of the flesh auras that had attacked her had seemed to belong to outsiders.

    But it was different this time. The majority of the flesh auras that were attracted to her seemed to belong to ancient spirit beasts.

    They gathered from the vicinity to help her defend against the outsider flesh auras.

    After a brief examination of these flesh auras, Yin Yanan discovered that they all contained profound bloodline wonders. Many werepletely different from the ones she possessed.

    If she could refine these flesh auras, merge them with her, and derive enlightenment from them, she might gain benefits that were beyond her expectations.

    Therefore, not only did she not panic after feeling the changes, but a shred of gratitude appeared in her eyes as she looked at Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Nie Tian said, ¡°You may summon an air-transportation spiritual tool of your own, and stay here for some time. You can determine how long.¡±

    His body was already damaged to the point where he had to leave as soon as possible to heal himself with Heavenly Wood Heal.

    After hearing these words, Yin Yanan summoned an ordinary-looking air-transportation spiritual tool from within her ring of holding and jumped onto it.

    Then, she seemed somewhat ill-at-ease as she said, ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded at her, then left without saying anything. The Star Boat flew directly towards the region filled with rich wood power, where he set up the Wood Thriving Formation and got ready to practice cultivation.

 Chapter 775: Humiliation

    In front of the pce, Mu Biqiong wasn¡¯t in the mood for practicing cultivation. She had been gazing into the sky from the beginning.

    Unsure of Yin Yanan¡¯s situation, she was worried that the Frost Blood Python would lose control ande after her.

    <i>¡°How in the world is that guy going to deal with Yin Yanan?¡± </i>Worried and puzzled, she started to think of possible answers.

    However, she soon saw a streak of starlight shoot out of the thick, multicolored flesh auras and dive towards the region that was filled with wood power.

    It was none other than Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat.

    However, due to the long distance, she couldn¡¯t tell whether Yin Yanan was on board.

    After a moment of hesitation, she figured that since she couldn¡¯t concentrate on cultivation anyways, she might as well summon an air-transportation spiritual tool and fly to the region where Nie Tian was heading.

    WHOOSH!

    Shortly afterwards, she arrived at the region where Nie Tian hadnded.

    In the depths of the emerald green mountains, lush ancient trees and countless nts could be seen everywhere.

    Wisps of wood power, which were invisible to the naked eye but could be sensed with true souls, were converging on a secluded valley from all directions.

    In that valley, numerous translucent and sparkling tree branches were nted in the dirt, forming the Wood Thriving Formation, which enveloped a small area in a hemispherical green ward.

    Nie Tian was sitting in the middle of the spell formation, practicing cultivation wholeheartedly by absorbing the iing wood power. He didn¡¯t even sense her arrival.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as she steered her air-transportation spiritual tool around the nearby mountains that were covered in vegetation.

    She unleashed her soul awareness to scan the area.

    Momentster, she said inwardly, <i>¡°Yin Yanan isn¡¯t here!¡±</i>

    Then, she returned to the secluded valley where Nie Tian was practicing cultivation, the look in her eyes bing increasingly disgusted.

    <i>¡°I was right. He¡¯s indeed an ungrateful asshole. He had an intimate rtionship with Yin Yanan, however, as soon as she got into trouble, he threw her into thatyer of deadly auras, and let the flesh auras of outsiders and ancient spirit beasts devour her so that he¡¯ll be safe.</i>

    <i>¡°Since the seventh grade Frost Blood Python hadn¡¯t finished upgrading its bloodline, and was still at a precarious stage, I suppose it won¡¯t survive either.</i>

    <i>¡°By doing this, he took both Yin Yanan and her Frost Blood Python out with one go!¡±</i>

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s veiled face grew cold as she grew even more disgusted by Nie Tian.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s so unlucky of Yin Yanan to have met a person like him. She should have left with the people from the Divine me Sect. Staying with a person like him, anyone can be abandoned at any time.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Mu Biqiong assumed she knew what kind of person Nie Tian was, and started to worry about herself.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t get into any trouble myself. Otherwise...¡±</i>

    Feeling a chill in her heart, she no longer dared to stay anywhere near Nie Tian. Therefore, she steered her air-transportation spiritual tool away, and instead of returning to the pce, she went to the water-attributed region that was filled with clearkes.

    After she left, Nie Tian, who was practicing cultivation with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal in the middle of the Wood Thriving Formation, opened his eyes.

    ¡°Such an odd person,¡± he muttered, looking in the direction she had left, before closing his eyes and immersing himself in cultivation again.

    The majority of the outsider and ancient spirit beast flesh auras that had invaded his body earlier had been wiped out, along with their unyielding fighting will, the moment he had left the atmosphere of mixed auras.

    The flesh auras that had remained inside of him had been refined by now. After mixing them with wood power, he had used them to toughen his meridians.

    After numerous entrances to the atmosphere of mixed auras, his meridians had been broken and reforged over and over, making them as resilient as rubber, but as hard as iron.

    However, he knew that he still hadn¡¯t finished with Meridian Toughening, which was the third stage of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    After he finished fixing his damaged meridians this time, he didn¡¯t return to the atmosphere of mixed auras again. Instead, he went on to channel more wood power into his spiritual sea and concentrate it into drops of liquidized wood power.

    He refined his vortex of wood power round after round to prepare himself for his breakthrough into the middle Worldly realm.

    Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

    With the help of the exceptionally rich wood power in this region, he finally refined his vortex of wood power to the limit.

    At this moment, his spiritual core and vortexes of wood power and me power had all been fully refined. Only his vortex of star power stillcked refining.

    After pondering the matter briefly, he returned to the pce on his Star Boat and entered it.

    Misty starlight still showered the pce through the transparent dome, making it an ideal ce to absorb star power and refine his vortex of star power. He rapidly submerged himself in cultivation.

    An unknown period of time passed.

    SHEW!

    Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool suddenly charged out of the atmosphere of outsider and ancient spirit beast auras.

    The Frost Blood Python on her waist was still dormant, its aura too weak to be detected.

    However, she appeared to be in high spirits, the light of excitement shing across her bright, energetic eyes.

    At the same time, a fierce aura burst forth from within her. Every inch of herrgely exposed body seemed to be filled with explosive power.

    She flew around on her air-transportation spiritual tool as if she were looking for something.

    Momentster, her air-transportation spiritual tool came to the region that was dotted with numerouskes, and she beamed with excitement.

    Mu Biqiong, who had practiced cultivation alone by one of thekes for quite some time, suddenly opened her eyes.

    Looking at Yin Yanan, who Nie Tian had left in the atmosphere of deadly auras, her expression flickered as she eximed, ¡°You¡¯re still alive?!

    ¡°Not only did you survive, but you¡¯ve even broken through into the Profound realm?!¡±

    Yin Yanan pursed her lips into a vicious smile and said, ¡°You seem to want to see me dead, don¡¯t you? When I suffered a bacsh from the spirit beast blood inside of me, you snuck to my side with evil intentions. Then, after Nie Tian caught you, you incited him to leave me there to die. You had a good time doing what you did, right?¡±

    Mu Biqiong rapidly calmed down, the look in her eyes growing cold as well. ¡°What are you going to do? Nie Tian kept me here so that he¡¯ll be able to use me as a hostage when he negotiates terms with my sect in the future. Don¡¯t tell me that you want to kill me?¡±

    She was threatening in manner but cowardly at heart.

    She had been at the early Worldly realm when she had met Nie Tian for the first time in the space disruption zone. Even though she had practiced hard and made a breakthrough in her cultivation, she was still only at the middle Worldly realm now.

    Yin Yanan, however, had not only recovered from the bacsh, but even entered the Profound realm after some unknown encounters in the atmosphere of deadly auras.

    Yin Yanan had an unusually tough body. Even cultivators with the same cultivation base as hers would have great difficulty matching her in battle, much less her, whose cultivation base was far lower than hers.

    In fact, she felt overshadowed by Yin Yanan¡¯s strength. She just assumed that no matter how discontent Yin Yanan was towards her, she wouldn¡¯t dare to kill her, as it would undermine Nie Tian.

    ¡°Kill you?¡± Yin Yanan gave a sarcastic chuckle. ¡°How do I dare to kill you?¡±

    Mu Biqiong felt slightly relieved. ¡°Then why are you here?¡±

    Yin Yanan suddenly jumped off her air-transportation spiritual tool, her whole body thrumming with raging flesh power. ¡°I don¡¯t need to kill you. There are plenty of other ways to humiliate you!¡±

    Mu Biqiong gasped with shock and fear.

    ...

    Inside the pce.

    Nie Tian was sitting in the lotus position and refining his vortex of star power over and over with the star power he channeled from the pce ceiling. He didn¡¯t use any of the precious Star Stones in his possession.

    As he did, the wisps of star power that formed his vortex of star power grew increasingly pure.

    Because of this, the speed at which the vortex spun, and the rate at which he absorbed and summoned star power, improved considerably.

    With the help of the Nine Stars Flower, he was now able to channel star power from the pce very efficiently even without Star Stones.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Yin Yanan¡¯s loud exmation rang out from outside the pce.

    The pce walls would stop people on the outside from hearing any sound or sensing any movement inside the pce.

    However, sitting inside the pce, Nie Tian was able to hear every sound and sense every movement that was taking ce outside the pce.

    Surprised by the exmation, Nie Tian opened the stone gate and walked out of the pce.

    In the next moment, he stood aghast at the scene before him.

    Yin Yanan was standing holding her head high, while Mu Biqiong beside her had most of her garments torn away. All she had left on her were silk undergarments that barely covered her chest and the forbidden area between her milky-white legs.

    However, her face was still blocked from sight by a thin silk veil.

    Her knees bent slightly as she held her arms crossed tightly before her chest.

    Her body, which was now even more poorly covered than Yin Yanan¡¯s, was jade-like and extremely inviting.

    However, humiliation filled her eyes, and her arms were covered in bruises, as if Yin Yanan had given her a good beating.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, she fumbled to cover herself and shouted furiously, ¡°Yin Yanan! I won¡¯t let you get away with this!¡±

    Yin Yanan smiled coldly. ¡°You think I¡¯m afraid of you?¡±

    Then, sheid her eyes on Nie Tian and said, ¡°Very few people throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have seen her face. Wanna take a look?¡±

    A mixed expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Umm...¡±

    Before he could give an answer, Yin Yanan lifted her hand and tore Mu Biqiong¡¯s veil from her face.

 Chapter 776: Flowers Appearing on Her Face

    ¡°No!¡± Mu Biqiong screamed miserably.

    As her veil came off, an unearthly beautiful face entered Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s face was white and immacte, as if she were from a painting that a brilliant artist had spent his whole life to finish.

    Even Nie Tian, who had grown used to seeing beautiful girls, gasped at her beauty.

    Yin Yanan gave a cold harrumph and said with a somewhat jealous tone, ¡°A beauty indeed. What have you been thinking, veiling such a fine face all the time?¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but p and marvel, ¡°Beautiful indeed...¡±

    However, Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t seem pleased by their reactions at all. Instead, she seemed rather panicked.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian was surprised to notice that the patterns of two flowers gradually appeared on her extremely pretty face.

    They seemed to be hiding under her skin. Only when her veil was lifted would they appear bit by bit.

    The flower patterns on her cheeks rapidly grew clear.

    One was ink-ck, and exuded a gruesome aura, while the other was multicolored, fresh and gorgeous.

    Each of them almost filled each of her cheeks.

    The two flowers shared one stem, which met at her perfectly shaped chin and stretched all the way down from there.

    After the flowers were fully revealed, the stem appeared bit by bit as well.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, and discovered that the stem passed her white neck, ample chest, and t abdomen, until it disappeared into her spiritual sea in her dantian region, which was slightly below her belly button.

    Dumbstruck by the flowers and their stem that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Yin Yanan muttered, ¡°This is...¡±

    Mu Biqiong was originally unearthly beautiful. However, after the appearance of the flowers and their stem, Nie Tian felt rather strange when looking at her.

    She had a ck flower on one cheek, which in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes had be sinister and scary.

    Meanwhile, the multicolored flower made her other cheek gorgeous and charming beyond words.

    Furthermore, it was as if Mu Biqiong was switching between different qualities. At one moment, she was indescribably beautiful, but at another, she looked sinister like an evil spirit, which made even Nie Tian cringe.

    ¡°Yin Yanan! I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± Mu Biqiong screamed.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s jade-like arms were originally crossed in front of her chest, but at this moment, she suddenly raised her hands to cover her cheeks as she ran off into the distance, looking miserable.

    Yin Yanan was shocked by the great changes on her cheeks, and forgot to stop her.

    Soon, her half-naked figure disappeared from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the flowers on her face?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    With a deep frown, Yin Yanan shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. I¡¯ve just heard that she¡¯s very beautiful, but I found her pretentious for wearing a veil all the time.

    ¡°She was born with a pretty face. Why would she cover it up all the time? Even if she doesn¡¯t like people watching her, she could have used a mask.¡±

    Nie Tian spent a few seconds recalling the strange changes to Mu Biqiong¡¯s face before saying, ¡°I suppose no mask would be able to cover the flowers on her cheeks. There¡¯s something strange about those flowers. Once they appear, their stem will stretch down her neck to her dantian region in her lower abdomen.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re indeed very strange. While I suffered a bacsh from the violent flesh auras inside of me, she snuck over to me with unknown intentions. Only after you came did she give up on whatever she was nning and walk away. So I wanted to teach her a lesson very much. Now that I¡¯ve unveiled her in front of you, I assume it can also be deemed a favor returned.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°A favor returned to me?¡±

    ¡°You took me to thatyer of outsider and ancient spirit beast flesh auras so that I could silence the surging flesh auras inside of me,¡± Yin Yanan exined. ¡°Thanks to that, I even made a breakthrough in my cultivation. You did me a big favor.¡±

    Only after hearing her words did Nie Tian realize the change. ¡°You¡¯ve entered the Profound realm?!¡±

    His attention had been caught by the half-naked Mu Biqiong since the moment he had walked out of the pce. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to take a good look at Yin Yanan, and thus hadn¡¯t noticed that she had made a breakthrough in her cultivation.

    A hint of arrogance appeared in Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes as she said with a faint smile, ¡°That¡¯s right. Who would have thought that I would make my breakthrough before my Frost Blood Python finished upgrading its bloodline?¡±

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Nie Tian said. Then, his expression grew strange as he added, ¡°But even if you thought you owed me a favor, you didn¡¯t have to return it by tearing that woman¡¯s clothes off, right?¡±

    Yin Yanan pursed her lip in a disdainful manner. ¡°Quit pretending to be innocent! Do you think I don¡¯t know what men like you are always thinking? You let all the other Bliss Mountain Sect disciples leave but her. You did it because her beauty was known throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡±

    Yin Yanan gave a cold harrumph. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±

    Then, she suddenly turned around to look in the direction Mu Biqiong had left. ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s something very special about that woman. I sensed danger from the two flowers that appeared on her face. The Bliss Mountain Sect must have picked her as their Holy Daughter for a reason. Can those flowers be the reason?¡±

    ¡°Even you don¡¯t know anything about those flowers?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen flowers like them, but I have a feeling that those flowers have their own spirits,¡± Yin Yanan said with heaviness in her voice.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Flowers with spirits?! Could they be Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials?!¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s actually very likely. It¡¯s just that we don¡¯t know what secrets are lying within those flowers. That woman¡¯s cultivation base is still rather low. I doubt that she can unleash the flowers¡¯ might yet. Besides, I have a feeling that the flowers aren¡¯tpletely friendly, even to her.¡±

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems that I need to pay more attention to her from now on.¡±

    Yin Yanan gave a disdainful harrumph. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to pay attention to. Her cultivation base is still far too low. Even if she were at the same realm as me, I¡¯d beat her all the same. If I hadn¡¯t been so surprised by the flowers on her face, I would have stripped her naked just now, then I¡¯d see whether she would dare to behave so pretentiously before me again.¡±

    Apparently, Yin Yanan¡¯s confidence had soared after she had broken through into the Profound realm. At this moment, she didn¡¯t even think Xing Beichen would have been able to match her in a battle, if he hadn¡¯t died.

    Moreover, she had the Frost Blood Python, which was about to enter the eighth grade, at her disposal. Who among the younger generation would be able to challenge her after she returned to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily correct,¡± Nie Tian said in a serious voice.

    At this very moment, he shrewdly discovered that the wisps of wood power that filled this region seemed to be suddenly disturbed by something.

    That something didn¡¯t seem to be from this blessednd that was covered in flourishing nts and vegetation, but from the enormous vines that he had seen binding this whole continent.

    Before entering this hemispherical continent, he had seen numerous incredibly thick and long vines, which seemed to be holding this continent together.

    However, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to see them again after entering this continent. Only around the edges of the continent would he be able to see some of the huge vines that grew out of the depths of this continent.

    Those enormous vines had shocked him before, but he hadn¡¯t had a chance to examine them thoroughly yet.

    For some reason, the vines now seemed to be awakened from a deep slumber, as if they had noticed something in Mu Biqiong, and thus unleashed mysterious auras to examine her in a way he couldn¡¯t fathom.

    Yin Yanan didn¡¯t appear to have noticed anything abnormal as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said with a grim expression, ¡°We saw many enormous vines binding this continent before we came in here, remember? They seemed to be keeping this continent from falling apart. Just now, those vines seem to have noticed something special about Mu Biqiong.

    ¡°But Mu Biqiong doesn¡¯t practice wood power...¡± Yin Yanan pondered the matter for a moment before suddenly realizing something. ¡°Could it be the flowers that appeared on her face?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably it,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Are the changes going to be good for her, or will they put her in danger?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nie Tian muttered. After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to go take a look to know the answer.¡±

    Without any hesitation, Yin Yanan rose to his feet and sped off in the direction Mu Biqiong had left in.

    Nie Tian sped off after her.

 Chapter 777: Double-colored Demonic Flowers

    Mu Biqiong hadn¡¯t gone very far.

    Nie Tian and Yin Yanan only dashed several thousand kilometers before seeing Mu Biqiong again.

    Sitting on the ground in the lotus position, Mu Biqiong had already changed into a new dress.

    As Nie Tian came closer, he saw her take out a new veil and put it over her face to cover the two peculiar flowers, along with her unearthly beautiful appearance.

    BOOM!

    The white, silky veil shattered the moment it touched her face in a gentle motion.

    A hint of pain shed across Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes. Then, as she noticed Nie Tian and Yin Yanan, she seemed insecure and uneasy again.

    WHOOSH!

    The peculiar wood power continued to flow to this area from the distance, where the iparably thick vines bound the continent.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, such wood power wasn¡¯t the usual cyan color, but rather a strange grayish-brown.

    Wisps of them seemed to be attracted here by Mu Biqiong, and were now infiltrating her body.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s upper garment, which she had just put on, was instantly ripped to shreds and scattered in the wind.

    Not a shred of cloth was left to cover her upper body.

    One of the flowers on her cheeks grew increasingly gorgeous, while the other became distinctively dark.

    The flowers¡¯ stem went down through her slender neck and ample breasts, all the way to the dantian region below her belly button.

    All of a sudden, vigorous life force burst forth from the stem.

    As wisps of grayish-brown wood power infused into the stem, slender branches started to grow out of it.

    At first, the branches were almost too faint to be seen.

    However, as more grayish-brown wood power flew into the stem, the branches rapidly grew distinct, as if they were being infused with ink.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the grayish-brown wood power from the enormous vines that bound this continent seemed to be elerating the growth of the strange nt, and causing their stem to grow new branches.

    He had a feeling that every new branch would grow a new flower in the future.

    However, separated by the main stem, the flowers that grew on the two sides would probably be of different colors.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyebrows were knit and her eyes were closed, agony filling her slightly distorted face.

    Nie Tian examined her with his soul awareness, and discovered that her body seemed to have be a battlefield between the two flowers. The gorgeous, multicolored flower seemed to be on Mu Biqiong¡¯s side, as it seemed to merge with her soul awareness in a profound way.

    The ck flower, however, kept exuding a gruesome and ruthless aura.

    ¡°Hahaha.¡± Yin Yanan suddenlyughed and fixed Mu Biqiong with a meaningful gaze. ¡°Who would have thought that she would encounter the same problem as I did not long ago? I¡¯ve channeled too many different spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras into myself to practice my body refining incantation, so they conflict with one another at certain points.

    ¡°She, on the other hand, has a demonic nt growing inside of her.¡±

    ¡°As long as the two flowers are showing, they¡¯ll fight each other. One of the flowers sides with her, while the other is malevolent towards her.

    ¡°For some reason, the demonic nt caught the huge vines¡¯ attention, and they started to infuse it with power.

    ¡°The added power sped up the demonic nt¡¯s growth and caused many new branches to grow out of it. Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before new flowers will grow on those branches. If that happens, the sh between the two sides will be even fiercer inside of her.

    ¡°As far as I can tell, sooner orter, the increasingly fierce sh will destroy her.¡±

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°A nt that¡¯s taken root inside of her...¡±

    He suddenly remembered Hua Mu.

    A Heavenly Demonsbane had taken root in between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows, and it was said that Heavenly Demonsbanes were ranked third among the most powerful nts in the Demon realms.

    Not only did that Heavenly Demonsbane have intelligence, but it had even possessed Hua Mu and disyed its heaven-destroying might.

    As powerful as Hua Mu was, his body would be taken over by the Heavenly Demonsbane once he became weak. Even to this day, he hadn¡¯t found an effective way to get rid of the Heavenly Demonsbane.

    The stronger Hua Mu became, the stronger that Heavenly Demonsbane became. After it grew to a certain point, it would rece Hua Mu for good and be the master of his body.

    He had witnessed the formidable might of the Heavenly Demonsbane before. Now that he saw another demonic nt in Mu Biqiong today, his expression gradually grew grim.

    Yin Yanan gave him a sideways nce and asked with a casual tone, ¡°What are you worried about? That nt has only grown two flowers, which means it¡¯s still very weak. My Frost Blood Python, on the other hand, is going to enter the eighth grade soon. After it does, will it be afraid of an immature demonic nt?

    ¡°Not to mention that we¡¯re on this magicalnd, which a grand expert of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce created for you.

    ¡°Will such a weak nt be able to eat you alive here?¡±

    After hearing her words, Nie Tian pondered the matter and gradually settled down.

    He removed his gaze from Mu Biqiong and gazed into the distance. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the giant vines that wrap around this continent also have intelligence.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded slightly. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. And those vines are much stronger than the demonic nt inside of Mu Biqiong. Other than that, there¡¯s a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone, which also has vague intelligence, in the depths of the earth. This continent is so full of wonders!

    ¡°However, it seems that both the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone and the enormous vines have been tamed by experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, or have reached some mutual understanding with them, so they¡¯re now guarding this continent.

    ¡°With those two incredible treasures, that pce, and the mysterious spell formation to help you, what do you have to fear?¡±

    As she said these words, Nie Tian noticed that the grayish-brown wood power that had converged on this location from the edge of the continent had stopped fusing with Mu Biqiong.

    It was as if the intelligent vines knew that their gift to that demonic nt inside of Mu Biqiong would kill her.

    Even though Mu Biqiong was in a great deal of pain, she struggled to merge her soul awareness with the gorgeous flower in a profound manner.

    After observing her for a while, Nie Tian realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to help Mu Biqiong, and she would have to take care of the problem herself.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Let¡¯s return to the pce and stay there for the time being.¡±

    Yin Yanan was taken aback and asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to take this opportunity to kill her,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Frowning, Yin Yanan said with a serious expression, ¡°Don¡¯t you think she¡¯s a danger to us? If the demonic nt inside of her keeps growing, it¡¯ll be a serious threat. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to let her live. We might as well kill her now.¡±

    Nie Tian snorted. ¡°But you said yourself that she won¡¯t be able to pose any threat to me here. Come on. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    He had a feeling that if he allowed Yin Yanan to stay in this ce, she would definitely kill Mu Biqiong.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to watch her a while longer?¡± Yin Yanan asked with a teasing tone. ¡°She¡¯s naked. I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have another opportunity to see her like this again.¡±

    Nie Tian gave her a sideways nce and said, ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯ve had a good look already.¡±

    Seeing him bing impatient, Yin Yanan didn¡¯t insist, but rather nodded, and followed him back to the pce.

    Nie Tian opened the stone gate and let her through. Then, as he withdrew his hand, the gate closed behind him.

    ¡°You stay here,¡± he said to Yin Yanan. ¡°I¡¯m gonna take a trip back to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Both Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong had gained unexpected fortunes and opportunities in this heaven and earth.

    Yin Yanan had channeled the flesh auras of ancient spirit beasts into herself, which had helped her enhance her strength and advance to the Profound realm.

    The peculiar nt inside of Mu Biqiong had caught the enormous vines¡¯ attention, and been gifted pure wood power.

    Each of the five elemental regions was blessed with numerous incredible wonders.

    The reason why he nned to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars was because he hoped to bring his family and friends to this ce, where they could gain their own fortunes and build up their strength.

    He wasn¡¯t in such a hurry originally, but after seeing what had happened to Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan, he finally couldn¡¯t wait anymore.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Yin Yanan seemed intrigued. ¡°Is that the domain you¡¯re from? ording to Qiao Yunxi, that domain is even weaker than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. There are only nine realms in it, and it hasn¡¯t produced a single Void domain expert. I¡¯ve got nothing to do anyways. How about you take me with you?¡±

    Nie Tian was just about to refuse her as his eyebrows suddenly rose and he said instead, ¡°Alright.¡±

    It urred to him that she might tamper with the teleportation portal in the pce to keep him from returning if he left her in the pce alone.

    However, if he let her out of pce, he was worried that she would kill Mu Biqiong while he was off to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up upon gaining Nie Tian¡¯s permission. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t try anything funny.¡±

 Chapter 778: Star Path

    After Nie Tian filled the teleportation portal with spatial power stones, it started as he had expected, and teleported him and Yin Yanan to the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°It¡¯s another pce.¡± Standing inside the pce that had surfaced from the depths of the earth, Yin Yanan nced around, and discovered that this pce was very simr to the one they had just teleported from, with only a few minor variations.

    She even suspected that she had never left that pce.

    Nie Tian unleashed his soul awareness, which went through the pce walls, to get ahold of the situation outside the pce.

    He instantly sensed Nie Donghai¡¯s and many other familiar auras, and realized that many Nie n members were practicing cultivation in peace in the bamboo forest that was right outside of the pce.

    It seemed that nothing major had happened to the Domain of the Falling Stars after he had left.

    If there had been any major changes, the bamboo forest by this pce would have been the first to be affected.

    ¡°Are we in the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Yin Yanan asked curiously.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re in one of its realms.¡±

    Yin Yanan then thought to herself, ¡°The teleportation portal here leads to the pce in that forbidden region, which is almost identical to this one. And there are two sets of coordinates in the teleportation portal in that pce, one of which leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars...¡±

    She had heard the conversation Nie Tian had had with the Divine me Sect disciples in front of the teleportation portal in the pce they had just teleported from.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as she eximed, ¡°From the look of it, these ces the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left for you are actually a star path, through which you¡¯ll eventually be able to reach the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°It starts here in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and then continues to that forbidden region. After you gain control of that floating continent, you¡¯ll be able to move on to the next spot.

    ¡°All you need to do is follow the path the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has nned for you, taking one step at a time, and eventually you¡¯ll arrive in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°By the time you get there, you¡¯ll have umted enough strength, and your cultivation will have risen to a whole new level.

    ¡°At that time, your return will attract everyone¡¯s attention, and everything will work out as they have nned. You¡¯ll shine in the depths of the starry river as the seventh Son of the Stars.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian after he heard these words.

    Yin Yanan had thought the matter through when even Nie Tian hadn¡¯t himself. He had only felt that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had made all these arrangements to test him, and he still had a long way to go before he could arrive at the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters as a Son of the Stars and earn their acknowledgment.

    Now, Yin Yanan¡¯s words suddenly enlightened him, allowing him to see the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s intentions.

    <i>¡°Follow the path they¡¯ve left for me. Build myself up as I take one step at a time...¡± </i>With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian took a deep breath, a hearty smile appearing on his face.

    He opened the stone gate with one swift push and walked outside.

    Yin Yanan followed along.

    Breathing in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void and ncing up at the fierce sun, she said, ¡°So this is a realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars... Even though the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here isn¡¯t as rich as the continent we just came from, it¡¯s roughly at the same level as many realms in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, not saying a word.

    He was well-aware that what Yin Yanan had in mind must bepletely different from the actual situation in the Realm of Split Void. She must not know that all sorts of foreign energies were dispersing into the Void Illusion Mountain Range through spatial rifts as they spoke.

    Before this pce had surfaced, those foreign energies had pervaded the Realm of Split Void, rendering it unfit for cultivators. People had abandoned it for this very reason.

    However, everything had changed after the appearance of this pce.

    The foreign energies had been purged and turned into pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, which was nourishing this once-deserted realm back to prosperity.

    He could feel that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void had be richer than when he had left.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Li Langfeng was the first to notice his arrival.

    He had remained here since Nie Tian had left, doing his utmost to protect Nie Donghai and the others in the bamboo forest.

    It had been almost two years, and he had thought that, even if Nie Tian returned, he would have returned through the teleportation portal the Lei n had set up. Never had he expected that Nie Tian would suddenly walk out of the pce.

    Li Langfeng bolted to Nie Tian¡¯s side. Surprise and joy filled his face as he asked, ¡°H-howe you returned through this pce?¡±

    Yin Yanan took a nce at him. Her expression flickered slightly as she thought to herself, <i>¡°The middle Profound realm... and he seems to practice poisonous incantations! I can¡¯t believe how simr his aura is to that of a Fiend. Don¡¯t tell me that the incantations he practices were acquired from the Fiends!¡±</i>

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that your cultivation base has already risen to such a high level.¡±

    Li Langfeng bowed slightly and said with a sincere tone, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be here today if it weren¡¯t for you. You¡¯ve bestowed numerous rare Fiends¡¯ treasures and ancient records upon me. How do I dare not to make good use of them to improve my battle prowess and cultivation base?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan thought to herself, <i>¡°This man won¡¯t be easy to deal with...¡± </i>

    She practiced profound body refining incantations and was well-versed in secret magics that wielded spirit beast flesh power. Even though she was currently at the early Profound realm, she had the confidence to contend against any middle Profound realm expert without seeking help from her Frost Blood Python.

    However, the scrawny, pale-faced man in front of him made her apprehensive.

    She had a feeling that, if she didn¡¯t have the Frost Blood Python to help him, even if she was in her peak state, she wouldn¡¯t be able to match this man in battle.

    <i>¡°Didn¡¯t they say that the Domain of the Falling Stars is a domain that¡¯s so down and out that they don¡¯t have a single Void domain expert? Then why has the first man I see here turned out to be so strange, and the toxins running inside of him make me feel so ufortable?¡± </i>She suddenly started to attach some importance to this domain, which she had previously looked down upon.

    <i>¡°Since the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce chose a Son of Stars from this domain, there must be something special about it!¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Yin Yanan said, ¡°Nie Tian, if you don¡¯t mind, can I go take a look around? I want to broaden my horizons and take a good look at this domain.¡±

    Eye narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Alright, but don¡¯t cause any trouble, especially after your Frost Blood Python finishes upgrading its bloodline.¡±

    Once the Frost Blood Python entered the eighth grade, Yin Yanan¡¯s strength would rise significantly, and she would be unchallenged throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    No one would be able to subdue her except the Void domain expert from the Lei n.

    ¡°Like I promised, I won¡¯t do anything rash.¡± With these words, she looked over her shoulder at the pce behind her and added, ¡°This pce stands here, and you¡¯re a Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. This means the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has marked the entire Domain of the Falling Stars as their territory. Of course I won¡¯t cause trouble here.

    ¡°Not to mention that...¡± After a moment of hesitation, she continued, ¡°I¡¯ll have to rely on you to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, so of course I¡¯ll heed your warnings.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°You take care then.¡±

    With a somewhat arrogant smile, Yin Yanan said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t be long before Ie back here.¡±

    With these words, she left by herself.

    As she did, Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and the others seemed to sense the movements, and thus came out of the bamboo forest.

    ¡°Grandfather! Aunt!¡± Beaming with joy, Nie Tian ran towards them.

    ...

    Nie Tian¡¯s return rapidly became the focus of conversation in every major sect and n throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t return through the teleportation portal the Lei n set up, but rather through the mysterious pce in the Realm of Split Void!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been nearly two years. Where did he go? What happened to him?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Realm of Split Void!¡±

    The Spirit Condor, the Dong n, the Ice Pavilion Sect, the Tool Sect, and many other powers that had close ties with Nie Tian headed towards the Realm of Split Void as soon as they received word of his return.

    In the realm of Mystic Heaven...

    Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, Wu Ya, and many other Profound realm experts of the Heaven Pce Sect were standing by a gloomyke, their expressions solemn.

    However, excitement filled their eyes.

    Momentster, the figure of an old man quietly appeared in the teleportation portal at theke¡¯s bottom, which seemed to lead to some arcane realm.

    The old man¡¯s face was covered in deep wrinkles, which gave him a very old, but very ethereal feeling.

    ¡°Martial uncle!¡± Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong rushed to him the moment he came out of theke.

    ¡°You¡¯ve finally entered the Void domain, Martial Uncle!¡± Ling Dong eximed. ¡°There¡¯s hope for our sect again!¡±

    Fan Kai had been consumed with the advancement of his cultivation, and missed both outsider invasions. Even though he had entered the early Void domain now, he didn¡¯t seem overjoyed at all. Instead, he said with knit eyebrows, ¡°Whether or not the Heaven Pce Sect will have a proper ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars no longer depends on me.¡±

    ¡°Who does it depend on then?¡± Ling Dong asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

 Chapter 779: The Breaker of Domains

    Indignation and grudges filled Ling Dong¡¯s face as he repeated, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    As the sectmaster, Zhao Luofeng remained silent.

    All of the other Heaven Pce Sect experts¡¯ heads sagged, their faces grim.

    Fan Kai let out a deep sigh. ¡°We were wrong. We should have admitted to our failure and epted the truth when Ning Yang failed his mission, and Nie Tian gathered all three fragmentary star marks.

    ¡°But we were too proud to do that back then.

    ¡°Now we know that there are certain things that we can¡¯t possibly change. The fact that he had collected all three fragmentary star marks meant he had been acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Before, we wished to take those fragmentary star marks from him to turn the situation around.

    ¡°However, the fact that he made that pce surface in the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void has proved us wrong.

    ¡°He¡¯s the chosen one, and no one can change that.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Ling Dong shouted, ¡°But you¡¯ve entered the Void domain, Martial Uncle!¡±

    Fan Kai gave a bitter smile. ¡°So what? The situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars changed years ago when he first disyed his remarkable talent. That expert from the Divine me Sect¡¯s cultivation base is even higher than mine now. Even so, he did everything he could to establish a friendly rtionship with Nie Tian, right?

    ¡°For Nie Tian, he killed the me God and toppled the Poison Sect and the Spirit God Sect.

    ¡°We can¡¯t even contend against sects like the Divine me Sect. How can we go against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s will?¡±

    Zhao Luofeng sighed. ¡°Now he¡¯s back. And instead of returning through the teleportation portal the Lei n has set up, he returned through that mysterious pce.¡±

    Taken aback by that news, Fan Kai let out another sigh. ¡°Times have changed. In fact, our sect¡¯s time passed when Ning Yang lost those fragmentary star marks to Nie Tian.

    ¡°From now on, every sect and n in the Domain of the Falling Stars will have to submit to him to gain a spot in this domain. Our sect is no exception.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng pondered for a quite a while before saying, ¡°But Martial Uncle, we asked to see him, but he didn¡¯t even give us that opportunity.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go see him myself,¡± Fan Kai said.

    ...

    In the Realm of Split Void.

    An endless stream of air-transportation spiritual tools dashed towards the the pce that had risen from the depths of the earth and converged on the green bamboo forest by it.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, Qi Bailu...

    Powerful figures that were known throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars gathered to the same location withoutmunicating with each other after rushing to the Realm of Split Void.

    Even Lei Tianqi from the Lei n rushed there from the Realm of Earth Sieve.

    Dong Li and many other juniors also ended their cultivation and swarmed to this ce from their respective realms upon receiving word of Nie Tian¡¯s return.

    Soon, powerful experts from almost every sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars were gathered outside the bamboo forest where Nie Donghai and other Nie n members lived and practiced cultivation.

    In one of the bamboo pavilions in the heart of the forest, Nie Tian was smiling as he told Nie Donghai and Nie Qian about his breathtaking encounters in the forbidden region.

    Nie Donghai listened in silence the whole time, not asking a single question. He only frowned out of concern every time the story came to a dangerous part.

    Nie Qian, however, had endless questions.

    The sounds of air-transportation spiritual tools whizzing by grew denser and denser. As Nie Donghai sensed the presence of more and more auras, he realized that arge number of important figures were now gathered right outside the bamboo forest.

    ¡°Many people are waiting for you outside,¡± Nie Donghai suddenly said in a low voice.

    Nie Tian sighed said with an reluctant tone. ¡°Aren¡¯t those people fast? We haven¡¯t finished catching up yet.¡±

    ¡°They seem to want to give you time to talk to us too, but it seems that they have important things to discuss with you,¡± Nie Donghai said with a calm expression. ¡°The fact that they didn¡¯t rush in here proves that they don¡¯t want to interrupt you.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have plenty of time to catch upter. You should go meet them now. Don¡¯t make them wait too long.¡±

    Nie Donghai had brought quite a few talented children of the Nie n to this bamboo forest. He was worried that the sudden appearance of the powerful experts would scare those unseasoned children.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go meet them first.¡±

    ...

    Outside the green bamboo forest.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Dong Wangling, and the other experts were talking in low voices. Each and every one of them looked calm andposed, yet deep down, they were all quite nervous.

    The most nervous of all was Lei Tianqi. His eyebrows knitted as he gazed unblinkingly at the bamboo forest.

    Nie Tian had left through the Lei n¡¯s teleportation portal to meet up with the Divine me Sect in that forbidden region. However, he had returned alone through the mysterious pce. This made him wonder what had happened.

    Yue Yanxi and the others from the Divine me Sect hadn¡¯t rushed back to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries directly after leaving the hemispherical continent.

    Instead, they had continued to explore more of that vast region with the Guan n and the Jian n, hoping to find more profound secrets.

    Therefore, Lei Tianqi hadn¡¯t received any word from them yet.

    At this moment, he was eager to know whether Nie Tian had met up with them, and what had happened in that ce.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± The ends of Lei Tianqi¡¯s eyebrows rose as he seemed to notice some anomaly.

    Fan Kai, who looked old and feeble, arrived in thepany of Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong. Their golden chariot was speeding over from Ash City¡¯s direction.

    The golden chariot came to a stop outside the bamboo forest. Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, Qi Bailu, and the others all gasped upon seeing Fan Kai. ¡°That man...¡±

    The fact that the Heaven Pce Sect was able to dominate the Domain of the Falling Stars for almost a thousand years was, to a great extent, thanks to this old man.

    He had been the first cultivator in the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter thete Soul realm.

    Now that he showed up, many Soul realm experts sensed his aura, and realized that he had be the first cultivator throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Void domain.

    Even Hua Mu and the other Soul realm experts bowed respectfully, sensing his immense aura. ¡°Senior Fan!¡±

    Fan Kai got off the golden chariot and nodded at them, his expression as calm as ever.

    Then, he looked at Lei Tianqi and said in a respectful manner, ¡°Greetings, Brother Lei.¡±

    Among everyone present, he and Lei Tianqi were the only ones at the Void domain.

    Lei Tianqi¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he nodded back respectfully and said, ¡°It¡¯s very admirable that you actually managed to break through into the Void domain in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    He sounded truly impressed.

    He had spent quite a long time in the Domain of the Falling Stars now. He was well-aware that the Domain of the Falling Starscked many of the necessary materials to forge inner domains. The fact that Fan Kai had collected the necessary materials to make the attempt was already very impressive.

    Not to mention that he had actually made the breakthrough.

    Even though the cultivation resources in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were much richer than the Domain of the Falling Stars, the process of breaking through was always filled with danger. The sess rate was quite low.

    Just in the Lei n alone, threete Soul realm experts had gathered all of the necessary materials, but failed to make the breakthrough.

    Therefore, in his eyes, the fact that Fan Kai was able to break through into the Void domain was by no means an easy thing.

    He apuded such an achievement and respected such a person.

 Chapter 780: The Heaven Palace Sect Atones for Their Mistakes

    Afterwards, Fan Kai and Lei Tianqi¡¯s conversation ended, and they fixed their eyes on the bamboo forest in silence.

    Hua Mu and the other experts fell silent too. Dong Li and the other juniors were even more nervous, and none of them dared to make a sound.

    In utter silence, everyone snuck nces at Fan Kai from time to time, their faces grim.

    None of them knew why he was here.

    The truth was that before Lei Tianqi hade along, Fan Kai had been the most powerful Qi warrior throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars all along.

    Rumors about him had spread far and wide in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Everyone knew about him and held reverence towards him.

    That included Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and Qi Bailu.

    Questions exploded in people¡¯s minds as they grew worried.

    ¡°He¡¯s entered the Void domain... Can it be the Heaven Pce Sect has grown sick of being overlooked?¡±

    ¡°Is he here to threaten Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°What in the world does the Heaven Pce Sect want?¡±

    They had already grown used to the hard-earned peace in the Domain of the Falling Stars. No more conflicts had broken out since the second outsider invasion and the deaths of Xia Yi and his allies.

    Everyone knew that it was Nie Tian who had given them such peace.

    Now that Fan Kai had entered the Void domain, was he going to break the peace and wage another war?

    However, by the time Hua Mu and the other expertsid their eyes on Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, their worries were gone.

    Even though Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong also looked calm, Hua Mu and the others sensed a shred of sadness from them.

    Their sadness was mixed with grudges, but also their submission to fate...

    Dong Wangling¡¯s eyes lit up as he seemed to suddenly realize something. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯re here to...¡±

    The worries in Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, and the others¡¯ eyes rapidly faded.

    At this very moment, Nie Tian walked out of the bamboo forest.

    With a surprised expression, he nced around at the people gathered outside the bamboo forest, thinking to himself, ¡°What¡¯s with the sudden silence?¡±

    He had heard loud mors from outside the bamboo forest when Nie Donghai had suggested that it was about time he went out. However, as he came out, the mor died out instantly.

    He took another close look at the crowd, and discovered that Zhao Luofeng, Ling Dong, and Fan Kai were among the people present.

    With a single look at Fan Kai, he realized that the pale old man must be the peak expert from the Heaven Pce Sect, whom he had heard of on many asions.

    ¡°Void domain?!¡±

    He, who had met Jiang Feng, Ke Jinpeng, and other Void domain experts, instantly realized that the old man had broken through, and be the first cultivator throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Void domain.

    If it were before, and he saw a Void domain expert from the Heaven Pce Sect standing before him, his expression would definitely flicker drastically.

    However, at this moment, his expression was surprisingly calm.

    After all, he had seen and dealt with many Void domain experts by this point.

    The old man took a step forward the moment Nie Tian walked out of the bamboo forest. He bowed under everyone¡¯s gaze and said with a sincere tone, ¡°This humble one is Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect, and I¡¯m here to atone for our mistakes.¡±

    Fan Kai¡¯s words broke the gruesome silence like a huge rock that was cast into ake, giving rise to enormous waves among the crowd.

    ¡°He¡¯s here to atone for his mistakes?!!¡±

    Even though the experts present had already suspected what he was going to do, they were still deeply shaken as they heard him say the actual words.

    This meant that the Heaven Pce Sect, which had dominated the Domain of the Falling Stars for thousands of years, had officially bowed their heads in front of Nie Tian.

    Even this old man, who had finally entered the Void domain with a lifetime of effort, came to ask for Nie Tian¡¯s forgiveness. Which other sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars would still dare to contend against Nie Tian?

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°Atone for your mistakes? How are you going to do that?¡±

    The Heaven Pce Sect had weighed down on him like a majestic mountain since the day he had obtained the fragmentary star marks.

    Because of that, he had been forced to leave the Realm of me Heaven and hole up in the Realm of Split Void under another name.

    Every day, he had worried that the Heaven Pce Sect would find him and take everything from him.

    Later, when the outsiders hadunched a mass invasion, the Heaven Pce Sect had forced all of the major sects to send their most powerful experts to join the battle in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. For many reasons, Nie Tian had been forced to go as well.

    Eventually, he had destroyed the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship with the grand spell formation the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him, turning the situation around almost single-handedly. Even the Heaven Pce Sect had adopted a low profile after witnessing the terrifying might he had disyed.

    Later, Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect hade along and demonstrated his desire to establish a friendly rtionship with Nie Tian. He had even left Lei Tianqi in the Domain of the Falling Stars to ensure that every sect observed the new order, especially the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Now that Fan Kai had entered the Void domain, the Heaven Pce Sect would be able to give Nie Tian serious trouble if they wanted to.

    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, they had suddenly changed their attitude and admitted to their mistakes. Yet how far they would go to atone for their previous poor decisions was still unknown.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect is willing to be your subordinate sect and take orders from you from now on,¡± Fan Kai said in a determined voice.

    A mor instantly burst through the crowd. ¡°Subordinate sect?!¡±

    Lei Tianqi went nk for a moment before taking a deep look at Fan Kai and thinking to himself, <i>¡°It¡¯s not toote. He¡¯s the most powerful cultivator throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars after all. Now, he¡¯s finally thought it through, and realized how he would be able to save his sect.¡±</i>

    Grim looks filled Ling Dong¡¯s and Zhao Luofeng¡¯s eyes.

    Nie Tian remained silent for quite a while before nodding and saying, ¡°I see. Now that your sect wishes to be my subordinate sect, I¡¯ll let go of our unfortunate past.¡±

    Fan Kai¡¯s expression lit up a bit as he said, ¡°If you don¡¯t have any instructions for us, I¡¯d like to return to the Realm of Mystic Heaven now. We¡¯ll rebuild our headquarters there, and wait for yourmand. You¡¯ll have our absolute obedience from now on.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright."

    With a faint smile, Fan Kai jumped into the golden chariot, and then said to Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong, ¡°Let¡¯s go. We need to rebuild our headquarters as soon as possible.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng and Ling Dong wished to speak, but stopped on second thought, and flew into the golden chariot as well.

    The war chariot rose into the sky with a loud whoosh.

    Hua Mu smiled and muttered as he saw through Fan Kai¡¯s intentions, ¡°They¡¯re demonstrating their submissive attitude by choosing the Realm of Mystic Heaven to rebuild their headquarters. The grand spell formation left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is still there. Nie Tian can activate it any time he wants. Since that grand spell formation destroyed the Phantasm¡¯s ancient starship easily, it¡¯ll be able to topple the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s new headquarters too.

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect sent Nie Tian a message by not choosing the Realm of Dark Underworld or the Realm of ck Marsh to rebuild their headquarters, telling him that they¡¯ve put their lives in his hands.

    ¡°Fan Kai must have believed that this was the only way they would be able to win Nie Tian¡¯s forgiveness and trust.¡±

    Many people in the crowd heard Hua Mu¡¯s words. After pondering the situation briefly, they all thought his words made sense, and realized what Fan Kai had been after.

    At this moment, Lei Tianqi¡¯s expression grew serious as he asked in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian, did you meet with the grand elder in the region they went to explore or not? What happened there?¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s words had plunged everyone into deep thought, but upon hearing Lei Tianqi¡¯s questions, everyone fixed their eyes on Nie Tian again.

    After all, this was the reason why they hade here without the slightest dy.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Of course we met. Not only did I meet Senior Yue, but I also met Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect, Jian Tong from the Jian n, and Guan Fu from the Guan n.¡±

    ¡°May I know what happened there?¡± Lei Tianqi maintained a humble attitude when talking to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while before giving him a brief exnation of his encounters that he figured he could tell them about.

 Chapter 781: Banding Together

    Almost all of the most powerful experts throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars were now gathered here.

    Every one of them listened with rapt attention as Nie Tian talked.

    He told them about the hemispherical continent that was rich in spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and all kinds of spiritual materials. Also, the continent was divided into five regions, each of which was branded with the profound truths of a different elemental power.

    Furthermore, he told them about theke with soul crystals and the deaths of Xing Beichen and the experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. He held certain matters back, however.

    However, he briefly mentioned that people from the Divine me Sect, the Guan n, the Jian n, and the Bliss Mountain Sect had visited and left that secret heaven and earth with his permission.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s narration, they were all rather shaken, longing and excitement filling their faces.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and many of the other experts present were at the Soul realm. Like Fan Kai, all of them would have to gather a variety of precious spiritual materials at certain points in order to break through into the Void domain.

    However, there was a very limited amount of such materials in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Even though Fan Kai had managed to obtain all of the necessary spiritual materials, he had done so by making secret deals with the Demons.

    The reason why they had attached so much importance to Nie Tian since the beginning was that they had assumed that he would be able to take them out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Originally, they had pictured the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to be their destination.

    That was because Lei Tianqi and Yue Yanxi, who hade from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, were both at the Void domain, and ording to Yue Yanxi, there were many more Void domain experts in their domain.

    This had made them realize that there must be arge number and a variety of the rare materials that they would need to break through into the Void domain in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    How could they not be excited to learn that a mysterious region between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries that had been sealed for who knew how long had somehow opened up, and Nie Tian had discovered a magical continent in it?

    After Nie Tian finished speaking, a heated discussion burst out among the crowd of people, all of them expressing their desire to explore that wondrous heaven and earth.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has left that ce for Nie Tian,¡± Lei Tianqi suddenly said.

    The moring crowd rapidly settled down, and started pondering his words in silence.

    Lei Tianqi swept his gaze across the crowd and added, ¡°The Divine me Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n are among the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Even they would have to take orders from Nie Tian in that ce. The fact that arge number of outsiders died miserably outside that floating continent proves it impregnable.

    ¡°I suppose evente Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries wouldn¡¯t dare to act unruly there.

    ¡°Nie Tian can very well found his own sect there. It won¡¯t be long before a close connection is established between that ce and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I guess if you go there, you¡¯ll be able to visit the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries from there soon.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that, considering your strength and battle prowess, you don¡¯t have what it takes to establish a foothold in our domain yet.

    ¡°Only if powers like the Divine me Sect, the Guan n, and the Jian n give Nie Tian face, and guarantee your safety, will you be able to travel safely to and from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Meanwhile, the sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries will most likely be very interested in the spiritual materials on that mysterious continent. Perhaps you¡¯ll be able trade some of those spiritual materials and precious materials from the Domain of the Falling Stars for the materials you¡¯ll need to break through into the Void domain.

    ¡°However, all of this will depend on Nie Tian¡¯s attitude on the matter.¡±

    It seemed as if Lei Tianqi had taken Nie Tian¡¯s ce, and given voice to what Nie Tian was thinking.

    As he spoke, Nie Tian smiled and listened, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    The reason why Fan Kai had sworn allegiance to Nie Tian was because he knew what the Heaven Pce Sect would face in the future if they hadn¡¯t. Therefore, they had made the move before it was toote.

    Then, Nie Tian had given an extensive speech, telling of the wonders of that continent, because he had needed to lure everyone in with benefits.

    In order for him to bind all of the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars to himself, it was necessary for him to throw out enough benefits.

    He could threaten the Heaven Pce Sect, but as for the others in front of him, he preferred luring in them with potential gains.

    He had known what to do since the moment he had realized what it meant to be a Son of the Stars, and learned that every Son of the Stars ruled over vast areas, and had countless subordinate forces.

    He wasn¡¯t strong enough for the time being, and the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars were feeblepared to the ones in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries

    However, he needed to give the powerful experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars a richnd where they could grow stronger, so that the Soul realm experts could have their chances at breaking through into the Void domain.

    When the day came when he returned to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, all of these sects and experts would be a crucial part of hispetitive force.

    Standing in the crowd, Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile and said, ¡°Remember to take me with you when you go to that ce again, Nie Tian.

    ¡°It¡¯s been two weeks since Ist visited the bamboo forest. I¡¯ll go see grandfather and auntie. You take your time talking to these people.¡±

    With these words, she walked out of the crowd with charming, casual steps, and entered the bamboo forest, as if she were returning to her own home.

    Qin Yan was rather jealous as she watched her walking so casually into the bamboo forest before Nie Tian said anything.

    Of course Qin Yan knew that Dong Li¡¯s rtionship with Nie Tian was beyond ordinary. No matter what, Nie Tian would ept Dong Li and allow her to explore that wondrous heaven and earth.

    Dong Li was also well-aware of this, so she walked straight into the bamboo forest after hearing all about Nie Tian¡¯s recent encounters.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Dong Wanglingughed broadly and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Our n boarded this ship of yours long ago, so whatever lies ahead, the Dong n will always be by your side.¡±

    Lei Tianqi turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before the powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries learn about the existence of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Now that that region between the two domains has opened up, sects like the Beast-controlling Sect and the Bliss Mountain Sect will be able to find the Domain of the Falling Stars even without the Divine me Sect¡¯s help.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°So the powers in the Domain of the Falling Stars need to not only band together, but also improve their battle prowess as fast as possible.¡± With these words, Lei Tianqi ran his gaze across the crowd. ¡°If more of you can break through into the Void domain, and adding in Nie Tian¡¯s special connection to your domain, then the sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries probably won¡¯t dare to make any rash moves, even if your domain is exposed.

    ¡°You still have time. I wish you good luck.¡±

    With these words, Lei Tianqi bowed slightly towards Nie Tian and left.

    He had said enough.

    At this moment, Hua Mu from the Spirit Condorughed heartily and said, ¡°There¡¯s no reason to hesitate. Outsiders have invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars twice in recent years. Nie Tian ended the first invasion in its cradle by sealing the spatial rifts in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of me Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. During the second invasion, he saved us all by destroying the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship, along with their Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon, with the help of the grand spell formation the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left for him.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, the Domain of the Falling Stars would have long since be a colony of the outsiders. None of us would still be here.

    ¡°In fact, our fates were bound tightly with Nie Tian¡¯s long ago. Only through him will we be able to walk out of the Domain of the Falling Stars and produce more Void domain experts. And only when we have more Void domain experts will the Domain of the Falling Stars enter longsting prosperity.

    ¡°In the end, the Domain of the Falling Stars belongs to Nie Tian and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    After hearing these words, Zong Zheng, Qi Bailu, and the other Soul realm experts all nodded slightly.

    Clearly, they all agreed with Hua Mu.

    A smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Alright, you may return to your sects now. Gather your most talented disciples, and I¡¯ll take them to that ce first after I finish up here.¡±

 Chapter 782: Wu Jiâ€™s Problem

    The powerful experts from different sects left contentedly after Nie Tian expressed his intention to bring a number of their members to the wondrous continent in recent future.

    They were all rather eager to return to their sects to make arrangements.

    After everyone left, Hua Mu was the only one who stayed behind to have a private conversation with Nie Tian.

    Hua Mu seemed somewhat hesitant as he said, ¡°Now that you¡¯re back, you¡¯d better pay your master a visit in the Realm of me Heaven as soon as possible. I visited the Cloudsoaring Sect not long ago. It seemed to me that your master had already broken through into the Soul realm, but his true soul still seemed rather unstable. I don¡¯t know why that was.¡±

    ¡°Sure, it was my n to visit him first too,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Hua Mu nodded. ¡°Good. Master Zhen and Pei Qiqi discovered a hidden spatial rift somewhere in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They went to explore it, and haven¡¯t returned yet. It appears that girl still hasn¡¯t given up on looking for the people of the Void Pce Sect, and doesn¡¯t want to miss any opportunity that might lead to them.

    ¡°She thought that spatial rift might have some sort of connection to the vanishing of the Void Pce Sect.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve been gone for some time now. I wonder if they¡¯ve found something.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°They¡¯re not in danger, are they?¡±

    ¡°Probably not.¡± Hua Mu sounded somewhat worried himself. ¡°I wanted to go look for them, but I don¡¯t know much about spatial power, and that spatial rift looked rather special. I didn¡¯t have the confidence that I would be able to go through it.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Have you received any word of Zhao Shanling?¡±

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°The man vanishedpletely after you left. No one has seen him again in the Domain of the Falling Stars. It seems to me that he went into secluded cultivation. He was at thete Soul realm when he gained the Voidspirit Pagoda. He must want to break through into the Void domain as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°He mighte look for me once he learns about my return,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I promised him that I¡¯d take him out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Hua Mu frowned. ¡°You need to be careful with that man. I hope he won¡¯t cause you trouble and put you in a difficult position. Back when the Lei n first came here, they drove the Tool Sect out of the Realm of Unbounded Destion and destroyed his master¡¯s tombstone. Knowing his personality, I doubt that he¡¯ll let it go so easily.

    ¡°If he enters the Void domain, Lei Tianqi is probably going to be the first person he¡¯ll go after.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    Back when he had followed Zhao Shanling back to his secret base in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, Zhao Shanling had fumed with fury upon seeing his master¡¯s memorial stele shattered.

    Even though the Lei n had returned the Realm of Unbounded Destion to the Tool Sectter, that was most likely not enough to satisfy Zhao Shanling.

    The man was a maniac. As a man with no scruples, he probably wouldn¡¯t give anyone face once he gained the strength to kill Lei Tianqi.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling is always an X factor.¡± Hua Mu sighed. ¡°Luckily for us, it won¡¯t be easy to break through into the Void domain, so we don¡¯t need to worry about that potential problem for the time being.¡±

    ¡°How are you handling the Heavenly Demonsbane inside of you, Uncle Hua?¡± Nie Tian asked abruptly.

    Hua Mu¡¯s face grew grim as he answered, ¡°I can still suppress it for now, but it¡¯s destined to be a lifetime problem for me. There doesn¡¯t seem to be a solution to it yet. After all, it has taken root in between my eyebrows, and is growing stronger and stronger. I even have a feeling that the speed at which it grows beats the speed at which I make progress in my cultivation.

    ¡°Perhaps the day will eventuallye when I¡¯ll bepletely possessed, and be its puppet.

    ¡°If ites down to that, I want you to kill me without hesitation, no matter what method you have to use. If you can¡¯t find a way to kill me, do your best to drive me out of the Domain of the Falling Stars and banish me to some Demon realm or other remote area to die."

    ¡°I saw an incredibly huge nt wrapped around that continent, Uncle Hua!¡± Nie Tian went on and exined to Hua Mu, ¡°Its enormous vines seem to be keeping that continent from falling apart. Strangest of all, it seems to have intelligence. It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t been able tomunicate with it yet.¡±

    Hua Mu gasped with astonishment. ¡°A nt with vines that were as huge as mountain ranges!¡±

    He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing, ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a Heavenly Demonsbane, but perhaps it¡¯s some other ancient nt though. It¡¯s natural for a nt that huge to have its own spirit. I suppose I can go check it after you take us there, and see if I¡¯ll be able to find a way to get rid of the Heavenly Demonsbane from it.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯ll achieve the opposite result. There was this girl from the Bliss Mountain Sect who had a demonic nt growing inside of her, which had two blossoms ofpletely different colors. She somehow attracted the enormous vines¡¯ attention, and the vines vested the nt inside of her with some mysterious power, which greatly boosted its growth.¡±

    ¡°Huh?!¡± Hua Mu grew looked astonished and confused.

    Looking worried, Nie Tian continued, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s growth will elerate once you go there, and then you¡¯ll...¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Hua Mu said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try to look for that enormous nt you mentioned and that demonic flower in that girl in ancient records and see if I can find any information about them. I¡¯ve no idea what those enormous vines are, but that demonic flower you mentioned does ring a bell.

    ¡°I¡¯ll also rethink the matter of me going to that continent. I¡¯ll let you know my decision before you set out.¡±

    ¡°Alright."

    Their conversation went on as they talked about the recent changes in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After that, Hua Mu left, and Nie Tian returned to the bamboo forest.

    In the depths of the bamboo forest, Dong Li, Nie Donghai, and Nie Qian were talking andughing.

    A few Nie n youngsters were gathered around them. Those young boys and girls seemed to know Dong Li rather well, as they all called her ¡®Big Sister Dong¡¯, and from the way they talked to her, Nie Tian could tell that they liked her very much.

    Nie Donghai and Nie Qian¡¯s eyes were filled with adoration as they talked to Dong Li, as if they had already taken her as Nie Tian¡¯s wife.

    Even though Dong Li had a bad name in other realms, she was apparently very popr among these people from the Nie n, young and old.

    She woulde to talk to Nie Qian and Nie Donghai from time to time. Every time she came, she would even bring gifts for the Nie n youngsters, which had clearly won her their favor.

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes rippled with glorious light as she saw Nie Tian walk in.

    ¡°Little Tian, I think you should pay your master a visit as soon as possible,¡± Nie Donghai said with a serious expression. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be who you are today without your master. Now that you¡¯re back, you¡¯d better go visit him in the Realm of me Heaven as soon as possible. Plus, I once heard Jiang Zhisu say that he¡¯s gotten into some trouble.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d thought of visiting him too,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Nie Donghai nodded. ¡°Good.¡±

    A teleportation portal that led to the Cloudsoaring Sect had been built in the bamboo forest not so long ago.

    The Cloudsoaring Sect had provided the necessary spiritual materials and asked Zhen Hun to build it for them.

    Nie Tian turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to take a short trip to the Cloudsoaring Sect.¡±

    Dong Li smiled faintly. ¡°Sure, do what you¡¯ve got to do. I¡¯ll stay here until you return.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    The ends of Dong Li¡¯s eyebrows suddenly rose as she said, ¡°I heard that you didn¡¯te back alone.¡±

    ¡°Umm, yeah. It¡¯s a woman from the Beast-controlling Sect,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°I didn¡¯t trust her enough to leave her on that continent, so I had to bring her back here with me.¡±

    Dong Li smiled, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    However, Nie Qian said with a berating tone, ¡°Don¡¯t you dare toy with flowers and grass out there!¡± (idiom: dally with women)

    ¡°What?! No, I didn¡¯t!¡± Sulking slightly, Nie Tian rapidly walked to the teleportation portal, activated it, and arrived in the Cloudsoaring Sect.

    As soon as he walked out of the teleportation portal in the Cloudsoaring Sect, excited cheers caught his ears. ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    He looked around, and discovered that many Cloudsoaring Sect disciples were gathered in this ce, and fixing him with feverish, worshiping gazes.

    A number of air-transportation spiritual tools were berthed in a further location in the mountain valley. Li Jing from the Blood Sect, Chang Sen from the Hell Sect, and Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect were standing there, as if they had been waiting for him.

    They hadn¡¯t rushed to the Realm of Split Void earlier to meet him at the first moment like Hua Mu and the other experts had.

    They seemed to know that Nie Tian woulde visit his master in the Cloudsoaring Sect sooner orter, and thus had been waiting here.

    Nie Tian sped his hands and bowed. ¡°Greetings, seniors.¡±

    ¡°Enough pleasantries.¡± With these words, Li Jing waved her hand and pointed at the short mountain peak behind Cloudsoaring Mountain. ¡°Your master is going through some trouble. You¡¯d better go take a look now. His true soul seemed to have suffered some damage when he broke through into the Soul realm. We found him some soul-nourishing medicinal ingredients, but none of them seem to be able to help him.¡±

    ¡°Soul-nourishing pills and materials are very hard to find,¡± Fang Hui said softly. ¡°The ones we found for him were of fairly low grades, so their efficacy didn¡¯t seem to be strong enough.¡±

    ¡°Soul-nourishing...¡± Nie Tian nodded slightly before summoning the Star Boat and flying towards the back mountain.

 Chapter 783: The Wonders of Soul Crystals

    The Star Boat suddenly came to a stop as it flew close to the short mountain peak that was enveloped in a sea of white mist.

    Even from a certain distance, Nie Tian sensed an unsettling aura from it, as if time had stopped in its surroundings.

    The vast white mist seemed to be his master¡¯s sea of soul awareness, within whichy the profound truths of time power.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the white mist hadpletely blocked the mountaintop from his sight, and his master was nowhere to be seen.

    He pondered briefly, then unleashed his Heaven Eyes.

    The nine invisible Heaven Eyes floated ethereally towards the short mountain peak. As soon as they made contact with the white mist, they frozepletely.

    They seemed to be subject to time power¡¯s influence as well, as they were imprisoned in the sea of white mist.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t even have his soul awareness separate itself from the Heaven Eyes to sense Wu Ji¡¯s presence.

    However, through his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian could see some medicinal herbs and pills floating in the depths of the mist.

    Those herbs and pills, which contained faint soul power, must be the soul-nourishing materials Fang Hui, Chang Sen, and the other experts had found for Wu Ji.

    It was just that Nie Tian sensed that Wu Ji¡¯s soul awareness had split into countless wisps that were dispersed within the white mist.

    Furthermore, Wu Ji¡¯s soul awareness seemed to be in a disordered and bewildered state as it drifted around the short mountain peak, deriving enlightenment of the profound truths of time power.

    Only when Wu Ji¡¯s drifting soul awareness made contact with those floating herbs and pills would it absorb their faint soul power.

    It was as if Wu Ji had sealed his body and soul in some unfathomable space, where time was frozen.

    WHOOSH!

    Chang Sen, Fang Hui, Li Jing, and the others flew over soundlessly, and came to a stop beside the Star Boat.

    Without further approaching the short mountain peak, Chang Sen said with aplicated expression, ¡°He¡¯s been in this state for quite a while now. This short mountain peak is wreathed in time power. Even I can¡¯t get too close. I tried to approach the short mountain peak, but my body and soul started to slow down at an rming rate. I barely made it out of there.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Even you failed?!¡±

    At this time, Chang Sen from the Hell Sect had already broken through into the Soul realm, and he had been the first one in the Realm of me Heaven to do so in recent centuries.

    His breakthrough in cultivation had been as smooth as water.

    Wu Ji had entered the Soul realm after him.

    However, he had entered such a state soon after his breakthrough, as if he had failed to walk out of the field of time power he had created.

    Chang Sen gave a bitter smile. ¡°Your master practices time power, which is very rare even among the powerful experts in other domains, not to mention the Domain of the Falling Stars. It was his profound mastery of time power that allowed him to kill multiple seventh grade outsiders when he was only at the Profound realm.

    ¡°But it¡¯s also for this reason that none of us know exactly what he was going through. I only have a feeling that some mishap might have happened during his breakthrough.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Are you sure that soul-nourishing materials will be able to help him?¡±

    Chang Sen nodded. ¡°I think so, but they are very hard to find. In the Domain of the Falling Stars, there are a variety of materials that can help strengthen Worldly realm or Profound realm cultivators¡¯ souls. But cultivators at the Soul realm...¡± He sighed. ¡°The soul power in the herbs and pills we could find was very limited.¡±

    ¡°This is easy,¡± Nie Tian said.

    With these words, a number of ck crystals flew out of his ring of holding.

    Glittering like ck stars, the ck crystals of irregr shapes flew towards the short mountain peak one after another.

    Each and every one of them contained pure soul power that was incalcbly richer than the soul power in those herbs and pills.

    Fang Hui, Li Jing, and the other experts¡¯ expressions flickered drastically as they examined the crystals with their soul awareness.

    They sensed iparably rich soul power from every one of them.

    Also, such soul power didn¡¯t contain the slightest impurities, as if any living being¡¯s soul would be able absorb itpletely.

    Fang Hui couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What are those crystals, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Soul crystals,¡± Nie Tian answered casually. ¡°They can be used to refine one¡¯s true soul. ording to the experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, soul crystals are very rare, even in their domain. Luckily, I gained some, and I hope they¡¯ll be able to help my master.¡±

    The soul crystals didn¡¯t fall from the air as they were supposed to after making contact with the white mist.

    Like numerous pitch-ck stars, they floated to the depths of the mist, where they shone with mysterious ck light.

    As wisps of Wu Ji¡¯s soul awareness flew in a disorderly manner in the mist, they identally touched the soul crystals. Immediately afterwards, they somehow flew into the ck crystals, where they morphed into Wu Ji¡¯s soul shadows.

    Nie Tian had gathered more than two hundred soul crystals from the bottom of thatke. At this time, he took out fifty of them, and cast them towards the short mountain peak where Wu Ji was.

    Momentster, Wu Ji¡¯s soul shadows appeared in thirty of the soul crystals.

    From the look of it, as long as a wisp of Wu Ji¡¯s scattered soul awareness made contact with a soul crystal, it would be able to merge with it and create a soul shadow inside of it.

    Observing from a certain distance, Fang Hui and the other experts were deeply shaken as Wu Ji¡¯s soul shadows appeared in more and more of the ck crystals.

    Li Jing seemed rather envious as she said, ¡°A crystal alone can turn a wisp of soul awareness into a soul shadow... Those crystals must contain copious amounts of soul power! Plus, there isn¡¯t a shred of impurity in them. That allowed wisps of Wu Ji¡¯s soul awareness to turn into soul shadows with his appearance.

    ¡°If there were just a slight impurity in them, Wu Ji¡¯s soul shadows would flicker.¡±

    Chang Sen nodded slightly. ¡°I have a feeling that Wu Ji is still deriving enlightenment of the profound truths of time power. It¡¯s just that it takes a lot of time and energy to do so. He¡¯s lost too much of his soul power, and that¡¯s why he¡¯s in such an unfavorable state. After losing a significant amount of soul power, his true soul became feeble and unable to gather his soul awareness. He even lost the ability to extract himself from the situation.

    ¡°The soul crystals you tossed into the mist are helping his wisps of soul awareness regain their strength. The fact that his soul shadows are appearing in those soul crystals shows that he¡¯s rapidly absorbing soul power.

    ¡°I believe he¡¯ll be able to solve his problem soon with the help of those soul crystals.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A spirit beast suddenly appeared in the distant sky and flew to the short mountain peak in the blink of an eye.

    With a single nce at it, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°It¡¯s my master¡¯s Thunder Beast!¡±

    Years had passed since he had seen itst, and the fifth grade Thunder Beast had already upgraded its bloodline and entered the sixth grade.

    The strength of a sixth grade Thunder Beast matched that of a Profound realm Qi warrior.

    At this moment, the Thunder Beast¡¯s eyes were fixed on the soul crystals that were floating in the depths of the white mist. Strong desire could be seen in them. But apparently, it knew how important those soul crystals were to Wu Ji, and thus didn¡¯t dare to swoop down and take them.

    It only stared unblinkingly at them, yearning filling its eyes.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t believe this thing wants soul crystals too.¡± </i>Nie Tian snorted a smile as he waved at the Thunder Beast from afar. ¡°Come here!¡±

    The Thunder Beast recognized him, but took on a disdainful look after seeing Nie Tian waving at it, not showing the slightest intention to fly to him.

    <i>¡°Alright, since you¡¯ve saved me on a few asions...¡± </i>Smiling, Nie Tian took five soul crystals from within his ring of holding and unted them at the Thunder Beast.

    The Thunder Beast grew excited as soon as it saw the soul crystals, and swooped down from the air without hesitation.

    It seemed to know that Chang Sen, Li Jing, and the others wouldn¡¯t try to harm it, and thus didn¡¯t seem concerned at all.

    As it flew close, Nie Tian tossed the five soul crystals towards it.

    The Thunder Beast opened itsrge mouth and swallowed them at once.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, it let out a ecstatic shriek and flew past the short mountain peak into the distance, as if it were eager to refine the soul crystals.

    Li Jing was taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe spirit beasts have such a strong desire for soul crystals too.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Chang Sen said, ¡°Like us, spirit beasts also have souls. Since the soul power within those soul crystals is extremely pure, spirit beasts will be able to refine them too. As spirit beasts¡¯ souls grow more powerful, their intelligence will develop further, which in return will help them upgrade their bloodlines. It¡¯s at the sixth grade now. Those five soul crystals might be able to help it enter the seventh grade within a short time.¡±

    Fang Hui sighed. ¡°It¡¯s such a waste to bestow such precious treasures upon a spirit beast.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not a waste. It belongs to my master, and has saved me a few times.¡±

    At that moment, he sensed that Wu Ji¡¯s awareness had grown very clear within the soul crystals, as each of them now had Wu Ji¡¯s soul shadow in them.

    It was also at that moment a soul connection formed between him and Wu Ji.

 Chapter 784: Looking into the Past

    The moment a soul connection was established between Nie Tian and Wu Ji, Nie Tian realized what Wu Ji had been going through.

    Wu Ji¡¯s understanding of time power had risen to a whole new level as he had broken through into the Soul realm.

    He had entered an unfathomable state, where his soul awareness seemed to roam freely in the river of time.

    Even though Wu Ji had started to lose his soul power at an rming rate after entering this state, he had gained the ability to see into the past!

    Like a god of time, Wu Ji was actually able to see every detail of what had happened in Cloudsoaring Mountain¡¯s vicinity during the past decades.

    He paid special attention to Nie Tian and his mother, Nie Jin.

    He saw Nie Jin meet a man by ident.

    Strangely, he could only see a vague shape of that man, and was unable to get a clear view of his appearance.

    That man was the only person he couldn¡¯t see clearly.

    ording to Wu Ji, he had identally entered a peculiar state before when he had been deriving enlightenment of time power. In that state, he was able to see everyone and everything with great rity. The fact that he wasn¡¯t able to get a clear view of that man proved that that man was so powerful that even time power couldn¡¯t really affect him.

    Wu Ji saw the vague shape of a man get to know and fall in love with Nie Jin. The two of them traveled happily among mountains andkes.

    However, the man somehow disappeared shortly afterwards.

    Then, Wu Ji saw that Nie Jin was pregnant, and sullen all the time as she waited for the man¡¯s return.

    Eventually, Nie Jin failed to see the man return. She gave birth to Nie Tian and died.

    The Nie n had Nie Jin buried.

    However, none of these truly shocked Wu Ji.

    What made Wu Ji so eager tomunicate with Nie Tian when his soul awareness hadn¡¯t even regathered yet was another matter.

    It was a scene that shocked Wu Ji to his core.

    Shortly after Nie Tian¡¯s birth, Wu Ji saw that vague shape of a man again.

    He visited Nie Jin¡¯s grave where the Nie n had buried her.

    He entered Nie Jin¡¯s grave and flew out of there with Nie Jin¡¯s body. Nie Jin, who by that point had been dead for some time, looked exactly the same as when she had been alive, her skin still soft and jade-like. All of a sudden, her life force somehow reignited!

    The man then returned the grave to its original state and took Nie Jin away.

    However, the night before he left with Nie Jin for good, he went to take onest look at Nie Tian, who was still a baby.

    It was Nie Qian who was taking good care of Nie Tian.

    As the man came to Nie Tian¡¯s room carrying Nie Jin, Nie Qian somehow fell into a deep slumber, and so did all of the other Nie n members in the vicinity. None of them knew what happened.

    At that moment, Nie Jin, who had died for a long time, suddenly opened her eyes.

    After returning to life, Nie Jin looked at Nie Tian for hours.

    Wu Ji could see everything that happened in the room. He saw Nie Jin hold Nie Tian tightly in her arms and heard her weep, but he could never get a clear view of the man or hear him say a word.

    Eventually, the two of them left before dawn and vanished for good.

    This was the matter Wu Ji was eager to let Nie Tian know.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian¡¯s shoulders trembled with emotions as he slowly closed his eyes, but that didn¡¯t stop his tears from rolling down his cheeks. ¡°Mother didn¡¯t die, and he didn¡¯t fail mother...¡±

    Nie Tian had held grudges towards that man his whole life.

    Since he had noticed his unique and powerful bloodline power, he had known that he must have inherited it from that man, who must not be an ordinary person.

    However, if that man had been so special and possessed formidable strength, then why had he let mother die and done nothing?

    Why hadn¡¯t he visited him once in the Nie n in all these years?

    He had been convinced that it was that man who had failed his mother and abandoned him... until this moment.

    Now, as he learned that his mother hadn¡¯t actually died, a knot suddenly untied in his mind, like a ss barrier that shattered soundlessly.

    So the truth was that his mother was probably still alive.

    Peopleing back to life was something that existed only in legends. He had never thought it was possible.

    However, he chose to believe at this moment.

    He believed that his master was telling him the truth, and these scenes that he had been so eager to tell him about had actually happened.

    Furthermore, the more he learned about his unique bloodline, the more wondrous he realized it was.

    After refining his Life Bloodline to the limit with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal, a single drop of his blood would allow him to regenerate meridians, flesh, and bones. Didn¡¯t that mean rebirth?

    Since he had inherited his unique bloodline from that man, it didn¡¯t seempletely impossible for that man to return his mother to life.

    Now as he thought about it, he even thought that perhaps he had absorbed all of his mother¡¯s life force when he was born, which had led to his mother¡¯s premature death.

    However, it now seemed to him that perhaps his mother¡¯s so-called premature death wasn¡¯t a real one.

    Perhaps that man had known what would happen, and thus nned all this.

    Not only did such realizations create huge waves in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, but it also broke the shackles that had been stopping him from making another breakthrough in cultivation.

    His sea of awareness instantly started to surge.

    The untying of his mental knot seemed to have created another soul imprint and branded a piece of memory on his true soul, causing his state of mind to change.

    At this moment, his true soul, the nine star souls, and his sea of awareness were all changing at the same time.

    He took out a few soul crystals from within his ring of holding, and his sea of awareness took it upon itself to channel soul power from them.

    At the same time, his spiritual core and the vortexes of three different powers in his spiritual sea also showed an irrepressible desire for more power, as if they were yearning to use that power to refine and upgrade themselves.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly realized something. Then, he hastily took out a few spirit jades and spiritual materials of different attributes.

    Beside him...

    Chang Sen, Li Jing, Fang Hui, and Jiang Zhisu all fixed him with deeply puzzled gazes.

    ¡°What¡¯s...¡± Jiang Zhisu muttered, looking excited.

    Eyes narrowed, Chang Sen said, ¡°It seems that he¡¯s no longer held back by his insufficient state of mind. He¡¯s broken the barrier in his cultivation and entered the middle Worldly realm! I can only tell that a soulmunication took ce between Nie Tian and Wu Ji. But I don¡¯t know what Wu Ji has said to him that touched him so deeply that he made the breakthrough straightaway.¡±

    Fan Hui was in disbelief as he asked, ¡°How could he break through within such a short time?¡±

    Chang Sen shook his head. ¡°This is not an ident. He was full of vigor and well-prepared for his next breakthrough in cultivation when he came. His spiritual sea, sea of awareness, and fleshly body had long since been ready for his breakthrough into the middle Worldly realm. All he needed was an opportunity. Apparently, what Wu Ji told him was the opportunity he had been waiting for. With every condition met, he advanced to the middle Worldly realm smoothly.¡±

    ¡°I wonder what Wu Ji told him.¡± Fang Hui was so curious that he itched to fly to the short mountain peak right away and ask Wu Ji about it.

    However, he knew that Wu Ji had consumed a significant amount of soul power tomunicate with Nie Tian, and that he couldn¡¯t be disturbed at this moment.

    ¡°Wu Ji lives up his name as the best mentor throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡± Chang Sen marveled, admiration filling his face.

    Just a soulmunication with Wu Ji allowed Nie Tian to make a breakthrough in his cultivation right away. Wu Ji¡¯s teaching skills were indeed unmatched throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Mixed emotions rose in every expert who was gathered in this ce.

    Eyes narrowed, Fang Hui said, ¡°He had two disciples before Nie Tian, both of whom have never returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars after they left. I heard that both of them went to the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void at certain points, and have disappeared since.

    ¡°Now I can¡¯t help but wonder where they are, and what their cultivation bases are.¡±

    Fang Hui¡¯s words reminded the other experts of Wu Ji¡¯s two other disciples, who had also been very outstanding.

    Both of them had been famous for a time, but vanished like a sh in the pan.

    Fang Hui had asked Wu Ji about them before. However, whenever he had talked about them, he would grow downcast, and say that he didn¡¯t know where they were either, though he believed that they were still alive.

    At this moment, Fang Hui was very eager to know whether those two were shining like bright stars somewhere in this starry river, just like Nie Tian.

 Chapter 785: Breakthrough! Upheaval!

    Normally, minor breakthroughs in cultivation wouldn¡¯t cause heaven-shaking, earth-toppling changes. Only major breakthroughs would.

    Nie Tian made a minor breakthrough by advancing from the early Worldly realm to the middle Worldly realm.

    His breakthrough happened incredibly smoothly.

    Five soul crystals were drained of their soul power and crumbled. As the glittering powder slipped from his hand, his sea of awareness rapidly settled down.

    His true soul and the nine star souls had finished a new round of refinement.

    His nine star souls shone slightly brighter, and had grown a bit in size, but hadn¡¯t gone through any substantial changes.

    ording to the records regarding star souls in the second fragmentary star mark, star souls would develop simr features as true souls after growing to a certain point.

    Even if his true soul was eliminated, as long as one of his star souls still existed, he would be able to regather his soul and return to life.

    However, the refinement of his star souls was far from reaching such a level.

    However, his true soul had gone through some minor changes after this round of refinement.

    His true soul was originally illusory and blurry, but now that he had entered the middle Worldly realm, countless fine strands had appeared inside of it.

    Those fine strands were soul strands, which contained iparably rich soul power. Like a person¡¯s meridianwork, they filled every corner of Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    Nie Tian was suddenly enlightened.<i> ¡°After a cultivator enters the Worldly realm, their breakthroughs in cultivation will be closely rted to the refinement of his soul. Perhaps his spiritual sea won¡¯t go through noticeable changes, but his true soul will develop new and interesting traits.¡±</i>

    Subconsciously, he took out another soul crystal.

    This time, he avoided using his nine star souls, but rather tried to channel soul power from it with his true soul.

    Immediately afterwards, he saw that the soul strands within his true soul started to take in wisps of soul power like sponges absorbing water.

    The speed at which soul power was channeled into his true soul had improved significantlypared to when he had been at the early Worldly realm.

    <i>¡°So the so-called soul refinement is about gathering one¡¯s soul awareness into a true soul first. True souls are illusory and blurry at first, but as cultivators¡¯ cultivation bases advance and their true souls grows stronger, soul strands will form and spread out inside of them. Will the next step be to condense soul power into internal organ-like substances within my true soul?</i>

    <i>¡°As refinement goes on, true souls will continue to go through changes. Meridian-like soul strands wille to form, then internal organ-like soul clusters wille to form, and then true souls will gradually take on their owners¡¯ appearances. Even though true souls are illusory, they contain endless wonders...¡±</i>

    Nie Tian paid close attention to the changes his true soul was going through, and quickly realized what the focus of his future cultivation would be, as if he had foreseen what changes his true soul would go through after his future breakthroughs.

    Wu Ji had never told him what changes he would go through with every breakthrough he made.

    However, as he actually made these breakthroughs, he realized that he didn¡¯t need anyone to tell him anything. What was supposed to happen would happen. All he needed to do was ept it.

    Then, Nie Tian refocused his soul awareness on his spiritual sea.

    After the breakthrough, his spiritual core was still only the size of a fist, and filled with liquidized spiritual power that flowed within it like water.

    Even though the size of his spiritual core hadn¡¯t gone through any noticeable changes, he felt that the amount of spiritual power it could hold had increased several times over.

    His spiritual core had been filled to the brim with spiritual power before he had made his breakthrough.

    However, at this moment, he saw that his spiritual core was only one fifth full now, which meant that even though the size of his spiritual core hadn¡¯t changed, its capacity had increased fivefold.

    If he filled his spiritual core with spiritual power now, he would have five times more spiritual power at his disposal than before.

    Afterwards, he focused his attention on his vortexes of three different attributes.

    The three vortexes were spinning unceasingly. The spiritualke at the bottom of each vortex had expanded to three times their original size.

    Whether it was his spiritual core or the spiritualkes at the bottom of the three vortexes, they were all filled with liquidized power.

    Compared to gaseous spiritual power, liquidized spiritual power was much more concentrated and refined.

    Then, his focus moved on to the Nine Stars Flower at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    To his surprise, he discovered that a new blossom hade to shine brightly and purely on the nt, where there had only been three before.

    Each of the four blossoms seemed like a star-filled domain that had shrunk a million times over, with countless sparks flickering in them.

    Taken aback, he withdrew his soul awareness.

    Without him noticing it, the bottom of the Star Boat that he was standing on was already covered in crystalline powder.

    Chang Sen, Fang Hui, and the other experts had guarded him for days without interrupting him.

    During this time, they had witnessed Nie Tian take out and madly channel power from soul crystals, spirit jades, Star Stones, and spiritual materials that contained me power and wood power.

    Now, after taking in and refining a significant amount of each power, the violent changes inside of him had finally settled down.

    That was when Chang Sen and the other experts realized that he had entered the stable phase of his new cultivation base.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li¡¯s loud exmation suddenly echoed out from Cloudsoaring Mountain¡¯s direction and caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    Nie Tian, who had just finished with his breakthrough, was taken aback, unsure of why she hade.

    However, he soon saw Dong Li flying over at full speed on an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Something didn¡¯t seem right.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯d wait for me in the Realm of Split Void?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Master Zhen has died...¡± Dong Li said in a soft voice.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°What!?!?¡±

    ording to Hua Mu, Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi had discovered a secret spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They had assumed that it had something to do with the disappearance of the Void Pce Sect, and thus had gone through it to explore the ce it led to.

    Why would Zhen Hun die all of a sudden?

    Dong Li¡¯s face was very grim as she said, ¡°Master Zhen¡¯s dead body seems to have flown out of one of the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. People from the Blood Skull found her, but Pei Qiqi hasn¡¯t shown up yet.¡±

    Strong grief rapidly consumed Nie Tian.

    He couldn¡¯t help but remember the days when he had left the Realm of me Heaven to live in Shatter City.

    There, he had be friends with Li Ye and Pei Qiqi, and Zhen Hun had always secretly looked after him.

    Without Zhen Hun to take him in, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive in Shatter City by himself. Ever since then, Zhen Hun had stood by him and provided him with unconditional help when Hua Mu hadn¡¯t been around.

    It was Zhen Hun who had taken him to the mysterious dimension that consisted of two parallel continents.

    Afterwards, when they had faced great danger, it was Zhen Hun who had stayed and single-handedly fought multiple experts from the Spirit God Sect and the me God Sect so that he and Pei Qiqi could escape.

    All these years, Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi had helped him on many asions.

    He had never ever expected that Zhen Hun would die so suddenly.

    Zhen Hun was Hua Mu¡¯s soul mate. Hua Mu had been through a lot before finally gaining a Fruit of Life recently and solving his lifespan problem, yet she had somehow died a mysterious death.

    Besides, she was Qi Bailu and Zhao Shanling¡¯s junior martial sister.

    It was her who had taken Li Ye in as her disciple and raised him for Li Muyang from the Yang Sect and Xing Huanyue from the Yin Sect.

    Her death grieved Nie Tian, and would surely sadden Hua Mu and the others beyond measure as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± With a grieved expression, Nie Tian jumped onto Dong Li¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool. They dashed back to the teleportation portal in the Cloudsoaring Sect, through which they returned to the bamboo forest in the Realm of Split Void.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, Nie Donghai said weakly, ¡°Master Zhen helped you significantly, Little Tian.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded solemnly. ¡°I know.¡±

    He summoned the Star Boat and flew to the Void Illusion Mountain Range at full speed.

    In a remote corner of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Zhen Hun¡¯s ice-cold body was ced under numerous interweaving spatial rifts.

    Hua Mu, Li Ye, Qi Bailu, Li Muyang, and Xing Huanyue must have received the news earlier, and were now gathered in front of her.

    Hua Mu trembled unceasingly as he looked at Zhen Hun¡¯s body.

    Li Ye was on his knees, wailing.

    Qi Bailu didn¡¯t make a sound, but the mes of fury filled his eyes.

    Nie Tian jumped off the Star Boat. A shudder ran through him as soon as he took a look at Zhen Hun¡¯s corpse.

    Zhen Hun¡¯s corpse was ced on the ground face-down. Her entire back was covered in gashes that cut to the bone, which were still exuding frost power and making her corpse icy.

    Fierce residual sword intent was stilling from the gashes, as if it hadn¡¯tpletely dispersed even after so long.

    Upon a closer look, the gashes were clearly created by a sharp sword, and together they formed the pattern of a mountain peak nted with numerous straight swords.

    Nie Tian let out a furious roar. ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect!¡±

    He had seen simr patterns on the garments of Ke Jinpeng, Sha Yan, and the other Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples.

    He instantly realized that the person who had murdered Zhen Hun was from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect was from the Domain of Heaven Python, which was a human domain that was even more powerful than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

 Chapter 786: A Decision Made

    Hua Mu leveled his gaze to look at Nie Tian. Strong killing intent brimming his eyes, he asked, ¡°What do you know about the Thousandsword Mountain Sect?¡±

    The others also threw inquiring gazes towards Nie Tian.

    None of them had expected that Nie Tian would be able to tell the identity of the man who had murdered Zhen Hun with a single nce at the pattern of gashes on her back.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said without holding anything back, ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect is from the Domain of Heaven Python, which is even more powerful than the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. As far as I know, they have Saint domain experts.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone present gasped with astonishment. ¡°Saint domain experts?!¡±

    In their eyes, the five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were already colossi with overwhelming power.

    Even the Lei n, which was one of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate forces, had early Void domain experts like Lei Tianqi. The most powerful expert the Divine me Sect had was at thete Void domain, and they had other Void domain experts like Yue Yanxi.

    If the Divine me Sect were to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars, considering the battle prowess of the experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Falling Stars would fall within days.

    The experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting any of the eight major powers from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, much less the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, which had Saint domain experts.

    Only after a moment of hesitation did Hua Mu say with great determination, ¡°I shall have my revenge even if they have Saint domain experts! I¡¯ll go to whatever ce that spatial rift leads to and find out who killed her!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll go with you,¡± Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue chorused.

    The couple was very grateful for what Zhen Hun had done for Li Ye. If she hadn¡¯t taken him into her arms to teach and raise him, Li Ye wouldn¡¯t have be the man he was today. They owed a great deal to her.

    Upon hearing that his parents were determined to go, Li Ye¡¯s eyes reddened as he shouted, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you too!¡±

    With irrefutable authority in his eyes, Li Muyang said to Li Ye, ¡°No, you won¡¯t! You¡¯re not like the others. Fighting isn¡¯t your specialty. You just need to focus on equipment forging. Only by doing that will you be able to make the best of your talent and maximize your impact in the wars toe.¡±

    With a loving expression, Xing Huanyue chimed in, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll find the murderer and avenge your master.¡±

    ¡°But we don¡¯t know whether senior martial sister is still alive not,¡± Li Ye said urgently. ¡°I need to find her too!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll take care of it!¡± Li Muyang said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect said in a low voice.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go too.¡±

    ¡°You?¡± Qi Bailu went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°You have other important matters to tend to. You¡¯ll have to be there to take people from the Domain of the Falling Stars to that floating continent.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± Nie Tian said with a stern face. ¡°Senior Zhen¡¯s kindness towards me is beyond words. I can¡¯t put my heart at ease if I don¡¯t go. I¡¯ll take the chosen ones to the floating continent in that forbidden region as soon as possible. Then, I¡¯ll return immediately afterwards, and go to that ce with you to see what actually happened there.¡±

    Dong Li, who was standing beside him, wished to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    She thought that now that they had confirmed that it was people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect who had killed Zhen Hun and they had Saint domain experts, it was very unwise to go through that spatial rift at this time.

    The wise thing to do would be to seal that spatial rift to keep the powerful experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect froming to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Afterwards, the major sects should do their utmost to improve their battle prowess.

    When the day came that Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the other Soul realm experts entered the Void domain, and they possessed the strength to fight the powerful experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, then they could reopen the spatial rift and seek revenge with the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    But she also knew that she was only able to look at this matter objectively because she didn¡¯t have any emotional ties with Zhen Hun or Pei Qiqi.

    However, Hua Mu and many of the others had been deeply involved with her. Seeing her body in such a tragic state, how could they maintain their objectivity?

    Knowing the emotional bond between Nie Tian and Zhen Hun, she didn¡¯t try to stop him, even though she believed that the decision they were making wasn¡¯t a wise one.

    With his eyes fixed on one of the spatial rifts in the air, Qi Bailu said, ¡°The spatial rift is jammed and inessible at the moment. We need someone very skilled in spatial magics to clear it for us. No one understands spatial magics better than my junior martial sister, perhaps except only Zhao Shanling. But now that she¡¯s gone, we¡¯ll have to find someone else to do it.¡±

    An exmation escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth, ¡°Zhao Shanling!?¡±

    Zhao Shanling had been able to seal those six spatial rifts. Now that he had obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda, his strength must have advanced by leaps and bounds. It would be a piece of cake for him to clear the spatial rift that led to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s territory.

    The only problem was that the man had disappeared for a long time, and no one knew his whereabouts.

    Qi Bailu pondered briefly before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll spread word of junior martial sister¡¯s death to every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars. As long as he isn¡¯t in the middle of an extended session of secluded cultivation, he¡¯ll learn of her death soon.

    ¡°Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t care if I had died, but he would definitely not sit with his hands wrung after hearing about junior martial sister¡¯s death.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    People said that Zhao Shanling had a stony heart, and even refused to have anything to do with his older brother, Zhao Luofeng.

    However, Nie Tian knew that that wasn¡¯t the truth.

    He had seen Zhao Shanling¡¯s fury after learning that the Lei n had shattered his master¡¯s stele.

    He had done many things with Zhao Shanling over the years, and had gradually realized that, other than his master, Xu Yinglong, Zhao Shanling actually cared a great deal about his junior martial sister, Zhen Hun, too.

    If he learned that people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had killed Zhen Hun, and her avengers needed him to clear a spatial rift, he would most likely show up.

    ¡°Okay, please do that, Senior Qi. We¡¯ll wait for Zhao Shanling to show up.¡± With these words, Nie Tian sprang to his feet. ¡°Please tell all of the sects to get their chosen ones to the pce as soon as possible. I¡¯ll take them to the continent, where they¡¯ll be able to derive enlightenment of the five elemental powers.¡±

    ¡°The Spirit Condor will take care of that,¡± Hua Mu said.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll head there first and wait there.¡± With these words, Nie Tian waved his hands at Dong Li, and Dong Li flew into the Star Boat. Then, the Star Boat soared into the heavens.

    Standing inside the dashing Star Boat, Dong Li sighed weakly and said, ¡°Your decision isn¡¯t a wise one. Auntie told me that you killed several experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect with the help of some special spell formation on that continent of yours. Then, you told the people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and Divine me Sect to keep this a secret for you.

    ¡°I suppose that even though you¡¯ve gained control of that magical continent, you don¡¯t want to go to war with the Thousandsword Mountain Sect so soon.

    ¡°That was a smart move, but why didn¡¯t you adopt the same thought this time?

    ¡°A sect that has Saint domain experts is by no means insignificant. They could even be connected to some colossus like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They don¡¯t necessarily need to be apprehensive of you.

    ¡°Besides, you killed five Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. You should actually try your best to avoid contact with them.

    ¡°So I think...¡±

    Nie Tian interrupted her before she could finish. ¡°These are different times. I would have definitely avoided contact with the Thousandsword Mountain Sect if Master Zhen hadn¡¯t died at their hands.¡±

    Dong Li seemed deeply worried as she countered, ¡°But they have Saint domain experts!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Their Saint domain experts may not stay in the Thousandsword Mountain Sect all the time. Even they do, they¡¯re probably in secluded cultivation most of the time. They wouldn¡¯te out of their secluded cultivation unless their entire sect was in danger. In their eyes, Master Zhen¡¯s death is probably just a trivial matter, which none of their Saint domain experts would attach importance to.¡±

    ¡°Even if you won¡¯t have to deal with Saint domain experts, there¡¯ll still be Void domain experts.¡± Dong Li still seemed very worried.

    ¡°They¡¯ve lost five of their Void domain experts already,¡± Nie Tian said with an icy face. ¡°I refuse to believe that they have countless Void domain experts! Also, I¡¯ve examined the residual sword intent in Master Zhen¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t a Void domain expert¡¯s doing. The murderer¡¯s cultivation base can¡¯t be higher than thete Soul realm.

    ¡°All we¡¯re going to do there is find and kill the murderer, and determine whether senior martial sister Pei is still alive. We¡¯ll bring her back if she¡¯s still alive.¡±

    Seeing that he had already made up his mind, Dong Li realized that she wouldn¡¯t be able to change it, and thus said, ¡°Do you want me to go with you?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°you should go to that continent and focus on your cultivation.¡±

    Even though he seemed confident in this operation, he knew perfectly well that plenty of uncertaintiesy ahead.

    It was possible that the spatial rift would lead them right into the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    If that was the case, the moment they got there, they¡¯d face numerous powerful experts of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    That was the reason why he didn¡¯t want Dong Li to go with them. There was simply too much risk.

    By the time the Star Boat flew to the pce, Nie Tian nced down and instantly spotted Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect. It had only been a few days, but she seemed to have finished examining the Realm of Split Void, and been waiting for him.

    The Star Boat came to a stop, and Dong Li flew off it in a graceful manner. With an unpleasant expression, she ran her bright eyes up and down Yin Yanan.

    Frowning, Yin Yanan examined her carefully as well, and then asked, ¡°What incantation do you practice? Why do you have a powerful ck phoenix¡¯s spirit inside of you?¡±

 Chapter 787: Historic Connections

    Dong Li gave an arrogant smile, which blossomed on her face like countless gorgeous flowers. ¡°Why does it concern you what incantation I practice?¡±

    She had taken notice of Yin Yanan and wondered what her rtionship with Nie Tian was since the day she had learned that Nie Tian had returned with a young woman.

    However, since Yin Yanan had left shortly after arriving, she hadn¡¯t had a chance to see her in person.

    However, now as she saw Yin Yanan, she instantly realized who she was.

    Even though she knew that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t the kind of man who liked to dally with women, he was so special. It was inevitable that some women would throw themselves at him.

    She assumed that Yin Yanan fell into that category.

    ¡°They may actually have something to do with my sect,¡± Yin Yanan said with a serious expression.

    She hadn¡¯t visited any other realms after parting with Nie Tian. Instead, she had only visited Shatter City, the Land of the Abandoned, and Ash City. But by doing that, she had gained a fairly good understanding of the situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Even though the situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars wasn¡¯t exactly how she had expected it, and there were actually some talented cultivators here, most of them weren¡¯t powerful enough to raise her eyebrows.

    However, she was surprised as she sensed the soul aura of a ck phoenix from Dong Li.

    The incantation Dong Li used to refine spirit beast Blood Essence and souls seemed to share quite a few simrities with the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s incantations.

    She had a feeling that their incantations might have some historic connections.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m from the Beast-controlling Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Yin Yanan exined. ¡°My sect is known for our ability to control spirit beasts. However, it isn¡¯t our way to kill the spirit beasts and refine their souls into ourselves. For us, spirit beasts are our partners, who we canmunicate with and seek help from in battle.

    ¡°A handful of our cultivation techniques even allow us to merge our souls with our spirit beasts¡¯ and practice cultivation with their help.

    ¡°Meanwhile, our spirit beasts will be able to upgrade their bloodlines at faster rates under our control.

    ¡°Your way is to kill the spirit beasts and seal their souls inside of you, so that you can use them to improve your battle prowess. Undoubtedly, that¡¯s an interesting method as well. However, after losing their fleshly bodies and being sealed inside of you, your spirit beasts won¡¯t be able to upgrade their bloodlines anymore. The best they can do is recover to the level of strength they had when they were alive.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°How do you know all that?¡±

    What Yin Yanan had said was all true.

    Normally, after she refined spirit beasts into beast spirits, they would lose significant amounts of their strength. Even if she did everything she could to help them recover, very few of them could recover the same battle prowess they had had when they had been alive.

    Also, they indeed wouldn¡¯t have any chance at upgrading their bloodlines.

    However, if beast spirits no longer matched their masters¡¯ cultivation bases, they would be abandoned and reced by beast spirits that were more powerful.

    Yin Yanan was careful with her choice of words as she said, ¡°I believe the incantation you practice has historic connections with my sect. People in our sect zed a new path and developed simr cultivation methods. They refined powerful spirit beasts and sealed their beast spirits in themselves. By doing this, they were able to improve their battle prowess within a short period of time, but couldn¡¯t enjoy sustainable growth.

    ¡°Later, our sect banned such cultivation methods and banished the disciples who had developed and used them.

    ¡°It¡¯s very likely that the incantation you practice came from those people.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s face grew icy as she asked, ¡°What are you saying?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean any disrespect,¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°I only meant that our incantation aims at choosing young spirit beasts with great potential and allowing us to grow with them. This allows our spirit beasts to upgrade their bloodlines as time goes by. As they be stronger and stronger, their masters will too.

    ¡°Since our sects seem to have historic bonds, I suppose we can help you make some adjustments to your incantations.¡±

    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary!¡± Dong Li said with a cold snort.

    Nie Tian, who had been standing to the side and listening to the girls¡¯ conversation, realized that Yin Yanan believed that the Beast Spirit Incantation the Dong n members practiced hade from a group of Qi warriors from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    In her eyes, the Beast Spirit Incantation was not the right way to go, and she showed intentions to help Dong Li and the Dong n perfect their Beast Spirit Incantation.

    After briefly pondering Yin Yanan¡¯s words, Nie Tian realized that the Dong n¡¯s Beast Spirit Incantation would allow cultivators to greatly improve their battle prowess within a short period of time, but it wouldn¡¯t be able to provide sustainable growth.

    Therefore, it was understandable that she considered the Dong n¡¯s Beast Spirit Incantation to be the product of a wrong approach.

    ¡°I¡¯m only telling you this because of your rtionship with Nie Tian. But if you don¡¯t want our help, just ignore it then.¡± Yin Yanan didn¡¯t insist.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll send for the Dong n¡¯s nmaster. You can have a talk with him.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! There isn¡¯t anything wrong with our n¡¯s incantation. Why do you listen to her?¡± Dong Li sounded disgruntled.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say there was,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°but it won¡¯t hurt tomunicate with the Beast-controlling Sect. If you can actually improve your Beast Spirit Incantation and find new cultivation directions with their help, perhaps it¡¯ll help your patriarch enter the Void domain more smoothly in the future. Besides, no one in your n has entered the Void domain yet, but many of the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s disciples have long since entered the Void domain.¡±

    Dong Li fell silent.

    Now that Nie Tian had reminded her that the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s incantations and techniques might be able to help Dong Wangling and other Dong n members, she wouldn¡¯t stand in the way of that, no matter how much she disliked Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°Good, I¡¯d like to have a talk with the Dong n¡¯s nmaster. You know what, those who were expelled from our sect were the son of ourst sectmaster and his subordinates. Interestingly, both ourst sectmaster and current sectmaster have Dong as their surname.

    ¡°Ourst sectmaster regretted his decision on his deathbed. He said that his approach was too harsh. He reflected on the matter and realized that there were actually some redeeming qualities in those kinds of incantations.

    ¡°However, those cultivation techniques died out in our sect after the people who had invented them vanished.¡±

    Dong Li was surprised by these words. ¡°Both yourst and current sectmaster have Dong as their surname?!¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded slightly. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    This also took Nie Tian by surprise.

    If this was indeed the case, then the Dong n¡¯s Beast Spirit Incantation had most likelye from the son of that former sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect, who had been banished.

    From the look of it, there was indeed a deep historic connection between the Beast-controlling Sect and the Dong n.

    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for the Dong n¡¯s patriarch toe here as soon as possible!¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t say anything.

    A few hourster, Dong Wangling rushed to the Realm of a Hundred Battles with Dong Qianqi, Dong Baijie, and a handful of others.

    After having a conversation with Yin Yanan, Dong Wangling decided to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with Yin Yanan through the Lei n¡¯s teleportation portal, so that he could expand on the matter with their current sectmaster.

    Considering Yin Yanan was the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s chosen one, and the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect weren¡¯t enemies, Lei Tianqi would be d to grant them passage. Not to mention he would have to give Nie Tian face.

    Meanwhile, the Dong n arranged for Dong Li and Dong Baijie to follow Nie Tian to that magical continent to derive enlightenment from its profound mysteries.

    Shortly afterwards, Xuan Ke and Xuan Yue from the Ice Pavilion Sect arrived, along with Qin Yan, Qian Xin, Cao Qiushui, and Gu Haofeng from the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    The Yin Sect and the Yang Sect sent Ye Qin and Chen Hao over.

    Other major sects also sent their most talented chosen ones sessively, hoping Nie Tian would take them to that heaven and earth, where they could derive enlightenment and progress in their cultivation much more efficiently.

    At the same time, all of their Soul realm experts had learned about Zhen Hun¡¯s death, and worried that the Domain of the Falling Stars would face another invasion once the spatial rift was cleared. Therefore, they had all decided to stay and prepare forbat.

    After all was in order, Nie Tian ushered the chosen ones, as well as a few members of the Nie n and the An Shiyi and An Ying sisters, through the pce gate to the teleportation portal, through which they teleported to the magical continent.

    On the other side, after everyone else stepped out of the teleportation portal, Nie Tian remained in the spell formation and ced his hand on the control board in an attempt to set the portal to the other set of coordinates.

    He still didn¡¯t know where the second set of coordinates led to.

    Now that he had entered the middle Worldly realm, he figured that he might try and see if the restrictions had been lifted.

    However, he once again failed to get the second set of coordinates in focus.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°From the look of it, I¡¯ll have to wait till I enter the Profound realm to try again.¡±

    Then, he pushed the stone gate open to allow those who hade with him toe out. He told them about the unique features of this continent, the secret magics that were branded in each of the regions, and the atmosphere of deadly auras and energies that surrounded this continent.

    ¡°Such rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth!¡± the crowd eximed the moment they stepped through the stone gate.

    At this moment, a figure suddenly whizzed over. Face covered by a veil, the person barked, ¡°Nie Tian! When are you getting me out of here?¡±

    It was none other than Mu Biqiong, who had sensed the massive spiritual power fluctuations in this location, and thus realized that arge number of Qi warriors had arrived.

    ¡°Who is she?¡± Dong Li asked coldly.

    ¡°My prisoner,¡± Nie Tian answered casually before turning to Mu Biqiong and saying, ¡°I have other matters to attend to, and I¡¯m not going to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries yet. So you¡¯ll stay here and behave yourself.¡±

    A fierce look filled Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Yin Yanan?¡±

    Nie Tian examined her carefully, and realized that she had already entered thete Worldly realm after pulling through her previous tribtion with the demonic nt. Now, she was wreathed in a dangerous aura.

    Mu Biqiong hated Yin Yanan¡¯s guts for stripping her and tearing her veil off, and had been waiting for an opportunity to settle it with her.

    ¡°She¡¯ll take a different route back to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°You just wait here. I¡¯ll take you back soon enough.¡±

    Mu Biqiong pondered in silence for a few seconds before turning around and leaving without a word.

    Dong Baijie stepped over and said in a low voice, ¡°That woman seems a bit dangerous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. She won¡¯t dare to act recklessly here.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned to the crowd of youngsters and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about her. You just practice cultivation and do what you have to do.¡±

    Afterwards, Nie Tian returned to the pce by himself and teleported back to the Realm of Split Void.

    By the time he flew to the Void Illusion Mountain Range on his Star Boat, Zhao Shanling had already finished stabilizing and clearing the spatial rift with his Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Upon seeing him, Zhao Shanling said with a seemingly calm face, ¡°Your timing is perfect. I¡¯m going first.¡±

    With these words, he flew into the spatial rift without the slightest hesitation.

    The others followed along.

 Chapter 788: A Burial Ground

    Nie Tian and the experts flew out of a spatial rift one after another into the depths of a mountain valley that was wreathed in an aura of death.

    No suns, moons, or stars could be seen in the sky, which was filled with heavy, grayish-brown clouds. The few mountains in the surroundings weren¡¯t very tall, yet they exuded an aura that could wither all things.

    With a closer look, Nie Tian discovered that the mountains were actually made of countless pale-gray skeletons.

    At this moment, the glowing spatial rift they had just flown out of started to flicker and shrink down, and soon became hard to notice.

    This ce made everyone veryfortable.

    There wasn¡¯t a shred of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here. The air they breathed into their lungs carried a noticeable aura of death.

    Looking at the vanishing spatial rift, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°This spatial rift won¡¯t stay open forever. It seems to me that this ce isn¡¯t a human realm, but rather the territory of the Bonebrutes.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling squinted and unleashed his Death Reign.

    He had forged his Death Reign by refining a magical item he had discovered in the Realm of Unbounded Destion with unique methods. That item seemed to have belonged to Bonebrutes.

    The misty Death Reign then rose from the top of Zhao Shanling¡¯s head and floated towards the nearby mountains of bones.

    The Death Reign looked like a gray, spinning vortex in whichy the profound truths of death power. As it approached the mountains of bones, numerous wisps of pale-gray smoke rose from them.

    As the wisps of smoke rapidly merged with the Death Reign, it expanded at a noticeable rate.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    After smoke stopped rising from the mountains of bones, the bones shattered, and the mountains they were piled into toppled.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes glittered as he said with a deep frown, ¡°Those mountains of bones contain death power, which normally only resides in the deceased. And the skeletons that are piled into them are mostly human skeletons.¡±

    Face very grim, Hua Mu said, ¡°All of these are mountains of human skeletons?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Hua Mu took a deep breath to calm himself then said, ¡°Since Hun¡¯s body flew through this spatial rift into the Void Illusion Mountain Range, people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect must have been here at some point. If this is the Bonebrutes¡¯ territory, then what were Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples doing here? Also, they must have known that these are mountains of human skeletons, so why didn¡¯t they fight the Bonebrutes, but kill Hun instead?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhao Shanling was puzzled as well.

    ¡°Bonebrutes¡¯ territory... Mountains of skeletons...¡± Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before summoning the Bone Blood Demon from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the enormous Bone Blood Demon appeared, the death Qi that filled this heaven and earth started to converge on it without any effort of its own.

    Wisp after wisp of death Qi flew into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s translucent, jade-like bones, where they turned into some mysterious power and started to strengthen the bones.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Without Nie Tian telling it what to do, the Bone Blood Demon strode forward, as if it were following its nature.

    Nie Tian went nk briefly, and then followed along.

    Hua Mu and the other experts were also taken aback, and followed along, hoping to see where the Bone Blood Demon was going.

    Zhao Shanling was the only one who stayed in ce. With his unfathomable eyes, he watched the spatial rift grow faint and vanishpletely. Then, he left a special mark of his own.

    He knew very well that the spatial rift hadn¡¯t vanished for good.

    After some time, it would reappear in this ce, but not for long.

    ¡°A strangely variable spatial rift...¡± He pondered briefly before going after Nie Tian and the others.

    After passing a few toppled mountains of bones, the Bone Blood Demon came to an open area that was filled with scattered pale-gray skeletons, and in the middle of the sea of bones stood an altar of bones.

    The Bone Blood Demon flew over andnded on the altar of bones in the blink of an eye.

    As its enormous body of translucent, jade-like bonesnded heavily on the hexagonal altar, the alter seemed to be activated, and started channeling death power from its surroundings.

    Wisps of death power rapidly rose from the countless skeletons in the vicinity.

    One after another, they streamed towards the altar of bones, through which they infused into the Bone Blood Demon like streams of water.

    Hua Mu and the other experts stood by the perimeter of the sea of skeletons. They tried to enter, but after taking a few steps forward, their expressions flickered as they hastily backed out.

    Enveloping the sea of skeletons was not only pale-gray death Qi, but also a noxious aura that corpses had produced.

    As powerful as Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the other experts were, they had great difficulty warding off the raging death Qi and noxious aura with their spiritual power wards.

    Nie Tian felt even more ufortable after entering the sea of skeletons.

    His unique Life Bloodline seemed to be very repulsive to the raging death Qi and noxious aura that enveloped the entire area. He kept losing his flesh aura standing in the sea of skeletons.

    Therefore, he backed out of it as well.

    Eyes narrowed, he sensed by relying on his profound connection with the Bone Blood Demon that it seemed to be refining its body with the help of the altar of bones and the death power it channeled from its surroundings.

    The Bone Blood Demon was made from a dead Bonebrute. Its bones had been badly damaged and fractured in many ces during its death.

    After the Blood Sect had gained it, no matter what means they had tried, they had been unable to fix its ruptured bones.

    Later, Nie Tian had awakened it. Over the years, it had fought side by side with him and gathered copious flesh power from high grade outsiders. However, the damaged bones still hadn¡¯t healed.

    At this moment, however, as the Bone Blood Demon continued to take death power into itself, its ruptured bones started to heal, as if it had finally found the right recipe.

    ¡°This is one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ burial grounds,¡± Qi Bailu suddenly said.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°It¡¯s a burial ground?¡±

    Qi Bailu nodded slightly. ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion used to be a burial ground of the Bonebrutes¡¯ too. Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodlines carry the profound truths of death power. The upgrade of their bloodline greatly relies on their umtion of death power. However, death power is very different from most other types of power.

    ¡°Death power can only be born in dead creatures.

    ¡°And Bonebrutes can only practice cultivation in burial grounds like this one. When they suffer serious injuries, they¡¯ll also need to recover with the help of these burial grounds.

    ¡°There are countless domains and realms in this starry river, but there are very few ces that can help Bonebrutes upgrade their bloodline at a fast rate.

    ¡°Plus, there aren¡¯t any spiritual materials or medicines that contain death power. Therefore, this unique race can only strengthen themselves or recover in their burial grounds.

    ¡°These burial grounds don¡¯t form naturally. They would have to constantly fill ces with fresh corpses and allow the corpses to release death Qi. Only after this goes on for a long time will these ces be a Bonebrute burial ground.

    ¡°Therefore, the Bonebrutes and their cultivation methods are not only detested by humans, but by Demons, Fiends, and other outsider races too.¡±

    Qi Bailu went silent for a moment before continuing, ¡°Most of the skeletons here seem to belong to humans. They were either ughtered by Bonebrutes or...¡±

    ¡°Or what?¡± Hua Mu asked.

    ¡°Or put here by the Thousandsword Mountain Sect,¡± Qiao Bailu said, hate and detestation filling his eyes.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression instantly changed. ¡°They put some of the corpses here?!¡±

    Qi Bailu sighed. ¡°We humans are better at repopting than any outsider race. Over the years, humans have always been the main source of corpses when Bonebrutes build their burial grounds. None of the outsider races has a poption that can bepared to ours, so they attach great importance to every one of their members. If the Bonebrutes dare to build burial grounds with their members, they would surely provoke mass retaliation.

    ¡°Only humans are great in numbers and constantly fight among ourselves, so the deaths of a small number of us won¡¯t attract much attention.

    ¡°Since people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect havee here at certain points, they must be somehow involved... I bet the humans corpses here are their doing.

    ¡°They must have some secret agreement with the Bonebrutes!¡±

    As the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, which was based in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, Qi Bailu clearly had a fairly deep understanding of Bonebrutes.

    Bitter hatred filled Xing Huanyue¡¯s voice as she said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe those people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect are actually shipping the corpses of their kind here to build a burial ground for the Bonebrutes. They¡¯re even worse than monsters!¡±

    Furious, Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°Hun and Qiqi must have discovered what they were doing, so they put their murderous hands on them!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was also very grim as he spat, ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect!¡±

 Chapter 789: Death Depot

    Li Muyang pondered briefly, then asked with a confused expression, ¡°But why would they toss Master Zhen¡¯s body into that spatial rift after killing her?

    ¡°If our spection is correct and it¡¯s really them who put all these human corpses here, they should do everything they can to keep this ce a secret, right?¡±

    Xing Huanyue calmed down and chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right. Their doing will provoke the wrath of Heaven and the anger of men. (idiom: provoke widespread indignation and discontent) Once it¡¯s exposed, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s name would be dragged through the mud. I believe many human powers would condemn them after learning about their unspeakable collusion with the Bonebrutes.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian chimed in. ¡°They should have done everything within their power to keep this secret.¡±

    ¡°Junior martial sister was not necessarily thrown into that spatial rift by people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a grim face.

    Nie Tian¡¯s gaze naturallynded on him.

    With an icy look in his eyes, Zhao Shanling exined, ¡°Junior martial sister was well-versed in all kinds of spatial magics. There¡¯s a short-distance escape magic among the magics our master taught us. It¡¯s just that it¡¯ll inflict great damage on the caster who uses that escape magic, so even I wouldn¡¯t use it unless I was in a desperate situation.¡±

    After spending a moment tob through his thoughts, he continued, ¡°Perhaps junior martial sister had already sustained heavy injuries by the time she resorted to that escape magic. By the time she got to the spatial rift, she was in critical condition.

    ¡°That spatial rift is very special too. It appears and vanishes from time to time. Perhaps junior martial sister flew into the spatial rift and jammed it with herst remaining strength.

    ¡°By the time she had done all that, the me of her life force went out, and she died.

    ¡°I think this is one of the possibilities.¡±

    These words enlightened Hua Mu, and he asked, ¡°Do you mean Hun actually escaped the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s blockade and flew into the spatial rift right before she died? And she used up herst bit of strength to do that so that she could warn us? Or she hoped that even if she died, her body would lead us to this ce?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s possible,¡± Zhao Shanling answered. ¡°But we¡¯ll have to find someone from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect to confirm our spections.¡±

    With these words, he exploded skywards.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, Zhao Shanling¡¯s immense soul awareness spread in all directions like an enormous.

    Immediately afterwards, Hua Mu and the others also flew off in different directions to search this heaven and earth for Bonebrutes or Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples.

    Now that they were already on it, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel the need to do it himself.

    He assumed that the five Soul realm experts would be able to finish scanning every inch of this ce within a short time.

    Therefore, he just stayed there and watched the Bone Blood Demon.

    The Bone Blood Demon was still standing in the middle of the altar of bones and madly channeling pale-gray death power from the surrounding skeletons with the help of the altar.

    Originally, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s backbone had been ruptured in multiple ces. Now, after it had absorbed a copious amount of death power, the ruptured parts gradually healed, as if they were being reforged.

    ¡°The Bonebrutes¡¯ indestructible form!¡± Nie Tian let out a soft exmation.

    He realized that this powerful Bonebrute must have gained its indestructible form when it had been alive.

    Now that it had absorbed a significant amount of death power, its indestructible form was once again activated, allowing it to heal its damaged bones with the death power in this ce.

    As the sea of bones was gradually drained of its death power, the very ufortable feeling was relieved to a great deal.

    He took a step forward.

    BOOM!

    The skeleton he stepped on instantly shattered.

    As he continued to step forward, more bones shattered under his feet, as they were bereft of any death power.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s exmation echoed out in a distant location. ¡°Over here!¡±

    Nie Tian shot another nce at the Bone Blood Demon, and realized that it was still recovering with the help of the altar of bones. Therefore, he left it alone.

    He summoned the Star Boat and sped off towards the source of Zhao Shanling¡¯s exmation.

    Standing on the Star Boat, he nced down at the earth, and saw numerous mountains and seas of skeletons.

    An altar of bones could be seen at the center of every sea of skeletons.

    By the time he reached Zhao Shanling¡¯s location, he discovered that Hua Mu and the other experts were already gathered there.

    Zhao Shanling was standing in front of a huge arch, which seemed to be made of the bones of some gigantic spirit beast.

    Pale white light burned like mes in the arch, giving rise to intense spatial fluctuations.

    From the look of it, the pale white light seemed to lead to some arcane realm. By entering it, people would be able to teleport away from this burial ground.

    Pointing at the arch, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°This is a portal built by the Bonebrutes. The pale white light is actually mes created by burning the bones of a rare kind of spirit beast. This kind of special spirit beast is born with the ability to teleport through the void. Their bones are even more precious than high grade space power stones, as they can provide teleportation portals with asting power supply.¡±

    Hua Mu chimed in. ¡°This ce isn¡¯t a vast one. It¡¯s not even one fifth as vast as the Realm of Split Void. We conducted a thorough search of it, but didn¡¯t find any living Bonebrutes or humans.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Qi Bailu said, ¡°A sea of skeletons can only hold a certain amount of skeletons, and the altars of bone can only channel death power from the seas of skeletons. Those mountains of skeletons are probably reserves, which will be thrown into the seas of skeletons after the skeletons in the seas of skeletons are drained of their death power.

    ¡°As far as I see it, this burial ground isn¡¯t a ce that Bonebrutes use for daily cultivation.

    ¡°It¡¯s more like a depot.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°A depot?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Qi Bailu said with a grim face. ¡°When the Bonebrutes are in an extended battle with humans or other outsider races, sometimes it¡¯ll be inefficient to teleport back and forth between the battlefield and their base, where they live and practice cultivation.

    ¡°So they built these depots, where they¡¯ll be able to recover when they¡¯re fighting in ces that are a long way from home.¡±

    Face gloomy, Nie Tian said, ¡°There are hundreds of thousands of skeletons in just one depot alone. And most of them are humans¡¯!¡±

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°Many of them weren¡¯t even Qi warriors, but rathermoners.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°Commoners?!¡±

    Hua Mu looked somber as he said, ¡°Even though the amount of death powermoners¡¯ corpses can produce is very limited, after putting hundreds of thousands of them together, they¡¯ll still be able to produce a considerable amount of death power. If the Bonebrutes invaded human realms and massacred humans, the powerful Qi warrior sects would definitelyunch a mass retaliation.

    ¡°However, if Qi warrior sects fought among themselves and caused great casualties, it wouldn¡¯t raise too much attention to ship the dead to these ces.¡±

    Nie Tian then said, ¡°So it¡¯s most likely that it¡¯s the Thousandsword Mountain Sect that has shipped these corpses here.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    While they talked, the pale mes in the arch of bones suddenly started to flicker violently.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Zhao Shanling eximed.

    Nie Tian assumed a stance as if to face formidable foes.

    Hua Mu and the other experts each gathered their strength and summoned their spiritual tools, preparing for battle.

    WHOOSH!

    Secondster, a Bonebrute that was about ten meters tall shed out of the arch of bones, holding a huge bone saber in his hand.

    Signs of being hacked by sharp des could be seen on his bony, pale-gray body, which was covered in blood that clearly didn¡¯t belong to him.

    He seemed to have just gone through a fierce battle.

    Ghostly mes burned in the grayish green beads of his eyes, as his whole body was wreathed in a strong aura of death.

    The moment he saw the strange Qi warriors that were gathered before him, he let out a sharp scream and attempted to lunge back into the portal.

    ¡°Wanna leave?¡± Zhao Shanling gave an icy grin as the miniature Voidspirit Pagoda flew out from between his eyebrows.

    As it rapidly expanded, the numerous spatial des that were carved on its walls flew out like a shoal of bloodthirsty fish.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The Bonebrute was instantly engulfed by the swarm of spatial des. One after another, his bones were chopped into pieces and scattered to the ground.

    The bits of his bones danced on the ground, as if they were hoping to rebuild him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    More than ten Bonebrutes shed out of the arch of bones sessively.

    Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, Xing Huanyue, and Li Muyang cast spells to attack them with their Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

    Shortly afterwards, the human experts ughtered more than half of the Bonebrutes that had entered this burial ground, hoping to recover their battle prowess with the altars of bones here.

 Chapter 790: The Golden Vast Sect

    Even cut to pieces, the bits of Bonebrute bones throbbed as they gathered on the ground, hoping to rebuild themselves.

    Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph, and the Voidspirit Pagoda in his hand suddenly split up into streaks of glorious light that arched and flew into the Bonebrutes¡¯ severed heads.

    In the next moment, the heads stopped bouncing on the ground and became lifeless.

    SHEW!

    The streaks of glorious light then flew out of the Bonebrute heads and returned to Zhao Shanling¡¯s palm, where they reformed the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Nie Tian noticed that the Bonebrutes had diedpletely, and thus after a moment of hesitation, summoned the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding.

    The Bonebrutes¡¯ discarnate souls rapidly morphed into wisps of pale-gray smoke that disappeared into the Spirit Pearl.

    Hua Mu and Zhao Shanling knew about his Spirit Pearl, and thus didn¡¯t find the scene of the Spirit Pearl absorbing Bonebrute souls surprising.

    Qi Bailu and the other experts, however, were surprised, and marveled inwardly at how many unique treasures Nie Tian had in his possession.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling said disdainfully, ¡°They¡¯re only sixth grade Bonebrutes that can¡¯t even withstand a single strike. And they seem to have sustained serious injuries right beforeing here. It¡¯s their bad luck to run into us at such a time.¡±

    ¡°But who did they fight?¡± Hua Mu asked with a grim voice.

    Staring at the arch of bones, Zhao Shanling said with furrowed brows, ¡°Whoever they are, they can¡¯t be from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. The Bonebrutes must have been on the side that has lost. I could tell that they wanted to seal this arch of bones very much. They seemed to be afraid that their enemies would follow them here.¡±

    Qi Bailu¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°I suppose their enemies will probably be our friends?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°That¡¯s actually quite likely.¡±

    They waited in front of the arch of bones for some time, assuming more Bonebrutes or their pursuers would show up.

    However, no one ever came.

    ¡°Shall we enter it?¡± Hua Mu proposed.

    ¡°I¡¯ve marked this arch of bones with my unique method,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°Even if the portal that¡¯s connected to this one is shattered, I can teleport us back here with my Voidspirit Pagoda. Of course, that¡¯s on the condition that this portal isn¡¯t destroyed.¡±

    Qi Bailu and the other experts all fixed their eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before nodding. ¡°Let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he sent out a soul message to summon the Bone Blood Demon.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The giant Bone Blood Demon, which was more than thirty meters tall, rushed over, wreathed in a strong aura of death. As it did, it stomped bones to fragments, giving rise to loud crashes.

    This Bone Blood Demon had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive, its battle prowess equal to that of a Void domain human expert.

    Before, since it hadn¡¯t been able to heal its ruptured bones andcked death power, it¡¯s battle prowess had only been at the middle Soul realm.

    But now that it had gone through a period of refinement with the help of an altar of bones, its strength had gained a strong boost.

    As it rushed over, the fierce aura it released even shocked Zhao Shanling. ¡°I see that this puppet of yours has be even stronger. It seems to me it can givete Soul realm cultivators a fight now. Do you want to give it a bit more time to gather more strength with the help of the altars of bones here?¡±

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat hesitant.

    He knew perfectly well that the altars of bones here could help the Bone Blood Demon channel death power from the countless skeletons in their surroundings.

    Given enough time, the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s strength would grow significantly.

    However, the main goal of this trip wasn¡¯t for the Bone Blood Demon to umte strength.

    Rather, they needed to figure out the cause of Zhen Hun¡¯s death and avenge her. Besides, they also had to find out whether Pei Qiqi was still alive. They couldn¡¯t afford to waste any time.

    ¡°Forget it,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Since you¡¯ll be able to teleport me back here with your Voidspirit Pagoda, I¡¯ll have ite here to gather death powerter.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, everyone flew carefully into the zing pale mes filling the arch of bones.

    As Nie Tian entered, he sensed a bleak, dead-silent aura from the pale mes, which even slowed his blood flow.

    Fortunately, the strange feeling onlysted a moment before disappearingpletely.

    In the next moment, he and the other experts appeared on the other side.

    Qi Bailu nced around and saw numerous silent volcanoes in their surroundings. With an amazed expression, he said, ¡°This ce is actually very simr to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    After shing out of the portal, Nie Tian realized that they were standing on the stern of a wrecked starship made of bones.

    From the look of it, this starship had recently fallen out of the void and crashed to the ground. The majority of the translucent, jade-like bones that had been used to forge this starship had broken.

    Only the stern of the starship, where the arch of curved bones stood, remained intact.

    Pale mes were still burning in the arch of bones, giving rise to intense spatial fluctuations.

    A few dozen dead Bonebrutes were scattered around the wrecked starship. It was unknown whether they had died from the crash or been killed by others.

    Ditches created byva stretched from the few surrounding dormant volcanoes, passing the wrecked starship.

    Zhao Shanling unleashed his immense soul awareness, which spread in all directions with the bone starship as the center, scanning for signs of life.

    However, before his soul awareness had fully spread, he suddenly jerked his head skywards.

    An ancient starship that shone with golden light pierced through the gray clouds and descended with deafening rumbles.

    The golden starship seemed to be made of Golden Obsidian. Like an enormous piece of gold, it gave people a feeling that it was iparably solid and all-conquering.

    As the golden starship approached, wisps of immense soul awareness poured down like golden streams.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck for a moment before eximing, ¡°The Golden Vast Sect!¡±

    This golden starship was almost identical to the one he had seen stuck between meteors in the forbidden region.

    He had long since learned that the Golden Vast Sect wasn¡¯t from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but a domain that was even more powerful.

    Like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect also had Saint domain experts.

    Everyone was somewhat bewildered upon seeing the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s ancient starship descending from the heavens.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling seemed to be able to gain a clear view of the starship even from such long distance as he said, ¡°Signs of impact can be seen at the prow of the golden starship! If my spections are correct, this wrecked bone starship shed with that golden starship and fell out of the void.

    ¡°These people are probably the ones who the Bonebrutes fought earlier!¡±

    ¡°Do we know anything about the Golden Vast Sect?¡± Hua Mu asked with a puzzled expression.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian answered with a grim look, ¡°Like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, they also have Saint domain experts. I suppose, just like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, they¡¯re also from the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me they also have something to do with therge number of human corpses in that burial ground?¡± Xing Huanyue said with a specting tone.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not possible. If they helped the Bonebrutes build that burial ground, why are they fighting them to the death now?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no need for us to panic,¡± Hua Mu said. ¡°Let¡¯s have a talk with them first.¡±

    Zhao Shanling examined the starship with rapt attention. His tensed-up expression rxed a bit as he said, ¡°They don¡¯t seem to have any Void domain experts on their starship.¡±

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The golden starship slowly came to a stop at a ce about a hundred meters over their heads, blocking almost the entire sky. Nie Tian and all of the experts were in its enormous shadow.

    One figure after another flew off the golden starship like streaks of golden light.

    The person who looked like their leader was wearing a golden feather hat and a long golden robe. Shining with golden light, he looked like a majestic god forged from pure gold.

    As he flew closer, he suddenly noticed the Blood Demon beside Nie Tian.

    His eyes instantly grew icy. Face filled with disgust and hate, he spat, ¡°Like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect has said, some humans have indeed made secret deals with the Bonebrutes and have been providing them with human corpses to help them build burial grounds!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s must be it,¡± another person chimed in. ¡°They must be the ones they talked about. They¡¯re from the Domain of the Falling Stars, if I remember correctly.¡±

    High in the air, the person in golden hat waved his hand and issued an order without much thought. ¡°Leave one alive so we can interrogate him for information. Kill the rest.¡±

    Shock spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Corpses of Bonebrutes started to fall out of the sky.

    They seemed to have been killed earlier during a fierce battle in the void between them and the Golden Vast Sect.

 Chapter 791: Framed

    A bitter expression appeared on Hua Mu¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re being framed by the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.¡±

    The leader in the golden feather hat had just said that people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had informed them that some humans had been secretly providing corpses of their own kind to the Bonebrutes.

    Another person had even said that they were from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Hua Mu pondered the matter a bit more, and realized that people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect must have thrown Zhen Hun¡¯s body into that spatial rift to lure them to this ce so that they could use them as a scapegoat.

    Zhao Shanling and the other experts were all patriarchs who had been around for centuries. Every one of them was seasoned enough to see what was happening.

    The moment they heard the people from the Golden Expanse Sect mention the Domain of the Falling Stars, they realized that they had fallen into the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s trap.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Pale-gray parts of dead Bonebrutes continued to fall out of the sky.

    Gazing up, Xing Huanyue from the Yin Sect shouted, ¡°It¡¯s not what you think! We have nothing to do with the corpses in that burial ground! That¡¯s the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s doing!¡±

    Face filled with disgust, Zhong Shishu, the man in golden feather hat, shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t you sling mud at them! We¡¯re allies. Why would they provide Bonebrutes with human corpses so that they could build burial grounds to facilitate their invasion of ournds?

    ¡°You have a Bonebrute standing beside you. How do you have the face to quibble?!¡±

    With these words, a wheel of golden light flew whooshing out of his sleeve.

    Like a small sun, it emanated blinding golden light as it pressed down on Nie Tian and the others.

    Calm as ever, Zhao Shanling gave a casual smile. ¡°Late Soul realm... Since you refuse to listen to reason, bring it on then!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda suddenly flew out from between his eyebrows to meet the wheel of golden light.

    The Voidspirit Pagoda, which was originally only the size of a fist, expanded to be dozens of meters high in the blink of an eye.

    Countless mysterious glowing patterns could be seen carved on the walls of the Voidspirit Pagoda. As they swam about on the walls like spatial des, a terrifying, space-twisting aura was born.

    Blinding golden light made contact with the silver spatial des in midair, sending waves of violent fluctuations out in all directions, along with rays of destructive gold and silver light, riddling the nearby dormant volcanoes with holes.

    Another powerful expert from the Golden Vast Sect gave a cold harrumph. ¡°This one is at thete Soul realm and skilled in spatial magics!

    ¡°ording to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the woman they killed also practiced spatial incantations!¡±

    Zhong Shishu¡¯s eyes brimmed with anger as he said, ¡°It must be them. We can¡¯t be mistaken!

    ¡°Spare that junior¡¯s life. His cultivation base is low enough, so it¡¯ll be easy for us to use soul transmitting techniques on him.¡±

    The junior they were referring to was none other than Nie Tian.

    Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the others were all at the Soul realm.

    Even if they managed to subdue Hua Mu or the others, since their cultivation bases were the same, it would be very troublesome to peel memories from their minds. They might even get themselves in trouble.

    Nie Tian, however, was only at the Worldly realm, which made him a much easier target.

    Nie Tian smiled coldly. ¡°Want to use soul transmitting techniques on me..."

    Clearly, these people from the Golden Vast Sect had been fooled by the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and were convinced that Nie Tian¡¯s group had colluded with the Bonebrutes. Now, they wouldn¡¯t even listen to reason.

    The Golden Vast Sect¡¯s arrogance angered Nie Tian and made him realize that to make them listen to reason, he would have to overtake them in battle.

    With these thoughts in mind, he focused his killing intent on another Qi warrior of the Golden Vast Sect who had said a lot. ¡°Go!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon instantly received his message.

    BOOM!!

    A pale-gray mist of death rose from the Bone Blood Demon as a unique bloodline talent of the Bonebrutes was activated.

    The mist of death soared skywards like a dragon made of thick mist.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Pale mes could be seen burning inside of it. Instead of burning hot, the mes were icy cold, and exuded the profound truths of death power.

    The man from the Golden Stone Sect gasped. ¡°This thing can even activate the Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodline talents!¡±

    Then, he hastily summoned his Spirit Channeling grade treasure.

    A mountain peak that shone with dazzling golden light flew out of his palm.

    As it rapidly expanded, numerous golden spell formations could be seen covering the entire mountain peak.

    At the same time, countless spell formations vested the mountain peak with power that was either solid, heavy, or sharp.

    As the shiny golden mountain peak shot directly towards the Bone Blood Demon, the man morphed into a streak of golden light and flew into the ancient starship that was berthed high in the sky.

    FZZZ!

    The dragon made of thick mist the Bone Blood Demon unleashed chased the man to the ancient golden starship, but was warded off by a bright, yellow shield of light that enveloped it.

    With great force, the golden mountain peak mmed down on the Bone Blood Demon, which was also enormous, knocking it to the ground.

    Meanwhile...

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s Voidspirit Pagoda was still contending against Zhong Shishu¡¯s wheel of golden light in midair.

    Numerous spatial des shed with golden spell formations, filling the sky with innumerable rays of divine gold and silver light that carried fierce residual power.

    WHOOSH!

    At this very moment, Zhao Shanling unleashed his Death Reign.

    It rapidly spread out, forming a terrifying pale-gray vortex, which looked like an enormous monster¡¯s opened mouth that was going to devour the ancient starship.

    The Qi warrior who was wielding the golden mountain peak burst into a ming rage as he berated, ¡°Do you still deny your connections with the Bonebrutes?!¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign was forged from a magical item that had belonged to Bonebrutes, and it also carried the profound truths of death power.

    The Golden Vast Sect had fought far too many battles against the Bonebrutes. One sniff of the aura that the Death Reign emanated and the man waspletely convinced that Nie Tian¡¯s group were the ones who, ording to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, had been secretly working with the Bonebrutes.

    ¡°It¡¯s harder than we thought to kill these scum,¡± the man said. ¡°Let¡¯s eliminate them with the strength of our starship.¡±

    He saw that some Soul realm experts on Nie Tian¡¯s side still hadn¡¯t joined the battle yet.

    He was worried that an extended battle would mean trouble. Therefore, to prevent mishaps, he was prepared to resort to the ancient starship¡¯s overwhelming power.

    The golden starship that was floating high above everyone suddenly gave rise to loud rumbles as golden sandy light started falling out of its bottom.

    Like a rain of golden sand, a great amount of light fell ethereally and lightly.

    Upon seeing this, Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    Nie Tian also gasped with astonishment.

    He could sense with great rity that the wherever the sandy golden light spread, the air seemed to be filled with some mysterious power, making it stagnant and solid like metal.

    The intensive, sandy light was extremely fierce. As soon as it showered on the Bone Blood Demon, which had just gotten back on its feet, it seemed to infiltrate the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s translucent, jade-like bones.

    In a split second, the Bone Blood Demon was covered in countless golden sparks.

    ¡°That sand-like light seems to be the work of a Void domain expert, which carries the profound truths of metal power!¡± Zhao Shanling shouted.

    After hearing these words, Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the other experts all summoned spiritual power to enveloped themselves in protective wards.

    However, as the sandy light touched their spiritual power wards, they crackled, as if they could burst at any moment.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon took a step forward and bent down to put its gigantic body over Nie Tian.

    It shielded the sandy light from Nie Tianpletely with its broad back. Not a shred of light found its way to him.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The rumble of another ancient starship echoed out from the depths of the void.

    An insecure and uneasy look appeared on Zhao Shanling¡¯s face. After a moment of hesitation, he ended his battle with his opponent. ¡°Come with me!¡±

    In the next moment, he appeared beside Nie Tian, under the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s crouched body. Numerous spatial patterns started to sh about on the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s surface like silver lightning.

    A glowing spatial tunnel was created.

    Without much thought, Hua Mu and the others dashed into it.

    Nie Tian also hastily returned the Bone Blood Demon to his ring of holding and flew into the spatial tunnel, not knowing where it would lead.

    SHEW!

    Zhao Shanling and his Death Reign were thest to sh into the spatial tunnel. Immediately afterwards, the spatial rift rapidly shrunk to a tiny spark and vanishedpletely.

    In the next moment, the sandy golden light that filled the sky showered the earth, riddling it with countless golden holes.

    Rumble!

    Another huge ancient starship pierced through the clouds and berthed beside the golden starship.

    A thin, young man with a Thousandsword Mountain Sect sigil on his chest asked after flying down, ¡°Where are those people from the Domain of the Falling Stars, Senior Zhong?¡±

    ¡°They created a spatial tunnel and escaped,¡± Zhong Shishu said in a sullen voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know where they are now.¡±

    The young man sighed. ¡°Another one that¡¯s skilled in spatial magics?! We can¡¯t be mistaken then. It must be them who colluded with the Bonebrutes and provided them with arge amount of human corpses, allowing them to build those burial grounds.¡±

    Zhong Shishu nodded, as he was also convinced that Nie Tian and the others were the rats that had been undermining them. ¡°They even have a Bonebrute puppet fighting for them, along with a peculiar tool that seems to be forged from some magical item they acquired from the Bonebrutes.¡±

 Chapter 792: True Void

    If Nie Tian were here, he would discover that the thin, young man looked very much like Xing Beichen.

    The man¡¯s name was Xing Bo. He and Xing Beichen were indeed rted, as he was Xing Beichen¡¯s cousin, and also from the Domain of Heaven Python.

    His status in the Thousandsword Mountain Sect was even higher than Xing Beichen¡¯s.

    Even though he was younger than Xing Beichen, his cultivation base had already reached the middle Profound realm.

    Rather thin and handsome, Xing Bo pointed at the arch of bones at the stern of the wrecked bone starship, and said to Zhong Shishu, ¡°Senior Zhong, those people from the Domain of the Falling Stars seemed to havee here from the burial ground behind that portal. I think we¡¯d better go there and take a look.

    ¡°The one we killed earlier broke free from our blockade in there and somehow disappeared right before she died.¡±

    Zhong Shishu nodded. ¡°Mmm... sure.¡±

    He ordered the others to wait for him before entering the arch of bones with just one other expert, the one who had fought the Bone Blood Demon.

    Xing Bo then waved into the sky, and ate Soul realm expert from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect flew down to his side.

    The two of them followed Zhong Shishu into the arch of bones, and arrived in the burial ground Nie Tian¡¯s group hade from.

    Floating in the air, Zhong Shishu gazed off into the distance, and saw skeletons piled into mountains, surrounding open areas that were also filled with bones. Altars of bones could be seen at the hearts of these open areas.

    Zhong Shishu¡¯s face grew very grim as he said, ¡°This entire burial ground consists of nothing but human corpses!¡±

    Xing Bo sighed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe those Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars would actually work with the Bonebrutes and provide them with such arge number of corpses of their own kind. They don¡¯t even have the most basic principles as human beings!¡±

    Zhong Shishu¡¯s eyes were wreathed in strong killing intent as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s look around and see if we can find out how they came here. These Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars will pay for what they¡¯ve done!¡±

    Xing Bo agreed as he beckoned for thete Soul realm expert who hade with him to start searching for clues.

    Facing the human skeletons that stretched as far as the eye could see, Zhong Shishu summoned numerous banners from within his ring of holding.

    Burning fiercely, they spread out and flew towards the mountains and seas of skeletons.

    Then, the banners unleashed crimson mes that engulfed everything around them.

    The skeletons gave rise to crackling sounds as they were set aze and soon turned to ashes.

    Zhong Shishu muttered in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is all I can do for you now. But I promise you that I¡¯ll catch those who killed you and sent you here, and make them pay for their crime.¡±

    He was truly infuriated by what had been done to these poor souls.

    A quarter hourter...

    Every skeleton in this burial ground was burned to ashes. Zhong Shishu, Xing Bo, and the others finished searching the burial ground, but failed to find the spatial rift that had vanished.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Xing Bo said, ¡°Even with the help of their spatial power spiritual tool, they won¡¯t be able to go very far. I¡¯ll order our disciples to search the vicinity for traces of them. I¡¯ll inform you once I get some clues, Senior Zhong.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll try our best to find them too!¡± Zhong Shishu said, his eyes filled with raging killing intent.

    With these words, he left the burial ground.

    However, Xing Bo and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect expert with him didn¡¯t leave right away.

    Gazing towards the hidden spatial rift from afar, the elder named Gao Han said, ¡°Young lord, that spatial rift must lead to the Domain of the Falling Stars. Now that those people havee here, it means the corpse we sent through into it made it to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°But you¡¯ve framed the people from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and destroyed this burial ground. Are you sure this is safe?¡±

    With a casual smile, Xing Bo said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Everything is under my control. That spatial rift is very special. It will only show itself every once in a rather long time. If we go there now, it¡¯ll raise Zhong Shishu¡¯s suspicions, so we¡¯d better stay put for the time being.¡±

    Gao Han nodded. ¡°Mmm.¡±

    ¡°Leave some st Pearls here before we leave,¡± Xing Bo said. ¡°I want this arch of bones destroyed.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Gao Han then took out a few curious-looking silver balls and carefully ced them under the arch.

    Soon after the two of them disappeared into the portal, the st Pearls thrummed with intense spiritual power fluctuations.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As the st Pearls exploded one after another, the arch of bones was reduced to pieces.

    Now, even if the Golden Vast Sect wanted toe back to conduct another scan, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do so.

    Xing Bo and Gao Han briefly searched the wrecked bone starship, and then returned to their own ancient starship.

    Xing Bo entered the starship by himself and went to a room that was wreathed in an icy aura.

    The room was rather small and had arge piece of crystalline ice in the middle. Pei Qiqi was frozen inside of it.

    The frosty aura had infiltrated her entire body, including her dantian region, keeping her from summoning a single shred of spiritual power.

    However, fluctuations were stilling from her sea of awareness, as she hadn¡¯t lost her consciousness.

    Obsession could be seen in Xing Bo¡¯s eyes as he gazed through the ice at Pei Qiqi. ¡°I¡¯ll have our experts erase your memories after returning to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters, but I¡¯ll leave your memories about spatial magics alone.

    ¡°You¡¯re truly one of a kind in this world, as you carry a profound space power bloodline.

    ¡°Because of that, you¡¯re the only one who deserves to be with me.

    ¡°You¡¯ll be reborn after you¡¯re unburdened of all of those useless memories. All of your new memories will be branded with my shadow.

    ¡°We¡¯ll have children, who will be born with your bloodline power.

    ¡°You won¡¯t have to wait for too long. Soon, I¡¯ll be able to get you out of this freezing ice.¡±

    He gazed lovingly at Pei Qiqi as he muttered in a soft voice, as if he were gazing at an unearthly gem.

    In the void.

    A glowing spark rapidly expanded, then Nie Tian and the others shed out of it.

    SHEW!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda was thest to sh out of the glowing spatial rift.

    As soon as it did, the spatial rift rapidly shrank down and vanishedpletely.

    ¡°This is...!¡± Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily summoned spiritual power to form a protective ward around him.

    Nie Tian also gasped with astonishment as he sensed countless impurities in his surroundings, poisoning his flesh and making him very ufortable.

    Some of the impurities were intangible. They infiltrated his sea of awareness, slowing his mind.

    Some other impurities were tangibles that were very thick and heavy. Upon contact, they would prate his skin and merge with his flesh like raindrops returning to the sea, inflicting him with iparable pain.

    With a bitter smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°This is the true void. The continent we came from is over there.¡±

    He pointed at a pale, lifeless star.

    Everyone looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the star was so vast that they felt as if it was within arm¡¯s reach.

    ¡°This star has died,¡± Zhao Shanling exined. ¡°As a dead star or dead realm, it no longer produces the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, but there are still some spiritual minerals in it. People from the Golden Vast Sect seem to be there to mine them. If we continued to stay on that dead star, they would have found us soon.

    ¡°So I could only get us out of there with the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, and bring you to the true void.¡±

    ¡°The true void?!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Zhao Shanling nodded heavily. ¡°That¡¯s right. The true void is different from space disruption zones. The true void is filled with all kinds of danger and impurities. Some impurities are tangible, while others are intangible. They¡¯ll corrode any Qi warrior¡¯s flesh and soul unceasingly.

    ¡°Only after entering the Void domain will Qi warriors be able to create and hide behind their private domains and roam the true void freely.

    ¡°Otherwise, people will have to use ancient starships with imprable exteriors to keep the impurities away if they wish to travel in the true void.¡±

    Nie Tian spent a moment to sense his surroundings, and realized that the so-called true void was indeed different from space disruption zones he had been to.

    In space disruption zones, he would only lose his spiritual power at a low rate. By avoiding the deadly lights that dashed across from time to time, he would most likely be able to survive.

    But here, all kinds of impurities, tangible or intangible, attempted to infiltrate him to mutte his body and soul with every passing second.

    It had only been seconds but he already had a strange feeling that his body had be iparably heavy, and that he was sinking towards an abyss where death awaited him.

    However, he hadn¡¯t had any simr feelings before in the forbidden region that had been sealed away for hundreds of thousands of years.

    He pondered the reason behind it, and soon realized that perhaps some profound restriction spell had been keeping the most deadly impurities out of that region, so that he would be able to travel there.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°There are a lot of dead stars in the vicinity. We can go to another one and see if we can find Thousandsword Mountain Sect Qi warriors with low cultivation bases and get the truth of junior martial sister¡¯s death out of them. I can keep the void impurities away with my Voidspirit Pagoda, but the consumption will be significant.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll see if my Star Boat can achieve the same effect,¡± Nie Tian said.

    With these words, he summoned the Star Boat and jumped on board.

    BOOM!

    Ayer of misty starlight instantly spread out, covering the Star Boat like arge bowl that was ced upside down on it.

    This ward of starlight was also powered by the Star Stones at the bottom of the Star Boat. The moment it came to form, all of the impurities were kept out.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Nie Tian called out to the others. ¡°It¡¯s safe in here.¡±

    Looking overjoyed, the experts flew into the Star Boat one by one, then discovered that, just as he had said, the ward of starlight was indeed keeping all kinds of impurities out.

    They felt as if they had been caught in a violent storm of impurities just now, but the moment they entered the Star Boat, everything around them became peaceful and calm, with all dangers shielded from them.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s power is indeed unfathomable!¡± Zhao Shanling marveled. ¡°Normally speaking, since small-scale air-transportation spiritual tools can¡¯t hold very many spell formations, their abilities are usually limited to sailing through the air. Only enormous ancient starships can hold arge number of spell formations, which allow them to not only sail across the starry river, but also ward off impurities.

    ¡°I wonder how many spell formations this small air-transportation spiritual tool holds that actually vest it with the abilities of an ancient starship.¡±

    With these words, he turned his head to examine their surroundings. Pointing at a fairly distant dead star, he said, ¡°Let go and take a look over there.¡±

    Nie Tian then steered the Star Boat ordingly.

 Chapter 793: A Turn of Events

    The Star Boat soared ahead at full speed.

    With a grim expression, Zhao Shanling exined how dangerous the true void was to Nie Tian, and told him that the reason why creatures were able to reproduce in different domains and realms was because they were wreathed and protected by atmospheres of energies.

    Once Qi warriors left their domains and entered the true void, they would face great threats and difficulty, like fish that had left water.

    Only high grade outsiders and human experts at the Void domain or higher would be able to resist the impurities and travel across the starry river freely.

    For thousands of years, the experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars had been limited by itsck of resources, and very few had entered the Void domain.

    Neither had the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars developed the ability to build ancient starships. Therefore, they had basically been confined to its nine realms.

    The only way out of the Domain of the Falling Stars was through the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    However, many explorers had entered those spatial rifts and never returned.

    Nie Tian adjusted the Star Boat¡¯s heading and neutralized the impurities that had entered him with his me power while listening to Zhao Shanling¡¯s narration.

    mes rapidly spread on his skin, burning away the impurities that had infiltrated his flesh.

    Shortly afterwards, all of the impurities were purged by his me power, and vanishedpletely.

    Then, he secretly activated Heavenly Wood Heal and healed his woundspletely within a very short time.

    Gazing down at the Star Stones that paved the bottom of the Star Boat, he said with a frown, ¡°This Star Boat is powered by Star Stones. How far it can go depends on the amount of Star Stones I have. Now, I¡¯m already running low on my Star Stones.¡±

    Zhao Shanling sighed. ¡°Yeah. Who would have thought those bastards from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect would be so scheming? They framed us, while both your puppet and my Death Reign happen to have close connections with Bonebrutes.

    ¡°Now there¡¯s no way we can exin ourselves. Even if we can, those people from the Golden Vast Sect won¡¯t listen.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda once again flew out from between his eyebrows.

    As numerous spatial patterns started swimming about on its surface, Zhao Shanling cast a series of spells, vesting the nine-story pagoda with his soul awareness.

    Nie Tian vaguely sensed that Zhao Shanling¡¯s soul awareness seemed to travel to another heaven and earth through the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    But only a few secondster, Zhao Shanling withdrew his soul awareness and put the Voidspirit Pagoda away.

    His face grew very grim as he said, ¡°The arch of bones in that burial ground has been destroyed. Without it, even with the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, I won¡¯t be able to take us back there.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Hua Mu and all of the other experts snapped out of their cultivation.

    With a bitter expression, Qi Bailu said, ¡°So does that mean we won¡¯t be able to even return to the Domain of the Falling Stars now?¡±

    ¡°As much as I hate to admit it, that seems to be the case,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a frustrated tone.

    Hua Mu gasped and said with an anxious look in his eyes, ¡°Even though we won¡¯t be able to return to that burial ground now, that¡¯s not necessarily the case with the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. Plus, it was them who killed Hun and threw her into that secret spatial rift... So there¡¯s a possibility that...¡±

    These words sent a chill down everyone¡¯s spine.

    After a moment of pondering, they all realized what possibility Hua Mu was referring to.

    ¡°People from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect will be able to go through that spatial rift to the Realm of Split Void?!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Hua Mu nodded heavily. ¡°Plus, they¡¯ll have a perfect excuse. They can just say that we secretly work with the Bonebrutes and provide them with corpses of our own kind. When they actually invade the Domain of the Falling Stars, not only will their action not be condemned, but the Golden Vast Sect may even assist them in their operation.¡±

    Xing Huanyue stood aghast. ¡°Dammit!"

    Since the Thousandsword Mountain Sect even had Saint domain experts, they must have quite a few Void domain experts too. If they were actually going tounch a mass invasion, the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars would probably be crushed immediately.

    Even the Lei n, which was one of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate forces, would probably evacuate immediately after learning that a powerful sect like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect was going to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If it actually came down to that, the Domain of the Falling Stars would soon fall, and be a subordinate domain of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    With these thoughts on their minds, everyone fell silent, their expressions iparably grim.

    Zhao Shanling, who seemed to be the calmest and least concerned with the threat the Domain of the Falling Stars was facing, said, ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about that now. Since people from both the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect have been to that forbidden region, it means there are other ways for us to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    The fact that Xing Beichen had summoned Ke Jinpeng and other experts to that forbidden region proved that there must be teleportation portals in that region that connected it to the Domain of Heaven Python.

    If they could find their way to that forbidden region or the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, they would be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Star Boat flew across the void at a slow speed.

    Along their way, they could see floating dead Bonebrutes from time to time.

    Clearly, the Golden Vast Sect had fought quite a battle against the Bonebrutes in this area.

    As the side that had lost, the Bonebrutes had escaped on their bone starship, which had eventually crashed on one of the dead stars. Desperate to recover their strength, the survivors had teleported to that burial ground, where they had run into Nie Tian¡¯s group.

    As the Star Boat gradually approached their target dead star, an ancient starship suddenly sailed out of it towards them.

    This ancient starship was noticeably smaller than the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s golden starships.

    However, it was covered in magical symbols, which seemed to be on fire and boosting the ancient starship.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he eximed, ¡°Another ancient starship?!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, he examined the iing starship with his immense soul awareness. In the next moment, his eyes lit up as he said, ¡°There¡¯re only two people on board, and neither of them have entered the Soul realm!¡±

    Thrilled by his discovery, he called out, ¡°Nie Tian! Approach that ancient starship! Let¡¯s seize it first!¡±

    Nie Tian snapped out of his daze and hastily activated spell formations to speed up the Star Boat, no longer worrying about Star Stone consumption.

    SHEW!

    Like a falling star, the Star Boat emanated dazzling light as it shot towards the fairly small ancient starship.

    When the Star Boat was only thousands of meters from the ancient starship, a fat young man wreathed in a fierce flesh aura walked out of the cabin and stood on the deck.

    Li Ye was already fat enough, but this young man was even bigger than him.

    BOOM!

    Multicolored magical symbols suddenly left the ancient starship to form a shield of magical symbols that kept all impurities away.

    Hands wrung, the man stood at the prow of the ancient starship. His expression grew strange as he watched the Star Boat shoot towards him.

    ¡°Break!¡± As Zhao Shanling held out the Voidspirit Pagoda, numerous spatial des appeared and gathered into an iparablyrge glowing de.

    The enormous spatial de shed into the ancient starship¡¯s protective ward with enough force to sever the starry river.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    As magical symbols flew about in the ward like countless colorful butterflies, a mysterious field that seemed to be able to channel force from heaven and earth was born.

    Numerous magical symbols madly pounced on the enormous spatial de like a swarm of fierce locusts. The iparably sharp spatial de was actually gnawed away bit by bit.

    By the time the Star Boat arrived at the ancient starship, the strike Zhao Shanling hadunched with his Voidspirit Pagoda was alreadypletely neutralized.

    Shocked by the scene, Zhao Shanling eximed, ¡°This ancient starship¡¯s defense is too solid to break!¡±

    Seeing that even Zhao Shanling¡¯s full-force strike had failed to break the ward made of multicolored magical symbols, Nie Tian, who was prepared tounch a strike himself, hastily stayed his hand.

    He was running out of Star Stones, and he had a feeling that even if heunched a full-force strike with the Star Boat, it probably wouldn¡¯t match the might of Zhao Shanling¡¯s strike with that enormous spatial de.

    Standing behind the ward of multicolored magical symbols like a mountain of flesh, the young man with a fierce flesh aura asked, ¡°Are you the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars who the Golden Vast Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect are looking for?

    ¡°This is the first time we¡¯ve met. Why try to kill each other so eagerly? If you want toe in here, just put your air-transportation spiritual tools away and get on board.¡±

    Everyone stood aghast.

    The young manughed wildly. ¡°Which realm of the Domain of the Falling Stars are you from?¡±

    With these words, he suddenly noticed Qi Bailu. Looking surprised, he asked, ¡°Are you... Senior Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect?¡±

    Qi Bailu was taken aback. ¡°How... How do you know me?¡±

    ¡°I had the honor of visiting the Realm of Unbounded Destion many years ago, and took part in an equipment forgers¡¯ assembly in the Tool Sect. I saw you from afar.¡±

    Then, the young man¡¯s smile faded from his face as he asked, ¡°Since you¡¯re from the Domain of the Falling Stars, do you know how Wu Ji from the Realm of me Heaven is doing?¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Wu Ji?!¡±

    In the next moment, Zhao Shanling, Qi Bailu, and the others all fixed their gazes on Nie Tian.

    ¡°Wu Ji is my master,¡± Nie Tian said in a deep voice.

    Therge young man shuddered as his eyes grew wide and red. Beckoning Nie Tian, he said, ¡°Get in here first, junior martial brother!¡±

 Chapter 794: Martial Brothers!

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°You¡¯re my senior martial brother?!¡±

    He knew that Wu Ji had only taken in a total of three disciples in his whole life, and he was thetest and youngest one.

    Wu Ji¡¯s other two disciples had both attracted great attention throughout the Realm of me Heaven, but had vanished shortly afterwards and never returned.

    ording to Chang Sen, Fang Hui, and the others, Wu Ji¡¯s capability as a mentor was unmatched.

    If his two other disciples hadn¡¯t left, they would have been among the most powerful forces in the Realm of me Heaven.

    The fact that Nie Tian had run into a man who imed to be Wu Ji¡¯s disciple in a ce so distant from the Domain of the Falling Stars made him doubt the truthfulness of the man¡¯s words.

    However, the man seemed to be very excited to learn Nie Tian¡¯s identity. He even took the initiative to deactivate the ward of magical symbols.

    Nie Tian then returned the Star Boat to his ring of holding and flew onto the ancient starship with Hua Mu and the other experts, who were just as puzzled.

    The man, who was more than two meters tall and asrge as a bear, grinned. Even his clean, white teeth emanated great warmth as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk in the cabin.¡±

    A flight of stairs split open from the middle of the deck, and the man took the initiative to walk inside.

    Nie Tian and the others followed along.

    The inside of the ancient starship was rather spacious. Countless mysterious symbols could be seen engraved on walls made of refined iron, shining like the stars in the sky.

    At the same time, rich spiritual power seemed to pour out of the magical symbols, calming and clearing everyone¡¯s minds.

    Laughing wildly, the man called out, ¡°Little Rou, my junior martial brother from the Domain of the Falling Stars is here!¡±

    A gentle, small woman, who was less than 1.6 meters tall, then walked out of a room, dressed in a sinct cyan robe and smiling.

    She bowed slightly towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯m Jing Rou, Shihu¡¯s wife, and I¡¯m from the Divine Seal Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian hastily returned the bow. ¡°I¡¯m Nie Tian!¡±

    Large as a bear, the man put his arms around Nie Tian and said,ughing, ¡°Junior martial brother, my name is Duan Shihu. I left the Domain of the Falling Stars through a secret spatial rift in the Realm of Split Void a few decades ago, and haven¡¯t returned since then. I heard that Xing Bo from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect discovered a group of Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and thus came here to see what¡¯s going on.

    ¡°Who would have thought I¡¯d be so lucky as to meet you here, junior martial brother?

    ¡°Right, how¡¯s master? I had scruples about returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars over these years. For one thing, I couldn¡¯t find a way to return. For another, I was afraid that I would expose the Domain of the Falling Stars and put it in danger by returning.

    ¡°I¡¯m an unworthy disciple. I should have gone back to see master long ago.¡±

    The man, who said his name was Duan Shihu, embraced Nie Tian tightly as he vented his emotions, his eyes red and filled with emotions.

    Jing Rou gazed lovingly at him, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    Nie Tian felt suffocated by the man¡¯s thick arms. Even though the man hadn¡¯t used any spiritual power, his seemingly fat body contained incredibly vigorous flesh power.

    With the help of his unique bloodline, Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that this senior martial brother of his carried an unusually profound flesh aura, which seemed to be sealed within countless mysterious magical symbols.

    Those magical symbols seemed to lie within his flesh and bones and run through his veins, giving rise to noticeable sounds.

    Jing Rouughed softly and said with a ming tone, ¡°Shihui, you should know how strong you are. You¡¯re suffocating your junior martial brother...¡±

    Only at this moment did Duan Shihu realize it, and hastily let go of Nie Tian.

    Then, he examined Nie Tian with rapt attention. His eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°You... You¡¯re no ordinary person, junior martial brother! I sense raging flesh power in you!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Jing Rou also fixed Nie Tian with a measuring gaze. She seemed to notice something, but didn¡¯t point it out.

    ¡°Give me a second. I¡¯ll get you some tea and food.¡± With these words, she gave them a gentle smile and walked lightly away.

    Momentster, she came back with a few porcin dishes, which she ced on the table they sat at.

    On the dishes were spirit fruits that seemed to be freshly picked, along with exquisitely cut meat and some desserts.

    All of them contained copious spiritual power.

    Zhao Shanling, Hua Mu, and the others helped themselves to the tasty fruits and food. With a single bite, their eyes lit up.

    ¡°Such delicacies!¡± Hua Mu marveled.

    Duan Shihu beamed as he pushed a dish of meat to Nie Tian. ¡°Have some, junior martial brother! Little Rou¡¯s spirit beast meat dish is known throughout the Domain of Heaven Python! Since your flesh aura is umonly vigorous, you need it more than others!¡±

    Nie Tian expressed his gratitude, and started munching too.

    The meat turned out to be so juicy and tender that it melted in his mouth, giving Nie Tian a strong sense of satisfaction.

    Most importantly, the meat contained extremely rich flesh power. After sliding into his stomach, it burned like a cluster of mes as it sent wisps of rich flesh power to every part of his body, rapidly warming him up.

    Zhao Shanling and the other experts only ate the spirit fruits and dessert. After realizing that they contained copious energy, they repeatedly reached out to grab more, and soon emptied the dishes.

    After eating his full, Hua Mu burped and smiled at Duan Shihu. ¡°We¡¯re new to this region. Could you tell us where we are?¡±

    However, Jing Rou took over and exined, ¡°We¡¯re in a corner of the Domain of Heaven Python. All of these dead stars belong to the Golden Vast Sect. Even though these stars are uninhabited now, people from the Golden Vast Sect are still mining minerals on them. Not long ago, Bonebrutes invaded this region and encountered strong resistance from the Golden Vast Sect. Eventually, the Bonebrutes lost, and retreated...¡±

    She went on and exined what had happened recently.

    Duan Shihu, however, looked dotingly at her from the moment she started talking.

    From her, Nie Tian learned that they were in the Domain of Heaven Python, in a deste region that belonged to the Golden Vast Sect.

    Bonebrutes had recently invaded this region, and the Golden Vast Sect had sent powerful experts to fight them off.

    However, after a few battles, the Golden Vast Sect had learned that the Bonebrutes had a few burial grounds nearby, all of which were filled with a shocking number of human skeletons.

    This discovery had infuriated the Golden Vast Sect. Therefore, they had sent more powerful experts tounch a mass retaliation.

    However, who had put such a great number of human corpses in those burial grounds and how they had done it had remained a mystery.

    Later, Xing Bo from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had discovered foreign Qi warriors in one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ burial grounds.

    He and experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had learned that they were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and ughtered them.

    Immediately afterwards, Xing Bo had informed the Golden Vast Sect that it was the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars who had made unspeakable deals with the Bonebrutes and provided them with all of those human corpses, so that they could build those burial grounds and have a strong performance in their battles against the Golden Vast Sect.

    Later, when Jing Rou had learned through her connections in the Divine Seal Sect that a group of Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars had arrived at this region and were being pursued by people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, she had informed Duan Shihu of it right away.

    Throughout the entire Domain of Heaven Python, she was the only one who knew that her husband was from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Without any dy, Duan Shihu had rushed to this region on this ancient starship, hoping to discover the truth.

    After giving a detailed exnation, Jing Rou gave everyone a moment to digest all of the information.

    Then, she turned to Nie Tian and asked with a calm expression, ¡°Do you have anything to do with the human corpses in those burial grounds?¡±

    Duan Shihu became displeased as he gave Jing Rou a stern look. ¡°I told you that can¡¯t be the doing of people from the Domain of the Falling Stars! The Domain of the Falling Stars has always considered outsiders their enemy. How would they collude with them? Not to mention that there are only nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars. With such a limited poption, how could they possibly provide the Bonebrutes with so many corpses?¡±

    Jing Rou pressed her small body towards herrge, bear-like husband and said in a soft voice, ¡°Don¡¯t get angry, dear. Of course I trust you. I¡¯m only asking here.¡±

    ¡°That has nothing to do with us,¡± Nie Tian said with an unquestionable tone. ¡°Outsiders invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars twice in recent years, and we won both wars by luck. As for Bonebrutes, they haven¡¯t shown up in the Domain of the Falling Stars for centuries. I can promise you that not a single sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars has any connections with them.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you believe my junior martial brother?¡± Duan Shihu asked grumpily.

    Jing Rou thumped him on the chest to calm him down, and then said, ¡°Of course I do, but I just received a piece of information. They said that you have a Bonebrute puppet and a spiritual tool forged from a magical item acquired from Bonebrutes.¡±

    ¡°That is actually true,¡± Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect said. ¡°But both of them had been discovered from the Bonebrutes¡¯ relics in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. The Realm of Unbounded Destion in our domain used to be home to Bonebrutes in ancient times, but that was it.¡±

    Jing Rou nodded gently and said, ¡°Okay, I have no other questions now.¡±

    RUUUUUUMBLE!

    At this moment, the rumble of an ancient starship echoed in the distance.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Jing Rou took out a prism and looked into it. In the next moment, she said, ¡°It¡¯s Xing Bo from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.¡±

 Chapter 795: Coincidence

    ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face fell upon hearing that the iing people were from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qi Bailu said in a grim voice, ¡°We have reason to believe it¡¯s the Thousandsword Mountain Sect who¡¯s been providing the Bonebrutes with arge amount of human corpses!¡±

    Shocked by these words, Jing Rou asked, ¡°How is that possible?!¡±

    Duan Shihu gave a cold snort. ¡°How¡¯s that not possible? I¡¯ve never seen anything in that Xing Bo. That bastard cousin of his, Xing Beichen, even lusted after you back in the day. Fortunately, I nearly killed him and forced him to leave the Domain of Heaven Python for good!

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know what kind of person Xing Beichen is? Xing Bo looks like a decent person, but who knows whether he¡¯s as degenerate as Xing Beichen at heart?

    ¡°The way I see it, Xing Bo may very well be the one who¡¯s secretly colluded with the Bonebrutes!¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian said, rubbing his chin, ¡°Xing Bo is Xing Beichen¡¯s cousin?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Duan Shihu said angrily. ¡°As far as I see it, they¡¯re jackals from the sameir! (Idiom: just as bad as each other) Not a single one from the Xing n is decent!¡±

    Jing Rou shot him one of her sideways nces, yet her eyes were filled with smiles, as if she was rather happy that Duan Shihu had fought for her affection. ¡°Alright, alright. You¡¯ve driven him out of the Domain of Heaven Python already. What else do you want?¡±

    ¡°Xing Beichen has died,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    ¡°Do you know him?¡± Duan Shihu asked with a puzzled expression.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know about your history with him, senior martial brother. But I heard that he had offended someone in the Domain of Heaven Python, and was forced to take shelter in the Trisword Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. He had even be their chosen one after his arrival.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the one who he offended!¡± Duan Shihu said with a stern, awe-inspiring look. ¡°I almost killed him back then. He knew that it¡¯d only be a matter of time before I killed him if he stayed in the Domain of Heaven Python, so he fled the domain.¡±

    With a grin, Nie Tian said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I took care of your unfinished business for you, senior martial brother.¡±

    Even Jing Rou was shocked. ¡°What!? Xing Beichen died at your hands? I know a little bit about the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Even though they don¡¯t have Saint domain experts, they have quite a few Void domain experts. But Shihu told me once that you don¡¯t even have a single Void domain expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian gave him a smile. ¡°Xing Beichen was not the only one who died at my hands. There was also an expert named Ke Jinpeng, an expert named Sha Yan, and three other Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.¡±

    After hearing these words, not only did Jing Rou find it unbelievable, but even Duan Shihu started to think that he was making a boast of his strength.

    However, Ke Jinpeng and Sha Yan were indeed Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, who they had met before.

    If he was telling the truth, it didn¡¯t seem possible for even the entire Domain of the Falling Stars to kill Ke Jinpeng and the other four in battle.

    If he was lying, how would he know about Ke Jinpeng and Sha Yan?

    Both Duan Shihu and Jing Rou were deeply puzzled.

    At this moment, the ancient starship from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect berthed in front of theirs, and Xing Bo greeted them in a loud voice.

    ¡°He¡¯s discovered us, hasn¡¯t he?¡± Qi Bailu seemed worried.

    Duan Shihu smiled proudly and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Senior Qi. They won¡¯t be able to sense your presence as long as you stay in the cabin. You were able to sense me and Little Rou earlier because I wanted you to. I knew you were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and thus gave you the opportunity to approach my starship.¡±

    With these words, he gave Nie Tian a deep, meaningful look. ¡°Let¡¯s resume our conversationter. I¡¯ll go meet Xing Bo first.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    WHOOSH!

    Jing Rou¡¯s prism with four facets was floating silently over her palm.

    Nie Tian and the others looked into it with rapt attention, and saw the image of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s ancient starship in it.

    A thin young man that resembled Xing Beichen could be seen standing at the prow of the starship. Beside him stood a Soul realm expert. The entire ancient starship was enveloped and protected by a spiritual power ward.

    Jing Rou left the prism for Nie Tian, and then followed Duan Shihu out of the cabin.

    Countless magical symbols once again flew out of the ancient starship¡¯s surface to ward off the deadly impurities.

    ¡°This senior martial brother of yours is so beyond ordinary,¡± Zhao Shanling, who had remained silent for a long time, said in a low voice. ¡°He¡¯s at the middle Profound realm, but his wife has already entered thete Profound realm. The Divine Seal Sect, where they¡¯re from, must be every bit as powerful as the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect, if not more powerful.¡±

    Hua Mu and the other experts nodded vigorously, as they were all fully convinced.

    Xing Beichen had been from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, but since he had offended Duan Shihu, Duan Shihu had nearly killed him, and driven him out of the Domain of Heaven Python.

    This alone proved that Duan Shihu wasn¡¯t afraid of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    ¡°This senior martial brother of mine is indeed outstanding,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°My master broke the barriers in his cultivation and entered the Soul realm only recently. However, it¡¯s only been a few decades since he left the Domain of the Falling Stars, and he¡¯s already entered the middle Profound realm. Considering the speed at which he¡¯s progressed in his cultivation, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before he overtakes my master.¡±

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°His cultivation environment and resources are different from ours. After all, this is the Domain of Heaven Python, a Qi warrior domain that¡¯s even more advanced than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The fact that he came here, married that woman, and had this ancient starship to themselves is enough evidence of their lofty status in the Divine Seal Sect.

    ¡°Their cultivation talent is extraordinary to start with. Adding in their ess to rich cultivation resources and aplished mentors, it¡¯s only natural that they¡¯ve been making rapid progress in their cultivation.¡±

    Zhao Shanling said. ¡°Your master is truly unique. The profundity of time power, which he practices, must exceed your imagination. Even Heaven envies people like your master. That¡¯s why he suffered from his lifespan problem. But now that he¡¯s made the most important breakthrough in his cultivation, considering his talent, he¡¯ll be able to make continuous progress. He¡¯s bound to shine across the boundless starry river in the future!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°I too believe he¡¯ll shake this universe one day!¡±

    In the four-faceted prism, Duan Shihu asked with a cold, arrogant tone, ¡°What are you doing here, Xing Bo?¡±

    Nie Tian and the other experts were able to see every move he made and catch every word he said through the prism.

    Xing Bo bowed respectfully towards the couple, adopting a very low profile. ¡°Greetings, Brother Duan, Sister Jing.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t been so humble even when he had talked to Zhong Shishu from the Golden Vast Sect.

    From his expression and tone, Nie Tian could tell that he was actually rather afraid of Duan Shihu and Jing Rou. Only out of heartfelt fear would someone be so apprehensive.

    He had not only a Soul realm expert at his back, but also an ancient starship at his disposal, yet he behaved so obsequiously towards Duan Shihu and Jing Rou. This alone provided answers to many questions.

    ¡°We¡¯ve been working together with the Golden Vast Sect to capture a few foreign Qi warriors in this region,¡± Xing Bo said with a justified expression. ¡°They are from a ce called the Domain of the Falling Stars. They¡¯ve colluded with Bonebrutes and have been providing them with arge number of human corpses.

    ¡°Most of them are at the Soul realm. Some are even skilled in spatial magics.

    ¡°They escaped from the Golden Vast Sect not so long ago with the help of some spatial power spiritual tool. We searched that dead star, but didn¡¯t find any traces of them.

    ¡°So I suspected that they might have left that dead star ande to this region.

    ¡°I was worried that you would run into them and get into trouble, so I came over to inform you. I suggest you be extra careful, and don¡¯t leave your ancient starship for the time being.

    ¡°As long as you stay inside, considering the grade of this ancient starship, you surely won¡¯t need to fear a few Soul realm Qi warriors.¡±

    Xing Bo was full of smiles,pletely unsuspicious of who might be hiding inside this ancient starship, which belonged to the Divine Seal Sect.

    ¡°Noted.¡± Duan Shihu sounded rather impatient. He waved his hand at Xing Bo and added, ¡°If that¡¯s all, you may leave now. I never liked anyone from your family.¡±

    Xing Bo¡¯s smile didn¡¯t change in the slightest as he nodded and said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯re leaving now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, wait.¡± Jing Rou stopped him. ¡°Our sect will go do a thorough investigation of that dead star you said people from the Domain of the Falling Stars showed up on. I can¡¯t believe foreign Qi warriors are actually providing Bonebrutes with corpses of their own kind. This is totally uneptable. It¡¯s our duty to get to the bottom of this.¡±

    Xing Bo¡¯s smile suddenly froze. ¡°Your sect wants to go there and investigate?¡±

    Jing Rou nodded. ¡°Exactly. We¡¯ll inform you of our findings after we get a full understanding of what¡¯s going on. Neither your sect or the Golden Vast Sect has experts with deep understanding of spatial power. It¡¯ll be hard for you guys to find clues anyway. We might as well take over the investigation and send in our spatial power experts.¡±

    ¡°Umm... alright,¡± Xing Bo said. ¡°We¡¯ll stand by while you do your investigation.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Jing Rou said.

    ¡°Okay, we¡¯d better go now.¡± With these words, Xing Bo turned around and entered the cabin of his ancient starship. As soon as he did, his face fell and he bellowed, ¡°Dammit! The Divine Seal Sect has also set their mind on the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

 Chapter 796: The Divine Seal Sect

    Gao Han seemed deeply worried as he said, ¡°Are we really going to allow the Divine Seal Sect to investigate that dead star?

    ¡°You¡¯ve nned this for so long. All of these efforts have been made so that you¡¯ll be able to take the Domain of the Falling Stars into our sect¡¯s possession. If the Divine Seal Sect is actually going to stick their nose into this matter, they¡¯ll probably ruin your n. What should we do?¡±

    Xing Bo sat down in the cabin, looking rather tired. ¡°Now that both the Golden Vast Sect and the Divine Seal Sect have learned about the existence of the Domain of the Falling Stars, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s no longer possible for our sect to have it all to ourselves.

    ¡°Fortunately, they don¡¯t know about our secret connections with the Bonebrutes.

    ¡°As long as that remains a secret, everything will be fine. From the look of it, we¡¯ll have to split the Domain of the Falling Stars among us three sects. All we can do now is make good preparations so that we¡¯ll be at an advantage when ites to dividing that domain.¡±

    Gao Han sighed. ¡°If we could take the entire Domain of the Falling Stars for our own, then your status in our sect would bepletely unchallenged.

    With a sigh of frustration, Xing Bo said, ¡°We can¡¯t demand that everything go the way we intend it.¡±

    Then, he turned around and entered the secret room where he kept Pei Qiqi by himself.

    Fixing Pei Qiqi with a fascinated gaze, he muttered, ¡°Fortunately, I still have you. Now that I have you, I can settle for losing a part of the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ...

    Inside the other starship, the shape of the Voidspirit Pagoda appeared in between Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyebrows for a sh, and vanished immediately afterwards.

    ¡°Qiqi is still alive!¡± he eximed.

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou happened to walk down the stairs at this moment, and caught his soft exmation.

    Hua Mu and Qi Bailu were thrilled by these words.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Han Mu asked in a loud voice.

    Jing Rou had told them just now that people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had discovered and killed two Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They had been in deep grief, expecting that, like Zhen Hun, Pei Qiqi had also died at the hands of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Now, after hearing that Pei Qiqi was still alive, they all grew excited and overjoyed.

    As the shape of the Voidspirit Pagoda gradually disappeared into Zhao Shanling¡¯s flesh between his eyebrows, he said, ¡°It should be her. This spiritual tool has many wondrous uses. With its help, I sensed unusual spatial fluctuations just now. If there are no mishaps, those fluctuations were created by Pei Qiqi. It¡¯s just that what caused the spatial fluctuations was only a very faint wisp of her soul awareness, bereft of any spatial power.

    ¡°So I suspect that she¡¯s under some sort of confinement, which is keeping her from channeling power from her spiritual sea.

    ¡°However, thanks to her deep understanding of spatial power, she was able to trigger changes in space with nothing but a wisp of her soul awareness.¡±

    ¡°This Qiqi you¡¯re talking about, was she one of the two cultivators who came here from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Duan Shihu asked curiously.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Jing Rou pondered briefly and then said, ¡°Perhaps you¡¯re right, and she is still alive. The source of our information was a few external disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, not Xing Bo¡¯s confidantes.¡±

    Nie Tian sprang to his feet and said, ¡°Senior martial brother, is it possible for us to break the defense of that ancient starship from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Duan Shihu touched his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure. It¡¯ll depend on how many powerful experts are on that ancient starship.¡±

    Jing Rou shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to act so rashly.¡±

    After pausing for a few seconds, she added with a solemn expression. ¡°Considering our sect¡¯s strength, of course we won¡¯t be afraid of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. But even so, we can¡¯t make a move against Xing Bo without a good reason. Shihu and I represent the Divine Seal Sect. If we attack Xing Bo, it¡¯ll trigger great changes in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°An all-out war may break out between the Divine Seal Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. Both sects may fight to thest man. If ites down to that, the Golden Vast Sect may take the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s side because we initiated a strike without any reason.¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded. ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect alone won¡¯t be able to cause much trouble for our sect, but if the Golden Vast Sect joins them...¡± Even he seemed to find the matter somewhat tricky.

    With a smile, Jing Rou advised, ¡°Let¡¯s not make rash decisions, Nie Tian. It¡¯s better if we take things one step at a time. If that girl you talked about is actually still alive, it means Xing Bo won¡¯t kill her within a short time. There must be something he wants from her. Otherwise, he would have killed her long ago.

    ¡°Give me some time to do a thorough investigation and find out the truth.

    ¡°As long as we can prove that it was Xing Bo who has been secretly working with the Bonebrutes, not you, then we¡¯ll have sufficient reason to send in the troops. (Idiom: do something with good reason)

    ¡°If we can prove this point, then the Golden Vast Sect will probably take our side, and Xing Bo will die without a burial ce! (Idiom: die a tragic death ore to a bad end)¡±

    Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°That does sound like a better n.¡±

    Duan Shihu stepped over to Nie Tian¡¯s side and pressed him into sitting down again. Then, he promised, ¡°Rest assured, junior martial brother. As long as we can prove Xing Bo¡¯s collusion with the Bonebrutes, I assure you that Xing Bo will pay for his crime with his life!¡±

    As powerful as Nie Tian was, he felt great, mountain-like pressure from Duan Shihu¡¯s pressing hand.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to resist him, but sat down ordingly. ¡°Alright, so... where do we go now?¡±

    With a hearty smile, Duan Shihu said, ¡°Let¡¯s return to my territory, where we can think out our n, and you can tell me how our master has been doing, and how you managed to kill Xing Beichen.¡±

    Jing Rou gave him a gentle smile and said, ¡°You go ahead and catch up. I¡¯ll go prepare more food for you.¡±

    They had a long road ahead of them. While the ancient starship sped through void, Nie Tian sat and had a long talk with Duan Shihu.

    From their conversation, he learned that Duan Shihu was Wu Ji¡¯s first disciple, his eldest martial brother.

    He was from Thunderp City, which was not far from ck Cloud City. Since he didn¡¯t have a particr cultivation attribute, people hadn¡¯t expected him to have a promising future when he had been a kid.

    He had visited the Spiritual Treasure Sect and the Grayvale Sect sessively, hoping they would take him in. However, they had both shut their gates in his face because he had practiced nothing but pure spiritual power.

    However, he had been sensitive to spiritual power since he had been a kid, and he had a particrly strong interest in spell formations. Later, Wu Ji had set his eyes on him during the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s recruiting trial, and thus taken him in as his first disciple.

    Wu Ji¡¯s teaching had been in line with his abilities, as Wu Ji had introduced him to many records of spell formations and let him derive enlightenment of their profundity.

    Soon, he had shown his unmatched talent in spell formations. Even though he hadn¡¯t had a particr cultivation attribute, he had made rapid progress in his cultivation and be a famous name in the Realm of me Heaven.

    He had left the Realm of me Heaven for the Realm of Split Void in search of a breakthrough in his cultivation through learning the broken spell formations the Void Pce Sect had left behind.

    He had stayed in the Realm of Split Void for years, and even spent some time living as a hunter. Once, he had chased a target into the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, where he had entered a mysterious spatial rift and somehow ended up in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    That spatial rift wasn¡¯t the one through which Nie Tian and the others hade here. It had led him to a strange corner of the Domain of Heaven Python, and then vanishedpletely.

    He hadn¡¯t found a way to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars since then.

    In that remote area of the Domain of Heaven Python, he had resumed his old profession and joined a notorious hunter organization.

    Like the hunters in the Realm of Split Void, hunters of that organization also preyed on Qi warriors and plundered their spiritual materials.

    He had even once made it to the top of that organization.

    Later, they had grown so daring that they had actually robbed a merchant ship that belonged to the Divine Seal Sect.

    Then, Jing Rou had been charged with the mission to root out their organization, which she had achieved. But Duan Shihu had escaped her quite a few times.

    When Jing Rou and her people finally captured him, she had discovered to her surprise that he had had arge number of spell formations scrolls on him.

    His talent in spell formations had, to a great extent, agreed with the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s incantations and magics. Jing Rou hadn¡¯t wanted his talent to go to waste, and thus had spared his life and brought him back to the Divine Seal Sect.

    The Divine Seal Sect had made him go through a series of tests, and discovered that his talent and instinct for spell formations and magical symbols was unprecedented.

    Therefore, they had viewed him as a paramount treasure since then.

    After gaining unlimited ess to the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s cultivation resources, he had broken many of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s records as a disciple. The Divine Seal Sect had thus dered him their chosen one.

    Since he and Jing Rou had spent a long time together, they developed affection for each other, and eventually got married.

    Jing Rou, however, happened to be the daughter of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s only two Saint domain Qi warriors.

    His marriage with Jing Rou had not only attracted the attention of the Divine Seal Sect, but also made them famous throughout the entire Domain of Heaven Python.

    There were only a total of three major sects in the Domain of Heaven Python: the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect.

    Both the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect had only one early Saint domain expert.

    The Divine Seal Sect, however, had two early Saint domain experts.

    For this reason, the Divine Seal Sect had been viewed as the well-deserved most powerful sect in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Meanwhile, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had maintained a good rtionship with the Golden Vast Sect because only together would they be able to contend against the Divine Seal Sect and keep a bnce among the three major powers.

    The fact that Xing Bo had behaved so cautiously when facing him and Jing Rou had been because of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s formidable might.

    From their heart-to-heart conversation, Nie Tian finally realized what kind of lofty status this senior martial brother of his now enjoyed in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    No wonder Xing Beichen had fled the Domain of Heaven Python after offending him.

 Chapter 797: The Domain of Heaven Python

    Duan Shihu was so shocked that he sprang to his feet, gasping. ¡°What?! You¡¯ve passed the Heaven Gate Trial in the Domain of the Falling Stars and be the seventh Son of the Stars!?¡±

    Countless magical symbols could be seen interweaving in the depths of his eyes, his whole body wreathed in an immense divine aura.

    His conversation with Nie Tian was taking ce in another room, where arge number of spirit stones were ced in a way that formed a spell formation that could gather spiritual power for Qi warriors.

    Sitting among them, Nie Tian didn¡¯t need to do anything, and rich spiritual power would take it upon itself to fly into his spiritual sea to strengthen his spiritual core.

    CLANK!

    A silver te fell out of Jing Rou¡¯s hands and broke, as she was also deeply shaken by Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    Therge piece of spirit beast meat, which she had cooked specially for Nie Tian, rolled on the ground.

    ¡°A Son of the Stars?!¡± She, who had just entered the room, was also bbergasted upon hearing Duan Shihu¡¯s exmation.

    ¡°Why do you seem so shocked, senior martial brother?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    Eyes wide, Duan Shihu fixed him with a disbelieving gaze and said, ¡°You... You don¡¯t even know what being a Son of the Stars means, do you?! That trial is only called the Heaven Gate Trial because its a gate through which you can reach the heavens! I can¡¯t believe that you¡¯ve actually passed the Heaven Gate Trial and be the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You¡¯re such a lucky dog!

    ¡°In all the years I lived in the Domain of the Falling Stars, I only heard about the Heaven Gate Trials, but never had the chance to participate in one.

    ¡°Bute to think of it, even if I was there when the Heaven Gate Trial opened, I doubt that I¡¯d have been able to pass it and be a Son of the Stars.

    ¡°Heaven Gates opened quite a few times in the Domain of the Falling Stars before you. But not a single youngster from the Domain of the Falling Stars had ever won the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s favor and had the privilege to be their Son of the Stars!¡±

    The way Jing Rou looked at Nie Tian had changed now that she knew that Nie Tian was the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Originally, she had been rather hesitant to mobilize the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s chess pieces and resources just to help this junior martial brother of Duan Shihu to save Pei Qiqi.

    The Divine Seal Sect¡¯s reserve power was the most profound in the Domain of Heaven Python. They had many informants in both the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect.

    However, those informants were high ranking officials. The Divine Seal Sect had nted them there so that they would be able to make significant contributions in the future.

    They would lose their value if they were exposed so early.

    She was reluctant to spoil the insiders her sect had spent years nting and cultivating just for a woman from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, now that she had learned that Nie Tian was the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, everything had changed.

    She had long since learned from Duan Shihu that the Domain of the Falling Stars was a very weak domain.

    In her eyes, Duan Shihu¡¯s master, who he couldn¡¯t seem to forget, and even the entire Domain of the Falling Stars didn¡¯t have much value.

    This was also the reason why she had advised patience every time Duan Shihu had expressed his strong intention to find a way to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars to visit Wu Ji.

    However, now that she had learned the identity of this junior martial brother of Duan Shihu¡¯s, she instantly realized that this was a great opportunity for the Divine Seal Sect.

    With a hearty smile, she said to Nie Tian, ¡°That woman named Pei Qiqi... Don¡¯t you worry about her anymore. We¡¯ll learn about her situation within the shortest time possible. I promise you that she¡¯s safe for the time being, and our sect will do everything within our power to rescue her.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Not so long ago, Jing Rou had urged them to take their time and make thorough ns to save Pei Qiqi.

    She had seemed rather hesitant back then.

    But now, she suddenly became so determined and even guaranteed Pei Qiqi¡¯s safety. Such a sudden change in attitude caught Nie Tian by surprise.

    Jing Rou smiled. ¡°I might as well be honest with you. I grew up in the Divine Seal Sect. My parents had high hopes for me, so it¡¯s my instinct to think for my sect every time I make a decision. The reason why I was hesitant earlier was because I was worried that if my sect went all-out to get to the bottom of this matter, it might cause great turbulences in the Domain of Heaven Python. The Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Divine Seal Sect might team up against us.

    ¡°The elders of my sect won¡¯t be happy if I make a mess just to save a woman from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°However, everything will be different if you¡¯re not only Shihu¡¯s junior martial brother, but also a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Those elders will never me me for making efforts to help a Son of the Stars.¡±

    Duan Shihu let out a snort. ¡°People like you who grew up in powerful sects always see benefits first!¡±

    He had intended to help Nie Tian at all costs since the beginning.

    He didn¡¯t want to help Nie Tian because he was a Son of the Stars, but because he was also Wu Ji¡¯s disciple.

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou then asked a few more questions. Their expressions rxedpletely after they learned that a magnificent pce had surfaced in the Realm of Split Void because of Nie Tian.

    With a smile of relief, Jing Rou said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about the safety of the Domain of the Falling Stars either. The surfacing of that pce proves that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left that domain for their Son of the Stars.

    ¡°Even if the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect find their way to the Domain of the Falling Stars, they won¡¯t dare to make any rash moves after learning about that ce.

    ¡°Even our sect wouldn¡¯t dare to act rashly on the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s territory, much less them.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars is one hundred percent safe. Any major Qi warrior sect would pull back three days¡¯ march (idiom: give way in the face of superior strength) upon seeing that pce. ¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Afterwards, Nie Tian told them about what had happened in the forbidden region, and that Xing Beichen had summoned Ke Jinpeng and other experts to that region in an attempt to take that magical continent for their own, but had eventually died under the influence of the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation.

    After hearing about the deaths of Xing Beichen and the other five Void domain experts, Duan Shihu let out a wildugh and eximed, ¡°Good job!¡±

    Even though the Thousandsword Mountain Sect was more powerful than the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the number of Void domain experts they had was still fairly limited.

    The deaths of five Void domain experts must have greatly hurt the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s strength.

    Jing Rou would be more confident when she held the Thousandsword Mountain Sect ountable for their deeds.

    The two martial brothers went on and talked more about what had happened in the Domain of the Falling Stars in that secret room. Then, Duan Shihu told Nie Tian to recover his strength and get ready to deal with Xing Bo and rescue Pei Qiqi.

    Right before they left, Jing Rou gave her entire collection of Star Stones, which she had nned to trade for other cultivation materials, to Nie Tian, knowing that he practiced star power and was running out of Star Stones.

    The Star Stones she gave Nie Tian turned out to be more than two thousand pieces, enough for him to cultivate with and power the Star Boat for quite a while.

    ording to her, many meteors that fell out of the void would contain Star Stones.

    However, since very few cultivators practiced star power, she would usually trade the Star Stones for materials she needed once she had her hands on some.

    With the help of these Star Stones and the rich spiritual power inside the room, Nie Tian rapidly settled down and started practicing cultivation wholeheartedly.

    Jing Rou also noticed that his fleshly body was different from others¡¯, and thus came over with cooked spirit beast meat from time to time.

    The spirit beast meat she brought for him was not only tasty, but also taken from high grade spirit beasts. It helped the green aura in Nie Tian¡¯s heart umte flesh power at an rming rate.

    Later, after she discovered Nie Tian¡¯s unusuallyrge appetite, she prepared more spirit beast meat for him, as if her spirit beast meat reserve couldn¡¯t be exhausted.

    With the help of her spirit beast meat, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline absorbed flesh power without restraint. Shortly afterwards, it finally had its fill, and entered dormancy again.

    Time passed without him noticing it, while the ancient starship sailed across the starry river at full speed.

    This ancient starship, which was known throughout the Domain of Heaven Python, encountered starships from other powers along its way, but they all avoided it out of respect.

    Those who approached their starship all came to greet Jing Rou and Duan Shihu.

    Three monthster, Duan Shihu and Jing Rou¡¯s ancient starship finally arrived in the depths of the Domain of Heaven Python, where Duan Shihu¡¯s personal territory was.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The ancient starshipnded, and Duan Shihu invited Nie Tian and the others toe out of the cabin. With a broadugh, he said, ¡°We¡¯re here, junior martial brother. This realm used to be the headquarters of the Star Hunters, and the ce Little Rou and I met. It¡¯s mine now.¡±

 Chapter 798: The Realm of Withering Flame

    The ancient starship berthed in the middle of a city without walls.

    As soon as Nie Tian and the experts walked out of the starship cabin, Li Muyang gazed skywards and eximed, ¡°Three suns!¡±

    Three zing suns were scorching the ground like three enormous fireballs, making this realm unusually hot.

    The incantations Li Muyang practiced had historical connections with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They allowed him to channel the sun¡¯s power into his spiritual sea and use it to refine his spiritual core over and over.

    He could channel much more power from here than from the sun in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Therefore, Li Muyang grew excited upon seeing three suns hanging in the sky. ¡°If I could build a spell formation here to gather power from the three suns, I have confidence that I¡¯d be able to break through into thete Soul realm in three to five years!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected Duan Shihu¡¯s private territory to be so special.

    The fact that he saw three zing suns the moment he stepped out of the starship cabin made him see an opportunity to make another breakthrough in cultivation after being stuck at the middle Soul realm for many decades.

    Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect took a deep breath. Looking thrilled, he said, ¡°There are arge number of volcanoes here too! This realm is actually quite simr to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. The only difference is that the volcanoes here contain me power even richer than those in the Realm of Unbounded Destion! This ce agrees with my cultivation too. It¡¯s such a blessednd.¡±

    Duan Shihu grinned and said, ¡°This realm is called the Realm of Withering me. During the day, three suns will hang in the sky, making the whole realm unbearably hot, but things will change after nightfall.

    ¡°During the night, five moons will appear in the sky, enveloping the entire realm in their chilly moonlight.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Xing Huanyue from the Yin Sect shuddered. ¡°What?! Five moons will appear in the sky after nightfall?!¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised too.

    He was well-aware that the incantations Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue practiced were rather special, as they practiced cultivation by channeling power from the sun and the moon.

    It was hard to find spiritual materials that contained sun and moon power in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Perhaps for this reason, the two of them hadn¡¯t progressed as fast as Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect or the me God, Xia Yi.

    If the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect weren¡¯t based in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, but in the Realm of Withering me, their cultivation bases would have most likely been much higher than they were now.

    Both of them had spell formations and spiritual tools that could gather sun power and moon power in their headquarters.

    It was just that they were limited by the Domain of the Falling Stars. The rate at which they umted the essence of the sun and the moon wasn¡¯t high enough for them to make breakthroughs at a fast rate.

    But here, not only were there three suns in the sky during the daytime and five moons during the nighttime, but each of those suns and moons emanated more power than the ones in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    If they had spell formations to help them gather power too, the two of them might very well break through into the next realm within a short period of time in the Realm of Withering me.

    Especially now that Nie Tian had gotten those two scrolls out of the bellies of those two lofty mountain peaks for them, all theycked to make breakthroughs in their cultivation was umtion and refinement of power.

    Duan Shihu smiled. ¡°Indeed, there are a lot of volcanoes in the Realm of Withering me. Many of the volcanoes even have fire-attributed spiritual materials in them. Those fire-attributed spiritual materials are my main source of ie. The hunters who used to roam this realm and prey on weak cultivators all pledged their loyalty to me, and mine those spiritual materials for me now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°Senior martial brother, are there earthme essence or earthme crystal strings in those volcanoes?¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded. ¡°Of course there are. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s very difficult to collect them. Only Qi warriors who practice fire incantations will be able to extricate them from the hearts of the volcanoes fairly easily. None of the hunters who practice fire incantations are powerful enough, so I haven¡¯t really been able to collect them.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, may I collect some of the earthme essence and earthme crystal strings?¡± Nie Tian asked somewhat bashfully.

    The me Dragon Armor had consumed far too much me power to refine and purge the soul of that Phantasm grand patriarch. Now, it desperately needed to recover.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that the me Dragon Armor relied on earthme essence and earthme crystal strings to recover strength, and thus he asked this question.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Duan Shihu answered without the slightest hesitation.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Jing Rou said. ¡°I just learned that not only is that Pei Qiqi girl still alive, but Xing Bo seems to attach great importance to her.¡±

    During this time, she had beenmunicating with the informants the Divine Seal Sect had nted in the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and had gained a full understanding of the situation.

    ¡°Apparently, Xing Bo intends to erase her memories and then marry her.

    ¡°Not everyone can erase her memories of her past, but keep her memories of her spatial maniption magics at the same time.

    ¡°So to be safe, Xing Bo is going to take her back to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters and have their powerful experts finish the procedure there.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face instantly grew bleak. ¡°He wants to erase senior martial sister¡¯s memories and then marry her?¡±

    For some reason, Nie Tian found it very difficult to suppress his fury after hearing that Xing Bo was nning to marry Pei Qiqi. He struggled to fight his urge to find Xing Bo¡¯s ancient starship immediately to y him and rescue Pei Qiqi.

    Hua Mu and the other experts¡¯ faces also grew cold and fierce.

    Jing Rou saw that anger was building up in them, and thus hastily said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We still have plenty of time to stop him. Xing Bo will have to take a long journey if he wants to return to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect from where he is, much longer than us. Besides, we have insiders around him. I¡¯ll keep a close watch on him. He¡¯ll never get what he wants.¡±

    Her assurance calmed Nie Tian to some extent.

    Nie Tian sounded somewhat eager as he said, ¡°I¡¯m off to collect earthme essence first, senior martial brother. Would you point me in a direction where you don¡¯t have people working already?¡±

    Duan Shihu pointed in a direction. ¡°Over there. The volcanoes in that area haven¡¯t been explored yet. I¡¯ll tell my men to avoid that area too.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, then turned to Jing Rou and asked, ¡°Would you please let me know when you receive new information?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Jing Rou said.

    Nie Tian then summoned his Star Boat and flew off into the distance like a shooting star.

    Meanwhile, Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue gained Duan Shihu¡¯s permission and started building their own spell formations in a courtyard in the city, with which they hoped to gather sun power and moon power, and break through into thete Soul realm as soon as possible.

    Hua Mu and Qi Bailu were curious about this city, and thus decided to take a walk inside the city.

    Zhao Shanling seemed to have gone somewhere by himself.

    The Star Boat suddenly came to a stop over an area that was packed with volcanoes.

    Nie Tian summoned the me Dragon Armor.

    As soon as the me Dragon Armor flew out of his ring of holding, Nie Tian sensed cheers from its soul, and realized that he hade to the right ce.

    ¡°Go gather me power and recover as quickly as you can,¡± Nie Tian ordered.

    The me Dragon Armor then morphed into a streak of mes that shot directly down the mouth of an active volcano, piercing into its heart.

    A strong sense of urgency had risen in his heart since he had learned that Xing Bo nned to erase Pei Qiqi¡¯s memories and marry her.

    He hoped to return his battle prowess to its peak state as soon as possible, and the me Dragon Armor was the most powerful tool at his disposal.

    The reason why he hadn¡¯t let the me Dragon Armor absorb me power from that other continent was because he understood the profound connections between the Ultimates Reverse Grand Spell Formation and the five regions of different elemental powers.

    He had worried that by channeling too much power from the fire-attributed region, the me Dragon Armor would break the bnce of the spell formation, and thus had kept it from doing so.

    However, there wasn¡¯t a simr superb spell formation here, covering the entire Realm of Withering me. Also, it seemed that his senior martial brother wouldn¡¯t mind losing some of the earthme essence here.

    Therefore, he let the me Dragon Armor do what it had to do.

    Normally speaking, it would be rather difficult to gather earthme essence and earthme crystal strings. The reason why the me God Sect had been able to gather arge number of earthme crystal strings in the Realm of Unbounded Destion had been because of Xia Yi¡¯s profound strength.

    However, even though it was a difficult task for most people, it wasn¡¯t a problem for the me Dragon Armor.

    As soon as the me Dragon Armor sank into the heart of the volcano, Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that the raging me power fluctuations within that volcano rapidly quieted down.

    Therefore, he knew that the me Dragon Armor was madly absorbing earthme essence from the depths of the earth.

    Three days passed...

    The six active volcanoes in the vicinity all became extinct after being depleted of all of their earthme essence and earthme crystal strings.

    The me Dragon Armor flew out of thest one, wreathed in a me aura so fierce that it even made Nie Tian somewhat ufortable. Then, it sent Nie Tian a soul message, ¡°Would you grant me some of your Blood Essence, master? It will be very helpful for my growth!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor had long since expressed its strong desire for Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, but for many reasons, he hadn¡¯t bestowed any upon it.

    Now, after umting a copious amount of me power, the me Dragon Armor once again made this demand.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline aura happened to be in dormancy, preparing for its next awakening cycle.

    He would be able to regenerate ten drops of Blood Essence with his remaining flesh power. Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, he granted the me Dragon Armor¡¯s demand.

    One drop of Blood Essence after another then flew out of his heart. As translucent and sparkling as red agate, they disappeared into the Blood Core.

    Great changes instantly urred in the Blood Core.

 Chapter 799: Blood Core Morphs

    The Blood Core had been in the form of a bone slip when he had first obtained it.

    After he had carried it around and nourished it with his own flesh power for so many years, and adding in the me power it had gathered over all these years, it had gone through many mild changes.

    It had gone through a significant change when it had reunited with the me Dragon Armor.

    The Blood Core had long since shed its form as a bone slip, and assumed the form of a dark-red walnut that was the size of a fist.

    DRIP! DRIP!

    Drops of Blood Essence that were as translucent and sparkling as red agate dripped on the Blood Core.

    Immediately afterwards, the Blood Core that looked like a dried walnut absorbed all ten drops of Blood Essence like a sponge absorbing water.

    It suddenly seemed full of life again.

    The fine, densely-packed furrows on the Blood Core¡¯s surface that looked like dried rivers seemed to be filled with water again, giving rise to vigorous life force.

    Like rivers of mes, countless streams of fiery light flew out of the me Dragon Armor and fused into the Blood Core, which continued to gather me power and induce some sort of upheaval with the help of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    BANG! BANG!

    After a long time, iparably clear heartbeats suddenly came from the Blood Core.

    Nie Tian instantly sensed ecstasy in the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul.

    The me Dragon Armor was almost mad with joy as it called out, ¡°Master! I feel like I¡¯ve been reborn! Your Blood Essence has infused me with new life force!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes instantly lit up.

    He vaguely sensed that a small heart seemed toe to form inside the Blood Core that looked like a walnut. It seemed to be a condensation of me power and his ten drops of Blood Essence.

    Before, he had only been able to sense me power from the Blood Core and the me Dragon Armor.

    But now, he sensed distinct life force burst forth from within the Blood Core.

    This me Dragon Armor had been forged by taking a bone from the remains of a me dragon, erasing its old memories from its soul and refining them with all kinds of special spiritual materials.

    Originally, it was nothing but a spiritual tool. Even though it had its own spirit and awareness, it was bereft of any life force.

    However, as his Blood Essence dripped and fused into it, it seemed to be vested with flesh and blood, as if it was being given life!

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was very excited as it yelled, ¡°Master! I need more earthme essence and earthme crystal strings!¡±

    Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention, starlight shining in his pupils, enabling him to see through the Blood Core¡¯s surface and into its depths.

    He saw numerous sparkling fiery strings at the heart of the Blood Core, as if they were the earthme crystal strings it had gathered. Not only did they contain fierce me power, but they were also branded with the profound truths of me power.

    Numerous fiery strings were wreathing a heart that was only the size of a thumb.

    The fiery strings were like fibers that were providing the tiny heart with me power and helping it reforge its Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    He wasn¡¯t sure how these changes were helping the Blood Core.

    However, he decided to give the me Dragon Armor what it desired.

    ¡°You¡¯re free to take the earthme essence and earthme crystal strings in the volcanoes within a five kilometer radius.¡± Nie Tian gave the range. ¡°Remember, five kilometers. Don¡¯t exceed this range!¡±

    He was worried that the me Dragon Armor would act without restraint and ruin the environment of the entire Realm of Withering me, therefore infuriating his senior martial brother.

    ¡°Enough! That¡¯s more than enough!¡± The me Dragon Armor eximed cheerfully.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, the me Dragon Armor flew away from Nie Tian to another nearby volcano, and instantly sank into its heart.

    That volcano seemed very active, as if it could erupt at any moment. However, as the me Dragon Armor plunged into its heart, it seemed as if it had instantly reached the end of its life and died.

    Momentster, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t sense even the slightest me power fluctuations from within the volcano anymore.

    Then, the me Dragon Armor morphed into a streak of mes that shot out of that volcano¡¯s mouth and rapidly plunged into its next target.

    Sitting in the lotus position in the Star Boat, Nie Tian started to have a fatigued feeling as he watched the me Dragon Armor madly gather earthme essence and earthme crystal strings.

    This feeling of fatigue originated from his loss of those ten drops of Blood Essence.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m not quite sure what wondrous uses my Blood Essence has, once I lose it, I feel powerless,¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°This isn¡¯t a good sign... I¡¯d better find more flesh power and regenerate the ten drops of Blood Essence I¡¯ve given to the me Dragon Armor as soon as possible.¡±

    Inside the city...

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou were cuddling and talking to each other in low voices.

    The topic of their conversation was Nie Tian, Xing Bo, and Pei Qiqi.

    Eyes narrowed, Jing Rou said, ¡°That junior martial brother of yours is far beyond ordinary. You probably sensed the immense flesh power inside of him too. Most fifth grade spirit beasts and outsiders don¡¯t have flesh auras as vigorous as his.¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve noticed.¡±

    Jing Rou then said, ¡°At first, I cooked fourth grade spirit beast meat for him, and I was a little worried that he wouldn¡¯t be able to process the rich flesh power it contained.

    ¡°But soon, my worry turned out to be groundless.

    ¡°He didn¡¯t seem to feel anything after finishing that piece of fourth grade spirit beast meat.

    ¡°So I switched to fifth grade spirit beast meat. However, he absorbed the copious flesh power it contained as just easily.

    ¡°Eventually, I switched to sixth grade spirit beast meat.

    ¡°The battle prowess of a sixth grade spirit beast is equal to that of a Profound realm Qi warrior. Even so, he still managed to absorb the flesh power it contained without effort.

    ¡°He seems to have the fleshly body of a Taotie (A ferocious mythological animal, the fifth son of the dragon king, a voracious eater), which allows him to eat all of the spirit beast meat he gets without ever stopping. I was truly shocked by his appetite.¡±

    Jing Rou seemed shaken as she said these words. ¡°I even suspect that he¡¯s a hybrid, and his bloodline belongs to the most profound kind which neither of us can begin to fathom! A Son of the Stars, a sessful hybrid... If this guy can follow the path the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has designed for him and eventually reach the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters, he¡¯ll attract the attention of the entire starry river.¡±

    Duan Shihu grinned. ¡°He¡¯s my master¡¯s disciple. It¡¯s only natural that he¡¯s beyond ordinary.¡±

    Jing Rou rolled her eyes at him. Just as she was about to say something, her expression suddenly flickered.

    Her slender eyebrows furrowed as she said, ¡°All of the raging volcanoes in the region he went to seem to have died out within such a short time! He¡¯s only at the middle Worldly realm. Even if he¡¯s extremely talented with me power, it¡¯s not likely for him to drain those volcanoes of their earthme crystal strings and earthme essence within such a short period of time, right?¡±

    Duan Shihu also looked confused as he said, ¡°Indeed.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go over there and take a look?¡± Jing Rou rose out of Duan Shihu¡¯s arms to her feet and tossed a ring of holding to him. ¡°Inside of this ring is the spirit beast meat I¡¯ve collected these past years, most of which is at the fifth and sixth grade. A small part of it is at the seventh grade. Nie Tian¡¯s appetite is shockinglyrge, and he doesn¡¯t seem to care about the taste or texture of the meat. All he wants is the flesh power it contains. You might as well give it all to him, so I won¡¯t need to make efforts to cook for him anymore.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Duan Shihu grabbed the ring of holding, pushed the door open, and left.

    He summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool that was engraved with numerous magical symbols and flew off in it. A few minutester, he reached Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    As he approached, he saw the me Dragon Armor flying out of the mouth of a volcano and plunging into the mouth of another.

    Duan Shihu let out a soft exmation, ¡°So it¡¯s this spiritual tool all along.¡±

    Then, he steered his air-transportation spiritual tool towards Nie Tian and threw him the ring of holding he had in his hand, ¡°Your sister-inw was worried that you¡¯d get hungry during cultivation, so she sent me here to give you this spirit beast meat.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the ring of holding and briefly examined its contents with his soul awareness. His eyes lit up as he said, ¡°Thank you, senior martial brother. And please thank my sister-inw for me too. This is indeed what I need the most right now.¡±

    He secretly activated Life Drain while talking to Duan Shihu. Wisps of his flesh aura flew into the ring of holding, where they started to absorb flesh power from the spirit beast meat.

    The spirit beast meat within the ring of holding shrank at an rming rate, like sponges that had gone dry.

    As wisps of his flesh aura returned to him, carrying rich flesh power, a drop of Blood Essence rapidly came to form within his heart.

    Duan Shihu sensed that something was different, but he couldn¡¯t tell what was happening inside Nie Tian exactly.

    He could only sense subtle changes in Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura after he got that ring of holding.

    He didn¡¯t ask about it. Instead, he reminded Nie Tian that he was free to practice cultivation anywhere in the Realm of Withering me, and then left, looking causal and at ease.

    After he left, Nie Tiannded the Star Boat. He took numerous pieces of spirit beast meat out of the ring of holding and started draining their flesh power with Life Drain without any scruples.

    A few hourster, he recovered all ten drops of Blood Essence he had lost.

    Afterwards, as the me Dragon Armor continued to gather earthme crystal strings and earthme essence, he practiced cultivation wholeheartedly, refining his spiritual core and vortexes of three different attributes with spiritual materials.

    His strength built up as days passed.

    A few dayster, the me Dragon Armor returned on its own after gathering enough earthme crystal strings and earthme essence.

    ¡°Master, I need to enter a fairly long period of dormancy to process the me power I¡¯ve gathered.¡± With these words, the me Dragon Armor flew into Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding and fell into a deep slumber.

    Even though Nie Tian was full of questions, seeing that the me Dragon Armor had fallen dormant, he could only let it go.

    Instead of roaming the realm, he stayed in this region and practiced cultivation day and night.

    Two weekster, Duan Shihu came for him again and said, ¡°Xing Bo didn¡¯t return to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters directly, but changed his route and went to the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°The Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s this ce that¡¯s very simr to the Void Illusion Mountain Range, where there are also arge number of spatial rifts that lead to outsider realms,¡± Xing Bo exined. ¡°What makes it special is that humans live in harmony with outsiders there. They even trade cultivation resources andmunicate all kinds of information. Little Rou has made some arrangements to rescue that Pei Qiqi girl in the Realm of Maelstrom. You¡¯reing with me.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

 Chapter 800: A Special Realm

    Nie Tian followed Duan Shihu back to the city. Just as he was about to summon Li Muyang and the other experts, Jing Rou shook her head and said with a smile, ¡°We won¡¯t need their help this time.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Zhao Shanling and the others were all at the Soul realm; they represented the peak battle prowess of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They would certainly need the help of powerful experts if they wanted to rescue Pei Qiqi. Therefore, the fact that Jing Rou didn¡¯t want them to go confused Nie Tian.

    ¡°They¡¯re too eye-catching,¡± Jing Rou exined. ¡°Xing Bo and the people from the Golden Vast Sect probably remember their cultivation bases and auras. They¡¯ll probably be exposed and attract the Golden Vast Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s attention as soon as they arrive in the Realm of Maelstrom. If Xing Bo finds out who they are and that they¡¯re traveling with us, then he¡¯ll be alerted.

    ¡°But you¡¯re different. Your cultivation base is fairly low. As long as you keep your Bonebrute puppet well-hidden and assume a different appearance, you¡¯ll easily blend in with the crowd and avoid catching unnecessary attention.

    ¡°Besides, a middle Void domain senior from my sect has agreed to go with us. He¡¯ll help us if needed.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian nodded somewhat reluctantly. ¡°Alright, since you¡¯ve made arrangements already... All I want is to get Senior Martial Sister Pei to safety. As long as we can do that, nothing else is important.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured,¡± Jing Rou said, looking rather confident. ¡°There won¡¯t be a problem.¡±

    Then, the couple led Nie Tian to a spacious room, where stood arge-scale teleportation portal.

    They activated the spell formation, and the three of them vanished from the Realm of Withering me.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian and the couple walked out of a teleportation portal that was on the ground floor of a splendid stone pavilion in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Jing Rou tossed a thin, light mask to Nie Tian. ¡°Here, put this mask on.¡±

    Nie Tian put it on and fetched a bronze mirror. He looked into the mirror and discovered that the person in the mirror looked as pale as wax and very unimpressive,pletely unlike him.

    Afterwards, Duan Shihu and Jing Rou took him to the top floor of the stone pavilion, where there was arge, round balcony.

    Standing by the railing, Nie Tian gazed into the sky, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

    The sky was dotted with dazzlingly bright stars.

    However, the starry sky only took up a small part of his view, and was wreathed in rings of watery curtains, which were in the form of an enormous vortex, wide towards the top and narrow towards the bottom.

    Duan Shihu exined, ¡°This Realm of Maelstrom is actually a very special realm. You can view this realm as a huge water-attributed spiritual power vortex. The continent we¡¯re standing on is floating in the huge vortex.

    ¡°The starry sky you can see from here is only limited to the mouth of the vortex, which makes you feel like you¡¯re gazing skywards from inside a well.

    ¡°The huge vortex stretches downwards and ends below the continent we¡¯re on. There are arge number of spatial rifts in the vortex. They¡¯re all of different sizes, and constantly on the move.

    ¡°The smallest of the spatial rifts can only allow bugs to go through, while thergest ones can allow ancient starships to go through.¡±

    While Duan Shihu spoke, Nie Tian saw that a gigantic ancient starship had suddenly appeared in the misty, watery sky, as if it had gone through a curtain of water and appeared from behind a waterfall.

    Judging from its appearance, it was clearly a ancient starship of the Phantasms.

    A shocked expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Phantasms!¡±

    Duan Shihu, however, seemed to find nothing abnormal about it. His expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest as he said, ¡°You¡¯re right. That¡¯s an ancient starship that belongs to the Phantasms. Not just Phantasms, but Demons, Fiends, and Floragrims will alsoe to the Realm of Maelstrom through the spatial rifts in the enormous vortex.

    ¡°But they don¡¯te for war, but for trade.

    ¡°There are many precious materials in outsider realms that can help us human Qi warriors build up our strength, forge powerful spiritual tools, or build our inner domains.

    ¡°Simrly, we have certain spiritual materials in our realms that can help the outsiders upgrade their bloodlines at a higher rate.

    ¡°Even though battles break out among humans, outsiders, and Ancientspirits all the time in many realms, as there are always exceptions in things, in certain ces, all races can get along and do business with each other.

    ¡°The Realm of Maelstrom is one of these ces.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Figures wreathed in poisonous mist suddenly shot up from a distant location, and soon disappeared into the enormous vortex.

    Nie Tian examined them with rapt attention, and was convinced that they were Fiends.

    ¡°Fiends!¡± he called out.

    Duan Shihu shot a nce in the direction Nie Tian was looking. Nodding, he said, ¡°Yeah, they seemed to havee from the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s trading area. From the look of it, they¡¯ve just made a transaction with the Golden Vast Sect, and were eager to leave this ce.¡±

    ¡°This continent is divided among sects?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Jing Rou chimed in with a warm smile on her face. ¡°There are three major areas, each of which is controlled by the Golden Vast Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and our sect. There are only threerge-scale teleportation portals that connect this realm to the outside world, and they¡¯re controlled by us three parties as well.

    ¡°If other ns and sects from the Domain of Heaven Python want toe to the Realm of Maelstrom, they¡¯ll have to either go through our teleportation portals, or through the opening at the top of the huge vortex.

    ¡°It¡¯s much safer and more convenient to travel to and from the Realm of Maelstrom through our teleportation portals.

    ¡°But of course people will have to pay spirit stones in exchange for our service.¡±

    Duan Shihuughed broadly and chimed in, ¡°Isn¡¯t the situation here simr to the situation in the old Realm of Split Void with the Wild Fire, the Blood Skull, and the Dark Moon?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re actually right,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding.

    The three local forces in the Realm of Split Void, the Dark Moon, the Blood Skull, and the Wild Fire had established teleportation portals, and charged spirit stones if Qi warriors from other realms had wanted to enter or exit the Realm of Split Void through them.

    But of course, since the environment in the Realm of Split Void had been very unfit for Qi warriors to practice cultivation before, almost no Qi warriors from powerful sects would go to live there.

    All those who had moved to the Realm of Split Void had been people with no ce to turn.

    BANG! BANG!

    While Nie Tian drifted away in his thoughts, clusters of fiery light suddenly came to shine in the depths of the starlit sky.

    The fiery light rapidly expanded as Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that they were actually a few crashing air-transportation spiritual tools. Their owners seemed to be under attack.

    ¡°Those are...?¡± he asked, confusion spreading across his face.

    Eyes narrowed, Duan Shihu said with an expressionless face. ¡°Those people were probablying to the Realm of Maelstrom to trade, but were ambushed on their way. There are always people who don¡¯t want to pay spirit stones for our service, so they choose toe through the opening at the top of the grand vortex. However, some vicious star hunters are still entrenched on nearby dead stars. Ambushing people on their way and plundering their valuables is what they do.

    ¡°Most of those whoe to the Realm of Maelstrom are here to trade, so they usually have valuable items on them. If they aren¡¯t powerful enough to protect themselves, chances are they¡¯ll be killed cruelly.

    Jing Rou gave him one of her sideways nces and said with a ming tone, ¡°Calling others vicious. Do you take yourself for a saint? You people were so vicious back then that you actually dared to rob one of our sect¡¯s merchant starships.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you have teleportation portals? Why did you still use merchant starships?¡±

    ¡°Items that are exceptionallyrge can¡¯t be teleported through teleportation portals,¡± Jing Rou answered. ¡°So sometimes, after gaining something veryrge from outsiders through trade, we¡¯ll have to transport them back to our headquarters usingrge-scale merchant starships.

    ¡°Normally, even though there are a lot of star hunters on nearby dead stars, almost none of them dare to ambush merchant starships from the Golden Vast Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and our sect.

    ¡°However, the organization your precious senior martial brother had joined was nothing but a bunch of maniacs. They even dared to attack us.

    ¡°Your senior martial brother told you about what happened afterwards. He was eventually taken into our sect, while all of the leaders of that operation were killed. The foot soldiers, however, chose to work for your senior martial brother, and thus escaped the fate of being hunted down and killed.¡±

    SHEW!

    At this very moment, an ice phoenix that was translucent and sparkling suddenly flew out of a spatial rift in the enormous vortex.

    It flew in a very graceful manner, spreading wings that were dozens of meters long.

    As soon as it appeared in the sky, it attracted everyone¡¯s attention. Frost sprayed from its huge fluttering wings, plunging the temperature in the entire Realm of Maelstrom by more than ten degrees.

    As it swooped down, it rapidly shrank in size.

    Sparkling bits of ice wreathed it as it gradually shrank and morphed into a graceful woman.

    Then, in perfect humannguage, she dered in a loud voice, ¡°I¡¯m here to trade my bottle of sand of time for spiritual materials or medicinal pills that are helpful with recovering souls.¡±

    Her charming voice instantly spread to every corner of this continent.

    One figure after another shot into the sky from different areas and flew towards her.

    Even Jing Rou gasped with astonishment. ¡°She can actually take human form!? She¡¯s an eighth grade ice phoenix of the Ancientbeast race!¡±

    ¡°Sand of time?!¡± Duan Shihu eximed. ¡°Nie Tian, this thing is gonna be very helpful to master, since he practices time power!¡±

 Chapter 801: Sand of Time

    A figure suddenly appeared on the top floor balcony where Nie Tian stood. With a shocked expression, he eximed, ¡°That¡¯s an eighth grade ice phoenix!¡±

    It was a tall old man with silver hair, his face covered in the furrows of time.

    ¡°Grandpa Meng,¡± Jing Rou said softly.

    With a warm smile, the old man nodded and introduced himself to Nie Tian, ¡°Meng Li is my name. I¡¯m an elder of the Divine Seal Sect. Wee.¡±

    Clearly, he knew who Nie Tian was, because only if he did would he speak to him with such politeness and respect.

    Nie Tian hastily returned a bow.

    The tall old man, who referred to himself as Meng Li, was dressed in a long robe decorated with numerous magical symbols, and had an impressive bearing.

    Gazing into the depths of the clouds at the transformed ice phoenix that was wreathed in bits of sparkling ice, Meng Li said with a grim expression, ¡°As a branch of Ancientspirits, Ancientbeasts rarelye to the Realm of Maelstrom, but the few times they showed up here, they plunged the Realm of Maelstrom into great turbulences. We have to raise our vignce.¡±

    His lofty cultivation base allowed him to tell that the ice phoenix was at the peak of the eighth grade, only one step away from entering the ninth grade.

    Most of the time, Saint domain experts wouldn¡¯te to oversee things in the Realm of Maelstrom. Void domain experts already represented their highest battle prowess here.

    As the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s representative in the Realm of Maelstrom, Meng Li was responsible for keeping things in order in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    However, the ice phoenix with an unknown origin was at the peak of the eighth grade, while he was only at the middle Void domain. He weighed their strength against hers inwardly, and wondered whether he would be able to overtake her in battle with the help of the other two overseers from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect.

    Soon, his eyebrows furrowed.

    Without paying any attention to the changes on his face, Duan Shihu went on to talk to Nie Tian, ¡°Junior martial brother, the sand of time is a legendary item that contains the most mysterious time power. It can be refined into spiritual tools, vesting spiritual tools with the ability to reverse time.

    ¡°Such mighty spiritual tools will allow their owners to reverse time in battle over a short period of time.

    ¡°Imagine this: two men with the same cultivation bases and battle prowess get into a fight. If one of them possesses a spiritual tool that allows him to reverse time, he¡¯ll be able to minimize his opponent¡¯s full-force strikes by turning time back just a few seconds.

    ¡°Such mighty spiritual tools will give their owners a great advantage in battle.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered after he spent a moment pondering these words. ¡°If that sand of time can indeed turn back time, then such a change in spiritual tools will achieve significant results.¡±

    Duan Shihu grew increasingly excited as he added, ¡°And this is only for normal people. If our master gets ahold of some sand of time, he¡¯ll be able to fully disy its terrifying might. I¡¯ll try my best to get it for master! I happen to have a few Soul Convergence Pills in my possession. Hopefully, I¡¯ll be able to trade them for that bottle of sand of time!¡±

    Jing Rou smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not very likely.¡±

    Meng Li also shook his head slightly. ¡°Soul Convergence Pills don¡¯t rank very high among human medicinal pills. The Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect must have lots of them too. Such medicinal pills can help human cultivators transform their psychic power into soul power, and form their true souls after entering the Worldly realm.

    ¡°But I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t be very helpful to that high grade ice phoenix.

    ¡°I can feel that the ice phoenix¡¯s soul has suffered serious injuries. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t havee to the Realm of Maelstrom to trade in her sand of time.

    ¡°She would only have her eyes on and trade her sand of time for precious medicinal pills that can help her soul recover within a short time.¡±

    While Meng Li spoke, Jing Rou took out her curious prism with four facets.

    Images appeared in it, allowing Nie Tian to gain a clear view of what was happening in the sky.

    Duan Shihu and Meng Li also stepped over and looked into the prism with rapt attention, through which the four of them saw the ice phoenix, who hade a long way to the Realm of Maelstrom, floating still in the air.

    Arge amount of sparkling, icy light wreathed her perfectly-shaped body, blocking her face from view.

    One of her soft, jade-like arms stuck out of the sparkling light, holding a transparent crystal bottle, which held grains of silver-white sand.

    The crystal bottle exuded a frigid aura, as if to mask the wonders of the grains of silver-white sand inside.

    Even so, everyone knew those grains of silver-white sand were sand of time.

    At this moment, many powerful experts had gathered to the ice phoenix¡¯s location, including humans, Phantasms, and people of other races.

    Clearly, all of them had a strong interest in the sand of time.

    Xing Bo from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect was among them. He and Gao Han came on an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank as he saw a familiar figure: Yuna, the Phantasm expert.

    Back when he had defeated the Demons and Phantasms¡¯ joint fleet, which had wandered around the continent the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him, with the help of that incredibly powerful pce, his soul awareness had been magnified hundreds of times over.

    Thanks to his greatly enhanced perception, he had secretly examined Yuna.

    This charming, noble Phantasm woman had left an extremely deep impression on him, and so had her eighth grade bloodline power and unfathomable strength.

    He had snuck a peek at Yuna, but since Yuna hadn¡¯t entered that continent, she hadn¡¯t seen him.

    Nie Tian was very surprised to see Yuna in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Standing beside Xing Bo on their air-transportation spiritual tool, Gao Han shouted towards the transformed ice phoenix, who couldn¡¯t be seen clearly, ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect is willing to give fifty Soul Convergence Pills for that bottle of sand of time!¡±

    The ice phoenix let out a disdainfulugh and said, ¡°Soul Convergence Pills? You want to trade your Soul Convergence Pills for my sand of time? What a joke! To get this bottle of sand of time, I almost got killed in the Shatter Battlefield. Now, you¡¯re telling me that you want to trade it for Soul Convergence Pills? Do you think high-tier Ancientbeasts like me are as foolish as low-tier spirit beasts?¡±

    A shocked expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Shatter Battlefield?!¡±

    He instantly remembered the long talk he had had with the me Dragon Armor.

    The me Dragon Armor had told him that Pang Chicheng, its second master, had been surrounded in none other than the Shatter Battlefield. Only after stimting the me Dragon Armor¡¯s full power had he managed to escape. To this day, it was unknown whether he was still alive.

    Surprised, Duan Shihu asked, ¡°Have you heard of the Shatter Battlefield before?¡±

    ¡°I have, but don¡¯t know much about it,¡± Nie Tian said honestly.

    Duan Shihu nodded and said, ¡°Every a few years, spatial rifts that lead to the Shatter Battlefield will appear in the swirling screen of flowing water in the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    With a bitter smile, he continued, ¡°But that ce... Not everyone can go there. Even though I know that new spatial rifts will soon open, leading to that ce, I¡¯ve never considered going there myself.¡±

    Jing Rou shot him a nasty look. ¡°You¡¯ll stay here in the Domain of Heaven Python! You haven¡¯t even entered the Soul realm yet. Don¡¯t indulge in foolish fancies!¡±

    Duan Shihu let out a sigh and didn¡¯t say anything else.

    Inside the prism, Gao Han from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect fell silent after being mocked by the ice phoenix.

    At this moment, Yuna, the Phantasm expert, said with a charming smile, ¡°I¡¯m willing to give three hundred discarnate souls for that bottle of sand of time. These discarnate souls are powerful and of a variety of races. They¡¯ll be very helpful to you if you can refine them.¡±

    ¡°Not interested,¡± The ice phoenix responded coldly.

    She knew that those discarnate souls must still carry soul imprints from when they had been alive, and must have all sorts of negative emotions. Her soul had already suffered serious injuries. There was no way that she would be able to refine all those discarnate souls.

    An old woman from the Golden Vast Sect, who was floating in midair without the help of an air-transportation spiritual tool, called out, ¡°The Golden Vast Sect is willing to give ten Soul Restoration Pills in exchange for that bottle of sand of time.¡±

    Jing Rou¡¯s expression flickered in a subtle fashion. ¡°Soul Restoration Pills?! Soul Restoration Pills are very precious medicinal pills that are specifically used to heal soul injuries, but they won¡¯t achieve the same results on Ancientbeasts as they do on humans. But even so, they¡¯ll be helpful for her soul injuries. It seems that the Golden Vast Sect will most likely get that bottle of sand of time.¡±

    After hearing the offer of ten Soul Restoration Pills, the hazy ice phoenix finally fell silent.

    Obviously, she was weighing the offer inwardly.

    After hesitating for a while, she asked in a loud voice, ¡°Is there anyone else?¡±

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Duan Shihu said, gritting his teeth. ¡°Medicinal pills that can nourish souls are hard to find, and Soul Convergence Pills are all I have. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to get that bottle of sand of time for our master!¡±

    ¡°How about soul crystals, senior martial brother?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Will she be interested in soul crystals?¡±

    A shudder ran through Jing Rou. ¡°Soul crystals!? Do you have soul crystals?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, I have quite a few.¡±

    Numerous divine seals shone in the depths of Duan Shihu¡¯s eyes. ¡°She definitely will! Soul crystals have the same effect on people of all races! Compared to Soul Restoration Pills, soul crystals will definitely be more appealing to her!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you want to give her soul crystals for her sand of time?¡± Meng Li asked.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    Meng Li then cleared his throat and said in a voice that shook the heavens, ¡°The Divine Seal Sect is willing to give soul crystals in exchange for your sand of time. If you¡¯re interested, pleasee over so we can discuss the number of soul crystals.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the ice phoenix instantly morphed into a streak of icy light that flew down from midair, ignoring everyone else.

 Chapter 802: An Accident Occurs

    Yuna, the Phantasm expert, was rather confused as she watched the ice phoenix fly directly towards the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s trading area. ¡°Soul crystals!? How would the Divine Seal Sect have any soul crystals?¡±

    The old woman from the Golden Vast Sect and the people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were also dumbfounded.

    Soul crystals didn¡¯t form naturally, but through gathering and refining the souls of living beings over and over with special methods. Only after getting rid of all of the impurities would the soul essence slowly crystallize and be a soul crystal.

    In order to create soul crystals, one would have to have a profound understanding of soul power. Sometimes, even evil spell formations had to be used.

    There were a variety of races in this boundless starry river, but very few of them were able to gather souls and refine them into soul crystals.

    Phantasms were clearly among those who could.

    Other than them, a very few human Qi warrior sects that had profound knowledge of evil soul magics also had the ability to created soul crystals.

    However, the Divine Seal Sect clearly wasn¡¯t one of these sects.

    Yuna frowned deeply.

    The old woman from the Golden Vast Sect let out a low sigh and said, ¡°Who would have thought that the Divine Seal Sect actually has soul crystals.¡±

    Soul crystals had incredible effects on all living beings¡¯ souls. They could not only help users strengthen their souls, but also nourish their souls back to health.

    Soul Restoration Pills didn¡¯t have such effects.

    Soul Restoration Pills would work very well when it came to healing human Qi warriors¡¯ soul injuries. However, their effects would be greatly reduced when they were used on Ancientbeasts like that ice phoenix.

    Therefore, upon hearing that the Divine Seal Sect was willing to trade soul crystals, the old woman realized that her sect no longer had any chance at obtaining the sand of time from that ice phoenix.

    SHEW!

    A cluster of sparkling icy lightnded on the round balcony where Nie Tian and the others were standing.

    The eighth grade ice phoenix, whose figure could be vaguely seen through the icy light, asked with an arrogant tone, ¡°Do you really have soul crystals?¡±

    At this moment, Meng Li noticed that many human Qi warriors and outsiders were gathering to their location.

    Even Yuna, the Phantasm expert, was flying over in a slow and quiet manner.

    Meng Li let out a soft snort and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside.¡±

    Then the four of them, including Nie Tian, stepped into the stone pavilion.

    Without the slightest fear, the ice phoenix followed them inside.

    As soon as they disappeared into the stone pavilion, a huge ¡®Seal¡¯ character rose from the top of the stone pavilion and morphed into a mysterious blue ward that enveloped the whole building.

    Upon seeing this, everyone who was gathered in this location realized that the people from the Divine Seal Sect had isted themselves from their sight and soul detection.

    This spell formation with the ¡®Seal¡¯ character had been created by the two Saint domain experts from the Divine Seal Sect. Only other Saint domain experts had a chance at sensing what was going on inside the pavilion through this powerful ward.

    Even Yuna, who was an expert of all sorts of soul magics, frowned wordlessly at the ward that carried profound truths and had a ¡®Seal¡¯ character on it.

    In a spacious hall inside the stone pavilion.

    Under Duan Shihu¡¯s beckoning, Nie Tian took out a soul crystal from within his ring of holding.

    As the soul crystal that looked like arge ck diamond flew into Nie Tian¡¯s palm, the eighth grade ice phoenix let out a soft exmation, ¡°That¡¯s a soul crystal indeed.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll give twenty soul crystals for your sand of time,¡± Meng Li said in a low voice.

    The eighth grade ice phoenix snorted coldly. ¡°Not enough! You¡¯re from the Divine Seal Sect. You should understand the value of sand of time. Not only can it be refined into spiritual tools, but you can also refine it into seals, vesting them with the ability to manipte time. Even though soul crystals are hard to find, they are actually not as valuable as Soul Restoration Pills.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that Soul Restoration Pills won¡¯t have the best effect on me.¡±

    Meng Li pondered briefly, and realized that twenty soul crystals was indeed a bit short for a whole bottle of sand of time. Therefore, he threw Nie Tian a sideways nce.

    Nie Tian nodded, signaling that he should continue to haggle.

    ¡°How many do you want then?¡± Meng Li asked.

    ¡°Fifty,¡± The eighth grade ice phoenix said with an unchallengable tone.

    ¡°That¡¯s far too many,¡± Meng Li said with furrowed brow, secretly worrying that Nie Tian didn¡¯t have enough soul crystals to seal the deal with this powerful ice phoenix.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian took out fifty soul crystals from within his ring of holding. ¡°How about this: I can give you fifty soul crystals in exchange for your sand of time, but I want to know how you got it in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°A mysterious river appears sporadically in a forbidden region in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± The eighth grade ice phoenix said without hesitation. ¡°When it does, a small amount of sand of time will fall out of it. I spent half a year collecting this bottle of sand of time. I went through numerous battles with others during that time, and barely survived.¡±

    Meng Li was taken aback. ¡°A mysterious river? Could it be the legendary river of time?¡±

    Nie Tian shuddered upon hearing these words.

    During his soulmunication with Wu Ji, which had taken ce not long ago, Wu Ji had told him that when he had broken through into the Soul realm, his soul awareness seemed to have traveled across time and space, and found himself in a river that contained the profound truths of time power.

    It was in that peculiar state that he had looked into the past and learned the truth about his mother¡¯s ¡®death¡¯.

    Wu Ji had only dipped his soul awareness into that mysterious river, and yet he had gained the ability to see what had happened in the past.

    Could that river be the same river the eighth grade ice phoenix was referring to?

    ¡°Yeah, that probably was the river of time, one of the most mysterious existences in this world,¡± the ice phoenix gave an affirmative answer. ¡°ording to the legends, the profound truths of time power lie within that river of time. It¡¯ll allow you to see into your past and future. What I saw in the Shatter Battlefield was probably only a small part of the river of time, and it only existed for a sh before vanishingpletely.

    ¡°Only after it vanished did a small amount of sand of time fall out of the void. When I gathered it, I was infiltrated by time power. Even my bloodline power went through a minor recession.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for that, I wouldn¡¯t have been surrounded by a bunch of rats after finishing collecting the sand of time, and wouldn¡¯t have sustained heavy injuries to my soul.¡±

    With these words, the ice phoenix stepped towards Nie Tian with an impatient expression.

    She stretched her white, jade-like arm out and stuffed the bottle of sand of time into Nie Tian¡¯s hand. Then she reached out with her other hand and took the fifty soul crystals back into the sparkling, icy light that wreathed her.

    ¡°The deal is made. We¡¯re even.¡± She turned around and left as soon as she gained the soul crystals, as if she didn¡¯t want to stay here one second longer than she had to.

    ¡°Are you going back to the Shatter Battlefield?¡± Meng Li asked.

    ¡°Of course!¡± the ice phoenix spat, her eyes filled with strong killing intent. ¡°I¡¯m going to settle ounts with those thieves!¡±

    ¡°The spatial rift that connects the Realm of Maelstrom and the Shatter Battlefield hasn¡¯t opened yet,¡± Duan Shihu said, looking confused.

    ¡°I have other ways to get there,¡± The ice phoenix said without even turning her head back to look at them, and then flew out of the stone pavilion.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Nie Tian heard the sounds of soul crystals cracking as she left the stone pavilion that belonged to the Divine Seal Sect.

    Pure, concentrated soul power instantly burst forth within her shield of sparkling icy light. She absorbed it without wasting a second.

    Her soul aura rapidly grew from withered to vigorous.

    In a split second, her immense soul awareness spread out to cover the entire Realm of Maelstrom, as if her soul had instantly touched every inch of this piece ofnd and learned its secrets.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± She seemed to notice something while flying away from the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s trading area.

    BOOM!

    Her perfectly-shaped, charming figure expanded at an rming rate, and in three seconds, resumed her form as a huge ice phoenix.

    A frigid, bone-piercing aura rapidly spread out from her broad beastly body.

    She had activated a bloodline magic.

    In the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s trading area, the icy crystal that confined Pei Qiqi seemed to be channeled by some force. It flew right out of its cabin and the berthed ancient starship.

    The icy crystal reached the ice phoenix in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± the ice phoenix muttered. ¡°There¡¯s a person inside this icy jade, which is more than ten thousand years old.¡± However, she didn¡¯t give it much thought, and continued to control the icy crystal with her bloodline magic.

    WHOOSH!

    The ice crystalnded lightly on her broad feathered back. With a joyful chirp, she flew towards a spatial rift in the enormous water curtain.

    ¡°My ice crystal!¡± Xing Bo bellowed fiercely.

    One figure after another rose into the sky from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s area in an attempt to stop the ice phoenix.

    However, the eighth grade ice phoenix only gave one flutter of her translucent, sparkling wings, and thousands of rays of icy light shot out in all directions likerge ice shards, stopping the Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples froming close.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually wanted to get my sand of time with only a few Soul Convergence Pills! You people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect are soughable. This ancient ice crystal should be considered atonement for your rudeness. If you think you can get it back,e find me in the Shatter Battlefield. I¡¯ll go there as soon as I¡¯m recovered.¡±

    SHEW!

    Immediately afterwards, the ice phoenix disappeared into a spatial rift in the water curtain.

 Chapter 803: Good News

    idents always happen unexpectedly.

    Through Jing Rou¡¯s prism, Nie Tian saw with great rity that Pei Qiqi was inside that ice crystal.

    However, after recovering its original form, the eighth grade ice phoenix disappeared into a spatial rift with the ice crystal and Pei Qiqi.

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou were also dumbstruck, not knowing what to say.

    They had made a thorough n to rescue Pei Qiqi beforeing here, including persuading Meng Li to help them and mobilizing the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s chess pieces that they had nted inside the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Who would have thought that ice phoenix would somehow sense the existence of that ice crystal that was more than ten thousand years old, and take it away, along with Pei Qiqi?

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Thousandsword Mountain Sect have some spell formation to stop that ice phoenix from taking that ice crystal?!¡± Nie Tian called out.

    Meng Li let out a weak sigh and said, ¡°Of course they do. It¡¯s just that that ice crystal flew out of Xing Bo¡¯s ancient starship, which wasn¡¯t enveloped by the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s spell formation due to its overlyrge size. Also, that ice phoenix was at the peak of the eighth grade. Now, she has recovered a significant amount of soul power after gaining those soul crystals from you. It¡¯s indeed unexpected that she would discover that ice crystal and channel it away with her bloodline magic.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian saw in the prism that powerful experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were roaring with anger.

    They had all seen which spatial rift the eighth grade ice phoenix had disappeared into, but none of them dared to enter it.

    With a bitter expression, Jing Rou said, ¡°That spatial rift probably leads to some realm that belongs to the Ancientbeasts. In all this time, very few Ancientbeasts havee to the Realm of Maelstrom, and we know very little about them. The same goes for the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    ¡°Since they don¡¯t know what kind of power lies within the realm that spatial rift leads to, it¡¯s only natural that they don¡¯t dare to enter it so rashly.¡±

    ¡°What do you think will happen to Senior Martial Sister Pei now that that eighth grade ice phoenix has her?¡± Nie Tian asked in a grim voice.

    After a moment of pondering, Jing Rou said in aforting voice, ¡°The way I see it, she¡¯ll probably be in a better ce in her hands than in Xing Bo¡¯s. Your senior martial sister is an ident to that eighth grade ice phoenix. I doubt that it knew your senior martial sister was in that ice crystal when she channeled it to her.

    ¡°Plus, she doesn¡¯t have any feuds with your senior martial sister. It¡¯s not likely that she¡¯ll do terrible things to her.

    ¡°At least she won¡¯t erase your senior martial sister¡¯s memories and marry her, right?¡±

    Nie Tian gradually calmed down after hearing these words. He pondered the matter a bit more, and realized that as long as Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t die, she would indeed be in a better ce than in Xing Bo¡¯s hands.

    The only problem was would that eighth grade ice phoenix let Pei Qiqi live?

    ¡°Can we get in touch with the Ancientbeasts?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Jing Rou said, ¡°I¡¯ll try and see if we can get some information about that eighth grade ice phoenix.¡±

    Now that the ice phoenix had taken Pei Qiqi away, the n she had made with Duan Shihu to rescue Pei Qiqi came to nothing.

    Even though Nie Tian was very frustrated, there was very little he could do about it. Eventually, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Shatter Battlefield if we can¡¯t get in touch with the Ancientbeasts. She said just before leaving that she would return to the Shatter Battlefield soon, right? I¡¯ll probably be able to find her there!

    ¡°I still have quite a few soul crystals. As long as I can find her, I¡¯ll definitely be able to trade them for Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered upon hearing that he nned to go to the Shatter Battlefield.

    ...

    High in the air in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Standing in an air-transportation spiritual tool with Gao Han and a few other experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, Xing Bo stomped with fury as he stared at the spatial rift the ice phoenix had disappeared in.

    A figure suddenly flew to them from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s area.

    Doing his utmost to suppress his fury, Xing Bo said, ¡°Elder Du Zheng, an eighth grade ice phoenix just stole my ice crystal, which is more than ten thousand years old, along with a person I imprisoned in it.¡±

    Du Zheng was at the middle Void domain. Like Meng Li, he was the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s overseer in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    However, he had been away when this incident had happened. He had just received word of it and rushed over here.

    This was because Jing Rou and Duan Shihu¡¯s n to rescue Pei Qiqi had already been carried out.

    The first step had been to get Du Zheng out of the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The reason why Du Zheng hadn¡¯t been here earlier was because Jing Rou had created some thorny matters in his n, which had held him off.

    After learning what had happened here, he had put those matters on hold and rushed back here at the first possible moment.

    Afternding in the air-transportation spiritual tool where Xing Bo and Gao Han were standing, he followed their gazes and took a deep look at the spatial rift the ice phoenix had disappeared into. After pondering in silence for a while, he said, ¡°We¡¯d better let go of this matter.¡±

    Xing Bo¡¯s expression grew discontent.

    With a grim expression, Du Zheng exined, ¡°That ice phoenix is at the peak of the eighth grade, only one step away from entering the ninth grade. It¡¯s not worth it to fight her over an ice crystal. And we don¡¯t know much about Ancientbeasts, or what lies beyond that spatial rift.

    ¡°Just that ice phoenix alone will be very difficult for us to deal with once it enters the ninth grade.

    ¡°Let alone the fact that there may be many other powerful Ancientbeasts in that realm she went to.¡±

    ¡°But that woman is very important to me!¡± Xing Bo finally couldn¡¯t help but bellow.

    Du Zheng shot him a cold nce. ¡°No matter how important you think she is, she¡¯s nothing in the face of the safety of our sect! You¡¯ve always been smart and understood the big picture. What¡¯s gotten into you this time?¡±

    Xing Bo sagged his head slightly.

    Du Zheng let out a snort. Waving his hand, he said, ¡°Alright, all disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect are prohibited from entering that spatial rift to settle ounts with that ice phoenix. Now go back. This ends here!¡±

    Upon hearing his order, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples reluctantly flew back to their trading area, their heads sagging in frustration.

    ...

    Nie Tian also looked rather edgy after watching the ice phoenix take Pei Qiqi away, yet he didn¡¯t have a solution to the matter.

    Even though he had lost Pei Qiqi again, he still needed to make Xing Bo pay for killing Zhen Hun.

    Nie Tian expressed his intentions, and Jing Rou told him to be patient, and that the Divine Seal Sect already had people looking into it.

    As long as they could prove Xing Bo¡¯s collusion with the Bonebrutes, even the Thousandsword Mountain Sect wouldn¡¯t be able to protect him. He would lose his standing and receive a harsh punishment.

    Nie Tian thus stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom for the time being.

    Shortly afterwards, Xing Bo left the Realm of Maelstrom on his ancient starship and returned to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Jing Rou soon learned that even the Thousandsword Mountain Sect seemed to be unaware of Xing Bo¡¯s connections to the Bonebrutes.

    Jing Rou thought they should wait for Xing Bo to meet up with the Bonebrutes and catch him red-handed. Then, Xing Bo would get the punishment he deserved.

    During this time, she told Nie Tian that she had secretly contacted Zhong Shishu from the Golden Vast Sect, and guaranteed that the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars had nothing to do with those burial grounds of the Bonebrutes¡¯.

    The Golden Vast Sect had said that they would stop pursuing Zhao Shanling and the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars for now, and even keep an eye out for evidence of Xing Bo¡¯s connections with the Bonebrutes.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian remained in the Realm of Maelstrom, where he practiced cultivation and learned more about this interesting realm.

    He would often see outsiders openly make transactions with human Qi warriors in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The unique features of the Realm of Maelstrom shook Nie Tian greatly. He asked Duan Shihu to bring Zhao Shanling and the other experts to the Realm of Maelstrom too, so that they could also appreciate its uniqueness.

    He assumed that Zhao Shanling and the others would be able to exchange valuables with outsiders here, and perhaps even get the spiritual materials they would need to build their inner domains.

    Besides, there were many profound mysteries regarding spatial power in the Realm of Maelstrom, which he assumed would help with Zhao Shanling¡¯s breakthrough in cultivation.

    Therefore, Zhao Shanling, Qi Bailu, and Hua Mu left the Realm of Withering me through the Divine Seal Sect¡¯srge-scale teleportation portal.

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue, however, found the environment of the Realm of Withering me to be very agreeable, and were already making efforts to break through into thete Soul realm. Therefore, they didn¡¯te along.

    Immediately after arriving in the Realm of Maelstrom, Zhao Shanling summoned his Voidspirit Pagoda and sent out his soul awareness to examine this wondrous realm, along with its numerous spatial rifts.

    Days passed before Zhao Shanling suddenly came to find Nie Tian. He said, ¡°This realm is very special. I think I¡¯ll be able to build a teleportation portal here using the Voidspirit Pagoda as the heart of the spell formation, and connect the teleportation portal to arge-scale teleportation portal I set up in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°What!?¡±

    This whole time, he had had a headache over how to establish a connection between the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Zhao Shanling woulde to him with such a good news after only a few days of deriving enlightenment in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Hua Mu also found this hard to believe. ¡°This ce is separated from the Realm of Split Void by the boundless starry river. Are you sure that you¡¯ll be able to connect the two with teleportation portals?¡±

    To connect the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Divine me Sect had established seven teleportation portals.

    The distance between the Domain of the Falling Stars and Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was fairly short, and yet they had still needed seven teleportation portals to connect them.

    The distance between the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of the Falling Stars was much greater, yet Zhao Shanling said he would be able to connect the two with a few teleportation portals. This was indeed hard to believe.

    With an arrogant expression, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°I¡¯m sure. Like the Realm of Split Void, the Realm of Maelstrom is also an ideal ce to build teleportation portals that connect realms. Besides, I have the help of my Voidspirit Pagoda, which is a very powerful space manipting tool. I¡¯m certain that this will work.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said, looking very excited. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the Divine Seal Sect. You do whatever you need to do!¡±

 Chapter 804: An Unruly Person

    Numerous stone pavilions stood towering in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s trading area in the Realm of Maelstrom, where the middle Void domain Meng Li oversaw matters year-round.

    Since Nie Tian had decided to stay in the Realm of Maelstrom for the time being, Duan Shihu and Jing Rou stayed as well.

    However, the two of them didn¡¯t just sit around and wait. Instead, they either dug into the art of seal wielding, or investigated Xing Bo¡¯s collusion with the Bonebrutes through various resources.

    As Nie Tian expressed his intention to build a teleportation portal in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold in the Realm of Maelstrom that led to the Domain of the Falling Stars, Jing Rou agreed without hesitation.

    She did it because Nie Tian was not only Duan Shihu¡¯s junior martial brother, but also a Son of the Stars.

    She even assigned a five-story stone pavilion to Nie Tian, where Zhao Shanling would be able to build the teleportation portal.

    As the most special trading center throughout the entire Domain of Heaven Python, the Realm of Maelstrom held all sorts of spiritual materials. It would be easy to gathered all the necessary materials here.

    Meanwhile, Zhao Shanling already had numerous materials of this kind in stock. He would only need to get ahold of some subsidiary materials with the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s help, and he would be good to go.

    The establishment of a teleportation portal that connected the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of Maelstrom wasn¡¯t important at all to the Divine Seal Sect.

    In the eyes of Meng Li and others, the Domain of the Falling Stars was only a remote, weak domain, where even entering the Void domain was extremely difficult.

    It was only natural that they didn¡¯t attach importance to such a domain.

    However, for all of the sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, it was of great importance that they had a teleportation portal through which they could visit the Domain of Heaven Python.

    The establishment of such a teleportation portal would mean that Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars would be able to travel to and from a domain that was much more advanced than theirs.

    Furthermore, since the other side of the teleportation portal was in the Realm of Maelstrom, Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars would be able to directlymunicate and trade treasures with outsiders and Ancientbeasts.

    They would probably be able to find all of the rare treasures they needed to enter the Void domain in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Since the teleportation portal Zhao Shanling was building would allow people to travel across the boundless starry river, it would take a long time to build.

    During this time, Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay attention to any of the transactions that happened all the time in the Realm of Maelstrom, but instead focused on practicing cultivation.

    In the cultivation room in the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned for him, he refined his spiritual core and three vortexes of different powers with spiritual materials of different attributes, and made significant progress.

    The sky in the Realm of Maelstrom was like the mouth of a well, through which people could see no suns or moons, but only dotted stars.

    As he practiced cultivation in this ce, the Nine Stars Flower that was rooted in his vortex of star power channeled star power from the heavens unceasingly, and grew slowly.

    He had long since recovered his ten drops of Blood Essence, and his bloodline aura had fallen dormant again, waiting for the awakening of his next bloodline talent.

    Soon, three months passed.

    Nie Tian was so indulged in cultivation that he didn¡¯t notice it at all.

    On this day...

    A loud mor suddenly woke him from his cultivation. Then, he walked out of his cultivation room.

    He left the building and followed the mor to a square that was paved with cyan stones and surrounded by stone pavilions. In the square stood many people, including Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect and Du Zheng From the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, as well as Zhong Shishu and the old woman named Wu Yun from the Golden Vast Sect.

    As the representatives of the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect in the Realm of Maelstrom, Meng Li, Du Zheng, and Wu Yun were all at the middle Void domain.

    Every one of them had a grim expression.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, Duan Shihu beckoned for him toe to him. ¡°Over here, junior martial brother.¡±

    Then, he introduced him to everyone. ¡°This is Nie Tian, my junior martial brother from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Du Zheng and Wu Yun nodded slightly, not attaching much importance to Nie Tian.

    They didn¡¯t know Nie Tian¡¯s status as a Son of the Stars.

    After a moment of silence, Jing Rou said, ¡°Xing Bo¡¯s connection to the Bonebrutes has been proved. We caught him and a few members of his n red-handed while they were meeting up with Bonebrutes on a dead star. However, Xing Bo and Xing Lifeng escaped our blockade with the Bonebrutes¡¯ help.

    ¡°Xing Lifeng is a middle Void domain expert from the Xing n, which is one of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s subordinate ns.

    ¡°The two of them seem to have fled to a Bonebrute realm, from where they¡¯ll eventually go to the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    With a cold face, Du Zheng from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect said, ¡°If Xing Beichen hadn¡¯t summoned Ke Jinpeng and four others to a remote region in the starry river and disappeared since, Xing Bo and Xing Beichen wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape from us.

    ¡°Our sect wasn¡¯t aware of the Xing n¡¯s secret actions. Now that we¡¯ve learned that they actually colluded with the Bonebrutes and provided them with arge number of human corpses for them to build burial grounds, it¡¯s our duty to root them out.

    ¡°But it¡¯s a pity that we let two of them get away, which may cause us trouble in the future.¡±

    Xing Bo and Xing Beichen were both chosen ones of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the two of them had ranked rather high among all of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s chosen ones.

    After losing Ke Jinpeng and four other Void domain experts, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s overall strength had suffered greatly. Now, Xing Bo, their most valued chosen one, had gotten into a scandal. All of this made Du Zheng very angry and edgy.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s strength would shrink further, and the Xing n would die out. At the same time, Xing Bo¡¯s collusion with the Bonebrutes also made the Golden Vast Sect, which had away sided with the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, very unhappy. It was only right that the Thousandsword Mountain Sect atone for what had been done.

    Du Zheng made it perfectly clear that their sect had nothing to do with this incident, and showed their determination to root out the Xing n, yet he was rather ambiguous about hunting down Xing Bo and Xing Lifeng.

    With a frustrated tone, Du Zheng said, ¡°Those two traitors will go to the Shatter Battlefield. We all know how dangerous andplicated that ce is. Since too many messy matters have happened in our sect recently, we don¡¯t really have the energy or the ability to march disciples into the Shatter Battlefield to kill those two.

    ¡°But to atone for what has been done, we¡¯ll stay out of whatever n you have with the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    With these words, Du Zheng turned around and left without sparing Nie Tian a nce.

    He had learned that the Domain of the Falling Stars was a domain with only nine realms.

    Besides, it wasn¡¯t rich in cultivation resources, and had produced only one Void domain expert so far.

    In Du Zheng¡¯s eyes, the value of the Domain of the Falling Stars was very limited. He didn¡¯t think that seizing a few realms of it would give a noticeable boost to their sect¡¯s withered strength.

    After Du Zheng left, Wu Yun, the old woman from the Golden Vast Sect, took her time to say, ¡°About that Domain of the Falling Stars...¡±

    At this moment, Meng Li leaned over and whispered into her ear, ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars might have something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I¡¯ve received solid proof of Heaven Gates opening there repeatedly!¡±

    Wu Yun gasped with astonishment.

    After a moment of hesitation, she said with determined tone, ¡°We won¡¯t have anything to do with the Domain of the Falling Stars either! Disciples of the Golden Vast Sect will not go there.¡±

    Before Zhong Shishu could say anything, she gave him a hard look, then took him and left in a hurried manner.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What did you say to her, Senior Meng?¡±

    With a soft chuckle, Meng Li said, ¡°I just told her that Heaven Gates opened in the Domain of the Falling Stars a few times, and she was so scared that she voluntarily gave up on the idea of splitting it. From the look of it, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s name is indeed awe-inspiring.¡±

    SHEW!

    Zhao Shanling suddenly flew over from behind a stone pavilion.

    After assuming a foothold beside Meng Li, he said with his eyes filled with arrogance, ¡°I¡¯ve fulfilled the mission. The teleportation portal I built sessfully teleported me to the Realm of Split Void and back.¡± Even facing a middle Void domain expert, who enjoyed a lofty position in the Divine Seal Sect, he didn¡¯t seem servile in the slightest. ¡°I also destroyed the spatial rift in the Realm of Split Void that lead to that burial ground of the Bonebrutes.

    ¡°From now on, no Bonebrutes or Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python will be able to travel to or from the Domain of the Falling Stars through the spatial rift in that burial ground anymore.

    ¡°Those who want to visit the Domain of the Falling Stars will have to go through the teleportation portal I set up with the help of my spatial tool.¡±

    He had destroyed the spatial rift that connected the Void Illusion Mountain Range and that burial ground of the Bonebrutes without notifying the Divine Seal Sect first.

    He had done it to eliminate the possibility of Thousandsword Mountain Sect and Golden Vast Sect disciples entering the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He hadn¡¯t learned about Golden Vast Sect and Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s decision to keep their hands off the Domain of the Falling Stars until his return.

    This proved that this person actually cared a great deal about the Domain of the Falling Stars. He didn¡¯t care about the attitude of the Golden Vast Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, or even the Divine Seal Sect when it came to the safety of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Among the experts who hade on this trip with Nie Tian, Qi Bailu was the mild one, Hua Mu was the experienced and far-seeing one, and Zhao Shanling was the arrogant and unruly one.

    He had been a pain in the neck for all of the major sects when he had been in the Domain of the Falling Stars. He had acted without any scruples. Everything he had done had been in his interest, and he had rarely taken others¡¯ feelings into consideration.

    Who would have thought he still adopted the same style now that he was in the Domain of Heaven Python?

    Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect was inwardly displeased after hearing that he had destroyed the spatial rift that led to the Domain of the Falling Stars without consulting the Divine Seal Sect first.

    Even though they had promised to take nond from it after learning about Nie Tian¡¯s identity as a Son of the Stars, they had announced that they would go explore it.

    However, Zhao Shanling¡¯s actions had ced them in an awkward position.

    ¡°When the Shatter Battlefield opens again, I¡¯ll go there and kill those traitors from the Xing n and try my best to bring Pei Qiqi back alive,¡± Zhao Shanling continued. ¡°But before that, I¡¯ll leave my spatial tool in the teleportation portal as the eye of its spell formation, while I advance to the Void domain.¡±

    With these words, he flew skywards and disappeared into one of the numerous unknown spatial rifts in the water curtain.

    ¡°This person acted just as unruly in the Domain of the Falling Stars, didn¡¯t he?¡± Jing Rou asked softly.

    Nie Tian nodded and smiled bitterly.

    Eye narrowed, Meng Li said with a meaningful expression, ¡°He actually has the confidence to enter the Void domain within such a short period of time? Also, he¡¯ll go to the Shatter Battlefield and kill Xing Lifeng once he enters the Void domain? What gave him such confidence? The materials required for cultivators who practice spatial power to build inner domains are very rare. Has he gathered all of them already?¡±

    ¡°It appears so,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He knew that Zhao Shanling had gained Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies from that space disruption zone. Thanks to that, he might have already gathered all of the materials he needed to break through into the Void domain.

    RING! RING!

    At this moment, sharp sounds came from a green jade bracelet on Jing Rou¡¯s milky white wrist.

    She held it to her ear and listened. After a few seconds, her expression grew strange as she said, ¡°Nie Tian, that couple who stayed in the Realm of Withering me to practice cultivation have both entered thete Soul realm.¡±

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian.

    Meng Li went nk for a moment before sighing. ¡°So it seems that the Domain of the Falling Stars is actually a blessednd that produces cultivators with extraordinary talent.¡±

 Chapter 805: Connecting Realms

    ¡°Yeah, exactly,¡± Jing Rou said with an admiring tone.

    Nie Tian, a Son of the Stars that attracted universal attention, came from the Domain of the Falling Stars, along with Wu Ji, who was an expert in time power, and figures like Zhao Shanling and Hua Mu.

    Cultivators who mastered the profundity of time power and at the same time, advanced to a high cultivation base, were very rare even in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Zhao Shanling, on the other hand, was confident that he would be able to advance to the Void domain before the Shatter Battlefield opened again.

    He also nned to test his strength by killing the middle Void domain Xing Lifeng right after he entered the Void domain. His chances of sess aside, just his audacious attitude greatly shook Jing Rou.

    To be confident in his ability to kill a middle Void domain expert when he had just entered the early Void domain, how could this person be ordinary?

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue¡¯s advancements in cultivation had previously been limited by the environment in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    They had only cultivated for a few months now, and both of them had already broken through into thete Soul realm.

    Jing Rou had also talked to Qi Bailu and Hua Mu, and considered them to be outstanding figures.

    Not to mention that her husband Duan Shihu was from the Domain of the Falling Stars too.

    Even she couldn¡¯t reach Duan Shihu¡¯s attainments in the art of seal use. Perhaps it was because of this he had been viewed as the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s future sectmaster.

    Jing Rou found the fact that everyone she had met from the Domain of the Falling Stars turned out to be outstanding hard to believe.

    Meng Li sighed softly. ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t happy with that man at first, but the fact that he¡¯s nning to hunt down Xing Lifeng in the Shatter Battlefield has earned him my respect.

    ¡°And I¡¯ve talked to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect. From now on, people from the Domain of the Falling Stars will be able to conduct activities here, and they wouldn¡¯t give you any trouble.¡±

    Nie Tian sped his hands. ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    He realized that Meng Li¡¯s words had cleared thest-remaining obstacles between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven Python.

    From now on, Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the others would not only be able to travel freely between the Realm of Maelstrom and other realms, but would also be able to trade spiritual materials with sects from the Domain of Heaven Python and outsiders, therefore gaining the necessary materials to build their inner domains within a short time.

    He had a feeling that, thanks to the teleportation portal Zhao Shanling had just set up, many Soul realm experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars would be able to improve their strength and cultivation bases at a much faster rate.

    Meanwhile, ording to Hua Mu and the others, the Domain of the Falling Stars now belonged to him.

    The stronger the Domain of the Falling Stars became, the stronger he would be.

    Eventually, he would reach the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters, following the route they had designed for him. At that time, all of these people would be his reserve power.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I left the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Duan Shihu said. ¡°I want to go back and visit my master.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Jing Rou said, smiling.

    Duan Shihu nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said, nodding. ¡°We need to give that bottle of sand of time to master as soon as possible anyway. Hopefully, it¡¯ll be of great help to him.¡±

    Qi Bailu and Hua Mu didn¡¯t go with them. Instead, they stayed, hoping to learn more about the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Therefore, Nie Tian, Duan Shihu, and Jing Rou teleported to the forbidden region in the Realm of Split Void through Zhao Shanling¡¯s teleportation portal.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void had been rather close to the pce Nie Tian had summoned from the depths of the earth in the first ce.

    However, during his recent return, he had moved it to a conspicuous location right beside the pce.

    Standing in front of the grand pce, Duan Shihu¡¯s eyes lit up as he examined the countless star formations on the pce walls. ¡°Is this the pce the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce left for you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Jing Rou also examined them with rapt attention and said, ¡°Those profound spell formations seem to contain the profound truths of heaven and earth. They¡¯re different from the seals our sect uses, but they seem to lead to the same result!¡±

    ¡°Even though I don¡¯t know anything about star magics, examining the magical lines of those profound spell formations alone is already very enlightening.¡± With these words, Duan Shihu tore his gaze from the pce and said to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯ll visit master first. Then, I¡¯lle back to do a thorough examination. Hopefully, I¡¯ll be able to learn from them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking too,¡± Jing Rou said with a softugh.

    Nie Tian was surprised by their reaction.

    Even though he could also see the star formations that had been carved on the stone pce walls, they didn¡¯t seem very impressive to him when they weren¡¯t activated.

    Only after gathering countless wisps of star power would these star formationse to shine and light up the whole pce.

    Handing the bottle of sand of time to Duan Shihu, Nie Tian said, ¡°Master is practicing cultivation. You¡¯d better be careful after you get there. Since I met master a few months ago, I¡¯m not going with you this time. I¡¯ll visit my private realm and check on the people there.¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Then, Nie Tian brought the two of them to the bamboo forest beside the pce, where children from the Nie n lived and practiced cultivation.

    Li Langfeng was the only one who was guarding the bamboo forest.

    Li Langfeng was shocked upon seeing him.

    ¡°Teleport them to the Cloudsoaring Sect,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Li Langfeng activated the spell formation. Duan Shihu and Jing Rou then disappeared from the center of the spell formation.

    ¡°What happened in the Domain of the Falling Stars during these few months I was away?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Nothing special...¡± Li Langfeng then went on a briefly exined what had happened recently.

    At first, the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars had been rather insecure and uneasy after they had left through the spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    They had all been worried that powerful experts from the other domains would swarm in through that spatial rift.

    After all, someone had thrown Zhen Hun¡¯s body into the Realm of Split Void through that very spatial rift.

    However, after waiting fully prepared for a few months, they had discovered that, from the look of it, nothing was going to happen. Therefore, they had gradually stopped worrying.

    During this time, Dong Wangling had returned from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. He had seemed to have had a pleasant meeting with people from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Dong Wangling had gone find Li Langfeng and told him that he hoped to take Dong Li and Dong Baijie to the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s headquarters after Nie Tian¡¯s return. Over there, they would be able to select spirit beasts that suited them the best and learn incantations that were more legitimate.

    At the same time, the Dong n would arrange for a group of their nsmen to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with Dong Li and Dong Baijie.

    The Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s current sectmaster had been rather thrilled to learn that the Dong n from the Domain of the Falling Stars had a historical connection with their sect.

    As a group, people with the family name ¡®Dong¡¯ in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had withered through time. Therefore, the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s sectmaster had been rather eager to bring more of them into the Beast-controlling Sect, to return the ¡®Dong¡¯ name to prosperity.

    Therefore, the two sides had reached a mutual understanding right away. The Dong n would send their members to the Beast-controlling Sect to learn legitimate incantations and select suitable spirit beasts, while the Beast-controlling Sect would take in Dong n members to boost their strength.

    With Wu Ji in secluded cultivation, Hua Mu away with Nie Tian, and Nie Donghai away in Nie Tian¡¯s private heaven and earth, Li Langfeng had be Nie Tian¡¯s representative in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Zong Zheng, Fan Kai, and powerful experts from the Realm of a Hundred Battles had sent people to report to Li Langfeng from time to time, so he had been informed of every detailed change that had taken ce in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After learning about the current situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars from Li Langfeng, Nie Tian pushed the stone gate to the pce open, and entered the shattered heaven and earth that was wreathed in the flesh auras of outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    ¡°I probably should give this realm a name. Sine it¡¯s a shattered realm that¡¯s held together by those huge vines, I might as well call it the Realm of Shattered Earth.¡± With these words, Nie Tian stepped through the gate out of the pce.

    As soon as he did, he formed his nine Heaven Eyes and scanned this whole realm with them.

    Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, Dong Li, Dong Baijie, Ye Qin, Xuan Ke, and many other figures he was familiar with then entered his Heaven Eyes¡¯ view.

    They were scattered in different regions, trying to derive enlightenment from the profound mysteries in those regions.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, Dong Li and Dong Baijie, who were currently at thete Worldly realm, seemed to be on the verge of breaking through into the Profound realm.

    The two of them seemed to have gain a great deal in this heaven and earth.

    Aside from these two, others who hade to practice cultivation here had also made progress of differing degrees in their cultivation bases and strength.

    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± Nie Tian called out.

    Wisps of soul awareness and resounding sounds spread out through his Heaven Eyes to every corner of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    After receiving them, people gathered from all directions, and soon arrived in front of the grand pce.

    Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter from the Bliss Mountain Sect, was among them.

    Mu Biqiong was still at thete Worldly realm. She was the first to arrive in front of the pce, where she fixed Nie Tian with a cold gaze and asked, ¡°How much longer do you intend to imprison me here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to take you back to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Nie Tian said.

    However, Mu Biqiong, who was still wearing a veil, seemed somewhat disappointed upon hearing these words. She looked over her shoulder into the distance, as if she was reluctant to leave the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know that even though she had been staying in the Realm of Shattered Earth as a prisoner, she had actually made significant gains during this time.

    The devilish flower inside of her had been able tomunicate with the gigantic vines that held the Realm of Shattered Earth together, and channel wood power from her surroundings to nourish and strengthen her.

    That flower was of great importance to her. It was both her nightmare and her power reserve.

    Besides, since the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Shattered Earth was exceptionally rich and soothing, she had progressed rapidly by cultivating here.

    She was well-aware that if the young talented ones from the sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries learned about this magical ce, they would all dream ofing here to derive enlightenment and improve their cultivation bases.

    The thought of these benefits she had gained made her reluctant to leave this heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t pay much attention to her reaction. Instead, with a bright smile, he said to Dong Li and Dong Baijie, ¡°You two seem to have made some considerable progress in your cultivation.¡±

    Dong Baijieughed broadly and pointed into the sky, where multicolored currents were surging. ¡°Little Li and I managed to channel residual ck phoenix and gray wolf bloodline auras from the atmosphere with the help of our beast spirits. Then, we refined them into our beast spirits, which enabled us to achieve rapid growth in our strength.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°But now I¡¯ve got to take you back to the Domain of the Falling Stars. The Beast-controlling Sect wants you to go visit them to select spirit beasts that suit you better and practice incantations that are more legitimate.¡±

    Dong Baijie was taken aback. ¡°The Beast-controlling Sect?!¡±

    The same went for Mu Biqiong.

    Nie Tian raised his voice and said, ¡°Whoever else wants to leave cane with us now.¡±

    Ye Qin, Xuan Ke, and the others all shook their head, and expressed that this ce was very helpful for their cultivation, so they didn¡¯t n to leave yet.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you may stay here for a while longer. Let me know if you want to leave next time Ie back.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to impose.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian left the Realm of Shattered Earth with Dong Li, Dong Baijie, and Mu Biqiong.

    After teleporting back to the Realm of Split Void, he discovered that Fan Kai, Zong Zheng, Chang Sen, and many other Soul realm experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars were gathered in front of the pce.

    All of them were there to express their desire to visit the Realm of Maelstrom and trade with powerful experts from more advanced domains and outsiders.

    Nie Tian agreed to their request.

    These Soul realm experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars were overjoyed to get his consent.

    However, Nie Tian decided to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries himself to demand something from the Bliss Mountain Sect, using Mu Biqiong as leverage.

    Soon, he met up with Dong Wangling and a few other Dong n members at the Thunder Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters. He asked Lei Tianqi to activate the spell formation, and after a few transits, they arrived in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

 Chapter 806: Pure Heaven Sect

    The Divine me Sect was the third most powerful among the eight major powers in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Its reserve power was only behind the Pure Heaven Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect.

    The Trisword Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Chu n, the Jian n, and the Guan n were all weaker than the Divine me Sect.

    The former name of the realm that the Divine me Sect was based in was already untraceable, but since the Divine me Sect had established their headquarters here, the realm had been renamed as the Realm of Divine me.

    Vaster than the Realm of Split Void, the Realm of Divine me was wreathed in spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that wasced with rich me power.

    Numerous active volcanoes stood in different parts of the Realm of Divine me, producing a shocking amount of fire-attributed spiritual materials.

    Disciples of the Divine me Sect would normally be scattered in different areas, cultivating in different volcanoes. Only when they ran into difficult points in their cultivation would they return to their headquarters to seek help from their seniors.

    After stepping out of the teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters, Nie Tian gazed around, and discovered that they were on top of a lofty volcano that formed a circle with five other volcanoes of the same size.

    Each of the volcanoes was crimson and thousands of meters high. Countless detailed spell formations could be seen carved on the hard, crimson rocks.

    A number of stone pavilions stood atop each volcano. In the mountain valley that was surrounded by the volcanoes, many figures were busy working. They were either practicing cultivation ormunicating with one another about the problems they had encountered in their cultivation.

    These six volcanoes formed a simr situation to the Tool Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. The hearts of these volcanoes had all been sealed by special spell formations, preventing them from erupting.

    Disciples of the Divine me Sect would use those spell formations to channel me power from the hearts of the volcanoes and slowly spread it evenly within the mountain valley.

    Standing atop one of the volcanoes, Nie Tian sensed his surroundings with rapt attention, and discovered that his vortex of me power was spinning faster than usual.

    Even though he was doing nothing, his spinning vortex of me power could take in more me power than he usually could.

    The teleportation portal they just came out of stood on the mountaintop, not concealed in a room or anything with a roof.

    Yue Yanxiughed broadly as he strode over to receive Nie Tian with iparable warmth. ¡°Wee to the Divine me Sect, Nie Tian!¡±

    Yue Yanxi seemed somewhat apologetic as he said, ¡°My apologies. I thought only members of the Dong n wereing. Who would have thought that you woulde too? Our sectmaster happens to be on one of his trips. Otherwise, he would havee to meet you too.¡±

    Dong Wangling and his Dong n members, as well as Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect, appeared from behind Nie Tian and bowed towards Yue Yanxi. ¡°Greetings, Senior Yue.¡±

    Yue Yanxi was the grand elder of the Divine me Sect, whose status in the Divine me Sect was only second to the sectmaster.

    Even in the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, he was among the most respected figures. As powerful as Dong Wangling was, he felt overshadowed by Yue Yanxi¡¯s noble status.

    Dong Wangling had visited once, yet Yue Yanxi hadn¡¯t shown upst time.

    Instead, it was some other Soul realm expert from the Divine me Sect who had received him and made arrangements to teleport him to the Beast-controlling Sect.

    He was well-aware that if Nie Tian hadn¡¯te with them this time, this grand elder of the Divine me Sect still wouldn¡¯t have shown up.

    Yue Yanxi hadn¡¯te to receive them because of him, but because of Nie Tian.

    Yue Yanxi waved his hand. ¡°Enough with the pleasantries.¡±

    Then, he turned to Dong Wangling and said, ¡°Congrattions to your n. Now that a close bond has formed between your n and the Beast-controlling Sect, you can be viewed as a part of the Beast-controlling Sect from now on.¡±

    After a short pause, he asked, ¡°Do you want to teleport to the Beast-controlling Sect now, or do you want to take a walk in our sect?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m hoping to select suitable spirit beasts for our juniors as soon as possible,¡± Dong Wangling answered.

    Nodding, Yue Yanxi beckoned with his hand and ordered, ¡°Activate the spell formation and teleport them to the Beast-controlling Sect.¡±

    In his eyes, these members of the Dong n weren¡¯t nearly as important as Nie Tian. Therefore, he didn¡¯t try to talk them into staying for a meal or anything.

    The Dong n members returned to the spell formation one after another, where they waited to be teleported to the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Dong Li seemed somewhat reluctant to leave as she asked Nie Tian, ¡°How long will you stay in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t stay here very long,¡± Nie Tian said with an apologetic expression. ¡°The Beast-controlling Sect will help you a great deal. Your cultivation base will improve significantly with their help, and the incantations you practice will be perfected. Finding a spirit beast that agrees with you will raise your battle prowess to a whole new level. I¡¯ll go visit you in the Beast-controlling Sect right after I¡¯m finished with my business in the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    The two of them had spent more time apart than together since Nie Tian had entered that space disruption zone with Zhao Shanling.

    He had spent the past few years traveling the starry river. He had even rarely returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He knew that Dong Li hadints about this, yet things in this world were usually hard to predict. He often had no choice in matters.

    Dong Li smiled. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll wait for you in the Beast-controlling Sect. If you don¡¯te, then I¡¯ll go find you in the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the spell formation was activated, and Dong Wangling and the other Dong n members were teleported to the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The Domain of Heaven Python?!¡±

    Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, also frowned upon hearing this.

    Both Yue Yanxi and Mu Biqiong had met Ke Jinpeng from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Through the conversations between Ke Jinpeng and Xing Beichen, they had learned that Ke Jinpeng and the other Void domain experts had been from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, which was a powerful sect from the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Later, after Nie Tian had killed Ke Jinpeng and Xing Beichen with the help of the grand spell formation in the Realm of Shattered Earth, he had cautiously reminded the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples to keep their mouths shut about this incident.

    Originally, he had intentionally avoided contact with the Domain of Heaven Python, fearing that he would attract the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s attention.

    Why on earth would he go to the Domain of Heaven Python all of a sudden?

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim as he exined to Yue Yanxi, ¡°There was a mishap. A respected senior of mine was killed by a chosen one from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, so I took a trip to the Domain of Heaven Python...¡±

    He went on and briefly exined what had happened, but intentionally left out many details.

    Even so, Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered, showing a strong interest, after learning that there was a special realm in the Domain of Heaven Python where outsiders of various races could visit and trade with humans, and that spatial rifts that led to the Shatter Battlefield would soon open in that realm.

    ¡°The Realm of Maelstrom?! The Shatter Battlefield?!¡± Many Divine me Sect disciples in the vicinity also gasped with astonishment, and showed strong interest in visiting this special realm.

    Mu Biqiong took a deep breath, her eyes lighting up. Apparently, she looked forward to visiting it as well.

    After suppressing his desire to ask Nie Tian about the Realm of Maelstrom, Yue Yanxi narrowed his eyes and asked with a faint smile, ¡°What do you intend to demand from the Bliss Mountain Sect using this girl?¡±

    Mu Biqiong grew angry upon hearing this, but didn¡¯t reveal it.

    Nie Tian shot her a nce and said, ¡°She didn¡¯t suffer in the slightest during the time I had her as my prisoner. Not just that, she even advanced to thete Worldly realm, which makes her cultivation base even higher than mine. Just considering the fact that she came to significant gains and made a breakthrough in cultivation in my private realm, the Bliss Mountain Sect should express their gratitude towards me, right?¡±

    Taken aback, Yue Yanxi asked, ¡°Her breakthrough had something to do with that ce?¡±

    Nie Tian snorted and said, ¡°Of course! Not just her, Yin Yanan also only broke through into the Profound realm because of the special environment there. Even her Frost Blood Python benefited greatly there.¡±

    Yue Yanxi sighed, and with a bitter smile, he said, ¡°I should have left Qiao Yunxi there too. We spent a long time searching its surrounding areas after leaving your realm, but found nothing. I¡¯m afraid that that realm created by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is the only thing that¡¯s truly special about that forbidden region.¡±

    After a short pause, he added with an anticipating expression, ¡°By the way, you¡¯vee at a perfect time. An interesting thing just happened in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I think you should go take a look.¡±

    ¡°What interesting thing?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°There are five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but only four sects and three ns sent people to that forbidden region,¡± Yue Yanxi said. ¡°One sect didn¡¯t send any people there. Do you still remember?¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°Yeah, people from the Beast-controlling Sect, the Divine me Sect, the Trisword Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Chu n, the Jian n, and the Guan n appeared in that region. People from the Pure Heaven Sect didn¡¯t seem to have appeared there, so is the Pure Heaven Sect who you¡¯re talking about?¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression grew serious. ¡°Exactly. The Pure Heaven Sect is actually the most powerful force in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. For the past thousand years, Patriarch Pure Heaven has been the strongest Qi warrior throughout the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. No one could threaten his status. Now, he¡¯s only one step away from entering the Saint domain. Once he does, the whole domain will change because of it.¡±

    Looking unimpressed, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°So what?¡±

    After his journey in the Domain of Heaven Python, he had learned that the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect all had Saint domain experts. Therefore, he didn¡¯t feel very impressed by this Patriarch Pure Heaven, who was at the peak of the Void domain.

 Chapter 807: A Sea Floating in the Void

    Nie Tian spent a few months with Duan Shihu and Jing Rou, and learned from them that humans had upied a great amount of the domains in this boundless starry river.

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python were just two very ordinary ones.

    Usually, domains consisted of multiple realms. Realms could be divided into small-scale realms, medium-scale realms,rge-scale realms, and superrge-scale realms.

    Simrly, domains could be divided into elementary-grade domains, medium-grade domains, and premium-grade domains.

    ording to Jing Rou, domains that had Void domain Qi warriors could be referred to as elementary-grade domains. Those that had Saint domain Qi warriors could be categorized as medium-grade domains. Only domains that had God domain experts deserved to be called premium-grade domains.

    Before Fan Kai had broken through into the Void domain, the Domain of the Falling Stars hadn¡¯t even qualified as an elementary-grade domain.

    Even though there were arge number of realms in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, since it didn¡¯t have any Saint domain experts, it also only counted as an elementary-grade domain.

    The Domain of Heaven Python fell into the ss of medium-grade domains.

    Only the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and colossi like it, which had God domain experts, deserved to be called premium-grade domains.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven was still one step away from entering the Saint domain, so he didn¡¯t seem very impressive to Nie Tian.

    While Nie Tian drifted away in thought, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°The reason why the Pure Heaven Sect didn¡¯t send people to that forbidden region was because they had made another discovery. There are a number of dead realms in the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s territory, and among them there¡¯s this vast, mysterious sea, which floats in the void and has many secrets.

    ¡°The Pure Heaven Sect didn¡¯t show up with us because they discovered that mysterious stone statues would surface from time to time in that sea.

    ¡°Those stone statues seem to carry the profound truths of heaven and earth, so the Pure Heaven Sect attached great importance to them. They went all-out to learn about them, and thus didn¡¯t have the energy to search that forbidden region.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian said, ¡°Stone statues surfaced in a sea that floats in the void? Hmm, interesting.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, exactly.¡± Yue Yanxi said, his eyes narrowed. ¡°Like you said, the spatial rift to the Shatter Battlefield hasn¡¯t opened in the Realm of Maelstrom yet, so do you want to go take a look at that floating sea? The Pure Heaven Sect seems to have retrieved several of the stone statues out of the bottom of the sea already. Powerful experts and chosen ones from all over the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries are heading there, hoping to examine and derive some enlightenment from them.

    ¡°Yin Yanan went there shortly after her return to the Beast-controlling Sect.

    ¡°I sent Qiao Yunxi there as soon as possible too.

    ¡°I also intend to go there myself. If you¡¯re interested, we can go together. What do you think?¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian nodded, ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Mu Biqiong jumped in and asked, ¡°What about me then?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯reing with us,¡± Yue Yanxi said inly. ¡°Your sect has sent people there too.¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡± Mu Biqiong nodded.

    As the teleportation portal was once again activated, Nie Tian, Yue Yanxi, and Mu Biqiong disappeared from the Divine me Sect.

    After just one teleportation, Nie Tian and the others appeared in a location by the edge of a dead realm, which didn¡¯t seem that vast. The earth was dark-gray, and mountains could be seen in the distance.

    Nie Tian examined this realm with rapt attention, and discovered that there didn¡¯t seem to be the slightest spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in it. Neither did he sense the existence of any vegetation or living creatures.

    Therefore, he knew this realm was bereft of any life.

    The teleportation portal they were standing in was on an ancient starship that belonged to the Divine me Sect, which was berthed by the edge of the dead realm.

    After withdrawing his gaze from the dead realm, Nie Tian gazed around with rapt attention, and his expression instantly flickered.

    A total of seven dead realms were scattered in this region. The one close to him was only one of them.

    Surrounded by the seven dead realms was an extremely vast blue sea, and the sea was indeed floating in the void. Compared to the sea, even the seven dead realms looked very small.

    The blue sea seemed unfathomable and full of mysteries.

    Nie Tian had a feeling as if the sea stretched downward endlessly into the boundless starry river.

    Normally speaking, since the sea was floating in the void, it should contain countless impurities, which would infiltrate Qi warriors¡¯ bodies and souls, causing them great damage.

    Nie Tian had experienced this first-hand when he had traveled in the void with Zhao Shanling.

    It was said that only Qi warriors with cultivation bases higher than the Void domain would be able to envelop themselves and ward off the harmful impurities with their own domains.

    For this very reason, there had been a saying that only those who had cultivation bases higher than the Void domain or possessed ancient starships were able to explore the depths of the void.

    However, there didn¡¯t seem to be even the slightest impurity in this sea, even though it was floating in the void and surrounded by seven dead realms.

    This was fascinating.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian strained his eyes, and saw a number of spots that were the size of rice grains sparkling at the central area of the unfathomable blue sea.

    Yue Yanxi exined, ¡°Those are air-transportation spiritual tools from the five major sects and three major ns, Yunxi¡¯s me Bird among them. Their location is where the stone statues surfaced.¡±

    With these words, he summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool. After Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong jumped on board, they left the ancient starship and flew towards the bright spots.

    Nie Tian kept ncing around on their way, and could vaguely see ancient starships berthed by the other dead realms.

    From the look of it, they belonged to the five major sects and three major ns. People had sailed to this region on them.

    Finally, Yue Yanxi¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool arrived at the central area of the unfathomable blue sea.

    Qiao Yunxi¡¯s me Bird was floating quietly over the sea. With serious expressions, a few Qi warriors from the Divine me Sect were gazing into the deep sea from the back of the me Bird.

    A total of eight stone statues were floating motionlessly under the sea¡¯s surface, their faces blurry.

    All of the eight stone statues looked different from each other. Some looked like humans, some looked like outsiders, while others looked like spirit beasts, but every one of them was iparablyrge.

    The stone statues emanated misty light from right under the sea¡¯s surface. Nie Tian examined the statues with rapt attention, and discovered that the carvings of their faces seemed to be unfinished.

    Just as he was going to examine with his soul awareness, an old man from the Pure Heaven Sect flew across the void and arrived in front of him.

    The old man¡¯s name was Zhou Shang, and he was also at the middle Void domain. Eyebrows furrowed, he said sternly, ¡°You should know the rules, Brother Yue. Only members of the five major sects and three major ns are allowed to examine and derive enlightenment from these stone statues, and no more than ten members of every party are allowed to be here at the same time. Besides, each of them will have to pay ten thousand spirit jades to observe them for two weeks.¡±

    ¡°Brother Zhou, this is one of our sect¡¯s honored guests. I...¡± Yue Yanxi said, hoping to exin the situation to him.

    But Zhou Shang interrupted him in a very rude manner. ¡°I don¡¯t care who he is. As long as he wants to stay here and observe, one of your people will have to back out. Also, since he¡¯s not a disciple of your sect, he¡¯ll have to pay double, so twenty thousand spirit jades.¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    This old man from the Pure Heaven Sect was very arrogant and impolite when facing Yue Yanxi, whose cultivation base was the same as his. This took Nie Tian by surprise.

    Each of the five major sects and three major ns could have no more than ten people observe the stone statues here at the same time, and each person had to pay ten thousand spirit jades.

    Ten thousand spirit jades were worth a million spirit stones. Even he, who was rather wealthy, felt it was a little too expensive to spend this much just to observe the stone statues for two weeks.

    To make it worse, the old man demanded that he pay twice the price just because he wasn¡¯t a disciple of the Divine me Sect.

    At this moment, Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect rushed over, looking overjoyed. ¡°Little Qiong!¡±

    After arriving, he took a nce at Nie Tian, then said with aplicated expression, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯de here too.¡±

    Nie Tian gave him a in smile, not saying anything.

    After exchanging a meaningful nce with Jiang Feng, Yue Yanxi signaled Mu Biqiong that she could go to Jiang Feng¡¯s side now.

    Afterwards, he said to Zhou Shang from the Pure Heaven Sect, ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll follow the rule your sect has made, and send one disciple back to our ancient starship. And I¡¯ll pay extra for him to stay and derive enlightenment.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Zhou Shang said.

    Then, Yue Yanxi flew to the me Bird and said something to one of the Divine me Sect disciples in a low voice.

    Even though the disciple seemed reluctant, he rose to his feet on the me Bird and flew back to the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship by himself.

    Afterwards, Yue Yanxi paid twenty thousand spirit jades and arranged for Nie Tian to observe from the me Bird¡¯s back. ¡°You just stay here and see if you can derive some enlightenment from those stone statues.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian said, looking calm.

    Upon seeing him, Qiao Yunxi only nodded slightly at him before focusing her attention on the eight stone statues in the sea again, as if she didn¡¯t want to waste any time.

    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss other matters after we¡¯re finished here.¡± After saying these words to Nie Tian, Jiang Feng left with Mu Biqiong, as if he were afraid to disturb Nie Tian by staying.

    After rejoining the others from the Bliss Mountain Sect, he waved his hand at one of the young men. Then, the young man rose to his feet reluctantly, summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool and left, looking frustrated.

    This area fell silent again.

 Chapter 808: Deriving Enlightenment from Stone Statues

    Jiang Feng left by himself after taking Mu Biqiong back to the air-transportation spiritual tool where the other Bliss Mountain Sect Qi warriors were.

    It appeared that he wasn¡¯t among the ones who were going to stay and derive enlightenment from these stone statues.

    Bright light shed across his eyes as he flew away from the center of the blue sea, then he changed directions and flew after Yue Yanxi.

    Jiang Feng wasn¡¯t the only one who had noticed Yue Yanxi and Nie Tian¡¯s arrival. The other two Void domain experts from the Jian n and the Chu n had also sensed Yue Yanxi and Nie Tian¡¯s arrival.

    They were none other than Jian Tong and Guan Fu, who Nie Tian was also rather familiar with.

    Their ancient starship was berthed by the edge of the blue sea. Each of them had also arranged for ten members to derive enlightenment at the center of the blue sea.

    Jian Tong and Guan Fu exchanged a nce. Without saying a word, they leapt off their ancient starships and sped through the void by relying on their Void domain cultivation bases.

    Momentster, Jiang Feng, Jian Tong, and Guan Fu found Yue Yanxi simultaneously.

    At this moment, Yue Yanxi had already flown to a location far from Nie Tian¡¯s location. Zhou Shang from the Pure Heaven Sect didn¡¯t pay attention to their behavior either.

    All he cared was that no one vited the rule the Pure Heaven Sect had set up.

    Jiang Feng, Jian Tong, and Guan Fu caught up to Yue Yanxi when he was still a significant distance from the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship.

    Aftering to a stop, Yue Yanxi nodded at Jian Tong and Guan Fu with a smile, but immediately afterwards, his face straightened as he fixed Jiang Feng with a stern look. ¡°Can I help you with anything?¡±

    The Divine me Sect didn¡¯t get along with the Bliss Mountain Sect. Conflicts had broken out between them from time to time. If it weren¡¯t for this, Mu Biqiong wouldn¡¯t have ambushed Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect in that forbidden region.

    Even though the two sects had made temporary peace with each other in the Realm of Shattered Earth due to the arrival of Ke Jinpeng and the other experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, that fragile peace had fallen apart immediately after their return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°I dare not bother you with my business.¡± With these words, Jiang Feng smiled faintly and lowered his voice. ¡°I¡¯vee to tell you than it seems that the Pure Heaven Sect still doesn¡¯t know what happened in that forbidden region, or Nie Tian¡¯s identity as a Son of the Stars.¡±

    The people from the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n had avoided talking about what had happened in the Realm of Shattered Earth after their return.

    The Pure Heaven Sect had only learned that not only had the other seven parties note to significant gains in that forbidden region, but they had even suffered great losses.

    The Pure Heaven Sect had taken pleasure in this.

    After Jiang Feng¡¯s return to the Bliss Mountain Sect, he had exined what had happened to theirte Void domain patriarch. That person had been rather apprehensive of Nie Tian¡¯s status as a Son of the Stars, and thus had ordered Jiang Feng and the others to guard their mouths like a closed bottle. (Idiom: keep one¡¯s mouth shut)

    He had even decided to let go of the fact that Nie Tian had seized Master Voidspirit¡¯s legacies and killed a handful of Soul realm experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect with Zhao Shanling, and that he had imprisoned Mu Biqiong.

    He had warned Jiang Feng against offending Nie Tian, and that he should try to lift Mu Biqiong from Nie Tian¡¯s imprisonment throughmunication.

    Jiang Feng was well-aware that their patriarch had only decided to swallow such an insult because he had been apprehensive of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which Nie Tian had at his back.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s face grew cold as he gazed off towards Zhou Shang¡¯s location. ¡°It¡¯s for the best that they don¡¯t know. The Pure Heaven Sect has always been arrogant and domineering. Who would have thought they would be even more so now. The Seven-star Blue Sea was an unimed, mysterious ce in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It should have been jointly owned and explored by all five major sects and three major ns.

    ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven does whatever he like just because he¡¯s the strongest Qi warrior throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and just about to enter the Saint domain.

    ¡°We let him be when he upied the Seven-star Blue Sea years ago; who would have thought they actually wanted to explore its wonders by themselves after stone statues surfaced in it.

    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they didn¡¯t conceal the matter well and let us find out about it, and if we hadn¡¯t pressured them together, we wouldn¡¯t even have the opportunity to observe those stone statues.

    ¡°Now, each of us can only have ten members observe here at the same time, and we have to pay ten thousand spirit jades per person for just a two-week stay. The Pure Heaven Sect did some smug calctions.¡±

    Judging from Yue Yanxi¡¯s tone, he was rather unhappy with Zhou Shang and the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s way of doing things.

    At the same time, Jiang Feng, Jian Tong, and Guan Fu shared his hatred of the Pure Heaven Sect, which seemed to bring them closer to a great extent.

    Jiang Tong let out a weak sigh. ¡°What can we do? Patriarch Pure Heaven is currently the strongest Qi warrior in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and now he¡¯s preparing for his next breakthrough in cultivation. You¡¯re no stranger to his domineering manner. He¡¯s taken the Seven-star Blue Sea as his own for years now before he entered the Saint domain. If he actually manages to advance to the Saint domain, who knows if we¡¯ll still have a position in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Their faces grew grim as soon as they started talking about Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    For every Qi warrior in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, Patriarch Pure Heaven was a great mountain that was impossible to surpass. For the past thousand years, he had sat on the throne as the most powerful person throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. No one had been able to challenge his status.

    After pondering in silence for a while, Jiang Feng seemed to hit upon a thought as he suddenly turned to Yue Yanxi and asked, ¡°Brother Yue, did you bring Nie Tian here and intentionally hide his status from Zhou Shang to have Nie Tian develop enmity towards the Pure Heaven Sect?¡±

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t my intention,¡± Yue Yanxi said. ¡°It was Zhou Shang who demanded that he pay double the price due to his identity as a foreigner.¡±

    Jiang nodded tacitly and said, ¡°I see. Now I do hope that Nie Tian will be able to solve the mysteries of those eight stone statues. For one thing, it¡¯ll be well worth the twenty thousand spirit jades he paid to observe the stone statues if he can actually make significant gains or breakthroughs.

    ¡°For another, I wonder what the Pure Heaven Sect will do or say about Nie Tian gaining that fortune as a foreigner.¡±

    Guan Fu and Jian Tong also had meaningful looks in their eyes. Anticipating smiles even appeared on their faces as they seemed to think of something interesting.

    ...

    On the me Bird.

    Unlike Qiao Yunxi or the others, Nie Tian didn¡¯t sit in the lotus position and observe the stone statues in the sea like the others.

    First, he took his time to examine his surroundings.

    He saw Mu Biqiong focusing all of her attention on one of the stone statues immediately after jumping onto the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool, which was berthed not far from him.

    He kept looking around, and saw that each of the Guan n, the Jian n, and the Chu n also had ten members in this area, trying to derive enlightenment from the stone statues.

    Also, he saw Yin Yanan and nine other youngsters from the Beast-controlling Sect also observing in silence from a farther location.

    As he gazed beyond them, he saw people dressed in the Trisword Sect¡¯s garments in an even more distant location.

    Each of these parties had ten people on one air-transportation spiritual tool.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the case with the Pure Heaven Sect.

    Zhou Shang was standing on one of the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tools. More than fifty Pure Heaven Sect disciples filled these air-transportation spiritual tools.

    From the look of it, the rule the Pure Heaven Sect had established only applied to the other seven parties, not itself.

    After gazing around for a while, Nie Tian finally withdrew his gaze from his surroundings, and looked down at the unfathomable blue sea.

    Without mobilizing his soul awareness, he examined the eight stone statues with only his eyes, but failed to find anything special about them.

    Each stone statue was about a hundred meters tall, but their widths varied. They were all made of pale-gray rock. Their faces were blurry, and no special carvings could be seen on their surface.

    Compared to the titan arms in the magicalnd where the me Dragon Armor had repeatedly taken him, these stone statues were significantly smaller.

    Just the part of the titan arms that were above the ground stood like magnificent mountain peaks, creating a strong visual impact.

    Having witnessed that, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t impressed at all by the size of the eight stone statues.

    Then, he sent a wisp of his soul awareness to one of the stone statues, which seemed to be of a human.

    Inside the stone statue, he discovered numerous wisps of other soul awarenesses, which apparently belonged to the observers from the five major sects and three major ns.

    The wisps of soul awareness avoided conflicts with each other as they roamed about inside the stone statue in an attempt to derive the kind of enlightenment that would stimte breakthroughs in their cultivation bases and strength, allow them to find the incantations that suited them the best, or allow them to understand the profound truths of the power of heaven and earth.

    The wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness discovered nothing noteworthy after searching every inch of the stone statue.

    Afterwards, the wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness left the human statue and flew off to examine the other seven statues, which were either of outsiders, ancient spirit beasts, or creatures he didn¡¯t recognize. However, his efforts there turned out to be fruitless too.

    Two hours had passed by the time he was finished.

    After withdrawing his soul awareness, he pondered briefly, then turned to Qiao Yunxi and said, ¡°Hey, long time no see. Qi warriors from every major power in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries are gathered in this ce to derive enlightenment from these stone statues. Has anyone found anything yet?¡±

    Looking rather impatient, Qiao Yunxi shot him a sideways nce and said, ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Somewhat disappointed, Nie Tian said, ¡°I see. Also, why didn¡¯t Senior Yue, Jiang Feng, or the other Void domain experts stay and try to derive enlightenment from these statues? And why haven¡¯t the Pure Heaven Sect taken the statues out of the sea back to their headquarters, so they¡¯ll be able to touch them and examine them more closely?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi snorted disdainfully and said, ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily easier for people with higher cultivation bases to derive enlightenment from mysterious items like these stone statues. More often than not, it¡¯s about fate. If it¡¯s not in your fate, and if your attribute and incantations don¡¯t agree with the stone statues, your cultivation base won¡¯t be able to help you, no matter how high it is.

    ¡°Also, how do you know they haven¡¯t tried to derive enlightenment themselves? They all made attempts as soon as they came here, but since they failed to trigger any unusual movement or reaction, they knew these statues weren¡¯t meant for them, and thus gave up.

    ¡°Only after that did they arrange for their sect or n members toe here group after group, hoping someone from their sects or ns would be able to derive enlightenment from these statues.

    ¡°As for why the Pure Heaven Sect hasn¡¯t pulled the statues out of the sea and taken them to their headquarters, that¡¯s because they assumed that more stone statues still have yet to surface.

    ¡°They¡¯re waiting for all of the stone statues to surface. Also, once they take them back to their headquarters, they won¡¯t allow people from the other sects or ns to examine them anymore.

    ¡°It already took us great effort, the other seven major powers, to persuade them to allow us to examine them here.¡±

    With these words, a joyous mor burst out from the Pure Heaven Sect disciples¡¯ location.

    With an ecstatic expression, Zhou Shang was standing beside a tall young man, practically skipping with joy.

    The young man¡¯s eyes shone brightly as he gazed at one of the statues, which had horns growing out of its head and apparently wasn¡¯t human, as if he hade to significant discoveries.

    Then, a vague shape gradually came to form over the young man¡¯s head, as if someone had drawn it using the young man¡¯s spiritual power.

    The vague shape was identical to the stone statue he was looking at.

    Zhou Shang took a deep breath and shouted in a stern voice, ¡°Everyone needs to withdraw their soul awareness from that stone statue and stop deriving enlightenment from it immediately!¡±

 Chapter 809: Remaking the Rule

    The pale-gray stone statue instantly turned translucent and sparkling, as if the enormous stone statue had be a statue that was forged from jade.

    Almost at the same time, an joyful exmation came from the Chu n members¡¯ location.

    A female Qi warrior from the Chu n seemed to have also derived enlightenment from the same stone statues.

    A vague shape also slowly came to form over her head, as if someone had drawn it with her spiritual power.

    The mor over at the Chu n members¡¯ location naturally attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    Zhou Shang¡¯s face dropped as he shouted, ¡°Withdraw your soul awareness now, all of you!¡±

    Upon hearing his shout, the observers from the other seven parties all hastily withdrew their soul awareness from the stone statue that had horns growing out of its head.

    However, that young woman from the Chu n didn¡¯t want to give up just yet, since she had also derived precious enlightenment from that stone statue.

    Therefore, the wisp of her soul awareness stayed inside that stone statue and continued to derive enlightenment from it.

    A fierce look suddenly appeared in Zhou Shang¡¯s eyes as he shouted, ¡°A stupid kid who doesn¡¯t know how to appreciate my kindness!¡±

    With these words, Zhou Shang¡¯s immense soul awareness instantly descended upon the stone statue. It captured the young Chu n members¡¯ soul awareness like pinching a puny insect, and threw it out.

    The young woman from the Chu n was only at the early Worldly realm. How could she possibly resist him?

    A pained expression appeared on her face as her soul awareness was thrown out, and her weak, thin body shuddered as the vague shape, which was a condensation of her spiritual power, scattered and vanished.

    The connection between her and the stone statue was instantly severed, disabling her from examining the stone statue.

    Face ghastly, she red at Zhou Shang from afar, fury and grievance brimming her heart.

    Another observer from the Chu n couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Senior Zhou! My younger sister also derived enlightenment from that stone statue, isn¡¯t it a bit too much to forcibly tear her soul awareness from it? How will the Pure Heaven Sect win people¡¯s respect if you bully the weak like this? Every one of us respected the rule your sect set up and paid ten thousand spirit jades for our stay.¡±

    Even though the cultivation base of the Chu n member who spoke was higher than that young woman¡¯s, he was still only at the Profound realm.

    Zhou Shang didn¡¯t even want to spare him another nce. In an arrogant manner, he said, ¡°Firste, first served. You must understand this too. Since Zhang Tian from our sect was the first one who managed to interact with that stone statue, it¡¯s only right that this opportunity belongs to him. I¡¯m thinking your younger sister was only able toe to the same enlightenment because of Zhang Tian¡¯s initial effort. So what right does she have to fight him for this opportunity?¡±

    A furious expression spread across the face of the young man from the Chu n.

    Just as he was about to say something back, Zhou Shang waved his hand impatiently and said, ¡°Considering your status in your n, you don¡¯t even qualify to talk to me. If you¡¯re not happy with this, you¡¯re wee to leave.¡±

    Upon seeing Zhou Shang¡¯s tough approach, the other Chu n members on that air-transportation spiritual tool all fixed him with angry stares, but none of them dared to say a word.

    Eyebrows furrowed, a Qi warrior from the Divine me Sect, who was standing beside Qiao Yunxi, let out a soft exmation, ¡°The Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s overbearing manner is outrageous!¡±

    SHEW!

    A purple figure suddenly flew out of the Chu n¡¯s ancient starship that was berthed in the distance, and arrived in front of everyone in the blink of an eye.

    It was a graceful man with impressive bearing. As the Chu n¡¯s overseer in this ce, Chu Tianlu was at the early Void domain.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he gave Zhou Shang an unpleasant look and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to adopt such a manner towards a bunch of juniors, right, Brother Zhou?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Zhou Shang said with a in tone, ¡°So you seem to have learned about what happened here. Our juniors observed the eight stone statues for quite some time, but failed to find anything.

    ¡°Zhang Tian from our sect made great efforts, and finally interacted with one of the stone statues.

    ¡°It¡¯s of great importance that he derive enlightenment from that stone statue. Nothing shall jeopardize that. If that girl from your n proceeds together with him, it might very well affect him, which will benefit neither of our parties.

    ¡°So we might as well let him derive enlightenment by himself. If he seeds, then it means we¡¯re going down the right path. Not to mention the fact that he interacted with that stone statue first.¡±

    Chu Tianlu pondered in silence for a few second before nodding and saying, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that from now on, as soon as someone manages to interact with a stone statue, that person will get to derive enlightenment from that statue by himself or herself, and the others will have to withdraw their soul awareness from it?¡±

    Zhou Shang nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Alright, this will be the new rule then,¡± Chu Tianlu said, not wanting to tear his pretended friendly rtionship with Zhou Shang. Then, he called out to everyone present, ¡°You heard him. From now on, the opportunities to derive enlightenment from these stone statues will go to those who manage to interact with them first. Everyone else will have to withdraw their soul awareness immediately afterwards.¡±

    The other seven parties, who had stopped observing because of Zhang Tian¡¯s interaction with one of the stone statues, responded one after another.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡±

    ¡°As long as the Pure Heaven Sect doesn¡¯t act on their own.¡±

    With a fake smile, Zhou Shang said, ¡°That¡¯s for certain.¡±

    Chu Tianlu thennded on the Chu n¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool. After whispering a few words to the young members of his n, he flew off in order not to disturb their observance.

    ¡°Elder Zhou...¡± One of the observers from the Pure Heaven Sect whispered, an inquiring look appearing in his eyes.

    Zhou Shang chuckled weakly. Looking at Zhang Tian, who was still focused on the stone statue, he said in a low voice, ¡°Now that Zhang Tian has seeded, it means that we¡¯ve obtained the method to interact with all of these stone statues. Once he tells you about his sessful experience, you¡¯ll have much better chances at interacting with the rest stone statues than those from the other sects or ns.¡±

    The disciples of the Pure Heaven Sect were all enlightened by his words.

    They all fixed Zhang Tian with anticipating gazes, as if they were waiting for him to finish and then exin the key to them, so that they would be able to interact with the other stone statues with the same method.

    Zhang Tian, however, continued to stare unblinkingly at that stone statue, his eyes glittering. Then, shortly afterwards, he suddenly closed his eyes.

    The vague shape of the stone statue that loomed over his head gradually grew clearer, as if it were on the verge of taking solid form.

    Meanwhile, none of the observers were in the mood to observe the stone statues themselves. Instead, they paid close attention to every move Zhang Tian was making, hoping to grasp the gist of how he managed to interact with that stone statue.

    However, none of them dared to send their soul awareness to Zhang Tian¡¯s location to examine what was happening inside of him because they were afraid that that would displease Zhou Shang again.

    Nie Tian smiled coldly and thought to himself, <i>¡°The Pure Heaven Sect¡­ Their overbearing way of doing things even surpasses the Heaven Pce Sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±</i>

    Unlike the others, he didn¡¯t pay any special attention to Zhang Tian.

    He had onlye to the Seven-star Blue Sea with the intention to broaden his horizons and take a look at this mysterious sea that floated in the void.

    He still had yet to derive enlightenment from his three fragmentary star marks and examine the regions of different attributes in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Therefore, it didn¡¯t matter to him whether he would be able to make any gains here.

    A long time passed...

    The vague shape made of Zhang Tian¡¯s spiritual power suddenly exploded and vanished, yet the stone statue was still as translucent and glittering as a huge piece of jade.

    ¡°So?¡± Zhou Shang asked Zhang Tian.

    ¡°I¡¯ve derived a method of circting spiritual power from it, but this unique method is very different from how we humans usually do it, so I haven¡¯t been able to understand itpletely just yet,¡± Zhang Tian said. He was only at the early Worldly realm, and he didn¡¯t rank very high among the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s chosen ones.

    Furthermore, he wasn¡¯t young anymore. If he failed to make a breakthrough in his cultivation soon, chances were that he would be excluded from the ranks of the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s chosen ones.

    Zhou Shang put on an amiable face and said in a warm voice, ¡°You¡¯re doing great. Now tell them how you managed to interact with that stone statue. Your experience will be very helpful for them to derive enlightenment from the other stone statues, so don¡¯t hold anything back.¡±

    Zhang Tian nodded and said, ¡°I focused a wisp of my soul awareness on the part between the statue¡¯s eyebrows. There seems to be something simr to our acupoints there, but it¡¯s very hard to find. I actually didn¡¯t know how it happened, but the wisp of my soul awareness suddenly flew into that acupoint, and then some sort of connection formed between me and the statue.¡±

    ¡°Something like an acupoint between it¡¯s eyebrows!¡± Zhou Shang¡¯s eyes instantly lit up, then with great confidence, he said to the other Pure Heaven Sect disciples, ¡°You should know what to do now.¡±

    Thrilled, the other Pure Heaven Sect disciples nodded vigorously before dropping to the floor in the lotus position and fixating their soul awareness on the spots between the stone statues¡¯ eyebrows.

    Their conversation seemed to be sealed away by Zhou Shang, so no one else was able to hear them.

    In the location where the Chu n members were gathered.

    After Chu Tianlu left, the few young Chu n members inquired of the young woman, who had also managed to interact with the stone statue, in low voices.

    The young woman pondered as she exined, ¡°A wisp of my soul awareness somehow suddenly flew into something that resembled a person¡¯s heart in that stone statue¡¯s chest, and then a strange connection formed between us. But Zhou Shang dragged my soul awareness out of there before I could sense it thoroughly.¡±

    The Chu n members grew spirited upon hearing her words. ¡°Target their hearts!¡±

    Afterwards, the members of the Pure Heaven Sect and the Chu n started sensing again, targeting the spots between their eyebrows and the stone statues¡¯ hearts respectively.

    An hour passed...

    Another disciple of the Pure Heaven Sect managed to interact with another stone statue, causing it to assume the texture of jade.

    Zhou Shang let out a longugh and ordered everyone else to withdraw their soul awarenesses from that stone statue.

    Since a new agreement had been made, the other seven parties didn¡¯t object. They all did as he said and withdrew their soul awarenesses, lest Zhou Shang swoop in and tear their soul awarenesses out of there.

    Four hourster, that young woman from the Chu n once again caused changes, this time was to another stone statue.

    Right after she did, a disciple from the Pure Heaven Sect also caused changes to that stone statue.

    However, the young woman from the Chu n was the first this time.

    Zhou Shang¡¯s eyes grew cold as he let out a discontented snort.

 Chapter 810: Nie Tianâ€™s Warning

    As discontent as Zhou Shang was, since an agreement had been reached, he had to respect the new rule he had just established.

    He threw a sideways nce at the Pure Heaven Sect disciple who was one step toote.

    After letting out a sigh of frustration, that disciple withdrew his soul awareness from the spot between the eyebrows of that stone statue.

    Up to now, a total of three stone statues had gone through changes. Two had been caused by disciples from the Pure Heaven Sect, and one had been caused by a member of the Chu n.

    While the other five stone statues were still pale-gray, these three stone statues had be translucent like jade, and emanated shimmering light, which gave them peculiar looks.

    Seeing that five statues were still unchanged, the members of the five major sects and three major ns exerted all their effort to establish connections to them using their soul awarenesses in attempts to seize the precious opportunities within them.

    Nie Tian grew bored after observing for quite a while, and thus unleashed a wisp of soul awareness himself.

    It flew into a stone statue that looked like a giant lizard, where it made contact with others¡¯ soul awarenesses from time to time as it roamed about.

    However, the contacts between their soul awarenesses were all very brief. That was because everyone exercised restraint, and did their utmost to avoid conflicts and soul battles with one another over the stone statues.

    After roaming about inside the stone statue for a while, Nie Tian gradually realized that wisps of soul awarenesses that belonged to Pure Heaven Sect disciples were all gathered in the spot between the statue¡¯s eyebrows.

    Meanwhile, all of the Chu n members focused their soul awarenesses on the heart region of the statue.

    <i>¡°The Pure Heaven Sect and Chu n must have found their respective methods of interacting with the stone statues. The Pure Heaven Sect is focusing on the spots between the statues¡¯ eyebrows, while the Chu n is focusing on their hearts. These two ces seem to be the key to interact with the stone statues.¡±</i>

    Soon after figuring this out, he discovered that Qia Yunxi, Mu Biqiong, Yin Yanan, and many other chosen ones also saw what was happening.

    Gradually, they all focused their soul awarenesses on the stone statues¡¯ hearts and the spots between their eyebrows.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian sent his wisp of soul awareness to the spot between the lizard statue¡¯s eyebrows.

    He examined that region with rapt attention, and discovered that more than ten wisps of soul awarenesses that belonged to different parties were already gathered there.

    Since it was a rather narrow spot, people¡¯s soul awarenesses inevitably convened with one another. Nie Tian sensed Yin Yanan¡¯s aura from one wisp of soul awareness.

    He then realized that Yin Yanan had also figured out what was going on, and set her mind on this stone statue.

    Meanwhile, nothing happened when his soul awareness touched any of the others¡¯.

    But as soon as his wisp of soul awareness made contact with Yin Yanan¡¯s, he instantly felt intoxicated by a wondrous feeling.

    He had experienced this feeling before...

    Back in that forbidden region, Yin Yanan had sent her soul awareness into his sea of awareness to help him defend against the powerful Phantasm soul¡¯s soul attacks.

    Soon, the Phantasm soul had discovered their joint effort, and thus had withdrawn from his sea of awareness, but had intoxicated Nie Tian and Yin Yanan¡¯s awarenesses with lust and desire.

    Nie Tian had experienced this overwhelming desire towards her back then as their soul awarenesses entangled with each other.

    Perhaps because they had a simr experience before, as soon as they experienced this peculiar feeling, a violent shudder ran through Yin Yanan¡¯s body, which was as shapely as a female leopard¡¯s. Her breaths grew heavy, and her expression grew strange.

    One of the Beast-controlling Sect disciples who was standing close to her noticed the changes. Looking overjoyed, he asked, ¡°Have you sensed something, junior martial sister?¡±

    He assumed that Yin Yanan had established a profound connection with that stone statue.

    Too embarrassed to tell him the truth, Yin Yanan tore her wisp of soul awareness away from Nie Tian¡¯s with great force, and summoned it back to her sea of awareness.

    Separated from each other by a thousand meters, she red at Nie Tian, fury filling her bright eyes.

    She assumed that Nie Tian had done that intentionally.

    However, even though Nie Tian knew that wasn¡¯t the case, he could only smile bitterly facing her furious gaze, since he couldn¡¯t really exin.

    At the same time, since Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to fight so many people over the narrow space between the stone statue¡¯s eyebrows anymore, he also withdrew his wisp of soul awareness from that statue.

    Just as he did that, a weak soul echo came from the me Dragon Armor, which was still in his ring of holding. ¡°Master, I¡¯m sensing great danger from those stone statues. The residual soul imprints in the deepest parts of my bloodline make me afraid of them. You¡¯d better get out of here as soon as possible, and don¡¯t make any more attempts.¡±

    The soul echo from the me Dragon Armor was on and off, but Nie Tian got the message.

    After gaining ten drops of Blood Essence from him and gathering arge amount of earthme essence and earthme crystal strings in the Realm of Withering me, the me Dragon Armor had entered a new round of bloodline awakening.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence seemed to have awakened certain fragmented memories in the deepest parts of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s bloodline, allowing it to see the danger Nie Tian was facing.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered instantly, but just as he was about to ask for more information, he discovered that the me Dragon Armor had already cut off its connection with him.

    He then realized it must have strained its power to the limit just to warn him.

    Also, it wouldn¡¯t have contacted him at such a crucial moment if it hadn¡¯t sensed great danger.

    For some reason, now that he had received the me Dragon Armor¡¯s warnings, the eight stone statues suddenly looked sinister to him as he ran his eyes over them again.

    <i>¡°The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was a me dragon, which is a branch of Ancientspirits. If its residual memories that are buried in the deepest parts of its bloodline made it fear those stone statues, they must be very unusual and powerful!¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian took a deep breath, and then an idea urred to him.

    At this very moment, another disciple of the Pure Heaven Sect established a connection with another stone statue.

    Overjoyed, Zhou Shang from the Pure Heaven Sectughed broadly.

    However, Nie Tian felt a subtle fear as he looked over at the stone statue, which gradually started to emanate a luster that was unique to jade.

    Face serious, Nie Tian said in a low voice, ¡°Qiao Yunxi... We need to leave now. Tell Zhou Shang that your sect is going to give up their opportunity to derive enlightenment from these stone statues.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi, who was exerting all her effort to derive enlightenment from the stone statues, withdrew her soul awareness and fixed him with a very confused look. ¡°What the hell are you talking about? Each of us paid ten thousand spirit jades in order to derive enlightenment from these stone statues. The Pure Heaven Sect and the Chu n already have people who sessfully interacted with and learned from them. This means these stone statues are going to be very helpful to us.¡±

    Since she intentionally lowered her voice as she talked to Nie Tian, and Zhou Shang, who was still submerged in ecstasy, didn¡¯t pay attention to them, he didn¡¯t notice the content of their conversation.

    However, all eight Divine me Sect disciples who were gathered closely around them heard everything.

    They opened their eyes and fixed Nie Tian with cold gazes.

    Even within the Divine me Sect, very few people knew about Nie Tian¡¯s identity as a Son of the Stars.

    All of these eight disciples were rather young, and hadn¡¯t participated in the exploration of that forbidden region. Therefore, they only knew that Nie Tian was a guest Yue Yanxi had invited from some other domain and nothing else.

    Nie Tian¡¯s arrival had cost one disciple of the Divine me Sect his opportunity to gain fortune from these stone statues.

    That disciple had been very reluctant when Yue Yanxi had ordered him to leave.

    What made him so special that the grand elder had been willing to pay twenty thousand spirit jades, and order one of their own to leave, so that he could observe these stone statues?

    The eight of them all gazed coldly at Nie Tian, resentment filling their hearts.

    Unlike Nie Tian, they would have to repay the ten thousand spirit jades Yue Yanxi had paid for them with considerable amounts of meritorious service.

    ¡°You canmunicate with senior Yue with your Sound Stone, right?¡± Nie Tian seemed somewhat anxious.

    He knew that it would be hard for him to convince these people from the Divine me Sect, so he could only rely on Yue Yanxi¡¯s authority within the Divine me Sect.

    Qiao Yunxi nodded reluctantly. ¡°Yeah, I can.¡±

    ¡°Good, message Senior Yue that I said that we need to get out of this ce as soon as possible,¡± Nie Tian said with a determined tone.

    Even though Qiao Yunxi was very confused, she could only secretlymunicate with Yue Yanxi via her Sound Stone, lest he hold her ountable after this. ¡°Grand Elder, Nie Tian said that we need to give up deriving enlightenment from the eight stone statues and leave the Seven-star Blue Sea immediately.¡±

    Standing on the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship that was berthed right outside the Seven-star Blue Sea, Yue Yanxi was the middle of a conversation with Jiang Feng, Guan Fu, and Jian Tong.

    With icy expressions, the four of them were condemning Zhou Shang for making up new rules, and the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s overbearing manners.

    Yue Yanxi went nk upon receiving the message from Qiao Yunxi.

    He pondered in silence for a few seconds before sending a message back.

    Holding the Sound Stone close to her ear, Qiao Yunxi shot a sideways nce at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Grand elder asks why.¡±

    ¡°These stone statues are actually very dangerous,¡± Nie Tian said with the decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron. ¡°Unlike what you¡¯re thinking, they won¡¯t present precious opportunities, but instead great danger!¡±

    Astonishment appeared on Qiao Yunxi¡¯s face as she hastily ryed Nie Tian¡¯s words to Yue Yanxi.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he eximed, ¡°Get out of there on your me Bird and I¡¯ll meet you halfway!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi shuddered before she called out to Zhou Shang from afar, ¡°Senior Zhou! Our sect has decided to give up on this chance to derive enlightenment from these stone statues, and we¡¯re leaving now.¡±

    Even though Zhou Shang was surprised, he gazed back at her for a second before a hint of mockery appeared at the corner of his mouth and he said, ¡°Sure.¡±

    He assumed that the Divine me Sect had good sense. Since they couldn¡¯t interact with any of the stone statues, while the Pure Heaven Sect and the Chu n took turns doing so, they must have realized that miracles wouldn¡¯t happen for them, and thus decided to leave.

 Chapter 811: A Sudden Turn of Events!

    Looking deeply confused, Guan Fu hastily asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Brother Yue?¡±

    Yue Yanxi had been in the middle of a conversation with them when he had suddenly taken out a Sound Stone and startedmunicating via it in private. Immediately afterwards, his expression flickered with fright. This made Guan Fu wonder what was going on.

    The three of them followed Yue Yanxi into the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    As they did, Yue Yanxi hesitated briefly before saying, ¡°Nie Tian said those stone statues won¡¯t bring us great fortune. Instead, unknown danger lies within them. I trust him, so I told all disciples of our sect to evacuate!¡±

    Jiang Feng, Guan Fu, and Jian Tong all gasped with astonishment. ¡°Nie Tian said that?!¡±

    In that forbidden region, they had all witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s incredible abilities as the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    A figure like him wouldn¡¯t make important decisions without a reason, especially at such a sensitive moment.

    Even though the Bliss Mountain Sect, which Jiang Feng was from, had strife with Nie Tian, he decided to trust Nie Tian after pondering in silence for a few seconds. Therefore, he hurriedly took out his Sound Stone and issued orders to the Bliss Mountain Sect disciples.

    Guan Fu and Jian Tong trusted Nie Tian even more. They had already made arrangements as Jiang Feng hesitated.

    SHEW!

    The me Bird sped away from the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea at full speed.

    But at the same time, Nie Tian sent a wisp of his soul awareness to the Beast-controlling Sect disciples¡¯ location, where it suddenly flew into Yin Yanan¡¯s sea of awareness.

    ¡°Shameless bastard!¡± Yin Yanan grew furious as she assumed that Nie Tian was so daring that he was actually going to take advantage of her with his soul awareness again.

    Therefore, she decided to teach him a lesson as soon as Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness barged into her mind.

    However, at that very moment, Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness delivered a message to her.

    A shocked look appeared in her eyes as she received Nie Tian¡¯s warning.

    At that moment, Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect suddenly called out in her womanly voice, ¡°Senior Zhou, we disciples of the Bliss Mountain Sect have decided to give up on deriving enlightenment from these stone statues. We¡¯re leaving now, and we won¡¯t ask for our spirit jades back.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Zhou Shang said,ughing.

    Like Mu Biqiong, the representatives of the Guan n and the Jian n also sprang to their feet and took turns to express their intention to leave.

    ¡°We¡¯ve decided to leave too, Senior Zhou.¡±

    ¡°Considering that we can¡¯t seem to gain anything, we don¡¯t want to waste any more time here. We¡¯re leaving too.¡±

    They started the spell formations within their respective air-transportation spiritual tools as they spoke. They only waited for Zhou Shang to nod so they could leave.

    Still smiling, Zhou Shang nodded and waved at them. ¡°Sure. Go ahead.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The air-transportation spiritual tools that belonged to the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Guan n, and the Jian n sped off after the me Bird.

    However, instead of heading towards their own ancient starships, they headed towards the Divine me Sect¡¯s.

    That was because Jiang Feng, Jian Tong, and Guan Fu had ordered them to follow the me Bird, so that all of them would be able to join up.

    Originally, Yin Yanan had been somewhat hesitant after Nie Tian had warned her against the stone statues. But her expression flickered as well when she saw the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Guan n, and the Jian n leaving in a hurry.

    Yin Yanan finally made up her mind, and said, ¡°It seems we won¡¯t be able toe to gain anything here either. We¡¯re out of here too.¡±

    The other nine disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect were all shocked and confused by her decision.

    They fixed Yin Yanan with inquiring gazes, wishing to know what made her decide to follow the Divine me Sect¡¯s example and leave.

    Instead of giving them an exnation, Yin Yanan shook her head towards them, and then fixed her eyes on Zhou Shang.

    With azy expression, Zhou Shang waved his hand at them. ¡°Leave if you want to.¡±

    As he did, a hint of doubt finally shed across his narrowed eyes.

    The fact that three sects and two ns had simultaneously pulled their members out of this ce in a hurry puzzled him as to what was happening.

    He had a feeling that these parties had reached some mutual understanding.

    However, he couldn¡¯t figure out why they would leave all at the same time, while his sect and the Chu n had sessfully interacted with the stone statues.

    He then shot his gaze at the people from Trisword Sect and the Chu n, and was slightly relieved to discover that they were still observing where they had been.

    At this moment, two disciples of his sect managed to interact with two other stone statues.

    This put him in a good mood again. Heughed heartily and forgot about the other parties suddenly leaving.

    As the person who was in charge of this operation, if he could help these talented young disciples from his sect derive valuable enlightenment from these stone statues, it would be considered a significant contribution on his part.

    Whether he would be able to hold on to his lofty position in the Pure Heaven Sect would rely on Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s attitude towards him.

    After all, he wasn¡¯t the only middle Void domain expert in the Pure Heaven Sect.

    The sess of this operation would have a significant impact on him. Those who had derived valuable enlightenment from these stone statues would most likely have bright futures in the Pure Heaven Sect, and it was him who had decided who woulde on this trip.

    As he thought of what this operation would bring him in the future, he grew increasingly rxed and calm.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after another was flying closer and closer towards the Divine me Sect¡¯s berthed ancient starship.

    At the same time, Yue Yanxi and the other experts were flying towards them at full speed in an attempt to meet them halfway.

    During this time, disciples of the Pure Heaven Sect managed to interact with all of the remaining stone statues.

    At this point, all of the eight stone statues had shed their original pale-gray rocky appearances, and turned to look as if they had been carved out of huge pieces of jade.

    Even though there had been signs of changes, people would still often be caught by surprise when they happened.

    Shortly after the air-transportation spiritual tools had left one after another, the eight members of the Chu n and the Pure Heaven Sect who had managed to interact with the stone statues suddenly flew uncontrobly towards the eight statues, which now looked like jade.

    Zhou Shang stood aghast. ¡°Zhang Tian!¡±

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The eight young men and women suddenly exploded as they flew closer to the statues.

    Their bones, flesh, and blood instantly merged with the statues. Even their true souls were sucked into the statues.

    Blood-colored light started to wiggle in the eight statues¡¯ blurry faces, which gradually morphed to take the appearances of the eight youngsters who they had just killed.

    The twisted faces of the youngsters¡¯ true souls appeared over the statues¡¯ faces, as if they were still suffering unimaginable pain.

    At this moment, a shudder went through Zhou Shang as he suddenly realized that the other parties must have discovered something, and thus left on the me Bird and their other air-transportation spiritual tools.

    All of a sudden, the stone statues flew up from under the sea¡¯s surface.

    An iparably terrifying aura instantly burst forth from within the statues, shaking heaven and earth.

    Without the slightest hesitation, the eight statues raised their enormous jade arms and pped the Trisword Sect, the Chu n, and the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s berthed air-transportation spiritual tools with great force.

    Those air-transportation spiritual tools were puny in the face of their enormous, hundred-meter-tall bodies.

    Under their overwhelming attacks, the air-transportation spiritual tools exploded one after another, as if they were all made of paper.

    The lives of ten members of the Chu n, ten disciples of the Trisword Sect, and a few dozen disciples of the Pure Heaven Sect instantly perished.

    The middle Void domain Zhou Shang was the only one who survived. Even though his private domain trembled unceasingly after taking a violent p from a huge jade arm, he wasn¡¯t injured.

    However, he let out a miserable shriek in the next moment.

    All of these young disciples from the Pure Heaven Sect were either chosen ones with unmatched talent, or core disciples who had had good chances at making new breakthroughs in their cultivation.

    Each and every one of them held unlimited potential, even though their cultivation bases hadn¡¯t ranked very high among all of the Pure Heaven Sect disciples, which was close to a thousand.

    Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been arranged toe here and derive enlightenment from these stone statues.

    A few dozen young disciples with great potential had suddenly died at the same time. As the person who was responsible for this operation, how would he exin this to Patriarch Pure Heaven?

    In just a sh, the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s vital energy was greatly undermined. The stone statues had annihted their fortune over theing century. Who knew how long and how many precious materials it would take for them to gather so many chosen ones again?

    Zhou Shang felt an agonizing heartache.

    Meanwhile, he discovered that each statue exuded an aura that wasn¡¯t any weaker than his.

    Combined, they held terrifying strength that made him feel like he would die in this ce.

    Some of the dead youngsters¡¯ blood, bones, and bits of flesh fell out of the sky, along with debris from the air-transportation spiritual tools.

    As that happened, a huge vortex gradually formed and stretched towards the depths of the sea.

    Zhou Shang discovered that the vortex seemed to be gathering all of the remains that had fallen into the sea.

    Then, a stone statue that was muchrger appeared at the bottom of the vortex and gradually rose towards the surface of the sea.

    Therger stone statue greedily absorbed all of the blood, mangled limbs, and bits of flesh into itself.

    With a single nce at what was happening, Zhou Shang was deeply shaken, his face turning pale with fright.

    Only after a while did he let out thunderous roars that shook the heavens. ¡°The Divine me Sect!!!¡±

    The Divine me Sect¡¯s me Bird had been the first to leave. They must have secretly informed the Beast-controlling Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, and the other parties of the potential danger, but left them to die. This must be their scheme.

 Chapter 812: Awakening

    Yin Yanan stood at the stern of their air-transportation spiritual tool and gazed off at the Seven-star Blue Sea, her expression tensing up.

    The other nine disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect had their hearts filled with fear after seeing what had just happened. However, their faces were filled with admiration as they turned to look at Yin Yanan.

    They had witnessed the Pure Heaven Sect, the Chu n, and the Trisword Sect¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tools being smashed by the eight stone statues.

    If Yin Yanan hadn¡¯t insisted on them evacuating just now, they would have been reduced to mists of blood and flesh like those from the Chu n, the Pure Heaven Sect, and the Trisword Sect.

    Even though they weren¡¯t sure what had allowed Yin Yanan to make such a decision, they admired her for making a wise decision and saving their lives.

    <i>¡°How the hell did that guy know that great dangery within those stone statues?¡±</i> Yin Yanan asked herself inwardly.

    At this moment, she was certain that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t sent a wisp of his soul awareness into her mind to take advantage of her, but she still couldn¡¯t figure out how Nie Tian could have possibly known that the eight stone statues would attack the observers.

    Also confused, Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°How did you know those stone statues were actually dangerous, Nie Tian?¡±

    As she spoke, she turned to look at the eight stone statues from time to time, and saw them rising out of the sea¡¯s surface to float over the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Even though she was now separated from those statues by significant distance, her heart still shook with terror.

    She knew that if she hadn¡¯t left with the other Divine me Sect disciples, they would have shared the Pure Heaven Sect and Chu n members¡¯ fate.

    All of the other eight Divine me Sect disciples looked iparably grim as they fixed Nie Tian with shocked and confused gazes.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    At this moment, Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, and the other experts finally joined up with them.

    Thanks to their Void domain cultivation bases, they had long since learned of the shocking changes that had taken ce at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea. Therefore, their expressions were also iparably grim.

    Jiang Feng secretly congratted himself for trusting Nie Tian and telling the young Bliss Mountain Sect disciples to evacuate from that area.

    With aplicated look in his eyes, he gazed deeply at Nie Tian and said inwardly, ¡°Fortunately, I witnessed this kid¡¯s uniqueness during the trip to that forbidden region, and decided to trust him this time. Otherwise, the consequences would have been catastrophic.¡±

    Upon seeing Yue Yanxi and the other experts, the young disciples of the Divine me Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n all shouted as if they had just survived a cmity.

    ¡°Grand elder!¡±

    ¡°Elder Jiang!¡±

    ¡°Elder!¡±

    However, Yue Yanxi waved his hand at them, signaling them to calm down.

    Upon seeing this, the juniors gradually calmed down and regained their sense of security.

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes shone with bits of fiery light as he gazed off into the distance and said, ¡°Those stone statues seem to have stayed motionless after rising from the sea. Zhou Shang is still there, a certain distance from the statues. I¡¯m not sure what he¡¯s nning to do, but from the look of it, those statues don¡¯t intend to chase after any of you...¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression suddenly flickered before he could finish.

    Only at this moment did he notice the great changes in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Jiang Feng¡¯s temples jumped as he gasped with astonishment. ¡°A huge vortex has formed in the depths of the sea, and there¡¯s an evenrger stone statue in that vortex!¡±

    His cultivation base was the same as Yue Yanxi¡¯s. Therefore, the two of them saw the anomaly almost simultaneously.

    After taking a deep breath, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°That stone statue seems to have absorbed the remains of the dead disciples of the Pure Heaven Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the Chu n. Even though we¡¯re now a considerable distance from that stone statue, and I merely probed it with my soul awareness, I sensed great danger from it.¡±

    At this moment, Jiang Feng called out decisively, ¡°Little Qiong, leave now with the Divine me Sect through their ancient starship, along with your senior martial brothers.¡±

    Their own ancient starship was still berthed by another dead realm, which was rather far from their location. He hade to talk to Yue Yanxi.

    Now, unknown dangery in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea. It would be unsafe to travel to the location where their own ancient starship was berthed.

    Then, he turned to Yue Yanxi and said solemnly, ¡°I hope we can set our differences aside for now, and ride this tribtion out together.¡±

    Yue Yanxi also understood the greater good. He waved at the juniors from the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Jian n, the Guan n, and Yin Yanan, who was thest to arrive, and said, ¡°You can leave through the teleportation portal on our ancient starship, and go take shelter in our headquarters for the time being.

    ¡°You too, Yunxi!¡±

    He had only briefly probed the gigantic stone statue in the depths of the sea with his soul awareness, and he already sensed great danger from it. He knew that these juniors with low cultivation bases would only be their burdens if they stayed here.

    Besides, he was also worried that the juniors would die miserable deaths as soon as the stone statuesunched an attack.

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay a bit longer,¡± Qiao Yunxi said. ¡°My me Bird is fast enough. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Yue Yanxi had a second thought about it, and realized that her me Bird might actually be able to keep her safe.

    Furthermore, he would also be here to protect her in a moment of need.

    Therefore, Yue Yanxi nodded and said, ¡°Yunxi and Nie Tian can stay. The rest of you need to return to our headquarters now, and inform our sectmaster of what has happened here!¡±

    The juniors from the Divine me Sect didn¡¯t dare to disobey him. They all jumped off the me Bird into the Guan n and Jian n¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tools.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    But at the same time, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect and Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect flew out of their own air-transportation spiritual tools andnded on the me Bird, one to Nie Tian¡¯s left and the other to Nie Tian¡¯s right.

    Even though they didn¡¯t say anything, they made their attitudes clear with their actions.

    Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect shot a sideways nce at Mu Biqiong, and asked with a stern tone, ¡°Have you thought it through?¡±

    Wearing a veil, Mu Biqiong nodded vigorously. ¡°Yes, I have.¡±

    Jiang Feng closed his eyes and thought for a few seconds before finally agreeing for her to stay.

    Since the Void domain overseer from the Beast-controlling Sect hadn¡¯t arrived yet, no one present could really tell Yin Yanan what to do.

    Seeing that she refused to leave, Yue Yanxi didn¡¯t intend to persuade her either.

    Soon, the other juniors sailed towards the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    All that remained were the four Void domain experts, Nie Tian, Qiao Yunxi, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong.

    Yue Yanxi finally couldn¡¯t fight his curiosity anymore, and asked, ¡°Nie Tian, how in the world did you know those stone statues contained great danger?¡±

    All those who had stayedid their eyes on Nie Tian one after another.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you that, but I can tell you it wasn¡¯t urate to refer to the connections between the Pure Heaven Sect and Chu n members and the eight stone statues as ¡®interaction¡¯.

    ¡°I¡¯d use: awakening.¡±

    Guan Fu stood aghast. ¡°Awakenings?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious expression. ¡°As far as I see it, they awakened those statues. I¡¯m guessing those stone statues belong to a strange race, which none of us know anything about. I¡¯m afraid their days go all the way back to the Deste Antiquity Era, when Ancientspirits prospered.¡±

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul had been a me dragon, and me dragons were a branch of the great wyrms, which had lived in the Deste Antiquity Era.

    Titans, ancient beasts, and great wyrms were all Ancientspirits from the Deste Antiquity Era.

    Since the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul had held fear towards the eight stone statues, it was very likely that the statues were actually a species that had lived in the same era as the Ancientspirits.

    Since that was very long ago, perhaps none of the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends that roamed the starry river today had appeared back then.

    ¡°The Deste Antiquity Era!?¡± Everyone present looked deeply shaken. Apparently, they had all heard of the Deste Antiquity Era to a greater or lesser degree.

    If what Nie Tian said was true, and those eight stone statues were actually living creatures from the Deste Antiquity Era, why would they have suddenly risen from the sea, and remained motionless since?

    Without paying much attention to the others¡¯ astonishment, Nie Tian continued, ¡°They were either sleeping or restrained by some restrictive spell. By running their soul awarenesses at their hearts and between their eyebrows, those from the Pure Heaven Sect and the Chu n must have triggered something, and awakened them.

    ¡°The reason why they didn¡¯t move about after their awakening is probably because they¡¯re waiting...¡±

    With a bitter expression, Yue Yanxi finished his sentence for him. ¡°They¡¯re waiting for thatrger statue to be awakened.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably it.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Arge bird suddenly flew into their view, glittering with dazzling golden light.

    On the bird sat a middle Void domain old man from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, that bird must have reached the seventh grade, and possessed the strength of a Soul realm human expert.

    ¡°Are you alright, Yanan? Where are the others?¡±

 Chapter 813: The Ninth Stone Statue

    The man let out a sigh of relief after seeing that Yin Yanan was safe. Then, he turned to Yue Yanxi and the other experts and asked, ¡°You saw the changes in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, right?¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded.

    Yin Yanan bowed slightly. ¡°I¡¯m alright, Elder Dou. Those senior martial brothers have already left through the teleportation portal on the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship.¡±

    The man¡¯s name was Dou Tengshan. As an elder of the Beast-controlling Sect, he was the one who was responsible for this event of deriving enlightenment from those stone statues.

    He had been stationed on the other side of the Seven-star Blue Sea, and since he hadn¡¯t expected such an upheaval, he had been in the middle of secluded cultivation when it had happened.

    By the time he had noticed the anomaly and scanned the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea, he had discovered that several air-transportation spiritual tools had already exploded, and many observers from the Pure Heaven Sect, the Chu n, and the Trisword Sect had already lost their lives.

    He would have gone mad if it weren¡¯t for the fact that he had a special method, through which he had learned that Yin Yanan was still alive.

    He had traced her aura and finally met up with her here. He felt slightly relieved after seeing that experts from the other parties were also gathered at this location.

    Aftering to Yin Yanan¡¯s side, Dou Tengshan said with furrowed brows, ¡°I was caught up in my cultivation earlier. That was too careless of me. I don¡¯t even know what happened exactly.¡±

    Yin Yanan briefly exined what had happened to him.

    He was deeply shaken after learning that Nie Tian, the young man standing before him, was none other than the Son of the Stars he had recently heard about.

    He pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying to Nie Tian, ¡°Considering that your warning allowed ten of our chosen ones to survive that tribtion, and your close connections with the Dong n from the Domain of the Falling Stars, we won¡¯t hold you ountable for Hong Xian¡¯s death.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was the same as ever as he said, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Nie Tian had killed Hong Xian from the Beast-controlling Sect in that forbidden region after activating his bloodline talent, which had allowed him to merge with the Bone Blood Demon.

    As a high ranking member of the Beast-controlling Sect, Dou Tengshan naturally knew about this.

    At first, they had harbored the thought of seeking revenge, but they had dropped the idea after Yin Yanan had returned and informed them of Nie Tian¡¯s true identity.

    Dou Tengshan had only said this to find an excuse to make peace with him.

    Now, with Dou Tengshan here, there were a total of five Void domain experts in this location. Qiao Yunxi and the other juniors felt increasingly secure.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows were still knitted.

    He secretly summoned power from his star souls to form Heaven Eyes, and then sent them to the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    The reason why he had decided to stay here was because he knew that his Heaven Eyes¡¯ detection range was limited.

    If he returned to the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see what was happening at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea with his Heaven Eyes.

    Soon, his Heaven Eyes flew lightly to the center of the sea.

    From there, he sensed that Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, and the other experts¡¯ immense soul awarenesses were also fixed on this part of the sea.

    He caught sight of Zhou Shang.

    Keeping a certain distance from the eight statues, Zhou Shang threw his head back and let out a heaven-shaking roar. ¡°Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng! You sensed the danger beforehand. Why didn¡¯t you tell me?! Just because you held that from us, dozens of chosen ones from my sect have been ughtered by the stone statues! You¡¯re responsible for this!¡±

    Clearly, he knew that even though Yue Yanxi and the other experts hadn¡¯te in the flesh, their soul awarenesses had arrived.

    Even though Yue Yanxi and the other Void domain experts heard every word he said with great rity, they all remained silent.

    Instead, they paid close attention to the enormous vortex in the sea, and the giant stone statue that was rising from within it.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes also focused on that stone statue as soon as they flew to this location.

    He also noticed that the other eight awakened stone statues had spread out over the vortex, and were paying close attention to the gigantic statue in the sea.

    Like guards, the eight floating statues seemed to be protecting therger statue during its awakening process. The reason why they hadn¡¯t made a move against Zhou Shang was because they were waiting for thatrger statue to awaken.

    The eight stone statues had seemed lifeless earlier,pletely devoid of the auras living beings should have.

    However, now that they had smashed those juniors from the Pure Heaven Sect and the Chu n, and absorbed their flesh, blood, and even true souls, they started to emanate very faint flesh auras and soul fluctuations.

    Blood-colored light squirmed in their blurry faces, morphing them into the appearances of the eight juniors who had awakened them.

    The juniors¡¯ true souls seemed to be imprisoned in the statues and suffering great pain, as they twisted unceasingly.

    SHEW!

    Chu Tianlu from the Chu n flew over, his face filled with sorrow.

    He had already learned about the upheaval here. The deaths of ten talented young Chu n members deeply grieved him. With a fierce bellow, he charged towards the eight stone statues.

    Zhou Shang wasn¡¯t rted to those Pure Heaven Sect juniors by blood.

    However, Chu Tianlu had been blood rtives with the Chu n juniors who had been killed. He had watched them grow up. Therefore, without even thinking it over, he attacked upon arrival.

    His private domain flew ethereally with him inside, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    Countless feathers made of light shot from within his private domain, and pierced towards the eight stone statues like tens of thousands of arrows.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    The feathers of light shot into the statues¡¯ jade-like bodies as if they were raindrops that had fallen on rocks, not leaving the slightest mark.

    However, the statues seemed to be enraged. Two of them instantly pounced towards him.

    Withstanding the attack of countless feathers of light, one of them even charged into his private domain in the blink of an eye in an attempt to stop and kill him.

    The other stone statue let out a soundless roar, and rings of fluctuations with jade-like gloss spread out from it, causing Chu Tianlu¡¯s private domain to tremble.

    The battle onlysted about ten seconds before Chu Tianlu¡¯s blood-curdling shriek came from his private domain.

    In the next moment, drops of blood fell from within his private domain.

    He suffered severe injuries within such a short time.

    Even though he was at the early Void domain, which was slightly lower than Zhou Shang¡¯s cultivation base, the fact that he had sustained severe injuries within such a short time made everyone who was paying attention to this area gasp with astonishment.

    Dou Tengshan was bbergasted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe those stone statues are actually so powerful!¡±

    At the same time, Zhou Shang, who was the closest to the stone statues, gradually calmed down.

    He stoppedining and cursing. Gazing up with a cold face, he shouted, ¡°Now you¡¯ve seen how powerful these stone statues are. They¡¯re waiting for the awakening of the ninth statue, which isrger and probably even more powerful. If it actually awakes, I¡¯m afraid the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries will be plunged into chaos.

    ¡°By that time, not only my sect, but all of your sects and ns will also suffer. Don¡¯t imagine that you¡¯ll be able to stay out of this disaster!¡±

    Chu Tianlu from the Chu n hastily flew away in his flickering private domain.

    The two statues, which had inflicted serious damage on him, didn¡¯t pursue him.

    Instead, they flew back to their original ces, and continued to guard the ninth stone statue. Obviously, they deemed Chu Tianlu¡¯s life to be far less important than the awakening of the ninth stone statue.

    From the look of it, it was their duty to ensure the sessful awakening of the ninth stone statue.

    Yue Yanxi and the other experts¡¯ expressions grew very grim after they heard Zhou Shang¡¯s words through their soul awarenesses.

    At the same time, they noticed that the Void domain overseer from the Trisword Sect finally came to them.

    The Trisword Sect had also lost ten juniors to the stone statues, but instead of attacking upon arrival like Chu Tianlu, he observed in the dark.

    After pondering in silence for a while, Yue Yanxi turned to the other Void domain experts beside him and said, ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to sit back and watch the Pure Heaven Sect suffer, Zhou Shang¡¯s words make some sense. We can all see that the ninth stone statue will definitely be far more powerful than the other eight.

    ¡°Those eight stone statues already possess terrifying strength. If we let the ninth statue awaken, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to match them in battle even if Patriarch Pure Heaven were here to help us.¡±

    Dou Tengshan from the Beast-controlling Sect nodded. ¡°The way I see it, we need to forget about the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s previous attitude, and join up against ourmon enemy. Destroy that ninth stone statue before it awakes. Even if we can¡¯t destroy it, we have to stop it from awakening. We can¡¯t allow the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to fall into this cmity.¡±

    Yue Yanxi and Dou Tengshan¡¯s attitude on the matter won the others¡¯ approval. They exchanged a nce, and then shot towards the heart of the floating sea one after another.

    At the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea, Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul voice echoed out from the void over Zhou Shang¡¯s head. ¡°Wait for us there. We¡¯re on our way.¡±

    The Void domain expert from the Trisword Sect, who had been hiding in the dark, finally came to join them too after hearing Yue Yanxi¡¯s soul voice.

    ¡°A fierce battle will break out soon,¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    Yin Yanan and the other juniors present all had cultivation bases higher than his, yet since they didn¡¯t have Heaven Eyes of their own, they couldn¡¯t see what was happening from such a great distance just by relying on their soul awarenesses.

    However, they had heard the conversation between Yue Yanxi and the other seniors and watched them fly away, so they also realized that a fierce battle that would determine the future of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would soon take ce at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to win with just the few of them,¡± Nie Tian said.

 Chapter 814: Calls from the Desolate Antiquity Era

    Each of the five major sects and three major ns had deployed one Void domain overseer here, and there happened to be eight stone statues here that had been awakened.

    A fierce battle broke out as soon as Yue Yanxi and the other experts arrived at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Even the middle Void domain old man from the Trisword Sect, who had been cowering in the distance after the deaths of ten Trisword Sect juniors, showed himself.

    In a sh, the void in that area seemed to be torn apart by countless explosions of spiritual light that were as fierce as the sun.

    Enveloped in their ethereal private domains that were wreathed in spiritual incantations they had practiced for centuries, Yue Yanxi and the other experts unleashed vast soul fluctuations that spread out and filled heaven and earth.

    Fierce sword intent unleashed by the middle Void domain expert from the Trisword Sect touched Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian experienced agonizing pain in his mind, disabling him from holding his Heaven Eyes together.

    It was unknown whether the Trisword Sect expert had done it on purpose, but he did cause Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes to scatter and vanish.

    Nie Tian let out a muffled groan as the wisps of soul awareness in his Heaven Eyes returned to his mind.

    He opened his eyes and gazed off towards the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea, but couldn¡¯t see anything anymore.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that expert from the Trisword Sect?¡± Nie Tian asked in a grim voice.

    ¡°Guan Yinchuan. Why?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked confusedly.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°His sword intent shot into and shattered the clusters of soul awareness I sent there to keep a watch on things. I have a feeling that he did that on purpose.¡±

    Qiao Yunxi frowned slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. My soul awareness was also influenced by a soul storm when the battle broke out over there, and I had to withdraw it. As far as I see it, he probably just sent his sword intent in all directions, and didn¡¯t target you specially.¡±

    With an expressionless face, Nie Tian said, ¡°Perhaps.¡±

    He nced around and noticed that Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong had also withdrawn their soul awarenesses.

    Then, he realized that considering their cultivation bases, even if they wanted to observe from here, they couldn¡¯t get a clear view of the battle between the Void domain experts and the eight stone statues.

    The spiritual power and soul power fluctuations created by the Void domain experts and the stone statues filled that entire area like a devastating storm.

    The girls¡¯ soul awarenesses would be greatly influenced if they approached that area.

    They knew that they would be courting death if they sent their soul awarenesses there under such circumstances.

    After pondering in silence for a while, Nie Tian added with a grim face, ¡°I¡¯m afraid this battle will be a tough one... Since we can¡¯t even observe the battle from here, there¡¯s no need for us to stay here anymore.¡±

    ¡°So where do you want to go?¡± Qiao Yunxi asked.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to your sect¡¯s ancient starship first,¡± Nie Tian said, his eyes narrowed. ¡°The five major sects and three major ns will soon receive word of what¡¯s happening here, and send more Void domain experts. Void domain experts from all over the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries will soon gather to the eight stone statues¡¯ location.

    ¡°We won¡¯t even be able to observe a battle that fierce, so we might as well leave now.¡±

    With these words, he looked at Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.

    The two of them remained silent for a while before finally letting out a sigh and nodding.

    Seeing that they had agreed to leave, Qiao Yunxi started the me Bird without saying anything.

    The me Bird sped off at full speed.

    After flying for quite a while, it arrived and descended on the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship, where a teleportation portal stood.

    An old man from the Divine me Sect was standing beside the teleportation portal. Upon seeing them, he seemed rather shaken up. ¡°How¡¯s the battle at the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea going?¡±

    Qiao Yunxi shook her head. ¡°We¡¯re not sure. We just know grand elder and the other Void domain experts have initiated attacks. They¡¯re hoping to destroy the ninth stone statue, or at least stop it from awakening. Our cultivation bases are too low to stay there and observe the battle with our soul awarenesses, so we could onlye back here, where we¡¯ll be able to teleport back to the Realm of Divine me right away if things go south.¡±

    The man then said, ¡°We¡¯ve already informed our headquarters of the upheaval in the Seven-star Blue Sea. But many of our Void domain elders are either in secluded cultivation or out on exploration trips, and can¡¯te here at the first possible moment.¡±

    Unlike Qiao Yunxi and the other girls, he had been very insecure and uneasy to learn that arge stone statue had appeared in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Young people were usually daring and curious, but that clearly wasn¡¯t the case for him.

    He had a feeling that if the ninth statue actually surfaced, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would be bound to go through heaven-shaking, earth-shattering changes.

    Even Patriarch Pure Heaven probably would have to avoid fighting it directly.

    If it came down to that, the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would have to live in the shadows of those stone statues...

    The old man¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. ¡°The other parties¡¯ ancient starships are now sailing away from the Seven-star Blue Sea!¡±

    The Seven-star Blue Sea was very vast, and the seven dead stars were separated from one another by great distances.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see any of the ancient starships the old man was referring to by just relying on his eyesight, so he wondered how he could tell that the other parties¡¯ ancient starships were evacuating.

    Eyebrows knitted, the old man pondered for a while before saying, ¡°I doubt that grand elder and the others will be able to stop the ninth statue from awakening. You¡¯d better not stay here anymore, and return to our headquarters through this teleportation portal first!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    He gave Qiao Yunxi a stern look. ¡°You need to go now!¡±

    Qiao Yunxi smiled bitterly. ¡°Alright... Since you¡¯re my senior, I¡¯ve got to listen to you...¡±

    Even though this old man was only at the early Soul realm, his words seemed to carry more weight than Yue Yanxi¡¯s.

    What Nie Tian didn¡¯t know was that this man was Qiao Bin, a senior of Qiao Yunxi¡¯s. Like the Lei n, the Qiao n was also one of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate forces. The Qiao n had been mediocre among all of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate forces.

    The Qiao n had only recently risen to prominence because Qiao Yunxi had be the Divine me Sect¡¯s most valued chosen one.

    Qiao Bin knew that the future of the Qiao ny with Qiao Yunxi, so of course he wouldn¡¯t allow anything to happen to her.

    Due to his insistence, Qiao Yunxi walked reluctantly into the teleportation portal.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian believed there was no use in him sticking around, and thus also walked into the portal.

    Afterwards, Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan followed him into the portal and prepared to leave.

    Just as Qiao Bin was going to activate the spell formation and teleport them back to the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters, a deafening sharp cry echoed out from the heart of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    That cry seemed to have traveled through space and instantly spread to their location.

    Everyone shuddered violently upon hearing that sharp cry. Nie Tian felt as if his ears had been pierced, and his head hurt so much it felt like it was going to split.

    The girls suffered just as much, as they all trembled, covering their ears.

    Qiao Bin¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°The ninth stone statue has awoken!¡± Not daring to waste another second, he hastily activated the spell formation.

    The teleportation portal on the ancient starship was instantly wreathed in rings of glowing spiritual light, through which Nie Tian gazed into the distance.

    To his astonishment, he saw the eight stone statues surrounding therger ninth statue, which had just risen from the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Even though they were still very far from Nie Tian¡¯s location, it seemed as if the distance between them suddenly shortened as the ninth statue rose from the sea into the air.

    With surprising rity, Nie Tian saw Yue Yanxi and the other Void domain experts rising high into the void before plummeting in the next moment.

    From the look of it, the ninth stone statue had inflicted severe damage on their private domains as soon as it awoke.

    However, the nine stone statues didn¡¯t seem to have any interest in Yue Yanxi or the other experts, as it shot into the void immediately afterwards.

    Like ancient starships, they flew away at lightning speed, losing Yue Yanxi and the others in the blink of an eye.

    As they did, a series of resounding voice came from their jade-like bodies, spreading in all directions. ¡°Shatter... Shatter...¡±

    Since they sounded very simr to thenguage of the Ancientspirits from the Deste Antiquity Era, Nie Tian instantly understood them.

    SHEW!

    While Nie Tian was still confused and shocked by his new discovery, the teleportation was activated, and he and the three girls suddenly vanished from the ancient starship.

    In the next moment, he found himself standing in a spell formation that sat atop the volcano where the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters was located.

    Astonishment filled Yin Yanan¡¯s fine face. ¡°Shatter! Those stone statues seemed to be calling the word: Shatter! All disciples of our sect are required to learn the Ancientbeasts¡¯nguage. I believe I heard them right. The word they were calling was none other than ¡®Shatter¡¯!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. They were calling the word ¡®Shatter¡¯.¡± Nie Tian agreed with her.

    ¡°You heard them too?¡± Yin Yanan asked, looking surprised.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Even though Qiao Yunxi and Mu Biqiong had also heard the stone statues, since they hadn¡¯t learned thenguage of the Ancientspirits from the Deste Antiquity Era, they didn¡¯t know what they meant.

    After Nie Tian and Yin Yanan confirmed that the words those stone statues had been calling was ¡®Shatter¡¯, they fell into pondering.

    ¡°Shatter... Shatter... Could they be referring to the Shatter Battlefield?¡± Qiao Yunxi muttered with a suspicious expression.

    With a deep look in her eyes, Mu Biqiong chimed in, ¡°I suppose they have some kind of connection to the Shatter Battlefield. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t understand why they kept calling the word ¡®Shatter¡¯.¡±

    With these words, they walked out of the teleportation portal, and saw that numerous Soul realm and Profound realm disciples of the Divine me Sect were already gathered by it.

    They all looked as if they were facing formidable foes. From the look of it, they were ready to march through the teleportation portal to the battlefield at any moment.

    An early Void domain old man, who had just awoken from his secluded cultivation, flew over from a nearby crimson mountain peak, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation over there? How¡¯s the battle between grand elder and those eight stone statues going?¡±

    With furrowed eyebrows, Qiao Yunxi said with a concerned look, ¡°The ninth stone statue has already awakened, Elder Mao. I saw the grand elder and the other Void domain seniors falling out of the sky as soon as the ninth stone statue awoke. They seemed to have been somehow struck by the ninth stone statue, but I don¡¯t know how badly they were injured.¡±

 Chapter 815: Shatter, Shatter!

    The nine stone statues marched out from the Seven-star Blue Sea like a vast and mighty army.

    As they did, the eight stone statues surrounded thergest one like guards and servants.

    Soon, they vanished from the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    However, they continued to let out deafening calls, which seemed to form some kind of maic field that covered arge area around them. ¡°Shatter... Shatter...¡±

    The eight dead juniors¡¯ true souls were still twisting on the eight stone statues¡¯ faces, as if they were still not dead, but suffering iparable pain.

    The stone statue in the middle looked like a god. It had a human¡¯s figure, but was hundreds of timesrger.

    Its face was blurry, with countless strands of blood-colored light wiggling on it.

    The stone statues gradually approached a dead star.

    By the dead star was berthed the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s ancient starship, on which quite a few Pure Heaven Sect disciples were stationed.

    Those Qi warriors¡¯ expressions flickered drastically upon seeing the stone statuesing near them, and hastily started the ancient starship and sailed away at full speed.

    However, the stone statues didn¡¯t seem to pay any attention to their unusual movements. Instead, they continued to sail in their set direction.

    With a speed much faster than most ancient starships, they shot past like a streak of lightning.

    ¡°Shatter... Shatter...¡± Carrying a mysterious force, their resounding calls spread to the star, which had been dead for a long time.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The vast dead star seemed to be cut by numerous invisible sharp des as it fell apart at a rate that was visible to the naked eye.

    RUMBLE!

    The dead star suddenly exploded into countless pieces of different sizes.

    The powerful shockwave sent some of the pieces shooting into the distance, turning them into falling stars that weremonly seen in the void. Who knew where they would fly and eventually crash?

    The Pure Heaven Sect Qi warriors on that ancient starship were overwhelmed with fear as they saw the dead star exploding in such a peculiar manner, as if they had seen ghosts in broad daylight.

    Now, they wondered what would happen to them if they hadn¡¯t evacuated at the first possible moment, but been reached by those statues¡¯ sting calls.

    Even if their bodies hadn¡¯t been shattered by the calls, the dashing pieces created by the exploding dead star would have most likely killed them.

    They were still in a state of shock as they watched the stone statues fly farther and farther away. They didn¡¯t make a sound long after they vanished from their sight.

    The stone statues, however, didn¡¯t pay attention to them at all as they sped away, sending out resounding calls.

    After some time, Zhou Shang and the other Void domain experts arrived at the area where the dead star had exploded.

    Spinning pieces from the dead star could be seen everywhere.

    The Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s ancient starship was in the distance, shifting between locations to avoid therge pieces.

    A hint of blood could be seen at the corner of Yue Yanxi¡¯s reddened face as he said, ¡°From the look of it, they don¡¯t intend to start a massacre in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Each and every Void domain expert looked in sore straits, as they all seemed to have suffered injuries to differing extents.

    All of their injuries had been caused by the eight stone statues¡¯ call of the word ¡®Shatter¡¯ when the ninth stone statue had risen out of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Their calls seemed to carry the profound truths of the word ¡®Shatter¡¯, which were so powerful that they had nearly burst the experts¡¯ private domains.

    However, the stone statues hadn¡¯t followed their victory with pursuit, as if they hadn¡¯t been interested in destroying the experts¡¯ private domains and ughtering them.

    Instead, they had only called ¡®Shatter¡¯ repeatedly as they flew away in their set direction like they were searching for something.

    Dou Tengshan from the Beast-controlling Sect was crouching on the back of arge bird with golden feathers, as if he was healing himself with the bird¡¯s flesh aura.

    ¡°The ninth stone statue is far too powerful,¡± he said. ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say that no one throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries can beat that ninth stone statue in battle.

    ¡°Even if Patriarch Pure Heaven came here himself, he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it either.¡±

    As an elder of the Pure Heaven Sect, Zhou Shang wouldn¡¯t have allowed anyone to belittle Patriarch Pure Heaven if it were before.

    But now, he remained silent after hearing Dou Tengshan¡¯s words.

    The eight smaller stone statues¡¯ calls with the word ¡®Shatter¡¯ alone had almost shattered their private domains. This was the kind of strength even Patriarchs didn¡¯t have.

    The ninth stone statue, which the other eight treated as their leader or master, would be more powerful than Patriarch Pure Heaven. This was beyond doubt.

    He knew that everything Dou Tengshan had just said was true.

    Yue Yanxi wet his lips, and said with slight pain and difficulty, ¡°Luckily for us, they don¡¯t seem to have any interest in fighting us or taking the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Even though we don¡¯t know where those stone statues came from, I have a feeling that they¡¯re heading towards the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Those powerful calls they sent out seemed to carry some profound force that can help them find their way.

    ¡°The way I see it, they must have their unique method to enter the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Taken aback, Zhou Shang asked, ¡°The Shatter Battlefield is their destination?¡±

    Jiang Feng nodded and chimed in, ¡°I have the same feeling. Their repeated calls of the word ¡®Shatter¡¯ were like the stones they threw into the dark to find a path.¡±

    None of them knew where these stone statues were from, or why they were going to the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, they secretly congratted themselves after realizing that the stone statues had no intentions to ravage the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    No matter how reluctant they were to admit it, they knew that those stone statues¡¯ strength was unparalleled in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Together, they had the ability to sweep across any realm in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    If any of the major ns or sects dared to fight them single-handedly, they would end up annihted within a short time.

    Even if the eight major forces joined up against the statues, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to win.

    After pondering in silence for a while, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°We¡¯d better let them go wherever they want to. I¡¯ll order disciples of our sect to give way when theye across them, lest they shatter our realms and kill everyone on them.¡±

    With these words, he morphed into a streak of fiery light that shot towards the Divine me Sect¡¯s ancient starship.

    The others seemed to be enlightened by his words as they also morphed into streaks of light that shot into the distance.

    The stone statues had shattered the dead star with nothing but calls of the word ¡®Shatter¡¯ just because it had been too close to them.

    The stone statues were currently in the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s territory, and constantly adjusting their course. It would be very likely for them to run into realms that belonged to the Pure Heaven Sect.

    If they actually shattered those realms with their sting calls, then the consequences...

    Every Void domain expert¡¯s heart burned with anxiety as they thought of this.

    ...

    Yue Yanxi returned to the Realm of Divine me.

    Upon seeing him, Nie Tian and the others let out sighs of relief. The early Void domain Mao Xiuwen hastily stepped forward to ask about thetest situation.

    Everyone¡¯s face flickered with fright after learning that the stone statues had left the Seven-star Blue Sea and shattered a dead star with nothing but calls on their way into the boundless starry river.

    Without saying much else, Yue Yanxi hastily summoned the Divine me Sect¡¯s Soul realm experts and ordered them to inform their subordinate realms to get ready, and evacuate everyone through their teleportation portals if the stone statues came close to their realms.

    He no longer cared whether those realms would explode.

    Afterwards, instead of leaving, Nie Tian stayed in the Divine me Sect.

    At the same time, Yin Yanan, Mu Biqiong, and the others returned to their own sects through the Divine me Sect¡¯s teleportation portals.

    A few dayster, word came to the Divine me Sect saying that the stone statues had flown out of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries soon after leaving the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Now, they were flying farther and farther away into the vast starry river.

    Meanwhile, rumor had it that Patriarch Pure Heaven had forcibly ended his secluded cultivation after learning about what had happened.

    He had followed the stone statues out of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, as he seemed to want to find out how they would enter the Shatter Battlefield.

    After that, days passed, and the Divine me Sect didn¡¯t receive any word of the stone statues or Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    The five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries finally stopped worrying day and night, and put their hearts at ease.

    Since Patriarch Pure Heaven still hadn¡¯t returned, the Pure Heaven Sect didn¡¯t dare to march into the Divine me Sect or the other sects to demand atonement for leaving without notifying them and causing the deaths of numerous Divine me Sect chosen ones.

    Peace was restored to the Domain of Heaven Boundaries, temporary as it might be.

    The Pure Heaven Sect, the Chu n, and the Trisword Mountain Sect had all suffered great losses due to the deaths of their chosen ones.

    Even the future of these sects was shaken after the deaths of these juniors with great potential.

    On this day...

    Nie Tian, who was very curious about the Shatter Battlefield, decided to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars after realizing that there was little to do or see in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After learning that he was going to leave, Yue Yanxi came to find him and said, ¡°Nie Tian, since spatial rifts that lead to the Shatter Battlefield will soon open in the Realm of Maelstrom, could we send people to go and take a look? Also, we¡¯d like to try our luck and explore the Shatter Battlefield if it¡¯s possible.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a while before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to the Divine Seal Sect and see how they feel about this.¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded. ¡°Okay. As long as the Divine Seal Sect says yes, we¡¯ll be happy to observe their practice and pay the required spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know after I finish talking to them,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Afterwards, he used the Divine me Sect¡¯s teleportation portal, and after a few transits, arrived in front of the pce in the Realm of Split Void in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Duan Shihu, his senior martial brother, and Jing Rou were still standing before the grand pce, deriving enlightenment from the exquisite star formations on the pce walls.

    Upon meeting them, Nie Tian exined the upheaval in the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to them, and then asked, ¡°Senior martial brother, your sect is a major one. Have you heard of a weird race that looks like stone statues?¡±

    Jing Rou¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°What?! Stone Golems actually reappeared in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?!¡±

 Chapter 816: A Race That Should Have Gone Extinct

    ¡°Stone Golems?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback, as he had never heard anything about this race before.

    However, since Jing Rou had named them, that meant this race must exist.

    The Divine Seal Sect, where Jing Rou was from, had two Saint domain experts.

    As the strongest sect in the Domain of Heaven Python, the Divine Seal Sect had unmatched reserve power and contact with Qi warriors from more advanced domains. Therefore, it was natural that they knew things that the Divine me Sect didn¡¯t.

    Jing Rou nodded slightly. ¡°It¡¯s not surprising that you¡¯ve never heard of them. Even many sects in the Domain of Heaven Python haven¡¯t heard of them, much less you. Our sect only learned about them thanks to the uniqueness of the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°As you know, arge amount of outsiders travel to and from the Realm of Maelstrom every day. Ancientbeasts alsoe once in awhile. We learned about Stone Golems from some outsiders and Ancientbeasts.¡±

    Even Duan Shihu, who was standing beside her, looked new to such information.

    The fact that he had stayed in the Divine Seal Sect for decades but still knew nothing about Stone Golems proved how rare this race was.

    ¡°Stone Golems are a race from the Deste Antiquity Era,¡± Jing Rou exined. ¡°Like Ancientspirits, they prospered in that era. Even though Stone Golems weren¡¯t as powerful as titans, great wyrms, or Ancientbeasts, their strength was by no means insignificant.

    ¡°Also, the main reason why you¡¯ve never heard of Stone Golems is because they should have gone extinct long ago.¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    ¡°Yes. Outsiders gradually rose to prominence at the end of the Deste Antiquity Era. As Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes grew stronger and stronger, a great war over territory broke out between them and Ancientspirits and Stone Golems.

    ¡°The Shatter Battlefield was their main battlefield.

    ¡°It was said that the Stone Golems were wiped out by the grand monarchs of the outsiders during that war.

    ¡°It was also through that war the outsiders proved that they possessed the strength to contend against Ancientspirits. After the war, outsiders took over many prosperous domains and realms that had belonged to Ancientspirits, and gained a firm foothold in the boundless starry river.

    ¡°That war also marked the end of the Deste Antiquity Era, and that Ancientspirits were no longer the only overlords in this universe.

    ¡°After that came the Remote Antiquity Era, where outsiders stood up to Ancientspirits as equals. Together, they gained control over the majority of the starry river.

    ¡°We humans didn¡¯t rise up until the end of the Remote Antiquity Era...¡±

    Jing Rou exined everything in detail.

    Pondering the matter, Nie Tian asked with a puzzled expression, ¡°But why would nine members of an extinct race suddenlye out of the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea? And they kept calling the word ¡®Shatter¡¯, as if they had a special way to enter the Shatter Battlefield. What are they after by heading to the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Jing Rou then said, ¡°We actually don¡¯t know much about Stone Golems, since they had apparently gone extinct long ago.

    ¡°But we do know about the uniqueness of the Shatter Battlefield. Many major races and powers would choose the Shatter Battlefield as their battlefield when conflicts broke out over territories. They would fight each other to the death there to determine the ownership of the disputednds.¡±

    Confusion spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Jing Rou then went on to give a detailed exnation of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Nie Tian nodded from time to time as she spoke, and finally gained a fairly thorough understanding of the Shatter Battlefield.

    He learned that the Shatter Battlefield actually consisted of one extremely vast realm and many smaller realms.

    The Shatter Battlefield had been the main battlefield between outsiders, Ancientspirits and Stone Golems at the end of the Deste Antiquity Era.

    Later, when humans had quietly risen up and needed to dere their strength, they had also fought bloody battles against Ancientspirits and outsiders in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Humans had disyed admirable strength in those battles, and thus had won the acknowledgment of the other races. They gained control of many domains, and finally lifted themselves from the fate of being enved by outsiders and Ancientspirits, which hadsted for hundreds of thousands years.

    Meanwhile, the reason why so many races had chosen the Shatter Battlefield as their battlefield was because that was the only ce that could bear the power of God domain experts and tenth grade outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    Only there would beings at the top the pyramid be able to wield their power without worrying about destroying realms or even domains.

    If God domain experts and tenth grade outsiders and Ancientspirits engaged in a fierce battle in any other domain, their attacks would shatter its realms, or even destroy the entire domain.

    This would be a result neither side wanted to see.

    Now, Ancientbeasts, outsiders, and humans each ruled their own domains and territories in this boundless starry river, and were maintaining fragile yet peaceful rtions with one another.

    However, sometimes different races would find an unimed new domain simultaneously.

    It would be difficult to determine who the new domain should go to.

    When this happened, the parties that discovered the new domain simultaneously would have to go to find another ce to fight, through which they would determine the dominion of the new domain. This was to avoid destroying the newly-discovered domain during their fight.

    The Shatter Battlefield was such a ce.

    Therefore, even now, battles between races and powers took ce in the Shatter Battlefield year-round.

    ording to Jing Rou, some Ancientbeasts and outsiders had discovered an unimed domain simultaneously not so long ago, and thus picked a ce in the Shatter Battlefield to fight for its dominion.

    It seemed that their battle still hadn¡¯t ended yet.

    In fact, the eighth grade ice phoenix they had met earlier might have sustained her injuries from that very battle.

    Jing Rou had only received this piece of information because she had spent a fortune to gather information on Pei Qiqi¡¯s whereabouts for Nie Tian. She had identally heard about this from a Demon that had drifted here.

    However, she didn¡¯t know why the nine Stone Golems would head towards the Shatter Battlefield after leaving the Seven-star Blue Sea either.

    With a bitter smile, Duan Shihu said, ¡°Junior martial brother, master has already gone to the Realm of Maelstrom, and he ns to enter the Shatter Battlefield as soon as it opens. I advised against it, but he didn¡¯t listen. He was bent to go since the moment he learned that a branch of the river of time runs through the Shatter Battlefield.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not surprised.¡±

    Wu Ji had received the bottle of sand of time from Duan Shihu, and learned from him that the river of time would appear somewhere in the Shatter Battlefield from time to time. It was natural that he would want to go.

    The river of time would be of great help to Wu Ji, who practiced time power.

    If Wu Ji could enter the Shatter Battlefield and derive enlightenment from that river of time, then his understanding of time power would benefit unimaginably from it.

    Duan Shihu let out a sigh. ¡°I know what that river means to master.¡±

    With these words, he crouched down before the pce and started drawing on the ground with a dried twig. ¡°Even though I¡¯ve never been to the Shatter Battlefield myself, Jing Rou¡¯s father has.

    ¡°He was at thete Void domain back then. It was none other than his breathtaking experience in there that allowed him to find the threshold to cross into the Saint domain.

    ¡°Even so, he sustained heavy injuries when he came back from the Shatter Battlefield. Even his private domain almost shattered. It took him a very long time to fix his private domain and finally advance to the Saint domain.

    ¡°He told me that the Shatter Battlefield was like a vast te made of many concentric circles. The closer you get to the center, the more dangerous it¡¯ll be.

    ¡°Ancientbeasts, great wyrms, Demons, Phantasms, and almost all of the races you know will go to the Shatter Battlefield from time to time.

    ¡°After all, the Shatter Battlefield is not only a battlefield between different races, but also and with many mysteries.

    ¡°The river of time is one of them.

    ¡°The Shatter Battlefield consists of one extremely vast realm and many smaller realms. That vast realm is supposed to be the most curious ce in this universe. It¡¯s said that the mountains, rocks, and trees there are all branded with the profound truths of power.

    ¡°In certain ces, rocks are scattered naturally, forming special spell formations.

    ¡°Humans or other races would all have a good chance at deriving enlightenment of heaven and earth in the Shatter Battlefield, which would speed up their cultivation advancement or bloodline upgrade.

    ¡°Furthermore, people find Earth Cultivated grade and Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials there every once in a while.

    ¡°But it¡¯s just that too many different races mix up in there, making thepetition too fierce. The humans and outsiders who dare to go to the outermost ring need to be at least at the Profound realm or sixth grade. The closer to the center, the stronger they need to be. Saint or even God domain human experts may engage in battles against grand patriarchs or grand monarchs in the deepest parts of the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Gasping with astonishment, Nie Tian said, ¡°Only after entering the ninth grade can an outsider be called a grand patriarch. Only after entering the tenth grade can an outsider be called a grand monarch. I can¡¯t believe such powerful figures would actually show up in the Shatter Battlefield!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m rather worried about our master,¡± Duan Shihu said with a bitter smile.

    Nie Tian then asked Duan Shihu a few more questions, and learned that many Soul realm experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars had gone to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Even Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect, who had only entered the Void domain recently, had gone to the Realm of Maelstrom tomunicate and trade spiritual materials with outsiders.

    He had decided to go explore the Shatter Battlefield after hearing fascinating stories about it.

    Zong Zheng and the other experts had also made full preparations to go.

    ¡°The Divine me Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries also wishes to send people to the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°They¡¯re willing to pay the required amount of spirit stones.¡±

    ¡°The Divine me Sect?¡± Jing Rou shook her head and smiled somewhat disdainfully. ¡°Why are there always people who think the Shatter Battlefield is paved with treasures? Don¡¯t they know that far more people die in the Shatter Battlefield than get out alive? Spatial rifts that lead to the Shatter Battlefield usually open in the Realm of Maelstrom every once in a while.

    ¡°At the beginning, Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python poured into the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°However, very few returned alive. The most recent time a spatial rift that led to the Shatter Battlefield appeared, not even ten percent of the original number of people dared to enter. Now in the Domain of Heaven Python, only those who have a death wish would go to the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that these people from the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Divine me Sect all wish to die there.¡±

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°They insist on going. What can I do?¡±

    ¡°Let them be then,¡± Jing Rou said sarcastically. Then, she threw Duan Shihu a hard look and snorted. ¡°But you can¡¯t go!¡±

    She rarely adopted such an attitude towards Duan Shihu. The only two times she had was when Duan Shihu had talked about and showed the desire to go to the Shatter Battlefield.

 Chapter 817: A Journey for the Fearless

    Since a spatial rift that led to the Shatter Battlefield was going to open soon, the Realm of Maelstrom became increasingly morous and bustling with activity.

    Nie Tian stepped out of a teleportation portal in the Divine Seal Sect, and found himself surrounded by towering stone pavilions. He gazed up and saw ancient starships berthed in the sky.

    Some of them belonged to the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect from the Domain of Heaven Python, but more belonged to sects he didn¡¯t even know.

    There were also oddly-shaped ancient starships, which clearly didn¡¯t belong to humans.

    Duan Shihu, who hade with him, said in a low voice, ¡°Not every human or outsider domain has ess to the Shatter Battlefield. Some outsiders will alsoe to the Realm of Maelstrom and enter the Shatter Battlefield through the spatial tunnels here.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, then turned to Jing Rou and asked, ¡°What will the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Divine me Sect have to do if they want to enter the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    With a bright smile, Jing Rou said, ¡°It¡¯s very simple. Each of them will need to pay ten thousand spirit jades. After being counted, those spirit jades will be split evenly among the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.¡±

    ¡°Ten thousand spirit jades...¡± Nie Tian muttered with a dry smile.

    The Pure Heaven Sect had charged him twenty thousand spirit jades to observe the stone statues in the Seven-star Blue Sea. Who would have thought he would have to pay another ten thousand spirit jades to enter the Shatter Battlefield?

    Ten thousand spirit jades were worth a million spirit stones. As wealthy as he was, he had a headache over such a high price.

    He had only used about ten spirit jades to smooth his breakthrough into the Worldly realm. Now, as he had traveled to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python, an entrance fee alone could easily cost him ten thousand spirit jades. This made him rather frustrated.

    As far as he knew, the Cloudsoaring Sect¡¯s ten years¡¯ revenue was barely a million spirit stones.

    ¡°This is actually a fair price,¡± Jing Rou exined, smiling. ¡°The Shatter Battlefield is a wondrous ce. If people can survive in there, their gains will most certainly be significant. Normally speaking, any Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material will be priced at a hundred thousand spirit jades or more. So if you can get you hands on one Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material in there, then you¡¯ll be able to make up for all your losses, and even make a significant profit.

    ¡°Furthermore, countless powerful outsiders and Ancientbeasts have died in the Shatter Battlefield. If you¡¯re so lucky as to bring their remains back to the Realm of Maelstrom, you¡¯ll make a fortune out of them as well.

    ¡°Besides, cultivators at the Soul realm and Void domain will have great chances at deriving new enlightenment and advancing to the next cultivation realm in there. If Soul realm cultivators can advance to the Void domain, and Void domain cultivators can advance to the Saint domain in there, what does ten thousand spirit jades matter?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s on the condition that they can return alive.¡±

    With a smile, Jing Rou said, ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s the rule set up together by the Golden Vast Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and our sect. Ten thousand spirit jades per person. As the rule-maker, of course we can¡¯t break it. Besides, ten thousand spirit jades shouldn¡¯t be a big number for cultivators who have entered the Soul realm. They should be able to afford it.¡±

    Pointing at himself, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What about me then?¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s face grew grim as he asked, ¡°You want to go there too?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Jing Rou stopped smiling and said with a straight face, ¡°Nie Tian, I know that you¡¯re a Son of the Stars, but you¡¯re still only at the Worldly realm. I don¡¯t think you should take such a big risk.¡±

    ¡°I want to go and take a look for myself,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Duan Shihu fell silent.

    After a moment of pondering, Jing Rou said, ¡°The Golden Vast Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and our sect all have free quotas. Since you¡¯re Shihu¡¯s junior martial brother, and Senior Wu is your master, you two can take our free quotas, and enter the Shatter Battlefield without paying a single spirit jade. But the rest of them will have to follow the rule strictly, no matter whether they¡¯re from the Domain of the Falling Stars or the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    Then, he went to see Wu Ji with Duan Shihu.

    Aftering to the Realm of Maelstrom, Wu Ji had gathered some spiritual materials with Duan Shihu¡¯s help, and had been practicing cultivation in the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned to Nie Tian while he waited for the opening of the Shatter Battlefield.

    As the two of them arrived, Wu Ji¡¯s face split into a bright smile, and he beckoned for them to take their seats.

    Duan Shihu then said in a serious voice, ¡°I hope you can reconsider going to the Shatter Battlefield, master.¡±

    Wu Ji waved his hand and said with aposed expression, ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind. Don¡¯t try to persuade me anymore.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you, master,¡± Nie Tian chimed in, smiling.

    Wu Ji went nk for a moment before recovering his smile and saying, ¡°Alright.¡±

    Duan Shihu said with a slight frown, ¡°You two...¡±

    ¡°Great rewardse only with great risk.¡± Wu Ji didn¡¯t seem to take the risks to heart. ¡°Whatever danger lies in the Shatter Battlefield, as long as there are people who managed toe back alive, we have a chance at doing the same. I didn¡¯t leave the Realm of me Heaven for many years because I was worried that the Realm of ck Marsh and the Realm of Earth Sieve would invade if I wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°After all, as a member of the Cloudsoaring Sect, it¡¯s my responsibility to protect it.

    ¡°But now, whether I stay in the Realm of me Heaven or not, it¡¯ll thrive because of Nie Tian. Also, I believe disciples of the Cloudsoaring Sect will be treated with respect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars from now on.

    ¡°With that burden lifted from my mind, I can finally put my heart at rest and travel around.

    ¡°Now, since the river of time has appeared in the Shatter Battlefield, and the spatial tunnel that leads to it doesn¡¯t stay open all the time, of course I have to go and try my luck.

    ¡°If, by luck, I can actually find the river of time and derive profound enlightenment from it, my future path of cultivation will be free of obstacles.

    ¡°So I have to take a shot with this opportunity. As vast as this universe is, there are very few ces that can help me derive enlightenment of time power.¡±

    Seeing that Wu Ji insisted on going, Duan Shihu let out a sigh and didn¡¯t waste his breath anymore.

    The three of them went on and talked for a long time in the small room.

    Eventually, Wu Ji urged Nie Tian to go and prepare the spiritual materials and other resources that they would need for daily cultivation and battle, so that he would be able to fight others in the Shatter Battlefield for a longer time.

    Therefore, Nie Tian left with Duan Shihu and asked him to purchase some Star Stones, high-grade spirit beast meat, high-tier outsider corpses, and spiritual materials of fire and wood attributes.

    At the same time, he gave arge number of spirit stones and materials that he didn¡¯t need to Duan Shihu to sell or trade.

    While Duan Shihu went off to sell his spirit stones and materials and purchase the things he needed, he went to inform the experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars, who hade to the Realm of Maelstrom, of the situation.

    Fan Kai and Zong Zheng agreed to the ten thousand spirit jades entrance fee, so they went to find Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect, and each paid ten thousand spirit jades for their qualifications to enter the Shatter Battlefield.

    Hua Mu and Qi Bailu also decided to go to the Shatter Battlefield.

    Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue were the only ones who decided to continue to stay and practice cultivation in the Realm of Withering me, since the Realm of Withering me was a blessednd for the two of them.

    A few dayster, Yue Yanxi also teleported to the Realm of Maelstrom through the teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void after receiving word from Nie Tian.

    Not only did hee, but he also brought Guan Fu, Jian Tong, and Jiang Feng.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong also came.

    After Nie Tian told them that they would have to pay ten thousand spirit jades each to enter the Shatter Battlefield, they all deemed this price to be a fair one.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Do you really know how dangerous the Shatter Battlefield is?¡±

    Yue Yanxi nodded slightly. ¡°Of course we do. Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong have their unique advantages. I believe they¡¯ll be fine as long as they stay in the outermost ring. But since Yunxi doesn¡¯t have any unique advantages like they do, we didn¡¯t bring her along.¡±

    ¡°Unique advantages...¡± Nie Tian pondered briefly, and then understood what he was referring to.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python had probably already broken through into the eighth grade and gained a Void domain human expert¡¯s battle prowess.

    Even though Nie Tian hadn¡¯t witnessed that Frost Blood Python separate itself from Yin Yanan, the flesh aura Yin Yanan exuded had already made him rather apprehensive.

    If the Frost Blood Python had indeed entered the eighth grade and Yin Yanan had entered the Profound realm herself, then she might actually have a chance at gaining a fortune in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield.

    As for Mu Biqiong, she had a peculiar flower growing inside of her. The fact that Jiang Feng had dared to let here proved that he had confidence in her abilities too.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Then, Yue Yanxi led the others to find Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect to pay the required amount of spirit jades.

    After that, they took advantage of the uniqueness of the Realm of Maelstrom and traded with outsiders for spiritual materials that they would need in battle and daily cultivation.

    Soon, Duan Shihu came back to Nie Tian with a ring of holding. ¡°I¡¯ve traded in all of the spiritual materials and tools you don¡¯t need for the stuff you will need.¡±

    His expression grewplicated as he added, ¡°The spatial tunnel that leads to the Shatter Battlefield will open in two weeks.¡±

    After grabbing the ring of holding, Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul awareness into it, and saw tons of spirit beast meat, thirty thousand Star Stones, all sorts of fire-attributed stones, and stems and roots that contained rich wood power.

    Aside from that, there were also a thousand spirit jades.

    After a brief nce at the contents, Nie Tian realized that the value of the things he had given Duan Shihu weren¡¯t this high, and that Duan Shihu must have taken money out of his own pocket to get the additional contents for him. ¡°Senior martial brother, the spiritual materials and tools I gave you weren¡¯t enough to trade for this many things, were they?¡±

    Duan Shihu chuckled but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before taking fifty soul crystals out of another ring of holding and stuffing them into Duan Shihu¡¯s hands. ¡°These soul crystals are for you and Jing Rou.¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°I can¡¯t ept them! The value of these soul crystals is far higher than the value of the spiritual materials and tools I got for you. Soul crystals are very precious for anyone of any race. Considering that your cultivation base is still rather low, and you¡¯re going to fight fierce battles in the Shatter Battlefield, you need to keep them, as they coulde in handy!¡±

    ¡°I still have a good number of them, enough for me to practice cultivation with,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°You must take them!¡±

    Before Duan Shihu could say anything, he shoved the soul crystals into his hands.

    With a weak sigh, Duan Shihu nodded and said, ¡°Alright, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony with you then. To be honest, these soul crystals will indeed be very helpful to me and Little Rou.¡±

    Time flew, and the day came when that spatial rift was supposed to open.

    On this very day, Zhao Shanling flew out of the water curtain that surrounded the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Immediately afterwards, he waved his hand, and the Voidspirit Pagoda, which he had ced inside therge-scale teleportation portal, suddenly flew skywards and vanished between his eyebrows.

    At the same time, the spatial rift that led to the Shatter Battlefield gradually split open.

    Then, powerful experts from the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, who had been waiting for this moment, shed into it one after another.

    People from other domains and realms also flew inside after receiving Meng Li¡¯s signals.

    Zhao Shanling tossed Meng Li a ring of holding as he flew close to him, and shot into the spatial rift as soon as he nodded.

    Fan Kai, Zong Zheng, Hua Mu, and the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars all gasped with astonishment upon seeing Zhao Shanling flying into the spatial rift.

    ¡°The Void domain?!¡±

    ¡°That guy has actually entered the Void domain as he promised!¡±

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars has seen its second Void domain cultivator now.¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s achievement put great pressure on them, and drove them to gather enough spiritual materials to build their inner own domains, and derive groundbreaking enlightenment in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Under Meng Li¡¯s urging, Nie Tian, Mu Biqiong, Yin Yanan, and other juniors flew into the spatial rift as well.

 Chapter 818: Splitting Up

    In the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Numerous spatial rifts were densely interweaving with one another in the sky, emanating extremely vigorous fluctuations.

    One of the spatial rifts grew wide, and figures streamed out of it. They dove out of the sky andnded on the destend, which was covered with yellow sand.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian shed out of the the spatial rift andnded heavily on thend with a loud crash, along with Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.

    Seeing him shing out of the spatial rift, Zhao Shanling called out, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian. I¡¯ll find her.¡±

    With these words, he morphed into a streak of light and left.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and saw Zhao Shanling covering fifty kilometers in a breath¡¯s time, soon disappearing from his view.

    Air-transportation spiritual tools of different shapes appeared over the heads of explorers from the Domain of Heaven Python and the outsiders before they left one after another on their own air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Some of them sped off towards the heart of the Shatter Battlefield like Zhao Shanling, while others constantly changed directions to remain in the outermost ring, considering their unimpressive cultivation bases.

    Fan Kai, Zong Zheng, and the other experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars flew off after nodding at Nie Tian.

    Momentster, Hua Mu, Wu Ji, and Qi Bailu were the only experts that were still standing beside him.

    WHOOSH!

    Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect slowly flew out of the spatial rift andnded beside Yue Yanxi.

    He nced at Nie Tian from afar and said, ¡°ording to our estimation, this spatial rift that leads to the Realm of Maelstrom will remain open for three to five years. This means you¡¯ll have at least three years in the Shatter Battlefield. When the time is up, you can juste back by retracing your steps, and you¡¯ll be able to return to the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    Smiling, Yue Yanxi nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    At this moment, Meng Li beckoned him. ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    Nie Tian approached.

    Meng Li took out apass from within his inner pocket and handed it to Nie Tian. ¡°Our sectmaster made thispass after his return from the Shatter Battlefield. See? This is where the spatial rift is. Thispass will allow you to find your way back, at least.¡±

    Then, he told Nie Tian to send a wisp of a soul awareness into thepass.

    As soon as his soul awareness flew into thepass, it was absorbed by a small ma.

    Then, a glowing soul spot appeared within thepass.

    That spot represented Nie Tian.

    Aside from that spot, there was also another bright spot the size of a grain of rice, which stood for the spatial rift.

    Nie Tian had seen many simr tools, and thus wasn¡¯t surprised by the changes.

    However, the fact that the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s sectmaster had made thispass, which could tell directions within the Shatter Battlefield, proved his unusual power.

    After all, most of those who were able to make this kind ofpass were spatial power experts like Zhao Shanling.

    Meng Li let out a soft sigh. ¡°Unfortunately, our sectmaster didn¡¯t know much about the Shatter Battlefield, and thus couldn¡¯t mark the special regions out on thepass. You¡¯d better be careful and not go too deep.¡± With this reminder, he returned to the Realm of Maelstrom through the spatial rift.

    After watching him leave, Nie Tian threw thepass into his ring of holding.

    At this moment, Nie Tian noticed that the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had also sent small groups of their disciples here. Most of them were at the Soul realm; not a single Void domain expert could be seen among them.

    These three parties were the most familiar with the Shatter Battlefield, and had participated the most actively when the Shatter Battlefield had opened before.

    However, the heavy losses they had suffered from their previous entries had made them very apprehensive. Therefore, they had long since restrained their disciples from entering the Shatter Battlefield.

    Altogether, the three parties had sent less than twenty Qi warriors this time.

    With a grim expression, Jiang Feng warned Mu Biqiong, ¡°Stay in the outermost ring with Nie Tian, and don¡¯t try to go any deeper.¡±

    Then, after exchanging a nce with Yue Yanxi, he flew off with the other Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and soon disappeared in the direction Zhao Shanling had left in.

    Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan stood beside Nie Tian.

    The deeper people went into the Shatter Battlefield, the more powerful experts they would be likely to encounter. Even Void domain experts like Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng would find themselves in unpredictable danger in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    If they had taken Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan with them, they would have be their burden.

    Not only would their own safety be undermined, but they wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to keep the girls safe. Therefore, they had decided not to take the girls with them.

    Furthermore, they had told the girls beforeing that their uniqueness would only give them advantages in the outermost ring.

    Once they went deeper into the Shatter Battlefield, such advantages would bepletely gone.

    ¡°Master...¡± Nie Tian called out softly.

    Before he could say anything else, Wu Ji shook his head and said, ¡°You¡¯d better stay in the outermost ring. You¡¯re not ready to go deeper yet.¡±

    Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°The outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield is the most vast. Considering you three¡¯s cultivation bases and resourcefulness, you¡¯ll be able to gain fortunes just the same here.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed weakly and said, ¡°You take care then.¡±

    Wu Ji and the other experts then left.

    Soon, the only people who remained under the interweaving spatial rifts were Yin Yanan, Mu Biqiong, and Nie Tian.

    The others had either gone into the depths of the Shatter Battlefield or scattered to explore the ce.

    The three of them gazed skywards at the spatial rift they hade from, and examined it with their soul awarenesses.

    Yin Yanan suddenly frowned and said, ¡°Even though that spatial rift is still there, it doesn¡¯t seem to be stable anymore. Even if we want to return through it now, I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to.¡±

    Nie Tian had the same feeling, and thus said, ¡°Many spatial rifts are like this, changing all the time. Perhaps we¡¯ll have to wait for three to five years for that spatial rift to stabilize again. Only then will we be able to return to the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    Nie Tian was also at a loss as to what to do.

    They were currently in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield. He scanned the vicinity and discovered that there was faint spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the air, which they could use for cultivation.

    It was just that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here wasn¡¯t pure, but mixed with all kinds of unknown energies and auras.

    Beforeing here, he had learned from Duan Shihu and Jing Rou that the Shatter Battlefield was a very vast ce. There could be unusually rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in some regions, but none at all in others.

    Certain regions might even be filled with rich Demon Qi and Phantasm Qi, or pervaded by all sorts of energies like the Realm of Split Void.

    In a word, they had told him that the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, all sorts of energies, and even gravity could vary greatly as he went to different regions.

    ¡°The Shatter Battlefield is like a giant te. The closer to the center we go, the more dangerous it¡¯ll be...¡± After pondering for a while, Nie Tian said in an unhurried manner, ¡°Since it¡¯s a te, if we travel by sticking to the outermost part of the te, we should be able to make a circle and return to where we started. Since I don¡¯t think we should go any deeper yet, let¡¯s make the circle.¡±

    The two girls nodded respecitively.

    Instead of summoning the Star Boat, Nie Tian signaled Yin Yanan to summon her air-transportation spiritual tool, which the Beast-controlling Sect had customized for her.

    The three of them picked a direction and sped off on it.

    As they did, Nie Tian started to wonder. Back when they had been in the Realm of Shattered Earth, Yin Yanan had torn off Mu Biqiong¡¯s veil and strip her half-naked.

    The demonic flower inside of Mu Biqiong seemed to have received nourishment from the huge vines and gone through great changes. Later, after she had entered the Profound realm, she had even imed that she would have her revenge.

    Even when the two of them had met in the Seven-star Blue Sea, Mu Biqiong had red at Yin Yanan, her eyes filled with hatred.

    Nie Tian wondered what had happened that allowed them stay in the same air-transportation spiritual tool now, even though they hated each other¡¯s guts.

    As the air-transportation spiritual tool sped through the air at full speed, Nie Tian nced down from time to time, and saw a desert that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    asionally, he could see some half-buried corpses. Some belonged to humans, some belonged to outsiders, while other unusuallyrge ones clearly belonged to spirit beasts.

    However, none of them emanated even the slightest flesh aura, which meant they had been searched countless times over, and had long since lost their value.

    Therefore, Nie Tian didn¡¯t tell Yin Yanan to stop and examine them.

    Instead, he practiced cultivation the whole time.

    A sea of stars filled the sky in the Shatter Battlefield. Even if he did nothing, starlight would pour out of the sky and stream into his spiritual sea on its own.

    The Nine Stars Flower in his vortex of star power further sped up the speed at which he absorbed star power.

    Thanks to this, stardew rapidly built up at the bottom of his vortex of star power.

    Since he no longer needed to worry about his vortex of star power, he focused on refining his vortexes of wood power and me power with fire-attributed and wood-attributed materials. His hope was to refine his vortexes to the limit and break through into thete Worldly realm as soon as possible.

    More than ten days passed.

    Their air-transportation spiritual tool had already traveled more than fifty thousand kilometers from the spatial rift. Nie Tian took out thepass Meng Li had given him and took a look at it.

    On thepass, his soul spot and the spot that represented the spatial rift were still close together.

    His expression flickered in shock as he suddenly realized that the vastness of the Shatter Battlefield had far exceeded his imagination.

    He realized that it wasn¡¯t practical to hope to cover the outermost ring even if they could travel day and night on an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    It would be even less possible if they were to be dyed by something.

    Seeing the look on his face, Yin Yanan asked in a low voice. ¡°Well...?¡±

    Nie Tian recovered from his astonishment and said inly, ¡°Thepass indicates that we actually haven¡¯t traveled very far from the spatial rift. From the look of it, we need to change our n. Given our speed, it¡¯s impossible for us to circle around to the spatial rift within three to five years. I¡¯ll keep an eye on thepass and calcte the time. We¡¯ll head back to the spatial rift when it¡¯s about time.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Yin Yanan didn¡¯t say anything else.

    A few more days passed.

    Their air-transportation spiritual tool finally left the seemingly boundless desert, and came to a region wreathed in a mixture of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and Phantasm Qi.

    As soon as they did, they heard a piercing, bloodcurdling shriek.

    The three of them exchanged a nce before Yin Yanan elerated the air-transportation spiritual tool, which shot off towards the source of the shriek.

    Two hourster, they arrived at a mountain peak that had been cut in the middle. The upper half of the mountain peak had shattered, and turned into countless rocks that had scattered around in the vicinity.

    Numerous wrecked air-transportation spiritual tools and hundreds of corpses could be seen on the leveled mountaintop, and at the foot of the mountain peak.

    Some of the corpses belonged to humans, who had been dressed differently, while others belonged to outsiders.

    Nie Tian discovered that more than ten Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python, who hade with him, were among the dead.

    Atop the short mountain peak stood a handsome young Phantasm, dressed in noble garments.

    An enormous, cyan-gray skull that seemed to be formed by countless discarnate souls was floating above him.

    The three of them only took a nce at it from afar, and felt as if their true souls were going to be sucked out of them into the skull¡¯s unfathomable dark eye sockets.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    Around the short mountain peak, discarnate souls that had dissipated into heaven and earth at the first moment after their deaths were letting out miserable wails as they were sucked into the floating skull¡¯srge, empty mouth.

    Eyes narrowed, the young Phantasm was gazing around.

    As he caught sight of Nie Tian and the girls, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly lit up, an overjoyed expression of finding new prey appearing on his handsome face.

 Chapter 819: Silver Beetlesâ€™ Nest

    Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool suddenly came to a stop.

    Separated from each other by a few hundred meters, Nie Tian¡¯s group and the young Phantasm stared at each other. With a mysterious smile on his face, the Phantasm youngster didn¡¯t seem eager tounch any attacks.

    The illusory skull, which was formed by countless discarnate souls, floated slowly about, collecting the agonizing souls of those who had recently died.

    The top of the short mountain peak was almost smooth enough to be used as a mirror. Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention, and discovered that it wasn¡¯t rocks that were revealed by the cut, but some kind of crystal.

    The crystal seemed to have been hidden within the heart of the mountain peak before it had been cut in the middle.

    Under the dazzling starlight, the crystal, whose size was unknown, suddenly unleashed misty light, as if to channel something to it.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian examined his surroundings with rapt attention, and discovered that the Phantasm Qi in the vicinity was being channeled and slowly infusing into the crystal.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan said, ¡°That¡¯s a sixth grade Phantasm. I have a feeling that he¡¯ll be very hard to handle, but what worries me the most is that skull made of discarnate souls. Even though I don¡¯t know exactly what it is, my Frost Blood Python seems to be rather apprehensive about it.¡±

    While she spoke, Nie Tian saw the tattoo-like Frost Blood Python pattern gradually grow distinct on her slender waist.

    By the time the Frost Blood Python pattern fully revealed itself, Nie Tian instantly felt the intensity of her flesh aura start to skyrocket.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    In the next moment, the Frost Blood Python slithered out of her waist that was devoid of any fat, and morphed into its solid form. Then, it actually coiled around her waist.

    A flesh aura that was unique to eighth grade spirit beasts instantly burst forth from within it, making even Nie Tian sense great pressure from it.

    ¡°The eighth grade, finally,¡± Nie Tian marveled weakly.

    Even though it had just advanced to the eighth grade, it now possessed the battle prowess of a Void domain human expert.

    Now that this Frost Blood Python had advanced to the eighth grade, Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon wouldn¡¯t have any advantage facing it.

    The Bone Blood Demon had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive, but now, after being turned into a blood puppet, it could only disy the battle prowess of a seventh grade Bonebrute.

    The smile soon faded from the Phantasm youngster¡¯s face as he saw the Frost Blood Python slowly uncoil from Yin Yanan¡¯s waist to slither on the floor.

    As he gazed at the Frost Blood Python from afar, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly lit up, and the skull made of discarnate souls stopped collecting souls, but instead floated over his head motionlessly.

    Only then did he seem somewhat secure and rxed.

    Very vignt, the youngster said in perfect humannguage, ¡°This is a phantasm crystal that I¡¯m standing on. It¡¯s useless for you humans.¡± Then, pointing in a direction, he added, ¡°You¡¯d better go there. There are spiritual materials that suit you humans there. I know your spirit beast is at the eighth grade, but neither of us will benefit if we¡¯re to engage in a fierce battle. I suggest we make peace.¡±

    Yin Yanan closed her eyes and stroked the Frost Blood Python¡¯s head gently tomunicate with it in private.

    From the Frost Blood Python, she learned that the skull made of countless discarnate souls was extremely strange and evil.

    Even the eighth grade Frost Blood Python didn¡¯t haveplete confidence to beat it in battle.

    ¡°Did you kill all these people?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    The Phantasm youngster nodded slightly.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened with shock. ¡°Including the outsiders?¡±

    Aside from humans, there were also Stonemen, Birdmen, ckscales, and Demons among the corpses scattered in the vicinity.

    He had had a few encounters with outsiders. Every time, the Phantasms had fought side by side with Demons, Fiends, and other outsiders, so he had thought they were allies.

    Who would have thought this Phantasm youngster had actually killed other outsiders too?

    The handsome youngster fixed Nie Tian with a puzzled look. ¡°Yeah... Is this your first time in the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Yin Yanan answered.

    An enlightened expression appeared on the youngster¡¯s face as he said, ¡°No wonder. There are no rules in the Shatter Battlefield. People kill even their own kind in here, not to mention that they weren¡¯t my kind. I won¡¯t hesitate to kill anyone who wants to take this phantasm crystal from me, even other Phantasms.

    ¡°Hey, speaking of which, you humans are actually more extreme than us.

    ¡°The fights you have among yourselves are even more fierce and regardless of any rules. So I advise you to be more careful when you run into your kind in here.¡±

    With these words, he sat down and closed his eyes.

    However, the enormous skull over his head fixed its dark, hollow eyes on Nie Tian and the girls.

    The three of them would feel light-headed whenever they looked at that skull, as if they were going to lose control of their own souls.

    Yin Yananmunicated briefly with her eighth grade Frost Blood Python before turning to Nie Tian and saying, ¡°This Phantasm won¡¯t be easy to handle, and that phantasm crystal is indeed of no use to us.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly and said, ¡°Alright, do what you think is right.¡±

    Then, without asking for Mu Biqiong¡¯s opinion, Yin Yanan once again started her air-transportation spiritual tool.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool turned and left in the direction the youngster had pointed out for them.

    As they flew away, Yin Yanan said in a low voice, ¡°Outsiders¡¯ lifespans are much longer than ours. As young as that Phantasm looked, he might very well be more than a hundred years old. He might be very young among his kind, but he must be more seasoned than us three.¡±

    Mu Biqiong frowned. ¡°So even just the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield isn¡¯t as safe as we thought.¡±

    Nie Tian shared her view.

    He had thought that they would be able to crush any opponent they might encounter in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield with the help of his Bone Blood Demon and Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python.

    Who would have thought the first opponent they encountered turned out to be so powerful?

    With the help of that strange skull, that Phantasm youngster had single-handedly killed hundreds of opponents, and most of the humans he had killed had been at the Worldly and Profound realm.

    This proved that his actual battle prowess had actually far exceeded the sixth grade.

    Even the eighth grade Frost Blood Python had been rather apprehensive of that skull of his, which proved how formidable it was.

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool flew farther and farther away, the Phantasm youngster reopened his eyes.

    The skull moved out again to collect the discarnate souls that hadn¡¯t dissipated into heaven and earth. As it did, its strength seemed to be building up.

    Eyes narrowed, the youngster gazed in the direction Nie Tian and the girls had disappeared in, and chuckled weakly. ¡°An eighth grade spirit beast, and it¡¯s a hybrid... I can¡¯t believe they actually went there. This is going to be interesting.¡±

    With these words, he slowly closed his eyes again.

    ...

    Soon, sharp cries echoed out from ahead, along with loud shes.

    Upon hearing them, Yin Yanan elerated her air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Momentster, four lofty, silver mountain peaks that were about three thousand meters high entered Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    Bathed in starlight, the four mountain peaks glittered with silver light.

    Wreathing each of the mountain peaks seemed to be many silver rings, from which came ear-piercing humming sounds.

    Nearly a hundred figures could be seen yelling and brandishing their weapons within those silver rings, all of them enveloped in their own spiritual power wards.

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the silver rings that wreathed the four mountain peaks were in fact formed by countless silver bugs, and it was the light that bounced off their shiny exteriors that formed the ¡®silver rings¡¯.

    Yin Yanan stopped her air-transportation spiritual tool when they were still a significant distance from the mountain peaks. Her expression grew grim as she eximed, ¡°Silver Beetles!¡±

    She also discovered that the four mountain peaks were actually riddled with bug holes, which made them look like four enormous beehives.

    At this moment, more silver bugs were still flying out of those holes and joining the battle against the humans, who were clearly from the same sect.

    ¡°Is that Silver Beetle also a kind of insect from the Deste Antiquity Era?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°Like Bone-devouring Leeches and Metal-devouring Bugs, Silver Beetles are also from the Deste Antiquity Era. Even though they¡¯re not as powerful as Bone-devouring Leeches or Metal-devouring Bugs, they have the advantage of numbers. Back in the Deste Antiquity Era, Ancientspirits used to fight outsider races in the Shatter Battlefield, so it¡¯s not surprising that there are still Silver Beetles here.¡±

    ¡°That Phantasm youngster didn¡¯t set us up by telling us toe here for spiritual materials that we would need, did he?¡± Mu Biqiong asked, growing alert.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°That¡¯s actually quite likely.¡±

    He unleashed his Heaven Eyes and observed the human Qi warriors from afar.

    He discovered that those people dressed in the same garments were either fighting the Silver Beetles that filled the sky, gathering dead Silver Beetles, or capturing Silver Beetles alive withrges.

    Others were unleashing dark brown smoke against Silver Beetles. As some Silver Beetles were engulfed in the smoke, they would sway in the air and fall to the ground.

    All of them seemed to have their own job. Some were fighting, while others were collecting.

    Meanwhile, about a dozen dead humans could be seen at the foot of the mountain peaks, who seemed to have been killed by the Silver Beetles, as all of their flesh had been gnawed away, leaving nothing but pale-white bones.

    Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect observed for a while before saying in a low voice, ¡°They¡¯re from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect in the Domain of Heavenly Witchcraft. Like the Divine Seal Sect, the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect also has Saint domain experts. The reason why their domain is named the Domain of Heavenly Witchcraft is because no sect throughout the entire domain can match the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect¡¯s strength.

    ¡°I only know about them because the incantations they practice are simr to ours.

    ¡°They like to capture insects from the Deste Antiquity Era and use them to improve their battle prowess. The Domain of Heavenly Witchcraft is extremely far from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I¡¯ve never been there myself, but our sectmaster has.¡±

    Mu Biqiong chimed in softly, ¡°Those disciples of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect must be collecting Silver Beetles so they¡¯ll be able to enve them and use them in battle.¡±

    While they spoke, a young woman, who was standing on an air-transportation spiritual tool that was floating by the mountain peaks, seemed to sense something, as the tips of her eyebrows flickered.

    Instead of taking part in the operation herself, she had been calling to those who had and givingmands.

    At this moment, she seemed to notice Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ arrival. She turned around and shot them a nce from afar.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, she flew over by herself while calling, ¡°We¡¯re from the Domain of Heavenly Witchcraft. I¡¯m Fang Yingying from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect. Where are you from?¡±

 Chapter 820: Each Having Their Own Plans

    ¡°Fang Yingying, the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect...¡± Face expressionless, Nie examined the young woman with rapt attention as she approached.

    The young woman, who referred to herself as Fang Yingying, had a gorgeous appearance. She was wearing a long, purple dress with a white belt, which greatly highlighted her extremely thin waist and ample bosom.

    She was at the middle Profound realm, which was higher than all three of them.

    However, in Nie Tian¡¯s senses, she was also much older than Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool she was standing on also looked rather strange. It seemed to have been forged from the remains of arge centipede and plenty of metal.

    At first nce, it looked as if she was riding a centipede that was about eight meters long. However, after examining it with his life aura, Nie Tian discovered that the centipede didn¡¯t contain the slightest flesh aura. Instead, a spell formation that ran on spirit stones was providing it with power.

    ¡°We¡¯re from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Yin Yanan said somewhat arrogantly.

    Disdain shed across Fang Yingying¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries...¡±

    She had heard of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and knew that it was only an elementary-grade domain. Even their most powerful sect, the Pure Heaven Sect, had failed to produce a Saint domain expert.

    In her eyes, any sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was nothingpared to the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect.

    Eyes narrowed, she ran her eyes up and down Nie Tian and the girls, not saying anything.

    Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong could all sense a wisp of her soul awareness running all over them like an invisible tentacle.

    ¡°One early Profound realm and two Worldly realm, that¡¯s all...¡± Muttering these words, Fang Yingyingid her eyes on the Frost Blood Python by Yin Yanan¡¯s charming legs.

    The Frost Blood Python had been very long and thick, but after advancing to the eighth grade, not only had it not grownrger, but it had even shrunk significantly.

    At this moment, it was coiled up, looking rather unimpressive.

    The Frost Blood Python was a hybrid of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python. Judging only by its appearance, it looked a more like a Frost Python than a Blood Stripe Python.

    Normally speaking, Frost Pythons would be at the second grade when they were born. Their grades would rise as they grew and cultivated.

    However, not every human Qi warrior was as sensitive to spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras as Nie Tian. Therefore, it was hard for most people to make an urate judgment of the Frost Blood Python¡¯s grade at the first moment.

    Clearly, Fang Yingying fell into this category.

    She examined the Frost Blood Python briefly with her eyes, and judging by its size, she soon came to the conclusion that it was at the fourth or fifth grade.

    The strength of a fifth grade spirit beast was only equal to that of Worldly realm human Qi warrior.

    However, even though Fang Yingying had grown very contemptuous inwardly, she tried her best to mask it. After a moment of silence, she broke the ice by saying, ¡°We¡¯re capturing Silver Beetles here. There are a total of four Silver Beetle nests here. Are you interested?¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s gaze went beyond Fang Yingying andnded on the four silver mountain peaks.

    The battle between Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples and Silver Beetles was still ongoing. Arge number of Silver Beetles were either being killed or captured alive. From the look of it, the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect was at a dominating advantage.

    The Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples were all at the Worldly realm and Profound realm. Not a single one of them was at the Soul realm.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan wondered whether the Phantasm youngster had been referring to these Silver Beetles when he had talked about spiritual materials that they would need.

    The incantations the Beast-controlling Sect practiced had a great deal to do with spirit beasts, but not spirit insects.

    Perhaps these Silver Beetles were treasures in the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples¡¯ eyes, but not to her.

    She didn¡¯t think either of them would be able to enhance their battle prowess or cultivation bases with the help of the Silver Beetles.

    With these thought, she shook her head and said, ¡°We¡¯re not interested in Silver Beetles.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, she started her air-transportation spiritual tool in an attempt to leave.

    ¡°Not interested...¡± Fang Yingying extended her voice intentionally. Then, her bright eyes glittered as sheughed and added, ¡°There¡¯s some good stuff in those Silver Beetle nests, you know.¡±

    Yin Yanan shot her a sideways nce while driving her air-transportation spiritual tool away. ¡°What good stuff?¡±

    Clearly, she didn¡¯t think there would be any precious treasures that would provoke her interest in those Silver Beetle nests.

    ¡°Silicon Silver, have you heard of it?¡± Fang Yingying asked in a calm andposed manner.

    Yin Yanan suddenly stopped her air-transportation spiritual tool and turned around to ask, looking deeply surprised, ¡°Is there really Silicon Silver in those Silver Beetle nests?¡±

    Fang Yingying nodded, smiling. ¡°Normally speaking, Silver Beetles don¡¯t need Silicon Silver. As an ancient species with strong vitality, they can survive on nothing but dried nts and rotted flesh. Since the dried nts and fallen leaves here in the Shatter Battlefield contain spiritual power, they can survive even without flesh from living creatures.

    ¡°But if they want to upgrade their bloodlines and be high-grade Silver Beetles, they¡¯ll have to consume Silicon Silver.

    ¡°The reason why the Silver Beetles chose these four mountain peaks to build their nests was because these mountain peaks contain Silicon Silver.¡±

    A puzzled look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Silicon Silver?¡±

    Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, ended her usual silence by exining to him, ¡°Silicon Silver is a very rare spiritual material that can be used to forge high-grade spiritual armor. Unlike outsiders, we humans actually don¡¯t have considerable physical strength. The reason why we don¡¯t have requirements regarding the weight of our weapons is because we¡¯ll be able to wield heavy tools as long as we infuse our hands with spiritual power.

    ¡°However, we wear spiritual armor all the time. If it¡¯s heavy, then we¡¯ll be under too much pressure.

    ¡°Silicon Silver is not only as solid as divine iron, but also iparably light.

    ¡°By forging spiritual armor with Silicon Silver, we can not only increase the spiritual armor¡¯s solidity, but also decrease the spiritual armor¡¯s weight a few dozen times over.

    ¡°So Silicon Silver is an essential material for humans to forge high-grade spiritual armor.

    ¡°Since we don¡¯t have any Silicon Silver throughout the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, experts from our sects will have to think up every possible method to obtain some from other domains if they want to forge high-grade spiritual armor. Only two pieces of Silicon Silver the size of fists are needed to forge a suit of spiritual armor. With the spiritual armor¡¯s weight lightened by dozens of times, we¡¯ll be able to wear them all the time.

    ¡°For this reason, Silicon Silver is extremely valuable. Pound for pound, it¡¯s ten times the price of spirit crystals, and more often than not, you can¡¯t find anyone who sells it.¡±

    After hearing her exnation, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he finally understood why Silicon Silver was so precious.

    Not everyone was like him or Yin Yanan, who had vigorous flesh power and could lift extremely heavy objects.

    Furthermore, unlike spiritual weapons, it was rather inconvenient and unsafe to attempt to don spiritual armor in battle.

    Therefore, people usually wore their spiritual armor all the time.

    Since Qi warriors couldn¡¯t summon spiritual power to shoulder heavy spiritual armor all the time, the weight of spiritual armor became a major issue.

    Considering Silicon Silver could greatly reduce a suit of spiritual armor¡¯s weight, it became incredibly valuable for Qi warriors with feeble bodies.

    One small piece of Silicon Silver could easily be sold for a thousand spirit jades, which was equivalent to a hundred thousand spirit stones.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong had only been able to enter the Shatter Battlefield because each of them had paid the Divine Seal Sect ten thousand spirit jades.

    As long as each of them could obtain ten pieces of Silicon Silver from within those mountain peaks, they would get their entrance fee back.

    ¡°What do you want by telling us about the Silicon Silver in those mountain peaks?¡± Yin Yanan asked with a vignt expression.

    With a bright smile, Fang Yingying said, ¡°There are a total of four Silver Beetle nests, which is a lot to handle, and it¡¯s a bit unreasonable if we¡¯re going to to take them all. So we¡¯ll be happy to give one of the Silver Beetle nests to you. You can kill the Silver Beetles and take the Silicon Silver inside. What do you think?

    ¡°Besides, it¡¯s a rule that people should share their discoveries in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyebrows flickered as she turned to look at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian spread out his hands, signaling to her that he was fine with whatever decision she made.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll take that Silver Beetle nest.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan smiled inwardly, eager to see what this young woman was up to.

    Of course she didn¡¯t believe that she had offered this out of kindness.

    Meanwhile, even though the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples had the numbers, she didn¡¯t find any of them powerful enough to make her apprehensive.

    ¡°Come with me. I¡¯ll go make some arrangements.¡± Smiling, Fang Yingying flew back to the four mountain peaks on her air-transportation spiritual tool that looked like arge centipede.

    Yin Yanan, however, didn¡¯t fly after her right away. Instead, she waited for her to fly away to whisper, ¡°She definitely doesn¡¯t have good intentions.¡±

    Both Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong nodded in silence.

    A hint of disdain appeared at the corner of Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth. ¡°I suppose she misjudged my Frost Blood Python¡¯s grade, and took us for easy targets. For the sake of that Silicon Silver, let¡¯s go and see what game these Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples are ying.¡±

    As they flew to the four silver mountain peaks, the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples indeed withdrew from one of them.

    That silver mountain peak was wreathed by silver rings that were formed by flying Silver Beetles.

    Nie Tian took a quick nce at the other three mountain peaks, and discovered that the Silver Beetles wreathing this mountain peak were not only at higher grades, but also in greater numbers than the ones wreathing the other three mountain peaks.

    Clearly, the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect had given the most troublesome Silver Beetle nest to them.

    Over at the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples¡¯ location, a thin Profound realm Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciple with a sickly, waxen face frowned and asked, ¡°Why are you doing this, senior martial sister? We¡¯re more than capable of taking these four Silver Beetle nests ourselves. We don¡¯t need their help.¡±

    The man was sitting at the foot of one of the mountain peaks, stuffing medicinal pills down his throat from time to time, as if to recover strength.

    Fang Yingying¡¯s smile only grew heartier as she answered him. ¡°Junior Martial Brother Luo, I only gave that Silver Beetle nest to those three from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries so that they could explore it for us. As you know, the mother beetle is in that nest.¡±

    With a disdainful expression, the young man said, ¡°What can they do? I don¡¯t think they can even handle the low-grade Silver Beetles on the outside, much less enter the nest to see the mother beetle.¡±

    Fang Yingying¡¯s lips pursed into a smile. ¡°They¡¯re no threat to us anyways. Let¡¯s just see. Even if they can¡¯t kill the mother beetle for us, it¡¯ll be in our favor if they take out some of the low-grade Silver Beetles on the outside. The people from elementary grade domains are always used as cannon fodder in the Shatter Battlefield anyways, right?¡±

    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re the boss...¡± the young man named Luo Hui said.

 Chapter 821: Scary as A Ghost

    While Fang Yingying talked to the young man in low voices, Nie Tian and the girls arrived at the Silver Beetle nest on Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Since the two of them had intentionally lowered their voices, and Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay close attention to them, he didn¡¯t hear the content of their conversation.

    He and the girls had confidence in their strength, and thus weren¡¯t very worried by the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect¡¯s scheme.

    The Silver Beetles hadn¡¯t followed the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples to the other nests as they had withdrawn, but were still flying around that mountain peak.

    However, as Nie Tian and the girls attempted to approach that mountain peak, their action seemed to enrage the Silver Beetles.

    Countless Silver Beetles instantly swarmed towards them.

    As they approached Nie Tian, they seemed to catch a whiff of something delicious, and grew even more violent and mad.

    Almost all of the Silver Beetles targeted Nie Tian. As they did, their shiny silver bodies that were the size of fists shed with each other, giving rise to metallic nks and sending out silver sparks.

    Upon seeing this, both Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong grew confused.

    They were standing side by side with Nie Tian, but the Silver Beetles had clearly ignored them, as if they had nothing but Nie Tian in their small, beady eyes.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Like numerous small but hard stones, Silver Beetles kept mming into Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool wobbled briefly before falling out of the air.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and channeled me power from within his vortex of me power, a crimson aura rose from his skin, forming a fiery ward around him.

    He jumped off the air-transportation spiritual tool before it crashed, andnded steadily at the foot of the Silver Beetle nest.

    At the same time, he summoned his me Star, whose fiery de light swept back and forth like a me dragon trying to devour heaven and earth.

    Arge number of Silver Beetles were shed by the me Star¡¯s de light and fell from the sky like rain.

    However, after they fell to the ground, their small silver bodies wiggled about and soon flew back up again.

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face, as he hadn¡¯t at all expected that the Silver Beetles¡¯ shells were actually so solid that the me Star failed to cut them open.

    After putting her air-transportation spiritual tool back in her ring of holding, Yin Yanan gasped at the scene of countless Silver Beetles attacking Nie Tian.

    She and Mu Biqiong were indeedpletely ignored by the Silver Beetles.

    They hadnded in a ce that was just about ten meters from Nie Tian, yet not a single one of the swarming Silver Beetles flew to attack them.

    Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Silver Beetles engulfed Nie Tian like a sea, blocking him from view.

    ¡°Why are the Silver Beetles attacking him so madly?¡± Mu Biqiong asked with a confused look in her deep eyes.

    Yin Yanan was puzzled by the same question.

    She gently ced her hand on the Frost Blood Python¡¯s head and sent a wisp of soul awareness through her hand.

    In the next moment, she sensed the Frost Blood Python¡¯s strong yearning for Nie Tian¡¯s flesh.

    Since the Frost Blood Python had entered the eighth grade, a soul connection had already formed between it and Yin Yanan, eliminating all obstacles to theirmunication.

    The Frost Blood Python told her that Nie Tian¡¯s aura had an irresistible appeal to it.

    If Yin Yanan hadn¡¯t stopped it, and if it hadn¡¯t witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s formidable might before, it would have long since given in to its yearning and attempted to swallow Nie Tian.

    Silver Beetles were an ancient species from the Deste Antiquity Era. Even though their intelligence wasn¡¯t so developed, they could tell that Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and blood would be of great help to them.

    PUFF! PUFF!

    The wave upon wave of Silver Beetles finally burst the defensive ward Nie Tian had formed with me power.

    The Silver Beetles let out sharp excited screeches as they pounced on Nie Tian and nted their teeth into his flesh.

    BANG!

    In the blink of an eye, close to a hundred Silver Beetles clung on to Nie Tian with their sharp teeth.

    A numbing toxin was instantly injected into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh through the Silver Beetle¡¯s teeth.

    While experiencing severe pain, Nie Tian also felt that the toxin was even slowing his cirction of flesh aura.

    After seeing what was happening to Nie Tian, the Frost Blood Python, which was coiled by Yin Yanan¡¯s feet, seemed to be stirred as well. Its eyes shone with blood-colored light as it unconsciously inched towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Yin Yanan berated sternly.

    She had noticed the look of desire in the Frost Blood Python¡¯s eyes, and thus stopped it in time.

    Gnawed by the Silver Beetles, Nie Tian grinned sinisterly. ¡°You lot must have a death wish!¡±

    Life Drain was then activated.

    Like bands of red silk, streaks of blood-colored light instantly shot out of him.

    Like intangible needles, they pierced and pinned all of the Silver Beetle that dared to bite into his skin.

    Afterwards, fine cyan, crystalline strings that were branded with his bloodline power flew out of the blood-colored light, drilling into the Silver Beetles.

    Each and every Silver Beetle seemed to have their flesh aura hooked and forcibly dragged into the blood-colored light.

    The steaks of blood-colored light rapidly expanded to be as thick as fingers.

    Afterwards, they returned to Nie Tian, infusing him with numerous strands of rich flesh power.

    At the same time, the shiny silver glow rapidly disappeared from the shells of the Silver Beetles that were clinging to him.

    BAM! BAM!

    Dozens of Silver Beetles fell from Nie Tian¡¯s skin to the ground, bereft of any aura of life.

    The other Silver Beetles that were swarming around Nie Tian saw what had just happened.

    Then, they trembled with fear while fleeing from Nie Tian, dropping all other ideas, as if they had seen the most terrifying thing in the world.

    Within seconds, the sea of Silver Beetles that had engulfed Nie Tian scattered, leaving nothing but a few dozen dead Silver Beetles on the ground.

    Since Nie Tian had been blocked from sight by the Silver Beetles when he had activated Life Drain, neither Fang Yingying nor Yin Yanan had seen what had happened.

    Only after all of the Silver Beetles had scattered and fled from Nie Tian did they see the corpses of the Silver Beetles that had dared to bite Nie Tian just now.

    SSSS! SSSS!

    The Frost Blood Python, which had almost given in to its desire to pounce on Nie Tian to get a share of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh from the Silver Beetles, let out insecure hisses as it hastily backed up to Yin Yanan¡¯s feet, fear filling its eyes.

    Even though it hadn¡¯t seen what had happened just now either, it had a terrifying feeling that if it dared to approach Nie Tian, it would suffered from a fatal disaster.

    Over at the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples¡¯ location, both Fang Yingying and Luo Hui had strange expressions on their faces.

    They had been shocked by the fact that the Silver Beetles hadpletely ignored Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, but had madly swarmed Nie Tian.

    Then, what had shocked them even more was that dozens of Silver Beetles had died soon after biting Nie Tian, and that all of the other Silver Beetles had scattered and fled upon seeing this, as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

    Luo Hui¡¯s emaciated face was filled with confusion as he said, ¡°That person is far beyond ordinary. All of the Silver Beetles that managed to break through his spiritual power ward and bite his flesh died afterwards.¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at the few fleshless skeletons of the dead Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples.

    Fang Yingying followed his gaze, and frowned as she remembered how the Silver Beetles had shattered those fellow disciples¡¯ spiritual power wards and engulfed them. Only a few secondster, they had been reduced to pale-white skeletons, bereft of a shred of flesh.

    She stood there and thought to herself, <i>¡°Those Silver Beetles clearly bit him and poisoned him, but he somehow survived, and even scared the rest of the Silver Beetles away.¡± </i>

    Standing among the corpses of a few dozen Silver Beetles, Nie Tian narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    Numerous shiny silver spots flowed into his heart with the streams of rich flesh power he had absorbed from the Silver Beetles.

    Like a resting dragon, the green aura in his heart awoke from its dormancy and devoured the shiny silver spots.

    The majority of the flesh power flowed to every part of Nie Tian¡¯s body to provide him with longsting fleshly strength, which he could mix with wood power to further refine his body with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. <i>¡°These shiny silver spots seem to be the essence of those Silver Beetle¡¯s flesh auras, which carry the profound truths of their bloodline power.¡±</i>

    He had a strange feeling that the silver spots would help him elerate the upgrade of his bloodline aura.

    Then, he realized that his bloodline aura must want more of these silver spots.

    With this thought in his mind, he marched towards the Silver Beetle nest, looking calm andposed.

    However, as he approached the countless Silver Beetles that were hovering in the air, they backed away bit by bit to avoid him.

    They had nothing but fear and panic in their small, beady eyes. By the time Nie Tian arrived in front of their nest, many of them broke down.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Like rays of silver light, they returned to the densely packed holes that filled the silver mountain peaks.

    Momentster, not a single Silver Beetle could be seen flying around the mountain peak.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression grew even stranger.

    Fang Yingying and Luo Hui frowned deeply, as they also couldn¡¯t figure out what was happening.

    Standing at the foot of the silver mountain, Nie Tian looked up and located a hole that could allow him to enter among the countless holes, most of which were only the size of fists.

    ¡°If my spection is correct, then that¡¯s the tunnel through which the mother beetle enters and exits the nest.¡± With a smile, Nie Tian leapt into the air and shot into the considerablyrger hole in the sloping silver mountain¡¯s surface like arge bird.

    Upon seeing this, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong exchanged a nce, then followed him into that hole.

    Luo Hui was taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they actually found their way into the mother beetle¡¯s nest so easily.¡±

    Fang Yingying secretly took a deep breath. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look together, junior martial brother. There¡¯s something strange with that guy.¡±

    ¡°I told you not to y this game, but you just wouldn¡¯t listen,¡± Luo Hui berated. Even so, he decided to go with her. The two of them flew into the Silver Beetle nest through the same hole Nie Tian and the girls had flown in.

    After entering the hole, he added, ¡°You¡¯d better take them seriously. I have a feeling that those three aren¡¯t easy to deal with.¡±

    Fang Yingying pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? I¡¯ve got you, right? Your spirit vermin is our sect¡¯s most powerful treasure! I refuse to believe those three from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries can handle it in battle.¡±

    ¡°But we need to avoid unnecessary trouble,¡± Luo Hui said impatiently.

    Fang Yingying nodded, smiling, but inwardly, she still thought Nie Tian and the girls wouldn¡¯t pose a threat as long as Luo Hui was there to help her.

 Chapter 822: Rising to Attack

    In the Silver Beetle nest.

    Numerous Silver Beetles that had fled into the nest were gathered inside a very spacious cave, letting out ear-piercing screeches.

    Countless dark holes could be seen in the cave that stretched down towards the depths of the earth.

    A fat Silver Beetle that was almost two meters long and as thick as a man¡¯s waist was crouching at the mouth of arge hole, its shiny silver shell emanating dazzling light.

    The amount of silver light it emanated seemed to be greater than the amount of light emanated by all of the other Silver Beetlesbined.

    Even the whole cave was lit up by its light.

    The other Silver Beetles were letting out sharp screeches, which seemed to be them reporting to the mother beetle in their ownnguage.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Nie Tian and the others flew into the spacious cave through the hole they had found.

    The Silver Beetles¡¯ screeches grew even more resounding and ear-piercing, even causing cracks to appear in the cave walls.

    Upon arrival, Nie Tian caught sight of the mother Silver Beetle.

    He also discovered that it was surrounded by arge number of small, slimy eggs, most of which were still unhatched.

    Many stone protrusions that resembled stctites stretched down from the ceiling, each and every one shining with silver light.

    Even though they all looked veryrge and thick, they gave Nie Tian a feeling that they were actually weightless.

    Fine tentacles grew out of the mother Silver Beetle¡¯s head, piercing into the tips of the hanging stone protrusions.

    Bright silver spots could be seen flowing through its tentacles, as if they were streaming into the mother beetle¡¯s fat body.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up. Surprised and overjoyed, she eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! Those stone protrusions are Silicon Silver!

    ¡°It usually takes a very long time for Silicon Silver to form naturally. I wonder how such arge amount of Silicon Silver came to form in these stone protrusions within the heart of this mountain peak. The amount of Silicon Silver here is simply incredible.¡±

    Fang Yingying¡¯s soft exmation echoed out from behind. ¡°There are seven of them!¡±

    In the next moment, Nie Tian found her and Luo Hui also standing in the cave.

    As soon as they arrived, the Silver Beetles¡¯ screeches grew even more ear-piercing.

    Nie Tian looked around with rapt attention, and discovered that the beady eyes of the Silver Beetles that were now gathered around the mother beetle were shining with the light of hate and anger. However, those small, angry eyes weren¡¯t fixed on him, Yin Yanan, or Mu Biqiong, but on Fang Yingying and Luo Hui.

    Looking surprised, Luo Hui said, ¡°The speed at which Silicon Silver forms is indeed higher when a mother beetle is around. It¡¯s only been a few decades, yet seven Silicon Silver protrusions have alreadye to form.¡±

    Taken aback, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°You¡¯ve... been here before?¡±

    Fang Yingying smiled and said, ¡°Our sect was the first to discover and explore these four Silver Beetle nests. And we¡¯ve been holding on to them over the past centuries, both the Silver Beetles and the Silicon Silver they helped form. Every once in a while, we¡¯d send disciples here to harvest them.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face grew icy as soon as she heard these words. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why did you invite us toe explore it?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you already?¡± Fang Yingying said inly. ¡°Since you happened to meet us here, we¡¯re willing to share our gains with you, instead of having everything to ourselves.¡±

    Yin Yanan then gave a cold harrumph. ¡°If that¡¯s true, now that we¡¯re here, isn¡¯t it time for you to get out?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re only here to take a look,¡± Fang Yingying said.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to see,¡± Yin Yanan said with a tough tone.

    Luo Hui¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as he was slightly angered.

    Surprisingly, therge number of Silver Beetles and the mother beetle didn¡¯t attack them as they talked to each other.

    However, the mother beetle¡¯s icy gaze swept across the Frost Blood Python that was coiled by Yin Yanan¡¯s feet from time to time.

    Clearly, it possessed extraordinary intelligence.

    From the information it had obtained from the Silver Beetles, it had already learned about the strange things that had happened when they had attacked Nie Tian. Now, all of the low-grade Silver Beetles considered Nie Tian as their natural enemy, feeling insecure and uneasy when facing him.

    After examing Nie Tian¡¯s aura itself, the mother beetle felt the same way about him.

    Besides, it had also sensed the Frost Blood Python¡¯s actual grade, which made it even more apprehensive.

    Meanwhile, it seemed to hate Fang Yingying and Luo Hui to the guts, as if it knew that, over the past centuries, people wearing simr garments had disturbed its life, killed its subjects, and stolen the Silicon Silver they had made great efforts to form using their bloodline talent.

    After a moment of hesitation, it suddenly let out a piercing screech.

    It instantly drowned the sharp screeches of all of the other Silver Beetles.

    At the same time, more cracks appeared on the solid cave walls, as if its screech could pierce through rocks and even metal.

    Nie Tian and the others all experienced stabbing pain in their eardrums. As strong as Nie Tian was, he felt lightheaded and disoriented for a short period.

    He naturally summoned flesh power and spiritual power to form protective wards to ward off the piercing screech and recover a clear mind.

    Then, as he looked over his shoulder, he discovered that Yin Yanan¡¯s face had turned very pale. At this moment, she was covering her ears with her hands, and had an agonized expression on her face.

    Mu Biqiong was in even worse shape, as blood wasing through her fingers while she was also covering her ears with her hands.

    Nie Tian turned his face the other way, and discovered that Fang Yingying and Luo Hui had covered their ears with some sort of leather cover.

    The two of them were as calm as ever, andpletely unharmed by the mother beetle¡¯s piercing screech.

    Obviously, they had long since prepared for this.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The countless Silver Beetles rapidly streamed into the holes in the cave walls, and soon vanished from the cave.

    At the same time, as the fat mother beetle flew into thergest hole, the eggs around it were also pushed into the hole by a mysterious force, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

    It was as if all of the Silver Beetles had received the meaning of the mother beetle¡¯s screech, and thus left as quickly as possible under the cover of her piercing screech.

    All of the Silver Beetles, the mother beetle, and the eggs vanished while the mother beetle¡¯s sharp screech still lingered in the air.

    Nie Tian then unleashed a wisp of flesh aura and sensed around with it, and realized that the Silver Beetles had already fled kilometers deep following the holes that led to the depths of the earth.

    The deeper they fled, the harder it was for him to capture their auras.

    ¡°It went so smoothly this time that it¡¯s even a bit weird,¡± Fang Yingying said with a confused look in her eyes. ¡°Since when did the mother beetle be so submissive? It¡¯s so not like it.¡±

    The four Silver Beetle nests here were indeed the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect¡¯s secret farm in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Ever since they had discovered this ce, they had turned it into a trial for their juniors. Every once in a while, they would send young disciples here to capture Silver Beetles, which they would bring back and turn into their spirit vermin, and harvest the Silicon Silver that had formed here.

    During the first few times they had sent juniors here, fierce battles had broken out between their juniors and the mother beetle, vesting the trials with hardships and dangers.

    However, every time, they had spared the mother beetle¡¯s life.

    That was because they knew that as long as the mother beetle was alive, it would give birth to more Silver Beetles, and more Silicon Silver woulde to form in their nests.

    Once the mother beetle died, the Silver Beetles in the four nests would soon die out, and they wouldn¡¯t have any Silicon Silver to gather.

    The reason why they hadn¡¯t captured the mother beetle and brought it back was because none of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect¡¯s realms were fit for Silver Beetles to inhabit and reproduce, and there weren¡¯t any special mountain peaks like these ones here, where the Silver Beetles would be able to form precious Silicon Silver with their unique bloodline talent.

    Luo Hui shook his head, as if he found this trial somewhat disappointing and boring. ¡°Yeah, it went a bit too smoothly this time.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, he turned to Nie Tian and the girls, all of whom had sustained injuries to different extents from the mother beetle¡¯s sharp screech, and said impatiently, ¡°You three may leave now. Nothing here concerns you anymore.¡±

    ¡°Junior martial brother!¡± Fang Yingying shouted with a stern face.

    She had never thought of letting Nie Tian and the girls live since the moment they hade to the four Silver Beetle nests.

    If she let Nie Tian and the girls leave alive, they would leave with the knowledge of Silver Beetles gathering here, and Silicon Silver forming here every few decades.

    The Heavenly Witchcraft Sect would suffer great losses if they were to return in a few decades and beat them to harvest the spoils from here.

    ¡°We may leave now?¡± Yin Yananughed coldly. ¡°Are you mistaken? You should be the ones to leave.¡±

    Not only did Fang Yingying not seem angered by her revolt, but she actually chuckled while pping her soft left hand towards the back of Mu Biqiong, who was standing the closest to her.

    Even at this moment, the mother beetle¡¯s screech was still lingering in the air.

    Thus, Mu Biqiong was still covering her ears with her hands. Agony filled her veiled face as blood kept oozing through her fingers.

    She didn¡¯t even notice Fang Yingying¡¯s action.

    Yin Yanan saw it, but she didn¡¯t move at all, as if she didn¡¯t care about Mu Biqiong¡¯s life in the slightest.

    Nie Tian snorted disdainfully as he shot over like a bolt of lightning, and appeared behind her in the blink of an eye.

    As Fang Yingying¡¯s palm burst forth with dazzling spiritual light, a small lifelike centipede appeared in her jade-like palm. From the look of it, it was hoping to drill into Mu Biqiong¡¯s back to gnaw at her heart.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s fist suddenly seemed to expand countless times before Fang Yingying, filling her entire view.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s fist mmed into Fang Yingying¡¯s palm with great force. Its devastating momentum scared the small centipede back to her core.

    Fang Yingying felt as if she had pped a huge, solid rock that was ten thousand years old, the strong impact sending her trudging backwards.

    After a few steps, her back mmed hard into the cave wall, shattering the rocks.

    Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth as she threw Nie Tian a shocked look.

    ¡°But... But you¡¯re only at the middle Worldly realm!¡± Her exmation finally caught Mu Biqiong¡¯s ears. She instantly sprang around to re at her.

    Nie Tian then shot Yin Yanan a nce. ¡°You take that guy. I¡¯ll finish this woman off.¡±

    With these words, the me Star flew whooshing out of his ring of holding and swooped down on Fang Yingying like a fierce me dragon.

    Nie Tian could tell that Mu Biqiong hadn¡¯t recovered from the influence of the mother beetle¡¯s screech yet, and was still in an unfavorable condition.

    Her battle prowess would remain low for some time.

    Meanwhile, he had long since seen that Luo Hui was only at the early Profound realm. Yin Yanan would be able to take him out as easily as turning her hand, even without seeking help from the Frost Blood Python.

    The middle Profound realm Fang Yingying had only suffered a heavy blow from him because she had underestimated him. Since her cultivation base was actually much higher than his, in order to win, he had to pursue her while she retreated.

    Furthermore, as spacious as the cave was, the Bone Blood Demon was still toorge to fight in it.

    If he unleashed the Bone Blood Demon anyways, the cave might copse, and everyone might end up buried in rocks. Therefore, he gave up on the thought.

    Fang Yingying rapidly stabilized herself and calmed down. Eyes filled with disdain, she said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe a Worldly realm guy actually dares to say that he¡¯ll kill me!¡±

 Chapter 823: Two Ferocious Women

    It had gone dark in the cave after all of the Silver Beetles had left, but the me Star¡¯s de light once again lit up the whole cave.

    White, crimson, and green spots shone within the dazzling de light as it shed directly towards Fang Yingying.

    However, not a shred of fear could be seen in Fang Yingying¡¯s eyes.

    Her slender hands rapidly wove before her ample chest, forming a silver hand seal.

    The vague shape of a centipede loomed in the depths of the hand seal.

    RUMBLE!

    The silver hand seal sudden shot up and mmed into the three-colored de light with great force.

    The de light exploded in an instant, but the me Star continued to descend towards Fang Yingying¡¯s head with irresistible momentum.

    Fang Yingying¡¯s figure blurred and disappeared from her current location. Then, a silver suddenly appeared over Nie Tian¡¯s head out of thin air.

    The also emanated silver light, but it seemed to be forged from Silicon Silver, which made it as light as feather.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The me Star suddenly went back up, unleashing numerous de lights in an attempt to rip the silver.

    However, not a single one of the¡¯s tenacious strings was severed, but a bleak aura came towards Nie Tian with an overwhelming momentum, as if to bind him.

    Almost at the same time, Yin Yanan also made a move.

    By relying on the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s special body refinement incantation she practiced, she dashed towards Luo Hui like a fierce beast from the Deste Antiquity Era, and arrived before him in the blink of an eye.

    A hint of astonishment shed across Luo Hui¡¯s eyes as he finally saw her shocking fleshly strength.

    He, who had a waxen, emaciated face and looked rather sickly, suddenly cast a profound movement magic, allowing him to sh to different locations within the cave, leaving one illusory figure after another.

    Soon, Yin Yanan lost track of the real Luo Hui. All she could see were his illusory figures.

    While Yin Yanan was at a loss, Luo Hui¡¯s illusory figures suddenly morphed into numerous spirit vermin.

    Among them were golden spiders, brown scorpions, and green snakes.

    Even though none of them were particrlyrge, they gave Yin Yanan a feeling that they were actually very dangerous.

    The spirit vermin instantly surrounded Yin Yanan, and started to spew smoke towards her.

    The smoke seemed intangible, but was formed by countless soul strands. Yin Yanan¡¯s spiritual power ward didn¡¯t have the slightest warding effect against it.

    As the smoke engulfed her, her vigorous body seemed to be poisoned by deadly toxins, making her feel powerless.

    The smoke even infiltrated her mind, as she felt stabbing pain in her sea of awareness.

    At this moment, Luo Hui revealed himself, a real spirit vermin appearing by his feet.

    It was arge, golden spider with eight legs, which seemed to be forged from pure gold.

    Golden mes could be seen burning within the spider¡¯s beady eyes.

    It first took a look at Yin Yanan, and didn¡¯t seem impressed.

    However, as itid its eyes on the Frost Blood Python that was coiled beside Yin Yanan, astonishment suddenly filled its golden eyes.

    Luo Hui sensed the anomaly, so with a grim expression, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s...¡±

    Before he could finish, the spider took a step forward to stand before Luo Hui like his shield.

    At this moment, the eighth grade Frost Blood Python couldn¡¯t bear to watch Yin Yanan struggle any further, and finally struck.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A frosty, white mist rose from the Frost Blood Python, rapidly pervading the area around Yin Yanan.

    As the exploding sounds of ice shards came from within the frosty, white mist, the temperature inside the cave dropped at an rming speed.

    Within seconds, the cave walls were covered in thick, sparkling ice. Even the stone protrusions that contained Silicon Silver were covered in ice, making them look like huge icicles.

    Submerged in the frosty most, Yin Yanan snapped back to her senses, and rapidly cleansed herself with her flesh aura. She resumed her calm andposed look after forcing all of the spirit vermin smoke out of her.

    With a meaningful faint smile, she stared at Luo Hui.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Loud cracks echoed out within the spacious cave as the eighth grade Frost Blood Python used its unique bloodline magic to turn it into and of frigid coldness. Even snow and wind appeared within its frosty mist.

    All of a sudden, countless ice shards shot out of the frosty mist, and the cracking ice that covered the cave walls.

    Like sharp des, the ice shards shot towards Luo Hui, forming a special field that could freeze all things.

    Clusters of golden mes shot out of the spider¡¯s eyes, forming a sea of mes in front of Luo Hui.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Ice shards shot into the sea of golden mes, causing the cave to shake violently. Even the stone protrusions that contained Silicon Silver seemed as if they could fall at any moment.

    The shes sent out golden sparks and bits of ice that added countless tiny holes to the walls of the spacious cave.

    Nie Tian and Fang Yingying, who were about to enter a second round, gasped with astonishment upon seeing this.

    It seemed that even the cave couldn¡¯t withstand the eighth grade Frost Blood Python¡¯s devastating bloodline power, and was going to copse.

    Luo Hui took a deep breath. Eyes still fixed on the Frost Blood Python, he shouted, ¡°All of the Silicon Silver here is yours!¡±

    With these words, he instantly jumped onto his golden spider.

    Then, like a bolt of lightning, the spider dashed to Fang Yingying¡¯s side, where Luo Hui dragged the confused Fang Yingying away through the mother beetle¡¯s tunnel.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you take care of that one from the Bliss Mountain Sect and collect the Silicon Silver here.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan snorted disdainfully. ¡°Now they know not to mess with us. It¡¯s toote.¡±

    Then, she followed Luo Hui and Fang Yingying into the tunnel through which they hade down here.

    She seemed to understand that this cave would hold the Frost Blood Python back from disying its full bloodline power. Also, she was afraid that the stone protrusions would break and cost them the precious Silicon Silver inside of them.

    The Frost Blood Python would be able to fight without scruples in the open terrain outside the Silver Beetle nest.

    ¡°You just collect these Silicon Silver protrusions. Don¡¯t you worry about our battle against them.¡± With these words, Nie Tian threw Mu Biqiong a nce and prepared to leave the cave.

    However, he was stunned by what he saw. ¡°Have... Have you recovered?¡±

    At this moment, the mother beetle¡¯s sharp screech had already vanishedpletely.

    Earlier, the mother beetle¡¯s screech had certainly caused serious damage to Mu Biqiong¡¯s ears and even her soul.

    However, he couldn¡¯t see the slightest sign of her being injured in her eyes now.

    The look in her eyes was surprisingly calm, andced with a hint of indescribable danger.

    ¡°You think I¡¯m a burden for the two of you, don¡¯t you?¡± Mu Biqiong asked in an icy voice. ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t help me, that bitch Fang Yingying wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill me.¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled and nodded. ¡°Well, how about we leave that ¡®bitch¡¯ to you in a bit?¡±

    Strong killing intent filled Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes. ¡°That¡¯d be great.¡±

    Nie Tian then ended their talk and left the cave through the tunnel.

    As soon as he left, Mu Biqiong let out a cold harrumph, and two thick roots suddenly grew out of her palms.

    One root was ink-ck, and the other was multicolored. Like two pythons, they wrapped around two of the stone protrusions that contained Silicon Silver.

    RUMBLE!

    The thick roots tore the two huge stone protrusions off the ceiling of the cave and stuffed them into Mu Biqiong¡¯s ring of holding.

    Afterwards, the roots repeated the move, pulling the other stone protrusions off and putting them into her ring of holding.

    At this moment, a vicious and mysterious look appeared on Mu Biqiong¡¯s unearthly beautiful face, which was hidden behind a veil.

    Momentster, she finished collecting all seven stone protrusions that contained Silicon Silver, and the roots shrank back into her palms.

    As she harvested Silicon Silver with the demonic nt inside of her, the mother beetle¡¯s panicked screech echoed from the depths of the hole it had escaped into.

    However, it didn¡¯t affect Mu Biqiong in the slightest this time.

    She threw a cold look at the hole where the screech wasing from. A pitch-ck root once again shot out of her palm into the hole that stretched down towards the depths of the earth.

    The mother beetle¡¯s sharp screech grew increasingly panicked as it hastily ran deeper into the hole, not daring to make a sound anymore.

    The mother beetle had noticed the change of situation in the cave, and realized that a battle had broken out among the human invaders. Therefore, it had snuck back, lurking in the hole and waiting for an opportunity to strike.

    However, it had dropped the idea and fled as soon as the ck root had shot into the hole it was hiding in.

    The demonic nt¡¯s ck root searched about in the hole, but failed to find the mother beetle, so Mu Biqiong withdrew it.

    After the root shrank back into her, her eyes went icy again as she muttered in a low voice, ¡°That bitch Fang Yingying.¡±

    SHEW!

    She shot out of the tunnel like a bolt of lightning.

    Outside the Silver Beetle nest, Yin Yanan was controlling the Frost Blood Python as it went all-out to attack Fang Yingying and Luo Hui despite their begging for peace.

    Nie Tian was standing there and staring at Fang Yingying, as if he didn¡¯t intend to join the battle.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s arrival took Nie Tian by surprise. ¡°Have you finished collecting all seven of the stone protrusions that contain Silicon Silver already?¡± he asked.

    Mu Biqiong nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian said, ¡°That was quick.¡±

    ¡°That bitch will die even quicker.¡± With these words, she shed to Fang Yingying and shouted, ¡°Die!¡±

    A ck root shot out of her left palm.

    Fang Yingying¡¯s face turned pale with fright as she stared nkly at her, as if she were looking at a freak.

    Immediately afterwards, she snapped back to her senses and formed a series of silver hand seals in a panicked and muddled fashion. However, all of the hand seals failed to fend off the thick, ck root.

    The root wrapped around her slender waist and snapped her in half.

    As Mu Biqiong had said, she killed Fang Yingying even faster than she had harvested the Silicon Silver protrusions.

    A centipede flew out of Fang Yingying as she was snapped in half.

    ¡°Wanna run?!¡± Mu Biqiong called out in an icy voice.

    The ck root instantly morphed into arge w. With a swift grabbing motion, it caught the centipede and squeezed it into mush.

    Upon seeing this, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he marveled at her battle prowess inwardly.

    At this moment, he finally understood why the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect had dared to send Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan into the Shatter Battlefield.

    Yin Yanan was not only as strong as an outsider, but also had an eighth grade Frost Blood Python at hermand.

    She was like a fierce beast with unmatched strength in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield, where only Worldly realm and Profound realm cultivators would go.

    As for Mu Biqiong, the demonic nt inside of her hadn¡¯t seemed to obey hermands all the time before. She had even suffered a bacsh from it when her veil had been torn off.

    However, after it had received mysterious nourishment from the enormous vines in the Realm of Shattered Earth, she seemed to have found a way to harness the two demonic flowers. Now, she could even make use of their formidable might.

    The ck flower¡¯s root had just shot out of her palm and snapped Fang Yingying, who had been jumping around for quite some time, in half like a an ant.

    Mu Biqiong hadn¡¯t even used the other flower yet.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°These two ferocious women...¡±

 Chapter 824: Splitting the Spoils

    Fang Yingying¡¯s miserable death plunged the other Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples into a deep panic.

    Luo Hui and his golden spider were barely keeping themselves alive in the frosty mist that the Frost Blood Python used to sweep across heaven and earth.

    When he noticed that the seemingly unimpressive Mu Biqiong had killed Fang Yingying with some ck root that had grown out of her palm, he also gasped with shock and fear.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian and the girls had suddenly be one more deadly than another.

    Mu Biqiong stepped over to Fang Yingying¡¯s cold body and took off a suit of spiritual armor from her severed upper body. ¡°This suit of spiritual armor seems pretty good.¡±

    The spiritual armor was as light as silk, and exuded a silver aura.

    Clearly, it had been forged from Silicon Silver, which meant its defensive performance must be good too.

    Unfortunately, this suit of spiritual armor could only protect Fang Yingying¡¯s upper body, when she had been snapped by the ck demonic flower¡¯s root from around her waist, which the spiritual armor didn¡¯t cover.

    After looting the suit of spiritual armor, Mu Biqiong stood and observed with her hands wrung.

    After hearing the mother beetle¡¯s sharp screeches, the Silver Beetles in the other three nests had also fled into the depths of the earth. Not a single one could be seen now.

    Therefore, the other Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples had assumed that Fang Yingying and Luo Hui had finished their job sessfully in the mother beetle¡¯s nest.

    They had noticed the unfavorable situation upon seeing Yin Yanan and her eighth grade Frost Blood Python chasing them out of the tunnel.

    At this moment, the Frost Blood Python finally found a ce where it could disy its bloodline power as an eighth grade mutant spirit beast without scruples.

    A five kilometer radius was engulfed in a snowstorm. Even the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples¡¯ spirit vermin trembled in the frigid cold.

    The other Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples¡¯ teeth chattered as they called out miserably, ¡°Junior Martial Brother Luo!¡±

    Surprisingly, Fang Yingying¡¯s death didn¡¯t enrage Luo Hui. Instead, he stood behind his spider and gazed deeply at the Frost Blood Python, which was spewing frost mist unceasingly. After a moment of hesitation, hemanded in a loud voice, ¡°Let¡¯s end our trial, and get out of here now!¡±

    His decision agreed with the others¡¯ desire.

    In a split second, all of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples that were gathered here scattered and fled in different directions like scared birds.

    Luo Hui didn¡¯t dare to waste a second. He jumped onto his golden spider and ran at full speed. Like a streak of golden lightning, they disappeared into the distance in the next moment.

    Soon, not a single Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciple could be seen near the four Silver Beetle nests.

    Yin Yanan snorted disdainfully. ¡°They dug their own grave.¡±

    She didn¡¯t show any intention to chase after the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples. Instead, she told the Frost Blood Python to wrap up while she flew into another Silver Beetle nest herself.

    There were rtivelyrge holes in each of the four silver mountain peaks, through which the mother beetle could travel between them.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Deafening rumbles came from within the silver mountain peak Yin Yanan had just entered.

    After some time, Yin Yanan returned. Looking somewhat disappointed, he said, ¡°There were only two Silicon Silver protrusions in that nest. And they¡¯re much smaller than the ones we found in the nest where the mother beetle was. The amount of Silicon Silver they contain is also significantly smaller too.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, she went off to harvest Silicon Silver from the other two silver mountain peaks.

    With a surprised and fascinated look in his eyes, Nie Tian took a sideways nce at Mu Biqiong and thought to himself, <i>¡°That woman is as strong as a beast, but it still took her longer to collect two significantly smaller Silicon Silver protrusions than Mu Biqiong spent collecting sevenrge ones.¡± </i>

    Remembering the terrifying scene of that ck root growing out of her palm, Nie Tian suspected that she must have made use of the demonic nt¡¯s strength. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been so efficient.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Yin Yanan returned again, and ced seven Silicon Silver protrusions on the ground.

    These were the ones she had collected from the other Silver Beetle nests.

    Each of them was about five meters long, and exuded mysterious silver auras in the starlight.

    She nced at Mu Biqiong and Nie Tian.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t collect them,¡± Nie Tian said, spreading his hands.

    Mu Biqiong curled her lips as seven Silicon Silver protrusions flew out of her ring of holding, and were nted heavily into the solid ground like metal pirs.

    Each of these Silicon Silver protrusions was nearly ten meters tall, and considerably thicker than the ones Yin Yanan had collected.

    Even at this moment, they were still covered in thick ice that the eighth grade Frost Blood Python had created with its bloodline magic.

    ¡°There are a total of fourteen Silicon Silver protrusions. Seven of them arerger, and contain more Silicon Silver.¡± With these words, a hint of smile appeared at the corner of Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth. ¡°My Frost Blood Python first scared those two from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect into running. So I suppose I should take the most credit for our victory. Do you have different opinions?¡±

    Nie Tian seemed as if he didn¡¯t care at all. ¡°You two decide on how to split them. I¡¯ll be fine with whatever decision you make.¡±

    As precious as Silicon Silver was, it wouldn¡¯t be of great help to Nie Tian.

    The best quality of Silicon Silver was that it could greatly reduce any spiritual armor¡¯s weight, and make it more solid at the same time.

    However, he already had the me Dragon Armor. Also, with his immense flesh power and vigorous body, he would be able to bear the weight no matter how heavy a suit of spiritual armor was.

    Meanwhile, even though he didn¡¯t have the faintest idea as to how the me Dragon Armor had been forged, he didn¡¯t think he would be able to improve its solidarity by infusing it with Silicon Silver.

    Therefore, no matter how much Silicon Silver he obtained, he would just trade it away sooner orter.

    ¡°How do you propose we split them?¡± Mu Biqiong asked, looking at Yin Yanan.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take fiverge ones, and you two keep the rest,¡± Yin Yanan answered.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t haggle. She turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the seven small ones. The other tworge ones are yours.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Nie Tian said casually.

    Yin Yananughed. ¡°Good.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    With great force, the Frost Blood Python whipped one of therge Silicon Silver protrusions with its tail, which was covered in ck and white rings

    The ice on it instantly exploded, along with its rocky exterior.

    The explosion sent bits of ice and rock flying all directions before they fell like rain.

    The Silicon Silver protrusions instantly became seven or eight times smaller, as all that remained intact now was the pure Silicon Silver.

    Nie Tian then realized that their rocky exteriors were actually of no value at all, and that there was only a small amount of Silicon Silver in each stone protrusion.

    The exposed Silicon Silver shone with bright, silver light like a piece of premium-quality silver, but significantly lighter.

    The Frost Blood Python went on and whipped its tail a few more times, shattering the exteriors of the other four Silicon Silver protrusions.

    Afterwards, she put the five pieces of pure Silicon Silver into her ring of holding. With a bright smile, she said, ¡°Just this Silicon Silver alone has already made this trip a fruitful one.¡±

    Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as she put the seven smaller Silicon Silver protrusions into her ring of holding.

    Then, Nie Tian approached the remaining two Silicon Silver protrusions and stored them in his ring of holding.

    Like this, the spoils were split among the three of them.

    ¡°There seems to be something special with the hole the mother beetle fled into,¡± Mu Biqiong suggested. ¡°Are you interested in exploring it?¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan said, ¡°Forget it. There are far more other wondrous things in the Shatter Battlefield. We¡¯ve already taken enough from the mother Silver Beetle. Besides, none of us know what¡¯s hiding in that bottomless hole. Greed always leads to disastrous results.¡±

    Her berating tone made Mu Biqiong rather unhappy, yet she didn¡¯t say anything back to her. Instead, she shot Nie Tian a nce.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s not make things moreplicated than they already are.¡±

    Therefore, Yin Yanan summoned her air-transportation spiritual tool once again. The three of them jumped on board sessively and left.

    A few hours after they left...

    The Phantasm youngster who had pointed them in this direction arrived quietly.

    Standing atop the enormous skull made of discarnate souls, he came to a stop among the four Silver Beetle nests, where he examined the area with one of the Phantasms¡¯ unique soul magics.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re not here. Shouldn¡¯t a fierce battle have broken out between them so I can collect more souls?¡± After muttering these words, he flew into the four Silver Beetle nests one after another, and discovered that all of the Silicon Silver protrusions had been taken away.

    ¡°Which of them won? Those three or the people from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect?¡± After pondering the matter for a while, he muttered to himself, ¡°It¡¯s probably those three. That python was at the eighth grade. I suppose those Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples¡¯ spirit vermin couldn¡¯t match it in battle.¡±

    He leapt back onto the skull and flew away.

    ...

    Nie Tian sat in the lotus position in a corner of Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool. Piled up before him were arge number of materials and medicinal nts that contained rich wood power.

    He was channeling wisps of pure wood power from them.

    Every once in awhile, he would also swallow a piece of spirit beast meat, and use its flesh power and the flesh power he had absorbed from the Silver Beetles to refine his meridians using Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Flesh auras gradually built up and started to surge within his meridians like a flood charging through a broken dam.

    His meridians started to rupture under the rampant flesh auras¡¯ repeated blows.

    Meanwhile, wisps of wood power came in like a drizzle on the spring wind to nourish the ruptured parts, fix the damage, and reforge his meridians.

    Afterwards, the new meridians became even thicker, and as strong as metal. From the look of it, they would now be able to allow more spiritual power and flesh power to run through them.

    As his meridians continued to break and heal under Heavenly Wood Heal¡¯s effect, frantic flesh power fluctuations came from him unceasingly.

    Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect didn¡¯t practice any sort of body refining incantations. She took a nce at him, but after failing to see what was going on with him, she withdrew her gaze and focused on her own cultivation.

    Yin Yanan and her Frost Blood Python, however, had strange looks in their eyes as they stared at him.

    Yin Yanan secretlymunicated with the Frost Blood Python about her spections. ¡°He seems to be using the Floragrims¡¯ special body refining technique.

    ¡°And arge amount of wood power... Can he be a hybrid of a human and a Floragrim, so he carries the Floragrim¡¯s bloodline so he can practice their special body refining technique?¡±

    The Frost Blood Python shook its head slightly.

    ¡°No? If it¡¯s not a Floragrim¡¯s, then which kind of bloodline does he carry?¡± Yin Yanan asked in soul voice.

    The Frost Blood Python once again shook its head. Eyes filled with confusion, it told her that Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was very special; even it couldn¡¯t read his bloodline seals.

    ¡°Even though the Frost Python part of your bloodline is rather new, the Blood Stripe Python part of your bloodline is very ancient. You¡¯ve already entered the eighth grade. If even you can¡¯t see the origin of his bloodline, that only makes me even more curious about his background.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan gazed at Nie Tian with a puzzled and thoughtful expression.

 Chapter 825: A Friendly Battle

    Days passed, and Nie Tian slowly opened his eyes.

    Even though Meridian Toughening, the third phase of Heavenly Wood Heal, was not yet finished, he had broken and reforged most of his meridians. The only meridians he had yet to toughen were the ones that connected his heart and other internal organs.

    He had a feeling that he would be finished with the Meridian Toughening phase once he finished toughening those meridians.

    However, that also seemed to be the most difficult part of this phase.

    He had long since used up the flesh power he had absorbed from the Silver Beetles, and he had consumed arge amount of spirit beast meat as well.

    As he opened his eyes, Yin Yanan seemed to notice something, and also gradually awoke from an intense cultivation state.

    She was wreathed in the strong flesh auras of more than a hundred kinds of ferocious spirit beasts. Nie Tian listened with rapt attention, and could faintly hear their roars.

    Their air-transportation spiritual tool suddenly came to a stop.

    Because of this, Mu Biqiong also awoke from her cultivation.

    Her soul awareness spread out like a huge, but failed to discover anything strange.

    Nie Tian fixed Yin Yanan with a puzzled look.

    WHOOSH!

    Yin Yanan jumped off the air-transportation spiritual tool andnded on the dark gray ground. Gazing up at Nie Tian, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s have a friendly battle, you and me. I won¡¯t use any spiritual power or have the Frost Blood Python help me, nothing but flesh power. I want to see how powerful your body really is.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Is that necessary?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be a friendly battle. That¡¯s all. You¡¯re not afraid, are you?¡± Yin Yanan said with a teasing tone. ¡°I felt something when you practiced cultivation, and realized that the body refining incantation you practice is far beyond ordinary. I knew you were special back when you sank to the bottom of that soul crystalke in the forbidden region.¡±

    A surprised and intrigued look appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she realized that the reason why Yin Yanan had stopped her air-transportation spiritual tool was just because she wanted to challenge Nie Tian to a friendly battle.

    ¡°You¡¯re not actually afraid of her, are you?¡± Mu Biqiong tried to fan the fire. ¡°She won¡¯t use her spiritual power or Frost Blood Python. It¡¯ll only be a sh between your fleshly bodies. What¡¯s there to worry about?¡±

    Provoked by the girls, Nie Tian gave a unrestrainedugh and nodded. ¡°Alright then.¡±

    He then leapt off the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Before he evennded, Yin Yanan let out a bellow and dashed to the ce where Nie Tian was going tond like leopard waiting for its prey.

    Clusters of blood-colored light came to form between her hands, from which came fierce beast roars.

    Like the eyes of some ancient beast, the seven clusters of blood-colored light, each of which was the size of antern and carried her vigorous flesh power, bombarded Nie Tian.

    With a chuckle, Nie Tian swung his fists repeatedly in the air, and fist seals shot towards the clusters of blood-colored light one after another.

    The seven clusters of blood-colored light exploded in the next moment.

    In a rain of spattering blood-colored light, Nie Tiannded heavily like a cannonball, his feet making two deep holes in the solid ground.

    A impressed look shed across Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes as she eximed, ¡°Not bad.¡±

    BOOM! BOOM!

    She swung her fists, sending out fist sts along with streaks of blood-colored light, which constantly morphed as they sped through the air.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, she seemed to be changing between different kinds of ancient spirit beasts. In one moment, she was a raging bull from the Deste Antiquity Era; in the next moment, she turned into a giant ape d in golden armor; after that, she morphed into a bloodthirsty python.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s fist sts came swirling towards him, stirring the air so much that they gave rise to crackling sounds.

    Streaks of blood-colored light eventually came together to form a ferocious Blood Stripe Python, which opened its mouth as if to devour Nie Tian whole.

    Standing unwavering like arge rock, Nie Tian nted his feet into the ground and threw a palm strike skywards.

    An intense flesh aura instantly shot out of his palm, morphing into arge, crimson hand that was the size of a table.

    BOOM!

    The Blood Stripe Python¡¯s head shattered as it mmed into therge hand. Then, Yin Yanan revealed herself.

    The two of them tangled up in close-upbat as they attacked each other repeatedly with their elbows, knees, fists, and feet. Every sh of their bodies gave rise to thunderous sounds.

    Nie Tian had plenty of experience of fighting outsiders in close quarters, so all sorts of exquisite battle techniques appeared as the fight went on.

    Yin Yanan was also very skilled at fighting in close quarters. The toughness of her body was not any inferior to Nie Tian¡¯s.

    The two of them were well-matched, and the battle became increasingly fierce.

    Soon, after suffering repeated blows from Yin Yanan¡¯s vigorous flesh power attacks, Nie Tian was the first to have tears appear on his skin with beads of blooding out of them.

    Yin Yanan, however, seemedpletely unscratched.

    But somehow, the look on her face grew increasingly grim as she fought on.

    She had a good understanding of Nie Tian¡¯s condition as wisps of her flesh power mmed into his body.

    She could tell that, even though Nie Tian seemed to have suffered injuries, those were actually only flesh wounds. None of his internal organs, bones, or meridians had been damaged.

    However, her flesh power would scatter and vanish soon after entering Nie Tian¡¯s body,

    She discovered that Nie Tian¡¯s bones were tough like crystals, his internal organs were solid like rocks, and his meridians looked as if they had been forged from metal strings. All of these three most important and fragile parts of a living creature were stronger than she had imagined.

    At the same time, the raging flesh auras Nie Tian unleashed on her afflicted her with great pain.

    Even though she didn¡¯t sustain any fleshly wounds, her five yin organs and six yang organs gradually ruptured after taking repeated blows.

    Only a few minutester, she ended the increasingly fierce battle.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to pursue her, but rather looked down at his tattered garments and the fine wounds all over him. Smiling, he said, ¡°You seem to be better than I am.¡±

    Without saying a word, Yin Yanan jumped back onto the air-transportation spiritual tool, where she sat down, took out spirit beast meat from within her ring of holding, and started munching on it. At the same time, she took out a medicinal pill that reeked of blood and stuffed it down her throat.

    Nie Tian let out a low chuckle as he also took out pieces of spirit beast meat and wolfed them down.

    Mu Biqiong, who had been observing this whole time, didn¡¯t have a keen perception of flesh aura. Judging by their looks, Yin Yanan was clearly in better shape, as she hadn¡¯t sustained any noticeable injuries.

    Nie Tian, however, was covered in bloody wounds, looking rather bedraggled.

    A hint of disdain appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes. ¡°He isn¡¯t so invincible for a Son of the Stars who has been acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after all, right? His battle prowess seems to be just so so without that puppet and special air-transportation spiritual tool to help him.¡±

    After stuffing the medicinal pill down her throat, Yin Yanan shot her a cold look. ¡°You don¡¯t know squat!¡±

    Yin Yanan was well-aware that all of the injuries Nie Tian had sustained were just flesh wounds, which wouldn¡¯t affect his battle prowess at all.

    She, on the other hand, had sustained injuries to her internal organs, meridians, and bones. If the fight had continued, her internal organs and meridians would have ruptured, causing her to bleed from the inside.

    She also knew that Nie Tian not only hadn¡¯t used a shred of spiritual power, but he hadn¡¯t even used any of the secret magics he had learned from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    This meant, fighting by relying solely on flesh power, she was actually the one who had lost.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian leapt into the air-transportation spiritual tool, yet his wounds had already scabbed over.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face grew very sullen as she nced at Nie Tian, and saw that his wounds that were already almost healed.

    SHEW!

    Her air-transportation spiritual tool suddenly restarted and shot off at full speed.

    She sat there in the lotus position,pletely silent, as if she were trying to heal herself as fast as possible.

    Nie Tian, however, had already healed his fleshly wounds to a great extent after wolfing down some spirit beast meat and activating Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Yin Yanan didn¡¯t challenge Nie Tian to another fight after that.

    A few days passed...

    Their air-transportation spiritual tool suddenly entered a vast, open mountain valley, where they saw the corpses of hundreds of human Qi warriors.

    Judging from their garments, they had clearly belonged to different sects.

    All of the corpses were shriveled and scattered in every corner of the valley, and an intense aura of death pervaded the valley.

    After the air-transportation spiritual tool came to a stop, Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect looked down and said in a soft voice, ¡°A fierce battle must have broken out between two human sects here. It¡¯s said that some human sects choose to settle their feuds bying to fight in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    ¡°This battle must have taken ce many years ago,¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    None of the shriveled corpses contained a shred of flesh aura, which indicated that they had all died a very long time ago. Furthermore, someone seemed to have already taken their spiritual tools and rings of holding. The three of them wouldn¡¯t find anything even if they searched them again.

    After a few nces, Yin Yanan decided not to waste their time here, and thus restarted her air-transportation spiritual tool and left.

    A few minutes after their air-transportation spiritual tool left, a translucent, sparkling skeleton climbed from under a pile of several corpses.

    It was a young Bonebrute.

    All of his bones looked like beautiful jade, and had sparkling light flowing through them. Not only was he not as lifeless as the other Bonebrutes, but he actually seemed to be brimming with life force.

    His eyes glittered as he watched the air-transportation spiritual tool fly farther and farther away, indicating that he was also very intelligent and spiritual.

    After they disappeared, he stopped looking at it, but refocused on absorbing death power from the numerous human corpses and refining himself with it.

    A long time passed...

    The Phantasm youngster arrived on that enormous skull of discarnate souls.

    The Bonebrute youngster had hidden his soul fluctuations and unique aura with a secret magic when Nie Tian and the girls had arrived. Thus, even Nie Tian had failed to sense his existence.

    However, he didn¡¯t try to hide himself when the Phantasm youngster arrived. Instead, he continued to practice cultivation on a pile of human corpses.

    The Phantasm youngster seemed to know him, as he asked upon arrival, ¡°Did you see three humans passing though this area? One of the girls has an eighth grade python with her.¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± the Bonebrute youngster said coldly. ¡°That python seemed to be rather powerful, and the other two also seemed dangerous.¡±

    The Phantasm youngster nodded and said with a smile, ¡°Yeah, perhaps neither of us can take them single-handedly, but we¡¯ll have better odds if we join up. Are you interested?¡±

    The Bonebrute youngster¡¯s eyes looked around for a bit before saying, ¡°No, I still don¡¯t like the odds.¡±

    The Phantasm youngster pondered briefly before saying, ¡°What if I can persuade Gutas to join us?¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it with you if Gutas agrees to join us,¡± The Bonebrute youngster said.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be back.¡± With a chuckle, the Phantasm youngster shot into the distance on that enormous skull of his, as if he had left to get powerful reinforcements.

    ...

    A few dayster, a cyan-brown mountain peak entered Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    Scattered around the mountain peak were about a dozen human Qi warriors, all of whom were at the Worldly or Profound realm.

    All of them were facing the mountain peak, their glittering eyes fixed on its rocky surface, as if they were trying to derive enlightenment from something.

    Aftering closer, Nie Tian discovered that the mountain peak¡¯s surface was actually carved with countless peculiar patterns, which seemed to carry profound meaning.

    Yin Yanan stopped and jumped off the air-transportation spiritual tool. Approaching the mysterious mountain peak, she asked one of the Qi warriors, ¡°What are you all looking at?¡±

 Chapter 826: Dao Enlightenment Rock

    The early Profound realm Qi warrior was examining the patterns carved on the mountain¡¯s surface wholeheartedly in an attempt to derive enlightenment from it.

    He was originally rather displeased to be disturbed, but after he turned around and discovered that it was a woman with a steaming hot body and fine looks, he swallowed the words he was about to say.

    Immediately afterwards, he saw Mu Biqiong, who was wearing a veil, but her curvaceous and graceful posture indicated that she was also a beauty.

    Finally, a smile appeared on his face as he answered, ¡°Deriving enlightenment of Dao.¡±

    ¡°Deriving enlightenment of Dao?¡± Yin Yanan then examined the numerous strange patterns on the mountain¡¯s surface. ¡°You¡¯re not telling me that those messy patterns carry some kind of profound truths, are you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the man said with all seriousness. ¡°For thousands of years, many havee and derived profound enlightenment from them. Humans have derived incredible spiritual incantations from them, while outsiders have derived powerful bloodline magics from them. So people call this ce the Dao Enlightenment Rock. Of course, very few of those whoe here can actually derive profound enlightenment. The vast majority return empty-handed.¡±

    ¡°How did those patternse to form?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    The man shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve only heard people talking about this ce for many years, and thus came to try my luck.¡±

    With these words, he asked, ¡°Where are you lot from?¡±

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven Boundaries.¡± Yin Yanan came out with the truth.

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven Boundaries?¡± The man shook his head again. ¡°Never heard of it. What domain are your most powerful experts at?¡±

    ¡°The peak of the Void domain,¡± Yin Yanan answered.

    A shred of disdain appeared in the man¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°The peak of the Void domain... So that means your domain is only an elementary-grade human domain. Only people with outstanding talent have a chance at deriving enlightenment from these profound patterns.¡±

    The meaning behind his words was that Yin Yanan and her friends didn¡¯t fall into this category.

    Without getting angry, Yin Yanan continued to chat with him to obtain more information.

    As she did, Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong stayed behind and nced around with bored expressions.

    Soon, Nie Tian noticed that, judging by the way they were dressed, the Qi warriors here were all from different sects.

    All of them seemed to be at the Worldly or Profound realm. He didn¡¯t see anyone truly powerful.

    The cyan-brown mountain peak was only about a thousand meters high. Strange patterns could be seen on its surface from different angles, so the Qi warriors of unknown origins were scattered around the mountain peaks.

    They would also move from ce to ce to observe the mountain peak from different directions.

    All that could be seen surrounding the mountain peak was hard, barrennd. There was no grass, trees, or any signs of spirit beasts or insects living in the vicinity.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this ce was so faint that it was negligible.

    While Yin Yanan still talked to the man, Nie Tian withdrew his gaze from his surroundings, but focused on the curious patterns on the mountain¡¯s surface.

    After observing them for a while, he examined them with his soul awareness, but still failed to find anything noteworthy.

    At this moment, he couldn¡¯t help but think of his senior martial brother, Duan Shihu. He assumed that if Duan Shihu were here, given his attainments in magical symbols, perhaps he would be able to derive some enlightenment from these seemingly disorderly lines.

    Byparison, he knew nothing about spell formations, spiritual maps, or magical symbols.

    After some time, he decided not to waste more time on them, and thus said to Yin Yanan in a low, urging voice, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to see here. Let¡¯s get out of here now.¡±

    ¡°Not yet,¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°Let¡¯s observe for a bit longer.¡±

    Then, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong joined the others in observing the mountain¡¯s surface with wide eyes. Their gazes constantly shifted among the mysterious lines as they tried to derive incantations or profound knowledge from the peculiar patterns.

    Nie Tian grew increasingly bored.

    After his experience with the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples, he was convinced that there was no peace or harmony in the Shatter Battlefield, even among humans.

    It was a bit strange that these Qi warriors from different sects were actually deriving enlightenment in peace.

    Hours passed...

    Nie Tian overheard the Qi warriors¡¯ conversations, and learn that some of them were from the same domain, and knew each other.

    The domain they were from seemed to be more advanced than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, since they seemed to have Saint domain experts in their sects.

    They had alsoe to the Shatter Battlefield, apanied by their seniors. It was just that their seniors had marched deep into the Shatter Battlefield and left them to explore the outermost ring.

    Some of them had already been in the Shatter Battlefield for three years. However, some of them had had a productive trip, while other had gained absolutely nothing.

    Four more hours passed...

    To his surprise, Nie Tian discovered that the Frost Blood Python, which was coiled by Yin Yanan¡¯s feet, suddenly had a bright light shine in the depths of its eyes.

    The Frost Blood Python had one eye as clear as ice, while the other was dark-red like blood.

    It seemed to have inherited that dark-red eye from its Blood Stripe Python bloodline. At this moment, blood strands started to appear within that eye.

    Numerous blood strands soon built up within that eye.

    Wisps of soul power that contained an ancient spirit beast¡¯s aura shot out of it as the Frost Blood Python stared unblinkingly at the mountain¡¯s surface, where lines interwove in a disorderly fashion.

    Wisps of soul power seemed to infuse into those lines, turning them as red as blood.

    Yin Yanan jerked awake. She took a look at the Frost Blood Python, and thenid her eyes on the lines in the mountain¡¯s surface it was gazing at. Her bright eyes lit up.

    She hadn¡¯t expected that the Frost Blood Python would have discovered something from the peculiar lines in the mountain¡¯s surface when she hadn¡¯t derived the slightest enlightenment from them.

    The anomaly with the Frost Blood Python attracted the attention of and surprised the Qi warriors that were gathered in this ce.

    They cast their gazes in her direction one after another.

    The man who had been talking to Yin Yanan couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What grade is your Frost Python at?¡±

    Like Fang Yingying from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect, he also assumed that the Frost Blood Python was just a regr Frost Python, which wasmonly seen in many domains.

    Normally speaking, Frost Pythons were born as second grade spirit beasts, and it would take a long time for them to grow and build up strength.

    Since they started so low, it was almost impossible for them to advance to the seventh or eighth grade.

    The most powerful Frost Python he had ever heard of had been at the seventh grade.

    Meanwhile, the strength of a sixth grade Frost Python would only be equal to that of a Profound realm human cultivator, which wasn¡¯t very impressive.

    Because of this, he hadn¡¯t paid special attention to Yin Yanan, this foreign Qi warrior who had a Frost Python as her pet spirit beast.

    The fact that amonly seen Frost Python actually managed to derive enlightenment from the profound lines on the mountain¡¯s surface took them by surprise.

    Smiling, Yin Yanan answered casually, ¡°The sixth grade.¡±

    The man didn¡¯t seem surprised by her answer. Looking somewhat envious, he said, ¡°Since it actually derived enlightenment from the lines on the mountain¡¯s surface, it¡¯ll have a great chance at entering the seventh grade in the future. A seventh grade Frost Python is gonna be a strong force. You¡¯re quite lucky to have it.¡±

    Yin Yanan was very immodest as she said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve always been lucky.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, even if it enters the seventh grade, a Frost Python¡¯s intelligence still won¡¯t be remarkable,¡± the man said, looking rather pitiful. ¡°If it possessed remarkable intelligence that allowed you tomunicate with it at a soul level, then you¡¯d be able to ask it how it managed to derive enlightenment from the peculiar lines on the mountain¡¯s surface.¡±

    Yin Yanan smiled at at him, not saying a word.

    What happened to the Frost Python seemed to provoke the other Qi warriors.

    They became even more concentrated as they examined the lines on the mountain¡¯s surface with their soul awarenesses, hoping to discover their secrets, and derive profound spiritual incantations and enlightenment regarding cultivation like the rumors had promised.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t. Instead, he sat and practiced cultivation by himself at the foot of the mountain peak.

    After an unknown period of time, Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation.

    His eyebrows slowly furrowed as he turned his head to look around.

    His unique bloodline allowed him to shrewdly discover that three strands of suppressed flesh auras were lurking in the vicinity.

    Judging from their fluctuations, they didn¡¯t belong to humans.

    Momentster, the wind carried faint death Qi, phantasm Qi, and demon Qi to the mountain valley.

    Even though other Qi warriors also noticed the special Qi in the air, they didn¡¯t attach any importance to the change.

    Unlike other ces, many regions in the Shatter Battlefield were wreathed in phantasm Qi or demon Qi, and it was normal for them to flow from ce to ce.

    Soon, Death Qi, phantasm Qi, and demon Qi pervaded the mountain valley.

    The Qi warriors gathered here were clearly unadapted to them, so one after another they formed spiritual power wards around themselves to ward off the outsider Qi.

    Nie Tian grew uneasy as he said in a low voice, ¡°Trouble ising.¡±

    Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    ¡°Something is wrong,¡± Nie Tian said, his face grim. ¡°I sense three strands of hidden auras in the vicinity, and they¡¯re not human.¡±

    Yin Yanan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Do we need to be afraid?¡±

    Obviously, she was secure in the knowledge that she had the eighth grade Frost Blood Python as her strong backing.

    Furthermore, since the Frost Blood Python was still focused on deriving enlightenment from the peculiar lines on the mountain¡¯s surface, she wouldn¡¯t leave even if she sensed a threat.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that we need to be careful,¡± Nie Tian said, looking calm andposed.

    Yin Yanan seemedpletely unconcerned as she said, ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s see what kind of trouble they¡¯re going to give us.¡±

    Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect also stood in ce and didn¡¯t show the slightest intention of leaving.

    Simrly, she had strong confidence in the demonic nt inside of her, and didn¡¯t think the three lurkers were any kind of threat to her.

    On the other side of the mountain peak, a middle Worldly realm Qi warrior, who was at the same realm as Nie Tian, sprang to his feet and cursed, ¡°Damn it. Howe the phantasm Qi and demon Qi are growing denser and denser in the air? I can¡¯t stay in this damned ce anymore. I¡¯m out of here.¡±

    It was very consuming to keep spiritual power wards up for a long time.

    He needed to leave and find another ce to recover his strength. Otherwise, he would only be weaker and weaker.

    A few other Worldly realm Qi warriors rose to their feet after him, their faces grim.

    They all found their spiritual power consumption too great to afford.

    Just as they were about to leave, they shot Nie Tian a nce, and were bbergasted.

    Nie Tian was at the same realm as they were, yet he hadn¡¯t formed a spiritual power ward to protect himself.

    Nie Tian was the only one who was exposed in the phantasm Qi, demon Qi, and death Qi.

    ¡°I have a special tool on me,¡± Nie Tian exined, smiling.

    He had long since grown used to the extreme environment in the Realm of Split Void. He actually developed the ability to close up his pores to stop the outsider Qi from entering his unearthly tough body.

    This was something even Yin Yanan couldn¡¯t do.

    Even though the Worldly realm cultivators still found it incredible after hearing Nie Tian¡¯s exnation, they didn¡¯t intend to pursue the matter, and thus scattered again.

    A few minutester...

    ¡°If there are no mishaps, those who left are probably dead by now,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

 Chapter 827: Outsider Chosen Ones

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t show any response after hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, their faces expressionless.

    It seemed as if the deaths of those Qi warriors didn¡¯t cause even the slightest wave in their hearts.

    Nie Tian snorted augh and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you two broad-minded.¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anything else. A cold look appeared in his eyes as he kept a close watch on the three lurkers¡¯ movements, wondering what they were nning to do.

    All of the Qi warriors who had left this ce had been at the Worldly realm.

    Nie Tian realized that he couldn¡¯t sense their flesh auras anymore and thus was convinced that they had died. At the same time, the originally faint death Qi in the air grew considerably denser.

    The fact that they heard nothing when those Worldly realm Qi warriors had been killed proved that their killers must have extraordinary means.

    As intense demon Qi and phantasm Qi continued to pour into the mountain valley, the mountain peak, which the Qi warriors referred to as the Dao Enlightenment Rock, was gradually submerged in thick demon and phantasm Qi.

    Nie Tian looked up, and the starlit sky was already blocked from view.

    ¡°Something is wrong.¡± The early Profound realm Qi warrior who Yin Yanan had talked to earlier sensed the unfavorable situation.

    With a deep frown, he took out a Sound Stone from within his cuff, and whispered a few words into it.

    From the look of it, he was friends with some of the Qi warriors who had left, and now he was hoping to talk to them through his Sound Stone.

    His face grew grimmer as he held the Sound Stone to his ear, waiting for a response.

    He took a deep breath and called out, ¡°I can¡¯t get in touch with Qiao Fei!¡±

    The other Qi warriors who were gathered around the Dao Enlightenment Rock all stopped what they were doing and gazed at him from afar with furrowed eyebrows.

    Two others also took out their Sound Stones and whispered something into them.

    Momentster, their faces turned very grim as they said, ¡°Nothing.¡±

    At this moment, all of them connected this to the increasingly rich phantasm Qi and demon Qi, and sensed imminent danger.

    ¡°We need to get out of here now!¡± They exchanged a nce and instantly gathered to one point, where they prepared to leave the Dao Enlightenment Rock.

    The thick demon Qi, phantasm Qi, and death Qi that was slowly building up would put humans at a disadvantage in battle. Therefore, whether danger was lurking around them or not, it was wise to leave as soon as possible.

    With puzzled expressions, they cast their gazes towards Yin Yanan. ¡°Aren¡¯t you leaving?¡±

    Not only did the three of them not move at all, but they didn¡¯t even have the slightest fear on their faces.

    ¡°No,¡± Yin Yanan said coldly.

    The man nodded and said, ¡°Suit yourselves.¡±

    Then, he picked a direction where the phantasm Qi and demon Qi was less thick, and dashed off at full speed with the other Profound realm Qi warriors.

    As they did, a few air-transportation spiritual tools rose up and joined them in fleeing at full speed.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    However, they only flew several hundred meters before they suddenly fell off their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    However, the inertia carried their air-transportation spiritual tools forward.

    Those who fell from their air-transportation spiritual tools gasped with shock and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s the Phantasms¡¯ Dark Soul Ward!¡±

    Nie Tian slowly rose to his feet. Gazing at them from afar, he muttered in a low voice, ¡°Dark Soul Ward...¡±

    He had fought a powerful Phantasm named Armes, which made him rather familiar with this particr Phantasm bloodline magic.

    Phantasms could use Dark Soul Ward to confine souls. When he had attempted to escape the Dark Soul Ward during his battle against Armes, he had suffered the agony of his soul being separated from his body, and thus had been forced to stay.

    Those Profound realm Qi warriors might be able to separate their souls from their bodies, but once they abandoned their bodies, it would mean the end of their path of cultivation.

    Besides, after being stripped of their bodies, their souls would suffer more miserable fates if the Phantasm were to unleash soul magics on them.

    WHOOSH!

    An enormous skull flew over.

    Sitting on the skull was none other than the Phantasm youngster who Nie Tian and the girls had met once.

    As the youngster¡¯s face split into a grin, the skull, which was formed by countless discarnate souls, opened its huge mouth.

    Two Profound realm Qi warriors instantly had their true souls ripped out of their seas of awareness.

    In the next moment, their true souls disappeared into the skull¡¯s unfathomable mouth.

    After losing their true souls, the two Profound realm Qi warriors copsed to the ground, bereft of any life force.

    The few other Profound realm Qi warriors¡¯ faces turn pale with fright as they subconsciously stepped backwards.

    The skull went on to channel their true souls. However, they either practiced profound incantations or possessed powerful spiritual tools, so they all managed to pin their true souls in their seas of awareness, and escaped death.

    Like bolts of lightning, they shot back to the Dao Enlightenment Rock.

    The Phantasm youngster had a hearty smile on his face as he controlled the enormous skull that he sat on to fly over in an unhurried fashion.

    Instead of the five Profound realm Qi warriors, the Phantasm youngster looked at Nie Tian and the girls and said, ¡°Long time no see. I suppose you¡¯ve taken the Silicon Silver from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect¡¯s hands, right?¡±

    Yin Yanan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Yeah, so?¡±

    With a smile, the youngster said, ¡°Good. You know Silicon Silver is not only of great value to you humans, but to us too. Originally, I assumed that a fierce battle would break out between you and those Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples, but I only found the corpse of one of them after I arrived.¡±

    Yin Yanan didn¡¯t chime in. Instead, she ced her hand on the Frost Blood Python¡¯s head and sent it a message.

    In the next moment, her expression flickered.

    The Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul awareness was still examining the Dao Enlightenment Rock and deriving enlightenment from thoseplicated lines. It didn¡¯t even respond to her call.

    If the Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul awareness didn¡¯t return, it meant she no longer had her strongest backing.

    The Phantasm youngster¡¯s gruesome skull made even the eighth grade Frost Blood Python apprehensive. Therefore, she was no longer confident now that she had lost the Frost Blood Python¡¯s backing for the time being.

    ¡°There¡¯s a problem, Nie Tian,¡± She whispered.

    Nie Tian had already noticed the anomaly, but he remained calm as he asked the Phantasm youngster, ¡°Where are your friends? Let me guess. One of them is a Demon, and the other is a Bonebrute. Am I right?¡±

    The man who had talked to Yin Yanan earlier burst into a ming rage. ¡°You knew that outsiders have been lurking in the dark?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I knew,¡± Nie Tian answered with understatement.

    The Phantasm youngster held out his thumb towards Nie Tian. ¡°Impressive. I can¡¯t believe you actually sensed our presence. You three are what we came for. The others are only add-ons.¡±

    Then, his eyes suddenly narrowed. ¡°You seem to have something that shouldn¡¯t belong to you.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    The Phantasm youngster¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement. ¡°A Spirit Pearl.¡±

    With these words, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly burst forth with bright light.

    Fine cyan lightning bolts then appeared and interwove within the prismatic crystal, as if they were manipting the Dark Soul Ward.

    Like a huge, the Dark Soul Ward started to shrink at an rming speed, the space inside of it bing smaller and smaller.

    CRACK!

    All of a sudden, the ground where everyone was standing cracked, and a translucent bony hand thrust out.

    Standing on the crack was a middle Profound realm Qi warrior. The bony hand caught him by his ankle and dragged him into the earth.

    The man¡¯s bloodcurdling scream came from under the ground, but stopped abruptly in the next moment.

    The remaining four Qi warriors gasped with shock as they hastily jumped away. ¡°That¡¯s a Bonebrute!¡±

    Blood spilled from the crack in the earth, which indicated the man¡¯s instant death.

    Then, a short Bonebrute slowly climbed out of the bloody crack.

    However, he didn¡¯t have a single shred of blood on his translucent and sparkling bones after he came out. Misty light could be seen flowing within his jade-like skeleton.

    An aura that could wither all things gradually rose from his small bony body, and pervaded the entire area.

    All of the Qi warriors in his surroundings gasped with astonishment as they hastily infused their wards with more spiritual power to stop the aura of death from infiltrating them.

    ¡°Bonebrute...¡± With a surprised expression, Nie Tian examined the Bonebrute. After a moment of pondering, he asked, ¡°Do you know Xing Bo from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect? He¡¯s from the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    After Xing Bo¡¯s collusion with the Bonebrutes had been brought to light, he had escaped the pursuit of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s experts, along with a Void domain elder. With the Bonebrutes¡¯ help, they had fled to a Bonebrute realm.

    Before he had left, he had imed that he would enter the Shatter Battlefield, and people were wee toe and settle ounts with him.

    Xing Bo had killed Zhen Hun and captured Pei Qiqi. Nie Tian had long since put him on his must-kill list.

    That was why he thought of Xing Bo as soon as he saw a Bonebrute.

    ¡°Xing Bo... the Domain of Heaven Python...¡± the Bonebrute youngster muttered in fluent humannguage. ¡°He sounds familiar, but I can¡¯t be sure. I suppose he has connections with another branch of our race, and has alsoe to the Shatter Battlefield through our spatial tunnel.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Do you know where he is?¡±

    The Bonebrute youngster ran his round eyes up and down Nie Tian. With a puzzled expression, he said, ¡°You¡¯re going to die soon. Why do you still care about that?¡±

    With these words, he summoned a bone saber that was only half a meter long.

    However, as soon as he did, the death Qi in the air seemed to suddenly seethe.

    With a quick motion, he swung the bone saber towards the four Profound realm Qi warriors.

    Numerous sparkling and crystal-clear spots flew out of the bone saber as an overwhelming aura of death instantly engulfed the four.

    The bone saber seemed to be vested with unlimited power by Death.

    Deeply panicked, they screamed within the thick aura of death, as if they had recognized the Bonebrute youngster, ¡°That¡¯s that legendary bone saber!¡±

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Their spiritual tools and spiritual armor were all as fragile as paper before the bone saber. They shattered along with their owners.

    As the Bonebrute made a few shing motions with the bone saber, the four Qi warriors were cut to pieces. Then, their death aura was channeled away from their mangled bodies and absorbed by the bone saber, which made the bright spots on the bone saber even brighter.

    The most powerful of the four Qi warriors was at thete Profound realm.

    However, none of them were able to even hold on for a few seconds facing the bone saber.

    At this point, the foreign Qi warriors who had been gathered around the Dao Enlightenment Rock had all been wiped out.

    Not the slightest change could be seen in the Bonebrute youngster¡¯s eyes after he ughtered the four Qi warriors. He turned to the Phantasm youngster and demanded, ¡°I want half of the Silicon Silver.¡±

    At this moment, a thunderous voice came from the distance. ¡°I want that eighth grade python!¡±

    In the next moment, a tall youngster dressed in ck garments and a violet-gold belt strode into everyone¡¯s view.

    Judging from his purple hair and pupils, he was clearly a high-tier Demon. However, the ferocious look in his eyes made him look like a frenzied beast from Demon realms, not a creature with remarkable intelligence.

    Raging flesh auras wreathed him as he arrived in the blink of an eye.

    A vicious smile appeared on the Phantasm youngster¡¯s face as heid his eyes on Nie Tian and the girls and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take the other half of the Silicon Silver and that Spirit Pearl.¡±

    The three outsiders rapidly reached a mutual understanding.

    ¡°The Spirit Pearl...¡± Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul awareness into his ring of holding. In the next moment, the Spirit Pearl flew out andnded in his palm.

    ¡°You do have a Spirit Pearl!¡± The Phantasm youngster eximed, looking overjoyed.

    ¡°Come on out!¡± As Nie Tian shouted these words, the Bone Blood Demon also flew out of his ring of holding andnded with a loud crash.

    The sight of the Bone Blood Demon put burning fury in the Bonebrute youngster¡¯s eyes. ¡°A senior of our race! I can¡¯t believe you actually turned him into a puppet!¡±

    Pointing at Nie Tian, he shouted, ¡°He¡¯s mine!¡±

 Chapter 828: Being Each Otherâ€™s Poison

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim as he adjusted his breathing.

    The Bonebrute had brandished his bone saber a few times and ughtered four Profound realm Qi warriors without any effort. The battle prowess he had disyed was simply terrifying.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, this Bonebrute before him was only at the sixth grade.

    Normally speaking, a sixth grade Bonebrute¡¯s strength should be at the same level as a Profound realm Qi warrior¡¯s.

    The fact that he was able to kill four Profound realm Qi warriors so easily, when one of them was even at thete Profound realm, was something Nie Tian had never expected.

    Nie Tian¡¯s gaze quicklynded on the bone saber in the Bonebrute¡¯s hand.

    He suspected that that bone saber was the reason why this sixth grade Bonebrute was so overwhelmingly powerful.

    Furthermore, the four Qi warriors had mentioned that the bone saber seemed to be a legendary item of the Bonebrutes right before their deaths.

    With such thoughts on his mind, he reached the conclusion that the bone saber must have an extraordinary origin.

    Besides, the fact that this Bonebrute held such a powerful magical treasure when he was only at the sixth grade proved his lofty status in the Bonebrute race.

    He instantly realized that he must be facing a rising star of the Bonebrute race.

    Only this could exin why he possessed such a treasure that enhanced his battle prowess far beyond his grade.

    ¡°Kill that one!¡± Nie Tian sent a soulmand to the Bone Blood Demon.

    THUMP!

    The Bone Blood Demon took arge step, and its mountain-like body stood between Nie Tian and the Bonebrute youngster.

    Fury shed across the Bonebrute youngster¡¯s eyes as he saw the Bone Blood Demon standing before him.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s pupils were grayish green, while the Bonebrute youngster¡¯s pupils were emerald green.

    His eyes were like two emeralds that were embedded in his head. When they rolled in their sockets, they looked very intelligent.

    A hint of mockery appeared in his emerald eyes as he gently cast his bone saber towards the Bone Blood Demon. ¡°You actually want to stop me with a member of my race?¡±

    The countless sparkling, crystal-clear spots on the bone saber instantly lit up.

    An aura that could silence heaven and earth and kill every living being in an instant spread out from the bone saber, which was only about a meter long.

    Like a feather, the bone sabernded on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder.

    The Bone Blood Demon, which was about thirty meters tall, actually became motionless, not daring to make a single move.

    Thanks to the soul connection between Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon, he sensed strong fear from it.

    It wasn¡¯t the small Bonebrute youngster it feared, but rather the bone saber!

    From the look of it, this magical treasure could subdue most Bonebrutes.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon was by nature a puppet, the bloodline seals in the depths of its bloodline stillpelled it to yield to the bone saber.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s expression further flickered, as he sensed death power rapidly building up within the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body.

    Strands of raging death power left the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s body and madly converged on the bone saber, like water being pumped.

    The bone saber was channeling death power from the Bone Blood Demon, yet the Bone Blood Demon didn¡¯t try to resist!

    ¡°Get rid of that saber!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s soul roar reached the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s mind, yet it didn¡¯t seem to be able to hear him.

    The Bonebrute youngster slowly walked towards Nie Tian. ¡°My name is Pergson. My bloodline is purer than his. This saber is made from a bone taken from the hand of a deceased grand monarch of my race. His aura allows this saber to subdue all members of my race who aren¡¯t as strong as he was.¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°A bone from a deceased grand monarch?¡±

    Outsiders would only refer to tenth grade experts as grand monarchs.

    The battle prowess of a grand monarch would match that of a God Domain Qi warrior, which allowed them stand at the peak of this boundless starry river and overlook all lives.

    A deceased grand monarch was still a grand monarch, and his whole life¡¯s umtiony within his bones. It was only natural that a saber forged from his hand bone carried heaven-shaking, earth-shattering might.

    The Bone Blood Demon, however, had only been at the eighth grade when it had been alive, and it hadn¡¯t even recovered that level of battle prowess yet.

    Therefore, it was understandable that it didn¡¯t dare to move when facing a saber forged from the hand bone of a Bonebrute grand monarch.

    However, from the look of it, the saber would have to stay on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder in order for it to have a subduing effect on the Bone Blood Demon.

    Also, once he lost that bone saber, the Bonebrute youngster named Pergson would have to fight by relying on his actual strength.

    With these thoughts on his mind, Nie Tian grew calm and said to himself, ¡°A sixth grade Bonebrute has the strength of Profound realm Qi warrior, which is not so terrifying.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect entered battle against the ck-garbed Demon youngster.

    Mu Biqiong syed her left hand, and a pitch-ck demonic root shot madly out of her palm, as if it could grow infinitely.

    Like a devilish dragon that had grown out of Mu Biqiong¡¯s hand, the ck root charged towards the Demon youngster.

    The Demon youngster¡¯s expression flickered as he saw this incredible scene, and sensed the terrifying aura the root emanated.

    Meanwhile, Yin Yanan, who had lost the Frost Blood Python¡¯s protection, was in an unfavorable situation.

    The handsome Phantasm youngster pursed his lips into a smile as he said gently, ¡°My name is Froste. You might want to remember that.¡±

    The enormous skull made of countless discarnate souls suddenly floated towards Yin Yanan, ghostly mes flickering in its dark, hollow eye sockets.

    It opened its huge mouth towards Yin Yanan, and a strong suction force was born from it.

    With a painful look on her face, Yin Yanan subconsciously held her head with both hands, as if to stop her true soul from being torn away.

    ¡°That damn Phantasm!¡± With a bellow, Nie Tian cast the Spirit Pearl in his hand towards the enormous skull.

    Countless soul strands came to appear on the Spirit Pearl¡¯s surface, as if the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had received Nie Tian¡¯smand, and was going all-out to protect Yin Yanan¡¯s true soul.

    One misty cyan ring after another rose from the Spirit Pearl.

    Like water ripples created by a rock, the misty cyan rings spread far and wide from over Yin Yanan¡¯s head.

    In the next moment, the soul channeling force from the skull vanished.

    The Phantasm youngster¡¯s expression flickered for the first time as he stared at the Spirit Pearl, which was now floating motionlessly over Yin Yanan¡¯s head.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Spirit Pearl actually has its own soul now! And it has acknowledged that man as his master!¡± Froste cried out, since he couldn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian was able to vest the Spirit Pearl with a soul and win its acknowledgment as a human.

    Not just any soul could be refined into magical tools forged by his kind.

    It was even more so with powerful magic tools like the Spirit Pearl.

    A human soul wouldn¡¯t even survive the fierce evil spirits in the Spirit Pearl, not to mention bing its soul.

    He didn¡¯t know that the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was actually the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch before it had been refined into the Spirit Pearl.

    He had expected that as long as Nie Tian brought out the Spirit Pearl, he would be able to make it his by relying on his Phantasm bloodline and profound soul magics.

    But to his surprise, the Spirit Pearl had already had its own soul, which had acknowledged Nie Tian as his master.

    Now, in this case, he realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to take the Spirit Pearl for his own without killing Nie Tian.

    However, to make the situation less in his favor, the misty cyan rings spread out and easily shattered the Dark Soul Ward he had formed with his Blood Essence.

    Since he was only at the sixth grade, the might of his Dark Soul Ward was limited, which was why it shattered like a being torn into pieces as the light rings spread out.

    A surprised look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he spared some attention to shoot a nce in Yin Yanan¡¯s direction.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the Spirit Pearl could actually stop the skull from sucking Yin Yanan¡¯s soul away so easily.

    Besides, he was also surprised to notice that, after the Spirit Pearl unleashed those light rings, the Phantasm youngster¡¯s Dark Soul Ward seemed to have lost its effect.

    This meant that he and the girls would now be able to evacuate on his Star Boat if things went south.

    Nie Tian felt a strong sense of security.

    <i>¡°That bone saber has a subduing effect on the Bone Blood Demon, stopping it from disying its battle prowess. Simrly, the Spirit Pearl overbore that skull, and stopped that Phantasm youngster from killing Yin Yanan with it.¡± </i>With these thoughts, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth, as he found this battle more interesting than he had expected it to be.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    While he was carried away by his thoughts, Pergson, the Bonebrute youngster, struck out.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Decay!¡± As he shouted these words, a pale-gray aura of death rapidly spread out from him and engulfed Nie Tian.

    As Pergson activated this profound bloodline talent, Nie Tian rapidly formed a spiritual power ward around himself to protect him from the intense aura of death, but he still discovered himself slowly losing his life force.

    Like an arrow, Pergson shot towards Nie Tian within the pale-gray aura of death.

    CRUNCH!

    Nie Tian swung his me Star, unleashing a rainbow-like de light that shed vigorously on Pergson¡¯s body, which was made of translucent, jade-like bones.

    The impact sent sparks flying off the contact point, yet not even the slightest fissure appeared on Pergson¡¯s bones.

    With a very swift motion, he shifted to Nie Tian and thrust his bony hand, that was as sharp as a sword, towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    PUFF!

    Pergson¡¯s bony hand instantly went through Nie Tian¡¯s skin and flesh, but then it was stopped by Nie Tian¡¯s chestbone.

    Having refined his body repeatedly with Heavenly Wood Heal, Nie Tian possessed incredibly tough, jade-like bones.

    Even though Pergson carried a powerful bloodline, possessed the Bonebrutes¡¯ indestructible form, and his every single bone could be used as a sharp weapon, he still failed to break Nie Tian¡¯s bones and pierce his heart.

    BOOM!

    As the impact sent Nie Tian backwards, Pergson pulled his bony hand from Nie Tian¡¯s chest, not stained by a single drop of blood.

    A confused look appeared in Pergson¡¯s emerald green eyes, as he had never expected a human to possess bones that were so tough.

    However, he didn¡¯t panic either.

    He fixed Nie Tian with an icy look as Nie Tian flew backwards, like he was looking at a dead man.

 Chapter 829: Leaving Crestfallen

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he looked down at his chest.

    The garments on his chest had shattered, allowing him to see numerous pale-gray lines swimming rapidly under his skin, weaving into aplicated, mysterious pattern.

    An ancient aura that carried the profound truths of death came from within the pattern.

    Nie Tian suddenly had a feeling that the strange pattern was turning his life force into death power.

    Under its influence, his immense flesh power flew uncontrobly into the pale-gray pattern.

    A powerless feeling quickly overtook him.

    Pergson stared coldly at him, as if he knew that he wouldn¡¯t need to strike again, and Nie Tian would die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    Even a Demon or a Phantasm would have suffered a great deal from that pattern, which he had painted with his bloodline magic, not to mention a human.

    Humans were born with feeble bodies and faint flesh power, which meant a pattern like that would drain their life force and turn them into corpses very quickly.

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart started to beat like a drum.

    The green aura, which carried the profound truths of life, was originally coiled up in his heart, dormant. However, it was clearly provoked at this moment.

    A cluster of blood-colored light suddenly exploded from Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    The explosion sent numerous Bloodline Crystal Chains piercing into the pale-gray pattern, where they slithered like thousands of sparkling snakes of light, erasing all of the pale-gray lines in the blink of an eye.

    Nie Tian¡¯s strange feeling of having his life force turned into death power instantly vanished.

    The light of astonishment shed across Pergson¡¯s emerald eyes as he eximed, ¡°How is this possible?!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Bits of me power, star power, and wood power exuded from Nie Tian, along with flesh power and soul power. A maic field that could bend space and distort all things rapidly formed around him.

    ¡°Primal Chaos!¡± As Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, a sea of starlight shot out of his syed palm, as if a dazzling star had formed in it.

    Bits of starlight rose, swimming about and forming a star formation over his palm.

    Then, as he flung his hand, a curtain of stars flew towards Pergson.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± An exmation escaped Pergson¡¯s mouth.

    Not only him, but Froste the Phantasm youngster and that high-tier Demon also turned to look at Nie Tian with shocked expressions after hearing his exmation. ¡°Is he a disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡±

    SHEW!

    As the curtain of stars flew towards Pergson, Nie Tian suddenly vanished from his original ce, but appeared behind Pergson in the next moment with the help of Starshift.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos instantly enveloped Pergson, greatly restraining him from using his death bloodline power.

    Like a curtain of stars, the star formation made of numerous bits of starlight flew ethereally into his chest.

    Rumble!

    The star formation exploded, sending countless rays of dazzling, sharp starlight piercing into his translucent and sparkling bones.

    Pergson¡¯s small bony body trembled unceasingly. Every time he did, a small yet thick aura of death would ooze from his jade-like bones.

    At the same time, Nie Tian once again brought the me Star down from the air with great force.

    CRUNCH!

    The me Star hacked into Pergson¡¯s shoulder, giving rise to a loud crash.

    Pergson grimaced, as if the joint attack of the star formation and the me Star had inflicted pain on him, but still, not a single fissure appeared on his bones.

    ¡°The Bonebrutes¡¯ indestructible form!¡± As he shouted these words, misty white light rose from his every bone, morphing into a suit of spiritual armor over his small body.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Three bone arrows shot out of Pergson¡¯s fingertips, giving rise to ear-piercing whooshes.

    Like white lightning bolts, they shot into Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder and upper chest before he could react.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    The bone arrows went through his skin and flesh and mmed into his crystallized bones, giving rise to crisp, metallic nks.

    The strong impacts sent Nie Tian flying backwards.

    As hended with a loud crash, he pulled the three bone arrows out one by one with a grim look on his face.

    As held the bone arrows, the aura of death they exuded infiltrated his skin and flesh.

    He then cast the bone arrows away, and activated Heavenly Wood Heal to heal the three bloody holes created by the three bone arrows. In the next moment, rich life force gathered to the wounds, where shreds of flesh started to wiggle madly.

    As Pergson raised his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air, the three bone arrows flew back into his hand. Withoutunching another attack right away, he fixed Nie Tian with a confused, measuring gaze, and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    A grim look appeared in Pergson¡¯s deep, emerald eyes as he said, ¡°You¡¯re no ordinary human, are you? And you don¡¯t seem like just an ordinary disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re actually a Son of the Stars. That can¡¯t be right. None of the existing Sons of the Stars have a cultivation base so low.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything in response.

    Pergson went on and said, ¡°But I do hope that you¡¯re a Son of the Stars, because that¡¯ll make killing you much more interesting.¡±

    After he said these words, the bone saber he had ced on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder suddenly flew back into his hand.

    Holding the bone saber, his threat rose to a whole new level.

    This powerful magical treasure, which he referred to as Bone Shatterer, had already absorbed a considerable amount of death power from the Bone Blood Demon, which made it even sharper and more awe-inspiring.

    Without the saber weighing down on it, the Bone Blood Demon finally recovered its soul connection with Nie Tian. However, as Nie Tianmanded it to attack Pergson, it still chose to ignore thatmand, as if as long as Pergson held the Bone Shatterer, it would never dare to attack him.

    Before Pergson swung his bone saber, Nie Tian shot sideways nces at the girls, and discovered that Mu Biqiong was fighting the high-tier Demon with the ck demonic flower¡¯s root, and she was actually at an advantage.

    Meanwhile, with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s help, Yin Yanan seemed well-matched with Froste, the Phantasm youngster.

    Then he hit upon an idea, and hastily issued a new order to the Bone Blood Demon, telling it to help Yin Yanan fight Froste.

    The Bone Blood Demon followed his order and dashed towards Froste without the slightest hesitation.

    At this moment, Pergson brought the Bone Shatterer down.

    After he infused it with his bloodline power, the Bone Shatterer seemed to be vested with a soul. Shining with dazzling pale light, it shed down towards Nie Tian, carrying an aura of death that could destroy all lives.

    Without thinking about it, Nie Tian infused the me Star with half of his strength.

    Rage rapidly built up in his heart as he brought the me Star up to meet the Bone Shatterer with the same method with which he threw Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    BOOOM!

    The various types of power Nie Tian had infused the me Star with exploded upon contact with the Bone Shatterer.

    Exploding with them was the me Star.

    This long saber, which Li Ye had customized for him and he had found rather agreeable, failed to withstand the heavy blow from the Phantasm magical treasure, and shattered into countless pieces.

    Vanishing with it was the burning rage Nie Tian had vested it with.

    However, the Bone Shatterer¡¯s crushing momentum wasn¡¯t weakened at all, as it continued to descend on Nie Tian, as if it were going to split him in half, along with heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian had never felt so close to Death.

    Watching the Bone Shatterering closer and closer, he realized that he wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it, not when the me Dragon Armor was still unavable.

    At the same time, he had a feeling that even though his body had be extremely tough after repeated refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal, he wouldn¡¯t be able to bear this attack.

    The only thing he could do to survive was shift away by casting a Starshift.

    SHEW!

    He suddenly vanished from the bone saber¡¯s shing path, and reappeared at the foot of the Dao Enlightenment Rock.

    Pergson went nk for a moment before turning his wrists and shing his bone saber towards Nie Tian once again.

    Wherever the Bone Shatterer went, everything withered and fell silent. If there were any other living creatures in this area, they would have all died instantly.

    Nie Tian then cast another Starshift.

    CRUNCH!

    The Bone Shatterer, which was rather short, shed into the Dao Enlightenment Rock, making a deep crack on it.

    As that happened, the Frost Blood Python¡¯s soul awareness, which was deriving enlightenment from the Dao Enlightenment Rock, was somehow touched, and instantly flew back to it.

    After returning to reality, the eighth grade Frost Blood Python let out a low hiss.

    Yin Yanan was overjoyed by this. Then, she turned around and saw Nie Tian avoiding Pergson as he chased closely after him, brandishing his Bone Shatterer.

    At the same time, the Bone Blood Demon was pping the skull made of discarnate souls with itsrge hands, which were wreathed with pale-white mes.

    That skull seemed to have intelligence, as it wailed upon receiving the repeated blows.

    The secret magic seemed to be overbearing the skull and Froste¡¯s bloodline talents, so he could nothing to stop the Bone Blood Demon.

    At the same time, the pale-white mes wreathing the Bone Blood Demon¡¯srge hands seemed to be inflicting great pain on Froste.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Let¡¯s swap opponents!¡± With a bellow, Yin Yanan shot towards Pergson, riding the Frost Blood Python.

    The Frost Blood Python spewed a mouthful of frosty mist, in which countless ice shards were swirling. In the next moment, the frosty mist turned into a snowstorm that engulfed Pergson.

    However, with a few swings of the Bone Shatterer, Pergson eliminated all of the ice shards in the snowstorm.

    As torrential rage brimmed in the Frost Blood Python¡¯s eyes, it unleashed its bloodline power. The temperature in the area plunged;rge blocks of ice came to form, and were sucked into the fierce storm.

    The blocks of ice broke into countless ice spears, filling the frigid storm.

    Then, as the Frost Blood Python¡¯s other eye blossomed with blood-colored light, all of the ice spears seemed to be painted red with blood.

    At the same time, a terrifying flesh aura rapidly built up in the frigid storm. Feeling great pressure, Pergson no longer focused on attacking Nie Tian.

    Even though he could still move about within the frigid storm, his mobility was limited to arge extent.

    Froste, the Phantasm youngster, saw Pergson in an unfavorable situation engulfed by the frigid storm. At the same time, he was suffering from the Spirit Pearl and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s joint attack himself. After a moment of hesitation, he shouted in an outsidernguage, ¡°Let get out of here!¡±

    With these words, he flew into the distance on the skull made of discarnate souls.

    The high-tier Demon had long since wanted to leave. Upon hearing Froste¡¯s shout, he instantly morphed into a streak of purple lightning and shot out of the battlefield.

    At the same time, Pergson, the Bonebrute youngster, sank into the solid earth and vanished. His aura rapidly became too faint to capture.

    Just like this, the awakening of the Frost Blood Python broke the bnce of the battle.

    The three outsider chosen ones, who hade with overweening arrogance, left crestfallen.

 Chapter 830: A City in Ruins

    The outsiders fled, but Yin Yanan didn¡¯t pursue them. Instead, she went to collect the dead foreign Qi warriors¡¯ rings of holding, and afterwards, summoned her air-transportation spiritual tool.

    After jumping into her air-transportation spiritual tool, she didn¡¯t show the slightest joy of victory. Instead, she said with a grim face, ¡°It¡¯s not safe to stay here. We¡¯d better leave now. Those three maye back for us soon. When they do, they¡¯ll probably bring more powerful outsiders with them.¡±

    Mu Biqiong pondered her words briefly, then jumped on board without saying a word.

    Then, the girls threw inquiring gazes at Nie Tian.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian had already unleashed his nine Heaven Eyes to track the three outsiders.

    However, the speed at which the three of them fled was much faster than he had expected.

    Pergson, the Bonebrute, had vanished into the earth, his aura too faint to track.

    The other two traveled as fast as lightning. Even the Heaven Eyes failed to keep up, and soon lost track of their auras.

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat frustrated as he withdrew his Heaven Eyes and jumped onto the air-transportation spiritual tool. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Yin Yanan then started the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    The three of them fell silent.

    Even though they had fought the outsiders off, they didn¡¯t seem to be happy about their victory at all.

    The three outsider youngsters¡¯ mighty strength deeply worried them.

    The three of them were only at the sixth grade, which meant they should have had the battle prowess of Profound realm Qi warriors. However, their actual battle prowess far exceeded their grade.

    Just Pergson alone had ughtered those Profound realm foreign Qi warriors as easily as chopping melons and cutting cabbages. (Idiom: killing or beating someone at something very easily)

    The Bone Shatterer¡¯s shocking might had left a deep mark on Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    The me Star, which Li Ye had spent great time and effort to forge, had apanied him for many years. He hadn¡¯t expected that the Bone Shatterer would have shattered it with a single strike.

    The me Star had been customized to suit the three types of power he practiced.

    He had been able to infuse it with me power, wood power, and star power, which had made it very agreeable to him. He had thought it would apany him for his whole cultivation path.

    The destruction of the me Star came as quite a blow to him.

    If the Bone Shatterer hadn¡¯t cracked the Dao Enlightenment Rock and awoken the eighth grade Frost Blood Python from its meditation, he would still be avoiding Pergson¡¯s pursuit empty-handedly by casting Starshift repeatedly.

    It was very consuming to cast Starshift, and he had already infused half of his star power, along with his other powers, into the me Star to defend against the Bone Shatterer.

    If that battle had gone much longer, he would most likely have used up his star power and ended up being killed by the Bone Shatterer.

    Yin Yanan shot a cold, sideways nce at Mu Biqiong, and said with a ming tone, ¡°You didn¡¯t go all-out just now. You have two demonic flowers growing inside of you, but you only used the ck one the entire time.¡±

    Nie Tian had also noticed this.

    The two of them had seen the two demonic flowers inside of her up-close in the Realm of Shattered Earth. This time, she had only used the root of the ck flower in her fight against the high-tier Demon, and she had already been at a clear advantage.

    If she had gone all-out, and unleashed the root of that multicolored flower too, then she would have probably killed that Demon within a short time.

    If the high-tier Demon had died, she would have been able to join Yin Yanan in fighting Froste, the Phantasm youngster, and the final results might have been different.

    Under Yin Yanan and Nie Tian¡¯s inquiring gazes, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°I wanted to use that flower too, but I couldn¡¯t. If I unleashed them both, they would have shed with each other, keeping me from disying my best battle prowess. Right now, I still haven¡¯t figured out a way to fight with both flowers.¡±

    After a short pause, she frowned and added, ¡°Besides, I don¡¯t think I would have been able to kill that Demon even if I could unleash both flowers on him.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    Mu Biqiong sighed weakly and said, ¡°That Demon¡¯s name is Gutas, and he¡¯s from the Second Demon Realm. I sensed that he didn¡¯t go all-out during our fight either. You should know how powerful the Demon ns from the Second Demon Realm are.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The Second Demon Realm?!¡±

    Almost every Demon n from the Second Demon Realm had ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    Rumor had it the most ancient Demon ns from the Second Demon Realm had even produced tenth grade grand monarchs at certain points.

    The five major sects and three major ns from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had contact with a number of Demon ns. However, almost all of them were from the fourth and the fifth Demon Realms, with very few from the Third Demon Realm.

    That was because, starting from the Third Demon Realm, the Demon ns began to have ninth grade grand patriarchs. Any Demon n that had a ninth grade grand patriarch would be stronger than any sect or n in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Not to mention the ns from the Second Demon Realm.

    With a grim look in her eyes, she continued, ¡°Those three must be rising stars of their respective races. They all carry powerful bloodlines, and hold mighty magical treasures. Those treasures can increase their battle prowess many times over. The fact that they dared to seek fights with others in the Shatter Battlefield proved how confident they were in themselves.¡±

    After hearing these words, Yin Yanan nodded and said, ¡°If they didn¡¯t target us, but some other Qi warriors, they would have probably seeded.¡±

    Recalling the scenes of the foreign Qi warriors who hade to derive enlightenment from the Dao Enlightenment Rock being cut down like chickens and dogs, they realized that their opponents this time must be outstanding youngsters of their respective races.

    With these words, Yin Yanan brought out the rings of holding she had collected and sent her soul awareness inside.

    Momentster, she tossed them to the floor, and said with a disgusted look on her face, ¡°I can¡¯t believe how poor those foreign Qi warriors were. All they had were some spirit stones and low-grade medicinal pills and spiritual tools, not a single item that can provoke my interest.¡±

    Both Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong sent their soul awarenesses into the discarded rings of holding.

    After a short while, they both withdrew their soul awarenesses.

    Just as Yin Yanan had said, there were only a number of spirit stones and very few spirit jades within those rings of holding. As for their medicinal pills and spiritual tools, they didn¡¯t take a liking to any of them.

    Yin Yanan sneered. ¡°This is soughable. They looked so disdainful when they heard that we were from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I wondered how powerful they were, and what mighty treasures they carried.¡±

    With a in tone, Mu Biqiong chimed in, ¡°Their domain might be more advanced than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but their status must not have been very high in their sects or ns. I guess they were nothing but regr disciples or n members.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±

    Sects and ns that had Saint domain experts should be as powerful as the Divine Seal Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect at the very least. Their chosen ones must carry extremely powerful spiritual tools, and have all kinds of valuable spiritual materials and medicinal pills in their rings of holding.

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou were what chosen ones from powerful sects should look like. They had even been given the Realm of Withering me as their own headquarters. This was enough evidence of their transcendence.

    Powerful sects had tens of thousands of disciples. Of course not all of them were wealthy.

    Days passed as the three of them each practiced cultivation in silence.

    Nie Tian had suffered the greatest losses from this battle. Not only had he lost the me Star, but the Bone Blood Demon had also lost a considerable amount of death power to the Bone Shatterer, which had greatly undermined its battle prowess.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the Bone Blood Demon could barely handle an early Soul realm Qi warrior now.

    However, Pergson¡¯s shocking strength had put him under a lot of pressure, forcing him to cultivate even harder.

    Two months passed...

    Nie Tian had not only fully recovered the powers he had consumed during his battle against Pergson, but also refined his spiritual core and three vortexes of different powers a few more rounds.

    He had a feeling that he was ready for his next breakthrough in cultivation.

    <i>¡°Now I need to find an opportunity to enter thete Worldly realm,¡± </i>he thought to himself.

    It had only been a few months since he had entered the Shatter Battlefield. He had never expected that he would have progressed so fast. He assumed this was because he had benefited from his battle against Pergson, who had pressured him so much that he had cultivated madly to improve his battle prowess.

    A few more days passed...

    Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool came to a open, destend scattered with arge number of huge rocks.

    Those huge rocks seemed to be from a magnificent city, before a fierce battle had toppled it. Now, broken stone pavilions, rubble, and weeds were all that were left.

    From the look of it, this stone city had been here for hundreds of thousands of years.

    At this moment, human Qi warriors could be seen bustling in the ruins, as if they were looking for something.

    Some of them had clearly noticed the arrival of Nie Tian and the girls, yet none of them bothered to call out to them.

    Standing on the air-transportation spiritual tool, Nie Tian listened to their conversations with rapt attention. After a short while, he said with a surprised expression, ¡°This was a stone city that belonged to Stone Golems. A Stone Golem n lived here during the Deste Antiquity Era. The fierce war between the Ancientspirits and outsider races destroyed this city.

    ¡°The Stone Golem n that had lived here was wiped out, and their corpses were taken away over the years, leaving nothing but these broken walls and dpidated pavilions.¡±

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong pondered in silence for a while before Mu Biqiong said, ¡°I don¡¯t think we should stay here. For all we know, those nine Stone Golems headed towards the Shatter Battlefield after breaking free from the Seven-star Blue Sea. Since this city used to be the home of some Stone Golems, this may actually be their destination.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered as she chimed in, ¡°She¡¯s right. We need to leave now.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t oppose the idea.

    After all, eight of the stone statues had disyed strength that matched the strength of Void domain experts.

    As for the ninth stone statue, it possessed immeasurable power. Once they entered the Shatter Battlefield and sought out this ce...

    After a brief stay, their air-transportation spiritual tool headed out again.

    However, as they flew over the center of the stone city, their air-transportation spiritual tool seemed to be caught in a huge, and was yanked down from the air.

    The Qi warriors who were close to where they crashed looked over with disdainful smiles, as if they were looking at three bumpkins.

 Chapter 831: A Brother-sister Pair

    BOOOM!

    Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool crashed into a huge rock, shattering to pieces.

    Even though Nie Tian and the girls jumped out before the crash, they still tumbled over, which made them dizzy and hurt all over.

    Standing on the dark gray ground, Nie Tian examined his surroundings, and rapidly learned that their crash had been caused by the surging gravity in this area.

    The gravity at the center of the stone city was nearly a hundred times greater than in other ces.

    It was that terrifying gravity that had pulled their air-transportation spiritual tool from the air and caused it to crash.

    If Nie Tian and the girls hadn¡¯t had powerful means at their disposal, they would have hit the ground hard too, and sustained severe injuries.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face gradually grew cold as she gazed at her wrecked air-transportation spiritual tool and heard the surrounding Qi warriors¡¯ sneers.

    Clearly, those people were well-aware of the unusually high gravitational field at the center of the city.

    They had seen the three of them flying in their direction on an air-transportation spiritual tool, yet none of them had warned them. This meant that they probably held evil intentions.

    ¡°What are youughing at?¡± Yin Yanan asked coldly.

    One of them answered casually when his smirk hadn¡¯t even faded from his face, ¡°Nothing. I just find this amusing.¡±

    SHEW!

    Yin Yanan suddenly exploded towards the man, the roars of a hundred fierce beastsing out of her.

    She summoned arge, silver hammer from within her ring of holding, and like a streak of silver light, she swung it towards the man with great force.

    The man was at the middle Profound realm, which was even a bit higher than Yin Yanan¡¯s cultivation base.

    He snorted disdainfully and rapidly unfolded a greenish-ck umbre.

    Grabbing the umbre with both hands, he thrust it upwards. Then, a curtain of spiritual power dropped from the edge of the umbre.

    BOOOM!

    Yin Yanan¡¯srge hammer mmed into the curtain of spiritual power, sending arge amount of sparks flying in all directions.

    The man let out a muffled groan, bone-cracking soundsing from his hands.

    As his face suddenly flushed, blood rolled down the corner of his mouth.

    Shock and disbelief filled the man¡¯s eyes.

    At the same time, the smirks faded from all of the other onlooking Qi warriors¡¯ faces.

    Eyebrows furrowed, they slowly gathered and surrounded Nie Tian and the girls.

    Yin Yanan had been in a bad mood after the wrecking of her air-transportation spiritual tool. As she saw those Qi warriors approaching with unpleasant expressions, the look in her eyes grew even colder.

    The eighth grade Frost Blood Python had once again turned into a tattoo on her waist after they had left the Dao Enlightenment Rock.

    ording to her, the Frost Blood Python had derived a mysterious magic, which seemed to originate in its Blood Stripe Python bloodline, from the Dao Enlightenment Rock, and had been meditating on it since then.

    Even though it was meditating inside of her, it wasn¡¯t dormant, so she could still summon it to fight for her at any moment.

    As the three of them were surrounded by Worldly and Profound realm Qi warriors with unpleasant look in their eyes, Yin Yanan was prepared to unleash the eighth grade Frost Blood Python.

    At the same time, Nie Tian looked around with a measuring gaze, and discovered that none of them were at the Soul realm or higher. That was when he knew that once the eighth grade Frost Blood Python was unleashed, these Qi warriors, who had smirked at them a moment ago, would suffer violent deaths.

    Only if they held powerful magical treasures from their sects would they have a chance at surviving.

    Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect also had a cold look in her eyes. Clearly, she disliked these Qi warriors as well.

    A battle could break out at any moment.

    At that very moment, an air-transportation spiritual tool flew over from the distance.

    As the air-transportation spiritual tool flew closer to their location, two men jumped off it andnded carefully before everyone.

    They were a man and a woman. The man looked honest and clement, while the woman had a valiant and heroic bearing.

    The two of them looked rather alike, as if they were brother and sister.

    The man noticed the tension and shouted aloud, ¡°What are you doing? You don¡¯t intend to start a fight here, do you?¡±

    The Qi warriors who were going to teach Nie Tian and the girls a lesson turned around and saw the brother-sister pair. They snorted coldly and refrained from initiating attacks.

    From the look of it, they weren¡¯t from the same sect, but from the same domain, and they were rather familiar with each other.

    Eyebrows furrowed, the woman said sternly, ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit too shameless for you lot to gang up on just three people?!¡±

    The Qi warriors seemed rather apprehensive about the brother-sister pair.

    Instead of refuting them, they scattered and left with reluctant, cold look on their faces.

    The man who had been injured by Yin Yanan shot her a vengeful re before putting his umbre away and leaving without saying a word.

    ¡°We¡¯re from the Martial Spirit Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin...¡± the man went on and introduced themselves to Nie Tian and the girls.

    Their names were Chai Longge and Chai Fengfu, and they were at thete and middle Profound realm.

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin where they were from was a medium-grade domain protected by Saint domain experts. The sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect was a middle Saint domain expert, who was stronger than the patriarchs of the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect from the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Chai Longge was nice and warm. His perfect manners made Nie Tianfortable when the two of them talked.

    Chai Fengwu had impressively good looks. Even though she wasn¡¯t as pretty as Mu Biqiong or Yin Yanan, her valiant and heroic bearing set her apart, and she remained silent as her older brother did most of the talking.

    From Chai Longge, Nie Tian learned that an early God domain human expert had died in this dpidated city during the second great war between humans and outsiders.

    People had referred to that expert as Lord Myriad Gravity. By practicing earth power, he had been able to change the gravitational field around him.

    Lord Myriad Gravity¡¯s opponent had been a Demon grand monarch, who had eventually shattered Lord Myriad Gravity¡¯s domain and killed him. However, Lord Myriad Gravity¡¯s lifetime understanding of earth power and many profound magics had merged with this piece ofnd, which was why the gravity in this stone city was a hundred times greater than elsewhere.

    For thousands of years, Qi warriors who practiced earth power hade here to derive enlightenment and practice cultivation, and they had all benefited from their trips.

    Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu, however, didn¡¯t practice earth power. They had just happened to pass through this area.

    The unpleasant Qi warriors that had teamed up on Nie Tian and the girls earlier were also from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, and they had entered the Shatter Battlefield through the same spatial rift in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin as Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu.

    Most of them were disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, and they all practiced the same type of power as Lord Myriad Gravity, who had perished here.

    Every time disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect came to the Shatter Battlefield, they would head to this ce and do their utmost to absorb the profound earth power incantations Lord Myriad Gravity had left here.

    Rumor had it the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s current sectmaster had derived groundbreaking enlightenment from Lord Myriad Gravity¡¯s legacies in this ce, and that was why he had been able to advance to the early Saint domain and im the position of sectmaster.

    In the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, the Martial Spirit Sect was stronger than the Earth Spirit Sect.

    Besides, Chai Longge and his sister were ranked at the top among the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s chosen ones. Therefore, the Earth Spirit Sect disciples gathered in this ce had cleaned up their act after their arrival.

    ¡°Since you two don¡¯t practice earth power, I suppose you won¡¯t benefit much by staying here, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Chai Longge nodded. ¡°Yeah. We were just passing by. We don¡¯t intend to stay for long.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled faintly. ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡±

    Seeing that all of the Earth Spirit Sect disciples had scattered and returned to their own business, he added, ¡°This ce isn¡¯t safe. You¡¯d better leave as soon as possible. Something major might happen here soon.¡±

    Chai Fengwu, who had said very little, seemed intrigued by Nie Tian¡¯s words, and thus asked, ¡°What do you mean? You seem to know something.¡±

    ¡°A band of Stone Golems might arrive here at a certain point,¡± Nie Tian said.

    A disbelieving look appeared in Chai Fengwu¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°Stone Golems?! Are you joking? Everyone knows that the Stone Golems died out during the first great war.

    ¡°Fine, believe me or don¡¯t.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to give them a detailed exnation. He only warned the brother-sister pair considering that they had stepped up and presided over justice.

    Chai Longge seemed rather calm as he said, ¡°We¡¯re not going to stay here anyways, whether Stone Golems areing or not.¡± After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°Do you have any tasks to attend to or ces to go in the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case...¡± Chai Longge said. ¡°There is this ce we know that¡¯s going to be crowded with people soon. You may want to swing by and take a look, if you don¡¯t have better things to do.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Where?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re heading there ourselves,¡± Chai Longge said. ¡°We can go together if you want. I can tell you more about it on our way. What do you think?¡±

    Nie Tian turned to fix Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong with an inquiring look.

    The girls nodded.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°We¡¯re new to the Shatter Battlefield and don¡¯t know much about it. It¡¯d be best if you could tell us more about it.¡±

 Chapter 832: Fortune Wells

    After Nie Tian and the girls followed Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu out of the central area of the city, where gravity was a hundred times stronger than usual, Chai Long summoned his air-transportation spiritual tool.

    After everyone jumped on board, it shot off into the distance.

    Standing at the stern of the air-transportation spiritual tool that was flying farther and farther away, Nie Tian gazed at the Earth Spirit Sect disciples in the stone city, and saw that many of them still had vengeful looks on their faces.

    He started to look forward to the nine stone statues befalling the city and ughtering every single one of them, which he assumed was most likely going to happen.

    The Earth Spirit Sect disciples had cold looks in their eyes as they watched Nie Tian and the girls leave along with Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu. ¡°They must be heading to the Fortune Wells.¡±

    A man let out a cold harrumph and said with a fierce look in his eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s derive enlightenment from Lord Myriad Gravity¡¯s legacies until our future sectmaster gets here, then we¡¯ll be able to march on to the Fortune Wells and settle ounts with those three.¡±

    Another man chimed in, ¡°Yeah, the Fortune Wells hasn¡¯t shown its wonders just yet. We still have time. ording to my estimation, our future sectmaster will be here in no time.¡±

    ...

    When their air-transportation spiritual tool was a significant distance from the Stone Golem¡¯s old haunt, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What wonders does this ce you¡¯re taking us to hold exactly?¡±

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong also fixed Chai Longge with curious gazes.

    This was the first time they had entered the Shatter Battlefield too, so they also knew very little of it.

    Before meeting Chai Longge and his sister, the three of them had wandered around like headless flies, without any destinations or goals.

    Gentle and just, Chai Longge left a good impression on the girls.

    Since he seemed to know the Shatter Battlefield rather well, and had initiated an invitation, there must be a reason behind it.

    ¡°That ce is called the Fortune Wells, but honestly, we don¡¯t know how they came to form either...¡± Chai Longge went on and gave a detailed exnation, through which Nie Tian gained a fairly good understanding of the Fortune Wells.

    The Fortune Wells were located in a vast, mysterious marsnd, which had seemed to exist before the former superrge realm had exploded, forming the current Shatter Battlefield.

    During the Deste Antiquity Era, the former superrge realm had been inhabited by Ancientspirits had other ancient species.

    That marsnd, however, had been a forbidden region since then.

    As powerful as the Ancientspirits and other ancient species had been, they had forbidden their members from entering that region.

    Rumor had it that that marsnd had been able to quietly devour any living being that had dared to enter it.

    No matter whether they were puny ancient insects or powerful ancient beasts, if they had dared to enter the marsnd, none of them were able to escape the fate of being sucked into the marsnd and vanishing for good.

    That marsnd seemed to be able to devour living beings¡¯ bodies, as well as their souls.

    Two fierce wars had broken out there. The first one had been between Ancientspirits and outsider races. The second one had been between humans and outsider races, through which humans had established their status as a powerful force in this starry river.

    In fact, those two wars had taken ce in every corner of the Shatter Battlefield, and that marsnd had been a ce where battles had taken ce with the highest density.

    During those battles, numerous outsiders, ancient beasts, and human experts had perished and been swallowed by the marsnd.

    After hundreds of thousands of years, a total of forty-nine wells had somehow appeared in that marsnd, but no one knew who had built them, or what secrets hadin within them.

    Until one day, an outsider entered that marsnd by ident and discovered that many of the wells had actually been spewing all kinds of powers, including me power, wood power, and lightning power, as well as phantasm Qi, demon Qi, and even rich flesh power.

    Almost every kind of energy of heaven and earth and Qi that outsiders practiced cultivation with hade out of those wells at certain points.

    That outsider had gained rich flesh power from one of the wells, which had instantly triggered changes in his bloodline, allowing it to upgrade within a very short period of time.

    Afterwards, he had informed his nsmen of his discovery. Then, rumors about those mysterious wells spread gradually.

    Therefore, arge number of outsiders and even humans heard the rumors and poured into that marsnd.

    However, they had soon found out that those wells wouldn¡¯t spew powers all the time. Instead, they would only work their magic every few decades, or sometimes centuries.

    Every time they had spewed all kinds of energies, people from all races would swarm into the marsnd and channel power from them, which would allow them to make breakthroughs in their cultivation bases and upgrade their bloodlines.

    Furthermore, ording to human Qi warriors who had been there personally, the powers of heaven and earth that had spilled from those wells carried mysterious fortunes that had sped up the refinement of their spiritual cores and vortexes of different powers.

    Not only had the powers they had absorbed from the wells been richer than the powers in spiritual materials, but they had had incredible effects on cultivation advancement.

    Gradually, Qi warriors had started to refer to those wells as the Fortune Wells, and all of the outsider races had acknowledged this name too.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s bright eyes lit up as she heard this story. ¡°Forty-nine Fortune Wells?!¡±

    Clearly, she was intrigued.

    Her cultivation base was currently at thete Worldly realm, which was inferior to Yin Yanan¡¯s.

    She was well-aware that if the two of them fought by relying on their own strength, if she didn¡¯t summon the demonic nt inside of her and Yin Yanan didn¡¯t resort to the eighth grade Frost Blood Python¡¯s strength, she would be the losing one.

    Since Yin Yanan practiced the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s body refining incantation, and had a cultivation base advantage, Mu Biqiong wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against her.

    Then, she snuck a nce at Nie Tian.

    <i>¡°This guy was able to contend against Yin Yanan in a battle of pure fleshly strength. Besides, he¡¯s learned the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s profound incantations, and practices powers of three different attributes...¡± </i>As her train of thought reached this point, a shred of bitterness appeared in her bright eyes.

    Gazing into the distance, Chai Longge said in a soft voice, ¡°No one knows who built those Fortune Wells. But many guess, since they were built in the marsnd that all living beings considered a forbidden region, those who built them must possess heaven-shattering, earth-toppling strength.

    ¡°And the various kinds of power they spew intermittently are very likely from those who it has devoured over hundreds of thousands of years.

    ¡°The fact that those wells can actually absorb powerful creatures¡¯ flesh power, spiritual power, and soul power is simply unbelievable.¡±

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as she asked, ¡°Soul power too?¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes also widened.

    Soul power was one of the most curious powers in this world. Instead of forming naturally, it depended on living creatures¡¯ souls, and only dark magics or items could gather it, like the Phantasms¡¯ Soul-devouring Lake.

    Even Chai Longge¡¯s own eyes glittered with excitement as he said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Every time the Fortune Wells work their magic, there¡¯s always one well that spews pure soul power. However, it¡¯s usually not the same well that spews soul power each time. The same goes for the other energies.¡±

    Then, from his exnation, Yin Yanan learned that the kinds of power that the Fortune Wells spewed would vary from time to time.

    A well could spew demon Qi one time, but lightning power the next time.

    Therefore, when the Fortune Wells worked their magic, any of them could be the one that spewed soul power, and that one would instantly be the most popr, as many would fight over it.

    Furthermore, not every well would spew energies every time. Sometimes, some of the wells would remain silent and inactive, while others spewed energies.

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool traveled at full speed, Chai Longge continued to answer Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ questions, and exined what they needed to know about the Fortune Wells.

    Two weeks passed...

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool approached the forbidden region where the Fortune Wells were located, a vast marsnd entered everyone¡¯s view.

    Everywhere looked grayish-brown, with a rotted, humid aura rising from the ooze.

    Nie Tian examined his surroundings with his soul awareness and failed to sense even the faintest flesh power, which proved that there weren¡¯t any bugs, which were mostmonly seen in marsnds here.

    He then strained his sight, but couldn¡¯t see a single nt in the marsnd, a sense of destion rising in his heart.

    Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu grew cautious after entering this region.

    Chai Longge took a deep breath and said, ¡°Be very careful not to fall into the marsnd. Like monsters from chaotic, primeval times, the marsnd can devour anything that falls into it. You¡¯ll sink uncontrobly once you fall into it. Don¡¯t imagine you¡¯lle out again.

    ¡°For hundreds of thousands of years, who-knows-how-many powerful beings have fallen into it and died.¡±

    Nie Tian and the girls had rxed look on their faces at first, but after hearing these words, they all grew heavy-hearted as they gazed down at the marsnd.

    ¡°Will only Worldly and Profound realm cultivators visit this ce?¡± Yin Yanan asked. ¡°Will experts with higher cultivation basese to take over the Fortune Wells?¡±

    ¡°They did before, but not anymore,¡± Chai Longge exined. ¡°Even though the energies the Fortune Wells spew are pure and have incredible effects, they are like cups of water on a burning cart for Void or Saint domain human experts and outsiders at the eighth or ninth grade.

    ¡°These energies might be able to help Worldly or Profound realm cultivators or outsiders at simr grades achieve breakthroughs. But they¡¯re far too faint for powerful experts who can easily shatter earth and topple mountains.

    ¡°There are other, more profound wonders in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. Instead of waiting by the Fortune Wells, those powerful experts would rather try their luck in deeper areas.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    Their air-transportation spiritual tool flew for a while into the boundless marsnd before finally reaching the area where the Fortune Wells were located.

    As a Fortune Well entered Nie Tian¡¯s view, he discovered that a Qi warrior was already sitting beside it, as if he were waiting for it to be active.

 Chapter 833: Claiming Wells

    The so-called Fortune Wells were a bunch of wells that were scattered in solid parts of the marsnd.

    They were all of different sizes, and were separated from each other by different distances.

    Each and every one of them stood on a small piece of solid ground, so people wouldn¡¯t need to worry about sinking in the marsnd.

    By the time Nie Tian and the others arrived, six of the forty-nine Fortune Wells had already been imed by six different people.

    Those six wells were all more than three meters wide, and thergest one seemed so deep that it looked like an unfathomable hole that led all the way to the earth¡¯s heart.

    Sitting by that well was an old man with gray hair. He was at thete Profound realm, and from the look of it, he had lived for a rather long time.

    Chai Longge stopped his air-transportation spiritual tool in a ce that was still a considerable distance from the old man.

    With his unique bloodline power, Nie Tian examined the old man from afar, and shrewdly discovered that, simr to Wu Ji, he was having a problem with his lifespan.

    Even though the old man had lived for very long, his cultivation base had only reached thete Profound realm.

    If he couldn¡¯t break through into the Soul realm and gain more years, his path of cultivation would soone to an end, along with his life.

    The old man¡¯s eyes were closed, and his flesh aura was very weak, yet the spiritual power fluctuations he emanated were exceptionally strong.

    ¡°A senior from my sect estimated that the Fortune Wells will spew all kinds of energies of heaven and earth this time. So the two of us came, hoping to improve our cultivation bases with the help of the wells.¡± With these words, Chai Longge lowered his voice. ¡°It seems we¡¯re early. Only six people beat us here.¡±

    Nie Tian gaze then swept over the other five Qi warriors, and discovered that they were all at the Profound realm too.

    Some of them were rather old, while others were still quite a long way from reaching the end of their lifespans, judging from their flesh auras.

    The six of them had upied six of thergest Fortune Wells.

    Three of them looked up and shot them a nce from afar, and then resumed their cultivation.

    Mu Biqiong pondered for a while before saying in a soft voice, ¡°If it¡¯s uncertain what powers the wells will spew, and the people whoe here practice different powers, what if the well they¡¯ve upied spews the kinds of power they don¡¯t need?¡±

    Chai Longge smiled bitterly. ¡°That depends.¡±

    Nie Tian fixed him with a curious gaze.

    ¡°They may swap wells with others. If they can find people with wells that provide the kinds of power they need, and reach a mutual understanding with them, then they can swap wells.¡± Chai Longge¡¯s voice grew even lower as he pointed at the old man. ¡°For example, he practices lightning power. The man beside him practices water power.

    ¡°If each of their Fortune Wells happen to spew the kind of power the other person needs, then they can switch, since there are no conflicts of interest.¡±

    Mu Biqiong then asked, ¡°But what if that old man¡¯s well spews mes while the well beside him spews lightning?¡±

    Chai Longge let out a low sigh. ¡°Then, the stronger person will call the shot.¡±

    After hearing these words, Nie Tian realized that it wasn¡¯t firste first served with these Fortune Wells. People couldn¡¯t always keep the well they had upied.

    If the Martial Spirit Sect had learned that the Fortune Wells were going to be active soon, sects from other domains, outsiders, and even Ancientbeasts could have learned about it too.

    It was very likely that fierce battles would break out when the Fortune Wells actually be active.

    Many mishaps might ur, making it difficult to actually gain fortunes from these forty-nine Fortune Wells.

    Chai Longge remained silent for a while before saying, ¡°We¡¯re rather early, since there are still quite a number of unimed wells. Go on. You pick first. But you¡¯ll have to depend on yourselves to keep them from others who also want them. I suggest that you give them up if you find your enemy too strong for you. Otherwise...¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t need him to finish his sentence to know how deadly those fights were going to be.

    Fortunately, the three of them all had powerful backing or resources, and thus weren¡¯t very worried.

    Yin Yanan let out a snort as she took the initiative to jump off the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Shended and sat down by a fairlyrge Fortune Well, demonstrating her im over it.

    Afterwards, Mu Biqiongnded beside another rtivelyrge Fortune Well, iming it.

    Nie Tian randomly chose a Fortune Well and also sat down.

    Chai Longge and his sister also chose two Fortune Wells, which weren¡¯t far from Nie Tian and the girls¡¯.

    Afternding, Chai Longge said to Nie Tian and the girls, ¡°The two of us practice metal power and water power. Let¡¯s swap if your wells happen to spew the powers we need, and we¡¯ll do the same for you. What do you say?¡±

    Nie Tian and the girls nodded in assent.

    Nie Tian had long since realized that the incantations Mu Biqiong practiced were closely rted to wood power, which might have a great deal to do with the demonic nt growing inside of her.

    Yin Yanan, on the other hand, practiced frost power, because her Frost Blood Python¡¯s Frost Python bloodline allowed it tomand ice and frost.

    At the same time, the special body refining incantations she practiced agreed with the Frost Blood Python¡¯s Blood Stripe Python bloodline, allowing her to absorb and refine spirit beast blood into herself.

    Among the three of them, Nie Tian practiced the most powers, as he practiced me power, wood power, and star power at the same time.

    Chai Longge might be able to sense me power and wood power from him, but he might not be able to tell that he also practiced star power.

    The fact that Chai Longge had invited the three of them to seek fortune from these Fortune Wells together was because he had realized that the three of them weren¡¯t powerful enough to threaten them.

    Also, since none of them practiced metal power or water power, once the Fortune Wells became active, his and his sister¡¯s chances at getting wells they needed would improve significantly.

    Of course, this was based on one precondition: they would have to be able to hold on to their Fortune Wells.

    The Fortune Wells they had chosen were quite far from the early-arrivers¡¯.

    Nie Tian stepped to the mouth of the Fortune Well he had chosen and gazed down. He discovered that it was dark and unfathomable, as if it led to the heart of the earth.

    He then sent a wisp of soul awareness into it, but failed to sense anything noteworthy even till his soul awareness reached the limit of his detection range.

    After withdrawing his soul awareness, he shot a sideways nce at Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan, and discovered that the two fierce women were also observing their Fortune Wells, but just like him, they didn¡¯t seem to have found anything either.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian settled down and sat down beside his well, where he took out spiritual materials and began practicing cultivation.

    Soon, days passed, and neers arrived.

    Among them were human cultivators, Demons, Fiends, and even an Ancientbeast.

    That Ancientbeast was a sixth grade Earth me Beast, whose strength was equal to that of a Profound realm human expert.

    Many years ago, Nie Tian had witnessed an Earth me Beast charging out of the depths of the earth in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, and that sixth grade Earth me Beast had greatly shaken his young heart.

    However, after so many years, that kind of power could no longer cause any waves in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    After arriving, the huge Earth me Beast descended by one of the Fortune Wells and stayed there, its three ming tails slithering like fiery snakes.

    None of the humans and outsiders present paid any special attention to it, as if they didn¡¯t find its arrival surprising at all.

    Pergson, Froste, and Gutas weren¡¯t among those who arrived.

    A few more days passed, and a young man arrived, riding a sixth grade Thunder Beast. He was dressed in eye-catching, colorful garments, and behaved in an unrestrained manner.

    Five thunderballs could be seen on the young man¡¯s chest. They seemed to have been embroidered on his robe, yet they rotated unceasingly, which was rather curious.

    With an unruly look on his face, he nced around, sitting astride his Thunder Beast, and soon noticed thete Profound realm old man, who was guarding thergest Fortune Well.

    He patted the Thunder Beast, and it flew over to the old man. Floating in the air, he said with amanding tone, ¡°Time to vacate this Fortune Well, old man.¡±

    His cultivation base was only at the middle Profound realm, which was lower than the old man¡¯s.

    The old man opened his eyes. His expression flickered as he saw the five rotating thunderballs on the young man¡¯s chest.

    A shred of anger shed across the old man¡¯s eyes, but he rose to his feet and went to sit by a fairly distant Fortune Well.

    However, he didn¡¯t say a word the entire time.

    The young man grinned as hended his sixth grade Thunder Beast by thergest Fortune Well. Then, gazing disdainfully at the old man, he said, ¡°Now that¡¯s the smart thing to do. If three or more of these Fortune Wells spew lightning, then I¡¯ll grant you one.

    ¡°Otherwise, the fortunes here won¡¯t have anything to do with you this time. After all, I¡¯ll need one, and my Thunder Beast will need one.¡±

    The face of the old man, who was eager to extend his lifespan with the help of that fortune Well, grew gloomy after he heard these words.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Chai Longge fixed the young man with a measuring gaze as he exined his origin to Nie Tian, ¡°He¡¯s Mo Qinglei, the future sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    ¡°If the Fortune Wells you¡¯ve imed happen to spew lightning, you¡¯d better back away voluntarily in order not to offend that guy. The current sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect is at thete Saint domain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you think his cultivation base is unimpressive. He actually has the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s powerful magical treasure at his disposal. The fact that he dares to behave so unscrupulously is because he can disy battle prowess that far exceeds a normal Profound realm expert¡¯s.¡±

    Yin Yanan snorted a disdainfulugh.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s expression remained as calm as ever.

    With a sarcastic chuckle, Nie Tian said, ¡°Thanks for the reminder.¡±

    Chai Longge had a confused look in his eyes as he saw Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ attitude.

    He could tell that Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python was at the eighth grade, and that Mu Biqiong had a demonic nt growing inside of her.

    However, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was only an elementary-grade domain, so he naturally didn¡¯t reckon the three of them could actually contend against Mo Qinglei from the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    A few hours passed...

    Luo Hui from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect arrived, riding his golden spider.

    As soon as he did, Nie Tian and the girls exchanged a nce, and faint smiles appeared on their faces.

    Luo Hui¡¯s expression flickered as he spotted Nie Tian and the girls among the people who had arrived.

 Chapter 834: Enemies on A Narrow Road

    Luo Hui suddenly came to a stop on his golden spider.

    His gaze swept back and forth between Nie Tian and the girls, a hesitant look appearing in his eyes.

    Nie Tian grinned at him, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    Mu Biqiong had killed Fang Yingying at the Silver Beetle nests, terrifying all of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples that had been gathered there.

    Luo Hui had ordered everyone to leave the Silicon Silver behind and evacuate, which had allowed them to escape Fang Yingying¡¯s fate.

    At this moment, however, there wasn¡¯t a single Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciple beside him, and from the look of it, he had just gone through a fierce battle, and barely survived.

    Fine cuts could be seen on his golden spider¡¯s legs, as if it had suffered serious injuries as well.

    There were also noticeable bloodstains on Luo Hui¡¯s garments.

    Chai Longge noticed the anomaly, and thus asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you know him? That guy¡¯s one of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect¡¯s chosen ones. He¡¯s not someone you want to cross.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve met before,¡± Nie Tian said with a in tone.

    Chai Longge frowned. ¡°You, you didn¡¯t provoke him, did you? The Heavenly Witchcraft Sect is a powerful sect, and that guy¡¯s mount, that golden spider, is a famous spirit vermin of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Provoke him? Sort of.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu grew worried.

    However, to their surprise, after a moment of hesitation, Luo Hui steered clear of Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ location, circling to a distant Fortune Well, where he sat down in silence.

    He didn¡¯t say a single word the entire time.

    ¡°He seems to have sustained injuries,¡± Yin Yanan said, somewhat surprised. ¡°That golden spider of his is indeed beyond ordinary. And his sect sent quite arge number of people here. I wonder who killed all of the others and made him look so bedraggled.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    After watching Luo Hui leave without saying a word, Chai Fengwu from the Martial Spirit Sect asked with a confused expression, ¡°Why does he seem to be afraid of you?¡±

    Chai Longge noticed the anomaly too.

    Even he didn¡¯t have confidence that he would be able to defeat Luo Hui and his golden spider in battle, and thus was rather apprehensive about him.

    However, there seemed to be some history between Luo Hui and Nie Tian and the girls, which actually made him walk away voluntarily. Clearly, he wanted to avoid conflicts with the three of them.

    After a moment of pondering, Chai Longge said inwardly, <i>¡°Can it be because Luo Hui has sustained serious injuries?¡±</i>

    From the beginning, he had considered Nie Tian and the girls as ordinary Qi warriors who weren¡¯t special at all.

    ¡°That guy has sustained injuries,¡± Nie Tian said casually. ¡°It¡¯s only natural that he wants to avoid getting into new trouble.¡±

    Chai Fengwu nodded and said sincerely, ¡°You¡¯d better not provoke him as long as he doesn¡¯t make a move against you. That golden spider of his is among the top five most powerful spirit vermin in the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect. That spirit vermin alone can handle a Soul realm Qi warrior. So you¡¯d better be very careful.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and thanked her for her warning.

    Soon, more cultivators, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts arrived in droves.

    Almost all of the forty-nine Fortune Wells were imed.

    Humans took up arge part of those who hade to im the Fortune Wells, then it was the outsiders, including Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends. The Ancientbeasts had the smallest numbers.

    Surprisingly, no conflicts broke out after their arrival.

    Perhaps that was because there were still vacant Fortune Wells.

    The neers seemed to be familiar with the Fortune Wells¡¯ special features, and knew that the size of the wells didn¡¯t really matter.

    By the time the wells worked wonders, therger wells wouldn¡¯t necessarily spew the kinds of energies they would need.

    They could only wait and see.

    Nie Tian had practiced cultivation wholeheartedly during this time.

    He had a feeling that he could break through into the middle Worldly realm at any moment now.

    On this day, as his soul awareness roamed inside the second fragmentary star mark and learned everything about Starchain, the ancient magical symbols that recorded Starchain gradually faded away.

    The first fragmentary star mark had recorded three secret magics: Starstrike, Starshift, and Starfall.

    The second fragmentary star mark carried the profound knowledge of Starchain and star souls.

    However, as the ancient magical symbols that recorded Starchain vanished, new magical symbols gradually revealed themselves.

    The new magical symbols seemed to record another secret magic from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, yet they were currently scattered in a disorderly fashion. Nie Tian would have to analyze and realign them first.

    He thus summoned his soul power to analyze the disorderly magical symbols. However, his soul power ran low at an rming rate as he realigned them.

    At this moment, arge number of outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and human Qi warriors were gathered by the Fortune Wells.

    If he wanted to recover his soul power, he only had one thing he could turn to: soul crystals.

    However, since soul crystals were extremely rare and valuable, all living beings yearned for them.

    If he took his soul crystals out and started recovering soul power with them, he was afraid that that would bring out the greedy nature in the outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and his own kind.

    After pondering the matter for some time, Nie Tian eventually stopped working on the second fragmentary star mark.

    Instead, he used his star souls to channel faint soul power from the stars that filled the entire sky, slowly recovering his soul power.

    During this process, the me Dragon Armor sent him a message. ¡°Master, I¡¯ve finished processing your Blood Essence. I feel like I¡¯ve been reborn.¡±

    Nie Tian was thrilled to hear this wonderful news.

    Battles could break out over the Fortune Wells at any moment. It might happen after the Fortune Wells worked their wonders, or even before that, when all of the Fortune Wells had been imed.

    Mo Qinglei from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and a few others looked rather powerful.

    As confident as Nie Tian had always been, he didn¡¯t think he would be able to defend his Fortune Well against them without external help.

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s message made him realize that he would be able to use this suit of armor to boost his battle prowess again.

    This was great news, especially since he had lost his me Star, and had very few spiritual tools left that he could use in battle.

    Then, through a soulmunication with the me Dragon Armor, he learned that after the ten drops of his Blood Essence had fused into the Blood Core, the shriveled Blood Core had be full of vigor once again. Even Bloodline Crystal Chains that were unique to me dragons came to form within it, which meant the me Dragon Armor would be able to unleash the me dragon¡¯s bloodline talents now.

    The might of the me Dragon Armor would rise to a whole new level because of this.

    The me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure to start with. Now that it had awakened the me dragon¡¯s¡¯ bloodline talents, it actually had hope at making an advancement in its grade, and entering the Immortal grade.

    This knowledge further thrilled Nie Tian.

    A few more days passed, and all of the Fortune Wells were imed by powerful experts of different races.

    However, ording to Chai Longge, it would still be some time before the Fortune Wells would work their wonders again.

    With a bitter expression, Chai Longge said to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be very troublesome this time. It was very rare that all of the Fortune Wells were imed the previous times. I heard that only one time were all forty-nine Fortune Wells divided among experts of different races.

    ¡°And then...¡± He went on and exined in a very low voice that fierce conflicts had broken out over the Fortune Wells even before they had be active.

    The weaker ones had either given up their Fortune Wells or died defending them.

    An icy light shed across Nie Tian¡¯s narrowed eyes as he said, ¡°So that means we need to be very careful from now on. It¡¯s very likely that neers will try to take our Fortune Wells, right?¡±

    Chai Longge fixed him with a sympathetic look and said with a bitter smile, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s going to be very likely that they¡¯ll target your Fortune Well. After all, your cultivation base... is only at the middle Worldly realm.¡±

    He turned to look at Mu Biqiong. ¡°And you too.¡±

    Nie Tian looked around, and discovered that almost all of the outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and Qi warriors he could see were either at the Profound realm or its equivalent grade.

    Compared to these people, he and Mu Biqiong looked like twombs waiting to be ughtered.

    A few hourster, a group of people arrived in a formidable array.

    At their forefront was a high-spirited young Qi warrior dressed in the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s garments. He was short, but very robust.

    Behind him were a number of Earth Spirit Sect disciples, who were none other than the Qi warriors Nie Tian had encountered in the destroyed Stone Golem city.

    The eyes of the man who Yin Yanan had previously injured lit up as soon as he saw Nie Tian and the girls.

    Chai Longge¡¯s expression flickered as he couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Qiu Ji!¡±

    Then, he took a sideways nce at Nie Tian and the girls. A worried look filled his eyes as he sighed. ¡°Trouble hase for you. He¡¯s the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s future sectmaster. He was at the middle Profound realm before entering the Shatter Battlefield. He must have derived decisive enlightenment from Lord Myriad Gravity¡¯s legacies, and sessfully broken through into thete Profound realm.

    ¡°Even though the Earth Spirit Sect isn¡¯t as powerful as my sect, the Martial Spirit Sect, Qiu Ji is their future sectmaster...¡±

    Chai Longge shook his head with a sympathetic expression, as if he wanted to help, but was unable to do so.

    Chai Fengwu pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°I think you¡¯d better leave this ce now. Even we didn¡¯t expect that Qiu Ji would have gained such great fortune from thend where Lord Myriad Gravity perished. We thought they would be stranded there, and wouldn¡¯t have the time toe to the Fortune Wells.

    ¡°Since he has entered thete Profound realm, if he gains fortune here that deepens his understanding of earth power, his cultivation base may undergo another major growth. He may even enter the Soul realm!¡±

    At this moment, the man who Yin Yanan had injured lifted his hand and pointed at Nie Tian and the girls. ¡°Those three are the ones I told you about, future sectmaster.¡±

    Qiu Ji, who was short but very strong, smiled as he flew over in the blink of an eye on his air-transportation spiritual tool.

    ¡°Chai Longge, now that I¡¯m here, you won¡¯t tamper with our business anymore, right?¡± Qiu Ji asked coldly.

    Chai Longge sighed weakly, but said nothing.

    Qiu Ji nodded. ¡°Good. Considering that we¡¯re all from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, I¡¯ll let you off as long as you don¡¯t meddle anymore.¡±

    With these words, he shot a fierce look at Nie Tian and the girls, and shouted, ¡°Get the hell over here now!¡±

 Chapter 835: Man-devouring Marshland

    What was happening to Nie Tian soon attracted the others¡¯ attention.

    Every one of the forty-nine Fortune Wells was now guarded by cultivators, outsiders, or Ancientbeasts.

    Half of them awoke from their cultivation, and looked in Nie Tian¡¯s direction with indifferent expressions.

    The other half didn¡¯t even open their eyes, but still concentrated on their cultivation.

    Qiu Ji¡¯s explosive roar made the gravitational field around him grow stronger.

    With a weak sigh, Chai Longge said, ¡°Qiu Ji, if they¡¯re willing to give up their Fortune Wells, will you give me face and let them go?¡±

    The Earth Spirit Sect had the numbers, and Qiu Ji had just derived important enlightenment and broken through into thete Profound realm.

    Chai Longge didn¡¯t think Nie Tian and the girls would have any chance fighting them.

    Qiu Ji¡¯s main purpose here must be to obtain fortune from the Fortune Wells.

    Therefore, he hoped that he would pressure Qiu Ji a bit with his status in the Martial Spirit Sect, so that he would let Nie Tian and the girls leave after taking over their Fortune Wells.

    Qiu Ji¡¯s face grew cold as he said, ¡°I told you to stay out of this, Chai Longge. Unlike Tao Shuwen, neither you nor your sister rank number one among your sect¡¯s chosen ones. If Tao Shuwen were here and asked me to do him a favor, I might actually give him face and let them go.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not you.¡±

    Chai Longge¡¯s face dropped.

    His younger sister Chai Fengwu let out a cold snort.

    Even though the Earth Spirit Sect wasn¡¯t as powerful as the Martial Spirit Sect, Qiu Ji was the official future sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect. Chai Longge and his sister¡¯s status didn¡¯t match his.

    Other disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect might be apprehensive about him and his sister, but Qiu Ji wouldn¡¯t be.

    Just as Chai Fengwe was about tosh out, Chai Longge shook his head at her, signaling her not to act rashly. Then, he fixed Nie Tian and the girls with an apologetic gaze and said, ¡°Sorry, as much as we want to help you, we can¡¯t.¡±

    Seeing that the Earth Spirit Sect was going to make a move against Nie Tian and the girls, some of the onlookers had indifferent expressions, while others looked deeply intrigued.

    However, none of them thought Nie Tian and the girls would win. They all believed that they would be overwhelmed by the Earth Spirit Sect instantly.

    Only one of the people gathered in this ce had a strange look on his face.

    That person was Luo Hui from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect.

    Eyes narrowed, he gazed at the domineering Qiu Ji from afar and said inwardly, ¡°Another smug...¡±

    He had personally engaged in battle with Nie Tian¡¯s group. Among the three of them, Nie Tian was the one he knew the least about. However, in his eyes, Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan were every bit as deadly as flesh-eating monsters.

    Even though Qiu Ji was at thete Profound realm, he believed that he would be able to contend against or even defeat him in battle with the help of his golden spider.

    However, he was far less confident when it came to Yin Yanan, who had an eighth grade Frost Blood Python at hermand, or Mu Biqiong, who could shoot a powerful root out of her palm.

    It was also for this reason he sneered inwardly watching Qiu Ji deal with them in such a domineering manner.

    ¡°Such time-wasters!¡± With these words, Yin Yanan rose to her feet by her well and prepared to attack.

    However, Mu Biqiong suddenly said, ¡°You used me of not going all-outst time, so why don¡¯t you let me handle this little problem?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Yin Yanan and Nie Tian, who had nned tounch attacks himself, went still.

    WHOOSH!

    The ck demonic nt¡¯s root shot towards the smug Qiu Ji like the pitch-ck tentacles of a monster.

    The dark-cyan air-transportation spiritual tool Qiu Ji was standing on was about six meters long and three meters wide. It seemed to have been forged from some kind of rare metal.

    However, as soon as the enormous ck root whipped it, it shattered to pieces, as if it had been made of paper.

    After ripping the air-transportation spiritual tool to shreds, the thick root attempted to wrap itself around Qiu Ji.

    Standing on different air-transportation spiritual tools, the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples gasped with shock. ¡°Future sectmaster!¡±

    They were well-aware of how dangerous the marsnd was.

    Seeing that Qiu Ji¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool had shattered so easily, they were afraid that he would fall from the air and be devoured by the marsnd.

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after whizzed over in attempts to catch him in midair.

    Qiu Ji¡¯s expression flickered as he watched the enormous ck rooting after him wherever he went. A strong desire to survive rose in his heart.

    He took out a piece of earth-yellow rock and flung it towards the ck root with full force. The rock, which seemed to contain rich earth power, altered the strengthened gravitational field around him.

    In the next moment, it was as if the gravity around him hadpletely vanished.

    Qiu Ji¡¯s plummeting body started to float lightly in the air like he had be a feather.

    Unadapted to the sudden change of gravity, the thick, ck root shot uncontrobly skywards right before it touched Qiu Ji.

    ¡°Future sectmaster!¡± A few other Earth Spirit Sect disciples took this opportunity to swoop over on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Only after they caught Qiu Ji did they let out sighs of relief.

    Adapted to the change of gravity, the ck root once again dove towards Qiu Ji.

    BOOM!

    One of the air-transportation spiritual tools was whipped by the thick root and instantly fell apart.

    Two disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect seemed to not be subject to the change of gravity, as they fell directly into the marsnd.

    One of them was the man who had previously been injured by Yin Yanan, and hade to seek revenge with Qiu Ji at his back.

    As soon as the two of them made contact with the mud, they struggled madly and let out miserable screams, as if they werembs that were being ughtered.

    However, the more they struggled, the quicker they sank into the mud, as if the marsnd had turned into a man-devouring monster that opened itsrge mouth and slowly swallowed the Earth Spirit Sect disciples.

    Soon, they vanishedpletely into the mud.

    Nie Tian sensed with his soul awareness, and couldn¡¯t even detect the slightest flesh aura from underneath the mud.

    He sucked in a breath of cold air and stood aghast, his eyes still fixed on the muddy ground.

    The imants of every Fortune Well opened their eyes and watched the two disciples be devoured by the marsnd.

    Their expressions flickered, no matter whether they were humans, outsiders, or Ancientbeasts.

    All of them had heard terrifying stories about this marsnd, where the Fortune Wells were located.

    However, most of them were here for the first time, and hadn¡¯t witnessed the marsnd devour people before.

    Now, they had seen for themselves that this marsnd was indeed as deadly as the rumors had promised.

    With an unfathomable look in her eyes, Mu Biqiong manipted the ck demonic flower¡¯s root to attack again.

    BANG! BANG!

    Two other air-transportation spiritual tools were whipped to pieces, and the disciples on them wailed desperately as they attempted to escape.

    The pping root sent one of them flying towards Mo Qinglei from the Heavenly Thunder Sect like a streak of light.

    Right before he flew into Mo Qinglei, the man shouted with a hopeful smile, ¡°Allow me to stop here for a moment!¡±

    Clearly, he hoped to assume a firm foothold by Mo Qinglei¡¯s Fortune Well first, so that he wouldn¡¯t fall into the marsnd.

    With a nasty grin, Mo Qinglei said, ¡°This is my territory. No one else is allowed!¡±

    Without him doing anything, his Thunder Beast let out a piercing shriek, and countless interweaving lightning bolts charred the Earth Spirit Sect disciple, killing him before the marsnd did.

    However, the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples, who had also had their air-transportation spiritual tool shattered, weren¡¯t any luckier than him.

    One after another, they fell into the marsnd and were devoured by the mud in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Future sectmaster!¡± the remaining Earth Spirit Sect disciples cried as they watched the thick, ck root massacre their friends.

    Only at this moment did they realize that they had kicked a te of metal, not cotton.

    ¡°No wonder she dares to seek fortune here when she¡¯s only at the Worldly realm,¡± someone muttered in a low voice.

    Chai Longge and his sister fixed Mu Biqiong with bewildered gazes.

    Only at this moment did they realize that Nie Tian and the girls wouldn¡¯t have been in danger in the Stone Golems¡¯ dpidated city even if they hadn¡¯t stood up for them.

    Instead, it was the Earth Spirit Sect disciples who would have been in danger.

    Mu Biqiong was only at thete Worldly realm, but the battle prowess she had disyed was already shocking.

    Even thete Profound realm Qiu Ji seemed somewhat hesitant and panicked after witnessing the deaths of a handful Earth Spirit Sect disciples.

    A few secondster, seeing that the thick, ck root was still seeking targets in midair like the tentacle of a dreadful monster, he finally yelled, ¡°Let¡¯s back away first!¡±

    Then, the remaining Earth Spirit Sect air-transportation spiritual tools hastily flew away from Mu Biqiong, escaping the demonic ck root¡¯s attack range.

    After putting about a hundred meters between them and the root, they found that it no longer chased after them, giving them a chance to catch their breath.

    ¡°Where are you from?!¡± Qiu Ji shouted from afar.

    Mu Biqiong let out a cold harrumph, the demonic root that looked like an enormous whip rapidly shrinking back into her palm.

    She didn¡¯t even spare Qiu Ji another look.

    Sitting by a Fortune Well, a Demon whispered to another Demon, a strange look shing across his purple pupils, ¡°That ck root seems to be the root of a special kind of flower from our realms.¡±

    ¡°You seem to be right,¡± the other Demon said, looking rather apprehensive. ¡°But that makes it even stranger. That woman is clearly a human. How is it possible that she has that legendary kind of flower growing inside of her? And there seems to be more than one of them. Even for humans, those legendary flowers are extremely valuable. As Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials, they have outstanding intelligence.¡±

    With a very grim expression, the first Demon said, ¡°Who knows? But if that¡¯s indeed that legendary kind of flower inside of that woman, then we¡¯d better not cross her. Fully grown or not, it won¡¯t be anything we can handle.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡±

 Chapter 836: Inspiring Awe

    The Earth Spirit Sect disciples flew away on their air-transportation spiritual tool, putting a significant distance between them and Mu Biqiong.

    Qiu Ji was even more furious after Mu Biqiongpletely ignored his shouts.

    However, no matter how furious he was, he didn¡¯t dare to approach her again.

    The deadly root that could shoot out of Mu Biqiong¡¯s palm at any moment made him very insecure, and no longer confident in his own strength.

    Those who he hade with were also awed by Mu Biqiong¡¯s battle prowess.

    Even though she was just standing there, not doing anything, none of them dared to take any rash actions.

    Also at that moment, they started to suspect that Nie Tian and Yin Yanan also had some sort of powerful backing that would allow them to disy battle prowess that far exceeded their actual cultivation bases.

    The thought made them even more apprehensive and uneasy.

    Now, their air-transportation spiritual tools were berthed in a ce far from the ce where the forty-nine Fortune Wells were located.

    With a sad face, one of the Earth Spirit Sect disciples fixed Qiu Ji with an inquiring look. ¡°Future sectmaster...¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Qiu Ji said, ¡°I know that we¡¯ve lost many people. But we need to be patient. I don¡¯t have a full understanding of her strength yet. She¡¯ll have to fight others too over her Fortune Well. We need to be smart and wait for the perfect opportunity to get back at her.¡±

    The other Earth Spirit Sect disciples could only nod with reluctant expressions.

    Just like this, the potentially fierce battle between them and Mu Biqiong ended in Mu Biqiong¡¯sndslide victory.

    The cultivators, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts who had paid attention to this battle thenid their eyes on Mu Biqiong, as they now viewed her as a strong adversary.

    After recovering from his astonishment, Chai Longge fixed Mu Biqiong with aplicated look and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that you were actually such a good fighter. We shouldn¡¯t have just assumed... So from the look of it, you would have been safe in that dpidated city even if we didn¡¯t stand up for you.¡±

    Mu Biqiong sat down without saying anything.

    Yin Yanan smiled faintly. ¡°Good job.¡±

    Mu Biqiong gave a weak snort.

    Neither of them responded to Chai Longge.

    Chai Longge had chosen to stay out of the way when Qiu Ji, the future sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect, had decided to settle ounts with them.

    Since they had only met very recently, and he knew perfectly well that he wouldn¡¯t be able to beat Qiu Ji in battle, that was actually a wise move.

    Even so, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong couldn¡¯t let it go just yet.

    Nie Tian, however, smiled, as if he didn¡¯t find the matter unforgivable. ¡°No matter what, we¡¯re grateful that you told us about the Fortune Wells and brought us here.¡±

    Looking rather embarrassed, Chai Longge said, ¡°Sorry that I didn¡¯t provide you with much help.¡±

    Nie Tian waved his hand, signaling him not to burden himself with it. ¡°That¡¯s alright. If our Fortune Wells happens to spew the kinds of power you need and yours spew the kinds we need, then we¡¯ll still trade with you.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Chai Longge said.

    He and his sister¡¯s strength wouldn¡¯t match that of Qiu Ji¡¯s and the Earth Spirit Sect disciples¡¯, yet Mu Biqiong had single-handedly awed the entire Earth Spirit Sect. If their Fortune Wells happened to spew me power, wood power, or frost power after the Fortune Wells became active, Nie Tian and the girls would have what it took to directly take their Fortune Wells for their own.

    The fact that Nie Tian was willing to trade with them proved that he had forgiven his and his sister¡¯s inaction when facing Qiu Ji.

    Seeing that the Earth Spirit Sect disciples were keeping a significant distance from them, Nie Tian and the girls resumed cultivation.

    However, they didn¡¯t get to practice in peace for very long before something happened that interrupted them again.

    More humans and outsiders arrived in droves. They all berthed their air-transportation spiritual tools over the Fortune Wells, where they briefly nced around and then quickly determined that Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong would be the easiest to drive away.

    Sitting still, Yin Yanan said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you take care of them as well?¡±

    Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t give a reply. However, as soon as those people came at her with vicious expressions, she unleashed the ck demonic flower¡¯s root and started a massacre.

    As one air-transportation spiritual tool after another exploded around her, the cultivators and Demons were also whipped by the thick root and fell into the marsnd, where they rapidly vanished.

    Gradually, an impatient look appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes.

    Since both she and Nie Tian were at the Worldly realm, it was natural that those who came for the Fortune Wells would target the two of them.

    Meanwhile, she couldn¡¯t unt the enormous, ck root at all times to scare the neers off.

    Nie Tian saw through her dilemma, and thus suggested, ¡°Next time you kill them, you can leave their corpses around you, instead of letting them fall into the marsnd. That way, neers will see the corpses around you, and know not to mess with you.¡±

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea!¡±

    She thus did as Nie Tian suggested.

    As more neers approached her with evil intentions, she first killed them with the ck demonic flower¡¯s root, and then grabbed and ced their bodies around her Fortune Well.

    Soon, she was surrounded by corpses of Profound realm cultivators and sixth grade Demons.

    After that, when more cultivators and outsiders arrived, they would see the piled up corpses, and rapidly give up the idea of taking her Fortune Well.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian found handling the endless stream of neers himself to be too troublesome, and thus adopted a simple method.

    He summoned the Bone Blood Demon.

    The Bone Blood Demon was sorge that it almost blocked his Fortune Well from sight. Many people that were guarding their own Fortune Wells cast shocked gazes at it.

    Even though Pergson had absorbed part of its death power with that powerful saber, the Bone Blood Demon still had the strength of a Soul realm expert.

    Adding in its overwhelming visual impact, every neer would gasp with apprehension upon taking a nce at it from afar.

    ¡°My spection was right.¡± Watching the Bone Blood Demon, Chai Longge¡¯s expression grew even bitterer as he realized that Nie Tian was just as hard to deal with as Mu Biqiong.

    Even though the early Profound realm Yin Yanan, whose cultivation base was higher than Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong¡¯s, hadn¡¯t summoned her eighth grade Frost Blood Python yet, Chai Longge and his sister¡¯s expressions were just as revering as they looked at her.

    They assumed that her battle prowess would also far exceed her cultivation base.

    After seeing the awe-inspiring Bone Blood Demon and the corpses around Mu Biqiong, no neer dared toe anywhere close to them anymore. They took detours just to avoid offending them.

    Even Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu benefited from this.

    Many assumed that since they were staying with Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong, they must also be very powerful and hard to deal with.

    Now that the area where they were gathered was battle-free, a series of battles broke out in other areas. Powerful neers would choose those who they deemed unworthy of themselves and try to drive them away.

    Sometimes the neers would drive away or kill the original upants, while at other times they would underestimate their opponent and get killed instead.

    Days passed as some of the Fortune Wells went from hand to hand. Fierce battles took ce every day, and people died constantly.

    Some of the neers wouldunch attacks upon arrival, while others would circle around and wait for opportunities.

    Some of thetter kind of people seemed unfathomable to Nie Tian.

    Chai Longge seemed deeply worried as he said, ¡°Not once have so many peoplee to seek fortune from the Fortune Wells before.¡±

    Another day passed...

    Nie Tian, who had been practicing cultivation this whole time, snapped his eyes open.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he looked around at the mud.

    At this moment, muddy grayish-ck bubbles started to appear in the mud, as if it had begun to seethe.

    At the same time, turbulence started to rise from the depths of the earth. They started out very subtle, but rapidly grew stronger.

    Many noticed the anomaly, and awoke from their cultivation. Even those who were engaged in a fierce fight stopped fighting for the moment.

    Everyone looked back and forth between the Fortune Wells and the mud around them, expectation and excitement rapidly building up in their eyes.

    Mo Qinglei from the Heavenly Thunder Sect smiled as he sprang to his feet and said with an eager expression, ¡°The time has finallye.¡±

    In high spirits, Chai Longge and his sister also rushed to the mouths of their wells. They gazed down and said with a tone of excitement and unease, ¡°The Fortune Wells are going to work their magic!¡±

 Chapter 837: Vermilion Bird, the True Ancientbeast

    Nie Tian nced around and discovered that all of those who were guarding their own Fortune Wells had awoken from their cultivation.

    They all rose to their feet and looked down the mouths of their Fortune Wells.

    As the earth shook increasingly violently and bubbles continued to rise in the mud, faint smoke gradually pervaded the marsnd.

    The air-transportation spiritual tools that were originally berthed in the vicinity began to circle around the Fortune Wells.

    From the look of it, fierce battles could break out at any moment.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± In a distant location, the old man, who practiced lightning power and was about to reach the end of his lifespan, was dumbfounded as he stared at the Fortune Well he had been guarding.

    Wisps of crimson smoke could be seen gradually rising from the mouth the well.

    A zing me aura gradually built up inside the well as a thick pir of fierce mes suddenly burst forth from within it.

    Small red lightning bolts could be seen slithering in the pir of crimson mes, which was a fascinating scene.

    Nie Tian, who practiced me power, took a nce at the pir of mes from afar, and his expression flickered.

    At the same time, the me Dragon Armor sent him a soul message. ¡°That well is spewing mes that contain Heavenme Essence, master! Not only will it be able to help me awaken my bloodline talents and upgrade, but it¡¯ll be of great help to you too!¡±

    Heavenme Essence was said to contain the pure, profound me power of the zing meteors that came from the depths of the starry river.

    While Heaven me Beasts, which were more powerful than Earth me Beasts, sought out and cultivated with Heavenme, Heavenme Essence was even more precious. Cultivators who practiced fire incantations and outsiders who carried fire bloodlines could fuse it into their spiritual seas or bloodlines in order to improve their battle prowess.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    An Earth me Beast that had been guarding one of the Fortune Wells suddenly let out an angry roar and exploded into the air.

    However, arge human expert beat him to the old man.

    It was a middle Profound realm man who practiced fire incantations.

    His cultivation base was clearly lower than the old man¡¯s, yet arge pearl-like item appeared in his hand as he arrived.

    It turned out to be the eye of a Heaven me Beast!

    As arge number of fiery veins grew madly within the Heaven me Beast eye, a unique fiery aura was born in it.

    The crimson pir of mes that shot straight into the heavens now started to bend towards the Heaven me Beast eye, as if it were going to fuse into it.

    The man fixed the old man with a cold look and said with an unquestionable tone, ¡°We¡¯re swapping Fortune Wells.¡±

    The Fortune Well he had imed and guarded didn¡¯t show any wonders. Perhaps it never would.

    The old man¡¯s Fortune Well was already spewing Heavenme Essence, which suited his cultivation needs perfectly. What he was doing was none other than taking the old man¡¯s Fortune Well by force.

    Even though the old man¡¯s cultivation base was higher than his, the old man had grown very hesitant after he had taken out the Heaven me Beast eye.

    After pondering for a few seconds, the old man out a frustrated sigh as he gave up his Fortune Well and flew towards the other man¡¯s Fortune Well.

    Therge man smiled sinisterly as hended by the Fortune Well with a loud boom. ¡°I like people who are smart like you.¡±

    Then, he held the Heaven me Beast eye towards the mouth of the well in an attempt to collect Heavenme Essence.

    All of a sudden, a piercing shriek rang out in the distance.

    In the next moment, a streak of orange light shot over like a sh of lightning, instantly fusing into the pir of crimson mes.

    It turned out to be a ming bird. Bathed in the fierce mes, it let out constant low cries.

    Then, clusters of mes that carried its bloodline power poured down from midair, engulfing the Fortune Well, along with the burly middle-aged man.

    The fiery veins even flew swirling out of the Heaven me Beast eye he was holding, and wreathed him instead.

    Even though the man practiced fire incantations, he rapidly burst into mes.

    Engulfed in mes, the man let out miserable screams as his robust body rapidly ckened.

    Soon, his screams ended.

    His charred, stiff body stood by the Fortune Well like a ck stick.

    The Earth me Beast, which was also hoping to take this Fortune Well for its own, had seen the ming bird flying into the pir of crimson mes like a sh of lighting. Not daring toe any closer, it hade to a stop in the air and observed.

    By the time it saw the burly man being charred in the blink of an eye, fear shed across its eyes as it hastily returned to guard its original Fortune Well without making a sound.

    ¡°That¡¯s a vermilion bird!¡± Fear filled Chai Longge¡¯s face as he said, ¡°That¡¯s not just any spirit beast, but a true Ancientbeast.¡±

    Nie Tian turned to look him in the eye.

    With a bitter smile, Chai Longge exined, ¡°Titans, Ancientbeasts, and great wyrms are all Ancientspirits from the Deste Antiquity Era. Unlike the spirit beasts of our time, Ancientbeasts are an ancient race, whose bloodline stretches all the way back to the Deste Antiquity Era. Not only are they born to be at high grades, but more importantly, they all have exceptional intelligence.

    ¡°Spirit beasts, on the other hand, carry Ancientbeast bloodlines, more or less. But their bloodlines are usually impure.

    ¡°Spirit beasts appeared during the Remote Antiquity Era and Near Antiquity Era. Their grades are usually low, and their intelligence is undeveloped when they are born. They would need to upgrade their bloodline bit by bit. Only after reaching the seventh grade will they develop remarkable intelligence and possess formidable bloodline power.

    ¡°Low-grade spirit beasts can only be categorized as savage beasts.

    ¡°Meanwhile, Ancientbeasts are born with the ability tomunicate with other intelligent beings on a soul level. Therefore, Ancientbeasts usually view low-grade spirit beasts the same way high-tier Demons view low-tier Demons. They only view spirit beasts at the seventh grade or higher as equals.

    ¡°That vermilion bird is a true Ancientbeast. Like the ice phoenix and me dragon, they¡¯re an ancient, intelligent race that has been around since the Deste Antiquity Era.

    ¡°Vermilion birds are born at the sixth grade, so judging from that and Ancientbeasts¡¯ exceptionally long lifespans, that vermilion bird is still a baby.

    ¡°But even so, it possesses formidable power. Since Earth me Beasts are a species that didn¡¯t appear until the Remote Antiquity Era, it¡¯s natural for that Earth me Beast to be afraid of a vermilion bird with an ancient bloodline.¡±

    A surprised look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face after he heard these words. He hadn¡¯t expected there to be such major differences between Ancientbeasts and spirit beasts.

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°He¡¯s right. Those are the differences between Ancientbeasts and spirit beasts.¡±

    Then, she shot Nie Tian a sideways nce and said in a voice only he could hear, ¡°My Frost Blood Python is the hybrid of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python.

    ¡°Blood Stripe Pythons are true Ancientbeasts, while Frost Pythons are usually considered spirit beasts.

    ¡°However, the mother of my Frost Blood Python is a seventh grade Frost Python with developed intelligence. Only because of that, a male Blood Stripe Python fell for it, and the two of them made this Frost Blood Python.¡±

    At that moment, the exmations of many other Qi warriors who also practiced fire incantations echoed out.

    ¡°That¡¯s an Ancientbeast!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a vermilion bird in its infancy!¡±

    Originally, they had itched to leave their own Fortune Wells to seize that me-spewing one for their own. However, the vermilion bird had manipted the me power within that Heaven me Beast eye to devour its owner. After witnessing the violent death of a fellow cultivator with a simr cultivation base as theirs, they all had their enthusiasm dampened, as if someone had poured cold water on them.

    Then, after seeing the sixth grade Earth me Beast cowering back to its own Fortune Well, they all gave up on the idea of seizing that Fortune Well too.

    There might be other Fortune Wells that would spew me power. It was unnecessary to risk their lives fighting that vermilion bird.

    The old man who had been forced away earlier congratted himself inwardly as he watched the dancing vermilion bird in the pir of crimson mes, and the burly man¡¯s charred corpse under it.

    He felt that he had made a wise decision by handing that well over. Otherwise, he would have been the one burned to the death by the vermilion bird.

    The pir of crimson mes gradually shrank as the vermilion bird absorbed its Heavenme Essence.

    As people withdrew their gazes from the vermilion bird, many other Fortune Wells worked their wonders.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Fortune Well was one of them. A thick, watery mist filled with sparkling and crystal-clear drops of water rose unceasingly from the well.

    Each and every drop seemed to contain the essence of water power.

    Chai Fengwu, who was valiant and heroic in bearing, instantly sensed the change, and her eyes lit up.

    She practiced water incantations. The essence of water power Nie Tian¡¯s Fortune Well was spewing suited her cultivation needs perfectly. With its help, she would be able to make rapid advancement in her cultivation.

    Therefore, she looked at Nie Tian with eager eyes.

 Chapter 838: Swap

    With wide eyes, Nie Tian looked at his Fortune Well, but said with a frustrated sigh, ¡°Talk about bad luck.¡±

    Unlike most cultivators, he practiced not only spiritual power, but also me power, wood power and star power.

    However, his Fortune Well happened to spew none of the three, but water power instead.

    ording to Chai Longge, the Fortune Wells spewed all kinds of power, even including pure flesh power.

    Even if his Fortune Well had spewed pure flesh power, he would be able to channel it with his special bloodline talent to refine his body.

    However, water power was of absolutely no use to him.

    He shifted his gaze from his Fortune Well to Yin Yanan¡¯s and the others¡¯, and discovered that none of their Fortune Wells had worked their wonders yet.

    He understood that the Fortune Wells didn¡¯t necessarily work wonders at the same time. Some took longer, while others took shorter.

    Not to mention that some might even stay dormant till the entire season was over.

    ¡°Hey, little brother!¡± A distant, overjoyed voice caught Nie Tian¡¯s ears.

    He looked over, and it turned out to be a good-looking man in purple garments, who was at the middle Profound realm and wreathed in an aura that was as smooth as water.

    With a warm smile, he said, ¡°My name is Xie Yunhai. Your Fortune Well agrees with my cultivation attribute perfectly. And my Fortune Well is spewing wood power. How about we swap?¡±

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the Fortune Well he was standing by was indeed spewing wisps of green aura, which seemed to contain pure wood power.

    As soon as he uttered these words, a disappointed look rapidly spread out across Chai Fengwu¡¯s face, even though Nie Tian hadn¡¯t given a reply yet.

    She sighed inwardly while shaking her head, knowing that she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to get that Fortune Well from Nie Tian.

    After all, Xie Yunhai¡¯s well happened to be the kind Nie Tian needed. A swap would benefit them both.

    With an unrestrained smile, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay, why not?¡±

    He then blurred into action. In the next moment, hended on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder andmanded it to fly towards Xie Yunhai.

    Watching the enormous Bone Blood Demoning towards him, Xie Yunhai had great apprehension in his eyes. Before it came close, he left his Fortune Well to make room for it tond.

    As a Profound realm cultivator, he already possessed the ability to fly without external help. Therefore, without summoning an air-transportation spiritual tool, he made a brief detour in the air to avoid the Bone Blood Demon, and thennded by Nie Tian¡¯s Fortune Well.

    After assuming a firm foothold, he sped his hands towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded back at him.

    After turning his eyes from Nie Tian, Xie Yunhai took a deep breath as his face rapidly grew cold.

    His gaze went back and forth between Chai Longge and his sister before saying with a stern, threatening tone, ¡°I¡¯m from the Water Moon Sect in the Domain of Vast Darkness. You¡¯d better think it through if you want to take this Fortune Well by force.¡±

    He was well-aware that, just like him, Chai Fengwu also practiced water power. The Fortune Well he had obtained from Nie Tian through their swap also suited Chai Fengwu¡¯s needs.

    While Chai Fengwu¡¯s cultivation base was the same as his, Chai Longge¡¯s cultivation base was higher than his.

    If the brother-sister pair teamed up on him, he would most likely find himself in a difficult situation.

    ¡°The Water Moon Sect from the Domain of Vast Darkness, and his family name is Xie...¡± Chai Longge¡¯s expression suddenly flickered, as if he had remembered something.

    Immediately afterwards, he signaled Chai Fengwu to stay back with his gaze, and then said, ¡°Well, since my little sister isn¡¯t fated to have it, we don¡¯t intend to take it by force.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be for the best,¡± Xie Yunhai said with a in tone, but the vignt look in his eyes didn¡¯t fade.

    While keeping an eye on Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu, he took out numerous water-attributed spiritual materials from within his ring of holding, and started cing them around the Fortune Well in a special formation.

    Soon, a glistening hemispherical ward enveloped him and the Fortune Well.

    Only then did a hint of relief appear on his face as he walked to the mouth of the Fortune Well and started channeling water power essence from it.

    <i>¡°Dammit!¡± </i>Mu Biqiong cursed inwardly after seeing Nie Tian start building a Wood Thriving Formation with tree branches afternding by his new Fortune Well on the Bone Blood Demon.

    She also practiced wood power, so that well suited her needs too.

    If she could have the demonic flowers inside of her channel wood power essence from it, she would have a great chance at breaking through from thete Worldly realm into the Profound realm.

    However, since Xie Yunhai was originally rather far from her, by the time she had discovered that his Fortune Well was spewing wood power essence, he had already proposed to swap Fortune Wells with Nie Tian.

    If she had discovered it earlier, she would have flown over without the slightest hesitation, killing Xie Yunhai and taking his Fortune Well.

    She had never been known as a kind person. Her vicious and relentless nature was known throughout the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    She wouldn¡¯t have any mental burden about taking other people¡¯s Fortune Wells by force.

    However, she turned out to be one step toote. Watching Nie Tian agree to Xie Yunhai¡¯s proposal, she had felt frustrated, knowing that she had missed a great opportunity.

    After all, she didn¡¯t want or dare to take that Fortune Well from Nie Tian.

    Even though she had a demonic nt at hermand, and Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon had lost its previous battle prowess, she was still rather apprehensive about him deep down.

    ¡°You might as well try you know, if you really want it,¡± Yin Yanan said with an ill-intentioned smile. ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s puppet is not as powerful as before, and that nt of yours hasn¡¯t suffered a single defeat. Perhaps you¡¯ll actually win.¡±

    With an icy look in her eyes, Mu Biqiong let out a cold snort, ignoring her intent to stir up trouble.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian finished nting seventy-two tree branches into the ground around the Fortune Well. After a green hemispherical ward with mysterious patterns from trees of life formed over him and the Fortune Well, he finally put his heart at ease.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of wood power gave off emerald sparkling light as they rose from the mouth of the Fortune Well.

    Under the Wood Thriving Formation¡¯s profound influence, the wood power grew increasingly pure and concentrated. As soon as Nie Tian attempted to channel it with Heavenly Wood Heal, the wisps of pure, concentrated wood power instantly flew into him like numerous wisps of emerald light.

    In fact, Nie Tian had already refined his vortex of wood power to the point where it was ready for his breakthrough into thete Worldly realm, and liquidized wood power was already brimming in it.

    He no longer needed extra wood power to help him make a breakthrough.

    The wood power he channeled into himself was used to finish the third stage of Heavenly Wood Heal: Meridian Toughening.

    Therefore, he secretly activated his bloodline talent Life Drain and channeled flesh power from the heaps of spirit beast meat within his ring of holding. Then, he followed the Heavenly Wood Heal¡¯s procedures by striking his heart repeatedly with it.

    As ruptures appeared in the fine meridians around his heart, wood power poured into those meridians like trickling streams, carrying vigorous life force that could nourish all things.

    After receiving the wood power essence from that Fortune Well, those meridians that were as fine as hairs healed at a speed that shocked even Nie Tian himself.

    He then discovered that not only was the wood power essence he obtained from this Fortune Well unprecedentedly pure and rich, but it also contained some mysterious power that could help him heal himself.

    He had made a few attempts to finish thest step of Meridian Toughening before, but they had all failed.

    But this time, he found the process of regenerating tissues to reforge the meridians in his heart to be surprisingly smooth.

    Just like this, he was soon consumed with the process of breaking and rebuilding his meridians.

    It didn¡¯t take very long before he finally finished with Meridian Toughening.

    Even after that, wood power that was rich and pure continued pouring into him, further stimting his flesh and the vortex of wood power within his spiritual sea.

    All of a sudden, the obstacles that had been keeping him from entering thete Worldly realm seemed to shatter on their own.

    Immediately afterwards, great changes took ce in his spiritual sea in his dantian region. His spiritual core blossomed with misty light as his three vortexes of different powers spun madly, as if his entire spiritual sea was roaring and transforming.

    <i>¡°Finally!¡±</i> As a thought entered his mind, numerous spirit jades and other spiritual materials flew out of his ring of holding and piled up in front of him.

    Without concerning himself with the environment he was in, he instantly set about breaking through into thete Worldly realm, confident that the Wood Thriving Formation would protect him from any external danger.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth was half open as she eximed inwardly with a astonished expression, <i>¡°No way! He¡¯s started his breakthrough process already?!¡±</i>

    Many others also noticed this anomaly. By the time they saw Nie Tian taking out all kinds of spiritual materials and channeling power from them, they realized that he had broken through the obstacles in his cultivation and was attempting to finish his breakthrough without dy.

    The look in Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes rapidly grew cold as she nced around, and saw that a handful of cultivators were already converging on him. ¡°It¡¯s such a rash and reckless decision to finish his breakthrough under such circumstances.¡±

    All of those who came seemed to practice wood power.

    There was even a sixth grade Floragrim among them.

    The Floragrim had shriveled skin that looked like the skin of an old tree. However, mysterious patterns could be vaguely seen under his skin.

    He floated in the air and examined the green ward generated by the Wood Thriving Formation with a grim expression. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to Nie Tian, as if those translucent and sparkling tree branches and the unfathomable patterns within that green ward were much more interesting.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyebrows furrowed as killing intent rapidly built up within her eyes. Then, with an icy voice, she said, ¡°Please go back to your Fortune Wells!¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes were also filled with warning as sheid them on the Floragrim.

    The human cultivators¡¯ expressions flickered after hearing Mu Biqiong¡¯s warning. They exchanged a nce, and then left reluctantly.

    Only the Floragrim remained in ce, and still fixed his fiery gaze on the tree branches and the mysterious patterns in the green ward, as if he werepletely unconcerned.

 Chapter 839: A Strange Floragrim

    An impatient look appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she asked, ¡°Do you not speak ournguage?¡±

    A dangerous aura gradually wreathed her as the killing intent in her eyes grew stronger and stronger.

    At this moment, the Floragrim seemed to finally notice her. He tore his gaze from the tree branches to look at her with a calm expression. Then, in fluent humannguage, he answered, ¡°I speak it.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Mu Biqiong said, her eyes ice-cold. ¡°I¡¯ll say it one more time: please leave now!¡±

    Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect had urged her to stay with Nie Tian and try not to anger him before she had entered the Shatter Battlefield.

    She knew perfectly well that her sect was apprehensive about Nie Tian¡¯s identity as a Son of the Stars.

    Therefore, she hadn¡¯t really taken Jiang Feng¡¯s words to heart. However,ter in the Silver Beetle nest, the mother beetle had snuck up on her when she had been paralyzed by her sharp screeches. It was Nie Tian who had saved her.

    She knew that she would have survived even if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t helped her, but she would have sustained injuries.

    Furthermore, the enormous vines in the Realm of Shattered Earth had allowed her to achieve a breakthrough in her cultivation.

    She had a feeling that if she could enter the Realm of Shattered Earth again, she would most likely continue to benefit from those huge vines.

    Nie Tian was the only one who could take her there.

    Therefore, she had stepped up and stopped the people who practiced wood power as soon as they had approached him with evil intentions.

    The Floragrim noticed the unpleasant look on her face. After a moment of hesitation, he said, ¡°I mean no harm. My name is Fata. The tree branches your friend used to build this spell formation seem to have close connections with my kind. I believe those patterns within the power ward are from a tree of life, which we deem as our guardian.¡±

    Mu Biqiong let out a cold harrumph. ¡°You said you mean no harm, but you¡¯re here to steal those tree branches, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    With a faint smile, Fata said, ¡°You¡¯ve misunderstood my intentions. The fact that he was able to obtain and use those tree branches to establish spell formations means that he also has close connections to my kind. So I won¡¯t try to take those tree branches from him.

    ¡°I just want to observe and brand those patterns in the depths of my mind.

    ¡°I believe I¡¯ll be able to benefit from them when I upgrade my bloodline in the future.¡±

    Mu Biqiong was surprised. ¡°You¡¯re really just going to observe?¡±

    Fata nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Just observe. I promise that I won¡¯t try to harm him. Besides, the spell formation those tree branches have formed contains unlimited power. Even if I wanted to harm him, I doubt that I¡¯d be able to break through that ward. I¡¯ll even stop others from harming him as long as I¡¯m here.¡±

    Both Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan were unable to make heads or tails of Fata¡¯s words, and found his attitude baffling.

    Mu Biqiong shot Yin Yanan a sideways nce, as if to ask for her opinion on this matter. Yin Yanan also had a confused look on her face. She pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Alright then. Let him be if he just wants to observe. If otherse at Nie Tian with evil intentions, then we can have him cash his promise and expel them in our stead.¡±

    Mu Biqiong nodded and said to Fata, ¡°I hope you meant what you just said.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Fata said without any hesitation. ¡°If people dare to make a move against him, I¡¯ll drive them away immediately.¡±

    Afterwards, Fata stood in silence in front of Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation, his eyes fixed on the mysterious patterns within the green power ward, as if he was deriving enlightenment from them using the Floragrim¡¯s unique bloodline talents.

    Looks of joy would sh across his eyes from time to time.

    Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan had witnessed the Wood Thriving Formation¡¯s formidable power before, and thus assumed that even if Fata intended to make a move against Nie Tian, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to shatter that ward within a short time.

    The two of them stayed briefly before flying back to their own Fortune Wells. However, they would still check on Fata every once in a while.

    Gradually, more Fortune Wells started to spew various kinds of energy of heaven and earth, including lightning, mes, golden light, and even flesh power.

    However, Mu Biqiong¡¯s and Yin Yanan¡¯s Fortune Wells didn¡¯t work any wonders.

    Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu also grew more and more anxious as they checked their own Fortune Wells from time to time.

    Their Fortune Wells also remained dormant.

    After some time, Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    She sensed that a nearby Fortune Well had started spewing wood power essence.

    After a brief moment of hesitation, she channeled power from the demonic nt¡¯s strength inside of her, and rose into the air like a leaf.

    Generally speaking, only after entering the Profound realm would a Qi warrior gain the ability to infuse themselves with spiritual power and travel through the air.

    Clearly, this rule didn¡¯t apply to her.

    ¡°There¡¯s a Fortune Well over there that suits my needs and yours,¡± she said to Fata.

    Fata was a Floragrim. All Floragrims practiced wood power bloodline magics, and thrived on pure and rich wood power. Therefore, she assumed that he should shift his focus.

    ¡°For me, these patterns from a tree of life are more important than the wood power essenceing out of a Fortune Well,¡± Fata said, his expression as calm as ever. ¡°I have no interest in seizing that Fortune Well for my own.¡±

    With an arrogant smile, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°Even if you did, you¡¯d have to be able to beat me first.¡±

    Then, she turned to Yin Yanan. ¡°Nie Tian should be safe with you here. I¡¯lle back as soon as I can.¡±

    With these words, she sped off like an arrow.

    As she did, the ck demonic flower¡¯s root once again shot out of her palm, making her look like a female devil wielding a ck, monstrous being.

    The Fortune Well that was spewing wood power essence was guarded by a high-tier Demon.

    He was the one who had been very apprehensive about the demonic nt inside of her.

    Upon seeing her approach, the Demon realized her intention, and thus let out a sigh of frustration. Before she even said anything, he took the initiative to move away from the Fortune Well with a bitter expression on his face.

    ¡°This is a smart Demon,¡± Mu Biqiong muttered in a low, mocking voice as her perfectly-shaped bodynded gracefully by the Fortune Well.

    Countless wisps of wood power then started converging on her and fusing into her through her pores.

    A long time passed...

    An endless stream of frosty mist suddenly shot out of the mouth of one of the Fortune Wells guarded by human cultivators. Arge number of tiny ice shards could be seen within it.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s interest was instantly provoked.

    Since she practiced frost power, that Fortune Well suited her needs perfectly.

    However, after Mu Biqiong had left, the important task of guarding Nie Tian had fallen on her shoulders.

    Since she didn¡¯t trust Fata, the Floragrim, she was torn with indecision, not knowing whether she should rush over and take that Fortune Well for her own.

    Fata, the Floragrim, saw her dilemma. He took a few steps back from Nie Tian, spread out his hands, and said, ¡°I told you that I mean no harm to him. We Floragrims don¡¯t usually lie.¡±

    Yin Yanan gave a cold smile. ¡°I¡¯ll have nothing to be afraid of even if you lie. I¡¯ll be right there, keeping an eye on you. If you dare to try anything funny...¡±

    With these words, her agile, cougar-like body shot towards that Fortune Well like a streak of icy light.

    The owner of that Fortune Well was a middle Profound realm Qi warrior, who didn¡¯t practice frost power.

    The man let out a cold harrumph as he watched Yin Yanan swooping towards him with the clear intention to take his Fortune Well for her own.

    At that very moment, the Frost Blood Python tattoo on Yin Yanan¡¯s slender waist suddenly came alive.

    A devastating aura suddenly burst forth from within the Frost Blood Python, making the man gasp with astonishment and fear.

    Without much hesitation, he fled from his Fortune Well and flew away from Yin Yanan at his fastest possible speed.

    He had already noticed Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong¡¯s strong backing. Both Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon and Mu Biqiong¡¯s ck demonic nt were shockingly formidable.

    Of the three of them, only Yin Yanan hadn¡¯t revealed her backing until now.

    However, after seeing the Frost Blood Python gradually awakening and sensing the bloodline aura it was releasing, he instantly cowered.

    Just like that, Yin Yanan seized that Fortune Well without staining her de with her opponent¡¯s blood. All of this was thanks to the terrifying aura the Frost Blood Python had emanated even beforeing out of her waist.

    Then, she shot Fata, the Floragrim, a cold nce, as if to give him another warning.

    Fata, however, ignored her nce, but continued to focus on the mysterious patterns in the green light ward, which seemed to havee from a tree of life.

    With a puzzled expression, Yin Yanan muttered in a low voice, ¡°Is deriving enlightenment from those tree patterns really all he wants to do?¡±

    Afterwards, she focused on collecting the extremely frigid ice shards that were spewing from the mouth of the Fortune Well, hoping to use them to improve her battle prowess and cultivation base.

    A group of people had paid close attention to everything that had happened to Nie Tian and the girls the entire time.

    They were none other than Qiu Ji and the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples.

    Qiu Ji had observed and waited for a long time. By the time he discovered that both Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan had left sessively to seize Fortune Wells from others, he suddenly called out, ¡°Our opportunity hase! Kill their friend first, while they¡¯re busy gathering power!¡±

    The Earth Spirit Sect disciples then flew over from the distance on their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Seeing this, the Floragrim named Fata frowned and cursed in the outsiders¡¯nguage.

 Chapter 840: Fata, the Floragrim

    Right before the Earth Spirit Sect disciples were about to reach Nie Tian¡¯s location on their air-transportation spiritual tool, fear appeared in their eyes as they eximed, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that puppet won¡¯t be easy to deal with, future sectmaster!¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon was standing on guard by Nie Tian right outside the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Like a god of bones, the enormous Bone Blood Demon looked very awe-inspiring.

    In fact, its formidable might was the main reason why Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong had dared to leave Nie Tian alone.

    Both of them had witnessed the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s terrifying battle prowess, and assumed that Fata, the Floragrim, wouldn¡¯t dare to make a move against Nie Tian as long as it was there to protect him.

    ¡°It¡¯s only a puppet,¡± Qiu Ji said, his face ice-cold and filling with killing intent. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to fear. My gravity-altering incantation will greatly limit the mobility of something thatrge. Therger things are, the more they¡¯ll be affected by my strengthened gravitational field. Once I cast my spell, that puppet won¡¯t even be able to move about, much less pose a threat to us!¡±

    With these words, Qiu Ji and the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Qiu Ji assumed that since Nie Tian, Mu Biqiong, and Yin Yanan were on the same team, the girls must attach great importance to Nie Tian¡¯s safety. By killing him, he would get back at the girls.

    ¡°Those two bitches dared to set themselves against me and the Earth Spirit Sect! No matter who they are, they must suffer!¡± With these words, Qiu Ji took out that earthy-yellow rock and altered the gravitational field around him with the earth power it contained.

    The gravity in the area where Nie Tian was instantly skyrocketed.

    Feeling the strengthened gravity, a shred of anger shed across the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s dark-green eyes as it stood unwavering by the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Its mobility was indeed limited by the sudden change in gravity as it swung its huge arms to swat at the iing air-transportation spiritual tools.

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after another flew through the space under its slowed arms and arrived directly above the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Chai Fengwu from the Martial Spirit Sect saw what was happening, and thus couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Big brother!¡±

    Chai Longge hesitated for a few seconds before finally making up his mind and yelling, ¡°Help Nie Tian fight those people from the Earth Spirit Sect!¡±

    The brother-sister pair then sprang to their feet and flew towards Qiu Ji, leaving their Fortune Wells behind.

    Since Chai Longge had intentionally yelled at the top of his lungs, Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan, who were in distant locations, also noticed what was happening at Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    The two of them fixated their furious gazes on Qiu Ji simultaneously.

    Also at this moment, other cultivators and outsiders sniffed opportunities, and quietly gathered to Yin Yanan¡¯s and Mu Biqiong¡¯s locations.

    They either practiced wood power or frost power.

    Obviously, they intended to upy Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s Fortune Wells as soon as they left. They would channel frost power and wood power from them as fast as they could, and use them to improve their battle prowess.

    The girls saw right through their ns, and thus grew hesitant.

    At that very moment, the Floragrim who referred to himself as Fata flung his arm towards the Earth Spirit Sect disciples with a disgusted look on his face.

    In the next moment, an emerald bamboo stalk grew out of his palm.

    The bamboo had many joints, all of which were translucent and sparkling, as if they contained a shockinglyrge amount of wood power essence.

    As the bamboo swept across in the air, dazzling green light split heaven and earth like a sword of light.

    FZZZ!

    The green light shed through one of the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tools, and it split in half like a piece of paper.

    This strike was every bit as mighty as the ones Mu Biqiong hadunched with that ck root growing out of her palm, if not mightier.

    Splitting along with that air-transportation spiritual tool were two screaming Earth Spirit Sect disciples. Their blood spilled in all directions before their mangled bodies fell into the bubbling dark gray marsnd, where they vanished in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°You!¡± Qiu Ji shouted furiously, ring at Fata. ¡°We only came for that man! In fact, we were going to give his Fortune Well to you!¡±

    Completely ignoring him, Fata continued to swing the green bamboo stalk that had grown out of his palm.

    Its dazzling green light seemed to carry some all-conquering divine power.

    Two more Earth Spirit Sect air-transportation spiritual tools shattered to pieces, as if they were made of paper. All of the Earth Spirit Sect disciples on them died miserable deaths.

    ¡°I made myself perfectly clear that I¡¯m here to observe and learn from those tree patterns, not for that Fortune Well,¡± Fata said in fluent humannguage. ¡°You thought I was trying to trick people or something?¡±

    That was in fact exactly what Qiu Ji had assumed.

    He had thought Fata would form an alliance with them and help them kill Nie Tian in order to take those tree branches and that Fortune Well.

    He had never thought that as an outsider, Fata would help Nie Tian fight them instead.

    Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu, who were just about to go help Nie Tian defend against the Earth Spirit Sect disciples regardless of Qiu Ji¡¯s status as the future sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect, suddenly went nk.

    bbergasted, they looked at Fata from afar.

    The same went for Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, who were also going toe to Nie Tian¡¯s aid, as if none of them had expected that Fata would actually carry out his promise and drive away those who came at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Get out of here now so I can resume my cultivation.¡± With an aloof face, Fata continued to sweep the translucent and sparkling bamboo that had grown out of his palm across the air.

    As dazzling green light filled this part of the sky, one Earth Spirit Sect air-transportation spiritual tool after another was split in two, along with the Earth Spirit Sect disciples on them.

    In less than a minute, there wasn¡¯t a single Earth Spirit Sect disciple left besides Qiu Ji.

    Even Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong were deeply shaken by the terrifying battle prowess Fata was disying.

    Only at this moment did they realize that this strange Floragrim was actually just as powerful as Pergson, the Bonebrute, and Froste, the Phantasm.

    Fata must enjoy a lofty status among his race as well.

    That was when Mu Biqiong suddenly realized that Fata had never been afraid of her or Yin Yanan. All of their intimidation had been pointless.

    Given Fata¡¯s battle prowess, even with the help of that ck demonic flower¡¯s root, she wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to defeat him in battle.

    Furthermore, Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python hadn¡¯t unleashed any power back then, so Fata must not have known how powerful Yin Yanan really was.

    ¡°Such a weird guy.¡± Mu Biqiong muttered in a low voice.

    As surprised and confused as she and Yin Yanan were to see Fata carry out his word and disy such battle prowess, they finally put their hearts at ease.

    After sweeping their gazes over the people around them, they went back to channeling frost power and wood power into themselves.

    SHEW!

    Qiu Ji from the Earth Spirit Sect fled on an air-transportation spiritual tool at a speed that was even faster than when he hade.

    However, he no longer dared to lurk at the perimeter. Instead, he gave up the opportunity to seek fortune from the Fortune Wells, but soon disappeared into the distance like a streak of light.

    He was truly scared this time.

    After the miserable deaths of all of hispanions, he wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to defeat Fata alone.

    Besides, if he were still here when Nie Tian awoke, and Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong finished gathering power, wouldn¡¯t he be seeking his own death?

    After Qiu Ji left, peace and quiet were restored to Nie Tian¡¯s area.

    Fata, the Floragrim, withdrew that translucent and sparkling bamboo stalk, and went back to sitting in the lotus position in midair.

    His eyes were still fixed on the patterns from the tree of life in the green power ward, as if he was trying to learn their secrets and brand each and every one of them into his memory.

    Fata¡¯s formidable strength had made many in his surroundings tremble with fear,pletely dropping the idea of taking the opportunity to attack Nie Tian while he was busy with his breakthrough.

    Gradually, more Fortune Wells worked their wonders.

    The Fortune Well Yin Yanan had left earlier started to spew golden light.

    Chai Longge¡¯s expression flickered. Ecstasy filled his eyes as he looked at that Fortune Well from afar. He wanted to take it very much, but at the same time, he was worried that Yin Yanan wouldn¡¯t be happy about it.

    While he was hesitating, Nie Tian awoke from his cultivation. He opened his eyes and nodded at him. ¡°Go ahead and use it. I¡¯ll talk to her.¡±

    Chai Longge¡¯s eyes lit up as he sped his hands to express his gratitude. Immediately afterwards, he shed to that Fortune Well.

    With a faint smile, Nie Tian looked at his Fortune Well, which had stopped giving wood power essence. Then, after putting the seventy-two tree branches away, he said to Fata, ¡°Thank you for guarding me.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me,¡± Fata said, not taking the credit. ¡°You would have been just as safe without me. There¡¯s no way those people could have broken that spell formation of yours. Others may not know, but I know perfectly well how powerful that spell formation was.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said with a confident tone, ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to have a private talk with you after we¡¯re finished with the Fortune Wells here,¡± Fata said sincerely.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Nie Tian agreed.

    Without saying another word, Fata turned around and flew off to a Fortune Well guarded by a human cultivator, which was now spewing rich wood power.

    As soon as the green bamboo shot out of his palm again, the human cultivator¡¯s protective ward shattered, along with the cultivator himself.

    Then, Fata sat down as if nothing had happened. Like a whale swallowing seawater, he started channeling wood power from the well at an rming speed.

 Chapter 841: The Thunder King Seal

    The Fortune Well Nie Tian had obtained from Xie Yunhai through their exchange had run dry, without even a shred of wood powering out of it anymore.

    After putting his seventy-two tree branches away, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t in a hurry to find his next Fortune Well. Instead, he sent a wisp of soul awareness to conduct a thorough examination of his spiritual sea.

    Normally speaking, a minor breakthrough in cultivation wouldn¡¯t cause great changes to a cultivator¡¯s spiritual sea. He found that his spiritual core had expanded slightly, and the liquidized spiritual power within it had be more concentrated and pure.

    At the same time, each of his three vortexes of different powers had expanded a few times, allowing them to hold more power.

    These were all of the changes that had taken ce within his spiritual sea.

    Then, as he withdrew his soul awareness, he discovered that his true soul within his sea of awareness had be unprecedentedly clear.

    Countless soul strands could be seen within his true soul, like theplicated meridianwork of a cultivator, through which were flowing pure soul power.

    As for his nine star souls, nothing seemed to have changed. They still shone as brightly as stars in a night sky.

    However, he realized that after his breakthrough and the expansion of his spiritual core and three vortexes, he now needed a significant amount of power.

    Normally, he would channel power from all kinds of spiritual materials to fill his spiritual core and three vortexes. After they all brimmed with power, he would use the additional power to refine them.

    This was usually a long process, which couldn¡¯t be achieved overnight.

    ¡°But there seems to be a shortcut now.¡± Gazing at the distant Fortune Wells, over which cultivators and outsiders were fighting to death, he itched to try something out.

    Of course, the shortcut he was referring to was those Fortune Wells.

    As long as he could find Fortune Wells that spewed me power, star power, wood power, pure spiritual power, or flesh power, then he would be able to brim with power again, and start the next round of self-refinement within a short period of time.

    He hade to this realization from his most recent cultivation with the Fortune Well that had spewed wood power essence.

    The energiesing out of these Fortune Wells contained some profound fortune of heaven and earth, which could greatly elerate the refinement of his spiritual core and vortexes, even getting him ready for his next breakthrough within a short time.

    <i>¡°If I can umte all the kinds of power I need within a short time, I may actually have a chance at making two breakthroughs in a row, and entering the Profound realm!¡±</i>

    As his train of thought came to this point, he instantly jumped onto the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder without the slightest hesitation.

    Sitting on the shoulder of the mountain-like Bone Blood Demon, he nce down with rapt attention. Soon, his gazended on a Fortune Well, over which a human cultivator and a sixth grade Earth me Beast were having a fierce fight.

    That Fortune Well was spewing raging mes.

    The human cultivator was fighting the sixth grade Earth me Beast in midair using a long crimson spear.

    Like disciples of the Divine me Sect, that cultivator practiced fire incantations.

    The crimson spear in his hand seemed to have been forged from the bone of some Ancientbeast. As he brandished it, raging mes shot from it, morphing into a zing beast.

    Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention, and discovered that it was actually a me qilin.

    Like vermilion birds, me qilins were also Ancientbeasts from the Deste Antiquity Era that were born with formidable bloodline power.

    The man¡¯s long spear had been forged by distinguished human equipment forgers with a bone taken from a me qilin and a hundred different kinds of metals. By doing this, they seemed to have even partially awakened the me qilin¡¯s bloodline power.

    The me qilin¡¯s bloodline power seemed to have a suppressing effect on the Earth me Beast. The Earth me Beast unleashed a sea of torrential mes, yet it didn¡¯t hurt the man in the slightest.

    <i>¡°I wonder what grade that spear is at.¡± </i>Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before letting out a cold snort and flying towards that Fortune Well on the Bone Blood Demon.

    Along his way, many humans and outsiders who were engaged in fierce battles stayed their hands upon seeing the Bone Blood Demon, and gave way to it out of apprehension.

    The Bone Blood Demon gradually approached Mo Qinglei on its way to its target.

    Standing by his Fortune Well, Mo Qinglei seemed to have just drained it of its lightning power.

    He was originally at the middle Profound realm, but now that he had drained that Fortune Well of its lightning power, he had the confidence to advance to thete Profound realm within a short time.

    But even so, he didn¡¯t dare to make the breakthrough in such a ce.

    After all, his sixth grade Thunder Beast wasn¡¯t powerful enough to protect him from the potential danger while he finished the breakthrough process.

    As the Bone Blood Demon was about to fly over his head, anger suddenly appeared in his eyes as he shouted, ¡°The piece of sky over my head is my territory too. No one is allowed to trespass!¡±

    Even his Thunder Beast let out low bellows, as if to disy its strength.

    In fact, since the moment Mo Qinglei had imed that Fortune Well, he had attacked every human and outsider who had ever attempted to fly over him.

    Some of them had died at his hands, while two outsiders had sustained serious injuries and fled in sore straits.

    As the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s future sectmaster, Mo Qinglei had powerful magical treasures in his possession, and had always behaved in an arrogant and overbearing manner.

    He was well-aware that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with, yet he dared to berated him as the Bone Blood Demon flew close to his ¡®territory¡¯. This proved that not only was he not afraid of Nie Tian, but he also didn¡¯t fear Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly grew icy. ¡°Do you have a problem?¡±

    As he sent a soul message to the Bone Blood Demon, it dove directly towards the Fortune Well Mo Qinglei was standing by.

    Originally, he could have steered clear of Mo Qinglei. However, Mo Qinglei¡¯s words seemed to have provoked him, and now he was bent on passing right over his head.

    Upon his arrival, Mo Qinglei had stolen this Fortune Well from an old man, and said that he would take another Fortune Well like this one for his Thunder Beast.

    At this moment, his Fortune Well had already gone dry, and he could have moved on to find his next target.

    However, even under such circumstances, he would still stop Nie Tian from passing over his so-called territory. This was enough evidence to his wild arrogance.

    With a sisterugh, Mo Qinglei shouted, ¡°Yes, I do! Thunder King Seal!¡±

    As he shouted these words, a seal made from arge cyan jade suddenly appeared.

    The soul of a formidable Thunder Beast could be seen sealed within it. From the look of it, that Thunder Beast had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive.

    Like mysterious magical symbols, countless fine lightning bolts densely wreathed the Thunder Beast soul.

    The sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, who was Mo Qinglei¡¯s father, had personally forged this Spirit Channeling grade treasure for him.

    As soon as the Thunder King Seal appeared, resounding thunderps filled the sky, along with Thunder Beast roars.

    Countless lightning bolts then shot out of the Thunder King Seal in all directions, along with arge number of thunderballs.

    Each and every thunderball carried the profound truths of thunder power, as if they could conquer all that was evil in this world.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    The Bone Blood Demon was rapidly engulfed in a sea of thunderballs, its entire body wreathed in slithering lightning. Every bone in its body was being bombarded by the thunderballs.

    Lightning and thunderballs filled the sky over Mo Qinglei¡¯s head, as if this entire area had be a realm of lightning and thunder, and Mo Qinglei was the god who controlled everything in it.

    As powerful as the Bone Blood Demon was, it fell out of the sky under the Thunder King Seal¡¯s wanton bombardment, and crashed towards Mo Qinglei.

    The lightning and thunderballs the Thunder King Seal had unleashed seemed to have a subduing effect on Bonebrutes, since the Bone Blood Demon couldn¡¯t even activate its bloodline magics to unleash death power.

    Even the flesh power ward it had formed around Nie Tian seemed to be on the verge of breaking under the endless bombardment of lightning and thunder.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he let out a cold snort.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding and descended from over his head.

    The might of the me Dragon Armor had improved considerably after receiving his ten drops of Blood Essence and gathering arge amount of earthme crystal strings and earthme essence from the Realm of Withering me. Because of that, it had also be even heavier.

    The moment the suit of armor descended onto Nie Tian, he felt unadapted to its increased weight, and thus let out an exmation.

    However, in the next moment, torrential mes burst forth from the me Dragon Armor and engulfed him, turning him into a man of mes.

    BOOM!

    The flesh power ward the Bone Blood Demon had created finally shattered. However, the raging mes that carried the me dragon¡¯s fierce aura and vigorous flesh power shed with the sea of lightning and thunder.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Exploding sounds echoed out in a small area around Nie Tian.

    Hundreds of lightning bolts and thunderballs soon vanished after entering the ming area around Nie Tian, as if the raging mes had melted them.

    Astonishment shed across Mo Qinglei¡¯s eyes as he said coldly, ¡°Even among Spirit Channeling grade treasures, some are more powerful than others. I don¡¯t believe that Spirit Channeling grade treasure of yours is more powerful than my Thunder King Seal!¡±

    With these words, the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul suddenly burst out of the Thunder King Seal, roaring ferociously as it did.

    As soon as it came out, Mo Qinglei¡¯s sixth grade Thunder Beast crouched down on the ground, trembling with fear.

    The Thunder Beast soul, however, rapidly expanded to close to a hundred meters long, exuding a terrifying aura.

    The lightning bolts that had chained it down within the Thunder King Seal now became its weapons, as they turned into thousands of whips of lightning that came towards Nie Tian from all directions.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    As the whips of lightning entered the sea of mes around Nie Tian, they met the me power¡¯s strong resistance, and rapidly shrank in size.

    Even so, they still mmed into the me Dragon Armor and Nie Tian¡¯s unprotected parts.

    His uncovered garments were instantly turned into flying dust. The whips of lightning left numerous whipped marks on his robust body, afflicting him with burning pain.

    Many fine lightning bolts even found their way inside of him in an attempt to ravage his internal organs.

    All of a sudden, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s furious roar came from the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s soul. The sea of mes around Nie Tian instantly morphed into a dragon of mes.

    As it turned its head and pped its tail, numerous lightning whips scattered and vanished into the air.

    At the same time, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s vigorous flesh aura fused into Nie Tian, capturing and devouring every single lightning bolt that had infiltrated him.

    A worried look finally appeared on Mo Qinglei¡¯s face as he watched the dragon of mes leaving Nie Tian to engage in a fierce fight against the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul that hade out of his Thunder King Seal.

    ¡°That suit of armor is also a high-tier Spirit Channeling grade treasure! And it has the soul of a me dragon from the Deste Antiquity Era as its soul!¡±

 Chapter 842: A Sudden Change

    The look in Mo Qinglei¡¯s eyes grew grim, as he no longer dared to think lightly of Nie Tian.

    Originally, he had assumed that Nie Tian only had the Bone Blood Demon at hismand, but since the Thunder King Seal, which his father had forged for him, had a strong subduing effect on the Bone Blood Demon, he had assumed that Nie Tian stood no chance fighting him.

    Only after Nie Tian summoned his me Dragon Armor, and the me dragon soul flew out of the suit of armor to engage in a fierce fight against the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul, did he realize how powerful Nie Tian really was.

    Thunder Beasts weren¡¯t formidable Ancientbeasts from the Deste Antiquity Era, but rather normal spirit beasts.

    Even though the Thunder Beast soul within the Thunder King Seal was at the eighth grade, and was what had made this seal a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, a Thunder Beast¡¯s strength was inferior to the strength of an Ancientbeast like the me dragon.

    The fierce battle between the me dragon soul and the Thunder Beast soul went on over Nie Tian and Mo Qinglei.

    Mo Qinglei observed for a short while, and discovered that the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul failed to gain an advantage in the battle.

    A sinister look shed across his eyes.

    He jerked his head towards his sixth grade Thunder Beast.

    Meeting his gaze, the Thunder Beast trembled with fear. It shook its head unceasingly, as if it was in its nature to resist Mo Qinglei¡¯s idea.

    However, Mo Qingleipletely ignored it, instead shouting, ¡°Beast spirit merge!¡±

    The eighth grade Thunder Beast soul, which was fighting the me dragon soul, suddenly swooped over and fused into the sixth grade Thunder Beast.

    The enormous soul rapidly shrank and disappeared into the sixth grade Thunder Beast.

    At the same time, Mo Qinglei¡¯s Thunder King Seal flew to the spot between the sixth grade Thunder Beast¡¯s eyebrows.

    The sixth grade Thunder Beast let out miserable shrieks as the eighth grade Thunder Beast¡¯s soul shadow gradually appeared in the depths of its beastly eyes.

    After being possessed by the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul and strengthened by the Thunder King Seal, the sixth grade Thunder Beast instantly became violent and bloodthirsty.

    With a soft exmation, Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul seemed to have transcended the sixth grade Thunder Beast¡¯s bloodline.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In a split second, countless bolts of cyan lightning crawled all over the Thunder Beast¡¯srge body.

    It opened its mouth, and a thunderball shot towards the me dragon soul.

    The thunderball was filled with tiny bolts of lightning and mysterious magical symbols, which seemed to carry the profound truths of thunder and lightning power.

    BOOOM!

    The thunderball exploded, unleashing a world of lightning and a thunderp that was ten times fiercer than before, engulfing the me dragon soul.

    The lightning carried a aura that could annihte souls and spirits of all forms.

    Engulfed in the sea of lightning, the me dragon soul shrank at a fast speed.

    The mes that formed it gradually faded, along with the me dragon¡¯s soul aura.

    It roared, its voice filled with agony.

    Seeing this, Mo Qinglei said coldly, ¡°Thunder and lightning are the natural enemy of souls and spirits of all forms. That me dragon soul of yours is courting death bying out of its vessel!¡±

    Nie Tian was sudden enlightened.

    It was known that lightning and thunder could annihte all forms of souls and spirits.

    Cultivators who practiced lightning and thunder incantations were Phantasms¡¯ natural enemies. Phantasms weren¡¯t able to unleash many of their profound bloodline magics to fully disy their strength when facing an expert of lightning magics like Mo Qinglei.

    The eight grade Thunder Beast soul was also a soul by nature, so it hadn¡¯t been able to bring out the full might of its lightning magics.

    However, after it had possessed a living Thunder Beast and gained the Thunder King Seal¡¯s help, it now disyed might that could subdue souls and spirits of all forms.

    WHOOSH!

    The dragon of mes rapidly charged out of the sea of lightning, and swooped towards a nearby Fortune Well, over which the Earth me Beast and a human cultivator were having a fierce fight.

    That Fortune Well was still spewing zing mes that looked like a pir of mes piercing into the heavens.

    After the me dragon soul plunged itself into the pir of mes, the pir of mes shrank at a noticeable speed, its me power that contained mysterious fortune was rapidly drained.

    The Earth me Beast and the cultivator were instantly bbergasted.

    After finally snapping out of their daze, they swooped down towards the Fortune Well simultaneously.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve lost your Spirit Channeling grade treasure, what will you rely on to fight me?¡± Arrogance filled his face as Mo Qinglei nodded towards the sixth grade Thunder Beast. Receiving the message, the Thunder Beast let out an agonized bellow and charged towards the Fortune Well after the me dragon soul.

    Clearly, it intended to eliminate the me dragon soul once and for all.

    The Earth me Beast and that human cultivator who were heading towards that Fortune Well instantly gasped.

    The soul of a ancient me dragon was already difficult for them to handle. Now that a possessed and strengthened Thunder Beast was also heading in their direction, they hastily fled from that Fortune Well with fear written across their faces.

    Nie Tian, however, suddenly took off the me Dragon Armor and flung it towards that Fortune Well.

    Since the independent me dragon soul was subject to lightning¡¯s subduing effect, he took the initiative to und himself so that the me dragon armor could return to its vessel and avoid further damage.

    Furthermore, even without the me Dragon Armor, he still had the Bone Blood Demon at hismand.

    Mo Qinglei¡¯s upgraded Thunder Beast quickly reached the Fortune Well and engaged in a fierce battle with the me dragon soul again.

    Mo Qinglei shook his head with a disdainful expression. Then, he summoned a long saber wreathed in lightning from within his ring of holding. In an overbearing manner, he said, ¡°You think that puppet of yours can stop me?

    ¡°You must have an exaggerated opinion of your own abilities, daring to fly over my territory. If you¡¯d listened to me and steered clear of my territory, you would have avoided this battle against me like he did.¡± With these words, he pointed towards the old man who also practiced lightning incantations and was nearing the end of his lifespan. ¡°But you chose death.¡±

    Under his gaze, the old man put on a wry smile.

    The old man was atte Profound realm, yet Mo Qinglei had driven him away from his first Fortune Well, andter, he had been forced to abandon his second Fortune Well after it had started spewing me power.

    Now, he was standing by his third Fortune Well, which hadn¡¯t worked any wonders yet.

    Seeing Mo Qinglei take out a long lightning-wreathed saber, Nie Tian frowned as he pondered whether to summon his Star Boat.

    The Star Boat was not only an air-transportation spiritual tool, but it could also be viewed as a mighty weapon that could shoot destructive starlight.

    The Bone Blood Demon had lost a significant amount of its death power, rendering its battle prowess only equal to that of an early Soul realm cultivator.

    Since Nie Tian could tell that the long saber in Mo Qinglei¡¯s hand was by no mean ordinary, he didn¡¯t think the Bone Blood Demon could kill Mo Qinglei, who possessed numerous powerful items.

    While he hesitated, changes suddenly took ce.

    Chai Fengwu¡¯s Fortune Well suddenly started to emanate strange soul fluctuations. Wisps of dark-gray soul strands started to rise from the mouth of the well.

    Dumbfounded, Chai Fengwu stared at her Fortune Well.

    Off to her side, Xie Yunhai was still absorbing water power from his well. His expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°So that¡¯s the well that spews rich soul power, which all intelligent lives can benefit from! I¡¯ll swap wells with you!¡±

    The rich soul powering out of that Fortune Well also carried mysterious fortune that all races would benefit significantly from.

    Like Chai Fengwu, Xie Yunhai also practiced water power, yet he immediately decided to swap Fortune Wells with Chai Fengwu as soon as he sensed the unusual soul aura from that Fortune Well.

    ¡°No deal!¡± Chai Longge shouted.

    He had heard that the most mysterious of all forty-seven Fortune Wells was the one that spewed soul power.

    Furthermore, the appearance of the Fortune Well that spewed soul power would mark the end of new Fortune Wells bing active. No more Fortune Wells would work their wonders.

    Holding the long saber in his hand, Mo Qinglei was just about to pounce on Nie Tian as his expression suddenly flickered. ¡°Soul power!¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he let out a long roar. Upon hearing his call, his Thunder Beast instantly ended its battle against the me dragon soul and returned to his side.

    Mo Qinglei let out a cold harrumph. ¡°The battle between you and I ends here. To me, the soul powering from that Fortune Well is more important than anything.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, the old man who was nearing the end of his lifespan suddenly let out a sigh and said from the side, ¡°Mo Qinglei, do you intend to take that Fortune Well as well?¡±

    Taken aback, Mo Qinglei turned to look at him and said, ¡°What if I do, old man?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± The old man¡¯s stooping back gradually straightened, his aura bingpletely different. In a low and deep voice, he continued, ¡°That Fortune Well is my target as well. I didn¡¯te here to gather lightning power, but the soul power with profound fortune that¡¯sing from that Fortune Well.¡±

    Mo Qingleiughed wildly, disdain and arrogance filling his eyes. ¡°You? What makes you think you can take it?¡±

    An unfathomable smile appeared at the corner of the old man¡¯s mouth.

    He suddenly lifted his hand and made a grabbing motion towards Mo Qinglei.

    Countless mysterious lightning magical symbols appeared, filling his palm, as if a ck hole that could devour lightning of all forms had suddenly appeared in his palm.

    In the next moment, Mo Qinglei¡¯s Thunder Beast let out a miserable cry.

    One slithering lightning bolt after another left the Thunder Beast and disappeared into the old man¡¯s palm like birds returning to their nest. The same went for his long lightning-wreathed saber.

    Even the sixth grade Thunder Beast flew uncontrobly towards the old man¡¯s palm, screaming for its life as it did.

    Right before it reached the old man, the Thunder King Seal forged by the current sectmaster of Heavenly Thunder Sect was separated from between the Thunder Beast¡¯s eyebrows.

    The eighth grade Thunder Beast soul was also torn from the Thunder Beast and returned to the Thunder King Seal.

    In the next moment, the Thunder King Seal flew into the old man¡¯s palm and vanished.

    The sixth grade Thunder Beast let out agonized shrieks as it was drained of its bloodline power, every single wisp of which vanished into the old man¡¯s palm.

    The sixth grade Thunder Beast then copsed and died.

    With a faint smile, the old man said, ¡°This Thunder King Seal is quite a treasure, much better than that saber of yours.¡±

    Then, without sparing Mo Qinglei another nce, the old man flew towards Chai Fengwu.

    All of his cowardice and submission from earlier had vanishedpletely.

    At this moment, he seemed to have risen above everyone else, and no longer attached importance to anyone.

    ¡°Give me back my Thunder King Seal, old bastard!¡± Mo Qinglei cried madly.

    A wisp of spiritual lightning then flew out of the old man¡¯s fingertip. It seemed to break the boundary of space before instantly disappearing into Mo Qinglei¡¯s body.

    Mo Qinglei felt as if he had suffered a heavy blow. He trembled as wisps of blood came out of the corners of his eyes.

    With a loud sound, he crashed to the ground by his Fortune Well, his aura too weak to fight anymore.

    Nie Tian stood aghast.

    At the same time, many human cultivators, outsiders, and spirit beasts started converging on Chai Fengwu.

 Chapter 843: Killing in Cold Blood

    SHEW!

    The lightning once again flew out of Mo Qinglei and back to the old man, as if it had its own awareness.

    After Mo Qinglei recovered from the agony, not the slightest vigor could be seen in his eyes anymore.

    Nie Tian examined him with rapt attention, and discovered that there wasn¡¯t a single shred of lightning power left inside his spiritual sea.

    That streak of lightning had merely stayed within him for a few seconds, yet it seemed to have drained him of all his lightning power.

    Mo Qinglei¡¯s bloodstained face looked rather sinister, horror and fear filling his wide eyes.

    He stared at the old man from afar as he suddenly seemed to remember something, his body trembling unceasingly.

    The great changes ended within seconds. Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu had focused all of their attention on the Fortune Well that had started spewing rich soul power, andpletely missed what the old man had just done.

    Even at this moment, the brother-sister pair were still staring at that Fortune Well with excitement written all over their faces.

    Chai Fengwu was just about to collect soul strands from that Fortune Well as she noticed that cultivators, outsiders, and spirit beasts were converging on her from all direction.

    Her expression instantly flickered.

    Not daring to waste a moment, Nie Tian shouted at the top of his lungs from a considerable distance, ¡°Give up that Fortune Well now!¡±

    The battle prowess the old man had just disyed simply shocked Nie Tian. Even Mo Qinglei, who held the Thunder King Seal, along with many other powerful treasures, had suffered a crushing defeat from him.

    However, he and Mo Qinglei were rather evenly matched.

    If that old man was bent on getting the Fortune Well that was spewing rich soul power, Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu would be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt if they dared to resist.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s shout, Chai Longge soon realized what was happening, and thus called out to Chai Fengwu, ¡°Give up that Fortune Well, little sister!¡±

    Chai Fengwu was also scared upon seeing numerous powerful experts converging on her. She hastily abandoned that Fortune Well and flew to Chai Longge¡¯s location.

    With a gruesome look in his eyes, the strange old man took out the Thunder King Seal he had just seized from Mo Qinglei.

    In the next moment, numerous lightning bolts and thunder magical symbols came pouring out of it.

    RUMBLE!

    The few human Qi warriors and a Demon who had beat the old man to the Fortune Well were instantly engulfed.

    One after another, their badly mangled bodies fell uncontrobly towards the bubbling mud, which like a monster, opened its huge mouth and devoured the few of them within seconds.

    Completely unchallenged, the old man ughtered all of the early-arrivers beforeing to a stop over the Fortune Well, holding the Thunder King Seal in his hand.

    ¡°Those who dare toe within a ten meter radius of this Fortune Well will die!¡± the old man said with undisputed authority in his voice. The Thunder King Seal came to float beside him, as if it has be his most agreeable spiritual tool.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous lightning bolts interwove in midair, forming an enormous of lightning bolts.

    The eighth grade Thunder Beast soul inside the Thunder King Seal let out a roar, and thunderballs were added to the of lightning bolts, inspiring a great deal of awe.

    Ate Profound realm Qi warrior flew right into the.

    As killing intent shed across the old man¡¯s eyes, three thunderballs instantly crashed into that man.

    After a loud explosion, the man split into pieces that rained from the air.

    ¡°Ignorant fools.¡± As the old man let out a coldugh, countless lightning bolts morphed into snakes of lightning that slithered towards the few other cultivators and outsiders with advanced cultivation bases and grades who dared to approach him.

    Each and every one of them was entangled by the snakes of lightning. Their charred bodies soon fell into the bubbling mud one after another.

    Upon seeing the deaths of these powerful cultivators and outsiders, the other iers hastily stopped in midair, not daring to get any closer.

    Not far from the old man, Xie Yunhai had just finished channeling water power essence from a Fortune Well.

    Since he was rather close to the old man, strong fear rose in his heart as he watched the old man¡¯s opponents fall and sink into the mud. Therefore, he decisively flew away from his Fortune Well.

    Eyes fixed on his Fortune Well, which was now spewing golden light, Chai Longge seemed to be torn with hesitation.

    Xie Yunhai had already fled. He and his sister weren¡¯t far from the old man either.

    At this moment, this area had be the most deadly area of this entire region. He weighed whether he should give up the Fortune Well and leave as Xie Yunhai had.

    ¡°Go!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s roar once again echoed out.

    After hearing it, Chai Longge finally made his decision. He grabbed Chai Fengwu and shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    The brother-sister pair rapidly left that dangerous area.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong were originally concentrated on absorbing frost power and wood power.

    However, they looked over from time to time after the old man crushed Mo Qinglei and came to im the Fortune Well that spewed pure soul strands.

    ¡°Such formidable battle prowess,¡± Yin Yanan muttered to herself, her face growing grim. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that old man was actually pretending to be weak earlier.¡±

    The eighth grade Frost Blood Python strongly warned her against getting into a fight with the old man as the old man massacred all who dared to challenge him.

    The eighth grade Frost Blood Python possessed the strength of an early Void domain human expert, yet it was so apprehensive of the old man. This took Yin Yanan by surprise.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes were also filled with worries as she looked at the old man from afar, as if she had sniffed danger as well.

    Almost too weak to speak, Mo Qinglei gazed up at Nie Tian from beside his Fortune Well, which had fallen dormant again. In a low voice, he said, ¡°I know that your name is Nie Tian. If you get me out of here, I¡¯ll tell you the secret to that old man¡¯s unmatched power.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Get you out of here?¡±

    Mo Qinglei nodded slightly. ¡°My Thunder King Seal has been taken away from me, and my lightning power, which I spent years umting and refining, ispletely drained. If you get me out of here, I¡¯ll save you from an imminent cmity.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t even leave on your own now?¡± Nie Tian asked, his expression growing strange.

    ¡°I¡¯ve sustained heavy injuries,¡± Mo Qinglei said, looking sullen and embarrassed. ¡°Believe me. We need to get as far away from this ce as possible! None of us will be able to leave once he finishes draining that Fortune Well of its soul power!¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Do you know who he is?¡±

    Mo Qinglei nodded vigorously, the fear in his eyes bing even more intense. ¡°I do now.¡±

    ¡°Who is he?¡±

    ¡°Get me out of here and I¡¯ll tell you!¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m actually not that interested in knowing who he is. But I¡¯ll take your advice and leave before he finishes with that Fortune Well. As for you, I don¡¯t feel the need to take you with us. You should be grateful that I¡¯m not taking this opportunity to kill you.¡±

    In fact, there wasn¡¯t any enmity between him and Mo Qinglei. The reason for their previous fight was mostly because of Mo Qinglei¡¯s wild arrogance.

    Now, he had lost his Thunder King Seal, and his sixth grade Thunder Beast had died. The old man had evenpletely drained of his lightning power.

    The chosen one had been knocked into the dirt. Now, everyone in this region could kill him with ease.

    Anxiety filled Mo Qinglei¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve never begged anyone in my whole life. Now I¡¯m begging you to take me away from here! Please! I¡¯ve lost my Thunder King Seal and all of my power. You can do whatever you want with me as long as you get me out of here, away from that freak!¡±

    Surprised and puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you really so afraid of him?¡±

    Mo Qinglei nodded again. ¡°Once he finishes with that Fortune Well, he¡¯ll definitely use a soul transmitting technique on me in order to strip me of my memories.¡±

    ¡°Why would he do that?¡±

    ¡°Take me with you and I¡¯ll tell you everything!¡±

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. Just as he was about to say something, three familiar figures arrived.

    They were Pergson, the Bonebrute, Gutas, the Demon, and Froste, the Phantasm.

    As soon as the three of them showed up, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s faces instantly grew grim, and they secretly prepared themselves for battle.

    The three outsider chosen ones also noticed Nie Tian and the girls. But to their surprise, instead ofing towards them, the three outsider chose ones flew directly towards the Fortune Well that was now spewing pure soul strands.

    Clearly, that Fortune Well was their primary target.

    ¡°This is going to be fun.¡± Nie Tian gave a low, cunningugh.

    Those three are all chosen ones of their own races, who were blessed with powerful magical treasures and battle prowess that far exceeded their grades.

    If they were after that Fortune Well, a fierce battle was bound to break out between them and the old man. Ignoring Mo Qinglei¡¯s begging, Nie Tian looked on with an intrigued smile on his face.

    Like a dreadful ancient beast, Gutas, the Demon, swooped down with a sinister grin. ¡°Vacate that well, old man!¡±

    Face icy, the old man morphed into a python that exploded towards Gutas. ¡°Scram!¡±

    Froste, the Phantasm, was still sitting on his enormous skull made of discarnate souls, which had started channeling the discarnate souls of the dead from its surroundings upon its arrival.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    One thunderball after another bombarded the skull, causing it to let out agonized cries.

    Soon, the enormous skull was riddled with holes that had soul smoke rising from them.

    bbergasted, Froste nced around at the human cultivators and outsiders who were keeping safe distances from the old man, and finally realized the old man¡¯s specialness.

    Pergson, the Bonebrute, also had a very grim look in his emerald pupils, holding the Bone Shatterer in his hand.

    Even so, he assumed a firm grip on the saber with both hands and swung it with full force, creating a raging aura of death that rapidly spread towards the old man.

    ¡°A Bonebrute, a Phantasm, and a Demon...¡± The old man smiled coldly, and lightning bolts shot out of his fingertips. Metallic nking sounds came from the de light of death aura Pergson had unleashed.

    Even Pergson¡¯s translucent and sparkling arms trembled violently, as if he were having great difficulty contending against the lightning bolts.

    Fear shed across Froste¡¯s eyes as he hastily summoned his skull to fly away from the old man.

    Almost at the same time, Gutas, the Demon, let out a miserable scream as he was bombarded by a number of thunderballs. He seemed to have sustained severe injuries as he fled in panic.

    Just like this, the three rising outsider stars¡¯ joint attack was easily defeated by the old man.

    None of them dared to challenge him to seize that Fortune Well again.

    In an unhurried manner, the old man stepped to the mouth of the well. Eyes filled with flickering lighting, he stared at the pure soul strands rising from it.

    Like gray lines, the soul strands rapidly answered his channeling and flew into his sea of awareness.

    Flustered and exasperated, Mo Qinglei bellowed, ¡°Let¡¯s go! We need to leave now!¡±

 Chapter 844: A Reborn Cultivator!

    The old man with a mysterious origin had awed the outsiders and other cultivators so deeply with his brutal means that no one dared to challenge him anymore.

    At this moment, he had started channeling pure soul strands from that Fortune Well.

    Chai Longge and his sister knew that sooner orter they would suffer the fate of death if they didn¡¯t leave that area.

    After extracting themselves from the old man¡¯s surroundings, Chai Longge¡¯s eyes lit up as he spotted Nie Tian, and thus flew towards him with his sister.

    Nie Tian had the Bone Blood Demon and the me Dragon Armor at his disposal, and he had long since proved his exceptionally high battle prowess.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, on the other hand, hadn¡¯t exactly been friendly to the brother-sister pair after their inaction when the Earth Spirit Sect disciples hade for them.

    Therefore, Chai Longge assumed that it would be safer to stay with Nie Tian for the time being.

    Off to the side, Mo Qinglei took out medicinal pills and stuffed them down his throat after his vigorous urging had turned out to be in vain.

    His eyes, however, were still fixed on the old man, the fear in his eyes growing more and more intense.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Chai Longge and his sister flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side, their expressions rxing to a great extent.

    Still not recovered from his terror, Chai Longged said, ¡°That old man is unbelievable. Who would have thought that he was actually so powerful, and that he was pretending before?¡±

    Chai Fengwu¡¯s face was filled with frustration, as if she felt terrible for not being able to keep that Fortune Well that spewed pure soul strands.

    Nie Tian nced around him.

    He realized that all of the outsiders, human cultivators, and spirit beasts that had high opinions of their own strength were all gathered around the old man, but keeping a safe distance and refraining from making any rash moves.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong soon finished draining their Fortune Wells of their frost power and wood power.

    They exchanged a nce, and then flew to Nie Tian¡¯s location on Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    At that very moment, a roar from the me Dragon Armor echoed out.

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul had finished absorbing the me power from that Fortune Well, and also returned to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    CRUNCH!

    The me Dragon Armor once again d itself on Nie Tian. The two of them fit together perfectly.

    He felt that as the suit of armor had be even heavier than before, and the me power it carried had be even more destructive. He could distinctly sense a strong aura from it, which could burn all things in this world.

    The me Dragon Armor sent him a soul message, expressing its desire to fight the eighth grade Thunder Beast soul from the Thunder King Seal again.

    Clearly, it hadn¡¯t noticed the changes that had taken ce here after flying into that Fortune Well.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that now...¡± Nie Tian went on and briefly exined to the me Dragon Armor that the Thunder King Seal had already fallen into another person¡¯s hands.

    Eyes narrowed, Yin Yanan fixed Mo Qinglei with an ill-disposed nce, and then said with a disgusted expression, ¡°What do you want to do with this man, Nie Tian? In my opinion, we might as well kill him and get it over with.¡±

    Anger appeared on Mo Qinglei¡¯s face.

    At that moment, a Fiend suddenly eximed at the top of his lungs, ¡°He¡¯s almost finished draining the Fortune Well of its soul power!¡±

    The experts of different races that were gathered around the old man finally decided tounch a joint attack.

    Mo Qinglei let out a sigh and shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t work. Even joined together, they won¡¯t be able to defeat that man, not even if you joined them too. After he finishes absorbing all of the soul power from that Fortune Well and refining it into his sea of awareness, then he...¡±

    ¡°Then what?¡± Nie Tian asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

    ¡°Then he¡¯ll kill everyone here.¡± Mo Qinglei seemed to have sumbed to his fate, and thus stopped shouting. ¡°Given his way of doing things, every person, outsider, and spirit beast here will die at his hands. You lot won¡¯t be able to escape either.¡±

    With a mocking smile, Yin Yanan said, ¡°We won¡¯t be able to escape? Are you saying that he¡¯s invincible?¡±

    Mo Qinglei nodded. ¡°Yeah, he is invincible here.¡± Then, he took a deep look at the dormant Frost Blood Python around Yin Yanan¡¯s exposed waist, and added, ¡°That python of yours is at the eighth grade, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Taken aback, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°Keen observation.¡±

    Mo Qinglei snorted weakly and said, ¡°I sensed its grade when it unleashed its aura earlier. If I still had my Thunder King Seal, I¡¯d have the confidence to defeat you and your eighth grade python. I can tell that your battle prowess is beyond ordinary, but it¡¯s still not enough to pose any threat to that old man.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered slightly, as astonishment finally appeared on her face. ¡°Is he really that powerful?¡±

    Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong¡¯s faces also grew grim.

    Even Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t haveplete confidence in defeating Yin Yanan and her eighth grade Frost Blood Python in battle.

    Mo Qinglei was well-aware of how powerful the Frost Blood Python was, yet he still came to the conclusion that she wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting the old man.

    With these words, Mo Qinglei closed his eyes and muttered, ¡°Like I said, he can¡¯t be defeated by those who are here. He¡¯ll be even more powerful after he finishes refining all of the soul strands from that Fortune Well into his own soul.¡±

    After hearing this, Nie Tian and the others exchanged nces, not knowing what to do.

    Nie Tian then took another nce around, and discovered that many Fortune Wells had already been drained.

    Only a handful were still spewing energies of heaven and earth, none of which agreed with his cultivation attributes.

    He pondered in silence for a few seconds before suddenly summoning the Bone Blood Demon back into his ring of holding, grabbing Mo Qinglei like grabbing a dead dog, and flying onto Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool with him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± he said to Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan had also be hesitant after hearing Mo Qinglei¡¯s words. After Nie Tian expressed his intention to leave, she pondered briefly, then nodded in assent.

    Then, Mu Biqiong also flew onto Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    ¡°You¡¯d better leave too,¡± Nie Tian said to Chai Longge.

    Since Chai Longge and his sister had long since been scared by Mo Qinglei¡¯s description, they nodded vigorously as soon as they heard Nie Tian.

    The two of them summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool and followed Yin Yanan¡¯s away from the region where the Fortune Wells were located.

    Fata, the Floragrim, saw Nie Tian leave. After a moment of hesitation, he also followed along.

    Luo Hui from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect was in a ce very far from Nie Tian and the others, yet he had been keeping a close watch on Nie Tian.

    When Nie Tian had reconvened with Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, he had assumed that they would attempt to seize the Fortune Well that spewed pure soul strands for themselves.

    The fact that Nie Tian and the others had left instead confused Luo Hui.

    He pondered the situation for a while before muttering to himself, ¡°Why did they leave? Combined, the three of them would be very hard to defeat, yet they didn¡¯t try to seize that Fortune Well for themselves. Instead, they left with uneasy looks on their faces...¡±

    After pondered in silence for a few seconds, he also sensed the unfavorable situation, and thus left in silence.

    Nie Tian and the others¡¯ sudden leaving puzzled Pergson, the Bonebrute and Froste, the Phantasm as well.

    However, to seek fortune from the Fortune Well that spewed pure soul strands was the primary goal of their trip to the Shatter Battlefield. Therefore, they stayed, holding onto their hope to fulfill their goal.

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool flew farther and farther away from the Fortune Wells, Nie Tian fixed Mo Qinglei with a cold nce and asked with furrowed brow, ¡°Who is that old man exactly?!¡±

    Chai Longge and his sister¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool was following them from a considerable distance.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what name he goes by now,¡± Mo Qinglei said weakly.

    Killing intent shed across Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°Are you ying with me?¡±

    ¡°But I do know that his name was Yuan Jiuchuan, and people called him the Thunder Devil.¡± Mo Qinglei took a deep breath as he slowly sat up straight on Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool. ¡°In fact, he died a long time ago. He must have been reborn.¡±

    Yin Yanan stood aghast. ¡°Reborn?!!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered drastically.

    He had heard that some powerful Void domain and Saint domain human Qi warriors were able to extract a wisp of their soul essence from their bodies when they and their private domains faced imminent destruction. After their soul essence entered an expectant woman¡¯s belly, they would be able to take the fetus¡¯s ce and be reincarnated.

    Those who were extremely powerful might be born with memories of their previous life and the incantations they had practiced, which would allow them to resume their path of cultivation without much effort.

    Others might have their old memories buried deep in their minds. Only certain incidents would help them gradually awaken those memories.

    However, most powerful experts wouldn¡¯t choose to be reborn unless they faced unsolvable situations.

    Normally, only if they failed to finish their breakthroughs or faced fatal strikes would they abandon their bodies and seek opportunities to be reborn.

    Furthermore, those who were reborn would usually find themselves in all kinds of difficulty and danger.

    Some would be sought out by their enemies and killed before they grew powerful again.

    Some would spend their whole lives in a muddle, and they might get killed or reach the end of their lifespan before even starting their path of cultivation.

    Reborn cultivators who could recover their cultivation bases and strength from their previous lives only existed in legends.

 Chapter 845: Yuan Jiuchuan

    With a grim face, Mo Qinglei said in a low voice, ¡°In his previous life, Yuan Jiuchuan was a rogue cultivator without a powerful sect to back him.

    ¡°But his cultivation talent was unmatched. The unique lightning incantations he practiced allowed him to channel lightning power from spiritual tools, and even other Qi warriors who practiced lightning power. Because of this, his path of cultivation was filled with blood and killing.

    ¡°Who knows how many Qi warriors who practiced lightning power have died at his hands.

    ¡°But that was the path he chose. His brutal and ruthless behavior set him against many powerful experts and sects that practiced lightning power.

    ¡°My sect, the Heavenly Thunder Sect, was one of them.

    ¡°Many years ago, my father and a few powerful experts who also practiced lightning power set up a trap for Yuan Jiuchuan by telling him that a Heaven Nourished grade lightning-attributed spiritual material had been discovered in the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°He took the bait and went to the ce. My father and those Saint domain experts worked together to activate the arrangements they had set up earlier, and killed him. Even his private domain was shattered.

    ¡°But even so, a wisp of his soul essence escaped and vanished.

    ¡°My father thought that wisp of his soul essence wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the harsh environment in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield anyways, and thus didn¡¯t spend much time looking for it.

    ¡°Who would have thought that he actually sought out an opportunity to be reborn.¡±

    ¡°What was his cultivation base in his previous life?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    Mo Qinglei sighed and said, ¡°Middle Saint domain.¡±

    Everyone present gasped with astonishment. ¡°Middle Saint domain?!¡±

    With a knitted brow, Mo Qinglei continued, ¡°If my father and his friends hadn¡¯t killed him, he would have been able to advance to thete Saint domain. However, the special incantations he practiced were so overbearing that he became a nightmare to other Qi warriors who also practiced lightning incantations. They lived in fear of being sought out and drained of their lightning power, which they had spent their whole lives gathering and refining.

    ¡°I was only so certain that he¡¯s Yuan Jiuchuan because... that Thunder King Seal was forged from a piece from his shattered private domain.

    ¡°He was able to drain my lightning power without effort, along with my Thunder Beast¡¯s.

    ¡°The man didn¡¯t trust anyone his whole life, and didn¡¯t take in any disciples, so no one besides him could have been able to use those uniquely overbearing incantations.

    ¡°That said, I¡¯m certain that he¡¯s Yuan Jiuchuan, a reborn cultivator.¡±

    Mo Qinglei¡¯s words silenced everyone present. Even Yin Yanan, who was very confident in her eighth grade Frost Blood Python, congratted herself for making the decision to leave that region of danger.

    RUMBLE!

    Arge piece of sky behind them was suddenly engulfed in lightning bolts.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool Nie Tian was on was now separated from that region by fifty kilometers, yet he still saw the terrifying scene, and heard the heaven-shaking thunderps as he turned around.

    With a grim face, Mo Qinglei said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid everyone there except the three recently-arrived outsiders are going to die. Even those three outsiders with powerful magical treasures won¡¯t necessarily be able to escape the fate of death. That Thunder King Seal was forged from a piece of his shattered private domain. Now that he holds it, he¡¯ll be able to disy ten times more power than I ever could!¡±

    A hint of bitterness appeared at the corner of Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth as she said, ¡°From the look of it, it was indeed a wise move for us to leave that region in advance. A reborn middle Saint domain expert who has obtained a spiritual tool forged from a piece of his shattered private domain... I suppose my eighth grade Frost Blood Python wouldn¡¯t be able to match his strength indeed...¡±

    Mu Biqiong remained silent, yet a shred of fear shed across her deep eyes.

    The demonic flowers inside of her weren¡¯t fully grown yet. Given her current cultivation base, she couldn¡¯t even harness the flowers, so naturally she wouldn¡¯t be able to match Yuan Jiuchuan in battle.

    After taking a short pause to gather his thoughts, Mo Qinglei continued, ¡°The reason why Yuan Jiuchuan was so bent on seizing that Fortune Well was probably because the wisp of his soul essence that escaped annihtion was somewhat defective. If it wasn¡¯t, as a reborn cultivator, he shouldn¡¯t have suffered from a lifespan problem.

    ¡°Once reborn cultivators awaken their memories from their previous life, given enough cultivation resources, the speed at which they progress in cultivation will be unimaginably fast. So they most likely won¡¯t need to worry about their lifespans at all.

    ¡°In fact, some Qi warriors only choose to be reborn due to their insufficient lifespans and inability to make breakthroughs within a short period of time.

    ¡°Given Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s understanding of lightning power and the fact that he was a rogue cultivator, he shouldn¡¯t have been limited by his lifespan now.

    ¡°There must have been some problem with that wisp of his soul essence, so he had toe back here to channel soul power with the profound fortune from that Fortune Well to mend his soul.

    ¡°ording to the legends, the soul power from the Fortune Wells do have such an incredible effect.

    ¡°At this moment, he might have mended his soul and recovered most of his memories from his previous life. After his profound understanding of lightning and thunder is awakened, he¡¯ll progress at lightning speed on his future path of cultivation. Perhaps he¡¯ll be able to recover his peak strength, and return to the Saint domain within a century.¡±

    With these words, Mo Qinglei grew worried. ¡°If that happens, my father and our Heavenly Thunder Sect will be the primary target of his vengeance.¡±

    ¡°I suppose the reason why he only drained my lightning power, but kept me alive, was because he wanted to strip my memories and learn the current situation of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, as well as the location of the spatial rift that connects the Shatter Battlefield to the Domain of Endless Thunder. If I became his prisoner, I¡¯d be no better than being dead, as he¡¯d definitely torture me day and night.¡±

    With these words, Mo Qinglei couldn¡¯t help but shiver.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows rose as he said, ¡°Many Qi warriors may face insufficient lifespans at certain points. Being reborn seems to be a pretty good option.¡±

    He remembered Hua Mu and his master, Wu Ji.

    Both Hua Mu and Wu Ji had faced this problem, if he hadn¡¯t brought back two Fruits of Life for them, they might have died before they could achieve their next breakthroughs in cultivation.

    Therefore, he was fascinated by the perks of being reborn Mo Qinglei had mentioned.

    Mo Qinglei gave a cold harrumph. ¡°No one would choose to be reborn unless they don¡¯t have a choice. The disadvantages of being reborn are far greater than the advantages!

    ¡°For every reborn cultivator, being reborn means they¡¯ll have to give up everything they have umted their whole life, including their bodies, domains, and understanding of powers, which many people can¡¯t just give up.

    ¡°After they¡¯re reborn, they might easily be killed before they build up their strength again. Once they use their special incantations from their previous lives, and expose their identities, their enemies may soon find them, and they¡¯ll be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    ¡°Besides, it usually takes a long time for reborn cultivators to restart from zero. Some are killed before they can even awaken their memories from their previous lives, while others die of natural causes, knowing absolutely nothing about their previous lives.

    ¡°Even if they manage to recover their memories and achieve rapid breakthroughs in cultivation, they¡¯ll have to look for all kinds of precious materials to rebuild their domains once they¡¯ve reached the Soul realm. Those precious materials are usually extremely valuable and hard to find.

    ¡°So reborn cultivators might not be as lucky as in their previous lives as they were to be able to obtain all the necessary materials to rebuild their domains.¡±

    After hearing Mo Qinglei¡¯s exnation of the disadvantages of being reborn, Nie Tian pondered for a while, and realized that it was indeed not as good as it sounded to be reborn.

    Mo Qinglei continued, ¡°Once Yuan Jiuchuan finishes mending his soul, he¡¯ll definitely start a massacre to prevent his identity from being exposed. After all, he had too many enemies, and he hasn¡¯t even entered the Void domain yet. He¡¯ll definitely get killed if he runs into his Saint domain enemies from his previous life.

    ¡°Besides, he¡¯ll need arge amount of spirit jades and other spiritual materials to help him build his domain. In order to get those things, he¡¯ll have to kill a great number of people. Those who are still gathered by the Fortune Wells are no different frommbs waiting to be ughtered.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded to show that he understood.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool picked up speed as they flew farther and farther from thend of trouble.

    She only elerated because Mo Qinglei¡¯s words made her worry that Yuan Jiuchuan woulde after them after he was finished with those people.

    Four hours passed...

    Yin Yanan summoned another air-transportation spiritual tool from within her ring of holding, tossed Mo Qinglei onto it, and said, ¡°Good luck to you.¡±

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Mo Qinglei asked angrily.

    With an icy look in her eyes, Yin Yanan said, ¡°You¡¯re Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s primary target. It¡¯s far too dangerous for us to have you with us all the time. We¡¯ve already carried out our promise by getting you out of that region. We can¡¯t protect you forever. That air-transportation spiritual tool of mine runs on spirit stones. You can go wherever you want on it, as long as you don¡¯t go with us.¡±

    With these words, she restarted her air-transportation spiritual tool, which shot into the distance despite Mo Qinglei¡¯s furious roars.

    ¡°We¡¯re safer this way,¡± Yin Yanan said to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°We did everything called for by humanity and duty for him. From now on, he¡¯ll have to depend on himself to survive this tribtion.¡±

    Chai Longge and his sister, who were following them from a considerable distance, didn¡¯t hear their conversation with Mo Qinglei, and thus were rather confused to see Mo Qinglei being tossed onto another air-transportation spiritual tool.

    SHEW!

    A streak of dark-green light suddenly shed past Chai Longge and his sister, and rapidly approached Nie Tian and the girls.

    It was a transformation of Fata, the Floragrim.

    ¡°Can we please have a talk?¡± Fata asked aloud.

 Chapter 846: Cultivation in A Secluded Location

    ¡°It¡¯s him?!¡±

    Yin Yanan jerked her head in Fata¡¯s direction and said, ¡°What is he doing here?!¡±

    ¡°I suppose he came to talk to me,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Mu Biqiong said in a soft voice, ¡°That Floragrim is by no means insignificant.¡±

    Fata had killed arge number of Earth Spirit Sect disciples, Qiu Ji being the only survivor. Given the surprising battle prowess he had disyed, Qiu Ji would probably have died too if that was what he had wanted.

    In Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes, this Floragrim was also very dangerous.

    ¡°He¡¯s here to talk to you?¡± Yin Yanan pondered briefly. ¡°So... do we slow down for him?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°He can¡¯t be more powerful than Yuan Jiuchuan, and there are three of us and one of him. There¡¯s nothing for us to fear from him.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡± Convinced, Yin Yanan gradually slowed down her air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Fata rapidly flew close.

    As he did, he looked over his shoulder from time to time at the Fortune Wells region, his expression grim.

    Chai Longge and his sister hadn¡¯t heard the conversation between Mo Qinglei and Nie Tian and the girls.

    However, Fata, who had been farther from Nie Tian than them, had overheard their conversation by relying on his profound bloodline talents.

    From their conversation, he had learned that the old man was actually a reborn cultivator, whose cultivation base from his previous life had been at the middle Saint domain.

    He secretly congratted himself that he had left that region toe talk to Nie Tian.

    Otherwise, he would have attempted to seize that soul-strand-spewing Fortune Well as well.

    Seeing Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool decelerating, Fata picked up the signal and flew on board.

    Eyes fixed on Nie Tian, he asked, ¡°Can we find a ce to talk, you and I?¡±

    Nie Tian nced behind their moving air-transportation spiritual tool, and said, ¡°We¡¯d better not stop now.¡±

    ¡°Because of that reborn cultivator, Yuan Jiuchuan?¡± Fata asked.

    Upon hearing these words, both Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan fixed him with surprised gazes.

    Nie Tian also went nk briefly before saying, ¡°You overheard our conversation?¡±

    Fata nodded without trying to hide the truth.

    ¡°Let¡¯s speed up again,¡± Nie Tian said to Yin Yanan.

    After throwing Fata a cold look, Yin Yanan elerated her air-transportation spiritual tool again, which shot into the distance like a bolt of lightning.

    Even Chai Longge¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool couldn¡¯t keep up with them.

    Since Chai Longge and his sister didn¡¯t rank at the top among the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s chosen ones, their air-transportation spiritual tool wasn¡¯t as advanced as Yin Yanan¡¯s.

    Watching Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool flying farther and farther from them, Chai Longge let out a sigh and said, ¡°From the look of it, they¡¯ve decided to travel on their own from now on.¡±

    Chai Fengwu, however, didn¡¯t seem as frustrated as she said, ¡°We¡¯re already rather lucky to have run into them early on. Who would have thought that there are actually such extraordinary figures in an elementary grade domain like the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries? I guess we were frogs in a well.¡± (Idiom: people of limited outlook and experience)

    Chai Longged nodded, agreeing with her.

    The brother-sister pair soon got over their sense of frustration, and didn¡¯t hate Nie Tian and the girls for leaving them behind.

    There were countless domains and realms in this boundless starry river. It was fate that they had met Nie Tian and the others, and they probably wouldn¡¯t meet again, unless they were to pay a special visit to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Ten days passed.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool entered a region of frigid cold. Snow-capped mountains stretched as far as the eye could see.

    A number of hot springs were scattered in a valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains, with white mists rising from them.

    All kinds of grass, flowers, and trees thrived within the valley.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°This is an ideal ce for me to achieve a breakthrough in my cultivation!¡±

    Looking at the hot springs from afar, Mu Biqiong also had strong interest in her eyes as she said, ¡°How about we stay here for a while? I might be able to make a breakthrough in my cultivation here too.¡±

    The girls had absorbed frost power and wood power from their respective Fortune Wells.

    Therefore, they both had high hopes to shatter the shackles in their cultivation and achieve new breakthroughs within a short period of time.

    Having traveled at full speed for ten days, they had already put a significant distance between them and Yuan Jiuchuan. Besides, since they had removed Mo Qinglei from their team, Yuan Jiuchuan would have no reason to pursue them unrelentingly.

    After a briefmunication, they eventually decided to recuperate in this mountain valley.

    After berthing their air-transportation spiritual tool, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong flew into the depths of the mountain valley, and soon disappeared.

    Nie Tian and Fata, however, stayed by the berthed air-transportation spiritual tool.

    After Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong vanished from their sight, Fata finally couldn¡¯t wait, and asked, ¡°Where did you get those tree branches and learn that special spell formation?¡±

    ¡°You think they have something to do with your race, don¡¯t you?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Fata nodded vigorously.

    ¡°There were two vast continents, one on top of the other. The upper continent shattered due to an inter-racial war and became numerous floatingnds...¡± After taking a moment to decide what to say, Nie Tian told him about the six spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, through which they had entered a special heaven and earth.

    Fata¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°There was an ancestralnd of my race there!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I derived that spell formation and obtained those tree branches from one of the floatingnds. However, that floatingnd fell apart as soon as I derived that spell formation.¡±

    Fata didn¡¯t seem surprised at all as he said, ¡°It was the secret spell formation you derived that had been holding that ancestralnd of ours together. It was only natural that our ancestralnd fell apart after you took its secret.¡±

    Nie Tian then said, ¡°I ran into Demons, Fiends, and Phantasms in that special ce, but I didn¡¯t see a single Floragrim there. I heard that you people hadpletely abandoned that ce. Did you?¡±

    Fata let out a deep sigh. ¡°We and those races were all on the side that had lost the war. After the war, our home continent fell apart, so we were forced to migrate. Who would have thought that people from other races would find ways to go there after so many years? This piece of information is very valuable to me. Many thanks.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee,¡± Nie Tian said with a in tone.

    ¡°If I may, can I ask you how you managed to win the acknowledgment of the light ward that carried the profound power of the tree of life, and eventually derive that spell formation?¡± Fata asked with a confused expression.

    ¡°Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I practice wood power,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Fata shook his head. ¡°No, it can¡¯t be that simple. Your flesh aura is not only vigorous, but also contains strong life force, which sets you apart from ordinary humans.¡±

    Since Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to talk about this topic, he remained silent with a cold expression on his face.

    Even though Fata had taken care of the Earth Spirit Sect disciples for him, he had confidence that he would have handled them just fine even if Fata hadn¡¯t helped him.

    In his opinion, he had already given Fata enough information.

    Seeing that he remained silent, Fata seemed to understand what he meant as he nodded and said, ¡°I see. Everyone has their own secrets. I won¡¯t ask about it anymore. If you evere to our realms, you can tell people that you¡¯re my friend. They¡¯ll receive you with respect and hospitality.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°I doubt that I¡¯ll have an opportunity to visit.¡±

    Fata smiled back at him. ¡°Who knows what will happen?¡±

    With these words, he turned around and flew into the distance.

    It seemed that the reason he had followed Nie Tian and the others for so long had only been because he wanted to learn where Nie Tian had obtained those tree branches and derived the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Then, after getting the information he wanted, he just left.

    Nie Tian shook his head and muttered in confusion, ¡°Such a weird person.¡±

    After Fata left, he also started practicing cultivation.

    He took out all kinds of spiritual materials, and used their power to replenish his spiritual core and three spiritual vortexes.

    Since he had just recently made a breakthrough, his spiritual core and three spiritual vortexes were now like dried sponges, yearning for the infusion of arge amount of power.

    Even though he had practiced cultivation day and night during the ten days they had traveled on the air-transportation spiritual tool, he was still far from filling his spiritual core and three spiritual vortexes to the brim.

    A few days passed before Mu Biqiong¡¯s soft exmation suddenly awoke him from his cultivation.

    After a moment of hesitation, he sprang to his feet and dashed towards the source of the sound.

    Soon, he found Mu Biqiong in a naturally formed hot spring in the depths of the valley.

    Her naked body loomed through the mist that was rising from the water.

    With a straight line down the center of her chest as the separation line, the tattoo-like patterns of the multicolored flower and the ck flower covered most of her milky white skin, giving her a devilishly beautiful look.

    Her face was still veiled, yet beads of sweat could be seen rolling down her forehead, and she seemed to be in agony.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, she anxiously covered her ample chest with her hands and shouted at him, ¡°Don¡¯te any closer!!¡±

    However, as soon as she did, she let out a muffled groan, her awareness rapidly scattering and fading from her eyes.

    The colors of the two demonic flowers suddenly came to shine respectively within her two eyes, as if the flowers had suddenly taken over her body.

    As that happened, a bewitching power rapidly filled her changed eyes.

    With a shudder, Nie Tian stepped uncontrobly towards Mu Biqiong.

 Chapter 847: Coexisting Flowers

    Mu Biqiong stood naked within the rising mist, her body proportions and natural curves perfect.

    With the spring water up to her lower abdomen, her upper body loomed through the mist.

    Her neck was long; her breasts were ample and tender; her waist was slender; her skin was so white that she looked dazzling.

    Under the water¡¯s surface, her legs were long and straight.

    Starting from her neck, the two demonic flowers stretched all the way down to her lower abdomen, where her dantian region was. One flower was brightly colored and looked tender and lovely, while the other flower was pitch-ck and mysterious. The scene was very overwhelming.

    Her naked body gradually exuded a faint scent, which was sweet, pleasant, and intoxicating like the best wine in this world.

    Nie Tian¡¯s gaze seemed to be grabbed by the demonic flower images in the depths of her eyes, and he fell uncontrobly into them.

    One of them was passionate and inviting, while the other was cold and devilishly beautiful, yet they both generated a mysterious attractive force that affected Nie Tian.

    It was as if he could no longer tear his eyes from her.

    One step after another, he walked slowly towards her.

    In a muddled state, Nie Tian vaguely heard callsing from the demonic flower images in the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes, as if they were beckoning and weing him.

    As the calls echoed out one after another, Nie Tian gradually lost his senses.

    All of a sudden, the veil that had been hiding Mu Biqiong¡¯s unearthly gorgeous face fell silently to float on the spring water like a leaf.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s cheeks were covered in the tattoo-like patterns of the two flowers, which seemed to have the magical power to bewitch all lives.

    However, her unearthly beautiful face was filled with agony and anxiety, as her true soul was clearly struggling to climb out of some kind of mire and regain control of her own body.

    She was doing her utmost, yet her efforts seemed to be in vain.

    What Nie Tian didn¡¯t see was that strange things were also taking ce in her sea of awareness.

    The two demonic flowers had taken root in the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s sea of awareness, their petals so iparably huge that they almost took up her entire sea of awareness.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s true soul, however, was wrapped tightly by the petals, unable to move about.

    Even though her true soul was struggling fiercely, it didn¡¯t seem to be able to break free from the demonic flowers¡¯ confinement.

    This meant she couldn¡¯t regain control of her own body.

    Soul sounds that were only audible to her echoed out one after another.

    The soul sounds came from the two demonic flowers.

    The brightly colored one seemed to be unleashing its all-conquering charm to persuade her to give up any resistance and ept its arrangements for her.

    The ck one, however, seemed to be threatening her, telling her that she would regret, suffer bacshes, and live in agony for the rest of her life if she didn¡¯t obey.

    These two demonic flowers had taken opposite stances since she had consumed the flower seeds by mistake.

    They seemed to have opposed each other since the day they were born.

    The multicolored one had seemed to be on her side. It was with its help that she had been able to continue on her path of cultivation, instead of being possessed by the ck flower and bing its puppet.

    Not once had the two flowers had taken the same stance, until now.

    In order to lure Nie Tian over for some unspeakable purpose, the two flowers were working together to imprison her true soul and take control of her body.

    More and more anxious, Mu Biqiong¡¯s true soul roared from within her sea of awareness, ¡°What are you trying to do?!¡±

    Then, one soul message after another flew into her true soul, telling her that Nie Tian would be very helpful to her and to them.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s true soul shuddered as she suddenly recalled Yin Yanan¡¯s eighth grade Frost Blood Python¡¯s irrepressible desire to devour Nie Tian when it had first met him. ¡°You¡¯re not going to eat him, are you?¡±

    The Frost Blood Python hadn¡¯t been able to tell what had made Nie Tian so appealing, yet its nature had forced it to attempt to devour him.

    She assumed that, just like the eighth grade Frost Blood Python, the coexisting flowers inside of her were hoping to bewitch Nie Tian, get him close, and then swallow him whole.

    She was well-aware that these demonic flowers werepletely capable of doing such a thing.

    However, the coexisting flowers sent more soul messages, telling her that they were going to eat Nie Tian, but it wasn¡¯t the kind of eat she was thinking...

    By the time she understood the coexisting flowers¡¯ words, her true soul was even more shaken. Even her cheeks that were possessed by the coexisting flowers flushed, as if she had chugged a ss of hard liquor.

    ¡°I hate that man. I¡¯ll never allow him to touch me!¡± Her true soul roared, expressing her grievance and berating the Commensal Flowers for their reckless actions.

    However, the Commensal Flowers insisted that their actions would benefit the three of them, and thuspletely ignored her protests.

    They continued to bewitch Nie Tian.

    SPLASH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s magnificent bodynded in the hot spring.

    Apanied by sshing sounds, he stepped slowly to Mu Biqiong, who waspletely naked.

    Strong, pure desire burned in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, as if his mes of desire had been ignited by the coexisting flowers, and the raging mes had gone beyond his control.

    The closer he got to Mu Biqiong, the stronger her mysterious scent became, and the deeper he became lost in her demonic flower-filled eyes.

    On Mu Biqiong¡¯s flushed cheeks, the two flowers suddenly blossomed, then they swayed smoothly and soundlessly, as if to wee him.

    Afterwards, Mu Biqiong stuck out her slender, milky white hands. With a enchanting look in her eyes, she started to help Nie Tian remove his garments.

    Nie Tian¡¯s well-built body was soon revealed.

    Thanks to his natural endowment and the fact that he had refined his body with Heavenly Wood Heal for years, he looked robust and in perfect proportion. Every muscle seemed to contain explosive power, giving him a masculine, wild look.

    The two demonic flower images in the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement.

    Even though Mu Biqiong had lost control of her own body, she could still see everything that was happening around her.

    It was as if, from the master of her body, she had be an onlooker.

    She watched herself taking Nie Tian¡¯s garments off one by one, and saw the burning desire in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Soon, she saw Nie Tian¡¯s naked, iparably strong body standing before her, emanating strong masculine charm.

    Then, she saw herself opening her arms, her ample, tender chest leaning towards Nie Tian¡¯s own broad chest, then putting her jade-like arms around him.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s true soul cried desperately, yet it changed nothing. She could only watch as she threw herself at Nie Tian.

    The coexisting flowers¡¯ special aura started to infiltrate Nie Tian as soon as she embraced him tightly, as if to further stimte his desire so that he would submit to their arrangement.

    However, the Nine Stars Flower that had taken root in his vortex of star power seemed to suddenly be stirred.

    It seemed to have smelled the coexisting flowers¡¯ aura and learned their intentions.

    The Nine Stars Flower at the bottom of his vortex of star power instantly blossomed with bright light.

    The shiny petals on its blossoms looked like dazzling stars from the starry river.

    A cooling aura then rose from the Nine Stars Flower and shot directly into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    His nine star souls lit up one after another.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s bewitched mind sobered up again.

    The mes of desire in his eyes vanished, as if they were extinguished by cold water. Eyebrows furrowed, he looked down at Mu Biqiong, who was holding him tightly and rubbing her soft breasts against his.

    His expression flickered. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    However, what he saw was still too hard to resist. In the next moment, his desire that had been weakened by his Nine Stars Flower and star souls was once again ignited.

    Mu Biqiong looked up at him, her eyes, which had the demonic flowers¡¯ images in them, brimming with temptation.

    Without saying a word, she blew a puff of air in Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    An irresistable scent once again muddled Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Without knowing it, he ced hisrge hands on her soft shoulders, and slid them down her smooth back, until theynded on her firm butt.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The coexisting flowers¡¯ roots suddenly shot out of Mu Biqiong¡¯s palms.

    Like resilient ropes of different colors, the two roots rapidly wrapped Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong tightly together.

    It was as if Mu Biqiong was hoping to merge with Nie Tian.

    ¡°What the hell are you two doing?¡± an untimely voice echoed out.

 Chapter 848: Shameless Man and Woman

    Standing on the neck of the eighth grade Frost Blood Python that was floating in the air, Yin Yanan looked coldly into the hot spring wreathed in mist.

    The look in her eyes grew colder and colder as she watched Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong¡¯s naked bodies tangling together and the coexisting flowers¡¯ roots wrapping tightly around them.

    For some reason, she found the scene very upsetting.

    However, neither Nie Tian nor Mu Biqiong responded to her.

    Nie Tian had once again lost his senses, and Mu Biqiong was still possessed by the coexisting flowers, unable to speak.

    However, anger rapidly built up in Yin Yanan¡¯s heart as she watched Mu Biqiong forcing herself on Nie Tian in such a unspeakable manner.

    Even though this actually didn¡¯t concern her, she couldn¡¯t help but find it uneptable.

    ¡°Let me cool them down!¡± Yin Yanan took a deep breath and issued an order to the eighth grade Frost Blood Python.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    As the Frost Blood Python opened its mouth and unleashed a frigid mist, the naturally formed hot springs in this area froze one after another.

    The one Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong were standing in became the coldest of all. Frost rapidly spread over their naked bodies, ice crystals rapidly forming all over their upper bodies.

    Since the spring water they were standing in was frozen into solid ice, the mobility of their bodies was instantly limited.

    Under Yin Yanan¡¯smand, the Frost Blood Python focused its frigid mist mainly on Mu Biqiong.

    Even the demonic flower roots growing out of her palms were rapidly covered in ice.

    CRUNCH!

    With a violent shake, the demonic flower roots broke the ice that covered them and shrank back into Mu Biqiong¡¯s palms.

    A bone-piercing aura madly infiltrated Mu Biqiong¡¯s exposed skin.

    She couldn¡¯t help but shiver.

    She suddenly raised her head, which was buried in Nie Tian¡¯s neck. Anger filled her eyes that had the images of the coexisting flower in them, as if they were ming Yin Yanan for meddling in their business.

    ¡°Tramp!¡± Yin Yanan cursed with a cold face. ¡°It¡¯s one thing to throw yourself at him, but forcing yourself on him? Do you have no shame? Are all women from the Bliss Mountain Sect like you?¡±

    At this moment, the frigid cold helped Nie Tian recover a clear mind.

    Staring unwittingly at Yin Yanan, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be here to interrupt you two, is that it?¡± Yin Yanan sounded angry. ¡°You two are just as shameless as each other, doing such an unspeakable thing in broad daylight!¡±

    Nie Tian was upset by her abusivenguage, and thus countered, ¡°We were getting intimate by mutual consent. What did it have to do with you? Mind your own business, will you?¡±

    BOOOM!

    Strong soul fluctuations suddenly burst forth from Mu Biqiong.

    As this happened, the images of the coexisting flower images gradually faded from the depths of her eyes.

    Her eyes soon recovered their deep, mysterious look.

    It was as if her true soul had finally regained control of her body at this moment.

    Immediately afterwards, she shoved Nie Tian away with great force.

    As the ice confining his lower body exploded, Nie Tian flew backward out of the frozen spring.

    Experiencing an intense pain in his chest, Nie Tian fixed Mu Biqiong with a confused look and said, ¡°You held me like you were holding onto your life just now, and now you¡¯re pushing me away? What the hell are you up to?¡±

    Mu Biqiong was so embarrassed that she didn¡¯t know what to say.

    At this moment, she and Nie Tian were stillpletely naked. Recalling what she had done just now, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me earlier!¡±

    With these words, she hastily pulled a long robe out of her ring of holding, briefly covered her chest, and ran off.

    Even so, Nie Tian had a good look at her perfectly-shaped back and butt as she left.

    A puzzled look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he muttered, ¡°Not her??¡±

    Yin Yanan pondered briefly and realized what she meant. She was absorbed in thought while watching Mu Biqiong run off from behind.

    After a while, she turned to re at Nie Tian. Trying to suppress her anger, she asked, ¡°Do you not know shame? When do you n on putting on some clothes?¡±

    Naked and nonchnt, Nie Tian stood on the frigid ground without the intention to put on clothes right away, as if there were no one around. ¡°I like being this way. It¡¯s none of your business. You can turn around if you don¡¯t want to watch.¡±

    ¡°Asshole!¡± After throwing him another sideways re, Yin Yanan turned around.

    Since the Frost Blood Python had stopped unleashing frost power, the temperature in this area gradually went back up.

    With her back facing Nie Tian, she said coldly, ¡°That woman seemed to have been temporarily possessed by the demonic flowers inside of her. It wasn¡¯t because you were so damn irresistible. Instead, it was the demonic flowers that arranged all that. But what baffles me is why the flowers did that.¡±

    Nie Tian also gradually realized what had just happened.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s strange behavior and the demonic flower images in her eyes exined everything.

    Nie Tian chose his words carefully as he said, ¡°Those flowers seemed to have bewitched me. Instead of killing me, it seemed to want me to...¡±

    ¡°To have intercourse with her?¡± Yin Yanan chimed in, frowning.

    ¡°Yeah, that seems to be the case,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°The obscenity of those flowers is beyond my imagination, and the fact that they chose to merge with her proves that she isn¡¯t much better,¡± Yin Yanan said with a cold mocking tone. ¡°You¡¯re not any better either! You¡¯d like that she be possessed by those flowers, so you could have her without effort, right?¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°What if I did?¡±

    ¡°Utterly shameless!¡± After spitting these words, Yin Yanan turned around and flew off into the distance on her Frost Blood Python.

    However, her voice echoed out as she went farther and farther, ¡°Those flowers inside of her are extremely evil and dangerous. You¡¯d better stay away from her if you don¡¯t want to die.

    ¡°I¡¯ll finish refining the frost power I¡¯ve absorbed from the Fortune Well in two weeks. Then we¡¯ll leave this ce, whether I achieve a breakthrough or not.¡±

    She vanished behind a snow-capped mountain peak, along with her Frost Blood Python.

    Only then did Nie Tian take his time to put on his garments.

    ¡°Those flowers are indeed very strange,¡± Nie Tian muttered with a somewhat grim expression.

    When the flowers had possessed Mu Biqiong and unleashed their profound bewitching power, even he had failed to resist them.

    Before, in moments like this, the nine star souls in his sea of awareness would help him recover a clear mind.

    But just now, his star souls hadn¡¯t reacted at all.

    Instead, it was his Nine Stars Flower that had sensed the anomaly and awakened him from his bewitchment.

    But even so, he had soon fallen again.

    If those flowers or Mu Biqiong had wanted to kill him...

    With such thoughts on his mind, his expression grew even grimmer.

    He spent the following nights practicing cultivation and replenishing his spiritual sea with all sorts of spiritual materials.

    During this time, no one passed through the secluded region they were in.

    One day, his eyes snapped open as he awoke from his cultivation.

    He looked coldly at Mu Biqiong, who had just returned.

    Days had passed, and she seemed to have finally subdued the demonic flowers inside of her. Now, she was wearing a veil, and garments that covered every inch of her body.

    Even so, upon seeing her, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but recall her perfectly-shaped body under those manyyers, mes starting to burn in his heart.

    He admitted that, her personality aside, Mu Biqiong¡¯s appearance and shape did have a strong appeal to him.

    Mu Biqiong stopped in a ce about ten meters away from Nie Tian, and said, ¡°The other day... was an ident. I let down my guard of my sea of awareness when I focused all of my attention on refining the wood power I had absorbed from the Fortune Well. The coexisting flowers inside of me seized the opportunity and possessed me temporarily. What I did that day wasn¡¯t my intention.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, not saying anything.

    Disgust shed across Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she continued, ¡°I don¡¯t like you at all. And I don¡¯t know why the coexisting flowers inside of me would choose you of all people. But anyways, I¡¯ll do everything I can to make sure simr things never happen again.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cunningugh. ¡°I don¡¯t mind things like that happening again.¡±

    Mu Biqiong grew angry. ¡°You...! I¡¯m only here to ask what exactly you have in you. That eighth grade Frost Blood Python wanted to eat you, and the coexisting flowers inside of me also want to...¡±

    She was going to say ¡®eat¡¯, but as she remembered the ¡®eat¡¯ the coexisting flowers had referred to had apletely different meaning, her veiled face instantly flushed again, rendering her too embarrassed to speak.

    ¡°Of course I won¡¯t allow the Frost Blood Python to do what it wants to me, but I don¡¯t have a problem with the kinds of things the flowers inside of you intended for us.¡± With these words, Nie Tian let out a wildugh.

    ¡°You¡¯re shameless indeed!¡± Mu Biqiong spat coldly.

    ¡°Well, you have a pretty good shape, and your skin feels great.¡±

    ¡°Get out!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t like the regr you. I like the you from the other day, when you were burning with passion and couldn¡¯t wait for me to swallow you whole!¡±

    ¡°Go to hell!!¡±

 Chapter 849: Your Women?

    Due to Nie Tian¡¯s clowning, Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t get a straight answer.

    Nie Tian knew perfectly well that the demonic flowers inside of her had only behaved so strangely because they were attracted to his unique bloodline.

    His bloodline was probably also why he had been able to obtain the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Furthermore, his Blood Essence, which also contained his bloodline power, had also had incredible effects on the Bone Blood Demon and the me Dragon Armor, allowing these two ¡®dead things¡¯ to reawaken their life force.

    The Frost Blood Python had been after his unique bloodline as well.

    He started to have a feeling that his unique bloodline could somehow breathe life into things.

    Of course, he wouldn¡¯t tell Mu Biqiong about this incredible trait of his bloodline. Therefore, he had intentionally messed with her to anger and distract her.

    Getting more and more angry, Mu Biqiong panted heavily, her ample chest going up and down in a very charming way.

    The reason why she was so keen to learn about the secret of Nie Tian¡¯s body was because she wanted to know why the coexisting flowers inside of her would want her to get intimate with Nie Tian, of all people, so badly.

    Besides, this was the first time the coexisting flowers had reached a mutual understanding on a matter. There must be a reason behind it.

    She also believed that, like the coexisting flowers had told her, her mating with Nie Tian would most likely benefit her and the coexisting flowers to great extents.

    She was so bent on figuring out the reason because then she would be able to take precautions ordingly to prevent simr things from happening again.

    She hadn¡¯t refined all of the wood power essence she had absorbed from the Fortune Well yet. Once she did, she would have a good chance at advancing to the Profound realm. However, the chance of her being possessed by the coexisting flowers again would also rise.

    She was worried that the coexisting flowers would bewitch Nie Tian again.

    If Yin Yanan hadn¡¯t shown up andmanded the Frost Blood Python to stop them with its frost powerst time, the coexisting flowers might have already gotten what they wanted.

    Their sess would mean letting Nie Tian ruin her chastity, which she had held onto for many years.

    The thought that what had happened might be repeated once she was possessed by the coexisting flowers again put her in a bad mood.

    Seeing Nie Tian¡¯s rascally face, she could only get even more upset and angry.

    Eventually, Mu Biqiong left in anger.

    This time, she chose a location very far from Nie Tian to practice cultivation, lest there be some mishap and the coexisting flowers throw her at Nie Tian again, stripped of all garments.

    Two weeks passed...

    After a period of wholehearted cultivation, Nie Tian had finally filled his spiritual core and three vortexes of different powers to the brim.

    However, he was still far from being ready to break through into the Profound realm. He would still need to spend a long time refining his spiritual core and expanding his three vortexes.

    Unlike the powers from the Fortune Wells, the powers he absorbed from his spiritual materials didn¡¯t contain the so-called ¡®fortune power¡¯.

    Since his efficiency of refining his spiritual core and vortexes with regr spiritual power was fairly low, he would have to refine them bit by bit over a long period of time.

    Meanwhile, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong had failed to achieve breakthroughs in their cultivation as well when the three of them reconvened.

    After picking Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong up on her air-transportation spiritual tool, Yin Yanan asked Nie Tian, ¡°Do we keep traveling along the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I guess we don¡¯t have a better choice. I wonder if there are other magical ces like the Fortune Wells in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield. We should have asked Chai Longge and his sister about it. It looks like we¡¯ll have to go back to traveling aimlessly like headless flies.¡±

    Yin Yanan curled her lips. ¡°Those two were too cowardly. They were nothing but a burden to us.¡±

    Back when Qiu Ji had first showed up, Chai Longge and his sister had only urged them to leave, but hadn¡¯t stood by their side in their moment of need.

    Their decision had put ill feelings in Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s hearts, making them unwilling to travel with them anymore.

    Even though the brother-sister pair were chosen ones from the Martial Spirit Sect, they weren¡¯t strong enough to win Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s respect.

    ¡°So let¡¯s continue traveling along the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield then, and see what we can find,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Their air-transportation spiritual tool then flew out.

    The three of them cultivated in silence for a long while before Yin Yanan suddenly turned to Nie Tian and said with a slightly embarrassed expression, ¡°Well, Nie Tian...¡±

    Nie Tian opened his eyes. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Do you still have soul crystals left on you?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    ¡°I do,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Yin Yanan seemed somewhat hesitant as she asked, ¡°Could you give me another three? I¡¯ll make it up to you. If you want my Silicon Silver, you can have it all. All I want is three more soul crystals.¡±

    Mu Biqiong overheard her in the middle of her cultivation and opened her eyes, which also shone with the light of desire.

    ¡°What do you need them for?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    With a bitter smile, Yin Yanan said, ¡°The inadequate refinement of my true soul is what¡¯s stopping me from breaking through into the middle Profound realm. I¡¯ve already refined my spiritual core and frost power to the point where they¡¯re ready for my next breakthrough in cultivation. Arge part of that had to do with the frost power I absorbed from the Fortune Well. However, from now on, my future breakthroughs in cultivation willrgely be rted to the development of my true soul.

    ¡°As you know, it¡¯s very difficult and consuming to refine true souls. Since we didn¡¯t gain any fortune from the Fortune Well that spewed pure soul power, it¡¯ll take me a long time to finish the process.

    ¡°But your soul crystals contain pure soul power too, which will help greatly speed up the process, allowing me to break the shackles on my cultivation and advance to the middle Profound realm within a short time.¡±

    At this moment, Mu Biqiong chimed in, ¡°My poorly refined true soul is also what¡¯s keeping me from making my breakthrough.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said with an expressionless face, ¡°From the look of it, soul materials like soul crystals are indeed more precious than all sorts of spiritual materials.¡±

    The girls fixed Nie Tian with tensed, confirming looks simultaneously.

    ¡°I do have some soul crystals left on me, but they¡¯re too hard to find, and I have a great need for them myself,¡± Nie Tian said.

    The girls let out weak sighs, frustration filling their eyes, as if they had expected that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t agree to their request so easily.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Six soul crystals suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding, and came to float before Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.

    The girls¡¯ expressions flickered as their eyes were filled with surprise, but then deep confusion.

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°As precious as they are, I¡¯m a man who¡¯s generous with my women.¡±

    The girls were dumbfounded. ¡°Your women?¡±

    Nie Tian waved his hand casually. ¡°Go ahead. Take them. I¡¯ve kissed and felt both of you up. It¡¯s only a matter of time before you two be mine.¡±

    Mu Biqiong fixed Yin Yanan with a surprised look, and asked, ¡°You... too?¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face flushed slightly as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him!¡±

    However, she recovered her calm face in the next moment, and squarely grabbed three of the soul crystals. With a womanly chuckle, she said to Nie Tian, ¡°You¡¯re quite ballsy for harboring such intentions towards me. Alright. Don¡¯t say that I refuse to give you any opportunities. I¡¯ll let you have me when your cultivation base rises beyond mine.¡±

    ¡°Deal!¡± Nie Tian said with a broadugh.

    Yin Yananughed aloud. ¡°It¡¯s too bad that you practice multiple attributes. Even though your battle prowess far exceeds that of most cultivators at your level, the speed at which your cultivation base advances is greatly limited. There¡¯s no way that your cultivation base will surpass mine. You might as well give up now.¡±

    Nie Tian was full of smiles. ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true.¡±

    ¡°Fine, I shall wait for the day when your cultivation base surpasses mine.¡± As an unusually fierce woman, Yin Yanan just dared to say anything.

    Nie Tian then turned to Mu Biqiong and asked with a smile, ¡°What about you?! In my opinion, you might as well listen to the coexisting flowers inside of you. They might be nts, but they¡¯re obviously smarter than you, as they¡¯ve long since realized that I¡¯m a perfect match for you.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not me!¡± Mu Biqiong said coldly.

    With these words, she reached out and grabbed the three remaining soul crystals that were floating before her.

    Afterwards, she closed her eyes, ignoring Nie Tian¡¯s ridicule.

    ¡°Three soul crystals, and you think I¡¯ll stop detesting you?¡± She said with her eyes closed. ¡°It¡¯s far from enough! I¡¯ll find simr soul crystals in the future to pay you back.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything, a sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    With a strange look in her eyes, Yin Yanan said in a soft voice, ¡°You¡¯re so pathetic. Jiang Feng wanted you to take initiatives with Nie Tian, and the flowers inside of you forced you into his arms... It doesn¡¯t feel good to be controlled by others, right? The way I see it, if you can¡¯t resist them, you might as well give in and do what you¡¯re told.¡±

    ¡°My life is in my hands. Don¡¯t you worry about me!¡± Mu Biqiong said coldly.

    The three of them fell silent again.

    Seven days passed...

    While their air-transportation spiritual tool was passing through a region, several Profound realm Qi warriors approached them on air-transportation spiritual tools, and shouted at them from afar, ¡°The Water Moon Sect has marked this region as a forbidden region. Please go around it!¡±

    ¡°The Water Moon Sect?¡±

 Chapter 850: A Poisonous Lake

    Touching his ear, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Wasn¡¯t that Xie Yunhai from the Water Moon Sect?¡±

    ¡°Apparently so,¡± Yin Yanan answered casually.

    ¡°Do you know our young lord?¡± One of the men asked with a surprised look on his face. ¡°He should now be seeking fortune in the region where the Fortune Wells are located. Did youe from there?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled faintly. ¡°Yeah, and we met him.¡±

    ¡°Where is he now?¡± The man asked.

    ¡°Dead, probably,¡± Yin Yanan said with an indifferent face.

    The few Profound realm Water Moon Sect disciples, who looked much older than Nie Tian and the girls, stood aghast. ¡°What?!¡±

    The one with the highest cultivation base, at thete Profound realm, said with a grim face, ¡°That can¡¯t be true! Given our young lord¡¯s strength, he¡¯d be able to protect himself even if he didn¡¯t get to gain any fortune. You lot dare to curse our young lord, do you think we won¡¯t kill you for it?¡±

    ¡°Curse him?¡± Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re not interested in cursing anyone. To tell you the truth, we don¡¯t know for sure whether he¡¯s dead or not. You may wait and see if we¡¯re right. If he doesn¡¯te back after an unusually long time, then he¡¯s most likely dead.¡±

    The Water Moon Sect disciples frowned deeply after hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    The man who seemed to be the leader fell silent, as if he were counting the days in his heart, and realized that Xie Yunhai should have returned long ago if things had gone smoothly.

    After remaining silent for about ten seconds, he said with a serious face, ¡°I¡¯m Lu Feihua from the Water Moon Sect. Would you tell us what happened at the Fortune Wells, and why you think our young lord has died there?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian looked up ahead. Instead of answering the man¡¯s question, he asked, ¡°Why has your sect sealed up this region?¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t concern you,¡± Lu Feihua said coldly. ¡°You just need to take a short detour around it, and you¡¯ll be able to proceed without harm.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, curling his lips. ¡°If that¡¯s your attitude, then I won¡¯t tell you what happened at the Fortune Wells.¡±

    The Water Moon Sect disciples¡¯ faces grew long after they heard these words.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t seem afraid at all.

    He secretly summoned power from his star souls in an attempt to form a Heaven Eye and use it to scan the region.

    However, immediately after his Heaven Eye flew out of his mind, Lu Feihua sensed the anomaly and let out a bellow.

    A strand of soul power that was invisible to the naked eye shot up out of the top of Lu Feihua¡¯s head towards Nie Tian¡¯s forming Heaven Eye.

    By relying on histe Profound realm cultivation base and developed true soul, Lu Feihua had a shrewd perception of soul fluctuations.

    With a gentle,sting aura, the strand of his soul power shot into Nie Tian¡¯s forming Heaven Eye. Like a spout shooting into a puddle of water, it scattered the wisps of soul power Nie Tian was using to form his Heaven Eye.

    BOOM!

    Light suddenly blossomed over Nie Tian and Lu Feihua¡¯s heads like water sshes.

    After his scattered soul power flew back to his mind, Nie Tian fixed Lu Feihua with a cold look, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

    He had only failed to hold his soul power together, but didn¡¯t sustain any soul injuries. He was at thete Worldly realm, while Lu Feihua was at thete Profound realm. There was a huge gap between their cultivation bases.

    Every sh of their soul power would be more dangerous than a sh of their flesh. The fact that Nie Tian was able to recover his soul power without harm was already very impressive.

    Even Lu Feihua was taken aback. He had assumed that his soul strike would have taught the young man a good lesson.

    However, he saw that the look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was still sharp and piercing, as if he weren¡¯t much affected. Dialing his arrogance down, he said, ¡°We just want to know what exactly happened to our young lord.¡±

    ¡°And I want to know what right you have to seal this region,¡± Nie Tian said with determination.

    Like a streak of water, a blue figure suddenly flew over. It turned out to be a slender woman enveloped in a light ward that resembled a water bubble. ¡°That¡¯s because our sect was the first to discover the secret of this region, and we¡¯ve lost people exploring it.¡±

    Seeing that the woman hade herself, Lu Feihua and the other Water Moon Sect Qi warriors eximed weakly, ¡°Miss!"

    Nie Tian examined the woman with rapt attention, and discovered that she and Xie Yunhai looked rather alike. Instead of angr, her facial lines were smooth and round, which gave her a gentle, quiet look.

    Like Lu Feihua, the woman was also at thete Profound realm, but she was much younger.

    Even though her appearance wasn¡¯t as outstanding as Yin Yanan¡¯s or Mu Biqiong¡¯s, her gentle and warm quality still made her rather attractive and likable.

    ¡°My name is Xie Wanting. I¡¯m Yunhai¡¯s older sister.¡± The woman introduced herself. Deep concern shed across her eyes as she asked, ¡°If I may, can I ask what happened to Yunhai at the Fortune Wells?¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s patience had long since worn out while Nie Tian hadmunicated with Lu Feihua. In fact, she was prepared to teach the Water Moon Sect a lesson by forcibly breaking through their blockade to see what was they were up to in this region.

    However, Xie Wanting¡¯s few words rapidly calmed her, as if they had some magicalforting effect.

    ¡°Can we go inside and take a look first?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    Xie Wanting hesitated briefly before nodding. ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°Miss!!" Lu Feihua and the others tried to stop her.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal for them to take a look.¡± Xie Wanting waved at them, signaling them to let Nie Tian and the girls pass.

    Lu Feihua and the others didn¡¯t dare to disobey her.

    Therefore, Nie Tian and the girls flew past Lu Feihua on their air-transportation spiritual tool, and followed Xie Wanting to the heart of the region that the Water Moon Sect had sealed off.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian saw a dozen Water Moon Sect disciples scattered by the side of a greenke.

    In farther locations, some other Water Moon Sect disciples seemed to be standing vignt for others that mighte uninvited.

    Most of these disciples were at the Worldly realm and Profound realm. Not a single Soul realm expert was in sight. From the look of it, Xie Wanting was the person in charge here.

    Unpleasant looks appeared on the faces of the other Water Moon Sect disciples as they saw Nie Tian and the girls.

    ¡°Thiske is giving off rich water power,¡± Xie Wanting exined in a soft voice. ¡°We¡¯re guessing there might be some precious water-attributed spiritual materials at the bottom of thiske. Originally, our sect arranged this trip to the Shatter Battlefield so that my brother and I could seek fortune from the Fortune Wells and break through into the Soul realm within a short time.

    ¡°However, we identally discovered thiske while we were passing through this region. Sensing the aura theke was emanating, we decided to stop here.

    ¡°We sent people into theke to explore it, only to discover that theke water contains deadly toxins. Three of us were poisoned to death.

    ¡°We tried very hard to find a way to get to the bottom of theke to see whether there were water-attributed treasures down there.

    ¡°However, Yunhai didn¡¯t want to waste his time here, so he headed to the Fortune Wells, while I stayed here to oversee the exploration of thiske.

    ¡°We both practice water power, and both of these ces may provide fortune that we¡¯ll benefit greatly from...¡±

    Xie Wanting went on and briefly exined the situation to Nie Tian and the girls.

    The three of them then examined theke, which wasn¡¯t vast, and sensed the faint mist over its surface, wondering what treasure might lie at theke bottom.

    However, since none of them practiced water power, they didn¡¯t show a strong interest.

    Content with Xie Wanting¡¯s warm attitude and her taking the initiative to exin the secret of this ce to them, Nie Tian honored their deal by saying, ¡°A reborn cultivator named Yuan Jiuchuan showed up at the Fortune Wells. He seized the Fortune Well that spewed pure soul power by force. We were afraid that he would start a massacre, and thus evacuated the region, but your brother was still there when we left.

    ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan seemed to have some problem with his soul after his rebirth. But after recovering more memories of his previous life and perfecting his unique lightning incantations with the help of that Fortune Well, he would be able to ughter everyone there.

    ¡°So we guess there¡¯s a good chance that your brother has already fallen victim.¡±

    After Xie Wanting heard these words, a downcast look appeared on her face, with strong grief flowing in her eyes. ¡°You may leave, or stay here and explore. I need to spend some time alone.¡±

    With these words, she turned around and flew into the distance.

    Nie Tian and the girls stayed by thekeside, while many Water Moon Sect disciples gazed fiercely at them, like tigers at their prey.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan said, ¡°Even if there are water-attributed spiritual treasures at theke bottom, we won¡¯t benefit from them.¡±

    She sounded as if she didn¡¯t want to waste another minute here.

    Eyes closed, Mu Biqiong sat silently in a corner of the air-transportation spiritual tool, as if she weren¡¯t interested at all.

    ¡°I¡¯ll conduct a brief scan of theke. We¡¯ll leave if I fail to find anything worth noting.¡± With these words, Nie Tian told them to wait, while he formed his Heaven Eyes.

    His Heaven Eyes that could only be detected by soul power came to form one after another before gradually descending into theke.

 Chapter 851: Poisonous Corpse at the Lake Bottom

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes continued to sink towards the bottom of the dark greenke.

    The deeper it went, the darker it became.

    Many Water Moon Sect disciples fixed Nie Tian with cold, disdainful gazes.

    A few of them even jeered with one another, as if they knew that Nie Tian would suffer from his rash action.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong looked rather impatient, as they both wanted to leave as soon as possible.

    During the past few days, the two of them had been channeling soul power from soul crystals day and night to refine their true souls. The results had been satisfactory.

    They both believed that if they were given a bit more time to refine all of the soul power from their soul crystals into their true souls, they would be able to make their breakthroughs.

    Because of this, neither of them wanted Nie Tian to waste their time here.

    After all, they had scruples here. They didn¡¯t want to take their soul crystals out and attract unnecessary attention.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes sank deep into theke, the soul strands on the surface of his Heaven Eyes started to dissolve, as if they were being soaked in some acidic venom.

    An intense dizziness struck Nie Tian in his sea of awareness.

    His Heaven Eyes had now reached the depth where their surroundings were covered inplete darkness, and they could no longer see anything.

    At that moment, the star soul power within the Heaven Eyes suddenly started to shine.

    As his Heaven Eyes lost the power he had vested them with at an rming speed, he vaguely saw a corpse lying at the bottom of the darkke.

    It seemed to be the corpse of a Fiend.

    Wisps of green aura were rising from the Fiend corpse and merging with thekewater.

    Water weeds that seemed to contain deadly toxins could be seen in the corpse¡¯s surroundings, swaying slowly with thekewater.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    As his Heaven Eyes were about to run out of their power, Nie Tian withdrew the wisps of soul awareness he had vested them with.

    Nie Tian¡¯s narrowed eyes lit up as he snapped back to reality and whispered to the girls, ¡°There¡¯s a Fiend corpse at the bottom of thiske. That¡¯s most likely the reason why thekewater contains such deadly toxins. It¡¯s hard to believe that, even after having been dead for so many years, that Fiend is still exuding toxins, poisoning theke.

    ¡°There are also weeds growing at theke bottom, which seem to be some kind of water-attributed spirit nts, but now that they¡¯ve absorbed the toxins from the Fiend corpse, they¡¯ve changed, and also became extremely poisonous.¡±

    Surprised, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°A dead Fiend? If it¡¯s still poisoning theke with deadly toxins after being dead for so many years, then I guess that Fiend¡¯s grade from when he was alive coudn¡¯t have been low.

    ¡°Two great wars have taken ce in the Shatter Battlefield. Fiends took part in both of them, so it¡¯s rather natural that some powerful Fiends died here.¡±

    With these words, she turned to Nie Tian. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here. Not everyone can touch the corpse of a powerful Fiend. If that Fiend was at the eighth or ninth grade when it was alive, then even my Frost Blood Python wouldn¡¯t want to get anywhere near it. Even dead, the toxins they release can still kill you. Only those who practice poisonous incantations have a chance at collecting their bodies.¡±

    Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect didn¡¯t even open her eyes. Clearly, she couldn¡¯t be less interested.

    The Water Moon Sect disciples in their surroundings were surprised to sense the return of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness and overhear the secret conversation between Nie Tian and the girls.

    They had made repeated attempts to examine theke bottom with their soul awarenesses.

    Not only had all of them failed to see or sense a thing in the dark depths, but their soul awarenesses had also been corroded by the toxins, which had forced them to withdraw them in haste.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression, however, didn¡¯t change much after withdrawing his soul awareness. The look in his eyes was as sharp as ever, which indicated that he hadn¡¯t been much affected.

    This took them by surprise.

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯d be very troublesome if your Frost Blood Python or her demonic flower were to collect that Fiend corpse. But Bonebrutes are born with unparalleled poison resistance. Of all the races, Fiends have the greatest difficulty fighting Bonebrutes.

    ¡°That puppet of mine was at the eighth grade when it was alive, so I figure it won¡¯t have any problem protecting itself from the toxins.

    ¡°Perhaps my Bonebrute puppet can approach and benefit from that Fiend corpse, when other living beings can¡¯t.¡±

    SHEW!

    The enormous Bone Blood Demon answered Nie Tian¡¯s summons and flew out of his ring of holding. Like a mountain, it crashed into theke and started sinking.

    All of the Water Moon Sect disciples gasped with astonishment upon seeing that scene.

    Disdain instantly faded from the faces of those Worldly realm and Profound realm Qi warriors, with awe taking its ce.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Bonebrute!¡±

    ¡°A Bonebrute that¡¯s been turned into a puppet!¡±

    ¡°Such an enormous Bonebrute! He must have been at a high grade when he was alive!¡±

    Even Xie Wanting, who had been moaning over her brother¡¯s probable death, snapped back to reality upon sensing the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s appearance.

    She flew back to Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ air-transportation spiritual tool and asked with a puzzled expression, ¡°Did you find anything?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a dead Fiend with an unknown grade at theke bottom.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t hide the truth from her. ¡°And that¡¯s the reason why thiske contains deadly toxins. Since that extremely toxic corpse will do you no good, I¡¯m going to collect it. As for the weeds that are growing at theke bottom, I¡¯ll leave them all to you.¡±

    Xie Wanting was instantly enlightened. ¡°So it¡¯s a dead Fiend!¡±

    She hade to a simr theory before, but hadn¡¯t been able to confirm it since she had failed to see through theplete darkness in the depths of theke with her soul awareness.

    Besides, even though they had learned whaty at theke bottom, they hadn¡¯t found a way to fish it out.

    Therefore, it was eptable to them if Nie Tian was going to take the dead Fiend, which they had no use for, and leave the water-attributed weeds for them.

    She nodded slightly with anticipation in her heart. ¡°Good luck.¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s enormous body soon vanished from everyone¡¯s sight and sank to the bottom of theke.

    The Water Moon Sect disciples scattered on thekeside couldn¡¯t see what was happening at theke bottom.

    Only Nie Tian was able to see that the Bone Blood Demon swam to the dead Fiend, where it activated the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Technique without hesitation to channel the residual flesh power from the corpse, along with the aura of death it had generated over the years.

    Normally speaking, since Fiends¡¯ flesh power contained deadly toxins, almost no living creatures, including spiritual beasts, would devour their corpses.

    The Bone Blood Demon, however, was a unique existence. Since it had an innate strong resistance against toxins and had been vested with Blood Sect¡¯s secret magics, it was able to channel flesh power into itself without being harmed.

    The Bone Blood Demon, which had lost a significant amount of death power to Pergson¡¯s Bone Shatterer, gradually recovered its strength as it continued to absorb the residual power of the Fiend expert, who had been dead for an unknown amount of years.

    As it did, the dark greenke started to grow clear, as if it was being purged.

    A hint of delight shed across Xie Wanting¡¯s eyes.

    Time flew as the Bone Blood Demon continued to refine the Fiend corpse and build up its strength, and theke continued to grow clearer and clearer.

    Soon, two days passed, and the Bone Blood Demon was still working on the Fiend corpse.

    By relying on the soul connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian could tell that its battle prowess was soaring.

    He even suspected that the Fiend¡¯s grade from when it had been alive might be higher than the eighth grade. Otherwise, it shouldn¡¯t take the Bone Blood Demon so long to drain it of its residual power.

    Another day went by when Xie Yunhai suddenly appeared, covered in blood.

    He was taken to thekeside by Lu Yunfei. Limp and feeble, he slumped into the corner of their air-transportation spiritual tool.

    However, his eyes lit up as he saw Nie Tian and the girls. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re here!¡±

 Chapter 852: Enemy from Without

    Xie Yunhai looked ecstatic.

    Xie Wanting had been focused on theke, which was turning clearer and clearer, yet she rushed to the air-transportation spiritual tool her brother was on as soon as he arrived.

    Xie Wanting seemed very emotional and relieved as she said, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how d I am that you¡¯re alright.¡±

    Then with a deeply concerned look in her eyes, she asked, ¡°What happened? How did you sustain such heavy injuries?¡±

    With the Bone Blood Demon still at theke bottom, Nie Tian and girls didn¡¯t have much to do, and thus flew over to Xie Yunhai as well.

    Besides, Nie Tian also wanted to know what had happened after they had left the Fortune Wells.

    Weak and limp, Xie Yunhai took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it, before Xie Wanting helped him sit up straight.

    Wisps of faint smoke that seemed to contain strong toxins rose from Xie Yunhai¡¯s nostrils.

    Xie Yunhai took a deep breath. Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ presence seemed to restore some of his confidence as he exined, ¡°I was injured by Fiends. I ran into a group of Fiends on my way back here. Those Fiends appeared to be looking for something with their unique tools.

    ¡°They stopped me and asked me if I saw a ce pervaded with poisonous smoke.

    ¡°I suspected that what they were looking for was thiske, which you¡¯re guarding.

    ¡°So I ignored them and tried to escape, but they pursued me. Even though I managed to escape their pursuit with Water Escape, one of them injured me with his bloodline magic. Deadly toxins gradually infiltrated and corroded my flesh and blood.¡±

    After hearing Xie Yunhai¡¯s exnation, Xie Wanting instantlyid her eyes on theke. Realizing the Fiends¡¯ intentions, she said, ¡°Those Fiends must have detected that Fiend corpse with their special tools. I bet they came for the corpse of their powerful predecessor that¡¯s lying at theke bottom.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably the case.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a Fiend corpse at the bottom of thiske?!¡± Xie Yunhai asked with a shocked expression.

    Xie Wanting pointed at Nie Tian. ¡°That¡¯s what he said.¡±

    Xie Yunhai seemed to be instantly convinced as he said, ¡°Then there¡¯s probably no mistake in that.¡±

    Then, he questioned his sister and learned what had happened here during the past few days.

    Nie Tian, however, seemed to be more concerned with what had happened at the Fortune Wells instead of the situation with the Fiends, so he asked, ¡°So what happened at the Fortune Wells?¡±

    The mention of the Fortune Wells put deep fear in Xie Yunhai¡¯s eyes. ¡°The old man who upied the soul power Fortune Well killed almost everyone!¡±

    This piece of information didn¡¯t seem to surprise Nie Tian or the girls at all.

    Confused by theirck of reaction, Xie Yunhai said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you knew what that old man was going to do.¡±

    ¡°We did,¡± Nie Tian said.

    With a grim face, Xie Yunhai continued, ¡°Soon after you left, three young outsiders initiated a joint attack against the old man. Many human cultivators, spirit beasts, and other outsiders joined the action in attempts to seize that most special and precious Fortune Well for themselves.

    ¡°The battle turned out to be a bloody one. Most of the participants died miserable deaths.

    ¡°Even though those three outsider youngsters survived, they sustained heavy injuries and fled in sore straits.

    ¡°I realized the unfavorable situation and ran away before it was toote.

    ¡°I guess that old man wanted to refine the pure soul strands spilling from that Fortune Well first, and thus didn¡¯t go very far to hunt down those who fled. But I could still see torrential lightning filling that area of the sky after I flew to a ce far from that region, so I guess he killed all those who stayed there.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°The man¡¯s name is Yuan Jiuchuan. He¡¯s a reborn cultivator who was at the middle Saint domain in his previous life.¡±

    ¡°No wonder then!¡± Xie Yunhai secretly congratted himself for his wise decision. ¡°Luckily, I was well-aware that, given my strength, I wouldn¡¯t stand a chance at seizing that Fortune Well from that old man¡¯s hands, and thus left before their battle ended. If I had let greed cloud my judgment, I would probably already be dead.¡±

    With these words, his face tensed up again. ¡°Anyways, that Yuan Jiuchuan probably won¡¯t be able to find us here. We don¡¯t have to worry about him anymore. What we need to worry about are those Fiends who are currently searching through this region. Perhaps they¡¯ll get here before long.

    ¡°Sister, would you tell our martial brothers who are scattered in the vicinity toe back here? They won¡¯t be able to protect themselves against the Fiends if they don¡¯t join us.¡±

    Xie Wanting¡¯s expression flickered slightly as she asked, ¡°How many Fiends are there? How powerful are they? Will we be able to handle them?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to match them in battle by just relying on our own strength. One of them was very dangerous, as he held very powerful magical treasures.¡± With these words, he took a nce at Nie Tian and the girls. With an anticipating smile, he added, ¡°But if they agree to help, then we¡¯ll probably be okay.¡±

    After hearing these words, Xie Wanting and the other Water Moon Sect disciples all turned to look at Nie Tian and the girls.

    Their attitude towards them had changed when Nie Tian had summoned the Bone Blood Demon.

    They assumed that Xie Yunhai wanted to rely on Nie Tian¡¯s strength to fight the Fiends, but they didn¡¯t know that, in Xie Yunhai¡¯s eyes, Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan were even more formidable.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already imed that Fiend corpse at theke bottom. Of course I won¡¯t allow those Fiends to take it from me.¡± Nie Tian made his stance clear.

    Xie Yunhai instantly let out a sigh of relief.

    Now that Nie Tian had learned what he had wanted to learn from Xie Yunhai, he gave Yin Yanan a signal, and their air-transportation spiritual tool flew away from Xie Yunhai and Xie Wanting to the other side of theke.

    ¡°Now that we have those three on our side, the Fiends will bring trouble upon themselves if they dare to attack us,¡± Xie Yunhai said with a rxed face. ¡°Thankfully, they decided to help us. Otherwise, we would have had to abandon this ce.¡±

    In a low voice, Lu Feihua chimed in, ¡°Young lord, those three¡¯s cultivation bases aren¡¯t that impressive. I don¡¯t see what¡¯s so special about them, other than that man¡¯s puppet.¡±

    Xie Yunhai gave a cold harrumph. ¡°You were lucky that you didn¡¯t get into a fight with them.¡±

    On his way to thekeside, he had learned from Lu Feihua that a brief conflict had happened between Nie Tian¡¯s group and him, and it was his sister who had resolved the conflict and reached a mutual understanding with them.

    ¡°If a battle had actually broke out between you and them, you¡¯d have suffered a crushing defeat,¡± Xie Yunhai said coldly. ¡°Even my sister would have suffered from your rash action. Most people whoe to the Shatter Battlefield travel inrge groups like we do. Only those who have strong backing dare to travel on their own.

    ¡°Even though those three travel in each other¡¯spany, every one of them is strong enough to travel alone.

    ¡°You should have seen how formidable they were at the Fortune Wells. Those two women weren¡¯t any weaker than that man, if not stronger.

    ¡°That puppet you saw is only the tip of an iceberg. They have many more powerful resources at theirmand.¡±

    All of the other Water Moon Sect disciples¡¯ expressions flickered after they heard those words.

    After Xie Yunhai gave them a detailed exnation of the early battles at the Fortune Wells, even Xie Wanting was deeply shaken as she fixed Nie Tian and the girls with an apprehensive gaze from afar.

    Across theke...

    Gazing impatiently into theke, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°When in the world will your puppete out of there?¡±

    ¡°In about two days,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°The Fiends those people talked about may get here before that,¡± Yin Yanan said with furrowed brows.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to fear about those Fiends,¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem worried at all.

    Yin Yanan seemed edgy as she said, ¡°We need to refine the soul crystals as soon as possible, but with all those Water Moon Sect disciples around, we can¡¯t simply take the soul crystals out and start channeling power from them!¡±

    ¡°Do you two want to go to a ce that¡¯s farther away from here?¡± Nie Tian proposed.

    The girls exchanged a nce. After a moment of pondering, Yin Yanan shook her head and said, ¡°Forget it. Our loss would outweigh our gain if the Fiends were to discover and sneak up on us. We might as well wait a bit longer here.¡±

    Mu Biqiong agreed. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s wait two more days.¡±

    However, only one day passed before more than a dozen Fiends arrived in an overbearing manner.

 Chapter 853: No Need to Thank Me

    Holding a translucent and sparkling sphere in his hand, the leader of the Fiends seemed rather young.

    A drop of green blood was slowly swirling within the sphere.

    He looked at it from time to time to sense it with his bloodline power.

    The drop of green blood emanated a misty green aura as it swirled on and on.

    Then, he looked down andid his eyes on theke that had already be clear. In their ownnguage, he said, ¡°The grand patriarch¡¯s remains are at the bottom of thiske!¡±

    That drop of blood came from an offspring of this very grand patriarch.

    It was through this drop of blood that they had sensed anomalies, and found their way to this ce.

    Even dead, a ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch still contained rich residual flesh power and toxins, which was iparably valuable to other Fiends.

    The leader of this group was a Fiend named Billy, who was a member of an ancient Fiend n.

    The purpose of their trip to the Shatter Battlefield was to recover the remains of that ninth grade grand patriarch, whose n had long since withered away.

    Billy had obtained a drop of Blood Essence from one of that ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s offspring. With its help and the information he had obtained from his n members who had returned from the Shatter Battlefield, he had determined that the ninth grade grand patriarch had perished in this region.

    The reason why Billy¡¯s group hadn¡¯t gone all-out to pursue Xie Yunhai earlier was because finding the grand patriarch was their primary goal, and they hadn¡¯t wanted to waste their time on anything else.

    Who would have thought that he would find Xie Yunhai here after following the direction of that drop of blood to this ce?

    ¡°It was them I told you about, sister,¡± Xie Yunhai said in a low, grim voice, a shred of hate shing across his eyes. ¡°I was nearly killed by them on my way back here. What they¡¯re looking for is probably the dead Fiend at theke bottom!¡±

    Xie Wanting¡¯s gaze swept across every single Fiend.

    Her expression gradually grew grim.

    She could sense that most of them were at the sixth grade, with only one who was rtively old at the seventh grade.

    The sixth grade equaled the Profound realm, while the seventh grade equaled the Soul realm.

    However, Xie Wanting didn¡¯t have a single Soul realm expert on her team.

    ¡°The grand patriarch¡¯s remains!¡± After eximing these words in the humannguage, Billy suddenly dashed towards theke.

    The other Fiends followed along, takingrge steps.

    At this moment, Nie Tian smiled and asked aloud, ¡°Did youe for the remains of a senior of your race?¡±

    Billy nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    With a bright smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Okay, you shall have it.¡±

    With these words, he sent a soul message.

    SPLASH!

    Water sshed as the enormous Bone Blood Demon shot out of the clearke.

    Clutched in its huge bony hand was the Fiend corpse, from which it had absorbed residual flesh power to recover its strength during the past few days.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon flew directly towards Billy holding the Fiend corpse, whose residual power it had drained.

    A hint of delight appeared in Billy¡¯s eyes as he rapidly reached out and received the senior¡¯s corpse, which he had gone to great lengths to find, with both hands.

    However, his expression flickered as soon as his hands touched the corpse.

    He failed to sense the existence of any flesh power or toxins, which could help nourish his bloodline and awaken his bloodline talents, within the grand patriarch¡¯s corpse.

    This meant the corpse hadpletely lost its value to him.

    Expression as calm as ever, Nie Tian said to him, ¡°From the look of it, the remains of that senior of yours have already lost their residual power after millennia. Even the toxic mist that used to cover thiske has dispersedpletely over this time.¡±

    Xie Wanting¡¯s expression grew strange after she heard these words.

    Surprised expressions also appeared on many other Water Moon Sect disciples¡¯ faces.

    Of course they knew that theke waspletely different from when they had found it.

    ording to Nie Tian, the Fiend corpse had lost all of its residual power to time, and be useless.

    However, every single one of them knew that theke had been filled with deadly toxins before Nie Tian had summoned his puppet. They hadn¡¯t even been able to see through thekewater using their soul awareness.

    Nie Tian¡¯s puppet must have drained the Fiend expert¡¯s corpse of its residual power in a way they couldn¡¯t fathom.

    Staring at the corpse, Billy eximed, ¡°This can¡¯t be right! He was grand patriarch at the ninth grade! Even after thousands of years, his remains should still have residual power in them!¡±

    Nie Tian spread out his hands and said with an innocent expression, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that. It is how we found it. My puppet only went to theke bottom to gather the water-attributed spiritual materials, and discovered it by ident. So I told it to fish it out for you.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you can take it and leave now. No need to thank me.¡± Smiling, Nie Tian waved at them, signaling them that it was about time they left.

    Of course he didn¡¯t fear these Fiends, but he also didn¡¯t feel the need to get into a fight with them just because of the incident between them and Xie Yunhai, who they barely knew.

    As long as the Fiends left, Xie Wanting would be able to go collect the poisoned water weeds at theke bottom.

    That way, he would be considered to have honored his deal with the Water Moon Sect.

    He took the Fiend corpse, while the Water Moon Sect took all of the water weeds.

    Billy gave a cold snort. ¡°It¡¯s not that easy! Feteau, go take a look in theke!¡±

    The only seventh grade Fiend, who was standing right beside him, leapt skywards and dove into theke with a loud ssh.

    Shortly afterwards, he returned to Billy¡¯s side and whispered in his ear, ¡°Young lord, arge amount of water-attributed weeds are growing at the bottom of theke, all of which carry toxins from the grand patriarch after coexisting for millennia. Even though the toxins aren¡¯t very strong, they¡¯ll still be helpful for your bloodline upgrade.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Billy looked rather frustrated, as this was clearly far inferior to the kind of fortune he had hoped to gain.

    After pondering in silence for a while, he said, looking rather edgy, ¡°Everything in thiske belongs to us now. You need to the hell out of here now!¡±

    Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect thenid her gaze on Nie Tian.

    Xie Yunhai also fixed Nie Tian with an anticipating gaze, hoping Nie Tian and the girls would help them secure those water weeds.

    Even though the spirit nts had been poisoned and changed, their sect elders would be able to get rid of the toxins for them.

    Furthermore, they hadn¡¯t even determined what kind of weeds they were.

    Weeds that had survived such deadly toxins might be some rare species, which they could use to make valuable medicinal pills.

    Nie Tianughed, shaking his head. ¡°We? Get out of here? You lot are just too stubborn. I already fished that corpse you wanted out for you. Why can¡¯t you just take it and leave? Is it really fighting and killing that you want?¡±

    With an icy face, Billy said, ¡°That man is too wordy. Finish him.¡±

    Instead of panic, delight appeared on Xie Yunhai¡¯s face as he heard these words, as if he was convinced that these Fiends were bound to die at Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ hands.

    ¡°Go!¡± Nie Tian waved his hand, signaling the Bone Blood Demon to kill at will while muttering, ¡°As small as flies are, they¡¯re still meat.¡±

    Even though these Fiends¡¯ grades weren¡¯t very high, their flesh power could still help the Bone Blood Demon restore its strength to a certain extent.

    The Bone Blood Demon then swung it huge arms, unleashing waves of torrential death power.

    Like an enormous pir, one of its bony arms knocked the approaching Fiends flying back.

    BOOOM!

    Even Feteau, the seventh grade Fiend, grew apprehensive after taking a heavy blow from the Bone Blood Demon. ¡°Young lord! That Bonebrute puppet isn¡¯t easy to deal with! Since the grand patriarch¡¯s remains have lost their value, those weeds won¡¯t make much of a difference. We might as well leave!¡±

    Only at this moment did he see the formidable strength of this puppet made from a Bonebrute.

 Chapter 854: Defeated by One Strike

    ¡°The weeds don¡¯t matter to me now, but these people need to die!¡± Billy, the Fiend leader, instantly refused Feteau¡¯s proposal, his face ice-cold and filled with strong killing intent.

    Feteau smiled bitterly. ¡°Is that really necessary?¡±

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The Bone Blood Demon lunged over with huge steps, swinging its arms that looked like two pirs that pierced into the heavens.

    The few Fiends who had approached theke were all cowering back, as they were all well-aware that Bonebrutes had an innate strong toxin resistance, which made them their bane.

    Fiends normally relied on the deadly toxins within their bloodline power to fight members of other races.

    Even though their flesh power was also explosive and destructive, what made outsiders truly powerful were their unique bloodline powers.

    The Bonebrutes¡¯ death power devoured life force. Any living being would soon wither away after being infused with death power.

    The Fiends¡¯ deadly toxins rotted flesh, allowing them to paralyze living beings and reduce them to bloody gore.

    This was what made them formidable.

    However, their toxins wouldn¡¯t be as effective when they were facing Bonebrutes, which was why Feteau had suggested that they should leave after discovering how powerful the Bone Blood Demon was.

    WHOOSH!

    A piece of green cloth suddenly flew out of Billy¡¯s hand.

    The piece of cloth seemed to have been soaked in some kind of green gore, as it was sticky and emanated a pungent, acidic smell.

    One drop of Blood Essence after another flew out of Billy¡¯s fingertip, dripping onto the piece of green cloth.

    In the next moment, the piece of green cloth unleashed thick, green smoke that rapidly spread out to cover the sky over everyone¡¯s heads like a shield of green clouds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he sensed a profound flesh aura from within the piece of green cloth, which now had fine green lightning bolts flickering and interweaving within it.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, as the green mist spread out to cover the sky over theke, wisps of green smoke started rising from theke.

    He examined them with rapt attention, and discovered that the wisps of green smoke actually came from the weeds at theke bottom.

    After coexisting with the Fiend grand patriarch¡¯s corpse for thousands of years, the weeds had long since absorbed its aura, and be extremely toxic.

    At this moment, the toxins within them seemed to be channeled by Billy¡¯s magical treasure, and rose into the sky.

    More shockingly, wisps of green smoke soon started to rise from the Bone Blood Demon.

    The smokeing out of the Bone Blood Demon seemed even richer, and contained even more deadly toxins.

    Billy¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he saw what was happening to the Bone Blood Demon. Even Feteau, who had advised him to leave, went nk briefly before eximing, ¡°Those are the toxins from that grand patriarch!¡±

    The green smoke then soon spread out towards Nie Tian like a miasma.

    After seeing this, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, then his whole body burst into mes, which soon morphed into a crimson zing ward around him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the green smoke made contact with the mes, it was instantly burned away, giving rise to a pungent acidic smell.

    Enveloped within the zing ward, Nie Tian didn¡¯t catch any of the smell.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, on the other hand, hastily summoned spiritual power upon seeing the pervading toxic smoke to stop the deadly toxins from infiltrating their bodies.

    All of the Water Moon Sect disciples also formed protective wards around themselves as quickly as they could to protect themselves from the acidic toxins.

    Billyughed wildly as he instantly grew excited. ¡°That¡¯s the grand patriarch¡¯s residual power!¡±

    Eyebrows narrowed, Nie Tian realized that the residual power the Bone Blood Demon had channeled from that ninth grade grand patriarch contained deadly toxins.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon couldn¡¯t use them to improve its strength, they were invaluable treasures to these Fiends.

    Even if Billy hadn¡¯t channeled them away, the Bone Blood Demon would have to drive them out itself.

    Since Billy¡¯s piece of green cloth had such a channeling effect on toxins, the Bone Blood Demon was happy to take this opportunity to get rid of the toxins, which would do it no good.

    As wisps of toxins continued to fly out of the Bone Blood Demon, the green smoke grew thicker and thicker, to the point where it almost looked like some kind of floating liquid.

    Nie Tian and the others¡¯ protective wards and light shields suddenly became very fragile facing it, as they made fizzing sounds like they were rotting away.

    ¡°Finish them!¡± Billy ordered.

    The other Fiends then flew out. Not only were they not slowed down by the toxic smoke, but their auras even grew stronger, and their strength soared within it.

    WHOOSH!

    The piece of green cloth suddenly dove out of the sky towards the Bone Blood Demon under Billy¡¯smand.

    As it approached the Bone Blood Demon, it rapidly grew longer, and wrapped the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s legs together like a chain.

    Then, torrential flesh power came to appear within it. Even though such power didn¡¯t contain any toxins, it still helped bind the Bone Blood Demon, stopping it from breaking free.

    As this happened, more toxins flew out of the Bone Blood Demon, part of which fused into the transformed cloth.

    ¡°That¡¯s a magical treasure of the Fiends!¡± Xie Yunhai¡¯s expression flickered with fear as his sister¡¯s and his water-blue light shields made cracking sounds, as if they could shatter at any moment.

    ¡°Get over here!¡± Xie Wanting took a deep breath as she took out a transparent pearl that had a drop of water inside it, and held it with both hands.

    A water-like ward suddenly spread out from the pearl, enveloping Xie Wanting and the space around her.

    All of the other Water Moon Sect disciples hastily moved towards her, and entered the watery ward like drops of water.

    At this moment, the eighth grade Frost Blood Python suddenly flew out of Yin Yanan.

    Translucent and sparkling like ice, the Frost Blood Python let out an angry roar as soon as it came out.

    In the next moment, blocks of ice appeared, forming a shield of ice around the Frost Blood Python and Yin Yanan.

    Appearing to be in the middle of a huge piece of ice, Yin Yanan was no longer affected by the green acidic toxins.

    Riding the Frost Blood Python, she took the initiative to charge towards the Fiends. Feteau, the seventh grade Fiend, gasped with astonishment. ¡°An eighth grade spirit beast!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    However, a frigid storm filled with spears of ice instantly engulfed Feteau.

    Screaming aloud, Feteau stimted all of his bloodline power, drops of his Blood Essence exploding like emerald diamonds.

    Strong toxins then shot towards the Frost Blood Python, melting its shield of ice. A small amount of the toxins even seemed to infiltrate the Frost Blood Python, making it let out pained hisses.

    POOPH!

    A spear of ice pierced into Feteau¡¯s abdomen regardless of his efforts, making him let out agonized shrieks.

    Immediately after that, Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes grew cold as the ck flower¡¯s root exploded out of her palm like the tentacle of some monster.

    One of the Fiends was instantly entangled by the pitch-ck root.

    CRUNCH!

    He was snapped in two and dropped to the ground.

    At the same time, Nie Tian put on a sinister grin as he summoned the me Dragon Armor, which instantly morphed into a me dragon and flew past a few Fiends, engulfing them in devastating mes.

    Billy¡¯s eyes bulged as he stared unblinkingly at Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong,pletely bbergasted.

    But after a few seconds, he snapped out of his daze, shouted something in theirnguage, and fled at full speed.

    His piece of green cloth, which had be sticky and covered in gore, also let go of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s leg and rapidly caught up to him like a flying carpet.

    After he stepped on it, the piece of cloth shot into the distance at a shockingly fast speed.

    The seventh grade Fiend also wanted to escape, but he, who had been pierced by a spear of ice, was now being targeted by the me Dragon Armor. Momentster, he was engulfed in torrential mes.

    Meanwhile, Yin Yanan shed about on the eighth grade Frost Blood Python, and all of the remaining Fiends were frozen in thick ice when they were just about to flee.

    BOOM!

    The frigid ice exploded to pieces, along with their bodies.

    In such a short time, all of the Fiends died, except Billy.

    The green smoke that covered the sky also followed Billy away and disappeared into the distance like a moving miasma, restoring a clear sky to the area.

 Chapter 855: An Earth Cultivated Grade Treasure

    After being freed, the Bone Blood Demon moved out and easily pierced the dead Fiends with itsrge bony fingers.

    Like slithering spiritual snakes, the Fiends¡¯ blood rapidly flowed into its fingers.

    One after another, the corpses went dry at an rming rate, their toxic bloodpletely drained by the Bone Blood Demon.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian summoned the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding without saying anything.

    Faint wisps of discarnate souls that were going to vanish into heaven and earth stopped dissipating as soon as the Spirit Pearl appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, they flew towards the Spirit Pearl, where they were refined.

    Soon, all of the Fiends, who had been easily killed by Nie Tian and the girls, became nothing but bags of bones, all of their blood and discarnate souls taken away and refined by the Bone Blood Demon and the Spirit Pearl.

    The Water Moon Sect disciples all looked shocked and uneasy.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong hid their respective shocking means again, and stood expressionlessly on the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    The battle prowess of Billy, the strongest of the Fiends, was roughly equal to that of Froste, the Phantasm chosen one, and Gutas, the Demon chosen one, but slightly inferior to that of Pergson, the Bonebrute with the Bone Shatterer.

    Given this fact, and that magical treasure of his, Billy perhaps would have been able to contend against one member from Nie Tian¡¯s team.

    However, he couldn¡¯t possibly handle Nie Tian and the girls together, so it was only natural that he fled in sore straits.

    Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect let out a soft sigh. With aplicated look in her eyes, she gazed at Nie Tian and the girls from afar and said, ¡°This seems a bit too easy to them... Now I finally understand why you were so confident in their strength.¡±

    Xie Yunhai smiled bitterly. ¡°They¡¯re freakishly powerful.¡±

    ¡°No kidding,¡± Lu Feihua said with a weak sigh, secretly feeling thankful that Xie Wanting hade to ease the conflict between him and Nie Tian when they had first arrived.

    If she hadn¡¯t...

    The mere thought of what would have happened to him terrified him.

    After a moment of hesitation, Xie Wanting said with a nervous, inquiring expression, ¡°Ladies, gentleman... about the weeds at theke bottom...¡±

    ording to their previous agreement, Nie Tian would only take the Fiend corpse, while the Water Moon Sect would take all of the water-attributed weeds.

    Billy¡¯s powerful magical treasure had already cleansed the weeds of their deadly toxins, making it easy for them to go into the clearke and collect them.

    However, after witnessing Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ terrifying strength, Xie Wanting realized that they would be able to do nothing to stop them if they were to go back on their agreement.

    Considering their strength, they would be easily destroyed if they dared to fight Nie Tian and the girls over them.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to attach any importance to the matter. ¡°You can have all that remains at theke bottom.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon, the me Dragon Armor, and the Spirit Pearl flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding one by one.

    Nie Tian then sent his soul awareness to roam and examine the Bone Blood Demon. He discovered that its strength had reached the eighth grade, which was equal to that of an early Void domain human expert.

    Apparently, the residual flesh power within that dead ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch had allowed the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s strength to soar again.

    However, Nie Tian now also had a feeling that the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s strength had reached its roof.

    That was because this Bonebrute had been at the eighth grade when it had been alive.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon could still absorb more flesh power, that wouldn¡¯t allow it to upgrade further than its grade from when it had been alive.

    The eighth grade was its peak, and it had only recovered it with the help of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and the ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch¡¯s residual flesh power.

    Lips curled, Nie Tian thought to himself, <i>¡°The eighth grade, equal to the early Void domain... It¡¯s about enough though.¡± </i>

    While he was absorbed in thought, Xie Yunhai, Xie Wanting, and the other Water Moon Sect disciples dove into theke one after another.

    A few Water Moon Sect disciples soon flew from the bottom of theke, cheering aloud, ¡°Spirit Enhancing Grass!¡±

    Lu Feihua also looked spirited and overjoyed, holding a handful of spirit weeds in his hand.

    Yin Yanan shot them a sideways nce and said inly, ¡°Seventh level Premium grade spirit nts. They¡¯re quite lucky. Spirit Enhancing Grass is the main material for many medicinal pills. They can help water-attributed Qi warriors refine their spiritual core more efficiently. Considering the amount of Spirit Enhancing Grass lying at theke bottom, they¡¯ll be able to made quite a number of medicinal pills.¡±

    SPLASH!

    Xie Wanting and Xie Yunhai were thest to fly out of theke, and they brought arge rock that was about ten meters long with them.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Xie Wanting summoned her spiritual power and swung her arm like a de.

    Pieces were cut from therge rock until it became the size of a door.

    However, what remained was translucent and sparkling like jade. Drops of water could vaguely be seen within it, which were exuding rich water power. Not only that, but a soul awareness could be sensed within it, which was primal and vague like an infant.

    ¡°This is a Jade Spirit Crystal?!¡± Xue Yunhai eximed, ecstasy appeared in his eyes.

    Upon hearing his exmation, all of the other Water Moon Sect disciples turned to look at them. Immediately afterwards, they started to tremble with excitement.

    ¡°Congrattions, youngdy!!"

    ¡°Congrattions, young lord!¡±

    They rapidly converged on the brother-sister pair, hoping to take a closer look at the mysterious stone.

    However, Xie Wanting swiftly put the stone into her ring of holding. Putting on a calm face, she said to Nie Tian, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°A Jade Spirit Crystal?!¡± Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up as she lowered her voice and whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°That¡¯s an Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material! It even has vague self-awareness, which no ordinary spiritual materials have! And it¡¯s one of the major materials for forging domains!¡±

    With deep look in her eyes, Mu Biqiong said in a low voice, ¡°Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials are very hard to find. I can¡¯t believe there was actually such a treasure at the bottom of thiske! Do we kill them and take it?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered as he eximed, ¡°An Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material?!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected that an Earth Cultivated grade treasure had been hidden at the bottom of theke poisoned by the corpse of a ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch.

    He had also heard that Earth Cultivated spiritual materials could be used to forge Spirit Channeling grade treasures, and they were necessary materials forte Soul realm experts to forge domains.

    Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the other experts would have to find Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials that agreed with their attributes when they attempted to break through into the Void domain.

    However, Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials couldn¡¯t be found throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, which was why they had been eager to visit the Realm of Maelstrom ande to the Shatter Battlefield. Their goal was to make preparations for their future breakthroughs.

    Since the Jade Spirit Crystal was an Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material, if he gained it, then he would be able to trade it with others for Earth Cultivated grade materials that agreed with him in the future.

    The look in Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes gradually grew cold, as they both prepared to attack.

    Nie Tian, however, pondered in silence for a few seconds before oveing his greed and signaling Yin Yanan to leave. ¡°Forget it.¡±

    Somewhat reluctantly, Yin Yanan activated her air-transportation spiritual tool and flew away from theke.

    After they disappeared from her sight, Xie Wanting let out a deep sigh of relief and berated Xie Yunhai sternly, ¡°You fool! You knew perfectly well how precious that Jade Spirit Crystal was, yet you shouted it¡¯s name!¡±

    She then pointed at Lu Feihua and the others. ¡°And you! You could have gotten us killed!¡±

    Shamefaced, Xie Yunhai said, ¡°Sorry, sister. I couldn¡¯t help it.¡±

    Lu Feihua sagged his head and didn¡¯t say anything.

    Even though they hadn¡¯t heard Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s whispers, the looks in their eyes had made them realize that they would have taken the crystal from them if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t stopped them.

    Only then did Xie Wanting finally seem spirited. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that we would so lucky to find an Earth Cultivated grade water-attributed spiritual material here!¡±

    After a few seconds, she frowned again and added, ¡°That Fiend is still too strong for us. We can¡¯t go in the direction he left. As for those three, even though we don¡¯t know who they are, they¡¯re human at least, so they won¡¯t be as dangerous.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go! We¡¯ll go after them, but keep a great distance from them so that they won¡¯t be to able to discover us. Those two women may demand the Jade Spirit Crystal from us if they do.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ...

    Two weeks passed...

    Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ air-transportation spiritual toolnded in a dense forest, where Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong unleashed their soul awarenesses to examine the area. After failing to detect any soul fluctuations, they rapidly started making their breakthroughs into the next realm.

    At the same time, Nie Tian found a lush tree and started cultivating wholeheartedly sitting on a thick branch.

    A few hours passed before the green aura within Nie Tian heart suddenly went through great changes.

    <i>¡°Another bloodline upgrade!¡±</i> Nie Tian eximed inwardly.

 Chapter 856: Bloodline Upgrade

    Numerous glittering cyan spots came to appear within the Bloodline Crystal Chains that formed the green aura that hadin dormant for a long time in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    As more and more of them appeared, the Bloodline Crystal Chains grew thicker and thicker.

    The Bloodline Crystal Chains started to emanate dazzling divine light. Each and every cyan spot seemed to be branded with the profound truths of life power as they flickered unceasingly.

    ¡°Life Strengthening! Blood Essence Seething!¡± Two brand new bloodline talents were suddenly imprinted in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s mind. Eyes narrowed, he attempted to find out more about them, yet he somehow learned everything about them in a split second.

    Surrounded by thick leaves, Nie Tian felt greatly spirited, the light of excitement shining in his eyes. ¡°Two bloodline talents at the same time!¡±

    This was the first time he had awakened two bloodline talents after one bloodline upgrade.

    Before, every time his bloodline had upgraded, he would only awaken one new bloodline talent.

    The five bloodline talents he had awakened before were Life Transfer, Life Stealth, Life Drain, Blood Essence Extraction, and Life Blend.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, every time he had awakened a bloodline talent had marked a sessful upgrade of his bloodline, which meant his bloodline had already upgraded five times, like a fifth grade outsider¡¯s.

    The battle prowess of a fifth grade outsider was roughly equal to that of a Worldly realm cultivator.

    This was the sixth time his bloodline had upgraded, and two brand new bloodline talents had been awakened.

    Didn¡¯t this mean his bloodline had advanced to the sixth grade, making him an equal to a Profound realm human expert?

    However, as a human cultivator, he was still at the Worldly realm. He hadn¡¯t expected that the upgrade of his bloodline, which should be unique to outsiders, would have surpassed the advancement of his cultivation base.

    ¡°Now that my bloodline has entered the sixth grade, does it mean I¡¯ll be able to fight a Profound realm human expert by solely relying on my bloodline power now?¡± With this thought in mind, he took a deep breath and tried to activate the first new bloodline talent: Life Strengthening.

    As a thought entered his mind, immense flesh power instantly poured out of his muscles, internal organs, bones, and blood.

    After exuding through his pores, his flesh power turned from a bloody aura to liquid blood, and eventually solidified into some kind of scaly shell over his whole body.

    Within seconds, a suit of armor seemed to have formed over his face, abdomen, legs, and arms.

    Arge number of gold and silver patterns could be seen on the surface of the armor-like shell, which gave Nie Tian a inhuman look.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    As his heart beat increasingly vigorously, his muscles started to bulge.

    He already had a magnificent physique to begin with. Now, as his muscles continued to bulge, his aura became even fiercer, and he seemed to have transformed into a ferocious beast with a scary look in his eyes.

    Vigorous flesh power ran madly through his veins, giving rise to sounds of rivers raging through mountains.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The tall tree he was sitting in finally failed to hold his soaring weight, and snapped.

    Nie Tiannded with a loud crash.

    He could feel his flesh power surging madly inside of him, as if it were desperate to find a vent.

    Then, he lifted his hand and pped an ancient grayish-brown tree beside him, which was more than ten meters tall and as thick as the mouth of a well.

    In the next moment, the ancient tree exploded to shreds, as if it had been rammed by an enormous beast.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up, flesh auras flying out of his fingertips like crimson lightning bolts.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Numerous tall, thick trees in his surroundings exploded one after another, flying leaves and bits of wood filling the air.

    Feeling endless flesh power raging within him, Nie Tian felt as if he were blessed with some divine power. To vent his power, he started charging through the forest so fast that his movements gave rise to crackling sounds, as if he were splitting the air.

    One ancient tree after another exploded with loud booms as he rammed into them, rendering the forest in chaos.

    BOOM!

    He fell out of the sky. Fusing his divine power with his feet, he made a huge hole in the solid ground.

    Even rocks that were close to the hole shattered. The aftermath of his crash spread out dozens of meters in every direction.

    It was as if a monster made of pure metal had fallen out of the sky and crashed heavily into the earth, unleashing devastating power.

    In a very good mood, Nie Tian went on to activate his second newly awakened bloodline talent. ¡°Now let¡¯s check out Blood Essence Seething!¡±

    In the next moment, a drop of Blood Essence in his heart started to seethe furiously.

    Flesh power that was even fiercer flooded out of his heart into every corner of his body, further boosting his battle prowess, as if he had be a huge beast from the Deste Antiquity Era that ran rampant in the forest.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Clusters of pure flesh power then shot out of him to bombard his surroundings like thunderballs, rapidly engulfing arge area around him in explosions.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s drop of Blood Essence went on to unleash its power to the fullest, loud explosions filled heaven and earth around him.

    By the time it was finished, there was no longer a single tree left in a hundred-meter radius around Nie Tian.

    The ground was riddled with holes and covered in leaves and bits of wood, while the rocks were reduced to crumbs by the explosions.

    ¡°Enough!¡± Nie Tian hastily stopped igniting more of his Blood Essence with Blood Essence Seething, his new bloodline talent.

    ¡°Everything in the Shatter Battlefield, including the living creatures and vegetation, should have been very tenacious and difficult to destroy, but...¡± ncing around at the devastated forest, he burst into a wildugh.

    He suddenly had a feeling that now that his bloodline had advanced to the sixth grade and he had awakened Life Strengthening and Blood Essence Seething, he would be able to contend against a sixth grade outsider even if he didn¡¯t have any spiritual power to use.

    The scalyyer that formed over his whole body after he activated Life Strengthening could perhaps also protect him from sharp des.

    SHEW!

    With this thought, he summoned a long, thin sword from within his ring of holding, infused it with his spiritual power, and then hacked his own arm with it.

    CLANK!

    Sparks flew from the point where the sword made contact with his arm, giving rise to a crisp metallic sh.

    Only a faint mark was left on the scalyyer that covered his arm.

    His flesh wasn¡¯t cut open and his internal organs, meridians, and bones weren¡¯t hurt at all.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Life Strengthening is kinda simr to the Demons¡¯ and Bonebrutes¡¯ indestructible form!

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve crystallized my bones, nourished my internal organs, and toughened my meridians with Heavenly Wood Heal. Now with Life Strengthening added to my skill set, I wonder how much power my body can resist.¡±

    With this thought in mind, he conducted a thorough examination of himself, and discovered that as long as Life Strengthening was activated, even though he wasn¡¯t doing anything, he was consuming his flesh power that was scattered in different parts of his body.

    That was because wisps of his flesh power were infusing into the scalyyer in order to maintain this special form.

    WHOOSH!

    He let out a long breath as he deactivated Life Strengthening.

    Then, as his expanded muscles shrank, the scalyyer that covered his body gradually dissolved and disappeared into his flesh again.

    He recovered his original form.

    ¡°This is awesome!¡± Nie Tian threw his head back and let out a longugh that echoed throughout the forest.

    Momentster, his eyebrows suddenly rose as he stoppedughing. The Water Moon Sect disciples arrived on air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Xie Wanting and the others had intentionally traveled at a slow speed following the route Nie Tian and the girls had taken.

    However, since Nie Tian and the girls had stopped to practice cultivation in this area, they eventually caught up to them.

    Standing on the air-transportation spiritual tool, Xie Wanting gazed down at Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings, which seemed to have been ravaged by a frenzied beast. Her eyes widened as she saw the ground riddled with deep holes, rocks reduced to to dust, and bits of wood still falling out of the air.

    Most importantly, she failed to sense any spiritual power in the air.

    Did this mean that Nie Tian had inflicted such a cmity on this area by relying solely on his fleshly strength?

    This was simply astonishing.

    Xie Wanting¡¯s face turned pale as she now viewed Nie Tian as a ferocious monster in human form.

    ¡°Well... there¡¯s this ce we don¡¯t dare to go by ourselves, but if you want to go take a look, perhaps we can go together.¡± After a short pause, she added, ¡°I suppose only people like you will be able to contend against the truly powerful figures who would go there.¡±

    With an intrigued expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Where?¡±

 Chapter 857: The Bloody Grave Mountain Range

    Xie Wanting and the other Water Moon Sect disciples fell silent, as if they were shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s attitude.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian asked again in a loud voice, ¡°Where?¡±

    As he spoke, bits of starlight shone in the depths of his eyes. The flesh power from when he had activated Life Strengthening hadn¡¯tpletely faded, as the starlight in his eyes was still covered in a shade of red.

    A dominant aura seemed to pour out of the bits of bloody starlight within his eyes, aweing every Water Moon Sect disciple.

    Even Xie Wanting had a feeling as if she were being eyed by a fierce beast from the Deste Antiquity Era, and she might be torn to pieces in the next moment.

    Her expression flickered slightly.

    However, just as she was about to speak, Lu Feihua cleared his throat and said with a worried expression, ¡°Miss...¡±

    ¡°People call that ce the Bloody Grave Mountain Range,¡± Xie Wanting said.

    All of the other Water Moon Sect disciples gasped. Even Xie Yunhai¡¯s face turned pale as he eximed weakly, ¡°Sister!¡±

    ¡°The Bloody Grave Mountain Range? What kind of ce is it?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking puzzled.

    Xie Wanting took a deep breath to calm herself, then said, ¡°It¡¯s a mountain range that connects the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield and the central area of the Shatter Battlefield. It used to be one of the main battlefields when great wars broke out between Ancientspirits, outsiders, and humans. To this day, many powerful experts of different races are still buried in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, along with pieces of some human experts¡¯ shattered domains. Not just that, but the discarnate souls of the deceased powerful experts also roam that area. Even bereft of their fleshly bodies, they¡¯re still very dangerous.

    ¡°At the same time, quite a few Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials have been discovered in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range through time.

    ¡°Some people even discovered Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials there before.

    ¡°For hundreds of thousands of years, Ancientspirits, outsiders, and humans have never given up exploring the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. It seemed that even before the Shatter Battlefield became what it is today, the Bloody Grave Mountain Range was a special ce where living beings¡¯ discarnate souls would turn into evil souls after their deaths, instead of vanishing into heaven and earth.

    ¡°Now, outsiders can visit the Bloody Grave Mountain Range to find the remains of their dead ancestors and their powerful magical tools. We humans can also find pieces of our ancestors¡¯ shattered domains there, along with their advanced spiritual tools and incantations.

    ¡°The Bloody Grave Mountain Range borders the central area of the Shatter Battlefield, which makes it more dangerous than the Fortune Wells. But at the same time, it holds more valuable treasures.¡±

    After a short pause, Xie Wanting let out a sigh and continued, ¡°But since it¡¯s extremely dangerous, only truly powerful members of different races will dare to enter it. The death rate there is far too high. The entrants will not only have to face powerful experts from different races, but also evil spirits and ghouls.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Ghouls!?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± said Xie Wanting. ¡°Some of the outsiders¡¯ bodies wouldn¡¯t perish after their deaths, and the Bloody Grave Mountain Range¡¯s special environment has turned them into ghouls. For some reason, even though those ghouls don¡¯t have souls, they can still move about. Evil spirits or ghouls, they all harbor enmity towards us living beings with flesh and blood.

    ¡°So once we enter the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, we may be attacked by evil spirits and ghouls at any moment. Other than them, we may also encounter members of other races, and engage in fierce battles against them.¡±

    As she exined how dangerous the Bloody Grave Mountain Range was, all of the other Water Moon Sect disciples fell silent with insecure and uneasy looks on their faces.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°If that Bloody Grave Mountain Range connects the central area and the outer ring of the Shatter Battlefield, what grades or cultivation bases are the entrants usually at?¡±

    ¡°Mostly sixth grade outsiders and Profound realm human Qi warriors,¡± Xie Wanting said. ¡°But on very rare asions, seventh grade outsiders and Soul realm Qi warriors will also enter it from the central area of the Shatter Battlefield. Another special trait of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range is that, instead of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, it¡¯s filled with a mixture of numerous different energies, which is harmful to all living beings with flesh and blood.

    ¡°Also, the stronger you are, the more you¡¯ll be affected by those mixed energies.

    ¡°Many seventh grade outsiders and Soul realm human experts were kept from bringing out their true strength in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Some of them were even killed by those with inferior grades or cultivation bases.

    ¡°Powerful experts at the three domains may also have their domains shattered, and find themselves in great danger there.

    ¡°Meanwhile, there are many other wondrous ces in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. Therefore, instead of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, most high grade outsiders and human experts at the Soul realm and the three domains would choose to seek their fortune in the special areas in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Xie Wanting¡¯s words took Nie Tian by surprise, as he hadn¡¯t expected that the mixed energies in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range would hold a bnce between entrants, and keep the powerful ones from disying their true might.

    <i>¡°Mixed energies of heaven and earth...¡±</i> Nie Tian pondered in silence. <i>¡°Will the situation there be simr to that of the Realm of Split Void from before? It just that I don¡¯t know how powerful the energies there really are. As for the evil spirits, I might be able to deal with them with my Spirit Pearl. Perhaps I can even refine them. But the ghouls will be a bit tricky...¡±</i>

    Seeing that he had fallen silent with a frown, Xie Wanting went on to say, ¡°You three are much more powerful than most of those at your cultivation bases. But all those who dare to go to explore the Bloody Grave Mountain Range will be just like you. The sixth grade outsiders who go there might be even more powerful than regr seventh grade outsiders. The Profound realm Qi warriors who go there might wield powerful spiritual tools and incantations that allow them to disy Soul realm battle prowess.

    ¡°Our original n wasn¡¯t to go to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, but if you want to go, I wanna join you and serve as your guide.¡±

    ¡°Big sister!¡± Xie Yunhai eximed. ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree to return to our sect¡¯s headquarters as soon as possible? I gained water power essence from one of the Fortune Wells, and we found that Jade Spirit Crystal. We¡¯ve already gained enough fortune from this trip. Why would we still go risk our lives in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range? You know perfectly well how dangerous that ce is.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Xie Wanting flew away from Nie Tian and the girls on her air-transportation spiritual tool, saying, ¡°Come.¡±

    Xie Yunhai and the other Water Moon Sect disciples then followed her to a distant location.

    WHOOSH!

    She took off her ring of holding, which contained the Jade Spirit Crystal, and handed it over to Xie Yunhai. ¡°Go back with this ring of holding. Senior Martial Brother Lu, would you escort them back to the spatial rift that leads to our sect? I¡¯ll go with those three to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.¡±

    ¡°Miss, I still don¡¯t understand why you have to go!¡± Lu Feihua said with a confused expression.

    Xie Wanting then exined, ¡°I didn¡¯te here for water power essence from those Fortune Wells. In fact, I¡¯ve long since reached the point where I¡¯m ready to break through from thete Profound realm into the early Soul realm. My spiritual core has long since been refined to its limit. All I need right now is an opportunity to achieve the breakthrough, which I think lies in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    ¡°As for that Jade Spirit Crystal, I¡¯m only having you take it back to our sect because if something were to happen to me, you¡¯ll still be able to use it as the main material to forge your domain when you break through into the Void domain.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going with you, big sister!¡± Xie Yunhai shouted.

    ¡°No!¡± Xie Wanting refused him with a stern tone. ¡°You have to take that Jade Spirit Crystal back. If I go with those three with it on me, I¡¯ll always have the possibility of those women taking it away by force on my mind.¡±

    Xie Wanting adopted an unquestionable attitude.

    Seeing this, Lu Feihua and the other Water Moon Sect disciples also started to persuade Xie Yunhai to leave with them.

    Only after a whole hour of diligent persuasion did Xie Yunhai finally give in and leave the dense forest where Nie Tian and the girls were, in Lu Feihua and the other Water Moon Sect disciples¡¯pany.

    Xie Wanting returned alone to Nie Tian on an air-transportation spiritual tool, and said, ¡°My brother and the others have returned to my sect with the Jade Spirit Crystal. If you want to go explore the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, I¡¯d be happy to go with you and serve as your guide, since perhaps I¡¯ll be able to find an opportunity to break through my cultivation barrier and enter the Soul realm there.¡±

    With a strange expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Did you tell them to take that Jade Spirit Crystal and leave because you were worried that we¡¯d try to take it from you?¡±

    ¡°To tell you the truth, I¡¯m a bit concerned about the girls you travel with.¡± Xie Wanting didn¡¯t deny her concern. ¡°They¡¯re very powerful. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to stop them if they decide to take it from us. It was for this reason we intentionally slowed down and followed you from a great distance.

    ¡°But we didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d stop here for so long, and we eventually caught up to you anyways.¡±

    With a hearty smile, Nie Tian asked, ¡°But how you did you know that we¡¯d want to go to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re powerful enough,¡± Xie Wanting answered.

 Chapter 858: Breaking Through One after Another

    Nie Tianughed broadly. ¡°That¡¯s quite an answer.¡±

    Then, he asked Xie Wanting more about the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    From her, he learned that it snowed year-round in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Frosty mists pervaded the depths of the mountain range, where numerous powerful experts were buried in utter destion.

    Due to the special environment in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, living beings¡¯ souls wouldn¡¯t vanish into heaven and earth after their deaths.

    Instead, the discarnate souls of the dead would more often than not turn into evil spirits that roamed the mountain range and preyed on creatures with flesh and blood, strengthening themselves with their souls.

    Meanwhile, the fleshly bodies of the dead wouldn¡¯t rot away either, but rather had a good chance of turning into ghouls.

    The ghouls also roamed the mountain range and preyed on living beings, but they also fed on dead creatures if they couldn¡¯t find fresh ones to kill.

    No one knew what had been causing such strange phenomena in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. However, the evil spirits and the ghouls seemed to agree with the hostile environment there, as the mixed energies of heaven and earth wouldn¡¯t hurt them at all.

    Ten days passed...

    Yin Yanan came back, full of vigor and high in spirits.

    Nie Tian only took a quick nce at her, and realized that she had fully refined the frost power essence she had gained from the Fortune Well, as well as the three soul crystals he had given her, and had sessfully broken through into the middle Profound realm.

    However, her hearty smile froze on her face as soon as she noticed Xie Wanting. Frowning, she asked, ¡°Why is she here, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian then exined the situation, and told her that Xie Wanting would take them to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    After learning about the special environment in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, Yin Yanan seemed very much intrigued, and instantly agreed to go explore it.

    Frigid winds blew in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. She suspected there would be frost-attributed Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials there, which she would be able to use to forge her domain when she attempted to make her breakthrough into the Void domain.

    Gloating, Yin Yanan said,pletely ignoring the fact that Xie Wanting was with them, ¡°As you can see, I¡¯ve already advanced to the middle Profound realm, but you¡¯re still at the Worldly realm. The gap between our cultivation bases is bingrger andrger. You might as well drop that little idea you have of me now.¡±

    Not so long ago, she had made a deal with Nie Tian that if his cultivation base actually rose above hers one day, she would allow Nie Tian to get intimate with her.

    Nie Tianughed and said with a confident expression, ¡°The path of cultivation is a long one. We still have a long way ahead of us. Who can tell what will happen in the future? Don¡¯t get too cocky. Who is to say that you won¡¯t get stuck at a minor level for a long time some day? Then, my cultivation base might rise beyond yours, and then... I¡¯ll get to strip you of all your clothes!¡±

    Yin Yananughed in an unconstrained manner. ¡°Wishful thinking! You know very well what the best path of cultivation for you is, yet you still choose to practice three different types of power at the same time. Don¡¯t you understand that if you spread yourself too thin, you won¡¯t get any of the things you want? Since you practice three different types of power simultaneously, it takes you three times as long to make breakthroughs in cultivation as normal cultivators who practice just one type of power.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t change that, your cultivation base won¡¯t have any chance at going beyond mine in your whole life.¡±

    The two of them ridiculed each other before Xie Wanting without the slightest scruple, as if neither of them attached any importance to her.

    Surprised, Xie Wanting fixed Nie Tian with impressed looks from time to time, as she hadn¡¯t realized that he actually practiced three different kinds of incantations.

    She had only witnessed him using me incantations and summoning the me Dragon Armor.

    Therefore, she had assumed that he was merely a me power cultivator who had paid special attention to body refinement.

    Deeply amazed, she wondered, <i>¡°Practicing three different kinds of incantations... refining his fleshly body to such a high level... and he¡¯s still managed to reach thete Worldly realm at such an early age... He¡¯s a freak indeed!¡±</i>

    A few more days passed.

    Yin Yanan was still trying to stabilize her new cultivation base, while Mu Biqiong was still nowhere to be seen.

    Nie Tian finally couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Howe Mu Biqiong¡¯s still not finished?¡±

    ording to Mu Biqiong, she should have been able to achieve her breakthrough right after refining those three soul crystals into her true soul.

    However, Yin Yanan had long since made her breakthrough into the middle Profound realm. It shouldn¡¯t have taken her so long to advance to the early Profound realm.

    Yin Yanan opened her eyes in the middle of her cultivation. ¡°Oh, that woman? She seems to be in a bit of trouble. I suppose she¡¯s been possessed by those flowers inside of her again.¡±

    Pointing casually in a direction, she added, ¡°The trees over there have withered away one after another since she went to practice cultivation there. When I was practicing cultivation, loud sounds kepting from there, and that nt of hers could be seen flying over the forest from time to time.¡±

    Frowning, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ll go check on her.¡±

    A meaningful, cold smile appeared at the corner of Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth as she said, ¡°Check on her? Given her condition... You¡¯re hoping to collect what she might offer, aren¡¯t you? You know perfectly well that those flowers want you badly, and now you¡¯re going to deliver yourself to their doorstep?¡±

    ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m just going to check on her.¡± Nie Tian ignored her teasing and flew away.

    Staring in the direction he disappeared in, Yin Yanan gave a cold harrumph and cursed, ¡°Lecher!¡±

    Xie Wanting, however, didn¡¯t understand what the two of them had been talking about. Out of fear for Yin Yanan, she moved away from her in a slow, stealthy manner after Nie Tian left.

    Yin Yanan turned to fix her with a cold look and said, ¡°You¡¯d better take good care of yourself in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. I won¡¯t give a damn about your life.¡±

    Xie Wanting smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯ll try to be careful.¡±

    ¡°Good luck.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan closed her eyes.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian shed through the gaps among the trees before finallying to a ce where holes could be seen on the trunks of ancient trees that were bereft of any wood power.

    From of the look of it, many trees had been prated by something that was sharp and enormous.

    As Nie Tian continued to travel forward, he saw more than a hundred trees in a simr condition, as if they had been drained of their wood power.

    ¡°This must be those demonic flowers¡¯ doing,¡± he said to himself.

    He knew that even if Mu Biqiong needed to absorb wood power from her surroundings to practice cultivation, she wouldn¡¯t have made such a mess.

    Only the coexisting flowers inside of her could have unleashed such devastating power, pierced through these ancient trees, and drained them of their wood power.

    After traveling for a bit longer, he finally saw Mu Biqiong.

    She was standing in an ancient tree with her back facing him. The roots of the ck flower and the multicolored flower had shot out of her palms and pierced through two rows of trees like demonic snakes that were dozens of meters long.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    Emerald green liquid could be seen flowing out of the tree trunks back to Mu Biqiong through the thick roots.

    That emerald green liquid seemed to be the trees¡¯ wood power, which was being forcibly taken by the coexisting flowers to use as nourishment.

    Mu Biqiong seemed to sense his aura, and thus suddenly turned around.

    Images of the coexisting flowers could be clearly seen in the depths of her pupils.

    One of them was pitch-ck and frigid cold, while the other was devilishly beautiful and inviting, which made her very mysterious and charming.

    ¡°She¡¯s been possessed by the coexisting flowers again.¡± Nie Tian instantly realized what had happened. However, he wasn¡¯t afraid at all as he stayed in ce and watched her from afar.

    ¡°Early Profound realm...? She¡¯s made her breakthrough already!¡± After examining her for a few seconds, Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered as he sensed from Mu Biqiong¡¯s spiritual power fluctuations that she had already entered the Profound realm. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why is she still possessed by the coexisting flowers?¡±

    BLUB! BLUB!

    The coexisting flowers¡¯ roots were still madly draining the trees in her surroundings of their wood power, resulting in their rapid withering and dying.

    Mu Biqiong had a devilish look in her eyes as she stared back at him, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort. ¡°What game do you want to y this time?¡±

    BOOM!

    The ck flower¡¯s root suddenly pulled itself out of the row of tree trunks, its violent motion blowing the trees to pieces.

    Then, like a pitch-ck demonic snake, the root shot directly towards Nie Tian, giving off an obsidian-like luster.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered upon seeing this.

    He had witnessed the might of the ck flower¡¯s root before. Even the Profound realm disciples of the Earth Spirit Sect had been easily snapped in two.

    Sensing its ill intent, Nie Tian activated his newly-awakened bloodline talent without any hesitation. ¡°Life Strengthening!¡±

    Intense flesh power rapidly exuded through his pores.

    In the blink of an eye, a scalyyer that looked like a suit of full-body armor made of gold and silver scales formed over him.

    As his muscles continued to expand and his flesh power continued to surge inside of him, he seemed to have instantly turned into a bloodthirsty beast.

    With a bellow, he shot out like a bolt of lightning, and brought hisrge hand down towards the ck demonic flower¡¯s root like a sharp de.

    Raging flesh power erupted from within him, vesting his strike with devastating force.

    BOOOM!

    His forearm shed into the thick root, which to his surprise felt as soft as cotton, dissolving all of his force.

    His expression instantly flickered.

    Before, he had been able to shatter ancient trees and rocks that were as hard as iron without effort after activating Life Strengthening.

    However, this root of the ck demonic flower was actuallypletely unharmed. Instead, it swiftly wrapped around his waist like the tentacle of an octopus.

    In the next moment, an incredible force jerked him towards Mu Biqiong.

 Chapter 859: Getting Out of A Difficult Situation

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s garments were instantly ripped to pieces, rendering him naked.

    As the images of the two demonic flowers within Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes started to shine unusually brightly, the multicolored flower, which was tender and gorgeous, unleashed a mysterious bewitching power, as if it were inviting him over.

    At the same time, the ck flower, which was cold and devilish, kept its root wrapped tightly around Nie Tian, preventing him from escaping.

    Without a sound, Mu Biqiong¡¯s veil fell off, revealing her delicate cheeks that were covered in the tattoo-like patterns of the two flowers, and instantly increasing her charm severalfold.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°This again!¡±

    As he approached Mu Biqiong, he gritted his teeth and activated his other newly awakened bloodline talent. ¡°Blood Essence Seething!¡±

    A drop of Blood Essence that looked like a diamond started to seethe in his heart.

    Extremely fierce flesh power suddenly burst forth within him, allowing him to struggle his arms free.

    Then, vested with incredible power, he gradually loosened the ck root¡¯s grip with his arms.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian suddenly flew out of the ck root¡¯s tight grip.

    An icy look appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s left pupil, where the image of the pitch-ck flower existed.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    Like water, emerald green wood power followed Mu Biqiong¡¯s arm into the ck flower¡¯s root.

    The root instantly expanded, bing even thicker and stronger.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Slithering in the air like an evil snake, the ck root once again shot towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian gave a cold smile. ¡°Again?¡±

    Then, as his ring of holding lit up, the Bone Blood Demon, which had recovered its peak strength, flew out of it with a loud whoosh.

    After refining the residual flesh power of that ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch, the Bone Blood Demon had already recovered its battle prowess as an eighth grade Bonebrute, which was equal to that of an early Void domain human expert.

    Apanying the Bone Blood Demon was an aura of death that rapidly spread out, as if to wither all lives around it.

    Swinging its enormous arms that looked like two sky-reaching pirs, the Bone Blood Demon quickly engaged in a fierce battle against the ck root.

    Because of this, the ck root had to leave Nie Tian alone.

    Instead of focusing on the battle taking ce in the air, Nie Tian gazed coldly at Mu Biqiong, who was possessed, as he stepped towards her. Fixing his gaze on the ck flower image in her left eye, Nie Tian asked, ¡°You¡¯re behind this, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯m not a fan of your forcible means.¡±

    The first time Mu Biqiong had been possessed, he had noticed that the multicolored flower image in one of her eyes had lit up.

    It had unleashed an irresistible mystical power that had bewitched him, making him fall uncontrobly for her.

    From that, he had realized that the multicolored flower¡¯s method was to bewitch him into approaching it voluntarily.

    However, this time, the multicolored flower didn¡¯t seem to be the one to dominate the situation. Instead, it was the ck flower, whose way was to abduct him by force and then do what it wanted with him.

    Of course, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t like to submit himself to this.

    Meanwhile, being possessed, Mu Biqiong¡¯s face was expressionless, as she didn¡¯t seem to be able to say anything.

    However, as Nie Tian looked into the depths of her eyes, he could see her rage, which she held towards the ck flower.

    Coming to a stop five meters from Mu Biqiong, Nie Tian asked with a cold tone, ¡°What is it that you want exactly?¡±

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The Bone Blood Demon and the ck flower¡¯s root were still entangled in a fierce fight above them.

    Even though the Bone Blood Demon had recovered its eighth grade bloodline power, the ck flower¡¯s root turned out to be rather evenly matched with it.

    This came as a shock to Nie Tian.

    After all, it was just the ck flower that had joined the battle; the multicolored flower hadn¡¯t made a move yet.

    If the two of them teamed up...

    Nie Tian then turned to look at the multicolored flower¡¯s root, and discovered that it was still draining wood power from a row of ancient trees that it had pierced through.

    ¡°It seems I have to do something to help her regain control of her body,¡± he said to himself.

    Soon, Nie Tian came up with a n. One Heaven Eye after another formed and flew towards Mu Biqiong like clusters of starlight.

    Seeing this, the two demonic flowers reacted simultaneously.

    A surge of icy soul power and a surge of scented soul power each shot out of the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes.

    The soul strands Nie Tian had used to form his Heaven Eyes disintegrated in an instant.

    Only wisps of essential power from his star souls managed to hold on without scattering right away.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    They rapidly flew into Mu Biqiong¡¯s sea of awareness through the top of her head.

    Through them, Nie Tian saw with great rity that the two demonic flowers almost took up Mu Biqiong¡¯s entire sea of awareness, their blossoms reaching the top and their roots entangling below.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s true soul was tightly surrounded by the petals, unable to move in the slightest.

    As soon as his star soul power emanated dazzling light, the coexisting flowers seemed to be enraged, as their multicolored petals instantly shot towards it.

    Nie Tian experienced a stabbing pain in his mind, and the nine wisps of star soul power perished within Mu Biqiong¡¯s sea of awareness.

    He let out a pained cry, feeling as if wisps of his soul awareness had been cut off with sharp des.

    Then, he lost sight of the inside of Mu Biqiong¡¯s sea of awareness.

    However, at this very moment, Mu Biqiong¡¯s true soul, which had been abducted by the coexisting flowers, seemed to be finally rid of its constraints.

    The images of the two demonic flowers in her pupils rapidly faded until they vanishedpletely.

    SHEW!

    The demonic flowers¡¯ roots shrank back into her palms with lightning speed, and fellpletely silent.

    At the same time, Mu Biqiong panted heavily as she finally recovered a sober mind and regained control of her body. Still in a state of fear, she said in a low voice, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Still experiencing a stabbing pain in his mind, Nie Tian knew that he had consumed a significant amount of soul power, which he had umted with great effort.

    Without giving a response, he took out a soul crystal from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the soul crystal flew into his palm, the nine star souls within his sea of awareness lit up, and started to channel pure soul power from the soul crystal to make up for their consumption.

    Momentster, the pain in his mind gradually disappeared, the soul crystal in his palm shrinking bit by bit. With furrowed eyebrows, Nie Tian looked at Mu Biqiong and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Sagging her head, Mu Biqiong picked up her veil from the ground and put it back on. ¡°The coexisting flowers are getting stronger and stronger, and I¡¯m starting to have difficulty controlling them. Remembers the huge vines in that shattered realm of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s you took me to? They seem to have vested the coexisting flowers with some mystical power that allowed them to grow at a much faster rate.

    ¡°Before, I was able to control the coexisting flowers because the multicolored one always took my side.

    ¡°But since they noticed something in you, they both showed a strong desire for you, and reached a mutual understanding with each other. The moment I made my breakthrough into the Profound realm, they shot out of my palms on their own, and started absorbing wood power from my surroundings, which further boosted their growth.

    ¡°Since I couldn¡¯t stop them, I could only watch them grow out of hand.¡±

    Instead of meeting Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Mu Biqiong kept looking down at the ground, seeming very weak and depressed.

    Then, she added, ¡°The only thing I can do is improve my cultivation base as much as I can, and build up my true soul. Only by doing this will I be able to contend against them. As long as I can hold on to my own body, I¡¯ll be able to make use of them. But if their strength rises much higher over mine, I¡¯ll lose control of myself for good.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian sighed. ¡°Same trouble...¡±

    Taken aback, Mu Biqiong raised her head and asked, ¡°What?¡±

    Nie Tian then took his time to say, ¡°There¡¯s this senior of mine. His situation is very simr to yours. He has a Heavenly Demonsbane growing inside of him, which would devour anything to strengthen itself. At certain points, it would awaken and take control of my senior¡¯s body.¡±

    Mu Biqiong looked surprised. ¡°A Heavenly Demonvine? The coexisting flowers inside of me are even stronger and more mysterious than his Heavenly Demonsbane. Right now, I¡¯m already having great difficulty suppressing the coexisting flowers inside of me. My only options are to either make a series of breakthroughs in cultivation very fast, or satisfy their...¡±

    Her voice gradually grew too low to hear.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t need to hear everything to know what she wanted to say.

    Only if she satisfied the coexisting flowers¡¯ needs would the multicolored flower continue to take her side and help her suppress the ck flower.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you¡¯d better get ready. We¡¯re going to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. There are more opportunities there. Perhaps you¡¯ll be able to make another breakthrough there.¡± After taking another expressionless nce at her, Nie Tian turned around and left.

    Watching him leave, Mu Biqiong¡¯s mind drifted away as she muttered, ¡°Do I go with him? If I continue to travel with him, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll only be a matter of time before something happens between us.¡±

 Chapter 860: Assaulted

    After Nie Tian returned, Yin Yanan shot him one of her sideways nces. A hint of disgust appeared at the corner of her mouth as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation with her? Is that a new robe?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was as calm as ever. ¡°Yeah, she tore up the old one.¡±

    Yin Yanan couldn¡¯t help but grow grumpy. ¡°You...!¡±

    ¡°Rx,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°It didn¡¯t happen.¡±

    Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect heard their conversation, but didn¡¯t understand what they were talking about.

    Her curious gaze went back and forth between the two of them as she wondered what the rtionship between them was.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t happen? Did you resist, or did she sober up before, you know...?¡± With these words, Yin Yanan snorted disdainfully. ¡°She must have sobered up. Otherwise, given your lecherous nature, you¡¯d never take the initiative to call it off.¡±

    ¡°Say whatever you want.¡± Nie Tian said, deciding not to bicker with her.

    They didn¡¯t wait very long before Mu Biqiong showed up.

    As soon as she arrived, Yin Yanan fixed her with a piercing stare.

    Mu Biqiong frowned. ¡°Why are you looking at me like that?¡±

    ¡°I suggest you travel by yourself from now on,¡± Yin Yanan said coldly. ¡°Who knows when you¡¯ll lose control of yourself again? Perhaps next time it happens, that bastard won¡¯t pass on the opportunity again. You wouldn¡¯t want things like that to happen, would you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business,¡± Mu Biqiong said with a cold face. ¡°I can take care of myself.¡±

    Yin Yanan let out a cold snort. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯ve actually fallen for that bastard, and that you¡¯re using the coexisting flowers as a cover, so you¡¯ll be able to justify your behavior.¡±

    mes of rage burned in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes. ¡°Shut up!¡±

    ¡°Hmm! I hope you know what you¡¯re doing.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan summoned her air-transportation spiritual tool and jumped on board lightly.

    Nie Tian scrached his nose and also jumped on board.

    After a moment of hesitation, Xie Wanting leapt into the sky. Looking down at the little room left on Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool, she wondered whether she should summon her own air-transportation spiritual tool.

    ¡°It¡¯s gonna be a bit crowded with you in here with us, but it won¡¯t be a problem, soe on,¡± Yin Yanan said.

    After receiving Yin Yanan¡¯s abnormally friendly invitation, Xie Wanting hesitated briefly before flying directly onto the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Mu Biqiong was thest one to leap into the air. She frowned slightly after seeing the little room left on the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    But eventually, she flew into it and sat between Xie Wanting and Nie Tian.

    The four of them sat in the lotus position with their knees inches from each other¡¯s.

    Nie Tian found himself surrounded by different kinds of beauty in the air-transportation spiritual tool. Smelling thedies¡¯ pleasant scents, he couldn¡¯t help but smile.

    Then, the air-transportation spiritual tool shot into the distance, with Xie Wanting giving directions from time to time.

    The four of them cultivated in silence as the air-transportation spiritual tool traveled at a high speed.

    Since the Bloody Grave Mountain Range wasn¡¯t located in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield, they no longer traveled in a circle, but rather flew towards the center of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Two weekster, the Bloody Grave Mountain Range entered their sight.

    Rolling mountain ranges of snow-capped mountain peaks stretched as far as their eyes could see.

    Before even entering the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, Nie Tian saw heavy snow pervading the entire region. As the wind blew past, he felt frigid cold piercing through his flesh into his bones, which made him very ufortable.

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool finally reached one of the snow-capped mountain peaks, it became even more freezing.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s cultivation attribute agreed with this heaven and earth, so she didn¡¯t seem to experience any difort. However, the others all frowned deeply in the frigid environment.

    ¡°There are a lot of corpses over there.¡± Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan pointed at a distant location, and her air-transportation spiritual tool flew over with a loud whoosh.

    It was a mountain valley where numerous corpses were covered in thick snow, some of which seemed to be human.

    WHOOSH!

    Yin Yanan unleashed frost power, forming a de of ice, with which she got rid of the snow, revealing the buried corpses.

    Some of them belonged to humans, while others belonged to outsiders. There were both females and males among them.

    One of them caught Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. Surprised, he eximed, ¡°Qiu Ji from the Earth Spirit Sect!¡±

    At the Fortune Wells, Qiu Ji and his Earth Spirit Sect subordinates had hoped to take the opportunity to attack Nie Tian, who had been in the middle of his breakthrough. However, thanks to Fata, the Floragrim, they had suffered a sound defeat, with all of his subordinates killed.

    Qiu Ji had escaped by himself.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to witness the upheaval of Yuan Jiuchuan ughtering the others.

    Who would have thought that he woulde and die here after fleeing from the Fortune Wells?

    Yin Yanan jumped off her air-transportation spiritual tool and walked around to examine the corpses. After a short while, she said, ¡°They don¡¯t seem to have been dead for long, and someone has looted their rings of holding and spiritual tools. I can¡¯t tell who did this, but whoever could do this must be very powerful.¡±

    Nie Tian also examined the scene with his bloodline power, but failed to sense much residual flesh power from the corpses.

    Human corpses were usually useless for him. Even Void domain experts would lose all of their faint flesh power shortly after their deaths, unless they practiced special body refining incantations like Yin Yanan did.

    When low-grade outsiders died, the residual flesh power in their flesh, blood, and bones would also rapidly scatter into heaven and earth.

    He only sensed for a few seconds before he realized that these corpses covered in deep snow werepletely useless to him, and so he lost interest in examining them closely.

    Xie Wanting let out a sigh. ¡°We¡¯ve barely entered the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, yet the battles that took ce here were already this deadly... And there aren¡¯t any evil spirits, ghouls, or tainted spiritual energies of heaven and earth at the perimeter. What¡¯s more, since there aren¡¯t many valuable spiritual materials here, it¡¯s actually not necessary to fight each other to the death here.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Have you never been here before?¡±

    Xie Wanting shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯ve only heard about this ce, and I got to observe the mountain range from afar once. My cultivation base was still too low back then, and I was on a trip to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range with my senior martial brothers. They plucked up their courage and marched inside, but none of them ever came out again.¡±

    ¡°What cultivation bases were your senior martial brothers at?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°They were all at the Profound realm, with three at thete Profound realm,¡± Xie Wanting said with a bitter expression.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian gazed off into the vast mountain range and said, ¡°Interesting. So this Bloody Grave Mountain Range is indeed an extremely dangerous ce. However, as far as I know, the more dangerous a ce is, the rarer spiritual materials and treasures it may hold.¡±

    Xie Wanting sighed. ¡°That¡¯s not wrong, but you¡¯ve got to make sure that you can get out of it alive. If you three didn¡¯t agree toe, even though I¡¯ve already entered thete Profound realm, and I¡¯m sure that I¡¯m stronger than any of those senior martial brothers of mine were, I still wouldn¡¯t have the courage toe here to seek fortune by myself.¡±

    Yin Yanan jumped back onto her air-transportation spiritual tool and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Like a bolt of lightning, the air-transportation spiritual tool shot past the mountain valley and flew deeper and deeper.

    As it did, the snow grew heavier and heavier. Gusts of frigid wind blew past, making their teeth chatter unceasingly.

    Soon, Nie Tian and Yin Yanan became the only ones who were still able to contend against the frigid cold with nothing but their fleshly bodies.

    Mu Biqiong and Xie Wanting no longer dared to expose themselves in the sky-filling snow and bone-piercing wind. They rapidly formed spiritual power wards to ward off the cold.

    ¡°The deeper we go, the colder it¡¯ll get. Is that how it is?¡± Nie Tian asked Xie Wanting.

    ¡°No, it¡¯s gonna be different at the heart of the mountain range,¡± Xie Wanting exined. ¡°In fact, all this frigid wind and snow are nothingpared to the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that we¡¯ll face in the depths of the mountain range. We¡¯ll also face threats from evil spirits and ghouls. They¡¯ll most likely attack us on sight.

    ¡°Besides, the outsiders and human cultivators we may run into there will probably also be cruel and ruthless. We¡¯ll need to keep an eye out for them at all times as well.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly.

    As Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool flew over another mountain valley covered in thick snow, one of the snow-covered human shapes suddenly emanated a beam of sharp, icy light.

    Magical symbols could be seen rotating within the beam of dazzling light, which exuded a frigid aura.

    BOOM!

    The beam of icy light shot into the bottom of Yin Yanan¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool. The strong impact allowed it to pierce right through it.

    As the air-transportation spiritual tool blew up into pieces, the icy light also split into countless ice swords that shot towards Nie Tian and the others.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and the others jumped out of the shattered air-transportation spiritual tool, each unleashing magics to smash the iing ice swords.

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The four of themnded in the snow-pervaded valley with loud crashes.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Large pieces of snow-covered ice shattered. As the snow settled, a number of Qi warriors appeared in the valley.

    Judging from their garments, they were clearly from the same sect. All of them exuded frost auras, allowing them to blend into this frigid heaven and earth. Even Nie Tian had failed to detect their life auras.

    Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect took a quick nce at their garments, and her expression flickered. ¡°They¡¯re disciples of the Heavenly Ice Sect from the Domain of Endless Snow!¡±

 Chapter 861: All Must Die!

    ¡°Xie Wanting!¡± The Qi warriors who had hidden themselves under the snow and ice eximed, killing intent appearing in their eyes.

    Apparently, they all knew her.

    ¡°The Heavenly Ice Sect from the Domain of Endless Snow?¡± Yin Yanan asked with a cold face, as if she was very upset about her air-transportation spiritual tool being destroyed. ¡°Do you know them?¡±

    Xie Wanting nodded. ¡°Their domain is our neighbor domain. Over the past centuries, they¡®veunched several invasion of our domain, and the enmity between our domains has stretched through generations.¡±

    ¡°So they¡¯re your enemy.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan smiled viciously. ¡°This is your lucky day. Since these Heavenly Ice Sect bastards dared to destroy my air-transportation spiritual tool, none of them shall leave here alive.¡±

    One of the Qi warriors let out a cold harrumph. ¡°You¡¯re quite a talker!¡±

    The man was tall and beefy, with a frosty aura exuding from eyes that looked like a tiger¡¯s. Clearly, he was ate Profound realm cultivator.

    As soon as he spoke, all of the other Heavenly Ice Sect disciples turned to look at him.

    Xie Wanting fixed him with a cold stare and asked disdainfully, ¡°What are you doing here, Gao Linhu? Don¡¯t tell me that you wanna go try your luck at the heart of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Even we didn¡¯t dare to go there, but you think you can?¡±

    Gao Linhu let out a coldugh. ¡°Who told you that we¡¯re going to the heart of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range? It¡¯s frigid cold in this region. Can¡¯t wee here to simply channel frost power and practice cultivation?¡±

    With these words, his ill-intended gaze started going back and forth among Yin Yanan, Mu Biqiong, and Xie Wanting. ¡°Three women of singr beauty. Nice.¡±

    After hearing his words, the other Heavenly Ice Sect disciples also fixed their eyes on the girls, their gazes growing obscene.

    Another manughed impudently. ¡°Senior martial brother, that woman with veil... no matter how she actually looks, just her charming slender build alone has worked up my appetite.¡±

    ¡°Xie Wanting is yours of course, senior martial brother,¡± said another man. Then, he pointed at Yin Yanan. ¡°That one with her steaming hot body is more my type.¡±

    All of the Heavenly Ice Sect disciples present startedughing with lustful looks in their eyes.

    ¡°Interesting.¡± With a meaningful grin, Nie Tian turned to Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, who had very grim looks on their faces. ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve be their targets.¡±

    ¡°Ignorant bastards!¡± Yin Yanan suddenly pounced towards Gao Linhu.

    ¡°Frost Hammer!¡± As she shouted these words, arge, silver hammer flew out of her ring of holding, and mmed down towards Gao Linhu with terrifying force.

    This hammer, which she referred to as Frost Hammer, was evenrger than her. Wisps of frosty aura could be seen exuding from its glittering, silver body.

    Gao Linhu smiled disdainfully. ¡°This one also practices frost power. Good.¡±

    Just before the Frost Hammer was going to bear down on him, he wove his hands before his chest, forming a hand seal. In the next moment, frost power condensed into a shield of ice over his head like an open umbre.

    ¡°Frigid Ice Shield!¡±

    BOOM!

    The Frost Hammer mmed into the shield of ice with great force. Then, a cold smile appeared at the corner of Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth.

    ROOOAR! HOOOWL!

    Vague shapes of ancient beasts suddenly appeared on the surface of the Frost Hammer.

    As the Frost Hammer went from glowing with silver-white light to glowing with blood-red light, the shapes of ancient beasts rapidly grew distinct.

    It was also at that moment that mountain-toppling, earth-shattering force burst forth from with the hammer, which Yin Yanan had infused with her frost power and flesh power.

    Fear spread across Gao Linhu¡¯s face.

    His ice shield didn¡¯t even hold for a second before shattering to pieces.

    Then, the terrifying power from the Frost Hammer bore down on him, as if the starry river had copsed and poured madly out of the heavens on him.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    One te of ice after another formed over Gao Linhu¡¯s head in attempts to stop the Frost Hammer.

    However, they all shattered a moment after they formed.

    BOOM!

    The Frost Hammer then descended, thumping on the top of Gao Linhu¡¯s head. The spiritual light concentrated on the top his head shattered as he wobbled and dropped to his butt.

    Blood came out of his nose and mouth as a dazed look filled his eyes, as if he was going to pass out in the next moment.

    ¡°Kill her!¡± Gao Linhu screamed.

    Seeing what had happened, the other Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warriors hastily made moves.

    Ice-attributed spiritual swords, icy spears, and all kinds of weapons wreathed in frosty auras shot in Yin Yanan¡¯s direction.

    Instead of summoning her eighth grade Frost Blood Python to handle the iing spiritual tools, she skillfully shifted among their gaps like a swift female leopard.

    With a disbelieving expression, Nie Tian turned to Xie Wanting. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine these losers actually dared toe here too. Didn¡¯t you say that all those who dare toe to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range are truly powerful members of different races? I thought the people we¡¯d meet here were going to powerful figures like Froste, the Phantasm chosen one. Who the hell are these clowns from the Heavenly Ice Sect?¡±

    Without even summoning her Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan, who had just entered the middle Profound realm, had almost killed their leader, Gao Linhu, with a single strike.

    All of the other Profound realm Qi warriors of the Heavenly Ice Sect ganged up on Yin Yanan, yet she didn¡¯t seem to have any problems handling them single-handedly.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, these Heavenly Ice Sect disciples were probably even weaker than Qiu Ji, yet they had dared to ambush people in a remote area of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, which wasughable.

    Xie Wanting didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Momentster, she cleared her throat. ¡°Well... They actually aren¡¯t as weak as you think. It¡¯s just that she¡¯s too powerful.¡±

    Having recovered to a certain extent, Gao Linhu let out an explosive roar, and blocks of ice shot out of his palms. ¡°Primal Ice Formation!¡±

    As they shot skywards, they rapidly arrayed, forming a huge spell formation.

    Immediately afterwards, raging, bone-piercing frost power converged on the blocks of ice from all directions.

    Gao Linhu had gained these blocks of ice from an icyke in the Domain of Endless Snow. Each and every piece was more than a hundred thousand years old, and carried endless wonders.

    As the Primal Ice Formation descended to cover arge area around Gao Linhu, all of the ice and snow it had summoned from its surroundings became Gao Linhu¡¯s tomand. ¡°Bitch! You really think you¡¯re so much stronger than me?!¡±

    A torrential frost aura rapidly built up within his spell formation, the frost power converging from his surroundings soon reaching the limit of what a Profound realm Qi warrior could handle.

    Even Yin Yanan, who also practiced frost power, felt her blood freeze up and her mobility be limited within the spell formation.

    The Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warriors seemed to have known better, and thus had quickly backed out of Gao Linhu¡¯s Primal Ice Formation.

    Enveloped within the Primal Ice Formation, Yin Yanan shouted to Nie Tian, ¡°These pieces of primal ice will serve me well after some minor refinement. Don¡¯t you help me. I¡¯ll kill every one of them myself!¡±

    With these words, the Frost Blood Python finally flew slowly out of her uncovered waist.

    Its bloodcurdling cry then echoed through the heavens.

    BOOOM!

    As the Frost Blood Python unleashed its bloodline power, a frigid storm rapidly formed within the Primal Ice Formation.

    The primal ice forming the spell formation was soon engulfed by the storm.

    As the storm expanded at an rming rate, the Heavenly Ice Sect disciples in the vicinity also rapidly disappeared in it.

    In the next moment, their agonized shrieks came from within the storm.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The crisp sounds of the Frost Blood Python crushing their bones with its mouth also echoed out of the depths of the storm.

    Soon, the icy white storm was painted red with human blood. At the same time, the Frost Blood Python¡¯s heaven-shaking, earth-shattering aura spread out from within it.

    ¡°That spirit beast is at the seventh grade at the very least!¡± Gao Linhu¡¯s face turned pale with fright, as he hastily turned around, hoping to flee even without his subordinates.

    However, like the opened mouth of an enormous monster, the storm devoured him before he could leave the mountain valley.

    His agonized shrieks echoed out from the heart of the storm, but in a few seconds, there was nothing at all.

    Looking nonchnt, Nie Tian said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe these Heavenly Ice Sect disciples are actually so weak. They should have holed up somewhere along the edge of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range and practiced cultivation. Attacking us was a dumb move.¡±

    Xie Wanting smiled bitterly. ¡°They¡¯re actually not that weak. If people from my sect encountered them instead of you, then it would have been hard to say who would win.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything else.

    Soon, the frigid storm scattered, and the Frost Blood Python returned to Yin Yanan¡¯s waist, where it slumbered again.

    However, Gao Linhu and the other Qi warriors were nowhere to be seen. Clearly, the Frost Blood Python had devoured them all.

    ¡°I have no other air-transportation spiritual tool left on me. Let¡¯s use yours.¡± Yin Yanan sounded as if nothing had happened, blocks of primal ice floating over her extended hand.

    Wisps of frosty aura could be seen flying out of her fingertips to swirl within the pieces of sparkling ice, as if she had already started refining them.

    ¡°Let¡¯s use mine.¡± With these words, Xie Wanting then summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool. After everyone jumped on board, they flew off again.

    Several hourster, they finally flew into the central area of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    As they did, the frosty mist cleared. What took its ce was mixed energies that were a dozen times stronger than they used to be in the Realm of Split Void.

    Apanied by the tainted energies, an evil spirit seemed to have sniffed out their life force, and also appeared before them.

    Nie Tian then discovered that more evil spirits were attacking a group of Qi warriors ahead of them, giving rise to endless painful screams.

 Chapter 862: Hiding Flesh Aura

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly flickered.

    The tainted energies rapidly surrounded him from every direction, making him very ufortable.

    The energies here were much more intense than they had ever been in the Realm of Split Void, and there were more kinds of them as well.

    He only sensed briefly, and realized that there was spiritual Qi, demon Qi, phantasm Qi, toxic Qi, death Qi, and various other types of energies in the air, and they filled every inch of this region.

    Soon, the tainted energies infiltrated Nie Tian flesh, making him sore and numb all over.

    He felt as if his flesh aura was running low, and as he took in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, mixed energies would also enter his spiritual sea, poisoning his spiritual core with all kinds of impurities.

    Even the rotation of his three vortexes of different powers slowed due to the entry of the tainted energies.

    After a brief moment of hesitation, Nie Tian summoned his flesh power to form a dark-red shield around around him to keep the tainted energies away.

    Even so, fizzing sounds kepting from the dark-red shield under the influence of the tainted energies.

    Even though his flesh power could neutralize the tainted energies, protecting him from them, he sensed that his flesh power was being consumed at an rming rate.

    WHOOSH!

    Yin Yanan leapt off the air-transportation spiritual tool,. The pieces of primal ice that she had obtained from Gao Lihu shone dazzlingly as they rapidly formed into a spell formation that imprisoned the evil spirit that had sniffed out their flesh aura.

    As a misty white aura exuded from the pieces of ice that were more than ten thousand years old, the gray spirit screamed unceasingly, unable to break free.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian turned to look at Xie Wanting and Mu Biqiong.

    To his surprise, he noticed that, even though the three of them were standing close to one another in the air-transportation spiritual tool, the intensity of the tainted energies they had to deal with varied greatly.

    The tainted energies that gathered around him were the thickest, which looked like a multicolored cloud that surrounded him.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s situation was much better than his. Even though she was also surrounded by ayer of tainted energies, they were much fainter than what Nie Tian was facing.

    However, Xie Wanting, who was at thete Profound realm, the highest among the three, had the faintest tainted energies gathered around her.

    Surprised by the scene, Nie Tian soon understood that very living being that entered the heart of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range was like a ma, outsider or human, and they would attract the tainted energies from their surroundings.

    The richer their spiritual power and the tougher their fleshly body, the stronger their maic field would be, and the more tainted energies they would attract to themselves.

    Even though Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers were slumbering inside of her at this moment, they also seemed to have their own maic fields.

    As faint as they were, due to their dormant state, they made Mu Biqiong attract more tainted energies to her than Xie Wanting.

    Nie Tian, however, had three vortexes of different powers within his spiritual sea. Plus, his body was unusually tough, and filled with vigorous flesh power. These factors resulted in the phenomenon that even more tainted energies were gathered around him than Mu Biqiong.

    Xie Wanting also found the scene fascinating. With a bitter smile, she said, ¡°As far as I know, the stronger one is, the more intense tainted energies one will have to deal with in the central area of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Since you two are surrounded by more tainted energies than I am, this means that the maic fields you create are much stronger than mine.¡±

    Reluctant as she was, she had to admit that Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong were freakishly powerful.

    Even though they were at the thete Worldly realm and the early Profound realm, they could attract so much tainted energy to them. She found this rather frustrating.

    ¡°The stronger someone is, the more he or she will suffer from the harmful environment...¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    All of a sudden, an idea entered his mind, and he rapidly activated Life Stealth.

    The shield he had formed with flesh power disappeared soundlessly, with a ward of mes taking its ce.

    In the next moment, his flesh power fluctuations, which were even stronger than a normal outsider¡¯s, seemed to suddenly vanishpletely.

    Even his heartbeat became very slow and too subtle to detect.

    That was when strange things happened.

    As he examined his surroundings with rapt attention, he noticed that the tainted energies that were gathered around him gradually grew fainter and fainter.

    In merely a few seconds, the amount of tainted energies that were gathered around him dropped by close to eighty percent.

    The zing ward he had established around him could easily ward off the remaining tainted energies.

    <i>¡°Life Stealth allows me to hide all signs of life. Because of this, my maic field dropped to the point where it almost vanished.¡± </i>With these thoughts in his mind, Nie Tian instantly grew calm and secure.

    He realized that as long as he could cover up his flesh aura and try to keep his spiritual power within his spiritual sea, then he would be able to fool the tainted energies and save himself a lot of trouble.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The evil spirit surrounded by the pieces of primal ice was still screeching as it made repeated attempts to break free.

    Wreathed in a misty, sparkling aura, Yin Yanan was warding off the tainted energies with her frost power, both her fingers and eyes emanating frosty light.

    All of a sudden, she summoned a thunderball from within her ring of holding, and cast it towards the trapped evil spirit.

    As the thunderball exploded, sending out lightning bolts and thunderps, the evil spirit¡¯s illusory body was instantly ripped apart like a piece of cloth, wisps of gray smoke scattering and vanishing into thin air.

    However, there wasn¡¯t even a shred of joy on Yin Yanan¡¯s face as she flew back into the air-transportation spiritual tool and said with a heavy tone, ¡°My frost power incantations have a very limited effect on these evil spirits. I had to kill that evil spirit with one of my thunderballs.

    ¡°That evil spirit seemed to have turned from the discarnate soul of a sixth grade outsider. Even though it wasn¡¯t very powerful, I had a bit of problem handling it without seeking help from my Frost Blood Python.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Mu Biqiong chimed in, ¡°I don¡¯t know how effective my incantations will be on these evil spirits either.¡±

    ¡°Spiritual incantations and tools with lightning and me attributes work well on souls and spirits.¡± With these words, Xie Wanting lifted her arm and pointed into the distance. ¡°Look. Those people over there practice lightning power. They seem to be having a fairly easy time handling that many evil spirits.¡±

    Nie Tian had long since noticed that group of Qi warriors, who were engaged in a fierce battle against arge group of evil spirits.

    The evil spirit Yin Yanan had just killed hade from their location.

    At this moment, thunderous rumbles still echoed out from time to time, apanied by lightning bolts that slithered in the air like spiritual snakes.

    Gazing up ahead, Xie Wanting continued, ¡°Evil spirits aren¡¯t easy to deal with. All powers other than lightning power and me power have limited effects on spirits and souls. Only experts with extremely powerful true souls and profound soul magics might be able to crush these evil spirits with nothing but their soul power. Of course, certain special tools might also be able to inflict a tremendous amount of damage.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go over there and see what¡¯s going on,¡± Nie Tian proposed.

    After a moment of hesitation, Xie Wanting controlled her air-transportation spiritual tool to slowly approach the location where those Qi warriors were fighting the evil spirits.

    The tainted energies were so rich that theypromised Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ vision. Only after they came closer did they realized that they were a group of four Profound realm human Qi warriors.

    All four of them were rather young, but judging from their garments, they weren¡¯t from the same sect.

    One of them seemed especially young, as he seemed to be just a teenager. However, he was at the middle Profound realm, and practiced lightning power.

    He was holding a folding fan, on which was a painting of raging lightning devastating heaven and earth.

    At this moment, he was brandishing the fan to unleash countless bolts of lightning. It seemed to be even mightier than Mo Qinglei¡¯s Thunder King Seal, as most of the evil spirits had been killed or repelled by the young man using that fan.

    The other three Qi warriors were gathered around him, as if he was their leader.

    Like Xie Wanting, the four of them were all at the Profound realm, yet their spiritual power was apparently purer and richer than hers, as every one of them was wreathed in thicker tainted energies than she was.

    Every living being that entered the Bloody Grave Mountain Range would form their own maic field around them. The more powerful a person was, the stronger his maic field would be, and the more tainted energies he would attract to himself.

    Considering this, it was rather easy to tell who was stronger and who was weaker here.

    Since Nie Tian had activated Life Stealth, Yin Yanan became the only person on Nie Tian¡¯s team that was surrounded by an equal amount of tainted energies as the four unidentified Qi warriors.

    Even Mu Biqiong, who hadn¡¯t activated her coexisting flowers, seemed considerably weaker than them.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°From the look of it, these people are much stronger than Gao Linhu¡¯s group. That youngest one in the middle who practices lightning incantations seems to be the most dangerous.¡±

    ¡°Do we take a detour to avoid them?¡± Xie Wanting suggested.

    However, the four Qi warriors noticed them while they were talking among themselves.

    The four of them seemed to be ending their battle, as one evil spirit after another was struck by lightning that shot out of the folding fan and reduced to wisps of smoke that scattered in the air.

    At this moment, they all shot unpleasant gazes towards Nie Tian and the girls.

    Nie Tian waved his hand, signaling Xie Wanting to rx and fly on. ¡°No, it¡¯ll be fine.¡±

 Chapter 863: Crisis Strikes

    As thest evil spirit was scattered to wisps of faint smoke and vanished, the four Qi warriors secretly let out a sigh of relief.

    Almost at the same time, they fixed their eyes on Nie Tian and the girls.

    Eyebrows furrowed, one of them who seemed older asked aloud, ¡°Where are you from? You¡¯ve been watching us for some time now, instead ofing to our aid. So... what¡¯s your intent?¡±

    After this battle, the young man with that fascinating folding fan seemed to have consumed a significant amount of his strength.

    The other three had also consumed their spiritual power to different degrees.

    Under such circumstances, their best choice was to avoid more battles, and recover their spiritual power as soon as possible.

    Seeing that Nie Tian and the other two didn¡¯t say anything, Xie Wanting took the initiative to say, ¡°We were just passing by. Like you, we¡¯re also here to explore the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Evil spirits and ghouls are everywhere in this region, and we also face unknown dangers. So we didn¡¯t intend to fight you.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± The man said a careful expression. ¡°In that case, you may leave now. We need to spend some time recovering.¡±

    Xie Wanting then turned to fix Nie Tian with an inquiring gaze.

    Nie Tian¡¯s gaze swept across the four Qi warriors before he nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Xie Wanting then activated the air-transportation spiritual tool and flew into the distance.

    Watching Xie Wanting¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool fly farther and farther, the older man muttered in a low voice, ¡°Strange... That man only seemed to be at thete Worldly realm, which is the lowest among the four of them. And the tainted energies gathered around him were also rather faint, which indicates that his battle prowess should also be the weakest, yet that woman and the other two seemed to treat him as their leader.¡±

    Another man chimed in. ¡°Those who dare toe to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range must have their own strengths. We¡¯re lucky that they didn¡¯t take the opportunity to attack us when our battle against the evil spirits had just ended.¡±

    ¡°No need to mind them. Judging from the intensity of the tainted energies around them, they aren¡¯t very powerful anyways. If they had actually attacked us, they¡¯d have earned themselves a great deal of suffering.¡±

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s recover first.¡±

    The four of them reached a mutual understanding and sat down in the lotus position. While contending against the tainted energies, they took out spiritual materials of different attributes and a variety of medicinal pills to recover.

    ...

    After flying for a while, Xie Wanting¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool gradually slowed down in the air filled with tainted energies.

    Eyebrows furrowed, she said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that the tainted energies can even undermine the spirit stones that power air-transportation spiritual tools.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian looked down, and discovered that the spirit stones that paved the floor of the air-transportation spiritual tool were now rust-stained, and the spiritual power they gave had be impure.

    Most air-transportation spiritual tools ran on spirit stones. The spirit stones beingpromised would cause the air-transportation spiritual tool to be slower and slower.

    Therefore, Xie Wanting had to constantly rece thepromised spirit stones with fresh spirit stones to maintain a high speed.

    The four of them only flew on for another hour in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range before they started to feel tired.

    After all, they had to summon their spiritual power to ward off the tainted energies at all times.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Three evil spirits suddenly came out of nowhere.

    From the look of it, they were slightly tougher than the one Yin Yanan had killed.

    Crying fiercely, they rapidly surrounded the air-transportation spiritual tool, showing their natural desire for flesh and souls.

    Just as Yin Yanan was about tounch attacks, Mu Biqiong rose to her feet and said, ¡°Let me see how powerful these evil spirits really are!¡±

    With these words, the ck demonic flower¡¯s thick resilient root shot out of her left palm, along with a gruesome icy aura.

    However, as the pitch-ck root shot out, more tainted energies suddenly gathered towards her.

    Like multicolored clouds, thick tainted energies kept converging on her from all directions, and rapidly built up around her.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s expression flickered as she hastily jumped off the air-transportation spiritual tool, lest the gathering tainted energies swallow Nie Tian and the others as well.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The ck flower¡¯s root exuded a bleak soul aura as it rapidly wrapped around the three evil spirits.

    Since the evil spirits were illusory, and not living creatures, the ck root shouldn¡¯t have been able to trap them.

    However, after the ck root unleashed a unique soul aura, it seemed to suddenly be vested with the ability to ughter spirits and souls.

    One after another, the three evil spirits were bound by the ck root.

    ¡°DIE!¡± Mu Biqiong shouted coldly.

    As she did, the ck root that had grown out of her palm suddenly burst into ck mes.

    Strange and powerful, the mes could even set spirits on fire. The three trapped evil spirits soon burned madly within the raging ck mes.

    The three evil spirits¡¯ sizable illusory bodies rapidly shrank until they vanishedpletely.

    SHEW!

    The demonic flower¡¯s root shrank back into Mu Biqiong¡¯s palm, and the tainted energies that had gathered to her instantly grew faint.

    In an arrogant manner, she flew back onto the air-transportation spiritual tool and said casually, ¡°It seems that the evil spirits aren¡¯t that hard to deal with after all.¡±

    With an impressed expression, Xie Wanting nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, they didn¡¯t seem very powerfulpared to you.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a while to recuperate before we march deeper,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He could see that even though Mu Biqiong had mostly relied on the coexisting flower¡¯s strength to kill the evil spirits, the added tainted energies had greatly raised her consumption. In fact, she didn¡¯t have as much of a headache killing those three evil spirits as she had contending against the soaring amount of tainted energies around her.

    The moment the ck root had shot out of her palm, her maic field seemed to go through changes, causing the tainted energies in her surroundings to madly converge on her, putting her under a great amount of pressure.

    <i>¡°Can it be that anything with signs of life will trigger movement from the tainted energies?¡±</i> With this thought in mind, Nie Tian summoned a tree branch from within his ring of holding.

    It was one of the tree branches he had gained from an ancestralnd of the Floragrims, and used to establish the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Holding the tree branch, he examined his surroundings with rapt attention, but noticed that no more tainted energies were gathering to him.

    <i>¡°This tree branch contains rich wood power, so its aura should be at least simr to that of Mu Biqiong¡¯s demonic flower root, but didn¡¯t it cause any changes in the tainted energies?¡±</i>

    Then, he decided to try other items in his ring of holding.

    As soon as he summoned the me Dragon Armor, the tainted energies went through great changes. An rming amount of tainted energies rapidly converged on it from all directions.

    Taken aback, he hastily put the me Dragon Armor back into his ring of holding, and summoned the Spirit Pearl instead.

    Even though the two of them both had their own souls, and could be viewed as Spirit Channeling grade treasures, the Spirit Pearl didn¡¯t trigger any changes after flying into Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    <i>¡°The biggest difference between the me Dragon Armor and the Spirit Pearl is that the me Dragon Armor contains a copious amount of flesh power other than its raging me power, but the Spirit Pearl doesn¡¯t contain noticeable flesh power.</i>

    <i>¡°Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers aren¡¯t like spiritual tools. Not only do they have souls and awarenesses, but they also carry vigorous flesh power. They could even be viewed as living creatures like Floragrims.¡±</i>

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    While he made these attempts, he suddenly noticed that the amount of tainted energies gathered around Yin Yanan suddenly increased dozens of times over.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face turned pale as she hastily berated the Frost Blood Python, which had acted on its own, and had almost slithered out of her waist, urging it to go back to dormancy.

    After the tainted energies around her grew faint again, Yin Yanan took a deep breath and said, ¡°This is not good. Once my Frost Blood Python leaves my body, it¡¯s also subject to the tainted energies¡¯ unceasing corrosion. And the amount of tainted energies it¡¯ll have to deal with will be dozens of times more than what I have to deal with.¡±

    Nodding, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems that these energies are only sensitive to things that carry both flesh and soul auras. If something only has a soul, but no flesh aura, then it won¡¯t trigger any changes.¡±

    Both Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s expressions flickered slightly as they heard these words.

    Both the Frost Blood Python and the coexisting flowers which they relied on could be viewed as living creatures with flesh and souls. They had already seen for themselves that as soon as they unleashed them, the tainted energies would pour madly towards them from all directions. This meant they wouldn¡¯t be able to fully disy their battle prowess here.

    ¡°No wonder no Void domain experts or eighth grade outsiders would want toe to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range,¡± Nie Tian said, while sensing the tainted energies that were everywhere.

    Having figured this out, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong no longer dared to use the Frost Blood Python or the coexisting flowers as they pleased.

    The two of them exchanged a nce, and took out spiritual materials to recover. They knew that they need to adjust themselves to recover their peak state in order to be prepared for the crisis that might befall them at any moment.

    After some time, when they had pretty much recovered all of their spiritual power, a bolt of lightning shot towards them from the distant sky.

    After it came to a stop before them, it turned out to be the impressive young man they had met earlier.

    His chest was covered in bloodstains as he said with a panicked look in his eyes, ¡°A group of outsiders attacked us and killed mypanions.¡±

 Chapter 864: Evil Young Man

    Looking rather bedraggled, the young man approached Xie Wanting¡¯s berthed air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Face pale, covered in blood, and panting, he seemed to have consumed a great amount of his spiritual power.

    After assuming a steady foothold on the air-transportation spiritual tool, he pleaded, ¡°Can I please travel with you from now on, big brother and sisters? I practice lightning incantations, which work well on evil spirits. All you¡¯ll need to do is to take care of the ghouls if we run into any. If we do this, our exploration of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range will be much easier for all of us.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Mu Biqiong asked, ¡°What about the outsiders?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I lost them on my way here.¡± The young man said, looking in the direction he hade from. ¡°I was very fast. They shouldn¡¯t be able to find their way here anytime soon.¡±

    Rising to his feet, Nie Tian made it to the young man after taking just one step. He looked down and examined the bloodstains on his chest. Then, with a smile, he said, ¡°All of us will benefit if we travel together, so of course we can do that.¡±

    The young man¡¯s expression rxed a bit, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°You seem to have sustained some serious injuries,¡± Nie Tian said with a warm smile. ¡°Let me help you heal yourself. I¡¯ve got a unique method.¡±

    With these words, he extended his arm to touch the bloodstains on the young man¡¯s chest.

    With a dry smile, the young man took a step backwards to put a certain distance between him and Nie Tian. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. I¡¯ll be fine. Thank you for your kind offer, big brother.¡±

    ¡°Come on,¡± Nie Tian said, full of smiles. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve decided to take you on, we need to take good care of you.¡±

    All of a sudden, his extended hand formed a de, dazzling spiritual light blossoming from his fingertips.

    The young man hastily jumped backward, his expression flickering. ¡°What are you doing, big brother?!¡±

    Yin Yanan and the others stared at Nie Tian and the young man, surprise and confusion filling their faces, as neither had they expected that Nie Tian¡¯s hand would explode with spiritual power right before reaching the young man¡¯s chest.

    Nie Tian¡¯s smile grew increasingly broad. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m only treating your injuries. Just stand still and you¡¯ll be fine in a moment.¡±

    Red, white, and green auras poured out of the tips of his five fingers like rivers of spiritual power.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fine lightning bolts appeared in front of the young man¡¯s chest, rapidly interweaving into a shield of lightning.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual auras went through the half-formed shield of lightning and bombarded the young man¡¯s chest, causing him to shake strongly.

    At the same time, Nie Tian clenched his de-like hand into a hard fist.

    Thrumming with vigorous flesh power, it mmed violently into the young man¡¯s chest.

    The shield of lightning on his chest exploded instantly, sending lightning sparks in all directions.

    The young man let out a muffled groan, a wisp of blooding down the corner of his mouth. Panicking, he flew backwards, fixing Nie Tian with a stare. ¡°What the hell was that, big brother?!!¡±

    ¡°I was helping you,¡± Nie Tian answered, still smiling.

    ¡°Helping me?!¡± The young man shouted furiously. ¡°You were trying to kill me!!¡±

    ¡°Oh, so you saw that, huh?¡± Nie Tian said, still full of smiles. ¡°You¡¯re right. That was indeed my intention.¡±

    ¡°Why?!¡± The young man asked with a confused expression.

    ¡°Why?¡± The smile gradually faded from Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°You wanna ask me why? Not a single drop of that blood is yours or outsiders¡¯. You killed all yourpanions, didn¡¯t you? You killed them and smeared their blood all over yourself, and then you asked to join us, hoping to do the same to us, right?¡±

    The young man¡¯s face dropped as soon as he heard these words.

    The expressions of Yin Yanan and the others in the air-transportation spiritual tool also flickered after they heard Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    Then, they all flew out of the air-transportation spiritual tool. Staring at the young man, Xie Wanting said, ¡°Such an evil brat!¡±

    Even though she didn¡¯t know how Nie Tian was able to tell that the blood on the young man belonged to hispanions, she trusted his judgment.

    She was even more convinced after she saw the grim look on the young man¡¯s face after Nie Tian pointed it out to him.

    Eyebrows furrowed, the young man asked, ¡°How did you see through my disguise?¡±

    With a casual smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Can¡¯t tell you about that.¡±

    His unique bloodline made him sensitive to flesh auras.

    The greatest difference between human blood and outsider blood was that outsider blood contained a muchrger amount of flesh power than that of humans.

    Even a third grade outsiders¡¯ blood contained dozens of times more flesh power than Profound realm human experts.

    The blood on the young man¡¯s chest clearly belonged to humans, yet he had imed that they had encountered outsiders. He had definitely lied.

    Furthermore, judging from the garments of the young man and hispanions, they hadn¡¯t been from the same sect. They had probably met and teamed up aftering here. Therefore, the reason he had lied was probably to cover up the fact that he had killed them and looted their valuables.

    ¡°Your cultivation base is the lowest among you lot, yet you¡¯re the one who saw through my disguise. I¡¯ve got to say that I¡¯m impressed.¡± The young man said with an icy face, without showing any fear. ¡°But it won¡¯t change anything, since all of you are going to die soon.¡±

    With these words, the young man suddenly let out a sharp cry.

    His cry seemed to carry some kind of magical power. Nie Tian and the others instantly felt as if something were stirring their seas of awareness and inflicting a ripping pain in their minds.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One evil spirit after another that had been wandering in the vicinity also heard his sharp cry, and located new targets.

    ¡°Even though you caught me off guard there, you should still be proud that a person with your cultivation base was able to hurt me.¡± With these words, the young man grinned and summoned his folding fan.

    The fan didn¡¯t unfold right away. It floated in the air like a divine spear that was wreathed in lightning bolts.

    ¡°Go!¡± As the young man shook his wrist, the fan burst into zing white mes, and shot directly towards the spot between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows.

    The tainted energies gathered by him didn¡¯t go through noticeable changes after he summoned the fan.

    This meant even if the fan was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure, it must not carry any flesh aura, and wouldn¡¯t be viewed as a living creature. Therefore, the energies didn¡¯t inflict additional damage on the young man for using it.

    FZZZ!

    Like a spear, the fan dragged a tail of lightning that was dozens of meters long as it shed through the air and reached Nie Tian in a split second.

    Deafening thunder power burst forth from the lightning-wreathed fan, along with numerous mystical ancient symbols that were branded with the profound truths of lightning power.

    Even Nie Tian gasped facing the devastating thunder power.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian instantly cast a Starshift and vanished into thin air like a ghost.

    In the next moment, he magically appeared behind the young man. Even so, several bolts of lightning still reached him before he was able to cast that Starshift.

    These lightning bolts contained profound lightning symbols that looked like outsider bloodline seals as they ripped at Nie Tian¡¯s flesh recklessly.

    Experiencing pain all over, Nie Tian let out a cold snort and activated Life Strengthening, his newly-awakened bloodline talent.

    As soon as he did, his robust body rapidly expanded, a scaly hardyer covering his bulging muscles like a suit of full-body armor. He even seemed to grow taller.

    Torrential flesh power raged through his meridians like flooding rivers.

    The lightning symbols that had drilled into his flesh were rapidly extinguished like candles hit by gusts of wind.

    However, as he activated Life Strengthening, arge amount of tainted energies gathered and rapidly engulfed him.

    All of a sudden, he found that it now took him ten times as much power as before to contend against the tainted energies.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± The young man turned around, and was also surprised by the increasingly furious tainted energies that were converging on Nie Tian.

    At this moment, the amount and intensity of tainted energies around Nie Tian had already surpassed those gathered around Yin Yanan.

    ¡°He can actually attract such arge amount of energies...¡± Muttering these words, the young man extended his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air. In the next moment, the folding fan flew back into his hand like a sh of lightning.

    PHEW!

    The fan unfolded, revealing a vivid painting of a great number of lightning bolts devastating heaven and earth.

    Immediately afterwards, the painted seemed to be copied into real life. Nie Tian looked around with rapt attention, and discovered that huge interweaving lightning bolts filled the distant sky in every direction, and they were converging on them, along with floating thunderballs.

    ¡°Kinda like Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign...¡± Nie Tian muttered with a cold face.

    Then, spiritual power of different attributes, flesh power, and soul power burst forth from him simultaneously. ¡°Primal Chaos!¡±

    mes burned aze, starlight shone dazzlingly, and wood power surged about.

    A distorted and violent small world that could bend and twist all powers that entered it instantly came to form around Nie Tian.

    To his surprise, the tainted energies that were gathered around him seemed to be changed and sorted into auras of different colors after being enveloped by his Primal Chaos.

    Astonishment spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    More and more strange energies that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t even identify were twisted and started to swirl in a disorderly manner within his Primal Chaos, giving him a feeling that he could lose control of them at any moment and die a miserable death.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! RUMBLE!

    The overwhelming lighting bolts created by the fan made contact with the Primal Chaos, causing lightning bolts to fly uncontrobly, and thunderballs to explode violently.

    At the center of the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian¡¯s expanded body was struck by some of the lightning bolts and thunderballs, ckening him in many ces.

    However, it was only the scalyyer that was ckened. His actual flesh didn¡¯t sustain any serious damage.

    Instead, the light in the fan-wielding young man¡¯s eyes went dim as explosions took ce within the Primal Chaos.

    With a deeply confused look in his eyes, he took a deep look at Nie Tian before grabbing his folding fan and flying off into the distance without saying a word.

    He was as fast as lightning. Even Yin Yanan and the girls wouldn¡¯t be able to match his speed.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The different energies within Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos started shing with one another, causing violent explosions.

    As the caster, Nie Tian suffered a great deal from the explosions, and thus canceled the Primal Chaos right away.

    It was also at this moment that the evil spirits that had been rmed by the young man¡¯s cry entered Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ sight. Screeching madly, they pounced towards them without any dy.

 Chapter 865: The Spirit Pearlâ€™s Magical Uses

    There were more than a dozen evil spirits this time.

    Each and every one of them was quiterge, and carried strong grudges, making them fiercer than the ones Nie Tian had seen before.

    Obviously, the evil spirits¡¯ original target had been the young man.

    He had probably drawn them here intentionally in order to have them kill Nie Tian and the others.

    However, now that the young man had left, the evil spirits would only go after living beings with strong flesh auras.

    Nie Tian and the three girls thus became their new targets.

    ¡°There¡¯s so many of them!¡± Gazing in the direction the young man had left in, Yin Yanan called out angrily, ¡°Nie Tian! I don¡¯t have enough thunderballs left on me. Why don¡¯t you try to deal with these evil spirits?¡±

    Mu Biqiong, who was standing off to the side, was surprised to see that she had directly given the tough task to Nie Tian.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes lit up as she suddenly realized something. Then, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Nie Tian, you can handle them.¡±

    She had suddenly remembered the cyan pearl Nie Tian had used to deal with Pergson the Bonebrute, Froste the Phantasm, and Gutas the Demon.

    That pearl of his had somehow overtaken Froste¡¯s enormous skull made of discarnate souls, which seemed to be a very powerful treasure of the Phantasms.

    These evil spirits were also transformed from discarnate souls. If that pearl had been able to overtake that magical treasure forged by Phantasm experts, it would probably have the same effect on these evil spirits.

    ¡°Let me see. I suppose it won¡¯t be very hard.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took out the Spirit Pearl and flew back into Xie Wanting¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    With loud whooshes, the evil spirits flew directly towards them. However, as they approached Nie Tian, they seemed to sense something, and hastily circled back.

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl was emanating a mysterious cyan light. If they looked closely, they could see thousands of shadows swirling inside of it.

    Nie Tian sent a wisp of his soul awareness tomunicate with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    The soul floated in the middle of the Spirit Pearl with numerous discarnate souls gathered around it. At this moment, it seemed to be summoning power and manipting the discarnate souls to swirl up in order to activate a profound Phantasm magic, Grand Soul Grinder, which could strangle all forms of souls and spirits.

    All of a sudden, a strong attractive force was born within the Spirit Pearl.

    The evil spirits instantly sensed danger, and flew away from Nie Tian with panicked shrieks.

    In the blink of an eye, all of the evil spirits fled and vanished into the distant sky.

    Astonished, Xie Wanting gazed unblinkingly at the pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°Is that some soul treasure?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I got it from some Phantasms.¡±

    ¡°But... how are you able to use a treasure forged by Phantasms?¡± Xie Wanting asked, looked confused.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Since the Spirit Pearl didn¡¯t contain any flesh power, it didn¡¯t trigger any changes in the tainted energies around Nie Tian. Holding it in his hand, he nced around to make sure that all of the evil spirits had left. Only then did he put his mind at ease and say, ¡°It seems that I¡¯ll be able to handle evil spirits with the help of this thing in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range from now on.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°You just handle the evil spirits. Leave the ghouls to us.¡±

    With slightly furrowed eyebrows, Mu Biqiong asked, ¡°I wonder why that young man killed all of hispanions, and what he was after by asking to join us.¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, he has no problem handling evil spirits with that powerful treasure of his,¡± Nie Tian said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°Only if he ran into ghouls would he face some real threat. I suppose the reason why he wanted to join us was because he was after our valuables, but who knows? Perhaps we¡¯ll see him again and find out.¡±

    ¡°The man¡¯s not easy to deal with,¡± Xie Wanting said with a worried face.

    If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian and the girls, she wouldn¡¯t have dared toe to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range by herself, given her battle prowess.

    Then, they took some time to recuperate, and marched out again.

    The Bloody Grave Mountain Range covered a vast region. Since they didn¡¯t have a specific destination, they just traveled aimlessly.

    As they did, Nie Tian unleashed his Heaven Eyes to scan their surroundings.

    However, even his Heaven Eyes were greatly affected by the tainted energies that were everywhere in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Multicolored tainted energies soon infiltrated his Heaven Eyes.

    They were only able to scout for them for a short while before the soul power that formed their exteriors were poisoned, forcing Nie Tian to retract them.

    Meanwhile, the three girls had an even more difficult time scanning their surroundings with their soul awareness.

    Their detective range was so limited that they felt as if they had be blind in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    However, Nie Tian could sense the subtle movements of living beings¡¯ flesh auras as he unleashed his bloodline power from time to time.

    They ran into a few groups of evil spirits along the way.

    All of them screeched and swooped towards Nie Tian and the girls the moment they saw them, but hastily fled after Nie Tian took out his Spirit Pearl.

    Like Nie Tian had expected, this unique treasure he had gained from the Phantasms was indeed very effective on evil spirits.

    ¡°As soon as I summon the me Dragon Armor, dozens of times more tainted energies will converge on me, putting the me Dragon Armor and me under great pressure, since we¡¯ll have to consume me power and flesh power to ward them off. However, no matter what the Spirit Pearl does, it won¡¯t trigger any changes in the tainted energies around it. Most importantly, it has a clear subduing effect on evil spirits...¡±

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian realized that the Spirit Pearl would be an item of great importance while he explored the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Then, he sent a wisp of his soul awareness into it.

    To his surprise, he discovered that the star map on which the Realm of Shattered Earth was marked out seemed to have be much smaller and fainter.

    Instead, countless discarnate souls were now gathered in another ce, forming a new star map.

    However, the map was still rather small, and seemed iplete. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t pick up much information from it yet.

    Therefore, he attempted tomunicate with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    Soon, it gave him a response, telling him that this second star map was of the Shatter Battlefield!

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had been a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch. After twists and turns, it had been refined into the Spirit Pearl, and became its soul.

    Since it had been vested with Nie Tian¡¯s soul imprints, it felt a sense of belonging towards him.

    ording to it, the star map of the Shatter Battlefield had only appeared because part of its memories from its former life had been awakened by the increased amount of discarnate souls within the Spirit Pearl. It was the discarnate souls that had helped draw the map bit by bit.

    Nie Tian then realized that the ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch must have visited the Shatter Battlefield as well.

    Not just that, but the some of the spirits and souls the Spirit Pearl had absorbed also had memories of the Shatter Battlefield, as if they had alsoe to explore the Shatter Battlefield at certain points.

    Dot after dot, the discarnate souls connected into an increasinglyplete star map in the depths of the Spirit Pearl.

    Since the map was still vague and iplete, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t locate the Bloody Grave Mountain Range on it yet.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul then told him that if all of the evil spirits that roamed the Bloody Grave Mountain Range were refined into it, their memories would help draw the Bloody Grave Mountain Range part of the star map.

    The more evil spirits it absorbed, the moreplete and distinct it would be.

    Nie Tian then asked the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul with what method would it be able to absorb evil spirits without provoking them.

    ¡°You¡¯ll need to wait until the evil spirits are very close to you before taking me out. That¡¯s because when they¡¯re close enough, they won¡¯t be able to resist my attractive force, and they¡¯ll be dragged inside.

    ¡°Meanwhile, as I gather more and more souls and spirits, I¡¯ll be more powerful.

    ¡°After I grow to certain points, I¡¯ll be able to activate more wondrous uses, and the more destructive I¡¯ll be to spirits and souls of various forms.¡±

    Through hismunication with the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian gradually understood its two main incredible uses.

    First, it could create a maic field around itself to channel all spirits and souls that entered it.

    If the spirits or souls were separated from their flesh, like evil spirits, it would be able to absorb them much more easily.

    On the other hand, it would be very difficult to channel souls from living humans or outsiders.

    Second, it would gain control of all of the spirits and souls that it absorbed, and use them to draw star maps and mark out locations for Nie Tian ording to their memories of their former lives.

    The Spirit Pearl had previously been a crucial part of an ancient starship of the Phantasms. The Phantasms had sent armies to conquer foreign domains and realms. Through killing living beings and absorbing their souls, they had drawn maps that coveredrge areas of this boundless starry river, providing their starships with guidance at all times.

    ording to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, there were only three Spirit Pearls with such incredible and powerful uses among the Phantasm race.

    As their air-transportation spiritual tool flew to a greenish-ck mountain peak, Xie Wanting caught sight of arge cave halfway up it. ¡°Nie Tian! There¡¯s a huge cave in that mountain peak, and a lot of corpses can be seen around it.¡±

    Intense tainted energies were gathered at the mouth of the cave, where piles of corpses could be seen.

 Chapter 866: Ghouls

    Intense tainted energies seemed to being out of the mouth of the spacious, unfathomable cave, around which numerous corpses were piled up.

    Nie Tian took a quick nce at them, and realized that they belonged to different races.

    Xie Wanting¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool continued to approach. When they were about a few dozen meters from the mouth of the cave, she stopped and asked, ¡°Do we go inside and explore?¡±

    Yin Yanan seemed somewhat edgy as she said, ¡°We¡¯ve explored the Bloody Grave Mountain Range for some time now, but we haven¡¯t found anything truly valuable. If what you said is true and the Bloody Grave Mountain Range does hold countless precious spiritual materials, where are they then? I say we go inside this cave and explore.¡±

    Xie Wanting then turned to fix Nie Tian with an inquiring look.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    After flying to the mouth of the cave, Xie Wanting said, ¡°As wide as the cave is, it¡¯s not fit for air-transportation spiritual tools to fly in it. I suggest we travel on foot.¡±

    ¡°Alright." Nie Tian took the initiative to jump off the air-transportation spiritual tool and walk into the cave.

    As he did, he unleashed his unique bloodline power to scan his surroundings.

    Faint ghostly mes could be seen on some of the corpses at the mouth of the cave. The mes contained toxins that were very harmful for any creatures with flesh and blood.

    However, since they didn¡¯t emanate any sort of energy, Nie Tian¡¯s worries were eliminated.

    Nie Tian waved his hand, beckoning for the girls toe. ¡°From the look of it, these corpses aren¡¯t ghouls, or haven¡¯t turned into ghouls yet.¡±

    After Xie Wanting put her air-transportation spiritual tool away, the four of them started marching slowly into cave.

    The cave was so spacious that it would allow more than a dozen people to walk side by side.

    However, the tainted energies in the cave seemed to be much more intense than the tainted energies outside. Traveling in it, they had to consume even more power to ward them off.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After marching about a hundred meters into the cave, five evil spirits suddenly flew out of a small tunnel in the cave wall.

    Yin Yanan and the girls¡¯ expressions flickered slightly as they saw them pouncing on them, and hastily urged Nie Tian to take his Spirit Pearl out.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t do so right away.

    ¡°What the hell are you doing, Nie Tian?!¡± Yin Yanan asked with an anxious expression.

    When the evil spirits were only three meters from them, they experienced stabbing pain in their heads. Wisps of the evil spirits¡¯ gruesome auras infiltrated their minds and started to bewitch their minds into leaving their seas of awareness.

    Frightened looks spread across their faces.

    Only at this moment did Nie Tian summon his Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl appeared, cyan light burst forth, engulfing the five evil spirits.

    Like a powerful ma, the Spirit Pearl bound the five evil spirits downpletely. The evil spirits sensed the unfavorable situation, and thus screamed madly while doing their utmost to struggle free.

    However, no matter what they did, the evil spirits couldn¡¯t escape the Spirit Pearl¡¯s maic field. Instead, they flew uncontrobly into the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian sent a wisp of his soul awareness into the Spirit Pearl, and discovered that the evil spirits were purged and split into more discarnate souls via some profound soul magic.

    And thanks to them, more details of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range part of the star map were drawn.

    At the same time, the Spirit Pearl seemed to have grown slightly more powerful after refining those fierce evil spirits.

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°From now on, do not panic if evil spirits pounce on us. This special tool I gained from the Phantasms will be able to absorb them after theye close enough.¡±

    With one hand on her chest, Xie Wanting was still badly shaken as she said, ¡°I was totally scared. I thought you were bewitched by those evil spirits.¡±

    The four of them then moved out again.

    They ran into a few more groups of evil spirits along their way.

    Nie Tian took care of them with the same method by taking out the Spirit Pearl after they came close enough. Toote to escape, all of them were sucked into the Spirit Pearl.

    After absorbing the evil spirits, the cyan light the Spirit Pearl emanated became even brighter as its soul grew stronger.

    ¡°Not only can it help me take care of the evil spirits in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, but it also grows stronger during the process. This is not bad at all.¡± A faint smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth as he suddenly had a feeling that even if he didn¡¯t get to collect any precious spiritual materials during this trip, he would benefit a great deal from it, since just the evil spirits alone would help his Spirit Pearl grow significantly stronger.

    A quarter hourter...

    The four of them came to a ce in the spacious cave where more than a dozen corpses were scattered on the ground.

    From the look of it, they hadn¡¯t been dead for very long, since they were still wreathed in residual flesh auras.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Strange, bloodcurdling sounds suddenly came from among the corpses. Nie Tian narrowed his eyes to take a closer look at the scattered corpses, and then said in a low, cold voice, ¡°Ghouls!¡±

    At this moment, Xie Wanting and the girls also noticed that there was a different kind of corpse crouching over the others.

    They werepletely naked without a single shred of cloth covering their bodies. Most of them seemed to be outsiders, like Demons, Phantasm, or Fiends.

    They were covered in fine white hair, and their eyes were hollow, and didn¡¯t have the slightest spark in them.

    At this moment, they were crouching over other corpses, ripping flesh off their bones and cracking their bones with their teeth, as if they were having quite a feast.

    Three of the dead corpses were already gnawed away, with nothing but a fewrge bones left.

    A foul smell pervaded this area of the cave.

    It was a woman¡¯s nature to be disgusted by scenes like this. Xie Wanting, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong all had disgusted looks on their faces as they subconsciously wanted to get out of the cave.

    The scene of ghouls swooping out and munching on rotted internal organs came with such a strong impact that they almost threw up.

    ¡°This is the most disgusting thing I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± Yin Yanan said, frowning and covering her mouth and nose with one hand.

    She had already formed a ward of frosty aura around her to keep the tainted energies away, so she couldn¡¯t actually smell the rotted foul smell in this ce. However, she still covered her mouth and nose, as if only in this way would she feel better.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian stood in ce and examined the ghouls closely without saying anything.

    As he had expected, the ghouls carried a special aura, which was rather simr to the death power that Bonebrutes carried.

    However, unlike pure death power, the aura these ghouls carried seemed to be a mixture of corpse toxins and death power, which reeked of rotted flesh.

    Almost all of the ghouls had been outsiders. It was unknown what had turned them and allowed them to form the special mixed aura around them.

    Furthermore, since they didn¡¯t have souls, they seemed to only be able to ¡®live¡¯ in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Once they were separated from the unique environment here, they would instantly copse and die.

    The ghouls had apparently sniffed out Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ fresh life force, yet they didn¡¯te to attack them right away. Instead, they were still focused on the corpses they were munching on.

    ¡°We agreed that I¡¯ll take care of the evil spirits, and you¡¯ll take care of the ghouls,¡± Nie Tian said with a in tone.

    The girls¡¯ expressions froze as soon as they heard these words.

    None of them had known what ghouls really were until they saw them personally now. The scene of them feasting on the corpses was so repulsive that they couldn¡¯t bring themselves to fight them.

    It was as if a mere touch from them would give them nightmares.

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°You all knew that there were ghouls in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, so as long as we¡¯re here, we¡¯ll run into them from time to time. Right now, they¡¯re busy eating those corpses, but once they¡¯re finished, they¡¯lle for us.

    ¡°Imagine this: if they killed you, then you¡¯d be the corpses they feast upon...¡±

    ¡°Stop it!¡± Yin Yanan shouted.

    Though very reluctant, she stepped towards the ghouls.

    <i>¡°I know this is probably not the best time to summon you, but I kinda have to...¡± </i>Yin Yanan said inwardly.

    Then, the eighth grade Frost Blood Python slithered out of her waist.

    As soon as it separated itself from Yin Yanan, an rminglyrge amount of tainted energies converged on her.

    As powerful as it was, it was apparently unadapted to the tainted energies, and thus hastily covered itself with armor made of ice.

    The tainted energies gathered around it were much more corrosive than the ones around Nie Tian and the girls. Even with its eighth grade bloodline power, it seemed to be having a difficult time keeping them away.

    Nie Tian saw fine fissures appearing on the pieces of ice covering its body, as if they could shatter at any moment.

    With a low hiss, the Frost Blood Python hastily summoned its bloodline power to fill the area of the cave with frigid cold.

    In the next moment, everything around them was frozen, including the ghouls, the corpses, and the cave walls. With all of them turned into ice sculptures, even the foul smell seemed to bergely lightened.

    ¡°Something is shining under those corpses,¡± Mu Biqiong said with a surprised expression.

 Chapter 867: A Strange Black Egg

    A frigid aura rapidly pervaded the cave, freezing all of the ghouls that had been enjoying their feast, along with everything else in the wide mountain cave.

    As this happened, the sickening rotten smell became much fainter.

    The eighth grade Frost Blood Python was indeed powerful, as it took care of the problem in the blink of an eye.

    However, its ice armor seemed to be under great pressure from the tremendous amount of tainted energies converging on it from all directions.

    The Frost Blood Python rapidly flew back to Yin Yanan and became a tattoo on her waist. Its vigorous flesh aura vanished as soon as it did.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan hastily took out medicinal pills from within her ring of holding and stuffed them down her throat.

    The Frost Blood Python, who had consumed a significant amount of power, then started recovering with the medicinal pills in her stomach.

    At the same time, Mu Biqiong walked over the frozen cave ground to the ce where she had seen something shining brightly, her face still hidden behind a veil.

    As she separated her hands, the frozen sculpture-like ghouls moved to the side.

    The ghouls had only lost all mobility, but they hadn¡¯t died yet.

    Without paying much attention to the ghouls, Mu Biqiong gazed down at the empty ground where the ghouls had been.

    A ck ring was lying on the ground.

    That had been the thing that had been emanating bright light.

    ¡°A storage ring.¡± Mu Biqiong extended her hand and picked the ring up. Then, she sent a wisp of her soul awareness into it and took something out. ¡°There¡¯s only one item inside the ring.¡±

    What she took out of the storage ring turned out to be a ck egg that was about two meters tall, and giving off ck light.

    The ck light seemed very special and mysterious, as if it could swallow all other light. Even the light sparkling off everything within the cave dimmed as soon as the egg appeared.

    The cave instantly grew dark.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up as she trotted to Mu Biqiong¡¯s side. Putting her hand on the egg, she said, ¡°This is probably the egg of some ancient beast.¡±

    ¡°Even unhatched, it¡¯s wreathed in a rich dark aura, but from the look of it, it¡¯ll die soon,¡± She muttered to herself.

    At this moment, Nie Tian and Xie Wanting also stepped over to therge egg.

    Nie Tian copied Yin Yanan and also ced his hand on the ck egg. With the help of his bloodline power, he sensed that there was a very faint life force within therge ck egg, which meant that the unhatched creature in it had so little flesh power left in it that it might never hatch.

    Yin Yanan was from the Beast-controlling Sect, so she had a rather thorough understanding of all kinds of spirit beasts and ancient beasts.

    With a thoughtful expression, she said, ¡°What a pity.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°If this egg could actually hatch, then it¡¯d be a perfect match for your little lover, Dong Li,¡± Yin Yanan said. ¡°She practices dark power, which very few people practice, but is said to be very mysterious and wondrous. It¡¯s beyond most Qi warriors to just gasp the basics of dark power cultivation, let alone be an expert in it.

    ¡°But some outsiders and ancient beasts are born with dark power as their bloodline power, with the profound truths of dark power branded in the depths of their bloodline.

    ¡°For example, among Ancientbeast races, some phoenixes were born with dark power as their bloodline power. These phoenixes are called ck phoenixes.

    ¡°Some dragons are also born with dark power, and they¡¯re called ck dragons.

    ¡°As for outsider races, some Demons also carry dark power bloodlines, among all sorts of other powerful bloodlines.

    ¡°There are countless types of power in this world. Dark power and light power are two kinds that are very rare, but very mighty.

    ¡°To be honest, the fact that Dong Li mastered dark power came as a surprise to me. If this egg could somehow hatch and give birth to a creature blessed with a dark power bloodline, then it would be a perfect match for her.

    ¡°I doubt that even the spirit beasts my sect finds her will agree with her so perfectly,¡± Yin Yanan said, shaking her head.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian took a deep look at therge ck egg before him. He pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll take this egg. Do either of you also want it?¡±

    ¡°You wanna give it to your little lover, right?¡± Yin Yanan asked with a meaningful smile. ¡°But like I told you, the creature inside is almost dead. There¡¯s no way you¡¯ll be able to hatch it.¡±

    Mu Biqiong and Xie Wanting then expressed that they had no interest in the egg, and that they had no problem with Nie Tian taking it.

    ¡°Even if it won¡¯t hatch, it still contains some dark power,¡± Nie Tian said with a in tone.

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°Oh, so you want to give it to her so that she can absorb its residual dark power. Well, if that¡¯s case, go ahead. But it seems to me that this egg is going to lose the little residual dark power it holds. I don¡¯t know how much power will remain by the time you leave the Bloody Grave Mountain Range and put it in Dong Li¡¯s hands.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still better than nothing,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°So it seems that this Dong Li girl is the one you truly care about.¡± Yin Yanan said, curling her lips. ¡°But it¡¯s a pity that, as a human, she chose to practice dark power of all powers. Of course it¡¯ll be good if she bes an expert in it, but I¡¯m afraid that most people can¡¯t grasp the profound truths of dark power, even after giving their whole lives, and live their lives in disappointment.¡±

    ¡°Fate is a profound thing,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°No one can exin it. Perhaps she¡¯ll find a path that suits her well. Who knows?¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian made a grabbing motion in the air with hisrge hands, and the huge ck egg disappeared into his ring of holding. Then, he nced around at the corpses scattered in the cave and said inly, ¡°All of the valuables on these corpses are yours to take. I won¡¯t take any, no matter how high their grades are.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s take a look. Perhaps we¡¯ll actually find something valuable.¡± Yin Yanan proposed.

    While Nie Tian stood in ce, the three girls brought themselves to poke around with spiritual swords or sticks, and found a few rings from the mangled corpses. Some were rings of holding that had belonged to humans, but more were storage rings that had belonged to outsiders.

    With disgusted expressions, they wiped blood and gore off them and examined them with their soul awarenesses.

    ¡°A bunch of materials that normally only outsiders would use, along with some spirit beast bones and hearts... Not too bad.¡± Muttering these words, Yin Yanan put away the three storage rings she had collected.

    Xie Wanting and Mu Biqiong each found one ring. They both examined their rings, and then put them away without saying anything.

    As they did, Mu Biqiong remained expressionless. Clearly the materials she had gained weren¡¯t quite satisfying.

    Xie Wanting, however, had a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth as she put away the ring of holding she had found.

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to waste our power on killing these ghouls. We might as well leave them here, since they¡¯re frozen and can¡¯t do anything.¡± With these words, Yin Yanan gazed ahead, and saw an intersection of several tunnels that stretched downwards. Pointing randomly at one of them, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go and see what we can find in that tunnel.¡±

    Then, the four of them set out again.

    As they marched deeper, they ran into more evil spirits and ghouls.

    Every time they encountered evil spirits, Nie Tian would take the Spirit Pearl out after they came close enough for the Spirit Pearl to absorb them.

    As for ghouls, he would leave them to the girls. Even though it would take the three of them more time to get rid of the ghouls, they didn¡¯t encounter anything they couldn¡¯t handle.

    During this time, Nie Tian secretly sent wisps of his flesh aura into his ring of holding to examine therge ck egg.

    As his flesh aura infused into the egg, the unhatched creature within it seemed to be instantly vested with some life force, like a dried-up tree that was given a scoop of water, so that it wouldn¡¯t die within a short time.

    He had long since known that his unique bloodline power had the incredible effect of bringing things back to life.

    Long ago, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core had awakened by secretly absorbing his flesh aura.

    Later, his Blood Essence had helped reforge Bloodline Crystal Chains in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart, and had helped the Blood Core grow and upgrade.

    The reason why he had been so keen to gain the egg was because he knew that his special flesh aura would keep the creature inside alive.

    However, since dangers could be lurking everywhere in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, and he had only a limited amount of Blood Essence, he didn¡¯t use any of it to nourish the egg.

    He thought that all he had to do now was keep it from dying. Then, after he left the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, he could nourish it with his Blood Essence and see if he could get it to hatch.

    Since he intended it to be a gift to Dong Li, he attached great importance to it.

    A few hours passed...

    As they marched down the increasinglyplicated tunnels, the sounds of people fighting caught their ears, so they instantly picked up speed.

    As they approached the source of the sounds, they saw more and more corpses along their way. Some belonged to outsiders, while others belonged to humans. Many of them must have died recently, as they still carried noticeable residual flesh power.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t summon the Bone Blood Demon to absorb and refine the flesh power, since he didn¡¯t think it was worth the effort. Instead, the four of them marched on at a faster speed.

    Soon, they came to a very spacious ce in the tunnel.

    It seemed to be the empty belly of the mountain peak, which was more than a dozen meters high, and as wide as several football fields.

    Many humans and outsiders were engaged in fierce battles in it. Even more had died, andy scattered all over the ce.

 Chapter 868: Acquaintances Reconvene

    The ceiling of the spacious cave was riddled with holes that were the size of a baby¡¯s arms. Strange vines that seemed to be made of muscle fibers grew out of them.

    On the end of the vines grew peculiar emerald berries that contained extremely rich flesh power and wood power.

    A faint green shield could be seen separating the top area of the cave from the fighting humans and outsiders below.

    However, both humans and outsiders turned to look at the green berries from time to time in the middle of their fierce battles.

    Clearly, those berries were the reason why these humans and outsiders were engaged in fierce battles.

    As soon as Nie Tian entered this spacious part of the cave, his bloodline power became unusually active, as if the emerald berries that were the size of fists had a strong appeal to his unique bloodline.

    Gazing at the berries, he unleashed his soul awareness to examine them, and rapidly found out that they seemed to have a simr medicinal efficacy as Fruits of Life, but less powerful.

    Back in the day, he had obtained several Fruits of Life in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    He had identally absorbed the power of one Fruit of Life, which had elerated the upgrade of his bloodline.

    Later, he had given the rest of the Fruits of Life to Hua Mu and Wu Ji so that they could gain extra years and solve the lifespan problem they had faced.

    If these berries contained simr flesh auras to Fruits of Life, this meant they would also be very helpful for the development of his bloodline.

    Meanwhile, since they contained mysterious life force and could help extend lifespans, they were very valuable to both outsiders and humans.

    Through obtaining more life power, outsiders could upgrade their bloodlines, and awaken new bloodline talents.

    He had derived this enlightenment from the Frost Blood Python and coexisting flowers¡¯ strong desire for him.

    As for humans, these berries that contained life power were even more valuable to them.

    Unlike outsiders, humans¡¯ lifespans were significantly shorter. If they could extend their lifespans with these berries, then they wouldn¡¯t have to walk their paths of cultivation worrying day and night that they would die of old age because they didn¡¯t make breakthroughs fast enough.

    Perhaps this was the reason why these humans and outsiders were fighting each other to the death.

    Yin Yanan gave a sarcastic chuckle. ¡°There are quite a few familiar faces here.

    ¡°Froste, Pergson, Gutas, Luo Hui from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect, and that young man who tried to set us up...¡±

    Nie Tian had been intrigued by the change of his bloodline aura, and thus had focused on the emerald berries on the ceiling of the cave.

    Only after hearing her words did he take a close look at the fighting crowd, and discover that there were indeed quite a few acquaintances among them.

    Aside from Luo Hui from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect and the young man who had killed hispanions and tried to pulled the same scheme on them, he also saw Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu.

    As for outsiders, he saw Froste, Pergson, and Gutas, as well as the Fiend who had escaped from them earlier, Billy.

    What surprised Nie Tian the most was that he even saw a few other familiar faces: Sylon the Fiend, Armes the Phantasm, and Tago the Demon...

    Years ago, he had traveled through one of six spatial rifts in the Realm of Split Void to a mysterious dimensionposed of two paralleled continents. He had fought the three of them on two inds there.

    They had also joined an invasion of the Domain of the Falling Stars led by Basto, but had fled upon hearing of Basto¡¯s death.

    He had never expected that he would meet them again in the Shatter Battlefield after so many years.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± Armes called out, while he and Froste were teaming up against a few human Qi warriors.

    At this point, Armes had already upgraded from the fourth grade to the fifth grade, his battle prowess improving significantly.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, he instantly left his opponents and dashed towards Nie Tian, his eyes reddening with hatred.

    ¡°Bloodline magic! Soul Burning Seals!¡± With his soul power and Blood Essence, he formed clusters of ghostly mes, which floated directly towards Nie Tian.

    Years ago, he had only been able to unleash three clusters of ghostly mes, but now he was able to unleash eight of them.

    The soul power within each of the eight clusters of ghostly mes was also much more intense than when he had first met and fought Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s image appeared in the prismatic crystal between Armes¡¯s eyebrows.

    He locked Nie Tian down at the first possible moment.

    ¡°Armes! Get back here!!¡± Froste shouted with an anxious look on his face. ¡°You can¡¯t handle him!¡±

    Outsiders had a strict hierarchy among their numerous ns. Froste¡¯s n was much loftier and more powerful than Armes¡¯. This time, like many other Phantasms, Armes hade as a regr team member, who had to take orders from Froste.

    Upon hearing his words, Armes instantly grew vignt.

    He knew Froste wouldn¡¯t have said that without a good reason.

    ¡°Soul Burning Seals again...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin as he jumped into the spacious cave and unleashed Starchains.

    One after another, Starchains that could only be detected by soul power flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Carrying profound power from his star souls, they mmed into the Soul Burning Seals Armes had formed with his Blood Essence. In the next moment, all eight of them exploded like glorious fireworks and vanished into thin air.

    Armes¡¯ expression flickered drastically.

    He had never expected Nie Tian to have be so powerful after just a few years.

    Now that he had entered the fifth grade, his strength was roughly equal to that of a Worldly realm human cultivator. When he had first seen Nie Tian, he had been convinced that he was at the Worldly realm, judging from the tainted energies around him.

    Normally, it would take human cultivators less time to progress in their cultivation than outsiders.

    Plus, he knew that Nie Tian was a disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Given their profound reserve power, it wasn¡¯t surprising at all that he had advanced to the Worldly realm.

    What surprised him was that the amount of tainted energies gathered around Nie Tian soared as he leapt towards him.

    The amount of tainted energies around someone was determined by his or her strength.

    Therefore, he sensed danger as soon as he saw tainted energies building up around Nie Tian at an rming rate.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian activated Life Strengthening, and shed to Armes in a split second with a Starshift.

    He clenched his fist and unleashed Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    Raging flesh power instantly bore down on Armes, along with devastating me power and pure spiritual power.

    BOOM!

    Armes¡¯ body immediately blew up like a ripe watermelon that was dropped to the ground.

    Mangled flesh filling the air, Armes died an instant, violent death.

    Nie Tian shook his head and muttered, ¡°A fifth grade Phantasm like you is far too weak for me now...¡±

    To unleash this furious strike, he had only summoned a small amount of flesh power, me power, and pure spiritual power.

    In his eyes, such a strike could only be viewed as a warm-up procedure.

    However, Armes, whom he had fought in a well-matched battle years ago, actually exploded after taking such a strike.

    <i>¡°My bloodline has upgraded six times, allowing me to awaken six bloodline talents. So byparing our bloodline power alone, I¡¯m already stronger than him. Then, I summoned different powers to unleash Titan¡¯s Wrath. With such power, killing the fifth grade Armes was indeed as easy as blowing away a speck of dust.¡± </i>(Idiom: very little effort)

    With these thoughts in mind, he grinned and shed to Sylon the Fiend and Tago the Demon sessively, where he unleashed Titan¡¯s Wrath two more times.

    BANG! BANG!

    Sylon and Tago also exploded instantly without even putting up a fight.

    Nie Tian shook his head repeatedly as he sighed and muttered, ¡°Weak, far too weak.

    ¡°Back when we first met on that ind, any of you could put me in great trouble. But now you¡¯ve be so fragile that you can¡¯t handle a single strike from me. Killing you is so easy that I don¡¯t even enjoy it.¡±

    Then, he went on and activated a few more short-range Starshifts.

    As he shed back and forth between ces, several outsiders who he found familiar exploded one by one.

    Gutas¡¯ eyebrows knotted as he watched Tago, who was also a Demon, being reduced to bits of flying flesh. Then, he called out to Froste, ¡°Froste, that man has be even stronger than when west saw him!¡±

    Not long ago, he had been invited to a joint attack targeting Nie Tian. Back then, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had been at the fifth grade.

    Even if he had unleashed his bloodline power, it wouldn¡¯t have been so overwhelmingly powerful.

    Not to mention, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t used a shred of his bloodline power to fight them back then. All he had used was the Bone Blood Demon, the Spirit Pearl, and his spiritual power.

    ¡°He¡¯s not a normal human, but a hybrid!¡± Froste said with a very grim expression. ¡°It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t seem to identify the bloodline he carries.¡±

    A few outsiders close to him heard him, their expression flickering drastically. ¡°A hybrid!?¡±

    These outsiders from ancient ns had long since heard that several formidable human sects like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had attempted to make hybrids of humans and outsiders for a very long time now. Their purpose was to steal the outsiders¡¯ powerful bloodline power in order to solve the humans¡¯ lifespan problem.

    Therefore, the existence of hybrids in those powerful human sects was already no secret.

    However, most of the hybrids turned out to be failures, and even less aplished than normal humans. Those who actually gained long lifespans and tough bodies were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

    Who would have thought they would actually run into a sessful hybrid in a cave in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range?

    ¡°This is a bit tricky now,¡± Froste muttered softly in the outsiders¡¯nguage, but didn¡¯t seem very worried. ¡°But being powerful is a veryplicated thing.¡±

    Then, he gave Pergson a sideways nce and asked, ¡°How about you go take care of him?¡±

    Pergson the Bonebrute was fighting the young man who had nned to set up Nie Tian and the girls. He had gained control of the situation, as his death power had already infiltrated into the fan-wielding young man¡¯s flesh and blood, making him struggle.

    Upon hearing Froste¡¯s words, Pergson ended his battle against the young man in an unhurried fashion. Then, heid his eyes on Nie Tian and said in the outsiders¡¯nguage, ¡°Sure.¡±

    In the humannguage, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°You¡¯ll be no match for me here. Although, I¡¯ve got to admit that you¡¯re a good fighter. In fact, you might have a chance at beating me if I didn¡¯t have my Bone Shatterer. But as long as I have it, you¡¯d better run.¡±

    Pergson was well-aware that Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon would be limited to arge extent if they were to fight in this ce.

    First of all, the Bone Blood Demon was toorge to move about freely in the cave. Secondly, its vigorous flesh power would make it suffer from a tremendous amount of tainted energy.

    Besides, his Bone Shatterer had an innate subduing effect on the Bone Blood Demon.

    Therefore, his confidence was well-founded.

    ¡°Go help him, Han Sen!¡± A resounding voice suddenly echoed out. It was a man in golden garments, who was now gazing coldly at the young man who practiced lightning power.

    From the look of it, he wasn¡¯t fond of the young man either, but considering the situation, all the humans had to band together.

    The Han Sen he referred to was none other than the vicious young man who had been fighting Pergson and failing.

    At this moment, he was driving death power out of himself in silence, hoping that Nie Tian would take care of Pergson for him.

    He was clearly unhappy to do as he was told, but he still dragged his reluctant steps towards Nie Tian, while muttering, ¡°Why always me...¡±

 Chapter 869: A Tangled Fight

    While approaching Nie Tian, Han Sen¡¯s vignt eyes switched back and forth between Nie Tian and Pergson.

    Pergson the Bonebrute was still holding his Bone Shatterer in his hand.

    As a powerful magical treasure of the Bonebrutes, the Bone Shatterer had an innate subduing effect on most Bonebrutes, yet it didn¡¯t carry any flesh aura.

    Therefore, it didn¡¯t attract any more tainted energies to Pergson.

    With a casual swing, he shed the Bone Shatterer in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    FZZZ!

    A pale curved de light that contained rich death power shot out of it.

    Nie Tian had engaged in a brief battle against Pergson before. He fully understood the formidable might of the Bone Shatterer in his hand. Therefore, he made a quick decision and escaped with a Starshift.

    Seeing Nie Tian vanish into thin air like a ghost, Pergson didn¡¯t try to pursue him, but instead pointed his Bone Shatterer at Han Sen.

    The pale curved de light split into numerous strands that instantly surrounded Han Sen.

    Cursing, Han Sen hastily folded the fan in his hand.

    In the next moment, arge number of lightning bolts shot out of the folded fan that looked like a short spear, filling a small area around him.

    Thunderps filled the air.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Blight!¡± As Pergson the Bonebrute shouted these words, the numerous strands of pale light wreathing Han Sen instantly burst into white mes.

    The mes started shing with the lightning bolts, sending waves of energy fluctuations in every direction.

    Han Sen¡¯s expression flickered as he felt with great rity that he was being drained of his life force.

    A mysterious power from the Bone Shatterer had infiltrated his flesh, and was now piercing into his bones, causing him to experience stabbing pain all over.

    He struggled to contend against the destructive power inside of him with his lighting power.

    Nie Tian, however, gave up on the idea of fighting Pergson, but rather went on to find other outsider opponents.

    He soon located a ckscale, and shed to his side with a Starshift. He found a gap between his armor-like, pitch-ck scales and plunged a translucent tree branch through it into his chest.

    ¡°Heaven Wood Thorns!¡± Nie Tian eximed. Then, the tree branch that was translucent and sparkling started growing madly within the ckscale.

    Even though the ckscale was at the sixth grade, as Nie Tian activated Heavenly Wood Thorns, his vigorous life force was rapidly drained by the thorns that spread uncontrobly inside of him, piercing through his internal organs and severing his meridians.

    The ckscale let out agonized roars.

    He wanted to activate his bloodline talents to save himself, yet since his heart was also impaled, he couldn¡¯t activate any of them.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡± However, Nie Tian unleashed another bloodline talent, and started channeling rich flesh power from the ckscale through the tree branch he had nted into his chest.

    Soon, the ckscale¡¯s impaled heart shriveled as wisps of flesh power were forcibly channeled away by Nie Tian and greedily devoured by the green aura within his heart.

    The ckscale then copsed to the ground and died.

    BANG!

    Without sparing Pergson a nce, Nie Tian went on to search for his next target.

    He was well-aware that since he couldn¡¯t really use the Bone Blood Demon here, and the me Dragon Armor would attract too many tainted energies if he unleashed it, there was a great gap between his strength and that of Pergson, who held the Bone Shatterer.

    Besides, Pergson didn¡¯t pursue him anyways. He didn¡¯t have to put himself into a difficult situation by turning back to fight Pergson.

    Meanwhile, the girls also joined the tangled fight between humans and outsiders, whether they wanted to or not.

    That was because as soon as the outsiders saw them, they wouldn¡¯t ask them anything, but pounce on them right away.

    Nie Tian took a moment to shoot a nce at them.

    He discovered that Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t summon their Frost Blood Python and coexisting flowers.

    They both understood that once they summoned their Frost Blood Python or coexisting flowers, the torrential tainted energies converging on them would put them under tremendous pressure.

    Therefore, they wouldn¡¯t summon them unless they absolutely had to.

    But even though they were fighting outsiders by relying on their own strength, the battle prowess they disyed was still rather impressive, allowing them to handle their respective opponents with ease.

    At the same time, Xie Wanting was fighting a Birdman. From the look of it, she was doing well, and wouldn¡¯t be in danger any time soon.

    Originally, the outsiders had gained a noticeable advantage in their fight against the humans. However, Nie Tian had killed Sylon and several other outsiders with lightning speed, and some outsiders had to withdraw to deal with Yin Yanan and the girls. The burden on the other human cultivators¡¯ shoulders was relieved to a great extent.

    Now, as Nie Tian examined the battlefield closely, he discovered that Froste, the Phantasm chosen one, and Gutas, the Demon chosen one, were teaming up against a human cultivator.

    It was none other than the person who had told Han Sen toe to his aid.

    The man was d in golden garments, which made him look like a divine statue forged from pure gold. The long spear he was holding also emanated dazzling golden light.

    With a magnificent stature, he was significantly taller than all of the other human cultivators. At this moment, Froste was hovering over him on his skull made of discarnate souls.

    However, golden rings seemed to protect the man¡¯s sea of awareness like halos over a god¡¯s head, allowing him to stand there, as steady as Mountain Tai. The skull¡¯s soul attracting force seemed to have no effect on him.

    With every swing of his golden spear, he would send out countless rays of divine golden light, stopping Froste from approaching him.

    Gutas the Demon attacked him with an oddly-shaped saber, but also failed to achieve any noticeable results.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that Froste and Gutas were chosen ones of their respective races. The fact that the two of them together had failed to finish off that man within a short time proved how formidable he was.

    Not just that, but he even spared some attention to smile back at Nie Tian and said with a voice so resounding that it could pierce through metal and split rocks, ¡°My name is Huang Jinnan. If you can help us get rid of these outsiders, I¡¯ll make sure that you get a share of the berries above on the ceiling of the cave.¡±

    With these words, he swung his golden spear, creating a river of golden light.

    Countless golden magical symbols could be seen flickering within the golden river, unleashing an extremely fierce aura.

    At the same time, the ferocious bellows of Demons echoed from Gutas¡¯ saber as vague shadows of Demon ancestors appeared on its surface.

    One after another, the sinister demonic shadows flew out of the saber towards Huang Jinnan, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws as they did. However, each and every one of them was stopped by the golden magical symbols within the river of golden light.

    <i>¡°The man is at thete Profound realm, and holds a powerful magical treasure.¡± </i>Nie Tian marveled inwardly. <i>¡°Compared to the other cultivators I¡¯ve met here, his strength is at a whole other level. Even Mo Qinglei with his Thunder King Seal wouldn¡¯t be able to match him in battle.¡±</i>

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to deal with that Bonebrute chosen if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Huang Jinnan called out to him. ¡°You can just do what you can and go kill some weaker ones.¡±

    The man¡¯s words made Nie Tian have positive feelings towards him. Grinning, he said, ¡°Let me take some of the burden off your shoulders.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding to float over Huang Jinnan¡¯s head, very close to Froste¡¯s skull made of discarnate souls.

    Froste cursed in the outsiders¡¯nguage as wisps of discarnate souls were channeled out of the skull¡¯s hollow eye sockets and flew into the Spirit Pearl.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes lit up as he noticed that the skull could no longer threaten his true soul, now that the Spirit Pearl hade to his aid.

    Glorious golden light instantly burst forth from his golden robe, and the magics he unleashed with his long spear suddenly became unchallenged.

    The numerous golden magical symbols within the river of golden light seemed to instantly be infused with his soul power, and transformed into golden divine symbols.

    With divine singing echoing from the golden magical symbols, even Gutas, the Demon chosen one, couldn¡¯t stop his soul from trembling after hearing it.

    His oddly-shaped saber that had demonic shadows flying out of it screamed anxiously, as if it also sensed great danger.

    Gutas gasped with astonishment as he hastily withdrew from his battle against Huang Jinnan and shouted, ¡°Pergson! Let¡¯s swap opponents!¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Pergson the Bonebrute instantly morphed into an arc of pale light that arrived in front of Huang Jinnan.

    ¡°Your Bone Shatterer is a powerful magical treasure of your race, but my spear is also no ordinary weapon,¡± Huang Jinnan said. Not the slightest fear could be seen on his face. ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot of rumors about your Bone Shatterer and the death power it wields. Today, I get to test those rumors myself!¡±

    With these words, he suddenly shook the long golden spear in his hand with great force, unleashing seven more rivers of golden light that contained a great number of divine symbols.

    The rivers of golden light arced and converged on one spot, forming a giant golden eye in midair.

    It emanated blinding divine light. Nie Tian only took a nce at it, and the light hurt his eyes so much that tears came out.

    It was as if the light unleashed by the giant eye were golden needles that pierced into his pupils.

    The giant golden eye seemed to be the embodiment of the magical spear¡¯s soul, which was vested with Huang Jinnan¡¯s spiritual and soul power.

    The golden eye stared unblinkingly at Pergson.

    Under its gaze, fissures actually appeared in Pergson¡¯s translucent and sparkling bones.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°Incredible!¡±

 Chapter 870: Divine Remains from the Desolate Antiquity Era

    Nie Tian was well-aware of Pergson¡¯s formidableness.

    Besides, the Bonebrutes¡¯ indestructible form was one of the most powerful body enhancing magics among all the outsider races.

    Pergson¡¯s bone body must be as tough as divine iron, which ordinary Premium grade spiritual tool couldn¡¯t even leave a mark on.

    However, that golden eye unleashed by Huang Jinnan did nothing more than gaze at Pergson, and fine fissures appeared on Pergson¡¯s bones.

    This was enough evidence of the golden eye¡¯s incredible might.

    Earlier, Froste had hovered around and distracted Huang Jinnan with soul magics, which was the reason why he had failed to fully disy his battle prowess while fighting Gutas.

    That spear of his hadn¡¯t unleashed that golden eye either.

    Only after Nie Tian had summoned the Spirit Pearl and stopped Froste¡¯s skull of discarnate souls from influencing Huang Jinnan¡¯s sea of awareness, did he set him free.

    Thanks to that, he was now able to cast all kinds of profound incantations and push the might of his spiritual tool to its limits.

    ¡°You go on and kill the weaker outsiders. Leave Pergson to me.¡± With these words, Huan Jinnanughed in a wild and intimidating manner, even more dazzling divine light shooting forth from the golden eye.

    Like a golden sea, the divine light instantly enveloped Pergson, Froste, and Gutas.

    Tiny crystals could be seen floating within the sea of golden light like flying insects. Each and every one of them was branded with the profound truths of metal power. Standing in the dazzling golden light, the three outsider chosen ones all looked as if they were facing deadly foes.

    Now that Huang Jinnan no longer suffered soul suppression, he seemed to have no problem handling the three of them single-handedly.

    This was a kind of battle prowess Nie Tian had never seen before.

    Mixed emotions rose in his heart.<i> ¡°Perhaps only after I enter thete Profound realm, and with the help of the me Dragon Armor, the Spirit Pearl, and all kinds of exquisite incantations, will I be able to fight like him.¡± </i>

    He observed for a while longer. After he was convinced that Huang Jinnan had gotten the situation under control did he leave to deal with other outsiders.

    He only targeted the weakest members among the outsiders.

    By relying on his profound bloodline talents, he appeared and vanished in the spacious cave like a ghost.

    Many low-grade outsiders would find a shadow appearing behind them while they were fighting their human opponents.

    But before they could react, Nie Tian¡¯s attacks already stormed them.

    Titan¡¯s Wrath, Starstrike, and Heavenly Wood Thorns... He cast these wondrous bloodline talents in turn.

    One outsider after another was snuck up on and killed by him.

    In the meantime, he would also activate Life Drain to absorb his victims¡¯ flesh power to feed the green aura within his heart.

    The souls of the dead outsiders wouldn¡¯t dissipate into heaven and earth immediately after their deaths. Instead, they rose from their remains before being quickly channeled away by Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl and Froste¡¯ magical skull.

    No evil spirits or ghouls showed up in the cave.

    Without summoning the Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan had killed two outsiders by relying solely on her exceptional fleshly strength and her outstanding battle prowess as a middle Profound realm cultivator.

    Mu Biqiong, on the other hand, would briefly summon the ck demonic flower and kill the outsiders that came for her when she found herself in a difficult situation.

    However, the ck demonic flower¡¯s root would shrink back into her palm with lightning speed immediately after taking a life.

    As the fight went on, the outsiders suffered increasingly heavy casualties.

    Most of them had been snuck up on and killed by Nie Tian while they were fighting other cultivators.

    With the help of Starshift, Nie Tian was like a shadow that could be anywhere. Every time he showed himself, he would kill an outsider through powerful means.

    The humans had been at a disadvantage when Nie Tian and the girls had first arrived, but now, thanks to Nie Tian and the girls, they had turned the turned the situation around.

    Froste the Phantasm realized that they were in an unfavorable situation. After throwing another nce at the emerald berries at the cave ceiling, he shouted in the outsiders¡¯nguage, ¡°Retreat!¡±

    The other outsiders had long since hoped to withdraw from the cave. Upon hearing his order, they withdrew through different tunnels as soon as they could.

    The human Qi warriors, who had had a taste of victory, then went chasing after them.

    As the three outsider chosen ones fled, Huang Jinnan fixed on Gutas, and also chased him into one of the tunnels.

    Momentster, silence was restored to the cave where humans and outsiders had engaged in a fierce fight.

    Nie Tian, the girls, and Han Sen didn¡¯t chase after the fleeing outsiders, but rather stayed in ce.

    With everyone else gone, Han Sen retreated to a corner of the cave without saying anything. He fixed Nie Tian with a vignt, cold gaze as he took out medicinal pills and spiritual materials that contained copious lightning power, and started recuperating.

    Tainted energies were still grinding his spiritual power ward down, but they had be much thinner than before.

    Nie Tian and the girls, however, gathered in one ce to adjust themselves, hoping to recover their strength as soon as possible.

    As they did, they would look up at the berries on the ceiling behind a green shield from time to time.

    zing mes filled the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she said to Nie Tian in a low voice, ¡°Those berries must be very rare and precious. My coexisting flowers are showing a very strong desire for them. I can also tell that they¡¯re very valuable, judging from the unusual movement within my vortex of wood power and spiritual core.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly.

    His bloodline aura had be unusually active the moment he had arrived.

    Apparently, it also yearned for those berries.

    Having gathered a copious amount of flesh power from his victims, he activated Life Stealth to cover his increasingly vigorous flesh aura.

    Soon, the tainted energies around him seemed to notice the change in him, and thus grew fainter and fainter.

    As this happened, Nie Tian felt almost no pressure in keeping them away with his zing ward.

    Then, he gazed up at the green shield over the berries on the ceiling, and discovered that the shield seemed to carry a special flesh aura, as if it had been formed from some being¡¯s flesh power.

    ¡°One, two...¡± Turning her head, Xie Wanting counted the berries. ¡°There are a total of thirty-five berries. I wonder how they¡¯ll divide them aftering back from their pursuits.¡±

    Yin Yanan awoke from her cultivation. After opening her eyes, she said, ¡°We made significant contributions. Of course we¡¯ll take a share of them.¡±

    Mu Biqiong chimed in, ¡°I won¡¯t ask for too many. Just give me one or two of them, and I¡¯ll be happy.¡±

    Xie Wanting sighed. ¡°There¡¯s no guarantee of that. More than twenty cultivators went to chase after those outsiders. When they return, they¡¯ll most likely divide the berries ording to the contributions we made. That man named Huang Jinnan will certainly be the one to get the most berries. If he¡¯s just, Nie Tian will get a few, but we...¡±

    Before she could finish, the young man with an unknown origin dampened their enthusiasm by interrupting with a cold face, ¡°You¡¯d better break that green shield first before worrying yourselves with the distribution of those berries. We¡¯ve already tried many ways to break that shield before the outsiders arrived, but all of them failed.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian and the girls all raised their eyebrows.

    ¡°Even Huang Jinnan couldn¡¯t break that green shield?¡± Xie Wanting asked with a surprised expression.

    Han Sen snorted. ¡°That¡¯s a shield formed by a titan¡¯s residual flesh aura. How can it be broken so easily?¡±

    ¡°A titan¡¯s residual flesh aura?!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± Huang Jinnan¡¯s voice echoed out from behind him. He was the first to return through one of the tunnels. Walking directly to Nie Tian, he said with a smile, ¡°That green shield is the condensation of a titan¡¯s residual flesh aura. The vines growing out of those holes in the ceiling and the berries growing on their ends are all from a titan.¡±

    Then, pointing down at the floor, he added, ¡°This mountain peak we¡¯re in is part of the remains of a titan. It¡¯s just that they¡¯ve been here for thousands of years, and are covered in rocks and vegetation, so you can¡¯t seen them for what they are. It was the titan¡¯s residual flesh aura and transcendent meridians that gave birth to those emerald berries.¡±

    As they spoke, more Qi warriors returned one after another.

    Some of them were high in spirits, as they had clearly caught and killed their targets.

    Others looked rather frustrated, as they had probably lost their targets.

    Disbelief and shock filled Yin Yanan¡¯s face as she said, ¡°This mountain peak is a thousand meters high. Can a titan be this huge?¡±

    Apparently, she didn¡¯t know much about titans.

    ¡°Titans are thergest living beings that have ever lived in this universe,¡± Huang Jinnan exined, smiling. ¡°During the Deste Antiquity Era, when they ruled the starry river, they were considered as gods. Usually, they¡¯re born incrediblyrge, and as time goes by, they¡¯ll grow evenrger.

    ¡°They were also blessed with all types of bloodline power. Some could wield lightning; some could channel mes; others could control rivers and seas.

    ¡°This titan seemed to be well-versed in wood power incantations. Even after he died, his tremendous residual power condensed into magical berries that can prolong humans¡¯ lifespans.

    ¡°So these berries can be viewed as the essence of his remains.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that titans had shockingly long lifespans and reproductive cycles, they would have ruled the starry river to this day.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes flickered. ¡°Titans...¡±

    He had seen titans with his own eyes in the mysteriousnd where the Blood Core had repeatedly taken him. He knew that it would be impossible for those who hadn¡¯t seen them to imagine their size.

    ¡°You¡¯re a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, aren¡¯t you?¡± Huang Jinnan suddenly changed the subject.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sort of.¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Starshift is a great escape magic,¡± Huang Jinnan said, smiling. ¡°I had a good idea of your identity the moment I saw you cast it.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Han Sen and the other Qi warriors all turned to look at Nie Tian with astonishment spreading across their faces.

    ¡°He is a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!!¡±

 Chapter 871: A Palace, A Sect, A Society, And A Pavilion

    After Huang Jinnan stated Nie Tian¡¯s identity, all of the other Qi warriors started to look at Nie Tian differently.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s mighty name was known throughout the starry river. Every disciple of this colossus enjoyed an enviable status.

    However, even though Huang Jinnan had seen through Nie Tian¡¯s identity, he didn¡¯t seem surprised at all.

    ¡°Since you¡¯re a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and a sessful hybrid, your name should be well-known across the myriad domains, but why haven¡¯t I heard it before?¡± Huang Jinnan asked with a puzzled expression. ¡°I believe this is the first time I¡¯ve heard the name Nie Tian.¡±

    He had long since overheard Nie Tian¡¯s conversation with Yin Yanan and the girls, and had thus learned his name.

    Han Sen snorted coldly and said, ¡°Divine Son, even if he¡¯s a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, his status can¡¯t match yours.¡±

    Xie Wanting¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Divine Son?¡±

    ¡°Brother Huang here is from the Five Elements Sect, and he¡¯s the metal element Divine Son,¡± Han Sen said with a in tone.

    Xie Wanting, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong all gasped with shock while fixing Huang Jinnan with revering gazes. ¡°The FIve Elements Sect?!¡±

    Nie Tian, however, waspletely puzzled. ¡°Is the Five Elements Sect very famous?¡±

    Huang Jinnan frowned. ¡°You don¡¯t know the ¡®one pce, one sect, one society, and one pavilion¡¯?¡±

    A stumped expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Umm...¡±

    Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect took a deep breath and exined to Nie Tian, ¡°The phrase ¡®one pce, one sect, one society, and one pavilion¡¯ describes the four most ancient and powerful Qi warrior powers. The ¡®one pce¡¯ refers to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce; the ¡®one sect¡¯ refers to the Five Elements Sect; the ¡®one society¡¯ refers to the Void Spirit Society; the ¡®one pavilion¡¯ refers to the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion represent the peak strength of Qi warriors.

    ¡°Each and every one of them is protected by God domain experts, and that¡¯s why they dare to stand up to powerful Ancientspirits and outsiders.¡±

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong fell silent upon hearing that Huang Jinnan was the metal element Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect.

    It seemed that only at this moment did they realize why Huang Jinnan was so powerful, and all the other Qi warriors here took orders from him.

    <i>¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion...¡± </i>Nie Tian said inwardly.

    Only now did he learn the names of the four greatest human powers.

    ¡°The Five Elements Sect consists of five sections,¡± Han Sen said in a low voice. ¡°Each section has their own God domain experts, as well as a Divine Son or Divine Daughter, who is viewed as the future head of their section. Brother Huang is the Divine Son of the metal element section.¡±

    Mu Biqiong turned to Nie Tian and whispered, ¡°The Divine Sons of the Five Elements Sect enjoy a simr status as the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Huang Jinnan fixed Nie Tian with a curious gaze. ¡°If you¡¯re a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but you haven¡¯t heard of me or the Five Elements Sect... I¡¯m very interested in your story.¡±

    ¡°I grew up in a remote domain,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°But I passed the Heaven Gate Trial, and therefore gained the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies.¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You passed the Heaven Gate Trial?! Did you collect all three fragmentary star marks?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Upon hearing this, a mor burst out among Han Sen and all of the other Qi warriors gathered by Huang Jinnan¡¯s side.

    ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars, the seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°Anyone who can pass the Heaven Gate Trial and collect all three fragmentary star marks will be a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, no matter what background he or shees from.¡±

    ¡°This man is not just any member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but a Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°So he gained the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies from the Heaven Gate Trial! But from the look of it, he hasn¡¯t followed the ¡®path of stars¡¯ to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters yet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for sure. If he had, he would have be a household name already.¡±

    ¡°The reason why we haven¡¯t heard of him before is because he hasn¡¯t returned to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet.¡±

    The moring crowd all stared unblinkingly at Nie Tian, as if they were looking at a rare treasure.

    Xie Wanting¡¯s face turned pale with shock.

    Despite having traveled with Nie Tian for so long, she waspletely unaware of his actual identity until now. She had only assumed that he was a Qi warrior from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries like Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong.

    The news of Nie Tian being a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came as a great shock to her.

    Xie Wanting smiled bitterly, congratting herself on her previous decision. ¡°Fortunately, I stopped that fool Lu Feihua before he made an irredeemable mistake with Nie Tian. Otherwise...¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Huang Jinnan said, looking enlightened. ¡°So you¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars. No wonder.¡±

    As one of the Divine Children of the Five Elements Sect, Huang Jinnan had unique ess to information. He had heard that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had a new Son of the Stars.

    However, every Son of the Stars who passed the Heaven Gate Trial would have to go through a series of tests and follow the ¡®paths of stars¡¯ intended by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to their headquarters.

    Since Nie Tian hadn¡¯t finished this process, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadn¡¯t announced his name or any other information about him.

    However, it was no secret that they had acquired a new Son of the Stars.

    Han Sen and the others didn¡¯t have ess to such information because their sect wasn¡¯t strong enough.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, whose information has been kept secret,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°I¡¯ve got to say that I¡¯m quite impressed by the fact that you¡¯ve found your way to the Shatter Battlefield when you¡¯re only at the Worldly realm, and haven¡¯t even made it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters. And from the look of it, you still carry many secret abilities and resources...¡±

    After learning that Nie Tian was a Son of the Stars, Huang Jinnan had be much warmer towards him.

    Of all that were present, he and Nie Tian were the only two who came from the four most ancient and powerful Qi warrior powers, and their statuses within their respective sects were matched, even though Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was lower by a whole level.

    Huang Jinnan smiled. ¡°You¡¯re wee to ask me about anything, but not now.¡±

    Then, he pointed up at the green shield. ¡°Our current task is to figure out a way to tear open thatyer of the titan¡¯s residual flesh aura and collect those berries.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Upon hearing Huang Jinnan¡¯s proposal, the crowd of Qi warriors all sighed in frustration.

    They had made numerous attempts before the outsiders had arrived, but all of them had failed.

    Therefore, all of them fell silent upon hearing Huang Jinnan¡¯s proposal to think of ways to collect those berries.

    ¡°Even you can¡¯t break that shield and collect those berries, Brother Huang?¡± Nie Tian was curious.

    Huang Jinnan let out a sigh and exined, ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Nie Tian. There¡¯s a profound connection between that shield of flesh power and those berries. When I tried to break the shield with pure force, two of the berries vanished. This means the shield will channel power from the berries to defend them.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to tear that shield open, but I¡¯m worried that even if I do, all of the berries would be gone.

    ¡°As far as I see it, only experts of wood power incantations whose aura agrees with the aura that forms the shield will be able to split it without hurting the berries.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡± Mu Biqiong volunteered.

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°Right, you might as well give it a try. Those coexisting flowers inside of you are extremely rare. Perhaps you¡¯ll actually make it work.¡±

    Mu Biqiong was taken aback. ¡°How, how do you know?¡±

    ¡°I knew it the moment I saw that ck root shoot out of your palm,¡± Huang Jinnan said, smiling.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as she asked, ¡°You actually had the time to observe my battle while you fought those three powerful outsiders at the same time? And you¡¯ve seen coexisting flowers before?¡±

    Huang Jinnan smiled, but didn¡¯t give her an answer.

    Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t ask more questions. A ck root and a multicolored root shot out of her palms towards the green shield simultaneously.

    BANG! BANG!

    The moment they made contact with the green shield, dazzling light burst forth from the contact points, vast divine power pouring madly through the roots into Mu Biqiong¡¯s body.

    Mu Biqiong let out a muffled groan. Blood ran down her nose and the corner of her mouth as the roots instantly shrank back into her palms.

 Chapter 872: Rich Gains

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes were filled with fear as she stared up at the green shield.

    Even her elegant body was trembling slightly, with wisps of blooding out of her nose and the corner of her mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s not working,¡± she said in frustration.

    Huang Jinnan was also rather disappointed. ¡°Even powerful outsider nts like the coexisting flowers can¡¯t prate that shield. This is a bit troublesome now. I don¡¯t think those outsiders will give up so easily. They maye back here after gathering enough forces. There are arge number of outsider explorers in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. It won¡¯t be difficult for them to gather more.

    ¡°So we need to collect these berries as soon as possible.¡±

    Upon seeing Mu Biqiong¡¯s failure and hearing Huang Jinnan¡¯s words, the other Qi warriors went into action again.

    Streaks of me power, lightning power, water power, and power of other attributes shot up towards the green shield, along with all kinds of spiritual tools.

    Nie Tian secretly examined them, and discovered that many of them were Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools.

    There were very few Spirit Channeling grade treasures throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars. Only a handful of Soul realm luminaries possessed one or two.

    However, all of these Qi warriors were at the Worldly realm or Profound realm, and rather young.

    Not just that, but they also practiced exquisite incantations of different attributes. However, their effort to break the green shield all turned out to be in vain.

    Soon, everyone stopped trying, Huang Jinnan being the only one who didn¡¯t make any attempts.

    The green shield was still intact, but two of the berries that contained rich life power had vanished.

    Now, there were only thirty-three left.

    Those two berries¡¯ power seemed to be channeled into the green shield, making it resilient enough to ward off the people¡¯s waves of attacks.

    ¡°No more idle attempts,¡± Huang Jinnan said with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°If we keep doing this, even if we can break the shield, there won¡¯t be any berries left for us to collect. Our goal is to gain those berries. What good is breaking the shield if we¡¯re going to lose all of them?¡±

    Everyone sighed in frustruation.

    After swallowing a medicinal pill, Mu Biqiong fixed her deep eyes on Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you give it a shot? Perhaps you¡¯ll be able to go through the shield without hurting those berries.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded in agreement.

    Both of them were well-aware that Nie Tian practiced unique wood power incantations.

    The fact that both their Frost Blood Python and coexisting flowers had shown a strong desire for him proved that there must be something special in Nie Tian that had a strong appeal to them.

    Furthermore, they also knew that Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation, which he had used before, had profound connections to the Floragrims.

    Upon hearing her words, Huang Jinnan gave Nie Tian a surprised sideways nce.

    Fragmentary golden symbols could be seen swimming like fishes in the depths of his pupils, which seemed to be painted gold with some magical paint.

    ¡°You...¡± he said. ¡°You practice me power and wood power incantations too? Besides star power incantations? You¡¯re indeed full of surprises. Oh right, you¡¯re no ordinary human. You carry an outsider bloodline, which will allow you to live much longer than ordinary humans.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you dare to practice three types of incantations at the same time, right?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could answer him, he went on and said to himself, ¡°It¡¯s just that are your wood power incantations very different from others¡¯? Some of these guys also practice wood power incantations, but they still failed to get through that green shield and get those berries.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled, lookingpletely unworried. ¡°Let me give it a try.¡±

    With these words, a dark-green spiritual aura built up on the tip of his finger.

    It was power that originated in his vortex of wood power, which carried vigorous life force.

    Like a streak of dark-green light that was only as thick as a chopstick, it shot up and infused into the green shield.

    BOOM!

    As soon as it made contact with the green shield, it exploded and vanished.

    An immense force of expulsion instantly stormed into his extended finger.

    Instead of spiritual power, the force of expulsion was a wisp of strong flesh aura.

    It followed Nie Tian¡¯s arm into his whole body, causing peculiar changes.

    Nie Tian felt as if it was roaming around to plunder his life force.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡± Nie Tian snorted inwardly as he activated his bloodline talent to summon wisps of his flesh power from every corner of his body to bind up the foreign flesh aura.

    SHEW!

    The flesh aura seemed to go through some changes and flew voluntarily towards his heart, as if it were attracted by something.

    Nie Tian examined it closely with his soul awareness, and saw that the flesh aura originating from that green shield flew directly into the green aura within his heart like a river fusing into the sea, and soon vanished.

    Immediately afterwards, the green aura in his heart grew restless, like a greedy snake yearning for more.

    At this moment, everyone¡¯s expressions flickered with astonishment, their eyes fixed on him.

    They had all attempted to break the green shield, and suffered bacshes as soon as they made contact with it.

    Strong flesh auras had forcibly entered their bodies and sucked away their life force.

    They had struggled to contend against them. Some had sustained serious injuries, while others had managed to drive them out with great effort.

    Therefore, when the green shield had sent a bacsh aura into Nie Tian¡¯s body, they had all assumed that he would experience the same thing as they had, dealing with his internal riot in a muddled fashion.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s reaction surprised them.

    The bacsh aura was neutralized as soon as a wave of mysterious, subtle fluctuations appeared within him.

    At the same time, Nie Tian seemed as calm as ever, as if he wasn¡¯t affected at all.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Looking very intrigued, he said, ¡°Even though your wood power incantations also caused a bacsh from the green shield, your bloodline power... seemed to have helped you neutralize it. Why don¡¯t you try to use your bloodline power instead?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything.

    After absorbing that wisp of flesh aura from the shield above, the green aura in his heart, which carried the profound truths of his bloodline power, grew increasingly active.

    Thanks to the keen perception of his bloodline power, he realized that the life power within that green shield was ten times richer than the life power within all of the berriesbined.

    He was also convinced that as long as he activated Life Drain, he would be able to easily drain the green shield of all of its life power, perhaps even along with the life power within all of the berries.

    However, if he actually did that, he would have all of the fortune to himself, and everyone else, including Huang Jinnan, would have to return empty-handed, which would definitely be a problem.

    He pondered in silence for a few seconds before deciding not to do such a thing, but instead go through that green shield and collect the berries for distribution.

    WHOOSH!

    Stamping the floor with great force, he shot upwards like arge bird.

    Just as he was about to make contact with the green shield, his bloodline power was instantly activated, wreathing him in thick flesh aura.

    Then, he shot through the green shield like a sword.

    Everyone present eximed in shock.

    ¡°He did it!¡±

    ¡°He went through the shield so easily, as if he didn¡¯t meet any obstruction at all!¡±

    ¡°Can it be that his bloodline aura agrees with the titan¡¯s flesh aura that forms that shield?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he actually carries the titans¡¯ bloodline! But even among titans, their bloodlines vary. Is it possible that he happens to carry the same bloodline as this dead titan?¡±

    Standing on the green shield he had just went through, Nie Tian realized that, even without activating Life Drain, the life power within the shield was slowly fusing into him.

    Sensing this, the green aura within his heart was ecstatic.

    The green shield was originally rather thick and resilient, but as Nie Tian stood on it, it began growing thinner at a slow rate.

    It was just that the change was still too faint for the others to notice.

    However, Nie Tian was convinced that if he continued to stand on the shield, it wouldn¡¯t take very long before it grew thinner and thinner, and eventually vanishpletely.

    In order not to cause trouble, Nie Tian rapidly summoned a Medium grade dagger from within his ring of holding and shed back and forth to severe the vines and harvest the berries.

    In about ten seconds, he collected all thirty-three remaining berries.

    Then, without any dy, he flew through the green shield again tond on the cave floor.

    He fixed his eyes on Huang Jinnan. ¡°All thirty-three of them. How do you think we should split them?¡±

    Eyes shining with the light of excitement, Huang Jinnan pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t you take thirteen of them? They¡¯ll be the battle trophy for you and your three friends. You earned them. I¡¯ll split the remaining twenty among the rest of us. What do you think?¡±

    With a hearty smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Great.¡±

    Then, he handed twenty berries over to Huang Jinnan.

    At this moment, Han Sen jumped in and eximed, ¡°Brother Huang! What gave them the right to take thirteen of them, leaving the lot of us to split the remaining twenty?¡±

    Holding the twenty berries, Huang Jinnan shot a detesting gaze at Han Sen and berated, ¡°Because he¡¯s useful and you¡¯re not. He killed the most outsiders and found a way to secure these berries. Of the twenty, I¡¯ll take eight. Han Sen, you¡¯ll get one. The others will split the rest.¡±

    Han Sen was clearly unhappy with such an arrangement.

    However, Huang Jinnan ignored his attitudepletely. He tossed him a berry and went to hand the remaining berries to a few others, who appeared to be small leaders.

    None of them opposed to Huang Jinnan¡¯s distribution n. Instead, they all thanked him with smiling faces after receiving the berries.

    Nie Tian ran his gaze over the Qi warriors, and discovered that some of them were wearing the same garments, as if they were from the same sect.

    Huang Jinnan must have saved himself the trouble of giving berries to every one of them. Not to mention that the berries wouldn¡¯t be enough if he were to split them among everyone present.

    Since his distribution n was mostly fair and they all revered him, no one stood out to oppose him.

    Nie Tian walked to the girls and handed two berries to each of them, keeping seven to himself. ¡°Here. You don¡¯t have a problem with my split, do you?¡±

    All three of them were surprised, and nodded repeatedly as they put the berries away.

    Yin Yanan smiled heartily. ¡°It was indeed the right decision to travel with you.¡±

    Xie Wanting bowed slightly, her eyes smiling in the shape of crescent moons. ¡°Many thanks. The best decision I¡¯ve made on this trip is toe to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range with you.¡±

    She was the weakest among those who traveled with Nie Tian, and she didn¡¯t make any considerable contributions, but she still gained two berries. How could she not be happy about it?

    Looking at the crowd, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Alright, it¡¯s not safe to stay here for too long. Let¡¯s get out of here now.¡±

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°You¡¯re wee to travel with us. We¡¯re going to explore another wondrous ce in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. Do you want toe?¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°if you don¡¯t mind, can you wait for me outside? It¡¯ll be quick.¡±

    Huang Jinnan went nk briefly before looking up at the green shield that was still there. He seemed to realize something as he said, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll go out through that tunnel, and wait for you outside. If you want to join us in exploring that other ce,e and meet us in an hour.¡±

    Then, his face grew cold as he turned to Han Sen and said, ¡°You¡¯re not going with us. Take your berry and get out of my sight.¡±

    mes of anger burned in Han Sen¡¯s eyes, yet he didn¡¯t dare to say anything, and thus left by himself.

    ¡°Do you also not like that person, Brother Huang?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°He has a bad name to start with,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°And I learned that he set up and killed two groups of cultivators in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, and these are only what I know about. If he didn¡¯t happen toe in time for this fight against the outsiders, I wouldn¡¯t have allowed him to join us.

    ¡°You¡¯d better be careful with him. For all I know, he may circle back and try to take your berries.¡±

    With these reminders, Huang Jinnan left with the others through the tunnel he had pointed out for Nie Tian.

    Yin Yanan and the girls decided to stay and wait for Nie Tian.

 Chapter 873: Additional Gains

    After Huang Jinnan left with the others, Nie Tian hesitated briefly before saying, ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay here. Why don¡¯t you go wait outside with those people?¡±

    Xie Wanting shook her head. ¡°I feel safer with you.¡±

    Mu Biqiong chimed in, ¡°We¡¯ll wait for you right here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m actually asking you to leave.¡± Nie Tian insisted.

    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± Yin Yanan asked with a confused look on her face.

    Mu Biqiong and Xie Wanting also fixed him with puzzled gazes.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before saying, ¡°In fact, why don¡¯t you stay here for a while, Yin Yanan, and you two wait outside with the others?¡±

    Seeing that he only wanted Yin Yanan to stay, Mu Biqiong looked rather disgruntled, as she gave a cold harrumph and left.

    Xie Wanting still looked at Nie Tian, but after seeing his determined expression, she sighed inwardly and also left.

    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t know that you actually trust me this much,¡± Yin Yanan said with a teasing smile.

    ¡°Here¡¯s another berry. I want you to stand guard for me. If that Han Senes back here, I want you to kill him.¡± With these words, Nie Tian tossed Yin Yanan another berry, and flew up towards the green shield.

    Yin Yanan was indeed the one he trusted the most among the three girls.

    He didn¡¯t know Xie Wanting well enough. Mu Biqiong had disliked him from the day they had met. Now, he had to watch out for Han Sen while absorbing the power within the green shield, so he assumed that he would be safer with Yin Yanan here to protect him.

    Once again, he flew through and stood on the green shield.

    However, he didn¡¯t act meticulously this time, but activated Life Drain instead.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The wisps of residual life power that swam within the green shield were sucked into him like a whale taking water into its mouth.

    The green aura within his heart was thrilled.

    The originally thick shield grew thinner with lightning speed as it lost its power at an rming rate.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    At this moment, she finally understood why Nie Tian wanted to stay here.

    Wisps of power flew out of the shield into Nie Tian¡¯s body, where they were greedily devoured by the green aura in his heart.

    As this happened, numerous new cyan spots seemed to be born within the Bloodline Crystal Chains that formed the green aura.

    ¡°This power...¡± Delight appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he realized that the power within this shield was indeed far richer than the power within those berries.

    Besides, this power seemed to be of great help to the future upgrade of his bloodline.

    He knew perfectly well that with every bloodline upgrade, he would have to umte many times more flesh power to achieve his next upgrade. Now that his bloodline had entered the sixth grade, the amount of flesh power he needed to enter the seventh grade would most likely be astronomical.

    However, the shield not only contained a titan¡¯s residual flesh power, but also its life power, which agreed perfectly with his bloodline and would benefit him beyond measure.

    As one wisp of green energy after another flew into him and were devoured by the green aura within his heart, he could sense its unconceble joy.

    An hour passed...

    The green shield finally vanishedpletely under the effect of Nie Tian¡¯s Life Drain.

    Even the severed vines hanging from the cave ceiling shriveled, as they were also drained of their flesh power and life power.

    Nie Tian examined himself, and realized that even though the green aura in his heart had absorbed a significant amount of flesh power and life power, it was far from ready to enter dormancy again.

    Since he had expected this, he didn¡¯t grow anxious. Instead, he summoned some of his flesh power to form two drops of Blood Essence within his heart.

    With this done, he had ten drops of Blood Essence in his heart again. Each and every one of them was rich in flesh aura and as sparkling as diamonds.

    Afterwards, one of the berries flew out of his ring of holding into his palm, where he examined the energy it contained.

    <i>¡°The medicinal strength of this berry is weaker than that of a Fruit of Life by over ten times. The Fruits of Life I got for my master and uncle Hua gave each of them a hundred more years of lifespan. But one of these berries can only extend a Qi warrior¡¯s lifespan by no more than eight years. Even though they also contain life power, which is helpful to my special bloodline, it¡¯s far fainter than the life power within the green shield.¡±</i>

    After weighing the situation in his mind, he eventually put the berry away, instead of refining it right away.

    Yin Yanan had gazed at him in silence the entire time.

    Having witnessed the green shield gradually vanish after Nie Tian had stood on it, disbelief filled her face as she asked, ¡°Did you just absorb the residual power within that green shield?¡±

    Since she practiced the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s special body refinement incantations, she had developed a keen perception of flesh auras.

    She had long since sensed rich flesh aura and vigorous life power within that green shield. It was just that she hadn¡¯t figured out a way to channel it into her this whole time.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m finished. Let¡¯s go meet the others.¡± Without giving her an exnation, Nie Tian took the initiative to leave the mountain cave via the tunnel Huang Jinnan and the others had left in.

    Deeply puzzled, Yin Yanan cursed inwardly, ¡°Always making mysteries out of things... What on earth is so special about that guy¡¯s bloodline? My Frost Blood Python and that woman¡¯s demonic flowers all showed a strong desire for him. He can wield the Floragrims¡¯ magical tool, and he was able to absorb a titan¡¯s residual flesh aura... What kind of bloodline is it?¡±

    She racked her mind, but still couldn¡¯t think of an answer. Thus, with a frustrated sigh, she followed Nie Tian out of the mountain cave.

    A quarter hour after they left, Fata the Floragrim arrived in the mountain cave quietly.

    He didn¡¯t travel with Froste and the other outsiders, but sought this ce on his own.

    Standing in the empty cave that was bereft of the berries and the green shield, Fata was confused. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here. Someone has collected the fruits of that titan¡¯s residual flesh aura. Who could have taken this great fortune?¡±

    A frustrated look appeared on his face.

    Then, he spent a while to examine the cave, only to find a number of outsider and human corpses that were stripped of their valuables.

    Having gained nothing, he muttered in frustration, ¡°It seems that my trip to the Shatter Battlefield is going to end ahead of schedule.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and left through the tunnel he hade from.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian and Yin Yanan walked out of their tunnel into a vast, open area.

    This tunnel wasn¡¯t the one they had taken to enter the mountain¡¯s belly, but was instead on the other side of the lofty mountain peak.

    Huang Jinnan and the others were waiting at the foot of the mountain peak, recovering strength with spiritual materials as they did.

    Mu Biqiong and Xie Wanting were sitting with them.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, Huang Jinnan¡¯s face split into a bright smile as he waved at him.

    Nie Tian and Yin Yanan then flew to the location where Huang Jinnan and the others were gathered.

    ¡°Well? Any additional gains?¡± Huang Jinnan asked, smiling.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly, not saying anything.

    Seeing this, instead of asking for more details, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to another ce and see what we can find. I¡¯m certain that this ce I¡¯m taking you holds Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials. Perhaps we¡¯ll run into that group of outsiders again. In that case, we¡¯ll also split our gains ording to the contributions we make.¡±

    Having fought together once, Nie Tian already had positive feelings towards Huang Jinnan. Now that he heard that there might be Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, he was deeply intrigued, and agreed to join them without hesitation.

    As Huang Jinnan gave an order, all of the cultivating Qi warriors rose to their feet.

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after another was summoned. Standing on a shiny golden chariot, he thought for a moment before saying to Nie Tian, ¡°We can share a ride if you don¡¯t mind.¡±

    As the other Qi warriors flew onto their own air-transportation spiritual tools, Xie Wanting summoned her air-transportation spiritual tool and flew on board, along with Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s chariot was apparently beyond ordinary. Countless golden divine symbols could be seen carved on it, as if they could help defend the air-transportation spiritual tool as well as attack enemies. From the look of it, it was on the same level as Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat.

    Meanwhile, Xie Wanting fixed Nie Tian with an anticipating gaze, as if she wished Nie Tian woulde join them.

    However, Nie Tian thought briefly, then eventually avoided her anticipating gaze. Instead, he flew onto Huang Jinnan¡¯s chariot and said, ¡°I happen to have something I want to ask you about.¡±

    ¡°About the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Huang Jinnan asked, smiling.

    ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell you everything I know.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    One air-transportation spiritual tool after another flew out, with Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot in the lead.

    Nie Tian, however, took the opportunity to ask Huang Jinnan about the ¡®path of stars¡¯ and the Heaven Gate trials, along with other wonderment regarding the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Huang Jinnan answered his questions one by one with a warm smile.

 Chapter 874: All Kinds of Secrets

    They encountered a few groups of evil spirits and ghouls along the way.

    Every time they ran into evil spirits, Nie Tian would wait for the right time to take out the Spirit Pearl, so that it would swallow the evil spirits.

    Whenever they encountered ghouls, Huang Jinnan wouldunch overwhelming attacks to split them into pieces, causing them to suffer violent deaths.

    When they had time to spare, Nie Tian would ask Huang Jinnan about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    From him, Nie Tian gained a brand new understanding of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As one of the four great human powers, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had more subordinate forces and affiliated domains than they could count.

    Every few years, they would take in disciples and teach them secret magics and profound incantations.

    First, they would select youngsters with extraordinary talent who met their criteria from their subordinate forces.

    Every time they took in disciples, a grand gathering would be held. Tens of thousands of youngsters would participate. However, less than one percent of them would actually pass their tests and be taken in as their disciples.

    Even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would take in numerous disciples with every admission gathering, very few of them would eventually rise above the others and be Sons of the Stars.

    Sometimes, dozens of admission gatherings would pass without even one youngster winning the acknowledgment of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s parliament of elders.

    This was only one of the methods through which the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce took in disciples.

    The other method was to pick Sons of the Stars directly.

    Over hundreds of thousands of years, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had attacked and seized many domains. For some reason, they had left some of them unattended, but some of those domains were still rather important to them, and they had other ns for them.

    They knew that some special domains had the potential to produce figures with unlimited cultivation talent.

    Therefore, they would leave Heaven Gates in those domains.

    These Heaven Gates would open every few decades, or even centuries.

    The participants of the Heaven Gate trials who could make it to the grand pce, collect all three fragmentary star marks, and merge the fragmentary star marks with themselves, would be a Son of the Stars directly, skipping the process of bing regr disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Right now, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had a total of seven Sons of the Stars.

    Five of them had risen to their current position through the first method. They were the ones that had emerged after numerous rounds of selection.

    Nie Tian and another had be Sons of the Stars after passing the Heaven Gate trial and merging all three fragmentary star marks.

    No matter through which method they had be Sons of the Stars, their future paths would be full of dangers and difficulties. As for the first kind of Sons of the Stars, who had won the favor of the parliament of elders to be Sons of the Stars, they would have to fight outsiders and temper themselves through battles at early ages.

    Battles between humans and outsiders had never stopped. Sons of the Stars would usually be sent to major battlefields in different domains to fight outsiders on the front lines.

    Therefore, many of them would die at the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    The second kind of Sons of the Stars, who had passed the Heaven Gate trials to be Sons of the Stars, would also face an extended and dangerous test, which was to finish the ¡®path of stars¡¯.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would leave behind all kinds of arrangements that could be used to help them return to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters. However, they wouldn¡¯t provide them with any guidance or assistance. Instead, they would have to fend for themselves. Besides that, they would have to build themselves up while seeking their way back to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters. Only after their cultivation bases, temperament, and learning ability had achieved certain levels would they eventually be granted entrance.

    But after their return, the Sons of the Stars would have ess to a copious amount of cultivation resources.

    Meanwhile,petition also existed between them, as only one of them would eventually be the Lord of the Stars.

    When one of them passed countless tests and eventually became the new Lord of the Stars, all of the other Sons of the Stars in his or her generation would have to join the parliament of elders to assist the new Lord of the Stars.

    Even the current Lord of the Stars had risen to power following these steps. ording to Huang Jinnan, the current Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was now at the peak of the God domain.

    And he had already been in this renowned position for fifty thousand years.

    However, as powerful as he was, his lifespan wasn¡¯t unlimited.

    Rumor had it he was going to reach the end of his life soon.

    After he passed away, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would have to select a new Lord of the Stars from the seven current Sons of the Stars.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Even God domain experts have to face lifespan problems?¡±

    Huang Jinnan sighed. ¡°No one is truly immortal. It¡¯s true of both humans and outsiders. Admittedly, outsiders and Ancientspirits can live much longer than humans. Some of them can even live up to a million years. However, as powerful as they are, they¡¯ll eventually run out of their flesh aura, wither away, and die.

    ¡°The same goes for us.

    ¡°Before reaching the Worldly realm, human cultivators can¡¯t form their true souls, and therefore won¡¯t gain any extra years. Two hundred years will be the limit of their lifespan.

    ¡°After entering the Worldly realm, their lifespan will extend to five hundred years.

    ¡°Profound realm cultivators can live up to a thousand years. Soul realm cultivators can live up to three thousand years.

    ¡°The Void domain is another hurdle. Once they cross it, their lifespan will extend to a hundred thousand years.

    ¡°The limit of a Saint domain cultivator¡¯s lifespan is three hundred thousand years.

    ¡°God domain cultivators can live as long as eight hundred thousand years.¡±

    With these words, Huang Jinnan sighed again. ¡°But even God domain human experts¡¯ lifespans are far shorter than those of outsider experts.

    ¡°Outsider grand monarchs can easily live for hundreds of thousands of years. Some can even live for a million years. This is something humans can¡¯t imagine to achieve.

    ¡°Titans and Ancientbeasts can live even longer than outsiders.

    ¡°Besides, they don¡¯t have to make much effort to earn extra years. They are born with long lifespans, so as long as they don¡¯t get killed, their bloodlines will gradually upgrade on their own. They don¡¯t have to worry that they¡¯ll die very early just because they failed to upgrade fast enough.

    ¡°Humans, however, face lifespan problems on a regr basis, so we have to exert ourselves to practice cultivation, and do everything we can to umte spiritual power.

    ¡°But perhaps this is the reason why humans progress faster in strength than outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    ¡°It¡¯s easier for us to climb to the peak of power, but it¡¯s also easier for us to run out of our lifespans and die on our way up. Unlike us, Ancientspirits and outsiders can take their time to upgrade. So it¡¯s verymon for Ancientspirits and outsiders to live for a few hundred thousand years.¡±

    With a curious expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°You¡¯re the Five Elements Sect¡¯s Divine Son of the metal element section, but it seems to me that you¡¯re very young for a man with your status, and your cultivation base isn¡¯t very intimidating.¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s face grew somewhat grim as he said, ¡°I¡¯m the weakest of all of the Divine Children of my sect, and that¡¯s because I was only recently chosen to be a Divine Son. The former Divine Son of the metal section died fighting outsiders in a remote domain. He was just one step away from entering the Void domain when he died. It was such a pity.

    ¡°Only after his death was I chosen to take his ce.

    ¡°Since I haven¡¯t been in this position for very long, my cultivation base hasn¡¯t risen very high, and I¡¯m still much weaker than the other four Divine Sons and Daughters.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he said inwardly, <i>¡°Divine Son... Divine Daughter...¡±</i>

    Something suddenly urred to him.

    He remembered that the first owner of the me Dragon Armor seemed to be named the Daughter of mes.

    A man named Pang Chicheng had killed her and be the me Dragon Armor¡¯s second owner.

    The Five Elements Sect consisted of a metal element section, wood element section, water element section, me element section, and earth element section. Could that Daughter of mes have been the Divine Daughter of the me element section?

    Was it possible that the powerful experts of the Five Elements Sect had forged the me Dragon Armor for her?

    A series of thoughts rapidly shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    The whole time, he had worried that if he had summoned the me Dragon Armor, its intense flesh aura would attract an rming amount of tainted energies. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t used it, and Huang Jinnan hadn¡¯t seen it so far.

    ¡°Well, is there a person called the Daughter of mes in your sect?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Looking confused, Huang Jinnan asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯d never heard of me or my sect? How do you know my senior martial sister¡¯s name?¡±

    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s what I thought,¡± Nie Tian said with a surprised look on his face.

    Then, he gave a dry smile and exined, ¡°I heard that name from someone in one of the ces I explored. What you said got me wondering, so I asked that question. Is she still alive?¡±

    ¡°She was set up and killed by a thief, and lost one of our sect¡¯s most powerful magical treasures,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°But a wisp of her soul managed to escape. Now, after a thousand years, she has already been reborn and returned to her peak cultivation base, the early Void domain.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyelids twitched slightly.

    He hadn¡¯t expected the me Dragon Armor to be a powerful magical treasure of the Five Elements Sect.

    It was even more unexpected that the Daughter of mes hadn¡¯t truly died, but instead had been reborn and recovered her early Void domain cultivation base.

    Fortunately, Pang Chicheng had erased most of the me Dragon Armor¡¯s memories of the Daughter of mes, and the me Dragon Armor had acknowledged himpletely after so many rounds of refinement.

    However, if Huang Jinnan learned that he had one of his sect¡¯s most powerful magical treasures in his possession...

    As his train of thought reached this point, he grew cautious when talking to Huang Jinnan.

    Furthermore, he was worried that Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong would reveal such information, and thus stopped asking about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. He found an excuse to leave Huang Jinnan and rejoin the girls on Xie Wanting¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    He signaled Xie Wanting to slow down and put a certain distance between them and Huang Jinnan.

    ¡°From now on, pretend you¡¯ve never seen that suit of armor of mine, and don¡¯t mention it to anyone,¡± Nie Tian said with all seriousness. ¡°It might have deep connections to the Five Elements Sect.¡±

 Chapter 875: A Stone Golem Capital

    Astonishment spread across Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s faces.

    Face grim, Nie Tian exined, ¡°The armor¡¯s first master, the Daughter of mes, was the me element section¡¯s Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect. What¡¯s really troublesome is that she didn¡¯t actually die. When she was killed by a man named Pang Chicheng, a wisp of her soul managed to escape, which allowed her to eventually be reborn. Now, she has recovered her early Void domain cultivation base, along with her peak battle prowess.¡±

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s brief exnation, the girls were smart enough to know that the me Dragon Armor couldn¡¯t be exposed.

    ¡°If it¡¯s the Five Elements Sect who forged the me Dragon Armor... I think we¡¯d better not travel with Huang Jinnan anymore,¡± Xie Wanting said with a worried expression.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary. I don¡¯t intend to use the me Dragon Armor in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range anyways. As long as I don¡¯t summon it, we¡¯ll be able to get along with Huang Jinnan and the others just fine.¡±

    ¡°That man seems to be generous and kind, but in fact, he¡¯s very arrogant,¡± Mu Biqiong said with furrowed eyebrows. ¡°He only attaches importance to you, who he knows is a Son of the Stars. He doesn¡¯t care about anyone else, including Han Sen, who he expelled because of you. He¡¯s only so keen to make friends with you because you¡¯re a Son of the Stars.

    ¡°However, that suit of armor is one of the Five Elements Sect¡¯s most precious treasures. If he somehow finds out about it, he¡¯ll definitely try to take it back.

    ¡°He¡¯s far too strong for us. Even with the help of my coexisting flowers, I doubt that I¡¯d be able to match him in battle.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded slightly and chimed in, ¡°I¡¯m afraid my eighth grade Frost Blood Python won¡¯t be able to stop him either.¡±

    Nie Tian could tell that they were very apprehensive about this Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. I won¡¯t expose the me Dragon Armor.¡± He tried tofort them with these words.

    ...

    A few hours passed as their air-transportation spiritual tool followed Huang Jinnan and the others from a certain distance.

    They started to encounter more and more evil spirits and ghouls along their way, and the ghouls and evil spirits they met became stronger and stronger.

    Soon, a magnificent stone city entered everyone¡¯s sight.

    Nie Tian stood aghast upon seeing it. ¡°Another Stone Golem city!¡±

    Before marching on to the Fortune Wells, he hade across a Stone Golem city, where he had met some Earth Spirit Sect disciples.

    However, that stone city had been in ruins, as if it had witnessed countless fierce battles. Even the city walls had copsed.

    However, this city before them was not only intact, but also muchrger and more splendid.

    From a thousand meters away, Nie Tian gazed off into the city, and saw numerous evil spirits flying across in it.

    Some of them were exceptionallyrge, as if they were transformed from the discarnate souls of Ancientbeasts.

    Others weren¡¯t terrifyinglyrge, but gave Nie Tian a strong sense of danger.

    They seemed to have transformed from the discarnate souls of Phantasms, and the Bloody Grave Mountain Range¡¯s unique environment seemed to have made them extremely fierce and vicious.

    There were also ghouls that were more than ten meters tall and covered in fluffy white hair. They roamed the wide streets, as if they were looking for something.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot stopped before the city, where he called out, ¡°Nie Tian! That former Stone Golem capital is our destination. I¡¯m certain that there are Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials in it. All we need to do is find them.¡±

    He was surrounded by other air-transportation spiritual tools, on which chosen ones from various domains looked very spirited.

    ¡°Remember: don¡¯t mention the me Dragon Armor,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice, before signaling for Xie Wanting to pick up speed to fly in Huang Jinnan¡¯s direction.

    Gazing at the stone city, Mu Biqiong couldn¡¯t get over a peculiar feeling that something was wrong with it. ¡°I think we should tell him about the Stone Golems we saw,¡± she said. ¡°Those Stone Golems might havee to the Shatter Battlefield too after leaving the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and it¡¯s very likely that they¡¯ll return to their former capital.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll tell him about that.¡±

    Xie Wanting gasped. ¡°What?! There are still Stone Golems alive?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s a ce called the Seven-star Blue Sea in our domain,¡± Mu Biqiong said with a cautious expression. ¡°We saw eight stone statues fly out of it, along with ast one, which was thergest of them all. Onlyter did we find out that they were actually Stone Golems from the Deste Antiquity Era. We didn¡¯t know why they would show up there, but we heard them chanting the word ¡®Shatter¡¯ in some ancientnguage as they flew away. It looked like they were trying to find their way to the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    A shocked expression appeared on Xie Wanting¡¯s face as she asked, ¡°We won¡¯t encounter those Stone Golems here, will we?¡±

    ¡°I hope not,¡± Mu Biqiong said softly.

    As they talked in low voices, their air-transportation spiritual tool flew to Huang Jinnan¡¯s location. He looked at Nie Tian with a broad smile and teased, ¡°You have three great beauties in yourpany. No wonder you didn¡¯t want to spend too long with me.¡±

    He had assumed that Nie Tian had left him to take care of the girls.

    Nie Tian yed off his assumption by saying, ¡°Women, right? Always so clingy.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the three girls all fixed him with sideways nces, but with different looks in their eyes.

    Huang Jinnanughed broadly. ¡°I understand. Young people have every reason to be romantic. I envy your luck with women. Alright, that aside, we still have business to take care of.

    ¡°That Stone Golem capital is where the most powerful evil spirits and ghouls are gathered. People have always considered it as a forbidden area.

    ¡°But if we want to find Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, we¡¯ll have to deal with those evil spirits and ghouls. I suggest we stick to our routine. You take care of the evil spirits, while I handle the ghouls.¡±

    With a serious expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What¡¯s so special about this Stone Golem capital, Brother Huang? Why would so many powerful evil spirits and ghouls gather in it?¡±

    Frowning, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that. I just know that some people havee and found Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials here before. Who knows why all of the most powerful evil spirits and ghouls like this ce so much that they treat it as their home?¡±

    ¡°There aren¡¯t any Stone Golems left in the city, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°How¡¯s that possible? Stone Golems went extinct after the first great war. No one has ever seen them again.¡± Huang Jinnan said with an expression as if Nie Tian was questioning the obvious.

    Face serious, Nie Tian said, ¡°I saw living Stone Golems not long ago. There were nine of them, and they could have already entered the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Huang Jinnan and the other chosen ones were all shocked by his words.

    ¡°Tell me more,¡± Huang Jinnan said, looking very concerned.

    Nie Tian then exined, ¡°A total of nine Stone Golems rose from the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Eight of them had the battle prowess of Void domain human experts, and the ninth one seemed to be as powerful as a Saint domain expert...¡±

    Listening to Nie Tian¡¯s words, Huang Jinnan took a deep look at the city, a shade of heaviness appearing in his eyes.

    Clearly, he was now hesitant as to whether he should enter the city.

    WHOOSH!

    A river of golden light suddenly shot out of the long spear in his hand. Countless divine symbols flew out of it, rapidly forming arge, golden eye.

    Like a rising sun, the magical eye floated towards the stone city.

    At the same time, Huang Jinnan¡¯s own eyes were also filled with glittering golden light.

    Countless strands of soul awareness poured out of the floating golden eye to detect soul movements in the city in a unique way.

    Momentster, the floating eye faded away, along with the golden light in Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes. ¡°The city is quite big, but I didn¡¯t capture any suspicious soul auras. All I sensed were unintelligent evil spirits that roamed the city streets. But still, I can¡¯t promise that there aren¡¯t Stone Golems in the city.¡±

    He pondered briefly before adding, ¡°Even if there were Stone Golems in there, I¡¯d be able to get myself to safety on my chariot. But you might not be as lucky as me. So you should decide whether you want to enter the city with me or not.¡±

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What about you? Do you want to take a look inside, or do you want to leave?¡±

    Nie Tian shot a nce at his chariot and said with a smile, ¡°I have my own means of escape.¡±

    With these words, he summoned the Star Boat from within his ring of holding, signaling the girls to shift rides.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes lit up as he smiled and said, ¡°One of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Star Boats! It¡¯s at the same grade as my chariot. I suppose it can take you to safety whenever you want to leave.¡±

    The others took a moment to weigh their choices, and eventually decided to take the risk to explore the city.

    ¡°Good,¡± Huang Jinnan addressed the crowd. ¡°We¡¯re going in, but be careful, everyone.¡±

 Chapter 876: A Well Filled with Grimy Blood

    The Stone Golem capital was built with pale-gray rocks. The tainted energies within the city were much thicker than without.

    Numerous evil spirits and ghouls roamed the city.

    Stone pavilions that were several dozen meters high stood on either side of the wide streets.

    As soon as Nie Tian and the others¡¯ air-transportation spiritual tools crossed the city wall into the city, their flesh and soul auras instantly attracted evil spirits and ghouls to them.

    Evil spirits fed on souls, so they came after their true souls.

    Ghouls, however, came to feast on their flesh and blood.

    Not all of the evil spirits were equally strong. Those who had been powerful when they had been alive would be powerful after turning into evil spirits.

    The same went for the ghouls.

    Nie Tian examined the ghouls pouring towards them with rapt attention, and discovered that almost none of them had been transformed from humans.

    However, after pondering the matter briefly, he realized that since humans had feeble flesh bodies and weak flesh power, the chance of them turning into ghouls must be smaller to start with.

    Then, even if they became ghouls, they would be the weakest among the ghouls.

    They might have long since been eliminated by former explorers who had entered this city.

    Therefore, most of the ghouls that had survived had been transformed from outsiders or Ancientbeasts.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    About a dozen evil spirits flew towards them like clusters of gray clouds, screeching as they did.

    As they approached, a cloudy soul aura that was mixed with raging killing intent blew directly in their faces.

    Without making a sound, the peculiar soul aura pervaded arge area around them in the blink of an eye.

    Waves were instantly created in Nie Tian¡¯s quiet sea of awareness. Even his true soul, which he had refined many times, seemed to be shaken, and became somewhat blurry.

    As soon as this happened, Nie Tian felt very dizzy, as if he was being bewitched.

    He instantly realized that the cloudy aura had already infiltrated into his sea of awareness without him knowing it.

    ¡°Star Soul Shine!¡± As a thought entered his mind, the nine star souls that floated over his sea of awareness instantly emanated chilly starlight that had the effect of soothing his nerves and cleansing his mind.

    He soon rid him of the soul aura¡¯s negative influence and recovered a clear mind.

    Immediately afterwards, he turned to look at the three girls in the Star Boat with him.

    Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan didn¡¯t summon their coexisting flowers or Frost Blood Python, but they were able tomunicate with them on a soul level to draw some of their soul power.

    Thanks to this, the two of them also rapidly recovered clear minds after a short period of bewilderment.

    However, as heid eyes on Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect, he discovered that a fierce look had been added to the depths of her pupils, which were usually as quiet aske water.

    A strange aura that was filled with violence and a thirst for blood rapidly built up within her,pletely unlike her normal vibe.

    Killing intent shed across her eyes.

    ¡°Wake up!¡± Nie Tian shouted, while lifting his hand to ce his finger on the spot between her eyebrows.

    A wisp of chilling star power instantly spread out from his fingertip, cleansing her bewildered mind.

    The fierce look in her eyes rapidly faded, along with the strange aura that had wreathed her.

    Immediately afterwards, she came back to her senses. With a confused expression, she asked, ¡°What just happened?¡±

    ¡°Strange,¡± Mu Biqiong said in a soft voice. ¡°Not only are the evil spirits in this Stone Golem capital in great numbers, but they can even bewitch people.¡±

    ¡°Be careful now,¡± Nie Tian said, withdrawing his finger from between Xie Wanting¡¯s eyebrows. ¡°You¡¯d better guard your sea of awareness at all times, lest you get influenced again.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Xie Wanting said, her heart still fluttering with fear. ¡°Sorry I was too careless. None of the evil spirits we met before were able to bewitch people, so I wasn¡¯t prepared for this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian said inly.

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan¡¯s chariot and all of the other air-transportation spiritual tools started gathering towards Nie Tian.

    That was because the iing evil spirits had attacked their seas of awareness as well.

    However, none of them seemed very much affected, as they all looked rather calm andposed.

    As a few evil spirits flew closer and closer to Nie Tian, numerous fine soul strands interwove into arge that hoped to the souls of Nie Tian and the others.

    Having dealt with evil spirits on many asions, Nie Tian had long since been prepared for this. He summoned the Spirit Pearl as soon as the soul strands appeared.

    In the next moment, the fine soul strands released by the evil spirits were sucked into the cyan pearl like wisps of cyan mist.

    Seeing this, the evil spirits became instinctively scared, and fled in panic.

    However, an irresistible attractive force was born within the Spirit Pearl, and the evil spirits were grabbed, as if by invisible hands, and dragged right into the cyan pearl.

    The other evil spirits, which were attacking Huang Jinnan and the others, instantly sensed danger, and flew away as quickly as they could.

    Soon, all of them vanished into the distance.

    Huang Jinnan and the others didn¡¯t seem shocked by Nie Tian¡¯s performance, as they had witnessed Nie Tian do this before with that mysterious pearl.

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    One ghoul after another walked out of the lofty stone pavilions on either side of the wide street.

    From the look of it, they had turned the former Stone Golem residences into their own homes.

    Only after catching a whiff of flesh aura would theye out of them and prey on the living.

    Covered in fluffy hair all over, the ghouls were of different sizes. Some of them could even fly, while others walked the gruesome streets. However, all of them fixed their dull, hollow eyes on the air-transportation spiritual tools that were berthed in midair.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    All of the flying ghouls morphed into streaks of pale light that rammed directly towards the air-transportation spiritual tools.

    ¡°Leave these ghouls to us,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a rxed smile.

    Immediately afterwards, all of the others from the various domains shot out of their air-transportation spiritual tools or drove their air-transportation spiritual tools towards the iing ghouls, engaging in a fierce fight.

    Huang Jinnan, however, didn¡¯t head out. Instead, like a magnificent statue bathed in divine golden light, he stood unwavering on his golden chariot.

    From the look of it, he didn¡¯t think it was necessary that he fight these ghouls personally. The other Qi warriors would be more than capable of handling them.

    Under the young chosen ones¡¯ joint attack, the flying ghouls were indeed proven inferior, as many of them were split into chunks of cold flesh that fell out of the air.

    The ghouls that were walking in the street gathered over to the mangled parts of their own kind, and started munching.

    It didn¡¯t take very long for the Qi warriors to ughter all of the ghouls that could fly.

    All that were left were ghouls that couldn¡¯t fly, and since they were busy feasting on the remains of their friends, they posed no threat to Nie Tian and the others.

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes once again started to glitter with golden light.

    His golden pupils seemed to allow him to detect even the most subtle movements as he nced around at the stone pavilions the ghouls hade out of.

    Momentster, he eximed, ¡°That one!¡± Then, his golden chariot suddenly shot behind one of the stone pavilions like a golden sh.

    Surprised by his action, Nie Tian went nk for a moment before flying after him on the Star Boat.

    There was a well in the spacious backyard of the stone pavilion.

    A shriveled female ghoul was standing by the well and pulling bucket after bucket out of it with a dull expression on her face.

    Instead of clean water, the bucket she pulled from the well was actually filled with grimy blood.

    The female ghoul buried her face in the bucket and started gulping, and soon emptied the bucket.

    Then, she threw the bucket back into the well and repeated the action mechanically.

    There were no other ghouls by the well.

    Huang Jinnan got off his golden chariot and watched the ghoul in silence. After observing for a while, he said in a low voice, ¡°A Demon ghoul.¡±

    After berthing the Star Boat beside Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot, Nie Tian jumped off it and stared shockingly at the well and the ghoul.

    Violent, frenzied flesh power could be sensed from the well.

    Eyes narrowed, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°I sensed that there was an Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material inside the well, but I couldn¡¯t tell what it was exactly. Let¡¯s get rid of this ghoul first.¡±

    The female ghoul had focused all of her attention on drinking the grimy blood that she scooped from the well, and waspletely unaware of their arrival.

    She was obviously different from the other ghouls.

    All of the other ghouls had rushed out to Nie Tian and the others upon sniffing out their flesh auras, but she had stayed here the whole time, scooping grimy blood from the well.

    She was so concentrated that even Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan¡¯s arrival didn¡¯t alert her.

    BZZZ!

    A bolt of golden lightning suddenly shot out of Huang Jinnan¡¯s fingertip, piercing directly towards the ghoul.

    The ghoul finally sensed something, and thus turned around instantly.

    A strand of her long, knotted hair suddenly shot out like an arrow, shing with Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden lightning bolt.

    The golden lightning was reduced to tiny golden sparks that rained from midair as the ghoul¡¯s strand of hair also blew up.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A shocked expression spread across Huang Jinnan¡¯s face, as he clearly didn¡¯t expect that this ghoul transformed from a female Demon would be able to neutralize his attack so easily.

    He was well-aware that that golden lightning bolt of his could easily split rocks and prate metal. No outsider at or under the sixth grade could have defended against it so effortlessly.

    ¡°This ghoul must have been at a high grade when she was alive.¡±

 Chapter 877: Meeting Xing Bo Again

    An intrigued expression appeared on Huang Jinnan¡¯s face.

    A golden lotus rapidly formed over his syed hand. Each and every petal seemed to be branded with the profound truths of metal power.

    WHOOSH!

    The golden lotus spun, emanating dazzling golden light that was divine and pure.

    Tens of thousands of golden strings shot out of each petal of the golden lotus, along with an aura that could eliminate all that was foul and evil.

    The female Demon ghoul seemed to be burned by the divine light as she let out pained cries, her long, knotted hair scattering and fluttering in the air.

    As ghostly pale mes started burning in the ghoul¡¯s hollow eyes, intense tainted energies suddenly poured towards her from all directions.

    Everyone in the courtyard, including Nie Tian, started to suffer from the increased amount of tainted energies around them.

    Apparently, this ghoul was different from the ones they had encountered before.

    None of the ghouls or evil spirits they had met in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range could summon tainted energies from their surroundings, but this ghoul could.

    Multicolored tainted energies rapidly converged on the ghoul, forming what seemed to be a colorful robe.

    Like steel needles, the golden strings unleashed by Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden lotus shot directly into it, but failed to prate it.

    The faint golden mes burning all over her were also put out in an instant.

    Then, as she flung her bony left arm, a streak of pale light shot across the air.

    BOOM!

    The golden lotus suffered a strong blow. Its petals even fell off and exploded.

    After the explosion, the petals turned into clusters of golden mes that were filled with dazzling divine symbols.

    ¡°Astral Metal Spell Formation!¡± As soon as Huagn Jinnan eximed these words, the divine symbols wreathed in golden mes formed a profound spell formation that emanated waves of holy power.

    The ghoul was instantly trapped within the spell formation.

    At the same time, the spell formation kept the tainted energies that were converging from all directions from fusing into her.

    Like golden butterflies, clusters of mes flew out of the spell formation to strike the ghoul, as if they were alive.

    The multicolored robe of tainted energies on the ghoul gradually fell apart, revealing her fluffy white hair again.

    ¡°Brother Huang!¡± At this moment, the other Qi warriors also rushed to Huang Jinnan¡¯s location, attracting more ghouls as they did.

    Many of the ghouls that couldn¡¯t fly were finished with their friends¡¯ remains. They sniffed out their flesh auras, and thus rushed over from different directions.

    ¡°You just deal with the ghouls converging on us,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a calm expression. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of this special ghoul myself.¡±

    As golden light interwove in his eyes, even more golden mes flew out of the Astral Metal Spell Formation.

    Soon, the multicolored robe of tainted energies on the female Demon ghoul waspletely burned away, and she herself was charred.

    The tainted energies that had converged on her gradually scattered and vanished, along with the ghoul¡¯s unique toxins and corpse aura.

    ¡°Come back!¡± Huang Jinnan made a grabbing motion in the air, and the golden mes and the divine symbols rapidly came together, retaking the form of a golden lotus, which was holy and pure, and gave off divine light.

    After the golden lotus disappeared in his palm, he leapt to the dead ghoul with just one step.

    Even though Nie Tian didn¡¯t join this battle personally, he paid close attention to Huang Jinnan¡¯s various secret magics, and the unusual power flowing within the ghoul.

    He realized that the golden lotus might be another Spirit Channeling grade treasure in Huang Jinnan¡¯s possession.

    Unlike his long golden spear, that golden lotus could establish a spell formation and wield divine power that had the effect of purging vile things.

    The special ghoul that could summon tainted energies had only put up a brief fight before being burned to the death by the golden mes.

    As soon as the ghoul died, the tainted energies that had poured into the courtyard from all directions dissipated, relieving the heightened pressure on Nie Tian and the others.

    ¡°No matter how powerful you were when you were alive, as long as you can¡¯t use any of your bloodline power, there¡¯s no way you can match me in battle.¡± Muttering these words, Huang Jinnan summoned his long golden spear again and split the charred ghoul with it.

    There turned out to be nothing special with her shriveled body.

    Huang Jinnan soon lost interest in her. Turning to look at Nie Tian, he said, ¡°I¡¯m gonna go down the well to take a look.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Be careful.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a confident smile.

    Wisps of golden aura rose flew out of him to wreath and protect him from all that was vile, giving him the look of a divine statue bathed in golden light.

    WHOOSH!

    He plunged into the well.

    ¡°What exactly lies at the bottom of this well?¡± Yin Yanan asked curiously.

    ¡°Where does the grimy bloode from?¡± Mu Biqiong chimed in with a thoughtful expression. ¡°Was that ghoul different because it drank the grimy blood from this well?¡±

    Xie Wanting joined the conversation by saying with a disgusted look on her face, ¡°Whether the grimy blood is helpful to ghouls or not, it surely won¡¯t be helpful to us. So even if some rare treasure is lying at the bottom of this well, it won¡¯t suit us human cultivators. I¡¯m afraid only Demons or those who practice vile incantations will be able to make use of it.¡±

    Momentster, Huang Jinnan flew out of the well, wreathed in golden light.

    Clutching a pearl in his glove-wearing left hand, Huang Jinnan said to Nie Tian, ¡°This is it, a Filthy Blood Pearl.¡±

    The pearl exuded a dark-ck bloody aura, as if it could absorb all kinds of foul energies.

    Nie Tian instinctively detested the aura it exuded, as if his bloodline aura found it repulsive.

    ¡°There¡¯s a Demon corpse at the bottom of the well. From the look of it, he must have been at a high grade when he was alive. After he died, his residual Blood Essence crystallized. For hundreds of thousands of years, it channeled tainted energies from its surroundings, and eventually formed this Filthy Blood Pearl.

    ¡°The tainted energies within it are several hundred times more powerful than the ones gathered around you now. If some living beings let it have one touch of their blood, they¡¯ll die miserably shortly afterwards.

    ¡°It¡¯s even more effective on powerful high-tier outsiders. Once their Blood Essence is poisoned by it, they¡¯ll die even quicker deaths. Even if they fight it with their vigorous flesh power and profound bloodline magics, the Filthy Blood Pearl will be able to neutralize them without effort.

    ¡°I bet I can turn it into a powerful weapon against outsider experts after taking it back to my sect and spending some time refining it.¡±

    With these words, Huang Jinnan put the Filthy Blood Pearl away without asking for the others¡¯ opinions.

    Since it was him who had discovered this well and killed the ghoul guarding it, Nie Tian and the girls didn¡¯t say anything about him taking the Filthy Blood Pearl.

    Then, Huang Jinnan added, ¡°The reason why that ghoul was able to summon tainted energies from her surroundings is probably because she drank water from this well that carries faint power exuded from the Filthy Blood Pearl. Combined with her corpse aura, it gave her exceptional battle prowess, and additional fighting means.¡±

    As they spoke, the battle taking ce around the courtyard also reached its end.

    After killing all of the iing ghouls, the Qi warriors once again gathered by Huang Jinnan¡¯s side. However, instead of taking the Filthy Blood Pearl out to show it to them, he only briefly exined that he had obtained it from within the well.

    None of them objected to him taking it either.

    ¡°This is it for this ce. Let¡¯s find another ce to explore.¡± With these words, Huang Jinnan took the initiative to get onto his golden chariot and fly out of the courtyard.

    The others followed him closely.

    Golden light shone in Huang Jinnan¡¯s pupils as he scanned his surroundings unceasingly. Before long, he seemed to find something, as he instantly changed directions and flew off on his golden chariot.

    A quarter hourter, a few Bonebrutes and seven human cultivators entered their sight.

    They were engaged in a fierce battle with evil spirits on top of a stone pavilion that was close to a hundred meters high.

    The Bonebrutes and the human cultivators seemed to be teaming up against the evil spirits, who were theirmon enemy.

    After taking a nce at them from afar, Nie Tian said with a cold smile at the corner of his mouth, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s here.¡±

    Taken aback, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°Who?¡±

    Killing intent instantly filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°Xing Bo from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect in the Domain of Heaven Python! He killed a respected senior of mine and imprisoned one of my good friends. Not just that, he even colluded with Bonebrutes and provided them with countless human corpses so that they could establish more burial grounds. Later, when his deeds were brought to light, he fled the Domain of Heaven Python with the Bonebrutes¡¯ help.¡±

    ¡°He gave the remains of his own kind to Bonebrutes in order to facilitate their invasions of other domains?¡± Yin Yanan said with an icy expression. ¡°Then he deserves to die.¡±

    ¡°I agree!¡± Nie Tian said with great determination. ¡°No one will be able to save him this time!¡±

 Chapter 878: An Ill-matched Battle

    Nie Tian recognized Xing Bo at first sight, but Xing Bo didn¡¯t have any memories of seeing Nie Tian before.

    Back when Nie Tian and others had fought Zhong Shishu from the Golden Vast Sect, Zhao Shanling and the other experts had been the main fighting force. When Xing Bo and the others from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had arrived, they had only seen Zhao Shanling and Hua Mu from afar.

    Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base had been too low for Xing Bo to notice him.

    At this moment, Xing Bo was fighting side by side with some Bonebrutes atop a lofty stone pavilion, surrounded by arge number of evil spirits. He was somewhat surprised to see another group of human cultivators.

    All those who dared to explore the Bloody Grave Mountain Range must have great confidence in their strength. Xing Bo had only dared toe because he had learned that his Bonebrute friends had nned toe, and had therefore tagged along.

    It wasn¡¯t considered a serious taboo for humans to travel with outsiders in the Shatter Battlefield. In fact, it was rathermon that humans and outsiders teamed up temporarily here.

    The problem was that they had teamed up with Bonebrutes.

    Bonebrutes practiced death power, and had an endless need of corpses to build burial grounds, so most outsider races usually didn¡¯t want too much to do with them.

    It was even rarer for humans to work with them.

    Xing Bo¡¯s expression gradually grew grim as he observed Huang Jinnan, who was the closest to him.

    Even though the Domain of Heaven Python was a Medium grade human domain with Saint domain experts representing their peak strength, there were only a small number of them, and their cultivation bases weren¡¯t very impressive. Because of this, the Domain of Heaven Python was actually one of the weakest Medium grade human domains.

    Perhaps it was also because of this that Xing Bo didn¡¯t recognize Huang Jinnan.

    However, the vigorous aura Huang Jinnan and the others around him exuded made Xing Bo feel insecure and uneasy. He was totally convinced that they were powerful fighters.

    Besides, he knew that it was frowned upon to work with Bonebrutes, so he pondered how he should handle the situation.

    <i>¡°I hope they¡¯re only passing by,¡±</i> Xing Bo prayed inwardly.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat approached and caught up to Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot.

    He turned to look at Huang Jinnan.

    And discovered that his eyes were shining with golden light as he once again cast the Five Elements Sect¡¯s unique secret magic to scan his surroundings.

    Staring at the stone pavilion where Xing Bo and Bonebrutes were, Huang Jinnan said casually, after failing to sense the existence of any Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, ¡°Nothing special there. I wonder if those people will be able to fight off the evil spirits, but it¡¯s none of our business. We¡¯d better not waste our time on them.¡±

    Even though he wasn¡¯t happy about the fact that Xing Bo and the other cultivators had teamed up with Bonebrutes, he didn¡¯t intend to do anything about it. After all, he wouldn¡¯t benefit from it if he did.

    ¡°That man has done something I can¡¯t forgive,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Huang Jinnan went nk briefly before tracking Nie Tian¡¯s gaze to take a closer look at Xing Bo. ¡°Middle Profound realm... I¡¯ve never seen that man before. I suppose he¡¯s not some important figure. Who is he? What did he do?¡±

    At that moment, their air-transportation spiritual tools stopped at a ce fairly far from the stone pavilion.

    The evil spirits were still hovering around and attacking the Bonebrutes, Xing Bo, and the cultivators with him. Since Nie Tian¡¯s group was still fairly distant, they didn¡¯t drop their current targets to attack them.

    ¡°That man¡¯s name is Xing Bo, and he¡¯s from a sect in the Domain of Heaven Python called the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. They have early Saint domain experts in that sect. My enmity towards him is because...¡± Nie Tian went on and briefly exined the situation to Huang Jinnan.

    Afterwards, he said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you keep going, Brother Huang? I¡¯ll wait for their battle against the evil spirits to finish to kill that man. After I¡¯m done, I¡¯ll catch up to you.¡±

    With a confused expression, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°He¡¯s from a Medium grade human domain whose most powerful experts are only at the early Saint domain. He provided Bonebrutes with human corpses and ended up being kicked out of his sect, so he had to join the Bonebrutes, who are now using him to explore the Bloody Grave Mountain Range...

    ¡°How can someone like him deserve to be your enemy? You¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for crying out loud.¡±

    Disdain filled his face as he talked about Xing Bo. After all, each and every person beside him was more powerful and noble than Xing Bo.

    Not to mention that Xing Bo had already been expelled from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Nie Tian gave a dry smile. ¡°I have yet to return to our sect via the ¡®path of stars¡¯, remember? So my status as a Son of the Stars is not stable yet. Besides, the Domain of the Falling Stars where I¡¯m from is only an Elementary grade human domain. Only recently did we gain our first Void domain expert. Back in the day, Xing Bo¡¯s status and resources were more than enough to overtake me, so even though he killed my senior and imprisoned my friend, I...¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded to show that he understood. ¡°A puny figure like him won¡¯t even be worth killing after you make it back to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Then, he shot Xing Bo a distant nce and said with narrowed eyes, ¡°That man is at the middle Profound realm, which is not bad. How about this: I¡¯ll have my men kill all of them for you, so you won¡¯t have to waste your energy.¡±

    ¡°No, I have to kill him myself,¡± Nie Tian said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    Huang Jinnan was taken aback. ¡°Is that necessary? Even though you¡¯re a Son of the Stars, your current cultivation base is still much lower than his. I know you¡¯re probably strong enough to kill him, but it¡¯s totally unnecessary to waste your time and energy on a piece of trash like him.¡±

    ¡°Revenge is sweetest when you get to serve it yourself.¡± Nie Tian insisted.

    Huang Jinnan pondered briefly before nodding slightly and saying, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll stay here for a while, and make our move when their battle against the evil spirits is over.¡±

    Nie Tian sped his hands. ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    ¡°So let¡¯s enjoy the show,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a rxed expression.

    Up on the stone pavilion...

    A Bonebrute took a cold nce at Huang Jinnan and the others with him before saying with amanding tone, ¡°Xing Bo, have two of your men lead some of the evil spirits to that group of people!¡±

    Xing Bo¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Do we have to provoke them? Not only do they outnumber us, but they also seem to be stronger than us. There¡¯s no need to start a conflict with them, right?¡±

    SHEW!

    As he spoke, a spiritual sword hovered over him, unleashing wisps of soul power and spiritual power that barely fought off an evil spirit.

    The Bonebrute let out a cold harrumph and said with a stern expression, ¡°There are too many evil spirits for us to handle. If you don¡¯t do that, many of us will die! But as long as you get a few evil spirits off our back, we¡¯ll be able to break through their blockade and get to safety! Do it now!¡±

    Xing Bo let out a frustrated sigh and reluctantly issued an order.

    After receiving his order, two cultivators who were his cousins found a gap and flew through the evil spirits¡¯ blockade.

    Upon seeing this, more than a dozen evil spirits chased after them and engulfed them in a ce barely a hundred meters from the stone pavilion. The cultivators let out agonized shrieks as their souls were sucked out wisp after wisp.

    Since the evil spirits were now closer to Nie Tian¡¯s group than the stone pavilion, they switched targets.

    Without returning to the stone pavilion, they swooped towards Huang Jinnan and the others, screeching fiercely as they did.

    Eyes narrowed, Huang Jinnanughed and said, ¡°Use us to take the burden off their own shoulders. Good thinking.¡± With these words, he turned to Nie Tian. ¡°Herees more food for that pearl of yours.¡±

    Without hesitation, Nie Tian shot out from his Star Boat.

    Just as the evil spirits were about to swamp him, he summoned the Spirit Pearl.

    Like insects that were pinned on a board, they struggled about, but couldn¡¯t possibly escape.

    Then, the Spirit Pearl rose from Nie Tian¡¯s palm and sucked all of the evil spirits into itself.

    Upon seeing this, the Bonebrute leader and Xing Bo instantly gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°Forget it. We¡¯re going to waste even more time if we just sit here and watch.¡± With these words, Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot shot towards the stone pavilion like a bullet. Smiling, he muttered, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that such a bunch of weaklings also dared toe to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range!¡±

    As the long golden spear once again appeared in his hand, arge golden eye appeared and floated towards the stone pavilion, emanating dazzling golden light.

    All of the Bonebrutes were deeply shaken as fine fissures started to appear on their bony bodies.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Since cracks even appeared in their translucent and sparkling skulls, their true souls were loosened. Some of them had their true souls sucked out of their minds and devoured by the evil spirits.

    Infuriated, the Bonebrute leader shouted madly at Huang Jinnan in the outsiders¡¯nguage.

    ¡°Even Pergson, your chosen one, couldn¡¯t hurt me with his Bone Shatterer, and he had Froste the Phantasm and Gutas the Demon to help him,¡± Huang Jinnan said in a stern and awe-inspiring fashion. ¡°Are you sure that you want to fight me?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the Bonebrutes, who were already charging towards him, were bbergasted. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Wreathed in golden light, Huang Jinnan looked like a god in gold as he said arrogantly, ¡°The Divine Son of the metal element section of the Five Elements Sect.¡± Then, he turned to Nie Tian and added, ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯ll take care of the rest of them for you, leaving only that Xing Bo to you.¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± Nie Tian then shot directly towards the roof of the stone pavilion, wreathed in a torrential flesh aura.

    As he did, he glowered at Xing Bo and shouted, ¡°Nie Tian is my name! Master Zhen who you killed was a respected senior of mine, and Pei Qiqi is my senior martial sister!¡±

 Chapter 879: Clearing the Obstacles

    The Spirit Pearl hung high over Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    The evil spirits that had been attacking the Bonebrutes and human cultivators scattered in panic as soon as they saw him approach with it.

    In order to fight Xing Bo without any distractions, Nie Tian decided to stop using himself as bait to lure the evil spirits toe to him, and then take out the Spirit Pearl when they were close enough.

    With the evil spirits gone, the Bonebrutes and human cultivators they had been fighting instantly got out of their mire.

    However, the Bonebrute leader wasn¡¯t relieved in the slightest. Instead, he seemed to be even more nervous.

    That was because he now knew that Huang Jinnan was the the Divine Son of the metal element section of the Five Elements Sect.

    For hundreds of thousands of years, the rise of human Qi warriors had made many races in the starry river insecure and nervous. Many of them even trembled before the four major human powers.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion were the four most powerful and ancient human powers. They had contended against numerous powerful races in the depths of the starry river and stood undefeated.

    The terrifying battle prowess of their disciples was very well-known.

    Not to mention that Huang Jinnan was a Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect.

    Divine Sons and Divine Daughters were cultivated as the future of their sect, so their sect had poured countless resources their way. Each and every one of them was every bit as powerful as the younger generation leader of any outsider race.

    The leader of this group of Bonebrutes was far from as powerful and noble as Pergson, who carried the Bone Shatterer.

    If Huang Jinnan wasn¡¯t lying, and he could indeed fight Pergson, Gutas, and Froste single-handedly and stay unhurt, how unimaginably powerful must he be?

    The Bonebrute leader fell silent, his eyes glittering with green light. Apparently, he had already started to ponder ways to get out of this predicament.

    Like him, Xing Bo also fell silent.

    He stared unblinkingly at Nie Tian, rage filling his face.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect had caught him meeting with the Bonebrutes, therefore proving his collusion with them.

    As punishment, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had killed most of the Xing n members. Only a small number of them had fled the Domain of Heaven Python with the Bonebrutes¡¯ help.

    Before carrying out the punishment, experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had stated that they had only investigated Xing Bo because someone from the Domain of the Falling Stars had fed them information of his deeds.

    Therefore, Xing Bo had learned that someone from the Domain of the Falling Stars had discovered his secret, and with the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s help, had pressured the Thousandsword Mountain Sect to look into it. From some clues, they had eventually found out about his secret connection to the Bonebrutes. Because of this, his entire n had been wiped out, and the surviving members of his n had had to flee their ancestral home.

    Even though the Bonebrutes had taken them in, since they had lost their strong backer that was the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and were cast aside by the Domain of Heaven Python, they had lost the ability to provide the Bonebrutes with more human corpses, therefore losing their value.

    After that, the Bonebrutes¡¯ attitude towards them had changedpletely. They no longer treated them as equals, and had even forced them to enter the Shatter Battlefield.

    While he and some of his nsmen had been sent to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, his n¡¯s seniors had been charged to go to the depths of the Shatter Battlefield with high-grade Bonebrutes.

    Since the moment they had entered the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, these Bonebrutes had used his n members as cannon fodder.

    Many of them had died because of it.

    Cast aside by his own kind and cold-shouldered by the outsiders, Xing Bo and his nsmen had experienced a great dip in their lives. Therefore, Xing Bo had always hated the person who had brought his secret to light.

    ¡°Are you the one who informed the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect of my secret cooperation with the Bonebrutes, causing my sect to investigate me?¡± Xing Bo asked with an icy tone.

    Calm andposed, Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m the reason why you¡¯re so down and out today. To be honest, Duan Shihu from the Divine Seal Sect is my senior martial brother. With his help, I hid in the Realm of Maelstrom and reached a mutual understanding with the Golden Vast Sect.¡±

    ¡°Duan Shihu! So that¡¯s how it was!¡± Xing Bo understood the whole thing.

    The few other Xing n members also grew furious after hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    Like a golden god, Huang Jinnan floated right beside Nie Tian. ¡°You colluded with the Bonebrutes and provided them with the corpses of your own kind so that they could build more burial grounds. Are you proud of it or something? You don¡¯t even deserve to be human for doing such a despicable thing!¡±

    Dazzling golden light continued to shoot out of his floating golden eye.

    CRACK!

    One of the low-grade Bonebrutes, whose bodycked refinement, cried in pain as his bones cracked and snapped.

    At the same time, deeper cracks appeared on the bones of the other Bonebrutes as well, as if their bones would also snap in the next moment.

    It was not only the Bonebrutes; the few Xing n members gathered around Xing Bo also had painful looks on their faces.

    Bathed in golden light, they felt as if they were being slowly cut with countless invisible daggers. Soon numerous fine wounds appeared, with blooding from them.

    Their spiritual power wards had already shattered, so, as their flesh was torn open, the tainted energies found their way into their bodies.

    Despair filled their faces as they looked down and saw the blooding out of their wounds turn from fresh blood to filthy blood.

    Xing Bo was the only one who was spared by the golden light, and didn¡¯t suffer their agony.

    The Bonebrute leader sensed the danger, and shouted in the outsiders¡¯nguage, ¡°RUN!¡±

    Upon hearing him, all of the Bonebrutes on the stone pavilion fled in different directions,pletely ignoring the Xing n members.

    ¡°Run? Wishful thinking!¡± Huang Jinnan shook his head, numerous golden divine symbols appearing in the depths of his eyes, making him look even more awe-inspiring.

    The light emanated by his floating golden eye grew even purer and fiercer.

    Countless rays of golden light that seemed to have solidified pierced directly towards the fleeing Bonebrutes.

    In the next moment, explosions like glorious fireworks took ce around the stone pavilion.

    Each of them was a Bonebrute that had been shone upon by the golden light and exploded, including their leader.

    In just about ten breaths of time, all of the Bonebrutes died violent deaths.

    As they exploded, grayish-green souls left their bodies.

    Due to the special environment in this ce, their discarnate souls didn¡¯t vanish into heaven and earth right away.

    Normally, after living beings died here, their discarnate souls would either be captured and devoured by evil spirits, or wander in the tainted energies and turn into evil spirits after a long process of transformation.

    However, it was different this time.

    The Spirit Pearl rose from Nie Tian¡¯s hand and flew about swiftly to collect the Bonebrutes¡¯ discarnate souls one by one.

    By the time the Spirit Pearl flew back to Nie Tian, all of the Xing n members around Xing Bo had also been killed by the fierce light unleashed by the floating golden eye.

    The Spirit Pearl then flew out again, absorbing and strengthening itself with the discarnate souls that had just left the dead Qi warriors.

    All of a sudden, the Bonebrutes and human cultivators who had fought evil spirits atop this stone pavilion had all died except one person: Xing Bo.

    This was only because Huang Jinnan had intentionally spared his life.

    ¡°Are you sure that you want to kill him yourself, Nie Tian?¡± Huang Jinnan asked onest time.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I am.¡±

    Without saying another word, Huang Jinnan sensibly backed away to a ce that was dozens of meters away from them.

    Then, he looked over his shoulder at the Qi warriors who hade with him, and said, ¡°Spread out and seal this area. If that Xing Bo wants to escape, stop him. But remember not to kill him. Since Nie Tian wants to y, let¡¯s make sure he has his fun with him.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Everyone spread out to form a blockade around the stone pavilion.

    Xie Wanting, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong, however, stayed in ce on Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat, and gazed at the top of the stone pavilion.

    The Star Boat belonged to Nie Tian. Without him, none of them could use it.

    Now that all of the Bonebrutes and his nsmen had died at Huang Jinnan¡¯s hands, Xing Bo actually loosened up. Insanity gradually built up in his surprisingly calm eyes as he said, ¡°You think a loser from the Domain of the Falling Stars like you can kill me in a duel? I don¡¯t know how you managed to be friends with a Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect, but I know people like you too well. You¡¯re the kind of garbage from the most remote and deste ces like the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡±

    As he spoke, spiritual swords flew out of him one after another to float around him.

    There were a total of twelve swords, one of which was clutched in his hand. Fierce roars could be vaguely heard from them. Clearly, they were Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    Before his secret had been brought to light, Xing Bo had ranked at the top among all the chosen ones of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. Considering the cultivation resources he had been given, it was natural for him to hold a Spirit Channeling grade treasure or two.

    One after another, the spiritual swords flew out, forming a profound spell formation.

 Chapter 880: Killing His Sworn Enemy with His Own Hands

    Huang Jinnan and the chosen ones from the various domains were scattered around the stone pavilion.

    Everyone kept their eyes on Nie Tian and Xing Bo.

    Strong interest filled Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes, as he wanted to know how Nie Tian, a Son of the Stars, would finish his sworn enemy.

    However, he had no doubt that Nie Tian would seed.

    After all, Nie Tian had passed the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s intense Heaven Gate trial and be the seventh Son of the Stars.

    He had heard how cruel Heaven Gate trials were.

    At the same time, all of the other chosen ones were also very curious as to what was so special about Nie Tian that had allowed the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to choose him to be the seventh Son of the Stars.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Yin Yanan grew somewhat worried. ¡°Nie Tian doesn¡¯t have his Star Boat with him, and he can¡¯t summon that armor of his.¡±

    Mu Biqiong gave a weak snort and said, ¡°He just has to parade his battle prowess, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    Gentle and caring, Xie Wanting chimed in, ¡°He¡¯s at thete Worldly realm, while his opponent is at the middle Profound realm. His cultivation base is weaker by two minor levels... Will he actually be able to win?¡±

    Holding one spiritual sword in his hand, Xing Bo sent the other eleven spiritual swords flying out in different directions.

    Each of them unleashed de lights that were both sharp and resilient as they rapidly interwove into a of swords.

    Secondster, a of glowing swords came to form around Xing Bo.

    ¡°Spirit Infuse!¡± As Xing Bo called out these words, wisps of soul power flew out of the Spirit Channeling grade sword in his hand and infused into the of swords.

    As soon as that happened, the of de lights seemed to be vested with life.

    As Xing Bo leapt towards Nie Tian clutching his Spirit Channeling grade sword, the spiritual swords hovered around him like some kind of meat grinder.

    Nie Tian grinned, recognizing the sword incantation at first sight. ¡°Sword Condensing Incantation.¡±

    ¡°You have a cousin whose name is Xing Beichen, don¡¯t you?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    ¡°What if I do?¡± Xing Bo said, looking surprised.

    ¡°Nothing, other than that he died at my hands!¡± Smiling broadly, Nie Tian raised his hands high in the air, as if he were holding up an invisible cauldron.

    ¡°Spirit condensation!¡± As he shouted these words inwardly, tainted energies suddenly started converging on his raised hands from all directions.

    Arge glowing sphere rapidly formed and continued to expand between his palms. Soon, it became asrge as a table.

    Back when he had been in the Realm of Split Void, he had used this secret magic he had learned from the titans on many asions.

    Since he had been able to condense the tainted energies in the Realm of Split Void into spiritual energy balls, he had assumed that he would be able to use it in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range as well.

    As he had expected, an enormous spiritual energy ball formed between his palms within seconds.

    The tainted energies here were easily ten times more intense than the ones in the Realm of Split Void. Therefore, the spiritual energy ball he formed here was not onlyrger in size, but also contained stronger mixed energies.

    A variety of auras and impurities of different colors could be seen shing with one another within the huge glowing ball, as if they were breeding an unstoppable storm.

    ¡°Go!¡± The spiritual energy ball was suddenly cast towards the of spiritual swords.

    At the same time, the mixed energies that were already shing with one another seemed to be instantly ignited, causing a violent explosion.

    The explosion sent out countless streaks of multicolored light that carried fierce auras.

    The of swords Xing Bo had formed with the Sword Condensing Incantation failed to even hold on for a second before being blown to shreds that soon scattered and vanished into the air.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Life Strengthening!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s robust body started to expand. His muscles bulged as a scalyyer formed over his entire body. Mysterious gold and silver patterns could be seen on the armor-likeyer, as if it now carried the Metal-devouring Bug and Silver Beetle¡¯s profound bloodline power as well. The luster it gave off was ice-cold and resilient.

    WHOOSH!

    The explosion of his flesh power caused the tainted energies in his surroundings to converge madly on him.

    But not only did Nie Tian not seem scared, he evenughed broadly, and cast the spirit condensation technique again.

    A spiritual energy ball that was evenrger than thest one rapidly formed, and then floated towards Xing Bo.

    Face pale, Xing Bo hastily shifted away like a sh of light.

    BOOOM!

    The moment after he flew away, the spacious roof of the stone pavilion blew up.

    The explosion sent shattered stones and bits of concentrated impurities flying in all directions, filling the air with the lingering sound of the explosion.

    Nie Tian let out a wildugh.

    As starlight shed, Nie Tian suddenly vanished from where he was standing. In the next moment, he appeared in front of Xing Bo and drove an emerald green tree branch towards him.

    Xing Bo hastily swung his Spirit Channeling grade sword in the air, unleashing seven de lights that flew towards Nie Tian like spiritual snakes. ¡°Sword Incantation: Seven Banes!¡±

    At the same time, arge amount of fragmented light shot towards Nie Tian like a rain of swords.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    The fragmented light rained on Nie Tian¡¯s ¡®spiritual armor¡¯, creating tiny gold and silver blossoms.

    Even so, Nie Tian only felt very mild pain from them.

    However, the seven de lights then flew towards Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, which his scalyyer failed to cover, as if they had their own awareness.

    Before the de lights even reached him, Nie Tian experienced stabbing pain in his face, long, thin cuts appearing on his face.

    The sword intent was iparably fierce.

    ¡°Primal Chaos!¡± Nie Tian roared inwardly as different kinds of power surged madly around him.

    As soon as the seven de lights entered the Primal Chaos, they zigzagged out of their set tracks and diverted from their original targets.

    At the same time, the translucent and sparkling tree branch shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s hand like a streak of light, splitting space and piercing directly at Xing Bo¡¯s chest.

    A streak of frosty light shot out of the tip of Xing Bo¡¯s Spirit Channeling grade spiritual sword.

    BOOM!

    The translucent and sparkling tree branch was knocked flying back to Nie Tian before disappearing into his cuff.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem rattled in the slightest as he cast another Starshift and appeared behind Xing Bo like a ghost.

    His Primal Chaos instantly enveloped Xing Bo.

    Countless tiny stars seemed to appear in Nie Tian¡¯s palms, forming two spell formations, shining with starlight.

    Nie Tian then pressed them towards Xing Bo¡¯s back like two seals of stars.

    Xing Bo¡¯s face instantly turned pale with fright. However, as he hastily turned around, the star formations had already arrived.

    Not having the time to defend with his spiritual swords, he could only resist with his spiritual power ward, which he used to keep the tainted energies away. Numerous sword projections appeared in the ward like swimming fish.

    The star formations were pressed into the ward. Two miniature seas of starlight exploded at the contact points, sending out glorious, dazzling starlight.

    The sword projections in Xing Bo¡¯s protective ward vanished immediately like melted snowkes.

    Then, Nie Tian, who was now like a small mountain of muscles after his expansion, rammed into Xing Bo like a cannonball.

    Blood sprayed out of Xing Bo¡¯s mouth as he was knocked flying backwards.

    A drop of Blood Essence then started to burn within Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Even more tainted energies converged on him as his aura soared. Like a human-shaped beast, he exploded towards Xing Bo.

    Eleven spiritual swords shot out of Xing Bo¡¯s hand one after another in an attempt to stop Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian clenched his fists tight and threw punches at the iing spiritual swords.

    Hit by Nie Tian¡¯s fists, one sword after another bent out of shape and dropped to the ground like regr metal.

    ¡°Is this the strength of a middle Profound realm cultivator?¡±

    With hisst fist strike, Nie Tian summoned every kind of power he had and blew them out in the form of Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    As he did, even the tainted energies around him seemed to be scattered. Faint titans¡¯ roars could be vaguely heard from within his fist. Even though no one else seemed to be able to hear them, they almost shattered Xing Bo¡¯s mind.

    Xing Bo did everything he could to thrust his spiritual sword towards Nie Tian¡¯s iing fist.

    However, even the soul of this Spirit Channeling grade sword seemed to be terrified by the titans¡¯ roars, and trembled in fear.

    With torrential rage and a titan¡¯s unyielding determination, Nie Tian¡¯s fist bombarded the spiritual sword.

    BOOM!

    Upon contact, the spiritual sword was knocked flying away. Then, as Xing Bo¡¯s protective ward shattered, Nie Tian¡¯s fist bore down on his chest.

    Xing Bo was instantly reduced to flying chunks of flesh and a mist of blood that filled the air.

    Gathered around Huang Jinnan, all of the chosen ones from the various domains eximed in low voices. Disbelief filled their eyes as they stared at Nie Tian as if he were some monster or freak.

    ¡°It seems so easy to him!¡±

    ¡°No wonder he passed the Heaven Gate trial and became the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°Such incredible power!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s only at the Worldly realm!¡±

    A teasingugh escaped Huang Jinnan¡¯s mouth as he shook his head. ¡°You had a great advantage in your fight against him. Your bloodline, which I find fascinating, seems to be at the sixth grade. That means you¡¯d have been able to fight him with your bloodline power alone. But aside from your bloodline power, you also used your spiritual power and exquisite incantations. There was no way he could have won.¡±

    ¡°Would I insist on killing him myself if I didn¡¯t know for sure that I¡¯d win?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    Huang Jinnan also smiled. ¡°Good point.¡±

 Chapter 881: An Ancient Altar

    Like a sh, Huang Jinnan shifted to the ce where Xing Bo¡¯s Spirit Channeling grade spiritual swordy.

    As he made a grabbing motion, the spiritual sword flew up into his palm, as if it were a piece of metal attracted by a ma.

    Trembling, the spiritual sword let out low sobs, hoping to struggle free.

    However, as Huang Jinnan gave a low chuckle, a wisp of golden light flew out of his fingertip into its sharp de.

    The spiritual sword stopped sobbing in the next moment. Wreathed in misty golden light, the spiritual sword seemed to be instantly tamed, as it stopped struggling in Huang Jinnan¡¯s hand.

    ¡°The soul of this spiritual sword seems to be the soul of an eighth grade Gold Horn Beast. Gold Horn Beasts are metal-attributed spirit beasts. The soul of a Gold Horn Beast has greatly improved the sharpness of this sword, making it a decent Spirit Channeling grade weapon.¡± Stroking the sword de, Huang Jinnan shot Nie Tian a sideways nce, and smiled. ¡°Nie Tian, do you mind giving this spiritual sword to me?¡±

    As the metal element section Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect, the power he practiced was none other than metal power.

    This spiritual sword fused with an eighth grade Gold Horn Beast¡¯s soul agreed with him perfectly. Besides, it would be even more powerful in his hands than it was in Xing Bo¡¯s.

    Nie Tian then said, ¡°Sure. You helped me get rid of the others. You can have it if you want.¡±

    Huang Jinnan let out a longugh. ¡°I won¡¯t take it without paying.¡± With these words, he took something out and threw it to Nie Tian. ¡°Take it. I got it during one of my exploration trips, but it doesn¡¯t agree with me. I can tell that you practice fire incantations as well, so I bet it¡¯ll be useful to you.¡±

    Curious, Nie Tian grabbed and looked down at it closely. He discovered that it was a piece of a crimson turtle shell.

    Even though it was only the size of a man¡¯s palm, it was as hot as a cluster of zing mes.

    The natural patterns on the turtle shell looked like ming lines that carried the profound truths of me power.

    ¡°That was taken from a ninth grade Scarlet Turtle,¡± Huang Jinnan exined. ¡°Even though Scarlet Turtles aren¡¯t exactly an ancient species, this one had cultivated for a hundred thousand years, and eventually entered the ninth grade, which was impressive work, even for an ancient species from the Deste Antiquity Era. One of the seniors of my sect fought it and broke this piece off its shell.

    ¡°Small as it is, it contains a shocking amount of me power. The patterns on its surface also hold profound knowledge. It¡¯s just that they¡¯re very hard to perceive.

    ¡°Even though it might not be as valuable as the spiritual sword, I believe it¡¯ll be of value to you. I hope you¡¯ll like it.¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Of course I do. It happens to be something I need.¡±

    He didn¡¯t do anything after catching the piece of turtle shell with his hand, but he sensed that as his vortex of me power spun in his spiritual sea, it continued to channel wisps of rich me power from the turtle shell.

    After the me power infused into his vortex of me power, it actually helped elerate the refinement of his vortex of me power.

    That was when he realized that this small piece of shell from a Scarlet Turtle would be able to help him refine his vortex of me power to its limit within a short time.

    He believed that it would at least help him as much as the me power he had obtained from one of the Fortune Wells, if not more.

    As for Xing Bo¡¯s spiritual sword, since it was metal-attributed, even if he kept it to himself, he would only be able to trade it for spiritual materials that agreed with him in the future. Besides, there would be no guarantee that he woulde across something as good as this piece of shell again.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you like it.¡± With these words, Huang Jinnan jumped back onto his golden chariot. ¡°That man got what he deserved. We¡¯ve already wasted quite some time on him. Let¡¯s head out now.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as he flew onto his Star Boat as well, and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Then, as Huang Jinnan flew out again on his golden chariot, their exploration of the Stone Golem capital continued.

    Nie Tian flew after him on his Star Boat while sparing some of his attention to refine the residual power within the piece of Scarlet Turtle shell he had just gained.

    Soon, he discovered that there was not only residual me power within it, but residual flesh power too.

    Without making a sound, he activated Life Drain and rapidly drained it of its residual flesh power, which ended up being devoured by the green aura in his heart.

    Afterwards, he took his time to channel me power from this piece of Scarlet Turtle shell.

    After wisps of me power poured into his vortex of me power, they rapidly turned into sparks that sank to the bottom. As that happened, his vortex of me power gradually expanded, as if it were being baptized by divine mes.

    At the same time, he summoned his Spirit Pearl to examine it.

    As a wisp of his soul awareness entered it, he was surprised to discover that the map of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range that floated within it had already be clear enough for him to read.

    First, he located himself on the map, and then found what seemed to be the outline of the Stone Golem capital where he was.

    <i>¡°The Spirit Pearl has absorbed quite a few evil spirits that roamed this Stone Golem capital. Pieces of their memories must havebined to draw this ce with such rity...¡± </i>With this thought, his soul awareness continued to scan the map.

    All of a sudden, a special ce caught his attention.

    It was a ce where six lofty stone pavilions surrounded a spacious square. Numerous stone columns could be seen standing in the square.

    The map only gave a rough outline of the ce, but Nie Tian noticed that there were arge number of white spots swarming in that area. He pondered briefly, and realized that they were probably ghouls.

    It was rather suspicious for such arge number of ghouls to gather in a square where many stone columns stood.

    Then, he looked back and forth between his current location and the location of the square to get ahold of his bearings.

    Momentster, he withdrew his soul awareness, turned to Huang Jinnan and said, ¡°How about I lead the exploration this time?¡±

    Flying at the forefront of the team, Huang Jinnan went nk briefly before slowing his golden chariot down and asking, ¡°Did you find something?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, smiling, ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    He didn¡¯t doubt Nie Tian in the slightest, as if he believed that since Nie Tian had demanded to lead the exploration, he must know what he was doing.

    They had wandered in the Stone Golem capital for some time now, and he had only found one useful thing from the well guarded by that female Demon ghoul.

    Right before Nie Tian had initiated this conversation, he had been wracking his mind as to where the valuable spiritual materials might be hidden in this Stone Golem capital.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat suddenly picked up speed and flew to the forefront of the team, where Nie Tian adjusted their direction ording to the route he had designed.

    The golden chariot and the other air-transportation spiritual tool flew behind him at a high speed.

    RUMBLE!

    Muffled rumbles came from afar, as ifnds were cracking and mountains were toppling.

    The source of the rumbles even seemed to be very far from the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, as if they wereing from the very center of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Gazing off in the direction of the rumbles, Huang Jinnan said with a somewhat grim expression, ¡°It seems that Void or Saint domain experts are fighting eighth or ninth grade outsiders. The fact that the sounds of their battle can travel this far proves how formidable they must be. I just hope the bloody battle taking ce in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield won¡¯t affect us.¡±

    Everyone else grew nervous upon hearing the sounds. They couldn¡¯t help but look in the direction of the rumbles from time to time.

    Even though Nie Tian also found them fascinating, he didn¡¯t pay too much attention to them. Instead, he kept ncing around and mildly adjusting his direction ording to the map within the Spirit Pearl.

    Two hours passed...

    Six stone pavilions, each of which was about a hundred meters high, entered everyone¡¯s sight. They were considerably higher than any of the stone pavilions they had seen before.

    Surrounded by the six stone pavilions was a spacious square, where the Stone Golems seemed to have held sacrificial ceremonies back in the day. At the center of the square, a mysterious altar could be seen among numerous towering stone columns.

    Hundreds of ghouls were wandering around in the square and through the stone columns.

    The stone columns seemed to be carved with detailed patterns, which, upon a closer look, turned out to have powerful evil spirits sealed within them.

    Nie Tian then took a quick nce at them, and discovered that there were a total of eighteen stone columns. Every single one of them had evil spirits swimming within it, as if they were either being imprisoned or bred.

    Both the number and strength of these evil spirits and ghouls were far above that of the ones they had encountered before.

    Aside from the evil spirits and ghouls, countless corpses could be seen piled up around the central altar. Judging from their figures, some of them belonged to outsiders, while more belonged to humans.

    From the look of it, in some distant age, the Stone Golems had held a grand sacrificial ceremony with the corpses of humans and outsider races.

    By doing this, they seemed to have asked the heavens or gods of their cultures to protect them.

    ¡°That¡¯s probably the most important part of this city.¡± Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he went on to warn Nie Tian against approaching rashly, and suggested that he should conduct a thorough scan of the area first to see what they were dealing with.

    After nodding towards him, Nie Tian unleashed his Heaven Eyes and bloodline power to scan the area himself.

 Chapter 882: Earth Cultivated Grade Sacrificial Offerings

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered as soon as Nie Tian¡¯s nine Heaven Eyes came to form.

    After going nk briefly, he smiled and said, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Star Eyes!

    ¡°They allow you to detect even the faintest soul fluctuations, which is something even my Golden Eye can¡¯t do. My Golden Eye only allows me to see even the smallest physical things, and what materials things are made from.¡±

    He seemed to know a great deal about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret magics.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes were a condensation of pure soul power, which meant they could only be detected by souls, yet he was able to shrewdly discover them the moment Nie Tian released them.

    <i>¡°So what I call Heaven Eyes are actually referred to as Star Eyes?¡±</i> he thought to himself.

    Bits of starlight shone in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as his nine Heaven Eyes covered the perimeter of the square, conducting a thorough scan.

    Thanks to his Heaven Eyes, the numerous evil spirits sealed within the eighteen stone columns became very distinctive.

    Each and every stone column seemed to be imprisoning hundreds of evil spirits, which were roaring soundlessly, yet failing to break out of their confinement.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, an evil spirit suddenly entered his sight, and flew closer and closer towards the square.

    As it approached one of the stone columns, it started squirming and struggling in the air.

    Even so, secondster, it was sucked into that stone column and be one of its several hundred prisoners.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian eximed as he instantly realized that the evil spirits within those eighteen stone columns had probably been trapped and imprisoned in the same manner.

    Then, he focused on the ghouls.

    Soon, he discovered that all of the ghouls in the square were wandering around the stone columns mechanically.

    None of them seemed to be able to leave the spacious square.

    The square seemed like a giant prison that attracted the evil spirits and ghouls in the vicinity, yet as soon as they entered it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave.

    Even though arge number of ghouls walked senselessly around the stone columns, none of them approached the ancient altar in the middle.

    Countless corpses were piled up around and even on the altar. They hadn¡¯t turned into ghouls after dying who knew how many years ago.

    Through his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian saw the evil spirits and the ghouls.

    However, he didn¡¯t capture any soul fluctuations other than the evil spirits¡¯.

    With the help of his bloodline power, he only sensed the ghouls¡¯ flesh auras. There didn¡¯t seem to be any other kinds of flesh auras in this ce.

    If there were actually living beings here, his Heaven Eyes and bloodline power would have been able to detect their soul fluctuations and flesh auras.

    WHOOSH!

    One of his Heaven Eyes attempted to fly to the center of the square after roaming the perimeter for some time.

    As it did, it suddenly morphed into a cluster of bright starlight, turning from invisible to visible.

    Something seemed to have shone on and revealed it.

    In the next moment, the star soul¡¯s power Nie Tian had vested in that Heaven Eye scattered. The cluster of starlight rapidly shrank to the size of a grain of rice before vanishingpletely.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he experienced a stabbing pain in his mind.

    Since the connection between him and that Heaven Eye was gone, he realized that he had lost it, along with the soul power and the star soul¡¯s power he had used to made it.

    Seeing this, he didn¡¯t dare to send any of his other eight Heaven Eyes into the square. With a grim face, he warned the others, ¡°A mysterious force exists in the square. If you use your soul power rashly in there, you¡¯ll probably suffer strong bacshes. So don¡¯t send out soul power. Once your soul power flies out of you, it¡¯ll be eliminated immediately.¡±

    Before he could finish, Huang Jinnan let out a muffled groan as he hastily withdrew his Golden Eye.

    He took a deep breath and said, ¡°Nie Tian is right. Our soul power will be destroyed if we send it into the square.¡±

    Not daring to enter the square rashly, he pondered safe ways to enter, standing where he was.

    ¡°I wonder whether the imprisoned evil spirits can fly out of those stone columns,¡± he thought out loud. ¡°Those eighteen stone columns are holding a tremendous number of evil spirits. If they actually fly out after we enter, we¡¯ll be in serious trouble.

    ¡°Besides, the ghouls are also there in great numbers, and they¡¯re more powerful than the ones we ran into before.

    ¡°They may not be able to swamp us as soon as we enter the square, but they¡¯ll definitely be drawn to our flesh auras and madly pursue us.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see what¡¯s hidden in the square for now, but I¡¯m certain that we¡¯ll face serious threats from both ghouls and evil spirits as soon as we enter to search for treasures.

    ¡°This is a bit tricky now.¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression grew unprecedentedly serious and grim as he raised his hand, signaling the chosen ones from the various domains to stand down.

    RUMBLE!

    Heaven-shaking, earth-toppling rumbles once again echoed in their ears after traveling an extremely long distance.

    All of a sudden, the ancient altar in the middle of the square started to shake.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The violent shaking even sent the piled corpses flying off the altar and falling to the side.

    After the dust settled, the entire stone altar was finally fully shown, revealing a handful of peculiar holes in the thick, solid stone.

    Something shining with divine golden light suddenly rose from one of them.

    Upon a closer look, it seemed to be a piece of divine metal covered in countlessplicated golden engravings.

    Staring unblinkingly at the piece of golden metal, Huang Jinnan suddenly eximed, ¡°Primal metal! That¡¯s a piece of naturally-formed primal metal, which is branded with the profound mysteries of metal power!¡±

    A shocked expression spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Primal metal?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s an extremely precious metal-attribute treasure!¡± Huang Jinnan said excitedly. ¡°It forms in the depths of metal mines after absorbing metal power for hundreds of thousands of years! As a seventh level Earth Cultivated grade treasure, it already has its own awareness, vague though it may be. If I can obtain it, I¡¯ll be able to turn it into a main material after minimal refinement, which I¡¯ll be able to use to forge my domain in the future!¡±

    ¡°Not just that, but it can also be used to forge metal-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasures! Since it has developed its own soul, it won¡¯t havepatibility issues, unlike treasures that are given souls. Such Spirit Channeling grade treasures will have great potential to upgrade to the Immortal grade!¡±

    Huang Jinnan had never been so excited.

    At this moment, a few fresh green tree leaves rose from another hole in the stone altar.

    Like invaluable emeralds, they emanated dazzling light.

    As this happened, the coexisting flower images once again appeared uncontrobly in the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s pupils.

    ¡°Those tree leaves...¡± She felt the coexisting flowers¡¯ extremely strong desire for the tree leaves, as if they were precious wood-attributed treasures which would be of immeasurable help to their growth.

    At the same time, Nie Tian realized that his vortex of wood power also elerated as soon as the tree leaves emanated glorious light.

    Even his bloodline aura grew restless, as if it wanted to seize them at the first possible moment.

    At that moment, a streak of bright lightning rose from a third hole in the stone altar. Like a spiritual snake, it flew over the altar, as if it had its own awareness.

    Even though the streak of lightning was only as thick as a man¡¯s finger, it started gathering lightning power from its surroundings as soon as it appeared, giving rise to thunderous rumbles.

    As that happened, a cluster of bleak, pale mes rose from a fourth hole in the stone altar.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Wisps of corpse auras flew uncontrobly out of the ghouls in the vicinity, infusing into the cluster of bleak, pale mes.

    Then, after the primal metal, the tree leaves, the lightning bolt, and pale mes, a grayish-brown ball the size of a fist flew out of the stone altar, which seemed to be a crystallization of earth power. As it flew out, a strong vibration spread out from under the altar deep into the earth.

    After rising out of the altar, the five spiritual materials of different attributes all flew about restlessly, as if they were eager to leave the altar.

    They seemed to have sensed some kind of danger.

    They kept dashing back and forth over the altar, but were stopped by invisible walls every time.

    Gazing at them from afar, Huang Jinnan took a deep breath and said, ¡°All five of them are Earth Cultivated grade treasures. Like the corpses around the altar, they must also be sacrificial offerings the Stone Golems used to hold some mysterious ceremony. The fact that they suddenly burst out, hoping to leave the altar, is probably because they sensed Stone Golems approaching.¡±

    ¡°Stone Golems?!¡± one of the Qi warriors behind him eximed.

    Then, even Huang Jinnan grew somewhat insecure and uneasy as he said, ¡°I guess Nie Tian was right. Some Stone Golem survivors are indeeding to this ce. Since the offerings are still here, it must mean that their sacrificial ceremony was somehow interrupted, and wasn¡¯tpleted. The Stone Golems are probablying here to finish the unfinished sacrificial ceremony.

    ¡°Those Earth Cultivated spiritual materials already possess their own awareness. They know what will happen to them, and thus are doing everything they can to escape.

    ¡°We can¡¯t wait anymore. We can forget about those treasures if we don¡¯t collect them before those powerful Stone Golems get here!

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this, Nie Tian! You deal with the evil spirits if they fly out of those stone columns! I¡¯ll take care of the ghouls!

    ¡°We have to collect all five sacrificial offerings before the Stone Golems get here!¡±

    With these words, he flew directly towards the center of the square before Nie Tian could even give him a response.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Cracks suddenly appeared in the stone columns that stood in the square.

    The evil spirits that had been imprisoned for who knew how many years flew out. Like a sea of gray clouds, they swarmed towards Huang Jinnan from different directions.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Coming!¡±

 Chapter 883: Meeting Obstacles

    Nie Tian flew into the square in a split second.

    HOWL! HOWL!

    The evil spirits¡¯ howls were ear-piercingly loud, as if they were going to destroy the heavens and shatter the earth.

    As powerful as Huang Jinnan was, his face distorted after he was impacted by the roars of so many evil spirits.

    Like a crown, his golden lotus floated quietly over his head.

    It suddenly unleashed glorious golden light that fell and enveloped him like a curtain of jewels, protecting him from the evil spirits¡¯ fierce screeches.

    At the same time, the ghouls that roamed the square also flooded towards them, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws.

    The golden spear within Huang Jinnan¡¯s hand seemed to morph into a dragon forged from pure gold that followed hismands and ripped the iing ghouls to pieces.

    As soon as Nie Tian flew onto the battlefield, he summoned the Spirit Pearl without hesitation.

    Countless discarnate souls could be seen swarming within the cyan pearl. Its soul, which had been refined from the soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch, grew very excited.

    The shimmering cyan light it emanated had a subduing effect on spirits and souls of all forms. The weaker evil spirits cowered the moment they saw it.

    However, some of the more powerful evil spirits didn¡¯t shrink in the slightest when facing the Spirit Pearl.

    Judging from their looks, a handful of them seemed to have been transformed from dead Phantasms¡¯ discarnate souls.

    They appeared to be immune to the Spirit Pearl to arge extent as they flew right into the cyan light towards Nie Tian.

    Rage, grudges, fear, a thirst for killing, and other negative emotions the evil spirits had experienced right before their deaths instantly flooded Nie Tian.

    One illusory image after another entered his mind, all of which were images of thest thing the evil spirits had seen before their deaths. They gave rise to great waves in Nie Tian¡¯s calm mind as a strong thirst for blood soared uncontrobly in his heart.

    The shimmering starlight suddenly vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s pupils.

    What took its ce was a shade of blood-red.

    BOOOM!

    Without any intention of his own, his Life Strengthening bloodline talent was activated. His muscles bulged up, while a scalyyer formed over his whole body.

    Pupils blood-red, he let out a frenzied roar as he ignored the iing evil spirits, but instead pounced towards Huang Jinnan.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± An exmation escaped Huang Jinnan¡¯s mouth as numerous golden magical symbols flew out of the golden lotus floating over him like butterflies.

    Upon contact, the golden magical symbols, which carried the profound truths of metal power, ripped the ghouls that were converging on him to pieces, like china that was dropped to the floor.

    As Nie Tian, who was affected by the evil spirits¡¯ negative emotions, was about to reach Huang Jinnan, he suddenly heard a faint soul call.

    The soul call wasing from the Spirit Pearl, which was flying after him.

    As the soul call grew louder, all of the negative emotions were blown out of Nie Tian¡¯s mind like dark clouds that were scattered by a gust of wind.

    Nie Tian instantly recovered a clear mind.

    However, the few powerful Phantasm evil spirits flew into his sea of awareness before he knew it.

    They shed about within his sea of awareness in an attempt to capture and devour his true soul.

    Growing cold with a strong sense of crisis, Nie Tian eximed inwardly, <i>¡°Starchains!¡±</i>

    As his nine star souls shone with glorious light, strips of refined soul power dropped like a waterfall. After mixing with his soul awareness, they morphed into numerous glowing chains.

    Then, the Starchains shot directly towards the few evil spirits, thrumming with immense, cleansing star power.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The evil spirits failed to hang on for even a second within his sea of awareness before the Starchains chained them up and reduced them to smoke that scattered into the air.

    After calming down, Nie Tian hastily reestablished his soul connection with the Spirit Pearl.

    Only after a briefmunication with it did he learn that since the Spirit Pearl had been forged by Phantasm experts, some of the evil spirits that had transformed from dead Phantasms¡¯ discarnate souls were immune to its confinement.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After him and Huang Jinnan, Yin Yanan and the girls also left the Star Boat to fly into the square.

    The same went for the chosen ones from the various domains who had followed Huang Jinnan into the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    They instantly joined in the fierce battle against ghouls and evil spirits.

    Thanks to them, the ghouls and evil spirits had to split up to deal with them separately, which took a lot of pressure off Huang Jinnan¡¯s shoulders.

    Nie Tian also noticed that many evil spirits were so afraid of the Spirit Pearl that they targeted the neers instead of him.

    ¡°Come on, Nie Tian!¡± Huang Jinnan shouted. ¡°Help me take care of the evil spirits while I kill the ghouls. We have to get to the ancient altar as quickly as we can!¡±

    He had also realized that there were simply too many evil spirits, and that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to get rid of them all with his Spirit Pearl.

    Not to mention that his Spirit Pearl didn¡¯t even work on some of them.

    Only if Nie Tian went with him would he have the privilege of facing fewer evil spirits.

    He knew very well that they had to collect all five Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials from that ancient altar, and then evacuate from this ce as soon as they could.

    Otherwise, when the Stone Golems got here, not only would they not be able to obtain those precious spiritual materials, but they would probably die here. After hundreds of years, their discarnate souls might be evil spirits; their corpses might be either gnawed away or have joined the ghoul army.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sure!¡±

    He shifted to Huang Jinnan¡¯s side with a short-range Starshift.

    As soon as he did, most of the evil spirits gathered around Huang Jinnan flew away, frightened by the cyan light the Spirit Pearl emanated.

    Only five evil spirits continued to hover around him. All of them had been transformed from Phantasm discarnate souls.

    Aside from the evil spirits, dozens of ghouls pounced on him dauntlessly wave upon wave, leaving slight scratches on him with their sharp ws and teeth.

    The golden chariot Huang Jinnan was standing on was still moving forward, but very slowly.

    That was because ghouls kept rising into the air to stop it from flying towards the center of the square.

    However, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t brought his Star Boat with him when he had joined the battle because Yin Yanan and the girls had been standing on it earlier.

    It was impractical for him to fly out of the square and bring his Star Boat inside now.

    Besides, he didn¡¯t know whether the square would have the same confining effect on him as it had on the ghouls.

    SHEW!

    Like a streak of starlight, he flew onto the golden chariot to stand side by side with Huang Jinnan.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s face split into a wide smile. ¡°Now let¡¯s go.¡±

    A cluster of golden light blossomed within his palm as he pressed it towards the head of the chariot.

    The entire chariot shone with blinding golden light as it suddenly exploded forward.

    The ghouls that rose into the sky, hoping to stop the chariot, were ripped to shreds by the golden light, and fell back to the ground.

    The chariot flew forward at full speed.

    After Nie Tian drove the evil spirits away with his Spirit Pearl, nothing seemed to be able to stop Huang Jinnan, who had his golden lotus floating over his head and his golden spear clutched in his hand. They arrived at the ancient altar in the blink of an eye.

    BOOM!

    The golden chariot rammed into an invisible shield with great force, and stopped.

    As the strong sh sent out countless golden sparks, Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°So this altar is enveloped in a shield, which is probably what¡¯s stopping the five Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials from breaking away.¡±

    ¡°Golden Crystal Cannon!¡± As he shouted these words, a peculiar antique cannon forged from a golden crystal appeared from under the chariot.

    The golden spirit stones that paved the floor of the chariot seemed to burst into mes as arge amount of metal power poured madly into the antique golden cannon.

    A cluster of golden mes shot out of the cannon muzzle to bombard the invisible shield that sealed the altar.

    BANG BANG BANG!

    As the golden mes exploded, the invisible shield briefly showed itself against the fiery light.

    However, not even the slightest bit of the golden mes managed to prate the shield into the altar.

    At this moment, even more ghouls converged on them from all directions. Huang Jinnan had to spare some of his attention to cut down the iing ghouls with his golden spear.

    At the same time, Nie Tian held fast to his star souls as he dealt with the evil spirits, so that he wouldn¡¯t be bewitched again.

    As they did, the few Phantasm evil spirits followed their golden chariot to the ancient altar.

    Starlight once again blossomed in Nie Tian¡¯s pupils. One Starchain after another formed out of thin air like lightning bolts. Carrying soul power and the essence of his star souls, they shot out even before the few evil spirits came close.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian went nk.

    The Starchains suddenly vanished like torches that were blown out by a gust of wind.

    He suddenly remembered earlier, when one of his Heaven Eyes had vanished immediately after he had sent it into the square.

    Cursing inwardly, he realized that if he sent out any form of his soul power, the special environment of this ce would make it quickly scatter and vanish.

    The few evil spirits ignored the cyan light the Spirit Pearl emanated and flew right onto the golden chariot.

    All kinds of negative emotions and soul impacts then bore down on Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan.

    It was also at this moment that the young man named Han Sen, who practiced lightning incantations, appeared with a cold expression at the perimeter of the square.

    Gloating filled his eyes as he gazed into the square at Nie Tian, Huang Jinnan, and the others, who were engaged in fierce battles against numerous evil spirits and ghouls.

 Chapter 884: Ripping the Shield Open

    Five Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials were floating over the ancient altar, as if they were within Huang Jinnan¡¯s reach.

    Strong desire filled his eyes as he stared unblinkingly at the piece of primal metal.

    However, the shield sealing the altar was so resilient that even the Golden Crystal Cannon on his chariot failed to blow it open.

    All of the five Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials had their own independent awareness. They knew that they had to burst through the shield and escape in order not to be sacrificial offerings.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot was wreathed in golden mes as he brandished his long spear, cutting down the ghouls that pounced on him in wave after wave.

    The few Phantasm evil spirits suddenly flew onto his chariot.

    The golden lotus floating over Huang Jinnan¡¯s head shone increasingly brightly and dazzlingly.

    Bathed in the golden light, Huang Jinnan looked as if he were painted gold with some divine paint.

    One touch of the golden light, and the wisps of soul power that were unleashed by the evil spirits were reduced to rising smoke.

    Therefore, Huang Jinnan was unscathed, wreathed in the golden light.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian failed to scare these evil spirits off with the Spirit Pearl. Their negative emotions easily went through his protective ward, with which he had been defending against the tainted energies.

    Numerous wisps of evil ideas flew into his mouth, nose, and ears, hoping to eventually infiltrate his sea of awareness.

    Having had a simr experience before, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, and unleashed Starchains again.

    One Starchain after another spread out from the depths of his sea of awareness like lightning bolts.

    They struck the evil spirits¡¯ negative ideas and emotions, causing them to vanish like smoke and disperse like clouds. (Idiom: vanishpletely)

    Losing their soul power, the few Phantasm evil spirits rapidly grew smaller.

    However, they didn¡¯t give up, but instead sent in even more negative emotions and ideas to consume Nie Tian¡¯s soul power and his star souls¡¯ precious power.

    Soon, the nine star souls that shone brightly over his sea of awareness grew somewhat dimmer and smaller.

    Even so, Nie Tian eventually neutralized all of the evil spirits¡¯ soul attacks.

    After he was finished, not a single evil spirit dared toe anywhere close to Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan anymore.

    The evil spirits floated in distant ces like gray clouds, and eyed Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan like frustrated tigers, as if they were waiting for the Spirit Pearl to vanish to swamp the two.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t have to worry about the ghouls. Huang Jinnan took care of them all.

    At this moment, Han Sen noticed Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat, which was berthed outside the square. ¡°That¡¯s one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Star Boats!¡±

    With a low chuckle, he morphed into a streak of lightning that shot directly onto the Star Boat.

    Yin Yanan, who was busy killing ghouls, noticed his action, and thus called out, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian jerked his head around, and discovered that Han Sen was poking around his Star Boat, looking fascinated.

    A smile spread across Han Sen¡¯s face as he muttered, ¡°This is a rare treasure forged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. If I can get it out of the Shatter Battlefield, I¡¯ll probably be able to sell it for a good price.¡±

    He also gloated as he gazed at the center of the square from time to time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew ice-cold as he looked back at him from the ancient altar.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left the Star Boat for him especially. Not only was it as fast as lightning, but it was also a mighty weapon.

    It would be uneptable to him if Han Sen were to damage it or take it for his own.

    ¡°What are you doing not calling your Star Boat in, Nie Tian?!¡± With a vigorous swing of his long spear, Huang Jinnan split another three ghouls that pounced on the chariot they were standing on, pieces of their mangled bodies falling to the ground.

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Call it in?¡±

    Huang Jinnan fixed him with a confused look. ¡°Star formations are carved into every Star Boat of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. As long as you call to it with your star souls, the spell formations will change ordingly. Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t even know that?¡±

    ¡°Well... No one ever taught me...¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat embarrassed.

    Huang Jinnan went nk briefly before suddenly remembering that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t finished his ¡®path of stars¡¯ and returned to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t learned many things about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, even including some things that were known to everyone.

    Huang Jinnan then quickly informed him of the method to call the Star Boat in.

    It was actually rather simple. All he needed to do was activate his star souls and use them tomunicate with the spell formations within the Star Boat. Then, the Star Boat would answer his summons and fly to his side on its own.

    After memorizing the method, Nie Tian jerked his head towards the Star Boat.

    Nine spots of starlight came to shine in the depths of his pupils as he fixed his eyes on the Star Boat. As soon as the Star Boat¡¯s image was reflected in his eyes, a subtle connection seemed to be established between them.

    All of a sudden, the mysterious spell formations that had been carved into the Star Boat changed. The glowing lines that formed them started moving in a profound manner.

    The spell formations were instantly activated.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat located Nie Tian¡¯s star souls, and flew directly towards the center of the square.

    Han Sen was still trying to figure out how the Star Boat worked when this happened. His face turned pale with fright as he hastily jumped off.

    Like a falling star that streaked across the sky, the Star Boat flew to the center of the square where Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot was berthed in less than ten seconds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a smile. ¡°Oh, so that¡¯s how it¡¯s done.¡±

    Then, he blurred into action, shifting from Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden chariot to his own Star Boat.

    Since the Star Boat didn¡¯t carry any flesh or soul auras, and its power originated from the numerousplicated spell formations that had been carved into it, it didn¡¯t attract the attention of the ghouls and evil spirits.

    It was also because of that it didn¡¯t meet any obstacles flying to the center of the square.

    In high spirits, Huang Jinnan shouted, ¡°Let¡¯s try to bombard the shield together! Your Star Boat has a strong prating force. Besides, the more star power it receives, the mightier it¡¯ll be. Prepare to drain all of your Star Stones in one go, and perhaps we¡¯ll be able to go through the ward together!¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± The two of them quickly reached a mutual understanding.

    Starlight rapidly built up at the prow of the Star Boat, forming a sea of starlight within seconds.

    Shiny spots could be seen in the sea of starlight, which exuded an ancient and unfathomable aura.

    At the same time, Huang Jinnan once again activated the Golden Crystal Cannon on his golden chariot.

    The Golden Crystal Cannon shot clusters of golden mes towards the altar first.

    Then, a beam of dazzling starlight shot out, following the same track as the clusters of golden mes.

    BOOM! RUMBLE!

    The invisible shield enveloping the ancient altar showed itself with unprecedented rity.

    The shield was actually gray, as if it were some kind of special stone ground into powder and then infused with power.

    As soon as it was bombarded by the golden mes, gray powder flew out from the contact point.

    A small, finger-sized hole appeared in the shield.

    However, the golden mes quickly ran out of power and died out.

    The small hole started to shrink rapidly, like a fleshly wound that healed at lightning speed. From the look of it, it would healpletely in the next moment.

    At this very moment, the beam of dazzling starlighting out of the Star Boat shot directly into the shrinking hole.

    The hole was ripped open, expanding from the size of a finger to the size of a table.

    Starlight poured through the expanded hole, bombarding the rubble-covered altar and sending stone chips flying.

    Then, the hole started shrinking again, as if it would healpletely, given a short period of time.

    However, the five Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials saw their opportunity, and flew out through the shrinking hole one after another.

    The first one to do so was the piece of primal metal, which Huang Jinnan had set his mind on long ago.

    Huang Jinnan let out an exmation of excitement as soon as the primal metal flew out. Golden light shone in the depths of his eyes as the golden lotus that had been floating over his head and protecting him from the evil spirits blossomed widely, before suddenly closing up and catching the piece of primal metal.

    Though locked by the golden lotus¡¯ petals, the piece of primal metal struggled forcefully. Huang Jinnanughed excitedly as he formed a series ofplicated hand seals and pressed onto the golden lotus.

    Weighed down by the hand seals, the piece of primal metal seemed to finally ept its fate, and stopped charging about.

    After the primal metal, three tree leaves that were extremely fresh and green flew through the hold in the shield.

    ¡°They¡¯re yours, Nie Tian!¡± Huang Jinnan shouted.

    Light as feathers and wreathed in pleasant green auras, the tree leaves tried to flee as soon as they broke free.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power exploded inside of him, allowing him to extend his arm at lightning speed and catch all three tree leaves in one go.

    But to his surprise, the tree leaves somehow vanished the moment he grabbed them.

    Nie Tian went nk, failing to tell where the tree leaves had gone.

    However, he soon recovered and realized that they must have merged with him.

    As that happened, the cluster of pale mes shot through the shrinking hole in the shield.

    Possessing primal awareness, it seemed to be the essence of corpse toxins. The moment it flew out, countless wisps of power poured out of the ghouls that were converging on Huang Jinnan.

 Chapter 885: Seal!

    Even before it had broken free, the cluster of pale mes had been able to channel wisps of corpse power from the ghouls.

    However, since the ancient altar had been enveloped in an invisible shield, very little corpse power left the ghouls in its surroundings.

    But it waspletely different this time.

    After the cluster of pale mes broke free from the ancient altar¡¯s confinement, there seemed to be nothing that could stop it from absorbing corpse power anymore.

    The fierce ghouls that were attacking and giving Huang Jinnan a headache suddenly burst into mes.

    As they did, rivers of bleak white power poured out of them and converged on the cluster of pale mes.

    The cluster of pale mes grewrger andrger.

    On the other hand, the ghouls fell out of the air after being drained of their corpse power. By the time they hit the ground, they were shriveled and charred like half-burned logs.

    Surprisingly, the cluster of pale mes didn¡¯t seem eager to escape after leaving the altar. Instead, it continued to absorb corpse power from the ghouls in its surroundings.

    SHEW!

    Like a spiritual snake, the bolt of lightning also flew out through the shrinking hole in the shield.

    Huang Jinnan was still focused on subduing the piece of primal metal, and was therefore unable to collect the others at the same time.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian was looking at the cluster of pale mes and pondering a possible method to collect it, and thus ignored the bolt of lightning.

    Unlike the cluster of pale mes, the bolt of lightning shot towards the perimeter of the square as soon as it broke free.

    It left the spacious square in the blink of an eye.

    Han Sen, who had been waiting outside the square for a long time, chased after it, looking ecstatic.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Huang Jinnan cursed, but instead of chasing after it, he fixed his eyes on the grayish-brown ball that had just flown out of the shrinking hole.

    The cluster of pale mes was burning increasingly fiercely as more and more ghouls in the vicinity burst into mes. Wisps of corpse power poured out of them and converged madly on it from different directions.

    ¡°Nie Tian, that cluster of mes is corpse power essence that carries extremely deadly toxins,¡± Huang Jinnan eximed mildly. ¡°If we can¡¯t collect it ,we might as well leave it alone! It¡¯s not the kind of spiritual material you need. Only Qi warriors who practice dark magics will be able to make use of it. Even if you go to great lengths to finally collect it, it¡¯ll only be something you can trade.

    ¡°Besides, those mes are a hundred times more corrosive than the tainted energies we¡¯re facing.

    ¡°One touch of them can even render spiritual tools useless, since they can assimte and kill their souls.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    He frowned as a series of ideas shed across his mind.<i> ¡°That cluster of pale mes has its own awareness. Neither my spiritual tools nor I can touch it. How on earth would I be able to collect it?¡±</i>

    All of a sudden, he remembered the special sealing magic he had learned from the mysteriousnd where titans were buried.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t had a chance to use that sealing magic since he had learned it, he was convinced that it must be very powerful if he used it right.

    Therefore, he summoned his spiritual power, flesh power, and soul power simultaneously, and condensed them in the mysterious way indicated by the secret sealing magic.

    A mysterious magical symbol suddenly appeared in front of him.

    Vague and illusory, it was in the shape of the word ¡®seal¡¯.

    As a condensation of every kind of power he possessed, the magical symbol continued to channel power from him after it came to form.

    ¡°Seal!¡± As Nie Tian eximed the word, the illusory magical symbol flew directly into the cluster of pale mes.

    As the magical symbols started to shine in the depths of the cluster of pale mes, the zing mes gradually grew weaker.

    Because of this, the cluster of pale mes instantly stopped channeling corpse power and toxins from the ghouls in the vicinity.

    The magical symbol somehow grewrger within the cluster of pale mes. As it did, wisps of pale mes started to fuse into the illusory symbols, and the cluster of pale mes shrank.

    The illusory magical symbols floated quietly as the cluster of pale mes eventually vanished into it.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian made a grab for it. However, as soon as his finger touched the illusory magical symbol, it flew directly into his ring of holding.

    He then sent a wisp of his soul awareness into his ring of holding, only to see the illusory magical symbol floating in silence.

    Huang Jinnan gasped.

    He stared at Nie Tian for a long time, failing to tell what that illusory symbol was.

    He remembered the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret sealing magics to bepletely different from the one Nie Tian had just cast.

    Therefore, he was absolutely certain that the illusory magical symbol Nie Tian had just formed wasn¡¯t from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The fact that Nie Tian was able to seal and collect the cluster of deadly mes impressed him deeply. Now, he felt that Nie Tian was veiled by an addedyer of mystery.

    WHOOSH!

    After the grayish-brown ball left the altar, the hole that Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan had made in the shield enveloping it finally healed.

    Huang Jinnan let out an excited exmation as he shot towards it like a streak of golden lightning, and then made a grab for it with hisrge hand.

    Wreathed in dazzling golden metal power, hisrge hand clutched the ball firmly.

    The grayish-brown ball struggled madly, causing the earth to shake violently, and giving rise to loud rumbles. The stone floor around the altar cracked; many of the stone columns that had cracked earlier exploded and toppled.

    Even the lofty stone pavilions at the perimeter of the square shook so hard that they almost copsed.

    BANG BANG BANG!

    The sounds of energies shing filled the air as the stone columns toppled and cracks spread across the stone floor.

    As an idea entered his mind, Nie Tian left his current location to fly among the cracking stone columns, with the Spirit Pearl floating over his head.

    Many evil spirits were still trapped within some of the stone columns.

    Like a ma, the Spirit Pearl attracted the evil spirits that were trapped in the toppling stone columns.

    As he threaded through the copsing stone columns, evil spirits flew uncontrobly into the Spirit Pearl like rivers rushing into the sea.

    After finally collecting the grayish-brown ball, Huang Jinnan shouted in high spirits, ¡°Time to go, Nie Tian!¡±

    Then, he flew directly towards the perimeter of the square on his golden chariot. ¡°The spell formation holding this ce together is already broken. Let¡¯s get out of here now!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian jerked his head around, and discovered that many ghouls had already wandered beyond the edge of the square, which meant the mysterious force that had sealed the square had disappeared when the changes had taken ce.

    ¡°You go on! I¡¯ll be right behind you!¡± WIth these words, Nie Tian flew to some other toppling stone columns on his Star Boat to collect more evil spirits with his Spirit Pearl.

    Meanwhile, the chosen ones from the various domains and Yin Yanan and the girls rapidly ended their battle against the ghouls and evil spirits and withdrew from the square after hearing Huang Jinnan¡¯s shout.

    After a moment of hesitation, Huang Jinnan flew out of the square on his golden chariot.

    Afterward, he shouted somewhat anxiously, ¡°Nie Tian! The Stone Golems may arrive at any moment. We need to leave not just this Stone Golem capital, but the Bloody Grave Mountain Range!¡±

    At this moment, thest standing stone column shattered and copsed, and the evil spirits trapped inside were absorbed by the Spirit Pearl.

    Nie Tian did a quick scan of the Spirit Pearl, and discovered that close to a thousand evil spirits had been added to it, all of which had been collected from the toppling stone columns.

    Some other evil spirits hovered over the square and followed him from afar.

    If he wanted to collect them as well, he would have to hide his Spirit Pearl in his ring of holding and wait for them to pounce on him to take it back out.

    However, they were on a tight schedule, and the originally distant rumbles were growing increasingly close and intense.

    After pondering for a few seconds, he paved the Star Boat with fresh Star Stones and flew out of the square to the ce where Yin Yanan and the girls were waiting. The Spirit Pearl floated over him the whole time.

    The girls jumped on board as soon as he arrived.

    ¡°Follow me!¡± Without any dy, Huang Jinnan took the initiative to fly off on his golden chariot like a golden lightning bolt that streaked across the sky.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat followed along.

    In fact, it was the only air-transportation spiritual tool that could keep up with the golden chariot. All of the other chosen ones¡¯ air-transportation spiritual toolsgged behind, and the distance between them grew greater and greater.

    Huang Jinnan took out his Sound Stone and whispered into it from time to time, as if to inform the chosen ones from the various domains of a destination.

    After flying at full speed for few minutes, the golden chariot and the Star Boat were the first to emerge from the Stone Golem capital.

    However, Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t have the slightest intention to slow down. Instead, he kept flying at full speed towards the destination he had informed the others about.

    Nie Tian refilled his Star Boat with fresh Star Stones from time to time to keep up with him.

    A few dayster, the golden chariot and the Star Boat finally left the Bloody Grave Mountain Range and returned to the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield.

 Chapter 886: Parting Ways

    They stopped atop a poorly vegetated mountain peak.

    They looked back, and saw a frosty mist pervading the outer areas of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, with numerous snow-capped mountain peaks standing in a sea of frosty mist.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for the others here. This is the ce I told them I¡¯d be. As soon as theye, we¡¯ll head out of the Shatter Battlefield together. I have a feeling that great changes will take ce in the Shatter Battlefield, and they will have something to do with the Stone Golems¡¯ return.

    ¡°The Bloody Grave Mountain Range is now more dangerous than ever. Once the Stone Golems return to that capital and discover that the sacrificial offering they set up has been taken away, they¡¯ll probably be furious, and look for those who did it.¡±

    Listening to him, Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul awareness into the Spirit Pearl.

    The numerous evil spirits he had collected from the square had added details to and perfected the Bloody Grave Mountain Range part of the map, along with some other areas.

    Nie Tian took a closer look at the map, and discovered that his current location was very far from the spatial rift through which they hade from the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Furthermore, a long time had passed since he had entered the Shatter Battlefield, and the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom would vanish at a certain point.

    He pondered for a while, then made his decision: he would set out for home as well.

    Then, he withdrew his soul awareness from the Spirit Pearl and sent it into his spiritual sea to examine his slowly spinning vortex of wood power.

    At the bottom of his vortex of wood power, three tree leaves could be seen floating in theke of liquidized wood power. They were among the sacrificial offerings he had taken from the ancient altar.

    Emerald green, they seemed to be nourishing themselves with the liquidized wood power.

    He had examined them more than once during the past few days.

    The leaves had be increasingly fresh and glowing as they continued to absorb the liquidized wood power.

    However, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t figured out what they could do or how they could help him yet.

    ¡°I guess we should head back as well,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Huang Jinnan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s too bad that you haven¡¯t finished your path of stars yet. Otherwise, I¡¯d invite you to my sect, where you¡¯d be able to teleport directly to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. But I believe we¡¯ll meet again soon.

    ¡°I¡¯ll congratte you in person the day you make it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be there to witness your name spread across the myriad domains of this starry river.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°This is goodbye then.¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded and said, ¡°Take care! I¡¯ll see you!¡±

    ¡°See you!¡±

    The Star Boat then flew off at full speed.

    Nie Tian checked the map within the Spirit Pearl from time to time as he retraced their steps, heading back to the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    A month passed.

    As they approached theke where they had first met Xie Wanting, Xie Wanting took the initiative to say, ¡°It¡¯s about time we split up. This ce is close to the spatial rift through which members of my sect entered the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tian stopped the Star Boat.

    Xie Wanting seemed somewhat reluctant to leave as ripples appeared in her watery clear eyes. ¡°It has been my privilege to get to know you all. If you evere to the Domain of Vast Darkness, let me know, and I¡¯ll definitely receive you withvish hospitality. Also, the Domain of Vast Darkness isn¡¯t very far from the Domain of Heaven Python. Perhaps I¡¯ll go see you in the Domain of Heaven Python someday.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled back at her. ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to it.¡±

    ¡°Thanks to you, I came to abundant gains in the Shatter Battlefield. I suppose it won¡¯t take me very long to enter the Soul realm.¡± Just as she was about to turn around and leave, she grew hesitant. She suddenly walked to Nie Tian and gave him a gentle hug, and said in a soft voice, ¡°Thank you for taking care of me.¡±

    With these words, she summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool, jumped on board, and waved goodbye to Nie Tian and the girls.

    Curling her lips, Yin Yannan said, ¡°The woman has her eyes on you. Otherwise, why would she hug you, but not the two of us? She clearly has feelings for you.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°She has feelings for me? Isn¡¯t that totally understandable?¡±

    ¡°Get out!¡± Yin Yanan spat.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that the reason why Xie Wanting had only hugged him, and not the girls, was because neither of them had been friendly to her.

    He also knew that even if she hadn¡¯t gained anything from their trip together, the dangers and tribtions they had gone through in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range alone would help her grow significantly mentally.

    Xie Wanting had long since reached thete Profound realm and refined her spiritual power to the limit. The only thing that had been stopping her from making that breakthrough was her state of mind.

    Not to mention that Nie Tian had given her a couple of berries that contained mysterious life power.

    If she took them back to the Domain of Vast Darkness, they would have strong appeal to Qi warriors who were running out of their lifespans.

    Aside from that, she had also gained a Jade Spirit Crystal, which would be of great help to her and her younger brother, Xie Yunhai.

    Her trip to the Shatter Battlefield had turned out to be a productive one.

    After Xie Wanting disappeared into the distance, Nie Tian put his Star Boat away and said, ¡°I don¡¯t feel like using my Star Boat on our way back. Star Stones are much more precious than spirit stones. I can¡¯t afford to waste any more of them.¡± Then, he fixed his eyes on Mu Biqiong. ¡°I believe you have an air-transportation spiritual tool of your own too.¡±

    Mu Biqiong let out a cold snort and summoned a wooden air-transportation spiritual tool that looked like a boat with wings on either side.

    Afterwards, she fixed Nie Tian with an inquiring gaze and said, ¡°About those three tree leaves...¡±

    This was the third time she had asked for them.

    Nie Tian spread his hands and exined in a rascally fashion, ¡°I told you that they¡¯ve merged with my vortex of wood power. I don¡¯t know how to get them out. Besides, Huang Jinnan and I went to great lengths to put a hole in that shield and get the sacrificial offerings out of the altar. He caught the primal metal and the earthly brown ball, while I seized the tree leaves and the cluster of pale mes. They¡¯re rightfully ours.¡±

    ¡°But we helped fight those evil spirits and ghouls,¡± Mu Biqiong said with hidden bitterness in her voice.

    The coexisting flowers inside of her had yearned for the tree leaves they moment they had appeared.

    Even though she didn¡¯t know where the leaves hade from, she knew that, as wood-attributed Earth Cultivated grade treasures, they must be of great help to her, and perhaps the coexisting flowers as well.

    However, Nie Tian had collected and merged them with his vortex of wood power. She found this very frustrating.

    ¡°We should at least get something for our efforts, right?¡± Yin Yanan chimed in with a long face. ¡°We didn¡¯t want to bring it up while Xie Wanting was here. But now that she¡¯s left, let¡¯s hear how you propose to thank us for our efforts. We headed into battles with you, putting our lives at risk. Don¡¯t tell us that you don¡¯t intend to give us anything!¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said with a grudging expression. ¡°What do you want? Berries or soul crystals?¡±

    ¡°Soul crystals!¡± Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes lit up.

    ¡°Berries!¡± Mu Biqiong eximed softly.

    Nie Tian nodded and took out two soul crystals and two berries, which he handed to Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong respectively.

    After receiving them, the girls seemed somewhat happier, and stoppedining.

    Then, their wooden air-transportation spiritual tool headed back towards the spatial rift, taking the same route they had taken toe to this ce.

    The way back was long, and Nie Tian gradually drained the piece of ninth grade Scarlet Turtle¡¯s shell of its me power.

    The residual power within it was so rich that it allowed Nie Tian to finish a new round of refinement of his vortex of me power.

    When the turtle shell lost all of its me power, it broke into pieces.

    At the same time, Nie Tian expanded and refined his vortex of me power to its limit.

    Then, as he went on to channel wood power from wood-attributed spiritual materials to refine his vortex of wood power, he discovered, to his surprise, that the existence of the three tree leaves allowed him to channel wood power at a speed that was several times faster than before.

    From the look of it, the tree leaves had the same incredible effect as the Nine Stars Flower within his vortex of star power.

    Both of them allowed him to absorb and umte power more effectively.

    Monthster, they flew past the Fortune Wells and another Stone Golem city.

    With the help of the tree leaves and the Nine Stars Flower, he had expanded and refined both his vortexes of wood power and star power to their limits.

    That done, he took out soul crystals and started channeling soul power from them to refine his true soul.

    At the same time, he took arge amount of spirit beast meat from within his ring of holding, and used it to nourish the green aura in his heart.

    However, even though he was about to run out of spirit beast meat, the green aura seemed to still be far from ready for its next upgrade. He didn¡¯t see any sign of it being ready to fall dormant again.

    On this day, he suddenly heard the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul call while he was in the middle of his cultivation. ¡°Master...¡±

    The Spirit Pearl had absorbed close to a thousand evil spirits at the altar. Now, it seemed to have refined them all.

    Because of that, its soul seemed to have gone through an upgrade.

    Then, Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul awareness to examine it, and discovered that its inside had also gone through considerable changes.

 Chapter 887: The Five Evil Spirits

    Aside from the sketchy map of the Shatter Battlefield, the cyan-colored inside of the Spirit Pearl was now divided into five sections that surrounded its soul.

    Discarnate souls roamed every section.

    Furthermore, each section had produced a outstandingly powerful evil spirit.

    They seemed to be the ruler of their respective sections.

    Nie Tian examined them with rapt attention, and sensed distinctive, unusual auras from every one of them.

    The first section was filled with hatred. As soon as the wisp of his soul awareness flew into it, hatred rose uncontrobly in his heart, as if he had suddenly started to hate everything and everyone in this world.

    Strong fear filled the second section. As soon as Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness entered it, he instantly felt fear rising from the depths of his heart.

    Despair pervaded the third section. As Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness flew inside, nothing seemed to be able to interest him anymore. All he wanted to do was wait for his death.

    Rage flooded the fourth section. Upon entering, he lost his calm state of mind and grew furious for no reason.

    The fifth section was filled with a strong thirst for blood, which pushed him to kill every living thing he saw.

    Each and every section was guarded and ruled by an exceptionally powerful evil spirit.

    He sensed the same things from them as the section they were in, as if they had be one with their respective sections.

    However, the sections were still centered around and tookmands from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    In his senses, Nie Tian felt as if the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was its king that controlled the five powerful evil spirits that represented hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodthirst.

    Meanwhile, in their own sections, the evil spirits controlled the discarnate souls and evil spirits in them.

    It was as if the five powerful evil spirits were generals, while the other evil spirits and discarnate souls were soldiers.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered the situation. ¡°Hatred, fear, despair, and bloodthirst are all strong, negative emotions living beings produce before they die.

    ¡°Even after their deaths, these emotions were carved into their discarnate souls.

    ¡°The Spirit Pearl absorbed arge number of evil spirits. Over the past few months, changes took ce as they fought and devoured each other. Eventually, five powerful evil spirits emerged. All of them carry different negative auras...¡±

    He then realized that each of the five powerful evil spirits was the ultimate condensation of the negative emotion they represented.

    Now that they had risen to power, once new discarnate souls or evil spirits entered the Spirit Pearl, they would be divided ording to the auras they carried, and used to further strengthen the five powerful evil spirits.

    Aside from that, ording to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, the five powerful evil spirits could also help him in battle.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly started an in-depthmunication with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, through which he soon mastered the two methods to use the five powerful evil spirits to assist him in battle.

    With the first method, the evil spirits didn¡¯t have to leave the Spirit Pearl. All he needed to do was summon negative power from the five powerful evil spirits, blend it with his soul power, and present it in his eyes.

    The second method was to send the powerful evil spirits out of the Spirit Pearl to strike a target of his choosing, which was even mightier.

    He made an attempt with the first method.

    Holding the Spirit Pearl, he tried to channel power from the evil spirit of hatred.

    As the Spirit Pearl glowed with cyan light, strong hatred rapidly filled the section before suddenly pouring into his eyes.

    Vague shadows could be seen squirming in the depths of his eyes, as if they were a reflection of the hatred-flooded section of the Spirit Pearl.

    Then, he suddenly turned to Mu Biqiong and called, ¡°Mu Biqiong!¡±

    Mu Biqiong opened her eyes and met his gaze in confusion.

    However, the mere exchange of nces caused Mu Biqiong to shake violently. She seemed to see endless hatred in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes that rushed towards her like overwhelming sea waves.

    Mu Biqiong was instantly influenced. Strong hatred rose in her heart, making her hate the entirety of heaven and earth.

    Her face turned pale with fright as she noticed the change.

    ¡°Now, fear!¡± Nie Tian instantly switched and started channeling power from the evil spirit of fear. As he did, the hatred in his eyes was reced by fear.

    He then noticed that the hatred gradually faded from Mu Biqiong¡¯s face, and fear took its ce.

    Mu Biqiong seemed to be terrified of him. Her small womanly body trembled as she subconsciously cowered away from him.

    ¡°Bloodthirst!¡± He skipped desperation and rage, and infused his eyes with a strong thirst for blood, while looking directly into Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes.

    Blood-colored light rapidly wreathed Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes. Exuding a strong thirst for blood, she sprang to her feet with a strong desire to kill Yin Yanan and Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Yin Yanan awoke from the middle of her cultivation and shouted at Mu Biqiong, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    The coexisting flowers inside of Mu Biqiong also seemed to suddenly notice the unfavorable situation.

    Images of them instantly appeared in her eyes.

    Their awakening rapidly silenced the influence Nie Tian had over her.

    After recovering her senses, Mu Biqiong panted heavily. Her chest went up and down as she red at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°What the hell did you do?¡±

    Yin Yanan also looked confused.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had already stopped channeling power from the five powerful evil spirits in the Spirit Pearl, and the look in his eyes had returned to normal as well.

    Nie Tian shrugged and said casually ¡°Nothing. I was just trying out a new secret magic I just picked up. It¡¯s pretty powerful, since it allows me to bewitch people by arousing and heightening the negative emotions in their hearts.¡±

    ¡°You were testing it on me?!¡± Mu Biqiong said furiously.

    As she did, the images of the gorgeous, multicolored flower and the devilish, ck flower in her eyes grew increasingly clear.

    ¡°You used a simr magic on me, remember?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Mu Biqiong snorted angrily. ¡°That wasn¡¯t me who used it!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°It was the same to me. Alright, alright. Rx. It was just a little trial. I wasn¡¯t going to hurt you anyways.¡±

    At this moment Yin Yanan chimed in, ¡°You¡¯d better calm yourself if you don¡¯t want to be possessed by those flowers again.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Mu Biqiong¡¯s expression flickered as she hastily adjusted herself to recover a calm state of mind.

    Momentster, the images of the coexisting flowers gradually faded from her eyes.

    ¡°Now I¡¯m gonna try something else. Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll be fine.¡± With these words, Nie Tian smiled as hemunicated with the Spirit Pearl again to summon the five powerful evil spirits using the second method.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five powerful evil spirits flew out of the Spirit Pearl to float in the air over Nie Tian.

    They each exuded torrential hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodthirst as they rapidly expanded to about ten meters tall.

    Nie Tian looked up, and discovered that they actually looked different.

    However, since they seemed to still be in their primal forms, they all looked rather blurry. He couldn¡¯t get a clear look at their shapes or appearances.

    Their different auras quickly spread out and filled arge area around them like a hurricane.

    Both Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong felt very ufortable in such an environment.

    Images of the things the evil spirits hadst seen before their deaths flooded and overtook their minds. As all kinds of negative emotions rose uncontrobly in their hearts, they felt as if they were being pushed to the edge of losing their minds.

    However, the evil spirits hadn¡¯t even reallyunched an attack yet.

    Yin Yanan couldn¡¯t help but shouted sternly, ¡°Nie Tian! Get these damned things away from me! Now!¡±

    She knew that she would soon lose control of herself if Nie Tian didn¡¯t stop.

    At the same time, Mu Biqiong gritted her teeth, fixing Nie Tian with a nasty look.

    Nie Tian let out a low chuckle and deactivated the magic.

    Like clusters of gray smoke, the five evil spirits shrank and flew back into the Spirit Pearl.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement as he looked at the Spirit Pearl and said inwardly, <i>¡°By just floating over my head, they can affect others with all kinds of negative emotions. If they fly directly into others¡¯ seas of awareness, they¡¯ll definitely be able to inflict a whole other level of damage.¡±</i>

    All this time, he had viewed the Spirit Pearl as something he could use to defend against different forms of spirits and souls, and by absorbing them, it could draw maps of the ces they had been to before they had died.

    He had never expected that it could also produce such powerful evil spirits, which would provide him with great help in battle!

    ¡°It¡¯s such a wondrous soul tool!¡±

 Chapter 888: Foreign Enemies

    Three monthster, Nie Tian, Mu Biqiong, and Yin Yannan arrived at the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom on their wooden air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Wind filled the sky with sand, while numerous spatial rifts interwove above them. The spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom was still open, but very congested.

    Gazing up at it, Yin Yanan spent some time examining it with her soul awareness, and then said, ¡°That spatial rift hasn¡¯t stabilized yet.

    ¡°It¡¯s been about three years since we first entered the Shatter Battlefield. ording to the Divine Seal Sect, this spatial rift should be essible three years after our entrance, but it¡¯s hard to say when exactly.¡±

    From the look of it, Nie Tian and the girls might be the first ones to have returned to this ce.

    None of the powerful experts from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars seemed to have returned yet.

    ¡°Do we just wait here and go back to the Realm of Maelstrom after the spatial rift stabilizes?¡± Mu Biqiong asked.

    Nie Tian took a nce at her and asked, ¡°Do you have a better idea?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Mu Biqiong answered with a cold face.

    ¡°Then that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do,¡± Nie Tian said.

    After months of devoted cultivation, Nie Tian had refined all of his spiritual vortexes to their limits with the help of that piece of Scarlet Turtle¡¯s shell and the Nine Stars Flower.

    His spiritual core had also been refined to the point where it was almost ready for his next breakthrough in cultivation.

    Even the refinement of his true soul had progressed significantly, thanks to the soul crystals he had gained.

    He was well-aware that he was close to making that step from thete Worldly realm to the early Profound realm.

    Looking back, his trip to the Shatter Battlefield had turned out to be rather productive, with the Silicon Silver, the berries that contained life power, the three magical tree leaves, and the cluster of pale mes...

    His bloodline had also advanced to the sixth grade in the Shatter Battlefield, allowing him to awaken two new bloodline talents: Life Strengthening and Blood Essence Seething.

    The Spirit Pearl had absorbed arge number of evil spirits, and produced five exceptionally powerful evil spirits.

    All of these things he had acquired in the Shatter Battlefield helped improve his battle prowess considerably.

    Even though he was still at thete Worldly realm, he wouldn¡¯t cower in the slightest facing any Profound realm Qi warrior. Even if he were to fight ate Profound realm expert, he would have the confidence to win.

    However, it was a pity that he had failed to find Pei Qiqi in the Shatter Battlefield.

    He hadn¡¯t asked about Pei Qiqi before he had in Xing Bo because he had seen an ice phoenix taking her away.

    However, that ice phoenix must have gone to the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Given his current cultivation base and strength, he was still too weak to march into the depths of the Shatter Battlefield and fight human experts that were at the Void domain or the Saint domain, or outsiders at the eighth or ninth grade, even though he had the Bone Blood Demon and other powerful resources.

    He sighed in frustration. ¡°I just hope senior martial sister is still fine. I guess I avenged Senior Zhen by killing that traitor Xing Bo.¡±

    Since the spatial rift was still unessible, the three of them waited in silence under the interweaving spatial rifts.

    Nie Tian resumed his cultivation.

    A monthter, he had refined his spiritual core to its limit.

    That done, both his spiritual sea and sea of awareness, the two main focuses of a cultivator¡¯s cultivation, were ready for his next breakthrough.

    Now, a new breakthrough was just around the corner.

    On this day, Yin Yanan¡¯s eyes snapped open while she was in the middle of her cultivation.

    The Frost Blood Python also slithered quietly out of her uncovered abdomen. It gazed off into the distance, hissing nonstop.

    Both Nie Tian and Mu Biqiong sensed its unusual behavior and awoke from their cultivation.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Eyes narrowed, Yin Yananmunicated with the eighth grade Frost Blood Python. Afterwards, she said, ¡°It has sensed unusual frost power fluctuations in that direction.¡±

    ¡°Unusual frost power fluctuations?¡± Nie Tian asked with a puzzled expression. ¡°Can it be someone who practices frost powering at us?¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s quite likely.¡±

    Nie Tian then formed his Heaven Eyes without dy, and spread them out to scan his surroundings.

    Wind filled the sky with sand. Through his Heaven Eyes, Nie Tian looked in every direction from where they were, but failed to see anything unusual.

    Neither did his bloodline power catch any sign of life.

    ¡°Whoever that is, he or she must be still very far from us,¡± He muttered.

    As he did, snow fell out of the sky onto their arms and shoulders.

    Given the severe heat in this ce, it should have been impossible for snow to fall.

    But now, as sparkling and crystal-clear snowkes fell out of the air, the sweltering heat was rapidly drowned by frigid cold.

    In a few seconds, a frosty figure appeared out of nowhere in the falling snow.

    ¡°Senior Zong Zheng!¡± Nie Tian eximed as the person fell out of the air.

    It turned out to be Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect.

    He had been at the middle Soul realm when he had first entered the Shatter Battlefield, but now he seemed to have entered thete Soul realm.

    However, he now looked bedraggled in ripped garments, with blooding out of exposed wounds.

    From the look of it, he had consumed a significant amount of frost power to activate some profound escape magic, which had allowed him to travel through space and arrive in front of them.

    Normally speaking, any short-range escape magic would inflict a strong bacsh on the caster.

    Therefore, no one would want to use them unless it was a matter of life or death.

    Zong Zheng¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he saw Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian! I didn¡¯t expect you to be back so early.¡±

    ¡°Who forced you to use an escape magic, Senior Zong?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Where are the others?¡±

    Fragmented frosty light flew out of him as he took a deep breath to say, ¡°They¡¯re trapped! Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and I were pursued by enemies. I cast an escape magic, hoping to find other powerful experts from the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries here, so we can rush back to help them.

    ¡°But who would have thought that only the three of you are here...¡±

    Disappointment shed across Zong Zheng¡¯s eyes.

    Clearly, he believed that Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong wouldn¡¯t be able to help save the others.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Even Uncle Hua too? Were they outsiders?¡±

    Zong Zheng smiled bitterly. ¡°No, human cultivators.¡±

    Nie Tian grew anxious. ¡°What the hell?! What about my master? Was he with you?¡±

    ¡°No, Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and I traveled together, while your master explored the depths of the Shatter Battlefield by himself. I suppose he went to the ce where they said the river of time appeared. We lost contact with him long ago.¡±

    Zong Zheng panted nonstop as he stuffed a handful of medicinal pills down his throat and continued, ¡°The three of us had several incredible encounters in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, thanks to which we all entered thete Soul realm.

    ¡°But while we were exploring a peculiar ce in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, Hua Mu suffered a bacsh, and was temporarily possessed by the Heavenly Demonsbane inside of him. At that moment, a group of human cultivators happened to find us, and then attacked us, using the excuse that Hua Mu was possessed by a demonic nt.

    ¡°But I knew they were actually after the fortune we had gained from that ce.

    ¡°Hua Mu went berserk and killed some of them.

    ¡°We beat them at first, but then they went off and summoned more of their friends from other ces. The pressure on us increased.

    ¡°Eventually, the three of us were forced to leave. We ran, and they pursued, until we ran back here.¡±

    With these words, Zong Zheng pointed in a direction. ¡°About fifteen kilometers down that way. Qi Bailu and Hua Mu were surrounded by seven Soul realm experts when I barely escaped.¡±

    Nie TIan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Seven Soul realm experts... Are you sure they¡¯re only at the Soul realm?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, all seven of them are at the Soul realm. Four of them were at thete Soul realm, and the other three are at the middle Soul realm.¡± After a short pause, Zong Zheng asked, ¡°Do you mean... you want to go help them?¡±

    Nie Tian answered him with action.

    He summoned the Star Boat without hesitation, jumped on board, and then fixed Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong with calm, inquiring gazes.

    Now that they had left the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong no longer needed to worry about attracting tainted energies by summoning their Frost Blood Python and coexisting flowers.

    The eighth grade Frost Blood Python and mysterious coexisting flowers all possessed mighty strength. It wouldn¡¯t be a hard thing for them to defeat Soul realm experts in battle.

    Therefore, the real problem was whether they were willing to fight for his seniors from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°How do we dare to refuse to give you face?¡± Yin Yanan asked rhetorically before jumping onto the Star Boat.

    Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t say a word, but also jumped onto the Star Boat.

    ¡°You just stay here and recover, Senior Zong,¡± Nie Tian said, looking very bold and confident. ¡°I¡¯ll bring Uncle Hua and Senior Qi here safely.¡±

 Chapter 889: Rescue

    In the middle of the sweltering hot desert.

    Qi Bailu and Hua Mu were flying at full speed, with the me Mirror protecting their rear like a shield of mes.

    Clusters of earthme essence shot out of the me Mirror from time to time to bombard the seven foreign Soul realm Qi warriors who were pursuing them with strong killing intent in their eyes.

    One of them was brandishing a huge axe, sending out purple lightning bolts that struck and scattered the clusters of earthme essence.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that we aren¡¯t in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡± Eyebrows knitted, Qi Bailu sighed and said, ¡°If we were in the Tool Sect, I¡¯d be able to channel endless me power from our six fiery arcane realms to boost the me Mirror¡¯s might.¡±

    The me Mirror was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure handed down to Qi Bailu by the Tool Sect¡¯s previous sectmaster.

    The me Mirror and the Tool Sect could be viewed as a whole. Only in the Tool Sect would the me Mirror be able to channel power from the six fiery arcane realms and disy its full might.

    Low in spirits, Hua Mu said with a downcast look in his eyes, ¡°This is the fifth time they have caught up to us.¡±

    With a determined expression, Qi Bailu said, ¡°We¡¯re just about to reach the spatial rift that leads to the Realm of Maelstrom. Hang on a bit longer, and we¡¯ll be able to return to the Realm of Maelstrom. Zong Zheng went first with an escape magic. If he can find Yue Yanxi from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries or other Void domain experts there, perhaps we¡¯ll even be able to turn the situation around.¡±

    BOOM!

    A silver wheel flew past the man with the huge axe and mmed into the me Mirror with great force.

    As raging mes spilled uncontrobly from within the me Mirror, Qi Bailu coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale.

    A skinny old man in a long silver robe stepped past the clusters of mes as he closed in on them. He shouted in a mocking tone, ¡°Give up now! You won¡¯t be able to escape this time! The Domain of the Falling Stars? A remote corner that I¡¯ve never even heard of! I can¡¯t believe even weaklings like you dared to explore the depths of the Shatter Battlefield! Even though you were lucky enough to gather a few precious spiritual materials, do you really think you¡¯ll be able to walk away with them?¡±

    The Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s shape flickered between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows.

    Edging into desperation, Hua Mu even thought of summoning the Heavenly Demonsbane to fight for him, risking being possessed by it again.

    However, even the Heavenly Demonsbane had consumed too much of its vital power. Even though he had voluntarily loosened up his mind, the Heavenly Demonsbane ignored the opportunity to possess him.

    The Qi warrior who was wielding hisrge battle axe fixed his eyes on Hua Mu. He slowed down subconsciously as he saw the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s shape appear between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows, but he grew spirited again as he saw it vanish shortly afterwards. ¡°He seems to be too weak to summon that demonic nt again!¡±

    The same went for the other Qi warriors.

    They had all slowed down to put a safe distance between them and Hua Mu as the shape of the Heavenly Demonsbane appeared, as if they had all suffered from this formidable foe.

    However, as soon as they saw the Heavenly Demonsbane settling down again, the killing intent in their eyes rapidly grew intense.

    ¡°Even it has lost too much strength now, and given up,¡± Hua Mu said in desperation.

    ¡°You¡¯ve summoned it three times already,¡± Qi Bailu said with a bitter expression. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for it, we wouldn¡¯t have even made it this far. As tough as it is, it has consumed too much power fighting off wave after wave of pursuers. Many pursuers died because of it. But it doesn¡¯t have endless power to expend after all. Like amp, it will also die out after running out of fuel.¡±

    ¡°But it was ourst hope,¡± Hua Mu said, looking downcast. ¡°Now that it¡¯s gone, I¡¯m afraid we are lost.¡±

    The Heavenly Demonsbane had long since merged with him. If he died, the Heavenly Demonsbane would die with him.

    The Heavenly Demonsbane was well-aware of that, which was why it had stepped up every time Hua Mu¡¯s life had been threatened.

    Now, even though Hua Mu voluntarily called upon it and left his soul undefended, the Heavenly Demonsbane didn¡¯t possess him. This proved that the Heavenly Demonsbane had indeed used up everyst bit of its power after helping him through crisis after crisis.

    ¡°ept your fate!¡± one of the pursuers shouted.

    The silver wheel spun, giving rise to a gust of wind. The numerous glowing wind des it carried seemed to be able to rip everything in their way to pieces.

    The clusters of earthme essence within the me Mirror exploded with loud booms as the silver wind des mmed the mirror like raindrops.

    After taking repeated strong blows, the mysterious fiery patterns on the mirror gradually vanished.

    ¡°Dammit!" Qi Bailu¡¯s expression flickered as he realized that the me Mirror was just about to lose all of the zing me power he had channeled from various fiery arcane realms and infused into it over the past hundreds of years.

    Once the me Mirror ran out of its me power, it would be no different from an ordinary mirror.

    However, since his spiritual sea was running dry as well, he couldn¡¯t infuse it with more of his own me power.

    ¡°The seventh move of Sky Axe: Heaven Split!¡±

    Therge axe glowing with purple light suddenly lit up and unleashed a cross made of purple lightning, which seemed to be extremely sharp.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like an ancient magical symbol, therge purple cross seemed to be vested with a mysterious force that could split the heavens and crush all living things.

    Upon noticing the dangerous situation they were in, Qi Bailu eximed, ¡°Hua Mu! Do we abandon our fleshly bodies so that our true souls can escape?¡±

    Hua Mu gave a bitter smile. ¡°Perhaps you can, but my true soul is bound by the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s soul strands... My true soul will be ripped to shreds before it leaves my fleshly body. Don¡¯t mind me, Brother Qi. You¡¯d better do it now and save yourself.¡±

    Qi Bailu grew hesitant upon hearing his words.

    At this very moment, a streak of starlight sailed across the sky and arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye.

    Aftering to a stop, the cluster of blinding starlight turned out to be the Star Boat.

    Confident and at ease, Nie Tian and the girls stood on it, their garments fluttering against the wind.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered, ecstasy bursting forth from his eyes. ¡°Nie Tian!!!¡±

    He wasn¡¯t Zong Zheng.

    Zong Zheng didn¡¯t know Nie Tian very well. He didn¡¯t know how many powerful resources Nie Tian had at his disposal, or what kind of power his Bone Blood Demon could disy.

    However, he knew very well that Nie Tian, who had gone through numerous impossible encounters, would probably be their hope to survive this tribtion.

    SHEW!

    A thick beam of starlight suddenly shot out of the prow of the Star Boat.

    The starlight was so immense and unfathomable that it seemed to contain a sea of stars. It shot into and shattered the huge purple cross.

    The purple cross that was branded with the profound truths of soul power exploded and vanished into the wind within seconds.

    The expression of thete Soul realm Qi warrior who was manipting hisrge axe with his spiritual power flickered as a drop of blood rolled down the corner of his mouth.

    Standing on the silver wheel, anotherte Soul realm Qi warrior fixed Nie Tian with a cold gaze and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    With a grim face, the first man said, ¡°Three juniors... Two are at the Profound realm, and the other one is only at the Worldly realm. What you just did was a very dumb move, kids. What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re here to kill you, of course,¡± Nie Tian said with an expressionless face.

    He had already seen Qi Bailu and Hua Mu, and realized that they were about to use up thest bit of their strength. Both their spiritual seas and seas of awareness had undergone tremendous consumption. Now, they were in no shape to fight another battle.

    ¡°Kill us?¡± The man said with a gruesome smile.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to waste his breath with him. As a thought entered his mind, the Bone Blood Demon flew whooshing out of his ring of holding.

    Death power that could wither all living things instantly pervaded its surroundings. It lunged forwards in midair, swung its huge bony arm, and thrust it towards the man who was speaking like a life-reaping bone sword.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s eighth grade Frost Blood Python hissed ferociously as it created a storm of frigid cold that flooded towards the foreign Qi warriors with an overwhelming momentum.

    Mu Biqiong observed briefly before lifting her left arm, and the ck demonic flower¡¯s root shot forth like a frenzied ck dragon.

    The seven Soul realm Qi warriors gasped one after another, as if they had seen ghosts in broad daylight.

    ¡°Is that an eighth grade Bonebrute?!¡±

    ¡°And an eighth grade ice-attributed Ancientbeast?!¡±

    ¡°That demonic flower seems to be every bit as powerful as the Heavenly Demonsbane!¡±

    At this moment, the man standing on his silver wheel called out. ¡°Ignore their pets, but target their feeble souls!¡±

    Silver light shone in the depths of his eyes as he fixed them on Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, silver strings shot out of his eyes towards Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Come on out!¡±

    The five powerful evil spirits rose from the top of his head. Carrying strong hatred, despair, fear, rage, and bloodthirst, their illusory bodies rapidly expanded to be more than ten meters tall.

    Like evil gods from ancient times, they floated over Nie Tian, exuding extremely dangerous auras.

 Chapter 890: Clowns

    As soon as the five powerful evil spirits appeared, the skinny old man¡¯s expression flickered.

    In the next moment, the thousands of silver strings that shot towards Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat abruptly changed directions.

    They were soul strands disassociated from the old man¡¯s sea of awareness. At this moment, they had already morphed into thousands of silver fish.

    Each and every one of them was about half a meter long, and reflected silver light as they traveled as fast as flying shuttles.

    ¡°He can actually solidify his soul power into tangible, lifelike fish!¡± Nie Tian went nk for a moment before realizing that this was a profound soul magic only Qi warriors at the Soul realm or higher could use.

    Only after cultivators entered the Soul realm would their true souls be strong enough to unleash solidified soul power.

    Every single silver fish was vested with the old man¡¯s soul awareness, along with his lifetime understanding of soul magics.

    A few dozen fish suddenly traveled ethereally as they reached Nie Tian in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Help us defend against the soul attacks, Nie Tian!¡± Yin Yanan eximed. ¡°Once my Frost Blood Python leaves my body, I won¡¯t be able to guard my sea of awareness with the help of its soul power.¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡± Nie Tian said aloud.

    ROOOAR! HOOOWL!

    The five powerful evil spirits roared and howled over Nie Tian, filling their surroundings with intense negative emotions that included hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodthirst.

    At the same time, the enormous evil spirits swooped down one after another to prey on the silver fish.

    The moment the silver fish made contact with the evil spirits, the skinny old man¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    Each and every silver fish was a condensation of his soul power and soul awareness.

    Upon contact with the evil spirits, they were instantly engulfed in a sea of different kinds of negative emotions.

    As powerful as he was, images started to enter his mind. He felt as if he were experiencing the deaths of numerous evil spirits personally.

    The evil spirit of bloodthirst seized numerous silver fish with its blurry illusory ws.

    The silver fish instantly emanated bright silver light. However, the light didn¡¯t seem to be able to escape the evil spirit¡¯s misty cyan w.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The silver fish let out sharp screeches as they shrank and eventually vanished like melting snow.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Another Qi warrior brandished hisrge axe to contend against the overwhelming frigid storm.

    Both hisrge axe and spiritual power ward gradually froze after being impacted repeatedly by countless ice shards and rays of icy light.

    He let out an agonized shriek as he swung hisrge axe madly to break the ice that was going to swallow him, and escaped in panic.

    The Frost Blood Python itself was covered in thick ice. Wherever it flew, the sweltering hot desert was turned into a world of snow and ice. Even the sand grains were frozen and became crystalline.

    Countless grains of frozen sand were swept into the sky and became a part of the frigid storm.

    The Frost Blood Python could be only seen from time to time as it hunted Soul realm experts in the sight-blocking storm.

    At the same time as the Bone Blood Demon thrust its enormous bony hand repeatedly at the old man who was standing on a silver wheel, the five powerful evil spirits continued to rip apart the swimming fish he had formed with his soul power. The look in his eyes dimmed as negative emotions kept rising in his heart, stopping him from using many exquisite incantations.

    CLANK!

    The Bone Blood Demon mmed the silver wheel with its enormous hand once again, knocking it and the skinny old man flying several hundred meters away in an instant.

    At the same time, the ck demonic flower¡¯s root, which had grown out of Mu Biqiong¡¯s left palm, was fighting a spiritual sword and a ck three-foot cauldron in the sky off to the side, as if it had its own awareness.

    The spiritual sword and the cauldron were being manipted by two other Soul realm experts, yet they couldn¡¯t beat the ck demonic flower¡¯s root no matter how hard they tried.

    At some point, sinister thorns had grown out of and covered the ck demonic flower¡¯s root.

    Like sawteeth, the strangely shaped thorns gave off a bleak, devilish ck luster. The Spirit Channeling grade spiritual sword unleashed fierce sword intent on it, but still failed to sever even one of them.

    Meanwhile, countless puny insects let out sharp shrills within the three-foot cauldron.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The sinister thorns suddenly left the ck root and shot into the cauldron like a swarm of locusts.

    As they flew about within the cauldron, the insects it held started to die by the hundreds.

    Then, even the three-foot ck cauldron let out agonized shrieks as it squirmed vigorously and morphed into a ck toad.

    Even though the toad was clearly very afraid of the ck demonic flower¡¯s root, its master manipted to fight it regardless of its reluctance.

    Mu Biqiong let out a derisiveugh. ¡°It¡¯s the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect again.¡±

    Since she was only using one of the coexisting flowers, she seemed to be under little pressure as she fixed her unfathomable cold eyes on a short Qi warrior and said, ¡°You know Fang Yingying, don¡¯t you?¡±

    The man went nk, and then he fixed her with a bewildered gaze. ¡°She¡¯s one of my sect¡¯s core disciples.¡±

    ¡°Oh? A core disciple? Too bad she died at my hands.¡± Mu Biqiong¡¯snguage was provoking. ¡°Not only did I kill her, but we also took all of the Silicon Silver in the Silver Beetle nests your sect cultivated. Besides that, all of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect disciples we¡¯ve met in the Shatter Battlefield have died, except for Luo Hui.¡±

    The man grew furious. ¡°What?! Did you kill them?!¡±

    ¡°Sort of.¡± Mu Biqiong took responsibility for their deaths even though it wasn¡¯t the truth. ¡°Fang Yingying set us up. She deserved to die.¡±

    BOOM!

    At that moment, a middle Soul realm expert suddenly exploded in the frigid storm unleashed by the eighth grade Frost Blood Python.

    The man became the first pursuer to be killed.

    As soon as he died, the other six Soul realm experts started to grow apprehensive.

    None of them had expected the three juniors before them to be so special.

    The Bone Blood Demon, the eighth grade Frost Blood Python, and the coexisting flowers had greatly enhanced the juniors¡¯ battle prowess.

    Meanwhile, the only advantage they had was their superior cultivation bases and significantly stronger soul power.

    However, due to the existence of the five powerful evil spirits, theirst bit of advantage had also been eliminated.

    ¡°DIE!¡± The man from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect roared furiously as his ck toad disengaged from its battle against the ck demonic flower¡¯s root and swooped directly towards the Star Boat.

    It opened its huge mouth, and streams of foul-smelling ck liquid came pouring towards the Star Boat.

    ¡°Watch out for the deadly poison!¡± Qi Bailu shouted as he and Hua Mu rushed over as fast as they could.

    Mu Biqiong gave a cold smile, the image of the gorgeous, multicolored demonic flower appearing in the depths of her right eye. ¡°It¡¯s only poison.¡±

    In the next moment, a multicolored root shot out of her right palm.

    Glorious like the rainbow, the multicolored root seemed to be a condensation of various divine powers that was wreathed in an aura that was both holy and bewitching.

    The pouring ck liquid was stopped by the multicolored root.

    Not a single drop found their way to Nie Tian or the girls.

    Then, the ck toad howled as the multicolored root chased after it, unleashing beams of seven-colored light that were as sharp as spears.

    CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!

    They shot into the ck toad, giving rise to metallic nks and forcing it to cower backwards in fear.

    At that moment, the man who manipted it finally gave in to his fear. He opened his mouth, and the ck toad morphed into a streak of ck light that disappeared into it.

    Without saying a word, he turned around and flew away. Clearly, he was giving up his pursuit of Qi Bailu and Hua Mu.

    BOOM!

    Another middle Soul realm Qi warrior had his chest pierced through by a streak of blood-colored light that flew out of the Bone Blood Demon, and he fell out of the air.

    All of a sudden, the four remaining Soul realm experts began cowering in fear.

    They exchanged nces, then, without saying a word, they reached a mutual understanding, and suddenly spread out and fled in four different directions.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As they did, Hua Mu and Qi Bailu took the opportunity to fly onto Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat. But after they entered, they gazed up at the five enormous evil spirits, looking somewhat afraid.

    Even though the evil spirits didn¡¯t target them with negative emotions, they still felt great pressure from them. After all, the two of them were still very weak at this moment.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian sent a soul message.

    The five powerful evil spirits then suddenly floated to the two dead Soul realm experts, along with the Spirit Pearl.

    Under the Spirit Pearl¡¯s control, the evil spirits reaped and devoured the dead Qi warriors¡¯ true souls with a swift move.

    ¡°Do we go after them, Nie Tian?¡± Yin Yanan asked.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No. They¡¯re nothing but a bunch of clowns. They¡¯re not worth the effort.¡±

 Chapter 891: Different Experience

    Both the Bone Blood Demon and the Frost Blood Python followed Nie Tian and Yin Yanan¡¯smand to stay in ce.

    Since, unlike outsiders, the two dead Soul realm Qi warriors didn¡¯t have much residual flesh power in them, the Frost Blood Python and the Bone Blood Demon didn¡¯t show any interest in their corpses.

    However, the five powerful evil spirits swooped by and absorbed their discarnate souls before they vanished into heaven and earth.

    ¡°Their rings of holding are yours to take,¡± Nie Tian said inly. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to work without getting paid.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Yin Yanan pursed her lips into a smile and flew off the Star Boat without standing on ceremony.

    Delight appeared in Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes as she flew off after her.

    Soul realm experts usually had all kinds of treasures in their possession. They most likely had their own Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools. Adding in some spirit jades, medicinal pills, and spiritual materials, the two of them would be more than satisfied.

    Standing on the Star Boat, both Hua Mu and Qi Bailu had sustained injuries to different degrees, and almost used up all of their power after numerous encounters.

    Hua Mu smiled bitterly as he sat down, took out a handful of medicinal pills, and stuffed them down his throat. ¡°Nie Tian... I didn¡¯t expect that we¡¯d end up needing your help in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    With aplicated look in his eyes, Qi Bailu chimed in. ¡°You demonstrated your extraordinary talent back when you were still in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Who would have thought that you¡¯d shine even brighter aftering to the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    ¡°Uncle Hua, your Heavenly Demonsbane...¡± Nie Tian wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    He sensed that the Heavenly Demonsbane hidden between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows was showing signs of withering.

    Thanks to his special bloodline, he had a keen perception of life power, especially in special beings like the Heavenly Demonsbane and the coexisting flowers.

    Now that his bloodline had advanced to the sixth grade and awakened new bloodline talents, his perception had grown keener as well.

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°The Heavenly Demonsbane has also sustained heavy injuries. If it weren¡¯t for it, just the two of us wouldn¡¯t have been able tost this long. I guess we owe it a thank you. It¡¯s a pity that it has drained the power it has umted over all these years. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy for it to recover its lost power again.

    ¡°But of course, that¡¯s not a terrible thing for me.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°It being weak means even if I sustain serious injuries in the future, it won¡¯t be strong enough to possess me.¡± With these words, Hua Mu looked somewhat downcast. ¡°However, if it bes too weak, it¡¯ll start to channel my soul power, which will affect my future cultivation.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent. After a moment of pondering, he took his remaining berries from within his ring of holding and handed them all to Hua Mu. ¡°I believe these things will help your Heavenly Demonsbane recover its strength. Even though I don¡¯t know how helpful they¡¯ll be, I¡¯m certain the Heavenly Demonsbane will recover much faster with their help than without.¡±

    Hua Mu received the berries and asked with a confused expression, ¡°What are they?¡±

    Nie Tian then exined, ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure. We found them from a mountain cave in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. That entire mountain seemed to be the remains of a titan. The titan¡¯s residual life power gave birth to these berries, and allowed them to contain life power as well.¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Life power?! If that¡¯s true, they¡¯ll definitely be of great help to the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s recovery! The Fruit of Life you gave me years ago not only prolonged my lifespan, but also helped the Heavenly Demonsbane grow at a much faster speed. The reason why it was able to possess me during the battle of the Realm of Mystic Heaven was partly because that Fruit of Life made it much stronger than before.¡±

    With these words, he swallowed the berries one after another.

    As soon as they reached his abdomen, the Heavenly Demonsbane between his eyebrows seemed to notice the changes.

    The pattern that was originally too faint to make out suddenly grew distinctive.

    Wisps of life power rapidly filled his stomach before the Heavenly Demonsbane captured and channeled them to between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows.

    The Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s growth depended on Hua Mu¡¯s soul and flesh power.

    However, since Hua Mu was a human, he was born with feeble flesh power. This had greatly limited the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s growth.

    The life power the berries contained was even more mysteriously powerful than flesh power.

    Only a few of them provided enough life power for the Heavenly Demonsbane to reappear vividly between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows.

    Hua Mu closed his eyes to examine the changes taking ce inside of him. Then, he reopened his eyes and said to Nie Tian, ¡°These berries not only contained life power, but also the residual flesh power of a titan. Because of this, they¡¯ll probably give me another twenty to thirty years of life. With this additional time, I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ll be able to enter the Void domain before my lifespan runs out.¡±

    Once a human cultivator entered the Void domain, their lifespan would go from three thousand years straight up to ten thousand years.

    With the added seven thousand years, Hua Mu would have plenty of time to head towards higher levels.

    The Fruit of Life had already extended his lifespan by a hundred years. Now, with another twenty to thirty years, he was now much more confident.

    Not to mention that he had gained a considerable fortune from this trip to the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. The precious materials he had gathered here would get him the materials he would need to build his personal domain.

    He closed his eyes with a smile on his face.

    Off to the side, envy filled Qi Bailu¡¯s face as he watched Nie Tian generously give the berries that contained life power to Hua Mu and heard their conversation.

    From their conversation, he learned that Hua Mu had already received a Fruit of Life from Nie Tian.

    He was well-aware where he had found it: the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    <i>¡°Nie Tian and Dong Li must have discovered the legendary ce in the Realm of Unbounded Destion where a Tree of Life grows. With a Fruit of Life, Dong Li stabilized her status in the Dong n. Nie Tian gave his two Fruits of Life to Hua Mu and his master, Wu Ji.</i>

    <i>¡°The kid is indeed quite a figure. Fragmentary star marks, Fruits of Life...¡±</i>

    While Qi Bailu marveled inwardly, he suddenly came to realize that whoever was close to Nie Tian seemed to have benefited from their rtionship with him.

    ¡°What happened exactly, Senior Qi?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Do you know where my master is? Have you seen Zhao Shanling? And where are the others?¡±

    Snapping out of his thoughts, Qi Bailu took a moment to gather his thoughts before exining what had happened to them after their parting with Nie Tian.

    From him, Nie Tian learned that Zhao Shanling had left the main group soon after entering the Shatter Battlefield.

    Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect had also led a small group of Qi warriors who were close to the Heaven Pce Sect away to explore by themselves.

    Qi Bailu, Hua Mu, Wu Ji, and Zhong Zheng went to explore the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    On their way, Wu Ji had learned the rough location of the river of time from a foreign Qi warrior, and thus left for it by himself.

    Before he had left, he had told the others that if he was lucky enough to find the river of time, then he wouldn¡¯t return to the Realm of Maelstrom any time soon, regardless of when the spatial rift leading to it might vanish.

    He appeared to have been ready to stay at the river of time for as long as was needed. Only when he couldn¡¯t derive any more enlightenment from it would he consider leaving the Shatter Battlefield.

    After he had left, Qi Bailu, Hua Mu, and Zong Zheng had discovered a graveyard where fierce fights between experts of various races had taken ce.

    There lie the remains of numerous outsiders and Ancientbeasts, along with the broken pieces of human experts¡¯ personal domains. Some of the experts even seemed to have been at the Saint domain.

    Each of them had gained significant fortunes from their trip.

    Just as they had been ready to leave the graveyard with content hearts, they had encountered foreign Qi warriors.

    At that time, Hua Mu¡¯s Heavenly Demonsbane had somehow gotten out of control and possessed him.

    Because of that, Hua Mu had gone berserk, and killed a few foreign Qi warriors.

    Knowing they must have gained a considerable fortune, the foreign Qi warriors used this as an excuse to go after Hua Mu and the others.

    As Hua Mu had run with the others, he had killed quite a few pursuers with the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s help.

    However, soon after he killed them, more pursuers were summoned from other ces.

    Later, when the Heavenly Demonsbane had overly consumed its power, they had grown afraid. But ording to their estimation, that had been at about the time the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom should have stabilized. Therefore, they hade towards it.

    ¡°I see.¡± As Nie Tian learned these things from Qi Bailu, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong returned to his side as well.

    After withdrawing the five powerful evil spirits and the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian said, ¡°Let¡¯s go meet senior Zong first. Then we can wait for the spatial rift to stabilize to return to the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    Qi Bailu nodded in assent.

    The Star Boat then headed out at lightning speed. It didn¡¯t take long for them to return to Zong Zheng¡¯s location, where numerous spatial rifts interwove in the sky.

    However, Nie Tian was surprised to see a familiar person beside Zong Zheng.

    Yin Yanan stood aghast. ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan!¡±

 Chapter 892: The Thunder Devil

    Yin Yanan lowered her voice, astonishment filling her eyes.

    Nie Tian also looked as if he was facing a formidable foe.

    He had never expected that he had only left for about two hours, and yet Yuan Jiuchuan had arrived here.

    From Mo Qinglei, the future sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, he had already learned the fact that Yuan Jiuchuan was a reborn cultivator.

    His peak cultivation base from his previous life had been at the middle Saint domain, and he had earned himself the name of Thunder Devil.

    Since his path of cultivation had been filled with blood and killing, all those who practiced lightning incantations had viewed him as a dreadful devil.

    What he had done was to forcibly channel power from those who practiced lightning and thunder power to enhance his own strength and cultivation base.

    Eventually, a group of lightning power cultivators hade together, lured him to the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, and killed him there. The current sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect had participated in that operation personally.

    This man was the reason why Nie Tian and the girls had left the Fortune Wells in a hurry.

    After taking Mo Qinglei¡¯s Thunder King Seal and draining him of his lightning power, Yuan Jiuchuan had massacred almost everyone who had been gathered at the Fortune Wells at that time, humans and outsiders alike.

    Now, a year had passed, and Yuan Jiuchuan had already entered the early Soul realm.

    However, Nie Tian was well-aware that his actual battle prowess was far beyond his current cultivation base. After all, he had reached the middle Saint domain in his previous life, and he had gained the Thunder King Seal.

    As the Star Boat flew closer, Nie Tian discovered that Yuan Jiuchuan and Zong Zheng were actually chatting.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s old man appearance and early Soul realm cultivation base were very deceptive. It would be hard for others to see him as the cold-blooded killer that he really was.

    Zong Zheng must not know how deadly the person he was talking to actually was.

    Zong Zheng¡¯s eyes lit up as he saw the Star Boat approach. He let out a sigh of relief and eximed, ¡°Nie Tian!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually brought brother Qi and brother Hua back alive!¡±

    With a heartily smile, he continued, ¡°Let me introduce you. This is Yuan Jiu. He¡¯s very interested in the spatial rift that leads to the Realm of Maelstrom, and he wishes to visit the Realm of Maelstrom through it after it stabilizes.¡±

    Apparently, Zong Zheng had been deceived by Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s early Soul realm cultivation base and friendly attitude, and thus had a conversation with him regarding the Shatter Battlefield.

    From him, Yuan Jiuchuan had learned that one of the spatial rifts would soon stabilize, allowing them to return to the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python. Therefore, he had expressed his desire to visit the Realm of Maelstrom and see if he would be able to find some spiritual materials that agreed with him.

    A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°Yuan Jiu...¡±

    Hua Mu and Qi Bailu, who were standing beside him, had heard Yin Yanan¡¯s exmation and seen the grim expressions on Nie Tian and the girls¡¯ faces upon seeing Yuan Jiuchuan.

    The two of them remained silent, but their faces also grew somber as they looked at Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Yuan Jiuchuan had a cold look in his eyes as he listened to Zong Zheng introduce them. Then, a peculiar smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he said, ¡°It¡¯s you.¡±

    Zong Zheng went nk. ¡°Have you met before?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan nodded gently with his eyes fixed on Nie Tian. ¡°Yes, we did. That Mo Qinglei person from the Heavenly Thunder Sect left with you. Do you know where he is now?¡±

    After the Star Boat floated slowly to Zong Zheng¡¯s side, Nie Tian signaled for him to get on board.

    Though quite puzzled, Zong Zheng picked up Nie Tian¡¯s hint and stepped onto the Star Boat.

    As he did, Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew somewhat rxed. He steered the Star Boat to put a certain distance between them and Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Only then did Nie Tian answer, ¡°We parted ways soon after leaving the Fortune Wells. I don¡¯t know where he went after that.¡±

    With a forced smile, Yuan Jiuchuan said, ¡°No need to be so nervous. Did that little rascal from the Heavenly Thunder Sect say anything to you?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No, nothing.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan smiled. ¡°Really? He said nothing about me?¡±

    ¡°Really, nothing at all,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Yuan Jiuchuan then took a deep look at him and nodded. ¡°I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter whether you know about it or not. That air-transportation spiritual tool of yours seems to be a Star Boat from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Eyes narrowed, Yuan Jiuchuan fixed him with a intrigued gaze. ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Star Boat... You¡¯re not just anyone, are you? The Domain of Heaven Python is only a Medium grade human domain, whose strongest experts are only at the early Saint domain. Plus, they don¡¯t seemed to have any connections with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Howe you came to the Shatter Battlefield from there?

    ¡°As far as I know, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s portal is in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tian remained silent, not answering his questions.

    Zong Zheng, who had chatted with Yuan Jiuchuan for a while, gradually noticed the anomaly.

    In a low voice, he asked, ¡°You¡¯ve met this man before? You were able to rescue brother Qi and brother Hua from seven Soul realm Qi warriors, but you¡¯re afraid of him?¡±

    Qi Bailu and Hua Mu were puzzled as well.

    Even though Yuan Jiuchuan was not very far from them, Zong Zheng was confident that, given histe Soul realm cultivation base, he was able to seal their voices so that Yuan Jiuchuan wouldn¡¯t be able to hear them.

    Nie Tian and the girls, however, smiled bitterly.

    The three of them were well-aware that Yuan Jiuchuan was able to catch every single word that came out of their mouths.

    ¡°Nie Tian, is it?¡± Yuan Jiuchuan suddenly raised his voice. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you enter the Shatter Battlefield with other disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? And why are you returning to the Realm of Maelstrom, instead of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°I was taking a trip in the Domain of Heaven Python,¡± Nie Tian said aloud.

    ¡°Taking a trip?¡± Yuan Jiuchuan muttered, fixing the Star Boat with an examining look. ¡°Not every disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can have a Star Boat like this one.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent again.

    Seeing this, Yuan Jiuchuan seemed to lose interest. ¡°Forget it. It has nothing to do with me anyways. All I want is to visit the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    He looked up at the interweaving spatial rifts with narrowed eyes. Then, he took out a few stones that were wreathed in lightning and started cultivating with them.

    Within seconds, hepletely drained the lightning-attributed stones of their power, reducing them to regr stones.

    Upon seeing this, Zong Zheng¡¯s eyebrows jumped up. ¡°That was quick!¡±

    He could tell that those stones contained copious lightning power. No early Soul realm Qi warrior could havepletely drained them of their lightning power within such a short time.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll leave you alone, senior, so that you can focus on your cultivation.¡± With these words, Nie Tian flew cautiously away from Yuan Jiuchuan on his Star Boat.

    After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Star Boat flew to a ce that was a great distance from Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s location.

    Only then did Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief and say, ¡°Who would have thought we¡¯d run into that entric again?¡±

    ¡°Who is he exactly?¡± Zong Zheng asked with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°He¡¯s a reborn cultivator. People call him the Thunder Devil...¡± Nie Tian told him about Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s true identity.

    Zong Zheng and the others gasped with astonishment upon hearing this, and the fact that Yuan Jiuchuan had been a middle Saint domain expert in his previous life.

    Hua Mu took a deep breath and said, ¡°Once a reborn cultivator awakens his memories from his previous life, he¡¯ll immediately master all of the profound incantations and magics he had learned in his previous life. We can¡¯t treat a man like him lightly. Common sense doesn¡¯t apply to him. No wonder you were so apprehensive about him. I¡¯m afraid, even though he was technically still at the early Soul realm, his actual battle prowess might be at the Void domain!

    ¡°Besides, he can channel lightning and thunder power from humans, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts. No wonder people gave him the name Thunder Devil.

    ¡°Luckily for us, none of us practice lightning power. Otherwise, we might have been in big trouble.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s heart fluttered with fear as they thought of what might have happened.

    Face grim, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°We¡¯d better keep our distance. I have feeling that even banding together, we won¡¯t be able to match him in battle. And if we let him go to the Realm of Maelstrom, many will die at his hands. Those in the Domain of Heaven Python who practice lightning power, and even lightning-attributed spirit beasts, will face cmities because of him.¡±

    Yin Yanan nodded vigorously. ¡°If he is deciding to go to the Realm of Maelstrom, instead of seeking revenge with the Heavenly Thunder Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, then he must have not recovered his peak strength yet. Even so, as a reborn cultivator who has received mysterious soul power from the Fortune Wells, he¡¯ll be able to further awaken his old memories, making his future cultivation path obstacle-free.

    ¡°As long as he can find a sufficient amount of spirit beasts and cultivators who practice lightning power in the Domain of Heaven Python to absorb their power, then he¡¯ll be able to make rapid breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    ¡°When he finally returns to his peak strength, or even takes an extra step into thete Saint domain, the Heavenly Thunder Sect would face the possibility of being annihted.

    ¡°If ites to that, it would be a nightmare for all lightning-attributed cultivators and spirit beasts.¡±

 Chapter 893: Expelling Tigers and Driving Away Wolves

    The existence of Yuan Jiuchuan made Nie Tian and the others leave the area where spatial rifts interwove in the sky.

    They stopped and practiced cultivation in a ce rather far from him, keeping their guard up as they did.

    Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and Qi Bailu had gone through many fights and consumed a significant amount of both their spiritual power and soul power, which they would need time to recover.

    Nie Tian took out nine of his iparably precious soul crystals and gave three to each of them.

    With the help of the soul crystals, the speed at which they recovered soul power elerated by more than a dozen times, and their lifeless eyes gradually started to shine with vigor again.

    Time flew. Two weeks passed...

    Hua Mu and the other experts had recovered about seventy percent of their strength, but were still fairly far from returning to their peak state.

    On this day, Qi Bailu suddenly awoke from his cultivation to gaze in a direction. ¡°People areing.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, the others also opened their eyes to follow his gaze.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Five figures appeared in the distance, traveling at a high speed.

    With a quick look at them from afar, Qi Bailu said, ¡°They seem to be among the Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python who entered the Shatter Battlefield with us.¡±

    As the five Qi warriors approached, they discovered Nie Tian and the others as well, and thus came to a stop in midair.

    Nie Tian took a deep look at them, and found their faces somewhat familiar.

    The five of them were all at the Soul realm, but they weren¡¯t from the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, or the Golden Vast Sect.

    Instead, they were rogue cultivators from the Domain of Heaven Python. In order to enter the Shatter Battlefield, they had paid spirit jades to the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect.

    The one with the highest cultivation base among them was at thete Soul realm, and practiced lightning incantations.

    The man was surrounded by thunderballs and lightning bolts, all of which contained rich lightning power.

    Upon a closer look, the soul shadows of lightning-attributed spirit beasts could be seen in the seven thunderballs that hovered around him.

    ¡°Thunder bird, lightning snake...¡± Hua Mu differentiated the seven beast spirits in the thunderballs. ¡°All seven thunderballs are fused with lightning-attributed beast spirits. I suppose they¡¯re Spirit Channeling grade treasures, which can form spell formations of formidable might.¡±

    Then, Hua Mu¡¯s expression grew strange. ¡°The Thunder Devil is still at the spatial rifts. These five must know that the spatial rift leading to the Realm of Maelstrom is going to be essible soon, and are ready to return to the Domain of Heaven Python through it. But if they go there...¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian called out, ¡°Gentlemen!¡±

    Now, they had already put the Star Boat away, and were practicing cultivation by a sand dune.

    Upon hearing his exmation, the five Qi warriors fixed Nie Tian and the others with cold, examining gazes as they floated in midair.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything else, their leader, an old man at thete Soul realm, said aloud, ¡°I saw you with the Divine Seal Sect before, but you don¡¯t seem to be from the Domain of Heaven Python. If you¡¯re done exploring the deeper areas of the Shatter Battlefield, why are you here, instead of waiting by that spatial rift?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s their luck that they¡¯ve survived so far,¡± Another Qi warrior said with a mocking tone.

    After hearing these words, Nie Tian, who was just about to warn them against going to the spatial rift, fell silent, his face growing cold.

    ¡°I¡¯m asking you a question!¡± The old man said with an unpleasant expression.

    All five of them were at the Soul realm, uninjured and at their peak state.

    Even though Zong Zheng, Hua Mu, and Qi Bailu were also at thete Soul realm, they had apparently suffered injuries, and their spiritual power wasn¡¯t at the fullest.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian and the girls were only at the Worldly realm and Profound realm, which weren¡¯t even worth mentioning to them.

    Their leader was Wu Xu, the member of a rogue cultivator organization from the Domain of Heaven Python. He had noticed Nie Tian and the others when they had entered the Shatter Battlefield together.

    Back then, he had realized that they weren¡¯t Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python, but from some other domain.

    Normally, powerful domains had their own ways to enter the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, Nie Tian and the others had to enter the Shatter Battlefield through the Realm of Maelstrom. Therefore, their domain must be less powerful than the Domain of Heaven Python.

    For this reason, Wu Xu and those with him had a sense of superiority over Nie Tian and the others, who they had assumed to be from lower domains.

    ¡°The spatial rift leading to the Realm of Maelstrom is not stable yet, so we stayed here and practiced cultivation,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Wu Xu let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Impolite kid. Haven¡¯t your seniors told you to keep your mouth shut when the seniors speak, kid?¡±

    Then, heid his eyes on Zong Zheng and the other experts. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wait by the spatial rift?¡±

    As far as he saw it, as a Worldly realm junior, Nie Tian didn¡¯t even qualify to answer him.

    Surprisingly, Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem angered by him. He just smiled back and didn¡¯t say another word.

    Then, he gave Zong Zheng and the other experts a deep, meaningful gaze.

    Hua Mu picked up his hint and said, ¡°There¡¯s this early Soul realm guy waiting by the spatial rift. We don¡¯t really like each other, so we didn¡¯t wait there.¡±

    Wu Xu went nk briefly, looking confused. ¡°An early Soul realm cultivator? Even though you three aren¡¯t at your peak state now, you¡¯re still at thete Soul realm. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re scared of an early Soul realm cultivator.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t want unnecessary problems,¡± Hua Mu said inly.

    Wu Xu then lost interest in discussing the matter.

    Then he thought, considering that Zong Zheng, Hua Mu, and Qi Bailu were all at thete Soul realm, if they were going to fight them and take their gains from the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, it would be tricky business. They might suffer casualties themselves if a fierce battle were to break out between them.

    Therefore, Wu Xu soon gave up on the idea of fighting them. However, another idea suddenly came to him.

    <i>¡°An early Soul realm cultivator is waiting by himself at the spatial rift, and he might have gained a fortune from his trip to the Shatter Battlefield as well...¡±</i>

    With this thought, Wu Xu waved his hand at his friends, and they flew over Nie Tian and the others¡¯ heads and disappeared into the distance.

    Eyes narrowed, Hua Mu said, ¡°That man seems to be going after Yuan Jiuchuan. I believe they¡¯d have attacked us too if we weren¡¯t at thete Soul realm.¡±

    Qi Bailu sighed. ¡°Things like this can¡¯t be moremon in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Those morons are dead men,¡± Yin Yanan gloated.

    ¡°Let them die then,¡± Nie Tian said indifferently. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re our friends.¡±

    With these words, he unleashed his Heaven Eyes andmanded them to follow the five Qi warriors from a safe distance.

    Qi Bailu shook his head and sighed. ¡°If they hadn¡¯t been so arrogant, I would have warned them against approaching that spatial rift. But from the look of it, they would have even fought us for our gains if we had been weaker. So I guess they deserve to die.¡±

    Soon, Wu Xu and the other four arrived by the spatial rift.

    Like Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eyes, Qi Bailu and the other experts also sent their soul awareness to keep a secret watch on them.

    As they had expected, Wu Xu was overjoyed to see Yuan Jiuchuan. ¡°This guy even practices lightning power!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, who also practiced lightning power, must have valuable spiritual materials on him that suited his needs.

    The man who had mocked Nie Tian earlier seemed somewhat disappointed. ¡°It¡¯s your lucky day, Big Brother Wu.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, who had been cultivating, slowly opened his eyes. He was even more overjoyed than Wu Xu after ncing over the five neers.

    Eventually, he fixed Wu Xu with a fierce gaze.

    WHOOSH!

    The Thunder King Seal, which he had gained from Mo Qinglei, suddenly flew out of his palm and unleashed a sea of dazzling cyan lightning.

    At the same time, the deafening roars of a Thunder Beast echoed out from within the Thunder King Seal.

    Wu Xu¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as the seven thunderballs instantly left his side. With violent rolls of thunder, they flew directly into the sea of lightning.

    In the next moment, shocking changes took ce.

    As soon as the seven thunderballs entered the sea of lightning, the lightning power Wu Xu had vested the thunderballs with started to fuse uncontrobly into the sea of lightning.

    Wu Xu eximed in shock.

    With a gruesome and cunningugh, Yuan Jiuchuan suddenly vanished. Then, he reappeared in the middle of the sea of lightning, as if he were wearing a cloak of thunder and holding a spear of lightning.

    The seven thunderballs were soon erased of Wu Xu¡¯s soul awareness, which had been branded on them.

    Afterwards, the thunderballs changed hands. Even the beast spirits within them epted the change obediently.

    Wu Xu let out a muffled groan. Dark blood came out of his nose and mouth as he shouted in panic, ¡°Help me!!¡±

    However, in the next moment, Yuan Jiuchuan and the sea of lightning he was in morphed into an enormous Thunder Beast made of lightning. A thunderball storm seemed to descend from the highest heavens and enveloped Wu Xu in the blink of an eye.

    One thunderball after another flew directly into Wu Xu¡¯s body, draining him of his lightning power, which he had spent thousands of years umting.

    Upon seeing that Wu Xu, the strongest of them, couldn¡¯t even withstand a single strike from Yuan Jiuchuan, the other four all turned around and ran for their lives,pletely ignoring Wu Xu¡¯s call for help.

    The direction they ran in was none other than the direction where Nie Tian and the others were staying.

    Seeing this, even Qi Bailu, who was the most amiable and easygoing among them, couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Those bastards!¡±

 Chapter 894: Suffering from Their Own Doing

    Wu Xu was killed in a split second.

    The other four sensed the danger, and thus fled without even the slightest hesitation.

    However, of all choices, they chose to fled in Nie Tian and the others¡¯ direction.

    Clearly, the four of them intended to lead Yuan Jiuchuan to Nie Tian¡¯s group to create trouble for them.

    At the spatial rift, Wu Xu¡¯s corpse fell out of the sea of lightning and crashed to the ground with a loud crash.

    There wasn¡¯t a shred of lightning power left in his ice-cold body, his spiritual seapletely dry and ring of holding taken away by Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Floating in the middle of the sea of lightning, Yuan Jiuchuan seemed like a god of lightning as he gazed coldly in the direction the four Qi warriors had fled in.

    WHOOSH!

    Lightning shed, thunder rolled, and dark clouds surged within the sea of lightning that covered an area that was more than ten thousand kilometers.

    Seven exceptionallyrge thunderballs floated over Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s head, each of which had a beast spirit roaring within it, as if they were answering hismands.

    Yuan Jiuchuan smiled as he manipted the sea of lightning to pursue the fleeing Qi warriors. ¡°Compared to Nie Tian and those with him, these clowns are much easier to handle.¡±

    Earlier, when he had a pleasant conversation with Zong Zheng by the spatial rift, he had actually been waiting for the return of Nie Tian and the others.

    That was because he had learned from Zong Zheng that seven Soul realm Qi warriors had been pursuing Qi Bailu and Hua Mu, and that Nie Tian and the girls had gone to rescue them.

    His original n had been to wait for Nie Tian and the others to return to kill them all at once.

    However, by the time Nie Tian had returned on his Star Boat with Mu Biqiong, Yin Yanan, Qi Bailu, and Hua Mu, he had realized that they were the extraordinary youngsters he had met at the Fortune Wells.

    Yuan Jiuchuan had witnessed Nie Tian summon the Bone Blood Demon and activate the Floragrims¡¯ Wood Thriving Formation. He had seen Yuan Jiuchuan summon her eighth grade Frost Blood Python, and Mu Biqiong use her coexisting flowers.

    All three of them had unearthly powerful assistance at their disposal.

    As strong as Yuan Jiuchuan was, he had believed that killing Nie Tian and the girls would be a difficult thing to do.

    After all, he had a feeling that those three thingsbined seemed to have the battle prowess of a Void domain expert.

    Not to mention that they also had Qi Bailu, Hua Mu, and Zong Zheng, threete Soul realm experts, with them.

    However, what had surprised Yuan Jiuchuan the most was that Star Boat.

    The fact that Nie Tian had a Star Boat in his possession meant that he enjoyed an unusually high position in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    No matter how powerful Yuan Jiuchuan was, he had to reconsider his actions if he might anger the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After all, it was possible that killing Nie Tian would draw the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s wrath on him, and make them pursue him through the various domains.

    Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t care too much about that if he had returned to the middle Saint domain.

    However, he was now at an awkward stage where he hadn¡¯t yet returned to his peak cultivation base after his rebirth.

    Currently, he had to avoid his enemies from his previous life. If he were to anger the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce at such a time, he would have to spend a lot of energy avoiding and handling his enemies, which would greatly affect his cultivation.

    For these reasons, he hadn¡¯t attacked Nie Tian and the others with him.

    Wu Xu and this men, however, were nothing but a bunch of rogue cultivators from the Domain of Heaven Python, and they didn¡¯t have formidable help like the Bone Blood Demon, the Frost Blood Python, and the coexisting flowers. Therefore, of course he could do whatever he wanted with them.

    WHOOSH!

    The sea of lightning traveled at an rming speed, and caught up to the four fleeing Qi warriors in the blink of an eye.

    The four of them already saw Nie Tian in the distance.

    With a grim face, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat again and said to the others in a low voice, ¡°Let¡¯s do our best to avoid that Yuan Jiuchuan. If he actually makes a move against us, then we¡¯ll leave on my Star Boat. I believe it¡¯ll be fast enough to lose him.¡±

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong leapt onto the Star Boat without saying a word.

    After a moment of hesitation, Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and Zong Zheng also flew onto the Star Boat, where they gazed coldly at the iing four Qi warriors.

    ¡°You bastards!¡± The man who had mocked Nie Tian earlier cursed furiously. ¡°You knew that guy at the spatial rift was a cold-blooded killer, but you didn¡¯t warn us!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled coldy. ¡°Are we friends? Why would we do that?¡±

    Just as the man was about to speak, he looked over his shoulder and saw something that scared him soulless.

    Within such a short time, the sea of lightning that was chasing after them had expanded several times over to take up arge part of the unfathomable starry sky.

    At the same time, Yuan Jiuchuan seemed to have merged with the sea of lightning, body and soul.

    Dark clouds surged within the sea of lightning as lightning bolts that looked like slithering dragons shot out of it, and reached the fleeing Qi warriors as if they had their own awareness.

    The Qi warriors hastily summoned their spiritual tools and created spiritual power wards around themselves. However, their protective wards gave fizzing sounds after being struck the lightning bolts, and soon shattered.

    Then the sea, surging with lightning and dark clouds, descended upon them like a unique dimension that was filled with lightning.

    Staring unblinkingly at the sea of lightning and thunder, Qi Bailu muttered with a bitter expression, ¡°That¡¯s the power of a domain... He¡¯s only at the early Soul realm, but can actually wield the power of a domain... I guess only reborn cultivators who have recovered broken pieces of their domains from their previous lives are able to wield such power.¡±

    Zong Zheng sighed and chimed in, ¡°Compared to the power cultivators can wield at the Soul realm, the power of a domain is at a whole other level.¡±

    As the sea of lightning came closer and closer to the four fleeing Qi warriors, they were suddenly sucked into it, as if they had fallen victim to some ancient imprisonment spell.

    As soon as they were engulfed, they discovered that Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s aura actually filled every corner of the sea of lightning.

    This sea of lightning was Yuan Jiuchuan, and Yuan Jiuchuan was this sea of lightning.

    The frenzied roars of Thunder Beasts echoed out from the depths of the sea of lightning, which took up an increasinglyrge area of the sky.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Heaven-destroying, earth-shattering rolls of thunder spread out from the four Qi warriors.

    In the deafening rumbles, the four of them split up, filling the air with their broken bodies and spraying blood.

    Their discarnate souls scattered and vanished into the air like smoke immediately after emerging in the sea of lightning.

    Face cold, Zong Zheng said, ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible for true souls to escape from someone with Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s mastery of lightning power in an attempt to be reborn. Lightning magics work exceptionally well on all forms of souls and spirits. If a man¡¯s true soul hasn¡¯t left his fleshly body, then he¡¯ll still be able to protect himself from lighting magics with his fleshly body. However, once he loses his fleshly body, his true soul will die beyond the shadow of a doubt after encountering such powerful lightning magics.¡±

    At this moment, even Nie Tian had withdrawn his Heaven Eyes out of fear of the sea of lightning.

    He didn¡¯t need to see it to know that the four Qi warriors¡¯ true souls were annihtedpletely the moment they abandoned their fleshly bodies.

    This meant they had truly and utterly died. They weren¡¯t even given the opportunity to secure their true souls and be reborn.

    Momentster, their charred, mangled bodies fell out of the sea of lightning.

    Floating in the middle of the sea of lightning, Yuan Jiuchuan clutched four rings of holding in his hand as he gazed Nie Tian and the others from afar.

    Nie Tian and the others¡¯ expressions grew grim, as if they were facing a formidable foe.

    However, to their surprise, instead of attacking them, Yuan Jiuchuanughed and said, ¡°Thank you for delivering these five to my side.¡±

    With these words, he floated back to the spatial rift, surrounded by the sea of lightning.

    Zong Zheng grew cold with fear as he said in a low voice, ¡°He seems to have heard what we said.¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he can actually overhear our conversation from such a great distance.¡±

    ¡°It seems we¡¯re still too close to him.¡± After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian started his Star Boat and flew further in the opposite direction from Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s location, lest he learn every move they would make.

    Looking deeply confused, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°He killed those five Soul realm experts with such ease, and he¡¯s be even stronger after absorbing the lightning power of thatte Soul realm expert. But why didn¡¯t he attack us?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Nie Tian also couldn¡¯t think of an answer.

    The Star Boat traveled at full speed. This time, they flew to a location that was dozens of kilometers from their previous foothold.

    Nie Tian was confident that, no matter how powerful Yuan Jiuchuan was, he wouldn¡¯t be able to overhear them now that they were separated from him by such a significant distance.

    During the following two months, Nie Tian would asionally see Qi warriors return from different directions and head in the direction of the spatial rift, where Yuan Jiuchuan was waiting.

    Due to the significant distance, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see exactly what happened there with his Heaven Eyes.

    However, he could see signs of battles taking ce in that direction from time to time. Sometimes, he could even vaguely see the sea of lightning in the distant sky.

    On this day, Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect returned with Zhao Luofeng, Lei Zhenyu, and a few others from the Thunder Mountain Sect.

    Fan Kai¡¯s eyebrows rose as he saw Nie Tian. He hurriedly came over to see him with the others.

    He bowed respectfully and said, ¡°Nie Tian, I knew that you¡¯d be unharmed traveling in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng, Lei Zhenyu, and the others also descended from the sky to greet Nie Tian.

    After taking a nce at Lei Zhenyu, Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re quite lucky to have run into us. Don¡¯t approach that spatial rift any time soon.¡±

    If Lei Zhenyu and the others hadn¡¯t passed by Nie Tian¡¯s location, they would have definitely interested Yuan Jiuchuan, considering they all practiced lightning power.

    Lei Zhenyu was only at the Soul realm. He would die beyond the shadow of a doubt if they were to fight Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Even though Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect was now at the Void domain, it was hard to say whether he would be able to save Lei Zhenyu from Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s hands.

 Chapter 895: An Unforeseen Turn of Events

    ¡°Nie Tian, that spatial rift hasn¡¯t stabilized yet, right?¡± Fan Kai asked respectfully.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a bit strange. Normally speaking, it should have been stabilized and essible long ago.¡±

    Gazing in the direction of the spatial rift, Lei Zhenyu asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on over there?¡±

    ¡°A man named Yuan Jiuchuan is waiting there by that spatial rift. He¡¯s a reborn cultivator, who people referred to as the Thunder Devil...¡± Nie Tian went on and exined the situation to them.

    Lei Zhenyu¡¯s expression flickered after he learned about Yuan Jiuchuan and his intention to visit the Realm of Maelstrom as soon as the spatial rift stabilized.

    <i>¡°He can actually absorb the lightning power others have spent their whole lives umting? It¡¯s hard to believe freaks like him even exist!¡±</i> That was when he suddenly realized how lucky he was.

    He had been so lucky to have run into Nie Tian on their way to the spatial rift. The fact that they had been apprehensive of Nie Tian, and had thuse over to greet him, worked out for them.

    Otherwise, if they had encountered Yuan Jiuchuan at the spatial rift, Fan Kai and the other experts might have been able to escape, but not him.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s wait here for the time being.¡± Fan Kai didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves either.

    ording to Nie Tian, Yuan Jiuchuan had killed five Soul realm experts effortlessly, and he was able to wield the power of a domain.

    Therefore, even Fan Kai¡¯s face was filled with apprehension as he thought of fighting this Thunder Devil. Engaging in a fight against him over Lei Zhenyu was thest thing he wanted.

    With a faint smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Right now, our best choice is to wait and see what¡¯s going to happen. But don¡¯t worry. I believe Yuan Jiuchuan will leave as soon as that spatial rift stabilizes and bes essible. Then, we¡¯ll be able to return to the Realm of Maelstrom safely.¡±

    Zhao Luofeng, the current sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, looked deeply worried. His eyebrows knitted as he said with a somber voice, ¡°I just hope it¡¯ll stabilize sooner. Great changes are taking ce in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. All of the spatial rifts and teleportation portals that connect the powerful domains to the Shatter Battlefield seem to have vanished or copsed.¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What!?¡±

    Nie Tian also gasped with astonishment. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Zhao Luofeng smiled bitterly. ¡°We ran into Qi warriors from other domains on our way home, and they told us about this. We don¡¯t know what happened either. All we know is that all those spatial rifts and teleportation portals that have been around for thousands of years either exploded or vanished.

    ¡°From the look of it, unstable spatial rifts are all that have survived.

    ¡°Not only humans, but many Demons, Phantasms, and other outsiders are now also stranded in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Many powerful experts of different races are searching for spatial tunnels, through which they¡¯ll be able to leave the Shatter Battlefield. I have a feeling that something big is happening in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    At this moment, Zong Zheng¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°That Yuan Jiuchuan has been waiting by that spatial rift ever since he learned that he¡¯ll be able to enter the Realm of Maelstrom through it. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s only waiting over there for so long without being distracted because he learned about the changes taking ce in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°I guess it won¡¯t be long before Qi warriors from other domains also discover and gather by that spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we need to pay close attention to that spatial rift, and leave through it as quickly as possible,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim expression.

    Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°We¡¯re a bit too far from that spatial rift. It¡¯s hard for us to keep watch on what¡¯s happening over there.¡±

    Light shed across Fan Kai¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°My soul awareness can reach that area.¡±

    ¡°Then would you please keep a close watch on the situation over there?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°We¡¯ll march over there as soon as you see someone enter that spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Fan Kai answered.

    Then, he sat down and closed his eyes. His immense soul awareness suddenly flew whooshing out his mind.

    Shortly afterwards, he opened his eyes and said, ¡°There are already a few dozen Profound realm, Soul realm, and Void domain Qi warriors gathered by that spatial rift. Many of them don¡¯t seem to be from the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Dozens of people have arrived there already? Are Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect and Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect among them?¡±

    Fan Kai shook his head. ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they still haven¡¯t returned,¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat frustrated.

    Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, Guan Fu, and Jian Tong were all Void domain experts with outstanding strength.

    Nie Tian believed that, if they had arrived by that spatial rift, Yuan Jiuchuan wouldn¡¯t dare to make any moves against them if they joined them there.

    Considering Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s current battle prowess and the fact that he still had yet to return to his peak state, he most likely wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Yue Yanxi and the other experts single-handedly.

    But since Yue Yanxi and the others hadn¡¯t returned yet and he wasn¡¯t close to the other Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python, he had to give up on the idea of returning to the spatial rift right away.

    Thus, they sat and waited in silence.

    Two weeks passed...

    During this time, they saw more foreign Qi warriors gathering to that spatial rift sessively.

    Therefore, Nie Tian was convinced that what Fan Kai had said was true. Great changes were indeed taking ce in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    The powerful experts that had poured into the Shatter Battlefield seemed to have sensed danger after seeing their retreat cut off, and thus had to search for other ways to return.

    Many of them discovered the unstable spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom, and made it their new choice.

    As time passed bit by bit, more and more foreign Qi warriors gathered by the spatial rift. Fan Kai, who kept a close watch on the situation over there, fed the others pieces of news that were increasingly depressing.

    ¡°Another group of people has arrived. They have Void domain cultivators among them.

    ¡°That Yuan Jiuchuan you talked about is still there, but even he seems to have be careful, and stopped killing new arrivals who practice lightning incantations.

    ¡°Now, there are close to a hundred people there, all of whom are human Qi warriors from various domains.

    ¡°Some outsiders seem to have also discovered that spatial rift, but they decided to leave after sniffing out the auras in that area.¡±

    Another day passed...

    Fan Kai¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he eximed, ¡°Yue Yanxi has returned!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Nie Tian also suddenly be refreshed, and asked hastily, ¡°Anyone with him?¡±

    ¡°He and Jiang Feng are following an old man I¡¯ve never seen before. But he seems to be at the peak of the Void domain, just one step from entering the Saint domain.¡± Fan Kai went on and briefly described the old man¡¯s appearance.

    ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven!¡± Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong eximed simultaneously.

    Nie Tian was surprised as well. ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven?!¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven was the sectmaster of the Pure Heaven Sect, and the most powerful Qi warrior in the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Earlier, he had gone after the Stone Golems and vanished into the depths of the starry river.

    The fact that he had now shown up in the Shatter Battlefield probably had something to do with the Stone Golems as well.

    Yin Yanan suddenly seemed spirited again as she said, ¡°Now that Patriarch Pure Heaven is there, we can go join them no problem! Even though Patriarch Pure Heaven acts in a domineering way in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, we¡¯re from the same domain after all. He¡¯ll surely protect us in a foreign ce like the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°As long as senior Yue is there, we should be safe to go join him.¡±

    Soon, everyone reached a consensus.

    The Star Boat shot out at full speed, while Fan Kai and the other Void domain and Soul realm experts traveled through the sky by themselves.

    Considering their speed, the distance between them and the spatial didn¡¯t seem as far.

    Before long, Nie Tian and the others arrived at the ce where numerous spatial rifts interwove in the sky.

    Nie Tian looked around with rapt attention, and discovered that many Qi warriors from different domains were sitting in groups under the interweaving spatial rifts.

    Most of them were strangers who seemed to be at the Soul realm and Void domain.

    Only a few of them looked familiar, as he had entered the Shatter Battlefield with them from the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Yuan Jiuchuan was sitting by himself on a sand dune, looking harmless and unexceptional.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat arrived, he slowly lifted his chin to look at him, and Lei Zhenyu immediately caught his eyes.

    Thanks to Nie Tian¡¯s description, Lei Zhenyu recognized him. A mere exchange of nces sent a cold chill down his spine.

    However, now that the situation had changed, Yuan Jiuchuan quickly gave up on the idea of killing Lei Zhenyu, and lowered his head again to focus on his cultivation.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Overjoyed, Yue Yanxi waved repeatedly at Nie Tian, beckoning for him to join him.

    ¡°Little Qiong!¡± Jiang Feng was also overjoyed to see Mu Biqiong.

    The tension on Nie Tian¡¯s face eased up as he led everyone to Yue Yanxi¡¯s location.

 Chapter 896: Patriarch Pure Heaven

    After Mu Biqiongnded, Jiang Feng took a deep look at her, and an exmation escaped his mouth. ¡°You¡¯ve entered the Profound realm?!¡±

    In a respectful but not ttering manner, Mu Biqiong said, ¡°We had a few incredible encounters in the outermost ring of the Shatter Battlefield. The wood power essence I gained from one of the Fortune Wells helped me enter the Profound realm.¡±

    Jiang Feng smiled. ¡°It was indeed the right decision to take you into the Shatter Battlefield. All the resources our sect has poured in your direction didn¡¯t go to waste.¡±

    Then, he pulled Mu Biqiong to the side and started asking her about her encounters in a low voice.

    After Nie Tiannded, Yue Yanxi approached him with a bright smile on his face. ¡°Nie Tian,e here. Let me introduce you to Patriarch Pure Heaven!¡±

    Standing behind Yue Yanxi was a bald, burly old man in linen garments with a hint of arrogance on his face.

    With a single nce at him, Nie Tian realized that he was none other than Patriarch Pure Heaven, the strongest cultivator throughout the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The man was known for his domineering manners and unparalleled strength.

    Since he didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian was a Son of the Stars, he was rather surprised to see Yue Yanxi treating a Worldly realm junior with such respect, and bringing him to greet him.

    ¡°Patriarch, it was thanks to him that we were able to enter the Shatter Battlefield via the Realm of Maelstrom,¡± Yue Yanxi said.

    Nie Tian bowed his head inly. ¡°Greetings, patriarch.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven seemed somewhat displeased. However, he was rather curious to learn that Nie Tian was the reason why the cultivators from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had been able to enter the Shatter Battlefield.

    Therefore, he waved at Nie Tian, signaling for him not to stand on ceremony. But then, he just stood there with his eyes narrowed, not saying a word.

    Apparently, neither Zong Zheng, Hua Mu, nor the early Void domain Fan Kai provoked his interest.

    Even though arge number of Qi warriors were now gathered by the spatial rift, he was the only one who was at thete Void domain.

    After all, none of the Saint domain experts from the Divine Seal Sect, Golden Vast Sect, or Thousandsword Mountain Sect had entered the Shatter Battlefield.

    This was why he could be as arrogant as he wanted in front of everyone here.

    Nie Tian took another look around, and discovered that only Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng had returned with Patriarch Pure Heaven. Confused, he asked, ¡°Where are senior Guan Fu and senior Jian Tong?¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s eyes dimmed as he said, ¡°They died in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°They died?!¡±

    Yue Yanxi let out a sigh. ¡°Jiang Feng and I would have been killed by powerful outsiders too if we hadn¡¯t run into the patriarch. We were exploring an Ancientbeast relic in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield when arge group of outsiders suddenly showed up. We didn¡¯t get to find anything valuable before they started attacking us.

    ¡°Guan Fu and Jiang Tong died as we ran. Then, the patriarch showed up and saved the two of us.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they died...¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    He had had positive feelings towards Guan Fu and Jian Tong from the beginning. After all, the two of them had stood by him back when they had been in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    In contrast, he hadn¡¯t really liked Jiang Feng from the Bliss Mountain Sect. Only after Jiang Feng had learned about his identity as the Son of the Stars and started ying up to him had the tension between them eased up.

    Who would have thought Guan Fu and Jian Tong would die in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, while Jiang Feng would survive?

    ¡°Things like this happen all the time. Don¡¯t hang onto it too much.¡± Yue Yanxi didn¡¯t seem to be very aggrieved. ¡°It¡¯s not a rare thing that elders and chosen ones of my sect die on exploration trips to areas roamed by powerful outsiders or spirit beasts, and never get to return again. Even our most talented chosen one who was designated to be our future sectmaster went missing on one of his trips.¡±

    Nie Tian realized that the person he was talking about was none other than the third master of the me Dragon Armor.

    The man had drifted to the Domain of the Falling Stars, where he had been killed by Xia Yi, the me God, along with a band of powerful experts. As a result, the me Dragon Armor had split up, and the Blood Core had ended up in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Nie Tian soon recovered a peaceful state of mind as he asked, ¡°What on earth happened in the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Yue Yanxi turned to take a look at Patriarch Pure Heaven, who had his eyes closed, and said in a low voice, ¡°ording to what I heard, a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material was discovered in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. They say it¡¯s unfathomably mysterious, and can travel through space on its own.

    ¡°That¡¯s the reason why the spatial rifts and teleportation portals that connected the Shatter Battlefield to the various ancient sects and powerful domains have vanished or exploded.

    ¡°Apparently, it can detect stable spatial rifts and teleportation portals, and channel power from them to strengthen itself.

    ¡°After being drained of their power, the spatial rifts and teleportation portals either vanished or exploded.

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society, which is one of the four great human powers, had sent numerous powerful experts well-versed in spatial magics to the depths of the Shatter Battlefield in search of this treasure, hoping to bring it back and refine it into an Immortal grade spiritual tool.

    ¡°However, since it can wield spatial power, it¡¯s very hard to find.

    ¡°While searching for it, many Saint domain human experts encountered and engaged in fierce battle against ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs and ninth grade Ancientbeasts.

    ¡°Some even say that God domain experts from the Void Spirit Society entered the Shatter Battlefield as well.

    ¡°So at this moment, those whose strength hasn¡¯t reached the Saint domain or the equivalent grade would easily get themselves killed traveling in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. That¡¯s why many weaker cultivators got out of that mire as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Meanwhile, that treasure doesn¡¯t seem to be able to detect unstable spatial rifts.

    ¡°And that¡¯s why arge number of Soul realm and Void domain experts from different domains would gather in this ce.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he finally realized what was going on in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, and why.<i> ¡°So Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials have remarkable intelligence and the ability to travel through the void. With minimal refinement, they can be refined into Immortal grade spiritual tools or cultivators¡¯ private domains, vesting them with the ability to travel through the boundless starry river...¡± </i>

    At this moment, Patriarch Pure Heaven suddenly said, ¡°We¡¯ll have to return to the Realm of Maelstrom through this spatial rift as soon as it stabilizes.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone present, including Nie Tian, fixed their eyes on him.

    He then looked up at the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom. ¡°I have a feeling that this spatial rift won¡¯t remain stable for very long. If we fail to evacuate through it within a short time, it¡¯ll probably get congested again, stopping the rest of us from entering. Then, it¡¯ll be hard to say when it¡¯ll stabilize again.¡±

    Jiang Feng¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily sped his hands and said with a ttering tone, ¡°Would you please take care of us when the timees, patriarch?¡±

    Yue Yanxi was also full of smiles as he looked at Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    If that spatial rift would only remain stable for a limited period of time, then everyone would have to enter it as soon as possible after it stabilized.

    If they were too slow, it would be possible that they would have to wait for another three to five years to return to their homes.

    Another possibility would be that the Heaven Nourished treasure would find this spatial rift and render it inessible for good.

    If it actually came to that, those whogged behind would be stranded in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven had the highest cultivation base among everyone present. If he agreed to take some people with him, then they would be the first ones to leave through the spatial rift.

    That was why Jiang Feng and Yue Yanxi had fixed him with inquiring gazes.

    Face indifferent, Patriarch Pure Heaven said, ¡°I¡¯ll take those from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with me. The rest of you will have to rely on yourselves.¡±

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven Boundaries...¡± Everyone fixed their eyes on Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, Mu Biqiong, and Yin Yanan with bitter expressions.

    Judging from Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s words, the four of them would be the only ones he would take with him as he entered the spatial rift.

    Nie Tian and the others were excluded from those Patriarch Pure Heaven would take care of. They would probably have to fight the powerful experts from the other domains over who would enter the spatial rift first.

    ¡°Patriarch, Nie Tian is our...¡± Yue Yanxi said with a forced smile.

    Before he could finish, Patriarch Pure Heaven interrupted him and said, looking displeased, ¡°I don¡¯t care what rtionship he has with your sect! As long as he¡¯s not from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, I¡¯m not taking him with me!¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s smile froze on his face before he gave an embarrassed chuckle and fell silent. He turned to look at Nie Tian with an apologetic expression.

    Nie Tian shook his head, showing that he wouldn¡¯t me him for this.

    Several days passed...

    Everyone looked up at the interweaving spatial rifts from time to time, and asionally examined the one that led to the Realm of Maelstrom with their soul awareness.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Someone eximed.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s head jerked up, his eyes shining with dazzling light.

    Nie Tian also looked up, his expression flickering.

    A womanly figure suddenly appeared out of thin air by the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The blurry figure rapidly grew clear.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he eximed, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

    Hua Mu was also taken aback. ¡°Qiqi!¡±

 Chapter 897: Seeing Her Again

    Pei Qiqi floated by the interweaving spatial rifts.

    She was wearing an ocean-blue dress, and her eyes were as clear and immacte as crystals.

    Countless small spatial des wreathed her, as if she had transcended, and was now in a whole other space.

    At this moment, everyone fixed their eyes on her, their faces filled with astonishment.

    Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect couldn¡¯t help but exim in disbelief, ¡°The middle Profound realm!¡±

    Hua Mu also muttered, ¡°How did she manage to make such rapid advancement in her cultivation?¡±

    Back when Zhen Hun and Pei Qiqi had disappeared from the Void Illusion Mountain Range, Pei Qiqi had only been at the Worldly realm.

    A few years ago, she had been trapped in a block of ice when she had been taken away from the Realm of Maelstrom by an eighth grade ice phoenix. She hadn¡¯t entered the Profound realm back then.

    Who would have thought she had not only survived the past few years in the Shatter Battlefield, but also broken through into the middle Profound realm?

    Rising from the Worldly realm straight up to the middle Profound realm within a few years, such rapid progress in cultivation was simply unheard of.

    Hua Mu went nk for a moment before calling out to her, ¡°What are you doing up there, Qiqi? Get down here!¡±

    Nie Tian was also deeply confused.

    Standing on nothing but air, Pei Qiqi heard Hua Mu and Nie Tian¡¯s exims, and thus nced down, her crystal-clear eyes running over Nie Tian and the others she knew.

    However, she had aplicated look in her eyes, as if she wanted to say something to exin her situation. But after a moment of hesitation, she decided not to say anything.

    Her face grew determined and grim as she turned to fix her eyes on the spatial rift that led to the Realm of Maelstrom, as if she didn¡¯t even know Nie Tian or Hua Mu.

    At this moment, energies were still surging chaotically inside of it. Clearly, it hadn¡¯t stabilized yet.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The countless small spatial des that wreathed her suddenly flew into the spatial rift.

    In the next moment, surprising changes took ce.

    The chaotic energies surging within the congested spatial rift were instantly cleared, swept away by the numerous small spatial des.

    Dazzling light shot out of the depths of the cleansed spatial rift.

    Seeing this, all of the Qi warriors who had been paying close attention to the spatial rift felt the change in it.

    A mor then burst out among the crowd.

    ¡°It¡¯s all clear now!¡±

    ¡°That spatial rift is essible now!¡±

    ¡°That girl managed to stabilize the spatial rift with such ease! She must have some unique abilities!¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s eyes also widened as he instantly rose to his feet in an attempt to enter the spatial rift right away.

    However, Pei Qiqi, who was closer to the spatial rift than anyone else, beat him to it.

    She took a step in midair and flew into the spatial rift in the blink of an eye.

    Just before she disappeared into the spatial rift, she looked over her shoulder at Nie Tian and Hua Mu with her clear eyes. She seemed to have many things that she wanted to say to them, but she said nothing in the end.

    SHEW!

    She vanished into the spatial rift.

    Yin Yanan gazed nkly into the spatial rift before turning to Nie Tian and asking, ¡°Is she the Pei Qiqi you¡¯ve been looking for? She¡¯s such a beauty, cold and gorgeous like an ice flower. No wonder you can¡¯t forget about her.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t respond to her. He couldn¡¯t get Pei Qiqi¡¯sst glimpse out of his mind.

    In her face, he had seen helplessness, reluctance, scruples, and many otherplicated emotions.

    He didn¡¯t know what had happened to her after that eighth grade ice phoenix had taken her away.

    However, he was convinced that she must have her reasons for leaving without saying anything to them.

    <i>¡°Senior martial sister¡¯s master, who she loved more than anyone, was killed by Xing Bo. There is still no word of her real family, who she has searched for for many years. She managed to advance to the middle Profound realm in the Shatter Battlefield. God knows what she has gone through. Then, she didn¡¯t say a single word, and just left? What on earth was she worried about?¡±</i>

    Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian wracked his mind for an answer, but failed to find one.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Patriarch Pure Heaven rose into the air towards the essible spatial rift. Aftering to a stop in front of it, he beckoned to Yue Yanxi and the others impatiently. ¡°Don¡¯t waste my time!¡±

    As he shouted, a few middle Void domain experts also approached the spatial rift.

    However, they were all apprehensive about Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s cultivation base. Therefore, instead of passing him to enter the spatial rift first, they kept a certain distance from him.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Yue Yanxi said with a bitter smile.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem worried at all as he said, ¡°You go first. I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡±

    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll see you in the Realm of Maelstrom.¡± Yue Yanxi was well-aware that this wasn¡¯t the time to talk, and that Patriarch Pure Heaven wouldn¡¯t be happy if he wasted his time.

    Therefore, he took Yin Yanan, and Jiang Feng took Mu Biqiong. The four of them flew skywards.

    In the next moment, they flew into the spatial rift one after another with Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s consent.

    Only then did Patriarch Pure Heaven let out a snort and fly inside himself in an unhurried manner.

    After that, the Qi warriors from different domains scrambled to the spatial rift. Friction urred as they swarmed in.

    In the midst of loud squabbles and restrained brawls, people streamed into the spatial rift and vanished.

    As they did, Pei Qiqi¡¯s small spatial des could still be seen flickering within the spatial rift, as if they were the reason why the spatial rift hadn¡¯t be congested beyond ess within a short time, as Patriarch Pure Heaven had expected.

    All of this was because of Pei Qiqi. She had made this possible.

    Astonishment filled Qi Bailu¡¯s face as he eximed, ¡°It¡¯s Qiqi¡¯s power!¡±

    As the sectmaster of the Tool Sect, his knowledge regarding spatial rifts was more profound than most people¡¯s, even though he didn¡¯t practice spatial power himself.

    After all, his master Xu Yinglong had been unmatched in using spatial magics throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Qiqi, that spatial rift wouldn¡¯t have be essible so soon,¡± Qi Bailu added. ¡° And it¡¯s the mysterious spatial des she left in the spatial rift that are holding it open long enough for us to pass.¡±

    Hua Mu chimed in, ¡°She must have done this for us.¡±

    Qi Bailu nodded. ¡°That kid suffered a great deal from my junior martial sister¡¯s death. Later, she encountered a tribtion in the Domain of Heaven Python. After that, she was taken to the Shatter Battlefield by that ice phoenix. Who knows what she went through after that? But why did she leave without saying a word, as if she didn¡¯t even know us?¡±

    The same puzzle also haunted Nie Tian and Hua Mu.

    The squabbling and brawling foreign Qi warriors soon realized that the spatial rift didn¡¯t seem to be closing up within a short time, and thus gradually calmed down.

    One after another, they vanished into the spatial rift.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the reborn cultivator, had snuck into the spatial rift when the friction had first broken out.

    Momentster, Nie Tian and the others were the only ones who still hadn¡¯t entered.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s return to the Realm of Maelstrom first,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°We can find senior martial sister Pei and ask her about this after we get back.¡±

    The others nodded.

    Then, they streamed into the spatial rift that had been held open by Pei Qiqi¡¯s power.

    As soon as they vanished into the spatial rift, something incredible happened; the small spatial des that were swimming inside the spatial rift suddenly disappeared.

    It was as if those spatial des had grown eyes, which had been watching Nie Tian and the others with him after Pei Qiqi had left.

    Only after they had all passed through the spatial rift did they vanish.

    The moment they vanished, the spatial rift instantly became unstable, and innumerable unknown energies congested the spatial rift again.

    WHOOSH!

    An ice phoenix flew to this area in an extremely elegant manner.

    It was none other than the one that had taken Pei Qiqi away years ago.

    Aftering to a stop, its sparkling, enormous body rapidly shrank and morphed into a woman.

    Enveloped in a frosty mist, she gazed at the spatial rift Nie Tian and the others had just disappeared into.

    Momentster, angry roars echoed out in the distance.

    They seemed toe from Ancientbeasts and outsiders, as well as human experts.

    The eighth grade ice phoenix took another look at the spatial rift, and then muttered in the outsider¡¯snguage, ¡°This spatial rift leads to the Domain of Heaven Python. Even though you¡¯ve sealed it with your power, they¡¯ll find other ways to enter the Domain of Heaven Python to catch you...

    ¡°Good luck, I guess.¡±

    As the roars came closer and closer, the ice phoenix morphed into a streak of icy light that shot off into the distance.

 Chapter 898: Returning to the Realm of Maelstrom

    In the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    One figure after another shed out of the spatial rift that hung high in the sky.

    Duan Shihu, who had broken through into thete Profound realm, stood by Meng Li¡¯s side with Jing Rou.

    In a ce not far from them, Wu Yun from the Golden Vast Sect and Du Zheng from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were also paying close attention to the spatial rift in the sky.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Meng Li gazed up at the figures that shed out of the spatial rift and said, ¡°This time, it took five years for the spatial rift to stabilize again, which is far longer than before. But what baffles me the most is why so many foreign Qi warriors chose to enter the Domain of Heaven Python instead of returning to their own domains.¡±

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou remained silent.

    The first one they saw to fly out of the stabilized spatial rift was Pei Qiqi.

    Both Duan Shihu and Jing Rou had heard about Pei Qiqi, and knew that part of the reason why Nie Tian had gone to the Shatter Battlefield was because he had wanted to find her.

    Therefore, Duan Shihu had intended to approach her and ask her what had happened upon seeing her.

    However, before he could do that, she vanished into the sky that looked like an enormous well over the Realm of Maelstrom under everyone¡¯s gazes.

    The ¡®well¡¯ connected to the boundless starry river. Normally speaking, only Void domain experts would be able to travel back and forth through it safely.

    Those with inferior cultivation bases would have to rely on ancient starships.

    Pei Qiqi was far from entering the Void domain, yet she vanished in the blink of an eye.

    Even Meng Li failed to locate her with his immense soul awareness.

    Only after Pei Qiqi left did Patriarch Pure Heaven appear with Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong.

    Then, they were followed by many strange faces, most of which weren¡¯t Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Those from the Domain of Heaven Python only took up a small part of the arrivals.

    Their pouring into the Realm of Maelstrom deeply worried Meng Li. He realized that major changes must have taken ce in the Shatter Battlefield.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Finally, Nie Tian flew out of the spatial rift, along with the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Overjoyed, Duan Shihu waved at him. ¡°Over here, Junior Martial Brother!¡±

    Nie Tian said a few words to Hua Mu, telling them to go rest in the residence the Divine Seal Sect had assigned for them in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, Fan Kai, and the others nodded and left as they were told.

    Then, Nie Tian flew onto Duan Shihu¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    At this moment, small spatial des suddenly flew out of the spatial rift, and straight up into the starry sky where Pei Qiqi had vanished.

    A few seconds after that, the spatial rift became congested and inessible again.

    Nie Tian switched his gaze between the spatial rift and the direction in which the spatial des had vanished, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

    Now, he waspletely convinced that those spatial des were the reason why the spatial rift had remained essible for this long, and this was all because Pei Qiqi had been secretly helping them.

    ¡°That senior martial sister of mine...¡± Nie Tian said.

    Duan Shihu pointed up at the boundless starry river where the spatial des had just disappeared. ¡°She left immediately after flying out of that spatial rift. What surprised me the most is that she hasn¡¯t entered the Void domain, and she didn¡¯t travel on an ancient starship. Instead, she simply burst through the natural ward over the Realm of Maelstrom, and flew away.¡±

    ¡°What happened in the Shatter Battlefield, Nie Tian?¡± Meng Li asked somewhat anxiously.

    Upon arriving, Patriarch Pure Heaven left for the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold in the Realm of Maelstrom with the others, eager to teleport back to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Adding in the fact that Meng Li didn¡¯t know him well, he didn¡¯t go ask him about the situation.

    ¡°It was said that a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material appeared...¡± Nie Tian exined what he had learned to Meng Li and the others.

    ¡°Many spatial rifts and teleportation portals have vanished or copsed because of that Heaven Nourished grade treasure. Saint domain human experts represented by the Void Spirit Society engaged in fierce battles against outsiders and Ancientbeasts over that treasure in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. Only the unstable spatial rifts like the one through which you have returned remain unaffected...¡± Meng Li muttered in a low voice as hebed through the information Nie Tian had given him.

    Momentster, Meng Li said with a grim face, ¡°This is a matter of great importance. I need to report it to the sectmaster right now!¡±

    With these words, their air-transportation spiritual tool shot out, and soon descended in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold in the Realm of Maelstrom. Hua Mu, Fan Kai, and the others were already waiting for them.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven and Yue Yanxi were also among those who were gathered there.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven looked rather impatient.

    With a bitter smile, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°Why hasn¡¯t that Zhao Shanling returned, Nie Tian? That teleportation portal he built connects to the Realm of Split Void, but we can¡¯t operate it without him. If we can¡¯t teleport to the Realm of Split Void and return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries from there, then we¡¯ll have to spend a much longer time finding another way to return.¡±

    Fan Kai and Hua Mu also seemed frustrated.

    Thanks to the teleportation portal Zhao Shanling had set up, they had been able to easily travel to the Realm of Maelstrom. However, that teleportation portal would only be able to teleport people back and forth between the Realm of Maelstrom and the Realm of Split Void with the power of the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Upon entering the Realm of Split Void, Yue Yanxi and the others from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would be able to return to their home domain through the transit portals the Lei n had established between there and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    However, since Zhao Shanling wasn¡¯t here, the spell formation wouldn¡¯t start, which became a major problem for them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nie Tian said helplessly. ¡°Even if he wants toe back, it won¡¯t be an easy thing to do now that the spatial rift connecting the Shatter Battlefield to the Realm of Maelstrom has be congested and inessible again. However, Zhao Shanling is an expert of spatial maniption magics. As long as he¡¯s still alive, he¡¯ll figure out a way to return. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s hard to say how long it¡¯ll take.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Feng turned to Patriarch Pure Heaven and said with an inquiring tone, ¡°Without him, I guess we can only ask for help from the Golden Vast Sect. They have been to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries before, and one of their perimeter realms borders our domain. As long as we can teleport to that realm, then we¡¯ll be able to travel through the void and return to our domain with the help of one of the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s ancient starships, or by relying on our Void domain strength.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go talk to the Golden Vast Sect,¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven said indifferently.

    Then, Yue Yanxi took a look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Well, it seems we¡¯re not going to wait for Zhao Shanling.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah."

    Afterwards, Patriarch Pure Heaven and the others from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries flew away from the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold.

    As they did, Yin Yanan seemed reluctant to part with Nie Tian. She turned around to take onest nce at him.

    Mu Biqiong, however, looked ahead and didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°They can return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s help, but we...¡± Qi Bailu let out a sigh of frustration. ¡°We face a much tougher task. If Zhao Shanling doesn¡¯t return, it¡¯ll be almost impossible for us to find a way back to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°So I guess we¡¯ll wait for Zhao Shanling to return then.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a solution either.

    Afterwards, Qi Bailu, Fan Kai, and the others settled in in the residence the Divine Seal Sect had assigned for them.

    Nie Tian, however, followed Duan Shihu and Jing Rou to a secret room, where he exined their encounters in the Shatter Battlefield in detail.

    The couple were surprised after learning that Nie Tian had gained a fortune from his trip to the Shatter Battlefield.

    Duan Shihu even regretted not going and fighting side by side with Nie Tian in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Aside from that, he expressed his concern for their master, Wu Ji.

    ¡°Master will probably find the river of time and spend a long time deriving enlightenment from it,¡± Nie Tian said with a consoling tone. ¡°Perhaps the next time we meet him, his cultivation base and strength will be so high that he¡¯ll receive attention from across the starry river. The river of time will help him significantly. I doubt that he¡¯ll leave the Shatter Battlefield before solving its profound mysteries.¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded, mixed emotions rising in his heart.

    From that day on, Nie Tian stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom and focused on his cultivation, hoping to break through into the Profound realm as soon as possible.

    He assumed that after entering the Profound realm, he might be able to activate the spell formation in the Realm of Shattered Earth, and teleport to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters, finally finishing the path of stars that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had designed for him.

    At that time, perhaps he would even be able to learn more about his father, who had vanished after his birth, and his mother, who he had few memories of, with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s help.

    He might enter a whole new chapter of his life after he finished the path of stars.

 Chapter 899: Forming A Sub-soul

    During the following months, Nie Tian channeled star power and practiced cultivation on the roof of the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned to him.

    By now, he was at the peak of the Worldly realm. His spiritual core and vortexes of wood power, me power, and star power had all been refined to their limits.

    The way he saw it, the reason why he still hadn¡¯t broken through into the Profound realm was because his soul stillcked refinement.

    Countless stars lit up the sky in the Realm of Maelstrom, which looked like a gigantic well.

    There was a star core at the heart of every star. The starlight a star emanated carried faint power from its star core, which was that star¡¯s soul power.

    Nie Tian was channeling such soul power from the depths of the starry river and using it to strengthen his star souls.

    However, it was very time-consuming to channel soul power from star cores and guide it into his star souls.

    Nie Tian practiced wholeheartedly for several months, but the amount of soul power he gained from the starry river over the Realm of Maelstrom wasn¡¯t even as much as the amount of soul power in a couple of soul crystals.

    He pondered the matter for a long time, and eventually decided to cultivate with the precious soul crystals instead for higher efficiency.

    Then, he left the roof of the stone pavilion and entered a secret room, where he took out soul crystals from within his ring of holding and started channeling soul power from them.

    One soul crystal after another ran dry.

    With the rapid soul crystal consumption, the nine star souls that floated over his sea of awareness gradually grew stronger.

    Soon, they expanded to three times their original size.

    Meanwhile, they shone dazzlingly over his sea of awareness, soothing and calming his mind in an unfathomable way.

    It didn¡¯t take very long before the refinement of his nine star souls reached its limit, since the star souls stopped expanding as they were infused with more soul power.

    Therefore, Nie Tian realized that only after he broke through into the Profound realm would his sea of awareness undergo new changes, causing his star souls to further expand.

    With this thought in mind, he started to think about things from another perspective.

    Something suddenly urred to him as he recalled the records regarding star souls. ¡°By transferring one¡¯s soul imprints, one can turn his star souls into sub-souls!¡±

    Without hesitation, he took out another two soul crystals, one in each hand, and started to manipte his true soul meticulously.

    In his sea of awareness, his true soul started to rise, and slowly approached one of the expanded, glowing star souls.

    Nie Tian went through every detail of the soul imprint transferring method over and over in his mind. Only after he was certain that he had fully grasped it did he fly his true soul into that star soul.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The soul crystals in his palms were rapidly drained of their pure soul power.

    The newly-acquired soul power poured madly into that star soul.

    The moment his true soul entered that star soul, his lifetime understandings of me power that had been branded in his true soul seemed to morph into streaks of glorious light that were dispersed into that star soul, where they mixed with the soul power from the soul crystals.

    At the same time, a vague awareness seemed to be awakened by Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, and emerged within the star soul.

    That vague, primal awareness was none other than that star soul¡¯s original awareness.

    Star souls were only called star souls because they were the souls of stars that powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had peeled and refined from the cores of certain stars.

    Every star soul could be considered an individual with its own awareness.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s understanding of me power was transferred from his true soul to that star soul, that star soul¡¯s original awareness was naturally awakened, and a profound soul connection seemed to be established between it and Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had the most peculiar feeling that he had developed a new soul.

    The new soul was connected to his true soul in a mysterious way, and from the moment it formed, it started to analyze all sorts of me power incantations on its own.

    What was even more incredible was that after the formation of this new soul, there didn¡¯t seem to be any enlightenment regarding me power incantations left in his true soul.

    All of them were transferred into the new soul.

    Besides that, the new soul was also connected to his vortex of me power in his spiritual sea in apletelypatible way the moment it came to form.

    It was as if from now on, this new soul would be in charge of everything regarding me power, including the casting of all kinds of me power magics.

    This was such an incredible, indescribable feeling.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The two soul crystals cracked as they were drained of their power.

    Nie Tian then took out fresh soul crystals from within his ring of holding, hoping to finish the transformation of this star soul as quickly as possible with their help.

    One soul crystal after another cracked in his palms.

    Then, fresh ones took their ces.

    As this happened, wisps of pure soul power poured unceasingly into that transforming star soul.

    As time passed, the star soul took on a crimson luster, and the shape of Nie Tian¡¯s true soul gradually appeared in the middle of that star soul.

    Soon, the star soul became fiery red, and started to emanate a mysterious fiery light, as if it were a sun that burned in the depths of the starry river.

    <i>¡°Sub-soul! I managed to form a sub-soul!¡±</i> Nie Tian eximed inwardly.

    He suddenly remembered the contents regarding sub-souls that were recorded in the ancient magical symbols in the second fragmentary star mark.

    ording to those records, once a sub-soul formed, even if the cultivator¡¯s true soul perished, he would be able to reform his true soul with the help of his sub-soul.

    This meant that even if Nie Tian had his true soul destroyed in battle in the future, as long as his sub-soul didn¡¯t perish, he would be able to reform his true soul.

    Even if he no longer had his fleshly body, as long as his true soul survived, he would be able to find an opportunity to be reborn as Yuan Jiuchuan had.

    The core concept of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s incantations was channeling power from the countless stars and using it to strengthen the cultivator¡¯s star souls.

    Once the cultivator¡¯s star souls were strong enough, they would transform into sub-souls, which had incredible uses.

    At this point, after consuming arge number of soul crystals, Nie Tian had finally formed his first sub-soul, and realized how wondrous it was.

    This first sub-soul could derive enlightenment of the profound truths of me power.

    Many things required his true soul¡¯s attention. He had to use it to think about matters, observe everything around him, and make decisions in battle...

    However, only when he practiced cultivation wholeheartedly would he be able to derive enlightenment from all kinds of incantations.

    Yet, he couldn¡¯t possibly spend all of his time practicing cultivation.

    Furthermore, he also needed to ponder the secrets of his bloodline power, wood power, and star power. Even if he practiced cultivation, he couldn¡¯t spend all of his time on one type of power and ignore all the others.

    The sub-souls solved this problem for him.

    Now that his first sub-soul had formed, he no longer needed to spend his time pondering the profound mysteries of me power incantations.

    It was as if he had developed another soul that would do nothing but derive enlightenment of me power for him.

    It would have nothing to do with pondering situations, rtionships with others, or other worldly matters.

    <i>¡°The me sub-soul can not onlymunicate with my vortex of me power to channel me power from it, but it can also unceasingly derive enlightenment from all kinds of me power incantations and magics on its own.¡±</i> Greatly spirited, Nie Tian took out a scroll that recorded the me Spirit Incantation from within his ring of holding and browsed through it.

    As he did, all of the information he acquired regarding the me Spirit Incantation was directed to his sub-soul.

    Without any dy, the sub-soul started working on tricks to cast the me Spirit Incantation in order to disy its full might.

    After that, Nie Tian browsed through a few other me power incantation and magic scrolls.

    The contents of these scrolls were soon branded in his sub-soul, and his sub-soul started contemting the profound mysteries of different ways to wield me power.

    <i>¡°This is awesome!¡± </i>Nie Tian eximed inwardly.

    Since he practiced me power, wood power, and star power at the same time, and he had to spare some of his time to study his unique bloodline and the secret titan magics, he felt he like never had enough time and energy.

    However, the appearance of the me power sub-soul solved all of his problems regarding me power cultivation for good.

    <i>¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t be one of the four most powerful human powers for no reason. No wonder disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would go to great lengths to gain star souls! Such wondrous things indeed represent humanity¡¯s top cultivation methods and skills!</i>

    <i>¡°Now that I¡¯ve formed my me power sub-soul, will I be able to form wood power and star power sub-souls?¡±</i>

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he hastily took out more soul crystals from within his ring of holding.

 Chapter 900: Two Sources of Disaster

    Two weeks passed...

    After Nie Tian used up all of his soul crystals, his second sub-soul came to form.

    The new sub-soul was fused with his lifetime understandings of wood power, including the profound mysteries of Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Now, he had a me power sub-soul and a wood power sub-soul that could derive enlightenment of the two types of power on their own.

    However, he still hadn¡¯t entered the Profound realm.

    He had a feeling that in order to enter the Profound realm, he would have to form his third sub-soul and fuse it with his lifetime understandings of star power.

    However, it would take him a much longer time to do that, since he had used up his soul crystals and didn¡¯t have any other resources that could provide him with copious soul power.

    Only at this moment did he finally realize the true value of soul crystals.

    Without soul crystals, he would have to go back to channeling soul power from the starry river through the well-shaped heavens in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    His efficiency turned out to drop by nearly a hundredfold.

    ¡°Without new soul crystals, it may take me years to form that third sub-soul.¡±

    With a sigh of frustration, Nie Tian left the secret room he practiced cultivation in, hoping to see if he could trade for medicinal pills or spiritual materials that contained soul power with the spiritual materials in his possession.

    Therefore, he went to find Duan Shihu.

    As soon as he entered the grand hall in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold in the Realm of Maelstrom, disciples of the Divine Seal Sect rushed to inform Duan Shihu.

    He showed up momentster.

    Duan Shihu greeted him, smiling. ¡°You finally finished your secluded cultivation, junior martial brother.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m hoping to purchase some high grade spirit beast meat, along with some medicinal pills and spiritual materials that help with soul refinement.¡± Nie Tian cut to the chase.

    Duan Shihu was taken aback. ¡°If I remember correctly, we got you quite a lot of spirit beast meat before you marched off into the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Umm... I used it all,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Duan Shihu went nk for a moment before nodding. ¡°Alright. Spirit beast meat is easy to get. After all, many realms of the Domain of Heaven Python are roamed by high grade spirit beasts. As long as you have enough spirit stones, that won¡¯t be a problem. However, it won¡¯t easy to find medicinal pills or spiritual materials that can help with the refinement of the true soul, and they¡¯ll be quite expensive.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian said.

    As they spoke, Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect appeared and walked out of a teleportation portal.

    He seemed somewhat tired, but upon seeing Nie Tian, he smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Nie Tian, is that girl named Pei Qiqi really from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he asked, ¡°Is she... still not finished yet, Elder Meng?¡±

    Meng Li sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. A few more disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect have just died at her hands. The Thousandsword Mountain Sect is truly enraged this time. They¡¯ve already arranged for Void domain experts to search for her everywhere.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What did my senior martial sister do?¡±

    Duan Shihu then exined, ¡°Over the past few months, she hase and gone like a shadow in some of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s realms, and killed quite a few of their disciples. All of them seemed to have participated in the operation to kill her master, Zhen Hun. But all they did was follow Xing Bo¡¯smands.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t their idea to kill her. However, that girl killed them one by one anyways after returning from the Shatter Battlefield, testing the limits of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s tolerance.

    ¡°On the other hand, she¡¯s a really talented killer. She escaped with profound spatial maniption magics every time she made a kill. Even some Soul realm experts have died at her hands, but no one has been able to trap her.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°She even killed Soul realm experts?¡±

    With aplicated look in his eyes, Duan Shihu said, ¡°That senior martial sister of your is now at thete Profound realm, but for some reason, she has managed to kill people with higher cultivation bases. She has already secretly attacked and killed two early Soul realm disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    ¡°But eventually, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect became infuriated. In fact, if they hadn¡¯t been consumed with other business, they would have already sent out their Void domain experts.

    ¡°Even Du Zheng has left the Realm of Maelstrom to search for her.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s not the only one who¡¯s causing trouble though.¡± Duan Shihu said with furrowed brows. ¡°There¡¯s this other guy named Yuan Jiu. He¡¯s put people from across the Domain of Heaven Python in a state of anxiety.¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Yuan Jiu?¡±

    ¡°He was also among those who came from the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Duan Shihu exined. ¡°He left the Realm of Maelstrom through the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s teleportation portal soon after arriving. After that, he went to many realms and killed many people and spirit beasts that practiced lightning power.

    ¡°Like that senior martial sister of yours, he alsoes and goes like a shadow. No one can get ahold of his whereabouts.

    ¡°One of our sect¡¯s subordinate ns, who practice lightning power, had all of their Soul realm members killed by him.

    ¡°The Golden Vast Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect also have subordinate ns or sects that were wiped out by him.

    ¡°In some of the realms in the Domain of Heaven Python that are roamed by spirit beasts, the man slew lightning-attributed spirit beasts such as Thunder Beasts by the hundreds.¡±

    With a grim face, Nie Tian said, ¡°That man¡¯s real name is Yuan Jiuchuan. He¡¯s a reborn cultivator, and he was called the Thunder Devil in his previous life.¡±

    Meng Li gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Thunder Devil!? I heard that name when I was younger and traveled around in other domains! I heard that he died long ago. Who would have thought that he actually managed to be reborn!? No wonder he has brought doom to so many in the Domain of Heaven Python who practice lightning power.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to tell the Golden Vast Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect about this now, so that they¡¯ll be well-prepared.¡±

    With these words, Meng Li flew off to the Golden Vast Sect and Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s strongholds in the Realm of Maelstrom in a haste.

    ¡°The others from the Domain of the Falling Stars who returned with me also knew about the Thunder Devil. Howe you didn¡¯t learn about him until now?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Looking embarrassed, Duan Shihu said, ¡°We didn¡¯t go talk to them.¡±

    Nie Tian had been carried away, and forgotten about Yuan Jiuchuan when he had talked to Duan Shihu and Jing Rou upon arriving.

    It was his negligence.

    Later, he had focused on his cultivation. Even though it had urred to him that the Thunder Devil might spill blood in the Domain of Heaven Python, he hadn¡¯t been too worried about it.

    He had assumed that the Divine Seal Sect must have already learned about Yuan Jiuchuan from Qi Bailu and the others.

    With a dry smile, Duan Shihu exined, ¡°After returning to the Realm of Maelstrom, those from your domain exchanged some spiritual materials, and then entered secluded cultivation as you did, while waiting for Zhao Shanling¡¯s return. The Thunder Devil didn¡¯t kill anyone over the first two weeks after your return. When he started killing people everywhere, you were all in secluded cultivation, so it didn¡¯t ur to me to go ask you about it.¡±

    ¡°About my senior martial sister,¡± Nie Tian said, ¡°would you please tell people from your sect to tell her that I want to see her if they ever find her?¡±

    ¡°I did that when she first started killing disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect,¡± Duan Shihu said. ¡°It¡¯s just that shees and goes like a shadow. She¡¯d disappear with some secret spatial magic as soon as she seeded. None of the people I sent to search for her have really seen her, let alone talked to her.

    ¡°I also wanted to talk to her and stop her from going too far.¡±

    Nie Tian expressed his gratitude, and then took out the Silicon Silver he had obtained from the Shatter Battlefield from within his ring of holding. ¡°So would you help me trade this Silicon Silver for some high grade spirit beast meat and things that can help with soul refinement?¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Silicon Silver?! This is good stuff. I bet it¡¯s worth a fortune.¡±

    After putting the Silicon Silver in Duan Shihu¡¯s hands, Nie Tian felt assured as he went off to find Qi Bailu and the others.

    Qi Bailu and the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars were all currently stranded in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Without Zhao Shanling, the teleportation portal that connected the Realm of Maelstrom to the Realm of Split Void would be inoperable. Therefore, none of them could go home.

    Since they had left the Domain of the Falling Stars years ago, they were all rather eager to return and learn the current situation there.

    After Nie Tian came, Qi Bailu, Hua Mu, and the others all ended their secluded cultivation.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, they all expressed their desire to leave the Realm of Maelstrom as soon as possible.

    Nie Tian also seemed frustrated as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do. I suppose there¡¯s another way for us to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars without Zhao Shanling.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Hua Mu asked.

    ¡°Senior martial sister Pei,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Qiqi?!¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that she must have had incredible encounters in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°She was the reason why that spatial rift became essible only long enough for us to pass. Like Zhao Shanling, she¡¯s also well-versed in all kinds of spatial magics. Perhaps she¡¯ll be able to send you back through Zhao Shanling¡¯s teleportation portal.¡±

    ¡°Encounters...¡± Hua Mu muttered. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up as he eximed, ¡°I have a guess!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What guess?¡±

    With wide eyes, Hua Mu said, ¡°The Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material that caused great changes in the Shatter Battlefield. Could it have something to do with Qiqi?¡±

 Chapter 901: A Crisis Looms

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°Senior martial sister Pei and that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material...¡±

    After hearing Hua Mu¡¯s words, Nie Tian instantly realized that it was actually very likely that Pei Qiqi had taken that Heaven Nourished grade treasure.

    He understood Pei Qiqi¡¯s uniqueness better than anyone.

    Just like him, Pei Qiqi was not a normal human, but a hybrid.

    Her unique bloodline carried the profound truths of spatial power.

    What made her truly special was that not only was she well-versed in using spatial power, but her bloodline was also closely rted to spatial power.

    Compared to Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials were more advanced.

    Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials had their own awareness, but their intelligence wasn¡¯t fully developed.

    On the contrary, every Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material possessed intelligence that was no different from that of humans, outsiders, or Ancientbeasts.

    This meant that Heaven Nourished spiritual materials would choose their masters, not the other way around.

    That Heaven Nourished grade treasure seemed to have the ability to travel through space and channel power from spatial rifts and teleportation portals.

    The Void Spirit Society was only so eager to obtain it because they knew that it would suit the needs of those who practiced spatial power perfectly, and that it could be refined into cultivators¡¯ private domains or used to forge Immortal grade spiritual tools.

    If such a treasure were to choose a master, it was very likely that it would choose Pei Qiqi.

    It didn¡¯t make sense that Pei Qiqi had broken through to the middle Profound realm in the Shatter Battlefield, and made another breakthrough into thete Profound realm shortly after returning from there.

    Furthermore, it also didn¡¯t make sense that she had been able to stabilize that congested spatial rift, allowing everyone to pass.

    However, after he connected these things to that space-attributed Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material, they suddenly made sense.

    Only an incredible treasure like that would allow Pei Qiqi to make such rapid breakthroughs and gain the power to stabilize spatial rifts.

    ¡°That¡¯s indeed very likely...¡± Qi Bailu muttered.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he said, ¡°If this is true, then it exins why senior martial sister Pei didn¡¯t want to talk to us back then. She must have nned toe to the Domain of Heaven Python to hunt down those who had taken part in the operation to kill senior Zhen, so she didn¡¯t want to get us into trouble.

    ¡°Besides, once word of her having that unearthly treasure is leaked, many powerful experts will definitely go after her.

    ¡°She pretended that she didn¡¯t know us because she was worried that we might be dragged into the mess.¡±

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°That kid...¡±

    Aftering to the conclusion that Pei Qiqi now had that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material, everyone was happy for her and worried about her at the same time.

    They were worried that even the outsiders and Ancientbeasts in the Shatter Battlefield would learn about what had happened ande after her in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°All I hope for is that she stays safe,¡± Qi Bailu said with a worried expression. ¡°My junior martial sister is no longer with us. I can¡¯t allow anything to happen to her.¡±

    ¡°We need to keep our spections to ourselves,¡± Hua Mu said solemnly. ¡°Don¡¯t ever mention this to anyone.¡±

    The others nodded.

    After that, they all stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom while waiting for news.

    On the one hand, they waited for Zhao Shanling to return; on the other hand, they waited for word of Pei Qiqi.

    Gradually, Nie Tian received word of Pei Qiqi from Duan Shihu from the Divine Seal Sect.

    The Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had attached great importance to Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, after learning about his identity. Even the sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect, who was an early Saint domain expert, ended his secluded cultivation to look for Yuan Jiuchuan himself, lest this madness go on and he plunge the Domain of Heaven Python into chaos.

    A major subordinate sect of the Golden Vast Sect practiced lightning incantations, and Yuan Jiuchuan hadn¡¯t sought them out yet.

    The sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect thus hid in that sect and waited for Yuan Jiuchuan to walk into his trap.

    As for Pei Qiqi, she suddenly became silent andy low after killing arge number of Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect experts, with Du Zheng as the person in charge of the search operation, swore to avenge their dead. They mobilized many of their forces to search every realm in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    However, they still hadn¡¯t found any sign of her yet.

    But soon, something happened that shook the entire Domain of Heaven Python.

    Xing Lifeng from the Xing n, who had fled the Domain of Heaven Python, suddenly appeared and assaulted the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters with powerful Bonebrutes at his back.

    Xing Lifeng, who had recently entered thete Void domain, severely injured the sectmaster of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect with the help of a ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch.

    The sectmaster of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, who was at the early Saint domain, barely escaped.

    Numerous Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples who were practicing cultivation in their headquarters were ughtered.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s renown suffered a drastic decline. All of their surviving disciples now lived in fear.

    Du Zheng and those who had been sent to search for Pei Qiqi escaped the fate of being ughtered. They gave up on searching for Pei Qiqi and holed up somewhere.

    After that cmity befell the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and their injured sectmaster fled, the entire Domain of Heaven Python felt a storm brooding.

    Before long, ancient starships that belonged to the Demons, Phantasms, and other outsider races showed up in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    From the look of it, the outsiders had a strong interest in the Domain of Heaven Python, and signs of a mass invasion started to show.

    Under such circumstances, the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect adopted emergency procedures and sealed all of the spatial rifts that connected the outsider realms to the Realm of Maelstrom to prevent more outsiders from swarming in.

    Everyone in the Domain of Heaven Python lived in a state of anxiety.

    As Nie Tian saw Meng Li again in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold in the Realm of Maelstrom, he seemed to have aged, with an exhausted look on his face.

    Even Jing Rou had a knitted brow, her face clouded by anxiety. Upon seeing Nie Tian, she only nodded in silence and forced a smile.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, Duan Shihu smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Something big is going to happen.

    ¡°Outsiders¡¯ ancient starships appearing in the Domain of Heaven Python indicates that they¡¯re nning a mass invasion. From the look of it, Xing Lifeng attacking the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters with the Bonebrutes¡¯ help at this moment is no ident. They must have nned this together. It¡¯s been thousands of years since outsidersst attacked the Domain of Heaven Python. I wonder what they¡¯re after this time.¡±

    ¡°Junior martial brother, Zhao Shanling sealed the spatial rift that led to that Bonebrutes¡¯ burial ground, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°He straight-up destroyed it in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s both good and bad,¡± Duan Shihu said with furrowed brows. ¡°The good thing is that Bonebrutes won¡¯t be able to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars through that spatial rift. But the bad thing is that, without that spatial rift, you won¡¯t be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars any time soon to get away from the tribtion that¡¯s about to befall the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered in silence.

    ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll go talk to the Golden Vast Sect and see if you can go take shelter in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries for the time being, following the route Yue Yanxi and the others took to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?¡± Duan Shihu suggested with nothing but good intentions.

    The Domain of Heaven Python was about to see great turmoil. The Thousandsword Mountain Sect was no better than dead. The Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect didn¡¯t know what the outsiders were up to, or the level of their strength yet.

    Under such circumstances, Duan Shihu was worried that Nie Tian and the others would get into trouble if they stayed. Therefore, he hoped to get them out of the Domain of Heaven Python as soon as possible.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while before saying, ¡°I think I¡¯ll talk to the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars and see what they think of this.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better leave... soon,¡± Duan Shihu said with a grim face.

    Since Zhao Shanling hadn¡¯t returned yet, Fan Kai was the only one among the people from the Domain of the Falling Stars who was at the Void domain.

    Considering this, Duan Shihu assumed that even if they stayed, they wouldn¡¯t be able to do much to help.

    Since Duan Shihu was also from the Domain of the Falling Stars, he naturally wanted to save his countrymen from this potential cmity.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and asked, ¡°Senior martial brother, if the outsider invaders turn out to be too powerful for you, and you aren¡¯t able to defend against them by relying on just yourselves, can you ask for help from other human domains? The Qi warrior sects in your neighbor domains wouldn¡¯t just sit by and watch the Domain of Heaven Python be sacked by the outsiders, right?¡±

    ording to what Nie Tian knew, the Domain of Vast Darkness, where Xie Wanting was from, wasn¡¯t far from the Domain of Heaven Python, and neither was the Domain of Endless Snow, where the Heavenly Ice Sect was based.

    Furthermore, since Yue Yanxi and Patriarch Pure Heaven had been able to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries from one of the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s realms, the distance between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python couldn¡¯t be unbridgeable either.

    All of these domains were human domains. Would they wring their hands while the Domain of Heaven Python was invaded by outsiders?

    However, after he asked the question, he saw bitter looks on the faces of Meng Li, Duan Shihu, and Jing Rou.

 Chapter 902: Land Filled with Wailing People

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the powerful experts in your neighbor domains will refuse to help.¡±

    Meng Li let out a cold snort. ¡°I¡¯d consider us lucky if they don¡¯t kick us when we¡¯re down. Don¡¯t count on them toe to our aid. The Domain of Endless Snow, the Domain of Vast Darkness, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries are our three neighbor domains. The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries doesn¡¯t even have a single Saint domain expert yet, so they wouldn¡¯t be of much help even if they wanted to.

    ¡°As for the Domain of Endless Snow, they¡¯ve never been friendly with us. And we went to war with the Domain of Vast Darkness about a thousand years ago.

    ¡°The Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of Vast Darkness are indeed stronger than our domain, but it¡¯s also because of that they used to n to swallow us and make us a part of their map.

    ¡°Since we¡¯re all Medium grade domains, and the Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of Vast Darkness are only slightly more powerful than us, of course we didn¡¯t agree to that.

    ¡°Even if we were to be someone¡¯s subordinate domain, they should be ancient powers like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, or the Heavenspan Pavilion...¡±

    Meng Li went on and briefly exined the situation to Nie Tian.

    Most Medium grade human domains hoped to attach themselves to ancient powers like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    If they did be some ancient powers¡¯ subordinate domain, they would have to pay tribute to their master sects every few years by contributing precious spiritual materials, spirit jades, spirit stones, etc.

    In return, they would receive the ancient powers¡¯ protection.

    In case of outsider invasions or conflicts with other human domains, their master sects would step up and take care of the matter for them.

    However, to cling to powerful sects, paying tribute to their master sects was not the only thing they had to do, but they also had to answer their master sects¡¯ summons whenever called upon.

    Normally, when conflicts broke out among powerful sects, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts, they would send powerful Qi warriors from their subordinate domains to the battlefield, who would most likely suffer heavy casualties.

    Before, powerful experts from the four great human powers had visited and evaluated the Domain of Heaven Python to determine whether it qualified to be their subordinate domain.

    The Domain of Heaven Python had failed to meet their criteria.

    None of the four great powers had any interest in the cultivation resources the Domain of Heaven Python had to offer, or the early Saint domain fighting force of the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Since they had failed to win the four great powers¡¯ favor, and their neighbor domains weren¡¯t powerful enough for them to look up to, the Domain of Heaven Python had remained independent under the joint leadership of the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    Besides, outsiders hadn¡¯t invaded for thousands of years, so they had been content with the status quo, and hadn¡¯t felt the the need to seek help or alliances from others.

    Who would have thought that the Domain of Heaven Python would suddenly attract arge outsider army after thousands of years of peace?

    Duan Shihu tossed a ring to him and said, ¡°Inside this ring of holding is the high grade spirit beast meat and the spiritual materials you wanted that I traded for with your Silicon Silver. You¡¯d better go talk to the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars now, while I¡¯ll go talk to the Golden Vast Sect. You really need to leave before something big happens and traps you here.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything after receiving the ring, but left directly to find Hua Mu and the others.

    Hua Mu, Fan Kai, and the others were deeply shaken after hearing that the Domain of Heaven Python would soon be a battlefield between outsider invaders and the three local sects.

    Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng, and a few others were the first to express their desire to leave to Nie Tian. They wanted to do as Duan Shihu had suggested: go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries first as Patriarch Pure Heaven and Yue Yanxi had, and then return to the Domain of the Falling Stars through the teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect.

    All they wanted to do was get out of this unexpected cmity as soon as possible. They didn¡¯t care in the slightest what would happen to the Domain of Heaven Python.

    However, Hua Mu and the others said they would listen to Nie Tian¡¯s opinion.

    They would do as hemanded, whether that was to leave for the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, or stay and fight side by side with the Divine Seal Sect.

    Nie Tian, who attached great importance to the matter, couldn¡¯t make a decision.

    Soon afterwards, word came from the Divine Seal Sect, telling them that Pei Qiqi seemed to be part of the reason for the outsiders¡¯ mass invasion.

    That was because outsiders has been spotted searching in the realms Pei Qiqi had been to, as if they were trying to find her.

    After learning this, Nie Tian instantly realized that the outsider invasion must have something to do with the Heaven Nourished grade treasure, which was probably now in Pei Qiqi¡¯s possession.

    He then made his decision.

    He went to find Duan Shihu again, and asked him to arrange for Fan Kai and the others with him to leave for the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s help.

    At the same time, Qi Bailu, Hua Mu, Zong Zheng, and some others chose to stay behind with Nie Tian, and see how things would develop.

    At first, Duan Shihu didn¡¯t agree to this. However, since Nie Tian insisted on staying, he eventually gave up.

    Therefore, Fan Kai and those with him went to the Golden Vast Sect, and soon left the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Nie Tian, however, strengthened his bloodline by madly channeling flesh power from the copious amount of spirit beast meat Duan Shihu had traded for him.

    Seventh and sixth grade spirit beast meat was piled into mountains in the ring of holding.

    He was well-aware that since he didn¡¯t have a considerable number of spiritual materials or medicinal pills that could provide soul power, it was unrealistic for him to form a third sub-soul and enter the Profound realm within a short period of time.

    However, since he had arge spirit beast meat supply, he would be able to umte copious flesh power by using his Life Drain bloodline talent.

    As he worked day and night without stop, pile after pile of spirit beast meat was refined. They morphed into streams of flesh power that fused into his bloodline aura and eventually put it into dormancy, where it waited for its next upgrade and awakening of brand-new bloodline talents.

    Time flew.

    Two weeks had passed since Fan Kai and the others had left.

    During this time, the outsiders¡¯ ancient starships initiated small-scale invasions of some of the remote realms that weren¡¯t controlled by the Golden Vast Sect or the Divine Seal Sect.

    They mostly favored realms that belonged to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. Many of them were lost, and became temporary footholds for the outsiders.

    The Realm of Maelstrom, which usually bustled with trading activities, suddenly became deserted and quiet.

    After all, with all of the spatial rifts that led to outsider realms destroyed or sealed, no outsider traders could visit anymore.

    The human Qi warriors who had done business in the Realm of Maelstrom over a long period time also stoppeding after seeing the unfavorable situation.

    On this day, Duan Shihu and Jing Rou came to Nie Tian with Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue.

    Even though both Li Muyang and Xing Huanyue had entered thete Soul realm, not even the slightest delight could be seen on their faces.

    Duan Shihu seemed even sadder and angrier than them.

    ¡°What happened?!¡± Hua Mu asked aloud.

    With a grim face, Li Muyang said, ¡°The Realm of Withering me was sacked by Demons. An army of Demons led by an eighth grade Demon expert suddenly swarmed into the the Realm of Withering me. We knew we couldn¡¯t stop them, so we came back through the teleportation portal. However, many others were trapped there. Miserable cries echoed out in every direction as we escaped.¡±

    As Duan Shihu¡¯s personal property, the Realm of Withering me was filled with active volcanoes. Every year, he could gather arge number of fire-attributed spiritual materials from it.

    Many of the Hunters who had raided and plundered with him hadter helped him mine fire-attributed spiritual materials from the volcanoes.

    Now that the Realm of Withering me had been sacked overnight, all those who used to sail across the Domain of Heaven Python with him and looted the local sects¡¯ supplies would most likely fall victim to the outsiders.

    ¡°Senior martial brother, will your sect...¡± Nie Tian wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    With a bitter smile, Jing Rou chimed in, ¡°My sect is having trouble fending for itself, much less saving the Realm of Withering me, which is not that important to them. The Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends have all sent ninth grade grand patriarchs. I doubt that our sect will be able to even defend itself.¡±

    Before Nie Tian said anything, Jing Rou went on with a imploring tone, ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Will you pleasemunicate with your sect and tell them that we¡¯ll be willing to be their subordinate sect, as long as they agree to send powerful experts to help us through this bloody tribtion.¡±

    Duan Shihu also fixed Nie Tian with an expectant gaze.

    The reason why they hade in the first ce was because they wished Nie Tian could establishmunications with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and ask for their help.

    Given the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s current strength, it didn¡¯t even qualify to be the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s subordinate sect.

    However, since Nie Tian was a Son of the Stars acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, they wondered if they could make use of his connections and get the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to give them another chance.

    If that didn¡¯t work out, they wondered if they could just be a subordinate sect of Nie Tian, and pull through by relying on their indirect rtionship with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I, I haven¡¯t finished the path of stars the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce designed for me, and entered the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet.¡±

    ¡°So how can you finish that path of stars?¡± Jing Rou asked anxiously.

    The situation in the Domain of Heaven Python was very unfavorable. The Thousandsword Mountain Sect was no different from being wiped out, while the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect couldn¡¯t possibly defeat the outsiders¡¯ united army by themselves.

    If they couldn¡¯t get help, the realms in the Domain of Heaven Python would fall one after another, just like the Realm of Withering me.

    Running out of options, they had thought of Nie Tian, a Son of the Stars, and hoped that he could establishmunications with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°I suppose only after I break through into the Profound realm would I have a chance at finishing the path of stars and entering the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian added, ¡°But my soul stillcks refining. If I can get enough medicinal pills that contain soul power, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to make that breakthrough within a short time.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have soul crystals for that?¡± Jing Rou asked.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I used them all.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll see what I can do,¡± Jing Rou said.

 Chapter 903: A Storm Coming

    Jing Rou left in a hurry.

    In her eyes, as long as Nie Tian could get in contact with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, perhaps they would help defeat the outsiders¡¯ united army to stop the Domain of Heaven Python from falling.

    It was known that medicinal pills and spiritual materials that contained soul power were very hard to find. Even with Nie Tian¡¯s Silicon Silver, Duan Shihu had only gotten his hands on a few.

    However, the Divine Seal Sect was the number one sect in the Domain of Heaven Python after all. With their two Saint domain experts and reserve power they had umted over thousands of years, if they exerted themselves to look for the medicinal pills and ingredients Nie Tian needed, they would still be able to find some.

    Watching Jing Rou leave full of hope, Nie Tian felt tremendous pressure on his shoulders.

    Nie Tian sighed inwardly. ¡°Even if I manage to get the medicinal pills I need, form the third sub-soul and enter the Profound realm, I¡¯ll still have to go to the Realm of Shattered Earth...¡±

    Then, he exined this to Duan Shihu.

    Duan Shihu was somewhat distressed after learning that Nie Tian would have to use therge-scale teleportation portal in the pce in the Realm of Shattered Earth if he wanted to eventually enter the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Perhaps that Zhao Shanling wille back after you break through into the Profound realm, right?¡± Duan Shihu said, holding onto his hope.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s the hope.¡±

    Without Zhao Shanling, he wouldn¡¯t be able to teleport to the Realm of Split Void through Zhao Shanling¡¯s teleportation portal.

    Only from the grand pce the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him in the Realm of Split Void would he be able to return to the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Duan Shihu forced a smile onto his face. ¡°Jing Rou should be able to get some of the spiritual materials you need from the Divine Seal Sect. Don¡¯t worry about anything else. We¡¯ll cross that bridge when wee to it.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Bad news came over the following days.

    Soon after the Realm of Withering me had fallen, the outsiders¡¯ ancient starships started traveling among and raiding the major realms in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    One after another, realms that belonged to the Golden Vast Sect and the Divine Seal Sect fell. Numerous human experts were killed or driven from their homes.

    In those realms, the outsiders ughtered humans and plundered resources with brutal means.

    The Golden Vast Sect and the Divine Seal Sect were aware that they wouldn¡¯t be able to hold multiple ces simultaneously, and thus summoned their powerful experts from the other realms to their headquarters.

    Since they had lost faith in initiating attacks, they adopted the method of total defense, hoping to defend their headquarters with the help of their grand spell formations.

    Most of their Qi warriors who had been stationed in the Realm of Maelstrom had retreated as well.

    Even fewer people could now be seen in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Standing on the balcony of the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned to them, Qi Bailu gazed off into the distance. Slowly withdrawing his soul awareness, he said, ¡°Many have left... It¡¯s been a long time since Ist detected soul fluctuations in the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s stronghold. I could still sense quite a few people in the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s stronghold a few days ago, but now... only a handful of people are garrisoned there.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the same with the Divine Seal Sect?¡± Hua Mu chimed in.

    Nie Tian had also noticed that many Divine Seal Sect disciples had entered the hall where their teleportation portal was, and never came out again.

    They had taken all kinds of materials with them, which made it obvious that they had been moving.

    When he had practiced cultivation before, he had been able to sense countless weak but noticeable flesh auras. But now, as he scanned his vicinity with his bloodline power, he could only sense a handful of flesh auras.

    Eyes narrowed, Zong Zheng looked up at the interweaving spatial lines in the watery curtain that connected the Realm of Maelstrom to the rest of the starry river. ¡°Great changes are almost upon us. The Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect have trouble defending even their headquarters, so they pulled back into their headquarters to maintain their high battle prowess. That¡¯s actually a smart move. The three local sects have already sealed or destroyed the spatial rifts that lead to outsider domains so that outsiders won¡¯t be able to pour through them.

    ¡°Besides, the Realm of Maelstrom is only special because of its numerous, interweaving spatial rifts, not because it produces any rare spiritual materials.

    ¡°Now that they¡¯ve destroyed those spatial rifts and all of the powerful experts have evacuated, the Realm of Maelstrom has lost its value.

    ¡°So I suppose the outsiders don¡¯t have any reasons to invade the Realm of Maelstrom now. That means we¡¯ll be safe within a short period of time.¡±

    Everyone felt slightly relieved after hearing these words.

    At this moment, Jing Rou suddenly returned with Duan Shihu. She held out a ring of holding and said with an exhausted look on her face, ¡°There are quite a few spiritual materials and medicinal pills within this ring of holding that will help strengthen your soul, but I¡¯m afraid their efficacy won¡¯t match that of a few soul crystals. However, they are already all that I can find throughout my sect. I hope you¡¯re not disappointed.¡±

    ¡°How could I be?¡± Nie Tian grabbed the ring of holding and scanned its contents with his soul awareness.

    There were all sorts of medicinal pills within it, along with spirit grass and spirit beast skulls that contained faint soul power.

    Like Jing Rou said, there were quite a number of items within the ring of holding, yet the amount of soul power they contained was very limited.

    Not just that, but the soul power within some of them was impure, and would be rather troublesome to refine.

    Therefore,pared to soul crystals, refining the medicinal pills and spirit grass Jing Rou had found for him would be much less rewarding, and much more time-consuming.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try my best,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Hopefully, I¡¯ll break through into the Profound realm with these things within a short time. But here¡¯s a thing: Even if I manage to break through into the Profound realm, I¡¯ll have to figure out a way to return to the Realm of Split Void first. So let me know as soon as you receive word of Zhao Shanling. Also, if you can find my senior martial sister, she may be able to help me return to the Domain of the Falling Stars as well.¡±

    Jing Rou seemed exhausted as she said, ¡°That senior martial sister of yours vanishedpletely after killing those Thousandsword Mountain Sect disciples. In fact, it¡¯s best that she doesn¡¯t show up. After all, the outsiders are trying to find her too. She¡¯ll be in serious danger if the outsiders learn her whereabouts.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°Yeah, okay.¡±

    That said, Nie Tian started practicing cultivation and attempting to form the third sub-soul with the medicinal pills, spirit grass, and spirit beast skulls Jing Rou had found for him.

    Soon, he discovered that the effects of these items were far inferior to that of soul crystals.

    Sometimes, he would have to use different methods to get rid of the impurities within some of the materials.

    Then the pure soul power that remained was next to nothing.

    But fortunately, he had arge number of them, sopared to channeling soul power from the stars, this method was actually more efficient.

    Therefore, he concentrated on his cultivation in an attempt to form the third sub-soul and break through into the Profound realm as soon as possible.

    A few days passed...

    Qi Bailu suddenly woke Nie Tian from his cultivation, and showed him to the balcony of the stone pavilion, where he pointed at the watery curtain in the sky and said in a low voice, ¡°Spatial rifts of various sizes are gradually vanishing from the watery curtain. As you know, the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom is kind of like the Void Illusion Mountain Range, as they both hold arge number of spatial rifts.

    ¡°Only a small number of them have been explored, and proven to lead to outsider or Ancientbeast domains.

    ¡°However, for most of them, where they lead to still remains a mystery, since none of the people who entered them ever returned.

    ¡°The Golden Vast Sect and the Divine Seal Sect recently destroyed all of the spatial rifts that were known to connect to outsider domains in order to prevent more outsiders from swarming into the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°Meanwhile, numerous unexplored and unidentified spatial rifts remained open.

    ¡°But now, they have started to vanish one by one.¡±

    Hua Mu and Zong Zheng gazed off into the watery curtain. Their expressions grewplicated as they sensed unusual spatial fluctuations.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes also widened.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening now is very simr to what happened in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Hua Mu said in a low voice. ¡°In the Shatter Battlefield, all of the stable spatial rifts and teleportation portals that led to other ces either vanished or copsed. ording to Yue Yanxi, the anomalies in the Shatter Battlefield were caused by that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he was instantly enlightened. ¡°Are you saying that these changes in the Realm of Maelstrom are also caused by my senior martial sister?¡±

    Hua Mu nodded slowly. ¡°That¡¯s very likely.¡±

    ¡°Has the Divine Seal Sect noticed the anomaly?¡± Nie Tian asked aloud.

    Hua Mu shot a nce in the direction of Duan Shihu and Jing Rou¡¯s residence and said in a low voice, ¡°Duan Shihu and Jing Rou are the only Divine Seal Sect disciples still here. Even Meng Li has returned to their headquarters through a teleportation portal. I suppose their cultivation bases aren¡¯t high enough for them to sense the changes, but they will sooner orter if the changes don¡¯t stop.

    ¡°Besides, I talked to Duan Shihu earlier, and learned that they found that, whichever realm Qiqi appeared in, the spatial rifts and teleportation portals in that realm would gradually vanish or copse on their own.¡±

    Qi Bailu chimed in. ¡°So our spection must be correct. That Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material is in Qiqi¡¯s hands, and now she¡¯se to the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    Hua Mu took a deep breath and said, ¡°She must have realized that the Realm of Maelstrom is basically an empty realm now, so she came back in secret to channel spatial power from the spatial rifts in order to strengthen herself and that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material.¡±

    Eyebrows knitted, Nie Tian gazed off at the watery curtain in the sky that looked like an enormous vortex, and asked, ¡°Does she know that we¡¯re in the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    Hua Mu shook his head. ¡°It beats me, but we need to give serious consideration to whether we want to meet her.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, if we do meet, her whereabouts might be exposed,¡± Qi Bailu chimed in.

 Chapter 904: Secret Aid

    Pei Qiqi was part of the reason the outsiders hadunched a mass invasion of the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Even now, powerful outsider experts were spending a lot of time and effort to track her among different realms.

    The people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had been infuriated by her before the invasion had started. Only after their sectmaster had sustained severe injuries had they stopped searching for her.

    Since the Golden Vast Sect and the Divine Seal Sect had also realized that the outsiders¡¯ mass invasion might have something to do with Pei Qiqi, would theye up with expedient ns if they got ahold of her whereabouts?

    For instance, capture her and give her to the outsiders in exchange for their retreat?

    All this meant that once she was exposed, it was possible that the outsiders, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Divine Seal Sect would make moves against her simultaneously.

    In order for the Domain of Heaven Python to ride out this tribtion, even the Domain of Heaven Python and Jing Rou might agree to sacrifice Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian hade to this realization the moment he had seen Jing Rou¡¯s anxious face as the realms in the Domain of Heaven Python had started to fall one after another.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim expression. ¡°We do need to consider it seriously.¡±

    His original n had been to go find Pei Qiqi in the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom right away.

    However, Hua Mu and Qi Bailu¡¯s words made him hesitant.

    At this very moment, new changes took ce.

    Hua Mu and the other experts shrewdly detected unusual spatial fluctuations, which seemed to being from therge-scale teleportation portal Zhao Shanling had set up in the stone pavilion.

    Therefore, they all rushed down from the balcony, where they gazed off into the sky, to the bottom floor of the stone pavilion.

    As soon as they arrived, they discovered that the teleportation portal Zhao Shanling had established had somehow lit up.

    Numerous spatial des were swimming within the profound spell formation of the portal like shoals of fish.

    That spell formation had been created by Zhao Shanling with profound skills.

    At this moment, the lifelike spatial des were swimming about, as if to make adjustments to the spell formation, vesting it with new wonders.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Those spatial des carry Qiqi¡¯s power!¡±

    Everyone nced around, but they couldn¡¯t see Pei Qiqi anywhere. Nie Tian even scanned his surroundings with his bloodline power, but still failed to sense her flesh aura.

    This meant she wasn¡¯t here in flesh.

    WHOOSH!

    A frosty light shed across Zong Zheng¡¯s eyes as misty white smoke burst forth from inside of him.

    A frigid ward that was transparent and sparkling instantly enveloped the entire hall.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let anyone discover the unusual spatial fluctuations!¡± Zong Zheng eximed softly.

    Everyone then realized that Zong Zheng was worried that powerful experts from the Divine Seal Sect or the Golden Vast Sect might happen toe to the Realm of Maelstrom and sense the unusual spatial fluctuations in this ce.

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou were in a nearby stone pavilion. If the spatial fluctuations continued to build up, they might be able to sense the anomaly as well.

    Hua Mu and Qi Bailu hastily cast spells to form their own spiritual power wards.

    Soon, the hall was enveloped in multiple wards, sealing every bit of the spatial fluctuations the teleportation portal emanated.

    A profound spell formation was engraved in the portal that had been formed by all kinds of rare materials. As countless spatial des shed back and forth within the spell formation, numerous mysterious lines could be vaguely seen wiggling and forming new details that were branded in the profound spell formation.

    The spatial fluctuations grew stronger and stronger.

    One after another, new details magically merged within the spell formation Zhao Shanling had created, fixing the ws in the original spell formation.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The spatial des suddenly faded into the air, as if they had traveled to another space.

    As they did, the strong spatial fluctuations instantly disappeared.

    Therge-scale teleportation portal still stood steadily in the middle of the hall. Nothing about it seemed to have changed.

    However, Nie Tian and the others were well-aware that its internal spell formation, which was the core of a teleportation portal, had undergone great changes.

    SHEW!

    Qi Bailu took the initiative to jump into the portal. He found the coordinates for the Realm of Split Void, and tried to set the spell formation.

    The materials embedded in the rim of the portal, which contained rich spatial power suddenly shone with dazzling light.

    Then, the whole portal started to operate, channeling spatial power and generating a misty light, as if it were ready to conduct teleportation now.

    Qi Bailu¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he eximed, ¡°This spell formation is operable now. We can teleport back to the Realm of Split Void any time we want!¡±

    Hua Mu and the others all grew ecstatic.

    At the same time, they also found this hard to believe.

    Zhao Shanling, whose attainments in spatial magics were unmatched throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars, had built this teleportation portal. However, even he would have to activate this portal with the Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s help.

    As powerful as he was, he couldn¡¯t activate it without the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Since Zhao Shanling hadn¡¯t shown up again after disappearing in the Shatter Battlefield, Nie Tian had asked a number of spatial power experts from the Divine Seal Sect to try to activate this portal, yet all of them had failed.

    Who would have thought that the ethereal spatial des Pei Qiqi had secretly unleashed would actually be able to adjust its internal spell formation, and activate it without the help of any powerful spiritual tools?

    Was it possible that Pei Qiqi¡¯s understanding of spatial power had already gone beyond Zhao Shanling¡¯s?

    ¡°This is unbelievable!¡± Qi Bailu marveled. ¡°That Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material must have greatly deepened her understanding of spatial power! Given a bit more time, she¡¯ll surely be able to surpass Zhao Shanling and myte master, and be the unparalleled spatial power master of the Domain of the Falling Stars! And that Heaven Nourished grade treasure will make her future path of cultivation free of obstacles!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but she doesn¡¯t seem to want to see us,¡± Nie Tian said in frustration.

    Hua Mu sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°She must have her reasons. Perhaps she¡¯s worried that she¡¯d put us in danger if we met. But she went to great lengths to make this teleportation portal operable, which means she must have been paying attention to us the whole time.

    ¡°By doing this, I think she wants to send us the message that she wants us to leave the Domain of Heaven Python as soon as possible.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, Qi Bailu¡¯s eyebrows flickered as he said with a sad tone, ¡°She¡¯s gone.¡±

    Hua Mu and Zong Zheng spread their soul awareness into their surroundings. Momentster, they also let out sighs of frustration.

    They could no longer sense any changes in the watery curtain, and the spatial rifts had stopped vanishing.

    This meant that Pei Qiqi had either left for another realm, or entered one of the spatial rifts and ended up in some unknown ce.

    ¡°It seems that she only came to the Realm of Maelstrom to help us get this teleportation portal working, so that we¡¯d be able to return to the Realm of Split Void,¡± Zong Zheng said in a soft voice.

    Mixed emotions rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. ¡°So she¡¯s been worrying about us the whole time.¡±

    He would be able to return to the Realm of Split Void any time he wanted now, yet he wasn¡¯t happy at all.

    Instead, he was deeply worried about Pei Qiqi.

    She could have teleported herself to the Realm of Split Void through this teleportation portal, but she didn¡¯t.

    Nie Tian knew that if the outsider invasion was indeed partly because of her, then her returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars would probably attract the outsiders to the Domain of the Falling Stars as well.

    Even the Domain of Heaven Python wasn¡¯t strong enough to contend against those outsiders. The consequences would be catastrophic if those outsiders marched into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    She had a home that she didn¡¯t dare to return to. Instead, she could only drift around, hiding from the pursuing outsiders. She might even have to face the pursuit of powerful human experts from the Shatter Battlefield...

    Pei Qiqi was in a much more dangerous position than they were.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Hua Mu said, ¡°This teleportation portal is already essible. What do we do now? It won¡¯t feel right if we leave without informing Duan Shihu. He¡¯s been nice to us after all.¡±

    Qi Bailu also had a headache over the matter as he said, ¡°Even if we don¡¯t tell him, the Divine Seal Sect will probably assume that Qiqi was here. If we leave without telling anyone, they may even assume that Qiqi returned to the Realm of Split Void with us.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Will you go back first with the others, Uncle Hua? I still have something to say to my senior martial brother.¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s eyes grew wide as he said assertively, ¡°No, we¡¯ll stay and wait for you.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath. ¡°Don¡¯t. You guys go first. No matter what, I have to talk to my senior martial brother, especially considering that he and Jing Rou have been really nice to us, and viewed me as their hope to turn the situation around and save the Domain of Heaven Python from this uing cmity.¡±

    Hua Mu pondered briefly before saying, ¡°How about this: we return to the Domain of the Falling Stars first and see how things are over there. If you don¡¯t return after a while, we¡¯lle back here to fight side by side with you.¡±

    ¡°Umm... alright.¡± Nie Tian agreed.

    Then, Hua Mu and the others left for the Realm of Split Void through the teleportation portal.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian became the only one left in the spacious hall.

    He came to the balcony on the top floor, where he gazed beyond the vortex-like curtain into the boundless starry river, pondering what he should do.

    At this moment, arge thundercloud suddenly appeared over the Realm of Maelstrom and quickly descended.

    ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan!¡±

 Chapter 905: Donâ€™t Push Me!

    The thundercloud covered arge area of the sky. Snakes of lightning slithered within it, giving rise to endless rumbles.

    WHOOSH!

    The thundercloud descended from the vortex-like curtain in the sky at an rming speed.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s figure loomed inside the thundercloud, his manner imposing.

    His arrival soon rmed Duan Shihu.

    After stepping out of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s grand pce, he looked up, and saw Nie Tian immediately.

    He shot up into the air andnded beside Nie Tian in a split second.

    Standing side by side with Nie Tian, he asked in a low voice, ¡°Is that Yuan Jiuchuan?¡±

    Face grim, Nie Tian answered, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    All of a sudden, the thundercloud flew into the watery curtain in the sky, where numerous spatial rifts were flickering.

    At this moment, Duan Shihu noticed the anomaly, and thus nced around suspiciously. ¡°Hmm? Where are the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan came with such impetus that even he had sensed his arrival immediately. Qi Bailu and the other experts must have sensed it as well.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian decided to tell him the truth. ¡°They left, senior martial brother.¡±

    Duan Shihu was taken aback. ¡°They left?! Did Zhao Shanlinge back? Howe I didn¡¯t sense anything?¡±

    ¡°No, not Zhao Shanling. It was my senior martial sister...¡± Nie Tian went on and briefly exined the situation to him.

    Astonishment filled Duan Shihu¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Even Zhao Shanling had to activate his teleportation portal with the help of a Spirit Channeling grade treasure. Her cultivation base is far from Zhao Shanling¡¯s, but she managed to make that teleportation portal operable with nothing but spatial des?!¡±

    Nie Tian, who decided not to mention the matter with the Heaven Nourished grade treasure, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know about the details.¡±

    ¡°She came, and she left...¡± Duan Shihu pondered the matter with furrowed brows. But all of a sudden, his eyes lit up, and he said, ¡°Now that the teleportation portal has be operable, once you enter the Profound realm, you¡¯ll be able to return to that forbidden ce where you can teleport to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and finish the so-called path of stars, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Good!¡± Duan Shihu said, anticipation filled his eyes. ¡°I knew the heavens wouldn¡¯t seal off all exits. (Idiom: there¡¯s always a way out as long as you don¡¯t give up) You¡¯re a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Once you officially enter your sect, you¡¯ll definitely be able to convince them to ept the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s request!¡±

    He quickly forgot what had happened with Pei Qiqi.

    All he cared about at this moment was that Nie Tian could now finish his path of stars and find a way out for the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°What about Yuan Jiuchuan then?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why he¡¯s here,¡± Duan Shihu said with furrowed brows. ¡°Originally, the sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect set up a trap for him, but gave it up after the appearance of the outsider army. He arranged for that subordinate sect of theirs, which practiced lightning power, to retreat to their headquarters as well, so that Yuan Jiuchuan wouldn¡¯t dare to make any moves against them.¡±

    ¡°Then why is he here in the Realm of Maelstrom?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking puzzled.

    Eyes narrowed, Duan Shihu said, ¡°I guess he¡¯s here to find a way out of the Domain of Heaven Python. He¡¯s already hunted arge number of cultivators and spirit beasts that practice lightning power in the Domain of Heaven Python. All those who have survived him are now holed up in the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s headquarters, which means he won¡¯t be able to get to them. Besides, the outsiders have sacked many realms. So I guess he wants to find targets in another domain now.

    ¡°Since the teleportation portals and spatial rifts in many realms have vanished or copsed, it¡¯s not easy for him to find a way to leave the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°If he wants to fly across the void to another domain, since he hasn¡¯t entered the Void domain, it would be a dangerous thing to do.

    ¡°Even if he could seize an ancient starship and sail it away, he might run into powerful outsiders in the boundless starry river.¡±

    Duan Shihu analyzed the situation, and came to the conclusion that Yuan Jiuchuan hade to the Realm of Maelstrom in an attempt to find special spatial rifts in its watery curtain, through which he might be able to leave.

    Nie Tian also thought this was probably why he was here.

    However, an hourter, Yuan Jiuchuan flew out of the watery curtain, wreathed in a thundercloud.

    His immense soul awareness instantly spread out from within that thundercloud, capturing soul auras wherever it went.

    Both Nie Tian and Duan Shihu were struck by a peculiar feeling that someone was peeping at them in the dark.

    ¡°It¡¯s him. He¡¯s discovered us.¡± Duan Shihu¡¯s face fell as he said in a low voice, ¡°Jing Rou went back to the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters, and so did elder Meng Li. If Yuan Jiuchuan...¡±

    Before he could finish, the thundercloud shrank at an rming rate, and rapidly disappeared into Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Then, Yuan Jiuchuan morphed into a bolt of lightning that shot directly towards them.

    In a few seconds, he covered tens of thousands of meters, and came to a stop in midair before Nie Tian and Duan Shihu.

    He lowered his chin and went nk briefly as he saw Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s you again.¡±

    Without saying a word, Nie Tian summoned the Bone Blood Demon, as if he were facing a deadly foe.

    After the Bone Blood Demon, the me Dragon Armor also flew out of his ring of holding, donning itself on Nie Tian like a suit of crimson heavy armor.

    With a gruesome, low chuckle, Yuan Jiuchuan said, ¡°If my spection is correct, you¡¯re a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Am I right? Since your cultivation base is so low, you must have won the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s acknowledgment through their Heaven Gate trials. And so far, you haven¡¯t finished your so-called path of stars and made it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet, right?¡±

    He saw through and pointed out Nie Tian¡¯s true identity.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t deny it or say anything. Only after summoning his Star Boat and jumping on board with Duan Shihu did he say, ¡°Senior Yuan, we¡¯re not enemies, and I don¡¯t practice lightning incantations. What you did at the Fortune Wells and in the Domain of Heaven Python has nothing to do with me. As long as you leave me alone, I promise that I won¡¯t do anything to jeopardize you.¡±

    ¡°It seems that kid Mo Qinglei told you all about me,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with a fake smile.

    Nie Tian nodded in silence, raising his vignce.

    The reason why he hadn¡¯t summoned the Spirit Pearl was because he was well-aware that he was facing the Thunder Devil, and no soul tools would have any effect on him.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had fallen silent, Yuan Jiuchuan gave a gruesome chuckle.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Lightning bolts that were as fine as hairs shot out of him. They spread out and flew into every stone pavilion in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold, as if they had their own awareness.

    Nie Tian was puzzled.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes lit up as he fixed his eyes on the stone pavilion under Nie Tian and Duan Shihu. ¡°There¡¯s an inter-domain teleportation portal here, and it¡¯s operable!

    ¡°I thought I would have to go through a lot of trouble to find a way out of this damned domain. Who would have known my trip to the Realm of Maelstrom would actually turn out to be such a sess!?¡±

    All of the spatial rifts in the Realm of Maelstrom that led to outsider domains had been destroyed or sealed.

    As for the remaining spatial rifts, Pei Qiqi had channeled spatial power from those that were fairly stable.

    All that were left now were either very unstable, or led to unknown ces.

    Since Yuan Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t skilled with spatial magics, as powerful as he was, he didn¡¯t dare to go through some unstable or unidentified spatial rift.

    The teleportation portals in the strongholds of the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect were still standing. However, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s teleportation portal led to their headquarters, which was probably crawling with Bonebrutes now.

    The other two teleportation portals led to the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s headquarters respectively, ces that were currently protected by Saint domain experts.

    Yuan Jiuchuan didn¡¯t dare to go to those ces either.

    However, the discovery of a fourth teleportation portal gave Yuan Jiuchuan, who was struggling with ways to leave the Domain of Heaven Python, hope, especially when that was arge-scale inter-domain teleportation portal.

    To him, a fresh domain meant more prey, from which he would be able to absorb lightning power.

    After all, he was eager to make rapid breakthroughs in cultivation, and recover his peak strength from his previous life as soon as possible.

    Nie Tian instantly realized what he was thinking, and thus eximed, ¡°Senior! That teleportation portal leads to the Domain of the Falling Stars, which is a weak domain with very few who practice lightning power. And it belongs to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce now. So please think about it carefully!¡±

    Nie Tian had long since considered the Domain of the Falling Stars his personal property.

    If Yuan Jiuchuan went there, people who practice lightning power would die by the thousands.

    Even Lei Tianqi, who was now protecting the Domain of the Falling Stars, was only at the early Void domain. It was hard to say whether he would be able to defeat Yuan Jiuchuan now. However, given more time to gather power, Yuan Jiuchuan would be able to progress in his cultivation by leaps and bounds. By that time, even Lei Tianqi would fall prey to this man.

    Yuan Jiuchuan gave a cunning smile. ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? As long as I don¡¯t kill you, their Son of the Stars, they¡¯d never send forces after me just because I killed a bunch of people in one of their subordinate domains that practice lightning incantations.¡±

    With these words, Yuan Jiuchuan flew down in a nonchnt manner, hoping to enter the hall on the bottom floor of the stone pavilion.

    ¡°Don¡¯t push me, senior!¡± Nie Tian said with anger in his eyes.

    Yuan Jiuchuanughed wildly. ¡°What if I do?¡±

 Chapter 906: Interception

    RUMBLE!

    The enormous Bone Blood Demon dove from the air andnded heavily in front of the stone pavilion.

    Like a spear, Nie Tian stood unwavering on its left shoulder.

    The numerous crimson engravings on the me Dragon Armor instantly burst into mes.

    Without thinking about it, Duan Shihu also swooped down from midair. Fixing Yuan Jiuchuan with a vignt gaze, he said, ¡°Senior Yuan, the Domain of the Falling Stars is only a small ce where there aren¡¯t even any Void domain Qi warriors. You¡¯d be wasting your time by going there.¡±

    ¡°As small as flies are, they¡¯re still meat,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with a somber face. ¡°It¡¯s even better if they don¡¯t have any Void domain experts. Given my current situation, my biggest need is for Soul realm cultivators who practice lightning power. So I¡¯m going to the Domain of the Falling Stars. You two better not stand in my way.¡±

    ¡°Elders of my sect are going to get here soon,¡± Duan Shihu said with a threatening tone.

    Yuan Jiuchuan chuckled. ¡°The Divine Seal Sect? Your sect has trouble defending even their headquarters. There¡¯s no way they¡¯re going to pay any attention to what happens in the Realm of Maelstrom. As far as I know, the ninth grade Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs have already sailed their ancient starships to your sect¡¯s headquarters. It¡¯s even hard to say whether your sect will be able to survive the siege. How could they afford to send people here to help you?¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s face dropped.

    He hadn¡¯t expected Yuan Jiuchuan to have such aprehensive understanding of the current situation in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    He himself was well-aware that the Demons and the Phantasms had already marched on his sect¡¯s headquarters.

    That was the reason why Meng Li and Jing Rou had been summoned to join the defense there.

    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t try to y with me,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with an impatient expression as he stepped in a rxed manner towards the stone gate, which the Bone Blood Demon was standing in front of.

    Compared to the Bone Blood Demon, which was more than thirty meters tall, he seemed puny and insignificant.

    However, the aura he exuded was increasingly terrifying.

    WHOOSH!

    The thundercloud suddenly flew out from the top of his head and rapidly expanded.

    Lightning that looked like frenzied snakes slithered within the thundercloud, giving rise to endless rumbles. The Thunder King Seal also floated within the thundercloud, along with numerous thunderballs.

    Yuan Jiuchuan raised his chin. Gazing coldly at Nie Tian, who was standing on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s left shoulder, he said with determination, ¡°Get out of my way!¡±

    ¡°Attack!¡± Nie Tian sent out a soul message.

    In the next moment, green spots appeared in the depths of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s grayish green pupils, and a pale-gray aura of death burst out of its enormous body.

    FZZZ!

    Flesh auras built up on the tips of its huge bony fingers before they flew out like rivers of death.

    A bloodline magic was unleashed in a split second.

    The rivers of death interwove as they spread out at an rming rate, carrying death power that could blight all living things.

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered.

    As the fatal blight spread, even he, who was standing not far from the Bone Blood Demon, was struck by a peculiar feeling that he was going to be drained of his flesh power and reduced to a shriveled corpse.

    Therefore, he stepped backwards subconsciously.

    Somewhat surprised, Yuan Jiuchuan said, ¡°A puppet made from a Bonebrute can actually use the Bonebrute¡¯s bloodline magics. Interesting.¡±

    Then, with a low chuckle, he suddenly lifted his hand and pointed out ahead of him.

    The thundercloud over his head then expanded ten times over in the blink of an eye, and flew towards the Bone Blood Demon.

    As it did, it unleashed countless snakes of lightning, along with rolls of thunder that shook heaven and earth.

    A storm of snakes of lightning and spears of thunder bombarded the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s enormous body, undermining its indestructible form. As crackles echoes out, fissures started to appear on some of its bones.

    Momentster, the thundercloud engulfed the Bone Blood Demon.

    Nie Tian, who was standing on the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder, found himself surrounded by a sea of lightning and thunder.

    Lightning bolts that were as thick as human arms targeted the Bone Blood Demon as well as him.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡± As Nie Tian eximed these words, raging mes instantly burst forth from the me Dragon Armor, enveloping him in a sea of mes.

    Thick lightning bolts pierced into the sea of torrential mes, where they were burned and rapidly shrank in size.

    After shrinking dozens of times over, they became as fine as hairs, and were easily melted away after touching the me Dragon Armor¡¯s surface.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Dense, low exploding sounds came from the armor that was harder than any metal. Not even the slightest mark was left on the armor, and Nie Tian didn¡¯t experience any noticeable pain.

    However, that was when he realized that Yuan Jiuchuan had already vanished from his view. All he could see was a sea of lightning and thunder.

    WHOOSH!

    As he searched for him, the thundercloud suddenly started to shrink to one point, along with the countless slithering lightning bolts.

    It was squeezing through the stone gate on the bottom floor of the stone pavilion.

    Yuan Jiuchuan was none other than what it was returning to.

    Yuan Jiuchuan had managed to distract the Bone Blood Demon and Nie Tian with the thundercloud, while he passed through the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s blockade and entered the hall where therge-scale teleportation portal stood.

    By the time the thundercloud that blotted out heaven and earth finally cleared, Nie Tian looked down, and discovered that Yuan Jiuchuan was already standing before the portal.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars...¡± He muttered as he pressed on the operating panel. Clearly, he hoped to set up the coordinates and activate the inter-domain teleportation as soon as possible.

    At this moment, snakes of lightning were still slithering on the Bone Blood Demon, suppressing the aura of death it was emanating.

    Duan Shihu also prepared to attack, but before he could do anything, he discovered that Yuan Jiuchuan was already standing in front of the teleportation portal.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian swooped down from the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s shoulder towards the bottom floor hall.

    However, before he even entered the hall, Yuan Jiuchuan was already standing in the portal.

    In the next moment, the spell formation was activated.

    The portal started to thrum with spatial fluctuations as it was rapidly enveloped in misty light.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, a miniature pagoda appeared out of nowhere and flew into the spell formation.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as an exmation escaped his mouth, ¡°The Voidspirit Pagoda!¡±

    Standing in the misty light, Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s figure grew blurry.

    A spatial portal then formed and sucked Yuan Jiuchuan right into it.

    ¡°Who is it?!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan let out a furious roar as he disappeared into the spatial portal.

    As his roar gradually died out, the spatial portal vanished as well.

    The misty light quickly dispersed, and the inter-domain teleportation portal returned to silence.

    Nie Tian and Duan Shihu stood in front of the gate, bbergasted.

    The miniature Voidspirit Pagoda continued to float over the portal,pletely still.

    Keh! Keh!

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s coughs echoed out from above.

    They looked skywards, and saw his figure sh out of the watery curtain that was filled with spatial rifts and fly over, looking pale and exhausted.

    Large bloodstains could be seen on his garments, as if he had just survived a fierce battle.

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Senior Zhao!¡±

    Nie Tian was both surprised and overjoyed. ¡°When did youe back?¡±

    Zhao Shanlingnded in front of the stone gate and answered, ¡°Only recently.¡±

    Then, his eyes widened as he looked into the hall. ¡°That portal...¡±

    Nie Tian immediately realized what had surprised him, and thus exined, ¡°Senior martial sister Pei made some adjustments to the spell formation to make it operable without you.¡±

    Zhao Shanling gasped with astonishment. ¡°How is that possible? Her understanding of spatial power has already reached such a high level?!¡±

    ¡°That Yuan Jiuchuan?¡± Duan Shihu chimed in, as was clearly more concerned with this.

    Zhao Shanling let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I sent him off to a space disruption zone. Only if he finds a hidden teleportation portal will he have a chance ating back alive. There¡¯s something special about that guy. His soul is surprisingly strong. Since I sustained injuries and wasn¡¯t confident that I¡¯d be able to defeat him in battle, I hid in the watery curtain after my return and waited for him to enter the portal, so I could cast my spell.

    ¡°If he actually made it to the Domain of the Falling Stars, many people there would die at his hands. Of course I couldn¡¯t let that happen.

    ¡°Now, he¡¯s in a remote space disruption zone. For someone like him who doesn¡¯t have a deep understanding of spatial magics, it¡¯ll probably take a lot of time and effort to return to human domains again.

    ¡°Perhaps a hundred years will have passed when we hear his name again.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Luckily, you came back in time.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t the spatial rift that connects to the Shatter Battlefield be unstable again?¡± Duan Shihu asked, looking confused.

    ¡°My understanding of spatial power and the Voidspirit Pagoda allowed me to travel through it, even though it was unstable.¡± Zhao Shanling said proudly.

 Chapter 907: The Determination to Kill

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda flew skywards into the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The unstable spatial rift that led to the Shatter Battlefield suddenly burst forth with blinding light, and then exploded violently.

    With a rxed smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Alright, from now on, no one will be able to enter the Domain of Heaven Python from the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    He actually destroyed that spatial rift.

    Duan Shihu smiled bitterly. ¡°But with that spatial rift gone, the people in the Domain of Heaven Python won¡¯t be able to enter the Shatter Battlefield so easily either.¡±

    Zhao Shanling raised his hand to make a grabbing motion in the air, and the Voidspirit Pagoda flew down into his palm and vanished. ¡°Keeping that spatial rift is not necessarily a good thing for the Domain of Heaven Python. I can travel through it with the help of my spatial tool. Others might be able to do the same.¡±

    Duan Shihu let out a sigh and fell silent.

    ¡°What happened in the Shatter Battlefield, Senior Zhao? And who injured you so badly?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling frowned. ¡°It¡¯s a long story.¡±

    He didn¡¯t seem to want to exin it. Instead, he asked Nie Tian, ¡°What happened in the Domain of Heaven Python? Howe the Realm of Maelstrom is so deste now? I didn¡¯t sense a single expert.¡±

    ¡°The outsiders have invaded...¡± Nie Tian went on and exined the situation to him.

    Killing intent burst from Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes. ¡°Xing Lifeng?! Is he still alive?! And he attacked the Thousandsword Mountain Sect with the Bonebrutes¡¯ help?¡±

    Duan Shihu chimed in. ¡°Not only is he still alive, but he has broken through into thete Void domain.¡±

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath. ¡°Thete Void domain...¡±

    Then, he let out a cold harrumph and continued, ¡°So what? As long as he hasn¡¯t entered the Saint domain, I¡¯ll have a chance at killing him!¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded. ¡°You...?¡±

    ¡°The main reason for me to go to the Shatter Battlefield was to hunt down and kill members of the Xing n,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a cold and determined tone. ¡°That brat Xing Bo has died at your hands, so be it. But who would have thought that bastard Xing Lifeng was still alive? I didn¡¯t track him down in the Shatter Battlefield, but I won¡¯t stop until I kill him with my own hands!¡±

    Nie Tian knew that the fact that the Xing n had colluded with the Bonebrutes and killed Zhen Hun had been weighing on Zhao Shanling¡¯s mind.

    Zhao Shanling seemed to be a madman with no scruples or affection for anything. He didn¡¯t even give face to his own brother, Zhao Luofeng. However, Nie Tian was well-aware that he wasn¡¯t a man with no feelings.

    He had witnessed his grief and rage when his master¡¯s gravestone had been destroyed.

    For this, he had even single-handedly attacked the Lei n, who had upied the Tool Sect.

    His master, Xu Yinglong, and his junior martial sister, Zhen Hun, might be the ones who he had the strongest feelings towards in this whole world.

    Therefore, he had left the Void Illusion Mountain Range without the slightest hesitation the moment he had learned that Zhen Hun had died because of the Xing n, and stormed into the Domain of Heaven Python, following the path she had taken.

    Later, he had learned that Xing Bo and Xing Lifeng from the Xing n had escaped with the Bonebrutes¡¯ help, and that they might go to the Shatter Battlefield. Thus, he had entered the Shatter Battlefield.

    Like Pei Qiqi, all he had wanted was to avenge Zhen Hun.

    As his train of thought came to this point, a shudder ran through Nie Tian, and he suddenly realized the reason why Pei Qiqi had stayed in the Domain of Heaven Python for so long. ¡°It must be Xing Lifeng!¡±

    Pei Qiqi must have also known about Xing Lifeng¡¯s return to the Domain of Heaven Python. The reason why she had been traveling among different realms of the Domain of Heaven Python to gather power from the spatial rifts and teleportation portals was probably because she was still holding onto the idea of killing Xing Lifeng.

    Nie Tian¡¯s head sagged slightly, looking somewhat embarrassed. ¡°Thete Void domain... Senior Zhen had been nothing but kind to me. I also thought about killing Xing Lifeng. However, as soon as I learned his current cultivation base, and that he had ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarchs with him, I decided to give the matter further thought and chose to perhaps seek him out again when I¡¯m strong enough...¡±

    Zhao Shanling gave him a sideways look and said with a consoling tone, ¡°I¡¯m d that you thought about it, and you already did a good job by killing Xing Bo. As for Xing Lifeng, don¡¯t beat yourself up. Considering your current cultivation base, you indeed won¡¯t stand a chance fighting him.¡±

    Duan Shihu seemed to be infected by their determination as he chimed in, ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll be able to kill him, Senior Zhao? I received word that Xing Lifeng has left the Bonebrutes and traveled to the realm where the Xing n used to live. But I guess since you¡¯ve sustained serious injuries in the Shatter Battlefield...¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s separated from the Bonebrutes?!¡± Zhao Shanling interrupted him.

    Duan Shihu nodded.

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and chuckled. ¡°Indeed, I sustained some serious injuries in the Shatter Battlefield, but my gains from the trip were also substantial. Considering the special environment in the Realm of Maelstrom and the loot I got from the Shatter Battlefield, I¡¯m certain that I¡¯ll be able to return to my peak state within a short time.

    ¡°I might even be able to take another step and enter the middle Void domain!

    ¡°Keep your eyes on Xing Lifeng for me, kid. I want to know his whereabouts at all times! Give me two weeks, and I¡¯ll be back at my peak state!¡±

    SHEW!

    As soon as he finished talking, he morphed into a streak of light that shot skywards and vanished into the watery curtain that was filled with interweaving spatial rifts.

    Last time he had practiced cultivation in the depths of that watery curtain, he had broken through into the Void domain from thete Soul realm.

    With a strange expression, Duan Shihu said, ¡°You guys spent only five, six years in the Shatter Battlefield. I guess I wasn¡¯t so surprised by the fact that you were able to make breakthroughs in your cultivation during that time. But he¡¯s only entered the Void domain recently, yet he ims that he¡¯ll be able to make another breakthrough and enter the middle Void domain within two weeks? What on earth did he encounter or gain in the Shatter Battlefield that gives him such confidence?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    Duan Shihu then went on, muttering to himself, ¡°He practices spatial power, and that powerful tool he wields is called the Voidspirit Pagoda...¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Could that Voidspirit Pagoda have something to do with the Void Spirit Society?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The Voidspirit Pagoda, Master Voidspirit, and the Void Spirit Society...¡±

    Master Voidspirit had been an expert in spatial power, and had been ranked fifth among the most powerful experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. However, Nie Tian hadter learned that Master Voidspirit wasn¡¯t a local Qi warrior of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    He hade from none of the five sects and three ns.

    <i>¡°Could he be a member of the Void Spirit Society? And his Voidspirit Pagoda is actually from the Void Spirit Society?</i>¡± Nie Tian was absorbed in thought.

    He then remembered that a Vitality-returning Celestial Stone had been hidden in the peculiar dimension that was Master Voidspirit¡¯s personal domain.

    As an unearthly treasure, the Vitality-returning Celestial Stone almost couldn¡¯t be found in Medium grade human domains, yet Master Voidspirit had managed to forge one into his personal domain.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Perhaps you¡¯re right. Senior Zhao¡¯s Voidspirit Pagoda actually might have something to do with the Void Spirit Society, which is one of the four most ancient human powers. ¡°If the Voidspirit Pagoda is indeed from the Void Spirit Society, then the secret magics that were branded on it must be from the Void Spirit Society as well.

    ¡°Besides, he must have gained other fortunes from the Shatter Battlefield, so it¡¯s not totally impossible for him to make such rapid advances in cultivation,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Duan Shihu seemed deeply shaken. ¡°Come to think of it, our domain is actually a curiousnd. It produced a time power expert like our master and you, a Son of the Stars acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Pei Qiqi, whose cultivation base is unimpressive, but is able to establish inter-domain teleportation portals, and Zhao Shanling, an entric expert who wields the Voidspirit Pagoda...¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°You¡¯re no ordinary person either, senior martial brother. You came from the Domain of the Falling Stars, but rose to prominence in the Domain of Heaven Python. Even a sect as powerful as the Divine Seal Sect was shaken up, and made you their chosen one.¡±

    Duan Shihu sighed. ¡°I¡¯m still no you. The way I see it, you, our master, Pei Qiqi, and Zhao Shanling will shine bright throughout the starry river someday. And your name will spread far and wide to every powerful human domain.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could humble himself, he waved and said, ¡°Alright then, you just focus on your cultivation. I hope you¡¯ll enter the Profound realm soon. The Divine Seal Sect views me as the backbone of their future, and I¡¯m not going to watch it copse.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I understand, senior martial brother.¡±

    Afterwards, he stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom and continued to practice cultivation around the clock with the materials Jing Rou had found for him in order to form the third sub-soul and finish the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s so-called path of stars as soon as possible.

    Duan Shihu, however, left the Realm of Maelstrom for the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters to inform them of what had happened.

    It was thrilling news that Zhao Shanling had returned, and that Nie Tian would be able to enter the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce officially once he entered the Profound realm. He needed to ease the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s mind with it.

 Chapter 908: Breakthrough

    In the Realm of Divine Seal.

    Duan Shihu arrived through the teleportation portal in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Before the Divine Seal Sect hade and set up their headquarters in it, the Realm of Divine Seal had been called something else.

    However, after the Divine Seal Sect had risen up and be the most powerful sect in the Domain of Heaven Python, it was renamed the Realm of Divine Seal.

    In the middle of a magnificent city, Duan Shihu walked out of a teleportation portal and gazed off into the distance, standing on a stone pavilion that towered over all of the others.

    Multicolored magical symbols could be seen swimming around over the city like fish.

    The solid city walls were carved with numerousplicated spell formations that absorbed the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and powered the divine seals that had guarded this city for thousands of years.

    Three enormous ancient starships were berthed in the spacious central square. Many disciples of the Divine Seal Sect were lining up to enter them.

    Jing Rou walked up to him from behind and said softly, ¡°Father is waiting, husband.¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded slightly before leaving with Jing Rou to see the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, Jing Feiyang.

    In the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s grand hall, Jing Feiyang was sitting in the main seat, while his wife was standing quietly beside him. Both her quality and appearance were very simr to Jing Rou¡¯s.

    Even seated, Jing Feiyang¡¯s magnificent figure was very eye-catching. However, he had the appearance of a man in his forties, handsome and cultured.

    He was none other than the most powerful person throughout the Domain of Heaven Python, who was at the early Saint domain.

    Numerous Void domain experts were waiting with somber expressions on either side of the hall, Meng Li among them.

    As Duan Shihu entered the grand hall, everyone¡¯s gazes fixed on him.

    Magical symbols could be seen floating in the depths of Jing Feiyang¡¯s slender eyes as he asked with a smile, ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask to stay in the Realm of Maelstrom for a while? Why did you suddenly return?¡±

    It was as if he didn¡¯t know that a joint army of Demons and Phantasms was marching on their headquarters.

    ¡°The teleportation portal that connects to the Realm of Split Void is now operable,¡± Duan Shihu reported.

    ¡°Finally, some good news,¡± Jing Feiyang said, smiling. ¡°That person named Zhao Shanling came back, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    He intentionally hid the part about Pei Qiqi returning and making the teleportation portal operable even without Zhao Shanling.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling came back,¡± Duan Shihu added. ¡°And thanks to his profound knowledge of spatial power, that Yuan Jiuchuan was sent off to a space disruption zone.¡±

    ¡°He actually banished the Thunder Devil to a space disruption zone...¡± Jing Feiyang went nk briefly before a wide smile appeared on his face. ¡°Another bit of good news.¡±

    At this moment, Meng Li chimed in anxiously, ¡°When will your junior martial brother be able to break through into the Profound realm?¡±

    Jing Feiyang didn¡¯t seem anxious at all, yet Meng Li seemed quite worried about the situation the Domain of Heaven Python was in.

    The outsiders had raided many realms in the Domain of Heaven Python. Countless people had been massacred.

    At this very moment, the Demon and Phantasm ancient starships were marching on the Realm of Divine Seal.

    Many Divine Seal Sect disciples with low cultivation bases were being shipped to certain secluded dead realms in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Since there were arge number of dead realms, and the outsiders wouldn¡¯t pay attention to them, they would be safe there for the time being.

    However, since the dead realms were unfit for cultivation, whose with low cultivation bases couldn¡¯t stay in them for very long either.

    Duan Shihu spread his hands and said with a somewhat frustrated expression, ¡°My junior martial brother is still practicing cultivation wholeheartedly. As for when he¡¯ll be able to make the breakthrough, I¡¯m not quite sure either. However, that Zhao Shanling is making preparations to kill Xing Lifeng after learning that he has left the Bonebrutes and is now in the Xing n in the Realm of Brown Clouds.¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°His confidence is admirable, but will he seed?¡±

    ¡°Xing Lifeng has already entered thete Void domain!¡± Meng Li eximed softly. ¡°Sectmaster may be the only one who can beat him in battle. Those with the same cultivation base as his might not even be able to handle him in battle. Even if they could somehow defeat him, they wouldn¡¯t have total confidence in killing him. What gives that Zhao Shanling such confidence?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± Duan Shihu said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°But my junior martial brother suspects that the Voidspirit Pagoda in Zhao Shanling¡¯s possession might be one of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s lost treasures. The secret magics and incantations he practices might also have close connections to the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    Many Divine Seal Sect elders in the great hall were shaken after hearing these words. ¡°The Void Spirit Society?!¡±

    The mes of hope once again burned in their eyes as a mor burst out among them.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that a remote corner like the Domain of the Falling Stars actually produced incredible figures like Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian has close connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Since that Zhao Shanling holds the Void Spirit Society¡¯s legacy, it probably means he has connections to the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps that man actually can kill Xing Lifeng!¡±

    ¡°Xing Lifeng is the source of this cmity! He first colluded with the Bonebrutes and stormed the Thousandsword Mountain Sect with the help of a ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch!¡±

    ¡°Only after that did the ancient outsider starships sail into the Domain of Heaven Python. Even death cannot atone for his crime!¡±

    However, as soon as Jing Feiyang spoke, everyone fell silent. ¡°Xing Lifeng deserves to die, yet his death won¡¯t turn the situation around. Have your subordinates keep a close watch on him. But the crucial part is whether your junior martial brother will be able to enter the Profound realm and help us establish connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce within a short time.

    ¡°This city will stand for a while even if ninth grade Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs arrive.

    ¡°Our grand spell formation consists of countless magical seals that we¡¯ve umted over thousands of years. It won¡¯t be easily breached.¡±

    Duan Shihu nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±

    ...

    Two weeks passed.

    At the top of the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned to Nie Tian in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    With the help of the numerous materials that contained soul power, which Jing Rou had gone to great lengths to find for him, Nie Tian finally formed his third sub-soul.

    The third sub-soul was branded with many secrets about star power.

    As soon as it came to form, Nie Tian was struck by a fascinating feeling that not only were his star power sub-soul and vortex of star power connected in a profound, unobstructed way, but even the third fragmentary star mark seemed to light up because of the change.

    At this moment, many more ancient magical symbols suddenly appeared within the second fragmentary star mark.

    Originally, the second fragmentary star mark had recorded two secret magics: Star Soul and Starchain.

    The appearance of new ancient magical symbols meant that a brand-new soul magic had revealed itself.

    Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls shone brightly in his sea of awareness as they took it upon themselves to realign the newborn ancient magical symbols and analyze the profound mysteries within them.

    At the same time, his two other sub-souls resonated with his true soul.

    As that happened, fundamental changes seemed to be triggered in his spiritual core and three vortexes of different attributes.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian instantly experienced a peculiar feeling that his soul had been separated from his body.

    While he was lost in this feeling, he suddenly saw his true soul floating ethereally out from between his eyebrows.

    An ecstatic look then appeared in his eyes. ¡°The Profound realm!¡±

    The ability to separate one¡¯s soul from one¡¯s body marked a cultivator¡¯s advancement to the Profound realm.

    Only after possessing such an ability would a cultivator have a chance at securing his true soul and seeking to be reborn in case his fleshly body was destroyed in battle.

    It was just that Nie Tian felt rather weak and unsteady when his true soul left his fleshly body, as if, at the Profound realm, his true soul was still not refined enough to be separated from his fleshly body for a considerable period of time.

    This meant that if his fleshly body perished at the Profound realm, his true soul wouldn¡¯t be able to drift along by itself for too long.

    <i>¡°Perhaps only after entering the Soul realm will my true soul be free of the restraints of my flesh and blood, and be able to travel around over a long period of time.¡±</i>

    As soon as Nie Tian came to such enlightenment, he sensed great changes in his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    His spiritual core and three vortexes all showed a strong desire for more power.

    Then, his true soul flew unstably back to his sea of awareness after only a few seconds of separation.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous spiritual materials of different attributes were piled up in front of him.

    He instantly calmed himself, as he knew that he had merely eliminated the barrier in his cultivation, but hadn¡¯tpleted the breakthrough yet.

    Therefore, he started channeling power from the cultivation materials into his spiritual sea, heedless of anything else.

    As he did, bits of star power fell out of the starry river through the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom that looked like a well.

    Like snowkes, they melted as soon as they touched him, but then reappeared in his vortex of star power.

    The Nine Stars Flower shone dazzlingly as it seemed to be helping him gather star power.

    The three tree leaves he had gained from the Stone Golem capital also grew active in theke of liquid wood power at the bottom of the vortex of wood power, as if to help him improve his efficiency of absorbing wood power.

    Nie Tian thus closed his eyes to eliminate all distracting thoughts from his mind, and focus on the refinement of his spiritual core and three vortexes.

 Chapter 909: Vortexes Transforming into Cores

    Major breakthroughs in cultivation were usually apanied by fundamental changes.

    Back when Nie Tian had entered the Worldly realm from the Greater Heaven stage, his nine vortexes of spiritual power hade together and formed a spiritual core.

    At the same time, his psychic power had transformed into soul power, and his true soul hade to form.

    The breakthrough from the Worldly realm to the Profound realm also came with significant changes.

    As arge number of Star Stones and fire-attributed and wood-attributed materials were drained of their power, Nie Tian¡¯s three vortexes of different attributes underwent wondrous changes.

    They transformed into cores as well...

    One was misty white, one was fiery red, and one was emerald green.

    All of them were surrounded by rings that looked likeary rings.

    They were respectively the condensations of liquidized star power, me power, and wood power.

    At first nce, the three cores of different colors were like shining stars in the depths of the boundless starry river.

    His spiritual sea, however, looked like a domain that consisted of four realms.

    One contained pure spiritual power, while the other three contained star power, me power, and wood power, respectively.

    The Nine Stars Flower could be seen floating in the middle of the star power core, while three emerald green tree leaves could be seen floating in the wood power core, whose color matched that of the leaves.

    The me power core was the only one that didn¡¯t have anything floating in it.

    <i>¡°All of my vortexes with attributes have also transformed into cores. Is this what¡¯s supposed to happen when cultivators enter the Profound realm?¡±</i>

    With this thought, Nie Tian examined himself with rapt attention, and then discovered that the gaseous rings that surrounded the three cores would rotate as he channeled power of different attributes into his spiritual sea. They would refine the newly-acquired me power, wood power, and star power, turn them into liquidized power, and eventually fuse them into their respective cores.

    After the formation of the three new cores, his efficiency in channeling the three types of power from spiritual materials enhanced nearly ten times over.

    Before, he would need about a quarter hour to drain a Star Stone of its star power.

    But now, thanks to his star power core, he could drain a Star Stone in a couple of minutes.

    However, he also discovered that the speed at which he absorbed me power wasn¡¯t as fast as the speed at which he absorbed star power or wood power.

    The Nine Stars Flower and the three tree leaves were what were causing such a difference.

    Nie Tian then came to an enlightenment.<i> ¡°The Nine Stars Flower and those tree leaves are unique treasures that can merge with spiritual cores and help them channel power more efficiently!¡±</i>

    Aside from that, he also found that the Nine Stars Flower and the tree leaves were also taking in star power and wood power to strengthen themselves.

    They seemed to be additional vessels to store star power and wood power.

    <i>¡°These two magical items are, in a sense, simr to Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers. They rely on my star power and wood power. As I grow stronger, they will too, and they¡¯ll gradually develop their own intelligence. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to establish soul connections with them someday, andmunicate with them on a soul level.</i>

    <i>¡°By that time, I¡¯ll probably learn more about their profound uses, and even fight with their help, as Mu Biqiong does with her coexisting flowers!¡±</i>

    Such thoughts put Nie Tian in good spirits.

    After the formation of the me power, star power, and wood power cores, his spiritual sea gradually grew silent again.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian shifted his focus on his sea of awareness.

    Floating over his sea of awareness were his true soul and three sub-souls, each of which carried his soul imprints, and could be considered an independent soul.

    Without ever ceasing, the three sub-souls took it upon themselves to derive enlightenment of the profound truths of me power, wood power, and star power.

    <i>¡°Entering the Profound realm not only means being able to separate one¡¯s soul from one¡¯s body, but also the ability to fly without external help!¡±</i>

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he attempted to channel power from his spiritual core and true soul to see if he could rise into the air without an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    As this thought entered his mind, he started to experience a light, ethereal feeling.

    Wreathed in spiritual power, he indeed gradually left the ground to float in midair.

    However, his expression flickered after only a short while.

    He discovered that, just by floating close to the ground, he was consuming his spiritual power at an rming rate.

    WHOOSH!

    He flew briefly around the stone pavilion beforending in his original ce.

    ¡°The spiritual power consumption to fly shouldn¡¯t be so high!¡± Eyebrows furrowed, he pondered what had gone wrong.

    Other Qi warriors could soar in the sky with little effort as soon as they entered the Profound realm. It was as if they would be able to fly for however long they wanted, as long as their spiritual seas weren¡¯t dry to begin with.

    However, even though he could also fly after entering the Profound realm, his spiritual power consumption was rmingly high.

    <i>¡°In order for a body of flesh and blood to rise into the sky, one has to fight gravity. The heavier one is, the more effort one will have to expend to do so. However, my body is very different from that of a regr cultivator. After years of painstaking refinement, it has be as solid as a piece of metal, so I¡¯m naturally many times heavier than others.</i>

    <i>¡°This means, to fight gravity and fly over a long period of time, I¡¯ll have to expend more effort than others.</i>

    <i>¡°The thought was that I wouldn¡¯t have to rely on the Star Boat to fly anymore after entering the Profound realm. Who would have known that¡¯s not the case?¡±</i>

    Nie Tian gave a bitter smile after figuring out what the problem was.

    At this very moment, Nie Tian was the only person left in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s empty stronghold.

    Two weeks had long since passed. Nie Tian had broken through into the Profound realm, but Zhao Shanling still hadn¡¯t returned from the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Nie Tian discovered that even his senior martial brother, Duan Shihu, hadn¡¯t returned from his trip to the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    <i>¡°Can it be a battle has already broken out between the Divine Seal Sect and the outsiders?¡±</i> Nie Tian suspected.

    However, what surprised him the most was that Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and the others hadn¡¯t returned. ording to Hua Mu, they would first return to the Domain of the Falling Stars, check out the situation there, and if he didn¡¯t show up after a long time, they woulde back to the Realm of Maelstrom to fight alongside him.

    <i>¡°Don¡¯t tell me that something has happened to the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±</i> He suddenly grew worried.

    He started to think that he might have to have a talk with Duan Shihu and Zhao Shanling after they returned, and then take a trip back to the Domain of the Falling Stars first.

    Zhao Shanling had sworn to kill Xing Lifeng. He hoped to take part in the operation as well.

    It was just that Xing Lifeng was at thete Void domain. Even though he had entered the Profound realm and had numerous powerful resources at his disposal, he didn¡¯t have the slightest confidence when facing Xing Lifeng.

    He even felt that if he joined Zhao Shanling in the operation, he might be a burden for him.

    <i>¡°Perhaps what I should do now is return to the Realm of Shattered Earth, activate the teleportation portal that leads to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and finish the path of stars.¡±</i>

    As his train of thought came to this point, the teleportation portal suddenly lit up.

    Momentster, Duan Shihu walked out of it, along with Jing Rou.

    The moment the couple saw him, ecstasy burst forth from their eyes.

    ¡°You¡¯ve broken through into the Profound realm, junior martial brother?!¡± Duan Shihu eximed.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Luckily, I didn¡¯t let you down.¡±

    Jing Rou¡¯s eyes were filled with the mes of hope as she said, ¡°This is terrific! The Demons and Phantasms are already attacking our sect¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of Divine Seal! We¡¯re having a hard time fighting them. Everyone has been waiting for a turn in our favor! Shihu and I only came to check on you. Who would have thought you¡¯ve actually made the breakthrough?!¡±

    Duan Shihu asked with an urgent tone. ¡°Why don¡¯t you try to get in touch with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling...¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°We¡¯ll stay in the Realm of Maelstrom,¡± Duan Shihu said. ¡°Once he returns, I¡¯ll show him the way, and make sure that he finds that Xing Lifeng. But Xing Lifeng¡¯s death won¡¯t change the situation of the Domain of Heaven Python. Only you can turn the situation around by establishing a connection with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    Without any hesitation, he stepped into the inter-domain teleportation portal that led to the Realm of Split Void.

 Chapter 910: Pei Qiqiâ€™s Arrangement

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s resounding voice echoed out from the depths of the heavens.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, his figure appeared in front of the gate to the stone pavilion where the inter-domain teleportation portal was located.

    He seemed vigorous and energetic, and his eyes glittered brightly, giving him an ethereal look, as if he were an immortal who had descended to this world.

    Countless spatial des constantly entered and exited the Voidspirit Pagoda that floated over his head.

    The Voidspirit Pagoda was only the size of a hand, yet it seemed to be able to rip open a spatial rift at any time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with excitement as he eximed, ¡°Have you made your breakthrough?¡±

    Delight and anticipation also filled Duan Shihu and Jing Rou¡¯s eyes.

    As far as they saw it, Zhao Shanling from the Domain of the Falling Stars was quite a character.

    He had managed to break through into the middle Void domain within the very short period of time he had spent in the Realm of Maelstrom. Then, he had eliminated the obstacles that stood between the Realm of Maelstrom and the Realm of Split Void, and vested that teleportation portal with the function to teleport between domains.

    Even for many spatial power experts in the Domain of Heaven Python, such an ability was desirable, and yet unreachable.

    Zhao Shanling sighed. ¡°It turned out to be a lot harder to make that breakthrough. I misestimated it. I thought I would be able to make the breakthrough within a short time, but after I got down to it, I gradually realized that my umtion was still not enough. I cultivated for quite some time, but all I did was recover strength and derive enlightenment of the profound mysteries of spatial power. As hard as I tried, I couldn¡¯t find an opportunity to make the breakthrough.¡±

    ¡°So no breakthrough...¡± Duan Shihu went nk briefly before asking, ¡°Then what about Xing Lifeng?¡±

    Xing Lifeng was at thete Void domain. Even though Zhao Shanling had the mighty Voidspirit Pagoda at his disposal, it was unrealistic for him to kill him when he was only at the early Void domain.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to enter the middle Void domain to kill Xing Lifeng,¡± Zhao Shanling said arrogantly. ¡°I¡¯ve alreadye up with a n to kill him!

    ¡°But before that, I need to take you back to the Realm of Split Void first.¡±

    Looking confused, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ll be able to teleport back to the Realm of Split Void just fine. You don¡¯t have to go with me.¡±

    Zhao Shanling snorted. ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡±

    SHEW!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda that floated over his head suddenly flew into the stone pavilion, and the teleportation portal he had set up.

    Numerous spatial des flew out of the Voidspirit Pagoda. Like small knives, they carved out new details to the spell formation that connected to the details Pei Qiqi had added seamlessly.

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°Senior Zhao, you...¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling stared at the bottom of the portal and said, ¡°I wonder how that kid practiced cultivation that allowed her understanding of spatial power to rise to such a high level. Her attainments in spatial spell formations are simply shocking. I only saw through the profound changes she made to this spell formation thanks to the enlightenment I recently came to.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?" Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°She wanted you to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars, but at the same time, she didn¡¯t want you toe back again,¡± Zhao Shanling exined.

    Nie Tian still didn¡¯t understand what she had done.

    Zhao Shanling let out a snort and said, ¡°It¡¯s aplicated matter to set up inter-domain teleportation portals. I set up this teleportation portal, as well as the one in the Realm of Split Void. Qiqi only adjusted the spell formation of this teleportation portal, but not the one in the Realm of Split Void, so the changes are one-way.¡±

    Nie Tian instantly realized what he meant. ¡°You mean people can only teleport from the Realm of Maelstrom to the Realm of Split Void, but not the other way around?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Exactly. Only if she made adjustments to the spell formation of the other teleportation portal would they work both ways.

    ¡°Besides, this teleportation portal has been set to be unstable, and it has changed through time without you knowing it.

    ¡°That means if I didn¡¯t adjust it just now, you wouldn¡¯t be able to teleport back to the Realm of Split Void through it.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Zhao Shanling went on and exined, ¡°This was how she intended it. She made such changes so that you¡¯d be able to return to the Realm of Split Void, but wouldn¡¯t be able to return to the Domain of Heaven Python anytime soon. She didn¡¯t want you to be involved in the turmoils in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°Furthermore, she was worried that if this teleportation portal stayed operable for a long period of time, people from the Domain of Heaven Python or outsider invaders might also swarm into the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    Only now did Nie Tian fully understand what was going on, and thus muttered, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Pei Qiqi had made such an arrangement because she hadn¡¯t wanted the cmity in the Domain of Heaven Python to spread to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    She had intended for Nie Tian and the others to make a one-way trip back to the Domain of the Falling Stars, but for people from the Domain of Heaven Python to be unable to enter the Domain of the Falling Stars through the same teleportation portal.

    If the Domain of Heaven Python fell, the human Qi warriors would definitely look for ces to evacuate to.

    By that time, the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect would most likely set their minds on the teleportation portal that connected to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    In fact, some from the Divine Seal Sect, who had learned that the teleportation portal was working again, were already considering this.

    If the joint army of Demons and Phantasms actually sacked the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters, it would be a nice way out to hide out this cmity in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Zhao Shanling shot Duan Shihu a sideways nce and said coldly, ¡°I¡¯ll take Nie Tian back first, but you¡¯d better guard this teleportation portal well while I¡¯m gone. If anyone from the Divine Seal Sect or the Golden Vast Sect, or any outsiders enter the Domain of the Falling Stars through it, I¡¯ll destroy the teleportation portal on the other side to cut off our connection!¡±

    Duan Shihu¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he said nervously, ¡°I will.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, senior,¡± Jing Rou chimed in. ¡°We won¡¯t allow anyone to enter it while you¡¯re gone.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded, looking satisfied. Only then did he enter the spell formation with Nie Tian.

    Immediately afterwards, the spell formation was activated.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In the dazzling light, Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling¡¯s figures gradually grew blurry, and then vanished into thin air.

    In the Realm of Split Void...

    Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling appeared in the teleportation portal beside the grand pce, the gate to which only Nie Tian could open.

    Li Langfeng was sitting not far from the portal.

    He sprang to his feet upon seeing them, his expression flickering. ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re finally back!¡±

    Nie Tian was happy to see Li Langfeng as well. With a hearty smile, he asked, ¡°How¡¯s the situation in the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    ¡°Not much has changed since you left,¡± Li Langfeng said in a respectful manner. ¡°Not so long ago, Mr. Hua Mu, Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect, and Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect returned through this very teleportation portal. Just a few days ago, he sent people over to ask me about your whereabouts. In fact, soon after their return, they decided to go back to the Realm of Maelstrom through this teleportation portal. However, they tried many times, but the spell formation just wouldn¡¯t activate. So they told me to inform them as soon as I receive word of your current situation.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He had wondered why Zong Zheng, Hua Mu, and the others had vanished after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, Zhao Shanling¡¯s previous exnation and Li Langfeng¡¯s words made him understand that it wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want toe to his aid, but they simply couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°What about Fan Kai and Zhao Luofeng? They should be back by now, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Li Langfeng shook his head. ¡°No, they¡¯re not. Mr. Hua asked me about them too, but they haven¡¯t shown up till now. And they haven¡¯t returned through the teleportation portal the Lei n set up.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    Duan Shihu had long since arranged for Fan Kai and the others from the Heaven Pce Sect to teleport to a realm that was the closest to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries through the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s teleportation portal, the same way Patriarch Pure Heaven and his people had returned to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Judging by the time, they should have been back long ago, if there hadn¡¯t been any mishaps.

    <i>¡°Could it be that something happened to them when they were on their way to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?¡±</i> Nie Tian pondered briefly before asking, ¡°Did you talk to the Lei ntely? Did Yue Yanxi and Patriarch Pure Heaven return to the Divine me Sect?¡±

    ¡°Yue Yanxi has long since returned to the Divine me Sect,¡± Li Langfeng said. ¡°He even told the Lei n to inform them as soon as they received word of you.¡±

    Zhao Shanling was also taken aback. ¡°Yue Yanxi has long since returned to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but Fan Kai and Zhao Luofeng haven¡¯t?¡±

    However, he rapidly recovered, and said to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯m not going to make any changes to the spell formation of this teleportation portal just yet. I¡¯ll stay in the Domain of the Falling Stars for a little while to gather the spiritual materials I need to forge the tools I¡¯ll use to kill Xing Lifeng.

    ¡°Once I¡¯m finished, I¡¯lle back here to find you, and we¡¯ll return to the Realm of Maelstrom together.

    ¡°In the meantime, you should have people guard the teleportation portal. If outsiders or people from the Domain of Heaven Pythone through it, y the arrivals and destroy the teleportation portal.¡±

    With these words, Zhao Shanling opened a spatial rift and vanished into it.

 Chapter 911: Gifts

    For a long time, Li Langfeng had been the only person guarding this territory.

    However, Li Langfeng could spread Nie Tian¡¯s will to every corner of the Domain of the Falling Stars through the help of the Blood Skull, the Dark Moon, and the Wild Fire.

    In fact, Li Langfeng had be Nie Tian¡¯s spokesman in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    When Nie Tian wasn¡¯t around, the others would have to get in contact with Nie Tian through him.

    Now, Li Langfeng was still at the middle Profound realm; he hadn¡¯t made any new breakthroughs during the years Nie Tian had been away in the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, that was understandable, since the higher one¡¯s cultivation base became, the more difficult it would be to make new breakthroughs.

    In fact, Li Langfeng¡¯s progress in strength and cultivation base was already faster than most, thanks to the Fiend expert¡¯s heart and numerous Fiends¡¯ secret incantations Nie Tian had gotten for him.

    After Zhao Shanling left, Nie Tian took out a cluster of pale-white mes from within his ring of holding. With a smile, he handed it to Li Langfeng. ¡°I came across this thing in the Shatter Battlefield. I won¡¯t be able to refine it myself, and I don¡¯t intend to sell it.¡±

    At this moment, the cluster of pale-white mes was being sealed by numerous illusory magical symbols.

    Li Langfeng went nk upon seeing it. A momentter, he asked, ¡°This is?¡±

    ¡°Corpse toxin essence, an Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material that possesses primal awareness,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°It clearly conflicts with the incantations I practice. Anyone who was touched by this thing would have most likely turned into another ghoul that roamed the Shatter Battlefield. By the way, ghouls are wreathed in rich corpse aura, and are very hard to deal with.

    ¡°This cluster of mes can also channel power from the ghouls and use it to strengthen itself.¡±

    Nie Tian was instinctively disgusted by the cluster of pale-white mes.

    This sense of disgust originated from his unique bloodline. If he hadn¡¯t sealed it with the illusory magical symbols before tossing it into his ring of holding, even carrying it around would undermine his life power, and thus force him to contend against it with his bloodline power.

    He had suspected that perhaps only Fiends would be able to wield this peculiar item from the moment he had gained it.

    It might even be considered a precious treasure by Fiends.

    Li Langfeng was the only friend of his who was well-versed in the Fiends¡¯ secret magics.

    Over these years, Li Langfeng¡¯s loyalty to him had been absolute. He had stood by him, protected the Nie n, and managed this ce for him without a singleint.

    ¡°Take it and see if you can refine it,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious face.

    Heartened, Li Langfeng reached out and very lightly touched the cluster of pale-white mes that was surrounded by illusory magical symbols with his fingertip.

    His contact with the mes gave rise to fizzing sounds, as if the wisps of pale-white mes were eager to fuse into his body.

    Nie Tian also noticed that the pale mes that were sealed behind the magical symbols had be restless, as if it had sensed the kind of power that could help it grow from Li Langfeng.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Grayish-brown, dark green, light purple... wisps of toxic smoke suddenly flew out of Li Langfeng¡¯s body.

    Nie Tian examined Li Langfeng with his Heaven Eyes, and vaguely sensed the existence of a multicolored spiritual core in Li Langfeng¡¯s spiritual sea, which was the spiritual core Li Langfeng used to practice Fiend magics.

    Over the years, it had gathered all sorts of toxins, miasmas, and Fiend blood.

    In return, it provided Li Langfeng with terrifying toxic power so that he could cast a variety of toxic magics, allowing him to inflict serious damage on his enemies in battle.

    After leaving him, the wisps of toxic smoke slowly streamed into the cluster of pale-white mes.

    Peculiar light started to shine in the depths of his eyes.

    After a while, he took a deep breath and said, ¡°I think I¡¯ll be able to refine this cluster of mes, but the process might be very dangerous. If I can¡¯t handle it well, I might end up possessed and turn into a so-called ghoul. However, if I can subdue it, it¡¯ll be extremely helpful to my toxic power core.¡±

    ¡°So are you going to take that risk?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    As soon as the cluster of self-aware mes fused into Li Langfeng, a fight would inevitably break out between them from time to time, like Hua Mu and the Heavenly Demonsbane, and Mu Biqiong and the coexisting flowers.

    If the hosts were strong enough, then they would be able to subdue the parasitic objects, and even use them to improve their battle prowess and cultivation efficiency.

    However, if something happened to the hosts, or the parasitic objects grew stronger than their hosts, the hosts might end up possessed.

    ¡°Rewardse only with risk!¡± Li Langfeng said with a determined look in his eyes. ¡°In order to make rapid progress in my cultivation, I have to get out of myfort zone. This thing will continue to spur me on to be stronger. Once I get ck, it¡¯ll overtake me and rece me as the master of my body!

    ¡°It¡¯ll be my greatest motivation!¡±

    With an approving smile, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am!¡± Li Langfeng said, clenching his jaw.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to unseal it now.¡± With these words, he cast a spell that reversed the one he had used to seal the cluster of mes with illusory magical symbols.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like knotted ropes, the mysterious power that formed the magical symbols gradually dissolved.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let it escape!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    The moment the illusory magical symbols vanished, Li Langfeng clutched the cluster of pale-white mes with his hands.

    Immediately afterwards, he let out a muffled groan, his face turning ghastly.

    Nie Tian then noticed that, unlike what he had expected, the cluster of bleak mes didn¡¯t try to escape as the magical seal dissolved.

    On the contrary, it seemed rather eager to merge with Li Langfeng as he clutched it in his hands.

    In the blink of an eye, the cluster of bleak mes rushed down to Li Langfeng¡¯s dantian region and into that multicolored spiritual core in his spiritual sea.

    A corrosive aura that was unique to corpse toxins rapidly spread out within Li Langfeng¡¯s body. Beads of sweat started rolling down his forehead, as if the refining process put him in a lot of pain.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I want to find a secluded ce to refine this thing,¡± Li Langfeng said with a painful expression.

    ¡°Sure, go ahead,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Li Langfeng then turned around and flew off. Judging from the direction he left in, he seemed to be heading towards the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Perhaps he intended to find an area where miasma pervaded the air to fight it out with that cluster of pale-white mes with the help of the special environment and the spiritual materials in his possession.

    Gazing in the direction he left in, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°That thing carries power that most living beings can¡¯t bear. That¡¯s what makes it so special. However, Li Langfeng has practiced toxic incantations all these years. His body has been gued by all kinds of toxins, but this has also vested him with a strong resistance towards corpse toxins.

    ¡°As long as he can withstand the corpse toxins, he¡¯ll have a chance at refining and harnessing it.

    ¡°As to whether he¡¯ll be able to suppress it all the time, it¡¯ll depend on both his abilities and luck.¡±

    Li Langfeng had already spread word of his return via a Sound Stone.

    Those who had received word would probably rush to this location within a short time.

    All he needed to do now was wait.

    Soon, the first arrival appeared, and it turned out to be Dong Li.

    With a single nce at Nie Tian, she eximed, ¡°You¡¯ve made another breakthrough?!¡±

    Dong Li had used to favor long red dresses or garments, but today, she was wearing a tight ck suit. As she smiled, she exuded a dark charm.

    With a warm smile, Dong Li said, ¡°I heard from senior martial sister Yin that you had some incredible encounters in the Shatter Battlefield. She also told me that there seems to be something between you and that Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded.

    He recalled that Dong Li hadn¡¯t liked Yin Yanan at all. The first time they had met, she had intentionally targeted Yin Yanan with every chance she had had.

    Who would have thought that since Dong Li had gone to the Beast-controlling Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the two of them had suddenly be so close?

    He couldn¡¯t help but curse Yin Yanan inwardly for bbing about him and Mu Biqiong.

    ¡°That¡¯splete nonsense. Mu Biqiong has always detested me.¡± With a dry smile, he took out a huge ck egg from within his ring of holding. ¡°Here. I¡¯ve got something for you.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Dong Li asked, ¡°Is this the thing you want to give me?¡±

    ¡°It suits your needs perfectly,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious expression.

    Eyes narrowed, Dong Li examined it for a few seconds before her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°It still carries faint life force! But it seems far from enough to allow it to hatch. If it won¡¯t hatch, what good is it to me, even though it agrees with my cultivation attribute?¡±

    ¡°Who told you that it won¡¯t hatch?¡± Nie Tian said with a grin.

 Chapter 912: Hatching the Huge Egg

    ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯ll hatch?¡± Dong Li asked with a doubtful tone.

    The life force she sensed from the huge ck egg was so weak that it was as if it could die out at any moment.

    As far as she saw it, whatever was in this huge egg was on the verge of dying. There was no way that it would ever hatch.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I said it¡¯ll hatch, so it¡¯ll hatch.¡±

    At this moment, Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect flew over andnded in front of them.

    Delight filled his eyes as he eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s good that you¡¯re back safely! Soon after our return, we came back here to teleport to the Realm of Maelstrom to fight alongside you, but we couldn¡¯t get that teleportation portal working.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I know. Senior martial sister Pei made adjustments so that we would only be able toe home, but not return to the Realm of Maelstrom again. She didn¡¯t want us to be involved in the turmoils in the Domain of Heaven Python. Senior Zong, if the other experts alsoe here, please tell them to guard this teleportation portal with you. If any outsiderse through it, y them and destroy the portal without hesitation.¡±

    Zong Zheng pondered briefly, and realized what he meant. ¡°Are you worried that outsiders maye through this teleportation portal and plunge the Domain of the Falling Stars into turmoil too?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°Also, if Uncle Huaes, please tell him to wait here. I¡¯ll be back soon to take him to the Realm of Shattered Earth. There¡¯s an ancient nt that¡¯s enormous beyond words in the Realm of Shattered Earth. It vested Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect with some of its power. And the coexisting flowers inside of her entered a period of rapid growth.

    ¡°Uncle Hua¡¯s Heavenly Demonsbane was badly injured in the Shatter Battlefield. Even with the help of those berries that contain life power, it¡¯ll be very difficult for it to recoverpletely.

    ¡°But I believe the power of that enormous nt will help the Heavenly Demonsbane recover within a short period of time.¡±

    Zong Zheng¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he said, ¡°Okay, I will.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I need to take Dong Li into the pce first. There¡¯s something I need to help her with.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took Dong Li¡¯s hand naturally and walked towards the pce gate.

    A sweet smile appeared at the corner of Dong Li¡¯s mouth as she saw him taking her hand squarely in front of Zong Zheng.

    CREEN!

    The huge stone gate opened as Nie Tian circted star power with the help of the three fragmentary star marks on his chest.

    After the two of them went in, the stone gate closed again.

    The pitch-ck egg that was about two meters tall was then ced in the hall in front of Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    However, instead of examining the huge egg, Dong Li threw her arms around Nie Tian as soon as the stone gate shut. In a soft voice, she said, ¡°I was so worried about you when you were in the Shatter Battlefield. While you were gone, I¡¯d think about you whenever I wasn¡¯t practicing cultivation, fearing that something terrible would happen to you.¡±

    Now that no one was around, Dong Li revealed her true feelings as she hugged and kissed Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian also responded passionately.

    As their breaths grew increasing rapid, Dong Li suddenly pushed Nie Tian away and said with flushed cheeks, ¡°Umm, why don¡¯t we take care of business first?¡±

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian took a deep look at her and said, ¡°You kissed me and got me burning with desire, and now you¡¯re backing off?¡±

    With a chuckle, Dong Li said, ¡°Be patient. We¡¯ll have plenty of time for thatter.

    ¡°As you know, I spent a long time in the Beast-controlling Sect. I learned many of their secret magics, but failed to find a spirit beast that suits my needs.

    ¡°None of the spirit beasts they found for me possessed dark power, so they didn¡¯t match my incantations and cultivation attribute.

    ¡°I asked them to find me a spirit beast that was born with a dark power bloodline, like the ck phoenix. However, ancient spirit beasts like the ck phoenix are so rare that even the Beast-controlling Sect couldn¡¯t find one.

    ¡°So, instead of taking one of the spirit beasts the Beast-controlling Sect found for me, I¡¯d rather not have one for now.

    ¡°I can feel that this huge ck egg contains dark power. If it can actually hatch, it¡¯ll be very helpful to the Beast-controlling Sect incantations I practice, and my advances in cultivation. ¡°

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll make sure it hatches!¡± Nie Tian said with great determination.

    Then, he separated three drops of Blood Essence from his heart, each of which looked like a blood diamond.

    Shining with blood-colored light, they carried the profound truths of life power.

    DRIP!

    One of them dropped on the huge egg¡¯s solid exterior.

    Its hard shell instantly became soft and resilient.

    The drop of Blood Essence then rapidly infiltrated it.

    BOOM!

    Faint blood-colored light suddenly burst forth from within the huge ck egg, as if its originally weak life force was ignited by the drop of Blood Essence, and was now growing at an rming rate.

    The unhatched life within the huge egg greedily absorbed the Blood Essence, and used the rich life power it provided to strengthen itself.

    DRIP! DRIP!

    The other two drops of Blood Essence fell and went through the hard eggshell.

    All of a sudden, arge amount of ck light that wasced with blood-colored light exploded from within the huge ck egg.

    The ck light rapidly engulfed Nie Tian and Dong Li, even stopping them from seeing each other. They felt as if they were in an arcane realm that was enveloped in total darkness. They could only hear each other¡¯s heartbeats and sense each other¡¯s auras.

    Bits of starlight fell out of the grand hall¡¯s arched ceiling.

    It was star power channeled from the boundless starry river and infused into the mysterious spell formations in this marvelous pce, so that cultivators like Nie Tian who practiced star power incantations would be able to absorb it.

    However, even the falling starlight failed to prate the dark light.

    It seemed to be devoured by the endless darkness.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Heartbeats that were very weak suddenly echoed out from within the huge ck egg.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t even need to rely on his sight. Just by sensing with his bloodline power, he was certain that a life was growing inside the huge egg.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At the same time, strange sounds echoed out. Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as she eximed, ¡°It¡¯s channeling dark power from me!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to stop it!¡± Nie Tian said without hesitation.

    The life within the huge egg was now developing. His Blood Essence had finished the first and most important step of reviving it.

    However, in order for it to grow, it would require the nourishment of dark power, which agreed with its needs.

    Since Nie Tian had expected this, after obtaining the huge ck egg, he had only kept the weak life within it alive with a small amount of his flesh aura, instead of infusing it with his Blood Essence right away.

    ¡°You¡¯d better try to infuse your blood and soul awareness into the egg, as well as your dark power,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°During this special period, you can create a bond with it using your blood and soul.

    ¡°Okay, I know what to do now,¡± Dong Li said in high spirits.

    Inplete darkness, Dong Li bit the tip of her finger and dripped her blood onto the huge egg.

    Even though Dong Li¡¯s blood didn¡¯t contain life power, the dark power within it allowed the egg, which was in its incubation period, to instinctively feel close to her.

    Even though her blood didn¡¯t breathe life into it, she was still branded in the deepest part of its memories.

    DRIP! DRIP!

    Nie Tian could hear Dong Li¡¯s blood dripping onto the huge egg.

    Following her dripping blood, wisps of Dong Li¡¯s soul awareness also flowed into the egg like streams to join the hatching process.

    Nie Tian examined the egg with rapt attention, and discovered that the three drops of Blood Essence seemed to already be enough for that life to be born.

    Therefore, he slowly backed away from it.

    After backing several dozen meters away, he extricated himself from the darkness and came to a stop beside the teleportation portal that stood in the middle of the spacious, ancient hall.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Arge amount of sixth and seventh grade spirit beast meat flew out of his ring of holding to pile up in front of him, before he activated Life Drain and started channeling flesh power from the mountains of meat.

    Every bit of the acquired flesh power was channeled into his heart. However, surprisingly, the green aura didn¡¯t devour it right away.

    It was as if the green aura understood that Nie Tian needed to reform the three drops of Blood Essence he had lost.

    As rich flesh power poured into his heart, Nie Tian activated his bloodline talent. Soon, a drop of Blood Essence gradually came to form.

    Aside from his affection towards Dong Li, part of the reason why he had so generously spared three drops of his Blood Essence was because he knew that therge amount of spirit beast meat Duan Shihu had traded for him would allow him to reform the lost Blood Essence within a short time.

    However, he still hadn¡¯t found a way to use his Blood Essence.

    As he and Dong Li stayed inside the pce, powerful experts from across the Domain of the Falling Stars gradually gathered to this location after hearing about his return.

    Even Lei Tianqi from the Lei n arrived, hoping to ask him a few questions on behalf of the Divine me Sect after he walked out.

    Lei Tianqi had informed the Divine me Sect of Nie Tian¡¯s return as soon as he had received the word.

    As time passed bit by bit, more and more powerful experts gathered outside the pce.

 Chapter 913: Instructions

    Numerous pieces of spirit beast meat were sucked dry, and the lost three drops of Blood Essence finally reformed.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian turned to look at the field of darkness, and discovered that it had expanded several times over.

    Now, one-fifth of the spacious hall was covered in utter darkness.

    Standing by the huge pitch-ck egg, Dong Li had already consumed a significant amount of her dark power.

    Having dripped a considerable amount of her own blood onto the huge egg, she had grown weak due to blood loss.

    However, the heart of the life within the huge egg beat increasingly vigorously, and it seemed to have a curious flesh aura connection to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian examined it briefly, and soon realized that the connection had been caused by the infusion of the three drops of his Blood Essence.

    He could also sense that the primal life within the egg was naturally intimate towards Dong Li.

    That life was revived by Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and nourished by Dong Li¡¯s dark power, blood, and soul strands.

    In a way, he and Dong Li were the ones who had created the life within the egg.

    Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t be an overstatement to call him and Dong Li its father and mother.

    After a while, the intense darkness suddenly started to retreat into the huge egg.

    A few minutester, thest shred of darkness vanished, and the huge egg reappeared.

    The solid egg shell seemed to have be much thinner than before, revealing numerous mysterious and detailed patterns that seemed to have been drawn on it with ink.

    ¡°It seems I need more time.¡± With these words, Dong Li stuffed a handful of medicinal pills down her throat. Her face was pale from the blood loss, yet her eyes glittered with the light of excitement. ¡°I think it¡¯ll take the egg two more weeks to hatch. During this time, it¡¯ll need to absorb more dark power from me.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Take one of the stone rooms here in the pce and focus on helping it through the hatching process. I believe you¡¯ll be safe here, so just do what you need to do.¡±

    With a graceful smile, Dong Li nodded slightly. ¡°Alright.¡±

    SHEW!

    Her perfectly-shaped figure flew towards one of the stone rooms at the perimeter.

    As soon as she did, she sent out a soul message, and the huge ck egg actually followed her to that stone room.

    Standing at the stone door, Dong Li said to Nie Tian, ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Nie Tian smiled. ¡°There¡¯s something else I need to take care of.¡±

    ¡°Okay then.¡± Without reading too much into it, Dong Li entered the stone room and shut the door.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian walked out of the grand pce.

    As soon as he did, he discovered that almost all of the well-known figures in the Domain of the Falling Stars were now gathered at this ce.

    He saw Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, people from the Cao n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, as well as Jiang Zhisu, Chang Sen, and others from the Realm of me Heaven. Even Lei Tianqi was standing among the crowd.

    They surrounded therge-scale teleportation portal that connected to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    A few years ago, when Zhao Shanling had first established the connection between the two domains, Chang Sen, Cao Mo, Qian Buhui, Gu Yuan, and many others had taken the opportunity to go trade for rare spiritual materials in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    All of them had benefited from their trips.

    However, they hadn¡¯t asked to enter the Shatter Battlefield after hearing how dangerous the trip would be.

    Only Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and Zong Zheng, as well as Fan Kai and several others who had sided with the Heaven Pce Sect, had entered the Shatter Battlefield.

    Now, their adventure to the Shatter Battlefield had long since ended, yet Fan Kai and those with him still hadn¡¯t returned.

    Therefore, the people from the Heaven Pce Sect and Lei Tianqi were all hoping that Nie Tian would tell them about the whereabouts of Fan Kai and the others.

    Too eager to wait any longer, they started asking questions.

    Lei Zhenyue was a member of the Lei n, who had been taken in by the Thunder Mountain Sect. It was only natural that he didn¡¯t want anything to happen to Lei Zhenyu.

    Looking at Lei Tianqi and the people from the Heaven Pce Sect, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. Perhaps they¡¯re caught up in something. They took the same route Yue Yanxi and his people had taken to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I arranged everything. But as for whether they had unforeseen encounters on their way back, I really don¡¯t know.¡±

    The faces of those from the Heaven Pce Sect grew grim after they heard these words.

    Before Nie Tian had returned, they had learned about Nie Tian¡¯s arrangements from Qi Bailu and Hua Mu.

    They knew that Nie Tian had asked Duan Shihu to seek help from the Golden Vast Sect, so that Fan Kai and those with him would be able to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Taking the same route, Patriarch Pure Heaven, Yue Yanxi and the other Qi warriors had long since arrived in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Therefore, mishaps had most likely happened to Fan Kai and those with him.

    When Fan Kai had left, the outsiders¡¯ ancient starships had already sailed into the Domain of Heaven Python.

    If Fan Kai and the others had indeed encountered something on their way back, it probably had something to do with the outsiders.

    ¡°Come with me to the Realm of Shattered Earth, Uncle Hua,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I believe there¡¯s something there that¡¯ll be of great help to you.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded, smiling.

    ¡°Senior Zong, Senior Qi, would you please stay and keep watch on the teleportation portal for a bit longer?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Try not to get too far from this ce before Zhao Shanling returns. The Domain of Heaven Python is now in turbulence. No one can guarantee that outsiders won¡¯t pour into the Domain of the Falling Stars through this teleportation portal.

    ¡°The outsiders that are running amuck in the Domain of Heaven Python are too powerful for us to handle. They¡¯re led by ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    ¡°If they came, then it would be doom for the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Zong Zheng and many others nodded with grim faces.

    ¡°Nie Tian, your master...¡± Jiang Zhisu from the Cloudsoaring Sect wanted to ask something, but stopped on second thought.

    With a solemn tone, Nie Tian said, ¡°The reason why my master hasn¡¯t returned from the Shatter Battlefield is because he doesn¡¯t want to, not because he can¡¯t. I¡¯m confident that he¡¯ll be able to find the legendary river of time and derive profound enlightenment from it. By the time he returns, his fame will spread across the starry river.¡±

    Jiang Zhisu let out a sigh of worry. ¡°Hopefully, he¡¯ll return safe and sound.¡±

    He had learned about the upheavals in the Shatter Battlefield through the Tool Sect and the Spirit Condor.

    Wu Ji was the true backer of the Cloudsoaring Sect, and the bond between the Cloudsoaring Sect and Nie Tian. Of course he didn¡¯t want anything to happen to Wu Ji.

    ¡°This is it for now,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°It¡¯s time for me to leave.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, the grand elder of the Divine Seal Sect wants to see you and ask you about the situation in the Domain of Heaven Python,¡± Lei Tianqi said anxiously.

    ¡°Senior Yue...¡± Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian took a moment to ponder the matter. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t be dyed. If Senior Yue asks why I didn¡¯t go meet him, just tell him that I¡¯ve finished the path of stars, and I need to visit the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as soon as possible.¡±

    All of the experts that were gathered in this ce stood aghast upon hearing these words.

    ¡°He¡¯s finished the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s path of stars?!¡±

    ¡°Is he really going to enter the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce atst?!¡±

    ¡°A connection is about to form between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s words put everyone in high spirits.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t say anything else. Instead, he gave Hua Mu a look before walking towards the magnificent pce that stood towering in the Realm of Split Void.

    Soon, the two of them disappeared into it.

    In the middle of the spacious hall, Nie Tian casually flickered his fingers to set the coordinates for the Realm of Shattered Earth. As he did, he felt interactions from the three fragmentary star marks on his chest.

    The spell formation was activated, giving rise to spatial fluctuations.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian and Hua Mu appeared in the ancient teleportation portal in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Nie Tian stepped out and pushed the gate open. ¡°Uncle Hua, this realm I call the Realm of Shattered Earth is held together by unidentified vines that are as enormous as mountain ranges. You¡¯d better think over how you want to do this. I don¡¯t think you want to see the Heavenly Demonsbane inside of you receive too much power, and be too powerful for you to control.¡±

    Hua Mu gasped with astonishment. ¡°Why are those monstrous vines holding this shattered realm together?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Perhaps I¡¯ll only get an answer to that question after I visit the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    With a respectful expression, Hua Mu said, ¡°Alright, I know what to do!¡±

    Standing by the gate of the pce, Nie Tian scanned his surroundings with his soul awareness, and vaguely sensed that the auras of the juniors from the Domain of the Falling Stars had be much stronger than thest time he had been here.

    It was as if both their cultivation bases and battle prowesses had improved significantly.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t think he had the time to meet them. Therefore, after Hua Mu walked through the pce gate, he turned around and walked back towards the teleportation portal.

    The heavy stone gate slowly closed behind him, sealing him from this special realm.

    Standing by the teleportation portal, he set the spell formation to thest set of coordinates, which led to an unknown destination.

    Before, no matter how hard he had tried, he hadn¡¯t been able to set the spell formation to those coordinates.

    However, as he set up the coordinates this time, the third sub-soul in his sea of awareness, which was branded with star power magics, suddenly shone with dazzling light.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian was enlightened. ¡°The three fragmentary star marks are the keys to this ce, and that sub-soul is the key to the path to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    As the star power sub-soul grew active, the spell formation locked down the unidentified coordinates with lightning speed.

    The spell formation then started operating.

    Misty light soon enveloped the ancient teleportation portal, and spatial fluctuations that were stronger than any other teleportation portal Nie Tian had seen rapidly filled the empty hall.

    Nie Tian shifted into the portal.

 Chapter 914: A Super-large Realm

    In the depths of the starry river.

    Countless dazzling stars made up a human domain. Among the stars, one was especiallyrge and glorious.

    It was none other than the realm where the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters was located.

    As one of thest remaining superrge-scale realms, the Realm of Fragmentary Star was roughly a hundred times asrge as the Realm of Split Void.

    Domains could be divided into Elementary grade, Medium grade, and Premium grade domains.

    Realms could also be divided into small-scale, medium-scale,rge-scale, and superrge-scale realms.

    In fact, the Shatter Battlefield had been a superrge-scale realm back in the Deste Antiquity Era.

    Normally speaking, superrge-scale realms shared a mystical feature: they never ran out of their spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Other than superrge-scale realms, other realms would gradually lose their spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and decline as time passed.

    If powerful sects with Void domain and Saint domain Qi warriors set up headquarters in such realms, they speed at which they lost their spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth would be even faster.

    Powerful experts at the peak of human cultivation would naturally channel energies of heaven and earth from their surroundings as they practiced cultivation.

    Their terrifyinglyrge demand for spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth would usually elerate the decline of a realm.

    For that reason, numerous ancient human sects would search the boundless starry river for new realms from time to time to set up headquarters.

    This was how the Domain of the Falling Stars had been discovered in the first ce.

    Evenrger domains like the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin had been discovered by powerful human experts while they had explored the starry river for ideal new realms.

    Word had it that superrge-scale realms could channel energies from the starry river and generate an endless supply of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Therefore, it was almost impossible for such realms to be drained of their spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth as long as God domain experts didn¡¯t channel power from it immoderately.

    Even if their spiritual energies ran low, as long as the God domain experts left or stopped practicing cultivation, it would be enveloped in rich spiritual energies again after a few years.

    Since the foreign impurities that kept flowing into the Realm of Split Void were continuously purged by the special spell formation of the grand pce, which had been left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and turned into the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that suited human cultivators¡¯ needs, it had the potential to be a superrge-scale realm someday.

    It was just that the scale of the Realm of Split Void was far smaller than that of the true superrge-scale realms.

    The vast Realm of Fragmentary Star held lofty mountain peaks that pierced into the clouds, boundless oceans, winding rivers that stretched billions of kilometers, and spiritual energies that filled every corner of it.

    Among all this stood an ancient city, where the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was the richest.

    In the middle of the city, magnificent pces could be seen bathing in glorious starlight.

    The loftiest of the pces pierced deep into the clouds. Those who lived in it were like immortals who lived in a sea of clouds.

    On the top floor of this pce stood a special teleportation portal that hadn¡¯t been used for thousands of years.

    Just decades ago, it still had been covered in dust and cobwebs, as if it had beenpletely forgotten.

    However, people had been charged to clean it periodically during the recent decades.

    At this moment, the teleportation portal that led to unknown destinations was suddenly activated.

    The hall where it stood waspletely empty.

    Momentster, therge-scale teleportation portal thrummed with intense spatial fluctuations as it was gradually enveloped in misty white light.

    As this happened, an enormous mountain-like brass bell that was floating not far from this lofty pce suddenly reacted.

    That gigantic bell was floating in the sea of clouds, and densely wreathed in countless lightning bolts.

    Lightning bolts that were much thicker than the ones Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, had ever unleashed suddenly converged on and wrapped around the bell hammer that was floating motionless next to it.

    The bell hammer, which looked like a sky-reaching stone column put on its side, then rammed hard into the brass bell.

    BONG!

    A resounding sound that shook the void spread in all directions.

    As soon as this happened, the mysterious magical symbols that had been engraved on the enormous bell flew out towards the perimeter of the Realm of Fragmentary Star like countless butterflies.

    The toll of the bell rmed every Qi warrior in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Even though it was iparably powerful, it wasn¡¯t destructive in the slightest, as if it was only meant to inform.

    Numerous Qi warriors that were scattered in different parts of the Realm of Fragmentary Star rose into the sky upon hearing the bell toll to gaze in the direction of the part of the sea of clouds where the bell had tolled.

    ¡°The bell rang!¡±

    ¡°What happened? That bell hasn¡¯t rung for a long time!¡±

    ¡°Has our sectmaster returned from his trip?¡±

    ¡°Is one of our major subordinate realms in trouble?¡±

    BONG!

    The bell tolled a second time.

    The moment it did, countless mysterious magical symbols traveled through space, spreading the toll to every corner of the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Then, the bell tolled a third, a fourth, and a fifth time...

    Only after the seventh time did it finally stop.

    In a remote corner of the Realm of Fragmentary Star, a burly man surfaced from a boilingvake in an active volcano.

    ¡°Seven tolls...¡± he muttered.

    The zingva seemed to have fused with his bronze-colored skin. The ming aura he exuded was far stronger than Yue Yanxi¡¯s.

    A shudder ran through him as he morphed into a streak of fiery light that shot directly towards the source of the bell tolls. ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    Atop one of the countless mountain peaks...

    Dressed in a robe that had many stars on it, a thin, righteous-looking old man was channeling and refining starlight from the starry river. His eyes snapped open when he heard the bell tolls.

    Countless stars could be seen glittering in the depths of his eyes, as if he had a starry river in his eyes.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars has finally finished his path of stars ande to our headquarters!¡± With these words, his figure grew blurry, and in the next moment, he vanished into thin air.

    In the depths of a mountain valley, where many crescent-moon-shaped wells could be seen, chilly moonlight poured out of the heavens and condensed into crescent-moon-shaped crystals within the magical wells.

    A graceful, beautiful woman slowly put down a crescent-moon-shaped crystal. Gazing towards the source of the bell tolls, she muttered, ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    Her quality was rather simr to that of Xing Huanyue from the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    The profound incantations she practiced seemed to originate from the power of the moon, which was chilly and noble.

    As she blinked, her eyes seemed sparkling and crystal-clear,pletely immacte.

    SHEW!

    A momentter, she flew off towards the divine bell as well.

    In a mysterious secret room, a cluster of blinding light was floating like the sun.

    The light that lit the room was bright and scorching hot. A man was practicing secret incantations and taking in sun power essence from the light. The tolls of the bell woke him from his secluded cultivation as it did with the others.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars!¡± He eximed these words, and flew out of the secret room like a beaming sun.

    ...

    Numerous Qi warriors who had been practicing cultivation in different parts of the Realm of Fragmentary Star were awoken.

    Each and every one of them would have been a luminary who could determine the fate of a realm with a flick of their fingers if they weren¡¯t here. Many of their names inspired awe across the starry river.

    However, as soon as they heard the bell tolls, all of them ended their secluded cultivation and gathered to the divine bell from different directions.

    Like falling stars, lights of different colors dashed across the heavens in the Realm of Fragmentary Star at incredible speeds.

    At the same time, atop the lofty pce that pierced deep into the clouds...

    As the bell tolled for the seventh time, Nie Tian¡¯s figure appeared in the teleportation portal that was thrumming with intense spatial fluctuations.

    Looking confused, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°This teleportation took an unusually long time, as if I spent quite a while roaming a bright spatial river. As far away as the Realm of Maelstrom was from the Realm of Split Void, the teleportation took only a second. This teleportation took such a long time. It must mean that this ce is far more distant from the Realm of Shattered Earth.¡±

    As he muttered to himself, he suddenly saw people flying into the pce at rming speeds.

    ¡°Are you the seventh Son of the Stars?!¡±

 Chapter 915: Received

    It was a thin old man with silver hair, dressed in a robe dotted with stars.

    There seemed to be nebs in the depths of his pupils, as if countless stars were moving within them, following certain tracks.

    Nie Tian, who was new to this ce, bowed respectfully and said, ¡°My name is Nie Tian. I¡¯m from the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and I gathered the fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial.¡±

    The old man gave a warm smile. ¡°Nie Tian... My name is Wei Lai, and I¡¯m one of the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You took your time finishing your path of stars... Those before you who passed Heaven Gate trials and gained fragmentary star marks either died on their way, or finished their path of stars far sooner than you did.

    ¡°Judging from the time it took you to get here, your cultivation talent must not be impressive, or mediocre if you don¡¯t mind me saying.¡±

    Sagging his head, Nie Tian said, ¡°Please forgive me for being slow-witted.¡±

    Wei Lai waved, signaling Nie Tian not to worry. ¡°That¡¯s actually not a big deal. The path of cultivation is long and full of danger. It¡¯s not like those who make the fastest advances in cultivation will get to stand on the peak and shine over all the others.¡±

    As he spoke, another person entered the hall.

    It was the burly Qi warrior who practiced fiery incantations. He fixed Nie Tian with a stare as soon as he entered the hall.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Clearly, he sensed the aura of me power from Nie Tian.

    Eyebrows furrowed, he asked, ¡°Do you practice star power and me power at the same time?¡±

    With these words, he took a deep, measuring look at Nie Tian.

    Only at this moment did Wei Lai, who had arrived first, take a closer look at Nie Tian, misty starlighting from the depths of his pupils.

    Under the gazes of the two experts, Nie Tian had a feeling that he could hide nothing from them, and all of his secrets were brought before their eyes.

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Not just a star power spiritual core and me power spiritual core, but there¡¯s also a wood power spiritual core in his spiritual sea! I can¡¯t believe you practice three types of power simultaneously!¡±

    The Qi warrior that was tall andrge had an intrigued look on his face as he said, ¡°Interesting... The seventh Son of the Stars doesn¡¯t just practice star power incantations!¡±

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Two figures entered the hall.

    One of them was zing like the sun; the other was chilly like the moon.

    Upon arriving, they heard Wei Lai and the burly man¡¯s words, and astonishment filled their faces.

    The four of them had entered the hall sessively. Even though none of them had unleashed heaven-shaking, earth-shattering might, Nie Tian knew that they must enjoy lofty statuses in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Star power, me power, and wood power...¡± Wei Lai muttered. ¡°It seems I¡¯ve underestimated you. If you only practiced star power incantations, then you would be rather slow for having just entered the Profound realm. However, since you practice me power and wood power at the same time, it¡¯s a whole other story. After all, the more types of power you practice at the same time, the slower your advancement in cultivation would be.

    ¡°So based on this, you managing to enter the Profound realm and finishing the path of stars is now actually quite impressive.¡±

    As the four of them examined Nie Tian, they assessed his head and discussed his feet (idiom: make frivolous remarks about someone), showing great interest in him.

    At the same time, Nie Tian examined the four of them, and couldn¡¯t help but marvel inwardly.

    He had assumed that all members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce practiced star power incantations.

    The arrival of these experts made him realize that he was wrong.

    The first old man practiced star power. However, as for the three who had followed him, they practiced me power, sun power, and moon power respectively.

    Furthermore, as soon as he had seen thest two, he had been convinced that the Yang Sect and the Yin Sect must have profound connections to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Eyes narrowed, Wei Lai said, ¡°Our sectmaster and two vice sectmasters are all deriving enlightenment in the depths of the starry river. They won¡¯t be back any time soon. Our grand elder has received word of your arrival, and wille back as soon as he can. So we¡¯ll wait for him to give you aprehensive assessment. After that, we¡¯ll discuss what your next task will be.¡±

    The burly man, who practiced me power, nodded. ¡°Yeah, we can¡¯t take it upon ourselves to assess a Son of the Stars.¡±

    ¡°Seniors, may I ask you something?¡± Nie Tian asked in a sincere and modest manner. ¡°Could you tell me about the forbidden region and that shattered realm in it? And also, what secrets does the pce in the Domain of the Falling Stars hold?¡±

    Wei Lai went nk briefly before suddenly realizing what Nie Tian was referring to. ¡°Oh, you mean the Domain of Forbidden Heaven? It¡¯s a domain that¡¯s located between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars, which was originally upied by outsiders. We went to war against the outsiders there and drove them all out.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that the war was hard-fought, and resulted in the rapid decline of many of its realms.

    ¡°Eventually, only one realm survived the war, while all of the other realms became dead realms. But that realm only didn¡¯t fall apart because of an enormous nt. That nt is actually a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material that¡¯s called Heaven-equal Vine. We made a pact with it so it¡¯ll keep that shattered realm from falling apart and being reduced to meteors that float around.

    ¡°The grand elders intended it to be a stop on your path of stars.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Heaven-equal Vine, a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material?!¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°Yeah. That shattered realm in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven is yours from now on, along with that Heaven-equal Vine. Since you were born in the Domain of the Falling Stars, it¡¯ll naturally be yours as well.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve already named that realm the Realm of Shattered Earth,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Wei Lai smiled. ¡°It belongs to you anyways, so you¡¯re free to name it whatever you like. Normally speaking, the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, the Domain of the Falling Stars, and the human domains in that vicinity will all belong to you. It¡¯s just that you¡¯ll have to rely on yourself to bring them to heel.¡±

    ¡°The domains in that vicinity...¡± Nie Tian went nk briefly. ¡°Do you mean the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?¡±

    ¡°Including but not limited to,¡± Wei Lai said, looking rather arrogant. ¡°If you didn¡¯t pass the Heaven Gate trial and be the seventh Son of the Stars, the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, and those domains around them would have remained dustden through eternity.

    ¡°As a general rule, our sect will never have our eyes on domains like the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°But since you¡¯re a Son of the Stars, the moment you were born, the Domain of the Falling Stars and its surrounding domains were meant to be yours.

    ¡°It¡¯s also thanks to you that a Medium grade domain like the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries can be included in the sphere of influence of a Son of the Stars.¡±

    The man who practiced me power incantationsughed heartily and chimed in, ¡°It¡¯s still early for you to tell him that. As a newborn Son of the Stars, he stillcks strength. It wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to bring domains like the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to heel.

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°Good point.¡±

    Nie Tian cleared his throat. ¡°Seniors, there¡¯s a domain called the Domain of Heaven Python, which borders the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. That domain is being invaded and on the brink of falling into the outsiders¡¯ hands. A local sect there named the Divine Seal Sect asked me to help them through this crisis. If I do, they¡¯ll be willing to be a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    The fact that he was able to enter the Profound realm within such a short time had a great deal to do with the Divine Seal Sect.

    If it weren¡¯t for the Divine Seal Sect, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to enter the Shatter Battlefield, much less make consecutive breakthroughs.

    Without the soul power materials Jing Rou had given him, breaking through into the Profound realm wouldn¡¯t have been possible.

    The main reason he had been so eager toe here was because he had wanted to seek help on behalf of the Divine Seal Sect and save the Domain of Heaven Python from the outsiders.

    The expressions of the four powerful experts grew strange as they heard these words. ¡°The Domain of Heaven Python...¡±

    ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Instead of answering him, Wei Lai asked, ¡°Do you have any special connections to this Domain of Heaven Python?¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Thanks to the Divine Seal Sect from the Domain of Heaven Python, I was able to enter the Shatter Battlefield. And my senior martial brother from the Domain of the Falling Stars is now a member of the Divine Seal Sect. He¡¯s like my own brother. The Divine Seal Sect has helped me on many asions. I¡¯ve got to repay them for their kindness.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Wei Lai thought for a while before saying, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you actually went to the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded in silence.

    Wei Lai then took his time to say, ¡°There was this guy named Zhao Shanling in the Shatter Battlefield. He imed that he was from the Domain of Heaven Python. He wields a spiritual tool called the Voidspirit Pagoda, which is a lost treasure of the Void Spirit Society. Members of the Void Spirit Society recognized it in the Shatter Battlefield and reached out to him, hoping he¡¯d visit and join the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°However, that Zhao Shanling thought they were doing that to take the Voidspirit Pagoda from him, so not only did he refuse them, but he even got into a fight with them.

    ¡°This made the Void Spirit Society mad.

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society has long since learned about the outsider invasion of the Domain of Heaven Python, but they ordered all of the Premium grade domains in its surroundings to stand down, and let the Domain of Heaven Python fend for themselves.

    ¡°They¡¯re doing this to teach that Zhao Shanling a lesson, so that he wille to beg them andpromise by joining the Void Spirit Society, bringing his Voidspirit Pagoda.

    ¡°I guess you can say that Zhao Shanling is the reason why the Domain of Heaven Python is in its current situation.¡±

 Chapter 916: Secrets

    ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the upheaval in the Domain of Heaven Python actually had something to do with Zhao Shanling.

    Back when Zhao Shanling had returned from the Shatter Battlefield, Nie Tian had seen him badly injured, and had thus asked him about it. Zhao Shanling had avoided the subject intentionally.

    Now that he heard Wei Lai¡¯s words, it seemed to him that it was very likely that Zhao Shanling¡¯s injuries had had something to do with the Void Spirit Society.

    As one of the four most ancient human powers and colossi in the starry river, the Void Spirit Society had taken the initiative to reach out to Zhao Shanling, asking him to be one of them.

    Who would have thought he would actually refuse the offer, and tell them that he was from the Domain of Heaven Python...

    As his train of thought came to this point, Nie Tian realized why Zhao Shanling had demanded that people pay close attention to the teleportation portal that led to the Realm of Maelstrom after returning to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He must have been worried that the cmity he had put the Domain of Heaven Python in might spread to the Domain of the Falling Stars through it.

    Also, he must have been afraid that the Void Spirit Society would follow the vine to the melon, and find him in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Void Spirit Society had been tricked into believing that he was from the Domain of Heaven Python. Knowing well about the outsider invasion of the Domain of Heaven Python, not only had they wrung their hands, but they had even demanded that the human powers in the nearby Premium grade domains stay out of it.

    The reason why they had done that was because they had wanted to teach Zhao Shanling a lesson, so that he would give up resistance and do as he had been bidden.

    However, Nie Tian was well-aware that even if the outsiders killed every single human in the Domain of Heaven Python, Zhao Shanling wouldn¡¯t even frown in the slightest.

    ¡°You¡¯ve heard of the man, right?¡± Wei Lai asked.

    The other three experts also fixed Nie Tian with curious gazes, assuming that since Nie Tian had visited the Domain of Heaven Python, he must have heard of Zhao Shanling.

    ¡°Yes, I have...¡± Nie Tian said, his expression strange. ¡°Does that Voidspirit Pagoda of his really have a close connection to the Void Spirit Society?¡±

    ¡°The Voidspirit Pagoda¡¯s former owner was Qu Feng, who was the son of the Voidspirit God, the Void Spirit Society¡¯s sectmaster,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°The Voidspirit God forged the Voidspirit Pagoda himself for Qu Feng, with the same method he had used to forge the Void Mirror, an Immortal grade signature spiritual tool of the Void Spirit Society. Even though the Voidspirit Pagoda isn¡¯t at the Immortal grade, it¡¯s an invaluable Spirit Channeling grade spatial tool.

    ¡°Qu Feng had a falling out with his father, the Voidspirit God, over his marriage. Therefore, he took the Voidspirit Pagoda and left for the remote Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°However, he eventually failed while trying to break through into the Saint domain, and died in a space disruption zone. No one ever saw the Voidspirit Pagoda since then. Who would have thought that Zhao Shanling took it? After learning about this and the fact that he was well-versed in spatial power magics, the Void Spirit Society expressed their intent to take him in as a disciple, which was actually a generous offer...¡±

    Wei Lai took his time to exin the truth to Nie Tian.

    While listening, Nie Tianbed through his thoughts. ¡°So Master Voidspirit¡¯s real name was Qu Feng, and he was the son of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s sectmaster, the Voidspirit God. The Voidspirit God forged the Voidspirit Pagoda himself...¡±

    Then, after a moment of hesitation, he decided to tell the truth about Zhao Shanling.

    After all, as long as people from the Void Spirit Society went and asked around in the Domain of Heaven Python, they would easily find out that Zhao Shanling wasn¡¯t a local Qi warrior.

    This wasn¡¯t something he could keep a secret.

    With a dry smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°In fact... Zhao Shanling is also from the Domain of the Falling Stars. And I helped him find the Voidspirit Pagoda that Qu Feng left behind in a space disruption zone.¡±

    The four powerful experts¡¯ expressions flickered as soon as they heard these words.

    ¡°Tell us more about that Zhao Shanling,¡± Wei Lai said with furrowed brows.

    Nie Tian nodded, and then briefly exined Zhao Shanling¡¯s deeds in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After he finished, Wei Lai pondered in silence for quite a while before saying, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. Since he¡¯s from the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of the Falling Stars is a part of us, we have every reason to intervene. Besides, the enmity between the Void Spirit Society and Zhao Shanling isn¡¯t beyond salvation. Instead, they actually have deep connections with each other.

    ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll go take care of this matter? Since the Divine Seal Sect wants to follow you, a Son of the Stars, we¡¯ll include the Domain of Heaven Python in our map.¡±

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    Wei Lai smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a Son of the Stars now. Even though your cultivation base is still rather low, your status as a Son of the Stars was confirmed since the moment you finished the path of stars. Our grand elder hasn¡¯t returned from his trip. We can¡¯t take it upon ourselves to make arrangements for you. Why don¡¯t I have someone show you around in the sect and the Realm of Fragmentary Star, and introduce you to our sect¡¯s rules.

    ¡°Later, when our grand elder returns, he¡¯ll examine you personally and decide what you¡¯ll do next.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Then, Wei Lai introduced the other three experts to Nie Tian.

    The burly man who practiced me incantations was Yan Zhan. The woman who practiced moon power was Xin Qing, and the man who practiced sun power was Zu Guangyao.

    All four of them were at thete Saint domain, and members of the parliament of elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The parliament of elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce consisted of one grand elder and eleven elders. The grand elder was at the early God domain, while all of the elders were at the Saint domain.

    Above the grand elder were the sectmaster and two vice sectmasters, all of whom were at the God domain.

    Just them aloneprised four God domain and eleven Saint domain experts.

    This didn¡¯t include the Sons of the Stars.

    ording to Wei Lai, among the first six Sons of the Stars, two had long since entered the Saint domain, while three were at the Void domain. Even the weakest of them had all entered thete Soul realm.

    As Sons of the Stars, they had numerous followers from other domains, some of whom were also Saint domain experts.

    The sectmaster, vice sectmasters, parliament of elders, and Sons of the Stars were the core strength of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Like the Sons of the Stars, the sectmaster and vice sectmasters also had countless subordinate forces and domains, where Saint domain experts could be easily found.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce stood towering in the depths of the starry river, where they contended against the outsider races with the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion. Its strength was beyond question.

    Just by briefly learning about its reserve strength, Nie Tian felt deeply shaken.

    Numerous outsider races also lived in this starry river, but only major races like the Phantasms, the Demons, and the Floragrims had produced a small number of tenth grade grand monarchs.

    Many minor races hadn¡¯t produced a single tenth grade expert throughout the history of their bloodlines.

    With their four God domain experts, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce alone was a lot to handle, even for major outsider races like the Phantasms and the Demons. Their entire races may have to team up in order to contend against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Aside from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the other three human colossi were just as powerful.

    Since the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce controlled numerous domains, the elders shouldered the responsibility to oversee the most important ones. Therefore, they couldn¡¯t stay in their headquarters all the time.

    The same went for the Sons of the Stars.

    Because of this, the Realm of Fragmentary Star was currently guarded by Wei Lai and the other three elders.

    After giving a brief introduction of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Wei Lai arranged for some people to show Nie Tian to the different pces. From them, Nie Tian learned that some of the pces were filled with secret incantations; some held collections of spiritual armor and spiritual tools, while medicinal pills and spiritual materials were piled up in others.

    Nie Tian asked whenever he had any questions, and rapidly learned about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As his understanding of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce grew deeper and deeper, he was increasingly amazed by its reserve power.

 Chapter 917: Receiving Everyoneâ€™s Attention

    The man who showed Nie Tian around and introduced the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s rules to him was a Soul realm deacon named Tao Jin.

    From him, Nie Tian learned that not every member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce practiced star power incantations.

    As one of the most ancient and powerful human sects, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce held all kinds of records that included almost everything one might hope to learn.

    However, many members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had chosen their cultivation attributes long before joining them.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would pass agreeable incantations to them ording to their cultivation attributes.

    For that reason, as a member of the parliament of elders, Yan Zhan mainly practised me power incantations.

    Even though members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce practiced a variety of incantations, the Sons of the Stars were required to practice star power incantations.

    Each and every one of them needed to channel star power from the depths of the starry river.

    After all, the most profound legacies of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were its star power incantations.

    Nie Tian also asked about sun power and moon power.

    ording to Tao Jin, sun power and moon power had originally been included in the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    Like the countless stars, the sun and the moon were also a part of the boundless starry river.

    The incantations to channel power from the sun and the moon and practice cultivation with them had originally been branches of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. Even though they hadn¡¯t been the mainstream, they had been just as unfathomable and powerful.

    It was said that when the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had first been established, there had been three main pces: the Fragmentary Star Pce, the Grand Sun Pce, and the Chilly Moon Pce.

    However, the Grand Sun Pce and Chilly Moon Pce had always taken orders from the Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The highest position their leaders had ever risen to was vice sectmaster, as if they hadn¡¯t qualified to be the Lord of the Stars.

    Now, with the Grand Sun Pce and the Chilly Moon Pce gone, the Fragmentary Star Pce became the only one left of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    However, the secret magics and incantations of the Grand Sun Pce and Chilly Moon Pce hadn¡¯t vanished. There were still members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce who practiced them, though very few of them had managed to enter the God domain over the past hundreds of thousands of years.

    Xin Qing and Zu Guangyao, who Nie Tian had met earlier, were the experts with the highest attainments in those incantations throughout the entire sect, yet the two of them had been stuck at thete Saint domain for a very long time.

    As a Son of the Stars, Nie Tian had to wait for the grand elder to assess him, and issue a special identity medallion to him.

    Holding it, he would have ess to the sect¡¯s stock of spiritual materials, medicinal pills, and spiritual tools.

    However, he would only be allowed to obtain a limited amount of resources at first.

    Only after he made significant contributions to the sect and umted abundant contribution points would he be able to use them to get more valuable resources.

    As long as his contributions were vast and significant enough, he would be able to obtain Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools, and all kinds of precious medicinal pills and spiritual materials from the sect.

    He would even be able to trade the contribution points for realms or domains that would only belong to him.

    For hundreds of thousands of years, experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had fought outsiders in search of unexplored realms and domains in the depths of the starry river.

    Every few years, new realms or domains would be added to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s map.

    Some of the realms or even domains would be used to reward those who made great contributions to the sect.

    This was rather simr to how the Blood Skull from the Realm of Split Void offered spiritual materials in exchange for contribution points.

    ¡°...However, you won¡¯t be able to get any cultivation resources before the grand elder issues an identity medallion to you.¡± Tao Jin showed Nie Tian to one magnificent pce after another before they came to a stop in front of a lofty establishment that pierced into the clouds. ¡°This is the Records Pavilion. All of the other disciples have to present their identity medallions in order to browse through the ancient records in it.

    ¡°However, the Sons of the Stars can enter it freely.

    ¡°But since you don¡¯t have an identity medallion yet, you can only read the records in there.

    ¡°After the grand elder returns, he¡¯ll give you aprehensive assessment, issue an identity medallion to you, and give you some advice.

    ¡°At that time, you¡¯ll be able to use your identity medallion to obtain medicinal pills, spiritual materials, or spiritual tools that suit your needs in the relevant pavilions.¡±

    As Tao Jin gave him an earnest exnation, Nie Tian felt like an insect standing in front of the towering Records Pavilion, whose top disappeared into the clouds. Gazing skywards, he asked with an overwhelmed expression, ¡°Will I be allowed to browse through any record this Records Pavilion holds?¡±

    Tao Jin nodded and said with a somewhat envious expression, ¡°Yes, any record. Although, our sect¡¯s most valuable legacies are in fact already in your hands. They dwarf every record in the Records Pavilion.¡±

    ¡°The most valuable legacies?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused. ¡°Do you mean the three fragmentary star marks?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Tao Jin said. ¡°Those fragmentary star marks carry the most mysterious and powerful incantations of our sect. They¡¯re the reason why our sect stands unwavering in the starry river.¡±

    As the two of them spoke, Nie Tian saw arge number of people entering and exiting the Records Pavilion.

    Many of them seemed to recognize Tao Jin and know that he was the one who gave introductions to the new disciples.

    However, decades had passed since thest time the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had taken in any new disciples.

    Therefore, there shouldn¡¯t be any new disciples for him to show around at this moment.

    What surprised them even more was that Tao Jin seemed very respectful as he spoke to Nie Tian.

    Some of the smart ones recalled the seven bell tolls, and their expressions instantly flickered.

    ¡°He¡¯s that Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°He must be the seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, numerous gazes focused on Nie Tian.

    This magnificent ancient city was named Fragmentary Star City, where stood the Fragmentary Star Pce and four main establishments: the Records Pavilion, the Tools Pavilion, the Pills Pavilion, and the Materials Pavilion.

    These four pavilions surrounded the Fragmentary Star Pce.

    In front of the Fragmentary Star Pce stood a number ofrge-scale inter-domain teleportation portals, through which disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would be able to teleport to and from various domains.

    Many who had just returned from foreign domains overheard the exmations at the Records Pavilion, and thus fixed their eyes in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian received everyone¡¯s attention.

    Nie Tian nced around, and discovered that several hundred Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples were already gathered in front of the Records Pavilion.

    As the mor grew louder, even more disciples streamed out of the other pavilions and pces to gather towards him, as if they were all eager to take a look at this new Son of the Stars.

    Tao Jin nced around, and with a disdainful snort, he showed Nie Tian through the enormous gate of the Records Pavilion.

    Inside the Records Pavilion, the person who was in charge of checking-in saw Tao Jin, and immediately realized who Nie Tian was.

    Without saying a word, he rose to his feet from behind a jade desk and bowed slightly towards Nie Tian to show his respect.

    Even though he was at the Void domain, which was much higher than Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base, he had to drop his arrogance and treat Nie Tian with such respect due to the huge gap between their statuses.

    Nie Tian bowed back and asked Tao Jin in a soft voice, ¡°What exactly does the Records Pavilion hold?¡±

    ¡°Everything,¡± Tao Jin answered, smiling. ¡°All kinds of cultivation techniques, incantations, and spells, as well as maps of the domains our sect has explored through countless battles since the Deste Antiquity Era. Also, there are records of outsider cultivation methods and magics that we¡¯ve looted from them. Besides that, you can also find records of different human cultivation systems, spell formations, and magical symbols... In a word, you can get anything you need here.¡±

    Deeply amazed, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Even records about different outsider races?¡±

    Tao Jin smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right. Not only do we have records of their bloodline magics, but we also have analyses of their unique traits and how to deal with them in battle. We even have detailed maps of some of their domains.¡±

    ¡°There are records of me power and wood power incantations too, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Tao Jin nodded. ¡°More than you can count. Records of me power, wood power, lightning power, frost power, and other powers are stored separately on different floors.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Where are me power incantations stored?¡±

    ¡°On the neenth floor,¡± Tao Jin said. ¡°I¡¯ll take you there if you like.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be very kind of you,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Under everyone¡¯s gazes, Tao Jin walked up flights of wide stone stairs until he and Nie Tian came to the neenth floor.

    As they did, many of those who were browsing through records were rmed, and gathered to the staircase to fix Nie Tian with curious, measuring gazes.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars is only at the early Profound realm. He¡¯s progressed far too slowly, hasn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°I heard that he came from the Domain of the Falling Stars, which is apparently our sect¡¯s territory. I¡¯ve been a member of our sect for a hundred years now, but I¡¯ve never heard of such a ce.¡±

    ¡°None of those who passed the Heaven Gate trials and became Sons of the Stars were easy to deal with. His name is Nie Tian, but I haven¡¯t really heard anything about him. It seems we need to find out more about himter.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope this newborn Son of the Stars won¡¯t die prematurely.¡±

 Chapter 918: Secret Investigation

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Xin Qing, and Zu Guangyao, the four members of the parliament of elders, gazed silently down at Nie Tian from the top of another lofty pce.

    Their gazes followed him as Tao Jin showed him around this ancient city and threaded through the numerous pces and pavilions.

    Only after Nie Tian entered the Records Pavilion with Tao Jin did they withdraw their gazes.

    ¡°Wei, you realized that kid isn¡¯t a pure human, but a hybrid, didn¡¯t you?¡± Yan Zhan suddenly asked.

    Light shed across Xin Qing and Zu Guangyao¡¯s eyes as they heard him, but they remained silent.

    Wei Lai took a deep breath. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s the product of a sessful mixing. The life force inside of him is simply too strong for a human, and there also seems to be something special about his bloodline. Sessful hybrids are very rare, and it¡¯s hard to believe a ce like the Domain of the Falling Stars would produce one.¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, we need to look into the origin of his special bloodline,¡± Yan Zhan said with a grim face. ¡°The first thing we need to do after the grand elder¡¯s return is examine his bloodline and determine whether there are problems with his parents.¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. Sessful hybrids are very special. If there isn¡¯t anything wrong with his origin, then he¡¯ll have a brilliant future.¡±

    Xin Qing pondered for a brief moment before saying, ¡°You don¡¯t think he¡¯s a part of the outsiders¡¯ n, do you? If the outsiders made him so that he could steal the legacies of our sect, why on earth would they have him finish the path of stars ande to our headquarters? It won¡¯t be a hard thing for us to figure out the origin of his bloodline.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but we can¡¯t rule out any possibilities yet,¡± Wei Lai said, looking very cautious. ¡°And we can¡¯t allow him to leave before we make sure that there aren¡¯t any problems with his bloodline. As for that, we¡¯ll have to wait for the grand elder toe back and do a thorough examination of him. However, there¡¯s something strange about the Heaven Gate trial in the Domain of the Falling Stars...¡±

    Xin Qing went nk. ¡°Something strange?¡±

    ¡°The Heaven Gates in the Domain of the Falling Stars shouldn¡¯t have opened this early,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°Something must have happened that activated the Heaven Gates ahead of time.¡±

    Yan Zhan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You¡¯re not saying that the seventh Son of the Stars was actually manufactured by someone or some force, are you?¡±

    ¡°Everything is possible,¡± Wei Lai said with an unfathomable look on his face.

    Yan Zhan chuckled. ¡°That would make things much more interesting...¡±

    Wei Lai pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Yan Zhan, why don¡¯t you take a trip to the Domain of the Falling Stars and find out more about Nie Tian¡¯s birth? At the same time, see if you can learn something about that Zhao Shanling. As for the Void Spirit Society, I¡¯ll go talk to them about the Domain of Heaven Python. We¡¯ll give it to Nie Tian after we¡¯re absolutely certain that there¡¯s no problem with his origin.¡±

    Yan Zhan nodded.

    ¡°Also, be careful, and don¡¯t rm the people in the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Wei Lai said with a reminding tone.

    With a grin, Yan Zhan said, ¡°Rest assured.¡±

    ¡°If he hadn¡¯t finished the path of the stars, then we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about his origin,¡± Wei Lai said with a grim face. ¡°It¡¯s not a rare thing for future Sons of the Stars to die before reaching our headquarters.

    ¡°But since he¡¯s here, and the divine bell has tolled seven times, people know about him now, so we have to treat everything about him seriously.

    ¡°Choosing our Sons of the Stars is a matter of great importance. We can¡¯t allow anything to happen to it and make us aughing-stock.¡±

    Yan Zhan nodded before flying away ethereally.

    He retraced Nie Tian¡¯s steps and first teleported to the pce in the Realm of Shattered Earth. From there, he teleported to the pce in the Realm of Split Void.

    Unlike Nie Tian, Yan Zhan didn¡¯t open the stone gate and leave immediately after appearing in the teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void.

    He shrewdly sensed Dong Li¡¯s existence as soon as he arrived.

    Dong Li had continued to hatch the huge egg in one of the secret rooms since Nie Tian had left.

    Since Nie Tian was the only one who could open the gate to the pce and he hadn¡¯t returned, even if she had hatched the huge egg, she wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the pce, just as others wouldn¡¯t be able to enter.

    After arriving, Yan Zhan hid his aura, his figure illusory and blurry. Dong Li, who was focused on hatching the huge egg, didn¡¯t sense any anomalies.

    ¡°Dark power...¡± Yan Zhan sensed Dong Li¡¯s umon aura. His body seem to merge with the pce as he examined his surroundings with his soul.

    Momentster, a soul shadow was separated from his sea of awareness and rose from the top of his head.

    It flew through the spell formation that enveloped the pce without meeting any resistance, and floated just outside. Then, like an invisible and undetectable spirit, it examined the teleportation portal that led to the Realm of Maelstrom, along with the numerous experts from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars who were guarding it.

    None of the experts, including Qi Bailu and Zong Zheng, felt its existence, or sensed his soul aura in the slightest.

    After spending a while listening to the conversations between Qi Bailu and the other experts about the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven Python, Yan Zhan¡¯s soul shadow followed Chang Sen and a few others into the teleportation portal, and teleported to the Realm of me Heaven.

    It soon flew to the Nie n, and came to a stop over the ce where Nie Tian had been born.

    Yan Zhan¡¯s soul shadow secretly read every memory the Nie n members had of Nie Tian while they were fast asleep.

    Afterwards, it flew to the Cloudsoaring Sect, the Spiritual Treasure Sect, the Blood Sect, and every other ce that Nie Tian had been to, where it read people¡¯s memories of Nie Tian.

    Yan Zhan didn¡¯t rm a single person. No one knew that his soul shadow had already traveled to the Realm of me Heaven and learned everything that everyone knew about Nie Tian.

    <i>¡°So his mother is a local human Qi warrior in the Domain of the Falling Stars. There¡¯s nothing special about her.</i>

    <i>¡°His special bloodline must havee from his father.</i>

    <i>¡°But the strange thing is that not a single member of the Nie n or anyone else in the Realm of me Heaven seems to have any memories of him. They only know that he existed, but none of them have ever seen him.</i>

    <i>¡°He was definitely here, yet he didn¡¯t leave any traces behind.</i>

    <i>¡°Also, Nie Tian¡¯s mother¡¯s grave is empty. In the Nie n members¡¯ memories, they had definitely buried his mother, so why is there not a skeleton in that grave?</i>

    <i>¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s something very special about Nie Tian¡¯s father. We¡¯ve got to find out more about him in order to figure out the origin of his bloodline.¡±</i>

    While Yan Zhan¡¯s true form remained hidden at the heart of the pce in the Realm of Split Void, a wisp of his soul was able to separate itself from his sea of awareness and travel around independently for a long time.

    Even though his soul shadow traveled across the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Split Void, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and other realms Nie Tian had been to, and tried to learn everything about Nie Tian through the people who knew him, he failed to find any information about his father.

    However, he discovered a shocking fact while investigating Nie Tian.

    <i>¡°Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji, practices time power, and he¡¯s currently in the Shatter Battlefield, deriving enlightenment from that mysterious river of time.</i>

    <i>¡°Time power is probably the most profound power in this universe. All of the records we have of it in the Records Pavilion are descriptions of its wonders, not how to practice it.</i>

    <i>¡°How to practice time power has always been a mystery. Our sect hasn¡¯t even mastered the basics.</i>

    <i>¡°But that Wu Ji is already an expert in time power magics.</i>

    <i>¡°Aside from that, the Yin Sect and the Yang Sect practice the same incantations as those of the Grand Sun Pce and the Chilly Moon Pce. Both of their sectmasters have extraordinary cultivation talent and great potential.</i>

    <i>¡°And about the mysterious Void Pce Sect... arge number of Void Pce Sect disciples, who practice spatial magics, left for an unidentified realm, and never showed up again.</i>

    <i>¡°Who would have thought the Domain of the Falling Stars, which has been forgotten for so long, would actually hold so many surprising secrets?¡±</i>

    Yan Zhan gradually grew more and more interested in the Domain of the Falling Stars, and thus decided to spend more time traveling through its realms.

    There were scrolls in the Records Pavilion that were about the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, since it was in a remote corner, it had been forgotten for who knew how long.

    Even Yan Zhan only vaguely knew that it existed, and that it had been included in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s map by powerful experts from their first generation.

    Those experts had long since perished and been buried in endless time. Now, even experts like Yan Zhan didn¡¯t know why they had nted a Heaven Gate in the Domain of the Falling Stars, which was such an insignificant ce.

    <i>¡°Don¡¯t tell me that there are more secrets of the Domain of the Falling Stars that we have yet to discover.¡± </i>The more Yan Zhan learned, the more curious he became.

 Chapter 919: An Earth Grade Incantation

    On the neenth floor of the Records Pavilion in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    Countless scrolls and books were stocked to the ceiling of the spacious round floor. Many were covered in dust, while others seemed to have been read recently, their pages worn out.

    Arge number of Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples were choosing their books in different locations.

    Every book and scroll on this floor was about me power incantations.

    Those who hadn¡¯t found the books they wanted floated around like feathers.

    However, once they found the records they needed, they would find a ce in the spacious hall to sit and imprint the contents of the books in their minds.

    After entering the Profound realm, every Qi warrior would gain the ability to fly without exterior support.

    Most of the Qi warriors here were at the Profound realm or higher, and all of them practiced me power incantations.

    Nie Tian started wandering around.

    As he did, many who had recognized Tao Jin, and thus realized who Nie Tian was, stopped what they were doing and fixed Nie Tian with measuring gazes.

    It was forbidden to speak aloud in the Records Pavilion. Therefore, they all examined him in silence, and were soon surprised by the fact that he also practiced me power.

    They found it hard to believe that this Son of the Stars actually practiced me power incantations.

    The star power incantations were the core of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies. As a Son of the Stars, Nie Tian had ess to the most powerful and profound of them all.

    Many Sons of the Stars spent their whole lives learning those secret incantations, but still failed to climb to the peak.

    Humans had limited lifespans. Even their current sectmaster chose to solely practice star power incantations, fearing that if he were distracted, he would waste his time and die before he could make his next breakthrough in cultivation.

    Like their sectmaster, all of the other Sons of the Stars also practiced star power incantations and nothing else.

    Therefore, the fact that the seventh Son of the Stars had shown up on the neenth floor on the first day he had arrived in their headquarters came as quite a shock to all of them.

    Many of them asked questions inwardly, but didn¡¯t say anything out loud.

    <i>¡°The path of cultivation is a time-consuming one. Practicing an additional type of power will take a big part of a cultivator¡¯s time. Even if he has the energy for it, will he have the time?¡±</i>

    <i>¡°I wonder what this Son of the Stars is thinking. He has ess to our top star power incantations, yet he¡¯s distracting himself by learning me power incantations. What an entric man.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Strange...¡±</i>

    After a while, they discovered that Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay any attention to any of them, but instead focused on looking through the records. Their curiosity gradually disappeared, and they went back to their own business.

    The Records Pavilion remained soundless the whole time.

    Tao Jin sat silently in a corner, like an old monk meditating.

    Nie Tian, however, would take a book from the sea of books and scrolls every once in a while, and find a ce to browse through and memorize its contents. Then, he would rise to his feet to look for new ones.

    Just the records on the neenth floor alone were so vast that they dazzled his eyes.

    By ident, he found records of the me Spirit Incantation.

    At the beginning of the book, it read that the me Spirit Incantation was a sixth level Medium grade incantation.

    Apparently, like spiritual tools, incantations and spells were also graded.

    They could be divided into Elementary grade, Medium grade, Premium grade, Earth grade, and Heaven grade.

    Each of the Elementary, Medium, and Premium grades could be subdivided into seven levels.

    The incantations at these three grades suited Qi warriors who hadn¡¯t reached the Profound realm.

    Earth grade incantations suited Profound realm, Worldly realm, and Soul realm Qi warriors.

    Heaven grade incantations, however, were the mostplicated and profound of all, since they involved the use of domains.

    Nie Tian discovered that he could only find Elementary grade, Medium grade, Premium grade, and Earth grade incantations and spells on this floor.

    He didn¡¯t find a single Heaven grade incantation or spell.

    Normally speaking, Qi warriors with low cultivation bases were better off starting with Elementary grade incantations before going up to Medium grade and Premium grade ones.

    A process was necessary. Only after their understanding of me power had risen to a certain level should they start learning Earth grade incantations.

    This was because a solid foundation was very important, and cultivators needed to meet certain standards to learn Earth grade incantations.

    If a cultivator tried to learn an Earth grade incantation before entering the Profound realm, he or she wouldn¡¯t be able to make sense of it, much less practice it.

    It was simr to how Nie Tian had learned the star power incantations in the three fragmentary star marks.

    At first, he had only been able to learn Starshift and Starstrike from the first fragmentary star mark. Then, as his cultivation base improved, he had been able to derive Starchain and Starsoul from the second fragmentary star marks and practice them.

    As for the content of the third fragmentary star mark, it was supposed to contain methods to build domains. But right now, his cultivation base was far too low, and he couldn¡¯t even read it.

    Nie Tian was aware that the legacies in the three fragmentary star marks must be far more important than any record in the Records Pavilion.

    From the look of it, those incantations, which formed aplete cultivation system, were Heaven grade incantations.

    They allowed those who practiced them to start low, but gradually work their way up, and umte enlightenment until they forged their own domains.

    <i>¡°The me Spirit Incantation is only a Medium grade incantation. Now that I¡¯ve entered the Profound realm, I can practice more advanced me power incantations.¡± </i>With this thought in mind, he went through numerous books and scrolls to learn about all kinds of me power incantations.

    He soon discovered that many me power incantations hadpletely different cultivation methods.

    Some of the incantations required users to gather earthme essence and fuse it into their spiritual cores in order to cast certain magics or refine their spiritual cores.

    Some required users to channel power from Heaven me Beast remains or Heavenme Crystals into their spiritual cores.

    Some required users to absorb power from boilingva.

    Others were focused on the refinement of various types of special mes.

    Different incantations had different cultivation methods. Each had their unique wonders.

    Nie Tian continued to go through book after book, scroll after scroll. He would put them back whenever he discovered that they didn¡¯t suit his needs.

    There were easily tens of thousands of books and scrolls that recorded me power incantations.

    Nie Tian had a feeling that anyone who practiced me power would be able to find the incantations they needed here.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had fought countless wars throughout the starry river. The incantations they had gathered and created from various domains were all-embracing. Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel at its reserve power.

    He spent the following days on this floor, browsing through hundreds of ancient records, but none of them really suited his needs.

    Eventually, he discovered an ancient book on one of the tall shelves. His eyes lit up as he scanned it.

    It was about a me power magic that was called me Dragon¡¯s Cry, which ording to the book was an Earth grade incantation.

    ording to the book, those who practiced this magic would be able to channel me power and condense it into a dragon of mes.

    The expert who had written this book had spent most of his life fighting me dragons and other Ancientbeasts. The domain he had guarded bordered the me dragons¡¯ territory, and he had in many me dragons. Based on his understanding of me power, he had derived enlightenment from the me dragons¡¯ battle skills, and eventually created this incantation.

    ¡°me Dragon¡¯s Cry!¡± Holding the book, Nie Tian felt as if he had gained an invaluable treasure. Without hesitation, he found a corner to sit down and start reading carefully.

    After reaching certain cultivation bases, cultivators would develop extraordinary, eidetic memories. Nie Tian just turned the pages and rapidly imprinted everything about me Dragon¡¯s Cry in the depths of his mind.

    As he did, the descriptive words of me Dragon¡¯s Cry flew into his me power sub-soul and became a part of it.

    From now on, his me power sub-soul would spend day and night deriving enlightenment of the cultivation method of this magic. After it gained an overall understanding of the magic, Nie Tian could step in and try to practice it himself.

    This was how most disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce practiced cultivation.

    They would first pick incantations and magics they deemed suitable, then they would memorize everything about them.

    Later, after they left the Records Pavilion, they would try to derive enlightenment from them whenever they had time.

    Only after their understanding built up to certain levels would they attempt to practice them.

    Thanks to his sub-souls, Nie Tian had an advantage when it came to learning new incantations.

    His me power sub-soul was separate from his true soul. Since it wouldn¡¯t be distracted by anything that happened in the outside world, it could derive enlightenment from incantations unceasingly.

    By the time he closed the book, he had already memorized everything about me Dragon¡¯s Cry, and his me power sub-soul was already starting to sort through the knowledge points.

    Nie Tian then put the book back in its original ce. However, he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to leave. Instead, he continued browsing through other me power incantations on this floor and fusing them into his me power sub-soul.

 Chapter 920: An Unexpected Guest

    Aside from me Dragon¡¯s Cry, Nie Tian selected two other incantations on that floor.

    One was the True me Incantation, and the other was ming Finger Swords.

    Technically, ming Finger Swords was an attacking magic, which allowed its users to condense their me power to the limit, and then unleash it as a fierce weapon.

    As its name indicated, once cultivators mastered it, they would be able to turn their fingers into ming swords, and then shoot extremely condensed me power from their fingertips like sword lights.

    The True me Incantation, however, was technically a cultivation method, which allowed its users to channel Heavenme Essence from the starry sky in order to strengthen their spiritual cores.

    Normally, Heavenme Essence only existed in zing meteors and Heavenme Crystals.

    It was known that, as a powerful species, Heaven me Beasts upgraded their bloodlines by capturing and fusing Heavenme Essence in the depths of the starry river with themselves.

    Aside from them, vermilion birds, me phoenixes, and me dragons also had a natural inclination for Heavenme Essence.

    As for Nie Tian, perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have the time and energy to roam the vast starry river to gather Heavenme Essence.

    However, he could purchase Heavenme Crystals.

    From Heavenme Crystals, he could also gain Heavenme Essence, channel it into his me power spiritual core, and practice the True me Incantation.

    me Dragon¡¯s Cry, ming Finger Swords, and the True me Incantation were all Earth grade spiritual incantations. Nie Tian imprinted them all on his me power sub-soul so that he wouldn¡¯t have to spend much time learning them himself.

    By the time his me power sub-soul gained an overall understanding of them, he would be able to try to practice them himself.

    After gaining these three Earth grade me power incantations, Nie Tian figured that he wouldn¡¯t pick any more me power incantations before he fully mastered them.

    Therefore, he went to find Tao Jin, and expressed his intent to leave for the floor where wood power incantations were stored.

    ¡°Huang Jinnan, a Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect, came for you,¡± Tao Jin said. ¡°Noble as he is, he came all the way to congratte you on you finishing the path of stars and bing the seventh Son of the Stars. I didn¡¯t tell you right away because I saw that you were busy selecting incantations and I didn¡¯t want to interrupt you. He¡¯s waited a day now. So why don¡¯t you go see him first?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Huang Jinnan?!¡±

    ¡°He said he fought alongside you in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Tao Jin said discretely.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, we met in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range and fought battles together...¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian gave up on the idea of selecting records of wood power incantations, and signaled for Tao Jin to show him the way.

    ¡°He was arranged to rest in one of our guest residences. I¡¯ll inform him that we¡¯re going to him right now.¡± With these words, Tao Jin took out a Sound Stone, whispered something into it, and then led Nie Tian out of the Records Pavilion.

    Hundreds of disciples who were flying into and out of the Records Pavilion cast curious gazes towards him.

    ¡°Follow me.¡± Tao Jin flew lightly through the huge gate on the ground floor.

    Nie Tian cleared his throat, and instead of flying after him with his awkward flying skills, he summoned the Star Boat.

    As soon as the Star Boat appeared, almost everyone present realized that he must be the seventh Son of the Stars.

    Star Boats were extremely precious air-transportation spiritual tools. Even the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t have any of their own.

    The fact that this unfamiliar-looking man had a Star Boat in his possession proved that he must be a Son of the Stars.

    Tao Jin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest as he continued to fly forward at a medium speed. Nie Tian, however, followed along on his Star Boat.

    Aside from the Fragmentary Star Pce and four main buildings, there were also arge number of cultivation rooms, battlefields, equipment forgingbs, and other designated cultivation-rted areas in Fragmentary Star City.

    Since a marvelous grand spell formation was unceasingly gathering the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from its surroundings, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the city was nearly ten times richer than in any other region in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Therefore, it would be much easier for Qi warriors to practice cultivation and seek breakthroughs in Fragmentary Star City.

    The most important thing was that Fragmentary Star City kept channeling star power from the vast starry river, causing bits of starlight to fall out of the heavens day and night.

    Because of this, those who practiced star power incantations wouldn¡¯t have to rely on Star Stones to make rapid progress in their cultivation.

    Many of the stone pces and pavilions in Fragmentary Star City had been used to reward those who had made exceptional contributions to the sect.

    Those people would not only have the privilege to live in the city themselves, but they could also invite their family and friends to live with them. With the unusually rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in Fragmentary Star City, their family and friends would also be able to make rapid advances in cultivation.

    Even for disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, very few of them could have a pce or pavilion of their own in Fragmentary Star City.

    The headquarters of ancient powers like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were probably the most secure ces there were. It was almost impossible that outsider invasions would happen in these ces.

    No matter how vicious and unrestrained they were, they wouldn¡¯t dare to touch Fragmentary Star City.

    Since Nie Tian had just arrived, and since the grand elder hadn¡¯t returned yet to issue him an identity medallion, he hadn¡¯t been assigned an official residence.

    With Tao Jin in the front, the two of them flew past a lofty stone pavilion. Many of the windows were open, so people stuck their heads out to examine Nie Tian with unfriendly looks in their eyes.

    They started to discuss aloud among themselves, as if they weren¡¯t afraid at all that he would overhear them.

    ¡°So that¡¯s the seventh Son of the Stars?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only at thete Worldly realm... It took him far too long to finish the path of stars, right? It seems that he¡¯s just a lucky man.¡±

    ¡°Compared to our master, he¡¯s not even worth mentioning.¡±

    The stone pavilion they were in dwarfed all of the other stone pavilions around it.

    Tao Jin looked over his shoulder at them and let out a cold snort.

    Nie Tian approached him from behind on his Star Boat, and asked, ¡°Who are they?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯reckeys of the sixth Son of the Stars, Sikong Cuo,¡± Tao Jin exined in a soft voice. ¡°Like you, Sikong Cuo also passed the Heaven Gate trial and became a Son of the Stars. The domain he came from was violent and turbulent. The fact that he survived the bloodbath in the Heaven Gate trial and eventually became a Son of the Stars was rather impressive.

    ¡°Also, it took him a much shorter time to finish the path of stars and arrive in our headquarters.

    ¡°All of hisckeys are ruthless figures whose hands are covered in blood. If it weren¡¯t for Sikong Cuo, they probably wouldn¡¯t even have a ce to stay in this starry river.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Evenckeys of the Sons of the Stars are allowed to move into Fragmentary Star City?¡±

    Tao Jin nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Once a Son of the Stars¡¯ status is confirmed, he will be assigned a stone pavilion in Fragmentary Star City. Since the Sons of the Stars enjoy lofty statuses in our sect, the stone pavilions that are assigned to them all have inter-domain teleportation portals within them, so they won¡¯t have to use our sect¡¯s public teleportation portals to travel among different domains.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he suddenly started to look forward to the time when he had his own residence in Fragmentary Star City like Sikong Cuo did.

    As for Sikong Cuo¡¯sckeys¡¯ mocking words, he simply pretended that he didn¡¯t hear them.

    After pondering for a while, Tao Jin said, ¡°There¡¯s something you¡¯d better know. Eventually, you Sons of the Stars are going topete for the position of the Lord of the Stars. So even though they seem to get along with each other, hidden frictions actually happen all the time.¡±

    Nie Tian, who didn¡¯t have an innocent mind, nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Tao Jin continued. ¡°Of course, the Sons of the Stars normally won¡¯t tear off their friendly masks and get into open fights with each other. After all, our sect wouldn¡¯t allow something like that to happen. But it¡¯s prettymon for the Sons of the Stars¡¯ subordinates toe into conflict with each other.

    ¡°Normally speaking, the Sons of the Stars themselves will stay out of such conflicts, since showing the strength of their subordinates is, in a sense, showing their own strength.¡±

    Nie Tian sped his hands. ¡°Thank you for telling me this.¡±

    Tao Jin let out a low sigh. ¡°You¡¯ll learn more as you spend more time in our sect. Our sect is a colossus where fish and dragons mix together.¡± (Idiom: mixed with good and bad people)

    As they spoke, Tao Jin soon brought Nie Tian to the guest residences.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s guest residences were open to those who had close connections to them, or figures like Huang Jinnan, who enjoyed lofty statuses.

    ¡°I¡¯ll wait outside.¡± With these words, Tao Jin pointed at one of the guest residences. ¡°Huang Jinnan is in that residence.¡±

    The guest residence he pointed to had ornamental rocks, waters, and different kinds of nts in its courtyard, which was quiet and tasteful.

    Just as Nie Tian stepped through the gate, Huang Jinnan¡¯s broadugh echoed out. ¡°Congrattions, Nie Tian! I told you that I¡¯de here and congratte you in person when you made it to your headquarters and officially became a Son of the Stars!¡±

    Upon entering the courtyard, Nie Tian saw Huang Jinnan, as well as a handful of Qi warriors who exuded immense spiritual auras.

    All of them were standing behind Huang Jinnan as if they were his subordinates. To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, three of them were at the Saint domain.

    Huang Jinnanughed heartily.

    The men who stood respectfully behind him fixed Nie Tian with curious, measuring gazes.

    After running his eyes up and down Huang Jinnan, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°Have you broken through into the Soul realm?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I was pretty lucky,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a rxed expression. ¡°I made the breakthrough soon after returning from the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    With these words, he lifted his hand, signaling his subordinates to leave him and Nie Tian alone. After they left, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, I heard that Yan Zhan from your sect went to the Domain of the Falling Stars to investigate everything about you. There isn¡¯t a problem with your identity, is there?¡±

 Chapter 921: Grand Elder

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Elder Yan Zhan went to the Domain of the Falling Stars?! And he was there to investigate my birth?¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°It might have something to do with your uniqueness.¡±

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    With a serious expression, Huang Jinnan answered, ¡°There are far too few hybrids. Very few people know the secret methods of mixing outsider bloodlines with human ones. Right now, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion are the only human sects that have been making such experiments in secret. Many other sects have also made attempts, but none of them have ever seeded.

    ¡°Even we four ancient sects haven¡¯t developed a reliable method of stealing outsider bloodlines yet after thousands of years of research.

    ¡°Even our blood-mixing attempts have rarely seeded.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    In a low voice, Huang Jinnan continued, ¡°Most of the hybrids from our experiments died soon after birth. Those who survived usually had cultivation talents that were even lower than regr humans. They would struggle while cultivating with human incantations, and at the same time, have trouble upgrading their outsider bloodlines.

    ¡°It was as difficult as climbing the heavens to merge the merits of both human and outsider bloodlines.

    ¡°You, however, turned out to be a blood-mixing sess, and you came from a remote corner like the Domain of the Falling Stars. How can the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce not be shocked?¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s exnation suddenly made Nie Tian realize that Wei Lai and the other elders must have long since noticed his unique bloodline.

    Even though they hadn¡¯t pointed it out to him, they had actually attached great importance to the matter, and had secretly arranged for Yan Zhan to investigate everything about him.

    ¡°As far as I know, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has never gone through so much trouble to investigate the origins of their Sons of the Stars before you, no matter where they had been born or what they had done,¡± Huang Jinnan continued. ¡°The fact that Yan Zhan did this must have a great deal to do with you being a hybrid.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a while before saying, ¡°I got my special bloodline from my father, who I¡¯ve never met. I don¡¯t know anything about him. I don¡¯t know who he is, what his name is, or why he showed up in the Domain of the Falling Stars. And he vanished for good after his very brief stay there. In fact, part of the reason I was eager toe to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was because I wanted to find out who he was.¡±

    Even though he had learned from Wu Ji that his mother might still be alive and have left with his father, he decided to not tell Huang Jinnan about it.

    ¡°It seems that your father is where the problem is,¡± Huang Jinnan said, looking somewhat worried. ¡°I hope there isn¡¯t anything unfavorable with his identity. Otherwise, if your grand elder finds something wrong with the origin of your bloodline after running aprehensive examination on you, you...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking worried as well.

    Face grim, Huang Jinnan exined, ¡°If there¡¯s a problem with your father¡¯s bloodline, then it¡¯ll mean there¡¯s a problem with you. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce attaches great importance to their Sons of the Stars. They¡¯ll most likely get rid of Sons of the Stars with questionable origins. If they¡¯re merciful, they may just deprive them of their fragmentary star marks and remove their titles as Sons of the Stars; if they aren¡¯t, they may kill them right away.¡±

    A cold feeling suddenly rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s words rmed him, and made him realize that the uniqueness of his bloodline might actually stand in the way of him fusing into the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as a Son of the Stars.

    If things went south, he might actually die here instead.

    Then, Huang Jinnan went on and told him about the situation in the Domain of Heaven Python. ording to him, the outsiders suspected that someone from the Domain of Heaven Python had taken that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material they had discovered in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Aside from plundering valuables, another reason for their mass invasion of the Domain of Heaven Python was because they hadn¡¯t wanted that Heaven Nourished grade treasure to end up in the hands of the Void Spirit Society.

    That treasure contained profound spatial power. Once the Void Spirit Society had it, they would be able to forge an Immortal grade divine tool with it.

    Just recently, the Void Spirit Society had learned about it, and sent powerful experts to the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadmunicated with the Void Spirit Society, informing them that the Domain of Heaven Python, where the Divine Seal Sect was located, had be a subordinate domain of the newest Son of the Stars.

    Since the Void Spirit Society didn¡¯t have any interest in the Domain of Heaven Python in the first ce, they reached a mutual understanding with Wei Lai, and promised that they would back out of the Domain of Heaven Python as soon as they found that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material.

    They had also promised to help drive the outsiders away.

    Various expressions shed across Nie Tian¡¯s face as he muttered to himself, ¡°Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material...¡±

    Of course, he knew that Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material had probably already fused with Pei Qiqi.

    If Pei Qiqi was exposed, both the outsiders and the Void Spirit Society might target her simultaneously.

    He couldn¡¯t help but start worrying about her safety.

    At this moment, Tao Jin¡¯s exmation suddenly echoed out from outside the courtyard. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian then ended his conversation with Huang Jinnan and walked out of the courtyard. Upon seeing him, Tao Jin said with a grim face, ¡°The grand elder is back.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Huang Jinnan nodded at him. ¡°Go ahead. You¡¯ll only know the results after your grand elder runs those tests on you. I¡¯ll stay here for a couple more days, and then leave the Realm of Fragmentary Star after the results are out. Those results will determine whether you¡¯ll keep your status as the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, and left with Tao Jin.

    In a secret hall of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in Fragmentary Star City...

    Wei Lai was standing beside an old man, whose appearance seemed as warm and gentle as a piece of jade.

    Mo Heng was his name. He was none other than the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, whose cultivation base was at the early God domain.

    His status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was second only to that of the sectmaster and the two vice sectmasters.

    Whenever they weren¡¯t around, he would be in total control of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    At this moment, he was standing there listening to Yan Zhan.

    Yan Zhan was giving him a detailed report of what he had learned about Nie Tian in the Domain of the Falling Stars, not leaving out a single piece of information.

    Mo Heng didn¡¯t say a word during the whole time Yan Zhan spoke, nor did his expression change in the slightest.

    In contrast, Wei Lai, Xin Qing, and Zu Guangyao gasped from time to time as they heard surprising things about Nie Tian.

    After quite a while, Yan Zhan brought out everything he had learned about Nie Tian, and thus came to a stop.

    The other elders also fell silent, and turned to look at Mo Heng.

    Mo Heng broke the silence. ¡°So his unidentified father is the origin of his special bloodline. It¡¯s quite strange that you traveled across the Domain of the Falling Stars, but still failed to find any information about that man in anyone¡¯s memory.¡±

    Yan Zhan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s strange indeed.¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t know his name or what he looks like, then there¡¯s nothing we can do to investigate him,¡± Mo Heng said with an expressionless face. ¡°From the look of it, we can only try to find answers to our questions from Nie Tian.¡±

    Just as he said these words, Tao Jin reported outside the hall, saying that Nie Tian was here.

    In a gentle voice, Mo Heng said, ¡°Tell him toe in.¡±

    Tao Jin answered, ¡°As you wish.¡±

    Momentster, Nie Tian walked into the spacious hall by himself.

    ¡°Nie Tian, this is the grand elder of our sect, Mo Heng.¡± Wei Lai gave him a brief introduction.

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Greetings, grand elder.¡±

    Mo Heng nodded and asked without mincing words, ¡°You carry an outsider bloodline. What grade is it at?¡±

    ¡°The sixth grade.¡± Nie Tian had long since been prepared for this. He knew that these figures, who had abilities that were beyond his imagination, would see right through him. Therefore, there would be no point for him to hide the truth.

    Furthermore, he also wanted to find out himself who his father was, and where he was from.

    As one of the most ancient human powers, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce might be able to give him an answer if he cooperated.

    Mo Heng seemed somewhat surprised. ¡°The sixth grade... Your bloodline grade matches your cultivation base. Very good. I suppose you¡¯re able to condense Blood Essence now, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I have ten drops of Blood Essence in my heart,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Mo Heng¡¯s eyes widened slightly. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, all I need is a drop of your Blood Essence, and I¡¯ll be able to tell the origin of your bloodline.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Without any hesitation, Nie Tian separated a drop of Blood Essence from his heart.

    Like a blood diamond, it unleashed an extremely pure life aura as soon as it flew out of his heart.

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he immediately took out a vessel and secured that drop of Blood Essence.

    Then, he lifted his hand. ¡°You may go wait outside now.¡±

    Nie Tian as he was told, and walked out of the spacious hall.

    He saw that Tao Jin was waiting outside the hall in silence.

    The moment he walked through the huge gate, an unknown force sealed the hall, cutting off all sound and soul detection.

    There was no way for Nie Tian to know how Mo Heng and the elders would examine that drop of his Blood Essence.

 Chapter 922

    In the spacious hall, Mo Heng kept his eyes on the special vessel he used to hold the drop of Blood Essence from Nie Tian.

    As he slowly narrowed his eyes, wisps of light flew from the tip of his index finger to the transparent vessel.

    The drop of Blood Essence in the vessel was instantly lit up, and the flesh aura it unleashed grew even stronger.

    At the same time, bits of cyan light could be seen shimmering in the drop of Blood Essence that looked like a crimson crystal.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, many more transparent vessels flew out of Mo Heng¡¯s cuff in an endless stream.

    Soon, hundreds of them floated in the air, each containing a drop of Blood Essence.

    The drops of Blood Essence were of a variety of colors. Some were emerald green; some were scarlet like red agates; some shone with dazzling silver light, while others were multicolored like the rainbow.

    All of them seemed to belong to different races.

    Floating amidst the hundreds of Blood-Essence-holding vessels, the drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence didn¡¯t seem outstanding at all.

    However, as Mo Heng cast a secret spell, some kind of seal that had been suppressing those vessels seemed to be suddenly lifted, and the vessels instantly grew unusually active.

    CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!

    Like crystals with their own awareness, the drops of Blood Essence hit the insides of their vessels repeatedly, giving rise to crisp clinking sounds.

    Pushed by the Blood Essence, the numerous vessels soon converged on the vessel that contained the drop of Blood Essence from Nie Tian.

    CLINK! CLINK!

    The sounds of vessels clinking together filled the air.

    At this moment, all of the other Blood Essence seemed to be yearning for Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    However, even though Mo Heng had lifted a certain sealing magic, the drops of Blood Essence could only sense other Blood Essence¡¯s auras and fly around, but they still couldn¡¯t shatter their respective vessels and break free.

    As the clinking sounds grew increasingly intense, the hundreds of vessels soon engulfed the vessel that held Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    The Blood Essence from different races seemed to have gone mad.

    Without exception, they all showed an irrepressible desire towards Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, as if they couldn¡¯t wait to merge with it.

    Inside the hall, Mo Heng, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and Zu Guangyao all gasped with astonishment.

    The unusual movement of the numerous drops of Blood Essence astonished them beyond words. They simply didn¡¯t understand why they were acting so strangely.

    The hundreds of drops of Blood Essence came from various origins. They carried the bloodlines of many different races that lived in this starry river, including Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Floragrims, Ancientbeasts, and even titans.

    The way experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce assessed a hybrid¡¯s bloodline was to obtain a drop of the hybrid¡¯s Blood Essence and try to match it with the Blood Essence of different races.

    As soon as a certain seal was lifted, Blood Essence of the same origins would interact.

    If Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence carried a Demon bloodline, after Mo Heng summoned the vessels that held hundreds of drops of Blood Essence, the drop of Demon Blood Essence would go through evident changes.

    Then, Mo Heng would be able to recognize the origin of the tested Blood Essence at first nce, and therefore determine that Nie Tian carried a Demon bloodline.

    However, the changes happening before him now bbergasted him.

    Hundreds of drops of Blood Essence that belonged to various races of this boundless starry river were interacting with Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence simultaneously.

    Furthermore, the way they interacted was alsopletely different from before.

    Before, whenever two drops of Blood Essence found their match, both of them would emanate bright light, therefore showing Mo Heng the result.

    However, they wouldn¡¯t interact so intensely, or take it upon themselves to move closer towards one another.

    This time, however, each and every drop of Blood Essence madly struck the insides of their vessels, as if they couldn¡¯t wait to break free.

    After realizing that they wouldn¡¯t be able to shatter their vessels, they drove their vessels to ram into the vessel that held Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    All of them behaved very strangely because of the drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, as if they all had an irrepressible need to devour it.

    ¡°What... what¡¯s happening, grand elder?!¡± Yan Zhan asked with a stutter.

    Wei Lai took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this during the previous hybrid Blood Essence assessments!¡±

    ¡°Why in the world can his Blood Essence interact with the Blood Essence of all races, and get them frantically active?¡± Xin Qing muttered in a low voice, her eyes filled with disbelief.

    Mo Heng, however, continued to stare nkly at the hundreds of vessels, which were still ramming into the vessel that contained Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence.

    ¡°Grand elder?¡± Wei Lai called softly.

    Mo Heng didn¡¯t give any response, as if he was lost in some remote memory.

    The sounds of vessels clinking together went on as the vessel that contained Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence continued to be impacted by the swarm of vessels.

    However, no matter how hard they hit it, not even the finest fissures appeared on the iparably solid vessels.

    Wei Lai and the other elders called out to Mo Heng a few more times, but he still didn¡¯t give any response.

    Only after quite a while did Mo Henge out of his daze. As he flicked his sleeve, the numerous vessels flew back to him and disappeared into his cuff, as if they were attracted by some kind of ma.

    The vessel that contained Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence was the only one that remained floating in the air.

    Mo Heng then summoned it to his palm, where he took a close look at it, as if it were some precious treasure that he couldn¡¯t afford to lose.

    He was fascinated by the drop of Blood Essence within the vessel as he muttered something, as if he was sleep-talking.

    Only after a while did he finally put the vessel away.

    Wei Lai and the other four elders all fixed him with puzzled gazes.

    ¡°Assign the Vast Heaven Pavilion to the seventh Son of the Stars,¡± Mo Heng suddenly said.

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Vast Heaven Pavilion?! Many others have their eyes on that pavilion and want to get it in exchange for their contribution points. But it¡¯s long been stipted that that pavilion isn¡¯t among the properties that people can obtain with their contribution points. Even the other Sons of the Stars¡¯ requests to obtain it in exchange for their contribution points were refused. That Nie Tian...¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in, ¡°Grand elder, Nie Tian has just confirmed his status as the seventh Son of the Stars. If we assign the Vast Heaven Pavilion to him now, will it be appropriate?¡±

    Xin Qing and Zu Guangyao also agreed, saying that the Vast Heaven Pavilion was far too special. The sectmaster had said that no matter how long the Vast Heaven Pavilion stayed empty, it shouldn¡¯t be awarded to anyone, including the elders and the Sons of the Stars.

    This had be a stiption known to everyone.

    No one had ever broken it over the past ten thousand years.

    ¡°I said: assign the Vast Heaven Pavilion to Nie Tian,¡± Mo Heng said with an expressionless face. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to our sectmaster myself when he returns.¡±

    Wei Lai and the others looked confused, but decided not to say another word.

    Since Mo Heng demanded that the Vast Heaven Pavilion be assigned to Nie Tian, it meant that he had confirmed Nie Tian¡¯s identity as the seventh Son of the Stars.

    ¡°Also, there¡¯s no need for you to investigate Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline anymore. It¡¯s fine.¡± With these words, Mo Heng ordered, ¡°This Star Medallion will be the proof of his status as the seventh Son of the Stars. Give it to himter.¡±

    He handed a star-shaped identity medallion to Wei Lai.

    ¡°There are a hundred thousand initial contribution points in it,¡± Mo Heng added.

    Yan Zhan and the others couldn¡¯t help but exim.

    ¡°A hundred thousand?!¡±

    ¡°A hundred thousand as his initial contribution points?!¡±

    Wei Lai was shocked as well. ¡°Grand elder, the other six Sons of the Stars were bestowed initial contribution points of different amounts, but the highest of them all was only fifty thousand. He has just arrived, and hasn¡¯t made any contributions to our sect yet. Isn¡¯t a hundred thousand a bit too much for his initial contribution points? If we do this, I¡¯m afraid the other Sons of the Stars will not be happy about it!¡±

    With a in tone, Mo Heng said, ¡°I have the final say in assessing newborn Sons of the Stars and determining the number of their initial contribution points.¡±

    Wei Lai and the other elders smiled bitterly, swallowing the things they wanted to argue.

    They wondered what secret that drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence held that made the grand elder favor him so much.

    ¡°Since the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python have connections to him, and they¡¯re geographically close to the Domain of the Falling Stars, we¡¯ll include them in Nie Tian¡¯s map and make them his subordinate domains.¡± Mo Heng pondered in silence for a few seconds before adding, ¡°Go talk to the Void Spirit Society and tell them this is my decision.¡±

    Wei Lai and the other elders grew increasingly confused.

    Yan Zhan couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What was so special about his Blood Essence that made you willing to do so much for him?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not time to tell you about it yet.¡± Mo Heng waved slightly, signaling them to leave. ¡°I want to be alone now.¡±

    Even though Wei Lai and the other elders were still baffled, they left after he said these words.

    After they left the hall, Mo Heng took out the vessel that contained Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and fixed it with an obsessed, deep look.

    As he did, tears rolled uncontrobly down his cheeks.

 Chapter 923: Rewards

    In Fragmentary Star City, subordinates of the other six Sons of the Starsined aloud in their respective lofty stone pavilions.

    ¡°What?! The Vast Heaven Pavilion hasn¡¯t been assigned to anyone for so many years, but now they gave it to him?!¡±

    ¡°He was given a hundred thousand initial contribution points?!¡±

    ¡°Our sect talked to the Void Spirit Society and put the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python in his name?!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the result of his assessment anyways? Why does the grand elder favor him so much?¡±

    ¡°Howe our master wasn¡¯t rewarded so generously when he became a Son of the Stars?!¡±

    Most of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples hadn¡¯t received word of Nie Tian passing the assessment and being bestowed a Star Medallion, the Vast Heaven Pavilion, a hundred thousand contribution points, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python.

    However, the subordinates of the six Sons of the Stars had already gained those pieces of shocking information through their respective secret means.

    After moments of astonishment and venting their discontent, they left through the teleportation portals in the stone pavilions that had been assigned to the Sons of the Stars to report this matter to their masters.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to inform our master of this now!¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars will probably be our master¡¯s strong opponent in the future!¡±

    ¡°Our sect is attaching too much importance to him.¡±

    ...

    The Vast Heaven Pavilion was more than a hundred meters high, with arge-scale inter-domain teleportation portal in the middle of its ground floor hall.

    The teleportation portal hadn¡¯t been used in many years. There weren¡¯t even any spatial power materials left at its bottom.

    At this moment, a Qi warrior of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce who was well-versed in spatial magics was standing inside the portal, adjusting its spell formation and branding it with the coordinates for the Realm of Shattered Earth and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    New details were being added to the spatial spell formation. After the adjustment wasplete, Nie Tian would be able to teleport to the Realm of Shattered Earth and the Domain of the Falling Stars directly through it.

    The old man continued tob through the veins of the spell formation standing in the middle of the portal.

    Nie Tian, however, walked from room to room with Huang Jinnan alongside him.

    The Vast Heaven Pavilion had twelve floors, each of which consisted of many empty stone rooms.

    In the future, Nie Tian would be able to turn them into residences for his subordinates and family, cultivation rooms, storage rooms for spiritual materials, and equipment forging rooms.

    The structure of the Vast Heaven Pavilion¡¯s ceiling was very simr to that of the secret pces in the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Star power could be channeled through its ceiling from the boundless starry river, and turned into falling bits of starlight.

    Aside from that, the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Vast Heaven Pavilion was much richer than in other ces in Fragmentary Star City.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that they actually gave you the Vast Heaven Pavilion,¡± Huang Jinnan marveled as he strolled the floors of the Vast Heaven Pavilion with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Even I have heard something about this pavilion. It seems to have been unupied since before I became a Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect. Over the years, many Sons of the Stars and elders of your sect, who had made significant contributions and gained millions of contribution points, asked for it, but were refused.

    ¡°But you... You¡¯ve just be a Son of the Stars, and yet they gave the Vast Heaven Pavilion to you. People will definitely be jealous.¡±

    With these words, Huang Jinnan paused briefly. His eyes shone with golden light as he asked, ¡°What on earth was the result of your assessment? Why did that old entric Mo Heng attach such importance to you?¡±

    With a confused look on his face, Nie Tian answered, ¡°All I did was give them a drop of my Blood Essence and wait outside the hall. It didn¡¯t take very long before Wei Lai and the other elders walked out. After that, they gave me the Star Medallion, and told me that I¡¯d been given the Vast Heaven Pavilion and a hundred thousand initial contribution points. Also, no one will touch the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries from now on, and I¡¯ll be allowed to include them in my map through my own means.¡±

    Huang Jinnan sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°You¡¯re such a lucky guy.¡±

    While the two of them spoke in low voices, thete Void domain spatial power expert on the ground floor cleared his throat and called out, ¡°The spell formation has been readjusted. You¡¯ll be able to teleport to the Realm of Shattered Earth and the Domain of the Falling Stars through it from now on.¡±

    Standing on the top floor, Nie Tian gazed down the raise in the middle and expressed his gratitude.

    ¡°You¡¯re a Son of the Stars. Your Star Medallion holds enough contribution points for me to connect this teleportation portal to the inter-domain teleportation portals in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡± The man sounded neither humble nor arrogant. ¡°It¡¯ll cost fifty thousand contribution points to establish each connection. You can take some time to think about it.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°It¡¯ll take fifty thousand contribution points to connect one domain to the Vast Heaven Pavilion alone?!¡±

    The old man nodded, smiling.

    ¡°If you need my services,e find me. My name is Kan Zhisheng.¡± With these words, he turned around and left.

    Huang Jinnan smiled. ¡°Fifty thousand contribution points to establish a connection to another domain is actually a fair charge. After all, it¡¯s not easy to find people who can do this kind of work, and they¡¯ll have to gather all of the necessary materials themselves and spend time working on it.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned, not saying a word.

    At this point, he had already learned the importance of his contribution points.

    Even though he was a Son of the Stars, he would have to rely on his contribution points to trade for spiritual tools, spiritual materials, and medicinal pills from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Aside from the records in the Records Pavilion, he would have to earn all of his other resources himself.

    With a hundred thousand contribution points, he would be able to obtain two Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools from the Tools Pavilion, or three if the spiritual tools weren¡¯t in optimal condition.

    With the same amount of contribution points, he would be able to obtain arge number of medicinal pills that would help with his cultivation from the Pills Pavilion.

    The Materials Pavilion was stocked with all kinds of spiritual materials, including high grade spirit beast meat. A hundred thousand contribution points would get him a whole lot of them.

    He pondered for a brief moment, and then decided not to spend his contribution points on connecting this ce to the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After all, he could still turn to Zhao Shanling for that.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the news of you bing the seventh Son of the Stars spreads across the entire starry river,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°By that time, not only will the Qi warriors from the powerful human domains learn your name, but the outsiders will too.

    ¡°You¡¯ll receive attention from all over the starry river.¡±

    Then, he smiled. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going back to my sect now, but I¡¯m nning to explore another domain. Are you interested?¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°You want me to explore it with you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, my people found an unimed domain where they detected living beings,¡± Huang Jinnan answered. ¡°Even though we haven¡¯t built a teleportation portal there yet, we¡¯re certain that domain is rich in cultivation resources. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll be of great help if you want to build up your own force.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve got to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars and check on the situation in the Domain of Heaven Python first.¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°I see. Take your time. I also need time to get certain things done anyways.¡±

    Afterwards, Huang Jinnan left and returned to the guest residence the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had assigned to him. There, he reconvened with his subordinates and returned to the Five Elements Sect.

    After he left, Nie Tian thought he would take a trip back to the Domain of the Falling Stars first, and then to the Domain of Heaven Python to see if the outsider invasion had been properly taken care of.

    The Vast Heaven Pavilion belonged to him now, and thatrge-scale inter-domain teleportation portal had been readjusted, enabling him to teleport back to the pce in the Domain of the Falling Stars without any transits.

    Soon, the spell formation was activated. Momentster, he appeared in the pce in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    To his surprise, the gate to the pce, which could only be opened by him, was wide open.

    Standing in the middle of the hall, he could see Qi Bailu and the other experts, who were gathered by the teleportation portal in front of the pce.

    rmed by the spatial fluctuations emanating from the teleportation portal, Dong Li walked out of one of the stone rooms.

    At her heels was a pitch-ck turtle.

    It seemed to be rather happy to see him, and ran excitedly towards him.

    WHOOSH!

    Intense dark power and flesh aura came pouring out as the turtle skipped towards him.

    BOOM!

    Hit by the turtle, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but tumble a few steps backwards.

    After assuming a firm foothold again, he discovered that the turtle was rubbing itself against his ankle in a very loving way.

    Nie Tian felt a sense of closeness as well as he looked down at the turtle, as if they were somehow rted.

    At the same time, he was astonished that such a small turtle was actually so heavy and solid that it almost knocked him over.

    ¡°This little thing is what was in that ck egg,¡± Dong Li said with a bright smile on her face. ¡°It¡¯s a ck tortoise, and it was born at the seventh grade.¡±

    ¡°The seventh grade?!¡± Nie Tian eximed, disbelief filling his face.

    He still remembered the vermilion bird he had encountered at the Fortune Wells in the Shatter Battlefield. As powerful Ancientbeasts, vermilion birds were only born at the sixth grade.

    If this ck tortoise was born to be at the seventh grade, then it either belonged to an Ancientbeast species that was even more powerful than the vermilion bird, or it was a hybrid.

    ¡°Hahaha, yeah.¡± Dong Li smiled like a blossoming flower. ¡°But it still has yet to stabilize itself. It¡¯ll need to consume a great amount of spirit beast meat to stabilize at the seventh grade. Small as it is, it already eats several hundred kilos of meat every day.

    ¡°And all of the meat I gave it was taken from fifth or sixth grade spirit beasts. I don¡¯t even know how it can eat so much.¡±

    A smile of mixed emotions appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face.

 Chapter 924: Calamity Lifted

    Nie Tian looked down at the pitch-ck turtle that exuded dark power, and asked with a puzzled face, ¡°What do you know about this ck tortoise?¡±

    The smile gradually faded from Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know much about it either. I only learned its name after a soul connection formed between us. I¡¯ve spent quite a long time studying in the Beast-controlling Sect, reading records of all kinds of spirit beasts, but I¡¯ve never read about this ck tortoise.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    After a moment of pondering, he cast his gaze towards the open stone gate and asked, ¡°What happened to that stone gate?¡±

    ¡°It opened by itself not long ago,¡± Dong Li answered.

    ¡°It opened by itself...?¡± Nie Tian went nk briefly, suspecting Yan Zhan had opened it earlier when he hade to investigate him. ¡°Have you seen anyone while you were here?¡±

    Dong Li shook her head. ¡°No.¡±

    Before he could ask another question, Dong Li asked, ¡°Did you make it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters?¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°I did. I¡¯ve already won their acknowledgment and be the seventh Son of the Stars.¡±

    Overjoyed, Dong Li eximed, ¡°That¡¯s terrific!¡±

    As the two of them spoke, Nie Tian walked out through the open stone gate.

    Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, and many other experts of the Domain of the Falling Stars were still gathered by the teleportation portal that led to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Even Lei Tianqi was among them.

    Everyone¡¯s gazes converged on Nie Tian as soon as he walked through the stone gate.

    Qi Bailu was both nervous and excited as he eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! Has the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce confirmed your status?¡±

    Only if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce confirmed Nie Tian¡¯s status as a Son of the Stars would an actual connection form between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Once they attached themselves to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the outsiders and powerful experts from the neighboring domains would have to think twice before they made any moves against the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would be their strongest reliance, and they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being invaded from time to time.

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Everything went well.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone looked ecstatic, as if they suddenly saw a secure and bright future.

    ¡°Grand Elder Yue Yanxi wishes to see you,¡± Lei Tianqi said.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll pay a visit to the Domain of Heaven Python first, and learn the situation there. After that, I¡¯ll go meet him in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Lei Tianqi bowed and left, as if he was eager to inform the Divine me Sect of Nie Tian¡¯s return, and that he had be the seventh Son of the Stars.

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries...¡± Nie Tian muttered with a concerned look in his eyes. ¡°I suppose everyone else won¡¯t be a problem. But Patriarch Pure Heaven may not be so easy to easy to persuade. He¡¯s currently at the peak of the Void domain, only a step away from the Saint domain. And he¡¯s always been an arrogant and unruly man. I doubt that he¡¯ll agree to be my subordinate.¡±

    Qi Bailu, Zong Zheng, and the other experts heard every word he said.

    Qi Bailu couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Nie Tian, are you saying that you want to make Patriarch Pure Heaven your subordinate?¡±

    With a faint smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has already put the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python under my name. However, they won¡¯t make any arrangements for me. I¡¯ll have to persuade them to be my subordinate domains by myself.¡±

    Upon hearing this, every expert gasped in shock.

    Zong Zheng¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°You¡¯ve just be a Son of the Stars and they gave you three domains?!¡±

    The other experts also eximed in disbelief.

    ¡°Three whole domains!¡±

    ¡°Including their numerous realms and countless cultivation resources?! I can¡¯t believe a Son of the Stars enjoys such a transcendent status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°No wonder they¡¯re one of the most ancient human powers!¡±

    Nie Tian decided to get to business, and thus asked, ¡°Do you know where Zhao Shanling is?¡±

    ¡°He came back soon after you left,¡± Qi Bailu said. ¡°He teleported to the Domain of Heaven Python through this very portal and killed Xing Lifeng from the Xing n. He made adjustments to this teleportation portal so that people could teleport to the Realm of Maelstrom through it.

    ¡°He also told us to keep guarding this portal and destroy it if outsiders or Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python invade through it, lest the Domain of the Falling Stars descend into turmoil.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°So he went there anyways.¡±

    He knew that people from the Void Spirit Society must have already arrived in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    The main purpose of their trip to the Domain of Heaven Python was to capture Zhao Shanling and bring him back to the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters.

    Since Zhao Shanling had returned to the Domain of Heaven Python and killed Xing Lifeng there, he must have caught the attention of those from the Void Spirit Society.

    With this thought in mind, he entered the teleportation portal and said without any hesitation, ¡°Teleport me to the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Qi Bailu and the other experts expressed their desire to go with him.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that,¡± Nie Tian said with a pacifying tone. ¡°This trip to the Domain of Heaven Python should be a safe one. I¡¯m only going there to have a talk with those from the Void Spirit Society. If there are no mishaps, the outsiders will soon withdraw their forces, putting an end to the crisis in the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Confusion spread across everyone¡¯s faces.

    They didn¡¯t know that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had alreadymunicated with the Void Spirit Society.

    Since they had put the Domain of Heaven Python under Nie Tian¡¯s name, it was only natural that they wouldn¡¯t allow outsiders to create havoc and leave it a scar that would take a very long time to heal.

    Without giving them a detailed exnation, Nie Tian entered the teleportation portal, and the spell formation was activated.

    The time it took to teleport him from the Realm of Split Void to the Realm of Maelstrom was much shorter.

    Soon, Nie Tian appeared on the bottom floor of the stone pavilion the Divine Seal Sect had assigned to him in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    As soon as he did, he shrewdly sensed that there were quite a few flesh auras in the Realm of Maelstrom now.

    Since the flesh auras were all rather weak, it meant human cultivators were returning to the Realm of Maelstrom, which had previously been abandoned.

    A Profound realm Qi warrior dressed in Divine Seal Sect garments seemed to be waiting by the portal. Upon seeing Nie Tian, his eyes lit up as he hastily asked, ¡°Are you Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Overjoyed, the man shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Nie Tian is here!¡±

    In the next moment, Meng Li flew out of the highest stone pavilion that belonged to the Divine Seal Sect.

    Wild with joy, Meng Li eximed, ¡°You¡¯re finally here, Nie Tian! How did it go? Did you make it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Luckily, I did. I¡¯m officially the seventh Son of the Stars now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrific!¡± Meng Li eximed in high spirits. ¡°That Zhao Shanling, who, like you, is also from the Domain of the Falling Stars, killed Xing Lifeng in the Realm of Brown Clouds seven days ago with the help of his peculiar spatial spiritual tool and spell formation.

    ¡°But after that, some foreign Qi warriors had their eyes on him.

    ¡°They seem to be spatial power experts as well, and they¡¯re now searching for Zhao Shanling everywhere.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Nie Tian realized that the foreign Qi warriors Meng Li was talking about were disciples of the Void Spirit Society.

    What surprised him was that Zhao Shanling had actually managed to kill Xing Lifeng.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation in the Domain of Heaven Python?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling was well-versed in all kinds of spatial magics and had the Voidspirit Pagoda in his hand. If he drifted about in the starry river, those from the Voidspirit Pagoda would have a hard time finding him.

    What he worried about was that the outsiders might continue to devastate the Domain of Heaven Python.

    The Domain of Heaven Python was now his to take. Since the Divine Seal Sect, the most powerful local sect, had expressed their desire to be his subordinate, the Domain of Heaven Python could be considered a part of his map already.

    If the outsiders continued to sack its realms and massacre its people, it would be a great loss to him as well.

    ¡°The outsiders somehow withdrew their forces not long ago,¡± Meng Li said. ¡°Their ancient starships sailed out of our domain soon after those foreign Qi warriors arrived. Before that, our headquarters in the Realm of Divine Seal had been on the verge of being breached under the Demons and Phantasms¡¯ joint attack. But just as we were about to give up, they simply retreated.¡±

    Nie Tian went on to ask about the exact time of the outsiders¡¯ retreat, and realized that it happened soon after his talk with Wei Lai in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    Therefore, he was convinced that the outsiders¡¯ retreat was the result of Wei Lai¡¯smunication with the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation with the Golden Vast Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Meng Li sighed. ¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect suffered terrible losses. They¡¯re the biggest victims of this outsider invasion. But like us, the Golden Vast Sect only lost a few of their subordinate realms to the outsiders. Their headquarters didn¡¯t fall in waves of fierce attacks. They¡¯ve tided the crisis over and preserved their power.¡±

    ¡°Is there any word of my senior martial sister?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yes, there is. She appeared in the Realm of Brown Clouds when Zhao Shanling killed Xing Lifeng.¡± With these words, Meng Li suddenly lowered his voice. ¡°I received word that the foreign Qi warriors are paying close attention to her as well. However, she¡¯s even harder to trace than Zhao Shanling. None of them seem to have found any trace of her.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief.

    ¡°Would you wait a moment while I inform our sectmaster of your arrival?¡± Meng Li asked solemnly. ¡°The Golden Vast Sect wille to see you as well. We suspected that the outsiders¡¯ withdrawal had something to do with you. Is that correct?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t deny it.

    Then, Meng Li left in a hurry to deliver the information.

    A few hourster, the sectmasters of the Divine Seal Sect and the Golden Vast Sect arrived in the Realm of Maelstrom, along with the Saint domain expert from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect who had been severely injured by a Bonebrute grand patriarch.

 Chapter 925: Refusals

    In the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Jing Feiyang, the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, Zhai Mingde, the sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect, and Quan Zixuan, the sectmaster of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, were gathered in a spacious hall, with a handful of Void domain experts standing behind each of them.

    The three of them were all at the early Saint domain.

    However,pared to the other two, Quan Zixuan¡¯s aura seemed somewhat weaker.

    He had vanishedpletely since he had been severely injured by a ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch. No one had known where he had been.

    He hadn¡¯t shown up the entire time when the outsiders had devastated the Domain of Heaven Python. Even their headquarters had fallen into the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect had ended up suffering the greatest losses from this outsider invasion.

    Only when the outsiders had withdrawn their forces had he returned to their headquarters. However, the spiritual materials and medicinal pills, along with all of the valuables they had umted over thousands of years, had already been looted by the outsiders.

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s fame suffered a drastic decline. As the sectmaster, Quan Zixuan even had trouble holding onto his early Saint domain cultivation base.

    Later, Nie Tian had returned to the Realm of Maelstrom. After Meng Li had informed all parties that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had already put the Domain of Heaven Python under the name of the seventh Son of the Stars, he had alsoe to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    At this moment, Jing Feiyang was exining the situation to everyone present.

    However, before he could finish, Quan Zixuan interrupted him.

    With an unpleasant look in his eyes, he stared at Nie Tian and said, ¡°I have some questions that I hope you can answer for us.¡±

    ¡°Please, senior,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Before his return, he had already gained an overall understanding of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s rules through Huang Jinnan and Tao Jin.

    Even though the Sons of the Stars enjoyed very special statuses in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, they wouldn¡¯t receive much help from their sect as they built up their strength. Instead of making use of the sect¡¯s resources, they would have to rely on themselves for the most part.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce viewed the Sons of the Stars as their future sectmasters, so they wouldn¡¯t cultivate them in a greenhouse and provide them with extra care.

    It was also for this reason that they wouldn¡¯t arrange for powerful experts to help him win the allegiance of the major powers in the Domain of Heaven Python or the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had only spread word of them assigning the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to Nie Tian so that the powerful domains in their surroundings would keep their hands off them.

    Many outsider forces would also think twice before invading these domains from now on.

    However, Nie Tian would have to rely on himself to persuade the major sects in these two domains to be his subordinates.

    Winning those sects over with his personal charisma after the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had eliminated the exterior obstructions for him would also be a testament to his abilities.

    If he failed to bring the two domains to heel after the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadid the groundwork for him, it would be a great loss of face.

    On the other hand, Jing Feiyang, Zhai Mingde, and Quan Zixuan were all early Saint domain experts.

    If he could win them over, not only would it prove his personal influence and charisma, but his reputation in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would also rise to a whole new level.

    Therefore, Nie Tian didn¡¯t put on airs when facing these experts. Instead, he behaved rather modestly.

    ¡°There¡¯s a girl named Pei Qiqi and a man named Zhao Shanling,¡± Quan Zixuan said with anger in his eyes. ¡°Are they from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Calm andposed, Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Quan Zixuan did his utmost to suppress his anger as he asked, ¡°How is your rtionship with them?¡±

    ¡°Very good¡± Nie Tian answered, looking in Quan Zixuan¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Good! Very good!¡± Quan Zixuan said with a cold smile. ¡°I¡¯ve received word that this outsider invasion had a lot to do with the two of them! That girl named Pei Qiqi seems to have obtained something very powerful from the Shatter Battlefield. The outsiders were afraid that it would end up in the Void Spirit Society¡¯s hands, and thus invaded our domain to take that thing.

    ¡°As for Zhao Shanling, he angered the Void Spirit Society and told them that he was from the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°The two of them were the main reason why our domain had to go through this cmity!¡±

    With these words, Quan Zixuan took a deep breath, grief filling his face.

    ¡°Because of them, our headquarters was breached, and thousands of our disciples were butchered by Bonebrutes. Even the cultivation resources we spent thousands of years umting are now in those Bonebrutes¡¯ hands. Many of our subordinate realms were plunged intoplete chaos. Many of our subordinate forces were wiped out, and had their bodies shipped to the Bonebrutes¡¯ burial grounds!

    ¡°It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that our sect and those that clung to us went through hell because of those two!¡±

    Every word that came out of Quan Zixuan¡¯s mouth was as cold as ice. ¡°If you weren¡¯t a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I wouldn¡¯t even let you off simply because of your close rtionship with them!

    ¡°Now you want my sect to swear allegiance to you and be your subordinate force?!

    ¡°Quit dreaming!!¡±

    With these words, Quan Zixuan sprung to his feet and stormed out of the spacious hall with the only remaining powerful experts of his sect.

    Nie Tian frowned deeply.

    Seeing this, Jing Feiyang cleared his throat and turned to look at Zhai Mingde from the Golden Vast Sect with a forced smile. ¡°Brother Zhai...¡±

    Zhai Mingde shook his head slightly and sighed. ¡°Even though Quan Zixuan¡¯s words were a bit harsh, he was actually stating the truth. That Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling were the main cause of this outsider invasion. Because of them, many of our realms fell into the outsiders¡¯ hands. Even our headquarters barely survived the Fiends¡¯ extended siege.

    ¡°Many of our subordinate forces were obliterated by the outsiders.

    ¡°In this situation, if we choose to follow the seventh Son of the Stars, not only will I have failed my people, but I¡¯ll also hate myself for it.¡±

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said with a somewhat apologetic expression, ¡°The Golden Vast Sect decides to stay independent.¡±

    With these words, he also rose to his feet and left the pce hall with Wu Yun and the other experts from the Golden Vast Sect.

    All of a sudden, experts from the Divine Seal Sect became the only ones that were still in the hall.

    Looking rather embarrassed, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°Our sect has already reached a consensus to follow you. It¡¯s just that if the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect refuse to do so, the Domain of Heaven Python won¡¯t truly be yours...¡±

    The Divine Seal Sect hadn¡¯t suffered irreparable losses in this cmity, and Duan Shihu, who they viewed as their future, was very close to Nie Tian.

    Besides, back when Jing Feiyang had realized that they wouldn¡¯t be able to survive this outsider invasion just by relying on themselves, he had already gotten word to Nie Tian through Jing Rou and Duan Shihu, saying that as long as Nie Tian could save the Domain of Heaven Python from the outsiders, the Divine Seal Sect would be willing to be his subordinate sect.

    Eyebrows furrowed, Meng Li said in a low voice, ¡°In fact, we talked to the Golden Vast Sect when their headquarters suffered the Fiends¡¯ unceasing attack, and they agreed to follow you as well if you could get help from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. But for some reason, they suddenly learned everything about Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling. After the outsiders withdrew their forces, they went back on their word.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s weird indeed,¡± Duan Shihu chimed in. ¡°We don¡¯t even know that much about Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling.¡±

    With a concerned look in her eyes, Jing Rou said, ¡°The way I see it, some external force must be meddling in this.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°External force?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps someone or some force doesn¡¯t want you to take over the Domain of Heaven Python so they¡¯ve deliberately created obstacles for you.¡± Jing Rou put it more inly. ¡°If the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and Golden Vast Sect refuse to follow you, even if you have the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s permission, you won¡¯t truly own the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    After a short pause, she added, ¡°I suspect the same thing might have happened in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries as well.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face gradually dropped as he also sensed something fishy about it.

    <i>¡°Could it be the Void Spirit Society? They learned that Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi came from the Domain of the Falling Stars, so they did this to undermine me?¡±</i> While he was carried away in thought, more bad news came and interrupted him.

    Yue Yanxi from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries got word to him that the five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had also received word that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had assigned their domain to him.

    The Pure Heaven Sect and the Trisword Sect had already made it clear that they wouldn¡¯t follow Nie Tian.

    The Trisword Sect had profound connections to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. It didn¡¯t surprise Nie Tian that they made such a decision after Quan Zixuan¡¯s strong refusal.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven from the Pure Heaven Sect was arrogant and unruly. He had been doing whatever he wished in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It was understandable that he wouldn¡¯t submit.

    Meanwhile, the Pure Heaven Sect was the most powerful sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. If Nie Tian didn¡¯t have them on his side, even though he had the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s permission, he wouldn¡¯t be able to call himself the owner of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries without blushing.

    <i>¡°The Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, the Pure Heaven Sect, and the Trisword Sect... All of these sects have made their stance clear and spread word of their decision...¡± </i>Nie Tian sighed inwardly.

 Chapter 926: Heavy Pressure

    It was actually a great gamble for Qi warrior sects to choose Sons of the Stars to follow.

    As powerful as Jing Feiyang, the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect was, he would inevitably face all kinds of tricky tasks on his extended path of cultivation, including spiritual incantations, cultivation resources, and external threats.

    If he chose to attach his sect to a Son of the Stars, and the Son of the Stars built himself up fast enough, then he would be able to obtain more advanced incantations and cultivation resources from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. When the Son of the Stars rose to a certain level, he would be able to help him take care of troublesome issues.

    Many exquisite incantations and spiritual materials that would benefit Saint domain experts could only be found in ancient human powers like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Only after the strength of the Son of the Stars rose to a certain extent would he be able to protect the Domain of Heaven Python from all external threats.

    Of course, all of this was built on the precondition that said Son of the Stars had such abilities.

    Even for Sons of the Stars, their talent varied greatly. Only one of them would be able to stand at the peak and be the Lord of the Stars.

    It was even possible for Sons of the Stars to die at young ages.

    If a sect put their money on a Son of the Stars who eventually became the Lord of the Stars, then all of his subordinate forces would benefit from it.

    For example, there had been an Elementary grade domain who had sworn allegiance to the current Lord of the Stars when he had just be a Son of the Stars.

    With his help, that Elementary grade domain had already grown into a Premium grade domain. Its area had expanded by more than ten times.

    Those who had made this gamble had made rapid advances in their cultivation. Many had entered the Saint domain from the Void domain, and be the most reliable lieutenants of the current Lord of the Stars.

    Meanwhile, some domains had put their money on Sons of the Stars who had died prematurely.

    After the deaths of those Sons of the Stars, those domains were gobbled up by other Sons of the Stars. Not only did their strength not improve, but they actually entered a decline.

    Therefore, it was a great gamble to choose Sons of the Stars.

    If they won, they would benefit in all aspects. Their domains would expand. Their sects would rise to prominence. Even their own cultivation bases would soar into the sky.

    But if they lost, they would most likely be gobbled up by other Sons of the Stars, lose all attention, and enter a prolonged decline.

    When a newborn Son of the Stars like Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t risen to a certain level, wanted to form and build up his own force, they would have to rely on their personal charisma to convince people of their unlimited potential, and the fact that even if he didn¡¯t get to be the next Lord of the Stars, he would be able to rule over arge area in the starry river.

    Nie Tian had a headache over the fact that the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, the Pure Heaven Sect, and the Trisword Sect had chosen to remain independent.

    If these four major powers refused to swear allegiance to him, even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had put the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries under his name, he had nothing but a name as their owner.

    Soon, rumors of new discoveries spread in these two domains.

    Rumor had it that through assessment, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had learned that Nie Tian practiced multiple powers simultaneously; not only did he practice star power, but he also practiced wood power and me power, and had formed their respective cores.

    This meant that it wasn¡¯t likely that Nie Tian would be able to give up me power and wood power.

    However, humans had limited lifespans. Practicing multiple powers simultaneously meant that the speed at which he made progress in cultivation would be much slower than the speed of those who only practiced star power.

    As the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian had started thetest.

    Now that he also practiced me power and wood power, many came to the conclusion that he would never be able to reach the peak of star power cultivation and enter the God domain.

    If this didn¡¯t change, let alone bing the next Lord of the Stars, he would most likely be the weakest Son of the Stars ever, and reach the end of his lifespan and die shortly.

    Such rumors spread like weeds in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Because of this, even the Divine Seal Sect, who had openly expressed their determination to follow Nie Tian, started to have different voices among them. Some imed that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation talent wasn¡¯t high enough for him to rise to prominence, and that there was a good chance that he would die prematurely.

    Over in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Chu n, the Guan n, and the Jian n, who had originally decided to follow Nie Tian, also started to have second thoughts.

    Only the Divine me Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect, who had special connections to Nie Tian, hadn¡¯t changed their minds.

    The results of Nie Tian¡¯s assessment in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce should have been a secret, though it wasn¡¯t an important one. Besides, there was a significant distance between the Realm of Fragmentary Star and these two domains. It was surprising that word of it traveled so fast.

    Jing Feiyang and many others from the Divine Seal Sect suspected that someone had done this to undermine Nie Tian.

    If there were plenty of opposing voices in these two domains after the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had assigned them to him, then it would prove that he wasn¡¯t apetent Son of the Stars.

    Before long, more news came from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    They were from the Divine me Sect.

    ording to them, Fan Kai and his people had run into an ancient starship of the Heavenly Ice Sect on their way to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng, Lei Zhenyu, and the others had all been imprisoned and brought back to the Heavenly Ice Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    It was known that Fan Kai and those with him were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and that they had pledged themselves to Nie Tian before entering the Shatter Battlefield.

    Almost everyone knew that Fan Kai was a subordinate of Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars.

    By imprisoning them in their headquarters, those Qi warriors from the Domain of Endless Snow were none other than pping his face.

    However, soon after he learned about this unexpected event, word of it soon spread to the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, as if someone were determined to make him lose face.

    ¡°The Heavenly Ice Sect from the Domain of Endless Snow!¡± Nie Tian said with a cold face.

    He still remembered being ambushed by a group of Qi warriors from the Domain of Endless Snow when he had first entered the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Those Qi warriors had been catty and ruthless, but since they hadn¡¯t been strong enough, Nie Tian and the girls had killed them all.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that he would face more provocation from the Heavenly Ice Sect after returning from the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°This is very strange...¡± Jing Feiyang said with furrowed brow. ¡°The Domain of Endless Snow is not far from the Domain of Heaven Python. They must have paid close attention to our domain when we were invaded by outsiders, and things became messy. As word of you spread across the Domain of Heaven Python, people from the Heavenly Ice Sect should have learned about you too.

    ¡°So if they knew that Fan Kai and the others were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, which the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had long since given to you, howe they still dared to imprison your people?

    ¡°Like us, the Domain of Endless Snow is independent, without any ancient powers at their back. Normally speaking, they would never have the audacity to offend someone like you.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim as he remained silent.

    Jing Feiyang let out a sigh and added, ¡°I have a strong feeling that someone has been undermining your reputation and spirits the whole time. Everyone knows that Fan Kai and those with him are your people. Now, they¡¯ve been imprisoned by the Heavenly Ice Sect. If you don¡¯t free them soon, the Jian n, the Guan n, and the Chu n, who are currently on the fence, will most likely choose to stay independent.

    ¡°Even many in my sect had worries after learning that you practice multiple powers simultaneously, and counseled reconsideration.

    ¡°They also heard that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wouldn¡¯t send powerful experts to help newborn Sons of the Stars straighten things out.

    ¡°So they thought that even if we chose to stay independent like the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect did, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wouldn¡¯t force us.

    ¡°Things might get out of control if you don¡¯t free Fan Kai and the others soon.

    ¡°Patriarch Snowy Peak from the Heavenly Ice Sect is at the middle Saint domain, which is higher than my cultivation base. Aside from him, there¡¯s another in the Heavenly Ice Sect who¡¯s at the early Saint domain.

    ¡°Even if the four Saint domain experts of our domain teamed up against the Heavenly Ice Sect, we might not be able to win, much less when two of us have refused to follow you.¡±

    Jing Feiyang seemed deeply worried, worried for Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian also had a feeling that an invisible hand had been creating trouble for him, cracking his morale down, and thwarting him taking over the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python.

    <i>¡°Who might it be? People from the Void Spirit Society, or someone from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±</i>

 Chapter 927: Moving Forward

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t expected that he woulde under so much pressure after bing the seventh Son of the Stars.

    Before, he had been all alone. He hadn¡¯t had so many worries or scruples.

    Now all of a sudden, powerful sects like the Divine Seal Sect, the Divine me Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect had chosen to attach themselves to him, and the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python had been put under his name. He suddenly felt unprecedented pressure on his shoulders.

    Not just that, but someone had been undermining him and trying to prevent him from growing as a Son of the Stars and building up his prestige.

    ¡°No matter what, you¡¯ve got to make a trip to the Domain of Endless Snow,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a solemn tone. ¡°No matter how impudent they are, since you¡¯re a Son of the Stars, they wouldn¡¯t dare to make any moves against you. You¡¯d better go have a talk with Patriarch Snowy Peak of the Heavenly Ice Sect, and try your best to bring Fan Kai and the others back alive. If you don¡¯t go, people will assume that you¡¯re afraid of the Heavenly Ice Sect, and that you don¡¯t care about the lives of your subordinates. If this happens, those ns and sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries will distance themselves from you even more.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered the matter, and soon made his decision. ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Domain of Endless Snow.¡±

    After Xing Lifeng¡¯s death, people from the Void Spirit Society had been focused on searching for Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi. Therefore, they hadn¡¯t approached him yet.

    In fact, it was good news that even the powerful experts from the Void Spirit Society couldn¡¯t track the two of them down.

    From the look of it, they would be safe for the time being.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Domain of Endless Snow with you,¡± Jing Feiyang said, looking as if he already had a n in mind. ¡°But I¡¯ll hide myself the whole trip. I believe I¡¯ll be able to learn the truth by doing this.¡±

    With a surprised expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What truth?¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes shone with the light of wisdom as he said, ¡°I suspect that someone will ambush you on your way to the Domain of Endless Snow. If someone is really bent on undermining you, he might arrange for rogue cultivators or Hunters with unknown origins to ambush you. Those who have established their names or have outstanding power will most likely be apprehensive about your status, and refuse to do such a reckless thing.

    ¡°However, Hunters drift about in the starry river without a set residence. They can be easily manipted to make such a move.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a rare thing that they rob the ancient starships that travel among different domains.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly upon hearing this.

    Afterwards, Jing Feiyang made secret arrangements for everything for this trip.

    Duan Shihu said that he would escort Nie Tian to the Domain of Endless Snow, and Jing Rou after him.

    Jing Feiyang then secretly arranged for his wife to take over the Divine Seal Sect while he was away. Without bringing a single Void domain expert, he left for the Domain of Endless Snow with Nie Tian, Duan Shihu, and Jing Rou, on their private ancient starship.

    As they did, Jing Feiyang hid within the ancient starship, while spreading word that he was in secluded cultivation.

    The ancient starship headed towards the Domain of Endless Snow at full speed.

    As Jing Feiyang had instructed, the Divine Seal Sect spread word of this trip Nie Tian was making.

    Jing Rou, who seemed to have inherited her father¡¯s sharp mind, chimed in. ¡°Normally speaking, even if the Golden Vast Sect and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect had opinions about you, they wouldn¡¯t make any moves against you. They¡¯re too big targets. If they do, they¡¯ll easily get exposed. They¡¯re not as stupid as to make you their enemy, no matter how discontent they are with you.

    ¡°However, some rogue cultivators may also hold you and your friends ountable for the recent outsider invasion.

    ¡°As you know, many of our realms fell. The outsiders ughtered countless people, perhaps including their friends and family. It¡¯s already widespread news that Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling from the Domain of the Falling Stars were the direct cause of the cmity in our domain. If they can¡¯t find Zhao Shanling or Pei Qiqi, they may very well seek ways to vent their anger on you.

    ¡°Aside from them, the people who have been undermining you might have made deals with Hunters who wander in the starry river to ambush you.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this trip won¡¯t be a safe one.¡±

    Jing Rou and Duan Shihu went on and analyzed the situation for Nie Tian, while Jing Feiyang hid his aurapletely under the deck.

    Even Nie Tian couldn¡¯t capture a shred of his aura with the help of his bloodline power.

    The ancient starship, which every major force from the Domain of Heaven Python knew belonged to Duan Shihu and Jing Rou, traveled through the silent starry river.

    Both overtly and covertly, many forces and rogue cultivators paid close attention to it.

    The trip turned out to be rather smooth.

    After all, their ancient starship had the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s sigil on it. Those who harbored evil ideas had to take the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s strength and Nie Tian¡¯s status as a Son of the Stars into consideration, and thus didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    During this time, Nie Tian took the opportunity to practice the True me Incantation with the Heavenme Crystal he had obtained from the Divine Seal Sect.

    The first me incantation his me power sub-soul had learned on its own was the True me Incantation.

    The True me Incantation allowed its users to channel Heavenme Essence into their me power cores, where it would be refined and used to temper them.

    The True me Incantation seemed rather straightforward, and he didn¡¯t encounter much trouble practicing it. As he consumed an increasinglyrge amount of Heavenme Crystals, his me power core became more refined, and came to hold more Heavenme Essence.

    While he practiced the True me Incantation, his me power sub-soul in his sea of awareness derived new enlightenment of ming Finger Swords.

    In a secret room inside the ancient starship, Nie Tian eximed inwardly, ¡°ming Finger Swords!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    His me power sub-soul immediately summoned me power by relying on its seamless connection to his me power core in his spiritual sea. zing me power poured out of his me power core and rushed through his arm meridians like rivers of mes.

    FZZZ!

    Tiny crimson sparks suddenly flew from Nie Tian¡¯s fingertips.

    Immediately afterwards, a small sword of mes came to form at the tip of every finger. Each ming sword looked as if it had been forged from Heavenme Crystals.

    Since they were only the size of his fingers, they didn¡¯t seem very intimidating.

    However, as soon as they came to form, Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that his me power core had suddenly been drained of half its me power!

    ording to the descriptions of ming Finger Swords, which was an Earth grade incantation, casters with profound cultivation bases would be able to form ming swords that were several meters long at the tips of their fingers, with which they would be able to pierce through flesh and bone, and burn living beings to ashes.

    PUFF!

    The small ming sword at the tip of his left index finger suddenly shot out and pierced into the solid wall.

    A small hole instantly appeared in the wall, with sparks flickering inside.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before taking the bone of a sixth grade spirit beast from within his ring of holding.

    PUFF!

    Another ming sword left his middle finger and shot into the thick bone.

    The bone instantly caught fire and turned ck. Heavenme Essence could be seen burning fiercely in the mes as the bone was soon reduced to ashes, along with every bit of residual flesh power within it.

    ¡°Its destructive force is quite impressive.¡± Nie Tian muttered as he withdrew from his cultivation state. However, as soon as he did, his brow furrowed.

    For some reason, he had a feeling that a set of eyes was lurking somewhere in the starry river and looking closely at him.

    SHEW!

    Jing Feiyang suddenly rushed into his secret room and fixed him with an astonished gaze. ¡°Do you feel like you¡¯re being examined by something, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, I do, but I thought it was my misconception.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not!¡± Jing Feiyang said with a nervous look on his face. ¡°This is strange. The incantations you were practicing aren¡¯t that special. Don¡¯t tell me that that thing has sensed something special? It shouldn¡¯t be. Things like this haven¡¯t happened in hundreds of years.¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded. ¡°What in the world are you talking about, Senior Jing?¡±

    Brow furrowed, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°Now, we¡¯re out of the Domain of Heaven Python, and heading towards the Domain of Endless Snow. However, there used to be another domain between the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Endless Snow. It was called the Domain of me¡¯s End, and the Qi warriors who founded the Divine me Sect were originally from there.

    ¡°Do you know how the Divine me Sect got its name?¡±

    ¡°How?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Well... about seven thousand years ago, a burning meteor flew into the Domain of me¡¯s End. It brought a sea of mes that quickly engulfed the entire domain, plunging its people into a world of suffering and misery.¡± Jing Feiyang had deep fear in his eyes as he described that cmity. ¡°Many Qi warriors, including Saint domain experts, were burned to death.

    ¡°However, some Qi warriors survived, and reestablished their sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°This sect waster known as the Divine me Sect. They came up with this name because the meteor that had crashed into the Domain of me¡¯s End turned out to have a cluster of mes inside of it, which was a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material called the Divine me.

    ¡°Now, thousands of years have passed, and that burning meteor is still wandering the remains of the Domain of me¡¯s End. It has attacked quite a few passersby who practice special me power incantations and burned them to ashes.¡±

 Chapter 928: Old Shadow Eccentric

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°A cluster of Divine me that is a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material?! And the whole Domain of me¡¯s End was destroyed just because it arrived hidden inside a meteor?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Jing Feiyang said with knitted brow. ¡°It gued every single realm of the Domain of me¡¯s End and killed every soul that lived in them, turning them into dead realms! After that, it just stayed in the Domain of me¡¯s End and never went anywhere, but it¡¯s very intelligent.

    ¡°Once, the head of the me element sect of the Five Elements Sect, an expert at the peak of the God domain, heard about it, and came here in an attempt to capture that cluster of Divine me.

    ¡°However, that cluster of Divine me shrewdly sensed his aura, and hid itself.

    ¡°He scanned each and every realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End, but failed to find it anywhere.

    ¡°After searching for six months, he left empty-handed and frustrated.

    ¡°After that, many other cultivators who practice me power incantations and had confidence in their abilities came to explore this region, hoping to take that cluster of Divine me for themselves.

    ¡°The result was: none of those who were powerful enough to pose a threat to the Divine me were able to find it.

    ¡°Those who weren¡¯t very strong, however, somehow found it, but ended up being burned to death by it.

    ¡°Gradually, fewer and fewer Qi warriors would travel through domains to this ce to seek that cluster of Divine me.

    ¡°However, when cultivators who have powerful me power spiritual tools or spiritual materials on them, or practice special me power incantations, pass through this region, the cluster of Divine me will show up and attack them.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Powerful me power spiritual tools will attract its attention?¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded.

    Nie Tian instantly remembered that the me Dragon Armor was a fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure, which even had the potential to advance to the Immortal grade.

    Its soul was that of a me dragon¡¯s, and its Blood Core was the me dragon¡¯s heart. After he had infused it with his Blood Essence, Bloodline Crystal Chains had magically reappeared in its Blood Core, reviving the me dragon in an unorthodox way.

    Furthermore, the head of the me element sect of the Five Elements Sect had originally forged it for the Daughter of mes, which meant it had been an unearthly treasure since the day it had been born.

    Now that he had infused it with his Blood Essence and life aura, and it had taken it upon itself to absorb a significant amount of earthme essence and earthme crystal strings, it was now more powerful than ever.

    <i>¡°Could it be the me Dragon Armor that rmed that cluster of Divine me?¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself, his brow furrowed. <i>¡°But it¡¯s stored in a sealed ring of holding. Don¡¯t tell me it can even sense it like this!¡±</i>

    Days passed, and their ancient starship continued to sail towards the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    Every once in a while, Nie Tian would examine their surroundings through a curious prismatic crystal inside his cabin.

    He would see dead stars that looked like charred wood from time to time. Those dead stars were bereft of any aura of the living. No grass or trees could be seen. Destion and endless silence was all there was.

    During this time, he felt like he was being watched stealthily a few more times while he practiced the True me Incantation.

    <i>¡°Is that cluster of Divine me really watching me?¡±</i> He grew more and more vignt.

    Another day passed...

    Arge shadow suddenly flew out of a dead star as their ancient starship sailed past it.

    It rose ethereally, and rapidly expanded to cover dozens of kilometers as it approached their ancient starship.

    All of a sudden, an ice-cold voice came from the heart of the shadow. ¡°If you give that Son of the Stars named Nie Tian to me now, I promise that I¡¯ll let the two of you go.¡±

    ¡°Old Shadow entric!¡± Duan Shihu eximed inside his cabin.

    Momentster, Nie Tian left his cabin to meet Duan Shihu and Jing Rou in theirs.

    Floating in front of Jing Rou was a prismatic crystal that reflected the shadow with great rity.

    Jing Feiyang suddenly appeared in the cabin. ¡°This is exactly as I expected! Old Shadow entric is at the early Void domain. As a well-known Hunter, he wanders the starry river among the powerful domains year-round. The fact that he suddenly showed up here proves that there must be someone behind this!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not so easy to deal with...¡± Jing Rou muttered. After a moment of pondering, she turned to Jing Feiyang and added, ¡°Father, I doubt that he¡¯s the only one. If you go fight him now, you¡¯ll be exposed. Then, if other Hunters show upter, they mighte up with strategies that target you.¡±

    Face grim, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°You¡¯re right. If I go take care of him now, I can kill him easily. But I¡¯m worried that he¡¯s only among the first testers. If a handful of the most powerful Hunters team up against meter, even I¡¯ll have a hard time handling them at the same time.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°There are actually Hunters who can pose a threat to you?!¡±

    Jing Feiyang smiled somewhat bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid there are. Of course the truly powerful ones don¡¯t usuallye to domains like the Domain of Heaven Python. But Saint domain Hunters do roam the surrounding areas of the Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of Vast Darkness. Two of them came from the Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of Vast Darkness respectively. They used to be important figures in their domains, but suffered defeats while fighting over the ownership of some realms, and were therefore forced to leave their homes to roam the boundless starry river.

    ¡°Gradually, they became the leaders of a Hunter organization that specializes in plundering the ancient starships that travel between the Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of Vast Darkness.¡±

    ¡°The early Void domain...¡± After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ll go first and see if I can take care of him by myself.¡±

    With these words, he walked out of the cabin onto the deck, where he stood enveloped in a misty, transparent shield.

    Many magical symbols could be seen drifting on the shield, protecting him from the deadly impurities that filled the starry river.

    ¡°Come on out!¡± As he eximed these words, the enormous Bone Blood Demon flew out of his ring of holding andnded on the spacious Ancient starship with a loud crash.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Blend!¡± Like a ma, Nie Tian suddenly rose into the air and stuck to the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest.

    In the next moment, his heart synced with the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart that was under its thick, fleshless ribs.

    Wisps of his life aura quickly formed a seamless bond between him and the Bone Blood Demon. A profound connection was also established between his soul and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s iplete soul.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    His flesh power continued to stream into the Bone Blood Demon as it opened it huge mouth and roared. Then, with a fierce roar, it exploded through the light shield towards the shadow.

    Thest time Nie Tian had used Life Blend, the Bone Blood Demon hadn¡¯t returned to its peak state yet, and his cultivation base had been far lower than where he was now.

    Now, after being nourished by the copious flesh power it had gained from a tremendous amount of spirit beast meat, its strength had reached an unprecedented level, which was roughly equal to that of an early Void domain human expert.

    Adding in the strengthening effect of his extremely refined flesh power, its battle prowess had risen to a whole other level.

    After Life Blend was activated, a flesh power shield formed over the Bone Blood Demon, so that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the deadly impurities while he was exposed in the vast starry river.

    At the same time, as he pumped more of his qi and blood into the Bone Blood Demon, its flesh aura soared, as if it had somehowe to life.

    In the blink of an eye, the enormous Bone Blood Demon shot into the vast shadow, which was Shadow Old entric¡¯s personal domain.

    As soon as it entered, bleak auras came piercing from all directions.

    Feeling a chill all over, Nie Tian summoned power from within his me power core to envelop himself in mes.

    At first nce, he seemed to have burst into mes, embedded in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest.

    The mes instantly drove the chilly feeling away.

    A vague figure let out a soft exmation from the depths of the shadow, as if it were surprised by this.

    Inside a cabin...

    Jing Feiyang, Jing Rou, and Duan Shihu stared unblinkingly at the prismatic crystal. Their expressions flickered as they saw Nie Tian ¡®merge¡¯ with the Bone Blood Demon.

    ¡°Where on earth did Nie Tian¡¯s bloodlinee from?¡± Jing Feiyang asked with a disbelieving expression. ¡°The mighty life force his qi and blood carry seems to contain the primal life aura shared by all living beings. Normally speaking, the richer one¡¯s life aura is, the longer one will be able to live.¡±

    With these words, he conducted a silent and rapt examination of Nie Tian¡¯s aura. All of a sudden, his expression flickered, as if he had discovered something. ¡°Both of you have told me that Nie Tian is a hybrid, but I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s far more special than we thought.

    ¡°No wonder he dares to practice me power and wood power incantations on top of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s profound star power incantations. He must know that his lifespan is far longer than that of humans, and even most hybrids! I¡¯m afraid that even if he doesn¡¯t make another advance in cultivation, he might have ten thousand years of lifespan, or even longer!

    ¡°As long as he can stay safe, he won¡¯t have to worry about running out of his lifespan in the near future!¡±

 Chapter 929: Passing A Tribulation

    Eyes fixed on the crystal in front of her, Jing Rou said with a worried expression, ¡°Father, Nie Tian will be fine, right? He¡¯s a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Should something happen to him, we¡¯ll be in trouble too.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Jing Feiyang said with aposed expression, ¡°He should be fine. If Old Shadow entric really wanted to kill him, he wouldn¡¯t have said so much and demanded that you hand him over. The way I see it, he¡¯s only being paid by someone to bring Nie Tian back alive, so he won¡¯t dare to kill him. Whoever is behind this probably has their apprehensions as well.¡±

    Despite what he said, to be on the safe side, Jing Feiyang unleashed a number of divine seals.

    They flew out of the ancient starship and approached the shadow like a throng of butterflies.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t vest those divine seals with my soul aura, so Old Shadow entric will only assume that you two unleashed them.¡± Jing Feiyang sounded very confident. ¡°But if he dares to make any dangerous moves, those seals alone will be powerful enough to kill him!¡±

    Duan Shihu and Jing Rou seemed somewhat relieved after hearing his words.

    They both understood how terrifyingly powerful Jing Feiyang was as a Saint domain expert. His divine seals could even shatter domains, not to mention Old Shadow entric, who was only at the early Void domain.

    ¡°In fact, as long as I provide Nie Tian with secret assistance, he probably won¡¯t lose,¡± Jing Feiyang added. ¡°His special bloodline seems to have formed a profound connection between him and that puppet of his, raising its battle prowess to a whole new level!

    ¡°As a Son of the Stars, even though he¡¯s only at the early Profound realm, his skills and techniques are surprisingly extraordinary!¡±

    Apparently, Jing Feiyang admired Nie Tian.

    Now that he had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s strength for the first time, he started to realize that he might have made the right decision to attach the Divine Seal Sect to him, this rising star.

    Only secondster, Jing Feiyang gasped softly, a concerned look appearing on his face. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    With the help of the divine seals he had unleashed, he had detected a handful of faint auras behind the vast shadow. Clearly, they belonged to people who were lurking in the dark and paying close attention to the battle between Nie Tian and Old Shadow entric.

    ¡°There are a few other Hunters, who aren¡¯t as strong as Old Shadow entric, hiding in the dark. Someone must be paying them to do this...¡±

    ...

    In the depths of the shadow.

    After activating Life Blend, Nie Tian infused his own qi and blood into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s heart.

    The enormous Bone Blood Demon swung its huge bone arms as it flew at full speed, splitting the shadow.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    An intense, pale-gray death aura poured out of its bony body, diluting the shadow.

    Death power that could blight all living beings rapidly formed a unique field that took up arge area inside the shadow.

    A vague figure soon grew clear, taking the form of a shriveled old man with a hooked nose and a cold face.

    All of a sudden, the old man¡¯s scrawny figure expanded several times over with Nie Tian¡¯s image in the depths of his wide eyes. ¡°Shadow Imprisonment!¡±

    The old man¡¯s hands wove in front of his chest like flying butterflies, forming hand seals that wereplicated and exquisite. Numerous gray lines then appeared in his eyes, rapidly wrapping around Nie Tian¡¯s image like countless ropes.

    In an iparably peculiar way, Nie Tian¡¯s body, which had been embedded in the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, suddenly grew stiff, as if many invisible hands were holding him down.

    The profound flesh power connection between him and the Bone Blood Demon was instantly cut off, therefore breaking Life Blend.

    At the same time, mysterious soul power infiltrated his sea of awareness, as if it was going to imprison his soul as well.

    <i>¡°Come on out, evil spirits!¡± </i>Nie Tian eximed inwardly as he channeled the Spirit Pearl with his true soul.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Five sinister spirits that carried intense auras of hate, fear, despair, rage, and bloodthirst soon floated over Nie Tian¡¯s head like five vicious ghosts.

    Like evil gods, the five of them started to unleash heaven-shaking, earth-shattering negative emotions.

    Like tangible hands, the negative emotions ripped apart the binding forces Old Shadow entric had afflicted him with using his secret magics.

    The shadowy soul power he had used to invade his sea of awareness was instantly expelled as well.

    Thousands of meters away at the heart of the shadow, the scrawny old man let out a muffled groan.

    BOOOOM!

    Nie Tian lifted his arm and threw a punch towards Old Shadow entric.

    Like a marite, the Bone Blood Demon also lifted its huge arm and threw a punch in the air,pletely copying his move.

    A pir of pale-gray light suddenly shot out of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s translucent and sparkling fist, and pierced directly towards Old Shadow entric¡¯s chest.

    As this happened, the shadow, which was Old Shadow entric¡¯s personal domain, gradually fell apart, as if it were being ravaged by a devastating storm.

    The pale-gray light that carried the profound truths of death power rapidly engulfed Old Shadow entric¡¯s shriveled body, causing him to let out agonized whines in the pir of pale-gray light.

    Pieces of flesh were peeled from his body and tossed into the depths of the ice-cold starry river.

    Like ripped cloth, pieces of broken shadow gathered from all directions before fusing into him.

    Old Shadow entric sounded flustered and exasperated as his voice came from within the heart of the broken shadow. ¡°Dammit! Howe this kid¡¯s so powerful? It¡¯s almost impossible to capture him alive!¡±

    Pieces of broken shadow flew in different directions and retrieved pieces of his lost flesh.

    After they flew back to him, he looked like a monster that had been cut to pieces and then sewn back together. A single nce at him made Nie Tian¡¯s scalp go numb.

    However, as this happened, his life force became even stronger than before.

    ¡°This is a losing deal! I have to raise my charges!¡± As he eximed, his body of spliced flesh suddenly flew backwards, enveloped in his broken shadow.

    Just like that, he withdrew after a single exchange, before even bringing out his full force.

    In the blink of an eye, his shadow disappeared into the distance of the dark, ice-cold starry river.

    Nie Tian, who had temporarily merged with the Bone Blood Demon, was dumbfounded.

    He scanned his surroundings with his soul awareness, but failed to capture a shred of Old Shadow entric¡¯s aura. He felt as if the detection range of his soul awareness seemed to be affected by the harsh environment in the starry river.

    In the next moment, he realized that he was consuming a tremendous amount of flesh power by keeping Life Blend activated.

    Then, after he was convinced that Old Shadow entric had left, he deactivated Life Blend.

    SHEW!

    The Bone Blood Demon flew back to the berthed ancient starship, and he leapt back into the shield made of magical symbols.

    <i>¡°It seems that my flesh power isn¡¯t verypatible with the Bone Blood Demon. There¡¯s clearly a conflict between my bloodline power and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s death power that prevents me from disying the true might of Life Blend.¡± </i>As he mulled over the matter, the Bone Blood Demon disappeared into his ring of holding, and he returned to his cabin.

    At the same time...

    Wreathed in a broken shadow, Old Shadow entric withdrew to a dead star that had been charred by the Divine me.

    Several Qi warriors, who were wearing long white robes and white masks, walked out of a pitch-ck hole in the earth.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t keep your word!¡± One of them said with a berating tone.

    ¡°Keep my word?!¡± Old Shadow entric thundered. ¡°When you asked me to help you, you told me that he was at the early Profound realm and he would be easily captured! That¡¯s a load of crap, and you knew it! That kid is stranger than anyone I¡¯ve ever met. That puppet of his actually unleashed the Bonebrute¡¯s bloodline talents and inflicted serious damage on me!

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to pay a heavy price myself if I want to defeat him in battle!

    ¡°Now, if you don¡¯t pay me more, I¡¯m not going back there to capture him for you at such great risk!¡±

    Old Shadow entric seemed infuriated by the fact that he had suffered injuries from a job he had been told would be a piece of cake.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to report to my master about your demand.¡±

    ¡°Sure. Let me know after you figure that out. You¡¯d better be quick though. I¡¯m not making another move against him after they enter the Domain of Endless Snow!¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll let you know.¡±

    ...

    In the ce where Nie Tian and Old Shadow entric had fought.

    After the berthed ancient starship started off and disappeared into the distance, numerous fiery sparks appeared out of nowhere.

    Like spirits of fire, they roamed about, as if to gather the faint flesh power from Nie Tian that hadn¡¯tpletely dissipated.

    Momentster, the numerous sparks converged and morphed into a cluster of glorious mes.

    It floated alone in the dark, bleak starry river, flickering like amp that was both mysterious and intelligent.

    After a short while, as a meteor streaked past, the cluster of mes suddenly fused into it.

    The dashing meteor seemed to be suddenly vested with a soul. Like a streak of ethereal fire, it flew in the direction Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship had left in.

 Chapter 930: The Bloody Despair Brotherhood

    Inside a cabin, Jing Feiyang looked at Nie Tian, who had just returned, and said in a soft voice, ¡°It was the White Rose¡¯s people.¡±

    With a profound magic, he concealed the divine seals he had unleashed, and used them to track Old Shadow entric. Eventually, he saw him meet up with those who were dressed in white robes.

    Jing Rou¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The White Rose?! She¡¯s also at the early Saint domain, isn¡¯t she?!¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded. ¡°It¡¯s indeed a bit tricky now. It¡¯s hard to believe that even the White Rose was bought to do this job.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s the White Rose?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°The White Rose is the nickname of a female Qi warrior from the Domain of Endless Snow,¡± Jing Feiyang exined. ¡°In fact, she was Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s martial sister in the Heavenly Ice Sect. She should have been the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Ice Sect. However, Patriarch Snowy Peak seemed to have set her up during some internal strife, and had her expelled from their sect.

    ¡°So she and some of her faithful followers went wandering in the starry river among different powerful domains, and started leading the lives of Hunters.

    ¡°Any Qi warrior would have to rely on all kinds of precious materials to progress in their cultivation. After being expelled from the Heavenly Ice Sect, which used to be her strong backer, she could only ambush ancient starships that travel between different domains and plunder their valuables to support her own cultivation.

    ¡°Soon, the White Rose became one of the most famous Hunters among the domains in this region.

    ¡°However, the White Rose and her subordinates usually adopt mild measures. Normally speaking, as long as their target starships give up their cultivation resources, they will show them a way out, instead of ughtering them all.

    ¡°The White Rose also has Void domain experts among her subordinates. It seems that the reason why she paid Old Shadow entric to do this job for her, instead of sending one of her own, is because she¡¯s also afraid of your backer, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°The early Saint domain... It¡¯s hard to believe someone with such a high cultivation base would want to lead the life of a Hunter.¡±

    ¡°She had no choice,¡± Jing Feiyang said. ¡°She hadn¡¯t entered the Saint domain when she first descended to the rank of Hunter. She was only at the middle Void domain back then. At that time, the Domain of Endless Snow, the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Vast Darkness, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries all had powerful sects who didn¡¯t want to ruin their rtionship with Patriarch Snowy Peak by epting her.

    ¡°Back then, she wasn¡¯t powerful enough to defy any of these sects.

    ¡°When she lowered herself to be a Hunter and entered the Saint domain with the help of the cultivation resources she had plundered, she was finally strong enough to set up her own sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. However, she had also offended too many people due to her line of business.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, if she actually established her own sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, which is the weakest of the four domains, it would have be a clear target for her enemies.

    ¡°Therefore, she could only remain a Hunter, wander the space between different domains, and make a living by looting cultivation resources.¡±

    Jing Feiyang seemed to be empathetic as he talked about her, as if he felt genuinely sorry for what she had gone through.

    ¡°Luckily for us, it was the White Rose¡¯s people, not the Bloody Despair Brotherhood,¡± Duan Shihu said, looking somewhat relieved. ¡°Back in my hunting days, I only roamed the surroundings of the Domain of Heaven Python. I never dared to hunt in areas between domains. The White Rose has a good name among the Hunters. Back in the day, when I was pursued by the Divine Seal Sect, I even thought of joining her cause.

    ¡°But the Bloody Despair Brotherhood is a whole other story.¡±

    Nie Tian just stood there and listened as the three of them exined about the Hunters. From them, he learned that there were two major Hunter forces in this vicinity: the White Rose and the Bloody Despair Brotherhood.

    The White Rose¡¯s people had certain moral principles. Normally, they wouldn¡¯t take lives after getting the resources they wanted.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the case with the Bloody Despair Brotherhood.

    Not only would they loot all of their targets¡¯ valuables, but they would also kill every single one of them.

    They were cruel and evil people, who were bereft of any moral principles. It was said that they had even made deals with outsiders, including selling the remains of their own kind to Bonebrutes, in exchange for spiritual materials that could be used to build personal domains.

    The human domains in this region had a certain tolerance for the White Rose and her people, but they were all deeply disgusted by the Bloody Despair Brotherhood.

    The three major sects in the Domain of Heaven Python had joined the powerful sects from their neighboring domains in the encircling of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood.

    However, they had repeatedly failed to trap their leader in their operations, resulting in retaliations that were even more ruthless.

    Even among the Hunter organizations, the Bloody Despair Brotherhood had a bad name, and was spit on by other organizations.

    As they spoke, their ancient starship continued to sail at full speed through the domain that had been destroyed by the Divine me, with the Domain of Endless Snow as their destination.

    A few days passed...

    Jing Feiyang, who was sitting in the lotus position, meditating and refining his true soul, suddenly opened his eyes.

    His soul messages were instantly sent to the cabins Nie Tian, Duan Shihu, and Jing Rou were in, and three of them hastily came to the main cabin.

    ¡°Bad news," Jing Feiyang said with a grim face. ¡°The Bloody Despair Brotherhood¡¯s people are here.¡±

    Jing Rou hastily summoned that prismatic crystal of hers.

    Reflected in it was the area in front of their ancient starship, where three ancient starships that were slightly smaller than theirs were berthed.

    Blood-red banners hung high on all three of them.

    Numerous skulls could be seen strapped on either side of the starships. The majority of them belonged to humans, while a few belonged to outsiders andrge Ancientbeasts. Many of them still had blood and shreds of flesh on them. A mere nce at them would make people¡¯s hair stand on end.

    At the same time, the three ancient starships exuded a strong bloody aura, as if they were enormous beasts that hunted in the starry river.

    One figure after another quickly shed into appearance on their decks.

    Some of them summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools. Like shoals of bloodthirsty fish, they flew towards Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship with sinister smiles on their faces.

    ¡°It¡¯s them alright,¡± Duan Shihu said with strong killing intent on his face. ¡°Since it¡¯s them, a peaceful ending won¡¯t be an option. Either they die, or we do!¡±

    Being the former leader of a Hunter organization himself, he understood the Bloody Despair Brotherhood¡¯s way of doing things too well.

    As soon as he was convinced that the iers were from the Bloody Despair Brotherhood, he realized that this would bepletely different from their previous encounter with Old Shadow entric and the White Rose¡¯s people.

    ¡°Father!¡± Jing Rou eximed softly.

    Eyes narrowed, Jing Feiyang said to Jing Rou, ¡°Their leader is now on the middle starship. He probably doesn¡¯t know that I¡¯m here. elerate! Fly to them with the fastest speed possible!

    Without saying a word, Jing Rou sent numerous spirit stones flying out of her palm to fill the power hub at the heart of the starship.

    Magical symbols of different colors that carried spell formations that would help the ancient starship further elerate flew out and mmed into the exterior of the starship.

    Immediately afterwards, the ancient starship gave rise to deafening rumbles, unleashing dazzling spiritual light.

    BOOOOM!

    A pir of spiritual power shot out of the sharp prow of the starship. Countless divine seals could be seen shining like stars within it, improving its might severalfold, as it shot hundreds of meters into the distance.

    ¡°Hahaha! Karma has finallye for the Divine Seal Sect!¡± A loud voice resounded through the space. ¡°Back in the day, you joined in the encircling of our brothers. Many of them died at the hands of your sect.

    ¡°But today, the future of the Divine Seal Sect will die at my hands!¡±

    As the resonant voice spread in all directions, the three berthed ancient starships suddenly split up.

    The thousands of skulls of different races suddenly shot out simultaneously like cannonballs. Like a sea of skulls, they crashed into the exterior of Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The ancient starship that had been forged from refined divine metal started to shake upon taking the repeated blows.

    Ayer of glowing spiritual power that enveloped the ancient starship burst, sending numerous divine seals falling into the depths of the starry river like dying sparks.

    The members of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood, who hade on their air-transportation spiritual tools, took the opportunity to climb onto the starship,ughing wildly as they did.

    With blood-stained spiritual tools clutched in their hands, they hoped to enter the cabins through the entrance.

    ¡°These fools must have a death wish.¡± As Jing Feiyang let out a cold harrumph, countless divine seals flew whooshing out of the main cabin.

    Many iing members of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood were hit by the divine seals. Their bodies exploded like ripe watermelons that had hit the ground, reduced to mists of blood and flesh that filled the air.

    ¡°Jing Feiyang!!¡± As the resonant voice echoed out once again, a man walked furiously out of of the middle ancient starship.

    Wreathed in blood-colored light, the man exuded a flesh aura that was extremely vigorous. It was just that his flesh aura seemed very impure, as if there was no way it could ever be purified.

    At the same time, strong spiritual power spread out with him as the center, forming a peculiar domain that reeked with a foul, bloody smell.

    Bloody images kept shing across his domain, which, like a ughterhouse, was filled with killing and atrocities.

    More than ten thousand meters from their location, a group of white-garbed Qi warriors and Old Shadow entric were gazing towards them from afar, their expressions flickering. ¡°The Bloody Despair Brotherhood!¡±

    They were none other than the White Rose¡¯s people, who had been charged with the task of bringing Nie Tian in alive.

 Chapter 931: The Collision Between Domains

    In the depths of the dark starry river, Old Shadow entric and the White Rose¡¯s people were standing on a grayish-green meteor.

    But in fact, it was actually an ancient starship under a meteor¡¯s disguise.

    Old Shadow entric¡¯s eyebrows were knitted as he said coldly, ¡°The Bloody Despair Brotherhood...! I¡¯m calling our deal off! None of you told me that the Bloody Despair Brotherhood would be a part of this!¡±

    In the next moment, his expression flickered, strong fear appearing in his eyes. ¡°Both the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, Jing Feiyang, and the head of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood, Master Bloody Despair, are here!¡±

    Only at this moment did he sense the presence of the two Saint domain experts.

    He was only at the early Void domain himself. Even though he was a Hunter as well, he preferred to hunt by himself. Therefore, he had never joined any organization, nor did he have anyone powerful at his back.

    Both the White Rose and the head of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood were fellow Hunters he couldn¡¯t afford to offend.

    However, if he had to chose to offend one, he would rather choose the White Rose.

    After all, he was well-aware how brutal and ruthless Master Bloody Despair was.

    ¡°Jing Feiyang! Master Bloody Despair!¡± The White Rose¡¯s subordinates also gasped with astonishment as they hastily entered the ancient starship that had been disguised as a meteor.

    Shortly afterwards, the White Rose arrived through the teleportation portal inside the main cabin.

    Unlike the Divine Seal Sect, the White Rose¡¯s organization lived in between domains. Therefore, she wasn¡¯t too far from this location, and was able to arrive within a short time through teleportation portals.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship was simply too far from the Domain of Heaven Python now. There was no way Jing Feiyang could summon his wife and subordinates from the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters to assist him in battle.

    Old Shadow entric and her subordinates all greeted the White Rose upon seeing her.

    ¡°Head!¡±

    ¡°Head, you¡¯re here!¡±

    Dressed in a long, white robe that was embroidered with white roses, she seemed distant and graceful. Her exquisite eyes and brow presented her as a great beauty.

    The White Rose gazed into the distance, her slender brow slightly furrowed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that Master Bloody Despair is here too. Could it be he also asked the Bloody Despair Brotherhood? It shouldn¡¯t be. He reminded me repeatedly that we shouldn¡¯t kill Nie Tian, who¡¯s a Son of the Stars. He probably only chose me to do this job because he knew that we¡¯re fairly mild. But if that¡¯s the case, why would they ask the Bloody Despair Brotherhood at the same time?¡±

    ¡°Head!¡± One of her subordinates eximed with burning fury in his eyes, ¡°All these years, the Bloody Despair Brotherhood have killed many of our members, and that lecher Master Bloody Despair has been drooling over you. However, since he¡¯s far too powerful, you couldn¡¯t really do anything about it. Besides, he has more people, and their experts are stronger.

    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been an opportunity for us to have our revenge. But now, the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, Jing Feiyang, is here. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to punch the Bloody Despair Brotherhood into the ground!¡±

    The White Rose¡¯s eyes lit up. After pondering for a while, she nodded slightly. ¡°Let¡¯s wait for a suitable opportunity to make our move.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± All of her subordinates eximed in high spirits.

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    After crushing every single Bloody Despair Brotherhood member who had dared to climb onto their ancient starship with his numerous divine seals, Jing Feiyang flew out of the main cabin.

    Divine seals of different colors wreathed him, forming a unique domain around him.

    Numerous divine seals seemed to move in certain tracks around him.

    Nie Tian examined them with his soul, and realized that Jing Feiyang¡¯s domain seemed to be arge, even more wondrous seal that was formed by countless small seals.

    It channeled spiritual power from heaven and earth, building up a might within it that could change the course of events.

    Unlike his domain, Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain seemed to be formed by the sticky blood of countless lives that had died at his hands, most of which belonged to outsiders and Ancientbeasts.

    Human blood only took up a small part of it.

    Furthermore, the secret incantations Master Bloody Despair practiced seemed to have a great deal inmon with the Blood Sect¡¯s incantations.

    The only difference was that his incantations didn¡¯t involve blending the blood of different races. Instead, blood of different colors filled different areas of his domain, but they answered his summons all the same.

    Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain came with an overwhelming momentum, painting the starry river with a variety of colors.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Like two enormous glowing spheres, Jing Feiyang¡¯s seal domain shed with Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain.

    Thousands of beams of multicolored light sshed in all directions like the most glorious fireworks anyone had ever seen.

    Just the sshing light alone was mighty enough to destroy any cultivator under the Void domain, as if a mere touch of it would reduce any Soul realm cultivator to dust.

    Nie Tian even had a feeling that if their battle had taken ce in the Realm of me Heaven, the entire realm might explode.

    With an anticipating look in his eyes, Nie Tian marveled at their heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing power. ¡°This is how powerful Saint domain experts are!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As Jing Feiyang and Master Bloody Despair engaged in a fierce battle, the three ancient starships that belonged to the Bloody Despair Brotherhood split up, circled around their battlefield, and sailed towards Jing Rou and Duan Shihu¡¯s ancient starship at full speed.

    Jing Feiyang and Master Bloody Despair were fighting fiercely right in front of their ancient starship, blocking the path ahead. If they tried to sail past them anyway, they might be annihted, along with their ancient starship.

    At the same time, the Bloody Despair Brotherhood¡¯s ancient starships were flying towards them from their nks. Duan Shihu and Jing Rou had a headache over the difficult situation.

    Apanied by a sicklyugh, Master Bloody Despair¡¯s wild exmation echoed from his domain of multicolored blood. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect. Go kill those two juniors and that Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°Master Bloody Despair!¡± Jing Feiyang bellowed. ¡°You¡¯re tired of living, aren¡¯t you!? You even dare to make a move against a Son of Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars, so what?¡± said Master Bloody Despair, ¡°You think that¡¯ll scare me? I spent my whole life drifting among these domains. I know how to hide myself, and I have a great amount of cultivation resources in my possession. Even if worstes to worst, I can go take shelter in outsider domains. You think the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will march deep into outsider territory to pursue me? I might as well tell you the truth; killing this Son of the Stars is a deal I made with the outsiders!¡±

    ¡°You and your Bloody Despair Brotherhood shall die!¡±

    The conversation between Jing Feiyang and Master Bloody Despair continued to echo out from their battlefield.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew cold. ¡°Outsiders?¡±

    Even the Xing n, who had the Thousandsword Mountain Sect at their back, had done their business with the Bonebrutes in secret.

    The Bloody Despair Brotherhood actually dared to openly admit to the fact that they had onlye here to intercept and kill him, the seventh Son of the Stars chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, because they had reached a mutual understanding with outsiders.

    The Sons of the Stars were the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s future. Even if they didn¡¯t get to be the Lord of the Stars, they would most likely rise to high positions in their sect.

    They would be the backbone of the human race. They would be what humans would have to rely on to contend against the outsider races. As a human, Master Bloody Despair had actually agreed to help the outsiders kill his own kind. He was indeed a man of no moral principles.

    A series of thoughts rapidly shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind. <i>¡°Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain is made of blood of various origins. Even he doesn¡¯t seem to be able to refine it fully...¡±</i>

    He suddenly flew out of the cabin.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Duan Shihu and Jing Rou eximed simultaneously, hoping to stop him from doing anything rash.

    Jing Feiyang had warned them repeatedly that they shouldn¡¯t leave the main cabin, no matter what.

    That was because he had established a spell formation within the cabin with his divine seals, which would be strong enough to protect them from the Bloody Despair Brotherhood members.

    As long as he could force Master Bloody Despair to retreat, they would be able to tide out this crisis and move on to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    However, once Nie Tian left and exposed himself in the starry river, the fierce members of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood would be able to get to him without dealing with that spell formation first.

    Therefore, Nie Tian¡¯s decision seemed very rash and unwise.

    ¡°Cover me please, Senior Jing! I need to enter Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain!¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian once again summoned the Bone Blood Demon and embedded himself in its chest. With its help, he shielded off the corrosive energies that filled every corner of the starry river, while shooting towards Jing Feiyang at full speed.

    Enveloped in his seal domain, Jing Feiyang¡¯s expression flickered drastically, not knowing what was going on.

    Even so, he spared a portion of his divine seals to help him. With the divine seals flying around it, the Bone Blood Demon seemed to develop its own wings, which helped it shield off the sshing blood-colored light and seal might as it flew towards Jing Feiyang.

    WHOOSH!

    Secondster, the Bone Blood Demon entered the ovepping area of Jing Feiyang¡¯s and Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domains.

    Clusters of blood shed with magical symbols that looked like colorful butterflies, giving rise to mighty fluctuations that spread thousands of meters into their surroundings.

    As soon as he entered the special region, Nie Tian issued an order to the Bone Blood Demon under Jing Feiyang¡¯s confused gaze.

    In the next moment, rivers of blood shot forth from the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s enormous body to pierce through one cluster of blood after another.

    At the same time, it activated the Blood Refining Incantation without hesitation.

    Wisps of blood of different origins rapidly fused into the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s rivers of blood, which then returned to the Bone Blood Demon like pumped water.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, activating Life Drain.

    Fine blood strings shot out from within him, piercing into the rivers of blood that had returned to circte within the Bone Blood Demon.

    In the next moment, changes took ce.

 Chapter 932: Nie Tian, the Seventh Son of the Stars!

    Cluster after cluster of blood disappeared, as if they were ink being wiped away by a piece of cloth.

    Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain was originallyplete, but now he was losing pieces of it.

    This was something that even Jing Feiyang, the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, couldn¡¯t achieve.

    For cultivators at the Void domain, Saint domain, and God domain, their domains were their foundation, and the crystallization of their spiritual power, soul strands, and exquisite incantations.

    Each and every domain expert would view their domains as their most essential possession, even more important than their fleshly bodies and spiritual tools.

    Once something happened to their domains, their strength would inevitably plunge. They might even lose their mental bnce because of it.

    As an early Saint domain expert himself, Jing Feiyang had gone all-out to fight Master Bloody Despair, yet he had only managed to chip away at the strength of his domain. He had never posed a real threat to his blood domain.

    However, as soon as Nie Tian showed up, he and his puppet somehow managed to drain clusters of thick blood from Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain, causing it to show signs of falling apart.

    How could Jing Feiyang not be shocked by this?

    ¡°Such copious flesh power!¡± Nie Tianughed heartily as the Bone Blood Demon flew about to madly loot the essence within the clusters of blood, like a bloodthirsty shark that had spotted shoals of delicious fish.

    Under the magical effect of Life Drain, wisps of Blood Essence followed his fine blood strings to his heart.

    Like a swimming python that could swallow the heavens and devour the earth, the green aura that had originally coiled within his heart absorbed the Blood Essence of different races to its heart¡¯s content.

    After Nie Tian had entered the sixth grade, the amount of flesh power this green aura needed to upgrade again became an astronomical figure.

    Over the past six months, he had taken spirit beast meat from the stock he had within his ring of holding to absorb and refine their flesh power whenever he had a chance. However, the flesh power he had umted was still far from enough for the green aura to enter dormancy again.

    However, the clusters of blood that made up Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain all seemed to be from seventh or even eighth grade Ancientbeasts and outsiders.

    The battle prowess of an eighth grade Ancientbeast or outsider was roughly equal to that of a Void domain human expert. Even the Divine Seal Sect couldn¡¯t get their hands on Ancientbeasts or outsiders at such grades.

    The flesh power within the blood of an eighth grade Ancientbeast or outsider was about ten times richer than the flesh power of a seventh grade one.

    The amount of flesh power his fine blood strings had absorbed during this short period of time had already surpassed what he had umted over the past three months.

    ¡°The secret magics Master Bloody Despair practices have already gone beyond the rank of human incantations. They seem simr to the Blood Sect¡¯s secret magics, yet they seem somewhat wed and deviated. Even though his domain consists of the blood of powerful outsiders and Ancientbeasts, he doesn¡¯t seem to be able to truly merge all the blood of different origins.

    ¡°He can only use the blood within his domain to neutralize the impact it receives from the domains of other cultivators. He doesn¡¯t seem to be able to summon or make use of the bloodline power within the blood of those powerful Ancientbeasts and outsiders.

    ¡°Meanwhile, both the Blood Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation and my Life Drain bloodline talent allow the Bone Blood Demon and me to absorb power from the blood in his domain.

    ¡°From his point of view, I¡¯m none other than his poison, his bane!

    ¡°If it were a Saint domain expert who practiced conventional magics and incantations, and forged his domain in a conventional way, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to pose even the slightest threat to him.

    ¡°However, his domain happens to be so special, and unlike an outsider or Ancientbeast, he can¡¯t truly master the blood and bring out its true might.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a low chuckle as he went on to focus on using Life Drain.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    More blood strings flew out of him to pierce directly into the clusters of blood that floated in Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain, channeling rich blood-colored flesh power into himself.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    His heart started to pound like violent drumbeats.

    As this happened, more and more clusters of blood vanished from Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain.

    His blood domain that stretched thousands of meters into his surroundings even started to show signs of falling apart.

    Master Bloody Despair¡¯s figure suddenly appeared, surrounded by clusters of multicolored blood and staring at Nie Tian in a way as if he were looking at a monster. ¡°W-what the hell are you!?¡±

    Nie Tian and his Bone Blood Demon had taken arge part of the blood he had used to form his blood domain, which had greatlypromised the foundation of his power. He could no longer stay calm.

    All his life, he had fought countless battles against powerful humans, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts.

    He had never met any human expert who coulde up with an effective method to handle his blood domain.

    Even for outsiders and Ancientbeasts, they could only influence the small part of his blood domain that consisted of the blood of their races.

    After all, the blood thatposed his blood domain came from a variety of origins. Not a single outsider or Ancientbeast could influence the blood that they didn¡¯t share the same origin with.

    Therefore, he had thought that not a single living being of this heaven and earth, no matter its race, would be able to control or destroy his domain.

    However, Nie Tian proved him wrong today.

    Nie Tian, who was only at the Profound realm, damaged his blood domain in a way he couldn¡¯t fathom, yet the damage was so great that his blood domain showed signs of falling apart, with the outsider and Ancientbeast blood he had spent tens of thousands of years gathering from various realms being forcibly taken from him and fused into Nie Tian and the Bone Blood Demon instead.

    Master Bloody Despair went mad.

    ¡°Blood Seal!¡± he eximed.

    A giant ¡®Seal¡¯ character in simple, unsophisticated writing suddenly flew from the top of Master Bloody Despair¡¯s head. Like a scarlet sun, it flew towards Nie Tian, carrying his desperate desire for blood.

    With a flicker, the ¡®Seal¡¯ character suddenly vanished, as if it had transformed into a special blood-sealing force that enveloped heaven and earth.

    As this happened, even Jing Feiyang let out a soft exmation, and shrewdly discovered that his blood had suddenly stopped running within him.

    His expression flickered drastically.

    However, Nie Tian, who was the main target of the sealing spell, only experienced a brief shudder before returning to normal.

    No one else knew that it only took a flicker of dazzling light from the Bloodline Crystal Chains that formed the green aura in his heart to neutralize the blood-sealing magic.

    BOOM!

    Bits of blood-colored light suddenly flew out of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s translucent and sparkling body.

    Under the influence of the Blood Seal, even the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s blood flow came to a sudden stop.

    Because of this, it could no longer channel blood into itself using the Blood Refining Incantation, leaving Nie Tian as the only one unaffected.

    His effort to madly drain flesh power from Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain with Life Drain continued.

    Not just that, but the blood spell that enveloped arge area in the starry river was also influenced by Nie Tian¡¯s Life Drain, and started to lose its essence to him.

    Master Bloody Despair instantly sensed the anomaly. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, he almost broke down as he shouted, ¡°What the... what kind of freak are you?!¡± Pointing at Nie Tian, he couldn¡¯t even form aplete sentence. Like a mouse facing a cat or a sheep facing an eagle, he seemed to be facing his natural enemy.

    AHHH!

    Master Bloody Despair screamed, as if it pained him to the point where he wanted to die. Holding onto his breaking blood domain with great difficulty, he flew off and disappeared into the endless starry river without even talking to his subordinates.

    He had been pursued by powerful experts from the Domain of Vast Darkness, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Endless Snow on numerous asions, yet not once had he fled looking so broken-down.

    This was the first time he had faced an enemy that made him feelpletely powerless.

    The image of Nie Tian using his strange means was like a nightmare that was branded in the deepest part of his soul. For the rest of his life, the mere thought of the damage Nie Tian had inflicted on his blood domain would make him shiver.

    On this day, his pride and arrogance that he had held for tens of thousands of years was trampled.

    He ignored his deal with the outsiders, and even his own subordinates. Amidst the Bloody Despair Brotherhood members¡¯ dissuasive exmations, he flew farther and farther away from Nie Tian, his natural enemy, hoping he would never see him again.

    ...

    In a distant, hidden location, the White Rose, her subordinates, and Old Shadow entric observed the battle of domains.

    However, the White Rose was the only one who saw the truth.

    Old Shadow entric and her subordinates only saw Master Bloody Despair flee from the battlefield, but didn¡¯t know what had forced him to do so.

    ¡°Head!¡± One of the White Rose¡¯s subordinates eximed urgently. ¡°This is a great opportunity for us! Master Bloody Despair has been defeated by Jing Feiyang. Now is the perfect time for us to kill hisckeys and establish our name!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that,¡± The White Rose said with mixed emotions. ¡°Master Bloody Despair¡¯s confidence has been crushed. I doubt he¡¯ll be a threat anymore.

    ¡°Also...¡± She paused briefly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t Jing Feiyang who crushed him. It was the seventh Son of the Stars: Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?! How is that even possible?!¡± Even Old Shadow entric eximed in disbelief.

    The White Rose sighed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have believed it either if I didn¡¯t get to see it with my own eyes. I never expected that, as a newborn Son of the Stars, he would actually give Master Bloody Despair such a sound defeat. The worst fear of the cultivators of the three domains is that they no longer have faith in their own domains, in themselves.

    ¡°Master Bloody Despair¡¯s unique blood domain is the reason why he has been able to do whatever he likes in between the nearby domains. He was convinced that his domain was perfect, and no human or any race would be able to destroy it.

    ¡°But today, he¡¯s been proven wrong. He realizes that domain is not as wondrous as he thought it was.

    ¡°Someone who¡¯s so much weaker than him can actually destroy the foundation of his domain. That man is only at the Profound realm now. Even if he manages to break through into the God domain some day, his domain will still be too fragile to withstand a strike in that man¡¯s eyes. The thought of this eliminated the confidence that he had spent tens of thousands of years building. I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll be able to recover from such a mental defeat.

    ¡°If he can¡¯t solve this problem, not only will he not make any more progress in his cultivation, but his cultivation base may even regress.

    ¡°In such a state, he won¡¯t be a threat to me anymore. And the Bloody Despair Brotherhood won¡¯t be able to do whatever they want in between the nearby domains anymore.¡±

    Everyone was bbergasted after hearing these words.

    ¡°You stay here,¡± the White Rose added. ¡°I¡¯ll go have a talk with that Son of the Stars named Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Head, are you going to take him from Jing Feiyang¡¯s hands?¡± one of her subordinates asked.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m calling off my deal with that man.¡± The White Rose shook her head. ¡°Nie Tian... isn¡¯t someone we can afford to provoke.¡±

 Chapter 933: Name Spreading Far and Wide

    As soon as Master Bloody Despair left, all of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood members scattered and fled like startled birds.

    After losing all of its blood essence to Nie Tian, the Blood Seal also lost its effect.

    The Bone Blood Demon¡¯s blood flow returned to normal.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian felt the green aura¡¯s kipping joy, realizing that it wouldn¡¯t be long before it umted enough flesh power for its next upgrade.

    In fact, he hadn¡¯t had confidence that he would be able to channel power from Master Bloody Despair¡¯s peculiar blood domain using Life Drain either.

    The clusters of blood that formed his blood domain had all been taken from seventh or eighth grade Ancientbeasts or outsiders, which were extremely helpful for the growth of his bloodline.

    Just as he was carried away by these happy thoughts, Jing Feiyang let out a cold harrumph and jerked his head back. ¡°The White Rose?!¡±

    A tall, white figure that looked like a cold, white rose flew ethereally through the starry river, and arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye.

    Upon arriving, the White Rose bowed her head slightly towards Jing Feiyang. ¡°Greetings, Sectmaster Jing.¡±

    But immediately afterwards, she turned to Nie Tian and sped her hands. ¡°I¡¯m here to apologize.¡±

    Jing Feiyang was taken aback. ¡°Apologize?¡±

    Nie Tian was also confused.

    Just recently, the White Rose had convinced Old Shadow entric to capture him alive. Howe she suddenly wanted to apologize to him instead?

    Looking somewhat embarrassed, the White Rose bowed gently. ¡°To tell you the truth, someone promised me handsome rewards for me to capture you alive. I had never seen that man before, and I couldn¡¯t figure out who he was.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a loud harrumph. ¡°You really don¡¯t know who he is?¡±

    The White Rose smiled bitterly. ¡°Really. And I was wrong for taking his offer. I¡¯m hoping that you¡¯ll ept my apologies. Fortunately, Old Shadow entric failed. To show you how seriously sorry I am, I¡¯m willing to give you a piece of information you¡¯ll want.¡±

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What information?¡±

    ¡°A group of cultivators from the Domain of the Falling Stars are currently imprisoned in the Realm of Crystal Snow in the Domain of Endless Snow, and Patriarch Icy Crystal, an early Saint domain expert, is guarding them personally,¡± The White Rose said with a sincere tone. ¡°Since I¡¯m also from the Heavenly Ice Sect, I still have informants in the Domain of Endless Snow. Even though Patriarch Icy Crystal isn¡¯t as powerful as Patriarch Snowy Peak, he¡¯s just as hard to deal with. You¡¯d better be careful.

    ¡°Besides, the news of Master Bloody Despair suffering a sound defeat at your hands will soon spread across the nearby domains. I suspect that the Heavenly Ice Sect will hear about it before you even arrive in the Realm of Crystal Snow. Perhaps Patriarch Snowy Peak will even wait for you personally in the Realm of Crystal Snow.¡±

    Jing Feiyang let out a cold snort. ¡°We¡¯re going to the Domain of Endless Snow to ask for Nie Tian¡¯s people back, not to start a fight. Patriarch Snowy Peak from the Heavenly Ice Sect might be daring enough to set you up, but I doubt that he¡¯ll have the audacity to make a move on Nie Tian.

    ¡°If he¡¯s really that audacious, he would have killed those people from the Domain of the Falling Stars already, instead of keeping them alive to this point.¡±

    The White Rose let out a soft sigh. ¡°Good point.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Jing Feiyang said. ¡°Since you¡¯vee here to apologize and told us where those people are imprisoned, I think we can let you off this time. You¡¯d better not do something like this again.¡± Even though he said these words to the White Rose, he kept his eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded at him.

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± The White Rose expressed her gratitude again before flying off into the distance.

    Jing Feiyang seemed genuinely sorry for what had happened to her as he said, ¡°This woman is actually treated harshly by life. She had a good chance of bing the sectmaster of the Heavenly Ice Sect, yet her good heart and gullibility got her into trouble. At the end, she was set up by Patriarch Snowy Peak, and ended up having to lead the life of a Hunter.¡±

    Afterwards, he took Nie Tian back to their ancient starship.

    As soon as they returned to the main cabin, Duan Shihu, Jing Rou, and Jing Feiyang started asking him what he had just done to almost disintegrate Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t give them an answer even if he wanted to. He only knew that he carried a special bloodline.

    Now, the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had already learned his identity as a hybrid.

    He also hoped to learn the origin of his bloodline, so he wasn¡¯t as discrete about his bloodline as before.

    Aside from that, he had another hope, which was that his father, who he had never met, woulde find him, along with his mother, after hearing about him.

    Now that the battle hade to an end, their ancient starship set out again for the Domain of Endless Snow. The White Rose and her people no longer followed them.

    After everyone had left, a burning meteor suddenly flew to their original location.

    That cluster of Divine me flickered actively within the meteor, vesting it with a soul, as it scanned the battlefield where Nie Tian had drained power from Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain, as if it was hoping to find something.

    After a long time, Nie Tian¡¯s residual aura vanishedpletely into the starry river, and the burning meteor flew off again.

    ...

    In the Domain of Heaven Python, Qu Mingde, the sectmaster of the Golden Vast Sect, was sitting in the middle of a grand hall that seemed to be forged from pure gold. Eyes wide, he stared at Quan Zixuan, who was here to visit, and eximed, ¡°What?! Master Bloody Despair was defeated?!¡±

    Quan Zixuan, the sectmaster of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, still seemed rather weak, as if he hadn¡¯t fully recovered from his injuries yet.

    Face somewhat pale, he nodded gently. ¡°The message is one hundred percent reliable.¡±

    Qu Mingde took a deep breath and said with an intense look on his face, ¡°Master Bloody Despair has spent his whole life roaming the starry river between these domains. He moves furtively, and his blood domain is strangely powerful. How could he be defeated so easily? Even if Jing Feiyang fought him personally, it should have been a well-matched battle. He doesn¡¯t have what it takes to severely injure Master Bloody Despair, does he?¡±

    Quan Zixuan sighed. ¡°ording to what I learned from the White Rose, it wasn¡¯t Jing Feiyang who crushed Master Bloody Despair. It was the seventh Son of the Stars.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?!¡± Qu Mingde eximed.

    Several Void domain elders of the Golden Vast Sect, including Wu Yun, also eximed in disbelief, ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    A morous discussion then burst out among the Golden Vast Sect experts, none of them believing that the news was truthful.

    ¡°How¡¯s that possible?!¡±

    ¡°Is it possible that the White Rose got their news wrong, Sectmaster Quan? The seventh Son of the Stars has just won the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s acknowledgment. He¡¯s only at the Profound realm now!¡±

    ¡°Master Bloody Despair¡¯s blood domain is a mixture of all kinds of Ancientbeast and outsider blood. Even high-tier outsiders and powerful Ancientbeasts can¡¯t break it easily. How could he do it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it! Who would believe it?¡±

    ¡°Was the White Rose fed incorrect information?¡±

    With a dilemmatic expression, Quan Zixuan said, ¡°But the White Rose was there. She saw it herself, and then told her subordinates. If she wasn¡¯t there, or it wasn¡¯t her who said it, I wouldn¡¯t believe it either. But that is the truth. Nie Tian actually broke Master Bloody Despair¡¯s peculiar blood domain through some unique means, which crushed his confidence and caused him to escape in sore straits.¡±

    Qu Mingde took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

    Only after quite a while did he mutter in a low voice, sagging his head, ¡°Did we made a mistake by refusing to be his subordinate sect?¡±

    Quan Zixuan remained silent, yet his face grew very grim.

    ...

    At the same time, simr conversations took ce inside many powerful sects in the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Endless Snow, and even the Domain of Vast Darkness, which was farther away.

    ¡°I heard that Master Bloody Despair from the Bloody Despair Brotherhood had his blood domain badly damaged when he attacked the seventh Son of the Stars with his men. Now, he¡¯s cowering somewhere and refusing to show himself again.¡±

    ¡°Is it true that Nie Tian broke his domain with some unbelievable method? But he¡¯s at the Saint domain!¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t true, is it?¡±

    ¡°The news came from the White Rose. It should be true.¡±

    All of a sudden, the Nie Tian¡¯s name as the seventh Son of the Stars spread across the nearby human domains.

    Even the Pure Heaven Sect and the Trisword Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, which had openly refused to follow Nie Tian, were deeply shaken.

    The Jian n, the Guan n, and the Chu n, on the other hand, startedmunicating with Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect in secret, hoping to have private talks with Nie Tian after he returned.

    ...

    In the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Among numerous snow-capped mountains, a giant block of ice stood in the middle of a mountain valley that was wreathed in a frosty aura.

    The ice was hollow inside, which made it look like an airtight prison made of ice. Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng, Lei Zhenyu, and some other powerful experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars could be seen sitting inside.

    Sitting beside the giant block of ice, Patriarch Icy Crystal was resting his mind with his eyes closed. Even so, frosty breaths with sparkling bits of ice could be seening out of his nose.

    SHEW!

    A piece of icy jade fell out of the sky, and came to a stop right before Patriarch Icy Crystal.

    Fan Kai and the others inside the ice prison suddenly sensed the anomaly, and thus cast their gazes towards that piece of icy jade.

    Nervous looks spread across their faces.

    The icy jade had a message sealed within it, which was probably an order from the Heavenly Ice Sect¡¯s headquarters that would determine their fate.

    Zhao Luofeng smiled bitterly. ¡°What can it be? The Heavenly Ice Sect has imprisoned us here for quite some time now, andpletely ignored our demands to talk. What is it that they want?¡±

    As the sectmaster of the Heaven Pce Sect, he used to stand at the peak of the Domain of the Falling Stars, and overlooked all other cultivators. Now that he hade down to the point where his life was in someone else¡¯s hands, he realized that perhaps he was still an important figure in the Domain of the Falling Stars, but he wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning when facing powerful sects like the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    If they wanted to kill them, they wouldn¡¯t even have a chance to resist.

    After all, Patriarch Icy Crystal was a Saint domain expert.

    Fan Kai let out a low sigh. ¡°We were limited by our visions before we left the Domain of the Falling Stars. We had no idea how immense this world really was. All we wanted was to get out of the Domain of the Falling Stars to see the world. However, when we finally did, we saw how cruel and dangerous the world really was. Our puny cultivation bases were simplyughable when facing the truly powerful sects.¡±

    The few of them sighed over their ignorance, and the frustrating feeling that they couldn¡¯t see a future.

    All of a sudden, Patriarch Icy Crystal asked, ¡°Is that Nie Tian really from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Zhao Luofeng instantly grew spirited. ¡°That¡¯s right. Nie Tian was born and raised in the Realm of me Heaven. He passed the Heaven Gate trial and gained three fragmentary star marks, which allowed his strength to soar to its current level.¡±

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars...¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal muttered in a low voice. Momentster, he added, ¡°He has been officially epted by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and be the seventh Son of the Stars. Right now, he¡¯s on his way to the Realm of Crystal Snow. You¡¯ll be able to see him soon.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Fan Kai and the others all sprang to their feet. Excitement filled their faces as they asked, ¡°Why is heing here, Senior?¡±

    ¡°He came for you of course,¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said with an expressionless face.

    A shudder ran through Zhao Luofeng. ¡°For us?!¡±

    His cold, hard heart was suddenly warmed. Even his voice changed without him realizing it.

 Chapter 934: Bringing Upheavals to Numerous Realms

    The distance between different domains was usually extremely vast.

    Teleportation through inter-domain teleportation portals was the fastest way to travel between domains. If that wasn¡¯t an option, it would take a very long time to travel between domains, even on ancient starships.

    Even though the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Endless Snow were neighboring domains, Nie Tian and the others still sailed for several months before they finally entered the Domain of Endless Snow.

    During this whole time, they had only been briefly dyed by Old Shadow entric and Master Bloody Despair.

    Most of the time, their ancient starship had sailed at full speed, while they practiced cultivation wholeheartedly.

    Now that their ancient starship had finally arrived in the Domain of Endless Snow, Nie Tian also got the green aura in his heart to enter dormancy again with the help of the tremendous stock of spirit beast in his ring of holding.

    But in fact, Master Bloody Despair was the real reason why it was able to fall dormant within such a short time.

    After the green aura had finally umted enough flesh power, he went on to spend day and night refining his flesh power, star power, and wood power cores with spiritual materials of different attributes.

    His star power core had the Nine Stars Flower floating within it; his wood power core had three curious tree leaves floating within it.

    Thanks to the existence of these two unique treasures, the speed at which he absorbed power from Star Stones and wood-attributed spiritual materials had improved significantly.

    After months of devoted cultivation, he had refined his star power core and wood power core several rounds, which had made them more transparent, and brimming with pure star power and wood power essence.

    In contrast, the refinement of his me power coregged behind.

    <i>¡°A unique treasure that shares the same attribute with a core would greatly help the refinement of that core, so all of this is because my me power core doesn¡¯t have such a treasure within it.¡± </i>Nie Tian pondered as his gaze swept over the Heavenme Crystals that were piled up in front of him.

    <i>¡°The practice of both me Dragon¡¯s Cry and the True me Incantation has a great deal to do with my me power core. If there isn¡¯t enough refined me power within my me power core, it¡¯ll be impossible for me to gain profound mastery of the two me power incantations.¡±</i>

    Eyebrows furrowed, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°The strange feeling of being watched has somehow be even stronger during the past two weeks. Is it really from the cluster of Divine me that destroyed the Domain of me¡¯s End?¡±

    He felt baffled.

    WHOOSH!

    Their ancient starship sailed close to one of the realms that was on the border of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The Heavenly Ice Sect should have learned of their arrival, yet they seemed to decide to stay put, since they didn¡¯t encounter a single ancient starship from the Heavenly Ice Sect along their way.

    Their ancient starship sailed quietly past the unknown realm.

    An hour after they left, a burning meteor also flew past it, following the exact same track their ancient starship had left in.

    It streaked past in a sh before disappearing into the distance.

    However, that realm, where it snowed year-round, was profoundly affected by the burning meteor, as its star core seemed to go through great changes.

    Somehow, it suddenly stopped snowing, and the frigid cold that had ruled this realm since its birth was suddenly reced by scorching heat.

    Such heat made the frost-attributed Qi warriors who had practiced cultivation there their whole lives very confused and ufortable.

    ¡°What happened? Howe it stopped snowing?!¡±

    ¡°The snow and ice seems to be melting at an rming rate. This is bad for us! We need frigid cold for our cultivation!¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars just flew past our realm on an ancient starship. Did he do this?¡±

    ¡°All he did was fly past. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s the head of the me element sect of the Five Elements Sect. He can¡¯t possibly turn the environment of our domain around with nothing but his aura, right?¡±

    ¡°Then what in the world is going on?¡±

    ¡°Enough guessing. Let¡¯s report this to the Heavenly Ice Sect first!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship sailed past many more frigid realms on its way to the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Almost every single realm in the Domain of Endless Snow was enveloped in frigid cold, which was also reason why the Heavenly Ice Sect had been the only overlord throughout the Domain of Endless Snow. Those who didn¡¯t practice frost power would find it very hard to practice cultivation in the freezing cold over the long term, and make progress in their cultivation.

    However, after Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship sailed past them, each and every one of them started to go through changes.

    In some of them, the icebergs that had existed for hundreds of thousands of years started to melt.

    In others, the frigid aura was greatly weakened. Earthquakes started to happen frequently. Even their geological structure went through great changes. Many cities that had been built with ice and rock ended up in ruins overnight.

    Many subordinate forces of the Heavenly Ice Sect and areas that belonged to the Heavenly Ice Sect suffered heavy losses.

    Atst, Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship arrived at their destination: the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Inside the mountain valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains, Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s snow-white eyebrows flickered slightly.

    Standing beside him was ate Void domain Qi warrior from the Heavenly Ice Sect, who also practiced frost power.

    The man carved a simple star map on an icy rock next to him, within which he used white balls to represent realms.

    A straight white line went through a total of eight white balls.

    The man moved his finger alone the white balls that represented eight different realms as he said with a grim face, ¡°This is the route the Son of the Stars took. Word hase from all eight of those realms, saying that the geological structures of those realms went through great changes. Earthquakes are urring frequently in some of them, while icebergs are cracking in others. All of them have suffered heavy losses.¡±

    Patriarch Icy Crystal was deeply shaken as he asked, ¡°Do you think this has something to do with the seventh Son of the Stars?¡±

    The man grabbed his hair, looking perplexed. ¡°I do, but I also find it very unlikely. No matter how hard I try, I can¡¯t imagine him being able to put those realms through such fundamental changes simply by passing by them! Perhaps only God domain masters of me power incantations would be able to inflict such cmities on those realms.

    ¡°However, such figures would nevere to the Domain of Endless Snow in the first ce! Even though that Nie Tian is the seventh Son of the Stars, there¡¯s no way he could have gotten someone at that level toe help him!¡±

    Patriarch Icy Crystal pondered in silence for a short while before asking, ¡°Have you told Patriarch Snowy Peak about this?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s still in secluded cultivation. I delivered the message to his secret room, but I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s seen it yet.¡± Looking very frustrated, the man was just about to add something when his expression suddenly flickered, and he quickly looked skyward with astonishment written all over his face.

    The starlit sky looked like an ocean, where an ancient starship suddenly appeared like a gigantic beast that rose through the surface from the bottom of the ocean.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal let out a cold harrumph, frosty light filling the depths of his pupils. ¡°He¡¯s here!¡±

    Inside the ice prison, Fan Kai and the others from the Domain of the Falling Stars also looked up into the heavens, their expressions flickering.

    ¡°Nie Tian is here!¡± Their eyes were aze with the mes of hope, their bodies trembling slightly.

    ...

    As the ancient starship sailed into the Realm of Crystal Snow, Nie Tian and the others walked out from under the deck, no longer worrying about the deadly impurities that only existed in the starry river.

    Looking deeply at Nie Tian, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°Remember: try not to start a conflict. This is the Realm of Crystal Snow, deep in the Heavenly Ice Sect¡¯s territory. If things get ugly with the Heavenly Ice Sect, I¡¯ll be able to protect myself, but I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to protect you all. Let¡¯s get down there and see what they¡¯re up to. After that, we¡¯ll negotiate.

    ¡°Don¡¯t initiate a move unless you absolutely have to. Got it?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯m here to save people, not to kill people. Besides, I know that I don¡¯t have the power to turn the Heavenly Ice Sect inside-out yet.¡±

    Jing Feiyang let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m relieved that you think of it this way.¡±

    Even though he hadn¡¯t known Nie Tian for long, he had picked up signs and heard things that indicated that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t exactly temperate.

    The Heavenly Ice Sect had two Saint domain experts: the middle Saint domain Patriarch Snowy Peak and the early Saint domain Patriarch Icy Crystal. If they actually came to a standoff with the Heavenly Ice Sect, he wouldn¡¯t even know how to get out of it.

    Their ancient starship gradually slowed down.

    ¡°Over there. Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s aura ising from that mountain valley.¡± As Jing Feiyang gave directions, their ancient starship slowly descended.

    Nie Tian looked down, and instantly saw the piece of ice that Fan Kai and the others were imprisoned inside.

    ¡°Are you Nie Tian from the Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± As soon as Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s voice echoed from within the mountain valley, the surrounding mountains started to shake, huge pieces of snow and ice rolling down their peaks.

    The mountains suddenly unleashed frigid auras that shot directly into the heavens like endless pirs.

 Chapter 935: Setup

    The descending ancient starship instantly came to a stop.

    With knitted brow, Jing Feiyang looked down at the snow-capped mountains. With a grim face, he said aloud,

    ¡°Those mountains actually make up a grand spell formation. If wend our ancient starship regardless of it, our starship might be affected, or even torn apart.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Patriarch Icy Crystal shot into the sky from within the mountain valley, and stopped in front of the ancient starship in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Why did you imprison the subordinates of a Son of the Stars, Patriarch Icy Crystal?¡± Jing Feiyang asked with a berating tone.

    ¡°He knows why,¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said, pointing at Nie Tian.

    With a confused look on his face, Nie Tian said, ¡°I really don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t?!¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal asked, trying hard to suppress his anger.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, he took out a piece of sparkling, crystal-clear jade from within his cuff.

    Immediately afterwards, images appeared in the jade that looked like a mirror.

    After seeing at the images in the jade, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s because of this...¡±

    Duan Shihu was also dumbfounded. ¡°This is...¡±

    The images that shed across the icy jade were those of Gao Linhu and hisckeys right before they had died.

    Nie Tian, Xie Wanting, Yin Yanan, and Mu Biqiong could all be seen in them.

    Gao Linhu and a few other disciples of the Heavenly Ice Sect had ambushed Nie Tian and the girls at the edge of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range. However, they had been defeated and killed instead due to their blind arrogance.

    Nie Tian had assumed that since no one else had witnessed their battle back then, people wouldn¡¯t learn about it. He had never expected that the Heavenly Ice Sect would actually gain proof of them killing Gao Linhu and his men.

    ¡°Gao Linhu and those with him were my legacy disciples!¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said with an ice-cold tone. ¡°I paid a great price to cultivate them and arrange for them to enter the Shatter Battlefield. Not only did I pass all my knowledge on to them, but they¡¯re also the future of the Heavenly Ice Sect. They were in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range to make use of its special environment to practice the secret incantations I taught them, yet you showed up and killed them all. You tell me why I imprisoned your people!¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    ¡°Because they were my legacy disciples, I took a wisp of soul essence from each of them, which were the reflections of their souls. After they died, I used a secret magic to extract some of the images they had seen right before their deaths.

    ¡°I saw you in those images.

    ¡°Originally, I didn¡¯t know who you were, but soon afterwards, your name spread across the Domain of Heaven Python. Since you were the newest Son of the Stars, I attached special importance to you. I had people get me your portrait. At first sight, I realized that you were the one who killed my disciples, and that your name is Nie Tian!

    ¡°Your people down there mentioned your name when I captured them. I checked and confirmed their rtionship with you.

    ¡°You butchered my legacy disciples, but I¡¯m only imprisoning your people now. This is reasonable in my eyes.¡±

    Patriarch Icy Crystal said with a cold face.

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. ¡°Those disciples of yours lurked deep under the snow and ambushed me when we were passing through that area. They were bested in battle and died. There¡¯s nothing wrong with it.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with killing them simply because they weren¡¯t as strong as you?¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal asked with a gruesome, cold smile. ¡°I¡¯m stronger than every one of your people down there. Does that mean there¡¯s nothing wrong with me killing them too?¡±

    Nie Tian realized that arguing with Patriarch Icy Crystal wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere.

    After pondering in silence for a while, he asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±

    With a fierce look in his eyes, Patriarch Icy Crystal said, ¡°The grand spell formation down there is called the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation, which I created myself. As long as you can get to the very center of the spell formation andy your hands on the ice prison where your people are imprisoned, I¡¯ll allow you to take them with you. But if you can¡¯t find your way to the very center of the spell formation, then you¡¯ll have to leave of the Domain of Endless Snow empty-handed.

    ¡°You cane back and try again when you think you¡¯re up to it.¡±

    Jing Feiyang seemed to be angered by his demand as he said, ¡°You¡¯re at the Saint domain, while he¡¯s only at the Profound realm, and doesn¡¯t know anything about spell formations. How can he possibly solve the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation you created? What you¡¯re asking of him is impossible!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t vest the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation with my soul awareness or the power of my domain. As long as he can figure out its secrets, it¡¯s totally possible for him to solve it.¡± With these words, Patriarch Icy Crystal let out a cold snort. ¡°It¡¯s said that each and every Son of the Stars is extremely intelligent and talented, and has been chosen by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce out of millions. Since he¡¯s a Son of the Stars, he has a chance at solving the spell formation.

    ¡°Besides, I¡¯ll allow him toe a second time if he fails this time.

    ¡°Jing Feiyang, I¡¯m giving the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce more than enough face already by demanding so little!¡±

    With these words, Patriarch Icy Crystal flew back down to the mountain valley.

    As he did, a sparkling and crystal-clear ward formed over the nearby mountains, separating the ancient starship and the grand spell formation thaty underneath it.

    Then, as Jing Feiyang looked down again, all he could see was a frosty mistced with shreds of ice, which blocked the entire mountain valley from sight.

    As powerful as he was, he felt that it was impossible to see through the way it worked within a very short time.

    He pondered briefly before saying to Nie Tian, ¡°Patriarch Icy Crystal is only using the fact that you killed those people from the Heavenly Ice Sect as an excuse. His true purpose is to make you lose face. He wants people to know that you can¡¯t solve his grand spell formation to save your people, and present you as a joke.

    ¡°Otherwise, you weren¡¯t the only one who killed his disciples. Why would he target you, but not the others?

    ¡°He must have recognized Xie Wanting from the Water Moon Sect at first nce, but why hasn¡¯t he marched into the Domain of Vast Darkness to find fault with her?

    ¡°Also, he knows what your status as a Son of the Stars means. He doesn¡¯t dare to kill you, which he knows will bring cmity to the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    ¡°All he wants is to frustrate you with his grand spell formation. As long as you fail to solve it and save your people, your reputation will suffer. The sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python will lose faith in you, which will make it more difficult for you to include them in your map. If you can¡¯t straighten out the internal affairs of these two domains, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will question your abilities. This is his ultimate goal...¡±

    ¡°Also, since he¡¯s not harming you, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce won¡¯t have any reason toe after him.

    ¡°From the look of it, he has thought this over, and been waiting for you toe and jump into his trap.¡±

    However, just as he finished saying these words, Nie Tian dove towards the spell formation, eximing, ¡°His spell formation won¡¯t be a problem!¡±

    ¡°This is a trap!¡± Jing Rou shouted at the top of her lungs.

    However, she failed to stop Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, he shot through the sparkling ward and vanished from their sight.

    ¡°The Heavenly Ice Sect doesn¡¯t dare to kill him,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a deeply worried expression. ¡°All they want is to undermine him. If he¡¯s stranded in the spell formation for years, he can forget about convincing the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, the Pure Heaven Sect, and the Trisword Sect to follow him.

    ¡°The longer it takes him to get out, the more unfavorable it¡¯ll be for him. Even the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce may have doubts about his abilities.

    ¡°This will greatly affect his run for the Lord of the Stars in the future.

    ¡°Someone must have talked the Heavenly Ice Sect into doing this.¡±

    Duan Shihu smiled bitterly. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope he¡¯ll be able to walk out of it soon.¡±

    Jing Feiyang shook his head. ¡°I doubt he will.¡±

    ...

    BOOOOM!

    Nie Tian mmed into the ground like a cannonball forged from pure steel.

    Hisnding spot was between two snow-capped mountain peaks. The icy ground under his feet shattered from the strong impact.

    He looked around, and all he could see was a sight-blocking, frosty mist.

    The mist pervaded the entire area, limiting his vision to ten meters around him.

    Furthermore, due to his low cultivation base, he had to consume spiritual power to fight the frigid cold within the grand spell formation.

    Otherwise, the frigid qi might gradually infiltrate his body, freezing his limbs and slowing his blood flow, and eventually turning him into an ice sculpture.

    Therefore, he contended against the frigid cold while moving forward at full speed.

    However, the white mist ahead seemed to be endless.

    Nie Tian traveled within the mist for days, but still failed to see any mountain peaks, much less the piece of ice where Fan Kai and the others were imprisoned.

    <i>¡°This isn¡¯t working. I won¡¯t be able tost much longer if I continue to consume spiritual power at such a rate.¡± </i>With this thought, Nie Tian came to a stop. Brow furrowed, he pondered for a moment before channeling power from his star souls to unleash his Heaven Eyes.

    As soon as his Heaven Eyes came to form, the surging frosty mist seemed to be suddenly rmed.

    The mist condensed, forming numerous strings of sparkling ice, which shot towards the Heaven Eyes from all directions.

    The Heaven Eyes were instantly infiltrated by the ice strings, and frozenpletely.

    ¡°Even my Heaven Eyes don¡¯t work here?!¡±

 Chapter 936: Solving the Spell Formation

    Ten days passed...

    Nie Tian was still stranded within the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation by himself, without even getting nearer to the mountain valley in the middle.

    High in the sky, Jing Feiyang and the others looked down and saw nothing but the vague shapes of mist-enveloped mountains. There wasn¡¯t any sign of Nie Tian.

    Jing Rou sighed. ¡°It¡¯s been ten days, and there¡¯s still no sign of him. Patriarch Icy Crystal is guarding this grand spell formation. So even if we try to use force, it probably won¡¯t end well for us.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a bit tricky indeed,¡± Jing Feiyang chimed in. ¡°The Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation is one of the most famous spell formations of the Heavenly Ice Sect. It¡¯s actually very deadly. Bewildering those who enter it is only a small part of its profound mysteries. This grand spell formation can automatically channel frigid aura from the frozen mountains in its surroundings, all of which have stood there for hundreds of thousands of years.

    ¡°I might be able to defeat Patriarch Icy Crystal if we were to fight in the starry river.

    ¡°But if I fight him here, there¡¯s a good chance that I¡¯ll be the one who¡¯ll lose.

    ¡°It would probably take me a significant amount of time and energy just to break the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation alone. If I have to fight Patriarch Icy Crystal after that, I¡¯ll definitely be at a disadvantage.¡±

    ¡°What should we do then? Do we just sit here and wait?¡± Jing Rou asked.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that we have a choice,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a frustrated expression. ¡°We can only wait for Nie Tian to solve the spell formation, or admit his failure.¡±

    ...

    Inside the spell formation.

    Thete Void domain expert from the Heavenly Ice Sect turned to Patriarch Icy Crystal, who was sitting and meditating in silence, and asked, ¡°How much longer are we going to trap him, Patriarch?¡±

    ¡°Two to three years,¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said with a in tone.

    ¡°What if he admits to his failure?¡±

    A cold smile appeared on Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s face. ¡°That¡¯s even better. If he does that, he¡¯ll have to return empty-handed, which means that his trip to our domain will be aplete failure. Then, it¡¯ll be a job well-done for us.

    Thete Void domain expert seemed a bit concerned as he said, ¡°There¡¯s no doubt that he won¡¯t be able to solve the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation when he¡¯s only at the Profound realm. The only thing that worries me is that I¡¯m afraid his arrival will trigger changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow like it did with the other realms.

    ¡°It¡¯s still unknown whether those changes were triggered by him.¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said, his brow furrowed. ¡°If he did have what it takes to trigger the upheavals in those eight realms, he should have solved the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation long ago.¡±

    Thete Void domain expert nodded slightly. ¡°Good point. If he was actually able to provoke change in the geographical structures of those realms, the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation shouldn¡¯t have been able to trap him for so long.¡±

    ¡°Again, he¡¯s only at the Profound realm,¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said disdainfully. ¡°Sure, he¡¯s a Son of the Stars, but so what?¡±

    Inside the ice prison, Fan Kai and the others roughly figured out the situation from the signs and pieces of conversation they picked up.

    Whether Nie Tian was able to solve the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation would determine whether they would be able to get out of this ice prison and return to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    It had been ten days since Nie Tian¡¯snding, and they hadn¡¯t seen any sign of him yet.

    This made them feel very frustrated.

    ¡°Patriarch Icy Crystal is at the Saint domain,¡± Zhao Luofeng said in an angry low voice. ¡°He gave Nie Tian this important task on purpose. What can he do? The Heavenly Ice Sect is clearly using us to trap Nie Tian here. Damn those bastards.¡±

    Fan Kai sighed. ¡°It¡¯s all because we¡¯re too weak.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just hope Nie Tian cane through and get us back to the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Lei Zhenyu said with a bitter expression. ¡°If we can get back alive this time, I¡¯ll go into secluded cultivation right away, and won¡¯te out until I break through into the Void domain! The starry river is vaster than our imagination. Given our cultivation bases and strength, we should have stayed in the Domain of the Falling Stars. We were being naive by being so eager to see the outside world.¡±

    ...

    In the depths of the frosty mist.

    Nie Tian finally stopped traveling aimlessly. Instead, he sat down in the lotus position andmunicated with the me Dragon Armor on a soul level.

    He wondered if the me Dragon Armor, which was a fire-attributed unique treasure, would be able to break the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation.

    The me Dragon Armor gave him an answer momentster.

    ording to it, frost power filled every corner of the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation. On top of that, the frozen mountains in its surroundings kept infusing it with an endless frigid aura.

    Therefore, it was impossible for the me Dragon Armor to expel the frigid aura and break the grand spell formation by relying on its me power alone.

    Therefore, even if he brought it out, he wouldn¡¯t be able to turn the situation around.

    <i>¡°The me Dragon Armor won¡¯t be able to change much, and the Heaven Eyes will be frozen...¡± </i>After pondering painstakingly for a long time, Nie Tian decided to give the Spirit Pearl a shot.

    The five evil spirits suddenly flew out of the Spirit Pearl to float over him like five demonic gods.

    Howling non-stop, the five of them seemed to suddenly sense something as they flew out in different directions.

    Inside the mountain valley, Patriarch Icy Crystal sprang to his feet. His expression flickered for the first time. ¡°What are those?¡±

    Upon seeing the five fierce spirits, even Jing Feiyang, who was high in the sky, eximed softly, ¡°Those spirits seem to be heading to the surrounding mountains to catch something!¡±

    A few secondster, his expression flickered strongly. ¡°They¡¯re catching and devouring discarnate souls!¡±

    Duan Shihu was taken aback. ¡°Discarnate souls?¡±

    ¡°The Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation is actually a deadly grand spell formation.¡± Jing Feiyang exined. ¡°Over hundreds of thousands of years, countless people have died in it! The remains of the dead were left in those frozen mountains. Under the profound influence of the grand spell formation, their discarnate souls didn¡¯t fully dissipate into heaven and earth. Instead, they were trapped inside the mountains.

    ¡°Patriarch Icy Crystal did this so that he could make use of the power of those discarnate souls. Their existence vested the grand spell formation with a strong soul-restraining power.

    ¡°If Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness leaves his sea of awareness, his judgment will instantly be clouded, stopping him from telling what¡¯s real and what isn¡¯t.

    ¡°However, the spirits Nie Tian unleashed just now seem to have the ability to devour discarnate souls, so they headed directly towards those mountains.¡±

    Overjoyed, Duan Shihu asked, ¡°So will they help Nie Tian break the spell formation?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, but their appearance is definitely good news for us!¡± Jing Feiyang said, looking spirited as well.

    The five fierce spirits spread out and flew to the nearby mountains, following some instinct.

    Apparently, they had no problem reaching ces that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see or go.

    As they approached the frozen mountains, the snow suddenly slid down the mountains¡¯ surface, which turned out to be smooth and clear like mirrors, revealing numerous blurry faces inside of them.

    The faces were the discarnate souls that had been sealed within the mountains by the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation.

    Like diving into the ocean, the five fierce spirits flew into the mountains.

    The discarnate souls trapped inside the crystal-clear mountains couldn¡¯t resist the five fierce spirit in the slightest. They were devoured by the hundreds, as if they were being preyed upon by their natural enemies.

    A profound soul-restraining effect that had enveloped this entire area was suddenly broken, like an egg dropped to the ground.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian realized that he was finally able to examine his surroundings with his soul awareness.

    With an overjoyed look on his face, he hastily formed his Heaven Eyes again.

    This time, they weren¡¯t suppressed or influenced in any way, but rather lit up the mist-wreathed ground like nine bright, shining stars.

    ¡°Finally, a direction!¡± With the vision his Heaven Eyes gave him, Nie Tian cast a Starshift. Like a falling star that streaked across the night sky, he arrived in front of Patriarch Icy Crystal in the blink of an eye.

    Inside the ice prison, Zhao Luofeng couldn¡¯t help but exim ecstatically, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The mountains that had formed the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation cracked. Giant boulders started to roll down their surfaces.

    Deafening rumbles filled the air, rming even the Heavenly Ice Sect disciples who were garrisoned in locations hundreds of kilometers away.

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?!¡±

    ¡°Why are the crystal-clear mountains the patriarch used to form the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation suddenly shaking so violently?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect has initiated an attack?¡±

    ¡°This is the Realm of Crystal Snow, deep in our sect¡¯s territory. If the Divine Seal Sect dares to act rashly here, death will be their punishment.¡±

    Numerous Heavenly Ice Sect disciples ignored their orders to stay put, and converged on the mountain valley from all directions.

    At the very center of the mountain valley, Nie Tian stood in front of a piece of solid ice. He mmed it with his fist that looked like a hammer.

    BOOM!

    His punch didn¡¯t break the solid ice, only giving rise to a loud boom.

    Without paying attention to the ecstasy in the eyes of Fan Kai and the others, Nie Tian stared Patriarch Icy Crystal in the eyes. ¡°I¡¯m standing here, and I touched this piece of ice. As we agreed, you need to free them now!¡±

    Various expressions shed across Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s face. With an exasperated snort, he jerked around and shot towards one of the surrounding mountains.

    However, the discarnate souls of those who had died in the grand spell formation over hundreds of thousands of years suddenly broke free from the confinement of the mountains.

    The five fierce spirits chased after and devoured them like sharks preying on shoals of fish.

    Upon seeing this, Patriarch Icy Crystal let out frenzied roars, as if he had suddenly forgotten the deal he had made with Nie Tian. ¡°My Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation!¡±

 Chapter 937: Breaking the Promise

    With the mountains shedding their snowcaps and the mist dissipating, the mountain valley showed itself again.

    Surrounded by clouds, Jing Rou looked down and saw Nie Tian, who was standing beside the ice prison. Disbelief filled his eyes as he asked, ¡°Has the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation been solved just like that?¡±

    ¡°Unbelievable...¡± Jing Feiyang muttered.

    However, in the next moment, a furious look appeared in his eyes as he shouted, ¡°Patriarch Icy Crystal! What is this supposed to mean?!¡±

    Patriarch Icy Crystal flew out of the mountain valley, arge number of translucent and sparkling snowkes pouring out of his cuffs.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s soul shadows could be seen flickering within the snowkes, as if every single one of them was vested with profound soul power.

    The snowkes fell onto the surrounding mountains to stabilize them and stop them from falling apart.

    At the same time, Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s transparent, sparkling domain came to form around him.

    The frost power in the entire area instantly increased tenfold.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    The five fierce spirits that were flying back and forth across the sky were enveloped by Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s frost domain. Their illusory bodies seemed to be frozen by the frigid aura. Every move they made became iparably difficult.

    Momentster, they were actually frozen, and sealed behind ayer of sparkling, crystal-clear ice.

    With a grim look in his eyes, Patriarch Icy Crystal then formed an exquisite hand seal. As he did, the sparkling snowkes fused into the mountains¡¯ surfaces, which rapidly stabilized them and saved them from the verge of falling apart.

    ¡°I just told him to solve the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation and touch that piece of ice at the center, not to destroy the foundation of my grand spell formation!¡±

    As soon as Patriarch Icy Crystal spoke, a fifty-kilometer radius was enveloped in an intolerable frigid aura.

    At the same time, a frosty mist that was even more intense rose from the depths of the earth, causing even the discarnate souls, who had been trapped inside the mountains for tens of thousands of years, to let out bloodcurdling wails.

    Jing Feiyang suddenly dashed off the ancient starship. ¡°You told him to solve the spell formation, and he did. You¡¯d better keep your word!¡±

    Countless divine seals surrounded him like dancing butterflies.

    His seal domain also came to form. The divine seals that filled the sky shone with glorious light, gradually infiltrating the ice-cold ground in the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Standing in the unbearable cold, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t stop his teeth from chattering.

    He looked skywards. Looking at the five fierce spirits frozen in Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s frost domain, he let out calls from his soul.

    However, they hadn¡¯t grown to the point where they could contend against a Saint domain expert.

    His calls didn¡¯t make any difference, like stones that were thrown into the sea.

    It appeared that Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s frost domain had even cut off the soul connection between them and Nie Tian.

    Strange light flickered in Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s sullen eyes as he was torn with a dilemma.

    He had promised someone that he would be able to trap Nie Tian in the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation unless he admitted failure and left.

    He had been so confident that he had already imed the rewards, which were precious materials that would be of great help to his advance to the middle Saint domain, as well as the perfection of his frost domain.

    He hadn¡¯t been able to wait for the job to be done to use them.

    Therefore, if he let Nie Tian leave with Fan Kai and the others, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to return those precious materials.

    <i>¡°Now that I can¡¯t return those things anyways, I can only do everything within my power to keep him here, even if it means I have to go back on my word...¡±</i> After a moment of pondering, Patriarch Icy Crystal shouted aloud, ¡°Nie Tian damaged the foundation of my grand spell formation. I won¡¯t let him off so easily!

    ¡°He has to stay here for two years to atone for his wrongdoing. Two yearster, I¡¯ll allow him to leave the Domain of Endless Snow with his people!¡±

    Two years was the minimal time he had promised to trap Nie Tian.

    He believed that, as long as he didn¡¯t kill this Son of the Stars, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wouldn¡¯t unleash their wrath on the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    Nie Tian looked up. ¡°You want to imprison me for two whole years? Why should I agree to that? You just vited the rule of your own making, you shameless old dog!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The gigantic Bone Blood Demon suddenly flew out from within his ring of holding, and swung its huge bony arm towards the piece of ice where Fan Kai and the others were imprisoned.

    Inside the ice prison, Fan Kai shook his head with a bitter expression, as if he knew that the Bone Blood Demon wasn¡¯t strong enough to break the ice.

    A sneer filled Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s eyes as he saw Nie Tian summoning the Bone Blood Demon. ¡°Do you really think a puppet made from an eighth grade Bonebrute can break my heavenly ice?¡±

    BOOM!

    The strong impact sent icy light flying in all directions, and the solid ice he referred to as the heavenly ice stood unwavering.

    The Bone Blood Demon then swung its both arms at the same time in an attempt to slice the heavenly ice with its bony, sword-like hands.

    However, countless sparkling strings swam about within the piece of heavenly ice, as if they had their own awareness, to strengthen the heavenly ice and make it impregnable.

    No matter how hard the Bone Blood Demon tried, the piece of heavenly ice stood there like a mountain of steel without even the slightest fissure.

    Inside the heavenly ice, anticipation and hope gradually faded from the faces of Fan Kai and the others.

    Zhao Luofeng sighed inwardly. ¡°Elder Fan is also at the early Void domain. He tried everything within his power, but still failed to break this piece of heavenly ice. As powerful as the Bone Blood Demon may be, it won¡¯t be able to disy battle prowess that exceeds its peak battle prowess from when it was alive. How can it possibly break the ice?¡±

    It was as if he knew that they were destined to be imprisoned for two more years.

    ¡°Star Boat!¡± As Nie Tian let out an explosive roar, the air-transportation spiritual tool the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him flew out in a sh of dazzling light.

    Without any hesitation, Nie Tian jumped onto it, paved its bottom with numerous Star Stones, and activated its attacking spell formation.

    Bright starlight rapidly built up at the Star Boat¡¯s awl-shaped prow. Even the stars in the heavens seemed to somehow be channeled, as beams of starlight started to pour out of the night sky.

    A pir of glorious light that seemed to contain the entire starry river within it shot forth from the sharp prow of the Star Boat.

    The pir of light instantly mmed into the piece of heavenly ice with might that was simr to that of the Phantasms¡¯ Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like shining stars, hundreds of thousands of spots of bright starlight were infused into the heavenly ice, bringing an ancient, mysterious aura with them.

    Under their attack, numerous sparkling strings were severed.

    The spell formation inside the heavenly ice, which Patriarch Icy Crystal had created and vested with his own soul strands, finally stopped working.

    CRACK!

    Countless fissures suddenly appeared on the piece of heavenly ice. As the pir of starlight continued to shoot into it, it ripped it apart.

    BOOM!

    The piece of heavenly ice exploded, filling the ground with sparkling, crystal-clear pieces. Fan Kai and the others hastily avoided the pir of starlight as they finally broke free.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    With surprised and joyous cries, as they rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    A surprised look spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He had seen the Star Boat¡¯s strongest attack before. ording to his estimation, it might be able to pose a threat to a Soul realm expert, but it probably wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to hurt a Void domain.

    This piece of heavenly ice had been refined by Patriarch Icy Crystal, who was at the Saint domain, with profound frost power spell formations carved on its inside.

    He found it hard to believe that the Star Boat was able to shatter it with a single strike.

    <i>¡°Those spots of starlight...¡±</i> After briefly being dumbstruck, he snapped back to reality, and instantly realized that the numerous spots of starlight had destroyed the spell formation that had been built into the heavenly ice, which was the reason why it had been unbreakable.

    Once the spell formation was destroyed, the heavenly ice would lose its wonders and be fragile.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s expression flickered, as if he had suffered a minor injury from the explosion of the heavenly ice.

    More furious than ever, he thundered, ¡°Nie Tian! First, you damaged my Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation. Now you¡¯ve broken my heavenly ice, which I spent a lot of time and energy refining! Don¡¯t you even think about leaving the Realm of Crystal Snow!¡±

    ¡°Come on!¡± Nie Tian waved his hand at Fan Kai and the other Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and they flew up onto his Star Boat.

    ¡°You broke our deal in the first ce,¡± he refuted. ¡°How dare you me this on me?¡±

    Then, like a falling star, the Star Boat shot out of the mountain valley, where the frigid aura became increasingly intense, towards Duan Shihu and Jing Rou¡¯s ancient starship.

    ¡°You can¡¯t get away!¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal shouted fiercely.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a burning meteor shed across the highest heavens before mysteriously vanishing again.

    As powerful as Patriarch Icy Crystal and Jing Feiyang were, they didn¡¯t notice the brief appearance of the burning meteor.

    However, the frigid environment in the Realm of Crystal Snow started to experience profound changes because of it.

    The frozen mountains that formed the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation had just been stabilized by Patriarch Icy Crystal. However, they started shaking violently again, giving rise to deafening rumbles.

    The frosty aura that kept rising from the depths of the earth stopped.

    Snow stopped falling, and the ice and snow that covered the entire realm started to melt. The inhabitable cold realm seemed to see its first spring.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal, who was just about to seize Nie Tian despite Jing Feiyang¡¯s threat, suddenly came to a stop, and nced around with shock written all over his face.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± He asked meticulously.

    No one answered.

    The frozenkes and rivers and ciers that filled this vast realm continued to melt at an rming rate.

    Such melting gave rise to a torrential flood that rushed down towards some of the low-lying cities and viges.

    Each and every Qi warrior in the Realm of Crystal Snow, who practiced frost power incantations, felt insecure and uneasy in the heat.

    Everyone lived in the fear that the entire Realm of Crystal Snow was melting down, bringing doom on them.

 Chapter 938: A God Domain Expert Descends?

    Changes came with an overwhelming momentum.

    The entire Realm of Crystal Snow shook unceasingly, the earth splitting, ciers melting, and the frigid aura dropping markedly.

    All of the Qi warriors in the Realm of Crystal Snow panicked upon sensing the great changes in heaven and earth.

    Unlike the other eight realms that had gone through overturning changes, the Realm of Crystal Snow held a special ce among the numerous realms in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    That was the ce where Patriarch Icy Crystal practiced cultivation, and one of the most important strongholds of the Heavenly Ice Sect. For hundreds of thousands of years, the Heavenly Ice Sect had expended endless time and human resources to build cities, reform the ciers, and clear up rivers.

    The upheaval in the other eight realms might not take a toll on the Heavenly Ice Sect¡¯s foundation, but once the same thing happened to the Realm of Crystal Snow, the Heavenly Ice Sect would suffer profound losses.

    Even Patriarch Icy Crystal wouldn¡¯t be able to shoulder the consequences without being severely punished.

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect came to a stop in midair while dashing towards Patriarch Icy Crystal. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that even the core of this realm is being changed by this me power of unknown origin...¡±

    Since upheavals had only taken ce in the eight realms they had passed by after they had left, and the Heavenly Ice Sect hadn¡¯t informed them of such upheavals, Jing Feiyang and the others still were unaware of what had happened to those realms.

    ¡°May I asked who this is?¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal nced around and asked in a very respectful and meticulous manner,

    As he did, his soul awareness spread out like a sea and covered more than half of thend in the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Like tentacles, his soul awareness stealthily searched for soul auras that might have caused such changes.

    However, aside from Jing Feiyang¡¯s aura, he failed to sense any other aura that was strong enough to pose a threat to him or the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    This didn¡¯t put his heart at ease. Instead, it made him even more nervous. With a bitter expression, he thought to himself, <i>¡°If it¡¯s actually a God domain expert who did this, and he¡¯s hiding his aura on purpose, it¡¯s natural that I can¡¯t sense his presence...¡± </i>

    He was increasingly certain that a God domain expert well-versed in me power incantations was currently in the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Only experts at that level would have such a profound understanding of me power that it allowed them to cause such fundamental changes, and envelop the Realm of Crystal Snow in terror with nothing but their auras.

    No one answered.

    No matter how many times Patriarch Icy Crystal called out, no one showed up or gave any response.

    This made Patriarch Icy Crystal more and more nervous.

    ¡°Please don¡¯t joke with me, Senior,¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said with a wry smile. Floating in the air, he sped his hands and humbled himself as much as he could. ¡°If the Heavenly Ice Sect has offended you in any way, please enlighten us. Ours is only a minor sect. We can¡¯t afford such punishment.¡±

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat took the opportunity tond beside Duan Shihu and Jing Rou on their ancient starship.

    Inside the mountain valley, thete Void domain Heavenly Ice Sect expert could have stopped it.

    However, he had been dumbstruck by the great changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow, and thus failed to do so.

    Furthermore, the Star Boat was so fast that by the time he snapped out of his daze and attempted to stop it, it had already rejoined the ancient starship.

    At this moment, he was so overwhelmed that he only looked nkly at Patriarch Icy Crystal,pletely not in the mood to capture Nie Tian.

    He even suspected that Patriarch Icy Crystal had offended someone he shouldn¡¯t have, and brought this cmity to the Realm of Crystal Snow, and perhaps the entire Heavenly Ice Sect.

    Compared to Nie Tian, this extremely powerful expert, who refused to show himself or state his identity, was the real threat.

    At this moment, many Qi warriors from the Heavenly Ice Sect arrived from different directions, but they all fell silent upon seeing the frozen mountains that had formed the Spirit-sealing Frozen Mountains Formation melting at an rming rate, and Patriarch Icy Crystal calling and bowing anxiously into the air.

    They all had a feeling that they were faced with an imminent disaster.

    Scattered around the mountain valley, the Heavenly Ice Sect disciples discussed in low voices. All of them med Patriarch Icy Crystal for offending this newborn Son of the Stars over the deaths of a handful of his disciples.

    ¡°Could it be that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was angered by Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s doings, and arranged for God domain experts to punish us?¡±

    ¡°How did our patriarch make such an unwise move?! He knew perfectly well that those people were the subordinates of the seventh Son of the Stars, but still imprisoned them.¡±

    ¡°Now that he¡¯s offended the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, our entire sect is going down with him.¡±

    ¡°I just hope they won¡¯t punish our sect for his wrongdoing.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, some disciples who held certain positions in the Heavenly Ice Sect contacted Patriarch Snowy Peak through different means, informing him of the changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow and asking him toe personally to ask the unidentified guest¡¯s forgiveness.

    Even thete Void domain expert, who had been guarding the mountain valley with Patriarch Icy Crystal the whole time, decided to file a report to Patriarch Snowy Peak after struggling internally for a while.

    <i>¡°Don¡¯t me me for this. It was your decision to imprison those people from the Domain of the Falling Stars. And it was you who made a deal with that person and received the payment. Our sect has to separate itself from this!¡± </i>With these thoughts, a piece of icy jade flew out of his palm to a secret teleportation portal behind one of the mountains.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal canceled his frost domain. Floating in the air, he asked again, ¡°Senior, would you please tell us if my sect or I have done something wrong?¡±

    Panic and fear reced the arrogant and domineering look on his face.

    However, still no one answered.

    After seeing this, Jing Feiyang hesitated briefly before canceling his seal domain and flying back to the ancient starship.

    With furrowed brow, he asked in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian... Are you friends with a God domain expert who practices me power incantations? He realized that you were in trouble, and thus came to your aid?¡±

    Even Jing Feiyang assumed that the changes taking ce in the Realm of Crystal Snow were the work of a God domain expert.

    Nie Tian shook his head and answered, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then what...¡± Jing Feiyang didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    ¡°Do you still remember I told you that I had a strange feeling of being watched on our way to this realm?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Jing Feiyang nodded.

    ¡°Now that feeling is stronger than ever,¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°So this is all because of that cluster of Divine me?¡±

    It was that cluster of Divine me that had reduced every realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End to dead realms, some of which were still burning, even after so many years.

    Its devastating might had buried the Domain of me¡¯s End in the past. Millions of Qi warriors who had lived there had either died or fled their homnd.

    If that cluster of Divine me was actually the reason behind what was happening to the Realm of Crystal Snow...

    Fear appeared in Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes. ¡°I believe that¡¯s it. Its power can easily change the core of a realm! Plus, most of the realms in the Domain of Endless Snow are frigid cold, which means they¡¯re even more prone to its influence! It¡¯s just that it¡¯s only been seen in the Domain of me¡¯s End, and nowhere else. Why did it suddenlye to the Domain of Endless Snow?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Jing Feiyang pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s not do anything rash. Since we don¡¯t have anywhere to be for the time being, let¡¯s wait and see what¡¯s going on. I suppose Patriarch Snowy Peak wille soon after hearing about the changes taking ce here.

    ¡°If it¡¯s malicious, with Patriarch Icy Crystal and Patriarch Snowy Peak here, evacuation will be fairly easy.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly before he nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    At this very moment, spatial fluctuations came from some of the secret underground teleportation portals in the vicinity.

    Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen figures flew out from behind some of the nearby mountains.

    All of them seemed to have teleported here from other realms in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    All of them were at the Void domain.

    All of a sudden, a resounding voice echoed out from behind one of the mountains. Immediately afterwards, a figure shot up into the sky. ¡°I¡¯m Patriarch Snowy Peak, the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Ice Sect. May I learn your name, senior?¡±

    Hundreds of Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warriors, who were scattered around the mountain valley, gave voice to their wonderment.

    ¡°Even our sectmaster came here!?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he in the middle of secluded cultivation? Did he end his secluded cultivation ahead of time because of the great changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow?¡±

    ¡°Who on earth did Patriarch Icy Crystal offend this time?¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak had long, snow-white hair and a seasoned face. He stopped abruptly beside Patriarch Icy Crystal. After fixing him with a cold look, he called out again, ¡°Senior, if it¡¯s something he did that somehow offended you, please allow me to apologize on behalf of him and the Heavenly Ice Sect!¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal muttered with a bitter expression, but didn¡¯t finish.

    The fact that Patriarch Snowy Peak assumed that this was all his fault upon arriving made him feel very embarrassed.

    He wracked his mind, but still couldn¡¯t remember when and where he had offended a God domain expert.

    Seeing that there was no response, Patriarch Snowy Peak cleared his throat and stated his assumption. ¡°Ahem...Is this about the seventh Son of the Stars? If it is, we¡¯re willing to atone for our wrongdoing.¡±

    With these words, he turned to Nie Tian and bowed slightly. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware of the fact that Patriarch Icy Crystal had imprisoned your subordinates, and I didn¡¯t approve such an outrageous action. But now that they¡¯ve been freed, will you please forgive us this one time? I¡¯ll havepensating gifts prepared for you, and spread word to our neighboring domains to admit this mistake.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled somewhat unnaturally, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    He shot Jing Rou a meaningful look, signaling for her to start the ancient starship.

    Without saying a word, Jing Rou returned to the main cabin. Shortly afterwards, the ancient starship gave loud rumbles and shot into the starry river.

    No one from the Heavenly Ice Sect dared to stop them.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal wanted to say something, but since Patriarch Snowy Peak fixed him with a nasty look, he shut his mouth sensibly.

    As the ancient starship disappeared into the boundless starry river, the great changes taking ce in the Realm of Crystal Snow actually gradually stopped.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s indeed because of that Son of the Stars!¡±

 Chapter 939: Scared Out of Their Wits

    Silence and peace were restored to the Realm of Crystal Snow, which made the Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warriors even more convinced that a God domain expert had been secretly helping Nie Tian.

    Patriarch Snowy Peak was dumbfounded.

    In fact, he hadn¡¯t been sure of this assumption of his that the upheaval in the Realm of Crystal Snow actually had something to do with Nie Tian.

    Like men who were critically ill would turn to any doctor they could find, he had only gone with it because he had been desperate to stop the destructive changes.

    He actually had a certain understanding of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and knew that it was almost impossible for a newborn Son of the Stars to receive the assistance of a God domain expert.

    Furthermore, as far as he understood, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t have any God domain experts that were well-versed in me power incantations.

    But surprisingly, the changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow had ended as soon as Nie Tian had left.

    This proved his assumption: Nie Tian was the reason behind the devastating changes in the Realm of Crystal Snow and the other eight realms.

    <i>¡°The one who¡¯s looking after Nie Tian must not be from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...¡± </i>Snapping out of his thoughts, Patriarch Snowy Peak fixed Patriarch Icy Crystal with a stern look and asked, ¡°Who¡¯s the person that asked you to do this?¡±

    He was actually aware that Patriarch Icy Crystal had reached an agreement with someone to imprison Nie Tian for a period of time, so that he would lose face.

    He hadn¡¯t assumed that it would be a big deal, and had thus given tacit permission to it.

    Who would have thought Nie Tian would have an unidentified God domain expert secretly watching over him the whole time?

    If he had known about this, he would have never allowed Patriarch Icy Crystal to make this secret deal with that person.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal still hadn¡¯t recovered from his panic as he answered, ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell. He wore a mask and hid his aura. He just offered me the rare spiritual materials I needed to upgrade my domain in exchange for trapping Nie Tian for at least two years, or frustrating him to the point where he gives up.¡±

    ¡°Where are those spiritual materials now?¡± Patriarch Snowy Peak asked, his brow furrowed.

    ¡°I already used them to refine my domain,¡± Patriarch Icy Crystal said with a frustrated and regretful expression.

    ¡°Since the seventh Son of the Stars had an unidentified God domain expert at his back, we¡¯ve got to adopt a new strategy...¡± After a short pause, Patriarch Snowy Peak ordered the others, ¡°Spread word to the nearby domains that our sect has admitted our mistake and apologized to Nie Tian. Later, I¡¯ll visit our treasure vault to pick out some spiritual materials that¡¯ll help with Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation aspensation.¡±

    With these words, he sighed and congratted himself. ¡°Fortunately, Nie Tian left on his own. Otherwise, the Realm of Crystal Snow, which we¡¯ve spent so much effort and time building, might have soon been reduced to a dead realm.¡±

    ...

    In the endless starry river.

    Jing Rou and Duan Shihu¡¯s ancient starship sailed at a moderate speed.

    Nie Tian still had the peculiar feeling of being watched, which made him very ufortable. ¡°It seems to be that cluster of Divine me alright.¡±

    Even standing in the main cabin, Jing Feiyang spread his immense soul awareness to the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    His eyes shone with the light of incredulity. ¡°The turbulences in the Realm of Crystal Snow ended as soon as we left. From the look of it, it has been secretly following us the whole time. Even I can¡¯t track it, and you can only sense its presence by a subtle feeling, but also can¡¯t determine its location.¡±

    ¡°The changes in Realm of Crystal Snow have stopped?!¡± Jing Rou asked, looking surprised. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, wouldn¡¯t it verify Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s assumption that a God domain expert has been secretly helping Nie Tian?¡±

    Jing Feiyang seemed to be amused. ¡°It appears so. This is actually good for us. At least Patriarch Snowy Peak and the entire Heavenly Ice Sect must regret messing with Nie Tian. I¡¯ve heard something about Patriarch Snowy Peak. He prioritizes the safety of the Heavenly Ice Sect and himself over everything else, so he¡¯ll definitely think up every possible method to resolve this unpleasant incident.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled somewhat awkwardly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that the Divine me was following us the whole time either.¡±

    He also believed that the Heavenly Ice Sect would expend serious effort to fix their rtionship with him after this incident.

    Fan Kai and the others gasped as they listened to the conversation between them, finding everything that had happened hard to believe.

    Not a single Heavenly Ice Sect Qi warrior had shown up on their way to the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    However, now that they were heading back, thete Void domain expert who had guarded the piece of heavenly ice where Fan Kai and the others had been imprisoned appeared on their ancient starship.

    He said that Patriarch Snowy Peak was having precious materials prepared for him, which would be delivered to him shortly afterwards.

    He also asked Nie Tian to try to stay clear of the realms of the Domain of Endless Snow. The Heavenly Ice Sect had learned their lesson.

    His words made Nie Tian realize that the Heavenly Ice Sect had indeed been scared.

    After the man left, hemunicated with Jing Rou to make necessary adjustments to their route so that they would avoid the realms of the Domain of Endless Snow as much as they could.

    At the same time, he sat in his cabin and focused on his cultivation.

    As he did, not only did the strange feeling of being watched not go away, but it grew even stronger.

    He examined himself carefully, and discovered to his surprise that this feeling was actually originating from his me power sub-soul in his sea of awareness.

    His me power sub-soul was a profound mixture of his soul essence and understanding of me power.

    During the recent period of time, his me power sub-soul had been focused on deriving enlightenment of two Earth grade incantations: the True me Incantation and me Dragon¡¯s Cry.

    It was this sub-soul that allowed him to sense the presence of that cluster of Divine me in a subtle way.

    <i>¡°Did my me power sub-soul provoke the Divine me¡¯s interest? If that¡¯s the case, why didn¡¯t it just show up and try to take it from me?¡±</i>

    He had a feeling that even Jing Feiyang, who was at the early Saint domain, wouldn¡¯t be able to stop that cluster of Divine me.

    If it wanted to do something to him, no one would be able to stop it.

    He pondered for a long time, but still failed to think of what the Divine me might be after. Therefore, he could only put the matter aside and refocus on his cultivation.

    It was then when he suddenly realized that the speed at which he refined his me power core had somehow improved severalfold.

    He examined himself carefully, and discovered that the speed at which he channeled Heavenme Essence from Heavenme Crystals had be seven times faster than before.

    Aftering to this wonderful discovery, he seized every moment to refine his me power core with his Heavenme Crystals, day and night without stopping.

    Time flew. Two weeks passed.

    Their ancient starship was finally about to sail out of the Domain of Endless Snow and into the Domain of me¡¯s End, which had been destroyed by the cluster of Divine me.

    At this time, Patriarch Snowy Peak finished selecting rare spiritual materials for Nie Tian from the Heavenly Ice Sect¡¯s treasure vault.

    It was arge selection of Star Stones, spiritual materials of wood and fire attributes, and valuable medicinal pills.

    With the help of their teleportation portals, he arrived in the Realm of Falling Snow before Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship did.

    The Realm of Falling Snow was the first realm Nie Tian the others had crossed after entering the Domain of Endless Snow.

    It was on the border of the Domain of Endless Snow, where Nie Tian and the other had to pass by to enter the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    Not just Patriarch Snowy Peak, but many other Heavenly Ice Sect elders also came on this trip.

    Patriarch Icy Crystal was the only one who had been ordered to stay in the Realm of Crystal Snow, since the Heavenly Ice Sect was afraid that his appearance would cause unwanted trouble.

    With knitted brow, Patriarch Snowy Peak gazed up into the heavens. ¡°I hope the presents I¡¯ve put together in a hurry will please that Son of the Stars.¡±

    Then, he turned to the others and asked, ¡°Have you spread the word I told you to?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sectmaster,¡± a man answered. ¡°We¡¯ve already spread word to the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Vast Darkness, saying that you¡¯ve apologized to Nie Tian and offered him valuable presents aspensation.¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak nodded. ¡°A newborn Son of the Stars needs face more than anything, so that¡¯s what we¡¯re giving him in full.¡±

    A few hourster, Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship entered Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s detection range.

    He flew out to greet him personally.

 Chapter 940: Aid from Far Away

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Falling Snow...

    Instead of summoning any spiritual tools, Patriarch Snowy Peak unleashed his domain after flying into the starry river.

    As he did, an enormous sphere of ice and snow spread out with him at the center, inside of which a snow-capped mountain peak loomed, exuding a frigid aura.

    Wisps of white frosty aura could be seen rising from Patriarch Snowy Peak as he stood on top of the snow-capped mountain peak, as if he were the one and only god that ruled that space.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± He suddenly jerked his head in a direction, a surprised look filling his face.

    A splendid ancient starship had suddenly appeared in the border region of the Domain of Endless Snow and the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    Brow furrowed, Patriarch Snowy Peak muttered, ¡°It¡¯s the Xie n from the Water Moon Sect in the Domain of Vast Darkness!¡±

    He recognized the sigil on the ancient starship after a brief nce.

    Jing Feiyang looked surprised as well as he said, ¡°Howe people from the Xie n suddenly showed up here? The Water Moon Sect and the Heavenly Ice Sect have had many feuds with each other over the past few hundred years. These two sects are just as powerful. Neither of them could overtake the other. So the rtionship between them has been strained the whole time. I wonder why they¡¯vee here.¡±

    A puzzled expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°The Xie n...¡±

    Xie Wanting and Xie Yunhai, who he had met in the Shatter Battlefield were a brother and sister pair from the Water Moon Sect.

    When he had parted with Xie Wanting, she had even sincerely invited him to visit the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    Apparently, she had been grateful to him for looking after her in the Shatter Battlefield.

    It was also thanks to him that she had gained quite a fortune from her trip to the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Is this Nie Tian?¡± Xie Wanting¡¯s gentle voice echoed out from the border region between the Domain of me¡¯s End and the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Standing on the ancient starship and enveloped in a protective ward, Nie Tian and the others could see that Xie Wanting, Xie Yunhai, and a good-looking middle-aged man were looking at him from afar.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°What brought you here?¡±

    With a warm smile, Xie Wanting said, ¡°We happened to be passing through this area. I heard that you were close by, so we waited here, hoping to meet you again.¡±

    Then, she turned to the middle-aged man beside her. ¡°Oh right. Nie Tian, This is my father, Xie Qian, the current sectmaster of the Water Moon Sect.¡±

    In a very respectful manner, Nie Tian sped his hands and said, ¡°Greetings, senior.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, thank you for taking care of Yunhai and Wanting in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Xie Qian said in a warm and sincere manner. ¡°They told me all about what happened in the Shatter Battlefield. I first wanted to go visit you in the Domain of Heaven Python to express my gratitude.

    ¡°But we happened to pass this area on business. Learning that you were in the Domain of Endless Snow, we figured we might as well wait for you here so that I could meet and thank you in person.¡±

    With these words, Xie Qian nodded slightly towards Jing Feiyang.

    Jing Feiyang returned the salute promptly.

    Jing Rou lowered her voice and exined to Nie Tian, ¡°The Xie n is the backbone of the Water Moon Sect. It¡¯s safe to say that they practically own the Water Moon Sect. Senior Xie Qian is at the middle Saint domain, which is the same as Patriarch Snowy Peak, but he entered the middle Saint domain earlier, so his cultivation base is a bit more solid.¡±

    After pausing for a few seconds, she continued, ¡°The Water Moon Sect is also slightly more powerful than the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    ¡°If we talk about domains, the Domain of Vast Darkness is also the most powerful domain in this area, stronger than the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Endless Snow.

    ¡°However, since the Domain of Vast Darkness is fairly far from the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and close to the Domain of Endless Snow, we don¡¯t have a close connection with them. But one thing is for sure: the Water Moon Sect enjoys a much better reputation than the Heavenly Ice Sect, and the people from the Xie n are known for their breadth of mind.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as he listened attentively.

    He could tell that Jing Rou had a rather high opinion of the Xie n from the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    As they spoke, the Water Moon Sect¡¯s ancient starship slowly sailed to them.

    As the distance between the two ancient starships rapidly shortened, Xie Qian leaped onto Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship with Xie Yunhai and Xie Wanting.

    Thousands of meters away, Patriarch Snowy Peak floated alone in the starry river. His face grew grimmer and grimmer as he watched Xie Qian from afar.

    After hesitating for quite a while, he clenched his jaw and slowly approached them.

    Xie Qian seemed to suddenly notice him. He turned in his direction and waved with a smile on his face. ¡°Long time no see, Lin Xuefeng.¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak, whose real name was Lin Xuefeng, looked sullen as he said, ¡°ording to our agreement, ancient starships from your sect aren¡¯t allowed to enter the Domain of Endless Snow in the hundred years toe. But now, you¡¯ve crossed into the Domain of Endless Snow.¡±

    ¡°Come on, do we have to be so calcting?¡± Xie Qian said with a yful tone. ¡°We¡¯re only here to see a friend, and we¡¯ll be on our way in a bit. Don¡¯t be so nervous.¡±

    ¡°See a friend?¡± Patriarch Snowy Peak said, fixing the Water Moon Sect¡¯s ancient starship with a cold stare. ¡°Do you have to bring so many people with you if you¡¯re just here to see a friend?¡±

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t noticed that arge number of powerful experts were hiding in the cabins of the Water Moon Sect¡¯s ancient starship.

    Thanks to his middle Saint domain cultivation base and keen soul detection, Patriarch Snowy Peak had long since realized that more than a dozen Void domain experts from the Water Moon Sect were hiding in the cabins.

    They had brought half of their sect¡¯s Void domain experts on this trip, and imed that this was just a visit between friends?

    With a hearty smile, Xie Qian said, ¡°I knew they wouldn¡¯t escape your eyes. The truth is that we¡¯ve just returned from an exploration trip. In order to prevent misunderstandings, I told them to stay inside their cabins. I only did it so that you wouldn¡¯t get the wrong idea. Oh, by the way, I heard that Patriarch Icy Crystal imprisoned Nie Tian¡¯s people. Would you give me face and release them, old friend?¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak snorted. ¡°They¡¯re already with Nie Tian.¡±

    Taken aback, Xie Qian turned to fix Nie Tian with a surprised look. ¡°You have them with you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Good, good,¡± Xie Qian said, smiling. ¡°We¡¯re going to live and see each other a lot in this part of the starry river. We¡¯ll all benefit if we get along.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has already assigned the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to Nie Tian. At the same time, we, the Water Moon Sect, are hoping to form an alliance with Nie Tian. Once we do, we¡¯ll be family.

    ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that you¡¯ve released his people. Let¡¯s resort to talks from now on. I¡¯m not a fan of fighting and killing.¡±

    Xie Qian used both reason and threats in his speech.

    Everyone heard his support for Nie Tian in his speech, and came to realize that this trip of his had been designed to help Nie Tian get his people back from the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    Perhaps the inter-domain travel had prevented him from receiving thetest news from their headquarters, so he assumed that Patriarch Snowy Peak had thought things through, and eventually released Nie Tian¡¯s people voluntarily. He didn¡¯t know that wasn¡¯t the case at all.

    Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s eyes flickered subtly as he grew increasingly uneasy. <i>¡°The Water Moon Sect wants to form an alliance with Nie Tian... First a God domain expert who practices me power, now the Water Moon Sect... How many forces does this Son of the Stars have at his back?¡±</i>

    Patriarch Snowy Peak pondered briefly before deciding to end his conversation with Xie Qian. He tossed a ring of holding to Nie Tian.

    Afterwards, he sped his hands and bowed. ¡°We¡¯re truly sorry for Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s action of imprisoning your people. Inside that ring of holding are some cultivation resources I¡¯ve picked out aspensation. I hope you can forget this unpleasant incident and give a way out to a small sect like ours.¡±

    Xie Qian, who had been smiling the whole time, was suddenly dumbstruck.

    His gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and Patriarch Snowy Peak as he gradually frowned in confusion.

    As a matter of fact, the true purpose of his trip was to help Nie Tian demand his people back to repay him for what he had done for his children in the Shatter Battlefield.

    He knew Patriarch Snowy Peak very well, and had learned about Patriarch Icy Crystal¡¯s scheme due to some information he had received. He had been convinced that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to leave the Domain of Endless Snow so easily. He had never thought that there would be such a surprising twist, that the Heavenly Ice Sect would admit their mistake sopletely.

    Nie Tian grabbed the ring of holding and put it away without checking its contents.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one thing I¡¯d like to know,¡± Nie Tian said coldly. ¡°Who put Patriarch Icy Crystal up to trapping me in the Realm of Crystal Snow?¡±

    Just as Patriarch Snowy Peak was going to say something, Xie Qian beat him to it. ¡°As far as I know, Patriarch Snowy Peak received precious domain-building materials from someone.¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak shot him a sideways nce, and then said with a bitter expression, ¡°To tell you the truth, I didn¡¯t know about this, and I asked him about that person¡¯s identity... But he doesn¡¯t know who that person is either, since he used a mask and changed his aura.¡±

    ¡°Is that the truth?¡±

    ¡°A hundred percent!¡±

    Nie Tian waved at him. ¡°So be it.¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak was rather nervous as he looked at Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang. Then, with a sigh, he bowed and flew back to the Realm of Falling Snow.

 Chapter 941: Luring the Divine Flame

    After Patriarch Snowy Peak left, more than a dozen Void domain Water Moon Sect experts walked out of the cabins.

    Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng, and the others also surfaced to greet Xie Qian and his people.

    In perfect bearing, Xie Qian returned a salute to every one of them.

    Then, he smiled and said, ¡°I thought they were disciples from the Divine Seal Sect.¡±

    He had long since sensed the presence of Fan Kai and the others, but had assumed they were Divine Seal Sect disciples who had been arranged to protect Jing Rou and Duan Shihu during this trip.

    Everyone had a good, friendly talk.

    From their talk, Nie Tian learned that Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect wasn¡¯t passing by as he had imed to be. Instead, he hade with the sole purpose of pressuring the Heavenly Ice Sect so that Nie Tian would be able to leave with Fan Kai and the others.

    Xie Qian had done this because he had wanted to thank Nie Tian for helping his children gain significant loot and growth in the Shatter Battlefield, and he hoped to establish a good rtionship with Nie Tian now that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had officially named him the seventh Son of the Stars.

    Nie Tian thanked him for his thoughts.

    Xie Qian then went on and expressed their hope to form an alliance with Nie Tian, and that they would be willing to invest heavily in building inter-domain teleportation portals among the Domain of Vast Darkness, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries in order to facilitate trade among the three domains.

    After a brief discussion, Xie Qian¡¯s subordinates returned to their own starship, while Jing Feiyang pulled Xie Qian and Nie Tian away from the two starships.

    The three of them stayed within Jing Feiyang¡¯s seal domain as they followed the sailing starships from a considerable distance.

    Jing Feiyang told Xie Qian about the Divine me, and the fact that it might be following Nie Tian the whole time. It was thanks to it that the Heavenly Ice Sect had admitted to their wrongdoing.

    Only then did Xie Qian realize the real reason behind Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s unexpected attitude.

    ¡°What do you know about that cluster of Divine me, Brother Xie?¡± Jing Feiyang asked sincerely.

    The Water Moon Sect¡¯s reserve power was even more profound than that of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s. Plus, he had heard that back when the Divine me had destroyed the Domain of me¡¯s End, Xie Qian had been there himself in an attempt to find or learn something from it. He had been worried that it would make the Domain of Vast Darkness its next target, and reduce it to a dead domain as well.

    ¡°That cluster of Divine me is a unique Heaven Nourished grade fire-attributed treasure,¡± Xie Qian said in a low voice.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    ¡°Like other Heaven Nourished grade treasures, it was born with its own awareness, and it¡¯s every bit as intelligent as advanced life forms,¡± Xie Qian said with a dignified tone. ¡°Besides, such unique treasures usually have keen perceptions, especially for things or lives that share its attribute.

    ¡°Back in the day, the head of the fire element sect of the Five Elements Sect also went after it in the Domain of me¡¯s End. But as soon as he set foot in the Domain of me¡¯s End, it seemed to have sensed his presence, and thus hid itself. Even he, who was at the God domain, couldn¡¯t find it anywhere, which proved how powerful it was.

    ¡°You¡¯ve probably heard of the appearance of a unique spatial treasure in the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°That treasure is also at the Heaven Nourished grade. Didn¡¯t many spatial power experts from the Void Spirit Society spend years searching for it in the Shatter Battlefield, but still came back empty-handed?

    ¡°Most unique treasures at that grade are capable of hiding from powerful pursuers. It¡¯s like a unique ability they¡¯re born with.¡±

    Nie Tian grew hesitant after hearing these words, but eventually, he brought out the truth about how his feeling of being watched by the cluster of Divine me had originated from his me power sub-soul.

    After hearing his words, Xie Qian said, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s star power incantations are the most profound incantations in this world. We don¡¯t understand their profundity...¡± After a short pause, he added, ¡°But if that cluster of Divine me actually showed a strong interest in you, but didn¡¯t try to hurt you in any way, then it might not be a bad thing for you.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking intrigued.

    With a smile, Xie Qian said, ¡°Heaven Nourished grade treasures are incredibly intelligent. They¡¯re known to have the ability to choose their own masters. Perhaps that cluster of Divine me has actually been observing you, and it¡¯s considering making you its master, and merging with you. If it does, it¡¯ll grow with you. The stronger you be, the more power it¡¯ll gain.¡±

    After hearing these words, Nie Tian immediately thought of the coexisting flowers and the Heavenly Demonsbane.

    <i>¡°Don¡¯t tell me that, like the coexisting flowers and the Heavenly Demonsbane, that cluster of Divine me also needs to find itself a host with flesh and blood in order to make itself stronger?¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Jing Feiyang interrupted his thoughts with a furrowed brow, ¡°if what you¡¯ve just said is true, I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t return to the Domain of Heaven Python yet. That cluster of Divine me¡¯s aura apparently carries power that can change the foundation of realms. If it follows you into the Domain of Heaven Python, what happened to the Domain of Endless Snow might also happen to the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°So what you do you think I should do?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have to either lose it, or make it ept you,¡± Xie Qian suggested. ¡°Of course, it¡¯ll be best if you can figure out a way to establish a soul connection with it first. If you can do that, then you¡¯ll be able to learn what it¡¯s thinking and what it wants. Things will be much easier this way.¡±

    ¡°But how am I supposed to establish a soul connection with it?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking baffled.

    After a moment of pondering, Xie Qian said, ¡°That cluster of Divine me is probably not powerful enough to kill Saint domain human Qi warriors at will. Back in the day, when the realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End burst into mes, many powerful experts were burned to death.

    ¡°That was because every realm had terrifying earthme at its heart. The cluster of Divine me channeled them, giving rise to mighty mes that burned the heavens and destroyed the earth.

    ¡°Now, the Domain of me¡¯s End is long gone, and the Divine me must have be even stronger after all these years. But even so, it probably isn¡¯t sure that it¡¯ll be able to take you from brother Jing¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Not to mention that I¡¯ve joined you now. It most certainly won¡¯t try anything with us around.¡±

    With a thoughtful expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So you mean...?¡±

    ¡°If you want to establish a soul connection to it, you¡¯ll have to separate yourself from us and travel by yourself.¡± Xie Qian pointed it out for Nie Tian. ¡°As long as brother Jing and I aren¡¯t at your side anymore, it won¡¯t have so many scruples. Perhaps only then will it show itself tomunicate with you. And you¡¯ll be able to figure out what it wants from you.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t try to kill Nie Tian, will it?¡± Jing Feiyang asked.

    Xie Qian shook his head. ¡°Probably not. ording to what Nie Tian said, it set its eyes on him long ago. It didn¡¯t try to kill him when you were engaged in a fierce fight with Master Bloody Despair and couldn¡¯t really look after him. If it did, he probably would have been dead already. It must want something from Nie Tian, and it¡¯s not his life.¡±

    Jing Feiyang mulled his words over, and agreed with him. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°So do I just part ways with you?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re only at the Profound realm. I doubt that you¡¯ll survive if you actually leave us to travel by yourself in the starry river.¡± With these words, Jing Feiyang thought for a while, then came up with an idea.

    He elerated, and returned to their ancient starship. He told Duan Shihu, Jing Rou, and everyone else to move onto the Water Moon Sect¡¯s ancient starship.

    Nie Tian, however, would remain on Duan Shihu and Jing Rou¡¯s ancient starship as he sailed off by himself.

    Soon, the two ancient starships sailed farther and farther apart.

    Sitting on the deck and enveloped in a protective ward made of divine seals, Nie Tian focused on practicing the True me Incantation and channeling Heavenme Essence from Heavenme Crystals.

    As time passed bit by bit, the distance between him and Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian grew longer and longer.

    When he thought the distance between them was long enough, he berthed the ancient starship over one of the dead realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    He discovered that the speed at which he channeled and refined me power skyrocketed after he parted ways with Jing Feiyang and the others.

    A few hours passed...

    While he was practicing cultivation wholeheartedly, a series of images suddenly entered his me power sub-soul, allowing him to witness the terrifying scenes of the Domain of me¡¯s End being destroyed.

    Countless burning meteors fell out of the heavens like a waterfall.

    One realm after another was instantly lit up. Volcanoes erupted, flooding the earth with boilingva and devastating earthme. The me power at the heart of each realm seemed to be stirred up and channeled to the surface.

    The crimson realms of the Domain of me¡¯s End burned like giant balls of me.

    The burning meteors flew across the sky in the burning realms, as if they had their own awareness and were gathering me power from the burning realms, strengthening themselves with destruction.

    Many sects were reduced to ashes within moments.

    Some powerful sects evacuated their members via ancient starships or teleportation portals, but many more lives were devoured by the torrential mes and vanished from this world.

    ¡°I-is this the cmity that cluster of Divine me brought on the Domain of me¡¯s End?¡±

 Chapter 942: Life Transformation?

    Nie Tian knew that what he saw through his me power sub-soul was what had actually happened.

    The Divine me¡¯s arrival had given rise to devastating changes in the realms of the Domain of me¡¯s End, setting them aze. Then, the Divine me had channeled power from them to strengthen itself.

    Its appearance had reduced the Domain of me¡¯s End to a ce of destruction and destion.

    The images shook Nie Tian deeply, and made him realize that the Divine me¡¯s cultivation would result in the end of realms.

    ¡°Just because of you, those realms that once thrived with life force and cultivator forces perished,¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    It was as if the Divine me heard his mutter.

    All of a sudden, new images entered his me power sub-soul.

    Time seemed to suddenly move hundreds of thousands of years backward.

    It was still the Domain of me¡¯s End. A few dozen realms seemed to have juste to form, as they hadn¡¯t formed their realm cores yet.

    Not many lives had appeared in them.

    A burning meteor flew over from the distant starry river.

    It flew past the newborn realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End one after another, sowing them with the seeds of fire.

    Fire sparks fell onto each and every realm, infiltrating their earth and fusing into their realm cores. By doing this, they seemed to stimte the growth of the realm cores and bring out their potential.

    Such infusions started to shape the realms of the Domain of me¡¯s End into fiery realms. They gained the ability to channel dissociative me power from the starry river. As they grew hotter and hotter, volcanoes came to form, along with all kinds of fire-attributed spiritual materials and vegetation.

    As time moved forward, each and every realm of the Domain of me¡¯s End was shaped into fiery realms due to the fusion of me sparks from the burning meteor.

    The burning meteor, however, had long vanished from this part of the starry river.

    Countless yearster, outsiders arrived in the Domain of me¡¯s End and became its first dwellers.

    Then, many yearster, humans arrived on their ancient starships and started a war with the outsiders over the Domain of me¡¯s End. Eventually, the humans won. They drove the outsiders away and became the overlords of the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    After that, human Qi warriors established sects and ns in all of the realms. They mined fire-attributed cultivation resources without restraint, and fought among themselves year-round.

    Eventually, the burning meteor that had disappeared a very long time ago returned to the Domain of me¡¯s End, and set every realm aze.

    Nie Tian pondered, and soon realized that the cluster of Divine me was using this special method to influence his me power sub-soul and open his eyes to the truth.

    The truth was that the Divine me had discovered the Domain of me¡¯s End first. It had sown it with its curious seeds of fire, which had sessfully transformed the realms into fiery realms.

    After the Divine me had left, the realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End had channeled me power from the starry river, forming all kinds of spiritual materials and various other resources.

    Later, outsiders had arrived and upied it. They had mined its spiritual materials and strengthened their bloodlines with the me power it had umted over thousands of years.

    Many years after that, humans had discovered it, and taken it from the outsiders.

    What the human Qi warriors had done was no different from the outsiders, except they had been even more extreme.

    The humans had popted these fiery realms at an rming speed. They exploited all kinds of fire-attributed materials to build up their sects and themselves.

    However, it was the me sparks from the Divine me that had turned the realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End into the fiery realms they were.

    The Divine me was the one that had explored the Domain of me¡¯s End. Like how humans grow crops, it had nted the seeds, and would return someday to harvest the results.

    However, outsiders and humans had shown up and enjoyed the fruit of its efforts after it had left.

    Later, after returning, it had only taken back what was rightfully its.

    Even if it hadn¡¯t, the humans¡¯ unrestrained development would exhaust the me power these realms held, and have turned them into dead realms anyways.

    Nie Tian was suddenly enlightened. ¡°So this is the truth it wanted me to see.

    ¡°The Divine me roams the starry river to find newborn domains. Once it does, it leaves me sparks, which will turn the realms into fiery realms and develop itself at the same time. When the time is right, it¡¯ll return to harvest the developed me sparks. This is the unique way the Divine me cultivates.¡±

    With these thoughts, he suddenly detected a vague soul awareness with the help of his me power sub-soul.

    A burning meteor seemed to be withholding its me power as it appeared out of thin air in front of his ancient starship.

    Its me flickered in a profound manner, as if to send some message.

    ¡°You want three drops of my Blood Essence, and in return, you¡¯ll give me a me spark?¡± Nie Tian immediately realized the reason why it had been following him the whole time.

    After a moment of contemtion, he nodded, and separated three drops of Blood Essence from his heart.

    They were translucent and sparkling like crimson agates, exuding the profound truths of life power.

    At the same time, a me spark was separated from the burning meteor.

    Before Nie Tian could take a close look at it, the me spark flew into his spiritual sea in his dantian region and fused into his me power core.

    As soon as it did, Nie Tian¡¯s me power sub-soul shook violently.

    In the next moment, he discovered that he had somehow gained the ability to channel faint free me power in the starry river.

    After going nk for a brief moment, he hastily took out a Heavenme Crystal.

    Like strings of fire, the Heavenme Essence it contained flew into his me power core at an incredibly fast speed.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered strongly. ¡°The speed at which I absorb Heavenme Essence has improved nearly tenfold!¡±

    At the same time, he came to another shocking discovery: his mastery of the True me Incantation and me Dragon¡¯s Cry seemed to have also improved significantly.

    ¡°The me spark can also help my me power sub-soul master me power incantations?!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the three drops of Blood Essence flew uncontrobly into the burning meteor.

    Like crimson agates that were the size of fingernails, they were devoured by the Divine me in the blink of an eye.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    They rapidly turned into wisps of blood that dispersed into the Divine me.

    As the Divine me burned increasingly furiously, a faint flesh aura seemed to be born within it.

    ¡°The Divine me is a unique treasure, not a living being with flesh and blood. But after receiving three drops of my Blood Essence, it seems to have gained the potential to be one!¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked by this shocking discovery.

    ¡°This is like creating a brand new life! The Divine me has its own awareness and zing me power. A body of flesh and blood is the only thing itcks!

    ¡°But what will it be after gaining a fleshly body? A brand new species with it as the first of its kind?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t even dare to give it any more thought.

    SHEW!

    The Divine me suddenly drove the burning meteor into the distant starry river, as if it went off to search for something in order to finish an incredible transformation.

    ¡°Will it be a brand new life with flesh and blood the next time I see it?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that my Blood Essence can cause such a change to any high grade precious material? There are countless species in the starry river. How on earth did they firste to exist? Is it possible that some of them were actually born in this way?¡±

    Questions exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, as if his understanding of life had suddenly been overthrown, opening his eyes to brand new, unfathomable possibilities.

    After the Divine me left, the scorching aura gradually vanished as well.

    Standing on the ancient starship by himself, he didn¡¯t contact Xie Qian or Jing Feiyang right away. Instead, he sat down with furrowed brow and mulled over everything that had just happened.

    He had a feeling that the answers he might gain would be of immeasurable help if he wanted to understand this world better and solve the mysteries of life.

    ¡°Also, that me spark has fused into my me power core. I suppose it has many profound uses too.¡±

 Chapter 943: Unprecedentedly Smooth Breakthrough

    Nie Tian was consumed with deriving enlightenment, andpletely forgot about time.

    The ancient starship from the Water Moon Sect was berthed in one of the dead realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End, which had lost everyst bit of its me power many years ago. Jing Feiyang gazed up into the starry river. Looking somewhat worried, he said, ¡°It¡¯s been eight days, and Nie Tian still hasn¡¯t rejoined us.¡±

    The Void domain Water Moon Sect experts walked out of their cabins to scan the charred ground.

    This realm had been full of life force, but the Divine me¡¯s arrival had reduced it to a realm in ruins, without any sign of living creatures or vegetation.

    The more they examined this realm, the more apprehensive they were about the Divine me¡¯s devastating might.

    Xie Wanting seemed worried as well as she said, ¡°Father, Nie Tian will be fine, right? That Divine me can easily destroy realms. If it wants to do something to Nie Tian...¡±

    ¡°You seem to care a lot about Nie Tian, don¡¯t you, big sister?¡± Xie Yunhai said yfully.

    Xie Wanting shot him a stern look. After he shut his mouth, she turned to look at Xie Qian again, and concern filled her eyes.

    They were in a ce rather far from Jing Feiyang and the others. If Jing Feiyang didn¡¯t eavesdrop purposely, he wouldn¡¯t be able to overhear their conversation.

    Xie Qianughed and said, ¡°Nie Tian seems to be a good kid, Wanting.¡±

    Xie Wanting flushed slightly. ¡°Even you¡¯re making fun of me? There¡¯s nothing between Nie Tian and I. We¡¯re just friends. Besides, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect once told me that Nie Tian already has a fiancee in the Domain of the Falling Stars. On top of that, he has questionable rtionships with Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect.¡±

    Xie Qian smiled. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars, the Beast-controlling Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect... How can those girls bepared to my daughter? If you do like that Nie Tian, I can help make a match between you two. Our sect ranks in the top among all the sects in the surrounding domains. If he wants to marry you, your marriage will bind our sect with him, this rising star, which will benefit us all.

    ¡°Also, this is a matter that¡¯s better done early thante.

    ¡°Now, since he¡¯s a newborn Son of the Stars, and his cultivation base is still low, we have a good chance. But if we wait till he enters the Void domain or even the Saint domain to propose this marriage, he might not value us as much by then.¡±

    Xie Yunhaiughed heartily. ¡°I actually think it¡¯ll be great if Nie Tian bes my brother-inw. Big sister, you¡¯ve lived your whole life in the Domain of Vast Darkness, but you haven¡¯t had your eyes on anyone. Nie Tian is the only man you¡¯ve ever spoken highly of. You couldn¡¯t stop praising him after our trip to the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°But you didn¡¯t mention a thing about Huang Jinnan, the Divine Son of the metal element sect of the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    As the father and son exchanged words, Xie Wanting, who was bashful by nature, flushed even more, and told them to stop.

    At the same time, she called a name softly in her heart. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Jing Feiyang flew over and came to a stop in front of Xie Qian. ¡°Brother Xie, we¡¯ve already waited here for eight whole days. If Nie Tian¡¯smunication with the Divine me was a sess, he should have finished and rejoined us here as we agreed. Now that he still hasn¡¯t shown up, I¡¯m worried that something might have happened. I think we¡¯d better head back to take a look.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Xie Qian nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, they arranged for the others to stay put, then the two of them unleashed their Saint domain power, shooting into the endless starry river.

    In just a few hours, the two of them arrived in the realm where Nie Tian was.

    With a single nce at Nie Tian, Xie Qian let out a soft exmation. ¡°Hmm?! He seems to be deriving enlightenment from some very profound knowledge, as I¡¯m sensing a very subtle aura from him.¡±

    Jing Feiyang was also shocked by the aura Nie Tian was exuding. Eyes narrowed, he examined him carefully.

    As Nie Tian derived enlightenment from what he had learned from the Divine me, a special aura came to form within him.

    Not every cultivator was able to sense such an aura. Only Saint domain experts like Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang could pick up its faint clues.

    Brow furrowed, Jing Feiyang said in a low voice, ¡°The Divine me is not here. Did he get tomunicate with it?¡±

    ¡°He has the Divine me¡¯s faint aura on him,¡± Xie Qian said with an intense expression. ¡°Besides, even as he¡¯s deriving enlightenment, he¡¯s quietly channeling a small amount of dissociative me power from the starry river. You should know that it¡¯s very difficult to capture me power from the starry river, where all kinds of energies and impurities mix together.

    ¡°Only powerful Ancientbeasts like the Heaven me Beast, me dragon, vermilion bird, and me qilin can collect me power in the starry river and refine it into themselves.

    ¡°Considering Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base and strength, he should have been far from being powerful enough to gain such an ability.¡±

    After hearing these words, Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°Are you saying that he¡¯s already gained something from that cluster of Divine me?¡±

    Xie Qian nodded. ¡°Evidently.¡±

    Even Jing Feiyang felt somewhat envious as he said, ¡°The kid has such incredibly good luck.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave him alone,¡± Xie Qian said very cautiously. ¡°While we wait, we can also try to analyze the special aura he¡¯s exuding. Perhaps we can even pick up something useful.¡±

    An intrigued expression appeared on Jing Feiyang¡¯s face.

    Afterwards, the two of them sat in midair in a location far from Nie Tian¡¯s ancient starship. They sensed Nie Tian¡¯s aura with rapt attention, while he derived enlightenment regarding the profound way that heaven and earth changed, domains and realms formed and perished, and the birth of different species. Their expressions flickered with astonishment from time to time.

    Every time they exchanged a nce, they could see shock and disbelief in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Apparently, what they gleaned from Nie Tian¡¯s aura was of great help to them.

    Normally speaking, it was very unlikely that a Saint domain expert would gain anything helpful from someone whose cultivation base was as low as Nie Tian¡¯s.

    However, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t just anyone.

    What Nie Tian was mulling over now were all incredibly profound subjects.

    As long as they could pick up a tiny bit of information and apply it to their own cultivation, they would benefit greatly from it, which could be reflected in their mastery of incantations and domains, and mental readiness.

    Time flew. Five days passed.

    Nie Tian ended his meditation and rose to his feet on his ancient starship. As soon as he did, Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang opened their eyes simultaneously.

    Their bright, torch-like gazes instantly converged on him as they asked at the same time, ¡°What on earth did you receive from that cluster of Divine me?¡±

    ¡°It gave me a me spark, which fused into my me power core right away, in exchange for three drops of my Blood Essence...¡± Nie Tian went on and exined everything to them, raising a series of questions in their hearts.

    ¡°It was the Divine me that first discovered the Domain of me¡¯s End?! It fused the realms with its me sparks. While they turned the realms into fiery realms, they grew more powerful themselves. In the end, the Divine me came back and reimed them? This is how the Divine me cultivates?¡±

    ¡°Your Blood Essence helped it form its own flesh aura, and vested it with the potential to be a living creature with flesh and blood?!¡±

    ¡°The me spark it gave you improved the speed at which you channel power from Heavenme Crystals tenfold? And it¡¯s even helping you derive enlightenment from me power incantations?!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded as the two of them took turns to ask questions. The bbergasted look never faded from their faces.

    Only after a long time did the two of them finish asking questions. Then, as they looked at Nie Tian, their expressions became iparablyplicated.

    Xie Qian found it hard to calm himself. Panting somewhat heavily, he marveled, ¡°I can¡¯t believe your bloodline actually contains the profound truths of life power, and that your Blood Essence can actually create brand new lives. This ispletely unheard of! Admittedly, there are all kinds of mysterious bloodlines in this universe, but I¡¯d never expect there to be a bloodline that can vest lifeless treasures with flesh and blood.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, did the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce tell you anything about the origin of your bloodline?¡± Jing Feiyang asked with wide eyes.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No, the grand elder just took a drop of my Blood Essence, and then told me to wait outside the grand hall. Later, he just issued the order to assign the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python to me. He didn¡¯t say anything to me at all...¡±

    ¡°Perhaps the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has already learned the origin of your bloodline, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t say anything to you.¡± Xie Qian suspected.

    The three of them talked as they started the ancient starship.

    After rejoining the others, Xie Qian expressed his intent to escort Nie Tian to the Domain of Heaven Python to travel around with his children, instead of returning to the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    Therefore, the two ancient starships sailed directly towards the Domain of Heaven Python.

    They didn¡¯t encounter a single Hunter on their way back, not members of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood nor the White Rose¡¯s people.

    The journey backsted months. Nie Tian practiced cultivation day and night. That was when he discovered that, for some reason, the speed at which he channeled different kinds of power had all improved significantly.

    As his me power, wood power, and star power sub-souls derived enlightenment from their respective incantations, many points that had been obscure and hard to understand before suddenly seemed clear and straightforward.

    Thanks to this, his cultivation progressed at a speed he had never expected.

    By the time the two ancient starships left the Domain of me¡¯s End and entered the Domain of Heaven Python, he came to a breakthrough in cultivation without meeting any obstacles.

    ¡°The middle Profound realm!¡±

 Chapter 944: Forces Cross Over

    Normally speaking, minor breakthroughs in cultivation wouldn¡¯t cause fundamental changes.

    However, Nie Tian was surprised by how smooth this breakthrough was. It was as if his state of mind matched his new cultivation base perfectly. Therefore, he didn¡¯t encounter any difficulties during the whole process. As soon as the refinement of his spiritual cores reached the required level, he advanced into the middle Profound realm naturally.

    Then, as arge number of spirit jades and spiritual materials of different attributes were drained of their power and cracked, Nie Tian stabilized his newly-achieved cultivation base.

    After that, he walked out of his cabin. Standing on the deck, he gazed off into the distance, and was soon carried away by a curious feeling that his soul was going to leave his body, and that he was going to transcend into an immortal state.

    Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang remained in their cabins.

    The two of them had gleaned brand new knowledge from Nie Tian¡¯s aura while he had been deriving enlightenment from what he had learned from the Divine me.

    The profound knowledge regarding the changes in heaven and earth, the evolution of domains, and the truths of life seemed to have touched them deeply, allowing their understanding of these profound subjects to rise to a whole new level.

    As theybined this new enlightenment with the spiritual incantations they practiced, the development of their domains benefited a great deal from it.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Two new ancient starships suddenly entered Nie Tian¡¯s sight as he gazed off into the distance.

    One of them was hanging the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s banner, while the other was hanging the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s banner.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One figure after another shed into appearance on the decks of Nie Tian¡¯s and the Water Moon Sect¡¯s ancient starships.

    Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang also surfaced. They examined the rapidly-approaching ancient starships with surprised looks on their faces.

    ¡°Why are they here?¡± Jing Feiyang muttered, looking puzzled. ¡°From the look of it, they¡¯ve been waiting here for some time.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Quan Zixuan from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and Qu Mingde from the Golden Vast Sect enveloped themselves in protective wards as they flew off their ancient starships towards Nie Tian¡¯s.

    As they did, many Void domain experts quietly appeared on the decks of their ancient starships.

    Those powerful experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect fixed their gazes on Nie Tian, a mixture of apprehension and reverence filling their faces.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°You...¡±

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde came to a stop a few dozen meters from him. Floating in the void, they bowed slightly towards Nie Tian, and said, ¡°Greetings, seventh Son of the Stars.¡±

    Their attitude waspletely different from thest time they had met in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s pce in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Back then, they had been indifferent and discontent. They had used Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling as the reasons why they had to make a clean break with Nie Tian.

    This time, however, they had brought their subordinates and waited here for him. After he had appeared, they had flown up to him at the first possible moment.

    It didn¡¯t matter it was their manners or their actions, they had humbled themselves in front of Nie Tian.

    Jing Feiyang, Xie Qian, Duan Shihu, Jing Rou, and the others were all confused after seeing this. None of them knew what the two of them were up to.

    Quan Zixuan was the first to express their intent. Sagging his head, he said, ¡°After serious consideration, I¡¯ve made a new decision, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect hopes to be your subordinate sect.¡±

    Qu Mingde chimed in, ¡°We, the Golden Vast Sect, have made the same decision.¡±

    As soon as the two of then finished speaking, a mor burst out among everyone that was gathered around Nie Tian.

    Just very recently, a talk among them had ended rather unpleasantly. Quan Zixuan had adopted a tough stance, and Qu Mingde had left in indignation.

    Who would have thought now that Nie Tian had just crossed the border into the Domain of Heaven Python, these two had approached him to express that they had changed their minds, and that they were willing to follow him from now on?

    The fact that the two of them had given in meant that no one from the Domain of Heaven Python would oppose Nie Tian anymore.

    The Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect had controlled the Domain of Heaven Python for thousands of years. Now that they had all chosen to join Nie Tian, how could the other minor sects still oppose him?

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Qu Mingde smiled bitterly. ¡°To bepletely honest, we learned what happened, and we¡¯re scared.¡±

    Looking baffled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°You¡¯re scared?¡±

    Though reluctant, Qu Mingde exined, ¡°Patriarch Snowy Peak has already spread word to the nearby domains.¡± ¡°If we had known that you had a God domain expert at your back, we wouldn¡¯t have dared to refuse your offer in the first ce. The reason we made that misjudgment was because someone with an unknown identity approached us earlier and exined the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯smon practices to us in detail.

    ¡°It was also from him that we learned that Zhao Shanling offended the Void Spirit Society, which then isted the Domain of Heaven Python in that outsider invasion.

    ¡°And it was him who told us that Pei Qiqi seemed to have gained a Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure from the Shatter Battlefield, which attracted the outsiders¡¯ attention to our domain.

    ¡°We learned all of this from that person.¡±

    Nie Tian had long since suspected this. After hearing these two¡¯s exnation, he fully understood what had happened. ¡°It¡¯s him again.¡±

    It was him who had employed the White Rose and instigated Patriarch Icy Crystal to trap him in the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    It was also him who had spread word that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had determined that he practiced three different types of power simultaneously, and that he would have a slim chance at rising to a lofty position in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    If he hadn¡¯t done so many things under the table, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect might have joined him long ago, and the Guan n, the Jian n, and the Chu n wouldn¡¯t have stood on the fence till now.

    However, now that Patriarch Snowy Peak had spread word that Nie Tian had a God domain expert at his back, his scheme had finally fallen apart.

    Word had it that the God domain expert practiced me power incantations, and had nothing to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Knowing that Nie Tian had such a formidable figure helping him, how would anyone from domains like the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries dare to refuse him?

    The Heavenly Ice Sect from the Domain of Endless Snow was more powerful than any sect in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. However, after Nie Tian had entered the Domain of Endless Snow to demand his people back, eight of its realms had gone through devastating upheavals. Even the Realm of Crystal Snow had almost been destroyed.

    Even Patriarch Snowy Peak had been forced to end his secluded cultivation ahead of time, go apologize to Nie Tian in person outside the Realm of Falling Snow, and offer himvish gifts aspensation.

    Seeing that even the Heavenly Ice Sect showed apprehension, the other sects naturally knew what to do.

    CHING!

    At this moment, a crisp sound came from within Jing Feiyang¡¯s cuff.

    Eyes narrowed, he sensed it briefly before saying with a relieved smile. ¡°Good news, Nie Tian. I just got word from our sect that the nmasters of the Guan n, the Jian n, and the Chu n from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries are all waiting for you in the Realm of Maelstrom now. They¡¯re all ready to be your subordinate forces, just as they¡¯ve promised.¡±

    ¡°The Trisword Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries has also decided to join you,¡± Quan Zixuan said. ¡°They¡¯re otherwise upied, but entrusted us to deliver their message.¡±

    The Thousandsword Mountain Sect from the Domain of Heaven Python had a profound connection with the Trisword Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Xing Lifeng, a previous chosen one from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, had offended Duan Shihu, and thus been forced to leave the Domain of Heaven Python. Immediately after that, he had be a core disciple of the Trisword Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. This was enough evidence of the close connection between the two sects.

    Now that even Quan Zixuan had caved, it was only natural that the Trisword Sect, which didn¡¯t have a single Saint domain expert, followed suit.

    Just like this, by taking a trip to the Domain of Endless Snow and bringing Fan Kai and the others back, Nie Tian had solved the problems that had troubled him deeply.

    ¡°That means, aside from Patriarch Pure Heaven from the Pure Heaven Sect, powerful experts from all the other sects from these two domains have decided to follow you,¡± Jing Feiyang said.

    ¡°So what did Patriarch Pure Heaven say?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t said anything yet, and the Pure Heaven Sect still remains neutral,¡± Jing Feiyang said. ¡°He seems to be trying to break through into the Saint domain, and there¡¯s a good chance that he¡¯ll seed. He seems to have gained something very helpful in the Shatter Battlefield, and went into secluded cultivation with confidence upon his return.

    ¡°The fact that he hasn¡¯te out of his secluded cultivation is probably the reason why the Pure Heaven Sect still hasn¡¯t made their stance clear.¡±

    Brow furrowed, Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect said, ¡°That old man will be a hard nut to crack. He doesn¡¯t really care about his sect. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Pure Heaven Sect helps him get his hands on a tremendous amount of cultivation resources from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries every year, I doubt that he¡¯d even care what happens to it.

    ¡°I¡¯ve met him before. All he cares about is his own cultivation, not his wife nor children, and not his sect. He puts all his heart to cultivating and strengthening himself.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded. ¡°It¡¯s indeed a bit tricky with him. Even if you threaten him with the Pure Heaven Sect, I doubt that it¡¯ll work.¡±

    Nie Tian had met Patriarch Pure Heaven once. He also felt a headache after recalling what kind of person he was.

    Now, after his trip to the Domain of Endless Snow, he was confident that all the other sects from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars would follow him without looking back.

    However, he had yet to bring Patriarch Pure Heaven and the Pure Heaven Sect to heel to gain full control of the three domains.

 Chapter 945: The Best Taste in Men

    Time flew. Months passed in the blink of an eye.

    During this time, Nie Tian returned to the Realm of Maelstrom and met the nmasters of the Jian n, the Guan n, and the Chu n, who promised that they would follow Nie Tian and take hismands from now on.

    Afterwards, they left.

    Then, from the Divine Seal Sect, Nie Tian learned that Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi seemed to have vanishedpletely.

    No one from the Domain of Heaven Python had seen them anywhere, nor had the Void Spirit Society disciples found any trace of them.

    Therefore, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t very concerned about their safety.

    Other than Patriarch Pure Heaven, who was still in secluded cultivation, there wasn¡¯t a single voice in the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, or the Domain of the Falling Stars that opposed him, who the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had named the seventh Son of the Stars.

    Nie Tian summoned the Pure Heaven Sect, but word came back saying that they would rather wait for Patriarch Pure Heaven toe out of his secluded cultivation to determine where their futurey.

    Since he didn¡¯t show up, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a reason to make any moves against the Pure Heaven Sect.

    After forming an alliance with Nie Tian, Xie Qian returned to the Domain of Vast Darkness with his daughter and son.

    Like Jing Feiyang, he also went into secluded cultivation soon after his return.

    Both of them hoped to fully digest the new understandings they had gained from Nie Tian, so that they would be able to further refine their domains, and perhaps even make new breakthroughs in their cultivation.

    Nie Tian, however, returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars after everything settled down, and focused on his own cultivation in the grand pce left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star ce.

    It took him about six months to regenerate the three drops of Blood Essence he had given away.

    During this time, his bloodline aura remained dormant, and didn¡¯t show any sign of awakening new bloodline talents. Therefore, he spent some time perfecting his mastery of the True me Incantation and me Dragon¡¯s Cry.

    SHEW!

    A streak of fierce mes suddenly flew out to hover in the sky in front of the grand pce in the Realm of Split Void.

    The me that was a mixture of me power from within Nie Tian¡¯s me power core and his flesh power soon took the form of a dragon that was lifelike and more than ten meters long.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor!¡± As he eximed these words inwardly, the me Dragon Armor flew skywards to join the me dragon he had created with me Dragon¡¯s Cry.

    Then, as me power within the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core fused into the me dragon, it seemed to be vested with new life, and suddenly expanded five times over.

    The me dragon that was close to a hundred meters long roared as it soared into the heavens and dove towards the earth.

    Eventually, the me dragon plunged into one of the huge craters that could be seen everywhere in the Realm of Split Void.

    BOOOOM!

    The giant meteor at the bottom of the crater exploded upon receiving a great impact from the plunging me dragon. After the explosion, bits of Heavenme Essence could be seen burning on the broken pieces of the meteor.

    <i>¡°This strike is so mighty that it would devastate any Profound realm cultivator...¡± </i>Li Langfeng marveled inwardly.

    Then, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, this Earth grade incantation you obtained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seems to suit you perfectly. It allows you to mix your flesh power with your me power. And the me Dragon Armor can help amplify its might with its own me power.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°You seem to be doing great yourself.¡±

    By this time, Li Langfeng had already refined the cluster of pale mes that contained corpse toxins into himself.

    Thanks to it, he had advanced to thete Profound realm from the middle Profound realm. Also, by drawing on that cluster of pale mes, he could fuse the dead with me sparks that carried corpse toxins, raising them and turning them into ghouls.

    Even now, Li Langfeng was still deriving new enlightenment from that cluster of pale mes, and making rapid progress in cultivation. If this continued, he might even be able to enter the Soul realm within a short time.

    ¡°This is all thanks to you, Nie Tian,¡± Li Langfeng said with a humble tone. ¡°That cluster of mysterious corpse me you gave me has helped a lot.¡±

    Dong Li was standing beside him with the ck tortoise resting at her feet. She sounded somewhat frustrated as she said, ¡°I¡¯m really curious as to how you practice cultivation. How is it possible that you managed to enter the middle Profound realm after such a short time? With luck and the help of this seventh grade ck tortoise, I barely managed to advance to the early Profound realm from thete Worldly realm.

    ¡°When I did, I thought I finally caught up to you. Who would have thought you¡¯d make another breakthrough in cultivation after your trip to the Domain of Endless Snow?¡±

    Li Langfeng chimed in with a serious face, ¡°Miss, the speed at which your cultivation advances is actually very impressive. Your father and your uncles are all at thete Profound realm. You¡¯re so much younger than them, but you¡¯ve already entered the early Profound realm. You should be proud of yourself.

    ¡°Besides, that ck tortoise was born to be at the seventh grade. It¡¯s potential is unparalleled. You¡¯re bound to rise above all the seniors of your n. Perhaps you¡¯ll even have a chance to be the future sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect!¡±

    ¡°My destiny has changed since the day I met Nie Tian,¡± Dong Li said with a bright smile. ¡°Because of this guy, I¡¯ve had so many incredible encounters, and made rapid breakthroughs. Even this ck tortoise is also a gift from him. Since its attribute matches mine perfectly, it¡¯s of great help to my cultivation.¡±

    With these words, she snuggled into Nie Tian¡¯s arms, affection filling her eyes.

    Keh! Keh!

    Hua Mu suddenly appeared. Smiling at Nie Tian and Dong Li, he said, ¡°How I envy you youngsters!¡±

    ¡°Uncle Hua!¡± Looking surprised and overjoyed, Nie Tian took a deep look at him. ¡°How are you doing? Did you gain something from that Heavenequal Vine?¡±

    Since he had officially be the seventh Son of the Stars, the stone gates to the two ancient pces in the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of Shattered Earth had opened up automatically.

    People in the Realm of Split Void wouldn¡¯t have to go through him anymore to enter the pce and teleport to the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    As such, Hua Mu had traveled back and forth.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t returned to the Realm of Shattered Earth yet after taking Hua Mu there before embarking on his journey to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    He was well-aware that the Realm of Shattered Earth was a blessednd for people who practiced the five elemental powers, as they would be able to derive brand new incantations and further their cultivations there.

    He had arranged for Dong Li and Li Langfeng to be in charge of deciding who would go practice cultivation in the Realm of Shattered Earth while he was away.

    As it turned out, the two of them did a good job arranging for talented youngsters from sects all over the Domain of the Falling Stars to take turns to practice cultivation in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Hua Mu smiled even wider as he said, ¡°That Heavenly Demonsbane inside of me seems to have been vested with mysterious power by that colossal nt. Not only has it fully recovered its strength, but I¡¯ve alsoe to new enlightenment myself. I only came back here because I feel like I¡¯m ready to make my breakthrough into the Void domain.¡±

    At that moment, one figure after another walked out of the pce to where Nie Tian and Hua Mu were standing.

    They were Ye Qin, Qin Yan, Gu Haofeng, Chen Hao, and other juniors who had just returned from the Realm of Shattered Earth. All of them hade to new enlightenment and returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars to make their breakthroughs in cultivation.

    Upon seeing these juniors, Dong Li smiled and pressed herself into Nie Tian¡¯s arms even more.

    Qin Yan saw through what she was doing right away. Rolling her eyes, she said, ¡°Will you stop showing off? We all know that Nie Tian is yours. No one is going to try taking him away... Even though you don¡¯t excel at anything, I¡¯ve got to admit that your taste in men is impable.¡±

    Xuan Yue and the others nodded along.

    Even though Qin Yan was making a joke, she felt somewhat regretful deep down. ¡°If I had met him before Dong Li, would I have been able to win his heart instead? This man is destined to be a star that shines across the starry river. Howe I didn¡¯t seize the opportunity when it wasn¡¯t toote?¡±

    Xuan Yue and a few other noble girls from across the Domain of the Falling Stars had nothing but jealousy in their eyes as they looked at Dong Li, who was holding Nie Tian so tightly as if she wanted to merge with him.

    All of them envied her for being so lucky that she was with the person who might be the most preeminent man in their part of the starry river.

    Dong Li chuckled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to envy me. I bet you¡¯ll meet your Mr. Right very soon. Now that a connection has been established between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the outside world, we¡¯ll be able to travel to the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and domains that are even more advanced. Our world has just expanded. Men who are just as brilliant as Nie Tian might be waiting for you.¡±

    Xue Yue curled her lips. ¡°How many men do you think there are in this starry river who are as brilliant as Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright. I¡¯m also under a lot of pressure, okay?¡± With these words, Dong Li turned and shot Nie Tian a nasty look. ¡°Both my senior martial sister Yin Yanan and the Holy Daughter from the Bliss Mountain Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries also have their eyes on him. I¡¯ve also heard that the sectmaster of the Water Moon Sect from the Domain of Vast Darkness is hoping to marry his daughter to him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t even know whether this bastard will abandon me someday.¡±

    She seemed both yful and sincere as she said these words.

    Nie Tian gave her a bitter smile. ¡°That¡¯s nonsense. I have no feelings for Yin Yanan or Mu Biqiong. As for that daughter of the Xie n, I barely know her.¡±

    ¡°You barely know her? Then why did her father rush to your aid in the Domain of Endless Snow, bringing almost every powerful expert in their sect?¡± Dong Li confronted him with wide eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s because I helped his daughter in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Dong Li snorted. ¡°I don¡¯t care. I just want you to stay away from all those sluts.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay, okay,¡± Nie Tian said, looking helpless.

    While he had a headache over the situation, Duan Shihu walked out of the teleportation portal that led to the Realm of Maelstrom, and called out, ¡°Huang Jinnan hase to find you in the Domain of Heaven Python, junior martial brother.¡±

 Chapter 946: Exploring A New Domain

    In the Realm of Maelstrom...

    A shiny golden ancient starship was berthed high in the sky close to the watery curtain that looked like an enormous swirl over the entire realm.

    The entire Domain of Heaven Python had been shaken when that starship had first sailed through one of the spatial rifts in the watery curtain.

    Only after Huang Jinnan had stated his identity and intent had the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect let out sighs of relief.

    Nie Tian teleported to the Realm of Maelstrom from the Realm of Split Void.

    As he arrived in the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s stronghold, Huang Jinnan was waiting by himself, without any subordinates by his side.

    Upon seeing him, Nie Tian called out, ¡°Brother Huang! What brought you here?¡±

    Meng Li, Du Zheng, and Wu Yun, who were the realm-overseers appointed by the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, were also gathered there.

    Now that these three sects had all be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate sects, the three of them took orders from him as well.

    Huang Jinnanughed heartily. ¡°Congrattions, Nie Tian. I didn¡¯t expect that you¡¯d be able to silence the different voices within the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries so fast.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me, Brother Huang,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°The Pure Heaven Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries hasn¡¯t pledged their allegiance to me yet.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll only be a matter of time,¡± Huang Jinnan said, looking very sure of himself. ¡°Even the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect have chosen to follow you. All of them are stronger than the Pure Heaven Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to agree with him as he said, ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven is different. He might actually cause me some trouble aftering out of his secluded cultivation.¡±

    However, Huang Jinnan seemed to have strong confidence in him as he said, ¡°Whatever. I¡¯m sure that you¡¯ll be able to take care of it.¡±

    Then, with a meaningful smile, he changed the subject. ¡°You¡¯re quite a low-key guy, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯ve been the Divine Son of the metal element sect of the Five Elements Sect for years, and I still haven¡¯t summoned a God domain expert to my side. Who would have thought that you¡¯ve just be a Son of the Stars, and you already have a God domain me power expert at your back.¡±

    Thanks to Patriarch Snowy Peak, almost everyone knew about this now.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t give him an exnation. He only smiled and asked, ¡°Are you here because of the matter you mentioned to me before?¡±

    Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t pursue the subject of the God domain expert. Instead, he nodded somewhat excitedly and said, ¡°Exactly. I¡¯ve already had a teleportation portal established in that domain we discovered. Now, we¡¯ll be able to teleport there without effort through the teleportation portal in that ancient starship of mine.¡±

    ¡°How did you get your ancient starship here?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Through one of the spatial rifts up there,¡± Huang Jinnan answered truthfully. ¡°The head of the fire element sect visited the Domain of Heaven Python many years ago. Back then, he found a spatial rift that connected our domain to the Realm of Maelstrom, and came here under a disguise.

    ¡°Even very few members from my sect know about this.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The head of the fire element sect...¡±

    ording to Jing Feiyang, the head of the fire element sect had gone to the Domain of me¡¯s End to search for that cluster of Divine me, but returned empty-handed.

    No one knew how he hade or gone.

    Now, after hearing Huang Jinnan¡¯s exnation, Nie Tian finally realized how he had traveled all the way to the Realm of Maelstrom and back.

    Huang Jinnan must have learned about that special spatial rift from him, which had allowed him to travel so efficiently.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see. So when do we leave? And what preparations do I need to make?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to prepare anything. Let¡¯s go there and get an overall understanding of that domain first.¡± Huang Jinnan seemed to have nned the exploration already. ¡°You can assemble your subordinate forces and march them there after we figure out the strength of the indigenous forces of that domain. I¡¯ll berth my ancient starship here in the Realm of Maelstrom during this time, so you¡¯ll be able to travel back and forth conveniently.¡±

    ¡°Alright, as you say,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Meng Li, Du Zheng, and Wu Yun all showed strong interest as they listened to Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan.

    ¡°Exploring a brand new domain?¡±

    ¡°A Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect will lead the exploration team?¡±

    ¡°If things work out, this trip will be very rewarding!¡±

    They all knew that it could be very dangerous to explore brand new domains. Many ancient starships had sailed out of the Domain of Heaven Python on exploration trips and never returned.

    There were also explorers who had discovered unimed domains and harvested precious materials that the Domain of Heaven Python didn¡¯t produce, giving a strong boost to their sects¡¯ strength.

    However, those who had seeded only took up a small part, while most of the inter-domain explorers had returned empty-handed, or never returned at all.

    But if a Divine Son of the Five Elements Sect was going to lead this exploration of a new domain, it would be much safer.

    For that reason, the three overseers were all thrilled, and even started to fantasize about how many precious materials they would gather from that domain, and how much their sects would benefit from it.

    ¡°Gentlemen, please go inform the rted parties of this exploration operation, so that they can start making preparations,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll go there first with brother Huang. If things work out, perhaps I¡¯ll be able to arrange for you to enter that brand new domain in batches to search for valuables soon.¡±

    Meng Li and the others nodded repeatedly, affirming that they would take care of it right away.

    Huang Jinnan then took Nie Tian back to his golden ancient starship, which wasrger and more magnificent than any ancient starship in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    It had the Five Elements Sect¡¯s banner fluttering over it.

    A few Void domain experts bowed towards Huang Jinnan upon seeing him return.

    ¡°Divine Son.¡±

    ¡°Divine Son.¡±

    Nie Tian realized that he had seen some of them in Fragmentary Star City before, as they bowed slightly towards Nie Tian as well to show their respect.

    Nie Tian could tell that they were more respectful and sincere this time.

    Back when they had first met him in Fragmentary Star City, even though they had also been respectful on the outside, deep down, they had deemed Nie Tian, who had just be a Son of the Stars, as unworthy of being offered the opportunity to explore that new domain with their master.

    However, they had recently learned that Nie Tian had saved his subordinates from the Heavenly Ice Sect, that he had a God domain expert at his back, and that he had rapidly silenced the different voices within the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python. Only after that had they felt that Nie Tian was qualified to go explore the new domain they had discovered with their master.

    ¡°Uncle Huang Yan, would you stay here and watch over things?¡± Huang Jinnan asked. ¡°The others will leave with me.¡±

    The man who he referred to as Huang Yan seemed to be a senior member of his n who he trusted deeply. He was at thete Void domain.

    Huang Yan nodded. ¡°Of course, young lord.¡±

    With these words, Huang Jinnan led Nie Tian and the others to the main cabin, where an inter-domain teleportation portal stood.

    As the spell formation was activated, everyone¡¯s heads started to spin. Only after quite a while did Nie Tian sh through the teleportation portal into the unknown domain.

    In this domain, the sky was grayish-green, and stars could be seen flickering weakly from time to time.

    Bleak cold filled heaven and earth. There wasn¡¯t a shred of spiritual Qi in the air. As Nie Tian breathed air into his lungs, he felt that something was numbing his senses and making him very ufortable.

    However, as soon as he circted a bit of his bloodline power, he refined the air, and was no longer influenced.

    The inter-realm teleportation portal stood on an emerald green marsnd, where a number of powerful experts were already waiting for Huang Jinnan.

    Nie Tian had met three of them in Fragmentary Star City, all of whom were at the Saint domain.

    They seemed to be the first ones to havee here.

    Several odd-looking corpses were scattered at the three Saint domain experts¡¯ feet. Each of them was more than ten meters long, and looked like a giant lizard with grayish-brown skin and a long tail.

    Even though they looked like lizards at first nce, upon a closer look, they had heads that were simr to humans, with eyes, noses, and ears on their faces.

    Pointing at the corpses, Huang Jinnan exined to Nie Tian, ¡°These are the inhabitants of this domain. We think we can call them Lizardmen. There aren¡¯t any records of them in our sect. And unlike the domains we are familiar with, there don¡¯t seem to be any signs of humans evering to this domain.

    ¡°However, it seems that Demons set foot on thisnd a very long time ago. It¡¯s just that those Demons seemed to be rather weak, so they ended up being killed by the Lizardmen. We learned all this by peeling memories from the souls of these dead Lizardmen.

    ¡°Also, don¡¯t underestimate them. From their memories, we learned that their most powerful warriors seem to be strong enough to contend against Saint domain human experts. And there seem to be seven or eight of them.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°There are seven or eight of them?!¡±

    If that was true, then it meant this domain was even stronger than the Domain of Heaven Python.

    He couldn¡¯t help but imagine that if he hade here with Jing Feiyang, instead of Huang Jinnan and his people, they might have been killed as soon as they encountered those powerful Lizardmen warriors.

 Chapter 947: The Daughter of Flames

    ¡°Divine Son, there are three realms in this domain. This realm where we set up our teleportation portal is only one of them.¡±

    ¡°Lizardmen seem to be the only intelligent inhabitants of these three realms, and this realm is where the most powerful Lizardman warriors are gathered.¡±

    ¡°The Lizardmen we¡¯ve encountered so far are all fairly weak, and we killed them all. We haven¡¯t seen any truly powerful Lizardman warriors yet. From the look of it, the Lizardmen haven¡¯t discovered us yet. But since we¡¯ve killed some of them, it¡¯s only a matter of time before they realize that something is wrong.¡±

    ¡°And we haven¡¯t had a chance to scan the three realms to see what kinds of resources each of them holds...¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates went on and exined everything they had learned about this domain to him.

    This appeared to be the first time Huang Jinnan had set foot in this remote unexplored domain as well, as he also needed to get an overall understanding of it through his subordinates.

    Nie Tian listened attentively.

    This was the first time he had gone on an exploration trip to a brand new domain with someone, and this domain was home to a handful of powerful Lizardmen that were as formidable as Saint domain human experts. If things somehow went wrong, the follow-up forces he nned to summon from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars might suffer heavy casualties.

    He had gone to great lengths to silence the different voices within these domains. If the first exploration trip he organized ended with his subordinate sects suffering heavy casualties, his reputation would take a strong hit, and it would be much harder for him to lead these sects and domains in the future.

    While he listened to Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates exin the special features of this domain, the teleportation portal behind them became active again.

    With a surprised expression, he turned around to look at it.

    ¡°She¡¯s here!¡± Huang Jinnan said, looking spirited.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One figure after another flew through the teleportation portal, the first one being a tall, red-robed young woman with average looks.

    At the early Void domain, the woman thrummed with a strong ming aura.

    Huang Jinnanughed cheekily upon seeing her. Apparently, they were very close. ¡°Senior martial sister! I thought you weren¡¯t interested in exploring this domain with me.¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck as he instantly realized something. ¡°Senior martial sister... She¡¯s the Daughter of mes!¡±

    Then, every subordinate of Huang Jinnan¡¯s bowed towards her in a very respectful and humble manner.

    ¡°Greetings!¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Daughter of mes!¡±

    Lou Hongyan, who they were referring to as the Daughter of mes, only nodded slightly in return.

    Even though she didn¡¯t have impressive good looks, her eyes were unusually bright. Like two sparkling, crystal-clear gems, they gave her quite a bit of charm.

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s gaze eventuallynded on Nie Tian. Fixing him with a curious gaze, she asked, ¡°You¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian, right? I heard that you¡¯ve already solved the internal resistance within the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. That¡¯s quite impressive. I also heard that you have a God domain me power expert at your back, and he¡¯s not from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...¡±

    With a ttered smile, Nie Tian only said, ¡°Nice to meet you, Daughter of mes.¡±

    Lou Hongyan realized that everyone had secrets they wouldn¡¯t share with strangers, so she didn¡¯t put Nie Tian on the spot by pursuing the subject.

    Among her subordinates, three seemed to be at the Saint domain, though Nie Tian couldn¡¯t determine their exact cultivation bases.

    Aside from those three, the other ten were all at the Void domain.

    Lou Hongyan herself was at the early Void domain, which was the weakest of them all.

    However, her subordinates¡¯ eyes were all filled with respect as they looked at her.

    ¡°Alright, tell me what you¡¯ve learned about this domain,¡± Lou Hongyan said.

    Huang Jinnan then exined what he had just learned from his subordinates to her.

    Nie Tian remained silent the whole time, feeling bitter at heart. <i>¡°I wouldn¡¯t have agreed toe if I knew she wasing too. With her around all the time, I¡¯ll be exposed as soon as I use the me Dragon Armor. Even if I don¡¯t use it, she might be able to sense it if the me Dragon Armor grows a bit restless within my ring of holding.</i>

    <i>¡°After all, the me Dragon Armor was forged for her by the head of the me element sect, and she was its first master.¡±</i>

    Nie Tian even thought he had better not use the secret magics he had derived from the titans, lest the Daughter of mes pick up clues from it that eventually led her to the truth about the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates haven¡¯t arrived yet,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°They still need some time to assemble.¡±

    ¡°ording to what I¡¯ve learned, there are only four Saint domain experts in the entire Domain of Heaven Python, and they¡¯re all at the early Saint domain.¡± With these words, Lou Hongyan pondered for a while before asking, ¡°How many powerful Lizardman warriors are there in this realm?¡±

    ¡°Four,¡± One of Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates answered. ¡°They spend most of their time in the biggest city in this realm, and rarelye out.¡±

    ¡°Just four?¡± Lou Hongyan curled her lips as she pondered. ¡°How about this: since we haven¡¯t exposed ourselves, let¡¯s surprise and kill those four before the other powerful Lizardmen find out about us and gather to this realm. Once those four are dead, even if the others rush over from the other realms, they won¡¯t be able to pose a threat to us.¡±

    It seemed that she had be themander of this exploration operation upon arriving.

    Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t have a different opinion.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t have any of his subordinates with him. Even if he did, his force would be the weakestpared to Huang Jinnan¡¯s and Lou Hongyan¡¯s.

    Therefore, he sensibly remained silent, and gave priority to Lou Hongyan¡¯s ideas.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave a fewte Void domain people here to guard the teleportation portal, while the rest of us march on that Lizardmen capital full tilt,¡± Lou Hongyan said. ¡°We¡¯ll kill every Lizardman we see on our way, lest the powerful Lizardmen from the other two realms learn about our arrival and rush over here.¡±

    Upon receiving her orders, everyone nodded and went into action.

    Soon, one air-transportation spiritual tool after another rose into the air.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat was one of them.

    The six Saint domain experts spread their immense soul awareness to cover a five hundred kilometer radius around them to capture even the slightest soul fluctuations, so that they wouldn¡¯t let a single Lizardman slip.

    Guided by the Saint domain experts¡¯ profound soul awareness, the air-transportation spiritual tools flew out towards the Lizardman capital.

    They encountered small groups of Lizardmen along their way.

    However, since they were all at the sixth grade or lower, they were nothing more than puny insects in the eyes of these wolf-like experts from the Five Elements Sect.

    One group of Lizardmen after another was wiped out, not slowing them down in the slightest.

    They also passed through a few Lizardman viges on their way, and looted quite a few valuable spiritual materials from them. Large areas of this realm were covered in marsnd. They also discovered some extremely rare spirit nts in the marsnds.

    On this day, their air-transportation spiritual tools flew to a mountain peak covered in vegetation.

    Huang Jinnan took out a special detector from within his ring of holding.

    The detector looked like a silver te that was carved with small, densely-packed characters, which seemed to represent different types of spiritual materials .

    Seeing that he was rather curious about it, Huang Jinnan smiled and exined, ¡°This is a Spiritual Survey te. It can detect all kinds of spiritual material veins.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he focused on adjusting the silver te with his fingers.

    After he was finished, a crystalline hand started spinning on the silver te before finally stopping on a few small characters.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered with excitement as he eximed, ¡°Golden Obsidian!"

    Golden Obsidian was seventh level Premium grade spiritual material. It could be used to forge ancient starships with impregnable exteriors and sharp, all-conquering weapons. Not just that, but cultivators who practiced metal power could also make use of the copious metal power it contained.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s ancient starship, which he had berthed in the Realm of Maelstrom, had been built with smelted Golden Obsidian.

    The green mountain peak was thousands of meters high. The Golden Obsidian buried under it might be enough to forge five ancient starships with the same scale as Huang Jinnan¡¯s. Gaining it would greatly improve Huang Jinnan¡¯s influence and reserve power. No wonder he was so thrilled.

    ¡°Golden Obsidian...¡± Lou Hongyan didn¡¯t seem excited at all.

    CHING! CHING! CHING!

    Pressing rings suddenly came from a bracelet on Huang Jinnan¡¯s left wrist.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression took a turn for the worse as he read the message that came through.

    In the next moment, a shudder ran through his tall, robust body.

    Looking at him, Lou Hongyan could tell that something had gone wrong. ¡°What happened? Is it from the ones who are guarding the teleportation portal?¡±

    The rings stopped abruptly. No matter how Huang Jinnan messaged back, there wasn¡¯t any response.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression had never been this grim. ¡°Senior martial sister, Lizardmen attacked our teleportation portal. The portal was destroyed, and all of my subordinates guarding the portal were killed. That was thest of them. He sent me that message with hisst gasp. ording to him, the group of Lizardmen was led by two ninth grade Lizardmen, whose strength matched that of Saint domain experts.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

 Chapter 948: Setback

    Brow furrowed, Lou Hongyan jerked her head back. Looking deeply worried, she said, ¡°Our teleportation portal has been destroyed! This is not good!¡±

    A teleportation portal couldn¡¯t possibly be established within a couple of days. Even with all of the necessary spiritual materials, one would have to find a suitable location to cautiously set up a teleportation portal.

    The whole process would usually take two to six months.

    The forger¡¯s cultivation base and skill level would determine how long the process would take.

    She knew that it had taken Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates six months to set up that inter-domain teleportation portal.

    Losing it meant that theirmunication with the Five Elements Sect would be interrupted for at least six months.

    After storming the teleportation portal and killing all of the Void domain guards, the two ninth grade Lizardmen must have learned about their arrival.

    She even suspected that the Lizardmen had long since learned about their arrival. Otherwise, why would they have shown up so soon after they had left that teleportation portal?

    Now that they were officially exposed, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the powerful Lizardmen from the other two realms rushed to this realm.

    They hadn¡¯t learned the strongest Lizardmen warriors¡¯ battle prowess firsthand.

    If their information was correct, and they indeed had seven or eight ninth grade warriors that were as powerful as Saint domain experts, it would be very likely that they would all die in this strange domain.

    If they still had that teleportation portal, worste to worst, they could at least send people back to their headquarters and ask their God domain seniors toe to their aid.

    But now...

    The moment they learned that their teleportation portal was gone, they were struck by the feeling that the hunters had be the hunted.

    This feeling made everyone extremely insecure and uneasy, including the two divine children of the Five Elements Sect.

    ¡°We can run a little test to find out if the Lizardmen knew about our n the whole time,¡± Lou Hongyan said with a thoughtful expression.

    Then, she turned to her three Saint domain subordinates and ordered, ¡°Spread out and check if there are still Lizardmen in the nearby viges.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Like lightning bolts, the three of them flew out in three different directions before disappearing into the distance in the blink of an eye.

    Then, Lou Hongyan said with a suspicious expression, ¡°Come to think of it, we¡¯ve encountered far too few Lizardmen along our way. Many of the viges only had a couple of Lizardmen in them. I¡¯m afraid the Lizardmen we killed were only bait that they used to cloud our judgment!¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Do you mean that the Lizardmen discovered us long ago?¡±

    Lou Hongyan gazed into the distance and sighed. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. We¡¯ll find out if I¡¯m right soon enough. If I¡¯m right, now that our teleportation portal has been destroyed, the Lizardmen won¡¯t need to feed us bait anymore. That means there won¡¯t be any Lizardmen in the nearby viges and cities.

    ¡°Instead, they have probably been evacuated to their capital or other safe locations by their powerful warriors.¡±

    A hour passed...

    The three Saint domain experts returned sessively. All of them looked very grim.

    ¡°We did a thorough search in a five hundred kilometer radius around us, and failed to find a single Lizardman. All of the viges and cities we found were empty. Clearly, they have evacuated.¡±

    ¡°It seems that we¡¯ve indeed been discovered by the Lizardmen.¡±

    ¡°Now, with that teleportation portal gone, our connection with our headquarters ispletely cut off. We can¡¯t summon experts to our aid, which puts us in a very bad situation.¡±

    Upon hearing this, some of Lou Hongyan¡¯s Void domain subordinates no longer acted respectful towards Huang Jinnan. Instead, they started to use him.

    ¡°You were too sloppy, Divine Son!¡±

    ¡°You got us into this mess!¡±

    Knowing that he was in the wrong, Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t say anything back.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± Lou Hongyan eximed.

    All those who were cing me shut up instantly.

    After everyone calmed down, she continued, ¡°What¡¯s done is done. What we need to do now is think of a way to get us out of this unfavorable situation. Now, we¡¯re certain that the Lizardmen have found out about us.

    ¡°In fact, powerful Lizardmen warriors might be gathering to this realm from the other two as we speak. So we can¡¯t split up again, lest they take us out one at a time...¡±

    Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan then entered a discussion regarding their next move.

    Lou Hongyan thought they should head towards the Lizardman capital to gain a full understanding of their strength.

    Huang Jinnan, however, thought that the capital might be where all of the Lizardmen warriors were gathered, and that it wouldn¡¯t be wise to approach it.

    He suggested that they stay where they were, and wait for the Lizardmen toe to them.

    Even so, it could be heard from their conversation that they didn¡¯t think these local inhabitants would be very difficult to handle.

    Instead, they seemed to assume that the six Saint domain experts they had on their team would be powerful enough kill all of the powerful Lizardman warriors from the three realms.

    The two of them argued. Neither of them bothered to ask Nie Tian¡¯s opinion.

    Nie Tian actually enjoyed being a tagalong for a change.

    As divine children from the Five Elements Sect, they never considered their option to evacuate from this domain.

    All of these members they had brought with them were at the Void or Saint domain. Even without an ancient starship, they would be able to envelop themselves in their own domains and travel around in the depths of the starry river.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s cultivation base was the lowest, which was at the early Soul realm. However, with these Saint domain experts by his side, traveling through the starry river wouldn¡¯t be a difficult thing.

    <i>¡°Fortunately, they¡¯re not thinking of leaving,¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself. <i>¡°Otherwise, considering that I¡¯m only at the Profound realm, I¡¯d have topletely rely on the others to carry me through the starry river, which would put me in a very passive position.¡±</i>

    Before long, the two of them reached a mutual understanding. They would garrison this location and wait for the Lizardmen toe to them. Then, they would try to extract memories from their minds to figure out their n.

    Huang Jinnan also suggested that the mountain peak that contained rich Golden Obsidian could be used to form a protective spell formation.

    Therefore, he asked the Saint domain experts to peel off the green mountain peak¡¯s rocky exterior to reveal the Golden Obsidian inside of it.

    As the Saint domain experts joined hands in carving into the green mountain peak, huge rocks rolled down to the mountain¡¯s foot.

    Soon, a shiny, golden mountain peak showed itself, shining dazzlingly and exuding rich metal power.

    Huang Jinnan then set out to carve into its shiny exterior withplicated, mysterious spell formations, and vest them with his spiritual and soul power.

    At the same time, Nie Tian flew around in the vicinity on his Star Boat.

    After failing to find any valuable spiritual materials, he stopped his Star Boat at the foot of the golden mountain peak and started practicing cultivation.

    This time, he focused on a soul magic recorded in the second fragmentary star mark.

    So far, he had already derived two soul magics from the second fragmentary star mark: Starsoul and Starchain. During the past year or so, his star power sub-soul had analyzed and realigned the magical symbols that detailed the third soul incantation, and finally brought the third soul magic to light.

    It was a soul magic called the Sea of Illusory Stars.

    The name ¡®Sea of Illusory Stars¡¯ had actuallye from a mysterious domain which the founder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had explored countless years ago. Enlightened by the profound way its realms had been located, he had created this soul magic.

    Back then, he had tumbled into that peculiar domain, which had turned out to be a near-death experience. With some luck, he had eventually solved its mysteries, and derived the Sea of Illusory Stars from his experience.

    To practice the Sea of Illusory Stars, one would have to summon power from their star souls to form Star Eyes, which were also known as Heaven Eyes.

    Forming and aligning ny-nine Star Eyes in the same way the realms were aligned in that mysterious domain would mark the formation of Sea of Illusory Stars.

    Each Star Eye represented a realm in that domain. Once they locked down in that particr formation, they would possess heaven-shaking, earth-shattering power. This was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s most powerful and famous soul magics.

    <i>¡°I need to form ny-nine Star Eyes and align them in a particr formation... But how many Star Eyes can I form now with the power from my nine star souls?¡±</i>

    After a moment of hesitation, he went into action.

    As he gathered soul power and fused it with wisps of soul awareness from his true soul, nine Star Eyes rapidly came to form.

    However, as he attempted to form a tenth Star Eye, he started to experience difficulty.

    As he strained himself to finally form ten more Star Eyes, he realized that his true soul had almost been drained of its soul power.

    ¡°From the look of it, neen is the best I can do now.¡±

 Chapter 949: Controlling Meteors

    Nie Tian examined himself, and saw that after neen Star Eyes came to form, his true soul had be as blurry and illusory as a cluster of thin smoke, as if a puff of air would scatter it.

    Being drained of most of its power, his true soul was now shriveled like a body that was drained of its blood.

    His nine Star souls, however, still shone like bright stars, although they had shrunk in size after losing part of their power.

    <i>¡°So my true soul is what¡¯s stopping me from forming the Sea of Illusory Stars. I have to summon soul power from my true soul to form Star Eyes. Such soul power contains my soul awareness, which allows me to gain full control of the Star Eyes, including using them to scan my surroundings. I have nine star souls, but only one true soul. If my true soul isn¡¯t strong enough, then I won¡¯t be able to fuse new Star Eyes with my soul awareness toplete them.</i>

    <i>¡°To form the Sea of Illusory Stars, I¡¯ll need ny-nine Star Eyes. Only after my true soul has be strong enough to hold a copious amount of soul power will it be possible.¡±</i>

    With this thought in mind, he withdrew the neen Star Eyes he had exerted himself to form. One after another, they flew back to him and fused into his sea of awareness.

    The power that made up the Star Eyes scattered and returned to his star souls and true soul.

    <i>¡°Luckily, the power I use to form Star Eyes can be recycled.¡±</i>

    When he summoned spiritual power from within his spiritual sea to cast me Dragon¡¯s Cry, ming Finger Swords, and other spiritual magics, he wouldn¡¯t be able recycle the used power.

    This was one of the differences between spiritual power and soul power.

    Even though his star power sub-soul had helped him derive the Sea of Illusory Stars, he didn¡¯t have the Star Eyes it needed to operate. Therefore, it seemed that he couldn¡¯t use this profound soul magic for the time being.

    He had long since discovered that he would have to take steps to learn the magics and incantations recorded in the fragmentary star marks.

    That meant since he hadn¡¯t mastered the Sea of Illusory Stars, no new soul magics would show themselves in the second fragmentary star mark.

    Feeling somewhat frustrated, Nie Tian thought to himself, <i>¡°Perhaps only after I enter the Soul realm will my true soul be strong enough to form as many as ny-nine Star Eyes.¡±</i>

    Lou Hongyan, the Daughter of mes, arrived soundlessly. Standing a few dozen meters from him, she said with furrowed brow, ¡°You¡¯ve already received the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s most profound star power legacy incantations, yet you still practice me and wood power incantations. I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re thinking. Everyone has limited time and energy. If you practice more than one type of incantation, the result will be that you¡¯ll progress at a much slower speed than others.

    ¡°The cultivation base is a Qi warrior¡¯s foundation. You¡¯ve neglected the root to pursue the tip.¡± (Idiom: neglect fundamentals and concentrate on details)

    Slightly startled, Nie Tian ceased his cultivationpletely. Fixing her with a baffled gaze, he asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°My junior martial brother is carving spell formations, and doesn¡¯t need my help, so I thought I might look around,¡± Lou Hongyan exined with a in tone. ¡°The aura of your Star Eyes caught my attention, so I came. Neen Star Eyes... From the look of it, you¡¯ve derived the Sea of Illusory Stars, one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s most famous soul magics, but since your cultivation base is still not high enough and your true soul stillcks refining, you can¡¯t cast it yet.

    ¡°That¡¯s normal though. Any Son of the Stars would have to enter the Soul realm to gain an opportunity to master a soul magic so profound and mighty.

    ¡°Of course, some Sons of the Stars have true souls that are stronger than usual. They¡¯re able to use the Sea of Illusory Stars when they¡¯re at the early or middle Soul realm, while others only gain the ability to use it after they enter thete Soul realm.¡±

    With these words, Lou Hongyan curled her lips and fixed Nie Tian with a measuring gaze. ¡°As for you, since star power incantations aren¡¯t the only ones you practice, I suppose you¡¯ll have to wait till you enter thete Soul realm to be able to use the Sea of Illusory Stars, if notter.¡±

    Nie Tian shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry anyways.¡±

    All of a sudden, a shade of blood-red appeared in Lou Hongyan¡¯s bright, gem-like eyes. ¡°You carry a unique fire-attributed treasure which is far beyond ordinary!¡±

    Her face, which didn¡¯t look very impressive, suddenly flickered with excitement.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression froze. <i>¡°The me Dragon Armor is still in my ring of holding, and she can sense it despite the sealing magic?!¡±</i>

    While he anxiously pondered what to do next, Lou Hongyan opened her mouth again. ¡°That treasure allows you to channel me power from your surroundings, even when you¡¯re not doing anything. Now that I¡¯m standing close to you, I can feel my internal me power growing restless, as if it wants to leave my body.¡±

    In Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea in his dantian region, the me spark he had gained from that cluster of Divine me flickered actively in the middle of his me power core.

    ¡°Will you tell me where you got that me spark in your me power core?¡± Lou Hongyan asked.

    Nie Tian instantly let out a sigh of relief. <i>¡°So that¡¯s what she¡¯s talking about...¡± </i>

    Then, with a forced grin, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that.¡±

    Lou Hongyan fixed him with a cold look, but didn¡¯t show any intent to pursue the matter. ¡°If I got that unique treasure instead of you, my cultivation efficiency would improve significantly. It¡¯s too bad that it¡¯s already merged with your me power core, and you distract yourself with other incantations. It doesn¡¯t seem you¡¯ll be able to rise to the peak of the God domain with its help.¡±

    ¡°Let me worry about that.¡± Nie Tian muddled through the topic.

    ¡°Too foolish to appreciate my advice!¡± With a disdainful snort, Lou Hongyan turned around and flew lightly away.

    Originally, she had wanted to propose a deal to Nie Tian: she would pay him handsomely if he would tell her about the source of that me spark.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s hard refusal irritated her, so she left without proposing that deal.

    Watching her fly farther and farther away, Nie Tian frowned. ¡°It seems that I can¡¯t use the me Dragon Armor or the secret magics I derived from the titans. Otherwise, she might actually see some clues. My most important task right now is to improve my cultivation base. Only when I¡¯m stronger than her will I stop being afraid to be discovered.¡±

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian resumed his cultivation.

    A few dayster, while he practiced cultivation wholeheartedly, a number of grayish-brown meteors streaked through the highest sky, plummeting out of the starry river.

    Upon a closer look, everyone could see that a total of eight meteors had prated the realm barrier and were falling towards a location that was very far from them.

    Due to the long distance, Nie Tian could only see the number of meteors, but not what was on them.

    Standing at the foot of the Golden Obsidian mountain peak, one of Lou Hongyan¡¯s subordinates called out, ¡°The Lizardman warriors from the other two realms are here! They must havee for us!!¡±

    ¡°Falling meteors...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered as he hastily flew to the location where the others were gathered on his Star Boat. ¡°Which senior can give me a ride towards those falling meteors?¡±

    Huang Jinnan was taken aback. ¡°What the hell do you want to do!?¡±

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as she realized what Nie Tian was up to. ¡°Are you going to manipte those meteors with your sect¡¯s Starfall magic?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I want to give it a shot!¡±

    Apparently, they were the reason why those Lizardmen hade to this realm. Nie Tian assumed that if he could get close enough to those meteors before theynded, he might be able to change their track with Starfall.

    After all, not many outsider races were skilled in soul magics. There were very few that were like the Phantasms.

    Starfall would allow him to manipte and reroute the meteors using his star power and soul power.

    ¡°Uncle Yang!¡± Lou Hongyan said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go with him?¡±

    Upon hearing her words, thete Saint domain expert who practiced lightning incantations went into action.

    With a swift move, he grabbed Nie Tian. As his domain spread out, the two of them shot into the heavens like a lightning bolt that split the air.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a bolt of lightning, they traveled hundreds of kilometers in a breath¡¯s time, rapidly closing in on the eight falling meteors.

    When they were close enough to the falling meteors, Nie Tian was surprised to see that arge number of Lizardmen were clinging to each of them.

    Most of them seemed to be at the seventh and eighth grade, which was roughly equal to the Soul realm and Void domain.

    ¡°Starfall!¡± As Nie Tian cast the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret magic, his star power mixed with his soul power in a profound way before shooting towards the grayish-brown meteors.

    The plummeting meteors were instantly influenced by an irresistible force.

    It was like he had gained control of the meteors the moment his power fused into them.

    ¡°Turn!¡± Nie Tian eximed inwardly.

    In the next moment, the meteors that were originally plummeting straight towards the earth took a sudden turn.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Dragging long tails, they abruptly changed their paths in midair and mmed into each other.

    As the grayish-brown meteors exploded one after another, heaven-shaking, earth-moving rumbles spread out, filling this entire realm.

    Some of the Lizardman warriors on the meteors died from the devastating collisions, while others screamed as they hastily abandoned their meteors.

    Thete Saint domain expert noticed the direction that most of the survivors were heading, and thus pointed it out for Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian! Over there! That¡¯s their capital!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± As Nie Tian continued the spell, countless giant pieces from the exploded meteors changed directions and plummeted towards the Lizardman capital, where a great number of Lizardmen were gathered.

 Chapter 950: Cruel Inter-race Wars

    Five thousand kilometers away, a rough-looking city stood on an ice-cold wastnd.

    The whole city seemed to be built with piles of different kinds of rock, and nothing more. The stone pavilions were of different heights and scattered in a disorderly manner. The city walls weren¡¯t carved with a single spell formation.

    This was the Lizardman capital, theirrgest and oldest city in this realm.

    Humans, high-tier Demons, Phantasms, and many other intelligent races would usually build cities with fancy relief sculptures, magnificent statues, and exquisite spell formations.

    This Lizardman capital, however, didn¡¯t have any fancy adornments. It appeared to be only used for residence. It didn¡¯t even have the most basic defense system.

    At this moment, therge number of Lizardmen gathered within the city were ring skywards and roaring nonstop.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous pieces of shattered meteors sailed across the heavens and plummeted towards them with loud whooshes.

    Many pieces were evenrger than human ancient starships. They pierced through the clouds and plunged towards the Lizardman capital with devastating momentum.

    Even the smaller ones wererger than tables. After elerating over a long period of time, they also carried shocking momentum.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Some powerful Lizardmen that were more than ten meters tall rose into the sky to intercept the plummeting meteors with their long tails.

    These seventh and eighth grade Lizardman warriors ignited their flesh power and shot towards the iing meteors like cannonballs.

    At this moment, the meteors that shouldn¡¯t have threatened them at all became a disaster that fell upon them.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    As the meteor pieces exploded one after another, the seventh and eighth grade Lizardmen let out strange cries.

    Some of them threw themselves at the meteors in attempts to stop them. Even though their bodies were as solid as metal, upon collision with the meteor pieces, their muscles and veins bulged, and their flesh split, leaving deep gashes.

    Even so, more pieces fell out of the heavens, aiming at the Lizardman capital.

    Within moments, agonized cries filled the city that was unprotected by spell formations. One stone pavilion after another toppled, and countless Lizardmen were bombarded to death by meteor pieces.

    At that moment, a ninth grade Lizardman that was noticeably taller than the other Lizardmen flew over from the distance, roaring furiously.

    As he did, he shed about in midair to whip therge pieces of meteors with his exceptionally long tail, reducing them to dust, so that they wouldn¡¯t fall on the city, causing even heavier casualties.

    At the same time, he let out sharp, ear-piercing screams, which traveled far and wide.

    The other ninth grade Lizardmen seemed to receive his signal, and flew over from different directions, howling madly as they did.

    From the look of it, these powerful Lizardmen had long since been prepared for engagement.

    It was just that they hadn¡¯t been certain from which direction Nie Tian and the others would attack their capital. Therefore, they had been scattered in different directions.

    They hadn¡¯t expected that the meteors they had used as transportation tools would be turned into weapons to bombard their capital. By the time they returned to protect the city, countless broken pieces of the meteors had already inflicted heavy casualties on their people in the city.

    A total of five ninth grade Lizardmen floated over their capital and constantly nced around with eyes filled with anger and bloodlust.

    SHEW!

    A bolt of lightning shed into view in the distance, but vanished in the next moment.

    ¡°Over there!¡± The Lizardman experts eximed in their ownnguage, locking down their target.

    Immediately afterwards, all of the seventh and eighth grade Lizardmen in the city that had survived the meteor bombardment rose into the sky, and flew in the direction of the lightning bolt under their experts¡¯ leadership.

    As they did, one of the Lizardmen blew on an odd-looking conch, giving rise to ear-piercing tunes that sounded like ghosts¡¯ wails.

    However, the tunes seemed to be able to defy space, and travel to extremely distant ces in no time.

    Another group of Lizardmen, who had destroyed the teleportation portal, heard them, and received the information they contained. They rapidly converged on the location where Nie Tian and the others were garrisoned.

    ...

    Gazing into the distant sky, Lou Hongyan was surprisingly calm. The mes of anticipation even flickered in the depths of her eyes as she said, ¡°What¡¯s bound to happen happens eventually.¡±

    Apparently, she had long since been prepared for a fierce battle.

    SHEW!

    Like a bolt of lightning, Nie Tian and thete Saint domain expert stopped abruptly before her.

    The expert threw Nie Tian towards his Star Boat and said, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s core legacy incantations are indeed impressive. They allowed you to manipte those falling meteors to sh with each other before crashing into the Lizardman capital with great precision. Just like that, you dealt a heavy blow to those savage beasts.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the other Saint domain and Void domain experts all had impressed looks on their faces.

    Even though Nie Tian was only at the Profound realm, he was able to manipte those meteors with Starfall.

    Not only had he caused heavy casualties to the Lizardmen that had clung on those meteors, but he had also inflicted great damage by bombarding the Lizardman capital with the broken pieces.

    If the Lizardmen hadn¡¯t happened to travel back and forth between realms on meteors, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t possibly have been able to deal the Lizardmen such a heavy blow.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before all of the Lizardman experts get here.¡± Nie Tian sat down in the lotus position on his Star Boat, panting. He took out Star Stones to recover his strength with the star power within them.

    It was very consuming to cast Starfall. It had onlysted moments, yet he had lost thirty percent of the concentrated star power within his star power core.

    His nine star souls had also lost a noticeable amount of soul power.

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan was sitting on top of that mountain of Golden Obsidian and carving profound spell formations into it with a golden knife he had condensed with his metal power and soul power.

    As the spell formations gradually came to form, more and more of the immense metal power within the mountain of Golden Obsidian was channeled into them.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the entire mountain seemed to have been turned into a sharp weapon, which would disy shocking might once the spell formations wereplete.

    Brow furrowed, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°All of the Lizardman experts will probably be here in less than two days. If the ninth grade Lizardmen decide to not wait for the weaker ones, they might be able to get here in just a few hours.¡±

    Yang Fan, thete Saint domain expert, lookedposed and confident as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s wait here for those savage beasts then. This realm seems solid enough. Even if we go all-out in battle, it should be able to survive.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t matter if it can survive your battle or not. Don¡¯t hold back,¡± Lou Hongyan said with an expressionless face. ¡°Since this realm isn¡¯t wreathed in rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, it¡¯s not an ideal ce for us to set up a branch in. Even if it copses, as long as we take all of the valuable spiritual materials with us, this trip of ours will count as a sess.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, everyoneughed, and seemed even more sure of themselves.

    One of the experts gave a disdainful smile. ¡°They¡¯re nothing but a bunch of uncivilized beasts. They don¡¯t even have their own ancient starships. I can¡¯t believe they actually rely on meteors to travel back and forth between realms. None of the outsider races we know would control meteors with their bloodline power in order to transport their people between realms.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this domain has been in a closed state for a long time, and the Lizardmen here don¡¯t have any contact with the intelligent races in the outside world.

    ¡°Technically, they shouldn¡¯t be counted as a weak race, since they have ninth grade warriors. It¡¯s a pity that their civilization is backwards.¡±

    A lively discussion went on between the experts, from which Nie Tian could tell that they all made light of the Lizardmen they were about to fight.

    It was as if they had all started to think that the ninth grade Lizardmen would be far less formidable than the Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs, and that they would be able to defeat them effortlessly.

    Aplicated feeling rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart as he heard their conversations.

    Back when he hadn¡¯t left the Domain of the Falling Stars, he had witnessed two outsider invasions. If they hadn¡¯t defended their home with everything within their power, the Domain of the Falling Stars would have fallen long ago, and the people there would have been plunged into misery and suffering.

    Back then, he had been the one to be invaded. Now, he was the one to invade the home of another race.

    Meanwhile, over a very long period of time, the human race had been sad and miserable. Many powerful outsider races would use them as sacrificial offerings for their gods. Countless humans had been butchered, their flesh and souls offered to outsider gods.

    After countless years of struggle, humans finally found the key to cultivation, and grew powerful. However, the things they were doing now were no different from what the outsiders had done to them.

    Wars between different races took ce in every corner of the starry river all the time, and they were iparably cruel.

    Since the moment he had set foot in this domain and learned that it was inhabited by an outsider race, he had known that a battle was inevitable, especially now that their teleportation portal had been destroyed, and retreat was no longer an option.

    <i>¡°All I can hope for now is that those Lizardman experts are as weak as they think they are.¡±</i>

 Chapter 951: Toxic Rain

    Marsnds coveredrge areas of the realm.

    Most of the marsnds were wreathed in multicolored miasma that was acidic and toxic.

    The Lizardmen converged on the location where Nie Tian and the others were garrisoned from two different directions.

    As they flew past marsnds, they channeled the miasma in them with their bloodline power, causing them to surge towards Nie Tian and the others.

    Originally, the multicolored miasma was faint, and carried a limited amount of toxins.

    However, as more and more miasma joined the action, it rapidly grew thicker and more powerful.

    With a speed that was much faster than the Lizardmen, the multicolored miasma surged towards the ce where Nie Tian and the others were.

    Brow slightly furrowed, Lou Hongyan took a sniff of the air that had be sour. ¡°A rotting aura that carries nerve-numbing, flesh-melting toxins...¡±

    Then, with a soft exmation, she summoned fierce me power into her lungs to purge the toxins.

    ¡°The Lizardmen have the ability to mobilize miasma. If the concentration of the miasma builds up to a certain level, it will pose a threat to us.¡± As she said these words, every Saint domain and Void domain expert enveloped themselves in their own domains that were like giant spheres.

    Some of them were filled with shing lightning bolts.

    Some of them were filled with clusters of floating mes that were vested with their owners¡¯ awareness and the profound truths of me power.

    Others were bone-piercingly cold, as if illusory snow-capped mountain peaks stood within them, exuding an icy aura that could freeze all things, and turn living beings to ice sculptures.

    All of the domains had been forged ording to their owners¡¯ cultivation attributes, with precious materials, as well as their owners¡¯ soul awareness and understanding of the power they practiced.

    Domains could be viewed as Qi warriors¡¯ second bodies, which were even more important than their fleshly bodies in some sense.

    One expert after another enveloped themselves in their domains, keeping away the toxic, acidic miasma that converged on them from different directions.

    Like they were enveloped in special wards, the experts wouldn¡¯t be harmed by the miasma as long as their domains didn¡¯t shatter.

    This was the first time Nie Tian had ever seen so many domains in one ce.

    He nced around, and saw that Void domain experts¡¯ domains were ethereal and illusory like reflections in water, as they could be clearly seen, but gave him a sense of unreality.

    However, Yang Fan and the other Saint domain experts¡¯ domains looked as real as themselves.

    Their domains were like heaven and earth they had created, which give Nie Tian a sense that everything within them could be touched by hands.

    This was the difference between Void domain experts¡¯ domains and Saint domain experts¡¯ domains.

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s domain, however, was the most special of all. Illusory volcanoes could be seen floating within her domain, spewing mes unceasingly.

    One river of mes after another interwove with each other in midair. Like veins, they formed some secret fire spell formation.

    A zing aura that could burn the heavens and destroy the earth filled her fire domain, while she controlled everything about it like a god.

    As soon as these Void domain and Saint domain experts unleashed their domains, they were no longer affected by the surging miasma.

    Huang Jinnan and Nie Tian were the only ones who hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain.

    As the toxic, acidic miasma built up around them, each breath Nie Tian took caused a stabbing pain in his lungs, and he felt as if his meridians and flesh were being injected with nerve-numbing toxins.

    He secretly summoned his bloodline power and mixed it with his me power, with which he refined the toxins that had invaded his system.

    WHOOSH!

    As he summoned wood power, an emerald green ward formed around him, keeping the acidic, toxic miasma away.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Even so, the toxins within the miasma attacked his wood power ward unrelentingly, causing multicolored sparks to sputter off the emerald ward.

    After a while, it started to drizzle.

    As raindrops fell onto the emerald ward, the ward suffered from even stronger corrosion. Wood power began to be drained from his wood power core at a rate several times higher than before.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    He looked up. Each falling raindrop seemed to be a condensation of the acidic, toxic miasma.

    As the destructive raindrops continued to fall onto his wood power ward, he soon started to feel strained, and that his wood power ward was about to shatter.

    Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s subordinates also looked skywards as they engaged in a discussion.

    ¡°Such strong acidic toxins!¡±

    ¡°I can feel my power leaving me at an rming rate while the rain falls on my domain.¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, these Lizardmen actually know something.¡±

    Lou Hongyan shot a sideways nce at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Nie Tian, your cultivation base is far too low. You won¡¯t be able to contend against the miasma and rain over the long term. Go to uncle Yang. He¡¯ll take care of you.¡±

    With a in smile, Yang Fan beckoned for Nie Tian toe over.

    The other Saint domain and Void domain experts also fixed their eyes on Nie Tian, but there wasn¡¯t much contempt in their eyes as they did so, since they understood that Nie Tian had just joined the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Even if he would be a bright star that shone across the starry river with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s guidance and support, he was still too weak at the moment.

    Looking somewhat dejected, Nie Tian said with a bitter smile, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I can manage.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t try to be brave. We won¡¯t make light of you.¡± Lou Hongyan tried to persuade him.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine... really.¡± Nie Tian refused her offer. Then, after a moment of pondering, he decided to resort to the Star Boat.

    As star power was channeled from the Star Stones at the bottom of the Star Boat, a glorious starlight ward enveloped the Star Boat.

    This instantly solved his problem by warding off the miasma and falling rain.

    <i>¡°Come out!¡± </i>As he eximed these words inwardly, the enormous Bone Blood Demon flew out of his ring of holding and stopped underneath his Star Boat.

    It practically ced the Star Boat on top of its skull, which was as smooth as giant piece of jade.

    Upon seeing this, the experts muttered to each other in low voices.

    ¡°An eighth grade puppet.¡±

    ¡°Its battle prowess should match that of a middle orte Void domain human expert. Not bad.¡±

    ¡°With it by his side, he¡¯ll be able to protect himself to some extent. At least, we won¡¯t have to spend too much energy looking after him.¡±

    At first, they had assumed that once a battle broke out, Nie Tian, who was at the Profound realm, wouldn¡¯t be able to protect himself from the sixth and seventh grade Lizardmen. Therefore, they would have to keep an eye on him, lest he got killed by the Lizardmen.

    Only after seeing the Bone Blood Demon did they feel somewhat relieved.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan let out a deep breath and opened his eyes. Smiling, he said, ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±

    His subordinates had enveloped him with their domains while he had carved the spell formations.

    Now that he had finished, the dazzling golden light that shot out of the mountain of Golden Obsidian was channeled by him, forming an airtight golden ward that enveloped him.

    Upon seeing this, his subordinates stopped protecting him with their domains.

    Lou Hongyan seemed slightly concerned as she said, ¡°The miasma is getting thicker, and the rain is getting heavier. Those Lizardmen must be using this method to wear us out first. This is their home. They must have long since adapted to the toxins. We¡¯ll be at a disadvantage if we fight them here.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Yang Fan said, smiling. ¡°Let these low creatures y their games. They won¡¯t be able to escape the destiny of dying at our hands anyways.¡±

    HOWL!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-moving howl echoed out from the distance.

    A ninth grade Lizardman that was more than twenty meters long was running towards them with four legs from a distant marsnd.

    As he did, his gigantic tail created deep ditches in the solid ground like a huge metal plough.

    As soon as he appeared, the miasma that had wreathed the entire area seemed to be channeled by his bloodline power, and started to surge restlessly.

    ¡°He can manipte miasma and toxins,¡± Yang Fan said with a grim face.

    HOWL! HOWL!

    More howls echoed out from ahead of and behind them.

    Momentster, seven other exceptionallyrge Lizardman warriors showed up one after another. Some flew. Some walked with two legs. Some ran with four legs.

    Eyes narrowed, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°All eight of them are at the ninth grade. It seems that all of their most powerful warriors are here to deal with us.¡±

    With these words, her pupils gradually turned red, as if they were being painted with blood.

    At the same time, a red ribbon flew out of her domain, within which there were hundreds of crimson spots that were filled with raging mes.

 Chapter 952: Fierce Battle

    The long, red ribbon flew out of Lou Hongyan¡¯s domain like a falling star, dragging a long burning tail.

    The volcanoes within her domain continued to erupt, giving rise to raging mes that rose and fused into the ribbon.

    As this happened, the numerous crimson spots within the ribbon rapidly expanded.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°True sunme!¡±

    The aura he sensed from those expanding crimson spots was actually identical to that of the sun that shone across the starry river.

    Soon, the crimson spots turned into balls of mes that looked like burning suns.

    The ribbons then shot directly towards the ninth grade Lizardman who was controlling the toxic miasma and acidic rain.

    <i>¡°That¡¯s a fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure, which is every bit as powerful as the me Dragon Armor.¡± </i>As Nie Tian thought to himself, he saw a vague shape of mes looming within the ribbon, which seemed to be the soul of some mysterious being.

    <i>¡°Wait! Not only does it contain true sunme, but also earthme and heavenme essence! Also, the ribbon carries so many different types of auras that it¡¯s as if it¡¯s branded with the truths of every type of fire in this world!¡±</i>

    Nie Tian analyzed the ribbon carefully, and sensed various types of me auras from it.

    There were a variety of mes in this world, including mes from falling stars, mes from burning wood, and true me from the sun...

    All of them seemed to have been infused into that special ribbon. Driven by Lou Hongyan, the different types of mes had been refined and blended together in a profound manner, pushing their might to the limit.

    One end of the crimson ribbon was still connected to her me domain, while the other end extended towards the ninth grade Lizardman.

    It looked as if she and that Lizardman were linked by a floating river of mes.

    Within the river of mes, balls of mes burned as fiercely as the sun.

    Looking at the ribbon filled with balls of mes, all of which were as fierce as the sun, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but feel apprehensive. ¡°She¡¯s not the Daughter of mes for nothing. Her attacking means are beyond impressive.¡±

    He had a feeling that if he didn¡¯t seek help from the me Dragon Armor or the Bone Blood Demon, any one of those burning spheres could reduce him to ashes.

    That was also when he realized that he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if he were to fight her now. After all, they were both chosen ones from the most ancient human powers, yet there was a huge gap between their cultivation bases.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The crawling ninth grade Lizardman suddenly exploded towards the approaching ribbon.

    Roaring, he mmed his exceptionally long tail, which seemed to be forged from refined steel, into the crimson ribbon, giving rise to a loud boom.

    After taking such a devastating blow, the crimson ribbon actually cracked.

    Some of burning spheres within it fell out andnded on hundreds of acre of ground, turning it into a sea of mes. The heat dried up the marsnds and created deep cracks in the ground, forcibly turning the bleak weather in this realm around.

    The ninth grade Lizardman continued to whip his long tail at the cracked crimson ribbon in midair.

    As more mes spilled, power that could topple mountains spread out in all direction.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Wherever the me power spread, the earth shook violently and the ground split open, as if everything was going to fall apart.

    WHOOSH!

    The ninth grade Lizardman suddenly opened his mouth.

    A mouthful of green gore that seemed to contain acidic toxins spewed towards the crimson ribbon.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Upon contact, the ribbon shrank down and gave rise to fizzing sounds, as if it was being corroded by strong acid.

    The burning spheres within the ribbon that could turn all things into ashes started to go out one by one.

    Lou Hongyan let out a muffled groan. She made a grabbing motion in the air and yanked her hand back.

    Then, like a snake of mes, the crimson ribbon flew back into her domain.

    Her expression grew somewhat grim as she called out, ¡°Be careful, Uncle Yang. These ninth grade Lizardmen aren¡¯t much weaker than grand patriarchs of the other races.¡± After a brief trial, she realized that she had better end this battle, which she wouldn¡¯t be able to win, and leave the ninth grade Lizardman to Yang Fan.

    Even though she was only at the early Void domain, that crimson ribbon was a unique treasure that her master had forged with all kinds of mes that had been gathered from across the starry river.

    This sixth level Spirit Channeling grade fire-attributed treasure agreed with her cultivation attribute perfectly. After merging with her me domain, it had given her the strength to contend against a ninth grade grand patriarch for a moment.

    However, as an early Void domain cultivator, Lou Hongyan¡¯s spiritual power reserve was still not rich enough to support a whole battle against such a powerful opponent. She would definitely be defeated if she didn¡¯t end the battle in time.

    With an unrestrainedugh, Yang Fan said, ¡°Alright, leave him to me.¡±

    Enveloped in his lightning domain, he shed to the ninth grade Lizardman in a breath¡¯s time.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Compared to Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning domain, the lightning bolts within his domain were a thousand times denser. Like ake of slithering lightning, it engulfed the ninth grade Lizardman in the blink of an eye.

    The ninth grade Lizardman roared nonstop as he struggled in Yang Fan¡¯s domain.

    HOOOWL!

    Another ninth grade Lizardman suddenly swooped down from above the clouds.

    CRACK!

    This Lizardman, who had frost power as his bloodline power, took in the bleak aura that filled this realm and formed numerous pieces of ice that looked like giant swords in the depths of Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain.

    Wisps of green aura, which seemed to be his bloodline aura, could be seen in the depths of the huge ice swords as he wielded them within his unique bloodline talent.

    The huge ice swords shed back and forth, severing numerous thick lightning bolts within Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain.

    Only after teaming up did the two ninth grade Lizardmen match Yang Fan in battle.

    Huang Jinnan grinned and shook his head. ¡°Exactly as I expected!

    ¡°Savage beasts are savage beasts. Unlike Phantasms or Demons, they only know to use their fleshly bodies, but not to collect precious materials to forge powerful weapons. These Lizardmen will soon learn how big a gap there is between an advanced civilization and a backward civilization.¡±

    He flung his sleeve and eximed, ¡°Don¡¯t hold back in battle! We won¡¯t lose much even if this realm falls apart!¡±

    After receiving his order, his subordinates charged towards a group of Lizardmen behind them.

    It was as if his order hadpletely ignited the battle.

    All of the Saint domain and Void domain experts summoned their Spirit Channeling grade treasures and used them to intercept the iing Lizardmen.

    Huang Jinnan, however, stood unwavering atop the mountain of Golden Obsidian, holding a golden spear in his hand.

    That was when Nie Tian was surprised to see that a golden lotus had appeared on the surface of the mountain of Golden Obsidian.

    BOOOOM!

    As countless golden lines appeared and connected with one another within the mountain of Golden Obsidian that was thousands of meters high, a grand spell formation came to form with the lotus as its eye.

    Channeled by the golden lotus, the shiny, golden mountain actually rose into the air.

    Emanating golden light, it flew towards the seventh and eighth grade Lizardmen that wereing at them from behind.

    As it did, sparks of golden light that looked like lotus petals fell from it.

    As this happened, the mountain of Golden Obsidian rapidly lost its metal power, which was a deposit of thousands of years, and gradually shrank in size.

    However, after falling in an extremely elegant manner, the golden petals seemed to be vested with their own awareness, as they sought out low-grade Lizardmen themselves.

    Many seventh grade Lizardmen were sliced into countless pieces upon touching those golden petals.

    Numerous sinister-looking Lizardmen that were more than ten meters long were cut into chunks of flesh that fell out of the air.

    Eighth grade Lizardmen were roughly as powerful as Void domain human experts. However, after being hit by the golden petals, their steel-solid bodies were also cut open, with gashes and holes that wouldn¡¯t stop bleeding.

    As the battle became full-blown, everyone except Nie Tian took part in fighting the Lizardmen.

    ¡°We can¡¯t let them think less of us.¡± As Nie Tian muttered these words, the Star Boat flew out from the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s head.

    At the same time, an intense aura of death suddenly spread out from the Bone Blood Demon as it charged into a crowd of Lizardmen, taking huge heavy steps.

    ¡°Just take care of yourself, Nie Tian. We don¡¯t need your help in this battle.¡± Lou Hongyan¡¯s voice echoed out from her me domain as she flew around Yang Fan and the two ninth grade Lizardmen he was fighting, towards the hundreds of seventh and eighth grade Lizardmen behind them.

    Inside her domain, illusory volcanoes continued to spew raging mes and boilingva, which fused endlessly into that crimson ribbon.

    Like Death¡¯s scythe, the crimson ribbon then flew out of her domain to swing back and forth in the crowd of seventh and eighth grade Lizardmen, setting all of them on fire.

    The fire seemed to be inextinguishable. No matter how hard the Lizardmen tried to suppress it with their bloodline power, they could stop it from burning their lives away.

 Chapter 953: Fight with Skill and Ease

    As a full frontal battle broke out, all of the human experts left their air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Their domains became their sharpest weapons in battle.

    Nie Tian was the only one who was still standing on his Star Boat. Due to the uniqueness of his body, he had trouble supporting his own weight in the air with just his spiritual power, which meant he couldn¡¯t fly about as freely as other Qi warriors.

    As the Star Boat soared high into the sky, he gazed down at the battlefield.

    He saw swarms of Lizardmen converging on them from ahead of them and behind them.

    In the center of the battlefield, the six Saint domain Qi warriors were fighting the ninth grade Lizardmen.

    Farther from the center, several dozen eighth grade Lizardmen were fighting Void domain Qi warriors.

    Even farther off, hundreds of seventh grade Lizardmen were gathered in groups.

    They seemed to have been astonished by the human invaders¡¯ battle prowess, and were apprehensive about the aftermath of the battle between the more powerful. Therefore, they hadn¡¯t rushed onto the battlefield.

    They were well-aware that any bit of power that shot out of a Saint domain expert¡¯s domain would be more than powerful enough to destroy them.

    Even the magics the Void domain experts used to attack the eighth grade Lizardman warriors could inflict great damage on them.

    For that reason, most of the seventh grade Lizardmen had been observing at the perimeter of the battlefield.

    <i>¡°Seventh grade Lizardmen are roughly as powerful as Soul realm human experts. However, since these Lizardmen don¡¯t seem to know any soul magics, nor do they have any powerful weapons, their actual battle prowess might be slightly inferior to that of Soul realm experts. On the other hand, my bloodline is currently at the sixth grade. By relying on my exquisite incantations, tough body, and the three types of power I practice, I might be able to match them in battle.</i>

    <i>¡°Not to mention that I have the Star Boat, which can help me both attack and retreat.¡±</i>

    After pondering for a while, he finally decided to stop watching the battle with his hands wrung, but join the battle.

    The Star Boat then flew around the area where Saint and Void domain experts were fighting the ninth and eighth grade Lizardmen, lest the aftermath of their battle st him.

    He chose the area where Huang Jinnan was fighting the group of Lizardmen that had destroyed their teleportation portal.

    The Bone Blood Demon happened to be in this area as well, so if there was a mishap, he would also be able to summon it to assist him in battle.

    Like a falling star, the Star Boat shed to an area where close to a hundred seventh grade Lizardmen were scattered in different spots.

    Part of the reason they did that was because they were worried that some Saint domain expert might notice them and eliminate them all with an overwhelming strike.

    By scattering in different spots, they lowered that risk to the minimum.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s arrival put a shade of red in the eyes of these seventh grade Lizardmen.

    They were just feeling frustrated about the fact that they weren¡¯t strong enough to join their eighth and ninth grade members in fighting powerful invaders.

    Now that they saw that a weaker invader had flown over on a spiritual tool, they all roared wildly as they pounced on Nie Tian, as if they had been injected with chicken blood. (This is a widely-used saying that means: to be very excited or energetic)

    BOOOOM!

    A Lizardman that was about eight meters long stomped the rock under his feet into pieces as he bounced high into the sky.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t attack with his Star Boat. He even descended to approach that Lizardman.

    This Lizardman warrior had grayish-brown skin, with tough scales covering most of his body. His long, scaled tail that looked like a huge saw gave off an ice-cold luster.

    ¡°ming Finger Swords!¡± As Nie Tian eximed these words, ten streaks of mes that looked like sharp ming swords shot out of his fingertips.

    Nie Tian then leapt off the Star Boat. As fizzing sounds came from his fingertips, me power was rapidly channeled from his me power core to condense into thin swords that extended from his fingertips.

    FZZZ!

    Like crimson steel needles, the ten sharp ming swords pierced into the Lizardman¡¯s solid scales.

    However, his scales shattered in a split second, and mes that carried Heavenme Essence pierced into his flesh, setting him on fire.

    Letting out a pained cry, the seventh grade Lizardman flung his long tail that looked like a steel saw towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian felt a scorching pain in his chest. He looked down, and saw that his flesh had been cut open, and blood was oozing from a gash.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°That was close.¡±

    He felt with great rity that the Lizardman¡¯s sharp tail had cut down to his crystallized breastbone, and had there been stopped.

    If the Lizardman hadn¡¯t faced him, but another human cultivator, that poor guy would have been cut in two already.

    Without any hesitation, he activated his bloodline talent. ¡°Life Strengthening!¡±

    Vigorous life power then rushed out of his internal organs, bones, flesh, and blood.

    The immense life power instantly triggered changes in his body, causing his muscles to bulge, and a flesh aura to rise from and envelop him. Immediately afterwards, the flesh aura condensed into a hard scalyyer that covered his whole body like a suit of armor.

    As mysterious gold and silver patterns appeared on the scalyyer, he assumed an inhuman form.

    Under such a form, his self-healing ability rose to a whole other level. Adding in Heavenly Wood Heal¡¯s healing effect, the gash in his chest healed within moments.

    Then, with a cunningugh, Nie Tian made a fist with hisrge hand and hammered it onto the Lizardman¡¯s sharp tail.

    The punch sent this seventh grade Lizardman plummeting towards the ground.

    ¡°me Dragon Cry!¡±

    As zing me power was summoned from within Nie Tian¡¯s me power core, a lifelike dragon made of mes flew out of his palm.

    At the same time, the me spark within his me power core, which he had gained from the Divine me through trade, suddenly became unusually active.

    Bits of Heavenme Essence sputtered as the dragon of me swooped down towards the falling seventh grade Lizardman with a devastating momentum.

    BOOOOM!

    Bombarded by the dragon of me, scales split and flew from the seventh grade Lizardman.

    After a flesh aura ward he had hastily formed around him was torn apart by the dragon of me, he was engulfed in raging mes.

    The mes were mixed with Heavenme Essence and me power from the me spark in a profound method derived from the True me Incantation.

    The seventh grade Lizardman couldn¡¯t put out this kind of me, no matter how hard he tried.

    He wailed nonstop as his body, which was close to ten meters long, gradually turned ck and crashed to the ground.

    He struggled to roll himself into a green puddle, where the mes burning his body finally died out bit by bit.

    As soon as the mes went out, he charged out of the marsnd once again. Even though he had lost many of his scales and his body had turned ck, he still had rich life force running within him.

    At that moment, more seventh grade Lizardmen shot skywards to surround Nie Tian.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian returned to his Star Boat with his unwieldy flying skills.

    The Star Boat then shot through a gap in the Lizardmen¡¯s forming blockade.

    After flying to another location, he engaged in battle with another Lizardman.

    After casting Heavenly Wood Thorns, me power incantations, star power incantations, and his bloodline talents sessively, his second opponent was soon knocked out of the air.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Several scarlet blood strings that were the condensation of his flesh power flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s hands, piercing into the falling Lizardman.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    Like leeches, the blood strings rapidly sucked flesh power out of the seventh grade Lizardman.

    As the blood strings that were originally the size of hairs expanded to the size of human fingers, the Lizardman¡¯s robust body shriveled and dried up.

    Fear filled the grayish-green eyes in his head, which was simr to a human¡¯s.

    He felt that his flesh power was leaving him in a strange manner due to the existence of the blood strings.

    However, this was a skill he had never seen or heard before.

    SHEW!

    After sucking flesh power to their fill, the blood strings flew back to Nie Tian.

    The flesh power they fused into Nie Tian greatly lifted his spirits, making him realize that he had found the most effective way to kill these Lizardmen. ¡°With my unique bloodline!¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly as he drove the Star Boat to avoid the Lizardmen that hoped to surround him. He only stopped in remote locations where he could attack separated Lizardmen.

    From time to time, strings of his flesh aura flew out of him and pierced into Lizardmen that were separated from their friends.

    Life Drain helped him absorb flesh power from one Lizardman after another, so that he had the power to keep fighting.

    <i>¡°These Lizardmen are clearly not as powerful as Phantasms or Demons. They don¡¯t know any incredible bloodline magics, or how to use their soul power. Nor do they have any powerful tools or weapons that could improve their battle prowess. I, however, have plenty of resources I can turn to in battle, which allows me to y their seventh grade members even though my bloodline is only at the sixth grade.¡±</i>

    Very calm andposed, Nie Tian repeatedly avoided the Lizardmen that hoped to trap him by relying on the Star Boat¡¯s high speed, picked separated Lizardman to kill, and used their copious flesh power to strengthen himself with the help of Life Drain.

 Chapter 954: The Sharpest Weapon

    In the Realm of Maelstrom...

    Saint domain, Void domain, and Soul realm experts from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars were now gathered in this realm.

    They had already waited here for quite some time.

    The exploration of a brand new domain had lit the passion of every major sect in these three domains. Even those who had practiced secluded cultivation year-round had ended their secluded cultivation ahead of time just to join this expedition.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s enormous golden starship was still berthed by a huge spatial rift in the watery curtain high in the sky.

    Jing Feiyang flew over once again to ask Huang Yan in an earnest manner, ¡°When will we march into that domain, Brother Huang?¡±

    ¡°They haven¡¯t returned yet,¡± Thete Void domain Huang Yan said with a warm smile. ¡°But it¡¯s about time that they returned.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°How about this: I¡¯ll teleport over there to ask them about it?¡±

    Jing Feiyang sped his hands. ¡°That¡¯d be great. Many thanks!¡±

    The experts from the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the other sects were getting somewhat impatient from the long wait.

    He was afraid that everyone¡¯s passion would wear off as time passed.

    Huang Yan then walked into the main cabin. However, he rushed back out in a few moments.

    Looking very worried and anxious, he said, ¡°Something has gone wrong!¡±

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde were waiting nearby. They overheard him, and flew over in a sh.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Qu Mingde asked, looking concerned.

    Huang Yan seemed insecure and uneasy as he answered, ¡°I couldn¡¯t teleport to that domain because I couldn¡¯t lock down the coordinates for the teleportation portal they had established there. There are only two possibilities. Someone has either turned off that teleportation portal, or destroyed it.

    ¡°They know that they need to keep that teleportation portal open at all times. There¡¯s no way that they shut it down themselves.

    ¡°So I guess what happened is that the inhabitants of that domain destroyed that teleportation portal.¡±

    Shocked expressions appeared on everyone¡¯s faces.

    Jing Feiyang took a deep breath and said, ¡°That teleportation portal is of great importance. They must have arranged for powerful experts to guard it. From the look of it, they¡¯ve run into trouble in that domain. And it must be some serious trouble. Otherwise, that teleportation portal should have been secured, at the very least.¡±

    Huang Yan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Dammit! I¡¯ve got to inform my sect of this. Our Divine Son and Divine Daughter are at stake. Should something happen to them, our sect¡¯s vital energy would suffer. Even the foundation of our future would be shaken!¡±

    With these words, he hastily flew into the spatial rift to report this newest information to the Five Elements Sect.

    ¡°Nie Tian is going to be okay, right?¡± Quan Zixuan asked, looking worried.

    Jing Feiyang also looked worried as he said, ¡°That¡¯s the hope.¡±

    ¡°As the seventh Son of the Stars, he has just silenced the different voices in the three domains,¡± Qu Mingde said somewhat anxiously. ¡°If he gets trapped in a foreign domain for a long time, it¡¯ll definitely hurt the reputation he has just built up.¡±

    In fact, he hadn¡¯t cared this much about Nie Tian before joining him.

    But now that he had attached the Golden Vast Sect to Nie Tian, this running war chariot, the future of the Golden Vast Sect had been bound with Nie Tian.

    If Nie Tian grew stronger and his status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce rose, the Golden Vast Sect would benefit from his sess.

    Simrly, if Nie Tian got into trouble, all of his subordinate forces would be implicated.

    Therefore, they definitely didn¡¯t want anything to happen to him.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry,¡± Jing Feiyang said, trying to calm them. ¡°Nie Tian is far stronger than you think, not to mention that he¡¯s with a Divine Son and a Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect. After the Five Elements Sect learns about this, they¡¯ll definitely think of every possible way to build another teleportation portal or sail directly to that domain.¡±

    Only after hearing these words did Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde feel slightly relieved.

    In the unidentified domain...

    The battle was still burning like a raging fire.

    Even though the Lizardmen had the numbers, they weren¡¯t as strong as their human equivalents individually.

    The Saint and Void domain Qi warriors had exquisite incantations, domains with profound uses, Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools, and medicinal pills that would allow them to recover their battle prowess within a short period of time.

    As far as the development of civilizations, the Qi warriors from the Five Elements Sect had an absolute advantage over the local Lizardmen.

    For this reason, even though the Qi warriors were outnumbered by the Lizardmen by a great margin, the two sides were actually evenly-matched.

    The eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen were already having difficulty handling the Saint and Void domain human experts.

    Therefore, none of them actually paid much attention to Nie Tian or spared any energy to deal with him.

    Nie Tian found this quite liberating.

    By relying on the Star Boat¡¯s unparalleled speed, he shed back and forth amongst the seventh grade Lizardmen. Once he saw a blockade forming, he would immediately fly to other locations to find stray Lizardman to kill.

    BOOOOM!

    A dragon made of raging mes swooped down on another seventh grade Lizardman.

    Upon shing, the Lizardman caught fire, and took the initiative to dive towards the marsnd below in an attempt to put out the fire with its greenish water.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Six blood-colored strings of flesh power suddenly flew out and pierced into the Lizardman like steel needles.

    The blood strings went in through gaps among the scales.

    In the next moment, Life Drain was activated, and the blood strings that were as fine as hairs started to drain flesh power from the Lizardman¡¯s blood, bones, and internal organs.

    The Lizardman that was close to ten meters long wailed in panic as his thick, sturdy feet started to shrivel up.

    Seeing that more furious Lizardmen were converging on him from different directions, Nie Tian gave a cunning grin and summoned star power. With a short-range Starshift, he shifted back onto his Star Boat.

    Afterwards, the Star Boat shot out like a bolt of lightning, leaving all of the gathering Lizardmen far behind.

    ¡°This is awesome! My bloodline power is without a doubt the best weapon I can use to kill these outsiders with vigorous flesh power!¡±

    As long as he dealt a heavy blow to a Lizardman and found an opportunity to pierce his blood strings that carried the profound truths of life power into it, he would be able to gain a copious amount of flesh power.

    He mostly relied on his flesh power tounch attacks.

    Since he could constantly absorb flesh power from his enemies, it allowed him to fight on like a perpetual motion machine, without ever worrying about exhausting his strength.

    If he had fought by relying on his spiritual power instead, once his spiritual sea ran dry, he would have to find a secure location to recover with spirit stones.

    Flesh power, however, could be taken from his Lizardman enemies endlessly.

    <i>¡°If I were fighting humans instead, since their flesh power is innately weak, I wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain enough flesh power from them to fight an extended battle. Outsiders, on the other hand, have rich flesh power inside of them, especially Demons and Phantasms. As long as I can find opportunities to pierce my blood strings into them, I¡¯ll be able to maintain my high battle prowess with their flesh power.¡±</i>

    The Star Boat suddenly came to a stop.

    At this point, the gash in his chest had fully healed with the help of Life Strengthening.

    Torrential flesh power ran through his meridians, giving rise to faint sounds.

    All of his meridians, bones, and internal organs had been tempered a thousand times over with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal. Their solidity was even superior to that of the seventh grade Lizardmen.

    For this reason, he dared to fight them at close quarters.

    He was asionally whipped by their long tails that were like huge saws. However, he only felt lightheaded for a brief moment. None of them really hurt his vital parts.

    Then, as he summoned his flesh power with the profound method of Heavenly Wood Heal, he would be able to heal himselfpletely within moments.

    <i>¡°I can actually use the rich flesh power I¡¯m gaining from this battle to finish the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal: Flesh Tempering.</i>

    <i>¡°It seems that I can hold back a little and refrain from killing them so quickly. Otherwise, I might eventually catch the eighth grade Lizardmens¡¯ attention and draw them to me.</i>

    <i>¡°So my priority in this battle has be umting as much flesh power as possible, which I¡¯ll use for myter cultivation!¡±</i>

    As this train of thought shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind, he continued to sh skillfully back and forth among the seventh grade Lizardmen, as if he were strolling idly in his own courtyard. He could even spare some of his attention to observe the fights that were taking ce in other ces.

    All of a sudden, a prematurely-ended scream caught his ears. He looked towards the source of the scream, which was where Huang Jinnan and the Void domain experts were fighting the eighth grade Lizardmen.

    ¡°An eighth grade Lizardmen has been killed!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he immediately took out the Spirit Pearl and unleashed the fierce spirits within it. Like clouds, five blurry shadows rose high into the sky, where they condensed into sinister-looking spirits.

    ¡°Go! Strengthen yourselves with the discarnate souls of the dead Lizardmen!¡±

    Upon receiving this order, the five evil spirits roared and flew out to hunt the discarnate souls of the dead.

    <i>¡°From the look of it, the longer this battlests, the more I¡¯ll benefit from it. Not only will I be able to umte copious amounts of flesh power, but I can also perfect my techniques of battling with bloodline talents through fighting these Lizardmen.¡±</i>

 Chapter 955: Extraordinary Outsiders

    For all intelligent beings, once their fleshly bodies perished, their souls would also gradually dissipate into heaven and earth.

    The same went for Lizardmen.

    In fact, the Lizardmen¡¯s souls weren¡¯t weak at all. It was just that their understanding of soul power was still rather shallow, and so they still didn¡¯t know how to make use of their powerful souls.

    They only knew how to use their soul power to defend against soul attacks, nothing more.

    Now that an eighth grade Lizardman had been ughtered by Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates, the five evil spirits rose from the Spirit Pearl, and arrived before his discarnate soul dissipated.

    The faint gray discarnate soul was ripped apart and devoured by the five evil spirits in the blink of an eye.

    As they did, the various kinds of negative energies that had formed right before the death of that Lizardman became nourishment that helped the evil spirits grow.

    Mixed with them were pieces of memories from when he had been alive.

    Thanks to the subtle connection between the five evil spirits and the Spirit Pearl, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul received the memory images before the evil spirits even returned.

    Most of the images were broken and disorderly.

    However, Nie Tian, who was fighting seventh grade Lizardmen with the help of the Star Boat, suddenly heard a soul call from the Spirit Pearl.

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl was floating right above his head. Without leaving the Spirit Pearl, its soul sent a series of images into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    As the images shed before his eyes, Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered.

    The images clearly depicted another Lizardman realm.

    The entire realm seemed dark and gruesome. There was a vast marsnd, where bubbles were rising from green water. The entire marsnd was enveloped in a thick, greenish acidic mist.

    Three ninth grade Lizardmen were floating over the marsnd and calling in their ownnguage.

    Immediately afterwards, ripples spread out from the depths of the marsnd.

    A very aged outsider emerged from the rippling water.

    He looked very different from any Lizardman Nie Tian had ever seen.

    All of the Lizardmen he had seen had huge lizard bodies and human heads.

    However, that aged outsider was basically in human form, which was very simr to high-tier Demons and Phantasms.

    But he was covered in scales like the other Lizardmen.

    As the aged outsider walked out of the marsnd, the three ninth grade Lizardmen bowed respectfully towards him and asked him something in theirnguage.

    Several eighth grade Lizardmen could be seen waiting in a farther location.

    These images deeply shook Nie Tian.

    <i>¡°That seems to be an evolved Lizardman! Such evolution is simr to the way low-tier Demons lost their significant size and evolved into elegant high-tier Demons through countless years. That Lizardman must be the first to finish this evolving process!</i>

    <i>¡°He¡¯ll probably join this battle soon.</i>

    <i>¡°Or perhaps he¡¯s already on his way to this realm!¡±</i>

    Nie Tian was no longer at ease.

    When they had first entered this realm, Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates had said that they had peeled memories from the Lizardmen they had killed, ording to which there were only eight powerful Lizardman warriors.

    Now, all eight ninth grade Lizardmen were gathered in this ce.

    Apparently, the Lizardman that had evolved and developed a human form wasn¡¯t here.

    The Lizardmen Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates had killed when they had first set foot on this piece ofnd had only been at the seventh grade, the sixth grade, or even lower.

    Considering outsiders¡¯ rigid hierarchy, it was very likely that low-tier Lizardmen didn¡¯t even know of the existence of such a unique patriarch.

    The eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen might have been keeping it a secret.

    <i>¡°Even if that human-form Lizardman isn¡¯t at the tenth grade, he must be at the peak of the ninth grade, and only a step away from entering the tenth grade. His grade defines the grade limit of their race. He must be the most powerful individual of the Lizardman race!¡±</i>

    At this point, Nie Tian already had a fairly deep understanding of outsiders¡¯ bloodlines.

    Every outsider race had a so-called grade limit.

    Grade limits would determine how high the experts of a race could rise in grade.

    Of the outsider races he was familiar with, Birdmen, Stonemen, and ckscales all had the ninth grade as their races¡¯ grade limit

    This meant that their most powerful experts were at the ninth grade, and no one in their history had ever entered the tenth grade.

    Grade limit would put a cap on the whole race¡¯s potential. If an outsider race had never seen a tenth grade expert, then it couldn¡¯t be viewed as a powerful race.

    For this reason, Birdmen, Stonemen, and ckscales couldn¡¯tpete with Demons, Phantasms, Floragrims, and other races that had tenth grade grand monarchs.

    However, grade limits weren¡¯t unbreakable.

    If someday a Birdman, Stoneman, or ckscale entered the tenth grade, then their entire race¡¯s bloodline would transcend.

    Once a member broke through into the tenth grade, the other ninth grade members of their race would have a much better chance at entering the tenth grade.

    Not only would the first one¡¯s sess give confidence to their sessors, but their experience would also help them find the key to making such a breakthrough.

    Those who broke the grade limit for their race would naturally enjoy a transcendent status. Even after their deaths, they would be remembered as breakers of shackles, and worshipped by their kind.

    <i>¡°From the look of it, it won¡¯t be very long before that aged outsider breaks through into the tenth grade.</i>

    <i>¡°If he seeds, all eight ninth grade Lizardmen will receive guidance, which will greatly improve the odds of them advancing to the tenth grade and bing grand monarchs themselves someday!</i>

    <i>¡°He must be practicing cultivation year-round in that marsnd, hoping to make the breakthrough as soon as possible.</i>

    <i>¡°But our arrival has disturbed his inner peace...¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian instantly made a decision: stop tangling with the seventh grade Lizardmen and urge everyone to leave this ce right away.

    Even though he had only seen a few broken images, he had a feeling that the aged human-form Lizardman was much stronger than Yang Fan, who was at thete Saint domain.

    He even suspected that two experts like Yang Fan wouldn¡¯t be able to handle him in battle.

    Even though the humans had the advantage in this battle, it was a narrow advantage.

    Once that Lizardman expert arrived, the scales of victory would be instantly tipped towards the Lizardmen.

    One expert as powerful as him would be enough to turn the situation around!

    SHEW!

    Like a bolt of lightning that split the heavens, the Star Boat shed across over the heads of the seventh grade Lizardmen and arrived in the area where Huang Jinnan and the Void domain experts were engaged in a fierce fight against eighth grade Lizardmen.

    ¡°Brother Huang!¡± Nie Tian called out.

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan was mobilizing the mountain of Golden Obsidian to bombard an eighth grade Lizardman. The mountain of Golden Obsidian had lost a third of its power, and had shrunk considerably in size.

    Golden lotus petals were still flying out of the golden mountain, inflicting serious damage on the Lizardman warrior.

    Taken aback, Huang Jinnan asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Your men¡¯s information wasn¡¯t urate. The most powerful Lizardman expert hasn¡¯t arrived yet!¡± Nie Tian shouted at the top of his lungs in humannguage. He did this so that Lou Hongyan and the other experts in distant locations would also be able to hear him. ¡°The evil spirits I released devoured the discarnate soul of the eighth grade Lizardman who died just now. And from it, I got images...¡±

    Nie Tian spoke loud and fast,unching all the information he had learned like a streak of cannonballs.

    All of the Saint and Void domain Qi warriors gasped with astonishment upon hearing his words.

    ¡°A human-form Lizardman at the peak of the ninth grade?!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll be the one to raise the grade limit of the Lizardman race a whole new level?!¡±

    ¡°Do the Lizardmen have such a hero?!¡±

    ¡°This isn¡¯t good! Those who can push their race¡¯s grade limit must be their most extraordinary members!¡±

    Even Lou Hongyan lost herposure, a myriad of expressions shing across her eyes.

    Lou Hongyan adjusted her n surprisingly decisively. ¡°If that¡¯s the case... We need to get out of this realm as quickly as we can.¡±

    Then, she went on to shout to the others, ¡°Let¡¯s put an end to this battle and leave this domain! We can¡¯t wait for that expert to get here!

    ¡°Take Nie Tian with you, Uncle Yang! We¡¯re leaving now!¡±

    She finally thought that it was about time that they evacuated from this domain.

 Chapter 956: Travel Through the Starry River

    Somewhere in the dark starry river, an aged, scrawny figure was traveling through the void like a sh of lightning.

    It was none other than the Lizardman expert Nie Tian had seen through the images he had received from the Spirit Pearl.

    Compared to other Lizardmen, he was about ten times smaller, only slightly taller than an average human.

    If it weren¡¯t for the color of his skin and the conspicuous scales that covered his whole body, one would see no connection between him and the other Lizardmen.

    However, he was not only a true member of the Lizardman race, but also the most powerful one.

    The realm he had practiced cultivation in seemed to have an extremely harsh environment, making it unfit for weaker Lizardmen to live and reproduce in. Since he had stayed there for far too long, the recently born Lizardmen didn¡¯t have any memories of him.

    Only eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen knew about his existence, and the fact that he was their true leader, and the pioneer of their bloodline.

    ¡°Damn those invaders!¡± Cursing in their ownnguage, he rapidly approached the realm that was the birthce of the Lizardmen by relying on nothing but his fleshly body.

    ...

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Enveloped in domains that looked like huge multicolored balloons, the Qi warriors shot straight into the heavens one after another.

    Nie Tian was enveloped in Yang Fan¡¯s domain.

    The Bone Blood Demon and the Spirit Pearl had already returned to his ring of holding.

    Only the Star Boat was chained up by numerous lightning bolts within Yang Fan¡¯s domain, forming a tight connection.

    Nie Tian¡¯s exmation had allowed Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and the other experts to realize that a Lizardman expert that was about to break their grade limit had yet to join the battle.

    Upon hearing that, Lou Hongyan, who had previously been full of confidence, had decided to evacuate.

    The battle came to a sudden end.

    Numerous domains rose high into the sky.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    Seeing this, many eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen cried out as they also shot skywards in an attempt to stop them.

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain was rather close to Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain. She gazed down at the rising Lizardmen, a worried look appearing in her eyes. ¡°You seem to be right.¡±

    They had clearly been at an advantage in the battle they had just ended, as they had already caused casualties to the Lizardmen.

    It had been established since the Lizardmen had destroyed their teleportation portal that they weren¡¯t witless at all.

    Therefore, they must be able to see that if the battle had gone on, they would only end up suffering a sound defeat.

    Under such circumstances, the only exnation for their pursuit was that they knew someone would show up to turn the situation around.

    That someone must be the aged Lizardman expert who had developed a human form.

    BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

    One of Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates approached with Huang Jinnan enveloped in his water domain.

    Brow furrowed, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°Junior martial brother, will you give us directions after we leave this domain? I forgot to ask. How did you find this domain in the first ce? Since we need to get out of here as fast as possible, perhaps we can retrace the steps you took when you first found it.

    ¡°After we return to our sect and get our powerful experts to help us, not to mention that that Lizardman expert hasn¡¯t broken through into the tenth grade, but even if he has, we¡¯ll still be able to sack this domain without effort.¡±

    Her words reminded Nie Tian, so he also turned to fix his eyes on Huang Jinnan.

    He also assumed that since they had discovered this ce, Huang Jinnan and his subordinates must know a way out.

    Even though they no longer had a teleportation portal, as long as they stuck to the route they had taken toe here in the first ce, they would be able to return to their sect eventually, although it might take longer.

    However, if they didn¡¯t have a direction in the boundless starry river, they might never be able to return again.

    Huang Jinnan smiled bitterly. ¡°Retrace our steps...¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lou Hongyan asked, looking puzzled.

    ¡°One of my subordinates came across a spatial joint in a space disruption zone by ident,¡± Huang Jinnan exined. ¡°He entered it and ended up in this part of the starry river. He drifted about aimlessly for a while before discovering this domain, and thus came to take a look.

    ¡°He secretly did a brief scan of this domain, and realized that it was worth exploring.

    ¡°However, when he returned to the spatial joint, he discovered that it wasn¡¯t there anymore, and that it was actually on the move all the time. He searched for it for a long time, but failed to find it anywhere. So he had toe back to this domain and spend six months building a teleportation portal with the spatial materials he had on him.

    ¡°He only mentioned the general location of that spatial joint to me. And unfortunately, he was one of those who died protecting that teleportation portal.¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s words put a grim look on everyone¡¯s face.

    Nonstationary spatial joints weremonly seen throughout the starry river. Like doors, they connected to mysterious space disruption zones.

    If they could find that spatial joint, they would be able to return to that space disruption zone through it, and from there, return to the Five Elements Sect.

    However, that spatial joint wasn¡¯t stationary, but constantly on the move.

    Some spatial joints could travel thousands of kilometers in just a few days, which made it almost impossible to find them again.

    ¡°I guess a general location will do,¡± Lou Hongyan said, clenching her jaw. ¡°At least, that beats drifting about aimlessly! Lead the way for us, junior martial brother. Let¡¯s head to the area where that spatial joint once appeared. We have Saint domain experts on our team. Compared to that subordinate of yours, it might be easier for us to find it!¡±

    This was a contingency n.

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One domain after another split the ward that enveloped the Lizardman realm and flew into the vast starry river.

    ¡°Follow me!¡± Huang Jinnan called out as he took the lead.

    Enveloped in Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain, Nie Tian constantly looked back, and noticed that the eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen had followed them into the starry river by relying on nothing but their flesh power.

    However, they didn¡¯t seem eager to catch up to them, as if they also understood that they might be seriously injured or killed by the Saint domain experts if they did.

    The human Qi warriors had numerous unique treasures at their disposal, and they had rich experience in fighting in the depths of the starry river.

    The Lizardmen, however, didn¡¯t have a deep understanding of the starry river, nor did they possess powerful tools that would provide them assistance in battle. They would be at a disadvantage if they were to engage in battle in the starry river.

    HOOOWL!

    The ninth grade Lizardmen let out sharp roars, as if they were calling for something.

    ¡°They¡¯re spreading their voices far into the starry river, hoping their human-form patriarch will hear them,¡± Lou Hongyan said with a grim face. ¡°From the look of it, they know that he¡¯s on his way here. Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before their human-form patriarch hears them, and tracks us down.¡±

    Enveloped in Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain, Nie Tian waspletely unharmed by theplex powers in the starry river.

    Like intangible, multicolored balloons, the group of domains floated towards the destination Huang Jinnan had given.

    As time passed, the ninth grade Lizardmen graduallygged behind.

    This proved that the speed at which they traveled through the starry river couldn¡¯t match that of Yang Fan and the other experts.

    ¡°We¡¯re about to lose those ninth grade Lizardmen,¡± Yang Fan said, looking somewhat relieved. ¡°No wonder those Lizardmen had to travel between their realms on meteors. They don¡¯t seem to understand much about traveling in the starry river. They¡¯re limited by their underdeveloped civilization.¡±

    The others chimed in, as if they all felt less worried.

    HOWL!

    However, hourster, an even louder ear-piercing howl split the void, making everyone nervous again.

    Upon hearing the howl, Yang Fan unleashed his soul awareness, covering a vast area around him in a split second.

    His expression flickered. ¡°He¡¯s here! Nie Tian¡¯s right. It¡¯s indeed an aged expert in human form. Judging by his flesh aura, he¡¯s currently at the peak of the ninth grade. I can tell that he¡¯s far more powerful than any of the ninth grade Lizardmen we fought before!

    ¡°I have a feeling that even two cultivators like me won¡¯t stand a chance at defeating him in battle!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the Saint and Void domain experts grew anxious again.

    ¡°Also,¡± Yang Fan added, ¡°he seems to be somehow carrying the other Lizardmen forward, as they¡¯re all traveling at a speed that¡¯s much higher than before! It won¡¯t be long before he catches up to us, along with all of the ninth and eighth grade Lizardmen. He¡¯ll arrive a bit earlier than the others though. I suppose he¡¯ll catch up to us in a few hours.¡±

 Chapter 957: Bloodline Pioneer

    Since Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was far lower, what Yang Fan had seen waspletely invisible to Nie Tian, even if he used his Heaven Eyes.

    Yang Fan¡¯s words made everyone, who had assumed that they had lost the Lizardmen, nervous again.

    Given Yang Fan and the other¡¯s cultivation bases, they could increase their speed and leave the Void domain ones behind.

    However, they of course wouldn¡¯t do that.

    Since Yang Fan had a feeling that two experts like him wouldn¡¯t be able to match that Lizardman patriarch in battle, anyone could easily imagine what would happen if he were to catch up to the Void domain cultivators.

    Therefore, Yang Fan and the other Saint domain experts decided not to push their speed to the limit, but keep pace with them.

    A few hours passed...

    The group of experts finally arrived in the area where Huang Jinnan said the spatial joint had once appeared.

    ¡°This is the ce,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a worried smile. ¡°That subordinate of mine hade back here and searched every inch of this area, but failed to find that spatial joint. Even if it still exists, it¡¯s probably somewhere far from here. I suppose we can only start here, and do a extensive search in this vicinity.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± Yang Fan said in a deep, sullen voice.

    Immediately afterwards, the domains lined up.

    The six Saint domain experts formed a line in front of Lou Hongyan and the other Void domain experts.

    ¡°You guys take care of Nie Tian!¡± Yang Fan called out as the lightning chains that bound the Star Boat suddenly loosened.

    The Star Boat shot out of his domain like a bolt of lightning.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat shed into Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain, and came to a stop over one of the floating volcanoes.

    Fierce mes rose from the volcanoes, warding off the impurities that filled every corner of the starry river.

    Like in Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain, Nie Tian also didn¡¯t have to consume his power or the Star Boat¡¯s power to float within Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain.

    The old Lizardman patriarch that Nie Tian had seen in his mental images appeared out of thin air.

    Upon arrival, he eximed furiously in perfect humannguage, while ring at the line of six Saint domain experts, ¡°Humans!¡±

    This set him apart from all of the other Lizardmen.

    Since the moment the exploration team had set foot in this domain, they had never seen a single Lizardman that could speak the humannguage.

    Now, his appearance changed everyone¡¯s understanding of the Lizardman race. He made them realize that they weren¡¯t just a horde of savages who had never been out of their three realms. They must have made contact with the outside world for him to be able to speak the humannguage so perfectly.

    The old expert was dressed in linen robes, his hair tied into a topknot. His face was wrinkled, and his eyes were deep and green, as if ghost fire flickered in the depths of his eyes.

    All of a sudden, a grayish-green bone that was more than ten meters long flew out of the old expert¡¯s cuff.

    Covered in natural, blood-colored patterns, the bone seemed to have been taken from some enormous Ancientbeast, exuding an intense bloody aura.

    Surprised, Nie Tian said, ¡°He knows how to make use of tools. This Lizardman is indeed far beyond ordinary.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The exceptionally long bone suddenly shot forward.

    In the next moment, strange, bloodcurdling sounds echoed out from within the bone, as if some ancient being from the Deste Antiquity Era was crushing the skull of another being with its teeth.

    Just the sounds alone made Nie Tian¡¯s scalp feel numb, causing him to see illusions.

    They were the images of some enormous being preying on titans, great wyrms, and Ancientbeasts. Even though their appearances were vague beyond recognition, Nie Tian was certain that they were incrediblyrge.

    At that moment, panic rose from the bottom of his heart, as if fears that had been branded in the depths of his soul had been suddenly awakened.

    He had a peculiar feeling that he had seen that kind of enormous being somewhere.

    Those enormous beings were asrge as stars. They lived in the depths of the starry river, and could travel from one domain to another in the blink of an eye. Both their size and speed were an unknown number of times greater than any ancient starship.

    He had assumed that everyone was seeing the same illusions he was seeing.

    However, as he nced around, he realized that he seemed to be the only one.

    The other Saint and Void domain experts all looked confused and pained by the strange sounds. None of them seemed to be experiencing the same thing he was experiencing.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    His nine star souls suddenly lit up within his sea of awareness, eliminating the deep-rooted terrifying illusions like mes melting snow.

    He jerked his head towards Lou Hongyan and asked, ¡°Did you see anything?¡±

    Staring nkly at him, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°What?¡±

    Just as he was about to exin, the old Lizardman patriarch suddenly fixed Nie Tian with an astonished gaze. ¡°You...!¡±

    Also at that moment, the bone that was more than ten meters long pierced into Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain.

    Hundreds of thick lightning bolts then mmed into the bone.

    The blood-colored patterns that seemed naturally formed started to squirm madly like snakes.

    Splendid blood-colored light almost instantly engulfed Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain.

    The blood-colored light seemed to have its own awareness, and carried the profound truths of flesh power as it dissolved the lightning bolts within Yang Fan¡¯s lighting domain one after another.

    In just a few seconds, Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain started to show signs of falling apart.

    He let out a muffled groan and wove his hands into an exquisite hand seal. Immediately afterwards, arge whip braided by lightning appeared in his hand.

    ¡°Thunder God¡¯s Whip!¡±

    As he flung the whip, his raging lightning power suddenly grew very active.

    In the next moment, all of the lighting bolts that swam about within his domain fused into the long whip.

    Like the unique treasure the thunder god used to punish all lives, the whip mmed into the huge peculiar bone with lighting power that could split anyrge-scale realm.

    The whole bone suddenly turned blood-colored, the patterns on it bing increasingly vivid and lifelike, as it emanated the residual power of an unknown spices that had devastated all living creatures throughout the starry river.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Blood-colored light spattered as the lightning was gradually dissolved.

    Like a world of thunder and lightning being invaded by destructive foreign matter, Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain started to tear.

    ¡°Give me some help!¡± As arrogant as Yang Fan was, he felt so much pressure that he had to seek help.

    Three of the other five Saint domain experts then spread out to attack the aged expert from three different directions.

    As for the other two, the one enveloped in water domain fused a river of gentle water power that looked like the Milky Way into Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain, while the one enveloped in an earth domain changed the gravitational field where the peculiar bone was.

    ¡°Bloodline magics and powerful tools...¡± Lou Hongyan muttered, looking astounded. ¡°Once he enters the tenth grade, the bloodline of the entire Lizardmen race will transcend because of him! The individual who manages to push the grade limit of the Lizardman race will deeply influence all of their future generations.

    ¡°He would be able to brand all of the bloodline magics he has derived and the bloodline talents he has awakened on every member of his n in a way we can¡¯t fathom.

    ¡°Then, all of his nsmen would have a chance at awakening his bloodline talents or deriving his bloodline magics as they upgraded.

    ¡°Only tenth grade grand monarchs can affect their whole n in such a profound way.¡±

    Lou Hongyan seemed unprecedentedly rattled as she added, ¡°This guy must have been to other domains and gotten in touch with other civilizations. He must havee back here because he was ready to make the breakthrough into the tenth grade, and hoped to benefit his people by doing this!

    ¡°If he seeds, the entire Lizardman civilization will take a huge step forward! All of his nsmen who only knew to fight with their vigorous flesh power would be able to awaken the true might of their bloodline, and raise their battle prowess to a whole new level!¡±

    As she said these words, the ninth grade Lizardmen showed up one after another.

    The eight of them, who hadn¡¯t lost their enormous size and evolved to a better form, had nothing but fanatical worship in their eyes as they looked at the aged expert.

    It was as if he was their god and bloodline pioneer!

    ¡°This is not good,¡± Huang Jinnan said, having a headache over the difficult situation. ¡°There are eight more, all at the ninth grade. It won¡¯t be long before the eighth grade Lizardmen get here.¡±

    ¡°Divine Son! Divine Daughter!¡± Yang Fan eximed. ¡°The odds are against us. You¡¯d better escape as soon as you see an opportunity!¡±

    As the most powerful expert, by saying these words, he made it clear that he didn¡¯t have any confidence in the uing battle.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian had to consider how he would be able to survive this battle, and the Lizardmen¡¯s pursuit.

 Chapter 958: Breaking the Balance

    If that old Lizardman patriarch hadn¡¯t joined the battle, the six Saint domain Qi warriors would have been more than strong enough to handle the eight ninth grade Lizardmen.

    However, his existence instantly broke the bnce and turned the situation around.

    He single-handedly put Yang Fan under tremendous pressure, and made him realize that this was a battle they couldn¡¯t win.

    Though very reluctant, he suggested evacuation.

    After all, he found the unidentified bone far too powerful. The devastating might its blood-colored patterns unleashed crushed his lighting bolts, and almost tore his lightning domain apart.

    Meanwhile, in his senses, the old Lizardman patriarch actually still had a long way to go before entering the tenth grade.

    If that bone were out of the picture, he had confidence that the battle between the two of them wouldst a rather long time.

    If another Saint domain expert were to join him, they might even be able to match the Lizardman patriarch evenly.

    <i>¡°What kind of powerful being does that bone belong to?!¡±</i> Yang Fan cried inwardly. <i>¡°Just a bone alone became so mighty after being refined by the Lizardman patriarch... Even the bone of a tenth grade outsider grand monarch or Ancientbeast shouldn¡¯t be so shockingly powerful!¡±</i>

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    One sparkling, crystal-clear stream after another flew out of the domain of Zhao Heng, a subordinate of Lou Hongyan.

    He was also at thete Saint domain. It was just that he had only made the breakthrough recently.

    The sparkling streams that contained the profound truths of water power interacted with Yang Fan¡¯s lightning power, giving rise to wondrous changes.

    Numerous flickering magical symbols appeared, each carrying the profound truths of lightning and water power.

    Some magical symbols looked like winding rivers; some resembled the starry river; others were lightning condensed by exquisite lightning incantations.

    The power Saint domain experts unleashed manifested their profound understanding of it, which they had derived over thousands of years.

    However, the wondrous magical symbols that carried raging lightning power and gentle water power failed to cause any noticeable damage to the bone.

    The grayish-green bone suddenly grew translucent and sparkling, its blood-colored patterns looking like the Bloodline Crystal Chains within the bloodline aura of some higher being.

    The profound bloodline power within the blood-colored patterns, which didn¡¯t have anything to do with the Lizardmen, suddenly burst forth.

    BOOOOM!

    Arge amount of blood-colored light rose, forming some sort of tentacles that swung in the void. They actually started to channel impurities and hazardous powers to themselves.

    They expanded at an rming rate as they pierced directly into Yang Fan and Zhao Heng¡¯s domains.

    In the next moment, their domains were ripped apart like cloth curtains.

    As soon as that happened, arge amount of impurities and unidentified energies engulfed them, elerating the disintegration of their domains.

    ¡°Zhang Shuo!¡± Zhao Heng eximed. ¡°Get out of here now!¡±

    As another Saint domain expert, Zhang Shuo was an expert of earth power.

    However, since he was only at the middle Saint domain, his attempts to crush the bone by changing the gravitational field didn¡¯t work at all.

    Zhao Heng saw that he wasn¡¯t making a difference, and thus urged him to leave.

    But upon hearing his words, not only did Zhang Shuo not leave, but heunched even fiercer attacks towards the Lizardman patriarch with the help of the other three Saint domain experts.

    ¡°Divine Daughter!¡± Yang Fan shouted, looking more anxious than ever. ¡°That bone is incredibly powerful. Our domains won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer. So you need to get as far away from here as possible while the six of us stall the Lizardmen for you!¡±

    Lou Hongyan started to panic.

    However, as she looked with rapt attention, she realized that while the other Saint domain experts teamed up to attack the Lizardman patriarch, he chose to avoid them instead of fighting.

    It was as if the Lizardman patriarch was relying solely on that bone to fight.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Eight ninth grade Lizardmen dashed over and finally arrived on battlefield.

    As soon as they did, they split into four groups of two to fight the four Saint domain experts who were attacking their patriarch.

    The four experts were at the early and middle Saint domain. Since the Lizardmen outnumbered them two to one, the Lizardmen soon gained the upper hand.

    Because of their arrival, the weight was lifted from the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s shoulders, allowing him to manipte that bone wholeheartedly in his battle against Yang Fan and Zhao Heng.

    Once he destroyed their domains and killed them, he would be able to take care of the others with that bone as well.

    Even if he didn¡¯t, as long as he could keep Yang Fan and Zhao Heng upied, the other eight Lizardmen would be able to wear the other Saint domain experts down and kill them eventually.

    No matter how Lou Hongyan looked at it, they were in a very unfavorable situation.

    She sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can get away. If the six of your lose and die at their hands... where can we go? We haven¡¯t even found that spatial joint. Given those ninth grade Lizardmen¡¯s speed, they¡¯ll be able to catch up to us effortlessly. There¡¯s no way that we can escape.¡±

    She had a good understanding of the situation.

    Nie Tian, who was now taking shelter in her me domain, wracked his mind for a solution, but also failed.

    In order to escape the Lizardmen, they would have to travel fast enough.

    After all, the Star Boat was only an air-transportation spiritual tool, not an ancient starship that could roam the endless starry river.

    Besides, it might outrace eighth grade Lizardmen, but not ninth grade ones.

    Not to mention that countless deadly, flesh-corroding energies filled every corner of the starry river.

    An ancient starship would be able to protect its passengers from such energies and impurities over the long term, but the Star Boat couldn¡¯t.

    If they lost the powerful experts¡¯ protection and fled on the Star Boat, they would run out of Star Stones within a short time, and the Star Boat might be damaged by unknown forces and break.

    At that time, they could only wait for their deaths in the cold starry river.

    Madness appeared on his face as he seemed to suddenly see reality. ¡°Let¡¯s fight to the end!¡±

    Knowing that they wouldn¡¯t be able to escape, he thought they might as well fight to thest moment and kill as many Lizardmen as they could.

    Lou Hongyan nodded and shouted, ¡°Fight to ourst breath!¡±

    All of their subordinates also let out frenzied roars, ready to fight to the death.

    FZZZ!

    The peculiar bone suddenly pierced through Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain and shot towards Lou Hongyan, who was behind him.

    Yang Fan, who couldn¡¯t stop the bone, shouted at the top of his lungs to warn Lou Hongyan, ¡°Watch out! He must have seen through your significance!¡±

    Lou Hongyan took a deep breath, and the scarlet band flew out of her me domain.

    Her master had forged this scarlet band for her. With its help, as well as her exquisite incantations and profound domain power, she would be able to handle a ninth grade outsider for a brief moment.

    She was hoping to shield herself from this attack with everything within her power.

    A wood power expert suddenly shed in front of Lou Hongyan, enveloped in a domain filled with vigorous life force. ¡°I¡¯m here to protect you!¡±

    This man was at thete Void domain. His illusory domain seemed to consist of an endless forest, which gave Nie Tian afortable and soothing feeling.

    However, that peculiar bone pierce right into it.

    As blood-colored light instantly filled that illusory heaven and earth, the green domain fell apart in the blink of an eye. Even thete Void domain himself was instantly swallowed by the blood-colored light.

    AHHH!

    As a miserable wail echoed out, only a soul managed to fly out of the destroyed Void domain.

    Thete Void domain expert failed to withstand a single attack from the bone. As his domain shattered, so was his fleshly body destroyed. Only his soul managed to escape.

    ¡°Run!¡± Zhao Heng shouted towards Lou Hongyan in panic.

    ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± Lou Hongyan eximed, looking furious and determined. ¡°I forbid any more of you toe to my aid!¡±

    Her red band suddenly burst into raging mes. As the fiery spots within it expanded to be like suns, it mmed towards the peculiar bone, hoping to slow it down slightly.

    FZZZ!

    The grayish-green bone easily avoided her burning band and pierced into her ming domain, a bloodthirsty flesh aura instantly filling her entire domain.

    The illusory volcanoes, seas of mes, and rivers of mes vanished bit by bit.

    Within moments, Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain started to tear, exposing Nie Tian to the starry river.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian hastily summoned power from the Star Boat, hoping to hold on for a while.

    As he grew increasingly anxious, loud thumps echoed from within his chest, as his heart started to pound violently.

 Chapter 959: The Mysterious Bone

    Nie Tian looked down at his pounding heart, an astounded look appearing on his face. ¡°Hmm?! What¡¯s going on?!"

    At this moment, all of the erupting volcanoes, seas of mes, and rivers of mes had vanished from Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain.

    Her me domain was already badly torn.

    A raging flesh aura suddenly burst forth from the bone. Within moments, a furious, bloodthirsty aura pervaded Lou Hongyan¡¯s domain, turning it blood-red.

    BOOOOM!

    The zing band that had collected all sorts of mes from this world suddenly lit up. The countless fiery spots within it unleashed light and heat that was as fierce as the sun as it wrapped around the bone.

    In a sh, torrential me power filled the entire area, and shed violently with the frenzied flesh aura, giving rise to terrifying shockwaves that spread in all directions.

    Hit by a shockwave, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat was instantly sent flying backwards from Lou Hongyan towards the endless starry river.

    As exploding sounds echoed out from Lou Hongyan¡¯s zing band, she was wreathed in mes that flew around her like butterflies.

    The band that was originally hundreds of meters long shrank down extremely quickly.

    Lou Hongyan let out a muffled groan, a mouthful of blood escaping her mouth.

    SHEW!

    Like an injured snake, the zing band vanished into her.

    However, the bone from an unknown species morphed into a streak of lightning that shot straight forward.

    Many Void domain experts in the vicinity, including Huang Jinnan, cried out in panic.

    ¡°Divine Daughter!¡±

    ¡°Senior martial sister!¡±

    The bone was clearly aimed at Lou Hongyan. The fact that her fire-attributed Spirit Channeling grade treasure shrank and returned to her after a single exchange proved that even it couldn¡¯t stop the bone.

    Before that, thete Void domain expert who practiced wood power had had his domain shattered and fleshly body destroyed. Only his soul barely escaped.

    Therefore, even if the other Void domain experts threw themselves at the bone, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it.

    Everyone could foresee the bone piercing through and killing Lou Hongyan in the next moment.

    Huang Jinnan suddenly noticed something, and shouted loudly, ¡°Wait! Watch out, Nie Tian!¡±

    Just as the grayish-green bone approached Lou Hongyan, driving everyone to despair, it suddenly changed directions.

    POOPH!

    In the next moment, the bone that was more than ten meters long impaled Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen, its tiping out of his lower back.

    All of the Void domain experts, including the other Saint domain experts who were fighting the ninth grade Lizardmen, were baffled as to the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s motive behind this.

    ¡°Nie Tian?! Why Nie Tian?!¡±

    ¡°That Lizardman patriarch is actually trying to kill Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Why did he aim at Nie Tian, who¡¯s only at the Profound realm, when he can aim at our Divine Daughter?¡±

    Floating in the dark starry river, the aged Lizardman patriarch fixed Nie Tian with a cold, piercing gaze, and said in the humannguage, ¡°You¡¯re different from all of the humans I¡¯ve seen before! Both your bloodline and soul are special!¡±

    With these words, he shot towards Nie Tian, leaving Yang Fan and Zhao Heng behind.

    SHEW!

    Like a lightning bolt shing across the void, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat backed away at full speed.

    The enormous bone that had prated his abdomen was still unleashing a frenzied, bloodthirsty flesh aura, as if it intended to rip his internal organs to pieces.

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Loud, drum-like heartbeats continued to echo out from Nie Tian¡¯s madly pounding heart.

    The green aura that coiled up within his heart, which was branded with the profound truths of life power, hadn¡¯t finished its upgrade yet. But at this moment, the numerous Bloodline Crystal Chains within it suddenly lit up.

    Like crimson diamonds and mysterious stars, one drop of Blood Essence after another flew out of his heart.

    Momentster, all ten drops of Blood Essence separated themselves from Nie Tian. They split up and floated towards the two ends of the unidentified bone.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As a drop of Blood Essence fell on the end of the bone in front of Nie Tian, the conspicuous, blood-colored patterns on the bone suddenly grew restless, as if they had been ignited.

    Like living beings with their own awareness, the patterns wiggled madly as they scrambled to absorb the drop of Blood Essence.

    Nie Tian then looked over his shoulder at the other end of the bone that had impaled his abdomen.

    A few drops of Blood Essence fell on that end of the bone, fusing into it in the blink of an eye.

    After the ten drops of Blood Essence all fell on the bone and were absorbed by the blood-colored patterns, the bone gradually turned dark red.

    The shade of grayish-green on the bone, which was identical to the color of the Lizardmen¡¯s skin, seemed to be expelled by the ten drops of Blood Essence.

    What Nie Tian didn¡¯t know was that the shade of grayish green on the bone had been the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s Blood Essence, which he had refined into it.

    This peak ninth grade Lizardman patriarch was the pioneer of his kind, an extraordinary figure who had a hope of breaking his kind¡¯s grade limit.

    He had spent an endless amount of time nourishing the bone with his own Blood Essence in order to gain control of it.

    He had fused thousands of drops of Blood Essence into it through his upgrading process.

    He had only been at the seventh grade when he had first obtained the bone. From that moment on, he had fused it with his Blood Essence in an attempt to solve its secrets and gain control of it.

    The seventh grade... the eighth grade... the ninth grade.

    Every time he had made a breakthrough, he would fuse it with his refined Blood Essence.

    He had spent more than ten thousand years on the bone.

    Even so, he had only recently gained control of it.

    The reason why he had spent ten thousand years on it was because he knew its origin, and understood that it would y a crucial part in his breakthrough into the tenth grade, which would determine whether the Lizardman race would see their first grand monarch, and join the ranks of the powerful races.

    However, as the shade of grayish-green was gradually reced by dark red, he felt that his connection with the bone was being cut off.

    A blood connection was a profound thing. Once he could no longer feel the bloodline seals he had imprinted on the bone, it would mean that he hadpletely lost it.

    <i>¡°How is this possible?!¡± </i>He roared inwardly. <i>¡°The bloodline that bone carries is even more ancient than titans, Ancientbeasts, and the powerful insects from the Deste Antiquity Era! What race¡¯s bloodline could possibly change it in this way?</i>

    <i>¡°Only bloodlines that override it or are closer to the ultimate bloodline can trigger such incredible changes!</i>

    <i>¡°But that man is still just a human! Given their low bloodline, how could he change it in this way?!</i>

    <i>¡°I don¡¯t understand! I just don¡¯t understand!¡±</i>

    The old Lizardman patriarch hysterically pulled his own hair and scratched himself all over, as if he was experiencing unbearable itches.

    Soon, his neck, arms, and belly were covered in deep, bloody scratches.

    However, he didn¡¯t seem to feel any pain.

    Looking at the bone that had pierced through his abdomen, Nie Tian was also baffled. ¡°What the hell...¡±

    When it had first pierced into him, he had felt that he was going to die in the next moment.

    He could feel the devastating flesh power within it.

    However, as soon as his Blood Essence had dripped onto it, it had suddenly grown silent.

    Then, as its color changed, he shrewdly sensed that the bloodline power the Lizardman patriarch had vested it with was being gradually dissolved, and the special bloodline seals the Lizardman patriarch had imprinted it with were rapidly vanishing.

    At the same time, his own bloodline seals were being carved into the bone.

    <i>¡°Is it possible that my bloodline is superior to the Lizardmen¡¯s, so the bone is recing his with mine?¡± </i>He couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    At this moment, Yang Fan and the other Saint domain experts shrewdly perceived the subtle changes in the bone. All of them were thrilled by their discovery.

    ¡°That Lizardman patriarch¡¯s aura is vanishing from that bone!¡±

    ¡°The soul power that human-form Lizardman has vested the bone with is scattering!¡±

    ¡°His connection with the bone is being cut off!¡±

    In their eyes, that unidentified bone posed a much bigger threat to them than the Lizardman patriarch himself.

    If that bone was out of the picture, the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s battle prowess would decline sharply, rendering him defeatable.

    What they didn¡¯t know was that since the Lizardman patriarch had fused the bone with his Blood Essence for more than ten thousand years, it could be viewed as a part of him that might be even more important than his fleshly body.

    Once his connection with the bone was cut off and he could no longer manipte it, his strength would indeed suffer a strong blow, which would stop him from doing anything he wanted.

    Yang Fan suddenly realized what to do, and thus shouted aloud, ¡°No matter what is going on, we need to protect Nie Tian now! We can¡¯t let that Lizardman patriarch touch that bone again!¡±

    Then, he and Zhao Heng went back to attacking the Lizardman patriarch with full force, lest he realize what was happening and summon the bone back to him.

 Chapter 960: It Belongs To Me Now

    ¡°Why is this happening?! Why?!¡± The Lizardman patriarch threw his head back and howled, as if he had gone insane.

    Many of his grayish-green scales had fallen off as he scratched himself bloody out of frustration.

    BOOM!

    Raging flesh power fluctuations suddenly exploded from within him, spreading out into his surroundings like a flood.

    Countless rays of grayish-green bloodline power shot out of him like a hedgehog¡¯s spines.

    Yang Fan and Zhao Heng¡¯s torn domains suffered another heavy blow, and many parts that wereing back together were scattered once again.

    However, Yang Fan and Zhao Heng didn¡¯t seem panicked this time. Instead, a hint of delight appeared in their eyes.

    ¡°Compared to that bone, such a flesh power attack is much more eptable!¡± As Yang Fan let out a cunningugh, his Thunder God¡¯s Whip flew out of his domain. With a few ps, it sent numerous balls of heavenly thunder towards the rays of bloodline power, along with a devastating aura.

    Hit by the heavenly thunder, the grayish-green light gradually vanished.

    At this moment, Zhao Heng seized the opportunity to fly over to the old Lizardman patriarch. As he did, a huge transparent bubble floated out of his water domain.

    Vested with a profound sealing magic, the bubble enveloped the Lizardman patriarch in a sh.

    Seeing this, the Lizardman patriarch charged about within the bubble, but failed to break free.

    Screaming repeatedly, he cast anxious looks at Nie Tian from time to time.

    Meanwhile, the peculiar bone that had prated Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen was still going through subtle changes.

    CRACK!

    In the depths of the crimson bone, tiny green spots that looked like green crystals cracked one after another.

    They seemed to be the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s crystallized Blood Essence.

    After so many years of refinement, the bone had been branded with the essence of his bloodline. It would be difficult for the bone to get rid of all of the crystalline green spots by relying on its own power.

    However, now that Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence had fused into it, the profound mysteries they carried had provided it with strong support, allowing it to crush the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s Blood Essence crystals one by one.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence took their ce, as it split into dark red crystalline spots that were just as tiny and branded into every inch of the bone.

    HOWL!

    Trapped in the transparent bubble, the Lizardman patriarch screamed hysterically, as if he were in a lot of pain.

    It was as if he was being hurt as his Blood Essence within the bone was eliminated.

    Even though Nie Tian didn¡¯t attack him directly, as the bone crushed his crystallized Blood Essence within it with the help of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, it inflicted serious damage on him.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know how many years and how much Blood Essence he had spent on the bone.

    Blood Essence was the condensation of his bloodline power.

    If he could recycle the Blood Essence he had fused into the bone, it would significantly improve his battle prowess.

    However, after being crushed, his crystallized Blood Essence within the bone didn¡¯t return to him. Instead, it seemed to be erased of his unique imprint by Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and dispersed into the bone in the form of pure power.

    Not only could he not manipte the bone anymore, but he also couldn¡¯t take his Blood Essence back. The Lizardman patriarch¡¯s foundation was now truly hurt.

    Yang Fan and Zhao Heng grew increasingly spirited as they saw that the Lizardman patriarch, who was trapped in the bubble, starting to show signs of weakening.

    ¡°He¡¯s growing weak!¡±

    ¡°It seems that his bloodline power that he¡¯s vested that mysterious bone with no longer belongs to him. The power essence he went to great lengths to refine has been erased of his imprint and vanished into the bone!¡±

    CRACK!

    Thest few crystalline green spots were crushed, ridding the whole bone of any green.

    As a recement, crimson spots that were the color of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence filled the bone, carrying the profound truths of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to hurt anymore...¡± Nie Tian muttered as he reached out and grabbed the bone. Very gently, he slowly pulled the bone that was more than ten meters long out.

    Holding it, he was hit by a strange feeling that the bone was like a part of himself, and that they were bound by the same bloodline.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the copious amount of flesh power he had drained from the seventh grade Lizardmen poured into his heart.

    Once again, his heart pounded vigorously.

    Momentster, a new drop of Blood Essence was condensed, sparkling like red agate.

    As more flesh power that he had taken from the Lizardmen he had killed gathered and condensed, a second drop soon came to form.

    Then, it was a third drop... and a fourth drop...

    Only when eight drops of Blood Essence came to form did he run out of the flesh power that had poured into his heart.

    Holding the enormous bone, he was at a loss as to his next move. Thus, he nced around.

    That was when he noticed that Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and the other Void domain experts from the Five Elements Sect had formed a circle around him.

    They were protecting him from the corrosive impurities that filled every corner of the starry river.

    This was the reason why he had been able topletely focus on the changes in the bone, standing on his Star Boat.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes were filled with apprehension and confusion as his gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and the bone he was holding. ¡°Nie Tian... It was already hard to believe that that bone didn¡¯t kill you, but how did you even manage to erase all of the bloodline imprints the Lizardman patriarch branded it with?¡±

    One Void domain Qi warrior after another fixed Nie Tian with disbelieving gazes, as if they were looking at a freak. They started discussing among themselves, as if they weren¡¯t aware that this battle against the Lizardmen hadn¡¯t ended.

    ¡°I know that you¡¯re a hybrid, but what on earth is the origin of your nonhuman bloodline?¡± Lou Hongyan asked.

    ¡°How could you possibly erase the bloodline imprints of an outsider that¡¯s only a step away from entering the tenth grade?!¡±

    ¡°This is unbelievable!¡±

    ¡°Also, what kind of creature does that bone belong to?¡±

    They were just far too curious as to the origin of Nie Tian¡¯s nonhuman bloodline.

    ¡°That¡¯s a question I can¡¯t answer for the time being,¡± Nie Tian said with a bitter smile. Then, he gazed off at the roaring Lizardman patriarch, who was now trapped in a bubble, and added, ¡°All I can say is that this bone has nothing to with him from now on.¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯ve gained control of it?¡± Huang Jinnan asked suggestively.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes. I can feel that it belongs to me now.¡±

    A mor burst through the crowd.

    That bone was what had made that peak ninth grade Lizardman patriarch so formidable.

    With its help, he had torn Yang Fan and Zhao Heng¡¯s domains and killed ate Void domain expert without effort.

    Its formidable might had shocked everyone present.

    However, not only had such a powerful unidentified tool failed to kill Nie Tian by piercing through his abdomen, but it had even been refined and taken as his own.

    If they hadn¡¯t seen it with their own eyes, they would have never believed it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the eighth grade Lizardmen finally arrived.

    With a cold smile, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°They¡¯re here, but sadly, they¡¯re toote. Without that bone, their patriarch¡¯s strength has suffered a sharp decline. He¡¯s no longer a threat! Under such circumstances, if the other Lizardmen try to fight us in the starry river, they¡¯ll be seeking their own deaths!¡±

    Lou Hongyan waved her hand.

    Seeing this, the Void domain experts that had gathered around Nie Tian spread out to meet the iing eighth grade Lizardmen.

    Anotherrge-scale battle broke out in the starry river.

    As this happened, Lou Hongyan approached Nie Tian and enveloped him in her badly damaged me domain.

    Her scarlet eyes switched back and forth between Nie Tian and the peculiar bone. With aplicated expression, she said, ¡°If we can wipe out the Lizardmen and take all three realms, your significant contribution will not be forgotten.¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°You¡¯re such a freak. It seems that I made a wise decision by asking you toe explore this domain with us. If it not for you, we would have all died at the hands of those Lizardmen this time. If we actually take all three Lizardman realms, one of them should be given to you.¡±

    ¡°That seems fair.¡± Lou Hongyan agreed.

 Chapter 961: An Even More Remote Era

    ¡°Come here!¡± With these words, Lou Hongyan lifted her hand, and ssware wreathed in flowing auras flew out of her palm.

    The discarnate soul of thete Void domain expert, who had had both his domain and fleshly body destroyed by the bone, flew lightly into it.

    ¡°Many thanks, master!¡± After sending out this soul voice, it fell silent within the ssware. Not another soul strand flew off and vanished into the void.

    He had been an expert in wood power. Upon seeing the Lizardman patriarch attacking Lou Hongyan, he had thrown himself in front of her. As a result, his domain had shattered, and his body had been split. Only his true soul had managed to escape.

    However, even for Void domain experts, their true souls wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the harsh environment in the starry river for a long time once separated from their fleshly bodies.

    Before, when they had talked, Nie Tian had noticed that soul strands continued to rise from his discarnate true soul and vanish into the void.

    If this hadsted a bit longer, this true soul would soonpletely scatter and disappear into the starry river, not leaving a soul strand behind.

    However, Lou Hongyan¡¯s special container made sure that didn¡¯t happen.

    By the time they took care of the Lizardmen and returned to their sect, she would be able to find a suitable body for him to be reborn into.

    Some day, when his memories that were buried in the deepest part of his soul were awakened, he would be able to resume his path of cultivation and rapidly recover his current cultivation base, just as Yuan Jiuchuan had done.

    Of course, it would require arge number of precious spiritual materials to reforge his domain. However, Lou Hongyan would probably help him with that.

    After all, she had been reborn herself, and was familiar with every detail of the process.

    After summoning the ssware back to her palm, Lou Hongyan said with a serious expression, ¡°You died defending me. I¡¯ll take care of everything. Don¡¯t you worry.¡±

    At this moment, the battlefield had been divided into two parts.

    In one location, Yang Fan and the other Saint domain experts were fighting the ninth grade Lizardmen.

    In another location, Void domain experts were fighting eighth grade Lizardmen.

    The Lizardman patriarch, who was still the biggest threat, had lost his bone to Nie Tian, along with the Blood Essence that he had branded the bone with. This had inflicted serious damage on him.

    At this moment, Yang Fan was dealing with his bloodline aura, while Zhao Heng was trapping and suppressing him within a giant bubble.

    Both Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan looked rxed now.

    They and Nie Tian, the three with noble statuses, only observed from a safe distance, instead of joining the battle themselves.

    Like Nie Tian, Huang Jinnan, who was at the Soul realm, also entered Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain to seek protection from the impurities in the starry river.

    ¡°Can you use that bone, Nie Tian?¡± Huang Jinnan asked curiously.

    Lou Hongyan also fixed him with a curious gaze. ¡°What on earth is so special about your Blood Essence? The origin of your bloodline must be equal to or higher than that of the bone¡¯s. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have expelled the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s Blood Essence and let yours settle in instead.¡±

    ¡°Do you know the origin of that bone?¡± Huang Jinnan asked again.

    As they spoke, the battle went on.

    While the Void domain human Qi warriors soon gained an advantage, the four Saint domain experts were having difficulty handling the eight ninth grade Lizardmen.

    However, once Yang Fan and Zhao Heng took care of the Lizardman patriarch, they would be able to join the other human experts and bring this battle to a speedy end.

    From the look of it, the humans would triumph without suffering heavy casualties.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°Some images entered my mind when that patriarch first took out this bone. I can tell you about them. I saw something incredibly huge preying on titans, Ancientbeasts, great wyrms, and other ancient species from the Deste Antiquity Era. Those beings were asrge as some realms.

    ¡°They could travel from one domain to another domain in just a breath¡¯s time, which made them faster than any ancient starship we¡¯ve seen.

    ¡°Even titans, Ancientbeasts, and great wyrms were their prey?!¡±

    Both Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan gasped with astonishment.

    Eyes wide, Huang Jinnan asked aloud, ¡°Are you saying that this bone belongs to one of those enormous beings?¡±

    ¡°It appears so,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°All of those images entered my mind the moment the bone appeared. I even suspect that those images were awoken by some profound imprints that are buried in the deepest part of my bloodline. I thought you saw them too.¡±

    Lou Hongyan took a deep breath to calm herself. ¡°No, we didn¡¯t. Only you did. No wonder that patriarch suddenly targeted you when he could have killed me! That also exins why he said those weird things about you, that you¡¯re special, and both your bloodline and soul are unique!¡±

    ¡°Senior martial sister,¡± Huang Jinnan eximed. ¡°if my spections are correct, that unidentified species is from the era before the Deste Antiquity Era, ording to the ancient records from our sect¡¯s collection!¡±

    Face grim, Lou Hongyan nodded gently. ¡°That¡¯s probably it!¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°There was an era even before the Deste Antiquity Era?!¡±

    ¡°ording the ancient history of our sect¡¯s conflicts with titans, Ancientbeasts, and great wyrms, our ancestors had learned about an era that was even more remote than the Deste Antiquity Era from the ancient beings they had fought. However, even those tenth grade titans, Ancientbeasts, and great wyrms didn¡¯t seem to know much about that era.¡±

    Lou Hongyan chimed in, ¡°They called it the Primal Era.

    ¡°ording to them, they only knew that enormous beings that were asrge as realms dominated that era. As the true favorites of this starry river, they were born with the ability to travel among domains. Nothing in the void could harm them.

    ¡°However, that mysterious race seemed to have gone extinct when the Primal Era ended.

    ¡°Only after that did the titans, Ancientbeasts, great wyrms, and other ancient species from the Deste Antiquity Era enter the stage, and rise as the new overlords.

    ¡°But even so, their fear towards that mysterious race was branded in the depths of their bloodlines.

    ¡°When they break through into the tenth grade, they seem to be able to gain a glimpse of the past, and see blurry images of that incredible race...¡±

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s eyes were filled with apprehension as she spoke, and she asionally looked at the bone that was clutched in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°Titans, Ancientbeasts, and great wyrms can actually see into the past when they advance to the tenth grade?¡±

    As the three of them spoke, an eighth grade Lizardman suffered a heavy blow, and was sent flying towards them like a hill of flesh.

    Injured, the Lizardman seemed apprehensive about resuming his fight against his human equivalents. Instead, he turned around and targeted the three of them.

    Seeing this, Lou Hongyan let out a cold harrumph.

    However, just as she was about to make a move, Nie Tian cast the bone towards the iing Lizardman.

    The moment the bone left his hand, he felt all of his flesh power reserve pouring into it, allowing it to pierce towards the Lizardman¡¯s head like a bolt of lightning.

    Surprised, the eighth grade Lizardman hastily summoned flesh power to form multiple blood-colored shields.

    However, the flesh power shields were crushed by flesh power that seemed to be of a much higher level even before the bone actually touched them.

    PUFF!

    The bone that was more than ten meters long went right through the eighth grade Lizardman¡¯s skull.

    With a prematurely ended cry, the gigantic Lizardman copsed and floated uncontrobly into the distant starry river.

    Huang Jinnan was bbergasted. ¡°That Lizardman was almost as strong as a middle Void domain cultivator, yet you killed him with a single strike?!¡±

    Looking at the bone that was slowly flying back to Nie Tian after reaping a life, he called out with insecurity filling his eyes, ¡°Be careful, Nie Tian!¡±

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s expression also flickered slightly. ¡°You have no problem controlling it, right?¡±

    ¡°Umm... I think so...¡± With these words, Nie Tian reached out clumsily to grab the bone.

    As flesh power shone on his fingertips, the bone seemed to be channeled, and suddenly elerated. Like a bolt of lightning, it shot back to his palm.

    ¡°Got it!¡± Nie Tian said, his intense expression rxing.

    However, both Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan had grown cold with fear, staring at the bone.

 Chapter 962: Battle on with the Support of Battle Gains

    As the bone flew back to his hand, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Unbelievable!¡±

    With a single strike, the bone had managed to prate the eighth grade Lizardman¡¯s skull, killing him in the blink of an eye.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five fierce spirits flew out after the dead Lizardman that was drifting farther and farther away, hoping to devour his soul.

    Lizardman souls weren¡¯t weak at all. In fact, their inability to secure their souls after their fleshly bodies were destroyed and seek opportunities to be reborn was only because they hadn¡¯t solved the profound mysteries of souls yet.

    Some powerful outsider races that understood souls as deeply as the Phantasms also had their own special ways of gaining a chance at reincarnation.

    However, the Lizardmen couldn¡¯t do such a thing yet. Once their fleshly bodies perished, they were gone for good.

    As the evil spirits flew off to devour the dead Lizardman¡¯s soul, Nie Tian looked down at the bone in his hand, and marveled at its formidable might.

    But at the same time, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder why it had almost drained him of all of his flesh power the moment it had left his hand, even though it wasn¡¯t particrly heavy as he held it.

    Then, he examined himself thoroughly and discovered that the few drops of Blood Essence he had just regenerated were all gone, along with the vigorous flesh power within his internal organs, blood, and bones.

    <i>¡°A single strike consumed almost all of my fleshly energies... Even though this peculiar weapon is wildly destructive, its consumption is just as incredible. Luckily for me, I¡¯m not a pure outsider. Other than my flesh power, I still have my spiritual power that I can use.</i>

    <i>¡°Otherwise, I¡¯d have lost the ability to fight afterunching such a strike.</i>

    <i>¡°When I¡¯ve run out of flesh power, the fastest way to recover is to...¡±</i>

    His eyes lit up as he suddenly thought of the corpse of that eighth grade Lizardman. Then, he turned to Lou Hongyan and said, ¡°Would you carry over me to that corpse?¡±

    Lou Hongyan was confused. ¡°But he¡¯s already dead.¡±

    ¡°I know he is,¡± Nie Tian said, looking determined.

    ¡°Alright...¡± Lou Hongyan¡¯s torn me domain then flew towards the drifting Lizardman corpse like a ming cloud.

    At this moment, a grayish-green soul in the shape of a Lizardman had already risen from that corpse.

    The five evil spirits were munching on it like hungry ghosts, wing, splitting, and devouring away.

    The evil spirits roared as they expanded to a small extent.

    ¡°Those evil spirits are yours?¡± Lou Hongyan asked curiously. ¡°Why do they carry so many negative energies?¡±

    ¡°They came from a Spirit Pearl forged by the Phantasms,¡± Huang Jinnan exined before Nie Tian could. He had fought alongside Nie Tian in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, and witnessed the Spirit Pearl¡¯s wonders.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s how it is!¡± Lou Hongyan marveled.

    FZZZ!

    Like a bolt of lightning, the Star Boat suddenly shot out of Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain, before piercing into the Lizardman¡¯s huge corpse.

    It inched deeper into the eighth grade Lizardman¡¯s foul-smelling flesh.

    The corpse not only kept Nie Tian from the impurities in the starry river, but also blocked Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s sight.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    One scarlet blood string after another flew out of Nie Tian, slithering into what felt like a sea of flesh and blood.

    Since the Lizardman had just died, there was still rich flesh power within his remains, which would take hundreds of years topletely scatter and vanish.

    However, as Nie Tian activated Life Drain, the Lizardman¡¯s residual flesh power was rapidly drained.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    The scarlet blood strings soon expanded from the size of hairs to the size of fingers.

    Momentster, they expanded strangely to the size of human arms.

    Flesh power that was rich and pure poured madly towards Nie Tian. After being refined by his unique bloodline, it was soon turned into vigorous life force.

    His qi and blood was replenished like a dried well being filled to the brim by a running stream.

    <i>¡°This eighth grade Lizardman died only moments ago, however the amount of life force it generated is still very impressive!¡±</i>

    Within moments, Nie Tian felt energetic again. He even replenished his Blood Essence with the help of the newly acquired flesh power.

    <i>¡°Ten drops! Back to ten drops of Blood Essence!¡±</i>

    After ten drops of Blood Essence that looked like scarlet diamonds were restored to his heart, the new flesh power was redirected towards his abdomen instead.

    As more and more flesh power fused into his impaled abdomen, it rapidly healed with the help of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Outside...

    Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan frowned deeply as they watched the eighth grade Lizardman¡¯s discarnate soul being devoured by the five fierce spirits.

    However, they were truly astounded as they watched the gigantic Lizardman corpse shrivel at an rming rate.

    It was as if every bit of blood within the corpse had suddenly vaporized.

    Even its flesh dried up like meat that had been left in the sun for years,pletely bereft of water or flesh aura.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars...¡± Lou Hongyan touched her forehead subconsciously. ¡°Word came from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce saying that this newborn Son of the Stars practices me power, wood power, and star power simultaneously, which means he probably won¡¯t be able to rise to the God domain. They even said that since he¡¯s so distracted, he might not even be able to advance to the Saint domain.¡±

    With a smile, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid someone in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce released such information to purposely undermine him and create difficulties for him in bringing the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars to heel. Based on what I¡¯ve learned about him, the Saint domain definitely won¡¯t be his limit!¡±

    Lou Hongyan pondered in silence for a while before saying, ¡°You told me about him as soon as you returned from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You spoke so highly of him back then that I didn¡¯t trust your judgment. But now I do. This Nie Tian is indeed far beyond ordinary. As long as he doesn¡¯t die prematurely, he¡¯ll definitely be the future pir of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and join the ranks of the human overlords in this starry river!¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s for sure!¡±

    SHEW!

    As their conversation came to end, the Star Boat returned to Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain.

    Since Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan weren¡¯t hybrids, their perception of flesh power wasn¡¯t very keen.

    However, they couldn¡¯t tear their gazes away from Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen.

    Earlier, Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen had been a bloody mess. Even his intestines had been exposed. However, all they could see now was his smooth muscr abs, without even the slightest sign of having been impaled.

    How was it possible that such a serious wound had healed within such a short time?

    Even though they couldn¡¯t sense the change of flesh power inside Nie Tian, what they were seeing with their eyes was already shocking enough.

    Huang Jinnan was also shocked by the scene. ¡°I doubt that even Bonebrutes or Demons have such terrifying self-healing ability!¡±

    Staring nkly at Nie Tian, Lou Hongyan, for the first time, felt strong apprehension towards someone whose cultivation base was lower than hers.

    ¡°Yang Fan!¡± Zhao Heng¡¯s spirited exmation suddenly echoed out from the distance. ¡°I¡¯m trapping this Lizardman patriarch for now! He won¡¯t be able to break free for two hours!

    ¡°You should go help the others deal with the ninth grade Lizardmen!¡±

    Nie Tian looked over, and saw that the Lizardman patriarch was now trapped in a transparent bubble, losing his earlier edge.

    The elimination of his bloodline imprints within the bone seemed to have seriously hurt his state of mind and ground his spirit away.

    For figures at his level, mental blows were the most destructive.

    ¡°I suppose this battle will end in our victory soon,¡± Huang Jinnan said excitedly.

    Now that Yang Fan had joined the battle against the ninth grade Lizardmen, the pressure on the other four Saint domain experts was lifted to arge extent.

    In another location, the eighth grade lizardmen were now covered in wounds, looking dispirited.

    The fact that their bloodline pioneer, who they had worshiped as their god, had lost his lifetime weapon to Nie Tian had driven them to despair.

    <i>¡°There are still so many eighth grade Lizardmen. As long as I can kill each of them with one strike, I¡¯ll be able to regain the power I consumed after each kill.¡± </i>After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian decided to act on this idea.

    Once again, he cast the long bone, giving rise to a torrential flesh aura, and blinding blood-colored light.

    Without meeting any much resistance, it pierced through another eighth grade Lizardman¡¯s skull, killing him instantly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move over to that corpse!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Lou Hongyan listened to him and moved her me domain towards the second eighth grade Lizardman that had been sniped by Nie Tian with the bone.

 Chapter 963: Ending the Battle

    A second, a third, and a fourth...

    Soon, a total of four eighth grade Lizardmen were instantly killed by the mysterious bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    While the five evil spirits devoured their souls, he drilled into their remains to absorb their flesh power in order to make up for his consumption.

    Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan followed him the whole time.

    This process wasn¡¯t actually very long, since it had taken him about three hours to kill the four of them one by one.

    Nie Tian examined himself as he channeled flesh power from the eighth grade Lizardmen¡¯s remains. <i>¡°The flesh power within my bones, internal organs, and meridians is considerably richer than the flesh power within my muscles and blood.¡±</i>

    Even though his body, which had been tempered a hundred times, was soon filled with flesh power, he sensed a clear pattern after conducting a close examination of himself.

    Now that he had finished the first three steps of Heavenly Wood Heal, which were Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, and Meridian Toughening, the flesh power within his bones, internal organs, and meridians had be evidently richer than before.

    After the refinement, not only had these parts be tougher, but they could also hold more flesh power, like a container that had increased its capacity.

    Thest two steps of Heavenly Wood Heal were Flesh Tempering and Blood Condensing, which he hadn¡¯t started yet.

    <i>¡°By the time I finish thest two steps of Heavenly Wood Heal, the amount of flesh power my body can hold will rise to a new level.</i>

    <i>¡°When Iunch an attack with that mysterious bone, I almostpletely drain my flesh power every time. But when that Lizardman patriarch wielded it, he managed to impale the domains of Saint domain experts like Yang Fan and Zhao Heng with it, inflicting serious damage on them. That must be because his flesh power is far more profound than mine.</i>

    <i>¡°Right now, even though I¡¯ve branded the bone with my bloodline imprints and gained full control of it, my flesh power is still too weak, which is preventing me from using it at will.</i>

    <i>¡°Since a single strike with it will drain me of my flesh power, if I can¡¯t channel flesh power from my victims with Life Drain, I won¡¯t be able to rely on it to fight a prolonged battle.</i>

    <i>¡°Perhaps after my bloodline advances from the sixth grade to the seventh grade, I¡¯ll get to awaken new bloodline talents, which will allow me to use the bone more times before draining my flesh powerpletely. At that time, as my flesh power bes more refined and profound, the might of my bone will improve significantly.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian wielded the bone again.

    The numerous red, crystal-like grains within the blood-colored patterns on the maroon bone suddenly lit up.

    The mysterious bone flew out of his hand, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    CRACK!

    A fifth eighth grade Lizardman was hit in his huge, solid skull, giving rise to a bone-cracking sound.

    However, this one didn¡¯t die right away, but let out a pained, miserable cry.

    ¡°Kill him!¡± Two Void domain subordinates of Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan immediately nked him. One was brandishing a long golden spear, and the other was controlling a yellow gourd that shone with precious light.

    The long spear and the gourd took turns to deal heavy blows to the severely injured Lizardman, knocking him off bnce.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    The golden spear pierced towards the Lizardman¡¯s tail, which looked like a long saw.

    In the next moment, blood sshed as his long tail that shone with a cold, metallic luster was split.

    As this happened, the yellow gourd took the opportunity to ram into hisrge red mouth that was now open. The wailing Lizardman gradually stopped making any sounds, the life fading from his eyes.

    SHEW!

    The mysterious bone that had pierced into his skull then flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Gazing at Nie Tian, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°That Lizardman was at the peak of the eighth grade, only a step away from entering the ninth grade. You could kill the other eighth grade Lizardmen with a single strike, using that mysterious bone, but you could only injure him badly.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°He was at the peak of the eighth grade, which made it a bit tricky.¡±

    At this moment, Lou Hongyan had already learned his routine. Therefore, she took it upon herself to approach the dead Lizardman, enveloped in her me domain. As she came close, Nie Tian once again flew out of her me domain on his Star Boat, and drilled into the enormous remains of the eighth grade Lizardman.

    Life Drain was once again activated.

    A few minutester, the Star Boat flew away from the shriveled corpse and back to Lou Hongyan¡¯s me domain.

    As Nie Tian looked energetic again, the bone in his hand was covered in Lizardman blood, and once again exuding an extremely dangerous aura.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Upon returning, Nie Tian nced around, and noticed that the Lizardmen had started to withdraw.

    HOWL!

    The Lizardman patriarch finally broke out of Zhao Heng¡¯s transparent bubble. Instead of pouncing on Zhao Heng, he let out a loud, anxious cry.

    Then, he ignited his bloodline potential and shot out of the battlefield like a bolt of violent lightning.

    As he did, he spewed blood clouds from his mouth, which rapidly spread out and infiltrated all of the other Lizardmen.

    Engulfed by the blood clouds, the surviving Lizardmen seemed to have their bloodline potential awakened, as their auras experienced a sudden surge.

    Immediately afterwards, they all morphed into streaks of green light that shot out of the battlefield in the direction he had left.

    ¡°They¡¯re trying to escape...¡± Huang Jinnan went nk briefly before turning to Lou Hongyan and asking, ¡°Do we go after them, senior martial sister?¡±

    Lou Hongyan let out a snort. ¡°Of course we do!¡± Then, she waved her hand, giving an order, ¡°Chase them down! Kill as many as you can!¡±

    All of the Qi warriors that could still fight summoned power from their domains as they chased after the fleeing Lizardmen.

    Seeing this, the fleeing Lizardmen let out sharp screeches as they suddenly scattered to flee in different directions, lest the humans capture them all in one go.

    Eyes narrowed, Lou Hongyan recovered herposure. ¡°I doubt that they¡¯ll dare to return to their domain anytime soon.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the realm we first arrived in. But after we do, don¡¯t kill all of the low-grade Lizardmen that are still there. Spare those who listen to us. We¡¯ll use them to mine the spiritual materials in the three realms for uster.

    ¡°Kill those who refuse to take our orders, and make it a warning to the rebellious.¡±

    Huang Jinnan chimed in, ¡°Senior martial sister, we don¡¯t need to go search for that spatial joint anymore, do we?¡±

    Lou Hongyan nodded. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no need to waste our time on that anymore. Come on. Let¡¯s go take the Lizardman domain.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the other Qi warriors flew after the fleeing Lizardmen. Only Yang Fan stayed behind to protect their Divine Son, Divine Daughter, and Nie Tian.

    At this time, the battle was practically over. Even though Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain had been torn, it hadn¡¯t actually been destroyed. If he could find a ce that was filled with lightning and thunder, he would be able to mend his domain and return it to its original state.

    As he escorted the three towards the Lizardman realm, he turned to look at Nie Tian from time to time. The amazement his eyes grew increasingly strong.

    ¡°Nie Tian, that bone...¡± He finally opened his mouth, but stopped on second thought.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Do you want to take a look at it?¡±

    Somewhat embarrassed, Yang Fan nodded. ¡°That very bone nearly destroyed my domain. Even now, I still feel a cold chill when I think about its might. I¡¯m hoping to take a close look at that mysterious bone. I wonder...¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Nie Tian raised the bone as Yang Fan approached, without using any of his flesh power.

    Yang Fan then suppressed his lightning domain and moved carefully towards Nie Tian. He wrapped the mysterious bone with fine lighting bolts and pulled it into his domain, where he immediately started studying it wholeheartedly.

 Chapter 964: Examining the Bone

    Outside the first Lizardman realm.

    Eleven enormous Lizardman corpses were floating in the dark, cold void. All of them had been dragged to this ce by Yang Fan and Lou Hongyan.

    Because of this, they had taken twice as long to return to this realm as they had when they left.

    All eleven of them had been at the eighth grade. Five had been killed by Nie Tian with that mysterious bone.

    Nie Tian hadpletely drained four of them of their flesh power using Life Drain, which was why they were dried up and shriveled.

    There was another one that had been at the peak of the eighth grade. He had only drained half of its profound flesh power, so even though it had also shrunk noticeably, there was still a considerable amount of flesh power left within it.

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s n was to bring all these corpses back to the Lizardman capital to awe the remaining Lizardmen, so that they would obey.

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait here for the others,¡± Lou Hongyan said. ¡°They¡¯lle here to meet us after they¡¯re finished with the fleeing Lizardmen.¡±

    Neither Nie Tian nor Huang Jinnan had a different opinion.

    Lightning shed from time to time in the depths of Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain, apanied by loud rolls of thunder.

    Every once in a while, blood-colored light would also sh across his domain, but would rapidly vanish.

    Yang Fan was still trying his best to find out what species that mysterious bone belonged to, and what secrets it held.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t seem worried at all.

    Since he was the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and he had branded it with his own Blood Essence, he had already taken the Lizardman patriarch¡¯s ce and be its new master. He didn¡¯t believe Yang Fan would dare to take away something that was his.

    In fact, he wanted to see if Yang Fan was able to figure out the origin of that mysterious bone.

    To this day, he didn¡¯t know anything about the origin of his own bloodline. If Yang Fan could see something from the bone, perhaps he would be able to figure out who his father was as well.

    The few of them waited as time passed.

    Soon, Lou Hongyan told Nie Tian that she would need to refine her me domain with rare materials from within her ring of holding.

    After suffering that devastating blow from the mysterious bone, many of the illusory volcanoes, seas of mes, and rivers of mes had vanished.

    Right now, she needed to fix her badly damaged domain.

    ¡°Come here to me.¡± Huang Jinnan beckoned him, summoning his golden chariot from within his ring of holding.

    A golden shield rose to envelop the chariot, protecting it and those on it from the impurities in the starry river.

    After Nie Tian flew on board, Huang Jinnan said with a smile, ¡°Even though this chariot of mine isn¡¯t as fast your Star Boat, its defensive function is outstanding. It allows me to remain in the starry river for a fairly long time. As far as grade is concerned, its grade might be lower than your Star Boat, but it¡¯s not like there¡¯s a big gap.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s already impressive enough,¡± Nie Tian said.

    At this moment, the five evil spirits had already returned to the Spirit Pearl. After devouring the eighth grade Lizardmen¡¯s souls, they also needed time to digest them and grow.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian had recovered his ten drops of Blood Essence.

    The puncture wound in his abdomen had also healedpletely. There was no sign of such a serious wound ever urring.

    Floating around him were the enormous corpses of the eighth grade Lizardmen, all of which were treasures in his eyes, since he could either use them to start the Flesh Tempering step of Heavenly Wood Heal, or stockpile them and use them to replenish his flesh power in the future.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that we didn¡¯t kill any ninth grade Lizardmen,¡± Huang Jinnan said, looking somewhat frustrated. ¡°Bute to think of it, other than that patriarch, none of the other ninth grade Lizardmen had mastered profound bloodline magics or techniques to temper their bones and flesh like the Demons, Phantasms, and other higher races do.

    ¡°For this reason, their flesh power isn¡¯t refined enough, and would soon scatter and vanish into heaven and earth.

    ¡°If they were eighth grade Ancientbeasts, Demons, or Bonebrutes, since they spend tens of thousands of years refining their bodies, they would lose their flesh power at a much slower rate after death, which makes their remains perfect materials for certain tools.

    ¡°But as for the remains of these Lizardmen, I doubt that they can be used to forge Spirit Channeling grade tools.¡±

    As Huang Jinnan spoke, one river of mes after another flew out of Lou Hongyan¡¯s ring of holding and sewed up the damaged parts of her me domain like needles and thread.

    Bit by bit, the volcanoes, rivers of mes, and seas of mes that had vanished earlier appeared in her domain again.

    ¡°Can I have those dead Lizardmen?¡± Nie Tian suddenly asked.

    Huang Jinnan went nk. ¡°What do want to do with them?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll be very useful to me,¡± Nie Tian answered without hiding the truth. ¡°As you know, I¡¯m a hybrid. The residual flesh power in them will help my bloodline grow.¡±

    ¡°Okay, no problem.¡± Huang Jinnan agreed without even asking for Lou Hongyan¡¯s opinion. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, our exploration of this domain might have be aplete failure. We might not even have had a chance to return to our sect alive. By seizing that bone, you weakened that Lizardman patriarch to a great extent. You turned the situation around.

    ¡°You made the most significant contribution to our victory. It¡¯s only right that you receive the most rewards.¡±

    With these words, Huang Jinnan shot an envious gaze at Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain. ¡°But the way I see it, your gain from this trip is already significant enough. That mysterious bone alone is probably more valuable than the three Lizardman realmsbined. I suppose by taking it back to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to having it examined by specialists, you¡¯ll gain a considerable amount of contribution points.¡±

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you mean turn it in?¡±

    With a broadugh, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Of course not. Just have your specialized experts examine it, so that they¡¯ll be able to keep records of it for future educational purposes. They¡¯re not thieves. How can they take away something that you obtained by risking your life?¡±

    Nie Tian felt relieved. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine with it if they¡¯re just going to examine it.¡±

    After some time, Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s subordinates returned sessively.

    Some of them brought huge Lizardman bodies with them, while others came back empty-handed.

    A few hourster, all of those who had gone on pursuits reconvened in this ce.

    Zhao Heng and the other Saint domain experts shook their heads in frustration, and said that all of the ninth grade Lizardmen had escaped, including the Lizardman patriarch.

    What baffled them was that the Lizardmen seemed to have some special escape magic that had allowed them to vanish as soon as they had left their sight and detection range.

    They had picked up speed and searched carefully, but failed to find any trace of them.

    Together, they had only chased down and killed five eighth grade Lizardmen.

    Zhao Heng pondered in silence for quite a while before saying with a grim expression, ¡°There must be other special spatial joints in this area of the starry river that we don¡¯t know about. But those Lizardmen must know them well enough to escape through them. Spatial joints are very mysterious. Only those who are well-versed in spatial power can sense the existence of hidden spatial joints.

    ¡°Sadly, we don¡¯t have such an expert on our team. If we had disciples of the Void Spirit Society with us, we might have been able to ferret out the lost Lizardmen and kill them all.¡±

    At that moment, Lou Hongyan¡¯s voice echoed out from within her me domain. ¡°There¡¯s no need to fixate on them. We¡¯re here to gather cultivation resources from the three realms. These realms aren¡¯t wreathed in rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. They¡¯re not fit for us to live and cultivate in. We¡¯ll leave as soon as we have what we came for.¡±

    Zhao Heng smiled somewhat embarrassedly. ¡°That¡¯s right. I almost forgot that we were here for cultivation resources, not to set up quarters.¡±

    ¡°Uncle Yang!¡± Lou Hongyan called out.

    Yang Fan¡¯s lightning domain instantly settled down.

    He emerged from all the lightning and returned the mysterious bone to Nie Tian, looking slightly reluctant.

    ¡°I¡¯ve done a thorough examination of this bone. It doesn¡¯t belong to any race we know of,¡± he said. ¡°But it seems to be vested with that unidentified being¡¯s lifetime flesh power umtion. It¡¯s even branded with its Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have what it takes to carve spell formations into it.

    ¡°However, if you take it back to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and put it in the hands of an Immortal grade equipment forger, they may be able to carve different spell formations in it. Then, you¡¯ll be able to infuse it with the powers you practice!

    ¡°And I¡¯ve checked. It¡¯spatible with me power, wood power, and star power.

    ¡°It¡¯s especially sensitive to star power. So my guess is that it can automatically gather power from the starry river to replenish its consumption or strengthen itself.

    ¡°Such a unique trait suits your needs perfectly. Perhaps you can even forge an Immortal grade weapon!¡±

    Yang Fan¡¯s voice was powerful and resonating.

    ¡°An Immortal grade artifact weapon!¡± A mor burst out among everyone.

 Chapter 965: Major Gains

    Immortal grade weapons were what God domain human experts used to contend against tenth grade outsider grand monarchs.

    Almost all of them were in the hands of the four great human powers.

    But even in those powerful sects, not every God domain expert could have their own Immortal grade weapon.

    Since they were extremely rare and precious, each and every one of them was known throughout the starry river, and held all races in awe.

    Furthermore, it was extremely difficult to forge Immortal grade weapons. First of all, Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials were needed, along with many other Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials. Then, the forging process was apanied by many uncertainties. Any minor mishap would result inplete failure.

    Besides, the number of experts who could forge Immortal grade weapons could be counted with one hand.

    Not so long ago, word of a Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure appearing in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield had shaken the Void Spirit Society. They had even sent God domain experts there to search for it.

    However, that was only a crucial material to forge an Immortal grade artifact weapon, not aplete weapon.

    That was why everyone was so astonished after hearing that the mysterious bone Nie Tian had obtained could be used to forge an Immortal grade artifact weapon.

    The Saint and Void domain experts congratted Nie Tian and discussed among themselves, envy filling their eyes.

    ¡°Every single Immortal grade weapon is outstanding, and can greatly improve a sect¡¯s reserve power.¡±

    ¡°An Immortal grade weapon is almost as valuable as a dozen Premium grade domains.¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars is far too lucky to obtain such an incredible treasure on an exploration trip to a brand new domain.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    The spiritual tools Yang Fan, Zhao Heng, and the other four Saint domain experts held were only at the Spirit Channeling grade. Not a single one of them was at the Immortal grade.

    Even if they were to enter the God domain some day, it would be almost impossible for them to find suitable Heaven Nourished spiritual materials and the forgers who were able to forge Immortal grade weapons.

    However, Nie Tian was only at the Profound realm...

    Lou Hongyan suddenly cleared her throat and said, ¡°Alright, alright. That¡¯s only a possibility. Don¡¯t be so jealous yet.¡± She then waved, signaling everyone to descend and sweep the Lizardman realm.

    Enveloped in their respective domains, they prated the realm barrier and descended, dragging the dead Lizardmen behind them.

    Their destination was the ancient Lizardman capital.

    Earlier, Nie Tian had manipted falling meteors with Starfall to bombard it, leaving it riddled with holes.

    At this moment, arge number of sixth grade Lizardmen and a few seventh grade Lizardmen were still gathered in the city. They looked skywards, only to see the corpses of their eighth grade nsmen.

    Despair instantly filled their hearts.

    Their patriarch, who they had worshiped as a god, had chased these invaders into the starry river, along with their most powerful nsmen.

    But why did they return as cold corpses?

    Soon, they realized that doom had fallen on them.

    Some resistors shot into the sky, roaring nonstop, like moths flying towards mes.

    However, countless thick lightning bolts fell out of the clouds like a waterfall.

    Along with them poured sparkling rivers, torrential mes, gravitational fields that could crush flesh and bones, and different Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    One after another, the courageous Lizardmen were bombarded to death in midair.

    Before long, the whole city fell silent, with only remote weeping soundsing from some corners.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°The war is finally over.¡±

    Instead of going to handle the Lizardmen with the Qi warriors from the Five Elements Sect, he sought out a stone pavilion that hadn¡¯t been destroyed by the falling meteors, and entered it.

    Holding the bone that belonged to an unidentifiedrge species, he was carried away in his thoughts. <i>¡°This bone... The best equipment forgers may actually be able to carve spell formations into it and turn it into an Immortal grade weapon...¡±</i>

    The bone was twelve meters long, slightly curved, dark red, and had sharp ends.

    The mysterious blood-colored patterns seemed to extend all the way into the center of the bone, where there seemed to be extremely fine crystalline veins.

    Nie Tian examined them with rapt attention. Combining what he saw with the Bloodline Crystal Chains in his bloodline aura, he came to the spection that those crystalline veins were also Bloodline Crystal Chains, which carried many wonders.

    The bone didn¡¯t feel heavy in his hand, but a bit cold. As he held it, he could feel his own flesh power automatically flowing into it.

    However,pared to the immense flesh power circting inside of him, the amount of flesh power that flowed into the bone was almost negligible.

    It appeared that this flesh power flow was only to maintain a profound connection between him and the bone. Only when he actually wielded it would it drain his rich flesh power in a sh.

    Then, he tried to infuse it with me power and wood power, and discovered that even though the bone didn¡¯t eject them, it didn¡¯t show any wonders either.

    Therefore, he assumed that perhaps only after carving it with the rtive spell formations would he be able to trigger changes by infusing it with these two types of power.

    However, as he attempted to infuse it with star power, the dark red bone suddenly lit up.

    At the same time, blurry images of that enormous species traveling across the starry river, preying on titans, Ancientbeasts, and great dragons once again entered his mind.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. <i>¡°The mysterious species that lived in the Primal Era and were born with the ability to travel across the sea of stars... If this bone has a natural affinity towards star power, then I bet it¡¯ll bring out its full might when infused with star power, after it¡¯s forged into an Immortal grade weapon.¡±</i>

    After that, he didn¡¯t hurry into cultivation, or temper his body with the flesh power from the Lizardman corpses.

    Instead, he focused all of his attention on studying the bone.

    He first attempted to infuse it with flesh power, and discovered that when he did, the bone would absorb it instantly, but nothing would happen, as if they were small streams running into the sea.

    No matter how much flesh power he infused it with, the bone always absorbed it instantly without showing any signs of change, as if it was a bottomless pit.

    Since his Blood Essence was far too precious to him, and he had already fused the bone with ten drops, he didn¡¯t make any attempts with his Blood Essence.

    Seeing no progress, he eventually put the bone back into his ring of holding, and took out the Spirit Pearl.

    He sent a wisp of his soul awareness into it, and discovered that a new star map had appeared in it.

    There were three conspicuous, bright spots on the star map, which seemed to represent the three Lizardman realms.

    Not very far from the three bright spots were scattered several smaller, inconspicuous spots, which seemed to be hidden spatial joints only the eighth and ninth grade Lizardmen knew about.

    ck spots could be seen in farther locations, which represented dead stars.

    The rather sketchy star map was probably made from the pieces of broken memories the five evil spirits had reaped from the eighth grade Lizardmen¡¯s discarnate souls.

    Nie Tian decided not to share this new discovery of his with Huang Jinnan or Lou Hongyan.

    Lou Hongyan had said that they wouldn¡¯t stay in this domain for long. They would leave as soon as they finished collecting its valuable spiritual materials.

    She didn¡¯t really care where the eighth and ninth grade Lizardman survivors had gone.

    A few dayster, when he set about to temper his flesh with Heavenly Wood Heal, he saw Saint domain experts soaring into the heavens, as if they were heading towards the other two realms.

    At this moment, all of the local Lizardmen in their capital had epted their fate, and stopped rebelling against them.

    Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan also left the Lizardman capital to scan the entire realm with special tools in order to determine how many valuable spiritual materials this realm had to offer.

    At the same time, their subordinates started building another teleportation portal in the city.

    While Yang Fan remained in the city to oversee things, the Lizardmen were organized to leave the city in batches to collect and mine rare spiritual materials in the other realms.

    Time passed quickly.

    Nie Tian informed Yang Fan before leaving the city himself. He found a dense forest, where he channeled wood power from his surroundings with the help of the Wood Thriving Formation. At the same time, he started the Flesh Tempering step of Heavenly Wood Heal with flesh power he channeled from the eighth grade Lizardman corpses.

    Compared to the first three steps, Flesh Tempering turned out to be much slower.

    It took him a great amount of time and effort to channel flesh power, mix it with wood power, and use it to temper every single muscle.

    Fortunately, this Lizardman domain was no longer dangerous, as all of the remaining Lizardmen had acknowledged their obedience.

    Days passed, and Nie Tian moved from one location to another to find fresh forests to practice cultivation with the help of the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Since he had talked to Yang Fan, neither Huang Jinnan nor Lou Hongyan hade to find him.

    In the blink of an eye, four months passed.

    On this day, a message suddenly came from the Sound Stone Yang Fan had given him, informing him that the new teleportation portal had beenpleted.

 Chapter 966: Returning to Fragmentary Star City

    The reestablishment of a teleportation portal meant that the exploration of this new domain would be ident-free from now on.

    Even if the vanished Lizardmen returned, they wouldn¡¯t have a chance at retaking this domain from Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan.

    Having had their teleportation portal destroyed once, the two of them stationed heavy forces to guard this new teleportation portal.

    As long as the teleportation portal stood, they would be able to gain endless reinforcements from the Five Elements Sect.

    The Five Elements Sect was one of the four great human powers that had God domain experts. How could those Lizardmen contend against such a force?

    Nie Tian felt somewhat frustrated. <i>¡°I¡¯ve spent six months grinding on the fourth step of Heavenly Wood Heal, Flesh Tempering, and consumed several eighth grade Lizardman corpses, but I still haven¡¯t made any significant progress.¡±</i>

    He suddenly had a feeling that since he practiced multiple powers simultaneously, his path of cultivation might indeed be rougher than others.

    During the past six months, he had focused on practicing Heavenly Wood Heal, so he didn¡¯t have the time or energy to refine his spiritual cores of different attributes.

    Even with the help of the me spark, the three tree leaves, and the Nine Stars Flower, he felt that his progress had been far too slow.

    If he had limited his cultivation to star power, perhaps his cultivation base would have advanced much faster.

    <i>¡°It seems I¡¯ll need to spend a period of time focusing on my cultivation after this exploration trip.¡± </i>Nie Tian thought it was about time he stopped traveling around and went into secluded cultivation.

    SHEW!

    He summoned the Star Boat, jumped on board, and flew towards the Lizardman capital.

    After some repairs, there was almost no sign of the city being bombarded by meteors. Everything looked the same as before.

    At this moment, the Lizardmen weren¡¯t in the city. Instead, they had been driven by Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates to mine spiritual minerals for them.

    At the center of the city stood a glowingrge-scale teleportation portal. People kepting out of it.

    The teleportation portal connected to the Five Elements Sect, as well as Huang Jinnan¡¯s ancient starship that was berthed in the Realm of Maelstrom. Therefore, those who streamed into this domain through it were not only Qi warriors from the Five Elements Sect, but also Nie Tian¡¯s followers that had been waiting in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Upon seeing the Star Boat, everyone including Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, Fan Kai, Jiang Feng, and Yue Yanxi, eximed in high spirits, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    All of them hade from the Realm of Maelstrom after the new teleportation portal was established.

    Upon arriving, they had learned from Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s subordinates that they had already taken this domain from the Lizardmen, and that Nie Tian had yed the most crucial role in the battle.

    Since Nie Tian was the one they had chosen to follow, they felt honored by him.

    People who had arrived thanks to their close rtionships with Huang Jinnan or Lou Hongyan fixed Nie Tian with measuring gazes, and discussed among themselves.

    ¡°Is he the seventh Son of the Stars? Was it him who took away the human-form Lizardman patriarch¡¯s bone weapon and turned the situation around?¡±

    ¡°Being able to determine the result of such a battle when he¡¯s only at the Profound realm, who would have thought of that?¡±

    ¡°He gained the most from this battle, since he will be allowed to choose one of the three realms as his trophy!¡±

    At this moment, Huang Jinnanughed heartily and beckoned for him toe over. ¡°Your timing is perfect. While you practiced cultivation, we went to the other two realms and conducted thorough scans of these three realms. Can you guess what spiritual materials we¡¯ve found?¡±

    Lou Hongyan smiled as well, looking at him.

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°How can I know that? However, since you¡¯re so excited, I¡¯d say you¡¯ve found some good fortune.¡±

    Lou Hongyan nodded. ¡°Yeah, we never expected this, but these Lizardman realms are actually blessednds.¡±

    Afterwards, Huang Jinnan exined to Nie Tian that they had discovered a total of seventeen spiritual material mines in all three realms. They were filled with spiritual materials of various attributes, including metal, wood, water, fire, earth, lightning, ice, and some extremely rare attributes.

    ¡°We found a special region in another realm where arge number of meteors seemed to have crashed,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°Many of those meteors contain Star Stones.¡±

    ¡°Star Stones!¡± Nie Tian eximed, looking spirited.

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°Exactly! Aside from Star Stones, there are also other spiritual mines and rare spirit herbs and grasses in other regions of that realm. My senior martial sister and I talked, and thought that we should give that realm to you, so what do you think?¡±

    Nie Tian was nothing but assentient.

    He was a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Star Stones were what he mainly relied on to practice star power incantations.

    Furthermore, he needed Star Stones in order to fly his Star Boat. Many enormous ancient starships of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce also ran on Star Stones.

    Compared to spiritual materials of other attributes, Star Stones were much rarer and more expensive. Gaining more Star Stones would help him significantly, no matter whether it was with his own cultivation or the development of his forces.

    However, me power and wood power spiritual materials were rather easy to obtain.

    Part of the reason why the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would constantly explore new domains was because they hoped to gather more Star Stones so that their disciples would be able to use them to rapidly improve their battle prowess and cultivation bases.

    ¡°It¡¯s settled then. We¡¯ve already built a teleportation portal in that realm. You can go on and arrange for your people to go there to collect Star Stones and other resources now.¡± With these words, Huang Jinnan smiled. ¡°Also, we¡¯ve decided to give you eight more corpses of the eighth grade Lizardmen we killed. You can do whatever you want with them.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s great! Thanks!¡±

    Momentster, Dong Li arrived through the teleportation portal.

    Nie Tian was just having a headache over how he should make arrangements for the exploration of the spiritual mines in the new realm and their distribution among the sects from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He was aware that this was Dong Li¡¯s strong suit, and he trusted her a hundred percent.

    Therefore, he threw these things he was bad at on Dong Li without hesitation.

    Dong Li pleasantly epted.

    Gradually, more and more people poured through the teleportation portal.

    Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan bustled with matters such as exining the situation to them and assigning them to different mines in their chosen realms. Neither of them had the time to talk to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian spent a few more days in the Lizardman capital. He saw that Dong Li put everything in order, assigning experts from his three subordinate domains to mine spiritual materials in the realm that had been recently incorporated into his map.

    Soon, Dong Li notified him that the new realm was rich in all sorts of spiritual materials. The Star Stones buried there might exceed a million pieces. It would probably take them a year or two to mine them all.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian felt assured, and left her in control of everything.

    While everyone was busy emptying the Lizardman realms of their spiritual material reserves, Nie Tian informed Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan of his intention to leave before leaving through the teleportation portal.

    Upon returning to the Realm of Maelstrom, he teleported to the Realm of Split Void through the teleportation portal there.

    From there, he teleported to the Vast Heaven Pavilion in Fragmentary Star City, where the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters was.

    The Vast Heaven Pavilion had been empty since he hadst been here. None of the disciples and elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would enter it without his permission.

    ¡°Fragmentary Star City!¡± After arriving, Nie Tian didn¡¯t walk out of the Vast Heaven Pavilion right away.

    Instead, he stayed there and focused on practicing cultivation. It was just that his focus had shifted from practicing Heavenly Wood Heal to refining his spiritual cores.

    In the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s main pce in this splendid city, elder Wei Lai awoke from his cultivation and took out a crystal ball.

    Light screens appeared within it one after another, each seeming to represent a new message that had been sent to him.

    Wei Lai then peeled a series of pieces of information about Nie Tian from within the crystal ball.

    ¡°Nie Tian went to explore a new domain with a Divine Son and a Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve driven away the powerful Lizardmen that lived there and taken it for their own. And Nie Tian is the one who made the most important contribution, and gained the most from their operation.¡±

    ¡°He also obtained a mysterious bone...¡±

    The more information he received, the more amazed he became.

    At this moment, Tao Jin walked in and reported in a low voice, ¡°Elder Wei, we sensed spatial fluctuations from the Vast Heaven Pavilion. It appears that the seventh Son of the Stars has returned, but hasn¡¯te out yet.¡±

    Wei Lai pondered briefly before nodding at him.

 Chapter 967: Bottleneck

    Nie Tian was aware that he hadn¡¯t spent enough time on his cultivation, since he practiced different powers simultaneously. Therefore, he didn¡¯te out of the Vast Heaven Pavilion for a long time after his return.

    The Vast Heaven Pavilion stood in Fragmentary Star City.

    Fragmentary Star City was one of the few locations throughout the starry river where the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was the richest.

    Like an engine, the entire city channeled star power from the depths of the starry river year-round.

    Meanwhile, the Vast Heaven Pavilion took advantage of the uniqueness of Fragmentary Star City. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and star power gathered within it was even richer than in other areas of the city.

    Compared to the two pces in the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of Shattered Earth, the Vast Heaven Pavilion was an even more ideal location to practice cultivation.

    Therefore, Nie Tian waspletely wrapped up in his cultivation after his return. He spent day and night refining his spiritual cores by relying on the wonders of the Vast Heaven Pavilion and therge sums of spiritual materials he had stockpiled.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that while he was practicing wholeheartedly, his deeds had already spread to many human domains through people from the Five Elements Sect.

    It wasn¡¯t a secret that the seventh Son of the Stars went to explore a new domain with a Divine Son and Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect.

    When the Five Elements Sect had learned that their teleportation portal had been destroyed, they had thought of every possible way to enter that domain, and sought help from other major sects, which had attracted a lot of attention to their operation.

    All of a sudden, a new teleportation portal was established, and powerful experts from the Five Elements Sect poured into the new domain.

    As they returned, the news they brought back with them soon traveled across the major human domains like a single spark starting a prairie fire.

    Simr conversations were repeated within many human powers in many human domains.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that the seventh Son of the Stars was the one who made the greatest contribution in their victory! Because of him, they turned the situation around, allowing the Divine Son and Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect to eventually take the three Lizardman realms!¡±

    ¡°Rumor has it, not only was he given the privilege to pick a realm first, but he even gained a mysterious bone!¡±

    ¡°I heard from people from the Five Elements Sect that he single-handedly killed five eighth grade Lizardmen with that mysterious bone!¡±

    ¡°Eighth grade? That¡¯s equal to the Void domain!¡±

    ¡°How could this newborn Son of the Stars do something so incredible?¡±

    ...

    Naturally, the disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce also knew that Nie Tian, who had only recently been announced the seventh Son of the Stars, had gained a fortune from this exploration trip.

    At the same time, both Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan spoke highly of Nie Tian after returning to the Five Elements Sect, saying that he had unlimited potential, and that he would someday join the ranks of human overlords in this starry river.

    Their words instantly pushed Nie Tian¡¯s reputation to a whole new level.

    Nie Tian suddenly became very much in the limelight.

    In the Domain of Heaven Boundaries...

    In the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters, Zhou Shang and a few other elders of the Pure Heaven Sect were gazing off at a distant mountain as they talked in low voices.

    ¡°I wonder when will our patriarche out of his secluded cultivation.¡±

    ¡°I heard that the Trisword Sect was also arranged to go explore that new realm. They were charged with mining a major fine gold vein. Nie Tian¡¯s speaker, Dong Li, even allowed them to keep twenty percent of the gains for themselves. We don¡¯t have a single fine gold vein in our entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Such fine gold will allow the Trisword Sect to forge high-grade air-transportation spiritual tools and flying swords.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid even their overall strength will improve significantly because of that.¡±

    ¡°I also heard from the Beast-controlling Sect that they were assigned to a marsnd that¡¯s covered in all kinds of rare flowers and grasses. Many of the nts turned out to be very helpful for the upgrading of their spirit beasts. Now, they¡¯re feeding them to their pet spirit beasts to make them more powerful.

    ¡°The overall strength of the Beast-controlling Sect will definitely benefit from this as well.¡±

    ¡°The Divine me Sect gained good fortune too. In the new realm that¡¯s been given to Nie Tian, there¡¯s a region where they found arge number of Heavenme Crystals. It appears that a Heaven me Beast once lived there. High-quality Heavenme Crystals will make the Divine me Sect¡¯s grand spell formation even more formidable.¡±

    ¡°Other forces that have chosen to follow Nie Tian, including the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Chu n, the Jian n, and the Guan n, have also been arranged to mine spiritual veins and gather spirit nts in that new realm. Dong Li is treating them equally, as all of them get to keep twenty percent of their gains.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s far too easy for them!¡±

    ¡°They didn¡¯t take part in the battle for that new domain, so they didn¡¯t suffer any losses. All they¡¯re doing now is helping the Son of the Stars gather spiritual materials, and they get to keep twenty percent...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the seventh Son of the Stars is indeed favored by the heavens. Otherwise, howe he¡¯s always so lucky?¡±

    Every elder except Zhou Shang went on and discussed the news in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Envy was written across their faces.

    After all, all of the forces that had chosen to follow Nie Tian had been arranged to enter that new realm.

    However, the Pure Heaven Sect wasn¡¯t one of them.

    In fact, Zhou Shang had gloated after hearing that their teleportation portal had been destroyed and Nie Tian had been trapped in that domain he had gone to explore with the Divine Son and Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect.

    He had assumed that the problems the Pure Heaven Sect was facing might go away if Nie Tian were to disappear for good.

    Who would have thought that only six monthster, a new teleportation portal would be built, and worde that Nie Tian and the powerful experts from the Five Elements Sect had taken the three Lizardman realms.

    After that, experts from the Beast-controlling Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, and the other sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had been invited to enter that new realm.

    All of them benefited greatly from the tasks they were given. Even their reserve power improved to some extent. This made Zhou Shang very anxious, even though he didn¡¯t let on much.

    BOOM!

    The distant mountain suddenly suffered a violent quake, and Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s figure shot out of it.

    The Pure Heaven Sect elders¡¯ expressions flickered as they eximed in high spirits.

    ¡°Patriarch has made his breakthrough!¡±

    ¡°Saint domain! The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries finally sees its first Saint domain expert!¡±

    ¡°Patriarch has transcended our domain from an Elementary grade domain to a Medium grade domain!¡±

    Momentster, Patriarch Pure Heaven flew over from the distance like a sh of lightning.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation now?¡± He asked in a voice that was as resonating as the toll of arge bell.

    Zhou Shang took a step forward and exined everything that had happened in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to him in a respectful manner, putting emphasis on Nie Tian.

    After hearing their update, a derisiveugh escaped Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°He made the greatest contribution to them sacking that new domain, and he obtained a mysterious bone, with which he killed five eighth grade outsiders single-handedly? I can¡¯t believe you actually thought that was for real! He¡¯s only at the Profound realm. How could he possibly kill a series of outsiders that were as powerful as Void domain experts just by relying on a bone he obtained?¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Zhou Shang and the others also started to question the authenticity of the news.

    ¡°So what do you think we should do now, patriarch?¡± Zhou Shang asked meticulously.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I¡¯ll never bend my knee to someone weaker than me, a Son of the Stars or otherwise! Spread word to the other sects. Tell them that I¡¯ll pledge allegiance to that Nie Tian with my whole sect when he can actually defeat me in battle! Before that, he can stop imagining us bending the knee!

    ¡°Even if he has Jing Feiyang and the others gang up on me, at worst I¡¯ll go into hiding between domains and take up life as a Hunter, like Master Bloody Despair!¡±

    ...

    Time passed like a flying shuttle. Nearly a year passed in the blink of an eye.

    During this time, Nie Tian still remained in the Vast Heaven Pavilion, spending all of his time refining his spiritual cores and spiritual sea over and over.

    He refined not only his original spiritual core, but his other three cores as well.

    Thanks to his practice of the True me Incantation, his me power core had be as crimson as a Heavenme Crystal, within which a me spark was burning conspicuously, and adding endless mysteries to it.

    Within his star power core, the Nine Stars Flower had already grown its fourth blossom. A fifth one was looming in an expanding bud.

    Each and every blossom was dotted with tiny sparks that looked like stars, as if they carried the profound mysteries of the starry river.

    However, the three tree leaves in his wood power core still hadn¡¯t shown any wonders.

    <i>¡°It seems that the refinement of my spiritual cores has reached a bit of a bottleneck, since I don¡¯t really know much about that me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, or those tree leaves. If I can figure out their true secrets, my cultivation might be much easier. I guess it¡¯s about time I put my hand to that.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian finally walked out of the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    As soon as he did, he saw Tao Jin, who was sitting quietly not far from the gate, as if he had waited there for quite some time.

    Tao Jin rose to his feet and bowed. ¡°Nie Tian, elder Wei Lai instructed me to take you to him as soon as you came out. I¡¯ve sat here and waited for you for three months now.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for keeping you waiting,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Pleasee with me.¡±

 Chapter 968: The Star Behemoth

    In a hall in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After arriving in Tao Jin¡¯spany, Nie Tian discovered to his surprise that all four elders, including Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Wei Qing, and Zu Guangyao, were all waiting for him.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had a total of twelve elders. Normally speaking, they would keep four elders in Fragmentary Star City at all times.

    The other elders would be given other important tasks.

    The two vice sectmasters and the sectmaster usually spent most of their time traveling around. They would only return to their headquarters if they were summoned for urgent business.

    Aside from the four elders, there was also a middle Saint domain old woman, who was exuding a me aura.

    Wei Lai made an introduction. ¡°Nie Tian, this is Zhu Yun, our sect¡¯s best equipment forger.¡±

    Nie Tian hastily bowed in a respectful manner.

    Even facing a Son of the Stars, Zhu Yun seemed rather haughty, as she only nodded slightly.

    ¡°I heard that you obtained a bone while exploring a new domain with a Divine Son and a Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect,¡± Zhu Yun said with an expressionless face. ¡°Let me take a look at it.¡±

    Wei Lai nodded slightly towards Nie Tian.

    Without giving it any thought, Nie Tian put the bone that was more than ten meters long into Zhu Yun¡¯s hands.

    Zhu Yun was wearing semi-transparent silver gloves.

    As soon as the thin bone with pointy ends touched her hands, countless fine rays of light appeared in the gloves and vanished into the bone in a sh.

    Wei Lai and the other elders, who were standing to the side, all moved closer to examine the bone with zing eyes.

    After the light flew into the bone, it seemed to activate the blood-colored patterns. The Bloodline Crystal Chains in the deepest parts of the bone suddenly burst forth with dazzling light as a frenzied, bloodthirsty aura spread from within it, causing everyone present to shudder slightly.

    Zhu Yun¡¯s eyes lit up as she suddenly grew excited. ¡°This is the bone of a Star Behemoth! And apparently, this Star Behemoth branded all of its bloodline mysteries within this bone before it died.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°A Star Behemoth?¡±

    After he had described the images that had entered his mind to Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan, they had only been able to tell that it might have belonged to an unidentified species from the Primal Era.

    However, neither of them had been able to determine its actual origin.

    Yang Fan was at thete Saint domain. Even he had said that it didn¡¯t belong to any species that he knew of after spending quite a while studying it.

    This old woman, however, determined the what the bone belonged to at first sight, which surprised Nie Tian deeply.

    With a serious face, Wei Lai exined to Nie Tian, ¡°Star Behemoths lived in the Primal Era. They¡¯re probably the most ancient species there is. Compared to the other three great human powers, our understanding of them is probably the deepest. Star Behemoths were the overlords of the Primal Era. They lived in the depths of the starry river, and were born with the ability to travel across the starry river by themselves.¡±

    ¡°Since this bone is branded with the bloodline mysteries of a Star Behemoth...¡± With these words, Zhu Yun¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. ¡°I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s still vigorous life power flowing within it! This means, given enough time and more life power, it might actually have a chance at regeneration!¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Regeneration?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Zhu Yun said. ¡°When life force builds up to a certain point, the Bloodline Crystal Chains within it will allow this bone to regenerate flesh, internal organs, and other bones, eventually regenerating this Star Behemoth. But that¡¯s a worry for another day. Who knows how many years it¡¯ll take to eventually regenerate?

    ¡°Unlike other outsiders, the preconditions of their regeneration are so rigorous that they¡¯re next to impossible.

    ¡°Most tenth grade outsider grand monarchs can regenerate themselves with a drop of their Blood Essence. But Star Behemoths were farrger in size. Their flesh power was as immense as the sea. Regenerating them is even harder than climbing the clouds.¡± (idiom: extremely difficult) Zhu Yun calmed down and continued, ¡°Part of the reason why they gradually died out at the end of Primal Era was because they were far too enormous, and the resources they needed were so great that the domains they lived in couldn¡¯t even sustain them.

    ¡°Any realm that was full of vitality would be reduced to a dead realm soon after they got to it. Failing to find fresh realms to devour, they either died or entered long-term dormancy.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before asking, ¡°Are there still any Star Behemoths in this starry river now?¡±

    ¡°There are,¡± Wei Lai said, smiling.

    A sh of lightning exploded within Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he suddenly remembered the mysterious dimension he had visited years ago through the spatial rifts in the Realm of Split Void.

    It consisted of two parallel continents.

    Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Floragrims, and other powerful outsiders had once lived on the top continent, while the bottom continent used to be home to enormous creatures such as Ancientbeasts.

    An ultimate war had broken out between the two continents.

    As a result, the outsider alliance had been defeated and forced to leave their home, as the top continent had fallen apart and be numerous floatingnds that drifted around.

    On the bottom continent, he had been to an ind surrounded by a ck sea, where he hadmunicated with a mysterious soul awareness that seemed to havee from the depths of the ck sea.

    That soul awareness had told him that it had some sort of agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...

    ¡°Elder Wei, I identally entered a mysterious dimension through a spatial rift in the Realm of Split Void years ago,¡± Nie Tian said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°It was made up of two parallel continents. On the bottom continent, I received help from and had a briefmunication with an ancient awareness.

    ¡°It told me that it had some kind of agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, the four elders in the hall exchanged a nce, meaningful expressions appearing on their faces.

    Wei Lai nodded and said with a faint smile, ¡°Hmm. I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯d been there. It¡¯s exactly what you¡¯re thinking. In the depths of that ck sea resides a Star Behemoth, and it has made a deal with our sect.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°It was a living Star Behemoth?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s alive, but it¡¯s usually dormant and won¡¯t move around.¡± Wei Lai¡¯s expression suddenly grew stern. ¡°But this is top secret. You can¡¯t tell anyone about it.¡±

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Then, Wei Lai turned to Zhu Yun and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you run some tests on this bone to determine if you can forge it into an Immortal grade artifact weapon?¡±

    Zhu Yun nodded and left with the bone.

    Wei Lai pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°I want to have a few words with Nie Tian.¡±

    The other three elders then walked out of the spacious hall as well.

    Then, Wei Lai asked, ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with that Pei Qiqi, who¡¯s also from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Instead of answering, Nie Tian asked a series of questions. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei? Why do you ask? Is she okay?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s fine,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society found her and took her back to their sect. Like you, she¡¯s also a hybrid. Her bloodline carries the profound truths of spatial power. Now that she has gained a Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society has decided to take her in as a legacy disciple.

    ¡°Not many people know about this, even among disciples of the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    ¡°What about Zhao Shanling then?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Did they find him too?¡±

    ¡°Zhao Shanling turned down the Void Spirit Society¡¯s offer and vanished,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society wasn¡¯t as interested in him. Zhao Shanling¡¯s only connection with the Void Spirit Society is that Voidspirit Pagoda. Neither his cultivation talent nor his potential match Pei Qiqi¡¯s. The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society didn¡¯t even feel the need to get into a fight with him, so he just let him be.¡±

    Nie Tian felt genuinely happy for Pei Qiqi. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my senior martial sister has already be a legacy disciple of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. This is exciting news.¡±

    Aplicated expression appeared on Wei Lai¡¯s face as he fixed his eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°But unlike you, your senior martial sister has focused on spatial power. Adding in the fact that her bloodline carries the profound truths of spatial power, I¡¯m afraid no one throughout the Void Spirit Society can match her potential. As far as I know, she entered the Soul realm soon after joining the Void Spirit Society, and her cultivation is progressing rapidly with each passing day.¡±

    ¡°My senior martial sister and I went through thick and thin together. We¡¯re very close.¡± Nie Tian finally answered Wei Lai¡¯s question.

    ¡°That¡¯s for the best,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°Perhaps she¡¯ll be of great help when youpete for the position of Lord of the Stars in the future.¡±

    Afterwards, Wei Lai told Nie Tian that Zhu Yun would go find him after she finished examining that bone from a Star Behemoth.

    The results of her examination would be recorded in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s knowledge vault. Nie Tian would also be rewarded with a fitting amount of contribution points.

    ¡°Alright, you may go back and resume cultivation now. Our sect may have a task for you soon, so be prepared.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 969: Solving Mysteries in the Record Pavilion

    Walking out of the grand pce, Nie Tian saw Tao Jin waiting for him. Only then did he remember that he had forgotten to ask about the mysteries of the me spark, Nine Stars Flower, and tree leaves in his spiritual sea.

    Thus, he talked to Tao Jin about it.

    ¡°That¡¯s easy,¡± Tao Jin said with a smile. ¡°You can just go to the Records Pavilion and check out rted books. That¡¯ll solve your problem. Given your status, our sectmaster should have given you instructions himself. Every time our sectmaster returns, the Sons of the Stars will be allowed to ask him about what puzzles them in their paths of cultivation.

    ¡°If our sectmaster doesn¡¯t return for a long time, sometimes our grand elder will take over that responsibility and answer those questions. But unfortunately, our grand elder isn¡¯t here either.¡±

    After hearing this, Nie Tian gradually realized that the structure of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was actually rather loose, as they kept special rtionships only between the sectmaster, the vice sectmasters, and the Sons of the Stars.

    The three sectmasters and seven Sons of the Stars were all considered independent from the sect.

    As transcendent existences, they were allowed to summon subordinates and manage their own realms and domains.

    Nie Tian then bid Tao Jin farewell and headed towards the Records Pavilion.

    With a Star Medallion in his hand, he didn¡¯t have to pay any contribution points to read books and scrolls in the Record Pavilion.

    Other disciples, however, would have to pay contribution points in order to find and read ancient records of spiritual incantations that suited them.

    His appearance in front of the establishment gave rise to a mor.

    Many disciples that were entering or leaving recognized him at first sight, since they had seen his portrait.

    They talked in low voices as he walked up the stairs.

    Soon, Nie Tian came to the floor where countless ancient records regarding wood power were piled up on ceiling-reaching shelves.

    In a few minutes, Nie Tian found an old, torn book. ¡°The Big Book of Earth Cultivated Grade Spiritual Materials!¡±

    He found a random location and started reading.

    It recorded a variety of Earth Cultivated grade spiritual nts and materials with illustrations.

    ording to the book, some of the spiritual nts and materials could help speed up the cultivation of those who practiced wood power, while others could be used to improve the might of spiritual incantations, or refine Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    As he browsed through the book, the illustration of a green leaf suddenly caught his eyes.

    ¡°This is it!¡± Nie Tian immediately realized that the leaf in the illustrations was identical to the magical tree leaves that were floating in his wood power core.

    Written under the illustration was a line of very small words, which exined the origin of the leaves.

    ¡°They¡¯re leaves from a Godspirit Tree!¡± Nie Tian eximed inwardly.

    It was recorded that realms where Godspirit Treest took root were blessednds for cultivators who practiced wood power.

    These realms would be able to channel dissociative wood power from the depths of the starry river to make themselves full of vigor. Any tree or nt would grow more rapidly in these realms, and produce all kinds of rare spiritual herbs.

    Godspirit Trees were categorized as Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials, which meant they were extremely rare.

    It appeared that they could only be found in Floragrim realms now.

    The leaves of Godspirit Trees were categorized as Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, which could merge with wood power cores, therefore helping human Qi warriors absorb wood power at a faster rate.

    It was just that the leaves alone couldn¡¯t channel wood power from the depths of the starry river as the Godspirit Treescould.

    However, juice from the leaves of a Godspirit Tree could elerate the growth of spiritual nts and herbs.

    Nie Tian instantly felt enlightened. ¡°So those leaves were leaves from a Godspirit Tree. And they have such fascinating uses.¡±

    Afterwards, he found records of Heaven-equal Vines on another shelf.

    ¡°Heaven-equal Vines are Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials. They can grow to the size of mountain ranges. With the ability to easily crush rocks and prate metal, they can be used to forge Spirit Channeling grade treasures. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came to an agreement with a Heaven-equal Vine, which stipted that it should keep a shattered realm together...¡±

    The records regarding Heaven-equal Vines turned didn¡¯t seem to address its most important features.

    Nie Tian then thought to himself, ¡°It appears that the Heaven-equal Vine holding the Realm of Shattered Earth together is the very one that¡¯s mentioned here. Its power sped up the growth of Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers and Uncle Hua¡¯s Heavenly Demonsbane. It must have some profound uses, but unfortunately, there aren¡¯t any records of that.¡±

    He continued to look around on this floor, and came across records of Heavenly Demonsbanes.

    Heavenly Demonsbanes were powerful foreign nts from Demon realms. They fed on flesh and souls, and would take control of their hosts¡¯ bodies after growing to a certain extent.

    ording to the records, Heavenly Demonsbanes were also Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials.

    Hosts of Heavenly Demonsbanes could gain full control of them as long as they remained more powerful, and paid special attention to the cultivation of their souls.

    However, once the hosts grew weaker than the Heavenly Demonsbanes, they would suffer bacshes and end up being possessed by the Heavenly Demonsbanes. There weren¡¯t any effective ways to solve that problem.

    Therefore, everything would depend on the hosts themselves.

    ¡°From the look of it, I won¡¯t be able to do much to help Uncle Hua. He¡¯ll have to remain stronger than the Heavenly Demonsbane inside of him in order to not be harmed by it.¡±

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian went on to browse through other old books, and discovered records of coexisting flowers.

    ¡°Coexisting flowers are usually two demonic flowers that share one fleshly host. Despite their asional conflicts with each other, they¡¯ll team up against enemies when their host is threatened. Intelligent and powerful, they fall into the category of Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials. Their uses have yet to be discovered...¡±

    Nie Tian was somewhat disappointed after reading these records.

    All of the recorded information about the coexisting flowers was nothing but what he already knew. It seemed that even powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t know much about them.

    Or perhaps those who had deep understandings of coexisting flowers hadn¡¯t shared their knowledge with their sect to obtain contribution points.

    ¡°Cyan Wood Incantation, Withering me Incantation, Wood Nourishment Incantation...¡± Nie Tian went on and selected a few more Earth grade wood power incantations. After browsing through them, he realized that none of them were even nearly as wondrous as Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The Heavenly Wood Incantation could be regarded as two different incantations. Heavenly Wood Heal was for body refining purposes, while Heavenly Wood Thorns was for attacking purposes. Heavenly Wood Thorns would allow him to pierce thorns into his enemies¡¯ bodies and drain them of their flesh power. Such flesh power would further strengthen the thorns, allowing them to grow at an rming rate and split bodies.

    As for Heavenly Wood Heal, he was currently at the fourth step: Flesh Tempering. He seemed to still be far from finishing it.

    This special incantation allowed him to channel his bloodline power, which made it far more powerful than the Cyan Wood Incantation and Wood Nourishment Incantation that he had just read about.

    ¡°If there are no mishaps, Heavenly Wood Heal has a profound connection with the Floragrims. If I were to categorize it ording to the human categorizing system, it¡¯s most likely a Heaven grade incantation. Since I already have this Heaven grade incantation, there¡¯s no need for me to practice these Earth grade incantations.¡±

    With these thoughts, he decided to stop selecting incantations on this floor.

    Momentster, he entered the floor where books and scrolls of star power incantations were stocked. There were arger number of Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples on this floor, since most of the records here regarded channeling and using star power.

    He quickly browsed through a few old books, and realized that the incantations recorded in those books were far weaker than the secret incantations recorded in his three fragmentary star marks.

    From the look of it, the Fragmentary Star Incantation within him was the highest core legacy incantation of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He instantly lost interest in reading these books.

    However, he kept looking, and found a book about Nine Stars Flowers. From it, he learned that with every blossom that bloomed, the speed at which it helped him channel star power would double.

    Nine Stars Flowers also fell into the category of Earth Cultivated spiritual materials, and they suited people like Nie Tian, who practiced star power, perfectly.

    They were also said to be extremely hard to find.

    ¡°If all nine blossoms bloom, the speed at which I channel star power will increase ninefold!¡±

    In high spirits, Nie Tian went to the floor of me power records in an attempt to figure out the mysteries of the me spark in his me power core.

    However, he searched for hours, and only found a brief description of it.

    ¡°A cluster of Divine me descended upon the Domain of me¡¯s End, burning down realms and reducing all beings to ashes. Even though its origin hasn¡¯t been determined, it¡¯s categorized as a Heaven Nourished grade fire-attributed treasure. Even the head of the me power sect of the Five Elements Sect failed to capture it.¡±

    That was it, without any description of its wondrous uses, as if their understanding of the Divine me wasn¡¯t even as deep as his.

 Chapter 970: Special Care

    Eventually, Nie Tian only found out about the origins and uses of the Nine Stars Flower and the leaves of the Tree of Godly Spirit from his trip to the Records Pavilion.

    He still knew nothing regarding the me spark.

    Recently, whenever he refined his spiritual cores, he would feel like he was stuck at a bottleneck. He thought the reasony with his wood power core.

    For some reason, every time he refined his wood power core, he would feel disturbed and uneasy.

    This was the first time he had ever had this peculiar feeling.

    It seemed that even though he had figured out the profound uses of the tree leaves and Nine Stars Flower, it didn¡¯t help him break through the bottleneck.

    ¡°Wood power core...¡± Deeply baffled, he muttered inwardly as he walked out the gate of the Records Pavilion towards the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Along the way, many Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples secretly kept their eyes on him.

    As he arrived in front of the Vast Heaven Pavilion, a figure suddenly shed into appearance.

    Nie Tian hastily bowed respectfully. ¡°Grand elder!¡±

    Clearly, he hadn¡¯t expected the person to be Mo Heng.

    Mo Heng¡¯s figure looked blurry and illusory as he waved his hand slightly, signaling him not to stand on ceremony. ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside.¡±

    The two of them then quickly entered the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Only after that did Mo Heng¡¯s figure grow clear, assuming a clear appearance, as if his true self had finally arrived.

    Mo Heng seemed to have some scruples, as if he didn¡¯t want people to know that he hade to meet Nie Tian in private.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say that you weren¡¯t in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, grand elder?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    He had asked Tao Jin on their way to meet Wei Lai, and learned that Mo Heng hadn¡¯t returned from his trip.

    ¡°I just got back,¡± Mo Heng exined lightly before asking in a low voice, ¡°Tao Jin told me that you seem to have run into some difficulties in your cultivation. Wanna talk to me about them?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± Without holding anything back, Nie Tian told him out his problem with refining his me power, wood power, and star power cores, and how he would feel disturbed and stuck.

    ¡°Let me see.¡± With these words, Mo Heng flicked his finger.

    A small amount of pure spiritual power that waspletely bereft of any attributes flew smoothly into Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    Like an eye, the spiritual power flowed around within Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual power. In one moment, it observed his me power core closely. In the next moment, it focused on his star power core and wood power core.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea didn¡¯t reject it the whole time.

    ¡°Pure spiritual power without any attributes... such a strange person...¡± Nie Tian wondered, finding this intriguing.

    So far, he had met more Qi warriors than he could count, but every single one of them had specific cultivation attributes, such as fire, lightning, ice, wood, and many others.

    The rarest of all was time power, which his master practiced, and spatial power, which Pei Qiqi practiced.

    However, the bit of glowing spiritual power that flew out of Mo Heng¡¯s fingertip into his spiritual sea was bereft of any attributes. It was nothing but pure spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, the same as the spiritual power within spirit stones, spirit jades, and spirit crystals.

    Perhaps that was the reason why his spiritual sea didn¡¯t reject it.

    Soon, that bit of glowing spiritual power flew to Nie Tian¡¯s pure spiritual power core, which also didn¡¯t have any attributes.

    After examining it for awhile, the bit of spiritual power flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea and vanished into Mo Heng.

    ¡°Did you repeat the refinement of your me power, wood power, and star power cores this whole time?¡± Mo Heng asked. ¡°I bet the Nine Stars Flower, leaves of the Godspirit Tree, and that me spark that I don¡¯t recognize have greatly improved your efficiency when refining those three cores, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded gently. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Mo Heng sighed. ¡°You¡¯ve erred from the right path. Don¡¯t you see that the ultimate foundation of us Qi warriors is that pure spiritual power core? The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and spirit stones are sources of power our ancestors found after searching for countless years.

    ¡°Only after that did people gradually develop different attributes, such as me, wood, and lightning, and derive methods to practice such attributed powers.

    ¡°However, the core foundation has never changed. It was still our spiritual power core, which is made of nothing but pure spiritual power.

    ¡°Attributed powers, such as me power, wood power, and lightning power, have to mix with pure spiritual power in order to maximize their might. Otherwise, we could have simply forgotten about the cultivation of pure spiritual power, and focused on the powers of attributes instead.

    ¡°The same goes for our spiritual cores.

    ¡°Without pure spiritual power, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to open up our spiritual seas to hold powers of different attributes in the first ce.

    ¡°The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth can mix with power of any attribute and be stronger. This is the most wondrous feature of spiritual power, and the core reason why humans have grown powerful.

    ¡°If you want to refine those three cores to the point where they¡¯re ready for your breakthrough into thete Profound realm, you¡¯ll have spend enough time and energy refining your spiritual power core first.

    ¡°If your spiritual power core is far too weak, then it won¡¯t be able to help you refine your three cores of different attributes.

    ¡°It¡¯s crucial to maintain a bnced cultivation when you refine your spiritual cores. The first step is to refine your pure spiritual power core. Then, you want to keep the same pace with the cultivation of the other three cores. If you focus all of your energy on one of them, you¡¯ll lose bnce.

    ¡°Once you lose bnce, your disadvantage of practicing multiple powers simultaneously will be magnified. Conflicts might ur between your spiritual cores...¡±

    Mo Heng took his time to exin the correct procedure to refine his spiritual sea, telling him that the reason why he had felt that he had reached a bottleneck and had great difficulty refining the three spiritual cores was because he had spent most of his energy refining his three attributed spiritual cores.

    He had forgotten about the foundation, and been consumed with the fact that the Earth Cultivated grade treasures in those three cores were elerating the speed at which he absorbed power.

    ¡°So does that mean I need to stop refining those three cores for the time being, and focus all my energy on refining my pure spiritual power core?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Mo Heng answered with a certain look in his eyes.

    ¡°Thank you very much for clearing this up for me, grand elder!¡± Nie Tian expressed his gratitude seriously.

    Mo Heng waved his hand. After pondering briefly, he took out a Sound Stone and handed it to Nie Tian. ¡°I¡¯ll stay in the Realm of Fragmentary Star for a while. If you run into other problems in your cultivation, just message me. Also, don¡¯t mention our meeting to anyone, including Wei Lai.¡±

    Though puzzled, Nie Tian promised that he wouldn¡¯t.

    ¡°No one knows about my return, and I don¡¯t intend to let them know,¡± Mo Heng added.

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°But you showed up in front of the Vast Heaven Pavilion...¡±

    ¡°You were the only one who could see and hear me. No one else could.¡± After uttering these words, Mo Heng turned around and left.

    As soon as he walked out the front gate, he vanished into thin air like a puff of smoke scattering into the wind. Not even the slightest sign of his aura could be detected.

    ¡°That man is so strange... He was cold and distant when he examined my Blood Essence. But after that, he gave me all those contribution points, and assigned the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars to me. He even gave me the Vast Heaven Pavilion, which had been reserved for many years. And now, he pays me this secret visit, and solves problems for me...¡±

    Nie Tian felt that Mo Heng seemed to be providing him with special care, and all of this seemed to have happened after the examination of his Blood Essence.

    After Mo Heng left, Nie Tian pondered the matter for a long time, but still failed to think of an answer.

    Afterwards, he focused on the refinement of his pure spiritual power core as Mo Heng had told him to, and temporarily ignored the refinement of his me power, wood power, and star power cores.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he realized that the road Mo Heng had pointed out for him waspletely right.

    A few monthster, even though he had focused on refining his pure spiritual core andpletely ignored the other three cores of different attributes, as he attempted to practice the True me Incantation with the help of Heavenme Crystals, he felt with great rity that the speed at which he absorbed me power had returned to a very high level.

    Even the speed at which he channeled wood power had returned to its previous high level, and he no longer felt disturbed and uneasy.

    Now that he finally understood the right order to refine his spiritual cores, his path of cultivation suddenly became surprisingly smooth. His previous feeling of being stuck at a bottleneck hadpletely vanished.

 Chapter 971: Mission

    The Vast Heaven Pavilion contained two types of power.

    One was star power that poured through its ceiling, and the other was pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    While Nie Tian focused solely on refining his spiritual power core, he didn¡¯t even need to use any of his spirit stones.

    He simply spread his hands to gather spiritual power with the method he had learned from that magicalnd he had been to.

    WHOOSH!

    Vast spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth poured into his palms from all directions, forming spiritual energy balls.

    Then, Nie Tian channeled the spiritual energy into his spiritual sea in his dantian region, to refine his spiritual power core over and over.

    <i>¡°The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in Fragmentary Star City is richer than that in the magicalnd where those titans are buried. The Vast Heaven Pavilion, however, gathers spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the whole city, which makes the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth here even richer. If people were to practice nothing but pure spiritual power here, it wouldn¡¯t matter if they didn¡¯t have any spirit stones or spirit jades with them.</i>

    <i>¡°Come to think of it, when I first broke through into the Worldly realm, my spiritual cores came to form, along with my true soul. My pure spiritual power core was indeed the first to take form. After that were my me power, wood power, and star power cores...¡±</i>

    The more he thought about it, the wiser he felt Mo Heng¡¯s advice was.

    He thought he should have discovered and practiced cultivation by thisw long ago, refining his pure spiritual power core first.

    The reason why he had deviated from the right path was because he had gained that Nine Stars Flower, those leaves from a Godspirit Tree, and that me spark.

    However, Mo Heng had showed up and set him straight. Things had indeed worked out after he put him on the right path again.

    Two weeks passed.

    With the help of the copious amount of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Vast Heaven Pavilion, Nie Tian finally refined his pure spiritual power core to its limit.

    Liquidized spiritual power could be seen flowing within the semi-transparent sphere like streams.

    At that time, no matter how hard he tried to channel more spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into his pure spiritual power core, there would be no change at all.

    That was when he realized that he didn¡¯t need to spend any time or energy on his spiritual core anymore.

    On this day, Zhu Yun came over, and returned the Star Behemoth bone to him.

    Zhu Yun looked rather exhausted and withered, her pale-gray hair messy, as if she hadn¡¯t cleaned herself up for a long time.

    ¡°I talked to Wei Lai just now. Fifty thousand contribution points have been added to your Star Medallion for letting us examine this Star Behemoth bone.¡± With these words, Zhu Yun sighed. ¡°But after trying every method I could think of, I still couldn¡¯t carve it with any spell formations.

    ¡°It seems that I don¡¯t have what it takes to forge this thing into a weapon for you.

    ¡°Every time I carved a spell formation onto it, the Star Behemoth¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains would wipe it out immediately. This thing is an integral whole, which can be viewed as a part of a living Star Behemoth. Even if I were able to carve it with spell formations, that might break its original bnce.¡±

    Zhu Yun seemed rather frustrated.

    ¡°Sorry for putting you through all the trouble,¡± Nie Tian said gratefully.

    Zhu Yun nodded and left.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t feel particrly disappointed, since he would be able to use it in battle as long as he had enough flesh power.

    This thing was still going to be his most destructive weapon.

    He had a feeling that as his bloodline upgraded, and his understanding of his unique bloodline grew deeper and deeper, he would eventually solve all of the mysteries of this thing.

    After this, he continued to practice cultivation wholeheartedly in the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Time flew. Half a year passed before he knew it. With the help of the Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the leaves of the Godspirit Tree, he had finally refined his star power, me power, and wood power to the limit as well.

    It would take a regr cultivator several years to finish this process, but the three Earth Cultivated grade treasures greatly reduced the time required for him.

    At this moment, the refinement of his spiritual sea had reached the point where he was ready for his next breakthrough. However, the refinement of his true soul was miles behind.

    In order to make a breakthrough in cultivation, he would have to strengthen both his spiritual sea and sea of awareness. If the refinement of his true soulgged behind, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to reach his next breakthrough.

    The reason why he had been able to make consecutive breakthroughs before was because he had a stockpiled arge number of soul crystals.

    Those soul crystals had significantly improved the speed at which he refined his true soul.

    However, since he had run out of them long ago, he could only refine his true soul bit by bit at a much slower speed.

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian sighed.<i> ¡°The refinement of souls has always been a crucial factor that stops human Qi warriors from making rapid breakthroughs in cultivation. Spirit stones and spiritual materials of various attributes are easy to find. Soul crystals that can help with soul refinement are much rarer.¡± </i>

    His expression flickered as he reached this point in his train of thought. <i>¡°However... In the magicalnd where those titans are buried, there¡¯s a grand spell formation of me dragon skeletons, which can help me refine discarnate souls, getting rid of their impurities and leaving nothing but pure soul power. Even though the spell formation can¡¯t gather soul power from its surroundings by itself, the Spirit Pearl has already reaped arge number of discarnate souls. If I can use it to refine some of the discarnate souls within the Spirit Pearl, it¡¯ll probably be very helpful for the strengthening of my true soul!¡±</i>

    In order to go to that magicalnd, Nie Tian would have to rely on the me Dragon Armor to rip open a spatial rift.

    However, this was Fragmentary Star City, where countless powerful experts were gathered. If he were to create a spatial rift, someone was bound to find out.

    If that happened, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s secret would be brought to light.

    <i>¡°I can¡¯t do that here, in the Vast Heaven Pavilion. It has to be in realms like the Realm of Split Void, where I have total control.¡±</i>

    RING! RING!

    All of a sudden, sharp rings came from the Sound Stone Mo Heng had given him.

    Nie Tian took it out and sent a wisp of his soul awareness into it.

    There was only one message within the Sound Stone, which hade from the grand elder, Mo Heng. ¡°Open the gate.¡±

    Nie Tian hurriedly opened the gate. As soon as he did, Mo Heng¡¯s figure shed through into the establishment.

    Aftering to a stop in front of Nie Tian, Mo Heng took a deep look at him and said, ¡°From the look of it, you¡¯ve already solved the problem that¡¯s been bothering you.¡±

    Nie Tian sped his hands. ¡°Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction, grand elder!¡±

    Mo Heng received his salute calmly, and said, ¡°Did Wei Lai tell you that we¡¯d have a mission for you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Mo Heng pondered briefly before saying, ¡°I think it¡¯s about time I told you about that mission. If you finish it, not only will it earn you five hundred thousand contribution points, but it¡¯ll also help you learn more about that Star Behemoth bone.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the mission?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Go to that floating dimension,¡± Mo Heng exined, ¡°the one with two parallel continents that you entered by ident years ago. That floating dimension doesn¡¯t stay in one location. Instead, it¡¯s constantly on the move. In ancient times, the bottom continent was a superrge-scale realm.

    ¡°As you know, a Star Behemoth is sleeping in the depths of its ck sea.

    ¡°Our sect made a deal with it, ording to which we help hide that dimension from humans and outsiders. If there were any intruders, it would be our responsibility to expel them.

    ¡°In return, our sect is allowed to send our disciples to undertake trials there every century to search for spiritual materials, including the remains of Ancientbeasts.

    ¡°That Star Behemoth is lying in dormancy, since it has lost most of its power, but once it awakes, it¡¯ll shake heaven and earth. However, if it awakes, it¡¯ll need to consume a terrifying amount of resources, causing many realms to vanish, or be reduced to deal realms. That¡¯ll make many powerful races, including humans, insecure and uneasy.

    ¡°Perhaps God domain human experts will work with tenth grade outsider grand monarchs to deal with it.

    ¡°So it won¡¯t end its dormancy unless absolutely necessary.

    ¡°However, just recently, a group of eighth grade Demons, Fiends, and Phantasms have paid an unwanted visit to that continent under the leadership of a ninth grade grand patriarch. They¡¯re searching and poking around, as if they know there¡¯s something in the depths of that ck sea.

    ¡°Since that Star Behemoth is still in a dormant state, it secretly informed us of the situation and asked us to take care of those unwanted visitors for it. It doesn¡¯t want to end its dormancy because of a bunch of puny insects. It knows that once it awakes, the floating continent it has rested in for many years may fall apart.¡±

    After exining the context to Nie Tian, Mo Heng continued, ¡°So you¡¯re being given the mission to kill or expel those outsiders on that floating continent. Also, find and destroy any entrance they used to enter it.

    ¡°Considering that they have only one ninth grade grand patriarch, you and your subordinates should be able to take care of them. If you can¡¯t, send word to us and we¡¯ll make other arrangements.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before asking, ¡°But how am I supposed to enter that floating continent?¡±

    ¡°Put coordinates for that floating continent into your teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void, then you¡¯ll be able to teleport there directly,¡± Mo Heng said. ¡°If you¡¯ve decided to go on this mission, I¡¯ll have Kan Zhisheng help you connect that teleportation portal to the one we set up on the floating continent many years ago.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I ept the mission,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Mo Heng nodded. ¡°Alright, you may go make arrangements with your subordinates. I¡¯ll take care of other things for you. After you finish this mission, you can also take this opportunity to ask that Star Behemoth about that bone you have. Its understanding of it must far exceed ours.¡±

 Chapter 972: The Floating Dimension

    In the depths of the starry river.

    A sea of grayish-brown clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see were floating slowly.

    Pieces ofnd could be seen floating over the vast sea of clouds, while a continent that was iparably vast was floating underneath it.

    That continent was even more vast than the entirety of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Stars that had been dead for hundreds of thousands of years were scattered in the region. Perhaps certain living beings had lived on them once, but all of them had left a very long time ago.

    Compared to the vast bottom continent, those dead stars were dozens of times smaller.

    At first, the continent had been a superrge-scale realm that could channel energies from the starry river to sustain itself.

    Since Star Behemoths were as colossal as medium-scale realms, only realms thisrge would be able to contain them.

    Gazing down at it, one could see thatrge areas of the floating continent were covered in a ck sea.

    On vastnds, there were mountains ranges,kes, dense forests, scorching deserts, and snow-capped mountains.

    Meanwhile, arge number of inds dotted the boundless ck sea like stars.

    At this moment, arge ind in the middle of the sea suddenly quaked, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    A small mountain peak shook especially violently.

    As cracked rocks rolled down the mountain peak, it lost its disguise.

    A pce of the same scale as the ones in the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of Shattered Earth gradually revealed itself.

    The spatial fluctuations it emanated grew increasingly strong.

    Dazzling starlight started to shine over the pce, with small sparks swimming around.

    Inside the pce, Nie Tian and many others streamed out of an activated ancient teleportation portal.

    The pce¡¯s heavy stone gate, which had remained closed for many years, suddenly opened wide. Nie Tian was the first to walk through it. Taking a deep breath, he looked skywards, and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that I¡¯m here again so soon.¡±

    The sky was filled by a sea of grayish-brown clouds, with terrifying splitting aurasing from the depths of it.

    An enormous vortex could be vaguely seen stretching up into the grayish-brown clouds in the distance, connecting the bottom continent with the top continent like a heavenlydder.

    There was spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on the floating continent. However, since it had been badly damaged, the intensity of the spiritual energy was far inferior to that in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Dong Li suddenly appeared from behind Nie Tian, taking a sniff of the air, as if to recollect memories from the past. ¡°Here we are, again.¡±

    Saint domain experts, including Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde, walked through the pce gate, followed by Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, Dou Tengshang, and other Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    One immense soul awareness after another raised strong fluctuations that spread in all directions.

    Momentster, Jing Feiyang and the others couldn¡¯t help but marvel.

    ¡°This continent is indeed vast beyond measure!¡±

    ¡°This floating continent isn¡¯t recorded in the records of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries or the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    ¡°This ce must be worth exploring. Evenbined, the three Lizardman realms aren¡¯t even one-tenth as vast as this continent. No wonder it¡¯s a superrge-scale realm.¡±

    In a soft voice, Nie Tian said, ¡°This used to be a superrge-scale realm that was rich in natural and cultivation resources. However, a great war broke out between the Demons, Phantasms, Fiend, and Ancientbeasts. The top continent was destroyed. Pieces of it crashed into the bottom continent, reshaping it to what it is today.¡±

    Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile and chimed in, ¡°In another six months, we¡¯ll finish mining the resources in that Lizardman realm. I didn¡¯t expect that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would arrange for you toe to a new blessednd before we¡¯re finished over there.¡±

    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious face. ¡°But no. We¡¯re not here to explore and gather spiritual materials from this floating continent. Our mission is to find the intruding outsiders, and then kill them or expel them. And we¡¯ll need to destroy any spatial rift or teleportation portal that connects their realm to this one.¡±

    As for the Star Behemoth, since Mo Heng had told him not to tell anyone, he kept it to himself.

    He only told the others that this floating continent belonged to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Now that it had been invaded by a group of outsiders led by a ninth grade grand patriarch, his sect had asked him to take care of them.

    As the others discussed ns, Nie Tian flew to the coast on his Star Boat.

    Gazing at the boundless ck sea, he mixed his soul awareness with power from his star souls, and spread it deep into the sea.

    He had long since learned that an ancient awareness dwelt in the depths of the ck sea.

    It was just that he hadn¡¯t been clear as to what it was. Now, he knew that it was a Star Behemoth.

    By spreading his soul awareness into the sea, he attempted to establish a connection with the Star Behemoth¡¯s soul.

    Momentster, the Star Behemoth¡¯s immense soul awareness suddenly emerged. ¡°It¡¯s you again?¡±

    Spirited, Nie Tian hastily answered, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. I was given the mission toe here and help you get rid of those intruding outsiders, so they don¡¯t disturb your sleep. Also, I want to thank you for helping me leave this floating continent years ago.¡±

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s soul awareness didn¡¯t reply right away.

    Nie Tian scanned his surroundings with his soul awareness, and discovered that the soul auraing from the depths of the ck sea was growing increasingly strong.

    At the center of the ind, Jing Feiyang, Qu Mingde, and Qu Mingde, who were at the Saint domain, suddenly noticed the anomaly, and flew into the sky.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡±

    ¡°Something invisible seems to be heading towards us!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯sing from the depths of the sea!¡±

    ¡°No need to panic!¡± Nie Tian called out to them. ¡°It¡¯s not an outsider!¡±

    Looking baffled, Jing Feiyang asked, ¡°You¡¯remunicating with someone on a soul level, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded, signaling them to hold their horses. Then, he closed his eyes again and asked with his soul, ¡°Could you tell me where the intruders are right now? How many are there, and what grades are they at? What are they after?¡±

    The Star Behemoth still didn¡¯t reply, as if it was sensing something attentively.

    Only after a long while did it send a soul message. ¡°I just did a quick scan. The forces you¡¯ve brought with you should be enough to take care of them for me. Don¡¯t ask so many questions yet. I¡¯ll give you a few sets of coordinates. Go destroy those insects¡¯ entrances first.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Part of his mission was to destroy the connections between the outsider realms and this floating continent, lest more outsiders swarm in.

    Furthermore, it was wise to cut off those outsiders¡¯ route of retreat before dealing with them. Therefore, he dly agreed.

    ¡°Back in the day, I had to use a bit of my power to send you out of here,¡± The Star Behemoth said. ¡°Because of that, I didn¡¯t have any extra power to wipe out the portals those insects used toe here without ending my dormancy. So you caused this in the first ce.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly before hastily asking in a humble manner, ¡°Didn¡¯t Ie here at the first moment to fix the holes I made?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better clean them well!¡± The Star Behemoth sounded somewhat snippy.

    In the next moment, a wisp of soul awareness suddenly flew into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    A vast map of the floating continent was then branded in the depths of his mind, as if it would never be erased.

    The map was not only vast, but alsoplicated. A total of eight locations were marked on it, which seemed to be the portals through which the outsiders had entered.

    Five of them were on five inds.

    The other three were on an extensivend. One was in a hot desert, one was in a frozen mountain, and thest one was in a dense forest.

    ¡°All eight of them are guarded, but not by the powerful ones,¡± The Star Behemoth said.

    ¡°The closest one is rather close to here. Why don¡¯t you go destroy it first? You¡¯ll be able to get in contact with me by sending your soul awareness into the ck sea and calling me a few times.

    ¡°Remember, you and your men aren¡¯t here to explore this continent and gather resources.

    ¡°Also, try not to damage this continent when you make moves against them. I still need it to channel power from the starry river to sustain me. If this continent shatters like the one on the top, I¡¯ll have no choice but to awaken.

    ¡°Whoever sent you here should be well-aware of what will happen if I awake.¡±

    The instructions the Star Behemoth gave Nie Tian were very detailed, as if it was afraid that he would act unruly.

    Nie Tian listened humbly.

    After memorizing everything the Star Behemoth had said, Nie Tian led his people to their first target ording to the map and the directions the Star Behemoth had given him.

 Chapter 973: The Sad Ones

    In the boundless ck sea.

    The three Saint domain experts, Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde, flew in the front, while arge number of Void domain experts followed.

    Since they weren¡¯t in the starry river, none of them unleashed their domains. However, they were still as fast as lightning bolts.

    The three major sects from the Domain of Heaven Python had each sent one Saint domain expert, along with three Void domain experts.

    As for the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, all of their major sects, except the Pure Heaven Sect, had sent two Void domain experts on this mission.

    The Domain of the Falling Stars, however, had only sent Fan Kai, a Void domain expert.

    The goal of this trip to the floating continent was to get rid of the outsider intruders with quick, hard strikes. Therefore, after discussing it with his subordinates, Nie Tian had decided to take only the Saint domain and Void domain experts this time.

    Since those with lower cultivation bases wouldn¡¯t be able to serve that purpose, they hadn¡¯t been arranged to join this mission.

    The Star Boat flew among the dashing Void domain experts with Nie Tian and Dong Li standing on it.

    Under Dong Li¡¯s management, Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate forces had already mined more than three million Star Stones from the Lizardman realm that had been assigned to him. Such arge number of Star Stones allowed him to use them however he wanted.

    Several days passed...

    An oval-shaped ind suddenly entered Jing Feiyang¡¯s detection range. Before he could even see anything, his immense soul awareness covered it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not our target ind, but... there are outsiders on it...¡± All of a sudden, Jing Feiyang¡¯s face dropped. ¡°There are also arge number of enved humans there!¡±

    Qu Mingde and Quan Zixuan detected the anomaly as well. Their faces instantly grew grim.

    Since they were still a great distance from the ind, Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s cultivation bases didn¡¯t allow them to see or sense anything. With a baffled expression, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Jing Feiyang let out a low sigh. ¡°You¡¯ll see soon enough.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    He suddenly elerated and left the main group, along with Qu Mingde and Quan Zixuan.

    ¡°Be careful!¡± Nie Tian called out. ¡°Try not to expose yourselves too early!¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s voice echoed out from the distance where the three of them vanished. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The strongest outsiders there are only at the sixth grade. They can¡¯t be easier to kill.¡±

    Nie Tian then sped up the Star Boat as well.

    An hourter, the ind Jing Feiyang had detected entered Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Floating over the ind were mysterious magical symbols of different colors. Small sword lights were hovering around and sealing the ind, along with dazzling golden sparks that could seen at several corners of the ind.

    From the look of it, the three Saint domain experts hadpletely sealed the ind, preventing the outsiders¡¯ voices, soul messages, or bloodline fluctuations from leaving the ind.

    Only after the Star Boat flew closer did the three Saint domain experts¡¯ ind-sealing power gradually dissipate.

    BZZZ!

    The Star Boat came to a stop over the ind.

    Floating high in the sky, Nie Tian looked down, and saw dead Demons, ckscales, and Stonemen in different areas of the ind.

    Apparently, the three Saint domain experts had finished off every single outsider on the ind within a very short time.

    In fact, considering their Saint domain cultivation bases, they could have annihted them upon encountering them.

    The only reason why it had taken them longer was because they had sealed the ind first to prevent information of any form from leaving the ind, so that other outsiders wouldn¡¯t be rmed.

    Aside from the dead outsiders, Nie Tian also saw numerous human corpses.

    They were also scattered in different locations on the ind, as they seemed to have been mining spiritual materials and gathering spirit nts.

    All of them were dressed in rags, and were skinny and miserable like beggars.

    Each and every one of them had a silver ring around their necks that was carved with patterns that were unique to Demons.

    ¡°They were these Demons¡¯ ves,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a grim look in his eyes. ¡°When Demons invade human domains, they take human ves and use them to mine spiritual materials and collect medicinal nts. Due to their less effective reproduction, outsider poptions aren¡¯t nearly as great as humans. However, they also control arge number of domains and realms, so they need ves to work for them.

    ¡°For hundreds of thousands of years, once a human domain fell into outsiders¡¯ hands, the mortals would be butchered and used as sacrificial offerings to their ancestors or gods. Qi warriors that could pose a threat to their rule would be killed as well. The ones that were considered non-threatening would be kept as their ves.

    ¡°Many ves would be arranged to go to realms that were unfit for human cultivators, where they would be forced to mine materials that could be forged into tools, and collect medicinal nts that could be used to refine their bloodline power in pitch-ck caves.

    ¡°If they dared to disobey their outsider masters or displeased them in any way, they would be killed on site.¡±

    Pointing at a pile of dead humans, he continued, ¡°They might have lived happily in domains like the Domain of the Falling Stars or the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries before they were taken as ves. Their sects probably lost their battle against the outsider invaders. Their powerful experts were ughtered, while they were taken as ves. Their life or death waspletely in the hands of their outsider masters.¡±

    Looking at thousands of corpses of his own kind that were scrawny like ghouls, Nie Tian felt sad and angry.

    A cold feeling filled Dong Li¡¯s heart as she looked at the miserable bodies. ¡°Fortunately, the Domain of the Falling Stars survived two outsider invasions because of your incredible performance. If our domain had been sacked by the outsiders¡¯ joint army back then, our families and friends might have been among these miserable ones here. Even you and I might have been among these corpses.¡±

    Face very grim, Quan Zixuan said, ¡°The silver rings around their necks could destroy their sea of awareness in a breath¡¯s time. We should have been more careful. If we had killed all the outsiders in a split second, not giving them the time to set off the power within those neck rings, these poor people might have lived.¡±

    ¡°Damn these outsiders!¡± Qu Mingde roared furiously. ¡°They all deserve to die!¡±

    The three of them were from the Domain of Heaven Python, which had recently suffered from an outsider invasion.

    Many of their realms had been plundered by outsiders, and many of their subordinate forces had been wiped out, their people taken as ves.

    All ves would share the same fate: eventually ughtered by the outsiders.

    The Bonebrutes were even more coldblooded. They would rapidly ughter every single human in the realms they took, and then ship the corpses to their burial grounds to produce death power for them.

    The reason why the three of them were so indignant was because what they were looking at reminded them of their friends and family who had been killed and enved.

    They should have been there to protect them. However, since the outsiders had struck them fast and hard, they hadn¡¯t been able to fight in different locations at the same time, which had resulted in the tragic fate of their loved ones.

    After pondering for a moment, Jing Feiyang withdrew every bit of his killing aura and said, ¡°There must be other locations like this one, where human ves are being used to mine spiritual materials and collect spirit nts. Let¡¯s be extra careful next time, and make sure that we wipe out every outsider in an instant. Never give them time to react!¡±

    Both Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde nodded vigorously, knowing what to do next time.

    ¡°Do we collect things on this ind?¡± Dong Li asked in a low voice.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No. The spiritual materials and medicinal nts here are a part of this floating continent. We can¡¯t take them. As for the valuables on these low-grade outsiders, I don¡¯t think they¡¯re worth taking.¡±

    He could have had the Spirit Pearl collect the discarnate souls on the ind.

    However, if he did, the Spirit Pearl would collect souls indiscriminately, outsider and human alike.

    Seeing how indignant Jing Feiyang and the others were, he knew that he would make them very ufortable if he were to take away these poor humans¡¯ discarnate souls using the Spirit Pearl.

    Therefore, he eventually gave up the idea.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s move out!¡± Qu Mingde called out. ¡°We need to be extra careful from now on.¡±

    As expected, Jing Feiyang discovered another ind a few hourster.

    He told Nie Tian and the others to stay back, while he, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde were going to hide their auras and kill every single outsider on the ind in a sh.

    That way, the outsiders wouldn¡¯t be able to react and trigger the power within the neck rings, killing all the human ves.

    With these words, the three of them vanished like shadows.

    Momentster, Jing Feiyang¡¯s message came from the distance.

    Only then did Nie Tian speed up the Star Boat and fly into the distance.

    Soon, the Star Boat stopped over an ind that was just like the previous one.

    Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde had seeded this time.

    They had annihted all of the outsiders on the ind in a split second, leaving hundreds of scrawny human ves gazing nkly into the sky with silver rings around their necks.

    ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡± A weak exmation came from a corner of the ind.

    Nie Tian jerked his head towards the source of the exmation, and found himself looking at a skinny, dark-skinned woman in rags. Brow furrowed, he asked uncertainly, ¡°Su... Su Lin?¡±

 Chapter 974: Utterly Different Fates

    As a chosen one of the Heaven Pce Sect who had only ranked under Ning Yang, Su Lin had fought Nie Tian for fragmentary star marks during the Heaven Gate trial.

    Many years ago, as the leaders of a group of juniors from the Heaven Pce Sect, the me God Sect, and the Poison Sect, she and Yang Kan had fought Nie Tian head-on in this very dimension.

    Eventually, Nie Tian had left, and returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars with the Star Behemoth¡¯s help.

    Su Lin and Yang Kan, however, had been trapped on this continent, their life or death unknown.

    Soon after that, the outsiders had invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars through the six spatial rifts that connected this dimension to the Realm of Split Void.

    Now that decades had passed, Nie Tian¡¯s memory of Su Lin had already grown blurry.

    If she hadn¡¯t eximed his name, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have been able to recognize her even if he brushed past her.

    After all, she had changed too much.

    Now, she was emaciated like a dead person, and had long lost her previous gorgeous looks. Her skin that wasn¡¯t concealed by her tattered clothes was shriveled like old tree bark that was covered in long whipping wounds. Some had already formed scabs that looked like sinister snakes.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Dong Li sighed. ¡°I, I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s her..."

    Before leaving the Domain of the Falling Stars, she had considered Su Lin her most powerful rival. The two of them were as ipatible as fire and water.

    However, now that decades had passed, both of their fates had gone throughplete changes, setting them apart by a great distance.

    Dong Li shook her head slightly. ¡°She¡¯s still at the Greater Heaven stage.¡±

    For some reason, her grudge towards her suddenly vanished as she overlooked their old feuds.

    Brow furrowed, Fan Kai searched his mind. ¡°Su Lin... I might have heard that name somewhere.¡±

    It was just that since he had spent most of his time practicing secluded cultivation in order to break through into the Void domain, he had put the Heaven Pce Sect in Zhao Luofeng¡¯s hands, and seldom concerned him with sect affairs.

    He knew some of the important members, but very few had had the chance to meet him in person.

    Since Su Lin had been outshone by Ning Yang and failed to obtain any fragmentary star marks, it was natural that he hadn¡¯t met her.

    Su Lin switched her gaze timidly among the powerful experts gathered around the Star Boat. Clearly, she didn¡¯t feel secure.

    ¡°You...¡± she muttered.

    Jing Feiyang and the other two had appeared out of nowhere and sniped all of the outsider masters with mighty, all-conquering means.

    The outsider masters hadn¡¯t even had a chance to trigger the silver rings around their necks.

    Considering Su Lin¡¯s cultivation base and horizons, she couldn¡¯t determine Jing Feiyang and the other experts¡¯ cultivation bases. She only had a feeling that they were so incredibly powerful that they must be more powerful than any expert from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Even the Void domain experts who had arrivedter had put her in awe, and given her a feeling that she would never be able to reach such a level.

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re here? I remember that you were with Yang Kan from the me God Sect. Where is he now? Is he still alive?¡±

    Su Lin sagged her head and said in a sad voice, ¡°Yang Kan... died more than ten years ago. Ever since we were enved by the outsiders, we¡¯ve been constantly driven from ce to ce, and arranged to work in different realms with harsh environments to mine spiritual materials and gather medicinal herbs for them. One time, Yang Kan was corroded by frosty poisons while working in a freezing mine.

    ¡°The Demon masters saw that he had lost his value, so they just killed him.

    ¡°I was there when they executed him.¡±

    Su Lin briefly exined what she had been through during the past decades.

    ¡°For ves like us, being ughtered is the fate we share. Perhaps that¡¯s the only relief we¡¯ll get.¡± With these words, she smiled, but that smile was even sadder than tears.

    ¡°I remember now,¡± Fan Kai suddenly said. ¡°Su Lin seems to be a disciple of my sect.¡±

    ¡°The Heaven Pce Sect...¡± Su Lin muttered, as if only at this moment did she notice Fan Kai. Rather timidly, she asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    Fan Kai¡¯s cultivation base was the lowest among all the Saint domain and Void domain experts.

    Therefore, he wasn¡¯t eye-catching at all in the crowd of experts, which was why Su Lin hadn¡¯t noticed him until now.

    Fan Kai sighed. ¡°My name is Fan Kai, and I¡¯m from the Heaven Pce Sect. I wonder if your seniors mentioned me to you before.¡±

    Su Lin¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement. ¡°Patriarch! Of course I¡¯ve heard about you, Patriarch! I just didn¡¯t have an opportunity to meet you before! What brought you here? Are you here to save us? Sectmaster told us that you had been in secluded cultivation for many years as you sought to break through into the Void domain. Have you seeded?¡±

    With aplicated expression, Fan Kai answered, ¡°I have.¡±

    Overjoyed, Su Lin hastily asked, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve entered the Void domain, none of the other sects can challenge our sect¡¯s status in the Domain of the Falling Stars anymore, right?¡±

    Fan Kai smiled bitterly. ¡°What are Void domain experts then...?¡±

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I hope you can forgo your previous feuds with her, considering that the Heaven Pce Sect has sworn its allegiance to you. No matter what she¡¯s done, she¡¯s a disciple of my sect, and what she has been through during the past decades is already sad enough. I¡¯d be grateful if you could forgive her.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Times have changed. How could I dwell on old trifles?¡±

    Now, the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python had all been included in his map. All of their Saint domain experts were his tomand.

    Su Lin was only a Greater Heaven stage person who had some old feuds with him, and then been enved by outsiders for decades. She didn¡¯t even qualify to speak directly to him anymore.

    How could he still hold a grudge against someone like that?

    Fan Kai bowed. ¡°Thank you, Nie Tian!¡±

    Watching her patriarch talking and bowing so respectfully to Nie Tian, Su Lin was at a loss.

    At this moment, Fan Kai waved gently, bringing Su Lin to his side. In a low voice, he exined Nie Tian¡¯s current noble status to her.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars has already be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate domain, along with the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and even the Domain of Heaven Python, which have Saint domain experts!

    ¡°I¡¯m the weakest among the experts here.

    ¡°Now, Nie Tian¡¯s name has spread far and wide, attracting attention across many human domains!¡±

    Fan Kai¡¯s words bombarded Su Lin¡¯s mind like thunder, causing her to shake slightly. She finally realized that decades had passed, and the gap between her and Nie Tian had already be unbridgeable.

    Originally, she had thought that after returning to the Heaven Pce Sect, she would still have a chance to catch up to him with the help of her sect¡¯s cultivation resources.

    However, Fan Kai¡¯s words came as a heavy blow, which made her realize that she would never have a chance to stand up to Nie Tian as equals again.

    <i>¡°Howe fate can set people so far apart?¡±</i> she wailed inwardly.

    At this moment, shey her eyes on Dong Li, and saw her looking back at her with a pitiful gaze.

    That gaze pierced right into her heart like a sharp sword.

    <i>¡°Back in the day, she was far lower than me, both in status and cultivation base. But now, decades have passed, and she¡¯s helping Nie Tian manage domains and talking directly to Void domain and Saint domain experts. Her cultivation base has advanced by leaps and bounds as well...¡±</i>

    Under Dong Li¡¯s gaze, Su Lin slowly sagged her head, her reignited aspiration copsing once again.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay attention to her anymore, and only treated her as someone he used to know.

    Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde spread out to snap the silver rings around the enved ones¡¯ necks.

    As their neck rings snapped, the restriction spells that could end their lives at any moment were broken.

    After being freed, some of them wept out loud, while others rose in high spirits.

    They started talking to each other regarding their stories.

    All of them had been taken from human realms that had been sacked and upied by outsiders, short-term or long-term.

    After being taken from their homes, they had been shipped out to different domains and realms to work for their outsider masters, like Su Lin and Yang Kan.

    Like Yang Kan, many of them had died shortly afterwards.

    ording to them, some of the young women had even been devoured by high-tier Demons, as if they had been some sort of fine food.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes grew grim as he listened to them.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s heart also grew heavy as he said, ¡°This is how brutal and ruthless interracial wars are. Back when we humans hadn¡¯t found the way to practice cultivation with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, we were treated no differently from livestock. This has left a deep-seated influence on outsiders¡¯ bloodlines.

    ¡°So even now, when we¡¯ve be strong enough to fight even the most powerful outsiders, our people still can¡¯t escape the fate of being eaten after losing wars against them.¡±

    Gazing off into the distance, Nie Tian pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°From now on, let¡¯s be very careful when we decide to make a move. We need to save as many enved humans as possible.¡±

    ¡°We shall do our best!¡± Jing Feiyang eximed.

 Chapter 975: The First Target

    There were hundreds of poor humans like Su Lin on this ind.

    If an ancient starship was avable, it could ship them all to the ind where Nie Tian and the others had first arrived at once.

    However, the teleportation portals that connected the Realm of Split Void to this dimension couldn¡¯t allow something asrge as an ancient starship through.

    If they were to use air-transportation spiritual tools, one air-transportation spiritual tool could only carry about ten of them at a time. They would need dozens to ferry them all.

    Since Void and Saint domain experts didn¡¯t usually have air-transportation spiritual tools on them, they couldn¡¯t put forward such arge number of air-transportation spiritual tools all of a sudden.

    After a discussion, they realized that their only option was to leave them on the ind for the time being.

    After all, even if they figured out a way to bring them along, they would be a huge liability and might jeopardize Nie Tian¡¯s mission, which had been given to him by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Therefore, they left them enough food and spirit stones for the previously enved tost ten years, before flying off again by themselves.

    Along their way, they discovered a few more inds, where hundreds of human ves were working under the close watch of a small number of outsiders.

    Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingdeunched thunderous attacks and killed all of the outsider overseers in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint, making sure that none of them had time to react.

    As for the humans they freed, they still left them enough food and spirit stones tost them ten years before moving out again.

    Their n was toe back and get them when they finished killing the outsider intruders and were ready to return.

    Nine days passed.

    Jing Feiyang suddenly came to a stop in midair. Eyes narrowed, he gazed at a distant ind and said in a low voice, ¡°That¡¯s our first target. Even though we¡¯re still rather far away, I can already sense unusual spatial fluctuationsing from there. That must be one of the portals through which the outsiders came to this floating continent.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the grade of the most powerful outsider stationed there?¡± Nie Tian asked in a serious voice.

    ¡°The eighth grade,¡± Jing Feiyang answered, looking rather grim.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°The eighth grade is only equal to the Void domain... Will that be a problem?¡±

    After pondering pondering briefly, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°That¡¯s a high-tier Demon. I can sense his profound flesh aura from here. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll be exposed if we get too close to him. I don¡¯t doubt my ability to kill him. What I worry about is if we can¡¯t annihte him in an instant, he might send word of our arrival to the other outsiders.

    ¡°If the other outsider experts know that we¡¯re here, they¡¯ll be prepared.

    ¡°Then it¡¯ll be much more difficult to finish our mission.¡±

    After hearing this, everyone pondered the matter with furrowed brows.

    ¡°What if you seal that ind first?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°That eighth grade Demon will know what¡¯s going on,¡± Quan Zixuan said. ¡°He¡¯s not like the other outsiders we¡¯ve killed. The strongest outsiders we¡¯ve encountered on our way here were only at the seventh grade. Since there was a great gap between their strength and ours, we were able to hide from their bloodline detection when we struck.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not the case with eighth grade outsiders. That eighth grade demon will definitely be able to sense us before weplete the seal.¡±

    Hearing these words, Nie Tian also had a headache over the tough situation.

    Failing to snipe every outsider on this ind including the eighth grade Demon would reveal them. Once the powerful outsiders that were scattered in other locations learned about their arrival, they would be prepared.

    That meant they would have different options to deal with Nie Tian and his men.

    If they were discrete, they could return to their domains through the other portals.

    If they were ferocious, they could summon reinforcements from their ns.

    If worst came to worst, the ninth grade grand patriarch would be able to gather their remaining forces and fight to the death.

    If it came down to that, even though Nie Tian¡¯s group would eventually win the battle, they would suffer much heavier losses.

    Therefore, the ideal way to finish this mission was to secretly destroy the portals one by one and killed the outsider intruders separately.

    That way, even if the outsiders discovered them after their portals had all been destroyed, they would have to fight with their remaining forces, and eventually be wiped out by Nie Tian and his men.

    After pondering for a moment, Nie Tian summoned power from his star souls and true soul, forming a Star Eye. ¡°Let me see if there¡¯s a better way to do this.¡±

    Carrying his soul awareness, the Star Eye then dove into the ck sea.

    He let out soul calls through it.

    Soon, the Star Behemoth¡¯s immense soul awareness rose from the depths of the unfathomable ck sea.

    Nie Tian exined the problem they were facing to it.

    ¡°Hmm... to seal the ind...¡± The Star Behemoth¡¯s soul awareness muttered in a low voice.

    Momentster, an idea seemed toe to it. ¡°You go ahead and do what you have to do. I¡¯ll alter the natural power on this continent slightly to have the ind submerged. That way, no living beings¡¯ voices, soul fluctuations, or bloodline power will be able to leave that ind.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± The Star Eye then flew out of the ck sea and dissolved into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, returning power to his star souls and true soul.

    ¡°Let¡¯s strike them in a quarter hour,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Jing Feiyang was taken aback. ¡°Problem solved?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Everyone was rather surprised and puzzled. However, since they saw that Nie Tian seemed to have a well-thought-out n worked out, they didn¡¯t ask any more questions.

    They chose to trust him.

    All of a sudden, a faint ck mist gradually rose from the ck sea. Under the Star Behemoth¡¯s control, the ck mist started floating towards the ind where the eighth grade Demon and other outsiders were stationed.

    The mist was faint at the beginning, but as it approached the ind, it grew increasingly thick and intense.

    Momentster, the mist enveloped the entire ind.

    At that moment, Jing Feiyang withdrew his soul awareness and said with an astonished expression, ¡°Just now, when I sent my soul awareness into that ck mist, I feltpletely bogged down. I couldn¡¯t see, hear, or sense anything.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Let¡¯s move out.¡±

    Looking at the boundless sea that was as ck as ink, Quan Zixuan felt a hint of coldness from the bottom of his heart. ¡°This floating continent...¡±

    They didn¡¯t need Nie Tian to exin it to them to know that there must be something beyond their understanding in this unfathomable ck sea.

    Nie Tian was the only one who was able tomunicate with it and convince it to help them.

    Whatever it was, its soul awareness seemed to fill the entire sea. An existence at such a level put even them in awe.

    Since even the Divine Son and Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect didn¡¯t know anything about this Star Behemoth, it was only natural that Quan Zixuan and the other experts didn¡¯t either.

    However, the more mysterious something was, the scarier it seemed to people.

    Everyone fell silent as they flew towards their target ind.

    ...

    While the thick ck mist formed a dome that sealed the ind, Terry, an eighth grade Demon from the Barten n from the Fifth Demon Realm, was sitting by ake.

    Thekewater was emerald green. Mysterious spatial fluctuations came from the ripplingke surface.

    Clutched in his hand was the jade-like arm of a human girl. In his other hand was a wine cup, from which he sipped ckish-red blood in a graceful manner every once in a while.

    Judging from the look in his eyes, he seemed to be enjoying his meal very much.

    After savoring another mouthful of blood, he let out a satisfiedugh, the blood at the corner of his mouth so scarlet that it hurt to look at. ¡°Nothing tastes better.¡±

    Sitting around him were several seventh grade Demons and pale bones from the human arms they had finished.

    All of those arms had been ripped from teenage girls.

    The pale bones, the cups filled with blood, and the high-tier Demon¡¯s graceful eating manners... All of this reflected how indescribably brutal they were.

    After gulping down a mouthful of blood, one of the seventh grade Demons suddenly looked around vigntly. ¡°Lord, all that mist... Something doesn¡¯t feel right.¡±

    ¡°ck mists like this rise all the time on this ck sea,¡± Terry said casually. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous.¡±

    After hearing his words, the other Demons didn¡¯t say another word, and went back to their human delicacies.

    However, momentster, an enormous outsider beast that was lying not far from them suddenly lifted its head and growled nervously.

    CRACK!

    The cup in Terry¡¯s hand shattered, and blood spilled, dripping from his hand.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The three Saint domain experts suddenly charged out of the thick, ck mist. Arriving with them was their terrifying momentum.

    Terry¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°Humans!¡±

    After finally getting a good look at Terry, Jing Feiyang couldn¡¯t help but shout furiously, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect from the Domain of Heaven Python!¡± Terry also eximed uncontrobly. ¡°How... Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    A few years ago, a joint army of Demons and Phantasms had invaded the Domain of Heaven Python. Terry had joined the siege of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s headquarters under the leadership of ninth grade grand patriarchs from his n.

    He had met Jing Feiyang back then.

    Who would have thought that they would meet again on this floating continent?

    As people said, when enemiese face to face, their eyes ze with hatred. (Idiom)

 Chapter 976: Kill

    Soon, the Star Boat split the ck mist and arrived.

    As he flew through the ck mist, Nie Tian felt that both his soul awareness and bloodline perception were blocked.

    The spiritual power he unleashed also traveled aimlessly in the ck mist, as if it were blinded.

    Even when he spoke to Dong Li, their words were turned into weird creaking sounds that couldn¡¯t travel very far.

    That was when he realized that the Star Behemoth was truly trustworthy.

    At this moment, even if all of the outsiders on this ind had seen them, they wouldn¡¯t be able to send messages to their friends.

    He wouldn¡¯t need to worry about that.

    The Star Boat flew to the center of the ind and stopped. Nie Tian nced around, and didn¡¯t see a single human.

    All of the flesh auras he could detect with his bloodline power were rather vigorous, which clearly didn¡¯t belong to humans.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°There are only outsiders here. Good!¡±

    Only then did his gazend on Terry, the eighth grade Demon. ¡°Hmm, I didn¡¯t expect to see a familiar face here!¡±

    Back in the day, Terry and Yuna, an eighth grade Phantasm, had led an army into the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    However, Nie Tian had activated the grand spell formation within the pce the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had left for him, and channeled thousands of meteors from the starry river to bombard the army of Demons and Phantasms.

    Suffering a sound defeat, Terry and Yuna had escaped with a small group of their n members.

    He knew what Terry looked like, but since he had remained in the pce back then, Terry had never seen his face.

    Terry only remembered Jing Feiyang, the sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect.

    Seeing the unfavorable situation, Terry threw his head back and roared in the Demonnguage, ¡°RUN!¡±

    He and a few dozen high-tier Demons, who had been enjoying their human delicacies just now, then dashed towards theke at full speed, without even attending to the low-tier Demons they had brought with them.

    At the same time, as the clearke thrummed with strong spatial fluctuations, the water divided, as if theke was split in two by a huge invisible de.

    A narrow spatial tunnel was then revealed at the bottom of theke.

    Rich Demon Qi could be seen exuding from it. Clearly, it connected to a certain Demon domain.

    Quan Zixuan from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect roared in a voice that was cold as ice. ¡°Run? Wishful thinking!¡±

    Hundreds of spiritual swords then shot out of his domain. ¡°Sword Condensing Incantation!¡±

    Like dragons and snakes, hundreds of multicolored spiritual swords interwove in midair.

    A fierce aura that could grind all things to pieces rapidly spread out from the of spiritual swords, enveloping heaven and earth.

    Spinning unceasingly, it ignored Terry and the other Demons, but flew directly towards the spatial tunnel in the middle of theke bottom.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The spatial tunnel that connected to a Demon domain blossomed with endless blinding light as it was ripped apart and exploded.

    The of spiritual swords even riddled theke bottom with holes, shaking the entire ind and giving rise to loud rumbles.

    The spatial tunnel vanishedpletely.

    ¡°It takes a lot of time and effort to open a spatial tunnel that connects two domains,¡± Dong Li said with a rxed expression. ¡°Many things need to be taken into consideration. And those who establish such connections need to have a deep understanding of spatial power. However,pared to establishing a spatial tunnel, it¡¯s far easier to destroy one.

    ¡°One can simply break the materials that have been used to build a spatial tunnel and erase the bloodline power that has been fused into it with pure force.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The ind continued to shake violently.

    Pitch-ck seawater started to rise from the hundreds of new holes at the bottom of theke, rapidly filling theke with ck seawater.

    At this moment, the spatial tunnel that connected to a certain Demon domain had already vanishedpletely, as if it had never existed in the first ce.

    Looking at the ck water, Nie Tian realized that the Star Behemoth¡¯s tentacles had reached thiske now.

    He had a feeling that any water from the ck sea could be used as the Star Behemoth¡¯s medium, through which it could pass its energy.

    Since the water in thiske had been clear and isted from the sea before, the Star Behemoth hadn¡¯t been able to extend its influence to the spatial tunnel in it.

    However, now that Quan Zixuan had riddled theke bottom with deep holes, ck seawater had poured in, turning the wholeke ck, and the Star Behemoth¡¯s power had be unimpeded.

    ¡°You were there when a Demon grand patriarch and a Phantasm grand patriarch attacked my sect¡¯s headquarters, along with more than a dozen eighth grade Demons and Phantasms,¡± Jing Feiyang said, satisfaction appearing his narrowed eyes. ¡°But here, you¡¯re the only eighth grade Demon, and your spatial tunnel has been destroyed. Where do you think you can go?¡±

    Countless magical symbols that carried the profound truths of heaven and earth, as well as thews of mountain andke development and the secrets of season alteration, suddenly flew towards Terry like butterflies.

    Terry roared madly as he activated his bloodline power. In the next moment, violent changes happened to his graceful and somewhat slender body.

    ¡°Indestructible Form!¡±

    His muscles bulged up one after another, every one of them containing bloodline power that was raging like the sea.

    At the same time, his size rapidly multiplied, as if he were an awakened beast.

    He clutched a double-headed battle axe that was about ten meters long, and shed it down with full force.

    FZZZ!

    A bolt of ck lightning then shot out of the axe, along with ck mes that were dark, cold, and filled with bloodlust.

    Mysterious patterns could be seen engraved on the surface of the axe that exuded an ancient, profound aura.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Demonic Souls¡¯ Wail!¡±

    One drop of Blood Essence after another flew out of him towards the enormous low-tier Demons in the vicinity.

    Upon contact with his Blood Essence, the low-tier Demons seemed to experience agonizing pain as they further expanded. They seemed to ignite everyst bit of their potential as they charged madly towards the Void domain experts close to them.

    At the same time, vague souls gradually rose from their enormous heads.

    Their souls also let out bloodcurdling wails, causing even Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, and Jing Feiyang¡¯s domains to grow twisted.

    Jing Feiyang let out a cold snort as he saw through Terry¡¯s intentions. ¡°He¡¯s sacrificing those low-tier Demons¡¯ souls to their ancestors. This is a desperate move. Sessful or not, all those low-tier Demons will die for sure.¡±

    With a disdainful smile, he added, ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re only at the eighth grade. At such a grade, no matter how hard you try, there¡¯s no way you¡¯ll get out of here alive.¡±

    ¡°Divine Seal Change!¡± he shouted.

    Thousands of divine seals suddenly came together in midair, condensing into a giant, multicolored hand.

    Immediately afterwards, the giant hand made a fist and descended towards Terry with an unstoppable momentum, as if it were going to yank the heavens down.

    Numerous souls that left the low-tier Demons were crushed by the giant hand¡¯s overwhelming might before it even touched them.

    The wails that made Nie Tian¡¯s scalp go numb vanished instantly.

    Numerous seventh grade Demons howled madly as they fully stimted their bloodline power and threw themselves towards the giant hand.

    The giant hand didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest as it flicked its huge fingers at the seventh grade Demons, which looked like flies byparison.

    One after another, they were crushed and fell out of the sky.

    Eventually, the giant hand caught Terry in a tight grip. ¡°An eighth grade Demon¡¯s Indestructible Form is very weak, in my eyes at least.¡±

    As Jing Feiyang let out a low chuckle, the giant hand suddenly squeezed.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Terry¡¯s transformed, expanded body shrank in the giant hand, blood spilling and falling out of the sky.

    Then, wisps of dazzling light flew out of the hand into Terry¡¯s head, ripping his soul to pieces.

    Shaking his head slowly, Jing Feiyang said in a soft voice. ¡°The eighth grade is far from enough... Times have changed. You have to understand that we humans are no longer livestock that you can butcher at will.¡±

    As Terry fell to the ground, dead, the Void domain expertsunched attacks as well. Their Spirit Channeling grade treasures flew in different directions, reaping Demon lives.

    Void domain experts were at an overwhelming advantage when dealing with seventh and sixth grade Demons. None of them met any difficulties in battle.

    The battle ended shortly afterwards in the total annihtion of the high-tier Demons who had been enjoying human delicacies just now.

    All of a sudden, theke¡¯s surface rose, submerging every dead Demon.

    Immediately afterwards, the ck water withdrew through the holes at theke¡¯s bottom, vanishing along with the mangled Demon corpses.

 Chapter 977: Thief

    ck water withdrew through the holes at theke¡¯s bottom in winding streams.

    They were like the Star Behemoth¡¯s tentacles that stealthily dragged the corpses of the Demons the human experts had killed away.

    Momentster, theke grew clear again in front of everyone, so clear that they could see the bottom.

    The bottom was as smooth as a mirror, like it had been before. All of the holes Quan Zixuan had created with his Sword Condensing Incantation had magically disappeared.

    It was just that not even a piece of outsider remains was left.

    ¡°This is...¡± Qu Mingde touched his forehead with a confused expression, not knowing what to say.

    Originally, they had intended to search the seventh grade Demons for valuables.

    As for the eighth grade Terry, even dead, his body would still be useful. Therefore, they had nned to take it away.

    None of them had expected that the ck water would take all of the outsider corpses away as it withdrew.

    The whole thing happened right in front of them, as if a thief straight-up took money from their pockets in broad daylight.

    Nie Tian was also at a loss for words.

    Terry¡¯s body had still contained vigorous flesh power. Even he intended to keep it for himself, so that he would be able to use it to practice Heavenly Wood Heal in the future.

    As for the dead Demon¡¯s souls, as long as they hadn¡¯tpletely dissipated, he would be able to collect them with the Spirit Pearl.

    Not to mention that all those who had died on this ind were outsiders. There wasn¡¯t a single human ve.

    Therefore, he believed that if he were to summon the Spirit Pearl to collect discarnate souls, Jing Feiyang and the other experts wouldn¡¯t be opposed to it.

    However, not only had the ck water taken the outsider corpses away, but their souls had also disappeared. Not a shred was left behind.

    Somewhat discontent, Nie Tian condensed a Star Eye and sent it into theke.

    However, he couldn¡¯t sense the Star Behemoth¡¯s aura in theke that had be clear again.

    It was also at this moment that the ck mist that had sealed the ind gradually scattered into ck wisps that fused back into the ck sea.

    With a cold snort, Nie Tian flew to the coast on his Star Boat, and sent his Star Eye into the ck sea.

    Before, every time he had sent his Star Eye into the ck sea, he could gain a view of what was under there, and vaguely sense the Star Behemoth¡¯s aura.

    This time, however, he couldn¡¯t see anything, as if his Star Eye had dove into endless darkness.

    Not only did the light his Star Eye unleashed fail to defeat the darkness, but it couldn¡¯t even detect anything on a soul level, as if all of its senses were clouded.

    Nie Tian sent out an indignant soul message through the Star Eye. ¡°You just stole from us!¡±

    There was no response.

    Nie Tian found this both irritating and funny. ¡°What do you need those Demon corpses for anyway? Also, if you wanted them, you could have talked to me first. What¡¯s with the secrecy?¡±

    There was still no response.

    ¡°What on earth are you doing?¡± Nie Tian called out again through his Star Eye.

    He still couldn¡¯t detect the Star Behemoth¡¯s aura in the sea.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to run out of patience, his Star Eye suddenly gained a view.

    However, the area that his Star Eye lit up was nothing but ck sea water. There was no sign of the mangled Demon bodies that had been previously taken.

    It was as if the Star Behemoth had transported them far beyond the Star Eye¡¯s detection range, even after such a short time.

    Momentster, he finally sensed the Star Behemoth¡¯s existence.

    ¡°I expended some effort to seal that ind. It¡¯s only fair that I take something aspensation.¡± The Star Behemoth finally gave a response.

    ¡°We came here for you! Everything we do is to help you!¡±

    ¡°Help me? Taking care of external problems for me while I lie dormant is the responsibility your sect has agreed to take! Otherwise, why would I agree to allow disciples of your sect toe here every century to gather spiritual materials and nts?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, it continued, ¡°From now on, if you ask for my assistance to kill those puny insects, their bodies will be mine to take.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m very curious as to what you¡¯ll do with those outsider corpses and souls,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°That¡¯s none of your business,¡± The Star Behemoth responded.

    From this conversation with it, Nie Tian realized that he was wasting his time talking to it. As long as it viewed its practice as reasonable, it wouldn¡¯tpromise in any way.

    After hitting a wall, Nie Tian flew back to the center of the ind on his Star Boat, looking rather frustrated.

    Jing Feiyang and the others fixed him with puzzled, inquiring gazes.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°Forget it. Talking to it didn¡¯t help. As long as it provides assistance, it¡¯ll take something aspensation. However, to be safe, we still need it to help us seal the other inds where the other spatial tunnels are located.¡±

    Nie Tian still didn¡¯t show any intent to exin who he was referring to. Jing Feiyang and the others were sensible enough not to ask about it.

    However, at this point, they had all realized that an incredibly powerful being was hiding in this boundless ck sea.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Let¡¯s move on to our next target. I¡¯ll have another talk with it after we¡¯ve destroyed all of the portals and finished off all of the outsider intruders.¡±

    The Star Boat then flew out, along with all of the Saint and Void domain experts.

    Six months passed...

    All five spatial tunnels in the ck sea that connected to outsider domains had been destroyed with the Star Behemoth¡¯s help.

    Those five inds had been guarded by eighth grade Phantasms, Fiends, Stonemen, and ckscales respectively.

    As they had traveled from one target to another, they had discovered and freed more human ves along their way.

    As they had done before, they had left them certain amounts of medicinal pills, spirit stones, and food, and told them that they woulde back to get them out of here after the outsiders were all taken care of.

    At every target ind, Nie Tian had asked the Star Behemoth to help seal it with a ck mist.

    In return, the Star Behemoth had either taken the dead outsiders¡¯ corpses, or they had thrown the corpses into the ck sea ording to the Star Behemoth¡¯s instructions.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian and his people, who had done most of the work, had gained nothing so far. Not only had they not gotten to loot any valuables from the outsiders, but they had even given away arge amount of spirit stones and medicinal pills to the ves they had freed.

    On this day, Nie Tian frowned after his briefmunication with the Star Behemoth.

    Nie Tian recaptured the map that the Star Behemoth had fused into his mind with great rity. ¡°Thest three portals aren¡¯t located in this ck sea. That means we won¡¯t be able to seek help from it in the battles toe. Also, once we leave the sea, it¡¯ll be much more difficult for me to establish a soul connection with it.

    ¡°I suppose this means that we¡¯re on our own from now on.

    ¡°That ninth grade grand patriarch is probably waiting by one of the remaining portals. Let¡¯s be extra careful, everyone.¡±

    The Star Boat then flew out at a high speed.

    What Nie Tian chose to be their next target was a portal that was located in a dense forest on a vast piece ofnd.

    The reason why he had chosen this one was because he had learned from the Star Behemoth that there were a number of rivers on this piece ofnd that flowed into the ck sea.

    ording to it, wherever Nie Tian saw rivers, creeks, orkes that were ck, he would be able to establish a connection with it.

    That was because every ck stream orke was like an eye or tentacle of the Star Behemoth, which covered almost every corner of this floating continent.

    However, as for the other two portals, one was located in a scorching hot desert, while the other was surrounded by frozen mountains. The Star Behemoth¡¯s tentacles couldn¡¯t reach either of these two locations.

    At least there were ck streams in the dense forest, through which he might be able to reach out to the Star Behemoth during their operation.

    The floating continent was iparably vast. Even with the Star Boat¡¯s help, it would take a very long time to travel from one target to another.

    After all, the Star Boat wasn¡¯t an ancient starship that could sail between domains. Its speed was still limited.

    Two monthster, after covering countless kilometers over a boundless wastnd, the Star Boat finally came to a dense forest where the sixth portal was marked out on the map.

    Gazing at the forest from afar, Nie Tian could tell that each and every tree was dozens of meters tall, and so lush that they blocked the sun.

    As the Star Boat flew closer, Nie Tian sensed the rich wood power the forest emanated. One sniff of the air seemed to nourish the Godspirit Tree leaves in his wood power core.

    ¡°Those who practice wood power will be able to cultivate iparably efficiently here!¡± Quan Zixuan marveled. ¡°This floating continent used to be a superrge-scale realm. Realms this size are hard to find even across the starry river. If it weren¡¯t badly damaged, who knows how many races would have waged wars to take this realm during the past hundreds of thousands of years.¡±

    ¡°This ce suits you very much, Nie Tian,¡± Dong Li said.

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat frustrated as he said, ¡°Yes, it does. Unfortunately, we¡¯re on a mission, and we can¡¯t be dyed. Besides, ording to a certain agreement, it¡¯s not time for people from the Fragmentary Star Pce to enter this continent yet.¡±

    People talked in low voices as they traveled through the dense forest.

    A few dayster, Jing Feiyang was the first one to sense something.

    ¡°There are humans ahead, and they¡¯re chopping the ancient trees down!¡±

 Chapter 978: Remedy

    ¡°We¡¯re only a few hundred kilometers from our target portal,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Jing Feiyang nodded. ¡°That seems right. Enved humans areboring here, which usually means that an outsider spatial tunnel is in the vicinity.¡±

    At this point, they had already drawn experience from their previous operations.

    They had discovered human ves working on inds that were close to every one of the five portals they had previously eliminated.

    Therefore, they knew that a portal was nearby as soon as they discovered those human ves.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do this the old way,¡± Qu Mingde said in a deep voice.

    After hearing his words, Quan Zixuan and Jing Feiyang exchanged a nce. Then, they seemed to reach a mutual understanding as they masked all of their auras and flew off into the distance.

    Like ghosts, the three Saint domain experts shed forward through the gaps among the trees.

    Two hourster, Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect received word from them. He turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°They¡¯re finished.¡±

    Only then did Nie Tian and the others move out.

    It didn¡¯t take very long for the Star Boat and the Void domain experts to fly to the battlefield.

    Upon arriving, they saw hundreds of humans weeping or howling around Quan Zixuan. All of them had silver rings around their necks.

    Quan Zixuan sighed repeatedly as he talked to them withforting tones.

    Seeing that these poor people seemed to know Quan Zixuan, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Many of the ancient trees in this area had been cut down or pulled up by their roots.

    This seemed to the job of these human Qi warriors.

    A number of dead Phantasms and Fiends were scattered around. The most powerful one seemed to have been a seventh grade Fiend.

    ¡°These people were taken from the Domain of Heaven Python,¡± Jing Feiyang exined to Nie Tian in a low voice. ¡°Most of them were from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s subordinate forces. The outsiders killed their powerful seniors and imprisoned those who they deemed non-threatening. They put silver rings around their necks and shipped them here to chop down ancient trees, which they¡¯d sell to Floragrimster.

    ¡°The ancient trees here contain wood power that¡¯s far richer than the trees in medium-scale realms.

    ¡°Floragrims will be able to channel power from these trees and use it to elerate their bloodline upgrades. They can also vest some of the unusually hard timber with their bloodline imprints, and turn them into mighty weapons.¡±

    As they spoke, Quan Zixuan had a headache dealing with the moring crowd he had just saved. He eximed softly, telling them to shut up.

    Only after they gradually fell silent did Quan Zixuan open his mouth again. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re here to save you. Now go in the direction we came from and see if you can retreat to an ind surrounded by the ck sea. After we finish off the outsiders, I promise you that we¡¯lle back for you and take you back to the Domain of Heaven Python!

    ¡°Thank you, sectmaster!¡±

    The Qi warriors that belonged to the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s subordinate sects wept as they expressed their gratitude.

    Quan Zixuan seemed rather generous to these poor people who had depended on his sect, as he gave themrge amounts of food and spirit stones.

    Not just that, but he even summoned a few air-transportation spiritual tools from within his ring of holding, so that they would be able to ferry themselves to an ind after reaching the coast.

    ¡°It¡¯s people taken from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s subordinate forces this time,¡± Qu Mingde said. ¡°Perhaps we¡¯lle across ves that were taken from our subordinate forcester. If we can free all those who the outsiders have taken from the Domain of Heaven Python and bring them home at the end of this mission, I guess that might help relieve the guilt and regret that burdens our hearts.¡±

    Jing Feiyang didn¡¯t say anything, but the determined look in his eyes suggested that he had the same opinion.

    Back when the outsiders had invaded the Domain of Heaven Python, because their joint army had been led by multiple ninth grade grand patriarchs, and the Void Spirit Society had intended to teach the Domain of Heaven Python a lesson by demanding that other parties stay out of it, the Domain of Heaven Python had ended up suffering great losses.

    Even the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Divine Seal Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect had only been able to protect their most valued disciples by either shipping them to remote dead realms that outsiders wouldn¡¯t think of searching, or keeping them in their headquarters where their ancient grand spell formations could temporarily ward off the outsiders¡¯ attacks.

    As for their subordinate forces, they hadn¡¯t had the ability to protect them all.

    Therefore, the fact that members of their subordinate forces had been butchered or taken as ves made them me themselves every time they thought of it. They felt that they had failed them.

    Who would have thought that this trip to the floating continent would give them an opportunity to free those who had been taken from the Domain of Heaven Python as a remedy for their dereliction of duty?

    ¡°From now on, we need to hide ourselves even better,¡± Qu Mingde added. ¡°Once we are exposed, the outsider overseers will kill our people immediately by triggering the silver rings around their necks.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded vigorously.

    That said, everyone moved out again.

    On their way to the target, the three Saint domain experts struck four more groups of outsiders with the speed of lightning.

    The ves they saved were mostly Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python. Some had been taken from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s subordinate forces, while others had been taken from forces that clung to the Divine Seal Sect or the Golden Vast Sect.

    The experts on Nie Tian¡¯s team, who were from these three sects, took special care of these freed ves.

    Not only did they leave them plenty of medicinal pills, spirit stones, and food, but they even gave them quite a few air-transportation spiritual tools before instructing them to try find an ind to stay on.

    After that, they eventually came to the ce in the dense forest where the target spatial tunnel was.

    After conducting a thorough scan, Jing Feiyang withdrew his soul awareness meticulously, lest he be discovered. ¡°There are three eighth grade outsiders there, a Demon, a Phantasm, and a Fiend... The strongest of them seems to be that female Phantasm, who¡¯s at the peak of the eighth grade. This is a bit tricky.¡±

    Upon hearing this, everyone subconsciously turned to look at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly facing everyone¡¯s gazes.

    He hadn¡¯t spotted a single ck stream orke on their way to this location.

    This meant that it was no longer an option tomunicate with the Star Behemoth, and have it seal the area with a ck mist first.

    Even though they would lose all of the battle spoils to the Star Behemoth if they asked for its assistance, at least it would help make their operation safe and smooth.

    Only at this moment did it ur to them that they wouldn¡¯t have been able to destroy the five portals before this so safely and effortlessly if it weren¡¯t for the Star Behemoth¡¯s secret assistance.

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian said, ¡°Okay. Everybody spread out and see if you can find any ck streams orkes.

    ¡°Someone has assured me that there are such streams andkes in this forest. If we can find them, and they¡¯re not very far from the portal, then we¡¯ll be able to use our old method to kill the three eighth grade outsiders and destroy the sixth spatial tunnel without letting other outsiders know.¡±

    After briefly reflecting on Nie Tian¡¯s words, Jing Feiyang chimed in, ¡°Why don¡¯t the Void domain people just stay here? Perhaps other eighth grade outsiders are wandering around in this forest. The strength of eighth grade outsiders matches that of Void domain cultivators. This will allow them to sense the faint flesh power fluctuations you emanate.¡±

    No one was opposed to this proposal.

    Only Nie Tian thought briefly and said, ¡°I can go search by myself.¡±

    Quan Zixuan fixed him with a shocked gaze.

    ¡°I can mask my flesh aura, making it very hard to find me,¡± Nie Tian said, sounding very confident. ¡°I¡¯ve hidden myself and killed quite a few eighth grade Lizardmen before.¡±

    ¡°But Nie Tian, you¡¯ve got to understand that the Lizardmen you dealt with were far weaker than Demons, Phantasms, or Fiends at the same grade,¡± Jing Feiyang said with all seriousness. ¡°I heard about the domain you explored and those Lizardmen you killed. It was said that they didn¡¯t even know how to cast any bloodline or soul magics.¡±

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde also advised against this rash action.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, Jing Feiyang added, ¡°If you somehow expose yourself, the outsiders may rm the others, and even summon more powerful experts to this continent through the three remaining portals.¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Nie Tian grew hesitant after hearing these words.

    At this moment, the three Godspirit Tree leaves in his wood power core suddenly shone with dazzling emerald light.

    His expression flickered as he examined himself carefully. Momentster, he pointed in a direction and eximed, ¡°Take me there, Senior Jing!¡±

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Jing Feiyang was confused, since the direction Nie Tian had pointed out wasn¡¯t the direction of the target portal.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure yet, but let¡¯s go take a look first,¡± Nie Tian said.

    After a moment of pondering, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°Alright. The ninth grade grand patriarch is probably at one of the other two portals. As long as he¡¯s not here, I should be able to hide the two of us from the eighth grade outsiders.¡±

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde then said that they would head out in other directions to search for ck streams and rivers.

    With these words, the three parties split up.

    Nie Tian gave his Star Boat to Dong Li before Jing Feiyang carried him away into the distance, not making a sound.

    A dozen magical symbols supported Nie Tian as the two of them flew through the dense forest. Jing Feiyang frowned slightly as he said, ¡°Oh my... Howe you¡¯re so heavy? Most enormous spirit beasts aren¡¯t as heavy as you are.¡±

 Chapter 979: A Dead Godspirit Tree

    Jing Feiyang had been aware of Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness for a long time.

    He also knew that outsiders were usually exceptionally heavy because of their vigorous flesh power and well-refined bodies.

    He had fought outsiders on various asions, and killed quite a number of them in battle.

    However, even sixth grade outsiders hadn¡¯t felt as heavy as Nie Tian.

    Outsiders emphasized body refinement, which resulted in increased body density and increased weight.

    When it came to outsiders at the same grade, the heavier one was, the more refined his or her body must be.

    As Jing Feiyang had slight difficulty in supporting Nie Tian with his divine seals, he realized that the level of refinement of Nie Tian¡¯s body had probably exceeded that of most sixth grade spirit beasts and outsiders.

    That was to say, by relying on nothing but his bloodline power, Nie Tian would be at an overwhelming advantage in a battle against a sixth grade outsider or spirit beast.

    A very impressed look appeared in Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes. <i>¡°Adding in the three types of power from the spiritual cores in his spiritual sea and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s profound incantations, I¡¯m afraid no one at his level would be able to defeat him in battle, human, outsider, or spirit beast.¡±</i>

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As he swung his sleeve, a dozen more magical symbols flew out to wreath Nie Tian. Nie Tian felt unprecedentedly light as he was carried through the forest of ancient trees at a high speed.

    A few secondster, Jing Feiyang let out a soft exmation as he suddenly jerked his head towards Nie Tian. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian had just activated his Life Stealth bloodline talent, concealing his fleshly fluctuationspletely, as if even his heart had stopped beating.

    All living beings with flesh and blood would emanate subtle fleshly fluctuations with every beat of their hearts, the flow of their blood, and even changes in their mood.

    Powerful outsiders had the ability to perceive such fleshly fluctuations just as human experts had the ability to capture soul fluctuations while living beings thought.

    Fleshly fluctuations and soul fluctuations were the outsiders¡¯ and humans¡¯ respective means to detect lives.

    Jing Feiyang wasn¡¯t an outsider, but since Nie Tian was flying right beside him, he could vaguely sense his vigorous flesh aura.

    However, all of a sudden, he couldn¡¯t capture even a shred of the flesh aura that he exuded anymore.

    He then realized that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been bragging just now. He actually could hide himself from outsiders that relied solely on flesh aura detection to scan their surroundings.

    Even if Nie Tian was buried right underneath their feet, they wouldn¡¯t be able to sense his existence.

    <i>¡°Now that he¡¯s masked his flesh aura, let me mask his soul aura for him.¡±</i> As this thought entered Jing Feiyang¡¯s mind, half of the magical symbols that wreathed Nie Tian instantly lit up.

    The soul fluctuations he emanated as he thought about things werepletely sealed off.

    Now that neither his fleshly fluctuations nor his soul fluctuations would leave Nie Tian¡¯s side, as long as he stayed out of the outsiders¡¯ sight, he would bepletely undetectable, not even by the Phantasms.

    A quarter hourter...

    The three Godspirit Tree leaves in his wood power core shone even more dazzlingly, filling his spiritual sea with emerald light.

    He could even sense their delight and excitement.

    It was as if something not far ahead had an irresistible appeal to them.

    ¡°What could it be?¡± Nie Tian wondered as he grew increasingly careful.

    ¡°A group of Demons is garrisoned ahead, but they¡¯re all at the sixth and seventh grade, nothing more.¡± With a disdainful snort, Jing Feiyang suddenly elerated.

    Secondster, a swarm of gorgeous, multicolored divine seals flew out of him.

    But immediately afterwards, they grew transparent as they plunged into the ground, as if to fly forward underground.

    Jing Feiyang came to a stop in midair. Thousands of magical symbols could be seen flying in the depths of his eyes as he wove his hands in the air like frolicking butterflies flitting among flowers.

    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± With a faint smile, Jing Feiyang elerated again.

    Momentster, the two of them arrived at the target area.

    A huge withered tree had been broken into three pieces, with the bottom piece rooted in a piece of dried-upnd, and the other two lying next to it.

    That piece ofnd was clearly not a part of this dense forest. Instead, it seemed to have fallen out of the heavens and crashed into it.

    The crash had created a deep hole in the ground, around which more than a dozen Demons were now lying, dead. All of them had been soundlessly killed by Jing Feiyang¡¯s magical symbols. They hadn¡¯t even known what had hit them.

    Pointing at the piece ofnd that didn¡¯t blend in, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°These Demons were gathered here and talking about taking this withered tree that had broken into three pieces away. Apparently, they hoped to sell it to the Floragrims.¡±

    With a single nce at the broken tree, Nie Tian immediately realized that this was a Godspirit Tree, which had been dead for who knew how long.

    Godspirit Trees were Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials, which could automatically channel wood power from the starry river and fuse it into the realm it was rooted in, vesting thend with vigorous life force and soon turning it into a blessednd for Floragrims or cultivators who practiced wood power.

    ording to the records in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Godspirit Trees could be easily found in the Deste Antiquity Era. Because of them, many realms had been wreathed with rich wood power.

    However, as time had passed, the Godspirit Trees had gradually died out for some reason. Today, they could only be found in Floragrim realms.

    <i>¡°Floragrim realms...¡± </i>Nie Tian fixed his eyes on the piece of dried-up, crackednd that clearly didn¡¯t belong to this continent, and then looked up at the grayish sky.

    <i>¡°If my spection is correct, this piece ofnd must be a piece of the Floragrims¡¯ homnd from the shattered top continent.</i>

    <i>¡°The Godspirit Tree probably died, and was broken into three pieces when it crashed into this forest with this piece ofnd. The Godspirit Tree leaves in my spiritual sea must have sensed the existence of this Godspirit Tree, and grew excited. It¡¯s just that it must have been dead for many years. Even though the Godspirit Tree leaves in my spiritual sea have led me to it, what can we do?¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian approached the withered Godspirit Tree that had broken into three pieces.

    Two pieces were lying on the dried-upnd, while the third piece was still rooted in thend. Its roots couldn¡¯t be seen.

    Nie Tian then walked to the two pieces on the ground. He activated wood power incantations as he ced his hand on them.

    Nothing happened.

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian walked to the third piece of withered Godspirit Tree that was deeply rooted in the piece of dried-upnd.

    He lifted his hand once again before cing it on its shriveled, grayish-brown tree bark.

    All of a sudden, the three Godspirit Tree leaves flew out of his wood power core. They followed his arm into his palm before entering the bottom piece of the Godspirit Tree.

    Crisp cracking sounds then came from the grayish-brown tree trunk. Its shriveled bark started peeling off.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s wood power core was somehow stimted. The concentrated wood power within it started to pour uncontrobly towards the Godspirit Tree¡¯s roots.

    Liquidized wood power rapidly vanished from his wood power core.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    If he continued to lose wood power at such a high speed, it wouldn¡¯t be long before his wood power core waspletely drained of its liquidized wood power.

    ¡°This won¡¯t work.¡± Brows furrowed, he withdrew his hand decisively.

    He summoned the seventy-two tree branches from within his ring of holding and nted them in the dried-up ground to form the Wood Thriving Formation.

    In the next moment, as the spell formation was activated, rich wood power that wreathed the depths of the dense forest started converging from all directions.

    Wisps of rich wood power flew into the Wood Thriving Formation, condensing into a thick, emerald green mist that was pure wood power essence.

    It didn¡¯t even need Nie Tian to do anything to flow towards the Godspirit Tree¡¯s withered roots on its own.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was struck by a thrilling idea that the Wood Thriving Formation had existed to serve the purpose of protecting Godspirit Trees in the first ce!

    He had gathered these tree branches from a floatingnd on the top continent, which was the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd. On that floatingnd, seventy-two iparably huge ancient trees had formed a peculiar formation to gather wood power from their surroundings to protect that piece ofnd.

    Later, as he had solved the mysteries of the Wood Thriving Formation, the floatingnd had shattered and fallen.

    It was also at that time that the mysterious tree patterns that had carried the profound mysteries of the Wood Thriving Formation had fused into the seventy-two tree branches, which had ended up in his possession.

    A bolt of lightning shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he instantly figured out the whole thing.

    <i>¡°The seventy-two ancient trees in that ancestralnd must have been protecting this Godspirit Tree. However, as that floatingnd fell apart and crashed into this forest, the withered Godspirit Tree broke into three pieces.</i>

    <i>¡°Even though the three Godspirit Tree leaves in my wood power core didn¡¯te from this dead Godspirit Tree, they¡¯ve somehow fused into its roots and reignited its life force, causing it to change.¡±</i>

    Due to the Wood Thriving Formation¡¯s magical effects, rich wood power continued to gather from different parts of the dense forest.

    The bottom part of the dead Godspirit Tree continued to shed piece after piece of its shriveled bark.

    Watching this, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement.

 Chapter 980: A Godspirit Tree Sapling

    ording to the agreement between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Star Behemoth, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t allowed to take a single de of grass from this floating continent this time.

    However, since the withered Godspirit Tree was in desperate need of wood power, and Nie Tian¡¯s wood power core didn¡¯t contain enough wood power for it to finish the change, he decided to provide it with the wood power it needed first.

    As the Wood Thriving Formation continued to work its wonders, rich wood power madly converged on it from all directions.

    As the bottom part of the Godspirit Tree continued to shed its shriveled bark, the tree trunk, which wasn¡¯t very thick to begin with, grew thinner and thinner.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Jing Feiyang called out as he nced around nervously. ¡°What you¡¯re doing now might be a bit inappropriate.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I know.¡±

    Even though he remained inside the Wood Thriving Formation, he didn¡¯t cast any incantations to channel the rich wood power into himself.

    That was because he knew that the withered Godspirit Tree needed the converging wood power much more than he did.

    ¡°This may rm the outsiders,¡± Jing Feiyang warned him.

    ¡°But this is far too important,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    ¡°This tree is...?¡± Jing Feiyang asked.

    Since he didn¡¯t practice wood power, and Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials were extremely hard to find, even he had failed to identify this Godspirit Tree.

    ¡°This tree was a treasure when it was alive,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°It¡¯s a Godspirit Tree, a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material.¡±

    A shudder ran through Jing Feiyang. ¡°A Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material?! But isn¡¯t it dead now?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is. But... some profound change is taking ce.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t know how to exin this either. After all, even he couldn¡¯t tell what kind of change its roots that had stretched deep into ground were going through, and what would happen eventually.

    This forest of ancient trees covered a vast area, and contained a copious amount of wood power.

    Originally, the Wood Thriving Formation could only channel wood power from the nts within a fifty kilometer radius.

    However, whether it was because of the three Godspirit Tree leaves or some other reason, Nie Tian felt that the Wood Thriving Formation¡¯s sphere of influence had somehow expanded to a great extent.

    Now, trees and nts within a several hundred kilometer radius were subject to the spell formation¡¯s influence, as rich wood power was being channeled out of them towards Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The bottom part of the tree continued to shrink as it shed its bark.

    After a short while, emerald green light suddenly burst forth from under the dried-up ground where the Godspirit Tree had taken root.

    The three leaves that had left Nie Tian¡¯s wood power core seemed to have long since vanished.

    Nie Tian sensed a familiar aura spewing from underground, where the emerald green light was blossoming.

    All of a sudden, a small, fresh green sapling stuck out of one of the cracks in the ground.

    It exuded a heavenly aura as it grew out of the withered Godspirit Tree¡¯s roots, as if it had its own awareness.

    Before Nie Tian came out of his daze, it wobbled towards him like a baby learning to walk.

    SHEW!

    It flew into Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen in a sh.

    Nie Tian¡¯s jaw dropped. He hastily examined himself, and realized that the sapling had entered his wood power core.

    Immediately afterwards, the rich wood power that was converging from all directions seemed to be drawn by the sapling as it started to pour madly into his wood power core.

    Wisps of emerald green aura could be seen swirling around within the core, refining the iing wood power before fusing it into the sapling.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Is that...?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a Godspirit Tree sapling,¡± Nie Tian said, looking amazed himself. ¡°The Godspirit Tree leaves within me must have stimted it, allowing it to channel wood power from its surroundings, and eventually grow out of the withered Godspirit Tree¡¯s root.¡±

    ¡°How will it help you?¡± Jing Feiyang asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know yet,¡± Nie Tian answered frankly.

    He realized that as soon as the emerald green sapling took root in his wood power core, it stopped taking the wood power the Wood Thriving Formation was gathering from its surroundings.

    Furthermore, he was surprised to find that the Wood Thriving Formation seemed to be holding back as it channeled wood power from its surroundings.

    Before, whenever the Wood Thriving Formation had been activated, all trees within a fifty kilometer radius would soon wither and die as they lost everyst wisp of their wood power.

    But this time, due to the existence of the Godspirit Tree sapling, the wood power the Wood Thriving Formation was channeling from the nearby trees only took up a small portion of the total amount.

    Even though the trees and grass had turned yellow and shriveled to some extent, they didn¡¯t die.

    At this moment, the tips of Jing Feiyang¡¯s brows flickered as he received a message from Quan Zixuan. Without the slightest dy, he said to Nie, ¡°Quan Zixuan has discovered a ckke!¡±

    ¡°Great! Take me there!¡± Nie Tian eximed joyously.

    ¡°Sure. We¡¯d better get there as soon as possible, lest the outsiders notice something and be prepared.¡± Jing Feiyang also knew that time was of the essence. Without hesitation, he unleashed more than fifty magical symbols that joined the other ones in carrying Nie Tian forward. The two of them flew towards Quan Zixuan¡¯s location at full speed.

    Momentster, they arrived, and found that Qu Mingde, another Saint domain expert, had also arrived.

    Nie Tian saw a ckke surrounded by a forest so dense that it blocked all sunlight. Theke seemed to have been silent for countless years. Not a single ripple could be seen on its surface.

    Without dy, Nie Tian formed a Star Eye and plunged it into thekewater.

    Soon, the Star Behemoth¡¯s awareness descended through means he couldn¡¯tprehend.

    Nie Tian picked up the Star Behemoth¡¯s soul message that came from the depths of theke. Every word of it was clear. ¡°Good. You¡¯re here, and you¡¯ve reached me through thiske. So like we did before, I¡¯ll help you mask your auras and seal those insects off. In return, I¡¯ll...¡±

    It suddenly stopped, and then it continued with a different tone, ¡°You broke the agreement!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian pretended that he didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you mess with me!¡± The Star Behemoth sounded somewhat angered. ¡°I can tell that a certain region in this heaven and earth has gone through changes. The trees and vegetation there have lost a third of their wood power! And I sense changes in you too. It must be you who did this!¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Seeing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to pass the buck, Nie Tian gave a bitter smile and exined, ¡°There was a little ident. You see, I had three Godspirit Tree leaves in my spiritual sea. They...¡± he went on and briefly exined the matter.

    Immediately afterwards, he asked with an urgent tone, ¡°Will you help us seal the area where those eighth grade outsiders are garrisoned first?¡±

    The Star Behemoth fell silent, as if to weigh the matter. Momentster, he replied, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll straighten things out with you after you finish your job!¡±

    A vast, ck mist then gradually rose from the ckke. Driven by the Star Behemoth, it slowly floated towards the spatial tunnel that was guarded by a group of powerful outsiders.

    ¡°But I won¡¯t be able to help you with the other two portals. You¡¯ll have to rely on yourselves!¡±

    The mist traveled at a fast speed as it floated farther and farther into the distance.

    The three Saint domain experts thenmunicated with their subordinates via Sound Stones, instructing them to stay put.

    Afterwards, the three of them flew into the ck mist, carrying Nie Tian, and then moved forward with it.

    In the depths of the ck mist, Nie Tian could only vaguely see Jing Feiyang, who was flying right next to him. Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde were nowhere to be seen.

    At the same time, he lost his other senses in the ck mist, including his hearing and soul perception.

    After an unknown period of time, Nie Tian noticed that the ck mist had stopped moving. That was when he knew they had arrived at their target area.

    Jing Feiyang approached him and gestured, signaling him to remain where he was and not to leave the ck mist.

    Nie Tian nodded to show that he understood.

    Immediately afterwards, Jing Feiyang vanished into the boundless ck mist.

    Nie Tian knew that the three Saint domain experts would have to destroy the sixth spatial tunnel with thunderous means first, and then ughter the powerful outsiders that were guarding it.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t see, hear, or sense anything in the ck mist, he could tell that a deadly battle, or exactly speaking, a massacre, was taking ce in his surroundings.

    After a while, Yuna, the eighth grade Phantasm, suddenly entered Nie Tian¡¯s view in the pitch-ck mist.

    She was none other than the female Phantasm at the peak of the eighth grade Jing Feiyang had detected earlier.

    She, who had always been graceful and devilishly gorgeous, had clearly suffered heavy injuries. Even the prismatic crystal between her eyebrows, which was unique to Phantasms, had fine fissures on it.

    This was the sign that a Phantasm¡¯s soul had sustained serious injuries.

    As the devilish Yuna shed through the ck mist, magical symbols could be seen sputtering from her body, which was covered in wounds.

    She had activated her bloodline power to the fullest. With each magical symbol she drove out of her, she experienced agonizing pain. Even her face twisted.

    Like a sh, Yuna once again vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    With an astounded expression, Nie Tian looked in the direction Yuna had just vanished in. He suddenly cast a Starshift that allowed him to instantly leave the ck mist.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    He summoned the Star Behemoth bone he had taken from the Lizardman patriarch.

    The moment he cast it, he was drained of everyst bit of his flesh power.

    Flying out of his hand, the bone locked down onto Yuna, who had escaped the ck mist and was dashing away like a bolt of lightning.

    PUFF!

    The bone that was more than ten meters long pierced into Yuna¡¯s back and out her chest, nailing her to the spot. Blood came pouring out of the wounds.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde all shot out of the ck mist, burning with anxiety.

    Yuna turned around, the prismatic crystal between her eyebrows rapidly growing dim.

    Gazing at Nie Tian from afar, she looked deeply confused, as if she couldn¡¯t believe that a human that was only at the Profound realm had gotten her, when she had avoided Jing Feiyang¡¯s fatal attack.

 Chapter 981: â€œIâ€™m Completely Won Over!â€

    SHEW!

    The prismatic crystal between Yuna¡¯s eyebrows suddenly separated itself from her forehead, tearing her skin and flesh as it did.

    One drop of Blood Essence after another flew out from her heart that was under her ample chest to fuse into the prismatic crystal that was the size of a fingernail.

    Yuna¡¯s flesh aura instantly shrunk by half.

    Her eyes gradually closed, as if she had died.

    However, the floating prismatic crystal blossomed with dazzling cyan light, as if it was hoping to flee from the battlefield with Yuna¡¯s soul and flesh aura essence.

    ¡°If you¡¯re going to die, die thoroughly!¡± Quan Zixuan let out a cold harrumph, a silver spiritual sword flying out of his palm.

    FZZZ!

    The spiritual sword suddenly lit up as it scraped the heavens, piercing towards the prismatic crystal.

    Jing Feiyang also activated secret incantations to form multiple sealing wards with countless magical symbols.

    The prismatic crystal repeatedly flew into the wards of magical symbols, letting out miserable wails. It dashed around aimlessly in the concealed area, ramming into the walls, but still couldn¡¯t get away.

    CRUNCH!

    The silver spiritual sword finally hit the crystal with great force.

    The crystal, which was already covered in fine cracks, suddenly shattered, bing tiny broken pieces with drops of Blood Essence within them.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian, who had lost all of his flesh power, suddenly shot into the area sealed by the magical symbols.

    Numerous blood strings flew piercing towards the pieces of broken crystal like fishing wires cast by a fisherman.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    The blood strings that were as fine as hairs rapidly grew thick, like leeches sucking blood to their fill.

    Yuna¡¯s Blood Essence within the pieces of broken crystal contained extremely rich flesh power. As the blood strings connected to Nie Tian, the flesh power within them poured madly into him.

    Under the incredible effects of Life Drain, Nie Tian¡¯s body was like a dried-up well that was rapidly filled to the brim with water.

    <i>¡°The peak of the eighth grade indeed!¡±</i> Nie Tian cheered inwardly, as he discovered that just the Blood Essence within the pieces of broken crystal alone contained more flesh power than all that he had gained from the eighth grade Lizardmen¡¯s corpsesbined!

    Even though Yuna¡¯s Blood Essence was rapidly vanishing from the pieces of broken crystal, her soul shadow could still be vaguely seen within them.

    They were none other than Yuna¡¯s discarnate soul that hadn¡¯t dissipated.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian unleashed the Spirit Pearl.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl appeared, the wisps of discarnate soul within the pieces of broken crystal let out terrified screams simultaneously.

    Yuna¡¯s discarnate soul trembled with fear.

    Clearly, she knew everything about the Spirit Pearl¡¯s origin and uses.

    However, it wasn¡¯t the fact that Nie Tian had this Phantasm treasure in his possession that scared her. Instead, it was the fact that he seemed to be able to wield it freely.

    She lost herst hope, knowing that she was in no condition to fight the Spirit Pearl.

    Not to mention that she even sensed the aura of a ninth grade grand patriarch from it.

    The Spirit Pearl flew across the void to touch the pieces of broken crystal. Every time it made contact with one, the soul shadow within it would vanish in the blink of an eye.

    In a matter of seconds, Yuna¡¯s shattered discarnate soul vanishedpletely into the Spirit Pearl.

    At this point, Yuna died thoroughly, deprived of any chance to be reborn.

    Jing Feiyang let out a deep breath and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Phantasms are special indeed, especially one that¡¯s at the peak of the eighth grade.

    ¡°This Phantasm named Yuna actually avoided my fatal attack with bloodline magics I¡¯ve never seen. When she flew about in the ck mist, even I couldn¡¯t lock her down. If you hadn¡¯t pinned her to the spot with that bone, she wouldn¡¯t have had to abandon her fleshly body and flee in that prismatic crystal of hers.¡±

    Still overwhelmed, Qu Mingde chimed in, ¡°If she had actually escaped, we¡¯d have been in serious trouble.¡±

    Quan Zixuan took a deep look at Nie Tian and then shot a nce at the bone that had pierced through Yuna. ¡°So the rumors were real... At first, I thought those people from the Five Elements Sect were exaggerating when they said that you had killed multiple eighth grade Lizardmen. But I believe it now.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°You¡¯ve truly won me over this time.¡±

    Qu Mingde smiled and chimed in, ¡°Me too.¡±

    The reason why the two of them had decided to swear allegiance to Nie Tian after his journey to the Domain of Endless Snow was because they had been apprehensive of the so-called God domain expert who practiced me incantations.

    They had actually resisted it deep down, but since they had been aware that they wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to contend against a God domain expert, they had sworn allegiance to Nie Tian against their will.

    Even after learning from a number of Saint and Void domain disciples of the Five Elements Sect that Nie Tian had in five eighth grade Lizardmen with a bone, they hadn¡¯t really approved of him.

    They had been aware that Huang Jinnan and Nie Tian were close, and thus assumed that he had intentionally exaggerated Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess to fuel his influence.

    Only now, after witnessing Nie Tian pierce Yuna, who had escaped from Jing Feiyang¡¯s hand, with that mysterious bone, did they finally believe that the rumors were real.

    The fact that Nie Tian was able to kill the eighth grade Yuna when he was only at the Profound realm was simply shocking, even though he had relied on a mysterious weapon.

    They finally marveled at Nie Tian¡¯s abilities, and realized that it had been a wise decision to attach themselves to him.

    WHOOSH!

    As the ck mist gradually dissipated, a cloud of it flew over and wrapped around Yuna¡¯s corpse.

    Nie Tian and the others were well-aware that the Star Behemoth would take the outsider corpses away after the battle came to an end.

    Simrly, the dead outsiders that were scattered around the destroyed spatial tunnel disappeared one after another.

    After the vast ck mist finally cleared, not another outsider corpse was in sight, except for Yuna¡¯s body, which was still wrapped in a cloud of ck mist, as they had all been taken away by the Star Behemoth.

    Nie Tian suddenly realized why the Star Behemoth was doing this, and thus swung his sleeve.

    Channeled by his bloodline power, the mysterious bone then flew out of the ck mist into his palm.

    However, the remaining bit of ck mist didn¡¯t intend to leave right away. Instead, it slowly flew over and engulfed Nie Tian.

    Even though the Star Behemoth¡¯s awareness was on and off in the ck mist, Nie Tian still managed to receive its message.

    ¡°My awareness can¡¯t hold on for long in the mist.

    ¡°But I still sensed the unique bone you used just now, which shouldn¡¯t have been something you can wield. Technically, its owner belonged to the same race as me, and it¡¯s much older than I am.

    ¡°I was very surprised that you were able to wield it.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to take a look at it after you finish your job. If we reconvene on the ind through which you came, it¡¯ll be much easier for me to use my powers.

    ¡°In return, I¡¯ll forgo the mess you made in that forest...¡±

    Unlike in the ckkes or rivers, the Star Behemoth¡¯s awareness gradually grew vague and ethereal in the ck mist.

    Soon, as Nie Tian could no longer receive any soul messages from the Star Behemoth, the cloud of ck mist flew off into the distance to join the retreating mist, carrying Yuna¡¯s body with it as it did.

    Nie Tian nced around, and saw nothing but the destroyed spatial tunnel.

    ¡°It¡¯s taken all of the outsider corpses away,¡± Quan Zixuan said with a rxed tone. ¡°Now that we¡¯ve destroyed the sixth spatial tunnel, there are only two to go. After we destroy them, our mission will be finallypleted.¡±

    ¡°Shall we go meet the others first?¡± Jing Feiyang suggested, looking at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Jing Feiyang then carried Nie Tian, who had left his Star Boat with Dong Li, with divine seals as they flew out toward the location where Dong Li and the Void domain experts were waiting.

    Right before they left, Nie Tian saw the pieces of broken crystal, from which he had drained Yuna¡¯s Blood Essence and the Spirit Pearl had channeled her shattered soul, falling to the ground and shattering.

    That was when he realized that, after losing its Blood Essence and soul, the crystal had lost all value.

    ¡°Being an eighth grade Phantasm, if she had escaped through the prismatic crystal between her eyebrows, she would have had a chance to be reborn,¡± Jing Feiyang exined in a soft voice. ¡°If a ninth grade grand patriarch was willing to help, he or she would be able to reforge her bones, flesh, and blood on the basis of that prismatic crystal, and eventually bring her back to life.

    ¡°Of course, a heavy price would have to be paid. After being reborn, Yuna would be at a very low grade. She would have to gather strength and climb thedder of bloodline advancement again. This is very simr to us humans being reborn. Fortunately, she¡¯s really dead this time. If she wasn¡¯t, she¡¯d be a major threat to us in the future.¡±

    Qu Mingde and Quan Zixuan also chimed in, telling him about the wonders of outsider rebirth.

 Chapter 982: The Mystery of Outsider Rebirth

    For an outsider, titan, or Ancientbeast to be reborn, they would have to be at the eighth grade or higher.

    For most eighth grade titans, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts, as long as they managed to secure their hearts, or prismatic crystals for the Phantasms, they could be reborn with the help of a ninth or tenth grade senior of their race.

    Eighth grade ones still had to rely on their seniors to finish the process.

    However, as long as ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs still had their hearts intact, they would be able to channel flesh power and bring themselves back to life with no external assistance.

    As for tenth grade grand monarchs, a drop of Blood Essence was enough for them to regenerate their bones, flesh, and blood, and eventuallye back to life.

    For this reason, many tenth grade grand monarchs would leave a drop of their Blood Essence in their race¡¯s holynd before marching off to battle.

    This way, even if they perished away from home, that drop of Blood Essence would allow them to rebuild their bodies ande back to life.

    Therefore, tenth grade grand monarchs were very hard to killpletely. There was even a saying that they couldn¡¯t be annihted.

    As difficult as they were to eliminate, once their reserved Blood Essence was destroyed, so was their chance at being reborn.

    Furthermore, being reborn wouldn¡¯t change their lifespan.

    Their Blood Essence, hearts, and every part of their bodies was branded with their Bloodline Crystal Chains, which carried the memories of their lifespan.

    Aside from that, their grades would also plunge after their rebirth. They would have to climb back to their original grades. Even though it would take them much less time to do so than advancing to such grades for the first time, it would still take a significant amount of time.

    Jing Feiyang and the other two¡¯s words allowed Nie Tian toe to a brand new understanding of outsider rebirths.

    Because of this, he suddenly understood how he had managed to activate the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core, and regenerate Bloodline Crystal Chains for the Bone Blood Demon.

    Both the me Dragon Armor and the Bone Blood Demon had been at the eighth grade when they had been alive, and their hearts hadn¡¯t been destroyed when they had died. That had given them the chance to be revived.

    Originally, they would need me dragons and Bonebrutes that were at the ninth grade or higher to reforge the Bloodline Crystal Chains in their hearts and bring them back to life.

    His bloodline was one of a kind. It had the incredible effect of restoring life to the hearts of the me Dragon Armor and the Bone Blood Demon.

    As for the bone from a Star Behemoth...

    The grade of that Star Behemoth had definitely been higher than that of the me Dragon Armor or the Bone Blood Demon. It had either been at the ninth grade or the tenth grade.

    A drop of Blood Essence alone would allow a tenth grade outsider grand monarch toe back to life, though rigorous conditions had to be met in order for it to happen.

    The same might be true of Star Behemoths.

    However, unlike Demons, Phantasms, and other outsiders, Star Behemoths were incredibly enormous beings from ancient times. It was unknown what would be able to bring them back to life.

    Zhu Yun from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had said that the Star Behemoth might actually be able toe back to life by relying on that bone alone. However, she had also said that she wouldn¡¯t worry about that, since it would take an astronomical amount of flesh power, among other things, to restore life to it. It was impossible that Nie Tian could make that happen.

    The thought of the fact that Star Behemoths would devour realms once they were awakened made Nie Tian realize that the idea of him reviving one with a few drops of his Blood Essence wasughable.

    As the three of them continued to fly through the dense forest at a high speed, Nie Tian shrewdly sensed that the Godspirit Tree sapling in his wood power core was quietly channeling wood power from his surroundings.

    Furthermore, the way it channeled wood power from its surroundings was not as overbearing as the way the Wood Thriving Formation did it. Its way was much milder.

    <i>¡°Full-grown Godspirit Trees can channel dissociative wood power from the boundless starry river, and use it to nourish the realm it¡¯s in, filling it with life force. As a result, every tree and nt in the realm will grow at a much faster rate. But there¡¯s still a long way to go before this sapling grows into a real Godspirit Tree.</i>

    <i>¡°I¡¯ll have to spend a long time nourishing it with wood power from various sources. But there¡¯s an essential difference between this sapling and those three leaves. Given enough time and nurturing, it will eventually grow into a Godspirit Tree, a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material.</i>

    <i>¡°Once it¡¯s grown, I¡¯ll be able to refine it into my own domain, vesting it with all sorts of wonders!¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian examined the sapling with rapt attention. He saw that it was quite small and only had a few branches, but hadn¡¯t grown a single leaf.

    Only when it grew more branches and leaves would it truly be considered a Godspirit Tree.

    At that time, he would be able to rely on it to channel wood power, which normal people wouldn¡¯t even be able to detect, from the depths of the vast starry river.

    Before long, the four of them returned to the ce where Dong Li and the others were garrisoned.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Dong Li asked as soon as she saw Nie Tian, ¡°Howe it took you so long this time? So? How did it go?¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°It¡¯s done. We destroyed the sixth spatial tunnel, and took out all three eighth grade outsiders, along with the low-grade ones that were guarding it. They didn¡¯t have a chance to spread word of our arrival.

    ¡°Alright, enough talking. Let¡¯s move on to our next target!¡±

    Everyone was both surprised and delighted to hear these words.

    Without any dy, Nie Tian flew onto the Star Boat and steered it towards a distant frigid area filled with snow-capped mountains. The Saint and Void domain experts followed along.

    Their next target was located in the middle of that frigid area.

    Time flew. Two months passed in the blink of an eye...

    Strong, frigid wind whizzed by, hurting their faces. Snow-capped mountains and ciers stretched as far as the eye could see.

    This freezing-cold region was only in a remote corner of this continent, which probably didn¡¯t take up one-tenth of its total area. However, it seemed boundless to everyone on Nie Tian¡¯s team.

    Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect unleashed his soul awareness to scan his surroundings as he said to Nie Tian in a soft voice, ¡°This ce is simr to the Realm of Endless Ice in the Domain of the Falling Stars, butrger. And the frigid aura here is ten times stronger than there too.¡±

    ¡°This continent is far too vast,¡± Dong Li chimed in with mixed emotions. ¡°This area alone covers an arearger than a whole realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Only after walking out of the Domain of the Falling Stars did we see how puny and weak we are. Before, we were like frogs sitting in a dried-up well, wondering what the outside world was like. Only when we finally got out did we realize that the Domain of the Falling Stars was even not worth mentioning in this boundless starry river.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°We won¡¯t have any external help with the seventh spatial tunnel. Let¡¯s hope the outsiders guarding it are easy to deal with.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to make it quick too,¡± Jing Feiyang said. ¡°We¡¯ve already destroyed six spatial tunnels and killed arge number of outsiders. The others may notice something if we take too long.¡±

    ¡°Speed up, everyone!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Like a bolt of lightning, the Star Boat flew at full speed in the frigid wind, with him and Dong Li standing on it.

    A bone-piercing cold aura pervaded heaven and earth. Even Nie Tian¡¯s blood flow slowed down because of it.

    The deeper they marched into this area, the stronger the frigid aura became. Soon, Dong Li started to have a hard time warding off the cold.

    As she cursed in a low voice, her ck tortoise flew out of her sleeve, wagging its head.

    It seemed to have been slumbering before. Even after flying out of Dong Li¡¯s sleeve, it crouchedzily on the Star Boat, as if it couldn¡¯t keep its eyes open.

    Staring at the ck tortoise, Dong Li seemed both adoring and discontent as she said, ¡°Thiszy little thing ate like crazy in the Lizardman domain. But since then, it has done nothing but sleep all day long, as if it was dead. But its bloodline power seems to have increased sharply recently. This ce has be too cold for me. I need its help.¡±

    Only then did the ck tortoise gradually wake up and see Nie Tian. It rapidly ran to him and rubbed its head against his foot in a very affectionate manner.

    With a wry face, Dong Li berated it, ¡°What are you doing?! I¡¯m the one who¡¯s your master, okay?! I carry you around all the time, and give you things to eat and drink. Now look at you. You¡¯re like you¡¯re seeing your real father!¡±

    Nie Tianughed broadly. ¡°That¡¯s actually not wrong. I am its father!¡±

    Dong Li shot a nasty look at him. ¡°Then what am I?¡±

    ¡°What do you think? You¡¯re its mother.¡± Nie Tian said naturally.

    Augh escaped Dong Li¡¯s mouth. ¡°You can¡¯t get ivory from a dog¡¯s mouth...¡± (Idiom: a filthy mouth can¡¯t utter decentnguage)

    Then, as she gently poked the ck tortoise with her foot, a ck aura rose from the mysterious patterns on its shell. As soon as the aura enveloped Dong Li, it expelled the frigid cold from her body, freeing her from the afflicting influence.

    At the same time, an illusory ck phoenix spirit quietly rose into the air from behind her head.

    As it did, it cheered soundlessly, as if it was in a very good mood.

    Taken aback, Dong Li went nk briefly before suddenly asking Nie Tian to stop. ¡°My ck phoenix beast spirit seems to have soared in this heaven and earth before!¡±

 Chapter 983: A Phoenix Corpse Sealed in A Glacier

    The Star Boat came to a stop in midair.

    Seeing this, the Saint and Void domain experts also stopped.

    Looking at the ck phoenix beast spirit that hovered over Dong Li, Nie Tian asked with a confused expression, ¡°You fused this ck phoenix beast spirit into your soul before you left the Domain of the Falling Stars, right?¡±

    Instead of answering his question, Dong Li asked, ¡°Do you remember when we found the corpse of an eighth grade ck phoenix the first time we came to this continent?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°My ck phoenix beast spirit absorbed its residual power,¡± Dong Li exined. ¡°And its residual power was branded with fragments of its memories. Some of those memories have already merged with my ck phoenix beast spirit and be a part of it.¡±

    Nie Tian instantly realized something. ¡°You mean that dead eighth grade ck phoenix we found used to live in this area?¡±

    Dong Li smiled. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the huge ck phoenix beast spirit flew out, gliding cheerfully in the frigid wind.

    ¡°Let¡¯s follow it and see if we can find out what¡¯s attracting it.¡± With these words, Nie Tian readjusted the Star Boat¡¯s direction and flew off in the direction the ck phoenix beast spirit was heading.

    The others took orders from him, and thus could only follow along.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the ck phoenix, which was in pure soul form, flew to a short mountain of ice.

    It swooped directly into it.

    Its illusory body fused into the mountain like water into ake.

    Cracks started to appear on the mountain of ice, withrge pieces of sparkling ice rolling down to the ground.

    The mountain of ice gradually grew semi-transparent.

    A winged shape could be vaguely seen inside of it. Even though they couldn¡¯t get a clear view of it, they could tell it was veryrge.

    ¡°That¡¯s an ice phoenix!¡± Jing Feiyang eximed, his expression flickering with astonishment. ¡°It must have died and been sealed in this mountain of ice. Ice phoenixes are Ancientbeasts. We met one in the Realm of Maelstrom not long ago.¡±

    ¡°This is strange...¡± Nie Tian muttered in a low voice. Normally speaking, his unique bloodline would allow him to detect anything that contained even the slightest flesh power, dead or alive.

    However, this ice phoenix was right in front of him, yet he failed to capture its aura.

    <i>¡°Could it be the mountain of ice it¡¯s sealed in? Or something special with this ce?¡±</i>

    While he searched his mind for an answer, the ck phoenix beast spirit flew out of the mountain of ice and let out a sad cry that only Dong Li could hear.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    As Quan Zixuan swung his hand, one spiritual sword after another flew out to carve into the mountain of ice like numerous carving knives. Giant blocks of ice fell off, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    Momentster, the mountain of ice waspletely gone, revealing the ice phoenix inside of it.

    The ice phoenix¡¯s wings that were dozens of meters long spread out in a graceful manner, as if it were going to soar into the heavens.

    However, a long gash could be seen in its neck, which was so deep that it almost severed the ice phoenix¡¯s head from its body.

    Nie Tian sighed softly. ¡°It was probably killed by outsiders. A deadly war broke out between the top and bottom continents countless years ago. Back then, enormous Ancientbeasts like ice phoenixes lived on the bottom continent, while Demons, Phantasms, and other powerful outsiders lived on the top continent. Even though the outsiders lost that war eventually, the Ancientbeasts suffered heavy casualties as well.

    ¡°This ice phoenix was only one of them.¡±

    Now that the ice mountain was gone, revealing the dead ice phoenix inside of it, Nie Tian was able to sense its residual flesh power.

    He instantly realized that it was the mountain of ice that had stopped him from sensing the dead ice phoenix¡¯s aura earlier.

    At the same time, Dong Limunicated with her ck phoenix beast spirit in her unique way.

    Eyes narrowed, she exined to everyone. ¡°It says that this area was the phoenixes¡¯ ancestralnd. After the ultimate war, many dead phoenixes were brought back and buried here.¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°So does that mean there are other dead phoenixes sealed away in these ice mountains?¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Yes, there are.¡±

    Quan Zixuan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there must be outsiders searching for them in this area! Ancientbeast corpses are considered very precious materials, which can be used to forge all kinds of Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools. Meanwhile, outsiders can channel flesh power from dead Ancientbeasts to speed up their bloodline upgrades.

    ¡°Phoenixes are categorized into ck phoenixes, ice phoenixes, and me phoenixes. Different types of phoenixes carry bloodline power of different attributes. If they could find dead phoenixes that shared their attributes, they would be able to use them to elerate their bloodline upgrades.

    ¡°The only thing I don¡¯t understand is that even the outsiders have found their way back to this abandoned continent many years after the great war, but why haven¡¯t the Ancientbeasts returned?¡±

    Qu Mingde shook his head. ¡°It is a bit strange.¡±

    Nie Tian was also puzzled. He turned to Dong Li and asked, ¡°Do you know why?¡±

    Dong Li smiled bitterly. ¡°Beats me. My ck phoenix beast spirit only gained a small amount of residual power from that eighth grade ck phoenix¡¯s corpse. The amount of bloodline imprints it gained was very limited. There¡¯s no way that it could learn something that happened on this continent so long ago.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Frigid currents suddenly changed directions, and converged on the dead ice phoenix. Soon, a thickyer of ice formed over its body again.

    As soon as that happened, Nie Tian lost his sense of its aura again, no matter how he strained his bloodline perception.

    ¡°What the...¡± Nie Tian muttered, with shock written across his face. ¡°The frigid aura in this ce can actually converge on the ice phoenix corpse on its own for the purpose of concealing it.¡±

    ¡°Do we take this eighth grade ice phoenix with us, Nie Tian?¡± Jing Feiyang asked for his opinion.

    The corpse of an eighth grade ice phoenix was of great value, especially to cultivators who practiced ice incantations. It could be used to forge Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools, or refined and added into medicinal pills that would boost people¡¯s cultivation.

    However, Nie Tian pondered for a short while, then shook his head. ¡°No. Our mission is to get rid of those outsiders, not collect valuable materials.¡±

    As he said these words, the ck phoenix beast spirit sprinted off again. Everyone flew after it.

    In the next few days, they flew around in this frigid heaven and earth and found many more phoenix corpses that were sealed away in ice mountains. There were ice phoenixes, ck phoenixes, and me phoenixes.

    Every single one of them was at the eighth grade, and thus didn¡¯t have the ability to revive themselves.

    Even though all of them had suffered fatal attacks and died, their hearts were all intact.

    For eighth grade Ancientbeasts, as long as their hearts weren¡¯t destroyed, their ninth or tenth grade seniors would have a chance at bringing them back to life by fusing them with their own Blood Essence and triggering it with secret bloodline magics.

    ¡°If there are no mishaps, all of these dead phoenixes still have a chance at rebirth!¡± Jing Feiyang eximed.

    ¡°I bet the reason why the phoenixes sealed their dead n members, whose hearts were still intact, in this ce is because they nned to bring them back to life when the time was right!¡± Nie Tian chimed in. ¡°The question is: why have they not returned to this ce to after so long?¡±

    No one present was able to answer this question for him.

    ¡°The ultimate war was between outsiders and Ancientbeasts. Now, the outsiders have returned to this continent, while the Ancientbeasts haven¡¯t. As the side that lost the war and had their homnd destroyed, the outsiders definitely won¡¯t leave these dead Ancientbeasts alone as we have.¡± With these words, Dong Li gazed off into the distance. ¡°Perhaps as we speak, outsiders are carving dead phoenixes out of the ice mountains and collecting them.¡±

    ¡°To the seventh spatial tunnel!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    He didn¡¯t have positive feelings toward the outsiders or the Ancientbeasts.

    However, since Demons and Phantasms had invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars repeatedly over the recent decades, he had developed a deep enmity towards Demons and other outsiders.

    Meanwhile, no Ancientbeasts had ever offended him.

    Two weekster, the seventh spatial tunnel entered Jing Feiyang¡¯s detection range. He informed Nie Tian that there were only two eighth grade outsiders guarding it, a Demon and a Phantasm. All of the rest were at the sixth or seventh grade.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t detect any human ves in the vicinity. Apparently, they had been taken to mine spiritual materials in other locations instead of here.

    ¡°This ce is far too cold for most human ves,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°That¡¯s probably why we didn¡¯t see a single human on our way here.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded with an approving expression. ¡°I think you¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t be getting any external assistance this time,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to rely on ourselves to take them out.¡±

    ¡°A considerable number of low-grade outsiders seem to be wandering in areas close to that spatial tunnel. Why don¡¯t we take them out first?¡± Qu Mingde suggested.

    ¡°The three of us will suffice,¡± Quan Zixuan chimed in.

    In the next moment, the three Saint domain experts left the main group. They spread out to take care of the outsiders that were gathering phoenix corpses in different locations.

    An hour passed...

    Meng Li received a message, and told Nie Tian that the three Saint domain experts had taken out a few dozen sixth and seventh grade outsiders soundlessly.

 Chapter 984: The Black Tortoise

    Clutching his Sound Stone in his hand, Meng Li said with furrowed brows, ¡°Our spection was correct. The outsiders were indeed collecting dead phoenixes.

    ¡°The outsiders that were searching areas close to the seventh spatial tunnel seem to have found six ice mountains with dead phoenixes sealed within them. At that moment, they had already carved the phoenixes out, and were about to take them back to their domains through the seventh spatial tunnel.

    ¡°Since there won¡¯t be any external assistance this time, our sectmaster and the other two sectmasters are prepared to strike now.¡±

    At the same time, Void domain experts from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect alsomunicated with Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde via Sound Stones, and informed Nie Tian of the newest situation.

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat frustrated as he said, ¡°If they strike now, there¡¯s a good chance that things will go wrong. We¡¯ll have to kill the eighth grade Demon and Phantasm as fast as possible. Otherwise, they might be able to spread word of our arrival. Once we¡¯re exposed, we might not be facing just one ninth grade outsider expert at thest spatial tunnel.

    ¡°If ites down to that, we¡¯ll find ourselves in a hard-fought battle. Casualties will be inevitable.¡±

    The teleportation portal that connected this floating continent to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was located in the middle of the ck sea, which was very far from their current location.

    If they ran into strong resistance, one of their options would be to seek help from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. However, it was possible that they would be badly injured or even killed before their reinforcements arrived.

    Meng Li also had a headache over the tough situation. ¡°What should we do then?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li suddenly eximed, looking excited. ¡°Thiszy little thing seems to be able to seal those outsiders! It¡¯s just that since it¡¯s only at the seventh grade now, it¡¯s not very confident about it.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The ck tortoise?¡±

    Dong Li nodded repeatedly. ¡°Imunicated with it, and it told me that it has a certain bloodline talent that can achieve a simr effect.¡±

    With a skeptical tone, Nie Tian said, ¡°There¡¯s an eighth grade Demon and an eighth grade Phantasm over there at the seventh spatial tunnel. And it¡¯s only at the seventh grade. Is it sure that it¡¯ll be able to stop them from sending out word of our arrival?¡±

    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t. It only says it might be able to do it.¡± Dong Li said with a wry smile.

    ¡°So the problem is that its grade is not high enough...¡± Nie Tian pondered for a while before suddenly eximing, ¡°I might be able to help!¡±

    Dong Li was puzzled. ¡°How?¡±

    Instead of answering her, Nie Tian immediately told Meng Li to inform Jing Feiyang and the other two to hold until he got there.

    Meng Li sent out the message without dy.

    Secondster, Meng Li said to Nie Tian, ¡°They got the message.¡±

    After confirming the direction with him, Nie Tian activated his Star Boat.

    The Star Boat then shot into the distance, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    The Void domain experts exchanged a nce, and rapidly followed along.

    A few minutester, the Star Boat came to a stop atop a short snow-capped mountain peak.

    Jing Feiyang and the other two had been waiting.

    Quan Zixuan lifted his hand and pointed at three ice mountains that could be vaguely seen in the distance. ¡°Over there! The seventh spatial tunnel is located in a valley surrounded by those three ice mountains. More than a dozen outsiders are gathered there, all of which are at the seventh or eighth grade. From this distance, we can sense their soul auras, but they can¡¯t sense ours.¡±

    Seeing that the Void domain experts and Dong Li had followed them to this ce, Jing Feiyang frowned. ¡°You need to stop there! If youe any nearer, the eighth grade Demon and Phantasm will be able to sense your flesh aura and soul aura.¡±

    Somewhat embarrassed, Dong Li said, ¡°Got it.¡±

    Nie Tian had his unique method to mask his aurapletely. The Void domain experts could also trick the outsiders by hiding their auras.

    She was the only one who couldn¡¯t hide her aura. Besides, her cultivation base was the lowest. She started to feel like a third wheel.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you had Meng Li inform us that you can create something that will have a simr effect to the ck mist. Is it true?¡± Qu Mingde asked curiously.

    ¡°I can only say that there¡¯s a chance, but I can¡¯t guarantee that it¡¯ll work,¡± Nie Tian answered truthfully.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Still, it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±

    The more time he spent with Nie Tian, the more mysterious Nie Tian seemed to him. Sometimes, even he couldn¡¯t understand why Nie Tian was so incredibly resourceful.

    ¡°We¡¯re stopping here. Don¡¯t go any closer.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned to the ck tortoise and said, ¡°You¡¯reing with me.¡±

    The ck tortoise¡¯s beady eyes shone with the light of excitement, as if it enjoyed being giving an important task.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Quan Zixuan asked with a disbelieving expression.

    As learned Saint domain experts, they couldn¡¯t tell what origin the ck tortoise hade from, but they were certain that it was only at the seventh grade.

    What could a seventh grade beast do to an eighth grade Demon and an eighth grade Phantasm?

    ¡°It came from a mysterious origin. And it¡¯s got very special talents.¡± After giving a brief exnation, Nie Tian flew to Jing Feiyang¡¯s side. Surrounded by Jing Feiyang¡¯s divine seals, he left the main group with the three Saint domain experts, heading towards the seventh spatial tunnel that was surrounded by three mountains of ice.

    Wu Yun from the Golden Vast Sect sighed emotionally, gazing off in the direction Nie Tian had disappeared in. ¡°No wonder they made him the seventh Son of the Stars. Often when we¡¯re at our wit¡¯s end, he¡¯s the one who can find a way out.¡±

    Everyone nodded, agreeing with her.

    This trip to the floating continent was the first time they had fought alongside Nie Tian after swearing allegiance to him.

    It was Nie Tian who hadmunicated with an unidentified being in the depths of the ck sea and persuaded it to help them seal the outsiders.

    It was also Nie Tian who had dealt Yuna, who had escaped from Jing Feiyang¡¯s hands, a fatal strike, stopping her from escaping and spreading word of their arrival.

    This time, while they were at a loss, Nie Tian once again stepped up and came up with a solution.

    Even though this trip hadn¡¯t ended yet, Nie Tian¡¯s strange resourcefulness had already left a deep impression on them.

    They suddenly realized that they had made a wise decision to follow him and be his subordinate forces.

    WHOOSH!

    The three Saint domain experts approached the spatial tunnel¡¯s location.

    Countless divine seals were hovering around Nie Tian. Jing Feiyang¡¯s soul shadow loomed in each and every one of them. In a profound way, they masked Nie Tian and Jing Feiyang¡¯s soul auras.

    The three experts all fixed their eyes on Nie Tian, waiting for him to make his move.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Blend!¡±

    Nie Tian put out his right hand and ced it on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell. In the next moment, countless blood strings shot out of his palm.

    Without meeting any resistance, the blood strings went through the ck tortoise¡¯s shell, its flesh and blood, before eventually connecting to its resilient meridians.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    The ck tortoise¡¯s heartbeat magically synced with his.

    His torrential flesh power then poured through the blood strings into the ck tortoise, carrying the profound mysteries of his bloodline power.

    All of a sudden, a few drops of Blood Essence exploded within Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    ¡°Life Strengthening! Blood Essence Seething!¡±

    Another two bloodline talents were activated almost simultaneously.

    Under the three Saint domain experts¡¯ gazes, his body transformed. His muscles bulged as solid scales formed over his skin, covering him like full body armor.

    As Blood Essence Seething was activated, life aura that was even more concentrated and pure went pouring into the ck tortoise like a waterfall.

    The ck tortoise couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that, even though he couldn¡¯t see them with his eyes, the Bloodline Crystal Chains within the ck tortoise¡¯s small heart were now activated.

    Numerous patterns on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell that were simple and unsophisticated started to squirm, as if to answer Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline talents.

    As this happened, their surroundings suddenly grew dim, as if the light around them was being gradually devoured by darkness.

    Under the magical effects of the ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline talent, the area around them soon grewpletely dark, as if heaven and earth had been painted ck by the purest ink.

    ¡°Dark power: Evernight!¡±

    A strange voice that seemed to havee from ancient times echoed from the ck tortoise¡¯s heart, a voice that only Nie Tian could hear.

    Like a verse sung by the god of darkness, it shook his heart.

    Even though it was in anguage that Nie Tian had never learned before, his Life Blend bloodline talent somehow allow him to understand it.

    The darkness continued to spread, enveloping heaven and earth. Wherever it spread, everything fell intoplete darkness that could never be expelled.

    Within a short time, the entire mountain valley where the outsiders were garrisoned was covered in darkness.

    Before, when Nie Tian and the experts had been enveloped in the Star Behemoth¡¯s ck mist, they had had limited vision. At least, they had been able to see those who stayed next to them. However, in thisplete darkness, even Jing Feiyang and the other experts couldn¡¯t see a thing.

    They all felt as if they were trapped in a huge, pitch-ck prison cell, which they could never break out of.

 Chapter 985: Evernight!

    This whole time, Nie Tian had only ever used Life Blend on the Bone Blood Demon.

    However, every time he had, he had felt a conflict between his bloodline and the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s.

    After all, the Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodline power was death power, while his bloodline power was life power. The two were natural enemies.

    For this reason, whenever he had used Life Blend on the Bone Blood Demon, he had always had the feeling that he hadn¡¯t brought out this bloodline talent¡¯s full might.

    But this time, he didn¡¯t have such a feeling when he used Life Blend on the ck tortoise.

    It was as if the ck tortoise agreed with Life Blend¡¯s effects perfectly.

    Perhaps this was the reason why when he activated Life Blend this time, his other two bloodline talents, Life Strengthening and Blood Essence Seething, were automatically activated.

    One drop of Blood Essence after another seethed and burned away from his heart.

    As a result, purer flesh power poured into the ck tortoise, carrying the profound truths of life power.

    The ck tortoise¡¯s heart, flesh, and blood were greatly strengthened as its potential was stimted.

    It appeared to be Nie Tian¡¯s life power that allowed the seventh grade ck tortoise to unleash Evernight, enveloping heaven and earth in endless darkness.

    In such utter darkness, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t hear, see, or smell anything.

    His soul awareness and bloodline perception had lost their uses as well.

    Even after unleashing his Star Eyes, he still couldn¡¯t sense Jing Feiyang and the other experts, who were right beside him.

    Greatly surprised, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the ck tortoise¡¯s Evernight seems to be even more powerful than the Star Behemoth¡¯s ck mist!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he realized that he had already lost four drops of Blood Essence, all of which had transformed into life power and been fused into the ck tortoise.

    WHOOSH!

    A ck ward suddenly rose from the ck tortoise¡¯s shell, enveloping it and Nie Tian.

    To his surprise, Nie Tian discovered that he was now able to see and sense everything and everyone around him with great rity.

    It was just that his soul awareness and bloodline perception would fail as soon as they extended beyond the ck ward.

    <i>¡°It seems that ck tortoises are a very special species. They can actually unleash utter darkness that devours all light and make people lose all senses. At the same time, the ck tortoise can protect itself from such influences. Once it unleashes Evernight in battle, its enemies will instantly be blind and deaf, and lose the ability to target anything. All they will be able to do is suffer from its attacks.</i>

    <i>¡°As its master, Dong Li will probably be able to disy the full might of her dark power with its help.</i>

    <i>¡°I bet the might of her dark power magics will be amplified in Evernight¡¯s range as well!¡±</i>

    While Nie Tian felt happy for Dong Li, he suddenly saw Jing Feiyang and the other two experts dashing towards the three ice mountains.

    Jing Feiyang and the other two were affected by the Evernight, and couldn¡¯t see a thing in their surroundings.

    They simply flew over by relying on their memory of the seventh spatial tunnel¡¯s location. The fact that they slightly deviated from the correct direction proved that even they couldn¡¯t lock down a target in the utter darkness.

    Knowing the general location of the target, theyunched attacks as soon as they felt they were in the right spot.

    This time, they used indiscriminate area attacks.

    Countless magical symbols flew out, filling the entire sky.

    Morphing in midair, they rapidly condensed into a giant hand that pressed downwards, while emanating multicolored divine light.

    Upon contact with the giant hand, the towering ice mountains shattered like crushed pirs. Giant broken pieces rolled down into the mountain valley, crushing many outsiders to death.

    Spiritual swords that were extremely sharp shot out of Quan Zixuan¡¯s sleeve one after another. They flew back and forth at lightning speed, carving through heaven and earth.

    In the blink of an eye, the entire mountain valley was riddled with deep cuts.

    At the same time, Quan Zixuan from the Golden Vast Sect summoned his Spirit Channeling grade treasure, which was a golden stone seal.

    Floating in the air, the seal expanded to the size of a mountain in a split second. Then, it plummeted towards the mountain valley and mmed into repeatedly, covering the entire region in violent quakes.

    It was just that the rumbles caused by the repeated bombardment couldn¡¯t travel at all in the utter darkness.

    The three Saint domain experts¡¯ giant hand made of divine seals, golden stone seal, and flying spiritual swords inevitably shed with one another from time to time.

    If it weren¡¯t for that, they wouldn¡¯t even know that they had all cast spiritual tools and incantations to bombard the mountain valley.

    Upon contact, the soul awareness they had branded their spiritual tools with allowed them to learn who the other casters were immediately.

    Then, their power would split up as quickly and lightly as dragonflies touched water.

    Since they didn¡¯t know the outsiders¡¯ exact location, the method they adopted was to bombard every inch of the mountain valley with their most destructive area attacks.

    Only as their spiritual tools actually touched an outsider were they able to learn their exact locations.

    Then, they could gather power to deal fatal strikes.

    The outsiders screamed miserably in the mountain valley that was enveloped in utter darkness. However, they couldn¡¯t hear each other, or even tell the exact location of their spatial tunnel. All they did was charge about, hitting walls like headless flies.

    Once they charged into the Saint domain experts¡¯ spiritual tools, they would immediately be locked down and face concentrated, devastating attacks.

    The battle didn¡¯tst very long.

    Only an hourter, with the help of the ck tortoise¡¯s mysterious ward, Nie Tian, who had one hand on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell, saw that the three mountains of ice had been razed to the ground.

    The mountain valley was filled with giant blocks of ice and huge rocks, under which many outsidersy dead.

    The three Saint domain experts¡¯ stormy bombardment had long since shattered the spatial tunnel.

    It was also at this moment that a fifth drop of Blood Essence was burned away in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Due to the tremendous Blood Essence and flesh power consumption, he was struck by a strong sense of exhaustion.

    He hastily terminated Life Blend.

    As he withdrew his hand, he said, ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡±

    Then, the endless darkness poured back into the ck tortoise like an ebbing tide.

    Rays of light shone into the mountain valley that had been enveloped in darkness, like the stone gate to a dark room being cracked open. Then, as light continued to spread, the heaven and earth that had been ruled by darkness recovered its original state.

    As thest wisp of darkness disappeared into the ck tortoise¡¯s shell, everything appeared in everyone¡¯s sight once again.

    Nie Tian looked down at the ck tortoise, and discovered that it was sagging its head, as if it was in low spirits.

    He touched its head gently and gave it a smile. ¡°You did a good job.¡±

    After hearing his approving words, the ck tortoise wagged its head again, looking rather pleased with itself.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Try to get a good rest and get your strength back. We might still need your help with our uing battle in the scorching desert.¡±

    With these words, he cast a few short-range Starshifts, and ended up in the mountain valley that had been bombarded beyond recognition.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure we could do it.¡± Quan Zixuan floated in the air as spiritual swords flew back to him and vanished into his sleeves, like hundreds of birds returning to their nest.

    Meanwhile, Jing Feiyang gazed beyond him. Staring at the ck tortoise from afar, he said with aplicated look in his eyes, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that little thing is actually so powerful!¡±

    Qu Mingde chimed in, ¡°It¡¯s only at the seventh grade now. After it enters the eighth or ninth grade, it may even gain the ability to plunge a whole realm into utter darkness. I¡¯ve never seen or heard of any beasts that have such mysterious and powerful abilities!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I was totally shocked as well.¡±

    With these words, hended in the rubble, giving rise to a loud crash. ¡°Give me a few minutes. I¡¯ve got to recover my strength.¡±

    He rapidly found the eighth grade Demon and Phantasm¡¯s bodies, and channeled flesh power from them with Life Drain. Then, he refined and condensed their flesh power into Blood Essence.

    The Star Behemoth didn¡¯t take part in this battle in any way.

    And since the outsider corpses didn¡¯t belong to this floating continent, they were free to take them away as their spoils of battle.

    As Nie Tian channeled residual power from the eighth grade Demon and Phantasm, the ck tortoise also swooped down from midair.

    It wandered around, looking for seventh grade outsider corpses to feast on. As small as it was, it swallowed corpses like a bottomless pit. One corpse after another was ripped apart and went down its throat. However, even that didn¡¯t seem to satisfy its appetite.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl suddenly flew out to collect the dead outsiders¡¯ discarnate souls.

    Seeing that the battle hade to an end, the three Saint domain experts sent word to the others.

    Before long, Dong Li and the Void domain experts arrived. They all stood aghast, looking at the mountain valley that had been bombarded beyond recognition.

    The ck tortoise, which had devoured all of the seventh grade outsiders¡¯ corpses, skipped to Dong Li¡¯s feet and looked up at her, as if to take credit for what had happened to this ce.

    Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect took a look at the ck tortoise, then said with an envious tone, ¡°Congrattions, Dong Li. It¡¯s your luck that you found such a mystical beast.¡±

 Chapter 986: New Arrivals

    The Void domain experts¡¯ faces were filled with envy as they looked at the ck tortoise.

    Before, they had only thought it to be a bit strange, but they hadn¡¯t been aware of how special and powerful it actually was.

    Just earlier, they had witnessed it activating its Evernight bloodline talent with Nie Tian¡¯s help, plunging heaven and earth around it into utter darkness.

    Even though they had observed from afar, the ultimate darkness had still shaken them deeply.

    Dark power was one of the few powers in the universe that was very special. Only certain Demons, ck phoenixes, and ck dragons would be born with the ability to wield it.

    Very few human cultivators could understand and practice dark power.

    However, Dong Li had somehow mastered the method to practice dark power. On top of that, she had also gained this mysterious ck tortoise, like a tiger that had grown wings. (Idiom: might redoubled)

    In the future, as her cultivation base improved, herpatibility with the ck tortoise would be bound to improve, allowing her to disy a more terrifying battle prowess.

    WHOOSH!

    The ck tortoise crouchedzily by Dong Li¡¯s feet, as if it was digesting the numerous dead seventh grade outsiders it had devoured.

    In a profound way, Dong Li established a soul connection with it.

    Momentster, her eyes lit up as a faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

    ording to the information she had just received from the ck tortoise, she had learned that Nie Tian had activated his bloodline talent, burned his own Blood Essence, and fused a copious amount of life power into it.

    Such life power seemed to have had the effect of elerating the ck tortoise¡¯s upgrades!

    Nie Tian¡¯s residual life power would interact with the seventh grade outsider corpses it had devoured, allowing it to advance to the eighth grade within a short period of time.

    Dong Li could feel its genuine joy.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that bastard¡¯s flesh power has such an incredible effect...¡±</i> she muttered inwardly.

    Immediately afterwards, she sent a soul message to the ck tortoise. ¡°Rest assured. When youe to the point where you¡¯re ready to break through your bloodline shackles, I¡¯ll find him and force him to give you the nourishment you need to finish the upgrade.¡±

    After hearing these words, the ck tortoise suddenly grew excited, and kept rubbing its head against Dong Li¡¯s ankle in an affectionate way.

    With a cold smile, Dong Li rolled her eyes at it. ¡°It seems that you¡¯re sensible enough to know who¡¯s the boss.¡±

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian suddenly flew out from under the rubble, with one blood-colored aura after another streaming into his body from different directions like red spiritual snakes.

    With every blood-colored aura that disappeared into him, the flesh aura he emanated grew a bit more intense.

    As soon as Nie Tian flew onto the Star Boat, a misty starlight ward formed around it. ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s move out to ourst target!¡±

    BANG! BANG!

    At the same time, two blood strings dragged the corpses of an eighth grade Demon and an eighth grade Phantasm onto the Star Boat, giving rise to loud crashes.

    Enveloped in the ward, Nie Tian refined the flesh auras he had gained, turning them into Blood Essence.

    <i>¡°The flesh power within the corpses of eighth grade Demons and Phantasms is indeed much richer than what was in the corpses of the eighth grade Lizardmen!¡± </i>Nie Tian marveled inwardly.

    Even with Life Drain, he couldn¡¯t drain them of all of their flesh power within a short time.

    But now, time was of the essence. Nobody knew whether the outsiders at the eighth spatial tunnel would find out about their arrival.

    To spare them any potential trouble, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to waste any time, and urged everyone to move out.

    People were rather surprised to see him drag two dead eighth grade outsiders onto his Star Boat.

    Jing Feiyang and the other experts knew that Nie Tian was a man of many secrets, and that he wouldn¡¯t give them exnations every time something happened. Therefore, they figured they had better not ask.

    Nie Tian rapidly pointed out the direction for everyone and flew off into the distance. Though full of questions, the others followed along.

    Several days passed...

    Nie Tian recovered all of the Blood Essence he had used in the previous battle with the flesh power he channeled from the corpses of the eighth grade Demon and Phantasm.

    However, there was still flesh power left within the Demon¡¯s corpse.

    Seeing that he had ended his cultivation, Dong Li leaned over and said with a sweet smile, ¡°Thatzy thing of mine is hoping to eat the outsider corpses.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian looked down, and saw the ck tortoise staring unblinkingly at the two outsider corpses with its beady eyes.

    ¡°Okay. Why not?¡± Nie Tian said without hesitation.

    Upon receiving his permission, the ck tortoise opened its mouth without waiting another second.

    Even though its mouth wasn¡¯trge at all, it looked like a ck hole after it opened wide. Mysterious ck light could be seen shing across and swirling in the depths of it, as if it could devour anything.

    The two outsider corpses vanished into it in the blink of an eye, as if they were pulled into it by some gravitational force.

    Nie Tian examined its belly with rapt attention, and discovered that it didn¡¯t bloat in the least. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder where the outsider corpses had gone.

    After devouring the corpses of the two eighth grade outsiders, the ck tortoise finally seemed satisfied as it crawled back into Dong Li¡¯s sleeve with sleepy eyes.

    ...

    Two monthster.

    In the frigid mountain range where Nie Tian and the others had been,rge pieces of ice started rolling down a nondescript mountain of ice.

    Inside the mountain of ice, an ancient teleportation portal was somehow activated, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    WHOOOOSH! WHOOOOSH!

    An enormous ice phoenix that glowed with frosty light flew out of the strange-looking teleportation portal, along with a dragon that was wreathed in an acidic, poisonous mist.

    Both of them howled and soared skywards.

    An hourter, they covered every corner of this frigid area, and eventuallynded in the ce where the three ice mountains had been razed to the ground.

    The ice phoenix slowly morphed into its human form, revealing her to be none other than the eighth grade ice phoenix Nie Tian had seen in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The only difference was that she was now at the ninth grade.

    The gigantic dragon also transformed into an old man.

    The ninth grade ice phoenix seemed somewhat surprised as she said, ¡°All eighteen members of my n are still buried in this area. Not a single one is missing. But the fresh, snow-covered Demon and Phantasm corpses indicate that our information was right, and outsiders dide here recently. What¡¯s weird is that not only did they fail to take our dead n members away, but they all died here instead.¡±

    The dragon in the form of an old man pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Someone must havee here to kill these outsiders. But they didn¡¯t take the remains of your n members away. This is a bit strange...¡±

    ¡°Who do you think they were?¡± The ninth grade ice phoenix asked in a humble manner.

    Gazing up into the sky, where an immense vortex could be seen, the old man said, ¡°People from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...

    ¡°Powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce found this continent and set up spell formations a long time ago. Now, after regathering the energy of Heaven and Earth after hundreds of thousands of years, this continent has already recovered from the damage of that war.

    ¡°All I know is that powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have been here. But they didn¡¯t seem to intend to take this continent right away, but instead, they left portals behind. It seems that they n to take it someday, but not now.¡±

    ¡°If what you say is true, and members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce killed those outsiders, why didn¡¯t they take the remains of my people?¡± The ninth grade ice phoenix asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Perhaps that one has something to do with it.¡± The old man seemed uncertain.

    The ninth grade ice phoenix was taken aback. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that it came to some kind of arrangement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    The old man sighed. ¡°That appears to be the case. Back in the day, if the outsiders hadn¡¯t acted rashly and awakened it from its slumber, the top continent wouldn¡¯t have shattered so easily, causing them to suffer a sound defeat and forcing them to abandon their homnd.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, the ninth grade ice phoenix said, ¡°We had made a deal with it, ording to which, it¡¯s responsible for protecting the remains of our people. Could it be possible that it asked those Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce members toe here for that cause?¡±

    ¡°I suppose we¡¯ll have to find and ask the people from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to find out the truth,¡± The old man said.

    The ninth grade ice phoenix nodded slightly. ¡°Do you know where they might be?¡±

    ¡°That desert!¡± The old man said with a determined look in his eyes. ¡°Since the outsiders discovered the secret of this ce, they must have discovered the desert where my people were buried too. Since they were here, they definitely wouldn¡¯t leave my people alone. If we go there now, we may actually see those stupid bastards!¡±

    After a briefmunication, the ice phoenix and poisonous dragon headed out without dy.

    After resuming their original forms, they flew across the sky at full speed, and vanished in the same direction Nie Tian and the others had left in.

 Chapter 987: A Dragon Howl in the Desert

    It was as hot as a steamer in the boundless desert.

    Nie Tian finally appeared on his Star Boat, along with all of the Saint and Void domain experts.

    As soon as they did, everyone¡¯s soul awareness spread out in all directions like sea waves in attempts to capture even the most subtle soul fluctuations in this heaven and earth. However, none of them sensed anything noteworthy.

    This continent was rather strange. They hadn¡¯te across any forms of life on their way to this scorching desert, not even a bug.

    It was as if the war that had taken ce hundreds of thousands of years ago had eliminated every single living being on this continent.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one spatial tunnel left. Destroy it, and our mission wille to a perfect end.¡± Nie Tian said as he adjusted directions from time to time ording to the map that had been engraved in his mind. ¡°I hope nothing goes wrong.¡±

    ¡°Did anyone from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce ever tell you the exact grade of that outsider grand patriarch?¡± Jing Feiyang asked.

    Outsiders had to be at the ninth grade to be referred to as grand patriarchs.

    However, there were significant differences between the strengths of individual grand patriarchs.

    As humans did, outsiders and Ancientbeasts also subdivided their grades into early, middle,te, and peak sub-grades.

    Given Jing Feiyang and the other two Saint domain experts¡¯ strength, it would be easy for them to kill an early ninth grade grand patriarch. If it was at the middle ninth grade, they might be able to win as well.

    However, if the grand patriarch was at thete ninth grade, they would be facing a lot of trouble.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian answered, ¡°That grand patriarch must be at the early or middle ninth grade. It can¡¯t be at thete ninth grade. The seniors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have a good understanding of my overall strength. The three of you must have been taken into their calction. Since they sent me on this mission, they must be certain that that grand patriarch wasn¡¯t something I can¡¯t handle.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded slightly. ¡°Good.¡±

    Then, he smiled and said with a light tone, ¡°I¡¯ll go into secluded cultivation after this trip, and try to break through into the middle Saint domain. At that time, I might need some special materials that we don¡¯t have in the Domain of Heaven Python. So I¡¯m hoping...¡±

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up upon hearing these words.

    ¡°Brother Jing, are you...?¡± Qu Mingde said, his eyes wide.

    Jing Feiyang smiled again. ¡°Nie Tian gave me some very valuable information before we returned from our trip to the Domain of Endless Snow. I learned a lot from it, and came to brand new understandings of the development of stars and life. Now, after being stuck for many years, I can finally feel my cultivation barrier. I want to break it as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Quan Zixuan said.

    ¡°Make a list of the special materials you need after we finish this mission,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll purchase them for you from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with my contribution points.¡±

    Jing Feiyang pped his hands. ¡°Sorry for the trouble.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s something I should do,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I¡¯m supposed to spend the contribution points I¡¯ve earned anyways. If they can help you get the spiritual materials you need and help you break through into the middle Saint domain, then they¡¯re put to proper use.¡±

    Every Son of the Stars should do their best to improve their subordinates¡¯ cultivation bases.

    The stronger their subordinates were, the higher status and prestige they would have in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Topete for the position of the Lord of the Stars, both their own strength and the strength of their subordinates would be considered evaluation indicators.

    People congratted Jing Feiyang as they continued to fly through the desert at a high speed.

    Two weekster, they were deep into the desert. However, there were still no signs of any outsiders. All they could see were sand dunes.

    With furrowed brows, Qu Mingde said, ¡°This is strange. We should be close to the eighth spatial tunnel now. And since the outsiders came here, they must be after something, but why aren¡¯t there low-grade outsiders looking around?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s strange indeed,¡± Quan Zixuan chimed in.

    They hade across outsiders on their way to each of the other seven spatial tunnels, and sometimes human ves as well.

    Even though the truly powerful outsiders would remain by the spatial tunnel, the weaker ones would be arranged to explore and gather materials such as phoenix corpses.

    But now, they were already very close to the eighth spatial tunnel, yet they hadn¡¯t discovered a single outsider.

    Furthermore, they hadn¡¯t seen any signs of exploration on their way over.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian received a soul message from the me Dragon Armor, which came from within his ring of holding.

    His expression flickered as he immediately released it.

    The crimson suit of armor floated in midair after flying out of his ring of holding.

    SHEW!

    In the next moment, it morphed into a streak of mes that shot into the distance.

    Seeing this, everyone went nk, unsure of what had just happened.

    Without saying a word, Nie Tian flew after the me Dragon Armor on his Star Boat.

    The others sped off after him.

    Momentster, the me Dragon Armor came to a stop, before suddenly drilling into a sand dune.

    The sand dune then exploded, sending a mixture of sand and mes flying in all directions. In the next moment, an enormous pit that was the shape of a dragon was revealed.

    There was nothing in the pit that had been previously covered in sand.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s expression flickered as he stared at the strangely shaped pit. ¡°It appears that a dragon was buried here! Someone must have dug it out and taken it away. After that, the wind carried sand over, ttening the hole and forming a sand dune over it. Not a single trail was left.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a faint dragon aura in this area! A me dragon was buried here!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Even he couldn¡¯t capture dragon auras. However, since the me Dragon Armor had been forged from the remains of a me dragon, its Blood Core had sensed the aura with which it shared the same origin.

    It was the residual aura of a dragon that had stirred the me Dragon Armor and caused it to demand to fly to this ce.

    SHEW!

    The me Dragon Armor flew off again.

    Momentster, another sand dune was found by the me Dragon Armor. Underneath it was a dragon-shaped pit that was exactly the same as the first one.

    Quan Zixuan realized what was going on. ¡°Just like the dead phoenixes buried in that freezing cold area, a number of dead dragons used to be buried here. And I suppose they were all eighth grade dragons, which could be brought back to life! But the dead dragons were taken away. If my spection is correct, this was the outsiders¡¯ doing!¡±

    As he spoke, the me Dragon Armor flew off once again.

    The me Dragon Armor found a total of seven pits in seven different locations that were close to the eighth spatial tunnel. All of them were ces where dead dragons had been buried, but were now empty.

    The strong wind had covered them with sand, making it seem as if nothing had changed.

    As they came closer and closer to the eighth spatial tunnel, Jing Feiyang warned Nie Tian against doing anything rash with a grim face.

    After all, ninth grade grand patriarchs were far stronger than eighth grade outsiders.

    If they got too close to the spatial tunnel, that ninth grade grand patriarch might capture their flesh or soul auras before Jing Feiyang could capture its aura.

    Therefore, they stopped to n their next move. While Nie Tian pondered whether he should have the ck tortoise release Evernight again, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering howl echoed out.

    ¡°It¡¯s a dragon howl!¡± Jing Feiyang¡¯s expression flickered drastically, gazing into the distant sky, where an enormous figure was flying towards the eighth spatial tunnel at a very fast speed.

    Even though it was rather far away, the Saint domain experts strained their sight, and were able to tell that it was a dragon, one that was close to a thousand meters long!

    Qu Mingde sucked in a breath of cold air. (Expression: A reaction caused by shock or surprise) ¡°That¡¯s a ninth grade dragon! Why is there a living Ancientbeast on this continent?! And it¡¯s a ninth grade dragon?!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Jing Feiyang eximed. ¡°It¡¯s being followed by an ice phoenix! We¡¯re only not seeing it because it¡¯s even farther away!

    ¡°That ice phoenix is also at the ninth grade. What¡¯s happening?¡±

    At the same time, the me Dragon Armor seemed to sense the aura of its own kind as well, and thus grew restless, as if it wanted to leave Nie Tian and dash towards the ninth grade dragon.

    ¡°I can sense the ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s aura by the eighth spatial tunnel now!¡± Jing Feiyang eximed.

    Due to the long distance, he hadn¡¯t been able to sense it before the grand patriarch activated its bloodline power.

    Now, rmed by the sudden appearance of the ninth grade dragon and ice phoenix, its bloodline power burst forth with an unstoppable momentum, like floodwaters rushing down mountains. Even the sky seemed to be filled with its terrifying aura.

    ¡°Demon! The ninth grade grand patriarch is a Demon!¡±

 Chapter 988: Three Different Races Engaging In A Fight

    The distant sky was gradually enveloped in ckish-violet Demon qi.

    The ninth grade Demon¡¯s thunderous howls echoed out from the depths of the rolling Demon qi. As they spread, the desert fluctuated like a nket being shaken.

    As the ninth grade Demon¡¯s bloodline power burst forth, his terrifying flesh aura was no longer concealed.

    Even though Nie Tian was still a significant distance from him, his special bloodline allowed him to sense it with perfect rity.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°So powerful!¡±

    Even though he didn¡¯t know the Demon grand patriarch¡¯s exact grade, he could tell that he was much more powerful than the old Lizardman patriarch he had faced before.

    That Lizardman patriarch had also been at the ninth grade. However, in order to refine that Star Behemoth bone, he had fused it with his own Blood Essence for hundreds of years. Because of this, he had never reached the peak of the ninth grade.

    Furthermore, his strength had declined sharply after he had lost the bone and sustained heavy injuries.

    For this reason, the battle prowess of a ninth grade outsider didn¡¯t seem as terrifying as people said in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    However, when this ninth grade Demon grand patriarch fully activated his bloodline power, Nie Tian was shaken to the very core.

    As immense as an endless, unfathomable sea, the Demon grand patriarch¡¯s aura seemed to pervade the area enveloped in the rich Devil qi he had released.

    While Nie Tian drifted away in thought, two equally intense flesh auras burst forth like two volcanoes erupting after sleeping for ten thousand years.

    ¡°The ninth grade dragon and ice phoenix!¡±

    Nie Tian snapped out of his daze, realizing that, after the Demon grand patriarch, the dragon and ice phoenix that had appeared out of nowhere had also activated their bloodline power at this moment, without holding anything back.

    The bloodline auras of the ninth grade outsider and the Ancientbeasts tangled up, giving Nie Tian a feeling that the heavens were going to shatter and the earth was going to split, killing all life in between.

    Just their flesh power fluctuations alone made Nie Tian feel suffocated.

    Dong Li, who was standing next to him on the Star Boat, was having a harder time than he was. She trembled all over as her heart pounded nonstop, as if it was going to explode.

    ¡°Battles between experts at such high a level are extremely rare, even during interracial wars!¡± With these words, Jing Feiyang took a deep breath and suddenly noticed Dong Li. Waving his hand, he instructed, ¡°Meng Li! Take Miss Dong and leave now! All Void domain members need to stay away from the battlefield!¡±

    Meng Li didn¡¯t even give Dong Li time to react as he flew onto the Star Boat and wrapped his spiritual power around her with a swing of his sleeve.

    Then, like a bolt of lightning, he carried her away from the battlefield.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± She roared as she was taken away, fixing her angry eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian turned a deaf ear to it.

    ¡°What about you?¡± Jing Feiyang asked. ¡°Are you going to be okay?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°The fluctuations their battle is causing are certainly making me very ufortable. But they¡¯re not causing any real damage, just a bit of chest distress.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, I knew that you were beyond ordinary. That¡¯s why I only told Meng Li to take Dong Li away.¡± Jing Feiyang didn¡¯t seem surprised. ¡°Still, you need to be extra careful. That ninth grade Demon, dragon, and ice phoenix must be powerful well-known figures, even across the starry river. Any one of them has the ability to destroy small and middle scale realms.¡±

    All Saint domain cultivators and ninth grade outsiders and Ancientbeasts had the ability to single-handedly turn healthy realms into dead realms.

    If God domain cultivators or tenth grade outsiders were to fully activate their power, they could even wipe out an entire domain.

    They were the ones that stood on the top of the pyramid of power in this starry river.

    HOOOWL!

    Demon howls continued to echo out from within the torrential Devil qi to fill the entire sky.

    Momentster, Nie Tian saw a number of eighth grade Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends flying out of the area enveloped in thick Devil qi.

    It was as if the ninth grade Demon knew that they wouldn¡¯t be able to help if they were going to stay. Instead, they would be easily wiped out.

    Because of that, all of the other outsiders flew out, leaving only the ninth grade Demon grand patriarch guarding the spatial tunnel.

    ¡°What do we do now, Nie Tian?¡± Jing Feiyang asked.

    None of them had expected that a dragon and an ice phoenix would show up out of nowhere and immediately get into a fierce battle against the ninth grade Demon.

    As much as they had nned, this wasn¡¯t something they had foreseen.

    ¡°It¡¯s simple. Kill those fleeing eighth grade outsiders first.¡± Nie Tian said with a rxed tone. ¡°The outsiders are our primary target here. As for that dragon and ice phoenix, since they¡¯re currently engaged in a life-or-death battle against that ninth grade Demon, we don¡¯t need to worry about them now. If the situation changes, then we¡¯ll figure out a way to deal with them.¡±

    He had realized that the arrival of that dragon and ice phoenix was probably because the outsiders had angered them by digging out the hidden corpses of their people.

    Since they were so eager to kill the Demon grand patriarch, Nie Tian could just let them fight.

    Jing Feiyang waved his hand. ¡°Those who are at the Void domain, spread out to kill the fleeing outsiders.¡±

    Upon hearing this, all of the Void domain human experts that were gathered in this ce flew off in different directions, enveloping themselves in their illusory, mysterious domains as they did.

    ¡°That Demon is at the middle ninth grade, while that dragon is at the same grade as him, and that ice phoenix is at the early ninth grade,¡± Qu Mingde said, having spent all this time measuring the true strengths of the two sides. ¡°Something worries me.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I¡¯m worried that the ninth grade grand patriarch will send word through that spatial tunnel to bring in even more powerful outsiders.¡± With these words, Qu Mingde nced around at the Void domain experts that were flying into the distance. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before they engage in fierce battles against the eighth grade outsiders. At that time, they¡¯ll be bound to exude distinct soul auras.

    ¡°Once that ninth grade Demon realizes that the dragon and ice phoenix aren¡¯t the only ones that havee here, but us too, I doubt he¡¯ll resign himself to his fate.

    ¡°Given his strength, he¡¯ll be able to send word of what¡¯s happening here to the other side of the spatial tunnel.¡±

    After hearing his words, Nie Tian also realized the w in his n. After a moment of pondering, he said, ¡°Okay, the three of you go and do everything you can to destroy the spatial tunnel guarded by that ninth grade Demon as quickly as possible. Once the spatial tunnel is gone, the outsiders¡¯ connection to their home will be cut off, and that ninth grade Demon won¡¯t be able to cause much trouble on this floating continent.¡±

    ¡°Sure. That sounds like a solid n!¡± Quan Zixuan agreed.

    Immediately afterwards, the three Saint domain experts enveloped themselves in their domains that were like threepletely different worlds, and charged towards the area filled with torrential Devil qi.

    It was surprising that they weren¡¯t worried about Nie Tian, and that none of them stayed behind to protect him.

    Nie Tian scratched his nose and smiled. ¡°You guys are quite confident in me, huh?¡±

    All three of them had witnessed him piercing Yuna, who had been at the peak of the eighth grade, to death with that Star Behemoth bone of his. Besides, they knew that the Star Boat was lightning fast, and that Nie Tian had many more cards up his sleeve. Therefore, they had been confident that none of the fleeing eighth grade outsiders would actually pose a threat to Nie Tian.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The me Dragon Armor burned increasingly fiercely, as if it was also eager to charge onto the battlefield.

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush in that.¡± Nie Tian tried to calm it with a soul message. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be of any help in a battle between ninth grade experts, given your current strength. Why don¡¯t you stay put and act ordingly if their battlees to an end, or something unforeseen happens?¡±

    At this moment, a resounding and formidable dragon howl echoed out from the depths of the battlefield. Even Nie Tian caught every word of it. ¡°Hazlitt! How dare you strength yourself with the remains of my people?! It seems to me that you¡¯re tired of living. Has time made you forget what a sound defeat your people suffered at our hands?¡±

    ¡°This realm is every bit ours as yours!¡± The Demon¡¯s voice filled the heavens with rumbles. ¡°Don¡¯t think we¡¯d abandon it just because the top continent has been destroyed! After all, it¡¯s a superrge-scale realm, and it¡¯ll recover to its original state one day! Also, since our homnd was destroyed during that war, we¡¯ll take the bottom continent aspensation. This n has never died in our hearts!

    ¡°The purpose of our trip was only to check out the condition of the continent. When it has channeled enough energy from the starry river and be the superrge-scale realm it was again, our joint army will once again march into it, and be its next andst master!¡±

    ¡°That day will note!¡± The dragon howled furiously.

    ¡°Hmm?! Despicable humans are here too?!¡±

 Chapter 989: Deep Enlightenment

    The conversation between the dragon and the Demon was so resounding and powerful that every word of it spread a thousand kilometers into their surroundings.

    What surprised Nie Tian even more was that they actuallymunicated in the humannguage.

    As humans rose to prominence, the humannguage had spread out across the starry river, and gradually reced the Ancientbeast and outsidernguages as themonnguage among all races.

    In this era, both Demons and dragons were able tomunicate in the humannguage.

    From this point, it was obvious that humans¡¯ status among the numerous races that lived in this starry river had gone throughplete changes.

    However, it frustrated Nie Tian that he couldn¡¯t find his ce in a battle at such a high level.

    Let alone the ninth grade Demon and dragon, even the battle between the Void domain experts and the eighth grade outsiders seemed a bit too intense for him.

    He had only one option if he was going to join their battle: use the Star Behemoth bone he had.

    However, its flesh power consumption was off the charts.

    A single strike with it would drain every bit of the flesh power he had gone a long way to gather, rendering him unable to fight with flesh power again.

    With these thoughts, he flew slowly and quietly towards the area where Void domain experts were engaged in a fierce fight against eighth grade outsiders.

    Having spent a long while observing their fight, he had long since realized that even though the Void domain experts outnumbered the eighth grade outsiders, the battle prowess of the two sides was actually evenly matched.

    If there were no mishaps, their battle wouldst a very long time.

    <i>¡°How am I supposed to join a battle at such a level without using that Star Behemoth bone?¡±</i> Nie Tian fell into silent contemtion.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor suddenly descended and d itself on him.

    The me Dragon Armor, which had felt exceptionally heavy before, felt much lighter this time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. <i>¡°Wait, it¡¯s not that the me Dragon Armor has be lighter, but instead it¡¯s that my body has be tougher now that I¡¯ve finished Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, and Meridian Toughening, and started Flesh Tempering. I¡¯m getting used to the me Dragon Armor¡¯s weight!¡±</i>

    At this very moment, Wu Yun from the Golden Vast Sect drove a golden spear into her opponent¡¯s abdomen.

    As soon as she did, the golden spear seemed to morph into a snake of golden light.

    Dazzling golden light sputtered off like tiny golden lightning bolts as it squirmed and squeezed deeper into the Demon¡¯s abdomen.

    The eighth grade high-tier Demon was veryrge and robust to start with. Now, as he activated the Demons¡¯ unique Indestructible Form, he rapidly expanded from three meters tall to ten meters tall!

    At the same time, solid purple scales grew out under his arms. As he spread his arms, they looked like bird wings.

    Having demonized, he showed signs of ancestral awakening, as he now looked very simr to a low-tier Demon.

    Sharp bones grew out of his spine. Like oddly shaped thorns, they pierced out, ripping his skin open. Each and every one of them shone with an ice-cold metallic luster.

    The eighth grade Demon let out agonized shrieks as a drop of Blood Essence left his heart and flew towards his abdomen.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Blood Essence Irrigation!¡±

    Like purple diamonds, his Blood Essence gave out a mysterious luster.

    In the next moment, the golden spear that had morphed into a snake of light went out like mes that were put out by ice water.

    Then, violent flesh power burst forth from within the drops of Blood Essence like a flood rushing through broken river dams.

    SHEW!

    With its golden light extinguished, the spear recovered its original form and flew back into Wu Yu¡¯s hand.

    Vague illusory shapes then appeared in the depths of her domain. Gold Horn Beasts, Golden Stone Rhinos, and many other metal-attributed spirit beasts appeared one after another, as if they had long since been fused into her metal domain.

    ¡°Metal Beast Empowerment!¡±

    One metal-attributed spirit beast after another flew into the golden spear, allowing it to shine with dazzling golden light again.

    Looking closely at Wu Yun¡¯s domain, Nie Tian suddenly felt enlightened. <i>¡°Every expert¡¯s domain is different. Even cultivators who practice the same powers forge their domains to have unique wonders.¡±</i>

    Like her, Qu Mingde was also from the Golden Vast Sect, and he was their sectmaster. As a Saint domain expert, his domain had already transformed from illusory to solid.

    Filling his domain were towering golden mountains that had merged with him on many levels, Qu Mingde had traveled across the Domain of Heaven Python and chosen each and every one of them carefully. After finding them, he had uprooted them from the earth and refined them into his domain through years of effort.

    The golden mountains could be nourished by his spiritual core, and help him store extra power.

    In battle, not only could the golden mountains provide him with more power, but they could also fly out of his domain to crush his opponent directly, or form metal-attributed spell formations that carried the profound truths of heaven and earth to trap his opponent.

    As for Wu Yun¡¯s domain, she had collected high-grade metal-attributed spirit beasts and refined them into it, which was a whole other method.

    From her battle against the eighth grade Demon, Nie Tian, who was only at the Profound realm, came to a brand new, deeper understanding of domain forging.

    While he was carried away by his thoughts, the Demon had already stopped the wound in his abdomen from bleeding. Flesh fibers could be seen regenerating and weaving within it at an rming rate. At this moment, he suddenly swooped towards him, while yelling in perfect humannguage. ¡°DIE!¡±

    As he did, the scaly wings under his arms pped, doubling his speed.

    Like a bolt of purple lightning, the Demon dashed across the sky.

    ¡°Watch out, Nie Tian!¡± Wu Yun¡¯s expression instantly flickered, her golden domain twisting violently, as if she intended to split the void and shift to Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    The eighth grade Demon¡¯s flesh power fluctuations were as intense as rolling thunder. Even though Nie Tian was still a considerable distance away, they almost burst through his eardrums.

    SHEW!

    A beam of dazzling starlight suddenly sted out of the sharp prow of the Star Boat.

    Hundreds of Star Stones that had been lying at the bottom of the Star Boat were instantly reduced to ashes that scattered into the wind.

    Just like that, the most powerful attacking spell formation that had been carved into the Star Boat drained them of their star power in a sh.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Demonic Cloud Shield!¡±

    Torrential Devil qi poured out of the eighth grade Demon¡¯s pores like iparably thick, ckish-violet rain clouds. As he further stimted his bloodline talent, they rapidly condensed into a ckish-violet shield in midair.

    Dozens of timesrger than doors, the shield was branded with bloodline imprints, as well as countless densely-packed patterns.

    RUMBLE!

    The beam of starlight mmed into the Demonic Cloud Shield, rapidly erasing the mysterious patterns on it. In the next moment, the enormous shield exploded.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Demonic Soul Curse!¡±

    Drops of Blood Essence flew into the broken pieces of the Demonic Cloud Shield.

    Each drop of Blood Essence morphed into a gruesome eye as soon as it entered a piece of the shield.

    Immediately afterwards, dozens of scary, ckish-violet eyes fixated on Nie Tian. At that moment, he had a strange feeling that demonic souls were singing in the depths of his sea of awareness, as if they were calling out to their ancestors with their mysterious, rhythmic voices.

    Some special spell was clearly taking effect in his sea of awareness.

    He sensed stabbing pains in his true soul, as if countless ancient Demons had taken the opportunity to invade his mind in an attempt to devour his soul.

    Nie Tian was shocked.

    The nine star souls that hung over his sea of awareness suddenly blossomed with blinding light.

    At the same time, the five powerful evil spirits that were slumbering in the Spirit Pearl were stirred.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl flew out to the spot between his eyebrows, five shadows that had shrunk countless times flew into his sea of awareness.

    Despair, fear, grudges, rage, and bloodlust spread out with an unstoppable momentum, rapidly covering every corner of his sea of awareness.

    As this happened, the nine star souls suddenly grew dim, revealing numerous ancient Demon symbols in many areas of his sea of awareness.

    Then, the five evil spirits spread out to attack the ancient magical symbols that were previously hidden. Like ckish-violet crystals, the symbols that carried the wonders of soul power exploded one by one.

    As that happened, the stabbing pains and the feeling that his true soul was being gnawed away instantly vanished.

    The eighth grade Demon came to a sudden stop on his swoop towards Nie Tian. ¡°That¡¯s a Spirit Pearl! Even the Phantasms only have three of its kind!¡±

    As he let out furious, disbelieving howls, fine beads of blood started to exude from hisrge Demon pores.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadows could be seen looming in each and every one of them.

    However, as the beads of blood rose into the air and exploded, Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadows seemed to be channeled by the Spirit Pearl as they flew into Nie Tian¡¯s forehead like wisps of faint smoke.

    As they returned to him, his feeble feeling was gradually relieved.

    That was when he suddenly realized that the feeling that his soul was being gnawed away wasn¡¯t an illusion, but rather something that had actually happened!

    The wisps of faint smoke that flew back to him were none other than his soul strands that the Demon had hoped to take away with the Demonic Soul Curse.

    If it weren¡¯t for the timely help of the Spirit Pearl and the five evil spirits, his true soul might have already been scattered into heaven and earth under the Demonic Soul Curse¡¯s effect.

    Once his soul was gone, it would mean his death, utter andplete death.

    <i>¡°Eighth grade Demons are so much more powerful than eighth grade Lizardmen...¡± </i>Only at this moment did Nie Tian fully understand that he probably wouldn¡¯t stand a chance at fighting an eighth grade Demon or Phantasm one-on-one without using that Star Behemoth bone.

    Then, as he recalled the moment when he had drained his flesh power to pierce through Yuna, who had been at the peak of the eighth grade, with the Star Behemoth bone, he came to a deeper understanding of how terrifyingly destructive the bone actually was.

    After all, Yuna had been even more powerful than this eighth grade Demon he was facing.

 Chapter 990: A Tough Situation

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The dozens of gruesome eyes that had formed from the fusion of the Demon¡¯s Blood Essence and the broken pieces of the Demonic Cloud Shield all exploded at the same time.

    As soon as that happened, the purple scales that had grown out under the eighth grade Demon¡¯s arms also shattered.

    The Demon let out pained shrieks as his enormous body shrank considerably. It went from ten meters tall to only seven meters tall.

    RUMBLE!

    Another beam of starlight shout out of the Star Boat¡¯s pointy prow, mming into the Demon¡¯s abdomen.

    His prating wound, which hadn¡¯t fully healed, was prated once again, with mangled intestines flying out of it.

    Delight appeared on Wu Yun¡¯s face as she flew over, enveloping the eighth grade Demon in her metal domain.

    After that, her golden spear whizzed out and pierced into the same ce in the Demon¡¯s abdomen that the beam of starlight had gone through.

    The Demon¡¯s body shrunk even further.

    In ten breaths of time, the eighth grade Demon couldn¡¯t even maintain his demonized form, and had to recover his original form. As the oddly-shaped thorns shrank into his spine, he shrank to his original size.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that this Demon, who had been slightly weaker than Wu Yun to begin with, wasn¡¯t going to escape from her hands now that he had sustained a series of severe injuries.

    As miserable shrieks came from with Wu Yun¡¯s domain that was filled with golden light, the eighth grade Demon¡¯s blood poured out of the sky like purple rain.

    Without paying any more attention to the Demon, Nie Tian paved the Star Boat with fresh Star Stones and flew away from that corner of the battlefield.

    ¡°Eighth grade Demons master a variety of bloodline magics and talents. They can also mix them with their soul power and cast strangely powerful incantations like the Demonic Soul Curse. They¡¯re indeed hard to deal with...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he flew around on the Star Boat, remaining on high alert.

    He was finally convinced that what Jing Feiyang and the others had said was absolutely correct.

    More intelligent races like Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends were indeed a whole other story from the Lizardmen he had dealt with in that domain he had gone to explore. Other than the Lizardman patriarch in the form of an old man, none of other Lizardmen had even awakened any bloodline talents or magics.

    They had relied on nothing but their tough bodies to fight their enemies.

    He assumed that an eighth grade Demon might be able to kill three to five eighth grade Lizardmen without breaking a sweat.

    <i>¡°It seems that I have to summon the Star Behemoth bone, and drain my flesh power to cast it. Otherwise, I won¡¯t pose a threat to any eighth grade outsider here. I¡¯ve got to be extra careful from now on, and try not to be trapped by these outsiders.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts, he quietly flew towards the area where the dragon, ice phoenix, and Demon grand patriarch were fighting.

    Streaks of ckish-violet mes that were mixed with the sulphuric aura of zingva shot out of their battlefield from time to time.

    They fused into the desert upon contact, like water fusing into the sea.

    Then, scorching me power gradually emerged from under the sand.

    It was as if there was an enormous furnace buried underneath the desert, and the ninth grade Demon¡¯s bloodline power within the purple mes had somehow triggered me power from another source that had been hidden underneath the desert.

    <i>¡°A number of dead me dragons used to be buried here, waiting to have their hearts reignited and be brought back to life someday! The dragons must have had their reasons for choosing here of all ces. This vast desert must be helpful for the dead me dragons toe back to life...¡±</i>

    Aftering to such a realization, Nie Tian examined the desert with rapt attention.

    Due to the fusion of the demonic mes, the earthy-yellow sand had already turned ckish-violet.

    The battle between the ninth grade Demon and the dragon was now at a crucial point. Therefore, the two of them no longer had the time to exchange words in deafening voices. Now, their battlefield was filled with their shing flesh auras, and the sounds of their enormous bodies mming into each other.

    HOWL!

    All of a sudden, another heaven-shaking, earth-shattering howl echoed out from within the rolling Demon qi.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    That was because he could tell that that howl didn¡¯te from the ninth grade Demon grand patriarch!

    It wasn¡¯t a dragon howl or a phoenix cry either. Apparently, a second powerful outsider had arrived!

    ¡°Damn!¡± Nie Tian eximed with a grim face, realizing that Jing Feiyang and the other two Saint domain experts must have failed to destroy the spatial tunnel.

    The arrival of this new outsider expert meant that the spatial tunnel was still operating, and more powerful outsiders might be on their way.

    This desert was far too distant from the ck sea. There was no way he could return to the Realm of Split Void and then the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to summon reinforcements within a short time.

    He grew anxious. ¡°What should I do?¡±

    In the depths of the torrential Devil qi, the Demon grand patriarch was now dozens of meters tall, withrge horns on his forehead, and ice-cold piercing light in his eyes.

    At this moment, his bloodline light was flying out of him like thick, purple chains.

    As they whipped onto the dragon, the dragon let out furious howls, and spewed a storm of acidic poisonous rain, while wing at the beams of bloodline light at the same time.

    As soon as the beams of bloodline light were torn to shreds, new ones shot out of the Demon.

    Meanwhile, the ice phoenix, who had only recently advanced to the ninth grade, attempted to freeze the Demon grand patriarch with her frost power.

    However, violent me power was now rushing out from underneath the desert, which had been paintedpletely ckish-violet by the demonic mes.

    The me power negated her frost power, preventing her from freezing the Demon grand patriarch.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Under Quan Zixuan¡¯s control, numerous spiritual swords shed down onto the Demon grand patriarch, only to leave scratches on his iparably tough body.

    He didn¡¯t even shed a drop of blood.

    At the same time, Jing Feiyang and Qu Mingde joined up in bombarding the second Demon grand patriarch with their sky-filling divine seals and gigantic golden seal.

    Having juste out of the spatial tunnel, the neer Demon grand patriarch had a long tail, and his body was covered with what looked likerge tumors.

    Each tumor was asrge as a grown man, and seemed to be in a particr alignment to form some sort of spell formation.

    As numerous multicolored magical symbols bombarded the purple balls, the power Jing Feiyang had vested them with was suddenly neutralizedpletely.

    Qu Mingde¡¯s golden stone seal also failed to crush therge, resilient purple balls that looked like tumors.

    A glowing spatial tunnel could be seen behind the two Demon grand patriarchs, with raging Devil qi pouring out of it.

    Obviously, the eighth spatial tunnel connected to some Demon domain.

    ¡°The Second Demon Domain!¡±

    As the ice phoenix activated another bloodline magic, countless ice shards came to form in the depths of the heavens.

    Like a swarm of locusts, they rained down on the eighth spatial tunnel in an attempt to destroy it and prevent more Demons from entering.

    She was well-aware that there were a number of ancient Demon ns in the Second Demon Domain, all of which had ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    They, on the other hand, hadn¡¯t brought a strong force on this trip.

    If more Demon grand patriarchs from the Second Demon Domain received word and arrived through the spatial tunnel, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop them, considering their strength.

    The ninth grade ice phoenix saw the piercing cold look in the newly-arrived Demon grand patriarch¡¯s eyes as the ice shards shot towards the spatial tunnel. She immediately realized that something bad was about to happen.

    BOOM!

    The newly-arrived Demon grand patriarch, who looked extremely revolting after activating his ancestral awakening, gave a sinisterugh.

    An enormous purple ball suddenly separated itself from his lump-covered neck.

    Then, as it exploded, countless demonic bugs whizzed out of it and threw themselves at the iing frigid ice shards. As a result, the ice shards exploded and unleashed all of their frost power on the bugs.

    Even though the swarm of demonic bugs was rapidly frozen to death and fell to the ground, the ice shards failed to cause any damage to the eighth spatial tunnel either.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Second Awakening!¡±

    As the Demon grand patriarch gave a sinister grin, the frozen demonic bugs started to squirm again in the torrential Devil qi.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    After cracking theyer of ice over them, tens of thousands bugs swirled back into the sky.

    As they let out sharp, scalp-numbing screeches, fine soul strands flew out of each and every one of them, forcing even the ninth grade ice phoenix to avoid them.

    Surrounded by wisps of sparkling frost auras, the ice phoenix flew away in a graceful fashion.

    However, the demonic bugs pursued her closely.

    The newly-arrived Demon grand patriarch¡¯s vision wasn¡¯tpromised in the rolling Devil qi at all as he suddenly spotted Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat. ¡°Hmm? A Star Boat?¡±

    After a brief examination with his bloodline power, he thought to himself, <i>¡°This man has a Star Boat from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce when he¡¯s only at the Profound realm... He must be the newly appointed Son of the Stars!¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Hahaha! Speak of good luck! Who would have thought I¡¯de across a Son of the Stars on this floating continent?! As much potential as he has, he¡¯s still a baby, which makes him perfect for me to capture and bring back to my n!¡±</i>

    All of a sudden, his aura locked down on Nie Tian, bloodthirst and excitement filling his eyes.

 Chapter 991: Help from the Flame Spark

    Every Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would have a chance atpeting for the position of the Lord of the Stars. All those who had been chosen to be Sons of the Stars had extremely outstanding cultivation talent and potential.

    Every generation of Sons of the Stars would eventually produce a Lord of the Stars, and perhaps one or two God domain experts.

    No matter how weak a Son of the Stars turned out to be, as long as he didn¡¯t die prematurely, the cultivation and tempering he received from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would allow him to grow into a Saint domain expert, at least.

    Of course, different Saint domain experts¡¯ strengths varied greatly.

    A Saint domain Son of the Stars would be much more powerful than a Saint domain expert like Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, or Qu Mingde, even though their cultivation bases were the same.

    As for Nie Tian, the newborn seventh Son of the Stars, his name had spread far and wide recently. Even the outsiders had heard about him.

    However, what had made the outsiders really apprehensive about him was the fact that he was a hybrid.

    Being a hybrid meant that his limitations as a human, such as feeble bodies and short lifespans, had probably been made up for.

    Therefore, as such a special Son of the Stars, his name was already high on the outsiders¡¯ list of most wanted humans.

    If the newly-arrived Demon grand patriarch could catch or kill Nie Tian, his prestige among his people would definitely soar. He might even win the favor of their grand monarchs, allowing his n to rise to prominence, and gain the eligibility to move into the First Demon Domain.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Threerge purple balls separated themselves from the Demon¡¯s abdomen and fell onto the sand like giant watermelons.

    Uponnding, the balls of flesh split, releasing dozens of demonic bugs.

    Disguised by the raging Demon qi, they rapidly drilled into the sand and crawled towards Nie Tian soundlessly.

    The newly-arrived Demon grand patriarch was named Feimos, and was also at the middle ninth grade. His people had given him the nickname ¡°The Controller¡±.

    All of the Demons who had been given nicknames were grand patriarchs or grand monarchs that carried ancient bloodlines.

    Feimos the Controller himself came from an ancient Demon n, which was famous for raising and controlling demonic bugs.

    He had fed arge number of demonic bugs with his own flesh and blood, and enveloped them in those lumps that grew on him.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian became instantly rmed, his hair standing on end. ¡°Something is wrong!¡±

    As soon as Feimos the Controller had locked him down, he had sensed great danger, feeling that something extremely ferocious had fixed its bloodthirsty eyes on him.

    No matter how hard he had tried to hide himself with his bloodline talent, he hadn¡¯t been able to escape that thing¡¯s detection.

    Now, he realized that danger was spreading towards him like waves, yet he didn¡¯t know exactly what it was.

    BOOM!

    Raging flesh power suddenly burst forth from within his meridians, bones, internal organs, and muscles, instantly putting him in the Life Strengthening state.

    His heart raced as his senses grew increasingly keen.

    The ten drops of Blood Essence in his heart also blossomed with sparkling, crimson light.

    He was ready for battle.

    Momentster, he looked down at the sand, his expression flickering. ¡°There¡¯s something in the sand!¡±

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Dozens of demonic bugs crawled out of the sand and flew towards him like ck lightning bolts.

    Unlike the ones that had chased after the ninth grade ice phoenix, these bugs looked as if they had been forged from ck steel, their smooth shells giving off an ice-cold luster.

    The bugs had sharp teeth and tender antennae on their heads that seemed to allow them to capture even the slightest flesh power fluctuations.

    With the help of his bloodline power, Nie Tian could tell that each and every one of them carried shockingly strong flesh power within them.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that most of those demonic bugs are at the seventh grade! And there are eighth grade ones among them too, which seem to have even developed their own intelligence!¡±

    Looking into the demonic bugs¡¯pound eyes, Nie Tian suddenly saw the ugly soul shadow of Feimos the Controller in them.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he instantly realized that these demonic bugs were actually Feimos¡¯s pets, which had avoided the human experts ande after him.

    ¡°Low-tier demonic creatures controlled by high-tier Demons...¡± A train of thought shed across his mind in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint.

    ¡°me Dragon¡¯s Cry!¡±

    Furious me power was summoned from within the me Dragon Armor, and after mixing with me power from his me power core, it morphed into an enormous me dragon that floated in midair.

    Exuding raging mes, the me dragon plummeted towards the demonic bugs.

    At the same time, the Star Boat tipped its prow towards the iing demonic bugs.

    As numerous Star Stone were drained of their power and cracked, a beam of starlight shot straight out of the Star Boat¡¯s pointy prow.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The me dragon and the Star Boat rained mes and starlight on the demonic bugs.

    Hit by mes and starlight, the seventh grade demonic bugs wobbled in the air before falling onto the sand like rocks, but they didn¡¯t die.

    The eighth grade ones, however, managed to remain in the air, even though their solid shells split, giving rise to loud sounds.

    Nie Tian looked with rapt attention, and discovered that as mighty as the starlight was, it didn¡¯t seem to inflict much damage on the demonic bugs.

    Instead, the me dragon he had released with me Dragon¡¯s Cry seemed to damage and scare them more.

    All of a sudden, he realized the reason behind this.

    The mes seemed to be vested with wisps of the Divine me within his me power core.

    The Divine me he had harnessed in the Domain of me¡¯s End had clearly vested the me dragon with new power. One touch of its mes, and the demonic bugs would catch fire.

    As this happened, the me power that rose from underneath the desert suddenly converged on the demonic bugs, fueling the mes that were burning them.

    Many demonic bugs that had fallen onto the sand were instantly engulfed in fierce mes. With sharp screeches, they gradually burned to ashes.

    After that, as the mes flew away from the ashes, not only had they not grown weaker, but they had grown stronger instead.

    ¡°It appears that the wisps of me power from the Divine me are channeling power from underneath the desert, making them even more destructive!¡±

    A smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as he realized that he was also able to control the mes.

    Therefore, under the guidance of his soul awareness, more crimson mes left the demonic bugs they had burned to ashes, and pounced on living ones.

    BZZZ!

    The me spark that agreed with his attribute perfectly suddenly flew out of his me power core into the sand.

    The earthy-yellow desert had already turned ckish-violet under the effect of Hazlitt¡¯s bloodline talent, but at this point, it seemed to be suddenly ignited by the me spark. The entire desert started to burn fiercely.

    Then, the me spark flew around, as if to gather the me power that would strengthen it.

    In an incredible fashion, the mes¡¯ might suddenly multiplied as they burned the remaining demonic bugs. Even the eighth grade bugs had their solid shells burned away.

    The flesh and blood underneath their shells seemed to be very vulnerable, as they were reduced to ashes moments after being engulfed by mes.

    At the same time, the ckish-violet desert gradually turned crimson.

    As this happened, wisps of flesh aura rose from underneath the sand, along with raging me power.

    The flesh aura was ckish-purple, which was what Hazlitt the me Maniac had used to channel and manipte the me power of this desert.

    Now that the me spark had expelled everyst bit of his aura from the desert, he could no longer make use of its power.

    The me spark now took its ce as the new master of the me power that was buried in this vast desert.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he suddenly realized what was going on. ¡°The me spark came from the Divine me. The Divine me¡¯s unique cultivation method is to nt me sparks into developing realms, gradually turning them into me realms. As they grow into me realms, the me sparks within them will grow with them. The me sparks will absorb nourishment from their host realms to strengthen themselves, and wait for the Divine me¡¯s return to rejoin it.

    ¡°This desert seems to be the ideal ce to help the me spark grow. No wonder it flew out on its own to strengthen itself with the me power held by the desert!¡±

    HOWL!

    Hazlitt¡¯s howls once again echoed out from the depths of the area enveloped in rolling Demon qi. Clearly, he was enraged.

    ¡°The me Maniac¡¯s bloodline talent has failed!¡± The ninth grade ice phoenix eximed as she got rid of the demonic bugs that were chasing after her, and flew gracefully back to Hazlitt.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Freeze of A Thousand Icebergs!¡±

    Numerous cone-shaped pieces of ice came to form, glittering in midair

    Like icicles from icebergs that were more than ten thousand years old, they were sharp and crystal-clear, and exuded the profound truths of frost power.

    Close to a thousand ice cones worked their wonders at the same time, and countless rays of icy light interwove in midair, forming a web of sparkling light.

    It suddenly descended, trapping Hazlitt the me Maniac. Ayer of hard ice rapidly spread on his giant body, which made cracking sounds as he moved about.

    Due to the formation of theyer of ice, his blood flow also became slow and obstructed.

    Because of this, he could no longer use many of his bloodline talents and magics.

    At the same time, the ninth grade dragon mmed Hazlitt with his enormous ws, which looked like anchors that had expanded a hundred times over.

    Theyer of ice over Hazlitt the me Maniac shattered as he was knocked out of the sky and crashed heavily into the desert.

    The dragon that was close to a thousand meters long then swooped down on Hazlitt. The devastating crash created a huge crater, inside of which the two of them immediately started wing and biting each other.

    Asrge as Hazlitt was, the dragon was muchrger.

    Under the dragon¡¯s furious attacks with his enormous teeth and ws, pieces of flesh were ripped off of Hazlitt¡¯s body, causing a lot of bleeding.

    With every chunk of flesh that was torn from Hazlitt¡¯s body, he shrank down a bit.

    This indicated that Hazlitt was losing his strength at an rming speed.

    Struggling in the crater, Hazlitt cried out painfully in the Demon¡¯snguage, ¡°Feimos!¡±

    Quan Zixuan from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect suddenly discovered that his spiritual swords could finally cut into Hazlitt¡¯s body now, and thus went all-out to attack him with his numerous flying swords.

    Hazlitt¡¯s demonized body continued to shrink.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Ancient Demon Wings!¡±

    Rolling Demon qi rapidly condensed into a set of huge glowing wings on Hazlitt¡¯s back. As the wings of glowing purple light gave a vigorous flutter, even the dragon was pushed back into the sky.

    Ignoring Feimos, Hazlitt took the opportunity to dash into the activated spatial tunnel before the dragon could organize his next round of attacks.

    RUMBLE!

    The spatial tunnel fluctuated, as the sounds of flesh splitting open came from it.

    Seeing the unfavorable situation, Feimos shed more lumps, which split and unleashed hundreds of thousands of small bugs in all directions.

    He bellowed a few words in the Demon¡¯snguage before rapidly disappearing into the spatial tunnel as well.

    ¡°Destroy the portal!¡±

 Chapter 992: Aftermath

    As soon as the two Demon grand patriarchs charged into the eighth spatial tunnel, the ninth grade ice phoenix called out in a sharp voice.

    Jing Feiyang and Qu Mingde were the human experts who were the closest to the spatial tunnel.

    Clearly, the ninth grade ice phoenix was worried that if the spatial tunnel continued to stand there, more powerful Demons might arrive through it, causing them new trouble.

    That was why she called out in the humannguage, which was considered themon tongue.

    Jing Feiyang and Qu Mingde had personally felt the pressure powerful Demons could put on them, and thus knew what to do without her telling them.

    Compared to building a spatial tunnel, destroying it was much easier.

    As numerous divine seals and rays of golden light poured towards the spatial tunnel that was expanding and fluctuating, it exploded violently.

    Even in the moment it exploded, the Demon grand patriarchs¡¯ roars could still be vaguely heard.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After the two Demon grand patriarchs left, the thick Devil qi rapidly grew thin and dissipated.

    The heaven and earth enveloped by it recovered its rity. Everything could be seen again.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A few demonic bugs were still struggling in the raging mes.

    Seeing that no other Demon grand patriarchs wereing, Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief.

    Ignoring the burning demonic bugs, he flew into the area where the Demon qi was dissipating.

    As the Demon qi vanished, more than a dozen me dragon skeletons were revealed.

    All of them had been refined of their flesh. All that was left was grayish-brown skeletons that were bereft of any flesh auras.

    Clearly, they had been dug out from underneath the sand and refined by the Demon grand patriarch.

    The ninth grade dragon roared furiously as his enormous body quickly shrank to the shape of an old man. Even so, raging mes could be seen swirling within his eyes as he said, ¡°Hazlitt, the me Maniac, has refined the corpses of my people with his demon blood!¡±

    The ninth grade ice phoenix¡¯s sparkling and crystal-clear wings withdrew into her back as she also took her human form. It was just that she was still enveloped in a frosty aura that prevented people from getting a clear view of her. ¡°Hazlitt was originally at the early ninth grade. His upgrade happened only recently.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± She eximed softly, turning her face toward Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    Nie Tian had failed to recognize her until she spoke.

    Now, he suddenly realized that the ice phoenix in front of him was the same one he had met and made a deal with in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    She had been wreathed in a frosty aura back then, just as she was now.

    At this moment, Jing Feiyang and the other two Saint domain experts were flying around exterminating the demonic bugs Feimos the Controller had left behind with exquisite incantations.

    After they were finished, Jing Feiyang flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side, while Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde exchanged a nce with Nie Tian, and then flew off again.

    Nie Tian was aware that now that the two Demon grand patriarchs had escaped, the remaining eighth grade outsiders would think of every possible way to leave this ce.

    Just the Void domain experts alone wouldn¡¯t be able to take out the remaining eighth grade outsiders within a short time.

    Only if Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde joined them would they be able to do so.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you here on this floating continent.¡± Nie Tian went nk briefly before asking with a grin, ¡°Are you here to deal with the outsiders as well?¡±

    The ninth grade dragon fixed Nie Tian with a deep look, and then looked at the Star Boat. ¡°You¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, right?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I am. And you are?¡±

    ¡°My name is McEleney. This is Ste.¡± After a brief introduction, the ninth grade dragon went on to ask, ¡°Did you kill those outsiders in those frozen mountains too?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Ste, the ninth grade ice phoenix, then bowed towards him, expressing her gratitude in this solemn human manner. ¡°On behalf of my people, thank you for what you¡¯ve done. I¡¯m really grateful that you killed those outsiders and didn¡¯t try to take the remains of my people away.¡±

    She had counted the dead phoenixes. Not one was missing.

    They had practically suffered no losses, but by contrast, the dragons... After being refined by the me Maniac, they had lost all chances at being brought back to life.

    ¡°The reason we came here to this floating continent was to kill or expel those outsiders.¡± Nie Tian established his goodwill. ¡°We weren¡¯t going to take a de of grass from it. We learned that the outsiders had arrived through a total of eight spatial tunnels. At this point, we¡¯ve already destroyed seven of them, and spent plenty of time doing it.

    ¡°It took us a long time to get here. Sorry we failed to stop that Demon from refining the dragon corpses.¡±

    McEleney, the ninth grade dragon, nodded lightly. ¡°We¡¯ll settle this with the Controller and the me Maniac sooner orter. The me Maniac finished his bloodline upgrade with the remains of my people. I won¡¯t stop until he pays for this. And I¡¯ll make sure that his n shoulders the full extent of our wrath!¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian realized that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadn¡¯t lied to him.

    ording to the information they had given him, only one ninth grade outsider had entered this floating continent.

    That had been none other than Hazlitt the me Maniac, who had been at the early ninth grade when he had firste here.

    The strength of an early ninth grade outsider was roughly equal to that of an early Saint domain human expert. If the three of them had teamed up on him, they would have had a good chance at killing him, not to mention just expelling him.

    Even the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadn¡¯t expected that Hazlitt would advance to the middle ninth grade within such a short time through refining the me dragon corpses.

    ¡°I saw you wearing a suit of armor earlier...¡± McEleney the ninth grade dragon spoke again while Nie Tian drifted away in thought.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered.

    He had put the me Dragon Armor away in his ring of holding as fast as he could earlier, worrying that it would put him in trouble.

    The head of the me element sect of the Five Elements Sect had forged the me Dragon Armor from the heart and skeleton of a me dragon. Afterwards, he had given it to the Daughter of mes.

    It would most certainly be considered a humiliation to the dragons.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°It wasn¡¯t mine.¡±

    Being at the middle and the early ninth grade, McEleney and Ste could easily overpower Jing Feiyang and the other two Saint domain experts.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s expression flickered as he secretly messaged Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde to forget about the outsiders and return as quickly as possible.

    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with the origin of that suit of armor,¡± McEleney said with aplicated look in his eyes. ¡°Can I have a look at it?¡±

    Nie Tian seemed hesitant.

    McEleney saw through his insecurity. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know who forged it, and that you have nothing to do with it. All I want is to take a look at it. I have a strange feeling that... it has recovered its Bloodline Crystal Chains and been revived.¡±

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde flew back at lightning speed before stopping on either side of Nie Tian.

    Slightly relieved, Nie Tian summoned the me Dragon Armor and tossed it to McEleney.

    Catching it with his hands, McEleney examined it carefully with his flesh aura. His expression became increasingly strange as he finally said, ¡°Normally speaking, only ninth and tenth grade experts of my kind could reignite the me of his life force and bring him back to life. But now, he¡¯s already in a living state. This is...¡±

    Before he could finish, his aura seemed to suddenly establish a profound connection with the me Dragon Armor, and started a private conversation with it.

    After a long while, McEleney came back to reality. He looked even more confused and astonished as he fixed his eyes on Nie Tian, as if he had learned how the me Dragon Armor had been revived.

    McEleney¡¯s expression couldn¡¯t be stranger as he said, ¡°You...¡±

    Somehow, he suddenly stopped.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor flew out of his hands and into Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Nie Tian received it somewhat nervously and put it away in his ring of holding, raising his guard at the same time.

    ¡°You should keep it,¡± McEleney said with a serious face. ¡°And I hope it doesn¡¯t end up in anyone else¡¯s hand, not even the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian secretly let out a sigh of relief.

    Immediately afterwards, he shot Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde a meaningful nce, signaling them to rx.

    At the same time, McEleney turned to look into the distance, as if to see that the eighth grade outsiders were about to escape the Void domain experts¡¯ pursuit and vanish from his sight. ¡°Let¡¯s finish off the remaining outsiders first, and then we can talk more.¡±

    PHEW! PHEW!

    He suddenly flew out with the ice phoenix to finish off the remaining outsiders.

    An hour passed...

    Everyst outsider was killed. McEleney and Ste separated themselves from Nie Tian¡¯s group and came to another area of the desert.

    ¡°That suit of armor...¡± Ste wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    ¡°The reason for his resurrection is because the seventh Son of the Stars reignited the me of his life force with his own Blood Essence,¡± McEleney said with a grim face. ¡°This might be hard to believe, but he actually demanded that I leave him with the seventh Son of the Stars. He told me that his special bloodline will help him reforge his fleshly body and recover his original grade, and that it¡¯s better for him to stay with him than to return to our domain.¡±

    Ste gasped with astonishment. ¡°How... how is that possible?! He¡¯s the offspring of that mighty one. If he returns, the kind of care he¡¯ll receive is definitely going to be better than with a human, right?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it either,¡± McEleney said. ¡°But he doesn¡¯t seem to have recovered all of his memories yet. He doesn¡¯t even know who he really is. But he will remember everything after he reforges his fleshly body and regenerates his Blood Essence. Perhaps he¡¯ll give us a big surprise when he finallyes home.¡±

 Chapter 993: The Whole Story

    After their briefmunication, the ninth grade dragon and ice phoenix flew back to Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    At this moment, Jing Feiyang and the others were already collecting outsider bodies and their storage rings under Nie Tian¡¯s instructions as their loot from this battle.

    Upon returning, McEleney expressed his intent to talk to Nie Tian in private.

    Jing Feiyang and the other two Saint domain experts were sensible enough to give them some space.

    After they left, McEleney started telling Nie Tian about the ultimate war that had taken ce in this very realm.

    Originally, this had been a superrge-scale realm that consisted of two parallel continents.

    At the beginning, Ancientbeasts, dragons, and a small number of titans had lived on the bottom continent.

    The top continent, however, had been home to Fiends, Phantasms, Demons, Bonebrutes, Floragrims, and Birdmen. As they had gradually thrived, they had no longer been satisfied with just the top continent, and extended their ws towards the bottom continent.

    A war had broken out inevitably.

    Since the two sides of that interracial war had been evenly matched, the war had shaped up to be asting one.

    Both the six races from the top continent and the enormous creatures from the bottom continent had suffered heavy casualties.

    Both continents had been badly damaged, so much so that the very foundation of the superrge-scale realm had been threatened.

    While the two sides had been stuck in their fierce war, the Star Behemoth that had been slumbering in the depths of the sea had awakened and joined the war.

    The might it had manifested had been unparalleled. Asrge as a medium-scale realm, it rose into the heavens from the depths of the pitch-ck sea, and bombarded the top continent into countless pieces with devastating power, instantly breaking the bnce.

    As the top continent shattered, the Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, Bonebrutes, Floragrims, and Birdmen had suffered great losses.

    The prolonged interracial war had ended within a short time. All of the outsider survivors had recognized the Star Behemoth¡¯s invincibility, and had thus fled their shattered homnd.

    Some pieces of the shattered top continent had continued to float high in the heavens.

    However, the majority of the broken continent had plunged onto the bottom continent, inflicting significant damage, and causing its energy of heaven and earth to dissipate.

    After its untimely awakening, the Star Behemoth devoured the energy of heaven and earth in different parts of the continent like a whale taking water into its mouth, which had almost drained its powerpletely.

    Even though its awakening had directly resulted in the outsiders¡¯ defeat and had forced them to leave their homnd, it had practically exhausted every bit of power this continent had to offer.

    For this reason, even the dragons, Ancientbeasts, and titans had found the war-torn realm unfit to live in.

    They had realized that if they continued to live and upgrade on this continent, it would never be able to return to its original state.

    Therefore, they had reached an agreement with the Star Behemoth.

    ording to the agreement, they would leave to seek a new home, leaving the corpses of their eighth grade members on the floating continent. When the time was right, they would return to awaken their dead members.

    While they were gone, the Star Behemoth would channel power from the depths of the starry river to nourish the floating continent back to health.

    Furthermore, the Star Behemoth would be responsible for protecting the corpses, which couldn¡¯t be taken on the exploration trips.

    After establishing a mutual understanding, the dragons, Ancientbeasts, and titans had left on their trips to search for new domains and realms. Shortly afterwards, they had discovered that there were many others of their kind in the boundless starry river.

    They had joined them, and prospered in different parts of the starry river.

    In order to prevent the outsiders and Ancientbeasts from returning before the continent recovered its vitality, the Star Behemoth had destroyed or sealed every spatial rift and portal that had connected the floating continent to the outside world, before falling into a deep slumber again.

    It had even set a certain drifting direction for it, so that it would float towards a remote corner of the starry river stay, and away from the domains inhabited by living beings.

    After that, it had fallen into a deep slumber.

    Time had shot past like an arrow. Hundreds of thousands of years had passed, and as the floating continent had recovered its strength, the power that had sealed those spatial rifts and portals had gradually faded.

    After living there for countless years, the outsiders had nted a number of emergency spell formations on the top continent, some of which had remained intact on pieces of brokennd.

    They had activated a number of spatial rifts, and transmitted their coordinates to the other outsiders.

    Just like that, the outsiders had found a way to return to the floating continent.

    The dragons and the Ancientbeasts had also left teleportation portals behind.

    As the sealing power over the teleportation portals had faded, they had returned to service as well.

    The dragons and Ancientbeasts had sensed the changes in their teleportation portals, and had thus nned to revisit the floating continent to recover the dead members they had left here back in the day, so that their ninth and tenth grade seniors would be able to reignite the mes of their life force and bring them back to life.

    They hadn¡¯t expected that the outsiders had beaten them to it.

    ¡°So the purpose of youing here was to recover the dead members that were buried here?¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat puzzled. ¡°But why was it just the two of you?¡±

    McEleney pondered in silence for a few seconds before answering, ¡°We didn¡¯t know what changes this floating continent had gone through, so we were just here to check out the situation. We nned to bring our powerful members hereter. You might not be familiar with this, but every time our ninth or tenth grade seniors try to make a breakthrough in their grade, it¡¯ll take countless years.

    ¡°Sometimes, even their naps canst several years.

    ¡°So we didn¡¯t want to interrupt them before we had a good understanding of the situation on this continent.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So do you mean your people don¡¯t intend to move back here?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Ste, the ninth grade ice phoenix, said without thinking. ¡°Even after hundreds of thousands of years of recovery, the floating continent is still far from returning to its original state. Compared to it, the domains we now live in are much better for our subsistence and development. Why would we want to limit ourselves bying back here?¡±

    Only after leaving this continent had their people realized how vast this starry river actually was.

    There were countless domains in this boundless universe, and many that suited them.

    If this floating continent had returned to its original state, they might consider moving back to their ancestral home.

    However, it was now far from getting there.

    ¡°My sect, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, also...¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    McEleney seemed to see right through his mind as he exined, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s unique incantations give them advantages in exploring this vast starry river. I suppose your sect¡¯s founders discovered this ce while they were exploring a remote corner of the starry river, but I don¡¯t know who it was exactly.¡±

    Gazing into the depths of the gray clouds, he added, ¡°One thing I¡¯m sure of is that whoever found this ce found out about the Star Behemoth too. He must have made some kind of deal with it, so that it agreed to allow members of your sect with low cultivation bases toe here every once in a while.

    ¡°Those members could only channel a very limited amount of the energy of heaven and earth here. And even if they got into fights here, the damage they could cause the floating continent would be next to nothing.

    ¡°However, if Saint or God domain members were to act unruly here, they¡¯d damage the structure of the floating continent and set its recovery back.

    ¡°The Star Behemoth wouldn¡¯t allow this to happen.¡±

    After hearing his words, Nie Tian pondered briefly, then nodded in agreement.

    He knew a bit about the agreement between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Star Behemoth. Every hundred years, the Star Behemoth would allow a group of Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples to take on a trial on this floating continent.

    All of those disciples would be young, and have low cultivation bases. No matter how they sparred with each other, they wouldn¡¯t cause any damage to the foundation of the continent.

    The Star Behemoth had already viewed this continent as its habitat. The wondrous features of superrge-scale realms allowed this realm to channel energy from the starry river when it was slumbering.

    Therefore, by making this agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, not only had the Star Behemoth ensured the continuous recovery of the floating continent, but it had also solved the problems it might face from the outside world.

    ¡°Will the outsiders be able to open new spatial tunnels in the future?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    McEleney nodded. ¡°That¡¯s a possibility, but since they had eight spatial tunnels destroyed and suffered quite some losses this time, they probably won¡¯t try again in the near future. Besides, now that they know the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and we are all watching this ce, they¡¯ll be more careful.

    ¡°Even if they open new spatial tunnels, it¡¯ll take them a long time. During that time, we¡¯ll seek revenge with those two Demon grand patriarchs! Their days won¡¯t be easy. Trust me!¡±

    This conversation deepened Nie Tian¡¯s understanding of what had happened in this realm, and the Star Behemoth¡¯s arrangements.

    He suddenly turned to Ste and said, ¡°Years ago, you took an ice-sealed girl away from the Realm of Maelstrom. What happened to her in the Shatter Battlefield? Also, did you see an old man deriving enlightenment from the river of time in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

 Chapter 994: Farewell

    The Shatter Battlefield used to be a superrge-scale realm as well.

    Butpared to this floating realm, its fate had been much sadder.

    Even though the floating realm had been torn asunder by the interracial war, the Star Behemoth had steered it to a secluded area after the outsiders and Ancientbeasts had left, and thanks to it, the realm had been channeling power from the starry river to recover its lost vitality.

    The Shatter Battlefield, however, had been torn apart by endless battles between different races, and lost its chance at prospering again.

    It had gradually fallen, and be an arena where powerful experts of different races unted their strength by killing each other.

    Even so, it still held many wonders, some of which were even more fascinating that what the floating realm had to offer.

    For this reason, it had attracted countless explorers to seek fortunes and make breakthroughs in it over the past hundreds of thousands of years.

    The ninth grade ice phoenix had entered the Shatter Battlefield from the Realm of Maelstrom after taking Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian and the others had entered the same way she had.

    Ste was taken aback. ¡°Are you talking about the hybrid girl whose bloodline carried the profound truths of spatial power?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°She escaped,¡± Ste said, looking somewhat frustrated. ¡°I discovered her special bloodline shortly after entering the Shatter Battlefield. Even I hadn¡¯t seen someone with such a unique bloodline before. Originally, I had nned to bring her back to my domain, where I would take my time to study her bloodline.

    ¡°But one day, when I was cultivating, a Heaven Nourished grade spatial material in the Shatter Battlefield somehow established a connection with her.

    ¡°By the time I sensed the anomaly, she had already broken my restrictive bloodline spell with the power she received from that spatial treasure.

    ¡°With its help and the wonders of her unique bloodline, she split the void and disappeared. I couldn¡¯t keep track of her.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t long before I lost herpletely. After some time, I heard people say that a Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure appeared in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. Even powerful experts from the Void Spirit Society descended to search for it everywhere.

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t hear a word about her again.¡±

    Ste didn¡¯t hide anything that had happened between her and Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian listened closely and took his time to sort through his thoughts. Then, he realized that that spatial treasure had been drawn to Pei Qiqi¡¯s unique bloodline, and after seeking her out, it had helped her break Ste¡¯s restriction spell and escape.

    He didn¡¯t know what she had gone through after that.

    All he knew was that she hadter returned to the Domain of Heaven Python through the spatial rift which connected to the Realm of Maelstrom, and started hunting down and killing those that had taken part in her master¡¯s death.

    After that, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had set his eyes on her, and taken her back to their headquarters as a legacy disciple.

    Give the unique wonders of her bloodline and the sectmaster¡¯s unreserved cultivation, she would definitely be a star that shone across the starry river one day.

    ¡°What about the river of time? Did you...?¡± Nie Tian asked again.

    Ste shook her head. ¡°I didn¡¯t go anywhere close to the river of time. It¡¯s located in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, where many Saint domain members and a God domain member of the Void Spirit Society soon arrived and started searching. I didn¡¯t want any trouble, so I didn¡¯t go there.¡±

    <i>¡°So nothing really useful...¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself.

    ¡°No matter what brought you to this floating continent, since you¡¯ve saved the remains of my people from the outsiders, I owe you one.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Ste added, ¡°But of course this doesn¡¯t change my attitude towards the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and humans.

    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll remember what you¡¯ve done, and I¡¯ll repay you when an opportunity presents itself.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± McEleney chimed in, ¡°it¡¯s about time we parted ways, as I¡¯m sure we all have business to attend to.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The me spark that had flown out of Nie Tian¡¯s me power core into the desert suddenly burst out from underneath the sand, and disappeared into him like a bolt of lightning.

    After returning to his me power core, it zed even more fiercely.

    Disbelief filled McEleney¡¯s eyes as his gaze switched back and forth between Nie Tian and the sand. ¡°That me spark...¡±

    A hint of apprehension appeared on the ninth grade ice phoenix¡¯s face.

    As the me spark whizzed back into Nie Tian, a great part of the frosty mist that enveloped her vaporized, almost revealing her appearance.

    Both the dragon and the ice phoenix knew that the me spark was the reason why the two Demon grand patriarchs had been forced to leave.

    After all, it had driven Hazlitt¡¯s bloodline aura out of the desert, stopping him from using the desert¡¯s zing power to negate Ste¡¯s frosty magics.

    Then, Hazlitt¡¯s leaving had put Feimos the Controller in a panic, and eventually resulted in his retreat.

    If it weren¡¯t for that me spark, the battle would have still been going on, and it would be hard to say who would have prevailed.

    After the me spark flew back into his me power core, Nie Tian was surprised to discover that the me power the desert exuded had dropped significantly. He no longer felt scorched and bothered.

    ¡°This desert...¡± He muttered, looking baffled.

    ¡°This desert goes all the way down to the core of this continent, and connects to an enormousvake,¡± McEleney exined without holding anything back. ¡°Back in the day, my people used to refine their bloodline power and temper their fleshly bodies in it. But as our war against the outsiders went on, we practically drained it of its boilingva.

    ¡°Now that so many years have passed, it seems to have regathered some me power.

    ¡°But I suppose Hazlitt and that me spark of yours sucked it dry again. I wonder how many years it¡¯ll take for it to recover its seethingva again.¡±

    After a short pause, McEleney fixed Nie Tian with a deep look and asked, ¡°Where did you get that me spark?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s a secret,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± McEleney nodded, showing that he understood. Then, he shot Ste a meaningful nce, signaling her that it was time to leave.

    After rising into the sky, they each resumed their original forms and flew off in two different directions.

    Nie Tian knew that one of them was heading back to the domain they hade from, while the other was going to unearth the corpses of their deceased members.

    <i>¡°Even though it wasn¡¯t my intention to absorb me power from the undergroundvake, it could be viewed as me breaking the deal,¡± </i>Nie Tian thought to himself, worrying that the Star Behemoth would find out about this and hold him ountable.

    Shortly after the ninth grade dragon and ice phoenix left, Jing Feiyang and the others returned.

    ¡°They left?¡± Jing Feiyang asked curiously.

    ¡°Yes, they did. They have their own missions.¡± Nie Tian said, gazing off into the distant sky. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve finally finished our mission. It¡¯s about time we left this floating continent.¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian gave the order, all of the Saint and Void domain experts sped off.

    The three Saint domain experts had summoned a few air-transportation spiritual tools to carry the numerous dead eighth grade outsiders they had collected. Quan Zixuan turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°There¡¯s a total of twenty-seven eighth grade outsiders and a dozen seventh grade ones. What should we do with them and their storage rings?¡±

    ¡°Split the storage rings among yourselves evenly. I won¡¯t take any.¡± With these words, Nie Tian paused briefly to think. ¡°As for the corpses... give them to me. I¡¯ll put them to good use.¡±

    Everyone nodded, looking delighted.

    They had already examined the contents of those storage rings. They held arge number of rare spiritual materials and medicinal herbs, many of which couldn¡¯t be found in the Domain of Heaven Python. Some even couldn¡¯t be found in most human domains.

    All of them were of great value. Some could be forged into cultivators¡¯ domains to boost their cultivations.

    As for the items that weren¡¯t useful to them, they could take them back to the Domain of Heaven Python and trade them for spirit jades and spirit crystals, or other materials that were helpful to them.

    Nie Tian carried Dong Li on his Star Boat on their way back.

    She keptining about the fact that Meng Li had taken her away, depriving her of a chance at witnessing the battle between the ninth grade dragon, the ice phoenix, and the two Demon grand patriarchs.

    Meanwhile, the ck tortoise seemed to be stirred awake by the flesh auras of the dead demonic bugs on the other air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Without any hesitation, it pounced on them and started munching exclusively on the demonic bugs that hade out of Feimos¡¯ split lumps.

    Soon, it finished everyst demonic bug.

    ¡°Those demonic bugs¡¯ shells seem to be helpful to it.¡± With these words, Dong Li initiated a soulmunication with the ck tortoise. Afterwards, she informed Nie Tian with great excitement that it was about to advance to the eighth grade.

 Chapter 995: Soul Refinement

    The way back turned out to be long and uneventful.

    During this time, Jing Feiyang and the others put all of the dead eighth grade outsiders in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Then, as they divided the storage rings, they found a total of fifty soul crystals in them.

    After a moment of pondering, Jing Feiyang handed them all to Nie Tian and said, ¡°It¡¯s easy to find spiritual materials, but not soul crystals. I can tell that your soulcks refinement, and that¡¯s what¡¯s stopping you from advancing to the next level. These soul crystals will help you make that advance.¡±

    Nie Tian refused. ¡°Soul crystals are very hard to find. That¡¯s true of anybody. Why don¡¯t you split them among yourselves?¡±

    He had long since realized that, unlike spiritual materials of different attributes, soul crystals were extremely hard to find.

    The energy of heaven and earth naturally condensed and formed all sorts of spiritual materials and spirit stones. Therefore, they would be found in most domains and realms.

    However, soul crystals didn¡¯t form naturally. Only Phantasms and those who were well-versed in soul magics could refine the souls of other beings and condense them into clear crystals.

    Since Jing Feiyang and the other experts also need to refine their souls, these soul crystals were just as helpful to them.

    With a faint smile, Jing Feiyang stuffed the soul crystals back into his hand. ¡°How strong you are determines how far we can go, and the future of the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars. Also, the higher you rise in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the more we¡¯ll benefit from it as your subordinates.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde chimed in at the same time. ¡°Only if you be strong will we have powerful backing. So just take them.¡±

    Since the moment they had sworn allegiance to Nie Tian, they had realized that the future of their sects and themselvesy with Nie Tian, this running chariot.

    The stronger he became and the higher he rose within his sect, the brighter their future would be.

    ¡°Okay, sure..." Nie Tian finally epted the soul crystals.

    In fact, he also had a feeling that he had already refined his spiritual sea and the spiritual cores within it to their limits.

    The reason why he hadn¡¯t been able to break through into the middle Profound realm was because his soul stillcked refining.

    As soon as he caught up on that, he would be able to advance to thete Profound realm in no time.

    Soul crystals were indeed what he needed at this moment.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°All eight spatial tunnels have been destroyed. The outsiders won¡¯t be able to return any time soon, and the ice phoenix and dragon aren¡¯t our enemies... We don¡¯t face any threats on this continent anymore. So let¡¯s spread out and bring the ones we freed to the ind that connects to the Realm of Split Void.¡±

    ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a smile.

    After a brief discussion, everyone flew off in different directions to find the human survivors and set them on their returning paths.

    Momentster, all of the Saint and Void domain experts left Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li, however, flew towards the ind where the teleportation portal was located at a mild speed.

    Standing on the Star Boat, the two of them cherished this hard-earned moment of peace so much that they slowed down to savor it.

    They spent the following days catching up on what they had experienced during the past years, and saying the things they hadn¡¯t been able to say to each other.

    On this day, Dong Li reached out with one hand and said, ¡°Give me a few soul crystals, will you? I have a feeling that I¡¯m about to enter the middle Profound realm too. What Ick is also for my soul to be more refined. A few soul crystals will help me speed up the process, and allow me to make the breakthrough within a short time.¡±

    With a warm smile, Nie Tian handed several soul crystals to her.

    After that, as the Star Boat sped through the sky, the two of them channeled pure soul power from the soul crystals and refined it into their true souls.

    Three months passed, and they finally returned to the boundless ck sea.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t ask Nie Tian for more after running out of the few he had given her. She sat in the lotus position and practiced cultivation this whole time. Surrounded by dark power, she looked like a goddess of darkness.

    She thrummed with strange dark power fluctuations, which devoured every shred of light around her. However, it only affected a small area around her.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes to check on her from time to time as he refined his true soul. Every time he did, he had a feeling that her aura and the ck tortoise¡¯s aura were bing more and more alike.

    <i>¡°Even though the ck tortoise¡¯s origin is unknown, its bloodline talents have proven to be shockingly powerful. Dong Li seems to have benefited from its aura, and boosted her cultivation speed.</i>

    <i>¡°And that tortoise is only at the seventh grade now. Dong Li will be able to benefit from it even more after it enters the eighth grade.</i>

    <i>¡°It seems to me that it¡¯s even more powerful than Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python.¡±</i>

    With these thoughts in mind, Nie Tian forced himself to refocus on his own cultivation.

    It wasn¡¯t technically difficult for cultivators to refine their true souls at the Profound realm.

    All they needed was copious amounts of soul power.

    Nie Tian had consumed more than half of the soul crystals in his possession during the past three months. He had drained them of their soul power, which he fused into his true soul and refined into soul strands.

    Soul strands scattered in his true soul the same way meridians spread inside a person, countless and interconnected.

    However, each and every soul strand was branded with his soul awareness and memories.

    The fusion of more soul strands made his originally blurry true soul be increasingly distinct.

    During this time, Nie Tian asionally separated his true soul from his fleshly body. He felt that the clearer his true soul became, the more adapted it became to the outside world. Soon, it no longer felt so feeble that a puff of air would scatter it.

    Two weeks passed.

    Dong Li awoke from her cultivation and demanded to find a secluded location to officially start her breakthrough.

    Nie Tian then adjusted their direction and sped up untiling to a sparsely vegetated ind in the vast ck sea, where he berthed the Star Boat.

    Dong Li then jumped off the Star Boat and set up a simple spiritual power-gathering spell formation with a number of spirit jades, where she sat down and focused on her breakthrough.

    Knowing that it was no longer dangerous on this floating continent, Nie Tian left her alone and continued focusing on his own cultivation.

    Before long, he ran out of all of his soul crystals.

    However, he still hadn¡¯t touched the obstacles in his cultivation.

    Brow furrowed, he stood in a secluded corner of the ind, gazing nkly into the sky. <i>¡°Dong Li only consumed ten soul crystals, and she already refined her true soul to its limit and reached the point where she was ready for her breakthrough. The number of soul crystals I¡¯ve consumed is several times more, and I used them all to refine my true soul. Howe I still haven¡¯t found my breakthrough point?¡±</i>

    The sky was filled with nothing but gray clouds. There was no sun, moon, or pouring starlight.

    The Fragmentary Star Incantation he practiced would allow him to channel faint star power from the stars and refine it into his true soul.

    However, on this floating continent, he couldn¡¯t see a single star, or capture any star power that came from beyond the enveloping clouds.

    ¡°Is it really because my true soul stillcks refining? Could it be something else?¡±

    Nie Tian wracked his mind for an answer, but couldn¡¯t find one. This frustrated him.

    <i>¡°I¡¯ve spent every bit of the soul power I¡¯ve absorbed from the soul crystals on refining my true soul. My nine star souls didn¡¯t receive any of it. Is it possible that in order for me to make a breakthrough in my cultivation, not only do I have to refine my true soul, but my star souls as well?</i>

    <i>¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll have to find more soul crystals, or another source of soul power!¡±</i>

    At this point, he suddenly remembered the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core, and the mysterious dimension it had brought him to repeatedly. In there, me dragon skeletons formed a grand spell formation that could use mes to purge the souls within the Spirit Pearl of their impurities, leaving nothing but pure soul power.

    It was just that, thest time he had been there, the Spirit Pearl still hadn¡¯t acquired its own soul, or the five powerful evil spirits.

    If he attempted to refine the souls within the Spirit Pearl with that grand spell formation, would the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and the five evil spirits be affected?

    He couldn¡¯t make up his mind.

    WHOOSH!

    He eventually summoned the Spirit Pearl, which hovered over his head, glittering with faint, cyan light.

    It had been by his side as he marched from ce to ce, destroying spatial tunnels and killing outsiders.

    As long as no human ves had been killed, he would unleash it to gather the souls of dead outsiders.

    The Spirit Pearl had collected arge number of discarnate souls, while the five evil spirits had devoured arge amount of negative auras. They had all grown stronger.

    ¡°I wonder what has changed inside the Spirit Pearl.¡±

    A soul strand then separated itself from his true soul, and after mixing with a bit of power from his star souls, flew into the glowing pearl.

    In the next moment, an exmation escaped his mouth.

 Chapter 996: The Insurmountable

    There seemed to be an independent world inside the cyan Spirit Pearl, which was divided into five regions.

    Each region swarmed with numerous discarnate souls and one overseeing evil spirit.

    The five evil spirits, each of which oversaw one region, thrummed with fear, despair, rage, and bloodthirst respectively.

    Meanwhile, they continuously absorbed the five negative energies from the discarnate souls in their respective dominions.

    Normally speaking, negative energies such as fear, despair, rage, and bloodthirst were considered impurities that were usually attached to soul power, which couldn¡¯t be refined into one¡¯s true soul.

    However, to the five evil spirits, they happened to be the nourishment they needed to strengthen themselves.

    As the evil spirits absorbed negative energies to strengthen themselves, wisp after wisp of pure soul power flew towards the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul that resided at the center, like silk extruded by silkworms.

    As the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul refined the pure soul power it kept receiving, it gradually grew distinct.

    Nie Tian examined it with rapt attention, and discovered that fine strands could be seen within its blurry soul body, and that how it strengthened its soul was very simr to how he strengthened his true soul.

    The only difference was that he relied on soul crystals to refine his true soul.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, however, had the five evil spirits devour the impurities, then fused itself with the purged soul power to boost its growth.

    Fragments that looked like iplete maps could be seen floating over each of the five regions.

    Nie Tian, who had long since understood the Spirit Pearl¡¯s wonders, stared at those fragments for a while before realizing that the memories of the outsiders, whose discarnate souls had been sucked into the Spirit Pearl, had formed these fragmentary maps.

    However, the memories those discarnate souls carried had be fragmented after their violent deaths.

    Adding in the fact that they belonged to different races, such as Demons, Fiends, and Florigrims, even the Spirit Pearl couldn¡¯t integrate such heterogeneous memories to formplete maps of the domains they had lived in.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that the Spirit Pearl actually has a use that¡¯s simr to that of Soul-devouring Lakes. So the Spirit Pearl drags discarnate souls into itself with the help of the five evil spirits. Afterwards, the five evil spirits devour the discarnate souls¡¯ negative energies and use them to strengthen themselves.</i>

    <i>¡°Meanwhile, after being rid of their negative energies, the discarnate souls are refined into pure soul power, which is fused into the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, allowing it to grow bit by bit.</i>

    <i>¡°The Phantasms¡¯ Soul-devouring Lakes generate soul crystals that can be used by all races. Even though the Spirit Pearl doesn¡¯t produce soul crystals, it produces pure soul power that can be used to strengthen itself.</i>

    <i>¡°At the same time, the five evil spirits can strengthen themselves with the impurities within the discarnate souls.</i>

    <i>¡°But I don¡¯t seem to be getting anything from the Spirit Pearl.¡±</i>

    A wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness morphed into an illusory shadow that drifted into the cyan heaven and earth inside the Spirit Pearl.

    The discarnate souls in the five regions didn¡¯t seem to notice his arrival.

    However, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and the five evil spirits did.

    His soul shadow passed through the areas where numerous discarnate souls were hovering, and eventually came to the center where the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul took the initiative to approach his soul shadow in an affectionate and cheerful manner.

    Even though they didn¡¯tmunicate in any sort ofnguage, Nie Tian understood it perfectly. He felt its joy and learned that after gaining arge number of discarnate souls, it was now growing at a high speed.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian sent out a soul message, expressing that he needed pure soul power to strengthen his star souls.

    He asked for its help.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was intelligent enough to understand him.

    It suddenly let out a sharp screech that filled every corner of the Spirit Pearl.

    As soon as this happened, every single discarnate soul that was confined in the five regions made desperate attempts to escape, as if they knew that they were facing some catastrophe.

    At the same time, the five evil spirits, which worked under the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, bore their fangs and gave sinister grins.

    They started chasing and massacring discarnate souls in their respective regions. One discarnate soul after another was torn to pieces and devoured.

    The iplete maps that floated inside the Spirit Pearl instantly exploded.

    As the discarnate souls were eliminated, the memories that had been taken from them vanished as well.

    Simultaneously, wisp after wisp of fine soul strands started to rise from the five evil spirits¡¯ enormous blurry bodies.

    Each and every soul strand contained pure soul essence,pletely devoid of impurities.

    The soul strands flew ethereally out of the Spirit Pearl.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open, and he saw them flying into his forehead between his eyebrows before streaming into his sea of awareness.

    Such pure soul essence was practically the same as the soul power he had channeled from soul crystals before.

    As soon as the soul strands entered him, his star souls that floated over his sea of awareness were like sharks that sniffed blood. They swooped down and pulled the soul strands directly into themselves.

    As his star souls gradually grew stronger, they were filled with more refined soul power.

    The Spirit Pearl, however, was losing its discarnate souls by the hundreds. The five evil spirits had kept them like livestock, which they could use for power in the future. However, in such a short time, a third of them were already gone.

    Countless soul strands continued to rise from the evil spirits and fuse into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    His star souls grew stronger and stronger...

    The process seemed tost a long time, but at the same time, it felt as if everything was happening in a split second.

    Nie Tian suddenly touched the obstacles that were stopping him from entering the next level, sting them into shatters in the next moment.

    ¡°Breakthrough!¡± Ecstasy filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as spirit jades, Star Stones, Heavenme Crystals and materials that contained wood power flew out from within his ring of holding. Momentster, the spiritual materials were piled into a hill beside him.

    Normally speaking, minor breakthroughs in cultivation weren¡¯t apanied by risks or fundamental changes.

    As long as the cultivator wasn¡¯t disturbed, a minor breakthrough at the Profound realm would usually be safe and smooth.

    At this point, no one on this floating continent would disturb his breakthrough, as the other human experts and Ancientbeasts were all very far from his current location.

    This allowed him to focus on his breakthrough without worrying about being disturbed.

    He thenmenced his breakthrough in cultivation.

    Time flew. Two weeks passed before he knew it.

    He had already consumed most of the spiritual materials he had taken out, leaving just a few lying around him.

    Dong Li hade over at a certain point. Her curvaceous, charming body seemed to be able to devour light, as she was enveloped in a mysterious darkness.

    Sitting there, she looked at Nie Tian from afar and muttered, ¡°This guy...¡±

    After months of painstaking cultivation, she had finally broken through into the middle Profound realm, assuming that she had finally caught up to Nie Tian. But seeing him now, she felt very frustrated.

    ¡°This asshole practices star power, me power, and wood power simultaneously. How in the world did he progress so fast?!¡± She sounded like she wasining, yet a heartfelt smile could be seen at the corner of her mouth. ¡°But after all, he¡¯s the man I chose. It¡¯s only natural that he¡¯s beyond ordinary.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as she thought these things aloud.

    Another six months passed.

    On an ind in the middle of the boundless ck sea stood a pce built by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. At this moment, Jing Feiyang and the others were already waiting in front of it.

    About a year had passed since their parting with Nie Tian.

    During this time, Jing Feiyang had arranged for the Saint and Void domain experts to spread out and bring the human ves they had previously freed to this ind, where he had teleported them back to the Realm of Split Void.

    All of the human ves that had been previously taken from the Domain of Heaven Python had been returned to their homes under the arrangements of the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect.

    However, there were still arge number of people whose home domains had fallen into the outsiders¡¯ hands, and thus didn¡¯t have homes to return to.

    As for these people, Jing Feiyang allowed them to choose from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After learning that all three domains belonged to Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, they gave the matter serious consideration and made their choices. Afterwards, they set out on new paths of cultivation in their new homes.

    At this point, all of the freed ves had been properly taken care of. Most of the Void domain experts had returned home as well.

    The only ones who had stayed to wait for Nie Tian were the three Saint domain experts, along with Fan Kai, Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, and a few others who were close to Nie Tian.

    SHEW!

    The long-lost Star Boat suddenly appeared in the distant sky, shooting towards them like a bolt of lightning.

    Jing Feiyang let out a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. ¡°I told you that kid wasn¡¯t in trouble. I mean, how could he be?¡±

    The anxiety on the others¡¯ faces also vanished instantly.

    In the next moment, the delight in the three Saint domain experts¡¯ eyes suddenly grew more intense.

    As the Star Boat approached, their immense soul awareness allowed them to shrewdly detect that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base had taken another step forward, and entered thete Profound realm.

    ¡°It appears that it was his breakthrough that dyed his arrival,¡± Qu Mingde said with a knowing expression.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s garments fluttered elegantly against the wind, as if they were a couple of immortals.

    Standing next to Fan Kai, Su Lin stared nkly at the two of them. She sighed inwardly, ming herself and the fact that life was unfair.

    The reason why Fan Kai had kept Su Lin by his side was because of the ups and downs she had gone through. As a chosen one of the Heaven Pce Sect, whose status had only been second to Ning Yang, she had struggled as a ve of the outsiders for many years. Her experience was her fortune, which had changed her significantly.

    Therefore, he nned to expend time and effort to cultivate her. By passing the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s most powerful secret magics to her, he hoped that he could help her regain her confidence, and eventually be the Heaven Pce Sect¡¯s future tower of strength.

    ¡°You can forget aboutparing yourself to Nie Tian or Dong Li,¡± Fan Kai said in a low voice. ¡°Even I don¡¯t imagine that I¡¯ll be able to match their achievements. However, you don¡¯t have to feel frustrated about that. Your special life experience has given you a unique edge. You should cherish the opportunity you¡¯ve been given. I¡¯ve no doubt that you¡¯ll rise above all of the other chosen ones from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°But... He¡¯s always been the one I want to surpass,¡± Su Lin said emotionally, her eyes fixed on Nie Tian.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why you shouldn¡¯t set him as your goal. All I¡¯m saying is don¡¯t overdo yourself...¡± After a short pause, Fan Kai added, ¡°Perhaps it wasn¡¯t a wise decision to keep you here. Nie Tian might have be an insurmountable mountain to you. Seeing him might take a toll on your spirits.

    ¡°But you¡¯ve got to understand that you¡¯re not the only one. Every single chosen one from the Domain of the Falling Stars has seen the fact that Nie Tian is insurmountable.¡±

    Before Su Lin said anything back, Fan Kai took her into the pce and sent her back to the Realm of Split Void.

    The reason why he had done this was because he was worried that more contact with Nie Tian would further scar her mentally, and that the influence would besting.

    WHOOSH! The Star Boat descended. After ncing through the crowd, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Did you make proper arrangements for the ves we freed?¡±

    Smiling, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°Rest assured. The three of us are more than capable of handling such matters well. I knew that you¡¯d be able to advance to thete Profound realm with the help of those soul crystals.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t say more about it. ¡°So this mission has turned out to be a sess. You can all go back now.¡±

    Surprised, Qu Mingde asked, ¡°What about you?¡±

    Nie Tian shot a nce at the ck sea. ¡°I still have somemunicating to do.¡±

    The others followed his gaze, and suddenly snapped out of their bewilderment.

    They had long since learned that a powerful being was hiding in the depths of the ck sea.

    Since Nie Tian didn¡¯t exin it, they assumed that it had something to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and that he couldn¡¯t let too many people know about it.

    They nodded and entered the pce, where they left the floating continent one after another.

    Only after Nie Tian and Dong Li were the only ones left on the ind did Nie Tian release his Star Eyes, plunge into the sea, and let out soul calls.

    Soon, the Star Behemoth¡¯s immense soul awareness spread over from the distance.

    Nie Tian cut to the chase. ¡°I¡¯m here to show you this thing as we agreed.¡±

    He took out the Star Behemoth bone and cast it into the bottomless sea.

 Chapter 997: Nourishing the Bone

    As soon as the bone plunged into the bottomless, pitch-ck sea, the Star Behemoth¡¯s immense soul awareness spread towards it from all directions.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Eye, which he had sent into the ck sea, seemed to be suddenly shielded, as it couldn¡¯t capture the Star Behemoth¡¯s aura anymore.

    At the same time, a terrifying aura that could tear up the heavens and shatter the earth gradually overtook him.

    He had a feeling that his Star Eye was about to explode.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Eye burst out of the sea¡¯s surface and returned to Nie Tian, not daring to spend another second in the ck sea.

    His expression flickered drastically as this happened.

    The moment his Star Eye had left the sea, he had shrewdly discovered that the subtle connection between him and that bone was cut off.

    He had fused the bone with his Blood Essence and branded it with his unique bloodline imprints and life aura.

    Before, after he had cast the bone out, he had been able to sense the bone¡¯s location by relying on the profound connection between him and the bone. He could even call it back.

    But now, with the connection cut off, he could no longer sense the bone¡¯s existence.

    <i>¡°It¡¯s not going to take the bone away, is it?¡±</i> Nie Tian thought to himself, worry rising in his heart.

    With the skillful wielding of his bloodline power, this bone had already be his most devastating means of attack.

    Even outsiders at the eighth grade couldn¡¯t shoulder a single strike from it without being prated.

    Asrge as its consumption was, Nie Tian had attached great value to its terrifying might.

    From the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he had learned that the bone hade from a Star Behemoth from the Primal Era, which meant that it shared the same origin with the one hiding in the depths of the sea.

    Since they belonged to the same species, would it seize the bone and refuse to give it back?

    ¡°What is that bone exactly?¡± Dong Li asked curiously. ¡°Also, what¡¯s that thing in the depths of the sea?¡±

    ¡°The two of them belong to the same species.¡± Nie Tian gave a vague answer.

    Dong Li gasped with astonishment. ¡°The two of them belong to the same species?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°This is a secret, even within the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Before I came here, the elders told me not to mention it to anyone. But since it¡¯s you, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a problem. All you need to know is that the bone and the powerful being in the sea belong to a species that¡¯s more ancient than the titans, Ancientbeasts, or any other species from the Deste Antiquity Era.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes grew wide with astonishment.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly noticed changes in the silent sea.

    The seawater seemed to have suddenly congealed and turned solid.

    This peculiar feeling struck him without any warning, as if the area of sea in front of him had turned into a piece of ink-ck jade in the blink of an eye.

    Neither he nor Dong Li could see through the sea¡¯s surface, nor could they send their soul awareness under the sea¡¯s surface to get a view of what was going on under there.

    The only thing they knew was that the Star Behemoth¡¯s soul awareness had now fully arrived, and was examining the bone in a way they couldn¡¯t understand.

    This strange phenomenonsted a long time.

    All of a sudden, small ripples appeared on the congealed sea.

    The peculiar pitch-ck sea seemed to have returned to its original state.

    WHOOSH!

    The bone rose from under the sea¡¯s surface, shooting skywards.

    The connection between Nie Tian and the bone was reestablished the moment it left the sea.

    As soon as he channeled it with his bloodline aura, it seemed to be somehow touched. It changed directions abruptly and flew directly into his hand.

    At the same time, he plunged his Star Eye into the sea again.

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s soul awareness came from all directions and rapidly infiltrated the Star Eye, initiating a conversation. ¡°Where did you get that bone?¡±

    ¡°From an old Lizardman patriarch.¡±

    ¡°The flesh aura within it, does it belong to you?¡±

    ¡°It does.¡±

    ¡°How did you infuse it with your flesh aura?¡±

    ¡°When I fused my Blood Essence into it, my flesh aura naturally reced the ninth grade Lizardman¡¯s, and it was branded with my unique imprints.¡±

    The Star Behemoth fell silent.

    Only after a long while did it send out a soul message again. ¡°I have some advice for you.¡±

    ¡°Please. I¡¯m all ears.¡±

    ¡°Infuse that bone with all the Blood Essence you can spare. ording to my estimation, it¡¯ll change for the first time after receiving a hundred more drops of your Blood Essence.

    ¡°After the first change, it¡¯ll gain the ability to channel the nourishment it needs from the starry river on its own.

    ¡°So when that change happens, don¡¯t keep it by your side anymore. Choose a dead realm that¡¯s far away from any imed vital domains, and leave it there.

    ¡°Even though your Blood Essence can trigger changes and transform it, you¡¯ll have to let it fend for itself. It belongs with the boundless starry river, not inside one of your people¡¯s rings of holding.

    ¡°You can go find it again when you need its assistance in battle.

    ¡°The rest of the time, you should leave it alone in the depths of the starry river. Later, when your bloodline upgrades, your Blood Essence will change as well. Then, you may infuse the bone with more of your Blood Essence, inducing its next change.¡±

    The Star Behemoth pointed Nie Tian in the correct direction. After making sure that Nie Tian had heard and memorized everything, it added, ¡°Alright, you may leave now. I don¡¯t want you to bring the bone back here again. And I don¡¯t expect to see you again.¡±

    With these words, the Star Behemoth¡¯s immense aura dissipated, as if it had left in a split second.

    Clutching the bone in his hand, Nie Tian felt baffled. ¡°Infuse it with a hundred more drops of my Blood Essence, and it¡¯ll be able to channel power from the starry river on its own... And it belongs with the boundless starry river, not inside a ring of holding...?¡±

    ¡°What are you mumbling about?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Nothing.¡±

    ¡°Okay... So when do we go back?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly and decided to take the Star Behemoth¡¯s advice. ¡°Not yet.¡±

    At this point, he had already stocked up arge number of outsider corpses, most of which were corpses of eighth grade outsiders. If he used Life Drain on them, he would be able to obtain a copious amount of flesh power.

    The green aura was now lying dormant in his heart, so it didn¡¯t need any more flesh power for the time being.

    Originally, he had collected those outsider corpses for the purpose of continuing his body refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal, and providing himself with flesh power after his next bloodline upgrade.

    However, the Star Behemoth¡¯s advice had changed his mind.

    He spent the following period of time separating his Blood Essence from his heart and fusing all ten drops into the bone.

    Like a dry sponge, the bone absorbed his Blood Essence within moments.

    Feeling exhausted and weak, Nie Tian then took out the outsider corpses and activated Life Drain in front of Dong Li. One blood string after another whizzed out of him before piercing into the outsider corpses.

    As they lost their rich flesh power, the robust corpses rapidly shriveled like meat that was left in scorching sunlight.

    Vigorous flesh power poured madly into him, following the blood strings.

    After entering him, the flesh power automatically converged on his heart, where it was turned into drops of Blood Essence under his bloodline aura¡¯s magical effect.

    As one corpse after another was drained of their flesh power, he gradually regained ten drops of Blood Essence.

    Then, he fused the newly generated Blood Essence into the bone.

    As he repeated this process mechanically, more and more dried-up outsider corpses piled up beside him.

    It was extremely consuming to condense Blood Essence. During this time, he would pause briefly to catch his breath and give Dong Li an apologetic smile.

    Dong Li, who had long since grown used to his strange behavior, soon found it boring to watch him, and thus left for the pce by herself, where she stabilized her cultivation base with spirit jades.

    Two months passed...

    Nie Tian had almost run out of outsider corpses that he could drain flesh power from.

    He had also realized that if he hadn¡¯t collected so many outsider corpses during this trip on the floating continent, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to condense so much Blood Essence to fuse into the bone.

    A few more days passed. As another drop of Blood Essence dripped onto the bone, the blood-colored veins in it suddenly lit up, each and every line as bright as a fment.

 Chapter 998: Exposure in the Starry River

    Countless blood-colored veins interwove inside the bone.

    Like tiny snakes, they started slithering slowly.

    As Nie Tian examined them with rapt attention, he discovered that they were splitting into even finer veins.

    This seemed to be caused by the recent massive infusion of his Blood Essence.

    Bloodline Crystal Chains that were dozens of times thinner than hairs could be seen within the glowing veins, as if some long-lost bloodline talent had suddenly been awakened.

    At this moment, a strange gravitational force was born within the bone, as if it was hoping to attract something.

    However, the entire floating continent was enveloped in ayer of gray clouds, which had sealed it away from the starry river.

    The gravitational force didn¡¯t seem to be able to find the nourishment it was looking for on this floating continent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the change the Star Behemoth told me about is actually happening?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened with astonishment.

    Since the first time he had entered the floating continent, he had learned that the explosion of the top continent had formed a thickyer of mixed energies, which was now known as the gray clouds that filled the entire sky.

    There was a mysterious tearing force in the depths of the clouds.

    That immense force could shatter heaven and earth, destroying even an entire realm. Come to think of it, it might have something to do with the Star Behemoth, which was hiding in the unfathomable sea.

    It was the existence of the gray clouds that had prevented Nie Tian from sensing the cores of stars or channeling star power from the depths of the starry river.

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s advice was to leave the bone on a dead star that was preferably far from any inhabited realms after its first change.

    On a dead star that wasn¡¯t enveloped in separative clouds, the bone would be able to attract energies that were helpful to it from the starry river, and use them to strengthen itself.

    <i>¡°It seems that it¡¯s about time I ended this trip to the floating continent.¡±</i>

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before putting the bone back into his ring of holding and walking over to the pce, where he woke Dong Li from her cultivation and left through a teleportation portal.

    Days passed...

    Nie Tian appeared by himself in the starry river between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    He found himself standing inside a teleportation portal that the Lei n had set up on a dead star.

    Years ago, he had teleported through portals that were identical to this one to the forbidden area, where he had discovered the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    There were seven of these teleportation portals, through which people could teleport between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    This was the second teleportation portal.

    Gazing off into the distance, he saw nothing but dim, lifeless meteors, which were pieces of shattered realms. Beyond them were a number of dead stars.

    Hundreds of thousands of years ago, there had been a vast domain between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, where outsiders had set up homes.

    Later, human experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had arrived and started a war against the outsiders that lived there. As a result, they had expelled the outsiders, and the war had turned many realms to dead realms.

    After that, the entire region was gradually forsaken and forgotten.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian summoned the bone from within his ring of holding and cast it into the dark starry river.

    As he did, the numerous blood-colored veins within it seemed to have caught a whiff of something, as they suddenly started to flicker.

    A gravitational force was then born within the bone.

    Dross, impurities, and many strange energies that Nie Tian didn¡¯t even recognize seemed to be channeled by the bone, as they started to converge on the bone from all directions.

    Countless wisps of energies that humans couldn¡¯t even bear, much less cultivate with, slowly fused into the bone.

    The main reason why human Qi warriors couldn¡¯t travel through the starry river on their own before reaching the Void domain was because they wouldn¡¯t be able to protect themselves from the various harmful energies that filled every corner of the starry river after losing the protection of realm shields.

    Their spiritual power shields couldn¡¯t ward off those deadly energies over the long term. Once the energies got through, they would rapidly rot their flesh away.

    Only after entering the Void domain would they be able to keep those energies away over the long term by relying on their private domains.

    However, what that bone was doing now seemed to be voluntarily channeling the mixed energies in its surroundings and absorbing them.

    Standing on the Star Boat and enveloped in a misty starlight shield, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He then flew up into the starry river as well, protected by the Star Boat¡¯s defensive system.

    However, as he did, the me spark in his me power core suddenly grew restless.

    After a moment of hesitation, he canceled the Star Boat¡¯s defensive shield.

    Countless fine wisps of energies immediately poured in from all directions. The energies were so heterogeneous that they seemed to include the energies that every single species in this starry river thrived on.

    Demon qi, Phantasm qi, metal power, wood power, water power, fire power, earth power, lightning power, frost power, wind power, light power, and dark power...

    A variety of powers that mingled together in a disorderly manner rapidly engulfed him.

    The me spark within his me power core started to burn fiercely.

    In the next moment, wisp after wisp me power was separated from the mixture of various powers and sucked into the me spark.

    It was just that such me power was so faint that it didn¡¯t even match the amount of me power held by a single Heavenme Crystal.

    Momentster, the Godspirit Tree sapling that had taken root in his wood power core was suddenly stirred by something, and started to channel wisps of faint wood power from his surroundings as well.

    The Nine Stars Flower within his star power core also stretched its leaves and absorbed a few rays of faint starlight.

    However, the majority of the countless types of energies poured uncontrobly into his body, not his spiritual sea.

    He first felt numb all over, then it was stabbing pain. It rapidly aggravated to the point where he felt as if his body was going to explode.

    His expression flickered as he hastily reactivated the spell formation within the Star Boat, separating himself from mixed energies in the starry river.

    Face grim, he continued to wash his flesh and bones with his bloodline power, ridding himself of the various harmful energies that were gnawing at him.

    <i>¡°Back in the day, the Realm of Split Void was also enveloped in mixed energies that were harmful to humans. Later, when I visited the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, the corrosive energies there turned out to be dozens of times stronger than those in the Realm of Split Void, but I still managed to keep them off with my spiritual power ward. But the energies in the starry river...¡±</i>

    A bitter smile appeared on his face as his train of thought came to this point.

    The mixed energies in the starry river were so heterogeneous that they were countless times more destructive than the mixed energies in the Realm of Split Void or the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Even though they also contained me power, wood power, and star power, they were too faint to make a difference.

    Besides, by absorbing them, he would allow a muchrger amount of harmful energies to take the opportunity to infiltrate him, and cause him unbearable pain.

    Nie Tian turned to look at the bone that was floating in the starry river.

    To his surprise, he discovered that it was only absorbing the energies that were helpful to it.

    As for the energies it didn¡¯t need, they seemed to be unable to infiltrate the bone at all, much less cause it any damage.

    <i>¡°I wonder if I¡¯ll be able to refine my body to the point where I can keep off the harmful energies automatically like this bone is doing now. Then I¡¯ll be able to wander the starry river freely.¡± </i>Nie Tian drifted away in thought.

    <i>¡°Also, every realm seems to be channeling certain types of energies from the starry river, and in ways we don¡¯t understand, turning them into the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, Demon Qi, Phantasm Qi, and all kinds of materials and treasures.¡±</i>

    <i>¡°Meanwhile, every realm has its star core, that can refine its own star soul. So in a sense, they can be viewed as a kind of being too.</i>

    <i>¡°They absorb energies that suit them, turning themselves into me realms, ice realms, Demon realms, or human realms.</i>

    <i>¡°They can also lose their energies and die, unless they¡¯re superrge-scale realms.</i>

    <i>¡°If the beings that live in them are keen on exploring them for spiritual materials and cultivating with their qi, it¡¯ll elerate their deaths.</i>

    <i> ¡°In this sense, humans, outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and titans are all draining their realms of their energies, which they had spent countless years gathering, speeding up their withering.</i>

    <i>¡°Star Behemoths, however, absorb energies directly from the starry river to strengthen themselves like realms do from the moment they¡¯re born. Then, after they grow to a certain point, they¡¯ll start to strengthen themselves by devouring realms.¡±</i>

 Chapter 999: Report

    Through pondering the bone¡¯s unique feature, Nie Tian came to brand new understandings of the mysteries of heaven and earth.

    Frowning, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems that I have to leave it in the starry river if I want it to grow.

    ¡°However, even though this entire region has been forgotten for many years, it¡¯s hard to say whether some powerful races will stumble into it or not. If they see this bone, they¡¯ll definitely be amazed by it, and think up every possible method to take it away.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s way too important to me, and I¡¯ve spent a significant amount of Blood Essence on it, I can¡¯t allow anyone to take it away.¡±

    He felt a headache over the tough situation.

    It was clearly not good for its development if he put it back into his ring of holding and carried it around.

    However, if instead of carrying it around, he left it in the starry river, someone might discover it and take it away. If that happened, wouldn¡¯t all of the efforts he had made be in vain?

    After pondering for a long time, he decided to leave it there with a guardian.

    Since it would be on a dead star exposed in the starry river, the guardian should preferably be at the Void domain, and not attempt to make breakthroughs in his cultivation in the near future.

    Furthermore, with enough spirit stones and spiritual materials, a Void domain guardian would be able to practice cultivation the same way he did in other ces.

    He soon determined the best person for the job. ¡°Fan Kai!¡±

    Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect had just broken through into the early Void domain. It would take him a long time to cultivate to the point where he was ready for his next breakthrough.

    Besides, he had opened his eyes to reality and sworn allegiance to him since he had rescued him from the Domain of Endless Snow.

    After determining the candidate, he teleported back to the Domain of the Falling Stars. Fan Kai went to see him as soon as he was summoned.

    After meeting him, Nie Tian took him back to the dead star and charged him with the task of guarding the bone. If anyone were to pass through this area, he should hide it until they left.

    In return, he promised Fan Kai that if he needed any spiritual materials to break through into the middle Void domain in the future, he would help him get them through the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Fan Kai agreed to Nie Tian¡¯s arrangement without hesitation.

    Now, with the bone taken care of, Nie Tian returned to the Realm of Fragmentary Star to report the result of his mission, but before he did, Duan Shihu and Jing Rou found him, and Jing Rou handed him a list.

    It was a list of the rare spiritual materials Jing Feiyang needed for his breakthrough.

    After grabbing it, Nie Tian teleported to the Vast Heaven Pavilion and walked out without dy.

    ...

    In the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°That¡¯s everything that happened.¡± Standing in front of elder Wei Lai, Nie Tian finished exining everything that had happened during the time he had spent on the floating continent in detail.

    After hearing his words, Wei Lai said, looking deeply amazed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Hazlitt the me Maniac actually broke through into the middle ninth grade shortly after entering that floating continent. Luckily for you, you ran into two Ancientbeasts. Otherwise, you could have been in some serious trouble.¡±

    Nie Tian listened in silence.

    ¡°ording to the information we received from the floating continent, those outsiders were led by someone at the early ninth grade,¡± Wei Lai said with a thoughtful look in his eyes. ¡°Having to deal with two middle ninth grade experts, the me Maniac and the Controller, simultaneously, you were in a seriously dangerous situation there. I think we need to reevaluate this mission. Five hundred thousand contribution points doesn¡¯t seem to be a fair amount now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up with delight.

    He had taken a quick look at the list of spiritual materials Jing Feiyang needed. He hadn¡¯t even heard of some of them.

    Therefore, he had worried that he didn¡¯t have enough contribution points in his Star Medallion to purchase the spiritual materials he needed for his breakthrough.

    Now, he felt truly delighted upon hearing that they were going to reevaluate the mission and increase the contribution points forpleting it.

    ¡°Would you wait here for a moment?¡± With these words, Wei Lai walked through the hall gate to summon the other on-duty elders to discuss this matter.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before he returned. ¡°Congrattions. We¡¯ve reevaluated your mission on the floating continent, and raised the reward to eight hundred thousand contribution points.

    ¡°So with your initial hundred thousand contribution points, and the fifty thousand you got for having that Star Behemoth bone examined, you now have a total of nine hundred and fifty thousand contribution points.

    ¡°You¡¯re free to use them to purchase all sorts of spiritual materials, spiritual tools, and medicinal pills from the sect. And your subordinates can use them to borrow all kinds of incantation records from the Records Pavilion.¡±

    With a hearty smile, Nie Tian handed the list to him and said, ¡°Jing Feiyang, the current sectmaster of the Divine Seal Sect, is looking forward to breaking through into the middle Saint domain. These are the spiritual materials he needs. Would you take a look and see if we have all the things on this list?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Wei Lai grabbed the list. He looked down at it and muttered, ¡°Deriving Wood, Heaventurtle Shells, Sacred Primal Blood...¡±

    Most of the items on the list turned out to be materials that could be used to make talismans. Sacred Primal Blood could be used as a special paint, while Deriving Wood and Heaventurtle Shells could be used as carriers for talismans.

    Wei Lai¡¯s narrowed eyes suddenly widened. ¡°A Heavenly Talisman?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a Heavenly Talisman?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    He had gone through the list himself. He had heard of most of the spiritual materials on it. That Heavenly Talisman was the only item he had beenpletely unfamiliar with.

    Wei Lai frowned and said, ¡°All of the other spiritual materials are fairly easy to find, and we¡¯re stocked. You¡¯ll be able to get all of them with no more than thirty thousand contribution points. But that Heavenly Talisman is different. We only have five of them throughout our sect. All of them are priced at five hundred thousand contribution points or higher. Even though Heavenly Talismans don¡¯t have their own awareness, and they aren¡¯t categorized as Earth Cultivated or Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials, they¡¯re still considered very precious and valuable.

    ¡°The reason why they¡¯re called Heavenly Talismans is because they¡¯re unique talismans that natural forces carve out of mountains or canyons...¡± Wei Lai went on and exined to Nie Tian.

    ording to him, in some ancient realms, fierce wind carvedrge rocks and left unique marks on mountains.

    Those marks formed naturally, and were vested with the wonders of heaven and earth.

    In other realms, spatial rifts slithered about, carving the earth in certain ways. Those marks also carried unique wonders.

    As a whole, those marks were referred to as Heavenly Talismans, which meant they were the work of the heavens.

    It was said that in ancient times, humans ancestors and powerful outsiders had been able to read Heavenly Talismans and derive profound bloodline magics and spiritual incantations from them.

    ¡°A Heavenly Talisman!¡± Nie Tian suddenly remembered that, back when he had traveled in the Shatter Battlefield, he had seen a rocky mountain with a smooth surface, which had been carved with many peculiar marks.

    Arge number of powerful human experts had been sitting silently in front of it, as if to derive enlightenment from it.

    Now, after hearing Wei Lai¡¯s words, it urred to him that what had been on that mountain¡¯s surface might very well be a so-called Heavenly Talisman.

    ¡°Right now, we have a total of five Heavenly Talismans throughout our entire sect. And since they carry different wonders, their prices vary from one another.¡± After a short pause, Wei Lai continued, ¡°How about this: You may bring that Jing Feiyang to our headquarters, and show him all five of them. Then, let him choose for himself.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good point!¡±

    ¡°Also,¡± Wei Lai added, ¡°now that you have plenty of contribution points in your hands, you should consider asking Kan Zhisheng to build an inter-domain teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries at the price of fifty thousand contribution points. I heard that you have inter-domain teleportation portals in both the Realm of Maelstrom and the Realm of Split Void. With another one in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, you¡¯ll be able to connect the three domains that belong to you. People will be able to travel much more efficiently that way.¡±

    Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡±

    Zhao Shanling had set up inter-domain teleportation portals in the Realm of Maelstrom and the Realm of Split Void. Later, Pei Qiqi had made adjustments to the spell formations inside of them, connecting the two.

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was now the only domain of his that didn¡¯t have arge-scale inter-realm teleportation portal.

    For those in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to visit the Domain of Heaven Python, they would have to teleport through a series of seven teleportation portals to reach the Realm of Split Void first. Then, from there, they would be able to teleport to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    This was clearly inefficient.

    If Zhao Shanling was still around, he would be able to provide him with the necessary materials and ask for his help again.

    However, he had been gone for a long time. There was absolutely no word of him, and no one seemed to know where he was.

    Pei Qiqi had been discovered and taken back to the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters by their sectmaster. Since she was hidden away like a precious treasure, Nie Tian didn¡¯t know how to get her help either.

    This left him no choice but ask for Kan Zhisheng¡¯s services at the price of fifty thousand contribution points.

    Therefore, he headed out to find him.

    Seeing that he had more than enough contribution points in his Star Medallion, Kan Zhisheng was very happen to oblige.

    Before long, he arrived at the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries under Nie Tian¡¯s arrangement.

    After hearing that some expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was going to establish arge-scale inter-domain teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters, many powerful experts from across the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries came over from their respective sects.

    Inside the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters, Elder Zhou Shang reported to Patriarch Pure Heaven in a respectful manner, ¡°Patriarch, an expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce went to the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters with Nie Tian. Right now, they¡¯re building a teleportation portal that¡¯s supposed to connect the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven Python directly.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven, who had recently entered the early Saint domain, gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?! Once the teleportation portal is built, experts from the other domains will be able toe to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries any time they want, won¡¯t they?¡±

    Zhou Shang smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡±

 Chapter 1000: People Yearning to Enter the Saint Domain

    Patriarch Pure Heaven pondered in silence with his brow furrowed.

    ¡°Patriarch,¡± Zhou Shang said, ¡°Yue Yanxi, Jiang Feng, and the others seem to have gained quite a fortune from their trip to a brand new domain. They came back with arge number of spiritual materials and herbs that can¡¯t be found in human domains.¡± After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°I heard that Yue Yanxi and a few others are recently making preparations to break through into new domains.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven snorted coldly and asked, ¡°What are you trying to say?¡±

    Zhou Shang shrunk his head and said with a bitter face, ¡°All of the other sects have developed their strength after swearing allegiance to Nie Tian. Their recent exploration trips to the Lizardman domain and other new domains have turned out to be very fruitful. We, on the other hand...¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven asked, looking displeased.

    Zhou Shang sighed. ¡°Not only have we not developed our strength, but all of the other sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have been avoiding contact with us since we refused the Son of the Stars¡¯ offer. Our sect members are no longer as respected and revered in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries as before.¡±

    The Pure Heaven Sect had been the most powerful sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s unmatched strength had emboldened them.

    Members of the other sects and ns would always treat them with respect, and sometimes fear.

    However, since those sects and ns had sworn allegiance to Nie Tian, not only had they stopped treating them with respect, but they had even cut off trade with them.

    They would often trade among themselves, or go find trading partners in the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Before long, the Pure Heaven Sect had be isted.

    Zhou Shang felt deeply frustrated seeing his sect in such a situation, while the other sects and ns benefited from their rtionship with Nie Tian.

    However, the Pure Heaven Sect was in no ce to start anything.

    After all, those sects and ns had Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, at their back.

    Not to mention that word had it Nie Tian had a God domain me power expert as his backer.

    Even without all that, Nie Tian had Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde, three Saint domain experts who would be happy to rush over from the Domain of Heaven Python if the Pure Heaven Sect dared to act unruly.

    If they fought, they wouldn¡¯t win. If they didn¡¯t fight, they would gradually wither away, and eventually be gobbled up by the other sects and ns.

    Deeply worried about their future, Zhou Shang added, ¡°In fact, many of us already haveints about our decisions, Patriarch. They think you should dere allegiance to Nie Tian like the other sects and ns did. Given our reserve strength and your influence as a Saint domain expert, our sect will soon rise to prominence if we do.¡±

    ¡°A bunch of shortsighted fools!¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven spat. ¡°They¡¯re only seeing the bright side, but not the hidden danger! That Nie Tian kid was lucky that they didn¡¯t encounter any powerful enemies in that Lizardman domain, or the other ces they explored.

    ¡°One day, he¡¯ll run into truly powerful enemies, and summon all of his subordinate sects and ns to fight his battle. Many will die. Their blood will flow like rivers. Only then will they realize that staying away from him is the only way to keep their sects and ns safe.¡±

    Zhou Shang seemed to understand this as well as he smiled bitterly and said, ¡°But that Son of the Stars has won every time so far, and there were almost no casualties. That¡¯s why many in our sect think he¡¯s been chosen by the heavens, and that he¡¯s someone worth following.¡±

    ¡°He can¡¯t be so lucky forever,¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven said with a berating tone. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the others. Just keep our disciples calm and wait for changes. Let¡¯s see how long his good luck canst!¡±

    In the headquarters of the Divine Seal Sect.

    Many powerful experts from across the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were gathered in a deep mountain valley in front of a volcano.

    Kan Zhisheng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was there, building arge-scale inter-domain teleportation portal as agreed.

    Dong Qisong, the sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect, Zhongli Jian, the sectmaster of the Divine me Sect, and Feng Yulin, the sectmaster of the Bliss Mountain Sect, were gathered around him, along with senior members of the Trisword Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n.

    The heads of the Trisword Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n couldn¡¯te, since they were in the middle of secluded cultivation.

    Dong Qisong, Zhongli Jian, and Feng Yulin were all at thete Void domain, and had been seeking to break through into the Saint domain for many years.

    Previously, when Nie Tian had summoned his subordinate forces to join him in exploring the Lizardman domain and the floating continent, the three of them had happened to be in secluded cultivation, and were thus unable to go.

    They hade out of their secluded cultivation just in time to learn that Nie Tian had asked an expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to establish a teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    After brief self-introductions, all three of them expressed their desire to visit the Realm of Remote Heaven to Nie Tian.

    ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven?¡± This was the first time he had heard about this realm. Confusion filling his eyes, he turned to Jing Feiyang, who was standing beside him, and asked, ¡°Where is that realm?¡±

    After his return from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he had summoned Jing Feiyang and told him about selecting a Heavenly Talisman in Fragmentary Star City.

    His n was to take him to Fragmentary Star City to have him choose a Heavenly Talisman as soon as this inter-domain teleportation portal was finished.

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven...¡±

    After taking a quick nce at the sectmasters of the three major sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°If you hadn¡¯t found me a Heavenly Talisman in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I would have asked about visiting the Realm of Remote Heaven too.¡±

    Nie Tian signaled for him to continue.

    ¡°ording to what I hear, the Realm of Remote Heaven is humanity¡¯s most important trading center,¡± Jing Feiyang exined. ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven is protected and managed by the four great human powers. Simr to the Realm of Maelstrom in our domain, people go there to trade all kinds of spiritual materials and cultivation resources.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that there¡¯s an extremely high threshold for entering. Only members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion, or members of their subordinate forces, are allowed to enter. Those who don¡¯t have any connections with the four great powers are forbidden to enter, even if they¡¯re powerful Qi warriors from premium grade domains.

    ¡°Now with Patriarch Pure Heaven entering the Saint domain, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries has officially joined the ranks of medium grade domains.

    ¡°However, even Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven Python, like Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, and myself, normally wouldn¡¯t be allowed to enter the Realm of Remote Heaven, much less Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Elders, Sons of the Stars, Divine Children, and chosen ones of the four great human powers frequent the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    ¡°They can find all kinds of precious materials, medicinal herbs, and even records of domain forging methods there. Even the four great powers attach great significance to it, and consider it their most important trading tform.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So this Realm of Remote Heaven isn¡¯t open to everyone?¡±

    Jing Feiyang smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s right. Not everyone is allowed to enter the Realm of Remote Heaven. Only those with lofty statuses and their subordinates can enter. In fact, I¡¯ve heard a lot about it and always wanted to visit, but I knew it was only my wishful thinking. But since you¡¯ve be the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, your subordinates are now allowed to the Realm of Remote Heaven with you.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s such a rule.¡± Nie Tian said, touching his nose. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll talk to Kan Zhisheng.¡±

    He then walked over to Kan Zhisheng, feeling strong spatial fluctuations thrumming throughout the mountain valley, as if countless spatial des were dashing around in the air and carving something.

    A great number of materials were piled up beside Kan Zhisheng, most of which hade from the sects and ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Senior Kan, could you make some adjustments to this teleportation portal and connect it to the Realm of Remote Heaven?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°No,¡± Kan Zhisheng answered, withdrawing his hand. The peculiar spatial fluctuations in the valley stopped immediately. With a furrowed brow, he shot Nie Tian a nce and said, ¡°If you want to visit the Realm of Remote Heaven, you¡¯ll have to use the ancient teleportation portal in the Vast Heaven Pavilion. But since your cultivation base is still rather low, you¡¯ll be able to get all the cultivation resources you need from our sect.

    ¡°All of the spiritual materials and other resources they have target Void domain, Saint domain, and God domain experts. You¡¯re still far from getting there.¡±

    Nie Tian then exined, ¡°It¡¯s not for me. It¡¯s for my subordinates.¡±

    Hearing this, Kan Zhisheng looked past Nie Tian, and saw Dong Qisong, Zhongli Jian, and Feng Yulin smiling expectantly at him from afar.

    He nodded slightly. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. All I need to do is add the coordinates for the Realm of Remote Heaven to the teleportation portal in the Vast Heaven Pavilion, and you¡¯ll be able to teleport there. Since it¡¯s pretty easy, I¡¯ll do it for free.

    ¡°However, you¡¯ll need to show them your Star Medallion after getting there. And they have to enter with you.¡±

    Nie Tian expressed his gratitude and walked away.

    After returning to Jing Feiyang, he said, ¡°We can visit the Realm of Remote Heaven, but we¡¯ll have to teleport from the Vast Heaven Pavilion in Fragmentary Star City.¡±

    People were overjoyed to hear this.

    ¡°Inform the sectmasters of the Trisword Sect, the Jian n, and the Guan n of this.¡± Nie Tian ordered.

    ¡°Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde must want to go badly,¡± Jing Feiyang said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m lucky that you¡¯re getting the spiritual materials I need from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for me with your contribution points. I¡¯m afraid those two will have to empty their collections over the years to get the materials they need from the Realm of Remote Heaven.¡±

 Chapter 1001: The Realm of Remote Heaven

    Two weeks passed...

    Kan Zhisheng finished the inter-domain teleportation portal.

    The teleportation portal connected the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python to the Realm of Split Void in the Domain of the Falling Stars directly, allowing Qi warriors to travel freely among Nie Tian¡¯s three domains.

    However, to teleport to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters, they still had to rely on the ancient teleportation portals they had left in the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of Shattered Earth many years ago.

    As Nie Tian returned to the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, Dong Qisong, Zhongli Jian, and Feng Yulin followed along.

    None of the other Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had cultivated to the point where they were close to breaking through into the Saint domain.

    Another reason why they had decided to stay behind was because they wanted to see if Dong Qisong and the others would actually be able to get the precious materials they needed by visiting the Realm of Remote Heaven with Nie Tian.

    Upon arriving at the Vast Heaven Pavilion, Kan Zhisheng started making adjustments to the teleportation portal, and adding the coordinates for the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    As he did, Nie Tian took Jing Feiyang to the Tool Pavilion, leaving the others in the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Five Heavenly Talismans were exhibited in a corner of the magnificent pavilion.

    The first Heavenly Talisman was carved into arge rock that was as smooth as jade. The marks zigzagged across the rock¡¯s surface, as if they werepletely random and meaningless.

    The second Heavenly Talisman was on a piece of dried solid dirt, with numerous grooves interweaving on it.

    The third Heavenly Talisman was on a grayish-yellow screen, with lines like slithering snakes.

    The fourth Heavenly Talisman was carved on a piece of wood, where tree patterns and magical symbols mixed together.

    Thest Heavenly Talisman was imprinted on a huge paper fan, the patterns looking too messy to make any sense.

    All five of them were hung high on the wall. None of them emanated any spiritual fluctuations or carried any outsiders¡¯ bloodline auras.

    However, Nie Tian felt a sense of exhaustion in his soul no matter which Heavenly Talisman he fixed his eyes on for more than a few seconds.

    It was as if he was consuming his soul power at an rming rate simply by looking at them.

    ¡°These are all of the Heavenly Talismans we have throughout our entire sect,¡± Wei Lai exined, standing off to the side. ¡°The five of them are priced differently. The first three are five hundred thousand contribution points a piece. Thest two are seven hundred thousand a piece.

    ¡°Each and every one of them carries the wonders of heaven and earth. Over the years, many sect elders and Sons of the Stars havee to derive enlightenment from them. Most of them have gained valuable enlightenment from them.

    ¡°However, they never talk about what they actually learned.¡±

    With these words, Wei Lai shot Jing Feiyang a nce. ¡°You¡¯re lucky that Nie Tian is willing to purchase one of them for you using his contribution points. The spiritual incantations you practice happen to be about learning from powerful symbols and seals, and innovating. I¡¯m sure that if you can derive enlightenment from any of them, it¡¯ll be enough to allow you make that breakthrough in cultivation.¡±

    Nie Tian gave Jing Feiyang a faint smile. ¡°Knock yourself out. I still have quite a few contribution points in my hands. Choose any one you like.¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes had lit up the moment he had seen these Heavenly Talismans.

    He hadn¡¯t said a single word so far.

    However, after Nie Tian said those words, his shining eyes suddenly went dim.

    PUFF!

    A mouthful of blood escaped Jing Feiyang¡¯s mouth.

    His face suddenly turned pale. Holding his chest, where his heart was racing, he pointed at the fifth Heavenly Talisman, which was imprinted on arge paper fan, and squeezed a few words through his teeth. ¡°That one!¡±

    Wei Lai remained silent for a brief moment before saying, ¡°That was smart.¡±

    He had long since discovered that Jing Feiyang had sent his soul awareness to drift around and examine the five Heavenly Talismans the moment he hadid eyes on them.

    However, even for a Saint domain expert like Jing Feiyang, the consumption of examining five Heavenly Talismans simultaneously was too significant.

    The reason why he had chosen the fifth Heavenly Talisman was because he had consumed the most soul power and suffered the most pain when he had examined it.

    He knew that he would hurt himself by making his choice through this method, but he did it anyway.

    ¡°Okay, that Heavenly Talisman is yours now, and this ring of holding too.¡± Wei Lai handed a ring to Jing Feiyang. ¡°Inside the ring are the spiritual materials Nie Tian got for you at the expense of thirty thousand contribution points. Adding in that Heavenly Talisman, this time alone you¡¯ve set Nie Tian back seven hundred and thirty thousand contribution points.

    ¡°I hope you understand that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s contribution points are very valuable.

    ¡°We have many spiritual materials and precious treasures here that you can¡¯t even find in the Realm of Remote Heaven. Only our members can purchase them with their contribution points.¡±

    Jing Feiyang received the ring in a respectful manner. Then, upon receiving Wei Lai¡¯s consenting signal, he made a grabbing motion in the air, and therge paper fan that carried the fifth Heavenly Talisman flew over and disappeared into the ring of holding Wei Lai had just given him.

    He examined the ring with his soul awareness, and discovered that all of the rare spiritual materials he had on that list were now stored within it.

    Without thanking Wei Lai, he turned to Nie Tian and bowed respectfully.

    ¡°Alright, this is all done,¡± Wei Lai said to Nie Tian. ¡°After deducting the seven hundred and thirty thousand contribution points you spent on the spiritual materials and Heavenly Talisman, and the fifty thousand you spent on that new inter-domain teleportation portal, you only have a hundred and seventy thousand contribution points left.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded to show him that he understood before leaving with Jing Feiyang.

    Upon their return to the Vast Heaven Pavilion, Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, and the others rushed over to them.

    They were all surprised to see how weak Jing Feiyang was.

    ¡°I got a terrific Heavenly Talisman!¡± Jing Feiyang eximed very excitedly. ¡°I won¡¯t be going to the Realm of Remote Heaven with you. In fact, I¡¯m going back to the Domain of Heaven Python now to focus on deriving enlightenment from that wondrous Heavenly Talisman. I have total confidence that it¡¯ll help me enter the middle Saint domain after I refine it into my domain!¡±

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Everyone congratted him simultaneously.

    As envious as they were, they understood that Jing Feiyang and his Divine Seal Sect had been the first to swear allegiance to Nie Tian.

    Furthermore, he had secretly escorted Nie Tian during his trip to the Domain of Endless Snow, where he had freed Fan Kai and the others from Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s imprisonment.

    It was understandable that Nie Tian would take special care of him.

    Soon, Jing Feiyang left through the teleportation portal to set about his breakthrough into the middle Saint domain.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the Realm of Remote Heaven now.¡±

    Everyone then gathered at the teleportation portal that had just settled down. After Nie Tian flicked his fingers, setting the spell formation to the coordinates for the Realm of Remote Heaven, it was activated again.

    In the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    On arge piece of floatingnd stood a grand pce that looked simr to the ones in the Realm of Split Void and the Realm of Shattered Earth. Nie Tian and the others walked out of the teleportation portal on its bottom floor.

    Han Wanrong was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s twelve elders, and the assigned overseer of this realm. She was at thete Saint domain, and practiced water power.

    She awoke from her silent cultivation and flew down from one of the secret rooms up top. With a confused look in her eyes, she measured the new arrivals.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to say something, she pursed her lips into a smile and said, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the newborn Son of the Stars.¡±

    With these words, she turned to run her gaze over Quan Zixuan and the others. ¡°Two at the early Saint domain and three at thete Void domain. Not bad. I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to get subordinates at such levels so soon.¡±

    Apparently, she had seen through Nie Tian¡¯s intention. ¡°You¡¯re here to help your subordinates get the spiritual materials they need, right?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re so insightful, senior,¡± Nie Tian answered, smiling. ¡°You saw it all before I even said anything.¡±

    ¡°Since this is your first time here, I think I¡¯d better exin the situation in the Realm of Remote Heaven to you.¡± As Han Wanrong gently flicked her sleeve, a gentle power appeared out of nowhere and carried Nie Tian upwards towards the transparent ceiling of the pce.

    The arched ceiling was actually a transparent shield, which they went through without meeting any resistance.

    Momentster, they came to a stop high in the dim sky.

    Nie Tian nced around, and discovered that arge number of short buildings were scattered around this grand pce, with many people going into and out of them.

    Some others simply found vacant ces to sit down, where they took out items and ced them on the ground in front of them.

    Most of these Qi warriors seemed to be at the Void domain, while a few seemed to be at the Saint domain.

    ¡°Over there is the Five Elements Sect¡¯s sections. There and there are the Void Spirit Society and Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s sections.¡± Han Wanrong said with a faint smile. ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven split up into four pieces of floatingnd a very long time ago. We and the other three great sects each control one.

    ¡°Our members and their subordinates are allowed toe and go as they want, and purchase and sell spiritual materials through fair trades.

    ¡°See that?¡± Han Wanrong pointed into the distant starry river.

    That area of starry river was filled with countless ck spots, each of which seemed to be a dead star.

    Han Wanrong¡¯s face suddenly grew grim. ¡°That¡¯s the Dead Star Sea. It¡¯ll take our sect¡¯s most advanced starship several years to sail through it, and that¡¯s on the condition of no mishaps. Beyond it are the outsiders¡¯ territories. Demons, Fiends, Floragrims, Phantasms, and many outsiders have set up headquarters in that part of the starry river.

    ¡°The Dead Star Sea actually consists of a lot of domains. It¡¯s just that they¡¯ve all been destroyed and reduced to dead stars after numerous interracial wars.

    ¡°Even now, the Dead Star Sea is still a ce where fierce battles frequently break out between us and the outsiders. It wouldn¡¯t be an overstatement to call it the true interspatial battleground.¡±

 Chapter 1002: The Tragic Past

    Floating over the grand pce, Han Wanrong spent some time exining the uniqueness of the Realm of Remote Heaven to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Why is this Dead Star Sea considered the ce where fierce battles break out the most frequently between humans and the outsiders?¡± Nie Tian asked with a confused expression. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re different,¡± Han Wanrong said with a faint smile. ¡°The Shatter Battlefield was in an area that was abandoned by all races a very long time ago. No matter who wins battles in that area, it won¡¯t affect the foundations of the human world or the outsider world.

    ¡°However, the Dead Star Sea is the separation between the human world and the outsider world. Marching through it, the outsiders will be able to invade our domains.

    ¡°Even though arge number of spatial rifts in the Shatter Battlefield also lead to our domains, the outsiders can¡¯t get theirrge-scale starships through them tounch massive invasions.

    ¡°Not to mention that many of the spatial rifts and portals in the Shatter Battlefield have been destroyed recently.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°But both the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven Python have been invaded by outsiders. Even that floating continent too. So they don¡¯t actually have to cross the Dead Star Sea toe to our heaven and earth.¡±

    Han Wanrong¡¯s face grew serious again. ¡°Let me exin it to you this way. Many of the domains we now live in were first discovered and explored by the outsiders and Ancientspirits in ancient times.

    ¡°What they did was travel across the Dead Star Sea to this brand new world. They wandered around in their ancient starships with their human ves, discovering and upying numerous domains. Of course, fierce battles broke out between the outsiders and Ancientspirits all the time too.

    ¡°But back then, humanity hadn¡¯t learned how to practice cultivation with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, or strengthen themselves with spiritual materials.

    ¡°Our fate was very sad at that time.

    ¡°Later, only after we mastered the method of cultivation did we grow stronger and stronger, and eventually escape our fate of serving the outsiders and Ancientspirits as ves.

    ¡°After hundreds of thousands of years, we finally rose to prominence in this new world.

    ¡°And over time, we drove the outsiders and Ancientspirits from our new home.

    ¡°However, there are still arge number of special spatial rifts and spatial tunnels in our world that the outsiders and Ancientspirits left there.

    ¡°They might be hidden in some of the realms we live in, or some dead realms or floating meteors.

    ¡°Because of this, the outsiders and Ancientspirits can stille to our world from time to time.

    ¡°Besides, many of those spatial tunnels carry the bloodline imprints of powerful outsiders and Ancientspirits. So even though we¡¯ve found many of those spatial tunnels, limited by our feeble flesh power and the fact that we don¡¯t carry their bloodline wonders, we can¡¯t go through them into their world. So we usually destroy them directly after finding them.

    ¡°Over the years, we¡¯ve already found and destroyed hundreds of spatial tunnels like that. However, there are some well-hidden ones that we haven¡¯t found yet, so the outsiders and Ancientspirits can still sneak into our world through them from time to time.

    ¡°But they don¡¯t usually stay for long. Instead, they usually just attack some of our realms to loot resources and take some of our people as ves. Then, they¡¯ll leave before our powerful sects learn about their deeds ande after them.¡±

    With these words, Han Wanrong paused for a moment. ¡°But right now, we don¡¯t have a single teleportation portal in their world that we can teleport to and from freely.

    ¡°Even so, since we¡¯ve be more and more powerful, we¡¯ve thought of the most direct way to do that.

    ¡°That is to sail through the Dead Star Sea into the heaven and earth where the outsiders and Ancientspirits live without relying on any spatial tunnels!

    ¡°During the past thousands of years, we four great sects have already sailed into their world more than a few times, despite their rigorous attempts at interception.

    ¡°However, we also paid heavy prices.

    ¡°Each of our four sects have suffered severe casualties, and were barely able to set up a few teleportation portals in their world, but they were all discovered and destroyed shortly afterwards.

    ¡°Even so, our efforts to counterattack have never stopped.

    ¡°After all, the vast heaven and earth beyond the Dead Star Sea is the ce where humanity was born. We still have arge number of our people that are still living their lives as the outsiders¡¯ ves or toys.

    ¡°Every time they have arge-scale sacrificial activity, they¡¯ll ughter close to a million humans.

    ¡°The thought that we still have countless people living in pain and suffering in their world keeps pushing us forward on the path of counterattack.¡±

    Han Wanrong¡¯s words unfurled a long scroll in front of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, which recorded humanity¡¯s tragic past and struggling history.

    It was also at that moment that Nie Tian learned that humanity¡¯s origin actuallyy beyond the Dead Star Sea.

    The vast area and the numerous domains they now lived in had actually been discovered and explored by outsiders and Ancientspirits with the help of their human ves.

    Even at this point, arge number of humans were still being raised like livestock and butchered as sacrificial offerings.

    Perhaps those humans were stillmoners who didn¡¯t know a thing about cultivation.

    After countless years of development, humans had finally found a way to strengthen themselves, and rapidly expanded by relying on their advantage in reproduction.

    Today, they were already powerful enough to fight back.

    Han Wanrong sighed. ¡°However, as we grew stronger and stronger as a race, problems started to emerge among ourselves. The four great sects have joined up three times to march massive forces into the Dead Star Sea. But every time, they suffered heavy losses facing the outsiders and Ancientspirits¡¯ joint efforts.

    ¡°Of course, conflicts broke out between outsiders and Ancientspirits too. But once we summon our forces and march into the Dead Star Sea, they join up to deal us heavy blows.

    ¡°After our three failed attempts, different voices appeared among our various human sects and ns. Some thought we might as well focus on developing ourselves, and stop attacking the outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    ¡°Some suggested that we should forget about our humiliating history.

    ¡°Others even started to do business with outsiders and Ancientspirits under the illusion that they could all get along in peace.

    ¡°At the same time, we became gued by internal strife and power struggles. Barriers gradually formed among us four great sects.

    ¡°Of course the outsiders and Ancientspirits were happy to see us unravel. Some outsiders even thought up every possible method to provoke conflicts among us over the exploration of new domains and other matters. Many seeded.

    ¡°Now, we¡¯re facing hardships both within and without. We might seem stronger than ever, but we actually have far more problems than we used to.

    ¡°When we first started up, we stood as one, and trusted each other in our effort to drive the outsiders and Ancientspirit from ournds. We all fought for the same goal.

    ¡°However, many things changed after we rose to prominence.¡±

    Han Wanrong sighed with mixed emotions.

    She went on and exined more about the Realm of Remote Heaven, the Dead Star Sea, and the conflicts between different races. Afterwards, she took Nie Tian down from the sky.

    Qu Mingde and Quan Zixuan were there waiting.

    Han Wanrong clearly knew what they had been waiting for as she said, ¡°You¡¯re free to go look around on this piece ofnd, and the Void Spirit Society, Heaven Span Pavilion, and Five Elements Sect¡¯s sections as well. As long as you have enough spirit jades, spirit crystals, or valuable materials, you can get almost anything here.¡±

    After expressing their gratitude, Quan Zixuan and the others rushed away in high spirits.

    Even though Nie Tian didn¡¯t need any cultivation resources for the time being, he intended to find out more about the Realm of Remote Heaven. Therefore, he also bid farewell to Han Wanrong and went wandering around.

    Several days passed...

    On the piece ofnd that was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s section, Nie Tian saw a few enormous ancient starships approaching from the Dead Star Sea. Each and every one of them was badly damaged, as if they had just survived a fierce battle.

 Chapter 1003: The Fifth Son of the Stars

    A total of eight ancient starships returned from the Dead Star Sea. Star banners hung high on each and every one of them.

    All of them seemed to have suffered heavy blows, as their hulls were covered in cracks and multicolored blood. All eight of them sailed directly towards the floatingnd where Nie Tian was.

    Momentster, they berthed right outside it.

    After a brief moment, one of them left the starship group and flew towards the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s quarters.

    ¡°It¡¯s Fang Yuan!¡± Han Wanrong¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out from the grand pce. Nie Tian could see her worried face from afar.

    Numerous members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were bustling about on this floatingnd, along with people like Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde, who were subordinates of Sons of the Stars.

    Many of them seemed to recognize the ancient starship and its owner by the star banners they hung.

    People started whispering in each other¡¯s ears.

    ¡°It¡¯s Fang Yuan! The fifth Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°He led his subordinate forces into the Dead Star Sea quite a while ago. From the look of it, things didn¡¯t go well.¡±

    ¡°Countless powerful outsiders cruise the depths of the Dead Star Sea on their ancient starships year-round. It¡¯s definitely not easy to win a battle against them, even for him.¡±

    ¡°If I remember correctly, he left with thirteen ancient starships. But he only brought eight back...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A strapping young man suddenly leapt from the ancient starship.

    More than a dozen dead Demons could be seen bound by glittering Starchains in his star-lit domain as he flew towards the pce where Han Wanrong was.

    After pondering for a brief moment, Nie Tian also flew towards the pce on his Star Boat.

    BOOM!

    The Starchain-bound Demon corpses hit the ground heavily in front of the pce. The young man didn¡¯t have the slightest delight on his face as he said in a sullen voice, ¡°Would you please count these Demon corpses for me, Aunt Han?¡±

    Han Wanrong looked heart-ached as she asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    Just as Fang Yuan was about to answer, he noticed the Star Boat. Taken aback, he asked, ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡±

    ¡°This is Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars. He has only just finished his path of stars and received our sect¡¯s acknowledgment recently.¡± Han Wanrong gave him a brief introduction of Nie Tian. ¡°You¡¯ve spent far too long fighting in the depths of the Dead Star Sea where we can¡¯t get word through to you. So you probably don¡¯t even know about his existence.¡±

    Fang Yuan nodded slightly. ¡°I did stay a bit too long in the Dead Star Sea this time.¡±

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat descended. Nie Tian jumped off it.

    Han Wanrong beckoned to him. ¡°Nie Tian, this your senior martial brother, Fang Yuan. Like you, he¡¯s also a Son of the Stars, the fifth Son of the Stars.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, she turned to the others that had gathered to this ce and said with a cold tone, ¡°Nothing to see here.¡±

    Then, she showed Nie Tian and Fang Yuan into the pce.

    Standing in the spacious hall, Fang Yuan and Nie Tian measured each other up.

    Starlight filled Fang Yuan¡¯s pupils, as if two starry rivers were flowing in the depths of his eyes, with countless tiny stars drifting about in a mysterious way.

    Under his piercing gaze, Nie Tian had a feeling that he couldn¡¯t hide anything from him.

    Fang Yuan frowned. ¡°You distract yourself with far too many incantations. As a Son of the Stars, you were given our most valuable legacy: star power incantations. Why would you still waste your time practicing me power and wood power incantations?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Unlike you, I was already practicing those incantations before I gained my fragmentary star marks from a Heaven Gate trial.¡±

    ¡°But you could have given up those incantations after you won our sect¡¯s acknowledgment.¡± Fang Yuan said with a curious expression.

    ¡°I thought it would be a huge waste, so I did nothing about them. Then, as time passed, it just didn¡¯t seem to matter anymore...¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to continue this subject, and thus asked, ¡°What did you run into in the Dead Star Sea?¡±

    At this moment, Han Wanrong shot a nce at the Demon corpses Fang Yuan had brought back with him, and rapidly determined their grades. Then, she signaled for Fang Yuan to put them away.

    As soon as Fang Yuan lifted his hands, the Starchain-bound Demon corpses disappeared into his ring of holding.

    Afterwards, the three of them leapt into the air and entered a secret room on the top floor. The inter-domain teleportation portal in the hall was still operating, bringing in new arrivals and sending away those who had finished their transactions and wished to return.

    Han Wanrong was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s twelve elders, and the overseer of this realm. Both Nie Tian and Fang Yuan were Sons of the Stars, whose statuses were as lofty as hers, if not loftier.

    Even though many of the cultivators that were currently on this floatingnd had higher cultivation bases than Nie Tian and Fang Yuan, none of them were qualified to join their talk.

    Standing unswerving and determined like a solid rock, Fang Yuan said, ¡°I ran into grand patriarch Cardy, the n chief of the Gaytons n from the Second Demon Domain. The Gaytons n has a total of three ninth grade grand patriarchs. Cardy is at thete ninth grade. The head of my n had his domain badly damaged. Even now, the residual power Cardy left in his domain is still taking its toll.¡±

    Han Wanrong¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°Cardy the Blood Warden! You actually managed to save eight of our ancient starships from his ws, while taking out more than a dozen of his n members?! This is something you should be proud of.

    ¡°Cardy is at thete ninth grade. Even I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to defeat him in battle.¡±

    Fang Yuan didn¡¯t seem lit up by her words at all as he said, ¡°My people suffered even more casualties. We lost neen Void domain experts. And the head of my n, who¡¯s also at thete Saint domain, is seriously injured.¡±

    Han Wanrong sighed. ¡°Cardy the Blood Warden is among the top ten most powerful outsider grand patriarchs. It¡¯s understandable that his battle prowess is shockingly high. Any of those grand patriarchs shows promise to be a tenth grade grand monarch one day.

    ¡°Even though the head of your n is at thete Saint domain, which matches Cardy¡¯s grade, there¡¯s actually a big gap between their strength and battle prowess.

    ¡°Judging by their actual strength, I¡¯m afraid Cardy is can probably handle Yan Zhan, Wei Lai, or any other powerful elder of our sect in battle. Your nmaster didn¡¯t have his domain destroyed. That¡¯s already a remarkable thing to do.¡±

    Fang Yuan¡¯s face was still very grim. ¡°Right before I encountered the Blood Warden, I was sweeping across dead stars in an area with He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion. We were actually not far from each other. However, when the Blood Warden showed up with his fleet, I sent him three signals asking for help, and he didn¡¯t answer once!

    ¡°We weren¡¯t that far away. I was certain that he received my signals!

    ¡°If he came to my aid with his people, we would have been able to leave without suffering serious casualties, even if we couldn¡¯t defeat the Blood Warden together!¡±

    An icy look filled Han Wanrong¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°He Lianxiong?! How could you trust a guy like him?!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he close friends with Junior Martial Brother Sikong?¡± Fang Yuan asked, looking confused. ¡°I ran into him by ident, and noticed that he had quite a few powerful subordinates with him, so I decided to work with him to sweep that area. Plus, he reached out to me first.¡±

    ¡°He and Sikong Cuo?¡± Han Wanrong said with a bitter smile. ¡°That was a long time ago. ording to what I heard, Sikong Cuo set him up thest time they explored a new domain together. A lot of his subordinates were killed. After that, he hates Sikong Cuo¡¯s guts, and I suppose our sect too.¡±

    Fang Yuan was taken aback. ¡°I didn¡¯t know anything about that...¡±

    ¡°Of course you didn¡¯t,¡± Han Wanrong said, looking frustrated as well. ¡°You spent far too long in that Dead Star Sea. You were in there when the two of them broke up. And you were still in there when he led his fleet into the Dead Star Sea. It wasn¡¯t your fault that you didn¡¯t know about this.

    ¡°But since he reached out to you and abandoned you in a moment of danger, I¡¯m afraid that was all part of his n.¡±

    ¡°Junior Martial Brother Sikong! It¡¯s him again!?¡± Fang Yuan grew testy. ¡°Hasn¡¯t he caused enough trouble for our sect? Can¡¯t you guys do something?¡±

    From the look of it, Sikong Cuo didn¡¯t have a good name among the seven Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°I¡¯m in no ce to tell a Son of the Stars what to do and what not to do,¡± Han Wanrong said in frustration. ¡°Even grand elder Mo Heng can¡¯t get him to clean up his behavior. Our sectmaster spends most of his time traveling. Both our vice sectmasters ce high value in him, as they think he might be the one to ascend to power eventually.

    ¡°Besides, he has recently entered the Void domain.

    ¡°Even though people don¡¯t like him, he¡¯s made tremendous contributions to our sect. And he¡¯s never suffered a loss from his covert struggle against the other three sects.

    ¡°Many elders think he may actually surpass those who came before him and rise to power eventually. The elders need to think about their future as well, so it¡¯s understandable that they don¡¯t want to be his enemies.¡±

    Fang Yuan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°He¡¯s entered the early Void domain already?! What allowed him to progress so fast?¡±

    ¡°He gained a significant fortune from the new domain he explored with He Lianxiong. That was why he broke through so fast.¡± Judging from the way Han Wanrong talked about Sikong Cuo, she didn¡¯t have any positive feelings towards him either. However, there seemed to be nothing she could do. ¡°He became a Son of the Stars farter than you did, but his cultivation base has already caught up to yours.

    ¡°So in some people¡¯s eyes, he¡¯s already surpassed you.¡±

    Fang Yuan didn¡¯t say a word.

    At this moment, a mor came from outside the pce.

    Han Wanrong went nk briefly before sending her soul awareness out to determine the reason for it.

    Momentster, she suddenly turned to Nie Tian and said with a strange expression, ¡°Your subordinates are having a conflict with Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates.¡±

    Fang Yuan was first surprised, then fixed Nie Tian with an intrigued look, as if he wanted to see how Nie Tian would deal with this conflict between subordinates.

    ¡°Do you know why?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Apparently, they have their eyes on the same item,¡± Han Wanrong answered. ¡°Fighting of any kind is forbidden here. But if necessary, they can take it out into the starry river.¡±

    ¡°Sikong Cuo...¡± Nie Tian muttered as he rapidly walked out of the pce towards the source of the mor.

    He had seen some of Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates when he had visited Fragmentary Star City for the first time. Each and every one of them seemed vicious and unruly.

    Some of them had even mocked him.

    Everything seemed to contribute to his negative feelings towards Sikong Cuo, the person who had be a Son of the Stars just before him.

 Chapter 1004: â€œYou Donâ€™t Seem to Have Much Time Left.â€

    Zhongli Jian, the sectmaster of the Divine me Sect, turned out to be a party of the conflict.

    He had spotted a Profound Yang Pill among the things a disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was selling.

    Like spiritual incantations, medicinal pills could also be divided into five grades: Elementary grade, Medium grade, Premium grade, Earth grade, and Heaven grade. Then, each grade could be subdivided into seven levels.

    The Profound Yang Pills were seventh level Earth grade medicine pills. Their main ingredient was the Blood Essence of Heaven me Beasts, Vermillion Birds, and other fire-attributed beasts, along with small amounts of other fire-attributed materials.

    The me power a Profound Yang Pill contained could provide significant aid when Zhongli Jian refined his soul and made his breakthrough into the Saint domain.

    Furthermore, no alchemist in the Domain of Heaven Python was skilled enough to make seventh level Earth grade medicinal pills.

    As soon as he had set his eyes on that Profound Yang Pill, Zhongli Jian had asked its price. The seller had quoted eight hundred thousand spirit jades.

    That wasn¡¯t a small number, even to the sectmaster of the Divine me Sect. However, in order to smoothen his breakthrough into the Saint domain, he had agreed to it without hesitation.

    Just as he was going to pay for it, another me power cultivator who was at the middle Void domain set his eyes on the Profound Yang Pill as well.

    He also understood that Profound Yang Pills were hard to find, even in the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    To make preparations for his breakthrough into the Saint domain, he, who was only at the middle Void domain, decided topete for that Profound Yang Pill.

    Due to his joining, the seller raised the price from eight hundred thousand spirit jades to two million spirit jades, with a broad smile on his face.

    Even though this was already more than double the Profound Yang Pill¡¯s actual worth, Zhongli Jian refused to back out. Gritting his teeth, he shot the man a nasty look.

    However, the man taunted him repeatedly.

    Sneering, he said, ¡°What? Two million spirit jades is too big a number to you, isn¡¯t it? Aren¡¯t you the seventh Son of the Stars¡¯ subordinate? It¡¯s said that Nie Tian gained quite a fortune from the Lizardmen and that other ce he explored. If this is too big a number to you, then you¡¯ve followed the wrong person.¡±

    More and more people gathered around to see what was going on.

    Some of them were Void domain disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, while others were subordinates of the other Sons of the Stars.

    Even some members of the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion, who hade to seek trades in this section, overheard the mor in this ce and gathered over.

    Many people eximed in low voices as Nie Tian, Han Wanrong, and Fang Yuan approached.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Elder Han.¡±

    ¡°Fang Yuan!¡±

    Most of them recognized Han Wanrong and Fang Yuan right away. Seeing theme over, they all bowed slightly to show their respect.

    However, very few people recognized Nie Tian. Those who did only nodded slightly towards him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s stories had only recently spread. Therefore, many had heard about him, but never seen him in person.

    It appeared that since he was only at thete Profound realm, while almost all of the cultivators present were at the Void domain, he didn¡¯t receive much respect.

    As they approached, Fang Yuan let out a cold harrumph, disgust filling his face. ¡°Hong Yao.¡±

    Han Wanrong frowned and muttered in a low voice, ¡°I figured it was him.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t see Sikong Cuo. Where is he, Aunt Han?¡± Fang Yuan asked.

    ¡°He left by himself shortly after bringing his subordinates here,¡± Han Rong answered.

    ¡°So our subordinates are free to leave the Realm of Remote Heaven by themselves, whenever they want to?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yes, you have to be there when they arrive, but they can leave by themselves,¡± Han Wanrong exined. ¡°The purpose of having you bring them here is to prove that they¡¯re your subordinates, not just anyone who doesn¡¯t have anything to do with our sect. As for when your subordinates leave, we won¡¯t put a time limit on that.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded to show that he understood.

    Soon, the three of them arrived at the ce where the conflict was taking ce.

    Upon seeing Han Wanrong and Fang Yuan, Hong Yao, who was still taunting Zhongli Jian, restrained himself a bit and bowed towards them as the others did. However, upon seeing Nie Tian, he chuckled coldly and said, ¡°Let me guess. You¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian, who people have been talking about a lot recently, right?¡±

    ¡°Mmm.¡± Nie Tian responded expressionlessly.

    Zhongli Jian bowed respectfully towards Nie Tian and said with a bitter smile, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for troubling you with this.¡±

    With a wave of his hand, Nie Tian signaled for him to not stand on ceremony. Then, he turned to the cultivator who was selling the Profound Yang Pill and asked, ¡°I¡¯m Nie Tian. You are?¡±

    The man was fairly respectful when answering Nie Tian. ¡°I¡¯m Bo Shiming, an alchemist from our sect. You should know that it¡¯s not easy to make a Profound Yang Pill. Even though the auxiliary materials are easy to find, the main materials are very hard to find. It took me a long time to gather the necessary materials and make this Profound Yang Pill. And as soon as I was finished with it, I brought it here, hoping to sell it for a good price. Since Hong Yao has agreed to buy it for two million spirit jades, I...¡±

    Hong Yao suddenly let out a broadugh and said arrogantly, ¡°Making deals is all about mutual consent! I have plenty of spirit jades on me, and I¡¯m the highest bidder. Of course he¡¯ll sell that Profound Yang Pill to me!¡±

    Zhongli Jian seemed somewhat embarrassed as he whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯ve already used my spirit jades on a few other items. And this is my first time here. It appears that I didn¡¯t prepare well enough. And since Feng Yulin and Dong Qisong have gone to find the spiritual materials they need in the other three sections, I couldn¡¯t ask for their help.¡±

    Apparently, the reason why he had been hesitant to raise the price was because he didn¡¯t have enough spirit jades on him.

    Nie Tian frowned slightly.

    Since he was only at the Profound realm, he hadn¡¯t stocked up on spirit jades. Instead, his ring of holding was filled with spirit beast and outsider corpses, and spiritual materials that could provide him with me power, wood power, and star power.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Fang Yuan suddenly chimed in. ¡°I have an abundant amount of spirit jades in my hands. Go on. Bid on it. I¡¯ll loan you as many spirit jades as you need.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Hong Yao fixed his eyes on Nie Tian and said with a cunning smile, ¡°As the seventh Son of the Stars, you don¡¯t have enough spirit jades to even buy a medicinal pill for your subordinate? And you have to borrow from another person?¡±

    Many in the crowd were taken aback upon seeing this.

    They hadn¡¯t seen a Son of the Stars out of spirit jades before.

    Nie Tian closed his eyes for a few seconds before reopening his eyes and said, ¡°Bo Shiming, right? You don¡¯t seem to have much time left.¡±

    Bo Shiming¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°How do you know?¡±

    Instead of answering, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Am I right?¡±

    Bo Shiming sighed softly and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Years ago, before our sect set took me in, I was nothing but a nameless alchemist. Back then, in order to learn the effects of different herbs and sense the subtle changes they caused, I took many of the pills I made.

    ¡°That turned out to be a reckless thing to do. Because I took too many pills that contained toxins, all kinds of toxins were deposited in my five yin organs and six yang organs.

    ¡°By the time our sect saw my talent and took me in to teach me the legitimate Dao of alchemy, the toxins I consumed had already reached the deepest parts of my internal organs. And there was no way for me to drive them out.

    ¡°Unlike outsiders, we humans don¡¯t know much about body refinement. I¡¯ve seen many body refining experts, but none of them were able to help me.

    ¡°They said perhaps only outsider grand patriarchs, who have spent their whole lives refining their fleshly bodies, would be able to expel the toxins in my internal organs with their bloodline power.

    ¡°But that¡¯s just...¡± After a short pause, he continued with a bitter expression. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ve decided to give this fleshly body up and seek rebirth.¡±

    After hearing these words, Nie Tian walked to his back, and ced his hand at the center of his back under everyone¡¯s confused gazes.

    A wisp of extremely pure and refined wood power then flowed into Bo Shiming¡¯s back.

    Bo Shiming shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t work. I¡¯ve studied wood power for many years, and I¡¯ve asked several Saint domain experts who are well-versed in wood power to heal my internal injuries. Even they weren¡¯t able to do much to help. The best they could do was slow down the toxins¡¯ spread, but they couldn¡¯t eradicate them.¡±

    With a cunningugh, Hong Yao said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you think you can solve his problem with your Profound realm cultivation base?¡±

    Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong exchanged a nce, strange expressions appearing on their faces.

    They both knew that wood power was only one of the powers Nie Tian practiced.

    What kind of help could a cultivator like Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t focused on wood power cultivation and was only at the Profound realm, give Bo Shiming?

    All of a sudden, a wisp of flesh aura that carried the profound truths of life suddenly fused into that wisp of wood power, activating Heavenly Wood Heal as it did.

    Just as Bo Shiming was about to tell Nie Tian to stop wasting everyone¡¯s time, he shuddered.

    As the wisp of mixed flesh aura and wood power flowed inside of him, a small amount of the toxic residue in his internal organs seemed to have vaporized somehow.

    Ecstasy instantly filled the man¡¯s eyes.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly withdrew his hand, and stood face-to-face with Bo Shiming again. ¡°Give me that Profound Yang Pill, and I¡¯ll take care of the toxins inside of you.¡±

    Under everyone¡¯s disbelieving gazes, Bo Shiming stuffed the Profound Yang Pill, which Hong Yao and Zhongli Jian had beenpeting for, directly into Nie Tian¡¯s hand, and practically yelled, ¡°Please help me!¡±

    ¡°Bo Shiming!¡± Hong Yao shouted furiously. ¡°What the hell is this?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not selling it anymore, no matter how many spirit jades you offer,¡± Bo Shiming said with a determined look in his eyes. ¡°No amount of spirit jades can buy my life!¡±

 Chapter 1005: The Residual Flesh Auras of a Grand Patriarch

    Bo Shiming was absolutely sure that the peculiar power Nie Tian had sent into him could help him solve the problem that had afflicted him for many years.

    Compared to his life, what did spirit jades matter?

    As a skilled alchemist of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he was able to make Earth grade medicinal pills. As long as he lived, he could always rely on his alchemy skills to earn spirit jades.

    There was simply too much potential trouble with rebirth. He would have to give up everything he had in exchange for a future that was filled with uncertainties.

    Therefore, as long as there was a chance, however slim, he wouldn¡¯t choose rebirth.

    Nie Tian¡¯s appearance gave him hope.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to give up two million spirit jades?¡± Hong Yao asked angrily. ¡°You know perfectly well that a Profound Yang Pill isn¡¯t worth that much!¡±

    However, Bo Shiming didn¡¯t want to waste one more second talking to him.

    Completely ignoring Hong Yao, he fixed Nie Tian with a longing look and asked, ¡°When do we start?¡±

    ¡°Very soon.¡± With a smile, Nie Tian handed the Profound Yang Pill to Zhongli Jian, the sectmaster of the Divine me Sect, and said, ¡°Here you go. I hope it will smoothen your breakthrough into the Saint domain.¡±

    Zhongli Jian was nothing but grateful as he said, ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    The crowd of onlookers didn¡¯t show any sign of leaving. Instead, they looked on in disbelief.

    Han Wanrong and Fang Yuan were also confused, as they had never expected that Nie Tian would be able to solve the conflict so effortlessly.

    He didn¡¯t offer a single spirit jade, yet Bo Shiming practically begged him to take his Profound Yang Pill.

    Just as Hong Yao was about to yell some more, Han Wanrong said with an impatient expression, ¡°Transactions have to be consensual. That¡¯s what you said. Also, you know the rules in the Realm of Remote Heaven. If Bo Shiming doesn¡¯t wish to sell his Profound Yang Pill to you, you can¡¯t force him. I suggest you go try your luck in the other regions. Perhaps you can buy one from someone else, with fewer spirit jades.¡±

    Various expressions shed across Hong Yao¡¯s face. As angry as he was, he restrained himself from saying anything else.

    At this moment, Fang Yuan¡¯s expression flickered slightly before he said to Nie Tian, ¡°You need a secluded ce to help Bo Shiming get rid of his internal toxins. The pce has that teleportation portal in it. Peoplee and go through it all the time. It¡¯s not an ideal location. If you want, we can return to my ancient starship, which is berthed not far from here. What do think?¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Tian answered, smiling.

    ¡°What are we waiting for then?¡± Bo Shiming urged.

    SHEW!

    Fang Yuan summoned a Star Boat that was identical to Nie Tian¡¯s and flew off.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± With a smile, Han Wanrong jumped onto Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat, which flew out of the floatingnd after Fang Yuan¡¯s. Just as the mixed energies from the starry river were going to engulf them, she activated her water domain, enveloping the Star Boat.

    Bo Shiming, who was at the Void domain, flew out after the two Star Boats.

    Momentster, Nie Tian berthed his Star Boat on Fang Yuan¡¯s ancient starship.

    Fang Yuan then showed them to a secret cabin that was paved with arge number of Star Stones and spirit jades, which filled the room with rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and star power.

    ¡°What do you think of this ce?¡± Fang Yuan asked.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good.¡±

    Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong then exchanged a nce and walked out of the room, leaving only Nie Tian and Bo Shiming in it.

    Eyes narrowed, Bo Shiming said in a low voice, ¡°Earlier, after that wisp of wood power, you fused another wisp of aura into me. That wisp of aura was the key to my problem. It appears that, after mixing with your pure wood power, it can actually create life force!¡±

    As an alchemist, he had keen perceptions of all sorts of auras.

    In order to learn the effects of different ingredients, he had taken arge number of pills that didn¡¯t agree with him, which had eventually put him in such a terrible state.

    As soon as Nie Tian had fused his unique flesh aura and wood power and cleansed his internal organs in the profound way Heavenly Wood Heal worked, he had realized that such an aura waspletely different from a human cultivator¡¯s.

    It was something only an outsider or Ancientspirit would have!

    ¡°He¡¯s a hybrid!¡± He instantly realized what made Nie Tian so special.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Without any pleasantries, Nie Tian asked him to sit down in the lotus position and settle his inner powers.

    Then, he fused a mixture of his wood power essence and his unique flesh aura into Bo Shiming, and activated Heavenly Wood Heal.

    By using his flesh aura in this particr way, he could things back to life.

    Before, by fusing his Blood Essence into the me Dragon Armor, the Bone Blood Demon, and the bone, he had restored life to them sessively.

    However, to solve Bo Shiming¡¯s toxin problem, he didn¡¯t even need to use his Blood Essence. Just his wood power and flesh power alone could slowly cleanse his internal organs and neutralize the refractory toxins.

    He went on with the process...

    In another stone room, Fang Yuan frowned and asked, ¡°Aunt Han, do you think Nie Tian can actually help Bo Shiming get rid of his residual toxins?

    ¡°I did spend a bit too long in the Dead Star Sea. I don¡¯t know anything about him. What¡¯s his deal?¡±

    ¡°He was born in the Domain of the Falling Stars, where he took part in the Heaven Gate trial and gained three fragmentary star marks,¡± Han Wanrong said.

    Fang Yuan was taken aback. ¡°He also came from the Heaven Gate trial? He¡¯s not going to be another Sikong Cuo, is he?¡±

    Han Wanrong shook her head. ¡°He¡¯s nothing like Sikong Cuo. ording to what I¡¯ve learned, he puts great value in his family and friends. Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan from the Five Elements Sect explored a new domain with him. Afterwards, they both spoke rather highly of him.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a hybrid. Do we know the origin of his bloodline?¡± Fang Yuan asked.

    ¡°Grand Elder Mo Heng examined his bloodline, and it seems to beplicated.¡± With these words, Han Wanrong pondered for a moment. ¡°As for the details, since I wasn¡¯t there, I don¡¯t actually know much. But apparently, the grand elder has attached great importance to him. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have given him a hundred thousand initial contribution points, along with the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Oh, right, he also gave him the Vast Heaven Pavilion!¡±

    Fang Yuan gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Vast Heaven Pavilion?! But wasn¡¯t itsst owner...¡±

    Han Wanrong nodded vigorously.

    Keh! Keh!

    At this moment, heavy coughs echoed out from a nearby starship.

    Fang Yuan¡¯s expression flickered as he ended his conversation with Han Wanrong and rushed to the source of the coughs.

    In the broad stern of the huge starship, Fang Tianyi, the nmaster of the Fang n, was sitting in a secret room that was lit up by hovering auras.

    Fang Tianyi was ate Saint domain expert who practiced wind power.

    The Fang n was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s subordinate ns, and Fang Yuan was from a branch of the Fang n.

    However, when he had won the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s favor and been chosen as the fifth Son of the Stars, the entire Fang n had be his subordinate force.

    By relying on Fang Yuan, the Fang n had grown rapidly.

    Fang Tianyi coughed again as he saw Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong walking into his room together. ¡°Elder Han.¡±

    Faint purple light shed across his ghastly face from time to time, as if a mysterious power was torturing him from within.

    ¡°How are you doing?¡± Han Wanrong asked.

    Instead of answering her, Fang Tianyi directly unleashed his domain, but shrank it down hundreds of times over.

    His domain almost filled the entire room with whistling wind.

    Clusters of violent wind, which had shrunk hundreds of times over, floated around within his domain like air masses.

    However, purple light could be seen shing across them from time to time.

    The purple light seemed to be slowly loosening those cohesive clusters of wind.

    The purple light would asionally form terrifying demonic shadows, and let out sinisterughs.

    Han Wanrong frowned and said, ¡°That¡¯s Cardy the Blood Warden¡¯s residual flesh aura. Your Saint domain is seriously damaged, and Cardy¡¯s residual flesh aura contains power from the Blood Purgatory Sea in the Second Demon Domain. The Blood Purgatory Sea is an evil ce where Demons punish their ouws and ughter people of other races.

    ¡°Cardy is the grand patriarch who oversees it.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that a Demon grand monarch was born in the Blood Purgatory Sea in ancient times. But he died during a fierce battle against us humans at the end of the Remote Antiquity Era. Later, they built the Blood Purgatory Sea to bring him back to life.

    ¡°Over the past countless years, arge number of Demons have been thrown into it because of the mistakes they made.

    ¡°Many humans and people of other races have also been tossed into it as sacrificial offerings to that grand monarch, so that he would rise from the dead one day.

    ¡°The reason why Cardy became the overseer of the Blood Purgatory Sea and earned himself the name ¡®the Blood Warden¡¯ was because he has that grand monarch¡¯s blood running through his veins.

    ¡°He can easily draw power from the Blood Purgatory Sea and fuse it into his flesh auras, so that they¡¯ll carry evil power that¡¯s closer to the ultimate source.

    ¡°And this is also the reason why Cardy is considered to be one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs.¡±

    With these words, Han Wanrong sighed in frustration and turned to Fang Tianyi. ¡°Cardy¡¯s residual flesh auras carry power from the Blood Purgatory Sea, where that grand monarch is being revived. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t do anything to help you get rid of such power. I suppose only our sectmaster and vice sectmasters would be able to do that. Even our grand elder might not be able to help.¡±

    Fang Tianyi smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I understand.¡±

    Fang Yuan tried to put his mind at ease by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You just need to hold on for a while longer. I¡¯ll ask the sectmaster or vice sectmasters to help you as soon as they return, no matter how many contribution points it¡¯ll take.¡±

    Fang Tianyi opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but gave up on a second thought.

    Cardy¡¯s residual flesh auras continued to damage his domain with each passing second. He knew that he might not be able to hold it together till their return.

    Once his domain shattered, his cultivation base would suffer a major setback.

    For a cultivator, reforging his domain wasn¡¯t much easier than being reborn. He didn¡¯t know how many years it would take for him to return to his peak state.

    Furthermore, if it came down to that, he wasn¡¯t sure that he would be able to live long enough to make his next breakthrough in cultivation.

    Nie Tian, who was cleansing Bo Shiming¡¯s internal toxins in another starship, snapped his eyes open. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He shrewdly sensed the wisps of evil flesh auras as soon as Fang Tianyi activated his domain.

    The level of purity and refinement of those flesh auras was something he had never sensed before.

    The Lizardman patriarch, Hazlitt the me Maniac, and Feimos the Controller... none of them had flesh auras so terrifyingly mighty.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t sense any soul auras from them, which meant they were ravaging something by relying on nothing but their instincts.

    Nie Tian suddenly came to a realization. ¡°They¡¯re Cardy the Blood Warden¡¯s residual flesh auras.

    ¡°The nmaster of the Fang n must have refined the soul power within them, and that¡¯s why they seem masterless. Masterless flesh auras that have been acting on their own... They must have be much weaker than they used to be. Is it possible that...?¡±

    With these thoughts, he took a deep breath, and sent a wisp of his flesh aura out of his secret cabin.

    The door to the cabin where Fang Tianyi and the others were was open.

    Fang Tianyi was just about to withdraw his domain when his eyebrows suddenly jumped.

    Han Wanrong also sensed something. Her eyes grew wide as she watched a wisp of flesh aura sneak into Fang Tianyi¡¯s shrunken domain.

    Purple light once again shed across a cluster of storms within Fang Tianyi¡¯s wind domain.

    FZZZ!

    The wisp of flesh aura that was even thinner than a hair suddenly drilled into that cluster of storms, where it shed with the purple light, giving rise to dazzling sparks.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian was thrown backwards, his back mming into the stone wall behind him. His expression flickered violently.

    Bo Shiming turned around. ¡°What are you doing, Nie Tian?¡± Fixing Nie Tian, who seemed to have suffered a heavy blow, with a confused look, he asked, ¡°You were doing great cleansing my internal toxins. What happened?¡±

    ¡°I can definitely help you get rid of those toxins. There¡¯s no rush in it.¡± After saying these words, Nie Tian walked out of the cabin with a grim face. He tracked the source of the flesh auras to the cabin where Fang Tianyi and the others were.

    Surprised to see Nie Tian, Fang Yuan said, ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    Han Wanrong saw what was happening and asked, ¡°That wisp of flesh aura belonged to you, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. Then, he took a deep breath, fixing his gaze on one of the numerous clusters of storms that were hovering around Fang Tianyi.

    Fang Tianyi eximed, ¡°Who is he? The sh between his wisp of flesh aura and the Blood Warden¡¯s residual flesh aura seemed to have neutralized some of the residual power in my domain!¡±

 Chapter 1006: Clash of Flesh Auras

    Fang Tianyi didn¡¯t know who Nie Tian was.

    However, the special flesh aura Nie Tian had released had made him realize that he wasn¡¯t an ordinary human.

    Many high-tier outsiders didn¡¯t look very different from humans.

    Normally, people would distinguish outsiders from humans by seeing whether they carried special bloodlines or not.

    Without any dy, Fang Yuan said, ¡°nmaster, this is the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian.¡±

    Then, he fixed Nie Tian with a confused look and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Astonishment filled Han Wanrong¡¯s face as she said, ¡°Nie Tian, you actually neutralized the Blood Warden¡¯s residual flesh aura?¡±

    Fang Tianyi was astounded. ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars... and a hybrid?!¡±

    ¡°That grand patriarch¡¯s residual power caused a stir in me,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim face. ¡°Could you not withdraw your domain just yet? I think I can help.¡±

    After learning Nie Tian¡¯s identity, Fang Tianyi settled down, and didn¡¯t reject his attempt to help. ¡°Sure, but how?¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One wisp of crimson flesh aura after another whizzed out of Nie Tian, and into Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain.

    Each of them found a cluster of storms to pierce into, as if they had their own awareness.

    BOOM!

    As Nie Tian activated Life Drain, his entire body shuddered, and blood-colored light flickered in the depths of his eyes.

    Over the years, Life Drain had allowed him to drain flesh power from all kinds of spirit beasts and outsiders. Not once had it failed.

    However, this time, as he activated Life Drain, sending wisps of his flesh aura to absorb Cardy¡¯s residual flesh power, they all exploded upon contact.

    FZZZ!

    Crimson and purple light sputtered nonstop from the clusters of strong wind.

    Not only did Nie Tian¡¯s flesh auras not grow, but they were instead vanishing at an rming rate.

    However, the good news was that Cardy¡¯s residual flesh auras were vanishing with them.

    Every time a bit of purple light scattered and vanished, Nie Tian could hear demonic roars from the depths of his soul.

    Not just that, he felt like he was watching a sea of ckish-violet blood seething and giving rise to rolling demonic mes, in which he could see images of numerous lives having their flesh melted away.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyelids pulsed as he thought to himself, ¡°I can¡¯t use Life Drain to absorb these flesh auras! This is new!¡±

    As he examined the purple flesh auras with rapt attention, he was shocked to discover that they had some kind of extremely strong power in them.

    After magnifying everything a thousand times, the special power turned out to take the form of tiny purple crystals.

    Those purple crystals floated around within the purple light, filling it with strange evil power, and a relentless thirst for blood.

    However, the purple crystals didn¡¯t seem to bepletelypatible with the purple light, as if they didn¡¯t belong to Cardy.

    Those tiny purple crystals were the reason why his Life Drain wasn¡¯t working the way it normally did!

    The power they carried actually overrode Cardy¡¯s own power! Nie Tian was bbergasted by his discovery.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    His heart suddenly started to race. One drop of Blood Essence after another started to seethe within his heart.

    Blood Essence Seething and Life Strengthening were activated simultaneously. As his muscles bulged at an rming rate, ayer of gold and silver scales rapidly grew and covered his whole body.

    ¡°This is very simr to how Demons transform in battle!¡± Han Wanrong¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    ¡°This guy is...!!¡± Fang Yuan couldn¡¯t help but exim,

    At the same time, Fang Tianyi¡¯s eyes lit up as he discovered that as Nie Tian continued to fuse auras into him, Cardy¡¯s residual flesh power, which had been damaging his domain the entire time, was growing distinctively weaker.

    However, Nie Tian came to a stop shortly afterwards.

    Upon sensing this, Fang Tianyi asked with an impatient look in his eyes, ¡°Why did you stop?¡±

    Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong also fixed their gazes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly and said, ¡°My strength doesn¡¯t allow me to help you get rid of that grand patriarch¡¯s residual flesh power in a single attempt. Also, there seems to be a crystallization of another, mightier power within that grand patriarch¡¯s flesh power. I have a feeling that it¡¯s very old, but... somewhat unrefined.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually sensed the existence of that power in Cardy¡¯s flesh power!¡± Han Wanrong eximed in shock.

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about?¡±

    In such a short time, he had drained eight of the ten drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    He had also consumed more than half of the flesh power that was held in his internal organs.

    However, only about ten percent of Cardy¡¯s residual flesh power in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain had vanished.

    If Nie Tian¡¯s spection was correct, the residual flesh power in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain hade from a critical strike from Cardy the Blood Warden.

    Fang Tianyi had probably neutralized the bulk of the power, leaving only a small portion, which was branded with an evil force that was even older and mightier.

    Even though the power had worn very thin, it took Nie Tian eight drops of Blood Essence and more than half of his flesh power reserve to neutralize just ten percent of it.

    The idea of how powerful Cardy the Blood Warden was put Nie Tian in fear.

    At this moment, Bo Shiming, who had been waiting for Nie Tian to return, ran out of patience and came looking for him. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    Nie Tian looked over his shoulder and saw Bo Shiming. ¡°Your problem is very easy to solve. Don¡¯t worry. Once I¡¯m done here, it¡¯ll take me only a few days to expel all of the toxins from your body.¡±

    ¡°Give us a little time, will you?¡± Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong said simultaneously.

    ¡°Nie Tian, is it?¡± Fang Tianyi asked, his eyes glittering with the light of amazement. ¡°I can tell that your flesh aura can indeed help me get rid of Cardy¡¯s residual power. It¡¯s just that since your bloodline is still at a fairly low grade, your flesh power is not rich enough for you to finish the job in one go.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    ¡°So what can we do to help you recover your flesh power within the shortest time?¡± Fang Tianyi seemed to be even more eager than Bo Shiming. ¡°My domain won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer. Once it shatters, I¡¯ll be sent back to square one. So whatever you need.¡±

    Nie Tian looked at Fang Yuan. ¡°Those Demon corpses you brought back with you. Can I have them?¡±

    Even though he still had some Demon and Ancientbeast corpses in his ring of holding, they were far from enough if he wanted to help Fang Tianyi expel Cardy¡¯s residual power.

    Without hesitation, Fang Yuan said, ¡°Of course you can!¡±

    He immediately took out all of the Demon corpses and ced them in front of Nie Tian.

    ¡°If they¡¯re not enough, I can go find more,¡± Fang Yuan said in high spirits. ¡°Many Qi warriors in the Realm of Remote Heaven have outsider corpses in their hands. Give me some time, and I can get you more, whatever race you want.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°These will do.¡±

    ¡°Anything else we can do?¡± Fang Yuan asked.

    Fang Tianyi was the onlyte Saint domain subordinate he had, and as the nmaster of his n, he was a person he trustedpletely.

    If something were to happen to Fang Tianyi, his reputation and influence would suffer as well.

    In the future, when the time came for him topete for the position of the Lord of the Stars, Fang Tianyi would be his right-hand man.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡± With these words, Nie Tian shot a nce at the Demon corpses, and held out his ring of holding at them. One after another, they flew into his ring of holding. ¡°I do need another secret room to recover my strength in. And I can¡¯t be disturbed.¡±

    ¡°Follow me!¡± Fang Yuan said, showing him out of the room.

    Momentster, he took Nie Tian to another secret room.

    Compared to the one where he had helped Bo Shiming, this room was more spacious, and paved with several times more Star Stones and spirit jades.

    Furthermore, this room had a special spell formation built into it, which could help Qi warriors achieve a calm state faster.

    ¡°This is a room where I practice cultivation,¡± Fang Yuan said.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I figured.¡± Nie Tian smiled, signaling him that he could leave the room now.

    ¡°I really appreciate you helping the head of my n.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll do everything I can.¡±

    Fang Yuan then backed out of the room.

    After the stone door shut and he couldn¡¯t hear anything outside, Nie Tian took out the Demon corpses and activated Life Drain.

    He didn¡¯t encounter any difficulties as he used Life Drain on these Demon corpses.

    Wisp after wisp of rich flesh power was channeled from the Demon corpses and fused into him, allowing him to recuperate bit by bit.

 Chapter 1007: Demonic Power from the Origin

    In the depths of the Dead Star Sea.

    A group of enormous low-tier Demons was flying through the gaps among numerous floating meteors like sharks wandering in the depths of the sea.

    Thergest of them had a few dozen high-tier Demons sitting on its back, most of which were at the eighth grade, with only three at the ninth grade.

    The grand patriarch at the forefront was none other than Cardy the Blood Warden from the Gaytons n.

    Cardy had the stature of a tall, burly man. d in a suit of heavy armor that was carved with countless purple patterns, he was wreathed in a pungent bloody aura.

    Piled up at the end of the enormous low-tier Demon¡¯s back were dead Void domain experts, all of whom had been Fang Yuan¡¯s subordinates.

    A violent shudder suddenly ran through Cardy.

    The two ninth grade Demons behind Cardy sensed his flesh aura bursting out like a volcano erupting simultaneously, and thus asked, ¡°Is something wrong, eldest brother?¡±

    ¡°The flesh auras I left in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain are being dissolved,¡± Cardy said with a deep look in his eyes.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be!¡± One of them eximed in shock. ¡°Your flesh auras carry the imprints of that ancestor of ours. Only God domain human experts might have a chance at dissolving them. But there shouldn¡¯t be any God domain humans in the Realm of Remote Heaven now, right?

    ¡°Judging by the time, the fifth Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce must have just returned to the Realm of Remote Heaven.¡±

    Cardy shook his head, confusion filling his face. ¡°No, it¡¯s not a God domain human expert. This is odd... The method being used to dissolve the ancestral imprints is very different from what humans usually use.¡±

    ¡°A nonhuman method?¡± The ninth grade Demon once again eximed in shock.

    ¡°It feels like someone is using his or her own flesh auras to refine the ancestral imprints bit by bit,¡± Cardy said with knitted brow. ¡°Ancestral imprints carry our people¡¯s most original power. Such power can only be refined by powerful grand monarchs.¡±

    Losing those ancestral imprints would be a significant loss for Cardy.

    In fact, he had thought the imprints of a tenth grade grand monarch would unravel and destroy Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain within a short time.

    After that, he would be able to summon them back using his bloodline magic.

    He had thought it was worth the risk of losing those ancestral imprint to kill ate Saint domain human expert.

    However, as the ancestral imprints started to vanish, he grew anxious. ¡°Who the hell is it? The humans have long since broken up with all of the outsider and Ancientspirit races. There¡¯s no way powerful experts of the other races would want to refine our ancestral imprints at the expense of their own flesh power!¡±

    ¡°Humans have been breeding hybrids, right?¡± Another ninth grade Demon chimed in.

    Cardy let out a cold snort. ¡°They haven¡¯t made a single hybrid that possesses actual strength yet. Those ancestral imprints carry bloodline wonders that are even beyond our level. But as far as I know, the bloodlines humans stole from us to breed hybrids were a bunch of weak ones. Those hybrids have to enter the ninth grade at least in order to gain a slim chance at refining our ancestral imprints. But they haven¡¯t been breeding hybrids for long, so they can¡¯t possibly have any ninth grade hybrids.¡±

    ¡°Then what is it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. My soul awareness in those flesh auras has long since been expelled. Plus the long distance... I can¡¯t tell exactly what¡¯s happening by relying on my bloodline connection alone.¡±

    ¡°So what do we do about those ancestral imprints?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for a bit longer and see what happens.¡±

    ...

    At the edge of the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    Nie Tian continued to channel flesh power from Demon corpses to regenerate his Blood Essence.

    As soon as he recovered all ten drops of them, he would return to Fang Tianyi¡¯s room, where he eliminated the flesh power Cardy had left in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain by relying on the wonders of his unique bloodline.

    Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong observed the whole time.

    Nie Tian repeated the process over and over.

    As Nie Tian drained his flesh power once again, and returned to Fang Yuan¡¯s cultivation room to recover, Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong walked up to Fang Tianyi.

    ¡°How are you feeling, nmaster?¡± Fang Yuan asked.

    ¡°More than half of Cardy¡¯s residual power is gone.¡± Fang Tianyi answered, looking less pale and anxious than before. ¡°If this goes on, it won¡¯t be long before I¡¯m rid of all the destructive residue Cardy left in my domain. As long as my domain remains intact, I¡¯ll find a way to fix it.¡±

    Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong exchanged a nce, and saw astonishment in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Even though Fang Tianyi was the head of the Fang n, his understanding of outsider bloodlines was actually shallower than theirs.

    After all, one of them was a Son of the Stars, and the other was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s twelve elders. They frequently visited their Records Pavilion, where they had read a lot regarding the various outsider bloodlines¡¯ unique wonders.

    Both of them knew that it wasn¡¯t easy for outsiders to regain their flesh power afterplete exhaustion.

    For most outsiders, they either put themselves in special environments, or devoured the flesh or hearts of spirit beasts whose attribute agreed with theirs to recover their flesh power.

    However, the recovery process would take a long time.

    As for Nie Tian, every time he had drained his flesh powerpletely, he could fully recover and return to work with Fang Tianyi in fine fettle in three days, sometimes in just one day.

    They assumed that this was a speed even outsider chosen ones couldn¡¯t achieve with hearts that provided them the Blood Essence they needed in a blessednd of their race.

    After observing in silence for a long while, Han Wanrong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°This is unbelievable... Cardy¡¯s residual power carries the imprints of the grand monarch that was born in the Blood Purgatory Sea. The Demons call power at such a level original demonic power, which is very difficult to eradicate. But now, not only is Nie Tian eradicating it, but he¡¯s also recovering at such a shocking speed...¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve never seen anyone like him either!¡± Fang Yuan chimed in.

    ¡°What on earth is the origin of his special bloodline?! I can¡¯t believe it allows him to eradicate the imprints of a Demon grand monarch!¡± Han Wanrong eximed in shock.

    Two days passed...

    Nie Tian once again returned to Fang Tianyi¡¯s room, where he unleashed wisps of flesh aura that pierced into Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain.

    This time, something different happened.

    The purple auras within the clusters of strong wind seemed to be summoned by some force, as they suddenly flew out of Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Streak after streak of purple light whizzed out of the ancient starship in the blink of an eye, with tiny purple crystals flickering within them.

    Then, they disappeared into the Dead Star Sea like purple lightning bolts that shed across the sky.

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded by what happened. ¡°The Blood Warden¡¯s flesh auras can actually escape by themselves?!¡±

    ¡°Cardy must have summoned those flesh auras using some bloodline magic!¡± Han Wanrong eximed.

    She wasn¡¯t surprised that Cardy was capable of this. What surprised her was the fact that he actually did.

    The fact that he summoned them away proved that he didn¡¯t think this was a battle he could win, and he didn¡¯t want to suffer more losses than he already had.

    ¡°Your elimination of Cardy¡¯s residual power must have made him realize the unfavorable situation,¡± Fang Yuan said with a deep look in his eyes. ¡°His residual flesh power carries the Gaytons n¡¯s ancestral imprints. I believe they were bestowed upon him by the master of the Blood Purgatory Sea. Undoubtedly, they¡¯re of great value to him. Of course he didn¡¯t want to lose them for nothing.¡±

    As soon as the purple flesh auras were summoned away, Fang Tianyi withdrew his domain. The purple aura that would flicker across his face from time to time vanishedpletely.

    Fang Tianyi felt relieved of a heavy load. He had never felt so light before.

    He sprang to his feet and bowed towards Nie Tian. ¡°Thank you for your help! If it weren¡¯t for you, I couldn¡¯t have expelled those flesh auras by myself, especially when they carried a Demon grand monarch¡¯s imprints. My domain would have shattered soon if you hadn¡¯te to my aid.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Were those tiny purple crystals imprints from a Demon grand monarch?¡±

    Han Wanrong nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. They belong to the master of the Blood Purgatory Sea, a deceased grand monarch from the Gaytons n. That grand monarch is seeking rebirth in the Blood Purgatory Sea. I suppose he has already regained his awareness, and is currently at the flesh-reforging stage. But his imprints are clearly notplete yet, which is why they¡¯re far less mighty than when he was at his peak state.

    ¡°Even so, imprints carry a grand monarch¡¯s lifetime enlightenment, and the Demon race¡¯s purest power.

    ¡°The fact that you were able to dissolve his imprints is simply eye-opening. If I hadn¡¯t seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe a human hybrid with your bloodline grade could dissolve a grand monarch¡¯s imprints.¡±

    Fang Yuan then said, ¡°My n and I owe you a big one, Junior Martial Brother!¡±

 Chapter 1008: The Divine Bell Tolled Again

    Several days passed...

    Nie Tian had refined everyst bit of the toxins inside of Bo Shiming with his wood power and flesh power under the magical effect of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The problem that had bothered Bo Shiming for many years was finally solved.

    ¡°Nie Tian, from now on, you and your subordinates are wee toe find me whenever you need medicinal pills made, as long as they¡¯re not Heaven grade medicinal pills. If you go through our sect, they¡¯ll charge you a certain amount of contribution points. If youe to me directly with the necessary materials, I can make them for you for a small amount of spirit jades.¡± Bo Shiming offered Nie Tian this privilege out of gratitude.

    Nie Tian thanked him, smiling.

    Bo Shiming didn¡¯t stay in the Realm of Remote Heaven afterwards. Instead, he teleported back to Fragmentary Star City to refocus on the Dao of alchemy.

    Fang Yuan, on the other hand, had recently returned from the Dead Star Sea, so he was eager to get a grasp of the current situation in the domains that belonged to him. He had left before Bo Shiming was healed.

    His ancient starship remained berthed at the edge of the Realm of Remote Heaven, guarded by a handful of his subordinates.

    Fang Tianyi had left with him.

    However, before the two of them had left, Fang Yuan had told Han Wanrong that they would return to Fragmentary Star City soon. If Nie Tian wanted to see him for anything, that was where he could find him.

    Nie Tian was aware of how dangerous the Dead Star Sea was, and the fact that the current strength of his subordinates and himself didn¡¯t allow them to go fight outsiders in the Dead Star Sea yet.

    After all, the outsider forces that roamed the depths of the Dead Star Sea were all led by grand patriarchs like Cardy.

    Only after he hadte Saint domain experts among his subordinates would he have the ability to battle the ancient outsider ns in the depths of the Dead Star Sea.

    As Nie Tian returned from Fang Yuan¡¯s ancient starship to the piece of floatingnd controlled by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he discovered that Quan Zixuan and the others were already waiting.

    As Nie Tian reconvened with Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, and the others, he saw many passersby whispering to each other with their eyes fixed on him, gasping from time to time.

    ¡°Is that the seventh Son of the Stars?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s him! He helped Bo Shiming get rid of all of his internal toxins!¡±

    ¡°As a skilled alchemist, Bo Shiming has a deep understanding of all kinds of herbs. He sought help from many experts, but still failed to expel the toxins that were deposited in his internal organs. It¡¯s hard to believe how special this new Son of the Stars is.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just that, I also heard that he even neutralized the destructive power the Blood Warden had left in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain.¡±

    ¡°What?! He managed to neutralize Cardy¡¯s residual power in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain? We¡¯re talking about one of the most powerful grand patriarchs!¡±

    ¡°Fang Yuan¡¯s subordinates told me this. It must be urate.¡±

    ¡°Is the seventh Son of the Stars really so special?¡±

    After arriving in front of the grand pce, Nie Tian asked with a smile, ¡°Any gains?¡±

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde, as well as Dong Qisong, Zhongli Jian, and Feng Yulin from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, fixed Nie Tian with respectful and grateful gazes.

    Qu Mingde smiled and said, ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven is indeed a blessednd for those who want to trade. We got everything we need for our next breakthroughs.¡±

    Zhongli Jian thanked him again.

    That Profound Yang Pill was very important to him. He had thought he would lose it to Hong Yao.

    However, Nie Tian had showed up and persuaded Bo Shiming to give him the Profound Yang Pill with merely a few words.

    ¡°We already have the spiritual materials we need,¡± Quan Zixuan said. ¡°We were only waiting for you to return so we can go back.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right. For future reference, I have to take you here if youe to the Realm of Remote Heaven. But you can leave on your own. You don¡¯t have to wait for me.¡± After exining the rule to them, Nie Tian left with them via the teleportation portal in the pce.

    After arriving at the Vast Heaven Pavilion, the others hurried back to their respective realms to get ready for their breakthroughs.

    Nie Tian, however, stayed in the Vast Heaven Pavilion and focused on cultivation.

    In order to advance to the Soul realm, he had to go through a long period of painstaking cultivation.

    All of his spiritual cores needed to be further refined.

    Therefore, he just stayed inside the Vast Heaven Pavilion, where he practiced cultivation day and night with the various cultivation resources he had stockpiled.

    Time flew...

    Before he knew it, he had spent three years practicing cultivation in the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Quan Zixuan and the others had informed Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate forces that Nie Tian had entered secluded cultivation in the Vast Heaven Pavilion, and told them not to disturb him unless it was something very important.

    Therefore, not a single person hade to find him in the past three years.

    At this point, Nie Tian finally realized that secluded cultivation might take up half of a Qi warrior¡¯s lifespan.

    The higher their cultivation bases became, the more difficult it would be for them to make breakthroughs. For experts at the Void, Saint, or God domain, a secluded cultivation session could easilyst decades. Sometimes, they evensted centuries.

    When God domain experts took trips to derive enlightenment of heaven and earth in unmapped areas of the starry river, a single journey mightst a thousand years.

    BONG!

    All of a sudden, a resonant bell toll echoed throughout Fragmentary Star City.

    Nie Tian snapped awake from his cultivation.

    Unlike the bell toll that had urred when he had first entered Fragmentary Star City, this one was filled with grief.

    As a Son of the Stars, he had learned some of his sect¡¯s practices.

    The divine bell normally wouldn¡¯t be tolled. Every time it did, something major must have happened.

    Nie Tian walked out of the Vast Heaven Pavilion, summoned the Star Boat, and flew towards the most splendid pce in the city.

    As he did, he saw Fang Yuan flying out of another pavilion towards the central pce as well.

    Their Star Boats rapidly came close.

    ¡°What does that bell toll stand for, Senior Martial Brother Fang?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°One of our elders has died,¡± Fang Yuan said with a grim face. ¡°All twelve of our elders are at thete Saint domain. And our grand elder is at the God domain. Each and every one of them is capable of handling grand patriarchs as powerful as Cardy. Also, they¡¯re scattered in different parts of the starry river, either overseeing important realms or exploring new domains. They all have heavy responsibilities.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°One of our elders died?! Do you know which one?¡±

    Fang Yuan shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. We¡¯ll learn about that as soon as we get to the grand pce.¡±

    As their Star Boats flew alongside each other, another Star Boat also shot into the air.

    Standing on it was a thin young man, who was gazing at them from afar with an insidious look on his face.

    Fang Yuan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Sikong Cuo!¡±

    ¡°He is Sikong Cuo?¡± Nie Tian asked with a surprised expression.

    Fang Yuan frowned and said, ¡°Who else can it be? You were in secluded cultivation during the past three years. During this time, Sikong Cuo went on a number of operations, and won a considerable amount of contribution points. This time, he¡¯s here to use his contribution points to trade for rare spiritual materials that his subordinates couldn¡¯t find in the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    ¡°From what I know, he¡¯s summoned plenty more subordinates recently, including the head of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood, who¡¯s been active around the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°Master Bloody Despair?!¡± Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Isn¡¯t he the head of a hunter organization? And the Bloody Despair Brotherhood is notorious for their despicable deeds. The Qi warriors in the nearby domains, including the Domain of Endless Snow, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Vast Darkness, have alreadyunched several cleansing operations targeting them. He thinks it¡¯s okay to make such a person his subordinate?¡±

    ¡°Sikong Cuo has many other subordinates that are just as contemptible as him,¡± Fang Yuan said. ¡°When he takes in a subordinate, all he cares about is their battle prowess. Morality means nothing to him. For this reason, many of his subordinates are every bit as troublesome as him, and cause our sect trouble all the time.

    ¡°If he hadn¡¯t done such an unspeakable thing to anger He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion so much, he wouldn¡¯t have set me up in the Dead Star Sea!¡±

    As they spoke, Sikong Cuo¡¯s Star Boat beat them to the grand pce.

    By the time Nie Tian and Fang Yuan walked into the grand pce, they found that Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Xin Qing, and Zu Guangyao, the four on-duty elders, were already there.

    In front of the four eldersy a dozen bodies. The one in the middle was so badly mangled that its face was unidentifiable.

    Wei Lai sighed deeply. ¡°Elder Xiao is dead. Even his soul is gone. Reviving him is not an option. The two from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society who went there with Elder Xiao died there as well.¡±

    Yan Zhan trembled as he struggled to suppress his fury. ¡°Together, our three sects sent threete Saint domain, six middle Saint domain, more than thirty Void domain, and hundreds of Soul realm members there. All of them died there. Damn those monsters!¡±

    ¡°I suppose that one has already recovered his peak strength,¡± Wei Lai said with a bitter expression.

    ¡°What should we do? Our sectmaster and vice sectmasters haven¡¯t returned from their trips yet.¡± Yan Zhan asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already gotten in contact with our grand elder,¡± Wei Lai said with furrowed brow. ¡°He¡¯s going to be back soon. I need to go to the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters to discuss our countermeasures.¡±

    Nie Tian looked confused as the four elders discussed matters among themselves with grim faces.

    Fang Yuan and Sikong Cuo, however, seemed to know what had happened as soon as they saw the corpses, but neither of them said anything.

 Chapter 1009: The Resurgence of the Nether Spirit Society

    Nie Tian remained silent as the four elders discussed among themselves.

    Before long, he learned what had happened from their conversation.

    Countless human sects and ns had upiedrge areas of the starry river. There were many other powerful sects aside from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect.

    Even though they might not have histories as long and reserve power as profound as the four great sects, some of them also had God domain experts.

    It was only that their numbers and strength couldn¡¯t match that of the four great sects.

    Over the years, the four great sects had been rather tolerant of them.

    However, if they vited the rules set by the four great sects, they would send out forces to wipe them out.

    For instance, those who practiced evil incantations using human souls, forged tools with human parts and dead babies, or colluded with outsiders were all considered crooked by the four great sects, and would be wiped out by a joint effort.

    The dead elder was named Xiao Xihe. He had organized a troop and joined two elders of the Five Elements Sect and Void Spirit Society in wiping out a crooked force called the Nether Spirit Society.

    The incantations the Nether Spirit Society disciples practiced were very simr to the Phantasms¡¯ soul incantations.

    It was said that they kept close contact with the Phantasms.

    Not only had the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society been well-versed in all sorts of evil soul magics, but he had even provided the Phantasms with soul crystals he had made with human souls in exchange for cultivation resources that disciples of his sect needed.

    After his despicable deeds had been brought to light, the four great sects had been infuriated, and had thus sent out God domain experts to kill him.

    As an early God domain expert, he had soon been trapped and killed.

    However, thanks to some profound soul incantations he had practiced, he had managed to secure and hide a wisp of his true soul, which hadter been found by surviving disciples of the Nether Spirit Society.

    By relying on that wisp of his true soul, those disciples had found him a suitable host and brought him back to life.

    Recently, members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had spotted disciples of the Nether Spirit Society wandering around, capturing humans and taking their souls. After a thorough investigation, they had confirmed that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had been reborn, and was stirring up trouble again.

    Afterwards, Xiao Xihe and the other two elders of the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society had been charged with the task of marching over there and uprooting their remaining force.

    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, all those who had gone on this mission had died there, including Xiao Xihe and the other twote Saint domain experts.

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society has undoubtedly been reborn,¡± Yan Zhan said with a grim face. ¡°The fact that he was able to recover his peak strength must have a great deal to do with the Phantasms, aside from the fact that disciples of his sect have been collecting discarnate souls for him everywhere. Elder Xiao is dead, and so are those two from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society must have taken their souls after their deaths.

    ¡°If my spection is correct, he must be stronger now than ever.

    ¡°Those from Nether Spirit Society wander among various human domains, secretly provoking battles between hostile domains. Once battles actually break out, they¡¯ll swoop in, gather discarnate souls, and refine them into soul crystals. Soul crystals can help improve the Nether Spirit Society disciples¡¯ strength. Also, they can get other soul-cultivating materials by selling them to the Phantasms.¡±

    ¡°The Nether Spirit Society is rapidly building up their strength,¡± Wei Lai said with a worried face. ¡°If the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society is indeed stronger now than before he died, then we¡¯re facing a serious problem.¡±

    Grief and indignation filled his eyes as he took a nce at Xiao Xihe¡¯s badly mangled body. ¡°Our cultivation bases and strength aren¡¯t much higher than elder Xiao¡¯s. If we march into the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s den now, we might not necessarily be able to root them out. I think we¡¯d better wait for our grand elder to make our move.¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in. ¡°But the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society are urging us to take action.¡±

    Wei Lai snorted coldly. ¡°We¡¯ve got to have God domain experts on our side if we want to kill the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society. Who are the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society going to send on this mission?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know yet,¡± Yan Zhan answered.

    At this moment, Wei Lai¡¯s expression suddenly flickered, and he took out a crystal ball.

    Inside the transparent ball, a vague shape of Mo Heng, the grand elder, gradually grew clear.

    ¡°I¡¯m heading towards the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters now.¡± Mo Heng¡¯s voice echoed out from within the crystal ball. ¡°The four of you should stay and oversee things in Fragmentary Star City. Fang Yuan, Sikong Cuo, and Nie Tian shall meet me in the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters in three days.¡±

    Wei Lai was taken aback. ¡°Grand elder, do you want to lead our team on this mission yourself?¡±

    ¡°Our sectmaster and two vice sectmasters are all otherwise upied,¡± Mo Heng replied. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that I have a choice. The Domain of Nether Heaven is where the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s den is located. The three Sons of the Stars are free to bring their subordinates ore by themselves. After the operation, contribution points will be rewarded ording to the contributions they make in the operation.¡±

    Sikong Cuoughed and said, ¡°Grand elder, the way I see it, my fifth and seventh martial brothers should be exempted from taking part in this operation.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s shape in the crystal ball turned to fix his gaze on him.

    Sikong Cuo then exined, ¡°Fang Tianyi, the strongest subordinate of my fifth martial brother, is still fixing his domain. As for my seventh martial brother, he doesn¡¯t have a singlete Saint domain expert among his subordinates. Those who are at the Saint domain are currently in secluded cultivation, preparing for their new breakthroughs. All of the subordinates he¡¯ll be able to bring are at the Void domain. They won¡¯t be of much help even if they join us on this trip to the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°Not to mention that my seventh martial brother himself is only at thete Profound realm. If he goes to the Domain of Nether Heaven with us, forget about him helping with our operation. We might even have to spare attention to look after him.¡±

    After hearing his words, Wei Lai and the other three elders pondered the matter and fell silent.

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s words made sense.

    As an honored elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Xiao Xihe had definitely been stronger than Fang Tianyi, even though both of them had been at thete Saint domain.

    Even Xiao Xihe had died in the Domain of Nether Heaven, along with two otherte Saint domain experts from the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect. What difference would Fang Yuan and Nie Tian be able to make with their forces if they joined this operation?

    ¡°I have a n worked out,¡± Mo Heng said coldly. ¡°Just do as I say.¡±

    Immediately after he said these words, his shape in the crystal ball vanished.

    Nie Tian knew that the shape in the crystal ball was merely a soul shadow of Mo Heng. His fleshly body must be somewhere else, probably far from Fragmentary Star City.

    ¡°I¡¯m off to make preparations. Good luck, fifth martial brother, seventh martial brother.¡± With these words, Sikong Cuoughed heartily and left.

    The way he behaved indicated that he didn¡¯t even have much respect for the sect elders.

    Wei Lai didn¡¯t seem to mind his manners as he said to Nie Tian and Fang Yuan, ¡°I¡¯ll teleport you to the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters in three days. As the grand elder said, you can bring your subordinates ore by yourselves. And your contributions in this operation will determine the contribution points you¡¯ll get eventually.¡±

    Nie Tian and Fang Yuan nodded and walked out together.

    ¡°Even though what Sikong Cuo said was mean, it¡¯s, in fact, urate,¡± Fang Yuan said with a furrowed brow. ¡°The head of my n is still in secluded cultivation, doing everything he can to fix his domain. I suffered heavy losses from my previous trip to the Dead Star Sea. Many of my Void domain subordinates were killed. I¡¯m afraid the strength of the force I can bring this time will be limited.

    ¡°Unlike me, Sikong Cuo has been fighting battles here and there. Not only has he not suffered heavy losses, but he¡¯s even taken in quite a number of new followers.¡±

    He smiled bitterly and added, ¡°I even heard that the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect from the Domain of Heavenly Witchcraft has acknowledged their allegiance to him. The sectmaster of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect is currently at the middle Saint domain, and his battle prowess is beyond ordinary. In this way, Sikong Cuo now has e Saint domain and three middle Saint domain subordinates, which isn¡¯t weaker than mine in the slightest before I suffered those losses.¡±

    ¡°The Heavenly Witchcraft Sect...¡± Nie Tian said, his expression growing strange.

    ¡°Did you have any contact with them?¡±

    ¡°I got into a conflict with a few chosen ones from the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect when I was in the Shatter Battlefield, and I killed a bunch of their disciples.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you¡¯d better be carefulter when you meet the sectmaster of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect in the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡± After a moment of pondering, Fang Yuan asked, ¡°How many subordinates do you n to bring to the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters?¡±

    ¡°None,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Fang Yuan was taken aback. ¡°None?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t really care about how many contribution points I¡¯ll get. But I¡¯m rather curious about the Nether Spirit Society. I have a Phantasm tool in my possession. If I were to encounter disciples of the Nether Spirit Society in the Domain of Nether Heaven, I should be able to protect myself with it. I simply consider this operation an opportunity for me to enrich my experience and broaden my horizons with the grand elder.¡±

    Even elder Xiao Xihe had died in the Domain of Nether Heaven, which was enough evidence of how dangerous this operation would be.

    At this moment, Jing Feiyang and many others were seeking breakthroughs in their cultivation. Jing Feiyang¡¯s wife had to stay in the Divine Seal Sect to oversee things, and make sure no one would disturb Jing Feiyang¡¯s breakthrough.

    The help his Void domain subordinates would be able to provide him in the Domain of Nether Heaven would be very limited.

    They might not even be able to protect themselves from disciples of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Furthermore, the disciples of the Nether Spirit Society were well-versed in evil soul magics. Once they were killed, they wouldn¡¯t even have a chance to be reborn.

    He had only be a Son of the Stars recently, and still had yet to build up his forces. He didn¡¯t want to lose the mainstays of his forces on this trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Therefore, after bidding farewell to Fang Yuan, he returned to the vast area of the starry river between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to recover that special bone.

 Chapter 1010: Seeing Pei Qiqi Again

    The bone had been about fifteen meters long when he had first obtained it.

    After he had fused it with his Blood Essence, it had gone through one change: it had started to channel power from the starry river by itself.

    However, now that three years had passed, the bone had somehow grown five meters longer.

    Twenty meters long, it now looked like an exceptionally long spear.

    Not just that, but he also heard a soul cheer the moment it flew into Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    As he held it, countless wisps of flesh power that he exuded were sucked into the bone.

    As he examined it with rapt attention, he even sensed that it had a strong desire for his Blood Essence.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°It¡¯s yearning for more of my Blood Essence!

    ¡°It seems that my Blood Essence will trigger changes in it, but it still has to rely on the various energies in the starry river to grow.

    ¡°If I leave it in a secluded area of the starry river, will it be able to grow by itself over decades, centuries, or even millennia?

    ¡°If that¡¯s true, does it mean it¡¯ll be able to grow its whole body back some day?¡±

    With this question in mind, he returned to the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Three dayster...

    He walked out of the Vast Heaven Pavilion and found that Fang Yuan was already there waiting for him. Gathered around him were three Saint domain experts and a dozen Void domain experts.

    Fang Tianyi, who he had helped before, wasn¡¯t among them.

    ¡°We¡¯re ready to go, Nie Tian,¡± Fang Yuan called out to him. ¡°Sikong Cuo and his subordinates have already left for the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    All of his subordinates bowed slightly towards Nie Tian upon seeing him.

    Some of them were from the Fang n, who had been grateful to him ever since they had learned that Nie Tian had helped Fang Tianyi get rid of the Blood Warden¡¯s residual flesh power.

    ¡°He¡¯s really going by himself?¡± Some of them whispered withplicated looks on their faces.

    ¡°I¡¯m all set. Let¡¯s go,¡± Nie Tian said to Fang Yuan.

    ...

    In the Realm of Void Spirit, where the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters was located.

    A number of magnificent pces stood above the clouds. Time had left its marks on each and every one of them.

    Floating in the sky, they looked like stars that would never fall.

    Surrounding the floating pces were numerous spatial rifts, which were very simr to the spatial rifts in the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom. They seemed to connect to any human domain people might want to visit.

    Some of the spatial rifts emanated the special auras of space disruption zones.

    A spacious tform made of jade could be seen floating by an active spatial rift. The tform was filled with people with solemn faces, as if they were waiting for something.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Figures dressed in different robes flew out of the spatial rift from time to time, andnded on the jade tform.

    Standing beside Mo Heng, the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, were Sikong Cuo and his subordinates, all of whom were at the Saint or Void domain.

    At this moment, Mo Heng was speaking to two experts from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society, their faces grim.

    SHEW!

    Another figure flew out of the spatial rift andnded on the tform. Mo Heng ended his conversation with the other two experts. A bit of light flickered in his deep, cold eyes.

    Eyebrows flickering, a skinny old man from the Void Spirit Society followed Mo Heng¡¯s gaze to look at the person who had just arrived. ¡°Brother Mo, is that your sect¡¯s seventh Son of the Stars?¡±

    Mo Heng nodded.

    ¡°He¡¯s at thete Profound realm...¡± The vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society muttered.

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan from the Five Elements Sect suddenly called out from afar, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t had a chance to take a good look at the Void Spirit Society, turned around upon hearing their call, and spotted a number of familiar faces.

    Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and their subordinates were all nodding towards Nie Tian with faint smiles.

    Nie Tian had met Yang Fan, Zhao Heng, and many of them during their exploration of the Lizardman domain.

    ¡°Howe you¡¯re here too?¡± Nie Tian asked with a smile. With these words, he left Fang Yuan¡¯s side and walked to Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan. ¡°You were summoned to join this operation in the Domain of Nether Heaven as well?¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded slightly. ¡°My senior martial sister was. As for me, I asked to join her after learning that you were going.¡±

    With these words, he turned to an old man sitting behind him and said, ¡°Senior Lu, this is the Nie Tian I told you about.¡±

    The old man had been talking to Mo Heng earlier. Upon hearing this, he smiled towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°This old one is Lu Jiefeng. Jinnan and Hongyan have told me a lot about you. Every time your name came up, those two little ones would go on and on about how amazing you are.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Senior Lu!¡± Nie Tian said with great respect.

    After returning to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce from the Lizardman domain, he had asked about the Five Elements Sect, and learned that the heads of the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth element sects were all God domain experts. Aside from them, there was one more God domain expert in the Five Elements Sect.

    That expert was none other than Lu Jiefeng, who was at the early God domain, and well-versed in metal power.

    It was said that Lu Jiefeng was martial brothers with the current head of the metal sect.

    Back in the day, he had given up his opportunity topete for the head of the metal sect, and given the position to Huang Jinnan¡¯s master.

    Rumor had that Lu Jiefeng¡¯s cultivation talent was every bit as outstanding as Huang Jinnan¡¯s master¡¯s. The reason why he was only at the early God domain, while Huang Jinnan¡¯s master waste God domain, was because the sect had tipped cultivation resources in Huang Jinnan¡¯s master¡¯s direction after Lu Jiefeng had backed out of the powerpetition.

    Because of this, Huang Jinnan¡¯s master had been grateful to him over the years.

    Lu Jiefeng¡¯s status in the Five Elements Sect was only lower than the heads of the five sects. Even the Divine Sons and Daughters had great respect for him.

    At this moment, Mo Heng beckoned him over and said, ¡°Nie Tian, this is Ji Yuanquan, the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Greetings, Senior Ji.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan waved his hand. ¡°No need to stand on ceremony.¡±

    Then, he took a deep look at him and added, ¡°Someone has been waiting for you for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Ji Yuanquan chuckled softly and said, ¡°I think you know.¡±

    At this moment, a figure in blue robes suddenly flew out of a distant pce andnded on the jade tform in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    ¡°Long time no see.¡± Pei Qiqi looked as cold as she always was, but little sparks could be seen in the depths of her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve entered thete Profound realm. So you¡¯re not too slow.¡±

    Dumbfounded, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Have you entered the middle Soul realm already, Senior Martial Sister Pei?!¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Our sect has spent a lot of resources and efforts on me. Of course I won¡¯t disappoint them.¡±

    Some people in the crowd started whispering to each other. Clearly, they didn¡¯t know much about Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°That woman doesn¡¯t look familiar at all. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen or heard about her.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but since Ji Yuanquan introduced her himself, she must be someone very important.¡±

    ¡°How does she know Nie Tian?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan, the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, cleared his throat and stepped to the center of the tform. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, this is Pei Qiqi, our sectmaster¡¯s legacy disciple.

    ¡°Like Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Fragmentary Star Pce, she¡¯s also from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°You might be unfamiliar with the name Pei Qiqi, but I bet you¡¯ve heard about the Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure that appeared in the Shatter Battlefield. It voluntarily merged with her and acknowledged her as its master.

    ¡°This time, she¡¯ll go with us to uproot the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s surviving members in the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    After Ji Yuanquan¡¯s introduction, everyone present realized what a high status Pei Qiqi had in the Void Spirit Society.

    As a legacy disciple of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, her status matched that of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Sons of the Stars and the Five Elements Sect¡¯s Divine Sons and Daughters.

    Furthermore, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had taken in three legacy disciples before her, and announced that he wouldn¡¯t take in more disciples many years ago.

    Apparently, he had broken his word by taking Pei Qiqi in.

    This proved how important and unique he thought she was.

    The fact that many in the crowd hadn¡¯t heard anything about Pei Qiqi before indicated that the Void Spirit Society had kept her a secret this whole time. The reason why she was going to the Domain of Nether Heaven this time was probably because she had gained the core legacies ande to brand new understandings of space power after learning from the sectmaster for a period of time.

    The sectmaster probably wanted her to use this experience to test what she had learned.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi, the fourth legacy disciple of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s sectmaster,¡± Sikong Cuo muttered to himself. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars... It¡¯s hard to believe a remote corner that I¡¯ve never heard of had such hidden dragons and crouching tigers.¡± (Idiom: concealed talents)

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars sounds like quite a ce!¡± Someone in the crowd eximed softly.

    A mor focused on Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian rapidly took over the crowd.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s name had spread far and wide recently, not many had seen him in person.

    He and Pei Qiqi soon had everyone¡¯s attention.

    At this moment, Ji Yuanquan said aloud, ¡°Elder Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Senior Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect, and I will lead this operation in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    ¡°Like the Nether Spirit Society, their sectmaster hase back to life. ording to what we¡¯ve learned, he¡¯s more powerful now than ever. We must do a thorough job with this cleansing operation. We can¡¯t allow a single wisp of his true soul escape this time!

    ¡°Now, we¡¯re all here. If there aren¡¯t any objections, we¡¯ll move out now.¡±

    As he said these words, more than a dozen Saint and Void domain experts flew over from the other pces and stood beside Pei Qiqi.

 Chapter 1011: A Future Master

    Since the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had been a God domain expert, the Domain of Nether Heaven had been considered a Premium grade human domain.

    With its more than twelve realms, it covered arge area in the starry river.

    As the four great sects¡¯ joint forces had marched into it and engaged in fierce battles against the Nether Spirit Society, some of the realms had been eliminated of all life, and reduced to dead realms.

    After the Nether Spirit Society had been destroyed, the four great sects had taken over the Domain of Nether Heaven, and sent their disciples to collect resources in it.

    However, after the resurgence of the Nether Spirit Society, the forces the four great sects had stationed in the Domain of Nether Heaven had all been cleared out. Because of this, the Domain of Nether Heaven had fallen back into the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s hands.

    Among all the human sects, the Nether Spirit Society was the most well-versed in soul magics.

    Even though most of the teleportation portals the four great sects had previously set up in dead realms of the Domain of Nether Heaven had already been found and destroyed, some of them still remained undiscovered and intact.

    Those teleportation portals allowed Nie Tian and the others to descend into the Domain of Nether Heaven, saving them the trouble of taking a long journey through the starry river.

    In a realm that had been dead for many years.

    A joint group of cultivators led by Mo Heng, Ji Yuanquan, and Lu Jiefeng poured out of a teleportation portal.

    Instead of being stationed, the teleportation portal was constantly on the move.

    Perhaps that was the reason why it hadn¡¯t been discovered by the Nether Spirit Society.

    Upon arriving, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°The current Domain of Nether Heaven has a total of fifteen healthy realms. Disciples of the Nether Spirit Society have been spotted in every one of them. Their sectmaster might be in one of them, or possibly one of the dead realms.

    ¡°So our first task is to determine their sectmaster¡¯s location.

    ¡°After we find and kill him, the others will be easy to take care of. Even if some of them escape from our hands, they won¡¯t be able to cause us trouble.

    ¡°We still have five essible teleportation portals among the fifteen healthy realms. Two of them are located in two of the realms, and three in the starry river.

    ¡°Members of my sect will go with you and help you find them. Once you find the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, send word to each other. Then, we¡¯ll gather our strength and kill him.¡±

    Apparently, he had already discussed these strategies with Mo Heng and Lu Jiefeng, as neither of them nor anyone else objected to them.

    ¡°Sikong Cuo, you take your people to one of the teleportation portals and see if you can locate the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society,¡± Mo Heng said. ¡°Remember: all you need to do is to find him. Don¡¯t try to fight him on your own. If you do find him, send us a message at the first moment.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured,¡± Sikong Cuo said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯ve done these things all my adult years. Nothing will go wrong.¡±

    Mo Heng nodded and went on. ¡°Fang Yuan, you take your people to another teleportation portal. Be careful.¡±

    Fang Yuan nodded to show that he understood.

    Mo Heng took a nce at Nie Tian and said with a furrowed brow, ¡°As for you... you¡¯lle with me.¡±

    At this moment, Huang Jinnanughed heartily and called out, ¡°Nie Tian! Since you came here by yourself, I suppose you¡¯re not looking to earn lots of contribution points. So how about youe and join us?¡±

    Mo Heng fixed Lu Jiefeng with a surprised look.

    Lu Jiefeng then smiled and said, ¡°Nie Tian didn¡¯t bring any of his subordinates on this trip. I suppose he only came to see how powerful the Nether Spirit Society is for himself. Brother Mo, if you feel safe leaving him with us, I think it¡¯s a good thing to let the two of them work together again, right?¡±

    Mo Heng seemed somewhat hesitant.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi, who was surrounded by disciples of the Void Spirit Society, called out, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Mo Heng and the others all turned to look at her.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Pei Qiqi said in aposed manner, ¡°Each of you will need a person well-versed in spatial magics on your team. Nie Tian and I are old friends, and we¡¯ve fought side by side many times. So I¡¯ll join whichever team he joins.¡±

    As soon as she said these words, before Nie Tian even said anything, Huang Jinnan and Fang Yuan already put on their warmest smiles.

    Pei Qiqi was the Void Spirit Society sectmaster¡¯s fourth legacy disciple. Normally speaking, she didn¡¯t need to join anyone else. She was more than capable of leading a team of Void Spirit Society disciples on her own to search for the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    However, what she had just said indicated that instead of leading her own team, she intended to attach herself to Nie Tian.

    Her blue robes fluttered gently in the breeze as she stood gracefully under everyone¡¯s gazes like an icy blue lotus. She didn¡¯t seem to mind the confused gazes everyone was fixing her with.

    She simply looked at Nie Tian from afar.

    It seemed that only Nie Tian¡¯s attitude mattered to her.

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Senior martial sister Pei and I spent a lot of time together in the Domain of the Falling Stars. I¡¯ve long since grown used to doing as she says. Also, we were apart for many years, I want to travel and catch up with her too.¡±

    Mo Heng then shot a nce at Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society.

    Ji Yuanquan curled his lips and said, ¡°Our sectmaster told me that she should be free to do whatever she sees fit on this trip, and I can¡¯t stop her.¡±

    People¡¯s expressions flickered with astonishment once again.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s status in the Void Spirit Society was second only to the sectmaster.

    Whenever he went on trips with the sectmaster¡¯s other three disciples, they all had to follow hismands.

    Even though Pei Qiqi had only recently joined the Void Spirit Society, he didn¡¯t even seem to have authority over her.

    Many people¡¯s expressions flickered as they looked at Pei Qiqi. Even Mo Heng and Lu Jiefeng¡¯s eyes were filled with astonishment.

    ¡°This girl has just joined the Void Spirit Society. Howe their sectmaster attaches such importance to her?¡±

    ¡°What makes her so special? Don¡¯t tell me that their sectmaster has already made her his sessor!?¡±

    ¡°This is unbelievable!¡±

    They were well-aware that the Void Spirit Society waspletely different from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce when it came to session.

    All seven Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would be eligible topete for the position of the Lord of the Stars. Each and every one of them would have to prove their strength. Eventually, the sectmaster, the vice sectmasters, and the twelve elders would determine the next Lord of the Stars together through a vote.

    The current Lord of the Stars couldn¡¯t simply name the future Lord of the Stars by himself.

    However, the Void Spirit Society¡¯s practice was to have the current sectmaster choose the next sectmaster.

    Once the current sectmaster made his decision, he could simply gather all of the Void Spirit Society disciples and tell them about his decision, and the disciples would have to ept his decision unconditionally.

    For Pei Qiqi, their current sectmaster had already broken his word that he wouldn¡¯t take in any more disciples. Then, after taking her in, he had also kept her a secret. All of this made people wonder.

    The fact that Ji Yuanquan was prohibited from interfering with Pei Qiqi¡¯s decisions during this trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven proved that Pei Qiqi held a special ce in the current sectmaster¡¯s heart, which none of the other three disciples did.

    With these thoughts in mind, the looks in everyone¡¯s eyes changed as they looked at her now.

    Sikong Cuo, Fang Yuan, and Nie Tian were all Sons of the Stars. It was still unknown who would eventually rise to power.

    However, even though Pei Qiqi had only joined the Void Spirit Society recently, their current sectmaster seemed to have already set his mind on her. Therefore, it was very likely that she would eventually be one of the four most powerful humans in this starry river!

    Because of this, her status seemed to have risen above Nie Tian, Fang Yuan, Sikong Cuo, Huang Jinnan, and Lou Hongyan, these Sons of the Stars and Divine Children.

    After pondering for a long while, Mo Heng said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, the decision is yours, Nie Tian.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Huang Jinnan smiled and winked at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Alright, I choose to go with brother Huang,¡± Nie Tian said with a shrug. ¡°We fought side by side in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range and that Lizardman domain, and we¡¯re familiar with each other. We¡¯ll make a good team.¡±

    With these words, he walked towards Huang Jinnan.

    Seeing this, Pei Qiqi also walked over to Huang Jinnan in a poised and elegant manner.

    At the same time, Ji Yuanquan shot a meaningful nce at a man beside him.

    The man was at thete Saint domain, and seemed to be an elder of the Void Spirit Society. Without saying a word, he followed Pei Qiqi to the ce where Huang Jinnan and his people were.

    ¡°Wee!¡± Huang Jinnan said, smiling. ¡°With you two joining our team, I¡¯ll have much less pressure on my shoulders.¡±

    ¡°Alright, there¡¯s no use waiting for the other teams. Let¡¯s move out now.¡± Pei Qiqi seemed to be saying these words to Huang Jinnan, yet her eyes were fixed on Nie Tian the whole time.

    Nie Tian nodded. Then, before Huang Jinnan could say anything, she said, ¡°Okay, follow me.¡±

    As her jade-like hand scraped across the air, a spatial rift magically appeared in the void, following the track of her hand.

    Many people¡¯s eyes lit up as they stared at the spatial rift in disbelief.

    ¡°Brother Ji, she...¡± Lu Jiefeng said, as if he lost his words.

    Ji Yuanquan nodded slightly and said with a somewhat bitter smile, ¡°She¡¯s already mastered many of our sect¡¯s top-secret magics. Thanks to this, she¡¯s now able to establish connections to space disruption zones, and use the countless spatial joints in them to travel among numerous human domains.¡±

    ¡°How... how is that possible?! She¡¯s only at the Soul realm!¡± Lu Jiefeng eximed softly.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°Well... She¡¯s different, different from anyone we know.¡±

 Chapter 1012: Void Travel

    No one made a sound as they watched Nie Tian and the others vanish into the spatial rift that had appeared out of nowhere.

    After they all entered, the spatial rift gradually shrank and disappeared.

    Many powerful experts that were gathered in this ce, including the disciples of the Void Spirit Society, stood aghast.

    It was known that those who were well-versed in spatial magics could travel through space.

    The Void Spirit Society had a secret magic which they didn¡¯t pass to just any disciple. It was called Void Travel, one of the most profound space-traveling magics there was.

    However, even Void Travel had its limits.

    It was said that if those who practiced Void Travel were at the Soul realm, Void Travel would only allow them to travel within a small range in the realm they were in.

    If they were at the Void domain, Void Travel would allow them to split open spatial rifts and teleport to any corner of the realm.

    If they were at the Saint domain, their mastery of Void Travel would progress further as their knowledge of spatial power deepened, which would allow them to teleport from one realm to another without using any set teleportation portals or spatial tunnels.

    Despite the existence of realm barriers, Saint domain experts would be able to split open spatial rifts and travel among realms within the same domain through them.

    As for God domain experts, their understanding of the profound truths of spatial power would allow them to travel from one domain to another in a split second.

    After a spatial power expert entered the God domain, the meaning of distance would be lost on him, as he would be able to show up in any ce in this vast starry river anytime he wanted.

    It was said that the current sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had such an incredible ability.

    Pei Qiqi was only at the middle Soul realm at this moment. Normally speaking, even if she had mastered Void Travel, she should have only been able to travel within a small range in the realm she was in.

    However, just now, she had split open a spatial rift and teleported her entire team to another realm in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Such an ability should have been acquirable only after she entered the Saint domain.

    Her cultivation talent was not only unprecedented in the Void Spirit Society¡¯s history, but it even defied people¡¯smon sense.

    Lu Jiefeng shook his head and said with mixed emotions, ¡°No wonder the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society told you not to interfere with her decisions. The younger generation will indeed surpass us!¡±

    Given Pei Qiqi¡¯s unique abilities, she could very well travel to any realm of the Domain of Nether Heaven by herself, and she wouldn¡¯t be in danger.

    No matter who she encountered, even if she encountered the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, Void Travel would allow her to extricate herself from whichever realm she was in and appear in another realm in a split second.

    What if the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was at the early God domain?

    As long as he couldn¡¯t kill her in a split second and let her escape to another realm, even he wouldn¡¯t have much left to do.

    Now that she had joined Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan, they had gained a great advantage in this operation. Once they discovered the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, she just needed to split open a spatial rift, through which Nie Tian and the others could evacuate, and Mo Heng, Lu Jiefeng, and Ji Yuanquan coulde to their aid.

    ¡°Why did that woman have to pick Nie Tian?¡± Sikong Cuo roared inwardly. ¡°If she had joined my team, I would have been invincible! I don¡¯t think we can find another person in this boundless starry river that¡¯s as special as her. No wonder the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society favors her so much.¡±

    After a long time, Mo Heng snapped out of his daze and said to Ji Yuanquan, ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    This was also the first time the Void Spirit Society disciples that were now gathered around Ji Yuanquan had witnessed Pei Qiqi¡¯s uniqueness. Shock and delight filled their eyes.

    Ji Yuanquanughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to give it to our sectmaster. He does have an eye for talent. After hearing stories about her, he used Void Travel many times, and eventually found her in a secluded area in the starry river. After a lot of talking, he finally convinced her to join the Void Spirit Society. Given our sectmaster¡¯s abilities, there isn¡¯t a single person in this starry river he can¡¯t find.¡±

    ¡°Now that she has joined your sect, I¡¯m sure your sect¡¯s future will be even brighter,¡± Lu Jiefeng said with an envious tone.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s unparalleled cultivation talent had allowed her to master Void Travel when she was only at the Soul realm.

    This greatly guaranteed her safety, no matter which domain she went to.

    No wonder the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had treated her as a precious treasure, yet felt safe enough to let her join this operation and make her own decisions.

    ...

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Nie Tian¡¯s team flew out of a spatial joint in the starry river one after another.

    As they activated their own domains one by one, Zhao Heng enveloped Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi with his, protecting them from the deadly impurities in the starry river.

    Huang Jinnan, however, sat atop his golden lotus. The dazzling golden light it emanated shielded him.

    Not far from where they were, a star was enveloped in a dim, gray aura. It was one of the realms in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    After arriving, Huang Jinnan and his subordinates couldn¡¯t stop marveling.

    ¡°This is amazing!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve traveled through space and arrived here. That is such an incredible ability!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure that Miss Pei¡¯s talent is unprecedented throughout the Void Spirit Society¡¯s history. Being able to travel to any ce within a domain at the Soul realm is something I¡¯ve never heard of!¡±

    However, thete Saint domain expert from the Void Spirit Society, who had kept Pei Qiqipany, remained silent, even though the light of astonishment also shed across his eyes.

    As one of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s elders, he practiced frost power, instead of spatial power.

    He was a cold man who never smiled. All he did was follow Pei Qiqi around and look after her.

    Beforeing on this trip, he had been given a special task. If Pei Qiqi were to encounter the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, he should stall him, with his life if necessary, so that Pei Qiqi would be able to leave safely.

    Since he was at thete Saint domain, it would take the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society some time to deal with him.

    At this moment, an irregrly shaped crystal suddenly flew out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm. The crystal had many facets, each of which was as smooth as a mirror, as if they could reflect scenes from different spaces.

    The crystal floated and spun in her palm.

    Mysterious spatial des shed across every facet of the crystal, as if it were trying to detect something.

    Gazing into the crystal, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°That realm is marked ¡®thirteen¡¯. There¡¯s one spatial rift and a dozen naturally formed spatial rifts in it.¡±

    With these words, she cast the crystal into the distance.

    It only flickered a few times before vanishing into the distant starry river.

    Two minutester, it flew back, and returned to Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm like an obedient pet.

    Pei Qiqi made a fist, and the crystal vanished. ¡°That teleportation portal in realm number thirteen seems to have been set up by disciples of the Nether Spirit Society. And it¡¯s destroyed now. Even though I can¡¯t determine where the spatial rifts lead to, I¡¯m certain that they don¡¯t lead to any realm in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and that disciples of the Nether Spirit Society won¡¯t be able to ess or leave realm number thirteen through them.¡±

    Shock filled Zhao Heng¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°Miss Pei, do you mean you destroyed that teleportation portal just like that?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°We can enter realm number thirteen now. As long as the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society isn¡¯t there, it¡¯ll be easy to sack. But one thing to remember: capture a few disciples with high cultivation bases, so that we can interrogate them about their sectmaster¡¯s location.¡±

    Only then did Huang Jinnan recover from his daze and marvel, ¡°Your means are so eye-opening, Miss Pei!¡±

    Nie Tian was also bbergasted.

    All she did was manipte that irregrly-shaped crystal, and yet she managed to destroy the teleportation portal the Nether Spirit Society had set up in realm number thirteen with it. It seemedpletely effortless to her.

    By doing this, she had cleared an obstacle for everyone. They wouldn¡¯t have to worry about Nether Spirit Society reinforcementsing from the other realms.

    Without that teleportation portal, it would take days to sail ancient starships over from the nearest realm.

    As for farther realms, it might take months.

    This was more than enough time for them to wipe out every Nether Spirit Society disciple in realm number thirteen.

 Chapter 1013: â€œMoron!â€

    FZZZ!

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s jade-like left hand scraped across the void like a carving knife.

    As she did, spatial des streamed out from her fingertips and split open a brand new spatial rift.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go. To realm number thirteen.¡± After she said these words, one figure after another flew into the spatial rift and disappeared.

    Soon, Zhao Heng, Nie Tian, and Pei Qiqi were the only ones left.

    ¡°You go first,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    The reason why thete Saint domain Zhao Heng hadn¡¯t left was because he was using his domain to protect her and Nie Tian from the harmful impurities in the starry river.

    Zhao Heng went nk briefly before asking, ¡°Me?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded.

    ¡°But if I leave, you two...¡± Zhao Heng said with a concerned expression.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool from within her ring of holding. After jumping on board, she beckoned for Nie Tian to join her.

    Nie Tian did as he was told.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool was none other than the Lightning Shuttle Pei Qiqi had obtained many years ago. However, as soon as Nie Tiannded on it, he was struck by a peculiar feeling that he had fallen into another dimension.

    Numerousplicated patterns were carved inside the Lightning Shuttle, all of which had unusual spatial fluctuations flowing inside of them.

    After staring nkly at the Lightning Shuttle for a few seconds, Zhao Heng snapped out of his daze, and realized that changes had been made to this Lightning Shuttle that allowed it to fend off the mixed energies in the starry river.

    He put his heart at ease and vanished into the spatial rift without saying anything else.

    Now that they were the only ones left, Nie Tian grinned heartily and said, ¡°Congrattions, Senior Martial Sister Pei. I was worried about you when you were taken away from the Realm of Maelstrom by that ice phoenix. Who would have thought you wouldter obtain that Heaven Nourished spatial treasure in the Shatter Battlefield, and win the Void Spirit Society sectmaster¡¯s favor.¡±

    ¡°But my master died, and I couldn¡¯t save her,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a sad face.

    ¡°Master Zhen...¡± Nie Tian sighed in grief, unsure how he could make her feel better.

    He had already learned about Pei Qiqi¡¯s encounters over the past years through various sources, so he didn¡¯t need her to walk him through them again.

    Pei Qiqi looked at him and asked, ¡°How have you been?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m terrific,¡± Nie Tian said with a self-mocking smile. ¡°I became a ¡®morous¡¯ Son of the Stars, and my sect gave me the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars. And my cultivation base is progressing steadily. All I want now is to know where my parents are. Other than that, life¡¯s been treating me well.¡±

    ¡°Me too,¡± Pei Qiqi muttered. ¡°I also want to know my parents¡¯ whereabouts.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before suddenly remembering that Pei Qiqi¡¯s parents had been members of the Void Pce Sect from the Realm of Split Void.

    The Void Pce Sect had once been the most powerful sect throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, they had discovered a secret spatial tunnel, and moved their entire sect out of the Realm of Split Void. There hadn¡¯t been word of them since then.

    Years ago, Pei Qiqi had been convinced that the floating continent had been the ce where the Void Pce Sect had relocated their headquarters, and had thus insisted on going there.

    However, she hadn¡¯t found any sign of the Void Pce Sect there after a thorough search.

    The reason why she and Zhen Hun had stumbled into the Domain of Heaven Python was also because she had suspected that the Void Pce Sect had been somewhere in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    However, not only had the result proved that the Domain of Heaven Python had nothing to do with the Void Pce Sect, but Zhen Hun had also died at the hands of the Xing n.

    ¡°You¡¯re a member of the Void Spirit Society now. Have you still not found out anything about the Void Pce Sect¡¯s sudden disappearance?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m still looking for clues, but haven¡¯t found much about it yet. I¡¯m happy to see you again though. I thought I¡¯d return to the Domain of the Falling Stars these days, but who would have thought that you were also summoned to join this operation in the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I¡¯m happy to see you too.¡±

    ¡°How are Uncle Hua and Li Ye?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a lightened tone.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars isn¡¯t troubled by wars anymore. They should be doing pretty well.¡± With these words, Nie Tian looked into her eyes and said, ¡°Back in the day, you made adjustments to that teleportation portal set up by Zhao Shanling, allowing us to teleport back to the Domain of the Falling Stars through it. But why didn¡¯t you show yourself? Uncle Hua was very worried about you.¡±

    Pei Qiqi lifted her chin, her cool, gem-like eyes fixing on Nie Tian¡¯s. ¡°What about you?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Were you worried about me?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Of course. I was worried for your safety. The main reason why I entered the Shatter Battlefield was because I wanted to find you and bring you back. If it weren¡¯t because I couldn¡¯t find any trace of you, I would have joined you and Zhao Shanling when you went to kill the head of the Xing n.¡±

    ¡°How worried were you?¡± Pei Qiqi asked again.

    ¡°Very very worried,¡± Nie Tian said loudly.

    The corners of Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouth rose as she asked with a faint smile, ¡°Like you were worried about Dong Li?¡±

    Nie Tian froze, as if he were struck by lightning.

    At this moment, images of his first encounter with Pei Qiqi flew into his mind.

    The first time he had seen her, her graceful and cold beauty had shocked him. He had also felt a strong sense of inferiority when facing her.

    Even till this day, he still had that feeling.

    Images of the two of them fighting side by side in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and hiding from Li Langfeng filled his mind.

    After them came images of him, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li joining up and fighting Su Lin from the Heaven Pce Sect and the others on the floating continent.

    Whether he admitted it or not, he knew that he had special feelings for Pei Qiqi.

    Before he knew it, Pei Qiqi¡¯s image had already been branded in the deepest part of his mind. There was no erasing it.

    FZZZ!

    The spatial rift Pei Qiqi had opened quite some time ago started to shrink.

    However, neither of them seemed to notice it.

    Momentster, Nie Tian still didn¡¯t give his answer. Seeing that the spatial rift was about to close up, Pei Qiqi sighed inwardly and said, ¡°It¡¯s about time. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded repeatedly. ¡°Oh... a-alright.¡±

    ¡°Moron!¡± Pei Qiqi cursed in a low voice before steering the Lightning Shuttle into the spatial rift.

    In the next moment, they appeared in the thirteenth realm in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Huang Jinnan looked over his shoulder at them and asked with a meaningful look in his eyes, ¡°Can we get down to business now?¡±

    With her usually cold face, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°My secret incantations only allow me to capture spatial fluctuations, but it¡¯s not my strong suit to search for people.¡±

    Huang Jinnan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll have my subordinates search for disciples of the Nether Spirit Society. We¡¯ll be good as long as we don¡¯t run into their sectmaster.

    ¡°Here. Take these Sound Stones. We¡¯ll be able tomunicate through them as long as we¡¯re in the same realm.¡±

    He handed out two Sound Stones.

    Pei Qiqi and thete Saint domain Void Spirit Society expert each took one. Nie Tian had fought alongside Huang Jinnan two times already. He had a simr Sound Stone.

    ¡°Okay, so we¡¯ll stay put,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°If any of you are in trouble, we¡¯lle to your aid immediately.¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Huang Jinnan said, secretly congratting himself.

    Void Travel allowed Pei Qiqi to travel freely among all fifteen realms in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Therefore, if she wanted, she could show up at any ce in this realm in a split second.

    With her and thatte Saint domain guard at their backs, Huang Jinnan and his subordinates would feel much safer spreading out to search. After all, they would be able to call for backup whenever needed.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s not waste any more time,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking somewhat impatient.

    ¡°What about you, Nie Tian?¡± Huang Jinnan asked.

    ¡°I...¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s staying here.¡± Pei Qiqi interrupted Nie Tian.

    Huang Jinnan chuckled. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll take a look around. You guys do what you¡¯ve got to do.¡±

    With these words, he arranged for his Void and Saint domain subordinates to spread out in all directions and search for surviving members of the Nether Spirit Society.

    As soon as they left, thete Saint domain expert from the Void Spirit Society also flew into the distance without saying a word.

    The man had entered the spatial rift first earlier, instead of staying with Pei Qiqi and bing a third wheel.

    He did the same this time.

    Even though he didn¡¯t talk much, he was clearly not just another stubborn senior, but a sensible person.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi became the only ones left in this area again.

    ¡°Were you talking to me when you said ¡®moron¡¯ earlier?¡± Nie Tian touched his nose.

    ¡°We were the only ones there. I sure as hell wasn¡¯t talking to myself.¡± Pei Qiqi shot him a sideways nce and sat down on the ground. She gently closed her eyes and started practicing cultivation.

    As she did, her spiritual sea in her dantian region and her qi and blood started to thrum with curious spatial fluctuations.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew long as he sat down beside her. He mixed his soul awareness with power from his star souls and released Star Eyes into his surroundings.

    At the same time, his bloodline power¡¯s keen perception also spread into his surroundings.

    ¡°There seems to be a chilly aura in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this realm. Such an aura has a hint of Phantasm Qi¡¯s features. It seems to be soul-nourishing, and helpful to those who practice soul incantations.¡±

    After sensing around for a while, Nie Tian took out the Spirit Pearl.

    The five evil spirits whizzed out as soon as they received Nie Tian¡¯s consent.

 Chapter 1014: Trapped

    Realm number thirteen wasn¡¯t a vast one.

    Any Void domain expert would be able to cover its surface within days without relying on air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Saint domain experts would be able to travel through it within a day.

    Of course, it would take longer if they were going to search for disciples of the Nether Spirit Society.

    A few hourster, a message from Huang Jinnan came through.

    Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and thete Saint domain expert from the Void Spirit Society received the message through their Sound Stones simultaneously.

    SHEW!

    Thete Saint domain expert from the Void Spirit Society returned and stood beside Pei Qiqi in a split second.

    Pei Qiqi rose to her feet. ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±

    As her fingers scraped across the air, a spatial rift appeared. The three of them entered.

    In a secluded mountain valley that seemed like a huge tear in the earth.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s face was very grim. Gold mes of fury seemed to be burning in his eyes as he eximed, ¡°Even death cannot atone for the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s crimes!¡±

    A ravine in the mountain valley was filled with dead humans.

    After a quick nce, Nie Tian realized that there were tens of thousands of human corpses in the ravine.

    The actual number might be even higher, since they didn¡¯t know how deep the ravine was.

    Pei Qiqi frowned deeply. ¡°Was this the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s doing?¡±

    Huang Jinnan gnashed his teeth. ¡°Who else could it be? We¡¯ve examined the bodies. They belong to sects from different domains. Those sects got along with each other well a few years ago. I don¡¯t know what happened recently, but it seems to have ignited all of their old grudges.

    ¡°In just a few years, the war between those domains took millions of lives, Qi warriors andmoners alike.

    ¡°The fact that their bodies have shown up here means that the Nether Spirit Society probably prompted this war in secret. They must have done that so they could harvest the souls of the dead, refine them into soul crystals, and sell them to the Phantasms.

    ¡°And since these bodies are still piled here, this means they¡¯re probably colluding with the Bonebrutes as well.¡±

    In an icy voice, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°It¡¯s the Bonebrutes again!¡±

    ¡°Outsiders can¡¯t reproduce as efficiently as humans do, and it takes very long for their bloodlines to upgrade,¡± Huang Jinnan said. ¡°This contributed to us gradually gaining an upper hand in our interracial wars. We have a muchrger poption than they do, so those of us who have the potential to be cultivators also ount for a great number.

    ¡°Once humans set foot on their path of cultivation and are provided with enough cultivation resources, it¡¯ll be easy for them to grow stronger and stronger.

    ¡°Even though we also suffer heavy losses in interracial wars, since we have a muchrger base, we can easily make up for those we lose.

    ¡°The outsiders, however, are naturally disadvantaged in this aspect.

    ¡°For races like the Phantasms, which rely on soul crystals to strengthen themselves, the main source of their soul crystals is dead humans.

    ¡°Also, soul crystals apply to not only Phantasms, but Demons, Fiends, and many other powerful races as well. They can all use soul crystals to strengthen their souls.

    ¡°For this reason, soul crystals are traded among many outsider races.

    ¡°Meanwhile, Bonebrutes need corpses to build burial grounds, which can provide their people with death power and help upgrade their bloodlines.

    ¡°If there are no mishaps, these dead humans are what the Nether Spirit Society disciples have prepared for the Bonebrutes.¡±

    After Huang Jinnan said these words, both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi fell silent.

    Only after a while did Pei Qiqi ask, ¡°Have you spotted any Nether Spirit Society disciples?¡±

    Huang Jinnan shook his head. ¡°No. I suspect that they must understand that we would send our powerful experts to the Domain of Nether Heaven soon after the deaths of three of our elders. So they must have evacuated to safe ces.

    ¡°But they probably left in a hurry, so they didn¡¯t have a chance to finish their transaction with the Bonebrutes.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Zhao Heng, who was at thete Saint domain, flew over. Upon seeing Huang Jinnan, he reported, ¡°I covered the whole realm, but didn¡¯t capture any spiritual or soul auras. However, I found a number of graveyards very much like this one, all of which are filled with dead humans.¡±

    ¡°From the look of it, we¡¯re not going to find any Nether Spirit Society disciples in this realm,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a cold, frustrated tone.

    He had originally nned to y the Nether Spirit Society disciples himself to vent his anger after finding them.

    Days passed...

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s Void and Saint domain subordinates returned sessively, and they all shook their heads upon seeing him.

    They had searched every corner of realm number thirteen, but failed to find a single Nether Spirit Society disciple.

    ¡°Burn the bodies, all of them!¡± Huang Jinnan ordered.

    Under hismand, experts who were well-versed in me incantations or held fire-attributed spiritual tools flew off to the graveyards to burn the dead humans to ashes.

    They did that to prevent the Nether Spirit Society from recovering them after they left. They didn¡¯t want them to fall into the Bonebrutes¡¯ hands and be their source of power.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move on to the next realm,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°The closest one to us is realm number nine.¡±

    After another spatial rift split open in the sky, everyone streamed into it.

    ...

    In realm number nine in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered as soon as she flew out of the spatial rift.

    WHOOSH!

    The irregrly shaped crystal appeared in her palm. Spatial des could be seen shing across every facet.

    The crystal suddenly vanished into the void.

    Explosions then came from different parts of the realm.

    SHEW!

    The crystal returned to Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm. With a grim face, she said, ¡°There are a total of three teleportation portals. I destroyed two of them. But thest one...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Pei Qiqi took a deep breath and exined, ¡°It¡¯s guarded by a powerful expert. He¡¯s protecting it with his own domain. I couldn¡¯t get through.¡±

    Zhao Heng then asked, ¡°Can you take us to that teleportation portal?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded somewhat hesitantly. ¡°That I can do, but I exposed myself attempting to destroy that teleportation portal. I¡¯m worried that it¡¯ll be heavily guarded. So I suggest that wemunicate with Mo Heng, Lu Jiefeng, and Ji Yuanquan first.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯d better do that.¡± The Saint domain Void Spirit Society expert, who had remained silent the whole time, spoke up for the first time. ¡°This realm has seen some fierce battles. A Saint domain expert seems to have died here. If my spection is correct, it was Elder Xiao Xihe from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce who died here. The aura of his shattered domain is still lingering in this heaven and earth.¡±

    Zhao Heng, who was also at thete Saint domain, spread out his immense soul awareness, and muttered with narrowed eyes, ¡°There¡¯s a frosty aura... Elder Xiao Xihe practiced frost power, just like you do. This realm is now wreathed in bone-piercing frigid Qi. But since it¡¯s not covered in snow and ice, it must be the residual aura of Elder Xiao¡¯s shattered domain that has caused the changes.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    Xiao Xihe had been one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s twelve elders, well-versed in frost power.

    His actual strength must have surpassed Zhao Heng¡¯s, and matched that of the expert from the Void Spirit Society, even though the three of them were all at thete Saint domain.

    However, such a figure had died here, his domain destroyed...

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s send word to the three leaders, and n our next move after they get here,¡± Huang Jinnan said.

    ¡°The effective range of our Sound Stones is limited to this realm. So I have to go find them and tell them about our situation.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi lifted her hand to create a spatial rift that led to Ji Yuanquan¡¯s current location with Void Travel.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless spatial des flew out and gnawed at the void like a shoal of blood-thirsty fish. However, as soon as a tiny rift appeared in the void, a frosty aura that seemed to carry some sealing spell poured into it.

    The spatial des that were weaving within the rift went out like extinguished fireworks.

    Thete Saint domain Void Spirit Society expert¡¯s face grew cold as he said, ¡°Heaven Freezing Spell!¡±

    Zhao Heng¡¯s expression also flickered. ¡°Who fused Elder Xiao¡¯s shattered ice domain into this realm¡¯s realm barrier and formed a Heaven Freezing Spell? All the spellcaster needs to do is think about it, and this entire realm will be ¡®frozen¡¯. In that situation, no spatial rifts will form in this realm!¡±

    Pei Qiqi stopped casting her incantation, but didn¡¯t seem frustrated at all as she said, ¡°It must be disciples of the Nether Spirit Society who did this. It seems that leaving realm number nine through a spatial rift I create is no longer an option.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned deeply and asked, ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re trapped here?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you are,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°If I want to leave, I still can. The crystal I¡¯ve obtained from the Shatter Battlefield will be able to split the Heaven Freezing Spell and carry me out of here. But since the consumption will be significant, I don¡¯t see the necessity of using it yet.¡±

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    A derisive look appeared in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she exined, ¡°We were able to pass through earlier because the spellcaster wanted us to. Clearly, he¡¯s thinking that he¡¯ll be able to catch us like shooting fish in a barrel this way. I suppose more Nether Spirit Society disciples are heading toward this realm right now under the spellcaster¡¯smand.¡±

    ¡°Okay then,¡± said the expert from the Void Spirit Society. ¡°Let¡¯s see what game they want to y.¡±

    But after a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°You¡¯ll be able to extricate yourself this realm whenever you want to, right?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    Her word put the man¡¯s heart at ease.

    Eyes narrowed, she added, ¡°I can leave and return whenever I want. But even if I doe back, I doubt that I can get others through the Heaven Freezing Spell with me. If they want toe into realm number nine, they¡¯ll have to break the Heaven Freezing Spell first.

    ¡°However, given their strength, it¡¯ll only take them a bit of time to do that.¡±

    With a bitter expression, Huang Jinnan asked, ¡°So why don¡¯t you get out of here to send word to our three seniors, Miss Pei?¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. Their cultivation bases and experience will allow them to discover the anomaly in realm number nine soon. It won¡¯t be long before theye here, break the Heaven Freezing Spell, and descend upon thisnd.¡±

    Just as Huang Jinnan was about to say something, she wove her hand and said impatiently, ¡°Alright. Time to spread out and prepare for battle. The Nether Spirit Society disciples will get here soon.¡±

    ¡°Establish defenses and prepare for battle!¡± Huang Jinnan addressed the crowd.

    He and his subordinates then started bustling around to set up spell formations and lines of defense with their various spiritual materials.

    After they spread out, Pei Qiqi gave Nie Tian a sideways nce and said, ¡°If we find ourselves in a desperate situation before the Heaven Freezing Spell is broken, you have to stay within a hundred meters from me.¡±

    Dumbfounded, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Within this range, if I activate my bloodline power and that Heaven Nourished grade unique treasure, I¡¯ll be able to take both of us out of this realm,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a serious face.

    Thete Saint domain expert from the Void Spirit Society was standing off to the side as she said these words. She didn¡¯t seem to feel the need to avoid him at all.

    ¡°Only the two of us?¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°To cast that secret magic, I¡¯ll have to mix Void Travel with my bloodline talent. Only you and I will be able to withstand the tearing force generated during space travel. Any regr human would have their spiritual power scattered by the intense spatial fluctuations. Their flesh power is too weak for them to survive the process.¡±

    With these words, she turned to the expert from her sect. ¡°Senior Ling, I won¡¯t be able to take you with me if ites down to that.¡±

    Ling You nodded slightly to show that he understood.

    ¡°It won¡¯te down to that, will it?¡± Nie Tian asked with a concerned face.

    ¡°I suppose not, but we have to be prepared for the worst,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking calm andposed. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be able to hold on till the Heaven Freezing Spell is broken, as long as the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society doesn¡¯te.¡±

 Chapter 1015: Bridges Formed by Nether Spirits

    Momentster.

    Ling You from the Void Spirit Society suddenly frowned and said, ¡°They¡¯re here.¡±

    Immediately after he said these words, the Star Eyes Nie Tian had released sensed changes.

    Tens of thousands of souls floated towards them from all directions. Some of them carried strong auras. Some of them seemed rather weak.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Discarnate souls... I thought the Nether Spirit Society had some profound means, but this is it?¡±

    Back when he had obtained the Spirit Pearl in the Realm of Dark Underworld, he had witnessed countless flying discarnate souls that filled the sky.

    Later, when he had gone to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, he had seen even more wandering discarnate souls and evil spirits.

    The Spirit Pearl he had in his possession was a unique treasure forged by the Phantasms, which had a strong subduing effect on all kinds of spirits and souls.

    ¡°The Nether Spirit Society calls themher spirits, which are refined from the souls of the dead,¡± Ling You exined in a low voice. ¡°Some of the secret incantations the Nether Spirit Society practices have close connections to the Phantasms. They allow them to capture and raise evil spirits and turn them intoher spirits. All of the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s disciples have the ability tomandher spirits.

    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate thoseher spirits. Unlike the discarnate souls we¡¯re familiar with, they have the ability to grow stronger.

    ¡°A small portion of them have even developed intelligence, and the ability to cast secret magics which they had learned in their previous lives.¡±

    Poised as always, Nie Tian said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter what kind of souls or spirits they are. I can deal with them all the same.¡±

    Ling You was taken aback by his words. Even though he had doubts, he didn¡¯t give word to them.

    Hundreds of thousands ofher spirits that had been summoned by Nether Spirit Society disciples finally entered their sight.

    Nie Tian looked at them with rapt attention, and discovered that theseher spirits were indeed different from the evil spirits and discarnate souls he had dealt with before.

    Those he had seen and dealt with before were usually clusters of iplete, blurry soul bodies. Sometimes, he couldn¡¯t even make out their shapes.

    However, that wasn¡¯t the case with theseher spirits.

    At first sight, these iingher spirits were very much like human true souls that had separated themselves from their fleshly bodies.

    Even though some of them were rather blurry, one could still see that they had the same shape and size as humans.

    Some of them were almost identical to the true souls of powerful human experts in whichever aspect. Even their faces were incredibly distinctive.

    Tens of thousands of them let out bloodcurdling screeches as they continued to converge on Nie Tian and the others like swarms of locusts.

    Their sharp screeches pierced directly into the depths of people¡¯s souls, shaking and stirring them, as if they were going to infect their minds and plunge them into madness.

    A few vague figures loomed among the sea ofher spirits. They were none other than the Nether Spirit Society disciples who had summoned theseher spirits.

    ¡°Form bridges!¡± A resonant voice suddenly spread out from the depths of the sea ofher spirits.

    In the next moment, theher spirits swarmed together. A total of eight peculiar bridges soon came to form.

    Standing on each of them was a disciple of the Nether Spirit Society. Three of them were at the Saint domain, while the other five were at the Void domain.

    Their leader was at thete Saint domain. Theher power he practiced gave people a gruesome feeling that he was more like a ghost than a living person.

    ¡°He¡¯s not the one who cast the Heaven Freezing Spell,¡± Pei Qiqi said in a low voice. ¡°He¡¯s the one protecting thest teleportation portal with his domain.¡±

    ¡°With him here, can you destroy that teleportation portal now?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°I doubt it. They¡¯ve already found out about us. Whoever sealed this realm with the Heaven Freezing Spell can use its power to stop me from destroying that teleportation portal. The fact that these ones dare toe here instead of guarding that teleportation portal proves that they know that we can¡¯t threaten that portal.¡±

    ¡°How did we find Elder Xiao and the others¡¯ bodies?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°They were floating in the starry river right outside the realms in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Clearly, the Nether Spirit Society disciples put them there.¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°I suppose they refined the souls of our seniors who had fought to the death in the Domain of Nether Heaven. However, humans¡¯ fleshly bodies don¡¯t have much value, no matter how high their cultivation bases had been when they were alive.

    ¡°It seems that they tossed them into the starry river to mock and provoke us.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°The Nether Spirit Society really is looking forward to battles, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Human corpses were of little value individually. The reason why the Nether Spirit Society had tossed Xiao Xihe and the others¡¯ bodies into the starry river was probably because they had wanted the great sects to find them. This was a bold act of provocation.

    Standing on one of the eight gruesome bridges, the leader of the Nether Spirit Society disciples called out, ¡°You lot are quite daring foring to the very realm where Xiao Xihe died.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re trapped here by the Heaven Freezing Spell, don¡¯t imagine you can get out again. Every single one of you will die here before your help gets here and breaks the Heaven Freezing Spell. Then, your discarnate souls will be a new source of our power, and help our sect grow stronger.

    ¡°The day wille when our sect reces yours and bes the most powerful human sect!¡±

    ¡°Now, time to die!¡±

    The eight bridges forged by countlessher spirits suddenly extended through the sky towards Nie Tian and the others.

    The swarmingher spirits once again let out sharp, soul-tearing screeches. Many of the Void domain experts¡¯ expressions flickered as they hastily cast secret magics to seal their seas of awareness, lest the screeches infiltrate their minds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s head buzzed intensely as he felt his thirst for blood gradually grow.

    It was as if everyone in his sight had suddenly be his enemy, and he was overtaken by a strong desire to kill each and every one of them.

    That was when he realized that his sea of awareness had been influenced by the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s evil soul magics before he knew it. If he couldn¡¯t get rid of such influence, he would soon lose his mind.

    ¡°The Nether Spirit Society¡¯s secret soul magics...¡± As he muttered, the star souls hanging over his sea of awareness suddenly shone with dazzling light.

    Starlight poured down, melting the bewitching magics away. Momentster, he waspletely uninfluenced.

    At that moment, Zhao Heng took the first action.

    One sparkling, crystal-clear bubble after another floated out of his water domain towards the iingher spirits.

    As soon as theher spirits flew into the bubbles, they were trapped within them, no matter how they struggled.

    Ling You, however, stood unwavering beside Pei Qiqi, protecting her from any unpredictable danger that might threaten her.

    As far as he was concerned, Pei Qiqi¡¯s safety was more important than anything else, even his own.

    It didn¡¯t really matter to him whether they would be able to wipe out the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s surviving forces. He had been charged with one simple task: make sure Pei Qiqi returned safely.

    Therefore, he most likely wouldn¡¯t make any moves unless she was in danger.

    Huang Jinnan raised his arms and shouted, ¡°Rise!¡±

    One shiny, golden pir after another then rose from the cracked ground, each of them engraved withplicated, mysterious patterns

    Soon, hundreds of pirs of different heights formed the Five Elements Sect¡¯s Golden Light Tribtion Formation.

    As soon as the spell formation came to form, countless rays of blinding golden light shot out of the pirs and wove into a huge in midair, which looked like a of golden lightning bolts. Upon contact with it, the iingher spirits squeaked and dissipated.

    At the same time, Huang Jinnan summoned his golden lotus. Sitting on it, he manipted the spell formation in high spirits.

    The leader of the Nether Spirit Society disciples let out a cunningugh. ¡°I can¡¯t believe even the Divine Son of the metal element sect of the Five Elements Sect is here. It seems that you do attach great importance to us. But what a pity though. You¡¯ve already destroyed our sect once. We won¡¯t let it happen again.

    ¡°I bet you don¡¯t know how deadly the Domain of Nether Heaven has be.¡±

 Chapter 1016: Crooked Sects

    ¡°Nether Bridge Soul Captivation!¡± Thete Saint domain expert from the Nether Spirit Society bellowed.

    His bellow somehow resonated with theher spirits¡¯ sharp screeches.

    The eight bridges formed byher spirits instantly thrummed withher power.

    Immediately afterwards, the illusory bridges condensed into solidity.

    The of golden light formed by the Golden Light Tribtion Formation could no longer stop any of theher spirits. The eight bridges then extended directly through its defense.

    As this happened, every Qi warrior who was standing in the spell formation experienced anomalies.

    Images of the eight bridges suddenly appeared in the depths of their eyes without any exceptions.

    It was as if eight bridges from theherworld pierced into everyone¡¯s souls at this moment.

    A cry escaped Huang Jinnan¡¯s mouth.

    He suddenly realized that he was losing control of his true soul, and that wisps of soul awareness were leaving his true soul and floating away, following the bridges.

    His originally distinctive true soul started to grow blurry.

    Of the Qi warriors gathered in this ce, Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was the lowest. His came before Pei Qiqi, who was at the middle Soul realm, and was the second lowest.

    They all jerked their heads towards Nie Tian, panic filling their eyes.

    Nie Tian, however, let out a cold harrumph as a shiny cyan pearl suddenly appeared in his palm.

    Then, as soon as he held the pearl to his forehead, his pain-distorted brow rxed, as if the pearl solved the problem his soul was having just like that.

    At the same time, Pei Qiqi stood beside him motionlessly. However, Nie Tian had a strange feeling that she was actually shifting among different spaces at a fast speed.

    She didn¡¯t seem to be affected by the Nether Bridge Soul Captivation either.

    Only Huang Jinnan struggled in pain as wisp after wisp of his soul awareness floated away, following the bridges that had invaded his mind.

    ¡°Come on out!¡± He suddenly activated the golden lotus he was sitting on. Numerous golden petals rose and sheltered him.

    Branded with profound power, the closed golden petals formed a curious glowing shield. Things finally started to change.

    One bridge after another gradually grew faint, until they eventually vanishedpletely from his sea of awareness.

    Letting out a sigh of relief, he nced around at the others, and discovered that several of his Void domain subordinates were in a state of bewilderment, their eyes sunken deep, as if the bridges had infiltrated their seas of awareness and were stealing their soul awareness as well.

    ¡°Uncle Zhao!¡± Huang Jinnan called out.

    Zhao Heng, who was at thete Saint domain, rose high above the spell formation.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    Rivers started pouring out of his domain with an unstoppable momentum.

    Each and every river carried his lifetime understanding of water incantations. Some of them moved in an ethereal fashion. Some of them were extremely heavy, while others were iparably sharp.

    The leader of the Nether Spirit Society disciples, whose cultivation base was the same as his, let out a low chuckle, and his grayish cyan domain suddenly expanded at an rming rate, like an inting balloon.

    ¡°Summonher deities!¡± As he eximed, a human shape gradually appeared within his domain.

    In the next moment, the frigid aura scattered in every part of realm number nine seemed to be channeled by some force, and started to converge on it from all directions.

    The surging frigid aura froze the rivers Zhao Heng had shot at him before they could reach him, turning them into long, winding pirs of ice.

    Ling You from the Void Spirit Society gasped with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s Elder Xiao! You! You actually refined Elder Xiao¡¯s soul into aher deity!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered as he realized that the human shape that had appeared in that Nether Spirit Society expert¡¯s domain was none other than Elder Xiao Xihe from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was just that it had clearly be a puppet, without a shred of Xiao Xihe¡¯s conscience left in it.

    Even the more powerfulher spirits the Nether Spirit Society made had the ability to wield power from their previous life, not to mention aher deity like this one.

    Xiao Xihe had perished in realm number nine. The residual power of his shattered domain had already shown signs of merging with this heaven and earth.

    This had allowed experts from the Nether Spirit Society to form a Heaven Freezing Spell sessfully.

    At this moment, the Nether Spirit Society expert was manipting his soul to summon the residual frost aura in this realm to freeze Zhao Heng¡¯s water-attributed attacks.

    Standing on the other seven bridges, the other seven Nether Spirit Society disciples also bellowed, ¡°Summonher deities!¡±

    Human shapes appeared in their domains one after another. Each and every one of them was distinct, as if they were true souls that some human experts had sent out of their seas of awareness.

    It was just that they all thrummed withher power, which gave them a gruesome, scary look.

    Seeing this, Huang Jinnan and all of his subordinates had deeply grim looks on their faces.

    Most of the so-calledher deities were their sect seniors who had fought to death in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Theher deities then started wielding the residual power of their shattered domains, and engaged in a fierce battle against Huang Jinnan and his subordinates.

    Face ice-cold, Ling You said, ¡°Three of our sect members have been turned intoher deities. Even though theseher deities don¡¯t have a shred of memory of their previous lives, they¡¯re capable of using the secret magics and incantations they learned in their previous life. Also, since the residual power of their destroyed domains hasn¡¯t dissipated into heaven and earth yet, they can still wield that power.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil spirits whizzed out one after another.

    At the same time, the Spirit Pearl floated above Nie Tian¡¯s head, emanating an uncanny cyan light.

    Baring fangs and brandishing ws, the five evil spirits swooped directly towards the bridge that was the closest to them.

    Standing on that bridge was a middle Void domain Nether Spirit Society disciple. His expression flickered with shock as he watched the evil spirits fly towards him. ¡°Those evil spirits carry intense negative emotions. This is simply...¡±

    He suddenly noticed the Spirit Pearl that was floating over Nie Tian¡¯s head. His face turned pale with fright as he eximed, ¡°A Spirit Pearl!¡±

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The five evil spirits reached the closesther bridge and started tearing at it with ws that were like huge, sharp hooks.

    Theher power that had been fused into the bridge sshed out in the form of grayish cyan bits. As this happened, theher spirits that formed the bridge let out terrified cries and trembled unceasingly.

    Ling You went nk for a moment before jerking his head towards Nie Tian and asking, ¡°Howe you have that Phantasm treasure?¡±

    ¡°I got it by ident,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°But why are you able to wield it?¡± Ling You asked.

    Nie Tian fixed him with a baffled look. ¡°I refined it, and now I can wield it. What¡¯s so special about that? I can wield any tool as long as I can refine it, isn¡¯t that right?¡±

    Ling You¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he intended to say something, but gave up on a second thought.

    With an expressionless face, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised, Elder Ling. Nie Tian is different from anyone else.¡±

    Ling You nodded and said with a bitter smile, ¡°Alright.¡±

    Momentster, the bridge being gnawed at by the evil spirits actually showed signs of breaking.

    The Nether Spirit Society disciple standing on it scrambled to manipte hisher deity, while unleashing moreher spirits to fix the damaged bridge.

    The eighther bridges were forming a unique spell formation. If any of them copsed, the whole spell formation would fall apart.

    Many of the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s soul incantations had been inspired by the Phantasms¡¯ deep understandings of souls.

    The Spirit Pearl, however, happened to be a Phantasm treasure.

    Part of the reason Nie Tian had dared toe to the Domain of Nether Heaven was because he had learned that the disciples of the Nether Spirit Society practiced incantations that had close connections with the Phantasms. In that case, the Spirit Pearl would be his strongest weapon.

    Just as he had expected, the evil spirits the Spirit Pearl had unleashed were tearing aher bridge down.

    ¡°Destroy any of the eight bridges, and their whole spell formation will be broken.¡± Ling You suddenly became talkative and spirited. ¡°You¡¯ve probably noticed that since theher bridges extended through our defenses, many of Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates have been slowly losing their soul power.

    ¡°Even the might of their soul magics ispromised when they fight. That¡¯s because the soul power they fuse into their attacking magics is subject to theher bridges¡¯ influence. One they cast those magics, part of the soul power within them will be channeled away by theher bridges.

    ¡°Those eighther bridges are secretly channeling soul power the whole time. After this battlees to an end, the Nether Spirit Society disciples will be able to condense the soul power they¡¯ve harvested into soul crystals.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    There were only eight Nether Spirit Society disciples, whose cultivation bases didn¡¯t have any advantage over Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates.

    However, this still seemed to be an evenly matched battle. The reason was twofold. For one, theirher deities provided them with significant help. For another, their spell formation of eighther bridges was causing rapid soul power loss in Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates,promising the might of their soul magics.

    ¡°When I first learned that you were going to join this trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven, I thought you¡¯d be a...¡± Ling You cleared his throat, swallowing the word ¡®liability¡¯. ¡°Anyways, I didn¡¯t expect you to make such a major contribution in battle with the help of that Phantasm treasure of yours. If we ride out this crisis, I¡¯ll inform our team leaders of your contribution.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is never a liability,¡± Pei Qiqi said expressionlessly.

    Ling You fell silent.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The man who was standing on theher bridge that was being gnawed at by the five evil spirits scrambled to unleash moreher spirits from within his sleeves.

    As theher spirits that formed the bridge were grabbed and devoured by the evil spirits, tears and cracks continued to appear in the bridge. This forced him to fuse the bridge with moreher spirits, lest it break.

    The man had a hard time doing this.

    He cast the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s secret soul magics one after another. However, none of them caused any damage to the evil spirits.

    He was well-versed in spirit controlling methods as well, which allowed him to control all sorts of discarnate souls and evil spirits to fight for him.

    However, the five evil spirits seemed to be immune to all of them.

    Before long, he realized that he was running out of theher spirits he had umted for many years.

    In contrast, the five evil spirits became faster and fiercer as they continued to gnaw at the bridge, tearher spirits from it, and swallow them whole.

    Panicked, he called for help, ¡°Elder Luan!!¡±

    The Nether Spirit Society expert manipting Xiao Xihe¡¯sher deity had been consumed with his battle against Zhao Heng. Hearing that man¡¯s loud call, he spared a wisp of his soul awareness to see what was going on with that man.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± He couldn¡¯t help but exim, as if he recognized the unfavorable changes right away.

    He instantly let out a roar that spread hundreds of kilometers into his surroundings. ¡°What are you still waiting for, you from the Death Curse Sect?!¡±

    Ling You snorted coldly. ¡°People from the Death Curse Sect are here as well?! That¡¯s exactly what I thought! Nether Spirit Society disciples aren¡¯t good at sealing spells like the Heaven Freezing Spell. I knew that the Death Curse Sect was helping them as soon as I saw that Heaven Freezing Spell.¡±

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°The Death Curse Sect?¡±

    ¡°Like the Nether Spirit Society, they¡¯re also a crooked Qi warrior sect,¡± Ling You said, disdain filling his face. ¡°A few thousand years ago, the four great sects destroyed their headquarters and killed every disciple they could find. After that, their surviving disciples lived the lives of wandering ghosts, and never dared toe out into the light. I was there when we eliminated the Death Curse Sect. I witnessed their sectmaster being annihted, body and soul.¡±

    A voice filled with endless grudges suddenly echoed out in the distance. ¡°My father may have died, but I survived!¡±

    But in the next moment, a Qi warrior with a gruesome look appeared behind the eighther bridges. His whole body was wrapped in gauze. Numerous spell symbols could be seen on his pale face.

    He fixed his eyes on Ling You and said, ¡°So you were there when it happened.¡±

    Ling You took a nce at him and nodded. ¡°You¡¯re Ren Yuanji, the son of the Death Curse Sect¡¯s sectmaster, right? I knew you escaped, but I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d have entered the middle Saint domain already. Judging by the speed at which you¡¯ve progressed, your cultivation talent is better than your father¡¯s.

    ¡°I know the incantations you practice far too well. You must have done a lot of evil over these years, considering that you¡¯ve entered the middle Saint domain in such a short time.¡±

    With a nasty grin, the person who was referred to as Ren Yuanji said, ¡°So what? How many domains have your sects reduced to dead domains due to your overexploitation? How is your way of strengthening yourselves any different from that of my sect¡¯s and the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°At least we don¡¯t butcher our own kind,¡± Ling You said coldly.

    ¡°Our disciples aren¡¯t human?¡± Ren Yuanji countered.

    ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to be!¡± Ling You spat, his face filled with disgust. ¡°Your sect deserved to be wiped out even more than the Nether Spirit Society does!¡±

 Chapter 1017: The Shocking Pei Qiqi

    ¡°You can say all you want to say, but the truth is: because your sects are powerful, you make up the rules. You think our path of cultivation is crooked, and we¡¯re branded as ¡®crooked sects¡¯.¡± With these words, Ren Yuanji gave a cunning smile. ¡°But nothing in this world is unchangeable. When my sect and the Nether Spirit Society take your sects¡¯ ce and be the most powerful human sects, what we say will be thew.¡±

    Standing at the other end of theher bridges, he suddenly pointed his finger at Nie Tian. ¡°Forbidden Spell: Soul Confusion!¡±

    In the next moment, that finger of his started expanding infinitely in Nie Tian¡¯s sight.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as that finger soon took up all of heaven and earth in his sight.

    That finger seemed like a high mountain peak that was going to fall on him.

    BZZZ!

    The flesh in between his eyebrows was suddenly split open. Blood spilled from the gash.

    Ling You from the Void Spirit Society was infuriated by this. Power burst forth as he activated his domain. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, a streak of icy light shot out of his domain towards Ren Yuanji like a white lightning bolt.

    As soon as the icy light shot forth, the faint shape of an enormous cier appeared high in the sky. The frigid aura that was originally controlled by Xiao Xihe¡¯sher deity suddenly condensed into thousands of bits of ice under Ling You¡¯smand.

    CRACK!

    The enormous finger that filled Nie Tian¡¯s sight instantly vanished.

    He gazed at Ren Yuanji with rapt attention, and discovered that blood was dripping from his finger.

    At the same time, the nine star souls that hung high over his sea of awareness lit up, sending countless wisps of soul power out to stitch up the gash in his brow like thread and needles.

    He shrewdly discovered that there was still a significant amount of Ren Yuanji¡¯s residual spell power in his split brow.

    Letting out soul-piercing screeches, the residual spell power drilled deeper and deeper towards Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness. However, it was rapidly intercepted by soul power unleashed by his nine star souls.

    Upon sensing that his Soul Confusion spell had actually failed to reach the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, Ren Yuanji instantly figured out Nie Tian¡¯s identity. ¡°That must be the seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    However, instead of being apprehensive, he was thrilled by his discovery. ¡°A Divine Son from the Five Elements Sect and a Son of the Stars from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Isn¡¯t this nice? Xiao Xihe and those others were receable. Compared to their deaths, the deaths of a Divine Son and a Son of the Stars will hurt your sects much more!¡±

    After the deaths of elders like Xiao Xihe, someone else would soon fill their ces.

    There were a number of experts in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce who could fill in after Xiao Xihe¡¯s death.

    His death only made the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce lose face, but it wasn¡¯t considered a heavy loss.

    However, the death of any Son of the Stars would truly hurt the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, as they wouldn¡¯t be so easily reced.

    Ling Youughed, slowly rising into the sky from behind Pei Qiqi. ¡°You really think that Heaven Freezing Spell has made you unstoppable in realm number nine?¡±

    Countless ice shards rapidly condensed in the depths of his frigid domain like thousands of swords forged by pure frost power.

    The man who was standing on theher bridge that was being gnawed away by the five powerful evil spirits realized that he was going to run out ofher spirits to fix the bridge with, and thus called out anxiously, ¡°Sectmaster Ren! Kill that punk first!¡±

    Pei Qiqi walked up to Nie Tian and asked with a concerned tone, ¡°How are you doing, Nie Tian?¡±

    She saw that blood-colored light was still pulsing within the healing gash in his brow.

    Apparently, soul power that didn¡¯t belong to him was still doing everything it could to infiltrate his sea of awareness.

    The nine star souls over Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness continued to shine and send out more soul power to neutralize Ren Yuanji¡¯s forbidden spell.

    Even though the blood on his face gave him a scary look, Nie Tian still smiled towards Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°I¡¯m okay! They got one thing wrong. The five evil spirits the Spirit Pearl released won¡¯t grow weak because I¡¯ve sustained injuries. They don¡¯t depend on me.¡±

    A surprised look appeared in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±

    ¡°As for this forbidden spell...¡± Nie Tian muttered as he grabbed the Spirit Pearl that was floating over his head and held it to his brow.

    As soon as he did that, Ren Yuanji¡¯s soul power, which he had vested his forbidden spell with, was forcibly pulled into the pearl, as if it was attracted by a ma.

    Momentster, the so-called Soul Confusion forbidden spell was neutralizedpletely.

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°This treasure forged by the Phantasms has many wondrous uses indeed! I can¡¯t believe it also has a subduing effect on spells that are vested with soul power!¡±

    In a way, this wondrous effect made the Spirit Pearl simr to theher bridges.

    Theher bridges were slowly channeling soul power from Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates, greatlypromising the might of their secret magics that required soul power to cast.

    Ren Yuanji¡¯s Soul Confusion forbidden spell was also a magic that was fused with soul power, but the Spirit Pearl managed to take away the soul power within it.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s somewhat tensed face grew rxed. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be fine.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    But at this moment, more Nether Spirit Society disciples appeared in the distance and rapidly flew towards them.

    Those Nether Spirit Society disciples were clearly weaker than the first eight. Many of them seemed to only be at the Soul realm, as they were standing on air-transportation spiritual tools. Only three of them were at the early Void domain.

    Their cultivation bases and strength apparently didn¡¯t allow them to form a spell formation of eighther bridges, or travel as fast as the first eight that had arrived earlier.

    That was probably why they hadgged behind, and just arrived.

    However, as unimpressive as their cultivation bases were, there were dozens of them.

    Seeing that they had finally arrived, the man standing on theher bridge that was about to fall apart called out furiously, ¡°Kill that punk!¡±

    The man he pointed at was none other than Nie Tian.

    The three early Void domain experts and dozens of Soul realm experts then swarmed towards Nie Tian.

    Since Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates had already taken the defensive pressure off his shoulders, he summoned his long golden spear and took the initiative to charge towards the iing enemies, d in a suit of golden armor.

    ¡°This guy is pretty sensible.¡± Pei Qiqi muttered as ripples of spatial fluctuations spread out of her into her surroundings.

    Wherever her spatial fluctuations spread, intense sword intent appeared on and off.

    ¡°Ethereal Swords!¡±

    Even though Nie Tian had witnessed this powerful attacking means of hers many times before, as soon as he saw those Ethereal Swords this time, he was still amazed by the endless might she had fused into them.

    Surrounded byher spirits, numerous Soul realm disciples of the Nether Spirit Society swooped towards Nie Tian with a formidable momentum. However, as they did, many of them suddenly had their heads severed from their bodies.

    Even for the three early Void domain experts, as the spatial fluctuations spread over and enveloped them, the hidden Ethereal Swords rapidly riddled their domains with holes.

    Nie Tian stood aghast. ¡°I can¡¯t believe how easy it is for her to kill those Qi warriors who are also at the middle Soul realm! Even those Void domain experts¡¯ domains couldn¡¯t fend off her Ethereal Swords! Has she be so formidable already?¡±

    With these thoughts, he secretly examined Pei Qiqi with rapt attention, and discovered that her spiritual sea, sea of awareness, and those Ethereal Swords were cooperating perfectly.

    The incantation Pei Qiqi was using to mobilize power also seemed to be a secret incantation that they didn¡¯t pass to just anyone, which matched her bloodline power perfectly.

    ¡°Spatial power is the only type of power she cultivates. Not only is her bloodline branded with the profound truths of spatial power, but her spiritual core also thrums with unique spatial fluctuations. Even her soul seems to be vested with the wonders of spatial power. Does all this contribute to her terrifyingly high battle prowess?¡±

    While he was bbergasted by her uniqueness, she suddenly vanished into thin air.

    In the next moment, more iing Nether Spirit Society disciples split into pieces that dropped to the ground.

 Chapter 1018: Magic Idol with Divine Might

    Nie Tian had always known that this senior martial sister of his had cultivation talent he couldn¡¯t fathom.

    He knew that she must have be even stronger after obtaining that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure from the Shatter Battlefield, and receiving the Void Spirit Society sectmaster¡¯s dedicated guidance.

    Her rapid advance in cultivation during the recent years proved this.

    However, he was still deeply shaken as he saw her wield her Ethereal Swords to reap lives, disying her unparalleled battle prowess.

    He simply couldn¡¯t believe Pei Qiqi had already be so mighty.

    Those Nether Spirit Society disciples were also at the Soul realm, yet they died one after another as sheunched attacks.

    Not only were their bodies cut to pieces, but even their souls were annihted by her Ethereal Swords. Not a single wisp survived.

    It was as if all of their discarnate souls were carried to some unknown dimension by the Ethereal Swords, and could never return again.

    This meant none of the Nether Spirit Society disciples that had died at Pei Qiqi¡¯s hands would have a chance at being reborn.

    Huang Jinnan was also bbergasted by Pei Qiqi¡¯s battle prowess.

    Holding his long golden spear, he had just executed a middle Soul realm Nether Spirit Society disciple. While regathering his spiritual power, he saw pieces of dead Nether Spirit Society disciples raining from the sky.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s cultivation base was at the middle Soul realm, which was only slightly higher than his.

    However, the damage she had inflicted on the Nether Spirit Society disciples far exceeded his.

    Within such a short time, more than a dozen Soul realm Nether Spirit Society disciples had died at her hands. Even the three early Void domain disciples had their domains badly damaged.

    Even though they themselves had survived her attacks, the very foundation of their strength had been shaken.

    Huang Jinnan took a deep breath and muttered to himself somewhat bitterly, ¡°The Void Spirit Society will have a brighter future because of her. Their sectmaster went to great lengths to find her in the boundless starry river and make her his fourth legacy disciple. The man really has eyes for talent.¡±

    Meanwhile, the ughter went on.

    Soon, the majority of the newly-arrived Nether Spirit Society disciples died at Pei Qiqi¡¯s hands.

    Even the three early Void domain experts were terrified by the scene. Their faces grew ghastly as they stared at Pei Qiqi, as if they were looking at Death.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s ethereal figure appeared in the air, as if she had juste from another space. ¡°That¡¯s all you¡¯ve got?¡±

    Her figure seemed to be looming behind ripples of spatial fluctuations, appearing and disappearing from time to time.

    Every time she appeared, a Nether Spirit Society disciple would die and crash to the ground.

    Huang Jinnan soon realized that this battle didn¡¯t need him anymore.

    Pei Qiqi was more than capable of defeating the new arrivals single-handedly.

    Touching his nose, Nie Tian muttered with a dry smile, ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem to need my help at all. All I need to do is have the five evil spirits tear thather bridge down, and then my job will be done.¡±

    Originally, he had nned to kill an early Void domain opponent with the Star Behemoth bone.

    But who would have thought Pei Qiqi had already be such a deadly fighter?

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    He soon noticed that as the Nether Spirit Society disciples died, arge number ofher spirits lost their masters, but they were all summoned by the man who was in desperate need of moreher spirits.

    Nether spirits that filled the sky rapidly answered his summons and swarmed into hisher bridge.

    His trouble was solved for the time being.

    All eighther bridges became solid and unbreakable again. Other than the Nether Spirit Society disciples, Zhao Heng, and Ling You, everyone else present continued slowly losing their soul power to the bridges.

    For Zhao Heng and Ling You, they wouldn¡¯t be affected as long as they didn¡¯t send their soul power out of their seas of awareness.

    However, once they cast any soul-rted incantations, some of the soul power they sent out would be channeled away, stopping them from disying the full might of those incantations.

    The battle came to a deadlock.

    Enveloped in their damaged domains, the three early Void domain Nether Spirit Society disciples gathered up tomunicate with each other on a soul level.

    ¡°She seems to be a chosen one of the Void Spirit Society!¡±

    ¡°She must be one of the sectmaster¡¯s legacy disciples! But the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society only has three legacy disciples, and all of them are male. What¡¯s her deal?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that she¡¯s his illegitimate child? As we know, he only had a son, who died a long time ago...¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we create a spell formation together to trap her?¡±

    ¡°Good idea!¡±

    After a briefmunication, the three early Void domain experts merged their domains in midair.

    Since the three of them practiced the same power and incantations, their domains had a lot inmon, which made it easy for them to merge.

    Soon after their domains became one, all of the holes the Ethereal Swords had made in them vanished.

    Their new, merged domain wasrger, and theher power within it was more refined.

    Arge number ofher spirits could be seen squirming within it, giving it the look of a huge sphere filled with thick clouds.

    BOOM!

    Their enormous domain descended, instantly enveloping all of the spatial fluctuations Pei Qiqi had unleashed.

    As soon as this happened, Pei Qiqi and all of her Ethereal Swords seemed to be bound by some force.

    Her originally invisible Ethereal Swords were suddenly revealed.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s originally ethereal figure that was surrounded by numerous Ethereal Swords also grew solid within the domain.

    At this moment, she was standing on her Lightning Shuttle, slender and graceful like an immortal, while her Lightning Shuttle floated in the illusory domain like a boat in the middle of the sea.

    A miserable scream suddenly echoed out in another area in the sky.

    Nie Tian jerked his head around and saw one of Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates falling out of the sky, holding his head with his hands.

    Nether spirits filled his entire domain.

    In the depths of his eyes, a clear soul body could be seen chained up by numerousher spirits, which was then dragged out of him towards one of theher bridges.

    The man¡¯s domain was originally filled with illusory nts and vegetation, and vigorous life force.

    However, as soon as that happened, everything became dead silent.

    Wind blew across, and his domain slowly dissipated.

    The man¡¯s soul, however, became a part of theher bridge.

    Thather bridge instantly lengthened by a dozen meters!

    After that, more miserable screams echoed out.

    Several others among Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates were killed, their souls taken away as nourishment for theher bridges or future fuel for soul crystals.

    Huang Jinnan instantly burst into a ming rage.

    ¡°Divine Master Idol! Show!!¡±

    He charged to that area of the sky, dazzling golden light bursting out of him.

    In the next moment, the golden light converged and condensed into a small golden figure over the top of his head. As soon as that happened, the entire realm number nine of the Domain of Nether Heaven seemed to be painted gold.

    The small golden figure continued to expand, and soon turned into a golden giant that propped up heaven and earth.

    The giant was a condensation of an enormous amount of golden light. Even though its face was blurry, it looked like a god that controlled all metal power in this world.

    All of a sudden, every single metal vein throughout realm number nine exploded, filling the sky with a colossal amount of blinding golden light.

    Then, as the golden giant mmed its hands together, a huge, all-conquering golden de appeared in its hands.

    As it shed the de across the sky, even the realm barrier that had been frozen by the Heaven Freezing Spell shook violently.

    The golden de came down.

    As numerousher spirits scattered and vanished, one of theher bridges was shed in two, but came back together in the next moment.

    With another swing, the golden de shattered theher deitymanded by a middle Saint domain Nether Spirit Society disciple, scattering its residual grudge.

    At that moment, blood started to flow out from the corners of Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes, in which golden mes were burning furiously.

    ¡°Divine Son! You must stop now!¡± Zhao Heng cried out. ¡°You¡¯re not strong enough to shoulder your master¡¯s divine might yet!¡±

    Large drops of water that had been refined from the clearest mountain ponds rapidly flew out of Zhao Heng¡¯s water domain.

    One after another they formed protective shields around Huang Jinnan. Momentster, he was sealed away in a ninefold watery sphere.

    The connection between him and the colossal magic idol was instantly cut off.

    The golden magic idol let out a deafening roar and morphed into a wisp of golden light that entered the top of Huang Jinnan¡¯s head into his sea of awareness.

    Enveloped in the watery sphere, Huang Jinnan passed out. Even so, blood was still slowlying out of his closed eyes, and fissures appeared in the golden spiritual core in his spiritual sea.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Zhao Heng called out to Nie Tian anxiously. ¡°Look after him for me, will you?!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the watery sphere that enveloped Huang Jinnan fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground next to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he actually used the immense power of the head of the metal element sect.¡±

    The might of the four great sects¡¯ secret magics and incantations were indeed beyond his imagination. First, he had witnessed Pei Qiqi cutting down enemies whose cultivation bases were the same as hers. Then, Huang Jinnan had relied on some secret magic to channel his master¡¯s immense power, giving himself the strength to briefly contend against Saint domain experts.

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Loud thumps that sounded like drum beats gradually echoed out in the distance.

    Nie Tian summoned the Star Boat, put Huang Jinnan on board, and steered it into the sky.

    Gazing toward the source of the loud thumps, he saw a gigantic Bonebrute striding in his direction with a significantly smaller Bonebrute on its shoulder.

    That significantly smaller Bonebrute was none other than Pergson, who he had met once in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Held in Pergson¡¯s hand was the Bone Shatterer, a mighty treasure among the Bonebrute world.

    Even though they were separated by a great distance, Pergson saw him as well, and gave him a gruesome smile.

    ¡°The Bonebrutes are here too!¡±

 Chapter 1019: Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher

    The gigantic Bonebrute that was striding towards Nie Tian¡¯s location had translucent, jade-like bones, and its eyes were so green and sparkling that they looked like two emeralds.

    The aura of death he emanated was so strong that the entire realm seemed to be on the verge of being crushed.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Deafening rumbles kept echoing out from distant locations.

    As deep ravines cracked open in the earth, mountain after mountain of human corpses that had been originally hidden underground were revealed.

    The death power within those corpses seemed to finally find vents, and swirled into the sky.

    As the gigantic Bonebrute then opened his huge mouth and inhaled, endless pale-gray death aura poured into it.

    The Bonebrute grinned and said in perfect humannguage, ¡°Not bad. The Nether Spirit Society seems pretty reliable. The number of human corpses they¡¯ve prepared for me is evenrger than I expected. I think I can honor our deal.¡±

    Pergson pointed at Nie Tian from afar. ¡°See that kid, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher? He¡¯s the one I told you I met in the Shatter Battlefield. I wasn¡¯tpletely sure of his identity back then. Who would have thought that he¡¯s actually the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? He has a puppet in his possession which was made from the corpse of an eighth grade member of our kind.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars?!¡± The powerful Bonebrute who was referred to as Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher asked, his deep green eyes glittering with strange light. ¡°But it¡¯s a pity that he¡¯s still far too weak. His death will only hurt the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for a short while. If it were one of the other six Sons of the Stars, they¡¯d suffer a bigger loss.¡±

    While talking, the two Bonebrutes soon stepped onto the battleground.

    The Nether Spirit Society disciples and Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect were all thrilled to see them.

    Ling You and Zhao Heng, however, gasped with shock upon seeing them.

    Everyone who had heard about Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher was taken over by a suffocating feeling upon seeing him, their hearts growing heavy.

    ¡°That¡¯s Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at thete ninth grade!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect actually convinced him toe to the Domain of Nether Heaven!¡±

    If Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher was here, did that mean other Bonebrute or Phantasm grand patriarchs hade to the Domain of Nether Heaven as well?

    Had the other Sons of the Stars and the Divine Daughter encountered powerful outsiders at such levels in the other realms?

    How many powerful experts had the Nether Spirit Society summoned to the Domain of Nether Heaven?

    At this moment, Ling You started to worry that even if Ji Yuanquan had noticed their crisis, he might not be able to extricate himself from the tough situation he was in himself, ande to their aid.

    Lou Hongyan, Fang Yuan, and Sikong Cuo probably weren¡¯t having an easier than they were now.

    Would Ji Yuanquan, Mo Heng, and Lu Jiefeng, the three God domain experts, be able to kill the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society in the Domain of Nether Heaven eventually?

    With these thoughts, Ling You called out to Pei Qiqi with a meaningful look in his eyes, ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    He was urging her to leave realm number nine!

    The arrival of Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher had made Li You sense danger, and believe that it would only be more and more difficult for her to escape from realm number nine.

    She had better leave now, before more powerful enemies showed up.

    ¡°A ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch!¡± Nie Tian was struck by a strong sense of danger. He suddenly realized that the Nether Spirit Society disciples weren¡¯t reckless fools by staying in the Domain of Nether Heaven after killing Xiao Xihe and the others. In fact, they might have cooked up a n long ago.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed.

    The Lightning Shuttle that had been floating in the merged domain of the three Void domain Nether Spirit Society disciples suddenly exploded, unleashing the full might of the mysterious spell formations that had been carved inside it.

    The explosion of the Lightning Shuttle sent countless glorious spatial fluctuations rippling into its surroundings.

    The merged domain suddenly grew distorted.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi shed out of it in the blink of an eye.

    In the next moment, she stood on Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat, reached out and grabbed his shoulder with her chilly left hand, and said with an unprecedentedly grim face, ¡°We need to leave now.¡±

    ¡°What about him?¡± Nie Tian asked, pointing down at Huang Jinnan, who was still unconscious and enveloped in multiple watery shields.

    ¡°I told you I can only take you with me,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an unstirred look in her eyes.

    ¡°Miss Pei! I beg you to take our Divine Son with you!¡± Zhao Heng called out in a cracking voice.

    ¡°There¡¯s really nothing I can do,¡± Pei Qiqi said, her face still expressionless.

    Meanwhile, with his emerald green eyes, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher took a nce at the current sectmaster of the Death Curse Sect, who was now engaged in a fierce battle against Ling You in midair, and asked, ¡°Ren Yuanji, is the Heaven Freezing Spell you formed somehow wed? Why does she think she can leave this realm despite it?¡±

    A puzzled look appeared on Ren Yuanji¡¯s face.

    To contend against Ling You, he was relying on his middle Saint domain cultivation base and his domain that was filled with countless floating bones, shriveled flesh, and internal organs, all of which had been carved with the most vicious secret spells.

    Those spells also had profound connections to the Heaven Freezing Spell.

    Thanks to this, he was able to make use of Xiao Xihe¡¯s residual power and fend off Ling You, who was well-versed in frost power, for the time being.

    As the spells in his domain started to flicker, eyes seemed to appear and blink in the floating bones, pieces of flesh, and shriveled internal organs.

    Ren Yuanji sensed with rapt attention. Secondster, he frowned and muttered, ¡°There isn¡¯t even the slightest crack in my Heaven Freezing Spell. As long as it remains intact, even that old entric Ji Yuanquan won¡¯t be able to enter this realm through a spatial tunnel. I admit that girl is beyond ordinary, but she can¡¯t do something that even Ji Yuanquan can¡¯t, can she?¡±

    He felt baffled.

    Staring at Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi let out a deep breath, and her bloodline power burst forth.

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡± she eximed.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything the irregrly shaped crystal floated from her palm.

    As soon as the crystal appeared, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher gasped, his emerald green eyes filled with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s the spatial treasure that once appeared in the Shatter Battlefield!¡±

    Ren Yuanji also eximed, ¡°Howe it¡¯s in her hands?!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Without giving Nie Tian a chance to say anything, Pei Qiqi¡¯s mysterious bloodline power gave rise to incredible spatial changes. A connection seemed to be instantly established between a facet of the irregrly shaped crystal that was spinning in her palm and a space disruption zone.

    In the next moment, the facet expanded into a portal, and Pei Qiqi moved half of her body into it.

    It was as if the numerous facets of the crystal were numerous ready-made spatial tunnels that led to countless different spatial joints in a space disruption zone.

    ¡°Take Huang Jinnan with us!¡± Nie Tian shouted. ¡°I¡¯ll protect him with my flesh power, but if he really can¡¯t make it, then it¡¯s just his fate. If we leave him here, he¡¯ll die for sure!¡±

    A hesitant and struggling look appeared in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes.

    What Nie Tian didn¡¯t know was how much more pressure she would suffer if she were to take Huang Jinnan as well.

    ¡°He¡¯s fought alongside me many times. I can¡¯t just watch him die!¡± Nie Tian implored.

    Pei Qiqi gritted her teeth and nodded. ¡°Alright! But it¡¯s not my problem if he dies!¡±

    ¡°I understand!¡±

 Chapter 1020: A Stunning War

    As Pei Qiqi pulled with great force, half of Nie Tian¡¯s body entered the portal like water merging with the sea.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    At the same time, wisps of flesh aura shot out of his extended hand and bound up Huang Jinnan like crimson ropes.

    In the meantime, Zhao Heng canceled his power, and the watery sphere Huang Jinnan was in copsed and vaporized.

    Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura that carried the profound truths of life swooped in and formed a blood-colored sphere that enveloped Huang Jinnan.

    WHOOSH!

    Inside the portal, Pei Qiqi¡¯s pulling force increased.

    Just as Nie Tian quickly assumed a tight grip on Huang Jinnan, the two of them were dragged into the portal together, and started shifting between different spaces.

    As they did, extremely fierce spatial des kept shing by like carving knives. Nie Tian felt as if they were inside a bizarre tunnel, where bits of multicolored light that were sharp enough to sever anything kept flying past.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Nie Tian felt disoriented. All he could tell was that Huang Jinnan, who he was holding, and himself were constantly being scraped by the dashing light.

    The flesh aura shield that enveloped Huang Jinnan burst over and over. However, every time it did, he would rapidly reform it with a new flesh aura.

    Soon, Nie Tian started to feel bone-piercing pain in every inch of his body. A vigorous flesh aura then rushed out of his bones, flesh, meridians, and internal organs to intercept and neutralize the infiltrating spatial power.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi¡¯s figure seemed illusory in this bizarre tunnel filled with dashing light, as if she was an ethereal immortal that wasn¡¯t in a solid form.

    For Nie Tian, this experience waspletely different from any time he had used a teleportation portal before.

    The dashing light was constantly hurting him and Huang Jinnan, who he struggled to protect.

    Pei Qiqi, however, didn¡¯t seem affected at all.

    The traveling processsted quite a while. It pained Nie Tian to the point where he wanted to die.

    BZZZ!

    All of a sudden, he felt like he hade out of the bizarre tunnel alive.

    He opened his eyes and found himself standing on a huge meteor that was floating in the vast starry river.

    Pei Qiqi was standing in front of him with her back facing him. Numerous strings of spatial power could be seen slithering all over her, as if they were branded with her profound bloodline power.

    In his arms, Huang Jinnan was moaning weakly in pain, as if he were going to wake up soon.

    The blood-colored sphere that had protected him was already gone. His robust body was now covered in crisscrossing cuts, which were fine and deep, but didn¡¯t cut to his bones.

    Nie Tian then looked down at himself, and discovered that he had even more cuts on himself than Huang Jinnan.

    Clearly, he had sustained more injuries than Huang Jinnan had.

    However, thanks to his exceptionally tough body and the wonders of his unique bloodline, not only was he not bleeding at all, but those gashes were even healing at a visible speed.

    With a grim expression, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°I¡¯ve practically drained my flesh power protecting Huang Jinnan, but he¡¯s still badly injured.¡±

    Then, he turned to Pei Qiqi, who remained silent and had her back facing him. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, you...¡±

    Pei Qiqi turned around. ¡°You two are lucky to be alive.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly flickered.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face was extremely pale. The vigorous glitter in her eyes was gone, and her flesh aura had be almost too faint to detect.

    As she swung her arms slightly from time to time, tiny sparks could be seen flying off of her fingertips.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think my condition will allow me to fight another battle for a while.¡± With these words, she sat down slowly. Stones that contain rich spatial power flew out of her sleeve one after another to float around her.

    Then, wisp after wisp of spatial power rose out of the stones and swirled into her.

    At this moment, she seemed to have be even thinner than usual. Her eyes were sunken and dispirited, as if someone had drained her of her Blood Essence.

    However, as the wisps of spatial power fused into her, her shriveled body slowly expanded back.

    ¡°Sorry for putting you through so much trouble,¡± Nie Tian apologized.

    Pei Qiqi looked down at Huang Jinnan, who was still groaning unconsciously, and said inly, ¡°It¡¯s alright. At least he didn¡¯t die.¡±

    ¡°Where are we?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°This is a piece ofnd from a shattered dead realm.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi pointed at a hemispherical realm in the distance that was wreathed in a frosty aura. ¡°That¡¯s realm number nine, still sealed by the Heaven Freezing Spell.¡±

    Nie Tian looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that the space outside realm number nine was filled with arge amount of dazzling light.

    Nie Tian was taken aback by his discovery. ¡°Are those...?!¡±

    Apparently, at some point, ancient starships had sailed to realm number nine.

    While some of them belonged to the three ancient human sects, more seemed to belong to the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes.

    Right now, they were spewing energy fluctuations that could easily destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth, like sharks that were biting each other in the depths of the sea.

    BOOM!

    An oddly-shaped ancient starship that looked like an enormous bird was hit by a beam of light and exploded in the starry river.

    A number of war chariots that were in the shape of smaller birds escaped the explosion. Each of them had a handful of Death Curse Sect disciples standing on them.

    Debris from the destroyed ancient starship floated all over that area of the starry river.

    Dead humans, Phantasms, Bonebrutes could also be seen floating everywhere.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes. ¡°Howe such arge-scale war suddenly broke out outside realm number nine?¡±

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan finally woke up. The first thing he said was, ¡°Something bigger than all of us has happened.¡±

    In the starry river close to realm number nine, a huge ck vortex was slowly swirling like the bottomless mouth of a low-tier Demon.

    All of a sudden, a tremendous ancient starship that was made of nothing but bones sailed out of it. Standing on it, numerousrge Bonebrutes unleashed their death power.

    At the same time, a human figure expanded at an rming rate in the starry river right outside realm number nine.

    That figure seemed to be transformed from the domain of a human expert. Gradually, the figure took the shape and appearance of Mo Heng, the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was just that, as a human, he should be as puny as a grain of sand in this vast starry river.

    However, at this moment, he gave Nie Tian a feeling that he was the same size as realm number nine.

    ¡°Dharma Idol!!¡±

    After assuming its full size, Mo Heng¡¯s figure made fists with its colossal hands and brought them down onto realm number nine.

    RUMBLE!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-toppling rumble came from the frozen realm barrier surrounding realm number nine. Giant pieces of mixed ice and realm-separating aura started to fall there.

    Numerous spell symbols flew out of the realm barrier like pping moths, but they were all shattered by the mighty fists.

    Mo Heng¡¯s colossal dharma idol continued to swing its mountain-like fists.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Inside realm number nine, mountains shattered and the earth split. The entire realm trembled nonstop, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

    ¡°Is that...?!¡± Nie Tian eximed, bbergasted.

    Even though Huang Jinnan was still very weak and covered in gashes, golden light burst forth from his eyes as he said, ¡°That Senior Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol! God domain experts¡¯ domains have numerous wondrous uses, one of which is to transform into dharma idols. They can control their dharma idols the same way they control their own bodies. The only difference is that after activating their dharma idol, they can destroy a realm with a causal move of their hand.¡±

    ¡°Dharma Idol!¡± Nie Tian was shocked to his very core.

    Gazing into the distance, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect such arge-scale war to take ce here, in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Other than the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect, I guess other crooked sects have also gathered to this area of the starry river. Clearly, all those crooked human sects have schemed with the outsiders to set us up.¡±

    With a grim face, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°We¡¯re only seeing what¡¯s happening at realm number nine. I suspect the same thing is happening at the other realms.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that an outsider grand monarch will show up soon,¡± Pei Qiqi muttered softly.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°I sense an extremely strong flesh aura rolling in the distance. That flesh aura has covered an area so vast that it¡¯s beyond the detection range of my bloodline power!¡±

    Deeply anxious, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Miss Pei is right. The entire Domain of Nether Heaven might have already been enveloped in some outsider grand monarch¡¯s thick flesh aura. I¡¯m afraid it has cut off our connection with the outside world. Even spatial power experts like Ji Yuanquan may not be able to leave the Domain of Nether Heaven now.¡±

    Pei Qiqi sighed. ¡°I suppose simr battles are taking ce in other human domains as well.¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°They must have nned this war for a long time. The Domain of Nether Heaven might be just one of many battlefields. The main battlefield might be in the Dead Star Sea, or somewhere else. But one thing is certain: the four great sects are all bogged down in this full-frontal war.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A streak of pale-gray light suddenly flew out from the distant starry river.

    It covered hundreds of thousands of miles and reached realm number nine in a breath¡¯s time.

    The pale-gray light came to a sudden stop, intense death power rolling like a neb. A bony figure that was evenrger than Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher gradually emerged from the depths of the thick, rolling death power.

    It was a Bonebrute.

    Underneath his feet was an altar that was made of countless sets of skeletons.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Withered Bones! One of the three tenth grade Bonebrute grand monarchs!¡±

    Staring at the skeleton altar from afar, Huang Jinnan muttered with zed eyes. His body couldn¡¯t stop trembling, as if he had seen Death himself.

 Chapter 1021: A Grand Monarch and A God Domain Expert

    BOOM!

    Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol hammered realm number nine another time.

    The realm barrier shattered like broken ss.

    The Heaven Freezing Spell, which Ren Yuanji had fused into the realm barrier with Xiao Xihe¡¯s residual domain power and his own power, scattered and vanished along with it.

    Realm number nine abruptly sunk in the starry river.

    What Nie Tian didn¡¯t see was that thousands of clusters of pure spiritual power fell out of the heavens in realm number nine.

    Branded with Mo Heng¡¯s profound understanding of the energy of Heaven and Earth, they chased after the Nether Spirit Society disciples as if they had their own awareness.

    The eighther bridges fell apart at almost the same time. Numerous Nether Spirit Society disciples were bombarded to death.

    Ren Yuanji¡¯s face was covered in grimy blood. The gauze wrapping his body peeled off and fluttered in the wind.

    Every inch of his revealed skin was covered in all sorts of spells, which, however, soon vanished one after another.

    Bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, he screamed nonstop.

    Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, who had just entered this realm, looked skywards. Then, he quickly gripped Pergson and shot into the starry river.

    Ling You and Zhao Heng also looked up into the sky.

    A colossal hand that had reached out of the depths of the heavens seemed to be stirring the heavens randomly.

    Upon contact with the clusters of spiritual power, the Nether Spirit Society disciples and their numerousher spirits andher deities vanished like scattered smoke.

    ¡°Thank god! It¡¯s grand elder Mo Heng!¡± Many of Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates yelled, congratting themselves for surviving this disaster.

    However, the repeated heavy blows seemed to have destroyed the fundamental structure of realm number nine. Not only could it not channel power from the starry river anymore, but theher power that wreathed it was also scattering and disappearing at an rming rate.

    Just like that, Mo Heng¡¯s repeated hammering reduced an originally healthy realm to a dead realm.

    But of course, as far as Mo Heng was concerned, even if the entire Domain of Nether Heaven was destroyed, the Nether Spirit Society would have only themselves to me.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Before long, realm number nine started to fall apart, withrge pieces ofnd separating and drifting away.

    All of Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates and Ling You hastily gathered up on a huge piece ofnd that drifted into the distant starry river.

    Meanwhile, Grand Monarch Withered Bones sat on his altar made of bones and watched everything in silence, not even the slightest emotions appearing in his emerald green eyes.

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t care what happened to realm number nine at all.

    WHOOSH!

    The ninth grade Grand Patriarch Bone Crushernded on one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ ancient starships with Pergson.

    Gazing up at the monarch who was sitting on the bone altar, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher reported in the Bonebrutes¡¯nguage, ¡°Grand monarch! That good-for-nothing Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect let a girl from the Void Spirit Society escape from realm number nine with a Divine Son and a Son of the Stars. His Heaven Freezing Spell didn¡¯t stop them at all.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s useless indeed,¡± Grand Monarch Withered Bones said inly. ¡°The only reason I didn¡¯t stop Mo Heng was because I learned that those three chosen ones had somehow escaped. The three of them will be cornerstones of the humans¡¯ future. None of the other Saint and Void domain experts in realm number nine will be able to affect the big picture.¡±

    Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher nodded to show that he understood.

    He was aware that by activating his dharma idol to shatter the Heaven Freezing Spell and destroy realm number nine, Mo Heng must have consumed a significant amount of power.

    The reason why Grand Monarch Withered Bones had sat back while Mo Heng eliminated the Nether Spirit Society disciples, heavily injured Ren Yuanji, and saved Zhao Heng, Ling You, and the others was because he wanted Mo Heng to consume his power before he stepped up.

    After all, it didn¡¯t matter to him at all whether they died or not.

    If he could kill or severely injure Mo Heng, every loss would be worth it.

    The battle between the two of them was what would fundamentally determine the future of the Domain of Nether Heaven. Nothing and no one else mattered.

    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with Mo Heng myself,¡± Grand Monarch Withered Bones said, ¡°Bone Crusher, you go search for those three human chosen ones who escaped from realm number nine. The Domain of Nether Heaven is sealed now. Even God domain experts from the Void Spirit Society won¡¯t be able to teleport here directly. If they want to get in here, they¡¯ll have to rely on ancient starships. That means we¡¯ll have enough time to finish our job before the humans¡¯ joint forces arrive.

    ¡°Remember: our primary targets are the three God domain experts. After them are the Sons of the Stars, Divine Children, and other chosen ones from the great sects.

    ¡°If we can finish them all off, the humans¡¯ vital strength will be greatly undermined. It may take them ten thousand years to recover.¡±

    Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher nodded. ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡±

    The ancient starship he was on then sailed out of the battle zone into the distant starry river.

    After he and Pergson vanished into the distance, Grand Monarch Withered Bones, who was one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ three grand monarchs, finally steered his bone altar towards Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol, bringing endless death power.

    Outsider grand monarchs and God domain human experts were beings at the top of the pyramid in this starry river. Now, a battle between two of them broke out officially.

    The area of starry river outside realm number nine was instantly drowned by countless rays of blinding pale-gray light and dazzling spiritual light.

    The sh of the two peak beings¡¯ power instantly sted the cracking realm number nine to countless pieces that flew in every direction.

    As soon as the two of them engaged in battle, all of the ancient starships backed out of the area like shoals of fish that had sensed danger.

    Within a very short time, not a single ancient starship was anywhere close to Grand Monarch Withered Bones or Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol, as if they had some mutual understanding.

    Even though Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Huang Jinnan were observing from an extremely long distance away, they felt an overwhelming pressure.

    It was as if just by observing the battle between Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol, they were consuming their vital energies at an rming rate. Their hearts pounded so fast that it felt like they were going to explode.

    PUFF! Huang Jinnan coughed up a mouthful of blood. His face grew even paler than Pei Qiqi¡¯s as he said, ¡°We¡¯re not even strong enough to observe a battle at their level. Every sh of their flesh aura and spiritual power contains the profound mysteries of heaven and earth and bloodline secrets.

    ¡°Just by watching them, we risk being consumed by them and losing our minds.¡±

    Pei Qiqi sighed softly and forced herself to close her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    A wisp of blood came out of the corner of her mouth, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice it.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he also snapped out of his daze.

    Only then did he realize that he had already lost a significant amount of soul power observing the battle between Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol.

    Even his flesh power flow had be chaotic, as if Grand Monarch Withered Bones¡¯ magicalw of death had somehow infiltrated his body.

    However, only after seeing Pei Qiqi and Huang Jinnan did he realize that the two of them had suffered even heavier injuries than he had.

    ¡°What should we do now?¡± Huang Jinnan asked with a bitter face.

    Pei Qiqi pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°We¡¯re still too close to Grand Monarch Withered Bones. Just now, I saw one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ ancient starships sailing away from the battle zone. If my spection is correct, it must being for us. The Bonebrutes must know that even though we escaped from realm number nine, we couldn¡¯t have gone very far due to the profound effect of the Heaven Freezing Spell.

    ¡°If it was Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher that came looking for us, we¡¯re in trouble. He¡¯ll be able to sense our auras once we enter his exceptionallyrge detection range.

    ¡°After he locates us, arge number of Bonebrutes will swarm in on us.¡±

    Nie Tian then asked, ¡°So you¡¯re saying...?¡±

    ¡°We need to get as far away from realm number nine as we can,¡± Pei Qiqi said with determination. ¡°We also need to steer clear of the other realms. I assume Sikong Cuo, Fang Yuan, and Lou Hongyan are experiencing the same thing we are. And since I¡¯ve already lost contact with Senior Ji from my sect, seeking his help isn¡¯t an option.¡±

    Huang Jinnan hastily chimed in, ¡°Realm number nine has fallen apart. Some of my subordinates must have seized the opportunity to escape. Should we try to find them?¡±

    Pei Qiqi sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve consumed too much power getting us out of realm number nine. I won¡¯t be able to use Void Travel again within a short time. Now, the Domain of Nether Heaven has be a giant cage. It¡¯s difficult to enter, leave, or travel within it. So first, we don¡¯t know where they are. Second, even if we do, I won¡¯t be able to take you to them.¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Huang Jinnan said with a deep frown.

    ¡°Our best choice is to hole up in one of the numerous dead realms in the Domain of Nether Heaven. They won¡¯t search the dead realms first. And I doubt that the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the outsiders have deployed any troops in those dead realms.¡± Pei Qiqi brought out her n.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Huang Jinnan pondered in silence for a few seconds and then also nodded, though somewhat reluctantly.

 Chapter 1022: Healing Injuries

    A small boat sailed at a high speed in the dim starry river.

    The boat was called a ¡®Voidheaven Boat¡¯. The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had given it to Pei Qiqi after taking her in as his legacy disciple.

    Like the Star Boats of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Voidheaven Boats were also well-known and hard to make. Only the sectmaster, his legacy disciples, and several elders had them.

    The Voidheaven Boat wasn¡¯t nearly asrge as an ancient starship, as it could only fit five people. Technically, it was an air-transportation spiritual tool.

    However, like an ancient starship, it could ward off the dangerous impurities in the starry river and travel through realm barriers.

    At this moment, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Huang Jinnan were sitting on the Voidheaven Boat as they sailed towards remote areas where they might find dead realms.

    Nie Tian gazed in every direction, and felt that everything around him had be dark and lifeless. ¡°I can¡¯t see any stars flickering anymore.¡±

    When they had first set out, he still had been able to see flickering stars in their surroundings, but now, there wasn¡¯t a single flickering star in sight.

    Huang Jinnan shook his head repeatedly and sighed with a grim face. ¡°The grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura must have enveloped the entire Domain of Nether Heaven and masked all of the stars that give off light now. Who would have thought that our punitive expedition into the Domain of Nether Heaven would end up like this?¡±

    Pei Qiqi shot him a sideways nce and said coldly, ¡°Both your spiritual core and true soul are badly injured. You¡¯d better spend more time recovering.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have the same problem?¡± Huang Jinnan asked with a rhetorical tone.

    Sitting on the prow of the Voidheaven Boat by herself, Pei Qiqi replied, ¡°I¡¯m in a better condition than you are. If the three of us can get our strength back soon, we actually have a good chance at surviving this tribtion in the Domain of Nether Heaven, given that we don¡¯t run into any outsider grand patriarchs.

    ¡°Of course I need to recover as well. If I get my strength back, I¡¯ll be able to use Void Travel again. Even if we can¡¯t get out of the Domain of Nether Heaven, we¡¯ll be able to travel back and forth between different realms.¡±

    As she spoke, wisps of spatial power rose continuously from the stones that she had paved the bottom of the Voidheaven Boat with, and flew into her.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°Both of you have sustained serious fleshly wounds. How about this: I¡¯ll help you two heal those wounds first. Brother Huang,pared to her, you¡¯re easier to heal. Let me start with you.¡±

    With these words, he walked to Huang Jinnan¡¯s back, not giving him time to speak.

    After cing his hands on Huang Jinnan¡¯s lower back, he activated Heavenly Wood Heal. Then, streams of wood power that contained vigorous life force started streaming into Huang Jinnan¡¯s body.

    Huang Jinnan wasn¡¯t a hybrid. All of his fleshly wounds had been caused by the dashing lights in the spatial tunnel when they had escaped realm number nine.

    If he relied on medicinal pills and himself to heal his wounds, the healing process would be fairly long.

    However, with the help of Nie Tian¡¯s wondrous Heavenly Wood Heal and nourishing wood power, all of his deep cuts rapidly stopped bleeding.

    Wisps of rich wood power flew back and forth like a needle and threads in his open wounds. It wasn¡¯t very long before his scary-looking wounds were mostly healed.

    ¡°This is as easy as I thought it would be,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he withdrew his hands.

    He didn¡¯t even have to use his flesh power this time. After all, Huang Jinnan was only human, and his fleshly wounds were fairly easy to heal.

    His real trouble was his damaged metal power core and depleted true soul.

    Both of these had been the result of him forcibly channeling power from his master¡¯s dharma idol.

    Huang Jinnan grinned, looking more spirited than before. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll take it from here.¡±

    With these words, he took out a few pills that emanated a rich medicinal aroma and stuffed them into his mouth. After that, he took out several stones that shone with golden light and started channeling power from them.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian walked over to Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi suddenly lifted her hand, and a glowing stripe appeared across the floor in the middle of the Voidheaven Boat.

    Immediately afterwards, a ward went up like a pearl curtain, separating Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi from Huang Jinnan, who was cultivating wholeheartedly.

    The mysterious light in the ward was murky, and thrummed with strong spatial power.

    Even though they were only a few steps from each other, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see Huang Jinnan or even sense his aura.

    Nie Tian fixed Pei Qiqi with a bewildered look.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want other people to learn my secrets,¡± Pei Qiqi said inly.

    Nie Tian smiled and walked to her back, where he slowly ced his hand on her chilly back and examined her with his flesh aura.

    Nie Tian frowned and said, ¡°Your injuries are much heavier than Huang Jinnan¡¯s. Many of your meridians are now congested.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, he examined her even more carefully.

    Soon, an astonished look appeared in his eyes.

    Human bodies were covered in numerous meridians and acupoints. However, as his flesh aura flowed around inside Pei Qiqi, he discovered that some of her acupoints were like independent rooms that were filled with countless spatial des.

    Nie Tian was aware that very few among humans were skilled at refining their bodies and knew how to develop their acupoints.

    Usually, developed acupoints could be used to hold flesh power.

    As for Pei Qiqi, even though she had only developed a small portion of her acupoints, each of her developed acupoints was like an independent heaven and earth that contained numerous spatial des and turbulent spatial power.

    ¡°This is probably caused by her unique bloodline.¡± With this thought, Nie Tian ran a deeper examination, and discovered that her most serious injuriesy within those developed acupoints.

    All of those independent spaces were now covered in cracks, which seemed to have undermined those acupoints and caused the spatial des within them to fly disorderly.

    After pondering for a short while, he decided to try healing them with wood power.

    However, as his wood power flew out of his spiritual sea into the acupoints that were riddled with cracks, it didn¡¯t seem to be wee at all, as the spatial des swarmed in and ripped it to shreds.

    ¡°Let me try another approach.¡±

    He withdrew his wood power, and started to infuse her with his flesh power that carried the profound truths of life.

    Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power resided in his internal organs, bones, meridians, flesh, and blood, instead of his dantian region.

    This time, as wisps of his flesh power entered those damaged acupoints, Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial des within them seemed unprecedentedly calm and quiet.

    As more and more flesh power fused into them, the life power within it started to take effect in a subtle way.

    Soon, changes happened to one of Pei Qiqi¡¯s damaged acupoints. As its cracks and fissures were gradually fixed, the spatial des that had been surging about uncontrobly within it also settled down and moved orderly again.

    Pei Qiqi let out a soothed deep breath, a hint of delight appeared on her face. ¡°Perhaps your bloodline power isn¡¯t as destructive as mine, but it¡¯s every bit as wondrous as mine.¡±

    Nie Tian withdrew his hand from her back.

    Pei Qiqi looked over her shoulder, as if to signal him to keep going.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I need some time to recover as well. I almost drained my flesh power protecting Huang Jinnan earlier. And I used some of my remaining flesh power to heal myself. I can¡¯t heal all of your injured acupoints in one go, even if I want to.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently and said in a low voice, ¡°I see. Sorry that you have to do this for me again.¡±

    She suddenly remembered the time when they had visited that floating continent together. Back then, she had forcibly taken in a wisp of flesh aura that contained an expert¡¯s profound understanding of spatial power. After that, she had fought a series of battles. This had contributed to her suffering a severe bacsh.

    That time, Nie Tian had healed her by relying on his wondrous bloodline power, just as he was doing now.

    Her ice-cold hearted seemed to suddenly be warmed. Even the look in her eyes grew unprecedentedly gentle.

    ¡°I¡¯m always happy to heal your injuries for you. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± With these words, Nie Tian sat down behind her and closed his eyes. As a thought entered his mind, a few outsider corpses flew out from within his ring of holding.

    Then, after numerous scarlet blood strings pierced into them, he activated Life Drain to drain the corpses of their residual flesh power.

    Whenever he had used Life Drain before, he would cautiously find a secluded ce to do it, so that others wouldn¡¯t find out about this shocking bloodline talent of his.

    Only when facing Dong Li and Pei Qiqi did he felt that his secrets were safe.

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind drifted away. ¡°Deep down, do I attach as much importance to Senior Martial Sister Pei as Dong Li? Senior Martial Sister Pei was the second person to know about my special bloodline, only after my master. Even Dong Li didn¡¯t know about it untilter.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei...¡± As these thoughts entered his mind, strange looks appeared on his face without him knowing it.

    However, Pei Qiqi, who had turned around to face him, fixed her bright eyes on him.

    Looking at his handsome, determined face, she couldn¡¯t help but recall the day she had met him for the first time.

    Standing next to Hua Mu in front of the gate to her master¡¯s courtyard, he had been young and inexperienced. ¡°No, he¡¯s not that teenager anymore. He¡¯s already be a man.¡±

 Chapter 1023: The Insidious

    After all, unlike an ancient starship, the speed of the Voidheaven Boat was rather limited. They only found a dead realm a few dayster.

    Even though it had its realm barrier shattered, it could still keep off a small portion of the mixed energies in the starry river.

    After the Voidheaven Boatnded, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Huang Jinnan examined their surroundings, and failed to find any signs of life.

    Only then did the three of them put their hearts at ease.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian cultivated day and night, channeling flesh power from the outsider corpses he had stockpiled in his ring of holding and fusing it into Pei Qiqi, along with his unique bloodline power.

    Thanks to that, Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints were healed one by one.

    Huang Jinnan, however, recuperated painstakingly by relying on medicinal pills and spirit stones.

    On this day...

    Looking somewhat depleted, Nie Tian removed his hands from Pei Qiqi¡¯s back to look for more outsider corpses and spirit beast meat in his ring of holding. However, he suddenly realized that he was about to run out of the outsider corpses and spirit beast meat he had umted over the years.

    He frowned.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    He let out a sigh.¡°I¡¯m running out of the outsider corpses and spirit beast meat that I use to recover flesh power.¡±

    Back when he had been on that floating continent, he had used all of the outsider corpses he had obtained to refine his Blood Essence, which he had fused into the Star Behemoth bone.

    Later, he had relied on the outsider corpses Fang Yuan had brought back from the Dead Star Sea to help Fang Tianyi get rid of Grand Patriarch Cardy¡¯s residual power.

    After returning to the Vast Heaven Pavilion, he had also consumed spirit beast meat on a daily basis to meet his bodily consumption.

    Then, he had spent the past few days refining flesh power to heal Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries nonstop.

    Before he knew it, he was already seeing the bottom of his spirit beast meat and outsider corpse reserve.

    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t stock any spirit beast meat or outsider corpses,¡± Pei Qiqi said somewhat apologetically, ¡°I¡¯ve got to say that you really are unique. You seem to be able to use the remains of any creature to recover your flesh power, as long as they carry rich flesh power. Unlike you, I can only strengthen my bloodline with the flesh of certain special spirit beasts.

    ¡°Those spirit beasts are very hard to find and capture. The fact that I was able to make rapid progress in my cultivation after joining the Void Spirit Society is because my master had some of that spirit beast flesh. But even he didn¡¯t have much of it to spoil me with.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll go ask Huang Jinnan.¡±

    At this moment, the three of them were still separated by a light screen on the Voidheaven Boat.

    Pei Qiqi nodded and deactivated the light screen.

    Huang Jinnan, who was cultivating wholeheartedly, was awoken by the sudden disappearance of the light screen, and shot him a curious look.

    ¡°Do you have any spirit beast meat with you?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Outsider corpses work too.¡±

    ¡°Will a Goldskin Beast skull do?¡± Huang Jinnan asked, looking puzzled.

    ¡°Let me take a look,¡± Nie Tian said.

    An enormous skull then flew out from within Huang Jinnan¡¯s ring of holding. Dozens of meters high, it looked like a hill.

    The skull was bereft of any flesh or skin. All it had was bones, within which golden light could be seen flowing, giving rise to a curious aura.

    ¡°This Goldskin Beast is still just a spirit beast,¡± Huang Jinnan exined. ¡°But what made it special was that it was at the ninth grade when my master found and killed it. He hoped to forge me a spiritual tool with its skull. Since I still have yet to gather some necessary materials, I¡¯ve been carrying it around.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°That¡¯s from a ninth grade Goldskin Beast?!¡±

    Even though a ninth grade Goldskin Beast was still not an Ancientbeast from the Deste Antiquity Era, its strength must have been by no means insignificant, and it might have been every bit as intelligent as members of higher races.

    If it had been found by Ancientbeasts instead, it might have been invited to some Ancientbeast realm, where it could cultivate better.

    ¡°Take it if you find it useful,¡± Huang Jinnan said generously. ¡°I can always forge spiritual tools with other materials, but right now, we don¡¯t even know if we¡¯ll be able to leave the Domain of Nether Heaven alive. Go ahead and use it as long as it can help you. It¡¯s all good.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a while and said, ¡°I think it can help me heal Senior Martial Sister Pei¡¯s injuries. Once she recovers, she¡¯ll be able to use Void Travel again. Then, the three of us will have a much better chance at surviving this tribtion.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t hesitate at all before leaving the enormous skull out for Nie Tian.

    Not just that, but he also suggested in high spirits, ¡°If you want, I can go somewhere and give you two some privacy.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly at him.

    Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t seem to mind it at all, as he summoned his golden war chariot and flew into the distance.

    Pei Qiqi shot Nie Tian a sideways nce. ¡°The man is quite sensible. No wonder you insisted on bringing him at the risk of sustaining serious injuries. He¡¯s a much better person than that Sikong Cuo from your sect.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Of course! None of my friends are anything like Sikong Cuo.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression suddenly grew serious. She frowned and said, ¡°You¡¯d better watch out for Sikong Cuo. You were targeted when you were in the Domain of Heaven Python, and ambushed on your way to the Domain of Endless Snow. At first, I thought someone from my sect held a grudge against you, and thus sent people to do those things.

    ¡°However, I asked my master, and he told me with absolute certainty that those things that happened to you had nothing to do with the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°It urred to him that when he searched for me in areas close to the Domain of Heaven Python that he saw Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates sneaking around.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Sikong Cuo!¡±

    Fan Kai and the others had been captured. Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde had been lured into refusing his offer. Master Bloody Despair had ambushed him on his way to the Domain of Endless Snow... All of these things seemed to have someone standing behind them.

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde hade clean, and promised that they didn¡¯t know who that person was.

    Nie Tian had many theories as to who it was. However, Pei Qiqi¡¯s words pointed him in the right direction. With a grim face, he muttered, ¡°I¡¯ve done nothing to that Sikong Cuo. Why has he been targeting me this whole time?¡±

    Seeming to have a deep understanding of the matter, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Because you¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars. And like him, you also emerged from the Heaven Gate Trial. Besides, Mo Heng seems to have shown special attention to you when you were officially named the seventh Son of the Stars. As far as I know, he doesn¡¯t like Sikong Cuo very much.

    ¡°Sikong Cuo might think he has put all his money on you, and so figured he¡¯d undermine you and slow you down, so that you won¡¯t be able to overshadow him.¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°Thank you for clearing things up for me, senior martial sister. Things in the Domain of Nether Heaven are getting more and more intense. It¡¯s hard to say whether he¡¯ll be able to survive this tribtion. But if he does, when we meet again, I¡¯ll give him a taste of his own medicine by setting him up the same way he set up He Lianxiong.¡±

    After their conversation, Nie Tian activated Life Drain once again to channel the residual flesh power from the ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull.

    He hadn¡¯t had much direct contact with the flesh power of ninth grade outsiders or spirit beasts before, except the time when he had dealt with Cardy¡¯s residual flesh power that had been left in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain.

    Back then, he had only been able to dissolve Cardy¡¯s flesh power with Life Drain, but hadn¡¯t been able to absorb any of it.

    Therefore, he worried that the same thing would happen this time.

    However, his furrowed brow rxed as soon as wisps of scarlet blood strings flew out of him and pierced into the ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull.

    Extremely rich flesh power started pouring out of the enormous golden skull into him right away.

    It could be because the Goldskin Beast had already died, or some other reason he didn¡¯t know, but the residual flesh power within the ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull was channeled without any effort as soon as Life Drain was activated.

 Chapter 1024: Copying A Dirty Trick

    Enveloped in the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, the entire Domain of Nether Heaven became increasingly dark. No stars could be seen in the starry river anymore.

    One of the Bonebrutes¡¯ ancient starships seemed to be sailing at a slow speed in the dark void, but it was actually moving extremely fast.

    The exceptionallyrge Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher was standing at the prow of the enormous starship, scanning the vicinity with his flesh aura.

    He had spent the past few days searching the starry river around realm number nine for Nie Tian and the others.

    He was convinced that as special as Pei Qiqi was, she couldn¡¯t have gotten very far after breaking the powerful restrictions of the Heaven Freezing Spell.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher¡¯s emerald green eyes suddenly lit up as he clearly sensed something.

    Pergson, who was sitting on his shoulder, also sprung to his feet.

    Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher lifted his huge arm and pointed at a dark-gray cluster in the extreme distance, which was none other than the dead realm where Nie Tian, Huang Jinnan, and Pei Qiqi were holed up. ¡°There¡¯s an intense spirit beast flesh aura in one of the dead realms ahead of us. Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±

    Pergson then shouted something in the Bonebrutes¡¯nguage.

    As soon as he did, the ancient starship adjusted its direction and sailed off at full speed.

    Eyes closed, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher strained his senses, and could even get a sense of what the Goldskin Beast skull looked like. ¡°The residual flesh power in that spirit beast skull is so rich that I suspect it was at the ninth grade when it was killed. Those from the Nether Spirit Society wouldn¡¯t leave something that valuable in a dead realm.¡±

    The ancient starship sailed at full speed as pale-gray death power exuded from it and the Bonebrutes on it.

    ¡°How is the situation on the other battlefields?¡± Pergson asked, looking rxed.

    ¡°We went to great lengths to set this trap with those human sects. Of course we¡¯re at an advantage.¡± Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher said arrogantly. ¡°Even Grand Monarch Withered Bones is here. We¡¯re definitely going to inflict serious damage on the humans this time. We¡¯re now facing three human God domain experts, Mo Heng, Ji Yuanquan, and Lu Jiefeng. If we can kill any of them, it¡¯ll be a significant loss for the humans.

    ¡°Aside from them, a few Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Divine Children from the Five Elements Sect are also trapped in this domain. The humans consider them to be the cornerstones of their future. Their sects have ced high hopes in them and showered them with cultivation resources. If they die here, the great sects will suffer an even heavier blow.

    ¡°Right now, Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is engaged in a fierce fight against our Grand Monarch Withered Bones, while Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society is entangled by the Phantasms¡¯ Grand Monarch Dark Nether. Even if our two grand monarchs could defeat their respective opponents, they probably won¡¯t be able to kill them. Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect is the only human expert we might be able to kill in the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    Pergson was taken aback. ¡°I understand that Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society will be hard to kill because he¡¯s well-versed in spatial magics. However, Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce doesn¡¯t have a deep understanding of spatial power, nor will he be able to leave the Domain of Nether Heaven within a short time. Grand Monarch Withered Bones should be strong enough to kill him this time, right?¡±

    Shaking his head, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher said, ¡°Defeat him? Perhaps. But kill him? That¡¯s far too difficult. You still don¡¯t know much about human God domain experts. Even though Mo Heng, Ji Yuanquan, and Lu Jiefeng are all at the early God domain, Mo Heng is the most powerful of the three of them.

    ¡°As the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Mo Heng has been regarded as the humans¡¯ god of ying during the past thousands of years he has fought in the Dead Star Sea. Back when he was only at the Saint domain, he single-handedly killed two Demon grand patriarchs in the depths of the Dead Star Sea. Judging by their grades, both of them should have been stronger than him.

    ¡°Later, he entered the God domain, and didn¡¯t fight in battles as much as he used to. That¡¯s probably why you haven¡¯t heard much about his battle prowess.

    ¡°The fact that Grand Monarch Withered Bones sat back and watched him shatter the Heaven Freezing Spell with his dharma idol earlier proved that he was apprehensive about his battle prowess, and wanted him to consume some of his strength first.

    ¡°I suspect that he didn¡¯t have total confidence in defeating him in a fair battle.¡±

    Deeply surprised, Pergson asked, ¡°Is he really that powerful?¡±

    Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher let out a sigh. ¡°Well, if I were at the same level as him, I¡¯d definitely lose in a battle against him. I met him once many years ago, when he was still at the Saint domain. The impression he gave me was unforgettable. I was there when he killed one of those two Demon grand patriarchs...¡±

    The Bone Crusher looked downcast as he spoke of these things, even though he had already risen to a position that was second only to the three grand monarchs among all of the Bonebrute ns.

    Even Pergson could sense fear from him as he recounted the old stories of Mo Heng, the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ...

    In a secluded corner of the dead realm.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with delight as he channeled residual flesh power from the ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull by using Life Drain.

    Before this, he had only contended against Grand Patriarch Cardy¡¯s residual flesh power.

    Back then, the flesh power Cardy had left in Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain had already been bereft of soul power, yet his bloodline power still hadn¡¯t been able to absorb any of it. All he had been able to do was dissolve it.

    But this time, it went surprisingly smooth as he used Life Drain to channel flesh power from the ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull.

    What surprised Nie Tian the most was that just that skull alone contained a dozen times more flesh power than the whole body of an eighth grade Lizardman.

    If this ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s corpse had been intact, the amount of flesh power it contained would be greater than the amount of flesh power in a few dozen dead Lizardmen.

    Soon, Nie Tian finished channeling flesh power from the skull and went on to heal Pei Qiqi¡¯s injuries.

    As he did, the Goldskin Beast skull still shone with golden light and exuded vigorous flesh power.

    Two days passed...

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s knit brow rxed as she opened her eyes. Looking at Nie Tian, who had just withdrawn his hand, she said softly, ¡°My injuries are stable now. Even though I still can¡¯t wield the kind of power that got us through that Heaven Freezing Spell, I¡¯m strong enough to use Void Travel one or two times now.¡±

    Nie TIan¡¯s expression flickered with excitement.

    To him, it was great news that Pei Qiqi could use Void Travel again. This meant she would be able to take him and Huang Jinnan and leave this dead realm whenever she wanted.

    Since this dead realm wasn¡¯t sealed by spells like the Heaven Freezing Spell, she would be able to take them to another nearby realm.

    Their safety was guaranteed to arge extent.

    At this moment, Huang Jinnan eximed anxiously as he rushed over from the distance, holding a crystal ball in his hands. ¡°Something is wrong! Look!¡±

    Inside the transparent crystal ball was an image of Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher¡¯s ancient starship sailing at full speed in the dark starry river.

    ¡°That Bonebrute ancient starship will get here in a few hours,¡± Huang Jinnan exined with a deep frown. ¡°On the starship is Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, who we saw in realm number nine, and many Bonebrute soldiers.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re toote,¡± Pei Qiqi said inly. ¡°Nie Tian has already healed my injuries to a great extent with that Goldskin Beast skull you generously gave him. I can get us out of here with Void Travel long before that ancient starship arrives.¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s eyes lit up.

    ¡°In fact, let¡¯s go now. Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher may have some special bloodline talent that¡¯ll allow him to leave that ancient starship and arrive in front of us in a sh.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi rose to her feet. As she wove her hands in the air, numerous spatial des flew out to gnaw at the void like a school of fish.

    Momentster, a spatial rift appeared. ¡°Since I haven¡¯t fully recovered my strength yet, I can only get us to a nearby dead realm.¡±

    Huang Jinnanughed. ¡°That¡¯s good enough already! Even these dead realms are separated from each other by great distances. Even with their ancient starship, they won¡¯t be able to find us within a short time!¡±

    The three of them rapidly stepped into the spatial rift.

    Since this was a stable spatial tunnel, they didn¡¯t have to suffer from the multicolored dashing light the way they had before. Instead, they went through it without any encountering difficulties or harm.

    A few secondster, they appeared in another dead realm.

    ¡°Alright, that starship won¡¯t be able to get here any time soon,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a light tone. ¡°Unless those outsiders have essible spatial rifts or teleportation portals in this area.¡±

    With these words, she took out that irregrly shaped crystal and sensed it with rapt attention.

    ¡°We¡¯re in luck,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking even more rxed. ¡°There aren¡¯t any essible spatial rifts orrge-scale teleportation portals in the vicinity.¡±

    Then, she gave Nie Tian a meaningful gaze and said, ¡°If you¡¯re up to it, will you continue healing me? Once I¡¯m fully healed, I¡¯ll be able to use Void Travel more frequently.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled heartily. ¡°Absolutely. The ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull Brother Huang gave me contains more than enough flesh power for me to heal your fleshly injuries.¡±

    Seeing that they were safe for the time being, Huang Jinnan left the two of them alone with a dry smile.

    Nie Tian then started channeling the residual flesh power within the ninth grade Goldskin Beast¡¯s skull to heal Pei Qiqi.

    A few days passed before Huang Jinnan returned and informed them that the Bonebrute ancient starship had showed up again.

    Pei Qiqi thereforeunched Void Travel another time.

    Just like this, the pursuit went on as Nie Tian, Huang Jinnan, and Pei Qiqi traveled from one dead realm to another, until Pei Qiqi¡¯s fleshly wounds were finally fully healed.

    That Bonebrute ancient starship stopped again right before reaching a dead realm.

    ¡°What the hell?!¡± Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher eximed testily, ¡°Those three human juniors escaped again right before I got to them! That girl from the Void Spirit Society must have consumed a significant amount of power to pierce through the strong sealing effect of the Heaven Freezing Spell. In that situation, she can still use Void Travel repeatedly. This is unbelievable!¡±

    Having fought the four great human sects for so long, the outsiders had alreadye to deep understandings of their respective secret magics and incantations.

    He was well-aware that Pei Qiqi must enjoy a very special status in the Void Spirit Society. Otherwise, she couldn¡¯t have been able to travel around with Void Travel like she did at her level.

    Not to mention that she had just recently broken out of realm number nine, which had been sealed tightly by the Heaven Freezing Spell.

    After appearing in yet another dead realm, Pei Qiqi fixed her eyes on a distant dead realm. Thrumming with strong spatial fluctuations, she said, ¡°Hmm?! One of my sect elders is over there. She was supposed to be helping Sikong Cuo and his subordinates travel around. But why are they in that dead realm now?¡±

    Huang Jinnan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Sikong Cuo! Nie Tian, forgive me for saying this, but that Son of the Stars of your sect has earned himself a bad name among the great sects. Over the years, his subordinates have gotten into conflicts with every great sect, and caused more trouble than you can imagine.

    ¡°All those who have ever carried out operations with him spoke poorly of him afterwards.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, he turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Miss Pei, I don¡¯t want to work with someone like him. Even if he¡¯s surrounded by fierce subordinates, I want nothing to do with him. How about we just leave them be?¡±

    Pei Qiqi pondered the matter. Just as she was about to nod, Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°Wait.¡±

    Huang Jinnan was taken aback. ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re not friends with him, are you? As far as I know, he has been nothing but hostile towards you. His subordinates mocked you back when I visited you in Fragmentary Star City. Don¡¯t you remember that?¡±

    ¡°Of course I remember,¡± Nie Tian said with a cunning smile. ¡°Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher has been pursuing us, right? It seems to me that he¡¯s not going to give up until he catches us. Sikong Cuo is also a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. His status and importance matches ours. I bet Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher will be just as interested in him as in us.¡±

    Huang Jinnan immediately realized what Nie Tian was thinking. With a chuckle, he said, ¡°You¡¯re catty...¡±

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, let¡¯s go to that dead realm, but not in the same area as Sikong Cuo and his subordinates are,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°If you canmunicate with that elder of your sect in secret, tell her not to tell Sikong Cuo about our arrival.¡±

    Pei Qiqi shot him one of her sideways nces and said, ¡°You¡¯re full of dirty tricks indeed... If you¡¯re sure that¡¯s what you want to do, we can wait for that Bonebrute starship toe closer before we move out. And I¡¯ll try to leave signs of where we¡¯re going, so that it¡¯ll be easier for Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher to locate us.¡±

    ¡°Good thinking, Miss Pei!¡± Huang Jinnan said, smiling.

 Chapter 1025: Shifting Trouble onto Another

    In a dead realm, Sikong Cuo¡¯s face was distorted as he yelled ferociously at Fan Wen, a Void Spirit Society elder.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t Senior Ji Yuanquane to our aid in realm number fourteen? Given his cultivation base and strength, he should have been able to arrive moments after receiving your message, right?

    ¡°Do you know that three of my Void domain died because you failed to do your job?

    ¡°We were facing not only powerful experts from the Nether Spirit Society and Death Curse Sect, but also a Phantasm grand patriarch!

    ¡°Be assured. I¡¯ll settle ount with you and your sect after this!¡±

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s roars struck Fan Wen like a series of cannonballs, making her head spin.

    As an early Saint domain female Qi warrior from the Void Spirit Society, Fan Wen was well-versed in all sorts of spatial magics.

    Frowning in disgust, she said, ¡°I told you that I couldn¡¯t get in touch with Mr. Ji!¡±

    Face grim, Sikong Cuo confronted her. ¡°Your sect has a secret magic that allows their disciples in the same domain tomunicate with each other. Don¡¯t you try to fool me!¡±

    Fan Wen didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Believe me or not, I didn¡¯t try to get you in trouble. If I did, I wouldn¡¯t have split open a spatial rift and brought you here in the first ce.¡±

    Hearing this, Sikong Cuo suddenly fell silent.

    After spending a long while calming himself, he smiled apologetically and said, ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t thinking right just now. It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡±

    Apparently, only at this moment did it ur to him that his and his subordinates¡¯ fate was still in Fan Wen¡¯s hands.

    ¡°Elder Fan, how many times can you still use Void Travel?¡± He asked cautiously.

    ¡°Only once,¡± Fan Wen answered. ¡°And I won¡¯t be able to support the spatial rift for long, so you¡¯ll have to enter as soon as possible. Since I¡¯m only at the early Saint domain, I can¡¯t cast Void Travel freely. Every time I do, it¡¯ll take a long time for me to recover.¡±

    ¡°I see...¡± Sikong Cuo dragged his voice to feign concern. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, take your time to recover, Elder Fan. I¡¯ll get out of your hair.¡±

    With these words, he walked away to the ce where his subordinates were gathered.

    Knowing that he was far enough from Fan Wen, he snorted coldly and spat. ¡°Useless!¡±

    Then, he turned to his subordinates and said, ¡°Let¡¯s stay vignt everyone. That woman from the Void Spirit Society may not be reliable. From the look of things, something major has happened in the Domain of Nether Heaven. The fact that those Phantasms and Death Curse Sect disciples showed up means that we¡¯re not just facing the Nether Spirit Society alone.¡±

    Ate Saint domain expert named Zou Qing, who was the most powerful of Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates, said in a deep voice, ¡°Master, I have a feeling that the entire Domain of Nether Heaven has be a prison now. When I examined the starry river with my soul awareness earlier, rich outsider flesh auras had already covered wherever my soul awareness reached.¡±

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    With a bitter expression, Zou Qing continued, ¡°If my spection is correct, that flesh auraes from outsider grand monarchs! That means more than one! Only that would exin how their flesh auras could spread over the entire Domain of Nether Heaven, stopping even powerful Void Spirit Society experts in other domains froming to our aid.¡±

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Multiple outsider grand monarchs?! So are you saying that even God domain experts from the Void Spirit Society won¡¯t be able to get here in a sh like they usually can with Void Travel?¡±

    Zou Qing sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡±

    ¡°What on earth is happening?¡± Sikong Cuo muttered, his face increasingly grim. ¡°We couldn¡¯t get in touch with Ji Yuanquan, and almost got annihted in realm number fourteen. Don¡¯t tell me that the other teams are all going through the same thing?

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve dealt with situations like this many times. I¡¯ll definitely be able to get you out of here safely.¡±

    Hearing his words, many of his subordinates remembered their previous experiences, and started chuckling.

    More than once, Sikong Cuo had found himself in a perilous situation, but shifted his trouble onto others through some vicious tricks. Eventually, he had saved his own forces at the cost of others¡¯.

    Many of them had personally taken part in those operations, and thus believed that Sikong Cou was capable of repeating his sess.

    Meanwhile...

    Fan Wen squinted as tiny sparks shed across the depths of her pupils.

    Those sparks seemed to carry information that she captured from an unknown heaven and earth, since for every spark that shed across, she received a short message.

    ¡°Miss Pei ising, but I shouldn¡¯t say anything to Sikong Cuo.¡±

    ¡°Grand Elder Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is now engaged in a fierce battle against Grand Monarch Withered Bones outside the shattered realm number nine!¡±

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher has been pursuing her on an ancient starship?!¡±

    ¡°Other outsider grand monarchs have sealed the Domain of Nether Heaven and n to kill us all?!¡±

    Soon, she gained a good understanding of the current situation in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and suspected that the reason why Ji Yuanquan hadn¡¯t responded to her was because he had been caught up in a fierce battle against some outsider grand monarch.

    ¡°Miss Pei is going to lure Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher here.¡± Fan Wen thought to herself. ¡°Is she nning to fight Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher with Sikong Cuo¡¯s help? Or is she thinking...?¡±

    At this moment, Sikong Cuo¡¯s hideous face suddenly entered her mind.

    ¡°Whatever. I¡¯ll just do what she says. She represents our sectmaster after all. Even if it¡¯ll create trouble in the future, I¡¯m sure Miss Pei will be fine. I have nothing to worry about.¡±

    After making up her mind, she secretly informed Pei Qiqi of Sikong Cuo and his subordinates¡¯ location, as well as the location on the other side of the realm where she shouldnd.

    ...

    Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher¡¯s ancient starship finally arrived at the dead realm that Pei Qiqi and the others had just left. He examined it with his flesh aura, but failed to sense any signs of life again.

    Just as he was about to have an outburst, he suddenly captured a wisp of elusive spatial power that pointed him towards a nearby dead realm.

    Delight filled Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher¡¯s face as he said, ¡°That girl from the Void Spirit Society must have overconsumed her strength! She never left any trace behind when she used Void Travel before, so I had to locate her again through a massive search. But this time, she failed to conceal a wisp of her spatial power as she escaped. This means she¡¯s strained herself so much that she¡¯s losing control of her power.

    ¡°That dead realm! The three human juniors we¡¯ve been chasing after for so long must be there!

    ¡°Even Saint domain experts of the Void Spirit Society can¡¯t use Void Travel as frequently as she does. That girl must be on the verge of breaking down!

    ¡°Perhaps she¡¯s already too weak to cast Void Travel again! Their doom hase!¡±

    Now, after having searched the boundless starry river for a long time and repeated frustrating failures, he finally saw hope, and immediately grew thrilled.

    ¡°Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Don¡¯t be afraid of burning fuel! elerate!¡± He eximed excitedly. ¡°We¡¯ve got to reach that dead realm and kill them all before that girl recovers her strength and casts Void Travel again!¡±

    The bone starship gave rise to strange creaks as it shot into the distant starry river at full speed, dragging a long tail of gray aura behind it.

    ...

    Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian, and Huang Jinnan arrived in the dead realm. Without conducting a thorough scan of their surroundings, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°This is it. I¡¯vemunicated with Elder Fan Wen. ording to her, Sikong Cuo and hisckeys are on the other side of this realm. But we can¡¯t stay here for too long. Otherwise, thatte Saint domain subordinate of his might sense our existence.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was aware that thatte Saint domain expert wouldn¡¯t examine everything in his vicinity with his soul awareness all the time.

    However, she believed that since Sikong Cuo and his men hade to this ce, he must be very cautious, and would have thatte Saint domain expert examine their surroundings every once in a while.

    The dead realm they were currently on wasn¡¯t vast. If ate Saint domain expert spread his soul awareness over it, he would easily sense their existence and locate them.

    ¡°You left a trace behind, right?¡± Nie Tian asked, smiling.

    ¡°Yeah, I suppose Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher will get here soon by tracking it.¡± To be safe, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t try tomunicate with Fan Wen after entering this realm. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here first. That Bonebrute ancient starship is already on its way to this realm. And I¡¯ve already told Elder Fan not to get Sikong Cuo¡¯s people out of this realm for now.

    ¡°Besides, she¡¯s consumed a significant amount of power, and is currently too weak to get them all out with one Void Travel.¡±

    Huang Jinnan sighed in admiration. ¡°Miss Pei will definitely be the Void Spirit Society¡¯s brightest star.¡±

    He was well-aware that even Saint domain disciples of the Void Spirit Society couldn¡¯t cast Void Travel so frequently.

    Not to mention that Pei Qiqi had recently suffered serious injuries. Even though Nie Tian had treated her, he had healed nothing but her fleshly wounds. The fact that she was able to split open spatial rifts repeatedly in such condition made Huang Jinnan admire her greatly.

    A new spatial rift appeared, and the three of them entered it without hesitation.

    After arriving in another dead realm, Nie Tian took out the Goldskin Beast skull and focused on cultivating with its residual flesh power.

    It wasn¡¯t long before his heart suddenly started pounding.

    His expression flickered as he immediately sent a wisp of soul awareness to examine his heart. To his surprise, he discovered that the green aura that hadin dormant at the bottom of his heart had finally finished its upgrade, and generated brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    ¡°Finally, another bloodline upgrade!¡±

 Chapter 1026: Heaven-defying Bloodline Talents

    This was the seventh time Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline talent had upgraded.

    The first time, Life Transfer had been awakened. The second time, Life Stealth had been awakened. The third time, Life Drain. The fourth time, Blood Essence Extraction. The fifth time, Life Blend.

    The sixth time, two bloodline talents had been awakened: Life Strengthening and Blood Essence Seething.

    This was the seventh time.

    The more bloodline upgrades he had achieved, the longer it had taken him to achieve new bloodline upgrades and awaken new bloodline talents.

    Ten years had passed since he hadst umted enough flesh power.

    Every time the green aura in his heart absorbed enough flesh power, it would fall dormant to digest the flesh power and brew wonders.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One brand new Bloodline Crystal Chain after another appeared within the green aura in his heart.

    Each and every one of them carried the profound truths of life.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    As more and more Bloodline Crystal Chains appeared, Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. To his surprise, he found his seventh bloodline upgrade even more violent than his sixth.

    With his sixth bloodline upgrade, two bloodline talents had been awakened: Life Strengthening and Blood Essence Seething.

    However, the changes caused by his seventh bloodline upgrade seemed to be even greater.

    Even though more Bloodline Crystal Chains still had yet to appear, Nie Tian had a peculiar feeling that they carried three different bloodline talents!

    ¡°Ten years of waiting and all the effort I spent umting flesh power has finally paid off!¡±

    The flesh power fluctuations Nie Tian was now emanating were as intense as a sea in a storm. Even Pei Qiqi gasped with astonishment upon sensing them. ¡°Nie Tian, are you...?¡±

    Huang Jinnan, who had retreated to a farther location, didn¡¯t sense anything. After all, he wasn¡¯t a hybrid, and wasn¡¯t as sensitive to flesh power fluctuations.

    ¡°My bloodline has just upgraded,¡± Nie Tian said, beaming with anticipation.

    Taken by surprise, Pei Qiqi went nk for a few seconds before snapping out of her daze. ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    Then, she took the initiative to walk away from Nie Tian, worrying that her special spatial power fluctuations would affect Nie Tian¡¯s upgrade.

    Soon, three brand new bloodline talents were branded in Nie Tian¡¯s soul and body like ineffaceable imprints. ¡°Potential Stimtion! Blood Essence Transcendence! Life Bestowal!¡±

    Nie Tian grasped the essence of his three newly acquired bloodline talents in a sh.

    Potential Stimtion was a way to use his Blood Essence to stimte his body. Not only would it greatly enhance the intensity of his body, but it would also improve the effects of his previously-awakened bloodline talents to great extents.

    That meant, once he activated Potential Stimtion, the efficiency of his Life Transfer, Life Drain, and Blood Essence Extraction would all improve significantly.

    Furthermore, he would be able to achieve Life Blend, Life Strengthening, and Life Stealth within a shorter time.

    Even the effect of Blood Essence Seething would be fiercer.

    Besides all that, Potential Stimtion had another amazing use.

    He would be able to use it on others to stimte their potential to the fullest!

    However, it would only work on outsiders, hybrids, or body-refiners like Yin Yanan, who had vigorous flesh auras running inside of them.

    After all, Potential Stimtion only stimted and enhanced flesh power, not spiritual power.

    The second new bloodline talent was Blood Essence Transcendence.

    As its name implied, Blood Essence Transcendence would allow him to condense Blood Essence that was more refined, and carried new a brand new wonder: the ability to extend his lifespan.

    Aside from that, the capacity of his Blood Essence reserve was also increased.

    Before he could only refine a total of ten drops of Blood Essence. After that, no matter how much flesh power he absorbed, he wouldn¡¯t be able to condense another drop of Blood Essence.

    However, now that he had awakened Blood Essence Transcendence, not only would his Blood Essence be more powerful and wondrous, but he would also be able to condense fifty drops at a time.

    That was five times the original amount.

    The third new bloodline talent was Life Bestowal, which would couple perfectly with Life Transfer and allow him to infuse his transcended Blood Essence into the heart of any living being.

    If he used Life Bestowal on outsiders, he would be able to vest them with vigorous life force and enhance the power of their bodies.

    If he used it on humans, he would be able to achieve something even more shocking.

    It would allow him to extend their lifespans!

    By performing Life Transfer and Life Bestowal simultaneously, and infusing a drop of his Blood Essence into another human being, he would be able to give him or her ten years of additional lifespan!

    One drop of Blood Essence equaled ten years of additional lifespan! Such a wondrous effect was even better than that of the mysterious berries he had obtained in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Now that his bloodline had advanced to the seventh grade, he could have a Blood Essence reserve of fifty drops.

    If he were to infuse all fifty drops into another human being¡¯s heart, he would be able to prolong his or her lifespan by a total of five centuries!

    Back in the day, he had obtained two Fruits of Life in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, which he had given to Wu Ji and Hua Mu. However, they had only prolonged their lifespans by a hundred years.

    If his bloodline had advanced to the seventh grade back then, he would have been able to prolong their lifespans with no external help, and to better effect.

    Humanity¡¯s greatest inherent weakness was their feeble bodies and short lifespans.

    The only reason why they were still able to contend against the other higher races was because they could make up for their shorings by developing their spiritual seas and practicing all sorts of power.

    The only way they could extend their lifespans was to make rapid breakthroughs in cultivation.

    However, that was too difficult a task for many human Qi warriors. Numerous respected figures like Wu Ji and Hua Mu had faced situations where they were in desperate need of extra years.

    It wasn¡¯t just them; even many Void, Saint, and God domain patriarchs had to face the same lifespan problem sometimes.

    Therefore, in most Qi warriors¡¯ eyes, things that could prolong their lifespans were far more valuable than treasures like soul crystals.

    Fruits of Life existed only in legends. Only in farfetched legends did people manage to find them and prolong their lifespans with them.

    However, Nie Tian had actually gained the divine ability to prolong other humans¡¯ lifespans after his bloodline advanced to the seventh grade.

    This was simply heaven-defying!

    However slow-witted Nie Tian might be, he had to know what it meant to be able to prolong others¡¯ lifespans.

    With these thoughts in mind, he trembled with excitement, but also a tinge of fear.

    ¡°This bloodline talent is such a gift from the heavens! But I¡¯ve got to keep it a secret. Once people find out about it, countless patriarchs with lifespan problems throughout the human domains would definitely stop at nothing to find me!¡±

    While he was consumed with this shocking bloodline talent of his, he was suddenly struck by a feeling that his wisp of soul awareness he had sent into his heart was now being attracted by the green aura.

    It was as if, buried deep under the three new bloodline talents, something was calling out to his soul.

    A violent shudder ran through him. ¡°It¡¯s the origin of bloodlines: The Blood Realm!¡±

    He almost skipped with excitement and ecstasy.

    From his master, Wu Ji, and others who studied the outsiders¡¯ wonders, he had learned a secret.

    All of the higher races, including all kinds of powerful Ancientspirits and outsiders, had their own Blood Realms.

    Those Blood Realms were the origins of their bloodlines, which were branded with a vast variety of bloodline magics.

    Bloodline magics were different from bloodline talents. Bloodline talents were simr to humanity¡¯s spiritual incantations, while bloodline magics were more like specific skills and ways to unleash bloodline power.

    Some bloodline talents could be used as powerful attacking means as well, but that wasn¡¯t the case with the majority of them.

    For example, bloodline talents like Life Transfer, Life Stealth, and Blood Essence Extraction couldn¡¯t used to kill his enemies.

    Only Life Drain, Life Blend, Life Strengthening, and Blood Essence Seething would provide him with help in battle.

    Even so, they weren¡¯t technically attacking means. All they did was improve his battle prowess and performance.

    Meanwhile, almost all bloodline magics were attacking techniques. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call them the quintessence of the art of battle.

    Normally, there were three ways for Ancientspirits or outsiders to obtain bloodline magics.

    The first way would be to study the profound mysteries of their bloodlines and derive new bloodline magics from their enlightenment and epiphanies. However, since this was creating things from scratch, only a handful of the most powerful figures in a race could do it. They had to have extremely deep understandings of their bloodlines, and special opportunities had to present themselves.

    The second way they would be to learn bloodline magics was from their aplished n seniors.

    The third way would be to obtain them directly from the origin of their bloodlines: their Blood Realms.

    All of the ancient races had their own Blood Realms, which didn¡¯t exist in the real world, and were almost impossible to find.

    However, powerful outsider experts would have a slim chance at entering their Blood Realms when their bloodlines upgraded, or they were deriving enlightenment from the profound mysteries of their bloodlines.

    It was said that only tenth grade grand monarchs could understand the profound way Blood Realms worked, and leave behind the bloodline magics they had created in them.

    As for Nie Tian, from the day he had awakened his Life Bloodline, he had already awakened a number of bloodline talents. However, he didn¡¯t know how to fully disy the might of his bloodline power in battle.

    What hecked was bloodline magics.

    To begin with, his bloodline was still at a low grade. His understanding of it was far from deep enough for him to create any bloodline magics from scratch.

    Besides, he still hadn¡¯t found the origin of his bloodline, or a senior who shared his bloodline.

    To obtain new bloodline magics, his only option was to find the Blood Realm of his bloodline and obtain new bloodline magics from it.

    However, over the years, he had never felt the summons of the Blood Realm of his bloodline, and thus didn¡¯t know where to find it... until today!

    A sense of exhaustion overtook him as his wisp of soul awareness sensed the summons of the Blood Realm with rapt attention.

    After pondering for a while, he gradually realized that he would have to be in peak condition if he wanted to find and enter the Blood Realm of his bloodline.

    ¡®Peak condition¡¯ meant he had to have all fifty drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    ¡°Only after condensing fifty drops of Blood Essence will I have a chance at entering the Blood Realm and finding the bloodline magics I need to maximize my battle prowess!¡±

    With this thought, he suddenly noticed that the ten drops of Blood Essence in his heart had started to merge with each other.

    At the same time, he had a feeling that his body was now desperate for a tremendous amount of flesh power.

    Such strong yearning came from that green aura, as well as his entire body!

    ¡°Now that my bloodline has made an advance, I¡¯ll have to start umting flesh power again to prepare for its next upgrade. The amount of flesh power that green aura absorbed thest time was already astronomical. I wonder how much flesh power I¡¯ll have to get for it this time...

    ¡°Aside from that, after this upgrade, the amount of flesh power my internal organs, bones, blood, and meridians can hold had also multiplied. That means I¡¯ll also have to spend a great amount of flesh power filling that hole.

    ¡°Lastly, now that my Blood Essence has be more refined, how much flesh power will I need to condense a drop of Blood Essence now?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk. He suddenly felt that he was like a ck hole that sucked all living beings into itself. The amount of flesh power he would have to gather drove him to despair.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    He smiled bitterly for a long while before activating Life Drain to channel thest remaining flesh power from the Goldskin Beast skull.

    After entering his body, the vigorous flesh power streamed directly into his heart, where it fused into the merging ten drops of Blood Essence in an attempt to condense a drop of transcendent Blood Essence.

    Hours passed, and the drained Goldskin Beast skull suddenly crumbled, its ashes scattering into the wind.

    Only then did a drop of new Blood Essencee to form.

    Nie Tian made some calctions in his head, and realized that the amount of flesh power he needed to form a drop of transcendent Blood Essence was roughly the amount of flesh power an eighth grade outsider or Ancientbeast normally held.

    ¡°Only after condensing fifty drops of Blood Essence will I have a chance at entering the Blood Realm. And fifty drops of Blood Essence equals fifty eighth grade outsiders or Ancientbeasts. Jeez!

    ¡°Besides, my internal organs, bones, meridians, and blood also need more flesh power.

    ¡°I suppose the amount of flesh power that green aura will need to get ready for its next upgrade will far exceed what it takes to condense fifty drops of Blood Essence... When will this end...?¡±

    Gazing into the starry river, Nie Tian sighed with mixed emotions, having a headache over the unimaginable flesh power shortfall he was facing.

 Chapter 1027: Battle Begins

    The first drop of transcendent Blood Essence finally came to form in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Sparkling and gorgeous like a crimson diamond, it seemed to be engraved with aplicated pattern that carried the miracles of life.

    The drop of Blood Essence was filled with an extremely pure and rich life aura.

    However, the birth of this drop of Blood Essence was based on Nie Tian¡¯s ten drops of old Blood Essence and the remaining flesh power in that Goldskin Beast skull.

    To condense a second drop of Blood Essence, he would need the corpse of an eighth grade outsider or Ancientbeast. However, Nie Tian had already run out of such luxuries. The spirit beast meat he had was only enough to meet his daily consumption.

    Only after condensing all fifty drops of Blood Essence would he have a chance at entering the origin of his bloodline to obtain bloodline magics.

    Nie Tian sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°The path of bloodline upgrades is a long one. Now, my bloodline is at the seventh grade. Who knows how much flesh power and how many years it¡¯ll take for my bloodline to upgrade in the future...¡±

    Without more Ancientbeast or outsider corpses, he couldn¡¯t condense more Blood Essence, strengthen his body, or satisfy the green aura¡¯s appetite.

    This meant that even though his bloodline had sessfully entered the seventh grade, he wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve much with his upgraded bloodline within a short period of time.

    Therefore, he had no choice but to further the refinement of his spiritual sea.

    Time flew. Soon, two days passed.

    During this time, Pei Qiqi had never approached him or asked him about his bloodline upgrade. Instead, she had focused on her own cultivation, and only took a nce at him every once in a while.

    WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi suddenly let out a deep breath and rose to her feet.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and looked at her.

    ¡°That Bonebrute ancient starship is going to arrive at the dead realm where Sikong Cuo and his men are hiding soon,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°A battle could break out at any moment.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°So that elder of your sect...¡±

    ¡°Elder Fan will be able to cast Void Travel, but she won¡¯t be able to keep the spatial rift open longer than a few seconds,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking slightly worried. ¡°Elder Fan is at the early Saint domain and well-versed in all sorts of spatial magics. If she didn¡¯t have to cast Void Travel, she would be more than capable of keeping herself safe by shifting about in that realm.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, tell her to find an excuse to not cast Void Travel, and prompt Sikong Cuo to fight the Bonebrutes,¡± Nie Tian suggested.

    Pei Qiqi had a headache over the situation. ¡°Even though that¡¯s doable... I¡¯m afraid that Sikong Cuo will hold my sect ountable for her actions after this operation. It¡¯s her duty to transfer Sikong Cuo and his subordinates from ce to ce with Void Travel. If she can cast Void Travel but refuses to do so, then it¡¯ll be a dereliction of duty.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Perhaps Sikong Cuo won¡¯t want to leave right away. He may choose to stay and fight. There¡¯s only Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, Pergson, and a band of other Bonebrutes at different grades on that ancient starship. As for Sikong Cuo, he has three Saint domain experts on his team, and one of them is at thete Saint domain. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a battle they can¡¯t win.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Pei Qiqi hesitated for a few seconds before casting a secret spell of the Void Spirit Society to initiate secretmunications with Fan Wen.

    ...

    In an unidentified dead realm.

    Thete Saint domain Zou Qing was alerted as soon as the Bonebrute ancient starship entered the broken realm barrier.

    His expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Master! A Bonebrute starship is here!¡±

    Sikong Cuo gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Bonebrutes?! Try and see if you can sense their grades. If it¡¯s a battle we can¡¯t win, we need to tell Fan Wen to get us out of here as soon as possible. If the Bonebrutes on that starship aren¡¯t as strong as us, we¡¯ll stay and kill them.¡±

    Zou Qing nodded.

    Awork of fine lightning bolts suddenly appeared in the air.

    They rapidly spread towards the edge of the dead realm, along with Zou QIng¡¯s soul awareness.

    ¡°Ate ninth grade Bonebrute grand patriarch! Judging from his aura...¡± Zou Qing said in a low voice as he sensed with rapt attention. ¡°It must be Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher!¡±

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher?!¡± Sikong Cuo immediately felt an urge to leave. ¡°Among all the Bonebrutes, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher¡¯s battle prowess is second only to the three grand monarchs. He¡¯s going to be very difficult to handle.¡±

    Face grim, Zou Qing nodded slightly. ¡°Exactly. Even I don¡¯t have confidence that I¡¯ll be able to defeat him in battle. I believe I¡¯d have much better odds if it were some Phantasm grand patriarch, instead of Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher. After all, I practice lightning power, which has a strong subduing effect on Phantasms. But Bonebrutes...¡±

    A bitter expression appeared on his face.

    Zou Qing continued to sense with rapt attention. ¡°Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher seems to be the only grand patriarch on that starship. All the rest are a bunch of eighth grade Bonebrute soldiers. I assume the odds will be against me if I were to fight Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher myself. But if can get someone to help me...¡± He went on with his calction.

    Before he could finish, Sikong Cuo called out, ¡°Elder Fan!¡±

    SHEW!

    Fan Wen arrived in a sh.

    ¡°Can you cast Void Travel and get us out of this realm now?¡± Sikong Cuo asked with a grim face.

    ¡°I can cast Void Travel. That won¡¯t be a problem. But I won¡¯t be able to keep the spatial rift open longer than a few seconds.¡± Fan Wen said, looking a bit awkward. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve also sensed the aura of a Bonebrute grand patriarch. If he somehow interrupts me when I¡¯m casting Void Travel, the spatial rift will be unstable. The result will be unpredictable.¡±

    Face even grimmer, Sikong Cuo asked, ¡°So what are you saying?¡±

    ¡°What I¡¯m saying is I can cast Void Travel, but I can only get about half of your people out of here,¡± Fan Wen answered, looking self-possessed. ¡°Also, you¡¯ll have to make sure that Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher doesn¡¯t interrupt me in any way.¡±

    Anger instantly filled Sikong Cuo¡¯s heart as he asked coldly, ¡°Are you sure that there isn¡¯t a way for all of us to leave this realm?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Fan Wen answered. ¡°But the way I see it, the iing Bonebrutes aren¡¯t that formidable. Staying and fighting might not be a bad choice. Also, if I have a few more days to recover my strength, then I¡¯ll definitely be able to get all of you out of here with Void Travel.¡±

    ¡°How do I know that more outsiders aren¡¯t on their way here?¡± Sikong Cuo blurted testily.

    ¡°The choice is yours.¡± Fan Wen didn¡¯t want to waste her breath. ¡°If you want me to cast Void Travel now, I¡¯ll do it. But I can¡¯t promise how many of you will be able to leave through it.¡±

    Sikong Cuo pondered for a long while before fixing Zou Qing with a deep look. ¡°Do we have a chance at winning this battle?¡±

    ¡°I think we do,¡± Zou Qing answered.

    ¡°Alright then. Now that we don¡¯t really have a choice, let¡¯s prepare for battle!¡± Sikong Cuo made his stance clear.

    ...

    Not just Sikong Cuo, but Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, who was standing on the iing bone starship, also found the situation undesirable.

    He ordered the starship to be berthed.

    At this point, he had also sensed the auras of Zou Qing and the other Saint domain experts.

    He had thought that he was finally going to catch Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian, and Huang Jinnan this time. Who would have thought that he would find a group of powerful humans instead?

    Three Saint domain experts, and more than a dozen Void domain experts. Even he didn¡¯t have confidence in crushing them in battle.

    ¡°What should we do now, grand patriarch?¡± Pergson asked.

    ¡°There¡¯s a Son of the Stars down there, but we seem to have lost track of the three we¡¯ve been chasing.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher added, ¡°Try to get in contact with the others, as well as the Phantasms and people from the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect. See if any of them are in this area. If they are, tell them to find the closest teleportation portal or spatial rift, ande to us as soon as possible.¡±

    Pergson nodded and asked, ¡°Do we fight them now?¡±

    ¡°Of course!¡± Even though Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher also had worries, his fighting spirit was much higher than Sikong Cuo¡¯s. ¡°You stay here. The rest of you are going down there with me! We don¡¯t have to win the battle within a short time. We just need to stall them long enough for our reinforcements to arrive. Then, the final victory will be ours!¡±

    As soon as he said these words, one eighth grade Bonebrute after another appeared on the deck of the starship made of bones.

    ¡°Kill as many of them as you can! Don¡¯t hold back!¡± Eximing these words, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher leapt off the starship and plummeted towards the earth like a mountain of translucent, sparkling bones.

    The eighth grade Bonebrutes jumped off after him. Each and every one of them emanated a strong aura of death as they dove out of the sky.

    Face cold, Pei Qiqi gazed off into the distance at a dead realm that was only the size of a fist. ¡°The battle has started.¡±

    Even though she couldn¡¯t see the Bonebrute ancient starship from such a long distance, she had learned from Fan Wen that Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher had made a move.

    ¡°Dammit. Why do they have to be Bonebrutes, but not people of any other race?¡± Nie Tianined.

    ¡°What difference does that make?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking puzzled.

    With a pitiful face, Nie Tian exined, ¡°If they were outsiders of other races, like Demons, Phantasms, Birdmen, or ckscales, I¡¯d be able to harvest their corpses after the battle and make significant use of them. Even though dead Bonebrutes will also contain residual flesh power, since it¡¯ll be mixed with death power, it won¡¯t be of much help to me.¡±

 Chapter 1028: Infinite Fighting Spirit

    Life power and death power were two opposite types of power.

    Nie Tian had verified this long ago when he had used Life Blend on the Bone Blood Demon.

    Every time he had made an attempt, he had felt strong restrictions that had prevented him from fully disying the might of Life Blend.

    By contrast, when he had used Life Blend on the ck tortoise, he had felt perfectpatibility.

    Therefore, perhaps the Bonebrutes were the race that were the most unfit for him to use Life Drain on among all of the races that lived in this boundless starry river.

    Their bloodlines negated each other.

    If it weren¡¯t Bonebrutes that Sikong Cuo was now fighting, Nie Tian might have put his grudge towards him aside for the moment and rushed to his aid in order to obtain outsider corpses. After all, he needed arge amount of flesh power to condense Blood Essence if he wanted to seek bloodline magics in the Blood Realm.

    But since it was Bonebrutes, he didn¡¯t have even the slightest interest in joining the battle.

    Though separated by the starry river, Pei Qiqi gained a grasp of thetest situation on the battlefield through Fan Wen.

    ¡°A battle has broken out. The two sides seem to be evenly matched. The battle might be a long one.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi slowly sat down, as if she felt relieved after learning the current situation. ¡°As notorious as Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates are, their battle prowess is actually very impressive. The Bonebrutes have only one grand patriarch. I doubt that they¡¯ll gain an advantage in this battle.

    ¡°If there are no mishaps, Sikong Cuo will lose several of his subordinates, while a number of eighth grade Bonebrutes will perish.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stay put and see how the situation develops.¡±

    With a rxed smile, Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right. We can count it as a sess if this battle ends up consuming a handful of Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates. After all the people he has set up, it¡¯s such a pleasure to see him tasting his own medicine for a change!¡±

    As the two of them spoke, Huang Jinnan approached. ¡°A battle has broken out?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Nie Tian took a deep look at him. ¡°How did your recovery go?¡±

    Huang Jinnan gave a low chuckle and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already recovered eighty percent of my battle prowess. My master gave me some powerful medicinal pills before I came here. Since most of my injuries are fleshly wounds that incurred when we escaped from realm number nine, and you¡¯ve healed them to a great extent, I was able to heal my injured true soul with some medicinal pills. I¡¯ll be fine even if we get into a battle right now.¡±

    It had been a long time since they had escaped from realm number nine.

    Among the three chosen ones, Nie Tian was actually in the best condition, considering that he hadn¡¯t fought or done anything other than healing Pei Qiqi and Huang Jinnan¡¯s injuries.

    Plus, his bloodline had recently advanced to the seventh grade.

    His seventh grade bloodline alone gave him battle prowess of Soul realm human expert.

    It appeared that his bloodline grade didn¡¯t subdivide into early, middle, andte stages. Instead, it was one big stage.

    To fully disy the might of his bloodline power, all he had to do was condense all fifty drops of Blood Essence and fill his internal organs, bones, meridians, and blood with a copious amount of flesh power.

    Achieving that would mean his bloodline had reached the peak of the seventh grade.

    On top of that, if he could satisfy the green aura¡¯s bottomless appetite for flesh power, allowing it to fall dormant again, that would mean that his bloodline had reached the peak of the seventh grade.

    Simrly, if he ran low on his Blood Essence, his bloodline would fall back slightly.

    He had learned this the moment his bloodline had broken through into the seventh grade.

    After a short conversation, the three of them stayed together, while Pei Qiqi kept in contact with Fang Wen and paid close attention to the battle that was taking ce on the nearby dead realm.

    Sitting on the ground, she rted thetest information to Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan every once in a while.

    ¡°Two of Sikong Cuo¡¯s Void domain subordinates have been killed.

    ¡°A middle eighth grade Bonebrute died. Itsrge bony body fell apart.

    ¡°Till now, Sikong Cuo still hasn¡¯t joined the battle himself.

    ¡°A cultivator well-versed in manipting spirit vermin unleashed a swarm of spirit vermin that filled the sky. That cultivator is at the middle Saint domain, and has outstanding battle prowess. He and his spirit vermin are giving the Bonebrutes a lot of trouble.

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher made a move! He unleashed a bloodline magic, eliminating countless spirit vermin in an instant!

    ¡°The man is seriously injured!¡±

    Meanwhile, the two of them just nodded in silence. From her, they got a sense of the intensity of the battle, and realized that this battle between Sikong Cuo¡¯s team and the Bonebrutes wouldn¡¯t end any time soon.

    Momentster, Pei Qiqi said with a grim face, ¡°Sikong Cuo has made a move, and apparently he¡¯s an amazing fighter! Even though I can¡¯t see the battlefield with my own eyes, ording to Elder Fan¡¯s description, he¡¯s shown incredible battle prowess! He¡¯s crushing his enemies with all sorts of secret legacy magics of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. None of the eighth grade Bonebrutes can match him in battle!

    ¡°He¡¯s already killed three eighth grade Bonebrutes, and one of them was at thete eighth grade!¡±

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly frowned and continued in a soft voice, ¡°The bone starship that was berthed at the edge of the realm is now descending. A Bonebrute can be seen standing at its prow. His grade doesn¡¯t seem to be high, but he¡¯s holding a saber that¡¯s unleashing terrifying might. It appears that he¡¯s using it to suppress Sikong Cuo, and achieving a good result.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Pergson, a Bonebrute chosen one,¡± Huang Jinnan exined. ¡°That saber in his hand is the Bone Shatterer, a unique treasure of the Bonebrutes.¡±

    Just as he was about to further exin Pergson¡¯s superb battle prowess and noble status among the Bonebrutes, his expression suddenly flickered.

    Without any hesitation, he took out his crystal ball, inside of which two Demon ancient starships appeared.

    ¡°Those Demon ancient starships are heading in our direction...¡± Huang Jinnan instantly realized what was going on. ¡°They must have happened to be in this region, and now they¡¯ve been summoned to this ce by the Bonebrutes.¡±

    ¡°Can you tell what grades they¡¯re at?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°From the look of it, they don¡¯t have any grand patriarchs among them,¡± Huang Jinnan said.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we can try fighting them.¡± With these words Pei Qiqi shot a nce at Nie Tian. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you need outsider corpses?¡±

    With a cunning smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Let¡¯s say we¡¯re doing this to help Sikong Cuo!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Pei Qiqi summoned her Voidheaven Boat, and the three of them jumped on board.

    ¡°I can save us the lengthy journey and get us there to intercept them right away.¡± As Pei Qiqi¡¯s jade-like hands wove in the air, a slender spatial rift split open.

    Even though it wasn¡¯trge enough for ancient starships to pass through, it fit the Voidheaven Boat well.

    This was one of the perks of traveling on air-transportation spiritual tools.

    SHEW!

    The Voidheaven Boat vanished into the spatial rift. In the next moment, it appeared abruptly in front of the two Demon ancient starships.

    A shield had formed around the Voidheaven Boat, protecting the three onboard from the harmful energies in the starry river.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One figure after another shed into appearance on the decks of the two Demon starships. Their grades varied greatly, but most of them were high-tier Demons. At this moment, they all fixed Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Huang Jinnan with baffled gazes.

    Nie Tian looked back at them.

    The two Demon starships came from the Fourth Demon Realm and the Fifth Demon Realm. A meaningful smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face after he ran his gaze over the Demons standing on the starship. ¡°Old acquaintances. Interesting.¡±

    The Domain of the Falling Stars had been invaded by Demons more than once. During theirst invasion, a high-tier Demon d in heavy armor had shown up in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, sitting astride a pitch-ck warhorse and holding a long ck spear in his hand.

    His name was Auden, and he was from the Fourth Demon Realm. He had single-handedly overtaken Ling Dong from the Heaven Pce Sect.

    Back then, he had been at the seventh grade, which was equal to the Soul realm.

    Now, decades had passed, and he had already advanced to the eighth grade, which was equal to the Void domain.

    On the other ancient starship stood Anguz from the Fifth Demon Realm, whom he had met with Hua Mu. He had also advanced to the eighth grade from the seventh grade.

    During that invasion, the Demons had swarmed into the Domain of the Falling Stars from the three major spatial rifts in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, the Realm of me Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base had been very low back then. It had been unimaginable for him to face Auden and Anguz in battle. All he had been able to do was marvel at their unparalleled power.

    However, today, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had already advanced to the seventh grade, his cultivation base had entered thete Profound realm, and he had the bone of a Star Behemoth in his possession.

    ¡°At longst! I finally have the power to face them in battle!¡±

    In high spirits, Nie Tian summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as the bone fell into his hand, his expression flickered. Laughing wildly, he jumped off the Voidheaven Boat, summoned his Star Boat, and charged directly towards the Demon ancient starships.

    Even though the Star Boat didn¡¯t form any protective shields around it, as he was holding the Star Behemoth bone, he waspletely unharmed by the impurities in the starry river.

    Standing on the two ancient starships, Auden and Anguz eximed simultaneously, ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    Even though decades had passed, their impression of Nie Tian hadn¡¯t faded. Both of them recognized him with a single nce.

 Chapter 1029: Slaying Auden

    Auden and Anguz were from the Fourth Demon Realm and the Fifth Demon Realm respectively.

    Demons had the most rigorous social hierarchy. The most powerful Demon ns would always live in the First Demon Realm.

    Auden and Anguz¡¯s ns were fairly new among the Demon ns, and they didn¡¯t have any ninth grade grand patriarchs. It was only natural that they didn¡¯t qualify to move into the First or Second Demon Realm.

    For this reason, they weren¡¯t part of the main forces in this battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Instead, the two of them had been charged with the task of searching the non-battle zones of the Domain of Nether Heaven for stray human forces.

    The two of them had happened to be in this region when Pergson had gotten into contact with them, and had thuse to his aid.

    Who would have thought that they would run into Nie Tian on their way?

    Tall and burly, Anguz called out with purple light shining in his eyes, ¡°You¡¯re that junior from the Domain of the Falling Stars! I know you recently became the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    d in heavy armor and with a sinister mask over his face, Auden looked coldly at Nie Tian and snorted. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, we would have sacked the Domain of the Falling Stars decades ago.¡±

    Back in the day, three major spatial rifts had opened in three different realms, allowing countless Demon invaders to swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian had put an end to their invasion by sealing the spatial rifts with the grand spell formations left behind by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Back then, Auden and Anguz had only been impressed by Nie Tian. However, what had shocked them and opened their eyes to Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness was when they had heard that a new Son of the Stars had been chosen, and he was from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Needless to say, they had guessed that that Son of the Stars must be Nie Tian, who had wrecked their ns repeatedly.

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Time does fly. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d see you two again. Back then, if I had encountered any of you in the Domain of the Falling Stars, I wouldn¡¯t have even been able to escape. But times have changed. Your corpses will serve perfectly as a gift for my recent breakthrough!¡±

    He had been overtaken by a curious feeling as soon as he had assumed a tight grip of the Star Behemoth bone.

    While he was holding it, all of the strange energies that filled the starry river were kept away from him.

    This was something he had never experienced before.

    However, he wasn¡¯t sure whether it was because the bone had absorbed arge amount of strange energies while it had been left in the starry river between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, or another perk of his recent bloodline upgrade. In any case, he now felt that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the harmful energies in the starry river anymore as long as he held the bone in his hand.

    This greatly increased his confidence.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of big talk.¡± Anguz spoke like a beast bellowing. ¡°You¡¯re only at the Profound realm, and you think you can kill us?

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Auden, who was at the eighth grade, suddenly charged towards Nie Tian on his pitch-ck war horse, clutching his long ck spear.

    His war horse, which was d in heavy, engraved armor like he was, galloped through the void like it was solid ground.

    Auden lifted his ck spear and pointed it at Nie Tian from afar.

    As theplicated demonic patterns on it glowed like some unique imprints, intense Demon Qi swirled out of them, morphing into devilishly beautiful flowers.

    One flower after another burst into bloom in the dark starry river, unleashing an aura that was both graceful and deadly.

    ¡°Now is a different time.¡± Nie Tianughed wildly as he pointed downwards with his empty hand.

    Then, as a beam of starlight shot out of his fingertip into the spell formation underneath his feet, a pir of dazzling starlight sted out of the prow of the Star Boat, briefly lighting up the dark void.

    After the pir of glorious starlight shone into the area of blossoming demonic flowers, the flowers rapidly faded and vanished like burst bubbles.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Auden roared furiously as a terrifying shape stretched out and rose from behind him.

    Hundreds of meters tall and towering like a mountain, the shape seemed to be a condensation of pure demonic power.

    The howls of Demon ancestors could be vaguely heard as the terrifying shape unleashed a suffocating aura into its surroundings.

    At the same time, Auden flung his ck spear with full force, which sped through the void like a bolt of ck lightning.

    The terrifying shape was only to suppress Nie Tian¡¯s soul, cause his head to spin, and stop him from fully disying his battle prowess.

    That long ck spear was what he was hoping to kill Nie Tian with.

    Nie Tian smiled coldly, shaking his head. ¡°You actually think a soul suppressing magic at such a level will stop me?¡± With the help of the Spirit Pearl, he easily got rid of the unsettling and suffocating feeling he was suffering from.

    Without any fancy moves, he simply thrust the Star Behemoth bone, which was now about twenty meters long, towards the iing ck spear.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Upon contact with the bone, the ck spear shattered inch by inch in the void.

    ¡°As I expected!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with excitement as heughed broadly and felt unprecedentedly delighted.

    He had used the Star Behemoth bone before in the Lizardman domain and the floating continent. Back then, a single strike with it would drain him of his flesh powerpletely.

    However, for some reason, as he struck with it this time, even though he was still consuming his flesh power at a fast rate, he could definitelyunch more than one strike with it now.

    The bone was even longer than the Star Boat, yet it gave him a peculiar feeling that their bloodlines were somehow joined, as if it was an extension of his own arm.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat abruptly elerated.

    After shattering the ck spear, the bone was now aimed at Auden.

    Seeing that the enormous demonic shape was failing to bear down on Nie Tian¡¯s soul, Auden roared furiously as he hastily switched to another bloodline talent.

    The shape instantly shrank into him like a pitch-ck waterfall. As strange crackling sounds came from every part of his body, he activated the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form.

    Countless detailed engravings on his heavy armor suddenly started to squirm like satanic snakes.

    FZZZ!

    A ck lightning bolt suddenly flew out of his armor. After rapidly morphing into a demonic dragon, it pounced directly towards Nie Tian in a sea of rolling Demon Qi.

    Even so, Nie Tian didn¡¯t flinch in the slightest as he thrust the bone at it exactly as he had thrust it at the ck spear.

    BOOM!

    The moment the demonic dragon shed with the bone, it exploded. Even the torrential sea of Demon Qi it had brought with it also dissipated in a sh.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s momentum wasn¡¯t slowed down in the slightest. The Star Boat reached Auden in the blink of an eye.

    The bone whizzed towards Auden¡¯s chest.

    The war horse Auden was sitting astride seemed to bepletely overtaken by the Star Behemoth bone¡¯s bloodcurdling might.

    Countless crimson veins squirmed madly inside the bone, unleashing the ancient aura of the overlords from the Primal Era, which rapidly spread and filled arge area of the starry river around Auden.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The heavy armor on Auden and his war horse exploded.

    His ck war horse hissed miserably as its flesh was cut open and blood spilled from the gashes.

    Even though Auden had activated his Indestructible Form, he failed to contend with the bone¡¯s invincible might. The bone pierced right through his abdomen.

    As magnificent as Auden was, he looked like meat on a stick as he was prated by the exceptionally long bone.

    Dangling on the bone, Auden couldn¡¯t struggle free no matter how hard he tried. Desperate, he called out for help, ¡°Anguz!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re only still alive because I didn¡¯t aim at your heart.¡± With these words, Nie Tian pointed the bone that was several times longer than the Star Boat at the distant Demon starships. ¡°I¡¯m well-aware that hearts are Demons¡¯ most vital part. For eighth grade Demons like you, as long as your heart remains intact, you¡¯ll have a chance at being brought back to life.

    ¡°But don¡¯t get me wrong. I didn¡¯t keep your heart intact because I wanted to help you.¡±

    Nie Tian gave an evil smile.

    Auden was confused, but in the next moment, his expression suddenly flickered as he wailed at the top of his lungs.

    To his despair, he discovered that his flesh power, which he had spent ten thousand years refining, was pouring madly out of him like an unstoppable flood.

    His magnificent, robust body rapidly shrank as flesh power was relentlessly drained from his blood, bones, and heart.

    Just as he was about tounch a counterattack, Nie Tian abruptly turned his wrist.

    The bone that had pierced through his abdomen made an upstroke like a sword.

    Like a piece of tofu, Auden was cut in half.

    ¡°Even the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form is as fragile as paper in front of this bone.¡± With these words, Nie Tian shook the bone, and Auden¡¯s mangled body exploded, bing chunks of flesh that were collected by the Star Boat as it flew forward.

    ¡°The early eighth grade...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°His remains are only enough for me to condense one drop of transcendent Blood Essence.¡±

    Then, he brought the Star Behemoth bone down like a sword that could sunder the heavens.

    Auden¡¯s pitch-ck war horse was running in panic as the bone shed down on it. Like a paper doll, its armor-d body was cut in two.

    ¡°This horse seems to be a unique low-tier Demon with a rich flesh aura. Even though it¡¯s no Auden, at least I can use its corpse to recover the flesh power I¡¯ve consumed.¡±

    As the Star Boat flew past, the remains of the war horse were collected as well.

 Chapter 1030: Life Reaper

    The battle between Nie Tian and Auden had broken out and ended abruptly.

    The fact that it had ended within such a short time exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations. By the time Anguz realized what was happening and nned tounch attacks with his ancient starship, Auden¡¯s mangled corpse was already lying on the Star Boat.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes flickered. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that his battle prowess has also be so terrifyingly high!¡±

    Previously, Nie Tian had stood by when a battle had broken out in realm number nine.

    During that battle, Nie Tian had only summoned the five evil spirits from within the Spirit Pearl.

    Therefore, Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t had a chance to witness his battle prowess... until now!

    The fact that Nie Tian had in Auden effortlessly with that Star Behemoth bone made her realize that while she had advanced by leaps and bounds after joining the Void Spirit Society, Nie Tian had advanced every bit as fast as she had.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian was only at the Profound realm.

    Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°The fact that Sikong Cuo could kill eighth grade Bonebrutes one after another in that dead realm had a lot to do with his early Void domain cultivation base and the fact that he was a Son of the Stars. His cultivation base roughly matches the grade of those Bonebrutes, and he¡¯s a Son of the Stars. So it¡¯s not that shocking that he was able to kill a bunch of them.

    ¡°But Nie Tian is different. His cultivation base is at the Profound realm, and his bloodline is only at the seventh grade.

    ¡°Given this, it¡¯s truly unbelievable that he was able to finish Auden off so easily.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s performance had greatly surprised her, and put her worrying heart at ease.

    Huang Jinnanughed heartily, feeling truly happy for Nie Tian. ¡°That was awesome, Nie Tian! No wonder people envy you everywhere. The reason why Sikong Cuo is so highly regarded by some of your sect elders and vice sectmasters is because, on the one hand, his cultivation advances at a shocking speed, and on the other, his battle prowess stands out.

    ¡°But the way I see it, it¡¯s only a matter of time before you surpass him.

    ¡°I never heard that he was able to kill an eighth grade Demon when he was at the Profound realm. The gap is two entire grades, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡±

    He knew the fact that Nie Tian was able to disy such incredible battle prowess had a great deal to do with that mysterious bone. However, he also knew that back when they had explored that Lizardman domain together, Nie Tian had only been able to strike once with it, and would have to stop to recover strength afterwards.

    That had clearly changed. Now, after killing Auden with the bone, Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power was still rather copious.

    That was when he realized that the bone had already be Nie Tian¡¯s regr attacking means that he would be able to use repeatedly in battle.

    RUMBLE!

    Loud rumbles echoed out from the two Demon ancient starships as they pointed their prows in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    The furious cries of Demons filled the starships.

    Anguz bellowed, as if to order his people to crush Nie Tian with the cannon on their ancient starships.

    Spheres ofvender light then sted forth from the prows of the ancient starships.

    Inside the glowing spheres were countless tiny purple crystals, which seemed to carry a destructive essence of qi and blood.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat elerated again, and threaded swiftly through the spaces between the purple spheres.

    Not once was it hit.

    The ancient starship that had lost Auden became Nie Tian¡¯s next target. With the Star Boat¡¯s dashing momentum, he held out the Star Behemoth bone like a huge sword, and shed it towards the middle of the ancient starship.

    A crimson lightning bolt suddenly lit up the void.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The ancient starship that had been forged from enormous low-tier Demon corpses and rare metals split in two from the middle.

    Numerous seventh grade Demons screamed and jumped off the ancient starship.

    However, wherever they flew, the Star Behemoth bone would follow, reaping their lives like Death¡¯s scythe. As they attempted to activate their bloodline talents, a new discovery drove them into despair. All of their bloodline talents and magics were suppressed by a mysterious aura unleashed by that bone, and couldn¡¯t be activated.

    Dead Demons started to fall onto the Star Boat like cannonballs.

    Before long, numerous Demon corpses were piled into a small hill on the Star Boat.

    Nie Tianughed, gritting his teeth. ¡°The time has finallye for you to pay for your crimes. You thought up every possible way to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars, plunging all of its nine realms into a world of misery and devastation. You never thought that you¡¯d see this day, did you?¡±

    Recalling the sense of weakness he had felt facing Anguz and Auden back in the day and seeing what was happening now, Nie Tian feltpletely relieved.

    Decades had passed, and he was no longer the young man who had only been able to observe the battle between high-tier Demons and Li Muyang, Ling Dong, and Hua Mu. Instead, he had be a figure that inspired fear among the Demons. This meant all these years of hard work hadn¡¯t been in vain.

    As long as he was still alive, the Demons wouldn¡¯t dare to rashly invade the Domain of the Falling Stars anymore.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s be so powerful!¡± Anguz panted and bellowed as he watched Auden¡¯s ancient starship split and numerous Demons die at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. With fear rising in his heart, he decided to retreat.

    Then, he shouted in the Demons¡¯nguage, ordering his subordinates to sail the starship away.

    However, at this moment, awork of fine spatial lines appeared in the depths of Pei Qiqi¡¯s pupils.

    She took out the irregrly shaped crystal. Staring into it, at the image of Anguz¡¯s ancient starship within it, she uttered softly, ¡°Spatial Imprisonment!¡±

    After that, even though the ancient starship continued to rumble, it only swayed slightly, but couldn¡¯t move a bit forward.

    It was as if the enormous starship had been bound by numerous invisible chains!

    Even the Demons on it lost all mobility, like locusts that were being pinned to the ground. Anguz was the only one who wasn¡¯t confined by the strange spatial power.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone was brought down once again, aimed at the ancient starship.

    The starship cracked and split in two.

    Anguz bellowed as he jumped onto a satanic dragon. At the same time, he cast a secret bloodline magic, numerous demonic souls starting to wail in the depths of his eyes.

    ¡°The Demonic Soul Curse?¡± Nie Tianughed and shook his head. ¡°It won¡¯t work. I faced two of your grand patriarchs, the Controller and the me Maniac, on a floating continent. Even they couldn¡¯t get the Demonic Soul Curse to work on me, but you think you can? Lord Anguz, times have changed. In my eyes, you¡¯re not the mighty overlord who invaded the Realm of a Thousand Devastations anymore.

    ¡°Now, you are nothing but... my prey.¡±

    With these words, the bone suddenly shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Like Auden, Anguz was also easily prated like a fragile paper doll.

    Killing intent burst forth within Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    Like a whale taking in sea water, he started channeling flesh power from Anguz through the bone.

    This was a brand new method to channel flesh power which he had just derived from his battle against Auden.

    Before, the only items he could couple with Life Drain were the seventy-two tree branches. Through them, he had channeled flesh power from outsiders and Ancientbeasts.

    Neither the me Star, the me Dragon Armor, nor any other spiritual tool could be used this way.

    Even the bone hadn¡¯t shown any sign of this wondrous use until just now.

    However, at this moment, the bone seemed to suddenly be a medium that pushed the effect of Life Drain to its limit.

    As he examined it with rapt attention, he could even see the crimson veins in the depths of the bone squirming and facilitating Life Drain in an unfathomable way.

    As rich flesh power poured into him through the crimson veins inside the bone, Anguz¡¯s robust body shriveled at a visible rate.

    The light in his dark-purple pupils gradually grew dim.

    Then, as Nie Tian stroked the bone upwards, Anguz¡¯s heart split in two.

    Thest remaining light in Anguz¡¯s eyes suddenly went out.

    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian climbed onto the Demon starship. One by one, he executed the sealed seventh grade Demons and tossed their corpses onto his Star Boat.

    The Star Boat wasn¡¯t very spacious to begin with. Now, it was so full of dead Demons that Nie Tian felt crowded after jumping back onto it.

    ¡°You finished them a bit too fast, didn¡¯t you...?¡± Huang Jinnan said with a dry smile. ¡°I was going to join you, but who knew you wouldn¡¯t even give me a chance? Whatever. I got to save my strength this way.¡±

    Pei Qiqi started her Voidheaven Boat and flew to the broken Demon starship. At the same time, the Spatial Imprisonment was deactivated.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian was still holding the exceptionally long bone, which extended several meters beyond the prow and stern of the Star Boat. The Star Boat was now so packed with dead Demons that not an inch of floor could be seen.

    ¡°This broken ancient starship is of no use to me. You guys do whatever you want with it.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian added, ¡°I¡¯ll need some time to digest these Demon corpses.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. With a casual wave of her hand, she split open a spatial rift, through which the three of them returned to the dead realm they hade from.

    After his return, Nie Tian focused on strengthening himself with the numerous Demon corpses he had brought back on the Star Boat.

    Days passed...

    The remains of Auden, Anguz, and all of the seventh grade Demons had been drained of their flesh power, and be useless.

    With the rich flesh power he had channeled from them, Nie Tian had finished his first round of body refinement after advancing to the seventh grade.

    He examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that the amount of flesh power held by his internal organs, bones, meridians, and blood had increased about tenfold!

    Not only that, but he had also condensed three drops of transcendent Blood Essence.

    Adding in the first drop, there were now a total of four drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    ¡°That green aura seems to know that I need flesh power to strengthen my upgraded body and condense transcendent Blood Essence, and thus didn¡¯t swoop in and devour the flesh power.

    ¡°Now that my flesh power has be ten times richer than before, I can use the Star Behemoth bone even more in battle.

    ¡°But the Blood Essence I have condensed is still far from the fifty drops I need to go seek new bloodline magics in the Blood Realm.

    ¡°I still need more outsider corpses...¡±

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian gazed into the dark starry river. After pondering for a while, he asked Pei Qiqi, ¡°How is it going with Sikong Cuo?¡±

    ¡°The battle is still ongoing,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°But surprisingly, he and his subordinates are disying shockingly high battle prowess. If no reinforcements join their battle, they¡¯ll probably emerge as the winners eventually.

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher and those Bonebrutes are actually losing the battle?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Pei Qiqi answered. Of course, given that Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher is at thete ninth grade, no one will be able to stop him if he wants to leave. The only reason he hasn¡¯t left yet is because he knows that Pergson has spread word, asking for help. They probably don¡¯t know that you¡¯ve eliminated their ¡®help¡¯ yet.¡±

    ¡°How many people has Sikong Cuo lost so far?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°A handful, but the Bonebrutes have suffered much heavier casualties,¡± Pei Qiqi answered.

    While the two of them spoke, Huang Jinnan eximed once again, ¡°You¡¯re in luck, Nie Tian. Another group of outsiders is on its way here. They¡¯re all Phantasms, and none of them are at the ninth grade!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°That¡¯s terrific!¡±

 Chapter 1031: Reunion

    The battle against the Phantasms ended within a short time.

    Three Phantasm ancient starships split one after another, filling the dark starry river with debris.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat was filled once again, but this time with dead Phantasms, including three eighth grade ones and a few dozen seventh grade ones.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were the main forces in this battle, while Huang Jinnan assisted them.

    After the battle ended, the three of them returned to the dead realm, where Nie Tian retreated to a secluded location to refine the Phantasm corpses one by one with Life Drain.

    Three dayster, Nie Tian had a total of nine drops of transcendent Blood Essence in his heart.

    RUMBLE!

    Lands shook and mountains toppled in the nearby dead realm.

    The moment the realm fell apart, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher shot out of it with Pergson on his shoulder.

    At this point, the Bonebrute starship they hade on had already crashed into that dead realm. All of the Bonebrutes had been killed, except for Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher and Pergson.

    Curious sparks flickered in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as shemunicated with Fan Wen using a secret magic of the Void Spirit Society. ¡°Failing to see any reinforcements, Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher has finally decided to leave.

    ¡°Sikong Cuo and hisckeys turned out to be even fiercer than I thought. Even though he has a bad reputation, his battle prowess is far beyond ordinary. You¡¯d better be careful when you see him.¡±

    Huang Jinnan sighed. ¡°Sikong Cuo and his men¡¯s performance in battle is impressive indeed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he won, but I¡¯m more concerned with his losses,¡± Nie Tian said.

    A cold smile appeared at the corner of Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouth as she said, ¡°An early Saint domain expert was killed by Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, and of all his Void domain subordinates, only three survived. Sikong Cuo¡¯s men killed all of the eighth grade Bonebrutes in this fierce battle. It was impossible for him to not pay a heavy price.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll take him quite some time to recover.¡±

    Huang Jinnanughed broadly. ¡°Even one of his Saint domain subordinates was killed. That must hurt. However, if we hadn¡¯t intercepted and killed those Demons and Phantasms, his losses would have been even greater.¡±

    ¡°He still doesn¡¯t know we did all that, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°No, he doesn¡¯t.¡±

    Momentster, Pei Qiqi narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°Sikong Cuo is asking Elder Fan to cast Void Travel and get them out of that dead realm. He¡¯s worried that Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher will summon other powerful outsiders ande back for him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s about time we left here too. It¡¯s not safe for us to stay here for long either.¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Also, we¡¯d better avoid contact with Sikong Cuo, lest he suspect that we had something to do with what happened to him. Come on. Let¡¯s go. Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher may actuallye back.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Pei Qiqi agreed.

    She cast Void Travel and split open a spatial rift, through which the three of them left the dead realm where they had been hiding.

    ...

    The aura of Void domain experts¡¯ shattered domains and the Bonebrutes¡¯ unique aura of death filled arge area of the starry river.

    The exploded dead realm had be countless floating meteors, which would turn into falling stars once caught by the mysterious gales in the starry river.

    At this moment, Sikong Cuo was standing on arge meteor, looking coldly at Fan Wen.

    ¡°Can you cast Void Travel now?¡± He asked.

    Fan Wen remained expressionless as she nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°I hope nothing will go wrong this time!¡± Sikong Cuo¡¯s voice was filled with suppressed anger.

    Standing beside him, Zou Qing, who was at thete Saint domain, was holding a handful of Soul-storing Stones.

    Each and every one of them held the soul of a killed subordinate of Sikong Cuo¡¯s.

    The purpose of the Soul-storing Stones was to prevent their souls from being annihted while they traveled in the starry river.

    As long as their souls didn¡¯t perish, Sikong Cuo would be able to find suitable hosts for them to reincarnate in after returning to his subordinate domains.

    However, not all of his dead subordinates¡¯ souls had been preserved.

    Some of them had shattered when the dead realm had exploded.

    Sikong Cuo had indeed suffered heavy losses this time.

    He had lost nearly half of the subordinates he had spent years gathering. Even if he could reincarnate themter, it would take centuries for them to return to their peak state.

    This was none other than a heavy blow to him.

    Just as Fan Wen was going to cast Void Travel, Zou Qing¡¯s eyebrows flickered as he eximed, ¡°Wait!¡±

    Fan Wen then canceled the spell.

    Zou Qing morphed into a bolt of lightning and shot off the drifting meteor they were on.

    He flew to another area of the dark starry river, where he saw arge piece of starship debris.

    Apparently, it had drifted to this ce after Nie Tian had split the Demon starships with the Star Behemoth bone.

    ¡°This is from a shattered Demon starship. Did a battle take ce in this area?¡± Zou Qing went nk for a moment before flying off again. After circling around in the vicinity for a bit, he found even more Demon starship debris.

    Baffled, he returned to Sikong Cuo¡¯s side and said in a low voice, ¡°Master, I think a battle broke out in this area while we were fighting the Bonebrutes.¡±

    ¡°Spread out and see what else you can find!¡± Sikong Cuo ordered.

    He summoned his Star Boat and jumped on board, shielding off the mixed energies in the starry river with his domain.

    Since all of his surviving subordinates were at the Saint domain orte Void domain, they could all soar freely under the protection of their domains in the starry river.

    Therefore, they spread out to look for things worth noting.

    After searching for a while, Zou Qing and the others returned to Sikong Cuo¡¯s side and reported what they had found with confused looks in their eyes.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of debris that seems to be from shattered Phantasm starships.¡±

    ¡°Who destroyed those Demon and Phantasm starships?¡±

    ¡°Since there aren¡¯t any Demon or Phantasm corpses around, someone must have taken them away.¡±

    ¡°But where did they go? They didn¡¯t leave any traces behind.¡±

    Sikong Cuo also seemed rather confused as he said, ¡°Perhaps those Demons and Phantasms were summoned by the Bonebrutes. Earlier, when we were fighting Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher, I noticed that he would look into the starry river from time to time, as if he was waiting for something. I suppose he was waiting for these Demon and Phantasm reinforcements.

    ¡°But who killed them? Also, if people were here killing these Demons and Phantasms, they should have been able to sense our battle against the Bonebrutes.

    ¡°This is odd...¡±

    With these words, Sikong Cuo suddenly fixed his eyes on Fan Wen and said suspiciously, ¡°Did you not receive any messages from other elders of your sect? I know that your sect has a secret magic that allows you tomunicate with each other within a domain.¡±

    Fan Wen shook her head. ¡°I joined the battle myself. I didn¡¯t have a chance to sense this heaven and earth to receive any messages.¡±

    ¡°Forget it.¡± Sikong Cuo waved his hand, urging Fan Wen to take them to the edge of the Domain of Nether Heaven so that they would be able to get out of this mire as soon as possible.

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to get you to the edge of this domain by casting Void Travel just once,¡± Fan Wen said. ¡°I can only get you there bit by bit.¡±

    Looking rather impatient, Sikong Cuo said, ¡°Do what you can then.¡±

    Fan Wen started casting the spell.

    ...

    The Domain of Nether Heaven covered a vast area of the starry river. Even Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t reach the closest location on its perimeter in a single attempt.

    She had to cast Void Travel three times in a row to get Nie Tian and Huang Jinnan to a dead realm on its perimeter.

    Standing on the dead realm, they gazed ahead, and couldn¡¯t see another realm.

    Behind them were the numerous dead realms they had crossed to get to this ce.

    ¡°This is as far as I can take us,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking somewhat depleted. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to rely on my Voidheaven Boat to get out of the Domain of Nether Heaven. Only after I get my strength back will I be able to cast Void Travel again.¡±

    Apparently, their n concurred with Sikong Cuo¡¯s. Considering that the Domain of Nether Heaven had been sealed by multiple outsider grand patriarch flesh auras, they had to find ways other than Void Travel to escape.

    As powerful as they were, those grand patriarchs weren¡¯t omnipotent. Their flesh auras grew thin after they spread them over the entire domain, and they couldn¡¯t stop air-transportation spiritual tools like the Voidheaven Boat from crossing the domain border.

    ¡°Are Sikong Cuo and his men behind us?¡± Huang Jinnan asked.

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Yeah, even though Elder Fan¡¯s cultivation base is much higher than mine, she can only cast Void Travel once. From the look of it, the outsiders won¡¯t be able to find us here, unless they have hidden teleportation portals in this area. We¡¯re safe for now.¡±

    Therefore, the three of them left the dead realm and flew towards the domain border on the Voidheaven Boat.

    Days passed...

    Pei Qiqi suddenly sprang to her feet. The light of excitement flickered in her eyes as she said, ¡°A spatial rift has split open in the vicinity. It must be one of the elders from my sect!¡±

    She immediately cast a secret spell.

    ¡°It¡¯s Elder Qi!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly. ¡°He got Lou Hongyan here!¡±

    ¡°My senior martial sister!¡± Huang Jinnan eximed in high spirits. ¡°Are they far from here?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Comprehending his thoughts, Pei Qiqi steered the Voidheaven Boat in another direction, and headed towards the new arrivals.

    Before long, they reached Lou Hongyan and her team¡¯s location. Huang Jinnan saw her from afar, and his expression flickered. ¡°Howe you only have this few people left on your team? What happened?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still alive!¡± Lou Hongyan eximed with a sad look in her eyes.

 Chapter 1032: Grievous News

    Since he had known Lou Hongyan, Nie Tian had never seen her so sad and down.

    Other than Yang Fan, Lou Hongyan had only one Saint domain and seven Void domain subordinates by her side now.

    Back when Nie Tian had met her in the Void Spirit Society before this operation, she had had twice as many subordinates beside her.

    Needless to say, the lost ones had most likely died.

    Huang Jinnan smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I¡¯m doing okay. Even though I¡¯ve been separated from my subordinates, I think most of them escaped. What about you, senior martial sister? What happened to you?¡±

    Lou Hongyan sighed. ¡°We ran into the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.¡±

    Nie Tian and the others gasped with astonishment. ¡°The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society?!¡±

    None of them had thought that Lou Hongyan¡¯s team would be so unlucky that they had actually encountered their primary target of this trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven: the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Qi Lianshan, a middle Saint domain elder of the Void Spirit Society, turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Realm number five happened to be the ce where the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was hiding. We didn¡¯t find any trace of him when we first entered it. Only after I failed to get us out of there with Void Travel did I realize that he had sealed realm number five with his secret magic.

    ¡°It was toote.

    ¡°After the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society showed himself, he found that we couldn¡¯t possibly contend against him in battle. But the worst part was that I couldn¡¯t get in touch with our vice sectmaster.

    ¡°Luckily, Senior Lu Jiefeng happened to be in a nearby realm. He sensed the anomaly and traveled through the starry river to our aid.

    ¡°He entered realm number five, and only with his help was I able to cast Void Travel. Even so, we lost more than half of our people.¡±

    Qi Lianshan sighed in frustration.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°What happened to Uncle Lu?¡±

    ¡°I... Umm... I don¡¯t think he got out of there,¡± Lou Hongyan said, sorrow filling her eyes. ¡°To buy us time, Uncle Lu got into a fierce battle against the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society. Also, I sensed the aura of a Phantasm grand monarch when we left. That means Uncle Lu was facing the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society and a Phantasm grand monarch at the same time. Both of them were at the same level as him.

    ¡°I had a feeling that they put all of their energy in fighting Uncle Lu instead of chasing after us, as if he was their target the whole time.¡±

    Nie Tian remained silent, yet his expression grew very grim.

    He was well-aware that Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect would probably die, if he hadn¡¯t died already.

    After all, he couldn¡¯t possibly get any assistance from Mo Heng or Ji Yuanquan.

    While Mo Heng was caught up in a fierce battle against Grand Monarch Withered Bones, Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t been able to get in touch with Ji Yuanquan the whole time, which meant that he had probably encountered an expert at his level as well.

    Mo Heng was the strongest of the three. Grand Monarch Withered Bones might not be able to defeat him. Ji Yuanquan was well-versed in spatial magics, which made him very hard to kill.

    Among the three God domain experts that hade to the Domain of Nether Heaven, Lu Jiefeng was the one that was fairly easy to deal with.

    Both the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society and that Phantasm grand monarch must be experts in soul magics and incantations. If Lu Jiefeng died at their hands, it was almost guaranteed that his soul wouldn¡¯t be able to escape.

    The God domain represented humanity¡¯s peak strength. It would take an astronomical amount of cultivation resources for a human to advance to such a level.

    From the Void domain to the Saint domain, and eventually the God domain, each of these advances would require an unimaginable amount of cultivation materials. Normally, it would take all of the precious treasures that a few domains had umted over hundreds of thousands of years in order to produce a God domain Qi warrior.

    Furthermore, the breakthrough into the God domain was always full of danger. One mishap, and the cultivator might die beyond salvation.

    All of these factors contributed to the fact that even the four great sects only had a handful of God domain experts. Losing any of them would be a heavy blow to all mankind.

    ¡°Elder Qi, you must have cast Void Travel a few times to get here, right?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a grim face. ¡°Can you cast it again?¡±

    Qi Lianshan shook his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have stopped here if I could...¡±

    Their conversation went on briefly, from which Nie Tian learned that Lou Hongyan was nning the same thing as they were. They also intended to reach the border of the Domain of Nether Heaven, cross the ultimate barrier of the grand monarchs¡¯ flesh auras, and leave this damned ce as soon as possible.

    The grand monarchs¡¯ flesh auras had practically sealed the Domain of Nether Heaven. Even though powerful experts from the four great sects might have sensed that something wasn¡¯t right, even God domain experts from the Void Spirit Society couldn¡¯t cast their secret spells to get here in a sh.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi, Qi Lianshan, Fan Wen, and other experts from the Void Spirit Society could only flee from ce to ce within the cage that the Domain of Nether Heaven had be.

    Their only way to escape the Domain of Nether Heaven was to sail through the sea of flesh aura on transportation spiritual tools like ancient starships or the Voidheaven Boat while the outsider grand monarchs were caught up in battle against Mo Heng, Ji Yuanquan, and Lu Jiefeng.

    As soon as they broke out from the Domain of Nether Heaven, Qi Lianshan¡¯s middle Saint domain cultivation base would allow him to get into contact with the Void Spirit Society immediately.

    Pei Qiqi suddenly turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Would you help treat Elder Qi¡¯s wounds, Nie Tian? Once his wounds are healed, he should be able to cast Void Travel again. Am I right, Elder Qi?¡±

    Qi Lianshan nodded and fixed Nie Tian with a confused look. ¡°Miss Pei, is he...?¡±

    ¡°He can help you heal the wounds caused by the bacsh of Void Travel within a short time,¡± Pei Qiqi said with certainty in her eyes.

    Qi Lianshan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If he can do that, then I¡¯ll be able to cast Void Travel more than a few times!¡±

    Pei Qiqi then exined to Nie Tian, ¡°Aside from significant power consumption, our sect¡¯s Void Travel alsoes with strong bacshes. However, my uniqueness allows me to greatly neutralize them. What limits the times I can cast it is actually my power reserve. Unlike me, Elder Qi has more than enough power to cast it, but is limited by his delicate body.¡±

    It was also at this moment that Nie Tian noticed that Qi Lianshan¡¯s qi and blood were rather weak, and that his insides were covered in fine cuts.

    With a knowing look in his eyes, Nie Tian beckoned Qi Lianshan with a wave of his hand.

    Qi Lianshan looked rather suspicious as he flew over andnded on the Voidheaven Boat.

    Without any hesitation, Nie Tian cast Heavenly Wood Heal and fused his refined wood power into Qi Lianshan. He didn¡¯t use even a shred of his bloodline power.

    Under the magical effect of Heavenly Wood Heal, the numerous fine cuts in Qi Lianshan¡¯s internal organs healed in a very short period of time.

    A shudder ran through him as ecstasy filled his flickering face.

    He knew that masters of wood power incantations could heal other people¡¯s injuries. As alchemists, they could also make powerful healing pills.

    In fact, he had already taken a few pills, and his body was already slowly healing.

    But apparently, such healing ability was nothing whenpared to the wondrous, life force-regenerating effect of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Nie Tian had a feeling that Heavenly Wood Heal must be a top healing magic of the Floragrims. Coupled with his wood power, it could achieve incredible healing effects when used on regr humans.

    This was a case in point.

    Before long, Qi Lianshan eximed, ¡°It¡¯s enough! My injuries are mostly healed!¡±

    Nie Tian then withdrew his hands.

    Lou Hongyan, Yang Fan, and many other powerful experts fixed him with astonished looks.

    With mixed emotions, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°I thought you were wasting your time practicing multiple powers, and that all it would do was limit the speed at which you made advances in cultivation. Who would have thought... But still, very few masters of wood power incantations canpletely heal a person like you did within such a short time.¡±

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m different,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Fully convinced, Qi Lianshan nodded vigorously. ¡°Indeed, very different.¡±

    With these words, he summoned his power and split open a spatial rift for everyone to enter.

    Then, after he was healed, he repeated the act. After casting Void Travel a few more times, he finally got everyone to the border of the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    In front of them, a rolling mixture of Demon qi and a Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura stretched like a sea.

    Spirited, Qi Lianshan said, ¡°Once we cross this sea of flesh aura, we¡¯ll be out of the Domain of Nether Heaven, and we¡¯ll be able to inform our sects of the cmity that has happened here.¡± With these words, he turned to Nie Tian. ¡°But I¡¯ll have to ask you to treat my injuries onest time before we go.¡±

    ¡°Okay, no problem,¡± Nie Tian responded.

    Without dy, he cast the healing incantation once again, hoping they would finish this onest step as soon as possible.

    However, just as he began, Pei Qiqi frowned deeply, as if she had discovered something terrible. ¡°There¡¯s a special teleportation portal in the vicinity!¡±

    ¡°A teleportation portal?!¡± Qi Lianshan eximed. ¡°Is it one of the outsiders¡¯?¡±

    ¡°It appears so.¡± Pei Qiqi took a deep breath. ¡°We¡¯ve got to destroy it first. Otherwise, when we enter the sea of flesh aura, it¡¯ll rm that Demon grand monarch, and powerful experts from his n might descend through it.¡±

 Chapter 1033: Half-man Half-Demon

    ¡°Nie Tian, it seems to me that Auden and Anguz came to the Domain of Nether Heaven through that teleportation portal,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a grim look in her eyes. ¡°We need to destroy it as soon as possible. Otherwise, as soon as we enter that Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, he will learn what we¡¯re doing and send his n members here to intercept us.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian said, ¡°What are we waiting for then? Let¡¯s head over there and destroy it.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Pei Qiqi turned to Qi Lianshan and said, ¡°Nie Tian and I will go by ourselves. You just wait here with the others. We¡¯lle back as soon as we finish the job.¡±

    Having cast Void Travel several times in a row, Qi Lianshan still needed time to heal his internal injuries. He nodded hesitantly and said, ¡°Be careful, Miss Pei. Your safety is more important than anything.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Pei Qiqi said, ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing. We¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to go with you?¡± Yang Fan, Lou Hongyan¡¯s Saint domain subordinate, offered himself for the job.

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. It¡¯ll be easier if it¡¯s just the two of us. We¡¯ll be able toe back quicker if we find ourselves in danger.¡±

    She could cast a forbidden magic with the Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure in her possession and get the two of them out of any dangerous situations they might get into. None of the others would be able to withstand the deadly spatial power it would bring. Therefore, anyone who went with them would be a liability.

    Huang Jinnan understood this better than anyone else. With a bitter smile, he asked Lou Hongyan, Yang Fan, and the others not to join them in this task.

    Seeing this, Pei Qiqi cast Void Travel. She and Nie Tian parted with the others for the time being.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A spatial rift came to form in the dark starry river.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi flew into it.

    The moment they came out of the other end of the spatial tunnel, Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment, her eyes fixed on whaty ahead. ¡°What... What¡¯s that?¡±

    Just now, her irregrly shaped crystal had only allowed her to sense the existence of the teleportation portal and the unique spatial fluctuations it was emanating, but nothing else.

    She hadn¡¯t expected there to be something else besides the teleportation portal.

    Nie Tian was also shocked by what he saw.

    In front of them was a sea of rolling ckish-violet Demon qi.

    An incredibly enormous demonic nt could be seen blooming in the depths of it.

    Upon a closer look, it had numerous flower buds, all of which were ck, and looked like the eyes of devils.

    Swaying slightly in the rolling Demon qi, the sinister-looking flower buds seemed to suddenly capture Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s auras, as they all turned to face them.

    For some reason, as soon as they did, both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were struck by a peculiar feeling that their souls were being stirred by some power.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves. Instead, she raised her guard and prepared to evacuate at any moment. ¡°The teleportation portal is in the depths of this sea of Demon qi. But I have no idea why there¡¯s such a huge demonic flower here. They should only exist in Demon realms.¡±

    Standing on the Voidheaven Boat, Nie Tian took out the Star Behemoth bone without saying a word.

    Holding it, he felt slightly more confident.

    ¡°Humans...¡± A coldugh echoed out from the depths of the sea of Demon qi.

    At the same time, all of the strange flower buds that looked like eyeballs shook, as if they wereughing too.

    All of a sudden, theughs grew extremely sharp, hurting Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s eardrums. The two of them had to summon their soul power to contend against the scary, ear-piercingughs.

    A slender figure appeared in the depths of the Demon qi. It grew clearer and clearer as it rapidly flew closer.

    It turned out to be a young man with a handsome appearance.

    Pei Qiqi was taken aback. ¡°Is he a human?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and said, ¡°He doesn¡¯t have purple hair and pupils, so he isn¡¯t a Demon. And he doesn¡¯t have a crystal between his eyebrows, so he isn¡¯t a Phantasm. But he has the purest Demon aura surging inside of him. He clearly practices the Demons¡¯ incantations and spells. And the power within his blood, bones, and internal organs originates from the Demon qi.¡±

    The handsome young man in front of them looked like a high-tier Demon upon first nce. His graceful manners gave Nie Tian a strong sense of danger.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Han Yu. I used to be a human too, but not anymore technically.¡± The young man said in a soft, rxed voice, while sizing Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi up with an intrigued look on his face. ¡°You¡¯re here to destroy the teleportation portal, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°What if we are?¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m charged with the task of guarding it,¡± The young man, who referred to himself as Han Yu, said with an apologetic expression. ¡°The grand monarch treats me well. Since I¡¯ve agreed to take on this responsibility, I won¡¯t allow anyone to do anything to it.¡±

    With a cold face, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°You¡¯re a human. Why do you work for the Demons?¡±

    ¡°Because I¡¯m no longer a human,¡± Han Yu said with a warm smile. ¡°Besides, thousands of humans have died at my hands. Even if I want to, the human world won¡¯t take me in. Also, that flower I rely on to practice cultivation can only grow and develop its strength in Demon realms.

    ¡°I already consider myself a Demon.¡±

    As he said these words, the sea of Demon qi behind him suddenly grew restless. Like a vast ckish-purple curtain, it surged towards Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    The huge demonic flower was carried over by the surging sea of Demon qi, its numerous roots swaying in it.

    Enormous like a mountain, the demonic nt was hundreds of meters tall, with countless long branches pping around. The whole nt was evenrger than an ancestral-awakened high-tier Demon.

    Numerous eyeball-like flower buds suddenly shone with dark purple light, as if it had the magical ability to possess people.

    Even though the demonic nt and the sea of Demon qi were still some distance from them, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi felt as if their souls were being channeled by a mysterious ck hole and could leave their bodies at any moment.

    WHOOSH! Nie Tian immediately summoned the Spirit Pearl.

    Floating over his head, the shiny pearl emanated cyan light that formed a profound soul defense against the demonic flower¡¯s soul-channeling effect.

    Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief.

    Sensing the unfavorable situation, Pei Qiqi hastily flew the Voidheaven Boat backwards at full speed. At the same time, one Ethereal Sword after another flew out, shing towards Han Yu.

    As they did, they appeared and vanished from time to time, as if they were shifting between different spaces, and when they all appeared at the same time, they would pierce into Han Yu¡¯s long neck.

    ¡°The Voidheaven Boat and spatial power incantations... This must be a disciple of the Void Spirit Society, and not just an ordinary disciple.¡± With a smile, Han Yu pointed in the air a few times with his finger, then loud nking sounds came from the flying Ethereal Swords, as if they were stuck by heavy hammers.

    The originally perfectly straight Ethereal Swords were suddenly bent.

    Pei Qiqi let out a muffled groan, feeling that the power she had fused into the Ethereal Swords had somehow been neutralized.

    She had no choice but to withdraw them right away.

    ¡°Nie Tian, that man isn¡¯t easy to deal with!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly.

    ¡°Nie Tian? Where have I heard that name before...?¡± Han Yu, the half-man half-Demon, pondered a few seconds with a puzzled expression before suddenly remembering something and saying, ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars recently acknowledged by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I spend all of my time practicing cultivation. It¡¯s been many years since I made any contact with humans...¡±

    He fell into a trance, muttering to himself, as if he was drifting away in old memories.

    However, the sea of Demon qi continued to spread towards Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi at a speed that was even faster than the Voidheaven Boat.

    At the same time, the enormous demonic flower¡¯s numerous branches suddenly turned into resilient devil hands that reached towards Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    As they did, a strange force was born within the flower buds at the end of the branches.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°My soul is being bound by a strange force, and it¡¯s stopping me from casting Void Travel! Keep him busy, Nie Tian! So that I can find an opportunity to cast my spell!¡±

    ¡°No problem!¡± Nie Tian bellowed as he lifted the Star Behemoth bone and brought it down with great force.

    CRACK!

    A branch was severed by the bone that was sharp like a sword.

    Han Yu¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What divine weapon is that? As the nt that ranks number one among the most deadly demonic nts, this Demon Eyes Flower has branches that are tougher than divine metals. But now, its branch was so easily severed... Even most Spirit Channeling grade treasures aren¡¯t this sharp.¡±

    Even though that branch was severed from the demonic flower, it didn¡¯t drift away after the Star Behemoth bone shed through it.

    Instead, it reattached itself to the nt. A few secondster, not even the slightest mark could be seen, as if it hadn¡¯t been cut in the first ce.

    Apparently, the Star Behemoth bone could sever its branches, but couldn¡¯t stop them from growing back together with the demonic nt and assuming their original state.

    Han Yu grew increasingly amazed as he fixed Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi with a measuring gaze. ¡°Why am I sensing flesh auras that carry unique wonders? Are they both hybrids?!¡±

 Chapter 1034: Fellow Disciples

    ¡°They still haven¡¯t returned,¡± Qi Lianshan said with a deep frown, concerned about Pei Qiqi¡¯s safety.

    ¡°Can you sense the existence of that teleportation portal, Elder Qi?¡± Lou Hongyan asked.

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± Qi Lianshan said with a bitter smile. ¡°Unlike me, Miss Pei holds that spatial treasure she obtained from the Shatter Battlefield. With its help, she can shrewdly sense and locate any teleportation portal or spatial rift in her surroundings.

    ¡°Also, with that treasure, she should be able to crush all sorts of teleportation portals without effort.

    ¡°They¡¯ve been gone for a long time. They should have been back now if there weren¡¯t any mishaps.¡±

    Yang Fan¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that there are outsiders garrisoned at that teleportation portal.¡±

    ¡°Even if there were, given Miss Pei¡¯s profound means, it should be an easy thing for her toe back with Nie Tian,¡± Qi Lianshan said, his face very grim.

    Lou Hongyan pondered for a while before issuing an order, ¡°Let¡¯s spread out to conduct a thorough search in the vicinity. Once we find Miss Pei and Nie Tian, provide them with our full support!¡±

    Qi Lianshan sped his hands. ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    Lou Hongyan nodded. ¡°You¡¯re wee. We¡¯re now locusts tied to one rope. (Idiom: in the same boat) Only if we work together do we have a chance at crossing the grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura and getting out of the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Qi Lianshan chimed in.

    ...

    Han Yu suddenly grew excited. ¡°You¡¯re both hybrids?! The history of humans breeding hybrids is still rather short. As far as I know, not a single hybrid they have manufactured showed exceptional talent or power.

    ¡°But you two are clearly hybrids, considering that your flesh power is surprisingly rich and copious!

    ¡°That means you¡¯re not humans either!¡±

    Han Yuughed wildly as the sea of Demon qi caught up to and enveloped Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    The huge demonic flower let out sharp screeches again, floating in the middle of the rolling Demon qi.

    Each and every screech came from a flower bud that looked like an eyeball.

    Nie Tian examined them with his soul awareness, and sensed that all of them seemed to have their own awareness.

    At the same time, the numerous independent awarenesses were interconnected in a profound way, as if they were also a whole.

    NIe Tian swung the Star Behemoth bone repeatedly, chopping at the branches that reached for them one by one.

    However, the severed branches would be reattached seconds after he chopped them off, as if he couldn¡¯t cause any real damage to the demonic nt.

    However, the strange aura the demonic nt released started to derange Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian¡¯s soul power. Terrifying illusions kept entering their minds, as if they were being dragged into horrible nightmares.

    Even the mysterious soul defense the Spirit Pearl had formed around them failed to ward off such a powerful soul influence.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars...¡± Han Yu muttered in a soft voice. As he came closer and closer, the lower half of his body seemed to have merged with the stems of the demonic nt, which made him look like a monster that was half-man, half-nt.

    ¡°Speaking of which, you and I are from the same ce. I was born in the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars too.¡± With these words, Han Yu wove his hands in the air, and even more branches flew towards Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian continued to fuse flesh power into the Star Behemoth bone and chop at the iing branches with it. However, upon hearing his words, he gasped with shock. ¡°The Realm of me Heaven? You¡¯re from the Realm of me Heaven?!¡±

    Han Yu chuckled. ¡°Well, have you heard of Wu Ji?¡±

    Nie Tian was astounded. ¡°He¡¯s my master!¡±

    Pei Qiqi was also dumbstruck.

    ¡°What are the chances? He used to be my master too!¡± Han Yu said, looking surprised as well. ¡°So that makes you my junior martial brother. But unfortunately, I never had a chance to return to the Realm of me Heaven after I left. Is that old entric still alive?¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Is this how you address your own master?¡±

    Han Yu nodded, as if there was nothing wrong with it. ¡°Why not? That¡¯s how I addressed him before I left the Realm of me Heaven.¡±

    While they spoke, not only did the bizarre nt not stop, but it even unleashed fiercer attacks on Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi with its branches.

    ¡°But don¡¯t get me wrong,¡± Han Yu added, ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you live even though you¡¯re my junior martial brother.¡±

    Unlike Duan Shihu, this second disciple of Wu Ji¡¯s didn¡¯t even attach the slightest importance to the rtionship between fellow disciples.

    The flower buds that looked like the devils¡¯ eyeballs suddenly unleashed dark demonic light while letting out ear-piercing screeches.

    As soon as the light enveloped Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, they experienced splitting headaches.

    At the same time, fizzing sounds came from the Spirit Pearl that was emanating cyan light, as if it was being corroded by the demonic flower.

    In the next moment, numerous branches eithershed at them like whips or pierced towards them like swords.

    Standing on the Voidheaven Boat, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi struggled to fend off the iing branches. The situation became more and more perilous.

    While Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t cast Void Travel or any escape magics with her soul influenced, Nie Tian could only swing the Star Behemoth bone repeatedly to sever the iing branches, which didn¡¯t seem to be hurting them at a fundamental level.

    He continued to lose his flesh power.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t working. If I keep doing this, it¡¯ll only be a matter of time before I drain my flesh powerpletely.¡± With this thought, Nie Tian shot a sideways look at Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to fight him at close quarters!¡±

    Even though Han Yu had confirmed that he and Nie Tian were fellow disciples now, not only did he not show any intent to stop, but he attacked even more ruthlessly. Seeing this, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel the need to hold back anymore.

    ¡°Starshift!¡± Clutching the Star Behemoth bone, Nie Tian cast a short-range Starshift and vanished from the Voidheaven Boat.

    In the next moment, he had already gone through the numerous pping branches, and arrived in front of Han Yu.

    The Demon qi was richest in this ce.

    Not just that, but the moment Nie Tian appeared, he felt a tremendous weight bearing down on him from all directions, as if he now had to summon dozens of times more force to move his arms or legs.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    The Star Behemoth bone shot out of his hand towards Han Yu, whose lower body had merged with the demonic flower.

    ¡°That bone is very sharp and powerful, but too bad it can¡¯t hurt me.¡± With these words, Han Yu let out a gruesomeugh, and his body suddenly became blurry, as if it was only a reflection in water.

    The Star Behemoth bone pierced through and shattered the illusion without meeting any resistance.

    But momentster, the demonic nts¡¯ countless roots and pping branches appeared again, as if nothing had happened.

    Han Yu was still in the middle of the nt, smiling.

    Han Yu shook his head, as if he was bored of this ¡®game¡¯. ¡°Alright, enough ying. It¡¯s about time I put an end to this. entric Wu helped me find my path of cultivation. If he were here instead of you, I might give him a chance to leave. But as for you, even though you¡¯re his disciple too, I¡¯ve never met you before. So I don¡¯t have any qualms about killing you.

    ¡°This Demon Eyes Flower ranks number one amongst the most deadly nts that grow in Demon realms.

    ¡°Judging from the power I have gained over the years, its strength should be roughly equal to that of a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch. No matter how high your talent may be, the two of you can¡¯t possibly survive it.

    ¡°Despair!¡±

    As Han Yu gave a low chuckle, clusters of purple mes suddenly flew out the eyeball-like flower buds of the enormous Demon Eyes Flower.

    Thousands of clusters of purple mes rapidly filled the raging sea of Demon qi.

    But immediately afterwards, the purple mes started to absorb the Demon qi at an rming rate, like sponges absorbing water.

    Secondster, the sea of Demon qi vanishedpletely.

    At the same time, each and every cluster of purple mes expanded vastly, emanating extremely dangerous auras.

    ¡°Farewell, my poor junior martial brother.¡±

    With these words, Han Yu pointed forward, and thousands of clusters of purple mes engulfed Nie Tian in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 1035: Revelation

    WHOOSH!

    As the purple mes engulfed Nie Tian, he only had enough time to bring out the me Dragon Armor, which descended on him in a sh.

    Tiny lightning bolts slithered over the numerous delicate fiery engravings on the suit of armor.

    A mixture of Nie Tian¡¯s vigorous flesh power and raging me power poured into the me Dragon Armor, forming a zing ward around him.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Fierce frictions urred in ces where the zing ward made contact with the purple mes, giving rise to dazzling mixed-color sparks.

    The zing ward kept Nie Tian unharmed. Enveloped in it, he also sensed with great rity that the mysterious me spark in his me power core was bing more and more active.

    The me spark released a profound power that mixed with the me power in his me power core before fusing continuously into the zing ward.

    Soon, the zing ward turned orange. As crackles echoed out more and more fiercely, the purple mes that engulfed him began to lose their power, as if the me spark had found a way to absorb some of it.

    Even though Nie Tian was deeply engulfed in a sea of purple mes, the ward around him grew increasingly bright and zing.

    Gazing at Nie Tian, who was deeply surrounded by purple mes, Han Yu went nk for a moment before frowning and saying, ¡°You¡¯ve got quite a few interesting tools, don¡¯t you? However...¡±

    Before he could finish, Pei Qiqi, who was standing on the distant Voidheaven Boat, wove her hands in the air.

    An immeasurably broad spatial de rapidly came to form.

    Carrying the profound truths of spatial power and her bloodline wonders, it shed directly towards Han Yu from hundreds of meters away.

    The glowing de seemed to defy the distance between them, as it reached Han Yu in the blink of an eye.

    He even started to feel a dull pain in his face.

    However, his expression suddenly grew stern.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless purple lightning bolts appeared and slithered over the upper half of his body that seemed to have grown out of the Demoneyes Flower.

    At the same time, the Demon Eyes Flower rapidly drew its branches in, hoping to stop the broad glowing de with them.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    As the branches were severed one after another, the spatial de consumed its strength, and shrank bit by bit.

    Han Yu grinned and said, ¡°Both of you are very impressive. But unfortunately, your cultivation bases are still far too low...¡±

    Just as he was about tounch his final killing move, his eyebrows flickered, his face growing very grim.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve brought help,¡± He muttered, fixing Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi with a reluctant look. ¡°The sea of the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura isn¡¯t that easy to cross. Perhaps we¡¯ll meet again.¡±

    With these words, the enormous Demon Eyes Flower started to shrink at an rming rate.

    Han Yu¡¯s body shrank with it, until they eventually vanished into a ck spot.

    ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Yang Fan and Qi Lianshan arrived seconds after their exmations echoed out in the distance.

    Pei Qiqi steered the Voidheaven Boat to the ce where Han Yu had just vanished. ¡°This is it!¡±

    She pressed the irregrly shaped crystal into the pitch-ck spot. Momentster, the ck spot expanded violently and exploded.

    ¡°This special teleportation portal that leads to the outsider domains is finally destroyed,¡± Pei Qiqi said. After withdrawing the crystal, she looked at the shattered teleportation portal and muttered to herself, ¡°Han Yu... I can¡¯t believe Wu Ji¡¯s second disciple has be so powerful.¡±

    At the same time, Yang Fan stuttered as he stared at Nie Tian in disbelief, ¡°Nie... Nie Tian... Is that the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    Since Han Yu had just left, and the purple mes had just vanished, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t had a chance to put the me Dragon Armor away yet.

    Yang Fan, however, had followed Lou Hongyan for many years. It was only natural that he recognized the me Dragon Armor, and knew that the head of the me element sect of the Five Elements Sect had forged it for Lou Hongyan.

    Back in the day, Lou Hongyan had been set up by Pang Chicheng and died in the Shatter Battlefield, and thus had to reincarnate through another person¡¯s body.

    The me Dragon Armor had been lost during that time.

    Later, after awakening her memories, she had searched for Pang Chicheng everywhere, hoping to get the me Dragon Armor back, yet she had found nothing.

    Who would have thought that it would suddenly show up in Nie Tian¡¯s hands many yearster?

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Momentster, Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and the others arrived.

    Staring at the suit of armor Nie Tian was d in, both Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan gasped with astonishment. ¡°The me Dragon Armor!¡±

    ¡°Howe you have the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian?¡± Huang Jinnan asked.

    ¡°How long have you had it?¡± Lou Hongyan asked with a grim face.

    Nie Tian knew that it would be meaningless to try to cover things up, and thus said honestly, ¡°Quite a long time actually. I got it before I left the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars...¡±

    He went on and exined how he had obtained the me Dragon Armor to Lou Hongyan without holding anything back.

    Lou Hongyan had a long face at first. Only after he finished telling her the whole story did she seem less hostile. ¡°I thought you had some sort of connection with Pang Chicheng. It¡¯s a relief to learn that you don¡¯t. Who would have thought he was almost killed in the Shatter Battlefield too right after sealing the me Dragon Armor from me.¡±

    ¡°Who is he exactly?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    However, Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and Yang Fan all fell silent upon hearing this question.

    ¡°He has something to do my sect. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t tell you about him.¡± With these words, Lou Hongyan pondered for a few seconds before reaching out with one hand. ¡°Let me take a look at the armor.¡±

    Somewhat hesitant, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to tell you that this suit of armor has already acknowledged me as its master. I stimted and transformed its Blood Core with the help of my unique bloodline. Even if you took it back, you won¡¯t be able to disy its true might.¡±

    Lou Hongyan shot him a stern look. ¡°Let me take a look at it first.¡±

    Nie Tian had to take the me Dragon Armor off and hand it to Lou Hongyan.

    As soon as Lou Hongyan grabbed the me Dragon Armor, tiny crimson sparks flew out of her fingertips into it, as if to examine it and establish soulmunication with it.

    After a while, she handed the me Dragon Armor back to Nie Tian with a grim look on her face.

    Nie Tian felt baffled.

    Somewhat upset, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°Its soul no longer epts me. Instead, it acknowledges you as its master. Of course, if I take it back to our sect and have my master erase any memories of you from its soul, I¡¯ll be its master again. But it seems to have gone through brand new changes after you became its master, which is something I can¡¯t give it.

    ¡°It seems as if you can not only maximize its might, but also give it room to grow.

    ¡°However, this treasure is involved in a secret of my sect...¡± After muttering to herself for a while, Lou Hongyan finally sighed and said to Nie Tian, ¡°You can keep it for the time being. I¡¯ll ask my master¡¯s opinion regarding its future after returning to my sect.¡±

    ¡°Even though it was forged and previously owned by your sect, I didn¡¯t steal it from you. I won¡¯t give it up so easily.¡± Nie Tian made his stance clear. ¡°However, I¡¯m willing to make up for your loss, which we can take our time discussing after we get out of the Domain of Nether Heaven and everything is settled.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright, this is not the time to fight among ourselves,¡± Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society said in an attempt to smooth things over. ¡°Miss Pei, did you encounter a Demon grand patriarch earlier?¡±

    ¡°No, it was a human named Han Yu, but he had crossed over to the Demons¡¯ side.¡± Even now, Pei Qiqi still had lingering fears as she recalled his battle prowess. ¡°He used to be human, but he seems to have merged with a Demon Eyes Flower and be half-man, half-Demon.¡±

    Upon hearing ¡®Demon Eyes Flower¡¯, Qi Lianshan, Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and the others all gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°A Demon Eyes Flower?! That thing ranks number one amongst the most deadly demonic nts!¡±

    ¡°You actually survived the attacks of a Demon Eyes Flower?!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure it was a Demon Eyes Flower?¡±

    Even though Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were now core members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Void Spirit Society, since it hadn¡¯t been long since they had joined their sects, they hadn¡¯t heard of this dreadful demonic nt yet.

    Qi Lianshan took a deep breath and said, ¡°A Demon Eyes Flower alone can be even more powerful than a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch. As far as I know, a Demon Eyes Flower somehow appeared in one of our human domains years ago.

    ¡°That monstrous thing devoured every living being in that entire domain, even including the nts.

    ¡°By the time experts from our sect arrived, there was nothing but rocks and water left in the realms in that domain. Humans, spirit beasts, trees, and vegetation... All gone...¡±

    After a short pause, he fixed Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi with a confused gaze. ¡°It¡¯s truly amazing that you two actually survived a Demon Eyes Flower.¡±

    ¡°That man who has merged with the Demon Eyes Flower is also from the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°In fact, he was another disciple of my master.¡±

    Looking at him and Pei Qiqi, Qi Lianshan sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars... What a wondrous ce...¡±

 Chapter 1036: A Bloodline Test

    In the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    Nie Tian and the others flew through it on the Voidheaven Boat, or by stimting their domains.

    The sea of light-purple flesh aura that was mixed with rolling pitch-ck Demon qi stretched as far as the eye could see, as if it would never end.

    Traveling in it, people had to form all sorts of shields or domains to fend off the Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura and raging Demon qi.

    Once the Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura infiltrated their defenses and entered their bodies, they would soon demonize.

    If that happened, they would descend to ves of the Demon grand monarch¡¯s will and be his puppets, which knew nothing but killing for him.

    Such demonization was different from what Han Yu had gone through. He clearly had his own awareness even though he had merged with the Demoneyes Flower.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Fragmentary purple lightning kept sputtering from the shield that enveloped the Voidheaven Boat.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi just sat silently on the boat, and watched as the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura continued to corrode the boat¡¯s defense.

    They had Qi warriors flying ahead of and behind them.

    Qi Lianshan, Yang Fan, Huang Jinnan, and Lou Hongyan relied on either their domains or air-transportation spiritual tools to keep the Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh and blood away. It wasn¡¯t easy for any of them.

    Gazing ahead, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Since that Demon grand monarch spread his flesh aura over this entire area, he should have been able to detect us as soon as we entered it. Given his strength, even if he isn¡¯t well-versed in spatial power, getting here should be as easy as turning his hand over to him. But since he¡¯s not here, there¡¯s only one possible exnation: he¡¯s otherwise upied, and can¡¯te for us himself.¡±

    Nie Tian chimed in, ¡°Elder Mo Heng, Senior Ji, and Senior Lu are all at the God domain. The outsider grand monarchs that have entered the Domain of Nether Heaven must be focusing their energy on the three of them. If what I suspect is true, the battles between them are still ongoing. It¡¯s understandable that they wouldn¡¯t want to jeopardize their battle results just toe here to kill us.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly and said with a frown, ¡°Since that Demon grand monarch must have learned of our whereabouts, he¡¯ll definitely send his people after us. Besides, that Han Yu had an encounter with us himself. Even though the teleportation portal he guarded has been destroyed, there might be other simr ones in nearby areas.

    ¡°Through those special teleportation portals, Han Yu and other Demon forces will be able to catch up to us much more easily.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope we get out of this sea of flesh aura before they do.¡±

    She was well-aware that the Demons¡¯ battle prowess would improve significantly when fighting in this sea of the Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura.

    If the Demon grand monarch wanted to, he could even fuse the sea of his flesh aura into some of the Demon pursuers, and make their strength soar through the heavens.

    However, their battle prowess would be greatly limited if they were to fight in this sea of the Demon grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura.

    With themselves weakened and their Demon pursuers strengthened, if they actually got into a battle with them, they would most likely end up losing.

    With a bitter smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°That senior martial brother of mine is formidable indeed. He even managed to harness and merge with a Demon Eyes Flower, which is known as the deadliest demonic nt. And from the look of it, he still has his independent awareness, and has full control of the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s power, instead of being a puppet of the demonic nt.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you can¡¯t have any scruples about killing him if you encounter him again.¡± Pei Qiqi clearly still had lingering fears about the man. ¡°Even though he hasn¡¯t been demonized, his mind has been corrupted. He doesn¡¯t even consider himself a human anymore. A man like him is even more dangerous than the Demons. You¡¯ve got to kill him without hesitation when an opportunity presents itself.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Of course I won¡¯t hold back. It¡¯s just that...¡±

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, even a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch might not be able to win a battle against Han Yu, who had be one with that Demon Eyes Flower.

    By relying on his seventh grade bloodline power and that Star Behemoth bone, he was able to kill eighth grade outsiders.

    However, he knew that he still didn¡¯t have what it took to contend against a ninth grade outsider, much less the Demon Eyes Flower, which was even stronger.

    On top of that, even though he hadn¡¯t gotten into a direct battle against Han Yu¡¯s true self, he had sensed shockingly intense demonic power running inside of him as well.

    Looking around at the sea of rich flesh aura and rolling Demon qi they were in, Nie Tian became absorbed in his thoughts. ¡°A Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura...

    ¡°That¡¯s basically a sea of flesh power. And Life Drain allows me to channel flesh power from almost all outsider races, except Bonebrutes. Will it work on this sea of flesh aura?

    ¡°Before, when Fang Tianyi¡¯s domain was invaded by Grand Patriarch Cardy¡¯s flesh aura, I was only able to neutralize it, instead of refining it.

    ¡°But, my bloodline has advanced to the seventh grade, and my bloodline power has been enhanced. Does this mean I can give it a shot now?¡±

    With these thoughts, a wisp of crimson flesh aura that was as fine as a hair flew out of the tip of Nie Tian¡¯s left index finger, and extended through the Voidheaven Boat¡¯s protective shield.

    Taken aback, Pei Qiqi eximed, ¡°What are you doing?!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t respond. Instead, his soul awareness interacted with his bloodline power in a profound way, allowing him to sense the surroundings of the wisp of his flesh aura as it extended into the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura like a tentacle. ¡°Life Drain!¡± he bellowed inwardly.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Strange sounds suddenly came from the extending string of blood-colored light. The Demon grand monarch¡¯s light-purple flesh aura that had spread thin over this entire area seemed to be stirred.

    The flesh aura around the blood string was rather thin at first, but now, it suddenly concentrated, and became much thicker.

    The grand monarch¡¯s soul awareness seemed to loom in the depths of the concentrated flesh aura, along with remote, hysterical roars.

    Numerous fragmentary purple crystals rapidly came to form in the purple flesh aura.

    Then, they exploded one after another, sending out glorious purple light that quickly vanished.

    Vanishing with them was Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of flesh aura.

    With narrowed eyes, Nie Tian watched his wisp of flesh aura perish, but didn¡¯t regret making the attempt. ¡°Same result. I can only neutralize a bit of the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, but not absorb it. The power within that crystallized flesh aura seems to be the original demonic power. Come to think of it, Cardy¡¯s flesh aura contained the flesh power of another grand patriarch...¡±

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian reached the conclusion that Demon grand monarchs¡¯ flesh auras contained the so-called original demonic power, which he could only neutralize with his bloodline magics for the time being, instead of refining.

    However, when the wisp of his flesh aura had entered the sea of the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, the drops of Blood Essence in his heart had suddenly grown restless, as if they had craved Blood Essence Seething.

    Not just that, but the green aura in his heart that was branded with the profound truths of his bloodline also yearned for action.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ve got to give my bloodline more time to grow and upgrade. I might be able to refine any grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, along with the original demonic power within it, after my bloodline advances to the eighth or ninth grade.¡±

    The unusual reaction and strong desire of the green aura filled Nie Tian¡¯s heart with hope.

    He was more and more convinced that someday, when his bloodline reached a certain grade, it would be as easy as pie for him to refine the flesh aura of a grand monarch.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to find as many high-grade outsider or Ancientbeast corpses as I can after leaving the Domain of Nether Heaven. I need to condense the fifty drops of Blood Essence I need to enter the Blood Realm as soon as possible. I also need to satisfy that green aura¡¯s endless need for flesh power, so that it can enter its next upgrade cycle.¡±

    Nie Tian decided what his next move would be after his escape.

    A few dayster, Qi Lianshan, who had been traveling at the end of the formation, suddenly flew over to Pei Qiqi. ¡°Several Demon ancient starships are heading in our direction!¡±

    Surprised, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°How long will it be before they catch up to us?¡±

    Qi Lianshan let out a low sigh. ¡°A day or two. While our speed is limited when traveling in the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura sea, the Demon ancient starships run on Demon qi. Not only will their speed not be limited, but they can travel even faster here. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take for us to cross this sea of flesh aura. I doubt that we¡¯ll be able to get out of it before they catch up to us.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, we can¡¯t use Void Travel to cross this sea of the grand monarch flesh aura,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking frustrated.

    After pausing to think for a moment, Qi Lianshan said, ¡°I had a talk with Yang Fan and the others. When the Demon ancient starships catch up to us, we¡¯ll stay and fight them, while you keep going forward with Huang Jinnan, Nie Tian, and Lou Hongyan. Get out of the flesh aura sea as quickly as possible. Only if you get out here safely will we have a chance at surviving this tribtion.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Nie Tian turned to look at Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan.

    He noticed that Yang Fan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s other subordinates were gathered around them, and having the same conversation.

    From the look of it, Qi Lianshan and Yang Fan had long since thought of this move, probably from the moment they had entered the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    The seniors had long since been prepared to give their lives for Pei Qiqi, Huang Jinnan, Nie Tian, and Lou Hongyan.

 Chapter 1037: Potential Stimulation

    ¡°Divine Son! Divine Daughter!¡± Yang Fan eximed in a low, urgent voice. ¡°You¡¯re the future of our sect. As long as you stay safe, you¡¯ll be able to enter the God domain one day! But given our cultivation talent, we probably won¡¯t be able to break the shackles and make that final advance in cultivation in our lifetimes. So we can¡¯t let anything happen to you!

    ¡°Only if you¡¯re safe will my family and n be safe, and benefit from serving you!¡±

    Several other subordinates of Lou Hongyan¡¯s also chimed in, hoping to persuade them.

    Even so, Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan were still torn with the dilemma.

    They knew that there must be at least one grand patriarch among the Demon pursuers.

    After all, Han Yu had already gained a rough measure of their strength when he had retreated. Now that they dared to chase them into the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura, they must have full confidence in winning the battle.

    Leaving Yang Fan and other experts behind would be sending them to die.

    ¡°Miss Pei!¡± Qi Lianshan¡¯s heart burned with anxiety. ¡°You¡¯re our sectmaster¡¯sst legacy disciple. He broke his word to take you in. The future of the Void Spirit Society lies with you! Your safety is more important than anything else! Please leave first!¡±

    Just as Pei Qiqi was about to speak, Nie Tian interrupted her with a grim expression. ¡°Wait! Senior Qi, could I have a moment alone with Senior Martial Sister Pei? I have something to say to her.¡±

    ¡°Alright, Nie Tian. Please see if you can talk some sense into her.¡± With these words, Qi Lianshan left the two alone.

    ¡°You want to persuade me to leave them behind too?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, frowning.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No. Previously, you cast your escape magic to get us through the Heaven Freezing Spell and out of realm number nine...¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t work.¡± Pei Qiqi interrupted him before he could finish. ¡°That sealing spell cast by the sectmaster of the Death Curse Sect is nothing whenpared to this grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura. Also, I¡¯ll have to rely on my bloodline power to cast that escape magic. However, my bloodline power is being suppressed by the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, which means I can¡¯t cast that magic as long as we¡¯re still here.¡±

    ¡°But what if I could stimte your potential?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Pei Qiqi was baffled. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Nie Tian raised his voice. ¡°I¡¯m telling you that I might be able to stimte the potential of your bloodline.¡±

    ¡°But I still don¡¯t quite understand...¡± Pei Qiqi said with a confused face.

    ¡°Alright, let me show you then.¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath, and countless crimson blood strings shot out of him. Like needles and thread, they pierced into Pei Qiqi¡¯s chest and abdomen.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Potential Stimtion!¡±

    In a method that was like a reverse Life Drain, rich flesh power surged out of Nie Tian, and followed the countless crimson blood strings into Pei Qiqi

    Flesh power that carried the profound truths of life rapidly dispersed to every corner of Pei Qiqi¡¯s body, every meridian, bone, and muscle.

    As this happened, Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial bloodline seemed to realize what was happening, and started to absorb Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power voluntarily.

    BOOM!

    A drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, which had taken him great effort to condense, suddenly seethed. The life power essence within it fused into the wisp after wisp of flesh power that flowed to every part of Pei Qiqi¡¯s body.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart started to race. The fine veins in her long, white neck seemed to expand, as they could now be seen under her jade-like skin.

    The surging life power gradually enhanced Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial bloodline, stimting some hidden potential of her bloodline.

    Countless glowing spatial des that were as fine as hairs suddenly poured out of her acupoints into her meridians like thousands of lightning bolts.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian had a peculiar feeling that Pei Qiqi was shifting among different spaces.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous fine spatial des could be seen slithering over her body as her aura soared.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Such power...¡±

    She had never felt so energetic. It was as if every part of her and every muscle had been filled with vigor.

    An unprecedentedly vigorous power seemed to be building up inside of her, making her more and more powerful.

    BOOM!

    Another drop of Blood Essence seethed in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. A mixture of life power essence and flesh power continued to pour through the numerous blood strings into Pei Qiqi¡¯s body.

    WHOOSH!

    Without her knowing it, the irregrly shaped crystal took it upon itself to fly out.

    After it did, thousands of spatial des swarmed out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints, converging on the floating crystal.

    Pei Qiqi closed her eyes to sense it for a few seconds before snapping her eyes open again. ¡°It¡¯s enough! Nie Tian, tell everyone to put their air-transportation spiritual tools away and gather to me! Now!¡±

    Afterwards, the irregrly shaped crystal seemed to be activated, the reflections of different spaces appearing in its numerous facets.

    Nie Tian hastily called out, ¡°Get over here, everyone! Senior Martial Sister Pei is trying to cast an escape magic to get us through this Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura!¡±

    Qi Lianshan¡¯s face turned pale with shock. ¡°What?! How is that possible?! As powerful as Miss Pei is, she can¡¯t possibly get all of us out of this sea of flesh aura with Void Travel!¡±

    Momentster, Yang Fan, Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and all of the others gathered over as well, fixing Nie Tian with confused gazes.

    Staring unblinkingly at the irregrly shaped crystal, Qi Lianshan examined it with his soul awareness, and suddenly detected the unique aura of spatial rifts and teleportation portals from one of its numerous facets. ¡°Wait! Such aura... Such ability...¡±

    Such an aura could only be detected by spatial power experts like him, who had entered the Saint domain.

    bbergasted, Qi Lianshan marveled, ¡°A stable spatial tunnel is forming in one of the crystal¡¯s facets! Only our sectmaster¡¯s immortal grade spiritual tool, Void Mirror, can do such an incredible thing!¡±

    In the next moment, he came to another shocking discovery: many of Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints were like independent spaces.

    This was something he had never thought possible!

    ¡°Now!¡± As Pei Qiqi pointed her jade-like finger in the air, one of the irregrly shaped crystal¡¯s facets suddenly expanded into a portal, inside of which spatial auras could be seen circling.

    ¡°This is brilliant!¡± Though shocked to his very core, Qi Lianshan understood that the portal had be essible now, and thus called out to Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan urgently, ¡°Come on! Get in! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!¡±

    Having had a simr experience, Huang Jinnan jerked his head towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Please help me out again, Brother Nie!¡±

    Seeing that Pei Qiqi had already pushed herself to her limit, Nie Tian grabbed Huang Jinnan and pulled him into the portal.

    WHOOSH!

    The two of them vanished.

    Seeing this, Lou Hongyan and her subordinates hastily followed along.

    Surprisingly, the distorting power within the spatial tunnel that should have been strong enough to tear all of them to pieces had been suppressed by Pei Qiqi¡¯s bloodline power, and be almost negligible.

    Nie Tian¡¯s exceptionally tough body didn¡¯t sustain a single wound.

    Even Huang Jinnan only sustained a few fleshly wounds, none of which were deep enough to hurt his bones or internal organs.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One figure after another appeared out of nowhere and fell onto a huge floating meteor.

    After assuming a firm foothold, everyone looked up and saw a bright spot flickering over them.

    SHEW!

    Pei Qiqi was thest one to fly out of it,nding with a loud crash.

    Everyone gathered to her side. ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    Standing in front of the crowd, Nie Tian saw the bright spot morph into that irregrly shaped crystal, which then vanished into her.

    Pei Qiqi, however, fell unconscious.

    After taking a brief moment to sense her, Qi Lianshan said with knitted brow, ¡°Her spiritual sea is nowpletely dry, without a single shred of spiritual power left. Not just that, but she has also lost ny percent of her soul power. She¡¯s no different from amoner now. Even though spiritual power is easy to recover, it¡¯s much more troublesome to recover soul power.¡±

    At the same time, Nie Tian examined her with his bloodline aura. His expression flickered as well. Pei Qiqi had drained her flesh power that carried unique spatial wonders.

    Even the spatial des he had previously seen in her acupoints had vanishedpletely. Not a single one was left.

    While spiritual power could be recovered within a short time through materials that contained spatial power or channeled from teleportation portals, it was much more difficult to recover her unique bloodline power.

    ¡°Thanks to Miss Pei¡¯s wondrous escape magic, we¡¯re now out of the Domain of Nether Heaven!¡± With these words, Qi Lianshan pointed into the distant starry river. ¡°That¡¯s the Domain of Endless Thunder, where the Heavenly Thunder Sect is based. It¡¯s a neighbor domain of the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    ¡°A few ancient starships of the Heavenly Thunder Sect are cruising through this area!¡± Yang Fan eximed.

    ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect...¡± Nie Tian muttered.

 Chapter 1038: Turbulence Across All Domains

    Nie Tian suddenly remembered that Mo Qinglei, who he had met in the Shatter Battlefield, was the son of the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s sectmaster.

    Back then, he had gone through dangers with him, and eventually had to part ways with him and let him fend for himself.

    Now that years had passed, he still didn¡¯t know whether he had escaped from Yuan Jiuchuan or not.

    ¡°You know the Heavenly Thunder Sect, don¡¯t you?¡± Yang Fan asked with a surprised look on his face. ¡°I thought you did. After all, Mo Qianfan, the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, is your grand elder¡¯s cousin. It¡¯s just that from what I¡¯ve learned, Mo Heng doesn¡¯t have much contact with Mo Qianfan or the Mo n anymore.¡±

    ¡°Mo Qianfan is Grand Elder Mo Heng¡¯s cousin?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking surprised.

    Instead of answering right away, Yang Fan spread his soul awareness through the starry river in an attempt to establishmunication with the ancient starships from the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    After a while, Yang Fan¡¯s eyes snapped open. ¡°Mo Qianfan is on one of the starships!¡±

    Only then did he turn to Nie Tian and exin, ¡°The Mo n is a powerful and prosperous n that has influence over arge area. Even though Grand Elder Mo Heng is from the Mo n, since he didn¡¯t show any specific cultivation attribute as a kid, the Mo n didn¡¯t attach much importance to him. Meanwhile, his family was only a side-branch of therge Mo n. And since no one in his family had made any significant achievements before him, his family had stayed low for a long time.

    ¡°In fact, he didn¡¯t have a happy childhood in the Mo n.

    ¡°Only until one year, when a high-ranking member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce identally saw his cultivation talent and brought him back to sect, did he show his unique potential and soar to prominence.

    ¡°As he gradually grew stronger and stronger in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Mo n reached out to him.

    ¡°However, he didn¡¯t ept their offer.

    ¡°Later, when he entered the God domain and became the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Mo n intended to cling to him and name him their nmaster, but he declined again.

    ¡°So even though Mo Qianfan, the current nmaster of the Mo n and sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, is his cousin, they haven¡¯t had any contact with each other in many years.¡±

    Even juniors like Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan didn¡¯t know the story between Mo Heng and the Mo n, it was only natural that Nie Tian knew nothing about it.

    Only after hearing Yang Fan¡¯s exnation did Nie Tian learn that because Mo Heng had declined the Mo n¡¯s offers repeatedly, they had eventually named Mo Qianfan as their leader.

    ¡°Senior Qi, now that we¡¯re out of the Domain of Nether Heaven, can you contact your headquarters?¡± Lou Hongyan asked in a low voice.

    At this moment, the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura was already nowhere to be seen.

    The Void Spirit Society had a secret magic that allowed their disciples tomunicate with their headquarters even though they were far away in the starry river. Lou Hongyan hoped that the Void Spirit Society would learn about the upheavals in the Domain of Nether Heaven at the first possible moment, so they would send powerful experts over.

    Qi Lianshan smiled bitterly. ¡°I need some time to recover my strength. It was very consuming to travel in that Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura.¡±

    With these words, he took out spatial jades and started channeling the spatial power within them.

    Nie Tian ced his hand on Pei Qiqi¡¯s shoulder, and sensed that she was breathing regrly, and the flow of her qi and blood was stable, which meant she was just too weak to wake up at this moment.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take a while to treat her injuries,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Everyone else nodded understandingly, and waited on the meteor in silence.

    Wisp after wisp of flesh power fused into Pei Qiqi as Nie Tian treated her once again with Heavenly Wood Heal, using his wood power and flesh power.

    It wasn¡¯t long before five huge ancient starships approached them.

    The ancient starship at the forefront took the initiative to slowly descend onto the meteor.

    A man flew out of it. Wreathed in slithering lightning bolts, the man indeed had simr looks as Mo Heng. He took a nce at the crowd and asked with a surprised expression, ¡°You are?¡±

    The important figures took turns to introduce themselves.

    ¡°Lou Hongyan from the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    ¡°Huang Jinnan.¡±

    ¡°Qi Lianshan, Void Spirit Society elder.¡±

    ¡°Nie... Nie Tian?!¡± Mo Qinglei¡¯s exmation echoed out from the ancient starship before he flew down in a sh. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    With one hand on Pei Qiqi¡¯s upper back, Nie Tian opened his eyes to look at him. ¡°Mo Qinglei, I¡¯m surprised that you made it out of the Shatter Battlefield alive.¡±

    Mo Qinglei smiled wryly. ¡°Yeah, I survived by luck. I heard that Yuan Jiuchuan went to the Domain of Heaven Python afterwards. Many Qi warriors and spirit beasts that practiced lightning power died at his hands.¡±

    The mention of Yuan Jiuchuan put a grim look on Mo Qianfan¡¯s face, who was talking to Yang Fan and the other experts.

    ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan did show up and kill arge number of people in the Domain of Heaven Python, but he¡¯s no longer a threat now,¡± Nie Tian said with a calm face. ¡°We got him when he tried to leave the Domain of Heaven Python for other domains. I believe he¡¯s still trying to find his way back from the space disruption zone we sent him to as we speak.¡±

    Surprised and delighted, Mo Qianfan asked, ¡°You sent the Thunder Devil to a space disruption zone?¡±

    Seeing Nie Tian nod, he let out a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s for the best! That bastard better die in that space disruption zone and nevere back!¡±

    ¡°So... why are you here?¡± Lou Hongyan asked.

    Mo Qianfan pondered for a brief moment before gazing in the direction of the Domain of Nether Heaven and asking, ¡°What happened there? People from the Void Spirit Society sent word to us, saying that they couldn¡¯t get in touch with their disciples who had gone on a trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven. So they asked us toe over here and take a look. Also, we noticed a few days ago that all of the stars in the Domain of Nether Heaven seemed to suddenly disappear.¡±

    Lou Hongyan nodded. ¡°So it looks like the Void Spirit Society has already sensed that something has gone wrong. But if they failed to get in touch with their disciples, why didn¡¯t they or the other great sects send any powerful experts here?¡±

    With a wry smile, Mo Qianfan said, ¡°That¡¯s because many human domains are under attack. As far as we know, at least five human domains are being attacked by previously-uprooted crooked sects. The four great sects are busy protecting those domains. Besides, it¡¯s also said that outsiders are pushing forward with great force in the Dead Star Sea. Many powerful experts have been summoned to join the defense.¡±

    Huang Jinnan gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?! Multiple domains are under attack?! Even the Dead Star Sea is being attacked by outsider forces?! So the Domain of Nether Heaven isn¡¯t the only domain in trouble. Damn it. I¡¯m afraid this turbulence guing multiple human domains isn¡¯t going to pass any time soon.¡±

    Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society chimed in with a grim face, ¡°I thought it wasn¡¯t exactly peaceful in other domains, but I never expected things to be this bad.¡±

    ¡°What on earth happened in the Domain of Nether Heaven?¡± Mo Qianfan asked with an anxious expression. ¡°Three God domain experts weren¡¯t enough to kill the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society?¡±

    The Domain of Endless Thunder bordered the Domain of Nether Heaven. If the Domain of Nether Heaven fell into the hands of evil forces, the Domain of Endless Thunder would naturally be the next target. This made him worry.

    The Domain of Endless Thunder hadn¡¯t attached itself to any of the four great sects. The reason why he had answered the Void Spirit Society¡¯s summons was because they understood that once the lips were gone, the teeth would be cold.

    Gazing in the direction of the Domain of Nether Heaven, Yang Fan said indignantly, ¡°Not just the Nether Spirit Society, but the Death Curse Sect and at least three outsider grand monarchs! The grand monarchs sealed the entire Domain of Nether Heaven with their flesh auras, which is why disciples of the Void Spirit Society couldn¡¯t get in touch with their headquarters.

    ¡°Even though we escaped that damned ce, we paid a heavy price.

    ¡°Miss Pei even fell unconscious because of it. Not to mention that many of our team members were butchered by the outsiders.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to send word to the Void Spirit Society through your ess now, exining the situation in the Domain of Nether Heaven to them!¡±

    Mo Qianfan gasped with astonishment. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Domain of Nether Heaven has actually fallen!¡±

    Knowing that this was a matter of great importance, he hastily turned to the berthed ancient starship and shouted, ¡°Send word to the Void Spirit Society immediately! Tell them that three outsider grand monarchs have sealed the Domain of Nether Heaven with their flesh auras, and the three God domain experts are in danger! Tell them to send powerful experts here as soon as possible!¡±

    Turning his head back, he said to Yang Fan and the others, ¡°The inter-domain teleportation portal in our headquarters is essible at all times. And we have a small-scale teleportation portal on that ancient starship of mine that¡¯s connected to therge-scale teleportation portal in our headquarters. It won¡¯t take long for powerful experts from the four great sects to get here.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°Besides that, if there¡¯s anything you need, just tell me. As long as it¡¯s within my power, I¡¯ll try my best to amodate them.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for my sect¡¯s response first,¡± Qi Lianshan said.

    With a deeply knitted brow, Nie Tian suddenly felt that the entire human world was now enveloped in a haze.

    This tribtion stirred up by outsiders and crooked human forces would most likelyst quite a while.

    ¡°I just hope none of this is happening in the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

 Chapter 1039: A Lasting Tribulation

    In the Realm of Heavenly Thunder in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    The Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters was located in the Realm of Heavenly Thunder. Nie Tian and the others teleported to it through the teleportation portal in Mo Qianfan¡¯s ancient starship.

    The terrible situation in the Domain of Nether Heaven had already spread to the four great sects through the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    As a Divine Son and Divine Daughter, Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan anxiously returned to the Five Elements Sect through the inter-domain teleportation portal in the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t leave right away. Instead, he stayed to heal Pei Qiqi¡¯s fleshly wounds by relying on his unique wonders.

    A few hourster, Pei Qiqi slowly woke up.

    Looking at Pei Qiqi, who was exhausted and spiritless, Nie Tian let out a soft sigh and said, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei... I¡¯ve healed most of your fleshly wounds for you, but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to rely on yourself to recover your bloodline power.¡±

    ¡°Where am I?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°The headquarters of the Heavenly Thunder Sect.¡±

    ¡°So we got out of the Domain of Nether Heaven...¡± Pei Qiqi said, her face very pale. ¡°What¡¯s the situation now? Have our sects sent reinforcements?¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Almost the entire human world is under attack. The Domain of Nether Heaven isn¡¯t the only domain that¡¯s being invaded by outsiders...¡± Nie Tian exined thetest situation to her with a grim face.

    It was also at this moment that Qi Lianshan, who was in a nearby courtyard, sensed Pei Qiqi¡¯s waking and rushed over.

    He took a deep look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Now that Miss Pei is awake, I need to take her back to our sect.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Sure.¡±

    Then, Nie Tian turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°You practically drained all of your power by casting that escape magic to get us out of the grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura. You need to return to your sect and recover your strength with the help of your sect¡¯s cultivation resources.¡±

    Pei Qiqi had examined herself with her soul awareness and learned her condition the moment she had awoken.

    Her fleshly injuries were mostly healed. Herrgest problem was that she had consumed all of her power. While it would be easy to replenish her spatial power, her bloodline power and soul power would be troublesome to recover.

    She also understood that even Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to help her with that. Only if she returned to the Void Spirit Society and sought help from the sectmaster would she have a chance at recovering her strength within a short time.

    ¡°What about you?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking at Nie Tian. ¡°Are you going back to your sect as well?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m gonna stay here for a few more days and see how things go,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll inform the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce of your meritorious deeds.¡± Qi Lianshan promised Nie Tian. ¡°We only made it out of the Domain of Nether Heaven alive because of you and Miss Pei. After the situation stabilizes, we¡¯ll definitely exin this to your sect and make sure you receive the contribution points you deserve.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head and said with a wry smile, ¡°Contribution points aren¡¯t what I care about now.¡±

    Qi Lianshan went nk briefly before nodding. ¡°I see. No matter what, I¡¯ll escort Miss Pei back to our sect first.¡±

    Pei Qiqi slowly rose to her feet and said to Nie Tian, ¡°Take care.¡±

    Qi Lianshan then carefully helped her towards the inter-domain teleportation portal in the Heavenly Thunder Sect. Soon, the teleportation portal was activated, and the two of them left the Domain of Endless Thunder after Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and the others.

    Shortly afterwards, Mo Qinglei came to see Nie Tian by himself.

    The courtyard Nie Tian was in was usually used to amodate the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s noblest guests, and was rather close to the inter-domain teleportation portal.

    At this point, Mo Qianfan, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, was still on his ancient starship, waiting for powerful experts from the four great sects to arrive through the teleportation portal on his starship.

    That way, they would be able to travel through the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura into the Domain of Nether Heaven within the shortest time possible.

    However, it had been hours since Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan had left. The Void Spirit Society should have received word of thetest situation as well. However, not a single powerful expert from the four great sects hade to the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    Tired of waiting, he came to find Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Mo Qinglei said, looking rather anxious. ¡°It¡¯s been hours, and not a single person from the four great sects hase. What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± Nie Tian said.

    The tribtion in the Domain of Nether Heaven had touched him deeply. It had made him realize that, given his current cultivation base, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything in a war between humans and outsiders like this.

    As a Profound realm Qi warrior, he couldn¡¯t even be too close to a battle between powerful humans and outsiders.

    Previously, he had only observed the battle between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Withered Bones from afar, and he had felt dizzy and lost his soul power at an rming rate.

    If he had been in the battle zone, the aftermath of the peak experts alone could have killed him.

    He still had a long way to go.

    ¡°What about you? Why didn¡¯t you leave?¡± Mo Qinglei asked with a puzzled expression.

    With a grim face, Nie Tian said, ¡°My sect must have received word of what¡¯s happening already. It won¡¯t matter whether I return or not. So I chose to stay here and learn the situation firsthand. No matter who emerges victorious in the Domain of Nether Heaven, I want to know it at the first possible moment.¡±

    He was a bit concerned about Mo Heng¡¯s safety.

    As the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he had treated him well. Even though Nie Tian wanted to help him, hiscking strength didn¡¯t allow him to.

    Even Saint domain experts wouldn¡¯t be able to change the course of the battle that was taking ce in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Only God domain experts would be able to turn the situation around.

    However, he didn¡¯t know any God domain experts, much less have the ability to summon one.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you have any high-grade spirit beast meat or outsider corpses here in your sect? I want to buy some with spirit jades, as many as possible.¡±

    Both his bloodline upgrade and Blood Essence refinement would require a tremendous amount of flesh power.

    What he needed the most at this moment was cultivation materials that could provide him with rich flesh power. After all, he had seen his poor strength, and wanted to improve his battle prowess as soon as possible.

    Mo Qinglei fixed him with a confused look and said, ¡°Yes, of course. But forget about spirit jades. You helped me leave the Fortune Wells and escape Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s ws back when we were in the Shatter Battlefield. And you sent that nightmare for all those who practice lightning power to a space disruption zone, which is great news for my sect.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and left. But before long, he returned, and tossed Nie Tian a ring of holding.

    Inside of the ring was arge amount of spirit beast meat, ranging from the sixth grade to the eighth grade.

    ¡°This is all the spirit beast meat I can find you now, but I¡¯ll have my men look for more,¡± Mo Qinglei said. ¡°It¡¯s been many years since our sect made any contact with outsiders, so it¡¯ll take some time to find outsider corpses.¡±

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll start with this,¡± Nie Tian said gratefully.

    Afterwards, he practiced cultivation wholeheartedly in the residence the Heavenly Thunder Sect had provided him. With Life Drain, he madly absorbed the flesh power within the spirit beast meat he was given and refined it into Blood Essence.

    As the spirit beast meat was consumed at an rming rate, drop after drop of Blood Essence came to form in his heart.

    Two days passed.

    Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and a few elders of the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect finally arrived through the inter-domain teleportation portal in the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    Afterwards, they hurriedly teleported to the ancient starship that was still wandering the starry river between the Domain of Nether Heaven and the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    Wei Lai, however, didn¡¯t leave right away, learning that Nie Tian was there.

    ¡°Elder Wei!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you return to our sect?¡± Wei Lai

    ¡°I wanted to learn the result of the battle that¡¯s taking ce in the Domain of Nether Heaven at the first possible moment,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that. The crisis in the Domain of Nether Heaven should be over soon.¡± Wei Lai said with a consoling tone. ¡°Our vice sectmaster, Luo Wanxiang, and the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society are here.¡±

    ¡°Have they left for the Domain of Nether Heaven already?¡±

    ¡°They have.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, could you take me to the Domain of Nether Heaven with you? I want to take a look at things.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Alright then.¡±

 Chapter 1040: God Domain Reinforcements

    On the border of the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Nie Tian was standing on his Star Boat, which was enveloped in Wei Lai¡¯s domain.

    He gazed off into the distance, and saw an enormous dharma idol in the depths of the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura. Like a god from ancient times, it shone with dazzling starlight as it bombarded the surging sea of flesh aura and Demon qi with thousands of clusters of star power.

    ¡°That¡¯s vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang,¡± Wei Lai said in a deep voice.

    At the same time, a huge bolt of lightning was speeding through the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura, splitting it wherever it flew and giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    Tiny figures could be vaguely seen within the bolt of lightning. However, it was hard to make out their appearances due to the long distance.

    Wei Lai went on and exined, ¡°That bolt of lightning is Xuan Guangyu, who¡¯s a vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. His cultivation base is at the middle God domain, which is even higher than Ji Yuanquan¡¯s. He¡¯s splitting the the grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura, while Vice Sectmaster Luo suppresses it.

    ¡°I believe the sea of flesh aura will soon be gone, and we¡¯ll be able to enter the Domain of Nether Heaven without any resistance.¡±

    As he spoke, Mo Qianfan, who was standing off to the side, also gazed off at the sea of flesh aura with a grim face. ¡°The crisis in the Domain of Nether Heaven should be relieved soon.¡±

    Both Luo Wanxiang from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society were at the middle God domain.

    Furthermore, both of them had brought a few Saint domain elders. Such a force was more than enough powerful to wipe out any human powers except the four great sects, including the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    With such a terrifying force entering the Domain of Nether Heaven, the result of the battle was already determined.

    As expected, it wasn¡¯t very long before the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura began to shrink at an rming rate.

    The raging flesh aura and Demon qi eventually condensed into a colossal axe that was the size of a realm, which emanated a disgusting, bloody aura.

    The moment it came to form, it flew off into the depths of the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    ¡°You can¡¯t run!¡± Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol bellowed and chased after it like a falling star chasing after the moon.

    As Luo Wanxiang chased the colossal axe into the distance, the sea of flesh aura and Demon qi vanishedpletely.

    ¡°The grand monarchs sealed the Domain of Nether Heaven with their flesh auras to prevent those inside from leaving easily, but it also served as an rm,¡± Wei Lai said with a grim face. ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe must have noticed as soon as Vice Sectmaster Luo and Xuan Guangyu entered his sea of flesh aura.

    ¡°I have no doubt that the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven will end soon. I just hope the three God domain experts and the others in there are still safe.

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    With these words, Wei Lai signalled Mo Qianfan to sail his ancient starship into the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    Mo Qianfan nodded and gave orders to his men.

    By now, Nie Tian had already learned from Wei Lai that the reason why the reinforcements from four great sects had arrived sote was because they had been waiting for Luo Wanxiang and Xuan Guangyu.

    Many different human domains were being attacked by joint forces of outsiders and crooked human sects.

    Almost every God domain expert had been summoned to help put out the fires.

    Powerful experts from the four great sects had been terribly busy running around dealing with this tribtion that had swept across the human world.

    When word of the crisis in the Domain of Nether Heaven hade in, Luo Wanxiang and Xuan Guangyu had been fighting outsiders and crooked human forces in remote areas, and couldn¡¯t possiblye over right away.

    Since only God domain experts would be able to turn the situation in the Domain of Nether Heaven around, the others had had no choice but to wait.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I heard from the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect that you made significant contributions to your escape from the Domain of Nether Heaven,¡± Wei Lai said with approval in his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. You¡¯ll get all the contribution points you deserve after this messes to an end. Also, you seem to have killed quite a number of outsiders. Where are the corpses?¡±

    Nie Tian handed him a ring of holding. ¡°Here.¡±

    It was filled with outsider corpses, including Auden, Anguz, and numerous other Demons and Phantasms.

    However, all of the corpses had been drained of their flesh power, and be shriveled and worthless.

    Wei Lai grabbed the ring and briefly examined its contents. Nodding, he said, ¡°Good. All of them will be used to calcte your contribution points.¡±

    He didn¡¯t seem to care that the outsider remains had been refined of their flesh power.

    Clearly, he only needed to see proof of how many powerful outsiders Nie Tian had killed, so that he would be able to determine the amount of contribution points he would get. ¡°Besides, the fact that you helped heal Pei Qiqi and Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society and got everyone out of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura will also trante into contribution points after we have a discussion about it.¡±

    ¡°I just hope our grand elder is okay,¡± Nie Tian muttered softly.

    ¡°Our grand elder?¡± Wei Lai said with a profound look in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re worrying too much. You have no idea how powerful our grand elder really is. The way I see it, mishaps may happen to the other two God domain experts, but never our grand elder.¡±

    ¡°Is Grand Elder Mo Heng really that powerful?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°More than you¡¯d think,¡± Wei Lai said with great certainty.

    Days passed...

    The Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s ancient starship sailed through the border area of the Domain of Nether Heaven into the dead realm-filled area, where Nie Tian and the others had spent some time.

    Debris and wrecked Demon starships were drifting in the starry river. In their midst, three humans could be seen standing on a t meteor.

    They looked weak and dispirited, as if they had lost so much of their spiritual power and soul power that they couldn¡¯t even fly in the starry river anymore.

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Sikong Cuo!¡±

    Under his demand, the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s ancient starship rapidly approached them.

    Nie Tian only took a quick nce from afar, and realized that they were Sikong Cuo and two of his subordinates: Zou Qing, who was at thete Saint domain and Chen Qitian, who was the sectmaster of the Heavenly Witchcraft Sect.

    ¡°Just the three of them are left?¡± Nie Tian asked inwardly.

    ¡°Elder Wei!¡± Sikong Cuo shouted at the top of his lungs. After the ancient starship came closer, the three of them jumped onto it.

    ¡°Howe there¡¯s just the three of you?¡± Wei Lai asked. ¡°Where are your other subordinates, Sikong Cuo?¡±

    He remembered that Sikong Cuo had mobilized a lot of forces, and brought more than twenty Saint and Void domain experts on this trip to the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    ¡°We¡¯re the only ones left,¡± Sikong Cuo said, losing his usual sharpness. Surprised to spot Nie Tian, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re still alive, junior martial brother.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I survived by luck,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡± Wei Lai asked with a deep frown.

    ¡°We first ran into Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher and lost a few people fighting him off,¡± Sikong Cuo said with a grim face. ¡°When we finally made it to the Demon grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura, several Demon starship suddenly appeared out of nowhere, along with a half-man half-Demon, who called himself Han Yu. I lost the rest of my subordinates fighting through their blockade.¡±

    ¡°Han Yu...¡± Nie Tian said inwardly.

    Without Sikong Cuo giving a detailed exnation, he knew that Han Yu and those Demon starships had meant to chase after them in Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    However, they must have given up when Pei Qiqi had had her bloodline power potential stimted, and taken everyone out of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    Then, they must have run into Sikong Cuo¡¯s team on their way back.

    Failing to find Nie Tian and the others, Han Yu had clearly vented his anger and grudges on Sikong Cuo¡¯s team instead, inflicting heavy damage on them.

    Feeling delighted inwardly, Nie Tian took a close look at Zou Qing and Chen Qitian, and discovered that both of their domains had been severely damaged. It would be impossible for them to recover their battle prowess within a short period of time.

    Sikong Cuo had marched into the Domain of Nether Heaven high-spirited and vigorous. He had probably never imagined suffering such a heavy blow here.

    About half of his total force that he had umted over the years had perished here. Who knew how long it would take for him to recover such losses?

    ¡°Our reinforcements have arrived, right?¡± Sikong Cuo asked anxiously.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo has gone after the axe that Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura morphed into,¡± Wei Lai exined.

    ¡°No wonder the Demon chasing after us suddenly gave up and left,¡± Zou Qing said, looking relieved. ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe must have sensed the unfavorable situation, and thus summoned them back.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for Vice Sectmaster Luo, those Demons would have pursued us until all of us were dead.¡±

    Sikong Cuo then asked, ¡°How many have survived this tribtion? How are the other teams doing?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t know yet, but we will soon,¡± Wei Lai answered. ¡°Now, with the grand monarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura gone, the Void Spirit Society disciples canmunicate with each other again. We¡¯ll search thoroughly, and rescue every survivor we can find.

    ¡°Thanks to Nie Tian and Miss Pei from the Void Spirit Society, their team made it out of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura, and informed us of what was happening here.

    ¡°Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡± Sikong Cuo went nk for a moment. ¡°You went through Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura? If you did, you must have crossed this area filled with dead realms. So did you detect our battle against Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher? And we saw many destroyed Demon and Phantasm starships. Was that you?¡±

    ¡°We did encounter and kill some Demons and Phantasms, but we didn¡¯t know anything about your battle against Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher,¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly.

 Chapter 1041: A Lost Battle

    Sikong Cuo was clearly skeptical about the truthfulness of Nie Tian¡¯s words.

    However, since Nie Tian and his people killing those Demons and Phantasms had actually been in his favor, he didn¡¯t say anything about it.

    Of course, he didn¡¯t know that Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher¡¯s target had been Nie Tian and the others at first, and it was through Pei Qiqi that they hadmunicated with Fan Wen and shifted this ¡®trouble¡¯ to Sikong Cuo, causing him heavy losses.

    If he knew Nie Tian had set him up, he would have been even more furious.

    ¡°Did the Void Spirit Society elder who was traveling with you die too?¡± Wei Lai asked, frowning.

    Sikong Cuo shook his head. ¡°No. We fled in different directions when the Demon starships hit us. Elder Fan Wen got separated from us.

    ¡°But considering that she¡¯s well-versed in spatial power, she might have lived.¡±

    Wei Lai nodded slightly. ¡°You¡¯re right. In order to kill spatial power experts, people would have to be several levels higher than them. However, all of the outsider grand monarchs in the Domain of Nether Heaven are otherwise upied, and don¡¯t have the time to deal with them personally. I suppose the Void Spirit Society has suffered the least casualties this time.¡±

    After picking Sikong Cuo and the other two up, the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s ancient starship set out again.

    Meanwhile, pieces of news came sessively.

    Nie Tian soon learned that the outsiders and crooked human forces that had gued the Domain of Nether Heaven had retreated upon learning about the arrival of Luo Wanxiang, their vice sectmaster, and Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society.

    All of them had evacuated through their special teleportation portals, including the outsiders and disciples of the Death Curse Sect and Nether Spirit Society.

    They all retreated to the same destination: the world beyond the Dead Star Sea.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Wei Lai received word saying that Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect had had his dharma idol shattered and fleshly body destroyed by the joint efforts of Grand Monarch Dark Nether and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    But fortunately, thanks to Xuan Guangyu¡¯s timely arrival, a wisp of his soul had managed to escape.

    If he had arrived a bitter, Grand Monarch Dark Nether and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society would have refined thatst wisp of Lu Jiefeng¡¯s soul, eliminating his chance at rebirth.

    As for Mo Heng and Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society, they had only been slightly injured during their fights against Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    Lu Jiefeng turned out to be the greatest casualty for the humans in this extensive battle.

    Aside from him, the three great sects had also lost a number of Void and Saint domain experts, such as Sikong Cuo, Lou Hongyan, and Fang Yuan¡¯s subordinates.

    By contrast, Huang Jinnan¡¯s subordinates and Ling You, who had decided to give their lives to protect Huang Jinnan and Pei Qiqi, had survived after Mo Heng had shattered the Heaven Freezing Spell sealing realm number nine.

    After the battle ended, Xuan Guangyu had personally escorted Lu Jiefeng¡¯s discarnate soul back to the Five Elements Sect. As a God domain expert who had had his dharma idol destroyed, Lu Jiefeng would have to seek an opportunity to be reborn. However, even if his rebirth turned out to be sessful, who knew how long it would take for him to return to the God domain.

    Considering these results, the humans had actually lost this battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    After all, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had evacuated, along with all of the outsider grand monarchs.

    As for the humans, while Lu Jiefeng was currently only half-dead, many Void and Saint domain experts had been brutally killed by the outsiders and disciples of the Nether Spirit Society and Death Curse Sect, their bodies and souls reduced to battle spoils for the Bonebrutes and Nether Spirit Society disciples.

    Nie Tian stayed on the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s ancient starship as it traveled around in the Domain of Nether Heaven. During this time, many survivors learned about their arrival and gathered to them.

    Days passed, and Fang Yuan showed up with his subordinates.

    He was also surprised to see that Nie Tian was safe and sound. After briefmunication, he was even more amazed to learn that Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had actually gotten their team through Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura, and spread word of what had happened here, which had helped end this tribtion.

    Their search for survivors went on for two weeks.

    Survivors from the three sects, who had been holed up in secluded corners of the domain, gradually came out to join the search teams. However, not a single outsider or disciple of the Death Curse Sect or Nether Spirit Society showed up again.

    Before long, all of the outsider teleportation portals had been dug out and destroyed.

    While the injured ones left through the teleportation portal on the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s ancient starship, Nie Tian stayed.

    ording to Wei Lai, while Xuan Guangyu had escorted Lu Jiefeng¡¯s discarnate soul back to the Five Elements Sect, the other God domain experts, who had consumed significant amounts of power, had also returned to their headquarters without dy.

    They were either taking time to recover their strength, or directly sent off to other battlefields to defend against outsider invaders.

    Everyone felt frustrated by the fact that the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven had ended in a loss for humanity.

    Shortly afterwards, Wei Lai arranged for Nie Tian, Fang Yuan, and Sikong Cuo, the three Sons of the Stars, to return to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    At the inter-domain teleportation portal inside a grand pce in Fragmentary Star City.

    ¡°Battles are still ongoing in the Dead Star Sea and the other invaded domains,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°The three of you have suffered casualties and sustained injuries to different extents during the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven. So don¡¯t worry about joining the other battles for the time being.

    ¡°Meanwhile, the outsiders and the Nether Spirit Society and Death Curse Sect disciples you¡¯ve killed, as well as any significant contributions you¡¯ve made in this battle, will trante into contribution points and be awarded to you after wemunicate with the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect.

    ¡°Alright, you may return to your own domains now, and check if there is any hidden danger.¡±

    Afterwards, the three Sons of the Stars stepped out of the grand pce and summoned their respective Star Boats.

    Sikong Cuo left without saying a word.

    Nie Tian, however, turned to Fang Yuan and asked, ¡°Do you have any high-grade outsider corpses, senior martial brother? I¡¯m nning to buy as many as I can find.¡±

    ¡°I have some, but not a lot,¡± Fang Yuan said. After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°How about you take the ones I have, and I¡¯ll try and see if I can get you more.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be great,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll pay for them with spirit jades.¡±

    Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. You did me a great favor by refining Grand Patriarch Cardy¡¯s residual flesh aura and healing my nmaster¡¯s domain. Consider these outsider corpses my way of saying thank you. In fact, why don¡¯t you go ahead and return to your base first? I¡¯ll have my people take the other outsiders corpses to you in the Domain of Heaven Python after I¡¯m finished.¡±

    ¡°Hmm... That¡¯d be awesome. Many thanks.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t refuse his kind offer.

    After that, they parted ways.

    Nie Tian returned to the Vast Heaven Pavilion, where he activated the teleportation portal and arrived in the Realm of Split Void. Then from there, he teleported to the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Of the three domains that belonged to him, the Domain of Heaven Python was the most developed and powerful. After Kan Zhisheng had established another inter-domain teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the three domains had be interconnected.

    The Realm of Maelstrom remained his base.

    After his return, as the ¡®manager¡¯ of the Domain of the Falling Stars, Li Langfeng, who had recently entered the early Soul realm, came to report thetest situation to him.

    Yue Yanxi, who had entered thete Void domain, also reported to him from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Jing Feiyang, who had derived brand new enlightenments from the Heavenly Talisman and broken through into the middle Saint domain, also came to see him.

    Meanwhile, Qu Mingde, Quan Zixuan, and the sectmasters of the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect were still in secluded cultivation, trying to make breakthroughs in their cultivation with the help of what they had gained from the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    Through Li Langfeng, Yue Yanxi, and Jing Feiyang, Nie Tian learned that none of his domains had been invaded by outsiders or crooked human sects.

    Even so, Jing Feiyang and the others were deeply worried, and urged Nie Tian to raise his guard after learning about the battles that were taking ce in the invaded domains.

    They all felt a lot of pressure after learning that even Lu Jiefeng, a God domain expert from the Five Elements Sect, had been struck down, with only a wisp of his soul escaping the battlefield.

    Jing Feiyang sighed. ¡°From the look of it, humanity will experience turbulence over a long period of time. The outsiders have finally found a way to unravel us: from the inside. The Death Curse Sect and Nether Spirit Society are only the rats we know of. There must be plenty of others we haven¡¯t seen that are and will continue to undermine us.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re in a perilous time. I wonder how long it¡¯llst.¡±

    With a profound look in his eyes, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯m going into secluded cultivation and try to break through into the Soul realm. I need you to look after your domains during this time. Kill any outsiders or ill-intended humans who dare to cause trouble!¡±

 Chapter 1042: Entering the Blood Realm

    The battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven taught Nie Tian a lesson, and made him realize that he was still far too weak.

    The human world would surely experiencesting turbulence this time. Fortunately, his three domains weren¡¯t gued by the mes of war.

    God domain experts were the only forces who could determine the result of this war.

    He had realized that, given his current cultivation base, he wouldn¡¯t be able to make a difference in this war.

    Therefore, he had to improve his battle prowess as much as possible and as quickly as possible.

    Under hismand, Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect took the Star Behemoth bone to the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom, and guarded it.

    Since the Domain of Heaven Python belonged to him, and he was in the Realm of Maelstrom himself, he didn¡¯t worry that there would be mishaps.

    Right before going into secluded cultivation, he instructed Dong Li to do her utmost to gather high-grade spirit beast corpses, preferably eighth grade ones.

    After that, he focused on refining Blood Essence in his residence in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The outsider corpses Fang Yuan had gifted him became the first batch of refining resources.

    As he drained their flesh power through Life Drain, drop after drop of Blood Essence came to form in his heart.

    At the same time, Dong Li informed the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars to gather high-grade spirit beast corpses for him to sustain his cultivation.

    To condense a drop of Blood Essence, he usually needed the whole corpse of an eighth grade spirit beast. Therefore, all of the eighth grade spirit beast corpses continued to be shipped over from the major sects in the three domains, and put into Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    However, they were still far from enough.

    Two weekster, when Nie Tian had run out of them, he had a total of thirty drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    It happened to be at this moment that a subordinate of Fang Yuan¡¯s found him and presented him with another ring of holding, inside of which were a dozen eighth grade outsider corpse.

    Nie Tian thus resumed cultivation.

    Meanwhile, the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect did everything within their power to find eighth grade spirit beast and outsider corpses for him. They went to various realms and traded for them with spirit jades and other cultivation materials.

    Before long, new batches of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses were delivered to Nie Tian.

    Only now did Nie Tian realize how important it was to have three subordinate domains and numerous subordinate sects.

    Looking at the rings of holding that had been ced in front of him, he couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Copious cultivation resources are so important to Qi warriors.¡±

    Those rings of holding came respectively from the Divine Seal Sect, Thousandsword Mountain Sect, Golden Vast Sect, Divine me Sect, Beast-controlling Sect, and other sects. Each and every one of them held a certain amount of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses.

    ¡°No wonder Qi warriors usually seek to join powerful sects. Independent cultivators can¡¯t possibly get so much spirit beast meat within such a short time. Cultivators rely on all sorts of precious materials to make breakthroughs in cultivation and build domains. The stronger cultivators be, therger their needs for cultivation materials will be.

    ¡°To be able to advance to the God domain, not only does a cultivator have to have outstanding cultivation talent, but an astronomical amount of cultivation resources as well.

    ¡°That means the less powerful sects may not even have the ability to cultivate a single God domain expert.¡±

    Nie Tian came to a deep realization of how helpful sects could be to cultivators.

    With these thoughts, he continued to focus on condensing Blood Essence, paying no attention to the turbulences in the outside world.

    After prolonged, painstaking cultivation and countless numbers of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses, he finally umted fifty drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    Observing the diamond-like Blood Essence with his soul awareness, he grew very excited. ¡°That¡¯s it! Fifty drops of Blood Essence!!¡±

    Then, he attempted to enter the origin of his bloodline, the Blood Realm, to seek the bloodline magics that he had longed for.

    As his wisp of soul awareness approached the green aura in his heart, it was suddenly sucked into it.

    The mysterious Bloodline Crystal Chains within the green aura instantly lit up.

    The fifty drops of transcendent Blood Essence then started to hover around the green aura. All of them seemed to be ignited at the same time.

    In a sh, all fifty drops of Blood Essence entered the state of Blood Essence Seething.

    Nie Tian was struck by a curious feeling that he was floating in a sea of vigorous flesh aura. His wisp of soul awareness seemed to be pulled by a mysterious force within the green aura and stimted by the fifty drops of seething Blood Essence, as it pierced throughyer afteryer of spatial limitations before eventually entering an indescribable dimension.

    It was a surging sea of blood!

    Deep within it, countless drops of sparkling and crystal-clear Blood Essence could be seen. Each and every drop contained life essence that was hundreds of times richer than his Blood Essence.

    It was as if there was something somewhere in the sea of blood that contained the purest aura, that was the origin of life.

    That aura was so immense that even the flesh auras of Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones were nothing inparison.

    As soon as his wisp of soul awareness was dragged to this ce, all of the Blood Essence started to shine with dazzling light.

    Somewhere in the distance, the thing that emanated the origin of life suddenly sent out unique information.

    Such information seemed to be vested with a profound awareness, as the moment it fused into his wisp of soul awareness, two bloodline magics were branded into the depths of his mind. ¡°Life Shackle and Life Erosion...¡±

    While the mysterious information was tranted into two specific bloodline magics and became a part of his soul in that instant, he could vaguely sense that his fifty drops of Blood Essence continued to seethe.

    Even his soul power was being consumed at an rming rate.

    During this process, he also lost track of time, and didn¡¯t know how long he had actually spent in this uncanny sea of blood.

    The moment he fully grasped the two bloodline magics, Life Shackle and Life Erosion, his wisp of soul awareness was pulled right out of the sea of blood, and he suddenly awoke from that mystical state of enlightenment.

    Then, he found that his wisp of soul awareness was back in his heart, where the Blood Essence suddenly stopped seething, and started to fuse with one another.

    Soon, the merging ended, and there were only twenty-seven drops of Blood Essence left.

    ¡°Once the Blood Realm is activated, my soul awareness will be able to enter it to obtain brand new bloodline magics, but a price of Blood Essence has to be paid,¡± He murmured quietly. ¡°After the process, my Blood Essence will recondensate. I lost a total of twenty-three drops of Blood Essence and a significant amount of soul power to get these two bloodline magics.¡±

    SHEW!

    That wisp of soul awareness returned to his true soul. He opened his eyes and started pondering the details of Life Shackle and Life Erosion.

    Both of them required Blood Essence to activate.

    Life Shackle mainly targeted living beings with vigorous flesh power, such as Ancientbeasts and outsiders.

    If his target¡¯s bloodline was at the same grade as his, Life Shackle would allow him to suppress their internal flesh aura fluctuations, blood flow, and activation of Blood Essence, thereforergely reducing their battle prowess.

    It would also have a certain suppressing effect on high-grade outsiders and Ancientbeasts, although the effect might be limited.

    As for Life Erosion, what it would erode was lifespan.

    This bloodline magic could be fatal to humans.

    Once a human was enveloped by Life Erosion, they would start to lose their life power at an increased speed. They would rapidly grow old and weak, and their lifespan would shorten significantly.

    For humans who had very limited lifespans to start with, a bloodline magic like Life Erosion was none other than a deadly weapon!

    Many humans would rather suffer heavy injuries in battle than lose the slightest bit of their lifespan.

    After all, limited lifespans were usually what troubled them the most.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone with the light of excitement. ¡°Life Shackle and Life Erosion... One targets outsiders, while the other targets humans.

    ¡°Compared to Life Shackle, Life Erosion is even more terrifying when used in battle. Some may even consider it an evil magic!

    ¡°Both Life Grant and Life Erosion are heaven-defying means. One grants life, the other takes it away!¡±

 Chapter 1043: Returning to Graydusk Forest

    With the remainder of the spirit beast meat and outsider corpses that had been delivered from the numerous sects from the three domains, Nie Tian recovered the twenty three drops of Blood Essence he had consumed.

    Since there was still some low-grade spirit beast meat left, he absorbed its flesh power and provided it to the green aura in his heart.

    After that, the spirit beast meat and outsider corpses in all of the rings of holding were exhausted.

    However, there was still a long way to go before the green aura would fall dormant again and enter the next upgrade cycle.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had run out of materials that could provide him with flesh power.

    Sitting in the secret room and looking at the empty rings of holding scattered in front of him, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°I wonder how long it¡¯ll take for me to gather enough flesh power for my bloodline to make another upgrade. From the look of it, I¡¯ll have to rely on the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to get more outsider corpses from now on.¡±

    Eighth grade spirit beasts and outsiders were as powerful as Void domain human experts. Spirit beasts and outsiders at such a high grade couldn¡¯t be found in many human domains.

    Even though his three domains weren¡¯t among the most advanced ones, he could receive a consistent supply of flesh power from them.

    ¡°My bloodline is only at the seventh grade now,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself, a mixture of delight and worry filling his face. ¡°After my bloodline advances to the eighth or ninth grade, the amount of flesh power I¡¯ll need will be as vast as the sea. By that time, I¡¯ll be under even greater pressure if I want to further upgrade my bloodline.¡±

    Right now, his cultivation base was still at thete Profound realm, which was actually behind his bloodline.

    That was on top of the fact that he had awakened his bloodline long after he had be a Qi warrior. The reason why he had been able to upgrade his bloodline continuously over the years was because he had umted a significant amount of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses fighting battles here and there.

    Besides, he had basically spent all of the spiritual materials, spirit stones, and spirit jades he had obtained over the years on such umtion. These factors had contributed to his seventh grade bloodline.

    ¡°Right now, fierce battles are taking ce in the Dead Star Sea, and many major human domains. These battles between humans and outsiders will definitely cause the deaths of arge number of outsiders.

    ¡°From the look of it, the fiercer the battles are, the more outsider corpses I¡¯ll be able to gather.

    ¡°Perhaps this turmoil guing the human world will be an opportunity for my bloodline upgrade...¡±

    Having run out of materials that could provide flesh power, Nie Tian had to shift his focus to the refinement of his spiritual sea, and the spiritual cores within it.

    Time flew.

    After six months of painstaking cultivation, he finally refined his spiritual power core, me power core, and star power core to their limits. Only his wood power core stillcked refining.

    ¡°The breakthrough from the Profound realm to the Soul realm is a major one. I¡¯ve got to be very careful.

    ¡°To improve the efficiency of my wood power core refinement, I can seek a ce wreathed in rich wood power to establish the Wood Thriving Formation. That way, the transformation of my wood power core will be greatly elerated.

    ¡°A blessednd like that will also help that Godspirit Tree sapling grow faster.¡±

    With these thoughts, he suddenly remembered the Realm of Split Void. Since the upheaval, the foreign impurities that kept pouring into the Realm of Split Void had been continuously transformed into spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    After many years of umtion, the level of condensation of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Split Void had already exceeded that of the Domain of Heaven Python.

    This had made the Realm of Split Void a uniquely vigorous realm.

    Usually, realms with such a feature were referred to as superrge-scale realms. The realms where the four great sects had set up their headquarters fell into this category.

    Their spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth would never run dry.

    ¡°There are a few areas at the perimeter of the Realm of Split Void that are especially rich in wood power.¡±

    With this thought, he decided to visit the Realm of Split Void. Therefore, he rapidly ended his secluded cultivation in the Realm of Maelstrom and teleported directly to the Realm of Split Void. After briefly notifying Li Langfeng of his intention, he jumped onto his Star Boat and whizzed into the distance.

    In Graydusk Forest.

    Nie Tian had visited this forest before, and knew that it was wreathed in rich wood power, as well as highly concentrated tainted spiritual Qi.

    Back before the upheaval struck the Realm of Split Void, Graydusk Forest had been a forbidden region roamed by powerful mutant spirit beasts that had adapted to its hostile environment.

    When the pce left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been unearthed and the grand underground spell formation had been activated, the tainted spiritual Qi in the Realm of Split Void had started to be purged and transformed. It was also at that time that arge amount of tainted spiritual Qi had quietly gathered to Graydusk Forest.

    Even when the outsiders hadunched a massive invasion, Graydusk Forest had survived the outsiders¡¯ ws, as if they had also been apprehensive about something here.

    It was also because of this that Nie Tian had once holed up in Graydusk Forest when he had been driven into a dead end.

    Now, many years had passed, and Nie Tian was returning to Graydusk Forest by himself.

    The wood power in the overgrown forest was extremely rich. Nie Tian found a random ce to berth his Star Boat before summoning the seventy-two tree branches and establishing the Wood Thriving Formation.

    The moment the Wood Thriving Formation came to form, pure, highly-concentrated wood power started to converge on it from the lush trees in its surroundings.

    Compared to the wood power he channeled from wood-attributed spiritual materials, the wood power he received from the Wood Thriving Formation seemed to be easier to absorb and refine.

    As he cast the incantation, he also noticed that the Godspirit Tree sapling was rapidly condensing wood power just as his wood power core was doing.

    Many years ago, when he had entered Graydusk Forest, he had been apprehensive about the fierce mutant spirit beasts, and hadn¡¯t had the audacity to go too deep into the forest.

    Now, many yearster, even though he had left the Star Behemoth bone in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom, he had total confidence in killing any mutant spirit beast that dared to attack him.

    ¡°As powerful as the mutant spirit beasts here may be, they won¡¯t possibly pose a threat to me now.¡±

    With this thought, he moved from one location to another in Graydusk Forest. Every time he finished absorbing and refining the wood power in a location, he would move deeper into the forest to reestablish the Wood Thriving Formation in locations where the trees were even lusher.

    As he did, he indeed encountered a few mutant spirit beasts. However, since they were all at the fourth or fifth grade, he killed them without effort, and used their flesh power to nourish the green aura in his heart.

    During this process, both his wood power core and the tiny Godspirit Tree sapling within it were showered with a copious amount of pure wood power.

    Two weekster, his wood power core was refined to its limit.

    However, the Godspirit Tree sapling still yearned for more wood power.

    ¡°Heavenly Wood Heal body refinement is divided into five stages. I¡¯ve been stuck at stage four, Flesh Tempering, for a long time now. Not only do I need vigorous flesh power to cast Heavenly Wood Heal, but rich wood power as well. Is Graydusk Forest an ideal ce for it?

    ¡°It¡¯s just that the green aura in my heart has an irrepressible desire for flesh power. I¡¯m afraid that if more flesh power enters my body, it¡¯ll be forcibly channeled away by the green aura, therefore jeopardizing the effect of Flesh Tempering.

    ¡°I guess it alles down to obtaining more high-grade spirit beast meat.¡±

    Sitting in the middle of the Wood Thriving Formation, Nie Tian looked at the seemingly endless Graydusk Forest, his mind drifting away.

    He had discovered that the mutant spirit beasts he had killed here were much stronger than normal spirit beasts, and the flesh power they contained turned out to be much richer as well.

    A thought suddenly entered his mind.

    ¡°The mutant spirit beasts in Graydusk Forest had long since grown adapted to its hostile environment, and developed the ability to strengthen themselves with the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. If even the outsiders didn¡¯t dare to enter Graydusk Forest back in the day, does it mean there are formidable mutant spirit beasts here?

    ¡°If I remember correctly, the outsider invasions had been led by peak seventh grade outsiders like Basto.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s interest was suddenly provoked. He decided to put the Wood Thriving Formation on hold, and instead conduct a thorough search of the forest first.

    ¡°Even if there are seventh grade mutant spirit beasts here, they¡¯re no threat to me. Instead, they¡¯ll end up materials that will provide me with rich flesh power.¡±

    He summoned the Star Boat and flew towards the depths of Graydusk Forest.

    The deeper he got, the taller the trees were, and the richer the wood power and tainted spiritual Qi became.

    Every once in a while, fifth and sixth grade mutant spirit beasts would charge out, roaring ferociously.

    However, he killed them one by one by relying on nothing but his fleshly strength and the me Dragon Armor. Afterwards, he absorbed their flesh power with Life Drain.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    A resounding beastly roar suddenly echoed through the forest.

    Lands shook and mountains were rocked throughout the entire forest, as if this was a warning to the intruder.

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°Finally, a mutant spirit beast worth killing! Judging from its aura, it should be at the seventh grade.

    ¡°No wonder those outsiders didn¡¯t dare to invade this forest. Seventh grade mutant spirit beasts could indeed cause them serious casualties.¡±

    Calm as always, Nie Tian steered the Star Boat towards the source of the roar.

    SHEW!

    Momentster, the Star Boat descended by a vastke in the depths of Graydusk Forest. Like miasma, the gray tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth could be seen floating over the murkyke.

    Theke covered a veryrge area. The trees that grew close to it were all more than ten meters tall.

    At this moment, a herd of mutant spirit beasts were gathered by thekeside. Among the sixth grade mutant spirit beasts stood a seventh grade mutant Earthshatter Beast.

 Chapter 1044: An Unusual Man

    Mutant spirit beasts were usually significantly more powerful than normal spirit beasts that matched their grades.

    The ones gathered by thekeside now were all mutant spirit beasts. They consisted of five sixth grade mutant spirit beasts and a seventh grade Earthshatter Beast.

    Normally speaking, spirit beasts¡¯ intelligence would be greatly developed after they entered the seventh grade. After entering the eighth grade, they would gain the ability to take different forms, including a human form.

    That seventh grade Earthshatter Beast was the one that had let out that angry roar.

    Furthermore, its bloodline power allowed it to shake the earth. The violent turbulences that had spread across Graydusk Forest just now had clearly been caused by it.

    Its dark-red pupils shone with the light of intelligence as it stared coldly at Nie Tian.

    From the look of it, it had long since noticed Nie Tian¡¯s behavior after entering the forest, and was angry with him trampling on the lush forest with his Wood Thriving Formation.

    With its roar, it was actually trying to scare Nie Tian, and warn him againsting any closer.

    However, Nie Tian approached regardless.

    Grinning, Nie Tian pointed at heaven and earth. ¡°A seventh grade spirit beast wants to scare me off with a roar? The entire Realm of Split Void is my territory. Don¡¯t tell me you have a problem with me being here.

    ¡°Technically, everything here belongs to me, including you!¡±

    HOWL!

    The enormous Earthshatter Beast seemed to be able to understand his somewhat insulting words.

    As soon as it let out a fierce howl, the other five mutant spirit beasts exploded towards Nie Tian.

    They were an Ice Liger, a Strongwind Beast, a Thunder Beast, and a Golden Armor Beast. All of them had clearly adapted to the tainted spiritual Qi, and were exceptionally robust.

    Nie Tian shook his head andughed. ¡°Even though you¡¯ve mutated, sixth grade spirit beasts are still too weak to withstand even a single blow from me.¡±

    He calmly approached them and after they were close enough, pointed his finger at his Star Boat.

    A bit of starlight sprinkled down.

    A beam of blinding starlight instantly shot out of the prow of the Star Boat like a bolt of lightning.

    The iing Ice Liger didn¡¯t evenst for a second before exploding violently, its silver body reduced to a bloody mist.

    More beams of starlight burst forth, and the other mutant spirit beasts were bombarded to death one by one. Not a single one escaped.

    Just like that, all of the sixth grade mutant spirit beast died in the blink of an eye.

    Nie Tian let out a lowugh as the Star Boat flew by their remains. As he wove his fingers in the air, one blood string after another flew out of his fingertips, chaining pieces of their mangled bodies and dragging them into the Star Boat.

    Then, as he activated Life Drain, the crimson blood strings rapidly expanded.

    Rich flesh power flooded into Nie Tian like rivers running into the sea, before being madly devoured by his bloodline aura.

    With a smile, Nie Tianid his eyes on the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast. ¡°You¡¯re much stronger than them. If what I suspect is true, you must be the ruler of this forest. But sadly, your ruling days end now.¡±

    The Star Boat slightly adjusted its direction to aim at the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast like arge cannon.

    A dark-yellow aura rose from the Earthshatter Beast and merged with the ground it was standing on.

    The earth started to give rise to loud rumbles. Numerous huge rocks underground were stimted by the Earthshatter Beast¡¯s bloodline power, and rose into the air.

    Rocks that were asrge as stone houses hovered in a certain formation before being wielded by the dark-yellow aura and mming towards Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. ¡°You¡¯re wasting your strength.¡±

    Beams of dazzling starlight shot out of the Star Boat, shattering each and every iing huge rock.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°The strength of a seventh grade spirit beast is only equal to that of a Soul realm human expert. I can crush you by relying on my bodily strength alone.¡±

    SHEW!

    He shot out of the Star Boat like an unchained beast, and instantly engaged in a head-on fight with the Earthshatter Beast.

    The Earthshatter Beast mmed Nie Tian with its saw-like tail and sharp ws. However, it failed to cause any considerable damage, like hitting a hard rock with steel.

    Nie Tian, however, formed a sword with his hand and plunged it over and over into the Earthshatter Beast effortlessly.

    Within seconds, the mutant Earthshatter Beast was riddled with holes, from which it bled light-yellow blood.

    The seventh grade Earthshatter Beast bellowed in pain, and gradually became powerless.

    As far as it was concerned, this human that had appeared out of nowhere was even stronger than Bonebrutes or Demons at his level.

    Badly injured, the Earthshatter Beast finally struggled free from Nie Tian¡¯s hands, dove into the murkyke, and vanished.

    With a cold snort, Nie Tian sensed theke with his bloodline power. However, his expression flickered in the next moment.

    The murkyke in front of him actually contained an extremely rich aura!

    Such aura was a mixture of the thick blood of a wide array of spirit beasts and outsiders. The feeling it gave him reminded him of Master Bloody Despair¡¯s domain.

    ¡°Domain! Theke is a domain!¡±

    Upon the sudden realization, he stared unblinkingly at the murkyke, his expression frozen.

    Changes started to ur. Thekewater gradually turned multicolored. Glorious as it looked, every color actually represented the blood of a different species.

    All of a sudden, a figure emerged from the peculiarke.

    It was a wrinkled old man, who seemed to be reaching the end of his lifespan.

    The old man let out a weak sigh and said with a bitter expression, ¡°Why so aggressive? I¡¯m nothing but a dying old man. For many years, I¡¯ve holed up here with these mutant spirit beasts, clinging to myst breaths. I nourished my domain with mutant spirit beast blood and never stirred up trouble. Why do you have to push me?¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Nie Tian asked, frowning. ¡°Your aura and your domain are almost identical to that of Master Bloody Despair, the head of the Bloody Despair Brotherhood. Who is he to you?¡±

    The old man frowned deeply. ¡°That crooked one is my junior martial brother. Do you know him?¡±

    ¡°I... had an encounter with him in another domain,¡± Nie Tian said with a surprised expression. ¡°So you¡¯re his senior martial brother? Then why did you hole up in the Realm of Split Void for many years?¡±

    For some reason, he didn¡¯t feel any danger, even though the old man in front of him imed to be Master Bloody Despair¡¯s senior martial brother.

    He had a feeling that he didn¡¯t mean ill.

    Instead of answering, the man said, ¡°In fact, I¡¯m sensing a familiar aura from you. I know who are you. You¡¯re from the Realm of Split Void, and you lived in the Realm of Split Void for a few years, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°You learned the Blood Refining Incantation from the Blood Sect when you were in the Realm of me Heaven, right?¡± The old man asked.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    But after a brief moment of pondering, he realized something, and asked, ¡°You spied on me during the time I lived in the Realm of Split Void, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Fan Kai was the first cultivator throughout the entire Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Void domain. However, Nie Tian was convinced that the old man before him was at the Saint domain.

    If a Saint domain expert wanted to hide his aura and hole up somewhere in the Domain of the Falling Stars, no one would be able to sense his existence.

    If he wanted to spy on someone, his Saint domain cultivation base would allow him to do so effortlessly.

    ¡°I founded the Blood Sect in the Realm of me Heaven. You practiced the Blood Refining Incantation, and you showed up here before. Of course I could sense you.¡± The man said, as if he didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong about it. ¡°However, you seem to have stopped practicing the Blood Refining Incantation for some time. Even though I don¡¯t know what it is, you seem to have reced it with another wondrous incantation.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment again. ¡°You founded the Blood Sect?¡±

    ¡°Master Bloody Despair and I are martial brothers, and our sect was called the Blood Spirit Sect,¡± the man said in a bitter tone, ¡°However, our sect was wiped out by the Heaven Span Pavilion a very long time ago. They imed that we were a crooked sect, and couldn¡¯t be allowed in the human cultivation world. After I drifted to the Realm of me Heaven, I created the Blood Sect. The reason why I got rid of the word ¡®Spirit¡¯ was to avoid attracting attention from the four great sects.¡±

    Nie Tian stood aghast.

    He knew the history of the four great sects taking it upon themselves to root out crooked human forces.

    Both the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect had been determined to be crooked human forces, and vanished for many years after the four great sects¡¯ joint cleansing operations.

    Who would have thought the Blood Spirit Sect had also been put into this category?

    Brow furrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°If the disciples of the Blood Spirit Sect only practice with spirit beast and outsider blood, it¡¯s not that uneptable, right?¡±

    The man sighed. ¡°We thought so too. We only strengthen ourselves with spirit beast and outsider blood. After all, there is next to no flesh power within human blood. We wouldn¡¯t even consider killing our own kind. Even so, the Heaven Span Pavilion targeted and annihted my sect.¡±

 Chapter 1045: Master Blood Spirit

    Since crooked sects like the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect had colluded with outsiders and stirred up lots of trouble, the four great sects had an imcable hatred towards them.

    They had evenunched massive cleansing operations targeting such sects throughout the human domains.

    It was just that Nie Tian had never expected the Blood Sect in the Realm of me Heaven hade from such a sect.

    He secretly raised his guard.

    He started to worry that the Blood Sect might be subject to a joint cleansing operation if someone discovered the historical connection between the Blood Sect and the Blood Spirit Sect.

    Li Jing, the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, had helped him a great deal when he had been a lowly nobody.

    Even the Bone Blood Demon, which the Blood Sect had gone to great lengths to make, had been a gift from her.

    Now, considering Nie Tian¡¯s current cultivation base and strength, and the existence of the me Dragon Armor and that Star Behemoth bone, the Bone Blood Demon had already lost its importance.

    However, it had helped him escape death a few times when he had been young and weak.

    Therefore, he felt connected to the Blood Sect, and didn¡¯t want anything to happen to it.

    As the two of them continued to talk, Nie Tian learned that the old man was actually the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯sst sectmaster.

    People had called him Master Blood Spirit for it.

    ording to Master Blood Spirit, Master Bloody Despair had contributed to the destruction of the Blood Spirit Sect and the death of their former sectmaster.

    It was because he had lost in thepetition for the position of sectmaster that he had informed the Heaven Span Pavilion of the former sectmaster¡¯s hiding ce, eventually causing the destruction of the entire Blood Spirit Sect.

    Even though Master Blood Spirit had escaped the cmity, he hadn¡¯t had the audacity to show up in any of the advanced human domains. Therefore, he had drifted around in the starry river. With a bit of luck, he had traveled through a forbidden area and discovered the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Being in a remote corner of the human world and separated from the rest of the world by that forbidden region, very few people knew anything about the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After Master Blood Spirit founded the Blood Sect and passed on his legacies, he had left to live a hermit¡¯s life in the depths of Graydusk Forest.

    Back then, none of the major sects had set up base in the Realm of Split Void due to the tainted spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth that filled the entire realm. Most areas had been either ruled by rogue forces like the Blood Skull, Dark Moon, and Wild Fire, or crawled with Hunters. All of this had made the Realm of Split Void a forgottennd that had been ideal to hole up in.

    Furthermore, since the mutant spirit beasts here contained rich flesh power, they had served perfectly as cultivation materials for Master Blood Spirit.

    These contributed to the fact that he had spent thousands of years in the Realm of Split Void, advancing from the early Saint domain to the middle Saint domain.

    For many years, he had been seeking ways to break through into thete Saint domain in order to extend his lifespan.

    Back when the Blood Spirit Sect had perished, he had gained lots of cultivation resources from the sect. Coupling them with the mutant spirit beasts in the Realm of Split Void, he had had enough materials to support his cultivation. What hecked had been new enlightenment regarding the incantations he practiced.

    However, as time had passed, nothing had shown for it, and he had gradually lost his ambition and confidence.

    He had been well-aware that even though his middle Saint domain cultivation base had been unmatched in the Domain of the Falling Stars, once he left the Domain of the Falling Stars and exposed his identity, the Heaven Span Pavilion would immediatelye after him. Therefore, he had hidden himself very cautiously the whole time.

    Even when the Domain of the Falling Stars had been invaded by outsiders, he had sat back and done nothing.

    After all, he had seen far too many human realms sacked by outsiders in his early years.

    Moreover, since his own sect had been brutally attacked and wiped out by the Heaven Span Pavilion, he no longer felt a sense of belonging with the human world. Therefore, all he had done was unleash that seventh grade Earthshatter Beast to make the outsiders think twice before entering the forest.

    Nie Tian came to a fairly good understanding of Master Blood Spirit from their extensive conversation.

    ¡°An elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came to the Realm of Split Void about ten years ago. Did he not sense your existence back then?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Master Blood Spirit gave a dryugh. ¡°You¡¯re talking about that elder named Yan Zhan, right? I sensed it the moment he arrived. He released his soul awareness to scan the entire Realm of Split Void before moving on to the other realms. However, thanks to the unique wonders of my incantations, I managed to hide my aura from him.¡±

    Yan Zhan was at thete Saint domain, which was slightly higher than Master Blood Spirit. The fact that he had been able to hide his aura from him came as a surprise to Nie Tian.

    A suspicious look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Yeah, Elder Yan Zhan... From the look of it, you must know a lot about me.¡±

    ¡°I know all I care to know,¡± Master Blood Spirit said, smiling. ¡°As you probably know, my cultivation base allows me to tap into any conversation that happens in the Realm of Split Void. Through people¡¯s conversations, I¡¯ve learned that the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries all belong to you now.

    ¡°I also know that you obtained a couple of Fruits of Life somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    With these words, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s eyes lit up.

    ¡°If I may ask, do you still have any of them left?¡± Master Blood Spirit asked, anticipation filling his eyes.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I gave them away long ago.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit sighed deeply. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. To be honest, I only revealed myself so that I could ask you how I can get some Fruits of Life myself. I¡¯m seeing the end of my lifespan, yet I still have yet to fully master the incantations I practice. This is keeping me from entering thete Saint domain.

    ¡°If I can¡¯t make the breakthrough within a century, I¡¯ll die.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep look at him. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll break through into thete Saint domain soon. And you¡¯ve got to be extra careful recently, hiding in the Realm of Split Void. Right now, many human domains are facing a joint invasion from outsiders and crooked human sects. Many powerful sects have sworn to eliminate all sects that have any connections with the outsiders.

    ¡°You were the sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect. Once your identity is exposed, no one will be able to save you.¡±

    Even though Master Blood Spirit had a deep connection with the Blood Sect, Nie Tian didn¡¯t intend to help solve his lifespan problem.

    Now, after his bloodline had advanced to the seventh grade and he had awakened Life Grant, he was more than able to prolong another human¡¯s lifespan. However, his Blood Essence was far too precious. To condense one drop alone would require the corpse of an eighth grade outsider or spirit beast.

    Hisck of flesh power had already be his primary concern. It was only natural that he didn¡¯t want to consume his Blood Essence to prolong a stranger¡¯s lifespan.

    After all, he didn¡¯t know Master Blood Spirit, and couldn¡¯t tell how much of what he had said was true, and what wasn¡¯t.

    Furthermore, Life Grant was such a heaven-defying bloodline magic. He was afraid that once people discovered this shocking means, those with lifespan problems woulde to find him from all over the world.

    He knew that even many Saint and God domain experts from the four great sects yearned to prolong their lifespans.

    If they learned that he had such an ability, he would be in huge trouble. Being forced to prolong those patriarchs¡¯ lifespans with his Blood Essence, he wouldn¡¯t even have the time to further his own cultivation.

    ¡°I see... I guess I¡¯ll have to rely on myself.¡± Master Blood Spirit said, sagging his head. ¡°Anyways, I hope you¡¯ll keep my hiding here a secret. And also, I¡¯d appreciate it if you can look after the Blood Sect for me. That sect is the only thing that carries the core Daoist teachings and doctrines of the Blood Spirit Sect now. I promised my master that I would pass on the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s legacies and keep them alive.¡±

    ¡°I shall look after the Blood Sect. Don¡¯t you worry about that.¡± Nie Tian said with a determined expression.

    Immediately afterwards, Master Blood Spirit descended into the murkyke.

    As he masked his aura, even Nie Tian couldn¡¯t sense his flesh aura fluctuations from theke.

    Master Blood Spirit seemed to have vanishedpletely, along with his domain, which he had unleashed earlier.

    After a while, the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast emerged from theke, looking rather insecure and uneasy.

    Nie Tian only took a quick nce at it before jumping onto his Star Boat and leaving the area.

    He knew that the seventh grade Earthshatter Beast was only Master Blood Spirit¡¯s defense mechanism that he used to detect and frustrate intruders, lest the insensible ones disturb his quiet life in the depths of Graydusk Forest.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t leave the forest right away. Instead, he stayed in Graydusk Forest, where he established the Wood Thriving Formation and gathered wood power for the Godspirit Tree sapling.

    Time flew. Two months passed, and the Godspirit Tree sapling grew considerably thanks to the wood power it had received over this time.

    From the look of it, the wood power in Graydusk Forest could no longer satisfy its need for wood power. Therefore, Nie Tian returned to the area of starry river where he was keeping the Star Behemoth bone.

    He canceled the Star Boat¡¯s shield and tried to expose himself to the mixed energies in the starry river.

    At that moment, he sensed with great rity that the me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree sapling in his spiritual sea started to channel the powers they needed to strengthen themselves from the starry river simultaneously.

    The me spark channeled me power, while the Nine Stars Flower channeled star power, and the Godspirit Tree sapling channeled wood power.

 Chapter 1046: Floating in the Starry River

    The starry river was filled with a mixture of countless auras and energies.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian voluntarily canceled its protective shield to expose himself to the harmful environment.

    He sensed his surroundings with rapt attention, and discovered that small amounts of star power, me power, and wood power in the starry river were converging on him from all directions, as if they were being channeled by the Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree sapling inside of him.

    But at the same time, a wide array of other energies and auras that didn¡¯t agree with his cultivation needs infiltrated his body as well.

    They included faint Demon qi, Phantasm Qi, various impurities, and hundreds of other types of power that corroded his flesh.

    Even though those auras weren¡¯t being channeled, they were gradually infiltrating and corroding his body with the protective shield down.

    He needed to activate his bloodline power to refine the unwee energies and auras bit by bit.

    ¡°After entering the Void domain, cultivators will be able to keep those harmful auras away with their domains and travel freely in the starry river.¡± Nie Tian pondered. ¡°Since I haven¡¯t built my own domain yet, I haven¡¯t acquired such an ability. However, outsiders will gain the ability to form a ward of flesh aura after they reach certain grades, which will achieve a simr protective effect as a domain.¡±

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Strengthening!¡± As he suddenly activated his bloodline talent, the flesh power that was scattered in every corner of his body was instantly ignited.

    His body started to change at a visible speed. Scaly armor that carried silver and gold patterns rapidly spread to cover every inch of his body.

    At the same time, his heart started to race, while his muscles and bones expanded considerably.

    He looked incrediblyrge and robust in this Life Strengthening form.

    Then, he examined himself again, and discovered that the numerous harmful energies and auras were now being shielded off by the vigorous flesh aura he exuded.

    Most of them couldn¡¯t infiltrate through his pores anymore.

    Only a small portion of them managed to pass through his sealing flesh aura into his body. However, not only did those energies not harm him, but they even turned out to be slightly helpful for his body refinement and strengthening.

    Invigorated by his new discovery, he started floating around in the deste starry river without his Star Boat, and sensing his changes with rapt attention.

    Soon, he realized that even in his Life Strengthening state, the me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree sapling in his spiritual sea were still channeling me power, star power, and wood power from his surroundings, while shielding off the energies that were harmful or didn¡¯t suit his cultivation needs.

    It was as if all of the energies that were allowed into his body were carefully screened by his bloodline, and could help strengthen his body.

    His eyes shone with the light of excitement.

    This meant that even though he hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain yet, he no longer had to rely on the Star Boat or other powerful experts to travel or battle in the starry river.

    ¡°This must be another perk of my bloodline advancing to the seventh grade!¡±

    He immediately realized that this wondrous change was brought by his recent bloodline upgrade, and the fact that he had spent arge amount of flesh power to strengthen his body.

    From now on, not only would he be able to travel through the starry river, but he would be able to fight enemies and practice cultivation in the starry river as well.

    The me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree would help him gather the three types of power he needed from the starry river.

    After he activated Life Strengthening, his body would automatically shield off the harmful energies and take only the helpful ones in, which was very conducive to his body refinement.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m at thete Profound realm. All of my spiritual cores have been refined to their limit. All that¡¯s left to do is refine my true soul.¡±

    With these thoughts, hemunicated with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and demanded pure soul power from it.

    Floating in the vast starry river, he started refining his true soul with the pure, refined soul power provided by the Spirit Pearl.

    Time flew...

    On this day, his true soul was also refined to the point where it was ready for his next breakthrough.

    At that moment, he finally felt the existence of his cultivation base barrier, and had a fantastic feeling that he was finally going to leave the Profound realm and enter the Soul realm.

    ¡°Entering the Soul realm will be a major leap forward in my cultivation!¡±

    Thrilled, he took out his Star Boat again to wander around in the deste, silent starry river, focusing on deriving enlightenments.

    However, despite his prolonged attempts, he failed to shatter his cultivation base barrier and enter the Soul realm.

    ¡°I can¡¯t seem to make the breakthrough yet. There must be something Ick. Perhaps it¡¯s my understanding of my different types of power...¡±

    After pondering for a while, he made a few more attempts, but all of them failed as well. This made him give up on the idea of making more attempts in the starry river, since this seemed to be a waste of time.

    ¡°Grand Elder Mo Heng has given me helpful advice before. Perhaps he can help with this too.¡±

    He had a feeling that, as the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Mo Heng would probably be able to pinpoint his problem and show him a way out of the mist he was currently in.

    He decided to return to Fragmentary Star City and seek help from Mo Heng right away.

    As he returned to the pce in the Realm of Split Void that was connected to the Vast Heaven Pavilion, he saw Dong Li waiting for him.

    Dong Li seemed somewhat worried. ¡°Nie Tian, envoys of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce showed up in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to investigate the local sects one by one. They said they need to find out whether there are sects that practice evil incantations like the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect in your domains.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim. ¡°When did they arrive?¡±

    ¡°Just a few days ago,¡± Dong Li said, frowning with concern. ¡°ording to them, not just you, but all of the Sons of the Stars need to receive such investigations recently. I also heard that simr investigations are taking ce in many other human domains as well. Many sects and ns that had connections with crooked sects, no matter how remote, have been dealt with.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®dealt with¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Many of them have been wiped out,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°Cultivators that have connections with crooked sects or practice evil incantations have either been killed or imprisoned for further investigation.¡±

    Face grim, Nie Tian said, ¡°You need to go to the Realm of me Heaven, gather all of the Blood Sect disciples, and send them to a ce that the envoys of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can¡¯t find. And remember: this must be conducted in secret. No one else can know about it. Those Lizardman realms and the forbidden region between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries are both good choices.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Does the Blood Sect have a problematic history?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°The Blood Sect actually came from a sect that¡¯s called the Blood Spirit Sect. That sect had been determined to be a crooked sect and annihted by experts from the Heaven Span Pavilion. It¡¯s very necessary for the Blood Sect to hide out at this sensitive time. Also, get Li Langfeng to go hide with the Blood Sect disciples too.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°Li Langfeng too?¡±

    ¡°The incantations he practices involve corpse toxins, which could be a problem,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Dong Li pondered for a brief moment before saying, ¡°Okay, I know what to do now.¡±

    With these words, she left to find a suitable ce for Li Langfeng and the Blood Sect disciples to lie low until this joint operation of the four great sects blew over.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian returned to the Realm of Fragmentary Star to find Wei Lai.

    Upon seeing him, Wei Lai said with a hesitant look on his face, ¡°We¡¯ve finished ounting your contribution points for your previous operation. It¡¯s five hundred thousand.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Five hundred thousand. That¡¯s not bad.¡±

    ¡°Fang Yuan received three hundred thousand contribution points, and Sikong Cuo received eight hundred thousand,¡± Wei Lai added.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with surprise. ¡°Sikong Cuo got eight hundred thousand contribution points? Perhaps he killed more outsiders than I did. But I helped Pei Qiqi get Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and the others out of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura, and spread word of the upheaval in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Wasn¡¯t that taken into ount?¡±

    ¡°Well...¡± Wei Lai seemed ufortable. ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo said that Pei Qiqi from the Void Spirit Society got the credit for getting those people to safety and informing the sects. You didn¡¯t have much to do with it.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a loud harrumph. ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo said that? Where¡¯s the grand elder?¡±

    Wei Lai smiled bitterly. ¡°He sustained some serious injuries from his battle against Grand Monarch Withered Bones. He¡¯s been healing himself in secluded cultivation. Meanwhile, our other vice sectmaster is leading our forces in the Dead Star Sea, and couldn¡¯t be distracted by these internal affairs. As for our sectmaster, he spends most of his time exploring unknown areas of the starry river. We¡¯ve been failing to get into contact with himtely.¡±

    Nie Tian spent a moment pondering in silence, then he said, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo thinks highly of Sikong Cuo, doesn¡¯t he?¡±

    Wei Lai clearly his throat and said with an embarrassed expression. ¡°The sixth Son of the Stars is a fast-rising star. It¡¯s understandable that he¡¯s highly regarded.¡±

    ¡°But among his subordinates, there¡¯s someone named Master Bloody Despair, who¡¯s a residual evil of the Blood Spirit Sect. What do you say about that?¡± Nie Tian confronted him.

    Wei Lai seemed to have a headache over the matter as he said, ¡°It¡¯s said that Master Bloody Despair distanced himself from the Blood Spirit Sect long before it was wiped out by the Heaven Span Pavilion. And it was with his help that the Heaven Span Pavilion sessfully uprooted the Blood Spirit Sect. That was why he was spared punishment.¡±

    ¡°Those are Vice Sectmaster Luo¡¯s words and decision, right?¡± Nie Tian asked with an unpleasant expression.

    Wei Lai nodded with a forced smile.

 Chapter 1047: Oppression

    The sectmasters and vice sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce used to be Sons of the Stars as well.

    With every generation of Sons of the Stars, only one could ascend to power and be the Lord of the Stars.

    The others would have the opportunity to be elders or vice sectmasters.

    Luo Wanxiang was among the previous generation of Sons of the Stars. Losing in thepetition for the position of sectmaster, he had won the position of vice sectmaster.

    ording to the rules, he wouldn¡¯t ever again the chance to be the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. After the death of the current sectmaster, a new one should emerge from the new generation of Sons of the Stars.

    Therefore, vice sectmasters and elders would usually ce their bets beforehand, and cultivate their rtionships with the Son of the Stars that they believed would most likely rise to power.

    Clearly, Luo Wanxiang had ced his bet on the sixth Son of the Stars, Sikong Cuo.

    If Sikong Cuo actually became the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce one day, he would be able to tip the scales in Luo Wanxiang¡¯s direction. Then, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinate forces would be able to get all the cultivation resources he wanted from the sect.

    Eventually, Luo Wanxiang would die like everyone else.

    Once he died, his family and friends would be taken under Sikong Cuo¡¯s wings, and get to maintain their lofty status.

    All that Luo Wanxiang did today would cash out if Sikong Cuo rose to power.

    ¡°Sikong Cuo was awarded eight hundred thousand contribution points for his performance in the Domain of Nether Heaven, while I¡¯m only being awarded five hundred thousand! And the fact that Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinate, Master Bloody Despair, was a residual evil of the Blood Spirit Sect is being selectively ignored...¡±

    Face grim, Nie Tian realized for the first time that even an ancient sect like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had so much internal strife and politics.

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinates had suffered heavy casualties in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and his overall strength had been greatly reduced.

    Even so, Luo Wanxiang still believed that he was the one who would most likely ascend the seat of the Lord of the Stars. This was also something Nie Tian hadn¡¯t foreseen.

    Now, the sectmaster was on one of his exploration trips to unknown regions of the starry river. The sect had even lost contact with him for the time being.

    Meanwhile, the other vice sectmaster was fighting in the Dead Star Sea, and couldn¡¯t afford to concern himself with the sect¡¯s internal affairs. Mo Heng had sustained injuries from his battle against Grand Monarch Withered Bones, and was in secluded cultivation.

    Because of all this, Luo Wanxiang naturally gained full control of the sect¡¯s internal affairs.

    Nie Tian was of course indignant about receiving such unjust treatment upon returning to his sect. However, he quickly realized that he had yet to improve his strength, and that he would have to swallow this one.

    ¡°Do we have any high-grade spirit beast or outsider corpses in our Treasure Pavilion?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°Yeah, lots of them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be able to purchase some with my contribution points, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Of course you can.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    He bid Wei Lai farewell and left for the Treasure Pavilion, holding his Star Medallion. He inquired of the person in charge and quickly found the region where spirit beast meat and outsider corpses were kept.

    It was a spacious area in a corner of the grand hall where lots of shelves were aligned.

    Sitting on the shelves were numerous rings of holding with small signs in front of them, stating the grade and species of their contents. There were corpses of Ancientbeasts, Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Bonebrutes, and many others, all of which could be purchased by sect disciples with contribution points.

    Ancientbeast remains were usually used to forge spiritual tools. High-grade ones, or ones with special attributes, could even be used to forge Spirit Channeling grade treasures.

    The hearts and flesh of Demons and Phantasms were usually used to make medicinal pills by skilled alchemists of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Nie Tian looked around, and discovered that the corpses of eighth grade Ancientbeasts and outsiders were priced at ten thousand contribution points a piece.

    There had been a hundred and seventy thousand contribution points in his Star Medallion. With the five hundred thousand he had recently gained, the total added up to six hundred and seventy thousand.

    Considering that his need for flesh power was so great, he gritted his teeth and decided to use up his contribution points.

    Later, when he left the Treasure Pavilion, he had a dozen rings of holding in his hands, each and every one of them filled with the corpses of eighth grade Ancientbeasts and Demons.

    ording to what he had learned, Ancientbeasts had the strongest andrgest bodies, and their remains contained the most flesh power. Demons and Bonebrutes came second.

    Since Bonebrute corpses carried death power, which conflicted with his bloodline, he eliminated them from his choices.

    Ancientbeast and Demon corpses were his first choice. Luckily for him, countless years of battle against outsiders and Ancientbeasts had left the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with arge number of Ancientbeast and Demon corpses, allowing him to make the best use of his contribution points.

    Holding the newly-acquired rings of holding, he walked out of the Treasure Pavilion and back to the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    Since Mo Heng wasn¡¯t around, there wasn¡¯t a person he could turn to for wisdom. Even though he could sense his cultivation base barrier clearly, he couldn¡¯t find a way to break it. Considering this, he shifted his focus onto channeling flesh power from the Ancientbeast and Demon corpses.

    In less than three months, he drained all of the Ancientbeast and Demon corpses he had purchased with his six hundred and seventy thousand contribution points of their flesh power.

    All of the flesh power was forcibly channeled into his heart and devoured by the green aura.

    After emptying the dozen rings of holding, Nie Tian examined the green aura, and was surprised to discover that it was still far from being satisfied.

    It was still craving more flesh power!

    ¡°When will this end? I¡¯m only trying to prepare my bloodline for the advance from the seventh grade to the eighth grade, and the residual flesh power within a few dozen dead eighth grade Ancientbeasts and outsiders is already too little to fill the void?

    ¡°Does this mean that I¡¯ll have to start looking for corpses of ninth grade grand patriarchs after my bloodline enters the eighth grade?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that I¡¯ll need a few dozen or even a hundred grand patriarch corpses for my bloodline to enter the ninth grade?

    ¡°How many Ancientbeast, Demon, Fiend, and Phantasm grand patriarchs are there...?¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, Nie Tian almost wanted to scream curses into the heavens.

    He deeply realized how hard it would be for his bloodline to upgrade from now on.

    ¡°I¡¯ve used up all my contribution points, and the Ancientbeast and Demon corpses I got still weren¡¯t enough for my bloodline aura to fall dormant and enter the next upgrade cycle. At the same time, I¡¯m stuck at thete Profound realm. From the look of it, with Grand Elder Mo Heng in secluded cultivation, I won¡¯t be able to find a way to make my breakthrough any time soon.

    ¡°Have I entered a stagnant period?¡±

    Nie Tian felt that he had entered a stagnant period for the first time in his path of cultivation.

    ¡°I either continue to seek a way to bring my cultivation base up to the Soul realm, so that I¡¯ll be able to continue my refinement of spiritual power, or try to get more Ancientbeast and outsider corpses in order to make my bloodline aura enter dormancy again. Only after it enters dormancy again will I have the spare flesh power to continue my body refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal.¡±

    These options forced Nie Tian to end his secluded cultivation.

    ¡°The sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries have already provided me with as many spirit beast corpses as they could. Fang Yuan has also given me quite a few outsider corpses. It¡¯ll be too cheeky of me if I go ask him for more.

    ¡°From the look of it, I can only try to finish some quests for the sect to earn the contribution points to buy more from the sect.¡±

    With these thoughts, he left the Vast Heaven Pavilion and went to find Wei Lai again.

    Wei Lai was taken aback. ¡°You want to work for our sect? Our sect¡¯s current tasks are to wipe out the crooked sects, win the battle in the Dead Star Sea, and put an end to the outsiders¡¯ invasions of our domains. All of the Sons of the Stars except you, Fang Yuan, and Sikong Cuo are busy handling these matters. Most of our elders are too.

    ¡°I¡¯ve checked your subordinates¡¯ strength. I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m impressed. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to handle any of our tasks.¡±

    Nie Tian looked somewhat embarrassed upon hearing these words. ¡°Jing Feiyang, my strongest subordinate, has already entered the middle Saint domain. Even so, we don¡¯t qualify to participate in any of our tasks?¡±

    Wei Lai smiled bitterly. ¡°Don¡¯t take this personally, Nie Tian. The truth is that you¡¯re not strong enough yet, even if Jing Feiyang has entered the middle Saint domain. Many elders, Divine Sons, Divine Daughters, and vice sectmasters of the four great sects have joined the battle against the outsiders in the Dead Star Sea, but have been met with strong resistance. This is bound to be asting battle. Both us and the outsiders have sent our main force. A single middle Saint domain cultivator is really nothing.

    ¡°As for the crooked sects that practice forbidden incantations, all of them havete Saint domain experts and powerful outsiders at their back. If you insist on going, the result will be you losing your subordinates before they could grow strong.

    ¡°This is for your own good, and the reason why I didn¡¯t go find you in the Vast Heaven Pavilion even though we¡¯re under a lot of pressure.¡±

    ¡°But I need to earn more contribution points,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°There must be something I can do.¡±

    ¡°Let me see.¡± Wei Lai narrowed his eyes, cing his fingers on a crystal ball. Wisps of aura started to fly within the crystal ball, as if he was going through the information inside trying to find something.

    After a while, Wei Lai¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked immediately afterwards.

    ¡°You can go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. There are a few teleportation portals there that connect to outsider realms. You can go on this mission with people from the Five Elements Sect.¡±

 Chapter 1048: Far-flung Fame

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin was a medium grade human domain.

    The reason why it was a medium grade human domain was because, like the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, its most powerful cultivators were also at the Saint domain.

    As vast as the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin was, they had less than a handful of Saint domain experts.

    The sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect, Wei Botao, was a middle Saint domain expert who was well-versed in wood power incantations. Aside from him, the Martial Spirit Sect had another early Saint domain expert.

    The third andst Saint domain expert the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin had was the sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect, Qiu Hanshan, who practiced earth power incantations.

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin had long since be a subordinate domain of Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect of the Five Elements Sect.

    Hou Chn also practiced wood power incantations, and she was at thete Void domain.

    In the middle of the grand meeting hall in the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s headquarters, Wei Botao and a number of elders were standing respectfully before Hou Chn, bowing their heads and reporting something.

    Apparently, disciples of the Martial Spirit Sect and Earth Spirit Sect had recently discovered three teleportation portals in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.

    All three of them seemed to connect to the outsider heaven and earth. The disciples that had discovered the teleportation portals had disappeared shortly after sending word back to their sects.

    Both the Martial Spirit Sect and the Earth Spirit Sect had sent followup groups to search the areas where those disciples had disappeared. However, they had failed to find any trace of the three teleportation portals they had talked about after extensive searches.

    Therefore, they suspected that the missing disciples had most likely been killed. Meanwhile, the three teleportation portals might be constantly on the move. They might have floated to other locations.

    Hou Chn was a tall, slender beauty. Dressed in a cyan dress, she looked full of youth¡¯s vigor.

    She listened in silence as Wei Botao reported the situation to her.

    Ate Saint domain old woman that stood behind her asked questions for her from time to time.

    Thete Saint domain old woman, who was clearly Hou Chn¡¯s subordinate, said with a knitted brow, ¡°Three teleportation portals that connect to outsider realms. All of the disciples that discovered them have disappeared after sending word back to their sects... Right now, many major human domains are in peril. Powerful outsiders keep crossing into our heaven and earth through teleportation portals they¡¯ve hidden for many years.

    ¡°After entering our domains, they either vanish orunch massive massacres right away, bringing cmities to our domains.

    ¡°The reason they do that is to plunge the entire human world into chaos and turbulence, so that we won¡¯t be able to concentrate on the battle that¡¯s taking ce in the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°This turbulence has already gued humanity for years, and it won¡¯t end anytime soon.¡±

    The old woman let out a sigh and continued, ¡°Now, it seems that the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin is being dragged into it as well. And since it¡¯s only a medium grade domain, once outsider grand patriarchs get here before we¡¯re prepared, the whole domain may fall.

    ¡°Miss, all of our sect elders are fighting in the Dead Star Sea or the invaded domains. With just us alone, even if we can find those teleportation portals, we can¡¯t possibly destroy them all at the same time.¡±

    Hou Chn frowned and said in a soft voice, ¡°I¡¯ve alreadymunicated with the other great sects, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has replied. They said they¡¯ll send people over, and we¡¯ll be surprised.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll be surprised?¡± The old woman shook her head. ¡°All of their elders and Sons of the Stars have important tasks. Only Sikong Cuo and Fang Yuan are free, but both of them lost many subordinates in the Domain of Nether Heaven. I doubt that they¡¯ll be of much help to us.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s someone else,¡± Hou Chn said.

    ¡°Someone else...¡± the old woman muttered, not seeming to hold any hope.

    At this moment, strong spatial fluctuations came from a inter-domain teleportation portal in the great hall.

    Immediately afterwards, a few figures appeared in the glowing spell formation.

    They were none other than Nie Tian, Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng.

    The old woman went nk for a moment before secretly examining the new arrivals. ¡°One at the middle Saint domain and two at thete Void domain. Adding in a Profound realm one... Don¡¯t tell me this is the surprise the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce talked about.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Nie Tian from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Nie Tian said humbly. ¡°May I ask who I¡¯m speaking to?¡±

    Upon hearing the name, the hunched old woman shuddered slightly. ¡°Nie Tian?! The seventh Son of the Stars?!¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s eyes also lit up. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she said, ¡°It¡¯s you! No wonder Elder Wei said we¡¯d be surprised.¡±

    As a Divine Daughter of the Five Elements Sect, she had heard the name repeatedly in her conversations with Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan.

    Both Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan had spoken very highly of Nie Tian whenever his name hade up.

    ording to them, even though Nie Tian was the newest of the seven Sons of the Stars and his cultivation base was the lowest, he could always do something incredible.

    Not long ago, Hou Chn had asked the two of them about the upheaval in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    From them, she had learned that the fact that a wisp of Lu Jiefeng¡¯s soul had managed to escape, securing his chance at being reborn, had a great deal to do with Nie Tian¡¯s incredible performance.

    However, she hadter heard that, through the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s assessment, Nie Tian had been awarded less contribution points than Sikong Cuo, who hadn¡¯t made any significant contributions to the operation.

    With a warm smile, she said, ¡°I¡¯m Hou Chn. I really didn¡¯t expect the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to send you.¡±

    Nie Tian took a close look at her, and was impressed by her good looks.

    She was every bit as beautiful as Dong Li and Mu Biqiong. Even though she was at thete Void domain, which was considerably higher than Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan, she struck Nie Tian as a girl next door, full of a youngster¡¯s vigor.

    Standing behind her was e Saint domain old woman, two middle Saint domain old men, and three early Saint domain experts.

    That didn¡¯t include Wei Botao, the sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect.

    Compared to Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s subordinates, Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates were even stronger.

    Besides, she herself was stronger than Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan as well.

    Keh! Keh! Nie Tianughed bitterly. After taking a quick nce at Jing Feiyang and the others he had brought, he said somewhat embarrassedly, ¡°Umm... Since I haven¡¯t been a Son of the Stars long, I don¡¯t have a lot of powerful subordinates. And some of them happen to be in secluded cultivation, seeking breakthroughs in cultivation, so...¡±

    As the saying goes, it drives you hopping mad topare yourself with others. Both Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates¡¯ strength and her own cultivation base were far superior to his.

    This time, Wei Lai had given him the mission of helping Hou Chn destroy the three outsider teleportation portals in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. Afterwards, contribution points would be awarded ording to his performance.

    He suddenly had a somewhat embarrassed feeling to present his subordinates and himself.

    Hou Chn, however, seemed to see through his thoughts, as she let out a carelessugh and said sincerely, ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to meeting you for a long time. I feel more secure to have your assistance than any other Son of the Stars.¡±

    With these words, she even took the initiative to approach Nie Tian.

    Putting her smile away, she bowed slightly and said with all seriousness, ¡°Thank you and Miss Pei for bursting through Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s sea of flesh aura and spreading word of the upheaval in the Domain of Nether Heaven in time. If it weren¡¯t for the two of you, Uncle Lu would have perished, body and soul.

    ¡°Allow me to thank you on behalf of the entire Five Elements Sect!¡±

    Both the old woman and Wei Botao, the sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect, were shocked by her actions.

    However, as her subordinates, they hastily nodded and bowed towards Nie Tian as well to show their gratitude.

    Standing behind Nie Tian, Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng exchanged a nce. Both of them saw the mixed look in each other¡¯s eyes.

    In fact, they had felt a sense of inferiority as soon as they had arrived and seen how formidable Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates were.

    After all, she didn¡¯t have a single Void domain cultivator standing beside her. All of her subordinates were at the Saint domain.

    However, despite their lifelong efforts, they had only recently broken through into thete Void domain, which was not even worth mentioning in front of Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates. They had assumed that her subordinates would slight them.

    Who would have thought that, after learning that the surprise the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had promised was Nie Tian, not only were they not disappointed, but they were actually so happy and grateful?

    As Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates, they felt honored as well after seeing the way Hou Chn treated him.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°No need to thank me. Miss Pei did most of the work. I only provided her with assistance on several asions.¡±

    Hou Chn straightened her back and smiled heartily. ¡°Quit humbling yourself. Huang Jinnan told me all about it. He said that both he and junior martial sister Lou would have been dead if it weren¡¯t for you. So both our sect and the Void Spirit Society acknowledged your significant contributions to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°I really don¡¯t understand what Vice Sectmaster Luo was thinking by awarding you just five hundred thousand contribution points.

    ¡°ording to our assessment, even ten times what you were given, five million contribution points, isn¡¯t too great an award.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Nie Tian fell silent.

    Luo Wanxiang was in charge of all internal affairs for the time being. Even though he was indignant about his behavior, he didn¡¯t think he shouldin about it to someone from another sect like Hou Chn.

    Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, he changed the subject by asking, ¡°May I ask which of you is the sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect?¡±

    Wei Botao took a step forward. ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu are from your sect, right? How is the brother-sister pair doing?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Wei Botao was taken aback. ¡°You know them? They¡¯re fine. And they¡¯re currently in our sect¡¯s headquarters. Are you...¡±

    He went nk for a brief moment before snapping out of his thoughts. ¡°They once told me that they received help from a man named Nie Tian in the Shatter Battlefield. Don¡¯t tell me that it was you!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Well, it was me.¡±

    Wei Botao bowed a second time. ¡°Oh, I thought it was just another man with the same name as yours! Allow me to thank you on behalf of the Martial Spirit Sect for helping them repeatedly in the Shatter Battlefield! If it weren¡¯t for you, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to make it out of there alive. And thanks to their gains from that trip, they both made significant breakthroughs in their cultivation.¡±

    Wei Botao seemed much more sincere as he bowed this time.

 Chapter 1049: â€œWhat Are You Doing, Nie Tian?!â€

    Wei Botao nodded slightly and backed out of the great hall.

    Shortly afterwards, he returned with Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu.

    The brother-sister pair didn¡¯t rank very high among the chosen ones of the Martial Spirit Sect.

    The strongest chosen one of the Martial Spirit Sect was Tao Shuwen, who was at thete Soul realm.

    However, even he wasn¡¯t allowed to enter the great hall at this moment.

    Having survived their tribtion in the Shatter Battlefield, Chai Longge was now at the early Soul realm, while Chai Fengwu was at thete Profound realm.

    The two of them stepped nervously into the great hall, and were deeply surprised to see Nie Tian.

    Chai Longge couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s really you!¡±

    Back when they had met Nie Tian in the Shatter Battlefield, since Nie Tian hadn¡¯t finished the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s path of stars yet, his status as the seventh Son of the Stars hadn¡¯t been officially acknowledged.

    Even so, they had suspected that the Nie Tian they had met in the Shatter Battlefield was none other than the seventh Son of the Stars, who was now like the sun at high noon. (Idiom: at the apex of one¡¯s power, career, etc)

    However, considering that Nie Tian and the girls had annihted Qiu Ji and his team of Earth Spirit Sect disciples in the Shatter Battlefield, and Qiu Ji had been the only son of Qiu Hanshan, the sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect, they had only briefly described their encounters with Nie Tian after their return.

    After all, they were worried that Qiu Ji¡¯s death would put Nie Tian in trouble.

    Luckily, since Qiu Ji¡¯s entire team had died, Qiu Hanshan didn¡¯t know who had killed his son in the Shatter Battlefield till this day.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Congrattions. It seems to me that both of you have made significant breakthroughs in your cultivation. I¡¯m very impressed.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s truly impressive,¡± Chai Longge said, his face filled with amazement. ¡°I still remember that your cultivation base was very... unimpressive back when we first met in the Shatter Battlefield. Now, not many years have passed, but you¡¯ve already at thete Profound realm. It seems to me that you¡¯re only one step away from entering the Soul realm.¡±

    Chai Fengwu, who was standing beside him, gave Nie Tian a sweet smile. ¡°Greetings, Big Brother Nie.¡±

    Seeing that the two of them knew Nie Tian so well, Wei Botao, the sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect, was rather pleased, and expressed his gratitude once again.

    After briefly catching up with the brother-sister pair, Nie Tian turned to Hou Chn again, to inquire of the situation in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. From her, he learned that the Martial Spirit Sect and the Earth Spirit Sect had detected three outsider teleportation portals. However, they had failed to locate them even after extensive searches.

    ¡°Martial Sister Hou, I¡¯m afraid those teleportation portals are guarded by outsiders,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to have the corpses of the outsiders we kill.¡±

    Hou Chn chuckled softly and nodded. ¡°You want outsider corpses? No problem. Not just the ones you kill, you can have all of the dead outsiders we kill in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. I¡¯ll only take dead Floragrims if we end up killing any.¡±

    Hou Chn was the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect of the Five Elements Sect, and the incantations she practiced were all wood power-rted.

    For that reason, Floragrim corpses were the only outsider corpses she valued. As for Demon, Phantasm, and Fiend corpses, since they would be of no use to her even if she obtained any, she would only give them to her sect.

    Surprised and delighted, Nie Tian said, ¡°That¡¯d be great. Many thanks.¡±

    Considering that Luo Wanxiang was currently in charge of his sect¡¯s internal affairs, he didn¡¯t think he would receive a fair amount of contribution points after finishing this mission in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.

    Instead, what he valued the most in this operation was the outsiders that might be guarding those teleportation portals.

    By killing outsiders and obtaining their corpses, he would be able to provide the green aura in his heart with the rich flesh power it needed. This was what he had deemed to be his priority task.

    Of course, if he found an opportunity to break through into the Soul realm during his battle against the outsiders in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, that would be the best.

    ¡°Instead of waiting for my men to feed us more information, we might as well take up the matter ourselves,¡± Hou Chn suggested. ¡°We can head out to the areas where those teleportation portals appeared and conduct thorough searches ourselves.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± Nie Tian chimed in.

    Upon hearing this, Wei Botao, the sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect, made arrangements right away.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Hou Chn, Nie Tian, and the others teleported somewhere in the starry river in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin through a teleportation portal in the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    One after another, they appeared on a berthed ancient starship that belonged to the Martial Spirit Sect.

    Standing at the prow, Nie Tian gazed off into the distance. He saw a nearby realm, and numerous flickering stars.

    In the dim starry river, another ancient starship that seemed to have been forged from a huge meteor was berthed not far from the one he was on.

    Seeing Nie Tianying his eyes on the ancient starship that looked like a meteor, Hou Chn exined, ¡°That ancient starship belongs to the Earth Spirit Sect. Qiu Hanshan, the sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect, is also my subordinate. He¡¯s well-versed in earth power. He forged that ancient starship from a special kind of dirt with extremely high density, which made it very solid.¡±

    ¡°The Earth Spirit Sect...¡± Nie Tian muttered with a faint, meaningful smile.

    ¡°Have you heard of such a small sect as the Earth Spirit Sect?¡± Hou Chn asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, I have,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu told me about it.¡±

    As much as Wei Botao wanted Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu to deepen their friendship with Nie Tian, he knew that their cultivation bases and strength didn¡¯t allow them to participate in an operation at such a level. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t allowed them toe along.

    Hou Chn nodded, not looking surprised by his answer. ¡°I see.¡±

    Then, she turned to the old woman behind her and nodded meaningfully.

    Immediately afterwards, the old woman delivered her order, and the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s ancient starship started to approach theirs.

    Momentster, Qiu Hanshan, the sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect flew off his starship. Enveloped in his domain, he approached Hou Chn with a greasy smile. ¡°Greetings, Divine Daughter!¡±

    Hou Chn waved her hand. ¡°No need to stand on ceremony. Let me introduce you. This is Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Qiu Hanshan was a burly man dressed in dark-yellow robes. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing his muscr forearms.

    He took a deep look at Nie Tian, a strange look appearing in his eyes. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    He rapidly looked down and said very respectfully. ¡°Greetings, seventh Son of the Stars. I¡¯m Qiu Hanshan, the sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect.¡±

    ¡°Please be at ease,¡± Nie Tian said, raising his hand.

    Back in the day, he had been surrounded by a band of Earth Spirit Sect disciples in a Stoneman city in the Shatter Battlefield.

    That was when he had met Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu for the first time. Thanks to them, the Earth Spirit Sect disciples had eventually let him walk away.

    Now, many yearster, when he came to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, even the sectmaster of the Earth Spirit Sect had to greet him by bowing respectfully.

    Such changes in the way he was treated originated from his status as a Son of the Stars, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce at his back.

    ¡°Your sect discovered those three teleportation portals first, didn¡¯t you?¡± Hou Chn asked.

    Qiu Hanshan nodded. ¡°Our sect happens to be based in a nearby realm.¡±

    With these words, he pointed at the nearby realm Nie Tian had seen earlier. ¡°Our disciples detected unusual spatial fluctuations while they were passing by, and informed me of their discovery. However, they disappeared shortly afterwards.

    ¡°After that, I talked to the Martial Spirit Sect, and both our sects arranged for disciples toe search this region, but they disappeared too.

    ¡°Seeing this, Sectmaster Wei and I could onlye here to check things out ourselves. I thought this was only a trivial matter, and didn¡¯t expect you toe here yourself, Divine Daughter.¡±

    ¡°Normally, I wouldn¡¯t muster forces just to examine some teleportation portals that suddenly appeared,¡± Hou Chn said. ¡°However, times are different. We¡¯re now in a sensitive time, when outsiders areunching massive invasions. Under such circumstances, we¡¯ve got to be extra careful when teleportation portals suddenly appear out of nowhere.¡±

    ¡°Thanks you foring to our aid, Divine Daughter,¡± Qiu Hanshan said. ¡°With you here, we¡¯ll definitely be able to destroy those teleportation portals and restore peace to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.¡±

    While Hou Chn talked to Qiu Hanshan, Nie Tian felt a bit bored. He nced around and unleashed his soul awareness to scan his surroundings.

    All of a sudden, he received a soul call from the Spirit Pearl. His eyebrows flickered slightly as he started soulmunication with it.

    His face gradually dropped as he stared coldly at Qiu Hanshan. Killing intent filling his eyes, he eximed, ¡°Senior Jing, kill this man for me!¡±

    He pointed at Qiu Hanshan.

    In a sh, everyone fixed their gazes on him.

    Both Wei Botao from the Martial Spirit Sect and the old woman¡¯s expression instantly flickered. None of them knew what was happening.

    However, Jing Feiyang threw himself towards Qiu Hanshan upon receiving Nie Tian¡¯s order without saying anything.

    ¡°What are you doing, Nie Tian?!¡± Qiu Hanshan eximed in fear and trepidation.

    Then, he turned to Hou Chn and implored with an anxious expression, ¡°Divine Daughter, I¡¯ve never offended him before. You¡¯ve got to preside over justice for me!¡±

    At this moment, the old woman stepped forward. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, Nie Tian?!¡±

 Chapter 1050: The Reason to Kill You!

    At this moment, Jing Feiyang had already unleashed his domain, inside of which countless magical symbols could be seen whizzing across.

    Nie Tian¡¯s order was inexorablew to him. He didn¡¯t care what the others were thinking or how they would feel about this.

    WHOOSH!

    Thete Saint domain old woman unleashed her domain as well.

    Her domain was filled with multicolored auras. Upon first nce, it looked like a dense forest wreathed in rich life force.

    It was also at that moment that her wrinkled face went through incredible changes.

    Her deep wrinkles ttened out, while her dried skin became moist and flexible again, as if she had suddenly returned to her twenties.

    All of a sudden, she turned into a young, charming woman with a curvaceous body.

    The woman, whose name was Ruan Qingliu, stared coldly at Jing Feiyang. ¡°Give us a reason first!¡±

    One emerald green tree branch after another extended from her domain to unleash glittering precious light that pierced directly into Jing Feiyang¡¯s domain.

    Many of the fragmentary magical symbols within Jing Feiyang¡¯s domain were infiltrated by the green light, and the symbols themselves rapidly grew dim.

    Countless veins could be seen squirming inside those magical symbols, as if they were struggling to contend against Ruan Qingliu¡¯s power.

    Jing Feiyang frowned and turned to give Nie Tian a look of frustration.

    While Jing Feiyang had recently entered the middle Saint domain, Ruan Qingliu had entered thete Saint domain long ago. The huge gap between their cultivation bases wasn¡¯t something he could ignore.

    Obviously, he didn¡¯t have a chance at killing Qiu Hanshan from the Earth Spirit Sect with Ruan Qingliu there to protect him.

    Not to mention that Qiu Hanshan himself was an early Saint domain expert.

    Seeing that Ruan Qingliu had made a move, Qiu Hanshan, who was just about to unleash his own domain to defend against Jing Feiyang, let out a sigh of relief.

    In a very pitiable manner, heined to Hou Chn, ¡°Divine Daughter, I have never offended this seventh Son of the Stars. I really don¡¯t understand why he would treat me like this.¡±

    Wei Botao and the other Martial Spirit Sect disciples, who were standing off to the side, also had grim looks on their faces.

    Both their sect and the Earth Spirit Sect were Hou Chn¡¯s subordinate sects, and they both lived in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.

    Even though they had their differences, and frictions had urred from time to time, they felt that they were facing amon enemy at this moment.

    As aplete stranger, Nie Tian attempted to have Qiu Hanshan killed the moment they met. This was extremely unreasonable in the eyes of the Martial Spirit Sect disciples.

    Since their statuses were the same as those from the Earth Spirit Sect, if Nie Tian treated Qiu Hanshan this way, did it mean he would treat them this way as well?

    Even Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates looked rather displeased by Nie Tian¡¯s behavior.

    He would have Qiu Hanshan killed in front of Hou Chn without giving any reasons first. What was that?

    This Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce clearly didn¡¯t attach any importance to their master.

    Hou Chn gave Ruan Qingliu a meaningful look before saying to Nie Tian with a calm expression, ¡°Nie Tian, both my junior martial brother Huang and junior martial sister Lou spoke very highly of you.¡±

    Ruan Qingliu had followed her for many years. She understood every subtle move she made.

    Without saying a word, she held her attacks. The emerald green tree branches that had extended from her domain moved smoothly to surround Qiu Hanshan, as if to protect him.

    Only after seeing that Ruan Qingliu had done as she willed did she open her mouth again. ¡°ording to what I¡¯ve heard about you, you¡¯re neither unruly nor unreasonable. So tell me why you want to kill Sectmaster Qiu.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re truly remarkable, martial sister,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile, an approving look appearing in his eyes. ¡°This sectmaster has colluded with the Phantasms. They set up this trap to get you to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, where they¡¯re going to kill you. Is this reason good enough to have him killed?¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s brow slowly furrowed as she looked over her shoulder at Qiu Hanshan, not saying a word.

    Qiu Hanshan¡¯s face instantly turned pale with fright, and he eximed, ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him, Divine Daughter! I¡¯ve followed you for many years and finished every task you¡¯ve given me. Why would I try to kill you? He¡¯s only basing this on his guess. He has no proof that I¡¯ve colluded with the Phantasms!¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°You have a special tool in your ring of holding, though which you can secretly contact the Phantasms.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian summoned the Spirit Pearl. ¡°I bet you don¡¯t know that I have this unique Phantasm treasure. It allows me to sense the existence of any Phantasm tools, even though the sealing spells of rings of holding.

    ¡°As for the Phantasm tool you have, it contains half of a being¡¯s refined soul, while the other half is kept in another tool held by some Phantasm. After being split and fused into different Phantasm tools, the refined soul will form a soul connection between the tools, allowing their holders tomunicate soul messages with each other.

    ¡°Humans don¡¯t know how to forge or use such a Phantasm tool. The Phantasms must have given it to you and taught you how to use it.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian turned to Hou Chn. ¡°Martial Sister Hou, tell him to empty his ring of holding in front of you, and you¡¯ll be able to find the Phantasm tool through which he contacts the Phantasms.¡±

    Hou Chn sighed softly and fixed her eyes on Qiu Hanshan. ¡°Take off your ring of holding and give it to Aunt Ruan for inspection, Sectmaster Qiu. If you don¡¯t have that Phantasm tool Nie Tian¡¯s talking about, then your innocence will be evident.¡±

    Qiu Hanshan started to panic. ¡°Divine Daughter! It doesn¡¯t mean anything if I have a Phantasm tool like that! Doesn¡¯t Nie Tian have a Phantasm tool himself? We¡¯ve fought Phantasms before. It¡¯s only natural that I¡¯ve killed Phantasms and looted their tools! It¡¯s nothing but a battle trophy!¡±

    Staring into his eyes, Hou Chn let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Kill him, Aunt Ruan.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Qiu Hanshan immediately unleashed his earth domain. However, the moment his domain came to form, Ruan Qingliu¡¯s emerald green tree branches pierced through it.

    The other middle and early Saint domain subordinates of Hou Chn also joined the fight right away.

    Various domains forcibly entered Qiu Hanshan¡¯s earth domain and tore it to pieces.

    Only a few secondster, Qiu Hanshan¡¯s earth domain was ripped apart.

    At the same time, numerous emerald green tree branches prated his skull and chest. He didn¡¯t even have a chance to use the Phantasmmunication tool in his ring of holding before dying a violent death.

    Even his discarnate soul was captured and gradually refined by Ruan Qingliu¡¯s wood domain.

    WHOOSH!

    Ruan Qingliu made a grabbing motion in the air, and Qiu Hanshan¡¯s ring of holding flew into her palm.

    With her soul power, she forcibly ripped through its sealing spell to examine its contents. Momentster, she turned to Hou Chn and nodded with a grim face. ¡°Nie Tian was right. There¡¯s indeed a Phantasm tool in it. Inside the tool floats a wisp of iplete soul, which generates strange soul fluctuations from time to time.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t touch that Phantasm tool!¡± Hou Chn eximed softly.

    Ruan Qingliu nodded.

    Qiu Hanshan¡¯s sudden death bbergasted the Earth Spirit Sect disciples on the ancient starship that was berthed not far away.

    Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates rapidly boarded that starship, controlled everyone onboard, and started searching their seas of awareness for memories.

    Meanwhile, the Martial Spirit Sect disciples were still in a state of shock, their expressions flickering nonstop.

    Only after a while did Wei Botao say with an uneasy expression, ¡°Who would have thought that Qiu Hanshan was actually working with the Phantasms? The Earth Spirit Sect isn¡¯t a sect that practices vile incantations. So there was really no way for us to discover that they had colluded with the Phantasms to set the Divine Daughter up. If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t sensed the existence of that Phantasm tool on Qiu Hanshan, the consequences would have been unthinkable.¡±

    Hou Chn pondered the matter, and also felt lingering fear. ¡°So I guess the Phantasms and Qiu Shanshan revealed those teleportation portals intentionally. No wonder the Earth Spirit Sect found them first, and asked me toe and help take care of them.¡±

    With a grim look, Ruan Qingliu said, ¡°We need to treat this matter with great caution, Divine Daughter. I think we¡¯d better report to our headquarters and ask for powerful reinforcements. The Phantasms must have gathered a force strong enough to annihte our current force. Only with powerful backup will we have a chance at dealing them a heavy blow.

    ¡°And we need to do it fast, before the Phantasms learn about Qiu Hanshan¡¯s death.¡±

    Hou Chn also saw the unfavorable change in the situation. She beckoned to Ruan Qingliu. ¡°Aunt Ruan, why don¡¯t you return to our headquarters and see who cane.¡±

 Chapter 1051: The Divine Daughterâ€™s Request

    Ruan Qingliu left in a hurry.

    One of Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates returned from the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s ancient starship, and reported, ¡°Divine Daughter, we¡¯ve finished examining the seas of awareness of the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples. None of them have had any contact with the Phantasms, or know about Qiu Hanshan¡¯s collusion with them.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded and said, ¡°Send someone to take them back to the Earth Spirit Sect, and summon and investigate all of their sect elders.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± The man returned to deliver the order.

    Qiu Hanshan, who had been at the early Saint domain, had been the Earth Spirit Sect¡¯s most powerful expert. Any subordinate of Hou Chn would be able to handle the whole Earth Spirit Sect effortlessly.

    Wei Botao sighed. ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect Qiu Hanshan to have secret connections with the Phantasms. However, now that I think about it, there are actually some signs. Qiu Hanshan¡¯s cultivation base has progressed by leaps and bounds during the past century. And both he and his son could always get their hands on rare spiritual materials that are hard to find in human domains.

    ¡°It¡¯s a great taboo to have contact with outsiders. Qiu Hanshan must have been aware that the elders of his sect wouldn¡¯t support him if they learned what he had been doing. So he must have kept his collusion with the Phantasms a secret.¡±

    With a worried look in her eyes, Hou Chn said, ¡°I wonder how many traitors like him are still walking among us.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone¡¯s expressions grew grim.

    Crooked sects like the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect drew attention wherever they went.

    Therefore, such outsider-colluders were fairly easy to guard against.

    However, people like Qiu Hanshan, who held high positions in legitimate sects, could operate right under the four great sects¡¯ noses without being discovered.

    If there were still many like him spread across the human domains...

    The mere thought of it sent a chill down Nie Tian¡¯s spine.

    Hou Chn smiled and said, ¡°Thank you. Martial Brother Huang and Martial Sister Lou were right about you. If your sect had sent another Son of the Stars instead of you, I might have fallen into that traitor¡¯s trap already. Since he had colluded with the Phantasms to set up this trap for me, if we had spread out to search for those teleportation portals without noticing their scheme, my life would have been in danger.¡±

    ¡°Well, lucky for me, I have that unique Phantasm treasure on me, and Qiu Hanshan didn¡¯t know about it,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Hou Chn nodded and suggested, ¡°Let¡¯s not make any moves before reinforcements from our sect get here.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Whatever you say.¡±

    After this incident with Qiu Hanshan, when Hou Chn¡¯s Saint domain subordinates looked at him, their eyes were filled with heartfelt respect.

    Before, they had thought that Hou Chn must have overestimated Nie Tian.

    After all, his name had only spread across the human domains during the past decade or so.

    These experts had met far too many people with undeserved reputations.

    Not only was Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base low, but he had just recently joined the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Every time Huang Jinnan and Luo Hongyan had appraised him so highly, it made them wonder whether there was something going on between Nie Tian and those two.

    But now, after this incident, they finally epted him.

    With a warm smile on her face, Hou Chn said, ¡°For some reason, I felt a sense of closeness towards you the moment you arrived in the Martial Spirit Sect. You seem to give off an indescribable aura that attracts me.¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded. Rubbing his nose embarrassedly, he said, ¡°Umm... What kind of attractions are you talking about, Martial Sister Hou?¡±

    Hou Chn seemed to suddenly realize something as a chuckle escaped her mouth. ¡°No, no, no. It¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking.¡±

    Many of her subordinates, including Wei Botao and his people, were also embarrassed by the sensitive topic, and thus excused themselves sensibly. They either retreated to the cabins or distanced themselves from the two.

    Upon seeing this, Yue Yanxi and the others went nk briefly before flying away as well.

    All of a sudden, Hou Chn and Nie Tian became the only ones left on the starship¡¯s deck.

    Hou Chn looked around and shook her head with a softugh. ¡°People...¡±

    To break the tension, Nie Tian asked yfully, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you fell in love with me the first time we met, martial sister... I¡¯m engaged to another. You¡¯d better exercise restraint, especially from revealing your feelings in front of others.¡±

    Hou Chn give him a hard look. ¡°Very funny... You practice wood power as well, don¡¯t you? I can vaguely sense something remarkable in your wood power core. It¡¯s a Godspirit Tree sapling, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Nie Tian was impressed. ¡°You can even sense that?¡±

    Hou Chn tilted her chin slightly and said proudly, ¡°Of course. I¡¯m the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect of the Five Elements Sect. My master is the head of the wood element sect and ate God domain expert. Countless cultivators practice wood power, but no one¡¯s attainments in wood power incantations match my master¡¯s. Throughout the entire starry river, perhaps only a couple of Floragrim grand monarchs have the kind of understanding of wood power that my master has.

    ¡°As impressive as it is to refine a Godspirit Tree sapling into your wood power core, the unique treasure in my wood power core is every bit as wondrous, if not more.¡±

    Nie Tian thought for a brief moment, then asked, ¡°Are you saying that it¡¯s the Godspirit Tree sapling in my wood power core that¡¯s attracting you?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Hou Chn said. ¡°It¡¯s the aura of your unique bloodline. Your flesh aura seems to carry the profound truths of life. I¡¯m only standing beside you, and yet the flesh aura you exude already soothes me. And it¡¯s hard to believe that as a hybrid, you practice multiple powers simultaneously, and can still manage to make such rapid advances in your cultivation.¡±

    ¡°The profound truths of life...¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    Whenever he practiced Heavenly Wood Heal, he could sense with great rity that wood power and flesh power actually had a lot inmon, and could be considered two forms of life power.

    His unique bloodline allowed him to grant humans vigorous life power to prolong their lifespan.

    Even among the wide array of outsider races, such a bloodline talent was shocking and unheard of.

    The way he saw it, it was thanks to his unique bloodline he had been able to acquire those seventy-two tree branches, master the Wood Thriving Formation, and practice the Floragrims¡¯ Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Since Hou Chn said that it wasn¡¯t the Godspirit Tree sapling in his wood power core that attracted her, then it must be his bloodline.

    ¡°I have a favor to ask, Nie Tian,¡± Hou Chn said.

    Surprised, Nie Tian said, ¡°Sure, what is it?¡±

    ¡°Could you please guard me when the timees for me to break through into the Saint domain?¡± Hou Chn asked. ¡°For some reason, I have a feeling that the odds of me sessfully advancing to the Saint domain will rise significantly if you¡¯re by my side. The aura you exude alone soothes me. My attempt to break through into the Saint domain will be full of danger. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to handle it alone.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°But my cultivation base is so much lower than yours. I doubt that I¡¯d be of any help.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that.¡± With these words, Hou Chn seemed to suddenly realize something, and she said, ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t let your efforts go unpaid. From what I heard, you seem to need arge number of outsider and spirit beast corpses. I¡¯ll help you with that. There arerge collections of them in my possession, my subordinate domains, and my sect. I¡¯ll be able to get lots of them for you.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°What about eighth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses?¡±

    Hou Chn smiled. ¡°Forget about eighth grade ones, I can even get you some ninth grade ones.¡±

    Nie Tian was greatly spirited. ¡°Great! Let me know when you need my help. I¡¯ll clear my schedule beforehand!¡±

    Overjoyed, Hou Chn lifted her hand squarely to p hands with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian immediately understood her intention and met her hand with his.

    CLAP!

    Their hands broke after a quick p.

    While Nie Tian didn¡¯t felt anything abnormal, Hou Chn¡¯s body shuddered slightly, her eyes glittering.

    Apparently, the unique flesh aura exuded from his palm alone made her feel iparably wonderful.

    She instantly realized that Nie Tian¡¯s wondrous bloodline would definitely be very helpful to her.

    She stood aghast. ¡°What on earth is the secret of this guy¡¯s bloodline? All I did was p hands with him, and the faint flesh aura exuded from his palm gave me such an unusual feeling?¡±

 Chapter 1052: â€œWho Do You Think You Are?â€

    A few hours passed...

    Ruan Qingliu, who had returned to summon reinforcements from the Five Elements Sect, appeared on the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s ancient starship, along with a group of powerful experts.

    The leader of the group was a tall, strapping cultivator at the middle Void domain.

    Standing behind him were more than a dozen Saint and Void domain experts.

    The leader had long, grayish-brown hair, and a sharp, arrogant look in his eyes.

    However, a gentle smile filled his arrogant face as soon as he saw Hou Chn. ¡°Chn, I came as soon as I heard that you might be in trouble in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.¡±

    At this point, Ruan Qingliu had already resumed her olddy form. Under Hou Chn¡¯s displeased gaze, she smiled embarrassedly and exined, ¡°Divine Daughter, all of our elders and Divine Children had important tasks and couldn¡¯t provide us with help, so I...¡±

    Hou Chn snorted unpleasantly. ¡°So you informed He Lianxiong of our situation?¡±

    Ruan Qingliu nodded, looking down.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°He Lianxiong?!¡±

    Not very long ago, when he had met Fang Yuan in the Realm of Remote Heaven, Fang Yuan and Han Wanrong had mentioned this name quite a few times.

    Every time Fang Yuan had mentioned him, he had gnashed his teeth with anger, saying that if it weren¡¯t for He Lianxiong, Fang Tianyi wouldn¡¯t have sustained such bad injuries fighting Grand Patriarch Cardy alone, and his subordinates wouldn¡¯t have suffered such heavy casualties.

    He Lianxiong was a Stepson of the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion, who had explored a brand new domain with Sikong Cuo and been set up.

    Ever since then, he had hated every single Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which was why he had vented his anger on Fang Yuan.

    Simr to the Void Spirit Society, the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion would choose young talented ones to be his or her stepsons and stepdaughters, and cultivate them wholeheartedly.

    Therefore, the stepsons and stepdaughters of the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s sectmaster enjoyed simr statuses as the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Divine Children of the Fragmentary Star Pce, and the legacy disciples.

    The future sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion would be chosen from the stepsons and stepdaughters by the current sectmaster.

    The current sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion had two stepsons and one stepdaughter. Being one of the stepsons, He Lianxiong had a good chance at bing the next sectmaster in the future.

    With a cheekyugh, He Lianxiong squeezed through the crowd to Hou Chn¡¯s side. ¡°Chn, I even ended a sect mission just toe all this way to your aid upon learning that you were in trouble. I didn¡¯t expect you to be moved, but please don¡¯t send me away. As you know, the human world is going through lots of messy things. And the battle in the Dead Star Sea is unprecedentedly intense. Neither your sect nor the other great sects could free powerful experts toe here.

    ¡°My stepfather may even me me for taking it upon myself toe to here to help you. However, I don¡¯t care about that, as long as you¡¯re safe, and we can put an end to the trouble in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin together.¡±

    Hou Chn sighed softly and said with a headache, ¡°Why does it have to be you...¡±

    She had sought help from the other great sects when the teleportation portals had been discovered in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, but had intentionally avoided the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    That was because she knew that once He Lianxiong learned about this, he would definitely think up every possible method toe help her.

    It was no secret to the four great sects that He Lianxiong had been pursuing her.

    Having suffered from his badgering for years, she had long since grown tired of seeing him at every turn. This was why she wouldn¡¯t inform the Heaven Span Pavilion even when she got into trouble.

    However, she had never thought that Ruan Qingliu would actually inform He Lianxiong of her trouble after failing to summon any reinforcements from the other sects, worrying that she wouldn¡¯t be able to break the Phantasms¡¯ scheme with her own force.

    ¡°Rest assured, Chn. With me here to protect you, I¡¯ll give my life for yours if need be!¡± He Lianxiong said in a powerful and resonating voice.

    Then, he turned to stare at Nie Tian. A cold, arrogant expression reced the warm smile on his face as he said, ¡°You¡¯re Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars, right?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡± Nie Tian answered with aposed face.

    He Lianxiong didn¡¯t attempt to mask his feelings at all. ¡°To tell you the truth, I hate to work with you Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Both you and that Sikong Cuo passed the Heaven Gate trial and eventually became Sons of the Stars. And that Sikong Cuo... Hehe... I¡¯ve seen him for who he is. Simply disgusting!¡±

    ¡°But you set my senior martial brother Fang Yuan up in the Dead Star Sea, causing him heavy losses. You¡¯re not that different yourself.¡± Nie Tian said sarcastically.

    He Lianxiong snorted coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t know him well, but since he¡¯s a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, it was his bad luck that he ran into me! The same goes for you!¡±

    Before Nie Tian could speak, he flicked his sleeve and added, ¡°Alright, your job here is done. Chn and I will take it from here. You may return to your sect now. Afterwards, Chn will inform your sect of the fact that you saw through the Phantasms¡¯ scheme. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll give you the contribution points you deserve.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°You think you¡¯re in a ce to tell me that my job is done? Who do you think you are?¡±

    Hearing this, He Lianxiong roared furiously, ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯re only at the Profound realm, and don¡¯t have a singlete Saint domain subordinate. You still smell of your mother¡¯s milk! (Idiom: be young and inexperienced) With what do you n to contribute to this operation?¡±

    He Lianxiong himself was at the middle Void domain, and he had brought ate Saint domain, three middle Saint domain, and five early Saint domain subordinates.

    Such a force was every bit as strong as Hou Chn¡¯s.

    Compared to them, Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng, who Nie Tian had brought, were much weaker. The gap between their strength was obvious and unbridgeable.

    This was why he was so arrogant.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°One¡¯s ability can¡¯t always be measured by the things you can see. Let¡¯s say you came here with martial sister Hou instead of me. I bet Qiu Hanshan from the Earth Spirit Sect would have informed the Phantasms of your strength and whereabouts long ago.

    ¡°Once the Phantasms had such information, they¡¯d be able to make their moves ordingly.

    ¡°Then, instead of a regr Phantasm force, you may have had a Phantasm grand monarch waiting for you to walk into their trap.¡±

    He Lianxiong gave a coldugh. ¡°You think Phantasm grand monarchs are somon that you can see them running in the streets? If I joined this mission in the first ce, the Phantasms would have given up on their scheme against Chn as soon as they learned about our strength. All of this trouble would have been saved!¡±

    The two of them detested each other. Upon meeting, they confronted each other without backing down in the slightest.

    He Lianxiong detested all Sons of the Stars due to his previous experience with Sikong Cuo, while Nie Tian detested him for what he had done to Fang Yuan in the Dead Star Sea and his arrogant manners.

    Hou Chn was angered by their brawl. ¡°Alright, alright! Would you stop?! He Lianxiong, if you¡¯re here to brawl, you may leave now. We¡¯ll do just fine without your help, as long as we are extra careful. The reason I don¡¯t want to see you is because you always think you¡¯re so great!¡±

    He Lianxiong shut up immediately.

    Only after a long while did he say reluctantly, ¡°If Nie Tian and his men are attacked and surrounded by powerful Phantasms, I won¡¯t try to save him.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t presume that you will,¡± Nie Tian said with a cold smile.

    With an ordering tone, Hou Chn said, ¡°How about this: Nie Tian and his people will go with me. You and your people go search another area in the vicinity. Once any of us finds a teleportation portal, we let each other know and act as a whole.¡±

    He Lianxiong disagreed. ¡°No! I¡¯ll go with you!¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t agree, you should leave with your people now!¡± Hou Chn said with determination.

    Hearing this, He Lianxiong instantly became listless. ¡°Alright, as you wish.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll stay here, Sectmaster Wei,¡± Hou Chn ordered. ¡°Guard the teleportation portal on this ancient starship well. We¡¯ll need it to travel between this region and the outside world. Nie Tian, you¡¯reing with me.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s spread out to search the surrounding area of the realm where the Earth Spirit Sect is located.¡±

    With these words, she summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool made of wood and boarded it with a light leap.

    Then, she beckoned Nie Tian with a wave of her hand. ¡°Considering that you¡¯re only at the Profound realm, you¡¯ll probably have a hard time fending off the harmful impurities in the starry river by yourself. Come join me. I¡¯ll take care of you.¡±

    He Lianxiongughed broadly. ¡°A man that needs a woman¡¯s protection.¡±

    Nie Tian rubbed his nose for a short while, then flew squarely onto Hou Chn¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool.

    The air-transportation spiritual tool then shot into the distance, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

 Chapter 1053: Reputation

    Shortly after Hou Chn¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool flew off the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s ancient starship, Hou Chn said, ¡°He Lianxiong is like that. Don¡¯t mind him.¡±

    She pointed a finger at her own head. ¡°There might be something wrong with him in here.¡±

    Nie Tianughed and said, ¡°Yeah, it certainly seems so.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded. ¡°The man is overconfident. He¡¯s badgered me for years, and shows up wherever I go. Many men around me have been driven away by him. And he tells people everywhere that I¡¯ll eventually ept him. What a nutcase.¡±

    ¡°How did hee to know you in the first ce, Martial Sister Hou?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    He was well-aware that there was nothing wrong with He Lianxiong¡¯s head. Otherwise, the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion would never have taken him as his stepson.

    Perhaps he was only mental and impulsive when facing Hou Chn. He must not be like this when facing others.

    After all, love usually made people lose their minds.

    ¡°My sect and his sect once explored a brand new domain together,¡± Hou Chn said, ¡°which turned out to be a trip full of danger. He Lianxiong and I were attacked by a swarm of unidentified outsiders. He sustained heavy injuries, and nearly died.

    ¡°Since I practice wood power, I spent some time healing him, just the two of us.

    ¡°He¡¯s clung to me ever since. Wherever I go, he goes.

    ¡°Because of this, many in my sectugh at me all the time, which is very annoying.¡±

    Nie Tianughed heartily. ¡°It sounds to me that you shouldn¡¯t have helped him.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± Hou Chn said bitterly. ¡°If I knew this would happen, I would have left him there to fend for himself.¡±

    While the two of them spoke, the other Saint and Void domain experts spread out in their surroundings, fending off the harmful impurities with their respective domains.

    Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng flew behind the air-transportation spiritual tool, matching its speed to keep a certain distance.

    Saint domain experts like Ruan Qingliu flew in farther areas, where their immense soul awareness knit into a huge, covering and scanning arge area for Phantasm soul auras.

    However, they found nothing after flying for a long time.

    Since Hou Chn¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool warded off the mixed energies in the starry river, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have to make an effort to do that. He just sat back and rxed.

    Failing to find anything noteworthy, Hou Chn had to try another way of thinking. She turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Can you use that Phantasm tool to contact and locate the Phantasms?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Nie Tian gave a clear-cut answer. ¡°Everyone¡¯s soul aura is unique. If I reached out to the Phantasms using Qiu Hanshan¡¯s tool, the Phantasms will instantly know that I¡¯m not him, and be rmed.¡±

    Looking frustrated, Hou Chn said, ¡°Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t get a God domain expert to join our operation. If we had a God domain expert on our team, we wouldn¡¯t have to annihte Qiu Hanshan¡¯s discarnate soul so quickly. Instead, we¡¯d be able to strip memories from it.¡±

    But to do that, the spell caster¡¯s cultivation base usually had to be a major level higher than the spell receiver.

    While Qiu Hanshan had been at the Saint domain, the strongest expert on their team was Ruan Qingliu, who was also at the Saint domain. It would have been far too dangerous for her to attempt to strip memories from his discarnate soul.

    Qiu Hanshan would have been able to ignite his discarnate soul to inflict a heavy bacsh on her.

    For that reason, Ruan Qingliu had adopted a more straightforward method, which was to annihte his discarnate soul without giving him a chance to escape.

    Failing to find another way, everyone could only continue the painstaking search.

    ¡°In fact, there was something I could have done before Qiu Hanshan¡¯s discarnate soul was eliminated,¡± Nie Tian said somewhat pitifully.

    Hou Chn was taken aback. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Nie Tian summoned the Spirit Pearl once again. ¡°This pearl is a unique treasure forged by the Phantasms. As far as I know, the Phantasms have only made three of them. I¡¯ve refined and given this one a soul. This allows it to devour the discarnate soul of any living being and screen fragmentary memories from them.¡±

    ¡°Then why didn¡¯t you just do that?¡± Hou Chn was confused.

    ¡°Even though it¡¯s not a big deal to collect outsider discarnate souls with it, it¡¯s a serious taboo to collect the discarnate souls of our own kind,¡± Nie Tian said with a frown. ¡°You must know what attitude we great sects recently hold towards people and sects that practice forbidden incantations.¡±

    These words plunged Hou Chn into thought.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°Once people learn that I¡¯ve consumed a human soul with my Spirit Pearl, I¡¯ll be in serious trouble. Not to mention that our Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang has ced high hopes in Sikong Cuo, the sixth Son of the Stars. I don¡¯t want to do anything that others can hold against me at such a sensitive moment.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded in agreement. ¡°That¡¯s a valid concern. I didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re actually a discreet person. Also, do you know why He Lianxiong dislikes all Sons of Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°In fact, He Lianxiong isn¡¯t the only one,¡± Hou Chn said. ¡°Many from the other three great sects don¡¯t enjoy cooperating with you Sons of the Stars. The Divine Sons and Daughters of my sect are all on equal grounds. There isn¡¯t a question of who will ascend to power and who won¡¯t. Every Divine Son and Daughter will eventually be the head of their respective sect. This is a set rule.

    ¡°For this reason, we won¡¯t fight each other all the time, and be ipatible as fire and water.

    ¡°As for the Void Spirit Society and the Heaven Span Pavilion, even though they only have one ultimate leader, their future sectmaster will be chosen by their current sectmaster. None of the elders or vice sectmasters have any say in the matter.

    ¡°Because of this, their legacy disciples or stepsons and stepdaughters normally won¡¯t be consumed with heated internal strife.

    ¡°All they¡¯ll need to do is win the acknowledgement of their current sectmaster. In fact, if they try to undermine their own, their sectmaster will be displeased, which will achieve the opposite result.

    ¡°However, this isn¡¯t the case with your sect.

    ¡°All seven Sons of the Stars have a chance to be the future sectmaster, which will be determined through an election among not only your current sectmaster, but your vice sectmasters and twelves elders as well.

    ¡°And your sect doesn¡¯t prohibit Sons of the Stars from confronting each other. They even indulge such behaviors.

    ¡°Because the way your sect sees it, only through overtpetition and invert strife will the most capable Son of the Stars emerge as a winner. This particr practice has resulted in the fact that you Sons of the Stars usually form sides and fight among yourselves by fair means or foul, which never stops.

    ¡°And that¡¯s also why the Sons of the Stars of your sect are used to schemes.

    ¡°For example, Sikong Cuo has adapted to this practice of your sect perfectly. He not only schemes against those from your sect, but those from the other sects who work with him too. The same goes for some of the other Sons of the Stars.

    ¡°That¡¯s why people from the other three sects don¡¯t like to go on quests with Sons of the Stars from your sect. If they have to, they raise their guard, lest they be set up.¡±

    With a wry smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°From the looks of it, we Sons of the Stars have a bad name.¡±

    Hou Chnughed softly. ¡°But there are exceptions. You and Fang Yuan are highly regarded so far. If my martial brother Huang and martial sister Lou hadn¡¯t spoken so highly of you, I wouldn¡¯t even have dared to get close to you. I actually let out a sigh of relief when I learned that it was you that wasing to work with me in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin instead of the others.¡±

    Her words made Nie Tian rather embarrassed.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve be a Son of the Stars, the name of the Sons of the Stars will be rectified,¡± Nie Tian said with heroic spirits.

    Hou Chn shook her head. ¡°Perhaps only if you be the new sectmaster will you be able to change anything. There¡¯s nothing you can do yet. Also, it¡¯s going to be very difficult if you want to win the position of sectmaster from apetition with Sikong Cuo. As far as I know, he¡¯s got the most support within your sect. Many believe that he¡¯ll be the final winner.¡±

    ¡°Hehe. Then it¡¯s bad news for him that I¡¯ve passed the trial and be the seventh Son of the Stars.¡± Gazing off into the distance, Nie Tian pondered for a moment before starting soulmunication with the Spirit Pearl.

    Shortly afterwards, he cast the Spirit Pearl out.

    Emanating cyan light, it floated around on its own like a flickering light drifting in the dim starry river. In its own way, it started scanning its surroundings.

    ¡°Are you using that thing to track the Phantasms?¡± Hou Chn asked curiously.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Considering that a blind search doesn¡¯t seem to be working, I can only try something else. That Spirit Pearl is a Phantasm treasure, and has a keen perception of Phantasm auras. Even though I¡¯m not sure about its detection range, it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Interesting. You do have some incredible means. I¡¯m not surprised that you obtained such a Phantasm treasure. What surprised me is the fact that you¡¯re able to refine it and make it yours tomand.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled confidently. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m pretty special.¡±

    ¡°Agreed,¡± Hou Chn said.

 Chapter 1054: Domain-corroding Flames

    Ever since Nie Tian had refined the Spirit Pearl, given it a soul, and fused it with a wisp of his soul imprint, a permanent soul connection had been established between them.

    Such a connection allowed Nie Tian tomunicate with the Spirit Pearl within a certain range.

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl was drifting around seemingly aimlessly.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s instructions, Hou Chn controlled her air-transportation spiritual tool to follow it.

    Ruan Qingliu and the other experts followed along without saying anything.

    Many of them wouldy their gazes on the Spirit Pearl from time to time.

    Since it was hard to tell time in the starry river, Nie Tian didn¡¯t how long had passed before the Spirit Pearl suddenly elerated.

    Greatly spirited, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Follow it!¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s bright eyes lit up as she started to exude an emerald green aura, as if she had turned into a piece of gorgeous jade. Even her skin became smoother and more moist.

    The wood power that originated from her fused perfectly into the floor of the air-transportation spiritual tool under her feet.

    The spiritual tool abruptly picked up speed.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the dashing Spirit Pearl led them to an unknown area of the starry river, and came to a sudden stop.

    People arrived and gathered around it, where they nced around curiously and unleashed their soul awareness to scan the vicinity.

    Debris and a wrecked starship was found floating silently in the starry river.

    The starship wasn¡¯t veryrge. Judging from the banners it hung, it was one of the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s ancient starships.

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the starships the Martial Spirit Sect sent to search for the teleportation portals,¡± Ruan Qingliu said. ¡°There isn¡¯t a single body on it. If my spection is correct, that starship was destroyed by the Phantasms, and the bodies of those they killed have been cleaned out.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded and asked Nie Tian, ¡°Why did that pearl of yours take us here?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s residual Phantasm Qi and Phantasm flesh auras here,¡± Nie Tian said, looking at the wrecked starship. ¡°It might be difficult for you to capture such auras, but ites easy to it. The battle that took ce here must have ended a long time ago, yet there¡¯s still lingering Phantasm Qi and Phantasm flesh auras.¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, there must be a teleportation portal in the vicinity that connects to the Phantasms¡¯ heaven and earth.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably the case. But I have a feeling that the information Qiu Hanshan fed you wasn¡¯t all true. In fact, I doubt there are three teleportation portals.¡±

    ¡°If not, how many do you think there are?¡± Hou Chn asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s very difficult to forge inter-domain teleportation portals, not to mention a portal that connects to the Phantasms¡¯ heaven and earth. Meanwhile, Qiu Hanshan only needed one teleportation portal tomunicate and exchange materials and supplies with the Phantasms.¡± After a brief moment of pondering, Nie Tian continued, ¡°I¡¯m guessing there¡¯s only one teleportation portal.¡±

    Hou Chn took a moment to think about the matter, and approved of Nie Tian¡¯s spection. She turned to Ruan Qingliu and said, ¡°Aunt Ruan, tell He Lianxiong to stop wasting his time searching in other areas. The one and only teleportation portal that connects to the Phantasms¡¯ heaven and earth might just be in this area, so tell him toe here as soon as possible.¡±

    Ruan Qingliu did as she was bid without hesitation.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you may cease scanning the vicinity with your pearl for now,¡± Hou Chn said. ¡°We can start out after He Lianxiong and his subordinates get here. This is to prevent us from engaging with the Phantasms too early, when we don¡¯t have the strength to crush them.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said.

    As he lifted his hand and made a beckoning motion, the Spirit Pearl turned into a streak of cyan light that shot into his palm.

    Since the Phantasms had colluded with Qiu Hanshan to set up Hou Chn, they must have a full grasp of her overall strength, and have confidence in defeating her force in battle.

    Under such circumstances, it was indeed unwise to engage in a battle against them at this moment.

    Therefore, everyone just waited by the wrecked starship for He Lianxiong and his subordinates to arrive.

    Time flew.

    A badly damaged starship that hung tattered Martial Spirit Sect banners appeared in the distance, and was sailing towards Nie Tian¡¯s direction at a very slow speed.

    The starship was silver white, and in the shape of a flying shuttle.

    Upon seeing this, everyone hastily unleashed their soul awareness to examine it, as if they were facing formidable foes. However, they didn¡¯t detect any soul fluctuations.

    This meant there weren¡¯t any living beings on the starship.

    Even so, there were corpses on it.

    There were a total of six corpses, all of which were human. Judging from the way they were dressed, they were all Qi warriors from the Martial Spirit Sect.

    After the starship came closer, Ruan Qingliu rose up and took a nce down at it. ¡°Six corpses, all of which were disciples of the Martial Spirit Sect. They must have been sent to search for the teleportation portals. It¡¯s getting stranger by the minute. Let¡¯s be extra careful, everyone.¡±

    ¡°Did the Phantasms put their corpses on the starship and send it our way?¡± Hou Chn asked, frowning. ¡°If so, why?¡±

    Nie Tian was also confused.

    As the starship came closer and closer, he secretly examined it with his bloodline power, and his expression instantly flickered.

    He sensed unusual flesh power fluctuations from within the corpses, which reeked of a foul smell.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± As soon as he eximed, the bellies of the corpse suddenly swelled up at an rming rate.

    BOOOOM!

    The starship exploded violently, along with the six swelling human corpses on board.

    The explosion created a dark green bloody mist with a foul smell that instantly enveloped the area where everyone was.

    All of the Saint and Void domain experts that were scattered around Hou Chn had activated their domains, with which they were keeping off the harmful impurities in the starry river.

    Now, as the dark green bloody mist enveloped them in the blink of an eye, all of their domains were exposed to it.

    There were no exceptions.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The dark green bloody mist rapidly infiltrated their domains, and started to burn like green mes.

    Because of this, the experts¡¯ domains also started to burn, and show signs of disintegration.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The ward formed by Hou Chn¡¯s wooden air-transportation spiritual tool was also ignited by the weird green mist.

    Ruan Qingliu was scared out of her mind, and couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°Domain-corroding mes!¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s face also turned pale with fright. ¡°It¡¯s the Fiends¡¯ Domain-corroding mes! I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re actually using the Fiends¡¯ vile mes to deal with us!¡±

    Every Saint domain and Void domain expert¡¯s domain burned fiercely, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    Each of their domains had their unique wonders. Some contained mountains and rivers; some were filled with lightning bolts; some were full of whistling strong wind, while others were filled with freshly-green overgrown forests. Yet they were poisoned all alike.

    Every expert was having a hard time. Watching their domains continue to burn, they all retreated to the very center of their domains and cast spells topress them.

    ¡°What makes the Domain-corroding mes so powerful and sinister?¡± Nie Tian asked aloud.

    ¡°This particr type of me refined by the Fiends is exclusively used to unravel human experts¡¯ domains!¡± Hou Chn said anxiously. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether you¡¯re at the Saint domain or the Void domain. One touch of these mes will set your domain on fire, causing it to lose mobility and crack bit by bit. If we were in one of our realms, we could have simply withdrawn our domains and purged the corrosive mes inside through certain means.

    ¡°But instead of a heaven and earth protected by a realm barrier, we¡¯re now stranded in the starry river!¡±

    Her words enlightened Nie Tian.

    ording to Hou Chn, it wasn¡¯t hard for cultivators to rid their domains of Domain-corroding mes in a realm that was protected by a realm barrier.

    All they needed to do was withdraw their domains and cleanse them with certain methods.

    However, it was much more troublesome to do it in the starry river.

    Human experts relied on their domains to protect themselves from the harmful impurities in the starry river.

    Once they withdrew their domains, their fragile fleshly bodies would be exposed to the starry river.

    It was known that humans had feeble fleshly bodies. Once the harmful impurities infiltrated their bodies, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they died.

    Such enlightenment allowed Nie Tian to see how perilous and desperate the situation really was.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The glowing shield around the air-transportation spiritual tool continued to burn in the irrepressible Domain-corroding mes.

    Hou Chn smiled bitterly and said, ¡°This shield works in the same way as my domain, so it can¡¯t escape the fate of being gued by the Domain-corroding mes either.¡±

    ¡°Divine Daughter!¡± Ruan Qingliu called out. ¡°Since your domain hasn¡¯t been poisoned by the Domain-corroding mes, you¡¯d better leave with Nie Tian now! Don¡¯t mind us!¡±

    Hou Chn shook her head. ¡°That won¡¯t work.¡±

    Ruan Qingliu and the other experts had formed a sphere of domains around her. Now, each and every one of them was being burned by the Domain-corroding mes, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    Therefore, even if she abandoned her air-transportation spiritual tool and attempted to leave enveloped in her domain, she wouldn¡¯t be able to do so without her domain catching the Domain-corroding mes.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly burst through the cracking shield into the starry river.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!¡± Hou Chn eximed.

    Since Nie Tian was still at the Profound realm and hadn¡¯t forged his domain yet, she assumed that it would be suicide to expose his fleshly body in the starry river.

    Nie Tian waved carelessly. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±

    Completely exposed in the starry river and ncing around at the struggling Saint and Void domain experts, he suddenly activated Life Strengthening.

 Chapter 1055: Saving People

    After activating Life Strengthening, Nie Tian contended against the impurities in the starry river with his vigorous flesh power and exceptionally tough body.

    Only a very small portion of the impurities seemed to be acknowledged by his body, and entered through his pores. Not only did they not harm him, but they even turned out to be beneficial to his body refinement.

    Floating over Hou Chn¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool, he didn¡¯t have even the slightest pain on his expressionless face.

    Obviously, the mixed energies in the starry river that could poison human flesh and cause them to die quick deaths weren¡¯t harming him at all.

    Hou Chn look up at him. Astonishment filled her eyes.

    It was known that Nie Tian was a hybrid. However, even pure outsiders famous for their tough bodies like Demons and Bonebrutes couldn¡¯t expose themselves directly to the starry river before their bloodlines reached a certain grade.

    Outsiders and humans were simr in many ways.

    Eighth grade outsiders had rich flesh auras that carried profound wonders running inside of them, which allowed them to envelop themselves in ayer of flesh aura to achieve a simr effect to that of human experts¡¯ domains: keep the impurities in the starry river away.

    Even though Hou Chn couldn¡¯t determine the grade of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline, she was convinced that it must have not reached the eighth grade yet, however wondrous it might be.

    This meant that he couldn¡¯t form a shield yet. However, the fact that he floated in the starry river without being harmed by the impurities in the slightest shocked her once again.

    Seeing this, she realized that when He Lianxiong had mocked Nie Tian earlier for having to be protected by a woman, it had actually been his shallow misunderstanding.

    Nie Tian had been more than capable of traveling through the starry river without relying on any external help. It was just that he hadn¡¯t felt the need to prove himself to him.

    Ruan Qingliu and the other Saint domain subordinates of Hou Chn all gasped with astonishment as well.

    ¡°He¡¯s only at the Profound realm, and still has yet to forge his domain. This is simply unbelievable...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian blurred into action. He swiftly avoided clusters of fiercely-burning Domain-corroding mes before arriving at the area where Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng, who were only at the Void domain, were.

    Both Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as they saw their savior.

    ¡°Star Boat!¡± Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat, which was exclusively owned by the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The moment it appeared, a shield of dazzling starlight formed around it under Nie Tian¡¯s stimtion.

    ¡°Come to me!¡± Nie Tian called out to Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng.

    Overjoyed, the two of them descended towards the Star Boat, withdrawing their domains as they did.

    Both of their domains were now filled with clusters of dark-green mes and showing signs of unraveling.

    Of all the experts, the two of them had the lowest cultivation bases, which was the Void domain.

    Because of this, their domains were melting the fastest under the influence of the Domain-corroding mes.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Their figures flew onto the Star Boat, canceling their domains at the same time.

    Immediately afterwards, they sat down in the Star Boat.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Clusters of Domain-corroding mes that were chasing after their domains rapidly gathered around the Star Boat, making contact with its starlight shield.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    Even the energy shield the Star Boat had formed by stimting Star Stones caught the Domain-corroding mes, and started to burn.

    He hastily activated the Star Boat in an attempt to get away from the mes.

    What surprised him even more was that the clusters of the Domain-corroding mes didn¡¯t fuse into Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng¡¯s bodies with their domains as they entered the Star Boat and withdrew their domains.

    Instead, they remained in the starry river and flew ethereally towards the other experts¡¯ domains.

    ¡°Such bizarre mes can actually seek domains to attack on their own!¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian finally understood firsthand why Hou Chn and the other experts were so terrified of the Domain-corroding mes.

    Aside from their destructiveness, they could also track the unique auras of human experts¡¯ domains, attack them, and switch targets if needed.

    For this reason, immediately after the Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng broke free, the Domain-corroding mes that were originally attacking their domains gathered towards Hou Chn¡¯s Saint domain subordinates.

    Seeing that the mes had made him their new target, a Saint domain Qi warrior instantly grew extremely grim.

    Nie Tian beckoned for him toe join them on the Star Boat. ¡°Alright, don¡¯t be so grim-faced. You cane too.¡±

    Even though the Star Boat wasn¡¯trge, there was enough space left for a few more people.

    Ecstatic, the man, like a bolt of lightning, shot towards the Star Boat without saying a word..

    The moment he went through the shield of starlight, he canceled his domain.

    As soon as his domain vanished, the clusters of Domain-corroding mes poisoning his domain wandered off, seeking their next target.

    The man instantly stopped panicking. Greatly relieved, he sped his hands towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    Generally speaking, cultivators would abandon their air-transportation spiritual tools after entering the Void domain.

    That was because air-transportation spiritual tools weren¡¯t even as fast as they could fly most of the time.

    Only top-level air-transportation spiritual tools from the four great sects might be able to match the speed at which they flew while enveloped in their domains.

    Besides, ordinary air-transportation spiritual tools didn¡¯t have the function to form protective shields around them to protect those onboard from the harmful impurities in the starry river.

    For this reason, the experts suffering from the Domain-corroding mes either didn¡¯t have any air-transportation spiritual tools with them, or the air-transportation spiritual tools they had couldn¡¯t shield off the impurities.

    Therefore, none of them had summoned any.

    As the Star Boat flew towards Jing Feiyang, Nie Tian beckoned for Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates to join him on the Star Boat as he came across them. ¡°You, and you. Come on. I¡¯ll take as many of you in as possible.¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Hou Chn was enlightened upon seeing Nie Tian rescue her subordinates with his Star Boat.

    She copied him and flew around in her wooden air-transportation spiritual tool to pick up her subordinates.

    The shields of the two air-transportation spiritual tools only covered very limited areas. Like two fish, they threaded through therge amount of Domain-corroding mes to pick up struggling experts.

    Soon, Jing Feiyang entered the Star Boat as well.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat was already rather crowded.

    Luckily, Hou Chn took some pressure off his shoulders, so that he didn¡¯t have to pick up everyone with his Star Boat.

    Before they could pick up all of the Saint domain experts, Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered with astonishment. His bloodline power detected immense flesh auras which made his heart race. ¡°They¡¯re finally here!¡±

    He had known that powerful outsiders must being, since their n with the exploding starship had worked.

    Standing beside Hou Chn, Ruan Qingliu also sensed wisp after wisp of disturbing soul auras approaching at a high speed. ¡°Divine Daughter! We can¡¯t engage in battle here! There are arge amount of Domain-corroding mes in this area. Once a battle breaks out, we¡¯ll have a hard time maintaining our domains, and our battle prowess will bepromised. That way, we can¡¯t possible win a battle against an outsider grand patriarch.¡±

    Hou Chn had long since seen through the outsiders¡¯ n. Unleashing the Domain-corroding mes was only step one.

    If they survived this first tribtion, the outsiders would show up to fight them while the Domain-corroding mes greatly limited their battle prowess.

    If they didn¡¯t unleash their domains, these human Qi warriors wouldn¡¯t be able to cast many of their mighty spells and incantations. They could onlyunch attacks hiding on the two crowded air-transportation spiritual tools.

    Furthermore, once the Star Boat and the wooden air-transportation spiritual tool were wrecked, the outsiders wouldn¡¯t have to do anything but wait for the human experts to be killed by the impurities in the starry river.

    Deeply worried, Hou Chn hastily picked up the rest of her subordinates.

    ¡°Nie Tian! We need to get out of here now!¡± She yelled. ¡°We¡¯ll only have a chance at winning a battle against them in an area where there aren¡¯t any Domain-corroding mes!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± One Star Stone after another flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s hand to the floor of the Star Stone.

    Numerous Star Stones were instantly drained of their power and reduced to dust.

    Like a bolt of lightning, the Star Boat whizzed through the gaps between clusters of Domain-corroding mes in an attempt to escape this perilous ce at the fastest speed possible.

    WHOOSH!

    A Fiend suddenly showed up in front of them.

    ¡°Bloodline power...¡± He said in a uniquely rhythmical voice in the Fiends¡¯nguage.

    As soon as he showed up, the clusters of Domain-corroding mes that filled the entire area seemed to be given a new task. Instead of looking for domains, they started chasing after the Star Boat and Hou Chn¡¯s wooden air-transportation spiritual tool.

    Like numerous floating greennterns, clusters of Domain-corroding mes divided into two groups to blockade and trap them.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the Domain-corroding mes were like a sea of mes that were going to engulf them in the next moment.

    It went without saying that the mes¡¯ primary target was the Star Boat¡¯s protective shield. If they melted the shield away, all of the Void and Saint domain experts would immediately be exposed to the deadly impurities in the starry river.

    If they activated their domains, the Domain-corroding mes would continue to burn and melt them.

    The situation had just taken a turn for the better, yet the arrival of the Fiend plunged them back into a perilous situation.

 Chapter 1056: The Origin of All Flames!

    The Domain-corroding mes had been gathered and refined by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler from the Fiend heaven and earth.

    It was a famous weapon that was exclusively used to unravel human experts¡¯ domains.

    However, there were actually very few of them. Even Grand Monarch Nether Channeler had to go through great lengths and expend his own Blood Essence to just make a bit of them.

    It had incredible effects on all kinds of domains. Even God domain human experts would be in serious trouble once their domains caught them.

    It was just that God domain experts¡¯ domains had their own unique wonders. Even though they would suffer from the Domain-corroding mes as well, it would be almost impossible to rely on the Domain-corroding mes to kill a God domain expert.

    However, Void and Saint domain experts would be in much greater trouble once their domains caught these mes, especially when they were in the starry river, where they couldn¡¯t withdraw them.

    That way, their devastating might would be manifested to the fullest.

    Watching numerous clusters of Domain-corroding mesing at them under the Fiend expert¡¯s bloodline channeling, Nie Tian had a headache over the tough situation.

    Intangible and magical, the Domain-corroding mes traveled at an amazingly fast speed in the starry river.

    Even though the Star Boat had pushed its speed to the limit, it couldn¡¯t lose the bizarre mes.

    Nie Tian turned to a middle Saint domain subordinate of Hou Chn¡¯s and asked, ¡°How on earth can you get rid of them? I heard that there are ways to eliminate them after the affected withdraw their domains, aren¡¯t there?¡±

    The man smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Onlyva can melt them away. But only those who practice fire incantations would do such a thing as gatherva from active volcanoes. Of course it¡¯ll be easy to get our hands on someva, but now...¡±

    Almost all of Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates practiced wood incantations.

    Normally, those who practice me incantations would choose to follow Lou Hongyan, the Divine Daughter of the fire element sect.

    After all, through Lou Hongyan and the fire element sect, they would be able to learn more exquisite fire incantations and magics.

    Therefore, none of Hou Chn¡¯s Saint domain subordinates she had brought on this trip were masters of me power who had stockedva.

    ¡°Lava...¡± Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered as he looked over his shoulder at the Domain-corroding mes at their heels. ¡°I¡¯m from the Divine me Sect of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I happen to practice me power. I usually channel me power fromvakes into my me power core, but howe my fire domain didn¡¯t have any effect on the Domain-corroding mes earlier?¡±

    ¡°Not domains or auras unleashed from me power cores, I¡¯m talking about actualva,¡± The man exined. ¡°Even though you used arge amount of me power when you forged your domain, you must have also fused it with your soul awareness, pure spiritual power, and a wide array of spiritual materials.

    ¡°It takes a number of materials and wonders to forge a domain that the me aura you channeled fromva has been diluted who knows how many times over. Besides, it requires actual boilingva to melt Domain-corroding mes, not the aura of earthme. Perhaps only if you let your me power core fly out to deal with them itself will there be some effect.

    ¡°Just your domain alone won¡¯t do.¡±

    Yue Yanxi frowned. ¡°Do I have to send my me power core out to achieve some effect? If I do that, it¡¯ll be exposed to the impurities in the starry river...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he listened to their conversation.

    He took out plenty more Star Stones and tossed them to the floor before bursting through the protective shield himself.

    The me Dragon Armor flew out of his ring of holding, giving rise to thunderous sounds.

    The me Dragon Armor had gathered most of its power from thevakes of erupting volcanoes.

    As soon as it descended and d itself on Nie Tian, fierce mes burst out of it, turning him into a ball of mes.

    As he approached and touched a cluster of Domain-corroding mes, they actually showed signs of melting, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor!¡± The other experts, who had been wracking their minds for a solution, couldn¡¯t help but exim upon seeing this well-known Spirit Channeling grade treasure from the fire element sect of the Five Elements Sect.

    Only Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and a handful of others knew of the fact that Nie Tian had the me Dragon Armor now.

    Even Lou Hongyan hadn¡¯t mentioned it to anyone after returning to the Five Elements Sect, because the head of the fire element sect of the Five Elements Sect had been out on a mission.

    Therefore, to this day, he still didn¡¯t know that the me Dragon Armor he had forged was currently in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Besides, losing the me Dragon Armor had been humiliating to Lou Hongyan. It was only natural that she wouldn¡¯t b about it.

    For this reason, Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates were all deeply surprised to see the me Dragon Armor at this moment.

    As it turned out, the mes unleashed by the me Dragon Armor indeed had a powerful effect on the Domain-corroding mes.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Something else caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention as he flew through the Domain-corroding mes d in the me Dragon Armor.

    A small spark of orange me flew out on its own from within his dantian region in his lower abdomen.

    It was none other than the me spark the Divine me, which he hade across in the Domain of me¡¯s End, had traded him for his Blood Essence.

    Upon appearing, the me spark pounced on the Domain-corroding mes like a hungry lion. That was when Nie Tian discovered that the orange me spark had a much stronger effect than the me Dragon Armor!

    Wherever it flew, clusters of Domain-corroding mes seemed to be drawn to it, as they gathered towards it from different directions.

    The orange me spark shrank and expanded abruptly from time to time, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    As it did, the Domain-corroding mes vanished bit by bit.

    Upon seeing what was happening, the Fiend¡¯s face turned pale with fright as he hastily switched to another bloodline magic.

    However, the Domain-corroding mes were no longer answering his summons.

    Finally finding a way to deal with the Domain-corroding mes, Nie Tian grinned widely and shouted, ¡°Come here to me, Martial Sister Hou!¡±

    He had a feeling that this me spark the Divine me had given to him in the Domain of me¡¯s End was the most profound spiritual me in heaven and earth.

    Back when he had fought in the desert, where me dragon remains had been buried on the floating continent, the me spark had summoned me power from the depths of the desert despite the me Maniac¡¯s bloodline magic.

    Now, it was rapidly eliminating the Fiends¡¯ Domain-corroding mes in the starry river.

    Hou Chn, who was under tremendous pressure from the Domain-corroding mes pursuing her, jerked her head towards Nie Tian upon hearing his call. An overjoyed look immediately appeared on her face.

    Just now, she had intentionally put some distance between her air-transportation spiritual tool and Nie Tian¡¯s, fearing that the Domain-corroding mes would capture them all with one attempt.

    However, the Domain-corroding mes that were chasing after Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat were, for some reason, disappearing at an rming rate. This gave her hope again.

    She hastily changed direction to approach Nie Tian at full speed.

    Ruan Qingliu took a nce from afar and was also bbergasted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that spark of orange me is actually melting the Domain-corroding mes... wait, not melting, but absorbing! I only know thatva can help melt and get rid of Domain-corroding mes from cultivators¡¯ domains. But I¡¯ve never heard of something so peculiar that can actually absorb them!¡±

    As of this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s shocking means filled her with admiration.

    ¡°A spark of orange me that can devour Domain-corroding mes...¡± Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect muttered, staring unblinkingly at the me spark. ¡°Where have I heard of such a me spark...? The Divine me that devastated the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    Yue Yanxi¡¯s expression flickered, his eyes shining with the light of excitement. Even his body trembled slightly upon the thought.

    ¡°That must be it! Must be! Of all the mes I know, that¡¯s the only one that can work such wonders!

    ¡°It came from the depths of the starry river and set aze and destroyed the entire Domain of me¡¯s End! Only the Origin of All mes can do such an incredible thing!¡±

    Yue Yanxi became overwhelmed by emotions.

    The Divine me Sect had been founded by survivors from the Domain of me¡¯s End, who had fled to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Therefore, there were arge number of ancient records in the Divine me Sect describing that orange me that had appeared out of nowhere. They called it the Origin of All mes!

    The founders of the Divine me Sect had named their sect out of their worship and fear towards that wondrous me.

    Yue Yanxi couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°The Origin of All mes! That¡¯s a one of a kind Divine me in this universe!¡±

    Meanwhile, the orange me spark had already consumed more than half of the Domain-corroding mes that were pursuing the Star Boat.

    The Star Boat came to a sudden stop, one expert after another bursting through its protective shield, unleashing their domains.

    ring at the Fiend expert, they shot towards him like lightning bolts.

    At the same time, Nie Tianughed wildly and flew towards Hou Chn, d in the me Dragon Armor.

 Chapter 1057: The Descendant of A Grand Monarch

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Wherever Nie Tian flew, the rolling mes unleashed by the me Dragon Armor turned the starry river into a sea of mes, which spread towards and consumed the Domain-corroding mes.

    Compared to the orange me spark, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s effect on the Domain-corroding mes was considerably weaker. However, thanks to it, at least Nie Tian didn¡¯t have to worry about the Domain-corroding mes.

    SHEW!

    Hou Chn¡¯s wooden air-transportation spiritual tool, whose speed she had pushed to the limit, finally met with Nie Tian.

    It flew right past his side, while Nie Tian plunged into a sea of Domain-corroding mes behind it like a burning man.

    His arrival caused changes to the Domain-corroding mes that were pursuing Hou Chn¡¯s wooden air-transportation spiritual tool.

    As the me Dragon Armor¡¯s mes infiltrated them, the flesh aura connection between them and the Fiend seemed to be suddenly cut off.

    The Fiend saw the unfavorable situation and scrambled through different bloodline magics in attempts to summon the Domain-corroding mes back, lest all of them be devoured by the orange me spark.

    Wreathed in zing mes, Nie Tian turned his head and summoned the orange me spark. ¡°Come here!¡±

    At this moment, the Domain-corroding mes that had chased after the Star Boat had already beenpletely consumed and refined.

    Like a brightntern, the me spark whizzed to Nie Tian, flickering with a mysterious fiery light.

    As soon as the me spark arrived, doom fell upon the Domain-corroding mes the me Dragon Armor had locked down in this area.

    One cluster after another, they were consumed at an rming rate.

    The me spark continued to swell and shrink like a man¡¯s belly that undted as he ate and digested food at a shockingly fast speed.

    At this moment, the Fiend realized that he had lost all control over the Domain-corroding mes.

    Facing the joint attack of Jing Feiyang and many other experts, he fled in the direction he hade from, screaming miserably in the outsiders¡¯nguage as he did.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    It wasn¡¯t long before a group of Phantasms appeared in the distance where he was heading.

    Almost all of them were at the eighth or ninth grade.

    Only one was at the seventh grade.

    It turned out to be an acquaintance of Nie Tian¡¯s.

    That handsome Phantasm stood atop a skull made of countless discarnate souls. Nie Tian¡¯s image suddenly appeared in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    Holding a grayish-brown skull in one hand, he said with a grim face, ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before suddenly recognizing the Phantasm. ¡°Froste!¡±

    Then, with a nasty grin, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d run into you here. It was you who¡¯s been secretlymunicating with Qiu Hanshan from the Earth Spirit Sect about setting up Martial Sister Hou, right?¡±

    He noticed the skull Froste was holding.

    It and the one Qiu Hanshan had held were a set of Phantasmmunication tools refined with their secret magics.

    It was through the two halves of a discarnate soul that had been refined into them that Froste hadmunicated with Qiu Hanshan.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, Froste realized that Nie Tian must have discovered Qiu Hanshan¡¯s secret. ¡°Meeting you here, I guess I miscalcted...¡±

    He knew about the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand better than anyone. He had suffered losses because of it back when they had their first encounter in the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°I¡¯m curious as to whether Qiu Hanshan had worked with your people for a long time, or you persuaded him to work for you recently,¡± Nie Tian said aloud.

    Froste snorted disdainfully. ¡°Our connection goes way back, although our cooperation was limited to trades at first. Butter, I told him that you killed Qiu Ji and the other Earth Spirit Sect disciples in the Shatter Battlefield. So you yed a role in his rebellion as well. Of course, we also threatened to expose his connection with us over the years if he refused to work with us.

    ¡°After serious consideration, he eventually agreed to join our cause, and lure the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect of the Five Elements Sect to this ce.¡±

    Froste briefly exined the story behind Qiu Hanshan¡¯s rebellion, and pointed out that Nie Tian killing his only son had yed an important part in his rebellion.

    ¡°You sure are full of surprises, hybrid bastard,¡± Froste said with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you actually found a way to deal with the Fiends¡¯ Domain-corroding mes. I thought that, with the help of the Domain-corroding mes, we would have been able to take out your entire group without staining our des with your filthy blood.¡±

    He shook his head, looking rather pitiful.

    Surprisingly, a battle didn¡¯t break out right away.

    As Froste¡¯s subordinates arrived sessively, the human experts that had been chasing after the Fiend held their ce.

    On the one hand, they were waiting for Hou Chn and the other experts to arrive.

    On the other hand, they knew that the Domain-corroding mes hadn¡¯t beenpletely cleansed yet. If they started a battle now, the remaining mes might still cause them trouble.

    Meanwhile, Froste didn¡¯t make any moves because he was waiting for the rest of his people to arrive.

    Far lessposed than Froste, the Fiend eximed, ¡°Young monarch! My Domain-corroding mes are being refined and consumed! Please give the order to fight now!¡±

    Domain-corroding mes were very precious and rare, even throughout the entire Fiend race. His heart ached as he watched them being absorbed by the orange me spark.

    ¡°Considering that they¡¯ve failed to y the role they¡¯re supposed to, there¡¯s no point in keeping them anymore. Let them perish.¡± Froste said coldly. ¡°It was your words that with the help of those mes, I¡¯d be able to kill any human force that dares toe here without breaking a sweat.

    ¡°Take a look for yourself. These Five Elements Sect disciples¡¯ domains are only slightly damaged. They didn¡¯t unravel a single domain!¡±

    The Fiend fell indignant listening to his mocking words. ¡°Young monarch, our Domain-corroding mes have never failed before when fighting humans in the starry river. How could I know we¡¯d encounter this freak who actually had something that can refine Domain-corroding mes this time?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Young monarch...¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Froste, who he had first met in the Shatter Battlefield, actually came from such a powerful background.

    Only the descendants of tenth grade grand monarchs could be referred to as young monarchs.

    Froste¡¯s father must be a Phantasm grand monarch. No wonder he had so many powerful Phantasms as his subordinates.

    ¡°Froste, descendant of Grand Monarch Nether River...¡± Hou Chn said softly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it was you who instigated Qiu Hanshan to set me up.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Grand Monarch Nether River?!¡±

    Unlike Grand Monarch Dark Nether who had shown up in the Domain of Nether Heaven, Grand Monarch Nether River was generally regarded as the most powerful Phantasm!

    While Grand Monarch Dark Nether was at the early tenth grade, Grand Monarch Nether River was said to have entered thete tenth grade a hundred thousand years ago!

    Grand Monarch Nether River was also the Chief of the entire Phantasm race.

    Even across the countless domains and numerous races in this starry river, Grand Monarch Nether River was a revered overlord.

    Throughout the human race, only the sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Void Spirit Society, Heaven Span Pavilion, and Five Elements Sect could match Grand Monarch Nether River in battle.

    Even vice sectmasters like Luo Wanxiang couldn¡¯t be ced on par with Grand Monarch Nether River.

    Outsiders and humans had fundamental differences in rearing descendants.

    Reproduction came easy to humans.

    However, powerful human experts could have dozens of children, yet still not give birth to a single one with outstanding talent.

    For that reason, none of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, or the Heaven Span Pavilion chose future sectmasters from the children of their current sectmasters.

    After all, the odds of powerful experts¡¯ children to be talented were terrible.

    Meanwhile, reproduction didn¡¯te easy to outsiders. The higher their grade, the harder it was for them to reproduce.

    It was fairly easy for sixth and seventh grade outsiders to reproduce, but it was much more difficult for eighth and ninth grade outsiders to reproduce. It was even more difficult for tenth grade grand monarchs to reproduce.

    However, every descendant of a tenth grade grand monarch would be born with iparable talent.

    Therefore, descendants of grand monarchs like Froste would enjoy much better odds at bing grand monarchs themselves than lowborn Phantasms.

    The prosperity of outsider ns had close connections to their ancestors¡¯ bloodlines.

    For this reason, ancient outsider ns would usually thrive over very long periods of time. The descendants of their grand monarchs would carry and pass on powerful bloodlines generation after generation.

    As Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s descendant, Froste had great odds at bing a Phantasm grand monarch after a few dozen millennia, as long as he didn¡¯t die prematurely.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s train of thought came to this point, it suddenly urred to him that Pergson the Bonebrute and Gutas the Demon, who he had met in the Shatter Battlefield, were probably grand monarch descendants as well.

    ¡°No wonder Pergson holds that unique treasure, the Bone Shatterer,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Even the ninth grade Grand Patriarch Bone Crusher prioritized his safety in the Domain of Nether Heaven. His father must be a Bonebrute grand monarch, perhaps Grand Monarch Withered Bones.

    ¡°But my father who gave me this unique bloodline... Is he a human? Or a hybrid just like me? Thanks to my bloodline, I managed to emerge triumphant repeatedly, be a Son of the Stars, and earn my current reputation and strength.

    ¡°Grand Elder Mo Heng seemed to attach great importance to it after finishing examining my Blood Essence. Did he find something?¡±

 Chapter 1058: Breaking Shackles

    With a derisiveugh, Froste muttered to himself, ¡°Okay, everyone is here. Talk about luck. Not only will I be able to kill the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect this time, but a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce too. And It¡¯s about time I brought our long-lost Spirit Pearl home too.¡±

    He had yearned for the Spirit Pearl back when he hadst seen it in the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, he hadn¡¯t had any powerful Phantasms traveling with him back then.

    He had had no choice but to find Gutas and Pergson, and persuade them to work with him. Even so, they had failed to take the Spirit Pearl from Nie Tian. It had been quite a pity.

    Now, with numerous powerful experts from his n floating behind him, his force was clearly stronger than Hou Chn¡¯s. His desire to take the Spirit Pearl back burned once again in his heart.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The Domain-corroding mes continued to be devoured by the orange me spark. There had been quite a number of them at first, but there were only a few clusters left now.

    The Fiend, who Froste had asked to join this mission, tried every bloodline magic, but still couldn¡¯t get the Domain-corroding mes to respond to his summons.

    Since Froste refused to help, he could only watch his precious Domain-corroding mes be refined and absorbed bit by bit.

    A heart-ached expression spread across the Fiend¡¯s face.

    Froste finally lifted his hand to point at Hou Chn and her subordinates in the distance. ¡°Kill them all!¡±

    As soon as he said these words, a fierce battle broke out.

    In a split second, the eighth and ninth grade Phantasms engaged in a close battle against Ruan Qingliu, Jing Feiyang, and the other human experts.

    Enveloped in their domains, Ruan Qingliu and the other human experts intentionally kept the battlefield far from where Nie Tian was dealing with the remaining Domain-corroding mes.

    This way, the Saint and Void domain experts no longer had to raise their guard against the Domain-corroding mes. Instead, they could fully spread their all-inclusive domains, each and every one looking like an unfurled morous painting.

    At the same time, all kinds of spiritual tools blossomed with precious light in their domains, disying their unique wonders.

    ¡°Even though you¡¯re the descendant of a grand monarch, the seventh grade is still far too low,¡± Hou Chn said with an icy face. ¡°If you¡¯re thinking that this well-thought scheme of yours has worked, then you¡¯re wrong. I knew perfectly well that Qiu Hanshan was a traitor, but I came here anyways. Do you really think you have everything under control?¡±

    As all of her subordinates engaged in fights against the Phantasms, she jumped off her air-transportation spiritual tool as well, enveloping herself in her domain.

    As the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, Hou Chn was at thete Void domain, and well-versed in wood power.

    Her wood domain had a light greenke inside of it, with blooming lotuses floating on the glistening water, and a small piece ofnd at the center.

    Translucent, sparkling bamboo could be seen on the central ind, all of them exuding a pure, refined wood aura.

    All of this added up to a beautiful yet illusory picture, as if it were a unique blend of wood power, Hou Chn¡¯s soul awareness, and her understanding of wood power.

    Every human Qi warrior¡¯s domain was unique. No two domains were exactly the same, not even if they practiced the same type of power.

    Ruan Qingliu¡¯s wood domain contained a dense forest of willows.

    Since she was at the Saint domain, her domain look rather solid.

    In contrast, Hou Chn¡¯s domain looked like a reflection in water. Even so, as it spread towards Froste, its unique power started to have an influence on him.

    Watching her wood domain approach, Froste¡¯s face grew grim as he instantly activated a bloodline talent.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The discarnate soul that formed the skull he stood on suddenly let out sharp soul screeches that only Hou Chn could hear.

    At the same time, the skull flew out and exploded upon reaching Hou Chn¡¯s wood domain, sending out thousands of whizzing discarnate souls that pierced into her wood domain.

    Ripples instantly appeared on the originally quiet and silentke.

    As this happened, numerous emerald green halos rose from theke surface to engage in a close battle against the invading discarnate souls like an army shing with another.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t join the battle. Instead, he summoned the Star Boat to him.

    As it flew to him, he jumped on board, where he observed the battle between Hou Chn and Froste.

    Hou Chn rapidly gained the upper hand.

    As hard as they tried, the discarnate souls split from Froste¡¯s strange skull couldn¡¯t get to the central ind that was filled with green bamboo.

    That small, illusory ind was the foundation of Hou Chn¡¯s power. At this moment, she was standing on it and staring at Froste with a hint of a sneer.

    At the same time, all of the other Void and Saint domain experts had eighth or ninth grade Phantasms as opponents.

    Since the Phantasms outnumbered the humans, and there were quite a few high-grade experts among them, it seemed to Nie Tian that Hou Chn¡¯s side would eventually lose the battle if things didn¡¯t change.

    However, Nie Tian was aware that things would change.

    The reason why Hou Chn, Ruan Qingliu, and the others stayed and fought this battle, while knowing that they were at an overall disadvantage, was because they knew they had helping, which was He Lianxiong and his people.

    Ruan Qingliu had long since sent word to He Lianxiong, exining the situation to him.

    Considering they were all in a limited area around the realm where the Earth Spirit Sect was located, He Lianxiong and his people would be able to find them within a short time.

    All they needed to do was stall the Phantasms for a bit until He Lianxiong and his subordinates arrived. At that time, the tables would turn, and it would be the Phantasms who would want to run.

    FIZZ!

    As thest cluster of Domain-corroding mes was devoured by the orange me spark, Nie Tian, who had a profound soul connection with it, sensed its joy and satisfaction with great rity.

    The me spark floated towards him on its own.

    As soon as Nie Tian sent it a soul message, the me spark flew back into his dantian region and returned to his me power core.

    However, the very moment it entered his me power core, his expression flickered violently, ecstasy filling his eyes.

    He waspletely certain that, if he wanted to, he would be able to break the barrier that stood between him and the Soul realm right away!

    ¡°What the...? The shackle that¡¯s been preventing me from entering the Soul realm actually lies with the me spark?

    ¡°Now that it has consumed arge amount of Domain-corroding mes, changes have been triggered, allowing me to finally make my breakthrough?¡±

    Nie Tian was thrilled to know that he would be able to break through into the Soul realm any time he wanted now.

    However, given the current situation, it might not be a good thing for him to make the breakthrough right away. There were simply far too many uncertainties and potential dangers.

    Therefore, he decided to hold his breakthrough for the time being.

    The Fiend had set his eyes on Nie Tian since the battle had broken out. At this moment, he found an opportunity to slide through the other human experts, and came for Nie Tian. ¡°You destroyed all of my Domain-corroding mes. I¡¯m gonna kill you!¡±

    But first, his dark-green flesh aura that reeked with a foul smell spread towards Nie Tian with an overwhelming momentum like the sea.

    A chuckle escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you think you can kill me. Your Domain-corroding mes might be worth mentioning, but you, an eighth grade Fiend, certainly are not.¡±

    Before his flesh aura could reach the Star Boat¡¯s protective ward, Nie Tian took his time to take out the Star Behemoth bone.

    Knowing that battles would be inevitable, he had retrieved it from the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom beforeing on this trip.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    As Nie Tian made a casual fling, the Star Behemoth bone shot forth like a bolt of lightning.

    Raging flesh power burst forth from within the bone as it morphed into a stream of glorious light that pierced directly into the Fiend¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    Fiends¡¯ flesh auras usually contained all kinds of toxins that had a strong corroding effect on living beings and spiritual tools.

    However, the Star Behemoth bone didn¡¯t seem affected at all after entering the sea of flesh aura.

    Instead, a miserable scream echoed out from the depths of the sea of flesh aura in the next moment.

    The sea of dark-green flesh aura fell apart like a curtain that was torn to pieces, revealing the eighth grade Fiend, whose heart had already been pierced through by the bone.

    As the sea of flesh aura rapidly scattered and vanished, Nie Tian shook his head disdainfully and cast out the Spirit Pearl.

    The Spirit Pearl arrived in a sh, pinning the eighth grade Fiend¡¯s discarnate soul down in the starry river. No matter how hard it struggled, it couldn¡¯t fight the mysterious force unleashed by the Spirit Pearl.

    Then, under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the Fiend¡¯s discarnate soul scattered into green wisps that fused into the pearl.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian flew through the dissipating sea of flesh aura on his Star Boat to collect and put the Fiend¡¯s corpse away in his ring of holding.

    d in the me Dragon Armor, he lifted one hand, and the Star Behemoth bone whizzed back into his hand.

    Spirited and full of vigor, Nie Tian steered the Star Boat holding the bone in one hand and the Spirit Pearl in the other. ¡°Eighth grade outsiders can¡¯t pose a threat to me anymore. I can kill them without breaking a sweat.¡±

    With a low chuckle, he flew to the area where Yue Yanxi was fighting an eighth grade Phantasm.

    Upon arriving, he repeated his move, and the Star Behemoth bone shot into the Phantasm¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

 Chapter 1059: An Illusory Nether River

    The eighth grade Phantasm was caught up in a fierce fight against Yue Yanxi, and didn¡¯t even realize that Nie Tian¡¯s move had killed that eighth grade Fiend.

    His sea of flesh aura was mixed with wisps of discarnate souls, which were now whizzing about, shing with mes that shot out of Yue Yanxi¡¯s fire domain.

    The intangible discarnate souls seemed to be immune to fire, as they gained ground on Yue Yanxi¡¯s domain bit by bit.

    He noticed Nie Tian arriving on the Star Boat, but chose to ignore him.

    ¡°This one is only at the Profound realm...¡± The eighth grade Phantasm muttered, not believing that Nie Tian¡¯s arrival would have any influence on his battle against Yue Yanxi.

    Only at the moment the Star Behemoth bone made contact with his flesh aura sea did he gasp with astonishment.

    An immense, ancient bloodline aura that was far stronger than his was unleashed from within the bone.

    The thousands of discarnate souls in his sea of flesh aura instinctively trembled with fear.

    A memory that was branded in the depths of his bloodline was suddenly awakened.

    Fear overtook him.

    Such fear wasn¡¯t inspired by Nie Tian, but the bone!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Numerous discarnate souls in his sea of flesh aura, which he had refined with his Blood Essence, exploded and scattered like smoke.

    Only the aura released by the bone alone caused numerous discarnate souls to die in a sh.

    He hastily turned around to escape at the fastest speed possible.

    However, now that the bone with an unknown origin had locked onto him, no matter how he changed direction, he couldn¡¯t lose it.

    He looked back from time to time, and the bone becamerger andrger in his sight.

    Soon, he had a feeling that the entire world was filled up by the bone, and he had no ce to hide.

    He wailed in despair.

    POOPH!

    The bone went through his heart, causing his sea of flesh aura to scatter and vanish.

    As that happened, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly lit up. It tore his flesh open and separated itself from his brow in an attempt to escape.

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl whizzed over.

    His distinct soul shadow appeared in the prismatic crystal for a brief moment before suddenly growing distorted.

    CRACK!

    The crystal shattered, exposing the painfully-twisting discarnate soul inside.

    As the Spirit Pearl swooped over, the Phantasm¡¯s soul vanished into it, leaving no trace behind.

    Then, the Star Boat flew over. As Nie Tian grabbed the Star Behemoth bone with his empty hand, the ring of holding on his finger lit up, taking the Phantasm¡¯s corpse in.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Great, ate eighth grade outsider corpse...¡±

    Then, he turned to Yue Yanxi with a rxed expression. ¡°Alright, you may go help the others. Leave all of the eighth grade ones to me.¡±

    Looking rather embarrassed, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°The battle between ussted quite a while. Then, you showed up and killed him in a second... I¡¯ve never seen a Profound realm cultivator kill eighth grade Phantasms with such ease.¡±

    Mixed emotions rose in his heart.

    He remembered back when he had first learned through the Lei n that Nie Tian had passed the Heaven Gate trial and gained the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacies. He couldn¡¯t help but congratte himself for the wise decision he had made.

    ¡°Fortunately, I didn¡¯t let my ambitions get the best of me after learning that he had gained the legacies. If I hadn¡¯t done everything within my power to cultivate my rtionship with him back then, the Divine me Sect and all of the other sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries wouldn¡¯t have seen the prosperity there is today. It¡¯s only been a couple decades, and he can already kill outsiders I have trouble killing?

    ¡°If he¡¯s given time to grow...¡±

    With these thoughts, he smiled and flew off towards Jing Feiyang, who was fighting Phantasms in a ce not far away.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian changed directions to fly towards Jiang Feng.

    Momentster, Jiang Feng¡¯s opponent, who was also an eighth grade Phantasm, was pierced through and killed by the Star Behemoth bone as well, relieving Jiang Feng from his battle.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s existence finally caught the attention of the ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarchs.

    An early ninth grade grand patriarch was at an advantage in his battle against an early Saint domain subordinate of Hou Chn.

    He quietly observed Nie Tian for a while before his face grew grim, and he saw Nie Tian approaching another eighth grade member of his group. ¡°He¡¯s already killed two of our eighth grade members without much effort. That bone of his seems to be quite sharp. From the look of it, none of the other eighth grade members will be able to stop him either.¡±

    ¡°Young monarch!¡± He eximed softly.

    Froste was still in the middle of a heated battle against Hou Chn, and didn¡¯t have the energy to observe Nie Tian¡¯s actions.

    Hou Chn, however, had been paying close attention to every move Nie Tian made.

    Upon hearing his n member¡¯s call, Froste immediatelymunicated with him through soul messages.

    In the next moment, he suddenly extracted himself from his battle against Hou Chn.

    Even though the discarnate souls from his split skull were still attacking Hou Chn¡¯s wood domain, he flew towards Nie Tian himself, d in a suit of heavy battle armor.

    Hou Chnughed coldly. ¡°Wanna escape?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re fighting me now,¡± The early ninth grade Phantasm said, enveloping his current opponent and Hou Chn in his sea of flesh aura simultaneously. Only then did Hou Chn realize that Froste had left to deal with Nie Tian.

    Eye narrowed, she watched him fly away, and muttered to herself, ¡°You¡¯re a descendant of Grand Monarch Nether River, but so what? Nie Tian killed those eighth grade Phantasms with a single strike. You think you¡¯ll be able to cause him trouble?¡±

    She shook her head with a disapproving expression.

    Afterwards, she focused her attention on her new opponent.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Froste eximed as mysterious veins that looked like meridians appeared on his peculiar battle armor one after another.

    As this happened, intense Phantasm Qi burst forth from within the battle armor, immediately enhancing Froste¡¯s flesh aura several times over.

    The rolling Phantasm Qi gradually condensed into a vast river, which was as illusory as the contents of Void domain human cultivators¡¯ domains. Millions of souls of all sorts of beings could be seen floating within it.

    Nie Tian, who was just about to find his next victim, suddenly saw Froste dashing towards him.

    Shock filled his eyes as he saw the peculiar river transformed from Phantasm Qi. Soon, he started to feel light-headed.

    ¡°Is that the Nether River...?¡± His expression flickered as he held out the Spirit Pearl and attempted to use its power to defend against the Nether River¡¯s soul-infiltrating influence.

    The Spirit Pearl was a unique treasure of the Phantasms, which had manifested a strong suppressing effect on Froste during theirst encounter.

    However, it didn¡¯t seem to be able to negate any of the Nether River¡¯s influence this time. A mere nce at the Nether River made him feel very ufortable.

    As Froste approached him, the suffocating soul-piercing influence grew stronger and stronger.

    ¡°Froste is a descendant of Grand Monarch Nether River, and carries his mighty bloodline. He formed that river by activating his bloodline power. Even though it¡¯s not the real Nether River, it carries its profound wonders. I suppose the Nether River is the most profound wonder of Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s bloodline. Even the Spirit Pearl can¡¯t suppress it.

    ¡°At least, not yet.¡±

    After a briefmunication with the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian realized that both it and the five evil spirits inside of it were rather fearful and nervous, even though that Nether River was merely an illusory river.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had been refined from the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm. Nie Tian had reforged it and branded it with a wisp of his soul essence.

    However, it still had an innate reverence towards the Nether River, which represented the Chief of the Phantasm race. That reverence had been branded in the deepest part of its soul, and couldn¡¯t be eliminated.

    ¡°It seems that I can¡¯t count on this Phantasm tool this time.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, and started to go through the soul magics recorded in the second fragmentary star mark, preparing to go all-out in the uing battle.

 Chapter 1060: Soul Ferry Battle Armor

    The illusory Nether River floated over Froste¡¯s head, with countless evil spirits swarming within it.

    As soon as the Nether River appeared, all of the Phantasms in its surroundings seemed to have their battle prowess amplified. Their various bloodline magics and the discarnate souls they released all became much more powerful.

    BOOM!

    The domain of an early Saint domain subordinate of Hou Chn¡¯s, who was well-versed in wood power, suddenly exploded.

    Cyan Phantasm flesh aura immediately engulfed the man, along with a terrifying, soul-suffocating aura.

    The sea of flesh aura rapidly morphed into a monster that caught the early Saint domain expert¡¯s fleeing soul and tore it into wisps of gray smoke.

    The humans lost their first Saint domain expert.

    All of the Phantasms let out sinister, madughs.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that illusory Nether River can actually enhance Phantasms¡¯ battle prowess and make their discarnate souls even stronger and fiercer!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know that the Nether River wasn¡¯t created or named after Grand Monarch Nether River.

    Instead, it had been the Phantasm¡¯s birthce since ancient times.

    It was said that all Phantasms were born from the Nether River, and their souls would return to it after their deaths. The wonders of the Nether River would reincarnate them.

    However, tens of millions of years had passed before a Phantasm expert could gain a deep understanding of its wonders.

    The Phantasms viewed the Nether River as their mother river, and their most mysterious birthce.

    All of this had changed after Grand Monarch Nether River hade along.

    Grand Monarch Nether River was the first Phantasm expert to master the Nether River¡¯s wondrous use, draw power from it, and use it to strengthen his bloodline.

    The fact that he had been able to break through into the tenth grade, join the ranks of powerful grand monarchs, and be the Chief of the whole Phantasm race was all thanks to the enlightenment he had derived from the Nether River.

    He had given up his original name and referred to himself as Grand Monarch Nether River since the day he had entered the tenth grade.

    There had been quite a few powerful grand monarchs throughout Phantasm history. However, Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s strength and reputation had exceeded many from the previous generations.

    In fact, the entire Phantasm world agreed that Grand Monarch Nether River was definitely one of the three mightiest grand monarchs their race had ever seen.

    Meanwhile, this grand monarch was still leading the Phantasm race forward. Considering Phantasms¡¯ exceptionally long lifespans, he was still in the prime of his life.

    This meant that Grand Monarch Nether River might be even stronger in the future.

    Perhaps he would be the most powerful grand monarch throughout Phantasm history, and be a god that future generations would worship.

    As his direct descendant, Froste carried his bloodline, which had been branded with his profound understanding of the Nether River.

    It was just that he had only been at the sixth grade when Nie Tian had first met him in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Back then, he hadn¡¯t awakened his most essential and wondrous bloodline talent yet, and was therefore unable to unleash this Nether River.

    Only until recently had he broken through into the seventh grade and awakened Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s core bloodline talent. With the help of the mysterious battle armor his father had given him, he had finally been able to blend his bloodline power and the power of the battle armor to unleash that illusory Nether River.

    To forge that suit of armor, Grand Monarch Nether River had gone through great lengths to draw water from the Nether River and fuse it with the wonders of his bloodline, along with hundreds of magical items gathered from across the Phantasm heaven and earth.

    In fact, he had started making that suit of armor since the day Froste had been born.

    That suit of battle armor, which Grand Monarch Nether River had named ¡®Soul Ferry¡¯, had the ability to channel power from the Nether River. However, since Froste hadn¡¯t entered the seventh grade back then, he hadn¡¯t been able to use it.

    Now that he had, he could finally wear and use it freely.

    Froste threw his head back and roared, ¡°Bloodline, Nether River Power, Soul Ferry!¡±

    One drop of Blood Essence after another suddenly flew out of his heart and fused into his unique suit of armor.

    Numerous cyan veins and patterns that had been carved into its surface were lit up by his Blood Essence. One magical symbol after another rose from them, inside of which discarnate souls could be seen squirming, before flying towards the early Saint domain expert who had just died.

    The mysterious symbols seemed to carry evil power that could manipte the souls of the dead.

    Like chains and ropes, they rapidly bound the dead Saint domain expert¡¯s shredded soul back together.

    WHOOSH!

    The rbined discarnate soul returned to its fleshly body. In the next moment, cyan light burst forth from within the dead Saint domain expert¡¯s hollow, zed eyes.

    Flesh split open at his brow. Blood condensed into a crystal between his eyebrows, which was very simr to the prismatic crystals Phantasms had.

    The only difference was that it wasn¡¯t his own soul shadow that was reflected in the crystal.

    It was Froste¡¯s!

    ¡°Wu Chao!¡± An exmation escaped Ruan Qingliu¡¯s mouth as she watched Wu Chao, who she had known for many years, be killed, resurrected, and now pounce towards Hou Chn.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Many Phantasms in the vicinity released some Phantasm Qi, which converged on Wu Chao.

    As he continued to receive the Phantasm Qi, a gruesome, bleak domain, instead of a wood domain, rapidly formed around him.

    Wu Chao¡¯s pupils shone with a strange light, as if he had already be a puppet.

    Froste¡¯s soul shadow could be seen letting out cunningughs in the blood crystal between his eyebrows, as if to unt the fact that he had reced Wu Chao and be the new owner of this body.

    ¡°Soul Ferry! Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s bloodline wonder!¡± Hou Chn eximed, mourning and grief filling her eyes. She knew that this subordinate of hers had already been turned into something else by the joint effort of Froste¡¯s bloodline power and the Soul Ferry Battle Armor.

    However, she hadn¡¯t expected that this young monarch before her, who was only at the seventh grade, could actually activate Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s Soul Ferry bloodline talent with the help of that peculiar suit of armor.

    It was said that Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s bloodline power allowed him to channel the Nether River. Once he activated Soul Ferry, he would be able to resurrect the dead, vest them with his soul awareness, andmand them to fight for him.

    ¡°Wu Chao is dead... Whatever Froste is now controlling is no longer a subordinate of mine, but a ruthless enemy.¡± Hou Chn told herself over and over, fearing that she would hesitate about killing him and end up being killed.

    ¡°Divine bamboo...¡± As she muttered inwardly, the green bamboo that filled the ind at the center of her wood domain instantly underwent glorious changes.

    The green bamboo rapidly grew out from the depths of her domain, emanating a curious light and intoxicating power as they did.

    As this happened, Wu Chao and the Phantasm Hou Chn had been fighting suddenly felt as if they were lost in an overgrown bamboo forest. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t capture Hou Chn¡¯s aura.

    The ninth grade Phantasm, who hadmunicated with Froste in secret, couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°The Divine Daughter of the wood element sect is indeed beyond ordinary.¡±

    Even as he and Wu Chao sent their power into Hou Chn¡¯s wood domain together, their power was rapidly lost in the depths of the bamboo forest, failing to locate Hou Chn.

    Nie Tian was also deeply impressed by this.

    He had long since realized that each and every core disciple of the four great sects was far beyond ordinary, and had the ability to kill opponents with higher cultivation bases.

    Hou Chn was only at thete Void domain, yet she remained unscathed facing a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch and a Saint domain subordinate who had been reduced to a puppet of Froste¡¯s.

    Frosteughed derisively and shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you really thought you were our primary target, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re far weaker than the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect. I only came to fight you because I couldn¡¯t fully disy my power when facing her. Only by fighting someone as weak as you would I be able to unleash the Nether River and cast Soul Ferry.

    ¡°The meaning of my existence is to strengthen my people, and also, every time you suffer a casualty, I¡¯ll be able to turn him into my puppet with Soul Ferry.

    ¡°One minus on your side will be one plus for our side. The pressure on you will soon multiply.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have any chance at winning this battle. You don¡¯t think I¡¯d dared to celebrate me entering the seventh grade bying to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin to kill the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect without being fully prepared, do you?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he subconsciously nced around in a subtle manner.

    Froste smiled coldly. ¡°You and the others seem to be waiting for something, right? Is He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion what you¡¯re waiting for?¡±

    Nie Tian was astonished.

    The smile on Froste¡¯s face became increasingly wide and sinister. ¡°Forget about it. I doubt that he can even save himself, much lesse to your aid. Don¡¯t tell me that you think Qiu Hanshan is the only one in the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin who had secret connections with us. Let me tell you this: I learned about it as soon as He Lianxiong set foot in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin!¡±

 Chapter 1061: Unraveling from Within

    He Lianxiong hadn¡¯t made a good impression on Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian was rather troubled as he learned from Froste that He Lianxiong was also caught up in a perilous situation.

    The reason why Hou Chn and her subordinate had dared to stay and fight this battle was because they had the prospect of He Lianxiong arriving soon.

    If He Lianxiong wasn¡¯ting, their one and only hope would be gone.

    Froste said those words in a rather low voice. Neither Hou Chn nor her subordinates seemed to have heard them.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian let cried out loud in an attempt to rm the others.

    However, his roar seemed to be sealed byyers of invisible force, and failed to spread to any of the human experts.

    His expression instantly grew grim.

    He suddenly realized that Froste¡¯s words just now had only been meant for him to hear.

    ¡°Stop wasting your strength,¡± Froste said with aposed smile. ¡°You know what? We¡¯ve fought humans for many years. Facing your strong rise, we thought up plenty of ways to deal with you. Thest war that swept across almost every race in this starry river ended in our defeat, and heavy losses.

    ¡°Now, many years have passed. After many meetings among our grand monarchs, we finally found an effective way to weaken you.

    ¡°We¡¯ve decided to use your nature against you. The method we¡¯ve adopted is to unravel you from within.

    ¡°To make this strategy work, we¡¯ve made secret arrangements for many years. And now, we¡¯re finally seeing some results!¡±

    Frosteughed heartily.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Unravel us from within?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Froste said, seeming to enjoy this talk very much. ¡°I¡¯m not only talking about sects like the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect, which you four great sects consider crooked sects. But more of them are sects like the Earth Spirit Sect, which are discontent with the four great sects¡¯ governance. We¡¯ve long since established connections with them by satisfying their greedy needs.

    ¡°They¡¯ve all be our eyes, allowing us to learn many of your moves beforehand.

    ¡°And you don¡¯t even know those people exist!

    ¡°Qiu Hanshan from the Earth Spirit Sect is merely one of our many chess pieces in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. Thanks to them, we learned that He Lianxiong was joining this mission of yours as well. So we prepared avish gift for him too.

    ¡°Now, as we speak, He Lianxiong is going through the same thing you are. I even doubt that he¡¯ll be able to save himself, let alonee to your aid.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed with a grim face after hearing Froste¡¯s words.

    He realized that he and Hou Chn couldn¡¯t count on He Lianxiong to win this battle anymore.

    BOOM!

    At this moment, the domain of another Saint domain subordinate of Hou Chn¡¯s exploded.

    Countless discarnate souls swarmed in his shattered domain. With a faint smile, Froste activated his bloodline power and disyed the wonders of his Soul Ferry Battle Armor once again. His Blood Essence condensed into numerous brand new magical symbols on the suit of armor, which then dashed towards the Saint domain expert¡¯s dissipating discarnate soul.

    The man¡¯s discarnate soul was chained back together by the peculiar magical symbols and returned to his body.

    Blood was shed, and congealed into a red crystal between the man¡¯s eyebrows.

    Froste¡¯s soul shadow gradually came to form in the depths of it.

    Frosteughed increasingly heartily as he said, ¡°See? This is the core power of my father¡¯s bloodline! As long as I¡¯m here, every casualty on your side will be one more puppet at my disposal! And the ninth grade grand patriarchs¡¯ discarnate souls have be several times mightier under the influence of my Nether River!

    ¡°I¡¯m enhancing their battle prowess and determining the course of this battle!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Instead of attacking other humans, the Saint domain Froste had just turned with Soul Ferry flew to his side.

    The man was also at the early Saint domain, and well-versed in frost power. His domain had been a world of sparkling ice, but now that it was infiltrated by intense Phantasm Qi, it had taken on a shade of gruesome cyan.

    He floated in front of Froste, his cold, hollow eyes fixed on Nie Tian. Froste¡¯s soul shadow in the blood crystal between his eyebrows grinned sinisterly.

    Froste¡¯s voice then came out of the man¡¯s mouth and Froste¡¯s true form at the same time.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the reason why I¡¯ve wasted so much breath talking is because it¡¯s actually very consuming to release and maintain the Nether River. And I consumed a significant amount of Blood Essence and soul power to cast Soul Ferry, so I couldn¡¯t spare more power to fight you.

    ¡°But now, things have changed.

    ¡°He¡¯s your opponent now! I can¡¯t wait to see whether you can kill him, a Saint domain expert, the same way you killed eighth grade members of my n.¡±

    With a casual swing of his hand, Froste issued an order with his bloodline power.

    The early Saint domain master of frost power instantly charged towards Nie Tian.

    With the Nether River floating before him, Nie Tian felt that all of his soul magics were somehow suppressed.

    Even the Spirit Pearl couldn¡¯t help him to resist such influences.

    Watching the early Saint domain expert whizzing towards him enveloped in his frost domain, the only thing Nie Tian could think of was the Star Behemoth bone.

    SHEW!

    Like a streak of bright light, the bone shot out of his hand towards the man¡¯s frigid domain that was filled with a cyan mist.

    All Saint domain experts¡¯ domains looked tangible and real. The frigid cyan mist in the man¡¯s frigid domain congealed into arge block of cyan ice that exuded a bone-piercing frigid aura.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    The Star Behemoth bone ignited the bloodline power within it as it pierced into the cyan ice cube.

    The ice cube then exploded violently, filling its surroundings with ice shards that looked like swords, and icy light that looked like a waterfall. However, all of them came after Nie Tian, as if they were still under Froste¡¯s control.

    BOOOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s inner flesh aura was ignited, along with the me power in his me power core.

    The me Dragon Armor instantly filled its surroundings with a sea of mes. The ice shards and icy light were vaporized by the zing me power as soon as they entered it.

    CRACK!

    After shattering the ice cube, the Star Behemoth bone continued to shoot towards the early Saint domain man.

    A sneer appeared on the face of Froste¡¯s soul shadow within the blood crystal at his brow. ¡°Very impressive. It seems to me that both your cultivation base and strength have progressed significantly after our encounter in the Shatter Battlefield. And that bone is also exceptional, since it can even pierce through the frigid domain of a Saint domain human. Unfortunately, that¡¯s still not enough!

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Dark Soul Ward!¡±

    One drop of blood after another flew out of Froste into the Saint domain expert¡¯s frigid domain that had been shattered and bound back together.

    The misty, cyan Phantasm Qi within the domain seemed to be activated and vested endless power by the Blood Essence.

    At the same time, a stream separated itself from the Nether River that was floating over him and poured into the man¡¯s domain, forming a ward that would trap all souls and spirits.

    As soon as the ward formed, the flesh aura connection between Nie Tian and the bone became unstable.

    ¡°Get the hell out of here!¡± Froste let out a nastyugh as the Saint domain expert¡¯s residual soul power condensed into a giant hand in the depths of the Dark Soul Ward.

    Illusory and wreathed in rolling Phantasm Qi, the giant hand exuded a strong soul-binding power.

    The giant hand reached out of the ward to grab Nie Tian.

    Influence from the hand instantly gave rise to high waves in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness. His true soul seemed to be bound by some invisible force, and was being slowly pulled out of his sea of awareness.

    ¡°Soul Capturing Hand!¡±

    Nie Tian, who had fought Armes and Abreu, a pair of Phantasm brothers, on the floating continent, identified the bloodline magic as soon as the giant hand came grabbing at him.

    However, since Armes and Abreu¡¯s Soul Capturing Hand didn¡¯t contain power from the Nether River, they had disyed limited might when they had cast it.

    However, this time, as Froste cast it, a strong sense of crisis rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    One star soul after another instantly lit up in his sea of awareness, and started to shine with dazzling starlight.

    ¡°Starchains!¡± He continued to tap into his star souls¡¯ power as he attempted to bind his true soul with Starchains and stop Froste from pulling it away.

    At the same time, he eximed with Froste¡¯s reflection in the depths of his eyes, ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Shackle!¡±

    Three drops of Blood Essence immediately started to seethe, unleashing this brand new bloodline talent he had awakened upon entering the seventh grade.

    As this happened, a sea of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura rapidly spread towards Froste.

    The intense flesh aura generated by Nie Tian¡¯s seething Blood Essence actually went through the Dark Soul Ward effortlessly, and continued to spread towards Froste.

    In order to let Life Shackle fully disy its might, the target¡¯s bloodline needed to be at the same grade or lower than the caster¡¯s.

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline happened to be at the seventh grade, which was the same as Froste¡¯s.

    Life Shackle instantly worked its wonders!

    Froste¡¯s soul shadow within the blood crystal between the eyebrows of the Saint domain expert, who Froste had made a puppet with Soul Ferry, suddenly grew faint.

    Even the illusory Nether River over Froste¡¯s head grew blurry.

    bbergasted by the changes, Froste only felt that his flesh body was somehow locked down, along with every drop of his Blood Essence.

 Chapter 1062: Turning the Situation Around

    Froste¡¯s face turned pale with astonishment.

    At this moment, he felt as if his flesh aura had been infused with gold dust, and his Blood Essence had clotted and be stagnant.

    Not only did he need soul power, but Blood Essence as well, to maintain the Nether River and Soul Ferry.

    Now that his Blood Essence had clotted, the Nether River rapidly vanished, and he could no longer maintain Soul Ferry.

    The early Saint domain master of frost power that had been influenced by Soul Ferry instantly lost connection with him.

    As the magical symbols that had bound the man¡¯s shredded soul together vanished, the discarnate soul rapidly dissipated into heaven and earth, as thew of nature meant it.

    At the same time, the man¡¯s domain that was filled with solid ice also shattered, and the man died beyond salvation.

    The same happened to the other human puppet.

    It was the man who was searching for Hou Chn in her green bamboo illusion, along with a Phantasm grand patriarch.

    As soon as Soul Ferry gave out, the man¡¯s wood domain copsed and dissipated.

    Hou Chn seemed to notice the change, as the green bamboo suddenly started to grow madly in the Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    While the Phantasm grand patriarch was confused by the sudden change, a green bamboo shot out of Hou Chn¡¯s dantian region, piercing through his sea of flesh aura directly towards his heart.

    As Hou Chn fully ignited her inner power, the green bamboo unleashed immense might, giving rise to a dazzling divine light.

    Wherever the light shone, the Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s sea of flesh aura dissipated.

    The shadows of the bamboo rapidly enveloped the Phantasm grand patriarch, forcing him to let out panicked cries.

    ¡°Young monarch! Your Soul Ferry...¡± He couldn¡¯t help but question Froste.

    However, Froste didn¡¯t have time to answer him at this moment because Nie Tian had already activated his Life Strengthening form and charged towards him on the Star Boat.

    At this point, the Star Behemoth bone had already returned to Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Go!¡± Fusing it with his bloodline power, Nie Tian cast it towards Froste once again.

    CLANK!

    The Star Behemoth bone mmed into Froste¡¯s battle armor. The mysterious power Grand Monarch Nether River had fused into it instantly burst forth.

    The battle armor blossomed with blinding light as countless discarnate souls shrieked and perished.

    One crack after another appeared on the battle armor, which Grand Monarch Nether River had started forging the day Froste had been born.

    Even so, it stopped the Star Behemoth bone from piercing through him.

    This made Froste the first target the bone had failed to kill with a single strike.

    While the bone¡¯s power was negated by the battle armor, the armor itself consumed a significant amount of the power Grand Monarch Nether River had vested into it.

    A spectral shape suddenly appeared on the surface of the battle armor, exuding an iparably strong soul aura that seemed to be able to control the souls of all races.

    WHOOSH!

    As that happened, the battle armor seemed to gain its own awareness, and dragged Froste out of the battlefield at lightning speed.

    Froste red at Nie Tian as he was dragged farther and farther away from him. No matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t resist the mysterious force that was dragging him away.

    Now that the Nether River had disappeared, there was nothing to suppress the Spirit Pearl anymore.

    He could only let his battle armor carry him in search of the teleportation portal that connected to the Phantasm heaven and earth.

    The changes happened so quickly that no one had expected them.

    Nie Tian snapped out of his daze and summoned the Star Behemoth bone back to him. Clutching it, he realized that Froste had already vanished from his view.

    The mysterious power that had protected and carried Froste away belonged to Grand Monarch Nether River. The speed at which it carried Froste away was several times higher than the Star Boat¡¯s speed limit.

    Soon, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t sense even the faintest aura of Froste anymore.

    Meanwhile, Hou Chn and the other human experts felt that their respective Phantasm opponents had suddenly grown significantly weaker.

    This allowed them to spare some attention to examine the current situation.

    That was when they noticed that the Phantasm young monarch had somehow vanished from the battlefield, and that their two fellow cultivators, who had been killed and turned into puppets, had perished for good.

    One of the Phantasms noticed the change in the situation, and thus called out in the Phantasms¡¯nguage, ¡°The young monarch has returned to our heaven and earth!¡±

    Even though Froste¡¯s bloodline was far lower than theirs, his Nether River and Soul Ferry had greatly enhanced their strength, and given them a strong sense of confidence.

    While the Nether River had raised their battle prowess and their discarnate souls¡¯ strength to whole new levels, Soul Ferry had allowed Froste to turn dead human experts into their battle force.

    Froste¡¯s existence had been the reason why they had dared to set Hou Chn up in the first ce.

    Now, with Froste gone, their originally considerable advantage in battle was gone as well.

    Of course, since they still outnumbered the human experts, they were still at a slight advantage.

    However, it was no longer possible for them to finish off the human experts without suffering casualties.

    It would be even more so if the humans attempted to escape.

    ¡°Our young monarch¡¯s safety is of paramount importance!¡± Another Phantasm grand patriarch called out in the Phantasms¡¯nguage.

    His words seemed to serve as a call to retreat. The other Phantasms exchanged looks, and saw the retreating will in each other¡¯s eyes. Then, all of them gradually gathered to the same spot.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One sea of flesh aura after another rapidly condensed into streaks of cyan light that shot out in the direction Froste had left in.

    They still had quite a few eighth grade members with them. Even though the eighth grade ones were clearly slower than the grand patriarchs, the grand patriarchs slowed down intentionally, so that everyone could leave at the same pace.

    ¡°Divine Daughter! Do we go after them?¡± Ruan Qingliu asked aloud.

    Hou Chn seemed hesitant.

    At this moment, Nie Tian approached her on his Star Boat. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should. They¡¯re still stronger than we are. Even if we catch up to them, what can we do?¡±

    ¡°But He Lianxiong should be here any moment now,¡± Ruan Qingliu said as she turned to take a look at their two friends¡¯ dissipating domains. Her eyes turned red with fury and grief. ¡°And they killed two of us!¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Are you still hoping that He Lianxiong wille to your aid? It¡¯s hard to say whether he will survive his own troubles. Even if he does, he¡¯ll probably suffer heavier casualties than us. How can you still expect him to help us pursue the Phantasms?¡±

    Hou Chn gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?! What makes you think he¡¯s in trouble?¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°Qiu Hanshan isn¡¯t the only one that has thrown himself into the Phantasms¡¯p. That Phantasm young monarch received word of He Lianxiong¡¯s arrival as soon as he set foot in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.¡±

    Eyes filled with fear and confusion, Hou Chn muttered, ¡°How could this be happening?¡±

    At this moment, Jing Feiyang returned to Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat, along with Yue Yanxi and Jiang Feng, who had sustained serious injuries. Jing Feiyang took a deep look at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°You injured that Phantasm young monarch and forced him to leave, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°It was a shame that his battle armor turned out to be full of wonders, and I failed to kill him on the spot,¡± Nie Tian said calmly.

    Ruan Qingliu stood aghast. ¡°It was you who turned the situation around and forced the Phantasms to leave?!¡±

    Recalling the perilous situation they had just gotten out of, she had to admit that if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t dealt Froste a heavy blow, all of them probably would have died here eventually.

    Nie Tian nced around, and didn¡¯t see the grand patriarch¡¯s remains. Somewhat frustrated, he said, ¡°You lost two Saint domain subordinates, while the Phantasms only lost one early ninth grade grand patriarch and three eighth grade members. It seems that we¡¯ve lost this battle.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Hou Chn said with a bitter face.

    Their deceased friends¡¯ discarnate souls hadpletely dissipated, which meant they had lost the possibility of reincarnation.

    However, the ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s body had been secured. Since his heart hadn¡¯t been destroyed, it was still possible to bring him back to life.

    Considering this, Hou Chn¡¯s team had indeed lost this battle.

    Gazing off in the direction where the Phantasms had disappeared, Hou Chn said in low spirits, ¡°Uncle Lu¡¯s fleshly body perished in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Only a wisp of his soul was secured. It¡¯ll take a very long time for him to reincarnate and recover his strength. And this time, I¡¯ve lost two Saint domain subordinates here. Prosperity is always followed by decline. It seems that we¡¯re starting to lose our advantage in our battle against the outsiders.¡±

    Everyone fell silent, their faces grim.

 Chapter 1063: A Painful Lesson

    In another ce in the starry river that was tens of thousands of kilometers away.

    Eyes red with fury, He Lianxiong looked back repeatedly.

    Numerous clusters of Domain-corroding mes were pursuing him like shadows that showed up wherever he went.

    Behind the whizzing Domain-corroding mes, a Fiend called out from time to time, as if to give orders.

    POOH!

    Boilingva flew out of the long sleeve of ate Saint domain subordinate of He Lianxiong.

    His name was Shen Jing. He had followed He Lianxiong for many years, and was his strongest subordinate.

    As a master of me power, he practiced incantations that were closely rted to earthme.

    For this reason, there was an erupting volcano in the depths of his me domain. It was theva it had provided that had helped He Lianxiong burst through the Fiend¡¯s blockade.

    ¡°I only have two subordinates left. All the others have died at the Fiends¡¯ hands!¡± He Lianxiong howled painfully, fighting his urge to turn around and perish together with the pursuing Fiends.

    However, he understood that, given his current strength, if he stayed and fought the Fiends, the only result would be him dying in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. Even his body might be looted by the Fiends and considered a battle trophy.

    He had never expected that he would be ambushed by a group of powerful Fiends led by the Poisoner on his way to help Hou Chn after receiving Ruan Qingliu¡¯s message.

    Lamson, the Poisoner, was ate ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch.

    Upon encountering them, Lamson had unleashed Domain-corroding mes on his subordinates.

    Everyone¡¯s domain was poisoned by the bizarre mes. Even Shen Jing couldn¡¯t help everyone get rid of the mes under Lamson and the other Fiends¡¯ storm of attacks.

    As a result, his subordinates had suffered heavy casualties.

    He, Shen Jing, and another named Xu Yi, who was a middle Saint domain expert in metal power, were the only ones that had managed to burst through the Fiends¡¯ blockade and escape.

    Even so, Lamson, the Poisoner, pursued them unrelentingly, manipting the Domain-corroding mes.

    ¡°Master!¡± Shen Jing sent him a soul message. ¡°I¡¯m about to run out ofva. You should go join the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect. I¡¯ll buy you as much time as possible.¡±

    Heart burning with anxiety, Xu Yi also urged him through soul messages, ¡°Go, Master!¡±

    He Lianxiong fell silent.

    At this moment, the pursuing Domain-corroding mes suddenly streamed back to Lamson, the Poisoner, and vanished into a green vessel in his palm like baby swallows returning to their nest.

    Then, Lamson raised his hand, ordering something in their ownnguage.

    In the next moment, all of the pursuing Fiends came to a sudden stop and fixed him with confused looks.

    From a few hundred meters behind, Lamson fixed his icy eyes on He Lianxiong for a few seconds before saying in theirnguage, ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡±

    After giving the order, he turned around and left, without giving any exnations.

    His subordinates went nk for a brief moment before leaving reluctantly as well, giving up on pursuing He Lianxiong and his remaining subordinates.

    Enveloped in his me domain, Shen Jing watched the Poisoner leave with his people. Surprised and confused, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s happening? What are they doing? Lamson must be able to tell that I¡¯m about to run out ofva. If they continued to pursue us, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the Domain-corroding mes got all of us. I don¡¯t understand why they chose to leave now.¡±

    Xu Yi was also baffled, floating in his domain that was shining with golden light.

    He Lianxiong let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Fiends are a peculiar people. I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing either.¡±

    RING! RING!

    At that moment, a silver bracelet on He Lianxiong¡¯s wrist gave rise to a series of rapid rings.

    Shen Jing¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Finally... We¡¯re finally in touch with Ruan Qingliu again!¡±

    The silver bracelet was a Sound Bracelet forged by experts of the Void Spirit Society. Its spatial wonders allowed those who held them tomunicate with each other, even if they were traveling in the starry river.

    Since they were very expensive, very few people possessed them, even among the experts from the four great sects.

    Earlier, when He Lianxiong and his people had first started running, he had made repeated attempts to reach Ruan Qingliu via his Sound Bracelet, but failed.

    It was as if there had been some sort of barrier between them, preventing their Sound Bracelets from interacting.

    Only now were they finally able to get their messages through.

    With a finger, He Lianxiong pointed at the silver bracelet, fusing a wisp of his soul awareness into it. A series of expressions shed across his face as he resolved Ruan Qingliu¡¯s message.

    Only after a long while did he withdraw his soul awareness and say, ¡°Chn¡¯s team encountered a group of Phantasms. Young Monarch Froste led the group himself, and they also unleashed the Fiends¡¯ Domain-corroding mes on them.¡±

    Shen Jing gasped with astonishment. ¡°If I remember correctly, none of her subordinates practice me power like I do. They probably don¡¯t have anyva to suppress the Domain-corroding mes. The reason why I haveva with me is because I fought in the Dead Star Sea not long ago, and was worried that we¡¯d run into Fiends.

    ¡°The Divine Daughter of the wood element sect doesn¡¯t seem to have a subordinate like me. Her team must have suffered a great deal from the Domain-corroding mes.

    ¡°How many of them are still alive?¡±

    Xu Yi, who was at the middle Saint domain, chimed in with a ghastly face, ¡°The three of us are the only survivors of our team. I¡¯m afraid they...¡±

    The way Shen Jing and Xu Yi saw it, Hou Chn must have suffered even more casualties facing the Domain-corroding mes in the starry river.

    They were even surprised by the fact that someone had survived and gotten in contact with them.

    ¡°They only lost two early Saint domain members,¡± He Lianxiong said with aplicated expression.

    ¡°Only two?!¡± Xu Yi eximed. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! There¡¯s no way! I took a good look at the Divine Daughter¡¯s force when we arrived. If they actually faced Domain-corroding mes, they must have suffered more casualties than us!¡±

    ¡°Not just that, but they also killed a few eighth grade Phantasms and a ninth grade grand patriarch,¡± He Lianxiong added. ¡°Unbelievable, right?¡±

    Disbelief filled Shen Jing¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°How did they do that?¡±

    ¡°From what Ruan Qingliu told me... the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yed an important role,¡± He Lianxiong said with a hint of bitterness at the corner of his mouth. He clearly didn¡¯t want to believe this either.

    Their team had been stronger, and they had Shen Jing, an expert who could suppress the Domain-corroding mes withva, on their team. However, only the three of them had survived, and they had failed to kill any Fiends.

    They had been at an absolute disadvantage since the moment they had encountered their enemy. They hadn¡¯t been able tounch any effective counterattacks.

    However, Hou Chn¡¯s team had not only suffered fewer casualties, but they had even killed a grand monarch. This was a bit hard for them to ept.

    ¡°Nie Tian!!¡± Shen Jing and Xu Yi eximed simultaneously, their eyes filled with suspicion.

    ¡°You must find it hard to believe. I do too.¡± With these words, He Lianxiong sighed and waved his hand. ¡°Anyways, let¡¯s go meet them first. They¡¯re not far away.¡±

    The three of them then moved out ording to the directions they received via the silver bracelet.

    ...

    Ruan Qingliu removed her finger from her silver bracelet, and said to the team with a heavy tone, ¡°Nie Tian was right. He Lianxiong and his men were ambushed by a group of Fiends led by Lamson, the Poisoner. He Lianxiong, Shen Jing, and Xu Yi are the only ones who have survived.¡±

    Saddened by the news, Hou Chn said, ¡°We got He Lianxiong into this trouble.¡±

    ¡°I guess we did,¡± Ruan Qingliu chimed in, sagging her head. ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I shouldn¡¯t have gone to find him and ask him to join us in this operation in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.¡±

    Standing on his Star Boat, Nie Tian remained silent.

    With Lu Jiefeng¡¯s fleshly body destroyed and numerous Void and Saint domain experts annihted, the humans had lost the battle of the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    This battle in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin also ended in humanity¡¯s defeat, with He Lianxiong suffering heavy losses. More than half of the force he had umted over the past centuries had been wiped out.

    Hou Chn had also lost two early Saint domain subordinates.

    ¡°If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t injured Froste and forced him to leave the battlefield, we...¡± The thought of what might have happened sent a chill down Ruan Qingliu¡¯s spine. ¡°Nie Tian, thanks to you, we didn¡¯t suffer too heavy losses. You¡¯ve helped our sect preserve our strength once again.¡±

    Nie Tian waved his hand. ¡°Now is not the time to thank me. I think it¡¯s no longer necessary to search for that teleportation portal. Let¡¯s figure out a way to find and execute the traitors first.¡±

    These words filled Hou Chn¡¯s eyes with intense killing intent.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    At this moment, He Lianxiong, Shen Jing, and Xu Yi finally showed up in their sight, looking down and weak.

 Chapter 1064: Losing Heart

    In a ce that was wreathed in misty, cyan Phantasm Qi, a group of Phantasms were gathered around an activated teleportation portal.

    They were none other than the same ones that had attacked Nie Tian and Hou Chn¡¯s team earlier.

    ¡°Where is Froste?!¡± Lamson¡¯s angry roar echoed out as his surging sea of flesh aura that contained countless toxins spread over.

    Gett, a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch, hastily said with a frown, ¡°Please don¡¯t be angry, Lord Lamson. Our young monarch was taken back to our domain.¡±

    ¡°What killed that member of my n?¡± Lamson asked with a grim face. ¡°Why aren¡¯t there any of his Domain-corroding mes left? You had Froste there to amplify your power, and the Domain-corroding mes to weaken the humans. Yet you failed to kill the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect. What a bunch of losers!

    ¡°If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have agreed toe to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin in the first ce!¡±

    The Fiends behind him also glowered at Gett.

    The eighth grade Fiend who Nie Tian had killed had been an important member of their n. Now that he had died in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, they would have to atone for their failure to protect him to an elder of their n after their return.

    Knowing that they were in the wrong, Gett apologized repeatedly. ¡°Sorry, we didn¡¯t expect the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to be capable of not only suppressing the Domain-corroding mes, but refining them too. Even our young monarch was seriously injured by him, and had to leave the battlefield early with the help of the Soul Ferry Battle Armor.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Lamson eximed. ¡°Some human can refine the Domain-corroding mes? Are you sure you¡¯re not talking about melting them withva?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯mpletely certain,¡± Gett replied with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    Still skeptical, Lamson said, ¡°Everything in this world has things that enhance and inhibit them. We¡¯ve long since learned thatva can melt our Domain-corroding mes. But to this day, I haven¡¯t heard of anything or anyone that has the ability to refine them! You¡¯re not using this as an excuse for your failure, are you?¡±

    ¡°You can see for yourself,¡± Gett said.

    A series of images suddenly appeared in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, which were his memories visualized by his condensed flesh aura.

    Soon, the scenes of Nie Tian refining the Domain-corroding mes with the orange me spark were disyed without leaving any details out.

    Lamson and the other Fiends stared nkly into the crystal for a long while without making a sound.

    SHEW!

    The images vanished. Gett withdrew his flesh aura, spread his hands slightly and said with a bitter face, ¡°Do you believe me now?¡±

    Lamson was astounded. ¡°There... There really is a human that can refine our Domain-corroding mes with a strange me spark... And if I¡¯m not mistaken, that human seems to only be at the Profound realm, right?¡±

    Gett nodded. ¡°How can someone as powerful as you be mistaken?¡±

    Confused, Lamson said, ¡°The Profound realm! How was he even able to travel in the starry river? Don¡¯t humans have to be at the Void domain or higher to be able to fend off the impurities in the starry river with their domains? Human bodies are too weak to handle the impurities directly, aren¡¯t they?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a hybrid,¡± Gett exined.

    ¡°A hybrid? What grade is his bloodline at? And what race does his bloodline belong to?¡± Lamson asked, eager to know the answers.

    Gett took a deep breath and answered, ¡°ording to our young monarch, his bloodline is at the seventh grade. As for the source of his bloodline... our young monarch didn¡¯t know that either. He only said that his bloodline is very special and full of wonders. It seems to carry the profound truths of life. He unleashed a strange bloodline magic which suppressed our young monarch to the point where he couldn¡¯t even circte his flesh aura and the Blood Essence within him.

    ¡°Besides that, he has a bone, which seems to have been taken from a Star Behemoth.¡±

    Lamson gasped with astonishment. ¡°His bloodline carries the profound truths of life?! And he has a Star Behemoth bone? What background did this seventh Son of the Starse from?¡±

    Gett shook his head. ¡°We don¡¯t know much about his background either. Our young monarch only told us that one of our people¡¯s Spirit Pearls has somehow ended up in his hands, and he has vested it with a soul and be its acknowledged master.¡±

    Disbelief and confusion filled Lamson¡¯s face as he said, ¡°What?! He can actually use that unique treasure of your race? Don¡¯t tell me that guy is the descendant of one of your deceased grand monarchs and some female human.¡±

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s possible?¡± Gett asked rhetorically.

    Lamson pondered in silence for a few seconds before realizing that his spection was wild andughable. ¡°It¡¯s even hard for grand monarchs to reproduce with powerful experts of their own race. It¡¯s indeed impossible for feeble humans to bear a grand monarch¡¯s bloodline. But what the hell is the deal with that Son of the Stars?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll throw in more time and people to investigate him. You can count on it.¡± Gett said with a serious look in his eyes. ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t think we should stay in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin anymore. After all, we¡¯ve been exposed. The four great sects will probably be much more prepared the next time they send their powerful experts here. It¡¯s not safe for us to stay here for too long.

    ¡°I¡¯ll destroy this teleportation portal after we leave. We don¡¯t want to leave any trace for the humans.¡±

    The conversation between the Phantasms and Fiends went on for a while, where Lamson asked more questions about Nie Tian. Only after that did he enter the teleportation portal with his people under Gett¡¯s repeated urging.

    Gett was thest one to enter the teleportation portal. After he did, the Phantasm Qi pervading the area rapidly poured into the portal as well.

    After sucking all of the Phantasm Qi in its surroundings into itself, the teleportation portal burst like an overly expanded balloon, leaving nothing but lingering spatial fluctuations.

    ...

    On their way back, Hou Chn and all of her subordinates remained silent, losing all interest in talking.

    Even He Lianxiong became unusually quiet, as if his me of arrogance had beenpletely extinguished by his defeat in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.

    When he had first arrived, he had held his head high. High-spirited and vigorous, he had total confidence that he would be able to help Hou Chn kill all of the Phantasms and destroy the teleportation portal.

    But now, he had lost most of his subordinates, which he had umted and cultivated for many years, and failed to kill a single Fiend.

    He seemed clearly downhearted.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the ancient starship that belonged to Wei Botao, the sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect, entered everyone¡¯s sight in the peaceful, silent starry river.

    Standing at the prow of the starship, Wei Botao¡¯s expression flickered as soon as he spotted those who had returned.

    There were simply too few of them, so few that he couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.

    ¡°Divine Daughter!¡± Wei Botao took the initiative to fly off his ancient starship towards them, and asked before even reaching them, ¡°What happened? Howe only the few of you came back?¡±

    Instead of answering him, Hou Chn turned to Ruan Qingliu and said with a stern face, ¡°Aunt Ruan, take a few people with you to investigate every disciple of the Martial Spirit Sect and the Earth Spirit Sect that¡¯s at the Void domain or higher. Leave no one!¡±

    Ruan Qingliu nodded, her face as grim as a silentke.

    Those who the Phantasms might choose to work as their informants had to be at the Void domain at the very least. Those with low cultivation bases wouldn¡¯t even be able to get in touch with them, let alone provide them with the kind of information they needed.

    This time, only the elders of the Martial Spirit Sect knew about He Lianxiong¡¯s arrival.

    The revtion of such information must have something to do with the Martial Spirit Sect.

    Upon hearing that Hou Chn was going to investigate every Void domain member of his sect, Wei Botao asked with shock written all over his face, ¡°What on earth happened?¡±

    ¡°Someone secretly informed the Phantasms of He Lianxiong¡¯s arrival. Because of that, we were respectively ambushed by a group of Phantasms and a group of Fiends, and suffered terrible losses.¡± After a brief exnation, Ruan Qingliu urged him impatiently to activate the teleportation portal so that she could go investigate the elders of the Martial Spirit Sect who knew about He Lianxiong¡¯s arrival one by one.

    Soon, everyone streamed into the teleportation portal in the ancient starship, and appeared in a grand hall inside the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Soon after they did, one of the Martial Spirit Sect elders rushed into the grand hall to report to Wei Botao, ¡°Sectmaster! The vice sectmaster has disappeared!¡±

    A bad feeling struck Wei Botao. ¡°What?! Gan Xi disappeared?! When?¡±

    ¡°Soon after the Heaven Span Pavilion experts arrived,¡± The man exined, burying his head. ¡°The vice sectmaster left without leaving any messages. He didn¡¯t even take the other ancient starship of our sect.¡±

    ¡°Find him!!!¡± Wei Botao roared.

    Nie Tian exchanged a look with Jing Feiyang. Both of them realized that the missing vice sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect was most likely another traitor who had been secretly working with the Phantasms.

    Yue Yanxi let out a long sigh and said in a low voice, ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin only has three Saint domain experts, yet two of them crossed over to the Phantasms¡¯ side. No wonder we lost this battle.¡±

    ¡°Aunt Ruan, go with the Martial Spirit Sect disciples and do everything you can to ferret that Gan Xi out!¡± Hou Chn ordered.

    ¡°Go with them too, Uncle Shen,¡± He Lianxiong said gnashing his teeth. ¡°Find that bastard at all costs! I¡¯ll refine his soul wisp by wisp and make him suffer for a hundred years before letting him die!¡±

    Ruan Qingliu and Shen Jing then left with a few Martial Spirit Sect elders and started looking for any traces Gan Xi might have left when he escaped.

    ¡°I doubt that they¡¯ll be able to find anything.¡± Nie Tian shook his head, thinking that even though that Gan Xi had defected and escaped, given that he was a Saint domain expert, finding him in this vast starry river would be as difficult as finding a needle in a sea.

 Chapter 1065: Anomalies Caused by Breakthrough

    In the Martial Spirit Sect.

    Hou Chn charged her surviving subordinates with the task of investigating the Martial Spirit Sect elders one by one. He Lianxiong instructed Xu Yi to help them.

    Meanwhile, Ruan Qingliu and Shen Jing¡¯s focus was to search for Gan Xi.

    No one left the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin right away, including Nie Tian.

    Wei Botao arranged for Nie Tian to take a secluded corner residence, where he focused on his breakthrough into the Soul realm.

    Soon, two eighth grade Phantasm corpses shriveled as Nie Tian drained them of their flesh power.

    Tossing them back into his ring of holding, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°This trip has turned out to be a losing deal, if I don¡¯t take contribution points into consideration.¡±

    He had consumed three drops of Blood Essence to unleash Life Shackle on Froste.

    With the flesh power he got from the two eighth grade Phantasm corpses, he recovered the three drops of Blood Essence, and the green aura in his heart had devoured what remained.

    However, a great flesh power gap still needed to be filled in order for his bloodline aura to fall dormant and enter its next upgrade cycle.

    ¡°It¡¯s such a pity that the Phantasms took that ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s corpse away.¡±

    Other than the two Phantasms, he had also killed an eighth grade Fiend.

    However, that Fiend¡¯s flesh power was mixed with a great number of toxins. Nie Tian attempted to channel and refine its flesh power, but found that he had to suffer from the toxins to do so. The loss outweighed the gain.

    Eventually, he decided to keep the Fiend corpse and give it to Li Langfeng the next time they met.

    Li Langfeng practiced poisonous incantations that allowed him to absorb and refine all sorts of toxins to make advances in his cultivation.

    However, since the four great sects were currently searching for those who practiced unorthodox incantations everywhere, he had instructed Dong Li to get Li Langfeng out of the Domain of the Falling Stars to somewhere safe.

    He took out arge number of spirit jades and spiritual materials of various attributes. Spreading them on the floor of the secret room, he muttered, ¡°Let¡¯s get started!¡±

    He started his breakthrough into the Soul realm.

    Among all human cultivation bases, the Void, Saint, and God domains were the hardest to reach.

    These three major steps were usually apanied by numerous unpredictable dangers.

    One minor mishap, and the cultivator would lose his domain and fleshly body.

    If things were worse, the cultivator might even have his soul eliminated, and die beyond salvation.

    For this reason, even though Hou Chn, who was currently at thete Void domain, already had what it took to attempt to break through into the Saint domain, she chose to make more preparations instead of making the attempt right away.

    Inparison, the minor breakthroughs under these major cultivation bases were usually less risky.

    Compared to breaking through into the Void, Saint, and God domains, breaking through into the Soul realm was far safer and easier.

    When Nie Tian had stated that he had decided to attempt to enter the Soul realm, Hou Chn had offered to help. However, Nie Tian had politely refused.

    He felt safe enough with Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng by his side.

    As me power, wood power, and star power fluctuations gradually rose from Nie Tian¡¯s temporary residence, others in the vicinity realized that he had started making his breakthrough, but didn¡¯t really mind it.

    Most of He Lianxiong and Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates were busy conducting a thorough investigation of the elders of the Martial Spirit Sect.

    A few dayster, while Nie Tian was still in the middle of his breakthrough, Ruan Qingliu and Shen Jing returned, looking frustrated.

    They had failed to find any trace of the vice sectmaster of the Martial Spirit Sect, and had no idea where he had escaped to.

    Meanwhile, the others finished investigating even the remote rtives of the Martial Spirit Sect¡¯s Void domain elders, but didn¡¯t find anything worth noting.

    Therefore, Hou Chn was convinced that the absconded vice sectmaster was the other expert in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin who had colluded with the Phantasms.

    The Heaven Span Pavilion had learned about He Lianxiong¡¯s sound defeat, and thus arranged for a God domain expert toe to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.

    Upon arriving, he went to conduct a thorough examination of the area of the starry river where they had fought the Fiends and Phantasms, and sensed unusual spatial fluctuations. From this and other signs he found, he confirmed that a teleportation portal had once existed there.

    His discovery made people realize that the Phantasms and Fiends who had snuck into the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin to set up this trap for Hou Chn had already left, and destroyed the teleportation portal through which they hade.

    Afterwards, He Lianxiong left the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin with the God domain expert.

    Originally, Hou Chn was going to evaluate Nie Tian¡¯s contribution after returning to the Five Elements Sect, and then send an appropriate number of spirit jades to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce aspensation.

    After receiving them, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would calcte Nie Tian¡¯s contribution points ordingly.

    However, since Nie Tian was still in the middle of his breakthrough, she arranged for the others to return, while she and Ruan Qingliu remained in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, waiting for Nie Tian to finish his breakthrough.

    ¡°Nie Tian helped us a lot this time. How many spirit jades do you think we should send to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Ruan Qingliu asked.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t dealt Froste a heavy blow, they would have lost much more than two early Saint domain experts. Even Hou Chn and Ruan Qingliu themselves might not have survived the encounter.

    If that had happened, it would have indirectly caused He Lianxiong to die at Lamson¡¯s hands as well.

    All of this gave Hou Chn a headache over how they should determine Nie Tian¡¯s contribution in the recent battle.

    After pondering for a long while, Hou Chn said, ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Nie Tian after he finishes his breakthrough. Normally speaking, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will deduct a small portion from thepensation we pay them for their disciples¡¯ contributions. However, all of their internal affairs are currently being handled by vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang, who doesn¡¯t seem to be very fond of Nie Tian.¡±

    Realizing what Hou Chn was thinking, Ruan Qingliu asked, ¡°Are you saying that you want to give part of thepensation we¡¯re giving the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to Nie Tian directly? It¡¯ll be against themon practice, won¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°No one will find out as long as we don¡¯t tell,¡± Hou Chn said with aposed face.

    Ruan Qingliu didn¡¯t say anything else.

    A few hours passed...

    Unusual fluctuations suddenly burst forth from the area where Nie Tian was, and were sensed by many Void domain Martial Spirit Sect disciples. The realm where the Martial Spirit Sect was based was named the Realm of Martial Spirit. At this moment, a few strands of mixed energies seemed to be channeled from the starry river, as they descended towards Nie Tian¡¯s location after being screened by the realm barrier.

    Only those who were at the Void domain or higher could sense such energies, and their unusual movement.

    Wei Botao rushed to Hou Chn¡¯s side and whispered to her with an astonished face, ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s attempt to break through into the Soul realm seems to have triggered changes. Three strands of power are now fusing into the Realm of Martial Spirit from the starry river!¡±

    Hearing this, Hou Chn immediately rose to her feet and flew to the residence where Nie Tian was practicing cultivation.

    It was a secluded, quiet residence by the entrance of a deep mountain valley. Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng were standing in the courtyard, gazing skywards with disbelieving looks in their eyes.

    Three strands of power that were concentrated me power, wood power, and star power were streaming down from the night sky. Their keen soul perception allowed them to sense them with great rity.

    Looking at Hou Chn, Ruan Qingliu, and Wei Botao, who flew into the courtyard, Jing Feiyang said with a frown, ¡°You sensed the changes too, didn¡¯t you? Normally speaking, to break through into the Soul realm, cultivators need nothing but spirit jades and spiritual materials that agree with their cultivation attributes. Only those who attempt to enter the Void, Saint, or God domains would trigger changes in the starry river.

    ¡°But those energies are clearly being channeled from the starry river. This is indeed a rare scene.¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s bright eyes glittered as she said in a soft voice, ¡°The three types of power are being channeled to this ce by three wondrous treasures in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea. The first one is a spark of orange me. You all witnessed it devour and refine the Domain-corroding mes.

    ¡°The second one is a Godspirit Tree sapling. And if what I suspect is true, the third is a Nine Stars Flower.

    ¡°That Godspirit Tree sapling is a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material. I don¡¯t know about that me spark, but since it could even refine Domain-corroding mes, it¡¯s probably a Heaven Nourished grade treasure as well. As for the Nine Stars Flower, even though it¡¯s not as highly graded as the other two, its unique nature allows it to channel star power from the starry river.

    ¡°Each of his three spiritual cores contains a wondrous treasure. Now, as he infuses them with a great amount of power, the most mysterious nature of those treasures is being fully stimted.¡±

    Surprised by her words, Jing Feiyang asked with wide eyes, ¡°Can you see through what¡¯s going on in his spiritual sea?¡±

    Hou Chn shook her head. ¡°No, I¡¯m only certain about that Godspirit Tree sapling. I¡¯m guessing about that me spark and Nine Stars Flower. But I think my spections are true for the most part. Being able to channel power into himself from the starry river, this guy is really chosen by heaven.¡±

    ¡°Divine Daughter, his breakthrough isn¡¯t going to change the fundamental structure of the Realm of Martial Spirit, is it?¡± Wei Botao asked nervously.

    Hou Chn gave him a sideways nce and said with an expressionless face. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There won¡¯t be any negative influence. Then again, even if this realm shatters because of Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough, don¡¯t you think I can get you another realm that¡¯s just as good?¡±

    ¡°T-that¡¯s not what I meant,¡± Wei Botao said embarrassedly.

 Chapter 1066: Spiritual Core Condensing

    Nie Tian walked out of his cultivation room and into the open area in the depths of the mountain valley, where he focused on channeling power from spirit jades and all sorts of spiritual materials.

    Under the night sky, his whole body glowed as he attracted power from the starry river like a ma.

    Illusory shapes of the orange me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree sapling rose from the top of his head.

    They were the condensation of the stimted auras of the three wondrous items.

    Even though they were illusory, they managed to channel three types of power from the starry river and guide them into Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea.

    At the same time, Nie Tian used the Qi Refining Incantation to channel power into his dantian region from spirit jades and spiritual materials of different attributes.

    Spiritual auras that were rich and pure filled his spiritual sea like multicolored mists.

    Nie Tian examined himself with his soul awareness, and saw with great rity that all four of his spiritual cores were undergoing changes.

    When his me power core, wood power core, star power core, and pure spiritual power core had first formed, they had refined and condensed spiritual auras in his spiritual sea into liquid.

    At this moment, as the liquid spiritual power further refined, solid pieces gradually formed at the hearts of his four spiritual cores.

    A crimson crystal that was the size of a grain of rice formed at the heart of the me power core; a piece of wood of the same size appeared at the heart of the wood power core; a tiny piece of silver metal formed at the very center of the star power core.

    ¡°Liquid power further condenses into solid. This must mean that the spiritual cores can hold more power now!¡±

    Enlightened, Nie Tian continued to observe, and discovered that the solidified parts only took up a small portion of the spiritual cores.

    The power that was farther from the center was still liquid.

    The changes in his spiritual sea thrilled him greatly.

    Now, as he observed his dantian region, his spiritual sea looked like a misty sea of spiritual Qi at first nce, but upon closer look, four spiritual cores floated in the middle of the spiritual Qi, with solidified power at their hearts and liquidized power filling the rest of them.

    This was how his spiritual sea looked now.

    As for the spark of Divine me, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree sapling, they floated around in the liquidized power, channeling power from the starry river and growing at a fast rate.

    As he absorbed more spiritual power, me power, wood power, and star power, the tiny pieces of solid power at the hearts of his spiritual cores grew slowly.

    Soon afterwards, his true soul underwent changes as well.

    As wisp after wisp of soul power fused into his true soul, his originally blurry true soul grew clearer and clearer.

    They seemed to add ¡®skin¡¯ to his true soul, and made it look identical to his true form.

    The ¡®skin¡¯ was the result of further refined soul power. It rid his true soul of its sense of illusion and gave it a sense of reality, as if it vested his true soul with flesh and blood.

    He didn¡¯t need anyone to tell him about the fundamental differences between the Soul realm and the Profound realm. His own observation and enlightenment was enough.

    The solid part only took up about a fifth of each spiritual core.

    However, tiny as they were, they contained more power than the liquid parts.

    He also came to realize that his cultivation after entering the Soul realm would center on turning the remaining liquid parts of his spiritual cores solid.

    WHOOSH!

    His true soul, which seemed to have gained sharpened edges, suddenly rose from the top of his head and floated there.

    However, as he separated his true soul from his fleshly body this time, he no longer felt so weak and fragile that a puff of air would scatter it.

    From the look of it, his true soul could move around without the protection and nourishment of his fleshly body now, and wouldn¡¯t die as easily in the outside world as before.

    ¡°From now on, my true soul will be able to leave my fleshly body to move around in regr realms. This means that even if my fleshly body perishes, as long as my true soul is well preserved, given the right opportunity, I can still be reincarnated.

    ¡°However,pared to a Void domain true soul, my true soul still has many limitations.¡±

    In order for Soul realm cultivators to be reborn after their deaths, their true soul had to bepletely intact.

    For Void, Saint, and God domain experts, even if their true souls suffered heavy blows and split into many strands when they died, as long as they could secure one strand of their true soul, they would preserve their chance at reincarnation.

    Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect had suffered from serious soul attacks in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and his true soul had almost been destroyed.

    However, he had managed to secure a wisp of his true soul, which had preserved his chance at being reincarnated, regaining his memories from his previous life, and recovering his peak power.

    ¡°It seems that the true souls of Soul realm cultivators still can¡¯t travel in the starry river without protection. This means that even after entering the Soul realm, I would die beyond salvation if my fleshly body perished in the starry river.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Like a bolt of lightning, his true soul suddenly shot into the distance.

    Secondster, his true soul was already fifty kilometers from his fleshly body.

    That was when the connection between his true soul and his fleshly body became unstable and hard to maintain.

    Fifty kilometers seemed to be his true soul¡¯s limit. If it went any further, it would most likely lose connection with his fleshly body.

    Separated from his fleshly body by fifty kilometers, his true soul unleashed its soul awareness, and sensed the soul auras in its surroundings.

    He instantly discovered a brilliant use of separating his true soul from his fleshly body. ¡°By separating my true soul from my body, I can greatly increase my detection range! If I keep my true soul within my body, I can only scan a ten kilometer radius around me with my soul awareness.¡±

    However, it would still be a risky thing to do. If there were powerful enemies in his surroundings, they might be able to detect and eliminate his true soul.

    This was the reason why even though many powerful experts had this wondrous ability, they normally wouldn¡¯t use it, unless they were certain that there weren¡¯t any enemies that could threaten their true soul in the vicinity.

    Back in the day, Wu Ji had secretly kept an eye on Nie Tian when he had entered a spiritual mine close to the Cloudsoaring Sect. His true soul was what he had used. The reason he had dared to do so was because he knew that there hadn¡¯t been a single person that was stronger than him in that area. No one had even been able to detect the movement of his true soul.

    This was also why elder Yan Zhan, who was at thete Saint domain, had dared to scan the Realm of Split Void with his true soul.

    Furthermore, souls and spirits traveled at a much faster speed than fleshly bodies.

    Therefore, it was much more efficient to scan heaven and earth with true souls.

    This was why Yan Zhan had been able to get a full grasp of the situation in the Realm of Split Void within a very short time.

    However, most Void and Saint domain experts wouldn¡¯t release their true souls while traveling in the starry river. For one thing, the impurities in the starry river would harm their true souls. For another, they were afraid that they would encounter powerful enemies.

    Without a power supply from the fleshly body, the true soul would have to rely on its own power, and was therefore unable to cast many exquisite spells and incantations.

    There might be a chance at survival if what it encountered was the true soul of a weaker enemy, but it would be disastrous if it encountered a master of lightning incantations.

    ¡°The solid parts only take up about a fifth of my spiritual cores now. That¡¯s something I can work on.¡±

    With this thought, Nie Tian took out more spirit jades and materials that contained me power, wood power, and star power, and used their power to further the solidification of his spiritual cores.

    During this time, most of the me power, wood power, and star power that was channeled from the starry river was consumed by the Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree sapling themselves.

    Only a very small portion was used to condense his spiritual cores further.

    Time flew.

    Seven days passed, and Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough was still not finished.

    Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng stood guard for him right outside the deep mountain valley.

    Even though Hou Chn and the others kept their distance from the valley, they paid close attention to the auras that kept streaming down from the starry river by relying on their keen soul perception.

    Ruan Qingliu, who was at thete Saint domain, took a nce at Wei Botao and said, ¡°Part of the me power and wood power that has been channeled from the starry river isn¡¯t pure enough, and is thus discarded. As it disperses into heaven and earth, the me power and wood power in his surroundings is bing richer and richer. The Heaven Nourished grade me and wood treasures inside of Nie Tian are rather picky.

    ¡°However, even the power they don¡¯t care to absorb is of great help to your realm.

    ¡°The trees and nts will benefit from the increasingly rich wood power in the air, and the me power will help enhance the intensity of the earthme in the bellies of the nearby mountains.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not his breakthrough, but those two Heaven Nourished grade treasures that are causing the wood power and me power in this area to grow richer and richer. Only the star power channeled here by the Nine Stars Flower can¡¯t seem tost in this realm.

    She sensed the changes with rapt attention, and said in a soft voice, ¡°From the look of it, he¡¯ll be able to finish his breakthrough in a few days.¡±

    Wei Botao smiled wryly. ¡°All I hope is that his breakthrough is not hurting the foundation of the Realm of Martial Spirit. I don¡¯t dare to hope that we¡¯ll benefit from it.¡±

    Everyone continued waiting.

    On this day, as Nie Tian was still gathering power to expand the solid parts in his spiritual cores, one of Hou Chn¡¯s subordinates rushed to her with great urgency.

    ¡°Divine Daughter!¡± The man eximed. ¡°We just received word that the third Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was betrayed by one of his subordinates and died in his own domain!¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°Mou Luo died?! Like me, Mou Luo was also at thete Void domain. His subordinates are even stronger than Sikong Cuo¡¯s. I can¡¯t believe he actually died!¡±

    The man couldn¡¯t mask his astonishment as he said, ¡°He¡¯s dead! It can¡¯t be false! He died at the hands of two ninth grade grand patriarchs. Not even a wisp of his soul escaped. The man who betrayed him seems to be a middle Saint domain subordinate who had joined his force a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°This is indeed a hard time for us,¡± Ruan Qingliu said, her face extremely grim. ¡°It¡¯s been many years since thest time a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was killed by outsiders. And it¡¯s different this time. Mou Luo was betrayed by his own subordinate, which is simply shocking.¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at Wei Botao.

    Wei Botao instantly buried his face and said, ¡°Divine Daughter, it was Gan Xi who betrayed you. I¡¯ve been nothing but loyal to you! I¡¯d never betray you!¡±

    ¡°Great changes are at hand,¡± Hou Chn muttered to herself, as if she didn¡¯t even hear him.

 Chapter 1067: The Star Medallion Vibrates

    Days passed...

    The three types of power that streamed down from the starry river gradually grew thin.

    Seeing this, the powerful experts gathered outside the mountain valley realized that Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough was reaching its end.

    The moment of a breakthrough was usually apanied by the urrence of wonders. That was why Nie Tian¡¯s Nine Stars Flower, Divine me spark, and Godspirit Tree sapling had been able to channel power from the starry river at an unprecedentedly high rate.

    However, once the breakthrough entered a stable phase, the wonders triggered by the breakthrough would gradually fade.

    Nie Tian understood this fully.

    As the illusory shapes of the Nine Stars Flower, me spark, and Godspirit Tree sapling faded, the liquid power in his four spiritual cores gradually stopped solidifying.

    At this moment, only a third of their originally liquid parts had turned solid.

    ¡°A third of the solidification of my spiritual cores isplete after I entered the early Soul realm. It seems that I¡¯ll have to wait till I enter thete Soul realm toplete the whole solidification process, and turn all of my spiritual cores crystalline.¡±

    As his true soul returned to his mind, he awoke from his cultivation.

    He examined himself, and realized that the Nine Stars Flower, me spark, and Godspirit Tree sapling were still channeling wisps of power that were as faint as hairs from the starry river.

    It was just that such power was much fainter.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯ll work better for me if I start practicing cultivation in the vast starry river like the Star Behemoth bone from now on. The three treasures in my spiritual cores can draw nutrients from the mixed energies in the starry river, while I can travel freely in the starry river by relying on Life Strengthening.

    ¡°If I don¡¯t, I can only rely on spirit jades and other spiritual materials to further my cultivation.¡±

    With these thoughts in mind, he seemed to see a new direction to his path of cultivation.

    He rose to his feet and walked out of the deep mountain valley.

    Hou Chn and the others were waiting at the entrance of the valley.

    He learned the shocking news from Hou Chn as soon as they met. ¡°What?! Mou Luo, the third Son of the Stars, was betrayed by his subordinate and died in his own domain?¡±

    Compared to the death of Xiao Xihe, who was one of the twelve elders, the death of a Son of the Stars was a heavier blow to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Before, the four great sects had been at a slight advantage in their battles against the outsider races. None of the seven Sons of the Stars of this generation had died until this happened.

    During the previous generation, since battles had broken out more often, several Sons of the Stars had perished.

    ¡°Uncle Lu had his fleshly body eliminated in the Domain of Nether Heaven,¡± Hou Chn said with a grim face. ¡°Only a wisp of his true soul narrowly escaped. Just recently, He Lianxiong suffered a heavy blow, and lost most of his Saint domain subordinates. Now, the third Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was betrayed by his own subordinate and died at the Demons¡¯ hands... It seems that this turmoil will continue to gue our heaven and earth for some time.¡±

    Nie Tian then said, ¡°ording to Froste, the outsiders have found the most effective way to unravel us: divide us from within.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded. ¡°Many signs do suggest that we¡¯re no longer united as a people. Who knows how many traitors like Qiu Hanshan and Gan Xi are still hiding among us in our numerous domains? They¡¯re even arger threat than those from the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect who practice evil incantations.

    ¡°Mou Luo got into a simr situation to ours. However, he wasn¡¯t as lucky as us. He didn¡¯t have a man like you to help him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to say that if it wasn¡¯t for you, He Lianxiong and I would have probably died in our recent battle like Mou Luo did.¡±

    Face grim, Nie Tian didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°You helped me a great deal, Nie Tian. To thank you, I¡¯ll sendpensation to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Normally, your sect will take twenty percent from thepensation, and convert the rest into contribution points, which they¡¯ll award to you.¡± With these words, Hou Chn shot Wei Botao a nce, signaling him to leave.

    Wei Botao received the message and left without saying a word.

    At the same time, Ruan Qingliu turned to Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng, and said in a soft voice, ¡°Can we find a ce to talk?¡±

    The three nodded knowingly and left with Ruan Qingliu.

    After they left, Hou Chn spoke out. ¡°I heard that vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang isn¡¯t very fond of you. If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m worried that thepensation we pay the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will wear thin when they convert it into contribution points and award it to you. So I suggest that I figure out an appropriate number of spirit jades or outsiders corpses as apensation for your help. Then I¡¯ll give the majority of them to you directly, while only sending a small portion to your sect. What do you think?¡±

    ¡°That works!¡± Nie Tian answered without even the slightest hesitation.

    ¡°So which do you prefer, spirit jades or outsider corpses?¡± Hou Chn asked.

    ¡°Outsider corpses of course!¡± Nie Tian said.

    Hou Chn pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±

    Then, she handed Nie Tian a ring of holding she had prepared. ¡°Inside is the corpse of a ninth grade ckscale grand patriarch. Since the ckscales aren¡¯t a higher race, they¡¯ve never seen a tenth grade grand monarch in their history. Ninth grade grand patriarchs already represent their peak power. My subordinates killed this early ninth grade grand patriarch in the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°Besides that, there are also a dozen corpses of eighth grade ckscales, Stonemen, and Birdmen in the ring.¡±

    Overjoyed, Nie Tian said thankfully, ¡°Great! That¡¯s actually what I need the most at this moment!¡±

    He had thought that this trip to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin would end up being a losing deal, but who would have known that Hou Chn had actually prepared such a handsome gift for him?

    The residual flesh power within that ninth grade grand patriarch and the dozen eighth grade ckscales, Stonemen, and Birdmen might be enough to satisfy his bloodline aura¡¯s seemingly endless need for flesh power, allowing it to fall dormant and enter its next upgrade cycle.

    Life Shackle, a bloodline magic he had awakened upon entering the seventh grade, was already mighty enough for him to nearly kill Froste.

    If his bloodline entered the eighth grade, he would be bound to awakened new wondrous bloodline talents, or derive new bloodline magics from the Blood Realm.

    However, all of these rosy prospects were based on him obtaining enough flesh power. What Hou Chn had prepared for him happened to be what he needed the most.

    Hou Chn seemed somewhat hesitant as she continued, ¡°Nie Tian, I might still have to make some preparations after I return to my sect, but after that, I¡¯m going to attempt to break through into the Saint domain. When I¡¯m ready, I¡¯ll send someone to find you in the Domain of Heaven Python. I¡¯m hoping you¡¯ll help me with my breakthrough.

    ¡°As long as youe, I¡¯ll give you the corpse of a ninth grade grand patriarch as a thank-you, even if you can do nothing to help.

    ¡°Then, if you help me break through into the Saint domain sessfully, I¡¯ll have another gift for you, which I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like!¡±

    Holding the ring of holding, Nie Tian nodded, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll be there when you try to break through into the Saint domain. You can count on it!¡±

    ¡°Thanks. I have a feeling that I¡¯ll definitely need your help when the timees.¡± Hou Chn thanked him in advance.

    Then, the two of them discussed some more details and the story they would tell the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. After that, they both left the Realm of Martial Spirit for their respective sects.

    After returning to the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Nie Tian arranged for Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and Jiang Feng to return to their sects, while he remained in the Vast Heaven Pavilion, where he used the outsider corpses Hou Chn had given him to provide his bloodline aura with more flesh power.

    He hadn¡¯t known Mou Luo, the third Son of the Stars. Therefore, his death didn¡¯t really affect his state of mind.

    Now that he had finally broken through into the Soul realm and obtained a substantial flesh power supply, he had much to do, and thus ignored the recent changes in the sect.

    In the Vast Heaven Pavilion, he continued to channel flesh power with Life Drain and feed his greedy bloodline aura with it.

    After an unknown period of time, his Star Medallion suddenly vibrated.

    WHOOSH!

    As it flew into his palm, he sent a wisp of soul awareness into it.

    He derived a message from within it, which demanded that all Sons of the Stars return to the Realm of Fragmentary Star within two weeks. Important issues needed to be discussed.

    It was from vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang.

    ¡°This meeting must be inspired by Mou Luo¡¯s death.¡± Nie Tian suspected. Meanwhile, he discovered that two hundred thousand contribution points had been added to the medallion.

    ¡°Only two hundred thousand? ording to martial sister Hou, thepensation she sent to my sect would easily get me five hundred thousand contribution points. And the practice would be for my sect to keep up to twenty percent of it, which is a hundred thousand. I should get about four hundred thousand contribution points.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned, his face growing cold. ¡°Two hundred thousand...¡±

    He knew that Luo Wanxiang must be behind this.

    Contribution points were very useful. Now that Mou Luo, the third Son of the Stars, had died, the ownership of his domains and realms had returned to the sect, which meant the other Sons of the Stars would soon be able to purchase them with contribution points.

    As long as he had enough contribution points, he would be able to obtain some of Mou Luo¡¯s realms as well.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± He snorted coldly.

    A few dayster, Fang Yuan showed up at the gate of the Vast Heaven Pavilion. Nie Tian sensed his arrival right away. He rose to his feet and went downstairs to greet him.

    With a single nce, Fang Yuan realized that Nie Tian had made a breakthrough in his cultivation. ¡°I see that you¡¯ve entered the Soul realm. Congrattions. You received that message too, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Are you talking about that meeting?¡± Nie Tian said.

    Fang Yuan sighed. ¡°Yeah, senior martial brother Mou Luo died. This is our sect¡¯s most significant loss in recent centuries. His death even made elder Xiao Xihe¡¯s passing seem less important. Senior martial brother Mou Luo¡¯s cultivation base was higher than yours and mine. And he had many powerful subordinates and followers. Even so, he died. This means you and I will face great danger as well when we go out on missions from now on.¡±

    ¡°Do you know what the focus of this meeting will be?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Fang Yuan shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. But I assume it¡¯s mostly matters brought up by senior martial brother Mou Luo¡¯s death. His domains and realms need to be taken over. Besides, it was the Demons who killed him. If we don¡¯t make some counter moves and inflict equal damage on them, not only will our sect¡¯s reputation suffer, but Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates will be unsatisfied.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Does this mean the Demons are our primary target now? It¡¯s very hard to enter Demon realms. Aside from that, the Dead Star Sea is the only ce where arge number of Demons are gathered. Don¡¯t tell me that we¡¯re marching more forces into the Dead Star Sea to find the Demons¡¯ gathering spots, and seek retaliation?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. We¡¯ll only know for sure after the meeting.¡± Fang Yuan said, looking somewhat depressed. ¡°But you¡¯re fairly new to our sect, and haven¡¯t met all of the elders and your senior martial brothers. This will be a good opportunity for you to meet them all.¡±

    His words put some anticipation in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

 Chapter 1068: Star Meeting

    In a grand hall in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The vast, arched ceiling was dotted with stars that emanated brilliant starlight.

    The moment Nie Tian and Fang Yuan walked into the grand hall, manyid their eyes on Nie Tian.

    Several well-dressed Sons of the Stars, who had arrived before him, smiled at him and said, ¡°Seventh martial brother.¡±

    Nie Tian bowed slightly towards them and said in a soft voice, ¡°Greetings, elders and senior martial brothers.¡±

    Aside from Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong, there were three others in the hall who Nie Tian had never met before.

    Vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang hadn¡¯t arrived yet, and neither had grand elder Mo Heng.

    In the center of the spacious meeting hall stood the seats of the seven Son of the Stars, twelve elders, two vice sectmasters, and the sectmaster.

    However, most of them were still empty at this moment.

    Some of the seats had a crystal mirror that was as tall as a grown man on them, reflecting what was happening inside the hall.

    Fang Yuan turned to Nie Tian and introduced the three strange figures to him, ¡°This is our eldest martial brother. This is our second martial brother. And this is our fourth martial sister.¡±

    The first Son of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, was at thete Saint domain. His jade-like face was filled with a warm smile.

    The second Son of the Stars, Fang Zhe, who was at the middle Saint domain, seemed to be a reserved person. His face waspletely expressionless.

    The fourth Son of the Stars, Wang Meijia, was the only female among all seven Sons of the Stars. She was at the middle Void domain. Her average looks gave her the look of an elder sister that lived next door.

    All three of them nodded briefly towards Nie Tian.

    Mysterious starlight could be seen circting in the depths of their eyes. As they fixed their gazes on Nie Tian, he sensed subtle changes in his inner star power and star souls.

    This was the first time Nie Tian had met the three of them. He had only heard their names and cultivation bases from Fang Yuan, but had never met them in person before.

    ¡°Where¡¯s grand elder Mo Heng?¡± Nie Tian asked in a soft voice.

    Wei Lai pointed at the seat where Mo Heng should be seated, and said, ¡°He can¡¯te in person, but he¡¯ll attend this meeting with his soul shadow. When the meeting starts, the grand elder¡¯s soul shadow will appear in that mirror. A few elders will also attend this meeting with this method.¡±

    Many major human domains were currently in turmoil. The situation in the Dead Star Sea was also critical.

    Under such circumstances, the powerful experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had to hold their posts, lest anything go wrong.

    Underparison, the seven Sons of the Stars¡¯ battle prowess was fairly limited. Only Dou Tianchen had entered thete Saint domain, and could be considered a stronger fighter. All the others still had yet to grow. They had only arranged for their powerful subordinates to fight in different battlefields.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send word to vice sectmaster Luo now,¡± Wei Lai muttered to himself.

    ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve entered the Soul realm, junior martial brother. Congrattions.¡± The first Son of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, said with a warm smile. ¡°You¡¯ve only joined our sect recently, and yet you¡¯ve already won yourself a high reputation. Both the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect speak highly of you. I¡¯m impressed.¡±

    With a humble smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Compared to my senior martial brothers¡¯ great achievements, what I¡¯ve done isn¡¯t worth mentioning.¡±

    Dou Tianchen shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re being humble. I received word that both the Fiends and the Phantasms are running thorough investigations of you. They seem to be very interested in your background. What on earth did you do to them in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin?¡±

    The eyes of Wei Lai and the other elders lit up as they heard these words.

    Hou Chn had sent a handsomepensation to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after everything had been taken care of in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. However, she had been vague about what Nie Tian had done exactly.

    She had only mentioned that he was the reason why they had been able to discover Qiu Hanshan¡¯s secret collusion with the Phantasms, but that was it.

    Even so, word of He Lianxiong suffering a heavy blow, losing multiple Saint domain subordinates, and Hou Chn losing two early Saint domain subordinates had still spread.

    However, both Hou Chn and He Lianxiong had kept their mouths closed about the details of their trip.

    Therefore, most people didn¡¯t know what Nie Tian had done other than exposing Qiu Hanshan¡¯s identity as a traitor.

    With an expressionless face, Fang Zhe, the second Son of the Stars, said, ¡°What he did to them...? The battle in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin was still a sound defeat for us. We lost multiple Saint domain members, and the Phantasms only lost a ninth grade grand patriarch. And the Phantasms took that grand patriarch¡¯s corpse away when they retreated, and may very well bring him back to life in the future.¡±

    The fourth Son of the Stars, Wang Meijia, joined the conversation. ¡°All they lost were their subordinates. At least Hou Chn and He Lianxiong are still alive. That way, the Five Elements Sect and the Heaven Span Pavilion didn¡¯t have their foundation hurt. But we...¡±

    Everyone grew silent and grim upon hearing her words.

    The deaths of Hou Chn and He Lianxiong¡¯s subordinates weren¡¯t of much significance to these lofty Sons of the Stars.

    Only the deaths of those who enjoyed the same status as them would shake their hearts.

    The fact that Hou Chn and He Lianxiong had survived while Mou Luo, who was one of them, had been killed by the Demons had brought shame to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As fellow Sons of the Stars, they all found this news hard to ept.

    At this moment, vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang and the sixth Son of the Stars, Sikong Cuo, walked into the grand hall, almost shoulder to shoulder.

    Nie Tian instantlyid his eyes on Luo Wanxiang.

    As one of the Sons of the Stars from the previous generation, Luo Wanxiang was a small, scrawny man. He hunched his back, as if he had been born that way.

    Walking abreast of Sikong Cuo, he seemed much smaller and poor-figured. However, he somehow gave those who saw him a feeling of power.

    Nie Tian had witnessed his dharma idol in the Domain of Nether Heaven, but this was the first time he was seeing him in person.

    Like a majestic ancient god, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol had shone with dazzling starlight from every acupoint, and gave people a feeling that it dominated heaven and earth. Who would have thought that his true form looked so unimpressive, small and hunched?

    The fact that he walked into the grand hall with Sikong Cuo seemed to send everyone present a message: he had a close rtionship with Sikong Cuo.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, he walked to his designated seat, nced around at everyone, and said in a somewhat hoarse voice, ¡°You must have heard. Mou Luo, the third Son of the Stars, died at the hands of Demon grand patriarchs. One of his subordinates betrayed him and schemed with the Demons to set him up.¡±

    Everyone present nodded slightly, elders and Sons of the Stars alike.

    ¡°Please call the others in,¡± Luo Wanxiang said.

    Upon hearing this, Wei Lai held out a crystal ball and sent his soul awareness into it in an attempt to summon the other elders and Chu Rui, the other vice sectmaster.

    As he did, wisps of soul auras started to circte in the mirrors that stood on the empty seats.

    One wisp of soul aura after another seemed toe from remote areas in the starry river to gather in this great hall, gradually morphing into clear-cut soul shadows.

    Vice sectmaster Chu Rui, who was leading their battle force in the Dead Star Sea, was the first to appearpletely. The mirror in his seat showed a chubby old man.

    Gazing curiously at Nie Tian from within the mirror, heughed softly and said, ¡°You¡¯re Nie Tian, right? I heard that you managed to bring three domains to heel, and performed outstandingly in the missions the sect gave you. Very impressive.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t a soul voice that came out of the mirror.

    Nie Tian felt as if Chu Rui was standing in front of him, watching every move he made and listening to everything he said, even though he was actually separated from them by the boundless starry river.

    Nie Tian sped his hands towards him. ¡°You tter me.¡±

    At that moment, Grand elder Mo Heng¡¯s soul shadow appeared in the mirror in his seat.

    After a nce at Nie Tian, he remained silent with his eyes narrowed.

    The soul shadows of the other elders who couldn¡¯t attend the meeting in person appeared sessively. They all fixed Nie Tian with curious, measuring gazes.

    Since this was the first time they were seeing Nie Tian as well, they wanted to get a measure of the seventh Son of the Stars, who had been a popr topictely.

    After everyone¡¯s soul shadows showed up, Luo Wanxiang cleared his throat and said, ¡°With Mou Luo dead, all of his subordinates now have the right to choose a new master. And his domains and realms are open for purchase to the other Sons of the Stars.¡±

    ¡°Gentlemen!¡± Sikong Cuo suddenly said in a loud voice to attract everyone¡¯s attention. Then, with a smile, he continued with a casual tone, ¡°Our third martial brother¡¯s subordinates came to find me and expressed their desire to join my forces and take me as their new master. Vice sectmaster Luo bore witness. I didn¡¯t force them, but they actually wanted to follow me.¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± Luo Wanxiang said with certainty.

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered as they heard this.

 Chapter 1069: The Election of the New Elder

    All of a sudden, it became so quiet in the spacious hall that a dropped needle could be heard.

    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Luo Wanxiang and Sikong Cuo didn¡¯t look alike at all, Nie Tian would even suspect that Sikong Cuo was his son born out of wedlock.

    The way Luo Wanxiang stood up for him hade to the point where he didn¡¯t even bother to mask it.

    Nie Tian had let Sikong Cuo have a taste of his own medicine in the Domain of Nether Heaven, causing the deaths of many of his subordinates.

    His strength had plummeted because of it. At this moment, his force was roughly at the same level as Nie Tian¡¯s, which was at the very bottom among the Sons of the Stars.

    However, if Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates were to join his force, he would be even stronger than before.

    As far as Nie Tian knew, even though Mou Luo had been killed, his Saint domain subordinates hadn¡¯t suffered too many casualties.

    If they actually took Sikong Cuo as their new master, his strength would rise to an unprecedented level.

    Of course, the other Sons of the Stars wouldn¡¯t want to see Sikong Cuo get all of Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates. However, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had rules in this regard.

    The subordinates of a deceased Son of the Stars would have the right to choose their new master.

    If they thought that Sikong Cuo would be a brilliant leader and had the best chance at bing the next Lord of the Stars, and thus chose to follow him, no one should thwart their decision.

    ¡°If you have doubts, you¡¯re free to go talk to them, and see if you can persuade them to join your forces,¡± Luo Wanxiang said slowly, his face calm as ever. ¡°As long as they agree to choose any of you instead of Sikong Cuo, they¡¯ll be your subordinates from now on. I won¡¯t interfere.¡±

    Nie Tian exchanged a nce with Fang Yuan.

    With a bitter smile, Fang Yuan shook his head.

    The two of them had talked in the Vast Heaven Pavilion. ording to Fang Yuan, he had recently paid a visit to Mou Luo¡¯s domains, harboring the same thought as Sikong Cuo, which was to enlist Mou Luo¡¯s Saint domain subordinates into his own force.

    However, Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates had refused to give him a clear-cut answer.

    Fang Yuan had thought that Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates probably wanted topare the terms of each interested Son of the Stars, and then choose the highest bidder.

    Now, only after Sikong Cuo and Luo Wanxiang announced that Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates had already chosen to join Sikong Cuo did Fang Yuan realize that Sikong Cuo must have reached out to them and won their acknowledgment before everyone else.

    ¡°If there are no objections, let¡¯s move on to the next issue,¡± Luo Wanxiang said loudly.

    ¡°Wait,¡± Chu Rui, the other vice sectmaster, said leisurely. ¡°Since you testify that Mou Luo¡¯s subordinates have decided to follow Sikong Cuo, there¡¯s nothing to question on that front. But we haven¡¯t reached a conclusion as to who will take over the four domains that belonged to Mou Luo, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Luo Wanxiang said.

    Many people¡¯s eyes lit up, as they clearly hoped to have a piece of that cake.

    Fang Yuan also braced himself upon hearing this.

    ncing over the restless crowd, Luo Wanxiang said, ¡°The sect has already reassumed ownership of Mou Luo¡¯s domains. Proper prices will be determined after careful assessment. Once the pricese out, all Sons of the Stars will be allowed topete for them with their contribution points.¡±

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°Alright. Enough for this issue. Let¡¯s move on.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang turned to look at Xiao Xihe¡¯s seat, which only had an empty mirror in it now, and said, ¡°The death of elder Xiao Xihe has left a void. We need to elect a new elder to fill it.

    ¡°I think we can all agree that we have three suitable candidates: Ge Ling, Peng Siyi, and Ji Yanchuan.

    ¡°They¡¯re all at thete Saint domain, and as senior members, they¡¯ve all dedicated themselves to our sect. Each and every one of them qualifies to take the position as an elder. So let¡¯s take a vote among us, and the one with the most votes will be our new elder.

    ¡°Any objections?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang asked loudly.

    ¡°I agree to choose from the three of them.¡± Chu Rui stated his stance first.

    Mo Heng¡¯s soul shadow nodded expressionlessly within the mirror.

    The other elders and Sons of the Stars also assented. Clearly, they all thought the three candidates qualified to fill in as the new elder.

    ¡°Six Sons of the Stars, eleven elders, Brother Chu, and myself, we all have one vote each.¡± Luo Wanxiang addressed the meeting.

    ¡°I vote for Peng Siyi.¡± Chu Rui was the first to state his choice.

    ¡°I choose Ge Ling.¡±

    ¡°Ge Ling.¡±

    ¡°Ji Yanchuan.¡±

    The Sons of the Stars and elders took turns to state their choices.

    Nie Tian, however, remained silent. Eyes glittering, he listened and observed.

    He was well-aware that the election of a new elder was a matter of great importance.

    Every single elder would have a vote in who would be the next Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Ge Ling, Peng Siyi, and Ji Yanchuan... Some of them might be close to Luo Wanxiang, some of them might be close to Chu Rui. Whoever had the new elder¡¯s support would gain an advantage in the future.

    However, Nie Tian had never seen or even heard of any of them.

    If he made his choice rashly, and chose the one who sided with Luo Wanxiang or Sikong Cuo, wouldn¡¯t he regret it?

    Therefore, he remained silent and observed.

    Soon, he discovered that both Luo Wanxiang and Sikong Cuo had chosen Ge Ling, and so had two other elders who were attending the meeting with their soul shadows. Nie Tian instantly realized that Ge Ling probably had close connections with Luo Wanxiang and Sikong Cuo.

    As for the other vice sectmaster, Chu Rui, he deemed that Peng Siyi should fill Xiao Xihe¡¯s slot and be one of the twelve elders.

    Nie Tian still stayed put.

    Only until Mo Heng¡¯s soul shadow softly said Ji Yanchuan¡¯s name from within the mirror did he call out, ¡°I vote for Ji Yuanchuan!¡±

    Mo Heng took a sideways look at him and nodded in a very subtle way.

    ¡°Ji Yanchuan,¡± Fang Yuan said.

    ¡°Ji Yanchuan,¡± Han Wanrong said.

    ¡°Ji Yanchuan!¡± Yan Zhan called out.

    ¡°Ji Yanchuan.¡± A voice echoed out from within one of the mirrors.

    Looking surprised, Luo Wanxiang took a nce at Mo Heng, an unfathomable look appearing in his eyes.

    Nie Tian and a few others had remained silent before Mo Heng gave his choice, as if they had been hesitating over their choices.

    However, as soon as Mo Heng stated his choice, they all seconded his choice and voted for Ji Yanchuan.

    ¡°Mo Heng...¡± Luo Wanxiang said inwardly.

    Chu Rui let out a longugh and said, ¡°Alright. This is it. I¡¯m surprised that so many of you voted for Ji Yuanchuan. From today on, Ji Yanchuan will be one of the twelve elders of our sect. And Xiao Xihe¡¯s responsibilities will fall on him now.¡±

    No vote count was necessary. Judging by how often Ji Yanchuan¡¯s name was called, they already knew that he was getting far more votes than the other two candidates.

    Nie Tian also found the result surprising.

    He had thought that Ge Ling, who had vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang¡¯s support, would eventually win the most votes. Who would have known that after grand elder Mo Heng gave his vote, all of the remaining votes would go to Ji Yanchuan as well.

    At this moment, Mo Heng had just be even more unfathomable in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    He wondered why so many elders and Sons of the Stars would second his choice.

    ¡°The grand elder¡¯s status should have been lower than the vice sectmaster¡¯s, but he seems to have more people¡¯s support. I wonder why this is.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    No matter how Luo Wanxiang felt about this, he had to respect the rules set by the sect. ¡°Since Ji Yanchuan has the most votes, he¡¯s the new elder,¡± he announced.

    ¡°Next issue: Demons,¡± Luo Wanxiang continued, his face turning grim, ¡°The Demons crossed a line by killing Mou Luo. Our sect will lose face if we don¡¯t teach them a bloody lesson. So all of our next major moves will be centered around them!¡±

 Chapter 1070: The Most Crooked One

    Thest topic for discussion was centered around how they would retaliate against the Demons.

    It was almost impossible for humans to enter outsider realms, except through the Dead Star Sea.

    The teleportation portals the outsiders had left in the human world many years ago that connected to their worlds had very high flesh aura requirements to ess. It would be very dangerous for humans to ess them.

    Besides, no one knew whaty on the other end of them.

    There had been cases where desperate humans had entered such teleportation portals, but almost none of them had ever returned.

    The most usible way to deal with the Demons was to fight them in the Dead Star Sea.

    First of all, the Demons had set up many defensive lines and strongholds in the Dead Star Sea. Secondly, unlike Demon realms, the Dead Star Sea wasn¡¯t wreathed in raging Demon Qi year-round.

    Humans wouldn¡¯t be at too much of a disadvantage to fight the Demons in the Dead Star Sea.

    Therefore, thest issue for discussion was the Sons of the Stars arranging for their powerful subordinates to coordinate with Chu Rui, who was currently theirmander in the Dead Star Sea, andunch retaliations against the Demons.

    Afterwards, Mou Luo¡¯s domains would be awarded to the Sons of the Stars ording to their contributions in the battle.

    Those who made the greatest contributions would be allowed to choose first.

    Such a proposal was clearly in Sikong Cuo¡¯s favor.

    Even though his cultivation base wasn¡¯t the highest among the Sons of the Stars, his force had be the strongest among the Sons of the Stars now that he had enlisted Mou Luo¡¯s former subordinates.

    Judging by their strengths, he would be the Son of the Stars who would most likely make the most contributions in the uing battle against the Demons in the depths of the Dead Star Sea.

    Chu Rui, Mo Heng, and the elders didn¡¯t oppose this proposal put forth by Luo Wanxiang.

    Mou Luo had been killed by Demon grand patriarchs. Whoever could deal the heaviest blow to the Demons would be allowed to choose from and purchase Mou Luo¡¯s domains with contribution points first. This seemed fair and reasonable.

    Soon, all of the Sons of the Stars except Nie Tian took turns to express their support for Luo Wanxiang¡¯s proposal, and their resolution to gather and march their most powerful subordinates into the Dead Star Sea.

    Vice sectmaster Chu Rui smiled at Nie Tian from within the mirror in his seat, and asked, ¡°What about you, Nie Tian?¡±

    Sikong Cuo grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s necessary for my seventh martial brother to join this battle against the Demons. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t have confidence in him. He only joined us recently, yet he has already umted a considerable amount of contribution points. This is more than enough evidence for his abilities.

    ¡°However, his own cultivation base is still rather low, and his strongest subordinate, Jing Feiyang from the Domain of Heaven Python, is only at the middle Saint domain.

    ¡°I heard that he only brought one Saint domain and two Void domain subordinates with him when he went to assist Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.¡± With these words, Sikong Cuo shook his head slightly. ¡°That¡¯s clearly not enough to make a difference in our uing battle.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang nodded. ¡°It¡¯d be better if Nie Tian furthered his cultivation and enlistedte Saint domain subordinates before joining our operations in the Dead Star Sea. There are plenty of opportunities in the future. Why rush it?¡±

    Apparently, he shared Sikong Cuo¡¯s repulsion towards Nie Tian.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t impressive, he had repeatedly astonished people with his incredible means in the floating continent and the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    What if he performed outstandingly in the Dead Star Sea...?

    Considering that Chu Rui, the other vice sectmaster, was in charge of all affairs in the Dead Star Sea, if Nie Tian actually astonished everyone with his performance, even Luo Wanxiang would have a hard time masking his brilliance.

    With a warm smile, Chu Rui said, ¡°Nie Tian is a Son of the Stars. His cultivation base and the strength of his subordinates might be limited, but he should still be allowed to join our operation in the Dead Star Sea if he wants to. So I want to hear your opinion, Nie Tian.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to speak, grand elder Mo Heng chimed in with a in tone, ¡°I agree with vice sectmaster Luo. I don¡¯t think Nie Tian should join this operation in the Dead Star Sea.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t have much interest in fighting this battle in the first ce. Upon hearing Mo Heng¡¯s words, he gave a faint smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m still young. And there are plenty of opportunities to prove my worth in the future. I think I¡¯ll pass on this one.¡±

    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s all of the issues that need to be addressed. Meeting adjourned,¡± Luo Wanxiang said.

    The soul shadows within the mirrors rapidly faded and vanished.

    Chu Rui¡¯s soul shadow took onest deep look at Nie Tian before vanishing as well, Mo Heng after him.

    At the same time, the Sons of the Stars walked out of the grand hall sessively. Nie Tian and Fang Yuan walked out shoulder to shoulder.

    Then, as the two of them headed towards the Vast Heaven Pavilion together, Fang Yuan said with a worried expression, ¡°I¡¯ve got to make preparations and march into the Dead Star Sea again. I¡¯m afraid Sikong Cuo will be unstoppable with Luo Wanxiang¡¯s help this time. If there are no mishaps, his contribution to the uing battle in the Dead Star Sea will most likely be the greatest.

    ¡°If that happens, then he¡¯ll have the right to choose from Mou Luo¡¯s domains first. First, he enlists Mou Luo¡¯s powerful subordinates. Then, he takes over his domains. It¡¯s like giving a tiger a set of wings. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll overshadow all of us soon.¡±

    ¡°Why did you choose Ji Yuanchuan?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Fang Yuan smiled bitterly. ¡°Ji Yanchuan hasn¡¯t sided with either vice sectmaster. Like Luo Wanxiang, Ge Ling has long since determined that Sikong Cuo will be the best choice for our future sectmaster, and has thus been cozying up to him.

    ¡°As for Peng Siyi, who vice sectmaster Chu Rui voted for, she has ced high hopes in senior martial sister Wang Meijia, as does Chu Rui.

    ¡°Only Ji Yanchuan is like grand elder Mo Heng, who doesn¡¯t overtly lean towards any Son of the Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with surprise. ¡°Vice sectmaster Chu Rui has high hopes in senior martial sister Wang Meijia?¡±

    Fang Yuan nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Elder Han Wanrong is on your side, isn¡¯t she?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Fang Yuan didn¡¯t try to hide the truth as he said, ¡°That¡¯s right. But who knows? Perhaps she¡¯ll switch to second martial brother Fang Zhe in the future.

    ¡°Both Fang Zhe and I are from the Fang n, which is one of our sect¡¯s many subordinate ns.

    ¡°Elder Han has been grateful to our n because we provided him with significant help before.¡±

    Nie Tian was at a loss for words for a brief moment before asking with shock written all over his face, ¡°Your n has actually cultivated two Sons of the Stars?!¡±

    Fang Yuan smiled and said, ¡°Well, a talented member of my n¡¯s previous generation became a Son of the Stars as well. However, he died rather young, and didn¡¯t even have a chance topete for the position of the Lord of the Stars. As for now, the head of my n saw the potential in me and has bet the entire n on me. Fang Zhe, however, came from a remote branch of my n, and didn¡¯t receive much support from my n when he was growing up.

    ¡°He grew to resent my n, and dered that he was no longer a member of my n many years ago, when he became a Son of the Stars.

    ¡°Now, I have my n¡¯s support. But what if something happened to me? Would the head of our n ce his bet on Fang Zhe instead?¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned, not knowing what to say.

    He hadn¡¯t expected the Fang n¡¯s internal affairs to be in such a tremendous muddle. It reminded him of grand elder Mo Heng¡¯s n.

    As they spoke, the two of them arrived in front of the Vast Heaven Pavilion. Fang Yuan patted Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Fang Zhe isn¡¯t fond of me. Seeing that you and I are pretty close, I doubt that he¡¯ll treat you nicely. Now that he¡¯s stronger than our entire n now, he even pisses on our n with every chance he gets. Luckily, like me, he¡¯s also going to march into the Dead Star Sea, so he won¡¯t be able to cause you any trouble for now.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, even if he tries something funny.¡±

    Fang Yuanughed heartily and bid him farewell.

    All of the other Sons of the Stars made preparations and braced themselves for the uing battle against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea.

    Nie Tian, however, stayed in the Vast Heaven Pavilion. His original n was to visit the Domain of Heaven Python upon returning to check on the situation there, but he somehow felt that Mo Heng¡¯s wisp of soul awareness might still be in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, and that he might have something to say to him. Therefore, he remained in the Vast Heaven Pavilion.

    He had a feeling that grand elder Mo Heng had ced his bet on him.

    Days passed...

    He sensed something while channeling flesh power from outsider corpses to nourish his bloodline aura.

    As he had expected, Mo Heng¡¯s soul shadow show up.

    It flew soundlessly through the stone door to Nie Tian¡¯s room as soon as Nie Tian opened it, and immediately said, ¡°The information the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect gave us about what happened in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin was very limited.¡±

    Facing him, Nie Tian instinctively felt an uncle¡¯s solicitude from him.

    Then, he exined everything that had happened in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin in detail, including how the me spark had devoured the Domain-corroding mes, and how he had dealt Froste a heavy blow.

    Mo Heng listened attentively.

    Only after he finished did Mo Heng say in a soft voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you actually had such dangerous encounters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. Hou Chn, He Lianxiong, and you were almost killed there... Where did you get that me spark? The Domain-corroding mes are very hard to get rid of, how is it able to do that?¡±

    ¡°It was a gift from the Divine me I encountered in the Domain of me¡¯s End,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Mo Heng gasped with astonishment. ¡°That Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End?! Why did it give you a spark of its me?¡±

    ¡°If fact, it was more of an exchange,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°It gave a me spark to me in exchange for a few drops of my Blood Essence.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s your bloodline all over again...¡± Mo Heng muttered in a low voice.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. Looking unblinkingly at Mo Heng he asked, ¡°Do you know something about the origin of my bloodline? Do you know my father?¡±

    He finally asked the question he had longed to ask for years.

    Mo Heng fell silent.

    Only after a long time did he slowly open his mouth. ¡°Your father was the reason why I am who I am today... If he hadn¡¯t shown me the right path, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to join the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, much less be the grand elder. Instead, I probably would have given myself up and idled my time away because I didn¡¯t have a cultivation attribute.

    ¡°Also, it was him who first put forth and experimented with the idea of mixing outsider bloodlines with humans to create hybrids.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that major mishaps urred during the process, which forced him to stop. Many of his experiments and thoughts were considered wildly crooked.

    ¡°If we¡¯re talking about crooked human forces, he¡¯s the ultimate one. Compared to the road he took, the ideas and doings of the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the Blood Spirit Sect aren¡¯t even worth mentioning.¡±

 Chapter 1071: Hope Mingled with Worry

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

    This was the first time he had heard someone actually talk about his father, who he had never met his entire life.

    What was even more shocking was that that someone was Mo Heng, the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and that his father had guided him through his path of cultivation.

    ¡°Is he a hybrid too?¡± Nie Tian asked loudly.

    ¡°No,¡± Mo Heng shook his head. ¡°He was the first to put forth and experiment on the idea of mixing human and outsider bloodlines. But he isn¡¯t a hybrid himself.¡±

    ¡°So my bloodline...¡± Nie Tian said with a confused expression.

    ¡°Yeah, he gave you that unique bloodline, but it¡¯s veryplicated.¡± With these words, Mo Heng sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a taboo to even mention your father¡¯s name in the four great sects. The fact that he¡¯s still alive is a miracle. Although, only a few senior members of our sect know about his existence.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Does vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang know the connection between my bloodline and him?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone but the sectmaster and I can link you and him together.¡± After a moment of hesitation, Mo Heng added, ¡°I suggest that you keep this a secret and never tell anyone about your connection with him. If anyone finds out that your bloodline actually came from him, then you...¡±

    Mo Heng sighed. ¡°You may not have a ce in the human world anymore.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Is it that serious?!¡±

    Mo Heng smiled bitterly. ¡°Like I said, the major human sects have zero tolerance for those who practice crooked incantations at this moment. And what your father did back in the day was far too progressive, and considered deeply wrong and crooked. It¡¯d do you a hundred harms and no good if people learned that you¡¯re his son.

    ¡°So it¡¯s better that you don¡¯t even know his name.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a few seconds before asking, ¡°Do you know where he is now?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Mo Heng said, looking dispirited. ¡°How would I know? If you hadn¡¯t shown up, I would have thought that he died already. I¡¯m sure that he¡¯s still alive. But instead of meeting with me himself, he made a series of secret arrangements that got you into the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as a Son of the Stars. Can he be doing this to tell me that his assumption was right...?¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s voice grew low as he seemed to drift off into old memories, different looks shing across his eyes.

    ¡°What assumption?¡± Nie Tian asked, eager to learn the answer.

    However, Mo Heng seemed to have not heard him as he continued to mutter something to himself in an increasingly low voice.

    Only after a while did Mo Heng snap out of his thoughts.

    ¡°No matter what methods you use to upgrade your bloodline, try not to do it in the Realm of Fragmentary Star from now on.¡± Mo Heng advised.

    ¡°Not even in the Vast Heaven Pavilion?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking surprised.

    Mo Heng shook his head. ¡°Better not. This very pavilion belonged to him long ago. Out of the gratitude I harbor for your father, I gave this pavilion to you. But now that I think about it, it might have been a rash decision. Even though only the sectmaster and I know about his final assumption, and not even Luo Wanxiang or Chu Rui do, you¡¯re a hybrid, and your bloodline is extremely special.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that you being in the Vast Heaven Pavilion and your unheard-of bloodline will help Luo Wanxiang link you to your father.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Does this mean he was a Son of the Stars?¡±

    ¡°If that major mishap hadn¡¯t urred, he wouldn¡¯t have just been a Son of the Stars, but the current Lord of the Stars,¡± Mo Heng said with a hint of pride on his face. ¡°Opinions are still divided over which of the Sons of the Stars of this generation will eventually assume power. However, when your father first disyed his remarkable talent, almost everyone believed that he would be the future Lord of the Stars.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment once again.

    Mo Heng waved his hand. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s better that I don¡¯t tell you too much about him. Anyways, you¡¯d better go upgrade your bloodline in your own domains. Many major human domains are struggling in war at his moment. I suppose people don¡¯t have the time to try to figure out the origin of your bloodline.¡±

    Though reluctant, Nie Tian left through the teleportation portal in the Vast Heaven Pavilion under Mo Heng¡¯s urging.

    After Nie Tian left, Mo Heng let out a long sigh and said to himself, ¡°Now, all kinds of crooked human forces havee back to gue the human world with their outsider allies. Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re the one behind all this... What do you want? Do you want to make the four great sects pay? And prove that you were right, and everyone else was wrong?

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then why did you guide Nie Tian to our sect? Do you want to send a message to the sectmaster and the others that you¡¯ve seeded?

    ¡°What in the world do you want?¡±

    ...

    When Nie Tian appeared in a teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven Python, he found Dong Li there waiting.

    Dong Li couldn¡¯t mask her joy as she said, ¡°Both Quan Zixuan from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and Qu Mingde from the Golden Vast Sect have broken through into the middle Saint domain! Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect and Zhongli Jian from the Divine me Sect have advanced to the Saint domain from thete Void domain!¡±

    A smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°Finally some good news.¡±

    Dong Li sighed. ¡°Well... There¡¯s bad news as well. Feng Yulin from the Bliss Mountain Sect failed to break through into the Saint domain. He reincarnated after his fleshly body perished.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned.

    The breakthroughs from the Soul realm into the Void domain, from the Void domain into the Saint domain, and from the Saint domain into the God domain were full of dangers.

    Many human Qi warriors failed and died during these three major breakthroughs.

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde¡¯s breakthroughs were from the early Saint domain into the middle Saint domain. They were fairly easy and safe.

    However, for Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, and Feng Yulin, their breakthroughs were from the Void domain into the Saint domain, which were much more perilous. The fact that only Feng Yulin had failed was actually a satisfactory result.

    ¡°Also,¡± Dong Li added, ¡°Uncle Hua, Zong Zheng from the Ice Pavilion Sect, and Qi Bailu from the Tool Sect have all entered the Void domain.¡±

    These words lifted Nie Tian¡¯s spirit. ¡°Really? They all seeded?¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Yeah, perhaps it¡¯s because they all came to significant gains in the Shatter Battlefield, in both enlightenment and spiritual materials. Their sessful breakthroughs have vested the Domain of the Falling Stars with a few more Void domain experts.¡±

    ¡°This is quite some good news,¡± Nie Tian said, looking pleased.

    Hua Mu had provided him with significant help. He was really happy that he had entered the Void domain sessfully.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing,¡± Dong Li added. ¡°Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect in the Domain of Vast Darkness sent word to us, expressing their intent to be your subordinate sect in name, while still remaining independent in fact.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Xie Qian went into secluded cultivation soon after returning from the Domain of Endless Snow, and he recently entered thete Saint domain,¡± Dong Li exined. ¡°No major sects attached much importance to him or his sect when he was at the middle Saint domain. After all, there were quite a number of middle Saint domain Qi warriors across the human world. But things have changed now that he has entered thete Saint domain.

    ¡°Both He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion and Sikong Cuo from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had their eyes on him, and sent people to recruit him.

    ¡°Apprehensive about He Lianxiong and Sikong Cuo¡¯s lofty statuses and tremendous strength, Xie Qian was afraid that if he refused them without providing a satisfactory excuse, he and his sect might get into trouble.

    ¡°So...¡±

    Nie Tian immediately realized what was going on.

    He Lianxiong had suffered heavy losses in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, and was in desperate need of new powerful subordinates.

    Xie Qian, who had broken through into thete Saint domain, undoubtedly fell into this category.

    Meanwhile, Sikong Cuo was going to march a tremendous force into the Dead Star Sea, and also yearned for more powerful followers. It was only natural that he also had his eyes on Xie Qian, who he heard had recently broken through into thete Saint domain.

    However, Xie Qian had made it clear upon his return from the Domain of Endless Snow that he didn¡¯t intend to be a subordinate to anyone.

    Bing a subordinate might mean receiving significant assistance, but it also came with a price. If his master got into a massive battle, he would definitely be summoned to join him.

    He would have to answer his master¡¯s summons and arrive on time. It wouldn¡¯t matter if he was in the middle of secluded cultivation or busy with other business.

    Since he didn¡¯t want to take orders from others, he had remained independent over the years.

    When he had returned with Nie Tian, he had only imed that he and Nie Tian were allies, instead of subordinate and master.

    ¡°He led a group of his subordinates to my aid when I got into trouble in the Domain of Endless Snow...¡± Nie Tian muttered while pondering the matter. Momentster, he nodded and said, ¡°Alright, tell him that he can use my name to refuse He Lianxiong and Sikong Cuo, while in fact, we¡¯re still allies, and I won¡¯t force him to do things he doesn¡¯t want to.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll inform him of your decision,¡± Dong Li said. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she added, ¡°Zhao Shanling is back, and he said he wants to see you.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Zhao Shanling? Where is he?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s in the Realm of Split Void,¡± Dong Li answered. ¡°He¡¯s entered the middle Void domain, which makes him the strongest cultivator in the Domain of the Falling Stars. I wonder what he went through while he was gone that allowed him to make another breakthrough in cultivation in such a short time.¡±

    Zhao Shanling had vanished immediately after he and Pei Qiqi had killed the patriarch of the Xing n together.

    Now, decadester, he had suddenly appeared as middle Void domain expert.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go see him.¡±

 Chapter 1072: Shocking Discovery

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void.

    Under numerous spatial rifts that floated at odd angles, Zhao Shanling sat perfectly still, waiting for Nie Tian¡¯s arrival.

    The Star Boat whizzed through the region where meteors fell frequently out of the heavens, and came to a stop before him.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes snapped open, the light of excitement appearing in them. ¡°The Soul realm...¡±

    As the Star Boatnded, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°Where have you been all these years? I heard that you¡¯ve beaten Fan Kai in advancing to the middle Void domain. Congrattions.¡±

    In fact, even Zhao Shanling¡¯s middle Void domain cultivation base wasn¡¯t very impressive to him anymore.

    Now, among his subordinates, he had middle Saint domain experts such as Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde, and early Saint domain experts such as Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong. As for Void domain experts, he had so many that he couldn¡¯t even count them all.

    He had even gotten into contact with God domain experts after bing a Son of the Stars, not to mention Saint and Void domain experts.

    Therefore, Zhao Shanling¡¯s middle Void domain cultivation base was indeed nothing too special.

    However, he had some special feelings towards this man, who he didn¡¯t know if he should call his enemy or friend. He had experienced many things with the man before he became the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He had always been guarded against him before, but he didn¡¯t feel the need to do so now.

    After all, given his current strength, a middle Void domain expert could no longer threaten him.

    Somewhat emotional, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°I traveled around. I went to many human domains that I had never been to, and saw scenery I couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine. I even visited three of the Demon realms.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Three Demon realms?¡±

    The human world and the outsider world were separated by the Dead Star Sea. If the four great sects wanted tounch a massive invasion of the outsider world, they would have to march their forces through the Dead Star Sea.

    The secret teleportation portals the outsiders had left in the human world many years ago weren¡¯t fit for humans to ess. Even though they were connected to the outsider heaven and earth, human bodies were too feeble to handle the teleportation. Very few could survive.

    Zhao Shanling chuckled. ¡°The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms. I heard that the four great sects are currently engaged in a fierce battle against the outsiders in the Dead Star Sea. They all think that they have to cross the Dead Star Sea to enter the outsider heaven and earth... Howughable.¡±

    With a surprised expression, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Laughable?¡±

    ¡°The three major spatial rifts in the Domain of the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce sealed are ready-made channels, aren¡¯t they?¡± Zhao Shanling asked rhetorically.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Are you saying that those three sealed spatial rifts can take us to three different Demon realms?¡±

    Many years ago, the appearance of the Heaven Gates had somehow loosened the spatial rifts, allowing Demons from the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms to swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars through them.

    Auden, Anguz, and Nnte had been themanders of that invasion.

    Hua Mu and Nie Tian himself had briefly entered the spatial rifts, and seen the Demon¡¯s main force marching through the Demon Qi-wreathed tunnels.

    ording to the powerful experts from the major sects in the Domain of the Falling Stars, many had entered those spatial rifts in attempts to explore the heaven and earth thaty beyond them.

    However, almost none of them had ever returned.

    Of course, there were exceptions, Hua Mu being one.

    Not only had he returned alive, but he also had merged with a Heavenly Demonsbane.

    These thoughts thrilled Nie Tian. ¡°Are you sure that the three major spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars are essible?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded gently. ¡°I¡¯m sure, even though the teleportation will be full of dangers. I tried, and found unique essible passages in each of those spatial rifts.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You traveled back and forth through them?¡±

    Zhao Shanling chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Nie Tian practically skipped with joy. ¡°This is brilliant! I should have known that this was doable! Uncle Hua got his Heavenly Demonsbane from a Demon heaven and earth. And Han Yu, my second martial brother who crossed over to the Demons¡¯ side, probably entered the Demon world with the same method!¡±

    As they spoke, the other Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce should have marched into the Dead Star Sea under the leadership of vice sectmaster Chu Rui, and engaged in a fierce battle against the Demons already.

    Mou Luo¡¯s death had inspired their resolution to retaliate against the Demons. The contributions of the Sons of the Stars in the operation would determine how Mou Luo¡¯s domains would be divided.

    However, even the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had failed to find a way to march their forces directly into the Demon realms andunch a massive killing.

    They could only make moves in the Dead Star Sea.

    If he could lead his subordinates into the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms through the major spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and Realm of a Thousand Devastations...

    The mere thought of it made Nie Tian excited.

    ¡°How strong are the Demons in those three Demon realms?¡± Nie Tian asked right away.

    With a dry smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°I came back unscathed. That says enough about how strong the Demons from the three realms are. The strongest Demons in those domains are only at the eighth grade. Any ninth grade grand patriarchs have already moved their ns into the Second Demon Domain. ns that have tenth grade grand monarchs, or once gave births to tenth grade grand monarchs, have set up headquarters in the First Demon Domain.¡±

    ¡°Only the eighth grade?!¡± Nie Tian cheered.

    He suddenly saw a huge opportunity, which might allow him to take over all of Mou Luo¡¯s domains.

    ¡°There are portals in those Demon realms that connect to the outside world, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Of course there are. However, they¡¯re fairly easy to destroy. I can even destroy them myself. It¡¯s just that it might take me a long time to get them all. But things will improve significantly if Pei Qiqi agrees to help me with that spatial treasure of hers.¡±

    A thoughtful expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Senior martial sister...¡±

    Zhao Shanling frowned and said, ¡°But what surprises me is that even the mighty sectmasters and elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce don¡¯t know that those spatial rifts can take them to the Demon realms. Secret passages exist in those spatial rifts, which I suppose were left there intentionally by someone.¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Secret passages?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Yeah, only by going through them can we guarantee our safety and enter the Demon realms unharmed. If we don¡¯t enter through them, it¡¯ll be far too dangerous for us humans. I suspect that it was the same person who sealed and made those spatial rifts one-way who left those secret passages.¡±

    These words instantly reminded Nie Tian of his father, whom he had never met.

    The Heaven Gates in the Domain of the Falling Stars... He must have been here before.

    ¡°Was it really him who sealed those three spatial rifts and left those secret passages? If it was, doesn¡¯t it mean that he can travel between human and outsider heaven and earth freely?¡± Questions exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    He started to have a feeling that all of the secrets of the Domain of the Falling Stars had something to do with his father.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian analyzed inwardly, ¡°Elder Yan Zhan from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce once conducted a thorough search of the Domain of the Falling Stars in order to check my background. Perhaps he examined those spatial rifts as well, but found them no different from any other sealed spatial rifts that connect human and outsider heaven and earth.

    ¡°He probably didn¡¯t enter and examine them from the inside. Or perhaps since he wasn¡¯t an expert of spatial power, even if he had entered them, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to discover the secret passages.

    ¡°Countless powerful human experts have entered these kinds of spatial rifts or portals since ancient times. However, most of them either died during the teleportation or never returned from the outsider heaven and earth. I doubt that it would intrigue Yan Zhan even if he heard the rumor that some in the Domain of the Falling Stars have been to the outsider heaven and earth.

    ¡°Not to mention, very few know that Uncle Hua made it back from that Demon heaven and earth alive...¡±

    ¡°Who else knows about this?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only one I¡¯ve told so far,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°After all, the Domain of the Falling Stars is your personal property now.¡±

    ¡°Okay, don¡¯t tell anyone else about it for the time being. I need to think things over.¡± Nie Tian said.

    Zhao Shanling chuckled. ¡°Sure, I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll stay in the Domain of the Falling Stars for now. If you decide to enter those Demon realms, spread the word, and I¡¯ll show up. There are eighth grade Demons in those realms that could pose a threat to me, so I had scruples when I went there. But things will be different if you and your subordinates are to go with me.

    ¡°Also, I¡¯ve just returned, and need to spend some time recuperating. Hopefully, I¡¯ll find an opportunity to make another breakthrough in my cultivation.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Another breakthrough? Are you saying that you¡¯re ready to break through into thete Void domain already? What allowed you to progress so fast?¡±

    ¡°What do you think I¡¯ve been doing all these years?¡± Zhao Shanling asked arrogantly. ¡°You¡¯ve entered the Soul realm already. Do you expect me to make no headway?¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°You sure are full of surprises...¡±

    Compared to breaking through from the Profound realm into the Soul realm, breaking through from the early Void domain into the middle Void domain would usually take much more time and umtion.

    Who would have thought not only had this man broken though into the middle Void domain within a short period of time, but he was already seeking his next breakthrough in cultivation?

    As far as Nie Tian knew, let alone the experts in the Domain of the Falling Stars, even the Void domain disciples of the four great sects couldn¡¯t match the speed at which Zhao Shanling made progress in cultivation.

    Zhao Shanling vanished into thin air.

    Instead of leaving right away, Nie Tian instructed Dong Li to spread word to the Saint and Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to refrain from entering secluded cultivation for the moment.

    At the same time, he himself teleported to the meteor in the open starry river, where he had kept the Star Behemoth bone, through the teleportation portals set up by the Lei n.

    Upon arriving, he took the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding, letting it absorb energies from the starry river on its own.

    Meanwhile, standing on the meteor, he sensed with great rity that wisps of me power, wood power, and star power were being channeled by his me spark, Godspirit Tree sapling, and the Nine Stars Flower.

    He sat down and focused on channeling flesh power from the eighth and ninth grade outsider corpses Hou Chn had given him.

    Two weeks passed...

    He finished refining the flesh power he absorbed from the outsider corpses Hou Chn had given him.

    However, the green aura in his heart was still yearning for more.

    It was just that when he examined it with rapt attention, he discovered that its desire for flesh power had grown weaker than before. Such a discovery lifted his spirits. ¡°From the look of it, it won¡¯t take much more flesh power to satisfy its appetite! Once its satisfied, it¡¯ll fall dormant, and prepare for its breakthrough into the eighth grade!¡±

    After spending tremendous time and energy umting flesh power, he finally saw a silver lining.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to talk to senior martial sister Pei first. She¡¯s the key to whether I¡¯ll enter the Demons¡¯ homnd.¡±

 Chapter 1073: The Third Legacy Disciple

    In the Realm of Void Spirit.

    A forest of magnificent, ancient pces stood in a sea of clouds, with countless spatial rifts scattered in the vicinity.

    Nie Tian was standing on an octagonal jade tform, straight as spear. He gazed off at the simple, unsophisticated pces in the distance while he waited.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent people to inform Miss Pei of your arrival,¡± Ling You said, ¡°she should be here any moment now.¡±

    He had been charged with the task of protecting Pei Qiqi during their trip in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    When Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had burst through the Heaven Freezing Spell and escaped from that realm, he had been trapped there with the others. However, he had escaped as well when the realm had fallen apart. Later, when Luo Wanxiang and other reinforcements had arrived, he had reunited with Pei Qiqi.

    He had fought alongside Nie Tian, and was thus aware of his close rtionship with Pei Qiqi. Because of that, he had realized that Nie Tian¡¯s intent was to see Pei Qiqi the moment he had seen him. After sending word to Pei Qiqi, he had stayed and kept himpany.

    The jade tform Nie Tian was standing on was surrounded by many more simr tforms, each and every one of which was arge-scale inter-domain teleportation portal.

    Numerous Void Spirit Society disciples left and returned to the Realm of Void Spirit through them.

    WHOOSH!

    A slender figure appeared on a distant teleportation tform with his subordinates.

    It was a young man wearing a feathered hat. His garments fluttered against the wind, giving him a dignified and imposing look.

    Instead of heading towards his own pce upon his return, he pondered for a moment after noticing Ling You, and then flew over.

    As he did, he waved his hand at his subordinates. ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯ll go back in a bit.¡±

    Afternding on the jade tform where Nie Tian and Ling You were standing, he asked curiously, ¡°Who is this, Elder Ling?¡±

    Ling You bowed slightly and said with a tone that was neither servile nor overbearing, ¡°This is Nie Tian from the Fragmentary Star Pce. He¡¯s here to see Miss Pei.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re Nie Tian?¡± Strong interest filled the man¡¯s eyes as he grinned naturally and introduced himself, ¡°My name is Hong Minghui. Qiqi is my junior martial sister.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, he¡¯s our sectmaster¡¯s third legacy disciple,¡± Ling You exined.

    Nie Tian nodded out of respect. ¡°Greetings, senior martial brother.¡±

    Hong Minghui, the Void Spirit Society sectmaster¡¯s third legacy disciple, was at the middle Void domain. He had been considered to have the greatest chance at bing the future sectmaster before Pei Qiqi hade along...

    Pieces of information about the man shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    With a smile, Hong Minghui said, ¡°I heard that, like my junior martial sister, you¡¯re also from the Domain of the Falling Stars. It¡¯s very surprising that a ce I had never heard of actually gave birth to two figures that astounded the human world. I¡¯d like to go there and take a look if there¡¯s an opportunity, and perhaps get some luck for myself.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee to,¡± Nie Tian answered casually.

    Hong Minghui hesitated briefly before asking, ¡°You and my junior martial sister go back, right? Do you know where her parents are?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment. Fixing him with a confused look, he said, ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t.¡±

    Disappointment filled Hong Minghui¡¯s face.

    SHEW!

    Pei Qiqi suddenly appeared and flew over from a distant floating pce. Her figure grew clearer and clearer.

    Upon seeing her, Hong Minghui stopped asking questions.

    As shended on the jade tform, Hong Minghui took a deep look at her and marveled, ¡°Your cultivation talent is indeed unmatched.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, who had returned badly injured from the Domain of Nether Heaven, had somehow advanced from the middle Soul realm into thete Soul realm.

    Nie Tian felt genuinely happy for her. ¡°Congrattions, Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    Surprised, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re here, third martial brother?¡±

    ¡°I just came back from my trip. I saw Nie Tian and figured that we could have a talk.¡± With these words, Hong Minghui smiled and handed a ring of holding to Pei Qiqi. ¡°Junior martial sister, inside this ring of holding is a Realm Spirit Insect that I captured from a space disruption zone years ago. I know that most spirit beasts and spirit insects can¡¯t help with your cultivation, but Realm Spirit Insects are an exception.

    ¡°These insects date back to the Deste Antiquity Era, and are very hard to find now. Perhaps only in space disruption zones can people find one or two.

    ¡°They contain rich spatial power, which you can absorb directly. I wanted toe back and give it to you as soon as I heard that you had suffered heavy injuries in the Domain of Nether Heaven. But you know how intense the situation is now. I was caught up in battles against the Fiends, and couldn¡¯te back until today.¡±

    ¡°I appreciate the thought, senior martial brother,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°But I don¡¯t need it anymore. Our master found outsider beasts for me to recover with. As I¡¯m sure you can see, I¡¯m fully recovered, and I¡¯ve made a breakthrough in cultivation.¡±

    ¡°Given your uniqueness, even if you don¡¯t need it now, you¡¯ll need it in your future cultivation.¡± Hong Minghui insisted.

    ¡°I said I don¡¯t need it,¡± Pei Qiqi said impatiently.

    Hong Minghui frowned and said hesitantly, ¡°Alright then.¡±

    Then he left the jade tform, looking frustrated.

    ¡°Miss Pei, that Realm Spirit Insect will be of great help to you. Why didn¡¯t you ept it?¡± Ling You asked, looking confused. ¡°You¡¯d be able to strengthen your bloodline with it at any time.¡±

    Nie Tian also fixed her with a confused look.

    ¡°My master will get me the spiritual materials and outsider treasures I¡¯ll need for my cultivation and bloodline upgrade. That¡¯s not my concern.¡± Pei Qiqi said with an unpleasant tone, as if she couldn¡¯t tell good from bad. ¡°Why would I want to be in his debt?¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Ling You pondered briefly. ¡°I think I¡¯ll leave. I believe the two of you have a lot to talk about.¡±

    With these words, he left by himself.

    Watching Ling You disappear into the distance, Pei Qiqi took her time to say, ¡°I heard that you went to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin with Hou Chn from the wood element sect and He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion recently, and entered a fierce battle against the Demons and Fiends? You weren¡¯t injured, were you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Nie Tian answered, beaming.

    ¡°So why are you here?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking puzzled.

    Instead of answering, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Is this a good ce to talk?¡±

    Pei Qiqi pondered briefly and said, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s better if we go talk in the pce my master assigned to me.¡±

    Nie Tian hesitated for a moment and asked, ¡°Do you have any important tasks that your sect needs you to finish?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Well, if you have time, I¡¯d like to invite you to return to the Domain of the Falling Stars with me.¡±

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars...? Sure, it¡¯s been a long time since I left. I wonder how Uncle Hua and that Li Ye are doing.¡±

    ¡°I can take you to them if you want.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡±

    ...

    In the Minghui Pce, which had been named after Hong Minghui.

    Numerous Space Spirit Jades could be seen scattered in the four corners of the spacious hall. They formed a unique spell formation that filled the entire pce with spatial power.

    Hong Mo, who was only at the early Saint domain, didn¡¯t stand out from the crowd of Saint domain experts that were now gathered in the hall.

    However, all of the middle andte Saint domain experts seemed to have great respect for him.

    Hong Mo came from the Hong n, which was based in an Elementary grade human domain, where the strongest cultivators were only at the Void domain. The fact that he was from a remote branch of the n made his status even less impressive.

    The rise of the Hong n had no one but Hong Minghui to thank. As a kid, he had derived a profound understanding of spatial power. After he had been discovered and taken to the Void Spirit Society, he had won the sectmaster¡¯s favor, and be his third legacy disciple.

    Only after then had the Hong n rapidly risen to prominence. Hong Mo had alsoe out of the remote branch and be the head of the entire Hong n.

    Meanwhile, with his son Hong Minghui¡¯s rich cultivation resources, he had finally risen to the early Saint domain.

    Limited by his cultivation talent, this was already as far as he could go in his path of cultivation.

    Even he himself understood that he probably wouldn¡¯t have a chance to enter the God domain his whole life. Therefore, he had ced all of his hopes on his son, Hong Minghui, hoping that the current sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society would one day name him the next sectmaster.

    However, Pei Qiqi¡¯s appearance had torn his dream to shreds.

    Since the day she had been secretly taken back to the Void Spirit Society, the sectmaster had poured all of his time and energy into cultivating her, leaving sect affairs in others¡¯ hands. All of the elders and vice sectmasters had seen the special treatment she had received from the sectmaster, and had thus be aware of the situation: Pei Qiqi was the one who the sectmaster had ced all of his hopes on.

    WHOOSH!

    Hong Minghui flew into the spacious hall. His face grew grim upon seeing all of the experts that were gathered there.

    ¡°Did she ept the Realm Spirit Insect that you captured for her, Hong Minghui?¡± Hong Mo asked, eager to know the answer.

    Hong Minghui dropped his butt into his seat. ¡°No. That Realm Spirit Insect would be of significant help to her. She¡¯d be able to strengthen her bloodline with it at any time. Yet she refused to take it.¡±

    Hong Mo sighed in frustration and said, ¡°We¡¯ve got to admit that she¡¯s going to be the next sectmaster. As long as the sectmaster is still alive, we¡¯d be courting death if we tried something funny with her. So I thought about it a lot, and realized that we have to go for the next best thing now: have you pursue her.

    ¡°If she bes your wife, then everything will work out. Perhaps our n will even have the privilege of passing on her unique bloodline. If your descendants are blessed with her bloodline, then they¡¯ll have great chances at bing future sectmasters of the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°If that really happens, then our n will be the master of the Void Spirit Society for thousands of years toe.

    ¡°But now...¡±

    ¡°My junior martial sister seems to have her heart set on another.¡± Hong Minghui threw cold water on his father¡¯s dream of the future. ¡°The way she looks at that Nie Tian is different from the way she looks at anyone else.¡±

    Hong Mo was taken aback. ¡°Nie Tian? I heard that the two of them had a bit of history back when they were in the Domain of the Falling Stars. I even ran a secret investigation of him, and learned that he has another girl from the Domain of the Falling Stars, whose name is Dong Li. Only because of that, I didn¡¯t think there was anything serious between her and Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Trust me, father,¡± Hong Minghui said with certainty. ¡°I know for sure that my junior martial sister has a thing for that Nie Tian.¡±

    Hong Mo frowned deeply. ¡°That makes it a bit tricky... Nie Tian is a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and his reputation is on the rise. It won¡¯t be easy to deal with him.¡±

    Hong Minghui snorted disdainfully. ¡°Even so, he¡¯s still only at the early Soul realm. Let¡¯s put our minds together and see if there¡¯s a way to get rid of him without others finding out.¡±

 Chapter 1074: Invading the Demon Realm

    Inside the grand pce left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the Realm of Split Void, Dong Li confronted Nie Tian as soon as he and Pei Qiqi appeared in the teleportation portal. ¡°She was the reason why you went to the Void Spirit Society?¡±

    A defensive look filled her eyes as she fixed her eyes on Pei Qiqi.

    At this point, she had already entered thete Profound realm.

    However, upon seeing Pei Qiqi, she sensed that her cultivation base was far higher than hers.

    A sense of frustration instantly filled her heart.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had fought side by side in the Realm of Split Void many years ago. Back then, both their cultivation bases and statuses had been lower than hers.

    But now, Nie Tian had be a Son of the Stars, while Pei Qiqi had won the Void Spirit Society sectmaster¡¯s favor and be his fourth legacy disciple.

    The fact that the two of them finished missions together like a perfect pair put her in a bad mood.

    Even though there had also been rumors about Nie Tian and Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, she hadn¡¯t attached much importance to them.

    After all, those two weren¡¯t so much more outstanding than her, and they had known Nie Tian for a much shorter time than she had.

    However, Pei Qiqi was different.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know many disciples of the Void Spirit Society,¡± Nie Tian exined with an embarrassed expression, ¡°but as you know, we need help from those who are well-versed in spatial power if we want to enter those three Demon realms. Zhao Shanling alone is far from enough. And I don¡¯t want people to find out about what I¡¯m trying to do. I thought about it a lot, and realized that I can only seek Senior Martial Sister Pei¡¯s help.¡±

    The haze clouding Dong Li¡¯s face didn¡¯t fade.

    Pei Qiqi took out a ring of holding and handed to Nie Tian. ¡°Here. Inside the ring are some spirit beast corpses that my master gave me. They don¡¯t contain any special spatial power and can¡¯t really help with my cultivation. I knew that your special bloodline allows you to refine most spirit beast and outsider corpses, so I kept them for you.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up as he epted the ring without hesitation. ¡°Thank you, Senior Martial Sister Pei. They¡¯re indeed very useful to me.¡±

    Watching Pei Qiqi giving Nie Tian spirit beast corpses and Nie Tian epting them right in front of her, Dong Li grew even more angry.

    Only then did Nie Tian sense the tension and attempt to break it by saying, ¡°Alright, how¡¯s everything going?¡±

    ¡°All of the major sects from the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries sent word back to me, saying that their powerful experts won¡¯t enter secluded cultivation for a while, and will be avable to answer your summons at any time,¡± Dong Li answered.

    ¡°You go ahead and talk. I¡¯ll go visit Uncle Hua and that fatty Li Ye.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi walked out of the spacious hall.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like her,¡± Dong Li said without holding back. ¡°And I don¡¯t want you to get too close to her. I can feel that she...¡±

    ¡°She what?¡± Nie Tian asked with a teasing smile.

    Dong Li gave him a nasty look. ¡°You know what I mean! I¡¯m going to let this one pass, but you¡¯ve got to keep your distance from her from now on!¡±

    Nie Tian promised.

    Only then did Dong Li walk over to him. She buried her head in Nie Tian¡¯s chest and whispered, ¡°I¡¯m feeling a lot of pressure from you. You¡¯re bing stronger and stronger. Even though you practice three different types of power, your cultivation base still progresses faster than most. Now, you¡¯ve already entered the Soul realm, but I¡¯m only at thete Profound realm, even though I¡¯ve cultivated like crazy.

    ¡°What gives me even more pressure is your status as a Son of the Stars. I¡¯m worried... that...¡±

    Her voice grew lower and lower. It seemed that, instead of talking to Nie Tian, she was simply giving vent to her feelings.

    Nie Tian felt for her, but didn¡¯t know how to make her feel better. He thought briefly and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t youe with me when I enter the three Demon realms? Over the years, I¡¯ve fought quite a few battles in different human domains. Even though I¡¯ve repeatedly found myself in desperate situations, those experiences tempered me and helped improve my cultivation base. Perhaps the reason why your cultivation base hasn¡¯t advanced as fast as you¡¯d like is because you¡¯ve been overseeing things in the Domain of Heaven Python, and haven¡¯t fought any battles these past few years.¡±

    Dong Li regained her confidence. ¡°Great! I¡¯ll bring out my best in our uing battles in the three Demon realms!¡±

    ...

    Two weekster, numerous Soul realm, Void domain, and Saint domain experts from the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect arrived in the Realm of Split Void.

    Qi warriors from the major sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries also arrived sessively through inter-domain teleportation portals. Only the Pure Heaven Sect didn¡¯t send any experts to the Realm of Split Void.

    After her brief meeting with Hua Mu and Li Ye, Pei Qiqi found Zhao Shanling, who took her to the spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven. With his help, she familiarized herself with the environment, found the secret passage, and learned how to travel to the Fourth Demon Realm safely.

    Furthermore, Pei Qiqi also got Qi Lianshan, a middle Saint domain elder of the Void Spirit Society, to help them. With Zhao Shanling¡¯s help, Qi Lianshan found the secret passage Zhao Shanling had talked about in the spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, along with the safe way to enter the Fifth Demon Realm.

    The spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven connected to the Sixth Demon Realm. Zhao Shanling would guide a group of experts through it himself.

    The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms were located in the Demon heaven and earth, and were separated from the other realms by a significant distance.

    However, once powerful Demons in the other Demon realms sensed anomalies in these three realms, they would still be able to reestablish contact with them within a short time by relying on ancient starships, or the power of Demon grand monarchs.

    Therefore, after discussing their options with Jing Feiyang and the others, Nie Tian decided to attack the three Demon realms at the same time.

    And the duration of their operation would be exactly one month.

    They would have to end their operation when the time was up, no matter the result.

    The reason why they set the time to be one month was because Zhao Shanling had assessed and determined that it would take about a month for Demon ancient starships to reach the three Demon realms from the Third Demon Realm, which was the closest to them.

    Of course, that was based on the premise that they sessfully destroyed all of the inter-realm teleportation portals in the three Demon realms.

    Of all people, Pei Qiqi had the most responsibilities. First, she would help Zhao Shanling destroy all of the portals in the Sixth Demon Realm, then she would go help Qi Lianshan get rid of all of the portals in the Fifth Demon Realm.

    Eventually, she herself would lead a group of experts to the Fourth Demon Realm and destroy all of the portals that connected the Fourth Demon Realm to the other Demon realms.

    In the Realm of me Heaven...

    A spatial rift was floating in the sky, surrounded by three lofty mountain peaks.

    Qu Mingde and other powerful experts from the Golden Vast Sect, Zhongli Jian and his people from the Divine me Sect, and Fan Kai and other experts from the Domain of the Falling Stars were all gathered by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Nie Tian nced around, and found himself surrounded by nearly a thousand Qi warriors.

    Most of them were at the Soul realm, with a small portion being Saint and Void domain experts. They were the cornerstones of the three sects that came from three different domains.

    Zhao Shanling stepped up and addressed everyone. ¡°The most powerful n in the Sixth Demon Realm is the Astarte n, their n chief being at the peak of the eighth grade. But there are quite a few other ns in the Sixth Demon Realm that also have plenty of eighth grade experts.

    ¡°As far as I know, there are about three million Demons in the Sixth Demon Realm alone. Of course, most of them are at very low grades, and are not worth mentioning.

    ¡°But there are also arge number of demonic beasts and nts that can be used to assist the Demons in battle.

    ¡°The Sixth Demon Realm gave birth to a Demon grand monarch once. After he rose to prominence, he moved his n to the First Demon Realm. Even though he died millions of years ago, his n got to remain in the First Demon Realm.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the Astarte n shared that Demon grand monarch¡¯s bloodline, but they weren¡¯t immediately rted. For some reason, they failed to win the grand monarch¡¯s acknowledgment. Therefore, when the grand monarch rose to prominence several million years ago, he chose not to take the Astarte n to the First Demon Realm with him.

    ¡°The current chief of the Astarte n calls himself the Dark Demon Patriarch. However, that¡¯s only a title he gave himself, and is unacknowledged by the noble Demon ns. Only after he actually enters the ninth grade will his title be acknowledged by them. And by doing that, he¡¯ll be allowed to move his n from the Sixth Demon Realm to the Third or Second Demon Realm.

    ¡°ording to what I¡¯ve learned, it seems that it won¡¯t be long before he advances to the ninth grade.

    ¡°Aside from that, the Sixth Demon Realm seems to be rich in demonic jades, which, like our spirit jades, are crystallized Demon Qi that can be used to strengthen Demons. But they¡¯re less than useless to us.

    ¡°Aside from killing the Demons in the Sixth Demon Realm, another goal of our operation is to collect the following materials.

    ¡°Silicon Silver. That¡¯s right. The Sixth Demon Realm has arge Silicon Silver reserve. Silicon Silver can be used to forge all kinds of high-grade spiritual tools and armor, and it¡¯s extremely hard to find in our heaven and earth.

    ¡°Then, there¡¯s Dementing Demonic Grass. This kind of demonic grass can be found in most Demon domains. They can be used to dement living beings and cause them to hallucinate, as well as awaken their inner demons. However, they¡¯re also the main ingredient to make Barrier Breaking Pills.

    ¡°Barrier Breaking Pills are seventh level Earth grade medicinal pills, which are specially designed for those attempting to break through into the Void, Saint, or God domain. After mixing them with other spiritual materials and a series of refinements, they can actually soothe the minds of those who are seeking breakthroughs, and prevent them from being affected by their inner demons, which gives them great value.

    ¡°However, they¡¯re of no use to the Demons. The Demons usually use them to trade with rogue humans to get the materials they need.

    ¡°There is arge amount of Dementing Demonic Grass in the Sixth Demon Realm for us to pick. Even if you don¡¯t need them for the time being, you¡¯ll be able to trade them for other rare materials from the powerful sects after your return.

    ¡°Aside from Silicon Silver and Dementing Demonic Grass, there are also...¡±

    Zhao Shanling took his time to list the rare spiritual materials that the Sixth Demon Realm had to offer.

    Almost all of them were of no use to the Demons, but were extremely rare and expensive in the human heaven and earth.

    Furthermore, the Astarte n and the other ns in the Sixth Demon Realm must also haverge stocks of various other materials.

    As long as they could wipe them out, they would be able to loot a tremendous amount of resources, which would help improve the strength of Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates significantly.

    It was already very rare that someone could enter a Demon realm and return alive. However, Zhao Shanling had not only done that, but also gained a full understanding of the realm.

    Qu Mingde and the other experts grew excited after hearing his words.

    The chief of the Astarte n, who was their strongest enemy in the Sixth Demon Realm, was only at the peak of the eighth grade. As long as they could destroy all of the portals and seal the realm off, one month was enough for them to do plenty of things.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get started with the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi were the first to fly into the spatial rift. They were followed by Nie Tian, Qu Mingde, and Zhongli Jian. Then, the others streamed in as well.

    Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi sped through the Demon Qi-wreathed spatial tunnel while Zhao Shanling looked for the so-called secret passage.

    ¡°Over here, everyone!¡± Zhao Shanling called out.

    Everyone then flew towards him, unleashing spiritual power wards to fend off the raging Demon Qi.

    The direction they were heading wasn¡¯t where the Demons hade from when they had invaded before. This meant even the Demons might not know anything about the secret passage.

    ¡°This is it!¡± Zhao Shanling found a pitch-ck spot that thrummed with strange spatial fluctuations, and flew into it without hesitation.

 Chapter 1075: The Sixth Demon Realm

    In the Sixth Demon Realm.

    The Lancelot n sat in the depths of the Dark Morass near the northern border of the realm.

    A slender spatial rift that floated over the morass suddenly started to surge with unusual spatial fluctuations. Immediately afterwards, figures started to stream out of it.

    Afternding on a piece of soggy purplend, Zhao Shanling said to Nie Tian, ¡°We¡¯re here. This is the Sixth Demon Realm.

    ¡°There are arge number of spatial rifts in this realm, but most of them connect to its subordinate realms, which are popted with numerous low-grade Demons and spirit beasts.

    ¡°Some of those realms even have humans in them, human ves to be exact. They¡¯re driven by their Demon masters to mine demonic stones and pick demonic grass.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Figures continued to pour out of the spatial rift, and spread out around Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian looked skywards, and could vaguely see some stars in the dark sky.

    However, those stars were very dim and vague, as if star power couldn¡¯t prate the barrier of this realm.

    ¡°This realm...¡± Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as she nced around. The ck tortoise resting at her feet also suddenly grew spirited, as if the environment in the Sixth Demon Realm agreed with it very much. ¡°This realm is wreathed in pure dark power!¡±

    ¡°This realm once gave birth to ate tenth grade Demon grand monarch, who was recognized to be one of the strongest Demons throughout Demon history,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a hint of respect in his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s said that he learned the true origin of dark power in the Sixth Demon Realm, and therefore entered the tenth grade.

    ¡°Even after bing a grand monarch, he continued to live in the Sixth Demon Realm for some time. His existence triggered changes, and rich dark power gradually filled every corner of the realm. Most members of the Astarte n, which is the strongest n in the Sixth Demon Realm, carry dark power bloodlines too.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So does that mean this realm is an ideal ce for Dong Li to practice cultivation?¡±

    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Zhao Shanling answered.

    Both Dong Li and her ck tortoise thrived on dark power. This meant the Sixth Demon Realm was indeed a blessednd for them.

    ¡°Hey, girl,¡± Zhao Shanling called out. ¡°You¡¯re up.¡±

    Without saying a word, Pei Qiqi summoned her irregrly shaped crystal.

    The crystal spun slowly, glittering spatial des filling all of its facets, as if to detect any unusual spatial fluctuations throughout the Sixth Demon Realm.

    Eyes as bright as diamonds, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°There are a total of seventeen stable spatial rifts in this realm, all connecting to different ces. All of the rest are congested and unessible. Other than that, there are two teleportation portals. One of them is fairly close to us.¡±

    Zhao Shanling grinned. ¡°Those two teleportation portals are respectively controlled by the Astarte n and the Lancelot n, which are the two strongest ns in the Sixth Demon Realm. Powerful Demons from the First, Second, and Third Demon Realms rely on them to enter and leave the Sixth Demon Realm.

    ¡°By getting rid of those two teleportation portals, we¡¯ll be able to cut off the Sixth Demon Realm¡¯s connections with the three Demon realms that can actually pose a threat to us.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°None of the ces that the seventeen spatial rifts connect to are worth mentioning. We can simply ignore them. But to be safe, I¡¯ll destroy them all the same. How about you take care of the Astarte n¡¯s teleportation portal, and leave the Lancelot n¡¯s teleportation portal to me?¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhao Shanling agreed.

    The reason why he had asked for Pei Qiqi¡¯s assistance was because he intended to destroy the two teleportation portals at the same time.

    What he feared was that by destroying one of the teleportation portals, they would rm the Demons by the other one, and give them time to call for help.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s get started,¡± Pei Qiqi said inly.

    Immediately afterwards, she and Zhao Shanling each split open a spatial rift and vanished into them.

    All of the others stayed put and waited for word from them.

    ¡°Everything¡¯s going to be okay with Miss Pei, right?¡± Qu Mingde asked, looking somewhat worried. ¡°After all, she¡¯s only at thete Soul realm, and there are some eighth grade Demons in this realm...¡±

    ¡°Everything will be okay.¡± Nie Tian assured him.

    He had witnessed Pei Qiqi¡¯s mighty means when they had fought side by side in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Back then, her cultivation base had been even lower, and yet she had in eighth grade outsiders effortlessly.

    Not to mention now.

    He hadn¡¯t attached much importance to the Sixth Demon Realm since the moment he had learned that the strongest Demon in it was only at the peak of the eighth grade.

    He was no longer the same youngster who had been able to do nothing but watch Demon invaders butcher the people of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Back when the joint forces from the Demons from the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms had invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars, he had only been able to watch experts like Hua Mu, Li Muyang, and Ling Dong fight the high-tier Demons.

    But now, as long as he had the Star Behemoth bone in his hand, not a single Demon in the Sixth Demon Realm would be able to stop him, provided that no Demon grand patriarchs were toe to their aid.

    Raging Demon qi filled every corner of the realm. Arge number of low-grade demonic insects were gnawing at each other in the morass and strengthening themselves by devouring the remains of the dead.

    This wasmonly seen among low-grade demonic insects and beasts. They fought, killed, and devoured each other nonstop.

    This was the way they strengthened themselves and allowed their bloodlines to evolve.

    It was said that high-tier Demons had been low-tier demonic insects and beasts at the very beginning. It had taken countless years of evolution for them to develop their intelligence and be the powerful race they were today.

    Most of the high-tier Demons today were the descendants of the first high-tier Demons. Therefore, they were born with advanced intelligence, which set them apart from low-tier demonic insects and beasts.

    However, their inefficient reproduction had resulted in their being outnumbered by humans by a great margin.

    As Nie Tian unleashed his bloodline power to sense the killing between the low-tier demonic insects in the morass, he frowned and muttered to himself, ¡°Perhaps the way high-tier Demons view low-tier demonic insects and beasts is simr to the way human Qi warriors viewmoners. But their internal struggles seem to be more brutal and relentless.

    ¡°Their development from weak low-tier creatures to high-tier Demons is apanied by countless difficulties.

    ¡°And those who fail will die and be food for their opponents...¡±

    ¡°What are you mumbling about, Nie Tian?¡± Dong Li asked with a puzzled expression.

    At the same time, the ck tortoise nibbled the bottom of her pants, as if to urge her to go somewhere else.

    ¡°Nothing. Just some thoughts this ce put in my mind.¡± With these words, Nie Tian came out of his daze and fixed the ck tortoise with a puzzled look. ¡°What is it doing?¡±

    ¡°It wants to take me to a ce where the dark power is richer,¡± Dong Li said with a wry smile. ¡°Its perception of dark power is much keener than mine. Apparently, dark power isn¡¯t evenly distributed in this realm. Instead, it¡¯s richer in some areas but thinner in others. It¡¯s sensed a ce where dark power is exceptionally rich, and is hoping to take me there.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°Well, I suppose you¡¯ll be alright as long as you keep your guard up. So go ahead.¡±

    After their return from the floating continent, the ck tortoise had advanced to the eighth grade from the seventh grade.

    An eighth grade ck tortoise might not be a mighty force in a powerful realm. However, in the Sixth Demon Realm, being at the eighth grade put it at the top of the food chain.

    It would be safe as long as it stayed clear of the chiefs of the Astarte n and the Lancelot n.

    Once Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling finished their tasks and returned, Nie Tian would arrange for Qu Mingde, Zhongli Jian, and the other experts to wipe out those powerful Demons first.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll go take a quick look around.¡± With a soft smile, Dong Li summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool and flew off with the ck tortoise.

    ¡°You, go with her,¡± Qu Mingde ordered.

    Wu Yun, who was now at thete Void domain, nodded slightly and left after Dong Li.

    Wu Yun was from the Golden Vast Sect, which meant she took orders from Qu Mingde. She had originally been deployed in the Realm of Maelstrom, but had been summoned to join this operation.

    She understood how important Dong Li was to Nie Tian, and thus would do everything within her power to keep her safe. Given herte Void domain cultivation base, Dong Li should be able to go anywhere in the Sixth Demon Realm without meeting much resistance.

    At the same time, as they waited, everyone enveloped themselves in their respective spiritual power wards to fend off the Demon qi.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t bother to do so. He simply stood in the Demon qi, and the Demon qi couldn¡¯t harm him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    It wasn¡¯t long before Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi returned.

    ¡°The Lancelot n¡¯s teleportation portal has been destroyed, and I drained the power of all of the stable spatial rifts, rendering them inessible.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi took a look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Guard this spatial rift well. It¡¯s your one and only connection with the Realm of me Heaven. I¡¯lle back for you after I finish my tasks. Be careful.¡±

    She turned around and prepared to fly into the glowing spatial rift and head towards the Realm of a Thousand Devastations, where Qi Lianshan was waiting for her.

    Only after helping Qi Lianshan, Quan Zixuan, and the others enter the Fifth Demon Realm and get rid of the teleportation portals there would she move on to the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and lead Jing Feiyang and the other experts into the Fourth Demon Realm.

    She was undoubtedly the busiest one.

    ¡°You too,¡± Nie Tian said with a concerned face.

    ¡°Others may die, but I won¡¯t.¡± After leaving these confident words, she vanished into the spatial rift.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian turned to Zhongli Jian and said, ¡°Sectmaster Zhongli, you¡¯ll take your people to wipe out the Lancelot n.¡±

    After Zhao Shanling nodded approvingly at him, he turned to Qu Mingde and said, ¡°Sectmaster Qu, you and your people will go take care of the Astarte n.¡±

    As Nie Tian continued to give orders, Zhao Shanling split open spatial rifts to send the experts from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars to the headquarters of different Demon ns in the Sixth Demon Realm.

    Only after that did Zhao Shanling take Nie Tian to the headquarters of the Astarte n, which was now in turmoil.

    The Astarte n¡¯s headquarters stood atop a ck mountain peak. At this point, numerous low-tier Demons were letting out heaven-shaking, earth-shattering howls as they swooped across the sky with high-tier Demons sitting astride them.

    A spatial rift opened in the sky, and Zhao Shanling, who had just showed up to destroy their teleportation portal, appeared again.

 Chapter 1076: Doomsday

    Dark clouds filled the sky.

    The howls of enormous low-tier Demons kepting from the depths of the dense woods that surrounded the ck mountain peak.

    Under the dark clouds, many low-tier winged Demons were flying around, with members of the Astarte n sitting astride them.

    A destroyed teleportation portal could be seen at the foot of the mountain peak. Unusual spatial fluctuations filled arge area.

    Quake, the chief of the Astarte n, stood towering on the mountaintop, his face as grim as a silentke.

    Zhao Shanling appearing out of nowhere and destroying their teleportation portal, which was their only connection with the other Demon realms, had made him feel the panic of doomsday for the first time.

    He had never felt so shocked and desperate in his dozens of thousands of years of life.

    Humans had actually entered the Sixth Demon Realm!

    Not only that, but they had actually destroyed their teleportation portal upon arriving. What did that mean?

    It was said that humans lived in a whole other heaven and earth that was separated from their heaven and earth by the Dead Star Sea.

    Only Demons like them could enter the human heaven and earth through the teleportation portals they had left there during ancient times to kill and pige.

    Not once had humansunched a massive invasion of the Demon heaven and earth.

    In this heaven and earth, Demons had always been masters, and humans had always been ves.

    The fact that a human spatial power expert had suddenly shown up in the Sixth Demon Realm had put great fear in Quake.

    ¡°What happened? How did humans enter our realm?¡± Quake roared inwardly.

    That was when he saw a spatial rift appearing in the sky. Zhao Shanling had returned.

    While he felt an increasingly strong sense of insecurity, Qu Mingde, Nie Tian, and other experts showed up at the same time. He was astounded beyond words. ¡°Doom hase for our realm!¡±

    Since no humans had ever actually invaded the Demon heaven and earth before, the Astarte n hadn¡¯t built any solid defenses to protect their headquarters.

    The only difference was that the Demon qi in this area was richer.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Saint domain expert!¡± The aura Qu Mingde exuded, and his domain that seemed to have actual golden mountains within it, made him tremble nonstop.

    This was power he could never match!

    Nie Tian snorted a coldugh and said, ¡°The Astarte n... This is the n that invaded the Realm of me Heaven. Names such as Nnte, Caro, Groete, and Sarah still haven¡¯t faded from my memories. And all of them were from the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    Most of these names had already perished in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ording to them, the Realm of me Heaven had been one of their rangnds, where they had reared arge number of low-tier Demons.

    Now, many yearster, as the master of the Domain of the Falling Stars, Nie Tian marched an army of his powerful subordinates into the Sixth Demon Realm to wipe out the Astarte n.

    Nie Tian lifted his hand and pointed at the ck mountain peak that the Astarte n¡¯s headquarters sat on. ¡°Leave no one alive.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, a fierce battle broke out. To be exact, a massacre broke out.

    Numerous Soul realm and Void domain disciples of the Golden Vast Sect spread out and unleashed a storm of spiritual tools, which reaped the lives of flying low-tier Demons and the Astarte n members on their backs at an rming rate.

    At the same time, Qu Mingde threw himself at the ck mountain peak, wreathed in his shiny golden domain.

    Before any actual contact, dazzling golden light shot out of his domain onto the pitch-ck ancient castles, shattering them as if they were made of paper.

    Momentster, golden light engulfed the entire mountain peak, killing numerous high-tier Demons on it.

    Quake roared in despair as he stimted his dark power bloodline to its limit, but still failed to stop the divine golden light.

    Qu Mingde¡¯s domain that was filled with golden mountains rammed into the ck mountain peak.

    The mountain peak wobbled briefly before exploding violently, sending enormous rocks in all directions. Countless low-tier Demons and members of the Astarte n in the surroundings had their bodies crushed to pieces.

    The desperate wails of members of the Astarte n filled the battlefield as the massacre went on.

    Nie Tian stood on his Star Boat that floated in the air and watched this one-sided battle with an expressionless face.

    ¡°This very n invaded the Realm of me Heaven. Even though they were driven from the Realm of me Heaven shortly afterwards, the casualties they had caused us were simply shocking.¡±

    His memories of the Demons¡¯ brutal deeds in the Realm of me Heaven fueled his killing intent.

    Standing by Nie Tian¡¯s side, Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t have the slightest emotion on his face as he looked at the battleground. ¡°This is how inter-racial wars are. Afterwards, only one side shall be left standing.

    ¡°If you had failed to seal that spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven back then, the people of the Realm of me Heaven would have been plunged into a world of misery and suffering. Most of them would have been killed, leaving a small portion to be taken back to the Demon realms to live the rest of their lives as ves.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly. ¡°I¡¯m not as soft-hearted as you might think I am. I witnessed the outsiders ravage the Domain of Nether Heaven and the Domain of Heaven Python...

    ¡°From the look of it, if there are no mishaps, the Sixth Demon Realm will be easy to sack.¡±

    With a rxed expression, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°With Qu Mingde here, I don¡¯t think there will be any mishaps.¡±

    Quake was at the peak of the eighth grade. Zhao Shanling wasn¡¯tpletely confident that he would be able to kill him by himself.

    For Qu Mingde, however, killing Quake would be as easy as cake.

    As the two of them spoke, members of the Astarte n continued to be ughtered, along with their low-tier Demons. Their establishments toppled one after another.

    Nie Tian was soon bored by the one-sided massacre, knowing that the same thing was happening to the Lancelot n and the other minor Demon ns.

    ¡°I bet you didn¡¯t see thising, Demons,¡± he muttered to himself.

    He had fought many battles against the outsiders, but not one battle had been so easily-fought.

    This was the first time he had experienced such an overwhelming advantage in a battle against the outsiders.

    With a somewhat bored expression, he muttered, ¡°Things have changed. My growth and my powerful subordinates have made sacking the Sixth Demon Realm as easy as turning over my hand.¡±

    After reminding Zhao Shanling to keep an eye on the situation in the other battlefields, he left the battlefield in the Astarte n to travel aimlessly on his Star Boat.

    This was the first time he had entered a Demon realm. He wanted to take a look around and see what about this realm was fundamentally different from a human realm.

    Furthermore, he had long since heard that humanity had actually been born in the heaven and earth beyond the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°The birthce of humanity...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s mind drifted away as he flew around on the Star Boat. ¡°Maybe not in this realm, but humans are still living in other realms like this, where they are viewed as livestock, and will be massively butchered in sacrificial activities. The four great sects¡¯ countless years of unyielding efforts are to return to the birthce of humanity and liberate their own kind from their miserable lives.¡±

    At the same time, he unleashed his soul awareness and bloodline power to scan his surroundings. He even released his Star Eyes to examine this Demon heaven and earth.

    Images of pieces of Devil qi-wreathednds entered his mind.

    ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be many differences... Lakes, mountains, vegetation, and living creatures.. I guess the only major difference is that the spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth is reced by Demon qi. And the vegetation and creatures brought out by Demon qi are slightly different from those in human realms.¡±

    The Star Boat flew on.

    RING! RING!

    Rapid rings suddenly came from his Sound Stone, followed by a message from Dong Li.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he changed the direction of his Star Boat and headed towards the location given by Dong Li.

 Chapter 1077: The Grand Monarchâ€™s Birthplace

    Dong Li¡¯s location wasn¡¯t very far from the Astarte n¡¯s headquarters.

    Thanks to the Star Boat¡¯s exceptional speed, it took Nie Tian only five hours to get there.

    It was a vast, dark, overgrown forest where countless demonic insects and low-tier Demons devoured each other nonstop.

    Seen from afar, the forest looked as if it was enveloped inplete darkness, and wouldn¡¯t see a shred of light year-round.

    As Nie Tian unleashed his bloodline power, he sensed nothing but countless puny insects and hordes of low-tier Demons in his surroundings.

    Apparently, Dong Li and her ck tortoise had already gone deep into the forest.

    Instead of them, Nie Tian found Wu Yun, who was at thete Void domain, waiting outside the forest.

    She bowed respectfully upon seeing Nie Tian, and said, ¡°Lord Nie, Miss Dong went into the forest. That tortoise of hers showed her to this ce.¡±

    Scattered around Wu Yun were the corpses of about a dozen high-tier Demons. Judging from the way they were dressed, they seemed to be members of the Astarte n.

    ¡°We found these Demons when we got here, and I killed them,¡± Wu Yun exined. ¡°They were members of the Astarte n, whose job was to keep other Demons from entering this forest. Apparently, this ce is a forbidden area controlled by the Astarte n, and that tenth grade grand monarch had been born in this very forest.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°How do you know all that?¡±

    Wu Yun pointed at the dead high-tier Demons that were lying at odd angles on the ground. ¡°I stripped their memories. These Demons were only at the fifth or sixth grade. It wasn¡¯t hard to extract memories from their souls.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed impressed. ¡°I see. So that grand monarch was actually born in this forest?¡±

    Wu Yun nodded. ¡°ording to the memories of these Demons, yeah. Apparently, that Demon grand monarch, who died millions of years ago, had been nothing but a low-tier Demon in this forest at the very beginning. He had dwelt in the depths of the forest and upgraded his bloodline by devouring his own kind.

    ¡°After his bloodline had risen to a high grade, he gained remarkable intelligence, and became the overlord of the forest.

    ¡°After that, he had left the forest to roam the Sixth Demon Realm, and had soon be the master of the entire realm. Then, he had left the Sixth Demon Realm and taken his descendants to higher Demon realms.

    ¡°After he had left, the Astarte n gradually rose to power and gained control of this area.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that members of the Astarte n carry bloodlines that partially originate from his bloodline.

    ¡°Every member of the Astarte n would be arranged to battle against low-tier Demons in this forest when they¡¯re young, so that they can temper themselves.

    ¡°Many of them would be able to benefit from such experiences, and upgrade their bloodline. ording to them, this forest was the very ce where that Demon grand monarch derived his enlightenment regarding the profound truths of dark power.

    ¡°Therefore, the Demons now call this forest the ¡®Dark Forest¡¯ and view it as the most mysterious ce in the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you go in there?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Wu Yun smiled bitterly. ¡°I tried, but even my domain couldn¡¯t fend off the dark power in the forest for long. However, Miss Dong and that ck tortoise of hers didn¡¯t seem to be affected at all. They even found the environment very agreeable.¡±

    Nie Tian quickly realized the reason behind this.

    Both Dong Li and her ck tortoise strengthened themselves with dark power.

    Therefore, even though people like Wu Yun, who didn¡¯t know anything about dark power, would find this forest inessible, it didn¡¯t affect her or her ck tortoise in the slightest.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian pondered briefly before taking out his Sound Stone.

    Through it, he received another message from Dong Li that told him toe find her in the forest.

    Nie Tian turned to Wu Yun and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay here and keep an eye out? Let me know if there¡¯s a problem.¡±

    Just as he was about to steer his Star Boat into Dark Forest, Wu Yun reminded him, ¡°But Lord Nie, you... you don¡¯t practice dark power.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see.¡± Nie Tian smiled and flew into the forest on his Star Boat.

    ¡°Be careful, Lord Nie!¡± Wu Yun called out as Nie Tian disappeared into the darkness.

    Nie Tian waved his hand, signalling her to leave.

    Perhaps it was because Nie Tian didn¡¯t have a domain to use, but he didn¡¯t feel much difort while traveling in the forest.

    Neither Demon qi nor dark power infiltrated his body.

    It was just that the Star Boat¡¯s star power ward continued to grow dimmer in Dark Forest, as if it was being worn down by some unknown force.

    After traveling for awhile in darkness, Nie Tian suddenly lost contact with Dong Li.

    No matter how many times he tried, he couldn¡¯t get in touch with her through his Sound Stone anymore.

    However, that was when Nie Tian found a sense of familiarity in the forest.

    The environment he was in reminded him of the ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline talent ¡®Evernight¡¯, which it had activated a few times on the floating continent.

    Now, he had also lost his soul perception, vision, and hearing.

    He could only rely on his bloodline power to scan his surroundings, and found demonic insects and low-tier Demons that practiced dark power killing and devouring each other inplete darkness.

    Even though he had lost contact with Dong Li, his bloodline power somehow allowed him to vaguely detect the ck tortoise¡¯s location.

    Many years ago, it was his Blood Essence that had stimted the ck tortoise¡¯s life force and allowed it to hatch.

    For this reason, the ck tortoise still carried his residual flesh aura, which was vaguely detectable.

    He flew deeper into the forest, tracking the flesh aura.

    As the dark power grew even richer and richer, he suddenly lost his flesh aura connection to the ck tortoise, rendering him unable to locate Dong Li or the ck tortoise anymore.

    Besides that, he found that the increasingly intense dark power had started to infiltrate his exceptionally tough body, giving him a sense of danger.

    Therefore, he decided not to go any further. Instead, he slowly backed out from the depths of the forest. Just as he was about to leave the forest, something urred to him. He took out the ring of holding Pei Qiqi had given him, and started channeling flesh power from the spirit beast corpses it held. Days passed...

    He finished absorbing and refining the flesh power of all of the spirit beast corpses in the ring of holding.

    Then, he was thrilled to discover that his bloodline aura had finally settled down, with its endless desire for flesh powerpletely gone.

    ¡°At longst... I¡¯ve finally satisfied its need for flesh power!¡±

    The fact that his bloodline aura had entered dormancy meant that it had started preparing for its advance to the eighth grade, and awakening of brand new bloodline talents.

    The process might take months or years. He didn¡¯t know for sure.

    However, now that his bloodline aura had finally fallen dormant, he could use the flesh power he would gain to refine his body with Heavenly Wood Heal again.

    Furthermore, he wouldn¡¯t have to go out of his way to find outsider and spirit beast corpses anymore, unless he consumed his Blood Essence and needed flesh power to generate more.

    Days passed, and there was still no word from Dong Li and her ck tortoise. Nie Tian knew that even if he returned to the depths of the forest, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to locate them.

    ¡°I suppose she found something. Otherwise, she should havee out to get me after losing contact with me.¡±

    He pondered the matter briefly and decided to stop trying to find Dong Li and her ck tortoise in the Dark Forest.

    As he came out of the forest, Wu Yun, who had been waiting outside the forest, saw him and asked with a puzzled face, ¡°Howe it¡¯s just you, Lord Nie?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t find Dong Li or her tortoise,¡± Nie Tian exined casually. ¡°And I found the dark power in the depths of the forest too intense to adapt to. How is our operation in the Sixth Demon Realm going?¡±

    ¡°Everything is going ording to the n,¡± Wu Yun, who had kept contact with Qu Mingde, answered. ¡°Almost all of the eighth, seventh, and sixth grade members of the local Demon ns have been killed. Only a small portion of weaker Demons, demonic insects, and low-tier Demons have scattered and fled to remote corners of the realm.

    ¡°Since we only have a limited amount of time here, they didn¡¯t feel the need to chase after the Demons that are too weak to pose a threat, or the fleeing low-tier Demons. So disciples of my sect and the Divine me Sect are now collecting and looting any materials we need under Zhao Shanling¡¯s instructions.¡±

    There were millions of low-tier Demons and demonic insects. It would take a tremendous amount of time to exterminate them.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Good. Now that everything is going ording to the n here, tell Sectmaster Qu and Sectmaster Zhongli to leave for the Fourth and Fifth Demon Realms and see how things are going there.¡±

    Now that all of the powerful Demons had been killed, it was no longer necessary for Qu Mingde and Zhongli Jian, the two Saint domain experts, to remain here.

    Thetest situation in the Fourth and Fifth Demon Realms remained unknown. The two of them would probably be much more useful there.

    The numerous Soul realm cultivators would be more than capable of looting battle spoils and picking demonic grass on their own.

    Wu Yun sent out word without dy.

    ¡°Alright, you may go help the others. Nothing to worry about with me here.¡± Nie Tian beckoned for her to leave.

    Wu Yun bowed and flew off into the distance.

 Chapter 1078: A Demonic Stone

    Nie Tian had failed to reestablish contact with Dong Li ever since.

    However, without anything else to do, he reentered the forest soon after Wu Yun left.

    He had set his mind on the countless demonic insects and low-tier Demons that lived in the forest. With Life Drain, he absorbed their flesh power in swarms.

    However, the amount of flesh power the low-tier Demons and demonic insects could provide was very limited.

    The only thing that kept him doing this was they were in great numbers. Wherever he went, he would be able to detect tens of thousands of flesh auras in his surroundings.

    One blood string after another shot out of him into the low-tier Demons and demonic insects, bringing back pure flesh power.

    By the time he had drained close to ten thousand of them of their flesh power, he found a ce in the forest to establish the Wood Thriving Formation.

    To his surprise, the trees and nts in the Sixth Demon Realm could also provide rich wood power.

    While he sat motionlessly in the middle of the Wood Thriving Formation, wisps of wood power were channeled from his surroundings and converged on him. Then, with the flesh power he had recently umted, he resumed Flesh Tempering, the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    He hadn¡¯t done this for years, since he had had a tremendous need for flesh power after his bloodline had advanced to the seventh grade.

    In order to temper his flesh, he would need rich flesh power to rip his flesh first, before wood power coulde in to heal the ripped flesh. Even though the process would be apanied by lots of pain, every muscle would be unprecedentedly tough afterwards.

    Furthermore, he had a feeling that his tempered muscles could hold more flesh power.

    Time passed bit by bit.

    He moved from ce to ce in the forest as he continued to absorb flesh power from the low-tier Demons and demonic insects, and absorb wood power with the help of the Wood Thriving Formation, in order to sustain Flesh Tempering.

    He lost track of time until Zhao Shanling came to find him.

    Nie Tian sensed Zhao Shanling¡¯s arrival. He put his cultivation on hold and flew out of the forest on his Star Boat.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time we left,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a frown. ¡°All of the disciples of the Golden Vast Sect, the Divine me Sect, and the other sects are waiting for your order to back out of the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°It¡¯s been a month already? Is everyone happy with their gains?¡±

    A hint of a smile appeared in Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°They are. Everyone looted a good number of materials that help with human cultivation from the Demon ns, and collected quite a lot of useful grass. Everyone has gained a fortune.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and asked, ¡°What about you?¡±

    Zhao Shanling grinned. ¡°I¡¯m pretty happy with my gains too. Dementing Demonic Grass was my main target, since I n to have someone make Barrier Breaking Pills with it for me. It won¡¯t be long before I enter thete Void domain, and I¡¯ll need Barrier Breaking Pills when I attempt to break through into the Saint domain. I thought I¡¯d better make preparations ahead of time.¡±

    ¡°Have you found the person to make Barrier Breaking Pills for you?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°Not yet.¡±

    Nie Tian remembered the alchemist Bo Shiming. ¡°I know someone. I can make arrangements for you.¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes lit up as he nodded. ¡°That¡¯d be great.¡±

    ¡°Would you tell the others to return to the Realm of me Heaven first?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Dong Li is still in this forest. I might have to stay here a bit longer.¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face dropped. ¡°Stay here a bit longer...? Do you know what that means? A month is a reasonable amount of time. I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be wise to stay in the Sixth Demon Realm longer than that.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I understand.¡±

    Word of what had happened in the Sixth Demon Realm would spread to the First, Second, and Third Demon Realms sooner orter. Those realms were much stronger than the Sixth Demon Realm.

    They had more eighth and ninth grade Demon experts than they could count, and they had Demon grand monarchs in the First Demon Realm.

    By the time those powerful Demons came to the Sixth Demon Realm on ancient starships, or by relying on their grand patriarchs and grand monarchs¡¯ power, those who failed to leave in time would face bloody revenge.

    ¡°You¡¯d better tell Dong Li to get out of there as soon as possible.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling left to arrange for the waiting Qi warriors to return to the Realm of me Heaven.

    He returned the next day.

    Upon arriving, he said, ¡°Everyone has returned to the Realm of me Heaven. Now you, Dong Li in there, and I are the only ones that haven¡¯t left the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    ¡°You should have gone with them,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°With me here, if powerful Demons from the other realmse here before you leave, I might still be able to get you out of here by relying on my mastery of spatial power,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a proud face. ¡°But if a ninth grade grand patriarch was toe here after I left, you and Dong Li would be a pair of dead love birds.¡±

    With a wry smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°I want to tell her to get out of there too, but the thing is that I can¡¯t get in touch with her.¡±

    ¡°Well, let me give it a shot.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling shot into Dark Forest.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Zhao Shanling was a master of spatial power who could split open spatial rifts to travel from ce to ce. Perhaps he could find Dong Li and her ck tortoise in the depths of the forest.

    Therefore, Nie Tian ced hope in him.

    However, such hope died soon afterwards.

    A quarter of an hourter, Zhao Shanling whizzed out of the forest. With a knitted brow, he said, ¡°My power was suppressed by this mysterious forest. I couldn¡¯t move around by splitting spatial rifts. My vision, hearing, and other senses were all impaired while I was in there. The deeper I went, the stronger the influence became.

    ¡°Sorry, it seems that I can¡¯t find Dong Li for you.¡±

    Looking somewhat disappointed, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯ll just wait.¡±

    ¡°How long do you n to wait?¡± Zhao Shanling asked with a grim face.

    ¡°Till shees out of there,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Zhao Shanling pondered in silence for awhile before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll wait with you for a bit. But I¡¯ll leave as soon as I sense the aura of a Demon grand patriarch, with or without you.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I understand.¡±

    The two of them didn¡¯t speak anymore, but instead focused on any movement in the forest.

    A few days passed...

    Theplete darkness at the edge of the forest suddenly started to retreat towards the heart of the forest like the ebbing sea.

    As dark power gradually gathered towards the depths of the forest, the outermost areas of the forest soon shed their pitch-ck color. Even though it was still dark, scenes could already be seen.

    Somewhat taken aback, Zhao Shanling muttered. ¡°This is...

    ¡°The dark power is rapidly withdrawing towards the heart of the forest. If this continues, it won¡¯t be long before we can find Dong Li.¡±

    Without any hesitation, Nie Tian summoned the Star Boat and jumped on board with Zhao Shanling, before they flew in the direction the darkness was retreating in.

    As they did, countless shriveled corpses of low-tier Demons and demonic insects that Nie Tian had killed shed past underneath them.

    Only after flying for a while did they see living low-tier Demons and demonic insects again. They had all stopped the endless fights between themselves, and were ncing around with confused looks on their faces.

    The dark power in this area was what they relied on to strengthen themselves and upgrade their bloodlines.

    Apparently, they were rmed by the rapidly weakening dark power, and started galloping in the direction the dark power was retreating, as if they were desperate to get a fewst gasps of the dissipating power.

    The Star Boat continued to fly at a high speed, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    A few hourster, Nie Tian finally sensed the ck tortoise¡¯s flesh aura.

    It came from a mountain peak that didn¡¯t seem very impressive. Halfway up the mountain peak, somethingrge seemed to have been gouged out, leaving a deep hole.

    Dong Li and the ck tortoise were now standing in front of the mountain peak.

    Arge stone that looked like a ck jade finished absorbing thest wisps of raging dark power from its surroundings, and Dong Li put it away in her ring of holding.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Zhao Shanling eximed. ¡°The girl has entered the Soul realm!¡±

    Only now did Nie Tian realize that Dong Li had actually broken through into the early Soul realm from thete Profound realm, which meant she must havee to incredible gains in the depths of this forest.

    ¡°I¡¯m finished here,¡± Dong Li said, beaming. ¡°I found this demonic stone, which seems to be branded with the profound truths of dark power. Thiszy thing found it embedded in that mountain peak, and sensed profound wonders that are helpful to its bloodline upgrade within it.

    ¡°It appears that heaven and earth vested this stone with those wonders over countless years.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Is that a Heavenly Talisman?! A Heavenly Talisman that contain the secrets of dark power?!¡±

    Overjoyed, Dong Li said, ¡°Yeah, I guess this is what we humans would call a Heavenly Talisman! I¡¯ve already made a breakthrough in my cultivation with its help. And I have a feeling that as long as I keep it by my side, I¡¯ll be able to make advances much faster in my future cultivation. And thiszy thing will benefit even more from it than me!¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°We¡¯ve got to leave now, Nie Tian! I sense that something is entering the realm barrier of the Sixth Demon Realm!¡± With the dark power gone, he managed to tear space open, creating a spatial rift.

    ¡°It seems that a grand patriarch is here.¡± Without any dy, Nie Tian grabbed Dong Li and her ck tortoise, and flew into the spatial rift before Zhao Shanling even told him to.

 Chapter 1079: A Big Fortune Is Made

    SHEW!

    A slender figure pierced through the realm barrier of the Sixth Demon Realm and descended like a sharp sword.

    As soon as he examined the life force in the heaven and earth underneath him, his handsome face distorted with fury.

    Wreathed in a sea of his raging flesh aura, he descended towards the Astarte n¡¯s headquarters, only to find the ck mountain peak reduced to rubble, and the earth riddled with huge holes. ¡°The Astarte n and the Lancelot n...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He flew towards the Dark Forest. Upon arriving, he discovered that the forest that had been enveloped inplete darkness year-round was nowpletely exposed, with everything distinctively visible.

    ¡°The Dark Demonic Stone that was here is now gone!¡± As he eximed to himself, a number of tremendous Demon ancient starships arrived.

    On the starships, members of the Gaytons n were also astonished by the scenes in the Sixth Demon Realm. Before long, a middle ninth grade Demon grand patriarch also arrived at the Dark Forest.

    Face grim, Charon said, ¡°Big brother, we found a few surviving members of the Lancelot n. From them, we learned that it was humans who invaded the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    Cardy, the Blood Warden, gasped. ¡°Humans?! How in the world did humans enter the Sixth Demon Realm?! Our battle against the humans in the Dead Star Sea is getting fiercer by the day, but we have managed to hold all of our defensive lines. No powerful experts from the four great sects could have entered our heaven and earth through there!¡±

    Charon seemed to have great difficulty as he said, ¡°The humans who invaded this realm were from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Confusion filled Cardy¡¯s face. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars? Weren¡¯t the realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars rangnds of the ns from the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms? If I remember correctly, didn¡¯t those ns invade the Domain of the Falling Stars every once in a while? Howe the humans there invaded here instead?¡±

    Charon shook his head. ¡°Beats me.¡±

    The two brothers fell silent.

    Only after a while did Cardy think of something, and say, ¡°If the Sixth Demon Realm was invaded by humans, I suppose the same must have happened to the Fourth and Fifth Demon Realms as well. These three realms are connected to the Domain of the Falling Stars by three spatial rifts. Even though they¡¯re sealed and inessible most of the time, the humans have apparently done something to them...¡±

    Charon¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Come to think of it, we haven¡¯t received any word from the Fourth and Fifth Demon Realms for a while!¡±

    Heart burning with anxiety, he was eager to send word to the others.

    Cardy shook his head. ¡°No need. It¡¯s already toote. The humans that invaded the Sixth Demon Realm have already retreated. If what I suspect is true, it¡¯s probably the same with the other two realms.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Charon nced around and asked curiously, ¡°Big brother, this is the ce where that deceased grand monarch was born, right?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Cardy said with a grim face. ¡°Rumor has it that there was a mysterious stone somewhere in this vast forest, from which that grand monarch derived the profound truths of ultimate dark power. Thanks to that, he rose to power and became a grand monarch.

    ¡°However, he didn¡¯t take that stone with him when he moved his n out of the Sixth Demon Realm.

    ¡°He left it here because he hoped that those in the Sixth Demon Realm would be able to derive profound enlightenment from that mysterious stone just like he had.

    ¡°However, millions of years have passed, and the Astarte n who controls this ce hasn¡¯t had a single member who managed to understand the true wonders of that magical stone.

    ¡°And no demonic insect or low-tier Demon ever walked out of this forest like he did and set out on the path to greatness.¡±

    Charon gasped with astonishment. ¡°The human invaders took that magical stone away?! I¡¯ve never heard of any powerful humans that are well-versed in dark power. Only Ancientbeasts like ck phoenixes and ck dragons can awaken dark power by relying on their special bloodlines.

    ¡°What allowed a human to solve the profound wonders of that magical stone and take it out of this forest?¡±

    Cardy shook his head. ¡°Beats me. However, it¡¯s only a matter of time before we find out the truth. This human invasion of the Sixth Demon Realm is of great importance. Let¡¯s find out how they got here first. Otherwise, humans will still be able toe here through whatever secret passage these invaders used to get here.¡±

    Charon¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Luckily, it was humans from the Domain of the Falling Stars who came here, and not the powerful experts from the four great sects.¡±

    The thought of that made Cardy¡¯s heart tremble as well. ¡°Indeed.¡±

    After they ended their conversation, Charon informed the other powerful ns of the shocking upheaval in the Sixth Demon Realm through the Demons¡¯ unique method of long-distancemunication.

    He asked the powerful Demons that were currently close to the Fourth and Fifth Demon Realms to go check the situation in those two realms.

    Cardy, however, conducted a thorough scan of the Sixth Demon Realm by relying on his keen flesh aura and soul aura perception in an attempt to figure out how the humans from the Domain of the Falling Stars had managed to enter the Sixth Demon Realm.

    The Astarte n and Lancelot n of the Sixth Demon Realm were insignificant Demon ns. Even though they had been wiped out, the whole Demon race¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t hurt.

    Meanwhile, the Sixth Demon Realm¡¯s foundation was still intact. After hundreds of thousands of years, brand new high-tier Demon ns would emerge from the endless evolution of low-tier Demons and demonic insects.

    What made Cardy¡¯s heart ache was the theft of that magical stone. He hadn¡¯t even been sure that stone existed.

    He had only heard rumors about it. Elder members of his n had said that as long as the stone remained in the Sixth Demon Realm, even though that grand monarch had passed away long ago, there was still a chance that the Sixth Demon Realm would produce another tenth grade grand monarch.

    It might take a few hundred thousand years, a few million years, or even more, but there would be hope, as long as that stone was there.

    But now, some human had simply taken it away, along with its wonders that had made a grand monarch.

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars... A recently-acknowledged Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seems to be from there. His name is Nie Tian...¡± Cardy thought to himself. ¡°The Astarte n have invaded the Domain of the Falling Stars on a regr basis for many years. The humans there must be very weak. They must have relied on the strength of a Son of the Stars to sack the Sixth Demon Realm. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have seeded.

    ¡°It must be that Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars, whose information the Phantasms have been keen on gatheringtely!¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of me Heaven.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li flew out of the spatial rift under Zhao Shanling¡¯s guidance, and immediately saw arge number of powerful experts gathering nearby.

    All of the Saint domain experts, including Jing Feiyang, Qu Mingde, Quan Zixuan, were there, along with Pei Qiqi and Qi Lianshan.

    Jing Feiyang couldn¡¯t mask his relief and delight upon seeing him. With a smile, he said, ¡°You¡¯re finally back. We¡¯ve hit gold this time with our trips to those Demon realms!¡±

    ¡°Is everyone okay?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Jing Feiyang pointed at Quan Zixuan and said, ¡°Only he suffered some minor injuries, and lost a few disciples of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. He and his men ran into a Demon grand patriarch in the Fifth Demon Realm. Luckily, that grand patriarch was only at the early ninth grade. He and Elder Qi joined up and killed that grand patriarch together, but that grand patriarch¡¯s onest strike before death inflicted some damage on his domain.¡±

    Quan Zixuan snorted. ¡°It¡¯s nothing serious. A few months¡¯ secluded cultivation will fix everything.¡±

    ¡°Howe there was a ninth grade grand patriarch in the Fifth Demon Realm?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°That grand patriarch was from the Fifth Demon Realm, and had only recently entered the ninth grade,¡± Qi Lianshan exined. ¡°He had only returned to the Fifth Demon Realm to move his entire n to the Third Demon Realm.¡±

    Everyone was in a good mood and high spirits as they told Nie Tian how many useful spiritual materials and demonic grass they had brought back from the three Demon realms.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi suddenly popped a question. ¡°Nie Tian, do you still want to keep the spatial rifts in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations?¡±

    Upon hearing her words, everyone fell silent and fixed their eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian looked back at her with a puzzled look in his eyes.

    ¡°These three spatial rifts are suppressed by a strong force left by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, making them only essible from our side,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°However, once tears appear in them, Demons will be able to invade through them. This operation of ours must have rmed the powerful Demon ns. They¡¯ll definitely think of every possible way to find out how we entered those Demon realms.

    ¡°Eventually, they¡¯ll find and destroy those secret passages.

    ¡°So I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to enter those three Demon realms again the way we did this time.

    ¡°However, these three spatial rifts will always be potential problems if we don¡¯t destroy them. The way I see it, any peak ninth grade Demon grand patriarch or tenth grade grand monarch will be able to break the force suppressing them.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have what it takes to destroy those spatial rifts before, but I do now.¡±

    Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society chimed in in a low voice, ¡°That¡¯s a valid point. No teleportation portal or spatial rift ispletely safe. Only by destroying them can we make sure that no one will be able toe through them again.¡±

    ¡°The decision is yours,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking at Nie Tian.

    ¡°I suggest that we destroy them,¡± Jing Feiyang said.

    All of the other experts nodded in agreement, knowing that what they had done in the three Demon realms would anger the Demon race, and might provoke retaliation from peak ninth grade or even tenth grade Demon experts.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while, then nodded. ¡°Alright, destroy them.¡±

 Chapter 1080: Breaking Connections

    Pei Qiqi started.

    She cast her irregrly shaped crystal towards the spatial rift that was surrounded by three lofty mountain peaks.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous glowing spatial des started slithering within the spatial rift, as if to drain the spatial rift of its power.

    The spatial rift that had existed for who knew how many years began to show signs of closing up.

    Dong Li stretchedzily. ¡°I don¡¯t have business here anymore. I¡¯m off to the Realm of a Hundred Battles.¡±

    With a tender smile, she left with her ck tortoise.

    The Dong n was based in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. She was eager to go there to focus on deriving enlightenment from that mysterious dark stone and stabilizing her cultivation base.

    Nie Tian had nned to ask her about that stone originally. However, seeing that she was eager to leave, and he had to stay here to oversee things, he could only let her leave and go find herter.

    Those who had returned from the three Demon realms continued to gabble about their abundant gains excitedly, from which Nie Tian learned that every sect that had taken part in this operation had gained a significant amount of cultivation resources.

    Qi warriors of different cultivation bases had gained materials that would provide them with tremendous help when they attempted to make breakthroughs in the future.

    Jing Feiyang and the others gave the Demon corpses they had collected to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian, these are the corpses of the Demons we killed.¡±

    ¡°Here you go.¡±

    ¡°Some of them are at the eighth grade, but the majority are at the sixth and seventh grade.¡±

    The ring of holding Quan Zixuan handed to Nie Tian held the most valuable contents: an early ninth grade Demon grand patriarch, and quite a few eighth grade Demons. They would provide Nie Tian with rich flesh power.

    All of them knew that Nie Tian had a heavy need for high-grade outsider and Ancientbeast corpses, and had already contributed their old collections to him.

    If they hadn¡¯t taken this trip to the three Demon realms, they wouldn¡¯t have had any fresh outsider corpses to give him.

    He had stated before they set out to the Demon realms that he wouldn¡¯t take any of the spiritual materials and demonic grass his subordinates looted from the Demon realms, but he would have the corpses of all of the Demons they killed.

    Nie Tian grabbed one ring of holding after another and examined their contents one by one. A hearty smile gradually appeared on his face.

    ¡°A ninth grade Demon grand monarch, more than a dozen eighth grade high-tier Demons, several thousand sixth and seventh grade high-tier Demons and enormous low-tier Demons...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself with narrowed eyes. ¡°They should be enough for me to finish Flesh Tempering, the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    ¡°And if I consume some of my Blood Essence, I¡¯ll have enough flesh power to regenerate it within a short time.¡±

    While he was pleased by his personal gains, the spatial rift in the Realm of me Heaven that had been suppressed for many years suddenly exploded into countless dazzling sparks that rapidly vanished into Pei Qiqi¡¯s Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure.

    ¡°All done,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking at Nie Tian. ¡°Now, I¡¯m off to the Realm of Mystic Heaven and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for the trouble,¡± Nie Tian said with an embarrassed smile.

    He hadn¡¯t promised Pei Qiqi anything in return when he had asked her to join this operation. He had already had her run back and forth between the three Demon realms, destroying the Demons¡¯ teleportation portals.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Destroying spatial rifts and absorbing their spatial power is a perfect way for me to improve my strength.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi left for the other two realms with Qi Lianshan to eliminate the possibility of future Demon invasions .

    Given their cultivation bases, they didn¡¯t even have to rely on teleportation portals to travel from realm to realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars. They simply split open a spatial rift, and then arrived in the Realm of Mystic Heaven.

    Upon arriving at the major spatial rift in the Realm of Mystic Heaven, Pei Qiqi repeated her move and cast that crystal into the spatial rift.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the spatial rift was drained of its power by the crystal and exploded.

    After that, the two of them went to the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    Pei Qiqi summoned that crystal once again upon arriving at the major spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Qi Lianshan suddenly called out.

    Pei Qiqi fixed him with a confused look.

    ¡°Miss Pei, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve been wanting to say for a while, but I don¡¯t know whether I should say it,¡± Qi Lianshan said with a serious face.

    ¡°Just say it,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face.

    After a moment of hesitation, Qi Lianshan decided to speak out. ¡°The way I see it, Nie Tian let his selfishness get the best of him by secretly invading those three Demon realms. If he had informed the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the other three great sects of the fact that the Domain of the Falling Stars had ess to three Demon realms, we might have been able to achieve an epochal victory in our war against the outsiders!

    ¡°For countless years, the four great sects have worked unrelentingly to cross the Dead Star Sea and enter the heaven and earth beyond it, but haven¡¯t seeded.

    ¡°That gave great significance to the three spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars. If the Saint or even God domain experts from the four great sects had gone on this trip, instead of Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates, then not only would those three Demon realms fall, but they might even be able to deal heavy blows to the First, Second, and Third Demon Realms, inflicting the Demon race with damage they wouldn¡¯t be able to recover from!

    ¡°After that, we might have been able to establish bases in the Demon realms, from where we can reach out to the Fiend and Phantasm realms!

    ¡°This would have solved the problem of humanity¡¯s inability to march into the outsider heaven and earth!¡±

    Pei Qiqi frowned. ¡°Why did you wait so long to say this?¡±

    ¡°I kind of doubted the authenticity of that Zhao Shanling¡¯s words before we actually entered those Demon realms,¡± Qi Lianshan answered. ¡°To me, he¡¯s a peculiar character who refused to join our sect. I found it hard to trust him. But now, he¡¯s proven himself right. There are indeed secret passages that connect to the Demon realms.¡±

    Gazing at thest remaining spatial rift, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°I don¡¯t care whether human experts can enter the outsider heaven and earth or not.¡±

    Qi Lianshan smiled bitterly. ¡°But that¡¯s of great importance to humanity. If we keep thest spatial rift, the four great sects will still have a chance to march strong forces into it. And they have to do it quickly. Otherwise, the Demons will find the secret passage in it and destroy it.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that I should leave this spatial rift open?¡± Pei Qiqi asked coldly.

    Qi Lianshan nodded. ¡°Not just leave it, but inform the great sects right away, so that they can arrange for powerful experts to pour into the Demon realms through it. This way, we¡¯ll gain an advantage in our future wars against the outsiders.¡±

    Pei Qiqi curled her lips. ¡°Nie Tian said I should destroy the spatial rift, and that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do.¡±

    With these words, she cast that irregrly shaped crystal towards thest remaining spatial rift that connected to the Demon heaven and earth.

    Not daring to stop her, Qi Lianshan let out a deep sigh, disappointment filling his eyes.

    He was well-aware that Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t care to make significant contributions to humanity.

    But after all, she was the one who the current sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society attached the most importance to. If there were no mishaps, she would rise to power and be the next sectmaster.

    Knowing this, he didn¡¯t dare to stop her, even though he knew that what she was doing would cost humanity a great opportunity.

    With an icy face, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Also, I¡¯m from the Domain of the Falling Stars. This is my homnd. If I leave this spatial rift open, any peak ninth grade grand patriarch or tenth grade grand monarch will be able to invade again. Besides, if that spatial rift remains open, the Domain of the Falling Stars will be the focus. Powerful experts from across the human domains will pour into it, and it won¡¯t get a moment of peace ever again.¡±

    As she spoke, thest remaining spatial rift in the Realm of a Thousand Devastations gradually closed because of that mysterious crystal.

    Looking frustrated, Qi Lianshan sighed. ¡°I doubt that Nie Tian will get any contribution points from this operation where he marched subordinates into those Demon realms and plundered their resources. Instead, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce might punish him after learning about it. I bet they¡¯ll have the same opinion as I do on this matter.

    ¡°After all, by entering and then destroying the spatial rifts, he has cost us a great opportunity.

    ¡°And he won¡¯t be able to keep this operation a secret. Too many people from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars have joined this operation. How can we expect them all to keep their mouths shut? Even if they can keep this secret, the Demons would spread word of this upheaval.

    ¡°As we speak, the Demons and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are engaged in a fierce battle in the Dead Star Sea...¡±

    Pei Qiqi suddenly let out a snort. ¡°I don¡¯t care what the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will think or do. Even if they punish him for this, it¡¯ll be their internal affair.

    ¡°You just keep your mouth shut about this. I don¡¯t want anyone to learn what happened in the Domain of the Falling Stars from you.¡±

    With a wry smile, Qi Lianshan said, ¡°Of course I¡¯ll keep this a secret.¡±

    Pei Qiqi waved her hand, looking somewhat displeased. ¡°Good. You may go back now. I¡¯ll stay in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void for a bit longer. Come and find me there if any important matters happen in our sect.¡±

 Chapter 1081: Reaching Heaven in A Single Bound

    After bidding Qi Lianshan farewell, Pei Qiqi left for the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    Apparently, she had still not given up on looking for the Void Pce Sect.

    She had thought that by joining the Void Spirit Society, their resourcefulness would allow her to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the Void Pce Sect, but she was wrong.

    The Void Spirit Society had no clue where the Void Pce Sect from the Domain of the Falling Stars was now either.

    Rumor had it that, as the overlord of the Realm of Split Void, the Void Pce Sect had found a spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range that led to a brand new realm that was wreathed in extremely rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    The Void Pce Sect had thus moved their whole sect to that mysterious realm, and had never returned.

    Her parents had been disciples of the Void Pce Sect. She assumed that she would have to find them in order to get answers to her questions about her unique bloodline.

    Before, her limited understanding of spatial power hadn¡¯t allowed her to examine every single spatial rift in the Realm of Split Void, especially without that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure.

    However, she had such an ability now.

    Upon arriving in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, she started examining the spatial rifts one after another, looking for even the slightest clues.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian left for the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    In the Dong n in the Realm of a Hundred Battles...

    As soon as Nie Tian appeared, everyone in the Dong n was astounded.

    Now, many years had passed. nmaster Dong Wangling had advanced from the middle Soul realm to thete Soul realm, and was currently preparing for his breakthrough into the Void domain.

    Given the Dong n¡¯s profound historical connections to the Beast-controlling Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, many of the Dong n¡¯s talented youngsters had been sent to the Beast-controlling Sect, where they could learn the more legitimate beast-controlling incantations, Dong Baijie being one of them.

    However, as the nmaster, Dong Wangling had chosen return to the Realm of a Hundred Battles to oversee n affairs after learning a number of brand new incantations from the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Dong Wangling seemed a bit nervous and overcautious to see Nie Tian. ¡°What brought you here?¡±

    He had been focused on deriving enlightenment from his newly-acquired incantations.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Dong Li?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Qin Yan from the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce, Cao Qiushui from the Cao n, Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect, and a few other juniors were also surprised to see Nie Tian upon his arrival through a teleportation portal.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is here!¡±

    ¡°Long time no see, Nie Tian!¡±

    All of them were from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, and had fought alongside Nie Tian back in the day.

    They had learned about Dong Li¡¯s return, and had thuse to the Dong n to see her.

    Dong Li had rarely returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles these years since she had attached herself to Nie Tian, this strong backer. Instead, she had spent most of her time in the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, speaking for Nie Tian, helping him supervise the major sects, and managing resource distribution.

    Her status had already risen far beyond the Dong n¡¯s, which made it very hard for them to see her.

    But now, not only had Dong Li returned to the Realm of a Hundred Battles, but so had Nie Tian, who they hadn¡¯t seen in many years.

    Nie Tian nce over his peers, who he had fought alongside growing up, and discovered that most of them were only at the early Profound realm, with a few at the Greater Heaven stage.

    He and Dong Li, however, had already entered the Soul realm.

    He thought about it, and quickly realized that it actually made sense. After all, as the nmaster of the Dong n, Dong Wangling was only at thete Soul realm.

    The fact that they had entered the Profound realm was already rather impressive.

    As Profound realm cultivators, they hadn¡¯t been qualified to join the operation in the three Demon realms. They had only learned about it from the powerful experts from their ns.

    The reason why they hade to see Dong Li was because they were hoping to catch up with her and strengthen their rtionship with her.

    However, surprised upon seeing Nie Tian, they rapidly gathered to his side.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s been a long time.¡±

    Without dy, Dong Wangling took Nie Tian to a dense forest in the mountains not far from the Dong n¡¯s headquarters. The juniors followed along.

    Nie Tian secretly unleashed his bloodline power to scan his surroundings. The tips of his eyebrows rose with surprise as he said, ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be any powerful spirit beasts in this area anymore.¡±

    With a dry smile, Dong Wangling said, ¡°Yeah. There were quite a few powerful seventh grade spirit beasts here thest time you visited. But you haven¡¯te here for quite some time, and we cleaned out those seventh grade spirit beasts long ago. Those suited for cultivation were shipped to the Beast-controlling Sect, where they were reared and gradually tamed.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Of all of the realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Realm of a Hundred Battles had the most spirit beasts.

    Before, the Dong n and the other local forces had only explored and controlled a small portion of the vast realm, leavingrge areas roamed by formidable spirit beasts.

    Later, as connections had been established between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the other two domains, the Dong n had found their origin, and tamed the strongest spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles one by one with the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Because of this, there weren¡¯t any formidable spirit beasts in the Realm of a Hundred Battles that could threaten the local cultivators anymore.

    Momentster, Dong Wangling led Nie Tian to a mountain valley that was filled with dark power.

    As Nie Tian saw it from afar, the whole mountain valley seemed to be engulfed inplete darkness.

    ¡°The kid has been here with her tortoise since she came back.¡± With these words, Dong Wangling turned to Qin Yan and the others, who had followed them to this ce, and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to go in there, so you¡¯d better just wait here instead.¡±

    Then, he and Nie Tian walked into the mountain valley.

    Qin Yan and the other juniors sensed the dark power that filled the mountain valley. Their expressions flickered as they also realized that it wouldn¡¯t be wise to follow them into it.

    ¡°Dong Li reached the heavens in a single bound after she became Nie Tian¡¯spanion,¡± Cao Qiushui said with mixed emotions. ¡°Her cultivation base has already surpassed her father¡¯s and that of most of the Dong n members¡¯. The Soul realm represented our domain¡¯s peak strength before connections were established between our domain, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Qin Yan sighed. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m so jealous... But you¡¯ve got to admit that she¡¯s got an eye for talent. I can¡¯t believe she actually saw the unlimited potential in Nie Tian back then, and was bold enough to go after him.¡±

    Whenever Qin Yan cultivated by herself on a quiet night, she would feel waves of frustration.

    She and Dong Li were like sisters. She had deemed that her appearance, cultivation base, and status were every bit as outstanding as Dong Li¡¯s.

    Things were different now. Her status and cultivation base hadgged far behind, and Dong Li¡¯s rtionship with Nie Tian was the reason.

    Now, Dong Li and the entire Dong n had high prestige in not only the Domain of the Falling Stars, but the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries as well. The Dong n had risen to prominence by relying on their special connections to Nie Tian.

    If it wasn¡¯t Dong Li who had first met Nie Tian in the Realm of Split Void, but her, Qin Yan...

    Every time she thought of this, she would regret not going to the Realm of Split Void, and not meeting Nie Tian before he had disyed his amazing talent. If she had, she would have clung to this heaven-reaching tree and changed her fate.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be jealous. You¡¯ll only feel even more frustrated.¡± Qian Xin from the Pill Pavilion Sect said coldly. ¡°Who would have thought that Nie Tian would be the man he is today as the master of three whole domains? And thanks to him, the Domain of the Falling Stars was finally connected to the outside world. The way I see it, even if you had met Nie Tian first, you might not have had eyes for a nobody like him.¡±

    Bitterness filled Qin Yan¡¯s heart.

    ...

    Dark power pervaded the depths of the mountain valley. All of the dark power seemed to havee from the demonic stone Dong Li had brought back from the Sixth Demon Realm.

    At this moment, the stone hadn¡¯t released so much dark power that it prevented Dong Wangling from entering the valley.

    On their way to the heart of the mountain valley, Nie Tian had a strong feeling that the existence of the dark stone had turned the valley into a ce like the Dark Forest.

    He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°The Dark Forest was not only engulfed in dark power, but raging Demon Qi as well. And it crawled with countless demonic insects and low-tier Demons. But there¡¯s no Demon Qi here, and instead the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Will the spirit beasts and insects in this ce be affected by that stone and gradually develop a dark power attribute?¡±

    SHEW!

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian and Dong Wangling spotted therge ck stone that was still releasing dark power at the same time.

    As the dark power spread into its surroundings, it devoured light and gave birth to darkness.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Dong Li asked with a surprised look on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a lot to talk about with your precious Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡±

    Dong Wangling gave her a stern but loving look, signaling her not to be sarcastic. ¡°Alright, you two talk. I¡¯ll be waiting outside the valley.¡±

    He left sensibly.

    ¡°Here.¡± He tossed a ring of holding to Dong Li. ¡°Inside the ring are the corpses of some Astarte n members. Qu Mingde gave them to me. Most of the Astarte n members carry dark power bloodlines. I thought they¡¯d be useful to you and your tortoise.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up. She smiled and said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯re notpletely heartless.¡±

    ¡°If I was heartless, would I have waited so long for you by the Dark Forest?¡± Nie Tian wanted credit for his deed. ¡°As you know, a Demon grand patriarch arrived. I almost died with you in the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright, I know you love me dearly.¡± With a beaming smile, Dong Li grabbed the ring of holding that was filled with dead Astarte n members, and then handed it to the ck tortoise that was crouching by her feet and greedily breathing in dark power. ¡°They¡¯re yours,zy thing. You¡¯ll be able to make better use of those corpses.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One corpse after another flew out of the ring before the ck tortoise pounced on them and started munching.

    As a rare beast, the ck tortoise could absorb dark power by consuming flesh and blood that contained dark power, and use it to strengthen its bloodline.

    ¡°What¡¯s with that demonic stone? How did it help you break through into the Soul realm?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

 Chapter 1082: Whatâ€™s Mine Is Yours!

    ording to Dong Li, her ck tortoise had showed her to that demonic stone in the Dark Forest.

    The demonic stone contained the profound mysteries of dark power. Like what humans referred to as Heavenly Talismans, it seemed to have formed naturally.

    As for why it came to form in the Sixth Demon Realm, Dong Li had no idea either.

    Given her current understanding of dark power, she couldn¡¯t derive the profound knowledge of dark power from the stone by herself.

    It was the ck tortoise that had solved the stone¡¯s mysteries.

    The reason why she had broken through into the Soul realm was because she hade to a brand new understanding of dark power from her soulmunication with the ck tortoise.

    Furthermore, the ultimate darkness and rich dark power released by the stone had fused into her body and helped her break her cultivation barrier, eventually allowing her to enter the Soul realm.

    Spiritual materials that contained dark power were very hard to find.

    Only ck dragons, ck phoenixes, and certain groups of Demons carried dark power bloodlines. Dark power could obtained from such Ancientbeasts and outsiders.

    Unlike Nie Tian, Dong Li wasn¡¯t a hybrid, and couldn¡¯t absorb dark power by consuming the flesh and blood of those Ancientbeasts and outsiders.

    Her body simply didn¡¯t work that way.

    However, the ck tortoise¡¯s body could.

    She could only absorb the dark power released by the demonic stone, channel it into her spiritual sea, and turn it into her own power.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    As the two of them spoke, the ck tortoise wolfed down the corpses of the Astarte n members, even crushing and swallowing the bones.

    ¡°It seems to me that this stone can change its environment,¡± Dong Li said with a frown, looking somewhat worried. ¡°I even suspect that it¡¯ll slowly turn the entire Realm of a Hundred Battles into a ce like the Dark Forest.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of a Hundred Battles...¡± Nie Tian said with an unworried smile. ¡°No need to worry. It won¡¯t be a problem even if the entire Realm of a Hundred Battles is engulfed in rich dark power, with all light devoured.¡±

    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem?¡± Dong Li asked, looking distressed. ¡°My n isn¡¯t the only force in the Realm of a Hundred Battles. The Pill Pavilion Sect and other ns live here too. If dark power pervades the Realm of a Hundred Battles, they¡¯ll have to migrate to another realm.¡±

    ¡°Then let them migrate,¡± Nie Tian said inly. ¡°There are countless realms in the three domains that belong to us. Finding them a new realm will be as easy as turning my hand over.¡±

    ¡°Us...?¡± Dong Li asked, smiling like a blossoming flower.

    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s mine is yours,¡± Nie Tian said, as if it were only natural.

    Dong Li¡¯s smile grew increasingly hearty.

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Alright, now I¡¯ve given those corpses to you, I¡¯m off to practice a secret incantation in a ce where wood power is rich. After all, this isn¡¯t the Realm of Split Void. If I were to do it here, I might hurt the foundation of this realm.¡±

    Due to the existence of the Void Illusion Mountain Range, arge number of foreign energies and impurities dispersed unceasingly into the Realm of Split Void, where they were turned into the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Because of that, the realm would never run out of spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Graydusk Forest was the ce where wood power was the richest, which made it an ideal location for him to further his Flesh Tempering. He wouldn¡¯t have to worry that once he drained the forest of its wood power, no more would be regenerated.

    ¡°Alright, go ahead,¡± Dong Li said in a good mood. ¡°I¡¯ll enter secluded cultivation myself. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to help you handle affairs within the three domains for a while. Originally, I was worried that I would never be able to match your advancing speed. And it was very frustrating to learn that Pei Qiqi has even entered thete Soul realm.

    ¡°But things are different now that I have this demonic stone. It has given me the confidence to keep up with you two again.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re as talented as anyone I know,¡± Nie Tian said with an encouraging smile.

    Then, he summoned his Star Boat and flew out of the mountain valley.

    He chatted briefly with Qin Yan and the other juniors that had been waiting outside the valley before bidding them farewell and returning to the Realm of Split Void.

    He set foot in Graydusk Forest again.

    With the help of the Wood Thriving Formation and the Demon corpses looted from the three Demon realms, he continued with Flesh Tempering.

    He moved from ce to ce as overgrown trees and grass were drained of their wood power and withered.

    All of the mutant spirit beasts in the forest seemed to be scared of him. One sniff of his aura and they would flee to other areas, fearing that he was there to capture them.

    In fact, since such low-tier mutant spirit beasts contained very limited flesh power, they could no longer spark interest in Nie Tian.

    On this day, while he was practicing Heavenly Wood Heal with the help of the Wood Thriving Formation, some unusual movement suddenly rmed him.

    Master Blood Spirit appeared in front of him without making a sound.

    Sitting in the middle of the Wood Thriving Formation, Nie Tian opened his eyes. With a few shriveled Demon corpses scattered around him, he asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Master Blood Spirit seemed somewhat hesitant as he said, ¡°Not much... I¡¯m very thankful that you evacuated those from the Blood Sect from the Realm of me Heaven. The Blood Sect is thest remaining legacy of the Blood Spirit Sect and myself.¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster Li of the Blood Sect treated me well in my early years,¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly. ¡°It¡¯s my duty to protect them.¡±

    He didn¡¯t attach much importance to Master Blood Spirit, who was at the middle Saint Domain, and had no intention to help him with his lifespan problem.

    ¡°Umm... I¡¯m here to say goodbye,¡± Master Blood Spirit said in a low voice.

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Say goodbye? Are you leaving the Realm of Split Void? Where to?¡±

    Master Blood Spirit smiled bitterly. ¡°The reason why I came here in the first ce was because the Domain of the Falling Stars was separated from the rest of the world by that forbidden region, which even powerful Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries found inessible. But now, the Realm of Split Void is no longer fit for me to practice cultivation in. More and more powerful expertse and go.

    ¡°And it¡¯s only a matter of time before word of you invading those three Demon realms spreads.

    ¡°When that happens, powerful experts from the four great sects will most likelye to investigate. If any God domain expertse here, they¡¯ll be able to sense my existence, then I¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So where do you n on going?¡±

    ¡°My n is to find and kill my junior martial brother Master Bloody Despair before I die,¡± Master Blood Spirit said with a sad determination. ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that I¡¯ll be able to make a breakthrough in cultivation to extend my lifespan before my time runs out. Since I¡¯m dying either way, I might as well take that traitor with me when I go.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled coldly. ¡°You want to kill Master Bloody Despair? You¡¯ll be courting death to do that. He¡¯s already be Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinate. Even though Sikong Cuo didn¡¯t bring him to the Domain of Nether Heaven, he was most likely summoned to join the battle against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea. Given your strength, you¡¯ll have a hard time entering the Dead Star Sea, much less killing Master Bloody Despair, who¡¯ll have the help of Sikong Cuo¡¯s other powerful subordinates.¡±

    Looking downcast, Master Blood Spirit said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll wait, wait for an opportunity to present itself.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent. He frowned and fixed him with a deep look.

    Only after a while did he say, ¡°I have a special means that allows me to gain total control of someone else, but that person will have to cooperate...¡±

    Master Blood Spirit¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What do you want to do?¡±

    Nie Tian gestured for him to stay calm, and then said, ¡°I want to give you an option. You¡¯re at the middle Saint domain, and you¡¯re currently facing a pressing lifetime problem. But I think I¡¯ll be able to help you solve that problem and extend your lifespan.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit gasped with astonishment. ¡°Do, do you still have Fruits of Life left?¡±

    ¡°No, but I can give you additional years through another approach,¡± Nie Tian said with certainty in his eyes. ¡°However, this is my greatest secret. I¡¯ll only perform it on you if you agree to let me control you fully. Otherwise, I won¡¯t do it.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit trembled with excitement.

    If he wasn¡¯t so close to the end of his life, why would he want to risk everything to kill Master Bloody Despair?

    If he had enough time, he could very well wait till he entered thete Saint domain to seek a proper opportunity to get rid of him.

    Now, knowing that Nie Tian might be able to help extend his lifespan, how could he not be shocked and excited?

    ¡°You may take some time to think it over, and then reply to me,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯ll be here in Graydusk Forest.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit took a deep breath to force himself to calm down. ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯ll work?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°How many years will I gain?¡± Master Blood Spirit asked.

    ¡°Theoretically, as many as you want,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Master Blood Spirit was bbergasted. ¡°What?! You can extend my lifespan infinitely?! How... how is that impossible?! Hundreds of races live in this boundless starry river, but who dares to say that they can extend another¡¯s lifespan infinitely?¡±

    ¡°I said I can. That means I can,¡± Nie Tian said arrogantly.

    Master Blood Spirit took a deep breath. ¡°If what you say is actually true, then no consideration is necessary. I can give you my answer right now. I¡¯m willing to render youplete control of me, so that you can cast that incantation... as long as you can extend my lifespan!¡±

    ¡°Straightforward! Good!¡± Nie Tian said aloud.

 Chapter 1083: Lifespan Extended by a Century

    There were many ways for a cultivator with a higher cultivation base to gain control of the soul of a cultivator with a lower cultivation base. It wouldn¡¯t be a hard thing to do.

    For example, if Master Blood Spirit were to attempt to control Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, and Nie Tian cooperated, it would be easily achieved.

    However, it would be much more tricky if it was the other way around.

    He was only at the early Soul realm, while Master Blood Spirit was at the middle Saint domain. He was worried that whatever soul sealing magic he used on Master Blood Spirit would be easily overridden.

    He went through all of his soul sealing magics in his mind, and felt that none of them were safe to use.

    Eventually, he summoned the Spirit Pearl andmunicated with it at a soul level.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was refined from the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch, whose understanding of souls and spirits exceeded most races.

    He expressed the task at hand.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul thought for a while, and then told Nie Tian that it had a solution.

    However, the precondition was that Master Blood Spirit must cooperatepletely.

    Only if Master Blood Spirit opened up his sea of awareness and let the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul in would it be able to leave a unique restrictive spell there.

    Once the restrictive spell took effect, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul would be able to sense if Master Blood Spirit dared to break his promise. Then, by changing the restrictive spell, it would be able to destroy his soul.

    ¡°Open your sea of awareness,¡± Nie Tian instructed.

    Master Blood Spirit did as he was told by canceling every bit of soul power that was shielding his sea of awareness.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul flew out and into his sea of awareness from between his eyebrows.

    At the same time, the Spirit Pearl shone with cyan light as the five evil spirits whizzed out. They hovered around Master Blood Spirit in case he went against his word and started to resist.

    Even Master Blood Spirit, who was at the middle Saint domain, was shocked by the evil spirits¡¯ formidable auras. ¡°Such strong evil spirits!¡±

    However, he was well-aware that the soul that had quietly entered his sea of awareness was actually the strongest one.

    The reason why he didn¡¯t sense any danger from it was because its purpose was to leave a restrictive spell in his sea of awareness, but not destroy it.

    Soon, he sensed the soul getting to work.

    As it swam around, soul strings that were as fine as silk appeared, as if it were drawing a sealing spell with them in a particr pattern.

    The moment the spell waspleted, he was struck by a wave of strong difort.

    It was a powerless feeling that someone had grasped his soul. Once the spell was activated, he wouldn¡¯t be able to shake it off no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he could only ept his fate of elimination, even losing the hope of reincarnation.

    WHOOSH!

    The soul flew out from between his eyebrows and back into the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Itmunicated with Nie Tian at a soul level. ¡°He didn¡¯t resist, but worked with me to establish the soul-sealing spell. He won¡¯t be able to break it now, even if he bes a God domain expert.¡±

    Eyes filled with amazement, Nie Tian responded, ¡°That seemed easy.¡±

    ¡°It was only easy because he was cooperative,¡± The soul said. ¡°If he hadn¡¯t let go of his soul and let me cast the spell, I wouldn¡¯t have been strong enough to seal the soul of a Saint domain expert.¡±

    As Nie Tianmunicated with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, Master Blood Spirit unleashed his domain that was filled with the flesh auras of all kinds of spirit beasts and outsiders

    He switched between different spiritual and soul incantations, and discovered that the soul-sealing spell didn¡¯t seem to be stopping him from fighting in a battle. Then, he stopped and canceled his blood domain.

    Face filled with anticipation, he looked at Nie Tian, waiting for him to make good on his promise.

    Putting the Spirit Pearl away, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ll extend your lifespan by a century this time. You maye find me again if you fail to break through into thete Saint domain in a century.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit got excited. ¡°A century?! A century should be more than enough for me to break through into thete Saint domain, but after that...¡±

    He was confident that he would be able to advance to thete Saint domain in a hundred years. Once he did, he would gain additional years.

    However, it would be hard to say whether he would be able to enter the God domain within that time.

    Nie Tian twitched his mouth and said, ¡°That¡¯ll be a problem for another day.¡±

    With these words, ten drops of Blood Essence flew out of his heart, spinning nonstop.

    Each and every drop was glittering like a crimson diamond, wreathed in rich life power.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Grant!¡± As Nie Tian eximed inwardly, the ten drops of translucent, sparkling Blood Essence flew into Master Blood Spirit¡¯s heart.

    He, who had great expertise in the Blood Refining Incantation, had a keen perception of flesh aura. The immense flesh aura and mysterious life power within the Blood Essence bbergasted him.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence filled his heart with vigorous life force.

    He, who was weighed down with age, instantly felt the changes, as if his old and clumsy body was filled with vigor again!

    As the Blood Essence dispersed one drop after another, he sensed with great rity that the limit of his lifespan was being pushed back bit by bit!

    ¡°I, I can¡¯t believe such mysterious power actually exists!¡± Trembling, Master Blood Spirit finally believed Nie Tian, and that there was indeed a special power in heaven and earth that could do such a heaven-defying thing as extending others¡¯ lifespans.

    ¡°Are you feeling the changes?¡± Nie Tian asked aloud.

    Master Blood Spirit nodded repeatedly. ¡°I am! My body is full of vigor again! And I can actually feel my lifespan being extended!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a deep breath, a faint smile appearing on his face. ¡°So this is actually viable.¡±

    As a matter of fact, he hadn¡¯t beenpletely certain that Life Grant would actually work before this experiment with Master Blood Spirit.

    After all, this was such a shocking, heaven-defying bloodline talent.

    ¡°Alright, your lifespan has been extended by a century. Try to make good use of it.¡± With these words, Nie Tian bid Master Blood Spirit farewell, and left on his Star Boat.

    After moving to another location in the Graydusk Forest, he took out fresh Demon corpses from within his ring of holding, including the corpse of that grand patriarch. With the rich flesh power within them, he regenerated the Blood Essence he had lost.

    Two weeks passed...

    After consuming half of the Demon corpses that had been looted from the three Demon realms, he regained ten drops of Blood Essence.

    That was when he realized that he still had yet to finish Flesh Tempering, the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    However, the trees and grass had already withered in most areas of the Graydusk Forest, which made it hard for him to proceed.

    It was at that moment that Ruan Qingliu, Hou Chn¡¯s most powerful subordinate, arrived in the Realm of Split Void.

    Upon finding Nie Tian, she stated the purpose of her visit, which was to ask him to go help Hou Chn break through into the Saint domain in the Five Elements Sect. This was what he had agreed to previously.

    Without much discussion, he set out with Ruan Qingliu for the Five Elements Sect.

    In the Realm of Wood Spirit, where the wood element sect was based.

    As soon as Nie Tian stepped out of an inter-domain teleportation portal with Ruan Qingliu, he sensed extremely rich wood power in the air.

    The wood power here was about ten times richer than that in the Graydusk Forest!

    The Realm of Wood Spirit was one of the Five Elements Sect¡¯s main realms, among the Realm of Gold Spirit, the Realm of Fire Spirit, the Realm of Earth Spirit, and the Realm of Water Spirit.

    As the bases of the metal element sect, fire element sect, earth element sect, water element sect, and wood element sect, the five main realms weren¡¯t very far apart.

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, he saw Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan upon arriving.

    With a heartyugh, Huang Jinnan gave Nie Tian a bear hug. ¡°We heard that you¡¯re going to help Senior Martial Sister Hou advance to the Saint domain, so we came to observe and learn. But do you know that you might be in big trouble?¡±

    ¡°What big trouble?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I received word that you discovered that three spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars connected to three different Demon realms. You and your subordinates snuck into them, wiped out the local Demon ns, and looted arge number of spiritual materials and demonic grass.

    ¡°And you destroyed those those spatial rifts after your return. Is that right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°What about it?¡±

    Lou Hongyan gave him a hard look and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you know how much those spatial rifts meant to us? If Saint and God domain experts from the four great sects had entered those spatial rifts instead of you, they might have already wiped out the entire Demon race, ridding us of a mortal mdy.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a snort. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars is my homnd. I¡¯ll only do things that¡¯ll benefit it. If the four great sects had found out about those spatial rifts, powerful human experts would have poured into the Domain of the Falling Stars, which would have be a stronghold on the front line that Demons and other outsiders might attack repeatedly.¡±

    Lou Hongyan sighed. ¡°You¡¯re being too selfish and ignoring the bigger picture. Do you know that your sect isn¡¯t getting any advantage in their unprecedentedly-fierce battle against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    ¡°Your sect is already investigating this matter,¡± Huang Jinnan said with a concerned expression. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that they¡¯ll hold you ountable for it.¡±

    With an icy face, Nie Tian said, ¡°I wiped out numerous Demon ns andid waste to three important Demons. What will they hold me ountable for? You two didn¡¯te here just to use me of this, did you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Huang Jinnan hastily said. ¡°We were only concerned and wanted to warn you about what might happen.¡±

    Lou Hongyan chimed in. ¡°What happened, happened. There really isn¡¯t much to say about it. I just hope that you¡¯ll be more careful from now on.¡±

    Standing off to the side, Ruan Qingliu reminded Nie Tian, ¡°The Divine Daughter awaits.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Show me the way please.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for you over there,¡± Ruan Qingliu said, pointing at the green mountains in the distance. ¡°She has high hopes in you, and believes that your being there will help her bridge the chasm and enter the Saint domain safely. And I believe that too.¡±

    Puzzled looks filled Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan¡¯s faces, as if they were wondering why Hou Chn would seek help from Nie Tian, of all people.

 Chapter 1084: The Realm of Wood Spirit

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian gazed down at the vast earth.

    Mountains andkes stretched as far as the eye could see, along with overgrown ancient trees and fresh green spirit grass.

    Herb gardens could be seen almost everywhere, with all kinds of rare spirit grass that could be used to make high-grade medicinal pills growing in them.

    Crude wooden residences sat in mountain valleys, where Qi warriors that exuded rich wood auras were practicing cultivation.

    Red-crowned cranes and other rare birds flew around clearkes, where fish were swimming happily and freely.

    Powerful Qi warriors dwelt in the cyan mountains. Void and Saint domain experts could be seen everywhere.

    A wide array of exotic flowers and rare herbs grew in the Realm of Wood Spirit, filling the entire realm with soothing wood power, which made it a blessednd for those who practiced wood power incantations.

    Nie Tian even sensed pleasure in the Godspirit Tree sapling in his wood power core.

    This made him realize that this realm was an ideal ce for Godspirit Trees to grow in.

    Then, he examined his surroundings with rapt attention, and discovered that the wood power in the Realm of Wood Spirit seemed to be growing by itself, as if it would never run dry.

    After wondering for a while, he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Senior Ruan, is there a Heaven Nourished grade treasure like the Godspirit Tree in the Realm of Wood Spirit? As far as I know, only a Heaven Nourished grade wood-attributed treasure can change a realm this way.¡±

    The Divine me had reached the Domain of me¡¯s End from the depths of the starry river.

    It had left me sparks in all of its realms, causing them to go through changes and vesting them with the ability to channel me power from the starry river. By doing that, it had turned all of the realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End into fiery heaven and earths.

    That was when Nie Tian had first realized that certain rare treasures could cause changes in realms.

    The way he saw it, the dark stone Dong Li had acquired from the Sixth Demon Realm was such a rare treasure. Its existence had enveloped the Sixth Demon Realm in darkness, and even created a forbidden ce like the Dark Forest.

    ¡°There was a treasure like that, but that was a long time ago.¡± Ruan Qingliu seemed careful with her choice of words. ¡°But I¡¯m still not a member of the Five Elements Sect, even though I practice wood power. So I don¡¯t know much about the wood element sect¡¯s secrets.¡±

    She was only Hou Chn¡¯s subordinate.

    In this sense, she was like Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and the other experts who followed Nie Tian, who were Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates, but not members of Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    For that reason, it was understandable that she didn¡¯t know much about the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    ¡°So there was such a treasure... But what about now?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s no longer here,¡± Ruan Qingliu said, looking rather uncertain about her answer.

    Huang Jinnan chuckled. ¡°Why ask her, but not me? The Realm of Wood Spirit, the Realm of Gold Spirit, and the Realm of Fire Spirit were originally regr heaven and earths with nothing special about them. They were made specialter.¡±

    Nie Tian looked at him attentively, waiting for him to carry on.

    After a moment of hesitation, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Well, this is kind of a secret of my sect. I shouldn¡¯t tell you too much about it... Heaven Nourished grade treasures have existed in the Realm of Water Spirit and the Realm of Earth Spirit since the very beginning. But that¡¯s not the case with the Realm of Wood Spirit, the Realm of Gold Spirit, and the Realm of Fire Spirit. Later, my sect vested each of them with a Heaven Nourished grade treasure, allowing them to automatically transform into blessednds for those who cultivate wood power, metal power, and me power.

    ¡°But now, the Realm of Wood Spirit already no longer needs that Heaven Nourished treasure to channel wood power from the starry river.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Why?¡±

    Huang Jinnan smiled and said, ¡°As long as the head of the wood element sect is still around, the Realm of Wood Spirit will be able to channel power from the starry river and infuse itself with endless wood power.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to ask another question, Lou Hongyan from the fire element sect interrupted him. ¡°Nie Tian, I reported to my master that you¡¯re currently holding the me Dragon Armor.¡±

    ¡°What did he say?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed.

    The ownership of the me Dragon Armor remained an unsolved issue. By stimting it with his Blood Essence, he had awakened its Blood Core, vesting it with unprecedented vitality. It had already be one of his most important possessions.

    Of course he wouldn¡¯t want to give it to the fire element sect.

    Lou Hongyan seemed ill-at-ease as she said, ¡°My master said that you can keep the me Dragon Armor, but he hopes that you¡¯ll lend it to him when he needs it. That suit of armor itself isn¡¯t very important. However, it carries a mystery, which even my master hasn¡¯t figured outpletely. So...¡±

    Nie Tian thought briefly and said, ¡°Alright, he can borrow it. But I want to know what secret that suit of armor holds. I hope he¡¯ll share it with me.¡±

    ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk about that when he needs to borrow the suit of armor.¡± Lou Hongyan seemed distressed whenever she talked about the me Dragon Armor.

    After all, she was the one who had lost it to another in the first ce. Otherwise, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have gained it.

    Besides, Nie Tian had triggered brand new changes in it, and he had helped the Five Elements Sect repeatedly. She couldn¡¯t simply take it back.

    They flew past mountain after mountain as they spoke.

    ¡°There,¡± Ruan Qingliu said, pointing at a cyan mountain peak in front of them. Several bamboo pavilions could be seen at the mountaintop.

    Hou Chn was standing in front of one of them, waving at Nie Tian with a smile on her face.

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked in a low voice, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you set up a teleportation portal in these mountains? That would save you the trouble of traveling back and forth between here and the teleportation portal.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Wood Spirit is different from the other main realms,¡± Huang Jinnan exined. ¡°It¡¯s an important herb garden for not only my sect, but for all of humanity. And that¡¯s because many exotic flowers and rare grass can only be cultivated here. However, unusual spatial fluctuations would take a toll on the growth of those herbs.

    ¡°For that reason, the inter-domain teleportation portal was set up in a remote area, so that its operation won¡¯t undermine the medicinal properties of the herbs.¡±

    Enlightened by his words, Nie Tian nodded. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Five figures shed out of the bamboo pavilion one after another.

    They were old men and women. However, each and every one of them was at thete Saint domain, and exuded a shockingly strong aura.

    Afternding, Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan bowed respectfully towards the five elders.

    ¡°Greetings, Elder Wang.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Elder Li...¡±

    Then, Huang Jinnan turned to Nie Tian and introduced, ¡°These are our respected elders of the wood element sect. Some of them are well-versed in alchemy. Some are brilliant fighters. Some specialize in healing, while others are in charge of cultivating spirit nts and medicinal grass.

    ¡°They¡¯re all experts of the same generation as the current head of the wood element sect.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian also bowed respectfully towards the five of them, as Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan had.

    With a faint smile, Hou Chn said, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, Nie Tian. I only asked the elders to be here because I want to make sure that everything goes well when I attempt to break through into the Saint domain. This is Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Senior Lu Jiefeng only managed to secure a wisp of his soul because he and Pei Qiqi had broken free from the Domain of Nether Heaven in time, and spread word of what had happened in there.

    ¡°And if it weren¡¯t for him, I might have been trapped and killed by Phantasms and Fiends in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin not long ago, and suffered the same fate as Mou Luo.¡±

    Even though the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t know much about what had happened during their trip in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, these elders of the wood element sect knew it all.

    Being reminded that Lu Jiefeng had secured his chance at reincarnation because of Nie Tian, they all fixed him with warm, approving looks.

    ¡°Chn!¡± A deafening voice that sounded like a thunderp echoed out from the distant sky. ¡°You trying to break through into the Saint domain is such a paramount matter. Howe you didn¡¯t tell me about it?¡±

    In the next moment, everyone spotted He Lianxiong, who was burly like a mountain, even though he was still a significant distance from them.

    ¡°That guy again...¡± Hou Chn frowned and muttered, before giving Ruan Qingliu a hard look.

    Ruan Qingliu hastily exined, ¡°I have nothing to do with this, Divine Daughter! I swear that I didn¡¯t tell him anything this time! I don¡¯t know how he learned about this!¡±

    He Lianxiong arrived with a loud whoosh. Without greeting anyone, he set his eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian! What are you doing here?¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Unlike you, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect sent for me. So I cleared my schedule and came here.¡±

    He Lianxiong curled his lips. ¡°Hmm? You¡¯ve entered the Soul realm. Not bad. But still, Chn is attempting to break through into the Saint domain. How can you help her?¡±

    ¡°What can you do to help?¡± Nie Tian countered.

    ¡°I found her several treasures that will increase her chance at a sessful breakthrough,¡± He Lianxiong said arrogantly.

    Upon hearing these words, all five elders of the wood element sect turned their heads towards him as their eyes lit up.

    He Lianxiong was a stepson of the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion. The treasures he brought must be extraordinary.

    As far as they were concerned, Hou Chn needed all the help she could get to smoothen her breakthrough into the Saint domain.

 Chapter 1085: Breakthrough into the Saint Domain

    The five elders of the wood element sect fixed He Lianxiong with anticipating looks.

    He Lianxiong nced over them with a smile on his face before a small transparent bottle flew out of his palm.

    The bottle was only the size of a thumb. Inside of it was an emerald green liquid. Even though the liquid was sealed in the bottle, everyone present could sense extremely pure wood power from it.

    Wang Haoming, an elder of the wood element sect, gasped, his face splitting into a wide smile. ¡°Is, is that the Floragrims¡¯ Heavenly Land Spirit Elixir?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± He Lianxiong confirmed his spection. ¡°Heavenly Land Spirit Elixir can help solidify Chn¡¯s void domain. It¡¯s said that such a wondrous thing can only be collected from a mysterious heaven and earth of the Floragrims.¡±

    Even Hou Chn¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    She clearly understood how valuable the Heavenly Land Spirit Elixir was, and how helpful it would be to her breakthrough into the Saint domain.

    With these words, He Lianxiong took out a pitch-ck medicinal pill. ¡°And this is an Immortal Pce Pill, which is a Heaven grade medicinal pill that contains extremely rich soul power. When you refine and strengthen your domain with soul strands, it¡¯ll help you recover soul power much more efficiently.¡±

    Li Xifen, another elder of the wood element sect, who was a seasoned alchemist, couldn¡¯t help but marvel in a soft voice, ¡°That pill is a rare treasure indeed! Even I¡¯m not skilled enough to make them, even though it¡¯s only at the first level of the Heaven grade. He Lianxiong, your stepfather gave it to you so that you can use it when you attempt to break through into the Saint domain, right?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions grew strange as they heard these words.

    Even He Lianxiong himself smiled somewhat embarrassedly. ¡°Yeah, it was given to me by my stepfather. But since I¡¯m currently at the middle Void domain, it¡¯ll still be some time before I enter thete Void domain and attempt to break through into the Saint domain. And Chn¡¯s breakthrough is at hand, so I decided to give it to her.¡±

    ¡°Even though you don¡¯t need it now, you¡¯ll need it in the future,¡± Li Xinfen reminded him. ¡°Immortal Pce Pills are so valuable that even your stepfather must not have many in his possession. So why don¡¯t you keep it for yourself?¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m sure that my stepfather will grant me another one when I attempt to break through into the Saint domain,¡± He Lianxiong said with confidence.

    With these words, he took out a few other items, all of which were rare cultivation materials that could help Hou Chn enter the Saint domain. However,pared to Heavenly Land Spirit Elixir and Immortal Pce Pill, they were of considerably less value.

    Standing off to the side, Nie Tian smiled as he watched He Lianxiong present his precious treasures to everyone present one by one.

    ¡°Nie Tian, it seems to me that He Lianxiong has considered you his rival,¡± Huang Jinnan joked in a low voice. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you made a move on Senior Martial Sister Hou when you were in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin?¡±

    Overhearing him, Lou Hongyan also fixed Nie Tian with a curious look.

    The entire Five Elements Sect knew that He Lianxiong was pursuing Hou Chn relentlessly. As Divine Children, they usually teased Hou Chn about it.

    Hou Chn had had other pursuers before. However, they had all given up sensibly after He Lianxiong hade along.

    After all, they could notpete against He Lianxiong in either status or cultivation base.

    However, as the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian was gaining poprity, which made him an even match for He Lianxiong.

    ¡°Quit ying,¡± Nie Tian said with a bored face. ¡°The guy would do this to any man who has any contact with Hou Chn.¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess He Lianxiong has his reasons to treat you this way,¡± Huang Jinnan said sarcastically. ¡°After all, you don¡¯t have a perfect score in a certain aspect.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°What?¡±

    Huang Jinnan gave a cunning chuckle. ¡°You traveled with Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, two great beauties, in the Shatter Battlefield. Many say that your rtionship with them goes beyond the ordinary. As far as I know, you have a fiance, whose name is Dong Li. And just recently, when we met in the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters, I noticed that the way you looked at Pei Qiqi was full of emotions.¡±

    Hearing this, Lou Hongyan muttered in a low voice, ¡°Another jerk!¡±

    She hadn¡¯t met Nie Tian yet when he had entered the Shatter Battlefield, so she hadn¡¯t been aware that he had had Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong by his side the whole trip. Now, as she heard Huang Jinnan¡¯s teasing words, she immediately came to the conclusion that Nie Tian was despicable.

    ¡°Don¡¯t befoul me, okay?¡± Nie Tian said in a stern voice. ¡°Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong were nothing but travelpanions!¡±

    As they whispered among themselves, the argument between Hou Chn and He Lianxiong went on. He Lianxiong insisted that Hou Chn ept the precious materials he had specially prepared for her breakthrough.

    However, Hou Chn insisted that she wouldn¡¯t take them.

    Eventually, Hou Chn was worn down. In a very impatient manner, she epted the Heavenly Land Spirit Elixir and said, ¡°Keep the other things you brought. I have my own Immortal Pce Pills and Barrier Breaking Pills. I don¡¯t need yours!¡±

    Hearing this, He Lianxiong finally gave up and put the other treasures away as he was told.

    Then, he shot Nie Tian a sideways nce and asked in a loud provoking voice, ¡°What did you bring?¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Nie Tian said, pointing at himself with a wry smile. ¡°I came here empty-handed. And senior martial sister said that she¡¯d havevish gifts for me as long as I came here, even if I couldn¡¯t do anything to help. Isn¡¯t that right, senior martial sister?¡±

    Hou Chn nodded with a faint smile. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°You have quite some skills, Nie Tian!¡± Huang Jinnan said aloud, as if he meant for He Lianxiong to hear him.

    Face grim like a piece of metal, He Lianxiong said, ¡°Chn, you...¡±

    Hou Chn shot him a nasty look. ¡°Will you shut up? If you say another word that¡¯s disrespectful to my guest, I¡¯ll have you take your Heavenly Land Spirit Elixir and leave!¡±

    He Lianxiong sealed his lips, though he red at Nie Tian.

    The five elders of the wood element sect, however, were confused by Hou Chn¡¯s attitude towards Nie Tian. They all wondered why she would ask Nie Tian to be here, and give himvish gifts as rewards.

    ¡°This Nie Tian is only at the Soul realm. How would he be able to help Chn?¡±

    ¡°This is odd... Why would she demand that he be here?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s so special about him?¡±

    However, the truth was that even Hou Chn herself didn¡¯t know how Nie Tian would be able to help her break through into the Saint domain. She only had a feeling that he might.

    ¡°Alright, this is where I get started.¡± Hou Chn took a deep breath and signaled for everyone to give her some space.

    As she sat down on the mountaintop, her unique wood domain, which Nie Tian had witnessed in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, gradually spread out.

    It was a domain full of vigor. Lotuses were floating on the surface of an emerald greenke. An ind could be seen at theke¡¯s center, on which a lush bamboo grove grew.

    Every once in a while, cyan smoke would rise from theke¡¯s surface, gradually pervading her entire domain and preventing others from getting a clear view of what was inside.

    Like weightless clouds, wood power that was about ten times richer than that in the Graydusk Forest slowly gathered from all directions and fused into her illusory domain.

    Like an ethereal god, Hou Chn¡¯s figure loomed in the depths of her domain, appearing and disappearing from time to time.

    Meanwhile, the five elders of the wood element sect spread out vigntly, forming a circle around Hou Chn, where they cast spells to help her channel rich wood power from the vicinity and into her domain.

    ¡°Her attempt to break through into the Saint domain is a matter of great importance. Howe the head of the wood element sect didn¡¯t show up?¡± Nie Tian whispered to Huang Jinnan.

    Hou Chn was the legacy disciple of the head of the wood element sect. If something were to happen to her, Hou Chn would be the one to fill her void as the master of the wood element sect.

    Her breakthrough into the Saint domain would be full of dangers. One mishap, and Hou Chn might perish, body and soul. Therefore, it didn¡¯t seem right that the head of the wood element sect didn¡¯te and provide protection.

    ¡°What made you think that she¡¯s not here?¡± Huang Jinnan smiled quietly.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°She is?¡±

    ¡°This is such an important matter. How can she not be?¡± Huang Jinnan said, as if it couldn¡¯t be more natural. ¡°Given her profound cultivation base, nothing that happens here in the Realm of Wood Spirit can escape her perception, as long as she cares enough to find out. If my senior martial sister needs her help during her breakthrough, of course she¡¯ll show up.¡±

    Nie Tian was immediately enlightened.

    The head of the wood element sect was Lu Yuxin, ate God domain expert. Given her divine abilities, she could indeed see or hear anything in the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    Throughout this boundless starry river, perhaps her profound understanding of wood power could only be matched by Floragrim grand monarchs.

    What mishap could happen to Hou Chn with her watching over her?

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Loud sounds echoed out as the torrential spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and wood power went through changes within Hou Chn¡¯s domain.

    A fresh slender bamboo on the central ind suddenly started to grow taller and taller, glittering with green, unusual light.

    Watching it, Nie Tian felt that even the Godspirit Tree sapling in him was somehow touched.

    Nie Tian immediately realized something. ¡°If what I suspect is true, that bamboo must be a Heaven Nourished grade treasure that has taken root in Hou Chn¡¯s wood power core!¡±

 Chapter 1086: Core Break

    Nie Tian was at the early Soul realm, which meant he was still a long way from the Void domain.

    Before this, he hadn¡¯t even witnessed others attempt to break through into the Void domain, much less the Saint domain.

    He didn¡¯t have any idea as to what dangers and wonders these breakthroughs held.

    He simply observed.

    The first step of Hou Chn¡¯s breakthrough seemed to be gathering wood power. The Realm of Wood Spirit was wreathed in rich wood power to start with. The five wood element sect elders further improved the speed at which she channeled wood power from her surroundings.

    Because of this, she didn¡¯t even have to absorb wood power from wood-attributed spiritual materials.

    Nie Tian sensed with rapt attention, and discovered that, with the five elders¡¯ help, the speed at which Hou Chn¡¯s domain absorbed wood power was several times faster than his Wood Thriving Formation.

    ¡°Thanks to the unique features of the Realm of Wood Spirit and the help she has, she doesn¡¯t have to worry about wood power.¡± Nie Tian muttered softly.

    With an envious look on her face, Lou Hongyan muttered, ¡°If I hadn¡¯t died that one time, I would have been attempting to break through into the Saint domain too. Perhaps I would have even made the attempt earlier than senior martial sister...¡±

    She had been reincarnated once. Nie Tian had learned from Huang Jinnan that this Daughter of mes had been a gorgeous woman in her previous life. Even among the four great sects, her beauty had been hardly matched.

    However, the body she had been reborn into didn¡¯t look so outstanding, which was the reason why she looked unimpressive in front of Hou Chn.

    She and Hou Chn had joined the Five Elements Sect and be the Divine Daughters of the wood element sect and fire element sect at around the same time.

    Back in the day, her cultivation talent and advancing speed had even outshone Hou Chn¡¯s.

    It was her reincarnation that had held her back. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have only been at the early Void domain. She might even have entered the Saint domain already.

    Huang Jinnan sighed. ¡°Making fast advances in cultivation isn¡¯t necessarily a good thing, senior martial sister. Didn¡¯t that metal element sect senior martial brother of mine fail to break through into the Saint domain? His spiritual cores exploded and killed him. Even his soul scattered, killing his chance at reincarnation. If he was still alive, my master wouldn¡¯t have chosen me as his new heir.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    As far as he knew, Huang Jinnan was the weakest of all of the Divine Children of the Five Elements Sect. His middle Soul realm cultivation base was only slightly higher than Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Lou Hongyan was currently at the early Void domain, despite her reincarnation. Hou Chn¡¯s cultivation base was even higher.

    Before, Nie Tian had wondered why, as a Divine Son, Huang Jinnan¡¯s cultivation base was so low.

    Now, he finally realized that the reason was because the former Divine Son of the metal element sect had failed and perished during his breakthrough into the Saint domain, allowing Huang Jinnan to be the Divine Son of the metal element sect.

    ¡°Is the breakthrough into the Saint domain really so full of dangers?¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself with a grim face. ¡°Even a Divine Son died beyond salvation because of some mishap during the process?¡±

    As they spoke, He Lianxiong looked in Nie Tian¡¯s direction every once in awhile.

    His eyes flickered slightly after he heard Nie Tian¡¯s words, as if he had suddenly be worried about his future breakthroughs.

    A bitter expression filled Huang Jinnan¡¯s face as he said, ¡°The higher your cultivation base bes, the more dangerous your breakthroughs will be. It¡¯s not crazy difficult to break through into the Void domain, but the breakthroughs into the Saint and God domain are truly full of dangers.

    ¡°To break through into the Void domain, you only have to release your spiritual sea from your dantian region, and transform it into an illusory domain by mixing it with the wonders of your soul. Since this whole process is illusory, the breakthrough isn¡¯t so scary.

    ¡°The breakthrough into the Saint domain, however, involves core break.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Core break?¡±

    Huang Jinnan gave him a sideways nce and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t even know the difference between the breakthrough into the Void domain and the breakthrough into the Saint domain. Who¡¯s your master? Didn¡¯t he teach you these things?¡±

    ¡°My master is Wu Ji,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°He¡¯s from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Huang Jinnan went nk briefly before asking, ¡°What cultivation base is he currently at?¡±

    Looking somewhat embarrassed, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t give a definite answer. ¡°Umm... I don¡¯t know. He was at the Soul realm thest time I saw him.¡±

    Hearing these words, both Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan had strange expressions on their faces.

    Nie Tian then exined, ¡°To answer your question, my master didn¡¯t tell me anything about what I would encounter during breakthroughs. All he said was that I¡¯d be able to see the wonders and subtle changes myself when I actually make the breakthroughs. No external guidance is needed.¡±

    Huang Jinnan shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of such an irresponsible master...¡±

    Then, after a short pause, he continued, ¡°As its name implies, core break refers to the process of breaking the spiritual cores in a cultivator¡¯s spiritual sea. After that, the broken spiritual cores will fuse into the cultivator¡¯s domain, turning the originally illusory domain tangible and solid.

    ¡°After cultivators enter the Saint domain, their domains will be their source of power.

    ¡°There are three major steps to breaking through into the Saint domain. Each and every one is full of dangers. The first step is core break.

    ¡°The second step is to fuse the broken spiritual cores into your domain to solidify it, or core fusion.

    ¡°Thest and the most difficult step is core withdrawal. After core fusion, the broken pieces that have fused into the domain will have toe back together to reform cores that will return into the body along with the domain, which has transformed from the spiritual sea.

    ¡°Only after finishing these three steps will a cultivator be considered to have broken through into the Saint domain.

    ¡°What my senior martial sister is doing now is over-infusing her wood power core with wood power. When the core stretches to its limit, it will crack, initiating the first step: core break.¡±

    Lou Hongyan sighed emotionally. ¡°The speed at which humans advance in cultivation is much faster than the speed at which outsiders upgrade their bloodlines. However, whates with more rapid advances in cultivation is greater risks.

    ¡°Normally speaking, outsiders¡¯ bloodline upgrades are usually safe and smooth.

    ¡°However, it takes them much longer to advance to the eighth, ninth, and tenth grade.

    ¡°The heavens are fair. It¡¯s easy for us to make progress in cultivation and rise to the peak of power. However, those who attempt to advance to the Void, Saint, and God domain face extremely high mortality rates. Of the countless people in this starry river, only a handful can actually make the breakthroughs from the Soul realm to the Void domain, from the Void domain to the Saint domain, and from the Saint domain to the God domain.

    ¡°And most of the God domain experts are members of the four great sects. It¡¯s almost impossible for those from minor human forces to enter the God domain.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent after hearing Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan¡¯s words.

    Before, he hadn¡¯t been aware that the breakthroughs after the Void domain were actually so deadly. One mishap, and the cultivator might die beyond salvation.

    He couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°Considering that my bloodline upgrade is not only fast but also safe, should I put more emphasis on my bloodline?¡±

    He practiced wood power, me power, and star power at the same time. Even Hou Chn, who only practiced wood power, treated her breakthrough into the Saint domain so cautiously. What kind of difficulties would he face when he attempted to break through into the Saint domain?

    Hou Chn continued to take in wood power. After Nie Tian fell silent, Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan remained silent as well.

    Off to the side, He Lianxiong looked nervously at Hou Chn¡¯s domain, which was now filled with misty wood power.

    After an unknown period of time, all of the misty wood power within Hou Chn¡¯s domain suddenly gathered towards the central ind.

    Huang Jinnan took a deep breath and said with an anticipating expression, ¡°Core break is at hand.

    ¡°Even though this is only the first step, it¡¯s full of uncertainties. She can¡¯t allow her spiritual cores to shatter too quickly. Otherwise, all of her efforts would be in vain.

    ¡°She has to make sure that her spiritual cores crack bit by bit. And the speed at which the broken pieces fuse into her domain also needs to be moderate.

    ¡°If the fusion happens too fast, her domain won¡¯t fully solidify. If the fusion happened too slowly, her spiritual cores might explode.¡±

    As he spoke in a low voice, Hou Chn¡¯s figure appeared once again in her domain, looming behind all the misty wood power.

    The bamboo on the central ind continued to grow and stand out, as if it was channeling and consuming a great amount of wood power.

    The wood power that should have infused into Hou Chn¡¯s spiritual cores seemed to bergely hogged by them instead, giving rise to a problem during only the first step: wood power shortage.

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°That mysterious bamboo seems to be going through an upgrade! That¡¯s why it¡¯s taking a great amount of wood power! Come on... Why would it grow at such a critical moment, when senior martial sister needs wood power the most?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this very moment, wisps of faint green wood power that were even more concentrated than before converged on Hou Chn from every part of the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    Each and every wisp was like a river that contained dozens of times more wood power than what the five wood element sect elders had channeled from their surroundings.

    It was also at this moment that Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that something had stirred the Godspirit Tree sapling inside of him, and that the entire Realm of Wood Spirit seemed to be suddenly filled with energy and life force.

    Nie Tian suddenly realized what was happening. ¡°Lu Yuxin, the head of the wood element sect, must be working her magics!¡±

 Chapter 1087: Stirring Another Life

    The rivers of faint green wood power that suddenly started converging on Hou Chn seemed to be channeled from different parts of the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    However, they had clearly undergone refinement, as the wood power they carried was significantly richer and purer than what the elders had provided.

    A moment ago, the green bamboo in Hou Chn¡¯s domain had suddenly started absorbing wood power and growing at an rming rate.

    Since Hou Chn¡¯s wood power core was losing arge portion of the wood power that was meant for it to the green bamboo, the first step, core break, encountered a rough patch.

    However, as Lu Yuxin, the head of the wood element sect, made a move, the problem was easily taken care of.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Crisp sounds echoed out from within Hou Chn.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered with excitement. ¡°Her spiritual cores have started cracking!¡±

    He nced around, convinced that Lu Yuxin¡¯s soul awareness had descended in this area.

    Nie Tian was also struck by a peculiar feeling that someone was secretly observing him.

    He felt as if he had no ce to hide, with all of his secrets put in broad daylight.

    He immediately realized that, as a stranger to the Realm of Wood Spirit, he was being examined by the head of the wood element sect.

    With a wry smile, he sped his hands and whispered into the sky, ¡°This humble one is Nie Tian, Senior Lu. By invitation of senior martial sister, I came here to assist her breakthrough into the Saint domain.¡±

    There were no responses.

    However, his feeling of being secretly examined by someone suddenly vanished.

    This convinced him that Lu Yuxin had heard and seen him.

    With the wood power shortage taken care of by Lu Yuxin, Hou Chn¡¯s core break went back on track.

    Soon, Nie Tian noticed that Hou Chn¡¯s domain was gradually losing its illusory feeling, and no longer seemed like an ethereal reflection.

    At the same time, tiny pieces of spiritual cores appeared at Hou Chn¡¯s abdomen, where they exploded and slowly fused into her domain in a wondrous manner.

    Everything within her illusory domain instantly gained a sense of solidity, as if it was simply a part of the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    Ripples spread on theke¡¯s surface as a faint mist gradually rose.

    Lotuses were floating in full bloom, their leaves green and luxuriant.

    On the central ind, the bamboo grove held shockingly rich life force.

    ¡°Core fusion!¡± He Lianxiong eximed softly, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. Apparently, he was truly happy for Hou Chn.

    Even though Nie Tian found the man irritating, his feelings for Hou Chn were beyond doubt. He truly hoped that Hou Chn would enter the Saint domain sessfully.

    Nie Tian watched Hou Chn¡¯s domain gradually solidify as core fusion happened at a slow pace.

    Days passed before he knew it.

    With Lu Yuxin there to gather and refine wood power from all around the Realm of Wood Spirit, Hou Chn didn¡¯t have to worry aboutcking power again during her breakthrough into the Saint domain.

    All she needed was time.

    Nie Tian had paid close attention to the process at first. However, as the days passed, his mind started to wander.

    ¡°Core break, core fusion, and core withdrawal... Senior martial sister is still at the second step. It seems that no mishaps will ur before the final step, core withdrawal.¡±

    At the same time, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what kind of difficulties he would encounter when he attempted to break through into the Saint domain himself.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to work with three spiritual cores of different attributes simultaneously... The difficulty in that will surely exceed what senior martial sister is experiencing now.¡±

    The mere thought of it gave him a headache.

    Time flew. A few more days passed.

    Hou Chn¡¯s domain finally finished the fundamental transformation: from illusory to solid!

    Unlike before, the wood power in her domain now was extremely refined, and the amount of wood power it held had improved severalfold.

    It was simr to what Nie Tian had experienced when he had broken through into the Soul realm, and his spiritual cores had turned from liquid to solid.

    As soon as the transformation of Hou Chun¡¯s domain wasplete, faint wisps of wood power started falling from the starry river and converging on the growing bamboo in her domain.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with amazement. ¡°That bamboo of hers is channeling wood power from the starry river on its own!¡±

    His Godspirit Tree sapling also had such an incredible ability, which seemed to be shared by only Heaven Nourished grade treasures.

    He couldn¡¯t help but turn to Huang Jinnan and ask, ¡°Do you know anything about that bamboo?¡±

    Huang Jinnan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a Heaven Nourished grade treasure. My senior martial sister was with it when her master saw the potential in her and decided to take her in. Even though she was merely amoner back then, her inner attribute agreed with the bamboo¡¯s attribute perfectly. But of course, that bamboo didn¡¯t manifest its wonders untilter.

    ¡°Senior martial sister came from a remote realm, which hadn¡¯t seen any powerful Qi warriors. In that realm, people call that bamboo the ¡®Divine Bamboo¡¯. Normally, nomoner could set foot in the ce where the Divine Bamboo was, yet she somehow did, and the Divine Bamboo didn¡¯t repel her.

    ¡°Having a rough childhood, she would usually go talk to the Divine Bamboo when she felt wronged or lonely.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t expect it to understand her. All she wanted was to find a vent for the confusion and unhappiness that weighed down on her.

    ¡°As time passed, her aura was gradually influenced and changed by the Divine Bamboo without her knowledge.

    ¡°When her master happened to pass through that realm, the Divine Bamboo¡¯s unique aura caught her attention. Upon arriving, she spotted her and took her back to the Realm of Wood Spirit, where she taught her wholeheartedly. Later, when she was ready to enter the Void domain, she returned to her home realm and fused the Divine Bamboo into her without meeting any resistance. Since then, her cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds.

    ¡°That Divine Bamboo can be viewed as her natal item. If she¡¯s so lucky as to enter the God domain, then that Divine Bamboo may grow into an Immortal grade divine treasure on its own. No external tempering will be needed. However, she¡¯ll be the only one who can wield it and bring out its full might.¡±

    ¡°Divine Bamboo...¡± Nie Tian muttered with narrowed eyes. ¡°Is it more or less powerful than a Godspirit Tree?¡±

    Huang Jinnan shook his head. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard anyone other than my senior martial sister having a Divine Bamboo, so it¡¯s kind of hard to make theparison.¡±

    ¡°So does that mean that Divine Bamboo isn¡¯t a wood-attributed Heaven Nourished grade treasure known by the four great sects?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Huang Jinnan answered.

    ¡°Core withdrawal is about to begin,¡± Lou Hongyan whispered.

    Nie Tian instantly ended his conversation with Huang Jinnan to refocus on Hou Chn¡¯s domain, and her seemingly tiny figure that was now sitting on the central ind.

    It was also at this moment that an ethereal figure appeared high in the heavens, looming behind a sea of clouds.

    However, the figure loomed in the clouds, preventing people from getting a clear view of it.

    However, the Godspirit Tree sapling within Nie Tian shrewdly discovered its existence. He jerked his head skywards and eximed softly, ¡°That¡¯s the head of the wood element sect!¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s breakthrough was a matter of great importance. Of the three steps, thest step, core withdrawal, was the most dangerous.

    That was why Lu Yuxin decided toe here in person at this moment.

    A scared look appeared in Hou Chn¡¯s eyes as she started core withdrawal, sitting in the middle of her domain.

    At this moment, she suddenly realized that to finish core withdrawal, she would have to withdraw the Divine Bamboo into her spiritual sea in her dantian region, along with her domain.

    However, as the Divine Bamboo went through a growth spurt, she found this out of her reach.

    As she made an attempt, she found that the pieces of her broken spiritual cores that had fused into her domain stirred. However, the Divine Bamboo didn¡¯t give even the slightest reaction. This made her anxious.

    She hastily started soulmunication with the Divine Bamboo. What the Divine Bamboo told her shocked her. ording to it, after its growth spurt, it also wanted to cooperate with her by returning to her spiritual sea in her dantian region, but simply couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?" Lu Yuxin¡¯s ethereal voice echoed in Hou Chn¡¯s ears.

    ¡°Master, I have a problem withdrawing the Divine Bamboo,¡± Hou Chn exined the situation without dy. ¡°Its mad growth and untimely upgrade is giving it a hard time controlling itself. Perhaps I¡¯ll have to give it some time to get used to the changes. But I need to finish core withdrawal now. If I don¡¯t reform my spiritual cores in my spiritual sea, I can¡¯tplete my breakthrough into the Saint domain.¡±

    Even Lu Yuxin also seemed to be at her wit¡¯s end as she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about that Divine Bamboo... I doubt that I can help you with this.¡±

    Just as Hou Chn was going to say something, she received another soul message from the Divine Bamboo.

    The Divine Bamboo demanded that Nie Tian enter her domain!

    Enveloped in her domain, Hou Chn called out, ¡°Nie Tian! Will youe here for a moment?!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Me?¡±

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered as well. ¡°What is she trying to do? She¡¯ll face many more risks if you enter her transforming domain! Even if a cultivator who practices the same power and incantations as her enters her domain at this moment, his or her aura might trigger catastrophic changes in her unstable domain!¡±

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s face grew grim, as she also found her decision hard to understand.

    He Lianxiong¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t be wider. He also couldn¡¯t fathom what was happening.

    ¡°Come on!¡± Hou Chn urged him loudly.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian sprang into the sky, flew over to Hou Chn, and slowly descended towards her domain under everyone¡¯s concerned gazes.

    Before he reached the center of her domain, Hou Chn shouted, ¡°Stop!¡±

    Nie Tian instantly stopped his descent.

    It was also at this moment that he noticed that the Divine Bamboo that had grown significantly longer was only about a dozen meters underneath him.

    Emanating a precious light, the green Divine Bamboo suddenly unleashed a gravitational force.

    Without any fault of his own, wisps of his flesh power that carried the profound truths of life flew out of him downwards into the Divine Bamboo.

    As soon as the wisps of crimson flesh power fused into the Divine Bamboo, it blossomed with dazzling light, making it look even more out of this world.

    Nie Tian could stop his flesh power from fusing into the Divine Bamboo, or back away from it so that it wouldn¡¯t be able to channel his flesh power that carried the mysteries of life.

    However, he didn¡¯t do so.

    Instead, he took it upon himself to spare more flesh power and use it to nourish the Divine Bamboo.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but wonder. ¡°My flesh power carries the wonders of life. That Divine me asked for my Blood Essence. Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python yearned for my flesh power... The Nine Stars Flower, Godspirit Tree sapling, and me spark... They all grew vigorously inside of me. Not only has my bloodline awakened the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core, but it has also triggered changes in the Bone Blood Demon and the Star Behemoth bone.

    ¡°Does this mean my unique bloodline has an awakening effect on all treasures like them?¡±

    The thought thrilled him.

    ¡°Both flesh power and wood power can be considered wonders of life. Is the Divine Bamboo tapping into my flesh power because my flesh power is really going to help senior martial sisterplete core withdrawal?¡±

    Wisp after wisp of flesh power continued to fly from him into the Divine Bamboo.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, the Divine Bamboo manifested an unprecedented radiance. Even though it didn¡¯t continue growing, it seemed to be undergoing fundamental changes.

    It grew increasingly translucent and sparkling, and emanated increasingly fascinating light.

    Overjoyed, Hou Chn eximed, ¡°That¡¯s it! It worked!¡±

 Chapter 1088: Successful Core Withdrawal

    As for the changes the Divine Bamboo was undergoing, no one had a more direct feeling than Hou Chn.

    She could tell that its intelligence was soaring as it absorbed Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power.

    The Divine Bamboo had possessed a primal form of self-awareness when she had first refined it into her. This had allowed her tomunicate with it.

    However, theirmunication had never been crystal-clear.

    She had assumed that it would normally take Heaven Nourished-grade treasures a long time to develop their intelligence.

    The Divine Bamboo had been like a talented child at first. Even though it was full of potential, it needed time to reach manhood.

    What Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power was awakening was actually its intelligence!

    As its intelligence improved, it gained a clearer sense of self-awareness, and a deeper understanding of itself.

    This was the reason why it managed to find a way to work with her and fuse into her wood power core within a short time.

    Hou Chn¡¯s abrupt call took Nie Tian by surprise.

    He immediately backed away from the Divine Bamboo and Hou Chn¡¯s domain.

    SHEW!

    He returned to Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan¡¯s side, where he observed with rapt attention. He then discovered that Hou Chn¡¯s domain had started twisting and morphing. The fragments of her spiritual cores that she had fused into her domain transformed into streaks of emerald green auras that returned to her dantian region in her lower abdomen, where they gradually took the shape of spiritual cores and descended back into her spiritual sea.

    At the same time, the bamboo that was significantly taller than the others also shrank down, emanating glorious light.

    The change in the Divine Bamboo seemed to trigger changes in everything around it, as every bamboo in the bamboo grove rapidly grew illusory and blurry.

    ¡°Core withdrawal isplete.¡± Lou Hongyan took a deep breath and fixed Nie Tian with a deeply amazed look. ¡°Nie Tian, you seem to have triggered changes in that Divine Bamboo. Those changes allowed it to release and withdraw itself freely. Was it your flesh power that you fused into it?¡±

    Huang Jinnan also looked at him with a disbelieving expression.

    ¡°Yeah, I suppose my flesh power helped that Divine Bambooplete its upgrade,¡± Nie Tian said with an uncertain tone.

    The five elders of the wood element sect, who had stopped gathering wood power for Hou Chn due to Lu Yuxin¡¯s arrival, also fixed Nie Tian with confused, shocked gazes, as if they were looking at an unidentified monster.

    The five of them walked over. Wang Haoming, whose cultivation base seemed to be the highest, hesitated for a brief moment before bowing towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to thank and apologize to you, Nie Tian.

    ¡°Chn was ready to make this breakthrough long ago. After we had everything prepared, she still insisted on sending Ruan Qingliu to your domain for you.

    ¡°We were confused and, to be honest, a little displeased that she would attach so much importance to your being here. We simply couldn¡¯t fathom how a cultivator with your cultivation base could help her.

    ¡°But we know what you¡¯re capable of now. It was eye-opening.¡±

    Standing off to the side, He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion didn¡¯t say a word, his face as grim as a silentke.

    He had brought more than one powerful magical treasure, yet Wang Hongming and the others hadn¡¯t thanked him so earnestly. All Nie Tian had done was spend a short while interacting with the Divine Bamboo, and he was receiving all the credit now.

    How could he be happy about that?

    With a faint smile, Nie Tian said with an attitude that was neither overbearing nor servile, ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you. Senior Martial Sister Hou asked for my assistance back when we were in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin, and I agreed toe. Besides, she promised me a reward. So I¡¯m actually happy that I proved to be useful, and I¡¯m not getting paid for nothing.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Wang Haoming said with a broadugh. ¡°Our sect shall give you whatever you want as a reward.¡±

    Now that Hou Chn hadpleted core withdrawal, which was thest and most dangerous step, they didn¡¯t have anything to worry about anymore.

    Hou Chn was the future of the wood element sect. Her advancing to the Saint domain sessfully meant that the wood element sect now had a qualified sessor.

    At this moment, Li Xinfen said, ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t mind, I hope you¡¯ll be there for her when she attempts to break through into the God domain too.¡±

    Nie Tian touched his nose. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll be there if senior martial sister needs my help, but that¡¯s only given I¡¯m still alive when the timees.¡±

    ¡°Still alive...?¡± Li Xinfen went nk for a moment. ¡°Given your status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and your abilities, how would you not be?¡±

    Standing off to the side, He Lianxiong jumped in with an unpleasant tone. ¡°Who can tell? Didn¡¯t Mou Luo die recently? And he was a Son of the Stars too.¡±

    The five elders of the wood element sect jerked their heads towards him, the warm looks in their eyes gone.

    He Lianxiong sensibly shut his mouth.

    Soon, Hou Chn¡¯s fused spiritual cores reformed and returned to her spiritual sea in her dantian region.

    However, instead ofing out of that state right away, she was taken away to another location by Lu Yuxin, where she would spend some time stabilizing her newly-acquired domain, while Lu Yuxin exined its various wonders to her.

    After she left, Ruan Qingliu walked over to Nie Tian and handed him a ring of holding. ¡°Inside this ring of holding is a reward that our Divine Daughter put together for you long ago.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the ring. After a quick scan with his soul awareness, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

    Inside the ring were two outsider corpses and one enormous Ancientbeast skeleton. Judging by their auras, they all seemed to have been at the ninth grade.

    The Ancientbeast skeleton was bereft of any flesh or skin. Judging by its form, it seemed to have been a middle ninth grade me qilin. Even now, it still emanated shockingly intense me power fluctuations.

    ¡°These grand patriarch corpses will help me recover my flesh power within a short time, and I won¡¯t have to worry about finding a new source of flesh power for a long time.¡± He thought to himself.

    Wang Haoming pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Our Divine Daughter is going to need some time to stabilize her new cultivation base. You¡¯re wee to visit our sect at any time, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Wanna go look around in the Realm of Gold Spirit, Nie Tian?¡± Huang Jinnan asked.

    ¡°Maybe next time,¡± Nie Tian refused respectfully. ¡°I still have business to take care of. I¡¯ve got to get back as soon as possible.¡±

    The Realm of Wood Spirit might be an ideal ce for him to practice Heavenly Wood Heal. However, if he established the Wood Thriving Formation to absorb wood power from the lush trees and grass, it would definitely take a toll on the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    Besides, he would have to use Life Drain if he wanted to replenish his flesh power. It would be inconvenient to do it here.

    Therefore, he left the Realm of Wood Spirit without dy after Hou Chn was taken away by the mysterious Lu Yuxin.

    He Lianxiong, however, was brazen-faced enough to stay and wait for Hou Chn toe out of her secluded cultivation, even though no one asked him to.

    ...

    In the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void.

    Wisp after wisp of soul awareness flew out of the moving spatial rifts in the sky and returned to Pei Qiqi. Frowning, she fixed the man who had just arrived in front of her with a cold look, and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Wei Lai, an elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Wei Lai introduced himself in a soft voice. ¡°Beforeing here to you, I went to the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations. I¡¯m given to understand that you destroyed those three spatial rifts that connected to Demon realms?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so?¡± Pei Qiqi said arrogantly.

    If she hadn¡¯t been the fourth legacy disciple of the Void Spirit Society, she would have felt insecure and uneasy facing an elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce that had suddenly appeared in front of her. However, she was perfectly calm andposed now.

    She was convinced that even Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang, the two vice sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, wouldn¡¯t dare to touch her, much less Wei Lai.

    ¡°Was it Nie Tian¡¯s intention or yours?¡± Wei Lai asked.

    ¡°Mine,¡± Pei Qiqi said with great determination. ¡°I insisted on destroying them. The Domain of the Falling Stars is my homnd. There were simply too many unknowable dangers. I don¡¯t want it to suffer.¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. Apparently, this was the answer he wanted to hear. ¡°So... you¡¯re saying that this has nothing to do with Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Pei Qiqi confirmed.

    Wei Lai sighed softly. ¡°Three of the Demons¡¯ major realms were invaded, all of the local ns wiped out... It¡¯s hard to believe that we had to learn this from the Demons in the Dead Star Sea. Why did you have to do that? If you had to, you could have at least left one of the spatial rifts?¡±

    Face icy, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t say a word.

    Wei Lai pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Even though you¡¯re taking full responsibility for this incident, Nie Tian will be held ountable for failing to report in time. But luckily, it¡¯s you instead of any others. Your master will protect you. No one will be able to do anything to you.¡±

    The icy cold expression on Pei Qiqi¡¯s face eased a bit as she heard this.

    From his words, Pei Qiqi suspected that he didn¡¯t want to see Nie Tian shoulder the me by himself. Now that she had taken responsibility for the matter, Nie Tian would be under much less pressure.

    ¡°I¡¯ll say that I insisted on destroying those spatial rifts no matter who asks,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a determined look in her eyes.

    ¡°Allow me to thank you on Nie Tian¡¯s behalf.¡± Wei Lai nodded towards her and left.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian returned to the Realm of Fragmentary Star and briefly regrouped. Just as he was about to return to the Realm of Split Void, he received a message via his Star Medallion.

    As soon as he read the message, his face grew grim.

    ¡°Are they going to punish me?¡±

 Chapter 1089: An Odd Thing

    In a grand hall in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    With a frustrated frown, Elder Yan Zhan looked at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you inform the sect of what had recently happened in the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Instead of answering, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Where¡¯s elder Wei Lai?¡±

    ¡°He went to investigate the incident in the Domain of the Falling Stars. He should be back any time now.¡± With these words, Yan Zhan sighed. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I conduct a thorough investigation of those three spatial rifts? I thought that they were no different from the other sealed, one-way spatial rifts. Who would have thought you actually could enter Demon realms through them?¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Iid waste to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms and wiped out numerous Demon ns. Don¡¯t tell me that, instead of rewarding me, you¡¯re going to punish me for it?¡±

    Yan Zhan smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s not for us to decide. Our two vice sectmasters are rather unhappy about this. They¡¯re fighting fierce battles against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea, but are failing to harm their foundations. And each Son of the Stars has lost a considerable number of subordinates.

    ¡°Who would have thought that, as they fought with their lives, you actually marched into the Demon¡¯s homnd and started a massive massacre?

    ¡°If Saint and God domain experts of the four great sects went instead of you, we would have been able to destroy the whole foundation of the Demon race, and set the tone with one battle!¡±

    SHEW!

    Wei Lai arrived as they spoke.

    Upon seeing him, Yan Zhan stopped and waited for him to talk.

    ¡°I just came from the Domain of the Falling Stars, Nie Tian,¡± Wei Lai said honestly. ¡°I met Pei Qiqi.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned.

    After a moment of pondering, Wei Lai said, ¡°Can I have a moment with Nie Tian?¡±

    Yan Zhan nodded and left the grand hall.

    Only after Yan Zhan left did Wei Lai say, ¡°Miss Pei ims that she insisted on destroying those spatial rifts, and that it had nothing to do with you.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Wei Lai waved his hand, signaling him to keep quiet. ¡°Unlike you, she isn¡¯t a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Besides, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society attaches great importance to her. No matter what she does, she¡¯ll be protected. There¡¯s nothing our sect can do to her.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei...¡± He thought to himself, rapidly realizing why Pei Qiqi had taken full responsibility for the matter.

    Besides, he realized that Wei Lai was telling him this to protect him.

    ¡°With her taking responsibility for the matter, you¡¯ll be under much less pressure,¡± Wei Lai continued. ¡°Still, you¡¯ll be held ountable for failing to inform us of those spatial rifts. However, since you killed arge number of Demons in those Demon realms, I suppose your contribution negates your mistake.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then ventured a question. ¡°So does it mean I won¡¯t be rewarded or punished?¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°I suppose so, but that¡¯s only my take on the matter. I¡¯ve no idea what will the two vice sectmasters will think.¡±

    With an unburdened smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Alright, so be it. I came to considerable gains from my trips to the three Demon realms anyways. I guess it won¡¯t be a big deal if I don¡¯t get any of senior martial brother Mou Luo¡¯s realms.¡±

    With these words, he prepared to leave.

    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s something else,¡± Wei Lai said softly.

    ¡°What is it?¡±

    Wei Lai took his time to exin, ¡°Our battles in the Dead Star Sea have turned out to be even fiercer than we expected. Our forces can use some help. Originally, you didn¡¯t have a singlete Saint domain subordinate, so we deemed that you wouldn¡¯t be able to make a considerable contribution to our battles in the Dead Star Sea. However, we learned that Xie Qian, the sectmaster of the Water Moon Sect in the Domain of Vast Darkness, has entered thete Saint domain recently.

    ¡°And he ims that he has sworn his allegiance to you.

    ¡°So with him, Jing Feiyang and the other two middle Saint domain subordinates, and the early Saint domain subordinates from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, your strength is already not much weaker than that of the other Sons of the Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian realized what he was trying to say, ¡°So are you telling me to join the battles in the Dead Star Sea?¡±

    ¡°Well, the decision is yours,¡± Wei Lai exined. ¡°You can choose to join the battles or not. The sect isn¡¯t forcing you. However, by killing Demons in the Dead Star Sea, you¡¯ll be able to gain contribution points and priority when ites to dividing Mou Luo¡¯s realms. You weren¡¯t strong enough before, but you are now.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let me think about it,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Sure,¡± Wei Lai said. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°Remember: you and Miss Pei need to tell the same story when people ask about the three spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Xie Qian had only announced that he had joined Nie Tian¡¯s force because both Sikong Cuo and He Lianxiong had seen his strength, and wanted to make him their subordinate.

    Who would have thought that the sect would learn about his recent breakthrough and deem him qualified to join the battles in the Dead Star Sea?

    Nie Tian had promised Xie Qian that the two of them were only allies, not master and subordinate.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t have the right to demand that Xie Qian and his Water Moon Sect experts march into the Dead Star Sea with him.

    Furthermore, after his recent trips in the three Demon realms, he wasn¡¯t particrly interested in joining the fierce battles in the Dead Star Sea.

    With a thoughtful expression, Wei Lai added, ¡°There¡¯s one more thing. I detected a few wisps of faint Demon qi around the edge of the Domain of the Falling Stars. Clearly, your actions in the three Demon realms angered the Demons.

    ¡°However, their most powerful experts are currently caught up in battles against us in the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°So they sent a few eighth grade Demons to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°The forbidden region separating the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries has already transformed and be essible. So even without those spatial rifts, they found a way into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°You¡¯d better watch out, and don¡¯t let Demons swarm into the Domain of the Falling Stars and turn it into hell.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded gratefully and left.

    On his way back, he wracked his mind, but still found the fact that a few Demons actually found another way to enter the Domain of the Falling Stars baffling.

    ¡°Those Demons...¡± With that question in mind, he returned to the Realm of Split Void.

    He saw Hua Mu as soon as he entered the pce in the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°What are you doing here, Uncle Hua?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°A girl from the Blood Sect had a message for you,¡± Hua Mu exined. ¡°Dong Li is currently busy stabilizing her cultivation base, and no longer has time to handle the affairs in the Domain of the Falling Stars. And you sent Li Langfeng off to that remote area, along with the entire Blood Sect, so he¡¯s not avable to handle the messy business for you either. I had no choice but to shoulder the responsibility.¡±

    ¡°A girl from the Blood Sect? Who?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yu Tong.¡±

    Nie Tian was even more confused. ¡°Oh, I remember her. What does she want?¡±

    ¡°She had a message for you from someone named Master Blood Spirit,¡± Hua Mu answered.

    ¡°Master Blood Spirit?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with surprise.

    After he had helped extend his lifespan, Master Blood Spirit had told him that he would leave the Domain of the Falling Stars so that experts like Wei Lai wouldn¡¯t discover him.

    His destination was a dead realm in the remote region where Li Langfeng and the Blood Sect disciples were currently holed up.

    ¡°ording to the message Yu Tong brought, a few mutted Demon corpses were found in the starry river where the Domain of the Falling Stars borders the forbidden region. From how the corpses looked, Master Blood Spirit suspects that it was the doing of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, which is said to be another sect deemed crooked by the four great sects.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t even heard of such a sect. At least it¡¯s not a sect from the Domain of the Falling Stars. I wonder what made Master Blood Spirit think it was the Heavenly Corpse Sect who killed those Demons.¡±

    Hua Mu looked baffled.

    ¡°Master Blood Spirit... is on my side,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°But I have nothing to do with the Heavenly Corpse Sect. And I don¡¯t know why they killed those Demons. I suppose those Demons came to the Domain of the Falling Stars through another way to figure out who invaded their realms and what they looted.¡±

    With a confused expression, Hua Mu said, ¡°But the Heavenly Corpse Sect showed up and killed them, which is in our favor. I wonder why they did it.¡±

    ¡°Beats me.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to attach much importance to the matter.

    With these words, he left for the Realm of Shattered Earth via the teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void.

    It had been a long time since he hadst seen his grandfather, Nie Donghai, and aunt, Nie Qian. He missed them and wanted to see how his family was doing these years.

    In the Realm of Shattered Earth...

    Nie Qian was both shocked and overjoyed to see him. ¡°Little Tian, you¡¯re back! I always dream about your and your mothertely. It¡¯s like she¡¯s still with us.¡±

    ¡°I think she¡¯s still alive,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    A shudder ran through Nie Donghai. ¡°What?! She... She¡¯s still alive?! How is that possible?! I watched her die and buried her myself!¡±

    Nie Qian was also bbergasted.

 Chapter 1090: The Heaven-equal Vine

    Nie Tian had fought across the starry river all these years, and had almost never settled down.

    After arranging for Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and some other Nie n members to live in the Realm of Shattered Earth, he had felt that they were safe, and thus rarely visited.

    For that reason, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to tell his grandfather and aunt what he had learned from Wu Ji until now.

    Now, as he saw the surprise and joy on their faces, he suddenly realized that he had spent too little time with his family. Guilt rapidly filled his heart.

    Eyes brimming with tears of excitement, Nie Qian asked, ¡°Is my little sister really alive? Who told you that? Do you believe that she¡¯s really still alive? But how is that possible?!¡±

    Nie Donghai¡¯s face was also filled with disbelief.

    ¡°There are so many incredible wonders in this world that we don¡¯t know of,¡± Nie Tian said with all seriousness, ¡°I¡¯m afraid my father, who I¡¯ve never met, is one of the most preeminent humans in this starry river. He could have be the Lord of the Stars of this generation.¡±

    Nie Donghai was taken aback. ¡°What?! Your father had a chance to be the Lord of the Stars? Where did you get that information?¡±

    ¡°From the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°And he gave me my unique bloodline. I suppose he was also the reason why Heaven Gates appeared in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Perhaps even the fact that I was able to enter the Heaven Gate trial and win the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s legacy had something to do with him.¡±

    ¡°So are you saying that he... brought Little Jin back to life?¡± Nie Donghai asked with wide eyes.

    ¡°My master, Wu Ji, came to new, deeper understandings of time power, which allowed him to see into the past,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°He said that when he journeyed back in time in the Realm of me Heaven, he saw that man reviving my mother. However, as profound as his means were, he couldn¡¯t get a clear view of his face.

    ¡°He only knows that he and mother secretly visited me as a baby, and then left the Realm of me Heaven for good.¡±

    Only after hearing these words did Nie Donghai and Nie Qian find Nie Tian¡¯s words slightly believable.

    In their eyes, Wu Ji was probably the most mysterious being in the Realm of me Heaven.

    ording to him, Nie Tian¡¯s father had stood at the peak of the human world, and almost be the Lord of the Stars of his generation.

    At this point, they had already learned that powerful experts with cultivation bases higher than the Void domain could be reincarnated.

    Therefore, Nie Jin being brought back to life didn¡¯t sound as unbelievable anymore.

    ¡°Aunt, you said that you¡¯ve been dreaming a lot about my mother recently, and have a feeling that she¡¯s still alive. What¡¯s that about?¡± Nie Tian asked with a serious face.

    Nie Qian jogged her memory and took her time to exin, ¡°Well, sometimes I doze off when I practice cultivation. I can usually see her in my sleep. Even though she doesn¡¯t look the same as I remembered, I can still recognize her at first sight. I have a feeling that she observes me in my dreams. She seems to want to tell me something, but can¡¯t.¡±

    Nie Tian turned to Nie Donghai and asked, ¡°What about you, grandfather?¡±

    Unlike Nie Qian, Nie Donghai didn¡¯t always show his feelings. Even if his heart was filled with strong feelings, he normally wouldn¡¯t give voice to them.

    Therefore, Nie Tian wanted to see whether he had the same odd experience.

    Nie Donghai hesitated for a moment and said in a soft voice, ¡°I¡¯ve been having simr dreams, but I didn¡¯t think it was anything. I just thought that perhaps I¡¯m getting old and missing her even more.¡±

    After all these years in the Realm of Shattered Earth, Nie Donghai had already entered the early Profound realm with the help of various precious materials.

    Nie Qian, however, was still at thete Heaven stage.

    Given their mediocre cultivation talent, the fact that the two of them managed to rise their current cultivation bases wasrgely thanks to Dong Li, who brought them spiritual materials that suited their attributes every once in a while, and the unique features of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Nie Donghai¡¯s lifespan had extended to a great extent after he had entered the Profound realm.

    It was a bit odd that he would attribute his frequent dreaming to old age.

    As suspicious as Nie Tian was, he understood that, no matter how real, they were only dreams, and that it was imusible for him to get any useful information from them.

    ¡°Little Tian, can¡¯t you find them, given your current status and influence?¡± Nie Qian asked anxiously.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I tried, but failed. And since that man is far too special, I can¡¯t search for him in a big way...¡±

    ¡°But if they¡¯re alive, why haven¡¯t theye for you?¡± Nie Qian asked

    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea,¡± Nie Tian answered, looking upset.

    Nie Donghai gave Nie Qian a hard look and said, ¡°It¡¯s enough to know that Little Jin is still alive. She and that man might be busy with something, or have other difficulties that are preventing them from doing so. I bet they¡¯ll show themselves when the right timees.¡±

    Looking frustrated, Nie Tian said, ¡°Perhaps.¡±

    In the following days, Nie Tian spent time with Nie Donghai and Nie Qian in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Dong Li had provided them and the Nie n juniors with the cultivation materials they needed on a regr basis, along with a wide array of spiritual incantations and ancient records.

    Therefore, all they did during this time was make small talk, with no mention of cultivation. Nie Tian told them all about the amazing things he had seen these years fighting in different domains.

    After sharing all of his experiences with them, Nie Tian decided to resume the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    The location he chose was the lush, vast forest in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Upon arriving, he established the Wood Thriving Formation andmenced Flesh Tempering with his copious stock of outsider corpses.

    The Realm of Shattered Earth was a unique ce. It was divided into five regions, which were simr to the five sects of the Five Elements Sect. In these five regions, people could derive enlightenment and brand new incantations regarding metal, wood, water, fire, and earth power .

    Furthermore, a grand pce stood in the middle of the realm, connecting to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    The Realm of Shattered Earth was originally a realm in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. Many years ago, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had marched into it and defeated its outsider upants.

    The fierceness of the battle had reduced almost all of the realms in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to dead realms.

    The Realm of Shattered Earth was the only one that had survived due to the existence of the Heaven-equal Vine.

    Between cultivation sessions, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°Did the Five Elements Sect have something to do with this realm? Otherwise, why would it be divided into five regions of five elements, which coincide with the five realms of the Five Elements Sect?¡±

    The trees and nts in the wood region weren¡¯t as lush as those in Graydusk Forest.

    However, as Nie Tian used the Wood Thriving Formation to channel wood power from his surroundings, he was surprised to discover that the wood power the spell formation was condensing was actually much richer than that in Graydusk Forest.

    The level of condensation of the wood power within the spell formation was only slightly inferior to that in the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    While he was channeling wood power in an attempt to resume Flesh Tempering, something suddenly stirred the Godspirit Tree sapling within him.

    An immense awareness seemed to suddenly descend upon this region, carrying iparably pure wood power with it.

    WHOOSH!

    The Godspirit Tree sapling within his wood power core took it upon itself to fly out of his dantian region.

    Glowing and fabulous, it took root in the moist ground in front of him.

    Then, wisps of pure wood power fell from the heavens, fusing into the Godspirit Tree sapling.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°It¡¯s the Heaven-equal Vine!¡±

    He instantly realized that the Heaven-equal Vine, which had an agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, was granting the Godspirit Tree sapling a strand of its power.

    Many years ago, Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers had received the same gift from the Heaven-equal Vine here.

    Later, when Hua Mu had suffered heavy injuries, and the Heavenly Demonsbane inside of him had almost withered, he had alsoe to the Realm of Shattered Earth. Here, his Heavenly Demonsbane had also received help from the Heaven-equal Vine, allowing it to regain its life force.

    This was the first time Nie Tian hade here with the Godspirit Tree sapling inside of him. He hadn¡¯t expected that it would also win the Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s favor, and be bestowed a strand of its power.

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the Godspirit Tree sapling seemed to enter a growth spurt after receiving wood power from the Heaven-equal Vine, which was simr to what Hou Chn¡¯s Divine Bamboo had experienced.

    At that moment, a mysterious awareness locked down onto him.

    Nie Tian instantly realized who it belonged to. ¡°The Heaven-equal Vine!¡±

    In the next moment, he received a soul message.

    ¡°What?! You¡¯re leaving the Realm of Shattered Earth because your agreement with my sect is going to expire soon?!¡± Nie Tian went nk for a moment before asking in confusion, ¡°Where do you n on going? Who made that agreement with you? And what does the agreement specify?¡±

 Chapter 1091: A Piece of Unknown Information

    The Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s awareness sent clear-cut soul messages to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian received and read them using his soul.

    Soon, he learned that the Heaven-equal Vine wasn¡¯t a Heaven Nourished grade treasure that had been born in this heaven and earth.

    Instead, it had been born in a Floragrim realm in the heaven and earth beyond the Dead Star Sea, which was also where humanity had originated.

    Many years ago, the Floragrims and other powerful outsider races had discovered and upied the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    They had gained dominion over several of its realms.

    However, none of the realms that had been distributed to them had been wreathed in rich wood power. Therefore, the Floragrims could only bring over one of their Heaven-equal Vines from their home realms.

    Their unique features allowed them to channel scattered wood power from the starry river on their own.

    The Floragrims¡¯ n had been to use a Heaven-equal Vine to transform one of the newly-acquired realms into a blessednd, where they could rapidly upgrade their bloodlines, simr to what the Five Elements Sect had done to the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    As a result, the Heaven-equal Vine they had brought had done a great job. It had quietly channeled wood power from the starry river and slowly transformed the structure of a realm.

    What it had done was simr to what the Divine me had done to the realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    However, good times don¡¯tst long. A Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had also discovered the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    He and his friend from the Five Elements Sect had marched their powerful subordinates into the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, where they had engaged in a fierce battle against the Floragrims and upants of other races.

    The battle had reduced almost all of the realms in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to dead realms.

    The outsider upants, who had first discovered the domain, had either been killed or driven from the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Even though that Son of the Stars had taken the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, with most of its realms shattered or reduced to dead realms, it had lost its value.

    After the Floragrims had fled, the Heaven-equal Vine had fallen into the hands of a Son of the Stars named Ji Cang.

    Seeing the war-broken Domain of Forbidden Heaven, Ji Cang had decided to restore life force to it. He had figured that he would start with the least damaged realm.

    That realm was none other than the Realm of Shattered Earth, where Nie Tian now was.

    Ji Cang had built a pce here and reached an agreement with the Heaven-equal Vine, which specified that the Heaven-equal Vine would help the Realm of Shattered Earth recover its life force and turn it into a trial location.

    Since then, the Heaven-equal Vine had established its foothold in the Realm of Shattered Earth and made unrelenting efforts to help it regather power, mainly wood power.

    However, shortly after that, Ji Cang had risen to prominence. He had discovered or taken more and more domains across the human heaven and earth.

    Eventually, he had be the Lord of the Stars of his generation.

    He gradually overlooked the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, which he had taken in his early years and had been in poor condition.

    After he had broken through into the God domain, his desire for a better understanding of star power had driven him to explore the boundless starry river.

    He had naturally forgotten about the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, and his agreement with the Heaven-equal Vine.

    Now, many years had passed, and the agreement between him and the Heaven-equal Vine was soon going to expire.

    Not only had he not shown up, but he hadn¡¯t even sent people over to deliver a message. It was as if he had gone missing.

    When Nie Tian had set foot in the pce, the fragmentary star marks inside of him had triggered the restrictive spell in this ce, which had allowed him to rece Ji Cang as the new master of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    The reason why the Heaven-equal Vine wanted to leave was because, as wondrous as it was, it would also grow old and die.

    It hoped to find a way back to the Floragrims¡¯ world, its birthce, before it died.

    When it died, the wood power it had gathered over hundreds of thousands of years would be returned to heaven and earth.

    Therefore, whenever it sensed the existence of a being whose aura was simr to its own, it would generously grant it a strand of its refined power.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers, Hua Mu¡¯s Heavenly Demonsbane, and Nie Tian¡¯s Godspirit Tree were all intelligent wood-attributed beings that were simr to it.

    All three of them had received gifts from it.

    Now, it was nearing the end of its life. It nned to return to and leave seeds in its birthce after the agreement expired.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Ji Cang! The current Lord of the Stars!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the one who had reached an agreement with the Heaven-equal Vine was actually the current sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    The Godspirit Tree, which had taken root in the ground in front of him, was wreathed in spectacr light as it continued to receive power from the Heaven-equal Vine.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim as he asked, ¡°What would happen if you leave?¡±

    The Heaven-equal Vine answered through soul messages.

    ording to it, it had already nourished the Realm of Shattered Earth for many years. Even if it left, the Realm of Shattered Earth would be able to hold on.

    It was just that it wouldn¡¯t be able to channel wood power from the starry river anymore.

    However, if Nie Tian stayed in the Realm of Shattered Earth in the long-term, as the Godspirit Tree continued to grow, it would rece the Heaven-equal Vine in bringing in wood power for the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Not just that, but the existence of the me spark and the Nine Stars Flower would help the Realm of Shattered Earth gather me power and star power, which would breed new changes.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°But I can¡¯t stay in the Realm of Shattered Earth for long.¡±

    Since the agreement between Ji Cang and the Heaven-equal Vine was going to expire soon, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t use force to keep it in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    For one thing, the Heaven-equal Vine was much stronger than him.

    For another, it was the current sectmaster who had made the agreement with the Heaven-equal Vine.

    Even if he somehow managed to keep the Heaven-equal Vine in the Realm of Shattered Earth, it would be against the sectmaster¡¯s will. He didn¡¯t want to risk angering the sectmaster over this.

    After all, he already had three whole domains under his name. The Realm of Shattered Earth wasn¡¯t indispensable.

    If Ji Cang learned his unauthorized action someday, it would be hard to say whether he would punish him for it.

    Furthermore, the Heaven-equal Vine had helped Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers, Hua Mu¡¯s Heavenly Demonsbane, and now, his Godspirit Tree. It wouldn¡¯t feel right to force it to stay.

    Therefore, after theirmunication ended, he seized the time to practice Heavenly Wood Heal before the Heaven-equal Vine left.

    As he did, the Godspirit Tree continued to gain power from it.

    During this time, he would alsomunicate with it from time to time.

    It confirmed that the Heavenly Wood Heal he now practiced was one of the Floragrims¡¯ top secret incantations, which was only known to a handful of powerful Floragrims.

    Even the tree branches he used to establish the Wood Thriving Formation carried the profound imprints of Trees of Life.

    The Heaven-equal Vine also told him that the birth of the Floragrims had close connections with Trees of Life.

    However, it couldn¡¯t determine the origin of his unique bloodline either. It only suspected that his bloodline might have something to do with Trees of Life.

    A few months passed.

    With the help of his abundant outsider corpse stock and the rich wood power in the wood power region, he finallypleted Flesh Tempering, the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    After repeated damaging and refinement, each and every one of his muscles had be unprecedentedly tough.

    The amount of flesh power his flesh could hold had also risen to a whole new level.

    Now, he was confident that his body¡¯s toughness already allowed him to contend against any Bonebrute or Demon at his level in their Indestructible Form, and he wouldn¡¯t have to draw a single wisp of power from his spiritual sea.

    As the Heaven-equal Vine was finally going to leave, he thanked it by pointing out a direction for it.

    It was the direction of the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Somewhere in the Realm of Unbounded Destion was a hidden spatial rift, through which Nie Tian had visited a magicalnd where a small Tree of Life had grown.

    He shared this information with the Heaven-equal Vine, hoping it would be useful to it.

    The unforeseen information greatly thrilled the Heaven-equal Vine, as it suspected that the magicalnd might have a secret connection to some Florigrim realm.

    On the expiration day, deafening rumbles echoed throughout the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Vines that were the size of mountain ranges gradually uprooted and shrank down.

    Eventually, the Heaven-equal Vine that used to hold the entire Realm of Shattered Earth together flew off into the starry river.

 Chapter 1092: Terrible News

    In the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Unusual spatial fluctuations suddenly came from therge-scale teleportation portal on the bottom floor of the towering pce.

    In the next moment, a figure wreathed in chilly moonlight appeared in the portal.

    It was Xin Qing, one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s twelve elders.

    As soon as she stepped out of the spacious hall, she spread her soul awareness to every corner of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    SHEW!

    In a sh, she flew to the wood power region and found Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was surprised to see her. ¡°Elder Xin Qing! What are you doing here?¡±

    Brow knitted, Xin Qing sensed something with rapt attention, and suddenly asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the Heaven-equal Vine?¡±

    ¡°It has left,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°Its agreement with our sectmaster has expired. Since he hasn¡¯t shown up or contacted it in any way, it decided to leave the Realm of Shattered Earth.¡±

    Xin Qing¡¯s eyes were clouded by a haze as she said, ¡°Oh... I see. It¡¯s because of the sectmaster again. No matter what we do, we can¡¯t get in touch with him either. I wonder what happened to him...¡±

    Nie Tian realized that she was upset about something. ¡°What happened?¡±

    Xin Qing took a deep breath to calm herself. ¡°There¡¯s terrible news. Our battle against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea ended in our total defeat.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Total defeat?!¡±

    ¡°Fang Zhe, the second Son of the Stars, was killed, along with almost all of his Saint domain subordinates,¡± Xin Qing said with a grim face.

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°Another Son of the Stars died?! Two Sons of the Stars have died at the hands of the Demons within such a short span of time?¡±

    After Mou Luo¡¯s death, the sect had arranged forrge, powerful forces to march into the Dead Star Sea to attack the Demons¡¯ defensive line.

    They had hoped to salvage the sect¡¯s prestige by dealing the Demons a heavy blow.

    However, not only had they failed to do that, but they had even lost another Son of the Stars?

    Fang Zhe had been at the middle Saint domain, his subordinates even stronger than Mou Luo¡¯s, yet he had perished in the Dead Star Sea all the same.

    What on earth had gone wrong?

    ¡°Not just Fang Zhe, we also lost two elders to the Demons,¡± Xin Qing said, looking away, as if to avoid Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°And both of our vice sectmasters suffered severe injuries. At this point, all of our surviving forces have backed out of the Dead Star Sea.¡±

    Another exmation escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°What?! We lost two elders, and our two middle God domain vice sectmasters sustained injuries?¡±

    With a bitter expression, Xin Qing said, ¡°All four Demon grand monarchs joined the battle. Their high chieftain, Grand Monarch Primal Demon, who¡¯s at thete tenth grade, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who¡¯s at the middle tenth grade, and Grand Monarch Remote Demon and Grand Monarch Blood Axe, who are both at the early tenth grade. With all four of them appearing in the Dead Star Sea at the same time, we simply couldn¡¯t match their strength.

    ¡°If the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society hadn¡¯t sensed the anomaly and traveled through space to our aid, even our two vice sectmasters might have died at the Demons¡¯ hands.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°All of the Demon grand monarchs showed up at the same time?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Xin Qing said in a low, distressed voice. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon even imed that our sectmaster ran into big trouble when exploring the depths of the starry river, and that it¡¯s unknown whether he¡¯ll be able to return alive. Even if he does, it¡¯ll be many years from now. We wonder if what he said is true.

    ¡°If they weren¡¯t convinced that our sectmaster wouldn¡¯t be able to join the battle, I doubt that the four Demon grand monarchs would all havee out, leaving their nest empty! (idiom: turn out in full strength)

    ¡°But of course, another reason why they did that was they were enraged by the fact that you and your subordinates had wiped out almost all of the Demon ns in three of their major realms.

    ¡°They yearned for payback, cruel, ruthless payback.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent after hearing these words.

    He had never expected that his sect would suffer such a heavy blow in the Dead Star Sea.

    Only after a long while did he recover from his daze and ask, ¡°What happened to the grand elder?¡±

    ¡°He was still recovering from the injuries he sustained during his fight against Grand Monarch Dark Nether in the Domain of Nether Heaven,¡± Xin Qing exined. ¡°So he didn¡¯t join our battle in the Dead Star Sea.¡±

    Looking frustrated, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So why are you here?¡±

    Bitterness filled Xin Qing¡¯s face as she said, ¡°I¡¯m only here to inform you that it¡¯s no longer necessary for you to gather strength and march into the Dead Star Sea. It seems that we won¡¯t be able to fight the Demons in the Dead Star Sea again in the near future, especially not before our sectmaster returns.

    ¡°However, now that the Demons have won the battle, I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll think of every possible way to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want them to catch you off-guard and start a massive massacre in the Domain of the Falling Stars, so I came to warn you against what maye.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°Powerful experts from the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect are still holding their defensive lines in the Dead Star Sea, so it doesn¡¯t seem that the Demons will be able to march through the Dead Star Sea into our heaven and earth,¡± Xin Qing said. ¡°However, there are still hidden teleportation portals in our heaven and earth that they left long ago.

    ¡°Perhaps the Demons will follow their recent victory with invasions of our sect¡¯s subordinate domains.

    ¡°Any subordinate domain of our sectmaster, vice sectmasters, elders, and Sons of the Stars may be their target.

    ¡°And your Domain of the Falling Stars will most likely be the focus of their retaliation.

    ¡°So inform the sect if you discover any anomalies. Even though we might not be strong enough to contend against the Demons at this moment, our sect will pay heavy prices for the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion to help you.¡±

    With these distressing words, Xin Qing left in a hurry, as if she still had other important business to attend to.

    After she left, Nie Tian simply sat there in silence, his face extremely grim.

    Shortly afterwards, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian came over.

    ¡°A woman seemed to fly here earlier, Little Tian,¡± Nie Donghai said with a concerned expression. ¡°Who was she? What did she want?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian sighed and said, ¡°Something terrible happened. Grandfather, aunt, tell the juniors here to pack their things. I may have to arrange for you to go live somewhere else for a while. I¡¯ll get you back after the incident passes.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nie Donghai asked, eyes wide with surprise.

    ¡°My sect suffered a terrible defeat in the Dead Star Sea. Many important members died at the Demons¡¯ hands...¡± Nie Tian went on and gave a brief exnation.

    His words stirred huge waves in Nie Donghai and Nie Qian¡¯s heart.

    Even though they might not be scared of death, many juniors of the Nie n still depended on them...

    The two of them soonpromised.

    After serious consideration, Nie Tian decided to arrange for them and the Nie n juniors to go live in one of Huang Jinnan¡¯s realms.

    Given the Five Elements Sect¡¯s formidable strength and the fact that the Demons¡¯ operations would mainly target the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, they would most likely be safe with the Five Elements Sect.

    Thanks to his close rtionship with Huang Jinnan, Huang Jinnan soon granted his request, and sent people to pick up Nie Donghai, Nie Qian, and the Nie n juniors.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian exined thetest situation to Jing Feiyang, Yue Yanxi, and the other experts, and instructed all of his subordinate forces to raise their guard and inform him at the first possible moment if they found any anomalies.

    Afterwards, Nie Tian went to the Void Illusion Mountain Range and found Pei Qiqi, who was still searching spatial rift after spatial rift for an answer to the Void Pce Sect¡¯s sudden disappearance.

    There were simply too many spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Even with the help of that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure, she couldn¡¯t go through all of the spatial rifts within a short time.

    So far, she hadn¡¯t found any useful information about the Void Pce Sect.

    After Nie Tian exined the reason for his visit, Pei Qiqi was also surprised, and found the fact that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had suffered such a heavy blow hard to believe.

    Pei Qiqi pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Years ago, when the Domain of Heaven Python was invaded by outsiders, I suspected that there were hidden teleportation portals. With the help of my unique treasure, I found and destroyed two of them. I don¡¯t know if there are still others left there.

    ¡°As for the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, I¡¯ve never been there, so I don¡¯t know.

    ¡°However, there shouldn¡¯t be any hidden teleportation portals in the Domain of the Falling Stars anymore. Those three spatial rifts should have been it, but I destroyed them all.

    ¡°I bet there are hidden teleportation portals in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I encountered outsiders and Demon ancient starships there before. And just recently, a handful of Demons were found dead in the area where the Domain of the Falling Stars borders the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.¡±

    The Domain of Forbidden Heaven and the Domain of the Falling Stars were neighbor domains. Wei Lai had said that he had detected wisps of faint Demon qi along the border of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The reason why he hade to see Pei Qiqi was because he hoped that she would help him locate and destroy all of the hidden teleportation portals in and around his territory, lest the Demons swarm into his domains effortlessly.

    ¡°The Domain of Forbidden Heaven...¡± Pei Qiqi slowly rose to her feet and nodded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go look around. If there are any hidden teleportation portals there, my unique treasure should be able to detect them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for interrupting your search for the Void Pce Sect,¡± Nie Tian apologized.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Pei Qiqi said in a soft voice.

 Chapter 1093: Granting Blood Essence

    In the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat flew through the spaces between huge floating meteors.

    With her irregrly-shaped crystal in her palm, Pei Qiqi scanned her surroundings for any unusual spatial fluctuations.

    If there were any hidden teleportation portals in their surroundings, that spatial treasure of hers would be able to detect them.

    The Domain of Forbidden Heaven covered a vast area. It bordered the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries on one side and the Domain of the Falling Stars on the other.

    The speed of the Star Boat couldn¡¯t match that of an ancient starship. However, that gave Pei Qiqi an opportunity to scan her surroundings more thoroughly.

    Sitting on the Star Boat, Nie Tian didn¡¯t practice cultivation.

    However, the three unique treasures in his spiritual sea took it upon themselves to channel me power, wood power, and star power from the starry river.

    As wisp after wisp of power fused into his spiritual cores of three different attributes, the solid parts of those spiritual cores gradually expanded.

    Nie Tian suddenly came to a realization. ¡°It seems that the starry river has be the most ideal ce for me to practice cultivation!¡±

    As long as he had the me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, and the Godspirit Tree inside of him, he would be able to channel power from the starry river and practice cultivation without relying on spiritual materials of different attributes.

    Now, he was at the early Soul realm. His spiritual cores had only partially solidified. His future cultivation would focus on the condensation and crystallization of the remaining liquid part.

    Toplete this process, Qi warriors without the me spark, Godspirit Tree, and Nine Stars Flower would have to rely on all sorts of spiritual materials.

    Furthermore, normally, Qi warriors at the Soul realm couldn¡¯t safely expose themselves in the starry river, much less absorb power from it.

    Obviously, he was a unique existence.

    Not only did his unique bloodline and exceptionally tough body allow him to withstand the deadly impurities in the starry river, but the three wondrous treasures inside of him even allowed him to channel and refine me power, wood power, and star power from the starry river.

    He suddenly realized that this trip, where he was searching for hidden outsider teleportation portals in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven with Pei Qiqi, could be considered another way of cultivation.

    Since he didn¡¯t have to do anything, and his spiritual sea was already gaining the kinds of power it needed, he was free to work on something else.

    He decided that he would nourish the me Dragon Armor and Star Behemoth bone with his Blood Essence, and then regenerate Blood Essence by relying on his stock of flesh power, which was still abundant.

    Both of them had yearned for his Blood Essence, since it had been proven to have the effect of making them stronger and sharper.

    Drop after drop of his Blood Essence fused into the Star Behemoth bone and the me Dragon Armor.

    He hadn¡¯t stored the bone in his ring of holding since he had left the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Like him, it had also been exposed to and was gathering power from the boundless starry river.

    Originally, it had only been about twenty meters long, but as Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence continued to fuse into it and it continued to channel power from the starry river, it gradually grew to nearly thirty meters long.

    As another drop of Blood Essence dripped on the bone and instantly fused into theplicated veins within it, the bone started to emanate a faint blood-colored light.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expedition to the three Demon realms had won him arge number of Demon corpses. Later, he had gone to assist Hou Chn in the Realm of Wood Spirit. From her, he had gained outsider and Ancientbeast corpses at the grand patriarch level.

    Even though he had alreadypleted Flesh Tempering, it didn¡¯t seem that he could start Blood Condensing, thest stage of Heavenly Wood Heal, yet.

    Meanwhile, after devouring flesh power to its fill, his bloodline aura had also fallen dormant, preparing for its next upgrade.

    That was the reason why he could generate arge amount of Blood Essence now.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up as she said with narrowed eyes, ¡°Your Blood Essence... I don¡¯t know why, but I have a strange feeling that your Blood Essence must be very sweet and tasty.¡±

    With these words, she gently licked her rich lips, giving her a shockingly inviting look.

    In fact, she had already held herself back for quite a while, watching Nie Tian generate and fuse Blood Essence into the me Dragon Armor and the Star Behemoth bone.

    Every time she saw a drop of Blood Essence fall on the me Dragon Armor¡¯s Blood Core, she felt a strong desire for it.

    However, her reserved nature made it very difficult for her to voice her desire. After all, it was Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence that she yearned for.

    However, seeing Nie Tian spend his red, diamond-like Blood Essence sovishly on the me Dragon Armor and the bone, she finally couldn¡¯t help but give voice to her thoughts.

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°You... You have a feeling that my Blood Essence is tasty?¡±

    Pei Qiqi instantly flushed and looked down. ¡°Umm... yeah, a bit.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯t take it the wrong way,¡± Pei Qiqi hastily exined. ¡°I just find that your Blood Essence smells nice. That¡¯s all...¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Perhaps my Blood Essence can help you too.¡±

    If he used his Blood Essence to unleash Life Drain or Life Shackle, then it would be a deadly poison for outsiders that carried rich flesh power.

    However, if he used it to activate Life Grant, then it would be a medicine that could help strengthen the me Dragon Armor and the Star Behemoth bone, and extend other humans¡¯ lifespans.

    Before, he had thought that Pei Qiqi was still young and had a long lifespan ahead of her, so it had never urred to him to give her his Blood Essence.

    Only at this moment did it ur to him that Pei Qiqi was a hybrid like him, and his Blood Essence could help strengthen her body and enrich her life force.

    Just as Pei Qiqi was going to exin herself further, a drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence flew out of his heart. ¡°I¡¯ll fuse this drop of Blood Essence into your heart. Pay close attention to the changes you may experience.¡±

    With these words, the translucent and sparkling drop of Blood Essence flew towards her ample chest.

    ¡°Life Grant!¡±

    After going through her garments, the drop of Blood Essence easily infiltrated her soft skin and fused into her heart like a drop of water fusing into the sea.

    The drop of Blood Essence rapidly dispersed in her heart.

    In the next moment, wisp after wisp of flesh power that carried the profound truths of life flew out of her heart and into her acupoints all over her body.

    Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t help but let out a moan of extreme pleasure. She felt as if she was rxing in a warm spring as wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura gradually flew into and expanded her acupoints.

    Her acupoints were vessels that held her spatial bloodline power.

    Each and every acupoint was like an independent space, which was originally rather fragile. Every time she exerted herself to cast a spatial escape magic, they would crack, or even copse.

    However, as Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence fused into her, she shrewdly discovered that not only was the spaces within her acupoints expanding, but also they were also bing tougher.

    Such discoveries overjoyed her.

    Soon, the drop of Blood Essence dispersed and vanishedpletely in her heart.

    However, the wisps of flesh power it released continued to strengthen and expand her acupoints in every part of her body.

    ¡°How about it?¡± Nie Tian asked with an anticipating look in his eyes.

    He had only experimented with his Blood Essence on Master Blood Spirit. The result was that his lifespan had been sessfully extended.

    This was the first time he had fused his Blood Essence into a hybrid. Therefore, even he wasn¡¯t sure whether it would help Pei Qiqi as he had expected.

    Pei Qiqi nodded vigorously. ¡°Your Blood Essence is helpful to me, very helpful!¡±

    Before Pei Qiqi could say anything else, Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Awesome!¡±

    Another drop of Blood Essence was then summoned from his heart and fused into Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart in the same fashion.

    Pei Qiqi instantly felt the wondrous effect of this new drop of Blood Essence. Overjoyed and overwhelmed, she said, ¡°Nie Tian, your Blood Essence is very precious. You...¡±

    Nie Tianughed broadly. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I can recover it by channeling flesh power from dead outsiders and Ancientbeasts. Right now, I still have plenty of them that I don¡¯t have any specific use for. That¡¯s why I was generating and giving Blood Essence to the me Dragon Armor and that bone.

    ¡°I could give it to them, so of course I can give it to you. Don¡¯t worry, senior martial sister. I still have enough dead outsiders and Ancientbeasts to condense more Blood Essence.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°Alright, thank you.¡±

    She had only epted two drops of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, and she already understood the wondrous help they could provide her.

    The expansion and reinforcement of her acupoints would mean that she would be able to hold more spatial bloodline power, and that she would suffer from lighter bacshes when she used escape magics and other forbidden spatial magics.

    For these reasons, she decided to ept Nie Tian¡¯s offer.

    As the Star Boat continued to roam the starry river, Nie Tian condensed and fused drop after drop of his Blood Essence into Pei Qiqi.

    Thanks to this, her acupoints were gradually expanded and strengthened. Not just that, but even her meridians, bones, and internal organs had be tougher than before.

    She felt that her body became a bit tougher with every drop of Blood Essence that fused into her.

    Two weeks passed...

    Nie Tian eventually used up the Demon corpses he had looted from the three Demon realms.

    It was also at this moment that something suddenly stirred the spatial treasure in Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes snapped open. ¡°There¡¯s a teleportation portal nearby!¡±

    Looking into the crystal that was filled with glowing spatial des, she gently flicked her finger at it, and then showed Nie Tian a direction.

 Chapter 1094: Another Deed of the Heavenly Corpse Sect

    Upon spotting a target, Pei Qiqi split open a spatial rift and pulled Nie Tian into it.

    In the next moment, they appeared by a t floating meteor, over which an exceptionally long, narrow spatial rift was glowing and leaking faint Demon qi.

    A wrecked Demon starship could be seen scattered on the meteor. Apparently, it had exploded and crashed into the meteor, filling it with debris.

    Other than the faint Demon qi, this area of the starry river was also filled with a cold, disturbing corpse power.

    Tiny clusters of corpse mes could be seen floating and flickering in the vicinity, the corpse toxins within them gradually dissipating.

    The unique aura of corpse power reminded Nie Tian of the ghouls he had encountered in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    The flickering, dissipating corpse mes reminded him of the pale me he had obtained from the Bloody Grave Mountain Range andter given to Li Langfeng.

    It was just that,pared to the corpse power that cluster of pale me contained, the corpse power within these corpse mes wasn¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    Not only did that cluster of pale me contain pure, refined corpse power, but it also had its own awareness, and the ability to drive ghouls. It was either an Earth Cultivated grade or Heaven Nourished grade treasure.

    ¡°Corpse power...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly remembered the Heavenly Corpse Sect, which Hua Mu had told him about.

    Yu Tong from the Blood Sect had found Hua Mu and given him a message from Master Blood Spirit: Demons had shown up in the area where the Domain of the Falling Stars bordered the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, and they had been killed by the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

    Now, Nie Tian was looking at the remains of a Demon starship, yet not a single Demon was in sight, dead or alive. Lingering Demon qi and corpse mes were all there was left.

    ¡°A battle took ce here not long ago,¡± Pei Qiqi said, turning to fix the spatial rift with a deep, concerned look. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that this spatial rift isrge enough for Demon starships to pass through. And a starship at this level must have had a few eighth grade Demons on it.

    ¡°Now, the starship has crashed, but not a single Demon can be seen. Don¡¯t tell me that someone killed them and took their bodies away?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Members of the Heavenly Corpse Sect killed a handful of Demons along the border of the Domain of the Falling Stars. And from the look of it, it was also them who killed these Demons who had arrived through this spatial rift.¡±

    Surprised, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect? What kind of sect is that? Why did they show up here to kill these Demons?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. But to be safe, let¡¯s destroy this spatial rift anyways. Who knows whether more Demon starships areing through it or not.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Pei Qiqi said in a soft voice.

    Her irregrly shaped crystal then flew ethereally towards the slender spatial rift. As a Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure, the crystal seemed to thrive on the spatial power it absorbed from teleportation portals and spatial rifts.

    As the crystal spun, countless spatial des whizzed out of it like a shoal of fish.

    They swam within the spatial rift, strengthening themselves by absorbing its power.

    Soon, as the spatial des that had grown several times thicker flew back into the crystal, the spatial rift that wasrge enough to allow Demon starships to pass gradually healed.

    Eventually, it shrank to a bright spot that was the size of a thumb, and then vanishedpletely.

    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Pei Qiqi said, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of her mouth as she looked at the increasingly bright crystal. ¡°This little thing¡¯s greatest joy is to destroy teleportation portals and spatial rifts. Absorbing their power how it bes stronger.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s look around and see if we can find members of the Heavenly Corpse Sect in the vicinity,¡± Nie Tian said in a serious voice.

    Pei Qiqi nodded.

    Then, the two of them got on the Star Boat once again to scan the surroundings of the destroyed spatial rift, hoping to find out what the members of the Heavenly Corpse Sect were up to.

    ...

    In the Second Demon Realm.

    Numerous pitch-ck stone columns stood towering on a spacious square, where enormous low-tier Demons were howling in raging Demon qi.

    Like three huge, purple monsters, three sinister-looking Demon starships were berthed in front of a tall archway in the middle of the square.

    Two ninth grade grand patriarchs, Hazlitt, the me Maniac, and Feimos, the Controller, were standing before the arched teleportation portal, with their respective n members swarming behind them.

    Hazlitt and Feimos had sent a handful of their eighth grade n members to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven for investigation.

    However, none of them made it back alive.

    Therefore, neither of them knew what had happened in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Angered by this, they gathered their forces here, preparing to march into the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to find out what had happened.

    However, just as they were about to set out, the teleportation portal jolted violently.

    The two of them instantly realized that their secret teleportation portal in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven must have been found and destroyed.

    Hazlitt and Feimos¡¯ furious roars shook heaven and earth. The low-tier Demons were so scared that they crouched on the ground and trembled nonstop.

    WHOOSH!

    A figure arrived like a bolt of lightning.

    If Nie Tian had been here, he would have been able to recognize the arriving high-tier Demon at first nce. It was none other than Gutas, who he had encountered in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Even though Gutas was only at the seventh grade, both Hazlitt and Feimos stopped roaring upon seeing him.

    They stifled their mes of fury and calmed themselves before bowing respectfully towards him. ¡°Young monarch!¡±

    As the son of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Gutas had a great chance at bing a grand monarch himself in the future. As arrogant as Hazlitt and Feimos were, they had nothing but respect when facing him.

    ¡°Have you obtained any useful information regarding the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Gutas asked.

    Both Hazlitt and Feimos shook their heads with guilty expressions.

    Looking displeased, Gutas narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°It¡¯s been so long, yet you still can¡¯t find any useful information? What have you been doing all this time?¡±

    Hazlitt, the me Maniac, hastily answered, ¡°None of my n members I sent to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven have returned. And just as we were about to go look into it, the secret teleportation portal we left in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven was discovered and destroyed...¡±

    Gutas was taken aback.

    He was aware that both Hazlitt and Feimos had previously fought in the Dead Star Sea.

    Only after the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s sound defeat had the two of them returned to the Second Demon Realm to handle the task he had given them personally.

    Neither had he expected that the teleportation portal in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven would have been discovered and destroyed within such a short time.

    Gutas pondered for a moment and quickly realized what had happened. ¡°It must be someone from the Void Spirit Society who did it. The Domain of the Falling Stars belongs to that Son of the Stars named Nie Tian. I fought him personally in the Shatter Battlefield. He¡¯s not easy to deal with. It¡¯s possible that his subordinates discovered and killed those members of your n.¡±

    Hazlitt and Feimos listened attentively as he spoke.

    With a thoughtful expression, Gutas continued, ¡°As a Son of the Stars, he has three subordinate domains. All of our teleportation portals in the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven Python have been previously destroyed. Now, ourst remaining teleportation portal in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven has also been destroyed. Do we have any teleportation portals left in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries?¡±

    Feimos thought hard before answering, ¡°We do have one left in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s too small for our starships to pass.¡±

    Gutas nodded. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s settled. We¡¯ll enter the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Looking rather hesitant, Hazlitt said, ¡°Young monarch, I met that Son of the Stars on the floating continent. He had three middle Saint domain subordinates with him, which can¡¯t be ignored.¡±

    Gutas smiled coldly. ¡°Lord Cardy was infuriated when he learned that three of our realms were ravaged and plundered by that Son of the Stars. He spread word that he¡¯ll make him pay. I¡¯ll go invite him myself. Perhaps he¡¯ll be happy to join us on our trip to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Hazlitt and Feimos rxed.

    Cardy was one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs. His battle prowess was hardly matched, and definitely not by them.

    Perhaps onlyte Saint domain elders of the four great sects might have a chance at contending against him.

    Learning that Cardy might join them, they instantly lost their scruples about entering the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go see Lord Cardy, while you stay and make preparations,¡± Gutas instructed. ¡°My father was also furious about what happened to those three realms. That Son of the Stars shall suffer the full extent of our wrath! And since the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce won¡¯t be returning anytime soon, let¡¯s spare no life!¡±

 Chapter 1095: Intention Unknown

    In the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Numerous meteors floated in the starry river somewhere between the Realm of Shattered Earth and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Five vast floating meteors were connected by stone bridges. A few ancient starships were berthed on the meteors.

    This was the ce where Dong Li had arranged for the Blood Sect disciples to hole up. Master Blood Spirit hadter joined them.

    Long before, the Domain of Forbidden Heaven had been sealed off by mysterious restrictive spells, which had even prevented the deadly impurities from entering it.

    For that reason, even weak Qi warriors could travel around in it, as long as they had air-transportation spiritual tools.

    In recent years, the restrictive spells seemed to have been lifted. That was when mixed energies had poured into it from all directions.

    However,pared to other domains that were filled with dead realms, the environment in Domain of Forbidden Heaven was still rather friendly to Qi warriors with low cultivation bases.

    On the meteors, the ancient starships¡¯ protective shields were up, keeping the impurities away from the Blood Sect disciples, so that they could practice cultivation with spirit stones.

    Li Langfeng was sitting on a much smaller, pale-gray floating meteor that was a considerable distance from the five interconnected meteors.

    In front of him, a cluster of pale me was slithering up and down a dead Fiend, as if it was gathering toxins for him.

    Li Langfeng had broken through into the Soul realm not long ago.

    However, his unusual body allowed him to practice cultivation in the starry river even though he was only at the Soul realm.

    Apparently, after suffering from countless toxins, his iparably strange body had even found the mixed energies in the starry river bearable.

    Furthermore, his unique cultivation method would harm those in his surroundings.

    That Fiend corpse Nie Tian had given him contained deadly toxins. He was afraid that Blood Sect disciples with low cultivation bases would catch the toxins, so he had intentionally distanced himself from the five floating meteors.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, the cluster of pale me in front of Li Langfeng jolted violently.

    Looking at the pale me, Li Langfeng went nk for a moment before his expression flickered.

    He rapidly summoned an air-transportation spiritual tool, put the Fiend corpse away, jumped on board, and said in a soft voice, ¡°Show me the way.¡±

    The pale me then shot off into the distant starry river.

    Li Langfeng¡¯s air-transportation spiritual tool followed it away from the Blood Sect¡¯s gathering ce.

    After an unknown period of time, the pale me found its target: a t octagonal meteor.

    An unidentified ancient starship could be seen berthed on the meteor.

    Li Langfeng squinted, and discovered that the ancient starship was wreathed in an intense aura that was unique to corpses and most Qi warriors couldn¡¯t perceive. ¡°Such rich corpse aura!¡±

    Besides, he also noticed that dead Demons were chained up on the ancient starship, and the ropes binding them seemed to be channeling power from them.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A soft exmation came from the unidentified ancient starship.

    The misty corpse aura rapidly gathered and condensed into a person that floated over the berthed starship.

    It was a scrawny middle-aged man whose face was as pale as paper. Dressed in white robes, he had silver white pupils.

    Even though they were still separated from each other by hundreds of meters, the man saw Li Langfeng. However, in the next moment, his attention was caught by the cluster of pale me beside him.

    The man¡¯s silver eyes lit up. ¡°A cluster of Poisonous Corpse me! And it has developed its own awareness?!¡±

    Fascinated by the cluster of pale me, he muttered, ¡°Such mes can only form in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range in the Shatter Battlefield due to their profound connection to the ghouls that roam those mountains.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that man actually won the acknowledgment of a cluster of Poisonous Corpse me. And his aura...¡±

    While muttering, the man refocused on Li Langfeng.

    Under his gaze, wisps of multicolored toxic aura suddenly rose from his body to hover around him.

    Among them, the pale wisps that seemed to be from that mysterious me were the most eye-catching.

    ¡°He has great potential. Our sect¡¯s incantations will agree with him perfectly.¡± Fixing Li Langfeng with an amazed look, the man finally asked, ¡°Who are you? And what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Li Langfeng from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars...¡± The man smiled. ¡°So do you know Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s my master,¡± Li Langfeng said with a firm tone.

    The man¡¯s smile grew broader as he looked deeply at Li Langfeng and continued, ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars surely is special. After all, considering the incantations the Blood Sect and you practice, you can all be viewed as crooked forces, yet he took you under his wing all the same.¡±

    Li Langfeng¡¯s expression flickered.

    He suddenly realized that he probably shouldn¡¯t have told the man about his rtionship with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Rx,¡± the man said. ¡°I bet you can tell that I¡¯m from a so-called crooked force myself. To tell you the truth, I¡¯m from the Heavenly Corpse Sect. Are you interested in joining us? Not only will our secret incantations agree with your cultivation perfectly, but they can also help you bring out the full might of that Poisonous Corpse me of yours.¡±

    Li Langfeng snorted coldly. ¡°Not interested!¡±

    The manughed. ¡°Well, you will be. Wait till you enter thete Soul realm and prepare to break through into the Void domain. The incantations you practice are special. Only I will be able to provide you with the materials and environment you¡¯ll need to forge your inner domain. But I guess there¡¯s no rush in that.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°Since Nie Tian is your master, tell him that he can stop wasting his time looking for hidden teleportation portals in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, the Domain of the Falling Stars, and the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one outsider teleportation portal left in all of his domains now. It¡¯s in the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s territory in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be able to find it in the starry river north of the Realm of Pure Origin.¡±

    With these words, the man vanished. With a loud rumble, corpse power was ignited, pushing the ancient starship off the floating meteor.

    In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the distant starry river.

    Filled with questions, Li Langfeng had to return to the ce where the Blood Sect disciples were gathered.

    Two dayster, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi arrived on the Star Boat.

    Upon seeing them, Li Langfeng flew to them and exined his recent encounter.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What? You ran into a member of the Heavenly Corpse Sect? What was his cultivation base?¡±

    Li Langfeng shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. His cultivation base was so far higher than mine that I couldn¡¯t tell what it was exactly. But what I could tell was that the pressure he brought me was much greater than what I feel from Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, or Qu Mingde.¡±

    As Nie Tian¡¯s trusted follower, Li Langfeng had visited the Domain of Heaven Python and met middle Saint domain experts like Jing Feiyang on various asions.

    However,pared to Jing Feiyang, that mysterious man had given him more pressure, and his cultivation base had seemed more unfathomable.

    Pei Qiqi frowned and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that person from the Heavenly Corpse Sect must be at thete Saint domain... or even the God domain.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°God domain!¡±

    Aside from the four great sects, very few human sects and ns had ever seen any God domain experts.

    After all, the God domain represented humanity¡¯s peak strength.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, who had recently resurfaced, was at the early God domain. Now, an expert from the Heavenly Corpse Sect showed up, and he was also at the God domain?

    Howe these crooked forces that were deeply detested by the four great sects were so powerful?

    ¡°Besides, he said that you shouldn¡¯t waste your time searching,¡± Li Langfeng added. ¡°There¡¯s only one outsider teleportation portal left, and it¡¯s in the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s territory in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. You¡¯ll be able to find it in the starry river north of the Realm of Pure Origin.¡±

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s expressions flickered again upon hearing these words.

    Why was the Heavenly Corpse Sect so knowledgeable on where the outsider teleportation portals were?

    ¡°Should we trust that man?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    Nie Tian looked uneasy and suspicious as he said, ¡°I suppose it was him who killed those Demons in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, but he seems to be avoiding us. I wonder why that is. However, since we don¡¯t have any other clues, we might as well go and see if what he said is true.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s your decision, we¡¯d best set out as soon as possible,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°Sure, let go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries right now!¡±

 Chapter 1096: One Step Too Late

    The news of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce suffering a sound defeat from the Demons in the Dead Star Sea got around fast.

    Many sects and ns in the subordinate domains of the Sons of the Stars and elders felt so insecure that they would be startled by the moan of the wind, or the cry of the cranes.

    It was the same case in Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate domains.

    Word of Nie Tian leading his subordinates into the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Demon Realms, ying countless Demons and plundering abundant resources had also spread far and wide.

    Now, many knew that the Demons¡¯ wrath and all four of their grand monarchs joining the battle in the Dead Star Sea had a great deal to do with Nie Tian¡¯s deed.

    It was only natural that his domains would be the focus of the Demons¡¯ retaliation.

    As soon as Nie Tian arrived at the Divine me Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, he summoned Jing Feiyang and the other experts.

    Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde had received Nie Tian¡¯s instruction to stand by, so none of them had dared to enter secluded cultivation.

    Now, they came as soon as they received his summons.

    ¡°To the Realm of Pure Origin.¡± Nie Tian cut to the chase.

    Zhongli Jian from the Divine me Sect hesitated briefly before saying, ¡°Even though the Realm of Pure Origin isn¡¯t the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s main realm, it¡¯s one of therge ones. Since the Pure Heaven Sect still hasn¡¯t dered their allegiance to you, we pretty much haven¡¯t had any contact with them these years.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Are you saying that we¡¯ll have trouble going to the Realm of Pure Origin?¡±

    ¡°Well, therge-scale teleportation portal in the Realm of Pure Origin isn¡¯t connected to ours,¡± Zhongli Jian exined. ¡°We only have a connection to therge-scale teleportation portal in the Realm of Pure Heaven. However, since we haven¡¯t been exactly friendly to the Pure Heaven Sect and haven¡¯t visited them for many years, I don¡¯t know if the connection still stands.¡±

    Pei Qiqi jumped in and asked, ¡°But you do have a map of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, right?¡±

    Zhongli Jian nodded. ¡°We do.¡±

    Pei Qiqi reached out with one hand and demanded, ¡°Let me take a look.¡±

    Zhongli Jian handed her the map without hesitation.

    The map was carved on arge piece of spirit beast skin, with all of the major realms of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries marked out with great rity.

    Light shed across Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she looked at the map attentively.

    Only after a while did she nod and say, ¡°Alright, I got it.¡±

    With these words, she started weaving her hands in the air. Numerous spatial des then flew out of her fingertips to interweave in midair.

    Soon, a slender spatial rift appeared.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Pei Qiqi signaled for everyone to get in.

    ¡°No wonder the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society went back on his word to take her as his fourth legacy disciple...¡± Jing Feiyang muttered to himself.

    Normally, only Saint domain spatial power experts could master such a wondrous ability to travel between domains without relying on teleportation portals.

    Pei Qiqi was merely at thete Soul realm, yet she was able to use Void Travel freely within the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    One figure after another flew into the spatial rift and vanished.

    Before long, all of the Saint domain experts gathered in the Divine me Sect arrived at the starry river outside the Realm of Pure Origin.

    Everyone except Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi activated their respective domains upon flying out of the spatial rift in order to ward off the impurities in the starry river.

    Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde were currently at the middle Saint domain. Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong were at the early Saint domain.

    The five of them were Nie Tian¡¯s most powerful subordinates.

    Clearly, Nie Tian had brought out his best cards in order to find this outsider teleportation portal that the mysterious person from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had told him about.

    Floating in the vast starry river, Nie Tian looked around, and immediately saw that the Realm of Pure Origin was not far away.

    Pei Qiqi was thest to fly out of the spatial rift. As soon as she did, she summoned that irregrly shaped crystal of hers, which spun in her palm. Its many facets reflected everything in its surroundings, capturing any unusual spatial fluctuations.

    Momentster, Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡±

    With the help of the crystal¡¯s power, she suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving Nie Tian and the others.

    However, Nie Tian understood that even her wondrous spatial treasure must have its detection range.

    Pei Qiqi must have left to conduct a thorough scan of the area the mysterious powerful expert from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had referred to.

    Therefore, Nie Tian just waited with the others.

    Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Till this day, Patriarch Pure Heaven still thinks so highly of himself that he refuses to join us. However, many of their elders have long since envied us, and wanted to join your cause.¡±

    Nie Tian, however, seemed to have an open mind on the issue as he said, ¡°They¡¯re just one sect. It doesn¡¯t matter whether they join me anymore. As long as they continue to live by the rules and cause no trouble in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, they can do whatever they want. Besides, didn¡¯t Patriarch Pure Heaven say himself that he¡¯ll acknowledge allegiance to me if I can defeat him with no help from anyone else?

    ¡°Trust me. That day ising.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s confidence rxed everyone.

    With a smile, Qu Mingde said, ¡°They might as well stay the way they are. During the past decades, we fought battles with you across the starry river, and gained a tremendous fortune. Not only have we ourselves made breakthroughs in cultivation, but our sect elders have made rapid advances thanks to the precious materials they gained. If they join us, then we¡¯d have to share our gains with them.¡±

    All of the sects who had joined the expedition to the three Demon realms had returned with abundant loot.

    The acquisition of Dementing Demonic Grass had allowed them to make Barrier Breaking Pills, which would greatly improve their odds of sessfully breaking through into the Void or Saint domain.

    For reasons like this, Qu Mingde and the others all believed following Nie Tian was a wise decision.

    A quarter hourter...

    Pei Qiqi returned. Under everyone¡¯s inquiring gazes, she shook her head and said, ¡°I found no signs of a teleportation portal.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°So does this mean that person from the Heavenly Corpse Sect fed us false information? This isn¡¯t a trap, is it?¡±

    ¡°His information is not necessarily false,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°It¡¯s possible that the Demons have already arrived, and transferred their teleportation portal to another location through some special means. How about we go take a look in the Realm of Pure Origin?¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Nie Tian agreed.

    Pei Qiqi then split open another spatial rift.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian and the other experts entered the Realm of Pure Origin in the next moment.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically as soon as he flew out of the other end of the spatial rift.

    A shudder ran through Dong Qisong as he eximed, ¡°Damn it! The Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s quarters have been destroyed!¡±

    On the vast in in front of them, stone pavilions and pces were now in ruins. Dead Qi warriors in the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s garments were scattered everywhere.

    Strong Demon qi could be sensed dissipating in the air. This meant that powerful Demon experts had been here.

    ¡°The Demons did this.¡± With these words, Zhongli Jian took a deep breath, then flew off to scan other parts of the realm.

    Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde also shot skywards, where they spread their immense soul awareness.

    Only Jing Feiyang remained by Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s side to protect them from potential dangers.

    Soon, Quan Zixuan returned and reported loudly, ¡°All Qi warriors in this realm that are at the Soul realm or higher have been killed by the Demons! It was Hazlitt, the me Maniac, who did it!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Hazlitt!¡±

    ¡°What he did here is the same as what we did in those three Demon realms,¡± Quan Zixuan said with a grim face. ¡°Other than the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s branch, there are also two of their subordinate ns in this realm. All of their powerful experts have been killed, along with the experts the Pure Heaven Sect had positioned here.

    ¡°All that¡¯s left is a small number Qi warriors that are at the Profound realm or lower, who were lucky enough to escape to remote areas.¡±

    After a while, Qu Mingde and the other experts returned.

    The four Saint domain experts had spread out and finished scanning the entire Realm of Pure Origin. From some of the survivors, they learned that Hazlitt, the me Maniac, had swept across this realm with a dozen eighth grade Demons.

    ¡°Nie Tian, it seems that the information that mysterious expert from the Heavenly Corpse Sect gave us was true,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°It¡¯s just that we got here toote. From the look of it, arge number of Demons have already arrived through that teleportation portal. And the reason why I failed to find the portal is because they have already moved it to another ce.¡±

    ¡°Would you take us to the nearby realms so we can check their situation?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking anxious.

    Without saying a word, Pei Qiqi immediately split open new spatial rifts.

    What they saw in the Realm of Gray Moon and the Realm of Heavenly Light was exactly the same as what they had seen in the Realm of Pure Origin.

    All of the ns in those realms had been wiped out.

    From the survivors, they learned that other than Hazlitt, Feimos the Controller had also yed a part in this.

    Both of them were ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Realm of Pure Heaven where the Pure Heaven Sect is based!¡± Nie Tian had an ominous feeling that it might have also been sacked by the Demons.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Pure Heaven Sect has already...¡± Zhongli Jian muttered with mixed feelings.

    On the one hand, he felt sorry for what might have happened to the Pure Heaven Sect. On the other, he felt lucky that the Demons¡¯ teleportation portal hadn¡¯t been in the Divine me Sect¡¯s territory.

    SHEW!

    As soon as Nie Tian and the others set foot in the Realm of Pure Heaven, they saw a distant region enveloped in ckish-violet Demon qi.

 Chapter 1097: Query

    With a grim face, Zhongli Jian bellowed, ¡°The Pure Heaven Sect!¡±

    He was the first to charge out.

    Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect hesitated briefly before also whizzing off into the distance.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven had always been the strongest Qi warrior of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Even though Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong had recently entered the Saint domain with Nie Tian¡¯s help, neither of them deemed that their strength had surpassed Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s.

    Before, Patriarch Pure Heaven had dominated the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. None of the other experts from the other sects had dared to oppose him.

    Onlyter, when all of the other sects had all acknowledged allegiance to Nie Tian, had Patriarch Pure Heaven restrained himself a bit.

    However, no matter how much Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong detested Patriarch Pure Heaven, they both understood the saying: if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.

    They understood it now more than ever, with Demonsunching a massive invasion.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat, and flew off with Pei Qiqi.

    Since it was fairly close, he didn¡¯t ask her to create another spatial rift.

    The Star Boat rapidly approached the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    It was a winding mountain range that was now enveloped in rich Demon qi. Many low-tier Demons were whizzing by in the sky with high-tier Demons sitting astride them.

    Grayish-yellow auras were rising continuously from the mountain range to resist the infiltration of Demon qi.

    In the depths of the rolling Demon qi, Hazlitt, the me Maniac, and Feimos, the Controller, had both activated Ancestral Awakening.

    They were now raising torrents of Demon qi and roaring furiously as they attacked the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s defenses.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Profound power continued to rise from the heart of the earth and fuse into the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s grand spell formation as it protected the mountain range that stretched thousands of kilometers from the two Demon grand patriarchs¡¯ bombardment.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven was sitting at the center of the spell formation by himself, with a gray ball floating over his head.

    Murky power seemed to be surging within the stone ball as it channeled power from the heart of the earth unceasingly to maintain the Heaven-enveloping Earth Origin Formation.

    Both Hazlitt and Feimos were at the ninth grade, which meant that they were roughly as strong as middle Saint domain human experts.

    However, their joint efforts had failed to break the Heaven-enveloping Earth Origin Formation within a short time. They could only have the enormous low-tier Demons spew more Demon qi, so they could gradually undermine the grand spell formation and seek an opportunity to charge through it.

    BOOOOM!

    Patriarch Pure Heaven in the grand spell formation sensed Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong¡¯s auras, and thus shot out like a cannonball.

    ¡°Pure Heaven Ball! Heaven Shake, Earth Tremble!¡± As soon as he eximed, murky energy whizzed out of the gray stone ball, causing great changes to the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the entire Realm of Pure Heaven.

    The earth rumbled as misty spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth gathered from all directions to thin the Devil qi.

    Mountains shook as rich earth power and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth fused into huge boulders.

    In the next moment, the boulders were channeled by the Pure Heaven Ball, and started bombarding the low-tier Demons that were mming into the protective ward.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    They were hit by the huge boulders with unstoppable momentum, letting out pained howls.

    Even Hazlitt and Feimos cried out in pain as their erged, sinister-looking bodies were bombarded repeatedly.

    At this moment, Zhongli Jian activated his me domain and shot towards Hazlitt wreathed in raging mes.

    Without hesitation, Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect also activated his domain, which seemed to be filled with all kinds of spirit fowls and beasts. All of them looked very lifelike, as if they were flesh and blood.

    He had refined the blood and souls of a wide array of spirit fowls and beasts into his domain. He could easily summon and mix them, making them let out deafening bellows.

    Jing Feiyang and the others arrived after them, but also joined the battle without hesitation.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Pei Qiqi gazed off at Patriarch Pure Heaven, who was channeling power from heaven and earth with his Pure Heaven Ball and unleashing different exquisite, mighty magics on the Demons.

    ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven...¡± she muttered. ¡°Very impressive. Even though he¡¯s only at the early Saint domain, he can single-handedly contend against two Demon grand patriarchs.

    ¡°No wonder he¡¯s the strongest Qi warrior in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong are also at the early Saint domain, but they clearly can¡¯t match his battle prowess.¡±

    Apparently, she was surprised that Patriarch Pure Heaven coulde out of the grand spell formation to fight two Demon grand patriarchs at the same time.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°It seems that he refused to bend his knees to me for a reason. With the help of his Pure Heaven Ball and his sect¡¯s grand spell formation, I suppose he can even contend against middle Saint domain experts like Jing Feiyang. No wonder the two grand patriarchs have failed to breach his sect within a short time.¡±

    Nie Tian was also surprised that Patriarch Pure Heaven could channel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from around the Realm of Pure Heaven and earth power from the depths of the earth, and use them as his weapons.

    Feimos the Controller roared something in the Demons¡¯nguage.

    Upon hearing him, Demons that were besieging the Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters from different directions instantly flew skywards, and left for the starry river.

    All of the Demons that had invaded the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were at the eighth or ninth grade. They all had the ability to travel across the starry river without relying on starships.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Figures that were either enormous or elegant shot towards the highest heavens.

    Hazlitt and Feimos gave up and withdrew upon seeing the arrival of the five Saint domain experts.

    Nie Tian lifted his arm and ordered in a soft voice. ¡°Go after them!¡±

    All of the Saint domain experts except Jing Feiyang and Patriarch Pure Heaven then chased the Demons into the starry river.

    Somewhat hesitant, Jing Feiyang turned to look at Nie Tian.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even ninth grade grand patriarchs won¡¯t be able to hurt us,¡± Pei Qiqi answered his question on Nie Tian¡¯s behalf. ¡°No matter what happens, I¡¯ll be able to get Nie Tian out of danger.¡±

    Her words put Jing Feiyang¡¯s heart at ease. He nodded and also shot into the heavens.

    At this moment, Nie Tian summoned his Spirit Pearl.

    As it floated around in the sky, the discarnate souls of the dead eighth grade low-tier and high-tier Demons were pulled into it.

    Face grim, Patriarch Pure Heaven floated in midair, holding his Pure Heaven Ball.

    Only after a while did he approach Nie Tian. Fixing him with a deep look, he asked in a sullen voice, ¡°Why did the Demons target my sect?¡±

    ¡°Because their hidden teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was located in the vicinity of the Realm of Pure Origin,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°It¡¯s only natural that they attacked whoever was closest.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face grew increasingly grim.

    The Pure Heaven Sect had three major realms, the Realm of Pure Origin, the Realm of Gray Moon, and the Realm of Heavenly Light. He had expected what must have happened to the other two as soon as he had seen Hazlitt and Feimos.

    Now that his sect¡¯s three most important realms had been ravaged by the Demons, their strength had suffered a significant decline.

    It seemed that they wouldg far behind the other sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It would be almost impossible to catch up with them again.

    ¡°You¡¯re the reason why the Demons showed up in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, right?¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven questioned Nie Tian.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°My subordinates and I wiped out many Demon ns in three Demon realms. It goes without saying that retaliation is the purpose of their invasion. But clearly, they didn¡¯t know that your sect isn¡¯t one of my subordinate sects. They just assumed that every sect in my subordinate domain must be my subordinate sect.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven grew furious. ¡°So what happened to my sect was an ident?¡±

    Nie Tian took his time to say, ¡°I guess you can put it that way. My sect has already given the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to me. But since you refuse to join my force, I didn¡¯t impose. And as for this Demon invasion, it¡¯s an ident that the Demons targeted your sect first.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heavenughed coldly. ¡°Given to you? The Pure Heaven Sect has a long and proud history in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. For ten thousand years, we managed the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries carefully and kept everything in order. Now, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce simply shows up and names it your private property?¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    The four great sects had always dominated the human world.

    Domains like the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries normally wouldn¡¯t even interest them. It was only because of Nie Tian that they had announced that the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was his private property now.

    Despite their domineering methods, most sects, like the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect, had acknowledged and epted their decision.

    Who would have thought Patriarch Pure Heaven was so unhappy about it?

    After hearing his argument, Nie Tian pondered for a while, and also felt that his sect¡¯s doing was, in fact, rude and unreasonable.

    However, when such things happened on the four great sects, it somehow seemed to be eptable and make sense to many people.

    However, Patriarch Pure Heaven happened to be a rebel.

 Chapter 1098: Seven Grand Patriarchs

    The four great sects had dominated the human world for a very long time.

    At the very beginning, they had been the main forces that had fought and driven the outsiders and Ancientspirits from this heaven and earth.

    For this reason, they had a sense of superiority when facing other human forces.

    However, not everyone was awed by their power and authority.

    Zhao Shanling had refused the Void Spirit Society¡¯s recruitment offer, and remained an independent cultivator.

    Xie Qian from the Domain of Vast Darkness, who had recently broken through into thete Saint domain, had also refused Sikong Cuo and He Lianxiong¡¯s offers using Nie Tian as an excuse.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven was also such a rebel.

    There were always people who refused to bow their heads to the four great sects, and those people were usually outstanding in some way.

    After hearing Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s words, both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi fell silent.

    After serious consideration, they both felt that the four great sects were a bit too domineering.

    As for what Patriarch Pure Heaven had said, was it fair that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce merely said the words, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries belonged to Nie Tian now?

    Bing increasingly exasperated, Patriarch Pure Heaven let out a cold snort. ¡°The Pure Heaven Sect will remain independent! You¡¯re a Son of the Stars, so what? I can¡¯t acknowledge allegiance to someone who¡¯s only at the Soul realm. I simply can¡¯t!¡±

    The Beast-controlling Sect, the Divine me Sect, and the other sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had all joined the expedition to the three Demon realms, and gained arge number of rare spiritual materials and herbs.

    As a fellow sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Pure Heaven Sect had naturally received word of this.

    They knew that all of the other sects had returned with abundant loot, but they had not been entitled to a share.

    However, when the Demons hadunched a retaliatory invasion, their sect had be the Demons¡¯ first victim!

    Patriarch Pure Heaven found this very hard to swallow.

    If he had been at thete Saint domain or the God domain, he might have dered war against Nie Tian already.

    However, he didn¡¯t have such power yet, and Nie Tian had middle Saint domain experts like Jing Feiyang by his side.

    He was already furious after swallowing this bitter pill. Of course he wouldn¡¯t change his attitude just because Nie Tian and the other experts hade to his aid.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to force anything on you. If I did, your sect would have been eliminated from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries already.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven understood that he was capable of such a thing, and thus kept silent.

    Nie Tian waved his hands and said, ¡°Forget it. If you want to remain independent, so be it. I¡¯m only here to deal with the Demons. Right now, I still don¡¯t know how many Demons have entered the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It¡¯s possible that you and your sect will have to face more attacks from the Demons. Good luck.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Finishing collecting the discarnate souls of the dead Demons, the Spirit Pearl returned to Nie Tian.

    Part of the reason why Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t joined the pursuit of the Demons was because they didn¡¯t think that their efforts were needed in such an operation.

    Another reason was because Nie Tian had hoped to gain useful information from the Demon discarnate souls he would have gathered.

    Now that the Spirit Pearl had returned, he ended his conversation with Patriarch Pure Heaven, butmunicated with the Spirit Pearl on a soul level.

    One of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s wondrous uses was stripping memories from the discarnate souls it captured.

    Through the Spirit Pearl¡¯s analysis, pieces of broken memories flowed into Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face gradually grew grim.

    Instead of leaving right away, Patriarch Pure Heaven stayed and fixed the Spirit Pearl with a curious gaze, as if he wanted to see what Nie Tian was doing and why.

    Hazlitt and Feimos were the only Demon grand patriarchs he had seen, so he also wondered how many Demons had entered the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°This invasion is led by Cardy, the Blood Warden, who¡¯s at the peak of the ninth grade. Other than him, there¡¯s also Feimos, Hazlitt, and four other Demon grand patriarchs. However, ording to the fragmentary memories I got from the dead eighth grade Demons, they only took orders from Hazlitt and Feimos, so they didn¡¯t know where Cardy and the other four grand patriarchs were.

    ¡°Perhaps only Hazlitt and Feimos know their overall n.¡±

    Taken aback, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°Cardy?! And four other grand patriarchs?! What grade are they at?¡±

    ¡°Two are at the middle ninth grade, the same as Hazlitt and Feimos,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°The other two are at the early ninth grade. Each of themmands arge number of eighth grade Demons from their ns.

    ¡°Upon arriving through the hidden teleportation portal, they split up and went on separate missions.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°Do you know where that teleportation portal was transferred?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No. All of the Demons that died here had been marched into the Realm of Pure Origin upon arriving through that teleportation portal. So they had no idea where Cardy moved the teleportation portal after they left.¡±

    Frowning, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°As long as the teleportation portal stands, the Demons will be able toe and go as they please. Perhaps more powerful Demons are on their way here.¡±

    Since neither of them avoided Patriarch Pure Heaven when they talked, he heard everything they said.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven looked into the heavens, where the Demons had fled from the Realm of Pure Heaven. A bitter expression filled his face as he muttered, ¡°Seven Demon grand patriarchs including Cardy, the Blood Warden, and countless eighth grade Demons...¡±

    Obviously, he realized that the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would be plunged into asting turmoil. Even though the Pure Heaven Sect had already suffered a heavy blow, the Demons wouldn¡¯t spare it just because he had refused to acknowledge allegiance to Nie Tian.

    Zhou Shang from the Pure Heaven Sect suddenly called out from the heart of the grand spell formation. ¡°Patriarch! Word just came that our two other main realms were also raided by the Demons!

    ¡°Not just us, but the Chu n and the Jian n¡¯s realms that are close to ours were also attacked!¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face dropped.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered slightly.

    He had realized that the Pure Heaven Sect couldn¡¯t be the Demons¡¯ only target from the moment he had learned that Hazlitt and Feimos weren¡¯t the only Demon grand patriarchs that had entered the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Although he didn¡¯t care very much about the Pure Heaven Sect, the Chu n and the Jian n were his subordinate ns. It was his duty to protect them.

    Furthermore, since neither of their nmasters had entered the Saint domain, any Demon grand patriarch would have a great edge in battle against them.

    Nie Tian shot a quick nce at Patriarch Pure Heaven and said, ¡°The Demons maye back. You¡¯ll have to rely on yourselves.¡±

    Then, he turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°Let¡¯s go tell the others to stop pursuing Hazlitt and Feimos. We need to drive the Demons out of the Chu n and Jian n¡¯s realms first.

    ¡°Sure.¡± Pei Qiqi immediately split open a spatial rift.

    As Zhou Shang flew over, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had already vanished into the slowly-healing spatial rift.

    ¡°Patriarch!¡± Zhou Shang said, appearing to be on the verge of tears, ¡°This Demon invasion has put us even farther behind the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect... We lost five Void domain elders in the defensive battles over our three main realms. Considering that Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong have also entered the Saint domain, if things don¡¯t change, I¡¯m afraid our future days will be more and more difficult.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven shot him a cold, sideways nce, and said, ¡°Shut it! I know what you want to say. I¡¯ll never submit to Nie Tian unless he can best me in battle!¡±

    With these words, he flew back into the grand spell formation and went to the attacked realms via the teleportation portal in their headquarters.

    After he left, Zhou Shang stood there and muttered bitterly, ¡°We have three realms to defend, but only one of you. No matter how powerful you are, you can¡¯t defend three ces simultaneously. Nie Tian, on the other hand, has five Saint domain experts, but instead of us, he¡¯ll only protect the Chu n and the Jian n, which are his subordinate ns.¡±

    However, Patriarch Pure Heaven wasn¡¯t there to hear his words.

    ¡°Why so stubborn?¡± Bitterness filled Zhou Shang¡¯s heart.

    Like many other elders of his sect, he also thought that they should have bent their knees to Nie Tian long ago, as the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect had.

    He had seen the other sects return with great fortune from the Lizardman realms, the floating continent, and the three Demon realms.

    The Pure Heaven Sect hadn¡¯t gained a single thing from those operations, yet when the Demons had invaded, they had be the first victim.

    Zhou Shang couldn¡¯t help but grumble inwardly.

 Chapter 1099: Stopping Cardy

    The Domain of Heaven Boundaries was plunged into turmoil.

    The six invading Demon grand patriarchs came and went like shadows, along with their eighth grade n members.

    Many different realms that belonged to the five major sects and three major ns were raided from time to time.

    Nie Tian was busy traveling between those realms with the help of Pei Qiqi and teleportation portals.

    However, every time he made it to those realms, those Demon grand patriarchs would immediately withdraw into the starry river.

    As he attempted to go after them, he would receive word of other realms being attacked by the Demons.

    Therefore, Jing Feiyang and the other experts kept shifting from one battlefield to another, chasing after the Demons.

    The Demons continued with their guerri warfare, spreading the mes of war to more and more realms.

    The realms that weren¡¯t attended would always be raided, causing great casualties to their local sects and ns.

    Gradually, the five major sects and three major ns developed a way to contend against the Demons.

    They gathered all of the Qi warriors in a realm behind one grand spell formation, where they fended off the Demons with the help of the grand spell formation.

    This was the same method the humans had adopted when the Domain of Heaven Python had been invaded by outsiders.

    Meanwhile, upon learning that Cardy, the Blood Warden, led this invasion, Nie Tian contacted Xie Qian from the Domain of Vast Darkness, asking for help. At the same time, he informed his sect of what was happening.

    Cardy was at the peak of the ninth grade. Among all of the Demon grand patriarchs, he had the best chance at breaking through into the tenth grade.

    Him leading the invasion meant that Nie Tian¡¯s force would be at a clear disadvantage if a head-on battle broke out between them.

    Even Xie Qian, who was at thete Saint domain, might not be able to match Cardy in battle, yet he would at least have a fair chance.

    Soon, Xie Qian arrived from the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce also arranged for elder Yan Zhan toe deal with Cardy.

    However, as soon as the two experts arrived, the Demons seemed to suddenly cancel their activities in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The six Demon grand patriarchs were suddenly nowhere to be found, as if they had vanished into thin air.

    Pei Qiqi traveled from ce to ce in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries in an attempt to find the hidden teleportation portal through which the Demons hade but failed.

    It seemed that Cardy had transferred it to a very secluded location, so that even her unique spatial treasure couldn¡¯t detect its unusual spatial fluctuations.

    ...

    The starry river between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    On arge floating meteor sat a small-scale teleportation portal, which suddenly emanated strong spatial fluctuations.

    Previously, the Lei n, which was one of the Divine me Sect¡¯s subordinate ns, had identally traveled through the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    They had built these teleportation portals so they would be able to return to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries through a series of teleportations.

    Back in the day, Nie Tian had used them to enter the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and found the Realm of Shattered Earth. For a long period of time, Nie Tian had relied on them to travel back and forth between the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Only after Kan Zhisheng had built an inter-domain teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect and connected it to the other two domains that belonged to Nie Tian had he stopped using the Lei n¡¯s teleportation portals.

    Now, even members of the Lei n would use therge-scale teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect to travel between the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    For that reason, the seven transit teleportation portals they had originally built to connect the two domains had been practically forgotten.

    WHOOSH!

    Cardy suddenly appeared in the teleportation portal.

    Standing in the middle of the portal, he gazed into the distant starry river, his eyes like two icy des. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars... That dark stone was the foundation of the Sixth Demon Realm. Since that grand monarch entered the tenth grade with its help, it might be able to help others enter the tenth grade as well.¡±

    Just as he was about to activate the transit teleportation portal, his expression suddenly flickered.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Rays of pale-gray light seemed to appear out of nowhere, and shot at him like thousands of sharp swords.

    The teleportation portal instantly exploded, along with the floating meteor it was on.

    By the time Cardy realized what was happening, he found himself floating in the starry river, both the teleportation portal and the meteor reduced to dust.

    Only then did a starship slowly sail out of a dark shadow.

    Demon corpses could be seen chained on the starship. Rich corpse power was being channeled into the starship through the chains, as if this was how the starship was powered.

    The man who Li Langfeng had met not long ago smiled as he flew from the starship, as light as a feather. ¡°Cardy, the Blood Warden.¡±

    Cardy¡¯s gasped. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    Taking another look at the corpses of his people, he asked, ¡°Did you kill them? I distinctly remember you being chased by the four great sects. You should hate them to their guts. Because of your connection with the Bonebrutes, they viewed you as a crooked force, and hunted you for many years. I thought that we hadmon enemies. Was I wrong?¡±

    ¡°These are different times,¡± the man said with a broad smile. ¡°And my connection with the Bonebrutes was only limited to transactions of materials. I¡¯m still human. I don¡¯t care what the four great sects think of me.¡±

    Exasperated, Cardy asked, ¡°Are you here to stop me?¡±

    The man shook his head. ¡°No. I¡¯m here because I have my eyes on you, and think you¡¯ll make a perfect Heavenly Corpse. It¡¯ll be your honor to be my most powerful Heavenly Corpse.¡±

    As soon as he uttered these words, three corpses flew out of the starship he hade from, wreathed in intense corpse auras.

    A Demon, a Bonebrute, and a Fiend.

    All three of them had been ninth grade grand patriarchs, but now their eyes were all zed. Clearly, they had lost their independent will and be puppets, simr to Nie Tian¡¯s Bone Blood Demon.

    Then, as the man waved his hands casually, the three Heavenly Corpses that had been refined from outsider grand patriarchs exploded towards Cardy at a shocking speed.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    At the same time, the Demon corpses chained on the starship blew up as they were drained of their corpse power.

    Cardy was infuriated. ¡°You dare to make a move against me?!¡±

    The man chuckled. ¡°Why not? You¡¯ll be my stepping stone to the God domain. If I can sessfully refine a peak ninth grade Demon grand patriarch like you into a Heavenly Corpse, then my breakthrough will happen naturally.

    ¡°I bet you don¡¯t know that I¡¯ve waited for you for a long time here.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t think that you¡¯re the only one that¡¯s clever, Cardy. The reason why you have the other six grand patriarchs keeping Nie Tian busy in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is because you want to sneak that dark stone away. Am I right?

    ¡°Unfortunately, you¡¯re only at the ninth grade.

    ¡°Any Demon who¡¯s not a grand monarch will only fall prey to me.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The three Heavenly Corpses unleashed torrential corpse auras that were mixed with all sorts of deadly toxins, instantly engulfing Cardy.

    Seeing this, Cardy hastily activated the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form. Thanks to ancestral awakening, his body expanded violently.

    A fierce battle broke out.

    ...

    In the Realm of Unbounded Destion in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    After leaving the Realm of Shattered Earth, the Heaven-equal Vine had already shrunk to a nt that was only about ten meters tall.

    With Nie Tian¡¯s guidance, it had traveled through the starry river to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Its search for the secret portal that would allow it to enter the magicalnd where Nie Tian had found that small Tree of Life had alreadysted quite a long time.

    However, not a single powerful expert from the Tool Sect sensed its existence.

    The Heaven-equal Vine continued to fly silently over dead volcanoes, its branches swaying to capture any unusual auras in the air.

    All of a sudden, it seemed to detect extremely strong fluctuations from the starry river.

    In the Tool Sect.

    Qi Bailu, who had gone to great lengths to enter the Void domain, was refining earthme essence from fiery realms and fusing it into his spiritual core with the help of his me Mirror.

    Suddenly, a wisp of ethereal soul awareness descended upon him.

    Qi Bailu¡¯s expression flickered. He instantly put his cultivation on hold, and focused on sensing that mysterious awareness.

    ¡°Two powerful experts are fighting fiercely in the starry river? And this is a message from the Heaven-equal Vine?¡±

    At the same time, in the Realm of Split Void...

    A Heavenly Demonsbane pattern came to appear on Hua Mu¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Heaven-equal Vine!¡±

    He also received the same message from the Heaven-equal Vine, and learned that a mighty expert and a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch were engaged in a fierce battle in the nearby starry river.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

 Chapter 1100: The Crisis of the Dong Clan

    In the Dong n¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Dong Wangling, the nmaster, was breathing pure spiritual power and crystallizing his spiritual core in his cultivation room.

    WHOOSH!

    The soul shadow of arge ape suddenly rose from him.

    As it did, the room suddenly became very stuffed.

    Dong Wangling frowned, surprised that his ape beast spirit woulde out on its own while he was focused on cultivation.

    However, immediately afterwards, he felt its deep panic.

    The huge ape beast spirit trembled unceasingly in the crowded cultivation room, as if it had sensed the aura of Death.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?" Completely confused, Dong Wangling attempted tomunicate with it on a soul level in order to find out what was scaring it.

    BOOM! RUMBLE!

    However, before the ape beast spirit could tell him anything, the entire Dong n shook violently.

    Many spirit beasts that were being reared for young members of the n bellowed nonstop.

    Their howls and bellows soon filled the entire n.

    That was when a huge cluster of ckish-violet Demon qi suddenly appeared in the sky over the Dong n.

    In the depths of the raging Demon qi, an enormous demonic figure was gradually revealed.

    It was a low-tier Demon, a satanic three-headed python. A curvaceous female high-tier Demon could be vaguely seen standing on the middle head.

    All of a sudden, the three-headed python swooped down from the heart of the rolling Demon qi.

    Heaven-filling, earth-covering Devil qi rapidly engulfed the entire Dong n.

    The Dong n¡¯s grand spell formation failed to hold for even a second before being shatteredpletely.

    The three-headed python then pounced on the pavilions in the Dong n, which tumbled down so quickly that they seemed to be made of paper.

    Numerous Dong n members wailed in pain as they were ovee by the Demon qi.

    As the three-headed python opened its mouths and breathed in air, many Dong n members flew uncontrobly towards its dark, bottomless mouths.

    Mucus dripped from between its sharp teeth as it crushed and swallowed them.

    Dong Wangling¡¯s eyes widened and reddened so much that they almost bled as his ape beast spirit threw itself at the three-headed python.

    However, standing on the middle head, the devilish female Demon sneered and said, ¡°Only at the Soul realm?¡±

    She raised her hand and pointed at the iing beast spirit.

    A beam of ink-ck light suddenly shot out of her finger and through the ape beast spirit¡¯s forehead, causing it to scatter into the air like a puff of smoke before it could get anywhere near the three-headed python.

    Then, the mountain-like python slithered towards Dong Wangling.

    The spiritual power wards Dong Wangling hastily conjured were crushed one after another, filling the sky with bits of glorious light.

    As the python opened its three huge mouths towards Dong Wangling, he was sucked into the middle one, letting out agonized shrieks.

    Just like that, the nmaster of the Dong n, ate Soul realm cultivator, perished. Afterwards, the three-headed python ravaged the Dong n¡¯s headquarters, devouring Dong n members.

    Only momentster, the Dong n, which had risen to prominence in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries because of Dong Li, was practically wiped out.

    Eyes narrowed, the enchanting female Demon gazed off into the distance, where dark power prevailed, and gave an order to the three-headed python, ¡°Over there.¡±

    The satanic python then slithered towards the mountain valley where Dong Li kept the dark stone, leaving deep gullies in the earth as it did.

    Dong Li, who was breathing dark power by the dark stone, was rmed as soon as it entered the domain of darkness.

    The ck tortoise¡¯s beady eyes suddenly burst forth with dreadful light.

    rmed by the ck tortoise, Dong Li awoke from her cultivation and eximed, ¡°Demon!!¡±

    The female Demon¡¯s dark-purple pupils shone with devilish, cold light as she muttered, ¡°The dark stone they took from the Sixth Demon Realm is here indeed. Even our people haven¡¯t figured out the secrets of that stone, how dare you take it away?¡±

    Riding the three-headed python, she rapidly approached Dong Li inplete darkness.

    The ck tortoise let out a low-pitched bellow.

    In the next moment, it expanded at an rming rate.

    Countless dark magical patterns wiggled like earthworms on its shell as dark power poured madly out of the dark stone into its rapidly expanding body.

    Within seconds, the ck tortoise expanded a thousand times over!

    Like a pitch-ck mountain peak that propped up heaven and earth, the ck tortoise charged towards the three-headed python.

    With every step it took, the entire area experienced a violent quake, as if the earth was going to cave under its unbearably heavy steps.

    At the same time, it unleashed rings of extremely pure dark power that spread towards the three-headed python like storming sea waves.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A surprised look appeared in the female high-tier Demon¡¯s eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s a rare eighth grade beast here! And the dark power it¡¯s using is the same as what that grand monarch had used!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± After giving the order, she jumped off the three-headed python, which then threw itself at the iing ck tortoise.

    The three-headed python was a low-tier Demon she had reared, which was also at the eighth grade.

    That was why she assumed that it would easily crush the ck tortoise.

    Meanwhile, she nned to kill Dong Li by herself, and then take the dark stone back.

    Her name was Catie. She was an early ninth grade grand patriarch from the ancient Bispo n.

    The Bispo n had originally been a n from the Second Demon Realm. However, after giving birth to Grand Monarch Bloodlust, they had moved to the First Demon Realm, and be one of the most prominent Demon ns there.

    This time, the Bispo n had arranged for Catie to enter the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries before Cardy and the others.

    Under Gutas¡¯ instructions, Catie had snuck into the Domain of the Falling Stars a few days earlier than Cardy. In fact, Cardy might even not know about her being here.

    After all, he and the other six grand patriarchs weren¡¯t members of the Bispo n.

    As a member of his n, Catie was the one who Gutas really trusted. The reason why he had made such arrangements was because he wanted her to get that dark stone first.

    After all, taking that dark stone back from the human world would earn him and his n great credit and honor.

    A sea of intense flesh aura rose from Catie. It pressured the dark power as she forcibly approached Dong Li.

    WHOOSH!

    The rings of dark power unleashed by the ck tortoise suddenly solidified into pitch-ck rings that mmed into Catie¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    At the same time, the dark stone in the depths of the mountain valley burst forth with utter darkness that could devour any light.

    Strong dark power spread like ck sea waves, fusing into the pitch-ck rings and helping them overpower Catie¡¯s sea of flesh aura.

    Catie¡¯s sea of flesh aura suddenly burst, immediately rendering her steps towards Dong Li iparably difficult.

    ¡°Such a powerful pet!¡± Catie¡¯s expression flickered slightly, as she hadn¡¯t expected the ck tortoise to be able to ignite the dark power the dark stone had spent countless years gathering.

    Her sea of flesh aura contained extremely rich blood power, yet even it gave in under the tremendous pressure it received from the torrential dark power.

    ¡°It¡¯s only an eighth grade beast, but with the help of the dark stone, it¡¯s making every step I take extremely difficult!¡± Catie found this unbelievable. ¡°It¡¯s as if the dark stone has be its weapon! If this beast somehow grows to the ninth or tenth grade, and fully refines the dark stone...¡±

    The mere thought of it sent a chill down Catie¡¯s spine.

    Meanwhile...

    Experts from the Cao n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, the Gu n, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce also noticed the ckish-violet Demon qi in the sky over the Dong n, and received word of the upheaval.

    ¡°Demons! Demons have invaded!¡±

    Panicked mor soon filled the major human forces in the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Word of what had happened was sent out at the first possible moment.

    In the Domain of Heaven Boundaries.

    Nie Tian was in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters, wracking his mind over how he could ferret out the hidden Demons, when he received word from Hua Mu and Qi Bailu, who the Heaven-equal Vine had secretly informed.

    ¡°What?! A Demon grand patriarch is fighting an unidentified expert in the starry river in the Domain of the Falling Stars?!¡± He suddenly realized that the Demons in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were merely distracting him.

    The Demons must have arranged for other powerful experts to sneak into the Domain of the Falling Stars to get that dark stone back.

    ¡°To the Realm of a Hundred Battles! The Demons¡¯ real target must be that dark stone! Dong Li might be in danger!¡±

    Without any hesitation, he returned to the Realm of Split Void via the teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters.

 Chapter 1101: Calamity

    Upon arriving in the Realm of Split Void, Nie Tian received word of what had happened.

    The Dong n had almost been wiped out!

    Shocked and furious, Nie Tian headed to the Realm of a Hundred Battles at the first possible moment.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi remained in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and continued searching for the hidden teleportation portal that connected to the Demon heaven and earth.

    Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde had also remained there in case the six Demon grand patriarchs showed up again.

    Jing Feiyang, Elder Yan Zhan from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and Xie Qian, who was at thete Saint domain, had taken this trip with Nie Tian.

    At this point, the Realm of Split Void had already be the pivot of the Domain of the Falling Stars, with its teleportation portal connecting to all of the other realms in the domain.

    The teleportation portal was activated. In the next moment, Nie Tian and the other experts arrived in the Cao n¡¯s headquarters, which was close to the Dong n¡¯s headquarters.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian summoned the Star Boat and rose high into the sky.

    Gazing off into the distance, he could see raging Demon qi in the Dong n¡¯s direction.

    Yan Zhan from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce squinted, strong killing intent bursting forth from his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s true then!¡±

    Before Nie Tian could give any instructions, the three Saint domain experts unleashed their domains.

    Like three streaks of glorious light, they shot towards the mountain valley where the dark stone was kept at a speed that was far faster than the Star Boat.

    In the secluded mountain valley that was wreathed in ink-ck dark power.

    Blood stained the corner of Dong Li¡¯s mouth as she continued to draw dark power from her spiritual sea to fuse into her ck phoenix beast spirit.

    Infused with power, the ck phoenix beast spirit helped the ck tortoise contend against Catie.

    At this moment, Catie was surrounded by numerous fluctuating purple blood bubbles.

    Each and every blood bubble contained a drop of her Blood Essence, which seemed to carry the faint aura of Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Like purple crystals, they all emanated a cold, unsettling light.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    All of a sudden, they seethed and exploded one after another, crushing the flickering dark power essence pressuring her.

    Enraged, Catie activated the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form and expanded to almost a hundred meters tall.

    d in a suit of pitch-ck battle armor, she swung a huge de towards the dark stone.

    Intense demonic light whizzed forward, splitting the darkness that enveloped the depths of the mountain valley, giving rise to crisp crackles.

    The ck phoenix beast spirit, the ck tortoise, and Dong Li stimted their power simultaneously to conjure multiple ck wards.

    However, the ck defensive wards twisted violently under the tremendous pressure from the demonic light, as if they could burst at any moment.

    Dong Li couldn¡¯t help but cough up another mouthful of blood.

    At this moment, the erged ck tortoise lifted its huge foot and stomped on the three-headed python¡¯s winding tail with great force.

    Blood instantly spilled from the python¡¯s tail.

    Then, the ck tortoise took the opportunity to sprint to Catie, each step giving rise to a loud thump.

    Seeing this, Catie lifted herrge de, and the rolling Demon qi enveloping this area was sucked into it.

    CRACK!

    She brought the de down on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell. The collision sent sparks in all directions, yet she failed to split the ck tortoise in half with the strike.

    Her expression flickered with deep surprise.

    However, it was also at this moment that she sensed danger.

    Her eyes widened as she jerked her head towards the rapidly iing figures. ¡°Saint domain experts!¡±

    She hadn¡¯t expected that she would encounter a tough enemy like the ck tortoise in such an insignificant domain where they hadn¡¯t even produced a single Saint domain expert.

    She had assumed this mission to be an easy one. Who would have thought that even though she had exerted all her means, she would still fail toplete it in time?

    Seeing the iing Saint domain experts, she realized that if she stayed, she would only get herself killed.

    Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, she let out a fierce roar.

    In the next moment, the three-headed python sprang out of the darkness and back to her side with a bloody tail.

    At the same time, her enormous body rapidly shrank back to the size of a normal high-tier Demon.

    WHOOSH!

    She vanished into one of the python¡¯s mouths.

    Then, the three-headed python shot skywards, shedding its skin.

    As it did that, it shrank to half its original size, but the speed at which it shot out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles increased significantly.

    The same thing happened a few more times.

    Every time it shed its skin, it would shrink down to arge extent, but its speed would soar.

    Soon, the three-headed python shot through the barrier of the Realm of a Hundred Battles into the boundless starry river like a bolt of purple lightning.

    By the time Yan Zhan and the others reached the mountain valley that was wreathed in dark power, it was long gone.

    However, without thinking about it, the three Saint domain chased her into the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles, enveloped in their respective domains.

    Only after they left did Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat gradually approach.

    His expression grew very grim as he passed the Dong n¡¯s headquarters.

    The entire headquarters has been razed to the ground. He scanned the ruins with his bloodline power, but failed to detect a single wisp of flesh aura. This meant most of the Dong n members must have died.

    Perhaps their only survivors were those like Dong Baijie, who had been arranged to study incantations in the Beast-controlling Sect.

    At this moment, Dong Li¡¯s heartbroken weeping echoed out from the heart of the mountain valley filled with dark power.

    Dong Li finally realized that her entire n had been massacred by that Demon grand patriarch.

    Like a ck mountain peak, the ck tortoise that had expanded a thousand times over slowly rose from theplete darkness into the sky.

    Standing on its shell, Dong Li gazed off in her n¡¯s direction, full of tears.

    ¡°This is all my fault,¡± she muttered with zed eyes, as if she had lost her soul. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t taken that dark stone here, my n wouldn¡¯t have suffered such a disastrous fate.¡±

    The Star Boat approached. Nie Tian jumped onto the ck tortoise¡¯s shell and sighed. ¡°I tried my best to prepare for what the Demons might throw at us. Who would have thought that they would still find a way to the Realm of a Hundred Battles? What happened to your n is my fault.¡±

    ¡°Go kill that Demon bitch for me!!¡± Dong Li screamed.

    Nie Tian went ck for a brief moment before nodding gently and saying, ¡°Rest assured. I won¡¯t allow that Demon grand patriarch to return to the Demon realms alive!¡±

    With these words, he jumped back onto his Star Boat, which shot into the heavens, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    Only after he left did the young leaders of the Cao n, the Gu n, the Pill Pavilion Sect, and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce gradually arrive.

    Qin Yan and the others consoled Dong Li upon arriving.

    In the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles...

    Nie Tian flew over and found Yan Zhan, Jing Feiyang, and Xie Qian floating there with confused looks on their faces.

    Face grim, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Where¡¯s that Demon grand patriarch?¡±

    Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian were somewhat embarrassed.

    Yan Zhan broke the silence by sighing and saying, ¡°Nie Tian, that Demon¡¯s name is Catie. She¡¯s a grand patriarch from the Bispo n. In fact, we fought her more than once in the Dead Star Sea. She¡¯s only at the early ninth grade, and her battle prowess is probably the poorest among all of the Demon grand patriarchs.

    ¡°However, that demonic python of hers is far beyond ordinary. Back in the day, Grand Monarch Bloodlust captured a mysterious beast from a space disruption zone. It hybridized with a powerful low-tier Demon and gave birth to that python.

    ¡°As you know, the python has three heads. One of them has inherited the bloodline of that mysterious beast captured from a space disruption zone, and is well-versed in spatial maniption magics.

    ¡°That gives it the ability to create teleportation portals out of thin air. So I suppose the hidden teleportation portal we¡¯ve been looking for in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was actually a teleportation portal it created.

    ¡°Because of this, once Catie escapes into the starry river with that python, she¡¯ll be very hard to catch, like a fish that¡¯s returned to the sea.

    ¡°I witnessed her uncanny escape methods when I fought the Demons in the Dead Star Sea. And that¡¯s what allowed her to arrive in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries without us finding out.¡±

    Neither Jing Feiyang nor Xie Qian knew anything about Catie, much less about that demonic python.

    After hearing Yan Zhan¡¯s words, their expressions also flickered with astonishment.

    There were unique beings that lived in space disruption zones that were born with a high mastery of spatial power.

    Many powerful outsider experts would capture and use them to create spatial rifts or establish all sorts of teleportation portals. Experts from the Void Spirit Society were also skilled at capturing those creatures.

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Are you saying there¡¯s nothing we can do to capture that Catie?¡±

    Yan Zhan pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Not necessarily. Perhaps Miss Pei from the Void Spirit Society will be able to help us locate and trap her.¡±

    Enlightened, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei...¡±

    Just as he was going to arrange for people to contact Pei Qiqi, Yan Zhan suggested, ¡°I think we¡¯d better forget about Catie for now. We came all the way here from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries for a purpose.¡±

    ¡°That other Demon grand patriarch in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven,¡± Nie Tian muttered with a thoughtful expression.

    Yan Zhan nodded vigorously. ¡°Exactly. That Demon grand patriarch is much harder to deal with than Catie. Catie is only well-versed in escape skills with the help of that demonic python. Her battle prowess is actually not worth mentioning. But that grand patriarch in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven represents the peak strength of this Demon invasion!¡±

    ¡°Cardy!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Yan Zhan nodded again. ¡°Exactly. Only Cardy didn¡¯t show up in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I bet it¡¯s him.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go get him!¡±

 Chapter 1102: Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect

    On their way to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, Nie Tian told Yan Zhan that a mysterious expert from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had shown up to kill scouting Demons in the starry river where the Domain of Forbidden Heaven bordered the Domain of the Falling Stars, and that man was also the reason why he knew there had been a teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Yan Zhan¡¯s expression flickered as soon as he heard this piece of information. ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect?! They¡¯re by no means insignificant! Why would they suddenly show up to kill those Demons?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°What do you know about that sect?¡±

    Yan Zhan fell silent.

    Only after a short while did he say, ¡°Even among the crooked human forces, the Heavenly Corpse Sect is a special existence. Not only are they not epted by humans, but outsiders detest them as well.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°That¡¯s because their way of bing powerful is refining and manipting corpse ves,¡± Yan Zhan exined. ¡°Their corpse ves can be divided into three tiers: Humanly Corpses, Earthly Corpses, and Heavenly Corpses.

    ¡°Humanly Corpses are the weakest, mostly refined from dead humans. Earthly Corpses and Heavenly Corpses are much stronger, and they¡¯re mostly refined from dead outsiders and Ancientbeasts.

    ¡°The reason why outsiders hate them too is because many of their kind have been refined into those undead things by the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that only dead ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs can be refined into Heavenly Corpses.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°They refine Heavenly Corpses with dead grand patriarchs?!¡±

    Yan Zhan nodded. ¡°It seems that only the Bonebrutes have connections with the Heavenly Corpse Sect. After all, the death power the Bonebrutes practice and the corpse power the Heavenly Corpse Sect disciples practice have a lot inmon.

    ¡°Back in the day, powerful experts from the Heaven Span Pavilion and the Void Spirit Society suffered heavy losses to exterminate the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

    ¡°Even though the disciples of the Heavenly Corpse Sect may not be the best fighters, their Earthly Corpses and Heavenly Corpses are very hard to deal with.

    ¡°Their sectmaster had been at thete Saint domain many years ago when he disappeared. Now, I suppose he has either entered the God domain already, or is only a step away from doing so.¡±

    With a thoughtful expression, he added, ¡°If it was him who Cardy the Blood Warden encountered, I doubt that he¡¯ll survive.¡±

    Jing Feiyang gasped with astonishment. ¡°Is the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect really that strong?¡±

    At the peak of the ninth grade, Cardy was one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs. He had a great chance at bing the Demons¡¯ fifth grand monarch.

    Even such a mighty figure wouldn¡¯t stand a chance fighting the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect?

    Both Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian had only heard of the name of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, but didn¡¯t really know much about them.

    ¡°Like I said, even though their own battle prowess may not be outstanding, their Heavenly Corpses are extremely powerful,¡± Yan Zhan said with a grim face. ¡°Their sectmaster is named Feng Beiluo. It¡¯s said that he has three deadly Heavenly Corpses, which were respectively refined from a Fiend, a Bonebrute, and a Demon grand patriarch.

    ¡°With the help of his Heavenly Corpses, he has no problem contending against an early God domain human expert.

    ¡°Even though Cardy the Blood Warden is also a mighty existence, he¡¯s not a grand monarch after all. If he really ran into Feng Beiluo, he¡¯s pretty much done for.¡±

    After hearing Yan Zhan¡¯s words, both Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian fell silent.

    The Heavenly Corpse Sect had vanished for a very long time since their elimination under the four great sects¡¯ joint efforts. Back when they had inspired fear across human domains, neither Jing Feiyang nor Xie Qian had manifested their remarkable power. They hadn¡¯t even entered the Saint domain back then.

    Therefore, they only knew that the Heavenly Corpse Sect had been a mighty power, but didn¡¯t know their sectmaster could even contend against a God domain expert with the help of his three Heavenly Corpses.

    ¡°So Elder Yan, will you...¡± Nie Tian wanted to ask Yan Zhan something, but stopped on second thought.

    Yan Zhan immediately realized what he wanted to ask. With a bitter smile, he answered, ¡°Given my current cultivation base and strength, I don¡¯t even have the confidence to win a one-on-one battle against the Blood Warden. Perhaps only with Brother Xie¡¯s help will I be able to contend against him. If we were to fight Feng Beiluo, I¡¯s afraid all of usbined wouldn¡¯t be able to match his battle prowess.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart grew heavy.

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry,¡± Yan Zhan added with aforting tone. ¡°I suppose his battle against Cardy will wear him out to arge extent. I doubt he¡¯ll pose a serious threat afterwards.¡±

    ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll have a chance to beat him then?¡± Nie Tian asked cautiously.

    ¡°That¡¯ll depend on how his battle against Cardy goes.¡± Yan Zhan couldn¡¯t give him a definite answer.

    Their conversation went on as they traveled through the starry river, from which Nie Tian learned more and more about the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

    The more he learned about him, the more he realized how mighty he actually was.

    ording to Yan Zhan, the man had escaped the Void Spirit Society and Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s joint pursuit with the help of his Heavenly Corpses, and had never shown up again.

    It was baffling why he would show up now and get word to Nie Tian through Li Langfeng, informing him of that teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After traveling for a few more days in the starry river, they finally arrived at the location the Heaven-equal Vine had referred to.

    There seemed to have been arge amount of meteors in this area, but they had all been reduced to dust, filling the starry river with lingering corpse power and Cardy¡¯s residual flesh aura.

    Arge-scale starship was sailing away.

    On the decky a huge, ancestral-awakened Demon, along with three other outsider grand patriarchs that were wreathed in intense corpse auras.

    Those three outsider grand patriarchs were a Demon, a Bonebrute, and a Fiend.

    A white-robed, silver-eyed man could be seen floating over the moving starship, smiling strangely towards them from a thousand meters away.

    ¡°Feng Beiluo!¡± Yan Zhan took a deep breath to calm himself. Fixing the man with an apprehensive look, he said in a low voice, ¡°That¡¯s Feng Beiluo, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.¡±

    Feng Beiluo was older, and had seniority over him.

    When Feng Beiluo had stirred up trouble across the human world, he had merely entered the early Saint domain.

    He had met him once, but had been far from powerful enough to be his opponent.

    ¡°If he hadn¡¯t been injured by powerful experts from the Heaven Span Pavilion and the Void Spirit Society back then... he might have entered the God domain already,¡± Yan Zhan said with a grim expression, not seeming to have any intent to go after the man. ¡°Cardy seems to have died at his hands already.¡±

    ¡°Yan Zhan, right?¡± Feng Beiluo¡¯s ethereal voice echoed out. ¡°I remember you. You¡¯re right. If it weren¡¯t for the Void Spirit Society and the Heaven Span Pavilion, I would have entered the God domain long ago. But it¡¯s not toote now. I shall be able to enter the God domain after I refine Cardy¡¯s corpse into my fourth Heavenly Corpse.¡±

    ¡°Did you simplye for Cardy, or do you have other intentions?¡± Yan Zhan asked in a loud voice.

    Normally speaking, members of the four great sects wouldunch killing attacks upon seeing a crooked human cultivator like Feng Beiluo.

    However, Cardy was dead now. Yan Zhan observed with rapt attention, and discovered that Feng Beiluo didn¡¯t seem to have suffered any noticeable injuries, so he didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    ¡°Other intentions?¡± Feng Beiluoughed softly and shot Nie Tian a nce. ¡°Sort of. But rest assured. I mean no harm to the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars. In fact, I helped them with their problem with the Demons.¡±

    ¡°A-are you leaving?¡± Yan Zhan asked with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°Now that I have Cardy¡¯s corpse, of course I want to refine it into a Heavenly Corpse as soon as possible,¡± Feng Beiluo answered seriously. ¡°With their leader dead, the rest of the Demons should be easy to take care of. My mission ends here. Time to say goodbye.¡±

    With these words, the starship underneath him slowly elerated, and sailed into the distant starry river.

    ¡°Mission?¡± Yan Zhan was taken aback. ¡°Was it his mission toe here to deal with the scouting Demons and kill Cardy? Who in this heaven and earth could give him missions?¡±

    Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian were even more confused. However, even from several thousand meters away, they could sense Feng Beiluo¡¯s terrifyingly strong aura.

    Even Yan Zhan didn¡¯t dare to pursue him. Of course they wouldn¡¯t do so on their own, fearing that they would enrage him and get themselves killed.

    After all, the man seemed to have killed Cardy the Blood Warden effortlessly.

    Momentster, the enormous starship vanished from their sight.

    Face grim, Yan Zhan remained silent and motionless for a long while after he left, as if he knew that an upheaval was going to hit the human world.

 Chapter 1103: Star Predator

    In the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the Dong n, which had been at its height of power, was now in ruins.

    Sitting among the broken walls and toppled pavilions, Dong Li muttered to herself, heartbroken.

    Qin Yan, Qian Xin, and many other juniors sat by her side and consoled her in soft voices.

    However, she seemed as if she couldn¡¯t hear them, and continued wallowing in grief.

    Fan Kai, Hua Mu, and other experts who had entered the Void domain had already rushed over from the other realms. Now they were standing guard around the Dong n¡¯s headquarters, lest that Demon grand patriarch named Catiee back.

    It had been ten days since Nie Tian had left.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat descended from the heavens andnded next to Dong Li.

    Dong Li snapped out of her daze. Eyes filled with heartbroken sorrow, she asked, ¡°Did you kill that Demon bitch who massacred my entire n?¡±

    Nie Tian avoided her eyes and shook his head. ¡°Not yet. That Demon grand patriarch¡¯s three-headed python is quite special. It¡¯s skilled at spatial maniption magics, so it vanished as soon as it charged out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles. But don¡¯t give up hope yet. Senior Martial Sister Pei is here. She¡¯s searching all over the Domain of the Falling Stars for her with Yan Zhan and the others as we speak.¡±

    ¡°Pei Qiqi?¡± Dong Li asked with a frown.

    ¡°She has a unique spatial treasure that can capture even the faintest spatial fluctuations,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°As long as that Catie is still in the Domain of the Falling Stars, she won¡¯t be able to hide for long.¡±

    ¡°What if she¡¯s already left the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡± Dong Li asked.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°Even if she has, she¡¯ll have to return to the Demon realms through the teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. We can find that teleportation portal and cut off her retreat.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯d have to rely on her to have my revenge,¡± Dong Li said with a bitter, self-mocking smile.

    However, a momentter, a determined look suddenly appeared in her eyes as she said, ¡°Since I¡¯m still alive, I¡¯ll avenge my n! Tell me about that grand patriarch Catie.¡±

    Nie Tian hesitated briefly before saying, ¡°She¡¯s from the Bispo n, which is currently lead by a grand monarch: Grand Monarch Bloodlust.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression froze. ¡°Grand monarch...¡±

    Without saying another word, she retreated to the mountain valley where the dark stone was kept with her ck tortoise.

    Nie Tian understood that she must need some time to process this cmity her n had gone through. A few words weren¡¯t going to cheer her up.

    After she left, Nie Tian briefly exined the situation to Qin Yan and the other juniors. He also told them to be vignt and keep an eye on Dong Li, then flew out of the Realm of a Hundred Battles on his Star Boat.

    His Star Boat soon berthed in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    After cing the Star Behemoth bone beside him, he started channeling power from the starry river with the help of the Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree within him.

    Pei Qiqi yed a key role in searching for Catie. Him being there wouldn¡¯t make much of a difference.

    As long as Pei Qiqi could locate her, Yan Zhan, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang would be able to make sure that she didn¡¯t leave the Domain of the Falling Stars alive, especially now that Cardy, who had been at the peak of the ninth grade, had been taken care of.

    Furthermore, since that teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had probably been transferred by that three-headed python of Catie¡¯s, capturing her would probably allow them to find it as well.

    This Demon invasion had put Nie Tian under new pressure, and made him realize that if he didn¡¯t enter the Saint domain or make new breakthroughs in his bloodline, he wouldn¡¯t be able to rely on himself to turn the situation around.

    "Power! I need to achieve a higher cultivation base and bloodline grade!¡± With this thought, Nie Tian forced himself to calm down and let the three treasures within him process the mixed energies in the starry river. Meanwhile, he himself focused on generating more Blood Essence with the outsider corpses Hou Chn had given him, and fusing it into the me Dragon Armor and the Star Behemoth bone.

    At this point, he had already set the Bone Blood Demon aside.

    Since it was only at the eighth grade, and the help it could give him was very limited, it was no longer worth it to waste his precious Blood Essence on it.

    Therefore, he spent most of his time strengthening the me Dragon Armor and that bone.

    He had already used what had been left of the Demon corpses he had gained from the Demon realms to toughen Pei Qiqi¡¯s body.

    What he had left now were the three powerful corpses Hou Chn had given him as a reward.

    They were an early ninth grade Demon, an early ninth grade Phantasm, and a middle ninth grade me qilin.

    He started with the Demon. He activated Life Drain, generated Blood Essence, and fused it into the me Dragon Armor and that bone.

    Two weekster, the Demon grand patriarch¡¯s corpse was drained of its flesh power.

    The bone had expanded to more than fifty meters long.

    With shimmering blood-colored lights running within it, the translucent bone was extremely eye-catching in the dark starry river.

    The meridians within the bone had also be unprecedentedly clear, and seemed to carry wonders that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t fathom yet.

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul within the Blood Core had now transcended, and be a dragon soul.

    Now, the me Dragon Armor was not only filled with a rich flesh aura, but strong soul fluctuations as well.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian took the me qilin out of his ring of holding.

    Just as he was about to absorb and refine its flesh power, the me Dragon Armor suddenly sent him a soul message.

    The me Dragon Armor hoped to refine the enormous me qilin by itself!

    ¡°You don¡¯t even need my help now...?¡± Nie Tian pondered briefly before giving the me qilin to the me Dragon Armor with a trusting heart.

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul had been a me dragon, whose attribute was the same as a me qilin, so he assumed that it made sense that it could absorb the me qilin¡¯s residual power on its own.

    After receiving Nie Tian¡¯s permission, the me Dragon Armor instantly morphed into a huge dragon of mes that engulfed the me qilin and started absorbing its residual power bit by bit.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian took out the remaining Phantasm grand patriarch corpse, and began refining and fusing Blood Essence into the bone.

    He noticed that with every drop of Blood Essence he fused into it, the bone would undergo a slight but visible growth, and more fine Bloodline Crystal Chains would form within its meridians.

    The bone¡¯s flesh aura had been rich to begin with. Now, as more and more Blood Essence was fused into it, its flesh aura became increasingly profound, and it glittered with increasingly dazzling crimson light.

    Nie Tian examined it with his bloodline power and came to a shocking discovery. ¡°Such a strong flesh aura... I suppose it matches that of a ninth grade grand patriarch...

    ¡°It¡¯s said that Star Behemoths were the true overlords of the starry river back in the Primal Era. Asrge as realms, they preyed on titans and the first Demons. They were chosen by the heavens. Standing at the top of the food chain, they were the ultimate predators of this starry river.

    ¡°Can my Blood Essence really bring a Star Behemoth back to life by relying on nothing but a bone?¡±

    The mere thought thrilled him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    While his imagination ran wild, the mysterious meridians within the bone suddenly lit up.

    Thanks to his profound connection with the bone, Nie Tian shrewdly realized that it seemed to have locked down on something.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    An intense crimson flesh aura rose from the bone, enveloping everything around it, including Nie Tian.

    Then, like a bolt of crimson lightning, it shot into the distant starry river.

    In the starry river south of the Realm of a Hundred Battles...

    Catie from the Bispo n quietly appeared, along with her three-headed python, which was now dozens of times smaller. With a cold look in her eyes, she gazed at the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    A hint of a brutal smile appeared at the corner of her mouth as she said, ¡°The most dangerous ce is the safest ce. I bet they didn¡¯t think I¡¯d return to the Realm of a Hundred Battles so soon.¡±

    However, just as she was about to reenter the Realm of a Hundred Battles to snipe Dong Li and take the dark stone away, a sudden sense of fear struck her.

    It seemed to be a fear that had been branded in the deepest part of her bloodline.

    It was a trembling despair, as if she had been locked down by her natural enemy!

    Catie¡¯s face turned pale. ¡°What is it that¡¯s inspiring such despair in my noble bloodline?¡±

    At that moment, a scene was awakened from the deepest part of her bloodline, and presented itself before her eyes.

    It was a scene of a terrifying figure that was as vast as a realm preying on Demons in the depths of the starry river.

    Those Demons were the ancestors of the Demons now. They were referred to as Ancient Demons.

    As the first Demons, the Ancient Demons had gone through countless years of bloodline upgrades and evolution to be what the Demons were now.

    Compared to their ancestors, the Demons nowadays were stronger. However, their bloodlines still carried their deep-rooted fears.

    What Catie was experiencing now was a deep fear that her ancestors had felt for their natural enemy.

 Chapter 1104: Slaying A Grand Patriarch!

    Catie looked around in an attempt to locate the source of her fear.

    However, even though she strained her sight, she couldn¡¯t see anything unusual. All she could see was the silent starry river, nothing more.

    However, her sense of danger grew stronger and stronger.

    After a moment of hesitation, she hastily called out in the Demons¡¯nguage, ordering her three-headed python to cast an escape magic.

    Her expression flickered again, as that was when she noticed that the three-headed python was also trembling with fear.

    It was so scared that its enormous body stiffened, as if even moving had be a very difficult task.

    Catiepletely panicked. She yelled at the top of her lungs, forcing the three-headed python to take her away immediately.

    At that moment, a streak of blood-colored light suddenly entered her sight and flew towards her from the other side the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Like a bloody meteor, it traveled through the starry river towards her at a shockingly high speed.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Catie looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that it was merely a long bone with a small shadow within it.

    BOOOOM!

    Catie stimted her sea of flesh aura with all her power. Every drop of her Blood Essence was ignited and fused into her sea of flesh aura.

    The three-headed python bellowed, its enormous body still trembling.

    In the next moment, the bone arrived.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous mysterious patterns that were branded within the Star Behemoth bone suddenly came to life and left the bone.

    They morphed and interwove into an enormous scarlet grid.

    The grid pressed towards Catie¡¯s sea of flesh aura, causing the unique bloodline imprints within it to gradually dissipate, like heated iron vaporizing water.

    The parts of her flesh aura sea that made contact the mysterious grid were rapidly pressed in.

    FIZZ!

    As that happened, the dashing Star Behemoth bone easily pierced through the the three-headed python that seemed to have been frozen in the starry river, in the ce where its three heads joined.

    Immediately afterwards, the blood-colored grid cut through the three-headed python¡¯s body as if it were made of countless sharp des.

    Huge chunks of flesh slowly scattered in the starry river, spilling a tremendous amount of blood.

    The python let out a miserable cry and died without even putting up a fight.

    Catie gave a panicked shriek and left the python immediately, desperate to escape from this ce of horror.

    However, just as she was about to cast a bloodline magic, she discovered that her sea of flesh aura seemed to bepletely frozen by the power of the bone.

    It was as if her sea of flesh aura was being overpowered by a vast mountain, and she couldn¡¯t move in the slightest.

    Outsiders¡¯ flesh aura seas and humans¡¯ domains had simrities.

    Most outsiders relied on their flesh aura seas to travel through the starry river and protect themselves. If they lost them, even powerful outsiders would find it difficult to survive in the starry river.

    Not to mention that their flesh aura seas were the condensation of their flesh power.

    Giving them up would be a price they couldn¡¯t afford, just as humans couldn¡¯t bear to lose their domains.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As she wrestled with the dilemma, her flesh aura sea was reduced to a bloody mist and gnawed away at an rming rate.

    In just about ten seconds, she lost more than half of her flesh aura sea.

    This meant that Catie was rapidly losing her profound flesh aura.

    WHOOSH!

    At the same time, drop after drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence seethed within his heart.

    His flesh power was being channeled by that bone to enhance its terrifying might.

    More and more glowing, blood-colored patterns flew out of the bone. A cluster of them suddenly shot towards Catie¡¯s chest.

    Her armor immediately unleashed a dark purple aura, but failed to even slow it down.

    Like some ancient talisman, the cluster of flickering blood-colored patterns fused into Catie¡¯s chest.

    Heart-wrenching pain rapidly spread to every inch of her body. She started to lose consciousness, and felt as if she could hear the sounds of her own heart being chewed away.

    Floating in the starry river, Catie couldn¡¯t even move a finger.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence continued to seethe within his heart, pouring more flesh power into the bone.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Thrilling bone crushing sounds came from within Catie.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, and noticed that her body was gradually shriveling, as if her internal organs and bones were being gnawed away, causing her exterior to shrink and shrivel.

    Glowing blood-colored patterns became more and more conspicuous under her purple skin as they soon spread to every corner of her body.

    A peculiar idea struck Nie Tian. ¡°Is that cluster of blood-colored patterns a mouth, with which the bone eats?

    ¡°It looks as if that ¡®mouth¡¯ is eating Catie from within. First, it¡¯s her internal organs and bones, then it¡¯s her flesh and skin.¡±

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift appeared out of thin air.

    Pei Qiqi was the first to fly out of it. Then came Yan Zhan, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang, three Saint domain experts.

    Upon arriving, Yan Zhan saw therge pieces of the three-headed python, which had clearly suffered a violent death. ¡°What... What happened?¡±

    Meanwhile, Catie from the Bispo n floated motionlessly in the starry river, her eyes lifeless. Her body was rapidly shriveling, as if she was losing her flesh power.

    Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang opened their mouths wide, rendered speechless by what was happening before their eyes.

    Pei Qiqi was the only one that remained fairly calm. However, her eyes also shone with the light of astonishment as she asked, ¡°Nie Tian, you... killed this Demon grand patriarch?¡±

    She and the others had been searching the vicinity when Yan Zhan had sensed unusual flesh power fluctuations. After he had shown her the direction, she had brought them here without dy.

    During the recent days, she felt as if Catie had been ying hide-and-seek with her in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Every time Catie had sensed her aura, she would immediately get away with the help of her three-headed python.

    After a few jumps back and forth, she had eventually lost track of her.

    While she had felt frustrated, who would have thought that Catie had circled back to the Realm of a Hundred Battles in an attempt to sneak the dark stone away?

    The most surprising of all, who would have thought this sneaky, unrelenting Demon grand patriarch would die at Nie Tian¡¯s hands?

    ¡°The early Soul realm... He¡¯s only at the early Soul realm! And he killed a Demon grand patriarch!¡± Yan Zhan marveled inwardly. ¡°Sure, she was only at the early ninth grade, but she was still a grand patriarch. And she had a demonic python that was well-versed in spatial maniption magics. Even so, she failed to escape from the seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    All Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had the ability to challenge experts with higher cultivation bases or bloodline grades. For instance, Sikong Cuo was at the Void domain, but he would be able to briefly contend against an early ninth grade Demon grand patriarch with his powerful tools and exquisite incantations.

    However, it would be almost impossible for him to defeat a Demon grand patriarch, much less y one.

    Yan Zhan fixed Nie Tian with a deep,plicated look, and soon made a decision.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars must have a more promising future than Sikong Cuo! He¡¯s the one who¡¯ll most likely be the next Lord of the Stars!¡±

    Elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would usually ce their bets on a Son of the Stars for a better future.

    Before, Yan Zhan had been unable to make up his mind. After all, many Sons of the Stars had shown the potential to be the future Lord of the Stars. Perhaps Sikong Cuo had a slight edge over the others.

    But on this day, after witnessing Nie Tian, who was only at the Soul realm, killing a Demon grand patriarch with means he couldn¡¯t fathom, he finally made his decision: Nie Tian was the one.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that python head,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    The irregrly shaped crystal suddenly flew out of her palm, sending out numerous spatial des that morphed into a glowing long de.

    WHOOSH!

    It severed the middle head and brought it back to her.

    The head she took was the one that had carried a special bloodline, and had a high mastery of spatial maniption magics.

    Her unique bloodline would allow her to refine it in order to prepare herself for her next bloodline upgrade.

    Glowing strings flew out of the crystal and pierced into the python head.

    A few secondster, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up as she eximed softly, ¡°I think I know where the teleportation portal we¡¯ve been looking for is.¡±

 Chapter 1105: Demon Suffering a Heavy Blow

    SHEW!

    The cluster of blood-colored patterns blew up Catie¡¯s shriveled shell and returned to the bone.

    After fusing back into the bone, it spread and gave birth to more Bloodline Crystal Chains, causing the bone to shine with dazzling blood-colored light.

    Catie¡¯s remains, however, were reduced to dust that scattered in the starry river.

    Meanwhile, pieces of the three-headed python¡¯s mangled body shrank as their rich flesh aura was gradually absorbed and refined by the bloody grid unleashed by the bone.

    Astonishment filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    He had a feeling that the way the bone channeled power from the three-headed python¡¯s remains was rather simr to Life Drain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that my Blood Essence has vested it with the wonders of my bloodline... Or did it have such a wondrous ability the whole time?¡±

    While Nie Tian drifted in thought, Pei Qiqi put the python head away in her ring of holding.

    Then, she turned to him and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to go to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries with us. We¡¯ll find that teleportation portal and destroy it for you. You should spend more time with Dong Li.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, Pei Qiqi signaled Yan Zhan, Jing Feiyang, and Xie Qian to leave with her.

    With Cardy and Catie dead, the two Demon grand patriarchs that hade to the Domain of the Falling Stars had both been eliminated.

    As far as Pei Qiqi thought, the Domain of the Falling Stars wouldn¡¯t face any more invasions within a short time.

    However, for all she knew, there were still six Demon grand patriarchs and an essible teleportation portal in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries that needed to be taken care of.

    Yan Zhan and the other experts would be more helpful if they went with her.

    ¡°What do you think, Nie Tian?¡± Yan Zhan asked for Nie Tian¡¯s opinion.

    Unlike the perfunctory expression he had before, his face was now filled with heartfelt respect as he spoke to him.

    Before, he had treated Nie Tian respectfully simply because of his status as a Son of the Stars, but he had never respected him for his strength and ability.

    Catie¡¯s death, however, had changed his opinion of him.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°You guys should go with Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    Without saying another word, Yan Zhan left the Domain of the Falling Stars with Pei Qiqi, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang.

    A few minutester...

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the three-headed python¡¯s remains were drained of their residual flesh power and scattered like dust in the wind.

    A peculiar blood-coloredyer appeared over the whole bone before rapidly fusing and vanishing into it.

    The bone recovered its original look and size, emanating crimson light. Even though it didn¡¯t grow further, the flesh aura it contained had be much stronger than before.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian grabbed the bone and returned to the location where the me Dragon Armor was refining the me qilin corpse.

    It hadn¡¯t taken part in his battle against Catie.

    ¡°My consumption of Blood Essence has been great. I¡¯d better recuperate now.¡±

    The Phantasm grand patriarch corpse he had gained from Hou Chn still had some residual flesh aura left. With it, Nie Tian started regenerating the Blood Essence he had lost.

    A few dayster...

    A total of fifty drops of Blood Essence were restored to his heart.

    Then, with thest remaining Blood Essence within the Phantasm corpse, he generated three more drops of Blood Essence, which he fused into the Star Behemoth bone.

    The bone had disyed terrifying might in the recent battle, where it had taken it upon itself to draw his flesh power to y Catie.

    This had proved that his Blood Essence had indeed given a strong boost to the bone¡¯s might.

    This greatly spirited him.

    ...

    At the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    A secret teleportation portal that connected to the Demon realms was floating over the blue sea. The reason why it had been transferred to this ce was because the three-headed python¡¯s unique bloodline had told it that this was the ideal ce to hide a teleportation portal.

    At this moment, Gutas from the Bispo n was standing by the teleportation portal with a grim face, as if he was waiting for someone.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Soon, Demon grand patriarchs returned from different corners of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries sessively.

    No matter what statuses the arriving Demons held, they all bowed respectfully towards Gutas. ¡°Young Monarch!¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Young Monarch!¡±

    Gutas nodded slowly.

    Feimos and Hazlitt were thest to arrive. Upon arriving, Hazlitt asked, ¡°Why did you summon us here, Young Monarch?¡±

    ¡°Cardy died in the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Gutas said with a heavy tone.

    Upon hearing this, all six grand patriarchs gasped with astonishment.

    Disbelief filled Feimos¡¯ face as he said, ¡°Young monarch! Are you sure?! Lord Cardy really died?! Who in the Domain of the Falling Stars had the ability to kill him? Even that Elder Yan Zhan wasn¡¯t strong enough. He couldn¡¯t have defeated Lord Cardy even with that Xie Qian¡¯s help!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who did it,¡± Gutas said, his face distorted with fury. ¡°However, Cardy¡¯s n did send word to me, telling me that the drop of his Blood Essence that had been kept in his n suddenly withered.¡±

    As powerful as ninth grade grand patriarchs were, they couldn¡¯t be brought back to life just by relying on a drop of their Blood Essence.

    The purpose of keeping a drop of their Blood Essence in their ns was to allow their ns to learn about their death as soon as it happened.

    For ninth grade grand patriarchs, only if their hearts were secured would they be able to rely on their heart to regather their flesh aura ande back to life.

    Only tenth grade grand monarchs could be resurrected by relying on merely a drop of Blood Essence.

    ¡°Cardy died. There¡¯s no doubt of that.¡± Gutas said, his face twitching. ¡°Our four grand monarchs consumed significant power to fight the battle against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the Dead Star Sea. Especiallyter, when the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society joined the battle, they had to go all-out to win. So they won¡¯t be able toe here within a short time.¡±

    From these words, Feimos and all of the other Demon grand patriarchs heard Gutas¡¯ implicit suggestion to retreat.

    ¡°So you think we should...¡± Hazlitt waited for him to say the word.

    However, Gutas didn¡¯t give the answer they were waiting for. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit longer.¡±

    ¡°Wait for what?¡± Feimos asked, looking baffled.

    Gutas knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to hide the truth anymore, so he said, ¡°The truth is that I sent Catie from my n on this mission before I summoned you. With that three-headed python of hers, she should have entered the Domain of the Falling Stars before Cardy did.¡±

    The six grand patriarchs immediately understood the reason behind such an arrangement.

    ¡°Wait till shees back with the dark stone, then we¡¯ll go home.¡± Gutas didn¡¯t try to hide what he was thinking. ¡°By returning with that dark stone, at least we can make up for our loss of Cardy. Otherwise, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll report this mission to my father.¡±

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s wait till she returns.¡±

    A few dayster...

    In a purple crystal that was clutched in Gutas¡¯ hand, a drop of Catie¡¯s Blood Essence suddenly scattered into wisps of flesh aura that rapidly dissipated.

    As soon as it happened, all of the grand patriarchs present sensed the change in the purple crystal, and realized that she had suffered the same fate as Cardy.

    ¡°Catie!!¡± Gutas threw his head back and roared, wrath and madness filling his face.

    Even though Cardy had been one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs, he hadn¡¯t been a member of the Bispo n.

    Catie, however, had been an important member of his n, well-trusted by his father.

    The death of Catie clearly gave Gutas a heavier blow than Cardy¡¯s death.

    Hazlitt couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°How is this possible?! Catie had that three-headed python! With its help, she could have been even harder to deal with than Lord Cardy. At least she could have escaped by relying on its profound spatial maniption magics when she found herself in trouble.¡±

    ¡°She couldn¡¯t even escape? She just... died...?¡± Feimos muttered in a low voice, fear filling his dark-purple pupils.

    ¡°I can¡¯t return like this!! I can¡¯t tell my father that I failedpletely!!¡± Gutas yelled hysterically.

    Just as he was going to give the order to purge the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the six Demon grand patriarchs eximed, ¡°Young monarch! You¡¯ve got to go back! It¡¯s no longer safe to stay here!¡±

    Together, they grabbed him and dragged him into the teleportation portal despite his forceful resistance.

 Chapter 1106: Recuperation

    After Catie¡¯s death, Nie Tian left that bone and the me Dragon Armor in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles, while he returned to the deep mountain valley near the Dong n¡¯s headquarters, where the dark stone was kept.

    He told Dong Li about Catie¡¯s death.

    However, she didn¡¯t seem overjoyed by the news.

    Almost all of the Dong n members who hadn¡¯t been arranged to study in the Beast-controlling Sect had been massacred by Catie.

    None of them had had the ability to secure their true souls for reincarnation.

    Therefore, they had truly died when their fleshy bodies had perished.

    Dong Li was depressed after suffering such a heavy blow. With her whole heart, she wanted to improve her cultivation base and get revenge on the Bispo n.

    Thus, she focused on practicing cultivation.

    Nie Tian understood that she might need some time to adjust herself. It might take her a year or so to walk out of this traumatic experience.

    Therefore, he returned to the vast starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    He had emptied the stock of outsider and Ancientbeast corpses he had built up over the recent years. His bloodline aura was still dormant. He didn¡¯t know when it would advance to the eighth grade.

    Without other sources of flesh power, he had to put his focus on the refinement of his spiritual sea again.

    The Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree helped him channel power of different attributes from the starry river into his spiritual cores to further their crystallization.

    With these rare treasures, he realized that he was no longer dependent on spirit stones and spiritual materials.

    Two weekster, Yan Zhan return with thetest news.

    Pei Qiqi had found the Demons¡¯ secret teleportation portal at the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and destroyed it.

    It seemed that all of the invading Demon forces had returned to the Demon realms.

    The five major sects and three major ns from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had suffered losses to different extents, the Pure Heaven Sect most of all.

    Thanks to the timely arrival of Yan Zhan, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang, the other local forces¡¯ losses had been bearable. After all, the six Demon grand patriarchs¡¯ true purpose had been to stir up trouble so that Cardy would have an opportunity to sneak into the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°Miss Pei returned to the Void Spirit Society after destroying that teleportation portal,¡± Yan Zhan added. ¡°That python head has turned out to be very helpful to her. And she benefited a good deal from her experience with the three teleportation portals and destroying one teleportation portal after another. I suppose she has returned to the Void Spirit Society to seek new breakthroughs in both her cultivation and bloodline.¡±

    Nie Tian was delighted to hear this.

    Pei Qiqi was at thete Soul realm. Like him, her bloodline was at the seventh grade.

    If she were to make new breakthroughs, it would be either a breakthrough into the Void domain or a breakthrough into the eighth grade.

    Once she made these breakthroughs, with the help of her unique spatial treasure and the legacy of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, she would probably gain the ability to defeat an outsider grand patriarch in battle.

    After a short pause, Yan Zhan muttered, as if to himself, ¡°The inter-racial war in the Dead Star Sea has gradually grown quiet.

    ¡°Both us and the outsiders have suffered a great deal from this full-frontal war. The Demons sent all four of their grand monarchs in their battle against our sect. Even though they dealt us a heavy blow, they sustained injuries as well.

    ¡°They all need time to recover after such a hard-fought battle.

    ¡°The same goes for our vice sectmasters and the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. And this is why Cardy was the strongest Demon that showed up in your domains.

    ¡°The other Sons of the Stars experienced the same thing. The strongest Demons that entered their domains were also at the ninth grade.

    ¡°The only difference was that those grand patriarchs weren¡¯t as powerful as Cardy. Even so, none of the other Sons of the Stars were able to kill a grand patriarch. You, however, killed two grand patriarchs in the Domain of the Falling Stars, both of whom were very hard to deal with.

    ¡°I¡¯ll report their deaths to the sect and make sure you get the credit. Cardy was one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs. I¡¯m sure his death will earn you a considerable amount of contribution points.¡±

    With a puzzled expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°But Feng Beiluo killed Cardy.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter who killed him. What matters is that he was killed in your domain. So you should get credit for it.¡± Yan Zhan seemed very concerned with Nie Tian¡¯s wellbeing, as if it was something he should do.

    A surprised look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Judging from Yan Zhan¡¯s change of attitude, he had clearly decided to ce his bet on him.

    Such change originated from him killing Catie with that Star Behemoth bone.

    ¡°Every elder will be entitled to a vote when youpete for the position of the Lord of the Stars,¡± Yan Zhan reminded him. ¡°The more elders you have on your side, the more favorable ce you¡¯ll be in when the timees.¡±

    These words fully revealed his thoughts to Nie Tian, who bowed to express his gratitude.

    Afterwards, Yan Zhan went on and said more things, many unimportant. Then, he bid Nie Tian farewell and left.

    After that, Nie Tian resumed cultivation in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    During this time, he received word saying that therge-scale battles between the four great sects and the outsiders in the Dead Star Sea had gradually quieted down, with only a few fractions of humanity¡¯s forces still engaged in small-scale conflicts against the outsiders.

    Time passed like a flying shuttle.

    Months passed in the blink of an eye.

    During this time, Nie Tian received two pieces of good news. The first one was that Master Blood Spirit, thest of the Blood Spirit Sect, had broken through into thete Saint domain in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Such information came from the Blood Sect, who was also holed up there.

    ording to Master Blood Spirit, the reason why he hadn¡¯t been able to make the breakthrough before was partly because he had been unable to grasp the essence of a secret incantation of the Blood Spirit Sect, but another reason was that his insufficient lifespan had been weighing on his mind.

    The more worried he had been, the more frustrated and distracted he had be. This had gradually be his mental devil.

    Only after Nie Tian had extended his lifespan with his Blood Essence had he untied that knot in his mind and gone into the study of the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s incantations worry-free.

    Thanks to this, he had entered thete Saint domain sessfully.

    Even though he was considered crooked by the four great sects, he wasrgely dependent on Nie Tian. His breakthrough meant that Nie Tian finally had ate Saint domain expert at hismand.

    This was different from Xie Qian entering thete Saint domain.

    The second piece of good news was regarding Zhao Shanling.

    The man had vanished after the expedition to the three Demon realms. It turned out that he had gone to a space disruption zone, where he had somehow broken through into thete Void domain!

    No one had expected that he would prove to be so brilliant and make such rapid breakthroughs in cultivation after Nie Tian had taken him out of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He had made the advance from the Soul realm to thete Void domain within a shockingly short period of time. Even among the four great sects, his cultivation talent was hardly matched.

    Perhaps ate Void domain cultivator didn¡¯t mean much to Nie Tian now.

    However, he saw unlimited potential in Zhao Shanling.

    ¡°The man is hard to predict, half-righteous, and half-evil. He cut off his connection with his family. I thought his future was limited to the Domain of the Falling Stars. Who would have thought he would prove to be so extraordinary? He even dared to refuse the Void Spirit Society¡¯s offer. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s the first man to ever do so. I suppose it¡¯s hard to find another person like him, even among the four great sects.¡±

    Later, more good news came.

    Due to the Demons¡¯ retreat and the destruction of their teleportation portals, peace was restored to Nie Tian¡¯s three domains.

    Experts from different sects entered secluded cultivation, where they made use of the abundant cultivation resources they had looted from the Lizardman realms, the floating continent, and the three Demon realms.

    Many Qi warriors who had been stuck in their cultivation made breakthroughs. Every few days, word woulde sharing the good news with Nie Tian, which delighted him.

    For the first time, he had a feeling that his force was rising at a fast speed.

    SHEW!

    Zhao Shanling came to him a few dayster.

    ¡°Could you refer that alchemist from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce you talked about to me?¡± Zhao Shanling cut to the chase. ¡°Or I can simply give you the necessary materials, along with the price he names, so that you can ask him to refine the pill for me. I¡¯ve already entered thete Void domain. The next thing to do is make preparations for my breakthrough into the Saint domain. A Barrier Breaking Pill will be necessary.¡±

    He was used to walking this world alone. He didn¡¯t know any alchemists that were skilled enough to refine Barrier Breaking Pills. For this reason, when Nie Tian had mentioned the matter to him earlier, he had kept it in mind.

    If he wanted his next breakthrough to be sessful, there were various things he¡¯d have to prepare beforehand, a Barrier Breaking Pill being one of them.

    ¡°Give me the required spiritual materials and I¡¯ll have people deliver them to him, along with my word. He¡¯ll be happy to help.¡± Nie Tian said in a straightforward manner. ¡°Is there anything else?¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°There¡¯s another thing, but it doesn¡¯t really concern you. After I broke through into thete Void domain in that space disruption zone, I found a magical ce by ident. I suspect that it has something to do with the disappearance of the Void Pce Sect. So tell Pei Qiqi that if she¡¯s interested, I can take her there.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with surprise. ¡°What?! You found a ce that has something to do with the disappearance of the Void Pce Sect?¡±

    All these years, Pei Qiqi had never stopped looking for the Void Pce Sect, and her parents who had vanished with it. She had even mobilized the Void Spirit Society¡¯s resources, but still found nothing.

    Just earlier, she had spent a long time going through the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range one by one. Still, no clue had been found.

    However, Zhao Shanling now said that he had found clues of the vanished Void Pce Sect in a space disruption zone. This surprised Nie Tian deeply.

    ¡°Great! I¡¯ll send word to her!¡± Nie Tian said excitedly. ¡°However, she might not be able toe for a while. I heard that she¡¯s seeking breakthroughs in her both cultivation and bloodline.¡±

 Chapter 1107: Mo Hengâ€™s Breakthrough

    Temporary peace was restored to the human world.

    Both the outsiders and the crooked human forces acted with restraint, and didn¡¯tunch any more massive invasions of the human heaven and earth.

    After what had happened recently, both humans and outsiders had consumed a significant amount of strength and be weary.

    Humanity didn¡¯t summon forces tounch new attacks against the outsiders in the Dead Star Sea.

    From ancient times until now, humans had struggled with a problem: once the pressure from the outside was gone, they would start fighting among themselves.

    When there was no threat from outsiders and crooked human forces, the four great sects would constantly have friction with each other when exploring new domains together.

    Before, since the four great sects had been equally strong, conflicts had usually been small-scale, and solved in peace.

    But now, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had disappeared. The two vice sectmasters, Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang, had sustained heavy injuries in their battle against the Demons. Elders and Sons of the Stars had perished. All these had greatly reduced the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s strength.

    Gradually, members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce started to be slighted when they explored new domains or did business with people from the other three great sects.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s prestige, which it had spent many years building, had suffered because of their defeat in the Dead Star Sea.

    Even some of the sect¡¯s subordinate forces started to have different voices among them.

    Many subordinate forces deemed that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s strength had plunged so much that it might even fall out of the ranks of the four great sects.

    Facing such changes, even the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had headaches over finding solutions.

    Gradually, some of the self-assured ns expressed their intention to leave the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and join the arms of the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, or the Void Spirit Society.

    Meanwhile, Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang, the two vice sectmasters, had entered secluded cultivation upon returning from the Dead Star Sea in an attempt to recover their battle prowess as soon as possible, leaving sect affairs in Wei Lai¡¯s hands.

    Wei Lai received bad news from different ces on a daily basis, and was weighed down by numerous troublesome problems.

    Six months passed. Two of Fang Zhe¡¯s subordinate domains that had be independent after his death announced their decision to leave the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and started to y up to the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    At the same time, Hong Minghui from the Void Spirit Society had his eyes on two of Mou Luo¡¯s domains, which hadn¡¯t announced their allegiance after his death.

    Considering that those two domains bordered his domains, he arranged for people from his n to lobby the leaders of those domains.

    If it weren¡¯t for the timely aid of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, the four Demon grand monarchs might have killed Luo Wanxiang and Chu Rui in the Dead Star Sea already.

    Considering this, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce did owe the Void Spirit Society a major favor.

    Therefore, even Wei Lai didn¡¯t know what to do when Hong Minghui reached out to Mou Luo¡¯s domains.

    Meanwhile, rumors about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce spread like weeds.

    Some said that the Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been stranded in an unknown part of the starry river, while others said that he had already died.

    Such rumors hurt the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s prestige further.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had never had the most God domain experts among the four great sects. What had allowed them to hold their transcendent status in the human world was their Lords of the Stars.

    Every Lord of the Stars had to emerge after rounds of selection.

    Most of the time, their Lord of the Stars was the strongest God domain expert throughout the human heaven and earth.

    Ji Cang, the Lord of the Stars of this generation, was considered more powerful than the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the five heads of the Five Elements Sect.

    He was none other than the strongest human expert of this generation.

    This was the reason why the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been able to hold their status as one of the great sects, despite their disadvantage in the number of God domain experts.

    But now, rumor had it that Ji Cang... had died?

    If they had indeed lost their most powerful leader, their prestige would definitely suffer a drastic decline.

    Since neither Chu Rui nor Luo Wanxiang had entered thete God domain, neither of them could match Ji Cang¡¯s strength.

    Not to mention that they had sustained heavy injuries from the Demon grand monarchs, and were in recovery.

    Facing so many problems, Wei Lai ced all of his hope in the timely return of the sectmaster.

    However, they still couldn¡¯t get in touch with him.

    ...

    In the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles

    Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect came to find Nie Tian. Upon arriving, he said with a bitter face, ¡°We¡¯ve been having trouble doing business with the other great sectstely.¡±

    Nie Tian ended his cultivation and fixed him with a confused look. ¡°What trouble?¡±

    Yue Yanxi then went on and exined the things had been bothering them.

    He had entered thete Void domain years ago. Since the Divine me Sect had been one of the first to join Nie Tian¡¯s cause, they had gained abundant precious materials from the Lizardman realms, the floating continent, and the three Demon realms.

    Like him, other experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries such as the heads of the Beast-controlling Sect, the Jian n, the Guan n, and the Chu n were already preparing for their breakthroughs into the Saint domain.

    The breakthrough into the Saint domain was always full of danger, and required a variety of rare treasures, some of which even the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t have.

    Therefore, they had to contact the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society in order to obtain them. However, when they finally found the treasures through those sects, the Heaven Span Pavilion and the Void Spirit Society named exorbitant prices. Only the Five Elements Sect didn¡¯t.

    They had done business with those sects before. The prices had always been fair.

    But now, the Heaven Span Pavilion and Void Spirit Society were asking for twice as much as the materials were actually worth.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Umm... I suppose they¡¯re doing this because the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s strength has declined significantly. What about the Five Elements Sect? Could you get the resources you need from them?¡±

    Yue Yanxi smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯ve already purchased the spiritual materials I needed from Lou Hongyan, the Divine Daughter of the fire element sect, and the price she gave me was rather fair. But some items the others need are only possessed by the Void Spirit Society and the Heaven Span Pavilion. Miss Pei seemed to have entered secluded cultivation as soon as she returned to the Void Spirit Society. We haven¡¯t been able to get in touch with her or ask for her help.¡±

    Hearing these words, Nie Tian also had a headache over the tough situation.

    Yan Zhan hade to him with bad news about his sect recently.

    He was well-aware that his sect was going through a difficult time.

    Even Wei Lai was at his wit¡¯s end handling troublesome matters.

    With a consoling tone, Nie Tian told Yue Yanxi to remain patient and wait for things to turn for the better.

    After Yue Yanxi left, he narrowed his eyes in frustration.

    A few days passed.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Wei Lai and Yan Zhan suddenly appeared together in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. Seeing their straight faces, he realized that something major must have happened.

    ¡°What happened?¡± he asked aloud.

    Yan Zhan took a deep breath and said, ¡°The grand elder marched into the Dead Star Sea, and slew three Demon grand patriarchs that were stationed there upon arriving! After hearing about this, Grand Monarch Bloodlust rushed into the Dead Star Sea!¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°The grand elder wants to wage another war? Didn¡¯t the me of war just die out?¡±

    With a strange expression, Wei Lai said, ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who¡¯s at the middle tenth grade, was defeated and forced to return to the Demon realms after merely a few hours.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± An exmation escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°You mean Grand Elder Mo Heng inflicted heavy damage on Grand Monarch Bloodlust, forcing him to retreat?¡±

    Wei Lai nodded, trying hard to mask his excitement. ¡°The grand elder has broken through into the middle God domain!¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in, ¡°The grand elder is such an unrivaled talent. Who would have thought that he would defeat Grand Monarch Bloodlust in the Dead Star Sea so shortly after entering the middle God domain!? This great news for our sect! However...¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°The grand elder spread word in the Dead Star Sea,¡± Yan Zhan said with a grim face. ¡°He... he wants to challenge the Demons¡¯ chief and greatest fighter, Grand Monarch Primal Demon! It was a surprise to all of us that he managed to defeat Grand Monarch Bloodlust. Who would have thought that instead of retreating after a victory, he actually challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel?¡±

    Wei Lai sighed and said, ¡°I suppose the grand elder felt that it was necessary, considering the unfavorable situation our sect is in.¡±

    ¡°But he dragged Nie Tian into it without consulting him first,¡± Yan Zhan said, frowning.

    ¡°He dragged me into it? What does that mean?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Not only did the grand elder challenge Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel,¡± Wei Lai exined, ¡°but he also arranged another duel as a prelude to his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon. It¡¯ll be you against an eighth grade Demon of the Demons¡¯ choice.

    ¡°And the bet is the dark stone that you took from the Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with great surprise. However, not only was he not scared, but he instead let out a broadugh and said, ¡°I¡¯m honored that the grand elder would give me such an important task. I shall not fail him! I¡¯m in!¡±

 Chapter 1108: Shocking the Starry River

    In the Void Spirit Hall.

    Numerous glowing spatial rifts interwove in midair in the middle of the spacious hall.

    Arge bronze mirror was floating among them, with each and every spatial rift connecting to its back, as if they were a whole.

    The scenery within the mirror changed from time to time, revealing different areas of the starry river across the human world.

    Scenes of the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries shed across the mirror among other domains.

    It was as if the mirror was monitoring every single human realm and every corner of the starry river.

    It saw all.

    WHOOSH!

    Ji Yuanquan, a vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, appeared out of thin air in the middle of the great hall.

    Looking at the bronze mirror, he said in a soft, revering voice, ¡°The Void Mirror...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A blurry figure gradually surfaced in the Void Mirror, as if it were traveling between different dimensions, and separated from Ji Yuanquan by endless space.

    Ji Yuanquan bowed respectfully. ¡°Sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± A warm, pleasant voice echoed out from within the Void Mirror. Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Mirror, revealed himself and looked at Ji Yuanquan from within the mirror.

    ¡°Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce broke through into the middle God domain.¡± Ji Yuanquan reported thetest news to Qu Yi in detail. ¡°He marched into the Dead Star Sea and killed three Demon grand patriarchs and wounded Grand Monarch Bloodlust. Now, he has challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel.¡±

    Qu Yi¡¯s soul shadow in the Void Mirror remained blurry, which made it hard to get a clear view of his appearance.

    However, as soon as Ji Yuanquan said these words, his soul shadow shuddered.

    Only after a while did he ask, ¡°Why is Mo Heng so eager to fight?¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Ji Yuanquan answered, ¡°I suppose that¡¯s because the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s reputation has suffered from recent events. Different voices came from many of their subordinate realms. And they were slighted by members of the other great sects on different asions...¡±

    He went on and exined the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s awkward situation, including the fact that Hong Minghui had secretly reached out to the domains Mou Luo had left behind.

    After hearing his words, Qu Yi let out a cold harrumph. ¡°That was a stupid thing to do. Was it his decision or his father¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Both, I¡¯m guessing,¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    ¡°Did he get your permission first, or did he act on his own?¡± Qu Yi asked.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t been in charge of sect affairstely,¡± Ji Yuanquan answered. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about it until it happened.¡±

    Qu Yi snorted. ¡°So it was Xuan Guangyu then.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan fell silent.

    ¡°Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, is only out of touch for the time being,¡± Qu Yi muttered to himself. ¡°Who¡¯s to say that he¡¯s perished in the depths of the starry river? He¡¯s the strongest human cultivator alive. Even I can¡¯t match his battle prowess. As long as he¡¯s alive, the status of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce won¡¯t change. Why would people listen to rumors and believe that he¡¯s dead?

    ¡°They must not know how difficult it is to kill a man like him. Even if I saw his cold body with my own eyes, I would suspect that he would have his unique ways toe back to life, not to mention that I haven¡¯t.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan looked down and listened as Qu Yi went on.

    ¡°About Mo Heng...¡± Qu Yi continued. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon only consumed a significant amount of power in that battle against me, but he didn¡¯t sustain any injuries. Mo Heng has only broken through into the middle God domain recently. It doesn¡¯t surprise me that he was able to defeat Grand Monarch Bloodlust. But it¡¯s a crazy, rash thing for him to challenge Grand Monarch Primal Demon now.¡±

    Clearly, he didn¡¯t think Mo Heng would win a duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    ¡°There¡¯s another thing,¡± Ji Yuanquan added. ¡°Mo Heng also demanded that the Demons pick any eighth grade Demon they¡¯d like to fight a duel against Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars, as a prelude to his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon. The bet he ced on Nie Tian was that dark stone they recently looted from the Demon realms.¡±

    A surprised look appeared on Qu Yi¡¯s face as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the seventh Son of the Stars¡¯ cultivation base?¡±

    ¡°The early Soul realm,¡± Ji Yuanquan answered.

    ¡°Early... Soul realm...¡± Qu Yi muttered with a thoughtful expression. ¡°How does Mo Heng trust him so much? An early Soul realm junior challenging the best eighth grade Demon fighter is even more unwise than him challenging Grand Monarch Primal Demon!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan smiled bitterly. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought.¡±

    ¡°If the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is betting that dark stone, what are the Demons betting?¡± Qu Yi asked.

    ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream, the Immortal grade divine tool that was lost to the Demons many years ago,¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    Qu Yi¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream!? An Immortal grade divine tool, and the magical dark stone that helped create a Demon grand monarch. The bets are quite surprising. So did the Demons answer the challenges?¡±

    ¡°I guess they will,¡± Ji Yuanquan analyzed. ¡°Two of their grand patriarchs, Cardy and Catie, were recently killed in the Domain of the Falling Stars, which is where the dark stone has been kept after it was taken from them. Besides, Grand Monarch Bloodlust suffered heavy injuries from his battle against Mo Heng. The Demons need to reestablish their strength by winning these duels.¡±

    Qu Yi nodded. ¡°Very interesting. I¡¯ll go to the Dead Star Sea to support Mo Heng and that Nie Tian when it¡¯s time.¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster,¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed softly, ¡°don¡¯t you have to help Miss Pei with her breakthrough?¡±

    Qu Yiughed and said, ¡°Her cultivation talent turned out to be even more exceptional than I thought. She¡¯s already passed the most difficult parts. She won¡¯t need me anymore.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean Miss Pei has entered the Void domain?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked in high spirits.

    ¡°Not yet, but everything is going smoothly.¡± Qu Yi assured him. He also told him that Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t run into any of the problems he had expected. Things were going surprisingly well with her breakthrough. Ji Yuanquan congratted him repeatedly, and then left.

    In the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles...

    Frowning, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What¡¯s the story with that Heavenly Ster Stream? Why would the grand elder demand that as the Demons¡¯ bet? Is it as valuable as that dark stone?¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°It¡¯s every bit as valuable as that dark stone. Our grand elder before Mo Heng had also been at the early God domain. However, he had entered the God domain at a much younger age than Mo Heng. The Heavenly Ster Stream was his divine tool.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°An Immortal grade divine tool?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°It¡¯s a third level Immortal grade divine tool that was refined from the entire Heavenly Star Domain. It can work with almost all of our sect¡¯s secret magics and incantations. Especially when you use it to cast Sea of Illusory Stars, it¡¯ll manifest shocking might.

    ¡°That grand elder relied on it to create serious trouble for Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who was at the middle tenth grade. Even though he died in the battle, he badly injured Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that if it weren¡¯t for that battle, Grand Monarch Bloodlust might have entered thete tenth grade already, and kept abreast with Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a while before asking, ¡°If I win the duel, then the Heavenly Ster Stream...?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be yours.¡± Wei Lai gave an clear-cut answer.

    ¡°Great!¡± Nie Tian said, nodding.

    With these words, he asked Wei Lai and Yan Zhan to wait there, while he paid a short visit to the Realm of a Hundred Battles. On his Star Boat, he flew to the deep mountain valley where Dong Li kept the dark stone.

    Inplete darkness, Dong Li sensed his arrival, and thus left the dark stone to see him outside the mountain valley.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what I¡¯m about to ask.¡± Nie Tian cut to the chase. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I have to borrow that dark stone for a short while.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Dong Li asked with a puzzled expression.

    Nie Tian then exined Mo Heng¡¯s duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon and the side arrangement for him to her in detail.

    After hearing the whole thing, Dong Li remained silent for a long while before asking, ¡°Are you sure that you¡¯ll win?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t answer that before I meet my opponent,¡± Nie Tian said honestly.

    Dong Li sighed. ¡°My entire n has almost been wiped out. I barely have any family left. You know how important you are to me. That dark stone is only a worldly possession to me. I wouldn¡¯t have it in the first ce if it weren¡¯t for you. What I truly care about is your safety...¡±

    ¡°But my sect¡¯s reputation lies with this duel. I have to fight!¡± Nie Tian said with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Dong Li said with worried eyes. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I need to be there when you fight. I¡¯ve got to see it for myself whether you live or die. I don¡¯t want to hear the result from someone else.¡±

    ¡°Alright, you got it.¡±

 Chapter 1109: An Inevitable Fight

    In a stronghold of the Demons in the Dead Star Sea.

    It was a vast piece ofnd that floated in the dark starry river. Dead silent, it didn¡¯t have a single de of grass growing on it.

    Many Demon starships could be seen berthed on it. Numerous huge low-tier Demons were crouching on the ground around solid fortresses, breathing thick Demon qi.

    Arge amount of debris from exploded ancient starships that had carried various kinds of blood-chilling power was scattered around the floatingnd.

    A misty, dark-purple ward enveloped the floatingnd like huge, semi-transparent eggshell.

    In front of the floatingnd was berthed a starship from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    A man was sittingpletely still on the prow, directly facing the floatingnd.

    It was none other than the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Mo Heng.

    Standing behind him was Han Wanrong, who was the overseer of the Realm of Remote Heaven. At this moment, she was looking at him, her eyes filled with both reverence and worry.

    RUMBLE!

    A huge starship hanging the Void Spirit Society¡¯s banners suddenly appeared like a shark that had been lurking in the depths of the sea.

    Ji Yuanquan, a vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, flew from the starship andnded next to Mo Heng. ncing down at Mo Heng, he sighed. ¡°Why so eager?¡±

    Mo Heng looked up. Completely calm andposed, he said, ¡°Sorry for ruining your peace, Brother Ji.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need to say that, given our rtionship.¡± Then, after a moment of hesitation, he added with an apologetic tone, ¡°Hong Minghui from our sect didn¡¯t respect the basic principles. Our sectmaster has already scolded him and instructed him to pull all of his people from Mou Luo¡¯s former domains.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest.

    Ji Yuanquan went on. ¡°Our sectmaster didn¡¯t know about this until it happened. And I was in recovery after the battle in the Domain of Nether Heaven...¡±

    Mo Heng waved his hand gently and said, ¡°It¡¯s all good.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan then said, ¡°Our sectmaster wanted me to tell you that Grand Monarch Primal Demon didn¡¯t sustain any injuries during their recent battle. He merely consumed power.¡±

    ¡°Please thank Sectmaster Qu for me,¡± Mo Heng said expressionlessly.

    ¡°He also said that he¡¯lle here to support you when your duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon starts,¡± Ji Yuanquan added.

    Mo Heng¡¯s eyes flickered slightly as he nodded and said, ¡°Sorry to bother him.¡±

    Fixing him with apassionate look, Ji Yuanquan continued, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this, you know. You¡¯ve only lost touch with Sectmaster Ji for the time being. Our sectmaster assured me that, given Sectmaster Ji¡¯s divine abilities, he couldn¡¯t have perished in some unknown area of the starry river like people said.

    ¡°The recent frictions between your sect and the other sects were only caused by some juniors who don¡¯t understand the immensity of heaven and earth.

    ¡°As far as our sectmaster and I see it, your sect will always be one of the four great sects. Nothing can change that. You don¡¯t have to challenge the chief of the Demons just to reestablish your mighty image. After all, he entered thete tenth grade long ago, while you just broke through into the middle God domain.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan earnestly advised against Mo Heng¡¯s duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    ¡°My mind is made up!¡± Mo Heng said in a deep, determined voice.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a deep sigh and fell silent.

    A few hourster, another starship arrived.

    Standing on the prow was Ye Wenhan, the grand elder of the Heaven Span Pavilion, who was elegant like a schr.

    He, who was at the early God domain, flew over to Mo Heng, bowed respectfully and said, ¡°Brother Mo, some juniors of my sect didn¡¯t understand the immensity of heaven and earth. He only attempted to incorporate Fang Zhe¡¯s former domains because he listened to some ill-intentioned instigators. Please ept my apologies.¡±

    He Lianxiong stood silently behind Ye Wenhan as he spoke.

    As Mo Heng fixed his eyes on him, he hastily waved his hands and said with a bitter smile, ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand, Senior Mo. It wasn¡¯t me!¡±

    He Lianxiong was an arrogant man. Sometimes he even dared to talk back to Ye Wenhan.

    However, as his eyes met Mo Heng¡¯s, his temples throbbed, and he hastily exined in a humble manner, ¡°It was my senior martial brother Shang Shuo who was instigated by his subordinates and attempted to seize those domains. Grand Elder Ye has had the instigators executed!¡±

    With a serious face, Ye Wenhan said, ¡°Brother Mo, I informed our sectmaster of your triumph over Grand Monarch Bloodlust and your intent to fight a duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon. He wanted me to tell you that he¡¯ll be here to support you when the timees.¡±

    ¡°Sorry for the trouble,¡± Mo Heng said, still expressionless.

    Shortly afterwards.

    Three of the Five Elements Sect¡¯s ancient starships arrived. Three elders of the metal element sect, fire element sect, and wood element sect flew to Mo Heng upon arriving, all of whom were at thete Saint domain.

    Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan, and Huang Jinnan stayed on their starships that berthed in a line. Standing behind them were their subordinates.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s voice was filled with reverence as he said, ¡°Who would have thought that, instead of spending years in recovery after his battle against Grand Monarch Withered Bones in the Domain of Nether Heaven, Senior Mo Heng actually broke through into the middle God domain. As soon as he came out of his secluded cultivation, he defeated the middle tenth grade Grand Monarch Bloodlust. And immediately after the battle, he demanded a duel against the strongest Demon alive, Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    Lou Hongyan frowned. ¡°Senior Mo Heng¡¯s spirit is surely admirable. But it¡¯s a very unwise thing to do.¡±

    A sarcastic look appeared at the corner of Hou Chn¡¯s mouth as she said, ¡°Isn¡¯t that all because certain people from the Heaven Span Pavilion and the Void Spirit Society secretly encroached on theirnds while they were recovering from their defeat in the Dead Star Sea? They lost multiple elders and Sons of the Stars. Both their vice sectmasters suffered injuries. There was no way they could wage another inter-racial war any time soon.

    ¡°Senior Mo Heng made such a radical decision because he didn¡¯t have a choice. He had to prove to the outsiders and his own kind that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is still one of the four great sects.¡±

    Frowning, Huang Jinnan muttered, ¡°I¡¯m really worried that Senior Mo Heng will die at the hands of Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    Upon hearing this, both Hou Chn and Lou Hongyan fell silent.

    Huang Jinnan continued to mutter, as if to himself, ¡°I didn¡¯t know Senior Mo Heng had so much faith in that guy. It¡¯s baffling why he would arrange a duel for Nie Tian in addition to his own duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he knows that he¡¯ll lose, but if Nie Tian wins his duel, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will still be able to win some respect back.¡± Lou Hongyan suspected.

    Hou Chn jumped in and said, ¡°It¡¯ll be a victory for Senior Mo Heng as long as he doesn¡¯t die in battle. After all, he¡¯s challenging ate tenth grade opponent, while he has just entered the middle God domain and won a battle against Grand Monarch Bloodlust. This duel is ill-matched in the first ce. His defeat is almost certain. So he¡¯d be viewed as a winner even if he lost the duel, but secured a wisp of his soul for reincarnation.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Huang Jinnan said aloud. ¡°As long as he survives the duel, no one will dare to slight the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce anymore.¡±

    A concerned look appeared in Hou Chn¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°But what about Nie Tian? Would he die in battle?¡±

    Huang Jinnan smiled and said optimistically, ¡°That guy won¡¯t die so easily. ording to what I know about him, his various uncanny abilities do give him a chance to contend against eighth grade outsiders. Didn¡¯t they say that he killed a grand patriarch from the Bispo n named Catie in the Domain of the Falling Stars not long ago?¡±

    Lou Hongyan shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true. I¡¯d rather believe that his Saint domain subordinates worked with him to kill that Demon grand patriarch. I suppose the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce attributed her death to Nie Tian¡¯s sole effort because they needed to raise their plunging morale.¡±

    Hearing her words, both Huang Jinnan and Hou Chn fell silent, their eyes flickering with thought.

    They also found the fact that Nie Tian had single-handedly killed an early ninth grade Demon grand patriarch, while he was only at the early Soul realm, hard to believe.

    Perhaps it would be more believable if Nie Tian had been at the Void domain.

    The gap between the strength of an early Soul realm cultivator and a ninth grade Demon was simply too great.

    The reason why they fell silent was because they realized that Lou Hongyan¡¯s suspicion made sense.

    ...

    Inside the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s starship.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li appeared in the teleportation portal, along with Wei Lai and Yan Zhan.

    They saw Sikong Cuo, the sixth Son of the Stars, as soon as they walked out of the portal. Apparently, he had arrived one step ahead of them.

    He was just about to go confront Mo Heng when he spotted Nie Tian and the others. His face instantly grew grim as he asked, ¡°Elders, why is Nie Tian the one to fight that duel, but not me?

    ¡°He¡¯s only at the Soul realm. Challenging an eighth grade Demon to a duel is nothing but courting death!

    ¡°I am our best chance to win that duel!¡±

 Chapter 1110: Preconditions for Fighting

    Since this wasn¡¯t going to be arge-scale inter-racial battle, Sikong Cuo hadn¡¯t brought any of his subordinates with him.

    Even Luo Wanxiang, who had been protecting his interests the whole time, didn¡¯te with him.

    The reason why he had rushed here at the first possible moment was because he intended to ask Mo Heng why he had chosen Nie Tian to fight a duel against an eighth grade Demon of the Demons¡¯ choice, instead of him.

    He understood the potential problem in this better than anyone.

    If Nie Tian somehow won the duel, he would instantly rece him and be the Son of the Stars that had the best chance to be the next Lord of the Stars.

    All of the elders would review their choices.

    If that happened, all of the efforts he had made these years would be in vain.

    ¡°This is the grand elder¡¯s decision,¡± Wei Lai said expressionlessly.

    Sikong Cuo shot Nie Tian a cold look and said aloud, ¡°I¡¯ll go ask the grand elder about it!¡±

    With these words, he left in a hurry.

    Standing by Nie Tian¡¯s side, Dong Li asked, ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°Sikong Cuo. Like me, he¡¯s also a Son of the Stars.¡± Nie Tian exined.

    ¡°Oh, so he¡¯s Sikong Cuo.¡± Dong Li had a fairly good knowledge of every Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Upon hearing the name, she immediately realized why Sikong Cuo was so angry.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him,¡± Yan Zhan said bluntly. Clearly, he had decided to ce all of his bets on Nie Tian. ¡°The vice sectmasters suffered heavy injuries. They don¡¯t have the kind of energy to manage sect affairs. And considering we can¡¯t get in touch with the sectmaster for now, the grand elder is in control of everything.¡±

    Wei Lai chimed in, ¡°He won¡¯t be able to sway the grand elder.¡±

    With these words, the four of them walked out of the cabin where the teleportation portal was.

    As soon as they arrived on deck, they saw Sikong Cuo crouching beside Mo Heng and questioning him in a low, indignant voice.

    Mo Heng remained expressionless as he listened. Only after Sikong Cuo finished did he take his time to say, ¡°You¡¯re at the Void domain. Even if you win a duel against an eighth grade Demon, it won¡¯t be a big victory. But if you lose, our sect¡¯s name will suffer greatly.

    ¡°If you really want to fight a duel, your opponent will have to be a ninth grade grand patriarch. Only that will mean something.¡±

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s face froze.

    ¡°And it¡¯ll have to be a ninth grade grand patriarch of the Demons¡¯ choice, which means it¡¯ll most likely be ate ninth grade grand patriarch,¡± Mo Heng said coldly.

    Sikong Cuo fell silent, lost in thought.

    Only after a while did hee out of his daze and take a sideways nce at Nie Tian, who had emerged from below deck. ¡°You really think he can defeat an eighth grade Demon?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at the Soul realm,¡± Mo Heng said with an expressionless face. ¡°Even if he loses, we¡¯ll only lose that dark stone and him. That dark stone is something he took from the Sixth Demon Realm. It¡¯s not ours in the first ce. And it¡¯ll be understandable if he loses to an eighth grade Demon. Our sect won¡¯t lose face because of it.¡±

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s expression flickered, aplicated look appearing in his eyes. ¡°So...¡±

    His evil nature made him suspect that Mo Heng was doing this because he disliked Nie Tian, and wanted to get rid of him.

    Mo Heng had been careful every time he had seen Nie Tian. No one knew about their secret meetings. Therefore, even Sikong Cuo didn¡¯t know what was going on between the two of them.

    Mo Heng started to be impatient. ¡°So like I said, if you want to fight a duel, it¡¯ll have to be against a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch. You can think about it.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Sikong Cuo turned around and left.

    As he walked past Nie Tian, he let out a cunningugh and said, ¡°Good luck, junior martial brother. I¡¯ll be back when your duel starts.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything.

    ...

    Nie Tian walked to Mo Heng¡¯s side and bowed respectfully. ¡°Grand Elder.¡±

    At this point, all of the powerful experts from the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect that hade to talk to Mo Heng had already returned to their respective starships.

    One after another, they spread out behind the starship Mo Heng was on.

    Nie Tian¡¯s arrival attracted a lot of attention.

    Heated discussion burst out on the nearby starships as numerous sets of eyes fixed on Nie Tian, making him very ufortable.

    ¡°Nie Tian is here!¡±

    ¡°Is that the seventh Son of the Stars who Mo Heng chose to fight an eighth grade Demon?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the one.¡±

    Mo Heng looked up. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t me me for setting up a duel for you without consulting you first.¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°How can I? You fought and defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust as soon as you entered the middle God domain, and now you¡¯ve challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel. You dare to do such a crazy thing, so what do I have to be afraid of? Worstes to worst, I¡¯ll die for our sect.¡±

    ¡°Die? You¡¯re not going to die.¡± Mo Heng said with great certainty.

    After that, Mo Heng told Nie Tian to rx and wait for the Demons¡¯ response.

    Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan, and others that were close to Nie Tian approached him, and showed concern after greeting Mo Heng.

    Before long, the other three Sons of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and Fang Yuan, arrived sessively.

    Dou Tianchen and Wang Meijia greeted Mo Heng first.

    They didn¡¯te to advise against the duel between Nie Tian and an eighth grade Demon. Instead, they came to advise Mo Heng against fighting Grand Monarch Primal Demon just yet. They thought that he would only lose his life by trying to save the sect¡¯s face.

    However, Mo Heng had made up his mind. No matter what they said, his fighting spirit remained unwavering.

    They could only give up.

    Fang Yuan, who was rather close to Nie Tian, had been worried upon hearing about his duel against an eighth grade Demon. He hastily asked Nie Tian whether he was confident about his victory. Nie Tian, however, couldn¡¯t give him any promises. He only told him that he would have to wait till his opponent was determined to know his odds.

    Time passed bit by bit.

    Many people from the four great sects sailed to this ce. Some were there to support Mo Heng and Nie Tian, while others were only there to obtain the results firsthand.

    Through the dark purple ward, Bonebrutes, Fiends, and Phantasms could also been seen arriving in the Demons¡¯ stronghold.

    However, the Demons still hadn¡¯t given a response.

    This was a matter of great importance. Only Grand Monarch Primal Demon could ept or refuse the challenge.

    A few dayster, a high-tier Demon suddenly rose from the ward-envelopednd.

    ¡°Gutas!¡± Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, staring through the floating debris at the high-tier Demon that had charged out of the Demon stronghold.

    The floatingnd was protected by the dark purple ward, which even Mo Heng wouldn¡¯t be able to break within a short time.

    Gutas had been safe on the floatingnd, but now that he hade out into the starry river, many of the powerful human experts present would be able to kill him with a single strike.

    From the broken memories the Spirit Pearl had stripped from Catie¡¯s discarnate soul, Nie Tian had already learned that Gutas was behind the invasion of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the fact that he was Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s direct descendant.

    When enemiese face to face, their eyes ze with hate.

    While he, who had been held responsible for Catie¡¯s death, red at Gutas, Gutas red back at him.

    ¡°You¡¯re the messenger, right?¡± Mo Heng¡¯s indifferent voice echoed out.

    Only then did Gutas remember his mission, and put his hate towards Nie Tian aside for the moment. Facing the powerful human who had recently defeated his father, he said respectfully, ¡°I have a message from Grand Monarch Primal Demon. He has agreed to the first duel you proposed. The Heavenly Ster Stream has already been unsealed, and will be brought here in no time.

    ¡°And we¡¯re choosing a suitable candidate to fight the seventh Son of the Stars.

    ¡°However, Grand Monarch Primal Demon has not agreed to the duel between you and him just yet.

    ¡°He said that only if Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars, defeats our champion will he be convinced that the members of your sect have what it takes to challenge my people with higher grades, and then fight that duel with you.

    ¡°If Nie Tian loses, then he won¡¯t have any reason to believe that you¡¯re strong enough to challenge him.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, a mor burst through the human starships.

    ¡°The result of Nie Tian¡¯s duel will determine whether Grand Monarch Primal Demon will agree to his duel against the grand elder!¡± Wei Lai eximed in shock.

    Then, he fixed Nie Tian with aplicated look from afar. ¡°Will this be his mental devil? If he wins, he¡¯ll be entering the grand elder into a deadly duel. If he loses, the grand elder will be saved from his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

 Chapter 1111: Opponent

    Floating outside the protected floatingnd, Gutas from the Bispo n delivered Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s message in a confident manner.

    After he was finished, he turned around and prepared to return to their stronghold.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly shouted, ¡°Gutas! Catie from your n died at my hands in my domain, don¡¯t you want to avenge her under everyone¡¯s gaze?¡±

    Gutas turned back around, his face distorted and his breathing heavy.

    Due to the unexpected deaths of grand patriarch Cardy and Catie, he had been fiercely berated by his father, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, after his return to the Demon realms. Even his n¡¯s status had suffered because of it.

    Besides that, Grand Monarch Bloodlust had recently been defeated by Mo Heng, and retreated to his n badly injured.

    Their entire n¡¯s name had suffered an unprecedentedly heavy blow.

    Therefore, when he had learned that Mo Heng demanded that the Demons choose any eighth grade Demon to fight Nie Tian in a duel, he had volunteered in an attempt to right his wrong by winning the duel.

    As the son of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, even though he was only at the seventh grade, he was confident that he was more than capable of contending against eighth grade members of his n.

    After all, he had a grand monarch¡¯s blood running through his veins.

    However, Grand Monarch Primal Demon, the supreme ruler of the Demon race, had coldly refused his offer.

    ording to him, another champion would be chosen to fight Nie Tian. He, Gutas, wasn¡¯t the best candidate.

    The refusal of his offer had sent a message to all of the Demon ns: Grand Monarch Primal Demon wasn¡¯t convinced that he would win a duel against Nie Tian.

    For Gutas, who had inherited Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯sbative nature, Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s refusal had been absolutely humiliating.

    At this moment, by shouting at him, Nie Tian was clearly provoking him into finding a way to be his opponent in the uing duel.

    Unfortunately...

    ¡°I want to fight you very much!¡± Gutas said with a sinister face. ¡°But you¡¯ll have to fight another!¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised at first, but immediately afterwards, heughed wildly and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re indeed a bit too weak. You¡¯re only at the seventh grade... Of course you can¡¯t be sure that you¡¯ll win a duel against me. Your people are right about that.¡±

    Gutas¡¯ breaths grew increasingly heavy. He struggled to hold his temper as he dashed back towards the Demons¡¯ stronghold.

    ¡°You can¡¯t escape death!¡± Nie Tian shouted.

    ¡°Tell Grand Monarch Primal Demon that I agree to his terms,¡± Mo Heng said in a light tone.

    However, Gutas heard every word he said, and shouted back, ¡°We¡¯ll give you a time soon!¡±

    On the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s starship.

    Mo Heng took a deep look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Don¡¯t carry any burdens and don¡¯t listen to anyone. I yearn for this duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon. It has nothing to do with the sect. Only if you win your duel will I have the chance to stand in front of Grand Monarch Primal Demon and give it all I have.¡±

    Nie Tian had second thoughts.

    Gutas¡¯ message from Grand Monarch Primal Demon made him think whether he should lose intentionally, so that Mo Heng wouldn¡¯t have to fight that deadly duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    However, as he looked into Mo Heng¡¯s eyes now, he realized that he actually yearned for this chance to fight Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold anything back. I promise.¡± Nie Tian said with great determination.

    Mo Heng nodded. ¡°Good. I need to spend some time alone before your duel.¡±

    With these words, he went below decks into a secret room. As soon as he did, his aura vanishedpletely.

    All of the God and Saint domain experts present strained their senses, but none of them could capture a wisp of Mo Heng¡¯s aura, spirit or soul.

    Wei Lai approached Nie Tian with a hesitant look on his face. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    He seemed to want to say something, but didn¡¯t know how to say it.

    ¡°I know.¡± Nie Tian saw through his intention. ¡°I¡¯ve already promised the grand elder that I¡¯ll give my best, no matter who my opponent will be.¡±

    Hearing this, Wei Lai sighed and gave up.

    Many experts from the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society whispered among themselves.

    ¡°Such a vicious ploy.¡±

    ¡°Very cunning! That Grand Monarch Primal Demon is extraordinary indeed!¡±

    ¡°Will this sway Nie Tian¡¯s fighting spirit? If he knows that his victory will set Mo Heng on a path to death, will he be able to stay true to himself in crucial moments?¡±

    ¡°A moment of hesitation during the duel might kill him.¡±

    ¡°After all, he¡¯s going to fight an eighth grade Demon! Gutas is the son of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, but even he was deemed insufficient to be Nie Tian¡¯s opponent... I bet the Demons n to send in the direct descendant of another grand monarch that¡¯s even stronger than Gutas.¡±

    ¡°An eighth grade Demon that¡¯s a direct descendant of a grand monarch and stronger than Gutas...¡±

    ¡°Ophelia!¡±

    ¡°It must be Ophelia!¡±

    After heated discussions, they called out the same female Demon name simultaneously: Ophelia.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    He had just refused Wei Lai with a firm stance. Before he could settle down, exmations echoed out from the nearby starships that belonged to the other sects.

    Even Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and Fang Yuan¡¯s expressions flickered after they heard the name.

    ¡°It might be Ophelia,¡± Fang Yuan said with a deeply worried expression. ¡°If it¡¯s actually her...¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at Nie Tian, his eyes filled with sympathy.

    It seemed that he was certain that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to match that Demon named Ophelia in battle. He would most certainly lose the duel, and even get killed.

    Standing next to Nie Tian, Yan Zhan¡¯s face turned slightly pale as he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe we actually forgot about Ophelia! I suppose you haven¡¯t heard that name before, right?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the Demon ns. I only learned some powerful Demon names from the broken soul awarenesses I captured during my expedition to the three Demon realms. But yeah, I haven¡¯t heard the name Ophelia before.¡±

    ¡°Like Gutas, she¡¯s a young monarch,¡± Wei Lai exined with grim face. ¡°However, her powerful bloodline didn¡¯te from any of the four living Demon grand monarchs. Ophelia¡¯s mother was Grand Monarch Illusory Demon, a powerful Demon. When she was alive, she was even slightly stronger than Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    ¡°Back then, her battle prowess was only second to Grand Monarch Primal Demon, and she was one of the few female Demon grand monarchs.

    ¡°Ophelia is her daughter, and deeply trusted by Grand Monarch Primal Demon. Grand Monarch Primal Demon even once said that Ophelia¡¯s bloodline is even purer than Grand Monarch Illusory Demon¡¯s. ording to him, she will most likely surpass her mother¡¯s heights and join him among the ranks of thete tenth grade grand monarchs!

    ¡°Ophelia happens to be at the middle eighth grade. Even so, it¡¯s said that she¡¯s more than capable of fighting ninth grade grand patriarchs.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I suppose she¡¯s most likely going to be my opponent... Is she really that strong?¡±

    ¡°Very strong.¡±

 Chapter 1112: Dragon Guests

    ¡°Nie Tian, go all-out in the battle... Do your best to survive!¡± Elder Wei Lai said to Nie Tian with a heavy tone.

    A puzzled expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Before the experts from the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society eximed Ophelia¡¯s name, Wei Lai had approached him and spoken haltingly. He was well-aware what he had wanted to say.

    Wei Lai had hoped that he would lose the duel intentionally.

    The reason why he had attempted to do that was because he had deemed Mo Heng not strong enough to challenge Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    He had learned from Yan Zhan that Nie Tian had indeed killed Catie from the Bispo n with the help of a bone from a Star Behemoth outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles.

    Others might question the authenticity of this piece of news, and assume that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had exaggerated Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess.

    He, however, knew how extraordinary Nie Tian really was.

    For this reason, he had been worried that Nie Tian winning the duel would make Mo Heng¡¯s duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon inevitable.

    Now, as Ophelia¡¯s name was mentioned, he immediately urged Nie Tian to go all-out in battle instead...

    With a bitter, puzzled smile, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you think that even if I go all-out to fight her, I¡¯ll still lose the duel? And if I don¡¯t go all-out, not only will I lose, but I¡¯ll even die at her hands. Is that it?¡±

    Wei Lai nodded hesitantly. ¡°I honestly forgot about her until those people mentioned her name. If you¡¯re actually going to fight her, I¡¯m afraid you...¡±

    He didn¡¯t finish his sentence, but Yan Zhan and Fang Yuan, who were standing off to the side, nodded along with agreeing expressions.

    ¡°Ophelia...¡± Nie Tian said inwardly.

    Soon, those who were close to him gathered to his side again to help him get a better understanding of Ophelia.

    From them, he learned that even though Ophelia was at the eighth grade, she was in possession of a powerful tool that had been left to her by Grand Monarch Illusory Demon. The grade of that tool was equal to humanity¡¯s Immortal grade.

    Besides, it was said that Ophelia¡¯s bloodline was so mighty that it allowed her to contend against ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    With the help of that terrifying tool, her battle prowess surpassed all of the other eighth grade Demons, including the direct descendants of the four living Demon grand monarchs.

    Part of the reason why Nie Tian had never heard of her was because she had confined herself to an illusory dimension she herself had created over the years in an attempt to master a mysterious Demon bloodline magic.

    Because of that, it had been a long time since thest time she had joined a battle in the Dead Star Sea.

    However, all of the human experts who had seen her fight knew how deadly she was. The mere thought of her battle prowess would make them insecure and uneasy.

    Pieces of information about Ophelia came from Yan Zhan, Fang Yuan, Hou Chn, and the others that were gathered around Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grimmer and grimmer as he listened to them. However, the look in his eyes remained unswerving.

    After telling him what made Ophelia so dreadful, Fang Yuan, Hou Chn, Huang Jinnan, and Lou Hongyan gave Nie Tian a number of medicinal pills that could help him recover spiritual power, spiritual materials that could help nourish his soul, and eighth grade outsider and Ancientbeast corpses.

    By doing this, they hoped they could provide Nie Tian with some help, so that his duel against Ophelia wouldn¡¯t end in his rapid and total defeat.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t exactly need the spiritual materials and medicinal pills.

    However, the eighth grade outsider and Ancientbeast corpses met his needs. With them, he could generate Blood Essence to fuse into the me Dragon Armor and Star Behemoth bone.

    The only problem was that powerful experts from the four great sects were now gathered in this ce. Most of them were at the Saint domain, with even a few God domain ones.

    He was afraid that he would attract unnecessary attention if he used Life Drain to generate Blood Essence here.

    Furthermore, he could feel that peculiar soul fluctuations would fly out of the Demon stronghold from time to time, and sh past over his head.

    He suspected that powerful Demons or experts of other outsider races were also paying close attention to him.

    This made him even more apprehensive about using his unique abilities.

    A few dayster...

    Several enormous dragons gradually appeared from behind the Demons¡¯ floatingnd.

    Both the humans and the Demons were surprised by their sudden appearance.

    They flew past the Demons¡¯ floating stronghold that was enveloped in a dark purple ward to where the humans starships were berthed.

    One of them slowly morphed into a human figure that Nie Tian found very familiar.

    It turned out to be the middle ninth grade dragon Nie Tian had met on the floating continent.

    With a knitted brow, Yan Zhan stared at the few dragons that had appeared out of nowhere. ¡°Dragons, an ancient branch of the Ancientspirits!¡±

    ¡°Greetings!¡± Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society eximed softly as he approached the iing dragons with great caution. ¡°To what do we owe the pleasure?¡±

    McEleney, who had assumed human form, answered, ¡°We heard that Grand Elder Mo Heng of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel. So we came to watch.¡±

    ¡°Just watch?¡± Ji Yuanquan probed.

    That was when McEleney suddenly turned his head towards Nie Tian. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he waved at him. Nie Tian was surprised at first, but smiled back immediately afterwards. At the same time, he took the initiative to fly towards the dragons.

    ¡°Be careful!¡± Many from the Five Elements Sect called out to Nie Tian, fearing that it was a trap.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright. We know each other.¡± Nie Tian said calmly.

    The other five dragons that were asrge as the humans¡¯ ancient starships remained in their dragon form, floating behind McEleney, who had only assumed his human form so that Nie Tian would be able to recognize him.

    ¡°You did us a great favor on that floating continent.¡± With these words, McEleney turned his head to shoot a nce at the Demon¡¯s floating stronghold. He let out a cold harrumph and continued, ¡°Those filthy creatures, on the other hand, did unspeakable things to our people! I heard that you were going to fight a duel against a Demon fighter, so I came to show you my support. I hope you¡¯ll win!¡±

    Confused looks spread across the faces of the powerful experts from the four great sects after they heard these words.

    They knew that dragons, Ancientbeasts, and titans were powerful races that dated back to the Deste Antiquity Era, which weren¡¯t usually friendly to humans.

    The Ancientspirits¡¯ heaven and earth was far beyond the Dead Star Sea. If humans wanted to enter theirnds, they would have to march through the Dead Star Sea and the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes¡¯ domains first.

    Every time the outsiders were at a disadvantage in their war against the humans, they would choose to help the outsiders.

    They understood that once the lips were gone, the teeth would be cold.

    However, when they weren¡¯t facing threats from the humans, battles would also break out between them and the outsiders from time to time in areas where their territories bordered.

    It was just that they had ended their conflicts with the outsiders earlier, when the humans had marched massive forces into the Dead Star Sea.

    Apparently, they had reached a mutual understanding with the outsiders: once the humans gained an overwhelming advantage in the Dead Star Sea, they would bury the hatchet and join up to fight the humans.

    Judging from this, they should be allies at the moment.

    However, upon arriving, McEleney expressed his support for Nie Tian, and called the Demons filthy creatures.

    This took everyone present by surprise.

    Nie Tian, however, remained calm as ever. He grinned and said, ¡°Thank you!¡±

    One of the dragons floating behind McEleney fixed its red eyes on Nie Tian the whole time, raging me auras swirling in itsrge eyes.

 Chapter 1113: A Gift from the Dragons

    Nie Tian felt ufortable.

    The me Dragon Armor within his ring of holding suddenly stirred.

    Nie Tian went nk for a brief moment before suddenly realizing that that me dragon might have sensed the me Dragon Armor¡¯s aura.

    McEleney pointed at the wide-eyed me dragon behind him and said, ¡°Let me introduce you. This is Felix.¡±

    He only stated Felix¡¯s name, but not his identity or his status in the dragon race. However, it was obvious that all of the other five dragons, including McEleney, had great respect for him.

    Nie Tian could tell that both this me dragon¡¯s exceptional size and aura set him apart from the other dragons.

    Some nearby human experts¡¯ expression flickered as soon as they heard the name. ¡°Felix!¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, right?¡± In his original form, Felix took a while to measure Nie Tian, then said, ¡°I¡¯d like to have a moment alone with you.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Yan Zhan, Wei Lai, and other experts eximed, ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡±

    Nie Tian, however, smiled and nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Felix turned his enormous body and headed towards a nearby floating meteor.

    The other dragons remained where they were.

    As they left together, McEleney said seriously to Nie Tian, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I wouldn¡¯t hurt you.¡±

    Nie Tian already knew this in his heart. He turned his head back to assure Yan Zhan and Wei Lai of his safety as he flew towards the floating meteor, which was from a shattered dead realm, on his Star Boat.

    As the Star Boat descended, it seemed to enter a whole other world that was filled with swirling, fiery lights.

    An intense dragon breath seemed to have filled this small area,pletely separating the floating meteor from the outside world. No expert¡¯s soul awareness would be able to infiltrate it.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor suddenly took it upon itself to fly out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding.

    Torrential mes poured out of it and rapidly morphed into a lifelike dragon of mes.

    At the same time, a soul aura gradually built up within it.

    ¡°Big... big brother!¡± The dragon soul said in the dragons¡¯ ancientnguage.

    In these words, Nie Tian heard a cheer from the soul.

    The me dragon named Felix instantly grew excited. His widened eyes spewed devastating mes as he stared at the illusory me dragon the me Dragon Armor had morphed into.

    ¡°Soul regathered, heart regenerated, even your Bloodline Crystal Chains have reformed...¡± Felix muttered in their ancientnguage, his eyes soon brimming with tears of excitement. ¡°Why didn¡¯t youe back home with McEleney when he found you on the floating continent?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t havee this far if I did, big brother,¡± The me Dragon Armor said, emotional as well. ¡°Back then, I hadn¡¯t even gotten my memories back yet. I wasn¡¯t even sure who I was.¡±

    A shudder ran through Felix as he turned to look at Nie Tian. ¡°All of these changes are because of him?¡±

    The illusory me dragon nodded vigorously.

    Felix fell silent. Only after a while did he breath out a mouthful of his unique aura towards Nie Tian.

    The aura engulfed Nie Tian in a split second, enveloping him in a fiery heaven and earth.

    In his eyes, both Felix and the illusory dragon transformed from the me Dragon Armor suddenly vanished.

    The me spark within his me power core, however, became unusually active.

    It started to gather me power from this crimson heaven and fuse it into his me power core, allowing it to further crystallize.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up with delight.

    In just a few seconds, his me power core crystallized more than what was usually achieved by months of painstaking cultivation.

    That was when he realized that the me dragon named Felix, who the me Dragon Armor referred to as big brother, had given him this puff of dragon breath as a gift, even though it was also preventing him from overhearing their conversation.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t absorb and refine such a zing gift directly, the me spark within him could turn it into abundant me power that could further the crystallization of his me power core.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let it go to waste.¡± Nie Tian was sensible enough to focus on absorbing and refining the searing dragon breath in order to achieve higher efficiency.

    Several hourster...

    Almost all of the remaining liquid part of his me power core had crystallized.

    He had a feeling that his umtion and refinement of me power at the early Soul realm was alreadyplete.

    Before, when he had practiced cultivation in the starry river outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles, the speed at which he had absorbed and refined me power with the help of the me spark had also been exceptional.

    However, that was nothing whenpared to what Felix¡¯s gift brought him now.

    All of a sudden, the fiery heaven and earth transformed by the dragon breath fell apart, and everything around him returned to normal.

    The me Dragon Armor resumed its armor form and flew back into his ring of holding.

    Felix took a deep look at Nie Tian with his huge dragon eyes.

    He seemed to have been deeply surprised by what he had learned about him. ¡°Please take good care of my little brother.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Of course. My Blood Essence runs in his heart.¡±

    Felix nodded. ¡°About that Ophelia, you¡¯d better be extra careful. I met her many years ago. She wasn¡¯t as strong as she is now, but she was already strong enough to make me take her seriously. Now, years have passed. I¡¯m sure she¡¯s be even stronger, and she carries a unique bloodline. But I hope you¡¯ll win.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t thought Nie Tian stood a chance fighting Ophelia, but his conversation with the me Dragon Armor had changed his opinion.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°I¡¯lle back before your duel with her starts, and I¡¯ll be back again for the duel between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡± With these words, Felix swung his huge dragon ws, ending their conversation.

    After that, he left with McEleney and the other dragons.

    However, their auras seemed to scatter in some nearby dead realms, as if they didn¡¯t go very far so they could keep a close watch on what was happening in this area of the starry river.

    A few more days passed...

    Bright starlight suddenly appeared in the Demons¡¯ floating stronghold. It condensed into clusters of starlight that rose into the air. With raging Demon qi, they hovered in a mysterious pattern, sprinkling intoxicating light.

    However, the clusters of mysterious starlight only existed for a few seconds before vanishingpletely.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce elders grew excited as they looked unblinkingly at the dazzling starlight that only existed for a brief moment.

    ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream!?¡±

    ¡°The Demons have brought the Heavenly Ster Stream here!¡±

    ¡°Those clusters of dazzling starlight in a profound spell formation... It must be the Heavenly Ster Stream!¡±

    The fact that the Heavenly Ster Stream was here meant that the Demons¡¯ opponent for Nie Tian would arrive soon as well.

    Shortly afterwards, arge Demon Eyes Flower gradually rose from the Demons¡¯ floatingnd.

    Han Yu, who Nie Tian had met once in the Domain of Nether Heaven, flew through the dark purple ward and presented himself in front of the human experts, with arge part of his body merged within the Demon Eyes Flower.

    His appearance took the experts from the different sects by surprise.

    ¡°Is that a demonized human?¡±

    ¡°Is that man enved by a Demon Eyes Flower? Is the Demon Eyes Flower using his flesh and blood as nourishment? Such an abomination!¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s not a human anymore! W-what the hell is he? Is he possessed by the Demon Eyes Flower, or is he controlling the Demon Eyes Flower?¡±

    Han Yu gave a dark chuckle. ¡°Where¡¯s my little martial brother?¡±

 Chapter 1114: Powerful Experts Gathering

    The humongous Demon Eyes Flower came to a stop over the floatingnd.

    Some of its roots were still connected to the dark purple ward, absorbing nourishment from the raging Demon qi on the floatingnd.

    On the floatingnd, numerous high-tier Demons turned their heads towards the huge nt, which was deemed the most powerful nt throughout the Demon realms, their faces filled with apprehension.

    However, many of them had strong disgust in their eyes as their gazesnded on Han Yu, who had merged with the Demon Eyes Flower.

    Clearly, they weren¡¯t fond of him.

    Some of them even seemed to hate him.

    There wasn¡¯t a single shred of respect or sense of belonging.

    They seemed to think that since they weren¡¯t of the same kind, they must harbor different thoughts.

    No matter what had made Han Yu the thing he was now, they doubted that he would serve them wholeheartedly.

    As far as most Demons were concerned, he was still an outsider: a human, which was a race they hated by nature.

    However, Han Yu didn¡¯t seem to attach any importance to how the Demons saw him. Instead, in a nonchnt manner, he revealed himself from within the stems and blooms and called out, ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian flew over on his Star Boat, giving rise to a loud whoosh. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    Upon hearing Han Yu¡¯s loud call, many human experts wondered while gazing at the man, who was half-man and half-Demon, ¡°Little Martial Brother? He¡¯s not a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, is he?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong.¡± Han Yu took the initiative to clear up their confusion, as if he was eager to disassociate himself from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. ¡°I was born in the Domain of the Falling Stars like Nie Tian. And I had a master in the Realm of me Heaven before I left there, who happens to be his master as well.¡±

    Only after hearing these words did the experts understand their connection.

    Frowning in confusion, Nie Tian looked at Han Yu and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯ll be my opponent.¡±

    He had had an encounter with him in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and knew how powerful he was.

    However, he still didn¡¯t have a full understanding of his actual cultivation base, or the true might of that Demon Eyes Flower.

    What he knew was that even though he and Pei Qiqi and joined up against him, they had barely been able to handle him in battle.

    If the Saint domain experts hadn¡¯te to their aid, Han Yu wouldn¡¯t have left so easily.

    Han Yu shook his head. ¡°As much as I¡¯d like to fight you, Grand Monarch Primal Demon has assigned this task to another.¡±

    Nie Tian saw admiration in Han Yu¡¯s eyes as he said these words.

    ¡°Ophelia will be your opponent.¡± Han Yu said. His voice was a bit different from before.

    In the Demon stronghold, many high-tier Demons¡¯ expressions grew even more unpleasant as they heard this.

    Apparently, even though Nie Tian didn¡¯t know Han Yu¡¯s story, many powerful Demons did. They knew that Ophelia was the reason why this former human had turned his back on his own people and joined them as the half-human, half-Demon being he was now.

    Originally, Ophelia had been his backer in the Demon race. She was the one who had taken him to the Demon realms.

    Onlyter had Grand Monarch Primal Demon had a secret meeting with him, where he had somehow managed to convince Grand Monarch Primal Demon to ept him and view him as one of their own.

    Since Grand Monarch Primal Demon had said the word, the other Demons had to ept his existence, no matter how much they were disgusted by him.

    Later, Grand Monarch Primal Demon had given him a few missions, all of which he had finished perfectly. He had even helped put down multiple riots.

    Even though many Demons still refused to ept his identity, his formidable means and strength were gradually acknowledged.

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°If you won¡¯t be my opponent, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon wants to know how Cardy died,¡± Han Yu answered aloud. ¡°We received word that an elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce named Yan Zhan went to your aid in your domains. However, neither him nor that Xie Qian was strong enough to kill the Blood Warden.¡±

    Upon hearing this, many experts from the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society exchanged confused looks with each other.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had spread word of Cardy and Catie¡¯s deaths in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ording to them, Catie had been killed by Nie Tian.

    They hadn¡¯t mentioned how Cardy had died.

    Now that they thought about it, they also found it puzzling.

    When Cardy had been killed in the Domain of the Falling Stars, both Luo Wanxiang and Chu Rui had been in recovery. Mo Heng had also been in secluded cultivation.

    Meanwhile, Wei Lai had been weighed down by countless troublesome matters. He hadn¡¯t even been able to leave the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Even if he had joined the battle, given his strength, he might only have been able to defeat Cardy with Yan Zhan and Xie Qian¡¯s help. Killing him would have been very unlikely.

    So who had killed Cardy?

    All of a sudden, not only Han Yu, but the human experts were also curious as to who had killed Cardy, who had been one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs.

    ¡°Why do you want to know that?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°He had something on him that Grand Monarch Primal Demon wants to reim,¡± Han Yu answered.

    ¡°Something Grand Monarch Primal Demon wants to take back...¡± A few powerful, well-informed Demon grand patriarchs on the floatingnd, such as Hazlitt and Feimos, were enlightened by Han Yu¡¯s words.

    Cardy had been the warden of the Blood Purgatory Sea, which was a mysterious, restricted area of the Demons. A grand monarch, who was the origin of Cardy¡¯s bloodline, was currently regathering flesh and blood in the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    Cardy had carried a legacy treasure from that grand monarch, which would y a crucial role in his resurrection.

    If they couldn¡¯t recover that item, that grand monarch would have to spend a much longer time in the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how he died,¡± Nie Tian said, his brow furrowed.

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect was detested by both humans and outsiders. If he came out with the truth, it would raise questions about his rtionship with the Heavenly Corpse Sect, and put him in trouble.

    Han Yu pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Alright. I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter how he died. But if you can find his storage ring, we¡¯ll be willing to trade it for any treasure you want. In fact, we can do the transaction now, before your duel.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t find it,¡± Nie Tian refused coldly.

    Han Yu frowned. Then, he sighed and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to die.¡±

    Nie Tian snorted coldly. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°And your death will be unnecessarily painful,¡± Han Yu continued, ¡°because she¡¯ll have to take your true soul before killing you in order to acquire the truth of Cardy¡¯s death.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold smile. ¡°Are you talking about Ophelia? I¡¯ve waited a long time. When will she get here?¡±

    ¡°In three days.¡± With these words, Han Yu decided to save his breath. He returned to the floatingnd where the Demons were gathered and left through a teleportation portal, as if he was eager to deliver the information he had just received.

    ¡°Three days. It¡¯s finallying.¡± Nie Tian muttered with anticipation in his eyes.

    The experts from different sects also sent word to their headquarters upon learning that the duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia would take ce in three days.

    Upon receiving the news, Chu Rui, a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, ended his secluded cultivation before he could fully recover.

    He entered the Dead Star Sea, hoping to see the duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia for himself.

    Sikong Cuo also returned, bringing with him the information that vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang wouldn¡¯te for the duel.

    He would onlye to witness the duel between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon, given that Nie Tian defeated Ophelia.

    The reason why he didn¡¯te was because he was convinced that Nie Tian would die at Ophelia¡¯s hands, and that Mo Heng wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to stand before Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    More powerful experts from the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society arrived sessively after receiving the news, waiting to witness the battle between Nie Tian and Ophelia.

 Chapter 1115: The First Duel!

    At the Blood Purgatory Sea in the Second Demon Realm.

    Han Yu went through a teleportation portal and came to a ce at the edge of the bloody sea.

    Scarlet seawater was boiling, with bubbles rising from the bottom.

    For countless years, many Demons who hadmitted crimes or failed in battles had been tossed into it.

    Even human ves, Ancientbeasts that had been in by the Demons, or members of other outsider races had been thrown into it.

    Once a body fell into the Blood Purgatory Sea, it would rapidly melt and be a part of the bloody sea, without even leaving a bone.

    The vast Blood Purgatory Sea brimmed with the flesh auras of a wide array of species.

    After being refined by the sea, the flesh auras would be fused into a secret ce at the bottom of the sea of blood.

    Upon arriving, Han Yu waited quietly by the sea.

    Only after a while did a tall, agile figure suddenly fly out of the sea of blood, d in a suit of dark purple battle armor.

    She didn¡¯t have a single drop of blood on her, as if the bewitching light released by battle armor engraved with countless mysterious patterns had kept the bloody seawater from her body.

    Upon seeing her, Han Yu couldn¡¯t tear his eyes from her, looking fascinated.

    Ophelia¡¯s long, dark purple hair dangled like a waterfall, reaching her slender lower back. Her face was so exquisite it looked like it was from a painting. Her eyes seemed to be fashioned from clear, purple crystal, brimming with magical power.

    Even though Han Yu couldn¡¯t stop looking at her, he avoided her eyes.

    It was as if by looking into her eyes, his soul would instantly be plunged into endless illusions, and trapped there eternally.

    ¡°Did you find out who killed Cardy?¡± Ophelia asked coldly. Unlike a woman¡¯s soft, pleasant voice, her voice was filled with strong killing intent and a thirst for blood.

    After Cardy¡¯s death in the Domain of the Falling Stars, Grand Monarch Primal Demon had instructed her to take over the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    As the new warden of the Blood Purgatory Sea, her primary responsibility was to ensure the sessful resurrection of that grand monarch.

    By relying a drop of his Blood Essence, that grand monarch had already gathered a tremendous amount of flesh aura essence and reformed his heart at the bottom of the Blood Purgatory Sea. Now, he was rebuilding his bones, meridians, and flesh by relying on his heart.

    When Cardy had been alive, he had been able to go down to the ce where the heart was, andmunicate with him through his bloodline.

    Besides that, he also had the key to the forbidden ce at the bottom of the sea, along with many other treasures that were helpful to the heart.

    Because of his demise, not only did Ophelia have great difficulty entering the forbidden ce at the bottom of the sea, but she also couldn¡¯t rely on her bloodline tomunicate with the grand monarch¡¯s heart.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars refused to trade with us or tell us who killed Cardy,¡± Han Yu answered respectfully.

    Ophelia frowned and said in a slightly hoarse voice, ¡°Trade would have been the easiest way for us to get Cardy¡¯s possessions. But since he refuses to do that, I¡¯ll have to expend extra time and effort before I can kill him. Also, even though I¡¯ll be able to learn the truth about Cardy¡¯s death from his memories, it¡¯s hard to say whether we can get his possessions.¡±

    Frustrated, Han Yu said, ¡°Perhaps he refused to do business with us because a lot of human experts were watching.¡±

    Ophelia pondered in silence for a long while before suddenly fixing Han Yu with a deep look. ¡°How much do you know about the seventh Son of the Stars?¡±

    Han Yu shook his head. ¡°I only met him in the Domain of Nether Heaven. Even though his cultivation base and battle prowess were far inferior back then, he wasn¡¯t easy to deal with.¡±

    With a confused expression, Ophelia asked, ¡°So do you think Mo Heng arranged for him to fight an eighth grade champion of our choice because he wanted him dead, or does he have other intentions?¡±

    ¡°Hmm...¡± Han Yu couldn¡¯t give her an answer.

    ¡°Did you tell them the time for the duel?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ...

    Three dayster.

    The Demons chose a dead realm close to their stronghold as the location for the duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia.

    This dead realm was even vaster than the Realm of me Heaven, yet it waspletely lifeless, without a single de of grass or wisp of life aura.

    Endless destion and cold was all there was.

    The Demons demanded that no one should enter the dead realm before the duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia ended.

    Those who wished to observe the duel would have to remain outside the dead realm and rely on their sight, soul awareness, and flesh aura detection.

    Nie Tian arrived first.

    Sitting on a broken grayish-brown mountain peak, he gazed off into the distance. Countless huge craters, toppled mountains, andrge boulders stretched as far as the eye could see.

    He immediately realized that this dead realm had been designated for battle.

    Many experts and powerful beings must have fought in this ce.

    He quietly released his bloodline power and soul awareness, and relied on them to scan every inch of the realm, lest the Demons scheme against him.

    He spread his awareness to every corner of the realm, but failed to find anything wrong.

    WHOOSH!

    A cluster of ckish-violet Demon qi suddenly flew out of the Demon¡¯s stronghold towards him.

    ¡°Ophelia!¡± Many Demons that were scattered around the dead realm eximed excitedly upon seeing the cluster of raging Demon qi, and the figure within it.

    Juniors like Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, and He Lianxiong, along with other powerful human experts, also fixed their eyes on the cluster of ckish-violet Demon qi.

    A figure seemed to be changing unceasingly within it.

    It kept morphing between various odd-looking low-tier Demons, ancient Demons that had long since vanished in the long process of history, and powerful Demon grand monarchs that had lived long ago.

    Watching the constantly changing images in the Demon qi, many powerful human experts grew grim.

    Those images seemed to be the past, present, and future of the Demon race. They seemed to carry unfathomable wonders and secrets.

    Surprised and astonished, people whispered among themselves.

    ¡°That¡¯s the profound truths of Grand Monarch Illusory Demon¡¯s bloodline power!¡±

    ¡°As her direct descendant, Ophelia has perfectly inherited her bloodline talents! Even though she¡¯s only at the eighth grade, she already has the ability to create such mysterious illusions. That Demon young monarch is extraordinary indeed!¡±

    ¡°I fear for Nie Tian.¡±

    SHEW!

    The demonic shadow shrewdly discovered Nie Tian¡¯s location and descended.

    Upon arriving, the shadow gradually morphed into Ophelia¡¯s true form.

    However, as soon as she revealed herself, Nie Tian suddenly felt that the dead realm started to undergo changes due to her arrival.

    The ces he had previously scanned with his soul awareness and bloodline power suddenly became unfamiliar to him.

    ¡°I¡¯m your opponent, Seventh Son of the Stars,¡± Ophelia said in a voice that was filled with strong killing intent and bloodlust. At the same time, she fixed her eyes that brimmed with magical power on him.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian felt as if he had fallen into an unknown heaven and earth, as if he was being plunged into a dreadful nightmare.

 Chapter 1116: Demonic Illusion Realm

    Strange illusions descended on the unidentified dead realm.

    Ophelia¡¯s sea of flesh aura rapidly morphed into a demonic shadow that was thousands of meters tall, propping up heaven and earth.

    Breathing rolling Demon qi, it suddenly split up and morphed into Demons with all kinds of looks.

    There were ancient Demons, low-tier Demons, demonic bugs, and many other odd-looking Demonic creatures.

    All of them were very lifelike, as if they actually existed in the void over Ophelia¡¯s head.

    Many human experts frowned deeply watching the numerous demonic creatures that had appeared out of nowhere.

    Face grim, Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s said that there¡¯s a branch of the Demons¡¯ ancestors called Illusion Demons. They could transform into anything, from Phantasms, Fiends, to dragons and titans. Grand Monarch Illusory Demon carried the Illusion Demons¡¯ bloodline.

    ¡°So does Ophelia.

    ¡°Not only does the Illusion Demons¡¯ bloodline talent allows them to transform into almost everything, but it also allows them to create illusions and bewitch souls.

    ¡°What Ophelia is using now is her Demonic Illusion Realm, which was also used by thete Grand Monarch Illusory Demon. Her Demonic Illusion Realm is another form of her flesh aura sea. Like humans¡¯ domains, it carries countless wonders.

    ¡°Nie Tian, on the other hand, hasn¡¯t entered the Void domain yet, which means he doesn¡¯t have his own domain. If he¡¯s trapped within Ophelia¡¯s Demonic Illusion Realm, it¡¯ll be very hard for him to break free.¡±

    Qi Lianshan, who had rushed to the site from the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters, sighed and said, ¡°If it were another eighth grade Demon, Nie Tian might have stood a chance. But since he¡¯s fighting Ophelia, the odds are really against him.¡±

    He had apanied Pei Qiqi and fought alongside Nie Tian in the Domain of Nether Heaven and the three Demon realms.

    He had a very high opinion of Nie Tian¡¯s strength and battle prowess.

    Unfortunately, his opponent this time was the middle eighth grade Ophelia, who carried a grand monarch¡¯s bloodline and possessed mighty tools.

    ¡°It¡¯d be considered a victory for Nie Tian if he can simply survive,¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    Observers from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect were scattered around the dead realm. Even though many of them couldn¡¯t capture every detail of what was happening in the dead realm, they learned about the bloodline talent Ophelia was using from their sect seniors after witnessing the incredible changes in her flesh aura sea.

    ¡°Demonic Illusion Realm!¡±

    ¡°A bloodline talent that allows her to transform her flesh aura sea into a deadly arcane realm! Ophelia is only at the eighth grade, yet she¡¯s already mastered such a profound bloodline talent created by Grand Monarch Illusory Demon. Simply terrifying!¡±

    ¡°Without a domain of his own, Nie Tian will definitely be affected in every way enveloped in the Demonic Illusion Realm.¡±

    ...

    Standing on the deste, icy ground, Nie Tian gazed skywards with a cold look in his eyes. ¡°Are they illusory or real?¡±

    Countless odd-looking demonic figures hovered restlessly in Ophelia¡¯s flesh aura sea. Even though they didn¡¯t seem real, as he examined them with his bloodline power, he was surprised to discover that they actually carried Ophelia¡¯s flesh aura.

    As he spread his soul awareness towards them, he also captured evident soul fluctuations.

    All of a sudden, he became confused as to what was real and what wasn¡¯t.

    Only when a demonic insect bit the right side of his abdomen did he snap out of his daze. ¡°This is real!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The pitch-ck demonic bug¡¯s tiny wings fluttered vigorously.

    It exerted itself to bite through his skin with its sharp teeth.

    From the tiny bug, Nie Tian also sensed Ophelia¡¯s flesh and soul aura.

    It was as if Ophelia had created it by mixing her flesh aura with a wisp of her soul awareness in a profound manner.

    ¡°She can actually create living creatures by mixing her flesh aura and soul awareness? This Demon bloodline talent is quite interesting.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled,pletely unworried that such a tiny insect would harm him in any way.

    He could tell that even though the demonic bug was doing its best, its teeth could barely pierce his skin.

    What he actually concerned himself with were the low-tier Demons and various ancient Demons he couldn¡¯t name that might follow the bug.

    However, his expression flickered in the next moment, before he could be overwhelmed by a variety of demonic creatures.

    He looked down at the demonic bug and pinched it with his fingers.

    BOOM!

    The bug exploded as he applied force, turning into wisps of flesh aura that returned to the Demonic Illusion Realm.

    Nie Tian felt a tingling numbness in his right side, which seemed to be caused by some toxin that the demonic bug carried.

    Any toxin that could make him feel this way was far beyond ordinary.

    What was even stranger was that the demonic bug had merely been a mixture of Ophelia¡¯s flesh and soul aura.

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°Wait!¡±

    He suddenly realized that the demonic bug was by no means a simple illusion from Ophelia¡¯s Demonic Illusion Realm!

    The toxin it had injected into him through its teeth had been the demonic bug¡¯s bloodline power!

    ¡°She must channel flesh auras from all kinds of demonic bugs and low-tier Demons, then refine and blend them with a secret method, so that the illusory demonic creatures she unleashes can still wield their bloodline power.¡±

    By the time he figured out the truth, he was already engulfed by a sea of demonic creatures that seemed to be illusory, but carried actual bloodline wonders.

    Sinister wolves bit his legs. Purple snakes spewed acidic venom towards him. Large, rhino-like low-tier Demons charged towards him.

    Even in the air, demonic fowl attacked his head with sharp teeth and ws.

    ¡°Life Strengthening!¡± With an explosive roar, his bloodline power burst forth, allowing his muscles to bulge and his whole body to expand. A scalyyer with mysterious gold and silver patterns on it rapidly spread all over him like a suit of full-body armor.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    His fierce flesh aura burst forth from within him, blowing the demonic creatures that pounced on him to pieces.

    ¡°Come on out!¡± The Star Behemoth bone that was close to sixty meters long was summoned from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as it appeared, an overwhelming aura spread into its surroundings, as if it were the overlord of this starry river, and stood at the top of the food chain.

    Even though the human observers didn¡¯t feel any different, many of the powerful Demons, Fiends, and Phantasms that hade to witness Ophelia¡¯s duel against Nie Tian felt disturbed.

    The same went for Felix and the other dragons, who were secretly observing the duel from a significant distance.

    It was as if some remote memories that had been branded in the deepest parts of their bloodlines were somehow awakened.

    Many Demons that carried the bloodlines of ancient Demons couldn¡¯t keep themselves from trembling.

    Even the dragons let out uneasy, low-pitched roars.

    What was even more surprising was that, after the bone appeared, the Demonic Illusion Realm Ophelia had created with her flesh aura sea actually started to unravel and dissipate.

    Ophelia¡¯s bloodline came from a branch of the ancient Demons: Illusion Demons.

    In the lost era when they had lived in this starry river, Star Behemoths had been their most dreaded natural enemy.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless blood-colored patterns rose from within the bone, rapidly condensing into a huge.

    As soon as the formed, Ophelia¡¯s Demonic Illusion Realm split up like shattered ss, with wisps of flesh aura trapped by the huge.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence that had fused into the bone established a mysterious connection with him.

    He heard a distant voice echoing in his ears, telling him that the huge, blood-colored the bone was using was actually a Star Behemoth bloodline talent: Predation!

    It was with this very bloodline talent that the bone had caught and killed Catie outside the Realm of a Hundred Battles. Now, it was merely repeating what it had done before.

    ¡°Even Catie, an early ninth grade grand patriarch, was killed by this mysterious talent. Does this eighth grade Demon have what it takes to fight it?¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    At this moment, he was losing his flesh power at an rming speed. Two drops of Blood Essence were seething in his heart. However, he didn¡¯t seem to feel a thing.

    He only stared coldly at Ophelia.

    ¡°Han Yu told me about this bone of yours long ago,¡± Ophelia said. Though surprised, she didn¡¯t look scared, as if she had expected something like this.

 Chapter 1117: Clash of Flesh And Blood

    ¡°Demonic Mirage Pearl!¡± As Ophelia eximed, a round pearl suddenly appeared in her palm.

    The mysterious pearl seemed to record the Demon race¡¯s entire history of bloodline development.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Ophelia¡¯s Demonic Illusion Realm, which was shattered by the huge unleashed by the Star Behemoth bone, rapidly morphed into streaks of dark purple aura that vanished into the Demonic Mirage Pearl.

    Not just that, but the wisps of flesh aura that Nie Tian had reduced all kinds of demonic insects and low-tier Demons to also quickly fused into the Demonic Mirage Pearl.

    Like arge, satanic eye, the Demonic Mirage Pearl fixed on Nie Tian.

    A peculiar, soul-twisting power secretly infiltrated his mind, stirring up huge waves in his sea of awareness.

    ¡°Soul invasion?¡± Nie Tian grinned, and calmly summoned the Spirit Pearl.

    In the next moment, a mor burst through the human, Demon, and Phantasm experts that were gathered outside the dead realm.

    ¡°Is that a Demonic Mirage Pearl?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a Spirit Pearl!¡±

    Apparently, many of them recognized both the Demonic Mirage Pearl and the Spirit Pearl.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who was at the early tenth grade, had been overseeing things from within the Demon¡¯s floating stronghold.

    At this moment, he couldn¡¯t help but burst into the starry river, the cyan prismatic crystal between his eyebrows blossoming with soul-suffocating light.

    Ji Yuanquan, Chu Rui, and Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, along with other God and Saint domain human experts, fixed their eyes on the iing Grand Monarch Dark Nether simultaneously.

    ¡°Dark Nether! You¡¯re not going to break the rules, are you?!¡± Chu Rui eximed in a deep voice.

    Even though Grand Monarch Dark Nether was still a significant distance from the dead realm, the cyan crystal in his brow seemed to have seen every detail of the Spirit Pearl.

    Face very grim, he eximed back, ¡°That Spirit Pearl is a precious treasure of my people!¡±

    Froste, who hade for this special event from the Phantasm realms, also eximed, ¡°It¡¯s the Spirit Pearl again!¡±

    He had schemed against Hou Chn with the Fiends¡¯ help in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin. However, Nie Tian had ruined his n. He hated Nie Tian to the bone.

    Therefore, upon hearing about the duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia, he had traveled all the way from the Phantasm realms to this ce just to witness Nie Tian¡¯s death.

    However, the sight of the Spirit Pearl filled him with fury.

    ¡°So? Isn¡¯t the Heavenly Ster Stream an Immortal grade tool of my sect?!¡± Chu Rui, who was a bit chubby, asked rhetorically.

    ¡°Calm down. Calm down...¡± ncing through the God domain human experts, Grand Monarch Dark Nether reminded himself that this was a duel between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Demons, not the Phantasms.

    If he wanted to take the Spirit Pearl back, he could do it at any other time, but just not now, not here.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust, five evil spirits suddenly flew out of the Spirit Pearl. Like five terrifying illusory shadows, they bore their fangs and brandished their ws as they madly unleashed negative emotions.

    In a sh, the heavy pressure the Demonic Mirage Pearl had put on his mind was lifted.

    Now, it was Nie Tian¡¯s turn to fix Ophelia with a stare, with the five evil spirits¡¯ negative powers swirling and mixing in his eyes.

    The moment Ophelia¡¯s eyes met his, she was engulfed in hatred, fear, rage, bloodlust, and despair.

    ¡°Die! Die!! Die!!!¡± Ophelia said through gritted teeth.

    Her battle armor that was engraved with countless exquisite patterns lit up as she shifted to Nie Tian¡¯s side in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Indestructible Form!¡± As Ophelia eximed, power erupted within her lean, agile body.

    She put the Demonic Mirage Pearl aside, along with her various profound bloodline magics, and dashed over to fight Nie Tian at close quarters by relying on nothing but her fleshly strength.

    Flying dust quickly filled their battleground. Numerousrge rocks were crushed into powder. Mountains toppled, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    Like two balls of light, they madly exchanged punches and kicks in the dead realm, manifesting all kinds of exquisite close-quarters battle techniques.

    The observers started whispering among themselves.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°That Nie Tian can actually fight Ophelia at close quarters after she activates the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s understandable. The seventh Son of the Stars is a hybrid after all.¡±

    ¡°Even a hybrid shouldn¡¯t have such a tough body and extraordinary fleshly strength!¡±

    ¡°So impressive!¡±

    As that moment, a wooden ancient starship slowly sailed over from the distant starry river.

    It was a Floragrim starship.

    Instead of arriving through the teleportation portal in the Demons¡¯ stronghold, they had sailed all the way to this part of the starry river, which was a bit strange.

    Fata appeared on the ancient starship. Pointing at the dead realm where the duel was taking ce, he said to an old Floragrim next to him, ¡°Doyen, that one fighting Ophelia is Nie Tian.

    ¡°I met him in the Shatter Battlefield. He possesses a Wood Thriving Formation, which is branded with the patterns of Trees of Life and unique to our people.

    ¡°Not just that, but he has even mastered our secret incantations that we don¡¯t ever pass on to outsiders!¡±

    The Floragrim elder, who seemed to have lived innumerable years, gazed raptly at Nie Tian from afar, his eyes glittering with divine light. ¡°You¡¯re right! I sense our Heavenly Wood Heal within him! Not only does he practice it, but he¡¯s even entered the fourth stage: Flesh Tempering!¡±

    Fata smiled bitterly. ¡°I haven¡¯t even finished that stage yet.¡±

    The elder, who he had referred to as ¡®Doyen¡¯, continued to measure Nie Tian with his gaze. Momentster, his expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°He also has a Godspirit Tree in his wood power core!¡±

    The Floragrims¡¯ arrival caught Hou Chn¡¯s attention. She and a few elders of the wood element sect fixed them with vignt gazes, as if they were faced with formidable foes.

    All of them sensed anomalies in their wood power cores.

    Wisps of faint wood power started flying uncontrobly out of them towards the Floragrim elder, as if they were subject to some natural attraction.

    However, the Floragrim elder had clearly note to undermine the disciples of the Five Elements Sect.

    His eyebrows flickered slightly as he shielded his natural aura that he was exuding unconsciously.

    The wisps of wood power that had left the wood power cultivators instantly flew back into them.

    ¡°It seems that the seventh Son of the Stars has some profound connections with our race.¡± The Florigrim elder thought to himself. ¡°Godspirit Tree, Heavenly Wood Heal, and Wood Thriving Formation... These were treasures, spell formations, and incantations that we¡¯d never let out our race. However, not only did he get them, but he even mastered them. This is...¡±

    ¡°Doyen,¡± Fata eximed softly. ¡°Ophelia is a formidable opponent. What if Nie Tian dies in the duel?¡±

    ¡°If he dies, then the answers to his secrets will die with him,¡± the Floragrim elder said. He secretly nced at the powerful human experts and important outsider figures that were gathered here, and added in a low voice, ¡°That Nie Tian has already reached the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal. Even if he dies in battle, it¡¯ll be salvageable.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be able to bring him back to life as long as we can secure his body.¡±

    Fata¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re right! Since he¡¯s reached the fourth stage of Heavenly Wood Heal, we can actually bring him back to life with our divine tools!¡±

    With such thoughts in mind, the two of them instantly felt rxed.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Mountains toppled and the earth split. Grayish-brown dust and sand formed a sandstorm that engulfed the entire dead realm.

    The Demonic Mirage Pearl and the Spirit Pearl floated in midair, facing and contending against each other.

    Nie Tian and Ophelia, however, fought at close quarters, their exceptionally tough bodies shing repeatedly.

    Thanks to her demonic armor, Ophelia didn¡¯t sustain any noticeable injuries. However, Nie Tian was gradually covered in fine, bloody wounds.

    He frowned, and prepared to summon the me Dragon Armor.

 Chapter 1118: No Sign of Defeat

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The eighth grade Ophelia panted softly, her icy eyes wreathed in swirling flesh aura.

    An astonished expression appeared on her face.

    Having activated her Indestructible Form and d in her demonic armor, she had confidence that even Fiends, Phantasms, and other outsiders wouldn¡¯t be able to handle her at close quarters.

    Only Bonebrutes that had activated their Impregnable Form might have a chance at contending against her in such a manner.

    Nie Tian, however, was only a hybrid.

    She could tell that his bloodline was only at the seventh grade.

    Even a Bonebrute at his grade wouldn¡¯t be able to match her in battle.

    Therefore, the fact that a seventh grade hybrid like him had managed to contend against her for so long in a pure sh of fleshly bodies greatly shocked her.

    As soon as they were separated from each other, Ophelia calmed down.

    Earlier, Nie Tian had vested his eyes with the negative emotions of the five evil spirits, and plunged them into the depths of Ophelia¡¯s soul, stirring up her bloodlust. This had caused her to give up her powerful tools and exquisite bloodline talents and resort to pure fleshly strength in her fight against Nie Tian.

    At this moment, even though she had walked out of the five powerful evil spirits¡¯ influences, she didn¡¯tunch a new round of attacks right away.

    Instead, she took a closer look at Nie Tian, examining him for even the slightest changes.

    Soon, she noticed that, even though their fight had just stopped, the fine wounds that covered his body had already stopped bleeding, and begun scabbing over.

    Ophelia¡¯s eyes widened.

    At this moment, Nie Tian, who was going to summon the me Dragon Armor, had second thoughts, and eventually chose to activate his newly-acquired bloodline talent, Potential Stimtion, instead.

    At the same time, he activated Heavenly Wood Heal.

    BOOOOM!

    Vigorous flesh aura burst forth from within his heart like a flood bursting through a dam.

    Three more drops of Blood Essence that looked like crimson diamonds seethed, releasing countless wisps of extremely vigorous flesh power that carried the profound truths of life.

    Wisp after wisp instantly flowed to every corner of his body, filling his internal organs.

    His wounds started healing at a shockingly high speed, his flesh fibers rapidly regenerating, reattaching, and refining.

    Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, Meridian Toughening, and Flesh Tempering, the four stages of Heavenly Wood Heal, had made every inch of his body extraordinarily tough.

    As the newly-generated flesh power circted through his body through his meridians, even the internal injuries Ophelia had inflicted upon him healed at an incredible speed.

    In only a few breaths¡¯ time, he could no longer feel the burning sensation and sore pain in his chest.

    At the same time, the scabs that had formed over the deep scratches Ophelia had left all over him started falling off like old tree bark.

    The revealed skin was so smooth that there weren¡¯t any signs of previous injuries. Instead, it seemed even more translucent and jade-like.

    Ophelia¡¯s pupils shrank as she saw this.

    Due to the distances involved, even the God domain experts outside the dead realm might not be able to capture the subtle changes to Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    However, she saw even the slightest change with great rity.

    ¡°I, I can¡¯t believe that he can actually heal himself at such an unimaginable speed!¡± Ophelia eximed inwardly. A hint of disbelief appeared in her eyes as she stared at Nie Tian.

    Both the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form and the Bonebrutes¡¯ Impregnable Form were known for their tremendous enhancement of bodily functions.

    Of course, enhanced self-healing ability was one of the perks. However, it wasn¡¯t what characterized these two profound bloodline talents.

    The most powerful self-healing bloodline talents came from the Floragrims, represented by Heavenly Wood Heal, which Nie Tian had mastered and practiced.

    Coupling it with his unique bloodline, he had raised his self-healing ability to a whole new level.

    The experts gathered outside the dead realm could only sense the sudden surge in Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura, but they couldn¡¯t see or sense all of the details.

    ¡°A seventh grade hybrid...¡± Ophelia muttered to herself, a grim look appearing on her face.

    She had heard of the humans¡¯ hybrid projects long ago. However, she had never attached any importance to them.

    On the one hand, all of the surviving hybrids were said to be weak, too weak to raise her attention.

    On the other hand, she had heard that major problems had happened to the humans¡¯ hybrid projects.

    For these reasons, as far as she saw it, the so-called hybrid projects were nothing but a joke.

    But now, as a hybrid, Nie Tian had disyed abilities thatpletely astonished her.

    If the humans had many more hybrids like Nie Tian...

    Her face grew grimmer and grimmer as her train of thought reached this point.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Thousand Demon Hands!¡± With a loud exmation, several drops of purple Blood Essence burst within Ophelia¡¯s heart, unleashing torrential flesh power.

    Raging flesh power mixed with her soul awareness in an unfathomable manner, forming a wide illusory river between her and Nie Tian.

    Immediately afterwards, numerous huge arms stretched out of the river, wing at Nie Tian.

    With a cold smile, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Primal Chaos!¡±

    All sorts of power, including his flesh aura, star power, me power, wood power, and soul power, exploded within him simultaneously.

    Powers of different attributes shed with each other as they formed a unique, distorting field around him.

    Countless bits of starlight, wood essence, and me sparks hovered around him at an increasing speed.

    Upon entering the Primal Chaos, the demon hands that had stretched out of the purple river unraveled and were reduced to the wisps of flesh and soul aura they had originally been. As they were twisted by the swirling energies in the Primal Chaos, Ophelia started to experience pain in her soul.

    ¡°What kind of bizarre power field is this?! It¡¯s definitely not a domain!¡± Ophelia had never expected that her Thousand Demon Hands, which she had cast at the cost of her Blood Essence, would be neutralized before they could even get close to Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Nie Tian roared inwardly as he infused his right arm with the various types of power that were hovering within the Primal Chaos. ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    Without even approaching Ophelia, he threw a punch towards her with full force.

    Ophelia¡¯s gasped as she watched Nie Tian¡¯s fist gradually expand, as if to fill all of heaven and earth. ¡°Why, why did I just hear the roar of a titan...?¡±

    As a core member of the Demon race, she had encountered titans in areas that bordered titan territory before.

    Therefore, as she heard a remote roar from Nie Tian¡¯s expanding fist, she found it rather familiar.

    At the same time...

    A titan was sitting straight like a mountain peak on a gigantic floating meteor in a nearby area of the Dead Star Sea.

    All of a sudden, his internal aura was stirred by something, causing his heart to race.

    His eyes snapped open. Bright like the sun, they lit up the dark starry river.

    Thanks to his keen bloodline perception, he quickly determined that it was the battle between a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and a Demon in a nearby area that he had just felt.

    His expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°A magic cast by that Son of the Stars named Nie Tian stirred up my qi and blood?¡±

    The reason why he hadn¡¯t gone to witness the duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia was because he attached no importance to either of them.

    He had only traveled to the Dead Star Sea all the way from their heaven and earth because he was interested in the duel between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t even cared to enter the area before that duel took ce.

    If Nie Tian lost, he would have left quietly, as if he had never been here.

    However, now that a magic cast by Nie Tian actually triggered a palpitation in his heart, he became somewhat intrigued.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the seventh Son of the Stars is a hybrid, but no one seems to know the origin of his non-human bloodline,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that his bloodline has something to do with us. But if it doesn¡¯t, why would I sense it so sharply as soon as he cast that magic?¡±

    Baffled, the titan infused the meteor he was sitting on with his flesh aura.

    Like an iparablyrge starship, the meteor sailed towards the battle area at a shocking speed, giving rise to deafening rumbles.

    Pieces kept breaking off the meteor as it dashed forward, as if it couldn¡¯t withstand the titan¡¯s power.

    By the time the meteor approached the dead realm where the duel was taking ce, numerous pieces from the meteor rained towards the observers like cannonballs, forcing them to avoid them while cursing aloud.

 Chapter 1119: Those Who Call Themselves Gods

    ¡°That¡¯s a titan of the Ancientspirits!¡± Many human experts eximed in astonishment upon seeing the enormous titan flying towards them.

    The titan that had barged into this area of the starry river wasrger than any starship, human or outsider.

    His sudden arrival shocked all of the observers.

    The area where titans lived was extremely far from the human heaven and earth. Even after sailing through the Dead Star Sea, they would still have to take a very long journey to arrive in their heaven and earth.

    Unlike outsiders and Ancientbeasts, titans hadn¡¯t appeared in the human heaven and earth for a very long time.

    Many wars had broken out between the humans and outsiders. The titans hadn¡¯t been in any of them. Only Ancientbeasts and dragons had appeared on a few asions.

    For this reason, even many of the powerful human experts hadn¡¯t seen a living titan in their whole lives, not to mention the juniors.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes fixed on the arriving titan, a legendary creature that was evenrger than a dragon.

    Like a towering mountain peak, he floated over the dead realm. His surging flesh aura stirred and conflicted with the mixed energies in the starry river, enveloping him in a raging storm.

    The meteors that were close to him shattered to pieces that swirled around him in his terrifying flesh aura sea.

    ¡°Chatvic!¡±

    It was neither the human experts nor the outsider experts who had eximed this name.

    Instead, it came from Felix and the other dragons that were quietly observing the duel from a distant floating meteor.

    Only then did some powerful human and outsider experts exim, ¡°That¡¯s Chatvic! An Ancient God of the titans!¡±

    Titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons were all Ancientspirits, who had been the overlords of this starry river during the Deste Antiquity Era.

    During that lost era, titans had considered themselves as gods, and referred to their powerful tenth grade members as ¡®Ancient Gods¡¯.

    This Chatvic in front of everyone was a tenth grade titan, which was why others referred to him as ¡®Ancient God¡¯ to show their respect.

    AHHHH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s roar echoed out from the dead realm underneath him.

    After he had cast Titan¡¯s Wrath, his fist expanded infinitely in Ophelia¡¯s view, almost filling the entire heaven and earth. This gave her a feeling that she could never avoid it.

    However, the rapid expansion had also made the fist travel slowly.

    Because of this, even by the time Chatvic arrived, the fist still hadn¡¯t reached Ophelia.

    As the fist slowly pressed forward, not only did it channel all sorts of power from Nie Tian, but it absorbed the mixed, unidentified energies in the dead realm as well.

    Fixing his huge, bright eyes on the dead realm, Chatvic muttered, ¡°This is...¡±

    Under his gaze, the originally dark dead realm suddenly lit up, as if a sun had shone upon it. Many details of the duel were brought to light.

    Only then did the powerful experts of different races notice that countless hair-like wisps, which seemed to be powers of different attributes, were being attracted to Nie Tian¡¯s magical fist.

    Like a creature with its own awareness, the fist continued to expand at an rming rate as it absorbed all kinds of energy.

    By the time it finally reached Ophelia, it had already expanded several dozen times over, and be muchrger than Nie Tian.

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    Ophelia, who had activated Ancestral Awakening, had be ten times asrge as her original size, and assumed the appearance of an Illusion Demon.

    It was hard to tell whether she was illusory or real. Her skin had be semi-transparent, vaguely revealing her meridians and veins. Her blood could be even seen running through them at a high speed.

    Her demonic armor had expanded with her.

    At this moment, countless exquisite patterns suddenly left its surface and morphed into a Demonic Cloud Shield, which was a magic mastered by many Demons.

    It was just that Ophelia¡¯s Demonic Cloud Shield was incrediblyrge. Like a humongous shield, it propped up heaven and earth.

    Exquisite demonic patterns could be seen changing rapidly on the shield¡¯s surface. In the next moment, hundreds of peculiar spell formations came to form.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Demon qi that was unconsciously exuded by the many high-tier and low-tier Demons that were gathered outside the dead realm was suddenly channeled, and poured down into it like waterfalls.

    As raging Demon qi fused into the Demonic Cloud Shield, the shield became even thicker and sturdier, like an unshakable mountain peak.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Finally, Nie Tian¡¯s Titan¡¯s Wrath, which carried various types of power from Nie Tian and his surroundings, mmed into the Demonic Cloud Shield.

    The enormous shield took waves of intense blows within a short time.

    Ophelia sensed with great rity that more than ten types of power had mmed violently into her shield in less than a second.

    The curious spell formations on the shield, which were formed from solidified demonic power, faded away one after another.

    Losing the solidification of the spell formations, the Demonic Cloud Shield was weakened.

    BOOOOM!

    Cracks appeared on the enormous shield before it suddenly exploded into pieces.

    ¡°Such a mighty fist magic doesn¡¯t seem to be an attacking means of the humans,¡± Ophelia eximed softly. A rxed expression then appeared on her face as she once again stimted theplicated patterns on her demonic armor.

    Even though her Demonic Cloud Shield had shattered, Nie Tian¡¯s punch had also worn out its power.

    She shrewdly discovered that Nie Tian had consumed a significant amount of flesh power, along with the power of different attributes within his spiritual sea.

    She felt that Nie Tian had be weaker.

    WHOOSH!

    Both the Spirit Pearl and the Star Behemoth bone seemed to sense Nie Tian¡¯s condition, as they flew back to him.

    The Spirit Pearl floated over the top of his head, where it emanated misty cyan light.

    The bone stopped in front of him. Numerous mysterious veins that looked like human meridians appeared on its surface, as if it were experiencing new changes.

    Ophelia fixed Nie Tian with an icy look. A few secondster, she lifted her hand to recover her pearl and said, ¡°The Demonic Mirage Pearl doesn¡¯t seem to work on you. And the toughness of your body is beyond my expectations. Even though I can hurt you by fighting you with my fleshly strength, your freakish self-healing ability allows you to recover once you¡¯re given a chance.¡±

    With these words, she frowned, as if she had finally made a decision.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence flew out of her heart to burn in front of her ample chest.

    Then, she took out an oddly-shaped saber and put it in the seething flesh aura created by her Blood Essence.

    The saber was sharply curved, and looked to be rather dull at first.

    However, as soon as Ophelia dipped it in her burning Blood Essence, it underwent changes.

    Outside the dead realm, many Demon observers held their breaths.

    Their eyes were filled with excitement and reverence as they looked at the demonic de.

    Some powerful human experts also recognized the de. Their expressions flickered as they all stopped talking to one another.

    Nie Tian also sensed the anomaly.

    He looked up at the blurry figures in the void that were as puny as grains of rice.

    His expression flickered as he saw the enormous titan against a background of countless tiny figures.

    With a faint smile, Ophelia said, ¡°Even though the Demonic Mirage Pearl works well with my bloodline, and I can use it to create all kinds of illusions and bewitch others, it¡¯s not destructive enough.¡±

    By saying these words, she caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention again.

    ¡°This de is my most mighty tool,¡± Ophelia exined. ¡°However, since the price to wield it is too great, I don¡¯t want to use it unless I have to.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim.

    Before this duel, he had heard that Ophelia was in possession of an amazing demonic tool, which was every bit as powerful as the four great sects¡¯ Immortal grade divine tools.

    He had assumed that the Demonic Mirage Pearl was the powerful tool people had referred to.

    Only now did he realize that the demonic de bathed in Ophelia¡¯s seething Blood Essence was her most mighty tool, which she wouldn¡¯t wield unless absolutely necessary.

 Chapter 1120: Doom Blade

    The demonic de was stimted and awakened by Ophelia¡¯s Blood Essence.

    Extremely fine wisps poured down from the numerous high-tier and low-tier Demons that were gathered outside the dead realm.

    The wisps were a mixture of the Demons¡¯ refined flesh auras and Demon qi.

    Many high-tier Demons werepletely capable of stopping them from flying towards the demonic de.

    However, none of them did.

    They simply let that demonic de channel and use their power as an additional source of power.

    Observed from afar, the demonic de looked like a ckish-violet crescent moon.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Drops of Blood Essence continued to fly out of Ophelia¡¯s chest and fuse into the de like drops of water fusing into a sponge.

    All of a sudden, the demonic de blossomed with terrifying purple light.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Strange cracking sounds echoed in the air, as if this area of the dead realm was under too much pressure.

    A violent roar suddenly burst forth from within the demonic de.

    In the next moment, clusters of ck mes and bolts of purple lightning shot out of the crescent moon-shaped de.

    Every inch of the area exploded.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos, which he had established with all sorts of power, caved in.

    As clusters of ck mes and bolts of purple lightning sted into the Primal Chaos, the unique field, most of whose power had been fused into the Titan¡¯s Wrath, suddenly copsed.

    Nie Tian instantly felt suffocated, as if he couldn¡¯t even breathe.

    ¡°Starshift!¡±

    He madly drew star power from his spiritual sea to cast the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret escape magic, a short-range Starshift.

    BOOM! RUMBLE!

    The moment after he escaped, the piece of solid, deste ground he had stood on was bombarded by ck mes and purple lightning. The entire area was enveloped in an aura of doom.

    The earth burned with ck mes.

    Lightning slithered in the air, as if to capture and wipe out any life force it could find.

    Many powerful human and outsider experts that were gathered outside the dead realm couldn¡¯t help but exim upon capturing the unique aura of the ck mes and purple lightning released by the demonic de.

    ¡°Doom de!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Doom de indeed!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one of the Demons¡¯ signature treasures!¡±

    The Doom de was a very famous weapon in Demon history.

    Itsst holder was Ophelia¡¯s mother: Grand Monarch Illusory Demon. When she had died, the Doom de had been passed on to Ophelia.

    This terrifying de could release destructive ck mes and purple lightning and reduce all beings with flesh and blood to ashes.

    To stimte and awaken it, the wielder would have to use his or her Blood Essence, which might be rather easy for ninth or tenth grade Demon grand patriarchs and grand monarchs.

    However, since Ophelia was only at the eighth grade, she was under great pressure every time she used her Blood Essence to awaken the Demonic Doom Spirit within the Doom de.

    It was said that a fierce spirit slumbered inside the Doom de. The Demons called it the Demonic Doom Spirit.

    It was not the spirit of an ancient Demon, or any member of the Demon race.

    In fact, it had originally been called the Doom Spirit.

    Only after a powerful Demon grand monarch had merged with the Doom de and awakened it with his Blood Essence had its name been changed into the Demonic Doom Spirit.

    The added ¡®Demonic¡¯ was to indicate its connections with the Demons.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    ck mes spread across the ground as purple lightning roared through the air. The mixed energy in that area seemed to be transforming into a mysterious power that carried a unique aura of doom.

    ¡°Doom, doom, doom for all lives...¡± Vague, remote calls came from within the Doom de.

    Even though it wasn¡¯t in any of the knownnguages, everyone who heard it explicitly understood every word of the remote bellows.

    SHEW!

    The Star Behemoth bone flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly as it did. He found that the bone seemed to have noticed the inconvenience its size was bringing him, and thus took it upon itself to shrink down to about two meters long, like a scarlet spear.

    Feeling heavy pressure from the demonic de, Nie Tian didn¡¯t dare to dy as he summoned the me Dragon Armor from within his ring of holding. ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡±

    Exuding raging mes, the suit of armor d itself on Nie Tian, covering most of his body.

    WOO! WOO!

    Ophelia turned slightly to face Nie Tian again, before bloodcurdling shrieks suddenly came from within the Doom de in her hand.

    In the next moment, the ck mes and purple lightning that had engulfed Nie Tian¡¯s previous location dashed towards him again, as if they were soldiers following themands of a general.

    WOO! WOO! WOO!

    The shrieksing from the Doom de grew increasingly urgent and ear-piercing.

    Nie Tian started to feel a numbness in his scalp and a splitting pain in his head. Just as he was about to cast Starshift again, he discovered that the area he was in was somehow sealed off by the sharp, bloodcurdling shrieks.

    The shrieks seemed to have formed an invisible ward that prevented him from escaping with Starshift.

    ck mes spread across the hard ground at an rming speed. The purple lightning bolts traveled even faster through air. In the blink of an eye, they reached the sky over Nie Tian.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Purple lightning bolts struck down, carrying an aura of destruction.

    Nie Tian hastily drew his me power, wood power, star power, and flesh power to establish wards of different colors.

    As soon as the wards came to form, numerous heaven-filling lightning bolts mmed down into them.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As fragile as paper, one ward after another exploded.

    Like numerous purple chains, the lightning bolts came closer and closer to Nie Tian.

    They whipped at thest zing shield created by the me Dragon Armor repeatedly, giving rise to sputtering sparks.

    Nie Tian struggled as his me power was consumed at an rming rate.

    At this moment, the ck mes that slithered across the earth like snakes finally reached him as well.

    At the same time, the Doom de continued to let out sharp, intimidating shrieks, along with more purple lighting bolts and ck mes that carried an aura of destruction.

    The entire dead realm seemed to be devastated by a power of doom, as if something terrible was about to happen.

    Nie Tian gradually started to show signs of tiring out.

    Seeing this, the powerful outsider experts that were observing the battle realized that he was finally going to burn out hisst bit of strength and die under the Doom de.

    Some Demons sneered. ¡°It¡¯s his honor for him to die under my people¡¯s unparalleled mighty weapon.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Doom de he¡¯s up against! What else do you expect? After awakening the Demonic Doom Spirit in the demonic de, Ophelia¡¯s battle prowess has risen so high that even a ninth grade grand patriarch would find her hard to deal with. That Nie Tian is only at the Soul realm. How can he possibly survive the Doom de¡¯s devastating might?¡±

    Many observers whispered among themselves, assuming that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to save the situation. The Doom de would eventually plunge him to his doom.

    Even Nie Tian himself felt that none of his defensive means seemed to be working against the ck mes and purple lighting, and he was running low on all sorts of power.

    He started to feel powerless.

 Chapter 1121: Two of the Same Species

    The Doom de continued to let out shrill, high-pitched shrieks.

    Raging ck mespletely engulfed the area where Nie Tian was standing. Their innate destructive aura attempted to infiltrate and rip Nie Tian¡¯sst defense apart.

    At the same time, one purple lightning bolt after another struck down from the heavens, as if he was in a devastating storm.

    Nie Tian struggled to hold on.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The me Dragon Armor desperately channeled his me power and flesh aura to maintain the fiery ward.

    However, the zing ward trembled, as if it could cave at any moment.

    While Nie Tian was at his wit¡¯s end dealing with the Doom de¡¯s overwhelming power, the me spark within his me power core, which he had received from the Divine me, suddenly grew active.

    WHOOSH!

    It generated fierce orange mes that streamed into the me Dragon Armor¡¯s fiery shield, instantly igniting its might.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The ck mes that carried a lethal aura of destruction shed with the zing shield, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    What was surprising was that the ck mes that made Nie Tian increasingly anxious and insecure were suddenly contained.

    At the same time, the amount of ck mes and purple lightning bolts that the Doom de spewed suddenly decreased to arge extent.

    The Doom Spirit that had been sealed inside the demonic de also stopped letting out sharp shrieks.

    No one knew what was causing this.

    Even Ophelia, the owner of the demonic de, was dumbfounded.

    Meanwhile, the invisible ward confining Nie Tian vanished as soon as the sharp shrieks ceased.

    Nie Tian, who had been stranded in thisnd of danger, finally escaped by casting Starshift.

    Ophelia didn¡¯t even seem to notice his escape.

    Frowning deeply, she looked nkly at the Doom de in her hand.

    The speed at which her Blood Essence fused into it had be very slow.

    It was as it didn¡¯t want her Blood Essence anymore.

    ¡°Why? What¡¯s happening?¡± Ophelia bellowed as she attempted to establish soulmunication with the Doom Spirit within the demonic de.

    Then, she received a vague message that she could only barely understood from the Doom Spirit.

    Ophelia¡¯s expression flickered violently.

    ording to the Doom Spirit, Nie Tian had something within his me power core that belonged to the same species as the Doom Spirit!

    Apparently, the Doom Spirit and the me spark from the Divine me belonged to a special species of living beings, which was different from beings with flesh and blood.

    Such beings were extremely hard to find and rejected fighting each other.

    The Doom Spirit didn¡¯t intend to fight the me spark, just as the me spark didn¡¯t want to fight the Doom Spirit.

    Even though the me spark was much weaker than the Doom Spirit, both of them were subject to their innate unwillingness to fight members of their kind.

    WHOOSH!

    Upon escaping the ck mes and purple lightning and appearing in a distant location, Nie Tian roared, clutching the shrunken Star Behemoth bone, ¡°Life Blend!¡±

    FIZZ!

    Countless blood-colored strings flew out of him into the bone, his torrential flesh power instantly connecting to the flesh power within the bone.

    He somehow heard remote thumpsing from within the bone.

    Such thumps echoed his heartbeat, gradually synchronizing.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian was struck by a feeling that he had be an enormous Star Behemoth himself, and preyed on powerful beings in the depths of the starry river.

    His eyes suddenly became indifferent. Instead of human emotions and aura, he now exuded a mysterious aura that was ancient and immense.

    As soon as this happened, all of the powerful Demons that carried ancient Demon bloodlines, and even the dragons and the titan, felt a strong sense of danger.

    The bone expanded from two meters to sixty meters long in a split second, exuding a rich flesh aura that vaguely assumed the shape of a Star Behemoth.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Predation!¡±

    Mysterious blood-colored patterns once again shot out from within the bone, morphing into a blood-colored in the sky.

    After the amplification of Nie Tian¡¯s Life Blend, the seemed to fill up the entire space between heaven and earth, leaving Ophelia no room to escape.

    WHOOSH!

    The orange me spark flew out of Nie Tian to flicker in the air.

    As it did, the Doom Spirit that had been sealed within the Doom de by some deceased Demon grand monarch acted by a deep-seated understanding of their species, and stayed out of the fight.

    Without it, the mighty Doom de instantly lost its edge.

    No matter how Ophelia called upon the demonic de, or provided it with more Blood Essence, it didn¡¯t show its vicious side again.

    For this reason, as the heaven-blocking descended towards Ophelia, she couldn¡¯t resist it with her most powerful weapon.

    Besides, by fusing the de with arge amount of Blood Essence, she had weakened herself.

    In desperation, she had to further stimte her Ancestral Awakening, allowing her to grow evenrger.

    However, as the huge blood-colored finally fell on her, she was still overwhelmed by a fear that had been buried in the deepest part of her memories, causing her to tremble nonstop.

    For the first time, she was in despair.

    The huge blood-colored soon fully enveloped Ophelia, who was nowrger than ever.

    However, she started to struggle in the, and gradually shrink down.

    Such shrinking wasn¡¯t spontaneous, but a manifestation of her rapid flesh power loss.

    ¡°The battle is over.¡±

    A remote, formidable voice suddenly came from the Demons¡¯ floating stronghold, rumbling through many dead realms in the vicinity.

    Upon hearing it, everyone that was gathered outside the dead realm, human or outsider, felt tremendous pressure, no matter what grade or cultivation base they were at.

    Countless gazes instantly fixed on the source of the voice.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s voice!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he came!¡±

    At this moment, a gigantic blood-colored axe shot out of the Demon¡¯s floating stronghold towards the dead realm.

    An intense flesh aura sea enveloped the axe, along with a sinister-looking Demon expert.

    Someone recognized him, then eximed aloud, ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe!¡±

    That was when Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s voice echoed through the void, ¡°We admit defeat. This duel doesn¡¯t need to carry on anymore. The Heavenly Ster Stream will be presented to you shortly. And our chief has agreed to ept elder Mo Heng¡¯s challenge.¡±

    ¡°The Demons have admitted defeat?!¡±

    ¡°Ophelia lost?!¡±

    ¡°Ophelia actually lost the duel?!¡±

 Chapter 1122: Victory

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s words and Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s arrival announced the end of the duel.

    In the dead realm, Ophelia, who was caught in the blood-colored, had an extremely indignant and reluctant look on her face upon hearing Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s thunderous words.

    However, since she couldn¡¯t wield the Doom de anymore and had consumed too much of her Blood Essence, she couldn¡¯t possibly resist the Star Behemoth¡¯s bloodline talent: Predation.

    WHOOSH!

    As she wallowed in frustration, Nie Tian cut off his flesh aura that he was infusing the bone with, and deactivated Life Blend.

    The huge blood-colored instantly fell apart, the mysterious blood-colored patterns flying back into the bone.

    Nie Tian lifted his hand, and the bone that was sixty meters long vanished into his ring of holding.

    He fixed Ophelia with a deep look before summoning the Star Boat and heading outside the dead realm.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s words and Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s arrival made Nie Tian realize that the Demon leaders had admitted defeat because they didn¡¯t want things to get out of hand.

    He had a feeling that Ophelia had an ultimate means that she hadn¡¯t used yet.

    However, the price she would have to pay to use it might be more than she could take. Perhaps it would cause her premature death.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon thought very highly of Ophelia. He believed that she was bound to be a grand monarch one day.

    Her talent was one of a kind throughout the entire Demon race.

    Of course he didn¡¯t want her to die in this duel.

    Ophelia slumped on the ground, with the Doom de floating in front of her. ¡°I, I can¡¯t believe I lost...¡±

    Due to the leaving of Nie Tian¡¯s me spark, the Doom Spirit within the de grew active again.

    However, for the first time, Ophelia¡¯s eyes were filled with disgust as she stared at the de.

    ¡°No! This is not over!¡±

    As she gritted her teeth, more and more distorted veins appeared on her semi-transparent skin, as if it could split open at any moment.

    An extremely dangerous aura burst forth from within her.

    Nie Tian, who was heading out of the dead realm, suddenly jerked his head back towards her, his eyes widened.

    WHOOSH!

    That was when Grand Monarch Blood Axended by Ophelia¡¯s side. cing hisrge hand on her shoulder and shook gently. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not!!¡± Ophelia bellowed.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe sighed. ¡°I know how it feels. I wouldn¡¯t want to ept such a defeat either. You might have felt better if that kid were at the Void domain, or his bloodline had entered the eighth grade...¡±

    ¡°But still...!¡± Ophelia attempted to ignite herst remaining Blood Essence tounch her ultimate strike.

    ¡°Stop.¡± Wisps of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s flesh aura suddenly flew into Ophelia to suppress and confine her surging Blood Essence to her heart. ¡°Byunching thisst strike, you might be able to change the result, but it¡¯ll kill you too. Compared to that Heavenly Ster Stream and this insignificant victory, you are far more important.

    ¡°Our chief only ended this duel for you because he didn¡¯t want you to hurt yourself!¡±

    While speaking, he suppressed Ophelia¡¯s surging flesh aura with his unstoppable, immense flesh aura, allowing her to gradually calm down.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat flew out of the dead realm to the area where powerful human experts from the four great sects were gathered.

    Disbelief and shock were written across everyone¡¯s faces.

    At the ce where members of the Five Elements Sect were gathered, Huang Jinnan let out a cunningugh and said in a low voice, ¡°Now that Nie Tian has won this duel, his status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is probably going to rise above Sikong Cuo¡¯s. Early Soul realm against eighth grade... and he somehow won. No matter how he managed that, Grand Monarch Primal Demon ended the duel, admitting his victory.¡±

    Hou Chn nodded slightly. ¡°It seems that he¡¯s gained an upper hand in thepetition for the future Lord of the Stars.¡±

    ¡°Good job, Nie Tian!¡±

    Chu Rui, Yan Zhan, and Wei Lai took the initiative to approach and greet Nie Tian.

    Fang Yuan, Dou Tianchen, and many others also approached him with congrattory remarks.

    Even Sikong Cuo smiled at him.

    Mo Heng, however, was still in secluded cultivation, as if he hadn¡¯t kept an eye on this duel between Nie Tian and Ophelia.

    It seemed that he had focused all of his attention on preparing for his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    The dragons slowly flew over and congratted Nie Tian in a resounding voice. ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    Even the enormous, mountain-like titan slowly flew closer.

    Fixing his eyes that were as bright as suns on Nie Tian, he said in a very deep voice, ¡°Human boy, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to talk about in private.¡±

    At the moment, the most powerful experts from the four great sects had already voluntarily gathered to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    They could tell that Nie Tian was now depleted after his hard-fought duel against Ophelia.

    At this moment, any outsider grand monarch would be able to snuff out his soul with nothing but a wisp of their soul power.

    Therefore, the human experts took it upon themselves to stand guard for him.

    The titan noticed their vignce, and thus stopped approaching. He only fixed his shining eyes on Nie Tian, waiting for an answer.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and asked, ¡°You want to talk? Could you give me some time to recover first?¡±

    The titan pondered for a few seconds before nodding and saying, ¡°Sure. I traveled through this boundless starry river to witness the duel between Grand Elder Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon. I¡¯ll be around till their battle ends. Find me when you¡¯ve recovered.¡±

    With these words, he took his time to fly away from the area where the humans were gathered.

    At this moment, clusters of dazzling starlight emerged from the raging Demon qi in the Demons¡¯ floating stronghold.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Heavenly Ster Stream!¡±

    To honor Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s promise, the Demons deactivated the sealing magic on the Heavenly Ster Stream and set it free.

    Greatly spirited, Chu Ruiughed broadly. ¡°Nie Tian, that treasure is yours now!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes grew wide as he watched the Heavenly Ster Stream gradually fly in his direction. ¡°I guess it won¡¯t be right if I refuse such a treasure.¡±

    He even activated the Fragmentary Star Incantation to sense it.

    The other Sons of the Stars also secretly sensed the unique treasure, their breaths growing heavier as they did. ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream!¡±

    However, the Heavenly Ster Stream that was originally flying towards Nie Tian suddenly changed directions, and flew towards Sikong Cuo instead.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face dropped.

    Even Sikong Cuo was confused. Gazing nkly at the iing Heavenly Ster Stream, he muttered, ¡°What the...?¡±

    Chu Rui and the other elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were also confused by what was happening.

    The Demons had only unsealed the Heavenly Ster Stream and sent it in the humans¡¯ direction with little force.

    They didn¡¯t understand why it suddenly changed directions and flew towards Sikong Cuo either.

    ¡°Sixth Martial Brother!¡± Dou Tianchen shouted with a stern face. ¡°Nie Tian risked his life to win that thing. You¡¯re not trying to take it for your own, are you?!¡±

 Chapter 1123: A Rising Star

    The Heavenly Ster Stream was like a miniature starry river, with many clusters of bright starlight that looked like nebe in it.

    Experts from different human sects couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment, ¡°What¡¯s going on?!¡±

    Even many Demon, Phantasm, and Bonebrute experts looked unblinkingly at it from afar with confused looks on their faces.

    They were all surprised that the Heavenly Ster Stream was flying towards Sikong Cuo instead of Nie Tian.

    Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools normally had their own souls, not to mention Immortal grade divine tools.

    As an Immortal grade divine tool, the Heavenly Ster Stream seemed toe to its own decision as to its future master as it approached the Sons of the Stars.

    Apparently, it deemed that Sikong Cuo was its best choice.

    Facing Dou Tianchen¡¯s stern questioning, Sikong Cuo eximed with all seriousness, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to take it! It¡¯s only approaching me because it¡¯s somehow attracted to my aura.¡±

    Chu Rui, Wei Lai, and the other elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce looked at him with knitted brows.

    The Heavenly Ster Stream had been masterless since itsst master¡¯s death. The Demons had sealed it away since they had gained it.

    However, its soul had endured. It wouldn¡¯t die with its master¡¯s.

    Now that it was finally free again, it subconsciously looked for a new master as it approached the few Sons of the Stars.

    It understood that this was its fate.

    Only by choosing a Son of the Stars would it be able to maximize its value and purpose.

    However, it didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian was to be its new master.

    It examined its choices, and discovered that not only was Sikong Cuo young and enjoyed a high cultivation base, but his inner star power was exceptionally pure.

    Dou Tianchen was much older than it would like its new master to be.

    Nie Tian, on the other hand, was the first it ruled out.

    That was because, aside from star power, he also practiced me power and wood power. His mixed attributes made it uneasy and insecure.

    After serious consideration, it chose Sikong Cuo, and flew towards him in an attempt to merge with him right away.

    ¡°No!¡± Chu Rui shouted. As he swung hisrge hand, arge nebr curtain flew over.

    He was hoping to stop the Heavenly Ster Stream from merging with Sikong Cuo, as he knew that once they did, separating them would be rather troublesome.

    However, he was toote.

    Before his nebr curtain could reach Sikong Cuo, the Heavenly Ster Stream, which looked like a miniature starry river, morphed into a falling star and shot into Sikong Cuo¡¯s chest, where it instantly started merging with his fragmentary star marks.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, who were also at the God domain, were nearby.

    However, they simply watched. Neither of them did anything. After all, this was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s internal affair. They didn¡¯t want to meddle.

    Sikong Cuo went nk. ¡°I... This is not what I want...¡±

    In the next moment, his eyes lit up as he realized that a close connection had already formed between the Heavenly Ster Stream and the fragmentary star marks in his chest.

    He was overwhelmed by a curious feeling that it agreed with him perfectly, and that he now had ess to power he had never had before.

    Such a feeling made him reluctant to strip the Heavenly Ster Stream from himself.

    Nie Tian, who had consumed a significant amount of power and still had yet to calm his flesh aura, grew grimmer and grimmer as he watched this happen. His icy eyes ran up and down Sikong Cuo.

    Since Sikong Cuo had onlye to observe the duels, he hadn¡¯t brought any of his subordinates with him.

    If this had been before Nie Tian won his duel against Ophelia, Nie Tian¡¯s cold stare wouldn¡¯t have worried him at all. However, he now knew that he was in the wrong, and thus said with an embarrassed smile, ¡°As you can see, Seventh Martial Brother, this Heavenly Ster Stream chose me. I didn¡¯t do anything.

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll try and see if I canmunicate with it and find a way to separate it from me.¡±

    The eyes of Chu Rui, the sect elders, and powerful experts from the other sects were all fixed on him at this moment.

    No matter how much he wanted the treasure, he knew that if he tried to keep the Heavenly Ster Stream to himself, he would instantly be the target of everyone¡¯s arrows. (Idiom: a target of public criticism)

    ¡°As long as you give it up,¡± Nie Tian said with an unpleasant expression.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Sikong Cuo said as he sat down and closed his eyes. He attempted to gather his soul awareness in order to establish a soulmunication with the Heavenly Ster Stream, and persuade it to leave him.

    At this moment, Fang Yuan approached Nie Tian. ¡°You may want to have a rest, Nie Tian.¡±

    He took out some medicinal pills and stuffed them in Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Though he was talking to Nie Tian, he fixed his eyes on Sikong Cuo. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. So many people are watching. He has to give that Heavenly Ster Stream to you.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I know.¡±

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s resounding voice once again came from the Demons¡¯ floating stronghold. ¡°It¡¯ll take some time for me to get here. My duel with you will take ce seven days from now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡± Mo Heng¡¯s voice echoed out from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s berthed starship.

    Just like that, the two of them reached a mutual understanding.

    After that, Grand Monarch Blood Axe flew out of the dead realm and headed back towards their stronghold with the begrudging Ophelia and the other Demon observers.

    The other observing Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes also left sessively.

    However, all of those outsider grand patriarchs and talented young lords, who carried powerful bloodlines, fixed Nie Tian with grim looks as they left. Apparently, they all viewed Nie Tian as a rising star of the human race now.

    After this duel, not only would Nie Tian be famous in the human world, but throughout the outsider and Ancientspirit heaven and earth as well.

    This duel arranged by Mo Heng had lifted Nie Tian¡¯s reputation over all of the other Sons of the Stars.

    Many sect elders, who had been on the fence before, now looked at Nie Tian with unprecedented warmth in their eyes.

    Even Han Wanrong, who had long since sided with Fang Yuan, nced at Nie Tian from time to time.

    Somewhat envious and bitter, Fang Yuan said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve reced Sikong Cuo, and be the one with the best chance at bing the next sectmaster. It¡¯s really unbelievable that you managed to build up your reputation within such a short time. I mean, how long has it been since you finished your path of stars?¡±

    Seeing the outsiders retreat, many experts from different sects finally rxed and rushed over to congratte Nie Tian with unprecedented warmth.

    ¡°Congrattions, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve really earned us face by defeating Ophelia! Great job!¡±

    Some presented him with medicinal pills. Some introduced themselves to him. Some invited him to visit their domains, while others expressed their intent to strengthen their connections and increase trades with his subordinate domains and forces.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was like the moon surrounded by countless stars.

    He put on perfunctory smiles as he nodded at the people around him.

    Only when facing Hou Chn and the others from the Five Elements Sect did his smile be sincere. After all, the people from the Five Elements Sect were the only ones who hadn¡¯t given his subordinate forces a hard time when the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s prestige had plunged.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll need a bit more time, Seventh Martial Brother.¡± Sikong Cuo¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Problem?¡±

    Sikong Cuo nodded. ¡°A bit, yeah, but I should be able to fix it.¡±

    Chu Rui jumped in and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Nie Tian. I¡¯ll be here. As we said long ago, the Heavenly Ster Stream will be yours.¡±

    His words put Nie Tian¡¯s heart at ease. ¡°Okay,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯ll find a quiet ce to recover.¡±

    Then, he steered his Star Boat towards the berthed ancient starship. As he approached, he saw Dong Li from afar, who was looking excitedly at him, enveloped in the ck tortoise¡¯s flesh aura.

    His duel against Ophelia had taken ce in the dead realm. Dong Li¡¯s strength hadn¡¯t allowed her to get a clear view of it.

    She had been worried since the moment their duel had started. Only upon hearing Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s call had she realized that Nie Tian had won, and be relieved.

    Dong Li¡¯s lips trembled as she said, ¡°I, I¡¯m so d that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    Nie Tianughed broadly. ¡°You can keep that dark stone now. And I won an Immortal grade divine tool that agrees with my cultivation attribute.¡±

    At this moment, Mo Heng¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in his ears. ¡°Nie Tian, do you think you can give the Heavenly Ster Stream to Sikong Cuo?¡±

    Dong Li didn¡¯t hear a thing.

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Why what?¡± Dong Li asked, looking confused.

    ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream doesn¡¯t really suit you. That bone of yours does.¡± Mo Heng exined. ¡°Of course, if you agree to this, I¡¯ll make sure that Sikong Cuo gives you treasures of the same value in return.¡±

 Chapter 1124: Powerful Experts Gathering

    Nie Tian froze.

    Dong Li asked him about it, only to find him seemingly caught up in thought. Therefore, she stopped and waited in silence.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t suit me...¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    The Heavenly Ster Stream was an Immortal grade divine tool. When it had flown closer, every Son of the Stars present had felt a stir in the fragmentary star marks in their chests, and the star souls in their seas of awareness.

    He was no exception.

    He had assumed that if the other Sons of the Stars had stayed out of it and let him establish a connection with it by relying on his fragmentary star marks and star power incantations, it would have been easy to aplish.

    However, it turned out that the Heavenly Ster Stream had chosen Sikong Cuo instead of him.

    ¡°The grand elder has been helping me in secret since I joined the sect. He wouldn¡¯t trick me.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Since he pointed out that the Heavenly Ster Stream doesn¡¯t suit me, perhaps it just doesn¡¯t. But the problem is that it¡¯s an Immortal grade divine tool. What does Sikong Cuo have that can possibly match its value?¡±

    After pondering for a long while, Nie Tian finally whispered, ¡°I trust you. Please make arrangements as you see fit.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Mo Heng responded in a soul voice.

    Only then did Nie Tian open his eyes. He took a look at Dong Li and said, ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s get out of here. We cane back in a few days for Grand Elder Mo¡¯s duel.¡±

    They went below decks to the teleportation portal, and teleported to the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian found a secluded room in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s private section, where he rested and told Dong Li about Mo Heng¡¯s n.

    Confused, Dong Li asked, ¡°Is the grand elder on your side?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s been taking care of me the whole time,¡± Nie Tian said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°Besides, he seems to have aplicated connection with my father, whom I¡¯ve never met.¡±

    ¡°He knows your father?¡± Dong Li eximed in astonishment.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that now. I need to recover my strength as soon as possible.¡±

    With these words, he took out a ring of holding that he had just received from Hou Chn and Huang Jinnan. From within it, he took out several eighth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses.

    He had consumed a significant amount of power, along with ten drops of Blood Essence, in his battle against Ophelia.

    He had to recover them within the shortest time possible.

    After all, he nned to be there when the duel between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon took ce, so that he could witness how magnificent and breathtaking the sh between outsider and human peak experts would be.

    ...

    In the Dead Star Sea.

    Sikong Cuo, the sixth Son of the Stars, flew to the berthed ancient starship to find a secret cabin below decks, where he gathered power in an attempt to separate the Heavenly Ster Stream from him.

    As Fang Yuan had said, no matter how reluctant he was, he had to give the Heavenly Ster Stream up.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a ghost, Mo Heng¡¯s blurry soul shadow suddenly appeared in the room.

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s expression flickered as he saw it. He hastily rose to his feet and said respectfully, ¡°Greetings, Grand Elder.¡±

    Even though he had always been self-conceited, he felt great pressure facing Mo Heng, who had defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust immediately after entering the middle God domain, and then challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel.

    ¡°Don¡¯t separate the Heavenly Ster Stream from you just yet,¡± Mo Heng said softly.

    Ecstasy appeared in Sikong Cuo¡¯s eyes as he asked, ¡°What do you mean, Grand Elder?¡±

    ¡°I talked to Nie Tian, and he¡¯s agreed to let you have it,¡± Mo Heng said. ¡°Plus, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s most suited for the Heavenly Ster Stream."

    Sikong Cuo gradually calmed down from his ecstasy. He pondered for a moment, then asked, ¡°What am I supposed to give him in return? The Heavenly Ster Stream is an Immortal grade divine tool. I¡¯ve already felt its wonders. I really can¡¯t think of anything I have that can match its value.¡±

    Mo Heng nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. You don¡¯t, but vice sectmaster Luo has a few things, whosebined value can match the Heavenly Ster Stream¡¯s.¡±

    Sikong Cuo smiled bitterly. ¡°Don¡¯t joke with me, Grand Elder. Even though vice sectmaster Luo has been supportive of me, do you really think he¡¯ll give up his valuable collections just so that I can keep the Heavenly Ster Stream?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t asked him yet,¡± Mo Heng said. ¡°How do you know he won¡¯t agree to it?¡±

    Sikong Cuo fell silent, frowning.

    ¡°Go ask him,¡± Mo Heng add. ¡°He¡¯s well-aware which of his valuables can be used to trade for the Heavenly Ster Stream. If he refuses to help you out, you may go ahead and separate the Heavenly Ster Stream from you. But if he says ¡®yes¡¯, then that Immortal grade divine tool will be yours, won¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give it a shot, but I really don¡¯t think there¡¯s a chance,¡± Sikong Cuo said, harboring no hope at all.

    He then walked out of the secret cabin to the teleportation portal room, where he teleported to the Realm of Remote Heaven. From there, he teleported to the secluded ce where Luo Wanxiang was recovering.

    ...

    Nie Tian¡¯s victory in his duel against Ophelia astonished almost every race.

    All of a sudden, his name spread throughout the myriad realms in this starry river.

    Thanks to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s efforts, the news of Nie Tian¡¯s victory rapidly spread throughout the human heaven and earth.

    The major sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars also soon received word of it.

    While they were thrilled by the news, they discovered that those who had given them a hard time or refused to trade with them earlier had suddenly changed their attitude, and be warm and friendly.

    Apparently, important figures of the Heaven Span Pavilion and the Void Spirit Society had ordered them to correct their behavior and restore fair trade with Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate forces.

    ¡°This is all because of Nie Tian¡¯s triumph!¡± Yue Yanxi and many others were greatly spirited by the news, and became increasingly convinced that following Nie Tian had been a wise decision.

    As time passed, even more powerful figures from the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society arrived in the Dead Star Sea or presented their soul shadows in special magical devices in order to keep a close watch on the uing duel.

    More dragons, titans, Floragrims, and Ancientbeasts poured into the Dead Star Sea as well.

    Soon, the Dead Star Sea became a busy ce, where peak experts of different races gathered.

    All of this was because Nie Tian had won and earned Mo Heng a chance to fight his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    As the chief of the entire Demon race, Grand Monarch Primal Demon was at thete tenth grade.

    Even among all the outsider races, he was one of the strongest. His name was known throughout the countless realms in this starry river.

    It was only natural that his duel against Mo Heng attracted the attention of important figures of all races.

    In the Void Spirit Society.

    Pei Qiqi suddenly flew out of a slender spatial rift, with countless spatial des moving restlessly in acupoints all over her.

    Her unique bloodline vested her with a space-twisting aura, which seemed to allow her to travel through all realms in this starry river.

    ¡°Finally, the eighth grade and Void domain...¡± Sparks flew off her fingertips as she shook her arms, adjusting to her newly-achieved bloodline grade and cultivation base.

    One of the Void Spirit Society elders sensed the movement and flew over. Upon arriving, he said, ¡°Greetings, Miss Pei. Nie Tian¡¯s duel against Ophelia has ended in Nie Tian¡¯s victory. Our sectmaster has already entered the Dead Star Sea to observe the uing duel between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    Astonishment and confusion filled her face as she asked, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    She had spent a long time in secluded cultivation, and had thus beenpletely unaware of recent events.

    The man went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°So the sectmaster didn¡¯t tell you about it... I guess that¡¯s because he didn¡¯t want you to be distracted during your breakthrough.¡±

    Then, he went on and exined what had happened to her.

    Surprise and overjoyed, she asked, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that guy actually defeated an eighth grade champion of the Demon race.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another message for you, which is from the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± He added. ¡°A man named Zhao Shanling said he has found a trace of some Void Pce Sect.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

 Chapter 1125: Choice

    In the Realm of Split Void.

    After Pei Qiqinded lightly in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, her irregrly shaped crystal appeared in her palm.

    It flew off to shuttle among numerous spatial rifts in the sky.

    ¡°It¡¯s not here.¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s voice echoed out in the distance.

    In the next moment, he shed into appearance like a bolt of lightning.

    ¡°The trace of the Void Pce Sect you found is not here? Then where is it?¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi made a grabbing motion in the air, and the crystal morphed into a streak of silver light that vanished into her palm.

    ¡°In a space disruption zone,¡± Zhao Shanling answered.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You, you found a trace of the Void Pce Sect in a space disruption zone? How is that possible?¡±

    Zhao Shanling frowned slightly and said, ¡°I¡¯m notpletely certain about it either. But I did find a magicalnd in the depths of that space disruption zone, where I managed to break through into thete Void domain. I appears that people once lived there. It¡¯s just that since that ce was full of danger, I didn¡¯t dare to spend too long exploring it.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°But perhaps you can.¡±

    Now, Pei Qiqi had entered the Void domain. Her bloodline had advanced to the eighth grade. On top of that, she had mastered the Void Spirit Society¡¯s most profound and secret incantations, and held a Heaven Nourished grade spatial tool.

    As arrogant as Zhao Shanling was, he had a very high opinion of her strength.

    ¡°Do you have time?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with an urgent tone.

    ¡°I do.¡± Zhao Shanling said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°But I think we should invite another person to go with us.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was taken aback. ¡°Why him?¡±

    ¡°I trust him,¡± Zhao Shanling exined. ¡°Since he¡¯s even defeated Ophelia, he¡¯ll be strong enough. Plus, I think he¡¯ll be able to help. Not only is the spatial power very messy in that damned ce, but it¡¯s also full of other dangers.¡±

    Pei Qiqi sighed. ¡°I doubt that he¡¯ll have time.¡±

    The duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng had attracted attention from the entire starry river. Many powerful humans, outsiders, and Ancientspirits had entered the Dead Star Sea to witness it.

    Even though Nie Tian had just won a hard-fought duel, as long as he could, he would most likely go to witness that duel as well.

    Zhao Shanling took a moment to ponder the matter before saying, ¡°I have a feeling that this is the right time for us to go. The unusual environment is only part of the reason why I didn¡¯t stay there for long. There¡¯s another reason why I quickly got out of there.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face grew grim as he exined, ¡°I had a feeling that many powerful figures were paying close attention to that ce. It was like many sets of eyes and wisps of soul awareness were fixed on it. However, when I returned to that region a few days ago, I discovered that there were much fewer strange auras there.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Are you saying that the eyes that were watching the ce have disappeared?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°I suspect that the duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Grand Elder Mo Heng has distracted them.¡±

    Pei Qiqi fell silent. A momentter, she said, ¡°So you want me to find Nie Tian and ask him to go explore that ce with us, instead of watching the duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Grand Elder Mo Heng?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°I think that¡¯s the right thing to do, but what do you say?¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Pei Qiqi was torn with indecision.

    Seeing this, Zhao Shanling snorted augh and said, ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. I took the liberty to have Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates send word to him. He should be receiving it any moment now. It¡¯ll be up to him whether he¡¯lle to help you solve the mystery of the Void Pce Sect¡¯s disappearance, or go witness the duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng.¡±

    ¡°Who told you to do that?!¡± Pei Qiqi said angrily.

    Zhao Shanling smiled without saying a word.

    ...

    In the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    Nie Tian had fully recovered the Blood Essence he had consumed with the help of the eighth grade outsider and Ancientbeast corpses.

    Since he would be able to gather me power, star power, and wood power with the help of his me spark, Nine Stars Flower, and Godspirit Tree, as long as he was in the starry river, he didn¡¯t have to waste time recovering them with spiritual materials.

    Therefore, he prepared to return to the Dead Star Sea before the duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng started.

    As soon as he walked out of the secret room with Dong Li, he saw Han Wanrong sitting there, waiting for him.

    Han Wanrong managed their sect¡¯s affairs in this realm. She had only gone to the Dead Star Sea earlier to witness his duel against Ophelia.

    She had returned after the duel.

    ¡°Nie Tian, your subordinates have a letter for you.¡± With these words, she handed Nie Tian a yellow envelope.

    It was from Hua Mu.

    After browsing through the contents, he frowned in silence.

    Seeing this, Dong Li leaned in to take a look. After that, she fell silent as well, with an unpleasant look on her face.

    ¡°The duel between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon is about to begin.¡± Han Wanrong reminded him. ¡°We¡¯d better return to the Dead Star Sea now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to the Dead Star Sea,¡± Nie Tian said with a somewhat apologetic tone.

    Han Wanrong¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Is it because you suffered injuries from your duel against Ophelia?¡±

    ¡°Sort of,¡± Nie Tian answered ambiguously.

    ¡°Alright, your health is more important.¡± Han Wanrong expressed her understanding. ¡°It¡¯s only been a few days since your duel. It¡¯s indeed a bit too short for you to fully recover. Besides, even if you go to the Dead Star Sea, you might not be able to capture the details of the fight between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon. I suppose only God domain experts and tenth grade grand monarchs and Ancient Gods will be able to keep up with their speed.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ll return to my domains now,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ...

    By the teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void that connected to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    With a sulking face, Dong Li asked, ¡°Because of her, you¡¯re not even going to be there for Grand Elder Mo Heng¡¯s duel, are you?¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to help him anyway, so it doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m there or not,¡± Nie Tian exined patiently. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei took responsibility for the destruction of the spatial rifts that connected to those Demon realms so that I didn¡¯t get punished. She¡¯s helped me on many other asions as well. Now that she and Zhao Shanling need me, I really can¡¯t just say no.¡±

    ¡°If you must go, then take me with you,¡± Dong Li said.

    ¡°You?¡± A puzzled expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Yeah! I want to go with you!¡± Dong Li insisted.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°Let me ask Zhao Shanling about it first.¡±

    Dong Li snorted coldly. ¡°Ask all you want. I¡¯m going.¡±

    ...

    Momentster, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat descended into the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    After taking a nce at Nie Tian and Dong Li on the Star Boat, Zhao Shanling let out a low chuckle and said, ¡°As I expected, he came.¡±

    Excitement filled Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she saw the Star Boat. However, as soon as she saw Dong Li, she forced herself to calm down.

    ¡°Will it be troublesome if we bring her too?¡± Nie Tian asked uponnding, pointing at Dong Li.

    Zhao Shanling took a nce at Dong Li. After pondering for a moment, he shrugged. ¡°I suppose it¡¯ll be alright. But I can¡¯t guarantee that it¡¯ll be a safe trip.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then let¡¯s take her with us.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    The entrance to the space disruption zone that Zhao Shanling had been to wasn¡¯t in the Realm of Split Void. He lead the group of people to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    The moment Nie Tian entered the Realm of Unbounded Destion, he sensed the Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s aura.

 Chapter 1126: Revisiting An Old Haunt

    The Godspirit Tree within him had received a gift from the Heaven-equal Vine, and had thus formed a subtle connection with it.

    ¡°It still hasn¡¯t found that ce...¡± He muttered in a low voice.

    ¡°What? Who are you talking to?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Nothing.¡±

    At this moment, the enormous illusory shape of the Heaven-equal Vine rose into the distant sky, where there were plenty of extinct volcanoes.

    However, it only existed for a split second before vanishing again.

    The Qi warriors in the Realm of Unbounded Destion had already be used to its existence. Therefore, they no longer made a fuss when they saw it in the sky.

    It was from it that Hua Mu and Qi Bailu had learned about the battle between Cardy and the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect in the starry river.

    Besides, they knew that it had onlye here from the Realm of Shattered Earth because of Nie Tian¡¯s directions.

    They were also very interested in this magicalnd that it was looking for, where a small Tree of Life grew.

    WHOOSH!

    The Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s vague shape once again appeared over the extinct volcanoes, and started approaching Nie Tian.

    It came to a stop in the air when it was about ten thousand meters away from him. Even though it had already shrunk significantly in size, it still looked like a magnificent mountain.

    In the next moment, a clear soul message entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Nie Tian then learned that the Heaven-equal Vine had been looking for the nomadic entrance to the magicalnd he had talked about for a long time now.

    It had onlye over to Nie Tian because it had captured Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi¡¯s special auras.

    Their auras, which were unique to spatial power experts, let it see hope. It had a feeling that the two of them might be able to help it finally find the spatial tunnel to the magicalnd where a young Tree of Life grew.

    After a briefmunication with it, Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Then, he turned to Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling, who were standing next to him, ¡°The Heaven-equal Vine came to an agreement with my sectmaster. Now that the agreement has expired, it¡¯s hoping to return to its homnd through the legendary ce where the Fruits of Life are.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Dong Li asked with a puzzled expression, ¡°Didn¡¯t we find that ce before?¡±

    That was the ce where Nie Tian had obtained the Fruits of Life that he had given Hua Mu and Wu Ji. He had exined the exact location of the entrance to the Heaven-equal Vine.

    However, since the Heaven-equal Vine had failed to find it, it must have moved to another location.

    ¡°To be honest, I won¡¯t be able to help with that,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°I was a member of the Tool Sect, where we had a few spatial power experts. Back in the day, we were all fascinated by that rumor, and thus came looking in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. However, none of us found a thing. So we gave up.

    ¡°Later, when word spread that you managed to secure Fruits of Life from that ce, I came here to look again, but still found nothing.¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at Pei Qiqi. ¡°But perhaps you can give it a shot, kid.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s whole purpose ining to the Realm of Unbounded Destion was to enter the space disruption zone Zhao Shanling had talked about as soon as possible.

    She frowned upon hearing this. Even though she was eager to leave, she summoned her spatial treasure under Nie Tian¡¯s anticipating gaze.

    The irregrly shaped crystal spun as it rapidly flew out of everyone¡¯s view to search every corner of the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    At the same time, word of Nie Tian¡¯s arrival spread to the Tool Sect. Qi Bailu and all of the Tool Sect elders rushed over to see him.

    Upon arriving, Qi Bailu spotted Zhao Shanling. His expression instantly becameplicated.

    Upon seeing him, Zhao Shanling tilted his chin and let out a cold harrumph.

    The two martial brothers had secretlypeted against each other over the years. Now, it seemed that Zhao Shanling had won by entering thete Void domain and bing the strongest cultivator in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The man had held a bad name before. However, since he had be close to Nie Tian, people rarely talked about the things he had done anymore.

    Now, as Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars talked about him, there were usually more remarks of respect than remarks of despise.

    Qi Bailu sighed inwardly and turned to ask Pei Qiqi with a surprised expression, ¡°What brings you here, kid?¡±

    Zhen Hun was his junior martial sister. When Pei Qiqi had returnedst time, other than Li Ye and Hua Mu, she had paid him a visit as well. Only after that had she gone to the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    ¡°We¡¯re going on a trip to a space disruption zone,¡± Pei Qiqi answered.

    ¡°Do you want me to go with you?¡± Qi Bailu offered.

    Zhao Shanling gave him a cold look and said, ¡°Don¡¯t butt in. We¡¯re good. You don¡¯t know a thing about spatial power. And it must have been difficult for you to enter the Void domain. You¡¯d better stay home, instead of courting death by going to a space disruption zone with us.¡±

    Qi Bailu, however, wasn¡¯t angered by his provocative remarks, as if he was already used to it. He only fixed Pei Qiqi with an inquiring gaze.

    ¡°Thank you, but there¡¯s no need,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a hint of warmth at the corner of her mouth. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to include lots of people before I confirm certain things. Otherwise, I would have asked my master to make arrangements for me.¡±

    Qi Bailu nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Given your current status, you don¡¯t need help from me anymore.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was a bit rattled. ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡±

    Qi Bailu smiled. ¡°I know what you meant. Don¡¯t misunderstand. I¡¯m truly happy for you and Nie Tian. I heard that Nie Tian defeated a powerful Demon in the Dead Star Sea. Meanwhile, you joined the Void Spirit Society and became one of the sectmaster¡¯s legacy disciples. That makes me very happy too.

    ¡°The two of you are the brightest stars the Domain of the Falling Stars has ever seen.

    ¡°Who would have thought that a remote ce like the Domain of the Falling Stars, which only has nine realms, would produce cultivators so brilliant that they were chosen by the four great sects.¡±

    He was generous with his praise.

    Standing beside Nie Tian, Dong Li listened as he said ¡®the two of you¡¯ over and over. Her face grew grim.

    Dong Li rolled her eyes and gave Qi Bailu a stern look. ¡°Let¡¯s find that ce as soon as possible. We¡¯re still going to that space disruption zone, aren¡¯t we?¡±

    Qi Bailu was sensible enough to shut his mouth.

    It was known that Dong Li was Nie Tian¡¯s fiance, who had won Nie Donghai¡¯s acknowledgment.

    She had been a ticking bomb since the disastrous incident in the Dong n. If he continued with this, he was almost certain that she would give the Tool Sect tight shoes to wear in the future. (Idiom: make things hard for someone by abusing one¡¯s power)

    After all, Dong Li had been Nie Tian¡¯s representative in all of his domains before she had gained the dark stone and needed to practice secluded cultivation.

    BZZZ!

    An hourter, the irregrly shaped crystal returned.

    Pei Qiqi touched it, then said, ¡°There actually is a discovery. It¡¯s just that I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s the entrance to that magical ce with a Tree of Life.¡±

    With a casual move of her hand, she split open a spatial rift.

    Qi Bailu and those who came with him all gasped with astonishment. Without asking permission, they cheekily followed Nie Tian and the others into the spatial rift.

 Chapter 1127: Another Encounter with the Thunder Devil

    In the Bone Sect¡¯s former headquarters.

    Large pale-gray bones could be seen scattered across a tnd surrounded by extinct volcanoes. Many broken walls and dpidated pavilions constituted a scene of destion and decay.

    ¡°The Bone Sect...¡± Qi Bailu¡¯s eyes were caught by the ruins upon arriving. His face grew cold as he shot a sideways nce at Zhao Shanling.

    Zhao Shanling simply stood there without even batting an eye.

    Back in the day, when he had forged his Death Reign, it had flown to this ce and wiped out the entire Bone Sect overnight.

    He was the reason behind all this.

    ¡°So this is the ce,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°If I remember correctly, this is close to the ce where we found the entrance to that magicalnd with a Tree of Life.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    He and Dong Li had tumbled into that magicalnd via a river in this area, where they had obtained Fruits of Life.

    Surprised, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°Did you tell the Heaven-equal Vine that this is where we found the entrance?¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°However, it found nothing after conducting a thorough search of this area.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve also searched this area, but failed to find anything,¡± Zhao Shanling chimed it.

    That was when everyone¡¯s gazes fixed on Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian sensed that the Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s aura was also rapidly approaching this area.

    It hadn¡¯t entered Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial rift, yet since it could even capture the most subtle movements in the starry river, not a single power fluctuation within the Realm of Unbounded Destion could escape its senses.

    The irregrly shaped crystal rose from Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm and flew into the bone-covered ruins.

    Pale-gray and grayish-brown bones that belonged to humans and spirit beasts could be seen everywhere.

    After many years of corruption, they had long lost their residual flesh power.

    Nie Tian examined them briefly before shaking his head and saying, ¡°It seems that people from the Bone Sect used these bones to practice cultivation and build spell formations. Now, many yearster, the bones have long lost their value and be worthless, like rotten wood.¡±

    With these words, he shot out a beam of spiritual power from the tip of his finger.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wherever the beam went, scattered bones crumbled and became flying ashes.

    Qi Bailu shook his head as well. ¡°Qi warriors from all over the Domain of the Falling Stars must have searched this ce countless times. Many experts from the other realms who took part in the equipment forging conventions here came here to do their searches. I doubt they left out any clues.¡±

    With these words, he turned to look at Pei Qiqi and her mysterious crystal with an inquiring expression.

    The Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure started to spin, sending out peculiar waves from each of its facets.

    Ashes from crumbled bones filled the air.

    The solid stony ground was quickly covered in fallen bone ashes. At this moment, an invisible force suddenly blew the ashes off, revealing a piece of smooth ground.

    The irregrly shaped crystal then hovered above it.

    As surges of strange spatial power came from within the crystal, many strange,plicated lines magically appeared on the smooth ground.

    It was as if those lines had always been there. They had just been masked by something, and thus couldn¡¯t be seen.

    In its unique way, Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial treasure cleared the mask, thus revealing the intricate lines.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes lit up, delight and surprise filling his face. ¡°Spatial patterns!

    ¡°Suchplicated spatial patterns! And they seem to have formed naturally on the stone ground. I wonder how long they¡¯ve been here.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was intrigued as well. ¡°Yes, very interesting. Perhaps these spatial patterns can be used to form some kind of teleportation portal. But we¡¯ll have to solve their mysteries first.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion was upied by the Bonebrutes long ago. These spatial patterns won¡¯t connect to some Bonebrute realm, will they?¡± Qi Bailu asked, his voice filled with concern.

    ¡°Even if they do, there¡¯s nothing to worry about,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°But unfortunately, they clearly don¡¯t connect to the ce where that Tree of Life grows.¡±

    At this moment, a wisp of the Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s soul will came from the distance and entered Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Nie Tian then exined the situation to it, and told it that if this was a dead end, perhaps there was something else he could do.

    Titans and Floragrims were still waiting to have talks with him in the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°Let¡¯s find time to learn the mysteries of this ce after we return from the space disruption zone, shall we?¡± Zhao Shanling suggested.

    Pei Qiqi agreed right away.

    The group of four finally ended their detour, and flew to an extinct volcano under Zhao Shanling¡¯s leadership. They entered a secret portal in the mouth of the extinct volcano, and ended up in the space disruption zone.

    In the uncanny space disruption zone, Zhao Shanling continued to give directions, while the others followed.

    After an unknown period of time, a cluster of bright lightning suddenly flew towards them from the distance, apanied by rolling thunder.

    ¡°You! I remember you!¡±

    Upon a closer look, numerous thick lightning bolts tangled together like human meridians. With constant thunderous ps, a person gradually emerged from within the lightning bolts.

    bbergasted, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan!¡±

    ¡°The Thunder Devil!¡± Zhao Shanling eximed with a grim face as well.

    Back when Yuan Jiuchuan had devastated the Domain of Heaven Python, he had nned to teleport to the Domain of the Falling Stars, where he could reap more cultivators and spirit beasts that practiced lightning power.

    Eventually, his n had been thwarted. Not only had he failed to enter the Domain of the Falling Stars, but he had been banished to a space disruption zone instead.

    Those who were banished to a space disruption zone could easily be stranded there forever, especially if they didn¡¯t know any spatial maniption magics or had low cultivation bases.

    From the look of it, Yuan Jiuchuan had been forced to wander the space disruption zone for years.

    However, not only had he not run out of spiritual power and perished, but he had even made advances in his cultivation.

    He had actually entered the early Saint domain here!

    This was extremely unnatural and incredible.

    Normally, only spatial power experts with powerful spatial tools like Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi could benefit from the harsh environment and make advances in their cultivation in a space disruption zone. It was almost impossible for others to do so, even though Yuan Jiuchuan was a reborn cultivator.

    Yuan Jiuchuan glowered at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi. ¡°You! You¡¯re the reason why I¡¯ve been stranded here for so long! I can still recognize your special auras!¡±

    Pei Qiqi got a measure of Yuan Jiuchuan. Eyes narrowed, she said, ¡°Saint domain, right? If we were somewhere else, a Saint domain cultivator might be hard to deal with. But since we¡¯re here, there¡¯s nothing to be afraid of.¡±

    Zhao Shanling recovered hisposure. He chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. I almost forgot that we¡¯re in a space disruption zone. I wonder what happened to you here, Thunder Devil.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan swept his gaze over the four people in front of him, one calmer than another. He started to question himself.

    Why were they not afraid of him?

 Chapter 1128: Different Times

    ¡°You...¡±

    Countless fine lighting bolts slithered in the depths of Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes as he used his soul awareness to examine the group of people in front of him, hoping to find out what made them so audacious.

    His eyes ran through Zhao Shanling, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi and Dong Li. It seemed to him that there wasn¡¯t anything extraordinary about them. ¡°Only at the Void domain and Soul realm...¡±

    He was slightly relieved.

    In his previous life, he had reached the middle Saint domain, and earned himself the name ¡®Thunder Devil¡¯.

    Now, many yearster, after numerous incredible encounters, he was at the early Saint domain again. Even though he hadn¡¯t returned to his peak state, he didn¡¯t think Nie Tian and the others in front of him would be able to cause him any trouble.

    ¡°Thunder King Seal!¡±

    A cyan magical seal suddenly flew out from between Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyebrows.

    At the same time, his domain spread out into his surroundings.

    In a split second, arge area around him became filled with slithering lightning bolts and deafening thunder, as if a storm of lightning and thunder had poured out of the highest heavens to devastate everything around him.

    The magical seal he had taken from Mo Qinglei had be even more powerful after he had acquired and refined it.

    Onerge thunderball after another floated from within the seal, each thrumming with terrifying, explosive lightning power.

    Among Nie Tian¡¯s group, only Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly as she secretly summoned her ck tortoise.

    In the next moment, ink-ck dark power spread out from within her.

    The light around her was gradually devoured.

    She and the ck tortoise, which had just awoken from a deep slumber, were soon enveloped in darkness, as if they had entered an utterly dark heaven and earth.

    Even though it wasn¡¯t a domain, it seemed to have the same wonders as a dark domain.

    ¡°Darkness...¡± A shocked look appeared in Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes as he discovered that all the lightning bolts that flew out of his domain towards Dong Li were deprived of their light as soon as they flew close to her.

    It was as if the power within them was instantly neutralized.

    He then looked at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian only circted his flesh aura, without even summoning the Star Behemoth bone.

    With wisps of flesh aura wreathing him, his body became so strong that the raging lightning bolts only left tiny ck spots on his tough skin.

    Meanwhile, Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi vanished into thin air as his domain that was like a lightning storm spread towards them, as if they had entered another space.

    The two of them were also the main target of therge thunderballs released by the Thunder King Seal.

    After all, they were at the Void domain.

    However, the thunderballs that carried Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s most refined power simply couldn¡¯t lock onto their auras.

    Yuan Jiuchuan even noticed that Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi would show themselves from time to time just to taunt him.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± He was furious, as he hadn¡¯t expected that many yearster, he would finally enter the Saint domain, but be unable to y the people who had set him up and banished him to this space disruption zone after running into them.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m impressed by your strength as a reborn cultivator,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°But it¡¯s interesting that you managed to break through into the Saint domain after all these years. Perhaps you had some thrilling encounters in this ce. You probably would have had your revenge if you weren¡¯t fighting us. What a pity...¡±

    The irregrly shaped crystal suddenly flew out of her palm.

    As it spun, the glorious, dashing lights that could be seen everywhere in the space disruption zone were instantly attracted to it.

    The crystal blossomed with blinding light.

    Numerous shining spatial des then came to form, as if they were carved out by the spinning crystal.

    There were only dozens of them at first, but n a matter of seconds, thousands of them came to form, and shot towards Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning domain like swords of dazzling light under Pei Qiqi¡¯s guidance.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s solid lightning domain instantly became riddled with holes.

    Heavy damage was inflicted on his domain before he could react.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face turned pale with astonishment as he switched his gaze between the crystal and Pei Qiqi. ¡°Divine tool! That¡¯s a spatial divine tool! And forging spatial power into des to rain them on enemies... this is a secret incantation of the Void Spirit Society that they won¡¯t pass on to just anyone!¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°You know things. However, this tool of mine isn¡¯t a divine tool yet. Although it won¡¯t be long before it upgrades and joins the ranks of spatial divine tools.¡±

    As they spoke, more spatial des formed around Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Like rainbows, they flew across the air, as if to inscribe a profound sealing spell formation.

    No matter what spatial incantations Pei Qiqi cast with the crystal in this space disruption zone, their might seemed to be amplified and be overwhelming.

    ¡°Spatial Imprisonment!¡±

    A curious pattern of numerous spatial lines gradually appeared in the air over Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s domain, madly absorbing spatial power from its surroundings as it did.

    A powerful sealing spell quickly came into effect.

    BOOOOM!

    Yuan Jiuchuan was terrified to discover that he could no longer move his lightning domain.

    He could neither withdraw it into his dantian region, nor draw power from it. It was practically in a state of paralysis.

    Furthermore, he found itborious to move his arms and legs. Even his blood flow started to slow down as the spell gradually took effect.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Another secret incantation of the Void Spirit Society!¡±

    Now, he waspletely certain that this girl in front of him must have close connections to the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.

    This was because the incantations she was using were more profound than those used by all of the Void Spirit Society disciples he had met before.

    Only legacy disciples of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s sectmaster would be taught such core secret incantations.

    Standing next to her, Zhao Shanling took his time to say, ¡°Don¡¯t kill him yet, kid. And make sure that his soul doesn¡¯t escape. He must have found something special in this ce in order to advance to the Saint domain. His discoveries might be useful to us.¡±

    Enlightened by his words, Pei Qiqi nodded slightly and said, ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll keep him alive.¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled. ¡°Good.¡±

    The two of them talking as if he weren¡¯t there made Yuan Jiuchuan so mad that he felt like coughing up blood. He was the Thunder Devil for heaven¡¯s sake!

    In his previous life, his name had spread across all the human domains. He had been the nightmare of those who practiced lightning power. Even many from the four great sects had feared him.

    Now, however, two Void domain cultivators were discussing whether they wanted to keep him alive right in front of him.

    Such humiliation!

    ¡°Explode! Explode! Explode!¡± As Yuan Jiuchuan roared, a vortex of lightning within his spiritual sea suddenly burst, sting out more terrifying lighting power.

 Chapter 1129: The Thunder Devil Yields

    Yuan Jiuchuan had formed his lightning vortex in his spiritual sea by drawing power from lightning pools in the heavens.

    Now, as he ignited it, an extremely fierce aura exploded from within him.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The space around him trembled, causing strange, crackling sounds toe from the sealing spell formation made of profound spatial lines, as if it were going to copse under the heavy pressure.

    Seeing this, Pei Qiqi called out softly. ¡°Spatial bloodline!¡±

    As she did, Nie Tian sensed that she had activated the bloodline power in each and every acupoint.

    Wisps of rich flesh aura flew out of her into the restrictive spell formation.

    The infusion of her flesh aura instantly made it several times stronger.

    BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG!

    As intense explosive sounds continued toe from Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s spiritual sea, he suddenly coughed up blood.

    Blood also started to flow out of his eyes and nostrils, giving him a gruesome look.

    His spiritual sea had suffered severe damage in such a short time. However, the violent lightning power he generated still failed to help him break free from Pei Qiqi¡¯s strengthened Spatial Imprisonment.

    Fear rose in Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s heart.

    ¡°You¡¯d better give up,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face. ¡°If we were in a regr human heaven and earth instead of here, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to take a Saint domain cultivator like you. Even if I could, I most likely would have to pay a heavy price.

    ¡°But since we¡¯re here, defeating you is much easier. My spatial treasure allows me to summon and manipte the countless dashing lights here to attack you. At the same time, I can infuse my restrictive spell with an endless power supply.

    ¡°You failed to burst through my restrictive spell with that effort. That means you never will.¡±

    As she said these words with a casual and aloof tone, numerous shining spatial des continued to ravage Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning domain.

    As the des repeatedly shed across the air, his domain was like a piece of cloth that could split at any moment.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°The Void domain and eighth grade spatial bloodline!¡±

    For some reason, he had a feeling that Pei Qiqi, who he was looking at, was even more terrifying than Ophelia, who he had fought earlier.

    Ophelia was at the middle eighth grade. She was blessed with the bloodline of a grand monarch and the Doom de.

    However, he had eventually defeated her with the help of the Star Behemoth bone, the me Dragon Armor, the me spark inside of him, and his unique life bloodline.

    But now, as he witnessed Pei Qiqi¡¯s one-sided battle against Yuan Jiuchuan, he somehow felt insecure and uneasy.

    This meant his instincts were telling him that Pei Qiqi was someone who could threaten his life, especially now that they were in a space disruption zone.

    ¡°This woman...¡± Dong Li eximed inwardly as she decided that she had to work extra hard to derive enlightenment and absorb pure dark power from the dark stone.

    She felt great pressure from Pei Qiqi.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The slithering lightning bolts within Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s domain went out one after another. The domain he had gone to great lengths to forge was on the verge of copsing.

    Once it did, his fleshly body would perish, and he could only hope to escape with his true soul and seek an opportunity to be reborn.

    However, since they were currently in a space disruption zone, where he had failed to find a way out of after so many years, being reborn seemed far-fetched.

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, Yuan Jiuchuan, who had been feared throughout the human domains many years ago, finally broke down and yielded. ¡°Please be so kind as to spare my cheap life, Miss!¡±

    Surprised, Pei Qiqi turned to fix Nie Tian with an inquiring gaze.

    Zhao Shanling chuckled and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t think even the Thunder Devil would yield when facing death. Kid, since he¡¯s yielded, you may stop damaging his domain. But keep the restrictive spell, so we can ask him some questions.¡±

    Pei Qiqi still waited for Nie Tian¡¯s opinion.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°None of us can strip the memories of a Saint domain cultivator. And my Spirit Pearl can only take pieces of broken memories from the discarnate souls of the dead. They wouldn¡¯t beplete.¡±

    Only after hearing his words did Pei Qiqi halt her attacks.

    The numerous spatial des that were flying across Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning domain suddenly flew out of it, stopping more signs of copse from appearing.

    As long as his lighting domain didn¡¯t fall apart, he would be able to mend itter by finding special lightning pools in the highest heavens.

    Yuan Jiuchuan gave up resistance and said with a grim look in his eyes, ¡°I already died once. I don¡¯t want to die and be reborn again. The process of recovering one¡¯s cultivation base is far too exhausting on both the body and mind. One rebirth was already enough. Why would I want to go through all that again...?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan muttered to himself, sagging his head.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much. If we didn¡¯t, how could you possibly have a chance to be reborn again? Once your domain shatters in this space disruption zone, even I can make sure that not a wisp of your soul escapes.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan gave him a doubtful sideways nce.

    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± Zhao Shanling grinned as the shrunken Voidspirit Pagoda flew out from between his eyebrows. It spun in front of Yuan Jiuchuan, emanating an aura that was just as terrifying.

    The Voidspirit Pagoda had belonged to the son of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society at first. It was said that the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had forged it himself with the wonders of the Void Mirror.

    Rumors of its might had spread across the human domains.

    It was just that after Master Voidspirit had retreated to live in seclusion in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, people had gradually forgot about it.

    Since Yuan Jiuchuan had been to many human domains, it was only natural that he had heard about it. Therefore, he was taken aback as soon as he saw Zhao Shanling, who he didn¡¯t know anything about, take out the Voidspirit Pagoda all of sudden.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Even I can best you in battle, in this space disruption zone at least. Don¡¯t you believe me?¡±

    Seeing and hearing this, Yuan Jiuchuanpletely gave up.

    Sagging his head, he said, ¡°Alright, alright. Stop scaring me. I¡¯ll tell you whatever you want to know without holding anything back, okay? I just want to live.¡±

    ¡°How did you manage to enter the Saint domain?¡± Zhao Shanling asked aloud.

    ¡°Well...¡± Yuan Jiuchuan went on and exined everything in detail.

 Chapter 1130: A Hidden Force

    ¡°I was in a very difficult situation when you first banished me to this space disruption zone,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan exined. ¡°No matter what I did, I couldn¡¯t find a way back, so I could only recover my spiritual power from time to time with the spiritual materials in my ring of holding.

    ¡°However, as time passed, I eventually ran out.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure how long I had drifted in this ce when I finally came to the verge of giving up. But that was when I met someone.

    ¡°His name was Pang Chicheng. He used to be a disciple of the fire element sect of the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    Nie Tian shuddered, his eyes filled with astonishment. ¡°Pang Chicheng?! He¡¯s the one you met?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan was taken aback. ¡°Do you know him?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve never met him, but I¡¯ve heard of him.¡±

    Pang Chicheng had been the me Dragon Armor¡¯sst master. He had stolen it from Lou Hongyan.

    After that, he had been ambushed in the Shatter Battlefield, where he had had to ignite the me Dragon Armor¡¯s power in order to escape. No one had ever seen him since.

    Lou Hongyan and the Five Elements Sect seemed to have people looking for him all these years.

    ording to what Nie Tian had heard, Pang Chicheng had special connections with the fire element sect.

    ¡°For some reason, he fled from the fire element sect and was hunted by the entire Five Elements Sect,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan exined. ¡°It seems that even the Five Elements Sect didn¡¯t expect him to have escaped to this space disruption zone, where he lived for many years and joined some force.¡±

    Since Pei Qiqi stayed her hand, the Thunder Devil¡¯s lightning domain stopped showing more signs of copse.

    Zhao Shanling looked coldly into his eyes in an attempt to see whether he was telling the truth.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before asking, ¡°Did he help you break through into the Saint domain? Why did he do that?¡±

    ¡°I reached the middle Saint domain in my previous life,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan exined. ¡°Given enough spiritual materials, my breakthroughs are fairly easy to make. After learning my name, that Pang Chicheng asked me to wait for him. Then, he went off and returned with all sorts of spiritual materials and medicinal pills that I needed for my breakthrough. That was why I was able to return to the Saint domain in this damned ce.

    ¡°He said that he helped me because the incantations I practice are special, and have many redeeming qualities.

    ¡°He then invited me to join the force he had joined, and told me that it represents the new world.

    ¡°ording to him, that force has already enlisted many sects like the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the Heavenly Corpse Sect, that have been expelled and suppressed by the four great sects.¡±

    Even Yuan Jiuchuan himself had apprehension in his eyes as he said these words.

    Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and the Heavenly Corpse Sect!¡±

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was at the God domain. The sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, who he had recently witnessed y Grand Patriarch Cardy in the Domain of the Falling Stars, was only one step away from entering the God domain.

    Pang Chicheng was a traitor of the Five Elements Sect, who had managed to kill Lou Hongyan and steal her me Dragon Armor.

    The Thunder Devil had been the nightmare of every cultivator and spirit beast that practiced lightning incantations in his previous life. Even now, his name was still feared across the human domains.

    It seemed that this was a group of extremely violent and ferocious people. They either possessed formidable strength, or great potential.

    If a force actually managed to gather all of them together, how scary would it be?

    ¡°ording to Pang Chicheng, the formidableness of that force goes beyond my imagination,¡± The Thunder Devil added. ¡°None of the four great sects can single-handedly match its power.¡±

    Zhao Shanling was taken aback. ¡°What?! Are you saying that that force is stronger than any of the four most ancient and powerful human sects?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what he told me. They¡¯re said to have more God domain experts than any of those sects, and their influence covers every corner of the human heaven and earth. They even have outsider members.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°Outsider members?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± The Thunder Devil said. ¡°Many outsiders, such as Phantasms and Demons, havemitted unforgivable crimes against their people. Upon their recruitment, many joined them and became their members. The reason why Pang Chicheng told me all this is because he wanted me to join them too. And I¡¯ve already agreed to meet their recruiters in a few days.¡±

    ¡°Where are they?¡± Zhao Shanling asked. ¡°Were you going to meet in this space disruption zone?¡±

    Before Yuan Jiuchuan could answer, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What cultivation base is Pang Chicheng at?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s currently at the middle Saint domain,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan answered. ¡°He said that the meeting will take ce in this space disruption zone.¡±

    Nie Tian and the others fell silent after hearing these words.

    A secret force had absorbed the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and many other crooked forces. What they had learned about it must only be the tip of the iceberg, yet it was already scary enough.

    After all, Yuan Jiuchuan hadn¡¯t joined it yet, and didn¡¯t have a full understanding of it.

    ¡°If what he said is true, and there actually is such a secret force...¡± Zhao Shanling said, narrowing his eyes, ¡°the turmoil that hit the human domains recently was probably part of their scheme, inducing the upheavals in the human world, the fierce battles between humans and outsiders in the Dead Star Sea, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s heavy losses...¡±

    The more he thought about it, the more dread he felt.

    Yuan Jiuchuan had spent all these years in solitude, and wasn¡¯t aware of the upheavals that had recently stricken the human world. Now, as he heard about them, he was deeply surprised as well. He hadn¡¯t expected that he had missed out on so many exciting events.

    Not many people knew that Cardy the Blood Warden had died at the hands of the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect. Nie Tian was going to tell them at first. However, after weighing it in his heart, he eventually withheld the information.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I think we¡¯d better avoid contact with that force,¡± Zhao Shanling said.

    Then, with a thoughtful expression, he frowned and turned to Yuan Jiuchuan. ¡°Where did you agree to meet?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to exin,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan answered. ¡°He just gave me apass that shows me the location.¡±

    Zhao Shanling reached out with one hand and demanded, ¡°Give it to me.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan understood the situation he was in, and thus handed apass to him as he was told.

    After Zhao Shanling grabbed thepass, spatial lights that looked like tiny lightning bolts flew out of his fingertips into thepass. As they gradually locked down the location on thepass, a strange look appeared in his eyes.

    ¡°What is it?" Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°Interesting,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a wry smile. ¡°The location marked out on thepass is the same ce I was going to take you, the ce I suspect to have something to do with the disappearance of the Void Pce Sect.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes grew wide in astonishment. Then, she said, ¡°I¡¯ve got to go and take a look, no matter what awaits.¡±

    Zhao Shanling had been determined before learning these things from Yuan Jiuchuan. Now that he knew that members of such a powerful force were going to be there, he started to hesitate.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡± Nie Tian helped him decide.

 Chapter 1131: A Battle between Peak Experts

    Powerful human experts from different sects, outsider grand patriarchs and grand monarchs, along with titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts, were now gathered in the Dead Star Sea.

    Countless renowned figures from almost every known higher species had traveled through the starry river to this ce.

    All of them shared the same purpose: to witness the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng.

    A teleportation portal in the Demon¡¯s floating stronghold that connected to the First Demon Realm suddenly glowed and expanded.

    WHOOSH!

    An exceptionally handsome high-tier Demon walked elegantly out of it, dressed in ancient Demon garb.

    As soon as he arrived, all of the outsiders in his surroundings bowed towards him with great respect.

    While members of the other races greeted him in soft voices, the Demons received him with feverish looks in their eyes.

    ¡°Greetings, Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Grand Monarch.¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Chief!¡±

    It was surprising that this Grand Monarch Primal Demon looked younger than any of the Demon experts present.

    His eyes were bright and piercing, as if they contained an evesting thirst for knowledge.

    On the berthed human starships, many human God and Saint domain experts took deep breaths and said with grim faces, ¡°That¡¯s him!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Grand Monarch Primal Demon!¡±

    ¡°The chief the Demon n!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian hasn¡¯t returned yet, has he?¡± Fang Yuan asked in a low voice. ¡°Were his injuries so bad? This is going to be a crucial battle. Doesn¡¯t he want to witness it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯sing,¡± Han Wanrong, who had recently returned to the Dead Star Sea, exined in a low voice. ¡°He suffered serious injuries from his battle against Ophelia. He needs time to recover. Besides, we¡¯re not sure where the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and the grand elder is going to take ce. Even if it were going to take ce here in the Dead Star Sea, not everyone will be able to actually capture the details.¡±

    Fang Yuan smiled bitterly and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    In the blink of an eye, Grand Monarch Primal Demon flew out of the Demons¡¯ stronghold, and stopped in front of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s starship. Elegant and mild, he smiled and said, ¡°Brother Mo.¡±

    SHEW!

    A spatial rift suddenly split open over the Void Spirit Society¡¯s starship.

    The Void Mirror, a signature tool that was known by all races, flew out of it to face Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    A soul shadow flickered within the mirror, as if to observe the events from a different space.

    Everyone knew that the Void Mirror represented Qu Yi, the current sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. The fact that it was here meant that he could arrive through it any time he wanted.

    WHOOSH!

    A ball of mes suddenly appeared where the Five Elements Sect disciples were gathered, searing like the sun.

    ¡°That¡¯s the head of the fire element sect!¡± someone eximed.

    Lou Hongyan hastily approached and paid her respects.

    At the same time, a soothing aura that could nourish heaven and earth quietly emerged in the Five Elements Sect¡¯s gathering ce as well.

    Many Floragrim experts captured the aura from afar, their expressions bing strange as they did.

    They knew that the head of the wood element sect was the only one whosemand of wood power could match that of their grand monarchs.

    ¡°The heads of the fire element sect and wood element sect are here,¡± someone whispered. ¡°This proves how much importance the Five Elements Sect attaches to this duel.¡±

    It was at this moment that Mo Heng slowly walked out from below the deck of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s starship with a calm look on his face.

    Facing Grand Monarch Primal Demon, he adopted a human manner as a junior would facing a senior. ¡°I¡¯m honored and grateful that you agreed to fight me in this duel.¡±

    Demons had exceptionally long lifespans. As they grew older, their bloodlines grew stronger as well.

    Since Grand Monarch Primal Demon was already several hundred thousand years old, he should be considered a senior to Mo Heng in every sense.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon took a deep look at Mo Heng with his sharp, intelligent eyes before saying in an approving tone, ¡°Among the humans I know, you carry the finest traditions of the ancient Qi warriors. When the ancient Qi warriors first derived the profound truths of the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and started using spiritual materials to strengthen themselves, they didn¡¯t pay special attention to the different attributes of power.

    ¡°ording to them, spiritual power itself contained myriad profound variations and wonders. Even though it doesn¡¯t have any particr attributes, it carries unfathomable power.

    ¡°Butter, as times changed, new generations of Qi warriors found ways to vest spiritual power with fire, wood, lightning, and other attributes. They gradually deviated from the originalw of cultivation.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m afraid there are only a couple of Qi warriors who stick to the ancient ways and focus solely on the cultivation of pure spiritual power.¡±

    Thanks to his long lifespan, Grand Monarch Primal Demon was well versed in both ancient and modern learning. He even had a deep understanding of how Qi warriors had evolved.

    Even many Saint domain human experts lookedpletely clueless after hearing his words.

    Only a few God domain experts started to ponder, as if his words had sparked some deep thoughts.

    ¡°Fine traditions of the ancient Qi warriors...¡± Hou Chn and other juniors like her were surprised to discover that Grand Monarch Primal Demon didn¡¯t have the slightest disdain in his tone as he talked to Mo Heng. Instead, he seemed rather approving of him.

    This indicated that he considered Mo Heng a worthy opponent.

    ¡°You tter me, senior,¡± Mo Heng said with an attitude that was neither overbearing nor servile. ¡°I only stuck to the ancient cultivation principals because I wasn¡¯t born with a particr attribute. I didn¡¯t have a choice. In fact, even I didn¡¯t expect that I¡¯de this far.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon pondered briefly before suggesting, ¡°Our duel shouldn¡¯t take ce here. As vast as the Dead Star Sea is, there are still many restrictions. If they break because of our battle, there¡¯ll be serious consequences. Hence, I suggest that we move our duel to another location.¡±

    Mo Heng listened attentively, and nodded from time to time to show that he shared his thoughts.

    ¡°As you know, there¡¯s a special region in the deepest parts of the Shatter Battlefield, the purpose of which is for people like us to have a ce to battle,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Demon continued. ¡°For countless years, it has witnessed numerous great battles between grand monarchs of different races and God domain human experts.¡±

    Mo Heng braced himself and said, ¡°Since that¡¯s what you deem an ideal site for our duel, I agree.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon then turned to face the Void Mirror and said in a soft voice, ¡°Brother Qu, would you open a portal for us?¡±

    Qu Yi¡¯s voice then came from within the mirror. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, countless fine spatial rifts flew out of the mirror to interweave into a glowing portal in front of it.

    Since Pei Qiqi had found and harnessed her Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure in the Shatter Battlefield, most of the teleportation portals and spatial tunnels there had lost their effect.

    Now, very few people could still travel to and from the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, Qu Yi¡¯s attainments in spatial power were one of the greatest throughout the history of this starry river.

    As long as he wanted to, he would be able to create spatial tunnels and get people through to the Shatter Battlefield no matter what had happened there.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon smiled and took the initiative to fly into the glowing tunnel, his slender-built body expanding as he did.

 Chapter 1132: A Spatial Creature

    Somewhere in the space disruption zone.

    Chains of dazzling lights bound Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lighting domain like shackles, so that he wouldn¡¯t be able to channel power into his dantian region from it.

    Face filled with frustration, Yuan Jiuchuan flew reluctantly behind the group of four.

    If he dared to try something funny, his domain would be ripped apart. Once his domain perished, he would face another rebirth, assuming that he somehow secured a wisp of his soul.

    For this reason, he didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    However, he still harbored hope in his heart.

    Whenever Zhao Shanling and the others weren¡¯t looking, his eyes would glitter, as he hoped that Pang Chicheng and the recruiters from that mysterious organization would rescue him and take him in as a member.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streaks of glorious light dashed past them from time to time as Zhao Shanling flung his sleeves to change the directions of the ones that shot directly at them.

    ¡°How much of the Thunder Devil¡¯s words do you think can be believed?¡± Pei Qiqi asked in a low voice.

    ¡°Who knows?¡± Zhao Shanling said, frowning. ¡°But one thing I believe is true. I think he actually received help from a secret force. Otherwise, with him wandering this space disruption zone alone, there was no way that he could have advanced to the Saint domain.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Since the ce you were taking us happens to be the same ce where he was going to meet with those people, we¡¯d better prepare ourselves for unpleasant encounters.¡±

    ¡°I believe I¡¯ll be able to get us to safety as long as they don¡¯t have God domain experts among them,¡± Pei Qiqi said calmly. ¡°Given my spatial treasure, my expertise in spatial power, and the unique environment here, I¡¯m like a fish that has returned to water.¡±

    ¡°I have quite a few escape magics in my skill set as well,¡± Zhao Shanling said, shooting Dong Li a nce.

    The way he saw it, Dong Li was the weakest of them. If they found themselves in a critical situation, she might be a burden.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Dong Li said unpleasantly. ¡°I doubt you¡¯re stronger than my ck tortoise. And I¡¯m currently deriving enlightenment from the dark stone we secured from the Demon realm. By the time I turn it into a powerful weapon, who¡¯s to say that I won¡¯t be able to match your battle prowess?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m sure you will.¡±

    Without suns, moons, or stars, none of them could tell time in the space disruption zone. After an unknown period of time, Zhao Shanling suddenly grew cautious. With a stern expression, he whispered, ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡±

    Feeling his nervousness, everyone else raised their guard as well.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, who Pei Qiqi dragged behind them with glowing chains released by her Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure, realized that they had slowed down, and became secretly excited. ¡°It seems that we¡¯re about to get to the ce where I¡¯m supposed to meet with Pang Chicheng.¡±

    He snuck a nce at Zhao Shanling and the others with a cold, vicious look in his eyes. As much as he tried to hide his evil thoughts, Dong Li saw right through him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t see why we have to keep him alive,¡± she suddenly said.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    ¡°Is it only because we want to verify the authenticity of his words?¡± Dong Li muttered to herself. ¡°The way I see it, we might as well kill him and be done with it. If he somehow escapes, it¡¯ll most likely get us in trouble. I don¡¯t like the feeling of traveling with potential trouble by my side.¡±

    Hearing her words, Zhao Shanling narrowed his eyes and said reluctantly, ¡°But we agreed to spare his life as long as he does what we say.¡±

    ¡°We should keep our promise,¡± Pei Qiqi chimed in.

    ¡°Well, there are many other forms of keeping him alive.¡± Dong Li said with a vicious look in her eyes, as if she was figuring ways to keep better control of Yuan Jiuchuan, so that there will be no mishaps.

    At this moment, Zhao Shanling moved to be abreast of Nie Tian, and pointed into the distance. ¡°Look, Nie Tian. Those curious clouds over there, with peculiar spots of light flickering inside of them. Each of those spots is a secret portal that connects to an unknown heaven and earth. Unusual fluctuations fill the depths of those clouds, which makes it difficult even for me to move forward within them.

    ¡°I examined them before, and had a peculiar feeling that somewhere in them is a magical heaven and earth that¡¯s inhabited by creatures that practice spatial power. They might be humans, outsiders, or some other unique species.¡±

    Fascinated by his words, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°ording to my master, many space disruption zones indeed have unique creatures living in their deepest areas. They¡¯re usually born with a profound grasp of spatial power. And I can absorb and refine their bloodline power directly.

    ¡°For that reason, outsider grand monarchs and human experts that are well-versed in spatial power oftene looking for those unique species of spatial creatures, along with rare spatial materials. Even though these special ces can be easily found, they¡¯re usually full of danger. Even my master hasn¡¯t explored all of them.¡±

    Zhao Shanling marveled, ¡°It¡¯s already extremely impressive for your master to have explored a few of them. I bet his gains were substantial too. After all, your master is one of the greatest spatial power wielders that has ever lived.¡±

    As they spoke, something suddenly flew out from a tiny spot of dark yellow light in the clouds in front of them.

    It was a peculiar winged insect the size of a man¡¯s palm!

    It glowed with silver light, with fine spatial lightning sputtering off its swaying tentacles.

    After it flew out, the tiny spot of dark yellow light started expanding at a high rate, as if something else was going to charge out of it as well.

    However, that thing had to be farrger than the silver insect. It wouldn¡¯t be able to do so before the flickering spot became wide enough.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up as she pointed at the silver insect from afar. ¡°That little thing has quite intense spatial power inside of it! The special power its flesh aura contains will be useful to me.¡±

    SHEW!

    Her Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure shot out of her hand.

    The silver insect trembled with fear upon seeing the iing irregrly shaped crystal. However, as much as it wanted to, it couldn¡¯t break free from a strong binding force from the crystal.

    In the next moment, the insect that was the size of a palm was enveloped by light released by the crystal.

    The corners of Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouth rose in satisfaction as she watched the crystal drag the silver insect into her palm. Then, she reached out and pressed her jade-like finger on the insect, as if tomunicate with it.

    However, before she could finish, a fierce roar came from within the expanding spot of light.

    Everyone¡¯s expression flickered.

    Even Zhao Shanling felt a strong sense of danger upon hearing the roar.

    Face grim, Nie Tian took a deep breath and prepared for battle.

    The silver insect that Pei Qiqi had her finger on shivered, looking even more terrified, as if it had been chased to this ce by what had let out that bloodcurdling roar.

    Momentster, Pei Qiqi withdrew her hand and said with forcedposure, ¡°That¡¯s a special kind of creature that only lives in space disruption zones. My master has killed a bunch of them. Don¡¯t worry. The only problem is that I don¡¯t know what grade it¡¯s at. If its grade is much higher than mine, it might be a bit tricky.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as she finished, a strange-looking creature charged out of the expanding portal.

    As soon as it did, Dong Li¡¯s ck tortoise showed itself and enveloped her in its dark power.

 Chapter 1133: A Silver Domain Snake

    A half snake-like half dragon-like spatial creature charged out from within the expanding spot of light.

    Like the insect, it also glowed with silver light.

    Naturally-formed patterns covered its silver body, as if they were engravings that carried the profound truths of spatial power.

    Exceptionally thick and long, it slithered forward, seeming as if it was moving between different spaces.

    ¡°What is that?¡± Nie Tian asked, his expression flickering.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Silver Domain Snake!¡± Pei Qiqi said with a grim expression. ¡°Do you still remember that three-headed demonic python that was Catie¡¯s pet?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°It was a hybrid of a Silver Domain Snake and a demonic creature from the Demon realms,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°The fact that it carried a Silver Domain Snake¡¯s bloodline was the reason why it was able to keep ahead of me in the Domain of the Falling Stars. However, space disruption zones are where they thrive.

    ¡°After all, this is where they¡¯re born.¡±

    As they spoke, the Silver Domain Snake stared coldly at them from afar.

    It seemed to have its eyes on that silver insect, as well as Pei Qiqi¡¯s Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure.

    However, it seemed to shrewdly sense something in Pei Qiqi, as it suddenly fixed its eyes on her. A mixture of confusion, astonishment, and fear filled it eyes.

    SHEW!

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the Silver Domain Snake gave up its prey and slithered into the depths of the strange clouds.

    It was as if something had scared it.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling said with a bewildered expression, ¡°Even I would have a headache over running into a Silver Domain Snake in a space disruption zone. That one was at least at the eighth grade. An eighth grade Silver Domain Snake might not be so formidable in any other ce. But in space disruption zones, it might be able to kill ninth grade spirit beasts and outsider grand patriarchs.¡±

    ¡°When it looked at me earlier, it seemed to have caused a stir in my bloodline,¡± Pei Qiqi said in a soft voice.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you scared it away?!¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    ¡°That silver insect was clearly its target or, to be exact, its prey.¡± Zhao Shanling analyzed, frowning. ¡°You took its prey but, instead of charging towards you, it left right away. This can only mean that it was afraid. However, there¡¯s no reason for it to be afraid of any of us, except you.¡±

    Dong Li snorted disdainfully and jumped in. ¡°It¡¯s only a spatial creature. Now that it¡¯s gone, there¡¯s no point fixating on it. Let¡¯s talk about what we should do with Yuan Jiuchuan instead.¡±

    Bitterness filled Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face as he sagged his head and begged, ¡°Why don¡¯t you just leave me here and let me fend for myself?¡±

    ¡°We certainly can¡¯t do that,¡± Dong Li refused coldly. ¡°If we free you, you may get in contact with Pang Chicheng, join that secret force, and thene after us in revenge.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan sighed and asked, ¡°So what do you want to do?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, can you restrict his soul in any way?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian suddenly remembered the time when he had put a restrictive spell on Master Blood Spirit¡¯s soul with the help of the Spirit Pearl. ¡°There is a way. However, he¡¯ll have to cooperate a hundred percent. If he refuses, the sess rate would be minimal.¡±

    Dong Li gave Yuan Jiuchuan a sideways nce. ¡°You¡¯ll cooperate, right?¡±

    The Thunder Devil looked very ufortable.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Dong Li said in a direct and nonchnt manner. ¡°We¡¯ll lift the spell as soon as we¡¯re finished here in this space disruption zone. This is only a precaution. Or we can simply destroy your Saint domain, along with your chance at entering the God domain. So what do you say?¡±

    The Thunder Devil let out a deep sigh and nodded reluctantly.

    However, at that moment, the Silver Domain Snake somehow returned.

    Someone had returned with it: Feng Beiluo.

    As the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, he had in Cardy the Blood Warden not long ago in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Everyone had assumed that he would stay off the grid for some time. Who would have thought that he would show up here?

    The Silver Domain Snake looked very docile as it coiled up next to him.

    He spotted Nie Tian upon arriving. Eyes widening, he let out an unrestrainedugh and said, ¡°It¡¯s you! Who would have thought that I¡¯d run into you here so shortly after ourst encounter? Did someone tell you something that led you to this ce?¡±

    Instead of answering, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    In his senses, Feng Beiluo¡¯s aura had be even more overwhelming than thest time they had met.

    It had only been two years or so since theirst encounter in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Could it be that he had made a new breakthrough in his cultivation with the help of Cardy¡¯s corpse, which he had harvested?

    He had been at thete Saint domain thest time they had met. If he had indeed made a new breakthrough, then...

    The God domain!

    ¡°I came for the Thunder Devil.¡± With these words, Feng Beiluo smiled and made a grabbing motion in the air.

    In the next moment, the numerous spatial lights that Pei Qiqi used to chain up Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s domain shattered.

    Spots of pale gray light appeared and flew around within Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s domain, easily neutralizing Pei Qiqi¡¯s restrictive power.

    In a split second, Yuan Jiuchuan recovered his mobility.

    His eyes lit up. A hint of viciousness appeared at the corner of his mouth as he called out, ¡°Senior! I came here to meet you under Pang Chicheng¡¯s instructions. I want to join you with all my heart!¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded and said in a soft voice, ¡°The incantations you practice are quite special, and you show a lot of potential. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have provided those materials for you, allowing you to return to the Saint domain. Don¡¯t worry. Given your rare talent and quick mind, I have confidence that you¡¯ll have a bright future with us. You may even be able to enter the God domain one day.¡±

    Thrilled and thankful, Yuan Jiuchuan bowed towards him. Then, he jerked his head towards Nie Tian and the others. ¡°These ones...¡±

    Feng Beiluo pondered briefly before saying, ¡°The Silver Domain Snake will take you out of here first.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, the spatial creature prepared to lead the way for Yuan Jiuchuan. Yuan Jiuchuan wanted to say something, but gave up upon receiving a stern sideways look from Feng Beiluo.

    He then left with the Silver Domain Snake as he was told.

    During this time, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, Zhao Shanling, and Dong Li all remained motionless and silent.

    Even though Feng Beiluo hadn¡¯t really done anything after his appearance, the pressure he gave everyone was simply too great.

    As strong as Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling were, they felt so much pressure from him that the thought of fighting him didn¡¯t even cross their minds.

    Only after Yuan Jiuchuan left with the Silver Domain Snake did Feng Beiluo take his time to ask, ¡°So why are you here, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°There was this sect in the Realm of Split Void called the Void Pce Sect,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°Many years ago, it moved out of the Realm of Split Void and vanishedpletely. We came here hoping to solve the mystery of its disappearance and see if we can find it here.¡±

    ¡°Oh, the Void Pce Sect...¡± Feng Beiluo muttered in a low voice, nodding. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you came looking for it.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered strongly as she heard these words.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as well as he hastily asked, ¡°Is it really here?¡±

    ¡°No, not here. However, there is an entrance here that connects to the heaven and earth where the Void Pce Sect is now.¡± With these words, Feng Beiluo fixed his eyes on Pei Qiqi. ¡°It¡¯s you, right? You¡¯re the one who has connections with the Void Pce Sect.¡±

 Chapter 1134: A Shocking Discovery

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Pei Qiqi said with an unprecedentedly sharp voice, almost losing control of her emotions.

    Surprised, Feng Beiluo asked, ¡°What¡¯s your rtionship with her, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Off to the side, Dong Li stared at him like a tiger watching its prey, as if any slightly unsatisfactory answer from Nie Tian would set her off.

    Feng Beiluo smiled and said, ¡°No reason. I¡¯m just curious. The ce the Void Pce Sect has moved to is a secret for the time being. Perhaps people will get to learn about it soon. Since you¡¯re not here by invitation, but rather to solve the mystery of the Void Pce Sect¡¯s disappearance, it¡¯s none of my concern.

    ¡°Time for me to leave. I¡¯d be really impressed if you can find the Void Pce Sect on your own.

    ¡°However, I suggest that you leave as soon as possible, and get as far away from here as possible.¡±

    With these inexplicable words, Feng Beiluoughed and rapidly vanished in the direction where the Silver Domain Snake and Yuan Jiuchuan had left.

    From the look of it, the sole purpose of himing here was to receive and recruit Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Deeply confused, Dong Li said, ¡°That man is the sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, and a member of that mysterious organization. Why did he show up in the Domain of the Falling Stars to kill those Demons for you? Even Cardy the Blood Warden died at his hands. Why did he do all this?

    ¡°Plus, I have a feeling that he waspletely capable of dealing us some heavy blows. At least, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape if he had decided to do so.

    ¡°Yet he didn¡¯t...¡±

    Questions filled Dong Li¡¯s mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t find an answer.

    Zhao Shanling turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I have a feeling that this Feng Beiluo is rather friendly towards you. And clearly, he came without expecting to see you here. Yuan Jiuchuan was the reason why he came here. Now, he¡¯s taken him away to some ce we don¡¯t know of.¡±

    Now that Feng Beiluo had confirmed their spection, Pei Qiqi seemed prepared to get to the bottom of it, no matter what. ¡°The answer to the Void Pce Sect¡¯s mystery must be somewhere in the depths of those strange clouds! Even though I don¡¯t know why Feng Beiluo would advise us to leave, I¡¯m not leaving without an answer. However, there¡¯s one thing you should know. If I¡¯m ever in a desperate situation, my master will be able toe to my rescue.¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society!?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°My master gave me a special tool. It doesn¡¯t matter where I am. As soon as I activate it, he¡¯ll be able to receive the message, even if I¡¯m in a space disruption zone. Then, he¡¯ll drop whatever he¡¯s doing ande for me.

    ¡°Given his cultivation base and strength, and with the help of the Void Mirror, he¡¯ll be able to locate me right away and rush over to my side.¡±

    Everyone felt slightly relieved after learning that the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society would be avable at their moment of need.

    Zhao Shanling had thought about returning as soon as Feng Beiluo had appeared. Later, Feng Beiluo¡¯s friendly attitude towards Nie Tian had somewhat eased his tension. Now, Pei Qiqi¡¯s words restored confidence to him.

    Thus, the group went deeper.

    Each and every spiraling cloud thrummed with unusual spatial power. Like numerous peculiar vortexes, they connected to unknown ces.

    Nie Tian unleashed his soul awareness to examine them from time to time.

    As soon as wisps of his soul awareness entered a spiraling cloud, he felt as if he had entered another world. He couldn¡¯t see or sense anything but eternal silence and icy destion.

    Such feelings gave him the chills, as if he had been plunged into an endless night, where he wallowed in despair.

    Zhao Shanling sighed and said, ¡°They¡¯re all portals, but no one knows where they lead to. We can¡¯t find out what¡¯s on the other side of them by relying on our soul awareness alone. And we¡¯ll risk being stranded in some unknown dimension for eternity and even dying if we enter them with our fleshly bodies.

    ¡°Anyways, space disruption zones are ces like transfer stations, through which we can go to heaven and earths that we can¡¯t even imagine.

    ¡°The outsider, Ancientspirit, and our heaven and earths aren¡¯t all there is in this boundless starry river. For countless years, powerful Ancientspirits, outsider grand monarchs, and human experts like your sectmaster and the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society haven¡¯t stopped exploring the starry river and pushing the boundaries of the starry river we know.

    ¡°Every once in a while, brand new domains and realms will be discovered.

    ¡°However, there are also times when God domain experts leave on exploration trips and never return.

    ¡°Given our current cultivation bases, we can¡¯t afford to act rashly...¡±

    Zhao Shanling continued to warn Nie Tian and Dong Li against rashly entering the portals that led to unknown ces.

    He didn¡¯t intend these words for Pei Qiqi because he assumed that, with all the guidance she was receiving from the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, she must understand this.

    Therefore, the group of people traveled through the peculiar clouds for an unknown amount of time.

    As they did, Pei Qiqi spun the irregrly shaped crystal to examine each and every mysterious portal they came across.

    At the same time, Zhao Shanling summoned his Voidspirit Pagoda and used it to scan their surroundings for unusual auras, hoping to locate the entrance to the Void Pce Sect¡¯s current location.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, Pei Qiqi¡¯s irregrly shaped crystal was stirred by something, and flew uncontrobly into one of the portals.

    Just as Pei Qiqi was about to follow it into the portal, Zhao Shanling stopped her by shouting, ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Pei Qiqi eximed back.

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll be able to return alive if you enter it?¡± Zhao Shanling asked with a stern face. ¡°Have you got a full understanding of the situation on the other side of that portal from that Heaven Nourished grade treasure of yours? If you haven¡¯t, why rush into it now? At least find out what it¡¯s discovered first.¡±

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t respond right away.

    Instead, a unique light glittered in her narrowed eyes as shemunicated with that treasure of hers despite the space between them.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes shone with a curious light, as if she actually saw another heaven and earth through her spatial treasure. ¡°It¡¯s a heaven and earth that I¡¯m unfamiliar with. There are lots of rare spirit beasts and spatial creatures. And, and...¡±

    She stuttered with astonishment. ¡°Hybrids!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered strongly. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°There are people living there. However, their special bloodline auras indicates that they¡¯re hybrids!¡± Pei Qiqi had never been so bbergasted. She pointed at herself and then Nie Tian. ¡°Hybrids like you and me... and it¡¯s not just a couple of them, but lots of them!¡±

    Everyone gasped upon hearing this.

    ¡°Hybrids?!¡±

    ¡°Lots of hybrids?!¡±

    All of the four great sects had their own hybrid programs. However, since they had kept them secret, very few people knew how far along those programs were, and where those hybrids were being raised.

    All of a sudden, they discovered a portal in a space disruption zone that connected to a brand new heaven and earth where there were arge amount of hybrids. How could they not be astonished?

 Chapter 1135: Losing Contact

    Pei Qiqi pondered briefly before saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay here while I go in there and take a quick look? If I go by myself, I¡¯ll be able to get out of there with the help of my spatial treasure if I¡¯m in trouble.¡±

    Zhao Shanling pointed at himself. ¡°What about me, kid? Do you want me to go with you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that it¡¯ll be safe for you either,¡± Pei Qiqi said frankly.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face grew grim.

    Before he could ask about the details, Pei Qiqi morphed into a streak of glorious light that shot directly into the mysterious portal.

    Zhao Shanling turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. How much do you know about your sect¡¯s hybrid program?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about it.¡±

    ¡°Arge number of hybrids in a secluded heaven and earth that¡¯s essible through a secret portal in a space disruption zone.¡± Dong Li thought hard about the matter. ¡°Who¡¯s behind it? I hear that no human forces other than the four great sects have the ability to breed hybrids.¡±

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily the case.¡±

    Nie Tiana and Dong Li fixed him with surprised looks simultaneously.

    Zhao Shanling pointed at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Both you and Pei Qiqi were born and raised in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Yet both of you are hybrids that carry unique bloodlines. So the way I see it, your births had nothing to do with the four great sects.

    ¡°Otherwise, instead of gradually manifesting your uniqueness and attracting the attention of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Void Spirit Society, you should have been taken into the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Void Spirit Society long ago.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent after hearing these words.

    He remembered what Mo Heng had said to him about his father¡¯s profound connection to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and the fact that he was the pioneer of human hybrid breeding.

    The portal continued to glow with bright, mysterious light.

    It had been some time now, but neither Pei Qiqi nor her spatial treasure had returned.

    Nie Tian started to lose patience.

    Zhao Shanling was well-versed in spatial magics. Even though Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t think it would be safe for him to enter the portal, he had great confidence in himself.

    ¡°How about I go in there and take a look?¡± he asked. ¡°As skilled and resourceful as the kid is, her cultivation base is still quite low. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to help her in there.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure that it¡¯s safe for you to go?¡± Nie Tian asked with a deeply concerned expression.

    ¡°I can¡¯t say for sure before I actually go and get a grasp of the situation in there,¡± Zhao Shanling answered honestly.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we wait a bit longer?¡± he said with determination.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    A long time passed...

    Nie Tian finally wore out his patience. He took a nce at Zhao Shanling and said, ¡°Be careful on your way in.¡±

    Hearing this, Zhao Shanling smiled cunningly and flew into the portal with his Voidspirit Pagoda.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian and Dong Li became the only ones that were left in this strange ce.

    After that, it was endless waiting.

    Time passed bit by bit, while there were no signs of Pei Qiqi or Zhao Shanling¡¯s return.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li and Nie Tian lost their spiritual and flesh power at a noticeable rate even though they weren¡¯t doing anything.

    Unlike other parts of the starry river, the Nine Stars Flower, Godspirit Tree, and me spark within Nie Tian couldn¡¯t channel power from his surroundings in this space disruption zone.

    It seemed that only spatial power experts like Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi could gather wisps of power that were useful to them from a strange ce like this.

    ¡°It seems that I¡¯ve got to resort to my stock of spiritual materials now.¡± With a sigh, Nie Tian quietly took out a variety of spiritual materials with me, wood, and star attributes, and started channeling power from them.

    Luckily, he had stocked up on the spiritual materials he needed. Otherwise, his spiritual sea would have run dry within a short time.

    At the same time, wisps of his flesh power also flew out of him unceasingly.

    Seeing him recover power with spiritual materials, Dong Li thought briefly, then said with a bitter expression, ¡°I don¡¯t have that many spiritual materials that contain dark power on me.¡±

    With these words, she took out several dry bones, all of which belonged to dark species such as ck phoenixes and ck dragons.

    As for the dark stone, she didn¡¯t dare to use it rashly in a space disruption zone like this. She wasn¡¯t sure whether the Demons would be able to sense it if she did, or would it trigger unwanted changes.

    While refining spiritual materials that contained dark power, Dong Li turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Are we still not going in there?¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling that they¡¯re fine in there. They just haven¡¯t returned yet.¡± Nie Tian answered with a thoughtful expression. ¡°I have... special instincts for Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s face fell. ¡°Special instincts? Do you only have them for her?¡±

    Nie Tian realized that he had said something he shouldn¡¯t have. ¡°Umm, I have them for others too. It¡¯s hard to exin.¡±

    He had activated Life Grant and helped Pei Qiqi strengthen her body and expand her acupoints with his Blood Essence.

    The infusion of his Blood Essence seemed to have established a profound connection between him and Pei Qiqi.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t usually feel it. However, now that Pei Qiqi had left and he was worried about her, he could vaguely sense that she was still alive.

    It was as if only if Pei Qiqi perished, both her body and soul, would the mark of his Blood Essence in her be erasedpletely.

    Therefore, Nie Tian remained calm and unswayed, knowing that she was alive.

    ¡°So we just keep waiting?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    As the two of them quietly refined their respective spiritual materials, a sense of loneliness gradually rose in their hearts.

    They moved closer together in front of the secret portal, as if only by doing so could they ovee the lonely feeling this peculiar heaven and earth was bringing them.

    As time passed, an idea suddenly urred to Nie Tian. ¡°What will happen if I let the Star Behemoth bone out?¡±

    The Star Behemoth bone could gather all sorts of power from its surroundings on its own when left in other parts of the starry river.

    However, since they were now in a space disruption zone, it remained a question whether it could do the same here.

    He decided to make an attempt.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone that was dozens of meters long appeared upon Nie Tian¡¯s summons.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    To Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, wisps of faint colorful light were clearly drawn to the bone, as they started converging on it from all directions as soon as it showed up.

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°That bone can even gather power from its surroundings in a space disruption zone like this?!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you can give that dark stone of yours a shot as well,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He shrewdly discovered that the wisps of colorful light that fused into the Star Behemoth bone seemed to have a strong stimting effect on it, as the mysterious veins within the bone were already undergoing subtle changes.

    ¡°The dark stone... in this ce...¡± Encouraged by Nie Tian, Dong Li hesitated for a brief moment before bracing herself and preparing to summon the dark stone.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian hastily said, ¡°Let¡¯s put some space between us.¡±

    The Star Behemoth bone alone was already quiterge. If she was going to summon the dark stone, it would be so crowded in this area that unnecessary conflicts might ur.

    Therefore, it would be good for both of them if they put some distance between them.

    Dong Li understood his concern, and thus left Nie Tian¡¯s side. Only when she was rather far from the Star Behemoth bone did she stop and summon the dark stone.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as the dark stone appeared, part of the colorful wisps that were originally converging on the huge bone changed directions, and flew towards the dark stone instead.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up.

 Chapter 1136: An Unforeseen Encounter

    During the Primal Era, the Star Behemoths¡¯ strength had been unmatched. They had preyed on all sorts of powerful beings, and even realms.

    They had been the sole overlords of this starry river in that period of time.

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t expected that the Star Behemoth bone he owned could even channel power from the dashing lights in a space disruption zone like this one.

    After all, those colorful dashing lights were extremely deadly.

    Everyone, including Zhao Shanling, had been rather apprehensive about them. Pei Qiqi, who held that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure, was the only one who felt at ease in such a peculiar environment.

    For this reason, Nie Tian and the others had remained vignt and avoided the dashing lights the whole time.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    But now, many of the glorious lights that shot by them were either absorbed by the Star Behemoth bone or fused into the dark stone Dong Li had just brought out.

    However, as Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, he soon realized that not all of the dashing lights were channeled by the bone or the dark stone.

    Some of them shot past the bone and the dark stone and vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes glittered with amazement as she looked unblinkingly at the dark stone. Then, she eximed from a distant ce, ¡°What on earth are these lights in space disruption zones? I have a feeling that these ones absorbed by the dark stone are very helpful to it.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°To tell you the truth, I don¡¯t know what they are either. Those who can answer that question for us are currently out of touch.¡±

    Even so, he didn¡¯t seem worried gazing at the flickering portal. His instincts told him that Pei Qiqi was still alive.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not fixate on what these dashing lights are for now,¡± Nie Tian added. ¡°Whatever they are, they don¡¯t seem to be harmful in any way to your dark stone or my bone.¡±

    Dong Li nodded in agreement.

    The two of them then floated in the starry river and watched the bone and the dark stone capture the glorious lights that streaked by, while recovering their power with all sorts of spiritual materials they took out from within their rings of holding.

    This showed how strangely special space disruption zones were.

    Being here, human Qi warriors would rapidly lose their spiritual power, whatever their attribute, even if they didn¡¯t do anything.

    The higher their cultivation bases were, the faster they would lose their spiritual power.

    Meanwhile, there didn¡¯t seem to be any spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth or other refinable power here. Even Nie Tian¡¯s Nine Stars Flower, Godspirit Tree, and me spark couldn¡¯t gather power here as they could elsewhere.

    He could only rely on the spiritual materials in his rings of holding.

    An unknown period of time passed.

    Ancient corpses started floating out from the depths of the curious clouds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open. With a puzzled expression, he looked closely at the ancient corpses, while examining them with his bloodline power.

    Soon, he put his heart at ease. ¡°There isn¡¯t a single shred of flesh power within these corpses. They don¡¯t even carry any corpse auras. This means they¡¯repletely useless. And most of them belong to humans, with only a few outsider ones.¡±

    This wasn¡¯t the first trip he had taken to a space disruption zone.

    Last time, when he hade here with Zhao Shanling, they had seen a simr scene.

    He knew that this was the fate of those who stumbled into a space disruption zone and people like Yuan Jiuchuan, who were banished to a space disruption zone, if they failed to find a way out before running out of their spirit stones and spiritual materials.

    These corpses were bereft of any value. A mere touch would reduce them to ashes.

    Not just humans, even outsiders would lose all of their residual flesh power shortly after their deaths in a space disruption zone like this.

    BZZZ!

    Nie Tian lifted his hand, and a beam of blood-colored light shot out of his fingertip.

    The shriveled corpses of a few elegantly-dressed Qi warriors scattered like ashes in the wind as soon as the beam of blood-colored light shot through them.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Several Phantasm and Bonebrute corpses also crumbled upon contact with the beam of blood-colored light.

    At this moment, Dong Li also awoke from her cultivation.

    ¡°These aren¡¯t corpses from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, are they?¡± she asked curiously.

    ¡°No, they¡¯re nothing like the corpses the Heavenly Corpse Sect uses to make corpse ves,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°The corpses they use must carry residual flesh power, which they turn into corpse power with their secret refining method before fusing it back into the corpses, causing the corpses to go through changes and eventually turning them into Humanly Corpses, Earthly Corpses, or Heavenly Corpses.

    ¡°However, the floating corpses in space disruption zones don¡¯t carry even the least bit of power, so they can¡¯t be used to refine corpse ves.¡±

    Dong Li nodded, and then asked, ¡°So why are these old corpses floating out from within the strange clouds?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and said, ¡°Who knows?¡±

    As they spoke, more and more corpses drifted out from within the clouds, as if a mysterious force was pushing them out in waves.

    Gradually, more outsider corpses entered their sight, including ones that belonged to minor races such as Birdmen and Stonemen.

    After observing for a while, Dong Li¡¯s face grew grim as she said in a soft voice, ¡°A fierce battle must have broken out in the depths of those clouds. Both the humans and outsiders must have suffered heavy casualties from it. The dead were left unattended, and eventually descended to such a state after countless years of corrosion in the space disruption zone.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded in agreement. ¡°That seems to be the case.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Dong Li asked, ¡°Do you know why such arge-scale battle would break out in there? There has to be a reason, right? I suspect that something in there sparked a strong desire on both sides, and eventually caused them to resort to violence. Or there might be another reason. Anyways, I bet the depths of those clouds held a great secret.¡±

    With these words, she turned to look at the portal that Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling had entered sessively, an anxious expression appearing on her face.

    More time passed.

    As more corpses continued to float out from the depths of the clouds, a man wreathed in countless lightning bolts suddenly flew out with them, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    As he overtook the floating corpses, the lightning bolts wreathing him turned many of them into flying ashes.

    The man had his eyes on the portal Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling had entered as he approached.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed Nie Tian. His expression flickered with surprise as he eximed, ¡°It¡¯s you? Why are you here?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback as well. ¡°Han Sen?!¡±

    He had met him once in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range in the Shatter Battlefield. He had been with Huang Jinnan at first. However, due to conflicts, they had eventually broken up and gone their separate ways.

    Nie Tian still remembered that when Han Sen had parted ways with them, he had left in pursuit of a lightning bolt that had developed its own awareness.

    Now, many years had passed, and he had never expected that he would actually run into this man, who he had had an unpleasant experience with, in a ce like this.

    Even to this day, he didn¡¯t know much about him. All he knew was that he practiced lightning power, and that Huang Jinnan had detested and guarded against him.

    ¡°Hmm?! Wait!¡± Nie Tian fixed Han Sen with a deep look as he sensed him with rapt attention. His expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You¡¯re a hybrid too?!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Han Senughed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you saw that. That¡¯s right. I carry a lightning bloodline which matches my cultivation attribute. It¡¯s just that when we met in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, I hadn¡¯t awakened my bloodline yet.

    ¡°In fact, it was the self-aware lightning bolt I found there that awakened and merged with my bloodline.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before raising his guard to the highest level and asking aloud, ¡°Did youe from there?¡±

    He pointed at the secret portal Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling had entered.

    Han Sen grinned. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that. However, I dide here to enter that ce this time.¡±

    Then, he took a deep look at Nie Tian and shook his head. ¡°Howe you¡¯re still at the early Soul realm? So many years have passed since thest time we met. I¡¯m now at thete Soul realm, only one step away from entering the Void domain.

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m going there so that I can make breakthroughs in both my bloodline and cultivation base.¡±

    With these words, Han Sen¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°I almost forgot. How did you find your way here? Do you have connections with anyone in there? Or did you actuallye from there yourself? It doesn¡¯t seem right though, because I¡¯d never heard your name before.¡±

    Nie Tian had more questions than him. After a moment of silence, he said, ¡°I have lots of questions for you. You¡¯ll answer them for me before I let you go in there.¡±

    Han Sen sneered. ¡°Let me? Are you going to stop me or something?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Tell me what I want to know, and I¡¯ll think about letting you through.¡±

    Instead of being angered, Han Senughed. ¡°Do you know who you¡¯re talking to?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you, Han Sen.¡±

 Chapter 1137: Overwhelming Power

    Han Sen didn¡¯t say another word. He simplyughed, looking at Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    Hisughter gradually became resonant, and then ear-piercing.

    At the same time, slender cyan lightning bolts slithered from under his skin to roam all over him like spirit snakes.

    They were condensations of his pure flesh power.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The slithering lighting bolts suddenly made his scrawny body look strong and formidable.

    Now, with lightning bolts as his cape, he looked like a fierce god of lightning.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian examined him with his bloodline power, then said with a crafty smile, ¡°He¡¯s clearly spent some time and effort refining his body with lighting power, so his body is much tougher than that of an ordinary cultivator. However, the grade of your bloodline is still far too low. Any body refinement at such a level isn¡¯t even worth mentioning in front of me.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure from which particr species Han Sen had inherited his lightning bloodline.

    After all, many Ancientbeasts, Demons, and other species were endowed with the wonders of lighting.

    He couldn¡¯t determine the origin of Han Sen¡¯s bloodline simply by relying on his instincts.

    However, one thing he was certain: his bloodline was only at the fifth grade.

    The strength of a fifth grade outsider was only equal to that of a Worldly realm Qi warrior.

    However, Han Sen¡¯s other focus of cultivation, the cultivation of his spiritual sea and lightning power core, was much more advanced, and was currently at thete Soul realm.

    Both his bloodline and spiritual core were lightning-attributed. Together, they...

    BZZZ!

    At this moment, a glorious lightning bolt that was as thick as a man¡¯s thumb suddenly shot out of Han Sen¡¯s left eye.

    Like a spirit snake with its own awareness, it continued to draw power from his flesh aura and lightning power core in his dantian region as it slithered forward.

    It expanded at an rming speed under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze.

    Just a few secondster, it grew to a hundred meters long and as thick as a man¡¯s waist.

    It emanated light so dazzlingly bright that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t even bear to look at it. Just a nce at it would cause stabbing pain in his eyes and make them water.

    Han Senughed sinisterly, with tiny lightning bolts slithering in his eyes. ¡°Annihtion Spirit Lightning!¡±

    In the next moment, he turned into a figure wreathed in thick, blinding lighting bolts.

    An extremely intense lightning aura burst forth from within him, filling his surroundings with shing lighting and rolling thunder. At this moment, he seemed even mightier than Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil.

    The lightning bolt he referred to as Annihtion Spirit Lightning was the self-aware lightning bolt he had captured in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range many years ago.

    Since it was at the Earth Cultivated grade, it possessed primitive intelligence.

    Its fusion with him had finally stimted and awakened his bloodline. Both his bloodline and cultivation base had experienced rapid advances since then.

    With a derisive smile, Nie Tian made a grabbing motion in the air. ¡°Come back!¡±

    The Star Behemoth bone behind him that was dozens of meters long rapidly shrank to the size of spear and flew into his hand.

    Countless blood-colored veins formed mysterious patterns that covered the surface of the crimson bone.

    Strange auras that the bone had absorbed from the dashing lights could be seen circting within them.

    FIZZ!

    The thick lightning bolt that carried Han Sen¡¯s flesh power, spiritual power, and soul power shed down towards Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Like a lightning dragon that was going to destroy heaven and earth, it filled the entire area with blinding light. Its extraordinary might even eliminated all of the dashing lights in its surroundings.

    ¡°A showy move.¡± Nie Tian snorted as he thrust the Star Behemoth bone towards the iing lighting bolt that was like an enormous lightning dragon.

    As theplicated blood-colored patterns on it lit up one by one likemps on a night street, a strong bloody aura burst forth from within the bone.

    A streak of blood-colored aura suddenly split the void and charged skywards.

    The dashing lights the bone had absorbed had clearly stimted it and boosted its might by fusing into its blood-colored veins.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    The so-called Annihtion Spirit Lightning was instantly crushed under the blood-colored aura¡¯s overwhelming might.

    Though it seemed as formidable as a lightning dragon, it only held for a couple of seconds before breaking into pieces.

    Nie Tian let out a longugh and charged towards Han Sen, clutching the bone in his hand. ¡°You really think you can pose a threat to me with yourte Soul realm cultivation base and fifth grade bloodline? Your strength might have experienced rapid growth after your trip to the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, but everything is rtive.

    ¡°Compared to mine, your so-called ¡®growth¡¯ is nothing but a joke!¡±

    With these words, clusters of dazzling starlight shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s palm and plummeted towards Han Sen like small meteors.

    At the same time, me Dragon¡¯s Cry was unleashed.

    zing me power from his spiritual sea rapidly morphed into a dragon of mes. It drew power from his flesh aura, the me Dragon Armor, and the me spark before charging towards Han Sen with an overwhelming momentum.

    The heavy bombardment forced Han Sen to draw back.

    ¡°Starshift!¡±

    As Han Sen panicked and decided to escape at all costs, Nie Tian cast another profound magic of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, a short-range Starshift, and appeared right behind him.

    BOOOOM!

    Hisrge fist crushed space as he drove it towards Han Sen¡¯s back with splitting force.

    The protective shield Han Sen hastily formed with lightning power shattered upon contact.

    His fist mmed into Han Sen¡¯s back.

    CRACK! CRUNCH!

    One seemingly casual strike, and half of Han Sen¡¯s ribs cracked.

    Nie Tian shook his head and clicked his tongue. ¡°Weak... You¡¯re too weak as a hybrid.¡±

    Then, he reached out and clenched Han Sen¡¯s neck. Wisps of blood-colored aura flew out of his fingertips into Han Sen¡¯s body, where they seemed to chain up and imprison his lightning bloodline.

    Dong Li remained by her dark stone this whole time, not showing the slightest interest in joining the battle.

    After all, she had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s duel against Ophelia in the Dead Star Sea.

    He had even managed to defeat Ophelia, who was the Demons¡¯ pride, a direct descendant of Grand Monarch Illusory Demon, and the current holder of the Doom de. Inparison, a figure like Han Sen was nothing.

    Having unwavering confidence in Nie Tian, Dong Li hadn¡¯t doubted in the slightest that he would emerge victorious.

    Neck clenched by Nie Tian¡¯srge hand, Han Sen attempted to draw on his lightning-attributed bloodline power, only to discover that it couldn¡¯t circte as freely as before, as if it had been infused with lead. ¡°How... How did you be so powerful?¡±

    At the same time, his dantian region seemed to be sealed off, as it had be extremely difficult for his spiritual power to enter or leave it.

    He gave up resistance, as he finally realized that if he dared to make another move, Nie Tian might be enraged and snap his neck.

    Since this was a space disruption zone, and he wasn¡¯t a Saint or God domain expert, if his fleshly body perished, his soul would share the same fate.

    With a broad smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems that it¡¯s been a while since youst spent time in human domains. Otherwise, you would have feared me upon seeing me.¡±

    ¡°Why... Why would I do that?¡± Han Sen pretended to be calm.

    Dong Li finally couldn¡¯t help but jump in and say in a bragging manner, ¡°If you had visited any human domains recently, you would have heard people talking about him defeating Ophelia, the Demons¡¯ pride, in the Dead Star Sea.¡±

    Han Sen was bbergasted. ¡°Ophelia?! A Demon young monarch, and their strongest eighth grade fighter?!¡±

    His response proved that he had indeed not visited any human domains recently.

    ¡°So can we talk now?¡± Nie Tian taunted.

    Sagging his head, Han Sen answered in frustration, ¡°Sure. In fact, since we¡¯re both hybrids, perhaps there are even some connections between us. Whatever you want to ask, I¡¯ll tell you everything I know.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not because I¡¯m scared of you, but because we¡¯re the same, you and me,¡± Han Sen said, cringing.

 Chapter 1138: A Brand New Era

    Even though he didn¡¯t admit to his fear, Han Sen¡¯s hair stood on end.

    A few puny cyan lightning bolts had appeared from under his skin, but now slithered back into him in a slow, meticulous manner.

    It was as if he was afraid that Nie Tian would be displeased and make a killing move.

    Han Sen examined himself with his soul awareness, and found that his bloodline was currently suppressed by Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline, and couldn¡¯t spark any interest in fighting back.

    ¡°Bloodline suppression!¡±

    He, who had a shallow understanding of different bloodlines, was well-aware what this meant.

    Bloodline suppression would only ur when a member of a higher species fought a member of a lower species.

    For instance, during the Primal Era, the Star Behemoths¡¯ bloodlines had had a suppressing effect on those of ancient Demons, dragons, and titans, due to the innate superiority of their bloodlines.

    Another example would be the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes nowadays, all of which had produced many tenth grade grand monarchs.

    When they faced minor races like Birdmen, ckscales, and Stonemen, which had never produced any tenth grade grand monarchs, their bloodlines would also enjoy a suppressing effect.

    This was the reason why Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline was making him so powerless and afraid. It wasn¡¯t because Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was at a higher grade than his.

    Han Sen understood this far too well.

    Even if his bloodline had been at the seventh grade like Nie Tian, his lightning bloodline would still be suppressed by Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline.

    Perhaps only if his bloodline had been one or two grades higher than Nie Tian¡¯s would he be able to get over the suppressing effect Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had on his.

    ¡°Ask me whatever you want, and I¡¯ll answer to the best of my knowledge,¡± Han Sen said again.

    Nie Tian pointed at the secret portal Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling had entered and asked a whole bunch of questions at once. ¡°Tell me about the hybrids on the other side of that portal. Where are they from? What grade are they at? What do I need to know if I want to go in there? And how can Ie out of there...?¡±

    At the same time, he summoned the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding and held it towards Han Sen¡¯s eyes.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul then flew out, along with the five evil spirits.

    Looking at the sinister evil spirits, Han Sen started trembling in fear, fear that they would rip him apart upon catching a single untrue statement he made.

    Admitting to Nie Tian¡¯s dominance, he sagged his head and brought out everything he knew bit by bit. ¡°I... I¡¯ll tell you everything...¡±

    It turned out that Han Sen was from a sect that had a profound connection to the Five Elements Sect.

    Many years ago, the lightning element sect, where he was from, had been part of the Five Elements Sect.

    However, due to its sluggish development and the fact that none of its sect heads had been able to enter the God domain, it had gradually been excluded from the Five Elements Sect and be a mediocre subordinate sect.

    However, they hadn¡¯t given up hope of regaining their seat in the Five Elements Sect and bing a cornerstone like the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth element sects.

    Knowing that he had no prospect of entering the God domain himself, the current head of the lightning element sect hade up with a different approach, and prepared to start their ascension with their next generation.

    Han Sen was the product of a transaction between the current head of the lightning element sect and someone unknown.

    Even Han Sen himself hadn¡¯t been aware of his identity as a hybrid right until the awakening of his bloodline.

    He also didn¡¯t know who his parents were, or the exact origin of his bloodline. He had only traveled around, built up his strength, and sought breakthroughs in his cultivation under the instruction and care of the head of the lightning element sect.

    It wasn¡¯t until he had captured the Annihtion Spirit Lightning in the depths of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range that his bloodline had finally been awakened.

    The Annihtion Spirit Lightning had helped stimte and awaken his lightning bloodline, which had been in incubation since his birth.

    After the awakening of his bloodline, his body had be much tougher, his strength had grown sharply, and even his cultivation base had soared.

    Only at that moment had the head of the lightning element sect told him that he was special, and the origin of his bloodliney with a unique ce.

    Only by going there would he be able to make faster advances in his bloodline.

    Furthermore, he would be able to find the origin of his bloodline there.

    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that you¡¯ve actually never been there before?¡± Nie Tian asked with a confused look on his face. ¡°And you¡¯re here because you want to visit that ce for the first time?¡±

    ¡°Well, ording to my master, I was born there,¡± Han Sen said, looking somewhat embarrassed. ¡°It¡¯s just that I was a baby back then, and couldn¡¯t remember anything. The truth is that my master asked someone to make me in there. Now that I¡¯ve awakened my lightning bloodline, he thought it was about time I came back because I¡¯ll be able to make rapid breakthroughs there.

    ¡°He also told me that he¡¯smunicated with the people in there. All I need to do is to go in there and tell them who I am.

    ¡°So I assumed that you came from there too, like me. Now that you¡¯ve awakened your bloodline and achieved certain heights, you¡¯vee back to seek more possibilities for advances.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew strange.

    Of course he understood that he wasn¡¯t like Han Sen. All the evidence suggested he had been born and raised in the Realm of me Heaven.

    However, he wasn¡¯t sure that was the case with Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Han Sen...¡± Nie Tian was lost in thought. His expression gradually grew stern.

    Like Han Sen, he hadn¡¯t awakened his bloodline at birth either, but had awakened his bloodline at a certain time due to a certain opportunity.

    He had awakened his bloodline fairly early.

    Han Sen had only awakened his bloodline after he had gained the Annihtion Spirit Lightning.

    Was it possible that there were many more hybrids like Han Sen scattered across the human domains, who only hadn¡¯t awakened their bloodlines yet?

    The master of the lightning element sect had asked someone to make Han Sen, and hoped that his paired lightning bloodline and lightning cultivation attribute would lift their sect from their current situation towards a bright future.

    Therefore, others could have done the same, and demanded hybrids be produced for their causes.

    If there were indeed arge number of hybrids like him, wouldn¡¯t the entire human world experience turmoil after they all awakened their bloodlines, and manifested shockingly high talent and potential?

    Thanks to Han Sen¡¯s appearance, Nie Tian captured this huge scheme and potential cause of disasters.

    Meanwhile, Dong Li had long since been bbergasted beyond words, listening to the conversation between Nie Tian and Han Sen. As quick-minded as she was, she was well-aware of what this shocking secret meant.

    ¡°Nie Tian, if arge number of hybrids like you, Pei Qiqi, and Han Sen awaken their bloodlines and rise to prominence in the human heaven and earth...¡± Dong Li took a deep breath, ¡°then I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re facing a brand new era, a brand new world!¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°A brand new world!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± Han Sen said, as if there was no question in that. ¡°My master told me that a brand new era is at hand. The four great sects will soon be in the past. He and I, we¡¯re all...¡±

    Nie TIan¡¯s expression flickered as he looked at him. ¡°You¡¯re what?¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Han Sen said, ¡°We¡¯re all part of that future. And since you¡¯re a hybrid, you belong to the new era as well. Whether you ept it or not, you¡¯ll y a crucial role in it. I¡¯m sure of it.¡±

 Chapter 1139: A Brand New World

    Nie Tian expression grew grim. ¡°Your master? I can¡¯t believe the head of the lightning element sect is also...¡±

    ¡°Not just my sect. There are people like us in the four great sects as well.¡± Han Sen said sincerely.

    He had first met Nie Tian in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Since he hadn¡¯t awakened his lightning bloodline back then, and neither had he learned about this grand secret, he had found hybrids like Nie Tian repulsive.

    However, things were different now.

    Now that he had learned this shocking secret from his master, he took it for granted that since Nie Tian was a hybrid like him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to escape his fate as part of theing new era.

    Therefore, he held nothing back from him.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°There are people like you and your master in the four great sects now?!¡±

    ¡°Times are indeed going to change,¡± Dong Li muttered, her flickering eyes fixed on the secret portal. ¡°I wonder how many like him havee out of that ce and blended into the human domains over the years. Perhaps most of them only haven¡¯t disyed remarkable talent yet because they¡¯re waiting for their bloodlines to be awakened.

    ¡°But once their bloodlines are awakened, their prominent talent and strength will definitely set them apart from regr cultivators.

    ¡°And I bet people are secretly making efforts so that this grand scheme will pan out...¡±

    Her words suddenly reminded Nie Tian of the secret force Yuan Jiuchuan the Thunder Devil had told them about.

    That force, which consisted of crooked human sects like the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, and the Death Curse Sect, was every bit as strong as any of the four great sects. It might very well be behind all this.

    ¡°It even has rogue Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, and other outsiders as its members.¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, he was more and more convinced that that secret force was responsible for this hybrid scheme.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At this moment, the portal Pei Qiqi and Zhao Shanling had entered suddenly started to emanate unusual spatial fluctuations.

    Many passing dashing lights were sucked into it.

    The secret portal started to expand.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi charged out of it sessively.

    Zhao Shanling was covered in blood. Face pale, he shouted upon charging out of the expanding portal, ¡°We need to leave now!¡±

    Pei Qiqi seemed to be in a better condition than him, as there wasn¡¯t any blood on her. However, her eyes were bereft of their usual glitter.

    She fixed Han Sen with a bewildered stare. ¡°Who¡¯s this, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°A hybrid.¡± Nie Tian told her the truth. ¡°He was hoping to go in there to seek further bloodline upgrades when I stopped him.¡±

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and said with a panicked look in his eyes, ¡°Forget about him. We¡¯re done exploring this ce. Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Pei Qiqi also urged him.

    Nie Tian shot a nce at Han Sen.

    Meeting his eyes, Han Sen hastily eximed in a terrified voice, ¡°We¡¯re both hybrids, and I¡¯ve told you everything you want to know!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Whatever. A man like you can never surpass me. I guess it doesn¡¯t matter whether you¡¯re dead or alive.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the wisps of blood-colored aura that had been suppressing Han Sen¡¯s bloodline flew out of him and returned to Nie Tian.

    Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi flew off in the opposite direction of the depths of the strange clouds. Nie Tian and Dong Li hastily followed along.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    After they left, the secret portal fluctuated even more violently.

    Strange lights shot out of it as it continued to expand.

    Standing in front of the portal, Han Sen was apprehensive about the unusual changes, and didn¡¯t dare to enter it rashly.

    After a long while...

    As dazzling light burst forth from within the secret portal, three figures flew out of it.

    They were two men and a woman, all of them at the Saint domain.

    The woman seemed rather old. She was wearing a feather hat and dressed in a rather manly manner. She was a middle Saint domain spatial power expert.

    From the look of it, she outranked the other two.

    She shot Han Sen a sideways nce and took a brief moment to examine him. ¡°You¡¯re a hybrid? What are you doing here?¡±

    Honest and humble, Han Sen answered, ¡°My master is the head of the lightning element sect. Now that I¡¯ve awakened my bloodline, he told me toe here to seek further breakthroughs in my bloodline and cultivation base. Are you from in there, Senior?¡±

    The woman smiled and said, ¡°Oh, your name is Han Sen, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Han Sen nodded vigorously.

    The three experts then talked among themselves, as if they were in a rather good mood.

    ¡°Not bad. Your bloodline is already at the fifth grade. You have a bright future ahead of you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, perhaps the lightning element sect will finally have their first God domain cultivator thanks to you.¡±

    ¡°This deal is quite rewarding. Our efforts didn¡¯t go to waste.¡±

    At this moment, Han Sen said cautiously, ¡°Two people came out before you.¡±

    The woman in the feather hat shot a nce in the direction Pei Qiqi and the others had left in, and said, ¡°That¡¯s alright. A new era is at hand. That girl is a hybrid too. It¡¯s only a matter of time before she joins us.¡±

    ¡°There was another one waiting for them out here,¡± Han Sen hastily said. ¡°His name is Nie Tian. It seems to me that he¡¯s even stronger!¡±

    The woman was taken aback. ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    However, she quickly recovered from her astonishment. With an unfathomable look in her eyes, she smiled and muttered to herself, ¡°So it was him. Not bad. I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d actually find his way here. Luckily for us, it¡¯s almost time. Otherwise, things might actually have been a bit tricky.¡±

    The three experts had been calm andposed since they had flown out of the secret portal. They didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest interest in pursuing Pei Qiqi and the others.

    ¡°Come on. We¡¯ll show you in. I believe you¡¯ll be able to make another bloodline upgrade in there soon.¡±

    With these words, they took Han Sen into the fluctuating portal.

    ...

    Under Zhao Shanling and Pei Qiqi¡¯s leadership, Nie Tian and Dong Li flew at full speed in the space disruption zone, avoiding the dashing lights that shot across from time to time.

    ¡°What happened in there?!¡± Dong Li eximed.

    Pei Qiqi had focused on getting away from that secret portal at first, as if she was scared of being caught.

    Only now, after flying at full speed for some time and sensing no pursuers, did she finally rx and slow down.

    ¡°That secret portal connects to a brand new world that doesn¡¯t belong to outsiders, Ancientspirits, or humans.¡± Zhao Shanling dropped a bomb with his first sentence. ¡°Like ours, it¡¯s also vast and filled with countless realms. The only difference is that many of the realms in it are still in transformation, and haven¡¯t been explored.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°A brand new world?!¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°We must have not discovered it yet, as there are no rumors of such a brand new heaven and earth in either our world or the outsiders¡¯ world. However...¡±

    He paused for a moment. ¡°It already has inhabitants. And most of the young inhabitants are hybrids!¡±

    Pei Qiqi jumped in and said, ¡°I believe the disappeared Void Pce Sect has already be a part of that world. However, we were spotted when exploring it. Those locals tried to catch us. Since they were stronger than us, and we didn¡¯t want to take risks, we could only get out of there first.¡±

    ¡°This discovery is far too significant,¡± Zhao Shanling said aloud. ¡°We have to inform the four great sects of it.¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked back. ¡°The strange thing is that they didn¡¯te after us after we got out of there.¡±

    She was well-aware that one of the pursuers was well-versed in spatial power and had a high cultivation base.

    However, the fact that her Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure hadn¡¯t detected anything indicated that they had given up.

    This was such a huge secret. They were bound to inform the four great sects of it if they made it out of this space disruption zone. Why didn¡¯t they try to stop them?

    Pei Qiqi found this baffling.

 Chapter 1140: Peculiar Scenes in A Strange Place

    In an unknown world.

    A mysterious glorious rainbow that looked like a multicolored river passed through countless glittering stars.

    In one of the realms.

    As clusters of dazzling light shone abruptly in the heavens, a few figures entered the realm.

    If Nie Tian were there, he would discover that they were Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, and a powerful expert from the Death Curse Sect, along with luminaries from other so-called crooked human sects that had vanished from the human world many years ago.

    Numerous rivers could be seen to the north of the realm.

    Some of them were blood-red, while others were emerald-green or ocean-blue.

    Some rivers had lightning shing in them, giving rise to thunderous rumbles. Some emanated an intense bloody aura, along with a strong bloodlust. Some were filled with glittering golden light, while others were filled with torrential mes.

    Most of the rivers remained independent, without meeting any of the others.

    Naked young males and females could be seen bathing in all of them. Judging from their appearance, they all seemed to be human, even though they had hair of different colors and exuded different auras.

    Han Sen was in one of the rivers.

    That was a river of blood that had been taken from spirit beasts like Thunder Beasts and Demons that carried lightning bloodlines and repeatedly refined.

    Standing in the middle of the river, Han Sen used his bloodline to extract intense flesh power from the boiling hot blood.

    Flesh power ran through his meridians like lightning, giving rise to faint crackling sounds. He was doing this to temper his body and enhance his strength.

    He nced around, and a deeply overwhelmed expression appeared on his face.

    There were dozens more hybrids like him in the same river he was bathing in.

    Like him, they all carried lightning bloodlines, though their bloodlines hade from different origins.

    However, most of their bloodlines were at the third or fourth grade, with only a handful of them at the fifth grade, like him.

    Furthermore, most of their cultivation bases were rather low as well. The majority of them were at the Heaven or Greater Heaven stage, with only a couple of them at the Worldly realm.

    But what really amazed him was their age.

    He could tell that they were all very young, both male and female.

    These were only the ones that had awakened their lighting bloodlines.

    In further areas, many more other young hybrids were bathing in other rivers. Some of them carried earth bloodlines. Some carried the Demons¡¯ berserk bloodlines, while others carried bloodlines that were unique to Stonemen and ckscales.

    Even though they carried different bloodlines, they were all bathing and channeling flesh power from their respective rivers in order to strengthen their bloodlines.

    Meanwhile, Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes were scattered in their surroundings, as if they were keeping a close watch on them and the rivers.

    Han Sen¡¯s heart was filled with excitement.

    He came to realize that he was indeed going to be a part of the new era, and perhaps the meaning of his existence was to disy his remarkable talent in human and outsider domains and be a lord of the new world.

    He felt as if something deep in his bloodline was telling him that that was his destiny.

    In an area that was very far from where the rivers were.

    Pale death aura and intense corpse aura pervaded the whole area.

    Bonebrutes could be seen bustling among strangely-built burial grounds, dumping numerous human, outsider, and Ancientbeast corpses into them.

    Their unique spell formations processed the newly-added corpses, and refined their residual power into pure corpse aura.

    All of the newly-generated corpse aura rapidly condensed into nine streams that poured into an enormous Demon corpse in Ancestral Awakening form that was lying on its back in a huge hole in the ground.

    It was Cardy, one of the most powerful Demon grand patriarchs, who had died at Feng Beiluo¡¯s hand.

    Nine streams of pure corpse aura that were refined from the residual power of the countless corpses in the burial grounds poured into his dry, hard skin.

    WHOOSH!

    Feng Beiluo and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society suddenly arrived.

    The woman in the feather hat, who had pursued Pei Qiqi earlier, bowed respectfully upon seeing them. ¡°Lords.¡±

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society turned to Feng Beiluo and asked in a dark, gruesome voice, ¡°You¡¯ll be able to enter the God domain after you refine Cardy into a Heavenly Corpse, right?¡±

    Looking aloof, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°As a matter of fact, I¡¯ve entered the God domain already. I just need some time to stabilize my cultivation base and finish with my work with Cardy.¡±

    A hint of apprehension appeared in the eyes of the Nether Spirit Society sectmaster as he now looked at Feng Beiluo, even though he himself had entered the early God domain a long time ago.

    No one understood how formidable Feng Beiluo was better than him. Even before entering the God domain, Feng Beiluo had been capable of causing him great trouble.

    Now that he had entered the God domain...

    ¡°Turning Cardy into a Heavenly Corpse is only the beginning. Once I¡¯m done with him, the next step will be much easier.¡± With these words, Feng Beiluo smiled and pointed at a distant location.

    Arge number of dead Demon, Phantasm, Fiend grand patriarchs, and Ancientbeasts were lying on a piece of empty ground in the distance.

    All of them were wreathed in rich corpse auras. From the look of it, their grades were every bit as high as Cardy¡¯s.

    Once Cardy was sessfully refined into his strongest Heavenly Corpse, Feng Beiluo would be able to use the same method on those ninth grade grand patriarchs and Ancientbeasts, and turn them all into his sharp weapons.

    ¡°It seems that your ce in our master¡¯s heart is going to rise even higher,¡± The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society said with an envious tone.

    Only at this point did the woman in feather hat find an opportunity to report the recent incident to them. ¡°Lords, two people well-versed in spatial power snuck in here earlier. One of them carried a spatial bloodline. I suspect that she¡¯s the newest legacy disciple of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. We found them scouting around, but they eventually escaped.¡±

    Feng Beiluo didn¡¯t seem worried at all as heughed and said, ¡°Oh, that girl¡¯s name is Pei Qiqi. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±

    The woman smiled. ¡°Hmm, I thought she had deep connections with our cause. It¡¯s just that she doesn¡¯t know it yet. So the origin of her bloodline...¡±

    Feng Beiluo turned his eyes away from her to gaze off at a dazzling star in the starry river that the glorious rainbow stretched all the way to.

    He chuckled and said, ¡°She came to the wrong ce.¡±

    The woman continued, ¡°That Han Sen who arrived just now said that another hybrid named Nie Tian was waiting for her outside, and left with her when she came out.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡± The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society eximed. ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars who defeated Ophelia not long ago?¡±

    Feng Beiluoughed broadly. ¡°Nie Tian... He¡¯s the crucial one.¡±

 Chapter 1141: Doubts

    In the space disruption zone.

    Zhao Shanling exined what they had seen in that strange heaven and earth on their way back.

    The rivers of blood, the hybrids bathing in them, the burial grounds where corpses were being refined, and the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes that lived together...

    Pei Qiqi chimed in asionally at first, but gradually fell silent.

    Confusion, doubts, and fear slowly filled her eyes.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li gasped with astonishment after hearing Zhao Shanling¡¯s description.

    ¡°A brand new world where hybrids and members of other races live together in peace?!¡±

    ¡°Cardy¡¯s corpse is being refined into a Heavenly Corpse?! More ninth grade grand patriarchs like Cardy are waiting to be refined?!¡±

    ¡°That secret force is indeed behind all this!¡±

    They were sure that if they brought this news back to the four great sects, it would shock the entire human world.

    Even the outsider and Ancientspirit worlds would be shocked as well.

    Soon, Nie Tian discovered that Pei Qiqi was being unusually quiet.

    He slowly approached her and asked with a concerned tone, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, are you... are you upset because you didn¡¯t find clues of the Void Pce Sect?¡±

    Zhao Shanling turned to take a deep look at Pei Qiqi and asked, ¡°Did you feel something in there?¡±

    Pei Qiqi recovered from her daze. After a moment of hesitation, she said, ¡°Yes, I felt a stir in my bloodline. But it didn¡¯te from the realm we went to, but another one. Even though that realm was extremely far away, that feeling was clear.¡±

    Overjoyed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So does it mean that the origin of your bloodline lies in that realm?¡±

    ¡°If what I suspect is true, the Void Pce Sect has moved to that realm and started their new lives there,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a veryplicated look in her eyes. ¡°Perhaps my family is living there too. It¡¯s... It¡¯s just that...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should go meet them,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking deeply bothered.

    Hearing her words, Nie Tian suddenly went nk.

    ¡°I could tell that the hybrids there were manufactured,¡± Pei Qiqi said, lowering her head. ¡°All of those hybrids bathing in blood rivers were like Han Sen, results of some massive production. I, I¡¯m not even sure what I am anymore. Did Ie from there too? Was I a product ordered by someone in the Void Pce Sect?

    ¡°Those vile sects like the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, and the Death Curse Sect. They gued numerous domains and killed countless people. My master told me about their horrible deeds. They simply made me boil with anger!

    ¡°If my parents were indeed part of them, or I¡¯m just another product like Han Sen...

    ¡°I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m supposed to face myte master and the master who¡¯s giving me so much care.¡±

    Pei Qiqi seemed torn.

    Nie Tian fell silent as well, his expression flickering.

    These worries of Pei Qiqi¡¯s had never urred to him before. Now that Pei Qiqi had given voice to them, he felt suddenly enlightened.

    He was a hybrid as well. His mother was from the Realm of me Heaven, and had a clean background.

    However, he knew practically nothing about his father.

    What if his father was also a member of that secret force?

    That secret force was clearly hoping to overthrow the rule of humans, outsiders, and Ancientspirits, and change thendscape of the entire starry river. If that was true, then he would be stuck in the middle. Where would his loyalty lie?

    Would he stand with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, or his parents?

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, he suddenly remembered the way Feng Beiluo had treated him, and felt that not only was his father probably a member of that secret force, but he might actually hold a lofty position in it.

    ording to Mo Heng, his father had been the pioneer of human-hybrid breeding.

    It was his father who had first put forth the idea of mixing blood with outsiders, and then acted on it.

    Who was the boss behind that brand new world, those blood rivers, and those numerous hybrids?

    His father, who he had never met before, was the prime suspect.

    Both Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian were lost in their thoughts. They didn¡¯t say another word, and simply followed Zhao Shanling the rest of the way.

    Their greatest worry, which was that secret forceing after them, didn¡¯t happen.

    Surprisingly smoothly, Zhao Shanling led the group back to the portal through which they hade, and they returned to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Upon returning, Zhao Shanling left for the Bone Sect¡¯s former headquarters where they had discovered wondrous spatial patterns previously, hoping to derive new understandings of spatial power from them and find out where they might lead to.

    Pei Qiqi, however, said she needed some time alone, and left by herself.

    Instead of returning to the Void Spirit Society, she went to the Realm of Split Void, where she wandered aimlessly in the Void Illusion Mountain Range and the Void Pce Sect¡¯s old headquarters, trying to find answers.

    Dong Li left for the Realm of a Hundred Battles, where she continued to derive enlightenment from the dark stone in an attempt to make rapid advances in her cultivation.

    Nie Tian stayed in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, where the shrunken Heaven-equal Vine soon flew quietly to him.

    ¡°Since you can¡¯t find the ce where I found that Tree of Life, how about I take you to the Floragrims?¡± Nie Tian suggested.

    The Heaven-equal Vine agreed without hesitation.

    Nie Tian remembered that powerful Floragrims had gone to the Dead Star Sea to witness his duel against Ophelia, Fata being one of them.

    He knew Fata. He assumed that if he took the Heaven-equal Vine to him, he would take it back to the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd so that it would be able to fulfill its dream.

    Over there, it would be able to leave seeds and pass on its legacy.

    After reaching an agreement with Nie Tian, the Heaven-equal Vine further shrank until it was only the size of a regr tree.

    Even so, it was wreathed in glorious light, along with an intoxicating, refreshing wood aura.

    In such a state, it looked very much like a wood-attributed treasure.

    It was just that very few people had the privilege of owning such a treasure.

    Nie Tian put it away and left for the Realm of Split Void, where he teleported to the Realm of Fragmentary Star and then the Realm of Remote Heaven. From there, he teleported to the Dead Star Sea.

    By the time he arrived in the Dead Star Sea, he discovered that ny percent of the powerful experts of different races that had been gathered there earlier were gone.

    Upon seeing him, Han Wanrong asked with a surprised expression, ¡°Howe you came now?¡±

    ¡°What happened to the duel between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°They moved their duel to the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield long ago,¡± Han Wanrong said. ¡°Only a few grand monarchs and God domain experts who still have ess to the Shatter Battlefield went to witness that duel of our generation.¡±

    Nie Tian then asked, ¡°How long has it been since their duel began?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been some time, but it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s going to end any time soon,¡± Han Wanrong said. ¡°What? Do you want to go there? We have a way to get you there if you want to go.¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

 Chapter 1142: Returning to the Shatter Battlefield

    The majority of the spatial rifts in the Shatter Battlefield had vanished after Pei Qiqi had unearthed that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure there.

    For this reason, the connection between the Realm of Maelstrom and the Shatter Battlefield had long since been cut off.

    Many human domains had originally had ess to the Shatter Battlefield.

    Now, almost all of those spatial tunnels had be inessible.

    However, as the overlords that had ruled the human world for countless years, the four great sects still had ways to enter the Shatter Battlefield.

    The ess to the Shatter Battlefield Han Wanrong referred to was therge-scale teleportation portal at the bottom of the ancient starship.

    After showing him to the teleportation portal, Han Wanrong said with a concerned expression, ¡°The duel between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon is taking ce in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield. Be careful there. Try not to lose yourself in a battle at such a level. Otherwise, your soul will be under a lot of pressure, and you¡¯ll be hurt.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Thanks for the heads up.¡±

    ¡°The Shatter Battlefield...¡± He suddenly remembered that, after all these years, his master, Wu Ji, still hadn¡¯t returned from the Shatter Battlefield, and there hadn¡¯t been any word of him.

    He hadn¡¯t been to the Shatter Battlefield since the connection between the Realm of Maelstrom and the Shatter Battlefield had been cut off. He had also failed to obtain any information of him from those who had returned from the Shatter Battlefield over the years.

    For all he knew, Wu Ji might have found that mysterious river of time there.

    He, who practiced time power, might have already derived profound enlightenment from it, and made significant advances in his cultivation.

    From Han Wanrong, Nie Tian learned that powerful experts of different races had already entered the Shatter Battlefield through their respective approaches.

    The teleportation portal was activated.

    Nie Tian¡¯s head spun, making him feel as if he was being plunged into a space disruption zone.

    Numerous strange lights dashed past, as if he himself had be a dashing light that was subject to a mysterious attractive force, and traveled through gaps between spaces.

    WHOOSH!

    The prolonged spatial travel made him feel a sore and swelling sensation all over his body.

    Eventually, he arrived, and all of the ufortable feelings disappeared.

    Standing by a spatial rift, Kan Zhisheng, a spatial power expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, fixed him with a surprised stare. ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    Thest time they had met, he had been at thete Void domain. But now, he had already entered the Saint domain.

    At this moment, he was weaving his hands in the air as balls of light and stones that contained spatial power were cast into the spatial rift in order to maintain its stability.

    Before, he had forged a inter-domain teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, allowing direct teleportation among his three domains.

    For that reason, he had known Nie Tian for a long time.

    It was just that he had been rather haughty and self-important when facing him before.

    Now, as they met again after many years, he had lost all of his pride, and took the initiative to approach him. Full of smiles, he asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in recovery? Why did youe here all of a sudden?¡±

    The change in his attitude originated from Nie Tian¡¯s recent victory against Ophelia. Now, he had admittedly be the most promising Son of the Stars.

    Kan Zhisheng was a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after all. He knew how to behave in front of the person who might very well be the next Lord of the Stars.

    ¡°Where is the duel between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon taking ce?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Kan Zhisheng pointed into the distant heavens and said, ¡°As you probably know, the Shatter Battlefield is a very vast, circr piece ofnd. The closer to the center, the stronger the earth is, as well as the heavens and everything else. As a superrge-scale realm, the Shatter Battlefield has the ability to channel power from the starry river to sustain itself.

    ¡°Even though it has been badly damaged by the countless battles that have taken ce here, the central area is still strong enough to withstand a battle between peak experts.

    ¡°That¡¯s why the battle between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon is taking ce there.

    ¡°The central area is quite far from here, but if you want, I can show you there myself.¡±

    Kan Zhisheng showed unprecedented warmth as he exined the situation to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Nie Tian asked with a puzzled face.

    ¡°The battle between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon has made all of the existing spatial rifts and portals that connect to the outside world unstable,¡± Kan Zhisheng exined. ¡°I¡¯m here to make sure this spatial rift remain essible at all times.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see. If that¡¯s the case, you¡¯d better not go with me.¡± With these words, Nie Tian pondered briefly, then continued with a serious expression, ¡°Do you know how the battle is going? Is the grand elder holding up?¡±

    What he worried about the most was that Mo Heng would fail to match Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s torrential power, and die at his hands right after entering the middle God domain.

    He hadn¡¯t told Han Wanrong about his discovery regarding the hybrids in that space disruption zone, and neither did he n to tell Wei Lai, or Yan Zhan.

    He only intended to find Mo Heng and tell him about his discovery.

    Mo Heng was the only one he trusted and believed that would be able to show him the right path.

    Kan Zhisheng smiled bitterly. ¡°To be honest, their battle is taking ce so far away that I can¡¯t sense how it¡¯s going. However, ording to word from others, even though the grand elder is at a disadvantage, it¡¯s not like he can¡¯t fight back.¡±

    Slightly delighted, Nie Tian went on and asked, ¡°By the way, do you know which part of the Shatter Battlefield the river of time is in?¡±

    He hoped to find an opportunity to meet his master, Wu Ji,ter.

    ¡°Oh, the river of time... That mysterious river is constantly on the move, and sometimes it simply disappears.¡± With these words, Kan Zhisheng halted to ponder for a moment. ¡°I haven¡¯t paid special attention to it recently. If you want to find it, I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly and said, ¡°Alright, could you show me where the battle between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon is taking ce?¡±

    Kan Zhisheng then took out apass and handed it to him.

    Grabbing thepass, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and flew off towards the depths of the Shatter Battlefield following its directions.

    SHEW!

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Fata the Floragrim flew over from another direction and stopped in front of him.

    Looking unblinkingly at the Heaven-equal Vine that had shrunken countless times next to Nie Tian, he eximed, ¡°That¡¯s the Heaven-equal Vine we lost many years ago! I sensed its aura from afar. What are you doing with it, Nie Tian?¡±

    Surprised as Nie Tian was to see Fata, he wasn¡¯t worried.

    ¡°This Heaven-equal Vine reached an agreement with our current sectmaster in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven a long time ago.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned to take a look at the Heaven-equal Vine. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve fulfilled my promise.¡±

    The Heaven-equal Vine then flew out of the Star Boat towards Fata, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    Fixing his eyes on the Heaven-equal Vine, Fata activated a unique bloodline talent. Numerousplicated green patterns rapidly appeared and covered his whole body.

    The Heaven-equal Vine reached out with an emerald green vine and touched Fata¡¯s skin.

    A joyful look appeared on Fata¡¯s face, as if he wasmunicating with the Heaven-equal Vine by relying on some profound bloodline talent, and the Heaven-equal Vine had gifted him a wisp of power, with which he could strengthen his bloodline.

    After a while, Fata said sincerely, ¡°Thank you, Nie Tian.¡±

 Chapter 1143: Observing the Battle

    The Heaven-equal Vines came from the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.

    As Heaven Nourished grade wood-attributed treasures, they were hard to find even in Floragrim realms.

    Many years ago, a powerful Floragrim had moved this Heaven-equal Vine to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven in an attempt to transform it into an ideal habitat for the Floragrims.

    However, the Domain of Forbidden Heaven had eventually been taken by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and they had lost the heaven-equal Vine.

    As a Heaven Nourished grade treasure, the Heaven-equal Vine had already developed its own intelligence. It hade to an agreement with Ji Cang, which stipted that it should restore life to the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    In return, Ji Cang would keep it safe and stop others froming near it, and when their agreement expired, allow it to return to the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd.

    Fata bowed slightly. With an increasingly friendly look in his eyes, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯ll take it back to our ancestralnd, where it can leave seeds and pass on its power. I knew that you must have profound connections with my race since I first saw you in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tianughed softly. ¡°I was just lucky enough to acquire some of your people¡¯s cultivation methods.¡±

    Fata shook his head. ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t luck. Both Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation are top secret incantations that we don¡¯t just pass on to anyone. Many of our own don¡¯t even get to learn them. Besides, even those who have the privilege to learn them may not be able to reach advanced levels with them.

    ¡°If I may ask, which stage are you currently at with Heavenly Wood Heal?¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then answered, ¡°The fourth stage, Flesh Tempering.¡±

    ¡°Exactly as we expected,¡± Fata said with a bitter smile. ¡°Our doyen was right.¡±

    ¡°Now that I¡¯ve given the Heaven-equal Vine to you, it¡¯s about time I set out for the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, where I¡¯ll be able to witness the battle of our time between our grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Given our strengths, we won¡¯t be able to get close enough to them to see anything,¡± Fata said. ¡°But perhaps you can stay around the perimeter to sense the power fluctuations and transformations in heaven and earth. That alone will benefit you a great deal. But don¡¯t go too deep. If you do, your losses will outweigh your gains.¡±

    Fata only gave advice, but didn¡¯t try to stop him from going.

    ¡°Thanks, but I think I¡¯ll go check things out,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Alright, let me show you a route that¡¯s safe.¡± Fata pondered briefly, then drew a route for Nie Tian. ¡°This is the route the human experts have taken. It doesn¡¯t cross any of the regions where you might run into powerful Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, Bonebrutes, or Ancientspirits.¡±

    Nie Tian took a quick nce at the map and nodded.

    Then, the two of them bid farewell and went their separate ways.

    The Star Boat flew off at a high speed, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    The closer Nie Tian flew to the center of the Shatter Battlefield, the stronger the power fluctuations he felt became.

    All sorts of fluctuating energies, including Demon Qi, Phantasm Qi, Spiritual Qi, and Death Qi, filled different parts of the Shatter Battlefield like mists and miasma.

    SHEW!

    After an unknown period of time, the Star Boat flew to a lofty mountain peak that seemed to have had its top cut off.

    Even so, it was more than thirty thousand meters high.

    Clusters of dazzling starlight flickered at the mountaintop, as if they were beckoning Nie Tian tond there.

    As the Star Boat approached the mountaintop, he found that three Sons of the Stars, Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and Fang Yuan, were standing there with their subordinates.

    They all waved at Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Fixing him with a deep, suspicious look, Fang Yuan asked, ¡°Where have you been this whole time after your battle against Ophelia? How about your injuries? Fully recovered?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Pretty much. Where are the others?¡±

    With a faint smile, Dou Tianchen exined, ¡°They left for deeper areas, but this is already close enough for us. Only Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui and the other God domain experts can observe the battle up close. The residual power and sts from the attacks are far too dangerous for Saint domain cultivators like us.¡±

    ¡°But where¡¯s Sikong Cuo?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking puzzled.

    ¡°We were wondering about that too,¡± Fang Yuan said with a confused expression. ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve agreed to trade that Immortal grade divine tool, Heavenly Ster Stream, with Sikong Cuo. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°How did you know that?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The grand elder told us,¡± Fang Yuan exined. ¡°He had a talk with Sikong Cuo before his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon, and told him not to separate the Heavenly Ster Stream from him. Later, Sikong Cuo confirmed this to us, and said that you¡¯ve agreed to make a deal with him.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±

    Fang Yuan found it hard to understand. ¡°What does Sikong Cuo have that can possibly match the value of an Immortal grade divine tool? Besides, if he gets to keep the Heavenly Ster Stream, his strength will probably advance by leaps and bounds. That makes you...¡±

    Nie Tian stopped him by saying, ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s not talk about that now.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure what Mo Heng was hoping to get for him from Luo Wanxiang.

    However, he was convinced that what Mo Heng had demanded from Luo Wanxiang must be as valuable as the Heavenly Ster Stream, and at the same time, suit him better.

    To get the answer to this question, he would have to wait for the battle between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon to finish.

    Furthermore, he nned to tell no one but Mo Heng about his discovery of the hybrids.

    ¡°Are you... observing the battle?¡± Nie Tian asked with narrowed eyes.

    Fang Yuanughed. ¡°Of course we are. Did you forget that we, as Sons of the Stars, master a core legacy incantation called Star Eyes?¡±

    Dou Tianchen chimed in, ¡°Star Eyes give us much broader vision. And thanks to our soul connections with them, we can sense so clearly that it¡¯s as if our true souls were actually there. Another perk of using them is that since they¡¯re not in flesh form, we don¡¯t have to worry about the echoes of those two¡¯s attacks.¡±

    Both of them seemed to be happy to talk to Nie Tian.

    Only Wang Meijia, who Chu Rui had high hopes in, sat there the whole time without saying a word.

    However, Nie Tian sensed extremely strong soul fluctuations from her. Apparently, like Dou Tianchen and Fang Yuan, she was paying close attention to the battle between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon by relying on her Star Eyes.

    Without saying another word, Nie Tian found a quiet ce on the t mountaintop.

    After sitting down, he activated the Fragmentary Star Incantation and channeled power from his true soul and star souls to form Star Eyes.

    Nine Star Eyes came to from one by one before flying off towards the heart of the Shatter Battlefield.

    As they flew, images entered his mind. At the same time, their keen perception allowed Nie Tian to sense the existence of many other Qi warriors in his surroundings.

    Many less powerful disciples of the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion were scattered in nearby mountains, valleys, and other secluded locations.

    They had released countless clusters of ethereal soul awareness that served the same purpose as Star Eyes.

    He even sensed Hou Chn¡¯s refreshing aura from one of them.

    Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°It seems that all those who¡¯re not strong enough are afraid of being harmed by the echoes of the attacks, so they¡¯ve adopted such a method to sense the subtle spiritual power and flesh power changes and shes between the grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon far away in the central area.¡±

    Gradually, he adjusted his breathing and focused on the vision of the Star Eyes. Their keen perception rapidly immersed him in the changes around him.

 Chapter 1144: Peak Experts

    The energy fluctuations in the battle zone, where Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon were having a fierce fight, could easily crush any early Saint domain cultivator.

    Nie Tian¡¯s nine Star Eyes came to a stop in a ce close to the battle zone.

    With their exceptional vision and soul detection, Nie Tian tried to capture the ultimate shes between their spiritual power and flesh power, along with the profound truths of heaven and earth and their bloodline thaty within them.

    He could vaguely see Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol and Grand Monarch Primal Demon in Ancestral Awakening form.

    Both of them were thousands of meters tall, looming behind clusters of power that carried different attributes in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol was wielding the purest spiritual power of heaven and earth, as if he could dominate the change of seasons and the course of realms.

    Even though his spiritual power didn¡¯t carry any attribute, as he used full force, he could create any fiery, frigid, lightning, or other domain he wanted.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon stood towering like an ancient demonic god that had dominated heaven and earth since the birth of this starry river.

    This waspletely different from how graceful and elegant he had looked when he had firste out of the Demons¡¯ floating stronghold.

    SHEW!

    Arge cluster of purple aura that was as dazzling as a purple sun suddenly shot out of their battle zone.

    In the next moment, it exploded high in the sky, sending purple mes and lightning bolts into its surroundings, which rapidly morphed into numerous mirror images of Grand Monarch Primal Demon in his graceful regr form.

    FIZZ!

    At the same time, wisps of aura flew out of Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol and morphed into numerous mirror images of himself.

    Each and every one of them seemed to be made of flesh and blood and have their own souls.

    Dozens of Mo Heng¡¯s mirror images formed hand seals simultaneously to cast the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s many exquisite incantations as they fought Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s mirror images.

    Floating extremely high in the sky, Nie Tian¡¯s nine Star Eyes fixed on the battle that was happening underneath them.

    Before long, both Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s flesh power mirror images and Mo Heng¡¯s soul power mirror images flew back towards their masters, where all sorts of energies were shing in the air.

    Nie Tian sensed wisps of suffocating auras from the depths of the void.

    That was when he realized that they were the auras of the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, titans, dragons, and grand monarchs of different races.

    Many God domain and tenth grade peak power beings from across the starry river were paying close attention to this battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng.

    Through his Star Eyes, Nie Tian examined the wisps of terrifying auras and thought to himself, ¡°It won¡¯t matter who wins the duel. The grand elder will be considered victorious as long as he survives. The grand elder has just entered the middle God domain and won a battle against Grand Monarch Bloodlust. Then immediately afterwards, he challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel...

    ¡°It¡¯s simply shocking how unpredictable and full of changes pure spiritual power can be. Spiritual power is the mostmon and easy-to-master power there is.

    ¡°However, the grand elder is relying on such attributeless power to contend against Grand Monarch Primal Demon, and there¡¯s no sign of him losing the battle so far.

    ¡°Spiritual power...¡±

    Nie Tian immersed himself in the fierce shes between Mo Heng¡¯s unpredictable spiritual power that was vested with his soul awareness and Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s flesh power that carried profound bloodline talents.

    He gradually closed his eyes and focused wholeheartedly on observing and feeling through his Star Eyes.

    Momentster, he subconsciously channeled the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into the pure spiritual power core in his spiritual sea from his surroundings.

    He focused his soul awareness on the partially-solidified spiritual power core, which was sparkling and crystal-clear.

    He gradually entered a state of Dao enlightenment.

    ...

    In another location in the Shatter Battlefield.

    A winding, glorious river that stretched towards unknown ces loomed in the heavens.

    Scenes appeared and changed in it from time to time, as if they reflected someone¡¯s mind that traveled back and forth between the past, the present, and the future.

    Every once in a while, curious streams of sand would be channeled from within it.

    A skinny figure could be seen floating in the sky, absorbing the streams of sand from the glorious river that seemed half-real and half-illusory, as if he was using them to refine his power, and at the same time, deriving enlightenment from the wonders of the river.

    He was Wu Ji, who had vanished for many years.

    If Nie Tian had been there, he would have discovered that his master¡¯s cultivation base had already advanced from the Soul realm to thete Void domain, and still showed no signs of stopping.

    It was as if that mysterious, endless river contained all the nourishment he needed to learn about time power and practice cultivation.

    Therefore, he simply stayed there and drew time power from it, learned of the wonders of time, and gathered the mysterious sand that helped him build his inner domain.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s image suddenly appeared in the glorious floating river.

    Wu Ji looked up with an indescribable look in his eyes, as if he was slowly withdrawing himself from a spot that was hundreds of thousands of years in the past.

    Finallying out of his trance, he muttered, ¡°How long has it been? What¡¯s the kid doing here?¡±

    That was when he suddenly sensed the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battle that was taking ce at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield.

    As the thought entered his mind, the scene in the river of time changed, manifesting the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol. However, it was brief and blurry.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the battle is at such a peak level!¡±

    Wu Ji was fully roused from the state where his soul drifted along the river of time, learning the course of lives and realms and the profound truths of heaven and earth.

    After pondering for a while, he withdrew his wisps of soul awareness that he had dispersed into the river of time.

    After that, the glorious river gradually faded away, and vanishedpletely.

    However, the profound connection between him and the river seemed to endure, as he looked up and could still see it floating in the heavens.

    It was as if it was only invisible to others.

    He then left for Nie Tian¡¯s location, taking his time as he did.

    ...

    In the Stone Golems¡¯ capital in the depths of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Eight stone figures stood towering in a spacious square, surrounding their most powerful member in the middle, as if they were conducting some ancient ritual.

    Countless wisps of glowing power were being summoned from every corner of every street in the stone city.

    Sparkling like lighting bolts, they poured into the strongest Stone Golem from all directions.

    Like Ancientspirits, Stone Golems had been a powerful species during the Deste Antiquity Era. However, they had practically gone extinct after their battles against the uprising Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends.

    BOOOOM!

    An enormous figure that wasrge enough to prop up heaven and earth suddenly appeared over the city, overlooking it like a god.

    If Nie Tian had been there, he would have recognized him, as he was the titan who he had met in the Dead Star Sea.

    The titan named Chatvic nced down from the heavens, a hint ofpassion and sadness appearing in his eyes.

    ¡°You...¡±

 Chapter 1145: An Ancient Alliance

    The nine Stone Golems had first emerged from the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, andter found their way to the Shatter Battlefield.

    They had been rather weak when they had first been freed from the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Now, many years had passed, and all nine of them had recovered a great deal of their strength with the help of this mysterious, ancient city.

    The Shatter Battlefield had originally been the Stone Golems¡¯ ancestralnd.

    This city had been their capital, and the foundation of their existence during the Deste Antiquity Era. Many of their secrets were still buried here.

    The strongest Stone Golem gazed skywards at Chatvic.

    He had been at the early ninth grade when he had left the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Now, after numerous rituals with the profound spell formations that had been built into the city, he had already returned to the peak of the ninth grade, only one step away from recovering his original grade, the tenth grade.

    The strongest Stone Golem gazed at Chatvic in the heavens, and asked in a unique rhythmguage from the Deste Antiquity Era, ¡°Who¡¯s your ancestor?¡±

    ¡°Judging by our age difference, I¡¯m a junior to you,¡± Chatvic the titan answered in the samenguage. ¡°If what I suspect is true, you must be the son of your race¡¯sst chief. ording to our ancient records, you seemed to have been banished before thatst battle broke out.

    ¡°People thought you died a long time ago. Who would have thought that you¡¯d actually be alive after disappearing for so long?

    ¡°Where were you banished to? I know that your people have lifespans so long that they make you seem immortal, but none of them have lived this long.¡±

    Chatvic understood that among all the ancient races from the Deste Antiquity Era, Stone Golems had the longest lifespans.

    Their bodies weren¡¯tpletely flesh and blood. Perhaps that was the reason why they could easily live for tens of millions of years.

    This made them a special race that could live even longer than dragons, titans, and any Ancientbeasts.

    However, having the longest lifespans didn¡¯t mean that they were the strongest.

    On the contrary, one of the downsides of their long lifespans was that it would take them an extremely long time to make advances in their bloodlines.

    For titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts, if they continued to umte strength and didn¡¯t die prematurely, they would have a great chance at advancing to the tenth grade in several hundred thousand years.

    However, it would take Stone Golems ten times longer to do that.

    Furthermore, due to their uniqueness, reproduction was iparably difficult to them.

    That was also part of the reason why they hadn¡¯t been as strong a race as the titans or the dragons, both number-wise and battle prowess-wise.

    All of these factors had contributed to their defeat and annihtion in theirpetition against the uprising outsiders.

    The strongest Stone Golem gave a cold snort and said, ¡°Where I was banished is not for you to know. Now, I¡¯m the chief of the Stone Golem race. I came back to our capital so that I could recover my strength and take back what belongs to us.

    ¡°Besides, since I¡¯m back, meaning that our race is not extinct, the agreement between us still stands, right?¡± He asked with a firm tone.

    ¡°Well...¡± Chatvic hesitated. Only after a moment did he say, ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask my older brother about the details of that agreement, and see where they stand on the matter. Also, I don¡¯t know whether the dragons and the Ancientbeasts are still going to honor their parts of that agreement. So I can¡¯t give you an answer before I return.¡±

    ¡°Our people paid a heavy price for that battle,¡± The Stone Golem leader said indignantly. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll all stay true to your promise!¡±

    Chatvic nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll give you an answer after I go back and talk to them.¡±

    ¡°That Demon grand monarch currently fighting in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield is a direct descendant of those who caused the annihtion of my people!¡± The Stone Golem eximed, anger building up inside of him.

    Chatvic frowned and asked, ¡°Are you talking about Grand Monarch Primal Demon? He¡¯s the Demons¡¯ current chief, an expert at thete tenth grade. Even I can¡¯t match his strength. Besides, you were gone for so long that you probably don¡¯t know the currentndscape of this starry river.

    ¡°Now, the humans who you and the Demons used as sacrificial offerings are our primary threat.

    ¡°We Ancientspirits usually have to work with the Demons, Phantasms, and other outsiders in order to suppress their expanding ambitions.

    ¡°Because of that, even though battles still break out between us and the outsiders every once in a while, we stand as one whenever the humans march their armies into the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°You probably need time to get a full understanding of the new world.¡±

    The Stone Golem leader let out an uncannyugh that regr cultivators wouldn¡¯t be able to hear, but Chatvic could. ¡°The new world? Rest assured. I know what the ¡®new world¡¯ should look like. It won¡¯t be very long before you see it too.¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Chatvic asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Nothing. Just wait and see.¡± The Stone Golem said coldly.

    As baffled as Chatvic was, he didn¡¯t pursue the topic. As his enormous body gradually moved away from the area, it was like heavy clouds that scattered, revealing the heavens again.

    ...

    Atop the broken mountain peak.

    Four Sons of the Stars, including Nie Tian, were sitting quietly with their respective subordinates, carefully observing and sensing the battle between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon through their Star Eyes.

    The battle hadsted a long time.

    At this moment, Wu Ji traveled through the flowing mixed auras and slowly approached them without relying on any transportation spiritual tools.

    As he flew closer, Dou Tianchen¡¯s eyes snapped open. Fixing the new arrival with a cold stare, he asked, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Dou Tianchen was the strongest of the Sons of the Stars present, as he had already entered thete Saint domain.

    Even so, he felt insecure and uneasy as Wu Ji approached. He couldn¡¯t determine the nature of Wu Ji¡¯s unique, odd aura.

    However, as he took his time to examine him carefully, he found that he didn¡¯t seem to be as powerful as he had thought.

    That was when he realized that this man¡¯s cultivation base might not be high, but the incantations he practiced must be very special.

    A in, remote voice echoed out. ¡°Wu Ji, from the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian, who was sitting on the ground, snapped out of his trance. He sprang to his feet and eximed in great excitement, ¡°Master!¡±

    Fang Yuan and Wang Meijia were awoken by his exmation. ¡°Master?!¡±

    Their subordinates also fixed the new arrival with curious looks, wondering how unusual Nie Tian¡¯s master was.

    Soon, everyone¡¯s gazended on Wu Ji, who gradually entered their sight.

    ¡°Only thete Void domain.¡±

    ¡°Not even at the Saint domain.¡±

    ¡°He seems to be a bit too weak...¡±

 Chapter 1146: The Actual No. 1 Cultivator from the Domain of the Falling Stars

    After Nie Tian¡¯s exmation, Wu Ji was able tond on the mountaintop without any resistance. However, everyone¡¯s expressions flickered at he did.

    Dou Tianchen, who was at thete Saint domain, was the first to sense something.

    Looking astonished, he eximed, ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia, and all of their Saint domain subordinates also gasped in shock.

    As soon as Wu Jinded, everyone on the mountaintop experienced a peculiar sense of time disruption.

    Looking at Wu Ji, they all entered a trance, where their deepest memories came back to them, stirring up different emotions.

    Many of those memories were on the verge of being forgotten, but were now brought back to the surface.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t feel much difference. Beaming with smiles, he approached Wu Ji.

    A heartfelt smile appeared on Wu Ji¡¯s face as well.

    ¡°He¡¯s only at thete Void domain. Given his cultivation base, he shouldn¡¯t be able to affect my state of mind.¡± Dou Tianchen muttered to himself, immersed in the scenes from the past that entered his mind. ¡°Time... I feel like I¡¯m in a different time... This is time power! The most mysterious and profound power in heaven and earth!¡±

    With such thoughts in mind, his eyes suddenly burst forth with strong light.

    Upon hearing his exmation, all of the Qi warriors sitting on the mountaintop shuddered with astonishment.

    Wang Meijia stared at Wu Ji with such astonishment that she seemed to be staring at a freak. ¡°Time power! There are actually people who have mastered thews of such profound power!¡±

    There wasn¡¯t the slightest disdain in her eyes anymore.

    It didn¡¯t matter what cultivation base he was at, just the fact that he practiced time power alone was respectable enough.

    Not just them, even God domain experts would have treated him with great respect if they learned that Wu Ji had mastered the profound truths of time power, and that he was on the verge of entering the Saint domain.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he eximed, ¡°Master, you¡¯ve entered thete Void domain already?! And you¡¯re about to advance to the Saint domain?!¡±

    Wu Ji nodded, smiling. ¡°The Shatter Battlefield is a blessednd for me.¡±

    Nie Tian was so astounded that he didn¡¯t even know what to say.

    ¡°My master should be considered the real strongest cultivator throughout the Domain of the Falling Stars!¡± He marveled inwardly.

    Originally, he had assumed that Zhao Shanling, who had recently entered thete Void domain and was well-versed in spatial maniption magics, was the strongest cultivator from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He didn¡¯t think that was true anymore.

    Wu Ji¡¯s cultivation base had been far lower than Zhao Shanling¡¯s before they had broken free from the limitations of the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    He had been only at the Soul realm when they had first entered the Shatter Battlefield.

    Now, not a long time had passed, but he had already made the major leap from the Soul realm to thete Void domain, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before he attempted to enter the Saint domain.

    This was none other than a miracle!

    Even Zhao Shanling¡¯s achievements didn¡¯t seem so incredible inparison anymore.

    ¡°The river of time has helped me a great deal,¡± Wu Ji exined as his smile slowly faded away, recovering his usual, cid expression. ¡°Without it, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to make a series of breakthroughs in my cultivation. And the special materials I found in it helped me build my time domain. Then, I sensed your arrival, and came here to see you.¡±

    Fang Yuan, Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and all of their Saint domain subordinates gasped, fixing Wu Ji with admiring and respectful gazes.

    ¡°The river of time?!¡±

    ¡°You studied the profound truths of time power from the river of time?!¡±

    ¡°That mysterious river records the secrets of the development of all races, as well as the wonders of the change of eras.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually derived enlightenment from the river of time!¡±

    Even though Wu Ji was only at the Void domain, to them, Wu Ji, who had derived profound knowledge from the river of time, seemed even more mysterious and awe-inspiring than some God domain experts.

    ¡°Who are those fighting at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield?¡± Wu Ji asked curiously.

    Humbly, Dou Tianchen took the initiative to answer his question, ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng, our grand elder. Since you¡¯re our seventh martial brother¡¯s master in the Domain of the Falling Stars, we shall amodate all of your needs.

    ¡°You¡¯re wee to stay here and observe the battle, or catch up with seventh martial brother.¡±

    With these words, he pointed at the mountains and valleys in the distance. ¡°Disciples of the other sects are scattered across this region. And we each have our own viewing areas. Only God domain experts and their outsider equals can enter the central area to view the battle up close. Most of us can¡¯t.

    ¡°As for you, even though you¡¯ve mastered time power, which is probably the most profound power there is, since your cultivation base isn¡¯t very high at the moment, I suggest that you stay here with us. What do you think?¡±

    With these words, Dou Tianchen smiled, fixing Wu Ji with an inquiring look.

    Nie Tian smiled and chimed in, ¡°I happen to have lots of things that I¡¯d like to talk to you about, Master.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Wu Ji nodded and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stay here for a while. However, I¡¯ll have to return to the river of timeter, since I¡¯ll still need its help with my future breakthroughs.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Nie Tian hastily said.

    ¡°Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve seen and done over these years.¡± As soon as Wu Ji gently let out a breath, swirling lights appeared in the depths of his eyes, as if they were vested with the wonders of the river of time.

    ¡°Time Trace,¡± Wu Ji whispered.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian fell into an illusion where he relived all that he had experienced over these years.

    Scenes of the past appeared before his eyes as pieces of memories came back to him, as if he had traveled back in time.

    Wu Ji simply looked into his eyes, as if he could see them all in the depths of his eyes.

    This was a divine ability that even God domain experts didn¡¯t have.

    Fang Yuan, Dou Tianchen, and all of the others sensed the time maniption in Wu Ji¡¯s unique aura. Insecure and uneasy, they subconsciously backed away from him.

    They felt that if he used this Time Trace on them, all of the things they had been keeping secret would be revealed.

    ¡°This is even more powerful than Soul Search, and it¡¯s harmless!¡± Wang Meijia muttered in a low voice. ¡°I thought time power only existed in legends. Even the four great sects don¡¯t have records that describe them, let alone cultivation methods. Now that I¡¯ve seen it myself, it¡¯s indeed even more mysterious than spatial power.¡±

    Dou Tianchen couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Who would have thought that a small ce like the Domain of the Falling Stars would produce so many unique geniuses?

    ¡°I seems that I¡¯ve got to find time to go there. There are simply too many unique people and shocking things there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s definitely a ce worth visiting,¡± Fang Yuan chimed in with an amazed look in his eyes.

    At the same time...

    In areas where core disciples and elders of the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion were gathered.

    ¡°It¡¯s time power!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sensing an unusual time aura. Don¡¯t tell me that the river of time has floated to this area! No, that¡¯s not it!¡±

    ¡°Someone has channeled the river of time, and is using time power!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯sing from the ce where the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are!¡±

    ¡°Curious! Who on earth has mastered time power?! This is incredible!¡±

    Sensing the time power, many of them awoke from their trance, where they were carefully observing the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng, and converged on Wu Ji¡¯s location.

 Chapter 1147: A Peek into the Future

    None of those from the four great sects with cultivation bases lower than the God domain dared to enter the area where Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon were engaged in a fierce battle.

    After all, a mere wisp of their violent flesh power or pure spiritual power could cause Saint domain cultivators injuries that would be hard to heal.

    For that reason, none of the Saint domain observers dared to enter the battle zone in their flesh forms.

    Instead, they cast profound magics that were simr to the Star Eyes, and sensed the changes in the battle zone from a safe distance.

    At this moment, their shrewd perception allowed them to detect the unusual time power fluctuations.

    Time power was the most mysterious power there was in heaven and earth.

    Those who were able to solve the wonders of time power and practice it were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns throughout the history of mankind. It seemed that they only existed in legends.

    Therefore, everyone was shocked upon realizing that someone had channeled from the river of time and mastered time power.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before numerous fancy air-transportation spiritual tools were gathered around the mountaintop where Nie Tian and Wu Ji were. Some experts just floated in the air without external help. All of them were renowned figures from across the human world.

    Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, Hou Chn, He Lianxiong... as well as elders of the Five Element Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Even Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and other elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce flew over from the distance.

    They had been observing the battle from locations that were closer to the battle zone, but now they had all turned around and gathered to this ce, all because of the unusual time power fluctuations they had sensed.

    Upon arriving, they all fixed Wu Ji with deep, measuring looks.

    At this point, Wu Ji had already withdrawn his gaze from Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    With the help of Time Trace, he had seen scenes of Nie Tian¡¯s experiences in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, and learned all about his incredible encounters over the years.

    Landing next to Nie Tian, Wei Lai fixed Wu Ji with a look and asked with a serious expression, ¡°Nie Tian, this is...¡±

    ¡°My master from the Domain of the Falling Stars,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Many of those who had just gathered to this ce marveled like Dou Tianchen had. ¡°His master...¡±

    Dou Tianchen smiled as he stepped forward and exined to Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the other new arrivals, ¡°He sensed my seventh martial brother¡¯s arrival, and thus came over here from that ethereal river of time. He only wanted to see and catch up with my seventh martial brother. Who would have thought that would stir so many of you?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, the crowd of Divine Sons and Daughters and Saint domain experts gasped and mored.

    ¡°The river of time?!¡±

    ¡°He channeled the river of time?!¡±

    Wei Lai¡¯s face grew even more serious as he looked at Wu Ji now. He even seemed a bit apprehensive.

    ¡°Elders...¡± Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian looked somewhat displeased. ¡°You didn¡¯t alle here because you¡¯re unhappy about my master being here, did you?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve misunderstood,¡± Yan Zhan said hastily. ¡°We¡¯re not unhappy at all. We were just shocked. After all, the river of time is said to be extremely difficult to channel. Those who can must have unearthly talents. Usually, hundreds of thousands of years goes by without a single person winning its acknowledgment.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Hundreds of thousands of years...¡±

    Since Wu Ji was Nie Tian¡¯s master from the Domain of the Falling Stars, those from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion quietly gathered around the mountaintop, even though they were also full of questions.

    They deemed that it would be more appropriate for Wei Lai and Yan Zhan to ask the questions.

    After a moment of hesitation, Wei Lai fixed Wu Ji with a somewhat embarrassed look and said, ¡°There¡¯s a saying about the river of time that those who can establish connections with the river of time will be able to see into the past, examine the present, and even peek into the future...¡±

    Wu Ji pondered briefly, then nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fairly easy to see into the past. But a great price has to be paid if I want to peek into the future.

    ¡°And since the future isn¡¯t unchangeable, what I see is not necessarily what will happen.

    ¡°What¡¯s in the past can¡¯t be changed.

    ¡°However, the future is full of possibilities, and can be influenced or altered.¡±

    These words revealed Wu Ji¡¯s profound knowledge of time power.

    ¡°The past can¡¯t be changed, but the future can...¡± Many Saint domain experts and talented chosen ones from the four great sects had contemtive expressions on their face, as if they were attempting to understand a bit about the wonders of time power themselves.

    ¡°Well...¡± Wei Lai said with a wry smile, as even he himself reckoned what he was about to ask was inappropriate. ¡°Is it possible for you to peek into the future to see the result of the battle between our grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon? We really want to know whether our grand elder will survive the duel.¡±

    Upon hearing this, everyone understood what Wei Lai had been meaning to ask, and why he had been so hesitant.

    As Wu Ji had said, it was fairly easy to see into the past.

    Just earlier, he had cast Time Trace, and seen what Nie Tian had experienced over the years without much effort.

    However, if he wanted to see into the future, he would have to pay a heavy price, even with the help of the river of time.

    Meanwhile, it was understandable that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was eager to learn the result of the battle between their grand elder and Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    If they knew that Mo Heng was going to die, and since the future was changeable, perhaps there was something they could do something to prevent that from happening...

    After all, Mo Heng would be considered victorious as long as he survived the duel. Even if he lost, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s profound reserve power would give him unlimited possibilities.

    ¡°Peeking into the future...¡± Wu Ji gazed up in the direction where he hade from, and could vaguely sense the existence of the river of time. ¡°I¡¯ve actually never tried it before, but I did derive a method from the river of time. It¡¯s just that the cost...¡±

    A bitter expression appeared on his face.

    ¡°Whatever it is, I¡¯m sure our sect will be able to provide,¡± Dou Tianchen said hastily.

    The others chimed in, agreeing with him.

    Wu Ji said a word with great weight. ¡°Lifespan.¡±

    ¡°Lifespan?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the most valuable thing for cultivators like us!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    After a mor of astonishment, the crowd fell silent again.

    Humanity¡¯s greatest weaknessy in their limited lifespans. Their cultivation bases were usually limited by their lifespans. They could easily run out of their lifespan before their next breakthrough in cultivation.

    Furthermore, treasures like Fruits of Life that could extend one¡¯s lifespan were extremely hard to find. Those that had been found had been mostly consumed.

    Many powerful experts from the four great sects were currently facing insufficient lifespans, and were seeking to extend their lifespans by making new breakthroughs in their cultivation.

    Any treasure that could prolong their lifespans would be taken to them as soon as they were discovered.

    Wei Lai, Dou Tianchen, and the others remained silent as they searched their memories for such treasures that their sect might have in stock. However, it appeared that they had none left.

    Furthermore, they hadn¡¯t learned how much lifespan it would cost Wu Ji to peek into the future with the help of the river of time.

    Among everyone present, Nie Tian was the only one who had a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth upon hearing the word ¡®lifespan¡¯.

    ¡°So it costs lifespan to see into the future. Limited lifespans are humanity¡¯s greatest weakness and shackle.¡±

    ¡°However, that¡¯s a problem I can solve...¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, he suddenly realized something.

    He jerked his head towards Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji was looking at the ground, as if there was nothing he could do to solve that problem.

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t want to get a glimpse of the result of Mo Heng¡¯s battle at the cost of his own lifespan.

    However, he had just seen what Nie Tian had experienced over the years with Time Trace.

    He must have seen the time when he had activated Life Grant to prolong Master Blood Spirit¡¯s lifespan with his Blood Essence.

    He must know that he had a solution to the lifespan he would consume to peek into the future.

    So...

    Nie Tian suddenly realized that Wu Ji must have a n by putting this problem forth.

    Wei Lai sighed and shook his head. ¡°I suppose what I¡¯m asking is a bit too much. After all, lifespans are far too important for cultivators. Even our sect has run out of such lifespan-prolonging treasures long ago. I¡¯m sorry. That¡¯s a price we can¡¯t pay.¡±

    Wu Ji looked up at Wei Lai and said, ¡°Perhaps I can try and see if I can help you out this time. I¡¯ve made a series of breakthroughstely, which have pushed the limits of my lifespan by arge extent. And I have a feeling that it won¡¯t be long before I enter the Saint domain.

    ¡°Once I do, my lifespan will be further prolonged.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the elders and Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were greatly spirited, their eyes lighting up.

    ¡°So what do you want us to do for you?¡± Wei Lai asked with all seriousness.

 Chapter 1148: A Future Calamity

    After a moment of pondering, Wu Ji took his time to say, ¡°I don¡¯t know what I want yet, but I hope your sect will return the favor when I¡¯m in need. For example, help me find the materials I need.¡±

    Wei Lai and Yan Zhan exchanged a nce with the other elders.

    Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and Fang Yuan also looked at each other. They pondered in silence for a few seconds, then nodded at Wu Ji.

    Seeing this, the elders nodded as well.

    ¡°Deal,¡± Wei Lai said the word.

    From what he could tell, a friendly rtionship between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Wu Ji would be helpful to them.

    Wu Ji was Nie Tian¡¯s master, and an expert in time power. Having a good rtionship with him could only benefit the sect.

    Besides, Wu Ji didn¡¯t have any powerful enemies in the Domain of the Falling Stars. It didn¡¯t matter from which point of view they considered this, they felt it would be rewarding, and even necessary, to maintain a close rtionship with him.

    Not to mention that Nie Tian might very well be the next Lord of the Stars.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to return to the river of time if I want to peek into the future,¡± Wu Ji said.

    At this moment, Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society, who was at the middle Saint domain and well-versed in spatial power, stepped forward and asked, ¡°May I ask where that mysterious river is?¡±

    Wu Ji briefly exined the location to him.

    Eyes narrowed, Qi Lianshan pondered briefly, then nodded. ¡°I can take you there right now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be good,¡± Wu Ji said without hesitation. ¡°Nie Tian wille with me.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Qi Lianshan said, flying towards the mountaintop. As he did, he summoned spatial power and split open a slender rift in the air with a silver sword.

    Wu Ji shot a nce at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian chuckled softly and flew into it without the slightest hesitation.

    Wu Ji and Qi Lianshan followed along.

    As curious as the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce elders and Sons of the Stars were, since they weren¡¯t invited, they had to stay back and wait. The same went for the experts from the other sects.

    ...

    In a secluded corner of the Shatter Battlefield.

    The sky was originally misty, gray, and empty.

    After Wu Ji arrived with Nie Tian and Qi Lianshan, bits of glorious light gradually appeared in the depths of the grayish-brown heavens.

    Before long, a glorious river of light revealed itself, looming in the heavens.

    Bright lights shed past in the long, winding river from time to time, as if they recorded pieces of lost history and scenes that had happened in the past.

    Standing underneath the river, both Qi Lianshan and Nie Tian were hit by a peculiar feeling that they were switching back and forth between the past and the present.

    Qi Lianshan took a deep breath and looked raptly at the mysterious river that was in many legends. ¡°The river of time!¡±

    Countless experts of different races had entered the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, very few of them had had the privilege of seeing this river of time.

    Those who could not only find it, but also channel power from it to build their inner domains, probably only appeared once in a few hundred millennia.

    Wu Ji was one of them.

    ¡°Please give us some time alone,¡± Wu Ji asked Qi Lianshan without exchanging any pleasantries first.

    Qi Lianshan fixed Nie Tian with a begging look and said, ¡°You know our rtionship...¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°As close as we are, you can¡¯t stay this time.¡±

    Even though he was dying to see through what profound means Wu Ji would channel power from the river of time in order to peek into the future, he could only turn around and head back.

    As he left, Wu Ji¡¯s voice echoed in his ears. ¡°We¡¯ll just need an hour.¡±

    Qi Lianshan gave an affirmative answer, then vanished into the glowing spatial rift, which rapidly healed.

    Then, Wu Ji¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he said to Nie Tian, ¡°Your bloodline allows you to extend others¡¯ lifespan?! Kid, I¡¯m telling you, your bloodline is the most incredible and unique bloodline I¡¯ve ever seen.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°You saw everything indeed, Master.¡±

    Now that the two of them were the only ones in this ce, Wu Ji opened up. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried to peek into the future yet. The reason why is I don¡¯t know how much of my lifespan will be consumed. Especially if I¡¯m going to see the future of peak figures like Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon. The mere thought of it makes me uneasy.¡±

    Nie Tian understood his concerns. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that my bloodline allows me to extend your lifespan, you probably wouldn¡¯t have agreed to do this favor for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t have,¡± Wu Ji answered. ¡°Lifespan is far too important for human cultivators, and there are far too few things in heaven and earth that can help extend it. I can¡¯t ruin everything I have just to sneak a peek into the future.¡±

    ¡°So do you know what you want in return from my sect?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t given it much thought. I¡¯ll leave it forter.¡± With these words, Wu Ji grew somewhat excited. ¡°Now, I want to see what kind of experience it is to peek into the future.¡±

    BOOOOM!

    His unique time domain burst forth from within him.

    As numerous streaks of light swirled within it, and time seemed to stop at this very moment.

    Nie Tian, who was standing right next to him, had a strong feeling that heaven and earth around him seemed to copse, plunging time and space into chaos.

    Arge amount of mysterious sand then appeared within Wu Ji¡¯s time domain.

    It grew dim and bright from time to time, echoing the changes in the river of time that was floating over Wu Ji.

    All of a sudden, a stream was separated from the floating river, and poured down into Wu Ji¡¯s time domain.

    Enveloped in his time domain, Wu Ji started to experience changes as he gained control of time. Gradually, his gray hair turned white, and his face became dry and covered in wrinkles.

    He was burning his lifespan at an rming rate.

    Then, his eyes suddenly absorbed the mysterious sand that had poured into his domain, and turned into bright lights that could illuminate everything in heaven and earth, and shine into the past, present, and future.

    Images of Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng kept shing across his eyes.

    Every detail of their battle, including even the most subtle shes of flesh power and spiritual power, was disyed in his eyes. Even Nie Tian could see them with great rity.

    However, all of this happened in a split second.

    BZZZ!

    Tiny veins suddenly burst in Wu Ji¡¯s eyes, painting his eyes red.

    A bloody aura rapidly masked his pupils, stopping him from seeing anything.

    With a pained exmation, he covered his eyes with both hands. Wisps of bright aura poured madly from his hands into his eyes. Blood slowly flowed out from between his fingers.

    Seeing him in agony, Nie Tian wanted to do something, only to find that he couldn¡¯t move at all.

    He could only watch Wu Ji heal himself in his own way. Covering his eyes with his hands, he let out miserable cries from time to time.

    Thissted about ten seconds before Wu Ji passed out and copsed to the ground, looking much older than before.

    As soon as he did, his time domain was canceled, and the stream pouring into it from the river of time also vanished.

    Nie Tian hurried to his side and woke him. ¡°What did you see, Master?¡±

    Regaining a smidgen of consciousness, Wu Ji whispered weakly, ¡°The Shatter Battlefield... ispletely destroyed... People are dead... Most of those who came here are dead.¡±

 Chapter 1149: A Bolt from the Blue

    Wu Ji¡¯s words rendered Nie Tian speechless.

    Blood was still flowing from Wu Ji¡¯s nostrils and the corners of his eyes.

    His originally gray hair was now snow-white, and the deep wrinkles in his face gave him a worrisome, frail look.

    Wu Ji tried to recover a calm state of mind as he said to Nie Tian, ¡°A cmity is going to sweep the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°I couldn¡¯t see the process. All I saw was the result.

    ¡°But the result is simply terrifying...¡±

    Nie Tian struggled to calm himself as he hurried to summon his flesh power to heal Wu Ji before Qi Lianshan returned.

    Wisp after wisp of flesh power that carried the power of life infiltrated Wu Ji¡¯s flesh and blood, restoring life force to him.

    Wu Ji slowly sat up and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to extend my lifespan with your precious Blood Essence yet. It only cost me a few hundred years of lifespan, which is something I can afford. Soon, I¡¯ll be able to break through into the Saint domain and gain extra years. I won¡¯t have to worry about my lifespan in the near future.¡±

    With these words, he cast the mysterious time power again.

    Time seemed to fly backwards, as if to recover the past years.

    His snow-white hair grew gray again. The deep wrinkles on his face seemed to be gently ttened by an invisible hand.

    Within a very short time, he recovered his previous appearance. The only difference was that he had clearly consumed a significant amount of power.

    ¡°Master, I can always regenerate Blood Essence with high-grade outsider and Ancientbeast corpses,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Wu Ji smiled weakly. ¡°I know that. But don¡¯t you have a shortage of those corpses? Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll find you when I face a serious lifespan problem.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then nodded in agreement.

    Momentster, a spatial rift appeared in the sky, and Qi Lianshan returned.

    ¡°How did it go?¡± Qi Lianshan asked with wide eyes.

    He could tell that Wu Ji was very weak at this moment.

    He had clearly overconsumed his spiritual power and soul power, and was mentally exhausted as well.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back first,¡± Wu Ji said.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Under Qi Lianshan¡¯s leadership, the three of them returned to the mountaintop.

    Many Divine Sons and Daughters, Sons of the Stars, legacy disciples, and elders of the four great sects were gathered around the mountaintop, waiting.

    As soon as Wu Ji showed up, everyone fixed their eyes on him.

    Wei Lai approached him and asked eagerly, ¡°Well...?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t see Grand Elder Mo Heng die in battle,¡± Wu Ji answered.

    Overjoyed, Wei Lai said, ¡°That must mean he¡¯s going to survive. That¡¯s great! As long as he survives, given our sect¡¯s rich resources, we¡¯ll be able to heal him no matter how serious his injuries are.¡±

    Wu Ji nced over the people in front of him, a pitying look filling his eyes. ¡°I didn¡¯t see him die... But I saw you die, most of you.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± All of the experts that were only gathered in this ce to learn whether Mo Heng was going to survive his duel instantly grew restless.

    Many Saint domain experts and chosen ones from the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion that were originally floating around the mountaintopnded on the mountaintop.

    All of their gazes locked on to Wu Ji like zing lightning bolts and sharp des.

    Wu Ji took a deep breath and took his time to exin, ¡°I didn¡¯t see what happened. I only got to sneak a peek at the results. The result was that the Shatter Battlefield waspletely broken. Even the central area, which should be the strongest, broke into pieces. A devastating battle seemed to have taken ce.

    ¡°The dead were everywhere.

    ¡°Humans, Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Bonebrutes, Floragrims, and dragons...

    ¡°In that peek, I didn¡¯t see a single living being. Scattered corpses and dead silence was all there was. I couldn¡¯t even imagine what had happened.¡±

    Wu Ji painted a picture of the future he had seen to everyone, his tone a bit strange.

    Complete silence fell on the mountaintop, which was now filled with experts from the four great sects.

    However, each and every one of them had flickering eyes. Some suspected the truthfulness of Wu Ji¡¯s words. Some had no doubt, but pondered what upheaval might happen to lead to such a catastrophic result.

    Only after a long while did Wei Lai break the silence. ¡°If that¡¯s true, then heaven-shaking, earth-toppling changes must be happening in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    He turned to the experts from the other three sects and said with all seriousness, ¡°This is a matter of paramount importance. We have to inform our God domain seniors that are observing the battle in the heart of the Shatter Battlefield!¡±

    Many experts nodded vigorously and left without the slightest hesitation. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    At this moment, Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, the five sect heads of the Five Elements Sect, and several God domain experts from the Heaven Span Pavilion were all observing the peak battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield.

    If a fierce battle was going to sweep the Shatter Battlefield, taking countless lives, those God domain experts might be able to prevent it if they were informed in advance.

    As Wu Ji had said, the past couldn¡¯t be rewritten, but the future was full of possibilities, and could be changed.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Fancy air-transportation spiritual tools and domain-enveloped figures shot off the mountaintop one after another.

    Those who remained on the mountaintop seemed to have an inescapable haze in their eyes, as they had be awfully quiet.

    ¡°What can lead to such a horrible result?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re only here to observe the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng. There should be no reason for such a fierce battle to break out.¡±

    ¡°Something must be happening and causing strong conflicts between the powerful experts of different races that are gathered here.¡±

    ¡°How can we avoid it?¡±

    ¡°Should I leave the Shatter Battlefield now?¡±

    ¡°Will I die here if I don¡¯t leave?¡±

    Mixed expressions shed across the faces of those remaining on the mountaintop, as if they were weighing their choices inwardly.

    People no longer paid attention to the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng.

    Many focused their gazes and soul awareness on Wu Ji, while others nced into their surroundings.

    Wu Ji, however, sat as still as the water in an ancient well, as if he didn¡¯t have a stir in his emotions.

    After a while, he said in a low voice, ¡°Little Tian, you¡¯d better get out of here.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Master, you didn¡¯t see my body, did you?¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I thought of you when I was peeking into the future. However, as soon as I did, I started to burn my lifespan at an rming rate. Sensing the anomaly, I stopped immediately. You must be very, very special. It seems that I¡¯ll have to burn much more of my lifespan to see your future than Mo Heng¡¯s.

    ¡°Do you know what that means?¡±

    A puzzled look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°No.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s eyes glittered as he said, ¡°This would only happen to those who will y crucial roles in the future. The fact that it happened to you means that you¡¯ll possess power that allows you to change thendscape of this entire starry river, and have a significant influence on the thousands of races that live in it!¡±

    Nie Tianughed and said arrogantly, ¡°Who would have thought that my future was going to be so splendid?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not joking,¡± Wu Ji said with a serious look in his eyes. ¡°However... If you¡¯ll have a significant influence on thendscape of this starry river... then you wouldn¡¯t die in the Shatter Battlefield... If you did, then my fast lifespan consumption when peeking into your future wouldn¡¯t make sense.¡±

    As profound as these words were, Nie Tian understood them.

    He probably wouldn¡¯t die here.

    With such a realization, Wu Ji gave up on persuading Nie Tian to leave, but let him make his own decision.

    One of He Lianxiong¡¯s subordinates walked over. Standing in front of Wu Ji, he asked in a low voice, ¡°Umm... Did you see me among the dead?¡±

    Wu Ji looked up. After having a good look at his face, he nodded. ¡°It appears so.¡±

    The man slowly walked back to He Lianxiong¡¯s side, looking so wretched that it was as if he had just lost his parents.

    Wu Ji pointed at He Lianxiong. ¡°He dies too.¡±

    He Lianxiong¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    Wu Ji then pointed at some other subordinates of the chosen ones in front of him. ¡°You, you, and you... I saw you all among the dead.¡±

    He even pointed at Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan. ¡°You two were among the dead as well.¡±

    Those he pointed at looked extremely grim.

    However, none of them med him for pointing it out. They understood that those who mastered time power were the most special existences in this world. Their words were not to be taken lightly.

    Some others that Wu Ji didn¡¯t point at approached him to ask him if he had seen them among the dead.

    Wu Ji shook his head towards him and said expressionlessly, ¡°Sorry, what I saw was only a glimpse of the future. I didn¡¯t see everything. Perhaps you die. Perhaps you don¡¯t. I can¡¯t give you the answer you¡¯re looking for.¡±

    Someone finally gave in to his fear and said, ¡°I can¡¯t capture the quintessence of the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng anyways. I might as well get out of here now.¡±

    ¡°Me neither. We might as well leave now.¡±

    ¡°Wait, I¡¯ll go with you. Let¡¯s get out of his damned ce!¡±

 Chapter 1150: Source of Fear

    Everyone started to panic.

    Those who had been pointed at by Wu Ji knew that they would soon die and join the corpses that filled the Shatter Battlefield. Those who hadn¡¯t been pointed at suspected that Wu Ji had only failed to recognize their faces among so many that were dead, and were also worried for their safety.

    None of them dared to take his words lightly. After all, as an expert in time power, he had consumed several centuries of his lifespan to sneak a peek into the future.

    All of these Divine Sons and Daughters and Saint domain experts had thought of every possible way toe to the Shatter Battlefield in order to witness the battle of their time between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng. However, none of them knew what to do now.

    Soon, He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion led his subordinates away from the mountaintop without saying anything to anyone.

    Many from the Void Spirit Society, pointed at by Wu Ji or not, also left withplicated looks on their faces.

    They didn¡¯t even wait for their elders that had gone to inform their God domain seniors in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield to return.

    Soon after they left, Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan, who Wu Ji had specifically mentioned, also made their decision. They bid Nie Tian farewell and left after a prolonged hesitation.

    After all, they were scared of death as well.

    While Hou Chn, who Wu Ji hadn¡¯t seen in his peek of the future, stayed put, her subordinates and a few elders of the wood element sect chose to leave the Shatter Battlefield after serious consideration.

    Sitting on the ground, Wu Ji nced at Dou Tianchen and Wang Meijia.

    Upon meeting his eyes, the two Sons of the Stars exchanged a nce, and smiled bitterly at each other.

    The two of them had also asked Wu Ji about their fates. Wu Ji¡¯s answer was that they were among the dead as well.

    Fang Yuan, however, was one of the few Wu Ji hadn¡¯t seen.

    After serious consideration, Dou Tianchen and Wang Meijia eventually bid farewell to Wei Lai and Yan Zhan, and headed back to the Realm of Fragmentary Star with their subordinates.

    People left in groups.

    In only a few minutes, ny percent of the powerful experts from the four great sects that had been gathered around the mountaintop evacuated.

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Fang Yuan, Hou Chn, and a handful of others became the only ones that remained.

    Even so, they no longer paid attention to the duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng, but rather wracked their minds for what could trigger that catastrophic battle.

    Fang Yuan¡¯s expression flickered as he thought of a possibility. ¡°Could it be the unearthing of a Heaven Nourished grade treasure, like that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure that was unearthed in the Shatter Battlefield not very long ago? Only the appearance of such a precious treasure could spark conflicts among people of all races, and therefore lead to a full-scale battle.¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s actually possible.¡±

    Wei Lai shook his head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. A treasure at the Heaven Nourished grade can¡¯t possibly trigger a catastrophic battle where almost all core disciples and Saint domain experts fight to the death. Even Immortal grade divine tools won¡¯t make those tenth grade outsider grand monarchs and God domain experts go so mad.¡±

    Everyone fell silent upon hearing these words.

    Back when Pei Qiqi¡¯s Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure had first appeared in the Shatter Battlefield, only a God domain senior from the Void Spirit Society had been stirred, ande over.

    None of the God domain experts from the other sects or outsider grand monarchs had shown any interest in seizing it for themselves.

    This was enough evidence that Heaven Nourished grade treasures weren¡¯t that precious in the eyes of tenth grade grand monarchs and God domain experts.

    Only the ones that agreed with them perfectly might spark their interest so much so that they would travel across domains to seize them.

    However, each treasure had their uniqueness, and thus couldn¡¯t possibly agree with everyone, much less so many tenth grade grand monarchs and God domain experts.

    Even if there was such a treasure, just one of them didn¡¯t seem enough to cause such a fierce fight...

    As their thoughts came to this point, everyone fell silent again, feeling that the future was hidden in a thick mist that they couldn¡¯t see through.

    Wei Lai turned to Wu Ji and said solemnly, ¡°Anyways, we¡¯re grateful that you made the sacrifice to sneak a peek at the future. If a cmity is really going to fall upon us, those who have evacuated in time will be forever grateful to you. After all, you made them understand that staying here meant their deaths.¡±

    Wu Ji remained expressionless as he said, ¡°I can only hope what I saw can be changed.¡±

    Yan Zhan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°Who knows? They¡¯ll have to safely evacuate from the Shatter Battlefield in order to turn their fate around. But I¡¯m afraid that they...¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that they won¡¯t be able to leave the Shatter Battlefield?¡± Yan Zhan asked. Clearly, he didn¡¯t think this was likely. ¡°The four great sects still have secret tunnels or spatial rifts that connect to the Shatter Battlefield. Even though that Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure has destroyed most of the spatial rifts, those belonging to us remained intact.

    ¡°Not to mention that the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society is currently in the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°With him here, won¡¯t it be easy for the disciples of the Void Spirit Society to evacuate?¡±

    Hearing his words, Wu Ji looked down without putting forth an argument.

    However, hisck of a reaction made Wei Lai and Yan Zhan even more uneasy. They suspected that he had sensed something, but since he couldn¡¯t exin it, he chose to remain silent.

    Silence once again enveloped everyone.

    At this moment, Hou Chn took the initiative to approach Nie Tian. With a sweet smile, she said, ¡°I didn¡¯t have a chance to thank you forst time. If it weren¡¯t for you, my breakthrough into the Saint domain wouldn¡¯t have been so smooth.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re wee. I gave you my word. It¡¯s only right that I keep it. Not to mention that you paid me handsomely.¡±

    ¡°Your master from the Domain of the Falling Stars was really a big surprise.¡± Hou Chn changed the subject. ¡°Who would have thought that he has mastered time power?¡±

    The two of them chatted on randomly.

    ...

    In the Stone Golems¡¯ capital.

    For some reason, countless evil spirits and ghouls suddenly went berserk.

    As the ancient ritual carried on, the strongest Stone Golem continued to gather power from the city, his bloodline aura rapidly building up.

    An exceptionally tall stone gate that looked simple and unsophisticated suddenly copsed with a loud crash.

    The huge pale-gray stones that had formed it crumbled. After mixing with bits of broken bones and blood of different colors, it lit up an ancient spell formation that had been engraved on a spacious altar.

    The altar then split open, revealing a dark, bottomless hole in the ground, like a huge well that led directly to hell.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Countless evil spirits and senseless ghouls swarmed from every part of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range and poured frenziedly into it, as if they were irresistibly drawn to it.

    The nine Stone Golems had sickening smiles on their face as their bloodline auras soared.

    The strongest of them suddenly threw his head back and roared something in an ancientnguage, his aura rising through the heavens.

    The tenth grade!

    It seemed that he had made another breakthrough in recovering his bloodline power.

    Countless evil spirits and ghouls continued to gather from all directions and swarm into the bleak, unfathomable ¡®well¡¯.

    The ¡®well¡¯, however, looked like a huge mouth full of terrifying fangs that wanted to devour everything in this world, as if it would never be satisfied.

    ...

    In a remote corner of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Kan Zhisheng, who was guarding that spatial rift, suddenly sensed something, his expression flickering violently.

    FIZZ!

    Before he could realize what it was, the spatial rift that was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s only connection to the outside world exploded!

    He stood aghast.

    Momentster, Dou Tianchen and Wang Meijia hurried over from the distant sky with their subordinates.

    Looking extremely frustrated, Kan Zhisheng said, ¡°That spatial rift I¡¯ve been guarding exploded by itself... I don¡¯t know what happened. Perhaps you should go ask powerful experts from the Void Spirit Society and see if the spatial fluctuations in the Shatter Battlefield just went through significant changes.¡±

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s face dropped as he looked nkly at the remains of the spatial rift that were fading from the air. ¡°What?! What the hell happened?!¡±

    Kan Zhisheng shook his head repeatedly. ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡±

    Wang Meijia pondered briefly before taking out a Sound Stone and saying, ¡°I¡¯m friends with one of the Void Spirit Society elders.¡±

    Clutching the Sound Stone, she infused it with a wisp of her soul awareness in an attempt to establishmunications with that elder.

    In the next moment, her face fell.

 Chapter 1151: A Grand Cage

    Dou Tianchen realized that something must have gone wrong, and thus asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something bad happen?¡±

    Staring down at the fancy stone in her hand, Wang Meijia muttered, ¡°My Sound Stone doesn¡¯t work anymore. Soulmunication seems to have been cut off, as I can no longer get in touch with that Void Spirit Society elder.¡±

    ¡°The spatial rift copsed, and now Sound Stones have stopped working...¡± Kan Zhisheng, who was well-versed in spatial power, pondered for a while before eximing, ¡°Something must have happened to the spatial fluctuations across the entire Shatter Battlefield! Only that can exin these anomalies.¡±

    Dou Tianchen frowned and said, ¡°So does that mean we¡¯re not going to be able to leave the Shatter Battlefield anytime soon?¡±

    With a thoughtful expression, Kan Zhisheng answered, ¡°Our connection to the outside world is cut off. I suppose the same has happened to the other sects. However, since the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, the strongest spatial power expert of our time, is currently in the Shatter Battlefield, I bet those from the Void Spirit Society will be able to find a way out of here.¡±

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society?!¡± Wang Meijia eximed softly.

    The two Sons of the Stars exchanged a nce and rapidly came to a decision. Without hesitation, they dashed towards the Void Spirit Society disciples¡¯ gathering ce with their subordinates.

    At almost the same time...

    Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan arrived at the Five Elements Sect¡¯s spatial rift that connected to the outside world with their subordinates.

    Upon arriving, they saw the spatial rift filled with glorious swirling lights.

    However, the lights only existed for a few seconds before their only connection to the Five Elements Sect¡¯s headquarters exploded as well.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°Why did the spatial rift explode for no reason?¡±

    ¡°Something is wrong!"

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the apocalypse Nie Tian¡¯s master saw is actually going to happen!¡±

    Soon, Lou Hongyan and Huang Jinnan reached a mutual understanding, and led their subordinates towards the Void Spirit Society¡¯s gathering ce. ¡°Let¡¯s go find those from the Void Spirit Society!¡±

    Meanwhile, He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion and his subordinates faced the same problem.

    However, the humans weren¡¯t alone.

    The Demons, Fiends, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, dragons, and many other powerful races that had entered the Shatter Battlefield also faced this problem, as all of their teleportation portals and spatial rifts that connected to their heaven and earth also sessively exploded or became inessible.

    Back when Pei Qiqi¡¯s Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure had first appeared, it had only drained power from and destroyed the teleportation portals and spatial rifts that had connected to small realms like the Realm of Maelstrom.

    As intelligent as it was, it hadn¡¯t dared toy its greedy hands on the unique spatial rifts that belonged to the four great sects.

    For that reason, the few truly powerful human sects and outsider races had maintained their ess to the Shatter Battlefield, allowing them to enter and conduct trials in it from time to time.

    It waspletely different this time.

    All of a sudden, major spatial anomalies befell the Shatter Battlefield, immediately cutting off all of its connections to the outside world.

    Because of this, the Shatter Battlefield had now be a huge cage.

    Everyone trapped in it feared for their safety.

    ...

    Atop the broken mountain peak.

    Wu Ji sat with his eyes closed as Nie Tian chatted with Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, with his eyes fixed on the distant sky.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Hou Chn touched the jade bracelet on her wrist, a baffled expression appearing on her delicate face. ¡°My Sound Bracelet doesn¡¯t work anymore.¡±

    She was trying to contact the elders of the wood element sect to see if they had met with her master and if they had made a decision when she discovered that the wisps of soul messages she sent into the Sound Bracelet failed to go out.

    ¡°What?!¡± Hearing this, Fang Yuan, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others on the mountaintop hastily made attempts with their ownmunication devices.

    A few secondster, everyone¡¯s faces grew grim.

    Wei Lai took a deep breath and said, ¡°Something major must have happened. It¡¯s very unnatural that our Sound Stones all stopped working at the same time. This means the spatial energy here has gone through significant changes. I suspect that major problems will happen to the spatial rifts that connect this ce to the outside world as well. They may even explode because of this!

    ¡°I have a bad feeling!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The earth started shaking mildly, causing the mountain peak they were sitting on to shake as well.

    Astonished, Nie Tian stared down at the earth that fluctuated nonstop, a grim look gradually appearing in his eyes.

    WHOOSH!

    Chu Rui, the vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, suddenly appeared and flew towards them from the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Dazzling starlight formed a giant ring behind him. Like the divine lights of gods and buddhas, it gave him a deeply mysterious look.

    People rose to their feet sessively, their expressions flickering. ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    Upon arriving, Chu Rui asked in a hurry, ¡°Which of you is the one who¡¯s mastered time power and recently snuck a peek into the future?¡±

    He nced over the people on the mountaintop and noticed Wu Ji, who he found unfamiliar. ¡°Are you Nie Tian¡¯s master from the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Wu Ji slowly rose to his feet and nodded. ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°Can I please borrow you for a while? I promise that I¡¯ll keep you safe. There are a few people who would like to talk to you in person.¡± Chu Rui issued his invitation in a polite manner.

    Nie Tian rose to his feet. ¡°Who would like to talk to my master?¡±

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, the heads of the wood element sect and the fire element sect, and Grand Elder Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion,¡± Chu Rui exined. ¡°All of us were observing the battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield when elders came and told us about your vision. We attach great significance to the matter, and want to learn more details from you.¡±

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°Okay, sure.¡±

    As they were about to leave together, Nie Tian called out softly, ¡°Vice Sectmaster, my master¡¯s safety...¡±

    Chu Rui wove his hand, signaling him not to worry, then said with a solemn tone, ¡°Your master is one of us. No one will want to harm him at this special moment. I promise that none of those who want to meet him mean ill.¡±

    Slightly relieved by these words, Nie Tian said, ¡°Alright then.¡±

    Then, Chu Rui then said, ¡°You¡¯ve probably noticed the spatial anomalies in the Shatter Battlefield. If it weren¡¯t for those anomalies, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society would have used his divine abilities to get your master to us long ago.

    ¡°Now, listen to me. All of you better go to the Void Spirit Society¡¯s gathering ce.

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society said that after talking with your master, he¡¯ll create a brand new spatial tunnel with his Void Mirror and get all of you out of here.¡±

    With these words, Chu Rui left for the heart of the Shatter Battlefield with Wu Ji.

    After some discussion, Nie Tian and the others also set out towards the ce where the disciples of the Void Spirit Society were now gathered.

    One air-transportation spiritual after another was summoned.

    Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, took it upon herself to jump onto Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat and stood by his side.

    Hou Chn took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡¯m sensing changes in your aura, Nie Tian. Perhaps even you don¡¯t feel it yet, but I can tell that you¡¯ve be stronger than before. Now, I have a feeling that your aura has an even stronger nourishing effect on my Divine Bamboo. Both your bloodline aura and the aura your wood power core is exuding have be purer.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s because my flesh power and spiritual power have been refined further after my battle against Ophelia.¡±

    Even he himself had a feeling that his strength had experienced rapid growth recently, and all of his spiritual cores were crystallizing at an unprecedented speed.

    On the one hand, this wasrgely due to the magical effects of the me spark, Godspirit Tree, and Nine Stars Flower inside of him.

    On the other hand, his battle against Ophelia had improved his confidence, along with his understanding of strength and aura.

    All of this had contributed to the rapid advances of his strength and cultivation base, even though he hadn¡¯t made much effort recently.

    Hou Chn turned to him, her bright eyes glittering. ¡°I¡¯m sure that your bloodline doesn¡¯t belong to the Floragrims. Their wood bloodlines are very different from yours. I¡¯ve made contact with many Floragrims, so I¡¯m rather familiar with their unique aura. However, you¡¯ve clearly learned some of their secret incantations...¡±

    ¡°I did acquire some Floragrim incantations by ident,¡± Nie Tian said frankly.

    ¡°But aren¡¯t you curious why you can practice Floragrim incantations while you don¡¯t carry their bloodline?¡± Hou Chn asked.

    ¡°I am, but I can¡¯t find an answer,¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat frustrated. ¡°I still haven¡¯t figured out the origin of my bloodline.¡±

    Hou Chn let out a soft chuckle and said, ¡°I believe I can help you with that. I recently went through lots of old records, and found something interesting. Do you want to hear about it?¡±

 Chapter 1152: The Maker

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I¡¯m all ears!¡±

    However, Hou Chn didn¡¯t speak up right away. Instead, she signaled for him to slow the Star Boat down.

    Nie Tian did as he was bid.

    As they decelerated, Fang Yuan, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others overtook them one by one.

    Hou Chn clearly knew the Void Spirit Society¡¯s gathering ce, as she showed him the right directions from time to time.

    Only after putting a significant distance between themselves and the others did she say, ¡°Something has happened in the Shatter Battlefield, causing all Sound Stones to fail, so we don¡¯t have to worry that someone will overhear our conversation.¡±

    ¡°So what do you know?¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Hou Chn¡¯s bright eyes finally fixed on him. After a moment of hesitation, she said, ¡°Your bloodline is called the life bloodline, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. He pondered in silence for a few seconds before nodding slightly. ¡°Yes, it is.¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s eyes widened as she eximed in astonishment, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I was right!¡±

    ¡°How much do you know about the life bloodline?¡± Nie Tian asked urgently.

    Hou Chn shook her head and said with aplicated look on her face, ¡°Not much. I only read a little about it in some old records in my sect regarding blood-mixing. ording to those records, the notion of making hybrids first came from a peculiar member of your sect.

    ¡°However, most of the contents regarding that man seem to have been deliberately erased, including his name and achievements.

    ¡°I went through many records, but only found very little information about him. It was said that he went astray as he headed down the path of mixing humans with outsiders and Ancientbeasts, and descended to a crooked rogue force.¡±

    Nie Tian listened attentively.

    Hou Chn paid close attention to the changes in his expression as she carried on. ¡°ording to the records, hemitted heavy crimes, and eventually died in a joint purging operation of the four great sects. However, it was unknown whether he perishedpletely, or managed to escape with a wisp of his soul.

    ¡°Anyways, he put forth a theory that the bloodlines of all living beings, including humans, outsiders, and Ancientspirits, share one origin.

    ¡°He thought that that origin was the life bloodline, which carries unlimited creative power. After shing and merging with different auras, it gave birth to a wide array of new bloodlines.

    ¡°Therefore, the life bloodline is the foundation on which the myriad races in this starry river have been born.

    ¡°If new races are to be born, the catalysis of the life bloodline will be necessary too.

    ¡°However, the origin of the life bloodline remains a mystery.

    ¡°That strange person used to refer to himself as the Maker. He intended to refine brand new bloodlines based on the existing myriad races, then create brand new races with the crucial help of the life bloodline.

    ¡°His wild ambition to create brand new races made everyone insecure and uneasy.

    ¡°He made many attempts, but none were sessful. Instead, he created many bloody cmities. After his repeated failures, the four great sects could no longer tolerate him or his crazy experiments. He was disgusted by the whole human world.

    ¡°Shortly after that, he was trapped and killed.¡±

    With these words, Hou Chn stopped and fixed Nie Tian with a deep look, which made him very ufortable.

    Only after a short while did she go on. ¡°If your bloodline is indeed the life bloodline, then you must have very close connections to that man. Besides, your existence proves that he¡¯s still alive. Not just that, but he has even seeded in creating a life bloodline.

    ¡°Now, your life bloodline can be viewed as the key to breeding brand new beings and races!¡±

    After she finished her words, Nie Tian waspletely bbergasted, his mind in a tremendous muddle.

    ¡°The strange man who first put forth the idea of mixing bloodlines, called himself the Maker, and attempted to create brand new races...

    ¡°Technically speaking, those hybrids I saw in that mysterious ce were a new race, a new life form that hasbined the merits of human bloodlines and the bloodlines of other races.

    ¡°Is it true that my life bloodline has yed a catalytic role in their breeding?

    ¡°Was his sess with me the reason why that man was able to move on to the next step? Was my blood taken before I even awakened my life bloodline?

    ¡°Do those hybrids have any connections to me? Was it really that man who created all those hybrids?¡±

    Questions exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, rendering himpletely confused.

    Only after a long while did hee out of his daze and ask, ¡°How many people in your sect know about this? And who else knows that I carry the life bloodline?¡±

    ¡°All those who know anything about that man are very old. Most are dead.¡± Hou Chn answered frankly. ¡°As for your life bloodline, I wasn¡¯t even sure before you admitted to it. And I only came to that conclusion because the flesh aura you used to help me during my breakthrough into the Saint domain was simply unbelievable.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent once again.

    ¡°But don¡¯t worry,¡± Hou Chn said with a rxed tone. ¡°I¡¯ll keep this secret for you. I won¡¯t even tell my master about it. You¡¯ve helped me many times. I won¡¯t care even if there¡¯s some kind of connection between you and that man.¡±

    As they spoke, the Star Boat flew into a canyon.

    Arge number of Qi warriors were gathered there.

    Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, He Lianxiong, Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and many Saint domain elders were waiting anxiously.

    A glowing spatial rift was floating over the canyon. Dazzling lights could be seen interweaving within it.

    However, the lights were gradually fading.

    Multiple Saint domain disciples of the Void Spirit Society were channeling spatial power from numerous spatial jades and mixing it with their own power and soul awareness to stop the spatial rift from closing.

    However, their joint efforts were in vain, as that spatial rift eventually closed under some irresistible force.

    Standing on arge protruding rock, Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society said with a very grim face, ¡°A force that seems to originate from the Shatter Battlefield itself has cut off all of its connections to the outside world.¡±

    Then, upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat, he beckoned for him to fly closer.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe everyone is here. Not a single one got out.¡± Nie Tian said, finding this ironic.

    After hearing these words, He Lianxiong and a few others looked somewhat embarrassed, and didn¡¯t say a word.

    All of them had been scared and run for their lives after learning their fate from Wu Ji.

    However, who would have thought that none of them were able to get out?

    As Nie Tiannded, Qi Lianshan said, ¡°Nie Tian, our sectmaster said that he¡¯lle here himself after he gets ahold of the situation. Let¡¯s wait here together.¡±

    The reason why everyone hade to this ce was because all of their spatial rifts or teleportation portals had exploded.

    However, Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, was an expert whose understanding of spatial power was hardly matched in this starry river.

    As long as he was here, people didn¡¯t feel worried about leaving the Shatter Battlefield alive.

    ROAR! ROAR!

    The roars of dragons and Ancientbeasts echoed out in the distant sky. Ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs also headed towards them from different directions.

 Chapter 1153: Frenzied Sacrifice

    Fierce roars and howls shook heaven and earth.

    In the distance, the cloudy sky was engulfed by flesh aura seas of different colors. Frenzied, bloodthirsty auras filled heaven and earth.

    The violent shes between flesh auras made the entire area go dim and bright from time to time.

    At the same time, agonized, ear-piercing shrieks would asionally echo out from the distance.

    All of the experts from the four great sects that were gathered in this ce were bbergasted.

    Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce frowned and said in confusion, ¡°Battles seems to have broken out among outsider grand patriarchs, dragons, and Ancientbeasts.

    ¡°The duel between Grand Monarch Primal Demon and the grand elder hasn¡¯t ended yet. Why would they suddenly start fighting each other?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look and see what¡¯s going on over there first,¡± Qi Lianshan eximed softly.

    Many Saint domain experts, including even Nie Tian, cast their secret soul spells.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Eyes were condensed one after another, then floated towards the source of the sounds.

    The deste, cold ground had many deep, bottomless chasms in it, from which intoxicating, multicolored auras rose.

    Like rainbows, the colorful auras flew at a fast speed in the icy heaven and earth, infiltrating the flesh aura seas of the outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    Many Demons, Fiends, Bonebrutes, Phantasms, dragons, and Ancientbeasts had their flesh aura seas poisoned by the rainbow-like auras, and went through changes.

    These well-known figures of different races gradually became demented, as if the mysterious auras devoured their sober minds.

    They gradually lost control of themselves, till bloodlustpletely took over.

    More and more powerful Demons, Fiends, demons, and Ancientbeasts joined the frenzied killing. Waves of their violent flesh auras destroyed the heavens and crushed the earth.

    Furthermore, their battle gradually spread towards the ce where the humans were gathered.

    It was as if their instincts told them that there were enemies here that needed to be dealt with first.

    Wisps of soul awareness rapidly floated to their battle zone to examine the outsiders, dragons, and Ancientbeasts that were consumed with killing.

    Face filled with confusion, Dou Tianchen muttered, ¡°What, what happened? Didn¡¯t those outsiders, dragons, and Ancientbeasts just reach a mutual understanding?¡±

    ¡°Have you noticed that all of their flesh aura seas were infiltrated by those mysterious, rainbow-like auras?¡± Hou Chn asked softly.

    ¡°Something infiltrated the flesh aura seas of ninth grade grand patriarchs, and caused them to lose their minds?¡± He Lianxiong said, finding this hard to believe. ¡°What in this world could have such a powerful influence on grand patriarch flesh aura seas and minds?¡±

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°There actually is such a thing...¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gazes rapidly converged on him.

    After a moment of hesitation, Wei Lai exined, ¡°There are legends about this Star Behemoth that lived in the Primal Era, its name unknown. It was said to exude auras from its pores that would plunge any living beings that came close to it into a state where they were overtaken with killing and bloodlust. It didn¡¯t even have to do anything other than watch the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts lose their minds and kill each other.

    ¡°Then, it would just need to collect and devour the dead after all the killing.¡±

    Everyone gasped with astonishment upon hearing these words.

    ¡°There lived such strange beings? Where did you learn that, Wei Lai?¡±

    ¡°That Star Behemoth must have died long ago, right? Didn¡¯t they go extinct already?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not saying those mysterious auras influencing the outsiders and Ancientspirits areing from that Star Behemoth, are you?¡±

    Nie Tian was also taken aback. He suspected that Wei Lai had learned about this from the Star Behemoth that was slumbering on the floating continent.

    Clearly, the Star Behemoths hadn¡¯t died out in this boundless starry river. There was one on that floating continent.

    After withdrawing his soul awareness from the battlefield, Wei Lai said, ¡°I can¡¯t share where I learned it with you. But I believe that Star Behemoth is dead, and buried somewhere in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    ¡°Although, I¡¯m not certain whether the strange auras affecting the Ancientbeasts and outsiders areing from it or not.

    ¡°However, if they are, let alone ninth grade grand patriarchs, even tenth grade outsider grand monarchs and titans might be subject to their mighty influence.

    ¡°The good thing is that since humans have such weak flesh power, we won¡¯t be viewed as ¡®prey¡¯, so their influence on us will most likely be minimal.¡±

    Wei Lai¡¯s words shook everyone like deafening thunder.

    ¡°Even tenth grade grand monarchs might be affected?¡± Huang Jinnan was so astonished that he practically leapt to his feet.

    Not just him, but the others also looked up in disbelief.

    Tenth grade grand monarchs represented the peak strength of this starry river. Each and every one of them had divine abilities. How could they lose their minds just because of some special auras?

    ¡°That Star Behemoth used to hunt and kill tenth grade grand monarchs,¡± Wei Lai added, further bbergasting everyone.

    At this moment, Nie Tian noticed through his Star Eyes that the rainbow-like auras were causing peculiar changes to the ninth grade grand patriarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas.

    Tiny fragmentary crystals that looked like diamonds of different colors came to form within them, emanating a powerful bewitching power.

    ¡°Those look like a unique kind of Bloodline Crystal Chain that is branded with the profound truths of a powerful bloodline. Are they what¡¯s bewitching them?¡± Nie Tian thought to himself as his Star Eyes floated in the battle zone. Gradually, even he felt a strong urge to kill those who he despised deep down right away.

    At the same time...

    RUMBLE!

    Lands shook and mountains were rocked in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range where the Stone Golem capital was located.

    The city was dpidated to start with. Now, broken walls toppled everywhere.

    However, the nine Stone Golems seemed more fanatic than ever.

    All of them fixed their eyes on the bottomless pit in the ground, where countless evil spirits and ghouls were converging and throwing themselves in, as if to sacrifice themselves.

    Curious lights could be seen interweaving in the depths of the unfathomable pit, emanating a bleak, deadly aura.

    The earth was splitting in every part of the Shatter Battlefield.

    More and more rainbow-like auras rose from the chasms that came to form, and floated around in the sky, as if they were instinctively tracking living beings.

    Upon contact with them, the flesh aura seas of Demons, Phantasms, and Ancientspirits would immediately undergo changes.

    The auras would rapidly condense into fragmentary crystals within their flesh aura seas.

    Even though they were hard to see, their existence was beyond doubt. They rapidly infiltrated the hearts of those enormous beings and forced changes on their Bloodline Crystal Chains in an unreadable way.

    There were humans, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts that had entered the Shatter Battlefield long ago, and were tempering themselves in areas that were farther from the center.

    However, as the earth split, they fell victim as well.

    Deadly battles and mad killing spread across the entire Shatter Battlefield.

    The nine Stone Golems had madness written across their faces as they stared into the pit with lightning interweaving in it and made peculiar sounds, as if they were singing an anthem.

    ¡°Great!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s finally happening!¡±

    ¡°They all yed their part in the extinction of our n. None of these ones here shall get out alive!¡±

    At the humans¡¯ gathering ce...

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    The mountains around the canyon toppled as the hard ground split open, as if it was being carved by a huge invisible knife.

    The same glorious, intoxicating auras rose from the chasms.

    Like rainbows, they converged on the ce where the humans were gathered.

    ¡°Those auras have a strong corrosive effect on flesh aura seas. But since humans don¡¯t have flesh aura seas, we may not be so deeply affected.¡± With these words, Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered as he jerked his head towards Nie Tian. ¡°But you...!¡±

    Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and jumped onboard swiftly. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to stay away from them.¡±

 Chapter 1154: The Inevitable

    Like colorful rivers, the auras swam in midair.

    Unlike the outsider grand patriarchs, dragons, and Ancientbeasts, Nie Tian was prepared.

    He steered his Star Boat as far away from the auras as possible. He even activated Life Stealth to mask his flesh aura.

    As soon as he did, his vigorous flesh aura magically grew weak.

    Soon, even his heartbeat became too faint to detect.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian noticed that the colorful auras that had sensed his flesh aura and floated towards him suddenly changed directions and headed towards other areas, as if they had lost their target.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he was delightfully taken aback by the fact that his Life Stealth bloodline talent had such an incredible use. ¡°I can¡¯t believe Life Stealth can actually help me avoid these auras!¡±

    Therefore, he stopped being so meticulous.

    Momentster, he noticed that the colorful auras gradually engulfed the entire mountain valley.

    Qi warriors of the four great sects either activated their domains or spiritual power wards to resist them.

    Unlike hybrids, humans were born with faint flesh auras.

    Since none of the experts gathered at the canyon carried noticeable flesh auras, it seemed that they couldn¡¯t spark the colorful auras¡¯ interest, triggering their transformation into glorious crystals that looked like diamonds of different colors.

    For this reason, none of the experts from the four great sects were bewitched.

    Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°Clearly, since humans have feeble bodies and negligible flesh power, that Star Behemoth never viewed them as prey, provided that these auras are actuallying from that Star Behemoth.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    As the earth continued to tear, more and more colorful auras flew out.

    The outsider grand patriarchs, dragons, and Ancientbeasts that were originally fighting in another area of the heavens gradually moved their battlefield.

    A ninth grade Demon grand patriarch that had activated Ancestral Awakening had rows of sharp bones growing out of his sides. At this moment, he was wing at a dragon, their flesh auras shing so violently that the space around them almost twisted and copsed.

    While fighting fiercely, they shifted hundreds of kilometers at a time, and soon ended up in the canyon region.

    As soon as they did, they detected the auras of the numerous Qi warriors gathered there.

    Upon seeing them, they split up without hesitation, as if they had found new, better targets.

    Roaring and howling, they charged towards the ce where the humans were.

    In the depths of the canyon, bitterness filled Wei Lai¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid what Wu Ji saw is actually going to happen. Even though we didn¡¯t start this battle, those outsiders and Ancientspirits were affected by those mysterious auras, and became bloodthirsty.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone remembered Wu Ji¡¯s peek at the future.

    All of them, who had been waiting in the canyon for the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society toe and bring them to safety, grew very grim.

    ¡°It¡¯s happening! A confused battle among all races is happening!¡±

    ¡°That expert who saw the future said that I would die here. Is that a fate I can¡¯t escape?¡±

    ¡°Will I die too?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s hearts became filled with terror, whether their deaths were foreseen by Wu Ji or not.

    The mad bloodlust and killing that had taken over the outsiders and Ancientspirits seemed to prove that Wu Ji¡¯s vision of the future was gradually bing reality.

    Did it mean that their deaths were inevitable?

    Seeing everyone in deep frustration, Wei Lai hastily soared into the sky and eximed in high spirits, ¡°Don¡¯t panic, everyone! As the man said, even though the past can¡¯t be rewritten, the future is full of possibilities, and can be changed! Since a battle seems inevitable now, we¡¯d better do our best to kill the bewitched outsiders and Ancientbeasts who know nothing but killing!¡±

    Someone chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right! As long as we can kill them all and stay sober at the same time, we¡¯ll be able to survive!¡±

    With a furious roar, He Lianxiong rose into the sky. ¡°What are we waiting for then? We would have fought the outsiders and Ancientspirits to the death in the Dead Star Sea anyways! If a battle with them can¡¯t be avoided, why not fight it today?!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Divine Sons and Daughters, Sons of the Stars, and numerous elders charged into the sky.

    The sky over the canyon was soon filled with glorious domains that each had their unique features.

    Some were filled with lush vegetation like the residences of immortals. Some were filled with zing mes like a fiery purgatory. Some were filled with mountains that emanated golden light, while others were bone-piercingly cold, like worlds of snow and ice...

    Domains of different attributes and wonders rapidly filled the sky.

    Numerous Spirit Channeling grade treasures, including magic balls, pears, spears, swords, scrolls, and chessboards appeared within their domains, sending off a great amount of divine light that lit up heaven and earth, along with immense power fluctuations.

    The Demon grand patriarch that had shifted to this area became their first target.

    Being at the middle ninth grade, he was close to a hundred meters tall after activating Ancestral Awakening. At this moment, he was charging towards the human experts, baring fangs and brandishing ws.

    However, countless spiritual tools unleashed dazzling divine light at almost the same time, reducing the Demon grand patriarch to a bloody mess.

    Even Grand Monarch Blood Axe, who was at the early tenth grade, wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the joint attack of so many Saint domain experts, much less a ninth grade Demon grand patriarch.

    Just like that, he died in a sh.

    As for the twisting dragon, Nie Tian had met him once. He had been among the dragons with Felix and McEleney when they had approached Nie Tian in the Dead Star Sea. He was also at the ninth grade.

    Wreathed in golden light, he had ws that looked like huge anchors.

    The violent death of the Demon grand patriarch seemed to stir him, as his winding body suddenly came to a stop in midair.

    Even though his mind had been twisted with bloodlust, he sensed a hint of fear.

    Thus, he threw his head back and let out a long howl.

    As soon as he did, all of the other dragons and Ancientbeasts in the vicinity subconsciously gathered from different directions.

    Many Demon, Phantasm, and Bonebrute grand patriarchs that were fighting the dragons and Ancientbeasts were also attracted to this area.

    Floating in the sky, an elder of the wood element sect felt a numbness in his scalp as he looked at everyone that was attracted by the dragon¡¯s howl. ¡°This is getting out of hand.¡±

    This was what they wanted to see the least.

    What they wanted was for the Ancientspirits and outsiders to kill each other, and after the majority of them were dead, they would swoop in and collect the final victory.

    They thought that if all of these powerful Ancientspirits and outsider grand patriarchs died here, they might finally be granted the major breakthrough they had been failing to make in the Dead Star Sea all these years.

    However, no matter how ideal that seemed, it was merely a hope.

    The outsiders and Ancientbeasts¡¯ greatest apprehension and fear was humanity¡¯s rise.

    That was deep-seated in their minds.

    Therefore, upon the sight of the Qi warriors, they did what they had done for the past countless years, and formed a union against the humans.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian narrowed his eyes and looked grimly at the outsiders and Ancientspirits that were gathering from all directions.

    He sighed and realized that the catastrophic scene his master had foreseen had officially unfurled. ¡°It seems that this can¡¯t be avoided after all.¡±

    An all-out battle among all races finally broke out.

    Even though the humans hadn¡¯t started this battle, the mysterious auras of some Star Behemoth had bewitched the outsiders and Ancientspirits, making this battle inevitable.

    Frowning, he thought to himself, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that Star Behemoth is still alive!¡±

    As he did, he subconsciously summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    He wanted to see whether some form of connection would form between the bone and that mysterious Star Behemoth, as both of them had once been overlords of this starry river.

 Chapter 1155: Deterioration

    The Star Behemoth bone that belonged to him had grown further after absorbing a tremendous amount of dashing lights from the depths of that space disruption zone.

    Now, it had grown to eighty meters long.

    As soon as it flew out of his ring of holding, it blossomed with crimson light, countless fine veins that formedplicated patterns on its surface lighting up bit by bit.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The colorful auras that had risen from the bottomless chasms seemed to be suddenly stirred.

    They were originally scattered in the sky. However, at this moment, they started slowly converging on Nie Tian from different directions.

    Standing on the Star Boat, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    He was well-aware that if the rainbow-like auras infiltrated his flesh aura, he would most likely be influenced as well.

    That was why he had activated Life Stealth to avoid their detection.

    However, as his Star Behemoth bone appeared, the colorful auras were immediately attracted.

    While pondering whether he should fly away, he discovered that the glorious auras that looked like colorful winding rivers seemed to only be interested in the Star Behemoth bone.

    They stretched over and poured into the crimson translucent bone, creating lightning bolts that slithered on its surface, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    ¡°This is...¡± Nie Tian went nk, a peculiar notion urring to him.

    The two Star Behemoths seemed to bemunicating in a way that was beyond his understanding.

    ¡°The Star Behemoth Elder Wei Lai talked about might have died here long ago, but its soul awareness seems to still exist.¡± With this thought, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he fixed the bone with a deep look. ¡°Even though there¡¯s only a bone left of this one, my life bloodline restored life to it, setting it on the path of resurrection.

    ¡°As the overlords of this starry river during the Primal Era, Star Behemoths once sat at the top of the food chain. Shouldn¡¯t they be unadapted to this era...?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned as he was carried away in thought.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The bone, in which his Blood Essence had sparked growth and many wonders, continued to sputter lightning bolts.

    ...

    In the Stone Golem capital.

    The nine Stone Golems¡¯ fanatic sacrificial ritual with evil spirits and ghouls carried on.

    Terrifying fluctuations gradually came from the depths of the dark pit where glorious lights interwove.

    WHOOSH!

    Rainbow-like auras rose from the pit and gradually pervaded the entire dpidated city.

    The heart of the Stone Golem leader who had returned to the tenth grade pounded heavily.

    In a pious manner, he crouched down facing the pit, as if to listen to instructions that wereing from it.

    BOOOOM!

    The titan named Chatvic suddenly returned, his enormous body taking up the area of the heavens over the city.

    Like suns, Chatvic¡¯s eyes shone on the bottomless pit where glorious lights were interweaving. ¡°The upheaval sweeping across the entire Shatter Battlefield is being caused by you!

    ¡°Are you trying to temporarily resurrect that thing with this sacrificial ritual? Why are you doing this?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± The Stone Golem leader said with a sinister smile. ¡°To have our revenge, of course!

    ¡°Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, along with the other races that are currently in the Shatter Battlefield... all of them yed their role in that battle where my n was annihted! And you! We were allies, but now you¡¯ve betrayed our alliance! You¡¯ve even made peace with them and stood with them against others!

    ¡°You all deserve to die!¡±

    Chatvic grew furious as he roared, ¡°I don¡¯t know where you were banished all these years, but you were gone for far too long! You don¡¯t understand that the humans are our greatest threat now! Only by uniting with them are we strong enough to contend against the rapidly-rising humans!¡±

    The tenth grade Stone Golem gazed skywards and let out a scalp-numbingly sharpugh. ¡°Times have changed. It won¡¯t be long before you witness the birth of a brand new era. We Stone Golems will rise up again and follow that one¡¯s steps in theing era!¡±

    Chatvic was taken aback. ¡°What one? Who are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t allow you to resurrect that thing here! It will eliminate every living being in the Shatter Battlefield!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that¡¯s why I was arranged toe back here.¡±

    ¡°You were arranged toe back here?¡±

    Chatvic pondered for a while, then suddenly realized that these Stone Golems had probably joined some force that he didn¡¯t know of.

    What that force was scheming seemed so sweeping that he felt very insecure and uneasy.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I can only stop you by force!¡± Without much thought, Chatvic, who was towering like a mountain peak, dove out of the heavens in an attempt to destroy the huge pit at the center of the city.

    The Stone Golem leader shook his head. ¡°Perhaps you had a chance to stop us thest time you were here. However, you found out about our n toote.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Like lightning bolts, hundreds of thousands of glorious auras suddenly shot out from the depths of the pit, where countless lights were interweaving.

    In the blink of an eye, they infiltrated the titan¡¯s rich flesh aura sea, which had formed naturally.

    As soon as his flesh aura sea was tainted by the colorful auras, it began to mutate, and tiny crystals rapidly came to form within it.

    BOOOOM!

    Chatvic¡¯s enormous body crashed heavily into the Stone Golem capital like a toppled mountain peak.

    The city was dpidated and full of broken walls. Now as he crashed into it, it waspletely destroyed. Many broken stone pavilions were razed to the ground, rubble flying in all directions.

    A few minutester...

    Chatvic slowly rose to his feet, staggering. His flesh aura sea was filled with more and more fragmentary crystals that looked like tiny colorful diamonds.

    His pupils were gradually flooded by bloodlust and madness, his self-awareness lost.

    BOOM!

    Like a lofty mountain peak, he suddenly exploded into the heavens, as if to find targets to kill.

    ¡°Being at the tenth grade and calling yourself an Ancient God, you¡¯re possessed just like the others!¡± The Stone Golem leader eximed in high spirits. ¡°Even you can¡¯t resist it. I bet those dragons, Ancientbeasts, and outsider grand monarchs will fall victim to it as well!¡±

    With these words, he nced around at the city that had been shattered by Chatvic, feeling a bit of heartache.

    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before we establish a new home, repopte, and reim our glory!¡±

    ...

    In the canyon where many humans were gathered.

    Numerous outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and dragons hade from the vicinity and engaged in a fierce battle against the Divine Sons and Daughters, Sons of the Stars, and Saint domain experts.

    Standing on his Star Boat, Nie Tian stared unblinkingly at the bone.

    Lightning bolts wreathed the parts of it that had been contacted by the colorful auras. A weak awareness seemed to be forming within it.

    Nie Tian exerted his senses, but still failed to solve its wonders.

    SHEW!

    A God domain expert suddenly arrived.

    It turned out to be Ji Yuanquan, the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.

    The purpose of him being here was to create a spatial tunnel that connected to the outside world, so the members of different human sects that were stranded here would be able to evacuate from the Shatter Battlefield as soon as possible.

    Beforeing, he had met with Wu Ji, and noticed the strange auras that had been dispersed into many parts of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Numerous outsiders and Ancientspirits had been bewitched and plunged into a mad killing state. Therefore, he had been convinced that what Wu Ji had foreseen was bound to happen.

    ¡°Why is it you, Vice Sectmaster?¡± Saint domain disciples of the Void Spirit Society called out upon seeing him.

    ¡°The sectmaster is otherwise upied. He can¡¯te here himself.¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a bitter expression. ¡°The outsider grand monarchs, dragons, and Ancientbeasts in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield have also descended into madness!¡±

    Wei Lai gasped. ¡°What?! Things have deteriorated so quickly?!¡±

 Chapter 1156: The Source of Calamity

    Even Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, was too deeply engaged in fighting toe to their rescue!

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s words put everyone in great fear.

    They had been looking forward to Qu Yi arriving in person, creating a spatial rift with his Immortal grade divine tool, the Void Mirror, and helping them get out of the Shatter Battlefield.

    None of them had thought that even Qu Yi was caught up in battle in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    If it was going to be Ji Yuanquan, they weren¡¯t sure if he was strong enough to evacuate them by himself, especially in the tough situation they were now facing.

    Since outsider grand patriarchs, Ancientbeasts, and dragons were attacking them from all directions, they had to make great effort to fend off these enemies that had been rendered demented by the mysterious auras.

    Ji Yuanquan turned his head and spotted the Star Behemoth bone that was sputtering lightning bolts. Surprised, he called out, ¡°What are you doing so far away, Nie Tian? And what¡¯s going on with that bone of yours?¡±

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    As he spoke, the Saint domain experts and Divine Sons and Daughters spread out to fight outsider grand patriarchs, dragons, and Ancientbeasts in different ces.

    Since the battle was well-matched, it wouldn¡¯t end in either side¡¯s victory within a short time.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    As the bone continued to sputter lightning bolts, Nie Tian focused all of his attention on it.

    A part in the middle of the crimson bone suddenly became transparent.

    The blood-colored patterns within it underwent curious changes, revealing a vague image that Nie Tian could barely make out.

    It was an image of the Stone Golem capital.

    Through it, Nie Tian saw countless evil spirits and ghouls madly swarming into a dark, bottomless pit, from which colorful auras rose to fill the heavens.

    Surrounding the pit, nine Stone Golems were kowtowing fanatically to continue some evil sacrificial ritual.

    The scenes of Chatvic¡¯s visits and him crashing into the city after his flesh aura sea was undermined by the colorful auras was also shown.

    Nie Tian was so invested in them that he didn¡¯t even respond to Ji Yuanquan.

    Seeing this, Ji Yuanquan rose above the fighting humans, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts, and high into the heavens.

    He held out the Immortal grade divine tool that should have been in Qu Yi¡¯s hands and eximed, ¡°Void Mirror!¡±

    At the same time, he activated his space domain, which seemed to have multipleyers as it unfurled around him like scrolls of fine paintings. Numerous dazzling spatial des could be seen swimming in it like a shoal of fish.

    Like lightning bolts, dazzling spatial power flew out of it into the Void Mirror.

    ¡°Void Tear!¡± As Ji Yuanquan cast the secret magic, thousands of spatial des came together, condensing into a river of glorious light that attempted to split a brand new path out of this embattled heaven and earth.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    All of a sudden, the colorful auras that had converged on Nie Tian changed directions and poured into Ji Yuanquan¡¯s space domain instead.

    His space domain was instantly rendered chaotic by peculiar energies of various origins.

    BZZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The spatial power released by the Void Mirror was also affected, and failed to create a spatial tunnel for everyone to leave the Shatter Battlefield.

    BOOM!

    The images within the Star Behemoth bone that was floating in front of Nie Tian also copsed.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression slightly as he stared hard into the Void Mirror with a knitted brow. ¡°I can¡¯t believe these flesh power-kidnapping auras have a suppressing effect on my space domain as well! It seems that it¡¯s not going to work for me to split open a spatial rift and get everyone out of the Shatter Battlefield by relying on my own strength.¡±

    Upon hearing this, all of the elders and core disciples fighting outsider grand patriarchs and Ancientbeasts felt waves of frustration, their hearts sinking.

    Standing on his Star Boat, Nie Tian called out, beckoning for him toe over, ¡°Senior Ji!¡±

    The colorful auras suppressing Ji Yuanquan¡¯s domain didn¡¯t inflict any serious damage on him or his domain.

    Therefore, upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s call, he braced his domain and flew towards him, wondering what he was up to.

    He didn¡¯t seem to meet much resistance shifting within the Shatter Battlefield.

    In a split second, he appeared in front of Nie Tian. ¡°I was talking to you, kid. But you didn¡¯t respond.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. ¡°Sorry, I was checking something. But I think I know how to turn the situation around now!¡±

    Shocked, Ji Yuanquan hastily said, ¡°I¡¯m all ears!¡±

    Nie Tian had already proven his abilities in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and by winning his recent duel against Ophelia. Ji Yuanquan had personally witnessed his victory.

    In his eyes, Nie Tian was far beyond ordinary and his words deserved to be taken seriously.

    ¡°This bone made contact with the same colorful auras that infiltrated your space domain earlier.¡± Nie Tian cut to the chase. ¡°Through it, I saw something! I saw nine Stone Golems conducting an evil sacrificial ritual in their abandoned capital in the depths of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range!

    ¡°Countless evil spirits and ghouls were being used as sacrificial offerings.

    ¡°I suppose what they¡¯re sacrificing them for is the being releasing all these strange auras from the depths of the earth: a Star Behemoth that could be dead or alive.

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s dead, it apparently still has some of its soul awareness left.

    ¡°A titan visited that Stone Golem capital twice. During his second visit, he was also influenced by the strange auras, and flew off in a frenzied state.

    ¡°It seems that any outsider or Ancientspirit that approaches that Stone Golem capital will be influenced due to their rigorous flesh auras.

    ¡°Which means only we humans will have a chance at approaching it and turning the situation in the Shatter Battlefield around.¡±

    After describing what he had seen and suspected with the simplestnguage possible, he turned to Ji Yuanquan and said urgently, ¡°Senior Ji, it seems that you won¡¯t be able to split open a spatial rift and get us out of the Shatter Battlefield directly, but can you teleport me to other locations within the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Having talked to Qu Yi, Wu Ji, and the others at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield, he seemed to know that the strange auras causing upheavals throughout the Shatter Battlefield wereing from a Star Behemoth that was said to have died long ago.

    ¡°So I suppose what Nie Tian saw through the bone of another Star Behemoth is probably real...¡± With this thought, his expression flickered, as if he suddenly realized what Nie Tian was suggesting.

    ¡°I suppose I can try,¡± he said, high in spirits. ¡°Such teleportations won¡¯t require me breaking the realm barrier, so they¡¯ll be much easier to achieve. So nine Stone Golems...¡±

    He pondered briefly before asking, ¡°What grade is their strongest member at?¡±

    ¡°The tenth grade, and he seems to have only returned to the tenth grade recently,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°That makes things easier,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, looking somewhat relieved. ¡°If the crisis is actually caused by those Stone Golems, and you and your master¡¯s visions help us turn the situation around, then you two...¡±

    He didn¡¯t finish his sentence, a deeply impressed look filling his eyes.

    Immediately afterwards, he shifted to another location to get away from the colorful auras, where he took out the Void Mirror once again. However, he didn¡¯t activate his space domain this time.

    ¡°Void Travel!¡± As he eximed, brilliant light shot forth from within the Void Mirror.

    A glowing spatial rift was instantly split open.

    ¡°Everyone! To the Bloody Grave Mountain Range!¡± Ji Yuanquan shouted aloud. ¡°The key to ending the chaotic situation in the Shatter Battlefield lies there!¡±

    All of the humans remained clear-headed.

    One after another, those who weren¡¯t caught up in battle against the bewitched outsiders and Ancientspirits dashed towards Ji Yuanquan.

    Nie Tian, who had hidden his vigorous flesh aura with Life Stealth, also flew over on his Star Boat, and disappeared into the spatial rift after Ji Yuanquan.

    In the next moment, the two of them appeared in the Stone Golem capital.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Stone Golems indeed!¡±

 Chapter 1157: The Origin of Sword Cultivation

    Fallen stone pavilions could be seen everywhere in the Stone Golems¡¯ broken capital, with an enormous man-shaped hole in the ground at the center of the city.

    After taking a quick nce at it, Nie Tian realized that it had been left by Chatvic.

    The spatial rift he and Ji Yuanquan came out of floated right over the city.

    Upon arrival, Ji Yuanquan fixed his glittering eyes on the bottomless pit, inside of which glorious lights were interweaving.

    Arge number of evil spirits and ghouls were still being attracted to it and pouring into it from all directions.

    The nine Stone Golems gathered around the pit immediately sensed the anomaly.

    One after another, they jerked their heads towards Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan, their faces a blur.

    Gazing at the unfathomable pit, Nie Tian frowned and muttered, ¡°They¡¯re sacrificing all these evil spirits and ghouls. Don¡¯t tell me that by doing this, they can actually resurrect that Star Behemoth who died long ago. Are these evil spirits helping regather its soul, and the corpse power these ghouls carry helping restore strength to its body?¡±

    SHEW!

    Wei Lai flew through the spatial rift as he pondered the matter.

    ¡°Stone Golems!¡±

    Upon arriving, Wei Lai stared at the pit where glorious lights were interweaving and sent his immense, perceptive soul awareness into it.

    As he did, he sensed extremely intense and peculiar power fluctuations brooding in the depths of the pit, as if a massive explosion could happen at any moment.

    ¡°Humans...¡±

    The Stone Golem leader was originally crouching on the ground and attempting tomunicate with the terrifying creature that was slowly awakening as the mad sacrifice carried on.

    However, the arrival of the humans disturbed him, and forced him to change his focus.

    The sight of the new arrivals made him realize that they now faced a thorny problem.

    Unlike titans like Chatvic, humans had negligible flesh auras. Therefore, the peculiar auras wouldn¡¯t be able to twist their minds, putting them in a frenzied killing state.

    These humans who had appeared all of a sudden clearly didn¡¯te with peaceful intentions. Therefore, he would have to get rid of them some other way.

    Ji Yuanquan took a deep breath and said, ¡°Nie Tian, you were right! It is these Stone Golems that are causing the upheavals in the Shatter Battlefield! They¡¯re the reason why the spatial rifts exploded, and the outsiders and Ancientspirits lost their minds! Shouldn¡¯t they have gone extinct long ago?¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Another figure shot out of the floating spatial rift. It turned out to be Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, who, like Ji Yuanquan, was also at the early God domain.

    He had also rushed over from the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Brother Ye!¡± Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyes lit up as he put his heart at ease. ¡°It¡¯s great that you¡¯re here too. I wasn¡¯tpletely sure that I¡¯d be strong enough to take these Stone Golems by myself. Now that you¡¯re here, things will be much easier.¡±

    Ye Wenhan, however, said with a grim expression, ¡°The situation is getting out of hand in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield. So I rushed out here to help you get the members of different sects safely out of the Shatter Battlefield as soon as possible. Who would have thought that I¡¯d find this...¡±

    By the time he had arrived in the canyon, he had seen the Saint domain experts from the four great sects engaged in a fierce battle against Ancientspirits and outsider grand patriarchs.

    From Wei Lai, he had learned about thetest situation, and had thus rushed to this ce without dy.

    ¡°Just the two of us came,¡± Ye Wenhan continued. ¡°If too many experts came here with us, I¡¯m afraid that those left in the canyon wouldn¡¯t be able to handle the frenzied Ancientspirits and outsider grand patriarchs.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan pondered briefly and realized that he had made a mistake. ¡°Good thinking, Brother Ye.¡±

    Earlier, he had made a hasty decision by calling out to everyone, demanding all those who could extricate themselves from their battle toe to the Stone Golem capital with him.

    Luckily, only Wei Lai and Ye Wenhan hade.

    If arge number of experts had followed him to this ce, those left in the canyon might have been trapped and killed by the outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen or fought any Stone Golems before.¡± With these words, Ye Wenhan took his time to fly to the ce where the nine Stone Golems were gathered.

    As he did, spiritual swords that were as thin as cicadas¡¯ wings hovered around him like swimming fish.

    Each and every one of them reflected dazzling light.

    Thousands of sword projections gradually filled a spherical area around him, along with intense sword intent. His sword domain gradually turned his surroundings into a magicalnd of swords.

    ¡°Pure sword cultivation!¡±

    Nie Tian took a distant look at him, and quickly realized that the Heaven Span Pavilion was the origin of all human sword cultivation.

    Both the Trisword Sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect from the Domain of Heaven Python focused on sword cultivation.

    There were many more sects across the human domains that viewed spiritual swords as their source of power and the foundation of their cultivation, and thus focused exclusively on sword cultivation.

    However, all of their sword cultivation methods had originallye from the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    The Heaven Span Pavilion was the most ancient human sword cultivator sect.

    With a somewhat disdainful smile, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°The Stone Golems perished in the long river of history long before our uprising and bnced confrontation against the outsiders and Ancientspirits. They were annihted in arge-scale battle against the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes. Who would have thought that a race that vanished so long ago still has survivors, much less that those survivors managed to stir up such major trouble?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, the two God domain experts, whispered to each other as they came to a stop over the ce where the nine Stone Golems were gathered.

    Without saying a word, Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce also flew over and joined them.

    Only Nie Tian remained by the spatial rift through which they had arrived. Standing on his Star Boat, he gazed quietly at the two God domain experts, expecting a fierce battle between them and the nine Stone Golems.

    ¡°Nine Stone Golems, with only one at the tenth grade...

    ¡°Even though the bloodline auras of the other eight are still on the rise, none of them have entered the peak of the ninth grade yet.

    ¡°If there are no mishaps, this battle will end in the Stone Golems¡¯ defeat.¡±

    Aftering to such a conclusion, Nie Tian felt slightly relieved, and decided that he wouldn¡¯t have to join the battle.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Translucent and sparkling, thousand of spiritual swords that carried different sword intents interwove, forming an exquisite sword incantation.

    Like a waterfall of swords, they rained down on the nine Stone Golems that were gathered around the bottomless pit.

    Seeing this, the Stone Golems made peculiar sounds that sounded like an ancient anthem, as if to activate their bloodline talent. ¡°Bloodline...¡±

    The strange thing was that even though Nie Tian had never heard anything like this, he somehow understood what they were singing.

    It just that they whispered some of the words in a voice so low that he didn¡¯t catch them.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Immediately afterwards,rge rocks and broken walls from the copsed stone pavilions were channeled by the Stone Golems and rose into the sky.

    All of the huge pale-gray pieces glowed with curious auras, as if strong power was surging inside of them.

    At the same time, heavy breathing sounds came from the depths of the pit where glorious lights were interweaving, as if something humongous had been resurrected.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, streams of glorious auras shot out of the pit.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s space domain, Ye Wenhan¡¯s sword domain, and Wei Lai¡¯s star domain were struck before they had time to react.

    Originally, this kind of aura would only twist the flesh aura seas of powerful outsiders and Ancientbeasts and fill their minds with bloodlust, but wouldn¡¯t have a strong influence on humans.

    However, these auras inflicted damage on their domains this time.

    These glorious auras carried intense corpse power!

    Mixed with the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, intense corpse power corroded the three experts¡¯ domains like a deadly poison, causing fizzing sounds to rise in their domains.

    Bleak pale mes burned in the three experts¡¯ domains at the same time.

    Ji Yuanquan couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°These corpse mes are the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s signature magic! Don¡¯t tell me that the Heavenly Corpse Sect is also ying a part in this!¡±

 Chapter 1158: Fission

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Pale mes rapidly spread through Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and Wei Lai¡¯s domains.

    They were losing the spiritual power of different attributes that they used to establish their domains at an rming rate.

    Signs of their space domain, sword domain, and star domain splitting apart under the corrosion of those pale mes started to show.

    The might of their exquisite incantations and secret magics was instantly cut in half.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Countlessrge rocks were channeled by the Stone Golems as they rose into the sky.

    Ji Yuanquan and the other two hastily formed new hand seals to strike the rising rocks.

    ¡°Bloodline, Stone Chips Petrification!¡± The Stone Golem leader called out in a voice that was remote, but resonate and rhythmic like an anthem.

    As he did, he seemed to be able to establish a connection with heaven and earth, and channel energies from the entire Bloody Grave Mountain Range.

    Gradually, all kinds of energies were channeled from every corner of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range to converge on this area.

    Ji Yuanquan and the others¡¯ spatial des, spiritual swords, and starlight struck the huge rocks, reducing them to tiny stone chips and crumbles, which filled the entire area like a pale-gray sandstorm.

    The mixed energies summoned from all directions by the Stone Golem leader blended with the storm of stone chips in a profound way.

    Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and Wei Lai were instantly engulfed in the mixture.

    Immediately afterwards, the stone chips magically started to petrify their domains, making them as hard as rocks and giving them significant difficulty in manifesting their might.

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered.

    He examined his star domain, and realized that he could no longer infuse it with star power he drew from his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    Simrly, he couldn¡¯t withdraw the wisps of pure star power that he had fused into his domain and return them into his spiritual sea either.

    He was the first to panic. ¡°That Stone Golem is at the tenth grade after all. A grand monarch of a race from the Deste Antiquity Era, whose bloodline wonders arepletely unheard of... That makes him rather...¡±

    Before he could finish, the Stone Golem leader shouted, ¡°Fission!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A cluster of stone-gray light shot out of his palm.

    Nie Tian vaguely saw drops of Blood Essence within it that made him uneasy.

    Unlike the Blood Essence of Ancientspirits, Phantasms, Demons, and other races he knew, such Blood Essence seemed to be more than just the essence of his blood.

    Instead, it seemed to be a mixture of Blood Essence and Stone Essence, which was a unique blend of fleshly power and power from stone under the special stimting effect of the Stone Golem¡¯s bloodline wonders.

    BOOM!

    The cluster of gray light bombarded Wei Lai¡¯s petrified star domain before he could avoid it.

    As soon as the cluster of gray light exploded, his domain experienced drastic changes, countless fissures appearing in it, as if it were a jade sphere that was struck by a hammer.

    The fissures rapidly spread and expanded to the point where his domain eventually broke apart.

    ¡°AHHHH!¡±

    Wei Lai, who was at thete Saint domain, instantly let out a miserable shriek.

    The splitting of his star domain sent countless bits of fragmentary starlight flying in all directions.

    He desperately flew around to collect those bits of starlight, which carried both his soul essence and the essence of his star power core. Therefore, he could no longer threaten the Stone Golems.

    Even from afar, Nie Tian could sense Wei Lai¡¯s agony and horror, standing on his Star Boat.

    He could tell that the Stone Golem¡¯s so-called ¡®Fission¡¯ had inflicted significant damage on Wei Lai and his star domain.

    Each and every scattering bit of starlight was Wei Lai¡¯s most precious soul and spiritual treasure. Even losing a small portion of them would greatly harm him, and render his domain beyond repair.

    ¡°Ate Saint domain expert was defeated just like that?¡± With a grim face, Nie Tian focused his attention on Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan. ¡°They¡¯ll be able to keep it together, right?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but turn his head to look at the spatial rift behind him.

    He wondered whether he should return and get more experts toe here and join this battle.

    However, those experts were fighting frenzied Ancientspirits and outsider grand patriarchs. If they spared some hands for him, wouldn¡¯t they be put under significant pressure and suffer heavy casualties?

    While dashing back and forth to collect bits of starlight, Wei Lai reminded the other two aloud, ¡°Be careful with them!¡±

    Wreathed in strong sword intent, Ye Wenhan looked at his sword domain that had also been petrified, a faint cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s fingers suddenly turned transparent. Immediately afterwards, wisps of sword intent flew ethereally from them like spiritual fish, fusing into his petrified sword domain.

    Crisp cracking sounds then came from within his sword domain as the power-infused stone chips filling it were gradually expelled from it.

    The sword projections and sword lights within it were gradually resurrected.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At the heart of his sword domain, arge spiritual sword shook off the stone chips and dust, and once again burst forth with dazzling divine light.

    Just like that, his sword domain broke free from the sealing effect of the bloodline magic that was called ¡®Stone Chips Petrification¡¯.

    Ye Wenhan swung his sleeve. ¡°Go!¡±

    Thousands of sword projections and sword lights that carried fierce sword intent pierced towards the nine Stone Golems.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    One after another, they were engulfed by the storm of flying swords. Even though they were as solid as metal, stone chips were chopped off their solid exterior and filled the air.

    The Stone Golems started to sustain injuries as soon as Ye Wenhanunched his attacks.

    At the same time, Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Societyughed derisively and eximed, ¡°Space reformation!¡±

    His petrified space domain seemed to instantly fall into another space. Countless magical ripples rapidly spread through it.

    RUSTLE! RUSTLE!

    Stone chips were shed from his space domain, flying into its surroundings.

    As soon as his space domain was liberated from the petrified state, it seemed to return to this heaven and earth from that other space.

    ¡°Void Mirror!¡± As he eximed, the Void Spirit Society¡¯s signature Immortal grade divine tool, which Qu Yi had intended for him to create a spatial tunnel with, whizzed out to float over his head.

    Countless glowing spatial des shot out from within it, as if they could easily split the heavens and destroy the earth.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Two of the ninth grade Stone Golems were instantly cut to pieces.

    BOOM!

    Their stony bodies exploded like shattered ice sculptures. Not a single drop of blood spilled.

    Seeing this, the Stone Golem leader once again crouched down and wailed with his hands in the air, as if to call for something.

    HOWL!

    A deep, heaven-shaking, earth-shattering howl echoed out from the depths of the bottomless pit.

    Immediately afterwards, a heavy explosion came from the depths of the pit where glorious lights were interweaving, causing the entire Stone Golem capital to sink, and chasms to rip through the earth.

    An enormous ancient being that had been buried in the depths of the earth for who knew how long slowly broke free.

    ¡°A Star Behemoth!¡±

 Chapter 1159: A Back like a Mountain Range

    Nie Tian stood on the Star Boat, his face as grim as a silentke.

    He stared unblinkingly at the splitting deep pit and the Stone Golem city that was falling apart.

    RUMBLE!

    The dpidated city gradually sank into the depths of the earth, and soon vanished.

    Even the entire Bloody Grave Mountain Range was under significant influence, with loud rumbles filling the air and chasms ripping through the earth.

    An iprehensiblyrge and ancient being gradually revealed its back, its face remaining unseen.

    However, just its back alone was like a winding mountain range that took up the entire Bloody Grave Mountain Range and a vast area around it.

    Nie Tian looked with rapt attention, and discovered that countless ghouls were clinging to the humongous being¡¯s back like fine hairs, their corpse power fusing into it unceasingly.

    The humongous being that had died long ago seemed to have been resurrected by the corpse power and recovered the ability to move.

    At the same time, countless evil spirits that hade from every corner of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range had helped it recover part of its awareness that had been scattered in this heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Such an incrediblyrge ancient being!¡±

    Just the size of the Star Behemoth¡¯s back alone shook him so deeply that he started to get a sense of how incrediblyrge these mighty beings were.

    Feeding on titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons, and as vast as realms, they were the overlords of this starry river during the Primal Era.

    These uniquelyrge beings had usually lived in superrge-scale realms, such as the floating continent and the Shatter Battlefield, in secluded parts of the starry river.

    Smaller realms wouldn¡¯t even have been able to produce enough energy of heaven and earth to sustain them.

    Some small-scale realms weren¡¯t even asrge as them, much less able to support them.

    A grim looking filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he thought, ¡°There was a living Star Behemoth in the ck sea on the floating continent. That floating continent was a superrge-scale realm just like the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°However, this Star Behemoth here doesn¡¯t seem to be alive...

    ¡°Instead, it¡¯s wreathed in corpse aura and death aura.¡±

    BOOOOM!

    Colorful auras suddenly shot forth from the rough pores on the Star Behemoth¡¯s vast back.

    Mixed with intense corpse power, the auras rose into the heavens like rainbows.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, who were about to y every single Stone Golem, gasped with astonishment.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The colorful auras shot towards them one after another.

    Their numerous spiritual swords, glowing spatial des, as well as exquisite sword and spatial incantations, fell apart upon contact with the mighty auras.

    Their sword and space domains that had juste out of a petrified state were also instantly painted colorful.

    Affected by a peculiar power, they now had great difficulty in casting their secret magics and incantations, and couldn¡¯t fully disy the might of their domains.

    A hint of panic appeared in Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyes as he asked, ¡°Is it fully awakened? If it is, does that mean there¡¯s no way to stop the cmity from befalling the Shatter Battlefield anymore? Even killing all these Stone Golems won¡¯t change anything...¡±

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    The earth shook more and more violently. Large areas of the Shatter Battlefield split as the Star Behemoth struggled free from the depths of the earth.

    The Stone Golem leader threw his hands in the air and roared frantically, ¡°It¡¯s here! It¡¯s finally here!¡±

    SHEW!

    Wei Lai, who had been dashing around to collect starlight sparks from his star domain, suddenly flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Behind Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat was the spatial rift Ji Yuanquan had split open.

    Wei Lai sighed and said, ¡°Nie Tian, that Star Behemoth has been temporarily resurrected by the Stone Golems¡¯ evil sacrificial ritual. What¡¯s done is done. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a way to stop it now. And since my domain has suffered a heavy blow, and I won¡¯t be able to help those two, I think I¡¯ll just head back and check out the situation over there.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could give him a response, he flew into the spatial rift, looking somewhat frustrated.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian didn¡¯t say a word.

    He knew that Wei Lai didn¡¯t leave because he was scared, but rather because he wouldn¡¯t be able to provide anything if he had stayed. Therefore, he might as well return and inform the other experts from the four great sects that the cmity had inevitably happened.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Not just the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, but many other areas of the te-shaped Shatter Battlefield also split apart.

    The Shatter Battlefield had been dpidated and battle-stricken to start with. Now, as the Star Behemoth arose, it broke up even further.

    Furthermore, Qi warriors were still engaged in fierce battles against frenzied outsiders and Ancientbeasts in many parts of thend.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan exchanged a nce and decided to give up on killing the remaining Stone Golems. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    With great difficulty, they rid their domains of the strange power that didn¡¯t belong to them, then withdrew them into themselves.

    Immediately afterwards, they appeared beside Nie Tian.

    Ji Yuanquan frowned and said, ¡°This Star Behemoth isn¡¯t truly resurrected. Instead, it¡¯s only been temporarily awakened through the infusion of corpse power and soul power through a sacrificial ritual that we don¡¯t understand. However, this makes things even more troublesome. I just tried and failed to find a way to deal with it.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the surviving Stone Golemsnded on the Star Behemoth¡¯s back as the city fell apart.

    They were huge themselves. However,pared to the Star Behemoth, most of whose body still remained concealed, they seemed rather puny.

    The remaining seven of them were still chanting something, as if they weremunicating with the Star Behemoth this way.

    In other words, they were manipting this Star Behemoth to do their bidding and turning it into their strongest weapon.

    RUMBLE!

    As the Star Behemoth wiggled,nds shook and mountains were rocked throughout the Shatter Battlefield.

    Ji Yuanquan, who was just about to leave, suddenly saw a shadow forming in the Void Mirror that was floating over him.

    He went nk briefly before eximing softly, ¡°Sectmaster...¡±

    Spatial fluctuations spread out in every direction, and the shadow came out of the mirror, as if it was crossing into this dimension from another.

    Wu Ji appeared as well.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan bowed and eximed simultaneously.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°Senior Qu!¡±

    Nie Tian also eximed, ¡°Master!¡±

    Under the leadership of Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, Wu Ji had traveled from the heart of the Shatter Battlefield to this ce through the Void Mirror.

    Qu Yi took a deep nce at Nie Tian and nodded slightly. ¡°You did a good job.¡±

 Chapter 1160: Prophet! Sage!

    WHOOSH!

    The Void Mirror that floated high in the sky and reflected different spaces flew into Qu Yi¡¯s palm.

    The Void Mirror was his personal divine tool.

    As soon as it flew into his hand, it blossomed with unprecedentedly bright light, and a few spatial des shot out of it.

    CRACK! CRUNCH!

    Six of the seven Stone Golems that were hiding on the Star Behemoth¡¯s vast back were instantly cut to pieces that fell towards the depths of the earth like broken stone.

    Only the tenth grade Stone Golem leader escaped death by somehow entering the Star Behemoth¡¯s body, letting out a sharp scream as he did.

    ¡°That¡¯s a tenth grade Stone Golem grand monarch,¡± Qu Yi muttered as the Stone Golem leader¡¯s image appeared in his Void Mirror. ¡°Such strange structures, part-flesh and part-stone. It¡¯s too bad that their bloodlines advance far too slowly, though they¡¯re blessed with iparably long lifespans. Their reproduction is also a major problem. They were destined to be reced by superior species like the Ancientspirits.¡±

    Just like that, eight of the nine Stone Golems that had broken free from the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea and found their way to the Shatter Battlefield died, leaving only their leader.

    He only survived Qu Yi¡¯s attack because he had found shelter in the Star Behemoth¡¯s body.

    Holding his Void Mirror, Qu Yi stood erect in midair like a god of all lives, as if he could locate and capture anyone he wanted to kill no matter where they hid.

    His divine abilities held Nie Tian in awe.

    Even though Nie Tian had heard many stories about this sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, this was the first time he had actually seen the man.

    To his surprise, he didn¡¯t seem as impressive as he had expected. Not only did he not have handsome looks, but he also didn¡¯t have a charming quality.

    However, this was the man who had made the highest achievements in spatial power in this time.

    He was also Pei Qiqi¡¯s master, who had taken her into the Void Spirit Society and helped her make rapid advances in both her bloodline and cultivation base.

    Holding the Void Mirror with one hand, Qu Yi muttered in a low voice, ¡°A Star Behemoth...¡±

    He didn¡¯t try to kill thest surviving Stone Golem right away.

    Images shed across the mirror continuously, revealing the situation in different parts of the Shatter Battlefield, as well as parts of the Star Behemoth¡¯s humongous body that were still buried deep in the earth.

    He hadn¡¯t said another word after telling Nie Tian that he had done a good job. Instead, he focused on the images in the mirror, as if he was trying to find a way to turn this terrible situation around.

    SHEW!

    Wu Ji, who hade with him, suddenly flew onto Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat.

    Behind the Star Boat was a glowing spatial rift. However, neither Ji Yuanquan nor Ye Wenhan were eager to leave anymore after Qu Yi¡¯s arrival.

    While Qu Yi was pondering, Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan put their focus on Wu Ji. ¡°How is it going in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Frowning, Wu Ji said, ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon was influenced by this Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura. Grand Monarch Primal Demon is at thete tenth grade. Normally speaking, he should have been to resist the influence. However, due to his significant consumption in his battle against Mo Heng, the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura managed to infiltrate him and twist his mind.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Then what about the grand elder? Is he okay?¡±

    Eyes filled with heartfelt respect, Ye Wenhan jumped in and said, ¡°The duel between him and Grand Monarch Primal Demon actually ended before I came. Mo Heng lost, but it was an eptable result, as he survived.

    ¡°Even though Grand Monarch Primal Demon defeated him, he couldn¡¯t kill him.

    ¡°Their entanglement only went on because Grand Monarch Primal Demon became bewitched by the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, andunched a new round of frenzied attacks.

    ¡°But the situation changed after you left,¡± Wu Ji added. ¡°The outsider grand monarchs observing the battle at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield were also influenced by the Star Behemoth.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan gasped. ¡°Those grand monarchs lost their minds too?!¡±

    Wu Ji nodded and looked down at the humongous restless being that was splitting the earth toe out. ¡°The strange thing is that its flesh aura seems to be able to locate areas where there are outsiders and Ancientspirits with great precision.

    ¡°And its influence on outsider and Ancientspirit flesh aura seas turned out to be even stronger than what the legends held.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you know about that Star Behemoth?¡±

    Wu Ji was from a small ce like the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Nie Tian knew that he had his unique understandings regarding outsiders and many other strange things. However, even among the four great sects, very few knew anything about the Star Behemoths that had ruled this starry river during the Primal Era, not to mention Wu Ji.

    At this moment, Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, awoke from his thoughts and gave voice to his opinion of Wu Ji. ¡°Mr. Wu Ji is our people¡¯s prophet and sage!

    ¡°He can see into the past with the help of the river of time. It can¡¯t be easier for him to learn about that Star Behemoth.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Master, did you learn about that Star Behemoth with the help of the river of time?¡±

    Wu Ji nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, I just did.¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly realized why Qu Yi, the mighty sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, would attach such importance to his master and refer to him as ¡®Mr. Wu Ji, prophet and sage.¡¯

    ¡°Mr. Wu Ji, do you know how we can put this thing down, considering its current state?¡± Qu Yi asked humbly. ¡°It¡¯s not truly resurrected. Instead, through the Stone Golems¡¯ sacrificial ritual, the consistent infusion of corpse power and soul power helped regather its discarnate soul that had scattered into heaven and earth, and restored mobility to it.¡±

    Wu Ji had seen the Star Behemoth¡¯s birth, incredible traits, and death in the river of time.

    For that reason, he must know ways to deal with this Star Behemoth, which had been brought back to life in some sense.

    This was information even Qu Yi couldn¡¯t obtain.

    ¡°This Star Behemoth was killed by its own kind,¡± Wu Ji said with a furrowed brow. ¡°Even though the things I saw were rather vague, I¡¯m certain that it had its head pierced by something sharp. Its soul was scattered, and it died.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°It was killed by its own kind?! Did another Star Behemoth kill it?¡±

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°It appears so.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone was summoned from within Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding.

    ¡°If another Star Behemoth killed it...¡± Nie Tian thought out loud, holding the bone, ¡°I can locate the punctured part in its skull, and see if I can scatter its regathered soul with the bone from another Star Behemoth.¡±

    ¡°But its head is buried close to the heart of the Shatter Battlefield, where the grand monarchs and God domain experts are currently engaged in a fierce battle,¡± Wu Ji said.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted.

 Chapter 1161: The Depths

    ¡°The area where grand monarchs are fighting God domain experts?!¡± Nie Tian muttered with a bitter smile. He shook his head slightly, realizing that he had underestimated the difficulties they were facing.

    Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon were currently fighting in the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield. Earlier, he hadn¡¯t even dared to have his Star Eyes fly too close to them. Instead, he had only remotely sensed the shes between their power from the perimeter.

    No matter how proud he was, he knew that given his current cultivation base and bloodline grade, that battle zone wasn¡¯t for him to enter.

    It was a ce designated for grand monarchs of different races and God domain human experts.

    Those with his cultivation base and bloodline grade would be courting death if they rashly entered it.

    Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, fixed Nie Tian with a curious look. ¡°Is this bone of yours from a Star Behemoth? What¡¯s special about it?¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, Ji Yuanquan took the initiative to answer the question for him. ¡°Sectmaster, that bone helped Nie Tian see that several Stone Golems were trying to resurrect this Star Behemoth through a frantic sacrificial ritual. It was thanks to him and that bone that we were able to find out what was going on here. However, we were still a step toote.¡±

    Under the Stone Golems¡¯ summons, that Star Behemoth had been awakened, and was breaking out from the depths of the earth.

    Qu Yi nodded slightly and muttered, ¡°I see. If this Star Behemoth had its head pierced by another Star Behemoth and died, does that mean we¡¯ll be able to stop its rampage in the Shatter Battlefield by piercing its head the same way?¡±

    He had doubts.

    After a moment of hesitation, he fixed Wu Ji with an inquiring look. ¡°Mr. Wu...¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure either.¡±

    Qu Yi pondered briefly before suggesting, ¡°I guess I can take Nie Tian to the battle zone. However, it¡¯ll be a dangerous trip. I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°Are we sure that it can only be put down by a part taken from another Star Behemoth?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    RUMBLE!

    As they spoke, the Star Behemoth further split the solid earth, revealing more of its enormous back.

    More chasms ripped through the earth.

    Its arched back rose higher and higher like a mountain range that towered into the clouds, as if it could burst out at any moment.

    That tenth grade Stone Golem had somehow vanished into its body, as if he had joined its organs, allowing him to channel and manipte it with some profound ancient magics.

    HOOOOWL! ROOOOAR!!

    Heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing howls and roars echoed out from the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, which was hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.

    Devastating spiritual power fluctuations and flesh power storms engulfed that area of the heavens, turning that region into a bloody arena that devoured every living being that entered it.

    Qu Yi looked in that direction and said, ¡°Even the grand monarchs have been influenced and lost their minds. The Star Behemoth¡¯s head must be buried there. And the fact that that region is strong enough to withstand the devastating impact of the battles between God domain cultivators and grand monarchs must have something to do with that as well.¡±

    ¡°Would you... take me there, Senior Qu?¡± Nie Tian volunteered.

    Surprised, Qu Yi asked, ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Qu Yi also understood that even though this was the ce where the Stone Golems had awakened the Star Behemoth, the Star Behemoth¡¯s vital part didn¡¯t lie here.

    If he stayed here, he might be able to inflict heavy damage on the Star Behemoth with the Void Mirror.

    However, if he wanted to kill the Star Behemoth and send it back to the depths of the earth, its head where its discarnate soul had regathered would be the key.

    ¡°Okay,¡± Qu Yi said, shing to Nie Tian¡¯s side in the next moment.

    As soon as Nie Tian put his Star Boat away, Qu Yi grabbed him and pulled him into the Void Mirror, where they disappeared like two drops of water disappearing into the sea.

    Upon entering the Void Mirror, Nie Tian was struck by a curious feeling of shuttling back and forth between differentyers of space.

    The Void Mirror seemed to contain a whole other heaven and earth inside of it that was aplicated hub like a space disruption zone. It carried him between different spaces until it found the location of the designated coordinates.

    WHOOSH!

    While amazed by the wonders of the mirror, he suddenly appeared in the clouds at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield under Qu Yi¡¯s protection.

    Glorious light enveloped the deepest part of the Shatter Battlefield. He looked up, but couldn¡¯t see a single star. His sight was filled by a dark, cold void.

    Gazing down, he found the heart of the Shatter Battlefield to be a vast piece of grayish-brownnd.

    There were mountains andkes as well, but not the slightest bit of vegetation.

    At this moment, figures that Nie Tian found suffocatinglyrge were scattered across the grayish-brown earth, and the sky that was wreathed in glorious light. Some of them threw their heads back and roared into the heavens, while others were caught up in fierce fights.

    There were Demons that had activated Ancestral Awakening, God domain experts that had unleashed their dharma idols, and titans that were enormous in their regr form. Among them, Nie Tian saw Grand Monarch Withered Bones, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, the head of the fire element sect, the head of the wood element sect...

    Each and every one of them represented the peak strength of a vast part of the starry river. Now, they were making the vast heaven and earth look crowded.

    Countless chasms ripped through the earth. Countless glorious rainbow-like auras filled the sky and infiltrated the flesh aura seas of the mighty outsiders and Ancientspirits. They filled their flesh aura seas with sparkling, colorful diamonds, and filled their minds with twisted bloodlust and violence.

    ¡°We¡¯re here,¡± Qu Yi said.

    Eyes narrowed, he focused his attention on the grayish-brown earth. His eyes didn¡¯t spend even a second on the fighting outsider grand monarchs and God domain experts.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A mysterious lightning bolt came to form in midair before striking down. It ripped through the air and disappeared into the depths of the grayish-brown earth.

    Qu Yi frowned. ¡°Even my soul power has great difficulty traveling through the depths of the earth. The Star Behemoth¡¯s rich aura seems to be shielded from all outsiders¡¯ and Ancientspirits¡¯ flesh aura detection. Only we have a chance at scanning it with our soul power.¡±

    He was attempting to locate the Star Behemoth¡¯s head with his soul power.

    Nie Tian, however, fixed his eyes on the grand elder of his sect, Mo Heng.

    Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol was full of changes, andrge enough to prop up heaven and earth. At this moment, he was wielding the purest spiritual power of heaven and earth, enveloped in the most ancient and primal form of a human God domain.

    Like the only god within his private domain, he shed with the outsiders¡¯ flesh aura seas continuously. Each and every sh would sputter devastating spiritual power that caused heaven and earth to shake violently.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian once again summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    To his surprise, as soon as it flew out, it underwent drastic changes.

    Brand new bloodline power patterns seemed to be triggered and formed in it, as if a brand new bloodline talent would soon be awakened.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted, not knowing what had happened.

    HOOOOWL!

    The Star Behemoth that was gradually rising from the depths of the earth let out another howl.

    The earth in this entire vast region shattered immediately!

    Countless streaks of glorious auras shot into the heavens like a reverse waterfall, soaring into the silent, ice-cold starry river.

 Chapter 1162: The Strongest Heavenly Corpse?

    Glorious auras shot skywards like countless colorful arrows.

    Each and every one of them carried intense corpse power and unique flesh power.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The sparkling, colorful diamonds within the outsider grand monarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas suddenly shattered.

    As this happened, the handful of tenth grade outsider grand monarchs seemed to have their bloodlines twisted by force!

    One after another, they fixed their eyes on Qu Yi.

    Qu Yi¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    As the howlsing from the depths of the earth grew increasingly deafening, the solid earth at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield split open.

    HOWL!

    A head that was almost asrge as the Realm of me Heaven slowly emerged from underneath the shattered ground. It rose as the shatterednd fell towards the heart of the earth.

    Floating high in the sky, Nie Tian gazed down, and found it rising like a.

    ¡°Is this the Star Behemoth¡¯s head?!¡± He examined it with rapt attention, and found a vast area in the middle, where countless evil spirits were swarming like a deepke.

    From the look of it, that was the ce where its head had been pierced, and was now filled with evil spirits.

    Like spectral wisps, the evil spirits seemed to have woven into a that was helping it regather its discarnate soul that had scattered into heaven and earth.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan flew out of the spatial rift.

    Stopping on his left and right, they raised their guard, in case anything should threaten his life.

    His master, Wu Ji, didn¡¯te with them.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    More and more strange blood-colored patterns formed inside the Star Behemoth bone that was floating before Nie Tian.

    He could actually see the bone growing.

    Then, he reached out and touched the bone. To his surprise, he received intermittent vague messages.

    He couldn¡¯t help but examine it with rapt attention.

    ¡°That Star Behemoth didn¡¯t truly perish. Star Behemoths are blessed with unique bloodline talents that carry profound, ancient wonders.

    ¡°Therefore, even if their souls are destroyed, their discarnate soul won¡¯t just disappear into heaven and earth.

    ¡°Their mysterious habitats in the depths of the starry river will receive and keep their scattered souls.

    ¡°Through some special rituals, their discarnate souls can be regathered. Infused with a copious amount of flesh power, their dead bodies can regain mobility, their heart can start beating again, and Bloodline Crystal Chains can be regenerated in their hearts.

    ¡°These most ancient life forms in this starry river have so many mysteries...¡±

    Nie Tian decrypted the vague messages bit by bit.

    He finallye to a fairly deep understanding of these true overlords of the starry river during the Primal Era.

    WHOOSH!

    A new piece of information that seemed moreplicated came from the bone.

    Nie Tian decrypted it with rapt attention.

    Momentster, his expression flickered, as the piece of information revealed a shocking secret.

    ¡°Senior Qu!¡± He eximed, immediately attracting the attention of Qu Yi, Ji Yuanquan, and Ye Wenhan.

    All three God domain experts fixed him with puzzled looks.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said aloud, ¡°Someone is trying to turn this Star Behemoth into a Heavenly Corpse! A one of a kind Heavenly Corpse whose power is hardly matched throughout this starry river, and can cause huge trouble to Ancientspirits and outsider grand monarchs!

    ¡°However, now that it has regathered part of its discarnate soul, it has regained a bit of its self-awareness. It has expressed that this isn¡¯t what it wants.¡±

    Qu Yi was astonished. ¡°Can, can youmunicate with it?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Nie Tian shook his head, pointing at the bone. ¡°But it can.¡±

    ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect!¡± Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan eximed at the same time.

    Throughout the human and outsider domains, the Heavenly Corpse Sect was the only force that could refine corpses into Heavenly Corpses.

    Therefore, as soon as they heard ¡®Heavenly Corpse¡¯, the first thought that came to mind was the Heavenly Corpse Sect, which had vanished for ages.

    Nie Tian shared the same suspicion.

    ¡°Is it really Feng Beiluo that¡¯s behind this?¡± He thought to himself.

    Qu Yi¡¯s expression flickered as well. ¡°Turning a dead Star Behemoth into a Heavenly Corpse? I can¡¯t believe that the Heavenly Corpse Sect is actually so daring. However, I don¡¯t think the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect is strong enough to do such a crazy thing. Unless...¡±

    ¡°Unless what?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    Even Qu Yi himself was scared by the thought. ¡°Unless the founder of the Heavenly Corpse Sect is still alive! But he died so long ago. Come to think of it, he actually had this crazy dream of finding a dead Star Behemoth and turning it into a Heavenly Corpse when he was alive.

    ¡°However, he was annihted before he could find one. I doubt that the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect has entered the God domain.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian jumped in. ¡°Are you talking about Feng Beiluo? He has probably entered the God domain by now.¡±

    Qu Yi was taken aback. ¡°What?! Have you met him? And where?¡±

    ¡°Well, I have, and he should be at the God domain now,¡± Nie Tian answered vaguely.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then this makes sense,¡± Qu Yi said, while pondering the matter. ¡°Then what about those Stone Golems? Do they have something to do with the Heavenly Corpse Sect too?¡±

    ¡°Those dead Stone Golems were also part of the sacrifice,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    bbergasted, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°There were nine Stone Golems. Eight of them are dead... So are you saying that they were also sacrificial offerings that were used to awaken the Star Behemoth? What about the tenth grade Stone Golem grand monarch? Don¡¯t tell me that...¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°He was also part of the sacrifice. If there are no mishaps, it won¡¯t be long before he¡¯s refined by the Star Behemoth and truly bes a part of it. So that Stone Golem isn¡¯t the one behind this. It¡¯s someone else.¡±

    ¡°Did it tell you all this?¡± Qu Yi asked with a stern face.

    Nie Tian touched the bone before him and nodded slightly. ¡°The person behind this hasn¡¯t gained full control of this Star Behemoth. That¡¯s why it has a residual soul awareness, and was able tomunicate with this bone of mine through their unique bloodline talent.¡±

    ¡°Where is this person?¡± Qu Yi asked in a grim voice.

    ¡°Not here in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°But even the Star Behemoth can¡¯t locate that person by just relying on its residual soul awareness. However, that person¡¯s sub-soul is manipting the Star Behemoth¡¯s reviving soul. I can give it a shot.¡±

    SHEW!

    With these words, Nie Tian cast the bone out with great force.

    Like a falling star, it shot into the part of the Star Behemoth¡¯s head where evil spirits were swarming.

    ¡°Sub-soul?¡± Qu Yi said with a cold smile. ¡°As long as that person¡¯s sub-soul carries an independent will, I have every reason to believe that I can ferret that person out!¡±

    With these words, he also cast his Void Mirror towards the revealed part of the Star Behemoth¡¯s head that was asrge as a continent.

    As he did, his soul shadows flew out of it one after another, blending into the sea of evil spirits as if to search for something.

 Chapter 1163: Replacement

    The bone and the Void Mirror flew into the Star Behemoth¡¯s skull one after another.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless evil spirits rapidly surrounded the bone and Qu Yi¡¯s soul shadows that flew out of the Void Mirror.

    Qu Yi¡¯s soul shadows traveled freely through the spirits like fish swimming in water, searching for the wisp of sub-soul that was behind all this.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t intend to kill the Star Behemoth with the bone.

    As soon as it entered, arge number of fine, blood-colored veins came to form inside the bone like crimson crystalline lines.

    Not just that, but a vague soul awareness also seemed to be born within it.

    Through his connection to it that had been established through the infusion of his Blood Essence, Nie Tian vaguely sensed that arge amount of broken soul will was converging on the bone in an attempt to infiltrate it.

    Part of the soul will wasing from the Star Behemoth¡¯s regathering soul awareness, but the majority wasing from the evil spirits.

    ¡°Soul bodies.¡± Without much thought, Nie Tian summoned the Spirit Pearl, which he had obtained from the Phantasms, from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as he did, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, the tenth grade Phantasm grand monarch, sensed its existence.

    The cyan prismatic crystal between his eyebrows immediately lit up.

    Beams of blinding cyan light shot out from within it.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    The Spirit Pearl was the Phantasms¡¯ lost treasure. Before, when Froste had found out that he had it in his possession, he had tried every possible way to take it back.

    However, since Froste hadn¡¯t been strong enough, all of his attempts had failed.

    But now, if the tenth grade Grand Monarch Dark Nether was bent on taking it back from him, it would be much easier to achieve.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan floated to Nie Tian¡¯s left and right.

    Upon sensing Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s strong reaction, the two of them let out a coldugh and eximed simultaneously, ¡°Dark Nether!¡±

    Their domains instantly regathered and morphed into dharma idols.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s dharma idol was surrounded by glorious hovering spatial des. With a casual swing of his arm, thousands of spatial des shot forth, easily neutralizing the iing cyan light.

    He was at the early God domain, which happened to match Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s early tenth grade.

    Seeing this, Ye Wenhan didn¡¯t even make a move after his dharma idol came to form.

    He continued to focus his attention on Nie Tian.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian, who had summoned the Spirit Pearl in an attempt to gather the discarnate souls, suddenly stopped.

    To his surprise, the bone that he had cast into the Star Behemoth¡¯s head was actually working in a simr way as the Spirit Pearl after the crimson crystalline veins formed in it, as it was gathering soul power from the evil spirits on its own!

    All of these countless evil spirits had flown into the Star Behemoth¡¯s skull to help it regather its scattered soul.

    Who would have thought that as soon as the bone entered, part of the evil spirits would be taken away?

    It was as if the bone was also seeking to regather its discarnate soul that had been scattered into Heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that this bone can also regather its discarnate soul by absorbing soul power from these evil spirits! If that¡¯s the case, does it mean that I¡¯ll be able to help it recover its memories and soul awareness and reforge its true soul with the evil spirits I gather with the Spirit Pearl?

    ¡°Body restructuring and soul reforging... won¡¯t this be the true sense of resurrection?¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly saw a possibility for the Star Behemoth to whom this bone belonged to actuallye back to life.

    The infusion of his Blood Essence had established a profound connection between him and the bone. If the owner of the bone could be brought back to this heaven and earth, it would definitely be his mightiest weapon.

    At this moment, rapid soul calls suddenly came from the bone.

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded.

    In the next moment, an irresistible attractive force was born within the bone, causing Nie Tian to fly towards it like a falling star.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Life Blend!¡±

    Upon reconvening with the bone, he couldn¡¯t help but hold it with both hands and activate his unique bloodline talent, as if the bone was forcing him to do so.

    One drop of crimson, diamond-like Blood Essence started burning in his heart, stimting his bloodline.

    An even more profound connection seemed to instantly form between him and the bone, allowing him to sense the existence of a wisp of an ancient but weak soul awareness within it.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°Is that its regathering soul?¡±

    At the same time, a curious feeling struck him.

    It was a feeling of him somehow bing a Star Behemoth during the Primal Era.

    He felt that he possessed unmatched power, and preyed on titans, dragons, Ancientbeasts, ancient Demons, and all kinds of enormous beings.

    As he breathed in various kinds of energy of heaven and earth, one realm after another was drained of their energy, and became dead realms.

    A casual sprint would allow him to travel through a domain, and a sh with his unimaginably huge body would reduce a small-scale realm to dust.

    Wherever he went, heaven was destroyed and the earth was crushed, and lives that couldn¡¯t avoid him were plunged into misery and suffering.

    He felt the domination only the overlords of this starry river that stood at the top of the food chain would enjoy.

    ¡°This is what true, unquestioned domination should feel like!¡± Nie Tian marveled, enjoying this wonderful feeling.

    What he didn¡¯t realize was that his Blood Essence was burning continuously.

    He also didn¡¯t realize that he had unconsciously activated Life Blend, and that his Blood Essence was helping stimte all sorts of profound bloodline wonders that the bone carried.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, thousands of evil spirits within the Star Behemoth skull were attracted by the bone, and pulled towards it from all directions.

    While Nie Tian was caught up in the wondrous experience, the bone had reced the Star Behemoth as the ancient force that madly devoured the evil spirits.

    In his daze, Nie Tian heard the remote cries of the tenth grade Stone Golem. ¡°NO! NO!¡±

    It was also at that moment that a violent, frenzied soul will suddenly revealed itself in the Star Behemoth¡¯s spacious skull. ¡°Who are you?!¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian sensed it, Qu Yi¡¯s many soul shadows that had blended into the evil spirits gathered.

    Dozens of them rapidly merged and became one, which looked in a direction and smiled coldly. ¡°Got you.¡±

    BOOM!

    The Void Mirror suddenly flew towards a ce where arge number of evil spirits were swarming. As it did, blinding lights shot out of it, annihting numerous evil spirits, and revealing a cluster of pale mes.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Void Mirror!¡± A shriek came from within the cluster of pale mes.

    Astonished, Nie Tian jerked his head towards it. Then, he discovered that it was almost identical to the cluster of pale mes that he had obtained from the depths of the Bloody Grave Mountain Range, andter given to Li Langfeng as a gift.

    He was suddenly enlightened. ¡°It¡¯s the Heavenly Corpse Sect indeed!¡±

    ...

    In an extremely remote ce in the splitting Shatter Battlefield.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    A floating rock suddenly cracked and exploded, revealing a shriveled old man that looked half-human and half-ghoul.

    Wreathed in an intense corpse aura, he shouted in an exasperated voice, ¡°Feng Beiluo!¡±

    His voice seemed to travel to another space.

    SHEW!

    Feng Beiluo, the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, flew out of a hidden spatial joint.

    Looking frustrated and nervous, he bowed respectfully towards the old man, behaving with the courtesy of a junior.

 Chapter 1164: Neutralization

    Sagging his head, Feng Beiluo said with a frustrated tone, ¡°Martial Uncle.¡±

    The gruesome old man was covered in white hair, which made him look like a shriveled white ape. The pale mes flickering in the depths of his eyes were none other than what Feng Beiluo had referred to as corpse mes.

    This entric old man gave people a simr feeling as Han Yu.

    While Han Yu¡¯s merge with the Demon Eyes Flower had made him half-human, half-Demon, this man who Feng Beiluo referred to as ¡®Martial Uncle¡¯ looked like a mix of human and ghoul.

    Even though he had the appearance of a ghoul, his eyes glittered with intelligence, unlike most ghouls, which had zed eyes.

    Besides that, he exuded strong soul fluctuations. Not only could he speak, but he could also cast all sorts of exquisite incantations.

    ¡°That Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society messed up my n!¡± The entric old man cursed. ¡°He eliminated the wisp of sub-soul I left in that Star Behemoth¡¯s skull!¡±

    Feng Beiluo frowned, his face suddenly turning grim. ¡°Qu Yi?! If it was him, we need to get out of here now, Martial Uncle!¡±

    The half-man, half-ghoul old man berated, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you think of a way to get rid of him? Didn¡¯t Ji Cang from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce fall into your trap, and is currently stranded in an unknown area of the starry river?¡±

    ¡°Qu Yi is different,¡± Feng Beiluo said, looking somewhat impatient. ¡°His Void Mirror allows him to travel freely through space and across countless domains. It even allows him to travel to and from space disruption zones, and use them as transit points. Perhaps Ji Cang is the only person throughout this starry river that has what it takes to defeat Qu Yi.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s impossible to trap him in an unknown part of the starry river.

    ¡°Ji Cang can¡¯t, we can¡¯t, no one can.¡±

    Just as the entric man from the Heavenly Corpse Sect was about to say something, he let out a muffled groan.

    The corpse mes flickering in the depths of his eyes suddenly grew dim.

    Feng Beiluo didn¡¯t dare to waste another second. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    He grabbed the old man and dragged him into the secret spatial joint, which flickered a few times before vanishingpletely.

    Momentster.

    The Void Mirror suddenly appeared in this very ce. Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Mirror, stepped through it immediately afterwards. ¡°This is it.¡±

    As the Void Mirror reflected everything in its surroundings, Qu Yi activated his all-capturing perception. He could still sense the residual corpse mes and corpse power in the air.

    ¡°Two very rich and pure auras... One of them clearly belongs to Feng Beiluo, but who does the other one belongs to?¡± Qu Yi said with a pondering expression. ¡°Did they sense that I was on my way here, and thus evacuated, leaving the Star Behemoth behind?¡±

    Inside the Star Behemoth¡¯s humongous skull.

    With his hands on the bone, Nie Tian was still burning his Blood Essence drop after drop under the magical effect of Blood Essence Seething.

    He was still immersed in the curious feeling of rampaging across the starry river as a Star Behemoth during the Primal Era.

    However, shortly after Qu Yi eliminated the wisp of sub-soul the entric patriarch from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had left in the Star Behemoth¡¯s head, the countless evil spirits that kept converging on it from every corner of the Shatter Battlefield seemed to suddenly lose their purpose.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Arge portion of them were drawn to the bone Nie Tian was holding, and were rapidly drained of their soul power.

    Fewer and fewer evil spirits swarmed towards the center of the skull.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Bloodcurdling munching sounds suddenly came from the distance, catching Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    He could also asionally hear sounds of the tenth grade Stone Golem¡¯s stony body being crushed.

    For some reason, even though he couldn¡¯t see it, he knew that even that Stone Golem leader had be just another sacrifice by whoever wanted to turn this dead Star Behemoth into the mightiest Heavenly Corpse ever.

    ¡°How sad and pathetic... In the end, he¡¯s just another tool...¡± Nie Tian sighed and released his bloodline aura, which connected him and the bone perfectly.

    SHEW!

    Qu Yi returned, appearing right above Nie Tian.

    ¡°Do you know how to stop this thing from releasing those colorful auras?¡± Qu Yi asked, looking hesitant. ¡°As long as we can stop more of those auras from entering the outsider grand monarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas, they¡¯ll be able to slowly regain their senses. The two from the Heavenly Corpse Sect that were secretly manipting this Star Behemoth have left.¡±

    Even though he held the noble position of sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society and was the most versed in spatial magic, he didn¡¯t have a clue as to how to stop this gradually awakening Star Behemoth from spreading its unique auras through heaven and earth.

    However, since that mysterious bone of Nie Tian¡¯s couldmunicate with it, he naturally ced all of his hope in Nie Tian.

    ¡°Let me give it a shot.¡± Assuming a tight grip on the bone, Nie Tian concentrated his soul awareness on the ancient but weak awareness inside it.

    He sensed that as it continued to gather evil spirits, it was growing rapidly.

    However, it still seemed to have a very long road to go before it could return to its original state.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    All of sudden, mysterious lights that looking like lighting bolts rose from the Star Behemoth¡¯s exposed skull.

    Immediately afterwards, something incredible happened!

    The tiny particles that looked like multicolored diamonds within the flesh aura seas of the Ancientspirits and outsider grand monarchs seemed to be attracted by some force, as they gradually flew out of their flesh aura seas.

    Like sparkling, colorful sand, they streamed back into the Star Behemoth.

    At the same time, the Star Behemoth that was shaking the heavens and toppling the earth throughout the Shatter Battlefield somehow slowly quieted down.

    Due to the departure of the entric patriarch of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the majority of the evil spirits were captured and absorbed by the bone, which strengthened themunication between it and the Star Behemoth...

    It turned out that the Star Behemoth didn¡¯t want to be a ve, even though it seemed that it would be able to break free from the depths of the earth and regain its freedom for a while if it did.

    It would rather slumber on and wait countless years for an opportunity to trulye back to life.

    Those colorful auras it had been forced to release were its flesh aura.

    Now, like colorful raindrops, the tiny crystals poured back into it, and disappeared like rain falling into the sea.

    Its humongous body that had been ripping the earth apart and slowly emerging instead descended towards the depths of the earth, and was slowly enveloped in eternal darkness and silence.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon let out a deep breath, which rose high into the sky like a purple cloud.

    Lightning bolts and mes could be seen raging through it as a small amount of residual corpse power and corpse mes dissolved, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    After activating Ancestral Awakening, Grand Monarch Primal Demon looked like a lofty mountain peak. However, at this moment, he rapidly shrank down.

    Before long, he recovered the appearance of a young, elegant, well-dressed high-tier Demon.

    His eyes gradually grew clear again as he frowned and muttered, ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect attempted to turn that Star Behemoth into their strongest Heavenly Corpse, and used it to gue all races. Even I was influenced due to my significant consumption from my previous fight. It¡¯s hard to believe that the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura even worked on me.¡±

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether, Grand Monarch Withered Bones, and the other outsider grand monarchs gradually sobered up. The same went for Chatvic the titan and the other Ancientspirits.

    The long battle finally came to an end.

    Fortunately, grand monarchs and God domain human experts couldn¡¯t usually defeat one anotherpletely within a short time. Even though they were all injured to a certain extent, no one had perished.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Mo Heng¡¯s call suddenly echoed out.

 Chapter 1165: A Great Opportunity

    As the Star Behemoth¡¯s humongous skull slowly descended, Nie Tian went down with it.

    As this happened, the bone continued to gather the countless evil spirits within it.

    Nie Tian, who had activated Life Blend, had be one within the bone. The profound connection between him and the bone remained as he descended towards the dead silent depths of the earth with the skull that was as vast as a continent.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All sorts of flesh auras and energies of heaven and earth surged chaotically, causing pieces ofnd to break and fall.

    After eximing at the top of his lungs, Mo Heng withdrew his dharma idol, preparing to chase Nie Tian into the abyss.

    He assumed that Nie Tian was trapped within the Star Behemoth¡¯s skull.

    Qu Yi, however, called out with a strange expression, ¡°Brother Mo!¡±

    Hearing this, Mo Heng came to a stop in midair and fixed him with a confused look.

    At this moment, many others, including Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, the heads of the fire element sect and wood element sect, the outsider grand monarchs, and the titans, also noticed the anomaly.

    Ayer of rich corpse aura and colorful light had separated the descending Star Behemoth from them.

    All outsiders and Ancientspirits knew that they had to keep their distance from thatyer of mixed energies.

    Otherwise, they would instantly be influenced by the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, and go berserk again.

    Furthermore, the peculiar corpse aura that was mixed with it would also have a powerful influence on human God domain experts.

    They knew that they would also be subject to violent changes as soon as they were poisoned by the corpse aura.

    Therefore, none of the God domain experts and outsider grand monarchs dared to act rashly. They simply looked at theyer of condensing energies from afar.

    Nie Tian was the only one that was slowly descending towards the whole other world in the depths of the earth, along with the Star Behemoth¡¯s humongous head.

    ¡°This is another great opportunity for that kid,¡± Qu Yi exined.

    The duel between Mo Heng and Grand Monarch Primal Demon hadsted a long time, during which he had lost a significant amount of his immense spiritual power and soul power. Earlier, he had been struggling to handle the demented Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    Therefore, he hadn¡¯t noticed every detail of Nie Tian¡¯s interactions with the Star Behemoth.

    Hearing this, Mo Heng said, his eyes lighting up, ¡°Are you saying that the Star Behemoth is going to be his great opportunity...?¡±

    Qu Yi nodded. ¡°It¡¯s no exaggeration to say that he and his master, Wu Ji, are the reason why we were able to end this cmity in the Shatter Battlefield before it was toote. If his master hadn¡¯t seen the problem, we wouldn¡¯t have been prepared. If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t establishedmunication with the Star Behemoth¡¯s gathering soul, convincing it to retract its bloodline crystals that were bewitching the grand monarchs, the consequences would still have been catastrophic.¡±

    All of the outsider grand monarchs and titans in the area were deeply shocked by Qu Yi¡¯s words.

    Numerous sets of blindingly-bright eyes fixed on Nie Tian, who was gradually descending out of their sight.

    ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    ¡°Is he the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce who won a recent duel against Ophelia?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the reason we were able to recover our senses?!¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars?!¡±

    Beforeing here, none of these God domain experts and outsider grand monarchs had expected that they would fight battles themselves.

    Who would have thought that the Stone Golems would sacrifice countless evil spirits and ghouls in the Bloody Grave Mountain Range through the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s secret method in order to turn the Star Behemoth that had been buried here into the strongest Heavenly Corpse?

    Who would have thought that, though partially awakened, it had managed to plunge them into a frenzied killing state with merely its flesh aura?

    Many outsider grand monarchs drifted away in thought. ¡°Star Behemoths from the Primal Era...¡±

    Since all of the grand monarchs that were gathered here had only lived a few hundred thousand years, they didn¡¯t have any personal experience of the Primal Era either.

    Their fear towards the Star Behemoth was merely deep-seated in their bloodlines, and hidden in the deepest parts of their memories.

    They didn¡¯t actually know firsthand how mighty the Star Behemoths had been, or how they had gradually vanished from this starry river.

    Now, a Star Behemoth that had been dead for who knew how long had only been partially awakened, and yet it had managed to influence them so deeply that they had lost their minds.

    All of them started to attach great importance to the Star Behemoths, and nned to go through every ancient record they could find and exhaust all means to learn about them after returning to their respective headquarters.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon, who had recovered his high-tier Demon form, flew over and came to a stop in midair in front of Mo Heng. Fixing his purple, crystal-like eyes on him, he said, ¡°Even though you lost your duel against me, you fought brilliantly. I defeated you, but I couldn¡¯t kill you. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s reserve power is indeed extraordinary.¡±

    Mo Heng bowed slightly and said humbly, ¡°It¡¯s very kind of you to say this, Grand Monarch.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon took his time sweeping his gaze over the God domain experts that were gathered in this ce, and then said, ¡°Farewell.¡±

    SHEW!

    He morphed into a bolt of purple lightning and flew away from the heart of the Shatter Battlefield, which was now inplete ruins.

    After him, all of the other outsider grand monarchs left sessively with strange looks on their faces.

    ¡°The fight between the other parties should have ended as well. If not, I¡¯ll end it for them.¡± Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society pondered for a moment before suddenly vanishing with his Void Mirror.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan exchanged a nce before they also split open a spatial rift and disappeared into it.

    ...

    In the mountain valley where Wei Lai, Dou Tianchen, Lou Hongyan, Hou Chn, and many other Saint domain experts were gathered.

    As the tiny colorful crystals gradually vanished from the grand patriarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas, they were freed from the Star Behemoth¡¯s control as well.

    However, the battle didn¡¯t end as it should have.

    The reason was because some Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs had died at the hands of Saint domain Divine Sons and Daughters when the mes of battle had first spread to this area.

    Later, as the battle carried on, a number of Saint domain cultivators had perished as well.

    Unlike the battle between God domain experts and grand monarchs that had taken ce in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, the battle between Saint domain cultivators and grand monarchs had resulted in casualties, even though it hadn¡¯tsted very long.

    The deaths of their n members had made the outsiders and Ancientspirits reluctant to stop the battle, even after they had sobered up.

    SHEW!

    Qu Yi suddenly appeared in midair.

    HOOOOWL!

    Outsider grand monarchs let out roars that spread through heaven and earth, instructing their n members to withdraw.

    At the same time, the fighting cultivators saw Qu Yi, and finally stopped.

    Gradually, the outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and dragons collected the bodies of their dead n members and evacuated from the Shatter Battlefield.

    Ninth grade grand patriarchs could be brought back to life as long as their hearts hadn¡¯t been destroyed.

    Most of the grand patriarchs that had died still had their hearts intact. Once they were taken back to their ns, their seniors would be able to help them regenerate flesh and blood, and revive them with their own flesh auras.

    It was simr with the humans.

    They could also be brought back to life as long as their souls were secured.

    Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What on earth happened in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, Sectmaster? Is the battle over?¡±

    Qu Yi nodded. ¡°It¡¯s over. Thanks to Nie Tian and his master, Wu Ji, this cmity was ended before it could take us all.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?! Where is he?!¡± Yan Zhan asked urgently.

 Chapter 1166: Comprehensive Improvement

    In the central area of the Shatter Battlefield.

    The earth shook and split as the Star Behemoth¡¯s humongous skull descended towards the depths of the earth.

    A mixture of corpse power and flesh power spread across the cracked earth like a glorious, colorful carpet.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Energies of heaven and earth that filled the central area of the Shatter Battlefield rapidly converged on it, carrying all sorts of auras.

    The grand monarchs and God domain experts left the twisted unstable void one after another.

    Only three remained.

    Lu Yuxin, the head of the wood element sect, Shao Tianyang, the head of the fire element sect, and Mo Heng, the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As two of the Five Elements Sect¡¯s five sect leaders, both Lu Yuxin and Shao Tianyang had made their names dozens of thousands of years ago, and were currently at thete God domain.

    Compared to them, Mo Heng was slightly weaker, both in cultivation base and prestige.

    However, after Mo Heng¡¯s duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon, not a single person dared to slight him or the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce anymore, even though Ji Cang still hadn¡¯t returned.

    Mo Heng, who was gazing down, turned to Lu Yuxin and Shao Tianyang and asked with a confused expression, ¡°You don¡¯t want to leave with the others?¡±

    Shao Tianyang was wreathed in a cluster of eternally burning mes, which seemed to be hispressed fire domain. This made it hard for others to see his appearance.

    ¡°That kid has quite some connections with our sect,¡± Shao Tianyang said in a coarse, wild voice. ¡°He helped Huang Jinnan, my disciple, and Hou Chn. Even Lu Jiefeng escaped his fate of annihtion in the Domain of Nether Heaven thanks to him.¡±

    Lu Yuxin from the wood element sect chimed in, ¡°He also yed a crucial role in bringing those outsider grand monarchs back to their senses this time.¡±

    Hearing these words, Mo Heng put his heart at ease, knowing that they didn¡¯t mean ill.

    ¡°However...¡± Shao Tianyang added, ¡°I¡¯m very curious about the origin of his unique bloodline. Since that bone in his possession belongs to another Star Behemoth, why was he able to refine it and earn its acknowledgment? As the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you must have run a full examination of him when he first joined your sect, right?¡±

    Lu Yuxin joined the topic. ¡°Mo Heng, you know where he received his bloodline, right?¡±

    Mo Heng shook his head and said with an expressionless face. ¡°I don¡¯t, for now. Is the origin of his bloodline really that important to you?¡±

    ¡°It may not be very important to us, but others may think differently,¡± Lu Yuxin said.

    Mo Heng frowned. ¡°Others? Who?¡±

    ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± With these words, Lu Yuxin sighed. ¡°Forget it. He should be safe with you here. Like Qu Yi said, this is another great opportunity for him. We might as well stop wasting our time here.¡±

    Shao Tianyang added, ¡°You¡¯d better consider what you¡¯ll do about the secret of his bloodline.¡±

    With these words, the heads of the wood element sect and fire element sect bid farewell, and left in search of survivors of their own sects.

    After they left, Mo Heng muttered to himself, ¡°Did the two of them notice something? I can¡¯t wrap fire in paper. (Idiom: there¡¯s no concealing the truth) The truth about his bloodline is going to be revealed someday. What should I do?¡±

    He found himself in a dilemma.

    ...

    Deep under the earth¡¯s surface, there seemed to be a whole other world.

    As Nie Tian remained connected with the bone due to the activation of Life Blend, the bone continued to gather the countless evil spirits in its surroundings.

    He gazed up through the opening in the Star Behemoth¡¯s punctured skull, and saw a shield of glorious aura above him, which gave him a strong sense of familiarity.

    He searched his memories, and suddenly remembered the time when he had visited the floating continent, and the colorful energy ribbons in the mysterious huge vortex, through which he had slowly descended from the top continent to the bottom continent.

    On the bottom continent, he had discovered a dormant Star Behemoth in the depths of a ck sea.

    It was still alive!

    With a strange expression, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°Are these colorful auras and bands unique to Star Behemoths?¡±

    Then, he examined the colorful shield above, and realized that it seemed to be channeling all sorts of energies from every corner of the Shatter Battlefield.

    There was Demon qi and Phantasm qi from the outsider grand monarchs that had been previously gathered here, along with a wide array of energies of heaven and earth.

    After the mixed energies converged from all directions and fused into the glorious energy shield, they were purged and refined into pure power that poured downwards.

    All of a sudden, all of Nie Tian¡¯s four spiritual cores in his spiritual sea, which were his me power core, star power core, wood power core, and spiritual power core, became unusually active.

    The same went for the Nine Stars Flower, Godspirit Tree, and me spark in those cores.

    Before Nie Tian realized what was happening, he saw bits of starlight, fiery crystalline lines, wisps of emerald wood power, and colorless pure spiritual power pouring towards him.

    At this moment, he had a feeling that he had be a dry sponge that was blessed with all the water it needed.

    As afortable feeling overtook him, he examined himself, and discovered that as arge amount of power continued to fuse into him, the liquid parts of his spiritual cores were crystallizing at an unprecedented rate.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but cheer out loud, ¡°Such fast crystallization!¡±

    After he had entered the Soul realm, the crystallization of his spiritual cores had been the focus of the advances in his cultivation.

    When he had first entered the Soul realm, a major portion of his spiritual cores had been liquid, with only a small portion crystallized.

    The advances from the early Soul realm to the middle andte Soul realm required rounds of refinement of his spiritual cores and turning the remaining liquid portion solid, therefore inducing fundamental changes in those powers.

    Before, even when he had cultivated in the starry river with the help of his me spark, Godspirit Tree, and Nine Stars Flower, his advancing speed had been rather slow.

    He had never thought that now, as he descended towards the bottom of the Shatter Battlefield with the Star Behemoth, he seemed to have fallen into another heaven and earth that was filled with pure, immense power.

    The energies that were channeled by his me spark, Godspirit Tree, and Nine Stars Flower and flying madly towards him allowed his spiritual cores to crystallize at a rate he couldn¡¯t even imagine.

    What surprised him even more was that some of the evil spirits were absorbed by his Spirit Pearl.

    After being refined by the Spirit Pearl, the evil spirits turned into strands of soul power, parts of which were so pure that they could be infused into his true soul directly.

    ¡°My spiritual cores and true soul...¡±

    Before Nie Tian could calm down from all the cheering he was doing, he was even more surprised to notice that as he activated Life Drain, wisps of flesh power of an unknown origin that were pouring down were somehow attracted, and started fusing into him.

    Nie Tian finally couldn¡¯t help but cry out in ecstasy, ¡°Flesh power too!¡±

    All of his spiritual sea, soul, and bloodline were gaining a tremendous amount of power from this unique area underneath the Shatter Battlefield, which was like a shelter for the Star Behemoth.

    What he was now gaining was full-frontal improvement.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he discovered that the Blood Essence he had lost during the time he had activated Life Blend was gradually regenerating in his heart.

    ¡°Such rich flesh power!¡±

    Under the powerful effect of Life Drain, he felt that an endless stream of flesh power was flooding into him from all directions, entering his body, and condensing into essence of blood and flesh.

    He even saw glowing bits of flesh power essence fusing into the embodiment of his bloodline, that green aura.

    His bloodline that had remained dormant for a long time seemed to be touched lightly.

    Nie Tian¡¯s spirits were lifted. ¡°How much will I benefit from this experience? Don¡¯t tell me that the Star Behemoth is helping me? Or is my unique bloodline is the reason why I¡¯m like a fish that¡¯s returned to water here? What made this ce the way it is? What vested it with such wonders?¡±

 Chapter 1167: A Learned Scholar

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open, and Ji Yuanquan walked out of it.

    After him were Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Dou Tianchen, and a few other Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Wu Ji was thest toe out of the spatial rift.

    Floating quietly over the colorful shield, Mo Heng was attempting to perceive its wonders. Disturbed by the new arrivals, he lifted his head, and asked, ¡°You?¡±

    Earlier, his battle between Grand Monarch Primal Demon had filled the central area of the Shatter Battlefield with violent energies. Not a single Saint domain cultivator had dared toe too close.

    After the battle had finally ended, Qu Yi, the heads of the fire element sect and the wood element sect, and all of the outsider grand monarchs had left to end the battles that were taking ce in other areas. However, these important members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came here, instead of the other way around.

    Eyes narrowed, Chu Rui, who was a bit chubby, said in a soft voice, ¡°We heard that Nie Tian descended towards the depths of the earth, along with the Star Behemoth¡¯s head. So we came to see how things are going.¡±

    As one of the vice sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he was currently at the middle God domain. He had been one of thest generation¡¯s Sons of the Stars. After losing thepetition for the position of sectmaster to Ji Cang, he had be his right-hand man.

    Mo Heng was only the grand elder. Neither his status nor position matched his.

    However, his status within the sect seemed to have undergone subtle changes since he had defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust right after breaking through to the middle God domain, and survived his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    Clues could be picked up in the way Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia, and the elders were now treating him.

    When the sect had been in a time of stress, he had stepped forward and challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel, despite the gap in their strengths. By doing this, he had saved the sect¡¯s plunging reputation.

    After this duel, he had already be the second strongest expert from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,ing only after Ji Cang. This had be an opinion from both within and without the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang suddenly seemed to be overshadowed by him.

    Pointing down at the glorious shield that was separating them from the unfathomable space underneath, Mo Heng said expressionlessly, ¡°He¡¯s still down there. I tried to send my soul awareness through it, but failed. However, I can sense with rity that it¡¯s gathering all sorts of energies from the entire Shatter Battlefield, and transferring them downwards after refining them in a mysterious way.

    ¡°The underground space seems to serve as a unique shelter that that Star Behemoth is using to nourish and stop itself from corroding. The fact that its flesh power didn¡¯t scatter and disappear into heaven and earth after its death, and it secured the possibility toe back to life, had a great deal to do with the unique features of the Shatter Battlefield as a superrge-scale realm.¡±

    Wu Ji, who looked the least impressive among the crowd of experts, said in a soft voice, ¡°Star Behemoths can protect themselves with this unique method. Their flesh auras are simr to outsider grand monarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas, but only more mysterious and wondrous. By spreading their flesh auras, they can gather all sorts of energies from heaven and earth, refine them, and turn them into nourishment.¡±

    Somewhat confused, Mo Heng asked, ¡°This is?¡±

    Wu Ji hade to this area earlier tomunicate with Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society high in the sky.

    However, Mo Heng had been consumed with his battle against Grand Monarch Primal Demon back then, and hadn¡¯t noticed his arrival.

    Wei Lai took it upon himself to introduce Wu Ji to him. ¡°Grand Elder, this is, Wu Ji, Nie Tian¡¯s master from the Domain of the Falling Stars. Mr. Wu is well-versed in time power, and channeled the river of time! It was because he peeked into the future and saw the devastating catastrophe that we were able to prepare ourselves...¡±

    Hearing this, Chu Rui, Dou Tianchen, and the other Sons of the Stars had nothing but respect on their faces.

    Even Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society had referred to Wu Ji as ¡®Mr. Wu, sage and prophet.¡¯ Furthermore, Wu Ji¡¯s prophecy had also proven to be urate, as the cmity had almost fallen upon them all.

    Therefore, even though his cultivation base wasn¡¯t very impressive, he enjoyed an unusually lofty status in their eyes.

    ¡°We kind of owe him a favor for this because at first, all we asked him to see was whether you¡¯d be able to survive your duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon,¡± Wei Lai added.

    Mo Heng was shocked to his very core. ¡°He actually channeled the river of time and peeked into the past, as well as the future?!¡±

    Newfound respect could been seen on his face as he looked at Wu Ji and asked, ¡°If you saw into the past, you must know something about Star Behemoths. Do you think Nie Tian is in danger down there?¡±

    With a faint smile, Wu Ji said, ¡°All I can tell you is that he¡¯s a very lucky kid.¡±

    He didn¡¯t reveal the fact that he had consumed his lifespan at a terrifyingly fast speed by attempting to see Nie Tian¡¯s future.

    This proved that Nie Tian would be an even more influential figure than Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Mo Heng.

    Only those who could determine thendscape of this entire starry river and cause upheavals with every move they made would cause him such drastic consumption.

    Even though he was being intentionally vague, Mo Heng understood.

    ¡°As long as he¡¯s not in danger.¡± Mo Heng nodded, without pursuing the matter. Then, he turned to the others and said, ¡°Even though the cmity didn¡¯t actually fall upon us, the Shatter Battlefield has fallen apart. The fact that you were able toe here suggests that the battles between the humans and outsiders have all quieted down.¡±

    Chu Rui, the vice sectmaster, pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Even so, our headquarters still requires protection.¡±

    Mo Heng agreed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and wait for Nie Tian toe out from under there. You¡¯d better head back to our sect and attend to business.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Wu, our sectmaster said that if you don¡¯t have much on your te, he¡¯d like to invite you to visit our sect.¡± Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society, who had brought everyone here, issued an invitation to Wu Ji with a warm smile on his face.

    Chu Rui went nk for a brief moment before hastily saying, ¡°Mr. Wu, we¡¯d be honored if you could visit our sect.¡±

    They had all realized how important and useful a person who could see into the future was.

    Furthermore, Wu Ji was only at thete Void domain now.

    After entering the Saint domain or even the God domain, he would be able to channel the river of time more thoroughly and effectively.

    At that time, if he wanted, he would be able to see anything in the past, the present, or the future!

    They all knew what that would mean.

    ¡°Thank you for your kind offers,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°But the river of time is still in the Shatter Battlefield, and I need its profound help to enter the Saint domain. So I won¡¯t leave any time soon. Besides, I¡¯ll stay here so I can keep an eye on Nie Tian, and see when he¡¯lle out of there.¡±

    His words were very persuasive. No matter how nicely they would treat him, none of them could provide him the kind of help the river of time could.

    Therefore, after a brief discussion, people left sessively, leaving only Wu Ji and Mo Heng in this ce.

    After some time, Wu Ji broke the silence by saying, ¡°When I looked into the past, I saw that you had talks with Nie Tian, and gave him extra care. You know his father, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Mo Heng frowned slightly. ¡°You saw all the talks I had with Nie Tian?¡±

    Wu Ji nodded gently.

    Mo Heng fell silent, a hint of a fierce look appearing in his eyes.

    Stillposed, Wu Ji said, ¡°You want to kill me to silence me? Is that because Nie Tian¡¯s father is far too special? Or are you afraid that once the secret of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline is revealed, there will be major trouble?¡±

    The look in Mo Heng¡¯s eyes grew even fiercer and darker. ¡°You know everything, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Wu Ji pondered for a moment before taking his time to say, ¡°I¡¯ve seen pretty much everything Nie Tian has experienced, but what surprised me was that even though I could see his grandfather, his aunt, and even his mother¡¯s death and resurrection, his father remained a blur.

    ¡°I could never get a clear view of his appearance.

    ¡°There¡¯s only one possible exnation for this, which is that he¡¯s far too powerful, so powerful that even my time power magic couldn¡¯t prate the energy field he naturally exudes.¡±

    Mo Heng let out a snort. ¡°You should be proud of the fact that you were able to see him, even as a blur.¡±

 Chapter 1168: A Smooth Breakthrough

    ¡°Who is he exactly?¡± Wu Ji asked with an iparably grim look in his eyes.

    Mo Heng remained silent. Not only was he reluctant to answer Wu Ji¡¯s question, but he was considering whether he should eliminate this Qi warrior in front of him, who was only at the Void domain at the moment.

    Even though Wu Ji was well-versed in time power, he had total confidence that he would be able to kill him in this ce. After all, there was an unbridgeable gap between their cultivation bases.

    ¡°Nie Tian went to a space disruption zone beforeing to the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Wu Ji added. ¡°He had another incredible discovery there. However, he kept it from all of the important figures of your sect, including Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and Chu Rui.

    ¡°You¡¯re the only one he intended to share it with!¡±

    The reason why Wu Ji was willing to share so much with Mo Heng was because he had seen into Nie Tian¡¯s past, and learned of the special rtionship between them.

    Because of Nie Tian¡¯splete trust in Mo Heng, he shared this secret with him.

    Mo Heng, who was still wrestling with the dilemma, frowned and asked, ¡°What discovery did he want to share with me?¡±

    Pointing down at the glorious shield, Wu Ji said, ¡°Well, if he wasn¡¯t down there, he would have told you about it already, so I might as well do it for him.

    ¡°There was a secret portal in the depths of that space disruption zone, which connects to a whole other heaven and earth.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t belong to any of the forces we know, which is why it¡¯s called the ¡®brand new world¡¯. Arge number of hybrids were found to be living there, along with a secret force that has gathered many rebel sects, including the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, and the Death Curse Sect...¡±

    Wu Ji took his time to exin the grand secret Nie Tian had discovered and intended to reveal to Mo Heng alone.

    After exining everything, Wu Ji added, ¡°There¡¯s a possibility that Pei Qiqi, who¡¯s blessed with a unique spatial bloodline and, like Nie Tian, is also from the Domain of the Falling Stars, came from there originally. However, even though Nie Tian wasn¡¯t born there, he seems to have profound connections to the person who founded that peculiar heaven and earth, along with all those hybrids.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    Clearly, he knew nothing about this. Wu Ji¡¯s words had deeply astonished him.

    Mo Heng couldn¡¯t help but tremble slightly as he muttered in a low voice, ¡°Arge number of hybrids... And a secret force that has incorporated the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, the Death Curse Sect, and other rebel forces... They deem themselves to be stronger than any of the four great sects, and now they¡¯re going to transform heaven and earth, and create a brand new era...¡±

    This was simply far too shocking.

    Wu Ji spoke no more.

    He had been just as shocked when he had seen and learned this from Nie Tian¡¯s past. It had also taken him a long time to calm down.

    However, he had assumed that an important figure like Mo Heng would have had some clues regarding this inconceivable thing that was going on in the depths of the space disruption zone.

    Who would have thought that he knew nothing about it either?

    Only after a long while did Mo Heng finally calm himself and ask, ¡°Who else knows about this? Did you tell anyone but me?¡±

    ¡°No, only you,¡± Wu Ji answered. ¡°Even Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t return to the Void Spirit Society right after their return. She doesn¡¯t seem to be going to inform her master, Qu Yi, of this incredible finding.¡±

    Mo Heng took a deep breath and said, ¡°So about Nie Tian, you...¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s my disciple,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°I took him in and set him on the path of cultivation. Of course I¡¯ll protect him and make sure that he rides out the tribtions in his life.¡±

    ¡°I hope you will and can do that,¡± Mo Heng said in a low voice.

    Time flew...

    In the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, all sorts of energies of heaven and earth and flesh auras were channeled and flowed towards the glorious shield.

    After the shield¡¯s purging and refinement, pure power poured down towards the underground space.

    Deep under the glorious shield, the Star Behemoth¡¯s head had already be invisible. No vision or soul awareness could go through the shield to see or detect what was going on underneath.

    Surrounded by swarming evil spirits, Nie Tian still had his hands on the bone. At this moment, his eyes suddenly snapped open, and glittered sharply. ¡°The middle Soul realm!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know how long it had been.

    All he knew was that this peculiar underground space was like a sea of energies, where his me, wood, and star power cores crystallized extremely quickly. Besides that, with the help of the Spirit Pearl, he continued to gain strands of pure soul power, which allowed his true soul to be increasingly clear and refined.

    His cultivation base made the jump from the early Soul realm to the middle Soul realm surprisingly smoothly.

    He felt that he hadn¡¯t encountered any cultivation barrier, and the breakthrough happened naturally. Even he himself found this hard to believe.

    The breakthroughs from the early Soul realm to the middle andte Soul realm wouldn¡¯t include any fundamental upgrades. They were merely about further crystallization of the spiritual cores and further refinement of the true soul.

    Huge waves rose in Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea as he entered the middle Soul realm. However, the continuous infusion of a tremendous amount of power rapidly quieted him down.

    The Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree within him continued to madly channel star power, me power, and wood power, helping him further the crystallization of his spiritual cores.

    The rich flesh power he gained thanks to Life Drain had helped him recover the drops of Blood Essence he had previously consumed.

    The additional flesh power was now spread through his five yin organs and six yang organs, as well as every inch of his body. A new round of body refinement with Heavenly Wood Heal started.

    Like this, he grew stronger and stronger.

    ¡°This is strange. My bloodline still hasn¡¯t started its upgrade...¡±

    His bloodline had been dormant for a long time. Just earlier, it had been stirred, which had led him to assume that brand new bloodline talents were going to be awakened, and his bloodline was finally going to advance to the eighth grade.

    He strongly hoped that he¡¯d be able to make his next bloodline upgrade soon.

    After all, he had ess to a tremendous amount of pure flesh power as long as he remained in this unique environment created by the Star Behemoth.

    As soon as his bloodline advanced to the eighth grade, he would be able to infuse himself with more flesh power in order to generate more Blood Essence and further his body refinement.

    However, even though his bloodline had been stirred, the upgrade and awakening hadn¡¯t happened as expected.

    Nie Tian felt baffled. ¡°I must stillck something. I wonder what it is...¡±

    Compared to his advances in his cultivation, he put more value in the advances in his bloodline, since he had long since realized that the stronger his bloodline became, the more his battle prowess would benefit, and the better he would be able to wield various tools.

    After some time, Life Blend, which had formed a profound bond between him and the bone, ended on its own.

    Without him knowing it, the bone had already grown to a hundred and fifty meters!

    Not just that, but after devouring arge number of evil spirits, the weak awareness inside of it had grown much stronger.

    Before, themunication between it and Nie Tian had never been smooth. He had felt like he wasmunicating with an iplete soul that was wisps of broken thoughts assembled together.

    Now, as soon as Life Blend ended on its own, a soul connection immediately formed between Nie Tian and the bone.

    An unprecedentedly clear connection!

    The immensity and remoteness of the soul awareness suddenly reminded him of the time when he hadmunicated with the Star Behemoth slumbering in the ck sea on the floating continent.

 Chapter 1169: The Crisis of the Mo Clan

    This was the soul awareness of another Star Behemoth!

    Having witnessed the immensity of the Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield, Nie Tian now realized how tiny the bone in his possession was.

    If he hadn¡¯t infused it with his own Blood Essence in order to stimte it, it would have never regathered its soul awareness.

    After absorbing and refining arge number of evil spirits, the bone¡¯s awareness had finally grown to a point where it couldmunicate with Nie Tian fairly smoothly.

    The aura it exuded was very simr to that of the Star Behemoth slumbering in the ck sea on the floating continent.

    However, there was a huge gap between their strengths.

    Even so, the fact that it could finallymunicate with Nie Tian now lifted it from the ranks of lifeless tools.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t its intention to mix corpse power with its residual flesh power. In fact, not only was corpse power not helpful for its resurrection, but it was even counteractive and destructive.

    ¡°The reason why it resisted the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s maniption was because it didn¡¯t want to descend to a Heavenly Corpse.

    ¡°And it was willing to fall back to the depths of the earth because it wanted to wait for another opportunity, an opportunity to continue to channel power from the starry river and fuse it into the underground space it had created by relying on the unique features of a superrge-scale realm, and thus slowlye back to life.

    ¡°This special space is automatically gathering and refining all sorts of energies of heaven and earth, which I can take advantage of...¡±

    As Nie Tian muttered to himself, he gradually came to a better understanding of the situation he was in.

    Perhaps because he had helped the Star Behemoth break free from the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s control, he had been allowed to enter and use this unique space to strengthen himself on every front.

    Meanwhile, even though the Star Behemoth had sunk back into the depths of the earth, its unique maic field would be able to pull the broken pieces back together, and reshape the Shatter Battlefield.

    If there were no mishaps, the Shatter Battlefield, which had fallen apart at its hands, would return to its original state because of it as well.

    At that time, this superrge-scale realm would once again be an ideal habitat for Star Behemoths.

    Endless battles between humans, outsiders, Ancientbeasts, and titans had filled the Shatter Battlefield with violent flesh power, chaotic spiritual power, mixed energies from the void, and energies of heaven and earth...

    All of these energies would be partially absorbed by the Star Behemoth that slumbered underground after they broke out.

    This was what the Star Behemoth relied on to slowly and quietly revive itself.

    However, given its tremendous body and immense power, it still had a long road ahead if it wanted to actuallye back to life.

    ¡°Blood Essence!¡±

    As Nie Tian¡¯smunication with the bone carried on, he learned that it yearned for more of his Blood Essence, which was the essence of his life bloodline.

    Such desire seemed to be endless.

    The bone seemed to know that his Blood Essence was the key to its growth and the awakening of more bloodline wonders.

    ¡°Since the upgrade of my bloodline still hasn¡¯t happened, I don¡¯t have much use for the extra flesh power I continue to receive here... So I might as well use some of my Blood Essence, and then recover the loss with the endless source of rich flesh power here.¡± As soon as his train of thought came to this point, he made his decision.

    Without dy, he drew drop after drop of his Blood Essence from his heart before fusing them into the bone.

    With every ten drops of Blood Essence he consumed, he would stop to gather flesh power from this unique space and recover the Blood Essence he had lost.

    Time flew as he did this in the Star Behemoth¡¯s unique underground shelter, while his me spark, Nine Stars Flower, and Godspirit Tree continued to gather power of three different attributes and further the crystallization of his spiritual cores.

    Just like this, he continued to make progress in his cultivation and generate more Blood Essence.

    The process was so enjoyable that he didn¡¯t notice time passing.

    ...

    Both Mo Heng and Wu Ji had stood guard for Nie Tian for a long time now.

    WHOOSH!

    Wu Ji suddenly rose to his feet. ¡°It¡¯s been two months, and that kid still hasn¡¯te out. I suppose he¡¯s having a good time there. However, I need to head back to the river of time and bring my cultivation base to a new level.¡±

    With Mo Heng here, he wasn¡¯t worried about Nie Tian¡¯s safety. Therefore, he decided to leave.

    Mo Heng nodded and said expressionlessly, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll tell him when hees out.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I should be able to sense it as soon as hees out.¡± With these words, Wu Ji flew away, his figure flickering a few times before disappearing into the distant sky.

    Gazing in the direction where he had disappeared, Mo Heng muttered to himself, ¡°That man can channel the river of time, make such rapid advances in his cultivation, see into the past, and peek into the future... Is he really from the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars? Is he really the man we see...?¡±

    Two more weeks passed...

    On this day, Kan Zhisheng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce split open a spatial rift and arrived.

    Upon seeing Mo Heng, he bowed respectfully. ¡°Grand Elder!¡±

    Mo Heng nodded slightly. ¡°Has the space in the Shatter Battlefield returned to normal? Can wee and go freely again?¡±

    ¡°Yes, everything gradually returned to normal after that Star Behemoth returned to the depths of the earth,¡± Kan Zhisheng answered. ¡°Even the pieces of brokennd that had drifted away floated back, as if they were attracted by some force.¡±

    ¡°So why are you here?¡± Mo Heng asked curiously. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that something happened in our sect?¡±

    ¡°No, not our sect, but...¡± Kan Zhisheng seemed hesitant. ¡°Mo Qinglei, the son of the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s sectmaster, came from the Domain of Endless Thunder. He imed that he¡¯s your cousin, and wishes to see you.¡±

    ¡°Mo Qinglei...¡± Mo Heng muttered, aplicated expression appearing on his face.

    The Mo n Mo Heng came from had been a powerful n.

    However, since he was from a remote branch, and he hadn¡¯t shown any particr cultivation attribute as a kid, his n had always slighted and ignored him.

    If he hadn¡¯t been spotted by someone with an eye for true talent, and brought to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he would never have risen to the lofty position he held today.

    For this reason, after he had risen to prominence, he had rarely had any connection with his n, and repeatedly refused his n¡¯s offers to honor him as their nmaster.

    The current nmaster of the Mo n was Mo Qianfan, who was at thete Saint domain, Mo Qinglei¡¯s father, and the sectmater of the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    Even though the two of them were cousins, it had been ages since they hadst seen each other.

    Seeing that Mo Heng had fallen silent, Kan Zhisheng went on. ¡°The Domain of Endless Thunder seems to be in some major trouble. Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, showed up with a hybrid named Han Sen, who¡¯s a former disciple of the Five Elements Sect. The two of them started a massacre that has swept across the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    ¡°Many disciples of the Heavenly Thunder Sect that were well-versed in lightning incantations have died at the Thunder Devil¡¯s hands.

    ¡°About that Han Sen, not only does he practice lightning incantations, but he also carries a lightning bloodline. Besides that, he seems to have learned some of the Thunder Devil¡¯s secret magics. Right now, the two of them are devastating the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    ¡°Also, they seem to have someone secretly helping them. Even the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect is currently trapped inside his sect.

    ¡°The purpose of Mo Qinglei¡¯s visit is to ask you to help the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect.¡±

    After exining everything, Kan Zhisheng waited for Mo Heng to make his decision.

    Mo Heng¡¯s face slowly grew grim. ¡°The Thunder Devil and a hybrid named Han Sen...¡±

    He suddenly remembered Nie Tian¡¯s discovery in the space disruption zone, which Wu Ji had told him about, among many other things.

 Chapter 1170: The Company of A Beauty

    ¡°The Mo n...¡± Mo Heng pondered, looking hesitant.

    Since Nie Tian¡¯s victory in his duel against Ophelia, some titans, Floragrims, and dragons seemed to have set their eyes on him, and hoped to gain something from him.

    Now, even though the powerful experts of different races had pulled out of the Shatter Battlefield, it wasn¡¯t guaranteed that they wouldn¡¯te back, especially when the spatial tunnels had be essible again due to the descent of the Star Behemoth.

    The reason why Mo Heng had stood guard here for so long was because he wanted to ensure Nie Tian¡¯s safety when he eventually came out from underground.

    However, he still had family members in the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    Now, the Heavenly Thunder Sect was in a difficult situation, and even Mo Qianfan, who was at thete Saint domain, had arranged for his son toe find him. This meant that things were about to get out of hand.

    Furthermore, Mo Heng also wanted to find out how powerful the force that had epted Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, actually was.

    ¡°But someone has to be here to ensure Nie Tian¡¯s safety,¡± Mo Heng said.

    ¡°Grand Elder, what if we send for Elder Wei Lai and Elder Yan Zhan?¡± Kan Zhisheng suggested.

    Mo Heng shook his head. ¡°That still wouldn¡¯t be safe.¡±

    Both Wei Lai and Yan Zhan were at thete Saint domain, and hadn¡¯t entered the God domain.

    When facing those mighty titans, Floragrim grand monarchs and dragons, they wouldn¡¯t even be able tost a minute, provided that those parties meant to harm them.

    ¡°Well...¡± Kan Zhisheng couldn¡¯t think of a better solution.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A spatial rift suddenly split open, and Pei Qiqi casually walked out.

    Calm andposed, she walked to Mo Heng and Kan Zhisheng.

    She bowed towards Mo Heng and said, ¡°Greetings, Senior Mo.¡±

    Both Mo Heng and Kan Zhisheng had met her before, and were curious about her sudden arrival.

    ¡°Why have youe to the Shatter Battlefield, Miss Pei?¡± Kan Zhisheng asked.

    ¡°I heard that Senior Mo Heng has some business to take care of, and may have to leave.¡± Pei Qiqi cut to the chase. ¡°If he leaves, I¡¯ll stay and keep an eye on Nie Tian. If anything happens here, I¡¯ll be able to reach out to my master. So when I¡¯m here, it¡¯ll be like my master is here with me.¡±

    The Heaven Nourished grade treasure she held came from the Shatter Battlefield.

    This superrge-scale realm was like her own backyard that she could enter and leave as she pleased.

    The reason why she hadn¡¯te until now was because she had had questions that she had been eager to solve. However, after failing to find the answers and hearing about the changes in the Domain of Endless Thunder, she had decided toe for Nie Tian.

    Mo Heng nodded slightly. ¡°If you being here is equal to Brother Qu being here... Then I guess it¡¯s okay.¡±

    Without dy, he left the Shatter Battlefield with Kan Zhisheng. Through the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s teleportation portal, he teleported to the Domain of Endless Thunder to take care of the trouble there.

    After Mo Heng left with Kan Zhisheng, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes glittered brightly as she thought to herself, ¡°The Domain of Endless Thunder, Han Sen, Yuan Jiuchuan...¡±

    Apparently, she had also realized that what was happening in the Domain of Endless Thunder must have something to do with that secret force.

    ¡°What on earth do they want to do? Is what¡¯s happening in the Domain of Endless Thunder only the first step? Will simr things take ce in the other human domains one by one? How many hybrids and rogue forces have joined that secret force?¡± Pei Qiqi was lost in thought.

    After a while, she looked down, and found that the glorious energy shield was still gathering and absorbing all sorts of energies. ¡°A peculiar underground space created by a Star Behemoth... If Nie Tian is down there, I wonder if I can enter as well...¡±

    With this thought, she attempted to infiltrate the shield with her soul awareness.

    However, as soon as her soul awareness and unique spatial flesh aura made contact with the glorious shield, she felt a strong influence from the corpse power within it.

    Furthermore, the colorful auras within it seemed to have a strong effect on her flesh aura as well, as they filled her mind with a strong urge to kill.

    Feeling this, she hastily stopped herself.

    From many others, she had learned about the recent upheaval in the Shatter Battlefield that had taken ce before she came here.

    She knew that the terrifying flesh auras of a Star Behemoth had plunged powerful outsiders and Ancientspirits into a state of mad killing, causing almost all of them to fight each other to the death.

    ¡°Since I¡¯m a hybrid, my flesh aura will be influenced as well.¡± After pondering for a while, Pei Qiqi summoned the Heaven Nourished grade spatial tool she had obtained from the Shatter Battlefield and established soulmunication with it.

    A few secondster, her eyes suddenly lit up.

    SHEW!

    Clutching the irregrly shaped crystal, she morphed into a bolt of lightning that shot downwards.

    Even Mo Heng hadn¡¯t dared to enter the mysterious underground space, not to mention the outsider grand monarchs and mighty titans, yet she somehow easily passed through the peculiar energy shield and plunged into the depths of the earth.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    As soon as she passed through the glorious shield, Pei Qiqi eximed softly, since she instantly found herself surrounded by all sorts of pure energies.

    She even found a copious amount of spatial power scattered across this vast underground space.

    However, what surprised her the most was that there weren¡¯t any bewitching flesh auras in this unique space.

    It was actually safe underneath the glorious shield.

    In the next moment, a subtle connection formed between her and Nie Tian¡¯s intense flesh power fluctuations. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    Since Nie Tian had helped refine her body on various asions with his Blood Essence, the two of them would feel a subtle connection between them whenever they were within a certain distance from each other.

    SHEW!

    Wielding the spatial treasure she had obtained from the Shatter Battlefield, she arrived in front of Nie Tian in a sh.

    Upon arriving, she saw him gathering flesh power from his surroundings, condensing it into Blood Essence, which he then fused into the bone.

    At the same time, she sensed that endless streams of me power, star power, and wood power were pouring into him, allowing his cultivation base and even his true soul to grow steadily.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with surprise. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Mo Heng had to leave to take care of some business, so I came down here to check on you,¡± Pei Qiqi answered, delight showing in her eyebrows. ¡°This is such a blessednd. I bet by practicing cultivation here, you¡¯ll be able to make advances faster than anywhere else.¡±

    With these words, she calmed herself and joined Nie Tian in activating her bloodline and circting her power in her spiritual sea.

    As soon as she did, she started to channel the spatial power that was spread throughout this unique heaven and earth into herself and the irregrly shaped crystal floating in her palm.

    ¡°You cane and leave this unique space freely?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking surprised.

    Pei Qiqi nodded and looked down at the Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure in her palm. ¡°It was born here. With its help, I can enter and exit any ce in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a sigh of relief and smiled. ¡°That¡¯s great. To be honest, I was kind of worried about how I was supposed to get out of here. But hearing what you just said, I can put my heart at ease now.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face grew serious as she said, ¡°Even so, we¡¯d better take full advantage of our time here. ording to this treasure of mine, this ce won¡¯t be like this forever, and we can¡¯t stay here for too long.¡±

 Chapter 1171: The Treacherous Disciple

    The intelligence of Heaven Nourished grade treasures was every bit as advanced as that of the so-called higher races.

    The irregrly shaped crystal in Pei Qiqi¡¯s possession fell into this category.

    Hermunication with the crystal had always been unimpeded and effective.

    She had named it the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    The word ¡®Space¡¯ represented this all-inclusive starry river, while ¡®Boundaries¡¯ represented the myriad domains in the starry river.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal had been born in the Shatter Battlefield. In fact, it had been born with this superrge-scale realm, which was why there was such a profound connection between them.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal had only ended up in Pei Qiqi¡¯s hands because of her uniqueness. Not only had her spiritual sea been filled with spatial power, but her bloodline carried the profound truths of spatial power as well.

    This was why the Space Boundaries Crystal, which had developed advanced intelligence, had chosen Pei Qiqi as its master.

    However, the Space Boundaries Crystal was different from Qu Yi¡¯s Void Mirror.

    Because Pei Qiqi¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t advanced enough, and neither was her bloodline, the stimtion and help she had provided the Space Boundaries Crystal was still rather limited.

    However, if her bloodline advanced to the tenth grade and her cultivation base entered the God domain someday... then the Space Boundaries Crystal, which had already be one with her, would most likely rise up and be an immortal grade divine tool like the Void Mirror.

    In fact, it might rise even higher.

    This Space Boundaries Crystal was the reason why Pei Qiqi had been able to go through the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura shield, which none of the other mighty outsiders and human experts could.

    From hermunication with it, she had learned that the Star Behemoth had created this unique underground space with its immense flesh power right before it had died.

    Before, the Space Boundaries Crystal was the only thing that had been able to detect this unique heaven and earth, which seemed to exist under the ground of the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, even the Space Boundaries Crystal hadn¡¯t usually been able to enter this special ce so easily.

    That glorious shield it had carried Pei Qiqi through was simr to a portal.

    Whenever outsider grand monarchs, mighty Ancientspirits, and God domain human experts fought in the Shatter Battlefield, they would release a tremendous amount of spiritual power and soul power.

    Most of such power would be absorbed and transformed into all sorts of energies that spread throughout the superrge-scale realm.

    These would be the times when the Star Behemoth seized the opportunity to draw such rich energies into the unique space it had created.

    What the Star Behemoth would usually do was open a small rift that connected to its private space.

    The rift couldn¡¯t be entered by powerful outsiders with immense flesh auras, just as it couldn¡¯t be entered by God domain experts like Mo Heng, whose souls would suffer strong influences if they tried.

    However, the Space Boundaries Crystal that had been born here could enter and exit it effortlessly during these times.

    From her soulmunication with the crystal, she had also learned that once the Star Behemoth finished channeling all sorts of energies from different corners of the Shatter Battlefield into its private space, it would close the rift that connected it with the outside world.

    When that happened, the unique space created by the Star Behemoth would enter a state ofplete istion, stopping even the Space Boundaries Crystal from leaving.

    ¡°What exactly will happen when the ¡®portal¡¯ closes?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously. ¡°And how long after it opens will it close?¡±

    ¡°When the portal closes, the Star Behemoth will activate its unique bloodline talent and drain every wisp of spiritual and flesh power that has been channeled into this unique space, like a whale swallowing seawater,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°If we¡¯re in here when that happens, we will most likely be another piece of food for it.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    He knew that the energies that had been purged by the glorious shield and then poured down here weren¡¯t enough for the Star Behemoth toe back to life.

    Massive absorption like this might have to happen a few or even a few dozen more times in order for it to be truly resurrected.

    ¡°Luckily, we still have time,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking rather cheerful. ¡°We¡¯d better take full advantage of this opportunity to absorb the power we need from this ce before the next phase starts. Also, I¡¯ll be able to foresee it when this ce starts to close up, so don¡¯t worry.¡±

    Nie Tian was enlightened.

    Before Pei Qiqi¡¯s arrival, he had assumed that he would be able to practice cultivation in this mysterious space for as long as he wanted.

    After all, the speed at which he made progress in cultivation here was so shockingly fast.

    Now, thanks to Pei Qiqi¡¯s arrival, he learned that she would be able to get them out of this ce with the help of the Heaven Nourished grade spatial treasure in her possession.

    However, he also learned that he had to make full use of his limited time here.

    ...

    In another location in the Shatter Battlefield, huge chasms had ripped the earth apart.

    Due to Wu Ji¡¯s return, the river of time that had vanished earlier reappeared.

    The winding glorious river floated high in the heavens, with its ends unseen. A branch separated itself from the main stream, and ran right over Wu Ji¡¯s head.

    WHOOSH!

    Wu Ji leapt into the air, disappearing into the branch stream.

    As he did, numerous mysterious glittering spots and sandy currents seemed to be attracted by his unique aura, and fused into his ethereal time domain, which looked like a reflection in water.

    By simply absorbing nourishment from the river of time, his time domain transformed at a shocking speed.

    ¡°The Saint domain!¡± Wu Ji eximed softly with his eyes narrowed, suddenly feeling that the numerous glittering spots and sandy currents that were fusing into his domain carried pieces of unrevealed history.

    ¡°Find the past, examine the present, and foresee the future...¡± He muttered to himself as all kinds of strange images shed across the depths of his eyes.

    These images contained the secrets of the births of some uncanny races, the reasons for the extinction of certain races, and the lives of many unknown creatures and insects that had appeared during the Primal Era, the Deste Antiquity Era, and the Remote Antiquity Era.

    It seemed that only masters of time power like Wu Ji would be able to sense and channel this mysterious river of time.

    Once someone won its acknowledgment, they would be able to uncover any secrets they were interested in from it.

    Now that Wu Ji had advanced from the Void domain to the Saint domain, he would be able to uncover even more secrets from the pieces of lost histories that were buried in the depths of the river of time.

    Qu Yi had once said that Wu Ji, who was well-versed in time power, would most certainly be humanity¡¯s most prominent sage and prophet of this time. That was because he knew that someone who had won the acknowledgment of the river of time would be able to obtain a tremendous amount of knowledge and information that others never could.

    Two weeks passed...

    Wu Ji¡¯s domain remained connected to the river of time as his newly-achieved Saint domain cultivation base gradually stabilized.

    SHEW!

    A figure suddenly flew over from the distance.

    It was a person partially buried in a lush, satanic nt that took up a significant space even after shrinking down.

    The person was Han Yu, Wu Ji¡¯s second disciple.

    ¡°Old man!¡± Han Yu¡¯s upper body was slowly revealed from the middle of the Demon Eyes Flower.

    His revealed upper body was naked, ckish-violet, and covered in mysterious Demonic patterns that looked halfway between the Demons¡¯ bloodline imprints and the patterns on the petals of the Demon Eyes Flower. This gave him a dark, gruesome look.

    ¡°It¡¯s you.¡± Wu Ji¡¯s voice was remote and ethereal, as if it had traveled here from another time and space. ¡°You came all the way here from the Demon realms for me?¡±

    Having seen into Nie Tian¡¯s past, Wu Ji certainly knew that the second disciple he had taught in the Realm of me Heaven hadn¡¯t died, even though he had vanished for ages.

    Instead, he was living as a half-man half-Demon in the Demon realms.

    ¡°I heard that someone who has mastered time power helped the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce foresee the cmity that was going to fall upon the Shatter Battlefield. And the seventh Son of the Stars referred to that person as his master.¡± As Han Yu spoke, purple sparks gradually appeared in his pupils. ¡°You guided Nie Tian to the lofty position he holds today, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Wu Ji remained silent.

    ¡°You showed partiality, old man!¡± Han Yu barked. ¡°He became a Son of the Stars, and got to learn all those profound secret magics and incantations. You taught me far too few incantations and gave me far too little help when I was your disciple!

    ¡°Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have drifted to the Demon realms, been captured by the Demons, and lived the life of a ve for so many years. Luckily, I managed to merge with a Demon Eyes Flower and win Ophelia¡¯s acknowledgment as a member of the Demon race, but still...!¡±

    Wu Ji frowned and asked, ¡°Are you saying that I¡¯m responsible for you bing what you are today?¡±

    ¡°Both Nie Tian and Duan Shihu are doing much better than me!¡± Han Yu roared.

    Like numerous bizarre eyes, the swaying blossoms of the Demon Eyes Flower suddenly fixed on Wu Ji simultaneously, as if they were going to capture his soul and drag him into purgatory.

    ¡°Traitor!¡± Wu Ji eximed.

 Chapter 1172: Unpleasant Farewell

    ¡°You were partial! Admit it, old man!¡± Han Yu snapped as the Demon Eyes Flower that had shrunk countless times suddenly expanded, all of its blossoms staring at Wu Ji like numerous demonic eyes.

    From the Demons that had returned to the Demon realms, he had learned that Nie Tian¡¯s master from the Realm of me Heaven had channeled the river of time and foreseen the imminent danger, which had helped end the cmity in the Shatter Battlefield. Such news had exasperated him.

    The way he saw it, since Wu Ji had mastered time power and gained the ability to look into the future, Nie Tian¡¯s gradual rise to prominence and attracting everyone¡¯s attention as a Son of the Stars must be because of Wu Ji¡¯s guidance and support.

    If Wu Ji could change Nie Tian¡¯s fate, why hadn¡¯t he done the same with him?

    Furthermore, he had a feeling that many of Nie Tian¡¯s incredible incantations and magics had been acquired from Wu Ji because he could channel the river of time and see into the past.

    Inparison, the incantations he had learned from Wu Ji were far less profound.

    Back in the day, he had deemed himself an aplished cultivator, and had thus gone to temper himself in the Realm of Split Void, where he had identally entered a spatial rift and ended up in a Demon realm. As a result, he had been captured, and be a ve to the Demons.

    As a ve, he had lived a dark life in a mine.

    Later, he had been shipped off to work in one of the most dangerous areas, where he had run into and been devoured by a Demon Eyes Flower, which was regarded as the most powerful Demonic nt.

    With his unusually strong will to live, he had repeatedly stopped it from erasing his soul awareness.

    Eventually, he had won the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s acknowledgment, and started nourishing it with his own flesh and blood. That was when the nt¡¯s power had gradually transformed him and turned him into the half-man half-Demon he was today.

    After that, he had identally caught Ophelia¡¯s attention, and won the opportunity to follow her. Since then, he had been killing people of his own kind to win the Demons¡¯ trust, even though this wasn¡¯t what he wanted.

    Basically, he simply wanted to live.

    Of course, he had epted his fate now, and no longer considered himself a member of the human race.

    Even so, many Demons still hadn¡¯t epted him as one of them, which put him in a rather awkward situation.

    As another disciple of Wu Ji, Duan Shihu had traveled to the Domain of Heaven Python, where he had been discovered as a treasure and married into the Divine Seal Sect. From the look of it, he would most likely be the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s next sectmaster. His life had turned out to be fortunate.

    Nie Tian¡¯s life had turned out even better. As the Seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he was currently at the apex of his power. He had even defeated Ophelia, who was his backer in the Demon race.

    This had made Han Yu think that Wu Ji, who was well-versed in time power, had contributed to Duan Shihu and Nie Tian¡¯s sess, but forsaken him.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s thick roots swirled towards Wu Ji, soul-capturing evil soul power spreading from its ¡®Demon Eyes¡¯.

    ¡°You¡¯ve be stronger than before, much stronger. And that Demonic flower is hard to deal with as well.¡± With these words, Wu Ji shook his head calmly. ¡°Unfortunately, we¡¯re in the presence of the ethereal river of time. As long as I¡¯m here, I can draw power from the river of time, so...¡±

    As he spoke, strange light suddenly flew out of the glorious winding river that was connected to his time domain.

    Like a stream of light, it rushed out of the river of time.

    Time froze immediately, as did the Demonic nt¡¯s roots, the purple light-emanating blossoms, and Han Yu¡¯s sinister-looking upper body. Not just that; even the wind, spatial fluctuations, flesh auras, and all energies around them becamepletely still.

    Han Yu suddenly entered a bewildered state, where he constantly switched back and forth between his memories of the past and the present.

    ¡°Time Trace!¡± Wu Ji eximed softly as he took a deep look at Han Yu.

    Han Yu¡¯s past experiences seemed to be forcibly dug out from the deepest parts of his memories.

    They included how he had gone to the Realm of Split Void, identally entered a spatial rift, and ended up in a strange realm, and how he had been captured and whipped by the Demons, and lived the miserable life of a ve for ages. These scenes spread out before Wu Ji¡¯s eyes with great rity.

    Just like this, Wu Ji effortlessly learned every detail of Han Yu¡¯s life after he had left him.

    After a long while, Wu Ji let out a deep sigh and deactivated his time enchantment, allowing Han Yu and the Demon Eyes Flower to recover their mobility.

    ¡°It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t want to help you back then,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°The truth is that my understanding of time power was rather shallow, and I simply couldn¡¯t. Also, you¡¯ve misunderstood. I didn¡¯t contribute to Nie Tian¡¯s sess. It¡¯s actually the other way around.

    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for him, I would have exhausted my lifespan and died already after spending so much time deriving enlightenment from time power.

    ¡°He also helped me achieve a significant breakthrough in my understanding of time power. It was because of him that I was able toe to the Shatter Battlefield and find this river of time.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t make Nie Tian who he is today. I don¡¯t have such an ability.¡±

    Wu Ji seemed to be partially exining to Han Yu, and partially speaking to himself.

    With these words, he waved his hand and said, ¡°You may leave now. I won¡¯t try to tell you what to do, and I don¡¯t think I can anymore. Even grand monarchs and God domain experts won¡¯t have any chance at killing me here, much less you.¡±

    Confusion spread across Han Yu¡¯s face.

    Having broken free from Wu Ji¡¯s time enchantment, he was just about to fight back.

    However, he was dumbfounded after hearing Wu Ji¡¯s words. Only after a while did he snap out of his daze and ask, ¡°So what¡¯s my future like?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t try to see it,¡± Wu Ji said, frowning. ¡°I¡¯ll have to consume my lifespan if I do. You...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t deserve that, do I?¡± Han Yu said with a grim face.

    ¡°Your hands are covered in the blood of your own kind. The things you¡¯ve done in order to survive are simply ruthless and inhumane.¡± Wu Ji said with an ice-cold tone. ¡°Since you¡¯ve decided to join the Demons, I can¡¯t save you from degeneration. But since you were my disciple, I won¡¯t kill you myself...¡±

    Before he could finish, Han Yu turned around and left with a hateful look on his face.

    The master-disciple pair parted on bad terms.

    ...

    At the heart of the Shatter Battlefield.

    A bright spatial rift ripped the sky open, and a group of people arrived through it.

    The leader was Xuan Guangyu, one of the two vice sectmasters of the Void Spirit Society.

    Those who hade with him were Qu Yi¡¯s disciple Hong Minghui, Hong Minghui¡¯s father, and a handful of Saint domain experts that were Hong Minghui¡¯s subordinates.

    Upon arriving, Hong Minghui nced around and said, ¡°People from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce said that my junior martial sister came here. And it¡¯s said that Nie Tian descended to the depths of the earth inside the Star Behemoth¡¯s head. Mo Heng stood guard for him at first, but left due to the messy situation in the Domain of Endless Thunder, so my junior martial sister took his ce in guarding Nie Tian.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu hadn¡¯t entered the Shatter Battlefield with Qu Yi and Ji Yuanquan.

    He had stayed and overseen their headquarters.

    Standing underneath the glowing spatial rift, he mixed his soul awareness with numerous spatial des, which spread out to scan heaven and earth.

    Only secondster, he withdrew the spatial des that had covered a thousand-kilometer radius around him. ¡°The girl isn¡¯t up here.¡±

    Then, looking down at the glorious shield that separated them from the space underneath it, he said, ¡°Outsiders and Ancientspirit experts can¡¯t go through it due to its natural suppressing effect on their flesh auras.

    ¡°Mo Heng and the other human experts aren¡¯t skilled with spatial power, so it¡¯s also very difficult for them to split the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura shield and enter the space underneath it.

    ¡°Our sectmaster might have other important business to attend to, or respects Nie Tian enough to not go under and explore the space with him.¡±

    As he spoke, zealous sparks gradually appeared in his eyes.

    ¡°A Star Behemoth that¡¯s been buried here for who knows how long.¡± With these words, he summoned a glowing de that seemed to have been forged from a slender crystal.

    ¡°sh away!¡±

    As soon as he cast a secret magic, the unique de shed down towards the colorful energy shield below.

 Chapter 1173: Eviction

    Very few people knew anything about Star Behemoths. However, as one of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s vice sectmasters, Xuan Guangyu was no stranger to them.

    Especially after the powerful experts from the four great sects had returned to their headquarters and exined the cmity that had happened in the Shatter Battlefield to others, people had started looking for any information they could find about them.

    Earlier, since Qu Yi himself hade to the Shatter Battlefield, and Xuan Guangyu had been otherwise upied, he had decided to stay behind.

    However, he had found and gone through many ancient records about Star Behemoths recently, and deemed that his understanding of them hade to a new level. Therefore, he had thought that he woulde here and take a look.

    At this moment, the mes of desire zed in the depths of the eyes of Hong Minghui, Hong Mo, and all of Hong Minghui¡¯s Saint domain subordinates.

    Hong Minghui¡¯s few Saint domain subordinates started to whisper among themselves with their eyes fixed on Xuan Guangyu¡¯s saber, the Void Splitter, that was shing downwards.

    ¡°ording to the ancient records we obtained from the outsiders and Ancientspirits, every part of a Star Behemoth¡¯s body is extremely useful, as their skin, ws, teeth, and bones can be used to forge Spirit Channeling or even Immortal grade spiritual tools.¡±

    ¡°Even though the outsiders and Ancientspirits can¡¯t go down there due to the limitation of their flesh auras, we clearly don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±

    ¡°I just wonder why our sectmaster, the heads of the wood element sect and fire element sect, Mo Heng, and the other seniors didn¡¯t go down there to take a look.¡±

    ¡°Was it because their battles against the outsider grand monarchs had been too consuming?¡±

    ¡°I hope that the vice sectmaster can get through that energy shield and enter the Star Behemoth¡¯s body...¡±

    Like the Void Mirror, the Void Splitter was also an Immortal grade divine tool.

    However, its might wasn¡¯t at as high a level as the Void Mirror¡¯s.

    The Void Mirror was a divine tool that had existed since ancient times. Only sectmasters of the Void Mirror had had the privilege to hold and use it.

    Even though many sectmasters of the Void Spirit Society had perished in the river of history, the Void Mirror had been passed on as an invaluable legacy generation after generation.

    However, this wasn¡¯t the case with the Space Splitter.

    Even though it was also at the Immortal grade, it was a spiritual tool Xuan Guangyu had forged with all sorts of rare materials after he had broken through into the God domain.

    Its sub-grade was far lower than that of the Void Mirror.

    Its most prominent feature was its unmatched sharpness. It could split the void and eliminate the fleshly bodies of most living creatures.

    However, it couldn¡¯t be used to carry its user among different domains across the starry river as the Void Mirror could carry Qu Yi.

    The Void Splitter, which had been forged from a unique slender crystal, eventually hit the glorious energy shield.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A world of dazzling light sshed from the contact point.

    Upon contact, the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura and the corpse power that hadn¡¯t been expelled from the glorious shield engulfed the Void Splitter.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Crackling sounds suddenly came from the crystalline Void Splitter, as if it was going to cave under the tremendous pressure. That was when theplicated spatial spell formations that had been carved on the de lit up one by one.

    Countless spell formations rapidly interconnected, forming arge, extremelyplicated spell formation.

    However, as the mixed energies continued to impact the de, the spatial veins in certain parts gradually faded away, as if they were being erased.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s expression flickered.

    SHEW!

    As a wisp of spatial power shed through his fingers, the wondrous de flew back into his hand. He narrowed his eyes and frowned in silence.

    ...

    In the unique space created by the Star Behemoth underneath the glorious shield, streams of colorful light that contained rich, refined power continued to pour down.

    Having fully activated her bloodline and spiritual sea, Pei Qiqi was doing her utmost to channel some of the pouring streams into herself.

    Like streams of sparkling ice, they rapidly vanished into her, infusing her with spatial power.

    As a superrge-scale realm, the Shatter Battlefield held arge number of teleportation portals, spatial tunnels, and naturally-formed spatial rifts.

    By nature, it was spatial power that constituted them. However, almost all of them had exploded during the Star Behemoth¡¯s violent rise earlier.

    The bits of spatial power that had scattered in heaven and earth were then attracted by the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura and converged on this ce.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Pei Qiqi was awoken from her cultivation. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up.

    ¡°Someone is trying to prate that shield made of Star Behemoth flesh aura with something very sharp,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°That weapon seems to be vested with the ultimate sharpness of spatial power... Is that the Void Splitter? What¡¯s its owner doing here?¡±

    By merely sensing the spatial fluctuations, she was basically convinced that it was Xuan Guangyu who was attacking the shield.

    She had never been fond of Xuan Guangyu. She was aware that he and Hong Minghui had been close, and that he had believed that Hong Minghui had the best chance at bing the next sectmaster.

    However, that was before she hade along.

    After Qu Yi had taken her as his disciple, everyone had gradually realized that Qu Yi favored her, and was intentionally cultivating her as the future sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.

    Through some people, she had also learned that Xuan Guangyu had talked Hong Minghui into pursuing her with everything within his power.

    That made her detest Xuan Guangyu even more.

    She took a sideways nce at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian seemed to be unaware of what was happening, and was still focused on devouring the kinds of power that he could benefit from.

    She sensed him, and felt that he might be able to make another breakthrough in his cultivation and enter thete Soul realm very soon.

    Only a unique ce like this could provide him with such rich, pure energies, and grant him such incredibly rapid advances, coupled with the wonders of Nie Tian¡¯s me spark, Nine Stars Flower, and Godspirit Tree.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Considerable ripples spread through the glorious shield over Pei Qiqi¡¯s head. Even though she didn¡¯t hear any sounds, she saw exactly what was happening.

    Xuan Guangyu must have been reluctant to give up after his first failed attempt, and had thus drawn upon a mightier force: his domain.

    Perhaps he had even summoned his dharma idol so that he could use his Void Splitter to break the energy shield and enter the heaven and earth underneath it.

    Pei Qiqi took a deep breath, and instantly sensed that the pure power in her surroundings had been summoned by the Star Behemoth to defend against Xuan Guangyu¡¯s attacks.

    Such power was originally pouring down massively, so that she and Nie Tian could absorb as much as they wanted.

    If arge portion of the power purified by the Star Behemoth was summoned to defend against Xuan Guangyu, she and Nie Tian would benefit less.

    The Star Behemoth might even start to feel that it was a waste of its time and energy to defend against him, and thus shut the portal that connected its private space to the outside world.

    Once that happened, she and Nie Tian would have toe out of this unique space before it disappearedpletely with the Star Behemoth.

    ¡°He¡¯s such an annoying man. He was nowhere to be seen when the battle broke out. Now that the crisis is over, he snuck to this ce.¡±

    Face cold, Pei Qiqi hesitated briefly before calling upon her Space Boundaries Crystal. She put her cultivation on hold and left the unique space.

    As soon as she appeared, Hong Minghui approached her, his face filled with excitement and fervor. ¡°Where were you earlier, Junior Martial Sister? I only came here to see you because I heard that you were here!¡±

    All of his subordinates and even his father were full of smiles as they gathered to greet her. ¡°Greetings, Miss Pei.¡±

    Only Xuan Guangyu was still in the form of his dharma idol. At this moment, he was bringing the Void Splitter, which had also expanded many times, down with mighty force in an attempt to break the energy shield.

    However, upon seeing Pei Qiqi, he stopped, and his extremely brilliant dharma idol rapidly shrank down.

    SHEW!

    Secondster, he recovered his true form, and the fierce spatial power that had caused space to rip around him disappeared.

    Pei Qiqi bowed slightly. ¡°Greetings, Vice Sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°You just came from down there, didn¡¯t you kid?¡± Xuan Guangyu asked with strong interest in his eyes. ¡°That must be it. I searched this whole area and didn¡¯t detect your aura. How did you get in there? Also, what¡¯s going on down there?¡±

    Hong Minghui joined the conversation, looking deeply excited. ¡°Yeah, Junior Martial Sister. What secrets does the Star Behemoth¡¯s independent space hold? Since you can enter it, could you take us down there so that we can see its wonders too? The vice sectmaster only came here with me because he¡¯s also curious about this unique space created by a Star Behemoth.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing in there, and even if there were, it doesn¡¯t suit you,¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly. ¡°You might as well leave so that I can practice cultivation in peace.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Xuan Guangyu, Hong Minghui, and all of the others with them grew grim.

 Chapter 1174: â€œTo Me, Youâ€™re the Strangers!â€

    Xuan Guangyu had onlye on this trip because he wanted to take a look at this unique shelter created by a Star Behemoth.

    He had gone through arge number of ancient records that had been looted from the outsiders and Ancientspirits, and finallye to a deeper understanding of the Star Behemoths that had ruled the starry river during the Primal Era.

    However, the more he learned about them, the more he was curious about how they had been able to prey on mighty, ancient races, such as the titans and ancient Demons.

    Now, he had even brought out his dharma idol, but still failed to break the energy shield with his Void Splitter.

    This made him gradually realize why the other God domain experts that had been here earlier had given up on going down there.

    He suspected that experts like Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan had made secret attempts, but failed.

    That was why they had left.

    He was convinced that Qu Yi, the sectmaster, was more than capable of entering the mysterious space created by the Star Behemoth with the help of his Void Mirror.

    However, for some reason, he had chosen not to, leaving Nie Tian inside of it by himself.

    Now, he was surprised to find out that Pei Qiqi also had the ability to enter and leave freely. Of course he hoped that she could get him and Hong Minghui inside to witness its wonders.

    Who would have thought that she would refuse their request so bluntly?

    As one of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s vice sectmasters, whose authority was second only to Qu Yi, Xuan Guangyu had his pride. Seeing that Pei Qiqi had not only refused them, but even asked them to leave right away, he frowned in anger.

    ¡°Junior Martial Sister!¡± Hong Minghui berated Pei Qiqi on his behalf. ¡°Isn¡¯t that Nie Tian in there?!¡±

    Face still cold, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°He is, but does that have anything to do with you?¡±

    ¡°He could enter. Why can¡¯t we?!¡± Hong Mo asked, looking frustrated and furious.

    Pei Qiqi cast him a cold nce and asked, ¡°Who are you to question me? You¡¯re not even a disciple of our sect!¡±

    She had long since found Hong Mo detestable.

    She knew that many of the shameful things Hong Minghui had done to win her favor had been this man¡¯s idea.

    As Hong Minghui¡¯s father, Hong Mo flushed upon hearing these words. He breathed heavily, but couldn¡¯t say a word.

    As much as he felt insulted and infuriated by Pei Qiqi¡¯s words, he didn¡¯t know how to argue.

    With his mediocre cultivation talent, he only held a lofty status because he was Hong Minghui¡¯s father.

    If Hong Minghui wasn¡¯t Qu Yi¡¯s disciple, he would have been nothing.

    Even with Hong Minghui¡¯s resources, he didn¡¯t stand out among his subordinates. He was only respected because of Hong Minghui.

    However, his status meant nothing to Pei Qiqi.

    She only considered him as another Saint domain follower of Hong Minghui, who wasn¡¯t even a member of the Void Spirit Society.

    Inparison, she was the disciple who Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, had broken his word to take in, and probably hisst disciple.

    Furthermore, many signs suggested that she had already reced Hong Minghui as the best candidate for the next sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.

    Therefore, there was nothing he could do, even though she had just insulted him to his face.

    Flushed with anger, Hong Minghui asked, ¡°Well, am I allowed to ask you why Nie Tian can be in there while we can¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s in there because he¡¯s capable of going under there,¡± Pei Qiqi said expressionlessly.

    These words almost choked Hong Minghui to death. However, since he didn¡¯t know how to argue, he could only swallow them.

    At this moment, Xuan Guangyu took a deep breath to suppress his anger, and then asked, ¡°Kid, are you sure that you can¡¯t take us down there so we can take a look? We¡¯re from the same sect after all. If you can enter it, what¡¯s wrong with taking us down there with you?¡±

    The ends of Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyebrows rose slightly as she looked at Xuan Guangyu. ¡°The wonders in there are meant for me, so I don¡¯t want to share it with others. It¡¯s as simple as that.¡±

    ¡°What about that Nie Tian then?¡± Hong Minghui asked with a grim face. ¡°You¡¯re a disciple of the Void Spirit Society, while he¡¯s a disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Even if you were close back when you were in the Domain of the Falling Stars, you don¡¯t have to help him every step of the way, do you?

    ¡°You helped him clear those spatial rifts that connected the Domain of the Falling Stars and those three Demon realms, so that he could raid and loot a tremendous amount of resources from them.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t even inform our sect of this beforehand!

    ¡°Then, after the raids, it was clearly him who demanded you destroy those spatial rifts to prevent the Demons¡¯ retaliation. However, you took full responsibility for that! If our master hadn¡¯t coshered you, this alone would have been enough reason for the other major sects to hold you responsible!

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to know that those spatial rifts connected to the Demon realms directly! If the four great sects had been informed of their existence in a timely manner, we might have been able to bring down the entire Demon world!

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what we¡¯ve been trying to do over the years by marching army after army into the Dead Star Sea?

    ¡°You have no problem doing so much for a stranger, but refuse to take us down there so that we can take a quick look?¡±

    Hong Minghui bombarded Pei Qiqi with questions, venting his strong discontent.

    He had wanted to say these things for a long time now.

    ¡°To me, you¡¯re the strangers.¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t even want to exin. With a cold face, she added, ¡°If the shield continues to suffer impacts, it¡¯ll jeopardize my cultivation. So if you attack it again, I¡¯ll report to my master and tell him that you undermined my good cultivation opportunity.¡±

    With these words, she returned to the depths with the help of the Space Boundaries Crystal before Xuan Guangyu and Hong Minghui could say anything.

    Xuan Guangyu, Hong Minghui, and the others turned livid with rage. They watched her appear out of nowhere, insult them to their faces, and then disappear into thin air, and they couldn¡¯t do anything to her.

    After a long while, Hong Minghui lifted his head to fix Xuan Guangyu with an inquiring look. ¡°Vice Sectmaster?¡±

    With a bitter face, Xuan Guangyu said, ¡°We all know how much the sectmaster adores her. She said that if we continue to attack that energy shield, it¡¯ll jeopardize her cultivation. So if we do, she¡¯ll have a handle against us. And if the sectmaster learns about it...¡±

    Xuan Guangyu frowned deeply, as the thought of Qu Yi being enraged terrified him.

    Deep down, he was very apprehensive about Qu Yi. This had been the case since he had joined the Void Spirit Sect.

    ¡°So we came here for nothing?¡± Hong Minghui asked.

    Xuan Guangyu pondered for a while before saying, ¡°Even though we can¡¯t do it ourselves, it won¡¯t be our fault if others do it. If God domain experts from the other sectse here and attack that energy shield, the girl won¡¯t be able to use our sectmaster to pressure them into leaving, right?¡±

    Hong Minghui¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Good point!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Xuan Guangyu said coldly, ¡°I don¡¯t care how things happen, and I won¡¯t ask. The sectmaster must know that others may also be interested in this ce. We¡¯re only the first ones to get here. Who¡¯s to say who else will arrive after us, and what they¡¯ll do to go under there?¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Hong Minghui understood.

    A few dayster...

    A man flew over from the distant sky. His fierce aura shook the heavens as he did.

    His torrential sword intent seemed to riddle the heaven and earth he covered with holes.

    Xuan Guangyu gazed off with rapt attention, and then eximed softly, ¡°That man from the Heaven Span Pavilion is here!¡±

    Hong Minghui, who was standing next to him, let out a cunningugh. ¡°He was going toe here in the first ce. The word I spread only made him look forward to this even more. Aside from him, a few others should also be here soon.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu snorted cunningly. ¡°I doubt that even our sectmaster¡¯s name will have any kind of effect on him. I wonder how the girl is going to get him to stop and leave when he tries to break the energy shield.¡±

    Hong Minghui gloated. ¡°Me too.¡±

    SHEW!

    The man flew over, standing on a long sword that was wreathed in cyan light, looking calm and unrestrained.

    Upon arriving, the man took a quick nce around and asked, looking somewhat surprised, ¡°Xuan Guangyu? When did you get here?¡±

    ¡°Brother Fan,¡± Xuan Guangyu greeted him calmly. ¡°We¡¯ve been here for a while now. The shield under there is a condensation of the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, which is very hard to break.¡±

    ¡°How hard? Even you can¡¯t break it?¡± Fan Tianze asked, looking surprised.

    Like Xuan Guangyu, Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion was also at the middle God domain. He was well-aware of how strong Xuan Guangyu was, and the fact that his Void Splitter was an Immortal grade divine tool that could split almost anything.

    Therefore, it was a major surprise to him that even Xuan Guangyu had failed to break the shield.

    Xuan Guangyu smiled. ¡°Something happened and stopped me from going all-out. I was just thinking about leaving. Who would have thought that you¡¯de?¡±

 Chapter 1175: The Limpid Cyan Sword

    As soon as Fan Tianze arrived, Hong Minghui and all of his subordinates fellpletely silent.

    Among them, perhaps only Hong Minghui was qualified to join the conversation between Fan Tianze and Xuan Guangyu.

    Fan Tianze was from the Heaven Span Pavilion. Both him and Chu Yuan, the current sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion, were the stepsons of the former sectmaster.

    In fact, he was even older and had seniority over Chu Yuan.

    Even though Chu Yuan was currently at thete God domain, he paid him a great amount of respect.

    The reason was because even though the former sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion had taken him as his first stepson and cultivated him wholeheartedly, as a free spirit, he had enjoyed a solitary life and disliked restrictions.

    Therefore, he had ignored sect affairs and traveled across the starry river to see and experience different things.

    Perhaps for this reason, the former sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion had had no choice but to rece him with Chu Yuan, whom he put on the throne of the sectmaster as his sessor.

    However, even though Fan Tianze had used almost none of the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s cultivation resources, and practiced cultivation alone wherever he had gone, he was now at the middle God domain.

    Many said that if Fan Tianze had been as diligent and ruly as Chu Yuan, given the profound resources of the Heaven Span Pavilion, his attainments would have most likely risen above Chu Yuan¡¯s.

    Even today, Fan Tianze didn¡¯t hold any specific position in the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Usually speaking, only when the Heaven Span Pavilion was in trouble, and Chu Yuan happened to be otherwise upied, would he ask for his help.

    Other than Chu Yuan, no one throughout the entire Heaven Span Pavilion could get him to step up for the sect.

    Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t because he owed Chu Yuan or the Heaven Span Pavilion anything. Instead, Chu Yuan owed him many favors.

    He only helped the Heaven Span Pavilion because of the former sectmaster, and the fact that Chu Yuan treated him with respect.

    Now that this powerhouse that even had seniority over the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion was here, only Xuan Guangyu could talk to him calmly.

    Even Hong Minghui became too nervous to speak, not to mention his subordinates, who weren¡¯t even qualified to join the conversation.

    Fan Tianze was taken aback. ¡°What do you mean something happened?¡±

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s eyes flickered. He cleared his throat and asked, ¡°Well... did you learn anything from within the Heaven Span Pavilion before you came here, Brother Fan?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since Ist returned to the Heaven Span Pavilion,¡± Fan Tianze said casually.

    ¡°Well, you must know that Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, is down there, right?¡± Xuan Guangyu asked.

    Fan Tianze frowned. ¡°What does that have to do with me? I¡¯m not going down there to deal with Nie Tian. I¡¯m going because I¡¯ve got to go look for something in this unique space created by a Star Behemoth.¡±

    ¡°Pei Qiqi from my sect is down there too,¡± Xuan Guangyu added.

    ¡°That has nothing to do with me either.¡± Fan Tianze started to grow impatient. ¡°If you¡¯re done trying, then I¡¯ll start.¡±

    Hearing this, Xuan Guangyu took a few steps back and said, ¡°All yours.¡±

    Fan Tianze then channeled the sword under his feet, which shot off towards the shield of Star Behemoth flesh aura like a stream of limpid cyan water.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Limpid Cyan Sword, an Immortal grade divine tool!¡± An exmation escaped Hong Minghui¡¯s mouth, his expression flickering violently.

    The Limpid Cyan Sword¡¯s sub-grade was higher than that of the Void Splitter. Also, it was an Immortal grade divine tool that had been passed down through generations in the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    It was the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s signature treasure.

    If Fan Tianze died of natural causes or at another¡¯s hands some day, the Heaven Span Pavilion would reim the Limpid Cyan Sword and pass it on to the next generation.

    Now, as soon as the Limpid Cyan Sword was activated, its unmatched sword intent caused great changes in heaven and earth.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Dozens of kinds of energies that were flying down towards the glorious shield were suddenly channeled by the Limpid Cyan Sword¡¯s sword intent, and condensed into a huge sword of multicolored light.

    A torrential sword intent rapidly built up within it, causing even the heaven and earth in this area to tremble.

    CRACK!

    The splendid sword aura shed down towards the shield of Star Behemoth flesh aura like the Milky Way pouring out of the heavens.

    A slender rift was split open in the shield, but healed in a sh.

    However, the sword intent clearly went through it.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s expression flickered. The corner of his mouth twitched unnaturally.

    Hong Minghui and all of his subordinates forced themselves to stifle their exmations, fearing that Xuan Guangyu would feel even more embarrassed if they didn¡¯t.

    They were both at the middle God domain. Even after activating his dharma idol, Xuan Guangyu had failed to create the slightest fissure in the shield.

    Fan Tianze, however, sent a stream of his sword intent through the shield with his first attempt, and he didn¡¯t even have to activate his dharma idol.

    It couldn¡¯t be more obvious who was stronger.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be so hard,¡± Fan Tianze muttered to himself. ¡°However, I didn¡¯t think the shield would heal so quickly. My connection with that stream of sword intent has also be so weak that I almost can¡¯t sense its existence anymore. It seems that I need to gather more strength to make my next attempt.¡±

    ...

    In the unique space underneath the shield.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s return rmed Nie Tian.

    He opened his eyes and asked her what had happened. From her, he learned that Xuan Guangyu and Hong Minghui from the Void Spirit Society had arrived and attacked the energy shield above them.

    Pei Qiqi also exined that after her stern warning, Xuan Guangyu and the others wouldn¡¯t dare to continue with their attacks.

    She told him that he could resume his cultivation and ignore those outside.

    With the help of his Nine Stars Flower, me spark, and Godspirit Tree, Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual cores had further crystallized. His cultivation base showed signs of reaching the point where he could break through into thete Soul realm.

    To him, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to practice cultivation here.

    Besides, since he trusted Pei Qiqi and believed that Xuan Guangyu wouldn¡¯t dare to make more attempts, he resumed his cultivation.

    Shortly afterwards...

    BZZZ!

    The stream of Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent went through the energy shield and entered the space they were in, carrying a wisp of his soul awareness.

    Sensing the anomaly, Pei Qiqi jerked her head towards the sword intent, and saw it rapidly morph into a figure with Fan Tianze¡¯s exact appearance. It even exuded the same soul aura and sword intent as his true form.

    ¡°Nothing but a wisp of sword intent condenses into a sub-soul... such a divine ability... the Heaven Span Pavilion!¡± After spending a few seconds thinking to herself, Pei Qiqi suddenly seemed to realize something. She looked like she was facing a formidable foe as she fixed her eyes on the ethereal figure and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Even though Fan Tianze said on the outside that he hadn¡¯t summoned enough power with his first attempt, and that he had to gather more strength to make another one, his connection with his sword intent actually hadn¡¯t been cut off.

    Even though his true form remained on the other side of the shield, he was able to see everything in the space underneath it through his sword intent. This way, he didn¡¯t have to be eager toe down here himself. Instead, he could take his time to learn the situation first through his sword intent.

    A soul message came from his ethereal figure. ¡°I¡¯m Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion.¡±

    Pei Qiqi gasped with astonishment. ¡°Fan Tianze?!¡±

    Even though she had never met this man in person, she had heard his name on various asions.

    The person who had mentioned his name to her was her master from the Void Spirit Society, Qu Yi. Whenever Fan Tianze¡¯s name hade up, Qu Yi had been full of respect. ording to him, Fan Tianze¡¯s cultivation talent was even higher than that of Chu Yuan, the current sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    ¡°Why are you here, Senior?¡± Pei Qiqi asked in a very respectful manner.

 Chapter 1176: Fan Tianze

    Pei Qiqi looked as if she was facing a formidable foe.

    Just earlier, she had confronted Xuan Guangyu, who was also at the middle God domain, and behaved calmly andposedly.

    However, she was so nervous now, when she was only facing a soul shadow formed by a wisp of Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent. This proved how different Fan Tianze was from Xuan Guangyu in her eyes.

    The stream of Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent morphed into a smaller version of his true form, which fixed Pei Qiqi with a curious, measuring look. ¡°You¡¯re Pei Qiqi, right?¡±

    It was merely a stream of sword intent vested with a wisp of soul awareness. However, Pei Qiqi was overtaken by a peculiar feeling that everything about her, including even her bloodline wonders, was beingpletely exposed before someone.

    Her heart sank.

    For some reason, she had a strong feeling that Fan Tianze was far stronger than Xuan Guangyu, even though they were both at the middle God domain, and that he was capable of doing many things that Xuan Guangyu wasn¡¯t or didn¡¯t dare to do.

    The fact that a stream of his power managed to go through the energy shield created by the Star Behemoth was enough evidence of his might.

    Subconsciously, she took a nce at Nie Tian, who was still absorbed in cultivation in a ce that was a certain distance from her.

    Seeing that she didn¡¯t answer his first question, Fan Tianze asked another one, his soul voiceing from within his sword intent. ¡°Is that the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Looking somewhat reluctant, Pei Qiqi nodded and said, ¡°You see everything, Senior. I¡¯m Pei Qiqi, and my master is Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    After a brief pause, she turned to shoot Nie Tian a nce. ¡°He¡¯s the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    In such a short time after the arrival of Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent, it had already morphed and expanded into a distinct sub-soul, which was almost identical to his true form, except that it was illusory.

    They even had the exact same size and shape.

    If Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society were here, he would be shocked to see that Fan Tianze could actuallymunicate with Pei Qiqi without any barriers.

    Furthermore, since Fan Tianze was at the middle God domain, even though he had only sent a wisp of his power through the shield into this unique space, he could threaten Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian¡¯s lives if he wanted to.

    ¡°You can quit using your master to pressure me,¡± Fan Tianze said casually. ¡°Even though he¡¯s the noble sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, I don¡¯t have to give him face.¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked down and said obediently, ¡°I understand.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of profound sword intent suddenly separated themselves and rose from Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul, and flew towards Nie Tian like numerous invisible des that could only be detected by souls.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered drastically as she eximed, ¡°Senior!¡±

    Fan Tianze snorted and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m only curious about him.¡±

    Wisps of sword intent that were only detectable by souls surrounded Nie Tian in the blink of an eye.

    As soon as this happened, the rich me power, star power, and wood power that were being attracted by Nie Tian¡¯s me spark, Nine Stars Flower, and Godspirit Tree, and streaming into him were intercepted.

    Nie Tian¡¯s dantian region instantly stopped receiving these powers.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open. He stared at Fan Tianze and asked, ¡°Who are you?!

    ¡°This is a unique space created by a Star Behemoth. If you want to gather the kinds of power that¡¯ll benefit you, you might as well do it, but why interfere with my cultivation?¡±

    Pei Qiqi hastily rushed over, fearing that Nie Tian would offend Fan Tianze, not knowing who he was. ¡°Nie Tian, this is Senior Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion.¡±

    Since Fan Tianze was able to send a stream of his sword intent in here, he would most certainly be able to enter in his true form or dharma idol form.

    Pei Qiqi was deeply apprehensive about this man, and feared that once he entered in his dharma idol form, it would give rise to great changes, therefore putting an end to her and Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation in this blessed heaven and earth.

    Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul took a deep look at Nie Tian and muttered, ¡°The junior who defeated Ophelia of the Demon race... Quite a character... And the bloodline... I¡¯ve never seen any outsider that carries a bloodline like this. It¡¯s sort of like a Floragrim bloodline, but with an addedyer of mystery. Such an aura...¡±

    He seemed absorbed in his thoughts.

    He even had seniority over Chu Yuan, the current sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion. He had spent most of his life traveling among different domains, and thus had made contact with numerous outsider races.

    His horizon was broader than most God domain experts.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s words surprised Nie Tian. His expression flickered slightly as he thought to himself, ¡°Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion...¡±

    He had also heard this name on various asions, and knew that he was a man of great importance. Therefore, he decided to hold his temper.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The wisps of Fan Tianze¡¯s intercepting sword intent quietly retreated.

    Nie Tian could absorb power with the help of the three rare treasures in his spiritual sea again.

    As soon as he resumed cultivation, he sensed rapid changes in all of his spiritual cores.

    He was confident that he would be able to break through into thete Soul realm within a short period of time.

    He might even be able to push his cultivation base further if he was given enough time.

    BZZZ!

    A drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence was suddenly channeled by Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul.

    It was a drop of Blood Essence Nie Tian had generated to nourish the bone.

    He hadn¡¯t foreseen Fan Tianze¡¯s sudden arrival, and thus hadn¡¯t had a chance to hide it.

    It was pulled into Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul, where sword intent that was hundreds of times fiercer pierced into it and dissolved it in a split second.

    The drop of Blood Essence shattered like a gem that had exploded, sending countless sparkling, blood-colored fragments in all directions.

    What was even more amazing was that as this happened, Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul experienced an incredible change.

    It seemed to suddenly be vested with flesh and blood!

    Even Pei Qiqi, who was observing from the side, sensed the change with great rity. In her senses, Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul seemed to suddenly transform from illusory to solid.

    Such a transformation was simr to the transformation of a cultivator¡¯s domain when they broke through from the Void domain into the Saint domain, where the illusory domain condensed into a solid form.

    Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul gasped, his widened eyes bursting with astonishment.

    However, such an incredible change onlysted a few seconds before the wonder vanished, as if the power within that drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence was exhausted.

    That was when Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul that seemed to be flesh and blood rapidly returned to its original illusory state.

    Even so, great excitement filled the eyes of Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul, which seemed to be two clusters of flickering mes.

    ¡°Such wondrous bloodline... It almost turned my illusory sub-soul into a solid doppelganger. I can¡¯t believe such incredible bloodline wonders actually exist!¡± As Fan Tianze muttered on, his soul voice gradually grew faint. Momentster, he came out of his daze and said to Pei Qiqi, ¡°Xuan Guangyu from your sect seemed to hope that I could break the energy shield so that he coulde down here and do what he wants.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes grew cold. ¡°He still hasn¡¯t left? Is he really so bent on undermining me?¡±

 Chapter 1177: Another Breakthrough!

    On the outside...

    Xuan Guangyu, Hong Minghui, and his subordinates were still waiting for Fan Tianze to make another attempt to break the Star Behemoth¡¯s defense so that they could enter.

    However, after his first attempt, Fan Tianze had imed that he had to gather more power to activate his dharma idol, which he actually didn¡¯t.

    The Limpid Cyan Sword floated vertically right over Fan Tianze¡¯s head.

    The divine light it released formed a cyan ward that enveloped him.

    Inside, Fan Tianze narrowed his eyes, as if he were pondering something.

    Xuan Guangyu started to lose his patience. He couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Brother Fan...¡±

    Fan Tianze turn his head towards him and said, ¡°The shield made of the Star Behemoth flesh aura is actually quite strong. I need more time to recover and gather strength.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Xuan Guangyu said with an ufortable expression. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°Well...¡±

    Before he could finish, Fan Tianze said coldly, ¡°You go ahead and do it if you¡¯re in a hurry.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s face froze.

    If he dared to make more attempts, he would have done it long ago. Why would he wait till now?

    He knew that Pei Qiqi would notice it as soon as his divine tool or incantations made contact with that energy shield.

    ording to her, she was making advances in her cultivation with the help of the special space created by the Star Behemoth, and if anyone disturbed her, she would report it to Qu Yi.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we wait a bit longer?¡± Struggling to suppress his anger, Xuan Guangyu backed off to where Hong Minghui and his subordinates were gathered, leaving Fan Tianze alone.

    ¡°What a weird guy,¡± Fan Tianze muttered to himself.

    ...

    In the depths, Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul sold Xuan Guangyu and Hong Minghui out without even the slightest hesitation. ¡°He can¡¯t wait for me to break this Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura shield.

    ¡°I learned about the Star Behemoths long ago. However, it was a piece of information I recently obtained that made me decide toe here. ording to it, a unique treasure is to be unearthed in this independent space, where this Star Behemoth lies.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was baffled. ¡°A unique treasure?¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian nced around. However, all that he could see was power of different attributes and auras. Where was this ¡®unique treasure¡¯?

    However, as he gave it more thought, it urred to him that maybe all this concentrated, refined power was the ¡®unique treasure¡¯ he was talking about.

    ¡°I have ns to attempt to advance to thete God domain, so I need to find certain rare materials to make sure that it happens smoothly,¡± Fan Tianze said honestly. ¡°However, even the Heaven Span Pavilion has a hard time finding the materials that suit me and can smoothen my breakthrough. So I decided toe here to take a look as soon as I heard that there was a unique treasure to be unearthed here.¡±

    ¡°So have you found anything?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°As soon as I took a quick look around with my sub-soul, I realized that I had been fed false information,¡± Fan Tianze said, looking somewhat disappointed. ¡°The incantations I practice won¡¯t benefit from the heterogeneous energies here either. I¡¯m long past the phase where I had to rely on these to make breakthroughs in my cultivation.¡±

    Soon after Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent and soul awareness had entered, he hade to realize that the so-called unique treasure was merely a false rumor. In fact, it might have been false information Xuan Guangyu and his men had spread to mislead people.

    The only interesting finding of this trip was the incredible changes a drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence had had on his sub-soul.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I want here. I¡¯m leaving.¡± With these words, Fan Tianze¡¯s sub-soul took a long, deep look at Nie Tian. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll find you and ask you to do me a favor someday.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What favor?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it when I see you next time.¡± Fan Tianze didn¡¯t give an exnation. ¡°I¡¯ll do you a favor and tell the others there¡¯s no such thing as a unique treasure down here after I get out.¡±

    BZZZ!

    His sub-soul morphed into a streak of light that shot up, leaving Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi exchanging confused nces.

    ...

    The Limpid Cyan Sword suddenly burst forth with blinding light.

    A streak of sword light shot through the glorious shield and disappeared into Fan Tianze¡¯s divine sword.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s expression flickered. Upon seeing the returning sword light, he immediately realized that Fan Tianze had been fooling him by saying that he had to gather power to make another attempt, while the truth was that a mixed wisp of his sword intent and soul awareness had been down there the entire time.

    However, Fan Tianze didn¡¯t seem to be worried about Xuan Guangyu being offended by the truth as he said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing down there. You were under the wrong impression. There¡¯s nothing down there that can benefit people like us. Perhaps outsiders and Ancientspirits can benefit from the rich flesh power down there. However, since their bloodlines are naturally suppressed by the Star Behemoth¡¯s, they can¡¯t enter.

    ¡°You and I can¡¯t get any significant help from the special space down there.¡± With these words, he pointed at Hong Minghui. ¡°He might though.

    ¡°It can help those with low cultivation bases gather strength and refine their spiritual seas more efficiently, but that¡¯s all.¡±

    As soon as he finished with these words, he flew off into the distance on his sword before Xuan Guangyu could say anything.

    On his way back, he encountered a few powerful experts from other human sects, who had also heard about the unique treasure and traveled all the way to this ce.

    In an honest manner, he told them that he had found nothing after conducting a thorough scan of the underground space, and that what they had heard was nothing but a false rumor.

    Even though he didn¡¯t usually enter people¡¯s sight, he was a well-known powerful expert. Therefore, most of those he talked to gave up and returned.

    Because of this, the word Hong Minghui had spread to intentionally mislead and attract powerful experts didn¡¯t really work.

    In fact, not a single God domain expert entered that area after Fan Tianze had left.

    Even though some of the weaker cultivators still harbored hope and went there anyways, they were unable to prate the mysterious energy shield formed by the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura.

    The result was that Xuan Guangyu and those with him wasted their time waiting there for a prolonged period of time.

    ...

    Without more distractions, Nie Tian was able to focus on his cultivation.

    As he continued to refine his spiritual sea,rger andrger portions of his spiritual cores crystallized.

    Without meeting any cultivation barriers, he broke through into thete Soul realm. Everything happened incredibly smoothly.

    All of his spiritual cores finished crystallization!

    As he made another breakthrough in his cultivation, Pei Qiqi finished channeling all of the spatial power in this curious heaven and earth into herself.

    She also made significant progress with her cultivation, even though she didn¡¯t make a breakthrough.

    However, her bloodline had grown incredibly fast here. Her body had also be much tougher after repeated refinement with pure spatial power.

    Upon sensing Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough, she rushed over, looking delighted. ¡°You made another breakthrough in your cultivation?!

    ¡°What a wonderful experience! It seems that you didn¡¯t even run into any barriers, and everything happened very smoothly.¡±

    Nie Tian opened his eyes, fiery sparks appearing in the depths of his eyes. With a smile, he said, ¡°It seems that with the help of this unique space, minor breakthroughs in cultivation do happen rather smoothly. Perhaps this is the most special feature of this space created by a Star Behemoth.¡±

    ¡°I feel that it¡¯s about time this terrific opportunity of ours ended,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°Yeah, I feel that too.¡± Nie Tian looked up at the energy shield, which seemed to have stopped channeling power from the outside world. ¡°It¡¯s about to close, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°Let get out of here.¡±

    ¡°Luckily, both of us have made significant progress in our cultivation, bloodlines, and bodies,¡± Nie Tian said, looking rather satisfied. ¡°The only thing that frustrates me is that even though my bloodline was clearly touched, it didn¡¯t upgrade and enter the next phase as it was supposed to.¡±

    ¡°Our bloodline upgrades are far moreplicated than our cultivation advances,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a consoling tone. ¡°They¡¯lle when theye.¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡±

    Sensing that the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura shield had started to heal, Pei Qiqi took out her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    The two of them then left the depths with the help of this Heaven Nourished grade treasure that had been unearthed in the Shatter Battlefield.

 Chapter 1178: New Trouble

    In the central area of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi traveled through the energy shield in the blink of an eye with the help of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    The split earth shook violently as the glorious rainbow-like energy shield gradually sank and vanished into the depths of the earth.

    Having suddenly left the special space where all kinds of energies were extremely rich and pure, Nie Tian was unadapted to the environment on the outside.

    He took a deep breath.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian sensed his surroundings with rapt attention. ¡°The various energies of heaven and earth and flesh auras left by powerful outsiders out here seem to have been absorbed to arge extent, and be almost too faint to detect.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nced around and also released her soul awareness to scan the vicinity, but didn¡¯t find anyone. ¡°It seems that Xuan Guangyu and Hong Minghui left at some point.¡±

    To their surprise, they didn¡¯t find any Qi warriors that had been misled by Hong Minghui and thus believed that a precious treasurey within the Star Behemoth¡¯s unique space.

    There wasn¡¯t a single Qi warrior, outsider, or Ancientspirit in the area.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were the only ones there.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was in a state where it could break through into the eighth grade at any time.

    His cultivation base had risen to thete Soul realm, where the crystallization of his spiritual cores hadpleted.

    His true soul had also be more refined and clear, as his soul power had be more powerful.

    With his current strength and battle prowess, he was confident that if he ran into Ophelia now, he would be able to win much more effortlessly.

    WHOOSH!

    He summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    At this point, the bone had grown to be a hundred and fifty meters long, and crimson like a long, blood-colored crystal. Awork of very conspicuous veins could be seen within it, through which thick blood was flowing.

    However, as Nie Tian examined it with his soul awareness, he found that it seemed to have entered a deep slumber.

    He attempted to activate it with his bloodline, but still failed to see any reaction.

    ¡°After absorbing all that Blood Essence from me and the soul power from those evil spirits, it seems to have entered dormancy, where it digests the power and prepares itself for an upgrade or transformation...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself, realizing that this wondrous bone might havee to a crucial moment.

    After the bone¡¯s soul awoke from its slumber and its internal changes wereplete, he would be able to use it again.

    At that time, it would definitely be even more wondrous. Its brand new bloodline wonders would further improve his battle prowess.

    Given time, it might eventually be a so-called divine tool that only he could wield.

    ¡°Talk about the wonders of a superrge-scale realm!¡± Pei Qiqi marveled. ¡°The Shatter Battlefield was practically ripped apart earlier, but now the broken pieces seem to havee back together. And the realm is channeling a wide array of energies from the depths of the starry river, setting itself on a path to recovery.¡±

    She didn¡¯t put the Space Boundaries Crystal away immediately after they came out from the depths of the earth.

    Instead, it continued to spin in her palm.

    Its many facets showed clear reflections of what was happening in different parts of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Through it, Pei Qiqi could perceive even the slightest changes in any part of the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly, before casually opening and dragging Nie Tian into a spatial rift.

    In a split second, the two of them appeared in the ce where Wu Ji was practicing cultivation.

    The river of time was still floating in the heavens, and Wu Ji¡¯s time domain remained connected to it. However, he had already entered the Saint domain.

    The first cultivator from the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Saint domain was neither Zhao Shanling nor Fan Kai. It was Wu Ji!

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian called out, ¡°Master!¡±

    With a single nce at Wu Ji, who was floating in the river of time, he had a strange, indescribable feeling.

    It was something he had never felt before.

    It was as if his master, Wu Ji, had be another person, or rather many different persons...

    Wu Ji drifted in the glorious, winding river of time like a tiny boat, while his time domain slowly fluctuated in the river of time like a drop of water that had merged with a grand river.

    Even though there didn¡¯t seem to be any changes in his appearance, his eyes kept flickering.

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s call, he seemed to slowly awake from the long lost ages. He turned around and took a look at Nie Tian.

    Only after a while did he seem to recover his memories about Nie Tian. A warm smile appearing on his face, he said, ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    ¡°Master, you... give me a strange feeling,¡± Nie Tian said honestly.

    Wu Ji frowned. After a moment of pondering, he took his time to say, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I seem to have recovered some of my memories after I entered the Saint domain and truly merged with this mysterious river...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Your memories? What do you mean? Why would your memories be in the river of time?¡±

    Pei Qiqi was also surprised.

    Even Wu Ji himself seemed to be baffled. ¡°They¡¯re my memories, but seem to belong to another me... It seems that I was another person... I¡¯m still trying to find the answer, so I suppose I¡¯ll stay here for some time.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°Another person?!¡±

    Looking somewhat tired, Wu Ji waved his hand and said, ¡°You may leave to take care of your business. I have yet to find my true self in this river of time.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi split open another spatial rift and dragged Nie Tian into it before he could say anything.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the rush? I still have questions to ask him!¡± Nie Tian said unpleasantly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but your master gave me a strange, dangerous feeling,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°Besides, the origin of that river of time doesn¡¯t lie in the Shatter Battlefield. My Space Boundaries Crystal was born in the Shatter Battlefield. However, when it developed its own awareness, the river of time had already existed for who knows how long.

    ¡°So even it doesn¡¯t know where the origin of the river of time lies. What we saw was only one of its many branches. Your master, however, may be able to find its true origin by tracking that branch.

    ¡°Or perhaps he has done that already, and uncovered deeper secrets from its origin.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian frowned. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®deeper secrets¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Like what your master said himself, he may actually be someone entirely different. Perhaps he was reborn from a surviving wisp of soul awareness from some sage.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes glittered brightly as she spoke. ¡°People like your master who can master time power and channel the river of time are extremely special. Things usually happen for a reason.¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll only be able to learn the truth after your master finds the truth.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi grabbed Nie Tian and vanished again.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, the two of them appeared at the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯srge-scale teleportation portal in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Kan Zhisheng was still guarding it.

    This whole time, he had been waiting for Nie Tian toe out of that special space and return to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters through this portal.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian, he grew excited. ¡°You¡¯ve finallye out! This is great! I was worried that there were some mishaps!¡±

    Nie Tian shrugged. ¡°Everything went well.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve entered thete Soul realm?!¡± An exmation escaped Kan Zhisheng¡¯s mouth.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going back to our headquarters.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned to give Pei Qiqi a look, and asked, ¡°What about you? Do you want to go with me, or do you want to return to your sect?¡±

    ¡°Umm, Nie Tian...¡± Kan Zhisheng said with a strange look on his face. ¡°Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng, they¡¯re your followers, right?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim. ¡°What¡¯s going on?"

    ¡°Someone found out about them and informed our sect of their findings,¡± Kan Zhisheng said with an apologetic expression. ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo was infuriated. Under hismand, our people are currently conducting thorough searches in your three domains in order to uncover the truth as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang is messing with me again?!¡± Nie Tian said angrily.

 Chapter 1179: Imprisonment

    Kan Zhisheng lowered his head and fell silent.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± Nie Tian eximed with a grim face. ¡°Has he recovered from his injuries already? What¡¯s the situation with Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng? And what about grand elder Mo Heng? Why didn¡¯t he take part in sect affairs like this?¡±

    Kan Zhisheng sighed. ¡°We can¡¯t get in touch with the grand elder for the time being.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t get in touch with him?!¡±

    ¡°A major upheaval struck the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s territory...¡± Kan Zhisheng exined. ¡°Mo Qinglei came to our headquarters and begged the grand elder to help the Mo n, which was his home as well. So the grand elder went to lift them from their troublesome situation. And the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s crisis seemed to be resolved soon after the grand elder¡¯s arrival.

    ¡°However, for some reason, the grand elder suddenly vanished in the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s territory after that.

    ¡°ording to word we received from Mo Qianfan, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the grand elder seemed to have heard about someone, and thus left in an attempt to gain more information.

    ¡°No one has ever heard from him or gotten in contact with him ever since.

    ¡°In his absence, our two vice sectmasters, Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang, manage our sect affairs jointly. Just recently, someone discovered Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng in a secluded ce in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, which is your territory.

    ¡°Master Blood Spirit was an important member of a crooked sect. After vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang was informed of this, he immediately arranged for people to seal off that region, forbidding anyone from leaving. He said that he¡¯ll wait for you to return so that he can ask you some questions first...¡±

    Nie Tian let out a coldugh. ¡°Ask me questions?¡±

    He believed that if Mo Heng was around, then even though Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng had been discovered, it wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal.

    However, now that Mo Heng was missing...

    At this moment, he suddenly remembered another thing. The Heavenly Ster Stream he had won from his duel against Ophelia was in Sikong Cuo¡¯s hands.

    Mo Heng had assured him that he would demand precious treasures that agreed with his cultivation more than the Heavenly Ster Stream from Luo Wanxiang in exchange for it, which he heard that Luo Wanxiang had already agreed to.

    This proved how much Luo Wanxiang was willing to give up so that Sikong Cuo could rapidly strengthen himself with the help of the Heavenly Ster Stream.

    However, now that Mo Heng was missing, would he still be able to get the precious treasures he had been promised from Luo Wanxiang?

    As his train of thought came to this point, he burned with fury.

    Luo Wanxiang had made a move on Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng, who were his followers, while he still owed him things, not to mention that Sikong Cuo had viins like Master Bloody Despair among his subordinates.

    ¡°I¡¯ll return to the Realm of Split Void first!¡± Nie Tian eximed furiously.

    Kan Zhisheng didn¡¯t dare to interfere with what happened between Sons of the Stars and vice sectmasters.

    Therefore, he just stood there while Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi left for the Realm of Remote Heaven through the teleportation portal.

    ...

    In the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Ancient starships were berthed by the vast floating meteor where the Blood Sect had been relocated. A yellow spherical ward had enveloped arge area around the meteor like ayer of faint mist.

    All of the spatial impurities were kept out by the ward.

    Behind the ward, Blood Sect disciples were practicing incantations and deriving enlightenment with the help of spirit stones and spiritual materials of different attributes.

    In a remote corner of the meteor.

    Master Blood Spirit was sitting in the lotus position, his face expressionless. Even though he didn¡¯t activate his blood domain, a strong bloody aura pervaded his surroundings.

    Thete Saint domain!

    Master Blood Spirit had be much more confident in himself after entering thete Saint domain. The expansion of his lifespan had sparked his ambition to advance to the God domain.

    Over the recent years, he had practiced cultivation wholeheartedly in this forgotten heaven and earth, and made rapid progress in his cultivation.

    Li Jing from the Blood Sect quietly flew over, sitting on her Blood Lotus, and said, ¡°Patriarch...¡±

    She had also advanced from the Profound realm to thete Soul realm, and reached the point where she was ready to forge her internal domain and cross into the Void domain.

    Her advances in cultivation had also been rapid and smooth. Part of the reason was that they had stood by Nie Tian¡¯s side in his early years, and thus won his favor.

    Another reason was Master Blood Spirit¡¯s appearance.

    Master Blood Spirit opened his eyes. His pupils seemed to be painted red by blood, which gave him a scary look.

    Without saying anything to Li Jing, he gazed off into the distance, where three ancient starships could be seen berthed among floating meteors.

    Several Saint domain experts were stationed on those starships, which belonged to Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates.

    Luo Wanxiang had been a Son of the Stars back in the day, and had his own subordinates and followers.

    As Master Blood Spirit cast a secret magic, his unique flesh aura and spiritual power mixed up and formed scarlet strings that were as fine as hairs.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As soon as they shot through the ward enveloping the meteor, the Saint domain experts on the three starships surfaced, as if they were facing iing enemies.

    Their leader, who seemed to be at thete Saint domain, called out, ¡°Master Blood Spirit! You¡¯re not allowed to leave before Nie Tian shows up! If you insist on doing so, then don¡¯t me me for my manners!¡±

    Master Blood Spirit let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Rx. I¡¯m only taking a break from my cultivation to look for inspiration.¡±

    His eyes were filled with masked killing intent as he gazed off at those Saint domain experts, which Li Jing, who was standing next to him, saw very clearly.

    BOOM!

    The scarlet strings returning from the starry river turned into a bloody mist in midair, which rapidly morphed into a faint red shield that enveloped Master Blood Spirit and Li Jing.

    ¡°Alright, no one should be able to hear us unless God domain experts are in the vicinity. Those running dogs of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s don¡¯t have a chance at overhearing our conversation.¡± With these words, Master Blood Spirit snorted disdainfully. ¡°If I didn¡¯t have any scruples, those losers together wouldn¡¯t be able to stop me from leaving!¡±

    Master Blood Spirit¡¯s confidence had soared after he had entered thete Saint domain.

    Even though there was also ate Saint domain expert among Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates, that didn¡¯t make him attach any importance to them.

    An apologetic expression spread across Li Jing¡¯s face. ¡°We¡¯ve dragged you down, Patriarch...¡±

    Master Blood Spirit wove his hand. ¡°It has nothing to do with you. I¡¯m only worried that it¡¯ll get Nie Tian in trouble if I leave rashly. Also, even though these few running dogs are nothing to be feared, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has God domain experts. If they decide toe after me themselves, I currently don¡¯t possess the kind of power I¡¯d need to contend against them.¡±

    Meanwhile, on the other side of the meteor...

    Li Langfeng had also been required to stay here until Nie Tian returned and gave Luo Wanxiang an exnation.

    At this moment, Li Langfeng snapped out of his thoughts and rose into the air.

    He rapidly flew to the area where Master Blood Spirit was.

    Upon arriving, Li Langfeng eximed softly, ¡°Please refrain from making any rash moves, Senior!¡±

    He had rushed over because he was worried that Master Blood Spirit would lose his temper and get into a fight against the observers, which might make the situation get out of hand.

    Master Blood Spirit let out a snort. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I haven¡¯t lost my temper yet.¡±

    Then, he gazed off at the Blood Sect disciples in the distance. A dejected expression appeared on his face as he continued, ¡°This is all that¡¯s left of the Blood Spirit Sect. How can I sacrifice thesest seeds of my sect just for a moment¡¯s satisfaction?¡±

    Hearing these words, Li Langfeng put his mind at ease.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Just as he bowed and prepared to leave, Master Blood Spirit eximed softly, the light of excitement shing across his eyes.

    ¡°What is it, Patriarch?¡± Li Langfeng asked.

    Li Jing was also taken aback. Realizing Master Blood Spirit must have sensed something, she also fixed him with a curious look.

    Master Blood Spirit calmed himself and said, ¡°I¡¯m sensing Nie Tian¡¯s aura. He¡¯s on his way here. Let¡¯s see how he¡¯ll talk to Luo Wanxiang and handle this matter.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps even he won¡¯t be able to protect us,¡± Li Jing said with a bitter smile. ¡°It¡¯s Luo Wanxiang, a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce he¡¯ll face. No matter how powerful or how highly-regarded he is among the Sons of the Stars, he hasn¡¯t taken the position of Lord of the Stars yet.

 Chapter 1180: Ripping Pretended Friendly Masks

    Disdain filled Master Blood Spirit¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Luo Wanxiang? If Grand Elder Mo Heng hadn¡¯t suddenly disappeared, I doubt that he would have dared to openly confine us like this.¡±

    ¡°Mo Heng!¡± Both Li Langfeng and Li Jing felt a wave of respect as they heard Mo Heng¡¯s name.

    After his recent duel in the Shatter Battlefield, Mo Heng, who had only entered the middle God domain not long ago, had joined Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society and Chu Yuan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, and be one of the greatest figures among humanity.

    Even though his cultivation base was still lower than that of the other peak experts, he would definitely be among the handful of the most prominent human experts when he entered thete God domain.

    For this reason, his prestige within the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had already risen above Luo Wanxiang and Chu Rui¡¯s.

    He was the grand elder, while those two were vice sectmasters. Technically speaking, his status was lower than theirs.

    However, in the eyes of the others, his status was second only to Ji Cang¡¯s now.

    Li Jing sighed softly. ¡°It¡¯s too bad that like the sectmaster, Mo Heng has also disappeared.¡±

    ...

    Floating by a glowing spatial rift, Nie Tian gazed off into the distant starry river, his face grim. ¡°That¡¯s the ce.¡±

    Beside him, Pei Qiqi kept the spatial rift open as one figure after another flew out of it.

    Among them were Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect, who was at thete Saint domain, Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and Qu Mingde, who were at the middle Saint domain, and Dong Qisong and Zhongli Jian, who were at the early Saint domain.

    Six Saint domain experts!

    Nie Tian pointed into the distance and said, ¡°Shatter that ward.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Xie Qian nodded slightly and unleashed histe Saint domain power.

    A shield could be seen enveloping the vast meteor where the Blood Sect was currently located. The shield seemed to be a strong obstacle that was preventing those from the Blood Sect from leaving.

    At this moment, as Xie Qian cast a secret magic, nine sparkling rivers shot out of him. As they soared through the dark void, they rapidly interwove into a wondrous formation.

    That was when a strong cleansing aura that could wash off any impurity in heaven and earth was released.

    As the river formation suddenly exploded, countless sparkling droplets that looked like tiny silver pearls were sent flying in all directions.

    Infiltrated by the droplets, the faint yellow ward immediately lost its effect, like dirt that was washed off by arge amount of water.

    The Saint domain expert who was well-versed in earth power and had warned Master Blood Spirit from leaving earlier burst into a ming rage. ¡°Who is it?!¡±

    ¡°Me! Nie Tian!¡± An explosive, domineering voice came from behind a secluded meteor in the distant starry river.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian and the others flew over.

    The Saint domain watchers Luo Wanxiang had nted to prevent Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng from escaping gasped.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here!¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    In contrast, Yu Tong, Lin He, and the other juniors from the Blood Sect that knew Nie Tian grew deeply excited. ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    The same went for Li Jing. A hint of tion appeared in her eyes as she said, ¡°You have such keen senses, Patriarch. He actually is here!¡±

    With aplicated look on his face, Master Blood Spirit nodded slightly and said, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    What Li Jing didn¡¯t know was that in order to gain Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and expand his lifespan, he had allowed the Spirit Pearl to leave a restrictive spell in his true soul.

    This was why he had been able to sense Nie Tian¡¯s arrival so shrewdly.

    However, now that it had been done, Master Blood Spirit didn¡¯t regret doing it.

    The same went for Xie Qian, who had willingly answered Nie Tian¡¯s summons and rushed over from the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    Even though Xie Qian had openly dered his allegiance to Nie Tian, he had previouslye to an agreement with him, agreeing that the Water Moon Sect would remain an independent force that was only his ally, nothing more.

    However, as Nie Tian had gradually built up his strength, defeated Ophelia, and showed his extraordinary talents in the Shatter Battlefield, he had gradually be the best candidate for the next Lord of the Stars in people¡¯s eyes. Because of this, Xie Qian¡¯s attitude towards him had also gradually changed.

    He had started to ept himself as Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate.

    This was why he had rushed to his aid without the slightest hesitation when he had been called upon.

    BOOOOM!

    Immense flesh power burst forth from within Master Blood Spirit.

    Countless strings of blood-colored light that were as fine as hairs enveloped the three berthed starships.

    Only secondster, an incredibly huge scarlet trapped the starships like a spiderweb trapping three insects.

    All of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates on the starships felt congested as they tried to circted their qi and blood, as if they had been infused with lead. They even started to lose their mobility.

    Thete Saint domain Qi warrior named Guan Cong, who was well-versed in earth power, raved, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned disdainfully. ¡°Who you you think you are to yell at me? You¡¯re nothing but the vice sectmaster¡¯s subordinates. You¡¯re not even members of our sect.¡±

    Guan Cong pointed at Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng and said with a righteous expression, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo charged me to watch the remaining evil of the Blood Spirit Sect, and that man who clearly practices the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s evil incantations!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°So what?¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Master Blood Spirit, Li Langfeng, and Li Jing finally broke the confinement and flew over from the vast meteor.

    Stopping in front of Guan Cong, Master Blood Spirit provoked him with a fierce look in his eyes. ¡°Now, I¡¯ve broken the rules you set. What are you going to do?¡±

    Guan Cong¡¯s expression flickered.

    If it had only been Master Blood Spirit, he would have had the confidence to defeat him with the help of the other Saint domain experts with him.

    Not to mention that even if he failed to defeat him, he would have been able to kill disciples of the Blood Sect in order to force him to halt his actions.

    However, this bnce had been broken by the sudden arrival of Nie Tian, Xie Qian, and the other Saint domain experts.

    The truth was that Xie Qian, Jing Feiyang, and the others had long since heard of the trouble Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng were in.

    However, since Nie Tian hadn¡¯t returned and made his stance on the matter clear, they hadn¡¯t dared to make any rash moves.

    After all, it was vice sectmaster Luo Wanxiang who was behind this.

    Only since Nie Tian had shown up and given them confidence and support, did they dare to confront Luo Wanxiang¡¯s forces head-on.

    Nie Tian pointed at Guan Cong and the others that gradually came from belowdecks and said, ¡°You¡¯ll stay here for now.

    ¡°I¡¯ll let you go after Vice Sectmaster Luo gets here and answers my questions. I distinctly remember that he still owes me quite a few things. It¡¯s about time that was settled.¡±

    Guan Cong was bbergasted. ¡°You! You dare to threaten the vice sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°No, not threaten. Simply demand something that¡¯s rightfully mine.¡± Nie Tian said inly.

    ¡°You took in people like Master Blood Spirit and those who practice the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s evil incantations as your subordinates,¡± Guan Cong denounced Nie Tian indignantly. ¡°Not only do you refuse to admit to your wrongdoing, but you even dare to challenge the vice sectmaster¡¯s authority like this! Don¡¯t imagine that you can do anything you want now after your victory against Ophelia. You still have to listen to the vice sectmaster before you actually be the Lord of the Stars!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seemed to be swayed by his words at all. ¡°That¡¯s between me and him. You¡¯re in no ce to tell me what to do.¡±

    Then, he turned to Xie Qian and the others, and said, ¡°Seal off this area. Don¡¯t let any of them leave. I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t be long before Vice Sectmaster Luoes here himself. I wonder if he¡¯ll admit that he owes me those things.¡±

 Chapter 1181: People Are Alarmed

    Guan Cong gasped with astonishment.

    Under Xie Qian and Master Blood Spirit¡¯s leadership, Saint domain experts spread around the three starships.

    As Master Blood Spirit trapped the starships with a huge of blood-colored light, Xie Qian drew power from his domain and surrounded them with countless drops of sparkling water.

    Each and every drop weighed tons, as they were unique drops of heavy water that Xie Qian had refined fromkes on a foreign heaven and earth.

    Guan Cong knew that first of all, it was unknown whether they would be able to rip the bloody apart if they forcibly started the starships. Secondly, even if they could rip through the bloody, they would still meet strong obstruction when they mmed into the countless drops of water.

    If the twote Saint domain experts went all-out to stop them, it would be impossible for their starships to leave in one piece.

    Not to mention that several early and middle Saint domain experts, along with Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, were eyeing them like tigers from a farther location.

    Only after a while did Guan Cong submit to reality and say bitterly, ¡°The vice sectmaster will preside over justice for us!¡±

    The Qi warriors behind him, who were also Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates, secretly let out sighs of relief.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll wait for Vice Sectmaster Luo right here. I believe he¡¯ll soon receive word of what¡¯s happened here ande without dy.¡± With these words, Nie Tian gave Master Blood Spirit and the others a meaningful look, and then flew to the vast floating meteor.

    As they left, Guan Cong snorted disdainfully. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see how you¡¯re going to exin the fact that you harbor the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s residual evil!¡±

    Hearing this, Master Blood Spirit jerked his head towards him, scarlet light shooting out of his blood-colored pupils.

    Even though they were both at thete Saint domain, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s re made Guan Cong tremble with fear, and realize that he had better be quiet.

    He could only ce all of his hope on Luo Wanxiang.

    ...

    Inside a grand hall in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he said to Yan Zhan, who had a worried look on his face, ¡°What?! Nie Tian has returned from the Shatter Battlefield? And he made Guan Cong prisoner instead upon his return? Didn¡¯t he know that he¡¯s Vice Sectmaster Luo¡¯s subordinate?¡±

    Yan Zhan smiled bitterly. ¡°How could he not know?¡±

    Wei Lai also had a headache over the situation as he said, ¡°Master Blood Spirit is indeed a residual evil of the Blood Spirit Sect, and he¡¯s different from Master Bloody Despair. Master Bloody Despair chose to leave the Blood Spirit Sect, and made significant contributions in its elimination. For this reason, he was pardoned by the major sects, and allowed to have his ce in our world.

    ¡°Master Blood Spirit, however, had always been cultivated as the future sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect. His title alone represents the head of the Blood Spirit Sect.

    ¡°As for that Li Langfeng, it seems that he practices peculiar incantations that involve corpse toxins. However, it¡¯s not necessarily right to say that he has connections with the Heavenly Corpse Sect. Despite this, it¡¯s safe to say that the incantations he practices are crooked.

    ¡°To stay out of trouble, all Nie Tian had to do was to deny that he had anything to do with Master Blood Spirit and Li Langfeng.

    ¡°However, instead of doing that, he chose to resort to force upon his return, which has made things much moreplicated.¡±

    Yan Zhan sighed. ¡°Most importantly, the grand elder isn¡¯t here. Do we go there too, so that we can keep things from getting out of hand?¡±

    ¡°Of course! We have to go!¡± Wei Lai said with certainty.

    ...

    In a secluded location in the starry river, Chu Rui, who was also a vice sectmaster, was also astonished by the news. ¡°Nie Tian returned and imprisoned Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates?¡±

    However, after pondering in silence for a few seconds, he chuckled softly. ¡°This is actually interesting. It seems I¡¯ll have to go there myself.¡±

    With these words, he turned to a man next to him and instructed, ¡°Tell Wang Meijia to go too. Since Mo Heng is still missing, I wonder what gave Nie Tian the courage to confront Luo Wanxiang face-to-face. If he¡¯s just going to argue, he doesn¡¯t seem to have much to argue with...¡±

    After muttering for a while, Chu Rui, who was rather chubby, headed towards arge-scale teleportation portal.

    Simr conversations took ce between many elders and Saint domain members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It wasn¡¯t long before most of the senior members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce learned about this direct conflict between Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang.

    One of them was a vice sectmaster, who was a high-ranking official, while the other was a rising Son of the Stars, who had recently showed his extraordinary talents and outshone even Sikong Cuo.

    The uing dialogue between them attracted the attention of all those who were of significance to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Some of them secretly traveled to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, a ce that had been forgotten for ages, while others paid close attention to everything that happened there through various means, even though they didn¡¯t go there in person.

    ...

    In the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and the others had spread around Nie Tian in a protective formation.

    Pei Qiqi, however, sat quietly on arge stone about ten meters from them, also waiting.

    In a farther location, Li Jing, Li Langfeng, Yu Tong, and a few others from the Blood Sect were gazing in their direction with anxious looks on their faces.

    All of them were worried and wondered how Nie Tian would confront Luo Wanxiang after he arrived.

    If Luo Wanxiang were to use force, would Nie Tian and his subordinates be able to handle the wrath of a God domain expert?

    No matter from which point of view they considered the matter, they had a feeling that it was unwise to confront Luo Wanxiang head-on when Grand Elder Mo Heng was missing.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as it flew out, it started to gradually absorb and refine the mixed energies in the starry river, even though the soul within it was still in a dormant state.

    Nie Tian found that he still couldn¡¯tmunicate with the bone, or make full use of its might.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Elder Wei Lai and Yan Zhan arrived and quickly flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you...¡± As Wei Lai spoke, he suddenly noticed Master Blood Spirit¡¯s raging bloody aura. His expression flickered slightly as he felt a strong sense of danger from him, even though he seemed to have only entered thete Saint domain recently.

    Even when he had faced the former sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect, he hadn¡¯t had such a feeling.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that his cultivation talent and potential are even higher than his master¡¯s! If that¡¯s true, doesn¡¯t it mean that he¡¯ll have a great chance at entering the God domain?!¡± Such a thought shocked Wei Lai. ¡°If Nie Tian has a God domain expert by his side at all times, he¡¯ll have even better odds in hispetition against the other Sons of the Stars!¡±

    All of a sudden, he understood why Nie Tian was so bent on protecting Master Blood Spirit.

    Yan Zhan stepped forward and asked in a low voice, ¡°Nie Tian, why do you have to choose such a time to have direct conflicts with Vice Sectmaster Luo? This is totally unnecessary. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no way to ease the tension on this matter with Master Blood Spirit. After all, Master Bloody Despair has be Sikong Cuo¡¯s subordinate. However, now that you¡¯ve imprisoned Guan Cong and made the vice sectmaster lose face, things have be much moreplicated.¡±

    ¡°All I know is that he owes me things, and it¡¯s about time I collected,¡± Nie Tian said.

    As he spoke, all of the other elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce arrived sessively.

    Chu Rui also arrived with Wang Meijia.

    Soon, more influential members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce arrived through various means. They all shared one purpose: learn the result of this conflict between Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang at the first moment.

    However, a long time had passed, and there were still no signs of Luo Wanxiang or Sikong Cuo.

 Chapter 1182: Craze

    Seeing Chu Rui and the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce arriving one after another, Guan Cong loudly protested against the injustice he had received from Nie Tian. ¡°Please preside over justice for me, Seniors!

    ¡°We were only here to confine the residual evil of the Blood Spirit Sect and Li Langfeng, who has connections with the Heavenly Corpse Sect, on Vice Sectmaster Luo¡¯smand. Both of them have close connections with the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian!

    ¡°However, not only did Nie Tian refuse to admit to his wrongdoing, but he even instructed his subordinates to imprison us!¡±

    Guan Cong ranted on, as if the arrival of the seniors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star had emboldened him.

    Before the arrival of Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the other elders, he had been deeply apprehensive about Nie Tian¡¯s force, and thus hadn¡¯t dared to do or say anything.

    Now, he didn¡¯t seem to be apprehensive anymore, even though Luo Wanxiang still hadn¡¯t shown up.

    After all, he assumed that he was in the right.

    However, it wasn¡¯t long before he froze.

    He suddenly realized that it didn¡¯t matter whether it was seniors like Chu Rui, Wei Lai, and Yan Zhan, or Sons of the Stars like Wang Meijia or Fang Yuan; none of them even looked at him.

    Instead, all of them were gathered around Nie Tian, either smiling or frowning.

    Some of them were worried about Nie Tian, while others thought he had acted rashly, and thus advised him against letting his emotions get the best of him.

    None of them seemed to hear his rant the whole time.

    Seeing this, he froze.

    He fellpletely silent as he watched the elders and vice sectmaster take the initiative to gather around Nie Tian, with some even cozying up to him.

    ¡°It seems that Nie Tian has not only won Mo Heng over, but Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the other elders too...¡± Guan Cong thought to himself, suddenly realizing that even after Luo Wanxiang got here, he might not be able to pressure Nie Tian with his status as a vice sectmaster.

    SHEW!

    A stream of glorious light suddenly ripped the dark void open in a ce not far from Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, Ji Yuanquan, Qi Lianshan, Ling You, and a few others from the Void Spirit Society walked out of it.

    Qi Lianshan and Ling You flew directly to Pei Qiqi and greeted her by bowing slightly and saying, ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    At the same time, Ji Yuanquan smiled and nodded at Pei Qiqi. ¡°The sectmaster learned that you left the Shatter Battlefield and came to this ce, so he sent us here to escort you back to our sect.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, however, was as expressionless as she always was. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for Nie Tian to finish his business here.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, as if he knew everything that was going on. With a warm smile, he turned to Nie Tian, bowed slightly, and said in a sincere fashion, ¡°Nie Tian, our sectmaster heard about the incident between you and Luo Wanxiang as well. He said that if you¡¯re not happy in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society will be d to take you in so you¡¯ll be one of us.

    ¡°He also wanted you to know that whatever the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is giving you, our sect will give you more.

    ¡°He¡¯s grateful for what you and your master have done for not only us, but for those outsiders and Ancientspirits in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield too.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan grew more and more serious as he spoke. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t joking.

    All of the important members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, including Chu Rui, Wang Meijia, Fang Yuan, and even others like Master Blood Spirit were bbergasted. ¡°What?!¡±

    From the look of it, Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society hade here to escort Pei Qiqi back to their sect. However, upon arriving, he reached out to Nie Tian on Qu Yi¡¯s behalf and invited him to join the Void Spirit Society.

    Did he do this to vie for Nie Tian? So openly?

    Chu Rui shook his chubby body and asked with an embarrassed look on his face, ¡°Are you kidding, Brother Ji? Nie Tian is a Son of the Stars of our sect. You know what that means, don¡¯t you? Unlike regr disciples, he¡¯s received our sect¡¯s core legacies and has a chance at bing our next Lord of the Stars!

    ¡°Plus, he doesn¡¯t practice spatial incantations. So what is this supposed to mean with Sectmaster Qu inviting him to join the Void Spirit Society?¡±

    This was what many were thinking.

    Ji Yuanquan shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. I¡¯m only delivering our sectmaster¡¯s words.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°Please thank Sectmaster Qu for me. But I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll join the Void Spirit Society. However, if people think up every possible method to oppress me to the point where I no longer have a ce in my sect, I guess I¡¯ll have to find a way out of the dead end.¡±

    After hearing this, everyone, including Chu Rui, Wei Lai, and Yan Zhan, grew grim.

    Chu Rui had originally ced his bet on Wang Meijia because he had deemed that she would eventually rise to the position of Lord of the Stars.

    However,ter, Sikong Cuo hade along. He had survived the numerous dangers on his path to the stars, and risen to prominence. Luo Wanxiang had seen his potential, and thus helped him be the one that had had the best chance at winning thepetition for the position of the next Lord of the Stars.

    Then, Nie Tian hade along. In an overwhelming manner, he had proven his strength, and the fact that he was an even better choice than Sikong Cuo.

    His performance in his duel against Ophelia and many other incidents after that had won Mo Heng¡¯s support, and caused Chu Rui to gradually change his attitude towards him.

    Even Chu Rui started to think that if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had to choose a strong Lord of the Stars in Ji Cang¡¯s absence, Nie Tian would be a better choice than Wang Meijia.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected that the Void Spirit Society would take advantage of this minor friction between Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang to issue an invitation to Nie Tian.

    He had originallye in a light mood, hoping to see how Nie Tian would stand up against Luo Wanxiang. However, his good mood was now ruined, and he felt a strong need to step up and stop Nie Tian, who would be crucial to the sect¡¯s prosperous future, from being taken away.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streaks of glorious light suddenly shot over from the distance.

    As they stopped in the area where Nie Tian and the others were, they turned out to be Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, and Lou Hongyan, who Nie Tian couldn¡¯t be more familiar with, along with severalte Saint domain elders of the metal element sect, wood element sect, and fire element sect.

    Those elders¡¯ statuses in the Five Elements Sect were second only to their sect heads.

    Their arrival bbergasted the members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce once again, as they didn¡¯t know why these important members of the Five Elements Sect would show up here at this moment.

    To their surprise, Hou Chn smiled as she came to a ce between Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan. Then, in a beautiful voice, she said, ¡°Nie Tian has helped the Five Elements Sect on many asions. Senior Lu secured a wisp of his soul from the outsiders in the Domain of Nether Heaven because of him.

    ¡°And we personally survived the fierce battles against the demented outsiders and Ancientspirits in the Shatter Battlefield because of him and his master.

    ¡°So I¡¯m here to issue an invitation to Nie Tian on my sect¡¯s behalf. Nie Tian, if you find your life in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce unpleasant, you¡¯re wee to join the Five Elements Sect at any time.

    ¡°Like the Void Spirit Society, we¡¯ll also give you whatever you¡¯re getting from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and perhaps even more.

    ¡°What do you think?¡±

    Hou Chn looked unblinkingly at Nie Tian with a charming smile. An inviting, anticipating look filled her eyes, as if she would make arrangements right away if Nie Tian nodded.

    A mor burst through those gathered in this ce.

    Not just those from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but even Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society had aplicated look on his face after he heard this. With a dry smile, he muttered, ¡°This has be interesting.¡±

    Those who had the grimmest expressions were Guan Cong and the other subordinates of Luo Wanxiang.

    No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t figure out why the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect would do such a rule-viting thing as to invite Nie Tian to join them at the same time.

    Luo Wanxiang hadn¡¯t arrived yet. However, after the arrival of the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect, Guan Cong had gradually realized that even if Luo Wanxiang was here, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to pressure Nie Tian with his authority anymore.

 Chapter 1183: Acknowledgment

    Finally, Chu Rui couldn¡¯t suppress his anger anymore, and said with an unpleasant expression, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, don¡¯t tell me you came here to look for trouble in our sectmaster¡¯s absence.¡±

    Perhaps Chu Rui wouldn¡¯t be so bothered if the Void Spirit Society and Five Elements Sect openly invited others to join their sects.

    However, Nie Tian was a Son of the Stars!

    Even other important members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, such as Wei Lai and Yan Zhan, grew indignant at this moment.

    WHOOSH!

    A figure suddenly appeared in the distant starry river, shining with dazzling starlight.

    It was Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol!

    Luo Wanxiang, who had activated his dharma idol, was wreathed in rings of mysterious starlight that looked like the Milky Way, within which numerous fragmentary stars could be seen flickering.

    However, both his flesh power and spiritual power fluctuations seemed rather chaotic at this moment.

    Upon seeing him, Guan Cong waved at him and let out a whiny cry. ¡°Master!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang flew over in the blink of an eye. Canceling his dharma idol, he presented himself in his true form.

    Ji Yuanquan frowned and asked, ¡°What did you run into on your way here, Brother Luo?¡±

    The chubby Chu Rui also took a deep look at him and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°I was ambushed on my way here.¡± With these words, Luo Wanxiang ran his gaze over Ji Yuanquan, Hou Chn, and the other experts from the Void Spirit Society and Five Elements Sect. ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Before they said anything, Guan Cong rushed over to Luo Wanxiang¡¯s side, and exined that both Ji Yuanquan and Hou Chn had invited Nie Tian to join their sects on behalf of their sectmasters.

    Not only did Ji Yuanquan not deny it, but he even said with a faint smile, ¡°That¡¯s our sectmaster¡¯s will.¡±

    Hou Chn join the conversation. ¡°All of our five sect heads gave me their word too. As long as Nie Tian agrees, we¡¯ll have a ce for him in the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s face twitched.

    Calm andposed, Nie Tian stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Greetings, Vice Sectmaster.¡±

    Then, without any hesitation, he said, ¡°The grand elder suggested that I give the Heavenly Ster Stream to Sikong Cuo, and I did. He told me that, considering the preciousness of the Heavenly Ster Stream, you¡¯re willing topensate me with some of the precious treasures in your possession.

    ¡°So may I ask when you n to honor your agreement with the grand elder and give me those treasures?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes glittered with a determined, fearless light as he looked directly into Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes.

    Luo Wanxiang frowned and remained silent, as if he was pondering an answer.

    The Saint domain experts from the Five Elements Sect and many other Qi warriors whispered to each other with surprised looks on their faces, as if this was the first time they had learned about this arrangement regarding the Heavenly Ster Stream.

    ¡°So the grand eldermunicated with Nie Tian and made another arrangement with the Heavenly Ster Stream? That¡¯s an Immortal grade divine tool! The treasures that can be used to trade for it must be extraordinary!¡±

    ¡°No wonder no one had a problem with the Heavenly Ster Stream merging with Sikong Cuo.¡±

    ¡°But since Mo Heng still hasn¡¯t returned...¡±

    However, none of the important members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, including Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Fang Yuan, and Wang Meijia, seemed surprised.

    Apparently, they all knew about this arrangement.

    Luo Wanxiang nodded and said honestly, ¡°Grand Elder Mo and I dide to an agreement. However, there are still some details that we haven¡¯t decided on. So only after he returns will we be able to determine what I¡¯m giving you.¡±

    Since many members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce knew about this deal between him and Mo Heng, he didn¡¯t deny it.

    The method he adopted was very simple: drag things out. As long as Mo Heng didn¡¯t return, he wouldn¡¯t give Nie Tian the treasures he was supposed to give him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes grew cold.

    ¡°This can wait.¡± With these words, Luo Wanxiang snorted disdainfully and pointed at Master Blood Spirit, Li Langfeng, and the members of the Blood Sect. ¡°What are they doing in your territory? Don¡¯t you know that Master Blood Spirit is the current sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect?¡±

    Here came the tough questions.

    ¡°I know that. So?¡± Nie Tian said in a calm voice.

    ¡°The Blood Spirit Sect is a crooked sect,¡± Luo Wanxiang said with a harsh, using tone. ¡°The incantations they practice are brutal and inhumane. They...¡±

    However, before he could finish, Nie Tian snorted an said, ¡°I myself practiced the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation, but I didn¡¯t see anything wrong with it. It¡¯s an incantation that allows cultivators to refine spirit beast and outsider blood, and then use their flesh auras to strengthen themselves. What¡¯s wrong with that?

    ¡°Humans¡¯ flesh auras are far too weak. They didn¡¯t harm anyone. Only because their cultivation method is different from ours, we have to kill each and every one of them?

    ¡°The incantations we practice allow us to channel the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and energies of different attributes into ourselves, and condense them into spiritual power cores. Meanwhile, disciples of the Blood Spirit Sect channel spirit beast and outsider flesh auras into themselves and condense them into flesh power cores. We¡¯re essentially using the same cultivation method. The only difference is our source of power.

    ¡°They¡¯re not mutting their own kind. What makes their cultivation method so uneptable?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s words resonated through the silent crowd.

    After he finished, many, except Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates, seemed absorbed in thought.

    Among them, Master Blood Spirit, Li Jing, and the others from the Blood Sect were the most excited, Master Blood Spirit especially.

    He looked unblinkingly at Nie Tian and made a deep bow, trembling as he did.

    Even though he didn¡¯t say a word, everyone could see in his eyes how deeply touched he was.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t give up a single drop of his Blood Essence this time. However, with these words, he had won Master Blood Spirit¡¯s heartfelt acknowledgment.

    From now on, he would stand unswervingly by Nie Tian.

    What Nie Tian had just said was what he had said countless times to others during the past centuries, and what the former sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect had said to those who had gathered in front of their sect, hoping to destroy them.

    However, neither of their arguments had made a difference.

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society took the initiative to break the silence and say, ¡°Nie Tian isn¡¯t wrong. The sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion initiated the operation to wipe out the Blood Spirit Sect. In fact, we discussed it within our sect, and didn¡¯t think the Blood Spirit Sect was as uneptable as the other sects.¡±

    Hou Chn joined the conversation. ¡°Our five sect heads also talked about this before I came here. They also think that it was unnecessary to eliminate the Blood Spirit Sect. What we did was a bit too extreme, and we could have adopted a different approach.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit grew even more excited.

    If he could win the Void Spirit Society and Five Elements Sect¡¯s acknowledgment, it would mean that the Blood Sect would get to live on, and be treated fairly in the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s name in Nie Tian¡¯s territory.

    This had been his dream, for the Blood Spirit Sect to endure.

    He knew that if it was just him, even if he entered the God domain someday, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to rectify the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s name.

    Who would have thought that the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect would approve of the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s existence so easily after Nie Tian said these words?

    If the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce coulde to the same opinion on this matter, then the Blood Spirit Sect would finally be able to cross their name from the list of crooked sects.

    If three of the four great sects came to an agreement, the Heaven Span Pavilion would have no reason to oppose their decision.

    It would be a dreame true for Master Blood Spirit if the Blood Spirit Sect could have its name rectified.

 Chapter 1184: A Just Cause Attracts Much Support

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s face grew increasingly grim.

    The only handle he could hold against Nie Tian was the fact that he sheltered Master Blood Spirit, who was considered a residual evil of the Blood Spirit Sect.

    However, who would have thought that Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society and those important figures from the Five Elements Sect would adopt an ambiguous attitude towards the Blood Spirit Sect, and say that their elimination hadn¡¯t been necessary.

    This showed Luo Wanxiang up.

    After pondering in silence for a few seconds, Luo Wanxiang let out a cold snort and said, ¡°The Heaven Span Pavilion categorized the Blood Spirit Sect as a crooked sect and initiated a cleansing operation against it. All of the other major sects joined the operation. Now you say that the Blood Spirit Sect didn¡¯t have to be wiped out. Aren¡¯t you saying that the Heaven Span Pavilion was wrong?¡±

    ¡°Not everything we¡¯ve done is right.¡± A somewhatzy voice suddenly came from the distance.

    SHEW!

    The Limpid Cyan Sword morphed into a streak of lightning that scraped the starry sky and arrived in a split second.

    Even Chu Rui gasped with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s the Limpid Cyan Sword! Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society, Hou Chn, and the elders of the Five Elements Sect all jerked their heads to fix their gazes on Fan Tianze.

    Why was he here?

    Deeply surprised, Luo Wanxiang frowned and took a deep look at Fan Tianze. ¡°Brother Fan, you...¡±

    Even though they were both at the middle God domain, Luo Wanxiang was well-aware that Fan Tianze not only held seniority over him, but his battle prowess and status in the Heaven Span Pavilion were also something he couldn¡¯t match.

    In many juniors¡¯ eyes, Fan Tianze was a legendary figure, as there were lots of incredible stories about him.

    However, God domain experts such as Luo Wanxiang, Chu Rui, and Ji Yuanquan knew that not only were all those stories true, but many of them were actually conservative about his abilities.

    Therefore, upon seeing Fan Tianze, even Luo Wanxiang felt somewhat apprehensive.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for Nie Tian.¡± After only saying these words to Luo Wanxiang with an expressionless face, Fan Tianze walked directly to Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi. ¡°We meet again, little ones.¡±

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi hastily bowed towards him.

    Only after sweeping his gaze over Chu Rui, Ji Yuanquan, and the other important members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Five Elements Sect did Fan Tianze take his time to say to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯m here because I heard that you had a little conflict over the Blood Spirit Sect. Back in the day, our sect led the cleansing operation against them.

    ¡°However,ter, we learned that it involved a personal grudge. Someone from our sect had intended to enlist the Blood Spirit Sect into his force and make it his subordinate sect.

    ¡°However, the former sectmaster of the Blood Spirit Sect had refused his offer. Ashamed and furious, he befouled the Blood Spirit Sect and forcibly defined it as a crooked sect. Eventually, heunched a joint operation with the other major sects and wiped it out.

    ¡°That person died long ago. Back then, I was out on one of my trips, while our sectmaster was in secluded cultivation. Neither of us were able to attend to sect affairs, so we didn¡¯t know about this untilter.

    ¡°Even though we found out about the hidden reasonter, the mistake had been made. And our sect had a name to keep, so we didn¡¯t openly admit to our mistake.¡±

    With these words, Fan Tianze bowed towards Master Blood Spirit, looking rather ufortable, and said with a sincere tone, ¡°It was our sect¡¯s mistake that led to the tragedy that happened to the Blood Spirit Sect. I apologize to you on behalf of the Heaven Span Pavilion. But fortunately, you¡¯re still here, and the Blood Spirit Sect got to keep its seeds.¡±

    With these words, he looked at Li Jing and the others from the Blood Sect. Apparently, he meant that the current Blood Sect was the foundation on which the Blood Spirit Sect could rise again.

    After he said these words, not only was Luo Wanxiang bbergasted, but the others were as well.

    None of them had expected that the elimination of the Blood Spirit Sect actually had something to do with an influential figure from the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    What surprised them even more was that Fan Tianze actually came here to personally admit to the mistake they had made, apologize to Master Blood Spirit, and right the wrong that had been done to the Blood Spirit Sect.

    ¡°This is...¡± Master Blood Spirit trembled as tears welled up in his eyes. He was so emotional that he was at a loss for words.

    The dream he had had for ages actually came true? And it happened so easily?!

    He even felt that this was too good to be true, and started to think that he might be dreaming.

    ¡°The realm where the Blood Spirit Sect was founded is currently in our sect¡¯s domain,¡± Fan Tianze added. ¡°I made arrangements before I came here. We¡¯ll return that realm to the Blood Spirit Sect, along with all of the other realms that were under its reign. Besides that, our sect will providepensation.¡±

    ¡°Allow me to thank you on behalf of the Blood Spirit Sect, Senior Fan,¡± Nie Tian hastily said.

    At this moment, Master Blood Spirit was so overwhelmed by his emotions that he couldn¡¯t speak.

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion...¡± Chu Rui from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce thought to himself as he fixed Nie Tian with aplicated look. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for him, I¡¯d bet the Blood Spirit Sect would never have had a chance to rectify its name. And those three sects would never have attached such importance to a sect they mistakenly wiped out, or its surviving sessor.

    ¡°I guess I can understand why the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect would do such a thing to win Nie Tian over, but Fan Tianze too?¡±

    Chu Rui couldn¡¯t figure out a reason for their strange actions.

    With a smile, Nie Tian turned to Luo Wanxiang and asked, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo, do you still think there¡¯s a problem with Master Blood Spirit practicing cultivation in my territory as my subordinate?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang didn¡¯t know how to respond.

    Guan Cong lost his temper and pointed at Li Langfeng. ¡°What about him?! The incantations he practices are very simr to the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s incantations! He must be a residual evil of the Heavenly Corpse Sect!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I can guarantee that the incantations he practices have nothing to do with the Heavenly Corpse Sect. As for the corpse aura he emanates, ites from a cluster of special mes I identally obtained from the Shatter Battlefield. The bottom line is that he hasn¡¯t received any legacy from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, nor has he refined any corpses.¡±

    ¡°But that aura...¡± Guan Cong attempted to argue.

    ¡°Enough!¡± Luo Wanxiang suddenly lifted his hand to stop Guan Cong from continuing. After a moment of pondering, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°Since the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion all came here to rectify the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s name, let¡¯s put an end to this matter with the Blood Spirit Sect and Master Blood Spirit. I¡¯ll speak of it no more.¡±

    Nie Tian tilted his chin slightly. ¡°There was nothing to say in the first ce.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang took another look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take my men away.¡±

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Luo Wanxiang turned around, shot a nce at Guan Cong and the others, and flew off to one of the berthed starships.

    Guan Cong sighed and followed along, looking deeply frustrated.

    After this incident, he had a strong feeling that Luo Wanxiang¡¯s authority in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would suffer a drastic decline.

    However, Nie Tian, who was still just a Son of the Stars, would be even more respected, so much so that no one would be able to stop his rise from now on.

    Luo Wanxiang wouldn¡¯t be able to, and neither would Chu Rui.

    The only ones whose prestige and authority remained higher than his were Ji Cang, who had been missing for a long time, and Mo Heng, who had also disappeared but was clearly on Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Considering this, who would still be able to stop Nie Tian from rising to the position of Lord of the Stars?

 Chapter 1185: Romantic Feelings

    Finally, Luo Wanxiang left with his subordinates.

    After gaining the acknowledgment of the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect, the Blood Spirit Sect was finally taken back by the human world, and could openly travel around the human domains once again.

    Master Blood Spirit was so emotional that he felt a strong urge to cry out at the top of his lungs.

    At the same time, the incantations Li Langfeng practiced and the fact that he wielded corpse power weren¡¯t mentioned again.

    Somewhat confused, Nie Tian walked up to Fan Tianze and asked, ¡°Senior Fan... Why did you help me?¡±

    He had a feeling that if it weren¡¯t for him, the Heaven Span Pavilion wouldn¡¯t have chosen to openly admit to their mistake in their handling of the Blood Spirit Sect at such a moment.

    Technically speaking, their misconduct on this matter was a scandal. Since they had already keep it a secret for so many years, why would they reveal it at such a time?

    ¡°First of all, the Blood Spirit Sect was treated unjustly,¡± Fan Tianze said. ¡°However, you¡¯re right. You are the main reason. If it weren¡¯t for you, our sect wouldn¡¯t have brought the truth to light, much less give those realms back to the Blood Spirit Sect and providepensation.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what confuses me.¡±

    He and He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion had never been fond of each other. In fact, there had been multiple conflicts between the two of them.

    The only other important member of the Heaven Span Pavilion he knew was Ye Wenhan, who he had met during the upheaval in the Shatter Battlefield. However, he didn¡¯t know him well.

    He couldn¡¯t figure out why Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion woulde all this way here to help him.

    ¡°Do you remember that I said that I might ask for your helpter?¡± Fan Tianze asked in a low voice.

    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± Nie Tian picked up his ears.

    After a moment of hesitation, Fan Tianze shook his head. ¡°Well... The time isn¡¯t right yet. I¡¯ll give it more thought. And when the timees, I¡¯ll go find you in your territory or in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters. I hope you¡¯ll grant me the favor, considering that I helped you frustrate those ¡®treasure-seekers¡¯ in the Shatter Battlefield and supported you on this matter regarding the Blood Spirit Sect.¡±

    Many were surprised by his words.

    He was a middle God domain expert whose status in the Heaven Span Pavilion was second only to Chu Yuan. With what could he possibly expect Nie Tian¡¯s help?

    In their eyes, Fan Tianze had always been a lone wolf. Back in the day, he had even given up the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s tremendous cultivation resources, along with the position of sectmaster.

    If he had put his heart into hispetition against Chu Yuan, he would have probably be the current sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion instead of him.

    The man had turned his back on supreme power in one of the four human powerhouses. Why on earth would he need to ask favors from Nie Tian, a rising Son of the Stars?

    Everyone found this baffling.

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before saying cheerily, ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s talk more when youe find me.¡±

    ¡°Good. I still have business to tend to. Farewell.¡± Fan Tianze seemed rather reticent.

    With these words, he nodded slightly towards Ji Yuanquan, Chu Rui, and the few other seniors, and flew off on his divine sword without saying a word.

    In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the distant sky.

    Wei Lai approached Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    He wanted to say something, but gave up on second thought, as if he had scruples since Ji Yuanquan and many others were still there.

    Ji Yuanquan smiled and turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°The sectmaster is rather concerned with your safety. He wants you to return to the sect as soon as possible. If you don¡¯t have other business here, let¡¯s head back. Also, he wants to hear what you¡¯ve gained from the special space created by that Star Behemoth.¡±

    Pei Qiqi turned her head towards Nie Tian. Veiled reluctance could be seen in her chilly, bright eyes.

    Most of the Qi warriors here were seasoned experts. Many of them noticed her feelings through her eyes.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go take care of your business first, Senior Martial Sister?¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Only then did Pei Qiqi nod and say to Ji Yuanquan, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡±

    With a casual wave of his hand, Ji Yuanquan split open a spatial rift, and those from the Void Spirit Society streamed into it.

    Before entering, Pei Qiqi turned her head back to take onest look at Nie Tian.

    As this happened, at a certain distance from Nie Tian and the others from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, where those from the Five Elements Sect were gathered, Hou Chn had aplicated expression as she watched this.

    Li Xinfen, who was an experienced elder of the wood element sect and a skilled alchemist, took a sideways nce at Hou Chn and whispered, ¡°You haven¡¯t fallen for Nie Tian as that girl from the Void Spirit Society has, have you?¡±

    Hou Chn snapped out of her daze and hastily said, ¡°How is that possible? I just have a feeling that she and Nie Tian would be a perfect match.¡±

    Li Xifen sighed. ¡°If I remember correctly, Nie Tian still has a fiancee named Dong Li from the Domain of the Falling Stars. Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and...¡±

    With these words, she took another deep look at Hou Chn and shook her head. ¡°That Son of the Stars is ady-killer. It goes without saying that his potential soars through the heavens. If there are no mishaps, he¡¯s bound to be the next Lord of the Stars. However, he might not be a good match for you.

    ¡°Ji Cang, Qu Yi, Chu Yuan... All of these figures that stand at the peak of power eventuallye to a point where they¡¯re too consumed with their cultivation to be distracted by the love between man and woman.

    ¡°As for the outsider grand monarchs, many of them wouldn¡¯t even leave offspring if it weren¡¯t to pass on their bloodline.

    ¡°The great Dao has no room for small love. This applies to humans, outsiders, and Ancientspirits alike. After their cultivation bases or grades reach the peak, they¡¯ll start to change. Family love, romantic love, and love between friends... They¡¯ll grow to lose all of them.

    ¡°In the end, all they have left in them will be their eternal pursuit for power.¡±

    With these words, some of Li Xinfen¡¯s memories seemed to be brought to the surface, making her emotional.

    Hou Chn drifted away in thought as she listened to her.

    ¡°Romantic love doesn¡¯t usuallyst,¡± Li Xifen added. ¡°Things may be better if you can keep up with him, and remain at the same level as him. Otherwise...¡±

    ¡°My cultivation base is higher than his!¡± Hou Chn eximed softly.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, but what about in the future?¡± Li Xinfen asked.

    Hou Chn took another nce at Nie Tian from afar. ¡°Given my cultivation talent, I may not necessarily fall behind.¡±

    ¡°But what if Pei Qiqi from the Void Spirit Society surpasses you?¡± Li Xifen put a damper on her aspirations.

    Hou Chn didn¡¯t know what to say. However, the look in her eyes grew stronger and stronger.

    Momentster, she approached Nie Tian and bid him farewell.

    Nie Tian expressed his gratitude for her and the experts from the Five Elements Sect foring all the way here to support him. He also learned from her that his grandfather and many members of the Nie n had been escorted back to the Realm of Shattered Earth after the crisis in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Soon, all of those who had traveled here from the Void Spirit Society and the Five Elements Sect left.

    Only at this moment did Wei Lai step over and say what he had been waiting to say. ¡°Nie Tian, you defeated Ophelia and stopped the Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield from turning into a devastating Heavenly Corpse. Your incredible performance in these events should trante into contribution points. However, Vice Sectmaster Luo refused to pass our application regarding your contribution points.¡±

    Chu Rui joined the conversation. ¡°The reason he gave was that you sheltered residual evil from the Blood Spirit Sect. But I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a problem now.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± Wei Lai chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s about time you received the contribution points you deserve.¡±

    ¡°How many contribution points are we talking about?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°About thirteen million.¡± Even Wei Lai himself seemed slightly shaken as he said these words, not to mention the others.

 Chapter 1186: Admiration

    As Sons of the Stars, even Fang Yuan and Wang Meijia couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Thirteen million?!¡±

    Only a few senior members, including Chu Rui, Wei Lai, and Yan Zhan, remainedposed, as if this was a fair reward.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°That many? How was the number determined?¡±

    As a Son of the Stars, he had fought many battles for the sect over the years. However, he had only umted no more than two million contribution points.

    Furthermore, he had already spent most of them on the rare cultivation materials that Jing Feiyang and his other subordinates had needed, such as that Heavenly Talisman.

    Currently, there were a considerable number ofte Void domain experts in his subordinate domains who had reached the point where they were ready to advance to the Saint domain.

    However,pared to entering the Void domain, entering the Saint domain required many more precious materials, some of which could only be found in the vaults of the four great sects.

    A copious amount of contribution points would allow Nie Tian to trade for all sorts of rare materials that would meet the needs of those who were attempting to break through into the Saint domain.

    If he used all thirteen million contribution points on his middle andte Void domain subordinates, it wouldn¡¯t be very long before many of them entered the Saint domain.

    The number of Saint domain subordinates was a crucial standard against which the Sons of the Star would be measured in order to determine the future Lord of the Stars.

    Wei Lai smiled and said, ¡°The whole calction process is ratherplicated. I¡¯d rather not bother you with the details. However, it was a meritorious deed for you to win your duel against Ophelia on the sect¡¯s behalf, and win the lost Heavenly Ster Stream back.

    ¡°This alone awarded you several million contribution points.

    ¡°Later, with that mysterious bone you have, youmunicated with the Star Behemoth that was turning into a Heavenly Corpse, and sent it back into the depths of the earth.

    ¡°Both you and your master are the reason why that cmity was ended before it killed us all.

    ¡°Since your master isn¡¯t a member of our sect, we¡¯ll remember his meritorious deed and the fact that we owe him a big favor.

    ¡°As for you, the contributions you¡¯ve made and your meritorious service to the sectbined roughly trante into thirteen million contribution points.

    ¡°You may visit our sect¡¯s Treasure Pavilion and unique cultivation venues and trade for the precious materials or cultivation services your subordinates need. Or you can simply give your Star Medallion to them and let them make the purchases themselves...¡± Wei Lai took his time to exin everything in detail.

    Li Jing and many others from the Blood Sect grew thrilled. ¡°Such arge amount of contribution points can be used to trade for all kinds of precious materials from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Li Jing was currently at a crucial stage in her advance to the Void domain. However, due to the uniqueness of the Blood Sect¡¯s incantations, she had to gather arge number of rare materials to forge her inner domain.

    Since Master Blood Spirit had been in trouble himself, he couldn¡¯t provide her with any assistance in finding those spiritual materials.

    This had frustrated him.

    However, as they heard that Nie Tian had won such arge amount of contribution points with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the two of them exchanged a nce, and felt a strong sense of relief.

    ¡°Besides Nie Tian¡¯s contribution points, we also have the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s promise,¡± Master Blood Spirit whispered. ¡°Since Fan Tianze said they¡¯ll return our sect¡¯s old realms to us, I¡¯ll take a trip to the Heaven Span Pavilion to see when we¡¯ll get those realms back, along with thatpensation they promised.¡±

    Li Jing shot a nce at Nie Tian, who was talking to Wei Lai, Chu Rui, and the other elders, aplicated expression appearing on her charming face. ¡°This is all thanks to Nie Tian...¡±

    She still remembered when she had first met Nie Tian. Back then, he had been nothing but a boy with a strong personality and unmatched luck.

    Who would have thought that less than a century had passed, and Nie Tian had already risen to such heights?

    Not only had he walked out of the Realm of me Heaven where he was from, but he had also made the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python his subordinate domains.

    The name of the seventh Son of the Stars even inspired fear across the outsider domains.

    Even though he was still a Son of the Stars, he had dared to confront Luo Wanxiang face-to-face, which had attracted support from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion at the same time.

    ¡°The boy I remember is gone...¡± Li Jing muttered to herself, a profound look appearing in the depths of her charming eyes.

    ¡°You finally won¡¯t have to hide anymore,¡± Nie Tian said in their direction. ¡°You¡¯re free to establish your headquarters anywhere in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, or the Domain of Heaven Python. Also, if you like, you may check the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s old realms, and see if you want to move there.¡±

    ¡°I see. I¡¯ll take a trip there soon.¡± Master Blood Spirit said respectfully.

    Compared to before, the respect he now held towards Nie Tian was much more heartfelt.

    Nie Tian looked at him, and felt that he would follow him wholeheartedly from now on even without the restrictive spell the Spirit Pearl had left in the deepest part of his soul.

    Like Li Langfeng, his loyalty to him would be beyond doubt.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright, make decisions as you see fit.¡± With these words, he turned to Jing Feiyang and his other subordinates. ¡°After you return to your domains, talk to thete Void domain cultivators that hope to enter the Saint domain, then make a list of the materials they need for their breakthroughs, so I can arrange for people to get those materials for them as soon as possible.¡±

    Jing Feiyang, Qu Mingde, and all of Nie Tian¡¯s other Saint domain subordinates were overjoyed to hear this and nodded repeatedly.

    Nie Tian then turned to Xie Qian and said, ¡°The same goes for you, Senior Xie.¡±

    Xie Qian, who had traveled a great distance to this ce, bowed, a faint smile appearing on his face. ¡°Many thanks.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s words meant that he nned to use his thirteen million contribution points to help his sect members as well.

    Because of Nie Tian, all of thete Void domain experts in his subordinate domains would be given an opportunity to enter the Saint domain.

    As for whether they would be able to enter the Saint domain sessfully, it wasn¡¯t for anyone to decide.

    Usually, one would have to spend a long time gathering the necessary materials before they could make the attempt to break through into the Saint domain.

    However, by obtaining such arge amount of contribution points, Nie Tian greatly shortened that time for them. This was a privilege of being subordinates to figures like Nie Tian.

    Thete Void domain members of the Divine Seal Sect, Thousandsword Mountain Sect, Golden Vast Sect, and Divine me Sect would be the first to benefit from that privilege.

    ¡°Come and find me in the Realm of Split Void when you¡¯re done.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned to bid farewell to Chu Rui and the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce one by one.

    Chu Rui had a pair of small beady eyes on his chubby face.

    After running his gaze over Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, Jing Feiyang, and the other Saint domain experts, he nodded and flew off into the dark starry river with Wang Meijia.

    Only after a while, when there was a significant distance between them and the others, did Chu Rui turn to Wang Meijia, who was surrounded by what seemed like miniature nebe, and say, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to support you anymore. But rather...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Wang Meijia said with an expressionless face. ¡°I understand.¡±

    As the fourth Son of the Stars, her greatest backer was Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui, since he was sworn friends with ate family member of hers.

    However, even so, she was aware that she didn¡¯t have apetitive edge over the other Sons of the Stars.

    There was Dou Tianchen, who had be a Son of the Stars before her, and Sikong Cuo, who had be a Son of the Stars after her.

    Now, Nie Tian hade along and showed his incredible talents.

    Her will to win thepetition against them had grown much weaker over the years.

    ¡°As long as Nie Tian is in the picture, I doubt that anyone else will have a chance.¡± Chu Rui analyzed the situation calmly. ¡°However, you still have a chance to be one of the vice sectmasters in the future as I did. Sometimes we have to learn to ept our fate.

    ¡°You saw it yourself. Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates are already rather strong.

    ¡°If he spends all of his thirteen million contribution points on histe Void domain subordinates, many of them will advance to the Saint domain.

    ¡°How long has it been since he joined our sect? However, with such arge number of Saint domain subordinates, his force is already every bit as strong as anyone else¡¯s. Even Sikong Cuo is outshone by him due to his recent losses.

    ¡°Not only does he have Mo Heng¡¯s support, but important figures from the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Five Elements Sect, and the Void Spirit Society favor him as well.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, who could win apetition against him?¡±

    Wang Meijia sagged her head and said, ¡°That¡¯s enough. I know that I don¡¯t stand a chance anymore.¡±

    Chu Rui sighed. ¡°Perhaps you can do what Fang Yuan is doing to cultivate a close rtionship with Nie Tian. Of course, I¡¯m not saying that you should pursue him. However, as long as you demonstrate that you¡¯re his friend, and not an enemy, you¡¯ll definitely have a ce in the sect when hees to power.¡±

    Wang Meijia nodded and said bitterly, ¡°Even Luo Wanxiang backed off. Of course I wouldn¡¯t want to stand in his way.¡±

    Chu Rui sighed again. ¡°I guess I should do the same. If Ji Yuanquan, Fan Tianze, and those from the Five Elements Sect hadn¡¯te all this way to support Nie Tian, I might have waited and seen if I could put up a fight. But now, seeing his subordinates grow stronger and stronger, and his own strength and cultivation base advance by leaps and bounds, I can only find a way to ept my failure.¡±

    ¡°I guess me too,¡± Wang Meijia said.

    Chu Rui let out a sigh of relief. ¡°I¡¯m d that you see it this way. I was worried that you wouldn¡¯t let go, and do something rash and ruin your rtionship with him.¡±

    ¡°You worry too much,¡± Wang Meijia said. ¡°If someone were to do such a thing it would be Sikong Cuo, not me.¡±

    Chu Rui narrowed his eyes. ¡°Sikong Cuo... He never showed up again since he gained the Heavenly Ster Stream. If there are no mishaps, he must have made significant advances in both his strength and cultivation base with its help. Perhaps he¡¯s the only one who can still threaten Nie Tian¡¯s leading position. However, the way I see it, he doesn¡¯t have good odds either.

    ¡°It¡¯ll probably be fine if he builds up his own strength without ying any tricks. But if he insists on scheming against and undermining Nie Tian, even Luo Wanxiang may not be able to protect him.¡±

    Wang Meijia pondered briefly, then asked, ¡°Now that Sikong Cuo has the Heavenly Ster Stream, will he be able to win a duel against Nie Tian?¡±

    Chu Rui took a moment to think before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know. It seems that Nie Tian¡¯s experience from the depths of the Shatter Battlefield will help him enter the Void domain soon. However, that¡¯s not what makes him hard to beat. Instead, it¡¯s his mysterious tools, bloodline, and his other secrets which we don¡¯t even know about.¡±

 Chapter 1187: Each Has Their Own Fortune

    In a secluded area in the Realm of a Hundred Battles where the dark stone was kept.

    As soon as Nie Tian approached on his Star Boat, his bloodline allowed him to shrewdly sense an immense flesh aura.

    An enormous being seemed to be breathing dark power and strengthening itself in the depths of pitch-ck darkness underneath him.

    Not just that, but there seemed to be something familiar in its aura.

    Nie Tian suddenly realized what that enormous being was. ¡°That¡¯s the ck tortoise!¡±

    It was none other than the expanded eighth grade ck tortoise, which had hatched with the help of his Blood Essence and grown by gradually devouring Dong Li¡¯s dark power.

    Therefore, in some sense, it was a child of him and Dong Li.

    After fighting numerous battles in different parts of the starry river, Nie Tian hade to a fairly deep understanding of Ancientbeasts and spirit beasts.

    However, he still hadn¡¯t figured out the origin of this ck tortoise¡¯s mysterious dark bloodline, or what kind of Ancientbeasts might be its ancestors.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat came to stop over a dome ofplete darkness that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    As he activated his life bloodline and sensed it with rapt attention, he discovered that the ck tortoise¡¯s aura suddenly burst forth from the depths of the darkness.

    RUMBLE!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rumble echoed out.

    Immediately afterwards, the expanded ck tortoise surfaced from the darkness, presenting itself before him like a pitch-ck mountain.

    Seeing that the ck tortoise had be many timesrger since thest time they had met, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim softly, ¡°What the...?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s almost asrge as a full-grown titan now. It¡¯s evenrger than the eighth grade dragons and Ancientbeasts I saw in the Dead Star Sea, and its flesh aura seems to be stronger too...

    ¡°This is incredible! Don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s something very special about this ck tortoise¡¯s origin.

    ¡°Is it possible that it carries the bloodline of a Star Behemoth? Could it be the hybrid offspring of a Star Behemoth and some ancient creature?

    ¡°Otherwise, it shouldn¡¯t be thisrge...¡±

    Nie Tian drifted away in thought.

    Since that Star Behemoth bone was still in dormancy, he couldn¡¯t awaken it in order for it to answer his questions.

    However, the enormousness of this ck tortoise made him suspect it carried a Star Behemoth bloodline.

    At this moment, Dong Li¡¯s lovely voice came from the darkness. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    SHEW!

    In a sh, she appeared before him like a dark goddess, wreathed in a faint dark aura.

    As she approached, the light around her seemed to be devoured bit by bit.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Only after she called out softy did it stop.

    Her curvy waist shook briefly, and the dark aura wreathing her disappeared into her like streams of ck water.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck. Only after a moment did he snap out of his daze. He took a deep look at her and said, ¡°Even though I can tell that you¡¯re at the Soul realm, I can¡¯t tell which stage of the Soul realm you¡¯re currently at.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in transformation from the middle to thete Soul realm,¡± Dong Li said with a light tone. ¡°I should be able to enter thete Soul realm in two weeks.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°How did you make such rapid advances in your cultivation?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve entered thete Soul realm yourself, haven¡¯t you?¡± Dong Li responded with a question.

    ¡°That¡¯s not the same,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°I found a unique space created by a Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield, where I gathered enough power, but you...¡±

    With a hearty smile, Dong Li said, ¡°You had your fortune, and I had mine.¡±

    A confused look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    ¡°Let me show you.¡± With these words, Dong Li pointed down at the boundless darkness underneath them.

    The darkness had spread for thousands of kilometers, enveloping everything it hade across, including mountains, rivers, andkes.

    However, as Dong Li wove her hands in the air, she seemed to be able to shape and manipte such darkness.

    Still puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What is it that you want to show me?¡±

    Dong Li once again pointed at the endless darkness below. ¡°I¡¯ve fused that dark stone we obtained from the Demon realms into my dantian region. It has merged with my dark power core, which allows me to release and withdraw it freely.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    She had actually fused the unique treasure into herself like he had done with the Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree.

    Furthermore, that dark stone should be every bit as powerful as his Nine Stars Flower, me spark, and Godspirit Tree, if not more powerful.

    After all, it had helped a mighty Demon enter the tenth grade before it had been taken from the Demon realms.

    ¡°How does it feel to merge with the dark stone?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    A fascinated look appeared on Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°It feels wonderful. I have a feeling that I won¡¯t meet any cultivation barriers during my breakthroughs for a while. As long as I can umte enough dark power and soul power, those breakthroughs will happen naturally. Besides, with every day I spend deriving enlightenment from the dark stone, my understanding of dark power deepens.

    ¡°It seems to me that this mysterious stone can help any beings that have awakened dark power, such as Demons, ck phoenixes, ck dragons, and cultivators like me.

    ¡°As long as they can win its acknowledgment, they¡¯ll be able to benefit from it to an incredible extent.¡±

    Nie Tian listened attentively as she spoke, and suddenly realized that that dark stone had a lot inmon with the river of time, from which his master, Wu Ji, had benefited greatly.

    Nie Tian pointed at the ck tortoise. ¡°What about it then?¡±

    With a sweet smile, Dong Li said, ¡°Like me, it has also benefited a great deal from the dark stone. However, it still has yet to feed. Only by consuming spirit beasts or outsiders with vigorous flesh auras will it be able to make further advances in its bloodline.

    ¡°However, now that I¡¯ve fused the dark stone into my dark power core, I don¡¯t have to spend all my time practicing cultivation anymore.

    ¡°So if you need me for anything, I can travel around and help you now.¡±

    With these words, Dong Li tapped her forehead hand. ¡°Oh, right. Zhao Shanling seems to have found something in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. He told me that he¡¯d like to see you when you return from the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡± Nie Tian immediately thought of the mysterious spatial patterns they had discovered in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins.

    ¡°Take this Star Medallion, will you?¡± he said. ¡°Jing Feiyang and the others will take some time to make a list of the materials they wish to purchase from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I¡¯m hoping you can help them with that. As you know, I¡¯m not good at things like that...¡±

    With a dry smile, Nie Tian handed Dong Li his Star Medallion.

    ording to Wei Lai, whoever held his Star Medallion would be able to trade for any precious materials they wanted from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce using his contribution points.

    Furthermore, since everyone knew about his rtionship with Dong Li, no one would question her.

    Dong Li grabbed the Star Medallion without hesitation. ¡°No problem. I¡¯m good at things like that. However, I also want to go check out this discovery of Zhao Shanling¡¯s in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    ¡°Sure, why not?¡±

    ...

    In the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Zhao Shanling was sitting on stony ground that was as hard as metal. Deep carvings could be seen on the smooth surface, emanating curious light.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    His fingers were moving along the lines in a seemingly unconscious fashion.

    His eyes were closed, as if he was sensing something with rapt attention.

    Before long, his hands that were moving separately suddenly met at a spot in front of him.

    SPLASH!

    A sparkling aura suddenly rose into the air from the spatial patterns that had been carved in the stony ground.

    Like a spiritual snake, it slithered about in front of Zhao Shanling, drawing a brand new spatial spell in the air.

    Soon, a unique artistic formation came to shape.

    ¡°It must be a portal that connects to somewhere. However, I can¡¯t seem to reach the other side of it with my soul awareness...¡± Zhao Shanling muttered as he separated his fingers. As soon as he did, the mysterious spell formation vanished, leaving not a single trace in the air.

    He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m just a step away from entering the Saint domain. I guess I shouldn¡¯t take risks in a strange area at such a moment.¡±

    Reluctant to give up, he activated the spell formation a few more times. However every time, he called it off, instead of stepping into it.

    Through Nie Tian, he had already gathered all of the spiritual materials he needed to make his breakthrough into the Saint domain, including Barrier Breaking Pills.

    Plus, he had benefited a great deal from these unique spatial patterns. He was confident that he would be able to make the breakthrough within a short time, and be a legend in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Perhaps this was the reason why he was so unusually cautious with this unknown portal.

    While he was torn with indecision, Nie Tian and Dong Li suddenly arrived. ¡°You wanted to see me?¡±

 Chapter 1188: A Sudden Inspiration

    An overjoyed look shed across Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°You came back from the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Surprised by his words, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ve been back for a while now. Didn¡¯t you hear that Luo Wanxiang¡¯s subordinates imprisoned the Blood Sect disciples and Li Langfeng in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven?¡±

    Dumbfounded, Zhao Shanling shook his head and said, ¡°No, I didn¡¯t.¡±

    Dong Li smiled. ¡°I¡¯d be surprised if he did. It seems that he¡¯s never left this ce since we got back from the space disruption zone.¡±

    A spirited look appeared on Zhao Shanling¡¯s bewildered face. ¡°That¡¯s right. I spent a long time studying these spatial patterns. Now look...¡±

    With these words, he ran his fingers through the carved lines on the hard stony ground in a particr manner.

    As he did, theplicated carvings on the stony ground started to emanate a mysterious light, along with intense spatial fluctuations.

    Soon, the profound spatial spell formation appeared once again.

    Like a glowing millstone, it floated vertically in front of Zhao Shanling, Nie Tian, and Dong Li.

    Countless interweaving rays of light constituted the spell formation, inside of which even brighter lines could be seen. The unusual spatial fluctuations it emanated suggested that living beings could travel through it.

    Intrigued, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Is it an essible teleportation portal? This is why you asked me toe find you, right? Have you entered it or sensed the situation on the other side of it?¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled bitterly and shook his head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t enter it. And I can¡¯t tell where it connects by sensing it from this side.¡±

    ¡°What stopped you from entering it?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    ¡°I¡¯m just one step away from another breakthrough in my cultivation.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling straightened his back in confidence. ¡°I¡¯m going to be the first cultivator from the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Saint domain. Also, my mastery of spatial power will rise to a whole new level once I advance to the Saint domain. So I thought I¡¯d go check out what¡¯s on the other side of this portal then.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, even if you enter the Saint domain now, you wouldn¡¯t be the first from the Domain of the Falling Stars to do so,¡± Nie Tian said with a sincere expression.

    Zhao Shanling was taken aback, his chin tilting. ¡°I won¡¯t? Who would it be then? Fan Kai?¡±

    ¡°No, my master,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Upon hearing these words, both Zhao Shanling and Dong Li were bbergasted.

    The two of them had remained in the Domain of the Falling Stars since their return from the space disruption zone, while Nie Tian had gone to the Shatter Battlefield, where he had found Wu Ji.

    It had turned out that Wu Ji had stayed and practiced cultivation by the river of time since he had first discovered it.

    For this reason, many in the Domain of the Falling Stars had forgotten about him.

    ¡°Your master, Wu Ji, entered the Saint domain?¡± Zhao Shanling eximed with a grim face.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°That¡¯s right. He advanced to the Saint domain in the Shatter Battlefield. So the Domain of the Falling Stars already has its first Saint domain cultivator.¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t see thising. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s him...¡± Zhao Shanling muttered to himself. ¡°However, he practices time power, which sets him apart from all the others. If he has actually entered the Saint domain thanks to the profound enlightenment he derived from the river of time in the Shatter Battlefield, I¡¯m afraid his future will be beyond measure.¡±

    Dong Li also found this hard to believe.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian pointed at the spatial formation in the air. ¡°What do you want us to do with this spatial formation? Do you want us to enter it with you? Do you want to go now, or after you enter the Saint domain?¡±

    Zhao Shanling grew hesitant again.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t even sure about that?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°No,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a grim face. ¡°Perhaps after I enter the Saint domain. I have scruples about us entering now. If the Pei girl was here, her unique spatial treasure might be able to take us in there and back safely.¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯re confident in the trip yourself, let¡¯s not go now.¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t want to dwell on the matter. ¡°We can revisit the topicter. I can go find Senior Martial Sister Pei after you make up your mind.¡±

    Surprised, Zhao Shanling asked, ¡°She¡¯s not here?¡±

    The reason he had asked Nie Tian toe to this ce was because he had assumed that Pei Qiqi woulde with him. That way, it would be fairly safe to take this exploration trip even before he entered the Saint domain.

    ¡°She was summoned back to her sect,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Zhao Shanling seemed somewhat disappointed. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s wait till she¡¯s got time.¡±

    ¡°A spell formation that connects to an unknown destination...¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    He suddenly remembered the Green Illusion Dimension trial he had taken ages ago. During the trial, he had discovered a spell formation made of several stone columns carved with me dragons and ice dragons at the bottom of ake. A Frost Python had left the Green Illusion Dimension through it, while he had benefited a great deal from it.

    With these thoughts, he said, ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll show you to a ce.¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± Zhao Shanling asked curiously.

    ¡°A portal that may connect to an Ancientbeast heaven and earth,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°However, I¡¯m not sure whether it¡¯s still essible.¡±

    ¡°A portal that may connect to an Ancientbeast heaven and earth?¡± Zhao Shanling was instantly intrigued.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Realm of me Heaven first,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Sure.¡± With the help of the teleportation portals, their trip from the Realm of Unbounded Destion to the Realm of me Heaven took only a brief moment.

    Soon, Zhao Shanling, Nie Tian, and Dong Li arrived at the Spiritual Treasure Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Scarlet me Mountain Range, where Nie Tian hoped to ask the sectmaster of the Spiritual Treasure Sect about the entrance of the Green Illusion Dimension.

    Now, many years had passed. Pan Hongzhen had taken the position of sectmaster of the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    As Pan Bai¡¯s father, Pan Hongzhen had originally been the grand elder of the Spiritual Treasure Sect. The fact that he had been able to rise to the position of the sectmaster had a great deal to do with Nie Tian.

    It was just that Nie Tian didn¡¯t know about that.

    As soon as Pan Hongzhen learned about Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, he rushed out of the main pavilion and called out excitedly, ¡°Nie Tian! Miss Dong!¡±

    A few others that Nie Tian found familiar appeared after him, among whom was Fang Hui. However, Pan Bai, who Nie Tian was the most familiar with, didn¡¯t show up.

    ncing over the familiar faces, Nie Tian felt as if he had traveled back in time.

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Senior Fang.¡±

    Fang Hui hastily waved his hands. ¡°No, no, no. I dare not ept the honor. Given your current status, I didn¡¯t expect you to evere to the Spiritual Treasure Sect again. Your presence brings light to our humble sect.

    ¡°Right, what brings you here?¡± Pan Hongzhen asked. ¡°What could we possibly have that you want?¡±

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t visited the Spiritual Treasure Sect since he had left the Domain of the Falling Stars. The few times he had returned to the Domain of the Falling Stars, he had either gone to find his master, Wu Ji, in the Cloudsoaring Sect, or headed towards the spatial rifts that had connected to the Demon realms. Not once had he visited the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    Now that he suddenly showed up, they were both surprised and slightly worried.

    ¡°Have things changed with the Green Illusion Dimension?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°I¡¯d like to go there and take a look.¡±

    Pan Hongzhen was taken aback. ¡°The Green Illusion Dimension? It doesn¡¯t even count as a realm. Why do you want to go? All of the spirit beasts in the Green Illusion Dimension are at very low grades. There¡¯s nothing there worth your attention.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s a special formation that may lead to somewhere interesting. I¡¯m going to take a look at it.¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°I came across it many years ago during a trial. I never had a chance to revisit it after that. Earlier, I suddenly remembered it, and thought I mighte check it out.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take you there.¡± Fang Hui said voluntarily.

 Chapter 1189: A Forgotten Spell Formation in an Arcane Dimension

    Many years had passed, and Nie Tian entered the Green Illusion Dimension again, but this time escorted by Fang Hui from the Spiritual Treasure Sect.

    He still remembered the time when he had taken a trial here. He had been at Qi Refining stage back then. Only because of An Shiyi had he been given a chance to enter this arcane dimension.

    The images of him fighting Yu Tong and the others from the Blood Sect and Ghost Sect here surfaced in his mind, even though a long time had passed since they had taken ce.

    Seeing that he drifted away in thought, Fang Hui, who was standing next to him, could only wait in silence.

    After a while, Zhao Shanling started to lose his patience, and asked, ¡°Where are we going?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you.¡± Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and flew forward, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    The desert, theke, the muddy entrance, and thekebottom pce...

    Nie Tian took Zhao Shanling and the others all the way to the pce that was located under thekebottom in the middle of a desert. He did it with such ease that he seemed to know the path very well.

    Nothing seemed to have changed in the pce.

    The twelve stone columns still stood towering, while the prismatic altar surrounded by the stone columns seemed to be exactly the same as thest time Nie Tian had been here.

    Numerous grooves could be seen in the ckish-brown altar, where translucent, sparkling beast bones used to be kept. However, they had been drained of their power when the Frost Python had left, as they had been the source of power for the unique teleportation portal that was the prismatic altar.

    It was also from those beast bones that Nie Tian had benefited and made progress in his cultivation.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Upon seeing the twelve stone columns with dragon carvings and the altar in the middle of the spacious underground pce, Zhao Shanling, Dong Li, and Fang Hui all gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°I had no idea there was such a curious ce down here!¡± Fang Hui marveled.

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Did you find it during your trial?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°Yeah. I made significant advances in my cultivation here too. And that Frost Python left the Green Illusion Dimension through that prismatic altar.¡±

    Dong Li also found this fascinating. ¡°The Green Illusion Dimension is merely an arcane dimension, which doesn¡¯t even qualify as a realm. Who would have thought that there would be such a unique teleportation portal in a low-grade arcane dimension like this?¡±

    She touched and knocked on the stone columns as she circled around them. ¡°All of them are carved with dragons. Six me dragons and six frost dragons...¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°They seem to be the work of Ancientbeasts.¡±

    ¡°Do you know how to activate this altar?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    With an arrogant smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Altars like this have far fewer secrets than the spatial patterns we found in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. What this Ancientbeast teleportation altarcks are only materials that contain spatial power. And after I make some small adjustments to its settings, we¡¯ll be able to activate it.¡±

    ¡°The Frost Python left through this altar. I wonder where it leads.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°No problem. Just give me a moment to make the adjustments.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling first filled the grooves on the altar with Space Spirit Jades and other stones that contained spatial power. Then, he circled around the twelve stone columns in an attempt to figure out the spatial wonders within them.

    At the same time, driven by curiosity, Fang Hui and Dong Li walked around in the spacious pce.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly summoned the me Dragon Armor from within his ring of holding.

    Wreathed in zing mes, the me Dragon Armor instantly raised the temperature in the underground pce to a great extent.

    Immediately afterwards, the six stone columns that were carved with me dragons turned crimson.

    At this moment, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul voice echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. Apparently, it was surprised to discover that the me dragons carved on those six stone columns carried auras that were simr to its own.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Six streams of fiery light suddenly shot out of the me Dragon Armor into the six stone columns.

    From the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian learned that the me dragons carved on the stone columns contained me dragon flesh auras, although such auras were almost too weak to detect.

    Perhaps it was because they had dissipated over the years, or because the flesh auras had been consumed to a great deal after the previous teleportation.

    Many years ago, when Nie Tian had touched these stone columns for the first time, he had found them bursting with unbelievable me power and benefited from them. But now, the me power and flesh auras they contained were nothing to him.

    Instead of benefiting from them, he had to strengthen the flesh auras within them with his me Dragon Armor.

    Zhao Shanling nodded and said, ¡°Hmm, it might be helpful to fuse these stone columns with me power. However, you should know that the other six stone columns are of the frost attribute. All these stone columns and the prismatic altar promote each other. The me power and frost power within these stone columns support the altar; they need to be bnced.¡±

    While casually exining this to Nie Tian, he took out a handful of crystals that were wreathed in frosty mist from within his ring of holding.

    CRACK!

    After he crushed them with his hand, ice shards that looked like fragmentary diamonds streamed into the six stone columns that were carved with frost dragons.

    Being infused with frost power, the six stone columns instantly became wreathed in thick frosty mist, and the frost dragons on them became incredibly lifelike.

    BOOM!

    At this moment, the prismatic altar suddenly lit up and emanated intense spatial fluctuations.

    Standing by the altar, Zhao Shanling kept running his knife-like fingers on it, as if to gently adjust its settings, so that the destination could be locked down for their uing teleportation.

    ¡°Nie Tian, is your master still in the Shatter Battlefield?¡± Fang Hui suddenly asked.

    He and Wu Ji had been sworn friends. Back when Nie Tian had visited the Spiritual Treasure Sect, Fang Hui had helped him on various asions for the sake of his friendship with Wu Ji.

    Later, Wu Ji had apanied him to the Realm of Unbounded Destion to participate in the equipment forger convention in the Tool Sect.

    He knew that Wu Ji hadn¡¯t returned since he had entered the Shatter Battlefield. Every time he thought of him, he would worry for his safety.

    ¡°Thank you for asking. My master has entered the Saint domain.¡± Nie Tian answered, beaming.

    Fang Hui was bbergasted. ¡°The Saint domain?! He¡¯s entered the Saint domain?! How is that possible?!¡±

    Wu Ji had been at the Soul realm when they hadst met. He was well-aware of how many cultivation barriers needed to be broken if one wanted to make the advances from the Soul realm to the Void domain, and eventually the Saint domain.

    While he was still at the middle Soul realm, which was a significant distance from the Void domain, his sworn friend, Wu Ji, had already entered the Saint domain?

    How could Fang Hui not be bbergasted?

    ¡°It¡¯s understandable that you find this hard to believe. I did too.¡± Nie Tian said with an understanding tone. ¡°My master¡¯s incredibly fast advances in his cultivation are thanks to the river of time he found in the Shatter Battlefield. He has been practicing cultivation by it this whole time. That¡¯s why he¡¯s made such rapid advances without running into any cultivation barriers.¡±

    Still overwhelmed, Fang Hui muttered with zed eyes, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s the first from the Domain of the Falling Stars to enter the Saint domain...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Zhao Shanling called out and beckoned for Nie Tian and Dong Li toe over to him. After the two of them joined him on the altar, he said, ¡°If you want to, we can go take a look at the heaven and earth on the other side of this portal right now.¡±

    ¡°You were rather apprehensive in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Why are you suddenly so confident?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    ¡°This portal is much simpler,¡± Zhao Shanling exined. ¡°I can send a wisp that¡¯s a mixture of my spatial power and soul awareness through it. So I have every reason to believe that I can get us there and back safely. Inparison, that spatial formation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion is far tooplicated. I couldn¡¯t send any power through it, which made me uncertain.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sure. Activate the portal. Let¡¯s go take a look at the heaven and earth on the other side.¡±

    At this moment, Fang Hui snapped out of his daze and joined them on the altar. As soon as he did, the spell formation thrummed to life.

 Chapter 1190: A Surprise

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    As rays of glorious light shot out of the altar, blinding light enveloped Nie Tian and the others.

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was triggered. Intense flesh power burst forth, filling his surroundings.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhao Shanling eximed.

    At the same time, he summoned the Voidspirit Pagoda. Like fierce fish, countless spatial des flew out of the pagoda, as if to help him defend against some restrictive spell.

    Dong Li also frowned, light-devouring darkness instantly filling the depths of her eyes.

    ¡°A restrictive force is stopping us from using this altar!¡± Taken aback, Fang Hui hastily cast a fire magic. As he did, numerous earthme crystal strings flew out of him and wove into a fiery spell formation in front of him like human meridians.

    BOOM!

    The fiery spell formation was broken, and Fang Hui was thrown out of the prismatic altar.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streams of fierce mes and frigid frost shot out of the twelve surrounding stone columns, fusing into the prismatic altar.

    Fang Hui was stopped from entering again.

    Blinding light eventually engulfed the entire altar.

    ¡°Such a strange force.¡± Zhao Shanling smiled coldly as the Voidspirit Pagoda spun unceasingly over his head, sending even more glowing spatial des down into the prismatic altar they were standing on.

    The ck tortoise, which had slumbered in Dong Li¡¯s ring of holding for quite some time, slowly crawled out in its shrunken form.

    The ck tortoise¡¯s dark bloodline was also automatically triggered.

    Its bloodline seemed to interact with the dark stone inside of Dong Li, and released a mysterious pitch-ck ward that enveloped her.

    All of a sudden, a strong gravitational force was born, causing Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Zhao Shanling to shudder.

    In the next moment, the three of them disappeared from Fang Hui¡¯s sight, who was excluded from the altar.

    ...

    In an unknown heaven and earth.

    A heavy rain was pouring down. However, instead of being clear, the rain was murky like sewage.

    Lightning bolts ripped through the grayish heavens over their heads, giving rise to deafening rolls of thunder. Everyone felt a mild pain in their ears.

    An ancient altar made of the bones of some unknown beasts sat alone in the middle of a boundless opennd, which was now being deluged by the madly-pouring rain.

    Nie Tian strained his sight, and saw a number of crude but unusually enormous pces in the distance.

    All of them looked simr to the underground pce in the Green Illusion Dimension, where they had juste from.

    The only difference was that most of the pces here had toppled. Many huge rocks in the ruins hadplicated patterns engraved on them.

    Among the patterns there were titans, dragons, Ancientbeasts, and all kinds of odd-looking nts and creatures from the Deste Antiquity Era.

    Dong Li came out of her bewilderment and asked, her charming face filled with amazement, ¡°Where is this ce? Are we still in the human world? I had a feeling that I was rejected by the spell formation when it started. If it weren¡¯t for this little one...¡±

    She looked down at the ck tortoise. ¡°If its flesh aura didn¡¯t work its magic, I doubt I¡¯d have been able to pass through.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°I felt a strong restrictive force as well. But luckily, I practice spatial power, and my Voidspirit Pagoda has its unique wonders. Most importantly, I sent a wisp of my soul awareness here before the actual teleportation. All of this yed a part in my sessful entrance.

    ¡°As for where we are, I can¡¯t tell whether we¡¯re in a human heaven and earth or not either.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed rather calm as he joined the conversation. ¡°I didn¡¯t feel any restrictions.¡±

    ¡°Powerful outsiders and Ancientspirits lived in our domains long ago,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°They were only driven out after the rise of humanity. However, they hid many teleportation portals or unique spatial tunnels before they left. Since they were worried that humans would invade through those teleportation portals and spatial tunnels, they built restriction spells into them.

    ¡°You only didn¡¯t feel rejected because you¡¯re different from us.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah, I know. Will you be able to use this altar to send us back to the Green Illusion Dimension?¡±

    ¡°Sure, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Zhao Shanling said with great confidence. ¡°I have plenty of materials with me. I just need a bit of time to figure out the secrets of this altar.¡±

    ¡°Alright, why don¡¯t you get on with it, while I do a brief scan of the vicinity?¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Li chimed in. ¡°I¡¯ll look around too.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian formed Star Eyes by summoning power from his star souls and mixing it with his soul power. Like floating shining eyes, they flew off in different directions.

    Now that Nie Tian had entered thete Soul realm, both the perception and detection range of his Star Eyes had developed to arge extent.

    Through his nine Star Eyes, he could see and capture all sorts of soul auras and spiritual auras.

    ¡°You go too.¡± With these words, Nie Tian summoned the misty, cyan Spirit Pearl, which unleashed evil spirits that whizzed off in all directions.

    Even the me Dragon Armor was summoned from within his ring of holding, and morphed into a streak of mes that disappeared into the distance.

    Then, he pondered briefly, and activated his life bloodline.

    As soon as he did, he had an iparably peculiar feeling, something he had never felt before.

    He felt that everything in this unknown ce, including the earth, the heavens, the air, and the pouring rain, contained faint flesh power.

    This entire heaven and earth seemed to have been transformed from the flesh aura of some creature.

    He turned to Zhao Shanling and shared his discovery with him. ¡°I have a feeling that everything in this ce is made of faint flesh aura.¡±

    Zhao Shanling pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying with a suspecting tone, ¡°I have a simr feeling. I have a feeling that this entire heaven and earth was transformed from the thick flesh aura sea of an Ancientspirit. Something seems to have triggered it and caused it to go through such great changes.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°So is this ce simr to a human Qi warrior¡¯s domain?¡±

    ¡°Sort of.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling nced around. ¡°However, as far as I know, for an Ancientspirit¡¯s flesh aura sea to be able to transform into a heaven and earth like this, that Ancientspirit is probably at the tenth grade. Only the flesh aura sea of a tenth grade Ancientbeast can interact with nature and change in such an incredible way.¡±

    ¡°Transformed from the flesh aura sea of tenth grade Ancientspirit...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself, suddenly remembering the unique space created by that Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, this ce seemed very different from that independent space.

    That space could gather and channel all sorts of energies from the world that sat above it, then refine them and put them to use.

    However, he didn¡¯t see such a feature in the heaven and earth he was currently in.

    At the same time, his nine Star Eyes flew farther and farther from him.

    Through them, he saw more toppled magnificent stone pces and broken mountains. However, he didn¡¯t see or detect a single living creature.

    ¡°If that Frost Python actually came here, is it still alive?¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    His Star Eyes continued to whizz towards more remote locations, searching for secrets to reveal.

    Dong Li jumped onto the ck tortoise¡¯s back and flew off like a cluster of ck clouds, as if she was trying to find something.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl, me Dragon Armor, Star Eyes, and life bloodline worked at the same time.

    After an unknown period of time, one of his Star Eyes caught Dong Li¡¯s exmation.

    That Star Eye instantly flew to her location.

    That was when he saw a familiar face in this strange heaven and earth through that Star Eye: Yin Yanan, the chosen one from the Beast-controlling Sect, who had a hybrid Frost Blood Python as her pet.

 Chapter 1191: An Old Promise

    Dong Li was dumbstruck the moment she saw Yin Yanan. ¡°It¡¯s you! Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    Yin Yanan was also taken aback.

    Her Frost Blood Python coiled up right next to her, raising its head high.

    After so many years, the Frost Blood Python¡¯s bloodline had already advanced from the eighth grade to the ninth grade.

    Judging by its grade, its strength should match that of a Saint domain human expert.

    Dong Qisong, the sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect, was only at the early Saint domain.

    Due to the close historical connections between the Dong n and the Beast-controlling Sect, Dong Li, Dong Baijie, and many youngsters from the Dong n had practiced cultivation in the Beast-controlling Sect.

    It was also because of this that Dong Li and Yin Yanan had long since gotten over their previous misunderstandings and made up with each other.

    After the destruction of the Dong n¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of a Hundred Battles, many members of the Dong n had chosen to join the Beast-controlling Sect. Therefore, the bond between Dong Li and the Beast-controlling Sect had grown even stronger.

    The Beast-controlling Sect had also benefited from Dong Li¡¯s special rtionship with Nie Tian.

    Yin Yanan also found their encounter uncanny. ¡°Howe you came here too?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Thezy ck tortoise breathed heavily by Dong Li¡¯s feet, its small, beady eyes fixed on the Frost Blood Python.

    The ck tortoise was still at the eighth grade.

    Given their grades, the ninth grade Frost Blood Python should be stronger than the eighth grade ck tortoise.

    However, under the ck tortoise¡¯s gaze, the Frost Blood Python somehow started to cower, as if it wanted to hide behind Yin Yanan.

    Yin Yanan turned to fix the Frost Blood Python with a confused look. Astonishment rapidly filled her heart.

    The Frost Blood Python was a hybrid. It rarely attached any importance to other spirit beasts at its grade.

    After it had entered the ninth grade, even the early Saint domain Dong Qisong, the current sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect, had been cautious when facing it.

    This proved that even Dong Qisong felt threatened by the ninth grade Frost Blood Python.

    However, the ninth grade Frost Blood Python now couldn¡¯t help but cower in front of the eighth grade ck tortoise. What did this mean?

    When Yin Yananid her eyes on the ck tortoise again, the look in her eyes changed.

    SHEW!

    Just as she was about to say something, Nie Tian arrived on his Star Boat.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± An exmation escaped Yin Yanan¡¯s mouth, and she flushed slightly, as if she suddenly remembered something.

    As the Star Boatnded, Nie Tian took a quick nce at Yin Yanan, and instantly realized that she had made significant advances in her cultivation. ¡°You¡¯ve entered the Soul realm. Congrattions.¡±

    He remembered that she had only been at the Profound realm thest time they had met.

    It was rather impressive that she had managed to advance to the Soul realm within such a short time.

    After Nie Tian mentioned her cultivation, Yin Yanan became even more ufortable. She even started to stutter.

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before suddenly remembering something. An amused look appeared in his eyes.

    He remembered that back in the day, Yin Yanan had imed that if one day his cultivation base surpassed hers, she would let him get intimate with her.

    It seemed that Yin Yanan had never expected that Nie Tian, who practiced me power, star power, and wood power at the same time, could grow so fast that his cultivation base actually rose above hers.

    As a matter of fact, Dong Qisong, the sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect, had told her upon his return from the Domain of Forbidden Heaven that Nie Tian had entered thete Soul realm.

    Such rapid advances in cultivation were unbelievable, but true.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate, Dong Qisong and spared no effort to spread word of it. Therefore, almost every member of the sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python had learned about it.

    Yin Yanan had felt embarrassed the first time she had heard about it, and had been afraid to meet Nie Tian in the future.

    Perhaps that was why she had chosen to leave the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s headquarters to seek opportunities by entering a teleportation portal in a ruin discovered by the Beast-controlling Sect.

    Many others had visited the teleportation portal, but failed to teleport through it.

    She had made significant progress with her body refinement after entering the Soul realm. Her flesh aura had be stronger as well. For this reason, she was the only one who managed to teleport through it.

    As fierce as Yin Yanan was, she rapidly recovered from her embarrassment, and exined the situation in a natural and poised manner. ording to her, disciples of the Beast-controlling Sect would usually visit regions in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and other neighboring domains where special spirit beasts lived so that they could tame them and bring them back to the Beast-controlling Sect.

    During the process, they would oftene across Ancientspirit relics.

    In fact, she had teleported here through a dpidated portal found in one of those relics. Besides, she hadn¡¯t been here long. Like Nie Tian and Dong Li, she also didn¡¯t know where she was.

    Disappointment filled Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°I thought we could get some useful information from you. Come on. Let¡¯s keep searching, and see if we can find out what¡¯s special about this unknown heaven and earth, which probably has something to do with Ancientspirits.¡±

    With these words, she jumped back onto the ck tortoise¡¯s back, and flew into the distance.

    ¡°How did you get here?¡± Yin Yanan asked Nie Tian.

    ¡°Through a portal I found in an arcane dimension.¡± As he spoke, Nie Tian remained connected to his Star Eyes, the Spirit Pearl, and the me Dragon Armor. He still hoped to scan and reveal the secrets of this heaven and earth with their help.

    ¡°Well, you know what I said before...¡± Yin Yanan hesitated as she spoke.

    Nie Tian smiled and asked, ¡°You mean what you said about letting me be intimate with you?¡±

    Since Yin Yanan practiced the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s unique body-refining techniques, her body was well-built and filled with explosive force like that of a cougar, which gave her a different kind of charm.

    It was a wild, burning sexiness.

    Looking at her, Nie Tian suddenly remembered the time when Yin Yanan had been bewitched by the Spirit Pearl and had a ¡®soul experience¡¯ with him.

    Even as he thought of it now, he still remembered the intoxicating feeling.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had chosen to be blunt with it, Yin Yanan somehow felt relieved and said, ¡°I was joking. Don¡¯t you think I meant it.¡±

    Then, she let out a snort and pointed in the direction where Dong Li had just disappeared. ¡°Also, that girl isn¡¯t to be messed with. I don¡¯t think you dare to do anything that¡¯ll anger her.¡±

    After learning that Nie Tian had defeated Ophelia, the Demon chosen one, in the Dead Star Sea, she had realized that even if Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base had been lower than hers, his strength would still overwhelm her.

    Not to mention that his cultivation base had risen above hers after his adventures in the Shatter Battlefield.

    Furthermore, given Nie Tian¡¯s authority in his three subordinate domains, if he had actually used her promise to force himself on her, there would have been no way for her to stop him.

    Perhaps those from the Beast-controlling Sect would even be d that Nie Tian would take advantage of her.

    After all, even the Beast-controlling Sect was Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate sect.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Rapid soul calls came from the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor almost simultaneously.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s voice also seemed to travel through space and echo in his ears.

    Yin Yanan was taken aback. ¡°Is someone else here?¡±

    Instead of answering her, Nie Tian focused onmunicating with the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor.

    His face gradually fell.

 Chapter 1192: A Reforged Tenth Grade Heart

    Rain poured down on a mire.

    At the same time, long, winding lightning bolts that looked like dragons struck from the heavens, rapidly disappearing into the mire.

    The mire was rather vast. Nothing could be seen in its surroundings. The only two things that hovered over it were the me Dragon Armor and the Spirit Pearl.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift ripped the void open.

    Everyone, including Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, Yin Yanan, and Dong Li, arrived through it.

    They all subconsciously looked down at the mire.

    The mire was filled with grayish-brown mud, giving everyone an indescribably strange feeling.

    Heavy rain and lightning bolts continued to fall into the mire.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian noticed that both the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor swayed in the air, as if they were attracted by the mire, and struggling not to plunge into it.

    ¡°My flesh aura and the Frost Blood Python...¡± Yin Yanan¡¯s well-built body suddenly shook violently in the air, before she was pulled downward by a mysterious force.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a falling star, the Star Boat dashed downwards and caught her.

    Face grim, Zhao Shanling sensed the strange environment. ¡°Human spiritual tools don¡¯t seem to be affected. As long as something doesn¡¯t contain rich flesh power, it won¡¯t be pulled down towards the mire.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t a hybrid, nor did he practice body-refining techniques like Yin Yanan did.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t feel any attraction or difort floating in the air.

    Like him, Dong Li also looked calm andposed.

    The ck tortoise beside her only shook its body a few times before adjusting to the mysterious attractive force the mire had for beings with vigorous flesh auras.

    Even though Nie Tian also felt a strong attractive force, it was neutralized by his Star Boat.

    Yin Yanan and her ninth grade Frost Blood Python were the only ones that were pulled from the sky and almost devoured by the peculiar mire.

    ¡°Come!¡± Nie Tian lifted his hand, and the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor dashed back to him.

    Strangely, while the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor were subject to the mire¡¯s attractive force, the Star Boat wasn¡¯t.

    After recovering from her astonishment, Yin Yanan said, ¡°The mire is disturbing my flesh aura flow. And the same is happening to my Frost Blood Python. Without any control of our own, wisps of our flesh auras are leaving our bodies and flying down towards the mire. There must be something special down there.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian looked down at the mire, standing at the prow of the Star Boat.

    Zhao Shanling and Dong Li also looked down with rapt attention.

    ¡°Bloodline...¡± As Nie Tian whispered inwardly, he started to scan the depths of the mire with his keenest bloodline detection.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    Nie Tian felt heavy beats bombarding his chest, causing his heart to race uncontrobly.

    His expression instantly flickered.

    However, Zhao Shanling, Dong Li, and Yin Yanan didn¡¯t seem to hear anything or sense any anomalies.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°There¡¯s a vibrant heart in the depths of this mire! This entire heaven and earth was transformed from the flesh aura sea of a tenth grade Ancientspirit. Its heart is now hiding at the bottom of this mire and gathering any wisps of flesh power it can find. By doing this, it¡¯s seeking...¡±

    ¡°Resurrection!¡± Zhao Shanling finished his sentence for him.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s right. For tenth grade Ancientbeasts, dragons, or titans, a single drop of their Blood Essence would be enough to set them on their paths of resurrection. If they can gather enough flesh power to reforge their hearts, from there they will be able to regenerate their meridians, bones, flesh, and blood. So the reforging of their hearts means they¡¯re not very far from resurrection.

    ¡°Also, if that¡¯s actually the case, does it mean all of the spirit beasts and outsiders that havee here over the past millions of years have been devoured...?¡± His expression flickered with astonishment as he spoke.

    Yin Yanan also gasped.

    Nie Tian, however, thought of the Frost Python, which had gone to great lengths to leave the Green Illusion Dimension. It must have assumed that it had finally found a way out, but had only ended up as another cluster of flesh power in this mire.

    ¡°After our sect found that dpidated teleportation portal, they arranged for disciples to enter it first,¡± Yin Yanan exined. ¡°However, due to its restrictions on those with weak flesh auras, none of them were able to teleport through it. After that, they adopted another approach, which was to send in their spirit beasts that they couldmunicate with on a soul level.

    ¡°One after another, they were sent here, all of their teleportations sessful.

    ¡°However, not a single one returned.

    ¡°Originally, I was prepared to send my Frost Blood Python here to explore this unknown ce as well. However, my uniquely strong flesh aura allowed me to teleport here with my Frost Blood Python.

    ¡°After getting here, I looked around, but failed to see any of the spirit beasts our sect sent in here. In fact, I didn¡¯t find a single living creature here, from our sect or not.

    ¡°Just earlier, I was wondering where they all went. Now from the look of it, they¡¯ve probably all ended up in the mire.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded and said, ¡°The restriction on normal humans was because pure spiritual power is of no help to its resurrection. Only humans with strong flesh auras, outsiders, or spirit beasts can provide it with the flesh power it needs.¡±

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python, or the me Dragon Armor. All of them that carried vigorous flesh auras were gradually losing their flesh power from being so close to the mire.

    Nie Tian summoned power from his star souls, and saw blood-colored strings leave them to fly into the mire like wisps of blood-colored smoke.

    Dong Li snorted disdainfully. ¡°It¡¯s only an Ancientspirit that¡¯s dragging out its feeble existence. Even if it¡¯s a tenth grade Ancientspirit, it¡¯s nothing to be feared now that it¡¯s only reforged its heart. Besides, its viciousness is surprising. It only left those teleportation portals and altars so that spirit beasts and outsiders would stumble into them and end up as its food on its path to resurrection.¡±

    An unfathomable smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°A dead tenth grade Ancientbeast.¡±

    In the next moment, he activated Life Drain, his unique bloodline talent.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous scarlet blood strings that were as fine as hairs flew from him like tentacles, before piercing madly into the mire below.

    FIZZ!

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, blue mes rose from the mire¡¯s surface.

    As the blue mes burned fiercely, a blue energy ward rapidly formed over the vast mire.

    That was when an attractive force hundreds of times stronger than before was born.

    At the same time, a profound connection seemed to be instantly established between the mire and this entire heaven and earth.

    It was as if any living beings with rich flesh auras that dared to enter this heaven and earth would be pulled into the mire at this moment, and be nourishment for it to rebuild its meridians, bones, flesh, and blood.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°Such strong attractive force!¡±

    Even the ninth grade Frost Blood Python couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    Even though the tenth grade Ancientspirit had clearly died many years ago, since it had already reforged its heart, it must have regained some of its strength.

    Furthermore, this entire ce had formed after its flesh aura sea hadbined with the energies of heaven and earth.

    Therefore, not only did the ninth grade Frost Blood Python find the mire¡¯s attractive force irresistible, but it even felt a feverish urge to jump into the mire to help this expert of its race achieve its aim.

    In contrast, the ck tortoise¡¯s small beady eyes were filled with frigid coldness.

    It was hard to believe that the eighth grade ck tortoise could stop itself from losing a single wisp of its dark flesh aura under such terrifying attractive force.

    Noticing this, Yin Yanan was shocked to her very core. She didn¡¯t understand why an eighth grade spirit beast could resist the summons of a tenth grade Ancientspirit, whose bloodline was overwhelmingly mightier than its own.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s falling blood strings exploded upon contact with the blue energy ward.

    Clusters of blue mes then flew into the sky towards Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python, and the ck tortoise, as if they had their own awareness.

    Dong Li and Zhao Shanling were ignored.

    Apparently, since the two of them didn¡¯t carry any noticeable flesh power, they weren¡¯t of much help to it as prey.

    ¡°Do you know anything about it?¡± Nie Tian sent a soul message to the me Dragon Armor and the Spirit Pearl at the same time. Immediately afterwards, he withdrew his flesh power and summoned power from within his spiritual sea to establish defenses in front of him.

 Chapter 1193: A Thunder-devouring Whale

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had been transformed from the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch after Nie Tian had fused it with a wisp of his soul essence.

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul was the soul of a dragon.

    Nie Tian deemed that since the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor had been able to detect the wonders of this mire, they might know something about the owner of the heart in the mire, especially the me Dragon Armor.

    me dragons belonged to the dragon race, which were Ancientspirits.

    An extremely clear soul message from the me Dragon Armor instantly entered Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness. ¡°It¡¯s a Thunder-devouring Whale!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    He looked down and saw faint electric arcs forming in the blue mes.

    He consumed his spiritual power at a high rate as the ward he established around him with me power, star power, and wood power was repeatedly bombarded by the blue mes.

    BOOM!

    He stimted the Star Stones at the bottom of his Star Boat, releasing a star power ward.

    As soon as the ward came to form, numerous tiny stars appeared over him. Then, as he cast the Fragmentary Star Incantation, a firmer defense was established around the Star Boat.

    Thanks to the newly-established defense, the clusters of blue mes that had shot skywards from the mire failed to harm anyone on the Star Boat.

    In a loud voice, Nie Tian said, ¡°The Ancientbeast under the mire is a Thunder-devouring Whale. It was at the tenth grade before it somehow died here. I suspect that at the beginning, Ancientspirits brought their human ves to explore the part of the starry river that we now live in. However, humanity gained power and rose up, leading to the deaths of many Ancientspirits. Their residual flesh aura seas or Blood Essence went through changes over time, and eventually transformed into this strange heaven and earth.¡±

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°A Thunder-devouring Whale? I¡¯ve never heard of such an Ancientbeast race.¡±

    Dong Li also shook her head, looking lost.

    Yin Yanan, however, gasped with astonishment and asked, ¡°A tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale? As far as I know, the strongest Thunder-devouring Whales in the Ancientbeast realms now are only at the eighth grade. I¡¯ve never heard of any tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whales. They must have lived in a time far too remote.¡±

    Zhao Shanling summoned his Voidspirit Pagoda, while Dong Li enveloped herself in thick darkness. Both of them raised their guard. However, the blue mes didn¡¯t view them as their targets at all.

    Therefore, they had the easiest time.

    ¡°Thunder-devouring Whales are...¡± Pieces of new information came from the me Dragon Armor one after another.

    Coupled with Yin Yanan¡¯s exnation, Nie Tian soon learned that Thunder-devouring Whales fed on thunderclouds and relied on special lightning pools in the highest heavens in certain realms to strengthen their bloodlines.

    While low-tier Thunder-devouring Whales could only feed on regr lightning and thunder, ninth grade Thunder-devouring Whales were said to have the ability to travel through the starry river and find thunderclouds to devour.

    As for tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whales, they could detect lightning pools in certain special realms as they wandered in the starry river. Then, they would travel countless kilometers to refine them in order to strengthen their bloodlines.

    Thunder-devouring Whales carried lightning bloodlines, which made them one of the numerous lightning-attributed Ancientbeast races.

    BANG BANG BANG!

    As Nie Tian pondered, the mire underneath them started to boil, causing mud to ssh.

    All of a sudden, a huge blue-violet heart surfaced.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    The heart, which covered several acres ofnd, pounded violently.

    An especially conspicuous Bloodline Crystal Chain that was translucent and sparkling caught Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. Many veins could be seen stretching out of the heart deep into the mud.

    The gigantic, madly-beating heart thrummed with strong flesh power.

    Then, as numerousplicated Bloodline Crystal Chains lit up in the heart, soul-shaking rolls of thunder sted out.

    RUUUUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

    Deafening rolls of thunder echoed on and on, causing this entire heaven and earth that had transformed from a flesh aura sea to tremble.

    Repeatedly bombarded by the mighty thunder rolls, everyone had grim looks on their faces. Even the cold-eyed ck tortoise started to lose its poise.

    FIZZ!

    Apanied by a thunder p, bolts of blue lightning suddenly struck from an unknown source.

    By the time everyone noticed them, fine lightning bolts that carried flesh aura had already pierced into their seas of awareness.

    Lightning and thunder had a naturally subduing effect on souls and spirits of all forms.

    Even Nie Tian felt a numbness in his scalp and a splitting pain in his head.

    The Spirit Pearl immediately detected danger, and retreated to his ring of holding.

    At such a moment, the Spirit Pearl couldn¡¯t provide him with any assistance.

    The tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale, which had just stimted its bloodline, happened to be its bane.

    CRACK!

    A jade medallion on Zhao Shanling¡¯s wrist suddenly shattered.

    Frowning, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°The altar through which we came here just broke. The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s power is causing unbnce in this heaven and earth. The spell formation I drew earlier couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure, and shattered.¡±

    The look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes grew grimmer and grimmer. ¡°So that means we¡¯re not leaving here anytime soon.¡±

    ¡°This whole ce is a trap.¡± Zhao Shanling said, his Voidspirit Pagoda floating inches over his head like a magical hat.

    Glowing spatial des fell continuously like a curtain of pearls.

    ¡°This ce could have been a blessednd for spirit beasts at first,¡± he continued. ¡°However, after this Thunder-devouring Whale died here, it had to think up every possible method to obtain flesh power from living beings that carried rich flesh auras in order toe back to life.

    ¡°Its resurrection will mean the deaths of many others.

    ¡°The life and death of everything in this starry river follows aw. The resurrection of one being is bound to cause the deaths of others. Only to reforge its heart and the veins attached to it, the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale has imed the lives of many living beings, including even its own kind.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t even mind killing its own kind, much less us.¡±

    Dong Li chimed in. ¡°This is a scheme.¡±

    ROOOAARRRR!!

    The ck tortoise finally couldn¡¯t help but let out a bellow. Then, as it shook its body, it rapidly expanded like an inted balloon.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python, however, trembled in fear and didn¡¯t dare to make any moves against the Thunder-devouring Whale, whose bloodline suppressed its own.

    After the ck tortoise stopped expanding and assumed its mightiest form, the Frost Blood Python became even more fearful.

    ¡°It¡¯s still just a heart.¡± After hesitating for a few seconds, Nie Tian summoned the slumbering Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    The bone¡¯s soul didn¡¯t give him any response, nor could he stimte and strengthen it with his bloodline so that it could activate its profound bloodline talents.

    All he did was assume a firm grip of the bone and leap out of the Star Boat.

    Like a burning falling star, he and the bone pierced down towards the exposed heart in the mire.

    BOOOOM!

    At that moment, his heart suddenly started to pound madly.

    The green aura within his heart that embodied his life bloodline seemed to suddenly be awakened from its prolonged dormancy, which meant that his bloodline upgrade wasplete, and the awakening of brand new bloodline talents was at hand.

    What a pleasant surprise!

 Chapter 1194: Enemies Meeting on A Narrow Road

    Divine cyan light burst forth from within the green aura.

    Numerous sparkling, cyan Bloodline Crystal Chains that were as fine as hairs were born within it.

    The birth of every Bloodline Crystal Chain meant new bloodline wonders, new bloodline talents, and a brand new breakthrough in the grade of his life bloodline.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    His heart pounded strongly, as if to echo the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s thumping heart below.

    Nie Tian knew that once his bloodline went through such changes, the upgrade of his bloodline and awakening of new bloodline talents would happen naturally.

    However, sometimes, instead of happening right away, they might happen shortly after the changes took ce.

    At this moment, he put the changes to his bloodline aside, and focused on infusing the Star Behemoth bone with his flesh aura and piercing the Thunder-devouring Whale heart with it.

    FIZZ!

    A peculiar crimson aura suddenly burst forth from within the Star Behemoth bone, which had grown exceptionally long.

    An aura that was unique to Star Behemoths rapidly pervaded the entire area.

    It was the flesh aura of an enormous race that had stood at the top of the food chain, preyed on titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts, and consumed realms for nourishment.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart apparently sensed the unusual aura right away.

    Torrential blue mes instantly burst forth, wreathing the huge heart.

    ¡°No, no...¡± Nie Tian heard remote desperate cries that seemed toe from the heart.

    BOOOOM!

    The entire heaven and earth experienced a violent shake.

    Then, the earth shattered and copsed towards the depths in the area where the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart was.

    At the same time, thunder pools that had countless lightning bolts interweaving in them appeared in the highest heavens like seas of zing lightning and thunder.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Raging lightning bolts that were ten meters thick and a thousand meters long struck down like a waterfall of lightning, giving rise to deafening thunderps.

    This was the full extent of the power the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale could summon at this moment by relying only on its heart.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°Such explosive thunder and lightning power!¡±

    She hastily jumped onto the erged ck tortoise and called out to Zhao Shanling, ¡°Be careful! Even though the lightning bolts aren¡¯t targeting us, we¡¯ll still be in serious trouble if we let them touch us.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zhao Shanling said proudly. ¡°I¡¯m skilled in spatial power.¡±

    Yin Yanan, however, had a very grim look on her face as she curled up under the Frost Blood Python¡¯s belly, taking shelter behind its strong scales.

    However, both she and the Frost Blood Python were losing their flesh power at an rming rate.

    Even though the ninth grade Frost Blood Python matched the strength of an outsider grand patriarch, it was overwhelmed with fear facing the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline attacks, not showing even the slightest intent to fight back.

    This was what frustrated her the most.

    The Frost Blood Python was the hybrid offspring of a Frost Python and a Blood Stripe Python. Its strength ranked at the top among all of the Beast-controlling Sect¡¯s pet spirit beasts. However, why would it seem so utterly useless in front of the heart of a tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale?

    Dong Li beckoned for Yin Yanan to join her and the ck tortoise. ¡°Why don¡¯t youe here to me?¡±

    However, the Frost Blood Python was so scared that it couldn¡¯t even move.

    At this moment, the zing thunder pools seemed to set this entire heaven and earth on fire.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, a streak of glorious light shed across the storm of raging lightning and thunder.

    BOOOOM!

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s enormous blue mes-wreathed heart suddenly shrunk into the depths of the earth like a loach drilling into the mud as Nie Tian dashed down towards it, clutching the Star Behemoth bone.

    That was when voices came from the depths of the sky, apanied by thunderps and violent lightning strikes.

    They were human voices!

    ¡°Thunder pools! More than a dozen of them!¡±

    ¡°Such mighty thunder pools should have only existed in the depths of the heavens in certain realms that are filled with lightning power.¡±

    ¡°Thunder pools that contain such explosive lightning power are almost impossible to find!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps only Ancientbeasts like Thunder-devouring Whales can release thunder pools they have absorbed and confine them to a certain ce with their flesh auras.¡±

    ¡°That tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale must be here. I can even sense its immense aura now.¡±

    ¡°Tenth grade, equal to a grand monarch! Even if it¡¯s dead, as long as we can find anything that remains of it, this trip will be well worth it!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Voices continued toe from the heavens where lighting bolts slithered and thunder rolled.

    The strange thing was that Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, and Dong Li found some of the voices familiar.

    FIZZ!

    Numerous thick lightning bolts struck past Nie Tian and mmed into the mire below like huge whips wielded by the god of thunder. After that, they seemed to be absorbed by something in the mire, and disappeared.

    As that happened, several figures flew through a gap between the thunder pools in the sky.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, and Han Sen...

    Beside them, there was an old man with a stern face, who was at thete Saint domain and also well-versed in lightning power. All three of them stared at Nie Tian and the others, surprise filling their faces.

    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± After being surprised by the sight of Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, and Dong Li, Yuan Jiuchuan and Han Sen felt a headache over the situation.

    Not long ago, Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi had first captured Yuan Jiuchuan, and then forced Han Sen to submit to them.

    Only because of Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had Yuan Jiuchuan been released.

    Later, at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield, Nie Tian had heard that Yuan Jiuchuan, Han Sen, and a few others had invaded the Domain of Endless Thunder, where they had almost wiped out the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    This had even caused Mo Heng to stop guarding him and leave for the Domain of Endless Thunder, where he hadter disappeared.

    Who would have thought that they would meet again in this peculiar heaven and earth that had been transformed from the flesh aura of a Thunder-devouring Whale mixed with energies of heaven and earth?

    While they were at a loss, Nie Tian found their encounter hard to believe as well.

    Dong Li let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Thunder Devil, Han Sen! What are the odds of us meeting again so shortly after ourst separation? Are you here for the Thunder-devouring Whale?¡±

    Thete Saint domain old man who also practiced lightning power asked, ¡°Han Sen, who are they?¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster, that¡¯s Nie Tian from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. And that one who practices spatial power, I met him in the space disruption zone...¡± Han Sen introduced Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, and Dong Li to him one after another, burying his face out of respect.

    Aplicated expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Sectmaster? The head of the lightning element sect?¡±

    Shortly after his return from the Shatter Battlefield, he had asked about Mo Heng, and learned that the head of the lightning element sect had been among those who had invaded and stirred up trouble in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    The head of the lightning element sect was nothing like the other five sect heads of the Five Elements Sect.

    All of those five were God domain experts.

    Even though the head of the lightning element sect might match them in seniority, he was only at thete Saint domain, and was about to reach the end of his lifespan, which meant that he wouldn¡¯t have a chance to break through into the God domain.

    Han Sen was a hybrid he had gone to great lengths to make. His hope was for him to enter the God domain.

    With a proud look on his face, the head of the lightning element sect asked, ¡°Nie Tian, right? Did you see the remains of the Thunder-devouring Whale? Has it reforged its heart? Everything in this heaven and earth belongs to us. I suggest that you three tie your own hands and wait to be captured. (Idiom: allow oneself to be seized without putting up a fight) We¡¯ll take you out of here and put you in the hands of another.¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a traitor of the Five Elements Sect, and you dare to threaten me? Howughable!¡±

 Chapter 1195: The Head of the Lightning Element Sect

    Zheng Yi was the name of the head of the lightning element sect.

    Not long ago, he, Han Sen, Yuan Jiuchuan, and a few others had shown up in the Domain of Endless Thunder and killed numerous Qi warriors there who had practiced lightning incantations. For that reason, his name had been crossed from the Five Elements Sect.

    This was the limit of Nie Tian¡¯s knowledge of the incident.

    Before, Zheng Yi¡¯s greatest dream had been to cultivate a God domain expert of lightning power, so that the lightning element sect would be included in the Five Elements Sect¡¯s major sects.

    That was why he had made Han Sen.

    However, the two of them had ended up defecting from the Five Elements Sect.

    The Five Elements Sect had spread word that he and Han Sen no longer had anything to do with the Five Elements Sect or the lightning element sect.

    But strangely, when they had stirred up trouble in the Domain of Endless Thunder, the Five Elements Sect hadn¡¯t sent their powerful experts to kill them at the first moment.

    Instead, it was Mo Heng who had answered Mo Qinglei¡¯s request and rushed over there from the Shatter Battlefield.

    Shortly afterwards, Mo Heng had vanished from the Domain of Endless Thunder. No one had seen him since.

    Meanwhile, due to Mo Heng¡¯s arrival, Zheng Ye, Han Sen, Yuan Jiuchuan, and the others had also disappeared, leaving no trace.

    As Nie Tianughed wildly and confronted Zheng Yi, Zhao Shanling narrowed his eyes and examined their enemies with rapt attention. He could generally sense Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s and Han Sen¡¯s cultivation bases and bloodline grade. ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan is at the middle Saint domain. Han Sen is at the Void domain, and his bloodline seems to be at the sixth grade...¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face gradually grew grim.

    If they were still in the space disruption zone and Pei Qiqi were with them, he would be confident in winning another encounter with Yuan Jiuchuan and Han Sen.

    However, this wasn¡¯t the space disruption zone, which was his most ideal battleground.

    Instead, this was a unique heaven and earth that had been transformed from a Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura, which made it agreeable to people like Yuan Jiuchuan and Han Sen.

    Not to mention that they had Zheng Yi, the head of the lightning element sect, who had entered thete Saint domain ages ago, with them this time.

    With these thoughts, Zhao Shanling started to consider how to get Nie Tian and Dong Li out of this ce once they were in an unfavorable situation.

    As for Yin Yanan, he didn¡¯t take her safety into consideration. He was even prepared to sacrifice her to save the others.

    CLAP!

    Another thick bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens with incredible might and disappeared into the mire like a lightning dragon.

    As heavy rain continued to pour, lightning shes illuminated heaven and earth from time to time. Face bleak, Zheng Yi took a deep look at Nie Tian with hisrge eyes. ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce... Your name pierces the ear like thunder.¡± (Idiom: someone with a high reputation)

    As he spoke, countless wisps of lightning that carried his soul awareness flew out from the corners of his eyes.

    They rapidly flew into the thunder pools that were high in the heavens, where lightning bolts were slithering like snakes, as if he was searching for something using some profound lightning magic.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was cold, but he didn¡¯t feel much fear.

    He was still sensing the subtle changes the green aura in his heart was going through, knowing that it wouldn¡¯t be long before his bloodline finished its upgrade.

    He started to grow excited as he watched the numerous drops of Blood Essence in his heart that were as translucent and sparkling as red diamonds.

    An increasingly strong and more profound bloodline aura was building up in that green aura.

    Even though his bloodline upgrade wasn¡¯tplete, he was surprised to discover that the strong attractive force the mire had for flesh auras didn¡¯t have any effect on him anymore!

    Even though the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart had shrunk back into the depths of the mire, the mire was still channeling flesh power from the Frost Blood Python, Yin Yanan, and the new arrival, Han Sen.

    However, he didn¡¯t feel any difort anymore!

    A fierce look suddenly appeared in Zheng Yi¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that it¡¯s really just the few of you.¡±

    He had only remained silent until now because he had released his soul awareness to scan this heaven and earth that had been transformed from the flesh aura sea of a Thunder-devouring Whale.

    He had been convinced that Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates were here as well.

    Not long ago, Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, Jing Feiyang, and many other experts had stood by Nie Tian when he had confronted Luo Wanxiang in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, which had demonstrated his strength to a great extent. Even he had heard about it.

    Therefore, fearing that Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates were in the vicinity, he had refrained from making an actual move.

    But now, he was absolutely certain that none of Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates were here.

    All Nie Tian had beside him were Zhao Shanling, Dong Li, and Yin Yanan.

    With these words, Zheng Yi grinned, revealing his gruesome white teeth. ¡°Everything about this Thunder-devouring Whale is ours. As for you, we¡¯ll capture you and take you with us. Lightning domain!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    Thousands of lightning bolts slithered high in the heavens, rapidly interweaving into a domain of raging lightning and thunder.

    The thunder pools the Thunder-devouring Whale had gathered from unknown ces were attracted, and moved slowly towards it from different directions.

    Seeing this, Zheng Yi yelled with a frantic look on his face, ¡°If I can fuse all of these thunder pools into my domain, I might be able to break the cultivation shackles that have held me down for a hundred thousand years, and eventually advance to the God domain!¡±

    Reaching the God domain was his lifetime pursuit.

    Both Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, and Han Sen, who he had created, had strange looks on their faces as they watched the enormous thunder pools be channeled and move towards his domain.

    Zheng Yi suddenly assumed a serious face and said, ¡°Han Sen, these thunder pools won¡¯t be very helpful to you if you want to upgrade your bloodline. The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bones, heart, or blood will be the treasure you¡¯ll need to make rapid advances in your bloodline. Don¡¯t worry. Everything we get from the Thunder-devouring Whale will be yours.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Han Sen, who seemed to have doubts, smiled and scratched his nose. ¡°Many thanks, Master.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan let out a snort and asked, ¡°What about me?¡±

    ¡°Considering the incantations you practice, we¡¯ll have plenty of lightning power sources for youter. Don¡¯t you worry.¡± As he spoke, Zheng Yi channeled numerous dazzlingly bright lightning bolts to interweave into a grand spell formation that contained the profound truths of lightning power in the vast heaven and earth in front of him.

    ¡°Heaven-shaking Thunderstorm!¡±

    As Zheng Yi eximed, heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rumbles came from the peculiar, mysterious spell formation that covered dozens of acres ofnd.

    Immediately afterwards, the grand spell formation turned as blindingly bright as the sun.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Everyst wisp of lightning was channeled from its surroundings. Even the lightning bolts that had disappeared into the mire were pulled out and fused into the blindingly bright lightning spell formation.

    ¡°All of you shall tremble before my power!¡±

    As Zheng Yi formed a profound hand seal in front of his chest, the peculiar spell formation instantly turned into a thunderstorm that looked like a huge vortex of lightning and thunder, which swallowed everyone, including Nie Tian, in the blink of an eye.

    WHOOSH!

    Surprisingly, even Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, flew uncontrobly into the vortex.

    ¡°Zheng Yi! You dare to betray me!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan roared furiously.

    Han Sen¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he saw this.

    Zheng Yi, however, ignored Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s roars with an expressionless face. He turned to Han Sen and said, ¡°You¡¯ve already mastered the incantations he practices. With you around, there¡¯s no point in keeping him alive anymore. Besides, the stronger he bes, the more likely he¡¯ll think about draining me of my power. So I might as well strike first.¡±

    After a moment of silence, Han Sen nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Master.¡±

 Chapter 1196: Body Refinement with Lightning Power

    One thunder pool after another was channeled by Zheng Yi and descended from the heavens.

    Like a god of thunder, he stood at the heart of his vast domain, where he wielded lightning and thunder and controlled the huge vortex of raging lightning.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    As heaven and earth shook, dragon-like lightning bolts continued to shoot out of his domain, where lightning interwove to strengthen the might of the rapidly spinning vortex.

    Fearful, Han Sen kept a certain distance from Zheng Yi, as if he was afraid that he might be so relentless that he would sacrifice him to his cause as well.

    ¡°After all, entering the God domain has been his lifetime aspiration,¡± he thought to himself. ¡°He only ced all of his hope in me because he didn¡¯t think he had a chance to fulfill it himself. However, now that he¡¯s found these thunder pools that contain extremely pure lightning power in this heaven and earth transformed from the flesh aura of a tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale... If he can refine these thunder pools, along with this unique heaven and earth, he might actually be able to enter the God domain.

    ¡°If he sees a chance to make the breakthrough himself, I¡¯ll lose my value to him.¡±

    With these thoughts, Han Sen put an even greater distance between himself and the lightning-wreathed Zheng Yi, whose pupils gradually filled with insanity.

    However, Zheng Yi didn¡¯t seem to pay any attention to him.

    Instead, he put all of his attention on the thunder pools and his thunderstorm vortex.

    Zheng Yi let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Even though Yuan Jiuchuan is also at the Saint domain, and the incantations he practices are vicious and dreadful, his understanding of lightning power is still inferior to mine.¡±

    With this thought, he channeled every lightning bolt in the vicinity with his soul, and cast different incantations that carried the truths of lightning power, which he had spent tens of thousands of years deriving.

    ¡°Thunder Strike from the Highest Heavens!¡±

    As soon as Zheng Yi let out another explosive roar, the thunder pools that had been channeled by his domain and descended from the heavens began to seethe.

    Like dazzling chains of lightning, his soul awareness linked all of the thunder pools together.

    A profound ancient lightning spell formation instantly came to form.

    The thunder pools were the cores of the spell formation, while Zheng Yi, who had established the connection among them, was its controller.

    RUMBLE!

    Each and every thunder pool seethed and shook violently, as if they could easily annihte realms, along with every single living being in them. A terrifying soul-crushing aura burst forth from within the thunder pools, as well as their controller, Zheng Yi, who was looking increasingly frenzied.

    All of a sudden, Zheng Yi¡¯s eyes changed drastically!

    Countless wisps of lightning shot from the depths of his eyes towards the center of the vortex of thunderstorm, like swords that could annihte souls.

    Engulfed in the vortex of raging lightning power, Nie Tian and the others felt light-headed, and thus enveloped themselves in all kinds of protective wards and shields.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Thousands of heavenly lightning bolts struck down on Nie Tian and the others, causing their faces to turn grim.

    The heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing lightning power continued to build up in the huge vortex.

    At this moment, the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart seemed to have disappearedpletely. Even its unique aura couldn¡¯t be detected.

    From the look of it, the extremely intelligent Thunder-devouring Whale intended for Zheng Yi to fight Nie Tian and the others to the death, while it holed up somewhere safe.

    Even the mire had stopped channeling flesh auras.

    The thunder pools it had gathered with its unique bloodline talent ages ago were also abandoned.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, due to the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s withdrawal, Yin Yanan¡¯s ninth grade Frost Blood Python was finally relieved.

    As it flicked its forked tongue, its body that was covered in mysterious ck and white rings blossomed with wondrous light.

    WHOOSH!

    Frigid power spewed from its mouth, sending out a frosty mist that carried countless ice des, ice shards, and rays of icy light towards the numerous slithering lightning bolts in front of it.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    The icy light and frost power shed with the inside of the vortex that was like a wall of slithering lightning bolts, giving rise to glorious sparks.

    Dong Li was standing on the back of the erged ck tortoise, which didn¡¯t seem very frustrated inside the thunderstorm vortex. As mighty lightning bolts struck down, they only gave rise to tiny sparks on its incredibly solid shell.

    The difort they caused only made it shake its body briefly, but didn¡¯t cause it any serious damage.

    At the same time, its dark flesh aura enveloped Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body. Adding in the assistance of the dark stone in her spiritual core, she was protected from the bombarding lightning bolts by a thick, ink-ck ward.

    Inparison, Zhao Shanling, who had failed to escape the vortex in time using spatial power, waspletely surrounded by thunder and lightning.

    He summoned his Voidspirit Pagoda. Even with its help, he shifted about in the densely interweaving lightning bolts with difficulty.

    Every once in a while, he would be struck by the lightning bolts.

    He didn¡¯t even dare to activate his space domain. If he did, he would be an evenrger target. His domain would be subject to a baptism of furious lightning and thunder.

    CLAP!

    A cyan lightning bolt struck down once again.

    Standing unwavering in the spinning vortex of lightning and thunder, Nie Tian activated his bloodline talent: Life Strengthening.

    As soon as he did, his muscles bulged, his body expanded to arge extent, and a hard, scale-likeyer formed all over him.

    After the four stages of Heavenly Wood Heal, which were Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, Meridian Toughening, and Flesh Tempering, his body had be much tougher than before.

    Furthermore, after lying dormant for many years, his bloodline had finally turned a new leaf.

    Even though he still hadn¡¯t awakened new bloodline talents, he knew that his bloodline had officially entered the eighth grade.

    At this moment, brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains were still being born in his bloodline aura. Only after this process came to an end would his new bloodline talents be finalized.

    However, as what would usually happen to powerful Ancientspirit and outsider races, his bloodline upgrade seemed to have initiated a new round of body-strengthening.

    He sensed that the flesh power essence hidden in his bones, meridians, flesh, and blood had be unusually active.

    Even his Blood Essence started to seethe and wash his body with torrential flesh power.

    He had a strong feeling that his body was bing more unbreakable with every passing second!

    Therefore, he stopped protecting himself with the ward of me, star, and wood power in the thunderstorm vortex.

    He simply let the explosive lightning bolts bombard him.

    Nie Tian grinned and watched lightning bolts pierce towards his chest like sharp des, only to leave slight ckened marks on his skin. ¡°Let this lightning power purge me and help me in this new round of body refinement. Lightning strikes at such a level can¡¯t cause me any damage.¡±

    As soon as he circted his flesh aura, the ckened marks on his chest faded away.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Thunderballs bombarded him in an overwhelming manner. However, Nie Tian looked like a mountain that had stood unwavering for thousands of years.

    Upon contact, the lightning power quietly infiltrated him.

    However, in Nie Tian¡¯s senses, as the destructive lightning power wandered inside of him, it seemed to be hammering his meridians, bones, and flesh like iron fresh out of a forge.

    Such hammering would only make him stronger, and put his body in a state that was simr to the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form and the Bonebrutes¡¯ Impregnable Form.

    ¡°He¡¯s tempering his body with lightning power!¡± An astonished exmation suddenly echoed out.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, had been struggling to resist the spinning thunder vortex after being sucked into it. Only now did he notice what an incredible thing Nie Tian was doing.

    Eyes narrowed, he watched the raging lightning bolts bombard Nie Tian under Zheng Yi¡¯s control.

    He realized that Nie Tian¡¯s aura was undergoing subtle changes, as if he was using the bombarding lightning bolts to temper his body and make it even tougher.

    ¡°Even pure-blooded Demons and Bonebrutes at his bloodline grade probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand a bombardment of such mighty lightning bolts!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan cried inwardly.

 Chapter 1197: Cooperation?

    BOOM!

    A huge greenish-ck thunderball bombarded Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Wisps of greenish-ck lightning rapidly drilled into his mind through the top of his head.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, who was quietly watching him, widened his eyes. He was clearly surprised by this.

    ¡°Mind... sea of awareness...¡± he muttered in a low voice. ¡°His fleshly body might be able to withstand the lightning bombardment, but what about his sea of awareness? If he allows such lightning power to enter his sea of awareness, even his true soul may perish. Given Zheng Yi¡¯smand of lightning power, it should be easy for his lightning power to eliminate his true soul, right?¡±

    As an expert well-versed in lightning power, Yuan Jiuchuan was well-aware of lightning¡¯s subduing effect on souls and spirits.

    What experts like him, who practiced lightning incantations, feared the least were outsiders like Phantasms that had mighty souls, or Qi warriors like Nether Spirit Society disciples thatmanded evil spirits.

    In fact, after he had joined that secret force with Zheng Yi and Han Sen, all of the Nether Spirit Society disciples they had met had shown them respect.

    That was because those who were skilled in lightning incantations happened to be the Nether Spirit Society disciples¡¯ bane.

    Even though he found the fact that Nie Tian could withstand the bombardment of the lightning bolts and even temper his body with them shocking, it wasn¡¯t so uneptable.

    After all, living beings with truly mighty bodies were known to be able to strengthen their bodies with lightning power.

    However, souls...

    FIZZ!

    As wisps of lightning power poured in through the top of Nie Tian¡¯s head, his mind seemed to be illuminated by multiple suns.

    Lightning power that had a strong subduing effect on souls attempted to rip through his soul defenses and flood his sea of awareness in a breath¡¯s time.

    Nie Tian finally sensed danger at this moment.

    As a thought entered his mind, his nine star souls lit up at the same time. Streams of soul power mixed with the power from his star souls and formed Starchains at an rming speed in the depths of his mind.

    As a soul magic, Starchains were originally meant for imprisoning souls and spirits.

    At this moment, however, they linked together and formed a mysterious protective spell formation.

    BANG! BANG!

    As the fragmentary lightning bolts mmed into it, the Starchains that had interwoven into a profound soul spell neutralized all of them.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°It seems that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s soul incantations are quite handy in dealing with attacks that target souls.¡±

    Then, as he circted his flesh aura, a faint crimson ward came to form at the back of his head.

    It was a ward of condensed flesh aura that was designed to protect his sea of awareness from future lightning attacks.

    ¡°He has his mind covered...¡± Taken aback, Yuan Jiuchuan went nk for a moment before his lighting-wreathed body suddenly vanished.

    He flung his arms in an irritated manner as he avoided the lightning bolts that carried Zheng Yi¡¯s soul aura and pursued him relentlessly.

    At the same time, he thought to himself, ¡°Zheng Yi is the head of the lightning element sect. The incantations he practices must be much more profound than Mo Qianfan¡¯s. The lightning element sect used to be a major branch of the Five Elements Sect back in the day, and they had produced God domain experts. Many of their secret incantations have long histories and were highly-spoken of across the human domains.

    ¡°Zheng Yi has only failed to enter God domain till now because of his mediocre cultivation talent and poor temperament. Even if he gets to refine these thunder pools gathered by the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale, along with this heaven and earth transformed from its flesh aura, he might not necessarily be able to enter the God domain.

    ¡°However, if he wants to deal with me, Nie Tian, and those with him, he still has a good chance at seeding...¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s expression changed from time to time as he pondered the matter.

    Yuan Jiuchuan suddenly grew excited. ¡°What if I can kill Zheng Yi and use my special incantations to absorb his lightning domain, along with everything here...!¡±

    He was convinced that his cultivation talent and potential were superior to Zheng Yi¡¯s.

    Even though his incantations, which allowed him to absorb other living beings¡¯ lightning power, were considered extreme, he was certain that they could get him to the God domain.

    WHOOSH!

    Yuan Jiuchuan, who was hiding in the dark, suddenly appeared right in front of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, who was purging himself and strengthening his meridians and flesh with lightning power, snapped his eyes open. With an icy look in his eyes, he eximed, ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan still didn¡¯t dare to activate his lightning domain. He shifted about from time to time to avoid the lightning bolts as he exined to Nie Tian with a wry smile, ¡°As you can see, the thunder vortex we¡¯re in mostly contains imprisoning power at first. However, as time passes and the spell formation changes, it¡¯ll release increasingly strong lightning power.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a spell formation that¡¯ll annihte us right away. Instead, it¡¯ll slowly wear us out and eventually refine us.

    ¡°Not to mention that Zheng Yi¡¯s lightning power will be more and more torrential as he refines those thunder pools one after another.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan revealed the secrets of Zheng Yi¡¯s spell formation.

    A strange expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Aren¡¯t you with him? Why are you trapped in here as well?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan grinned. ¡°My incantations allow me to devour living beings that carry lightning power, outsiders, spirit beasts, and humans alike. For this reason, Mo Qianfan and many others from the Domain of Endless Thunder that practice lightning power set me up in order to kill me.

    ¡°That Zheng Yi still hasn¡¯t entered the God domain. Perhaps he thinks that if I make another breakthrough in my cultivation, I¡¯ll be at the same level as him, and then I might make him my next target.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before asking, ¡°If you had the power to do that, you would, wouldn¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Yuan Jiuchuan didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°However, I¡¯ll deal with Mo Qianfan and those bastards who set me up first.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and asked, ¡°So what do you want from me?¡±

    As he spoke, lightning bolts continued to strike down, along with greenish-ck thunderballs.

    Nie Tian could tell that the might of the lightning bolts and thunderballs was increasing.

    He started to feel pain now as he was struck by the lightning bolts.

    Eyes narrowed, Yuan Jiuchuan said, ¡°We can work together, you and I. I¡¯m skilled in lightning power. However, since the attribute of my incantations is the same as Zheng Yi¡¯s, and my cultivation base is lower than his, it¡¯s gonna be a bit troublesome for me to fight him. But you¡¯re different. I know how special you are. I¡¯m sure that with my instructions, you¡¯ll be able to break the restrictive spell and get us out of here.

    ¡°At this moment, Zheng Yi is bent on killing us all. But if we work together, not only can we leave this heaven and earth safely, but we can even each get what we want!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan spoke with a sincere face.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Work together... If I work with you and get us out of this heaven and earth, what will you get?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan smiled cunningly. ¡°Zheng Yi¡¯s death. That¡¯ll be enough for me. After he dies, I¡¯ll be able to cast a special spell to absorb his domain. His lightning power will allow me to make another breakthrough in my cultivation.¡±

    ¡°Sure, we can work together, but I still have one thing to ask,¡± Nie Tian said with determination.

    A puzzled look appeared on Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face. ¡°What is it?¡±

    With a cold face, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What happened to my sect¡¯s grand elder, Mo Heng, in the Domain of Endless Thunder? Why did he disappear all of a sudden? What were you after by sneaking into the Domain of Endless Thunder and attacking the Heavenly Thunder Sect? Was it you or the man behind you that was the reason for our grand elder¡¯s mysterious disappearance?¡±

    An awkward expression appeared on Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face. ¡°About this...¡±

    He didn¡¯t feel torn about selling out and killing Zheng Yi.

    However, he knew that he would be in serious trouble if he leaked information about that secret force.

    He couldn¡¯t decide.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t give me the details, at least you can tell me if our grand elder is still alive,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Is he in danger? Can he get out by himself?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan took a deep breath and said, ¡°We only attacked the Heavenly Thunder Sect to draw Mo Heng to the Domain of Endless Thunder. I actually don¡¯t know much about it. However, I do know one thing. Someone wanted to meet Mo Heng in the Domain of Endless Thunder and persuade him to join us.

    ¡°If Mo Heng agreed, he¡¯d be one of us. If he didn¡¯t, he¡¯d be confined to a certain ce.

    ¡°However, whether he agreed or not, he¡¯d disappear for a short period of time.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°Did he agree or not?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan smiled bitterly. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. All I know is that he met that person. As for whether he was persuaded, my cultivation base is too low for me to know that.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Your cultivation base is too low?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan sighed. ¡°Only God domain experts are qualified to meet that person.¡±

 Chapter 1198: Reaching a Mutual Understanding

    With aplicated expression, Nie Tian looked down and muttered to himself in the thunderstorm, ¡°That person...¡±

    He suspected that the person Yuan Jiuchuan referred to was none other than his father, who he had never met.

    The man had been Mo Heng¡¯s mentor. He had guided Mo Heng into the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, allowing him to reach his current heights.

    Mo Heng had been very grateful and respectful towards the man. However, the man was clearly on a path where he stood against the four great sects now.

    Would he be able to persuade Mo Heng?

    If he failed, where would Mo Heng be confined?

    Was he behind the mysterious disappearance of Ji Cang, the Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, as well?

    As a hybrid whose life bloodline was given by him, what should Nie Tian do in the future?

    Questions filled Nie Tian¡¯s mind. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t find answers to them, and didn¡¯t know how he should make his future choices, especially when his mother was probably with that man as well...

    On one side was family. On the other side were his sect and friends. Once direct confrontation broke out between the two, he would be forced to make his choice.

    Which side should he take?

    ¡°This is all I know,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with determination.

    Nie Tian awoke from his daze and realized that the might of the lightning bolts was indeed increasing.

    Now, as the lightning bolts bombarded him and infiltrated his flesh and meridians, he would feel numb for a brief moment.

    Only after he circted his flesh aura through his body would the numbness fade.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath to calm himself. ¡°So you want us to work together so you can kill Zheng Yi?

    ¡°He¡¯s at thete Saint domain. His domain contains explosive lightning power. His death will allow you to take over his domain and absorb his lightning power.

    ¡°Then, you¡¯ll be able to make another breakthrough in your cultivation and reach thete Saint domain.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t had a chance to examine Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s cultivation base before. Now as he sensed him with rapt attention, he was surprised to discover that he had made new advances in his cultivation after their encounter in the space disruption zone.

    He was currently at the middle Saint domain!

    If Zheng Yi¡¯s death could actually help him break through into thete Saint domain, or even the God domain, he would be a much more dangerous existence than Zheng Yi from the lightning element sect.

    With a strange expression, Yuan Jiuchuan asked, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re afraid that I¡¯ll be stronger? As you know, I¡¯m a reborn cultivator. I¡¯m already at the highest cultivation base I achieved in my previous life. The fact that I was able to make rapid advances in my cultivation has a lot to do with my special incantations, but more importantly, it¡¯s because my experience from my previous life allowed me to make breakthroughs without meeting cultivation barriers.

    ¡°Even so, I spent a lot of time and effort to return to my peak cultivation base.

    ¡°Others might feel intimidated by me, but you clearly don¡¯t have to.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a brief moment before asking, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    With a bitter expression, Yuan Jiuchuan answered, ¡°Instead of you being afraid of me, I should be afraid of you! Don¡¯t you know how incredibly fast you progress in your cultivation as a hybrid who practices three different types of incantations simultaneously? Just your cultivation base alone has been advancing by leaps and bounds!

    ¡°The way I see it, it won¡¯t be long before you surpass me in every aspect, and all I can do is look up to you!

    ¡°So you have nothing to be afraid of. I¡¯m the one who should be afraid!¡±

    This was actually from the bottom of Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s heart.

    He had first met Nie Tian at the Fortune Wells in the Shatter Battlefield. His cultivation base had been unimpressive back then.

    Their second meeting had taken ce in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    After that, he had been tricked by Pei Qiqi and banished to the space disruption zone, where he hadter met Nie Tian again.

    Then, it was this meeting.

    In all these years, he had had many incredible adventures, allowing his cultivation base and battle prowess to improve rapidly.

    However, every time he had met Nie Tian, he would discover that Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base and battle prowess had improved even faster than his, so fast that it seemed unbelievable!

    Therefore, he gradually developed an apprehension towards him.

    Later, he had heard that Nie Tian had defeated Ophelia, the Demons¡¯ pride, in the Dead Star Sea, and ended a cmity caused by a Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield through special means.

    Meeting Nie Tian this time, he had been astonished to find that Nie Tian had somehow entered thete Soul realm.

    Even Nie Tian didn¡¯t know that he had shocked and frightened Yuan Jiuchuan so much.

    Nie Tian found this amusing. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of me...?¡±

    ¡°I am, seriously,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said honestly. ¡°Of course there¡¯s another reason besides the fact that you¡¯re bing more and more powerful.¡±

    ¡°Another reason? What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s expression flickered, as if he had suddenly thought of something.

    ¡°Well?¡± Nie Tian pursued the matter.

    However, Yuan Jiuchuan decided to guard his mouth like a closed bottle. (Idiom: keep one¡¯s mouth shut, not breathing a word.)

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Zhao Shanling, Dong Li, and Yin Yanan threaded through the striking lightning bolts and flew to Nie Tian, looking somewhat bedraggled.

    Upon arriving, they spotted Yuan Jiuchuan, and their expressions flickered, as if they were facing a formidable foe.

    Nie Tian lifted his hand, signaling them to rx. Then, he said, ¡°Like us, he¡¯s also been sucked in and trapped here by Zheng Yi.¡±

    Only after hearing his exnation did Zhao Shanling and the others calm down.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the lightning power at the heart of this thunder vortex is bing stronger and stronger.¡± With these words, Dong Li looked heartached as she shot a nce at her ck tortoise. ¡°Even it¡¯s starting to have a hard time. We all tried to break free from this area, but failed.¡±

    Face grim, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Yeah, the might of the lightning power is increasing every few minutes. If this goes on, even I won¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s well-built body was covered in faint, white frost.

    It was the ninth grade Frost Blood Python¡¯s frost power that was protecting her.

    If the Frost Blood Python hadn¡¯t continued to protect and support her with its flesh aura and frost power, given her cultivation base, she might have been bombarded to death by the mighty lightning bolts already.

    ¡°ording to Yuan Jiuchuan, this spell formation will continue to grow stronger, and eventually wear us out and kill us,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°So he seeks cooperation.¡±

    Dong Li turned to Yuan Jiuchuan and asked, her eyes narrowed. ¡°Cooperation? How? What do you want? What will we get?¡±

    ¡°I want Zheng Yi to die!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with determination

    ¡°Good, it¡¯s settled!¡± Dong Li couldn¡¯t be more straightforward. ¡°Let¡¯s kill Zheng Yi together first! As for what we do afterwards, let¡¯s discuss it after we kill him. What do you think?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Not mincing words, Miss Dong! I like it! No wonder even though you¡¯re from a ce like the Domain of the Falling Stars, you could win Nie Tian¡¯s acknowledgment and handle the various sects from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python so skillfully.¡±

    Dong Li smiled coldly. ¡°I¡¯m ttered. Back when we were in the space disruption zone, I suggested that Pei Qiqi forget about her moral principles, kill you, and get it over with. However, that woman decided to cling to her pretended righteousness. If I were her, I would have killed you as soon as you gave us the information we needed.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s grew even more bitter as he remembered Dong Li yelling and urging the others to get rid of him back then.

    However, as he examined Dong Li with rapt attention, various expressions shed across his face. ¡°The dark stone¡¯s aura seems to have merged with hers. And that tortoise... I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. This girl¡¯s strength is also growing at an incredible speed. She¡¯s bing more dangerous by the day. Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before her name spreads across the human domains and is mentioned in the same breath with the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and the Divine Children of the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    With these thoughts, Yuan Jiuchuan rapidly made up his mind and said, ¡°Since I also practice lightning incantations, and my cultivation base is lower than his, I¡¯ll be limited if I try to break his spell formation myself. But you¡¯re different. As long as you know the vulnerable parts of this spell formation, you can attack them easily, and Zheng Yi won¡¯t be able to confine you anymore.¡±

    With these words, he went on to exin to them how Zheng Yi¡¯s thunder vortex worked, along with the secret tunnel through which lightning power from the outside world could continue to pour into the spell formation.

    Both he and Zheng Yi were well-versed in lightning power. Even though his cultivation base was inferior to Zheng Yi¡¯s, their understanding of lightning power seemed to be equally profound.

    After all, Yuan Jiuchuan wasn¡¯t called the Thunder Devil and every lightning power cultivator¡¯s bane for nothing.

 Chapter 1199: Counterattack!

    On the outside.

    It had stopped raining, but the sky was still dark.

    Channeled by Zheng Yi, the bright thunder pools floated in midair around his lightning domain like huge glorious tes.

    In front of the thunder pools and his lightning domain that was filled with raging lightning power was the enormous thunder vortex where Nie Tian and the others were trapped.

    Like devastating lightning dragons, more than a dozen streams of lighting extended from the thunder pools to the thunder vortex.

    At this moment, Zheng Yi was still enhancing the intensity of the lightning power within the storming vortex.

    Heart filled with dread, Han Sen stayed as far as he could from him.

    He had a feeling that after Zheng Yi killed Yuan Jiuchuan and the others with the help of those thunder pools and refined this heaven and earth transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura, he might be able to enter the God domain. If that happened... his existence would be unnecessary.

    Originally, Zheng Yi had hoped that Han Sen would be able to enter the God domain someday and reshape the lightning element sect¡¯s reputation.

    However, if Zheng Yi could enter the God domain himself and push the limit of his lifespan forward, Han Sen¡¯s life or death wouldn¡¯t mean anything to him.

    Realizing this, Han Sen had aplicated feeling.

    Having learned from Zheng Yi for so many years, he was well-aware of his vicious nature, and that he would go all the way with something as long as he considered it to be helpful to him.

    Meanwhile, he didn¡¯t have what it took to contend against Zheng Yi yet. It would be every unwise for him to show his discontent over Zheng Yi¡¯s decisions at this moment and get himself killed.

    ¡°I just hope that he doesn¡¯t seed. Only if he fails will I have a chance...¡± Han Sen said inwardly as he subconsciously backed farther away with his eyes fixed on the frenzied Zheng Yi and his thunderstorm vortex.

    ¡°People call Yuan Jiuchuan the Thunder Devil. His cultivation base is only slightly lower than my master¡¯s. If he can get Nie Tian and the others to work with him, they should be able to hold on for a bit longer, right?

    ¡°Also, where the hell is the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart hiding itself? That¡¯s the reason why I came here. If I can obtain it, my lightning bloodline will see a significant breakthrough.¡±

    With these thoughts, he nced around and carefully sensed the vicinity with his bloodline power.

    However, not only was the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart nowhere to be seen, but even its aura had vanishedpletely.

    From the look of it, the Thunder-devouring Whale had abandoned this heaven and earth that was the result of its flesh aura and energies of heaven and earth mixing together.

    It seemed that his master, Zheng Yi, had reced the Thunder-devouring Whale, and be the ruler of this special heaven and earth.

    ¡°The Thunder-devouring Whale was a tenth grade Ancientbeast. Its intelligence must be every bit as developed as ours. I bet it has its reasons for letting another tamper with its private realm.¡±

    Han Sen soon came to the conclusion that the Thunder-devouring Whale was merely sitting on the mountaintop and watching the tigers fight. (Idiom: watch in safety while others fight, then reap the rewards when both sides are exhausted)

    Han Sen let out a cold harrumph and said inwardly, ¡°You have nothing but your heart to rely on now. So what if you used to be a mighty tenth grade existence? If my master actually breaks through into the God domain with the help of those thunder pools, everything in this heaven and earth, including you, will be a part of his lightning domain and materials he¡¯ll use to forge his dharma idol!

    ¡°That¡¯s not what you want, right?!¡±

    BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!

    As Han Sen eximed inwardly, he was surprised to notice that lightning bolts in some areas of the thunderstorm vortex were being twisted and ripped apart.

    CRUNCH!

    A gigantic foot of the ck tortoise suddenly poked through the interweaving lightning bolts and stuck out of the vortex.

    In another location, that mysterious bone of Nie Tian¡¯s, which was sharp enough to pierce anything in this world, also ripped through the lightning wall.

    A pagoda that was wreathed in countless spatial des also stuck out in a third location.

    As soon as the foot, the bone, and the pagoda ripped the thunderstorm vortex in three particr spots, the lightning element sect¡¯s most profound lightning formation was undermined.

    Astonished and skeptical, Han Sen muttered to himself, ¡°This spell formation isn¡¯t so easily broken. Those holes should be easy to fix.¡±

    RUUUUMBLE!

    However, just as he thought that his master, Zheng Yi, was going to fix the damaged parts with some secret magics, the thunder pools floating in the air suddenly started to shake.

    It was as if some force was calling and channeling them from the depths of the earth.

    Since the thunder pools were all connected to Zheng Yi¡¯s lightning domain, the increasingly violent shaking of the thunder pools caused even his lightning domain to shake.

    Zheng Yi intended to fix the tears caused by the ck tortoise, Nie Tian, and Zhao Shanling at the first moment. However, the sudden change in the thunder pools stopped him from doing so.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The thunderstorm vortex, into which he had infused his lightning power, soul awareness, and the power from the thunder pools, suddenly grew very unstable. Explosions kept happening within it.

    The thunder pools were originally tied down by the lightning chains Zheng Yi had created by twisting and binding multiple lightning bolts together.

    At this moment, as the thunder pools were pulled down by a strong attractive force, many of the lightning chains snapped.

    Zheng Yi¡¯s face turned grayer with every lightning chain that snapped.

    By the time all of the lightning chains snapped, he lost control of all of the thunder pools he had gone to great lengths to link to his lightning domain.

    After shaking the chains off, the thunder pools descended towards the mire below.

    PUFF!

    Zheng Yi coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    His glittering eyes suddenly went dim.

    The lightning chains had carried his soul power and the most refined lightning essence from his domain. Their snapping inflicted serious damage upon him.

    Meanwhile, as he did everything within his power to stabilize the thunder pools, Nie Tian and the others broke through his thunderstorm vortex.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Thousands of lightning bolts escaped his control and shot in every direction.

    Nie Tian, Zhao Shanling, and the others easily flew out of the damaged lightning spell formation and returned to this heaven and earth.

    As soon as they did, they saw the thunder pools breaking free from Zheng Yi¡¯s control.

    They seemed to be descending into the mire. However, as soon as they escaped Zheng Yi¡¯s control, they scattered and floated back up into the heavens, and started to provide this special heaven and earth with power again.

    Han Sen looked down at the empty mire, his face gray. ¡°This, this is...¡±

    He suddenly realized that since his master was at thete Saint domain, and his lightning power could be amplified in this unique environment, the Thunder-devouring Whale had viewed him as its greatest enemy.

    Therefore, it had secretly schemed against his master, where it had first given him a taste of victory. After he had been under the impression that he had gained full control of the thunder pools, it had secretly worked with Nie Tian and the others to deal him a critical blow.

    His master had always been the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s primary target!

    With a nasty grin and an icy look in his eyes, Yuan Jiuchuan said, ¡°You seem to have suffered heavy injuries, Zheng Yi. Perhaps it¡¯s about time you died.¡±

 Chapter 1200: Your Time Has Ended!

    Zheng Yi, the head of the lightning element sect, stared nkly into the heavens, as if he didn¡¯t even hear Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s taunt.

    At this moment, the thunder pools that he had tied down with lightning chains and assumed to have merged with his lightning domain escaped his control and flew away from him.

    Even though he switched between incantations and strained his soul power, he couldn¡¯t manipte them anymore.

    They seemed to have turned into magnificent, unwavering mountain peaks.

    Zheng Yi suddenly realized that the fact that he had been able to pull them down from the heavens before wasn¡¯t because his cultivation base and strength had allowed him to do so.

    Instead, it had been the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s scheme!

    ¡°This tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s...!¡± Zheng Yi bellowed, blood streaming uncontrobly down the corners of his mouth.

    All of a sudden, fine wisps of lightning shot out of his eyes, nostrils, and ears simultaneously.

    Rolling thunder came from his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    FIZZ!

    A set of broad wings that seemed to be made of silver lightning came to form on Zheng Yi¡¯s back and his whole body was instantly wreathed in lightning wisps.

    Oneplicated lightning talisman after another appeared in the shining silver wings.

    ¡°Thunder God¡¯s Wings!¡±

    Zheng Yi jerked his head towards Yuan Jiuchuan. Fixing him with a cold look, he snorted derisively and said, ¡°People call you ¡®Thunder Devil¡¯, but for generations, the heads of our sect have been honored with the title ¡®Thunder God¡¯! This set of Thunder God¡¯s Wings is our sect¡¯s signature Immortal grade divine tool! Don¡¯t tell me that you really think your extreme cultivation method will be the mainstream of lightning cultivation?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As he spoke, he pped the Thunder God¡¯s Wings and flew towards Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Countless glorious talismans, spells, and mysterious patterns that seemed to contain the profound truths of lightning power appeared in the set of shiny silver wings.

    Every inch of this heaven and earth that Zheng Yi flew past seemed to be shredded by the wings.

    Even Zhao Shanling gasped with astonishment and eximed subconsciously, ¡°The void is being shredded...¡±

    Then, he hastily summoned the Voidspirit Pagoda and enveloped Nie Tian, Yin Yanan, and Dong Li with it.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The lightning-burdened space was rapidly riddled with holes.

    Glorious light filled the holes, inside of which mysterious lights and unknown forces could be seen shing across from time to time, as if they established temporary connections to realms that were ruled by eternal dead silence.

    However, due to the existence of the Voidspirit Pagoda, the space where Zhao Shanling was remained intact.

    FIZZ!

    As a thick bolt of lightning struck past, Zheng Yi, who looked like a winged ancient god, shot thousands of talismans and spells towards Yuan Jiuchuan with a vigorous p of his wings.

    ¡°Thunder King Seal!¡± With an explosive roar, Yuan Jiuchuan cast the enormous spiritual tool forward, giving rise to violent thunderps.

    As it flew, it released clusters of heavenly lightning that were as dazzling as the sun. Wreathed in devastating lightning and mes, they instantly shed with Zheng Yi¡¯s talismans and spells.

    Surrounded by torrential lightning, Yuan Jiuchuan sneered. ¡°Thunder God? Only those of your sect who managed to enter the God domain were given the title ¡®Thunder God¡¯. No one has ever called you ¡®Thunder God¡¯...

    ¡°The lightning element sect declined in your hands.

    ¡°Given your mediocre cultivation base and talent, so what if you hold the Thunder God¡¯s Wings now? Even though that Immortal grade divine tool was passed down to you, you can¡¯t bring out its true might.

    ¡°Not to mention that you¡¯re seriously injured! Admit it or not, you¡¯ve lost.

    ¡°You¡¯ve failed to pull those thunder pools into your domain. Your dream of entering the God domain is broken once again. And you¡¯ve reached the limit of your lifespan. It won¡¯t be long before you die of old age.

    ¡°Give up to fate, Zheng Yi. If you give the Thunder God¡¯s Wings to Han Sen, given his cultivation talent and lightning bloodline, he might be able to fulfill your dream for you: be a God domain expert and restore the lightning element sect¡¯s awe-inspiring reputation.

    ¡°Your time has ended.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s words stabbed Zheng Yi¡¯s heart like sharp swords. They were meant to burden him with a mental demon and crush his fighting will.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    At this moment, extremely fine blood-colored auras suddenly appeared in Zheng Yi¡¯s lightning domain and started to haunt him.

    The blood-colored auras carried power that could gradually dissolve lightning domains into lightning power and turn them into nourishment for this heaven and earth.

    Zheng Yi gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Thunder-devouring Whale!¡±

    He sensed changes in his domain once again during his fight against Yuan Jiuchuan.

    The fact that his domain was being undermined now proved that earlier, when he had channeled the thunder pools down from the heavens, the Thunder-devouring Whale had slipped a small amount of its flesh aura into his domain without him knowing it.

    The influence of a tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura couldn¡¯t be treated lightly, especially when he was facing a foe like Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Zhao Shanling, who sheltered Nie Tian and the others with the Voidspirit Pagoda, observed the battle between Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan from afar, and asked, ¡°Nie Tian, do we stay here and watch, or do we join the battle? The way I see it, given Zheng Yi¡¯s condition, I doubt he¡¯ll be able to stop Yuan Jiuchuan. However, if we join the battle, Zheng Yi will lose much faster.¡±

    He was convinced that if the Frost Blood Python, the ck tortoise, Nie Tian, and he teamed up on Zheng Yi at this moment, they would most likely win without much effort.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s not join their battle.¡±

    Then, as he looked around for Han Sen, he noticed that he was cowering in a distant location.

    Nie Tian grinned and said to Yin Yanan, ¡°Why don¡¯t you and your Frost Blood Python go capture him? If he resists too fiercely, feel free to kill him. There are very few hybrids like him. If we kill one, then there¡¯ll be one less of them.¡±

    ¡°What about you?¡± Zhao Shanling asked.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go underground,¡± Nie Tian said. Holding the Star Behemoth bone, he sensed his surging flesh aura and knew that brand new bloodline talents would be awakened soon. ¡°That Thunder-devouring Whale is by no means insignificant. By relying on nothing but its heart and flesh aura, it managed to put another in such trouble.

    ¡°I¡¯ll head down there, find that heart, and have a talk with it.¡±

    With these words, he prepared to plunge towards the earth without even summoning his Star Boat.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you need our help?¡± Zhao Shanling asked.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. My bloodline has entered the eighth grade. Even though the transformation isn¡¯tplete yet, I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be a problem for me to handle a Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart.¡±

    d in the me Dragon Armor and clutching the bone, he morphed into a streak of fiery light that disappeared into the mire in the blink of an eye.

    Infusing the me Dragon Armor with his flesh power, he drilled deeper and deeper towards the depths of the earth.

    By relying on his life bloodline¡¯s keen perception, he scanned his surroundings, and gradually sensed the aura of the Thunder-devouring Whale heart.

    ¡°So there¡¯s a special space in the depths of the earth. It can hole up in it ande out as it pleases!¡± With a cold smile, Nie Tian picked up speed and headed towards the area in the depths of the earth.

 Chapter 1201: Clash of Bloodlines

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Azure bones exploded as Nie Tian drilled towards the depths of the earth. As azure electric arcs spread in every direction, an open area suddenly entered his sight.

    The vast open area seemed to be the inside of the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s chest, which was filled with raging lightning power. In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, this ce was much more fear-inspiring than Zheng Yi¡¯s thunderstorm vortex.

    The dried azure bones were none other than the dead Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s rib cage.

    Fine lightning wisps could be seen roaming inside the spacious ribcage and flying past the enormous, vigorously-beating heart, as if they had their own awareness.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart was sorge that it easily took up acres ofnd. It was blue-violet, and wreathed in azure electric arcs.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The heart pounded with great force. Within it, countless Bloodline Crystal Chains that were as fine as hairs seemed to carry its bloodline talents and profound understanding of lightning power, which it had spent its lifetime deriving.

    However, as soon as Nie Tian entered the ribcage, it was the gigantic azure bones that first caught his eyes.

    The gigantic arced bones protected the heart like a spacious, naturally-formed cage.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, hundreds of azure electric arcs shot out of the heart.

    Like ropes, the electric arcs twisted up and wrapped around Nie Tian¡¯s waist, arms, legs, and neck in a split second, and started squeezing.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Upon contact, the mes released by the me Dragon Armor shed with the electric arcs thousands of times.

    However, as fierce as the me Dragon Armor¡¯s me power was, it failed to neutralize the electric arcs right away.

    Face calm as ever, Nie Tian examined the electric arcs with rapt attention, and discovered that they carried more restraining force than destructive force.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    Every time the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart beat, it was as if a devastating thunderball was going to fly out of it.

    Those thunderballs seemed to carry splitting power that could destroy every living thing in their surroundings.

    Nie Tian frowned and sensed the environment with rapt attention. ¡°It seems that you gave permission for me to enter. This is a forbidden area that¡¯s used to shelter your heart. Normally speaking, I shouldn¡¯t have been able to enter so easily. Anyways, now that I¡¯m here, you...¡±

    Looking at the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart, he had a feeling that he would be able tomunicate with it barrier-free, even though he didn¡¯t know how for the time being.

    WHOOSH!

    A strong attractive force was suddenly born within the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s huge throbbing heart.

    As that happened, Nie Tian started being pulled towards it by the lightning shackles that had bound him.

    At this moment, Nie Tian shrewdly sensed the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s strong desire for his flesh power!

    No form ofmunication was necessary. All he did was look at the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart, and he came to realize this.

    ¡°My life bloodline!¡± It suddenly urred to Nie Tian that the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart might have set its mind on him since the moment he had entered this special heaven and earth and the mire had captured a wisp of his flesh power.

    Perhaps in the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s eyes, neither Yin Yanan nor her ninth grade Frost Blood Python were worth mentioning as sources of flesh power.

    Only his flesh aura that carried mysterious life power was what it truly yearned for, since it could help elerate its resurrection and even continue to provide it with power after its resurrection!

    ¡°You want to devour me with that huge heart of yours?¡±

    Face grim, Nie Tian summoned his bloodline power. Numerous blood-colored patterns suddenly started swaying on the me Dragon Armor¡¯s surface, releasing even fiercer mes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At the same time, more lightning bolts flew out of the dried azure bones in an attempt to annihte the crimson mes on him.

    ¡°Potential Stimtion! Life Strengthening!¡±

    As drops of Blood Essence started to burn within his heart, his body burst forth with an explosive force that could shake the heavens and move the earth.

    BOOM!

    He grabbed and snapped the azure lightning shackles that had wrapped around him by relying on nothing but fleshly power.

    As he did, the broken lightning shackles rapidly morphed into fragmented Bloodline Crystal Chains that could be seen by the naked eye. Like tiny bits of azure crystal, they seemed to carry the profound truths of lightning power.

    They fell and fused back into this unique space, as if the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart took them back.

    At the same time, lightning power seethed in the floating thunder pools as mighty lightning bolts struck madly down in the pouring rain, before disappearing into the vast mire.

    It was as if the lightning bolts were rapidly turning the mire into thergest, most devastating thunder pool!

    Nie Tian looked up from the bottom of the mire, his expression flickering with astonishment.

    He was struck by a feeling that there was a smaller, even more wondrous heaven and earth inside this heaven and earth.

    The smaller heaven and earth was filled with the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh power, along with the lightning power it had umted over the past hundreds of thousands of years.

    Compared to Zheng Yi¡¯s power, such power was purer, more straightforward, and more explosive.

    CRACK!

    A thick pir of lightning suddenly shot down from overhead and struck Nie Tian¡¯s left shoulder.

    Feeling sore and numb all over, Nie Tian hastily dashed forward, stumbling as he did.

    That was when hundreds of lightning bolts shot from the huge heart, twisted, and wrapped around him like ropes, and before he could react, pulled him into another heaven and earth that was brimming with salty, fishy-smelling flesh power: the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart!

    While Nie Tian was dragged into the huge heart, d in the me Dragon Armor, the Star Behemoth bone was bound by countless electric arcs and kept outside.

    It was as if even the Thunder-devouring Whale was very apprehensive of it, even though the soul within the bone hadn¡¯t awoken yet.

    Upon entering the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart, Nie Tian saw nothing but sparkling azure Bloodline Crystal Chains that formed a crisscrosswork, inside of which he felt that he had shrunk many times.

    As he was amazed by the scene, numerous azure Bloodline Crystal Chains suddenly pierced towards him like a rain of steel needles.

    Surprisingly, his unusually tough body failed to resist the piercing Bloodline Crystal Chains, and was instantly prated.

    In the next moment, his whole body was covered in flickering lightning wisps, which dashed towards his heart at an rming speed, carrying the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh power.

    The green aura within Nie Tian¡¯s heart, which was still in the middle of its upgrade and forming more Bloodline Crystal Chains born within it, was suddenly stirred.

    His life bloodline seemed to be enraged!

    Bloodline Crystal Chains flew pouring out of the green aura like ruthless, violent predators that preyed on all living things.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains and the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains instantly began fighting in the middle of his heart.

    Like thousands of vicious dragons and bloodthirsty pythons, their Bloodline Crystal Chains started fighting, devouring, and neutralizing each other in the inch of space that was his heart!

 Chapter 1202: Iâ€™m Not Leaving!

    Normally speaking, bloodlines at higher grades would hold an overwhelming advantage over bloodlines at lower grades.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale was at the tenth grade, which was equal to the grade of an outsider grand monarch.

    Even though it only had a heart left, the Bloodline Crystal Chains produced by its heart were at the tenth grade.

    Inparison, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was only at the eighth grade, not to mention that he had just made the breakthrough, and hadn¡¯t awakened new bloodline talents yet.

    Normally speaking, the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s tenth grade Bloodline Crystal Chains should be able to tear apart and devour Nie Tian¡¯s eighth grade Bloodline Crystal Chains effortlessly.

    However, nothing was for certain.

    Nie Tian activated Life Drain as soon as his Bloodline Crystal Chains engaged in a tangled battle against the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s.

    As drop after drop of his Blood Essence burned, the might of his Life Drain improved rapidly.

    He examined himself with his soul, and saw with great rity that the azure Bloodline Crystal Chains that belonged to the Thunder-devouring Whale started to break into tiny sparkling pieces, sputtering off electric arcs.

    The flesh power essence within them was actually channeled by his Bloodline Crystal Chains and pulled towards the center of his heart.

    Thump! Thump! Thump!

    His heart, which was countless times smaller than the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s, pounded vigorously, giving rise to heaven-shaking, earth-toppling thumps.

    Even the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heartbeat was drowned out!

    Let¡¯s not forget that he was currently inside the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart.

    BOOM!

    Hundreds of thousands of crimson flesh auras flew out of his every pore and extended towards the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart wall like red lightning bolts that carried the profound truths of life.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart was seemingly being pumped, and losing its rich flesh power essence at an rming rate.

    The enormous heart seemed to have shrunk in a matter of moments.

    Thunderous roars and rolling thunder echoed through the spacious heart cavity. Not only did the force binding Nie Tian vanishpletely, but another force even started to push Nie Tian, as if it was eager to throw him out of the heart.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale was clearly scared.

    Even though there wasn¡¯t any verbal or soulmunication, Nie Tian knew that it was now trembling with fear.

    It¡¯s tenth grade Bloodline Crystal Chains actually failed to overpower Nie Tian¡¯s eighth grade Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    This was absolutely againstmon sense!

    The tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale possessed highly-developed intelligence, which was every bit as developed as that of an outsider grand monarch.

    Its lifespan also ousted that of outsider grand monarchs. During its unusually long life, there had been very few things that could overturn its cognition and make it so scared.

    However, there were simply too many things about Nie Tian that made it fearful.

    Just earlier, it had been apprehensive about that Star Behemoth bone in Nie Tian¡¯s possession, since it had sensed the aura of its natural enemy from it.

    Luckily, since the Star Behemoth bone had been in dormancy, it hadn¡¯t been able to manifest its wonders.

    That was why it had been able to pull Nie Tian into its heart while excluding the bone.

    Originally, it had assumed that it would be able to devour and refine Nie Tian as soon as he was dragged into its heart. It had long since sensed Nie Tian¡¯s mysterious flesh aura and found it tasty and extremely helpful to its speedy resurrection.

    Who would have thought that Nie Tian, who it had viewed as amb to which it would be able to do whatever it wanted, would actually be so terrifying after he bore his fangs?!

    Watching its Bloodline Crystal Chains, with which it had hoped to devour Nie Tian¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains, snap, and its flesh power essence it had spent countless years umting flow uncontrobly towards Nie Tian, it finally gave in to its fear.

    It decided to put an end to this.

    Nie Tian smiled derisively. ¡°Hey. Is this the way to treat a guest? You took me in. I haven¡¯t even warmed up yet, and now you¡¯re so eager to throw me out? How convenient is it for you? I¡¯m not someone at your beck and call. Now that I¡¯m here, I don¡¯t n on leaving anytime soon.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Even more crimson blood strings flew out of him and pierced into the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart wall.

    Life Drain allowed Nie Tian to feel torrential flesh power pouring through the crimson blood strings and into his heart, where it was used to further his body refinement.

    ¡°No!¡± Nie Tian seemed to hear a remote soul plea from the Thunder-devouring Whale.

    However, after going nk for a brief moment, he resumed draining the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s pure flesh power with Life Drain, pretending that he didn¡¯t even hear it.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s huge heart started to shrivel at a visible rate.

    On the outside...

    RUUUUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

    Heaven fell and earth rent, numerous holes appearing in the sky. It seemed as if this special heaven and earth ruled by the Thunder-devouring Whale was going to perish.

    The floating thunder pools went out of control once again.

    However, it wasn¡¯t a part of scheme against Zheng Yi this time.

    After fighting Yuan Jiuchuan for so long, Zheng Yi, who had summoned the Thunder God¡¯s Wings, started to show signs of exhaustion, so much so that a small portion of the pure lighting power he used to attack Yuan Jiuchuan would be absorbed by him.

    Having been schemed against by the Thunder-devouring Whale and having his thunderstorm vortex destroyed by Nie Tian and the others under Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s instructions, Zheng Yi had already sustained serious injuries.

    Even more damage had been caused by the flesh aura the Thunder-devouring Whale had left behind to gradually dissolve his domain from within.

    Zheng Yi was now at a disadvantage in his battle against the Thunder Devil.

    In another part of the sky, Han Sen had already been frozen into a sculpture by the frost power breathed by the Frost Blood Python.

    Trapped in the block of ice, he would release flickering lightning arcs from time to time. However, they would be immediately stifled by the frost power, making it impossible for him to break free from the Frost Blood Python¡¯s restrictive frost power spell.

    Zhao Shanling and Dong Li¡¯s faces grew grim as they looked up at the increasingly unstable heavens and the battle between Zheng Yi and the Thunder Devil in the distance.

    They couldn¡¯t sense Nie Tian¡¯s aura from where they were, and didn¡¯t know what he had encountered.

    Zhao Shanling frowned. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this special heaven and earth transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura is going to copse soon. Now, I wonder if this heaven and earth is located in our human world, or somewhere else. I wonder where we¡¯ll end up, and whether we¡¯ll be able to find our way back if this ce blows up.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go down there and check on Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li said anxiously.

    However, just as she was about to plunge down, the ck tortoise that had shrunk to its normal size rubbed itself against her leg and established soulmunication with her.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    The ck tortoise nodded.

    With a baffled expression, Zhao Shanling asked, ¡°What did it say to you?¡±

    Having calmed down, Dong Li said, ¡°It said that the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s aura is being transformed. Nie Tian seems to have found and started a battle against the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart in the depths of the earth. Now, he seems to be gradually absorbing and refining its rich Blood Essence, and using it on his own bloodline.¡±

    Zhao Shanling gasped with astonishment. ¡°So Nie Tian won?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Dong Li answered, smiling like a blossoming flower.

    At the same time, a cluster of surging azure aura suddenly appeared in the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

 Chapter 1203: Refinement

    Yin Yanan, who was from the Beast-controlling Sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, gazed beyond the broken curtain of the heavens at the unfathomable azure sea. An exmation escaped her mouth. ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea! I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re in the Seven-star Blue Sea!¡±

    This was a ce she was very familiar with.

    The Seven-star Blue Sea was considered the most mysterious ce in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. For hundreds of thousands of years, countless people hade to explore it. However, no one seemed to have solved its secrets.

    The Stone Golems had first surfaced in the Seven-star Blue Sea before setting out on their path to the Shatter Battlefield.

    There had been many rumors about the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries since ancient times. Some had said that somewhere at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea was a path to a vast, unexplored world.

    However, no one seemed to have ever reached the very bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea to find the answers.

    Therefore, the fact that the small dimension transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura was actually located or somehow connected to the Seven-star Blue Sea came as a great surprise to Yin Yanan.

    ncing around, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°This sea in the void is special indeed. That outsider¡¯s secret teleportation portal was located by the Seven-star Blue Sea as well. The spatial fluctuations in its surrounding areas are more intense than any other area in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, which makes it easy to create spatial tunnels that connect to other heaven and earths.¡±

    With these words, he looked into the Seven-star Blue Sea¡¯s dark blue depths.

    ¡°This heaven and earth transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura must have risen from there, the very bottom of this strange sea. The Seven-star Blue Sea is a vast azure sea that floats among seven dead stars. The lightning power the Thunder-devouring Whale released earlier was clearly of the same color as the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale has something to do with the Seven-star Blue Sea.¡±

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    While people were carried away in thought, the heaven and earth transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura became riddled with holes. The azure water of the Seven-star Blue Sea flowed in through some of them.

    The small heaven and earth shook violently as it began to descend towards the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Dong Li shifted to Han Sen in a split second. Fixing him with cold look, she asked, ¡°How did you get here? Did you know that this small heaven and earth transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura is located right in the Seven-star Blue Sea?¡±

    Deeply frozen in a block of ice, Han Sen couldn¡¯t move or use his bloodline.

    However, a wisp of his soul awareness morphed into a wisp of lightning that flew from within the ice. ¡°No, we didn¡¯t know that. We came here through a hidden teleportation portal we found. After examining it carefully, we were convinced that it had something to do with a Thunder-devouring Whale, so we came.¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled arrogantly, putting his mind at ease. ¡°If we¡¯re in the Seven-star Blue Sea, that¡¯ll make things much easier. No worries. If I want to, I can take you out of here at any moment. But since this heaven and earth is slowly disappearing, we still have time.¡±

    ¡°Is this because Nie Tian¡¯s refining the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart?¡± Yin Yanan asked curiously.

    Dong Li nodded slightly. ¡°The tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart rules this heaven and earth. I suppose this small world will perish after Nie Tian refines itpletely.¡±

    ¡°The tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart!¡± Han Sen cried inwardly.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart was why he hade here. If he obtained it, with its help, his lightning bloodline might be able to break through into the eight or even the ninth grade!

    After all, lightning-attributed Ancientspirits like this Thunder-devouring Whale were the treasures that could provide his lightning bloodline with the most help!

    In his eyes, it would be a huge waste for Nie Tian to refine it.

    However, this wasn¡¯t for him to decide.

    ...

    Washed by the sea water from the Seven-star Blue Sea, the mire started to dissolve, its mud growing thinner and thinner.

    In the depths, where the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s ribs had established a shelter for its heart, the electric arcs and lightning power wreathing the dried azure bones were no longer raging.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It was as if all of the lightning power and electric arcs were being dissolved by the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Even the thunder pools in the heavens were slowly descending, as if they would soon be a part of the Seven-star Blue Sea as well.

    At the same time, the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart continued to shrivel as the tenth grade Ancientbeast¡¯s most fundamental flesh power essence was gradually drained and refined by Nie Tian with Life Drain.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s heart, however, drop after drop of Blood Essence came to form.

    ¡°Fifty... A hundred... Two hundred... Three hundred.¡±

    The maximum amount of Blood Essence he had been able to retain when he had been at the seventh grade was fifty drops.

    However, as the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura was rapidly drained and refined, more and more Blood Essence condensed at an incredibly fast speed.

    It wasn¡¯t long before three hundred drops of Blood Essence that looked like crimson diamonds came to form in his heart.

    While extremely vigorous life force gradually filled every inch of his body, his meridians, bones, internal organs and flesh also became stronger and stronger, being baptized by lightning power.

    Furthermore, the birth of numerous Bloodline Crystal Chains made Nie Tian realize that brand new bloodline talents were about to be awakened!

    Anticipation filled Nie Tian¡¯s heart. ¡°How many bloodline talents will be awakened this time? What will they be?¡±

    After entering the seventh grade, not only had he awakened Potential Stimtion and Blood Essence Transcendence directly, but he had also entered his Blood Realm, where he had acquired two wondrous bloodline magics: Life Shackle and Life Erosion.

    He was very curious about what his bloodline would bring him after advancing to the eighth grade.

    Therefore, while continuing to refine the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura, he paid close attention to his uing brand new bloodline talents.

    At the same time, he also yearned to enter his Blood Realm again to acquire more profound bloodline magics.

    Eventually, the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s huge heart¡¯s shriveled heart wall copsed on him.

    With a casual sh of his hands, he freed himself from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s sagging heart. Even so, numerous blood strings were still attached to and channeling flesh power from the heart.

    At this moment, the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s calls had long since stopped.

    Nie Tian could tell that the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s soul awareness would soon dissipate as its heart waspletely drained of its flesh power.

    He sighed inwardly. ¡°A mighty tenth grade existence went to such great lengths to gather flesh power so it coulde back to life. What a pity.¡±

    All of a sudden, he sensed that the thunder pools were falling out of the heavens at an rming speed.

    He nced around with rapt attention, and discovered that there was azure sea water outside the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s ribcage.

    He went nk, even though the sea water gave him a sense of familiarity. After taking a moment to think, he suddenly realized what was happening, his expression flickering violently.

    ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea! The mysterious Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries! The Stone Golems came from the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea before entering the Shatter Battlefield!¡±

    With this thought, he jerked his head downwards.

    He suddenly sensed that the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s ribcage, along with its shriveled heart and him, were sinking slowly.

    They were sinking towards the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea!

    At this moment, numerous Bloodline Crystal Chains within his bloodline aura interwove and burst forth with glorious light, awakening his first new bloodline talent!

    ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea!¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven from the Pure Heaven Sect, who was in the vicinity, sensed anomalies, and thus dashed over.

    As he did, his eyes lit up. ¡°A copsing dimension that¡¯s filled with Ancientspirit flesh aura!¡±

 Chapter 1204: Realm Fusing into Sea

    Sitting in the lotus position, Patriarch Pure Heaven had been observing the Seven-star Blue Sea from a nearby dead star, hoping to see through its secrets.

    The Seven-star Blue Sea was a vast azure sea that floated in the void, surrounded by seven dead stars.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven hadn¡¯t had a good time recently.

    The Pure Heaven Sect had been the most powerful sect in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries before Nie Tian hade along and shown his extraordinary talents.

    Back then, he himself had been the strongest Qi warrior of this domain, only a step away from entering the Saint domain.

    Later, he had actually be the first from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to enter the Saint domain.

    However, now as many years had passed, the situation in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had long since gone through radical changes.

    Both Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect and Zhongli Jian from the Divine me Sect had managed to break through into the Saint domain. Even Yue Yanxi had started attempting to advance to the Saint domain after obtaining a copious number of precious materials.

    The Pure Heaven Sect¡¯s status in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had be far lower than before. The other sects had even started to repel them.

    All of this was because Master Pure Heaven had stubbornly refused to join Nie Tian and be his subordinate force as the Beast-controlling Sect, the Divine me Sect, and the Bliss Mountain Sect had.

    All of the other sects and their powerful seniors had made fortunes from the battles they had fought alongside Nie Tian. Their sect¡¯s reserve power had improved significantly.

    However, not only had the Pure Heaven Sect not be stronger, but they had even grown weaker and weaker.

    Now, more than half of their members deemed the decision Master Pure Heaven had made years ago to be wrong, so much so that the implementation of many of his orders would often meet great resistance.

    To change all this and prove himself to be right, he could only make himself stronger.

    He was eager to break through into the middle Saint domain so he could prove to everyone that he was still the strongest person in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    As the most mysterious ce in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the ce where the Stone Golems had first emerged, the Seven-star Blue Sea had then be his primary target of exploration.

    In fact, he had already spent quite some time wandering among the nearby dead stars, but failed to reach the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea with his soul awareness, much less discover its secrets.

    At this moment, he suddenly noticed a small dimension appearing in a corner of the Seven-star Blue Sea. He saw a ray of hope.

    He shot forth with full speed!

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Inside the copsing dimension, Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning domains and their Thunder God¡¯s Wings and Thunder King Seal shed madly, giving rise to endless lightning and rolling thunder.

    As the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart continued to lose its flesh power and shrivel, this whole heaven and earth was on the verge of disappearing and bing a part of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    FZZZ!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda suddenly burst forth with blindingly bright light, ripping the heavens open.

    Then, Dong Li, the ck tortoise, Yin Yanan, and the Frost Blood Python followed Zhao Shanling out of the broken heaven and earth, dragging the imprisoned Han Sen with them.

    In the storm of lightning and thunder, the thunder pools crashed towards the earth.

    Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan cursed and roared at each other as they also flew out of the perishing heaven and earth, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    Upon emerging from the sea, Zheng Yi shot off into the distance, his Thunder God¡¯s Wings that seemed to be made of pure lightning dragging a tail that extended dozens of kilometers.

    However, blood could be seen dripping from the bright wings as he flew away.

    Apparently, he had sustained heavy injuries.

    The Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan, however, seemed to be full of vigor as he dashed off after Zheng Yi, along with his Thunder King Seal that had expanded a hundred times like a lightning-wreathed mountain peak.

    In the blink of an eye, the two of them vanished from the Seven-star Blue Sea like two bolts of lightning.

    Their battle carried on in the vast open starry river in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, as if it would only end when one of them died.

    After approaching, Patriarch Pure Heaven suddenly spotted the two. ¡°The head of the lightning element sect! The Thunder Devil, Yuan Jiuchuan!¡±

    His face turned pale with fright as he hastily came to a stop. He didn¡¯t dare to stop them, so he simply watched them fly away.

    In the next moment, he noticed Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python.

    His resounding voice echoed out. ¡°It¡¯s you! Aren¡¯t you supposed to be seeking new breakthroughs in your cultivation in a blessednd of the Beast-controlling Sect?¡±

    Yin Yanan went nk briefly before smiling and saying in a manner that was neither overbearing nor servile, ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d see you here, Patriarch. The perishing small heaven and earth is the ¡®blessednd¡¯.¡±

    If it had been before, she would have humbled herself in front of Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    However, as her Frost Blood Python had now entered the ninth grade, Dong Qisong had entered the Saint domain, and her rtionship with Nie Tian and many other powerful experts deepened, Patriarch Pure Heaven, the former number one Qi warrior in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, couldn¡¯t inspire fear in her anymore.

    Perhaps her Frost Blood Python alone wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to defeat him, but it still would be able to give him a strong headache.

    Not to mention that she also had Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect behind her.

    Dong Qisong and the Frost Blood Python together possessed enough power to overtake the Pure Heaven Sect. They wouldn¡¯t even need help from the Divine me Sect, the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Trisword Sect, and the other allied sects.

    What would Patriarch Pure Heaven rely on to contend against them?

    Let¡¯s not forget they also had Nie Tian and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as their strongest backers.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven shrewdly discovered the change in Yin Yanan¡¯s attitude. However, he didn¡¯t say anything about it.

    No matter how stubborn he was, he understood that the times had changed. He and the Pure Heaven Sect were no longer the rulers of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After a moment of silence, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s with that copsing dimension? Also, why was the head of the lightning element sect fighting the Thunder Devil? I heard that they went to the Domain of Endless Thunder and attacked the Heavenly Thunder Sect together not long ago.¡±

    Yin Yanan didn¡¯t give him face, and said, ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that. After all, you and your Pure Heaven Sect chose not to join us.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face froze.

    At that moment, Dong Li snorted disdainfully. ¡°Nie Tian gave you face by allowing your sect to continue to exist in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. You should be grateful.¡±

    Fixing her with a confused look, Patriarch Pure Heaven asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    He had spent most of his time practicing secluded cultivation and had thus never met Dong Li in person.

    ¡°Dong Li, Nie Tian¡¯s fiance.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s you.¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven instantly realized what was going on. He frowned deeply and fell silent.

    Dong Li snorted derisively and said, ¡°You should know that you and your Pure Heaven Sect are really nothing. Even the Water Moon Sect, the most powerful sect in the Domain of Vast Darkness, has chosen to be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate force. Their sectmaster Xie Qian, who¡¯s at thete Saint domain, is far stronger than you. You can take a look at how fast the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s strength have grown after they joined Nie Tian¡¯s force.

    ¡°The Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect saw their first Saint domain experts, and there¡¯ll be more toe.

    ¡°You should be well-aware of the reason. If you had agreed to be Nie Tian¡¯s sword as they did, you probably would have entered the middle Saint domain long ago, instead of cing your hope in the Seven-star Blue Sea and working so hard to find an opportunity to make the breakthrough.¡±

    Dong Li pointed out how stubborn and foolish Patriarch Pure Heaven was without mincing words.

    After hearing her words, Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face turned very grim. However, since he didn¡¯t know how to argue, he could only pant heavily while remaining silent.

    At this moment, Zhao Shanling interrupted them, looking somewhat worried. ¡°Nie Tian is sinking towards the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea along with that copsing heaven and earth. That arcane dimension transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura seems to be rapidly merging with the Seven-star Blue Sea. I find this very strange.¡±

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Nie Tian... will be able to get out of there, right?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Dong Li asked with a frown.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that many in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, who had great confidence in themselves, have attempted to explore the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea,¡± Yin Yanan exined. ¡°However, I never heard any of them who were able toe back alive.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s one person who came back alive,¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven suddenly said.

    Yin Yanan was taken aback. ¡°Who?¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heavenid his eyes on Zhao Shanling and asked, ¡°You found that Voidspirit Pagoda in the depths of a space disruption zone, right?¡±

    Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t deny it. He nodded and said, ¡°Nie Tian and I fought people from the Bliss Mountain Sect and the Trisword Sect so that I could obtain it.¡±

    ¡°The owner of the Voidspirit Pagoda, Master Voidspirit, was a powerful expert from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries,¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven exined. ¡°I had many talks with him when he was alive. He once told me that he had managed to reach the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, where he had derived profound enlightenment of spatial power.

    ¡°Soon after he hade out, he left for that space disruption zone, hoping to enter the Saint domain there. However... he failed.

    ¡°ording to him, I¡¯m the only one he ever told about his experience of reaching the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, but he didn¡¯t exin the details. Because of this, I¡¯ve been trying to see if I can derive some enlightenment by sending my soul awareness into the Seven-star Blue Sea, and therefore get the courage to enter the depths myself.¡±

    After an exmation, Dong Li rapidly calmed down. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it was Master Voidspirit! However, it¡¯s actually not so surprising that he was able to return from the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea alive. After all, he¡¯s that one¡¯s...¡±

    Master Voidspirit had been the only son of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s current sectmaster. Due to their differences, he had left the Void Spirit Society ande to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries by himself.

    Since he had mastered the Void Spirit Society¡¯s various profound incantations and held the Void Spirit Pagoda, it actually made sense if he had been able toe back from the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea alive.

    After pondering for a moment, Yin Yanan asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian now? Do we go down there and see if we can help him?¡±

    ¡°You stay here. I¡¯ll go down there and see if I can get him out.¡± Zhao Shanling said with determination.

    Then, before Dong Li and Yin Yanan could say anything, he plunged towards the Seven-star Blue Sea like a sh of lightning, wielding his Voidspirit Pagoda.

 Chapter 1205: Profound Truths Crystallization!

    There were teleportation portals on the seven dead stars that surrounded the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One figure after another flew out of those teleportation portals and rapidly converged on the Seven-star Blue Sea from different directions.

    Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect, Zhongli Jian from the Divine me Sect, along with powerful experts from the Bliss Mountain Sect, the Trisword Sect, the Chu n, the Guan n, and the Jian n, had all rushed here upon hearing of the unusual changes in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Upon arriving, Dong Qisong spotted Yin Yanan, who was sitting astride the Frost Blood Python and floating over the blue sea. ¡°Yanan!¡±

    Many saw Dong Li, and rapidly gathered to greet her. ¡°Miss Dong!¡±

    All of the sects and ns from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries knew that Dong Li was Nie Tian¡¯s representative in his three subordinate domains, and thus showed her great respect.

    Dong Qisong, however, only smiled faintly upon seeing her.

    That was because the special historic bond between his sect and the Dong n had made him close to Dong Li and her n. Thus, he didn¡¯t have to cozy up her.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Dong Qisong asked. ¡°We sent you into that special dimension. Why are you here?¡±

    The others also fixed their eyes on Yin Yanan, waiting for her answer.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Deafening sounds of shing lightning suddenly came from the distant starry river.

    Zhongli Jian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°The head of the lightning element sect, Zheng Yi, and the Thunder Devil, Yuan Jiuchuan...¡± Yin Yanan took a deep breath, and exined everything to them as fast as she could.

    The crowd mored. Everyone had worried looks on their faces as they looked down at the Seven-star Blue Sea from time to time.

    ¡°What?! Nie Tian is now under the Seven-star Blue Sea?!¡±

    ¡°The heaven and earth formed by a Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura perished in the sea, and he sank with it?¡±

    ¡°What do we do? I¡¯ve never known anyone to have reached the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea ande back alive!¡±

    ¡°Do we inform Jing Feiyang and Xie Qian? Or do we ask for help from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect?¡±

    In their eyes, the azure Seven-star Blue Sea was full of mysteries, so much so that even Zhongli Jian and Dong Qisong, who had entered the Saint domain, wouldn¡¯t dare to go into it.

    As for Patriarch Pure Heaven, even though he stood right there, the new arrivals did nothing more than nod towards him upon arriving. No one had shown any interest in talking to him.

    Perhaps they had long since viewed him to be on the opposing side.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven ran his gaze over every single one of them, his face grim, his heart filled with anger. ¡°These bastards...¡±

    Back when Nie Tian hadn¡¯te along and the Pure Heaven Sect had been the most powerful force in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, all of the experts here would greet him respectfully upon seeing him.

    It hadn¡¯t been very long, yet these people he hadn¡¯t attached any importance to before had caught up with his cultivation base, and their sects¡¯ reserve power had risen above that of the Pure Heaven Sect.

    They didn¡¯t even pay him any respect upon seeing him anymore.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven found this infuriating.

    ncing over the noisy crowd, Dong Li lifted her hand and beckoned everyone to calm down. After the crowd quieted down, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nie Tian should be fine.¡±

    Everyone could see the pride and confidence on her gorgeous face and captivating eyes as she carried on. ¡°No matter where Nie Tian goes, he can alwayse back unscathed. I¡¯m sure of it! He has never disappointed me since the day we met.

    ¡°In fact, every time he returned from a dangerous adventure, he returned more powerful and trustworthy!¡±

    Yin Yanan, as well as Mu Biqiong, Qiao Yunxi and many other young women who had arrivedter, seemed absorbed in thought after seeing the glow and unreserved trust on her face.

    Looking at her, many started to think to themselves.

    ¡°No wonder she was able to win Nie Tian¡¯s favor before they even left the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Her background and original cultivation base might be unimpressive. However, she does have her unique charm. And that¡¯s why Nie Tian has acknowledged his rtionship with her and no one else.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s good.¡±

    At first, most of the powerhouses from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had deemed Dong Li to be unworthy of Nie Tian. However, as they had gotten to know her better, they had gradually seen what an extraordinary woman she was.

    At this moment, seeing the unconditional trust Dong Li had in Nie Tian, they realized that the woman behind Nie Tian should be her and no one else!

    ...

    In the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, the water was quiet and silent, without even the slightest currents.

    A glowing blue sphere could be seen in the sea water, like arge blue bubble.

    Nie Tian was in that glowing sphere.

    Inside the glowing sphere, Nie Tian held the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart that had shrunk countless times in his hands, and activated the first bloodline talent he had awakened this time.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Profound Truths Crystallization!¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence immediately started to burn in his heart.

    Under the wondrous effect of Profound Truths Crystallization, the mes of his Blood Essence were infused into the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s shrunken heart, where they condensed the remaining Bloodline Crystal Chains that had be as fine as hairs into a crystal that was only the size of a fingernail.

    The crystal was cyan, and looked simr to the prismatic crystal Phantasms grew between their eyebrows.

    However, the small, seemingly insignificant crystal carried the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains and its lifetime understanding of the profound truths of lightning power.

    Anyone in this world who practiced lightning incantations would be able to send their soul awareness into it to derive enlightenment from the profound truths it carried. It wouldn¡¯t matter whether they were outsiders, Ancientspirits, or humans.

    This was the first bloodline talent Nie Tian had awakened after entering the eighth grade: Profound Truths Crystallization!

    This bloodline talent allowed him to condense the hearts of ninth and tenth grade outsiders and Ancientspirits into crystals that contained the essence refined from their Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    Holding the small cyan crystal with two fingers, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°Even though it doesn¡¯t carry rich flesh power, any cultivator that practices lightning incantations will be able to benefit a great deal from this wondrous crystal that carries the profound truths of lightning power. To those like Mo Qinglei who practice lightning incantations, this crystal is very much like a Heavenly Talisman. As long as they spend time deriving enlightenment from it, they¡¯ll be able to make significant breakthroughs in their cultivation with its help.

    ¡°A Heavenly Talisman...¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    ¡°Most so-called Heavenly Talismans form naturally. Is it possible that some of them are refined and carved in the same way I made this Profound Truths Crystal?¡±

    It urred to him that he might have uncovered another secret of heaven and earth.

    ¡°Profound Truths Crystallization! From now on, when I kill ninth grade outsiders in battle, not only will I be able to drain their rich flesh auras, but I can also refine their hearts and turn the profound truths of their bloodlines into crystals.

    ¡°Since I only practice star, me, and wood power, perhaps this crystal isn¡¯t exactly helpful to me. However, my subordinates...

    ¡°Which of my subordinates are well-versed in lightning power, and at the same time absolutely loyal to me?¡±

    The first ones that came to mind were the Lei Tianqi and Lei Tianhong brothers from the Lei n, which was a subordinate n of the Divine me Sect, along with those from the Thunder Mountain Sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    However, all of their cultivation bases were fairly low. The way he saw it, none of them qualified to have the privilege of using this crystallized legacy of a Thunder-devouring Whale.

    ¡°If Zheng Yi or Yuan Jiuchuan get this crystal that contains the profound truths of the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline, they might even be able to enter the God domain with its help...¡± All of a sudden, Nie Tian thought of Mo Qinglei from the Domain of Endless Thunder, and his father, Mo Qianfan. ¡°If the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, Mo Qianfan, were to get this treasure, perhaps he¡¯d have a chance to enter the God domain too. At least, it¡¯ll greatly improve his odds.

    ¡°Perhaps if I present this treasure to him, I¡¯ll be able to trade it for arge number of precious materials.¡±

    His eyes lit up as this thought entered his mind.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The green aura in his heart that was the embodiment of his life bloodline underwent changes once again. As more and more Bloodline Crystal Chains came to form, a second eighth grade bloodline talent was about to be born.

    ¡°What will the second bloodline talent be?¡± Anticipation filled his heart as he focused his soul awareness that was like an eye on his heart, waiting for a brand new bloodline talent to be born.

    He also wondered if his Blood Essence would take him into his Blood Realm once again to find new bloodline magics.

    BZZZ!

    At this moment, he suddenly noticed that a glorious light seemed to be flickering over his head.

    He looked up, and saw Zhao Shanling enveloped in a power released by the Voidspirit Pagoda. At this moment, he was slowly approaching him with an agonizing look on his face.

    He was also waving at him with difficulty, as if to urge him to surface.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel any difort in the glowing sphere that was the remainder of the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura heaven and earth.

    He shook his head towards Zhao Shanling, signaling him to surface without him.

    That was because he was preparing to awaken his second eighth grade bloodline talent here.

    Zhao Shanling, however, seemed rather anxious as he repeatedly beckoned for him to surface right away, as if he had sensed something.

 Chapter 1206: Unusual Scene at Sea Bottom

    Even enveloped in the divine light released by the Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling found it extremely hard to sink to the depths of the sea.

    Spatial power condensed into wisps of dazzling light that swam around him like a shoal of sparkling fish.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, the wisps of light were disappearing at an rming rate, as if something were refining them.

    He had anxiety written all over face. His worry for Nie Tian filled his eyes.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Enveloped in the glowing blue sphere, he withdrew his focus from his bloodline aura in his heart and nced at the deep sea around him with rapt attention.

    Strange scenes caught his eyes.

    Illusory images that seemed like mirages would appear in the deep sea around him from time to time. They were usually distinctive when they first appeared, but would then rapidly blur and fade away.

    There was an illusory image of a quiet arcane realm dotted with clearkes that looked like emerald jades.

    Another image presented a heaven and earth filled with dazzling golden light. The mountains, ins, and heavens were all bathed in divine golden light, as if the entire realm was forged from gold.

    There was also an image of a fiery realm whereva rivers stretched thousands of kilometers. Even earth and heaven seemed to be burning. A mere look at them would make one feel scorched.

    Another image presented a gruesome realm where raging Demon Qi pervaded thend, corpses were piled up into mountains, and the howls of evil spirits filled the air.

    However, of all of the illusory images, Nie Tian found one the most astonishing. It was an image of a heaven and earth where thunder pools floated in the sky, filling the air with lightning and thunder.

    It was none other than the small dimension that had transformed from that tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura!

    However, hadn¡¯t that dimension fallen apart and sunken into the Seven-star Blue Sea?

    Just earlier, he had watched the thunder pools vanish, as if they had dissolved and fused into this vast mysterious sea surrounded by seven dead stars.

    Why would the perished dimension reappear in the depths of the sea?

    ¡°If that dimension has actually reappeared in the depths, what does it make the illusory images of the other mysterious realms?¡± After pondering for a moment, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that all of these heaven and earths that look like mirages existed once, but have perished and be a part of this sea!¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian.

    ¡°Taking perished arcane realms and small dimensions into itself... Can this Seven-star Blue Sea be more mystical? Those Stone Golems came from somewhere at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea. Upon their sudden appearance, they charged through the sea¡¯s surface and off to the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°The Stone Golem race had disappeared for countless years. Where had they been all this time?

    ¡°Is it possible that there are special tunnels at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea that connect to other parts of the starry river?

    ¡°Could there be an entrance to the ¡®new world¡¯ the Heavenly Corpse Sect, the Nether Spirit Society, and other crooked sects talked about at the sea bottom?¡±

    Questions and thoughts exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯tb through them.

    At this moment, he suddenly noticed that Zhao Shanling seemed to have reached his limit, and couldn¡¯t descend another inch.

    Wielding the Voidspirit Pagoda, he stopped in a ce about a hundred meters above him, and repeatedly beckoned for him to leave the depths of the sea.

    Seeing this, he stopped descending in the glowing blue sphere.

    As more and more Bloodline Crystal Chains formed within his heart, a second bloodline talent was on the verge of being awakened.

    That was when he noticed arge bright spot in the distance. After flickering a few times, it suddenly exploded, sending out waves that he could only see, but not feel.

    However, for some reason, a strong sense of danger overtook him the moment the blindingly bright spot exploded.

    He had a peculiar feeling that Saint or even early God domain experts would perish, body and soul, if they were in that bright spot when it exploded.

    ¡°That must be what¡¯s been worrying Zhao Shanling.¡± He instantly realized what was happening, his expression flickering. ¡°Such devastating power... If I was close to it, I¡¯d probably die a miserable death. At least considering my current strength, I won¡¯t be able to survive an explosion so mighty.¡±

    Uponing to this realization, he attempted to move his arms and legs and circte his bloodline aura.

    A few dozen crimson flesh auras then flew out of him to slowly pull him upwards.

    Everything happened smoothly.

    Enveloped and protected by the glowing blue sphere, he floated towards the sea¡¯s surface.

    The closer he came to the surface, the fainter the blue sphere grew.

    The transparent sphere seemed to be thest remainder of the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura essence, which instinctively served as a protective shield because of the existence of the Profound Truths Crystal refined from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart.

    It wasn¡¯t Nie Tian it was protecting, but rather the Profound Truths Crystal that carried the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline imprints and profound understanding of lightning power.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian finally rose to Zhao Shanling¡¯s side.

    The glowing sphere around him popped with a mild boom.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Under Zhao Shanling¡¯smand, the Voidspirit Pagoda enveloped Nie Tian with its divine light.

    Even though it was extremely difficult to sink any further, rising turned out to be much easier.

    Carried by the Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian rose faster and faster, and soon charged through the surface of the mysterious azure sea.

    The two of them joined the others that were floating above the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    However, the small heaven and earth transformed from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s flesh aura, along with the thunder pools, had be a part of the Seven-star Blue Sea, and could not be found again.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this sea can actually take small perished dimensions into itself...¡± Dong Li was rendered speechless.

    Upon seeing him, Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, and many other powerful experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries gathered to bow respectfully towards him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian nced around at the many faces, some familiar and some not, and then nodded slowly.

    Eventually, heid his eyes on Patriarch Pure Heaven. Somewhat taken aback, he asked, ¡°Hmm? Howe you¡¯re here too? Does this mean you¡¯vee around?¡±

    An awkward expression appeared on Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face. ¡°Umm...¡±

    He had imed that he would only bend his knees and swear allegiance to Nie Tian if Nie Tian could defeat him in battle by relying on his own strength.

    Even now, faced with so much pressure from within and without his sect, he stood by his words.

    However, as Nie Tian, whose bloodline had entered the eighth grade, now surfaced from the Seven-star Blue Sea, he secretly examined his cultivation base and power level, and somehow felt a strong sense of danger.

    He was no stranger to such a feeling...

    It was a feeling he would only feel when facing an opponent that was as strong or even stronger than him.

    However, Nie Tian was clearly only at thete Soul realm now.

    His cultivation base was separated from his by an entire level: the Void domain.

    Then what was with this strong sense of danger he was now getting from Nie Tian?

    He didn¡¯t doubt the keenness of his feeling.

    He was convinced that Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess had risen high above the Soul realm!

    ¡°Nie Tian, the Seven-star Blue Sea can¡¯t be taken lightly!¡± After surfacing, Zhao Shanling held the Voidspirit Pagoda in his hand with a deeply grim look on his face, as if he had learned something about the Seven-star Blue Sea through the Voidspirit Pagoda, as well as his own understanding of spatial power, and he was eager to share it with him.

    ¡°Hold on!¡± Dong Li eximed.

    Zhao Shanling fixed her with a confused look.

    Dong Li straightened her face, and moved to Patriarch Pure Heaven. ¡°Sorry, you don¡¯t have a ce here. You¡¯re not one of us, so we can¡¯t allow you to listen to what we¡¯re going to discuss next. I know this is a bit impolite, but I have to ask you to leave now!¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s expression grew even grimmer.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t say anything, but only looked at Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    Dong Qisong, Zhongli Jian, and the other experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries also fixed their eyes on Patriarch Pure Heaven, as if they were enjoying this scene.

    ¡°My sect has always been a member of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Seven-star Blue Sea was first discovered by us...¡± Master Pure Heaven said in a low, furious voice.

    ¡°That was before.¡± Dong Li interrupted him. ¡°If you want to talk about history, the outsiders were the first masters of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Your sect wasn¡¯t founded a very long time after the outsiders left. There aren¡¯t any indigenous humans in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven was at a loss for words.

    At this moment, Nie Tian rubbed his chin and said, ¡°I just remembered what you said before.¡±

    As he spoke, he examined his heart, and saw the brand new bloodline talent that had just been awakened. His confidence soared. ¡°You said that you¡¯d swear your allegiance to me if I could defeat you by relying on my own strength. Do you still stand by that statement?¡±

    Everyone present gasped with astonishment upon hearing this.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s expression flickered. He braced himself and eximed, ¡°Of course I do!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good! I want to give it a shot, right here, right now!¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s heart was filled with surprise, excitement, and a strong anticipation that had been suppressed for many years. ¡°Are you sure?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded with great force. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡±

    A mor instantly burst through the space over the Seven-star Blue Sea. All of the Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were bbergasted. Some hastily advised Nie Tian against doing such a reckless thing.

 Chapter 1207: Fighting Patriarch Pure Heaven

    Receiving meaningful gazes from many others, Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect worked up the courage to walk over to Nie Tian and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this, Nie Tian.

    ¡°Given your noble status in the human world, why even bother yourself with Patriarch Pure Heaven? The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect all have high opinions of you. The Pure Heaven Sect refuses to join us, but so what? There¡¯s no point in wasting your energy on them.¡±

    He was very straightforward, even though Patriarch Pure Heaven was right there with them.

    However, this was from Dong Qisong and everyone else¡¯s heart.

    Nie Tian had defeated Ophelia in the Dead Star Sea and reshaped the reputation of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and human chosen ones.

    In the Shatter Battlefield, he had made an extraordinary contribution by lifting numerous Saint and God domain experts from the four great sects from a meaningless battle against mighty Ancientspirit and outsider grand patriarchs and grand monarchs.

    Just recently, even Luo Wanxiang, a middle God domain vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, had been forced to give way to him.

    Compared to them, what significance did Patriarch Pure Heaven have?

    Jing Feiyang, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian... All of these subordinates of Nie Tian could easily defeat Patriarch Pure Heaven in battle.

    Even Dong Qisong, who had recently gained a copious amount of cultivation resources and had agreeable spiritual tools forged for him, thought that he would be able to match Patriarch Pure Heaven in battle now.

    Even he didn¡¯t think it was worth it for Nie Tian to spend time and effort fighting Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    Calm andposed, Nie Tian waved his hand and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay. The current troublesome situation in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries needs to end sooner orter. We¡¯re not unreasonable people. Otherwise, the Pure Heaven Sect would have been driven out of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries long ago.

    ¡°Since he said himself that if I could defeat him in battle without relying on anyone else, he¡¯d agree to join my service with the Pure Heaven Sect, even though it hasn¡¯t been long since these words were said, I think I¡¯m ready.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven assumed a serious face and said, ¡°I¡¯ll make good on my promise, as long as you can defeat or even just score a tie with me!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s...¡± Zhongli Jian from the Divine me Sect muttered with an astonished expression, and then became absorbed in thought.

    Yin Yanan, Mu Biqiong, Qiao Yunxi, and many other Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries went nk for a moment before falling silent.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face was filled with anticipation.

    ¡°Okay, good.¡± Nie Tian nodded and signaled for the crowd to vacate the area above the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    ¡°Let¡¯s give them some space,¡± Dong Qisong said to the crowd.

    Soon, people scattered, giving Nie Tian and Patriarch Pure Heaven a vast empty space.

    Before leaving, Dong Li asked, ¡°Nie Tian, what about Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan?¡±

    Nie Tian nced around at the nearby dead stars and said, ¡°Don¡¯t mind them. I can sense that their battle is carrying them farther and farther away from this area.

    ¡°And, if we want to capture or kill them, we¡¯ll have to get a God domain expert to help us.¡±

    Dong Li nodded slightly and left without saying a word.

    She knew that Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan belonged to the same mysterious force.

    Not only did that force seem to have an indescribable connection to Nie Tian, but they were said to be more powerful than any of the four great sects.

    As shrewd as Dong Li was, she thought that she had better not make any rash moves against that secret force before figuring out their true intentions.

    As for Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan, as long as their battle didn¡¯t endanger the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, they might as well let them fight all they wanted.

    ¡°Pure Heaven Spell Formation: Domain!¡± As Patriarch Pure Heaven shouted, a misty gray domain instantly formed around him, which was like a dim yellow heaven and earth that was filled with an earthy aura.

    Enormous grayish-brown stone balls flew out from Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s chest one after another, shing and giving rise to loud rumbles as they did.

    ¡°Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs!¡±

    Every time the grayish-brown stone balls collided with each other, the void shook violently. The collisions even gave rise to huge waves in the Seven-star Blue Sea below.

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank slightly as he stared unblinkingly at the enormous stone balls. ¡°Each of those Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs seems to have been transformed from an arcane realm after thousands of years of refinement. One, two... There are eight of them!¡±

    All eight Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs were grayish-brown, dim, and the same size.

    The arcane orbs spun as they flew towards Nie Tian with an overwhelming momentum. Nie Tian instantly felt a tremendous amount of pressure, so much so that he felt like he was going to be crushed by eight small-scale realms at the same time.

    He knew that it wasn¡¯t an illusion.

    Each of these Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs had been a small arcane realm Patriarch Pure Heaven had collected. After infusing them with his spiritual power and soul power, he had refined them into his most suited weapon.

    As they approached, the eight of them formed a special spell formation that covered arge area, as if they were going to imprison heaven and earth.

    ¡°Bloodline: Life Strengthening, Potential Stimtion!¡±

    The two bloodline talents were activated simultaneously.

    Nie Tian¡¯s body that seemed only slightly more robust than a regr man instantly bulked in an explosive manner!

    In the blink of an eye, he expanded to three meters tall!

    His muscles bulged violently as his skin became scaly and as tough as metal, with silver and golden light slithering all over him.

    HOOOOWL!

    Blood Essence Seething was activated, further stimting his potential. Torrential flesh power surged through him like blood-colored rivers.

    The thick crimson flesh aura dispersed, forming what looked like a sea of blood-colored aura.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor Nie Tian was wearing was instantly ignited, releasing fierce mes that merged with his flesh aura in a perfect way.

    For some reason, after entering the eighth grade, Nie Tian now had a feeling that he could rely on his flesh power to shake heaven and earth, topple mountain peaks that were thousands of meters high, and even tear stars from the heavens.

    ¡°How powerful is my body after my bloodline entered the eighth grade?¡±

    With this thought, he fixed his eyes on one of the enormous Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs and threw a heavy punch towards it.

    ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    He summoned nothing but his pure, rich flesh power.

    As he threw the punch, a raging flesh aura shot from his fist. While traveling in the air, the thick raging flesh aura experienced endless changes before condensing into a gory giant: a titan!

    As Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike imprint, the titan covered in blood almost filled the space between heaven and earth, and let out unyielding roars.

    BOOOOM!

    The fist strike imprint that was the shape of a titan mmed into a Pure Heaven Arcane Orb.

    The arcane orb that had been refined from an arcane realm and vested with Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s spiritual power, soul power, and understanding of incantations immediately gave cracking sounds.

    The enormous grayish-brown stone ball seemed to be bathed in countless wisps of blood-colored light, which seemed to turn the stone ball into a crimson crystal.

    In the next moment, glorious crimson light burst forth from the ball.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s face turned pale with astonishment.

    In his senses, the grayish-brown stone ball he had named a Pure Heaven Arcane Orb waspletely engulfed by a strange terrifying flesh aura that didn¡¯t belong to him.

    Under his soul examination, the stone ball that was an independent heaven and earth seemed to have been engulfed by a blood-colored sea.

    Not just that, but the blood-colored flesh aura was also rapidly changing, morphing into a gory giant, whose face somehow resembled Nie Tian¡¯s.

    On the arcane realm he had gone to great lengths to refine, the gory giant bellowed in some ancientnguage.

    Each and every bellow carried words he had never heard before. However, they seemed to be able to travel through the void to echo with Nie Tian.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

    The misty gray heaven and earth within the stone ball seemed to be on the verge of falling apart.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven hastily formed another hand seal, andmanded the five nearby arcane orbs to stop crushing towards Nie Tian, but towards the orb that had suffered a mysterious punch from him.

    The power of the misty gray heaven and earth doubled with every orb that shed with it.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    After five shes, the gory giant transformed from Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura was finally crushed into wisps of blood-colored light that dissipated into the void.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian, who had rich flesh aura surging within him, felt a wave of overwhelming earth power flooding towards him.

    It seemed toe by tracking his bond with the flesh aura he had sent forth with the punch.

    As wisp after wisp of his blood-colored light scattered and vanished, Nie Tian came under increasingly heavy pressure from the Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs.

    In deafening rumbles, his body started to shake, floating over the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    All of a sudden, his garments were shredded and reduced to dust, leaving nothing but the me Dragon Armor. That was when the countless fiery patterns on the armor¡¯s surface started twisting madly, unleashing torrential mes.

    The fact that he only had the zing suit of armor covering part of his body caused a burst of screams.

    The screams came from Yin Yanan, Mu Biqiong, Qiao Yunxi, and the other female Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries that hadter found their way here.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    However, this onlysted a brief moment before the me Dragon Armor¡¯s torrential mes engulfed Nie Tianpletely.

    Then, as his flesh aura merged with the mes, he turned into a fiercely-burning figure that grew even taller.

    At the same time, a brand new bloodline talent that had just been awakened, Life Irrigation, was activated, infusing his me power core with life force.

    The mysterious me spark within his me power core instantly grew unusually active, and flew out of his me power core.

    BZZZ!

    Because of this, the might of the sea of crimson mes that wreathed Nie Tian instantly multiplied!

    Watching the might of the sea of crimson mes released by Nie Tian and the me Dragon Armor skyrocket, many powerful experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries started to feel insecure and uneasy.

    ¡°Such terrifying me aura!¡±

    ¡°Such me aura seems to be mighty enough to burn a realm to ashes and vaporize a vast ocean!¡±

    ¡°Even my soul is being scorched!¡±

    Those with lower cultivation bases even started to back away in fear.

    ¡°Divine me! That¡¯s the Divine me¡¯s aura!¡± Zhongli Jian and Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect muttered simultaneously, looking dumbstruck. Obsession and worship could be seen in the depths of their eyes.

 Chapter 1208: Evil Spirit Chant

    It was because the Divine me had burned down the entire Domain of me¡¯s End that the Divine me Sect had been named after it.

    Their founder had been from the Domain of me¡¯s End and had frantically worshiped that mysterious Divine me.

    As the current sectmaster of the Divine me Sect, Zhongli Jian had read many ancient records kept in their sect. From their description, he had learned about that Divine me¡¯s unique aura.

    They referred to the Divine me as the spirit of mes.

    The me spark the Divine me had gifted Nie Tian carried the Divine me¡¯s unique aura. Now, as Nie Tian vested it with his Blood Essence through Life Irrigation, the me spark seemed to be raised to a whole new level, so much so that it could now manifest the Divine me¡¯s might to a certain extent.

    Life Irrigation, which had been awakened after Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had entered the eighth grade, and Life Grant, which had been awakened after Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had entered the seventh grade, were basically two different methods leading to the same result.

    One major difference was that Life Grant could only be used on living beings in flesh and blood. For instance, it could be used to extend the lifespan of humans like Master Blood Spirit.

    When used on hybrids with exceptionally tough bodies like Pei Qiqi, it could help refine their bodies, expand their acupoints, and improve their bodily strength.

    Life Irrigation, however, could further refine his Blood Essence before using it on magical objects like the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark.

    Under the wondrous effect of this bloodline talent, the potential of the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark would be pushed to the limit. Even their growth and upgrade speed would be elerated.

    This was what made Life Irrigation truly amazing.

    If the Godspirit Tree was a Heaven Nourished grade spiritual material, then Life Irrigation would be able to help it develop its intelligence and induce fundamental changes within it.

    The same went for the me spark.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The mes released by the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura, and the me spark had merged in a profound manner.

    The raging mes enveloped Nie Tian like a sea of crimson mes. Like a god of mes, he suddenly stared at one of the iing Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs.

    ¡°me Dragon¡¯s Cry!¡±

    A zing current that looked like ava river rapidly condensed in the sea of crimson mes and morphed into a lifelike roaring me dragon.

    The me dragon twisted its body as it rammed into the arcane orb with enough power to split the heavens.

    BOOM!

    The mighty collision gave rise to countless fiery sparks, along with waves of gray energy that spread far and wide.

    The vacant space above the Seven-star Blue Sea seemed to suddenly copse, as curious lights fell into the sea like a meteor shower.

    The collision even created huge waves on the azure sea once again.

    ¡°ming Finger Swords!¡±

    As Nie Tian eximed in a deep voice, ten zing sword lights shot out of his fingers towards the other Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs like heaven-reaching pirs of crimson mes, with enough power to burn down realms and reduce living beings to ashes.

    Under the amplifying effect of the me spark and the me Dragon Armor, this Earth grade magic manifested unmatched might.

    Every observer gasped with astonishment upon seeing the endless wonders and changes Nie Tian disyed with his exquisite magics and incantations.

    BOOM! RUUUUUUMMMMBLLLLE!

    Bombarded by Nie Tian¡¯s devastating fiery magics, the Pure Heaven Spell Formation Patriarch Pure Heaven had formed with his eight Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs could no longer endure.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The eight arcane orbs shed with each other a few times before suddenly flying back to Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven panted heavily, his face taking on a shade of unhealthy red.

    Grayish-brown currents started flying about chaotically within his misty gray domain, so much so that he had to stabilize it with his spiritual power and soul power.

    Sensing the turbulence within his domain and the great changes within the eight Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs that had profound connections with his domain, Patriarch Pure Heaven marveled inwardly, ¡°As I expected, the kid does possess extraordinary power!¡±

    Even though Nie Tian hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain yet, he was already strong enough to contend against him by relying on his bloodline power, the might of the me Dragon Armor, and the wonders of the me spark.

    Plus, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t even used the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s many secret magics yet.

    ¡°Spirit Pearl!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly, summoning the uncanny pearl he had obtained from the Phantasms.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    The five powerful evil spirits flew swirling out of the pearl, like devils that had long since perished in the long river of history and been worshiped by the Phantasms for countless years that were now summoned.

    Waves of grudges, fear, despair, bloodlust, and rage, the five extreme negative emotions, immediately spread through heaven and earth.

    In the Shatter Battlefield, the five evil spirits had captured and devoured numerous vicious discarnate souls within the Star Behemoth¡¯s head, strengthening themselves to a great extent.

    Therefore, their strength had already risen to a terrifying new level.

    Now as Nie Tian looked at them with rapt attention, he discovered that they seemed to actually have some sort of connection to the ancient evil spirits worshiped by the Phantasms.

    In the blink of an eye, the five of them charged into Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s domain.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s domain had been forged with his refined spiritual power, soul power, his understanding of various incantations, and a wide array of precious materials.

    As soon as the five evil spirits entered Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s domain, he felt as if his sea of awareness was being gnawed at.

    He instantly lost hisposure, so much so that he forgot all about forming spell formations with his Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs, but instead focusing all of his soul awareness and soul power on dealing with the five evil spirits.

    Even though the five evil spirits weren¡¯t flesh and blood, their soul bodies were a few hundred meters tall.

    Like five gigantic monsters from the Deste Antiquity Era, they ravaged Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s domain, especially targeting every wisp of his soul awareness.

    The five negative emotions stormed Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s mind like huge waves.

    Fear, grudges, bloodlust, rage, and despair shed across the depths of his pupils.

    Soon, before he knew it, his mind was sacked under the five evil spirits¡¯ waves of soul attacks.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl floated ethereally towards his domain. The pearl¡¯s soul, which was the strongest of all, finally got to work.

    Misty cyan light fell out of the sky on Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven slowly closed his eyes, as if his true soul was gradually tied down by the Spirit Pearl¡¯s strength.

    Then, remote chants that only Nie Tian could hear came from the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    It was as if the Phantasms¡¯ ancient ancestors, generations of evil gods, had been resurrected, and let out soul-suppressing chants simultaneously.

    This was a soul magic the Spirit Pearl hadn¡¯t been able to use before: Evil Spirit Chants!

    Like countless butterflies, the Phantasms¡¯ most ancient magical symbols flew in the depths of Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s sea of awareness. Each and every one of them was branded with profound incantations from Phantasm scriptures and the profound truths of soul power.

    Muddleheaded, Patriarch Pure Heaven had long since lost himself and forgotten who he was.

    Even though Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, and the others who were observing from afar couldn¡¯t hear the Evil Spirit Chants, they experienced mild stabbing pain in their minds.

    It was as if only by looking at the Spirit Pearl, they were influenced by the misty cyan light it released.

    They forced themselves to avert their eyes from the Spirit Pearl.

    Eyes narrowed, Zhao Shanling muttered, ¡°It¡¯s no longer necessary for this battle to continue.¡±

    Then, he cleared his throat and called out to Nie Tian, ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven has already lost himself. If this battle goes on, he may even lose his soul.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, everyone looked at Patriarch Pure Heaven with rapt attention, and discovered that Zhao Shanling was right.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven seemed to have already lost control of his soul and looked like a different person.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Nie Tian lifted his hand to withdraw the Spirit Pearl. As he did, the five evil spirits morphed into streaks of gray light that flew out from the depths of Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s domain.

    The experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries broke into a morous discussion. Each and every one of them looked shocked and baffled.

    ¡°Patriarch Pure Heaven lost just like that?¡±

    ¡°That was far too easy, wasn¡¯t it?!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at the Saint domain! Even now, he¡¯s probably still the strongest Qi warrior throughout the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is already strong enough to defeat Saint domain experts? But he¡¯s only at thete Soul realm. He hasn¡¯t even entered the Void domain yet!¡±

    Among them, Mu Biqiong had a ratherplicated look in her eyes as she gazed off at Nie Tian.

    She had considered Nie Tian her strongest opponent the whole time. For this reason, she had been working hard and never cked off.

    She had believed that with the help of the mysterious coexisting flowers inside her, her future achievements might not necessarily be lower than his if she gave her best.

    However, at this moment, she felt deeply powerless and frustrated.

    Battered out of her wits, she mumbled to herself, ¡°I can¡¯t believe a legend that hassted thousands of years in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, Patriarch Pure Heaven, lost just like that... That guy is such a freak... will I ever be able to catch up to him?¡±

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect that bastard to have already be so powerful,¡± Qiao Yunxi from the Divine me Sect muttered. Mixed emotions rose in her heart.

    Even Yin Yanan smiled bitterly and shook her head. ¡°It seems I underestimated him again. I thought that with the help of my Frost Blood Python, I¡¯d be able to handle him in battle... Hmm... I was being too naive.¡±

 Chapter 1209: Allegiance Acknowledged

    Patriarch Pure Heaven slowly came back to his senses.

    Since the five evil spirits had withdrawn from his misty gray domain, the violent turbulence soon stopped. Stability was restored to his domain.

    The eight Pure Heaven Arcane Orbs spread out evenly around his domain. The heaven and earths within the the orbs drew power from his domain to gradually fix the cracks and tears in them.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, and all the others were looking at him from afar with strange expressions.

    He didn¡¯t realize what had happened at first.

    Dumbfounded, he recalled everything that had just happened. Bitterness rapidly filled his heart.

    ¡°Did I just lose...?¡± It was as if he was asking the observers, but at the same time, himself.

    At this moment, a sad, bleak look seemed to be added to his stately, strongly-built figure.

    All of a sudden, Dong Qisong and the other Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries ended their discussion.

    Dong Li pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Yes, you lost.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven canceled his domain and took a stride in the air to rapidly shorten the distance between him and Nie Tian.

    Holding the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian, who was surrounded by a sea of crimson mes, circted his qi and blood to quietly withdraw his zing me aura.

    By the time Patriarch Pure Heaven reached him, he had already returned to his regr state, with his Spirit Pearl returned to his ring of holding.

    Calm andposed, Nie Tian said to him, ¡°Even though I used spiritual tools in battle, they were mine. I didn¡¯t rely on experts with cultivation bases higher than yours to defeat you.¡±

    Patriarch Pure Heaven remained silent for a few seconds before bowing slightly and saying in a low voice, ¡°I know. This old one submits. From now on, the Pure Heaven Sect and I will be yours tomand, as the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect are.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, he somehow felt a strong sense of relief.

    He suddenly realized that on a certain level, he had always known how meaningless his insistence had been.

    The fact that he hadn¡¯t been able to drop his status and dignity as the strongest cultivator from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was the reason why the Pure Heaven Sect had ended up in such an unfavorable position and been surpassed by the Beast-controlling Sect and the Divine me Sect.

    Now that he had let that go and acknowledged allegiance to Nie Tian, he realized that it wasn¡¯t so difficult.

    Seeing this, all of the important Saint and Void domain figures from the five major sects and three major ns gathered to congratte Patriarch Pure Heaven.

    ¡°Hahaha! I knew this day woulde!¡±

    ¡°Congrattions! We¡¯ll be on the same boat from now on!¡±

    ¡°The Pure Heaven Sect is a sect from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. It¡¯s only right for this to happen!¡±

    With a somewhat awkward smile, Patriarch Pure Heaven nodded slowly, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Nie Tian, however, epted Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s new identity with a light heart, and dered that the Pure Heaven Sect would be treated the same as his other subordinate forces.

    As the atmosphere warmed up, elders and disciples of the Pure Heaven Sect heard the news and came.

    After learning that Patriarch Pure Heaven had been defeated by Nie Tian, not only were those elders of the Pure Heaven Sect not angered, but they even cheered for the fact that their sect had be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate sect.

    This made Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s expression even more awkward.

    Zhao Shanling raised his voice and said, ¡°Alright, there are no strangers among us now.¡±

    Naturally, everyone¡¯s gazesnded on him.

    ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea is full of wonders.¡± As he spoke, Zhao Shanling summoned the Voidspirit Pagoda and gently flicked his fingers to control the magical pagoda.

    Emanating dazzling light, the pagoda then released waves of intense spatial fluctuations, giving rise to ripples on the surface of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Under the glistening, rippling surface, a curious scene appeared out of nowhere, before suddenly bursting and vanishing in the next moment.

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and said aloud, ¡°Instead of ¡®Seven-star Blue Sea¡¯, it¡¯d be more urate to call it a... ¡®Realm Sea¡¯.

    ¡°The unfathomable sea below has taken in numerous shattered arcane realms and the flesh aura seas of outsiders and Ancientspirits. For some reason, many small heaven and earths merged and became a part of it after they perished.

    ¡°Even though I don¡¯t know what exactly lies at the bottom, I believe the depths of this sea hold some sort of secret.

    ¡°Since the Stone Golems came from there after vanishing for so long, there must be tunnels or portals in the depths of the sea that connect to other heaven and earths.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Realm Sea?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded slightly and said, ¡°Exactly. Realm Seas can gather and absorb destroyed arcane realms and cultivators¡¯ shattered domains, along with other wondrous small dimensions. The knowledge I¡¯ve obtained about Realm Seas from the Voidspirit Pagoda is fairly limited. I suspect that the Void Spirit Society has many more records about them. Perhaps we can learn more about them through the Pei girl and the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°The only thing I¡¯m certain of is that the Seven-star Blue Sea is one of the so-called Realm Seas.¡±

    Zhao Shanling only knew this because of the Voidspirit Pagoda, or in a sense, thete Master Voidspirit.

    Master Voidspirit had been from the Void Spirit Society, Qu Yi¡¯s only son.

    If they wanted to learn about the secrets and wonders of Realm Seas, they might have to seek help from God domain seniors of the Void Spirit Society, such as Ji Yuanquan.

    ¡°Can¡¯t we explore this Realm Sea ourselves?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s gonna be very difficult. I suppose we¡¯ll only be able to explore it after I enter the Saint domain. Even so, it¡¯ll be a troublesome task for us to solve this Realm Sea¡¯s profound mysteries by ourselves. Our best choice is to find the Pei girl and have her ask seniors of the Void Spirit Society about the wonders of Realm Seas.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Alright, but I¡¯ve got to return to my sect first to get a grasp of thetest situation. You may take mymand medallion and purchase the spiritual materials you need to enter the Saint domain with the contribution points in it from my sect. After that, we¡¯ll get the information we need from the Void Spirit Society, and then see if we can find out about Mo Heng¡¯s whereabouts.¡±

    Yin Yanan pointed at Han Sen. ¡°What about this one, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Do whatever you want with him,¡± Nie Tian answered casually.

    He no longer attached any importance to people like Han Sen.

    There was arge-scale teleportation portal in the Divine me Sect¡¯s headquarters, through which Nie Tian returned to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    The moment he arrived in the Vast Heaven Pavilion, the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seemed to notice his return.

    Wei Lai and Yan Zhan came to see him without dy.

    Face as grim as coldke water, Wei Lai said, ¡°Something has gone very wrong. All of our sect¡¯s subordinate domains are in turmoil.¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s not just us. The same thing has happened to the other great sects.¡±

    Looking unprecedentedly grim, Wei Lai added, ¡°It seems as if a secret force that has been lurking in the dark finally bore its fangs. For some reason, many sects and ns that had sworn allegiance to us suddenly rose in rebellion. And hybrids like Han Sen have been spotted in those rebellious ns and sects!¡±

    Yan Zhan sighed. ¡°The entire human world is falling into chaos.¡±

 Chapter 1210: The Thirteen Domains

    Their words astonished Nie Tian.

    The sectmaster, vice sectmasters, and Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce all had their subordinate domains, and cultivated their own forces.

    For instance, the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python were his subordinate domains.

    All the sects, ns and forces in those three domains had sworn their loyalty to him. Technically, they had nothing to do with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    However, there were also advanced domains that had sworn their loyalty to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    They were usually powerful domains with strong Qi warrior forces that had intricate rtionships with each other.

    As a rule, they would have to pay tribute to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce annually, and answer its summons whenever called upon.

    In return, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would give priority to youngsters from those domains when it came to admitting new disciples. Many Sons of the Stars hade from those domains. Fang Yuan and Fang Zhe were good examples.

    There were a total of thirteen domains that were subordinate domains of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Not long ago, due to Ji Cang¡¯s prolonged disappearance and the fact that Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had suffered major setbacks in their battles against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea, different voices had appeared in those domains.

    Only after Nie Tian had won his duel against Ophelia and Mo Heng had survived his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon had those voices quieted down.

    Who would have thought that Mo Heng¡¯s sudden disappearance would give rise to turbulences in the thirteen domains once again so quickly?

    However, unlike before, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wasn¡¯t alone this time. The Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s subordinate domains were also experiencing major instability.

    It was as if the entire human world had been plunged into turmoil.

    Furthermore, hybrids had been spotted in all of the rebellious domains. Some of them had earned their names long ago, but hadn¡¯t awakened their bloodlines until recently.

    All of a sudden, many talented youngsters that had been viewed as the chosen ones of the sects in those domains awakened their wondrous bloodlines at the same time.

    The appearance of arge number of hybrids in all of those domains gave people a feeling, a feeling that a brand new era was at hand!

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°If all thirteen subordinate domains of our sect are in trouble, have we sent people to put down the rebellions?¡±

    ¡°Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and Fang Yuan have all left on counter-insurgency missions,¡± Wei Lai exined. ¡°Even Sikong Cuo, who had been in secluded cultivation, was arranged to put down rebellions in one of the domains. A few other elders left to put down rebellions in other domains. However, the result doesn¡¯t look good.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Most of those thirteen domains are advanced domains protected byte Saint domain experts,¡± Yan Zhan answered with a bitter smile. ¡°Some of them have multiplete Saint domain experts. Some have even produced God domain experts in their histories. Before, with the sectmaster, two middle God domain vice sectmasters, and Grand Elder Mo Heng around, they had to restrain themselves.

    ¡°However, with the sectmaster and the grand elder missing, and Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang dering that he¡¯s going into secluded cultivation, Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui has be the only God domain senior we have left.

    ¡°Just a few days ago, Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui left for the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    ¡°But ording to thetest news, his persuading andforting work there isn¡¯t going well. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before a battle breaks out. For some reason, the local forces in the Domain of Frigid Depths don¡¯t seem to be apprehensive about Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui, as if they have someone at their backs.

    ¡°If Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui¡¯s operation in the Domain of Frigid Depths fails, I¡¯m afraid the other domains...¡±

    With these words, both Yan Zhan and Wei Lai frowned, looking deeply worried.

    Ever since Sectmaster Ji Cang had vanished, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, as one of the four ancient great sects, had been troubled.

    Finally, Mo Heng had broken through into the middle Saint domain and brought the whole starry river to awe with his extraordinary battle prowess.

    However, who would have thought that he would disappear as Ji Cang had shortly after he had left for the Heavenly Thunder Sect in the Domain of Endless Thunder, and massive uprisings would strike so many human domains immediately after his vanishing?

    In the meantime, after suffering a setback in his confrontation against Nie Tian in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, Luo Wanxiang had suddenly dered that he would go into secluded cultivation and would therefore be unable to attend to sect affairs.

    Thest-remaining God domain senior, Chu Rui, had left for the Domain of Frigid Depths, but failed to put down the rebellions there within a short period of time.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was in such an unfavorable situation. What about the other major sects?

    ¡°The Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion are all having the same problems as us,¡± Wei Lai said. ¡°Even though the uprisings in their subordinate domains urredter than in ours, the rebellions have also broken out on a full scale. Like us, they¡¯re also under great pressure, and have sent out all of their elders, Divine Sons and Daughters, and God domain seniors.¡±

    ¡°So what does our sect need me to do?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Wei Lai assumed a solemn face and said, ¡°Even though you haven¡¯t joined our sect for long, the power you possess is already every bit as strong as that of the other Sons of the Stars. Now that our sect is in peril, as a Son of the Stars, you need to step up and make your contribution. We don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to be helpful if you go join Vice Sectmaster Chu, so we¡¯re thinking you can take a trip to the Domain of Primal Yang.¡±

    ¡°The Domain of Primal Yang?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s one of our sect¡¯s thirteen subordinate domains, one of the three most powerful ones too,¡± Wei Lai exined. ¡°The strongest sect in the Domain of Primal Yang is the Primal Yang Sect, which has produced God domain experts in its long history. Fang Yuan was given the task of putting down the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s rebellions.

    ¡°However, ording to ourtest report, the Primal Yang Sect reacted radically, and imprisoned Fang Yuan.

    ¡°They have this chosen one, who like Fang Yuan, is also at the Void domain... However, his bloodline was suddenly awakened recently! With his Void domain cultivation base and mysterious bloodline, he actually defeated Fang Yuan!

    ¡°After his victory, he even spread word, iming that the so-called Sons of the Stars aren¡¯t to be feared, and that if they can¡¯t even defeat him in battle, how do they dare to call the Primal Yang Sect their subordinate sect?

    ¡°It¡¯s a humiliation for his sect!¡±

    With these words, both Wei Lai and Yan Zhan grew indignant.

    ¡°That chosen one of the Primal Yang Sect is named Qi Jiaoyang,¡± Yan Zhan added. ¡°When he was younger, he participated in our sect¡¯s disciple admission event, and was very confident that he would be a Son of the Stars of this generation. However, since he was very young back then and his aura showed as fire-attributed, our sect deemed that he was more suited for me power incantations than the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°However, he had always dreamed about bing a Son of the Stars, nothing less. Eventually, he refused our sect¡¯s admission, and continued to practice cultivation as a member of the Primal Yang Sect.

    ¡°The most surprising of all is that he¡¯s actually a hybrid! There weren¡¯t any signs of him carrying a special bloodline before, but for some reason, his bloodline was suddenly awakened recently. He was only at the Soul realm before his bloodline awakening. However, after his bloodline was awakened, he somehow made a series of breakthroughs, and entered the Void domain within a very short time!

    ¡°Now, both he and Fang Yuan are at the middle Void domain. However, he fought Fang Yuan in the Domain of Primal Yang and won!

    ¡°His victory also greatly lifted the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s spirits. Now, the Primal Yang Sect and the other local forces from the Domain of Primal Yang seem to have be full of confidence, and bent on getting rid of our sect¡¯s control.¡±

    Yan Zhan sighed as Wei Lai remained silent, both of their faces unusually grim.

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Qi Jiaoyang, the Primal Yang Sect, the Domain of Primal Yang... I see. I¡¯ll take a trip to the Domain of Primal Yang. What¡¯s the fastest way to get there from our sect?¡±

    Frustration filled Wei Lai¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Originally, we could teleport there directly through our teleportation portal. However, when the Domain of Primal Yang decided to be independent, they unterally cut off the connection between their teleportation portal and ours. Now, if we want to visit the Domain of Primal Yang, we¡¯ll have to teleport to the Domain of Endless Thunder, and take a starship from there.

    ¡°That was how Fang Yuan and his men got to the Domain of Primal Yang.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The Domain of Primal Yang and the Domain of Endless Thunder are neighboring domains?¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°Yes, they are. The Domain of Endless Thunder borders the Domain of Nether Heaven on one side, and the Domain of Primal Yang on the other. As an advanced domain, the Domain of Endless Thunder has always been an independent domain. Due to the special rtionship between the Mo n and the grand elder, our sect has never used force on the Domain of Endless Thunder, or in any way forced them to be our subordinate domain.¡±

    ¡°There won¡¯t be a problem if I go to the Domain of Endless Thunder, right?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Wei Lai answered.

    ¡°Good. I wanted to visit the Domain of Endless Thunder and ask about the grand elder¡¯s disappearance anyway.¡± Nie Tian seemed to have a n worked out. ¡°Would you take me to the teleportation portal?¡±

    Yan Zhan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You¡¯re not going to return to your domains and gather your strongest subordinates first?¡±

    As strong as Nie Tian might be, he was only at thete Soul realm. How could he get Fang Yuan out if he was going to the Domain of Primal Yang by himself?

    If he ended up imprisoned by the Primal Yang Sect as they had done with Fang Yuan, the sect would lose even more face.

    Full of confidence, Nie Tian answered, ¡°It¡¯s gonna be fine. I¡¯ll persuade the Heavenly Thunder Sect to go with me.¡±

    Wei Lai was surprised. ¡°Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect wasn¡¯t exactly close with the grand elder before. Even after the recent incident, he has remained silent, and didn¡¯t have muchmunication with our sect. What makes you think you can persuade him?¡±

    ¡°Rest assured. I have a n.¡±

 Chapter 1211: Bold Words

    In the Heavenly Thunder Sect in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    A sea of thick, leaden clouds hung low in the sky. shing lightning and rolling thunder filled the depths of the clouds as heaven-shaking, earth-shattering fluctuations spread to every corner of the realm.

    Floating in the midst of the sea of clouds was a lightning domain, which was seemingly being baptized by the thunder pool. At the very center of the domain, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, Mo Qianfan, was switching between incantations.

    In the mountains below, many powerful experts were observing, standing atop lofty mountain peaks that were close to three thousand meters high.

    Most of the them were Qi warriors from the Heavenly Thunder Sect, some of whom were Saint domain experts. There were also observers from the Mo n who held their breath under the strain as they looked up.

    Atop the highest mountain peak, Mo Qinglei sped his hands, fingers crossed. Bulging veins could be seen on his forehead.

    He breathed heavily as he stared at the shing lightning bolts and flickering thunderballs in the clouds. ¡°Sess or failure, it alles down to this moment!¡±

    An elder of the Mo n named Mo Li looked skywards with a dry face and a hunched back. Looking worried, he sighed and said, ¡°This is far too hasty. Your father shouldn¡¯t have attempted to make his breakthrough so early.¡±

    Mo Li was from the same generation as Mo Qianfan and Mo Heng.

    However, he was only at the early Saint domain.

    Mo Qinglei sighed. ¡°Father had no choice. Zheng Yi from the lightning element sect, the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan, the hybrid Han Sen, together with several other powerful experts ughtered people of the Domain of Endless Thunder. Many of our sect members that practiced lightning incantations were killed.

    ¡°If we hadn¡¯t been protected by the grand spell formation and my cousin from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hadn¡¯te to our rescue, the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n would have been in ruins now.¡±

    Sadness filled Mo Qinglei¡¯s heart as he recalled the bitter time. ¡°Just days ago, word came saying that Zheng Yi and Yuan Jiuchuan turned on each other in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Yuan Jiuchuan gained the upper hand and chased Zheng Yi through several domains in order to kill him, and he seems to have seeded.¡±

    Mo Li¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The Thunder Devil!¡±

    The other elders of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and members of the Mo n that were standing on the mountaintop also had grim looks on their faces as they heard these words.

    The Thunder Devil, Yuan Jiuchuan, had died in a hunt led by the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect, and joined by other powerful experts who practiced lightning incantations.

    However, he had somehow been reborn.

    Therefore, no one from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n wanted to see him kill Zheng Yi, and use his power to make further breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    All of them knew how unique and vicious the Thunder Devil¡¯s incantations were.

    If he could actually kill thete Saint domain Zheng Yi and refine his lifetime lightning power reserve, he would definitely be able to advance to thete Saint domain.

    At that time, the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n would be bound to suffer from his violent revenge.

    Mo Qianfan had only sought new breakthroughs in his cultivation so eagerly because he knew that his sect and n weren¡¯t strong enough.

    Mo Li shook his head and sighed. ¡°The breakthrough into the God domain is far too dangerous. Even for the four great sects, producing a God domain expert is a very difficult thing to do. In recent years, the sess rate of Saint domain cultivators from the other advanced domains breaking through into the God domain has been terrifyingly low.

    ¡°Usually, dozens ofte Saint domain cultivators die before one is lucky enough to break through into the God domain. All of the others would either have to seek rebirth, or die beyond salvation.¡±

    Mo Li¡¯s words plunged everyone on the mountaintop into dead silence.

    This included Mo Qinglei.

    He was well-aware of how dangerous it was for his father to attempt to break through into the God domain at this moment, given his insufficient umtion.

    Even those who had all sorts of precious materials prepared might not seed in such a risky breakthrough, much less his father, who had rushed into this.

    ¡°Once he fails, the Heavenly Thunder Sect will most certainly descend to a ughterhouse of the Thunder Devil...¡± Mo Qinglei¡¯s heart sank deeper and deeper. ¡°Especially now that my cousin has vanished shortly aftering to the Domain of Endless Thunder. If my father fails to enter the God domain, while my cousin is still missing, who can we count on to protect the Heavenly Thunder Sect?¡±

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Over the thick clouds, abnormal changes suddenly took ce in Mo Qianfan¡¯s domain, which was filled with shing lightning and flickering thunderballs.

    Thunderballs that carried the profound truths of lightning power cracked and exploded one after another. It seemed that the power he was channeling from the thunderclouds couldn¡¯t fully merge with those thunderballs.

    A deeply helpless look appeared on Mo Li¡¯s face. ¡°Damn it."

    As a Saint domain expert, he had seen others make attempts to break through into the God domain.

    He had once seen what was now happening to Mo Qianfan happen to another... who had died during his attempt to enter the God domain. Even his soul had perished, costing him his chance at rebirth.

    Whines of the members of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n filled the air, as if they had foreseen the high-spirited Thunder Devil ferreting out and killing every Qi warrior in the Domain of Endless Thunder that practiced lightning incantations.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the sectmaster is going to fail.¡±

    ¡°If the nmaster dies, what do we do?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, a bolt of lightning shot over from the distant sky.

    An elder of the Heavenly Thunder Sectnded on the mountaintop and reported, ¡°Young lord, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has arrived through teleportation.¡±

    Mo Qinglei was taken back. ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    Mo Li pondered briefly and realized what was happening. ¡°He must be here because of the upheaval in the Domain of Primal Yang, and he wants to sail there from here. Word of Fang Yuan and his subordinates failing their mission in the Primal Yang Sect and Fang Yuan being defeated by Qi Jiaoyang must have spread. Nie Tian must have rushed here to rescue Fang Yuan.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily the case. Nie Tian came by himself.¡± the elder said.

    Mo Li frowned and asked, ¡°He came alone? The name of the seventh Son of the Stars has resounded through all the human domains recently. Even Luo Wanxiang had to take a step back in a confrontation against him. Both his strength and influence are rapidly rising above the other Sons of the Stars. Everyone knows this.

    ¡°However, if it¡¯s just him, what can he do to make the Primal Yang Sect release the captives? Even Fang Yuan, who¡¯s at the middle Void domain, lost to Qi Jiaoyang. What will he be able to do by going there alone?¡±

    The elders of the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect were all baffled, and found Nie Tianing by himself meaningless.

    ¡°He wants to see you, young lord,¡± The messenger elder added.

    ¡°He wants to see me?¡± Mo Qinglei went nk for a moment before looking skywards, then said with a hesitant look on his face, ¡°I would love to any other time, but this is a crucial moment where my father is in the middle of his breakthrough...¡±

    ¡°He said that he can help our sectmaster,¡± The elder added.

    ¡°W-what?!¡± Mo Qinglei was dumbstruck.

    Mo Li, however, lunged forward, grabbed the messenger elder¡¯s arm, and eximed, ¡°What does he mean by he can help our sectmaster?!¡±

    The messenger elder was only at the Void domain. His gripped arm hurt to the point where he almost wanted to die as he stuttered, ¡°He, he said that he might be able to help our sectmaster enter the God domain!¡±

    ¡°Enter the God domain!!¡± Mo Li eximed in a weird, distorted voice. ¡°What are you waiting for then?! Go get Nie Tian now!¡±

    The elder then shot a nce at Mo Qinglei.

    Mo Qinglei finally came out of his bewilderment and eximed, ¡°Go invite the seventh Son of the Stars here now!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± The elder left in a hurry.

    Heart still fluttering violently, Mo Li said, ¡°I¡¯ve never met that Nie Tian. I¡¯ve only heard his name. Qinglei! You¡¯ve met him. Do you think he really has what it takes to help your father step into the God domain?¡±

    Mo Qinglei smiled bitterly. ¡°Nie Tian does have extraordinary abilities. However... you know how difficult it is to help make a God domain expert. On the other hand, I heard that he helped Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, enter the Saint domain from the Void domain.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he actually has what it takes to help your father break through into the God domain,¡± Mo Li muttered in a low voice, clinging onto the ray of hope.

    All of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and Mo n elders present hadplicated looks on their faces.

    They naturally hoped that Nie Tian¡¯s arrival would actually send Mo Qianfan into the God domain.

    However, they were also well-aware of how deadly the breakthrough into the God domain was.

    Even for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society, producing a God domain expert was an extremely difficult task.

    No one could guarantee that they would be able to help another enter the God domain.

    What had made Nie Tian say such bold words?

    FZZZ!

    Wreathed in glorious light, a Star Boat shot out of the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters towards the mountaintop where Mo Qinglei and Mo Li were standing like a shooting star.

    On nearby mountaintops, experts that were either from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n, or other local sects that had deep connections with them, realized what was happening upon spotting the Star Boat.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Star Boat!¡±

    ¡°A Son of Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°Another Son of the Stars? Who is it this time? Fang Yuan was defeated by Qi Jiaoyang, and he and his subordinates were trapped. I suppose this Son of the Stars hase here to go to the Domain of Primal Yang.¡±

    Some with lofty statuses and cultivation bases gathered from those mountain peaks with curiosity.

 Chapter 1212: Iâ€™m Heading up into the Heavens!

    Like a falling star, the Star Boat flew to the mountaintop, dragging a tail of glorious starlight behind it as it did.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Boat slowlynded.

    Elder Mo Li hastily stepped forward and greeted Nie Tian before the Star Boat even touched the ground.

    Full of smiles, he bowed in a very humble manner. ¡°Greetings, Young Lord Nie.¡±

    Mo Qinglei, who knew Nie Tian, thought that he would be able to face him with confidence. However, upon seeing Mo Li¡¯s humble attitude, he forced himself to bow to Nie Tian as well.

    He and Mo Li had the noblest statuses among those who were currently gathered on the mountain peak. Since the two of them were treating Nie Tian with such respect, the others could only be even more respectful.

    The mountaintop was instantly filled with cheerful greetings.

    ¡°Greetings, Seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°Greetings, Young Lord Nie!¡±

    ¡°This humble one is...¡±

    Upon hearing the loud greetings and self-introductions, the experts from the other local sects and ns in the Domain of Endless Thunder that had gathered from nearby mountaintops immediately realized who Nie Tian was.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°The one whose name has recently spread far and wide, and has be the most popr star across the human domains!¡±

    Gathered around the mountaintop were Qi warriors from many local ns and sects. There were males and females, whose cultivation bases varied. However, each and every one of them held a lofty status in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    There were many female Qi warriors among them. Some were gentle and charming. Some were icy and gorgeous, while others were yful and adorable.

    All of them fixed their gazes on Nie Tian, intense feelings filling their eyes. ¡°So he¡¯s Nie Tian...¡±

    Standing on the mountaintop, Nie Tian, who had recently experienced an upgrade in his bloodline, had be even more robust. Even without activating Life Strengthening, he was considerably taller than Mo Li, Mo Qinglei, and the others around him.

    He looked like a crane in a flock of chickens standing in the crowd. Adding in the fact that Mo Li, Mo Qinglei, and all of the others were bowing towards him, he looked even more outstanding and towering.

    After years of adventure, Nie Tian had long since shed his immaturity. He had experienced numerous deadly battles and magnificent scenes. Both his appearance and mind had gone through major changes.

    The confidence, strength, perseverance, and tenacity he exuded appealed to many.

    Adding in his lofty status...

    Adoring gazes fixed on him from different directions. Looking at him, many talented young women from across the Domain of Endless Thunder couldn¡¯t help but slowly, subconsciously approach him.

    Before, most of these famous beauties had considered Mo Qinglei as their ideal mate.

    However, as they saw Mo Qinglei bow his head towards Nie Tian and associated Nie Tian with the noble man who had recently earned his name across the human domains, they all secretly fell for him.

    As the young beauties approached bit by bit, Mo Li suddenly eximed softy, ¡°That¡¯s close enough!¡±

    As a respected elder of the Mo n, he enjoyed a very lofty status in the Domain of Endless Thunder. Upon seeing the unpleasant look in his eyes, the leaders of the other local forces all lifted their hands, signaling their female juniors who hade here with them to stop approaching.

    ¡°We saw the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Star Boat, and thus hoped toe to see the Son of the Stars and pay our respects,¡± One of the girls said.

    Mo Li took a nce around and said with a grim face, ¡°The nmaster of my n is at his most crucial moment. Your focus should be up there.¡±

    With these words, he pointed skywards.

    All of those gathered from nearby mountaintops fell silent upon hearing this.

    Their faces gradually grew grim again as they summoned their air-transportation spiritual tools and stood on them. Floating around the mountaintop, they looked up at the changes in the heavens, but at the same time, paid close attention to Nie Tian, who had suddenly arrived.

    They all wanted to hear the purpose of his arrival.

    ¡°Nie, Nie Tian. I think I¡¯ll just call you Nie Tian.¡± Mo Qinglei said, looking somewhat embarrassed. Without mincing words, he continued, ¡°I heard that you said you can help my father enter the God domain. Is that true?¡±

    Upon hearing his words, all of the nearby well-known figures from the Domain of Endless Thunder gasped.

    A mor instantly overtook the crowd of close to a hundred Void and Saint domain Qi warriors, as if they had been ignited.

    Many beautiful young women, each with their unique qualities, fixed Nie Tian with feverish gazes, as if they couldn¡¯t wait to swallow him whole.

    ¡°Enter the God domain?¡±

    ¡°He said he can help Mo Qianfan enter the God domain?¡±

    ¡°Is the God domain so easily reached? Even the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion have to go through great difficulties before they can make a God domain expert!¡±

    ¡°Even his Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce only has one God domain expert, Chu Rui, they can rely on now!¡±

    ¡°If they could make more God domain experts so effortlessly, how would their thirteen subordinate domains still be in turmoil?¡±

    Everyone discussed and shouted aloud, even drowning out Mo Li¡¯s loud berating for them to stop.

    However, most of them calmed down shortly afterwards.

    Doubt and distrust started to fill their eyes as they measured Nie Tian, as if they thought that he might just be talking big.

    Even the young women who were somewhat obsessed with Nie Tian gradually grew silent as they heard their seniors¡¯ whispers. They started to think that no matter how extraordinary Nie Tian was, he probably didn¡¯t have what it took to help Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect break his cultivation barriers and enter the God domain.

    Everyone knew what entering the God domain meant, and how dangerous and difficult the breakthrough was.

    Under the gazes of Mo Li, Mo Qinglei, and the crowd of noble cultivators from the Domain of Endless Thunder, Nie Tian said in aposed manner, ¡°I can¡¯t guarantee my sess.¡±

    Hearing this, Mo Qinglei¡¯s face grew a bit grim, as if he had already epted the possible result. ¡°I understand. Judging by the signs, my father¡¯s breakthrough is most likely going to fail...¡±

    ¡°However, I do think we have a good chance,¡± Nie Tian added.

    Mo Qinglei¡¯s eyes instantly lit up again.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said to Mo Li and Mo Qinglei, ¡°I¡¯m heading up into the heavens. After I do, you don¡¯t need to do anything. In fact, I¡¯m only going to give something to him. The final result will depend on Sectmaster Mo himself.¡±

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian leapt off his Star Boat and shot into the heavens.

    BOOOOM!

    As he did, an immense flesh aura burst forth from within him, spreading like a sea of thick, blood-colored aura that bred countless changes.

    His unique and most mysterious bloodline aura rapidly pervaded the whole area.

    On the mountaintop, Qi warriors from the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n, and the other local forces looked up at Nie Tian, who was shooting into the heavens, and his constantly morphing sea of crimson aura. They felt that even their own life power fields were being channeled in a profound way, as if their lifespans would be prolonged as long as they remained within the aura¡¯s range of influence.

    This peculiar feeling intoxicated them.

    Mo Li looked down and muttered to himself. ¡°Odd. This is so very odd. The aura he releases is actually making me feel full of vigor.¡±

    Mo Qinglei gasped and asked, ¡°You have that feeling too?¡±

    ¡°We do too!¡± The surrounding members of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n chimed in, saying that they also felt rxed and soothed by Nie Tian¡¯s unique aura.

    One of them even felt that Nie Tian¡¯s pervading flesh aura was healing old injuries that had bothered him for ages.

    ¡°What?! Even your old injuries are being healed?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯m feeling!¡±

    ¡°What in the world is this Son of the Stars¡¯ bloodline?¡±

    Everyone found this fascinating.

    SHEW!

    In the heavens that were filled with shing lightning and rolling thunder, Mo Qianfan¡¯s domain had condensed into a simple, unsophisticated altar.

    At this moment, Mo Qianfan was sitting in the lotus position on the solid altar made of lightning. Countless electric arcs could be seen flowing in it like ripples.

    Lightning bolts continued to strike down from the thunderclouds overhead, cleansing Mo Qianfan¡¯s body. However, they couldn¡¯t seem to fuse into the lightning altar.

    ¡°You...¡± Mo Qianfan¡¯s eyes snapped open, his face twisted. Violent lightning exploded in the depths of his eyes before vanishing in the next moment.

    Agony was written across his face. ¡°Son of the Stars, Nie Tian! Why are you here? Don¡¯te any closer. I, I can barely hold on.

    ¡°Once my domain explodes, I¡¯ll undoubtedly perish, body and soul. I won¡¯t even have a chance to be reborn. So please, for the sake of the grand elder, help my sect when they face cmities!¡±

    Mo Qianfan sounded as if he was making arrangements for after his death with hisst dying gasp.

 Chapter 1213: Achieving God Domain

    Nie Tian took a breath and grinned. ¡°Your n¡¯s affairs are for you to deal with. I¡¯m not here to listen to you say these things.

    ¡°You¡¯re not at the end of your rope yet! It¡¯s your lucky day. I happen to have a lightning-attributed Profound Truths Crystal on me. Now that I¡¯m here in the Domain of Endless Thunder, and you¡¯re in the middle of your attempt to enter the God domain...¡±

    Mo Qianfan was baffled. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying that I¡¯m here to help you enter the God domain,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Instead of being ecstatically taken aback, Mo Qianfan frowned.

    He didn¡¯t believe a single word that came out of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth.

    Even thete God domain sectmasters of the four great sects most likely didn¡¯t have the ability to help him enter the God domain, much less Nie Tian.

    Perhaps only that middle God domain former sectmaster of the lightning element sect would have been able to work such a miracle with his lightning-attributed divine tool.

    However, he had died long before Zheng Yi had assumed power.

    Nie Tian knew that if he didn¡¯t take the powerful magical treasure out, Mo Qianfan wouldn¡¯t believe him no matter what he said, so he did, and said, ¡°This Profound Truths Crystal was refined from the Bloodline Crystal Chains of a tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart. The tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale was a lightning-attributed Ancientbeast. With its flesh aura, it created a small heaven and earth, with which it had devoured and refined numerous thunder pools.

    ¡°The depths of its bloodline are branded with the most profound mysteries of lightning power, along with its lifetime enlightenment.

    ¡°It¡¯s the crystallization of its whole life.¡±

    With these words, the Profound Truths Crystal flew in Mo Qianfan¡¯s direction.

    Surprisingly, as soon as it left Nie Tian¡¯s palm, it seemed to establish a wondrous connection to this part of heaven and earth.

    WHOOSH!

    Instead of flying directly towards Mo Qianfan, the mysterious crystal shot upwards, and merged with the thunder pool that took up this area of the sky.

    Immediately afterwards, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering rumble rose from the mountains where the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters was located.

    One lofty mountain peak after another was wreathed in cyan lightning bolts. Enveloped in dazzling light, pirs of lightning sted skywards!

    BOOM!

    Even the mountaintop where Mo Li, Mo Qianfan, and many others were gathered was overtaken by wondrous changes.

    The cyan stones they were standing on became translucent and filled with lightning, as if they had turned into cyan jades that carried the lightning attribute.

    A pir of blinding light shot skywards from the mountaintop filled with cyan stones. As people looked down, they could seeplicatedworks of lightning bolts within the stones that looked like human meridians.

    Mo Qinglei¡¯s expression flickered drastically, his whole body trembling nonstop, as if he was facing something extremely unreal. ¡°It¡¯s our sect¡¯s most ancient grand spell formation that¡¯s said to never have been activated again: the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation!¡±

    Mo Li was confused. ¡°What? What divine formation?¡±

    The Mo n had only assumed a firm foothold in the Domain of Endless Thunder after Mo Qianfan had be the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    Before that, the Mo n hadn¡¯t had any connections with the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    The Heavenly Thunder Sect had a rather long history, in which they had even produced a God domain expert once.

    While Mo Qinglei knew the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s top secrets, Mo Li, as a member of the Mo n but not the Heavenly Thunder Sect, didn¡¯t.

    An elder of the Cao n, which also had a long history in the Domain of Endless Thunder, eximed, ¡°It¡¯s the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation! The divine formation was built by the third sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, who was the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s one and only God domain expert!

    ¡°He was also the only one who could activate the grand spell formation.

    ¡°Ever since his death, the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation hasin dormant. None of the sectmasters after him were able to break through into the God domain. They thought of every possible method, but all of their efforts to activate the divine formation failed.

    ¡°If they were able to activate it when Zheng Yi from the lightning element sect and the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan invaded the Heavenly Thunder Sect, those two would have probably been bombarded to death already!

    ¡°It¡¯s said that this divine formation is mighty enough to annihte middle God domain experts. However, it can only manifest its full might if it¡¯s activated and controlled by a middle God domain expert who understands the profound truths of lightning power!¡±

    Mo Li gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation! Then howe this spell formation was suddenly activated for no reason?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is the reason!¡± Mo Qinglei eximed.

    Mo Li hadn¡¯t sensed it when the Profound Truths Crystal that was branded with the profound truths of lightning power had charged into the thunder pool in the heavens. However, Mo Qinglei, who was well-versed in lightning power and held a powerful lightning-attributed treasure, had sensed it.

    He knew that something had left Nie Tian¡¯s palm and flown into the thunder pool.

    Immediately afterwards, the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s legendary Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation, which could only be activated by God domain experts, burst into life.

    In the surrounding mountains, numerous lightning pirs rose into the heavens, connecting to the thunder pool and binding this area of space.

    Countless wisps of translucent, sparkling lightning auras gathered power from the thunder pool and the lightning pirs, gradually morphing into the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline imprints and condensing into thick Bloodline Crystal Chains. Then, like lightning bolts, they struck down onto Mo Qianfan¡¯s lightning altar and vanished into his body.

    Sitting on the lightning altar, Mo Qianfan shook violently.

    In the depths of his widened, ecstasy-brimmed eyes, forked lightning bolts could be seen shing from time to time.

    Upon a closer look, those forked lightning bolts were actually made of countless fine Bloodline Crystal Chains that had been refined from the tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart.

    They carried the profound truths of lightning power the Thunder-devouring Whale had derived in its lifetime!

    Mo Qianfan, who was sitting in the lotus position, sprang to his feet! ¡°The essence of a mighty tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale!¡±

    The moment he did, every Qi warrior and spirit beast from every corner of the Domain of Endless Thunder that practiced lighting power sensed something.

    A god of lightning and thunder was born in this heaven and earth!

    The God domain was achieved!

    No words were needed. Every Qi warrior that practiced lightning incantations knew that Mo Qianfan had broken through into the God domain.

    After Mo Qianfan rose to his feet, heaven and earth changed. Every thundercloud and every piece of lightning-wreathednd throughout the Domain of Endless Thunder seemed to be his tomand.

    It was as if with a thought, he would be able to cause violent changes in those wondrous ces.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! That¡¯s the feeling!¡± Mo Qinglei shouted in a distorted voice.

    FZZZ!

    Mo Qianfan reached out with one hand, and the shrunken Profound Truths Crystal was peeled from the thunder pool in the heavens.

    After falling in his palm, the crystal blossomed with countless Bloodline Crystal Chains that were as fine as hairs. Then, he quickly pressed it onto his forehead, allowing it to fuse into his mind, where he continued to derive enlightenment from it.

    Immediately afterwards, the thunder pool in the sky and the lightning pirs that were shooting from the mountaintops all gathered into his lightning domain.

    As this happened, his domain underwent changes. Rings of misty divine light gradually condensed over the lightning altar. As the rings shrank, changes took ce within Mo Qianfan.

    ¡°Dharma idol! He¡¯s forging his dharma idol by relying on his newly-derived enlightenment about lightning power!¡±

    ¡°Only after entering the God domain can a cultivator condense his dharma idol! I really didn¡¯t expect Sectmaster Mo to be able to enter the God domain and be a god of lightning and thunder in his lifetime!¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t he about to fail just now?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t things go wrong with him merging with the thunder pool? He was clearly failing, yet the situation was miraculously turned around, with even the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation activated... Was that all because of that Son of the Stars?¡±

    ¡°Who else can it be?¡±

    SHEW!

    At this moment, Nie Tian plunged from the heavens andnded between Mo Li and Mo Qinglei.

    Without any hesitation, Mo Qinglei got down on one knee and bowed his head towards Nie Tian. ¡°Allow me to thank you on behalf of my father, the Heavenly Thunder Sect, and the Mo n! If it weren¡¯t for you, not only would my father have failed to enter the God domain, but he would have died beyond salvation.

    ¡°Both the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n owe you a big favor. On my father¡¯s behalf, I promise that from now on, we¡¯ll answer your summons and do everything within our power if you ever need us!¡±

    Mo Li joined in. ¡°The same goes for the Mo n!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, all of the experts from the local forces from the Domain of Endless Thunder gasped with astonishment.

    Even though Mo Li and Mo Qinglei didn¡¯t say that they would be Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates, how was what they had promised different from them bing Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates?

    As long as Nie Tian said the words, the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n would do everything they could for him!

    Their promises meant that Nie Tian now had a very strong pull on both the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n.

 Chapter 1214: Ingratiation

    All of the well-known figures from across the Domain of Endless Thunder stared at Nie Tian as he descended from the heavens, their eyes wide with astonishment.

    ¡°He helped make a God domain expert!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he actually helped make a God domain expert!¡±

    ¡°This is a miracle!¡±

    ¡°This is unprecedented!¡±

    Among them, many Saint domain experts lost theirposure. Their hearts pounded so heavily that they might explode.

    Even though these experts were either at the early or middle Saint domain, which was lower than Mo Qianfan¡¯s cultivation base, some of their fundamentals were more solid than Mo Qianfan¡¯s.

    Besides, since they didn¡¯t practice lightning incantations, they hadn¡¯t been so aggressive with their cultivation.

    After all, they didn¡¯t have a natural enemy like Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil.

    If Nie Tian could help someone like Mo Qianfan break through into the God domain, what about them?

    Their foundations were more solid, and they didn¡¯t rush into breakthroughs. Thousands of yearster, when the time came for them to seek their breakthrough into the God domain, would they also have Nie Tian¡¯s assistance?

    Nie Tian had helped Mo Qianfan enter the God domain. Did this mean that he would be able to help them enter the God domain with the same method?

    With these thoughts, all of those who had witnessed Nie Tian charge into the heavens and miraculously help Mo Qianfan stabilize his domain and enter the God domain grew restless.

    There were more Saint domain experts throughout the human domains than one could count.

    Every advanced human domain had several of them. Some even had more than ten of them. Meanwhile, since the number of human domains was extremelyrge, the total number of Saint domain experts might exceed a thousand.

    However, of so many of them, only about ten would ever have a chance at entering the God domain.

    Besides, most of those who did would be members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect, while most of the other Saint domain cultivators would die of old age before they could even attempt to enter the God domain.

    Of those who did have a chance at entering the God domain, their sess rate would be one in a hundred.

    No one or sect could guarantee that they could help ate Saint domain cultivator enter the God domain, not Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society, not Ji Cang from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, not Chu Yuan from the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    However, Nie Tian had somehow helped Mo Qianfan enter the God domain right in front of them!

    What could be more unbelievable and shocking than this?

    Every Saint domain expert from the Domain of Endless Thunder present shouted the question inwardly, their eyes filled with disbelief.

    They also knew that once word of this incident spread, who knew how many powerfulte Saint domain patriarchs would travel through domains to find Nie Tian.

    At that time, what significance would they have?

    Mo Qinglei and Mo Li were sensible enough to promise that the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n would answer Nie Tian¡¯s summons and fight for him anytime and anywhere. What about that was uneptable?

    ¡°Young Lord Nie, I¡¯m an elder of the Cao n from the Domain of Endless Thunder...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the sectmaster of the Heavenly Screen Sect, middle Saint domain. My sincerest greetings to you, Young Lord Nie.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m the nmaster of the Luo n. My daughter is the most beautiful and talented young woman throughout the Domain of Endless Thunder. I sincerely hope you¡¯ll take a look at her...¡±

    All of a sudden, many Saint domain experts from the Domain of Endless Thunder realized what they should do, and thus scrambled to introduce themselves to Nie Tian regardless of Mo Li¡¯s obstruction, hoping that they would win his attention by doing so.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck.

    He had a headache as he nced around at the crowd of ttering smiling faces, and the charming young women behind them that were embarrassedly sneaking nces at him.

    Some of the young women¡¯s cultivation bases were even higher than those of Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan.

    However, since they didn¡¯t have unique treasures like the coexisting flowers and Frost Blood Python inside of them, there wasn¡¯t much about them that was impressive other than their appearances.

    Mo Li raised his hands and let out an explosive shout. ¡°Silence!¡±

    In contrast, Mo Qinglei was surprisingly calm and quiet. That was because he gazed skywards and realized that his father¡¯s cultivation base was gradually stabilizing, and that he was refining his transformed domain and deriving a new, deeper enlightenment of lightning power with the help of the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation and the thunder pool in the sky.

    Now that his father had entered the God domain, the fate of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n, and even the entire Domain of Endless Thunder would bepletely different.

    God domain!

    Even the four great sects normally wouldn¡¯t provoke sects protected by God domain experts.

    Even though the Heavenly Thunder Sect still couldn¡¯tpete with ancient sects like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, their status in the human world would be bound to skyrocket!

    The names of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and his father would certainly spread far and wide!

    Mo Qinglei couldn¡¯t be more excited. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my father achieved something Zheng Yi, the sectmaster of the lightning element sect, has dreamed about his whole life!¡±

    At this moment, he no longer paid any attention to the crowd¡¯s mor and ingratiation towards Nie Tian.

    All he thought about was the brighter future the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n was bound to have after his father¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain.

    After the crowd gradually quieted down, Mo Li turned to Nie Tian and said with a serious expression, ¡°Young Lord Nie, it may still take a while for our nmaster to stabilize his newly-achieved cultivation base. I suppose you came here so that you can go to the Domain of Primal Yang, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Mo Li cut to the chase. ¡°If you¡¯re in a hurry, I can arrange for a starship to take you there right away. And all of our experts from my n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect can escort you. But...¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce skywards and grew hesitant.

    ¡°But what?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to overpower the Primal Yang Sect if our nmaster can¡¯t go with us,¡± Mo Li said without hiding what was worrying him. ¡°Now that our nmaster has entered the God domain, as long as he stabilizes his cultivation base and joins us on our trip to the Primal Yang Sect, our victory will almost be guaranteed.

    ¡°Originally, the cultivation bases and strengths of our nmaster and the sectmaster of the Primal Yang Sect were well-matched. Now that our nmaster has entered the God domain, the sectmaster of the Primal Yang Sect will be no match for him. But the problem is that our nmaster still needs some time to stabilize his cultivation base.¡±

    After pausing for a few seconds, Mo Li suggested with a sincere expression, ¡°The way I see it, you can summon Xie Qian and your other Saint domain subordinates.

    ¡°With their help, we¡¯ll surely be able to overpower the Primal Yang Sect and make them obey. I think it¡¯ll be safer this way. What do you think?¡±

    Hearing this, the others approved of his suggestion.

    They all said that if Nie Tian wasn¡¯t in a hurry, he should wait for Mo Qianfan to stabilize his cultivation base, and then pressure the Primal Yang Sect into submitting under his God domain power.

    If Nie Tian was in a hurry, then he should summon his Saint domain subordinates to the Domain of Endless Thunder. Together with the experts from the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n, and the other local forces, they would be strong enough to pressure the Primal Yang Sect into releasing Fang Yuan and resuming their status as aw-abiding subordinate domain of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Whether it was Mo Li or the others, they all said this out of goodwill.

    ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll take for him to stabilize his cultivation base?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking skywards.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say.¡± Mo Li couldn¡¯t give him an exact time. ¡°It varies between different cultivators. Some can stabilize their cultivations base ten days after they break through into the God domain, while others have to spend years, or even decades.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and muttered, ¡°So the time needed can¡¯t be determined...¡±

    The purpose of his trip to the Domain of Endless Thunder had been to ask thete Saint domain Mo Qianfan to join him. In exchange, he would give him that Profound Truths Crystal. However, he had happened to arrive when Mo Qianfan had been in the middle of a rash attempt to enter the God domain, which had been motivated by the Thunder Devil¡¯s recent triumph.

    Now, even though Mo Qianfan¡¯s breakthrough had seeded, he had lost the ability to fight within a short period of time.

    Considering that the Primal Yang Sect had been able to imprison Fang Yuan and his subordinates, he would probably suffer the same result if he marched over there without making adequate preparations.

    Having recently defeated Patriarch Pure Heaven, he was confident that he was now strong enough to contend against and even defeat an early Saint domain expert.

    However, what about multiple middle andte Saint domain experts?

    The Primal Yang Sect had overpowered Fang Yuan and all of his Saint domain subordinates.

    After pondering for a while, Nie Tian made his decision. ¡°I¡¯ll wait ten days in the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters. If Sectmaster Mo¡¯s cultivation base still doesn¡¯t stabilize, then I¡¯ll summon Master Blood Spirit and Xie Qian, along with all of my other Saint domain subordinates, to this ce.¡±

    ¡°Ten days seems a bit short...¡± Mo Li said honestly.

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Nie Tian said with a profound look in his eyes. ¡°But Sectmaster Mo has something unique to rely on now. As long as he can derive enlightenment from the profound mysteries it carries, the stabilization of his cultivation base will finish quickly. If he can do that, I believe he¡¯ll be able to stabilize his domain and form his dharma idol in ten days.

    ¡°Once his dharma idol forms, it¡¯ll mean that he¡¯ll be able to disy the might of a God domain expert in battles.¡±

    These words lifted Mo Li¡¯s spirit. He agreed. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s wait ten days and see.¡±

 Chapter 1215: Ice Soul Divine Sect

    Nie Tian waited for Mo Qianfan¡¯s cultivation base to stabilize in the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Many major sects in the neighboring domains had long since learned that Mo Qianfan had been seeking to break through into the God domain.

    Many of them had been keeping a close watch on everything that happened in the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    Some of the minor sects and ns in the Domain of Endless Thunder were happy to keep secret connections with them.

    Therefore, they had received word of Nie Tian¡¯s sudden arrival in the Heavenly Thunder Sect via different ways shortly after it had happened.

    Later, Nie Tian had charged into the heavens and activated the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation with a Profound Truths Crystal, allowing Mo Qianfan, who had been hanging by a thread, to stabilize his lightning domain. Then, with the help of the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation and the violent lightning power he channeled from the thunder pool, Mo Qianfan had finally finished the transformation of his domain and entered the God domain.

    News like this spread like wildfire.

    Not only the domains that were geographically close, but also those that had close connections to the Domain of Endless Thunder soon learned about it.

    WHOOSH!

    A starship that seemed to be a thousand meters long and forged from crystalline ice suddenly sailed through the realm barrier and appeared in the heavens. Sparkling with intoxicating icy light, it slowly sailed towards the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    On the mountaintop, the expressions of Mo Li, Mo Qinglei, and the other elders of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n flickered.

    ¡°A starship from the Ice Soul Divine Sect!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the Ice Soul Divine Sect from the Domain of Frigid Frost!¡±

    ¡°Why are they here?¡±

    Many other Qi warriors from the Domain of Endless Thunder also noticed the starship in the sky, and watched it slowly approach.

    Even Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The Ice Soul Divine Sect, the Domain of Frigid Frost... I¡¯ve heard of them. They seem to be a very powerful force in the human world.¡±

    With a grim face, Mo Li said, ¡°The Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s understanding of cold power leads the entire human world. They¡¯ve produced three remarkable God domain experts in their long history. One of them even reached the middle God domain. In their times, the Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s influence was second only to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    ¡°However, those God domain experts have long since passed. And the Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s influence in the human world has fallen far behind the four great sects.

    ¡°But as the saying goes, a lean camel that dies of starvation is stillrger than a horse. They¡¯re still much more powerful than our sect.

    ¡°That¡¯s because they have threete Saint domain experts.

    ¡°Besides, they haven¡¯t sworn allegiance to any sect since the day they were founded. Even now, when they¡¯re at their weakest, the four great sects aren¡¯t strong enough for them to submit willingly.¡±

    Mo Qinglei chimed in. ¡°The Ice Soul Divine Sect never got along with the Primal Yang Sect. Even now, when they¡¯re at their weakest, they¡¯re still stronger than the Primal Yang Sect. In fact, the Primal Yang Sect only chose to be a subordinate sect of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce because they were suppressed and driven to despair by the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    ¡°Without the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce backing them, the domain where the Primal Yang Sect is located would have been absorbed by the Ice Soul Divine Sect long ago...¡±

    The two of them took turns to exin the Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s profound reserve power to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian frowned slightly. ¡°Is it okay for them to sail their starships to your sect in such an unscrupulous manner?¡±

    Mo Li smiled bitterly and said, ¡°They¡¯re stronger than us after all. And unlike the Primal Yang Sect, we don¡¯t have ancient great sects like the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce at our back.

    ¡°How¡¯s your sect¡¯s rtionship with them?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°We each mind our own business and keep out of each other¡¯s affairs,¡± Mo Li answered.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The enormous icy starship came to a stop in the vast open sky over the mountains where the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters sat.

    At this moment, the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Divine Formation had already stopped working, leaving only the thunder pool in the heavens being channeled of its lightning power by Mo Qianfan.

    SHEW!

    A graceful, cold beauty that had the quality of a snow lotus flew lightly from the berthed ice-forged starship.

    As soon as she appeared, all of the elders and disciples of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n, and the other local forces in the Domain of Endless Thunder felt as if their world suddenly lit up.

    Almost every male Qi warrior had intoxicated looks on their faces.

    At the same time, all of the talented young women from across the Domain of Endless Thunder who had great confidence in their appearances and charms felt outshone.

    People started to whisper in each other¡¯s ears.

    ¡°So many years have passed, and she¡¯s still so glorious!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like wherever she goes, all the other women will pale inparison!¡±

    ¡°Exactly. That¡¯s the Ice Soul Divine Daughter, Ling Bingyun!¡±

    Even Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at her.

    He saw the cold beauty, like a goddess from a painting, escorted by several white-robed young female disciples of the Ice Soul Divine Sect in the same way the moon was surrounded by stars as she flew over from the starship.

    At the same time, pleasant music echoed out from the starship as translucent, sparkling snowkes fell from the heavens.

    All of a sudden, the heaven and earth where the Heavenly Thunder Sect was located seemed to turn into a world of ice and snow,pletely subject to the influence of her domain, power, and will.

    Ling Bingyun, ate Saint domain expert, was only one step away from entering the God domain.

    Even though she wasn¡¯t a young woman anymore, her appearance hadn¡¯t changed at all over the past thousands of years. Who knew how many powerful male experts from across the human domains had pursued her.

    Many were even willing to die for her just to win a few words of approval or appreciation from her.

    The term ¡®dangerous beauty¡¯ was used to describe women like her.

    ¡°Ling Bingyun, the sectmaster of the Ice Soul Divine Sect, is said to be the human expert with most profound understanding of cold power,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself, gradually recovering from his astonishment.

    He had to admit that this Ling Bingyun was the most beautiful woman he had seen his entire life.

    Technically speaking, Ling Bingyun was from the same generation as Mo Qianfan, Mo Li, and Mo Heng.

    However, as Nie Tian secretly examined her with his life bloodline, he discovered, to his surprise, that she was actually much younger than Mo Qianfan or Mo Li.

    Ling Bingyun came to a stop on a lotus made of crystalline ice and said, ¡°I was passing through the Domain of Endless Thunder when I heard that Sectmaster Mo¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain turned out to be a sess, so I came here to give you my congrattions.¡±

    With her icy bright eyes, she first nced up at the heavens, then ran her gaze over the crowd, as if she were looking for someone.

    Secondster, her icy gazended on Nie Tian and stopped there.

    In a natural manner, an icy aura flew out of her eyes to fill the part of heaven and earth where Nie Tian was standing.

    Even Mo Li and Mo Qinglei, who were standing close to Nie Tian, were startled, and jumped back subconsciously.

    In the next moment, Mo Li realized what was happening and eximed, ¡°Sectmaster Ling! You¡¯re wee if you¡¯re here to congratte our nmaster. However, the one you¡¯re looking at is our honored guest! How do you dare to be so disrespectful? Do you attach no significance to the Mo n or the Heavenly Thunder Sect?¡±

    Still calm andposed, Ling Bingyun said, ¡°To be honest, I didn¡¯t attach any significance to the Heavenly Thunder Sect before. But since Mo Qianfan has entered the God domain, I suppose your sect¡¯s strength matches mine now. Besides, do you think I don¡¯t know who that is?¡±

    ¡°If you do, then why are you doing this?¡± Mo Li asked sternly.

    ¡°I¡¯m only curious about how extraordinary and unique Nie Tian, whose name has recently spread throughout the human world, actually is,¡± Ling Bingyun said.

    With these words, a frosty light shed across her eyes as an exquisite incantation took effect.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The frigid power in her eyes froze Nie Tian¡¯s robust body bit by bit.

    In a matter of seconds, Nie Tian waspletely frozen and trapped in a huge block of ice that exuded a terrifying frosty aura.

    Frozen in the ice, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t close his eyes, and thus remained in the stance where he stared back at Ling Bingyun.

    A hint of disdain appeared in Ling Bingyun¡¯s icy eyes as she said, ¡°I heard that the seventh Son of the Stars defeated Patriarch Pure Heaven in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries shortly beforeing to the Domain of Endless Thunder. I met Patriarch Pure Heaven, who¡¯s at the middle Saint domain, once ages ago. I know how strong he is, and what kind of person he is.

    ¡°So I refused to believe that Patriarch Pure Heaven lost when I received the word.

    ¡°I bet he finally understood that his Pure Heaven Sect was in an irresistible trend, where he had no choice but to join Nie Tian¡¯s force as the rest of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries did.

    ¡°So he lost intentionally.¡±

    Ling Bingyun shook her head slightly, convinced that Patriarch Pure Heaven had lost intentionally for the sake of his sect.

 Chapter 1216: Anger

    On the mountaintop, a small area around Nie Tian had be bone-piercingly cold.

    However, as long as people didn¡¯t enter a ten meter radius around him, they wouldn¡¯t feel even the slightest bit of cold. As much as Mo Li and Mo Qinglei wanted to rescue Nie Tian, once they approached and felt the frigid coldness...

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Mo Qinglei felt as if he was going to freeze, and thus had to step away from him.

    Mo Li, who was at the early Saint domain, also attempted to approach Nie Tian. However, as he did, even his domain started to freeze and show signs of cracking from the cold.

    He suddenly realized that if he dared to meddle with Ling Bingyun¡¯s business, the cold power she inflicted on him would multiply.

    Therefore, he stopped right away and adopted another approach.

    ¡°Sectmaster Ling!¡± he called out. ¡°Nie Tian is the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You know that very well! While your sect¡¯s strength has greatly declined, Nie Tian hase to a lofty status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and even the entire human world.¡±

    Face cold, Ling Bingyun said without the slightest flicker in her eyes, ¡°I know that.¡±

    ¡°Then why are you...?¡±

    A hint of a taunt appeared at the corner of Ling Bingyun¡¯s mouth. ¡°You think I wanted to kill him? I was only checking something here.¡±

    ¡°What do you want to check?¡±

    ¡°I wanted to see if this Son of the Stars is truly extraordinary, or if his abilities were exaggerated.¡± With these words, Ling Bingyun seemed to lose interest, and added, ¡°But I think I got my answer.¡±

    Then, she prepared to withdraw the frigid power she had infused into Nie Tian.

    However, that was when she suddenly noticed that a curious orange me spark flickered in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, which were dead fixed on her.

    It was the me spark within Nie Tian¡¯s me power core!

    Its reflection somehow appeared in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils.

    The moment they appeared, Ling Bingyun had a peculiar feeling that the frost power wards she had created to freeze and seal the small part of heaven and earth around Nie Tian were being melted by some unknown force.

    In the next moment, the me sparks started to shake violently within Nie Tian¡¯s pupils.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    One stream of fiery light after another burst through his meridians to every part of his body.

    BOOOOM!

    His flesh power, me power from the me Dragon Armor, his me power core, the me spark...

    All sorts of raging fiery auras burst forth at the same time!

    The ultimate me power released by the me spark made even Ling Bingyun uneasy.

    Her jaw dropped slightly in amazement, as she discovered that all of the restrictive spells and frigid wards she had cast on Nie Tian seemed to be burned away.

    It was as if a cluster of mes was burning furiously within Nie Tian and neutralizing her profound cold power that carried her soul awareness.

    ¡°S-such a strong aura...¡± Ling Bingyun¡¯s expression flickered strongly as she suddenly remembered a nightmarish experience from the past.

    It was when she had first advanced to the early Saint domain ande to a profound mastery of cold power. She had taken a trip to the Domain of me¡¯s End, where she wandered among the charred dead stars.

    In an aggressive and unscrupulous manner, she had unleashed cold power from her domain to freeze the dead stars.

    However, after a while, an ident had happened when she had engulfed an unknown dead star with her cold power in an attempt to derive new enlightenment about thews of cold power.

    Violent me power had suddenly burst forth from the heart of that dead star.

    That me power seemed to have been mighty enough to burn the heavens, destroy the earth, and reduce everything to ashes.

    Her various frigid incantations that had carried the so-called profound truths of cold power had been so fragile that they hadn¡¯t even been able tost a second in the face of that devastating me power.

    Eventually, she had been forced to admit defeat and leave that dead star, however reluctantly.

    Only after she had returned to the Ice Soul Divine Sect and sought help from her sect seniors had she learned that a spark of Divine me had been hiding in the Domain of me¡¯s End after the great cmity.

    Even the head of the fire element sect, who was at thete God domain, had failed to capture it in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    The head of the fire element sect and many other strong Qi warriors who practiced me power had honored that cluster of mes with the name ¡®the spirit of all mes¡¯!

    It was an unpleasant but unforgettable memory for Ling Bingyun.

    At this moment, she was astonished to discover that she was sensing the same aura from Nie Tian!

    She was having the same terrifying feeling that it was going to burn the heavens and destroy the earth, along with every living being in them. An overwhelming fear that had been branded in her bones forced her to withdraw her power right away.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Rays of sparkling light that were only sensible to Saint domain experts flew from Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings.

    ¡°Ice Soul Divine Light!¡± Qi warriors from across the Domain of Endless Thunder eximed in shock as they watched the rays of sparkling light that carried frigid auras fly from Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings and disappear into Ling Bingyun¡¯s domain.

    CRACK!

    The ice trapping Nie Tian shattered and rapidly vaporized under the zing me power.

    In a rising mist, Nie Tian shot a confused, stern look at Ling Bingyun before frowning and saying, ¡°Do you have a problem with me, Sectmaster Ling?¡±

    Ling Bingyun shook her head. ¡°No.¡±

    A fierce look gradually filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°But upon arriving, you...¡±

    After summoning his me Dragon Armor and the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding, he locked his eyes on Ling Bingyun and said slowly, ¡°Including you, the Ice Soul Divine Sect has threete Saint domain experts and about ten early and middle Saint domain experts.

    ¡°Among my subordinates, Xie Qian and Master Blood Spirit are at thete Saint domain. I think Master Blood Spirit would have no problem defeating you in battle.

    ¡°Xie Qian and the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, who has entered the God domain, will also fight for me when called upon.

    ¡°I can have you killed and your Ice Soul Divine Sect annihted without even using the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s power, though I may have to pay a price to do so!

    ¡°Not to mention that I can also ask for my friends from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society to send their powerful elders to my aid.¡±

    Face growing dark and ferocious, Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to hide the killing intent in his eyes and the threat in his tone.

    Ling Bingyun¡¯s expression flickered slightly. With a somewhat grim look in his eyes, she said, ¡°I only wanted to see for myself if your battle prowess was exaggerated.¡±

    ¡°Who do you think you are?¡± Nie Tian asked with a sarcastic tone. ¡°Do you think you¡¯re Qu Yi or Chu Yuan from the Heaven Span Pavilion? You think you¡¯re so mighty that you can make a move against me without even expressing your intentions first?¡±

    Ling Bingyun didn¡¯t know what to say, her expression flickering.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Two figures, an old man and an old woman, hastily flew from the berthed starship.

    Both of them were at thete Saint domain.

    ¡°This old one is Han Qiong.¡±

    ¡°This old one is Kong Shuangjing.¡±

    Both of them were elders of the Ice Soul Divine Sect. They were from the same generation as Ling Bingyun¡¯s master, but had been stuck at thete Saint domain for ages.

    In contrast, Ling Bingyun, who was much younger than them, had made rapid breakthroughs in her cultivation and joined them at thete Saint domain.

    In their eyes, the future of the Ice Soul Divine Secty with her.

    She had a good chance at bing their first sectmaster to enter the God domain in recent generations.

    Whether the Ice Soul Divine Sect would be able to recover its glory and rejoin the ranks of the powerful human sects that came second only to the four great sects would depend on her.

    Meanwhile, they were no strangers to her temperament, and would sometimes find it problematic.

    However, they knew that she usually wouldn¡¯t rush into decisions.

    They had only taken this trip here because Ling Bingyun had heard that Nie Tian had helped Mo Qianfan enter the God domain, and hadn¡¯t believed a word of it, and had thuse to seek verification.

    It was just that they hadn¡¯t expected Ling Bingyun to seek verification by testing Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess herself.

    Then, they hadn¡¯t found her approachpletely uneptable.

    Who would have thought that Nie Tian would react so strongly?

    It sounded as if Nie Tian was even ready to summon all of his subordinates andmendable forces to kill Ling Bingyun and annihte the Ice Soul Divine Sect right now.

    The two of them thought that if Nie Tian actually mobilized all of his forces to fight the Ice Soul Divine Sect, regardless of its long history and high reputation in the human world, then...

    They knew that they couldn¡¯t sit back and watch any longer, and thus flew over in a hurry.

    ¡°Nie Tian, we¡¯re in the wrong in this unpleasant incident.¡±

    ¡°We meant no harm though. All we wanted was to see whether, as the most highly reputed Son of the Stars, you¡¯re as strong as people say you are.¡±

    ¡°We can guarantee that our sectmaster didn¡¯t mean to harm you.¡±

    ¡°It was nothing but a little test. We¡¯d like to apologize to you and offer youpensation. We hope you¡¯ll forget this little incident.¡±

    Before Ling Bingyun could say anything, Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing, twote Saint domain experts, were so scared that they apologized repeatedly, hoping that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t make a big deal out of this incident.

 Chapter 1217: Respect-paying Visitors

    ¡°This is Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect, here to visit the Son of the Stars Nie Tian!¡± A voice that could pierce through metal and split rocks suddenly echoed out from a distant mountain peak where arge-scale teleportation portal stood.

    The voice was as piercing as a sword!

    Even though the man was still thousands of kilometers away, his voice arrived in a split second.

    Mo Li and the others¡¯ expressions flickered with astonishment and confusion. ¡°Yin Xingtian!¡±

    Taken aback, Mo Qinglei muttered to himself, ¡°Yin Xingtian is the current sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect. Among the sects that practice the Dao of the sword, they¡¯re probably the second most famous thates only after the Heaven Span Pavilion. That old patriarch Yin Xingtian is also at thete Saint domain, and he¡¯s from the same generation as Ling Bingyun¡¯s master.¡±

    At this moment, Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing were bowing their heads and asking for Nie Tian¡¯s forgiveness.

    Upon hearing that Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect had traveled all the way here to meet Nie Tian, they gasped with astonishment as well.

    They were peers of Yin Xingtian, though the man was even older than they were.

    For ages, Yin Xingtian had been eagerly seeking an opportunity to break through into the God domain.

    This was because he was about to reach the end of his lifespan.

    If he couldn¡¯t find a way to enter the God domain soon, he would die of old age.

    SHEW!

    Like streams of glorious light, dozens of flying swords formed into a small boat that sailed over with a gray-robed man standing on it. The man looked skinny, but unusually tall.

    As he approached, intense sword intent spread through heaven and earth, ripping even the thick leaden clouds over the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters into shreds.

    A clear sky reappeared over the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    In a sh, the small boat formed by swords arrived in front of Nie Tian.

    The gray-robed Yin Xingtian was careful to stop and put the flying swords away in a ce that was a short distance from Nie Tian, so that he didn¡¯t descend over Nie Tian¡¯s head, which would be disrespectful.

    Uponnding, he tidied his robe and hair, and then walked towards Nie Tian like a learned schr.

    Stopping face-to-face with Nie Tian, he greeted him carefully in ancient etiquettes, which Nie Tian had never seen before, and then said, ¡°This old one is Yin Xingtian. I heard that Brother Mo from the Heavenly Thunder Sect broke through into the God domain thanks to your assistance. So I traveled all the way here, hoping that you¡¯ll lend me a hand when I attempt to make my breakthrough into the God domain.¡±

    ¡°If you can help me enter the God domain, the Streamcloud Sword Sect will be another sword in your hand!¡±

    Without mincing words, Yin Xingtian explicitly expressed his intentions.

    The reason why he had gotten here so quickly was because marriages had bound his n to several other ns in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    The word he had received from those ns had convinced him that when Mo Qianfan¡¯s domain had been on the verge of shattering, Nie Tian had turned the situation around and sent him into the God domain.

    He was only certain about this because those blood-rted informants had witnessed this personally.

    Ling Bingyun from the Ice Soul Divine Sect had made a move to test Nie Tian¡¯s strength because she didn¡¯t have such informants.

    The Qi warriors from the Domain of Endless Thunder started discussing this among themselves.

    ¡°He¡¯s using the Streamcloud Sword Sect as his leverage to have Nie Tian help him enter the God domain!¡±

    ¡°His sect for him entering the God domain... It¡¯s actually a winning deal.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Patriarch Yin to be so decisive!¡±

    Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing, who were begging for Nie Tian¡¯s forgiveness, suddenly felt embarrassed.

    ¡°You...?¡± Yin Xingtian went nk for a moment upon seeing them. Then, assuming to know their intentions, he nodded at Ling Bingyun and said, ¡°I¡¯m impressed, kid. I suppose you also learned that Nie Tian could helpte Saint domain cultivators enter the God domain, and thus came here from the Domain of Frigid Frost, right?¡±

    A slightly awkward look appeared on Ling Bingyun¡¯s face as she said, ¡°No.¡±

    Yin Xingtian was from the same generation as her master and had been stuck at thete Saint domain for who-knew-how-many years. Besides, the sword incantations he practiced were terrifyingly mighty. Therefore, even Ling Bingyun felt great pressure when facing him.

    A confused look appeared in Yin Xingtian¡¯s eyes. ¡°No?¡±

    However, he rapidly lost interest in those from the Ice Soul Divine Sect, going back to fixing Nie Tian with an inquiring look.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly in his heart.

    He hadn¡¯t expected there to be such strong consequences after he had helped Mo Qianfan enter the God domain with a Profound Truths Crystal.

    That Profound Truths Crystal had been refined from the heart of a tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale, which agreed with Mo Qianfan¡¯s cultivate attribute. However, this Yin Xingtian in front of him practiced sword incantations...

    ¡°Well...¡± Nie Tian thought he should exin.

    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Why don¡¯t you take some time to think about it?¡± Yin Xingtian said with an understanding expression. ¡°No matter what decision you make, I¡¯ll understand. I don¡¯t have much time left anyways. I might as well take a shot. Whether I seed or not, there won¡¯t be regrets...¡±

    A sad look appeared on his face.

    ¡°Not much time left...¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. Then, he secretly examined Yin Xingtian with his bloodline power, and discovered that this sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect was facing the same problem Master Blood Spirit had faced: he was running out of his lifespan.

    ¡°Lifespan...¡± A meaningful expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face as an idea came to him. ¡°The man is at thete Saint domain and practices sword incantations. And his sect possesses profound reserve power. I¡¯d better learn more about his temperament. If I can imprison his soul and extend his lifespan the way I did with Master Blood Spirit...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes gradually lit up.

    ¡°Okay, allow me to think about it,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Since your situation is a bitplicated, I can¡¯t give you a promise now.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Yin Xingtian quickly replied.

    ¡°Well.¡± Nie Tian then turned his head towards Ling Bingyun, Han Qiong, and Kong Shuangjing again and said, ¡°This thing between Sectmaster Ling and me isn¡¯t so easily dealt with. Besides, it¡¯s not you two who should apologize.¡±

    Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing¡¯s expressions flickered.

    This gave them headaches. They knew far too well that even though it was easy for them to apologize, it was extremely hard for Ling Bingyun to apologize to anyone.

    A frosty aura filled Ling Bingyun¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce isn¡¯t that strong anymore, with all thirteen of its subordinate domains in rebellion and its sectmaster and grand elder missing. You should be busy putting out fires for your sect now, but instead you idle about and make enemies? Why don¡¯t you go end your trouble with the Primal Yang Sect before demanding that I apologize to you?¡±

    With these words, she turned around and flew off towards the berthed ice starship, ignoring Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing¡¯s dissuasion.

    ¡°Nie Tian... Umm...¡± Han Qiong stuttered with an awkward expression, not knowing what to do.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll pay Sectmaster Ling a visit after I put an end to the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s rebellion.

    ¡°However, things will be different then...¡±

    Both Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing had a headache over the situation. However, since Ling Bingyun was their sectmaster, they figured that they¡¯d better not disagree with her in front of others.

    Therefore, they had to apologize to Nie Tian again before quickly returning to the ice starship.

    ¡°That girl from the Ice Soul Divine Sect is acting wilfully again,¡± Yin Xingtian thought to himself, looking at the ice starship in the distance.

    Just as the Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s starship was about to leave, two voices suddenly echoed out from the distant sky.

    ¡°This is the Heavenly Spirit Sect, here to visit Son of the Stars Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Law Sect wishes to meet Nie Tian!¡±

    They were so resounding and clear that every Qi warrior in the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s vicinity caught every word of them.

    Han Qiong took a tumble as hended on the ice starship, his expression growing even grimmer. ¡°The Heavenly Spirit Sect! And the Ancient Law Sect!¡±

 Chapter 1218: Promises

    Inside a spacious camber of the ice starship, a shudder ran through Kong Shuangjing¡¯s old shriveled body, her expression flickering. ¡°The Heavenly Spirit Sect! And the Ancient Law Sect!¡±

    At this moment, Han Qiong entered the chamber. His steps grew anxious because of the arrival of those two forces.

    The Heavenly Spirit Sect and the Ancient Law Sect might not have histories that were as long as the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    However, they were now every bit as powerful as them, if not more.

    Both of those sects had multiplete Saint domain experts.

    Both their sectmasters had good chances of entering the God domain.

    The only reason why they hadn¡¯t made their attempts yet was because even though they had prepared for ages, they were still not confident enough, and were looking for the best and safest way to make the breakthrough.

    After Yin Xingtian set a precedent, it wasn¡¯t hard for Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing to guess the Heavenly Spirit Sect and the Ancient Law Sect¡¯s intentions.

    Nie Tian was the obvious answer.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the word we received as we passed through the Domain of Endless Thunder had no lie to it,¡± Han Qiong said with a bitter smile. ¡°We thought it was impossible for Nie Tian to have helped Mo Qianfan break through into the God domain. But Yin Xingtian¡¯s attitude and the arrival of the Heavenly Spirit Sect and Ancient Law Sect have proved us wrong.

    ¡°I suppose Nie Tian actually is the reason why Mo Qianfan managed to enter the God domain.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing nodded slightly and said, ¡°After all, our sect doesn¡¯t have as many connections to the Domain of Endless Thunder as the Streamcloud Sword Sect. It¡¯s understandable that we have doubts about the information we receive.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that...¡±

    With these words, she cast a nce at a translucent, sparkling secret room that was connected to this chamber and wreathed in a frosty aura.

    The curvaceous figure of Ling Bingyun, the Ice Soul Divine Daughter, loomed behind the icy wall.

    Han Qiong let out a low sigh before shooting her a meaningful nce and whispering, ¡°Let¡¯s try our best to persuade her after our return, and see if we can find someone to talk to Nie Tian. Considering his current status and influence, if he actually decides to do such a reckless thing, I doubt that we¡¯ll win.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Kong Shuangjing agreed.

    ...

    Atop a mountain peak where the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s headquarters was located.

    Two figures flew over.

    The new arrivals were the sectmaster of the Heavenly Spirit Sect, Zhang Qiling, and the sectmaster of the Ancient Law Sect, Li Wanfa.

    Both of them were at thete Saint domain, only a step away from entering the God domain.

    Like Yin Xingtian, they were also renowned experts, whose names had spread across the numerous human domains.

    Even the four great sects couldn¡¯t get them to submit and serve as their subordinate sects.

    Many Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Divine Children of the Five Elements Sect had found Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa, and made handsome offers in exchange for their allegiance.

    However, these three proud experts had refused them all.

    They shared Patriarch Pure Heaven¡¯s temperament to some extent, but the difference was that they were actually strong enough to be proud, or even arrogant.

    All of them had multiplete Saint domain experts, and had produced God domain experts in their histories.

    In eras when they had been lead by God domain experts, their strengths had been second only to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s and the other great sects¡¯.

    ¡°Patriarch Yin?¡± Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa spotted Yin Xingtian as they slowly descended on the mountaintop. Expressions flickering slightly, they immediately realized what was going on.

    Yin Xingtian stuck out his chest and pointed at Nie Tian. ¡°Allow me to introduce you. This is the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian.¡±

    Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa bowed slightly upon hearing this.

    ¡°I¡¯ve long heard stories about how extraordinary the seventh Son of the Stars is. Now that I finally get to meet you, I can see that people didn¡¯t lie. I¡¯m Zhang Qiling, the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Spirit Sect.¡±

    ¡°Your exalted name has long resounded in my ears, Nie Tian. I¡¯ve always wanted to meet you, but couldn¡¯t, since I usually can¡¯t get ahold of your whereabouts. Now, after learning that you¡¯re currently in the Domain of Endless Thunder, we decided to pay you a visit. My name is Li Wanfa, and I¡¯m the current sectmaster of the Ancient Law Sect.¡±

    Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa took turns to introduce themselves in a proactive and warm manner.

    Nie Tian had heard through different means that, like Yin Xingtian, these two also held lofty statuses and high seniority across the advanced human domains.

    Aste Saint domain experts, Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa were every bit as strong as Elder Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Therefore, he hid his arrogance and treated them with respect.

    Both Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa wore subtle smiles. Unlike Yin Xingtian, who had explicitly expressed his intentions upon arriving, they had a warm chat with Nie Tian, and invited him to visit their domains whenever he had time.

    Nie Tian saw through their intentions. Apparently, they weren¡¯tpletely certain about what had happened, and thus wanted to confirm it with Mo Qianfan first. Therefore, they talked to people and tried to get as much information as they could.

    Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa were far from reaching the end of their lifespans.

    Perhaps that was why they didn¡¯t seem as eager to break through into the God domain as Yin Xingtian did.

    After all, they still had time.

    Two days passed...

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The thunder pool in the sea of clouds suddenly rose into the highest heavens and merged with the realm barrier.

    At the same time, thick bolts of lightning rapidly gathered in the clouds, taking the form of a giant that was close to a thousand meters tall and made of raging lightning.

    It looked like a mighty god of lightning and thunder!

    Mo Qinglei burst into happy tears. ¡°A dharma idol! Aplete dharma idol! Heavens bless the Heavenly Thunder Sect! My father has finally entered the God domain!¡±

    Mo Li, who was standing next to him, was emotional beyond words.

    ¡°He... He actually entered the God domain and condensed aplete dharma idol!¡± Yin Xingtian muttered in a low voice, the me of amazement burning in his eyes.

    SHEW!

    In a split second, the dharma idol that looked like a god of lightning and thunder shrank into Mo Qianfan¡¯s true form.

    Then, like a bolt of lightning that split through the sky, he plunged from the depths of the clouds andnded right in front of Mo Qianfan and Mo Li.

    He took a deep breath and knelt towards Nie Tian. ¡°I, Mo Qianfan, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the nmaster of the Mo n, thank you for your timely aid! From now on, the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n will take any assignment you give us as our own responsibility!¡±

    His words practically echoed Mo Li¡¯s guarantee from earlier.

    Nie Tian hastily stepped forward and helped Mo Qianfan to his feet. ¡°You¡¯re most wee. Our grand elder provided me with significant help, and he¡¯s from your n. It¡¯s only right that I do what I can to help you. Also, it was a coincidence that I got here when you were in the middle of your breakthrough...¡±

    Before he could finish, Mo Qianfan said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron, ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Primal Yang Sect with you! They often rode roughshod over my sect before. Now that I¡¯ve entered the God domain, if they refuse to cooperate, then it¡¯s about time I settled our old counts with them!¡±

    Smiling, Nie Tian said, ¡°With your help, our trouble with the Primal Yang Sect should be solved with ease.¡±

    Mo Qianfan immediately made arrangements, demanding that every Saint domain expert of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n report to his location, wherever they were.

    Seeing this, Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa exchanged nces, and then expressed their interest in joining their trip to the Primal Yang Sect and getting ahold of the situation.

 Chapter 1219: The Primal Yang Sect

    In the Realm of Red Sun in the Domain of Primal Yang, where the Primal Yang Sect was located.

    Seven fierce suns hung high in the sky, baking the earth dry and full of cracks.

    Like crimson mountains, solemn majestic pces that were hundreds of meters high stood in a certain formation in the middle of a vast desert.

    It seemed as if the crimson pces could absorb the suns¡¯ zing power and store it within them.

    Enormous Earth me Beasts could be seen crouching under those pces, with most of their bodies buried in sand. With their gigantic mouths, they breathed in the fiery auras that flew out of the stone walls of the pces.

    Most of the Earth me Beasts were at the seventh grade, with a few at the eighth grade.

    Meanwhile, Sun Sparrows chirped cheerfully from time to time, standing on the pce roofs. Their unique bloodline talent allowed them to absorb me power from the suns with the help of the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation.

    Normally, Sun Sparrows and Earth me Beasts only lived in realms with rich me power.

    Even though Sun Sparrows were much smaller than Earth me Beasts, the true sunme they refined was even fiercer than the earthme refined by Earth me Beasts.

    A blood-colored stone mountain peak in the shape of a pyramid sat to the north of the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    That was the ce the Primal Yang Sect used to imprison sect rebels or crime-ridden viins in the Domain of Primal Yang.

    On the smooth outside of the mountain peak hung numerous huge cages that had been forged from different types of metal. Each of them was used to keep one prisoner.

    The fifth Son of the Stars, Fang Yuan, and his subordinates could be seen imprisoned in a few cages close to the mountaintop.

    All of them had been forced to take spiritual sea-suppressing pills, and thus looked withered and listless.

    In the baking sun, Fang Yuan and his subordinates looked like boiled shrimps, red and dripping with sweat.

    There was a small stone altar atop the pyramid-shaped mountain peak, on which sat a bulky young man, who was naked from the waist up.

    Crimson patterns that looked like tattoos covered his upper body that was full of bulging muscles, which gave him a mysterious look.

    SHEW!

    An eighth grade Sun Sparrow suddenly flew over andnded obediently on his shoulder.

    It started to chirp in a low volume.

    The young man¡¯s eyes snapped open, with two clusters of raging mes in the depths of his pupils.

    With a cold snort, he frowned and said, ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars is on his way to the Primal Yang Sect? That Nie Tian is also a hybrid, and seems to be very much in the limelight recently. However, he¡¯s only at the Soul realm.

    ¡°If he hasn¡¯t entered the Void domain...¡±

    A hint of disdain appeared at the corner of his mouth.

    BOOM!

    He rose to his feet and burst into a ball of mes before descending to the cage where Fang Yuan was imprisoned.

    In the cage, Fang Yuan was dripping with sweat. The moment he saw the mane to a stop in midair right before his cage, he shouted furiously, ¡°Qi Jiaoyang, how dare you imprison me?! Do you know what kind of cmity you¡¯re bringing to your sect by doing this?¡±

    Qi Jiaoyang let out a wildugh. ¡°Cmity? Don¡¯t tell me that you think the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can still do whatever they want in the human world. Haven¡¯t you wondered why all thirteen subordinate domains of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce rose in rebellion at the same time? You think it was a coincidence?¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s been secretly giving you orders?¡± Fang Yuan asked with a heavy tone.

    Wild arrogance filled Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s face as he said, ¡°It won¡¯t be long before you find out yourself. By the way, I just got news that the Seventh Son of the Stars Nie Tian is on his way here. I waited and waited, wondering which elder they¡¯d send. Who would have thought that they¡¯d actually send him?¡±

    Fang Yuan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Nie Tian?!¡±

    He looked skywards. ¡°He¡¯ll soon be imprisoned here, like you. If someone hadn¡¯t demanded you Sons of the Stars be kept alive, both you and that Nie Tian would have to die.¡±

    With these words, Qi Jiaoyang returned to the mountaintop, where he resumed gathering me power and refining his bloodline with it.

    ...

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    A few dayster, several figures shot from the distant pces like streaks of fierce mes.

    It was as if rivers of mes spread through the sky towards Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s location.

    Looking at the figures that came to a stop before him, Qi Jiaoyang frowned and asked in confusion, ¡°Sectmaster, Elders... Why are you here? ording to my Sun Sparrow, that Nie Tian set out here by himself. Am I wrong?¡±

    The sectmaster of the Primal Yang Sect, Wu Zhuri said with a grim face, ¡°No, he¡¯s not alone now.¡±

    Qi Jiaoyang went nk for a brief moment before asking, ¡°Who joined him? Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and his other Saint domain subordinate? Hehehe. As long as we¡¯re here and protected by our grand spell formation, what can Saint domain enemies do, no matter how many?¡±

    With these words, he cast a downwards nce at Fang Yuan¡¯s Saint domain subordinates that had been put in neighboring cages. ¡°That¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen to them.¡±

    Those Saint domain subordinates of Fang Yuan had been burned by the doubled might of the true sunme and earthme released by the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s grand spell formation, and had eventually been captured alive.

    As a sect that had produced God domain experts in their long history, the Primal Yang Sect had profound reserve power, and their Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation was revered by all of the major human sects.

    There had been a saying that anyone who hadn¡¯t reached the God domain would have all of their spiritual power drained and refined by the grand spell formation and fall captive if they dared to enter it.

    In fact, this grand spell formation was one of the reasons why the Primal Yang Sect was so daring.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect ising with him,¡± Wu Zhuri said in a heavy tone.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan?¡± Qi Jiaoyang clicked his tongue andughed in a derisive manner. ¡°I heard that he¡¯s been attempting to enter the God domaintely. Don¡¯t tell me that you think he can actually do it, Sectmaster. Are we threatened by a man who was scared into a rushed attempt for a breakthrough by the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan?¡±

    ¡°He...¡± Wu Zhuri said with difficulty. ¡°He actually seeded.¡±

    Finally, a shred of fear appeared on Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s face. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! Given my understanding of him, there¡¯s no way he could have broken through into the God domain!¡±

    Wu Zhuri let out a sigh. ¡°Yeah, I also thought that Mo Qianfan didn¡¯t even have the slightest chance at seeding. However, unexpected things happen all the time. That Son of the Stars Nie Tian somehow helped turn the situation around, allowing him to enter the God domain.

    ¡°Afterwards, the Heavenly Thunder Sect specifically sealed the news for our benefit. That¡¯s why we didn¡¯t receive word of it even after so long.

    ¡°In contrast, many other sects that don¡¯t have problems with the Heavenly Thunder Sect learned about what happened long ago. Patriarchs like Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa even went to the Heavenly Thunder Sect as soon as they got the news.

    ¡°And I heard that they¡¯re all on their way to our sect.

    ¡°Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before they arrive.¡±

    Wu Zhuri seemed somewhat worried.

    ¡°Did it just get dark?¡± An elder of the Primal Yang Sect suddenly asked, raising his head subconsciously.

    Immediately afterwards, another person called out, ¡°It¡¯s not getting dark, but rather starships are here and blocked the suns!¡±

    Upon hearing this, everyone jerked their heads skywards, and saw several ancient starships that looked like enormous Ancientbeasts arriving in the starry river right outside of the Realm of Red Sun, blocking the suns.

    ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect!¡±

    ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect is here to attack us!¡±

    ¡°It must be Nie Tian and Mo Qianfan!¡±

    Exmations escaped the mouths of the Primal Yang Sect elders as they prepared for battle.

    Wu Zhuri pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect isn¡¯t a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Normally, they wouldn¡¯t stick their necks out for Nie Tian. However, if Nie Tian actually helped Mo Qianfan enter the God domain...¡±

    He hesitated over whether they should charge into the starry river to face them in battle before the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s starships settled down.

    Meanwhile...

    On one of the Heavenly Thunder Sect¡¯s starships, Nie Tian and Mo Qianfan stood side by side and gazed at the rosy aura-wreathed realm where the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters was located.

    ¡°Nie Tian, do we negotiate with them first or...?¡± Mo Qianfan asked in a low voice.

    Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa, along with numerous elders of the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect, fixed their eyes on Nie Tian, waiting for his decision.

    ¡°Bombard the realm barrier. No negotiation.¡± Nie Tian said.

    Mo Qianfan was taken aback. ¡°We¡¯re going to battle without negotiation? Weren¡¯t Fang Yuan and his subordinates imprisoned by the Primal Yang Sect?¡±

    ¡°If they dared to kill them, they would have done it already. They wouldn¡¯t have waited till now.¡± Nie Tian said with determination. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get started. If anyone from the Primal Yang Sectes up from down there, kill them with no questions asked.¡±

    Mo Qianfan pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°Got it.¡±

 Chapter 1220: The Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Thick pirs of lightning sted from the pointy prows of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and Mo n starships.

    Like lightning dragons from ancient times that shook off their shackles, they mmed directly into the sea of aura that was protecting the Realm of Red Sun.

    Under the bombardment of the lightning pirs, the sea of glorious aura, which was the realm barrier of the Realm of Red Sun, turned out to be as fragile as paper, as it instantly became riddled with holes.

    In the Realm of Red Sun...

    A sea of lightning and thunder seemed to inundate the heavens, with devastating lightning bolts constantly shing overhead.

    In different parts of the realm, lightning bolts that were dozens of meters thick and thousands of meters long struck down from the heavens, as if to pierce through the entire realm.

    BOOM! RUUUUMBLE!

    All of a sudden,nds shook and mountains were rocked in every corner of the Realm of Red Sun.

    In remote areas that were unprotected by the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s pces, thends were charred by the lightning strikes, and lofty mountain peaks toppled as they were bombarded.

    Vast opennds became riddled with deep holes.

    Many of the fire-attributed spirit beasts and fowl the Primal Yang Sect had brought back from other domains over the past hundreds of thousands of years were engulfed in lightning and reduced to ashes.

    Agonized whines filled every corner of the Realm of Red Sun.

    Atop the pyramid-shaped mountain peak, Wu Zhuri trembled with anger. ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect! How dare they?!¡±

    Wisps of true sunme flew out of the corners of his eyes to wreath him in raging mes.

    The elders of the Primal Yang Sect gasped with astonishment as they looked at the sky.

    When Fang Yuan had first arrived with his subordinates, he had tried peaceful means before resorting to force.

    Who would have thought that the seventh Son of the Stars Nie Tian would dare to order his starships to bombard the Realm of Red Sun upon arrival, while they had Fang Yuan and his subordinates as their prisoners.

    Such unscrupulous bombardment would most likely undermine the foundation of the Realm of Red Sun!

    Since the Realm of Red Sun was the base on which the Primal Yang Sect had been built, if irreversible damage were to happen to it, the whole foundation of the Primal Yang Sect might be shaken.

    Wu Zhuri went berserk as he put his hands in the air and ordered, ¡°Fight back! Fight back!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, starships that belonged to the Primal Yang Sect rose into the sky from the vast open desert where the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters was located.

    All of them had been forged from precious fire-attributed spiritual materials and had exquisite spell formations built within them, which not only allowed them to channel me power from the suns and the core of the earth, but run on fire-attributed spirit stones as well.

    Each and every starship was wreathed in raging mes as they sailed into the sky.

    In the starry river, Mo Qianfan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t flicker in the slightest as he looked through the ripped realm barrier at the iing starships that looked like giant fireballs. ¡°The Primal Yang Sect hasunched a counterattack.¡±

    Off to the side, Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling remained silent.

    They couldn¡¯t help but nce at Nie Tian from time to time.

    A hint of apprehension and unease appeared in the depths of their eyes.

    Originally, they had thought that Nie Tian would first try to pressure the Primal Yang Sect into releasing the prisoners and resuming their status as aw-abiding subordinate force with Mo Qianfan¡¯s God domain might.

    Who would have thought that he would give such a ruthless order before even setting foot on the Primal Yang Sect¡¯snds?

    Complicated feelings rose in Yin Xingtian¡¯s heart. ¡°The Domain of Primal Yang was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s thirteen subordinate domains. By doing this, is he trying to force the Primal Yang Sect down this road of rebellion?¡±

    Li Wanfa took a sideways nce at Nie Tian, and also thought to himself, ¡°Such ruthless means... This is quite different from all the rumors about him.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After elerating for a while, the Primal Yang Sect starships finally entered the firing range of the Heavenly Thunder Sect starships.

    Needless for Nie Tian to give instructions, Mo Qianfan, who had made up his mind, gave the order, ¡°Fire at them!¡±

    Pirs of lighting power then shot off the prows of the starships.

    The starships from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Primal Yang Sect drew power through their built-in spell formations and bombarded each other with raging lightning and fire.

    The disciples of the Primal Yang Sect gazed skywards, and saw a sea of lightning shing with clusters of mes in the depths of the heavens, giving rise to violent explosions.

    It was glorious, but full of danger.

    As the starships exchanged attacks, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and jumped lightly onto it. ¡°To the Primal Yang Sect.¡±

    In the next moment, the Star Boat shot towards the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Mo Qianfan, Mo Li, the other Saint domain experts from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n, along with Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling, all activated their domains as they charged through the starship engagement zone towards the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    After these experts¡¯ domains spread out, they automatically neutralized and protected them from the st waves created by the shes between the starships.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Like falling stars and burning meteors, one blurry figure after another plunged from the heavens, enveloped in their domains.

    Wu Zhuri¡¯s expression flickered as he raised his arms and shouted at the top of his lungs, ¡°Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation!¡±

    As soon as he did, the majestic pces that sat in the middle of a desert turned as red and scalding as heated iron.

    Strange rumbling sounds came from the depths of the earth.

    Deep underneath the earth¡¯s surface, torrential mes roared through certain channels into the pces.

    At the same time, the fierce sunme the pces had taken in over the past thousands of years burst forth.

    Earthme and sunme met and blended inside the pces.

    A red light that looked like morning glow rapidly rose and enveloped the entire Primal Yang Sect.

    Though glorious, such light was a mixture of various types of destructive me power, and was mighty enough to reduce anything in this world to ashes, tangible or intangible.

    Mo Li sensed with his soul awareness as he plummeted towards the desert. In the next moment, fiery sparks sputtered in the depths of his eyes. ¡°Such terrifying me aura!¡±

    His expression flickered with astonishment as he hastily withdrew his soul awareness and eximed, ¡°The Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation is mighty indeed! I only tried to sense it with a wisp of my soul awareness, and my mind was scalded!¡±

    AHHH! AHHH! AHHH!

    Many Saint domain experts of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n had to draw power from their domains to suppress the bizarre me power invading their seas of awareness.

    Like Mo Li, they had also attempted to sense the grand spell formation as they plunged from the sky.

    ¡°Don¡¯t attempt to grasp the profundity of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation with your soul awareness!¡± Mo Qianfan called out. ¡°This grand spell formation was built by a peerless patriarch of the Primal Yang Sect ages after his advance to the God domain. He was a prodigy in spell formations to start with. The grand spell formation established by him is bound to be exceedingly mighty!

    ¡°Even I don¡¯t have total confidence in contending against this unmatched wondrous formation, much less you!

    ¡°This grand spell formation is part of the reason why the Primal Yang Sect dared to rise in defiance against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    The experts from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo ns all nodded to show that they understood.

    At this moment, Wu Zhuri rose into the sky from the top of the pyramid-shaped mountain peak, enveloped in his fire domain.¡°That¡¯s close enough!¡±

    He came to a stop in midair, where the bottom of his fire domain remained connected to the dome of the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s ancient grand spell formation, and he faced Mo Qianfan, Nie Tian, and the others horizontally.

    After him, other experts also rose up, enveloped in their fire domains.

    All of them were Saint domain elders of the Primal Yang Sect with noble statuses.

    Their fire domains also floated on the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation, while remaining connected to it, as if they were tapping into the divine power of the grand spell formation.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Mo Qianfan¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, dozens of electric arcs flying out of his eyes to circle around Wu Zhuri and the Primal Yang Sect elders, as if they had their own awareness.

    ¡°No wonder this grand spell formation is famous throughout the human world, and even the four great sects marvel at its wonders.¡± Mo Qianfan was generous with his praise. ¡°It¡¯s said that even the head of the fire element sect once visited your sect and pointed out its unmatched wonders. Before, instead of meing here, you usually went to the Domain of Endless Thunder. Even though this is not my first time visiting your sect, it¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve activated the grand spell formation for me.¡±

    In earlier years, Mo Qianfan had visited the Primal Yang Sect many times in attempts to prevent the two sects from bing as ipatible as fire and water.

    Since he had been at the Saint domain back then, the Primal Yang Sect hadn¡¯t even felt the need to activate the grand spell formation.

    They had assumed that if Mo Qianfan had dared to try anything, their powerful experts would have been strong enough to overpower him.

    Wu Zhuri let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Anyone who hasn¡¯t entered the God domain isn¡¯t worthy for us to activate the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation. As you know, the might of this grand spell formation was umted over a very long period of time, so we normally won¡¯t use it unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary. Congrattions on your advance to the God domain, Sectmaster Mo. I¡¯ve got to say that you did a good job showing your strength, marching on my sect as soon as you entered the God domain!¡±

    Mo Qianfan pointed at Nie Tian. ¡°I came here because of him.¡±

    Hearing this, Wu Zhuri and the others, who had long since seen Nie Tian, turned to fix their eyes on him.

    However, Nie Tian, who was standing on his Star Boat, didn¡¯t look back at them.

    Instead, he looked down through the glorious dome at Fang Yuan, who was imprisoned close to the top of the pyramid-shaped mountain peak.

    ¡°Nie Tian.¡± Fang Yuan tried to shout his name, but the voice that came out of his mouth turned out to be as low as the buzz of a fly.

    Having been forced to take spiritual sea-suppressing pills and scorched by the suns for so long, he had be extremely weak.

 Chapter 1221: Golden Crow Bloodline!

    Fang Yuan called out Nie Tian¡¯s name repeatedly.

    However, since he was too weak and exhausted, his voice was almost too weak to hear.

    Besides, since the Saint domain experts from the Primal Yang Sect were talking aloud above the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation, it was only natural that Fang Yuan¡¯s voice was drowned out.

    Nie Tian, who was looking down, suddenly jerked his head up to re at Wu Zhuri, who was berating him on and on, and said, ¡°Shut up!¡±

    Wu Zhuri looked deeply insulted, with the mes of fury burning in the depths of his eyes. ¡°How dare you talk to me with such an attitude? Even Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang wouldn¡¯t dare to treat me like this, not to mention you!¡±

    The Primal Yang Sect possessed profound reserve power. As the sectmaster, he had been treated with respect whenever he had visited the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Earlier, when Fang Yuan had first arrived, he had also greeted him humbly and treated him with the courtesy of a junior treating a senior.

    However, as another Son of the Stars and the one that ranked thest, Nie Tian hadmanded the Heavenly Thunder Sect starships to bombard their realm upon arriving.

    Now, he actually told him to shut up?

    Wu Zhuri was instantly enraged.

    He was so furious that he actuallyughed. ¡°Good! What a tough guy you are!¡±

    All of a sudden, his domain that was connected to the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation changed, as if it suddenly became filled with zing suns.

    His burning domain continued to draw sunme and earthme power from the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation.

    The me power within his domain blended with his soul awareness, condensing into fire-attributed spirit beasts, such as Heaven me Beasts, Earth me Beasts, Vermilion Birds, and me Spirit Birds, within his fire domain.

    Some galloped, while others flew. All of them looked so lifelike and fierce that they seemed to be about to devour the heavens and split the earth.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    One fire-attributed bird after another flew out of Wu Zhuri¡¯s domain, dragging devilishly beautiful crimson light behind them.

    ¡°Sectmaster Wu, you¡¯re at thete Saint domain. Isn¡¯t it a bit inappropriate for you to make a move against Nie Tian?¡± With a cold smile, Mo Qianfan made a grabbing motion in the air. In the next moment, a cluster of lightning asrge as a table condensed in midair.

    Following a profoundw, numerous lightning bolts interwove into a mysterious pattern within it, vesting it with an aura that was mighty enough to annihte all lives.

    ¡°No need to help me.¡± With these words, Nie Tian suddenly flew past Mo Qianfan on his Star Boat, and came face-to-face with Wu Zhuri.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor flew out and d itself on Nie Tian, torrential me power rushing out of the me spark and his me power core into his ten fingers.

    ¡°ming Finger Swords!¡±

    Numerous finger swords that were a condensation of me power instantly shot towards the fiery birds that had flown out of Wu Zhuri¡¯s domain.

    Nie Tian¡¯s understanding of the profound mysteries of me power seemed to vest the mixture of me power from the me Dragon Armor, the me spark, and his own me power with its own awareness.

    Like divine weapons wielded by gods, the slender finger swords shed forward.

    As the finger swords shed across the air, one fiery bird after another was shredded and reduced to sparks that filled the air, but soon perished.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A soft exmation escaped Mo Qianfan¡¯s mouth as he fixed Nie Tian with a bbergasted look while holding the cluster of lightning.

    Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling all stood aghast. ¡°This is...¡±

    Only after all of the fiery birds vanished did theye out of their daze and exchange a nce with one another.

    The three of them had never seen Nie Tian fight.

    All they knew about him they had acquired from rumors.

    This was the first time they had seen Nie Tian fight, and his opponent turned out to be the sectmaster of the Primal Yang Sect, Wu Zhuri!

    Not only did thete Saint domain Wu Zhuri fail to severely injure Nie Tian with the me souls he had been cultivating within his fire domain, but his me souls ended up being annihted by Nie Tian¡¯s finger swords!

    What was going on?

    BOOOOM!

    A heaven-shattering, earth-toppling me aura suddenly erupted in the depths of Wu Zhuri¡¯s fire domain, soon filling his domain with swirling streams of fiery light that seemed to carry the profound truths of me power.

    The me souls within his domain then let out furious roars, as if they were undergoing a transformation.

    ¡°Enough!¡± Mo Qianfan suddenly let out a cold harrumph and took a step forward.

    As he did, the space between him and Wu Zhuri seemed to copse, giving rise to loud rumbles and countless lightning wisps that awed Wu Zhuri.

    ¡°With your seniority and cultivation base, you¡¯re actually going all-out to fight Nie Tian? Aren¡¯t you shameless?¡± Mo Qianfan shouted.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Li Wanfa chimed in. ¡°Sectmaster Wu, I heard that you have a peerless chosen one in your sect named Qi Jiaoyang. It¡¯s said that he was the one who defeated Fang Yuan and gave your rebellion against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce a push. It seems to me he should be the one to fight Nie Tian, not you.¡±

    Zhang Qiling also nodded. ¡°I think so too.¡±

    The Heavenly Spirit Sect and the Ancient Law Sect were every bit as powerful as the Primal Yang Sect.

    In fact, Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa¡¯s cultivation bases were even higher than Wu Zhuri¡¯s. Otherwise, Wu Zhuri¡¯s Primal Yang Sect wouldn¡¯t have chosen to be a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    At the same time, Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect also frowned and fixed Wu Zhuri with a despising look.

    Wu Zhuri was well-aware of Yin Xingtian¡¯s strength. He was even harder to deal with than Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa.

    Wu Zhuri grew hesitant. ¡°The three of them are usually rather lofty, and even dare to refuse to give face to the four great sects sometimes. What made theme here together this time?¡±

    Withholding his attacks, he looked down at Qi Jiaoyang, who was sitting atop the pyramid-shaped mountain peak. ¡°Will he be able to handle Nie Tian?¡±

    Without his brief engagement with Nie Tian, he would have believed with all his heart that Qi Jiaoyang would emerge victorious.

    However, Nie Tian had managed to obliterate his me souls. The flesh aura he sensed from Nie Tian¡¯s finger swords even made him insecure and uneasy.

    This made him start to question Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s abilities.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Nie Tian¡¯s opponent should be me.¡± Qi Jiaoyang said with a chuckle as he slowly rose into the air.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At the same time, the fiery patterns that covered his exposed upper body rapidly condensed and took the shape of spirit birds.

    Upon a closer look, they seemed to be three-legged golden birds.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Those are Three-legged Golden Crows, an Ancientbeast race!¡±

    A grim look appeared on his face for the first time. ¡°Their bloodline power is even closer to the true power of the sun than the star power the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce studies! It¡¯s said that the Three-legged Golden Crows have long since died out. Who would have thought...¡±

    Mo Qianfan was also shocked by this. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the bloodline of an Ancientbeast race would appear in a human!¡±

    As Qi Jiaoyang rose higher and higher, golden mes burned on him.

    A total of seven Three-legged Golden Crow patterns came to form one after another on his chest, back, and abdomen.

    Each and every one of them shone with golden light and burned with golden mes.

    The most surprising of all was that a profound connection seemed to suddenly form between him and the seven suns that baked the Realm of Red Sun, as the originally dim sky suddenly lit up.

    It was as if he was condensing the scattered sunmes into streaks of mes that fell from the heavens.

    ¡°Sun-channeling! This is a unique bloodline talent of the Three-legged Golden Crow!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed as he suddenly started to worry for Nie Tian. He suspected that the seven Three-legged Golden Crow patterns on Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s exposed upper body had some sort of connection to the seven suns in the Realm of Red Sun.

    Or perhaps the seven Three-legged Golden Crow patterns were totems Qi Jiaoyang had created by channeling and mixing the true me from the suns with his own bloodline.

    Perhaps that was why he was able to use them to activate a unique bloodline talent of the Three-legged Golden Crows and interact with the suns.

    ¡°Unbelievable!¡± Many members of the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect marveled, and suddenly realized that it made sense that Fang Yuan, as a Son of the Stars, would lose to him.

    He carried the bloodline of the Three-legged Golden Crow. Then, as a hybrid, he had the same cultivation base as Fang Yuan. Besides, the battle had taken ce in the Realm of Red Sun, where he could channel power from the seven suns with his bloodline talent. It seemed to have been a guaranteed loss for Fang Yuan.

    However, would Nie Tian, who was recently in the limelight, be able to defeat him?

    Qi Jiaoyang charged through the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation. Bathed in zing sunme, he shouted with an imposing manner in a voice as resounding as a giant bell, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

 Chapter 1222: A Reborn Flame Dragon!

    WHOOSH!

    As Qi Jiaoyang rose into the sky, his fire domain naturally spread out.

    He was at the middle Void domain.

    After his fire domain expanded to its full extent, seven suns could be seen within his illusory domain!

    They were identical to the suns that were baking the Realm of Red Sun!

    CROW! CROW!

    The seven Three-legged Golden Crows that had been branded on Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s skin seemed to crow as his fire domain spread out.

    At the same time, a subtle connection seemed to be established between the seven Three-legged Golden Crow totems and the seven suns within his domain.

    The golden crow totems represented Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s special bloodline: the Three-legged Golden Crows¡¯ bloodline.

    Void domain Qi warriors¡¯ inner domains were refined and transformed from their spiritual seas, and all had different wonders. However, for Qi Jiaoyang, his bloodline and domain seemed to have formed a perfectbination.

    At the pces below that were protected by the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation, experts from the other local sects in the Domain of Primal Yang eximed adoringly as they watched Qi Jiaoyang rise into the sky.

    ¡°No wonder the Primal Yang Sect refers to him as their unmatched chosen one! He¡¯s bound to be a God domain expert some day!¡±

    ¡°Only someone like him can fight Sons of the Stars and win!¡±

    ¡°Qi Jiaoyang! Victory will be yours!¡±

    The Primal Yang Sect wasn¡¯t the only cultivator force in the Domain of Primal Yang. It was just that all of the other sects and ns acknowledged the Primal Yang Sect as their leader.

    It was with their support that the Primal Yang Sect had imprisoned Fang Yuan and his subordinates. They had witnessed Qi Jiaoyang defeat Fang Yuan, and been convinced that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s day had passed.

    What they believed even more was that Qi Jiaoyang, who carried the bloodline of the Three-legged Golden Crows, was bound to be another God domain expert of the Primal Yang Sect.

    Perhaps he would even be a God domain expert with a tenth grade bloodline!

    That was because the Three-legged Golden Crows belonged to the Ancientbeast race, and the limit of their bloodline was the tenth grade!

    Once Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s bloodline advanced to the tenth grade and his cultivation base entered the God domain, who throughout the countless human domains would be able to suppress him?

    The four great sects?

    They might not even exist by then!

    Astonishment filled Mo Qianfan¡¯s face as he shook his head slightly and said, ¡°The attributes of his bloodline and cultivation base match perfectly. And there seems to be a profound connection between his Three-legged Golden Crow bloodline and his fire domain. I¡¯m afraid there isn¡¯t another hybrid like him throughout this starry river.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but take a nce at Nie Tian, a worried look appearing in his eyes.

    To this day, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline remained a mystery. However, everyone knew that he practiced star power, me power, and wood power simultaneously.

    Apparently, his bloodline didn¡¯t agree with his cultivation attribute perfectly.

    After all, there were three different types of spiritual cores in his spiritual sea.

    However, what he didn¡¯t have, Qi Jiaoyang had: a perfectly-matched bloodline and cultivation attribute!

    Furthermore, as a hybrid, Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s bloodline seemed to be at the seventh grade, and not far from entering the eighth grade.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, true earthme and sunme poured from the pces that formed the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation into Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s domain, allowing it to expand further!

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°He¡¯s tapping into the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation¡¯s power already!¡±

    A hint of worry appeared in his eyes as he turned to take a look at Nie Tian.

    Li Wanfa, Zhang Qiling, and all of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and Mo n elders fell silent.

    Not only was Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s cultivation base higher than Nie Tian¡¯s, but as a hybrid, his bloodline attribute agreed with his cultivation attribute perfectly. On top of that, he could draw power from the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation.

    He had so many advantages. Would Nie Tian be able to defeat him?

    A derisiveugh escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°Intense, violent flesh power and a seventh grade Three-legged Golden Crow bloodline... Your bloodline and golden crow totems allowed you to reforge your fleshly body. I can see that your body is exceptionally tough, and you have golden mes running through your meridians. I¡¯ve got to say that I¡¯m impressed.¡±

    Looking surprised, Qi Jiaoyang fixed Nie Tian with a cold stare. ¡°Keen perception.¡±

    Nie Tian pointed at this chest, cing his finger on the me Dragon Armor withplicated mysterious patterns, and said, ¡°This suit of armor is also of the fire attribute and came from an extraordinary background too. Wanna see if you can handle it?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor suddenly separated itself from Nie Tian and rose into the air.

    As it did, the suit of armor morphed into a burning crimson me dragon that was close to a thousand meters long.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor¡¯s zing aura is much fiercer now, after it has been repeatedly stimted by my Blood Essence and absorbed a significant amount of me power,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°It gives me a feeling that it¡¯ll enter the ninth grade before long. Most importantly, it¡¯s a suit of armor forged by the current head of the fire element sect. The countless profound fiery patterns engraved on its surface agree with it perfectly!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor¡¯s eighth grade flesh power roughly matched the spiritual power of a Void domain human cultivator. Adding in the wonders the head of the fire element sect had vested it, he believed that it would be able to break into Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain.

    ROAR!

    The me dragon transformed from the me Dragon Armor suddenly let out an explosive roar.

    Even its scales could be seen with great rity. Each and every one of them shone dazzlingly under the suns.

    Some Heavenly Thunder Sect Qi warriors with fairly low cultivation bases stared unblinkingly at the me dragon, baffling looks filling their faces. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it transformed from a suit of armor?¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Yin Xingtian sensed with rapt attention and said, ¡°It seems that suit of armor has stopped being just a spiritual tool long ago. Not only does it already have the soul aura of a me dragon, but its flesh aura too. That core in the middle of its chest is probably the heart of a me dragon, which has regenerated Bloodline Crystal Chains!

    ¡°A me dragon¡¯s soul aura, flesh aura, and heart! With all three of them, that suit of armor can be very well viewed as a reborn me dragon!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right! It can!¡± Mo Qianfan chimed in.

    WHOOSH!

    Aftering to a ce where it was a hundred meters away from Qi Jiaoyang, the thousand-meter-long me dragon suddenly breathed forth a stream of mes.

    Earthme Crystal Strings and its bloodline power mixed, allowing numerous fiery patterns to appear in the stream of mes, as if to vest it with an ancient bloodline talent. ¡°me Dragon¡¯s Breath!¡±

    Many fiery clouds within Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain scattered and disappeared upon contact with the steam of mes.

    At the same time, strange whistling sounds came from his fire domain as the illusory suns that looked like huge burningnterns flickered strongly.

    Seeing this, Mo Qianfan said in a low voice, ¡°me dragons are a strong branch of the dragon race. For different branches, Dragon¡¯s Breath has different wonders. The me dragons¡¯ Dragon Breath seems to have a strong subduing effect on humans¡¯ domains. It¡¯s just that the Three-legged Golden Crow bloodline is just as extraordinary.¡±

    Almost as a response to his words, all of the seven Three-legged Golden Crow totems on Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s body assumed a position where they spread their wings and prepared to soar into the sky.

    At the same time, as Qi Jiaoyang stimted his bloodline power, golden mes started to burn within his fire domain.

    Sparkling golden spots gradually revealed themselves.

    Upon first nce, they looked like drops of burning golden blood.

    They were none other than Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s Blood Essence!

    The Blood Essence floated in eight different corners of Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain, as if to stabilize it.

    Immediately afterwards, Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain recovered from the turbulence created by the me Dragon¡¯s Breath.

    SPLASH!

    All of a sudden, the seven Three-legged Golden Crows separated themselves from Qi Jiaoyang and flew out.

    As soon as they did, the seven floating suns miraculously merged with them, allowing them to expand severalfold in size. Each and every one of them was god-like and full of wonder.

    ¡°It¡¯s as if they¡¯vee to life!¡± Someone couldn¡¯t help but exim, staring at the erged Three-legged Golden Crows. They felt as if a flock of Three-legged Golden Crows that had only existed in ancient times had somehow returned to this heaven and earth.

    At this moment, the me dragon opened its mouth and let out a long cry.

    As everyone took a closer look at the me dragon, they discovered that it was not only made of flesh and blood, but also d in a set of naturally-formed armor.

    The surface of the armor was engraved with extremely mysterious fiery patterns that seemed to carry the profound truths of mes.

    The most surprising of all was that many fiery patterns on the walls of the pces that formed the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation seemed to be channeled by the me dragon¡¯s armor.

    True earthme and sunme started to fuse into the me dragon, greatly enhancing its might.

    Wu Zhuri from the Primal Yang Sect shrieked. ¡°How is this possible?!¡±

    Then, he suddenly realized something. ¡°The me Dragon Armor! The me Dragon Armor was forged by the head of the fire element sect! He helped add me power spell formations to some of the pces in order to increase the might of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation!¡±

    Aplicated look appeared on Yin Xingtian¡¯s face. ¡°Interesting.¡±

 Chapter 1223: Burning A Domain

    The head of the fire element sect, Shao Tianyang, had visited the Primal Yang Sect many years ago.

    He had derived profound enlightenment regarding me power from their Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation. Therefore, in return, he had left a number of fiery spell formations on the pces in order to further increase the might of the grand spell formation.

    It was said that Shao Tianyang was part of the reason why the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation was so well-known.

    On the other hand, Shao Tianyang had customized the me Dragon Armor for the Daughter of mes, Lou Hongyan.

    Considering that she was his only disciple, it was only natural that he had infused it with his lifetime understanding of me power and the most profound me power incantations he knew.

    Now, a profound connection magically formed between the spell formations on different carriers, as they had been vested with the same profound truths of me power by him.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Not only earthme and sunme, butrge pieces of mysterious fiery patterns also separated themselves from the pces and rose into the sky, as if they hade to life as well.

    Every disciple of the Primal Yang Sect stood aghast upon seeing this.

    Standing by one of the pces, an elder of the Primal Yang Sect looked up and saw the me dragon roar and charge into Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain. He couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Th-the me Dragon Armor was forged by the head of the fire element sect!¡±

    Not everyone was aware of the fact that the me Dragon Armor was currently in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Furthermore, in his early years, Nie Tian had been worried that the Five Elements Sect would try to take it back. Therefore, he had avoided using it in battle. Later, after the Star Behemoth bone had started to manifest its terrifying might, he had rarely resorted to it.

    For these reasons, many disciples of the Primal Yang Sect had assumed that the me Dragon Armor was still missing.

    The tips of Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°me Dragon Armor?!¡±

    Even as its master, he was deeply surprised after examining the me Dragon Armor¡¯s flesh aura with his bloodline power.

    In his senses, instead of a spiritual tool, the me Dragon Armor seemed to have transformed into a living me dragon in flesh and blood.

    In a sense, the rapidly growing me dragon had actuallye back to life!

    The Blood Core was its heart. The continuous infusion of his Blood Essence had allowed it to regenerate its Bloodline Crystal Chains and start beating again. Adding in the nourishment it had received from his bloodline aura, this me dragon had finallye back to life in a real sense.

    As for why the me dragon still hadn¡¯t left the suit of armor, part of the reason was because part of the suit of armor had been forged from its bones.

    The rest of the armor had been forged from various types of fire-attributed metals Shao Tianyang had gone to great lengths to collect and infuse with his lifetime understanding of me power.

    The me dragon yearned to derive enlightenment from such profound knowledge and merge it with its bloodline.

    Furthermore, if it stayed with Nie Tian, it would continue to receive the nourishment of his flesh power and be gifted Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence from time to time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and flesh power had turned out to be extremely helpful, as they had greatly increased the speed at which its bloodline upgraded.

    Now, it had already entered the eighth grade. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it advanced to the ninth grade.

    If it continued to receive Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and gather more me power, it might even have a chance at breaking through into the tenth grade.

    Having apanied Nie Tian for many years and watched him grow, it knew better than anyone that Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was the most incredible!

    For these reasons, it had even refused to return to its n with its n members on the floating continent.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    d in wondrous armor, the me dragon released fierce explosive mes upon charging into Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain.

    Immediately afterwards, the erged Three-legged Golden Crows and the me dragon engaged in a battle within Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fire domain, where they wed, bit, and cast bloodline magics at each other.

    ¡°In my domain, I¡¯m the king!¡± Qi Jiaoyang roared.

    As he wove his hands in the air, the suns hanging in the heavens of the Realm of Red Sun started to spray scorching sunme, as if to burn the me dragon to ashes.

    Fighting the seven Three-legged Golden Crows single-handedly within Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s domain, the me dragon was already covered in golden mes.

    Now, as sunme poured down from the heavens, it felt an increasingly strong difort, even though it was an enormous fire-attributed being. At that moment, the mysterious fiery patterns on the me dragon¡¯s armor that Shao Tianyang had previously left on the pce walls were suddenly activated, and started to help the me dragon defend against the sunme and earthme.

    The me dragon threw its head back and let out a roar!

    The residue of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence in the deepest part of its heart then interacted with Nie Tian in a mysterious manner.

    Nie Tian instantly received a message.

    He snorted derisively. ¡°Fire domain, Golden Crow bloodline... what else do you have?¡±

    ¡°I also have the assistance of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation!¡± Qi Jiaoyang answered aloud.

    As he spoke, numerous me clouds suddenly rose from the cluster of majestic pces, each of which asrge as the domain of a Void domain cultivator and filled with raging mes.

    After they rose into the sky, it looked as if the entire heavens were burning. However, they continued to move about, as if they were going to form a certain secret formation.

    Looking at the glowing red heavens, Mo Qianfan sensed the might of the grand spell formation, and had a peculiar feeling that subtle changes were even happening to the earth¡¯s core and the heavens in this part of the realm.

    ¡°That¡¯s a manifestation of the might of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation: the Sun-burning Red Clouds!¡±

    Even he sensed danger.

    ¡°me power... Violent me power...¡± However, as Nie Tian gave another cold snort, a tiny me spark flew out from the tip of his left index finger.

    As soon as it did, the temperature in the Realm of Red Sun changed.

    The tiny orange me spark shot skywards into the midst of the Sun-burning Red Clouds.

    Upon contact with the orange me spark, the Sun-burning Red Clouds, each of which as mighty as a Void domain cultivator, started to shrink at an rming rate.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    At the same time, numerous fiery strings shot out of the orange me spark.

    Any Sun-burning Red Clouds that were pierced by the fiery strings shrank rapidly, as if they were being drained of their me power.

    Within a very short period of time, everyst Sun-burning Red Cloud that had risen from the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation under Qi Jiaoyang¡¯smand disappeared.

    WHOOSH!

    The orange me spark suddenly expanded and split, morphing into a huge fireball.

    As soon as the transformation finished, it shot towards Qi Jiaoyang and entered his fire domain in a sh.

    Qi Jiaoyang, who was at the middle Void domain and carried the bloodline of the Three-legged Golden Crows, let out agonized wails as soon as the fireball broke into his domain.

    Trembling, he attempted to escape from his own domain. However, it was already toote.

    He could only watch the fireball burn and reduce his fire domain to pieces of burning rags that scattered in the wind.

    Just like that, his domain was shattered.

    WHOOSH!

    Then, the fireball flew away. As a thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, it shot towards an early Saint domain elder of the Primal Yang Sect.

    That elder also failed to stop the fireball from entering his domain.

    Therefore, like Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s domain, his domain was also destroyed in a short time. Before he could even struggle, every solid part of his domain was reduced to ashes.

    The terror on the man¡¯s face was even more intense than that on Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s. ¡°No!¡±

    Therge man attempted to run for his life. However, a tiny spark from the fireball touched him and set him on fire. No matter what he did, he couldn¡¯t put the fire out.

    Within seconds, the Saint domain expert was burned to ashes.

    ¡°Divine me! That¡¯s the aura of the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    Wu Zhuri from the Primal Yang Sect let out hysterical cries, ordering all the disciples of his sect to retreat into the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation and hold fast.

 Chapter 1224: Breaking the Law

    ¡°My domain! My Golden Crow bloodline!¡±

    Qi Jiaoyang let out frenzied cries in the middle of his shattered domain.

    Drops of golden blood rolled down from the corners of his eyes, but quickly burned away.

    A suit of golden armor that seemed to have a subtle connection to his bloodline suddenly formed over Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s exposed upper body.

    With his domain shattered, his cultivation base slumped to the Soul realm. However, by relying on his powerful bloodline and exceptionally tough body, he had managed to pull himself from his domain.

    SHEW!

    Just as his domain was about to vanish, it condensed into a streak of mes that disappeared into his dantian region.

    Immediately afterwards, he retreated to the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation with Wu Zhuri.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± All of the Saint and Void domain elders of the Primal Yang Sect also hurried back into the grand spell formation with strong fear of the me spark.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    All sorts of fiery spells, magical symbols, and imprints separated themselves from the maroon pce walls and floors and rose into the sky like colorful butterflies.

    In moments, glorious miniature spell formations, magical symbols, and imprints filled the air over the headquarters of the Primal Yang Sect.

    The full might of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation was brought out!

    Bewildered, Yin Xingtian looked nkly at the fireball that had expanded from the me spark. ¡°Qi Jiaoyang lost... And it happened a bit too fast, didn¡¯t it?¡±

    It looked like an eighth sun now hung in the sky of the Realm of Red Sun!

    Every wisp of me in it carried an aura so extremely mighty that it could burn everything in this starry river, including realms, to ashes!

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The remains of the perished Saint domain Primal Yang Sect elder¡¯s domain were still being burned by the fireball, although his body and soul had already been burned away, not leaving the slightest sign of him ever existing.

    Many Qi warriors that had close connections to the Primal Yang Sect hade from other realms to support them. However, upon witnessing Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s domain be burned by a mysterious fireball released by Nie Tian, they cowered behind the grand spell formation and started to think about retreating.

    ¡°That was a Saint domain expert!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Qi Jiaoyang actually lost!¡±

    ¡°How is the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce so terrifyingly strong? Fang Yuan ranks before him, butpared to him, he seems like aplete loser!¡±

    ¡°What do we do? What do we do now?¡±

    Mo Qianfan looked down at the magical symbols, spell formations, and fierce mes that were floating within the fully-activated grand spell formation, and said, ¡°Nie Tian, this grand spell formation is like a gigantic turtle shell. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s gonna be difficult to break. Even I don¡¯t think I can break it within a short time.¡±

    At this point, Nie Tian and the members of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and Mo n were the only ones still floating over the grand spell formation.

    Other than them, there was only the giant fireball that was still absorbing residual me power from the Saint domain elder¡¯s destroyed domain.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Strange sounds kepting from within the huge fireball.

    Without responding to Mo Qianfan, Nie Tian blurred into action and arrived by the fireball in the blink of an eye.

    At the same time, after losing its target, the me dragon-form me Dragon Armor rapidly shrank and morphed back into its original form as a suit of armor.

    Then, it flew back to Nie Tian.

    With aplicated look on his face, Nie Tian reached out and grabbed it. With his soul awareness, he asked, ¡°When did you finish your resurrection?¡±

    A clear voice entered his mind. ¡°I¡¯ve only reforged my bones recently.¡±

    It was the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul: the soul of an actual me dragon!

    ¡°Let¡¯s find another time to talk about your resurrection.¡± With these words, Nie Tian fixed his eyes on the jumping me spark at the heart of therge fireball that had now devoured every bit of the Saint domain expert¡¯s fire domain. ¡°The grand spell formation below is called the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation. It¡¯s a mighty spell formation, but once it¡¯s broken...¡±

    That was when a feeling struck him that the me spark that hadin dormant in his me power core for years had changed as well.

    It might be the infusion of his Blood Essence, therge amount of me power it had devoured, or something he didn¡¯t know about. In any case, the me spark gave him a feeling that it was more and more simr to the Divine me that had destroyed the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    WHOOSH!

    Before he could finish this thought, the me spark plummeted towards the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation, controlling therge fireball from within.

    Countless magical symbols, imprints, and miniature fiery spell formations, along with earthme and sunme, flooded the giant fireball.

    As that happened, a huge ring spread out horizontally like a water ripple with the fireball at the center.

    BANG BANG BANG!

    The majestic pces enveloped in the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation that had existed for who knew how many years started to shake violently.

    Many mysterious lines that carried the profoundw of mes and had been carved into the pce walls by that God domain patriarch of the Primal Yang Sect with his own hands snapped.

    It was as if an invisible hand was breaking them with ruthless yanks.

    ¡°My goodness!¡± Mo Qianfan, who had just entered the early God domain recently ande to a shallow understanding of the power at the God domain, eximed in astonishment.

    He could see more of what was happening than anyone.

    He also knew that the mysterious fiery lines that had been carved in the stone walls of those Primal Yang Sect pces to form the grand spell formation carried that Primal Yang Sect patriarch¡¯s lifetime understanding of me power.

    Thew of mes infused by God domain experts represented an ultimate form of me power, which was almost impossible to obliterate.

    Only those whose understanding of me power was even more profound would be able to snap or wipe them out.

    After the fireball mmed into the hemispherical ward of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation and shed with therge number of fiery symbols, imprints, and spell formations carved into the pce walls by that God domain expert, those embodiments of magicalw left by that God domain expert actually snapped!

    What did this mean?

    It meant that the me spark released by Nie Tian far exceeded that God domain patriarch of the Primal Yang Sect in terms of their understandings of the ultimate me power.

    They couldn¡¯t even be mentioned in the same breath.

    Perhaps only ate God domain expert, who was well-versed in me power, would be able to break or obliterate that early God domain Primal Yang Sect patriarch¡¯s understanding of me power with his own.

    However, a spark of me did it!

    Mo Qianfan, who had just entered the early God domain, waspletely dumbstruck as he looked nkly at the jumping me spark.

    However, he soon came to realize that the so-called Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on for much longer.

    RUMBLE!

    As he had expected, many towering pces of the Primal Yang Sect started to wobble due to the destruction of the carvings on their walls that carried the secretws of me power.

    ¡°Without the protection of their grand spell formation, how could the Primal Yang Sect win by relying on their own strength?¡± Rubbing his chin, Li Wanfa took a quick nce at Nie Tian before looking into the starry river. He discovered that the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n starships were also at an advantage in their battle against the Primal Yang Sect starships. Several badly damaged Primal Yang Sect starships were actually plummeting.

    He realized that the Primal Yang Sect was finished.

    Nie Tian turned to Mo Qianfan and said, ¡°Once the grand spell formation falls, the Primal Yang Sect elders and disciples may choose to surrender. Those who refuse to surrender shall be put to death.¡±

    Mo Qianfan nodded, along with all of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and Mo n members.

    Then, Nie Tian looked down at the Primal Yang Sect disciples and members of other local forces in the Domain of Primal Yang that were enveloped in the grand spell formation, and reiterated, ¡°Surrender, or die!¡±

    Hearing this, therge number of Qi warriors from across the Domain of Primal Yang burst into a great mor.

    All of them had noticed that the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation, which the Primal Yang Sect had viewed as their lifeblood, wasn¡¯t as impregnable as the Primal Yang Sect had promised under the huge fireball¡¯s bombardment.

    From the look of it, the grand spell formation would break soon.

    Once that happened, should they stand with the Primal Yang Sect and fight to the death, or kneel and yield?

    All of them grew hesitant. Their eyes wandered about as they weighed their choices.

    At this moment of peril, the sectmaster of the Primal Yang Sect took out a rhino horn and cried out into its open end, ¡°Pang Chicheng! If you don¡¯t show up now, I¡¯ll take back all of the promises we made before!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Pang Chicheng?!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor burst into mes upon hearing this name, as if this name also made it uneasy.

 Chapter 1225: Retaking the Primal Yang Sect

    Pang Chicheng!

    The man was the former master of the me Dragon Armor, who had killed the Daughter of mes and taken the me Dragon Armor from her.

    Later, he had been trapped by other experts, where he had ignited the me Dragon Armor in order to escape.

    In recent years, Nie Tian had heard his name on many asions.

    When the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan had been stranded in the space disruption zone and was barely hanging on, it was Pang Chicheng who had lifted him from his crisis, and even helped him make a series of breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    Pang Chicheng had even arranged for Yuan Jiuchuan to meet Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect so that he could be a member of that secret force.

    Looking at the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian sent out a wisp of his soul awareness. ¡°You¡¯re not still afraid of him, are you?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the reason why I was refined for a second time.¡± The me Dragon Armor answered promptly. ¡°I hadn¡¯t reforged my flesh and blood back then, and his cultivation base hadn¡¯t been very high. And all of my memories about him tell me that he¡¯s a heartless lunatic with a twisted disposition.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a soft chuckle. ¡°I see. Perhaps you¡¯ll see that lunatic again soon.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Under the me spark¡¯s control, the fierce fireball eventually burned through the fiery ward of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation, and created an opening.

    ¡°Once an opening appears, it means the grand spell formation is broken,¡± Mo Qianfan said expressionlessly.

    In the next moment, he morphed into a bolt of lightning that shot through the opening.

    BOOOOM!

    His dharma idol appeared over the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    It had his exact same appearance, but was a thousand meters tall. With lightning bolts that looked like lightning dragons wrapped around its body and giant thunderballs in its hands, it looked like an ancient god that ruled lightning and thunder.

    Many Qi warriors from the Primal Yang Sect and the other sects despaired in the face of Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol.

    ¡°God domain!¡±

    ¡°Mo Qianfan actually entered the God domain!¡±

    ¡°What should we do?!¡±

    However, instead ofunching attacks right away, Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol floated in midair, holding the Qi warriors from different parts of the Domain of Primal Yang in awe.

    At this moment, the early God domain marked the peak strength in the Primal Yang Sect, and even throughout the entire Domain of Primal Yang.

    If no other God domain human experts, tenth grade outsider grand monarchs, or Ancientspirits showed up, Mo Qianfan would be unmatched in battle.

    The only reason Mo Qianfan hadn¡¯t made any moves was because he was waiting for the Qi warriors from the Domain of Primal Yang to yield. A massacre wasn¡¯t what he wanted.

    Trembling, a slender early Saint domain Qi warrior took the initiative to step out of the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s crowd towards Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol. He lowered his head to admit his mistake and said, ¡°W-we, the Meng Yuan Sect, would like to return to the arms of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! Our uprising was manipted in the first ce!¡±

    ¡°We, the Lu n, only came here to support the Primal Yang Sect because we were threatened. And we weren¡¯t there when they attacked and imprisoned the fifth Son of the Stars, Fang Yuan, and his subordinates.¡± Another person stepped up and lowered his head.

    ¡°We...¡± People yielded one after another due to the breaking of the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation and the appearance of Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol.

    In a matter of minutes, six sects and ns from the Domain of Primal Yang recognized what needed to be done, and thus came out and dissociated themselves from the Primal Yang Sect.

    Mo Qianfan let out a longugh. ¡°Good!¡±

    In the blink of an eye, his magnificent dharma idol shifted to the pyramid-shaped mountain peak.

    FZZZ!

    As it made a pulling motion towards the sky, a great chain of banded lightning bolts came to form. In seconds, it extended several kilometers and wrapped around the mountain peak like a whip.

    ¡°Godly lighting power! Rise!¡±

    As Mo Qianfan formed a hand seal, countless magical symbols within the lightning chain that seemed to carry the profound truths of lightning power lit up.

    The entire mountain peak where Fang Yuan and his subordinates were imprisoned was pulled up into the air by the great lightning chain.

    RUMBLE!

    In loud rumbles, the mountain peak slowly flew towards Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol.

    At the same time, mighty lightning power eliminated all of the fiery spell formations on the outside and inside of the mountain peak, giving rise to violent explosions.

    The explosion of therge cages finally freed Fang Yuan and his subordinates, along with rebels and viins from across the Domain of Primal Yang.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian flew through the gradually widening opening in the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation on his Star Boat.

    The Star Boat dove to Fang Yuan¡¯s location and caught him.

    Fang Yuan¡¯s eyes reddened. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Somewhat ashamed, he said, ¡°I lost our sect¡¯s face. My intention was to talk some sense into the Primal Yang Sect and end their rebellion for our sect. Who would have thought that they would actually dare to imprison me?¡±

    With these words, he shot a nce at Qi Jiaoyang, who was standing by Wu Zhuri in the distance.

    With his domain burned away, Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s cultivation base had already dropped to the Soul realm. Affected by the me spark, his Golden Crow bloodline had also lost its usual might.

    A bitter expression appeared on Fang Yuan¡¯s face as he recalled the endless means and explosive power generated by thebination of his domain and bloodline when the two of them had fought.

    The man who had defeated him had suffered such a sound defeat from Nie Tian. This was something he could never have imagined.

    Had this little martial brother grown to be so powerful already?

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± Wu Zhuri yelled the name into the rhino horn over and over again, hoping that Pang Chicheng woulde to his rescue.

    However, he didn¡¯t receive a single word in response.

    Yin Xingtian, the patriarch from the Streamcloud Sword Sect, frowned and thought hard to himself, ¡°Pang Chicheng... Where have I heard this name? Isn¡¯t he that traitor disciple of the Five Elements Sect for whom they issued a worldwide me God Arrest Warrant?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Members of the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect streamed through the torn Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation before stopping by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Due to the snapping of thew of me power that had been engraved in the pce walls, the so-called Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation had gradually lost its effect.

    At this moment, this grand spell formation that had been revered by people from across the human world for hundreds of thousands of years officially perished.

    Ate Saint domain elder with untied red hair, red eyebrows, and a red beard suddenly stepped forward and called out, ¡°The Primal Yang Sect wishes to resume its status as a subordinate force of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! It was Wu Zhuri¡¯s personal decision for our sect to rise up against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I¡¯ve always been against that decision.¡±

    Wu Zhuri¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°Elder Ning!¡±

    As a well-respected elder of the Primal Yang Sect, Ning Ji had a grim look on his face as he continued to say to Nie Tian, as if he didn¡¯t even hear him, ¡°It was only because he¡¯s the sectmaster and his voice represented our sect that we had to obey him. I also heard about his collusion with Pang Chicheng, a traitor of the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    Upon hearing this, many members of the Primal Yang Sect who had been sitting on the fence gave up all resistance.

    Disciples and elders of the Primal Yang Sect scrambled to jump out and im that they had nothing to do with Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang.

    ¡°Qi Jiaoyang has an unknown background! We don¡¯t even know where he inherited his Golden Crow bloodline!¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster Wu brought him back from one of his trips. He has nothing to do with the Domain of Primal Yang. We all suspected that he¡¯s the sectmaster¡¯s bastard!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve long since noticed that there¡¯s something wrong with Qi Jiaoyang. As a child, he only had the fire attribute. He didn¡¯t awaken his Golden Crow bloodline until he was well into adulthood.¡±

    ¡°The two of them don¡¯t get to represent the Primal Yang Sect. Perhaps they have some sort of connection to Pang Chicheng.¡±

    One after another, they turned around and aimed at Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang.

    After catching Fang Yuan, Nie Tian stood at the prow of his Star Boat. He took a nce around with narrowed eyes, then said to Fang Yuan, ¡°Senior Martial Brother, since you¡¯re free now, why don¡¯t you take over from here?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± As Wu Zhuri shouted, he and Qi Jiaoyang shot into the sky.

 Chapter 1226: A Thorough Examination

    Utterly isted, Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang knew what kind of fate they would suffer if they continued to stay in the Primal Yang Sect.

    Therefore, they shot up into the heavens.

    Mo Qianfan let out a derisive smile. ¡°Wanna run? Without the protection of the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s grand spell formation or Pang Chicheng¡¯s aid, you really think the two of you can escape from me?¡±

    His dharma idol then soared into the heavens as well.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian looked up with rapt attention. Secondster, he discovered that Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol caught up with Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang like a bolt of lightning piercing through two suns.

    Before Mo Qianfan¡¯s recent breakthrough, his cultivation base had been the same as Wu Zhuri¡¯s. His actual battle prowess might have been even lower than Wu Zhuri¡¯s.

    However, things had changedpletely now that he had entered the God domain.

    Everyone on the ground could see Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol unleash his God domain might to form a sea of lightning and thunder that engulfed Wu Zhuri¡¯s fire domain in an overwhelming manner.

    At the same time, engulfed in raging lightning, the drops of golden Blood Essence released by Qi Jiaoyang exploded violently, giving rise to countless sparks.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang are captured alive and brought back here.¡± With this thought, Nie Tian withdrew his gaze, and beckoned for Ning Ji from the Primal Yang Sect to approach him.

    Ning Ji scooted over, full of respect. Stopping three meters from the Star Boat, he lowered his head and said, ¡°As an elder of the Primal Yang Sect, I didn¡¯t go all-out to stop Wu Zhuri when he colluded with Pang Chicheng, a traitor of the Five Elements Sect. I¡¯m guilty...¡±

    By confessing voluntarily, he hoped Nie Tian and Fang Yuan would forgive him.

    However, his respect, fear, and trepidation were mainly for Nie Tian.

    He only took a couple of quick nces at Fang Yuan.

    A bitter feeling filled Fang Yuan¡¯s heart, as he understood that since he had been defeated by Qi Jiaoyang under everyone¡¯s gazes, the Primal Yang Sect and many other forces from this domain would never have heartfelt respect for him anymore.

    From now on, the elders and disciples of the Primal Yang Sect, represented by Ning Ji, would only revere and fear Nie Tian.

    With all seriousness, Nie Tian turned to Fang Yuan and said, ¡°Senior Martial Brother, the mission of putting down the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s rebellion was originally given to you. So why don¡¯t you decide what you want to do with them? Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang¡¯s fate will be yours to decide too, after they¡¯re captured and brought back here.¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Fang Yuan wanted to say something, but gave up on second thought.

    ¡°It¡¯s settled then,¡± Nie Tian said before he could finish. ¡°I consumed too much power in my battle against Qi Jiaoyang. I need some time to recover and adjust myself.¡±

    ¡°I can make arrangements for you if you¡¯ll juste with me,¡± Ning Ji hastily said.

    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡± Nie Tian waved his hand, signaling for him to stop catering to his needs, but instead wait for Fang Yuan¡¯s orders.

    Afterwards, he talked to Mo Li, Mo Qinglei, and the other Mo n and Heavenly Thunder Sect members, instructing them to obey Fang Yuan while he was gone.

    WHOOSH!

    He then turned around and flew off into the distance, leaving his Star Boat to Fang Yuan.

    As soon as he did, the raging fireball left the fallen Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation and followed him away.

    After a while, he stopped in a remote corner of the baked desert far from the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    BOOM!

    The fireball exploded, revealing the vigorous, spirited me spark within it.

    At the same time, the me Dragon Armor assumed its me dragon form in front of Nie Tian, only much smaller than it should be.

    After pondering for a few seconds, Nie Tian summoned the Star Behemoth bone as well.

    ¡°me spark, me Dragon Armor, Star Behemoth bone...¡± Nie Tian ran his eyes over them before deciding tomunicate with the me Dragon Armor first. Without even resorting to soulmunication, he simply asked, ¡°Since you¡¯ve regenerated your fleshly body ande back to life in a real sense, what do you n to do next?¡±

    The me dragon that was only three meters long and looked like a fire serpent said in the humannguage, ¡°Umm.. if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to continue to stay by your side.¡±

    In a sincere way, it added, ¡°My name is Agaz. That Felix you met in the Dead Star Sea was my older brother. Our father is Baptista, the high chieftain of the me dragon race. I was yful when I was younger. I went to many human domains through spatial tunnels without permission, where I did things as I pleased and didn¡¯t think about the consequences.

    ¡°As a result, I was killed. After being stripped of my blood, bones, and soul, I was refined and forged into the ¡®me Dragon Armor¡¯ by Shao Tianyang through a secret technique.

    ¡°Neither Lou Hongyan nor Pang Chicheng were able to resurrect me or help me rebuild my fleshly body. Only you could...¡±

    After exining his identity and his father¡¯s status in the dragon race, Agaz went on to say that staying with Nie Tian would be helpful to the further upgrade of his bloodline.

    Furthermore, the suit of armor still had secrets that he had yet to solve.

    Firstly, it could open a portal to that magicalnd where multiple me dragon skeletons were buried.

    Secondly, the truth of me power Shao Tianyang had vested the suit of armor with held endless secrets. If he could solve them all, it would also help his me dragon bloodline to upgrade further. In fact, if he could do that, he might be able to explore a brand new path of bloodline development, which was different from his father¡¯s.

    After pondering for quite a while, Nie Tian said, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve decided to stay by my side, you¡¯ll have to go all-out to help me in times of need. I can only promise that I won¡¯t ask you to fight your own kind. Also, I¡¯ll only continue to give you my power if you serve and fight for me.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t agree to these terms, considering that we¡¯ve been together for many years, I¡¯ll take you back to your n.¡±

    Without much hesitation, Agaz said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay by your side.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good.¡±

    Though resurrected, Agaz¡¯s me dragon bloodline was only at the eighth grade at the moment. They way Nie Tian saw it, he might only be as strong as ate Void domain cultivator.

    However, with the help of his bloodline talent Potential Stimtion, perhaps he would be able to contend against an early Saint domain cultivator.

    Then, he turned to fix his eyes on the me spark.

    ¡°me spark...¡±

    He had felt striking changes in the me spark ever since his life bloodline had entered the eighth grade and he used the newly-awakened Life Irrigation bloodline talent on it.

    Before, the me spark had seemed ethereal and intangible. It had possessed nothing but fierce me power.

    However, it now gave Nie Tian a peculiar feeling that it was a living being with flesh and blood.

    Life Irrigation could be used on everything in this starry river, tangible or intangible. The recipients didn¡¯t have to be living beings in fleshly form like the me Dragon Armor and the Star Behemoth bone.

    ¡°I first traded my Blood Essence for this me spark from that Divine me. Now, having been vested with my Blood Essence, this me spark seems to have transcended...¡±

    Nie Tian examined the me spark with rapt attention, and felt that it had be more and more simr to the Divine me that had destroyed the entire Domain of me¡¯s End.

    He even had a feeling that if this me spark continued to grow, it might eventually be a doppelg?nger of the Divine me and inherit all of its wonders.

    Even if the Divine me died out one day, as long as this me spark still existed, the legacy of the Divine me would live on.

    In the future, the me spark might be another Divine me, or perhaps an even higher existence.

    ¡°The Divine me was mighty enough to burn down every single realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End.¡± The mere thought of the Divine me¡¯s might made Nie Tian marvel inwardly.

    ¡°As for you, even though you¡¯re still at an early stage, you can already kill Saint domain Qi warriors and burn their domains away.

    ¡°If you continue to grow,ter when you encounter God domain experts that practice fire incantations, will you...?¡±

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, Nie Tian suddenly sensed a subtle ripple in his sea of awareness.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He realized that the me spark was responding to him in a way he couldn¡¯t understand.

    He didn¡¯t even sense the existence of a soul inside the me spark.

    However, the me spark did send him a wisp of aura, an affirmative aura!

    ¡°This wisp of me aura represents your will, doesn¡¯t it?!¡± Nie Tian was deeply shaken as he learned the me spark¡¯s attitude from that wisp of aura: As long as it continued to upgrade and be stronger, it would be able to overpower God domain experts that practiced fire incantations!

    ¡°Both the me Dragon Armor and the me spark are growing stronger and stronger, so...¡±

    Greatly spirited, Nie Tian fixed his eyes on the Star Behemoth bone. He wanted tomunicate with it and see if its soul had awoken from its dormancy.

    However, just as he was about to start, the Spirit Pearl flew out of his ring of holding on its own.

    It made a demand for the first time.

    It expressed its strong desire for Nie Tian to nourish its five evil spirits with his Blood Essence through Life Irrigation.

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°They¡¯re nothing but evil spirits. What good would my Blood Essence do them?¡±

    However, after serious consideration, he took five drops of his Blood Essence and fed them to the five evil spirits through Life Irrigation.

    The evil spirits immediately jumped on the five drops of Blood Essence and started devouring.

 Chapter 1227: Evil Spirits Transformation

    Hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust. The five powerful evil spirits had been bred by the Spirit Pearl after it collected a significant amount of negative energies.

    As far as Nie Tian could remember, the five evil spirits would devour nothing but discarnate souls.

    The misty cyan space inside the Spirit Pearl had been divided into five major regions, each of which was dominated by an evil spirit.

    It seemed to Nie Tian that they were illusory and in spirit form, and would never devour anything tangible.

    However, as he provided them with his Blood Essence, the greed and mad craving they showed for his Blood Essence bbergasted him.

    This was simply unbelievable!

    The five drops of Blood Essence that looked like crimson diamonds rapidly shrank as the evil spirits munched on them.

    Nie Tian examined the five evil spirits with rapt attention, and discovered that their illusory bodies somehow gave him a sense of reality!

    The five of them were exuding extremely faint flesh auras.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that...¡± A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he hastily establishedmunication with the Spirit Pearl. ¡°What will happen to them after they absorb my Blood Essence? Will their intangible bodies be given flesh and blood?¡±

    The Spirit Pearl gave an affirmative answer. ¡°Exactly!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What will happen once they have fleshly bodies?¡±

    ¡°This involves a great secret of the Phantasms,¡± The Spirit Pearl answered. ¡°However, I don¡¯t know much about it either. I can only vaguely remember that there¡¯s such a secret, but my status wasn¡¯t high enough to know the details.¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had originally been the discarnate soul of a Phantasm grand patriarch. Only after merging with Nie Tian¡¯s soul imprints had it be what it was now.

    Back when he had first gained it, ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarchs had been far too powerful to him. He hadn¡¯t even been able to fathom their might.

    However, now that he had a fairly deep understanding of the major outsider races and had be much stronger himself, he had realized that ninth grade grand patriarchs usually weren¡¯t the most powerful experts among the major outsider races.

    Their high chieftains were usually tenth grade grand monarchs.

    Thinking of this, Nie Tian epted the reason the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had given for remembering a secret of the Phantasms, but failing to provide any more details.

    ¡°The five evil spirits developing fleshly bodies has something to do with a Phantasm secret... The Phantasms only have three Spirit Pearls throughout their entire race...¡± As he thought to himself, Nie Tian suddenly noticed that the five evil spirits had swallowed every bit of his Blood Essence.

    Subtle changes had happened to them, as faint flesh auras could be sensed on them now.

    It was just that their flesh auras were still far from strong enough for them to transform into a living being made of flesh and blood.

    They gazed down at Nie Tian and implored in a low soul voice that only he could hear.

    ¡°You want more...?¡± Nie Tian sighed softly, then took his time to say, ¡°I hope you won¡¯t disappoint me. The Star Behemoth bone, the me Dragon Armor, and the me spark all went through great changes after I infused them with my Blood Essence. You¡¯d better not waste my Blood Essence. After all, they¡¯ve be more and more important to me.¡±

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline had advanced to the eighth grade, he still hadn¡¯t found a way to enter his Blood Realm.

    He didn¡¯t know how many drops of Blood Essence were needed for him to enter his Blood Realm again so that he would be able to acquire brand new bloodline magics.

    After entering the eighth grade, he had awakened the Profound Truths Crystallization and Life Irrigation bloodline talents, and the total amount of Blood Essence he was able to hold had risen to three hundred drops.

    However, neither Profound Truths Crystallization nor Life Irrigation could improve his battle prowess. Only bloodline magics could enhance his performance in battle.

    Bloodline magics had to be acquired from his Blood Realm, or derived from the profound secrets of his bloodline.

    Furthermore, the mere thought of the amount of flesh power he would have to acquire in order for his eighth grade bloodline to fall dormant and enter the next upgrade cycle made him feel helpless.

    Under such circumstances, every single drop of Blood Essence became of great significance to him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Drops of Blood Essence that exuded extremely rich life power flew out of his chest one after another.

    He activated Life Irrigation.

    The five evil spirits rushed out of the Spirit Pearl once again, their enormous spirit-form bodies instantly wrapping around the drops of Blood Essence.

    As soon as that happened, the pure, concentrated life power within the Blood Essence dispersed.

    Not only did the enormous evil spirits not growrger after receiving the nourishment of the Blood Essence, but they actually condensed and shrank in size.

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank as he stared unblinkingly at the five evil spirits. ¡°They¡¯re substantializing!¡±

    Under his gaze, the evil spirits that were originally a hundred meters tall gradually shrank down as they wolfed down his Blood Essence.

    The shrinking stopped as soon as the Blood Essence was finished.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before providing them with more.

    The evil spirits then started munching again.

    ¡°These evil spirits were born within the Spirit Pearl, a powerful magical treasure of the Phantasms, and they represent five extremely negative emotions. It¡¯s said that the Phantasms worship and make offerings to evil gods from ancient times. Are those evil gods in flesh form or soul form? Have they died already, or...?¡±

    Memories of Phantasms and their history started shing before Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°Evil gods, Phantasms, evil spirits...¡±

    At the same time, he would draw more Blood Essence from his heart once he noticed that the evil spirits stopped shrinking, baring with the heartache of losing Blood Essence as he did.

    The Blood Essence stock in his heart rapidly ran low.

    Soon, there were only about a hundred drops left.

    However, there were no signs of the five evil spirits finishing their transformation anytime soon.

    Even so, the feeling they gave Nie Tian now had bepletely different from before!

    Not only had their originally vague soul bodies be exceptionally distinct, but they also gave Nie Tian a feeling that they had flesh and blood now, as if they had be five living Phantasms.

    Some of them had sharp ws and teeth. Some of them had cyan wings growing out of their backs. Some of them were covered in scales, while others had sinister, sharp needles growing out of them.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, each and every one of them had be extremely dangerous, so much so that he felt as if he were face-to-face with five ancient evil gods that were worshiped by the Phantasms.

    They seemed to be every bit as formidable as God domain experts or tenth grade outsider grand monarchs.

    ¡°Do evil gods belong to a species of living beings that are born from negative energies?¡± Nie Tian wondered. However, his loss of Blood Essence seemed to stop him from thinking straight.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning shot from the distant sky.

    Stopping in front of him, it morphed into Mo Qianfan, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    Eyes wide, Mo Qianfan looked up at the five creatures floating over Nie Tian, each of which was ten meters long and wreathed in thick Phantasm Qi, as if they represented the ultimate evil. Astonished, he eximed, ¡°These are the evil gods that were born early in Phantasm history!¡±

    The five evil spirits were still busy munching on Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence. Upon sensing his aura, they subconsciously jerked their heads towards him.

    Their pupils were no longer too blurry to see. Instead, they were either blood-red, emerald-green, or ghostly white. A mere look at their eyes sent a chill down Mo Qianfan¡¯s spine.

    For some reason, even the early God domain Mo Qianfan felt insecure and uneasy.

    He examined the five sinister beings in front of him with rapt attention, and discovered that neither their soul power nor their faint flesh power were strong enough to threaten him.

    After going nk for a few seconds, Mo Qianfan suddenly realized what was happening. ¡°What makes me feel threatened isn¡¯t what they are now, but rather what they¡¯ll grow into!

    ¡°If they continue to grow, they¡¯ll definitely grow into the evil gods the Phantasms have worshiped since ancient times, or perhaps something even stronger! But I don¡¯t understand why I¡¯m sensing flesh auras from them...¡±

    While he felt confused, the five evil spirits¡¯ eyes suddenly lit up with an evil light.

    Blood-red, emerald-green, misty cyan...

    Huge waves of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust flooded Mo Qianfan¡¯s sea of awareness in a split second. For a few seconds, he almost gave in to the strong urge to spill blood everywhere.

    Only after numerous lightning bolts struck in his sea of awareness did he snap out of his daze. ¡°Unbelievable!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He jumped back to get ahold of himself. Then, with a grim expression, he looked at Nie Tian and the evil spirits floating over him, and said, ¡°I practice lightning incantations. Technically speaking, I¡¯m a natural bane for those soul-form creatures floating over you. Even tenth grade Phantasm grand monarchs will feel threatened if they have to fight me.

    ¡°However, those five creatures with faint flesh auras don¡¯t seem to be afraid of the lightning power Imand.

    ¡°They actually dared to attack my sea of awareness with their negative energies.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to know that my sea of awareness is even more deadly than thunder seas in the highest heavens.¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s voice went higher and higher.

    ¡°Sectmaster Mo, would you tell the Primal Yang Sect and the other local forces in the Domain of Primal Yang to get me some high-grade spirit beast meat and high-grade outsider corpses?¡± Nie Tian asked.

 Chapter 1228: A Nether Realm Legend

    In the Nether Realm where the Phantasm race had been born.

    Mountain peaks that were thousands of meters high stood towering in the north, where it was deste and lifeless.

    In the far north, a floating river wound through lofty mountain peaks, stretching to unknown ces.

    Countless souls and spirits seemed to be drifting along the river, with mysterious changes happening to them.

    This river was the origin of the Phantasm race: the Nether River.

    Like the river of time in the Shatter Battlefield, the Nether River was also full of mysteries. No one knew when it had first appeared, or where its source was.

    It was said that the first Phantasms had been born in the Nether River. They had derived enlightenment from it and solved the mystery of souls, and eventually evolved to what they were now.

    It was also said that the Nether River held the secrets of reincarnation. Souls of the dead of various races would be reincarnated after being cleansed by the Nether River.

    No one dared to say that they had solved every secret the Nether River held.

    Even Grand Monarch Nether River, the current chief of the Phantasm race, wouldn¡¯t dare to say that he had solved all of the Nether River¡¯s secrets.

    The Nether River ran eternally, winding through lofty mountain peaks.

    Among the mountain peaks, five were very special.

    Someone seemed to have shaped them into five enormous sculptures that were thousands of meters high.

    The winding Nether River only ran past them, without touching any of them.

    All five of them were pale-gray, but looked different from one another. Even their expressions varied.

    One was covered in sinister sharp needles, like a huge human-shaped hedgehog. Strong bloodlust could be sensed from it.

    One had feathered wings growing out of its back, with a bird head but a human body. Endless hatred could be sensed from it.

    One was covered in thick scales like an oddly-shaped fish from the depths of the sea, and seemed unusually angry.

    One was of a satanic monster wailing into the sky, which gave people a strong sense of despair.

    Thest one was of a shriveled, hunched creature with sharp bones growing out of it. The mere sight of it inspired great fear.

    Nobody knew how long these sculptures had stood here. Many Phantasm grand patriarchs and grand monarchs would pass them when they came to derive enlightenment from the Nether River.

    Many would travel here just to study the sculptures, and try to derive enlightenment about the changes of flesh auras.

    Some grand patriarchs and grand monarchs had actually incurred changes in their flesh auras and made significant progress in their bloodlines, while others had derived brand new soul incantations.

    However, most of those who came here would return empty-handed.

    ording to the Phantasms, the Nether Realm had originally been a regr realm with nothing special about it.

    Only after the mysterious appearance of the Nether River had it changed.

    It was said that the Phantasms were an indigenous species of this realm. Bathed in the Nether River, they seemed to have received some sort of guidance. Thanks to the profound connections between their souls and the Nether River, they had derived a way to strengthen their souls. After evolving for many generations, they eventually became the powerful race they were today.

    It was said that these sculptures had appeared with the Nether River.

    They hadn¡¯t been carved by the Phantasms, and didn¡¯t seem to have any connection with the other mountain peaks in the region.

    Therefore, many powerful Phantasm experts and tenth grade grand monarchs had deemed there to be a close connection between the sculptures and the Nether River.

    However, since nothing seemed to have happened between them for countless years, people had gradually forgotten about it.

    ...

    Yet at this moment, a strong attractive force was suddenly born within the five ancient sculptures that were fairly far apart from each other.

    Subject to the attractive force, Phantasm Qi from every corner of the Nether Realm started converging and streaming into the five sculptures!

    Some misty cyan sparks even rose from the Nether River and disappeared into the sculptures.

    The unusual changes that happened to the Nether River and the five sculptures in the far north of the Nether Realm instantly caught the attention of powerful Phantasm experts.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether happened to be sensing the subtle fluctuations within the Nether River on a nearby mountain peak.

    His eyes suddenly snapped open.

    WHOOSH!

    In a sh, he appeared in an open area among the five enormous sculptures.

    ¡°Why did the evil gods we¡¯ve enshrined since ancient times suddenly start to channel Phantasm Qi on their own?¡± After Grand Monarch Dark Nether observed for a while, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows suddenly blossomed with dazzling light.

    Numerous ancient magical symbols and imprints flickered into view within the prismatic crystal.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether seemed to be searching for information about the five sculptures in the ancient records of the Phantasm race. However, after spending a great amount of time and effort, he failed to find a reason for the strange changes that the sculptures were experiencing.

    ¡°If only Grand Monarch Nether River were in the Nether Realm now.¡± With this thought, Grand Monarch Dark Nether looked into the heavens. After hesitating for quite a while, he left in a sh to inform the other important n members of what was happening here and ask them to send word to Grand Monarch Nether River right away.

    ...

    In the depths of the empty desert in the Realm of Red Sun.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Mo Qianfan arrived like a bolt of lightning, and dropped a number of corpses on the dry sand.

    Most of the corpses were ofrge spirit beasts that were at the seventh or eighth grade, with a few Demons, Phantasms, and other outsiders that had died in battle ages ago.

    All of them had been provided by the Primal Yang Sect and the other local sects and ns in the Domain of Primal Yang.

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and said, ¡°Thank you. Would you please find me more?¡±

    With these words, he signaled for Mo Qianfan to leave.

    ¡°I captured Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang.¡± Mo Qianfan said. ¡°Fang Yuan has arranged for them to be shipped to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters. Fang Yuan said that he wanted them to be punished by the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, so that rebels from the other domains would be held in awe.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Let him decide what he wants to do with them. All you need to do is provide him with the help he needs.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I did,¡± Mo Qianfan answered. ¡°Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling are very curious about what you¡¯re doing. And these five...¡±

    With these words, he gave the five evil spirits floating over Nie Tian with a somewhat uneasy nce.

    After devouring arge amount of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, they had shrunk to about ten meters tall. However, with their added flesh auras, they seemed to have flesh and blood now, which made them scarier.

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°These creatures are exuding strong auras.¡± Mo Qianfan exined. ¡°Yin Xingtian and the other two can sense their auras no matter where they are in the Realm of Red Sun. All this time, I¡¯ve been stopping them froming here to see you. Considering that I¡¯m at the God domain, they¡¯ve been respecting me enough to refrain froming here.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°So keep it up and don¡¯t let theme here.¡±

    Mo Qianfan seemed worried. ¡°Do these creatures have anything to do with the Phantasms? Besides, I can tell that their auras are growing stronger and stronger. Are you sure that you¡¯ll always be able to keep them under control? Once they lose control, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing.¡±

    ¡°Okay...¡± Mo Qianfan nodded, as he chose to believe him. Then, he left to find him more spirit beast and outsider corpses.

    As soon as he left, Nie Tian activated Life Drain.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous blood strings pierced into the spirit beast and outsider corpses, and started channeling their rich flesh power into Nie Tian¡¯s heart, where it was refined into Blood Essence.

    At this point, he had already exhausted his three hundred drops of Blood Essence on the five evil spirits.

    He had to obtain flesh power from these corpses and refine it into Blood Essence if he wanted the five evil spirits to continue with their transformation.

    All of a sudden, he looked up.

    As far as he saw it, the five evil spirits were no longer in spirit form now. Instead, they seemed to have be a whole new species of beings that had flesh and blood.

 Chapter 1229: Upgrade to Evil Gods

    FZZZ!

    Mo Qianfan suddenly descended into the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    Ning Ji and the other Primal Yang Sect elders were waiting solemnly. Upon seeing him, Ning Ji stepped forward and handed him a ring of holding. ¡°Brother Mo, here are some more spirit beast and outsider corpses that we gathered from the other realms.¡±

    Many Qi warriors from the Domain of Primal Yang standing behind him frowned.

    The same went for Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa.

    After receiving the ring of holding, Mo Qianfan examined its contents with his soul awareness. Then, he nodded and said, ¡°Nice. However, Nie Tian needs a tremendous amount of spirit beast and outsider corpses. Let¡¯s see if we can find more for him.¡±

    ¡°We shall do our best,¡± Ning Ji said.

    ¡°Well...¡± Zhang Qiling finally couldn¡¯t wait anymore. He frowned and asked, ¡°Brother Mo, what has Nie Tian been doing? I examined that region he¡¯s in with my soul awareness and somehow felt a blood-chilling fear. I have a feeling that he¡¯s doing something that has great influence. He¡¯s not doing anything dangerous, is he?¡±

    Upon hearing this, the Qi warriors from across the Domain of Primal Yang fixed Mo Qianfan with burning gazes.

    They also wanted to know the answer to Zhang Qiling¡¯s question.

    Saint domain experts usually had keen perception, and could capture even the most subtle changes that happened in a realm.

    Even if Nie Tian hadn¡¯t demanded a tremendous amount of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses, they would have noticed that there was something wrong.

    Every time they focused their senses in Nie Tian¡¯s direction, they would feel a sense of repression, as if something extremely dangerous was slowly brewing in the region where he was, making them feel uneasy and insecure.

    Clearly, Mo Qianfan knew what was happening.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. He¡¯s doing something. However, there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Mo Qianfan was intentionally vague about it. ¡°All you need to do is gather more spirit beast meat and outsider corpses for him.¡±

    After pausing for a brief moment, he turned to Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling, and said, ¡°As for you, things are finished here. So if you have other business to attend to, you may leave now.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing to do for now,¡± Zhang Qiling said.

    Yin Xingtian and Li Wanfa remained silent.

    ¡°Well, suit yourselves,¡± Mo Qianfan said with an expressionless face. Then, he told the members of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n that they might leave the Primal Yang Sect for the Domain of Endless Thunder, while he himself would remain in the Primal Yang Sect and manage the situation for Nie Tian.

    ...

    Strange changes suddenly happened in a region under the seven scorching suns in the Realm of Red Sun.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Whirls of swirling cyan Phantasm Qi suddenly flew out from the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    The Spirit Pearl floated over Nie Tian like a misty, cyan sun as it started to release whirls of pure Phantasm Qi that originated from the Nether Realm.

    The whirls of Phantasm Qi gradually gathered in the air over Nie Tian, and then morphed into five seemingly bottomless cyan holes that looked like the man-devouring mouths of evil gods.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    Looking up at the deep, cyan holes, he had a feeling that they might connect to some ce he didn¡¯t know.

    All of a sudden, the five evil spirits that were only about ten meters tall now flew into the holes one after another.

    Most of their bodies entered the holes, yet their heads remained outside, where they continued to swallow the Blood Essence Nie Tian continued to refine and provide for them.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian noticed that torrential Phantasm Qi started to spill from the five holes in the air.

    The evil spirits then started to breathe in the spilling Phantasm Qi like sponges absorbing water.

    As they did, their slightly shriveled bodies expanded bit by bit.

    ¡°Where is this Phantasm Qiing from?¡± Nie Tian was baffled about the reason for the appearance of the holes and the origin of the Phantasm Qi.

    At this moment, a message came through from the Spirit Pearl. ¡°All this Phantasm Qi ising from the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd: the Nether Realm. I don¡¯t know why this is happening either, but I know that a profound connection has somehow formed between the Nether Realm and the five regions that were ruled by them.

    ¡°Something in the far north of the Nether Realm seems to be interacting with them and providing them with Phantasm Qi.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°If these holes connect to the Nether Realm, will the Phantasms notice what¡¯s happening and march here through them?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± The Spirit Pearl answered.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As they were talking, the five evil spirits finished Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence once again, and called out for more.

    Though reluctant, Nie Tian activated Life Drain to channel flesh power from the piles of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses in front of him to generate more Blood Essence.

    This process was repeated over the next two weeks.

    Nie Tian looked up at the five evil spirits, which had expanded ten times over and be about a hundred meters tall after only two weeks. ¡°It seems that their auras have risen to match that of peak eighth grade outsiders, and it won¡¯t be long before they reach the heights of ninth grade outsiders.¡±

    Furthermore, they were no longer pure spirit-form beings. They had developed fleshly bodies and flesh power that was unique to the Phantasms.

    With his level of familiarity with the Phantasms, he felt that the five evil spirits¡¯ flesh power had already grown to the point where it matched that of eighth grade Phantasms, and were on their way to reach that of ninth grade Phantasms.

    However, the transformation of the evil spirits stopped at this moment.

    Nie Tian calcted inwardly, and realized that he had expended over a thousand drops of Blood Essence for the five evil spirits to finish this round of transformation, which far exceeded his expectations.

    A sense of depletion overtook him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Floating at the mouths of the deep, cyan holes in the air, the enormous evil spirits exuded auras so terrifyingly strong that they could destroy heaven and earth and hold all lives in awe.

    With a knitted brow, Nie Tian stared at the five Phantasm Qi-spilling holes, and had a feeling that Phantasms might charge through them at any moment.

    As his apprehension grew stronger, the five evil spirits suddenly shrank and flew back into the Spirit Pearl, along with the holes.

    He instantly examined the Spirit Pearl with his soul awareness, and discovered that as soon as the five evil spirits returned to the Spirit Pearl, the holes merged with the cyan space inside that was filled with despair, fear, bloodlust, rage, and hatred.

    After returning to their respective regions, the evil spirits started drawing power from the captured discarnate souls to strengthen themselves.

    ¡°They¡¯re no longer in pure spirit form,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said. ¡°They should be called evil gods from now on.¡±

    Then, it seemed to remember something, as it added, ¡°For some reason, I¡¯m starting to feel insecure around them. Technically speaking, it was the Spirit Pearl itself that gave birth to the five of them, not me. I was able to control them before, but I don¡¯t seem to have much restraining power over them now.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ll only answer your summons from now on,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul answered. ¡°I can sense your aura on them.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s probably because my Blood Essence allowed them to build their fleshly bodies,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Anyways, you¡¯re the only one who canmand them from now on,¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s seal responded. ¡°I can only keep an eye on them for you in the Spirit Pearl. I won¡¯t be able to order them around anymore.¡±

    ...

    In the northernmost part of the Nether Realm.

    To answer Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s summons, more than a dozen Phantasm grand patriarchs rushed over from other realms or other parts of the starry river.

    Floating among the mountain peaks, they examined the Nether River, and sensed the profound changes that had happened to the five enormous statues with their bloodline power and soul awareness.

    After an unknown period of time, the strange changes with the statues somehow suddenly stopped. They stopped gathering Phantasm Qi and absorbing the cyan sparks that rose from the Nether River.

    Curious lights interwove within the prismatic crystals between the eyebrows of a peak ninth grade Phantasm grand monarch, who nned to make his attempt to advance to the tenth grade soon.

    His name was Kleist. He seemed absorbed in thought as he looked at the five statues with a Spirit Pearl that was identical to Nie Tian¡¯s floating in his palm.

    Many had their eyes on him.

    The Spirit Pearl in his palm had emanated cyan light just a moment ago, but now, as the unusual changes with the statues stopped, its light gradually died out too.

    After a moment of silence, Grand Monarch Dark Nether looked deeply at him and asked, ¡°Did the changes have something to do with your Spirit Pearl?

    ¡°What did you sense within the Spirit Pearl? Did these statues, which have been here since ancient times and we call evil gods, incur any changes in your Spirit Pearl?¡±

    ¡°I did sense something, Lord Dark Nether,¡± Kleist answered in a grim voice. ¡°But it seemed to being from another Spirit Pearl.¡±

    ¡°Another Spirit Pearl?¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether pondered before asking with a confused expression, ¡°Isn¡¯t the other Spirit Pearl sealed and guarded in our headquarters?¡±

    ¡°Lord, did you forget that we had three Spirit Pearls?¡± Kleist tried to remind him. ¡°One is in my hands. One was sealed away after the passing of that mighty one. And there¡¯s a third one which was lost many years ago. Froste once told us that the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has that Spirit Pearl now.¡±

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°You¡¯re saying that the changes had something to do with that Spirit Pearl, which is currently in the hands of a human?!¡±

    Kleist nodded heavily. ¡°I think so. Even though I don¡¯t know exactly what happened, I had a feeling that it was his Spirit Pearl that triggered the changes in the statues. And all of the Phantasm Qi and memory sparks the statues gathered from here were channeled to that Spirit Pearl.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! That human kid!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether bellowed.

    ¡°Lord, allow me to take a trip to the human world through our secret tunnel,¡± Kleist said.

    ¡°You¡¯re only a step away from entering the tenth grade and joining our ranks as a grand monarch. I don¡¯t think the time is right for you to go now.¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether advised against it.

    ¡°Perhaps my opportunity to enter the tenth grade lies with that Spirit Pearl. Who knows?¡± Kleist said with an anticipating expression.

 Chapter 1230: Crisis of the Sect

    In the Realm of Red Sun.

    Two weekster, Nie Tian generated a hundred more drops of Blood Essence with the copious amount of spirit beast meat and outsider corpses Mo Qianfan had brought him.

    He had long since exhausted the first batch of meat and corpses the local sects and ns in the Domain of Primal Yang had thought of every possible way to find for him.

    The batches that hadeter mostly consisted of sixth and seventh grade spirit beast meat, which couldn¡¯t meet his needs for condensing Blood Essence at all.

    At this moment, the me spark had returned to the me power core, and the me Dragon Armor, the Star Behemoth bone, and the Spirit Pearl had been returned to his ring of holding.

    ording to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, after the recent transformation of the five evil spirits, even it couldn¡¯tmand them anymore.

    However, Nie Tian still wasn¡¯t clear as to what new wonders these ¡®evil gods¡¯ had developed, how mighty they had be, and how he was supposed to use them in battle.

    Even now, the five evil gods seemed to be undergoing changes within the heaven and earth inside the Spirit Pearl.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Mo Qianfan arrived in front of Nie Tian, along with Ning Ji from the Primal Yang Sect, Yin Xingtian, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling.

    All of the other Heavenly Thunder Sect and Mo n members had long since returned to the Domain of Endless Thunder on starships.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Mo Qianfan said anxiously upon arriving. ¡°We just learned that Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang somehow escaped after being transported to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.¡±

    With a bitter face, Ning Ji said, ¡°This is unexpected.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What?! Didn¡¯t Fang Yuan and his men escort them to the Realm of Fragmentary Star? How did they manage to escape after reaching the Realm of Fragmentary Star?¡±

    ¡°It seems that someone from within the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce helped them escape,¡± Mo Qianfan said, looking down. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details either. This is a scandalous event after all. If your sect refuses to share information about it, it¡¯s going to be unlikely that we¡¯ll learn the whole truth.¡±

    Nie Tian grew irritated. ¡°Things have be so chaotic with my sect already?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s status in the human world...¡± Yin Xingtian said with a strange look in his eyes. ¡°The truth is that of all thirteen of your sect¡¯s subordinate domains, the Domain of Primal Yang is the only one that has been retaken from the rebels. All of the other domains are still in turmoil. Now that Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang have escaped, even the Primal Yang Sect¡¯s rebellion can¡¯t be consideredpletely put down.¡±

    Zhang Qiling joined the conversation. ¡°Your vice sectmaster, Chu Rui, also seems to have run into a snag in the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa hadn¡¯t sworn allegiance to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce or any other sects.

    The mysterious disappearance of Sectmaster Ji Cang and Grand Elder Mo Heng had caused the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s prestige to plunge.

    Considering that Yin Xingtian, Zhang Qiling, and Li Wanfa enjoyed lofty statuses in the human world, they most certainly didn¡¯t have much respect for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce now.

    They hadn¡¯t waited patiently in the Primal Yang Sect for so long because they felt the need to give the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce face.

    It was all because of Nie Tian!

    After pondering for a while, Li Wanfa cut to the chase. ¡°Nie Tian. Do you think you can help me enter the God domain? Even just greatly improving my chances will work.¡±

    Zhang Qiling also fixed Nie Tian with a burning gaze.

    This was why they had stayed behind while the others had gone.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No. I can¡¯t help you now. As for the future, I guess it¡¯ll depend on your luck and my situation.¡±

    Zhang Qiling let out a sigh. ¡°If that¡¯s the case... I won¡¯t bother you anymore. However, if you think you can help me enter the God domain one day, please let me know. I¡¯ll go to see you wherever you are.¡±

    With these words, he turned around and flew away without hesitation.

    ¡°Me too.¡± Li Wanfa expressed his attitude and left as well.

    All of a sudden, Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect became the only one that remained.

    Nie Tian fixed him with a confused look and asked, ¡°You...?¡±

    ¡°I want to spend some more time with you,¡± Yin Xingtian said with a serious face. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to stay by your side.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Yin Xingtian took a nce at Mo Qianfan and Ning Ji, but didn¡¯t say anything.

    Seeing this, Mo Qianfan and Ning Ji exchanged a nce and sensibly flew away.

    ¡°You activated your bloodline during your battle against Qi Jiaoyang. Your vigorous flesh aura...¡± Yin Xingtian took a deep breath and continued with an intoxicated expression, ¡°I don¡¯t why, but an indescribable feeling came to me the moment I detected your flesh aura: your flesh aura can help extend my lifespan.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°You probably got it wrong.¡±

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s pupils burst with inch-long fine sword lights. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Your flesh aura carries the same miraculous power as Fruits of Life do. I¡¯ve consumed a Fruit of Life once. I kept its pit, which shriveled after losing its life power, and refined it into a small device that can detect wondrous power that can extend lifespans.¡±

    With these words, he carefully took out a brown fruit pit from within his inner pocket.

    It was wreathed in various kinds of sword intent with a wisp of residual life power sealed at its heart.

    As Yin Xingtian held it close to Nie Tian, Nie Tian saw with great rity that the wisp of life power within it became active and jumpy, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    Nie Tian was taken aback, shaking his head in confusion. ¡°This is...¡±

    ¡°Look. The closer this wisp of life power gets to you, the more active it bes!¡± Greatly spirited, Yin Xingtian put the cherished fruit pit away before Nie Tian could reach out and touch it. Then, he cleared his throat and said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, ¡°This pit is all I have left now. I still need it to find more Fruits of Life. Sorry, I can¡¯t risk having it damaged.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps I can find a way to help with your lifespan problem,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I knew it!¡±

    ¡°But not now,¡± Nie Tian said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°There are lots of troublesome issues for me to take care of at the moment. Perhaps I¡¯ll only have time to help you after I¡¯m finished with them. Besides, my senses tell me that it¡¯ll still be some time before your lifespan runs out.¡±

    ¡°Sure, I can wait!¡± Yin Xingtian said excitedly.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright then.¡±

    Just as he was about to talk to Mo Qianfan and Ning Ji, a figure flew over from the direction of the Primal Yang Sect. ¡°Elder Han?¡±

    It was Han Wanrong who spent most of her time overseeing things in the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    She had arrived through the teleportation portal that connected the Primal Yang Sect and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Upon arriving, she said with a grim expression, ¡°Nie Tian! What are you still doing here in the Realm of Red Sun? I thought you returned to our sect long ago, after you solved the trouble here.¡±

    ¡°I needed time to recover,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Aplicated expression appeared on Han Wanrong¡¯s face as sheid her eyes on Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian. ¡°They are...?¡±

    Beforeing here, she had received word that Mo Qianfan¡¯s rtionship with Nie Tian had changed after his breakthrough into the God domain, and that Yin Xingtian seemed to want something from Nie Tian as well.

    Both Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Lightning Sect and Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect were powerhouses who enjoyed lofty statuses in the human world, especially Mo Qianfan, who had recently advanced to the early God domain.

    They happened to be the kind of help their sect needed at this time of peril.

    If their rtionship with Nie Tian was...

    ¡°Nie Tian helped me break through into the God domain.¡± Mo Qianfan was very straightforward. ¡°Plus, my n has a close connection to your grand elder, so I¡¯m willing to take Nie Tian¡¯s orders and fight for him from now on.¡±

    Yin Xingtian took a moment to ponder his selection of words before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can to help him as well.¡±

    Greatly spirited, Han Wanrong eximed, ¡°Excellent! This is great news! Our vice sectmaster, Chu Rui, met strong resistance in the Domain of Frigid Depths. I¡¯m hoping you¡¯ll provide him with some help.¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Vice Sectmaster Chu is at the middle God domain. I can¡¯t believe he ran into trouble in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Who could give him trouble?¡±

    Han Wanrong smiled bitterly. ¡°Outsiders. Well, technically, rogue outsiders who have been expelled by their own people. We didn¡¯t expect them to be alive, but they are, and have been hiding in the Domain of Frigid Depths the whole time.¡±

 Chapter 1231: The Domain of Frigid Depths

    The entirety of the Domain of Frigid Depths was filled with a boundless frigid mist, with its numerous realms scattered in the depths of the mist. Observed from afar, each realm looked like an ice-cold crystal.

    Like the realms in the Domain of Endless Snow, where the Heavenly Ice Sect was based, and the Domain of Frigid Frost, where the Ice Soul Divine Sect was based, the realms in the Domain of Frigid Depths were also wreathed in frosty auras.

    Engulfed in a boundless white mist, both starships and powerful human experts would have difficulty traveling within the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Inparison, neither the Domain of Endless Snow nor the Domain of Frigid Frost had such widespread frigid mists.

    This was a unique feature of the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    CRACK!

    A bolt of lightning split through the void like an enormous axe that was cast from the distant starry river by a god.

    Even the frosty aura was split in two.

    Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Han Wanrong appeared in the void, rapidly approaching a starship that seemed to have been berthed there for a long time.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s banners could be seen hanging on the starship.

    Zu Guangyao and Xin Qing, two elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, stepped out from below the deck, surprise filling their faces. ¡°Elder Han! You...¡±

    Upon closer look, they noticed Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian, and became even more surprised. ¡°Sectmaster Mo, Sectmaster Yin, what are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here because of Nie Tian,¡± Mo Qianfan said calmly.

    Aplicated look appeared in Xin Qing¡¯s narrowed eyes, her heart slightly shaken. ¡°So the rumors are true.¡±

    She knew that Mo Qianfan had made a forced attempt to enter the God domain in the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    However, she had assumed that he was bound to fail.

    Who would have thought that Nie Tian would happen to visit the Domain of Endless Thunder around that time and help him enter the God domain?

    When she had first learned such news, she had been convinced that it had been false and found itughable.

    Only after Fang Yuan had returned and told her that Mo Qianfan had gone to the Domain of Primal Yang with Nie Tian and described his attitude towards Nie Tian had she started to believe it.

    Now, Mo Qianfan had followed Nie Tian to the Domain of Frigid Depths...

    ¡°What about you, Sectmaster Yin?¡± Xin Qing asked.

    Before Mo Qianfan had entered the God domain, Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect had been even harder to deal with than him.

    The Streamcloud Sword Sect¡¯s reserve power was also far more profound than that of the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go where Nie Tian goes and do what I can to help him.¡± Yin Xingtian made his intention clear.

    Xin Qing lit up again.

    After everyonended on the ancient starship, Han Wanrong raised her hand and said anxiously, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s talk about the current situation.¡±

    Zu Guangyao and Xin Qing then exined what had happened recently in the Domain of Frigid Depths within the shortest time possible.

    ording to them, Grand Monarch Ice Bones had been hiding in the depths of the thick frigid mist that pervaded the Domain of Frigid Depths year-round.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones was one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ mightiest grand monarchs.

    It was said that Grand Monarch Ice Bones and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones hadpeted over the position of the high chieftain of Bonebrute race a hundred thousand years ago. Back then, both of them had been at the middle tenth grade.

    Eventually, Grand Monarch Ice Bones had lost in battle. Rumor had it that he had been killed by Grand Monarch Crystal Bones.

    After that, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones had ascended the throne and be the high chieftain. Shortly afterwards, he had made another advance in his bloodline, and entered thete tenth grade.

    That was when Grand Monarch Crystal Bones had joined Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Dark Depths as the four strongest outsider grand monarchs.

    There hadn¡¯t been any news about Grand Monarch Ice Bones since then.

    Everyone assumed that Grand Monarch Crystal Bones had killed him. Perhaps he had even mashed his heart and refined his Blood Essence, which might be the reason why he had been able to break through into thete tenth grade within such a short time.

    No one had expected that Grand Monarch Ice Bones had actually holed up in an extremely frigid area in the depths of the Domain of Frigid Depths, where even local Qi warriors didn¡¯t dare to enter.

    Not only was he still alive, but his bloodline remained at the middle tenth grade.

    At this moment, Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was trapped in thatnd of extreme coldness by him.

    Meanwhile, many local sects and ns, with the Extreme Coldness Pce as their leader, hade to agreements with Grand Monarch Ice Bones, where they would fight the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce together.

    While Chu Rui had been trapped by Grand Monarch Ice Bones, his subordinates were being chased through the Domain of Frigid Depths by Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce and other local forces.

    The Primal Yang Sect had imprisoned Fang Yuan and his subordinate.

    Apparently, they had wanted Fang Yuan alive.

    However, the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths had adopted apletely different strategy, which was to kill every subordinate of Chu Rui they could find without leaving any leeway.

    Both Zu Guangyao and Xin Qing looked iparably grim after rying the situation in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way for our sect¡¯s rtionship with the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths to return to how it was before.¡± With these words, Xin Qing gazed into the distant starry river. ¡°The worst part of this is that we can¡¯t get in touch with the grand elder. And even though we sent word to the other vice sectmaster, he hasn¡¯t given any response. I suppose he¡¯s trying to master some profound incantation, and can¡¯te out of his secluded cultivation before he does.¡±

    She was referring to Luo Wanxiang.

    With Mo Heng and Luo Wanxiang unavable, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had run out of God domain experts to use.

    If they couldn¡¯t present another God domain expert, it would be impossible for them to defeat Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who had dared to challenge Grand Monarch Crystal Bones to a duel, with the power they had now.

    ¡°Sectmaster Mo...¡± Han Wanrong fixed Mo Qianfan with an inquiring look, too embarrassed to make the request.

    ¡°If it¡¯s indeed Grand Monarch Ice Bones we¡¯re facing...¡± Mo Qianfan said with a grim expression. ¡°As you know, I just entered the early God domain, while he made his name a hundred thousand years ago. Considering my current cultivation base and strength, I think I¡¯d be crushed if I were to fight him now.¡±

    With these words, he lowered his head and sighed. ¡°As reluctant as I am to admit this, I¡¯m not as talented as Mo Heng.¡±

    Mo Heng had defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust as soon as he had entered the middle God domain. Immediately after that, he had challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon to a duel, where he had suffered an honorable defeat.

    He knew that he didn¡¯t have Mo Heng¡¯s talent or strength.

    ¡°The middle tenth grade Grand Monarch Ice Bones...¡± Nie Tian pondered hard before saying, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be very difficult for us to rescue Vice Sectmaster Chu now. Plus, since Vice Sectmaster Chu is at the middle God domain, which matches Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ bloodline grade, even though he¡¯s trapped, I doubt that his life will be in danger anytime soon.¡±

    Both Zu Guangyao and Xin Qing nodded slightly upon hearing this.

    ¡°I suppose Vice Sectmaster Chu can hang on for some time,¡± Xin Qing said.

    ¡°Okay, if that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t we take care of these people from the Extreme Coldness Pce and the other local Qi warriors that are pursuing Vice Sectmaster Chu¡¯s subordinates first?¡± Nie Tian suggested.

    Intense killing intent filled Zu Guangyao¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°I was thinking the same thing!¡±

    Xin Qing, however, hesitated and said, ¡°Once we make that move, there¡¯ll be no room to maneuver.¡±

    Zu Guangyao snorted coldly. ¡°Maneuver? I bet they haven¡¯t thought about making up with us since the day theyid their murderous hands on Vice Sectmaster Chu¡¯s subordinates.¡±

    Xin Qing nodded somewhat reluctantly. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it.¡±

    Han Wanrong pointed into the distant starry river. ¡°Nie Tian, some of Vice Sectmaster Chu¡¯s subordinates fled to the five realms in that direction. The sectmaster and main force of the Extreme Coldness Pce are in that area.¡±

    ¡°Okay, leave them to us,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Zu Guangyao turned his head to face another direction. ¡°We¡¯ll head in that direction. Powerful experts from the other local sects are chasing after another group of Vice Sectmaster Chu¡¯s subordinates over there.¡±

    ¡°Let divide and conquer.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    After a briefmunication, Nie Tian took the initiative to head out in the direction Han Wanrong had shown him on his Star Boat.

    As soon as he did, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan followed along, one on his left and the other on his right.

    Xin Qing sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that the power at the seventh Son of the Stars¡¯mand has already surpassed both our vice sectmasters.¡±

    Zu Guangyao clicked his tongue and marveled. ¡°Even a God domain expert has chosen to follow him. And that Yin Xingtian... He¡¯s no ordinary person. Even though he¡¯s still at thete Saint domain, he¡¯s well-versed in all kinds of sword incantations and has practiced cultivation at such a high level for countless years. It¡¯s said that he¡¯s already powerful enough to fight early God domain experts.¡±

    Gazing in the direction where the three of them had left, Han Wanrong said with a profound look in her eyes, ¡°I heard that Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling also waited for a long time just to see Nie Tian. Apparently, he¡¯s of great importance to them as well. If one day those two also decide to join Nie Tian...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t even dare imagine such a thing!¡± Zu Guangyao muttered.

    Anticipation filled Xin Qing¡¯s face. ¡°Can that Nie Tian really copy what he did with Mo Qianfan and help otherte Saint domain experts reach the God domain?¡±

    Zu Guangyao and Han Wanrong fell silent, strange lights shing across their eyes. They werete Saint domain cultivators themselves.

 Chapter 1232: The Might of the Evil Gods

    In the depths of the frosty mist.

    A wrecked ancient starship floated silently by a realm that looked like an icy crystal.

    Blood was smeared across the starship, which had broken into pieces, with dead human bodies floating among the remains.

    Their destroyed domains had turned into faint clouds that seemed to be merging with the starry river and returning to the void.

    A few Qi warriors dressed in white robes with the characteristics of the Extreme Coldness Pce could be seen flying about in the wreckage.

    Apparently, they were looting rings of holding and spiritual tools from the dead and searching for valuables in the wreckage, which they wouldter turn in to their sect.

    The Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce talked loudly to one another as they stripped the dead of their rings of holding. Some of them even found it so troublesome that they chopped off the ring-wearing fingers to retrieve the rings.

    ¡°Here came a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but so what? Grand Monarch Ice Bones still managed to trap him in that special region by relying on his bloodline power.¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s strength has plummeted since their sectmaster¡¯s disappearance. Mo Heng¡¯s showy performance kind of saved their reputation, yet he somehow disappeared as well.¡±

    ¡°It seems to me that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is cursed. I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be long before it falls out of the ranks of the four human great sects.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps our sect may take their ce one day.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has ridden roughshod over us for too long. It¡¯s about time wee to the front stage.¡±

    The group of Void domain Qi warriors continued to fly about to loot valuables.

    SHEW!

    Like a streak of starlight, Nie Tian approached on his Star Boat.

    Even his Star Boat was influenced by the unique environment in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Not only was its speed greatly limited as it traveled through the white frosty mist, but strange crackling sounds kepting from it as well.

    The frosty mist blocked the Star Boat from sight. Only after it flew closer did the Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce see what it was.

    The Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce gasped with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s a Star Boat!¡±

    ¡°A Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°It must be Wang Meijia! She and Chu Rui are close. She¡¯s here!¡±

    However, upon closer inspection, they noticed that there wasn¡¯t a female among the neers. Confused expressions appeared on their faces.

    Nie Tian had never visited the Domain of Frigid Depths. Many didn¡¯t know what he looked like.

    Surprised and confused, one of them stared at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°You are?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce, aren¡¯t you?¡± With these words, Nie Tian released his soul awareness to scan through the starship wreckage, and failed to detect a single wisp of life.

    He didn¡¯t have to think about it to know that this was a starship that had belonged to Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates.

    ¡°One, two... seventeen.¡± After a quick scan, he counted seventeen corpses, all of which belonged to Void domain cultivators.

    ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are!¡± the man eximed. ¡°Even Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui is trapped here. No one other than the sectmaster himself can sway our determination!¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not here to sway anything.¡± With these words, Nie Tian whizzed past them on his Star Boat.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods that were now made of flesh and blood bellowed as they flew out from the Spirit Pearl.

    Each and every one of them was about a hundred meters tall, scary-looking, and wreathed in endless Phantasm Qi.

    ¡°Go!¡± Nie Tian gave the order, testing the five evil gods¡¯ might in battle for the first time.

    HOOOOWL! ROOOAARRRR!!

    The five evil gods instantly swooped towards the Void domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce, with half of their bodies inside the mysterious holes that brimmed with rolling Phantasm Qi.

    FZZZ!

    Illusory domains that were filled with thick frosty auras were torn to pieces one after another, as if they were made of paper.

    In the next moment, the evil gods entered their shattered domains and grabbed the Qi warriors with theirrge, satanic ws. With a casual swipe, they filled the void with their blood and bits of flesh.

    WHOOSH!

    Then, as they opened their mouths, the discarnate souls of the Void domain cultivators, along with the soul power they had fused into their domains, morphed into streaks of gray auras that disappeared into their mouths.

    However, they didn¡¯t seem to have even the slightest interest in the Void domain cultivators¡¯ fleshly bodies. They simply let their blood and mangled remains drift where they might.

    FZZZ!

    Wisps of the discarnate souls of Chu Rui¡¯s dead subordinates that hadn¡¯t scattered were also sucked into the five evil gods¡¯ mouths.

    In the blink of an eye, all of the Void domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce died at the evil gods¡¯ hands.

    After the feast, the five of themzily returned to the Spirit Pearl, which floated quietly over Nie Tian¡¯s head and emanated cyan light, as if it were somehow connected to the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd: the Nether Realm.

    Beside Nie Tian, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan remained silent.

    However, a hint of fear could be seen in their eyes.

    Deeply shaken, Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect stared nkly at Nie Tian and thought to himself, ¡°He¡¯s only at thete Soul realm, and his bloodline should be no higher than the eighth grade.¡±

    Even though Nie Tian hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain yet, the five evil gods he had summoned killed the Void domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce as effortlessly as chopping melons.

    The moment the five evil gods had flown out, Yin Xingtian had realized what Nie Tian had secretly done in the depths of the desert in the Realm of Red Sun.

    After all, their ultimate evil auras had left extremely deep impressions on him.

    Even Mo Qianfan had felt insecure and uneasy when facing them, not to mention him.

    Mo Qianfan took a deep breath and said to Nie Tian with a somewhat bitter expression, ¡°Those creatures have be even stronger.

    ¡°The ancient, immense auras they exude are simr to the auras of Phantasm grand monarchs, but at the same time, different. Also, I don¡¯t know why, but when I examined them earlier, I could vaguely sense the aura of the Nether River.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to identify their origins as well.¡±

    Surprised, Mo Qianfan asked, ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡±

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°They¡¯re still growing and going through changes. And they¡¯re far from reaching their peak state. The more souls and spirits they devour, the faster they¡¯ll grow. Perhaps they need flesh power too. It¡¯s just that humans¡¯ flesh power is too weak to spark their interest.¡±

    Filled with questions, Mo Qianfan intended to continue with the topic.

    However, at this moment, Nie Tian started the Star Boat and flew forward.

    Seeing this, he and Yin Xingtian could only followed along. Both of them hadplicated looks on their faces as they looked at Nie Tian from behind. They had an increasingly strong feeling that he had far too many secrets that they didn¡¯t know about.

    Days passed.

    Apanied by Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian, Nie Tian continued to search the area Zu Guangyao had shown him.

    Over the past days, they had found many dead bodies of Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates and wrecked starships, some of which were being looted of their valuables by disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce.

    Every time this happened, Nie Tian would summon the five evil gods with no questions asked.

    Then, the five evil gods would crush the Void domain Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce in battle.

    In fact, just their ultimate evil auras alone would make the Void domain cultivators realize that they were no match for them.

    Then, when they unleashed negative emotions on them, waves of despair, fear, bloodlust, hatred, and rage would crush their souls immediately.

    After that, the evil gods would easily shred their domains and bodies and devour their souls.

    There hadn¡¯t been any mishaps.

    In a matter of days, Nie Tian had managed to kill a few dozen Void domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce. At the same time, the evil gods had devoured a considerable number of discarnate souls from Chu Rui¡¯s dead subordinates.

    After this series of battles and consumption, the hundred-meter tall evil gods had grown fifty meters taller.

    Their auras made Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian more and more uneasy.

    Now, as the evil gods flew out, they would even feel as if five Phantasm grand monarchs that had perished in ancient times had suddenlye back to life.

    SHEW!

    The Star Boat continued to fly like a shooting star in the frigid mist.

    A bolt of lightning shed in the misty distance. Sensing impacts between powers, Mo Qianfan turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°People are fighting up ahead!

    ¡°It¡¯s a battle between Saint domain cultivators! It seems that we¡¯ve found who we¡¯ve been looking for!¡±

    All that they had encountered and killed before were Void domain cultivators. Not a single one of them had been at the Saint domain.

    With the help of their domains, Saint domain experts could travel as fast as lightning in the starry river. Even starships couldn¡¯t always match their speed. Usually, only other Saint domain experts could detect their moves and pursue them.

    After taking a moment to sense the situation, Yin Xingtian also said, ¡°A battle is taking ce between Chu Rui¡¯s Saint domain subordinates and Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce. There are two of Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates, one at the early Saint domain, the other at the middle Saint domain. They¡¯re currently surrounded by five Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce.¡±

    Even though there was still a significant distance between them and the battlefield, Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian managed to sense so many details.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness was still traveling in the frosty mist and hadn¡¯t detected any movements.

    ¡°The intensity and detection range of my soul power still has a lot of room to improve.¡± With this thought, Nie Tian picked up speed, fearing that he would get there toote and see nothing but Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates¡¯ cold bodies.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first,¡± Mo Qianfan said.

    In the next moment, his lightning domain morphed into his dharma idol, which then turned into a bolt of lightning that disappeared into the distant starry river in a split second.

 Chapter 1233: Divine Tool: Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom

    Dharma idols could change infinitely.

    Even looking at the bolt of lightning transformed from Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t sense its existence with his soul awareness.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s pupils shrank, anticipation filling his face. ¡°The God domain is extraordinary indeed.¡±

    Even he failed to sense the existence of that bolt of lightning.

    This meant that the Saint domain cultivators fighting in the distance wouldn¡¯t be able to detect Mo Qianfan¡¯s arrival either.

    Adding in the fact that the bolt of lightning was unimaginably fast, by the time those Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce caught sight of it, it might have pierced into their domains already.

    ¡°You couldn¡¯t sense it either?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Yin Xingtian shook his head slightly. ¡°No. The gap between thete Saint domain and the early God domain is much more significant than you¡¯d think. Reaching the God domain has always been my dream. Once I enter the God domain, I¡¯ll be able to vest every wisp of my sword intent with the Dao of sword that I¡¯ve spent my life pursuing. It¡¯ll be as if they¡¯ve developed their own life and awareness!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps I won¡¯t be able to help you enter the God domain, but I can extend your lifespan for you. That I can promise.¡± Nie Tian said.

    A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Yin Xingtian¡¯s mouth. ¡°I believe you. If I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t have waited in the Realm of Red Sun for so long. And I definitely wouldn¡¯t havee to the Domain of Frigid Depths with you.¡±

    With a natural smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Great.¡±

    With these words, the Star Boat elerated again.

    At the same time, the keen perception of his bloodline allowed him to sense the increasingly frigid auras in the distant battle zone. He frowned.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The friction between the Star Boat¡¯s starlight shield and the frigid aura gave rise to sputtering icy light and starlight.

    ¡°You¡¯d better be careful,¡± Yin Xingtian said. ¡°Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce have their unique ways, and may be harder to deal with than those from the Primal Yang Sect. I know that it wasn¡¯t your own strength and cultivation base that earned you that victory in the Primal Yang Sect. That mysterious me spark you released yed a key role in your triumph.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and said, ¡°You have a keen perception, Senior Yin.¡±

    That me spark given to him by the Divine me had a natural subduing effect on Qi warriors that practiced fire incantations, regardless of their cultivation bases. Even the Primal Yang Heavenly Grand Formation had been vulnerable to its attacks.

    Not to mention that the me Dragon Armor forged by Shao Tianyang had previously damaged the grand spell formation.

    However, it would be different with the Extreme Coldness Pce.

    The Extreme Coldness Pce¡¯s disciples practiced cold power. Their battle prowess would be amplified by the frigid aura that pervaded the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Neither the me spark nor the me Dragon Armor had a natural subduing effect on them. Eventually, it would be the difference between their strengths that would determine the result of their shes.

    FZZZ!

    With a casual fling of his sleeve, Yin Xingtian sent numerous spiritual swords flying out of his cuff.

    Fierce sword intent instantly filled the void. Even the rich frosty mist was mangled and shattered where it spread.

    Yin Xingtian then overtook the Star Boat and flew into the battle zone in a sh.

    ¡°Nine Heavens Profound Thunder! Thunder Crack!¡± Mo Qianfan¡¯s roar shook heaven and earth. Even the powerful Qi warriors in the nearby sparkling realms of the Domain of Frigid Depths sensed the disturbance in the air.

    RUMBLE!

    Seas of lightning and thunder that covered hundreds of square kilometers flew towards the five Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce.

    All five of them were enveloped in their ice domains, where vivid ice-attributed spirit beasts could be seen walking in the snow on snow-capped mountains.

    However, the seas of lightning and thunder rapidly engulfed their domains that looked like kingdoms of ice and snow.

    Furious cries then came from within each of the ice domains.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan!¡±

    ¡°Our sect has never done anything to yours. Why are you here in the Domain of Frigid Depths?¡±

    ¡°Mo Qianfan! Do you really think that no one here will be able to take you now that you¡¯ve entered the God domain?¡±

    ¡°If you dare to touch us, our sect will never let you off. After we¡¯re finished with Chu Rui, you¡¯ll be next to die!¡±

    Their ice domains started to show signs of copsing under the devastating might of Mo Qianfan¡¯s lightning incantation.

    In fear, the five of them, who had surrounded Chu Rui¡¯s two Saint domain subordinates, retreated so that they wouldn¡¯t have to face Mo Qianfan in battle.

    That was when glorious, multicolored spiritual swords suddenly appeared in their ice domains. At the same time, Yin Xingtian revealed himself and asked derisively, ¡°What¡¯s with the rush?¡±

    In the next moment, the ice domains that were on the verge of breaking shatteredpletely, filling the void with countless ice shards and arge amount of icy light.

    ¡°Yin Xingtian! It¡¯s Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect!¡± The five Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce grew even more terrified. As soon as the ice shards and icy light regathered and morphed into ice domains, they fled the area.

    The Streamcloud Sword Sect where Yin Xingtian was from had an even longer history than the Extreme Coldness Pce. Their reserve power was more profound as well.

    Upon sight of him, the Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce assumed that the Streamcloud Sword Sect had sent forces here.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go! To the Divine Kingdom!¡±

    ¡°Inform the sectmaster!¡±

    The moment the five ice domains reformed, they morphed into streaks of icy light that shot several hundred kilometers into the distant starry river in a split second.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At the same time, frigid auras in the frosty mist seemed to be channeled, and started to converge on something huge and vague in the distance.

    Even Mo Qianfan, who was at the early God domain, gasped slightly and didn¡¯t pursue them right away. A concerned look appeared in his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom!¡±

    A middle Saint domain Qi warrior who practiced earth power was thrilled to see Nie Tian. ¡°Y-you¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian, right? My name is Teng Yue! The vice sectmaster is currently trapped by Grand Monarch Ice Bones in the depths of this domain. We, we...¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Say no more. I know what happened.¡±

    Then, with a grim expression, he looked at the huge vague shadow in the distance and asked Mo Qianfan, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the Extreme Coldness Pce¡¯s signature divine tool: Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom,¡± Mo Qianfan answered.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°A divine tool? I thought the Extreme Coldness Pce didn¡¯t have any God domain experts. Am I wrong?¡±

    Yin Xingtian joined the conversation. ¡°No, you¡¯re not wrong, but they produced a God domain expert once in their sect¡¯s history. This Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom was built by that God domain expert. When he approached the end of his lifespan and realized that he wouldn¡¯t have a chance to enter the middle God domain, he used his own domain as the base, infused it with ice-attributed spirit creatures, vested it with the Extreme Coldness Pce¡¯s secret magic and the wonders of the frosty mist that was everywhere, and made this Immortal grade divine tool.

    ¡°Even though its sub-grade is fairly low, it¡¯s still an Immortal grade divine tool. Don¡¯t underestimate its might.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Teng Yue called out. ¡°Some of us were caught by that Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom. As far as I know, they¡¯re still trapped inside of it.¡±

    Nie Tian snorted disdainfully. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s go and see how mighty this Immortal grade divine tool of the Extreme Coldness Pce really is.¡±

    Yin Xingtian frowned and said, ¡°The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom has a profound connection to the frosty mist that fills every corner of the Domain of Frigid Depths. And it can only manifest its full might here in the Domain of Frigid Depths. It won¡¯t be easy to deal with. We¡¯d better be careful and try not to get trapped inside of it.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A magnificent kingdom of ice suddenly appeared, emanating glorious icy light, as if it had been forged from pure ice.

    This was where the five Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce had fled to earlier in the form of five streaks of icy light.

    At first nce, the sparkling kingdom looked like an enormous castle that was thousands of meters high and hundreds of kilometers wide.

    Countless wisps of frosty white aura that looked like strands of soul power could be seen threading within the ice blocks that made the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    When the Star Boat was several kilometers from the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, the resistance became so strong that it couldn¡¯t move another inch.

    A peculiar feeling of an ancient god living in a sacred, ethereal kingdom suddenly entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he looked at the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    At this moment, as strong as his will was, he was overwhelmed by a feeling to kneel before the god of ice.

    ¡°Godly might!¡± Mo Qianfan let out a cold harrumph, and his gigantic dharma idol instantly came to form.

    The boundless power of the god of lightning and thunder morphed into countless lightning bolts that hovered around him.

    As soon as this happened, eighty percent of the aura spreading from within the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom was scattered.

    Thanks to this, Nie Tian recovered a clear mind.

    As a bone-chilling voice came from within the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, a figure appeared at the top of the highest tower that overlooked the entire ice kingdom. ¡°Mo Qianfan!¡±

    ¡°Has my sect ever done anything to your sect?¡± he asked aloud.

    ¡°No,¡± Mo Qianfan answered in a nonchnt manner.

    ¡°Then why are you here? Your sect isn¡¯t a subordinate sect of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce either.¡± He said with a confrontational tone.

    ¡°I work for the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian, now!¡± Mo Qianfan didn¡¯t try to hide the truth. ¡°I¡¯ll take orders from him from now on.¡±

    ¡°Count me in too.¡± Yin Xingtian joined up.

    ¡°You too, Patriarch Yin?!¡±

 Chapter 1234: Mind Frozen

    At this point, many had learned that Nie Tian had helped Mo Qianfan advance to the God domain in the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    However, almost no one knew that Yin Xingtian hadter arrived in the Domain of Endless Thunder to establish a friendly rtionship with Nie Tian.

    Before Mo Qianfan¡¯s advance to the God domain, Yin Xingtian had enjoyed a much higher reputation than him. Besides, the Streamcloud Sword Sect¡¯s reserve power wasn¡¯t something the Heavenly Thunder Sect could match.

    Even the Extreme Coldness Pce could barely match their profound reserve power!

    Furthermore, there had long since been rumors about Yin Xingtian, saying that even though he was at thete Saint domain, he was strong enough to contend against early God domain experts.

    Yin Xingtian floated in the middle of a pir of torrential sword intent, his robe fluttering. He looked up at the sectmaster of the Extreme Coldness Pce in the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, and said with a somewhat arrogant tone, ¡°Long time no see, Brother Lu.

    ¡°Now that Brother Mo and I are here, why don¡¯t you give us face and release Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates?¡±

    BOOOOM!

    As Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol expanded and then shrank, a sea of lightning came to form around it, giving rise to deafening thunder.

    Faint cracking sounds kepting from certain areas in the magnificent castle made of sparkling ice.

    Those were none other than the ces where Chu Rui¡¯s Saint domain subordinates were trapped and resisting the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom¡¯s freezing power with their domains.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The frigid aura the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom exuded seemed to have frozen the space around it, rendering arge area around it inessible.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Star Boat had long since stopped plodding forward.

    Staring at the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, he, who wasn¡¯t using his full strength, couldn¡¯t stop his teeth from chattering. ¡°Cold...¡±

    Lu Qingchen, thete Saint domain sectmaster of the Extreme Coldness Pce, ran his eyes up and down Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian. With a grim face, he said, ¡°You want me to give you face? I want to do that too.¡±

    Mo Qianfan then said, ¡°Release the prisoners then.¡±

    ¡°But the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce never gave us face.¡± Lu Qingchen¡¯s tone suddenly turned cold. ¡°Do you know how many ice-attributed spiritual materials we¡¯ve presented to them as tribute over the years? Why haven¡¯t they made a single disciple of our sect a Son of the Stars?¡±

    Yin Xingtian went nk for a brief moment before saying, ¡°They probably have their rules.¡±

    Lu Qingchen snorted coldly. ¡°Rules? I don¡¯t care about the rules. It¡¯s been far too long since my sectst produced a God domain expert. We¡¯ve been a subordinate sect of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for so many years, and yet not a single God domain expert was made. But now, we¡¯ve been given a chance...¡±

    ¡°What chance?¡± Mo Qianfan asked curiously.

    ¡°That¡¯s not for you to know!¡± Lu Qingchen was cold and firm. ¡°Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, I advise you to stay out of our business with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! This is the Domain of Frigid Depths. As strong as you may be, you won¡¯t have any advantage if you fight me on my turf!

    ¡°Even as we speak, Chu Rui is trapped here. Don¡¯t tell me that you think you¡¯re stronger than him.¡±

    Mo Qianfanughed derisively and said, ¡°Chu Rui is trapped by Grand Monarch Ice Bones. Do you count him as a power of your sect?¡±

    ¡°Nheless, do you have confidence that you¡¯ll be able to defeat us even if we just rely on the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and this frosty mist that fills every corner of the Domain of Frigid Depths?¡± With these words, Lu Qingchen grew very unpleasant. ¡°You¡¯ve just entered the early God domain. Don¡¯t think too much of yourself! Perhaps I wouldn¡¯t be able to handle you if we weren¡¯t in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    ¡°But you¡¯vee to my territory, which my sect has spent countless years building and perfecting!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian joined the conversation. ¡°So you don¡¯t n on turning back, do you?¡±

    Lu Qingchen finallyid his eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°We¡¯ve never thought about turning back since the moment we started killing Chu Rui¡¯s people.¡±

    Then, with a disdainful look in his eyes, he continued, ¡°I admit that you¡¯re extraordinary. But unfortunately, you¡¯re too young, and still have much growing up to do. Judging by the situation the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is currently in, perhaps it will perish before you can enter the God domain and be the new Lord of the Stars.¡±

    Mo Qianfan ran out of patience. ¡°Enough talking!¡±

    The sea of lightning around him started spreading towards the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, giving rise to waves of devastating lightning.

    ¡°Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom! Icebound Heaven and Earth!¡±

    Lu Qingchen stood at the top of the loftiest tower in the divine kingdom, his hands rapidly weaving in the air to form exquisite hand seals.

    Icy light flew out from his palms and fingertips to infuse the Immortal grade divine tool with sparkling talismans and spells that were branded with his lifetime understanding of cold power.

    Distant, bone-piercingly cold chants then echoed from within the divine kingdom that looked like a magnificent mountain.

    They sounded like the whispers of a god.

    Each and every syble seemed to record the profound truths of cold power, as if people would be able to derive a deep understanding of cold power as long as they listened carefully.

    Ice phoenixes, Icy Crystal Beasts, Ice Scale Lizards, and Ice Dragons...

    Numerous lifelike spirit beasts and insects that emitted cold power quietly appeared within the ice blocks that formed the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom. Each and every one of them seemed to be providing the divine kingdom with power.

    ¡°Damn!¡± An exmation suddenly came from behind Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian turned around and saw Teng Yue and the other subordinate of Chu Rui slowly approaching, enveloped in their domains.

    However, upon seeing the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom manifest its might, the two of them eximed in shock, and started to cower back subconsciously.

    However, their earth and water domains were already under its influence.

    Waves of divine power from the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom rapidly froze the vast earth and turned the running water into ice.

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian also frowned as they stared coldly at the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    ¡°It seems that I...¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    Just as he was about to say that he wasn¡¯t feeling any difort, he became dumbstruck.

    Ice flowers somehow started to fall in his sea of awareness.

    Translucent and sparkling, cold and beautiful, they rapidly filled his sea of awareness, causing even his mind to stiffen.

    Puzzled, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to infiltrate my soul first. Will my mind be frozen? Is this the true might of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom to influence his sea of awareness first when it disyed its divine might.

    Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, Teng Yue, and that other man were all at the Saint domain or higher.

    They weren¡¯t so deeply affected.

    Nie Tian, however, was only at the Soul realm. Even though his bloodline had reached the eighth grade, it wasn¡¯t of much help to the strength of his soul.

    Therefore, the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom¡¯s soul-piercing cold power easily put his sea of awareness under significant influence.

    Soon, Nie Tian¡¯s vision started to blur, and he couldn¡¯t think straight anymore, as if even his true soul was covered in frost.

    Only now did he have a taste of the true might of a divine tool. ¡°Divine tool... This is the true might of divine tool.¡±

    CRACK! CRACK!

    After his sea of awareness was his body.

    As the frigid aura gradually infiltrated his body, his exceptionally tough body also froze bit by bit.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he turned into an ice sculpture under the strong influence of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    Neither his body nor his mind could move anymore, as if, without the interference of an external force, he would have to spend eternity in this state.

 Chapter 1235: Breaking Ice

    CRACK!

    Seeing that something was wrong, Teng Yue, who was the nearest to Nie Tian, opened his mouth. ¡°Nie, Nie Tian...¡±

    But his loud voice was frozen by the chill before it could spread.

    Teng Yue paled, and then noticed that the wisps of soul awareness he had emitted changed under the influence of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom immediately after leaving his earth domain.

    His soul awareness actually materialized in the outside world, bing motionless ice crystals!

    Moreover, the soul awareness of his partner, who practiced water power and was at the early Saint domain beside him, was also frozen into ice crystals.

    ¡°Even soul awarenesses are frozen into crystals!¡±

    Teng Yue was panic-stricken as he instantly understood that the Immortal divine weapon of the Extreme Coldness Pce was really unusual. He began to feel regret, thinking that he shouldn¡¯t have stepped into the invincible realm of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    Teng Yue¡¯s interrupted scream caught Yin Xingtian¡¯s attention.

    As soon as Yin Xingtian turned his head, he saw Nie Tian frozen into an ice sculpture. ¡°No matter how talented he is, he¡¯s only at the Soul realm, and his soul isn¡¯t strong enough, as it¡¯s far from the formation of a true soul.¡±

    After muttering, Yin Xingtian prepared to help Nie Tian out.

    ¡°Cold Abyss ck Ice!¡±

    Inside the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, Lu Qingchen, the sectmaster of the Extreme Coldness Pce, suddenly controlled his domain to integrate with the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    FIZZ!

    The dense cold mist swirling around the Domain of Frigid Depths throughout the year surged abnormally.

    In the depths of the cold mist wererge realms that looked like cold ice crystals.

    At this moment, ice as smooth as a mirror and as hard as a rock popped out from the surface of the ice-crystal realms one by one.

    Being pulled by the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, the rock ice shot into the area at an unimaginable speed, like fleeting meteors.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s eyes suddenly became solemn. He was in no hurry to rescue Nie Tian now. ¡°Cold Abyss ck Ice! Cold Abyss ck Ice which records the fundamentalw of cold power of extremely cold realms. It can only be perceived and extracted by God domain experts!¡±

    He could feel that although Nie Tian was frozen by the ice, his body, aura, and sea of soul awareness had not been prated by the cold force, and he would not yet die, at least for a while.

    He suddenly looked at Mo Qianfan.

    Dozens of pieces of Cold Abyss ck Ice flew toward Mo Qianfan from the surface of the domain stars in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Each piece was covered with natural icy crystal patterns.

    Some of the patterns showed serried ciers, some showed blizzards, and some showed cold pictures of frozen worlds.

    Each piece of Cold Abyss ck Ice recorded an extremely cold domain changing over thousands of years due to the pration of cold air, and the mystery of the Dao of extreme cold.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    The Cold Abyss ck Ice, like broken pieces of a copsing sky, bombarded the thunder pool that had been transformed from Mo Qianfan¡¯s domain.

    FIZZ!

    Suddenly, there were billions of icy lights and countless lightning bolts fighting above the deep, cold thunder pool.

    The divine patterns on the ice, the Dao of lightning, and spiritual lightning incantations were all like icy crystals that kept shing about in that area.

    Under the thunder pool, Mo Qianfan, with electric currents covering his body, wore a grim face, and exerted godly force to constantly throw thunder balls asrge as millstones at the thunder pool.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan! I will use the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom to break your domain! This Cold Abyss ck Ice was crystallized by cold mist for millions of years outside the realms in the Domain of Frigid Depths!¡± It seemed Lu Qingchen¡¯s cold voice could freeze everything. No matter where his voice passed, the space, the wind, and other people¡¯s domains seemed overwhelmed, cracking and freezing.

    In the giant Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, there was an illusory soul shadow silently emerging from a crystal rock wall.

    The soul shadow silently gazed at Mo Qianfan like a very cold, ancient god.

    ¡°The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom¡¯s weapon soul is the soul of the God domain expert in the Extreme Coldness Pce who gave up the Great Dao. He merged his own soul into the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, lingering in the cold mist. Did he do that just for the future of the Pce?¡± Yin Xingtian thought to himself.

    BAM!!!

    Strings of icy crystal threads suddenly exploded into crystal bits.

    Teng Yue and his partner let out miserable groans, blood oozing out of the corners of their eyes.

    The broken crystal threads were strands of their soul awareness that had intended to fly out of their domains to sense the soul awareness of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    After freezing, the strands of soul awareness that had been turned into crystal threads couldn¡¯t be recovered, and could only sit frozen in midair.

    Now the sudden explosion forced their strands of soul awareness to scatter.

    In an instant, the two men suffered soul trauma.

    ¡°If we¡¯re frozen, then... what about Nie Tian?¡± Teng Yue looked at Nie Tian with a heavy heart, eager to give thetter a helping hand. However, he found that Nie Tian remained motionless under the oppression of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    His partner¡¯s domain was in even worse shape than his. Not only was his water domain thoroughly crystallized, but his body, like that of Nie Tian¡¯s, gradually froze.

    ¡°Get Nie Tian out first.¡± Yin Xingtian had been watching the battle, and knew that even though he had entered the God domain, it was very difficult for Mo Qianfan to confront the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, so he came up with other ideas.

    CRUNCH!

    While Yin Xingtian was about to make a move, he heard a slight crack.

    The sound came from Nie Tian.

    CRUNCH!

    The sound of the cracking ice became louder and louder, and even the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom¡¯s extremely cold force couldn¡¯t hide it. Yin Xingtian was secretly surprised, wondering, ¡°Can Nie Tian even break free from the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom¡¯s coldness, which hassted for millions of years?¡±

    CRACKLE!!

    In the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, the starry light of his nine star souls kept changing, forming chains of stars.

    The star chains were like a gorgeous starry river floating in the depths of the universe. The twinkling stars smashed the ice flowers in his sea of soul awareness.

    Nie Tian¡¯s frozen mind had been unconsciously restored.

    ¡°Bloodline, Life Strengthening! Potential Stimtion! Begin!¡±

    Driven by the full force of his life bloodline, a mighty power of Qi and blood roiled and flowed in his body, making the tenacity of his flesh and blood reach its peak.

    The ice that covered him was naturally broken by the expansion of his flesh and blood.

    After his limbs regained their mobility, he suddenly shook, and all the ice covering him exploded.

    WHOOSH!

    Red mes were ignited in an instant, bing a sea of fire in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    With his roar, the Spirit Pearl hung high over Nie Tian¡¯s head, and five evil gods flew out of it with ferocious faces.

    Nie Tian pointed, and in a sh, the terrifying, 150-meter-high bodies of the five evil gods were aimed at the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five extreme negative emotions were like five invisible seas haunting the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom. The force that could evoke evil thoughts in the hearts of the people ignored the obstacles of the extremely cold force, and prated directly into the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    In the rock ice of the kingdom, the soul shadow, which had emerged in private, immediately faded, as if it had felt fear.

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡±

    In the Extreme Coldness Pce, Lu Qingchen¡¯s face turned pale for the first time as he felt instinctively uneasy at the sight of the five evil gods.

 Chapter 1236: The Clash of Divine Tools!

    Auras that were ancient, immense, and extremely evil poured out violently.

    Only by looking at the five evil gods, the evil that was buried in the deepest part of people¡¯s hearts seemed to slowly awaken and be increasingly hard to suppress.

    The five negative emotions spread like a sea that connected to the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd: the Nether Realm.

    At the depths of the sea, there was a bottomless hole where curious sparks kepting out.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Extremely rich Phantasm Qi that only existed in the northernmost part of the Nether Realm poured out unceasingly from within the hole.

    Even though the five evil gods remained a hundred and fifty meters tall, they seemed to be stronger and stronger as the rolling Phantasm Qi wrapped around them.

    Facing the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, they let out thunderous howls that seemed to being from an unknown realm, from an era that was lost in history.

    HOOOOWL! HOOOOWL!

    In the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, the soul that had quietly revealed itself earlier went through changes as it faded.

    The fading soul bent in an abnormal manner, as if it were being pulled and twisted.

    The soul was clearly in agony!

    Lu Qingchen, who was in the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and had a profound soul connection to that soul, seemed to experience the same agony the soul was suffering from, as he couldn¡¯t help but wail in pain. ¡°AHH!¡±

    That soul was none other than the soul of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, which had been transformed from the true soul of that God domain expert of the Extreme Coldness Pce, who had given up on his pursuit of the Dao and fused his true soul with the frosty mist in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    The soul transformed from the true soul of a God domain expert was far beyond ordinary.

    But even so, the soul impact from the five evil gods inflicted a tremendous amount of pain upon it, and made it feel the despair of being locked down by a natural enemy.

    Both the soul and Lu Qingchen wallowed in agony.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The blocks of frigid ice that had entered Mo Qianfan¡¯s sea of lightning shattered one after another from the might of the lightning.

    The sea of lightning that took up hundreds of square kilometers was originallypletely frozen, like a vast frozenke.

    However at this moment, as Lu Qingchen wailed in pain and failed to continue to pressure Mo Qianfan, Mo Qianfan managed to break free.

    BOOM!

    Like lightning dragons, countless bolts of lightning sted the frigid ice and ignited the frozenke!

    RUMBLE!

    Rolls of thunder that seemed to be mighty enough to shatter the void came from within the sea of lightning.

    WHOOSH!

    In a split second, the sea of lightning morphed into a waterfall of lightning that poured down into Mo Qianfan through the top of his head.

    As this happened, he expanded at an shocking rate, assuming his dharma idol form.

    ¡°Break!¡±

    Like an ancient god of lightning, Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol that was close to a thousand meters tall brought its huge fist down towards the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    As its fist fell, it seemed to be vested with thews of lightning and thunder.

    Countless bolts of lightning interwove and morphed in the void, fully manifesting the exquisiteness of the Dao of lightning.

    Anticipation rose in Yin Xingtian¡¯s heart as he looked quietly at this scene. ¡°The fist strike carries heavenlyw. Its force is followed by magic. Such wonders of the God domain...¡±

    He imagined that if he mastered the Dao of the sword one day, his countless exquisite sword incantations and every wisp of his sword intent would carry the naturalw of heaven and earth. Such thoughts filled his heart with waves of excitement.

    ¡°Lifespan! What Ick the most is lifespan! Considering my umtion and understanding of the Dao of the sword, there¡¯s no doubt that I¡¯ll be able to break through into the God domain. All I need is time. Once I enter the God domain, even Mo Qianfan won¡¯t be able to match my strength!¡±

    With these thoughts, he fixed Nie Tian with a burning gaze of anticipation.

    Nie Tian seemed to see through his mind right away, as he nodded slightly at him.

    A hint of a smile then appeared on Yin Xingtian¡¯s face.

    HOWL! HOWL!

    The five evil gods started to ram the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom with their enormous, sinister bodies.

    They and Mo Qianfan attacked simultaneously. Surprisingly, they didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of being touched by his mighty lightning bolts.

    However, only pure spirit-form beings would cower before lightning. Once they were vested with flesh and blood, they wouldn¡¯t find lightning so scary anymore.

    Having devoured and absorbed numerous drops of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, the five evil gods had already developed fleshly bodies and transformed from evil spirits into evil gods.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The evil gods threw themselves at the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, matching the rhythm of Mo Qianfan¡¯s attacks.

    After taking repeated heavy blows from Mo Qianfan and the evil gods, the divine kingdom that was sparkling, crystal-clear, and as magnificent as a lofty mountain started to wobble and float backwards in the starry river that was enveloped in a frosty white mist.

    The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom could be viewed as an ancient starship, only muchrger.

    However, it started to lose its bnce under Mo Qianfan and the evil gods¡¯ storm of attacks.

    ¡°Soul!¡± As Lu Qingchen screamed, countless frosty wisps flew out from his forehead before streaming into the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, as if to help its soul recover quickly.

    The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom gradually stopped wobbling.

    ¡°Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword!¡±

    A sword made of ice suddenly flew from the heart of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom. It was only a meter long, two fingers wide, and as thin as cicada wings, yet it exuded the ultimate frigid aura.

    Lu Qingchen swung it.

    FZZZ!

    A silver sword light that was a hundred meters long split the void and flew forward. Wherever it flew, even Mo Qianfan¡¯sw of lightning was shattered.

    The evil god of bloodlust was touched by the sword light. Its body was immediately cut open, with countless fragments of ice rapidly forming in the open wound and gradually freezing the evil god.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed in astonishment. ¡°That sword is another mighty spiritual tool of the Extreme Coldness Pce. It¡¯s said that there was a chance to turn it into an Immortal grade divine tool. The sword was forged in the magical ce that¡¯s currently upied by Grand Monarch Ice Bones after being purged and tempered by frigid qi for hundreds of thousands of years.¡±

    With these words, he turned to Nie Tian. ¡°Its might is by no means insignificant. It¡¯s said that it can draw power from the frosty mist that fills the entire Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    CRACK! CRACK! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    As Yin Xingtian spoke, the frosty mist that was everywhere converged and poured into the thin sword.

    In a sh, the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword that was only two fingers wide seemed to have gathered every wisp of power from the bizarre mist that was everywhere the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    As Lu Qingchen swung the sword a second time, the frosty mist seemed to be vested with its own awareness, as it started to converge on Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian.

    Even the five evil gods were influenced, and gave rise to cracking sounds as they moved.

    Even Yin Xingtian frowned deeply and said, ¡°The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword are working together, and we¡¯re in the Domain of Frigid Depths. No wonder the Extreme Coldness Pce dares to challenge the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s authority. As long as Chu Rui is trapped, I doubt that anyone else from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will be able to score a victory against the Extreme Coldness Pce.¡±

    With these words, Yin Xingtian finally took on an unprecedentedly serious attitude towards the situation they were facing.

    As the starry river gradually froze, the frigid aura in everyone¡¯s domains rapidly built up, causing them great difficulty in movement. Only at this moment did Yin Xingtian decide to go all-out.

    A broken and rusted bronze sword that was only half a meter long was taken carefully from inside his robe.

    Apparently, instead of keeping it in his ring of holding, he kept it on him at all times.

    Nie Tian took a quick nce at the broken sword, and suspected that it had witnessed many eras and had far too many stories.

    As soon as Yin Xingtian held it in his hand, all of the spiritual swords that he stood on started to tremble, as if they were in fear, but at the same time revering and cheering for it.

    What was shocking was that even the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword in Lu Qingchen¡¯s hand started to give off fizzing sounds, as if its soul had sensed danger and be rattled.

    Staring unblinkingly at the broken bronze sword, Lu Qingchen eximed one word at a time, ¡°That¡¯s the Streamcloud Sword Sect¡¯s signature Immortal grade divine tool: Heavenbreaker!

    ¡°Yin Xingtian! What did the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce offer you so that you¡¯d fight for them?¡±

    Yin Xingtian shook his head. ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Unlike your sect, my sect has never been a subordinate sect to any of the great sects. Not to mention the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in their current situation.¡±

    He slowly swung his sword, and a streak of sword intent slowly came to form, quietly aiming at the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    Then, as it shot forward with a heaven-rending, earth-crushing momentum, countless fissures appeared in the thick ice blocks that formed the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

 Chapter 1237: Itâ€™s Not That Heâ€™s Weak, But Rather Youâ€™re Strong!

    BOOM!

    Some restrictive spell seemed to explode in the thick frosty mist.

    Teng Yue, who practiced earth power, suddenly discovered that the frigid aura that was madly pouring into his domain somehow started to retreat like the falling tide. ¡°This is...¡±

    Soon, his grayish-yellow earth domain unfroze, and he recovered his mobility.

    The thick ice Nie Tian was trapped in also cracked before suddenly exploding, filling his surroundings with sparkling icy light that rapidly dissipated.

    Everyone felt a strong sense of relief.

    This entire area that had been frozen under the joint efforts of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword rapidly unfroze.

    The key to this was Yin Xingtian¡¯s broken bronze sword: Heavenbreaker!

    As soon as it was taken out, all restrictive spells and sealing wards were shredded. Even the heavens seemed to be broken.

    Its sword intent flew forward like a streak of light that extended hundreds of kilometers before piercing into the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    The Immortal grade divine tool that looked like a sparkling icy kingdom of the gods was instantly prated, leaving a hole the size of a fist.

    Fine fissures rapidly ripped through the ice walls of the divine kingdom.

    Teng Yue, who had been freed from the cold power, finally realized what had restored mobility to his earth domain. ¡°Heavenbreaker! That¡¯s the Streamcloud Sword Sect¡¯s signature Immortal grade divine tool: Heavenbreaker!¡±

    Teng Yue¡¯s face was filled with astonishment as he stared at the broken bronze sword in Yin Xingtian¡¯s hand from the depths of the grayish-brown mountains that formed his domain. Strong apprehension could be seen in the depths of his eyes.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Even the five evil gods Nie Tian had released had be quiet. Even without Nie Tian¡¯s summons, they took it upon themselves to leave the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and fly back to his side.

    The five of them hovered around the Spirit Pearl, as if any sign of danger would make them retreat inside.

    Even Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol stayed its hand and looked down at Yin Xingtian and the broken bronze sword he was holding like an enormous ancient god. ¡°The Heavenbreaker, a divine tool at an even higher level than the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.¡±

    Compared to his dharma idol, both Yin Xingtian and the broken bronze sword in his hand seemed as tiny as flies.

    However, neither he nor the magnificent Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom of the Extreme Coldness Pce dared to slight either of them.

    ¡°The man once split the realm barrier ofrge-scale realm with a single sh of the Heavenbreaker,¡± Teng Yue muttered in amazement. ¡°If we weren¡¯t in the Domain of Frigid Depths, I bet that sh alone would have inflicted serious injuries on Lu Qingchen.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, Lu Qingchen let out a pained wail, as if to confirm his assumption.

    Even with the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword, and the cold power from the frigid mist, Lu Qingchen had failed to hold off the Heavenbreaker¡¯s devastating sword light.

    Yin Xingtian lifted the de again.

    As he did, changes urred inside his skinny body. Dozens of types of sword intent built up inside of him. Some were iparably sharp. Some were remote and ancient. Some were expansive. Some were long and winding. Some were unbridled, while some were like the whispers between lovers...

    All of them morphed into streams of silver light that disappeared into the Heavenbreaker.

    Thousands of sword projections suddenly appeared and filled a spherical area around Yin Xingtian. Secondster, all of them shrank back into the Heavenbreaker.

    The de was brought down from the air.

    ¡°Heaven Split!¡±

    Countless rifts and cracks rapidly wove into awork in the void, cutting the void into what looked like a chessboard.

    Even the void was broken, not to mention the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom that stood towering in this area of the starry river fell apart, like a sand sculpture built by a god that was violently destroyed by its maker.

    Huge blocks of ice broke off from the divine kingdom and rolled down into the endless starry river.

    ¡°No!¡± Lu Qingchen cried out. Instead of striking back, he dove, wielding the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword to salvage the fallen ice blocks of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    WHOOSH!

    A domain that emanated golden light appeared as the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom toppled.

    Emerging with it from the shattering ice kingdom was a wood domain that was filled with green vegetation.

    The metal domain and wood domain belonged to two of Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates, who had been imprisoned in the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom: Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood.

    Both of them were at thete Saint domain. With the help of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and the bizarre frosty mist here, Lu Qingchen had slowly infiltrated their domains, frozen their bodies and souls, and captured them alive.

    ¡°Teng, Yeng Yue!¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yin!¡±

    ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect! Mo Qianfan!¡±

    ¡°You... you¡¯re Nie Tian, right?¡±

    Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood felt slightly bewildered, as they were fresh out of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    Before Lu Qingcheng had drawn the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword, the sword had been used to channel frigid qi to infiltrate and freeze their domains and seas of awareness.

    For this reason, Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood had focused all of their power and soul awareness on defending against the infiltrating cold power.

    Later, when they had sensed anomalies, they had suspected that Lu Qingchen had met some sort of trouble, perhaps an opponent matching his strength.

    However, they hadn¡¯t been able to imagine who that was left of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was strong enough to fight Lu Qingchen, who possessed the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword, in the unique environment in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Could it be Luo Wanxiang?

    ording to their understanding, the two vice sectmasters had always been friendly in appearance but estranged at heart. Plus, Luo Wanxiang was currently in secluded cultivation. There was no way he could have rushed to their rescue in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    d in a suit of golden armor, Master Pure Metal looked like a teenager that was fifteen or sixteen years old, while the truth was he was already ten thousand years old. He had met Nie Tian in the Dead Star Sea before, and thus recognized him at first sight. ¡°I, I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Yin Xingtian! Our sect will never forget this!¡± Lu Qingchen¡¯s roars came from below the thick frosty mist, sounding both frustrated and exasperated.

    Nie Tian looked down and discovered that the thick mist blocked his sight, preventing him from getting a clear view of what was under there.

    However, he managed to see the broken Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom reforming like building blocksing back together in the mist.

    He was taken aback. ¡°The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom wasn¡¯tpletely destroyed?¡±

    ¡°How could it be that easy to destroy an Immortal grade divine toolpletely?¡± Mo Qianfan said. ¡°Besides, both the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword have their power amplified by the bizarre mist in the Domain of Frigid Depths. That means it¡¯s almost impossible to break the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom or the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword beyond repair here.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Under Lu Qingchen¡¯s control, the vast Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom madly elerated as it flew away like an iparably huge ancient starship.

    Mo Qianfan didn¡¯t pursue it.

    Meanwhile, Yin Xingtian had a stern look on his face, holding his Heavenbreaker. The entire area of the starry river was engulfed in his boundless sword intent.

    ¡°Moon-chasing Streamcloud!¡±

    As he swung the de again, his sword intent condensed into a river of light that flowed after the fleeing Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom like the Milky Way.

    Secondster, a shrill cry came from the depths of the thick frosty mist.

    It was followed by Lu Qingchen¡¯s mad shout. ¡°Yin Xingtian! This conflict between you and I will never be over!¡±

    His Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom once again broke into blocks of ice, which fled with him.

    He had to further elerate with the help of his Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword.

    Yin Xingtian shook his head, looking somewhat frustrated. ¡°It¡¯s too bad that we¡¯re in the Domain of Frigid Depths. If we were in any other domain, I would have been able to kill Lu Qingchen. As the current sectmaster of the Extreme Coldness Pce, he relies too much on his spiritual tool. His personal cultivation base is far too weak.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that he¡¯s weak, but rather you¡¯re too strong,¡± Mo Qianfan said with a serious expression.

    Master Pure Metal also chimed in. ¡°Let alone Lu Qingchen, even among those from the four great sects, whichte Saint domain expert dares to say that their umtion is more profound than yours? Even throughout the entire human world, those there are only a handful of patriarchs who have seniority over you and entered thete Saint domain earlier than you.

    ¡°Not to mention that the sub-grade of your Heavenbreaker is higher than that of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, even though they¡¯re both Immortal grade divine tools.¡±

    Yin Xingtian then said casually, ¡°I¡¯m the sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect after all.¡±

    Mo Qianfan sighed. ¡°Considering your strength and the might of your Heavenbreaker, even I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to best you in battle. If you manage to enter the God domain, I doubt any early God domain experts from the four great sects will be able to match you in battle. You may be another Mo Heng. This is truly enviable.¡±

 Chapter 1238: Frigid Depths, the Forbidden Area

    In a forbidden area at the heart of the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    The frosty mist that filled the entire domain seemed to originate from this ce.

    It was ake that emanated an intense frigid aura. The surface was as smooth as a mirror, with a thick, white mist spreading from its center towards every remote corner of the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Thiske was called the Frigid Depths.

    The Domain of Frigid Depths had been named after it.

    On the glistening surface of theke stood a throne that had been carved from a cier, on which sat a Bonebrute: Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Completely motionless, Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was hundreds of meters tall, looked down at the Frigid Depths with profound cold auras exuding from his eyes, which looked like a pair of icy crystals.

    Ripples would rise on the tranquilke from time to time.

    FZZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Sparks of starlight could be seen shing in the depths of theke.

    At first nce, it looked as if there were a starry river in theke, with numerous sparkling stars in the dark. At the same time, a huge shadow could be seen in the depths of theke, as if something was imprisoned under there.

    That figure channeled power from the starry river and cast profound incantations, yet all of its attempts to break free from the Frigid Depths failed.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones lifted hisrge hand.

    Drops of Blood Essence that were white and spotless flew out of his sparkling icy fingertips. Exuding a bleak aura of death, they spread on theke¡¯s surface before dispersing downwards.

    BOOM!

    Tens of thousands of interweaving silver lights suddenly appeared on the surface of theke. As the essence of Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ blood, they were vested with the profound mysteries of the ultimate bleak and cold death power.

    As that happened, tranquility was restored to the slightly rippledke surface.

    The enormous starlight-emanating shadow that was struggling in the depths of theke was held down once again.

    BOOOOM!

    Arge piece of ice that stood in a corner of theke suddenly started to shake violently.

    As it shattered, Lu Qingchen emerged.

    At the same time, billions of rays of icy light interwove and set up the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom once again, forming around the space where he emerged.

    It was just that the reformed Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom was significantly smaller than its original form.

    WHOOSH!

    The Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword that had been forged after spending ten thousand years in the Frigid Depths was cast out by Lu Qingchen. It descended into the Frigid Depths, as if to absorb its cold power, which would help it repair itself.

    ¡°Sectmaster Lu,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones said in broken humannguage. ¡°You¡¯ve taken care of those Saint domain cultivators from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Saint domain cultivators¡¯ inner domains are rather valuable. If you could separate them, I bet you¡¯d be able to sell them for a good price. Although I reckon that¡¯s not a hard thing to do with the help of your Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword.¡±

    ¡°There... was a little problem, Grand Monarch,¡± Lu Qingchen said, sagging his head.

    ¡°Problem?¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ eyes widened slightly, and a bleak, bone-chilling aura seemed to pierce into Lu Qingchen¡¯s mind.

    Even though Lu Qingchen also practiced cold power, he shuddered involuntarily before hastily exining, ¡°Strong reinforcements from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce arrived!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones snorted disdainfully. ¡°Strong reinforcements? Who from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce other than Luo Wanxiang could pose a threat to you?¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian,¡± Lu Qingchen answered.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ eyes grew wide. ¡°Are you kidding? What can a Son of the Stars do? Even Dou Tianchen isn¡¯t to be feared, much less Nie Tian.¡±

    CRACK! CRACK!

    With these words, his flesh aura sea suddenly spread out, freezing everything within a million kilometer radius around him, including space itself.

    Hismand of cold power, freezing ability, and range of influence was who-knew-how many times superior than Lu Qiangchen¡¯s.

    ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t Nie Tian himself,¡± Lu Qingchen said with his eyes cast down. Fear could be heard in his voice. ¡°There were also Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect, who has recently entered the God domain, and Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect. That Yin Xingtian even nearly pierced through me with his divine tool Heavenbreaker.¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones was clearly taken aback upon hearing these names. ¡°Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian?!¡±

    Even though he was a Bonebrute grand monarch, he seemed to be familiar with Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian. ¡°Mo Qianfan wasn¡¯t worth mentioning before he entered the God domain. However, I¡¯ve heard stories about that Yin Xingtian since long ago. Not only is he a very seasoned cultivator who¡¯s umted power at thete Saint domain for many years, but he holds a mighty divine tool as well...¡±

    ¡°I tried to fight the two of them single-handedly, but failed,¡± Lu Qingchen said.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°The ultimate goal of their trip to the Domain of Frigid Depths has to be to rescue Chu Rui. Don¡¯t worry. Tell your people and the other local sects and ns to stay low for now. And inform Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian of this ce.¡±

    Looking spirited, Lu Qingchen said, ¡°Got it.¡±

    With an expressionless face, Grand Monarch Ice Bones said, ¡°As long as I remain by the Frigid Depths, I can deal with Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian while trapping Chu Rui. It doesn¡¯t matter whoes, Chu Rui, Mo Qianfan, or Yin Xingtian. I¡¯ll turn them all into ice sculptures where their bodies and souls will be frozen for eternity.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it,¡± Lu Qingchen said cheerfully.

    ...

    In the frosty mist.

    From Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood, Nie Tian soon learned that the chubby vice sectmaster of his sect was currently trapped in the Frigid Depths by Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Just before he had been imprisoned, he had informed Master Pure Metal, Lord Green Wood, and his other subordinates through soul messages, and told them to run, and that they should report his situation to his sect as quickly as possible.

    However, powerful experts from the Extreme Coldness Pce and the other local forces in the Domain of Frigid Depths had pursued Master Pure Metal and the others as they had fled. Even after they had split up, many had been captured and killed.

    At the same time, word of what had happened had spread.

    Then, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had given the task of aiding the mission to the Domain of Frigid Depths to Zu Guangyao and Xin Qing.

    However, they had been informed that Luo Wanxiang, another vice sectmaster, had been at a crucial moment in his secluded cultivation. Apparently, he had been practicing some secret incantation. Therefore, his connection to the outside world had beenpletely cut off.

    Without any God domain experts to use, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been stuck.

    Fortunately, Nie Tian had risen and shone in the Domain of Primal Yang. With Mo Qianfan¡¯s assistance, he had severely injured Wu Zhuri, captured him and Qi Jiaoyang alive, and let Fang Yuan escort them back to the sect.

    Upon hearing about this, Wei Lai had sent Han Wanrong to ask for Nie Tian¡¯s service once again.

    ¡°Nie Tian, our master is being held in the Frigid Depths by Grand Monarch Ice Bones as we speak,¡± Master Pure Metal said with an imploring tone. ¡°That strange Frigid Depths seems to be the ce where Grand Monarch Ice Bones has been hiding and strengthening his bloodline the whole time. Plus, the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword, and the entire Extreme Coldness Pce seems to have profound connections to it.

    ¡°Considering our master¡¯s current cultivation base, I doubt that he¡¯ll be able to score a victory fighting Grand Monarch Ice Bones in a ce where he has practiced cultivation for hundreds of thousands of years.¡±

    Master Pure Metal, Lord Green Wood, and Teng Yue all looked at Nie Tian with eager eyes.

    ¡°The Frigid Depths, Grand Monarch Ice Bones...¡± Nie Tian pondered the matter.

    Mo Qianfan took a moment to think before shaking his head, ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones is at the middle tenth grade. If he really has practiced cultivation in the Frigid Depths for that long, it¡¯s gonna be unwise to fight him there. Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui is at the middle God domain. Normally speaking, he should be able to match Grand Monarch Ice Bones in battle, yet he ended up imprisoned in the Frigid Depths.¡±

    Yin Xingtian also frowned, and had a feeling that the odds would be against them if they were to fight Grand Monarch Ice Bones at the Frigid Depths.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said, ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bonespeted with Grand Monarch Crystal Bones for the position of high chieftain. Only after his loss did he find a ce to hide. Now that Grand Monarch Ice Bones has shown up in the Domain of Frigid Depths, what if we let the Bonebrutes know about this?¡±

    Master Pure Metal smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Are you suggesting that we let Grand Monarch Crystal Bonese after Grand Monarch Ice Bones?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll work,¡± Master Pure Metal said. ¡°As soon as we learned that Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who has been hiding in the Frigid Depths, made a move against our master, we had people spread the word to the Bonebrutes. However, the Bonebrutes didn¡¯t do anything, as if they¡¯ve never thought about going after Grand Monarch Ice Bones in the first ce.

    ¡°The Bonebrutes are now led by three grand monarchs: Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, and Grand Monarch Withered Bones, with their bloodlines at thete, middle, and early tenth grade. Among them, only Grand Monarch Crystal Bones and Grand Monarch Pale Bones can create trouble for Grand Monarch Ice Bones. However, as the high chieftain, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones refines his bloodline in private year-round. It¡¯s been a long time since he appeared in public.

    ¡°As for Grand Monarch Pale Bones, who¡¯s also at the middle tenth grade, even if he headed over here, I doubt he¡¯d be able to defeat Grand Monarch Ice Bones at the Frigid Depths...¡±

    Nie Tian went silent for a brief moment before muttering, ¡°So that means even the Bonebrutes don¡¯t have anyone strong enough to defeat Grand Monarch Ice Bones?¡±

    Master Pure Metal nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s nothing they can do about him, unless their high chieftain, thete tenth grade Grand Monarch Crystal Bones,es here himself. But since he hasn¡¯t shown up for many years, most of the Bonebrutes¡¯ affairs are being managed by Grand Monarch Pale Bones. I doubt that he¡¯ll be willing to plunge into a war just to get rid of Grand Monarch Ice Bones.¡±

    Everyone frowned in frustration as the discussion carried on.

    Even Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian found the situation thorny, as they didn¡¯t have any confidence in defeating Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was waiting for them at the Frigid Depths.

    WOO! WOO! WOO!

    While Nie Tian was anxious about what to do, the five evil gods, which hadn¡¯t returned to the Spirit Pearl, let out shrill cries at the same time.

    Like sharp swords and steel needles, the shrill cries pierced far into their surroundings.

    Nie Tian was somewhat baffled. ¡°Hmm?! What¡¯s going on with you?¡±

    He hastily focused his attention onmunicating with them in an attempt to read their thoughts from the auras they emanated.

 Chapter 1239: All Manifestations Star Banner!

    Momentster, a profound look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°A Phantasm grand patriarch.¡±

    Throughmunication with the five evil gods and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, he learned that a Phantasm grand patriarch was on his way here.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul also informed Nie Tian that that Phantasm grand patriarch had a Spirit Pearl as well.

    ¡°Do we go to the Frigid Depths, Nie Tian?¡± Yin Xingtian asked.

    ¡°That has to wait.¡± Nie Tian looked into the frosty mist in the direction the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul showed him. ¡°There¡¯s a small problem.¡±

    What the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was sensing originated from its connection to that other Spirit Pearl. Neither Mo Qianfan nor Yin Xingtian had sensed anything.

    Mo Qianfan snorted disdainfully. ¡°What problem? Unless Grand Monarch Ice Boneses for us himself, I doubt that anyone that¡¯s currently in the Domain of Frigid Depths can pose a threat!¡±

    ¡°A Phantasm grand patriarch whose bloodline is a step away from entering the tenth grade,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°A Phantasm grand patriarch whose bloodline is a step away from entering the tenth grade...¡± Yin Xingtian searched in his memory. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Kleist! Kleist is the only Phantasm who has a chance to enter the tenth grade right now!¡±

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, Kleist!¡± Mo Qianfan also eximed softly.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Are you sure that the Phantasm grand patriarching here is Kleist?¡±

    Both Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan knew that Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl was originally a powerful magical treasure of the Phantasms, and that he had the ability tomunicate with its soul. They nodded simultaneously.

    ¡°If what you said is correct, the only Phantasm grand patriarch who¡¯s currently on the verge of advancing to the tenth grade is Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, Kleist.¡± Yin Xingtian assured him.

    ¡°How strong is this grand patriarch?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Yin Xingtian narrowed his eyes, his aura gradually building up. ¡°His power is widely revered. However, I reckon he and I will be well-matched in battle if there¡¯s going to be one.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°He¡¯s as strong as you are?¡±

    Yin Xingtian nodded slightly. ¡°Yeah. After all, he has the best chance to be the next Phantasm to enter the tenth grade.¡±

    ¡°Is he here because of you?¡± Mo Qianfan asked.

    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    WHOOSH!

    As they spoke, a streak of misty cyan light shuttled through the frosty white mist, covering thousands of kilometers with every passing second.

    ¡°He¡¯s here!¡± Now that he was closer to them, Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian sensed a flesh aura that was unique to the Phantasms.

    After them, Master Pure Metal, Lord Green Wood, and the other Saint domain experts also sensed Kleist¡¯s flesh aura sessively.

    Nie Tian braced himself with a serious expression.

    Finally, the streak of misty cyan light flew to the area where Nie Tian and the others were.

    After the misty cyan light cleared, a well-dressed, handsome Phantasm emerged. Floating in front of his chest was another Spirit Pearl.

    Reflections of Nie Tian, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and everyone else appeared in the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    ¡°Nie Tian, a Son of the Stars, Mo Qianfan, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, Yin Xingtian, the sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect.¡± With these words, heid his eyes on Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with who you are. Even though you¡¯re also at the Saint domain, you apparently haven¡¯t made your names in the human world.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know who Master Pure Metal and the others were, and thus assumed that they were nobodies.

    However, Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood recognized him. Eyes filled with apprehension, they whispered.

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s him indeed!¡±

    Kleist was at the peak of the ninth grade, which matched the humans¡¯te Saint domain. However, Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood were well-aware that even the two of them together wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Kleist in battle.

    If Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian hadn¡¯t been here, they wouldn¡¯t have had the courage to stay and face him.

    ¡°You¡¯re here because of me, right?¡± Nie Tian asked. ¡°Given the grade of your bloodline, you should have been able to sense the strength of those around me before you came close. As a Phantasm, aren¡¯t you afraid of appearing in a human domain by yourself for whatever reason?¡±

    A disdainful smile appeared at the corner of Kleist¡¯s mouth. ¡°Afraid of whom? Them? You think just the few of them will scare me?¡±

    Upon hearing this, Mo Qianfan activated his dharma idol, giving rise to a loud rumble.

    As tall as a mountain peak, his dharma idol had lightning bolts wrapped around it. Like a god of lightning from some ancient myth, it looked down at Kleist with countless lightning wisps slithering through its fingers, as if it could annihte any living being at any time.

    Those who practiced lightning power were the Phantasms¡¯ natural bane. That was well-known.

    ¡°You, hahaha, you lot...¡± Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, Kleist, shook his head unceasingly, his cyan pupils filled with a bizarre light, as if he was waiting for something.

    All of a sudden, an unusual phenomenon appeared in an area over everyone.

    The thick, white mist suddenly became dotted with stars. Blinding starlight seemed to even clear the mist.

    Then, an iparablyrge figure that was surrounded by stars and standing on a river of stars seemed to travel through domains and suddenly appear over everyone.

    An aura that suppressed the heavens, causing even the realms to tremble, burst forth from within it.

    Behind it hung a magnificent banner that was thousands of meters long.

    On the banner was recorded the transition of stars, the rotation of the sun and the moon, and scenes of realms dying and bing silent, along with other profound mysteries andws.

    At this moment, the three fragmentary star marks inside of Nie Tian were stirred simultaneously.

    With a confused expression, Nie Tian looked at the figure, which he found both familiar and unfamiliar. ¡°Is... is that Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang?¡±

    Astonishment filled Yin Xingtian¡¯s face as he said, ¡°The All Manifestations Star Banner, an Immortal grade divine tool! It¡¯s Luo Wanxiang indeed! However, his All Manifestations Star Banner was a level one Immortal grade divine tool. Howe it¡¯s reached level three all of a sudden? Level three Immortal grade... That¡¯s even a level higher than my Heavenbreaker!¡±

    Immortal grade divine tools were also sub-categorized into seven levels.

    The Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom was at level one. The Heavenbreaker was at level two. The All Manifestations Star Banner had originally been at level one, but now it appeared as a level three Immortal grade divine tool.

    In the hands of Luo Wanxiang, who was at the middle God domain and had recently made a breakthrough in his mastery of incantations, its might would be off the charts.

    Looking at the All Manifestations Star Banner, Master Pure Metal cheered excitedly, ¡°Now that vice sectmaster is here, the turmoil in the Domain of Frigid Depths should be easily ended!¡±

    Lord Green Wood and Teng Yue also called out in high spirits, ¡°It seems that we¡¯ve misunderstood Vice Sectmaster Luo. We thought...¡±

    They looked up, beaming.

    FZZZ!

    A streak of dazzling stars was suddenly channeled by Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol and flew out from within the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    It looked like a river of actual, sparkling stars!

    In the next moment, it poured down into Master Pure Metal¡¯s metal domain with an immense, terrifying aura that could annihte lives and vaporize realms.

    Flooded by the river of starlight, the shining golden domain was instantly melted, like gold being turned into liquid.

    ¡°NO!!¡± Master Pure Metal let out an agonized shriek. Without even knowing what was happening, he was engulfed in dazzling starlight and reduced to golden mes and sparks.

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s face turned pale with shock. ¡°He perished, body and soul...¡±

    He and Yin Xingtian hastily flew to Nie Tian¡¯s side to protect him with their power.

    Having watched Master Pure Metal die, Lord Green Wood, Teng Yue, and the other subordinates of Chu Rui yelled madly, ¡°Vice Sectmaster! What, what are you doing?!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Three more streaks of starlight were channeled from Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool, each of which as magnificent as a river of stars.

    Lord Green Wood, Teng Yue, and that other early Saint domain expert, who practiced water power, were instantly engulfed in the dazzling starlight.

    AHHH! AHHH! AHHH! AHHH! AHHH!

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze, the three Saint domain experts didn¡¯t even have a chance to escape before their Saint domains were crushed by the starlight streams and they died. Even their souls were reduced to ashes that scattered into the void.

    ¡°Four of Chu Rui¡¯s Saint domain subordinates killed in the blink of an eye!¡± This was the first time Nie Tian had found Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang to be full of mysteries.

    Looking up at the man, who was suppressing the void around him with the All Manifestations Star Banner, causing even the crystalline realms to tremble in fear, Nie Tian had a strange feeling of unfamiliarity, as if this wasn¡¯t the Luo Wanxiang he knew at all.

    What confused him even more was that after he examined him with rapt attention, he was convinced that it was Luo Wanxiang, yet he still gave him a vague feeling that something was wrong.

    Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan sucked in a breath of cold air and exchanged a nce with each other. Both of them saw deep apprehension in each other¡¯s eyes.

    They had faced Luo Wanxiang on many asions before, yet not once had they felt so insecure and uneasy.

    Perhaps that was because Luo Wanxiang¡¯s aura felt different and unfamiliar this time.

 Chapter 1240: Deviation

    After Luo Wanxiang made his move, four Saint domain cultivators had been in instantly. Even their souls failed to escape!

    As a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Luo Wanxiang had massacred the subordinates of Chu Rui, another vice sectmaster. Such behavior could be described as insane.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡±

    Upon seeing the unfavorable situation, Yin Xingtian shot Mo Qianfan a meaningful nce, signaling him that they had better take Nie Tian and evacuate from the Domain of Frigid Depths right away.

    Since Luo Wanxiang had dared to kill Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates...

    Nie Tian let out an explosive roar. ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo! Are you out of your mind? Shouldn¡¯t you be here to rescue Vice Sectmaster Chu for our sect? Why on earth did you kill Master Pure Metal and those others?¡±

    Hearing this, Kleist the Phantasmughed wildly with his Spirit Pearl floating high over his head.

    SPLASH!

    Streams of cyan light suddenly flew from within the Spirit Pearl, morphing into five evil spirits that carried strong fear, hatred, despair, rage, and bloodlust.

    The five of them were illusory and wreathed in seas of negative emotions.

    All of them wererger than the ones in Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl before their transformation.

    However, the biggest difference was that they were in pure soul form without fleshly bodies.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence floated out of Kleist¡¯s chest.

    The evil spirits roared as they swallowed them.

    Upon consuming Kleist¡¯s Blood Essence, the five illusory evil spirits were vested with faint flesh auras, as if they had suddenly grown skin on the outside of their soul bodies, even though their insides remained illusory and empty.

    However, the skin condensed from Kleist¡¯s Blood Essence was already strong enough to allow the evil spirits to defend against the lightning bolts Mo Qianfan released.

    Frowning slightly, Mo Qianfan muttered, ¡°Now I see...¡±

    He knew that lightning power was most destructive on things that were in pure spirit form, but once those spirits were vested with fleshly bodies, they would bergely protected from lightning attacks, as long as they didn¡¯t face the lightning strikes head-on.

    The purpose of Kleist¡¯s Blood Essence was to provide the five evil spirits with shields that were designed to resist lightning.

    ¡°Their auras are the same as Nie Tian¡¯s. However...¡± In Mo Qianfan¡¯s senses, the evil spirits¡¯ newly-developed skin wasn¡¯t something that wouldst eternally.

    However, he had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s evil spirits substantialize when he had returned to him with more spirit beast meat contributed by the Primal Yang Sect.

    Such substantialization had been a transformation with flesh and blood, and most importantly, it had been permanent.

    It had been a change in the form of beings.

    Nie Tian¡¯s evil gods might have been the same as Kleist¡¯s evil spirits at the beginning, but now they were as different as heaven and earth!

    Nie Tian failed to sense that ancient aura of ultimate evil from the evil spirits released by Kleist. Therefore, their appearance didn¡¯t make him anxious.

    Kleist suddenly took a step forward and said, ¡°Nie Tian, Seventh Son of the Stars, that Spirit Pearl in your possession belongs to my people!

    ¡°It¡¯s about time it was returned to us. After taking it back to my n, I¡¯ll have all three of them, then I¡¯ll see if I can unveil their ultimate secrets!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed softly.

    BOOM!

    As he swung the Heavenbreaker, a stream of glorious light sted through the void, extending thousands of kilometers into the distance.

    The sword light looked as splendid as a heavenly river that spanned the entire starry sky!

    Yin Xingtian moved at the same pace as his sword intent. As soon as his sword domain was activated, it was like thousands of sword projections blossoming like petals, enveloping him and Nie Tian.

    WHOOSH!

    Carrying him and Nie Tian, the sword projections flew into the glorious sword light created by the Heavenbreaker, which looked like a river that spanned the heavens.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    ¡°Thunder God¡¯s Divine Whips!¡±

    As Mo Qianfan cast a secret magic, hundreds of thick lightning bolts that looked like chains that were used to bind gods whipped towards Kleist and his five evil spirits.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Evil Spirit Ethereal Movement!¡±

    Numerous swarming discarnate souls flew out of the Spirit Pearl and fused into the five evil spirits.

    The evil spirits rapidly expanded to a thousand meters tall, which was almost as tall as Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol. Roaring frenziedly, they actually started wrestling with Mo Qianfan¡¯s Thunder God¡¯s Divine Whips.

    Made of blinding lightning, the divine whips pped around as the evil spirits grabbed and tore at them.

    However, as they did, the evil spirits¡¯ skin was charred as well, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    The outer skin formed by Kleist¡¯s Blood Essence didn¡¯t change the essential nature of the evil spirits. They were still met with great resistance when facing experts like Mo Qianfan that had mastered thews of lightning.

    WHOOSH!

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol suddenly morphed into a bolt of dazzling lightning that flew off after Yin Xingtian and Nie Tian in the sword light that looked like an endless river.

    Apparently, his battle against Kleist was merely a disguise.

    His true purpose was to work with Yin Xingtian and get Nie Tian safely out of this strange ce as soon as possible.

    ¡°You¡¯re leaving without putting up a fight...?¡± With these words, Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist looked up at Luo Wanxiang, who was surrounded by the frosty mist, and said with a frown, ¡°ording to our agreement, you should have dealt with Nie Tian¡¯s two helpers while I took that Spirit Pearl back from him!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The immense mysterious starlight that lit up the void streamed back into the All Manifestations Star Banner like rivers running into the sea.

    In a breath¡¯s time, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol shrank thousands of times, and he resumed his true form.

    However, the shocking part was that Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes were every bit as cyan as Kleist¡¯s!

    Not only were his eyes cyan now, but his aura was alsopletely different from before!

    Face as cold as ice, Luo Wanxiang said, ¡°The Book of Spirits you gave me wasn¡¯tplete.¡±

    Kleist snorted derisively and said, ¡°The Book of Spirits is a unique treasury of the knowledge of my people. Only grand monarchs have the privilege to read and derive enlightenment from it. While even I¡¯m not allowed to read and learn from it before entering the tenth grade, the high chieftain allowed you to read and learn from a part of it. What do you have toin about?

    ¡°Would you have been able to lift your All Manifestations Star Banner from level one to level three without our help?

    ¡°Would your understanding of your sect¡¯s soul incantations rise to its current level without what you¡¯ve read in the Book of Spirits? Your cultivation talent is poorer than Ji Cang¡¯s and Mo Heng¡¯s. You can¡¯t possibly enter thete God domain by relying on the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s resources alone. The cultivation of your soul is what¡¯s stopping you from making that breakthrough.

    ¡°In this entire starry river, we, the Phantasms, have made the most progress in soul cultivation.

    ¡°Our Book of Spirits records the ultimate truths of souls. It¡¯ll be the key to whether you¡¯ll be able to break through into thete God domain ande neck to neck with Ji Cang. If you want more knowledge from that book, you¡¯ll have to continue to do what we tell you to.¡±

    A hint of hesitation appeared in Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Nie Tian are different from Master Pure Metal and the others. If I kill them, there¡¯s no turning back.¡±

    Kleist¡¯s face split into a dark smile. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. There was no turning back from the day you practiced the secret incantations in the Book of Spirits. You need to open your eyes to reality here. Also, you should fear nothing. Just do what needs to be done. You¡¯re not the only one who¡¯s been secretly working with us.

    ¡°Great changes are already taking ce across the human domains. Now with Ji Cang and Mo Heng missing, and Chu Rui trapped, who else from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can stop you?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang wrestled with the dilemma. ¡°Once word of me working with you is leaked, I¡¯m afraid that not only my sect, but the other major sects will also...¡±

    ¡°So you have to kill Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Nie Tian,¡± Kleist incited him. ¡°Once you enter thete God domain with the help of the Book of Spirits, will you still be afraid of those other sects? After you enter thete God domain, I doubt that Chu Yuan and the others will dare to make any moves against you.¡±

    ¡°Are there no other options?¡±

    ¡°This is what you should do.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, alright."

    Kleist¡¯s words eliminated thest bit of hesitation and struggle in Luo Wanxiang¡¯s heat.

    He decided to spare no life.

    With a stern face, Kleist said, ¡°The Domain of Frigid Depths covers a vast area, and they¡¯re not versed in spatial power. If we go after them, they won¡¯t be able to escape from us. I have to take that Spirit Pearl back! After gathering all three of them, I¡¯ll definitely be able to advance to the tenth grade and join the ranks of grand monarchs with their help!¡±

 Chapter 1241: A Sect With Plunging Strength

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    A gorgeous sword beam arrived at a crystal domain, like a river of light extending for thousands of kilometers.

    Outside the domain, the barrier wall mixed with broken ice.

    BANG!

    Nie Tian and Yin Xingtiannded in and where ice crystals towered aloft, like meteors outside the Milky Way.

    The two had barelynded when the electric light from the dharma idol of Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect appeared in the white sky.

    ¡°It¡¯s strange. Luo Wanxiang actually didn¡¯t try to stop it.¡±

    Afternding, Mo Qianfan muttered, ¡°It¡¯s clear that Kleist and Luo Wanxiang have reached a secret agreement. Luo Wanxiang must have made up his mind to kill Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates.¡±

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang definitely has contact with the Phantasms,¡± Yin Xingtian cut in. ¡°But it¡¯s very hard to say how deep their rtionship is. Luo Wanxiang wasn¡¯t in a hurry to kill Nie Tian, perhaps because he nned to obtain more interests, and hasn¡¯te to a full arrangement with the Phantasms. After all, Nie Tian, you¡¯re different from Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Mo Qianfan nodded. ¡°Strictly speaking, Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates aren¡¯t disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. As for Nie Tian, he has a noble identity as not only a disciple, but also the central Son of the Stars. If Luo Wanxiang dares to attack Nie Tian, that would mean he has defected from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    As they talked, their soul awarenesses spread on arge scale.

    Nie Tian also tried to sense something with his life bloodline. His awareness spread out, searching for any movements.

    This was a realm of the Domain of Frigid Depths. When he flew previously, he could see that the realm wasn¡¯t veryrge.

    There were many realms in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Affected by the frigid depths, they were all very cold, and most suitable for people or spirit beasts who practiced cold or ice power.

    With soul, qi and blood spreading out, Nie Tian keenly sensed that there were many living things within fifty kilometers of them.

    Most of the living things were human beings, and their cultivation bases were... pitifully low.

    In any case, ording to his perception, there wasn¡¯t even a Void domain Qi warrior within fifty kilometers.

    ¡°Not here.¡± Yin Xingtian frowned slightly. ¡°Maybe not even this realm.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s move,¡± Mo Qianfan said.

    ¡°Mm.¡± Yin Xingtian grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s hand. Then, a sword beam shot up into the sky, tore the barrier wall, and extended beyond the starry sky.

    Mo Qianfan continued to follow them.

    In a short time, the sword beam and the electric light flew to another realm that looked crystal clear from the outside.

    ¡°The Blue Ice Realm! Thend of the Blue Ice Sect in the Domain of Frigid Depths!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s definitely a teleportation formation connected to other realms here!¡±

    As soon as Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtiannded, their soul awarenesses swept over the realm, and it seemed they had captured information in the minds of Qi warriors nearby.

    Nie Tian looked around and saw that they were in a vast, deep sea.

    The blue water was cold and deep, with floating ciers that looked like huge blocks of ice.

    The Blue Ice Realm was one of the realms in the Domain of Frigid Depths. A sect named the Blue Ice Sect was located in this domain.

    There was only a single Saint domain expert in the Blue Ice Realm, who was still at the early Saint domain.

    Most importantly, this Saint domain expert wasn¡¯t in the Blue Ice Realm at present.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Blue Ice Sect!¡±

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s soul awareness locked the gate of the Blue Ice Sect from several thousand kilometers away.

    WHOOSH!

    He quickly flew out with Nie Tian.

    As he came close to the Blue Ice Sect, the sharp Heavenbreaker shed at the blue ciers linked together underneath him.

    BZZZ! BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Eleven ciers, all a kilometer high, suddenly broke.

    ¡°Who?!¡± A Qi warrior of the Blue Ice Sect roared when the ciers began to break.

    Glittering blue curtains of light emerged from the interior of the ciers, and the ciers that were on the verge of copsing barely steadied themselves.

    ¡°Explode!¡±

    Just then, Mo Qianfan threw a punch.

    ck thunder came, rolling and crashing, andpletely smashed the giant formation that had protected the Blue Ice Sect for thousands of years, and thoroughly destroyed the ciers in the Blue Ice Sect.

    ¡°The Blue Ice Sect is no better than the Extreme Coldness Pce.¡± Mo Qianfan snorted and said, ¡°Their sect master and the experts in their sect besieged Chu Rui¡¯s subordinates elsewhere. There are no experts in the sect now. Even if there were, it wouldn¡¯t be a concern.¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± Yin Xingtian raised his sword.

    The sword essence permeated through the middle of a cier, which seemed to have been carved by knives, revealing arge formation filled with spatial fluctuations.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had already understood that the reason why Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian were looking for this realm in the Frigid Depths was because the two of them nned to escape from the Domain of Frigid Depths as soon as possible by means of a spatial teleportation formation.

    They were not sure if Luo Wanxiang would kill them.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones in the Frigid Depths had already given Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian a headache. Adding Luo Wanxiang, whose All Manifestations Star Banner had reached the third level with an obvious advance in cultivation, Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian knew they were no match for the other side, so they wanted to take Nie Tian and leave through a spatial teleportation formation as soon as possible.

    After leaving the Domain of Frigid Depths, they would release the news that Luo Wanxiang had killed Master Pure Metal and others, and then leave everything to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Perhaps the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...¡±

    Looking at the formation being driven by Yin Xingtian and showing itself clearly in the cier, Mo Qianfan refrained from saying anything.

    ¡°I understand,¡± Nie Tian said with a wry smile.

    Ji Cang and Mo Heng were missing. Chu Rui was trapped by Grand Monarch Ice Bones. Worse still, Luo Wanxiang... was clearly in contact with the Phantasms in secret.

    With their other God domain experts all missing in action, could the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce still be considered one of the four ancient sects?

    ¡°The Blue Ice Sect¡¯s formation can¡¯t take us out of the Domain of Frigid Depths!¡± Yin Xingtian spoke as his awareness moved in the formation. ¡°But we can reach the other side of the Domain of Frigid Depths! Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±

    Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian stood in the formation.

    The three men disappeared immediately after it started up.

    HISS! HISS!

    The remaining beams of sword essence cut through the formation and destroyed it.

    When the defensive barrier was destroyed, the Qi warriors of the Blue Ice Sect had panicked and shouted, but when one of them saw Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol, they instantly quieted down.

    They watched Nie Tian and the others dig out their spatial formation from the cier, leave, and break it.

    After a while, fleeting star light and a misty, blue sea of qi and blood came to the Blue Ice Sect together.

    BOOM!

    Luo Wanxiang, who looked like the stars in the sky, emerged from the starlight, and his awareness spread out like stars that shone everywhere. One by one, the Qi warriors in the Blue Ice Sect were touched by the starlight, fell to the ground like broken ss, cracked, and died.

    ¡°They¡¯re smart. They know how to escape with a spatial teleportation formation and destroy it before they leave.¡± Kleist frowned slightly. ¡°They should be on the other side of the Domain of Frigid Depths now. If we want to go there, we can only borrow other formations in other realms nearby.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Grand Monarch Ice Bones in the Frigid Depths?¡± Luo Wanxiang waved his hands, destroying the Blue Ice Sect, and asked Kleist with a deep frown on his face. ¡°Do you have anything to do with the treachery of the Extreme Coldness Pce? Did they make up their minds because you yed tricks in the dark?¡±

    ¡°The great changes in the Domain of Frigid Depths have nothing to do with us,¡± Kleist said.

    ¡°Not you? Then who could it be?¡± Luo Wanxiang was puzzled.

    ¡°We are also investigating. Recently, there have been a lot of problems and unusual idents in our world, as well as the human world...¡± Kleist expressed his attitude. ¡°It wasn¡¯t an ident that we outsiders and you humans nearly killed each other when we were in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

 Chapter 1242: A Giant Silver Ship

    WHOOSH!

    In a cold, lonely domain, Nie Tian and his partners suddenly appeared in a gray city square built from icy rocks.

    ¡°Who are you?¡±

    In the square, several Qi warriors, who were guarding the spatial formation, shouted in surprise.

    Yin Xingtian stepped out of the formation, bent slightly, and snapped his fingers.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Small, sparkling, crystal-clear swords, built purely from the spirit energy in his body, coursed through the veins of the spatial formation in the square, thoroughly destroying it.

    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Yin Xingtian looked rxed, and said to Nie Tian, ignoring the Qi warriors¡¯ fuming eyes, ¡°If Luo Wanxiang and Kleist want toe here, they¡¯ll have to go through an adjacent realm.¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± A Qi warrior, who only was at the Profound realm, was so enraged that his eyes were red as he shouted, ¡°How dare you destroy the spatial teleportation formation of our Icy Silence Sect!¡±

    ¡°Icy Silence Sect...¡± Yin Xingtian shook his head. ¡°Worse than the Blue Ice Sect.¡±

    He didn¡¯t even want to talk to the Qi warrior. Looking out at the chillynd outside the realm, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°This realm is controlled by the Icy Silence Sect. It¡¯s so small that it can¡¯t even rank among the icy realms of the Domain of Frigid Depths. This realm is also at the edge of the Domain of Frigid Depths. We don¡¯t have to steal a starship. Let¡¯s just leave.¡±

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Nie Tian was about to speak when he suddenly saw a zing fire dragging a long light in the vast sky out in the starry river, as if it were falling to the bottom of a river.

    Mo Qianfan frowned, and his God domain soul awareness instantly flew out of the scope of the realm.

    After a while, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s experts, including Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing and Han Wanrong, are actually fighting people from the Domain of Frigid Depths in the starry river outside the realm.¡±

    ¡°This battlefield is actually so remote!¡± Yin Xingtian was surprised.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Nie Tian urged.

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    A sword light flew out of the city built from icy rocks like a river of light against the sky, pierced the barrier wall, and extended to the starry river.

    ¡°A sword movement. A single sword movement prated the realm barrier and reached straight to the outer sky!¡±

    ¡°What outrageous power!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s at the God domain, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    The Qi warriors from the Icy Silence Sect were all stunned to see Yin Xingtian demonstrate a sword move whose light prated the outer sky.

    When a small sect that didn¡¯t have a single Saint domain expert suddenly saw an old monster like Yin Xingtian piercing their realm barrier with a single move, they had no other thoughts but shock.

    When they noticed Mo Qianfan form his dharma idol, condensing a seemingly infinite amount of thunder and lightning, and also fly up into the sky, they were so frightened that they almost fell to their knees.

    With their cultivation bases, they hadn¡¯t even heard of the battle taking ce in the depths of the starry river.

    They had only heard from some old people in their sect that great changes had taken ce in the Domain of Frigid Depths, as its ruler, the Extreme Coldness Pce, had gathered experts from everywhere to do something big.

    They were not entitled to know what that incident was, so they could only guess.

    "God domain! A God domain expert has appeared in the Domain of Frigid Depths!¡±

    ......

    Outside the starry river, more than a dozen Qi warrior sects from the Domain of Frigid Depths had joined forces to set up a formation to besiege Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing and Han Wanrong.

    Icy chariots, a sparkling, crystal-clear ancient starship, thousands of chilly flying shuttles, icy weapons, and an ice formation marked with extremely cold power; all kinds of objects and formations were disyed in the sky.

    With the silk banner of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hanging high, the ancient starship was heavily besieged. Many Void domain Qi warriors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had died in the starry sky, or were seriously injured and dying.

    A giant silvery ship, seemingly made entirely of silver, was moored nearby.

    The giant silver ship was very bright, constantly emitting a dazzling silver light.

    There was a pavilion on the ship.

    An elegantdy wearing a dress and many silver ornaments was quietly sitting in the pavilion.

    Behind her stood a dozen pretty girls, waiting on her like maids.

    Those girls were all at the Profound realm.

    Below the pavilion on the boat were seven Saint domain Qi warriors with deep unusual auras, who seemed to be at hermand.

    BOOM!

    Zu Guangyao¡¯s Saint domain was like a zing sun, radiating extreme light and heat.

    SPLASH!

    A silver light spread out from the giant silver boat and watered it like ice water.

    Under the infiltration of the silver light, the zing me in Zu Guangyao¡¯s domain instantly faded.

    Han Wanrong and Xin Qing nearby keeled over, as if they had taken a heavy blow.

    HISS!

    A gorgeous sword light burst from the ice crystal realm, extending thousands of kilometers to reach them.

    The moment she saw the sword light, the elegantdy, whose expression had thus far remained unchanged, eximed in a low voice, ¡°Heavenbreaker! The Streamcloud Sword Sect, Yin Xingtian!¡± There was a hint of seriousness in her eyes.

    ¡°Madam...¡± e Saint domain expert hurriedly came to her to ask for instructions.

    ¡°It is said that when Patriarch Yin was in the Primal Yang Sect, he went to meet Nie Tian, the seventh Son of The Stars. Yin Xingtian is here, which means that Mo Qianfan of the Heavenly Thunder Sect should also be with him.¡±

    ¡°Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian are a little harder to deal with than Zu Guangyao.¡± The elegantdy frowned and said, ¡°However, it¡¯s Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect that has reached God domain. The most frightening Yin Xingtian is still stuck at the Saint domain, and hasn¡¯t reached the God domain yet...¡±

    Speaking to this point, her expression became much more rxed.

    After hearing her talk to herself, the Saint domain expert asking for instructions and the others thought in another way, and all seemed relieved.

    ¡°Yes, Yin Xingtian hasn¡¯t reached the God domain. He¡¯ll be a terrible threat when he reaches the God domain, but what can Mo Qianfan do even if he reaches the God domain without an immortal divine weapon?¡±

    ¡°With madam¡¯s means, Mo Qianfan can¡¯t stir up trouble for the moment.¡±

    They were all calm.

    Suddenly, thunder and lightning came like a waterfall, and Mo Qianfan¡¯s figure emerged.

    ¡°Eeeh?¡±

    Mo Qianfan stopped. He eximed at the sight of the giant silver ship and thedy.

    Yin Xingtian wrapped Nie Tian with sword essence, walking on the river of sword light that Heavenbreaker had created. When he noticed the giant silver boat, he frowned. ¡°It¡¯s actually you.¡±

    ¡°Are you surprised?¡± The elegantdy said in a light tone, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will likely be removed from the list of the four great ancient sects. After so many years, an ancient sect is about toe to an end at longst. We¡¯ve waited for such an opportunity for thousands of years, and we don¡¯t want to miss it.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s more, since we¡¯re next to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, it¡¯ll be easier for us to take over and develop their domain.¡±

    Nie Tian stared at the elegantdy and felt a strong sense of danger.

    ¡°God domain! At least at the early God domain!¡±

    He actually couldn¡¯t tell what thisdy¡¯s realm and cultivation was, but she seemed to be a greater threat than Mo Qianfan.

    ¡°You want to rece the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

 Chapter 1243: The Profound Purity Palace

    The womanid her eyes on Nie Tian, seeming rather intrigued about him. ¡°You¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars, right?

    ¡°You¡¯ve done well. You managed to defeat Ophelia of the Demons in the Dead Star Sea and made great contributions in the incident in the Shatter Battlefield. However, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is on the decline. I¡¯m afraid it no longer has the soil for you to grow into a Lord of the Stars.¡±

    After a short pause, she added with a sincere expression, ¡°As far as I know, both the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society have high opinions of you. You should listen to me, forsake your status as a Son of the Stars, and go join the Five Elements Sect or the Void Spirit Society. As for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, take it as a life experience that¡¯s better forgotten.¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Nie Tian asked coldly. ¡°You think I¡¯ll betray my sect just because of what you just said?¡±

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian looked around to examine the situation, and noticed that Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong were all trapped here.

    Zu Guangyao made repeated attempts to break free, yet he seemed to be overpowered by the giant silver ship¡¯s immense power, and all of his attempts ended in failure.

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian exchanged a nce with each other in silence, as if they were actually thinking about thedy¡¯s suggestion.

    After a moment of hesitation, Mo Qianfan said somewhat awkwardly, ¡°Nie Tian... Considering the current situation, it may not be the worst idea to cut your ties to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. If you do that, the three domains that belong to you will be independent. And your friendly rtionship with the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society will benefit you in terms of your future growth.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s actually a good point.¡± Yin Xingtian nodded slowly.

    Both Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian had seen the trend.

    Ji Cang and Mo Heng were missing. Chu Rui had been imprisoned by Grand Monarch Ice Bones. Luo Wanxiang was colluding with the Phantasms. All of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s thirteen subordinate domains were in turmoil.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was now beset with enemies from within and without. Without enough power to turn the situation around, Nie Tian would only be mired down if he didn¡¯t jump out.

    A surprised look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    In the loft of the ship, the graceful nobledy slowly rose to her feet. ¡°You have good vision as the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect.¡±

    As she did, she turned out to be exceptionally tall. The way she swung her waist made men fantasize as she walked to the prow.

    Plus, the lofty and distant look on her face provoked their desire to conquer her.

    All of the seven Saint domain experts buried their heads, not daring to take a single nce at her.

    After walking to the prow of the huge silver ship, she nced at Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong before saying, ¡°To give Sectmaster Mo and Patriarch Yin face, I can allow you to leave now, Nie Tian. I can also guarantee that our sect won¡¯ty our hands on the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, or the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°But I can¡¯t speak for the other sects.

    ¡°Silence!¡±

    With these words, she suddenly cast an impatient stare at Zu Guangyao, who was still struggling violently.

    Countless silver needles were then released, and flew towards Zu Guangyao like a fine drizzle.

    Each and every silver needle seemed to have their own awareness, as they changed positions in the void, forming hundreds of mysterious spell formations.

    It seemed as if a god was forming them with countless rays of silver light that carried his divine power.

    sted by the silver light, Zu Guangyao¡¯s Sunlight Wheel scattered instantly. While his domain was riddled with needle holes, he was covered in beads of blood.

    He immediately lost his power and spirit.

    ¡°Heaven-purging Divine Light!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed softly. A deeply grim look filled his eyes as he looked at the silver needles that filled the void.

    Mo Qianfan quietly canceled his dharma idol, resuming his true form, as if he was worried that those silver needles would pierce into his dharma idol and break his divine magic.

    Now, Zu Guangyao had be much quieter. Like Xin Qing and Han Wanrong, he also became dispirited and weak, and looked at Nie Tian from afar.

    Then, the three of them seemed to yell something towards him, yet not even the slightest noise came through.

    ¡°The Profound Purity Pce!¡± It was at this moment that Nie Tian suddenly remembered something about this sect.

    Aside from the four great sects, there were a few other powerful sects in the human world that also had God domain experts. Those sects¡¯ reputations only came after those of the four great sects.

    The Extreme Coldness Pce, the Primal Yang Sect, the Streamcloud Sword Sect, the Heavenly Spirit Sect, and the Ancient Law Sect had all produced God domain experts in their histories.

    However, none of these sects had produced any God domain experts in this era.

    Therefore, even though they had profound reserve power and multiplete Saint domain experts, their strengths weren¡¯t among the top.

    The Profound Purity Pce was different.

    For every generation in the past hundred thousand years, the Profound Purity Pce had been led by God domain sectmasters.

    This had made the Profound Purity Pce one of the most powerful human sects, onlying after the four great sects.

    It was said that the current sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce, Yu Suying, who had umted her strength in the early God domain for many years, had a great chance to advance to the middle God domain within a short time.

    Furthermore, she had a junior martial sister who was expected to break through into the early God domain soon.

    Once both of them made their breakthroughs, the Profound Purity Pce would have two God domain experts, which would push its strength to unprecedented heights.

    They had only had one God domain expert in each of the past three generations, while they would have two in this generation!

    This might even allow the Profound Purity Pce toe neck and neck with the four great sects.

    Nie Tian finally realized what was happening.

    It also urred to him that the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s territory bordered that of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Once the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce went down, their rise would be easy.

    ¡°I have a question, Sectmaster Yu,¡± Mo Qianfan said.

    Having silenced Zu Guangyao, Yu Suying made a grabbing motion in the air with her jade hand. In the next moment, the Heaven-purging Divine Light that filled the void returned to her like swallows returning to their nest, and disappeared behind her back.

    It was as if there was an invisible space at her back that stored all of the Heaven-purging Divine Light.

    ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± she said inly.

    ¡°Aside from your sect, are there other human forces that are also attempting to overthrow and rece the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Mo Qianfan asked in a concerned voice.

    Yu Suying nodded. ¡°Like us, many forces have waited many years for an opportunity like this. Of course we won¡¯t miss it. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has arge number of subordinate domains and realms, which yield all sorts of cultivation resources. Our sect alone can¡¯t upy all of them. It seems that we¡¯ll have to divide the ¡®spoils¡¯ with the others.¡±

    Yin Xingtian joined the conversation. ¡°The Extreme Coldness Pce and the rebel forces in the other domains rose up simultaneously. Did your sect incite their rebellion?¡±

    ¡°Not all of them,¡± Yu Suying said, looking fully at ease.

    ¡°Then who else is there?¡± Yin Xingtian asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know everything, but even what I know, I can¡¯t tell you.¡± Yu Suying refused to give details. ¡°I can only tell you that our sect made a bit of a promise to the local forces in the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    Mo Qianfan nodded, his eyes cast down. ¡°I see.¡±

    Yin Xingtian also fell silent.

    Yu Suying, however, looked calmly at Nie Tian, waiting for his decision.

    Nie Tian frowned deeply.

    He could tell that both Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan reckoned that he would benefit from it if he were to cut his ties to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Furthermore, both of them seemed tock confidence when facing Yu Suying.

    ¡°Now crammed in the Domain of Frigid Depths are Grand Monarch Ice Bones, Chu Rui, Luo Wanxiang, Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, and Yu Suying...¡± As Nie Tian thought to himself, he cast a nce at Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong.

    He saw nothing but bitterness and helplessness on their faces. The three of them seemed to have heard their conversation and been convinced that he would make the wise decision here.

    Right now, he had Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and other powerful experts at his back. He might even be able to enlist Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling as his subordinatester.

    Under such circumstances, his strength would easily rise above that of any Son of the Stars, or even any vice sectmaster.

    Why would he cling to the sinking ship that was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?

    Ji Cang and Mo Heng were missing. Chu Rui was trapped. Luo Wanxiang had turned traitor. Sects like the Profound Purity Pce had joined up to overthrow the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and plunged all of its subordinate domains into chaos. Clearly, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was going down.

    Han Wanrong let out a sigh and slowly closed her eyes, as if she knew that Nie Tian would decide to walk away from the perilous Domain of Frigid Depths, as well as the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which was now a total mess.

    ¡°Go,¡± Han Wanrong said inwardly. ¡°Make the wise decision. Our sect can¡¯t keep you safe and help you ascend to the God domain anymore. Instead, it¡¯ll only drag you down. Only if you leave will you have a future.¡±

 Chapter 1244: Stubborn Fool

    A strange silence enveloped this area of the starry river.

    Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and many disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were suppressed and bound down.

    Qi warriors from more than a dozen local forces in the Domain of Frigid Depths also waited in silence. They only didn¡¯t cast their spirit tools or form killing spell formations because Yu Suying hadn¡¯t given the final order.

    They were also waiting to hear Nie Tian¡¯s decision.

    Even though he himself didn¡¯t inspire fear in them, Mo Qianfan, who was now at the early God domain, and Yin Xingtian, who had made his name in the human world long ago, would be extremely difficult to deal with.

    Therefore, the best-case scenario would be that they didn¡¯t have to face them in battle.

    On another ount, Nie Tian had deep connections to the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society. If he were to die at their hands, would they be held responsible in the future?

    With these scruples in mind, they all quieted down and waited for Nie Tian¡¯s decision.

    CLAP!

    A snapping sound suddenly came from within an early Void domain disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Gradually infiltrated by cold power, the man¡¯s bones were frozen, and they snapped...

    Naturally, he let out an agonized wail.

    In thepletely silent starry river, his wail sounded very untimely and harsh.

    Nie Tian immediatelyid his eyes on him, his gaze like icy sword light.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In a sh, he took out the Spirit Pearl and unleashed the five evil gods, which flew out roaring and wreathed in torrential Phantasm Qi.

    At the same time, the me Dragon Armor whizzed out and d itself on Nie Tian, before bursting into raging mes.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    The Star Behemoth bone that hadin dormant in his ring of holding for a long time was also brought out. Like an iparably sharp spear, it floated horizontally in front of him.

    ¡°I need your power in this battle, no matter what!¡±

    Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul awareness into the bone in an attempt tomunicate with the seemingly-awakened, immense awareness inside of it.

    He dered his decision with his actions!

    ¡°Stubborn fool!¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said, the look in her eyes turning icy. ¡°I did everything I could to help you see the truth, yet you still decided to make such an unwise decision. It seems that the seventh Son of the Stars isn¡¯t so smart after all.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled coldly and said, ¡°The Profound Purity Pce, is it? Considering your sect¡¯s reserve power, what you¡¯re trying to do now is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. It seems to me that you¡¯re the foolish one!¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± The Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Pce flew into a rage upon hearing this.

    Powerful auras burst forth from within them, sting into their surroundings. The seven of them took a small step towards Nie Tian, and seas of spiritual power of different attributes spread towards Nie Tian with overwhelming momentum.

    Without trying to persuade Nie Tian, Yu Suying turned to Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian, and asked, ¡°What about you? Is this kid worth dying for? You should be able to see that even the two of you together won¡¯t be able to change the result.¡±

    With a solemn expression, Mo Qianfan said, ¡°Nie Tian helped me enter the God domain. I promised him that the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n, and I would do everything we could to help him.¡±

    Yin Xingtian pondered in silence for a few seconds before saying, ¡°He¡¯ll be the key that¡¯ll determine whether I¡¯ll be able to enter the God domain. If I can¡¯t enter the God domain, I¡¯ll be as good as dead.¡±

    A hint of surprise shed across Yu Suying¡¯s eyes. ¡°Him? You¡¯ve really pinned all of your hope for entering the God domain on him?¡±

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian nodded simultaneously.

    Yu Suying let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that.¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± As Nie Tian eximed, the Spirit Pearl emanated misty cyan light, and the five evil gods charged into the area where Zu Guangyao and the others were trapped.

    Numerous sparkling ice balls, ice swords, and ice pirs could be seen floating in the area, conjuring various peculiar spell formations and misty white cold power wards.

    All of them were defenses the experts from the various local sects in the Domain of Frigid Depths had established to trap Zu Guangyao and the others.

    HOWL! HOWL! HOWL! ROAR! ROAR!

    With furious roars, the evil gods tore through the wards, smashed the ice balls and ice swords, and ripped the frigid spell formations of ice pirs apart.

    CRACK! CRACK! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Sparkling ice chips and icy lights were sent flying in every direction.

    Somewhat surprised, Yu Suying stared at the five evil gods for a few seconds before muttering in a low voice, ¡°Such ancient evil auras. I¡¯ve met Phantasm grand monarchs. But even they didn¡¯t seem to carry such pure, ultimate evil auras. And I can¡¯t believe the auras areing from some puppets made of flesh and blood. This is so... truly strange...¡±

    ¡°Life Strengthening! Potential Stimtion! Life Blend!¡±

    As one bloodline talent after another was activated, Nie Tian¡¯s robust form transformed in a sh, bing what looked like an ancient god that was filled with shocking might, though small in size.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Some restriction inside the Star Behemoth bone seemed to burst, before a crimson blood aura that looked like red mes flowed through the entire bone.

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s terrifying aura, which was unique to the being that had stood at the top of the food chain during the Primal Era, was born within the bone!

    Yu Suying¡¯s bright eyes lit up!

    FZZZ!

    Nie Tian circted his bloodline power, ignited his Blood Essence, and thrust the exceptionally long Star Behemoth bone at the mysterious spell formations built by powerful experts from across the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    A beam of blood-colored light that was as immense as the sea easily prated them.

    Facing the blood-colored light, the wide array of frigid spell formations, ice pirs, ice-attributed spirit tools, and incantations seemed as fragile as paper.

    Spell formations exploded. Spiritual tools were crushed. Frigid spells were reduced to frosty mists that returned to the void.

    At the same time, the blood-colored light gradually morphed into a huge, devastating shape that seemed to be able to devour realms and refine the starry river.

    As soon as the enormous shape came to form, not only the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths, but even Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian started to sense danger.

    Even Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was at the Frigid Depths, which was countless kilometers away, shuddered violently, as if a strong fear that had been imprinted in the depths of his bloodline was suddenly awakened. ¡°Such aura...¡±

    It was a deep-rooted fear!

    At the same time, Kleist, who had been searching everywhere, was startled, his eyelids twitching. ¡°Such a terrifying aura!¡±

    It was as if every single drop of his Blood Essence was screaming in fear.

    Luo Wanxiang frowned and looked into the remote distance, as if to see through the starry river. ¡°An extremely powerful and immense aura. Who could it be?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s no one!¡± Kleist¡¯s face turned slightly pale. ¡°Not even our grand monarchs, or tenth grade dragons or Ancientbeasts could make me feel this way. This is a kind of fear towards natural banes!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I have no such feelings.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re a human,¡± Kleist said coldly. ¡°You don¡¯t have bloodline imprints. You can¡¯t possibly know what kind of devastating beings once lived in this starry river.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang went nk for a moment before suddenly realizing something. ¡°Are you talking about Star Behemoths?¡±

    ¡°What else could have scared me so with merely a whiff of its aura?¡±

 Chapter 1245: Eviction

    In the Domain of Frigid Frost.

    Since humans didn¡¯t have bloodline imprints from the Primal Era, most of them didn¡¯t feel any difort.

    However, the spirit beasts that had remote bloodline connections to Ancientspirits and outsiders sensed an aura that made them tremble involuntarily in fear.

    A wide array of powerful ice-attributed spirit beasts lived in the frozen realms of the Domain of Frigid Frost.

    Many of them couldn¡¯t help but crouch on the ground, no matter where they were.

    All those that carried Ancientspirit bloodlines were overtaken by a fear that originated from their bloodlines.

    Many Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths also noticed the anomaly.

    Some of the spirit beasts had been viewed as their sects¡¯ holy beasts. However, at this moment, they all kept their bodies close to the ground and panted heavily, not daring to move a hair.

    There were Qi warriors that were hunting and fighting spirit beasts in dangerous areas that they referred to as restricted areas.

    During their fights, many powerful spirit beasts that were giving them headaches suddenly started shivering before running back to theirirs and refusing toe out.

    There were also outsiders that hid themselves in remote realms and had secret contacts with the local sects in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    At this moment, all of them felt throbs in their temples, and gazed off in the same direction with ghastly faces.

    None of them knew what exactly was happening. All they knew was that an extremely terrifying being had appeared somewhere in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    That terrifying being seemed to have preyed on them since they had been born as a race.

    ¡°What¡¯s that? Why am I feeling such strong fear? Even my Blood Essence is shaking.¡±

    ¡°Who or what in the Domain of Frigid Depths could possibly make me feel such strong fear when we still have the endless starry river between us?¡±

    Many hiding outsiders hastily contacted the local sects that they had been secretly working with in attempts to find out what had happened.

    ...

    FZZZ!

    Wreathed in blood-colored light, the terrifying shape that wasrge enough to devour heaven and earth crushed all of the freezing spell formations, frigid spiritual tools, and spherical icy spheres jointly established by Qi warriors from across the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The power of frigid coldness that was trapping Zu Guangyao and the others was ripped to shreds.

    The thick ice that covered the somewhat broken starships of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce broke off inrge pieces.

    Han Wanrong¡¯s eyes burst forth with the light of ecstasy as she eximed, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Xin Qing also instantly grew spirited.

    ¡°No wonder the grand elder ces high hopes in him!¡± Zu Guangyao shouted almost too excitedly.

    Then, as raised his arms and formed a circle with them, a zing sun seemed to rise from within him, lighting up the void.

    ¡°All-illuminating zing Sun!¡±

    The sun between his bracing arms emanated countless rays of fierce sunlight to neutralize the lingering cold power.

    Slightly apprehensive, many Saint domain Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths, who practiced cold power, hastily backed away.

    All of them subconsciouslyid their eyes on the sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce, Yu Suying.

    She was the reason why they had been able to suppress Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong, three elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    It was her who had overpowered and made Zu Guangyao and the others give up resistance.

    Without Yu Suying¡¯s help, given their cultivation bases, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to trap them even though they were in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    After all, as elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong were all at thete Saint domain.

    Originally, they had thought that Yu Suying would make another move against Zu Guangyao to inflict heavy injuries on him and stifle his will to resist.

    However, as they jerked their faces towards her, they were surprised to discover that she simply stood on the huge silver ship with her robe fluttering in the wind.

    Her eyes were fixed on Nie Tian. Apparently, she was wondering about something.

    ROAR! HOWL!

    The five evil gods each let out different roars as they once again released seas of negative emotions, which rapidly spread in every direction like a violent storm.

    Simply by looking at the evil gods, the Saint domain Qi warriors from across the Domain of Frigid Depths felt their negative emotions surging uncontrobly.

    As the evil gods truly ignited their evil power and spread it through the seas of negative emotions, peculiar wicked looks started to appear in the pupils of the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    At this moment, Nie Tian, who had ignited his Blood Essence and was wreathed in raging flesh power, suddenly realized something with the Star Behemoth bone clutched in his hand and blood-colored light flickering in his eyes like crimson mes.

    He sensed two brand new bloodline talents within the bone.

    Both of them were Star Behemoths¡¯ unique bloodline talents, one being Bloodline Suppression and the other being Domain Split.

    Bloodline Suppression allowed the bone to use the Star Behemoths¡¯ supreme bloodline to suppress any beings whose bloodline was weaker than theirs.

    Almost all living beings that carried ancient bloodlines, including Ancientspirits, outsiders, and certain spirit beasts, would be subject to the influence of this bloodline talent.

    Once it was activated, all living beings within arge range that met such criteria would tremble in fear and lose the ability to manifest the full might of their bloodlines.

    Under the influence of Bloodline Suppression, tenth grade titans, dragons, divine beasts, and outsider grand monarchs would lose ten percent of their battle prowess.

    Those at the ninth grade would lose twenty percent of their battle prowess, and so on.

    This meant once Bloodline Suppression was activated, even if Grand Monarch Ice Bones was here, he would lose ten percent of his bloodline power, which would prevent him from bringing out his peak strength.

    Kleist still had yet to break his bloodline barrier to enter the tenth grade. Therefore, as a ninth grade grand patriarch, he would lose twenty percent of his battle prowess!

    This was such a powerful bloodline talent.

    The second newly-awakened Star Behemoth bloodline talent was Domain Split.

    As its name suggested, this bloodline talent allowed the bone to rip domains apart. It was with this bloodline talent that the bone had destroyed the frigid spell formations that had trapped Zu Guangyao and the others.

    This bloodline talent could even tear cultivators¡¯ domains down. When used on those icy wards and freezing spell formations, its effect had been like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood!

    ¡°Bloodline Suppression! Domain Split! This bone has developed its own bloodline talents. However, it needs my Bloodline talent and torrential flesh aura to activate them.¡±

    Breathing somewhat heavily, Nie Tian examined himself, and immediately discovered that he had lost a significant amount of flesh power after activating Bloodline Suppression and Domain Split simultaneously.

    ¡°The bone¡¯s soul isn¡¯t fully awoken yet, which means the upgrade isn¡¯tplete. Perhaps there are still other bloodline talents that were unique to Star Behemoths to be awakened.¡±

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian flew to Zu Guangyao and the others, clutching the bone, which looked like a long spear that could split anything.

    Behind him, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan stared unblinkingly at Yu Suying.

    Both of them were worried that she would attack Nie Tian, and nned to do everything within their power to intercept her attacks if she did. Failing to do that, they would take Nie Tian and leave immediately.

    The sectmaster of a minor sect from the Domain of Frigid Depths seemed to have a great deal of heartache watching the ice pearls he had gone to great lengths to make shatter due to Domain Split. He turned to Yu Suying and called out, ¡°Sectmaster Yu!¡±

    However, Yu Suying didn¡¯t seem to hear him.

    ¡°Sectmaster...¡± One of the Saint domain disciples of the Profound Purity Pce on the giant silver ship whispered.

    Only now did Yu Suying slowlye out of her daze and say softly, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The battlefield was once again enveloped in a strange silence.

    Just as Yu Suying was about to say something, her charming eyebrows came close together, and she sensed something. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s face suddenly grew grim. ¡°It¡¯s Luo Wanxiang!¡±

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo?!¡± Upon hearing this, Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and the others looked greatly spirited, as if they had finally seen an opportunity to turn the situation around.

    WHOOSH!

    Manipted by Kleist, the five evil spirits were the first to charge into this area.

    Other than the fact that they didn¡¯t have fleshly bodies, there didn¡¯t seem to be any difference between them and Nie Tian¡¯s evil gods.

    ¡°Nie Tian! They¡¯ve found out about you! Come with me now!¡± Kleist¡¯s thunderous shouts came from the distant starry river, as if he was afraid that no one would hear him.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s resonant voice came next. ¡°Nie Tian has been secretly working with the Phantasms. He uses theirher tool and practices their evil incantations! In the sectmaster¡¯s absence, I, vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, now expel Nie Tian from our sect. From now on, Nie Tian will no longer be a member of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but a traitor instead! He shall be put to death!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and all of the other disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were bbergasted by this bomb Luo Wanxiang dropped before even entering their sight.

    Even Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce and all of the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths were dumbstruck.

    Was this internal strife?

    A vice sectmaster against a Son of the Stars, during such a perilous moment for their sect?

    Was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce still salvageable?

    Aplicated look filled Yu Suying¡¯s beautiful face as she took a look at Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan, who were just as bbergasted, and shook her head.

 Chapter 1246: Intimidation

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil spirits released by Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist were several hundred meters tall, wreathed in thick Phantasm Qi, and exuded five different kinds of negative energies.

    However, the evil gods that had flown out of Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl were only about a hundred and fifty meters tall, and with half of their bodies submerged in what looked like seas of Phantasm Qi that connected to the Nether Realm.

    Judging by their appearances, the evil spirits and the evil gods looked almost identical.

    However, anyone would be able to spot the differences between them with a single nce.

    Without Blood Essence from Kleist, the evil spirits were even devoid of skin. They werepletely illusory and in pure spirit form.

    In contrast, even though Nie Tian¡¯s evil gods were only about a hundred and fifty meters tall, they were made of flesh and blood, and didn¡¯t seem illusory at all.

    Such a difference was simr to the fundamental difference between the domains of Void domain and Saint domain cultivators.

    In spite of this, the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s hand and that in Kleist¡¯s hands were apparently of the same kind.

    As Kleist entered people¡¯s sight, he shook unceasingly, with his flesh aura sea filled with bright starlight sparks.

    From the look of it, he had sustained serious injuries from Luo Wanxiang, who had been in hot pursuit of him, and the only reason he had done this, risking his life, was to tell Nie Tian to run with him.

    All of this suggested that Nie Tian had an indescribable connection to the Phantasms.

    The Spirit Pearl and evil gods proved that he practiced Phantasm incantations, which had been made obvious by Kleist. How would he argue otherwise?

    Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect suddenly stepped forward and eximed, ¡°Your vice sectmaster, Luo Wanxiang, is the one who¡¯s actually colluding with the Phantasms! As the sectmaster of the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the nmaster of the Mo n, I can testify to that!¡±

    BOOOOM!

    Like a glorious starry river, the All Manifestations Star Banner floated to this area.

    A mighty aura that could dominate all heavens and rule myriad realms burst forth from within the wondrous, all-inclusive banner.

    In the hands of Luo Wanxiang, who was at the middle God domain and had recentlye to a deeper understanding of his incantations, this level three Immortal grade divine tool got to manifest its true might!

    All of a sudden,rge crystals of blinding starlight started to fly out of the star-dotted banner that was tens of thousands of meters long.

    Like dazzling stars, they floated towards Mo Qianfan under the guidance of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s divine will. Each and every one of them carried the profound truths of star power.

    Luo Wanxiang swung hisrge hand in the void and said, ¡°Starfall.¡±

    In the next moment, countless dazzling stars plummeted towards Mo Qianfan, as if an area of the starry river had been emptied.

    HOWL!

    Mo Qianfan instantly activated his dharma idol. Countless bolts of lightning wreathed its enormous body as his hands wove in the void, manifesting the profoundw of lightning he had derived.

    Among the illusory images he created, there was one where the Thunder-devouring Whale threw its head back and devoured a thunder pool.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, no matter what magic Mo Qianfan cast, the plummeting stars could easily shatter them and find their way to his dharma idol.

    Letting out pained wails, Mo Qianfan had to cancel his dharma idol.

    After rapidly shrinking back to his true form, he bled from his shoulders, abdomen, and neck. Sparkling starlight could be seen in the blood that streamed down those wounds.

    Only at this moment did Luo Wanxiang¡¯s cold arrogant voice echo out once again. ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n... What do they matter?¡±

    His dharma idol floated in the starry void like an ancient god that dominated the entire starry river. The All Manifestations Star Banner behind it looked like a river of stars it couldmand with a mere thought.

    In this grand form, Luo Wanxiang looked down at Mo Qianfan, who had resumed his true form, along with Nie Tian, Yin Xingtian, and the others in the same way a god looked down at a bunch of puny insects.

    ¡°If Mo Heng hadn¡¯t rushed to your aid, your sect, your n, and even yourself would have been destroyed already,¡± Luo Wanxiang said with a cold, firm tone. ¡°What qualifications does a man like you have to testify to anything? Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re a big deal now just because you made a lucky breakthrough into the God domain.

    ¡°You¡¯ve just entered the early God domain, and you don¡¯t even have an Immortal grade divine tool of your own. You¡¯re still far from standing on the highest stage.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Luo Wanxiang reached out with a huge hand that shone with dazzling starlight.

    As he brought it down towards Mo Qianfan, a river of stars in the highest heavens seemed to be channeled.

    BOOOOM!

    Not only Mo Qianfan, but Yin Xingtian, Nie Tian, and every Saint domain cultivator from the Domain of Frigid Depths who were in that area gasped in astonishment.

    All of them felt as if the enormous hand was pressuring and falling on them!

    Even Yu Suying, the sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce, frowned slightly and said inwardly, ¡°Middle God domain cultivation base and an Immortal grade divine tool... Is this his true might?¡±

    Standing among Zu Guangyao and the other elders, Nie Tian¡¯s face grew deeply grim as he gazed up at Luo Wanxiang, who looked like a god from ancient times, with the All Manifestations Star Banner behind him.

    Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong all fell silent after their initial ecstasy.

    Luo Wanxiang had disyed such dominating and unmatched power upon arriving. This was something they had never seen before.

    The aggressive and unmatched might he now manifested made even them insecure and uneasy.

    As he brought his enormous hand down on Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian, even they sensed a hint of warning from a distant location.

    It was as if as long as Luo Wanxiang wanted to, he could easily crush them with that enormous hand of his at any moment.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Surprisingly, before anything could happen to Yin Xingtian or Mo Qianfan, the domains of two early Saint domain Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths suddenly exploded.

    Interweaving starlight spilled from their shattered domains.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Two misty gray wisps could be vaguely seen in the perished domains, attempting to escape.

    However, the interweaving starlight instantly condensed into Starchains that bound the fleeing souls. Then, as the Starchains gradually tightened, the two early Saint domain cultivators of the Domain of Frigid Depthspletely perished, body and soul.

    ¡°What the?!¡± The Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths, who had worked together to trap Zu Guangyao and the others earlier, finally started to panic.

    WHOOSH!

    One after another, they morphed into streaks of icy light that shot into the distant starry river.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Numerous streaks of starlight shot from within Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool. Like eagles swooping on sheep, they spread out in pursuit of the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    ¡°Heavenbreaker!¡± Yin Xingtian shouted as he gripped and thrust the sword upwards with both hands. A sword light then shot up towards Luo Wanxiang¡¯s huge descending hand like a reversed waterfall.

    The flesh on his arms burst open as wisps of extremely pure power were infused into the Heavenbreaker.

    After lying dormant for many years, a divine aura within the broken bronze sword that was mighty enough to shatter a realm was now awakened.

    As this happened, a fierce sharp cry of the sword soul pierced thousands of kilometers into its surroundings.

    Just as the badly injured Mo Qianfan was about to summon power to make another move, he sensed the might of that sword attack, and thus sensibly stopped. ¡°Such strong sword intent!¡±

    ¡°The residual sword intent of Heavenbreaker¡¯s first master, a middle God domain expert...¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce thought to herself as she watched countless wisps of sword intent that only God domain experts could see gather and morph into a beam of ultimate sword intent that shot up off the tip of the sword towards Luo Wanxiang¡¯s descending starlit hand.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Part of the center of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s palm that was translucent and sparkling was shattered like ice.

    Apparently, the fierce sword intent from the Heavenbreaker carried ultimate wonders that could prate any realm. Piercing through the enormous hand of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol, it continued to press upwards.

    ¡°The Heavenbreaker is such an amazing de!¡± Luo Wanxiang muttered, staring at the iing sword intent with a grim look in his eye. Then, as he wove his hands, streaks of starlight flew out of the All Manifestations Star Banner behind him.

    A total of neen streaks mmed into the beam of sword light with great precision.

    Only then was the glorious sword light, which was vested with the ultimate sword intent, gradually engulfed and neutralized.

    To neutralize this terrifying strike with the residual sword intent left in the Heavenbreaker by its first master, Luo Wanxiang had expended quite some effort and tapped into his divine tool¡¯s might.

    Having consumed a significant amount of power, Luo Wanxiang fixed Yin Xingtian with a deep look and said, ¡°If you enter the God domain, even at the early God domain, you¡¯ll be a huge threat to me. Luckily, it was Mo Qianfan who recently entered the God domain, not you.¡± He secretly congratted himself.

    There were a few in this starry river that were brilliant and talented enough to fight those with higher cultivation bases. Nie Tian and Mo Heng fell into this category, and so did Yin Xingtian.

    There had long been rumors about him, ate Saint domain expert, being able to contend against God domain experts with the help of his Heavenbreaker.

    This was the highest praise a Qi warrior could get.

    Luo Wanxiang had had doubts about it before. However, having witnessed the Heavenbreaker¡¯s terrifying might, he believed it now.

    He even felt that if Yin Xingtian could disy the full might of the Heavenbreaker, he would be able to defeat Mo Qianfan with ease.

    AHHH!

    Bloodcurdling screams came from the depths of the frosty mist.

    They belonged to the fleeing Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths that were being pursued by the streaks of starlight.

 Chapter 1247: Telling Different Stories

    ¡°I¡¯ll get rid of the enemies from without first.¡± Luo Wanxiang¡¯s thunderous voice echoed out from his towering dharma idol.

    ¡°Dead... All of them are dead.¡± Zu Guangyao muttered in a low voice, as he had spread out his soul awareness, and sensed that none of the fleeing Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths seemed to have escaped.

    It appeared that all of them had been annihted by Luo Wanxiang!

    Luo Wanxiang was at the middle God domain, which allowed him to kill Saint domain cultivators with ease. However, none of those people were even able to secure a wisp of their souls. This came as a major surprise to Zu Guangyao.

    ¡°Those starlight streaks seemed to carry wisps of curious power that could easily eliminate souls. I don¡¯t recall any of our sect¡¯s secret incantations that can vest us with such power...¡± Zu Guangyao pondered the matter, before reaching the conclusion that Luo Wanxiang hade to a deeper understanding of his incantations that allowed him to transcend their sect¡¯s limits.

    BOOM!

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the streaks of starlight returned and disappeared into the grand banner behind Luo Wanxiang.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist¡¯s five evil spirits flew out, roaring.

    After rapidly devouring the fragments of discarnate souls in the area, they dashed off to gather the shattered discarnate souls of the Saint domain cultivators killed by Luo Wanxiang.

    Havingunched that terrifying sword strike, Yin Xingtian looked enfeebled.

    Mo Qianfan hadn¡¯t addressed his wounds, in which starlight sparks could still be seen flickering.

    The fleeing and deaths of the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths had enveloped this area of the starry river in a strange atmosphere.

    Having imed that he would deal with the external enemies first, Luo Wanxiang had aimed his attacks at Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths, instead of Nie Tian.

    However, the silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce hadn¡¯t been attacked.

    Yu Suying and the seven Saint domain disciples of the Profound Purity Pce simply stood on the giant ship and paid close attention to Luo Wanxiang and everything that happened around them.

    Han Wanrong from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hesitated for a few seconds before stepping forward. She pointed at Yu Suying and said, ¡°The Profound Purity Pce is behind all this, Vice Sectmaster. If they hadn¡¯t instigated and secretly supported the Extreme Coldness Pce and the other local forces, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to rise up against our sect. And just earlier, it was Yu Suying who was stopping us from breaking free from those restrictive spells!¡±

    Intense hatred burst forth from within Xin Qing¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°The Profound Purity Pce has been scheming to overthrow our sect and take our subordinate domains for their own.¡±

    ¡°The Profound Purity Pce...¡± Luo Wanxiang¡¯s thunderous voice came from his dharma idol, causing even the starry river to tremble in fear.

    Yu Suying looked up at it, which was close to ten thousand meters tall, yet not even the slightest fear could be seen on her face.

    ¡°The moment we decided to do this, we knew that we¡¯d have to deal with you and Chu Rui some day. However, what I didn¡¯t expect is that both your strength and cultivation base advanced by leaps and bounds after your recent session of secluded cultivation. Even the sub-grade of your All Manifestations Star Banner was greatly lifted.¡±

    With these words, Yu Suying stepped out of the grand silver ship and flew to Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian.

    WHOOSH!

    As she casually wove her hands in the air, two streams of murky liquid swirled out of her palm.

    Exuding a mysterious soul-cleansing, spiritual sea-nourishing power, they flew towards Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan separately.

    After going nk for a few seconds, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan eximed simultaneously, ¡°Profound Purity Elixir!¡±

    Upon realizing what was happening, the two of them hastily operated their spiritual seas to channel the iing streams into their dantian regions.

    As soon as the murky streams entered their bodies, the streams split. One flowed to their spiritual seas, while the other flowed into their seas of awareness. Then, the healing process started in both ces.

    The Profound Purity Pce¡¯s Profound Purity Elixir was a very well-known medicinal elixir. Even among the wide array of healing elixirs in the human world, it ranked at the top.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether the recipients were at the Saint domain or God domain. As long as they were infused with Profound Purity Elixir in time after receiving a serious injury, they would be able to regain their battle prowess within a short period of time.

    Upon taking the Profound Purity Elixir into their bodies, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan sensed with great rity that they were recovering the spiritual power and soul power they had previously consumed at a shocking rate.

    ¡°Profound Purity Elixir!¡±

    The two of them exchanged a nce and saw confusion in each other¡¯s eyes. Apparently, neither of them knew what Yu Suying was up to.

    Even the seven Saint domain disciples of the Profound Purity Pce looked deeply baffled. One of them was going to call out to ask her about her intentions, but gave up on second thought.

    That was Profound Purity Elixir that she gave away!

    Even in their sect, not many had the privilege to have it.

    Even the seven of them would only be rewarded with a bottle of Profound Purity Elixir if they risked their lives to serve the Profound Purity Pce.

    Just moments ago, Yu Suying had confronted Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian. Why would she give them such precious Profound Purity Elixir all of a sudden?

    ¡°Sectmaster Yu...¡± After absorbing the Profound Purity Elixir, Mo Qianfan felt enlivened. Fine lightning wisps could be seen in the depths of his pupils as his divine will was strengthened.

    The bloody wounds in Yin Xingtian¡¯s arms also healed as vigor and radiance was restored to his dim eyes.

    Yu Suying looked up and said, ¡°He¡¯s a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Not only is his cultivation base higher than mine, but that Immortal grade divine tool of his has also reached level three, which matches the level of my Heaven-purging Divine Light. And he seems to have made a new breakthrough with his godly power...¡±

    With these words, she turned to face Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan. ¡°If we all want to leave in one piece, we¡¯ll have to join up against him.¡±

    If she hade here by herself, considering her cultivation base and the might of her divine tool, she would have no problem extricating herself from the situation.

    However, she had to take thatrge silver ship into consideration, as well as the Profound Purity Pce disciples on it.

    She could leave by herself, but how would they escape from Luo Wanxiang?

    Considering that Luo Wanxiang had already annihted all of the fleeing Saint domain cultivators from the Domain of Frigid Depths with the streaking starlight from the All Manifestations Star Banner, she feared that those from her sect would suffer the same fate if she left by herself.

    After a moment of hesitation, Mo Qianfan agreed to her proposal. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s work together!¡±

    Yin Xingtian pondered for a few seconds before nodding vigorously, without saying a word.

    Two early God domain experts and Yin Xingtian, who was strong enough to contend against an early God domain expert. The three of them decided to join up to fight Luo Wanxiang head-on.

    ¡°Hahaha, I didn¡¯t expect you three toe to a mutual understanding so quickly.¡± With every word Luo Wanxiang said, dazzling starlight sprayed from above, so much so that the frigid mist in this part of the starry river seemed to be expelledpletely.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡± Zu Guangyao called out. ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian, came to our aid just now. And he¡¯s had that Spirit Pearl for a long time. We don¡¯t think there¡¯s any business between him and the Phantasms. Also, with the sectmaster missing, not a single person has the right to strip a Son of the Stars of his title.

    ¡°That¡¯s an issue that requires the assessment of the board of elders and a vote among all of the elders, vice sectmasters, and Sons of the Stars.¡±

    It went without saying that Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan were on Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian had started a conflict with the Profound Purity Pce and the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths with the purpose of freeing them.

    Under such circumstances, it didn¡¯t seem right for Luo Wanxiang to make killing moves against Yin Xingtian or Mo Qianfan.

    Furthermore, it was them who had asked Nie Tian toe to Chu Rui¡¯s rescue in the first ce. Therefore, they had doubts about what Luo Wanxiang had said.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes suddenly burst forth with suffocatingly icy starlight. Even the color of his pupils seemed to change slightly. ¡°Are you questioning me?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the one who colluded with Kleist,¡± Nie Tian said with a biting tone. ¡°We rescued Master Pure Metal and Lord Green Wood, along with a few other subordinates of Vice Sectmaster Chu from Lu Qingchen and his Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, but he killed them all. Who knows when he made a deal with the Phantasms? He¡¯s even practiced their soul incantations.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Xin Qing and the others eximed in astonishment.

    While Luo Wanxiang imed that Nie Tian had colluded with the Phantasms, Nie Tian imed that it was Luo Wanxiang who had been secretly working with the Phantasms. Who should they believe?

    ¡°It seems to me that this will have to be settled after we return to our sect and conduct a thorough investigation,¡± Zu Guangyao said.

    Han Wanrong chimed in. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s themon practice.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang snorted coldly and said with an indisputable tone, ¡°Our sect is in a moment of life or death. Many of our rules shouldn¡¯t apply now. You¡¯ll return to the sect, while I¡¯ll seize Nie Tian and take him back for our board of elders to judge!¡±

    With these words, he flung his sleeve.

    Countless sparks condensed into a streak of starlight that carried the dpidated starship of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce into the distance, along with Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong and the others.

    Nie Tian, however, waspletely uninfluenced, and remained where he was.

 Chapter 1248: The Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Spherical light shields spread out from the All Manifestations Star Banner behind Luo Wanxiang.

    A ten thousand kilometer radius around Luo Wanxiang was then sealed off from the rest of the starry river by the glowing starlight shields.

    However, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s heaven-shaking, earth-moving voice prated the multiple light screens to echo in their ears. ¡°If you¡¯re here, I can¡¯t put my all into battle, so I need you to get to the Realm of Fragmentary Star as soon as possible. I¡¯ll find a way to deal with the Profound Purity Pce, the Extreme Coldness Pce, and Grand Monarch Ice Bones, and end the turmoil in the Domain of Frigid Depths for our sect.¡±

    After that, the streak of starlight that had carried the starship, Zu Guangyao, and the others out of the shielded area returned like a river running into the sea.

    Han Wanrong looked back and discovered that she could see nothing beyond the starlight shields. Brow knitted, she said, ¡°Umm...

    ¡°So what Vice Sectmaster Luo said is that he doesn¡¯t need our help to end the trouble here, right?¡±

    Face cold, Xin Qing said, ¡°He wasn¡¯t so arrogant before.¡±

    Zu Guangyao signaled for them to stop talking.

    Some Void domain disciples on the starship didn¡¯t hear the conversation between Zu Guangyao and the other elders. They chatted on in high spirits.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the vice sectmaster has be so powerful and confident.¡±

    ¡°It seems that his cultivation base has risen above that of the grand elder. The result of his recent secluded cultivation is unbelievable.¡±

    ¡°No wonder he refused toe out of it prematurely. Now with him here, the turmoil in the Domain of Frigid Depths should be easily ended, right?¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Xin Qing asked in a low voice.

    Zu Guangyao pondered for quite a while before saying, ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do in this sh between a Son of the Stars and a vice sectmaster. Perhaps our only choice is to return to the Realm of Fragmentary Star as quickly as possible, and inform Wei Lai and the others of what¡¯s happening here.¡±

    With a bitter expression, Xin Qing said, ¡°Wei Lai? He¡¯s neither the grand elder nor a vice sectmaster. What will he be able to do? With Vice Sectmaster Chu imprisoned by Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who else can stop him?¡±

    Zu Guangyao sighed in frustration. ¡°If only we were at the God domain.¡±

    Han Wanrong cast her eyes down. ¡°Yeah, because we haven¡¯t entered the God domain, we don¡¯t even qualify to join battles between peak powers.¡±

    The conversation among the three of them carried on for a while before they eventually decided to return to the Realm of Fragmentary Star and have the board of elders decide what to do about this sh between Luo Wanxiang and Nie Tian.

    ...

    The Immortal grade divine tool All Manifestations Star Banner continued to manifest its divine might.

    Dazzling starlight shields sealed off that part of the starry river. Even soul awareness couldn¡¯t prate it, which forced Zu Guangyao and the others to evacuate.

    This simplified the situation.

    Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and Yu Suying looked up at Luo Wanxiang with fearless expressions.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Kleist¡¯s five evil spirits finished devouring the discarnate souls of the Qi warriors from the Domain of Frigid Depths and returned to him.

    With them floating over him, he fixed his vicious cold eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian immediately realized that the reason why Luo Wanxiang had spared him while sending Zu Guangyao and everyone else away with his star-shifting magic was because he had to leave him for Kleist.

    He must be part of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s deal with Kleist.

    Nie Tian¡¯s reflection appeared in the prismatic crystal between Kleist¡¯s eyebrows as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll take that Spirit Pearl you have. Even I couldn¡¯t give the five evil spirits fleshly bodies, but you did. I don¡¯t care how you managed that. That Spirit Pearl and the five evil gods will be mine.

    ¡°With their help, I shall advance to the tenth grade and join the ranks of grand monarchs!¡±

    As he spoke, a drop of sparkling translucent Blood Essence spun in each of Kleist¡¯s syed palms.

    ¡°Bloodline: Soul Imprisonment!¡±

    The drops of Blood Essence shattered into numerous pieces that looked like tiny blood-colored crystals, as if they had split into the ancient magical symbols from the Phantasms¡¯ evil canon.

    Each and every one of them carried secret soul-imprisoning spells.

    Such spells seemed to extend all the way here from the Nether River in the Nether Realm.

    All of a sudden, evil spirits¡¯ chants started to echo in Nie Tian¡¯s ears.

    A terrifying image of corpses and blood then entered Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Countless corpses were piled into mountains in a sea of blood. The cruelty, insanity, and bloodiness of the image rapidly multiplied with the help of the five evil spirits.

    In a bewildered state, Nie Tian discovered that he seemed to be separated from his fleshly body and be a wisp of true soul, which was deeply surrounded by mountains of mangled corpses.

    Underneath them was a boundless sea of blood, and even his soul awareness was drowned by its overwhelming foul smell.

    In this bizarre image, his true soul, which he had refined over and over, seemed more illusory than ever.

    Numerous magical symbols that he didn¡¯t recognize flew towards him like cyan butterflies, as if they intended to pierce into his true soul, wipe out his memories, and erase his most essential soul imprints.

    At the same time, the nine fragmentary stars floating over his sea of awareness seemed to be heavily suppressed.

    ¡°As tough as your fleshly body may be, your soul is your weak spot.¡± Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist sneered as he watched his Blood Essence split into Phantasm magical symbols that fell on Nie Tian and entered his sea of awareness like snowkes.

    Among the tens of thousands of races in this starry river, the Phantasms were the most skilled in soul magics.

    The perfectbination of their wide array of soul magics and their special bloodline was what had allowed them to dominate parts of the starry river. It was also what Kleist now relied on to deal with Nie Tian.

    No other attacking means were used.

    ¡°Even though your star souls, as a legacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, are also extraordinary, your cultivation base is far too low. None of your bloodline, fleshly body, or spiritual tools can strengthen your soul fundamentally.¡±

    Kleist looked unhurried andposed, as if he already had victory in his hands. (Idiom: be sure of sess)

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce had paid close attention to Nie Tian from the moment Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom hadunched his attacks. Now, she ordered, ¡°Go help Nie Tian.¡±

    The huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce then sailed towards Nie Tian, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    As the ship emanated silver light, the seven Saint domain Qi warriors from the Profound Purity Pce standing on it fixed Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom with stares simultaneously.

    As soon as they cast the Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation, a unique soul spell of the Profound Purity Pce, seven streaks of light of seven different colors shot towards him, interweaving in the void as they did.

    POOH!

    A tunnel seemed to be forcibly created in the starry void.

    Even Luo Wanxiang eximed softly as he was surprised by the fact that the shields formed by his All Manifestations Star Banner were so easily prated.

    The Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation had been created by the founder of the Profound Purity Pce and his seven junior martial brothers.

    This incantation had to be cast by seven cultivators of the same cultivation base.

    Its wonders would channel seven streams of soul power from the seven casters before braiding and condensing them into a killing move that was vested with multiple secret magics of the Profound Purity Pce.

    It could be used to break all kinds of soul-restrictive magics.

    BOOM!

    The beam of iparably bright condensed from the seven light streams was aimed at the prismatic crystal between Kleist¡¯s eyebrows.

    Even though it was still far from reaching it, Kleist felt a strong stabbing pain.

    ¡°Soul Maelstrom!¡± As Kleist shouted, tens of thousands of discarnate souls swarmed out, turning his surroundings into a spinning vortex of discarnate souls and peculiar power.

    Upon entering the Soul Maelstrom, the beam of light created by the Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation started to grow twisted.

    Yu Suying didn¡¯t take a single nce at the battle between her subordinates and Kleist. Instead, she stared at Luo Wanxiang and berated, ¡°Luo Wanxiang, you colluded with the Phantasms. Do you know the price you¡¯ll pay for that?

    ¡°I wonder how a man as narrow-minded as you became a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the first ce. I heard about the conflicts between you and Nie Tian long ago, but you didn¡¯t have to frame him for colluding with the Phantasms just because of internal strife like that, right?¡±

    She was smart enough to see the truth.

    As soon as Zu Guangyao and the others had left, Kleist had made a move against Nie Tian. This proved that the one that had colluded with the Phantasms was Luo Wanxiang, not Nie Tian.

    ¡°Some things take time to see. You will soon.¡± Luo Wanxiang said indifferently.

    ¡°What things?¡± Yu Suying asked, looking surprised.

    Luo Wanxiang let out a cold snort. ¡°Great changes are underway. Even your sect is going under. I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re delusional enough to think that you can encroach on the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You really think your sect will thrive as the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce withers away?¡±

    Yu Suying frowned deeply as she pondered the matter.

    ¡°Starfall.¡±

    Like stars that filled the sky, countless sparks of starlight flew out of the All Manifestations Star Banner and plummeted towards Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and the Profound Purity Pce disciples on the silver ship.

 Chapter 1249: Regrowth of the Nine Stars Flower

    Brilliant stars fell from the heavens.

    Like flower petals spread by a goddess, they descended from the depths of the heavens.

    Everyone except Kleist was in their range of attack.

    Nie Tian was included this time.

    ¡°Heaven Break!¡±

    With a swing of his sword, Yin Xingtian sent a river of light straight up into the heavens.

    Mo Qianfan activated his dharma idol once again. As he formed a hand seal, an enormous glowing sphere that was filled with raging lightning power from multiple thunder pools came to form in front of him.

    ¡°Seven Purity Silver Heavens Incantation!¡±

    The seven Saint domain disciples of the Profound Purity Pce switched to another incantation, where they channeled power from the huge silver ship.

    A bright secret room at the bottom of the silver ship was filled with piles of shiny silver gems that looked like pieces of silver.

    At this moment, all of the gems were drained and reduced to ashes.

    An immense mysterious power then burst forth from within the ship, forming what looked like a silver arcane realm over the silver ship.

    ¡°Rise!¡±

    A heavenly screen with a silver luster floated above the silver ship as the seven Saint domain experts continued to infuse it with power.

    With difficulty, the heavenly screen resisted the enormous number of falling stars, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    Many falling stars exploded upon mming into the silver heavenly screen. The divinews of the stars within them perished. However, as that happened, numerous ancient spell formations that had been carved into the light screen were also destroyed.

    Yu Suying took a deep breath as she activated her dharma idol and summoned her Immortal grade divine tool. ¡°Heaven-purging Divine Light!¡±

    Her dharma idol was wreathed in curious glowing clouds, which gave her the look of an ethereal immortal. Her Heaven-purging Divine Light morphed into countless silver needles that could prate any realm barrier with their devastating might.

    FZZZ!

    Countless rays of divine light shot out from within her dharma idol.

    All of the falling stars that made contact with the divine light exploded.

    Even afterward, the might and momentum of the divine light was unabated.

    It continued to shoot up towards Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner. Even the hemispherical starlight shield Luo Wanxiang formed in a haste failed to stop it.

    ¡°No wonder this Immortal grade divine tool has been passed on as a legacy of the Profound Purity Pce. It¡¯s extraordinary indeed,¡± Luo Wanxiang marveled inwardly as the dazzling neb within the All Manifestations Star Banner behind him started changing.

    Sparkling stars moved following the tracks of the celestial bodies as starlight interwove, gradually assuming the star formation of some ancient domain.

    ¡°Starry River Transformation!¡±

    The stars and starlight gradually morphed into the image of a giant drawing a bow with an arrow.

    After the giant drew its bow to the fullest, a stream of sparkling stars shot forth from within the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    Like a heavenly river, it poured down onto the countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light released by Yu Suying. The profound will of the boundless starry river and intense killing aura within it sted the divine light into pieces that sputtered in all directions.

    Millions of rays of fragmented light flew randomly, filling the starry river.

    The shields Luo Wanxiang had created to seal off this area were prated and broken by the fluttering divine light.

    In the distance, an ancient starship that was sailing from a nearby icy realm disintegrated upon contact with some of the divine light.

    The Qi warriors on it didn¡¯t even have a chance to flee before they were killed instantly.

    WHOOSH!

    One of the many branches that had split from the stream of starlight that had shot from within the All Manifestations Star Banner happened to find its way to the realm through which Nie Tian and the others had arrived here after traveling thousands of kilometers.

    As the stream of starlight mmed into the icy realm, mountains toppled and the earth copsed.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    More than a dozen snow-capped mountain peaks shattered simultaneously as the stream of starlight created a bottomless hole in the earth.

    The entire realm was prated!

    The fundamental structure of the realm and the ancient ice buried deep underground both suffered irreparable damage.

    A streak of star power from him easily prated the realm barrier and then the realm itself. This was the terrifying might of a middle God domain expert with an Immortal grade divine tool at hismand.

    Such might could easily destroy a realm!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Almost at the same time, a fragmentary star happened to shoot in Nie Tian¡¯s direction. The moment it made contact with Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder, it morphed into a wisp of starlight that disappeared into him.

    Immediately afterwards, the three fragmentary star marks in Nie Tian¡¯s chest lit up.

    A drop of Blood Essence that carried the profound mysteries of his life bloodline took it upon itself to flow into his spiritual sea in his dantian region, where it fused into the Nine Stars Flower in his star power core.

    Significant changes immediately happened to the Nine Stars Flower!

    Two new blossoms grew out of its stem at an incredible rate.

    Tiny mysterious stars could be seen flickering in them, as if there were a miniature starry river inside each of them.

    A strong attractive force was then born in the Nine Stars Flower.

    It seemed to be seeking an upgrade by relying on not only the power from Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, but the immense star power it had just taken in as well.

    Apparently, the terrifying star power within that fragmentary star released by Luo Wanxiang through Starfall had been forcibly converted by his three fragmentary star marks.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s unique aura within that fragmentary star, which had allowed him to detect and control it, was erased by the fragmentary star marks.

    After that, wisp after wisp of extremely pure star power were attracted by the Nine Stars Flower and flew into the star power core in his spiritual sea.

    BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

    As the Nine Stars Flower upgraded, a strong star power-attracting maic field formed around Nie Tian.

    Even the fragmentary stars that weren¡¯t supposed to fall in his direction changed directions and flew to him.

    After having the imprints Luo Wanxiang had left in them erased, they were converted into pure star power, which was then channeled into the Nine Stars Flower to help the two newly-developed blossoms grow.

    Another drop of Blood Essence flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s heart to fuse into the Nine Stars Flower.

    The stem of the Nine Stars Flower greedily absorbed the miraculous power within that drop of Blood Essence.

    SPLASH!

    All of a sudden, the star souls that hung over Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness blossomed with dazzling light!

    All of his previously shadowed star souls became unusually bright, as he finally awoke from his bewildered, soul-suppressed state.

    Blindingly bright light filled every corner of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness. ¡°Break!¡±

    In the next moment, Kleist¡¯s soul-sealing spell, which was designed to be used on those with weak souls, was broken and scattered.

    The prismatic crystal between Kleist¡¯s eyebrows suddenly dimmed as his face turned grim. ¡°Damn those seven bastards from the Profound Purity Pce and their Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation! If it weren¡¯t for them, Nie Tian would have never been able to break my Soul Imprisonment!¡±

    Feeling a dull pain his forehead, Kleist knew that because he had been forced to spend most of his energy on dealing with the seven Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Pce, Nie Tian had found a weak spot in his Soul Imprisonment, and had eventually broken it.

    Even Luo Wanxiang, who was attacking everyone with profound secret magics, gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°He managed to erase my star imprint with his three fragmentary star marks!¡± he thought to himself. ¡°I used to be a Son of the Stars myself. As a sect legacy, fragmentary star marks are passed on through generations. Every Lord of the Stars infuses them with their power...

    ¡°So was that Ji Cang¡¯s power? Even though he¡¯s been missing for so many years, the power that he vested the fragmentary star marks with could still erase my imprints?

    ¡°Is that the might of ate God domain cultivator? The few wisps of power he left in those fragmentary star marks alone can suppress my aura?¡±

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    Under Luo Wanxiang¡¯s control, more and more stars plummeted towards Nie Tian.

    Luo Wanxiang let out a coldugh and further exerted his power. ¡°Whatever! You¡¯re still only at the Soul realm, and you think you can devour my star power? Aren¡¯t you afraid you¡¯ll burst from it?¡±

    All of a sudden, dozens more fragmentary stars, which wereposed of essence he refined from the stars in the heavens, plummeted towards Nie Tian.

    All of them rapidly disappeared into him.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Nie Tian immediately cried out in agony.

 Chapter 1250: A Flower with Nine Blossoms

    Each and every fragmentary star was a condensation of pure star power.

    After all, Luo Wanxiang, as a God domain expert, had spent tens of thousands of years refining them.

    Every wisp of the star power they contained was purer than the star power Nie Tian absorbed from Star Stones or from the starry river directly.

    Luo Wanxiang stared at Nie Tian with a hint of disdain in his eyes, which looked like cold stars.

    Nie Tian¡¯s mad howls and agonized shrieks didn¡¯t surprise him at all.

    He shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re only at the Soul realm. And you practice me, wood, and star power simultaneously. How can you possibly handle star power of such immensity? Sure, that Nine Stars Flower of yours may be able to dissolve part of my power, but how developed is it? Does it have five blossoms or seven?¡±

    As a former Son of the Stars, he clearly knew more about the fragmentary star marks, Nine Stars Flowers, and other secrets of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As rare as Nine Stars Flowers were, they weren¡¯t Heaven Nourished grade spiritual materials.

    As Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials, they perfectly agreed with the needs of Qi warriors who practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    However, Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials had their limitations. Besides, considering Nie Tian¡¯s current cultivation base, it was almost impossible for him to provide his Nine Stars Flower with enough stimtion for it to reach full maturity and develop all nine blossoms.

    He saw through Nie Tian¡¯s situation.

    AHHH!

    After Nie Tian¡¯s body brimmed with star power, rays of starlight started to shoot from within him.

    It was as if countless needles had riddled his exceptionally tough body with holes, through which starlight burst forth.

    Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he sensed Luo Wanxiang¡¯s overwhelming aura, and he subconsciously stopped himself from summoning more Blood Essence to attack Nie Tian again.

    After a cold snort, Luo Wanxiang withdrew his gaze from Nie Tian, refocusing on pressuring Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Qianfan with the wonders of the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    It appeared that he was convinced that Nie Tian¡¯s star power core would burst from the star power he had infused into him.

    After all, Nie Tian was only at the Soul realm. Even with the help of the Nine Stars Flower, his star power core shouldn¡¯t be able to handle the star power he had flooded him with.

    Another drop of Blood Essence suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s heart and dripped onto the stem of the Nine Stars Flower.

    Madly absorbing the immense flesh power essence within the drop of Blood Essence, the Nine Stars Flower changed again!

    Originally, the Nine Stars Flower had five blossoms. Having been infused with his Blood Essence and refined some of the fragmentary stars, it had grown two new blossoms.

    Now, after absorbing another drop of Blood Essence that brimmed with life power, another two new blossoms appeared on the Nine Stars Flower.

    From five to seven blossoms, and now to nine!

    It was hard to believe that the Nine Stars Flower was now in full bloom!

    Each and every blossom seemed to have a tiny starry river inside of it, which allowed them to absorb more star power!

    The star power that continued to squeeze into the brimming star power core instantly found a vent.

    More star power that was extremely pure and refined then streamed into the newly-developed blossoms of the Nine Stars Flower, causing mini star rivers to light up within them.

    Howling madly, Nie Tian once again activated the attractive force of the Nine Stars Flower to attract more of the fragmentary stars released by Luo Wanxiang.

    One after another, new fragmentary stars entered Nie Tian and fused into his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    As this happened, the Nine Stars Flower in his star power core, which had fully crystallized, had a shade of devilish red added to it, as if it were colored by his life bloodline.

    The Nine Stars Flower gradually expanded in size, with a bit of red looming in its translucent, sparkling blossoms.

    BOOOOM!

    The curious nt suddenly changed again.

    Stimted by something, new branches started growing out of its main stem.

    Upon a closer look, crystallized starlight that resembled tiny nebe could be seen forming at the ends of those branches, as if they could turn into new blossoms in the future.

    Such changes were by no means insignificant. Even Nie Tian was astonished.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Suddenly, more fragmentary stars that were a condensation of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s star power were attracted.

    Many, with which Luo Wanxiang had intended to bombard the seven Saint domain experts of the Profound Purity Pce, had their direction altered, and flew towards Nie Tian instead.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s body suddenly emanated blinding light.

    All of the others who were engaged in a fierce battle were startled, and jerked their heads towards him.

    They were surprised to notice that the glowing shape of a mysterious flower gradually rose from the top of Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Its branches seemed to connect to the starry river, while its blossoms looked like nebe, hosting the endless wonders of the stars.

    The curious nt seemed to be rooted in the depths of the starry river, surrounded by billions of stars, which gave it an extremely glorious look.

    WHOOSH!

    One fragmentary star after another plummeted towards Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian under Luo Wanxiang¡¯s control.

    However, those fragmentary stars suddenly went out of control and flew towards Nie Tian. Upon contact with the illusory flower, they vanishedpletely.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s face turned pale with fright.

    He was terrified to discover that not only did the fragmentary stars, which he had vested with his divine will, have their imprints erased the moment they made contact with Nie Tian, but the extremely pure star power within them was also being forcibly dissolved by that magical nt.

    He stared unblinkingly at the illusory flower that floated over Nie Tian. His voice became strange as it came out. ¡°The Nine Stars Flowers... shouldn¡¯t work this way!

    ¡°I used to be a Son of the Stars myself! Ages ago, I purchased a Nine Stars Flower with ten million contribution points. Due to my stimtion, it developed all nine blossoms before I even entered the God domain!

    ¡°However, even in full bloom, my Nine Stars Flower never manifested such an incredible effect!¡±

    PHEW! PHEW! PHEW!

    As he was shocked and distracted, countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light pierced into the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    The image of an endless starry river within the banner suddenly changed, giving rise to a loud boom. Afterwards, arge amount of fragmentary starlight flew out from the Immortal grade divine tool.

    Just as he was about to manipte it with his soul awareness, he discovered that Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan were exerting themselves simultaneously.

    Then, as he was going to cast incantations and go all-out to kill them, he noticed that the fragmentary starlight was also attracted by the illusory flower behind Nie Tian.

    The feeling of his power leaving him made him insecure and gradually anxious.

    ¡°Nine Stars Flowers should have only been able to channel star power from the starry river and materials like Star Stones!¡± Luo Wanxiang roared inwardly. ¡°I¡¯m at the God domain! The star power within my All Manifestations Star Banner was extracted from the cores of newborn realms I found in the depths of the boundless starry river!

    ¡°Such star power is far purer and more refined than the star power Star Stones can produce and realms naturally emanate!

    ¡°Not to mention that it also carries my unique aura. Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials like Nine Stars Flowers can¡¯t possibly absorb it so quickly!¡±

    SPLASH!

    All of a sudden, the illusory flower floating over Nie Tian burst forth with dazzling starlight.

    At first nce, the image it presented looked somewhat simr to that of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool, the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    It seemed to be rooted in the depths of the starry river and nourished by myriad stars, which made it unfathomably mysterious.

    A Saint domain disciple of the Profound Purity Pce was bbergasted by the incredible scene. ¡°The heavens! Such a magical nt doesn¡¯t really exist, does it?¡±

    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not real,¡± another said. ¡°That thing takes root in the starry river and strengthens itself by absorbing nourishment from nearby realms. If it wasn¡¯t illusory, do you know how terrifying that would be?

    ¡°Even Star Behemoths can¡¯t do much more than that!¡±

    At this moment, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and even Luo Wanxiang himself stayed their hands to look at the bizarre illusory flower.

    Luo Wanxiang lowered his gaze and pondered. ¡°This far exceeds what Nine Stars Flowers should be able to do.¡±

    Pieces of old memories entered his mind as he attempted to find an answer.

    Momentster, a bolt of lightning seemed to sh across his eyes.

    ¡°Back when I purchased my Nine Stars Flower with contribution points, thest Lord of the Stars mentioned to me that Earth Cultivated grade spiritual materials like Nine Stars Flower have a very slim chance to be upgraded.

    ¡°But he also said that the requirements for such upgrades were so strict that they were almost impossible to aplish. Even he had never made such an upgrade sessfully.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Nie Tian has seeded with his Nine Stars Flower.

    ¡°After the upgrade, his Nine Stars Flower is at the Heaven Nourished grade at the very least. But why...?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s head almost exploded with questions.

 Chapter 1251: Bear and Swallow

    SHEW!

    Starlight condensed into crystals within the All Manifestations Star Banner before flying out.

    As that happened, a blooming Nine Stars Flower gradually revealed itself in a corner of the magnificent banner.

    It was the Nine Stars Flower Luo Wanxiang had purchased with ten million contribution points. Over the years, as he had made breakthroughs in his cultivation base, the nourishment of his star power core had allowed it to present all of its nine blossoms.

    After reaching full maturity, it had been refined into his Immortal grade divine tool, the All Manifestations Star Banner, whose sub-grade had been lifted because of the fusion.

    That Nine Stars Flower had long since be a part of the All Manifestations Star Banner. Its every petal contained concentrated, pure star power.

    At this moment, the star power within the Nine Stars Flower seemed to escape Luo Wanxiang¡¯s control, as it crystallized and left the banner in tiny sparkling bits.

    Luo Wanxiang immediately examined them with rapt attention, and realized that the crystallized star power was being attracted by the peculiar illusory flower behind Nie Tian. ¡°That upgraded version of the Nine Stars Flower has power over mine!¡±

    Taken aback, he hastily redirected some of his soul wisps that he had used to lock onto Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and Yu Suying, and used them to stop the All Manifestations Star Banner from losing star power.

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce stared unblinkingly at the constantly changing flower behind Nie Tian. Her eyes lit up as she watched it dissolve the power of the All Manifestations Star Banner. ¡°This is unbelievable...¡±

    She could tell that the middle God domain Luo Wanxiang was bing more and more nervous.

    She also felt that the pressure Luo Wanxiang was giving them continued to weaken.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang is withdrawing his power.¡± As Yu Suying came to this realization, the corners of her mouth rose into an icy, scary grin.

    She instantly sent a wisp of soul awareness tomunicate with Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan.

    Then, she cast a nce in the direction of the huge silver ship.

    Upon receiving the quick nce, the seven Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Pce seemed to understand what she was asking.

    ¡°Seven Purity Change!¡±

    Seven clear streams of seven different colors rose into the void from the tops of the Saint domain experts¡¯ heads.

    BOOM!

    Spiritual auras of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, ice, and lightning attributes extracted pure power from their domains, sparking wondrous changes.

    At the same time, a beam of silver light shot from within Yu Suying¡¯s sleeve.

    Like the mysterious Milky Way, the silver light brought the seven streams of different powers together as they sted towards Luo Wanxiang.

    Countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light also fused into the merged beam of light, as if they were attracted by some kind of ma.

    A long pir of light sted through the heavens!

    FZZZ!

    The Immortal grade divine tool Luo Wanxiang viewed as his own life was pierced through like a prated starry curtain.

    Luo Wanxiang lost hisposure for the first time, and barked, ¡°Bitch! How dare you?! You damaged my divine tool. You and your entire sect will die for this!¡±

    Yu Suying let out a coldugh. ¡°Come and find me when you possess such power.¡±

    As Yin Xingtian swung his Heavenbreaker, even his skinny body disappeared in the wide beam of dazzling sword light he created, which pierced directly into the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    With a wildugh, Mo Qianfan called out, ¡°Wait for me!¡±

    His dharma idol morphed and took the form of that tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale.

    In the next moment, the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s iparably enormous body squeezed into the All Manifestations Star Banner with a crushing momentum, as if it were going to devour heaven and earth and cleanse this starry river with its heavenly lightning power.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Divine beast: Thunder-devouring Whale!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Bits of dazzling starlight continued to be absorbed by the curious flower behind Nie Tian, causing his divine tool to lose its umted power at an rming rate.

    He suddenly discovered something terrifying. ¡°The sub-grade of the All Manifestations Star Banner is dropping...¡±

    He saw his All Manifestations Star Banner gued by the joint attacks of Yu Suying and the seven Saint domain experts, Yu Suying¡¯s sword light, and the Thunder-devouring Whale transformed from Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol. However, as he attempted to further stimte the divine tool, he discovered that it had been weakened too much.

    Even the spell formations he had carved into it with his soul were being damaged. This rattled him.

    Seeing this, Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist gasped.

    He saw that Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool failed to overpower Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying¡¯s invasive incantations.

    Instead, the All Manifestations Star Banner became riddled with holes, as if it would soon be torn to shreds.

    ¡°That man...¡± Kleist had to adopt another strategy. He snuck a nce at Nie Tian and eximed softly, ¡°Soul-capturing Hand!¡±

    Stimted by his Blood Essence, tens of thousands of discarnate souls condensed into a sinister-looking cyan hand. Like the w of an evil spirit from theherworld, it released a bleak, vile aura as it swooped towards Nie Tian in an attempt to grab his neck and squeeze him to death.

    The wails of evil spirits and discarnate souls filled the starry river.

    With a cold, determined expression, Nie Tian swung the Star Behemoth bone in his hand.

    A sea of blood-colored flesh aura was unleashed.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Suppression.¡±

    Numerous gem-like bits of bloodline power suddenly emerged in the sea of flesh aura, activating the bloodline imprints within the bone.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Kleist let out a miserable wail. Before his Soul-capturing Hand could even reach the sea of flesh aura released by the Star Behemoth bone, it was bound by some unknownw of bloodlines, as if it were trapped in a mire. Even the slightest movements became very difficult.

    His bloodline power, flesh aura, and even soul awareness he had infused into it became stagnant, and could no longer move as he willed them.

    This was the kind of suppression the Phantasms would receive from their natural bane or beings at higher levels. It was branded in the deepest part of their bloodline.

    ¡°This is the same aura that made my bloodline tremble earlier!¡± Kleist finally realized the spear-like bone Nie Tian had stimted with his Blood Essence and swung towards him was the very thing that had aroused his deepest fears and made him shiver earlier.

    At this moment, Nie Tian chuckled and let out a furious roar. ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    Splitting power was then born within the bone. Countless crimson sparks lit up within it, bursting forth with intoxicating red light.

    Kleist¡¯s Soul-capturing Hand was instantly ripped open, with fine wisps of blood-colored light flickering in the deep opening.

    ¡°Evil spirits!¡±

    Drop after drop of cyan Blood Essence flew out of his chest towards the five evil spirits in an attempt to vest them with skin.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    At this moment, a dragon made of lightning flew from within Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol and mmed into the Spirit Pearl floating over Kleist.

    The lightning dragon bombarded the Spirit Pearl head-on, giving rise to lingering fizzing sounds.

    The five evil spirits were just about to devour Kleist¡¯s Blood Essence when they noticed that the Spirit Pearl was under attack. Therefore, they rushed back to save it.

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡± The voice of his Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul suddenly echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    In the next moment, his Spirit Pearl expanded a thousand times over. Like the cold, evil full moon of the Nether Realm, it was boosted by the five evil gods as it flew towards Kleist¡¯s Spirit Pearl.

    BOOM!

    Upon contact, Kleist¡¯s Spirit Pearl shattered.

    Its broken pieces turned into misty cyan light that disappeared into Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl.

    Along with the broken pieces, even more discarnate souls and evil spirits than those in Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl swarmed into Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl, the soul of Kleist¡¯s Spirit Pearl among them.

    AWWW! ROOAR!

    In the midst of Kleist¡¯s heaven-shaking miserable wail, the five evil gods with fleshly bodies swooped in and captured the five spirit-form evil spirits.

    They tangled them up and dragged them into their Phantasm Qi-brimming holes, where they slowly refined and absorbed them.

    What Kleist found the most uneptable was the fact that the five evil spirits, which he had gone to great lengths to cultivate, only struggled briefly before bingpletely eptant, and even excited about fusing into the evil gods and bing a part of them.

    Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom was so frustrated that he almost burst into tears.

    In order for his Spirit Pearl to upgrade and give birth to the five evil spirits, he had spent ten thousand years roaming different realms to gather discarnate souls. He had even incited inter-realm wars to achieve his goal.

    It was his lifetime aspiration to help his evil spirits transform into evil gods and establish connections to the Nether River.

    He had been convinced that once his five evil spirits transformed into evil gods and established connections to the Nether River, wherey the origin of the Phantasm race, he would be able to uncover the Nether River¡¯s secrets bit by bit. This would definitely allow his bloodline to advance to the tenth grade. Perhaps someday he would even be able to rece Grand Monarch Nether River as the strongest Phantasm that had ever lived.

    Therefore, as soon as he had learned that the evil spirits within Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl had changed, he had abandoned all else to instigate Luo Wanxiang¡¯s rebellion. All of his efforts had been to take that Spirit Pearl from Nie Tian.

    He had never expected that his Spirit Pearl, which he had spent ten thousand years strengthening with his ninth grade bloodline, would be overpowered and crushed by Nie Tian¡¯s.

    ¡°M-my power and the discarnate souls I went to great lengths to collect...¡± Kleist wailed, feeling a splitting headache.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed that numerous lightning wisps had somehow crawled all over him while he had been in a daze, and were now damaging his body.

    He hastily cast a nce at Luo Wanxiang. What he saw made his heart sank even deeper.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool, the All Manifestations Star Banner, was so tattered that it couldn¡¯t even keep starlight from spilling out now.

    This vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had also lost his previous dominating manner. In a flurry, he grabbed the All Manifestations Star Banner with his dharma idol and put some distance between him and Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian, who was growing weaker with every swing of his Heavenbreaker.

    However, the huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce approached the All Manifestations Star Banner under Yu Suying¡¯smand.

    ¡°You¡¯re on your own now.¡± Luo Wanxiang¡¯s faint soul voice echoed in Kleist¡¯s mind.

    What Luo Wanxiang had used was a secretmunication magic he had learned from the Book of Spirits. Such soul messages could only be received and deciphered by Phantasms like Kleist.

    Kleist instantly grew rattled.

 Chapter 1252: Enemy Bested

    The badly damaged All Manifestations Star Banner flew into the distant starry river, dragging a long tail of starlight.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s cold, heavy voice echoed out, every single word stressed and ear-piercingly loud. ¡°Yu Suying! Yin Xingtian! Mo Qianfan!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    Some of the translucent and sparkling realms of the Domain of Frigid Depths had their realm cores activated.

    Channeled by Luo Wanxiang, wisps of misty white star power that were invisible to the naked eye disappeared into the dpidated banner.

    Being fused with realm core star power, the All Manifestations Star Banner magically showed signs of recovery.

    The huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce had originally pursued it at a high speed, like a falling star shooting towards the moon.

    However, Yu Suying waved her hand and eximed in a deep voice, ¡°Let him go!¡±

    The huge silver ship then stopped immediately.

    The seven Saint domain elders, each practicing power of different attributes, slowly sat down.

    They either took out thunderballs or Earth grade medicinal pills that were wreathed in fiery or watery auras, and swallowed them whole.

    They cherished their Profound Purity Elixir too much to use it now.

    After all, the threat from Luo Wanxiang had been solved for the time being. They didn¡¯t have to recover their spiritual power and soul power consumption in the shortest time possible.

    WHOOSH!

    Yin Xingtian let out a deep breath, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and his ghastly face.

    With a dark smile, Mo Qianfan raised his arm and cried out.

    In the next moment, dozens of lightning bolts whipped towards Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist, like a god of lightning brandishing whips that were vested with thews of lighting

    Having lost his five evil spirits and having had his Spirit Pearl crushed, Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom panicked, especially now, when even Luo Wanxiang had run for his life.

    Seeing that Mo Qianfan, who was an expert in lightning power and his natural bane, had fixed all of his attention on him, he didn¡¯t dare to stay another second.

    He morphed into a streak of misty cyan light in an attempt to flee after Luo Wanxiang.

    Yu Suying let out a cold snort. ¡°Luo Wanxiang may be able to escape, but you most certainly can¡¯t. As a Phantasm grand patriarch, you barged into our world tomit crimes. Since you dared to do that, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re prepared for the penalty of death!¡±

    BOOM!

    Countless rays of light filled the starry river as they shot towards Kleist and riddled his flesh aura sea with holes.

    At the same time, Yin Xingtian swung his sword.

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s heaven-trampling dharma idol channeled power from thunder pools tounch a mighty attack.

    The residual vicious ghosts and spirits in Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom¡¯s flesh aura sea screeched as they attempted to resist the attacks.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl suddenly flew into Kleist¡¯s flesh aura sea somehow.

    All of a sudden, the vicious ghosts and spirits that Kleist had nourished for ages with his flesh aura started fusing into the Spirit Pearl, both actively and passively.

    Finally, Kleist was in despair.

    His misty cyan flesh aura sea shrank abruptly.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, his fleshly body, and his soul separated from one another before dashing off in three different directions.

    ¡°Only the Phantasms can pull out such an escape technique.¡±

    Impressed, Yu Suying controlled all of her Heaven-purging Divine Light on to pursue the prismatic crystal.

    Yin Xingtian, however, flew after Kleist¡¯s fleshly body, wielding his Heavenbreaker.

    Mo Qianfan then focused his lightning power on Kleist¡¯s fleeing soul.

    Even the middle God domain Luo Wanxiang had been forced to end his battle against these three experts after having his Immortal grade divine tool degraded by Nie Tian, not to mention Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, who was at the ninth grade and had lost his fighting will after having his magical tool destroyed.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian observed their pursuit with rapt attention. He first saw the prismatic crystal shatter after being prated by countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light.

    Then, Kleist¡¯s soul was annihted by Mo Qianfan with lightning magics.

    Eventually, Yin Xingtian drove his Heavenbreaker into Kleist¡¯s heart.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian cast Starshift, and covered a few dozen kilometers in the blink of an eye.

    A misty bloody aura flew out of him to envelop and drag Kleist¡¯s fleshly body into his ring of holding.

    ¡°Nie Tian, Kleist is a ninth grade grand patriarch,¡± Yin Xingtian reminded him. ¡°If you fail to refine his heartpletely, he may find an opportunity toe back to life.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Now that I have him, there¡¯s no way he¡¯lle back to life.¡± Full of confidence, Nie Tian released his Spirit Pearl. An attractive force was born within it as it floated to Mo Qianfan¡¯s location.

    Wisps of residual soul power from the spirits that had been bombarded and annihted by Mo Qianfan¡¯s lightning magics were absorbed by the Spirit Pearl.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t try to seize the prismatic crystal Yu Suying had prated with her Heaven-purging Divine Light, but rather let her take it.

    Rubbing the prismatic crystal, Yu Suying said, ¡°This thing contains all of the secret magics and incantations Kleist had ever derived. It¡¯s his sea of knowledge and the key to binding his body and soul. Too bad that it¡¯s been destroyed by my Heaven-purging Divine Light. Otherwise, it would be worth a lot.¡±

    Just like that, a peak ninth grade Phantasm who had had hopes to advance to the tenth grade within a short time perished under the three¡¯s joint effort.

    Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan looked at her in silence.

    The wondrous illusory flower behind Nie Tian had also disappeared when Luo Wanxiang had escaped.

    However, as Nie Tian examined himself with his soul awareness, he saw that the magical flower that had taken root in his star power core was having more and more new branches grow out of it.

    From the look of it, new blossoms could grow out of those new branches, given enough stimtion.

    Apparently, the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s limits had been broken!

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl that was floating and emanating cyan light over him spun slowly as heaven-shaking, earth-toppling changes took ce inside of it.

    Each of the five evil gods dominated a section of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s internal world. They first refined and absorbed Kleist¡¯s five evil spirits, then separated the different negative emotions from the discarnate souls and vicious spirits they had captured and pulled into the Spirit Pearl.

    After they fully absorbed the evil spirits and their immense power, a curiousyer formed over their fleshly bodies.

    It seemed that it could stimte more changes in them and allow them to further upgrade!

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian suddenly noticed that the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had expanded and morphed into a scary-looking soul-form being, and that it was currently holding another soul down.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul¡¯s tworge eyes were like two clusters of ghostly fire, burning in empty sockets.

    The soul being held down by it was struggling and twisting with cyan sparks rising from it, as if it was being refined.

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before he suddenly realized what was going on.

    That was the soul of Kleist¡¯s Spirit Pearl. After the destruction of the magical tool, its soul was now being refined and absorbed.

    That was when Nie Tian realized that the five evil gods and his Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had the situation under control.

    All of the wonders of Kleist¡¯s destroyed Spirit Pearl had been received and were being absorbed by his Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°It seems that both the Nine Stars Flower and Spirit Pearl have upgraded and be stronger.¡± Nie Tian cast his eyes down and muttered in a low voice, anticipating what other surprises such upgrades would bring to him after the changes stopped.

    Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect adjusted himself. After calming himself down, he turned to Yu Suying and said with aplicated look in his eyes, ¡°Sectmaster Yu, did you give us Profound Purity Elixir and join hands with us just to fight off Luo Wanxiang so that your subordinates could survive this encounter?¡±

    ¡°Partly, yes,¡± Yu Suying answered.

    ¡°So there¡¯s another reason?¡± Yin Xingtian asked.

    Yu Suying took a look at Nie Tian, her eyes slowly lighting up. ¡°Yes, him.¡±

    After going nk for a brief moment, Yin Xingtian seemed to realize something. With a strange look at the corner of his mouth, he said, ¡°You want something from him too?¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster Mo, did he really help you enter the God domain?¡± Yu Suying asked, taking a nce at Nie Tian.

    Without any hesitation, Mo Qianfan nodded strongly. ¡°That¡¯s right. I couldn¡¯t have broken through into the God domain without his help. As you know, my cultivation potential and talent aren¡¯t among the top. Together with the limited time I spent at the Saint domain, they made my chances at sessfully advancing to the God domain very slim. If I hadn¡¯t been under heavy pressure from Yuan Jiuchuan the Thunder Devil, I would never have made the attempt so eagerly.¡±

    ¡°Neither you nor Patriarch Yin Xingtian are easy to fool...¡± Yu Suying muttered to herself. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that both of you have decided to offer Nie Tian your loyalty and fight for him no matter what...¡±

    She pondered and recalled the peculiar auras and special tools he had manifested earlier, such as the Spirit Pearl and that wondrous flower.

    Momentster, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I myself am not in a hurry to break through into the middle God domain. And I think I¡¯ll benefit from longer umtion. However, I have a junior martial sister who¡¯s been stuck at thete Saint domain for many years, and wanted to try to enter the God domain recently.¡±

 Chapter 1253: Provocations

    In the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    The realm was surrounded by flowing light, with many spatial rifts hidden among them.

    Over many years, the Realm of Maelstrom had be the most bustling and prosperous ce in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    The Divine Seal Sect, Golden Vast Sect, and Thousandsword Mountain Sect upied the three sides of the realm.

    In thend that the Divine Seal Sect upied, therge inter-domain teleportation portal that connected the Domain of the Falling Stars to Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries worked day and night.

    Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries often came to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The special environment of the Realm of Maelstrom made the realm a trading center for the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars. All kinds of spiritual materials, elixirs, incantations and secret spells from the three domains were exchanged at the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect worked together to maintain order.

    Nie Tian¡¯s three domains also had some contact with the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society. Many forces and domains had a good rtionship with Nie Tian, including the Water Moon Sect of the Domain of Vast Darkness, which often came to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    On this day.

    Outside the Realm of Maelstrom, it seemed a long narrow spatial rift in the flowing water curtain was forcibly being pushed open by some kind of power.

    BOOM!

    The roar of an ancient starship came out of the spatial rift.

    In the Divine Seal Sect, Duan Shihu, whose cultivation base had reached the middle Soul realm, was studying an ancient scroll in a secret room, learning runes and secret spells.

    When he heard the roar, he rushed out at once.

    Meng Li, who was already at thete Void domain and was waiting for spiritual materials from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to advance to the Saint domain, floated into the air and looked towards the edge of the Realm of Maelstrom with several Qi warriors of the Divine Seal Sect.

    There were Qi warriors flying into the sky above the Thousandsword Mountain Sect and the Golden Vast Sect.

    Hua Mu and Qi Bailu, who happened to be in the Realm of Maelstrom, looked up into the sky in surprise.

    An ancient warship which was nearly a kilometer long with many mysterious patterns slowly flew through the spatial rift.

    The warship drove into the sky above the Realm of Maelstrom.

    A line of six Saint domain experts stepped out, floated proudly, and looked down at all the people in the Realm of Maelstrom below with indifferent eyes, as if they were looking at mosquitoes.

    There weren¡¯t any Saint domain experts in the Realm of Maelstrom at present.

    The six Saint domain experts stood still. Behind them, dozens of Void domain experts came out. Judging from their clothes and ornaments, they clearly belonged to the same sect.

    The Qi warriors standing on the warship behind the Void domain experts were mostly at the Soul realm and Profound realm.

    All of them emitted a killing aura. It seemed they were veterans on the battlefield, and their weapons often killed people.

    There were Qi warriors from the Domain of Vast Darkness, the Domain of Endless Thunder, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin who froze for a while before they suddenly shouted loudly, ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    ¡°Gosh! They¡¯re actually from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Judging from the warship and the clothes, they¡¯re from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡± Meng Li, who was flying into the sky, gave Duan Shihu a look and said, ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is very far from our Domain of Heaven Python. Why are they suddenly flocking here? If they wanted toe, they shouldn¡¯t havee by tearing open and passing through a spatial rift, should they?¡±

    Duan Shihu said with a gloomy face, ¡°The Domain of Heaven Python is the domain of Nie Tian, with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as his backer. Beforeing, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect should have informed us first.¡±

    The other people discussed this strange arrival.

    ¡°Is Nie Tian here?¡±

    The people taking the lead among the six Saint domain experts was at thete Saint domain. He had arge head, big ears, a bare chest, and a face full of golden light.

    The ne around his neck was made from white bones.

    As he spoke, a piercing whistle came from within the ne of bones.

    Hearing that whistle, everyone in the Realm of Maelstrom felt a sense of terror as their heads became numb and their eardrums were almost pierced.

    ¡°Monk Goldbone of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    Qi warriors that knew about the sect raised their heads to take a closer look. Soon, they paled, quickly lowered their heads, and snuck to the teleportation portals of the Golden Vast Sect, Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and Divine Seal Sect in a bid to leave the Realm of Maelstrom as soon as possible.

    ¡°Nie Tian is not in the Domain of Heaven Python now.¡± Meng Li bit the bullet, walked to the front, and bowed to the man as a junior. ¡°This junior is Meng Li, an elder of the Divine Seal Sect. I...¡±

    ¡°Does the Divine Seal Sect only have an elder?¡± The man whose face was full of golden light chuckled.

    He shook his sleeves.

    A ray of golden light came out of his sleeves and formed a golden whip that sent Meng Li crashing down from midair into the pces of the Divine Seal Sect.

    BOOM!

    She smashed a stone building in her fall.

    A Qi warrior from the Golden Vast Sect who was at the early Soul realm couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°Your Excellency! The Realm of Maelstrom is a realm of Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce... You...¡±

    ¡°Soul realm...¡±

    Monk Goldboneughed.

    Hisughter suddenly became shrill and became a sound that could break souls and kill people.

    The Qi warrior from the Golden Vast Sect who came forward to rebuke him suddenly fell silent, his ears dripping with blood and his body falling feebly like a broken kite.

    Before his body could fall to the ground, his soul was shattered.

    ¡°Lu Fei!¡± Cried another Qi warrior from the Golden Vast Sect, catching his body in mid-air.

    When all the people looked up again, all their eyes were full of hatred. They choked with silent fury.

    ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to talk to me.¡± Monk Goldbone was still smiling. ¡°If Nie Tian is not here, then ask Saint domain experts like Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan and Qu Mingde toe to me as soon as possible. Also, tell the seventh Son of the Stars Nie Tian as soon as possible that we, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, are interested in the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Tell Nie Tian and all the masters of the three domains toe to the Realm of Maelstrom within half a month and get ready to wee the sectmaster of our Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    In an instant, all the experts of the Realm of Maelstrom burst into an uproar.

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is no longer a backer you can rely on. That so-called ancient sect is no longer as glorious as it was.¡± Monk Goldbone giggled and said casually, ¡°We will carve up and take over the thirteen domains, the realms of all the Sons of the Stars, and those of Chu Rui, the vice sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°The domains under Nie Tian¡¯s name have been carved up and now belong to us, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    Hearing this, Meng Li, who had just walked out of the copsed stone building, was so shocked that he spat out mouthfuls of blood and looked as white as a sheet.

    ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect actually dares to challenge the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s might!¡±

    ¡°The world has changed. Some people even dare to go against the four ancient sects.¡±

    ¡°Since the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect was founded, it has been second only to the four ancient sects. Over the past 100,000 years, all of their generations have had God domain experts. It¡¯s said that the sectmaster of this generation of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has been in secluded meditation for three thousand years,in an attempt to break through into the middle God domain. Perhaps the sectmaster has seeded in breaking through?¡±

    ¡°The middle God domain? Did he really make it?¡±

    ¡°Chu Rui is stuck in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Luo Wanxiang¡¯s whereabouts are unknown. The sectmaster and the elders are missing. With the current situation, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce doesn¡¯t stand a chance at defeating the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°ording to Monk Goldbone¡¯s words, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect isn¡¯t the only one who wants to take over the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    The people who came from other domains and knew about the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s power whispered to each other and retreated silently to the teleportation portals.

    ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re in a hurry to get back to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re busy and must leave.¡±

    After that, the visitors activated the inter-domain teleportation portals and hastily left the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Most of those visitors didn¡¯t have a close rtionship with the Realm of Maelstrom. They were only from adjacent domains. Because they knew that the Realm of Maelstrom gathered all kinds of spiritual materials and the travel was convenient, they came here.

    Upon hearing that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect was going to break into Nie Tian¡¯s three domains and that war was about to begin, of course they wanted to flee as far as possible.

    After they left, they spread word that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had broken into the Realm of Maelstrom. The news that Monk Goldbone killed a Qi warrior and insisted that Nie Tian and the masters of the sects of the three domains wait for the arrival of the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect spread at the fastest speed.

    Receiving the news, the sects of many domains were all shocked.

    The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had openly provoked the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

 Chapter 1254: An Uproar

    Word of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect barging into the Domain of Heaven Python and spilling blood soon spread across the human domains.

    Heated discussions took ce in many major sects and ns in the advanced domains.

    ¡°What?! Monk Goldbone from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect spilled blood in the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be right! Isn¡¯t the Realm of Maelstrom a subordinate realm of Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Is the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect crazy? This is a p in the face for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is a Son of the Stars after all!¡±

    ¡°But the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seems to be in a very bad ce right now. Chu Rui is trapped in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Ji Cang and Mo Heng are still missing. Luo Wanxiang is in a prolonged session of secluded cultivation. It¡¯s said that the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect entered secluded cultivation years ago, and has been seeking to enter the middle God domain. Even so, they have another God domain expert.¡±

    ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s reserve power is second only to that of the four great sects. I guess they actually have what it takes to challenge the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in this unrest they¡¯re facing.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian seems to have been assigned to some task elsewhere. Where is he now?¡±

    ¡°I wonder whether he and the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python will yield to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect eventually.¡±

    ¡°Who knows?¡±

    ...

    In the Water Moon Sect¡¯s territory in the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    Under the crescent moon, ships that were asrge as mountains could be seen sailing among inds in a boundless rippling sea.

    The beautiful, densely-vegetated inds seemed to be located in a particr formation.

    A forest of pces stood towering on one of the inds. It was the headquarters of the Water Moon Sect.

    ¡°Sectmaster Xie...¡± Seated at Xie Qian¡¯smand, a Void domain Qi warrior from the Domain of Vast Darkness sighed in deep frustration before rying what he had experienced in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The Water Moon Sect was the leader of the sects and ns in the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    At this moment, the leaders of those minor sects and ns had all teleported to the Water Moon Sect¡¯s headquarters, where they kept silent after taking seats in the grand hall.

    Every single one of them looked grim.

    ¡°That¡¯s all that happened.¡± The man who had witnessed the abrupt appearance of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s starship and Monk Goldbone injuring Meng Li and killing a junior from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect in the Realm of Maelstrom was a middle Void domain disciple of the Soul¡¯s Retreat Sect named Yu Fusheng.

    Due to the Water Moon Sect¡¯s friendly rtionship with Nie Tian, the Domain of Vast Darkness was directly connected to the Realm of Maelstrom. For this reason, Yu Fusheng had been able to go to the Realm of Maelstrom to trade for spiritual materials and tools.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that he would be there to witness the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s intrusion.

    An early Saint domain expert straightened his back slightly to look Xie Qian in the eyes and asked, ¡°If the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is bent on going to war with Nie Tian, what should we do?¡±

    Standing solemnly behind Xie Qian, Xie Wanting and Xie Yunhai listened attentively.

    At this moment, Xie Wanting stepped forward and said in a pleasant voice, ¡°Martial Uncles, Seniors, our sect has formed an alliance with Nie Tian, hasn¡¯t it? Being allies means we¡¯ll advance and retreat together, right? Now, the Domain of Heaven Python is in a crisis. Don¡¯t tell me that, as their ally, we¡¯re just going to sit back and watch.¡±

    Many leaders of the local ns and sects were shamefaced after hearing these words.

    However, they then thought of the possible result of them going against the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the shame rapidly faded from their faces.

    Receiving others¡¯ urging gazes, the Saint domain expert reluctantly turned to Xie Qian again. ¡°Big Brother Xie, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is on the decline. You should be aware of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s strength and reserve power. However, we don¡¯t even have a single God domain expert. We¡¯d be courting death if we plunge into a battle against the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    Many others nodded in agreement.

    Sitting in the host¡¯s seat, Xie Qian ran his eyes over the faces of every sect and n leader that was present.

    After pondering in silence for a while, he took his time to say, ¡°My sect is going to honor our alliance. As for you, I won¡¯t force you to join us on our trip to the Domain of Heaven Python. The decision will be yours.¡±

    Upon hearing that Xie Qian wouldn¡¯t force them to do go, many local sects and ns of the Domain of Vast Darkness expressed that they had no intention of sending their experts to the Domain of Heaven Python as the Water Moon Sect would.

    ¡°Sorry, Brother Xie. We don¡¯t want to be a part of this messy business between the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to help, but it¡¯s just that my sect doesn¡¯t even have any Saint domain members. We¡¯d be courting death to go.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to the Domain of Heaven Python either.¡±

    After they finished speaking, Xie Qian was surprised to discover that not a single local force intended to go on this mission.

    Apparently, none of them dared to offend the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, or thought that Nie Tian would win this fight against them.

    In the Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Domain of Frigid Frost...

    In a magnificent pce that stood atop a thirty thousand meter-high snowy mountain peak.

    Recently, Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing had spent all day fearing that Nie Tian would descend upon their headquarters with his subordinates to punish them for their previous deeds. However, news of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect marching their troops into the Realm of Maelstrom turned their mood around.

    They hurried to awaken Ling Bingyun, the Ice Soul Divine Daughter, from her cultivation.

    ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect made a move against Nie Tian!¡± Han Qiong said, looking as if he had just survived a holocaust. ¡°I thought he¡¯de after us after he finished with their problem with the Primal Yang Sect. In fact, I¡¯ve been having a headache over asking someone to mediate the tension between us. This works out for the best.¡±

    ¡°Now that Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has made a move, I bet they have full confidence in winning,¡± Kong Shuangjing chimed in. ¡°I suppose Nie Tian won¡¯t have time to find fault with us any time soon.¡±

    With a cold look in her icy eyes, Ling Bingyun, the Ice Soul Divine Daughter, said, ¡°If the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has made their move, I suppose other sects that have God domain experts, such as the Profound Purity Pce, will join in too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Han Qiong said. ¡°The Profound Purity Pce is also very hard to deal with. They¡¯re almost as powerful as the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. That Yu Suying is known for her cruelty and mercilessness.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing let out a snort. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say whether Nie Tian will be able to survive this tribtion. Even if he does, he¡¯ll suffer significant losses. I doubt he¡¯ll have the energy to seek trouble with us anymore.¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Han Qiong chimed in.

    ...

    In the Realm of Split Void in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Arge number of experts were gathered in front of the grand pce that had risen from the depths of the earth.

    Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng...

    Almost every renowned expert in the Domain of the Falling Stars was gathered here to discuss some important issues.

    Dong Li was among them.

    She had long since returned from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, where she had purchased all sorts of precious materials for those who had been looking forward to breaking through into the Saint domain with the contribution points in Nie Tian¡¯s Star Medallion.

    Such efforts had been to benefit those like Yue Yanxi, who were at thete Void domain and only a step away from entering the Saint domain.

    However, shortly after she had returned and distributed therge number of spiritual materials to those experts so that they could enter secluded cultivation to focus on their breakthroughs, she had learned about the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s unexpected invasion, and the fact that they had demanded that all sectmasters and nmasters go to the Realm of Maelstrom to wait for the arrival of the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    Fan Kai from the Heaven Pce Sect, who enjoyed a high prestige among the crowd, pondered for a while before asking, ¡°Where is Nie Tian now?

    ¡°If he¡¯s unavable, should you take his Star Medallion and go inform the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce of the situation?¡±

    With a bitter smile, Dong Li said, ¡°On my way back from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I heard that all thirteen of their subordinate domains are in turmoil. Chu Rui, the elders and Sons of the Stars were all arranged to put down rebellions in them. That was why Wu Zhuri and Qi Jiaoyang were able to escape after Fang Yuan escorted them back to their headquarters.

    ¡°Considering the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s situation, they wouldn¡¯t be able to spare people to help us even if they learned about what happened in the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    What she said was true.

    ¡°So how about we try to contact the Void Spirit Society?¡± As soon as Fan Kai said these words, he regretted saying them. He hastily turned to Hua Mu and added, ¡°Brother Hua, you and Pei Qiqi are close. Do you think you can take a trip to the Void Spirit Society and get her toe to the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    Pei Qiqi was the Void Spirit Society sectmaster¡¯s most valued legacy disciple. If she was in the Realm of Maelstrom, even the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect would have to rethink their deeds.

    With a deep frown, Hua Mu said, ¡°The thing is that I tried to contact her the moment I learned that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect invaded the Realm of Maelstrom, but people from the Void Spirit Society said that Qiqi is in secluded cultivation and can¡¯te out yet.¡±

    Fan Kai smiled bitterly. ¡°It can¡¯t be this much of a coincidence.¡±

    ¡°What about the FIve Elements Sect then?¡± Qi Bailu asked. ¡°Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and Hou Chn. They¡¯re all close to Nie Tian. What if we ask for their help?¡±

    Dong Li let out a sigh. ¡°Divine Sons and Daughters like them control limited power. They don¡¯t have any God domain subordinates at theirmand. They¡¯ll only make a difference if they can get their masters toe to our aid. Otherwise, they themselves can¡¯t possibly get the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to give up on their invasion.¡±

    Hearing this, Hua Mu said, ¡°Let¡¯s just hope Nie Tian¡¯ll learn what¡¯s going on ande back as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Dong Li chimed in. ¡°Only if hees back will we have a chance to frustrate the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and force them to retreat.¡±

 Chapter 1255: Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect

    In the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Frozen gray meteorites floated in the sky.

    The Profound Purity Pce¡¯s giant silver boat was moored casually on a meteorite that was only a tenth of its surface area.

    Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian were also on the giant silver boat, talking to Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce.

    At this point, from Yu Suying¡¯s words, Nie Tian had figured out her intentions.

    She wanted to create another God domain expert for the Profound Purity Pce.

    Her sister had been stuck at the peak of the Saint domain for many years and, like Yin Xingtian, she was half a step to the God domain.

    But the process of advancing to the God domain was too difficult and dangerous. Her junior martial sister was timid. Because she wasn¡¯t sure if she could break through, she didn¡¯t dare to take that step.

    Judging from Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian¡¯s attitudes, as well as Yu Suying¡¯s own observations, she found that Nie Tian was quite capable indeed, so she wanted his help.

    Nie Tian answered her request with an ambiguous reply, but did not immediately refuse her.

    Nie Tian only said that he could not make a judgment until he had seen her junior martial sister.

    Yu Suying immediately asked one of the elders in the Profound Purity Pce to return to the pce as soon as possible and ask her junior martial sister toe to the giant silver ship through its teleportation portal.

    Then everyone waited.

    On another meteorite, far from the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s giant silver ship.

    Nie Tian used Life Drain to suck up the corpse of Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom Kleist, refining his flesh, qi, and blood to form drops of brand new Blood Essence.

    BOOM!

    When its flesh, qi, and blood was exhausted, Kleist¡¯s body couldn¡¯t stand the ice power anymore. It froze, then exploded, and finally became a cloud of ice particles.

    Then Nie Tian took out the spirit beast meat and outsider corpses that Mo Qianfan had collected for him in the Primal Yang Sect and continued to absorb flesh power.

    A few dayster.

    ¡°Nearly a hundred drops of blood essence...¡±

    He felt a little annoyed when he looked inside with his soul consciousness. After his bloodline had advanced to eighth grade and he reached Blood Essence Transcendence, he could keep 300 drops of blood essence.

    Three hundred drops was the limit.

    However, after he reached the eighth rank, he had so far been unable to reach the limit of 300 drops of blood essence.

    He gradually found that his blood essence was too precious. The Star Behemoth bone, me spark, me Dragon Armor, and Nine Stars Flower all longed for his blood essence.

    This was why he had never reached the limits of his Blood Essence.

    After the battle with Kleist and fighting the star power of the All Manifestations Star Banner, the Spirit Pearl and Nine Stars Flower had both quieted down, as if they were waiting for a change in their nature.

    A wisp of Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword essence flew into his mind.

    Nie Tian raised his head slightly.

    Yin Xingtian stepped out, quickly flew to him from another icy meteorite tens of thousands of meters away, and shouted, ¡°I¡¯ve got urgent news!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan arrived andnded on the meteorite where Yin Xingtian stood.

    When Yu Suying approached, she said, ¡°Our Profound Purity Pce just heard the news about the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. Monk Goldbone of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect broke into Domain of Heaven Python...¡±

    She informed Nie Tian of the news that had recently resounded through the realms.

    ¡°Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    Nie Tian sprang to his feet, and the killing intent in his eyes seemed materialized. He shouted anxiously, ¡°Pce Master Yu, where can the teleportation portal of your Profound Purity Pce send me? Is there a faster way to get to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, or to a domain near the Domain of Heaven Python? The Five Elements Sect and Void Spirit Society are also fine!¡±

    The Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were the domains under his name, and all his rtives and close friends were there.

    As soon as he heard that there was an ident in his domains, he was forced to terminate his n to exchange terms with Yu Suying and save Chu Rui from Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Chu Rui was only suppressed by Grand Monarch Ice Bones anyway, and wouldn¡¯t die in a short time.

    But the Domain of Heaven Python was different. The time that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect gave him and the sects of the three domains wasn¡¯t long. If he couldn¡¯t arrive as soon as possible, his three domains would be turbulent.

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to deal with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect,¡± Yu Suying said.

    ¡°Nie Tian, calm down.¡± Yin Xingtian also persuaded him, ¡°There are two God domain experts in the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. The sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has not appeared for thousands of years. Everyone knows he must be still alive and well. I guess he may have seeded in reaching the middle God domain.¡±

    ¡°You guessed right,¡± Yu Suying chimed in. ¡°You Qimiao has reached the middle God domain. In fact, if we hadn¡¯t confirmed that he was at the middle God domain, we wouldn¡¯t have dared to attack the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°Without him, we wouldn¡¯t have had the confidence to defeat Luo Wanxiang.¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s face paled. ¡°I¡¯m afraid You Qimiao, who is at the middle God domain now, is not weaker than Luo Wanxiang. Chu Rui also may not be able to suppress You Qimiao. The man was originally a cultivation prodigy and made many contributions to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s current achievements.¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard that even people like Qu Yi and Chu Yuan give him face,¡± Yin Xingtian also said.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know much about You Qimiao, the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. After all, he had only been in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for a short time, and all he had ever been in contact with were the people of the four great sects.

    However, judging from the attitudes of Yin Xingtian and the others, he knew that You Qimiao was definitely extraordinary.

    ¡°If the news is true, You Qimiao will set foot in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Vastness...¡± Yu Suying weighed her words and said, ¡°Unless you can get people with at least the same cultivation from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society to help, you¡¯d better not fight recklessly with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    After seeing Nie Tian¡¯s capabilities and knowing Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian would help, she still advised Nie Tian not to fight recklessly, which was enough to show how powerful the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect was in her opinion.

    Nie Tian was silent, with a gloomy face.

    Yu Suying thought for a moment and then said, ¡°How about this? First try and see if you can ask the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society to help. Or I¡¯ll go to the Domain of Heaven Python with you. You Qimiao may give me face. I¡¯ll see if he¡¯s willing to cede your three domains to us.¡±

    It seemed the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Profound Purity Pce, and some other strong sects had secretly divided the domains of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in detail.

    Hearing this, Nie Tian¡¯s face became pale, and he said, ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect killed my people!¡±

    Yu Suying felt very puzzled. ¡°They hurt a Void domain expert badly and killed a junior of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect. Isn¡¯t it nothing? If you really fall out with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, then not only will one or two people die, but perhaps thousands of Qi warriors of the three domains will be suppressed and ughtered by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°If someone can fight You Qimiao, we can fight the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect,¡± Mo Qianfan aired his opinion. ¡°Another God domain expert of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is at the early God domain. I can fight him. With your subordinates and the strength of our Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo family, we aren¡¯t afraid of the other Saint domain experts of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself in a low voice.

 Chapter 1256: Breaking Ice!

    In the restricted area of the Frigid Depths.

    A peculiarke was located in the depths of the starry river. A white frosty aura rose from its smooth mirror-like surface to pervade the entire area.

    Heaven-shaking rumbles came from under theke¡¯s surface from time to time.

    Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol was close to a thousand meters tall. Surrounded by dazzling stars, he circted his immense power to bombard theke¡¯s frozen surface.

    RUMBLE!

    Under the bombardment, theke¡¯s frozen surface would shatter, but reform immediately afterwards. This happened over and over.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones floated over theke like an icy mountain peak.

    As he opened hisrge mouth, white frosty mist streamed into him, where it was refined to strengthen his frigid bones.

    Lu Qingchen from the Extreme Coldness Pce had fixed and returned the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom to its original state with the power of the Frigid Depths. Right now, he just waited in silence.

    Several Saint domain experts from the Extreme Coldness Pce could be seen in the translucent and sparkling divine kingdom. Each and every one of them practiced cold power and exuded bone-piercing frigid auras.

    All of them looked rather grim, as if they were worried about something.

    ¡°Sectmaster,¡± an elder of the Extreme Coldness Pce said, looking deeply anxious, ¡°we¡¯ve lost contact with the joint forces that went after Zu Guangyao and the others. They seem to have vanished. Some reported that they saw Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner flying past our domain.¡±

    Lu Qiongchen was taken aback. ¡°Luo Wanxiang... He and Chu Rui have never gotten along. It¡¯s said that he¡¯s still in secluded cultivation. How would he suddenly show up in our domain?¡±

    ¡°Well, I guess this is a matter of life or death for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± The man said.

    ¡°Those from the Profound Purity Pce are also in that area, so even if Luo Wanxiang came to save the day, he might not necessarily seed,¡± Lu Qingchen muttered. ¡°Even though that Luo Wanxiang is at the middle God domain, his cultivation talent is unimpressive among thest generation of Sons of the Stars. Even though he¡¯s at the middle God domain, he¡¯s not as formidable as people think he is.¡±

    After pausing for a few seconds, Lu Qingchen looked down at the Frigid Depths and said, ¡°I even doubt he¡¯s as strong as Chu Rui.¡±

    ¡°Even if he¡¯s not as strong as Chu Rui, with him here...¡± With these words, the man cast a revering nce at Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    ¡°If I could trap Chu Rui in the Frigid Depths, I can do the same with Luo Wanxiang,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones said with determination.

    The man was relieved upon hearing these words.

    ...

    Three dayster, the huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce sailed to the Frigid Depths.

    ¡°The Profound Purity Pce!¡± Lu Qingchen approached the huge silver ship, wielding his Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    ¡°How did it go, Sectmaster Yu?¡± he shouted from afar. ¡°I heard that Luo Wanxiang showed up. What happened to those Saint domain cultivators from our local sects?¡±

    In the sparkling, crystal-clear divine kingdom, Qi warriors from the Extreme Coldness Pce fixed their eyes on Yu Suying, waiting for her reply.

    Yu Suying stood at the prow, with the seven Saint domain experts standing quietly behind her.

    With a knitted brow, she looked rather pale. Only after Lu Qingchen got closer did she say, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Luo Wanxiang to suddenly show up either. All of those Saint domain cultivators from your domain seem to have died at his hands. And I failed to match him in battle. Only with the help of my divine tool and this starship did I managed to escape.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s he now?¡± Lu Qingchen asked aloud.

    Yu Suying didn¡¯t answer right away. Instead, she fixed her eyes on Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Like a piece of frigid stone that wouldn¡¯t move for thousands of years, the grand monarch who had dared topete for the position of Bonebrute high chieftain was sitting on a towering throne forged from a cier.

    His bones seemed to be carved from frigid ice that was ten thousand years old. Blood could be seen flowing within them like frosty currents.

    Yu Suying sensed an extremely frigid aura from him, which was almost identical to that of the mysterious Frigid Depths. In fact, she had a feeling that his aura might be even more frigid.

    Lu Qingchen assumed that she was concerned with Luo Wanxiang¡¯s sudden arrival, and thus said with a solemn tone, ¡°This is Grand Monarch Ice Bones!

    ¡°A hundred thousand years ago, he left his ancestralnd toe here, where he immersed himself in the Frigid Depths and healed his impregnable form with its power. With the help of the Frigid Depths, he has long since returned to the middle tenth grade, his peak state.

    ¡°He has also uncovered the Frigid Depths¡¯ profound mysteries, which has allowed his flesh aura to merge with it.

    ¡°Perhaps, given several more millennia, he¡¯ll be able to make another breakthrough in his bloodline with the wonders of the Frigid Depths, and advance to thete tenth grade. At that time, he¡¯ll be yet another overlord in this starry river of myriad realms.¡±

    Lu Qingchen was very generous with his praise for Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    However, Grand Monarch Ice Bones still sat there inplete silence.

    Yu Suying curled her lips to demonstrate her admiration. ¡°That¡¯s great. Awesome.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s twisted voice suddenly echoed out, causing even the void around him to crack, as if it were going to freeze and shatter.

    He suddenly fixed his icy eyes on Yu Suying.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones let out a snort. ¡°You have a Phantasm¡¯s aura on you. Also, I¡¯m sensing a flesh aura which seems to belong to the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian. You...¡±

    BOOOOM!

    Before Grand Monarch Ice Bones could finish, the huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce suddenly elerated and mmed into Lu Qingchen¡¯s Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    ¡°Seven Purity Silver Heavens Incantation!¡±

    The seven Saint domain experts and Yu Suying ignited their power simultaneously.

    Yu Suying channeled and mixed seven streams of spiritual power, which were metal, wood, water, fire, earth, ice, and lightning. Like a silver spear wielded by a mighty god, the pir of dazzling light pierced through the void into the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom.

    ¡°Yu Suying!¡± Lu Qingchen¡¯s ear-piercing cry shook heaven and earth.

    However, no matter how hard he cried, it didn¡¯t change anything.

    The divine kingdom he had expended great effort to reconstruct with the frigid aura of the Frigid Depths copsed again under the st of glorious light, like a sand dune rammed by a war chariot.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Pieces of broken ice from the divine kingdom rained on the Frigid Depths, and shattered upon hitting its frozen surface.

    Arge amount of sparkling crystal-clear light rose from the shattered bits of ice to fly about on the frozen surface, as if they were absorbing power from the Frigid Depths to start the rebuilding process.

    In therge amount of icy light, a vague white shape seemed to suddenly plunge into the Frigid Depths.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    Astounded, Lu Qingchen reached out with one hand, and the Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword that had been recovering in the Frigid Depths pierced through the frozen surface and flew out.

    Immediately after the destruction of the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, the other Saint domain experts from the Extreme Coldness Pce saw countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light shooting in their direction, filling the space around them. Their faces turned pale as they cried out, ¡°Help! Grand Monarch, Help!¡±

    They had secretly worked with the Profound Purity Pce. It was only natural that they were aware of how terrifyingly mighty Yu Suying and her Heaven-purging Divine Light was.

    They knew that those rays of light were a signature treasure of the Profound Purity Pce, which worked perfectly when used to break flesh aura seas, domains, and all sorts of shields and wards.

    In the next moment, all of their ice domains were riddled with holes by the Heaven-purging Divine Light.

    Having their domains prated and losing both their spiritual and soul power at an rming rate, they had no choice but to seek help from an outsider: Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Lu Qingchen¡¯s cultivation base was only slightly higher than theirs. Besides, his Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom had just shattered again. How could they count on him anymore?

    ¡°Even though you¡¯re only at the early God domain, your Immortal grade divine tool makes you a decent fighter.¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ scalp-numbing, blood-freezing voice echoed out again.

    Sitting on the distant throne, he loosened his neck slightly, giving rise to cracking sounds.

    ¡°Bloodline: Mortal Icest!¡±

    An iceberg close to a thousand kilometers wide was channeled by his bloodline, and rose from the depths of the Frigid Depths upon his soulmand.

    Like another Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom, it rammed towards the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s huge silver ship.

    It exploded as it moved forward.

    Countless sharp fragments created by the explosion then formed an ice storm. Mixed with a strong aura of death, it swept towards Yu Suying and the huge silver ship.

    The ice storm reeked of death, as if upon entering any realm, it could eliminate all lives from it.

    Yu Suying took a deep breath, her face very grim. ¡°Tenth grade Bonebrute grand monarch!¡±

    As she rapidly wove her hands in the air to form a hand seal, the huge silver ship seemed to morph into an enormous sinister beast, with rumbling soundsing out of it.

    As this happened, thirty-nine different ancient spell formations started operating.

    Profound Pure st Formation, Heavenly Pure Stream Formation, Ancient Spirit-gathering Formation, Heavencraft Formation...

    Some of them had been created by the Profound Purity Pce, while others had been purchased from other sects. A few of them were from the Five Elements Sect and the Void Spirit Society, full of mysteries.

    At this moment, the seven Saint domain experts also further exerted themselves to infuse the huge silver ship with power of different attributes.

    BOOM!

    Thirty-nine shields enveloped the huge silver ship, protecting it against Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s ice storm.

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    One shield after another burst as death power and cold power madly struck the ship, causing it to shake violently.

    Every time it did, billions bits of energy and pale-gray flesh aura sputtered out.

    A hint of surprise appeared in Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s icy eyes as he slowly rose to his feet.

    However, as soon as he rose to his feet, the surprise in his eyes turned into astonishment.

    ¡°Something is suppressing my bloodline, stopping me from bringing out its full might. I can only manifest ny percent of my peak strength now.¡±

    He nced around. A feeling of having his hands and feet tied down made him anxious and angry.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones bellowed. ¡°Who¡¯s hiding in the dark and suppressing my bloodline?¡±

    A vague figure took his time to walk from the depths of the frosty mist. ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian. I¡¯ve heard many incredible stories about you, Grand Monarch, so I took this trip to the Frigid Depths especially to greet you. Hopefully, you¡¯ll give me face and let Chu Rui from my sect leave with me.¡±

 Chapter 1257: The Might of A Grand Monarch

    The Star Behemoth bone glittered with crimson bloody light as it floated in front of Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    The aura of the overlords of the Primal Era spread out.

    That kind of aura had a suppressive effect on most outsiders¡¯ bloodlines.

    The older races like Titans, Ancientbeasts, Dragons, Phantasms, and Demons had memories filled with a fear of that kind of aura in the depths of their bloodlines.

    The Bonebrutes were no exception.

    Because of the bone¡¯s Blood Suppression, it was difficult for Grand Monarch Ice Bones to make use of some of his bloodline abilities.

    Even the power of his Mortal Icest that he had used to strike the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s giant silver ship where Yu Suying stood was significantly reduced after Nie Tian showed up.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Theyers of barriers surrounding the giant silver ship broke at a much slower speed.

    ¡°He¡¯s just a hybrid. I¡¯ve ever seen other hybrids before.¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s body was like cold jade and looked like an ice sculpture. When his limbs moved, his bones cracked. ¡°You, a Son of the Stars, actually dare to ask me for a person? Who do you think you are? It¡¯s Chu Rui, a Son of the Stars from the previous generation of your Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who is suppressed inside the Frigid Depths below us!¡±

    ¡°Do you think you¡¯re Ji Cang, and I¡¯ll give you face? Humph!¡±

    The extreme cold force of the Frigid Depths condensed into bundles of icicles in the sky.

    There were strands of white fog swimming like spirit snakes in them.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones had given a wisp of his death aura to the icicles, which were dozens of meters long.

    ¡°Mortal Ice Spear!¡±

    In an instant, over ten icicles thrust toward Nie Tian.

    The air where the icicles passed was frozen. A strong death aura pervaded heaven and earth, as if it wanted to turn all sentient beings with flesh and blood into dead things.

    WHOOSH!

    A gorgeous sword light came like a river of light.

    The air that had frozen when the icicles passed was shattered.

    Like a stream, the sword light carried sharpness that could break the barriers of domains and prate everything, and hit the iceke at the surface of the Frigid Depths.

    Beneath the frozenke, stars shone brilliantly. Surrounded by stars, Chu Rui¡¯s divine dharma idol still used spirit incantations to bombard the ice.

    On the surface of the iceke, the vein of blood which was made from Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s blood and changedyer byyer suddenly brightened.

    It glistened with cold light. Ice crystal particles fused into the surface of the Frigid Depths.

    BZZZ!

    The strike of the Heavenbreaker hit a pattern with eerie markings.

    A sharp death aura which was unique to the Bonebrute n and broke into Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword domain through the Heavenbreaker.

    The Ten Thousand Sword Virtual Shadow rose from around Yin Xingtian, who suddenly slowed down for a moment.

    A momentter, the death aura eroded, and the Ten Thousand Sword Virtual Shadow he had demonstrated disappeared.

    ¡°ck Thunder!¡±

    Then Mo Qianfan roared as a huge bolt of lightning condensed from thunder pools crashed into Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    With a snort, Grand Monarch Ice Bones flew into the sky, and the cier throne beneath him was blown to pieces by Mo Qianfan¡¯s strike.

    However, the pieces of ice from the broken cier throne did not fall into the Frigid Depths, but remained in the sky and quietly lined up, as if they were turning into objects.

    HISS! HISS!

    Wisps of invisible gray death aura rose from the Frigid Depths and poured into the changing broken ice.

    ¡°Bonebrute Impregnable Form!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ body expanded at an rming rate. A few secondster, he became a thousand-meter cier with a death aura like Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol, emitting a frightening aura.

    ¡°Get out of here!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ crystal bone palm pped heavily at Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol.

    Mo Qianfan, who was surrounded by innumerable bolts of lightning and rolling thunder, was pped by his palm. The thunder and lightning were extinguished bit by bit like lights, and even Mo Qianfan himself was forced to take numerous steps backward.

    After using the Bonebrute Impregnable Form, Grand Monarch Ice Bones seemed to have infinite strength, and his death aura filled the air. He emitted a dark cold aura, with an imposing and terrifying manner.

    He clenched his fist and thundered at the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s giant silver ship, ¡°And you!¡±

    When his punchnded, heaven and earth copsed and broke, as if the starry river had been hung upside down. The power of his punch was unsurpassed.

    Some barriers that hadn¡¯t been broken before now broke and exploded like fireworks. Arge part of the giant silver ship was dented, and it was instantly thrown tens of thousands of meters away.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The Mortal Ice Spears released by Grand Monarch Ice Bones pounded the Star Behemoth bone, like long steel spikes.

    Blood sshed, and the Mortal Ice Spears were shattered one after another.

    The Star Behemoth bone didn¡¯t show even a trace of a crack and remained as solid as the godly iron between heaven and earth.

    However, Nie Tian, who was holding onto the bone, fell thousands of meters away under the heavy blows of the Mortal Ice Spears.

    After Grand Monarch Ice Bones got up and really made a move, Mo Qianfan and the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s giant silver ship, as well as Nie Tian, were all sent flying around.

    CRASH!

    The shattered cier throne separated from the death power around it, and finally changedpletely, bing a silver spear.

    ¡°Annihtion Bone Spear!¡±

    The moment the spear showed itself, Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ aura strengthened even further.

    The intense death power mixed with the cold fog of the Frigid Depths pervaded the surrounding starry river.

    In the twinkling of an eye, the entire starry river was influenced by the aura of the Annihtion Bone Spear, and it seemed that all creatures had been brought into a lifeless, coldnd.

    Everyone¡¯s soul, flesh and blood were affected by that silver spear.

    ¡°The Bonebrute n¡¯s Annihtion Bone Spear is as famous as their Bone Shatterer!

    Like the immortal grade divine tools of our human race, that is one of the most terrifying weapons in the world!¡±

    The giant silver ship came to a halt. Yu Suying¡¯s elegant, beautiful face was very solemn as the spear appeared.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian, who held the bone of the Star Behemoth in the sky, stopped abruptly. He also turned pale when he felt the aura of the spear.

    Before he came, he had no idea that the grand monarch of the Bonebrute n would be so horrifying.

    He had thought that Grand Monarch Ice Bones, with his middle tenth grade bloodline, and Luo Wanxiang, vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, would be equal in strength.

    Moreover, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner had reached the third grade as a divine weapon, which had greatly improved his strength.

    With the odd flower, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying joining hands, they had hurt Luo Wanxiang badly, forcing him to abandon Kleist and flee.

    Since they were able to defeat Luo Wanxiang, Nie Tian thought that with their strength, they could also defeat Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Furthermore, Grand Monarch Ice Bones also needed to suppress another vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the Frigid Depths. Once Chu Rui broke free, he would be a very powerful helper.

    From Nie Tian¡¯s perspective, the key to making the Remote Beginning Heaven Sect quit their invasion of Domain of Heaven Python and pay the price for their arrogance was Chu Rui.

    So Nie Tian persuaded Yu Suying toe to the Frigid Depths and fight Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    But none of them had expected Grand Monarch Ice Bones would be so incredibly strong in the Frigid Depths!

    ¡°The grand monarch who has been famous for 100,000 years and dared to challenge Grand Monarch Crystal Bones is strong indeed.¡± Mo Qianfan came back in dejection, his face full of bitterness, ¡°Nie Tian, my lightning power has a certain restraint on Phantasms, but its effect on Bonebrutes is not obvious. Worse still, his bloodline is more advanced.¡±

    ¡°Just wait here and see how things will pan out,¡± Yu Suying told the giant silver ship to keep their distance, while she herself slowly returned to the Frigid Depths.

    In the Frigid Depths.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones looked down at Yin Xingtian with icy eyes. ¡°Do you want to break the iceyer in the Frigid Depths and save Chu Rui? Do you think you can prate it with your immortal grade divine tool? What is your realm? You haven¡¯t even broken through into the God realm. You can¡¯t make the most of that immortal grade divine tool.¡±

    Holding the Heavenbreaker, Yin Xingtian raised his head, looked at Grand Monarch Ice Bones, and fell silent.

    He had tried. With his current realm, he had tried his best to make full use of the Heavenbreaker, but he still couldn¡¯t prate the ice and help Chu Rui escape from the Frigid Depths.

 Chapter 1258: Double Bloodlines

    ¡°Almighty grand monarch!¡± the Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce cheered simultaneously.

    Lu Qingchen let out a sigh of relief as he hastily retreated to a far corner of the Frigid Depths, where he attempted to rebuild his Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom with the Frigid Depths¡¯ cold aura.

    Neither Nie Tian, Yu Suying, nor anyone had paid any attention to Lu Qingchen or the other Extreme Coldness Pce Qi warriors from the moment Grand Monarch Ice Bones had risen from his cier throne.

    In their eyes, the Extreme Coldness Pce wasn¡¯t to be feared at all.

    Lu Qingchen, however, found this to be a favorable situation. He told the experts of his sect to distance themselves from the battlefield to recover their strength and also give room to Grand Monarch Ice Bones, so that he could go fight Yu Suying and the others without being hindered.

    He understood better than anyone how formidable this Bonebrute grand monarch was.

    ¡°You think you can take my prisoner away with just the few of you?¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ voice rumbled out, his enormous crystalline body floating in the void.

    The Annihtion Bone Spear exuded an aura that rapidly spread into the surrounding starry river.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One realm after another that were countless kilometers away were influenced by its aura.

    In one of the realms, numerous dead bodies that hadin in deste cemeteries for countless years were channeled. Death auras gradually rose from them and floated into the starry river.

    The same thing happened in many other realms.

    In any realm where arge number of corpses existed, wisps of death power were channeled away.

    Bonebrutes usually strengthened their bloodlines and perfected their uncanny secret death magics with the help of their unique burial grounds.

    The remains of all living beings, including humans, outsiders, and Ancientbeasts, would exude death power after their demise.

    To Bonebrutes, not only humans but all beings with flesh and blood would be their cultivation resources once they died.

    Therefore, even among the outsiders, they were considered ¡°outsiders.¡±

    If possible, Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Floragrims, and all of the other outsider races would avoid contact with them, as they all found the Bonebrutes repulsive.

    In many realms, Qi warriors that practiced cold power gazed up at the rising death auras and eximed in fear.

    ¡°Death auras!¡±

    ¡°Faint power is rising from the dead into the heavens. What is it being attracted to?¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones slowly lifted the bone spear in his hand. ¡°Annihtion...¡±

    As soon as he did, extremely rich death auras hovered around the bone spear, morphing into dozens of profound death talismans, as if in this way, he was dering that death was the home that all would return to eventually.

    The Annihtion Bone Spear was pointed at Yu Suying.

    Yu Suying, who was at the early God domain and protected by countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light, watched the pale-gray auras wreathing the Annihtion Bone Spear morph and manifest the profound truths of death.

    Simply by doing this, her bright eyes grew dim, as if she were slowly losing her life power.

    FZZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Her Heaven-purging Divine Light flickered, giving rise to strange sounds, as if it was receiving repeated blows from the profound truths of death.

    WHOOSH!

    In another location, the murky frigid current that was mixed with ice shards, which Grand Monarch Ice Bones had extracted from the Frigid Depths, shot towards Mo Qianfan.

    mmed by the frigid current, Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol let out crispy crackling sounds, as if it were being frozen.

    Mo Qianfan had to bring out his mightiest lightning power and bombard himself with lightning balls the size of fists.

    He was too busy handling his situation to do anything else.

    Nie Tian, however, wasn¡¯t attacked again after his Star Behemoth bone had suffered a heavy blow from Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Perhaps in Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ eyes, both his current cultivation base and bloodline grade were far too low.

    Once he was finished with Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian, he would be able to capture and kill him wherever he fled, as long as he remained in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Observing the battle, Nie Tian thought to himself with a grim face, ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones carries such a curious bloodline. His death bloodline seems to contain the mysteries of cold power.¡±

    He had met some Demon, Phantasm, and Fiend grand monarchs in the Shatter Battlefield. He had even met mighty titans.

    However, now that he thought about it, he realized that this Grand Monarch Ice Bones before him might actually be stronger than any of the outsider grand monarchs he had ever met.

    ¡°Is it because his death bloodline also contains the profound truths of coldness? If that¡¯s the case, then he must carry two bloodlines at the same time, death and cold!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Double bloodlines?!¡±

    All of a sudden, a subtle, undetectable divine will quietly entered the third fragmentary star mark in Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    The third fragmentary star mark, which he hadn¡¯t had a chance to study, recorded the method of domain building.

    He knew nothing of the wonders this fragmentary star mark held. For one thing, his cultivation base had been far too low. For another, he had been otherwise upied, and thus hadn¡¯t had time to study it.

    The fact that it somehow received divine will now came as a great surprise to him.

    He pondered briefly before quickly summoning a wisp of power from his star souls, vesting it with his soul awareness, and using it to examine the divine will in his third fragmentary star mark.

    ¡°This is Chu Rui. I secretly left a wisp of my divine will here before I was imprisoned...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he discovered that the divine will belonged to Vice Sectmaster Chu, who had been trapped in the Frigid Depths.

    ¡°As a former Son of the Stars, I¡¯m well-aware of the wonders of fragmentary star marks. This wisp of divine will I left could detect your third fragmentary star mark and establish a soulmunication between us.

    ¡°Now, about our situation, Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ talent is rarely matched even by the other grand monarchs in Bonebrute history. His bloodline has the wonders of both death and coldness. Back in the day, even though he lost his battle against Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones didn¡¯t have the ability to kill him, and thus had to let him disappear.

    ¡°The reason he chose to hide in the Frigid Depths was because its unique features could help him exploit his potential and awaken the cold power part of his bloodline.

    ¡°Now, a hundred thousand years have passed. Who knows how much his mastery of cold power has advanced?

    ¡°He¡¯s much stronger now than he was a hundred thousand years ago. The cold power part of his bloodline hadn¡¯t been awakened back then. All he had relied on was his death power.

    ¡°Even though Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demon race and Grand Monarch Pale Bones of the Bonebrute race are also at the middle tenth grade, neither of them can match his battle prowess.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know this before I fought him personally.

    ¡°Therefore, if you want to defeat him, the four of you aren¡¯t enough. You¡¯ll have to break the Frigid Depths¡¯ frozen surface and get me out first...¡±

    Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui¡¯s soul messages continued toe from the third fragmentary star mark on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    Nie Tian listened attentively andmunicated with him on a soul level from time to time, asking how they should work together to free him from Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ control.

    Momentster, Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. ¡°Fire and ice are ipatible. mes, the fiercest mes can melt ice!¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s words reminded him of the me spark in his me power core, the me spark gifted to him by the Divine me.

    Having been infused with his Blood Essence, the me spark had also transcended. Right now, its aura was almost identical to that of the Divine me, which had burned down the entire Domain of me¡¯s End.

    ¡°I just need to prate the frozen surface with that spark of ultimate me!¡±

    FZZZ!

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s summons, the orange-red me spark flew out of his me power core.

    ¡°Starshift!¡±

    Activating his star power, Nie Tian seemed to travel through space, as he instantly passed the area where Grand Monarch Ice Bones was fighting Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying, and appeared over Yin Xingtian¡¯s head.

    Yin Xingtian was surprised by his sudden appearance, which was preceded by a sh of starlight.

    However, he shook his head and said with a somewhat frustrated tone, ¡°I wonder how this iceyer came to form in the first ce. It¡¯s harder than anything I know of. Even my Heavenbreaker can¡¯t put a hole in it.¡±

    ¡°You couldn¡¯t break it because Grand Monarch Ice Bones has vested it with a bloodline spell formation he created with his profound understanding of cold power.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian controlled the Star Behemoth bone, which looked like a crimson, two hundred meter-long divine spear, to pierce down towards the Frigid Depths.

    Right now, Grand Monarch Ice Bones was suppressing Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying with his cold power and death power, yet he still had power to spare.

    With his icy crystals of eyes, he looked down at Nie Tian, and muttered indifferently, ¡°Puny insects.¡±

    ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    Nie Tian summoned every bit of power he could, including star power, me power, wood power, life power, and soul power, and fused it into the Star Behemoth bone.

    ROAR!

    The roar of a mighty titan, which was usually referred to as an Ancient God, seemed to travel through the Dead Star Sea and countless domains to this part of the starry river.

    Even Grand Monarch Ice Bones was taken aback. ¡°That, that was...¡±

    CRUNCH!

    A sharp end of the Star Behemoth bone pierced into the iceyer.

    The bloodline patterns Grand Monarch Ice Bones had scribed in the iceyer by relying on the wonders of his cold power bloodline suddenly lit up, and many of them broke instantly.

    However, wisps of new bloodline power rapidly appeared and slithered about like ice snakes to fix the damage.

    The reason why the Heavenbreaker had failed to break the iceyer was because the damaged parts of the bloodline spell formations would be fixed by Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s bloodline power as quickly as a sh of lightning.

    However, because of the me spark, things were different this time.

    After the orange-red me spark fused into the icyyer through the bone¡¯s sharp end, the exquisite bloodline spell formations Grand Monarch Ice Bones had created with his Blood Essence failed to recover instantly as they usually could.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ eyes burst forth with terrifying icy light.

    CRUNCH! CRACK! CRACK!

    The Star Behemoth bone, which had been stopped by the iceyer, started to inch downward.

    ¡°Heaven Break!¡±

    Yin Xingtian realized that this was an opportunity and thus swung his sword, unleashing another beam of divine sword light that pierced towards the iceyer.

    As soon as he did, tens of thousands of sword projections seemed toe together, as if countless Yin Xingtians had swung their swords simultaneously, their sword projections, sword intent, and sword light condensing into a single mighty strike.

    BOOM!

    Finally, the glorious beam of light sted through the iceyer, leaving arge hole.

    The broken iceyer could no longer stop the dazzling starlight from bursting forth from below.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones!¡± Chu Rui¡¯s thunderous voice came from the depths of the Frigid Depths as his dharma idol morphed into a shooting star and broke free instantly.

    As his magnificent dharma idol reappeared outside, the thick frosty mist that pervaded the entire Domain of Frigid Depths seemed to scatter, and nearby stars seemed to light up and shine starlight on him.

 Chapter 1259: The Mystery of the Frigid Depths

    ¡°I¡¯m finally out.¡±

    After assuming his dharma idol form, Chu Rui, who was chubby in his true form, seemed surprisingly awe-inspiring.

    His dharma idol seemed to be wreathed in a neb full of stars.

    This part of the starry river that was enveloped in thick frosty mist year-round was finally lit up.

    The stars in the distance also shone dazzlingly, as if a profound connection had been established between them and Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones!¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s eyes were filled with strong killing intent as he made a pulling motion with his huge, fleshy hand.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Shooting stars that were tens of thousands of kilometers away suddenly had their directions changed.

    Summoned by Chu Rui, the shooting stars dashed over at lightning speed with an all-prating momentum, dragging glorious tails behind them as they did.

    Sealing spells that had been cast with the Annihtion Bone Spear¡¯s freezing death power were instantly broken.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Crisp ice-breaking sounds echoed out in every direction, pleasing the ear.

    ¡°The fact that you were able to trap me wasn¡¯t because you¡¯re stronger than me, but because you set me up with Frigid Depths¡¯ power.¡± Chu Rui looked down at the translucent and sparkling iceyer that covered the Frigid Depths, a hint of a scruple appearing in his eyes. ¡°After all, the Frigid Depths were transformed from the shattered domain of Xuan Yu, thete Ice Emperor.

    ¡°You only chose to hide in this ce because you wanted to derive enlightenment from the Ice Emperor¡¯s profound understanding of cold power, didn¡¯t you?

    ¡°However, I only realized this after I made the mistake of entering the Frigid Depths. So it was thebination of your bloodline power and the residual divine power of the Ice Emperor¡¯s shattered domain that trapped me down there. It wasn¡¯t just you.¡±

    Chu Rui let out a cold harrumph.

    Both Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan were bbergasted. Clearly, this was new information to them.

    ¡°Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Frigid Depths was actually transformed from the Ice Emperor¡¯s shattered domain!¡±

    Even the Saint domain disciples of the Extreme Coldness Pce had bewildered looks in their eyes as they gazed down at the Frigid Depths. ¡°Shattered domain of the Ice Emperor? Is that true?¡±

    They then fixed their eyes on Lu Qingchen.

    Lu Qingchen was the only one whose expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest. Apparently, he knew about this.

    He let out a snort and said, ¡°The Frigid Depths¡¯ secrets are also our sect¡¯s biggest secrets. Both the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword have profound connections to the Frigid Depths. It¡¯s natural that you don¡¯t know certain things.¡±

    By saying these words, he practically admitted that what Chu Rui had said was true: the Frigid Depths indeed had something to do with Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor.

    Standing on the broken iceyer, Nie Tian turned to Yin Xingtian and asked with a confused expression, ¡°Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor? Who¡¯s that?¡±

    After Chu Rui had broken free, Yin Xingtian and Nie Tian had remained on the frozen surface of the Frigid Depths.

    The hole in the iceyer healed immediately after Yin Xingtian pulled his Heavenbreaker out.

    As Nie Tian withdrew the Star Behemoth bone, his orange-red me spark also left the iceyer and flew back to him.

    With a revering look in his eyes, Yin Xingtian looked down at the sparkling lights that were slithering in the iceyer, and said, ¡°Xuan Yu was one of the most gifted cultivators throughout human history. He didn¡¯t belong to the four ancient great sects or any other forces. He relied solely on himself to grow stronger as a cultivator in a remote realm.

    ¡°Eventually, he managed to advance to thete God domain, which was something only a handful who didn¡¯t belong to the four great sects have ever aplished in human history!¡±

    Waves of respect rose in Nie Tian¡¯s heart as he asked, ¡°Then how did a peak expert like him die?¡±

    Yin Xingtian smiled bitterly. ¡°The original master of the Blood Purgatory Sea was ate tenth grade Demon grand monarch. Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was a Demon overlord, whose name was feared throughout the starry river. Blood Warden Cardy carries his bloodline.

    ¡°It was during a battle against him that Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor, perished, body and soul. Only parts of his shattered domain endured and disappeared after the battle.

    ¡°Things weren¡¯t any better with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. However, with a secret method, the Demons preserved a drop of his Blood Essence in the Blood Purgatory Sea before the battle. Since he died in battle, that drop of his Blood Essence has been absorbing the rich flesh aura of the Blood Purgatory Sea, therefore preserving his chance ating back to life.

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Cardy was made warden of the Blood Purgatory Sea so that he could help revive Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    ¡°However, I heard that he somehow died in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s expression grew strange as he said thesest words, as if he was convinced that Cardy¡¯s death didn¡¯t have much to do with the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Upon learning that the Frigid Depths had such a profound connection to the Ice Emperor, Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying also became full of respect.

    ¡°Lu Qingchen!¡± Yu Suying spat. ¡°If this Frigid Depths was transformed from the remains of the Ice Emperor¡¯s domain, how dare you allow Grand Monarch Ice Bones, a Bonebrute, to upy it?¡±

    Facing her usation, Lu Qingchen looked somewhat ashamed and said, ¡°The grand monarch came to the Frigid Depths a hundred thousand years ago. I, I wasn¡¯t even born then.¡±

    Face cold, Yu Suying said, ¡°So I suppose the previous sectmasters of the Extreme Coldness Pce colluded with Grand Monarch Ice Bones long ago. I only changed my mind about our deal because I learned that you¡¯re actually working with Grand Monarch Ice Bones after I entered the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    ¡°The Profound Purity Pce may asionally fight other human sects for better development, but we¡¯d never work with outsiders!¡±

    Lu Qingchen snorted and said, ¡°My hands are forced sometimes. Every sectmaster of my sect would go to derive the ultimate truths of cold power from the Frigid Depths, and would inevitably meet Grand Monarch Ice Bones. I...¡±

    He intended to say that he didn¡¯t have a choice, and that he had been enved by Grand Monarch Ice Bones after entering the Frigid Depths, and thus had to put the whole Extreme Coldness Pce in his hands.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Chu Rui ran out of patience, his enormous dharma idol striding towards Grand Monarch Ice Bones, treading the starry void.

    Large pieces of crystallized star power flew out of his sleeves to form profound star formations that seemed mighty enough to alter the starry river, control the sun and moon, and turn heaven and earth around.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones! Now that I¡¯vee out of the Frigid Depths, do you still wish for this battle to continue?¡±

    Clutching the Annihtion Bone Spear, Grand Monarch Ice Bones said arrogantly, ¡°You were right. I did trap you with the Frigid Depths¡¯ help. However, I¡¯m more than capable of defeating you without it. It¡¯ll just take a bit more time and effort. But now that you¡¯ve broken free, and you have the help of two other God domain humans, I suppose this battle...¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones seemed hesitant.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    They had gone to great lengths to free Chu Rui. He deemed that if they worked together now, they could definitely kill or seriously injure Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    However, Chu Rui didn¡¯t seem to want this battle to continue.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Chu Rui¡¯s soul voice came from the third fragmentary star mark on his chest. ¡°Our sect is in dire peril. And you yourself said that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has set their mind on one of your domains. If we fought Grand Monarch Ice Bones now, no matter the result, I doubt that I¡¯d be able to fight again anytime soon.¡±

    ¡°Now we know that Luo Wanxiang has been secretly contacting the Phantasms. In this situation, if I were to get in trouble, I¡¯m afraid that our sect will really fall out of the four ancient great sects.¡±

    Nie Tian was the only one who was able to hear these words.

    Chu Rui expressed his concerns and scruples in clear terms.

    Upon remembering what was happening in the Domain of Heaven Python, Nie Tian fell silent as well.

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Ice Bones looked at Chu Rui, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan, then took a nce at Yin Xingtian. He waved hisrge hand and said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to pay a heavy price myself if I want to kill you. Forget it. You may leave now. However, don¡¯t enter the Domain of Frigid Depths ever again. Otherwise, don¡¯t me me for adopting different manners.¡±

    Yu Suying let out a cold harrumph. ¡°The Domain of Frigid Depths is human territory. Are you saying that you, a Bonebrute grand monarch, are going to im it as yours?¡±

    A meaningful look appeared in Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ glittering eyes. ¡°Our territory and yours may border each other soon. Who knows? Times have changed. It¡¯s just that you don¡¯t know it yet.¡±

    Yu Suying looked baffled. ¡°Times have changed?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang had said the same thing. Now, a Bonebrute grand monarch had also said it.

    This baffled Yu Suying. She couldn¡¯t help but fix Chu Rui with an inquiring gaze.

    Chu Rui shook his head unknowingly.

    Nie Tian jumped in and asked, ¡°By saying ¡®times have changed,¡¯ do you mean the appearance of arge number of hybrids?

    ¡°I know about this ¡®brand new world¡¯, where humans, outsiders, Ancientspirits, and arge number of hybrids are living together. Do you have anything to do with it?¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones suddenly fixed his icy gaze on him and said, ¡°Who would have thought that as a Son of the Stars, you know quite a lot. You¡¯re right. They approached me, but I refused to join them. However, if what they told me is true, they must have the power to change the heavens and alter the earth.¡± (Idiom: change the world tremendously/make great changes)

    ¡°Even the four great sects may not be able to stop them. Your world may be the first to witness the changes thate with the new era.¡±

 Chapter 1260: Bloodline Conversion

    ¡°The Frigid Depths, the shattered domain of Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor...¡± As Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce gazed at the frozenke with a frigid mist rising from it, her eyes suddenly lit up.

    WHOOSH!

    The huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce returned after having left for quite some time.

    Standing at the prow of the ship was a silver-robed young woman with an icy aura, who seemed to only be in her early twenties.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister!¡± she called out eagerly.

    Yu Suying was both surprised and ted to see her. ¡°Little Qing! Why are you here?¡±

    Han Qing was Yu Suying¡¯s junior martial sister. She was currently at thete Saint domain, and she happened to practice ice power.

    Yu Suying had previously agreed to help Lu Qingchen deal with Zu Guangyao and the others from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. The reason was twofold. For one thing, she wanted to hurt the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. For another, she had hoped to obtain some precious ice-attributed treasures from the Extreme Coldness Pce in order to help Han Qing make her next breakthrough in cultivation.

    Yu Suying hadplicated emotions towards this junior martial sister of hers.

    Her master had taken Han Qing in on herst exploration trip. She had died shortly after her return.

    After her demise, Yu Suying had be the sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce, and quickly advanced to the God domain.

    She was more like a master to Han Qing, even though they practiced different incantations.

    However, Han Qing¡¯s cultivation talent had turned out to be amazing. Yu Suying had a feeling that her talent in ice power cultivation even exceeded that of the Ice Soul Divine Daughter from the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    In fact, Han Qing had indeed reached thete Saint domain at a shockingly young age.

    She was far younger than the Ice Soul Divine Daughter.

    ¡°Ate Saint domain ice power cultivator.¡± Nie Tian took a nce at Han Qing from afar, and found that the woman had icy jade-like skin. Her appearance was every bit as striking as that of the Ice Soul Divine Daughter. Even Yu Suying was outshone by her good looks. He wondered who she was.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up, his life bloodline detecting something.

    As he closely examined her with his bloodline power, he noticed that Han Qing¡¯s bones were clearly different than others¡¯. Not only did they carry ice power, but they contained what looked like tiny icy crystals.

    Those tiny icy crystals...

    A wild suspicion entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones let out a cold harrumph. Holding his Annihtion Bone Spear, he floated to the center of the Frigid Depths and said aloud, ¡°Go now! The Domain of Frigid Depths will be my personal domain from now on!¡±

    Chu Rui didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, he secretlymunicated with Nie Tian through his divine will.

    ¡°Let¡¯s avoid fighting him now. We cane back to kill him and retake this domain after we¡¯ve dealt with our other problems, or when either the grand elder or the sectmaster return.

    ¡°Besides, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect have entered the Domain of Heaven Python. They¡¯re not easy to deal with. Dy means potential trouble.¡±

    Chu Rui tried to persuade Nie Tian to restrain himself for now. Once they solved their other problems, they coulde back to deal with Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian also fixed their eyes on him.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here... for now.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he flew towards the huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce, escorted by Yin Xingtian.

    Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying were also vignt, lest Grand Monarch Ice Bones surprise them with a strike.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones snorted coldly. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say whether your sect itself will be able to survive this tribtion. Perhaps the other three great sects have also noticed the existence of that secret force. It won¡¯t be long before the entire human world is plunged into chaos.¡±

    Finally, Nie Tian and the others safely returned to the huge silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce.

    As Grand Monarch Ice Bones spoke, Lu Qingchen and the others from the Extreme Coldness Pce remained silent, knowing that this wasn¡¯t a good time to insult Nie Tian and the others.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here, Sectmaster Yu,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Yu Suying nodded and gave the order with a wave of her hand. Then, the huge ship that had been partially dented by Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯ fist strike sailed off, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    Han Qing frowned slightly. With a curious look in her bright eyes, she got a measure of Nie Tian. ¡°So you¡¯re Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce my senior martial sister told me about? But you¡¯re only at the Soul realm.¡±

    ¡°His actual battle prowess far exceeds his cultivation base,¡± Yu Suying said.

    Surprisingly blunt, Han Qing gave voice to whatever came to mind. ¡°He seems very weak to me. Are you sure he¡¯ll be able to help me break through to the God domain? I¡¯ve always felt that I can do it on my own. I wanted to make the attempt a long time ago. It¡¯s just that you weren¡¯t certain about it, and forbade me...¡±

    Han Qing grunted with discontent.

    Yu Suying gave her a stern look and said, ¡°Your cultivation base advances far too rapidly, so I¡¯ve always suspected that there¡¯s something wrong, and that your cultivation base isn¡¯t stable. The breakthrough from the Saint domain to the God domain is the most dangerous tribtion we have to transcend as cultivators. How many powerful experts have died during that process? Your breakthroughs happened far too quickly, which means your cultivation base has to be unstable. I won¡¯t allow you to make an attempt before you have an eighty percent sess rate!¡±

    Han Qing nodded obediently. ¡°Alright, but I think my cultivation base is stable enough.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The huge silver ship sailed farther and farther away from the Frigid Depths, where Grand Monarch Ice Bones had taken up quarters.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly said, ¡°Your junior martial sister is right, Sectmaster Yu. Her cultivation base is indeed rather stable. The way I see it, she might very well be able to break through into the God domain if she makes an attempt now.¡±

    Yu Suying jerked her head towards Nie Tian and said, ¡°Nie Tian, other than the fact that the Extreme Coldness Pce has been colluding with Grand Monarch Ice Bones, another important reason why I agreed to help you at the Frigid Depths is that I¡¯m hoping you¡¯ll help with my junior martial sister¡¯s breakthrough.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, could I examine her with my power?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Examine her? How?¡± Yu Suying asked, looking suspicious.

    The other Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Pce also found this baffling, as they all wondered how a Soul realm cultivator could possibly examine a Saint domain cultivator.

    Looking at Nie Tian, Han Qing muttered, ¡°Such a weird guy.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath before stepping to Han Qing and saying seriously, ¡°She may have a great secret hidden inside of her. Please try not to resist my flesh aura. I¡¯d like to try something.¡±

    Han Qing turned to fix Yu Suying with an inquiring gaze. ¡°Senior martial sister...¡±

    ¡°Let him do it,¡± Yu Suying said with determination.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Han Qing said, looking reluctant.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian reached out and ced his hand on the back of Han Qing¡¯s left hand.

    Upon contact, he felt bone-piercing coldness, as if he was touching the Frigid Depths¡¯s frozen surface. He couldn¡¯t stop his teeth from chattering.

    Then, a wisp of his flesh aura flew out of his palm into the back of Han Qing¡¯s hand, before going up her arm through her meridians.

    Nothing in this universe had a keener perception of unusual qi and blood than his life bloodline.

    Therefore, Nie Tian had very keen perception of others¡¯ bloodlines and flesh auras.

    The wisp of his flesh aura roamed Han Qing¡¯s insides. After flowing through her meridians and into her bones, it eventually reached her heart.

    That was when Nie Tian¡¯s brow gradually furrowed.

    Everyone had their eyes fixed on him, and saw his expression growing stranger and stranger.

    Even Han Qing herself started to wonder if there was something wrong with her.

    Otherwise, why would the expression of this Son of the Stars be increasingly grim and astonished.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open, deep astonishment filling his eyes. ¡°Who, who did this...?¡±

    There was an extremely faint ice aura in Han Qing¡¯s blood, meridians, and bones.

    Such an aura seemed to have been formed by an extremely subtle bloodline power, not spiritual power from her spiritual sea in her dantian region.

    Therefore, only after Han Qing had put her guard down, allowing him to send in a wisp of his life bloodline aura with the keenest perception, had he been able to find signs of it.

    He also felt that there was an extremelyplicated and mysterious converting mechanism inside of her, which seemed to be constructed from frigid cold qi.

    This converting mechanism had gradually suppressed and converted Han Qing¡¯s innate cold bloodline, and redirected the cold power that should have been used to strengthen her bloodline to her spiritual sea in her dantian region, which had allowed her to achieve great results with little effort, and make faster breakthroughs in cultivation than ordinary cultivators.

    Though her cold bloodline wouldn¡¯t be able to upgrade, its wonders had been used to strengthen her spiritual sea, allowing her cultivation base to skyrocket.

    That was right. Like him, Han Qing was also a hybrid!

 Chapter 1261: Reach An Agreement

    ¡°Whew!¡±

    Nie Tian breathed out as he slowly withdrew his hand that had been put on the back of Han Qing¡¯s pretty hand.

    His eyes were fixed on Han Qing.

    Han Qing, who obviously didn¡¯t like his gaze, said in a cold voice, ¡°What are you looking at? A neurotic, weird guy.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, did you find anything?¡± Yu Suying asked urgently.

    ¡°Hybrid!¡± Nie Tian concluded, ¡°Like me, she¡¯s a hybrid. Her bloodline has inborn cold power.¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    Not only Yu Suying, but also the seven Saint domain experts of the Profound Purity Pce shrieked in unison.

    Han Qing shook her arm contemptuously. ¡°Is that your conclusion? Senior martial sister, who is this guy you found for me? I¡¯ve never felt any bloodline in me. My body is not as strong as those hybrids or outsiders, and sometimes I get sick.¡±

    Humans were physically weak, while outsiders and hybrids were strong by nature.

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s judgment, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan eyed each other and felt puzzled.

    They did not sense any of the qi and blood power of a hybrid or an outsider in Han Qing.

    ¡°Nie Tian, are you sure you¡¯re right?¡± Yu Suying also doubted it.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the source of her cold bloodline, but she is a hybrid, and very special,¡± Nie Tian said firmly. ¡°Her cold bloodline is confined in her body by an unheard-of secret spell. The secret spell confining her bloodline must be the source of her bloodline, and it has the aura of extreme coldness.

    ¡°This kind of restriction keeps her cold bloodline from manifesting itself.

    ¡°The cold power caused by the growth of her extremely cold bloodline doesn¡¯t work on the internal organs, or toughen her body, but runs to her dantian and mind.

    ¡°That¡¯s why she can break through cultivation levels faster. Because of her cold bloodline, she refines cold spirit stones, absorbs cold power, andprehends the Cold Ice Incantation at a faster speed than an ordinary person!

    ¡°She can step into thete Saint domain in a short time, and is qualified to reach the God domain. Her cold bloodline makes undeniable contributions to it.¡±

    With a solemn face, Nie Tian informed Yu Suying and Han Qing of his reasoning.

    But even after saying that, they were still doubtful. Some people like Mo Qianfan chose to believe him, but it was clear that the seven Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Pce and Han Qing herself didn¡¯t believe him, thinking he was talking nonsense.

    ¡°Nie Tian, how can... this be proved?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    ¡°Did your master say anything when she was brought back to the sect?¡± Nie Tian responded.

    ¡°No, my master just said that her cultivation talent is unsurpassed.¡± Yu Suying frowned and recalled, ¡°My master didn¡¯t tell me where she came from or who her parents were. When sects like our Profound Purity Pce recruit people with umon talent, they normally don¡¯t ask questions about their origins. They just bring them back.¡±

    ¡°I know of someone else,¡± Nie Tian said suddenly.

    ¡°Who?¡± Yu Suying was shocked.

    ¡°Han Sen of the lightning element sect has a lightning bloodline.¡± Nie Tian thought and said, ¡°He was brought back from a ce by the sectmaster of the lightning element sect. The difference is, Han Sen¡¯s lightning bloodline is slowly awakening, but he doesn¡¯t have this kind of miraculous transformation technique to help feed his dantian.

    ¡°She¡¯s much more special than Han Sen.¡±

    Yu Suying froze for a moment, and ruminated on the meaning of Nie Tian¡¯s words. Suddenly, she felt a bit restless and confused.

    ¡°How can this be proved?¡± Han Qing snorted.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you feel it yourself?¡± Nie Tian raised his eyebrows. ¡°Judging by your growth, you¡¯re only about two thousand years old. Two thousand years! But you¡¯re at thete Saint domain now. The Ice Soul Divine Daughter from the Ice Soul Divine Sect is known as a cultivation genius with the profound truths of extreme coldness, and her sect is the Ice Soul Divine Sect. Her realm is the same as yours. How old is she?¡±

    ¡°At least ten thousand years old.¡± Yin Xingtian sighed.

    He was also at thete Saint domain, but had been stuck in this domain for many years.

    The age limit of a Saint domain expert was 30,000 years, and he was almost there.

    It took him 30,000 years to advance to thete Saint domain, and he hadn¡¯t yet broken through to the God domain, but Han Qing... had only cultivated for 2,000 years.

    ¡°Is it very fast for a person to advance to thete Saint domain within two thousand years?¡± Han Qing asked.

    Yu Suying¡¯s expression was a little bitter. She turned her head subconsciously and took a look at the Frigid Depths in the depths of the cold fog before saying, ¡°It¡¯s said that the Ice Emperor Xuan Yu was nearly 10,000 years old when he advanced to thete Saint domain. Evenpared to him, you¡¯ve only been cultivating for a fifth of that time. It¡¯s exactly because I think your cultivation is too fast that I dare not let you break through to the God domain.¡±

    At the thought of this, Yu Suying believed Nie Tian¡¯s inference a little.

    Come to think of it, the speed of her junior martial sister¡¯s cultivation was too outrageous.

    Over the years, she had been protecting this junior martial sister very well, unwilling to let too many people know about her cultivation. Even she herself felt that her junior martial sister was a little weird and baffling.

    ¡°If you can get to the Frigid Depths of Ice Emperor Xuan Yu...¡± Nie Tian looked at Yu Suying and said softly, ¡°It¡¯ll be absolutely safe for your junior martial sister to break through to the God domain. What¡¯s more, she¡¯ll perhaps advance to higher realms smoothly after that, and likely reach the middle andte God domain.¡±

    Yu Suying nodded. ¡°I promise you I¡¯ll go to the Frigid Depths. Previously, I also had such an idea, and wanted to see what was special about this forbidden area of the Extreme Coldness Pce where the Frigid Ice Divine Kingdom and Gelid Heavenly Ice Sword were forged. Now I know the Frigid Depths is actually made of Ice Emperor Xuan Yu¡¯s broken domain.¡±

    ¡°Does she really have a cold bloodline?¡± asked an elder of the Profound Purity Pce.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just that her bloodline is restricted, so it can¡¯t transform, and maybe won¡¯t be fully awakened,¡± Nie Tian dered. ¡°This may not be a bad thing. On the one hand, it protects her identity as a hybrid, and on the other hand, it greatly perfects her human dantian and enables her advance to the God domain more quickly.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps one day, when she breaks through to the God domain or other domains, she¡¯ll break free of the imprisoning spell that limits her bloodline.

    ¡°At that time, she¡¯ll already have the strength to protect herself. When others learn she¡¯s a hybrid, they won¡¯t be able to do anything to her.

    ¡°Moreover, with her strength of the God domain and her knowledge of ice power, if she gathers enough cold power, her bloodline can rapidly upgrade again.

    ¡°Maybe in a hundred years, or maybe in a few decades, her cold bloodline will be able to reach the heights of the ninth grade, and then break through to the tenth grade.¡±

    ¡°Wonderful!¡± At this point, even Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel at it and genuinely admire the figure who had created Han Qing.

    First, the figure made Han Qing quickly break through her realms as a Qi warrior with her bloodline.

    Even though she was in the human world, her bloodline wasn¡¯t conspicuous, and her identity as a hybrid wouldn¡¯t be discovered, so she would be rtively safe.

    When Han Qing reached the God domain one day, the restriction would be removed, and she could strengthen her bloodline with her God domain cultivation base and her understanding of cold power, so her bloodline would also improve quickly.

    ¡°Innovative,¡± Nie Tian eximed with admiration. ¡°It¡¯s a great way to cultivate. She focuses on one aspect first, and when this aspect is good enough, she¡¯ll focus on the other.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Yu Suying roared. ¡°Do you really think your judgement is right?¡±

    ¡°One hundred percent,¡± Nie Tian replied with certainty.

    Yu Suying pondered for a long time, then said, ¡°Good! I have an offer!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Yu Suying looked around and suddenly stared at Chu Rui, who had been sitting and resting in a corner of the warship with a frown after his arrival.

    ¡°Our Profound Purity Pce will give up the race for your Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. And we¡¯re willing to help you fight the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. However, you must promise me that after your worries are handled, you¡¯ll help our Profound Purity Pce take the Frigid Depths from Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    ¡°The Profound Purity Pce needs to get the Frigid Depths, and I¡¯ll give it to my junior martial sister.¡±

    Nie Tian looked at Chu Rui.

    Chu Rui, who had been busy restoring his power to fight the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect in the Domain of Heaven Python, opened his eyes, which were like two starry rivers. ¡°The Frigid Depths is Ice Emperor Xuan Yu¡¯s broken domain. If your junior martial sister¡¯s situation is as fortunate as Nie Tian says, her future achievements may not be weaker than the Ice Emperor¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°I can agree, but we have conditions. Your Profound Purity Pce will not be allowed to attack the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for ten thousand years.¡±

    If Han Qing reached the God domain and broke through to the middle andte God domain with the power of the Frigid Depths, the Profound Purity Pce might have wicked intentions again.

    ¡°I agree,¡± Yu Suying dered in a solemn manner.

 Chapter 1262: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

    The Realm of Maelstrom had been known for its abundant interconnecting spatial rifts.

    Right now, it was in the middle of aplicated situation and stuffed with people.

    Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect, Master Blood Spirit, Jing Feiyang, and numerous other Saint domain experts had arrived. They all looked up at the ancient starship from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect with gloomy expressions.

    The Saint domain experts from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, with Monk Goldbone as their leader, were heinously arrogant.

    Monk Goldbone had made it clear that the leaders of all sects and ns from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python had to report to this ce in the given time.

    Whether they were in secluded cultivation or not, they had toe pay homage to the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    Dong Li, Hua Mu, Li Langfeng, Qi Bailu, Fan Kai, Zhao Luofeng, and many others from the Domain of the Falling Stars had already arrived. The same went for Zhongli Jian, Dong Qisong, and the other leaders of the five sects and three ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Needless to say, the three major sects of the Domain of Heaven Python had long since been waiting in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    In front of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s pce, Master Blood Spirit held in his intense flesh aura without revealing a single wisp. Eyes as scarlet as blood, he said grimly, ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect doesn¡¯t seem to be so powerful after all. That Monk Goldbone is only at thete Saint domain, which is the same as me. I¡¯m totally confident in defeating him.¡±

    ¡°Hold your horses,¡± Xie Qian said. ¡°Monk Goldbone doesn¡¯t represent the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s peak strength. If we touch him, things will get out of hand.¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao and Duan Hongwen...¡± Dong Li muttered with narrowed eyes as she gazed up at the ancient starship that was unscrupulously berthed in the Realm of Maelstrom. She exuded the shadowy aura of a dark goddess with herzy ck tortoise crouching by her feet.

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°The agreed-upon time will be up in three days, but Nie Tian still hasn¡¯t returned from the Domain of Frigid Depths. With the Extreme Coldness Pce and the other local sects in rebellion, we can¡¯t learn his situation. Plus, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is too busy with its own problems to spare forces to help us.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce itself is neck-deep in trouble,¡± Xie Qian said.

    Many whispered among the crowd, wondering what they should do after Duan Hongwen and You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect arrived.

    Were they really going to bend the knee to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect?

    If they didn¡¯t, which of them would be able to contend against the two God domain experts of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect?

    BOOOOM!

    Extremely intense spatial fluctuations suddenly spread out from the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡± Monk Goldbone¡¯s ted voice came from above, where numerous Qi warriors from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect respectfully greeted the new arrival.

    It was a slender man in a long robe with pale-gray hair. With a stamp of his foot, he flew off of the ancient starship to float in the heavens over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    WHOOSH!

    After a shudder, he expanded at an rming rate. Secondster, he was a thousand meters tall.

    In his dharma idol form, he was wreathed in grayish-yellow auras, with dazzling divine light falling from him, causing even the core structure of the Realm of Maelstrom to change in a subtle way.

    Numerous Qi warriors from the three domains were now gathered in separated areas in the Realm of Maelstrom. They all looked up at the dharma idol of the vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, Duan Hongwen, apprehension filling their faces.

    ¡°Dharma idol! A God domain expert!¡±

    ¡°Duan Hongwen!¡±

    ¡°Earth power!¡±

    Other than the four great sects, only a handful of human sects with profound reserve power had God domain experts.

    However, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had not one, but two God domain experts.

    Duan Hongwen had only manifested his dharma idol upon arriving because he wanted to put all of the experts from the three domains in awe and stifle their resisting will.

    ¡°God domain...¡± Even Master Blood Spirit, who had imed to have the ability to take Monk Goldbone earlier, fell silent after seeing Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol.

    After getting a measure of Duan Hongwen, he realized that he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance if he were to fight him before he advanced to the God domain.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    With a casual wave of his hand, Duan Hongwen sent beams of divine light falling from the heavens.

    In the area where people from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Divine Seal Sect were gathered, more than a dozen Soul realm and Void domain elders were hit by the divine light.

    Their bones shattered and their blood sshed as they exploded like watermelons that were dropped to the ground.

    Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect, who was at thete Saint domain, activated his domain and charged into the sky. ¡°Why are you doing this, Vice Sectmaster Duan!?¡± he shouted. ¡°The agreed-upon time isn¡¯t up yet. Sect and n leaders are arriving from different domains. Why did you spill blood before the agreed time?!¡±

    Below, infuriated Qi warriors, who had just lost their family or fellow sect members, red at Duan Hongwen¡¯s awe-inspiring dharma idol in the sky.

    ¡°Xie Qian...¡± After Duan Hongwen gave a derisive snort, his enormous dharma idol instantly morphed into a seemingly-tangible mountain peak that was thirty thousand meters high.

    The godly mountain peak was so immense that people below felt humbled by it, and didn¡¯t dare to do anything other than look up at it in reverence.

    Glorious divine light fell from the mountaintop to infiltrate Xie Qian¡¯s water domain.

    With a loud cry, Xie Qian summoned every bit of spiritual power he could to resist. However, the pressure turned out to be so heavy that it pushed him down bit by bit.

    Soon, not only was he pushed back to the ground, but the pressure forced him to deactivate his domain and bend his knees and back.

    In what looked like a bowing position, Xie Qian had humiliation written across his face.

    ¡°Mmm, this is how you should talk to me.¡± Duan Hongwen¡¯s ethereal voice came from the mountaintop. ¡°You want to know why I killed those people? That¡¯s because they offended me by discussing me using words I found displeasing.¡±

    At this moment, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s withdrawn flesh aura suddenly burst forth like a torrential sea.

    A scarlet blood mist spread violently from him. Its intense power, which reminded people of outsiders¡¯ flesh aura seas, made many gasp with astonishment.

    ¡°Hmm? There¡¯s another one at thete Saint domain.¡± Duan Hongwen¡¯s surprised voice rumbled from above. ¡°Who would have thought that the Blood Spirit Sect still had a sessor left in this world.¡±

    ¡°Press!¡±

    Tens of thousands of shiny talismans flew out from the mountain peak that had been transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol.

    The entire mountain peak was lit up by the mysterious talismans, which seemed to be children of the mountain peak that carried the profound truths of earth power.

    Master Blood Spirit let out a long cry. Just as he was about to charge into the sky, he felt as if heavy mountains were weighing down on his domain.

    BOOOOM!

    He didn¡¯t hang on for long before his scarlet blood domain was canceled, leaving a dissipating blood mist.

    Like Xie Qian, he was also forced to bend his knees and back, facing Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect in a humiliating position.

    Duan Hongwen let out a cold harrumph as the mountain peak morphed back into his dharma idol. Like an ancient god, he looked down at the numerous puny beings below and said, ¡°These twote Saint domain men represent the peak strength of that Son of the Stars¡¯ subordinates, right? Anyone else feel like challenging my sect? I must tell you that those of you at the Saint domain might still be useful to us. However, I¡¯ll show no mercy to challengers under the Saint domain. They shall be put to death.¡±

    On the ground, Xie Qian and Master Blood Spirit, Nie Tian¡¯s two most powerful subordinates, were bent under the heavy pressure.

    Crying furiously, Master Blood Spirit summoned blood power to make another attempt, but still failed to straighten his back.

    In his dharma idol form, Duan Hongwen looked down at him with an amused expression. Every time he struggled up a bit, he would wave his hand, sending out more talismans to put him back down.

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect let out a low sigh and said, ¡°It¡¯s not going to work. You¡¯ll only end up wasting your blood power. Who would have thought that this vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect would be well-versed in talismans as well? Those talismans seem to contain power he has refined from tens of thousands of mountain peaks.

    ¡°Even though they all seem rather small, each of them weighs as much as a mountain peak. If they didn¡¯t target you and Xie Qian, but the Realm of Maelstrom, even the Realm of Maelstrom might have fallen apart under their overwhelming pressure.¡±

    Face reddened, Master Blood Spirit gritted his teeth, growling like a trapped beast. ¡°I refuse to acknowledge his superiority! Once I enter the God domain and match his cultivation base, he¡¯ll gasp for breath under the pressure I give him using my sect¡¯s secret magics!¡±

    Seeing this, many Qi warriors from the three domains sighed repeatedly, sagging their heads.

    Even Dong Li advised Master Blood Spirit and Xie Qian to give up resistance. There was no need to lose their lives fighting Duan Hongwen.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why the two of you would lower yourselves to be subordinates of the seventh Son of the Stars.¡± Duan Hongwen¡¯s voice echoed out once again. ¡°The way I see it, you might as well kneel before our sectmaster and ask to join us when he gets here.

    ¡°The two of you qualify to be elders of our sect. Perhaps after our sect joins the ranks of the most powerful human sects, you¡¯ll get to break through into the God domain with our help.

    ¡°Whatever Nie Tian could give you, we can give you more. After all, his backer, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, is soon going to disappear from the human world.¡±

    Duan Hongwen had only refrained from killing them because he wanted to recruit Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and the other Saint domain cultivators into the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to make his sect stronger.

    The way he saw it, the world was filled with Soul realm and Void domain cultivators. Those he had killed earlier weren¡¯t even worth mentioning.

    On the ground, Qi warriors from the three domains whispered among themselves. ¡°When is Nie Tianing back?¡±

    ¡°Is he evering back?¡±

    ¡°Is the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce ever going to send people to our rescue? Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯ll allow sects like the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to bully us like this?¡±

    Some didn¡¯t even dare to whisper, but only wondered inwardly.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, one of the many spatial rifts high in the heavens was forcibly opened.

    RUMBLE!

    Deafening rumbles came from within the expanded rift, taking even Duan Hongwen by surprise.

    He jerked his face towards Monk Goldbone and asked with a confused expression, ¡°Were any of our other starshipsing here? Now that we can use the teleportation portals, we don¡¯t have to go through the trouble of traveling through spatial rifts anymore.¡±

    Monk Goldbone also found this baffling. ¡°None of our other starships should being here.¡±

    At this moment, a gigantic silver ship slowly squeezed through the spatial rift. It turned out to be evenrger than the one that belonged to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    ¡°The Profound Purity Pce!¡±

 Chapter 1263: Return

    Many Qi warriors from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect eximed in astonishment.

    However, Duan Hongwen, Monk Goldbone, and the other Saint domain experts frowned, looking disgruntled.

    Duan Hongwen snorted disdainfully and asked Monk Goldbone, ¡°Does the Profound Purity Pce have any rights to the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, or the Domain of Heaven Python ording to our agreement? Or did you invite them to join us in this operation?¡±

    Monk Goldbone hastily shook his head and exined, ¡°I dare not do such a thing! I¡¯ve never contacted the Profound Purity Pce in private! Our sect¡¯s strength alone will allow us to seize these three domains. Why would I want to make deals with the Profound Purity Pce?¡±

    Duan Hongwen thought about it, and also felt that Monk Goldbone shouldn¡¯t be that foolish.

    However, if they hadn¡¯t invited the Profound Purity Pce, why did they suddenly show up here?

    Duan Hongwen was confused.

    Frowning, Dong Li turned to Jing Feiyang and Qu Mingde, and asked, ¡°Is that another starship from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect? Don¡¯t tell me that their sectmaster, You Qimiao, is here.¡±

    Jing Feiyang shook his head. ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t look like it.¡±

    Xie Qian, whose knees and back were bent under pressure, lifted his head with great difficulty to nce at the huge silver ship. With a desperate tone, he said, ¡°It¡¯s the Profound Purity Pce! That¡¯s the Profound Silver Divine Purity Ship, the starship the sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce uses when she takes inter-domain trips!¡±

    ¡°The Profound Silver Divine Purity Ship!¡± Several Qi warriors from the Water Moon Sect also eximed in astonishment.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that a previous sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce spent a thousand years building it,¡± One of them exined to the crowd with a gloomy tone. ¡°It¡¯s engraved with countless spell formations and forged from many different types of refined silver and bronze.

    ¡°The Profound Silver Divine Purity Ship is a perfect match for the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s all sorts of exquisite spells and incantations. Not only can itunch unparalleled attacks, but its numerous spell formations have also vested it with extraordinary defenses. It¡¯s said that it can even survive the strike of a middle God domain expert!¡±

    Hearing this, the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python felt even more hopeless.

    The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had already driven them to despair. Now, the Profound Purity Pce came along after them?

    Wails of doom filled their hearts.

    ¡°Has the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce be everyone¡¯s target?¡±

    ¡°Now, there¡¯s the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Profound Purity Pce. What other powerful sects also wants a piece of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s territory?¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    Many Saint and Void domain experts from various sects looked deeply grim and anxious. They even started to consider their way out.

    WHOOSH!

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce flew out of the huge silver ship, iparably elegant.

    Duan Hongwen approached her. Looking confused, he asked, ¡°Why are you here, Sectmaster Yu? Shouldn¡¯t you be attacking other domains ording to our agreement?¡±

    Yu Suying didn¡¯t answer right away. Instead, she nced down.

    Every Qi warrior she saw looked weighed down with anxiety and despair. Some were even gathered by dead bodies, weeping.

    ¡°Have you started killing people?¡± Yu Suying said.

    Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol suddenly shrank into his true form.

    As soon as he did, Master Blood Spirit and Xie Qian were relieved from the feeling of being suffocated.

    The two of them instantly recovered their mobility.

    ¡°How could I put them in awe if I didn¡¯t?¡± Duan Hongwen said indifferently. ¡°Sectmaster Yu, we¡¯ve long since agreed that the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python will belong to my sect. For whatever reason you¡¯re here, please leave as soon as you can.¡±

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± A crimson bolt of lightning shed across the pupils of Master Blood Spirit, who had finally recovered.

    Face filled with astonishment and anticipation, he jerked his face towards the huge silver ship.

    ¡°What is it?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    As she did, she noticed that the ck tortoise by her feet also raised its chin to look at the huge silver ship, looking unusually cheerful.

    If Dong Li hadn¡¯t sensed its unusual behavior and hastily held it down, it would have charged into the sky already.

    ¡°That beast of yours is extraordinary indeed,¡± Master Blood Spirit marveled in an extremely low voice. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be able to so shrewdly perceive its master¡¯s aura.¡±

    Dong Li suddenly realized what was going on. ¡°That guy is on that ship?¡±

    SHHH!

    Master Blood Spirit beckoned for Dong Li to keep quiet, lest others be rmed.

    ...

    Inside the huge silver ship.

    A sparkling ice ball was emanating dazzling silver light in the middle of a unique secret room that had been forged from Silicon Silver and a dozen more kinds of silver.

    Standing by the ice ball, Han Qing was flickering her finger towards it.

    Every corner of the Realm of Maelstrom was reflected in the ice ball, showing every detail of the pces of the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, as well as the faces of all those who hade from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Chu Rui were all gathered in front of the ice ball and observing in silence.

    ¡°This secret room can even iste us from the perception of God domain experts,¡± Han Qing said with an arrogant expression. ¡°Even if You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect were here, he wouldn¡¯t be able to sense our existence, much less Duan Hongwen.¡±

    As Nie Tian gazed into the ice ball, intense killing intent gradually built up inside of him.

    People could be seen gathered weeping by corpses in every region of the Realm of Maelstrom. He didn¡¯t have to take close looks to know that it was the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s doing.

    Not to mention that Duan Hongwen was speaking so loudly that even in the secret room, they heard everything he and Yu Suying said.

    With his hands behind his back, Chu Rui let out a cold snort and said, ¡°Duan Hongwen is the vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. Over the years, he¡¯s been responsible for expanding their territory. He¡¯s known for his ruthlessness. Since You Qimiao spends most his time in secluded cultivation, he¡¯s represented the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect for a long time. Before, he¡¯d keep his distance whenever he saw me or starships from our sect. but now...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A pir of light suddenly shot into the heavens from the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s quarters.

    It was a pir of dazzling golden light, as if it were forged from pure gold. Even Monk Goldbone marveled at its aura. ¡°Such pure and intense aura!¡±

    All of a sudden, a golden lotus came to form in the pir of golden light.

    Sitting on it was Huang Jinnan from the metal element sect. d in a suit of golden armor, he looked awe-inspiring.

    Upon arriving, he yelled fearlessly at Duan Hongwen and Yu Suying, ¡°I¡¯m Huang Jinnan from the metal element sect of the Five Elements Sect! The seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian, is my sworn friend! You¡¯re not giving my sect face by stirring up trouble in his domain!¡±

    Many who recognized him eximed in high spirits, as if they had finally seen hope, ¡°Huang Jinnan, the Divine Son of the metal element sect!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s good friend!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A cluster of mes rose from the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s quarters. It was Lou Hongyan from the fire element sect. ¡°Nie Tian helped him tremendously,¡± she said. ¡°Please give our sect face and withdraw from this domain.¡±

    Hou Chn from the wood element sect also charged into the sky and shouted towards Duan Hongwen and Yu Suying, ¡°Nie Tian also helped me break through into the Saint domain.¡±

    Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and Hou Chn were the Divine Sons and Daughters of the metal element sect, fire element sect, and wood element sect. All of them were of great importance in the Five Elements Sect.

    The Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of the Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python had originally wallowed in despair. However, their appearance lifted their spirits.

    Even Nie Tian, who had almost failed to refrain from bursting out, calmed down again and felt a bit of warmth in his heart upon seeing the three of them.

    He was gratified by the timely arrival of these three friends of his generation.

    Han Qing from the Profound Purity Pce shook her head slightly and said, ¡°They won¡¯t be able to change anything if it¡¯s just the three of them. Their cultivation bases are far too low. I doubt that Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect will give them face. I suspect he¡¯ll continue to do what they¡¯vee here to do.¡±

    Mo Qianfan then said, ¡°Even though none of them have reached the God domain, all of their masters are human luminaries!¡±

    ¡°Back when our sect decided to join this operation, we learned that all of the experts that represent the humans¡¯ peak strength, including the five heads of the Five Elements Sect, Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society, and Chu Yuan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, had been simultaneously invited to a mysterious ce,¡± Han Qing exined.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    Chu Rui and Yin Xingtian also found this baffling. Clearly, this was brand new information to them as well.

    ¡°None of thete God domain human experts seem to be in the human world for the time being,¡± Han Qing borated.

    Chu Rui gasped with astonishment. ¡°Why didn¡¯t our sect get such information?¡±

    Han Qing took a look at him and said, ¡°How should I know? All I know is that when we were persuaded to join this operation against your sect, we knew that the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society wouldn¡¯t interfere. Even if they would, they¡¯d have to consider their actions seriously, as none of their peak experts would be around to help.¡±

    Even Yin Xingtian grew anxious. ¡°Who or what could possibly get all of those peak experts to leave the human world at the same time?¡±

    Han Qing shook her head. ¡°Beats me.¡±

    ...

    High in the sky, Duan Hongwenughed wildly and said in an overbearing manner, ¡°Give face to you three?

    ¡°If any of your masters were here to say those words, we¡¯d turn around and leave immediately.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that they¡¯re not here.¡±

    After a short pause, Duan Hongwen¡¯s face dropped as he said with an unpleasant tone, ¡°However, my sect will noty hands on if you stay out of this. Consider this giving face to your masters and the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    Huang Jinnan was bewildered. ¡°Since when did the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect be so arrogant and domineering?¡±

    ¡°Since the moment we decided to rece the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce as a great sect,¡± Duan Hongwen said with a serious face.

    Lou Hongyan was infuriated. ¡°You surely think a lot of yourselves. Do you think you can rely on You Qimiao to do such a thing? I know he¡¯s advanced to the middle God domain. But do you think he¡¯ll be able to contend against any of our masters? Do you think he can challenge Qu Yi or Chu Yuan?¡±

    Hou Chn chimed in, ¡°Are you so sure that Ji Cang and Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce won¡¯t ever return? Have you considered the consequences of either of them returning to the human world and finding out what you¡¯ve done?¡±

    Duan Hongwen snorted disdainfully. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about us. Since we dare to do this, we¡¯ve considered every possibility.¡±

    ¡°But have you considered that you may not be able to take the Realm of Maelstrom even if You Qimiaoes here himself, much less the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice finally echoed out from within the huge silver ship.

    In a sh of starlight, he and Chu Rui appeared in the sky.

 Chapter 1264: Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal

    On the surface of the Realm of Maelstrom, people from various sects cheered in high spirits.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    Dong Li took a deep breath, and a ck aura slowly rose from her curvaceous body.

    Jing Feiyang, Qu Mingde, Quan Zixuan, and other Saint domain experts also eximed cheerfully, ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    Even though they were aware that there was an unbridgeable gap between Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base and that of Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, they felt that as long as he showed up, this crisis with the three domains would soon be solved!

    This blind belief they had in him was the result of the numerous battles they had fought alongside him.

    Every time they had found themselves in a desperate situation, Nie Tian had stepped up and turned it around.

    As time passed, they had gradually developed a blind confidence in him, just as Dong Li had.

    Monk Goldbone from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s face split into a nasty grin. ¡°Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars? So what? Given your poor cultivation base, I can¡¯t believe you actually dared toe back.¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Duan Hongwen snapped at him.

    Monk Goldbone was confused.

    He suddenly noticed Duan Hongwen¡¯s surprisingly grim face.

    Then, he subconsciously turned to look at the chubby man beside Nie Tian.

    That was when he realized that the man¡¯s cultivation base seemed to be unfathomable. Even given his horizons and cultivation base, he couldn¡¯t determine his cultivation base right away.

    ¡°Fat and practices star power... Don¡¯t tell me...¡± Monk Goldbone¡¯s expression suddenly flickered with fear as he scrambled towards the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s ancient starship, shaking as he did. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s him! Shouldn¡¯t he be trapped in the Domain of Frigid Depths by Grand Monarch Ice Bones?¡±

    Not many had the chance to meet important figures like Chu Rui. Duan Hongwen was the only one on the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s side who recognized him at first sight.

    Even Monk Goldbone, who had spent most of his time in remote domains and only entered thete Saint domain recently, hadn¡¯t had a chance to meet Chu Rui in person until now.

    However, he had heard others talk about the appearance and physique of Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Meng Li from the Divine Seal Sect, whose face was still pale from his previous injuries, shouted furiously upon seeing Monk Goldbone¡¯s attempt to escape, ¡°Nie Tian! It was him, Monk Goldbone, who first arrived in the Realm of Maelstrom and killed our people! Even I was seriously wounded by him, and haven¡¯t recovered yet.¡±

    Chu Rui curled his lips, his pupils, which seemed to include the entire starry river, fixing on Monk Goldbone. ¡°Monk Goldbone, is it?¡±

    Seeing this, Monk Goldbone couldn¡¯t help but shudder in fear.

    WHOOSH!

    A glorious neb quietly came to form in the depths of Chu Rui¡¯s left pupil.

    Chu Rui had his eyes fixed on the fleeing Monk Goldbone.

    Monk Goldbone¡¯s eyes instantly turned golden. Nebe that were identical to that in Chu Rui¡¯s pupil seemed to be forcibly branded in the depths of his pupils.

    He held his head with both hands and let out agonized shrieks as he instantly started to bleed from his nostrils and ears.

    Tiny bits of dazzling starlight could be seen in his blood. As his blood rolled down, the droplets cut his skin open like sharp des.

    BOOM!

    Even the golden light shields he hastily formed couldn¡¯t stop those sparkling bits of starlight, as they exploded and dissipated upon contact with them.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Monk Goldbone¡¯s sea of awareness was like a golden sea.

    At this moment, it was enveloped in a glorious neb that rumbled with the profoundws of stars. Countless Starchains that carried the profound mysteries of realms forming and perishing were now restraining and cutting at the golden sea.

    Monk Goldbone¡¯s true soul was bound by numerous Starchains. Every time a beam of starlight shed past, it trembled, as if it were struck by lightning.

    His true soul gradually shrank, and was eventually reduced to ashes.

    His golden sea of awareness also vaporized like water after repeated ps from the Starchains. His soul will, memories, life experiences, and all sorts of imprints were erased along with it.

    PUFF!

    Monk Goldbone coughed up a mouthful of blood and dropped to the ground before he could reach the starship from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and didn¡¯t rise again.

    Many from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect rushed to his side, shouting his name, ¡°Monk Goldbone!¡±

    However, he didn¡¯t give any response.

    Chu Rui shook his headzily andmented, ¡°Pathetic. He¡¯s not even as strong as Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate Master Blood Spirit, yet he dared tomit crimes in the Domain of Heaven Python simply by relying on the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s name.¡±

    ording to his assessment, Monk Goldbone was weaker than Master Blood Spirit, much less Yin Xingtian, a patriarch who had lived close to thirty thousand years.

    As a middle God domain expert, if he was bent on annihting ate Saint domain cultivator like Monk Goldbone, his opponent wouldn¡¯t even be able to secure a wisp of their soul.

    Monk Goldbone¡¯s miserable death was followed by a cheerful mor.

    ¡°Monk Goldbone died just like that?¡±

    ¡°Who is that?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Vice Sectmaster Chu! The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce hasn¡¯t abandoned us! He¡¯s a middle God domain expert for god¡¯s sake!¡±

    This whole time, Duan Hongwen, the vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, simply stood there and watched Chu Rui vaporize Monk Goldbone¡¯s sea of awareness and annihte his true soul with profound soul magics.

    He didn¡¯t make a single move or say a single word.

    His face was deeply grim. Various expressions shing across his eyes, he was clearly pondering how he should handle the situation.

    ¡°Sectmaster Yu...¡± He jerked his head towards Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce, as if to ask for help. But at the same time, confusion filled his heart.

    Yu Suying shrugged. In an elegant manner, the ends of her plump lips rose into a mysterious smile, and she said, ¡°You saw it yourself. Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars, and Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui came from our Profound Silver Divine Purity Ship. I guess that should answer your question regarding our stance on this matter.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand!¡± Duan Hongwen eximed.

    ¡°You don¡¯t understand why we didn¡¯t help trap Zu Guangyao and the others in the Domain of Frigid Depths ording to our agreement?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why would you do such an unwise thing as to attach yourself to a declining sect,¡± Duan Hongwen shouted. ¡°Sure, Chu Rui escaped from Grand Monarch Ice Bones, but so what? Do you really think he can single-handedly turn the situation around for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?

    ¡°Sectmaster Yu, you should know that many other sects are in this with us!

    ¡°He¡¯s just one man. What makes you think that he can change his sect¡¯s fate?¡±

    He found this baffling.

    With aplicated expression, Yu Suying subconsciously shot a nce at Nie Tian. ¡°Chu Rui isn¡¯t the only reason why we made this choice.¡±

    Floating in the sky, Nie Tian didn¡¯t manifest any of his strength or his mysterious bloodline, nor did he summon the Star Behemoth bone, the me Dragon Armor, or the Spirit Pearl.

    He simply stood calmly in midair in front of the berthed Profound Silver Divine Purity Ship, yet all of the experts from the three domains felt secure.

    In fact, many of them hadn¡¯t known who Chu Rui was at first.

    However, his appearance had put their mind at ease and made them believe that this crisis would soon be solved.

    What about Nie Tian made his numerous Saint domain followers so blindingly confident in him?

    ¡°There must be something very special about this man!¡± After reaching this conclusion inwardly, Yu Suying said under Duan Hongwen¡¯s both confused and anticipating gaze, ¡°Due to Ji Cang and Mo Heng¡¯s disappearance, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s golden age might havee to an end. However, their future isn¡¯t dead. If they can survive this tribtion, I still believe they can rise again.¡±

    Duan Hongwenughed wildly. ¡°You really think the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce can rise again?¡±

    Yu Suying nodded. ¡°I do!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not dead yet!¡± Chu Rui let out a cold harrumph, and his chubby,rge hand suddenly grabbed towards Duan Hongwen. ¡°None of you from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect shall leave the Realm of Maelstrom!¡±

    ¡°Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal!¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol came to form in a split second, his descending hand expanding madly like the hand of a titan.

    A river of stars could be seen spinning within his palm. Suns and moons rose and set. Realms perished and were reborn. They were vested with numerous profound changes of the universe the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had derived.

    As the hand seal descended towards Duan Hongwen, everyone on the ground, no matter who, subconsciously stooped upon feeling the pressure of the heavens copsing.

    Many with low cultivation bases even crouched on the ground, overtaken by insecurity.

    Yu Suying morphed into a streak of silver light to put distance between her and Duan Hongwen. Looking down from above, she realized that all she could see was the hand seal that had expanded to take up the entire Realm of Maelstrom. ¡°His hand seal has covered the entire Realm of Maelstrom. Duan Hongwen will have to charge out of this realm if he wants to escape from it.¡±

    Everything and everyone was blocked from sight.

    The hand seal was so enormous that it covered the earth and every living being on it.

    This was the terrifying might of a God domain powerhouse after he went all-out to manifest the profound truths he had derived.

    Such heaven-defying might!

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    All those on the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s starship with cultivation bases lower than the Saint domain instantly exploded and died under the crushing pressure.

    Like hammered tomatoes, their badly mangled bodies and sshing blood smeared the starship, filling the air with an intense bloody smell.

    Only a few Saint domain experts activated their domains and hung on in agony.

    Dazzling streams of starlight started to fall from the palm of the heaven-blocking hand.

    As soon as they streamed into their domains, their domains seemed to be ignited.

    ¡°Ahhh! Help, Vice Sectmaster!¡± Panicked, the Saint domain disciples let out miserable screams, hoping that Duan Hongwen would be able to help them neutralize the devastating might of Chu Rui¡¯s Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal.

    However, Duan Hongwen, who they had put all of their hope in, was in an even more difficult position than them.

    After all, the majority of the Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal¡¯s power was focused on him.

    Like balls of light, the talismans that were carved into the mountain peak transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol burst one after another.

    Duan Hongwen had spent the past ten thousand years traveling through realms, gathering famous lofty mountain peaks, and refining them into talismans via secret methods.

    They were the weapons he relied on to kill his enemies, and the key to his power.

    However, facing Chu Rui¡¯s killing move, the talismans, with which he had easily suppressed Master Blood Spirit and Xie Qian, couldn¡¯t resist at all before they seemed to be crushed by invisible fingers.

    AHH!

    Duan Hongwen let out agonized shrieks, which shot towards the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s starship like sharp swords, carrying his soul will, as if this were a secret vocal magic.

    An octagonalrge-scale teleportation portal at the bottom of the starship shed for a split second.

    A wisp of soul message that was branded with Duan Hongwen¡¯s soul will and memories left through the portal.

    ¡°Chu Rui!¡± Duan Hongwen¡¯s furious roar came from the top of the mountain peak, ripping through the sky. ¡°No matter how strong you are, you¡¯re only one person! If Mo Heng and Ji Cang don¡¯t return, you won¡¯t be able to change anything by relying on your sect¡¯s current power!¡±

 Chapter 1265: Eye For An Eye

    BOOM!

    The Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal came down heavily, wrapping around the Realm of Maelstrom like a bright starry river.

    The Realm of Maelstrom was enveloped in a starry sky.

    The great mountain peak that was Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol suddenly sank and fell to the ground below.

    For a moment, there were cries and screams.

    There was mighty power in both the huge hand and the towering mountain peak. Even the giant silver ship of the Profound Purity Pce and the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect appeared small byparison.

    No one below had reached the God domain, to be able to summon their own dharma idol.

    The people down there now had to face an endless, billowing pressure. People with low cultivations were forced to retreat into shields of light that the Saint domain experts like Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit and Jing Feiyang used their Saint domain power to produce.

    Only under the protection of the barriers made by the Saint domain experts could they feel a little safer.

    CRACK!

    On the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the greenish domain of a Qi warrior, who was at the early Saint domain and cultivated nt power, broke like an eggshell.

    ¡°No!¡±

    The man shrieked miserably as his bones cracked from the terrifying might of the Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal.

    A tiny soul shadow came out of his Saint domain, intending to escape by virtue of a secret spell which could move him thousands of miles in the blink of an eye.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Suddenly a thunderbolt fell out of nowhere, striking precisely at that wisp of soul shadow.

    In an instant, the man¡¯s soul vanishedpletely.

    ¡°Who?¡±

    The other Saint domain experts of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, who had been struggling, almost copsed and yelled at the sky in anger.

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian slowly walked out of Profound Purity Pce¡¯s Profound Silver Divine Purity Ship, and stood on either side of Nie Tian.

    ¡°Heavenly Thunder Sect, Mo Qianfan.¡±

    Mo Qianfan, who had raised his hand to annihte the runaway soul wisp of the Saint domain expert from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, coldly dered his name.

    ¡°Streamcloud Sword Sect, Yin Xingtian.¡±

    Yin Xingtian casually shed a sword, which was like a flying rainbow.

    A crack appeared in the sky!

    The sharp sword ripped heaven and earth open, shed at the domain of a middle Saint domain expert, and there were suddenly thousands of sword shadows in his domain!

    The sword shadows chopped the man¡¯s Saint domain to pieces. All his incantations and thoughts became incoherent.

    ¡°Heavenly Thunder Aannihtes Soul!¡±

    Mo Qianfan casually threw huge thunderballs.

    The thunderballs thundered, crashing down into the domains of the other Saint domain experts of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. Suddenly, the heavens copsed, the earth split, and their domains copsed. Their true souls that wanted to escape were all turned into ash in a sh.

    ¡°Go.¡±

    Nie Tian swung his hand. Then the Spirit Pearl fell into the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect with the blue wind of the Nether River, like a hungry ghost swooping down on food.

    All the resentment, hatred and despair the fragmented souls had felt before their violent deaths were drawn, gathered, and gradually disappeared into the Spirit Pearl.

    In the blink of an eye, hundreds of Qi warriors at the Saint domain, the Void domain, and the Soul realm who hade from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect all died, except for Duan Hongwen, who still struggled.

    Only the ancient starship was unharmed, and floated quietly.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan! Yin Xingtian!¡± The shrill howl of Duan Hongwen, who was like a fierce ghost, sounded from the falling mountain peak, ¡°The Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Streamcloud Sword Sect will be wiped out by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect because of your actions! How dare you challenge us, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    BANG!

    The towering mountain peak eventually fell to a piece ofnd, shaking the Realm of Maelstrom violently.

    The mountain peak transformed into Duan Hongwen, who was in his normal state after removing his divine dharma idol.

    He stood dejected on thend in the Realm of Maelstrom. He looked up at the fatty who was surrounded by stars like a god dominating this part of the universe, and shouted in a threatening manner, ¡°Chu Rui! The news that I was attacked in the Realm of Maelstrom has been passed on to the sect through a secret technique! Our sect master wille soon!¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao?¡± Chu Rui frowned slightly. ¡°If hees, things will be a little difficult to deal with indeed. However, You Qimiao hasn¡¯t been at the God domain for a long time. Even if he arrives, will he really be able to avenge the death of the people from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect?¡±

    Duan Hongwen snorted. ¡°There are many things you don¡¯t know.¡±

    Chu Rui was in no hurry to continue attacking. He was lost in thought because of Duan Hongwen¡¯s words.

    SWOOSH!

    Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan and Hou Chn, who were pleasantly surprised, rushed into the sky one after one to approach Nie Tian, fixing him with amazed gazes as they did.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I¡¯m d all of you came.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, it¡¯s not that we didn¡¯t want toe earlier.¡± Huang Jinnan¡¯s face was full of apology. ¡°The three of us were assigned to other areas, and didn¡¯t hear the news. When we returned to the sect, we learned that our masters were all away because of important affairs. The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is unusual. Because the older generation didn¡¯te forward, we were worried that...¡±

    Lou Hongyan and Hou Chn also chimed in one after another and spoke out their worries.

    When he arrived, Nie Tian had already heard something from Han Qing. It was said that the top experts of the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion had all secretly gone somewhere.

    The Profound Purity Pce and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect were sure of this before they dared to fight the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Lou Hongyan and the others were just divine sons and divine daughters, and hadn¡¯t been capable of suppressing God domain experts like Duan Hongwen, so they had thought for a long time. When they found that they couldn¡¯t wait for their masters to return, they were forced to try to make the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect give up.

    But the results were not satisfying...

    ¡°After Mo Qianfan of the Heavenly Thunder Sect broke through to the God domain, he really joined Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°And Yin Xingtian, the patriarch of the Streamcloud Sword Sect. I didn¡¯t expect the rumors to be true! And Nie Tian actually seeded in bringing back Chu Rui, the vice sectmaster, from the Domain of Frigid Depths!¡±

    ¡°I guess the people of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect were even more surprised! Otherwise, how could they have had the nerve to enter the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    ¡°Humph! In my opinion, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is just so-so!¡±

    When the Qi warriors of the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars found that Nie Tian had returned, and the Qi warriors from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had all died soon after, with the exception of Duan Hongwen, who was still struggling, they immediately shouted excitedly.

    Chu Rui and Mo Qianfan were both at the God domain, and Nie Tian¡¯s helpers!

    Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce was the first to arrive, and Nie Tian and the others came out of the giant silver ship from the Profound Purity Pce. Didn¡¯t this prove that Yu Suying was on their side as well?

    The power of three God domain experts and Yin Xingtian, who was renowned throughout the realms, was much stronger than the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!

    They were suddenly at ease, and felt that they didn¡¯t need to be on tenterhooks anymore under the pressure from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    ¡°Chu Rui!¡±

    Suddenly, another piercing sound came from the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, which was supposed to be empty. ¡°No matter how many of us die, I¡¯ll have the people of your Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce die tenfold!¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡±

 Chapter 1266: Division Of Yin And Yang

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡±

    Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce instantly summoned the Heaven-purging Divine Light and bound herself with its bright silver light.

    She hastily sent out a message with her thoughts.

    In an instant, there was a roar from the Profound Silver Purity Divine Ship, and the seven Saint domain experts of the Profound Purity Pce carried Han Qing to the cabin by force.

    The Profound Silver Purity Divine Ship also moved through the sky of the Realm of Maelstrom to put a great distance between them and the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    WHOOSH!

    Sensing something was fishy, Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl nimbly flew back to his hand.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol changed and his aura was elevated. There were fluctuations and what seemed to be an undting carpet on the ground.

    Many experts from the three domains staggered and fell to the ground.

    A tall figure walked out of the ancient starship of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and stood in front of Chu Rui with a single step.

    BOOM!

    A huge mirror rose above the ier¡¯s head.

    Spirit qi surged in the mirror and turned into two entirely different forces, which were in the strange form of Yin Yang fish, and seemed to connect two unknown and mysterious worlds.

    ¡°Yin Yang Heavenly Chaos Mirror, the immortal grade divine tool of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    Looking at the bright mirror floating high in the sky, Yin Xingtian of the Streamcloud Sword Sect wore an extremely grave expression. He said to Nie Tian, ¡°The Yin Yang Heavenly Chaos Mirror is a fourth-grade immortal level divine tool, one grade higher than the All Manifestations Star Banner Luo Wanxiang held. That object has been handed down to the sect masters of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect from generation to generation, and it is extremely powerful inbination with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    Mo Qianfan roared, ¡°You Qimiao really reached the middle God domain!¡±

    WHEW!

    With shabby clothes, a bun at the top of his head, and a jade buckle at his waist, You Qimiao had a strange, ancient face. He seemed toe from the distant universe, and suddenly his body swelled as he also manifested his divine dharma idol.

    There were two air currents in the sleeves of his divine dharma idol surging out wildly with two kinds of aura, which were both gentle and fiery.

    ¡°Extreme cold, burning hot!¡±

    Nie Tian was suddenly shocked, and looked at Yin Xingtian in surprise. ¡°The spirit incantation the sect master of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has cultivated actually has two kinds of attributes, which are even opposites, cold and heat?¡±

    Yin Xingtian wore a solemn expression. ¡°Yin Yang Convergence is the unique incantation of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. The Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation and Yin Yang Heavenly Chaos Mirror both need two forces with different attributes to exhibit their greatest power. It¡¯s also because of this that You Qimiao broke through to the God domain with difficulties, and at a slower speed than other God domain experts.

    ¡°It¡¯s exactly because of this that Chu Yuan, Qu Yi, and some people at the God domain think highly of him, and say that he¡¯s extraordinary.

    ¡°He cultivates two distinct powers with conflicting attributes, and was able to merge them and reach the middle God domain. This is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

    ¡°Duan Hongwen is also a disciple of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, but the spirit incantation he cultivates is not the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation, and is much weaker.¡±

    Mo Qianfan bowed his head and whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯m sure Duan Hongwen is easy to deal with, but You Qimiao... is different, because he cultivates an incantation with two kinds of attributes, although he¡¯s only been at the middle God domain for a short time. In addition, the Yin Yang Heavenly Chaos Mirror he holds is a fourth-grade divine tool. Chu Rui may not be able to suppress him.¡±

    ¡°Chu Rui!¡±

    After theplete formation of You Qimiao¡¯s divine dharma idol, his huge hand pinched the Yin Yang Heavenly Chaos Mirror and struck at Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One was extremely cold, while the other was fiery hot. The extreme cold current and extreme hot current both seemed to pour out of two different, strange worlds.

    The cold current was silvery-white, while the hot current was golden-red. Together, they diluted Chu Rui¡¯s divine dharma idol and the bright stars surrounding it.

    The stars were first frozen by the cold current. Then when the hot current came, the stars suddenly melted and disappeared.

    In the twinkling of an eye, the stars around Chu Rui were all broken and disappeared.

    The stars were the essence of his star power, blending with wisps of his thoughts, and were the key to many of his incantations.

    You Qimiao sneered. ¡°The vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Only so-so! Do you really think that the people that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is afraid of are you and Luo Wanxiang? What a joke! Only Ji Cang, the first man of the human race, and Mo Heng, who dared to challenge Grand Monarch Primal Demon and didn¡¯t die immediately after he reached the middle God domain, are the ones that we fear!

    ¡°Without Ji Cang or Mo Heng, how can you defend the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with you and Luo Wanxiang, two losers in the race for the Lord of the Stars?

    ¡°Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation, Division of Yin and Yang!¡±

    You Qimiao snorted and used words to suppress Chu Rui while using his core incantations.

    The cold current and the hot current pouring at Chu Rui seemed to turn into two fish that were each 10,000 meters long. One fish was silvery-white, and the other was golden-red, swimming around Rui Chu¡¯s divine dharma idol.

    It seemed Chu Rui¡¯s divine dharma idol had been forcibly divided in two because of the swimming of the silvery-white fish and golden-red fish.

    One part of Chu Rui¡¯s face was peaceful and kind.

    The other part was ferocious and murderous.

    The Division of Yin and Yang divided Chu Rui into two distinct people.

    Even the aura, the look, the thoughts and the ideas of his two halves had be different.

    CRASH!

    Incredibly, Chu Rui¡¯s divine dharma idol really split in two.

    The two giant fish broke away from Chu Rui and swam through the sky of the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The qi of heaven and earth in the Realm of Maelstrom was slowly affected. One side turned extremely cold, while the other side became intolerably hot.

    You Qimiao¡¯s single incantation not only divided Chu Rui, but also divided the energy of the Realm of Maelstrom into two parts.

    The two giant fish lifted billowing air currents, swimming in the sky.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    On the ground, some Qi warriors of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, Divine Seal Sect, and Golden Vast Sect, who were at the Profound realm and Worldly realm, began to die strangely, screaming with their heads in their hands.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Get them out of here!¡± Huang Jinnan roared quickly.

    Hou Chn suddenly paled, and hurriedly said to Nie Tian, ¡°Those who are below the Worldly Realm must escape from the Realm of Maelstrom as soon as possible! That move from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect called Division of Yin and Yang can make the qi of a medium-sized domain change greatly. The spirit qi of heaven and earth, like the changing tides, reaches the seas of awareness of Qi warriors¡¯ souls. Without the protection of a domain, it¡¯s hard to resist!¡±

    ¡°Evacuate! Those who have not reached the Void Domain should evacuate immediately!¡± Chu Rui¡¯s voice came from two of his different dharma idols in unison.

    ¡°Go! Go quickly!¡±

    The saint domain experts like Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and Jing Feiyang all felt that things were getting bad, and hurriedly urged the weaker ones among them to leave.

    The Qi warriors at the Soul Realm, Profound Realm, and Worldly Realm, who hadn¡¯t been affected but were struggling, were protected and taken to the transmission arrays by experts to escape as quickly as possible.

    You Qimiao focused all his energy on Chu Rui, ignoring the weaker people below him.

    ¡°Chu Rui! Grand Monarch Ice Bones could suppress you, and so can my Yin Yang Heavenly Chaos Mirror!¡±

 Chapter 1267: Taking Control!

    Everyone could sense the overwhelming changes in the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The two fish-like chaotic currents, one silver, the other gold, stirred up opposing powers that were frigid cold and burning hot, causing cultivators with low cultivation bases to feel as if their seas of awareness were being strangled!

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Like streaks of light, those with cultivation bases lower than the Void domain evacuated the Realm of Maelstrom through teleportation portals.

    Even so, Saint domain experts had to protect them to ensure that their seas of awareness wouldn¡¯t be torn to pieces.

    d in a golden suit of armor, Huang Jinnan stood on his golden lotus that floated in the sky. With a grim face, he said, ¡°Amplified by the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror and You Qimiao¡¯s profound mastery, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation manifests such might that it¡¯s actually changing the spiritual Qi in the Realm of Maelstrom!¡±

    BOOM!

    Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol, which had split into two, exploded.

    They morphed into two river of stars that regathered in a corner, revealing Chu Rui¡¯s chubby form.

    However, his face was pale, with sweat on his forehead.

    He had to take out a suit of spiritual armor that had star patterns on it from within his ring of holding, and put it on.

    ¡°Heavenly Star Armor, a level seven Spirit Channeling grade treasure that¡¯s only a step away from bing an Immortal grade divine tool,¡± Mo Qianfan marveled. Then he turned to Nie Tian and whispered, ¡°The vice sectmaster was trapped in the Frigid Depths by Grand Monarch Ice Bones for a long time. His consumption had to be significant. Since he¡¯s not at his peak state, I doubt he¡¯ll be able to match You Qimiao in battle.¡±

    ¡°So what are you going to do, Yu Suying?!¡± You Qimiao shouted.

    Two streams of chaotic currents suddenly swirled out of the sleeves of his mountain-like dharma idol into the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror.

    Dazzling divine light burst forth from the mirror¡¯s surface, lighting up the entire Realm of Maelstrom.

    This whole realm, which was going through great changes due to the influence of the two streams of peculiar gold and silver auras, seemed to be suppressed by the divine light.

    All those who hadn¡¯t entered the God Domain, whatever their cultivation bases were, had their fighting spirit suppressed.

    Only Duan Hongwen, who was also from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, seemed unusually spirited. Laughing wildly, he activated his dharma idol, which instantly morphed into a mountain peak.

    With talismans reappearing on it, the majestic mountain peak that was thirty thousand meters high mmed towards Mo Qianfan.

    Mo Qianfan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you toe at me!¡±

    Sying hisrge hands, he created a thunder pool out of nowhere. At the same time, his dharma idol morphed into a thunderstorm that engulfed the majestic mountain peak.

    Hundreds of thousands of talismans and countless lightning bolts instantly mixed together.

    ¡°My sect doesn¡¯t have any sort of connection to yours anymore.¡± Yu Suying refused to be intimidated by him. ¡°However, the fight between you...¡±

    With these words, she stopped, clearly hesitant.

    She hesitated over going to battle with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. After all, You Qimiao seemed to be stronger than Chu Rui at this moment.

    You Qimiao flew into a rage. ¡°Yu Suying! Do you think you can walk out whenever you want? How convenient is it for you? Don¡¯t imagine that you can sit back and watch us fight! You either help me deal with these people, or I¡¯ll wipe out your entire sect!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    ¡°Watch me!¡±

    A conflict instantly broke out between the two.

    With a flick of his sleeve, You Qimiao sent out a chaotic current that carried a wide variety of auras from unknown realms. With an overwhelming momentum, it came after Yu Suying.

    A hint of a strange look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he saw this, floating in midair.

    To his surprise, he sensed more than a dozen different energies, including Phantasm Qi, Demon Qi, and death power, from the current released by You Qimiao.

    It was just that You Qimiao didn¡¯t seem to have refined all these energies, but rather simply collected them as weapons to cast at his enemies.

    From the look of it, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation he practiced had such a wonder. It allowed him to gather different energies, yet didn¡¯t require him to refine them. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯tpromise the purity of his spiritual cores.

    After observing for a long while, Nie Tian frowned deeply, as he realized that his cultivation base was still far too low. ¡°Battles between God Domain experts are indeed totally different.¡±

    A streak of spiritual light shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind, and he was suddenly enlightened. ¡°Such chaotic, multifarious powers of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation... This incantation seems to have a lot inmon with the Primal Chaos I derived from that magicalnd!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! Get out of the way!¡± Yin Xingtian called out as he prepared to help Yu Suying deal with the mighty spell You Qimiao had cast with a casual flick of his sleeve.

    He and Yu Suying didn¡¯t dare to underestimate the mixed energies that had shot out of You Qimiao¡¯s sleeve. They might even have to go all-out in order to stop them.

    Yu Suying condensed her countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light into rings of dazzling light, with which she hoped to neutralize the peculiar murky current of energies You Qimiao seemed to be channeling from some unknown ce.

    Nie Tian only pondered briefly before realizing what was happening. ¡°Spatial spell formations seem to be carved inside of You Qimiao¡¯s cuffs, which are allowing him to summon foreign energies from other parts of the starry river.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Ignoring Yin Xingtian¡¯s warnings, he activated his bloodline power and every other kind of power within him.

    Star, me, wood, flesh, and soul power came together, forming a maic field around him: Primal Chaos!

    After he activated this peculiar magic he had derived from the titans, he charged towards the chaotic power You Qimiao had released, surrounded by violently twisting and splitting energies.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim softly the moment his maic field made contact with the current of chaotic energies released by You Qimiao.

    Yu Suying and Yu Suying were dumbfounded.

    The two of them were bbergasted after seeing that the current of chaotic energies, which had targeted them originally, was attracted by Nie Tian and started pouring madly towards him as he charged towards it.

    Surprisingly, the chaotic foreign energies didn¡¯t crush Nie Tian to death.

    On the contrary, these energies You Qimiao had cast out as weapons miraculously fused into the maic field around him.

    Due to their infusion, Nie Tian¡¯s maic field instantly expanded a hundred times over!

    ¡°What the...?¡±

    Nie Tian, who was floating in the air, fell abruptly towards the earth. He had to burn his Blood Essence to stop himself from plummeting.

    Energies that were thousands of times more violent and immense than those within his Primal Chaos hade at him with an overwhelming momentum. However, they were somehow captured by the small maic field around him and started orbiting him!

    This gave him a feeling of defeating five hundred kilograms with only half a kilogram. (Idiom: defeat something/someone very skillfully)

    Nie Tian instantly understood what was happening. ¡°Those energies are being controlled by my Primal Chaos now! And because of that, I¡¯m under much more pressure! The energies You Qimiao sent out from his cuffs were unrefined. He simply casts them at his enemies like weapons!

    ¡°He practices two types of incantations simultaneously, one frigid cold and the other zing hot, and merges them with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation. Perhaps this led him to a method of channeling and mixing different energies. It¡¯s just that,pared to the wondrous incantation I derived from the titans in that magicalnd, such a method is far too shallow.

    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s even some kind of a connection between this method of his and the titans¡¯ Primal Chaos!¡±

    Rumble!

    With his maic field, Nie Tian gained full control of the energies You Qimiao had sent forth with a flick of his sleeve, which were hundreds of times more profound than his own.

    Then, controlling the expanded maic field, he changed directions and charged towards the majestic mountain peak that had been transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol.

    ¡°Sectmaster Mo! Get out of the way!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s resonant voice came from the innermost part of the Primal Chaos.

    Startled, Mo Qianfan spared a wisp of his divine will to check what was happening, then saw Nie Tian charging in his direction, surrounded by numerousyers of multicolored energy.

    At first nce, the multicoloredyers looked like an unstable realm.

    Nie Tian, who was at its heart, was its controller.

    Like the others, Mo Qianfan was also bbergasted.

    ¡°Thunder change!¡±

    His thunderstorm instantly experienced violent changes, its myriad lightning bolts converging and condensing into a huge thunderball that shot into the heavens.

    BANG! BANG!

    With the numerousyers of various energies that surrounded him, Nie Tian rammed into the lofty mountain peak.

    The talismans within the divine mountain peak were destroyed in the same way as heaven shattered, the earth toppled, and the sun and moon exploded. In a split second, the divine mountain peak didn¡¯t emanate even the slightest light anymore!

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± Duan Hongwen¡¯s miserable wail echoed out as the so-called divine mountain peak shrank at an rming rate under the bombardment of the multicolored energy field around Nie Tian.

    His wails grew more and more miserable, causing those who heard him to feel numbness in their scalps.

    ¡°Even the man¡¯s soul is being ground down. That field of chaotic energies carries an aura that can tear anything to shreds!¡± Yin Xingtian marveled inwardly as he looked at Nie Tian with a deeply amazed expression, as if he were looking at a monster.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t those energies supposed to be at You Qimiao¡¯smand?¡± Yu Suying muttered to herself.

 Chapter 1268: Increased Pressure

    ¡°Sectmaster! Help!¡± Duan Hongwen¡¯s shrill cries came from the lofty mountain peak.

    Suffering repeated bombardment from theyers of mixed energies controlled by Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos, the mountain peak that had transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol continued to lose its talismans. More and more of them shattered and perished.

    Spiritual Qi, Demon Qi, impurities from the starry river, twisting power, splitting power, me power...

    More than a dozen different types of energies had been channeled from an unknown space by You Qimiao.

    Compared to Nie Tian¡¯s own power, those energies were far stronger.

    However, it seemed that even the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation didn¡¯t allow You Qimiao to refine those energies into himself. He could only cast them at his enemies, such as Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian at this moment.

    However, it had seemed so easy when Nie Tian had captured and gained control of those energies with Primal Chaos.

    He had now dealt a heavy blow to Duan Hongwen with the power You Qimiao had unleashed on Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying.

    Rumble!

    As countless talismans perished, Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol was forced to shrink into his true form.

    He morphed into a streak of light that fled from Nie Tian¡¯s maic field to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s berthed starship.

    Only at this moment did You Qimiao¡¯s exmation rumble out, ¡°You, you¡¯re the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian?!¡±

    The only reason why his reaction came sote was because Chu Rui hade at him with full force after he hadunched his killing attack towards Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian.

    Chu Rui¡¯s storm of attacks had filled the void with dashing stars, forcing You Qimiao to focus on him.

    Besides, he had been confident that the energies he had sent towards Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian with a flick of his sleeve would inflict severe damage upon them. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t felt the need to pay attention to them anymore.

    However, as Nie Tian had expected, that current of energies hadn¡¯t been refined, and thus hadn¡¯t had a profound connection to him.

    Only now, as Duan Hongwen yelled for help, was You Qimiao rmed, and jerked his head towards him, only to see the energies he had sent out being controlled by Nie Tian with his unique maic field.

    His expression flickered strongly as he gave voice to his puzzlement. ¡°I channeled those twisting mixed energies from a chaotic part of the starry river with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation! Why are you able to control them?¡±

    ¡°Duan Hongwen!¡±

    With a cunningugh, Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol strode forward in the void, the most violent lightning bolts condensing into a de of lightning that was as wide as a river in his hand, with which he shed towards the vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    He realized that Duan Hongwen had sustained heavy injuries after Nie Tian had crushed that mountain peak transformed from his dharma idol.

    This was the time tounch the final killing attack.

    ¡°Heaven-purging Divine Light! Divine light purges the world!¡±

    ¡°Seven Purity Soul-channeling Incantation!¡±

    Yu Suying and the seven Saint domain experts from the Profound Purity Pce exerted their power simultaneously.

    While the seven Saint domain experts worked together to suppress You Qimiao¡¯s soul will with their secret magic, preventing him from strengthening his exquisite incantations with his soul power, Yu Suying¡¯s Heaven-purging Divine Light mysteriously vanished from the sky.

    In the next moment, countless rays of it appeared right in front of the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, as if they had traveled through a spatial tunnel.

    ¡°Starry River Reverse!¡±

    Chu Rui exerted his power as well. Spell formations that were vested with the profound truths of star power revealed themselves one after another in the river of stars he was standing on.

    Then, the river of stars was cast towards You Qimiao, where it forcibly reversed the changes the peculiar gold and silver fish had inflicted upon the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°Heaven Split!¡±

    As Yin Xingtian raised his sword, hundreds of thousands of sword reflections appeared, along with countless reflections of himself that wielded them. Together, they cast numerous different sword magics towards You Qimiao.

    BOOM! BANG! BANG!

    In a split second, the area where You Qimiao was standing was filled with sts of devastating power that made even Saint domain experts suffer from splitting headaches.

    As fragments of shattered power fell from the sky, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, Jing Feiyang, and the other Saint domain experts, who were observing on the ground, were deeply scared. They hastily activated their domains to envelop those who were weaker, then flew off to distant locations.

    More than a dozen green stone pavilions of the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Divine Seal Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect, each of which was close to a hundred meters high, toppled upon contact with the sshing fragmented power.

    People could be seen fleeing and screaming in different areas of the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    Duan Hongwen¡¯s desperate cries continued to echo out from an area filled with slithering lightning bolts.

    Apparently, as badly injured as he was, he was having a difficult time defending against Mo Qianfan¡¯s heavy blows.

    ¡°Chu Rui, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan...¡±

    You Qimiao¡¯s bone-chilling voice came from his two currents, one being Yin and the other being Yang.

    WHOOSH!

    More currents that were either frigid cold or zing hot suddenly swirled out of the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror.

    The intensity of the divine light emanated by this Immortal grade divine tool was instantly magnified as it shed to Duan Hongwen¡¯s location like a bolt of lightning, and enveloped him.

    ¡°We¡¯re not alone in this operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I hope you¡¯ll still be standing by their side when Ie back.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Gathering the two currents, the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror shot up into the spatial rift through which the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s ancient starship had arrived, dragging glorious tails as it did.

    Just so abruptly, You Qimiao evacuated with his vice sectmaster, Duan Hongwen.

    Seeing this, Yu Suying, Chu Rui, and Yin Xingtian withdrew their power one after another.

    The streaks of light that were flying towards remote areas of the Realm of Maelstrom like colorful ribbons also stopped in midair.

    CRACK!

    For some reason, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s berthed ancient starship started to fall apart, starting from the teleportation portal inside of it. Debris rained down from the sky.

    d in a suit of golden armor, Huang Jinnan from the metal element sect stared nkly at the spatial rift in the heavens. ¡°They left just like that?¡±

    Astonishment could be seen on Hou Chn¡¯s elegantly beautiful face as she quietly rose into the air, emanating a rich life force that seemed to be able to nourish all things in this realm. Looking radiant, she said, ¡°You Qimiao is a smart man. Perhaps he can single-handedly handle Chu Rui, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying in battle, but what about Duan Hongwen?

    ¡°You saw it yourself that he was on the verge of breaking down. Aside from him, Duan Hongwen is the only other God domain expert the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has. Weak as he may be, he¡¯s still a God domain expert. You Qimiao spends most of his time traveling and practicing secluded cultivation. Managing a sect isn¡¯t his strong suit.

    ¡°However, Duan Hongwen happens to be good at it. The two of them make up for each other¡¯s weaknesses.

    ¡°If Duan Hongwen died here, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect would lose a wing, and he wouldn¡¯t be able to spend as much time as he wanted practicing secluded cultivation. So he didn¡¯t leave out of his fear towards Chu Rui or Yu Suying. He only did it to save his sect¡¯s strength.¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s analysis was rational.

    Lou Hongyan also nodded slightly. ¡°Since the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect dared to make this move, they definitely knew what they¡¯re doing. What I¡¯m curious about is what other sects have joined this operation, aside from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Profound Purity Pce, which had been previously persuaded.¡±

    The three Divine Sons and Daughters whispered to one another in a remote corner of the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Frowning, Yu Suying said, ¡°We only dodged one strike. You Qimiao didn¡¯t lose sight of the big picture. He¡¯s well-aware of what needs to be done in order for the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to benefit the most from this. I bet when hees back, he¡¯ll have God domain experts from other sects by his side.

    ¡°It¡¯s also a possibility that they¡¯ll join up to get rid of the other obstacles first. After that, they¡¯ll return to take the Domain of Heaven Python as theirst move.¡±

    Face grim, Chu Rui asked, ¡°Who else has joined this operation?¡±

    Yu Suying let out a sigh and said, ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect. Adding my sect, we¡¯re the four sects I know of that have joined this operation. Clearly, my sect¡¯s reserve power isn¡¯t the most profound among the four.¡±

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°The Shadow Society! The Jade Heaven Sect!

    ¡°Both of those sects have God domain experts. Also, it¡¯s been ten thousand years since people have seen the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. Is he still alive?¡±

    Yu Suying nodded. ¡°I only agreed to join this operation because, for one thing, I learned that You Qimiao had entered the middle God domain, and for another, I received a letter personally written by the sectmaster of the Shadow Society.¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A letter?¡±

    ¡°Judging by the power that letter exuded, I learned that not only was the sectmaster of the Shadow Society alive, but his cultivation base might have risen above You Qimiao¡¯s,¡± Yu Suying said, without trying to hide anything. ¡°Back then, I thought that if the sectmaster of the Shadow Society was going to lead this operation, even if Mo Heng were back, I doubt he¡¯d be able to defeat him.

    ¡°As for you, I assumed that You Qimiao himself would be more than capable of suppressing you.

    ¡°And for Luo Wanxiang, since he¡¯s always been the weakest, we didn¡¯t attach much importance to him.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Mo Qianfan flew over. Upon hearing their conversation, he said, ¡°If this operation was led by the sectmaster of the Shadow Society and joined by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and your sect, I suppose your alliance did have a good chance at overthrowing the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, considering its current position...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Yu Suying said, without taking Chu Rui¡¯s feelings into consideration. ¡°Especially when thete God domain leaders of the other three great sects aren¡¯t around. Plus, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society is old friends with the leaders of the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society. Even if they were avable, they might turn a blind eye to this.¡±

    ¡°So the Shadow Society is behind all this!¡± Hou Chn eximed in astonishment.

    Huang Jinnan also shuddered with surprise and said, ¡°The Shadow Society! The sectmaster of the Shadow Society! I once overheard the seniors saying that the four great sects owed the Shadow Society a great favor in the early days. They said that the Shadow Society made significant contributions and sacrifices when defending against the outsiders. They owed their victory to the Shadow Society.¡±

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s expression also changed as she said, ¡°If it¡¯s really the Shadow Society that ns on taking the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s ce...¡±

    RUMBLE!

    While everyone was distressed by the Shadow Society¡¯s participation in the operation, Nie Tian and his maic field suddenly shot up into the starry river through the wide vortex-like opening in the heavens, surrounded by the colorfulyers of energies You Qimiao had left behind.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Nie Tian?¡±

 Chapter 1269: Domain-building?

    The Realm of Maelstrom had its unique features.

    The whole realm was surrounded by curious light that looked like a watery curtain, within which were numerous spatial rifts.

    The realm¡¯s connection to the starry river was a vortex-shaped opening. Qi warriors in every part of the Realm of Maelstrom could only see a small portion of the starry river when they looked up, as if they were frogs looking up at the sky from the bottom of a well.

    But at this moment, the small portion of the starry river people could see waspletely taken up by the colorfulyers around Nie Tian.

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as Nie Tian charged out of the Realm of Maelstrom and into the starry river, many air-transportation spiritual tools, war chariots, and low-grade starships that were berthed nearby exploded.

    Agonized shrieks filled the void.

    Aside from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Divine Seal Sect, there were also numerous minor sects and ns in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Many of them had heard about the upheaval in the Realm of Maelstrom. However, since they hadn¡¯t had the audacity to enter the Realm of Maelstrom, they had berthed their war chariots and low-grade starships in the vicinity, so they could keep a close watch on the situation in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    A great deal of them harbored ill intentions, and wished to see the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Divine Seal Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect be wiped out.

    They had even been prepared to acknowledge allegiance to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect the moment they won this battle.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Theyers of energies You Qimiao had left behind swept over and crushed every war chariot and low-grade starship with an unstoppable momentum!

    Jing Feiyang, Qu Mingde, and Quan Zixuan, the three Saint domain experts, gazed up at the starry river through what looked like the mouth of a well. Faces expressionless, they watched the debris of the starships fall like a meteor shower.

    ¡°They deserve this!¡±

    ¡°Is Nie Tian doing this to shock and awe the vile forces in the Domain of Heaven Python?¡±

    ¡°Those rotten ones never truly belonged with us. Their deaths shall not be pitied. It¡¯s just, why would Nie Tian want to kill them himself?¡±

    All of the forces that had their hearts in the right ce hade to the Realm of Maelstrom through the teleportation portals of the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect.

    The intentions of those that had sailed to this ce were self-evident.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Enveloped in the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with amazement as he watched the outeryers of energies continue to expand.

    As soon as he charged into the starry river, he discovered that arge amount of energies of various attributes were attracted by the maic field around him, and started to converge on him from different directions. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    The Primal Chaos which he had activated only took up a small area at the heart.

    Inside of it, me crystal strings could be seen flying about with bits of star power that looked like diamonds, green streams of wood power, and crimson wisps of flesh power. Strands of soul power shed around like ghosts.

    In the outeryers were more than a dozen types of energies. Attracted by the Primal Chaos at the heart, they formed a violently twisting, ripping, and conflicting maic field, which was terrifyingly mighty.

    The Primal Chaos controlled the outeryers.

    Now, as Nie Tian entered the starry river, theplicated energies in the outeryers started to madly attract foreign energies from his surroundings, causing the outeryers to further expand.

    The raging energies in the outeryers crushed every air-transportation spiritual tool, war chariot, and starship they touched.

    Nie Tian simply watched those vessels burst into mes and plummet towards the earth.

    Those with low cultivation bases couldn¡¯t even scream before their souls were shredded, and they died.

    Only those at the Void domain were able to escape before their domains werepletely twisted.

    Momentster, there was no one left in Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    One Saint domain cultivator after another flew out of the Realm of Maelstrom. They were followed by Chu Rui and the other experts.

    All of them charged into the starry river through the well-like opening, and entered the peculiar maic field around Nie Tian.

    ¡°This strange twisting and ripping power is even affecting my domain!¡± Yu Suying eximed softly, as she discovered that she started to lose control of her domain and the Heaven-purging Divine Light that had fused into it as she approached Nie Tian.

    WHOOSH!

    As Chu Rui flew close, he also noticed that the river of stars that surrounded him began to move in an unusual pattern.

    They seemed to have their tracks changed.

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The stars have deviated from the ultimatew of stars I derived! Such strange twisting power! Even myw of stars is bent! No wonder that mountain peak transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol failed to even hold on for a brief moment before all of its talismans perished!¡±

    ¡°What are you doing, Nie Tian?¡±

    Standing on the ck tortoise and wreathed in a ck aura, Dong Li looked like a goddess that had crossed into this mortal world from a darknd. Surprisingly, she also charged into the starry river as the Saint and God domain experts did.

    ¡°Kid!¡±

    Dong Qisong, who was at the early Saint domain, was the sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect. Judging by seniority, he was Dong Li¡¯s patriarch¡¯s patriarch. Seeing her approaching so recklessly, he was so scared that he almost fell towards the earth.

    Chu Rui, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, Jing Feiyang...

    Which of these experts weren¡¯t at the Saint domain or higher?

    Not a single Void domain cultivator dared to enter the starry river after seeing Nie Tian charge up, causing all of the war chariots and starships that were berthed in the starry river to explode and fall.

    Even Dong Qisong himself had been extra cautious when he had flown into the starry river, fearing that something would go wrong.

    Dong Li had only entered the early Soul realm recently with the help of the dark stone and the cultivation resources she had gained from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. She didn¡¯t know a thing about inner domains yet. How did she have the audacity to charge into the starry river?

    However, she seemed to be unscathed somehow!

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Dong Li said with a in tone. With ease, she circted the power from the dark stone within her as she started to strengthen herself by devouring the faint light in the starry river like a goddess of darkness. ¡°I won¡¯t have a problem practicing cultivation in the starry river, much less simply staying.¡±

    ¡°Another rare talent!¡± Chu Rui marveled.

    ¡°Nie Tian, can¡¯t you scatter the energies you stole from You Qimiao?¡± Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect called out, frowning. ¡°You Qimiao and Duan Hongwen have withdrawn from the Realm of Maelstrom already. We¡¯re not facing any enemies. You can rx now.¡±

    As he spoke, the energies gathered around Nie Tian continued to expand.

    Before he knew it, the maic field around him expanded to cover hundreds of acres, and was still expanding.

    Its frenzied power and twisting, ripping aura was also building up rapidly.

    Mo Qianfan sensed it quietly, and realized that if it continued to growrger and stronger, theyers of energies might even rip the Realm of Maelstrom apart.

    Not only the Realm of Maelstrom, but many other nearby realms might be destroyed as well.

    ¡°If this thing continues to grow, it might actually be able to destroy a small-scale realm!¡±

    ¡°Not only actual realms, but our inner domains may fall victims too. It¡¯s just that our inner domains can move and avoid it. However, I¡¯m afraid those realms, which haven¡¯t moved since the birth of this starry river, will be destroyed when touched by these destructive energies.¡±

    The discussion went on among the people gathered outside.

    Chu Rui, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan, the three God domain experts, also sensed the maic field. Even they felt a strong sense of danger from the raging, twisting, ripping power in its outer areas.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me,dies and gentlemen.¡±

    As Nie Tian said these words, he controlled the maic field to fly towards an emptier part of the Domain of Heaven Python, where there were no realms.

    As he did that, the orbiting energies moved with him.

    ¡°What on earth is going on?" Standing on the ck tortoise, Dong Li instructed it to elerate, lest she lose Nie Tian.

    ¡°Leave me be, I...¡± Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°For some reason, I have a feeling that I might be ready to forge my inner domain. Perhaps the formation of my domain has a close connection to this maic field and the raging, twisting, and ripping power within it. This might be how I¡¯m supposed to forge my inner domain.¡±

    Yin Xingtian gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?! Domain forging?! Advancing to the Void domain?!¡±

    ¡°I forgot!¡± Chu Rui pped himself on the forehead and called out, ¡°Nie Tian! Since you practice three different types of incantations, the domain-forging techniques recorded in that fragmentary star mark on your chest don¡¯t apply to you! You¡¯ll have toe up with your own method. You¡¯re unique. No one can give you instructions on how to forge your inner domain!¡±

    Yu Suying agreed by saying, ¡°He carries the wood, star, and me attributes, and he¡¯s a hybrid. Indeed, no one¡¯s domain-forging experience can be used as a reference.¡±

    Yin Xingtian took a deep breath and said, ¡°Even though he hasn¡¯t forged his domain yet, the raging, twisting, and ripping power in his maic field is already so terrifyingly mighty. After his domaines to form, will it also carry power with those peculiar features? If that¡¯s the case, I suppose even Saint domain cultivators¡¯ domains would be torn to shreds upon contact with his, not to mention Void domain cultivators¡¯ domains.¡±

    Dong Li turned to Dong Qisong and asked, ¡°Won¡¯t Nie Tian need spiritual materials to forge his domain? Domain-forging requires certain precious materials, right?¡±

    Dong Qisong smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s right with ordinary people, but Nie Tian is different. As you know, he already has unique treasures built into his me power, wood power, and star power cores.¡±

    ¡°The Godspirit Tree, the me spark, and the Nine Stars Flower...¡± Dong Li muttered.

    ¡°With those unique treasures in his spiritual sea, he doesn¡¯t need to look for other so-called precious materials anymore,¡± Dong Qisong exined. ¡°He already has the most ideal spiritual material for every attribute. Why look for others?¡±

    Dong Li was suddenly enlightened. ¡°So does that mean Nie Tian met the requirements for domain-forging long ago?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Chu Rui answered for Dong Qisong. ¡°Don¡¯t get too close to Nie Tian. Observe him from a safe distance if you like. I¡¯ve got to return to our headquarters first.¡±

 Chapter 1270: A Star Destroyer

    There were only a few realms that were close to the Realm of Maelstrom. The rest was endless empty starry river.

    Nie Tian was aware that if his maic field continued to gather all sorts of energies from the starry river, it would expand even more, and the energies it contained would be even more violent.

    No reminders from the others were needed. He knew what would happen if he controlled it to ram into a nearby realm.

    He even felt that if he now controlled it to hit the Realm of me Heaven, where he had been born, the entire Realm of me Heaven would fall apart, killing all lives in it.

    It was already mighty enough to destroy a realm.

    Besides, its might was still umting and bing more violent.

    Violent ripping and twisting was the theme of the maic field, both the inner parts and the outer parts. At the same time, it continued to absorb all sorts of energies and auras from the starry river.

    He had a feeling that if he stopped infusing the Primal Chaos with his power, the inner parts, which was the Primal Chaos itself, would vanish. Then, the outer parts would naturally scatter and dissipate.

    However, he didn¡¯t do so.

    That was because he had a feeling that he would have to derive the key enlightenment that would allow him to forge his domain and break through into the Void domain from this peculiar maic field.

    WHOOSH!

    Enveloped in manyyers of multicolored energies, he flew farther and farther away from the Realm of Maelstrom into the dark, cold void of the Domain of Heaven Python.

    On his way, he encountered a number of so-called Star Hunters, who had traveled to this part of the starry river on starships, hoping to gain some information about the Realm of Maelstrom.

    However, any Star Hunter starship that entered Nie Tian¡¯s maic field was instantly crushed by its raging, twisting, and ripping power.

    Perishing with them were the Star Hunters on board, some of whom were at the Void domain.

    As Nie Tian floated towards the depths of the starry river, the maic field around him continued to expand.

    Quan Zixuan from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, who had been following Nie Tian, saw the remains of a wrecked starship drifting in the starry river, and said softly, ¡°The Wonder Condors is a Star Hunter organization. The head of this organization was at the middle Void domain. Now, his corpse...¡±

    With these words, he made a grabbing motion in the air.

    The corpse of a burly man with a twisted face was pulled from a piece of wreckage.

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce took a quick nce at it and determined his cause of death. With a puzzled expression, she said, ¡°Both of his domain and sea of awareness have been ripped to pieces. Nie Tian hasn¡¯t even forged his domain yet, but wherever he goes, starships explode. Even middle Void domain cultivators are being killed. How powerful will he be when his domain is forged?¡±

    Mo Qianfan pondered in silence for a while before saying, ¡°That¡¯s not just Nie Tian¡¯s power. On the outer multicoloredyers are the energies that You Qimiao originally cast at you. It¡¯s only right that those energies are extraordinary.¡±

    Yin Xingtian agreed. ¡°It¡¯s understandable that Void domain cultivators couldn¡¯t handle such energies.¡±

    ¡°But even You Qimiao didn¡¯t have full control of them. Why does Nie Tian?¡± Yu Suying found this baffling.

    Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan shook their heads unknowingly.

    WHOOSH!

    Dong Li and a crowd of Saint domain experts followed from a longer distance.

    They didn¡¯t dare toe too close because they had seen the wreckage of many starships on their way. Many from minor local forces in the Domain of Heaven Python and Star Hunters had been crushed to death by Nie Tian¡¯s peculiar maic field as he had flown past them.

    Furthermore, Nie Tian had warned them against approaching him. He had even asked them to pay no attention to him.

    Yu Suying fixed Dong Li with a deep look. Sensing the strong dark aura she exuded, she asked, ¡°Dong Li, right? Nie Tian is in aplicated situation. I suggest that the Saint domain experts from his three subordinate domains stop following him. They wouldn¡¯t be of much help even if they did. It¡¯s better that they return and prepare for the battles toe.¡±

    ¡°Do you mean that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect wille back?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Yu Suying said. ¡°They won¡¯t give up so easily. If Chu Rui handles things properly after returning to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, this crisis maye to an end. But if he doesn¡¯t, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect will surelye back. And it won¡¯t be just You Qimiao and Duan Hongwen when they do.¡±

    Dong Li pondered briefly before nodding and turning around to give instructions.

    Shortly afterwards, all of the Saint domain experts headed back, except for Master Blood Spirit and Xie Qian, who were at thete Saint domain, and Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect.

    Looking amazed, Mo Qianfan said, ¡°It seems that wherever Nie Tian goes, the disordered mixed energies in the starry river are swept away. The starry river is filled with all kinds of energies and auras so that the realms can absorb them for nourishment and convert them into the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    ¡°If that maic field of Nie Tian¡¯s takes away too many of the mixed energies and expands too much, will the Domain of Heaven Python be...?¡±

    He put forth a hypothesis.

    ¡°Many realms in the Domain of Heaven Python will be affected,¡± Yin Xingtian chimed in, looking deeply concerned. ¡°The realms take a wide array of energies from the starry river and convert them into the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth with the help of their realm barriers. That maic field of Nie Tian¡¯s is now absorbing all sorts of energies from the starry river endlessly, like an ancient superrge-scale realm.

    ¡°Plus, as it continues to grow, the speed at which it absorbs energies will also grow faster and faster.

    ¡°If the Domain of Heaven Python loses too much of its energies in the void, it¡¯ll indeed result in many realms being rapidly drained of their spiritual Qi and descending to dead realms.¡±

    As Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect heard this, the numerous talismans that hovered around him were stirred.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± he asked anxiously.

    The Domain of Heaven Python was home to the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect. Their realms being drained of spiritual Qi and bing dead realms was thest thing they wanted to see.

    ¡°The Domain of me¡¯s End is fairly close to the Domain of Heaven Python. The Domain of Endless Snow is a little farther away. The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is even farther...¡± Dong Li searched her memories for a domain where Nie Tian could let go of himself and meditate on the wonders of domain-forging without scruple.

    Yu Suying cleared her throat gently and said, ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s home domain isn¡¯t far from the Domain of Heaven Python. Besides, most of the domains that lie between it and here are associated with the Jade Heaven Sect. Like the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect is also a major part of this operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    A strange expression appeared on Yin Xingtian¡¯s face.

    As the sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect, he knew something about the history of the conflicts between the Jade Heaven Sect and the Profound Purity Pce. Those two sects had never gotten along.

    In fact, if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce weren¡¯t such a powerful sect, they would never have joined hands.

    Yin Xingtian even suspected that the sectmaster of the Shadow Society had only written that letter to Yu Suying to persuade her to put their differences aside.

    Apparently, by suggesting that the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s home domain wasn¡¯t far from the Domain of Heaven Python, Yu Suying wanted Nie Tian to head towards it and its adjacent domains.

    She wanted the Jade Heaven Sect to suffer, and intended for a conflict to break out between them and Nie Tian sooner.

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect...¡± Dong Li hesitated. ¡°They seem to have God domain experts as well. Technically, they didn¡¯t invade the Domain of Heaven Python. Would it be appropriate to have Nie Tian go there?¡±

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect is bent on overthrowing the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Yu Suying continued. ¡°Besides, they have only one God domain expert, who¡¯s at the early God domain. Their strength matches that of my sect, but with Sectmaster Mo, Patriarch Yin, and me here, we have nothing to fear.¡±

    Dong Li turned to Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang and asked, ¡°What do you say?¡±

    ¡°Any domain other than the Domain of Heaven Python is fine by me,¡± Jing Feiyang stated his stance.

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect...¡± A blood-colored light shed across Master Blood Spirit¡¯s eyes. ¡°They contributed to the destruction of my sect! I¡¯m all for it!¡±

    Xie Qian shrugged. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me. Whatever Nie Tian says.¡±

    Lightning wisps appeared in the depths of Mo Qianfan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Let memunicate with Nie Tian.¡±

    A bolt of lightning seemed to scrape through the void and quietly reached the heart of Nie Tian¡¯s maic field, but vanished in the next moment.

    Secondster, Mo Qianfan eximed, ¡°He needs the exact direction!¡±

    ¡°I can show it to him,¡± Yu Suying said hastily.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Mo Qianfan said. ¡°Now that he¡¯s decided, let¡¯s head towards the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s home domain while he meditates on his domain-forging method.¡±

 Chapter 1271: A Star of Calamities

    In the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Chu Rui activated his dharma idol as soon as he arrived through a teleportation portal.

    WHOOSH!

    Wreathed in what looked like a sea of stars, his enormous dharma idol appeared abruptly in the starry sky over Fragmentary Star City.

    In different parts of the city, disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were greatly spirited.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Chu is back!¡±

    Deeply thrilled, Wei Lai and Yan Zhan flew out of the most magnificent pce to receive him. ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    With his all-pervasive soul awareness, he examined the whole city. As he only sensed Wei Lai and Yan Zhan¡¯s auras, he frowned and said with a puzzled expression, ¡°Hmm? Why is it just the two of you?

    ¡°Where are Elder Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong? They headed back a long time ago. They should have been here.¡±

    When Chu Rui and the others had left the Domain of Frigid Depths, he had learned from Nie Tian that Zu Guangyao and the other elders had been sent back by Luo Wanxiang.

    It had been so long. He had assumed that Zu Guangyao, Han Wanrong, and Xin Qing would be in the Fragmentary Star City.

    ¡°Zu Guangyao and the others...¡± Wei Lai sagged his head, not daring to meet Chu Rui¡¯s eyes. ¡°We received word that their ancient starship was attacked on their way back from the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in. ¡°Song Chequan, the sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect, led the attack himself. It appears that they abducted that returning starship and sailed it back to their headquarters.¡±

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect! Song Chequan!¡± Chu Rui roared furiously.

    Before his return from the Domain of Heaven Python, Yu Suying had made it clear that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Profound Purity Pce, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect were the four parties behind this operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected the Jade Heaven Sect to make such a timely move.

    Chu Rui took a deep breath and asked, ¡°Have you seen Luo Wanxiang? He killed my subordinates, butter sustained heavy injuries from the joint efforts of Nie Tian, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying in the Domain of Frigid Depths. Is he back?¡±

    ¡°How could Vice Sectmaster Luo do such a thing?¡± Wei Lai eximed in shock.

    ¡°He colluded with Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom...¡± Chu Rui went on and exined everything to them. ¡°So where is he?¡±

    Yan Zhan looked bewildered, unsure whether he should believe Chu Rui. ¡°He never returned to our headquarters or his subordinate domains,¡± he said. ¡°We didn¡¯t even hear about what happened in the Domain of Frigid Depths. The only thing we know is that Vice Sectmaster Luo came out of his secluded cultivation, but we¡¯re not sure where he went, or whether he¡¯s returned from the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    Chu Rui pondered in silence for a while before letting out a cold harrumph. ¡°I suppose he knew that he¡¯d been exposed, so he was too ashamed toe back to our headquarters or his own domains.¡±

    Then, Wei Lai and Yan Zhan went on to fill Chu Rui in on what had happened to the sect recently.

    Thanks to Nie Tian, the Domain of Primal Yang had reacknowledged their allegiance after the Primal Yang Sect had named their new sectmaster. However, all of their other twelve subordinate domains, including the Domain of Frigid Depths, were still in turmoil.

    Most of the Son of the Stars and elders were mired in those domains and couldn¡¯t get out.

    Wei Lai and Yan Zhan had recently learned that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society were also scheming against their sect. They didn¡¯t dare to leave Fragmentary Star City because they were afraid that their powerful experts would assault the city.

    Both the Realm of Fragmentary Star and Fragmentary Star City were protected by a divine spell formation established and strengthened by generations of sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    If the two of them remained in the city, they would be able to activate the grand spell formation as soon as they sensed danger. Once they did, no ancient starships or God domain experts from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect or the Shadow Society would be able to sack the city.

    This was why Wei Lai and Yan Zhan had chosen to stand back, while knowing perfectly well that the Domain of Heaven Python had been under attack.

    ¡°We knew that the Domain of Heaven Python had been attacked by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect,¡± Wei Lai said with a bitter expression.

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°I know your difficult position. It seems to me that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect only adopted such a high profile because they wanted to lure you away from Fragmentary Star City. If you weren¡¯t here, the grand spell formation couldn¡¯t be activated, then the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society would be able to storm the city with minimal resistance.¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in. ¡°That¡¯s what we were worried about.¡±

    Wei Lai sighed and said, ¡°Vice Sectmaster, the Shadow Society has set their mind on Wang Meijia¡¯s subordinate domains recently. She¡¯s facing trouble very simr to the trouble that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect caused in the Domain of Heaven Python. So...¡±

    ¡°The Shadow Society!¡± Chu Rui¡¯s expression grew icy. ¡°You¡¯ll remain in Fragmentary Star City! Activate the divine spell formation upon any sign of disturbance, or if ancient starships from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, or the Jade Heaven Sect get here! Also, we¡¯re in a perilous time. Try to summon all Sons of the Stars and elders back here.¡±

    ¡°What about the rebellion of our subordinate domains?¡± Wei Lai asked.

    ¡°Leave them be for now,¡± Chu Rui answered. ¡°We need to gather our strength in Fragmentary Star City. We can¡¯t afford to be distracted and suffer casualties anymore. We¡¯ll take care of those rebellious domains one by one after we end this crisis with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Shadow Society, or when either the sectmaster or the grand elder returns.¡±

    ¡°Got it. Whatever you say, Vice Sectmaster.¡±

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    Like a colorful neb, a glorious sphere of energies traveled through the dark void at an rming speed.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Wherever the sphere went, meteors were crushed and reduced to flying dust.

    A wondrous flower could be seen in the innermost part of the glowing sphere, as if it had taken root at the heart of a neb, where it absorbed star power, allowing its petals to shine with dazzling starlight.

    There was also a lush, green ancient tree that brimmed with vigorous life force that could nourish heaven and earth.

    The tree was also absorbing wisps of pure wood power to strengthen itself.

    A cluster of orange-red me also jumped nonstop as it channeled sparkling crystal-clear me strings into itself.

    The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark had all flown out of Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual sea to float around him in their true form.

    ¡°If what I suspect is true, all three of them have advanced to the Heaven Nourished grade.¡±

    Enveloped in the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian watched the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark madly gather star, wood, and me power.

    Having captured dozens of different types of energies that were scattered in the starry river, the glorious sphere of energies had now expanded ten times over.

    From this spinning storm of raging, twisting, and ripping energies, the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark had extracted pure star, me, and wood power to nourish and strengthen themselves.

    Now, he had already left the Domain of Heaven Python, and was heading towards the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s home domain, following the directions Yu Suying had given him.

    He traveled at an increasingly high speed as his Primal Chaos attracted and captured more foreign energies from the starry river.

    The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark had taken it upon themselves to fly out of his me power, wood power, and star power cores after they had fully crystallized.

    He himself, however, sent a wisp of his soul awareness to study the domain-forging techniques recorded in the third fragmentary star mark. Then, in his sea of awareness, he sought possibilities to forge his domain with me or wood power by referring to the domain-forging techniques of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    He also spared some of his soul awareness to derive enlightenment from his Primal Chaos and the raging, twisting, and ripping power of its outeryers.

    ¡°Mixed energies move chaotically and sh with each other unceasingly. Only in this way can they produce violent twisting power. My domain will surely contain power of different attributes. If I can keep it stable most of the time, and only generate such raging, twisting, and ripping power during battle, then my domain will possess unlimited might, even though it¡¯ll be illusory at first.

    ¡°But how will I be able to I stabilize arge group of mixed power enough to create a unique domain?

    ¡°The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark will y crucial parts in the forging of my domain as well. Power from those three spiritual cores and my soul awareness will also be in the mix...¡±

    Nie Tian spent every minute pondering the spiritual incantations and wonders about the soul he had picked up over the years, hoping tob through and merge them all in order to forge his inner domain.

    Titan¡¯s Wrath, Primal Chaos, Illusory Ancient Talismans, Starspark, Starstrike, me Dragon¡¯s Cry, Heavenly Wood Heal, Wood Thriving Formation...

    He went through and pondered every single spiritual incantation and every wondrous enlightenment he had derived during his breakthroughs in cultivation.

    At the same time, he kept a close watch on the inner and outeryers of the spherical maic field, as well as the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark, in an attempt to understand the wonders of them absorbing the mixed energies in the starry river.

    Domain-forging was the most special step he had to take so far. He had to put in all his heart.

    RUMBLE!

    A meteor that was close to a hundred kilometers across exploded into countless fragments upon contact with the outeryers of the glowing sphere.

    Immersed in meditation, Nie Tian didn¡¯t feel a thing as he shot past and disappeared into the distance.

    Momentster, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Qianfan arrived in this area.

    Looking at the rain of meteor fragments Nie Tian had left behind, Yu Suying said with a disbelieving expression, ¡°The meteor only touched the outeryers, not the core.¡±

    Even Yin Xingtian felt insecure. ¡°I think we¡¯d better follow him from a greater distance.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is such a freak,¡± Mo Qianfan said with a stiff smile. ¡°He¡¯s only trying to derive a domain-forging technique. Does it have to be so scary? Luckily, he¡¯s not in the Domain of Endless Thunder. Otherwise, every realm that he passed might explode and perish.¡±

    Yu Suying let out a soft sigh and said, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been almost a month since we left the Realm of Maelstrom. The Song n¡¯s domain is right up ahead. Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect is from the Song n!¡±

 Chapter 1272: A Crushing Path

    In the Domain of Spirit Sea.

    The Song n was thergest cultivator force in this domain. All of the other ns and sects had to take orders from them.

    Song Haiqing, the current nmaster of the Song n, was at thete Saint domain, and Song Chequan¡¯s older brother.

    Song Chequan was the sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect. Like Yu Suying, he had also umted at the early God domain for many years. Rumor had it he was seeking new breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    Since Song Chequan was from the Song n, the rtionship between the Jade Heaven Sect and the Song n was extremely intimate.

    WHOOSH!

    A sphere of glorious light made of multiple colorfulyers flew into the dark, silent perimeter of the Domain of Spirit Sea, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    Three ancient starships were patrolling the perimeter to prevent invasions. Their rm devices suddenly went off, giving out sharp rms.

    ¡°Invaders! There are invaders!¡±

    A gold, a silver, and an azure ancient starship that had been forged from different divine metals hummed into action and hastily sailed over.

    One figure after another came up to the decks, all of whom were at the Void domain or lower.

    Two hourster, the three ancient starships came to an abrupt stop.

    A middle Void domain burly man with bulky muscles flew barefoot from the golden starship. With a sinister look on his face, he came to a stop in the void and activated his domain. ¡°I¡¯m the head of the Cold Spring Paradise, Chen Duhao. Who are you?¡±

    RUMBLE!

    His domain emanated golden light, as if it were forged from pure gold. Elegant golden pces could be seen stand towering in it, giving off lofty, solemn, and ancient auras. The pce walls were carved with golden dragons and phoenixes, all of which were very lifelike, as if they could swoop out of them at any moment.

    The Cold Spring Paradise was a minor cultivator force from the Domain of Spirit Sea. Having sworn their allegiance to the Song n, they were responsible for patrolling this part of the starry river.

    From fifty kilometers away, Mo Qianfan heard Chen Duhao¡¯s bluster. With a derisive snort, he said with a rxed tone, ¡°The man is courting death.

    ¡°He himself, the Song n, and the Jade Heaven Sect will soon learn that to them, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is a star of cmities.¡±

    Yin Xingtian chimed in. ¡°A star of cmities indeed.¡±

    Yu Suying agreed as well. ¡°That¡¯s actually an appropriate name for him, considering what he¡¯s done on his way here.¡±

    Chen Duhao from the Cold Spring Paradise took a look at the seemingly tiny figure at the heart of the enormous sphere of glorious lights, and cried out again, ¡°Stay where you are! Otherwise, don¡¯t me us for our manners!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The raging, twisting, and ripping power of the outeryers spread over and touched Chen Duhao¡¯s domain.

    It was as if an enormous shredder had mmed into his shiny golden domain.

    Chen Duhao, who practiced metal incantations, instantly let out a panicked wail.

    However, his wail onlysted a few seconds before dying out.

    His domain was shredded, golden light that looked like golden raindrops spraying out into the cold, silent starry river. Both his body and soul were twisted and ripped apart by the outeryers of the maic field.

    Nie Tian, who was at the heart of the Primal Chaos, was still focused on finding a way to forge his domain, and thus didn¡¯t notice a thing.

    ¡°Even Chen Duhao was killed! We¡¯re being invaded!¡±

    ¡°Who are you, mister?!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re with the Song n. Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t know the special rtionship between the Song n and the Jade Heaven Sect. The Jade Heaven Sect has a God domain expert. Who are you? How dare you spill blood in our domain?¡±

    Without giving any response, the glorious sphere descended on them with a crushing momentum.

    The three ancient starships were instantly blown up and reduced to debris that scattered like burning meteors.

    Every single cultivator on board died miserably without holding on for even second, whether they were at the Soul realm or Profound realm, and whether they fled from the ancient starships or hid inside.

    Still immersed in thought, Nie Tian moved on in the set direction.

    Wherever he went, debris from starships and mangled bodies scattered everywhere.

    SHEW! SHEW!

    Momentster, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian arrived.

    ncing around at the horrifying scene, Yin Xingtian said, ¡°These three ancient starships were at fairly high grades, yet they exploded upon contact, failing to put up any resistance. Perhaps only Saint domain cultivators will be able to escape in time. Anyone with a cultivation base lower than that will be killed as soon as they¡¯re touched by the outeryers of that glowing sphere.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian hasn¡¯t even forged his domain yet,¡± Mo Qianfan said in a serious voice. ¡°He¡¯s merely trying to derive the enlightenment that¡¯ll allow him to do so.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the most terrifying when he¡¯s in this state of deep meditation,¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said. Excitement could be heard in her voice. ¡°I suppose the Song n will soon receive word of his arrival. I very much look forward to seeing how Song Haiqing will deal with this uninvited star of cmities!¡±

    Yin Xingtian took a sideways nce at Yu Suying and said, ¡°Song Haiqing himself is only at thete Saint domain. It seems to me that even if all the sects and ns in the Domain of Spirit Sea joined up, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Nie Tian. The Jade Heaven Sect made a big mistake by offending you. I suppose as Nie Tian moves forward, all of the domains and sects that are close to the Jade Heaven Sect will be plunged into misery and suffering.¡±

    Yu Suying let out a cold harrumph. ¡°We¡¯ll try to steer clear of themoners, of course. As for those like the Song n and the Cold Spring Paradise, they deserve to be annihted!¡±

    Yin Xingtian fell silent.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Yu Suying added. ¡°I¡¯ll navigate Nie Tian away from the realms inhabited bymoners.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be for the best.¡±

    ...

    In the Song n in the Realm of Spirit Spring.

    Gigantic bronze bells could be seen hanging atop a green mountain peak that was a thousand meters high.

    Each bronze bell represented a starship that patrolled the perimeters of the Domain of Spirit Sea.

    Apparently, there was some profound connection between those bronze bells and those starships.

    All of a sudden, three of the bells rang.

    Upon hearing the bells ring, a member of the Song n who had been stationed on the mountaintop cried out, ¡°Something went wrong with the Cold Spring Paradise¡¯s starships. Contact them now!¡±

    In a few minutes, they confirmed that the Cold Spring Paradise¡¯s starships had been attacked.

    ¡°To that region!¡± Song Haiqing, the current nmaster of the Song n, ended his secluded cultivation and summoned powerful experts from across the Domain of Spirit Sea before they marched on that part of the starry river.

    Days passed.

    More than a dozen ancient starships were quietly berthed in an area filled with floating meteors.

    Intense spatial fluctuations came from every single one of them.

    Experts from the Song n, the Flying Spring Paradise, the Cold Moon Society, the Prime Beginning Sect, and a dozen more local forces of the Domain of Spirit Sea arrived through teleportation.

    Like Xie Qian, Song Haiqing, who was at thete Saint domain, practiced water incantations.

    WHOOSH!

    Floating in front of the ancient starships, he activated his domain, which was filled with interweaving streams and scattered spirit springs.

    Simply by looking at his domain, people would feel calm and peaceful.

    Several early Saint domain experts flew out one after another to float behind him. They were followed by arger number of Void domain experts.

    People discussed the possible causes of Chen Duhao¡¯s death, as none of them knew what had happened. They had all been urgently summoned to this ce by Song Haiqing.

    ¡°Big Brother Song, do you know who did such a daring thing as to destroy Chen Duhao¡¯s three starships and kill so many members of the Cold Spring Paradise?¡±

    ¡°This is the Domain of Spirit Sea! It¡¯s your territory. Even the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society would give the Jade Heaven Sect face and refrain from doing such an atrocious thing!

    ¡°Is it possible that a bunch of unknowing people from another domain did it?¡±

    ¡°Could it be outsiders?¡±

    Only after a long time did Song Haiqing say with a heavy tone, ¡°ording to the information we received, it was a sphere of peculiar energies with a man at its center, but we don¡¯t know who he is yet. However, based on our estimation, that unusually vast sphere of energies will pass through this region.¡±

    ¡°How long before it¡¯ll get here?¡±

    ¡°Soon, a couple of hours at most.¡±

    ¡°Hehe, every powerful expert of our domain is here now. Whoever it is, as long as he¡¯s not a God domain expert, he¡¯ll be reduced to ashes!¡±

    ¡°That guy dared to kill our people in our domain. He must have a death wish!¡±

    Four hours passed.

    Rapid ear-piercing sounds came from a jade bracelet on Song Haiqing¡¯s wrist. His expression flickered strongly as he shouted, ¡°Prepare for battle!¡±

    Under his instructions, members of the Song n had set up neen barriers ahead of them.

    But now, they didn¡¯t hold on for even a second before all neen of them exploded.

    Enveloped in his domain, Song Haiqing ordered all of the other Saint domain experts and all of the ancient starships to follow him.

    Then, more than a dozen ancient starships pressed forward in a formidable array, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    ¡°Who the hell are you? How dare youmit crimes on my n¡¯s turf?¡± Song Haiqing¡¯s voice condensed into strands that traveled five thousand kilometers through the dark, ice-cold void to Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    However, there was no response.

    Shortly afterwards, a sphere of multipleyers of glowing energies that was close to a hundred kilometers across entered everyone¡¯s sight in an iparably overbearing manner.

    RUMBLE! WHOOSH!

    Loud explosions and powerful whooshing sounds kepting from outeryers of the sphere. Upon sensing its swarming twisting power, even Song Haiqing felt fear in his heart.

    A seemingly tiny figure loomed within the countlessyers of energy. Floating at the center of the maic field, his appearance couldn¡¯t be seen.

    A cold, gloating voice suddenly came from a ce very far behind the gigantic sphere. ¡°Song Haiqing! Long time no see!¡±

    SHEW!

    Yu Suying¡¯s gentle body abruptly expanded into her dharma idol form, as if to make herself conspicuous.

    Song Haiqing¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°The Profound Purity Pce! Yu Suying! You¡¯re invading the Domain of Spirit Sea? Sectmaster Yu, as noble as you are, even if you¡¯ve decided to go to war with the Jade Heaven Sect, you shouldn¡¯t have started with my n, right?¡±

    Yu Suying sneered. ¡°I¡¯m simply passing through. Who said I¡¯m invading your domain? Nie Tian from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is the one who¡¯s making moves, not my sect.¡±

 Chapter 1273: Carnage

    After realizing what Yu Suying meant, the experts from across the Domain of Spirit Sea eximed in astonishment.

    ¡°Who? Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? The seventh Son of the Stars?!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s him!¡±

    Song Haiqing¡¯s expression also flickered slightly. An icy light shed across his eyes as he stared at the vague figure at the core of the colorful sphere and thought to himself, ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars¡¯ name has spread far and wide recently. It¡¯s said that he made unmatched contributions in the Dead Star Sea and the Shatter Battlefield. However, he seems to only be at the Soul realm...¡±

    Song Haiqing didn¡¯t know what to think.

    A man behind Song Haiqing, who was at the Saint domain, suddenly shouted, ¡°Sectmaster Yu! Didn¡¯t your sect join the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect in an operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? Did you imprison Nie Tian in this peculiar glowing sphere?¡±

    Another chimed in. ¡°Yeah, Sectmaster Yu. Is Nie Tian your prisoner?¡±

    They only spotted Yu Suying in the distance after she had suddenly expanded into her dharma idol, but not Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan, who didn¡¯t reveal themselves purposely.

    Yu Suying chuckled derisively, disdain filling the corners of her mouth. ¡°A bunch of ill-informed morons.¡± She didn¡¯t feel like giving an exnation.

    After pondering in silence for a while, Song Haiqing finally shouted, ¡°Nie Tian! Even though you¡¯re a Son of the Stars, don¡¯t think you can just do whatever you like in this domain! Let me ask you this: was it you who destroyed the three starships from the Cold Spring Paradise earlier?¡±

    Even though Yu Suying had shown herself, he didn¡¯t dare to use her of this. Instead, he chose to confront Nie Tian.

    Deep down, he was afraid of Yu Suying. Therefore, whatever the truth might be, he decided to toss Nie Tian the question first.

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian flew shoulder to shoulder from a great distance. Mo Qianfan shook his head andughed disdainfully. ¡°Howughable! A great cmity is almost upon them. Not only did they fail to sense iting, but they even dared to defy Nie Tian.¡±

    Yin Xingtian nodded, a hint of pity appearing in his eyes. ¡°He¡¯s almost there.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s almost reached that crowd of people from all over the Domain of Spirit Sea,¡± Mo Qianfan said, looking rather excited. ¡°Back in the Realm of Maelstrom, that energy sphere inflicted serious damage on Duan Hongwen by ramming into his divine mountain peak. Now, it¡¯s been so long, and that sphere has captured more wild power from the starry river. Its might must have been elevated. I wonder...¡±

    Before Mo Qianfan could finish, the first contact happened.

    It was an ancient starship from the Meteoric Iron Sect named the Meteoric Iron Divine Ship. Forged from meteoric iron after thorough tempering, it was known for its solidity.

    However, since it was excessively heavy and slow, it wasn¡¯t considered an advanced starship.

    Furthermore, since it didn¡¯t have aplicated spiritual power shield built in, it couldn¡¯t fend off energies that were too strong.

    Its one and only merit was its outstanding firmness. When sailing in a fleet, it was usually stationed at the forefront, where it could clear a path in areas packed with floating meteors, therefore allowing the starships behind it to pass safely.

    At this moment, this Meteoric Iron Divine Ship was charging towards Nie Tian like an enormous flying shuttle.

    With a cold expression, Song Haiqing said, ¡°Now, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is an arrow at the end of its flight. Like a huge ship riddled with holes, it¡¯ll soon sink under the joint efforts of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect. As a Son of the Stars, you should have holed up in Fragmentary Star City, but instead you came to cause trouble in my domain! How daring of you!¡±

    Many Qi warriors from the Domain of Spirit Sea grinned andughed cunningly, as if they knew for sure that the Meteoric Iron Divine Ship would pierce through the multipleyers of energies and crush Nie Tian, who was hiding at the core of the sphere, in the next moment.

    ¡°He¡¯s courting death!¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars must think he¡¯s a big deal now after gaining a bit of reputation.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll die today.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    With a slow but heavy momentum, the Meteoric Iron Divine Ship rammed into the outeryers of the glowing sphere.

    Upon contact, a terrifying scene happened.

    The ship that had been forged from meteoric iron and known for its firmness was instantly twisted, like a piece of dough kneaded by huge invisible hands.

    The ship twisted and stretched like a noodle. The Meteoric Iron Sect disciples inside couldn¡¯t even let out a cry before their seas of awareness were crushed, and they died miserable deaths.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Immediately afterwards, the stretched Meteoric Iron Divine Ship broke into many pieces and exploded violently, sending burning debris flying in every direction. Some of them drifted away, while others joined the outeryers of the sphere that were filled with mixed energies and residue.

    ¡°My, my sect...!¡± Yelling hysterically, the sectmaster of the Meteoric Iron Sect, who was at the early Saint domain, charged forward.

    The moment his domain made contact with the raging, twisting, ripping power in the sphere, it shattered like hammered ss, giving rise to cracking sounds.

    As his domain vanished, a gust of strange wind blew past, and his fleeing soul disintegrated as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s begun!¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce followed Nie Tian in an unhurried manner, tion filling her eyes.

    WHOOSH!

    Driven by Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos, the glorious sphere of numerousyers of energies ground forward.

    The starry river was then filled with gorgeous multicolored lights.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    One domain after another exploded and perished, filling the void with glorious light that would onlyst for a few seconds, like splendid fireworks.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    One ancient starship after another was reduced to burning debris that filled the void, as if they had been rammed and crushed by Star Behemoths.

    As the explosions took ce, bloodcurdling wails and agonized shrieks echoed out from shattered ancient starships and perished domains.

    One discarnate soul after another was either devoured by the glowing sphere or scattered in the void.

    At the core of the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were closed, his face expressionless.

    WHOOSH!

    His Spirit Pearl seemed to sense something, as it took it upon itself to fly out. Wreathed in misty cyan light, it started to gather the discarnate souls.

    The sphere continued to press forward with an all-crushing momentum,pletely ignoring Song Haiqing¡¯s furious bellows and the hysterical cries of the numerous Qi warriors from across the Domain of Spirit Sea.

    The streams and springs in Song Haiqing¡¯s domain rapidly morphed into countless drops of water.

    Transparent and crystal-clear, each and every drop contained the profound truths of water power. Song Haiqing controlled them to form a certain spell formation, which he sent to bombard the sphere.

    Even his soul awareness condensed into a mysterious stream of spring water.

    SHEW!

    The stream of water pierced directly towards Nie Tian with the purpose of eliminating his true soul. However, the moment it entered the outeryers of the sphere, a gust of ripping wind blew over, and it was obliterated.

    Obliterated with it were the water drops he had condensed with his domain.

    ¡°No!¡± Song Haiqing broke down. ¡°I refuse to believe this! Even Dou Tianchen shouldn¡¯t be this strong, much less the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Dou Tianchen? Is heparable to Nie Tian?¡± Yin Xingtian asked curiously.

    Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect shook his head. ¡°He¡¯s only older, and has spent a longer time as a Son of the Stars than Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Yin Xingtian said.

    After exchanging these words, the two of them refocused up ahead, and discovered that Song Haiqing, who had broken down mentally, had failed to escape, and was already being engulfed by the outeryers of the glowing sphere.

    Seeing this, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan knew that his death was inevitable.

    Having following Nie Tian for so long, they had long since witnessed that glowing sphere¡¯s devastating might. It could even grind small-scale realms to ashes, not to mention Song Haiqing, a Saint domain cultivator.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    The sphere gradually decelerated as it moved forward. It was only natural that crushing more than a dozen ancient starships and numerous meteors that had been brought from other ces slowed Nie Tian down.

    All of the surviving Qi warriors from the Domain of Spirit Sea panicked and fled in all directions, wailing.

    ¡°The nmaster of the Song n died!¡±

    ¡°Our sectmaster has been killed!¡±

    ¡°More than a dozen ancient starships were destroyed. Even a God domain expert may not be able to inflict such heavy casualties!¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    With a heartfelt smile, Yu Suying said, ¡°The leaders of almost every major force in the Domain of Spirit Sea have been wiped out in such a short period of time. Awesome. Nie Tian did a very good job. Aside from the Domain of Spirit Sea, there are two other domains that have close connections to the Jade Heaven Sect.¡±

    ¡°It seems to me that powerful experts from the Jade Heaven Sect wille for him after he passes the Domain of Spirit Sea,¡± Yin Xingtian said.

    ¡°I doubt it,¡± Yu Suying said with narrowed eyes. ¡°I received word that Song Chequan is busy with Zu Guangyao and the other elders. I doubt that he¡¯ll be able to get to this area soon. If he doesn¡¯t show up, even if the rest of the Jade Heaven Sect joined up, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stop Nie Tian from marching to their domain.¡±

    SHEW!

    At this moment, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, Dong Li, and Jing Feiyang finally caught up to Nie Tian, Yu Suying and the others, due to their deceleration.

    Upon arriving, Xie Qian was bbergasted by the disastrous scene and eximed, ¡°My god!¡±

    ¡°Like me, Song Haiqing from the Song n also practiced water power and was at thete Saint domain!¡± Xie Qian said with mixed feelings. ¡°And he entered thete Saint domain long before I did!¡±

    Mo Qianfan snorted derisively. ¡°So? He had to throw his own domain against that terrifying maic field Nie Tian made. That¡¯s no different from throwing an egg against a rock. I¡¯d be surprised if he didn¡¯t die.¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s face twitched. ¡°It¡¯s been such a short time, yet the Domain of Spirit Sea is basically done for? It¡¯s an advanced domain, for heaven¡¯s sake.¡±

    The Domain of Heaven Python didn¡¯t have a singlete Saint domain expert. It was even weaker as a domain.

    Who would have thought that they would arrive to witness such a catastrophic scene upon catching up?

    Yu Suying smiled. ¡°I suppose all of the Saint domain experts of the Domain of Spirit Sea were killed here, along with most of their Void domain experts. I¡¯m d that Song Haiqing summoned all of the powerful experts of this domain to this ce, so they could be killed with a single effort.¡±

    Even Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, Jing Feiyang, and Dong Li felt somewhat apprehensive after hearing her words.

    Yu Suying was responsible for giving Nie Tian directions and determining what route he took to get to the Jade Heaven Sect.

    She was almost inhumane to those who had offended her.

 Chapter 1274: Thereâ€™s Still A Person Working!

    ¡°The forces of the sects led by the Song n in the Domain of Spirit Sea were almostpletely wiped out!¡±

    ¡°What? How is that possible? The Song n is so close to the Jade Heaven Sect. Who would dare attack them? The Void Spirit Society? The Five Elements Sect or the Heaven Span Pavilion?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°Impossible!¡±

    Lots of Qi warriors from the Domain of Heavenly Illusion, the Domain of Red Sunglow, and the Domain of Infinite Changes, which were near the Domain of Spirit Sea, passionately discussed the matter.

    The Domain of Heavenly Illusion, the Domain of Red Sunglow, and the Domain of Infinite Changes all heard the news from Qi warriors who had fled from the Domain of Spirit Sea.

    Soon, they learned that the death of Song Haiqing and the experts of the Domain of Spirit Sea was true!

    The Heavenly Illusion Sect of the Domain of Heavenly Illusion, the Heavenly Changes Pavilion of the Domain of Infinite Changes, and the Sunglow Tower of the Domain of Red Sunglow were all sects that had experts at thete Saint domain.

    When they learned that theyers of energy wrapped Nie Tian could crush everything, destroy Song Haiqing¡¯s domain, and kill him, they also panicked.

    The experts of these three forces used space teleportation formations and arrived urgently at the Domain of Spirit Sea, wanting to know the direction in which Nie Tian had fled.

    ...

    WHEW!

    In a corner of the Domain of Spirit Sea, Nie Tian flew quickly through the stars, wrapped in the gorgeous, glowing sphere.

    For some reason, he gradually slowed down.

    Yu Suying and the others, and even Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian and Dong Li, were able to catch up with him and look at the colorful maic field, whose energy was bing more turbulent, from a distance.

    Nie Tian in the inner ring was still feeling the art of domain building, and kept his eyes closed for a long time.

    ¡°There are...¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s eyes turned to a dead star whose spirit qi of heaven and earth had been exhausted for years. ¡°Some people waiting over there, and it seems they have been waiting for a long time.¡±

    ¡°Jade Heaven Sect?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    Yu Suying shook her head. ¡°Not necessarily.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s hiding?¡± Mo Qianfan let out a loud roar.

    The dead realm was not within Nie Tian¡¯s navigation range, so it would not be damaged by his maic sphere.

    ¡°Brother Mo!¡±

    A party of three flew out from the dead star. The person taking the lead wore a broad smile on his face, wearing a gold silk suit, and hurriedly said, ¡°I did not expect you to actually be here.¡±

    Mo Qianfan froze. ¡°Gou Junhao from the Heavenly Changes Pavilion! Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Eeeh, Fu Yusen of the Heavenly Illusion Sect! Yan Bin of the Sunglow Tower!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed in a low voice, looking surprised.

    Gou Junhao, Fu Yusen and Yan Bin were all at thete Saint domain. The domains to which they belonged were all advanced. Like Mo Qianfan¡¯s Heavenly Thunder Sect and Yin Xingtian¡¯s Streamcloud Sword Sect, they weren¡¯t attached to any ancient sects, maintaining their independence.

    They had met each other before, and knew each other well.

    ¡°Nice to meet you, Sectmaster Yu.¡±

    The three of them came together and kept greeting them, looking slightly embarrassed.

    ¡°You...¡± Yu Suying nced at them and figured out the reason why they hade, then asked, ¡°Have youe for the great change in the Domain of Spirit Sea?¡±

    All three of them nodded.

    Gou Junhao of the Heavenly Changes Pavilion turned his head around and saw Nie Tian wrapped in rings of gorgeous light, his eyes full of fear. ¡°Is that Nie Tian, the Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Yu Suying replied. ¡°You, the Heavenly Changes Pavilion, the Heavenly Illusion Sect and the Sunglow Tower, have nothing to do with the Jade Heaven Sect, so you don¡¯t need to worry that Nie Tian will temporarily change directions and go into your domains.¡±

    The three people were visibly relieved immediately after hearing this.

    ¡°So, he is targeting the Jade Heaven Sect!¡± Yan Bin of the Sunglow Tower had no more worries. ¡°As long as he doesn¡¯te for us, it¡¯s OK! Well, I was on tenterhooks every day when I heard about what had happened in the Domain of Spirit Sea. Come to think of it, we didn¡¯t offend the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Yu Suying made a promise. ¡°This has nothing to do with you.¡±

    After thinking for a while, Gou Junhao said, ¡°Sectmaster Yu, you¡¯re following Nie Tian. Are you also going to attack the Jade Heaven Sect? I have vaguely heard that you got personal written instructions from the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, saying you and the Jade Heaven Sect should put the conflicts between you aside. Is that true?¡±

    ¡°That was before,¡± Yu Suying said coldly.

    The three people looked at each other. Yan Bin suddenly said, ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t mind, can we also watch from a distance? As you know, we don¡¯t have anything to do with either the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce or the Jade Heaven Sect. We just want to take a look.¡±

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Yu Suying asked Dong Li.

    Dong Li shrugged and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°Then it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Yu Suying replied.

    ...

    In the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    One of Wei Lai¡¯s hands pulled a wisp of a message from arge crystal ball.

    ¡°All the Saint domain Qi warriors of the Domain of Spirit Sea have died, and most of their Void Domain experts are dead or wounded. It is actually... Nie Tian who did that!¡±

    Wei Lai read out that wisp of a message in a low voice, and shook in the end.

    WHEW! WHEW! WHEW!

    His fingertips bore a crystal light that was injected into the crystal ball.

    The message travelled at lightning speed through Fragmentary Star City, and other domains to which the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce could still connect.

    In the Realm of Fragmentary Star, many disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who were in some realms that were still under their control, and subordinates of the other Sons of the Stars were excited by the news.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars has attacked the Jade Heaven Sect in the Domain of Spirit Sea! Song Haiqing of the Song n was killed by Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s still a member of the sect working!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian again!¡±

    Recently, the messages from the sect had all been negative, which made them despairing and helpless.

    Only this news let them see a glimmer of hope at longst, and let them know that there was a Son of the Stars still quietly fighting for the dignity of their sect!

    ...

    On the border between the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh.

    Ancient starships gave off a cold metallic sheen, like giant beasts in the river of stars waiting for prey to walk into a trap.

    The Feng n was the family of Feng Jieling, Song Chequan¡¯s wife, who was the current master of the Feng n.

    The Feng n was originally a small n in the Domain of Dark Marsh. After Feng Jieling became the wife of Song Chequan, the Feng n rose meteorically, and soon became the most powerful n in the Domain of Dark Marsh.

    At the moment, numerous ancient starships of the Domain of Dark Marsh, which were led by the Feng n, were lined up here.

    Feng Jieling stood at their head, with cold light in her phoenix eyes. ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and that bitch of the Profound Purity Pce! This force...¡±

    She also had a headache.

    ¡°When will the experts of the Jade Heaven Sect arrive, Mistress?¡± One of the n members asked anxiously. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before the turbulent maic field around Nie Tian enters the area. It killed Song Haiqing, and Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan are also present.¡±

    Many of her n members eximed in low voices.

    The Qi warriors from the other sects of the Domain of Dark Marsh on those ancient starships all wore very grave expressions, and their eyes were all very frightened.

    Judging from the news they had heard, the force that the Domain of Spirit Sea had gathered was not much weaker.

    However, it was still wiped out by Nie Tian alone with his strange, turbulent maic field, and all the Saint domain experts were unable to escape, and died distressingly.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Feng Jieling said coldly. ¡°Soon, experts from the Jade Heaven Sect will arrive, with their immortal grade divine tool.

    ¡°Immortal grade divine tool! Will even the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s immortal grade divine tool be used?

    ¡°If the immortal grade divine tool is brought here, Nie Tian¡¯s rings will be probably explode and be destroyed in an instant.

    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for that good show.¡±

    ...

    A few dayster.

    The gorgeous, turbulent, ever-growing circles of energy eventually flew out of the Domain of Spirit Sea.

    ¡°The Domain of Dark Marsh lies ahead, the territory of that woman of the Feng n in the Domain of Dark Marsh,¡± Yu Suying said as she spread out her soul awareness, which covered thousands of meters, to search, ¡°Well, the woman is well-prepared as expected. There are a lot of ancient starships. How grand! But can ancient starships alone help?¡±

    ¡°Since Feng Jieling dares to intercept him, she must be prepared,¡± said Gou Junhao of the Heavenly Changes Pavilion.

    ¡°That woman is no fool,¡± Fu Yusen said, frowning. ¡°The three of us have had contact with the Domain of Dark Marsh over the years. With the Jade Heaven Sect as their backer, she often cracks down on us. We suffer, but we have to swallow our grievances. After all, her man is the sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect and at the God domain.¡±

    ¡°I came just to watch a good drama,¡± Yan Bin said, gloating.

 Chapter 1275: Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A mighty storm formed at the outeryers of the glorious sphere as it traveled forward with an all-crushing momentum.

    Any floating meteors or falling stars that got in its way would explode and be reduced to ashes upon contact with it.

    ¡°Mighty indeed.¡± Gou Junhao from the Heavenly Changes Pavilion, who was following from a great distance, said with a bitter smile. ¡°I sent a wisp of my strengthened soul will into the outeryers of the glowing sphere, and it perished after only three seconds.¡±

    They had purposelygged behind and sealed themselves inside a spiritual power ward they created, so they couldmunicate in secret.

    ¡°What incantations does the seventh Son of the Stars practice?¡± Yan Bin asked with a serious expression. ¡°That maic field of his is filled with raging, twisting, and ripping power. It clearly doesn¡¯te from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps ites from his hybrid bloodline,¡± Fu Yusen said.

    The three Saint domain experts whispered to each other about whether Nie Tian¡¯s maic field would be able to wipe out the powerful experts of the Domain of Dark Marsh as it had done with the experts of the Domain of Spirit Sea.

    They hated Feng Jieling of the Feng n from the Domain of Dark Marsh to the guts, yet they didn¡¯t dare to provoke her.

    Therefore, they strongly hoped that Nie Tian¡¯s appearance would make her suffer.

    ¡°Feng Jieling is no ordinary woman,¡± Gou Junhao said in a low voice. ¡°I bet she¡¯s made preparations.¡±

    RUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

    Waves of violent spiritual power fluctuations suddenly spread out from the berthed fleet of starships from the Domain of Dark Marsh.

    Like dense drumbeats, they mmed everyone¡¯s chests, causing minor pain in their hearts.

    Yan Bin¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he heard the dense drumbeats and sensed the intense fluctuations. An exmation escaped his mouth. ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons!¡±

    Gou Junhao shuddered. ¡°The Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons! I can¡¯t believe that the Jade Heaven Sect actually got their twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons here! Are they mad? Without them, their sect-protecting grand spell formation loses eighty percent of its might!¡±

    Fu Yusen let out a sigh and said, ¡°I suppose the Jade Heaven Sect doesn¡¯t want Nie Tian to go any further. Their hope is to kill him with this one attempt!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯ve even brought their Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons here. I¡¯m afraid Nie Tian won¡¯t be able to go any further.¡±

    The three Saint domain experts discussed heatedly, suddenly feeling that the odds were against Nie Tian now.

    ...

    In front of a fleet of starships that emanated an ice-cold luster.

    Qi warriors from across the Domain of Dark Marsh were filled with confidence as they looked at twenty-four shiny silver cannons, each of which was several dozen meters tall.

    The Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons were lined up to point towards the approaching glorious sphere.

    Each and every Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannon was engraved with numerous exquisite patterns that looked like winding running rivers, and emanated terrifying spiritual power fluctuations.

    Floating in the void over the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons, Feng Jieling let out a cold snort and said with a harsh tone, ¡°Nie Tian! You parentless little hybrid bastard! I don¡¯t care why you¡¯re here, but if you dare toe any closer, we¡¯ll kill you right here, right now!¡±

    ¡°So what if you¡¯re a Son of the Stars?¡± An elder of the Jade Heaven Sect taunted. ¡°Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong are your sect elders, yet our sectmaster captured them anyway. If you¡¯vee for them, you¡¯ll only end up dead.¡±

    ¡°Get lost!¡±

    ¡°Get the hell out of our domain!¡±

    Many local Qi warriors cursed loudly, as if the appearance of the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons had filled them with confidence.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Mo Qianfan¡¯s soft exmation traveled through the void like a sh of lightning.

    ¡°Will he be able to hear you?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Though suspicious, Mo Qianfan brought himself to say, ¡°I hope so. What Sectmaster Yu said was right. Those Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons have unmatched power. Nie Tian needs to be sober when facing the Feng n and the coalition forces of the Domain of Dark Marsh.¡±

    A dark vicious look shed across Yu Suying¡¯s icy eyes as she said with bitter hatred in her voice, ¡°There are twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons. Together, they constitute an Immortal grade divine tool. Those cannons are the core parts of the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Divine Formation, so they¡¯re usually kept in the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°However, they can also be shipped away to annihte powerful enemies elsewhere.

    ¡°My sect has fought the Jade Heaven Sect for ages. Who knows how many members of my sect have been bombarded to death by them?¡±

    With these words, she suddenly cast her gaze down and added, ¡°Even the premature demise of my master was caused by it. Back then, her cultivation base was the same as mine, which was the early God domain. During a battle against the Jade Heaven Sect, she was ambushed and bombarded by the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons.

    ¡°The Heaven-purging Divine Light was being refined by me at that time, so she didn¡¯t have it on her.

    ¡°Eventually, she suffered severe injuries. Even though she managed to escape, she died shortly after her return...¡±

    The expressions of Dong Li, Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and the others flickered after they heard this.

    The Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons, which were mighty enough to fatally injure the former sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce, an early God domain expert, were now stationed in front of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, however, was still in a trance. There was no telling whether he had received Mo Qianfan¡¯s soul message.

    How could they not worry?

    WHOOSH!

    A miniature sea of dazzling stars suddenly appeared in the innermost part of the Primal Chaos.

    Floating over Nie Tian¡¯s head, the sea of stars had an unusuallyrge magical flower floating in it, with its roots and leaves connected to the numerous stars, giving it a mysterious and dangerous look.

    At the same time, a piece ofnd that was full of life force came to form under Nie Tian¡¯s feet.

    An exuberant Heaven Nourished grade Godspirit Tree was rooted in thend, and was channeling pure wood power to nourish it.

    In the empty space underneath the sea of stars and above the piece ofnd, clusters of mes came to wreathe Nie Tian.

    The sea of mes was ruled by a cluster of orange-red me that had developed its own awareness, which seemed to be the ancestor of the infinite types of me in this starry river, as if it were the first wisp of me that had been born after the birth of this starry river.

    With a sea of stars over his head, a piece ofnd under his feet, and zing mes around him, Nie Tian looked like a god.

    Yin Xingtian shuddered with astonishment, looking at the incredible illusory scenes surrounding Nie Tian. He couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°The early form of a domain... I¡¯ve never seen a domain like this, with me, star, and wood power each forming a magical scene. A Godspirit Tree, a transformed Nine Stars Flower, and a me spark...¡±

    ¡°Apparently, the changes are only beginning,¡± Mo Qianfan said, looking bbergasted.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes that had been closed for who knew how long snapped open.

    A mysterious scary light shed across them.

    Upon his awakening, nebe surged madly in the depths of his eyes as his gaze instantly pierced through the gloriousyers,nding on the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons, Feng Jieling, and the numerous Saint domain experts that had lined up in the distance. ¡°The Feng n from the Domain of Dark Marsh...¡±

    ¡°This one is Nie Tian from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce! I hereby greet the seniors from the Domain of Dark Marsh and the Jade Heaven Sect!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s thunderous voice rumbled out as if it were going to shatter the heavens.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    He wove his hands seemingly carelessly at the heart of the Primal Chaos.

    However, gusts of raging wind and streaks of unknown light seemed to be somehow channeled, as they suddenly shot out of the outeryers of the sphere.

    Nie Tianunched an attack after uttering just these words!

    After leaving the glowing sphere, several dozen streaks of light scraped the void like falling stars before shooting into three ancient starships.

    The starships, which emanated an ice-cold metallic luster, were instantly riddled with holes, as if they were pierced by huge sharp des.

    WHOOSH!

    Gusts of violent wind blew past, filled with what looked like golden sand.

    In fact, it was ground bits from realms that had perished billions of years ago. Having drifted in the starry river for so long, they had caught mixed auras and be lethally corrosive.

    Many Saint domain experts were rattled and hastily backed away, cursing loudly as they did.

    Flustered and exasperated, Feng Jieling also swore as she saw the corrosive sand filling her domain. ¡°Little bastard! How dare you act so unruly, making surprise moves while we¡¯re exchanging words?!¡±

 Chapter 1276: Smashing All Resistance

    SHEW!

    Gusts of violent wind blew past the Saint domain experts towards the location where even more Qi warriors of the Domain of Dark Marsh were gathered.

    One of the ancient starships raised its bright yellow shield.

    On the starship, more than a dozen Qi warriors with different cultivation bases were gazing up ahead, waiting for the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons to fire away, killing Nie Tian on the spot.

    The gusts of violent wind blew over.

    The bright yellow shield was instantly infiltrated by fifteen different types of impurities that only existed in the starry river.

    Among them were corrosive sand, shards of gray crystal, and bits of ck maic meteors...

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Strange sounds came from the shield as it was soon corroded, ignited, and ripped open.

    As the wind gusted in through the opening, several Void domain experts hastily activated their domains and fled like dashing lights. Even so, their domains caught the impurities and started to show signs of dissolving.

    Those whose cultivation bases were lower than the Void domain only had time to scream before their bodies exploded and their souls were annihted.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Many Qi warriors from the various local sects and ns in the Domain of Dark Marsh had their domains contaminated by the corrosive foreign impurities.

    Qi warriors from the Feng n let out furious, urging roars. ¡°Mistress!¡±

    Seeing this, Feng Jieling flung her hand, instructing her subordinate to activate all twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons. She wanted Nie Tian to die a miserable death.

    The twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons were aligned in a special way, and then ignited by a Saint domain expert of the Jade Heaven Sect with his soul will.

    RUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

    Violent spiritual power fluctuations came from every Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannon. However, it wasn¡¯t fire that sted out of them, but rather multicolored clouds!

    Like a gorgeous sunglow, the clouds joined up spontaneously with numerous mysterious ancient lines within them.

    It was as if an invisible god had whipped out a brush pen and finished a scroll painting that was vivid, dangerous, and magical, then with the drawing, he intended to cleanse heaven and earth.

    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

    Sounds of fluctuating waves came from within the sunglow.

    WHOOSH!

    The miraculous scroll suddenly morphed into a small heaven and earth in the void.

    Inside of it, gorgeous clouds and mysterious patterns that contained profoundws floated in the heavens, along with mysterious rivers that seemed to connect to the starry river. Mighty waves surged forward one after another, as if they were going to engulf all living beings.

    With a deep frown, Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said in a low voice, ¡°Together, the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons can release a Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Scroll.

    ¡°Once, I saw the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons fire together and envelop a whole realm in its magical scroll. Three Saint domain Qi warriors, dozens of Void domain Qi warriors, and countless others from all of the seven local sects were annihted.¡±

    Mo Qianfan let out a cold harrumph, and was prepared to activate his dharma idol.

    Yu Suying lifted her hand to stop him, then said, ¡°However, that multiyered glowing sphere around Nie Tian contains a raging, twisting, and ripping maic field. I have a feeling that it¡¯s far beyond ordinary.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian will be fine,¡± Dong Li said.

    Floating at the heart of Primal Chaos, Nie Tian had an indifferent look on his face as he watched the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons fire out a magical scene that rapidly morphed into a small heaven and earth.

    He watched it press forward, as if it were going to engulf everything with its terrifying waves.

    Suddenly, the small heaven and earth transformed from the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Scroll rammed into the glowing sphere.

    A few dozen types of the most violent energies that had been collected from the starry river seemed to finally find a vent, as they shed madly with the small heaven and earth.

    It was like a sh between two realms.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Billions of streaks of light sputtered from the part where the two ¡®realms¡¯ met.

    Each and every one of them was mighty enough to annihte Profound realm Qi warriors. Soul realm Qi warriors would be pierced through and killed too if they failed to raise their spiritual power shields in time.

    Even Void domain experts¡¯ domains would burst into mes once they were touched by them.

    WHOOSH!

    The small heaven and earth transformed from the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Scroll plodded forward in the sshing lights, like a huge ship sailing against the current.

    Layer afteryer of the glowing sphere was prated by its wave after wave of overbearing power.

    At the heart of the sphere, Nie Tian suddenly noticed that the speed at which the Godspirit Tree, Nine Stars Flower, and me spark absorbed wood, star, and me power had suddenly plunged.

    The fact that the three Heaven Nourished grade treasure had been able to create illusory manifestations of themselves with the help of his spiritual cores hadrgely depended on their absorption of wood, star, and me power.

    They had extracted wood, star, and me power from the dozens of kinds of energies in the outeryers of the sphere.

    These were the kinds of power he needed to forge his domain. Also, he had to derive enlightenment from the process of the Godspirit Tree, Nine Stars Flower, and me spark channeling them, so he could forge a primitive form of his domain.

    Sensing the invasion of the small heaven and earth, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°Is this the might of a divine tool?¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he summoned the Star Behemoth bone from within his ring of holding.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Surprisingly, the moment the slender bone entered the outeryers of the sphere, it started absorbing the wide variety of foreign energies with the momentum of devouring mountains and gulping down rivers.

    Star Behemoths had been the overlords of this starry river. Every one of them could absorb energies from the starry river to strengthen themselves.

    Back in the day, Nie Tian had simply left it alone in the starry river, and it had grown on its own and refined itself.

    However, the mixed energies in the outeryers of the sphere had now been gathered after Nie Tian had traveled through two entire domains. Their concentration was hundreds of times higher than that in the starry river.

    Dazzling, devilish red light suddenly burst forth from within the Star Behemoth bone.

    The profound awareness within the bone, which had less than a thousandth of it awakened, seemed to wake up.

    After sensing its awakened soul aura, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Go!¡±

    The bone then charged directly towards the small heaven and earth transformed from the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Scroll, like a Star Behemoth that had preyed on ancient Demons and titans during the Primal Era heading out to feed again!

    Numerous unknown Bloodline Crystal Chains appeared, filling the inside of the bone. Each and every one of them carried profoundws that had existed since ancient times.

    ¡°Domain Split.¡± As soon as Nie Tian heard a remote faint voice, countless crimson Bloodline Crystal Chains swirled out of the bone to cut up the small heaven and earth.

    Like a cultivator¡¯s domain, the small heaven and earth was soon reduced to shreds.

    ¡°Predation.¡± Another word seemed to be whispered.

    Immediately afterwards, the crimson Bloodline Crystal Chains morphed into a blood mist that enveloped all of the fragments and power that had forged that heaven and earth, and dragged them back to the bone.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons shook violently as the gorgeous sunglow they had sted out vanished into the void.

    The middle Saint domain Qi warrior from the Jade Heaven Sect who had fired the cannons with his soul will screamed as his head exploded. Bits of his brain sshed everywhere.

    Yu Suying took a deep breath as she stared apprehensively at the slender bone that looked like a long crimson spear and watched the blood mist it had released drag the power of the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Scroll back into it. ¡°The aura of a Star Behemoth!¡±

    After this happened, she noticed that the bone had even secretly grown a few meters.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The prated outeryers of the sphere gradually recovered their original state due to the unceasing infusion of the mixed energies from the starry river.

    Like a hot knife through butter, the sphere pressed on.

    ¡°Get out of its way!¡± Feng Jieling eximed in astonishment, ordering the elder of the Jade Heaven Sect who had presided over the cannon formation to move the cannons. However, as soon as she did, she realized that the man had already been killed, his soul annihted.

    The sphere picked up speed.

    One Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannon after another was enveloped. However, they didn¡¯t shatter right away. Instead, the mysterious engravings on them gradually disappeared. Apparently, the divine power they had been vested with was being erased.

    Feng Jieling was well-aware that those divine engravings were what made the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons so mighty. A God domain patriarch with divine abilities from the Jade Heaven Sect had devoted his life to engraving and vesting them with his divine power, and the wisps of soul power he had separated from himself.

    The elimination of the engravings meant the elimination of his power.

    Even though the cannons survived, the fact that they were deprived of their engravings and divine power meant that this paramount divine tool of the Jade Heaven Sect had been scrapped in this battle.

    Feng Jieling found thispletely uneptable. Besides, she didn¡¯t know how she could ever break this terrible news to the Jade Heaven Sect and atone for her mistake. Therefore, she screamed hysterically and charged madly towards Nie Tian, enveloped in her domain.

    Yin Xingtian sighed and said, ¡°The Feng n and the Domain of Dark Marsh have suffered the same fate as the Domain of Spirit Sea.¡±

    ¡°Will Song Chequan still be able to sit back after his wife dies?¡± Yu Suying said with tion written all over her face. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see how exasperated he¡¯ll be after learning that Nie Tian killed his wife and destroyed the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons.¡±

 Chapter 1277: The Seventh Star!

    In the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Thick spiritual Qi of heaven and earth surrounded a bright star like mist. Dozens of ancient secret formations, which were thousands of kilometers long, were like long dragons or crystal chains, swimming in the stars along the realm barrier.

    All sorts of ancient secret formations enveloped the whole star. It was difficult to enter unless you used space teleportation formations.

    Starships representing the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect dashed through the cold sky, heading for the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°The Realm of Fragmentary Star has already been shut down.¡±

    You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect stood in the front of a starship and looked at the Realm of Fragmentary Star with a grim face. ¡°It is the Realm of Fragmentary Star after all. Even the outer barrier of the star is hard to break through.¡±

    He looked at Shangguan Zhi, the vice sectmaster of the Shadow Society, and said, ¡°Vice Sectmaster, when will he get here?¡±

    Shangguan Zhi had a beautiful face and feminine aura. At first nce, he seemed like a woman. If it weren¡¯t for his Adam¡¯s apple and slender eyes, which were like sharp knives, he would be easily mistaken for a woman.

    ¡°He¡¯lle through the teleportation portal on our starship,¡± Shangguan Zhi answered in a cold tone. ¡°Since he isn¡¯t hurrying here, he must be preparing something.¡±

    ¡°Something that can break the ancient secret formations in the realm barrier of the Realm of Fragmentary Star?¡± You Qimiao looked shocked.

    Shangguan Zhi nodded and said nothing more.

    There was even a hint of hidden disdain around his mouth. After knowing that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had entered the Domain of Heaven Python, he had thought that the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect would be able to easily take it over.

    After the Shadow Society learned through its own channels that when Duan Hongwen was badly hurt, and You Qimiao had many misgivings and thus left with him, Shangguan Zhi looked down on the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    An elder of the Shadow Society dressed in white suddenly appeared like a ghost, knelt down, and handed over a message stone.

    Shangguan Zhi took it and scanned it with his divine sense before his feminine face became covered with frost. ¡°Song Chequan¡¯s woman was really worthless.¡±

    You Qimiao was curious. ¡°What happened?¡±

    He was well-aware of how well-informed the Shadow Society was, and how many spies it had in all the advanced domains.

    They might even learn about certain things much more quickly than the four ancient sects.

    Shangguan Zhi cast a sidelong nce at You Qimiao and said in an indifferent manner, ¡°Feng Jieling of the Domain of Dark Marsh mobilized a number of starships and took the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons from the Jade Heaven Sect, but she actually failed to kill the seventh Son of the Stars. Feng Jieling died on the spot, and all the Qi warriors of the Domain of Dark Marsh were killed by Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°The most difficult thing to ept is that even the twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons of the Jade Heaven Sect have been destroyed.¡±

    You Qimiao suddenly turned pale.

    ...

    In Fragmentary Star City.

    SWOOSH!

    In a space teleportation formation, Dou Tianchen, covered in blood, showed up with a number of subordinates.

    When the space teleportation formation became stable, three Saint domain experts spat blood from the corners of their mouths.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? What happened?¡± Tao Jin, who was an elder, asked in astonishment.

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s face was full of grief. ¡°The Qi warriors of the Domain of Nine Twists joined hands to hunt us down. Luckily, we survived, and left the Domain of Nine Twists with difficulty. Two Saint domain experts and fifteen Void domain experts under mymand were killed, and nearly a hundred experts at the Profound realm and Soul realm were either killed or wounded. Thest starship was also ignited by me when the teleportation formation was activated.¡±

    ¡°That horrible?¡± Tao Jin was shocked.

    With soaring killing intent, Dou Tianchen said, ¡°I want to meet Elder Wei Lai at once! I need the strength of the sect, I want to kill them to get revenge for my dead subordinates!¡±

    Tao Jin bowed his head and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that for the time being, that¡¯s impossible...¡±

    ¡°Why!?¡± Dou Tianchen shouted.

    ¡°The situation in the other domains may be even worse,¡± Tao jin replied with a wry smile. ¡°The whereabouts of Luo Wanxiang, the vice sectmaster, are unknown. Chu Rui, the vice sectmaster, went to rescue Wang Meijia, but hasn¡¯t returned. Many of the elders of the sect are under siege. They may not have been as sessful at escaping as you. And outside, the starships of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society are on their way.

    ¡°Elders Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong were ambushed and captured by the Jade Heaven Sect on their return from the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    Tao Jin lowered his head, and told him about recent events in full detail.

    While he listened, Dou Tianchen¡¯s face became paler and paler as his heart gradually sank to the bottom.

    After a long time, with somewhat extravagant hopes, he inquired, ¡°Is there no good news? No word from Elder Mo Heng or the sectmaster?¡±

    Tao Jin shook his head. ¡°None.¡±

    Dou Tianchen waspletely disappointed.

    ¡°But if you want to hear good news, there is one,¡± Tao Jin said again.

    ¡°Go ahead!¡± Dou Tianchen spoke eagerly.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars attacked the Domain of Dark Marsh by way of the Domain of Spirit Sea, starting from the Domain of Heaven Python. He killed all the Saint domain and Void domain Qi warriors of the Domain of Spirit Sea, including Song Haiqing, the nmaster of the Song family.

    ¡°Almost all the experts of the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh, the two domains associated with the Jade Heaven Sect, were wiped out.¡±

    As Tao Jin spoke of these events, he was excited, without grievance anymore.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dou Tianchen and his wounded subordinates shouted in unison.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian now?¡± One of the subordinates made a hasty inquiry.

    Tao Jin took a deep breath. ¡°He has left the Domain of Dark Marsh and gone to the Domain of Jade Heaven, where the Jade Heaven Sect is. There are many people in that area who have bad blood with the Jade Heaven Sect, such as Fu Yusen from the Heavenly Illusion Sect, Gou Junhao from the Heavenly Changes Pavilion, and Yan Bin from the Sunglow Tower. They all followed him to watch the fights.

    ¡°Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Qianfan all seem to be on his side.¡±

    There was a smile at the corner of Tao Jin¡¯s eyes at longst.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that when the sect was in trouble, it would actually be our seventh junior martial brother who woulde forward and fight the Jade Heaven Sect!¡± Dou Tianchen eximed.

    ¡°In fact, he and the others first badly injured the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect in the Domain of Heaven Python,¡± Tao Jin added.

    Dou Tianchen was even more shocked, ¡°Our seventh junior martial brother is the real hope of the future of the sect! From this day on, as long as he lives, I¡¯ll give uppeting against him to be Lord of the Stars!¡±

    ...

    In the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    Saint domain experts and Void domain experts fled into the dark sea of stars one by one. There were many ancient starships with unknown origins sneaking around the edge of the domain.

    In the various regions of the Domain of Jade Heaven, the Saint domain experts and Void domain experts who had specially came from domains near and far, were all talking about Nie Tian.

    ¡°Have you heard? Nie Tian of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is about to reach the Domain of Jade Heaven!¡±

    ¡°The seventh star, Nie Tian? The man¡¯s a real cmity. Wherever he goes, there¡¯ll be a catastrophe! You don¡¯t know, but back then when he went to the Shatter Battlefield, there was almost a melee among all the races. Judging from the ces where he¡¯s been and what he¡¯s experienced, he¡¯s simply a source of disaster!¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it weird? The Domain of Spirit Sea, the Domain of ck Marsh, the Domain of Primal Yang, and the Domain of Frigid Depths that he¡¯s been to have all been plunged into great turbulence!¡±

    ¡°How can this person be so horrifying even though he hasn¡¯t even reached the Void domain?¡±

    ¡°Who knows?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s nickname ¡®Star of Cmities¡¯ quietly spread throughout the entire human domain world!

    WHOOSH!

    The maic field made up of rings of light which was as gorgeous as a vast star officially entered the Domain of Jade Heaven, carrying with it a mighty, terrifying aura.

    ¡°Look! Over there, there¡¯s the sphere of energy controlled by Star of Cmities Nie Tian!¡±

    In the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh, many Saint domain experts, including the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons of the Jade Heaven Sect, were destroyed by that thing!¡±

    ¡°The Star of Cmities ising!¡±

    The news spread quickly. Hundreds of Saint domain Qi warriors and Void domain Qi warriors, who had originally been scattered in the other regions, as well as bizarre ancient starships and flying spirit tools, all flew there.

    Among them were Zhang Qiling of the Heavenly Spirit Sect and Li Wanfa of the Ancient Law Sect, who had parted with Nie Tian in the Domain of Primal Yang.

    After hearing thetest news, the two of them also gave up their secluded meditation, and went to the Domain of Jade Heaven with other domains as transfer stations.

    They wanted to know what had happened to Nie Tian, who had made Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce change her mind and choose to join hands with him, after they parted ways in the Domain of Primal Yang.

    What was the magic of the seventh Son of the Stars?

    How could he make Yin Xingtian stay with him, make Mo Qianfan dead set on following him, and make Yu Suying tear up a personal letter from the sectmaster of the Shadow Society for him?

    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t Song Chequane yet?¡±

 Chapter 1278: Mediation

    ¡°Domain, my domain...¡±

    At the center of the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian opened his eyes, recovering from his daze.

    Crimson, emerald, and silver lights whizzed from the outeryers of the gigantic sphere to fuse into the three ¡®domains¡¯ over his head, under his feet, and around him like colorful ribbons.

    The three of them werepletely different, and each had their unique wonders.

    Over his head was a sea of dazzling stars, where the transformed Nine Stars Flower was taking in star power.

    Under his feet was and of vigorous life force, where the Godspirit Tree had taken root and was spraying wood power essence like a waterfall to nourish every spirit nt in every realm in existence.

    Surrounding him in the middle were clusters of crimson mes.

    The three ¡®domains¡¯ had graduallye to form by mixing the power from his me, wood, and star power cores and the unique auras of the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark.

    In his senses, his three fully crystallized spiritual cores had returned to a gaseous state and manifested themselves outside of his body as three seas of spiritual energy with different attributes.

    ¡°The so-called void domain is the stage of manifesting my spiritual sea outside of my body, therefore allowing me to wield its power more efficiently.¡±

    He came to a realization.

    He looked within, and discovered that his spiritual sea still existed. The only things that had disappeared were his crystallized spiritual cores.

    They hadbined with the Godspirit Tree, the Nine Stars Flower, and the me spark, and manifested on the outside as three separate small heaven and earths.

    His understanding of star, wood, and me power had morphed into currents of profound truths that served as the core foundation of these three ¡®domains.¡¯

    With a mere thought, he was now able to summon power from different domains to cast incantations or raise protective shields.

    Nie Tian contemted, and soon came to a new realization. ¡°This isn¡¯t enough. I still need to fuse my soul awareness into them.¡±

    He then focused on separating wisps of soul awareness from his sea of awareness and forming a more profound bond between him and his three early-form domains.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The glowing sphere around Nie Tian continued to expand as it dashed forward.

    On this day, a loud mor awoken Nie Tian from his meditation.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s finally here!¡±

    ¡°The seventh star: the Star of Cmities!¡±

    He opened his eyes.

    Many starships were scattered in the empty starry river ahead on both sides of his path.

    There were also arge number of Void and Saint domain Qi warriors, who were enveloped in bright yellow, azure, bright red, and blue domains. Among them, Nie Tian spotted Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa, along with many others that had to be important, as they were all dressed nobly.

    However, both the starships and the Qi warriors took the initiative to move to the sides so that they wouldn¡¯t be in his way.

    His path ahead was clear and without obstacles.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos came to a stop as he did.

    As the inner part of the sphere came to a stop, the outeryers stopped dashing forward as well.

    Now, the Primal Chaos seemed to be able exist eternally without Nie Tian infusing it with power.

    That was because the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the me spark were unceasingly absorbing wood, star, and me power from the outeryers.

    Nie Tian cleared his throat and ran his gaze over the faces he found either familiar orpletely strange. Frowning, he said, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, What¡¯s the purpose of you gathering here? Are you friend or foe?¡±

    Zhang Qiling hastily stepped forward and exined, ¡°Don¡¯t get us wrong, Nie Tian. We came from our domains after hearing about what happened in the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh. None of us are allied with the Jade Heaven Sect, the Shadow Society, or the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. We¡¯re simply here out of curiosity.¡±

    Li Wanfa chimed in. ¡°Look, we¡¯re not standing your way.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded without giving any remarks.

    He then took a quick nce at the experts ahead. Hundreds of Void and Saint domain experts were scattered to the sides, along with a few dozen starships, which, judging from their different appearances, had to be from different sects and domains.

    WHOOSH!

    Seeing that he hade to a stop, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Dong Li, and the others behind him circled around the glowing sphere to arrive in the front.

    ¡°Have you not finished forging your domain yet?¡± Dong Li asked with a concerned tone, separated by multipleyers of glowing energy.

    Nie Tian smiled heartily as the star souls in his sea of awareness continued to contemte the profound truths of different powers and mobilize his soul will for him. ¡°No, I haven¡¯t figured everything out yet. How far away is the Jade Heaven Sect? Why haven¡¯t their peoplee to stop me?¡±

    After a brief moment of pondering, Yu Suying said, ¡°I suppose the loss of the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh made them raise their guard. Perhaps they¡¯ve set up defenses to stop you at the border of their domain.¡±

    ¡°Hmm, let move on then,¡± Nie Tian said, narrowing his eyes.

    The glowing sphere was ready to dash forward again.

    FZZZ!

    A slender spatial rift suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of everyone.

    A number of people streamed through it, all of whom had arrogant expressions.

    Their leader turned out to be Hong Minghui, disciple of Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. Nie Tian had met him once before.

    Standing behind him were several Saint domain experts, who were clearly his subordinates.

    Upon the abrupt appearance of the spatial rift, the Void and Saint domain experts from various sects and domains eximed in surprise, suspecting it was people from the Void Spirit Society. ¡°The Void Spirit Society! Hong Minghui!¡±

    They knew that only disciples of the Void Spirit Society had the ability to split open spatial rifts and send their experts through.

    Nie Tian, who was just about to head out again, was confused to spot Qi Lianshan behind Hong Minghui. ¡°Senior Qi! Howe you¡¯re here? Where¡¯s Senior Martial Sister Pei? How has she been?¡±

    Looking embarrassed, Qi Lianshan forced a smile and rubbed his hands together. ¡°Miss Pei is still in secluded cultivation. She doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in the outside world. And we..¡±

    ¡°Why are you here, Senior Qi?¡± Nie Tian asked again.

    ¡°Well, do you have to go to the Jade Heaven Sect?¡± Qi Lianshan asked with a dry smile. ¡°We¡¯ve been ordered toe here and see if we can change your mind. As long as you turn around now, and promise not to attack the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters, all that has happened between you and them will be forgotten.¡±

    A baffled look filled Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°What?¡±

    Yu Suying also looked deeply baffled. ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect asked your sect to mediate? Song Haiqing is dead, so is Feng Jieling. Is this something the Jade Heaven Sect can ever forget?¡±

    ¡°Howughable.¡± Li Wanfa and many from the other domains shook their heads after hearing this, wondering what the Jade Heaven Sect was thinking.

    Qi Lianshan assumed a serious expression and continued, ¡°That¡¯s not all. As long as you leave now, promise to disassociate yourself from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and swear off your identity as a Son of the Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars will remain your independent territory. The Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect will promise not to ever invade them.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    Yu Suying pondered in silence for a few seconds before suddenly realizing something. ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect doesn¡¯t have such a strong influence! The sectmaster of the Shadow Society found your vice sectmaster, Xuan Guangyu, and asked him to mediate, didn¡¯t he? As far as I know, he¡¯s good friends with Xuan Guangyu. Plus, only he could persuade the Jade Heaven Sect and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to agree to this.¡±

    Hong Minghuiughed heartily and answered for Qi Lianshan, ¡°No wonder you¡¯re the sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce. Nie Tian, we¡¯re here to mediate. As long as you agree to return to your domains and promise to stay out of what¡¯s happening with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, not only will you get to keep your three subordinate domains, but you¡¯ll even be given a share of Sikong Cuo¡¯s territory after this is over. What do you say?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes flickered with disbelief. ¡°What?!¡±

    The observers that hade from afar instantly burst into heated discussions.

    ¡°The Shadow Society thinks so highly of this Son of the Stars? To avoid conflict with him, they even persuaded the Jade Heaven Sect and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to forgive all that¡¯s happened?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! It must be a contingency n. Song Chequan lost his wife and older brother. How could he forgive something like that?¡±

    ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect also lost Monk Goldbone and many other Saint domain experts in the Domain of Heaven Python!¡±

    ¡°There must be something we don¡¯t know! Given Song Chequan and You Qimiao¡¯s temperament, there¡¯s no way they would makepromises like this! It must be a scheme!¡±

    Nie Tian looked Hong Minghui in the eyes and asked in a loud voice, ¡°Where are Elder Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong?¡±

    ¡°Imprisoned by the Jade Heaven Sect.¡± Hong Minghui didn¡¯t try to hide the truth. ¡°However, the three of them aren¡¯t that close to you. As long as you agree to said terms, and head back to the Domain of Heaven Python right now, an agreement wille into force. Those sects will never invade the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars again.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Nie Tian chuckled and said, ¡°I¡¯m more determined to attack the Jade Heaven Sect now than ever!¡±

    Hong Minghui¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! Are you not even going to give my sect face?¡±

    ¡°Screw off!¡± Nie Tian shouted. ¡°You think you and Xuan Guangyu represent the Void Spirit Society? No one other than your master can represent the Void Spirit Society, not Xuan Guangyu, and certainly not you!¡±

 Chapter 1279: â€œCome See Me In Three Days!â€

    Zhang Qiling from the Heavenly Spirit Sect shook his head slightly and said in a low voice, ¡°This is very unwise. The sectmaster of the Shadow Society gave him great face by asking the Void Spirit Society to mediate.¡±

    With a pitiful expression, Li Wanfa chimed in. ¡°Given the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s situation, it¡¯s actually not a bad choice for Nie Tian to be independent at this moment.¡±

    Many observers from the other domains were also baffled after seeing Nie Tian refusing Hong Minghui¡¯s proposal without hesitation.

    They all reckoned that it would be wise for Nie Tian to ept it.

    ¡°Great! I wasn¡¯t wrong about you!¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce eximed. The corners of her mouth rose as her bright eyes shone in high spirits.

    Hong Minghui burst into a ming rage. ¡°Nie Tian! How dare you defy our sect?! How dare you refuse to give our sect face, given the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s current situation?!¡±

    At the same time, the Saint domain experts behind him spread out, wreathed in strong killing intent.

    Nie Tian broke intoughter again and said, ¡°Will you stop covering yourself with gold leaf, Hong Minghui? (Idiom: brag/prettify) Was I not clear enough? Neither you nor Xuan Guangyu can represent the Void Spirit Society! Only your master, Qu Yi, can!¡±

    Hong Minghui let out a sharp cry and prepared to say something.

    However, Nie Tian ran out of patience. ¡°I said screw off!¡±

    Under the control of the Primal Chaos, the glowing sphere with countless gloriousyers started flying forward. ¡°I won¡¯t spare anyone who dares to stand in my way at this moment. Don¡¯t me me for it!¡±

    A terrifying raging, twisting, and ripping aura instantly filled the violent maic field. Any Saint domain expert behind Hong Minghui who dared to touch it with their soul awareness let out a muffled groan upon doing so.

    FZZZ!

    A few fine lightning wisps flickered in the outeryers only for a brief moment before they were snuffed out.

    Those wisps were the soul awarenesses Hong Minghui¡¯s subordinates had secretly released.

    Qi Lianshan¡¯s expression flickered slightly. He hastily backed away and said with a wry smile, ¡°Nie Tian, I only came here to mediate by order of our vice sectmaster. I mean no harm.¡±

    It was Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society who had ordered him to join this trip.

    Xuan Guangyu knew he was fairly close to Nie Tian, and had thus ordered him to take this trip with Hong Minghui while Qu Yi was unavable.

    Of course he didn¡¯t want to sour his rtionship with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Just stay out of my way then.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he turned to Hong Minghui and his men, and thundered, ¡°Get out of my way! Now!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± No matter how furiously Hong Minghui screamed, his Saint domain subordinates grabbed him and dragged him into the spatial rift.

    ¡°Nie Tian! You¡¯ll pay for this!¡± Hong Minghui¡¯s loud threat echoed out from the gradually healing spatial rift.

    Without even the slightest obstacle in front of him anymore, Nie Tian controlled the violent maic field to march on the Jade Heaven Sect under everyone¡¯s gazes as they had nned.

    As the glorious violent maic field dashed into the distance, a loud mor burst through the berthed starships and gathered Void and Saint domain cultivators.

    ¡°Even Hong Minghui from the Void Spirit Society was forced to back out?¡±

    ¡°What choice did he have? How could he and his subordinates have stopped Nie Tian? Perhaps only Xuan Guangyu himself could.¡±

    ¡°This star of cmities is daring indeed. He simply doesn¡¯t give anyone face!¡±

    ¡°This is like a p across Xuan Guangyu¡¯s face.¡±

    ...

    In the starry river south of the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    A zing sun was emanating fierce light and heat. A man could be vaguely seen floating in the deepest part of the sun¡¯s halo, where he seemed to be channeling the sun¡¯s aura into himself as he grew taller bit by bit.

    In a ce not far from the sun, an ancient starship was bound by numerous heavy chains.

    Each and every chain had been carved with countless talismans that were as small as flies. The talismans wandered along the chains, as if to capture and devour the dispersed wisps of soul awareness in their surroundings.

    Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and some disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were sitting quietly on the starship.

    From their point of view, they could see that the starship was actually enveloped in more than a dozen different spell formations, and that they were surrounded by countless hovering talismans that could annihte their souls, and mes that would scald them upon contact.

    All of them had their eyes fixed on the zing sun, anticipation filling their faces.

    ¡°Zu Guangyao...¡± Han Wanrong let out a soft sigh. ¡°Adversity can always bring out people¡¯s potential. Otherwise, how could hee to brand new understandings about his incantations as we passed through this area, allowing him to break out of the shackles and fly to that sun to start his breakthrough into the God domain?¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s a rushed attempt,¡± Xin Qing said, looking deeply worried. ¡°He didn¡¯t dare to make an attempt to break through into the God domain for three thousand years. That¡¯s because he didn¡¯t think the time was right, and he wasn¡¯t confident enough. The only reason why he decided to make this hurried attempt is because we¡¯re under a lot of pressure from Song Chequan, and he was eager to break free from his control. It wasn¡¯t something he wanted to do.¡±

    ¡°Our sect is at its most perilous moment. He didn¡¯t have a choice,¡± Han Wanrong chimed in.

    Song Chequan and many powerful experts from the Jade Heaven Sect had ambushed them on their way back from the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    After the battle, Song Chequan had first sealed their starship with numerous powerful spell formations, and then towed it towards the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters for a thorough interrogation.

    Song Chequan had only refrained from killing them because he hoped to learn the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s special cultivation techniques and secrets from them.

    However, when they had passed by that zing sun, Zu Guangyao, who had been sitting in silence, suddenly derived brand new enlightenment.

    He had broken free and charged into that zing sun, where he had immediately initiated an attempt to break through into the God domain, putting his own life at risk so that he might earn a chance to fight Song Chequan.

    Song Chequan then had to rely on his God domain might to frustrate his attempt to break through into the God domain.

    At first, Song Chequan had been surrounded by arge number of Saint domain disciples of the Jade Heaven Sect.

    However, those Saint domain experts hadter received some messages, and had left in a hurry.

    The starship that was subject to multiple restrictive spells had been left here for Song Chequan to take care of after he finished Zu Guangyao off, or Zu Guangyao¡¯s breakthrough ended in failure, costing his life.

    SHEW!

    Song Chequan¡¯s dharma idol morphed into a sparkling milky way that attempted to stifle the divine light of the sun.

    ¡°Heaven-refining Burning Sun!¡±

    As Zu Guangyao¡¯s furious roar came from the zing sun, endless true sunme whizzed out to sh with Song Chequan¡¯s dharma idol.

    This was the new magic he had derived with the help of the zing sun. Coupled with his half-achieved God domain, he was barely able to neutralize Song Chequan¡¯s effort to sabotage his breakthrough.

    However, he knew perfectly well that if he continued to be distracted by Song Chequan like this, his breakthrough was bound to end in failure.

    Even so, he didn¡¯t have a solution.

    ...

    In the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    A sunset glow filled the sky over a silent jade sea with little waves. Verdant inds dotted the sea like emeralds. A warm breeze brushed the twenty-four inds that constituted the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters, where many elders conversed in frustration.

    ¡°That star of cmities, Nie Tian, refused Hong Minghui¡¯s proposal. He didn¡¯t even give the Void Spirit Society face!¡±

    ¡°What should we do? He¡¯s getting closer and closer to our headquarters!¡±

    ¡°Howe our sectmaster still isn¡¯t finished with Zu Guangyao?¡±

    Originally, each of the inds had had a Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannon set up on it. However, all twenty-four Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons had been lost in the Domain of Dark Marsh.

    Looking at their sacred headquarters that was now devoid of the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons and thinking about Nie Tian¡¯s imminent arrival, every elder of the Jade Heaven Sect became restless like ants on a heated pan.

    ¡°How about we ask for the Shadow Society¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°Can the Remote Beginning Heavenly Secte to our aid?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s report to the sectmaster first!¡±

    Everyone seemed to be at their wits¡¯ end.

    WHOOSH!

    In the silent boundless starry river, the violent glowing sphere continued to dash forward under Nie Tian¡¯s control, crushing every meteor it came across and gathering a wide array of impurities as it did. In a dominating manner, it marched on the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s home realm, the Realm of Jade Billows!

    ¡°The Realm of Jade Billows is right ahead!¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce couldn¡¯t mask her excitement as she overtook Nie Tian to face the realm that was wreathed in currents of spiritual Qi.

    At the heart of the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    ¡°The Realm of Jade Billows, the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s base!¡±

    ¡°Are we finally there?¡±

    Countless stars shone in the depths of his pupils, which seemed to allow him to see through every secret this starry river held, giving him an unfathomable, iparably mysterious look.

    ¡°Star Eyes!¡±

    Activating a secret magic, he observed with rapt attention, and noticed that the Realm of Jade Billows was surrounded by hovering spiritual Qi currents, which seemed to carry profoundws of magic and be vested with numerous shrunken spell formations, so that they could protect the realm from dashing meteors and strikes from starships.

    Normally speaking, every realm that had God domain experts or had seen God domain experts in their history would have such a protective grand spell formation.

    That was because only God domain experts in dharma idol form could fuse their secret spell formations and profound understandings of power into the realm barriers in order to protect those realms.

    ¡°Nie Tian from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has traveled from afar to see Sectmaster Song of the Jade Heaven Sect!¡± A heaven-shaking, earth-moving voice rumbled through the starry river outside the Realm of Jade Billows.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Three Saint domain elders of the Jade Heaven Sect looked confounded as they activated their domains and rushed out of the Realm of Jade Billows to see Nie Tian.

    Aftering to a stop, the man at the front said with a firm tone, ¡°Our sectmaster isn¡¯t in the Realm of Jade Billows. Pleasee another time.¡±

    Another wild, hot-tempered elder of the Jade Heaven Sect couldn¡¯t help but point at Nie Tian and rave, ¡°Nie Tian! You wiped out the Song n and killed the nmaster of the Feng n in the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh. How dare youe to our sect aftermitting such monstrous crimes?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face dropped. ¡°Song Chequan isn¡¯t here? Three days. I¡¯ll give him three days. No matter where he is, he has toe back here to see me! Not just that, but Elder Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong of my sect have to be secure. If anything happens to any of them, the entire Jade Heaven Sect will have to die to atone for it!¡±

    All those who heard these words gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°He demands that Song Chequane see him? Song Chequan is at the God domain, for god¡¯s sake! How long ago did he make his name?¡±

    ¡°Who else aside from the few God domain experts from the four great sects, the Shadow Society, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect have the audacity to not bow before Song Chequan?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is a bit too arrogant, isn¡¯t he?¡±

    The crowd mored on in shock.

    ¡°H-how dare you demand that our sectmastere see you?!¡± The hot-tempered elder of the Jade Heaven Sect thundered.

    ¡°Some people just don¡¯t shed tears until they see their coffin.¡± (idiom: refuse to be convinced until one¡¯s faced with grim reality) With a nasty grin, Nie Tian wove his hands in the air.

    Channeled by him, one streak of multicolored light after another shot out of the outeryers of the sphere towards the Realm of Jade Billows.

    WHOOSH!

    The violent sphere followed, and pressed towards the Realm of Jade Billows bit by bit.

 Chapter 1280: People Donâ€™t Shed Tears Until They See Their Coffins!

    Seven burning streaks shot towards the Realm of Jade Billows, sputtering sparks as they did.

    FZZZ!

    The illusory domain surrounding Nie Tian that had morphed from his me power core and the me spark had zing me power channeled from it.

    The me power magically fused into the seven streaks of mes.

    The hot-tempered elder of the Jade Heaven Sect spat, ¡°This junior courts death!¡±

    As a middle Saint domain expert, he was enveloped in a domain that seemed to be a condensation of rainbows and sunglow.

    He suddenly drew a crimson-gold awl and dashed forward to meet one of the burning streaks, dragging a splendid tail behind him.

    BOOM!

    Sparks sshed as the crimson-gold awl pulverized the burning streak bit by bit.

    ¡°This is disappointing!¡± With a coldugh, the elder brandished the crimson-gold awl in his hand as he crushed the other burning streaks.

    Surprise and disdain appeared in the eyes of the other two Jade Heaven Sect elders as they saw Nie Tian¡¯s first attack being easily neutralized. ¡°There seems to be nothing special about those burning streaks.¡±

    The Void and Saint domain experts from the other domains, who were observing from afar, were also taken aback after seeing Nie Tian¡¯s burning streaks being crushed effortlessly. ¡°This isn¡¯t the full extent of his power, is it?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s merely a feint,¡± Zhang Qiling whispered.

    ¡°Even the power he disyed in the Domain of Primal Yang was mightier than that,¡± Li Wanfa chimed in.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the two of them talked, the outeryers of the glorious sphere around Nie Tian finally made contact with the rainbow-like domain of that hot-tempered Jade Heaven Sect elder.

    It was like a rampant elephant ramming into a sheep!

    The middle Saint domain elder¡¯s multicolored domain shattered instantly, as if it were made of paper.

    Raging, twisting, and ripping power flooded his shattered domain, causing it to vanish into the void within seconds.

    The same happened to the grumpy elder¡¯s soul as his body was reduced to a mist of blood and crushed bones.

    ¡°No!¡± The other two Jade Heaven Sect elders let out heart-wrenching cries.

    At the same time, they pulled as far away from the glowing sphere around Nie Tian as they could.

    ¡°That¡¯s the true might of Nie Tian, the star of cmities!¡±

    ¡°Even Saint domain experts are so vulnerable to his attacks?¡±

    ¡°If Saint domain experts could stop him, how would Song Haiqing, Feng Jieling, and all those Saint domain experts from the Domain of Spiritual Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh have died at his hands?¡±

    ¡°Good point!¡±

    As people discussed among themselves, the outermostyer of the glowing sphere around Nie Tian made contact with the realm barrier of the Realm of Jade Billows.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Bits of seven-colored light sputtered from the numerous spell formations and spiritual power currents in the realm barrier that enveloped the Realm of Jade Billows.

    Some spell formations rapidly expanded. Even so, they didn¡¯tst long before exploding violently and going out likemp fires against the wind.

    ¡°Ah!!¡±

    Mountains shook and deep ravines ripped through the earth in the Realm of Jade Billows. The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was stirred as spirit beasts howled and trembled in fear.

    Everyone in the Realm of Jade Billows, Qi warriors ormoners, gazed up into the heavens, despair filling their faces.

    The heavens seemed to be burning, with sparks sputtering everywhere.

    A feeling of facing doom clouded everyone¡¯s minds.

    ¡°We¡¯re under attack by the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Those in the know sighed and hastily arranged for their family and descendants to run to the Jade Heaven Sect, where they could evacuate from the Realm of Jade Billows through their teleportation portals as soon as possible.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    More than half of the spell formations in the realm barrier, along with numerous magicalws that had been infused by God domain experts¡¯ divine power, were pulverized by the outeryers of Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere.

    The realm barrier seemed to be on the verge of being ripped open, allowing deadly impurities in the starry river to pour in.

    Once a realm lost its protective barrier, it would soon be overtaken by the fatal energies in the starry river, and turn into a dead realm.

    Any Qi warriors with cultivation bases lower than the Void domain would sumb to the deadly corrosion. Commoners would be even more vulnerable, as they would die instantly.

    Terrified, the two Jade Heaven Sect elders finally begged, ¡°Wait! Stop!¡±

    A hundred thousand Qi warriors lived in the Realm of Jade Billows, along with close to ten millionmoners.

    Many of them were members of ns that had close connections to the Jade Heaven Sect and elite disciples of the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s subordinate forces. If the Jade Heaven Sect fell, and all of them were killed, the losses would be unbearable.

    ¡°Like I said, some people just don¡¯t shed tears until they see their coffins.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and controlled the Primal Chaos to pull slightly away from the Realm of Jade Billows, so the outeryers would stop ripping its realm barrier.

    After he did, the unstable realm barrier slowly healed with the help of the rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the Realm of Jade Billows.

    However, anyone could see that if Nie Tian had carried on for just a bit longer, the realm barrier would have been torn to pieces.

    If that happened, perhaps those in the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters might still be able to survive thanks to its grand spell formation. However, all of the other Qi warriors andmoners would be reduced to ashes.

    The observers started sharing their opinions with one another.

    ¡°That was enough might to destroy a realm, and it¡¯s not just any realm, but the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s Realm of Jade Billows. I can¡¯t believe Nie Tian has be so powerful!¡±

    ¡°I wonder if the Jade Heaven Sect made a wise move by provoking the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Shadow Society is a smart man. He knew they¡¯d better not make Nie Tian their enemy. But unfortunately, Nie Tian turned him down.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian has barely forged his illusory domain, yet he¡¯s already so powerful. How powerful would he be if he entered the God domain one day?¡±

    ¡°I bet he¡¯d be ten times stronger than Ji Cang and Mo Heng when they first entered the God domain!¡±

    ¡°I reiterate. You have three days!¡± Nie Tian took a tough stance. ¡°In three days, Song Chequan needs toe to see me, bringing Elder Zu Guangyao, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong, along with all of the other abducted disciples of my sect. Otherwise, I¡¯ll destroy the Realm of Jade Billows and your headquarters!¡±

    The two Jade Heaven Sect elders looked furious, but didn¡¯t dare to object. ¡°We¡¯ll inform our sectmaster right away!¡± With these words, they rushed back.

    SHEW!

    Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Dong Li, and the others spread out and fixed their eyes on Nie Tian.

    From the heart the glowing sphere, Nie Tian nodded slightly at them, but didn¡¯t say a word, and then went back to contemting his domain-forging techniques.

    Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, and a few otherte Saint domain experts, all of whom were well-known figures in the human world, discussed among themselves.

    ¡°Three days. They only have three days. Even if the teleportation portals in the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters operate around the clock, they can¡¯t evacuate everyone.¡±

    ¡°What about themoners? What can the ten millionmoners do?¡±

    ¡°Where in the world is Song Chequan? Nie Tian killed his wife and older brother, and is now at his door. Is he really such a coward?¡±

    ¡°Who knows where Song Chequan is at the moment?¡±

    They pondered in silence for a while before approaching Yu Suying, Dong Li and the others.

    ¡°It won¡¯t be a problem to wipe out the Jade Heaven Sect. However, there are ten millionmoners in the Realm of Jade Billows. Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯ll have to die too.¡±

    ¡°Would you have a talk with Nie Tian? After all, thosemoners are innocent.¡±

    ¡°Miss Dong, right? I heard that you¡¯re Nie Tian¡¯s fiance. Could you talk to him and ask him to refrain from making reckless moves that¡¯ll doom thosemoners who haven¡¯t practiced cultivation their whole lives?¡±

    They all hoped that Nie Tian would cool off and target only the Jade Heaven Sect. They didn¡¯t want to see themoners suffer from his fury.

    Yu Suying pondered briefly, then suggested, ¡°You have quite a number of starships. Each of them has an inbuilt teleportation portal. Since you¡¯re so kindhearted,nd your starships and arrange for themoners in the Realm of Jade Billows to take shelter in your realms.¡±

    Zhang Qiling nodded. ¡°That¡¯s feasible!¡±

    Then, he called loudly for everyone to get started.

    Immediately afterwards, starships that had sailed from different domains and represented various human forces in different parts of the starry river started descending towards the Realm of Jade Billows one after another.

    ...

    CRACK!

    A spatial rift split open in front of the chained starship from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Hong Minghui was the first to step out of it. He was followed by several Saint domain experts.

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society! Hong Minghui!¡±

    On the starship, Xin Qing and Han Wanrong shuddered and took notice.

    Hong Minghui looked somewhat embarrassed as he took a nce at the trapped Xin Qing and Han Wanrong. He quickly jerked his head around and flew towards the zing sun.

    The four great sects had been on friendly terms. Not only were they familiar with each other, but they would even asionally fight side by side in the Dead Star Sea.

    Hong Minghui had received their help before.

    Xin Qing was confused. ¡°Why is he here?¡±

    Han Wanrong shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the Void Spirit Society made some sort of deal with the Jade Heaven Sect.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of none.¡±

    ...

    A few secondster.

    Song Chequan, who had been doing everything within his power to prevent Zu Guangyao from making his breakthrough, returned from the zing sun with Hong Minghui.

    Song Chequan¡¯s expression had never been grimmer. He stared at Xin Qing and Han Wanrong. In one moment, he was wreathed in killing intent. In another, frustration filled his face.

    Hong Minghui frowned in silence, as if he were waiting for Song Chequan to make his decision.

    Only after a long while did Song Chequan ask in a husky voice, ¡°What did the Shadow Society say?¡±

    Hong Minghui smiled bitterly. ¡°The sectmaster said that he doesn¡¯t want to make Nie Tian our enemy unless it¡¯s absolutely unavoidable. I don¡¯t know why the sectmaster dared to make moves against Chu Rui and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but seems so hesitant and overly cautious when ites to Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost far too much,¡± Song Chequan said. ¡°I don¡¯t care what the sectmaster will think or do. I can¡¯t bear it anymore.¡±

    ¡°So you...¡± Hong Minghui said, shooting a nce at Xin Qing and the others.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take them back to my sect,¡± Song Chequan said with determination.

    Hong Minghui went nk briefly before asking, ¡°Are you going to trade them for the safety of your sect?¡±

    Song Chequan flew into a rage. ¡°No! I¡¯ll see how that Nie Tian is going to sack the Realm of Jade Billows with me there!¡±

 Chapter 1281: Bring Soul Awareness Into The Domains

    Time ticked away.

    The ancient starships of other domains arrived at the Realm of Jade Billows after the Jade Heaven Sect opened the realm barrier.

    The humans, Qi warriors, and mortals of the Realm of Jade Billows all withdrew from the Realm of Jade Billows in fear through the teleportation formations within the ancient starships.

    In the river of stars, many Saint domain experts and Void domain experts, like Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa, went to deliberately inquire about news from Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian and others.

    Most of the people paid close attention to Nie Tian¡¯s every move.

    FIZZ!

    There was an electric light that suddenly disappeared in the outeryers of the turbulent energy sphere.

    The fleeting electric lights were the wisps of soul awareness that Void domain experts and Saint domain experts had emitted to peep into the mysteries of the Primal Chaos.

    Even those experts who had advanced to thete Saint domain gradually became scared, let alone the Void domain experts. They gave up on using divine sense to perceive the secrets of the Primal Chaos.

    It was more difficult for divine sense to recover than spirit energy after being consumed. No one wanted endless consumption.

    In the end, they could only observe the secrets of the Primal Chaos with their eyes.

    Nie Tian was at best sort of a Void domain expert, but even with his realm and cultivation, he had actually killed many Saint domain experts of the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh. His deeds were awe inspiring.

    Everyone saw that his real powery in the outeryers that were being pulled along by the Primal Chaos at the core.

    The power, which was raging, twisting, and ripping, mingled in the glowing sphere, crushing and shredding all physical or illusory divine sense. Such a strange power in the maic field not only made some people fear and tremble, but also made them have hope.

    They wanted to understand the wonder in it, so that no matter whether it was in conflicts that they had with Nie Tian in the future, or the spirit incantations that were part of their cultivation, it would benefit them.

    But no matter how long they observed with their eyes alone, since they couldn¡¯t perceive it with their divine sense, they did not seem to be able toprehend its true wonders.

    ¡°Domain, realm, soul consciousness, spiritual core, spirit materials...¡±

    In the splendid and magical core of the glowing sphere, Nie Tian floated in the air motionlessly, his eyes closed. Thoughts and beams ofprehension shed across the depths of his sea of soul awareness, like lightning and rainbows.

    Above his head was a domain like a curtain of stars, while under his feet was a domain like a sacred garden. Around him was a domain with billowing mes.

    His different Void domains all had rare treasures, the transformed Nine Stars Flower, me spark and Godspirit Tree, which had absorbed drops of his Blood Essence and contained great magic.

    FIZZ!

    Wisps of slim, tiny thoughts that only Nie Tian could perceive himself separated from his true soul and flew quietly to the illusory domains above his head, under his feet and around his body.

    Soul awareness was brought into his domains.

    Before his soul awareness entered his Void domains, all the Void domains had appeared empty, giving people a kind of illusory feeling.

    But when his soul awareness flew into his different domains, the three Void domains were like nk paper on which colorful, beautiful, wonderful pictures were being carved.

    Nie Tian thought as he carefully looked at the scene. After his soul awareness entered his Void domains, the incantations of fire, star, and wood power that he hadprehended turned into lines of profound truths with three kinds of attributes, and were imprinted in the Void domains.

    The Void domains became alive and lifelike, as if new life had been breathed into them.

    The incantations, strengths, and meaning of the three attributes which were stars, vegetation, and me instantly became clear. It seemed that he suddenly understood many obscure parts of the incantations he hadprehended.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of thought flew in the three Void domains, drawing mysterious,plex lines that were invisible to the naked eye.

    The lines kept changing and rbining, creating brand new incantations, spirit arrays and veins.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Centered on him, the brilliant outeryers of the sphere kept swirling.

    At the beginning, their speed had still been rtively slow. However, as he led his thoughts into the domains and wisps of them were imprinted on the Void domains, the whirling speed of the glowing sphere gradually increased.

    ¡°Eeeh!¡±

    All of a sudden, Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce noticed something. Squinting her eyes, she asked Mo Qianfan, who was beside her, ¡°Do you feel that in the river of stars out here, the mixed energies are being absorbed by Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere at a slightly faster speed?¡±

    Mo Qianfan nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    After a while, Yin Xingtian and manyte Saint domain experts felt it too.

    Later, even Void domain experts were shocked.

    The river of stars outside the domain was filled with a variety of energies, most of which were destructive and could eat away at blood, flesh, and spirit qi.

    A domain was a protective cover that protected human Qi warriors from being harmed.

    But now, the Saint domain and Void domain experts gradually felt as if they didn¡¯t need to sacrifice their domains to stay in the river of stars, because the energies containing corrosive effects that made up most of the impurities in the external domain all quickly vanished.

    It disappeared into the outeryers of Nie Tian¡¯s sphere.

    ¡°It¡¯s the second day,¡± someone said suddenly.

    ¡°Yes, a day has passed since Nie Tian gave the deadline, but Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect hasn¡¯t appeared yet. Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Even if the mortals of the Realm of Jade Billows have been evacuated, the foundations of the Jade Heaven Sect are still here!¡±

    As they talked, they suddenly noticed beams of light flying toward them from the distant horizon.

    Those beams of light, which were like meteors breaking the sky, were the traces of Saint domain experts on their way.

    ¡°The Heaven Divination Sect of the Domain of Divining Light!¡±

    ¡°The Buddhist Barge Society of the Domain of Buddhist Twilight!¡±

    Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and the others looked at the beams of light and the approaching figures, and recognized the neers.

    They knew that the new arrivals were from sects which were very far away from the Domain of Jade Heaven, and had nothing to do with the Jade Heaven Sect and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, so they knew that those people might havee for the conflict between Nie Tian and the Jade Heaven Sect.

    Yu Suying chuckled as she said, ¡°Saint domain experts and Void domain experts in the human domain world and almost half the sects of the advanced domains havee. The battle between Nie Tian and Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect must be quite impressive to attract so many people.¡±

    ¡°Other people have gone to the Realm of Fragmentary Star to witness the battle between the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Realm of Fragmentary Star,¡± Li Wanfa said.

    Yu Suying froze for a moment, her eyes bing solemn. ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society have begun to attack the Realm of Fragmentary Star?¡±

    Li Wanfa nodded. ¡°Sectmaster Yu, the Shadow Society deliberately did not tell you many things because you tore up your agreement with them.¡±

    Yu Suying nodded as she understood. ¡°I see.¡±

    ...

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    A voice that wasn¡¯t particrly loud but that everyone could hear sounded suddenly from the Realm of Jade Billows.

    Soon, a person flew out of the Realm of Jade Billows and disyed his unique divine dharma idol the moment he flew away from the realm barrier of the Realm of Jade Billows.

    His divine dharma idol looked like a sea god in boundless water. There were many rivers under his arms and at his sides, and the sea under his feet was blue and billowing.

    ¡°Song Chequan!¡±

    The Saint domain experts, who had been waiting so long, all shouted when they saw the arrival who demonstrated his divine dharma idol.

    Yu Suying¡¯s cool voice was the first to ring out, ¡°Sectmaster Song, I temporarily changed my mind and chose to give up on attacking the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which is already in trouble. I¡¯m very sorry.¡±

    Song Chequan¡¯s sharp eyes stabbed at Yu Suying, like two swords, and he snorted. ¡°The sectmaster has aired his opinion clearly. When the Realm of Fragmentary Star is settled, he will definitely have a good talk with you!¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s face turned pale.

    The sectmaster of the Shadow Society was at the middle God domain. It was rumored that he was about to reach thete God domain. He was the most powerful figure in the human world, aside from Chu Yuan, Qu Yi, and a few other people.

    The Profound Purity Pce could not fight him and the Shadow Society.

    Worse still, besides the Shadow Society, there was the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. You Qimiao was also at the God domain, and his realm was higher than hers.

    Yu Suying felt the pressure.

    ¡°The sectmaster said that as long as you stay out of the fight between Nie Tian and the Jade Heaven Sect, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Shadow Society, there will still be room.¡± Song Chequan said with a cold face, ¡°But if you attack us, it¡¯ll be a fight between the Profound Purity Pce and our three forces, and it will be a fight to the death!¡±

    Yu Suying frowned more tightly.

    ¡°The Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect.¡±

    She lowered her head and thought to herself, thinking of the friendship between the sectmaster of the Shadow Society and Xuan Guangyu, and the debt the four ancient sects owed to the Shadow Society long, long ago.

    She realized that with Profound Purity Pce¡¯s power alone, she couldn¡¯t possibly fight the Shadow Society at all.

    Unless, when this battle was over, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t fall, and Nie Tian was still alive. Besides that, only by seriously injuring the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect could the Profound Purity Pce be spared the following revenge by the three forces.

    ¡°Is that possible?¡±

 Chapter 1282: Destroy A Domain!

    SPLASH!

    Song Chequan was like a water god in charge of thousands of rivers and seas. Wide rivers ran around him, flowing and winding.

    He raised his hand.

    WHOOSH!

    In the realm barrier of the Realm of Jade Billows, the profound meaning andws of the power of water were forcibly changed by him.

    The ancient starship, on which Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and some Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples were still held prisoner, emerged suddenly, as if it had passed through a long spatial tunnel.

    ¡°Elder Xin Qing and Han Wanrong of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    The pupils of the Saint domain experts from other domains shrank, and they eximed in shock.

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong were bothte Saint domain experts and two of the twelve sect elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They used to be deeply respected. In the past, when they showed up in the other sects, everyone respected them.

    Except for the kind of Saint domain experts whose lives were drawing to a close like Yin Xingtian, none of therge number ofte Saint domain experts present who were at the same stage dared say they were stronger than them.

    After all, those two were elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Who would expect that the two elders who had once upied high positions woulde to Song Chequan, who imprisoned them in an ancient starship of their own sect?

    The dense chains and talismans couldn¡¯t hide from their soul perception. After a slight check, they knew they had been imprisoned and couldn¡¯t escape.

    In the warship, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples were at a loss.

    ¡°Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Master Blood Spirit, and Xie Qian.¡±

    ¡°Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, and Yu Suying.¡±

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong eyed each other. They didn¡¯t know exactly what was going on as they saw so many Saint domain experts who were well-known in the river of stars in the human world.

    Song Chequan didn¡¯t tell them why he had hurried to return to the Jade Heaven Sect through the hidden spatial tunnel.

    Because Zu Guangyao had not been gotten rid of...

    ¡°Yu Suying, be careful with your choices!¡± Song Chequan roared coldly again.

    Yu Suying was silent.

    ¡°Ha ha!¡±

    At this moment, Mo Qianfan of the Heavenly Thunder Sect suddenlyughed hysterically.

    ¡°Heavenly Thunder Bombing!¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol was demonstrated in an instant. Above his huge divine dharma idol was a thunder pool, under which thunder was surging.

    His divine dharma idol suddenly changed again.

    The terrifying, illusory body of the Thunder-devouring Whale, whose bloodline was at the tenth grade, emerged from Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol. The Thunder-devouring Whale swallowed the thunder pool in one gulp and then spat it out.

    Giant thunderballs that were like huge raindrops bombarded the ancient starship with power that could destroy thousands of mountains and rivers.

    BOOM! CRACKLE!

    The chains binding the ancient starship were bombarded by numerous heavenly balls of thunder and lightning bolts as electric light ruined the talismans that were like hundreds of millions of mosquitoes inside the chains.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan! How dare you!¡± Song Chequan was furious. His divine dharma idol spat a ck pearl at the area. ¡°ckwater Pearl!¡±

    It seemed as if there was a deep ck ocean being imprisoned in the ck pearl; the pearl was magnified ten million times in a second.

    Amazingly, even the Thunder-devouring Whale condensed from Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol was enveloped by the ck pearl.

    ZZZZZLA! ZZZZZLA!

    In the world of the ck pearl, thunder and lightning flickered, and the Thunder-devouring Whale that Mo Qianfan had turned into writhed, trying to break free from the pearl but failing.

    Glistening streams surged out from under the arms of Song Chequan¡¯s divine dharma idol and turned into chains engraved with talismans to bind Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol.

    The moment they saw the ckwater Pearl, people who knew the Jade Heaven Sect talked about it as they looked at Mo Qianfan with great regret.

    ¡°ckwater Pearl, a second-grade immortal divine tool!¡±

    ¡°The foundation of the Jade Heaven Sect is far beyond that of the Heavenly Thunder Sect. There are always God domain experts emerging in the Jade Heaven Sect, so they have more than one divine tool.¡±

    ¡°Those immortal grade divine tools, like the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons and ckwater Pearl, along with Song Chequan¡¯s divine domain cultivation are his real strength.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, although Mo Qianfan has reached the God domain, he doesn¡¯t have any handy divine tools, so the situation is disadvantageous to him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said the ckwater Pearl was made by the third generation sectmaster, who was also the strongest in the Jade Heaven Sect, with the ck Water Heaven River that is famous for its mysteries. The ckwater Pearl has been handed down from generation to generation, and can be used to imprison opponents with the strange force of the ck Water Heaven River, which can even beat God domain experts.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Mo Qianfan won¡¯t be able to get out of the ckwater Pearl¡¯s world in a short time.¡±

    Sure enough, when the ckwater Pearl showed up, Mo Qianfan¡¯s divine dharma idol was swallowed by it.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    On the warship, Xin Qing shouted and looked at the Qi warriorsing from afar.

    Because the warship had been bombarded by Mo Qianfan¡¯s Heaven Thunder Bombing, the force of imprisonment was torn apart in part, so her voice could be heard.

    ¡°Well...¡±

    Somete Saint domain experts were once helped by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They, who didn¡¯t dare to fight against the Jade Heaven Sect, could only exin the whole story. ¡°Nie Tian started from the Domain of Heaven Python and went to the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh, wiping out the Song n and Feng n...¡±

    Hearing them talking at once about the events that had shocked the universe recently, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and the many survivors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce immediately became excited.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    In the warship, they stared at Nie Tian, who was wrapped inyers of glowing rings and had yet to emerge.

    ¡°There is still someone who hasn¡¯t given up in the sect, and is still taking revenge!¡±

    Amid the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian finally opened his eyes.

    The twinkling stars shone from the stars in the Void domain hanging high above his head.

    He suddenly looked at Song Chequan. The domain, which was like a curtain of stars, became more and more dazzling. ¡°Sectmaster Song! Where is Zu Guangyao of my Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    Song Chequan, who had temporarily detained Mo Qianfan with the force of the ckwater Pearl, took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. ¡°Did you kill my brother Song Haiqing and my wife?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Song Chequan nodded softly as he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want the hidden secrets of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce anymore. I want you to watch me kill these elders of your sect in front of you!¡±

    Then his sharp eyes suddenly turned to Dong Li. ¡°And your wife!¡±

    SPLASH!

    His giant divine dharma idol was divided into two glittering streams that ran straight toward Dong Li.

    ¡°Heavenly True Water Incantation!¡±

    Watery balls of light flew out of the deep ocean under his feet and flew toward the ancient starship where Xin Qing and Han Wanrong were.

    He attacked Dong Li, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong at the same time!

    While attacking, he swept his gaze over Yu Suying, with a strong hint of warning in his cold eyes.

    ¡°Look out!¡±

    Yin Xingtian, Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit and Jing Feiyang moved to Dong Li in an sh.

    As lightning shed and thunder rumbled, Yu Suying had no time to hesitate, and suddenly rushed to the ancient starship.

    She had already seen that the domains of Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and others had been weakened little by little by the power imprisoning the ancient warship, and they had no fighting strength at the moment.

    If she didn¡¯t make a move, Xin Qing and the others would definitely die!

    ¡°Great!¡±

    In the Primal Chaos of the inner ring, Nie Tian, who saw Song Chequan attack, suddenly let out a harsh, shrill growl.

    He did not look at Dong Li, nor at the warship where Xin Qing and others were. Instead, he moved the glowing sphere around him. Heedless of Song Chequan¡¯s dharma idol, which was in the way ahead, he lunged straight at the Realm of Jade Billows!

    He wanted to break the foundation of the Jade Heaven Sect and remove the entire Realm of Jade Billows from the domain!

    He believed that Yin Xingtian and others could protect Dong Li and that Xin Qing and others wouldn¡¯t die if Yu Suying made a move!

    BOOM! BOOM!

    He didn¡¯t show mercy anymore. Circles of gorgeous rings outside emitted a violent raging, twisting, and ripping maic force, rushing towards the Realm of Jade Billows and almost instantly destroying most of the formations engraved in the realm barrier of the Realm of Jade Billows.

    This collision was more violent than the one three days ago.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Hundreds of millions of electric lights, talismans, flying spirit light lines, and bits of burning fire fell from the sky of the Realm of Jade Billows.

    The mountains of the Realm of Jade Billows copsed, the rivers flooded, and the earth was torn apart.

    In the ce where the Jade Heaven Sect was located, there was a disaster from the sky. Meteors and fireshowers fell on the earth. In the strong wind, there were neb-like balls of light that fell like a waterfall.

    The people who were still guarding the Jade Heaven Sect and who had stayed in the Realm of Jade Billows were all affected.

    Wails of death pervaded every corner of the Realm of Jade Billows. Before Song Chequan could react, he found that the core structure of the Realm of Jade Billows had been permanently and irretrievably damaged.

    The Jade Heaven Sect was doomed to be a dead realm almost instantly!

    ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    A long, narrow bone flew out from the turbulent maic field.

    A scarlet glow emitted from the bone, which turned into a ghostly shadow of a giant beast that made everyone tremble.

    ¡°Star Behemoth!¡±

    Some people who had read descriptions of this kind of foreign matter in the ancient books in their sects murmured dreamily.

    Like a Star Behemoth in the Primal Era, the scarlet bone stretched out its sharp ws to the Realm of Jade Billows, tore apart the realm barrier of the domain and the hard earth of the domain and cut them down little by little.

    ¡°The Realm of Jade Billows is done for.¡±

 Chapter 1283: A Clash Between Domains

    Heaven shattered and the earth toppled in the Realm of Jade Billows.

    The Jade Heaven Sect disciples who had stayed to protect their headquarters were driven to despair as they witnessed the horrifying scene of countless burning streaks falling out of the sky to bombard mountains andkes.

    The entire Realm of Jade Billows was plunged into a world of suffering.

    Raging, twisting, and ripping power swept the entire realm, pulverizing numerous Jade Heaven Sect disciples who had ced their hope in Song Chequan.

    ¡°Domain Split!¡± Nie Tian thundered, his voice rumbling out like a death sentence.

    A crimson slender bone shed like a sharp de.

    Countless translucent and sparkling Bloodline Crystal Chains within the crimson bone instantly activated a bloodline talent that was unique to Star Behemoths.

    The illusory shadow of an incrediblyrge beast that was enveloped in a thick blood-colored aura seemed to catch the entire Realm of Jade Billows in its monstrous w.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless rays of blood-colored light that carried profound realm-carving magicalws were also inflicted upon the Realm of Jade Billows.

    The realm was carved by numerous forks and knives like a huge cake.

    Finally, the Realm of Jade Billows fell apart!

    Of those who had chosen to stay in the Realm of Jade Billows, many with low cultivation bases, were annihted by the raging, twisting, and ripping power, failing to even secure a wisp of their souls.

    Some Saint domain experts managed to escape death by morphing into streaks of light and dashing away as the realm fell apart.

    However, due to the loss of the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons, the twenty-four inds of the Jade Heaven Sect failed to manifest any noticeable defensive power before they were smashed by the plummeting burning streaks.

    Immediately afterwards, the entire realm exploded.

    This realm, which was known throughout the human world for its rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth andrgework of clear rivers andkes, blew up under every observer¡¯s gaze.

    Somerge pieces of the shattered Realm of Jade Billows were pushed by the explosion and became glorious shooting stars that flew off to unknown ces.

    Some small fragments were reduced to dust and floating impurities by the explosion .

    Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, and many other Qi warriors that hade from various domains were deep in shock. They all backed away subconsciously to keep a safe distance from Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere.

    ¡°The Realm of Jade Billows was a blessednd for many cultivators. Who would have thought that a realm like it would be so easily destroyed?¡±

    ¡°Even if the Jade Heaven Sect manages to defeat Nie Tian and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce eventually, they¡¯ve lost their foundation. It won¡¯t count as a win, right?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s name as a star of cmities is well-deserved!¡±

    At the same time, they realized that they couldn¡¯t ever have any conflicts with Nie Tian, this star of cmities.

    None of their sects or ns were as powerful as the Jade Heaven Sect.

    Nie Tian was capable of destroying the Realm of Jade Billows with his peculiar energy field right in front of Song Chequan. What wouldn¡¯t he do?

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the Realm of Jade Billows exploded, Xin Qing and Han Wanrong on the starship were protected by the Heaven-purging Divine Light, and thus survived Song Chequan¡¯s fatal attack.

    The spell formations and chains that had shackled the starship and bound Xin Qing and Han Wanrong were shattered by the Heaven-purging Divine Light.

    Pulled by Yu Suying¡¯s divine power, the starship moved away from Song Chequan.

    FZZZ!

    Together, glorious light from the Heavenbreaker, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s blood aura shield, and Xie Qian¡¯s defensive spell stopped the sparkling crystal-clear streams Song Chequan had cast at Dong Li.

    She was unscathed.

    Song Chequan, who was floating above a deep sea in his dharma idol form, jerked his head towards the shattered Realm of Jade Billows and went nk, as if he couldn¡¯t ept what had happened. ¡°The Realm of Jade Billows, my realm...¡±

    Just a moment ago, he hadunched killing attacks against Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and Dong Li at the same time.

    To seed, he had had to get through Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, Jing Feiyang, and Yu Suying. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t afford to distract himself with Nie Tian¡¯s violent maic field. He could only let it ram into the realm barrier of the Realm of Jade Billows.

    He had assumed that the spell formations, magical talismans, and spells that generations of God domain experts from the Jade Heaven Sect had fused into the realm barrier would allow it to hold on for a while.

    As long as he was given enough time, he would be able to first kill Dong Li, Xin Qing, and Han Wanrong, and then finish Nie Tian off.

    However, he had overestimated the protective realm barrier of the Realm of Jade Billows, and underestimated Nie Tian¡¯s power!

    Due to his misjudgment, he had to watch the Realm of Jade Billows explode before his eyes. Bitter remorse overtook him like torrential waves.

    Song Chequan seemed to lose his mind.

    ¡°ckwater Pearl! Heaven-engulfing Jade Waves Incantations!¡±

    His dharma idol expanded at an rming rate, as many rivers andkes from therge pieces of the shattered Realm of Jade Billows were channeled, and rapidly fused into him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Sounds of torrential waves came from Song Chequan¡¯s dharma idol.

    As he made a beckoning move with his hand, the ckwater Pearl that had sealed Mo Qianfan morphed into a pitch-ck sea that fused into the sea under his feet.

    All of a sudden, torrential waves rushed out of Song Chequan into his surroundings.

    Like roaring monsters, waves that were a thousand meters high spread in every direction, smashingrge pieces of the shattered Realm of Jade Billows and reducing them to dust.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Some Void domain observers were caught by surprise and smashed by the huge waves. Their domains burst and vanished upon contact.

    Even some Saint domain experts were hit by the huge waves. They spewed blood and fled in panic.

    ¡°Song Chequan has lost his mind!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! His attacks are indiscriminate! Everyone here is his target!¡±

    ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s get the hell away from that maniac!¡±

    All those who hadn¡¯t entered the God domain were either killed or badly wounded upon being mmed by the torrential waves that rapidly swept the whole area. The same went for the starships.

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s divine incantation!¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s expression flickered as she hastily pulled the ancient starship away from the site using a silver band.

    Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and the others also evacuated in a hurry, taking Dong Li with them.

    In moments, everyone evacuated from the area where Song Chequan had gone berserk, leaving only Nie Tian and Mo Qianfan, who was still sealed within the ckwater Pearl.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Song Chequan screamed hysterically. At this moment, his dharma idol had be more than ten thousand meters tall.

    Huge heaven-shattering waves continued to spread from his dharma idol and ravage his surroundings.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Many giant pieces from the shattered Realm of Jade Billows exploded into small fragments that fused into the torrential waves.

    The waves then turned from clear to murky, which gave them an extra sense of heaviness!

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce muttered in a low voice, her expression extremely grim, ¡°With the help of the ckwater Pearl and the Heaven-engulfing Jade Waves Incantation, he has absorbed every river andke of the shattered Realm of Jade Billows and added the crushednd to his attacks...

    ¡°But to wield such power, Song Chequan¡¯s consumption is going to be tremendous as well. The way I see it, no matter what the results are, Song Chequan will suffer severe damage. His breakthrough into the middle God domain will be pushed back at least a thousand years.¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster Yu...?¡± Xin Qing eximed softly, looking at her.

    Yu Suying shook her head slightly. ¡°Song Chequan has decided to fight to the death. I doubt the result will be positive if I step in now. We¡¯d better observe for a bit longer.¡±

    She didn¡¯t think she would be able to match Song Chequan, who was surrounded by a favorable environment and had fully stimted his divine tool, in battle.

    She didn¡¯t want to take too great of a risk.

    ¡°Is Nie Tian going to be okay?¡± Han Wanrong asked anxiously.

    Yu Suying fixed her eyes on Nie Tian and said, ¡°Even though that glowing sphere around him isn¡¯t the domain of a God domain expert, its raging, twisting, and ripping power might make it even more destructive than one. It¡¯s just that he can¡¯t form and cancel it freely yet.

    ¡°Perhaps he won¡¯t be able to form it again after he cancels it. The energies in that maic field were first channeled from unknown parts of the starry river by You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong listened closely, but still didn¡¯t really understand what she was saying.

    ¡°Let me put it this way,¡± Yu Suying borated. ¡°The energies that form that peculiar violent sphere around Nie Tian isn¡¯t his domain.Those are foreign energies that even middle God domain experts like You Qimiao couldn¡¯t tame. After traveling through several domains, such energies have, in my opinion, built up to be strong enough to contend against Song Chequan¡¯s full-power domain!¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that only Nie Tian can contend against Song Chequan head-on at this moment?¡± Xin Qing asked in astonishment.

    Yu Suying nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. As you¡¯ve seen, that violent maic field of his even crushed the Realm of Jade Billows. That¡¯s something I couldn¡¯t do even if I stimted the Heaven-purging Divine Light and struck with full force.¡±

    Han Wanrong was taken aback. ¡°Nie Tian has be so mighty already?¡±

    ¡°Well, such might is only temporary, and due to abination of factors. It won¡¯tst forever.¡± Yu Suying said. ¡°However, right now, he¡¯s the only one who is strong enough to fight Song Chequan head-on.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! Nie Tian! Nie Tian!¡± Song Chequan¡¯s mad roars echoed through the entire Domain of Jade Heaven like mighty billows.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The torrential waves finally reached the outeryers of Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    From a great distance, many Void and Saint domain experts watched the mountain-high waves m into the glowing sphere. They felt that even their seas of awareness were shaken.

    Dazzling light and violent gusts that could rip souls apart shed with the power from the huge waves.

    Countless sparks and unknown fragments appeared in the glowing sphere to contend against the profound truths of water Song Chequan had vested the huge waves with.

    FZZZ!

    All of a sudden, the Star Behemoth bone that had cut up the Realm of Jade Billows shot out of the Primal Chaos, and pierced towards Song Chequan, who was pushing the mighty billows forward.

    For some reason, Song Chequan was struck by a feeling that he was locked down by a Star Behemoth. His heart quivered.

 Chapter 1284: Crazed Saint Domain Experts

    ¡°Blood Essence Seething!¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence were ignited in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, releasing immense life power that fused into the Star Behemoth bone like crimson lightning bolts.

    ¡°Life Blend!¡±

    As soon as he activated this bloodline talent, he was struck by a peculiar feeling that he had be a Star Behemoth from the Primal Era.

    HOWL!

    A spontaneous howl escaped his mouth.

    At the same time, the dozens of types of energies and auras in the maic field around him seemed to be influenced as well.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One streak of aura after another shot out of the sphere into the bone.

    In the next moment, millions of sparkling blood-colored auras came together in midair, forming a blood mist.

    Looming in the blood mist was an enormous beast that could shatter realms, tear up ancient titans, and devour ancient Demons.

    SHEW!

    The Star Behemoth bone shed across the void like a crimson shooting star.

    Disappearing with it was the enormous shadow.

    Song Chequan, the current sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect, gasped with astonishment, surrounded by a sea of torrential billows.

    Strong apprehension filled his eyes!

    WHOOSH!

    The ck sea under his feet that had merged with his domain was split in two by the Star Behemoth bone like a pond of water shed by a de.

    CRUNCH!

    Fissures seemed to appear on the ckwater Pearl that had been refined and strengthened by generations of Jade Heaven Sect sectmasters.

    Cyan lightning bolts could be seen from under the surface of the ck sea.

    ¡°Mo Qianfan!¡± Song Chequan took a deep breath and hastily formed hand seals to cast incantations.

    Numerous magical seals fell like rain. With the soft and all-pervasive feature of water power, they suppressed Mo Qianfan¡¯s rebellion, stifling his attempt to escape.

    However, Song Chequan suddenly let out a shrill cry.

    To his terror, he discovered that an enormous vague shape, which seemed to be an ancient being that preyed on all other lives, had somehow appeared in his rippling sea of awareness.

    The shape seemed illusory, as if he were imagining it.

    However, the aura it emanated was almost identical to Nie Tian¡¯s!

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible! It can¡¯t be Nie Tian!¡± Song Chequan told himself as he shook his head repeatedly, hoping to get the huge illusory shadow out of his mind to recover a clear mind.

    However, the enormous vague shape gradually grew clearer and clearer.

    ¡°A, a Star Behemoth!¡±

    The terrifying aura of a predator from the Primal Era filled Song Chequan¡¯s sea of awareness in an overwhelming manner, putting him under pressure that even he couldn¡¯t bear!

    Holding his head with both hands, Song Chequan let out agonized shrieks.

    PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! PLOP!

    The huge billows created by his incantations werergely weakened.

    Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere blossomed with dazzling light as it crushed the iing billows one after another with its raging, twisting, and ripping power.

    CRACK!

    A crisp, cracking sound came from the ck sea.

    In the next moment, Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol broke through the restriction of the ck sea and returned to the real world.

    Wreathed in countless lightning bolts, he roared furiously as he stamped on the ck sea, as if he were stamping on the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s signature divine tool: the ckwater Pearl!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Like water dragons that were stepped on by Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol, the torrential waves gradually quieted down.

    ¡°Song Chequan...¡±

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce was bbergasted, unsure of what had happened to Song Chequan.

    She only knew that something must have invaded his sea of awareness.

    Otherwise, his incantations and the ckwater Pearl¡¯s suppressing power wouldn¡¯t have beenpromised, allowing Mo Qianfan to escape.

    One mishap in his sea of awareness had cost him the whole battle!

    Neither his Heaven-engulfing Jade Waves Incantation nor his ckwater Pearl posed a great threat to Nie Tian or Mo Qianfan anymore.

    Mo Qianfan had broken free from the ck sea, while Nie Tian was on the verge of shattering his Heaven-engulfing Jade Waves Incantation with his glorious energy sphere.

    At this moment, seeing Song Chequan holding his head in pain, several Saint domain disciples of the Jade Heaven Sect, who had escaped before the explosion the Realm of Jade Billows, eximed, ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    Scarlet blood ran down Song Chequan¡¯s nostrils.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± Another man called out. ¡°Our headquarters is gone. The Realm of Jade Billows is destroyed. You don¡¯t have a reason to fight to the death anymore!¡±

    Song Chequan shuddered violently.

    Awakened by these words, he seemed to finally see the hard truth. Intense grief filled his eyes.

    WHOOSH!

    His dharma idol suddenly merged with the ck sea and the ckwater Pearl.

    After morphing into a pitch-ck river, it absorbed the surviving Jade Heaven Sect Qi warriors and shot into the distance like a ck bolt of lightning.

    FZZZ!

    In the blink of an eye, the ck bolt of lightning scraped the starry river and vanished into the distance.

    After a moment of hesitation, Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, the two God domain experts, flew after him.

    However, the two of them returned momentster.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Mo Qianfan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Song Chequan seems to have left the Domain of Jade Heaven through a spatial rift. When we got there, we only saw a healing spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°Hong Minghui from the Void Spirit Society!¡± Dong Li eximed, looking exasperated.

    Mo Qianfan nodded. ¡°It was probably him.¡±

    SHEW!

    Only now did the Star Behemoth bone fly back to Nie Tian.

    At the heart of the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian opened his eyes to watch it return with a strange look in his eyes.

    Qi warriors that were as powerful as Yu Suying could see Nie Tian through all of the glowingyers.

    Looking at him at this moment, they had a strong peculiar feeling that even though he was in human form, he and that Star Behemoth bone seemed to be an integral whole.

    They didn¡¯t know it was the magical effect of the Life Blend bloodline talent. They only couldn¡¯t help but feel that Nie Tian was a Star Behemoth in human form!

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that his bloodline came from a Star Behemoth?¡± A crazy idea was put forth by someone in the crowd.

    Even the man who came up with it was scared by it, and shook his head immediately afterwards.

    ¡°No way! It¡¯s impossible! Star Behemoths can¡¯t mix blood with humans! Hybrids can¡¯t carry Star Behemoth bloodlines!

    ¡°Star Behemoths died out a long time ago!

    ¡°I was thinking far too wildly. However, why could Nie Tian use that Star Behemoth bone so freely, and even activate Star Behemoth bloodline talents?¡±

    Confusion and astonishment filled everyone¡¯s minds.

    Only after a long while did Zhang Qiling ask in a broken sentence, ¡°D, did Song Chequan escape just like that?¡±

    Loud mors then burst through the Void and Saint domain experts and their ancient starships.

    ¡°The Realm of Jade Billows was shattered, and Song Chequan escaped during the battle!¡±

    At this moment, Xin Qing and Han Wanrong finally broke free from Song Chequan¡¯s restrictive spells on that starship, and were able to fly through the starry river again.

    After the two of them rushed to the glowing sphere in high spirits, Han Wanrong said aloud, ¡°Nie Tian! Elder Zu Guangyao derived profound enlightenment about the zing sun while Song Chequan was escorting us back here. At this moment, he¡¯s absorbing the sun¡¯s divine light and attempting to break through into the God domain!¡±

    Xin Qing¡¯s eyes that were chilly like the moon shone with hope and excitement. ¡°Nie Tian, you were able to help Sectmaster Mo break through into the God domain. Can you help Elder Zu Guangyao as well?¡±

    The two of them went on and briefly exined what had happened after their parting in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Thanks to their description, Nie Tian realized why Song Chequan hadn¡¯t shown up at the first moment after he had killed Song Haiqing and Feng Jieling. The truth was that he had been busy preventing Zu Guangyao from breaking through into the God domain.

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong¡¯s words ignited the crowd. Everyone had crazed look in their eyes as they looked at Nie Tian, as if they were looking at a rising true god!

    ¡°Help Zu Guangyao enter the God domain?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the rumors are actually true? Can this Son of the Stars really better the odds of Saint domain cultivators entering the God domain?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s not true, how did Mo Qianfan manage to enter the God domain?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s not the case, why would patriarch Yin Xingtian follow him for this long?¡±

    ¡°Do you think the two of them and Yu Suying are fools?¡±

    Late Saint domain experts took up arge part of those present.

    If there were no mishaps, all of them would either die at their current level or die trying to make the breakthrough into the God domain.

    Normally speaking, only one or two out of a thousandte Saint domain experts could break through into the God domain.

    Now, after realizing that someone could greatly improve their chances at entering the God domain, how could they not be crazed?

 Chapter 1285: A Disservice?

    In the starry river in the south.

    A zing sun released light and heat. A figure was gradually growing taller and taller, condensing into a dharma idol.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    True sunme washed its body. mes poured down like rain, fusing into the dharma idol.

    But the process of the dharma idol getting stronger was still far too slow.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Figures that were enveloped in domains or in dharma idol form came from all directions.

    Zu Guangyao, who was still cultivatingboriously in the depths of the hot sun and strengthening his true sunme little by little, suddenly opened his eyes as his divine sense was released like tidewater.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The divine radiance of the sun spread and swept across the surrounding sea of stars.

    ¡°Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, Yu Suying...¡±

    When his divine sense picked up the approaching figures, Zu Guangyao became more and more frightened. His dharma idol, which was gradually bing stronger, shook to manifest his turbulent mood.

    ¡°Were they all invited by the Jade Heaven Sect?¡±

    Soon after Song Chequan had left, Zu Guangyao had been relieved, and wanted to take the opportunity to advance to the God domain. He knew that he had to stabilize his cultivation before Song Chequan returned.

    He knew, of course, how difficult that would be.

    Breaking through to the God domain often required a lot of help.

    Only with enough rare materials and umtion for ten thousand years would one earn a low chance to break through into the God domain.

    Even though he had derived exquisite incantations and happened to encounter a zing sun, his attempt to make this breakthrough was forced.

    Besides, when he had first tried to advance to the early God domain, he had been suppressed by Song Chequan again and again, which had brought big troubles to his breakthrough from the very beginning.

    Now Song Chequan was gone, but the problem could not be solved immediately, and he was not sure when Song Chequan would return.

    In addition, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and the ancient starship that they were on had also been taken away by Song Chequan, their fate unknown.

    Suddenly, a swarm of Saint domain experts flew towards him. Zu Guangyao immediately assumed that Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect had asked them toe kill him.

    ¡°Are these people here to kill me at such a sensitive time?¡± Zu Guangyao thought with a bitter smile.

    ¡°Guangyao!¡±

    Suddenly, Xin Qing¡¯s loud voice echoed out from the edge of a gorgeous glowing sphere.

    Zu Guangyao froze. He took a closer look, and saw Xin Qing and Han Wanrong happily emerging from the distance.

    Mo Qianfan and Yin Xingtian of the Streamcloud Sword Sect were next to them.

    Nie Tian, who was enveloped in glowing turbulent energy, was in the depths of the Primal Chaos. Therefore, Zu Guangyao didn¡¯t see him at the first moment.

    WHOOSH!

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong, who had been carried by Yin Xingtian and Mo Qianfan due to the fact that they were still recovering from their ordeal, overtook the Saint domain experts, and approached the burning sun.

    As they did, all the Saint domain experts made way for them.

    ¡°Are you, all right?¡± Zu Guangyao asked disjointedly. As soon as he spoke, the speed at which his dharma idol grew in the zing sun slowed down.

    ¡°Guangyao! Don¡¯t open your mouth to speak, just continue with your breakthrough and listen to me.¡± Xin Qing hurriedly exined, ¡°We are safe now! Everyone is okay. Nie Tian started his journey from the Domain of Heaven Python, passed the Domain of Spiritual Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh...¡±

    Han Wanrong also helped exin what had happened.

    The two enumerated Nie Tian¡¯s astonishing feats.

    Listening to their words, Zu Guangyao felt very excited, and his restless heart instantly rxed.

    ¡°Nie Tian is here to help you break through to the God domain!¡± Xin Qing said in the end.

    ¡°Help me break through to the God domain?¡± Zu Guangyao was very surprised. ¡°The breakthrough isn¡¯t as easy as you think. I...¡±

    It was very hard for him to believe that.

    WHOOSH!

    Wrapped in the glowing sphere, Nie Tian flew slowly toward the sun, making all the Saint domain experts naturally shy away.

    The maic field full of turbulent, tearing and twisting forces finally stopped.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The light and heat emitted by the zing sun were somehow attracted by the maic field surrounding Nie Tian. Both its heat energy and true sunme were dragged away from the sun.

    Zu Guangyao eximed in shock, ¡°This is clearly not helping!¡±

    The loss of heat energy and true sunme made the condensation of his dharma idol be slower than before.

    Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect had previously made desperate attempts to stop him and dy the condensation of his dharma idol, but he wasn¡¯t as efficient as what Nie Tian was doing now.

    In an instant, Zu Guangyao panicked.

    ¡°Er...¡±

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong, as well as Yu Suying and the other experts, all felt there was something wrong. Their eyes looked surprised.

    ¡°What is Nie Tian doing?¡± Zhang Qiling shook his head, very puzzled. ¡°His maic field is absorbing power from the river of stars and all the foreign forces. The sun¡¯s heat energy and me are clearly being absorbed by it too!¡±

    ¡°Zu Guangyao¡¯s breakthrough to the God domain depends on the torrential mes of the sun!¡± Li Wanfa shouted.

    ¡°Nie Tian is clearly doing him a disservice!¡± Someone whispered. ¡°Since he made a mess like that, he¡¯ll probably ruin Zu Guangyao¡¯s advance!¡±

    Many people from other domains distorted reality. ¡°The rumor is unreliable as expected! Like I said, how can a mere Son of the Stars help Mo Qianfan break through to the God domain?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s likely because Mo Qianfan is thankful for Mo Heng¡¯s favor. After he broke through luckily, he gave the credit to Nie Tian, deliberately making patriarchs like Yin Xingtian misunderstand.¡±

    ¡°Right! Mo Qianfan wanted to return Mo Heng¡¯s favor, so he said it was because of Nie Tian that he broke through to the God domain!¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yin has been stuck at his current cultivation for many years, so he was misled into doing things for Nie Tian...¡±

    Even Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce frowned slightly as she was a little confused about the facts.

    She had seen all Nie Tian do all kinds of amazing things with her own eyes, but she hadn¡¯t seen Mo Qianfan¡¯s breakthrough to the God domain. She had just heard about it through hearsay.

    It was because she had great hopes for Nie Tian that she had spared no effort to help him, and directly fought the Jade Heaven Sect.

    But now, it was clear that Nie Tian came with the weird maic field to destroy Zu Guangyao¡¯s breakthrough. How could he be of any help?

    If Nie Tian had only this kind of talent, would he be able to help her junior martial sister Han Qing?

    She had bet the future of the Profound Purity Pce on Nie Tian, and even be enemies of the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. Had she been too impulsive and unreasonable?

    ¡°A zing sun, its mes and the heat energy...¡±

    In the Primal Chaos, Nie Tian narrowed his eyes, carefullyprehended and sensed the changes of the fire domain around him, watching the subtle movements of the me spark.

    The me spark and his fire domain were now absorbing the recently-acquired heat energy and true sunme from the outer parts of the turbulent maic field.

    ¡°My fire domain can channel every bit of me power there is in the outeryers.¡±

    While thinking, he moved his body and began to stay away from the zing sun and keep his distance from Zu Guangyao.

    In the sun, Zu Guangyao immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said with a wry smile, ¡°Nie Tian, don¡¯t... don¡¯t get too close to me. The energy sphere around you is too terrifying.¡±

    He clearly wanted to refuse Nie Tian¡¯s ¡®help¡¯.

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong were very embarrassed to hear that.

    They had persuaded Nie Tian and insisted on himing to help Zu Guangyao break through into the God domain, but they ended up putting him in a more passive and dangerous situation.

    They both felt sorry for Zu Guangyao.

    ¡°The key to the breakthrough lies in the change of the domain, and the creation of the dharma idol. What does Zu Guangyaock? True sunme? Heat energy?¡±

    Nie Tian pondered, wisps of divine sense flying in his fire domain.

 Chapter 1286: Making Another God Domain Expert

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s sessful breakthrough into the God domain had relied on a Profound Truths Crystal that had been refined from the heart of a Thunder-devouring Whale.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have such a treasure for Zu Guangyao.

    Having been persuaded by Xin Qing and the others, he had simply intended to go check on Zu Guangyao.

    In fact, he didn¡¯t think that he would actually be able to help him enter the God domain.

    However, at this moment, he started to notice the strange looks in the eyes of the Void and Saint domain experts as they looked at him.

    All of a sudden, Mo Qianfan¡¯s voice morphed into invisible lightning wisps that echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s ears. ¡°The breakthrough into the God domain is about forging the dharma idol, which requires not only enough umtion of power, but also a profound understanding of powers.¡±

    Mo Qianfan started to share what he had learned from his breakthrough into the God domain.

    ¡°The thunder pools I gathered with my sect¡¯s spell formation provided me with help when I tried to forge my dharma idol. However, they weren¡¯t the real reason why I seeded. It was that wondrous crystal refined from the heart of a Thunder-devouring Whale!

    ¡°That crystal carried the bloodline wonders of a tenth grade Thunder-devouring Whale, which perfectly agreed with the essence of the lightning incantations I practice.

    ¡°The Bloodline Crystal Chains it contained allowed me to derive brand new understandings of the profundity of lightning power, which then allowed me to forge my dharma idol sessfully.

    ¡°Therefore, other than umting more true sunme, Zu Guangyao also needs toe to a deeper understanding about the incantations he practices...¡±

    Mo Qianfan went on and exined the key factors of his sessful breakthrough into the God domain in detail.

    While others doubted the role Nie Tian had yed in his breakthrough into the God domain, he knew perfectly well that if it weren¡¯t for that Profound Truths Crystal Nie Tian had given him, he couldn¡¯t possibly have forged his dharma idol on his own.

    It was just a question of whether Nie Tian had a Profound Truths Crystal for Zu Guangyao.

    He wasn¡¯t sure about it.

    ¡°On the one hand, he needs a profound umtion of sun power. On the other, he needs a deep understanding of his incantations...¡± Nie Tian pondered. ¡°The breakthroughs into the Void, Saint, and God domain are difficult in their own ways. However, the breakthrough into the God domain is the most difficult.

    ¡°There¡¯s me power and true sunme in the outeryers of this maic field around me. Can I...?¡±

    As soon as this thought entered his mind, streaks of mes were channeled by Primal Chaos and shot out of the glowing sphere.

    Each and every one of them dragged long tails that were filled with dazzling red sparks.

    He had started his journey in the Domain of Heaven Python and traveled all the way to the Domain of Jade Heaven. During this time, he had encountered several suns, and absorbed arge amount of sunme from them.

    Such power had already be a part of the maic field. Unceasing refinement had made it purer than ever.

    At this moment, streak after streak of it flew from the maic field towards the zing sun.

    Many in the crowd eximed in shock.

    ¡°Such pure sun auras!¡±

    ¡°The most Yang and fierce me power from suns!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe how intense that me power is! How on earth did this Son of the Stars gather it? Such terrifying power can easily annihte Void domain experts!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One streak of mes after another found and bombarded Zu Guangyao¡¯s slowly-forming dharma idol with great precision.

    ¡°This feels amazing!¡± Zu Guangyao let out a soothed exmation.

    As his dharma idol grew taller and taller, a splendid halo quietly came to form behind his head.

    Like the halo of a sun, it emanated zing divine light.

    Someone spotted the change. The light of excitement burst from his eyes as he cried out, ¡°The speed at which he¡¯s forging his dharma idol is greatly improved! Those streaks of me that flew from Nie Tian¡¯s maic field have elerated his umtion of me power severalfold!¡±

    The observers shared their various opinions as well.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Nie Tian¡¯s actually helping Zu Guangyao!¡±

    ¡°Humph! The forging of dharma idol isn¡¯t just about umting spiritual power. One has to have a profound understanding of the power he practices as well!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! Zu Guangyao can¡¯t possibly make his breakthrough so easily!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    An orange-red me spark left Nie Tian¡¯s fire domain and floated ethereally towards the zing sun.

    As soon as it did, the expression of every Void and Saint domain Qi warrior that practiced fire incantations flickered with astonishment.

    For some reason, the small, seemingly-insignificant me spark was causing a strong reaction in their domains!

    It seemed that as long as it wanted to, it could channel me power from their domains by force!

    The Void and Saint domain Qi warriors who practiced fire incantations burst into a loud mor.

    ¡°Howe that me spark gives me a terrifying feeling like it¡¯s the origin of all mes?¡±

    ¡°Strange! As soon as it flew out, I felt a strong sense of fear, as if it could easily take control of my domain!¡±

    ¡°You have that feeling too?¡±

    Subconsciously, they fixed their eyes on the me spark while quietly moving away from it.

    The orange-red me spark came to a stop in the zing light of the sun and started to release waves of peculiar fluctuations, as if it had its own awareness.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Sparkling, ming strings appeared one after another in the sun, which was emanating fierce light and heat.

    Those cultivators who practiced fire incantations were bbergasted as they saw heavenme crystal strings appear in the zing sun, as if they were witnessing a miracle.

    ¡°Heavenme crystal strings!¡±

    ¡°That me spark is helping extract heavenme crystal strings from that sun!¡±

    ¡°While earthme crystal strings are formed when the boiling core of a realm condenses into me power essence, heavenme crystal strings are a condensation of me power in the core of a sun.¡±

    ¡°They carry the profound truths of earthme and heavenme!¡±

    ¡°Only those who practice me power and have reached the God domain have the ability to extract a few heavenme crystal strings from a burning sun, fuse them into themselves, and derive enlightenment from them!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the story with that me spark?¡±

    There were experts in this world who had the ability to extract heavenme crystal strings from suns.

    However, all of them were peak God domain experts like Shao Tianyang from the fire element sect, or tenth grade me dragons like the high chieftain of the me dragons.

    How did such a tiny me spark gain the ability to do that?

    BZZZ!

    Heavenme crystal strings that were branded with the profound truths of sunme fused into Zu Guangyao¡¯s dharma idol one after another.

    As soon as this happened, his slowly-expanding dharma idol seemed to be vested with meridians made of me power, as it immediately became more alive than ever.

    ¡°True sunme, divine light of the zing sun, rotation of the sun...¡±

    Fiery divine symbols surfaced one after another in the depths of Zu Guangyao¡¯s dharma idol¡¯s gigantic eyes. The parts of his incantations he had had trouble understanding before seemed to suddenly solve themselves at this moment.

    His dharma idol immediately experienced changes!

    It condensed into a zing crimson sun in a sh.

    However, it morphed into a wheel of raging mes in the next moment.

    Then, in the blink of an eye, it scattered into billions of fiery talismans, each of which was branded with Zu Guangyao¡¯s divine will and lifetime understanding of fire incantations.

    All of the Void and Saint domain experts that had traveled great distances to this ce from various domains couldn¡¯t help but cry out, staring at Zu Guangyao¡¯s transformed dharma idol with wide eyes.

    ¡°Transformation! His dharma idol has transformed!¡±

    ¡°The infinite transformation of dharma idol marks the sess in one¡¯s dharma idol-forging! Is Zu Guangyao actually going to be a second expert after Mo Qianfan who has advanced to the God domain recently?¡±

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t see it wrong, the me spark that helped extract heavenme crystal strings came from Nie Tian¡¯s forming fire domain!¡±

    ¡°I saw that too!¡±

    ¡°Did both Mo Qianfan and Zu Guangyao enter the God domain recently with Nie Tian¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°We just saw it with our own eyes. How can there be any falsehood to it?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Yin Xingtian took a deep breath, secretly clenching his fists. His eyes burst forth with the light of hope.

    Yu Suying finally rxed. ¡°It seems I was right about his abilities. I didn¡¯t make a mistake by cing my bet on him rather than the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society.¡±

    ¡°A God domain expert has been made!¡±

    ¡°He just helped make a God domain expert!¡±

    ¡°If people say it was an ident with Mo Qianfan, can this be another ident?¡±

    ¡°How hard is it for ate Saint domain cultivator to break through into the God domain? How high is the mortality rate? He managed to help twote Saint domain cultivators enter the God domain with two consecutive attempts. Who can do such a thing?¡±

    ¡°So what if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is destroyed in this crisis, as long as he survives?¡±

 Chapter 1287: Lighting up the Starry River

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Zu Guangyao¡¯s heartyughter resounded through the starry river.

    In one moment, theughter came from a sun transformed from his dharma idol. In another, it came from a zing wheel. Then, it came from countless crimson fiery symbols that filled the void.

    His dharma idol transformed infinitely in the area where the sun continued to ze.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he actually seeded!¡± Xin Qing looked bewildered, as if she found what she had just seen unreal.

    Even though she had implored Nie Tian to help Zu Guangyao with his breakthrough, she hadn¡¯t ced much hope in it.

    As an elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, of course she knew how hard it was to enter the God domain.

    What about helping make God domain experts?

    From the day human Qi warriors had been born ande up with the method of dividing cultivation bases, who had dared to say that he or she could help others enter the God domain?

    Throughout human history, there hadn¡¯t been a single cultivator who had guaranteed his or her ability to help others enter the God domain.

    Nie Tian, however, had first seeded with Mo Qianfan, and now again with Zu Guangyao.

    The making of these two God domain experts were inseparable from Nie Tian¡¯s efforts. It was fair to say that he had yed a crucial role in both their breakthroughs into the God domain.

    It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that he was their maker.

    Zu Guangyaoughed heartily once again. ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    His dharma idol suddenly scattered into billions of golden divine symbols that flew towards the zing sun like a rainstorm.

    Everyone sensed that the sun grew dim as soon as those divine symbols flew into it. Even its true sunme burned less intensively.

    ¡°Zu Guangyao is absorbing the sun¡¯s light with his divine power!

    ¡°He fused his divine will into his divine power, and split it into countless divine symbols. Each and every one of them is like a doppelg?nger of his, which are now drawing pure sunme from every inch of that sun!

    ¡°We can say that Zu Guangyao has officially entered the God domain.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. All that¡¯s left to do is stabilize his cultivation base.¡±

    The observers from different domains examined the sun with their soul awareness, and discovered that Zu Guangyao¡¯s aura had covered every part of it.

    It was as if he had spread himself into a shield that enveloped that sun, and slowly absorbed its power.

    Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa, both of whom were at thete Saint domain, took the initiative to fly to Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere, looking thrilled. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Not daring to make any contact with the outeryers of the violent glowing sphere, they looked at him through the multicolored energyyers with disturbingly wide eyes.

    Their eyes shone with light so sharp that it seemed as if they were going to swallow Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and summoned the me spark back with his soul will. Only after it returned to his fire domain did he ask slowly, ¡°Why are you looking at me like this?¡±

    Zhang Qiling bowed and said with a sincere tone, ¡°We were shortsighted. We had doubts about you when we were in the Domain of Primal Yang. That was because we weren¡¯t there to witness Sectmaster Mo¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain. We only heard about it. But this time, we personally witnessed Brother Zu¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain. We don¡¯t have even the slightest doubt about you anymore!¡±

    Li Wanfa also bowed and said in a straightforward manner, ¡°As long as you promise to give us help when we make our attempts to break through into the God domain, no matter the result, we¡¯ll be willing to help you fight the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Xin Qing and Han Wanrong, who were elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, gasped with shock.

    ¡°Li Wanfa! Zhang Qiling!¡± The crowd of Void and Saint domain experts who had traveled countless kilometers from various domains burst into a loud mor after hearing what they said.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Sect and n leaders that could determine the future direction of their sects and ns with a single word morphed into streaks of colorful light that dashed over to gather around Nie Tian¡¯s glowing sphere.

    One, two, three...

    A total of sixty Saint domain experts from different domains were soon gathered around Nie Tian!

    A dozen of them were at thete Saint domain, with the rest at the early and middle Saint domain. They all represented different domains and cultivator forces.

    Not one of them was foolish. After Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa had made an example for them, these Saint domain experts swarmed over to fix Nie Tian with zing gazes and made simr proposals.

    ¡°Nie Tian! As long as you promise to help me when I attempt to advance to the God domain, I¡¯ll give you my word now that my sect will go all-out to assist you!¡±

    ¡°The same goes for me! As long as you agree to help me, no matter what the result, I¡¯ll promise to help you fight the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society, and eliminate the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s residual evil!¡±

    ¡°Please consider my proposal, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Nie Tian was dumbfounded. Looking at the anticipating and excited faces, he was suddenly at a loss for words.

    With aplicated look in her eyes, Han Wanrong whispered to Xin Qing, ¡°Even if our sect fell under the joint attack of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society, as long as Nie Tian survived, we¡¯d still have a chance to rise to prominence again. All of those sect and n leaders are at the Saint domain. Some are evente Saint domain experts.

    ¡°Like Yin Xingtian¡¯s Streamcloud Sword Sect, all of their sects and ns are independent from the four great sects. They don¡¯t answer the summons of any other sect.

    ¡°But now, look how excited and eager they are after confirming that Nie Tian actually helped Mo Qianfan and Zu Guangyao break through into the God domain.

    ¡°If Nie Tian can gather them by his side and help them enter the God domain, then...¡±

    Xin Qing¡¯s tender body shook slightly as she chimed in, ¡°If Nie Tian can really do that, even if our sect is gone, he¡¯ll be able to rece it. Not only will his power soon rise above that of our sect, but it will also soon rise above that of the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion as well!¡±

    Han Wanrong let out a long sigh. ¡°This is unbelievable...¡±

    Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Dong Li, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang were all pushed to farther locations by the crazed Saint domain experts.

    They exchanged nces and smiled bitterly.

    Shortly afterwards, Yu Suying said, ¡°This rising star brings both cmities and fortune. It doesn¡¯t matter whether he¡¯s a star of cmities or a star of fortune, he¡¯ll shine bright enough to light up the entire starry river!¡±

    ¡°It seems to me that as long as Nie Tian epts their offers, whether he means it or not, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s crisis will be easily solved,¡± Yin Xingtian said.

    If dozens of Saint domain experts joined Nie Tian¡¯s service after he simply nodded his head, would the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the half-dead Jade Heaven Sect still dare to carry out their evil n?

    Those Saint domain experts represented numerous powerful independent sects and ns like the Heavenly Spirit Sect and the Ancient Law Sect.

    Of course they couldn¡¯t threaten the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect individually, but what if they joined hands?

    If there were no mishaps, this joint force would be strong enough to impose fear on the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society, or even cause them to give up on the idea of overthrowing the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and Jing Feiyang, all of whom were Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates, eximed softly, ¡°God domain!¡±

    Nie Tian was able to help Mo Qianfan and Zu Guangyao break through into the God domain. What about them?

    ¡°The power to make God domain experts!¡± Mixed emotions rose in Yu Suying¡¯s heart. ¡°There are dozens of zealous Saint domain cultivators. Even if Nie Tian helped only a small portion of them enter the God domain, the situation of the human world and even the entire starry river might change because of it.

    ¡°The Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect may be able to challenge Nie Tian now, but what about in the future?

    ¡°If he can help Saint domain cultivators enter the God domain, perhaps he can help early God domain cultivators advance to the middle God domain as well. He may even have the ability to help middle God domain cultivators reach the peak, thete God domain!

    ¡°Such a character is bound to change thendscape of the starry river in the future. I bet even Qu Yi and Chu Yuan would be shocked if they learned about his divine ability.¡±

    Yu Suying was lost in myriad thoughts, convinced that the future of humanity would experience significant changes because of Nie Tian¡¯s appearance.

    None of them thought that what Nie Tian had helped Mo Qianfan and Zu Guangyao achieve were idents anymore. They all believed they were inevitable results now.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s resonant voice came from the heart of the Primal Chaos. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll be able to help you enter the God domain! Many factors contributed to me being able to help Sectmaster Mo and Elder Zu of my sect break through into the God domain. As for you, I can¡¯t promise anything. Plus, I don¡¯t need you to suddenly express your goodwill to me now!¡±

    Xin Qing and Han Wanrong¡¯s faces dropped as soon as they heard these words.

 Chapter 1288: Letdown

    ¡°That reckless kid!¡± Han Wanrong couldn¡¯t help but mutter a curse.

    Fixing him with an exasperated stare, she attempted to change his mind by sending him a wisp of her soul will.

    POOPH!

    However, as soon as that wisp of her soul will made contact with the glowing sphere, it was torn to shreds by its twisting power.

    Han Wanrong let out a muffled groan, her eyes flickering slightly. Only now did she know why the Saint domain experts who had attempted to examine him with their soul awareness had seemed so frustrated afterwards.

    Xin Qing sighed in frustration. ¡°Our sect¡¯s crisis would have ended if he had simply nodded yes!¡±

    Han Wanrong fixed Nie Tian with an angry look from afar. ¡°Exactly. Dozens of powerful sects and ns, arge number of Saint domain experts united as one... Even the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect wouldn¡¯t want to face them in battle! Not to mention that our Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang are still alive!¡±

    Xin Qing chimed in. ¡°Don¡¯t forget there¡¯s still Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Qianfan.¡±

    After a quick assessment, they were convinced that the power that was currently at Nie Tian¡¯smand, together with those Saint domain experts, would definitely bring the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to awe.

    Unfortunately, Nie Tian refused to be flexible.

    ¡°Please return to your homes.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s cold voice came from the depths of the glorious sphere. ¡°We can take care of our own problems over time. As for your breakthroughs into the God domain, you¡¯ll need to figure out other solutions. They¡¯re not my concern.¡±

    Like this, he coldly refused everyone who had yed it by ear, instead of cing their bets on him before seeing favorable odds.

    He even refused Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa, without sugarcoating his refusals at all.

    ¡°Aihh...¡±

    Zhang Qiling from the Heavenly Spirit Sect let out a deep sigh and started flying away from the glowing sphere in frustration.

    As he flew past Yin Xingtian, he stopped to say with an envious tone, ¡°Patriarch Yin, I¡¯ve got say that you have an eye for true talent. I should have asked to follow Nie Tian like you did in the Domain of Primal Yang. That way, I¡¯d have major assistance when I attempt to break through into the God domain.¡±

    Face expressionless, Yin Xingtian said, ¡°I told you so, but you didn¡¯t listen.

    At this moment, Li Wanfa flew over. He nodded and said, ¡°That was shortsighted of us. We missed the best opportunity to befriend Nie Tian. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have to be refused by him now.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand that,¡± Yin Xingtian said, his face still expressionless.

    Many Saint domain experts from various domains went on to implore Nie Tian shamelessly, hoping he would change his mind.

    ¡°Would you reconsider my offer, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°My sect has three Saint domain experts! And our reserve power is rather profound! I¡¯m sure we can provide you with the help you need.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, our domain is rich in Star Stones and Star Iron. You¡¯re a Son of the Stars. They¡¯ll be useful when you make future breakthroughs in your cultivation.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re a young man, Nie Tian. Our domain is known for our peerless, gorgeous women. Why don¡¯t youe take a look with me...?¡±

    ¡°Shameless!¡± Dong Li spat.

    ¡°Please return to your homes,¡± Nie Tian said, starting to lose his patience. ¡°I have yet to stabilize my domain. I don¡¯t want to waste my breath with you anymore.¡±

    With these words, before those people could say anything, he controlled his glorious energy sphere to slowly move away from the sun where Zu Guangyao had made his breakthrough.

    As soon as he moved, the swarm of Saint domain experts hastily backed away, fearing that the violent maic field would touch them.

    Before long, the glorious glowing sphere flew off to an empty area, where it resumed absorbing mixed energies from the dim starry river.

    Due to the condensation of his star, me, and wood domains, Nie Tian was now half way through to the Void domain.

    However, he still needed to try to draw power from his domains with his true soul and further refine his powers.

    The ability to release and withdraw one¡¯s domain freely marked the stabilization of one¡¯s cultivation base. He already knew how to release them now, but still had yet to learn to withdraw them.

    After hesitating for quite a while, Han Wanrong from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce flew over. Smiling, she appealed to the crowd of experts, ¡°Time to leave, everyone. But you know, nothing is unchangeable. Even though Nie Tian turned you down this time, perhaps he¡¯ll change his mind in the future. It¡¯ll all depend on how you treat this.¡±

    Xin Qing chimed in. ¡°Everything in this world is negotiable, as long as you have enough to bargain with!¡±

    After hearing these words, the disappointed sect and n leaders pondered briefly, and their knitted brows rxed.

    Some quick-minded expert then made Dong Li their target. Full of smiles, they approached her and said, ¡°Miss Dong, right?

    ¡°I heard that you practice dark power. There¡¯s this unique ce in my domain that has a rich dark power spirit stone reserve! If you¡¯re interested, you¡¯re most wee to visit our domain.¡±

    Dong Li was speechless.

    Many Saint domain experts lingered to y up to Dong Li and the others, hoping that they could win Nie Tian¡¯s favor through them.

    Some even came up with other ideas.

    They left in a haste only to teleport to the Realm of me Heaven and the Realm of Shattered Earth to work with Nie Donghai, Nie Qian and other members of the Nie n.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars became the busiest ces throughout the human domains.

    Members of the Nie n, the Dong n, and the Beast-controlling Sect became targets that numerous Saint domain experts made up to.

    All those who had connections to Nie Tian, no matter how remote, were given great significance. The Saint domain experts sent their subordinates and disciples to cozy up to them.

    Their strategy was to start with the little people and things, and slowly work their way up.

    Naturally, word of Nie Tian defeating Song Chequan in the Domain of Jade Heaven, destroying the Realm of Jade Billows, and helping Zu Guangyao enter the God domain traveled through the human domains at a shockingly fast speed.

    Even the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion were astounded by the news.

    Godmaker!

    This became another nickname of Nie Tian¡¯s after Star of Cmities, attracting worldwide attention to him once again.

    Disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the Realm of Fragmentary Star and its many subordinate realms were all thrilled to hear this.

    At this moment of peril, it was Nie Tian¡¯s heroic undertakings that ignited the mes of hope in their hearts, and fanned them fiercer and fiercer.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars severely injured Song Chequan and helped Elder Zu Guangyao break through into the God domain!¡±

    ¡°Even Heaven didn¡¯t want to see our sect wither and fall!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian has achieved even more than our Lord of the Stars when he was his age! Ji Cang was far less impressive than Nie Tian when he was at the Void domain!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no question as to who will be the next Lord of the Stars now!¡±

    Almost every disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce acknowledged Nie Tian¡¯s new status, and deemed that he was the only one that was fit to be the next Lord of the Stars!

    ...

    In the Realm of Heavenly Scales.

    A magnificent pce that was identical to that in the Realm of Split Void was channeling power from the stars in the heavens through its dome.

    Star power streamed down into the pce like rivers of fragmentary diamonds.

    SHEW!

    A dazzling star suddenly shot through the dome of the pce to shine blindingly high in the sky.

    Momentster, the star morphed into a streak of starlight that flew across the sky, weaving into a glorious and mysterious river of stars.

    Many Qi warriors gathered from different parts of the Realm of Heavenly Scales, cheering as they did.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Heavenly Ster Stream, a level three Immortal grade divine tool!¡±

    ¡°Our master made the breakthrough!¡±

    ¡°Our master finally broke through into the Saint domain!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The sixth Son of the Stars, Sikong Cuo slowly rose into the sky through the dome of the pce to bathe in the starlight that sprayed from the divine tool that looked like a river of stars.

    His newly-forged domain magically merged with his divine tool, the Heavenly Ster Stream. Like a neb filled with countless stars, they emanated starlight that was both pure and fierce.

    As an ethereal, ancient, and profound aura spread out from his domain, he seemed increasingly formidable.

    Having just entered the Saint domain and holding a third level Immortal grade divine tool, Sikong Cuo seemed to be in high spirits and full of vigor as he channeled streaks of starlight with casual moves of his hands. In a loud voice, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation with the sect? Anything major happen while I was in secluded cultivation?¡±

    As soon as he asked the question, he discovered that everyone cooled down from their excitement and tion.

    Everyone fell silent.

    ¡°Zou Qing!¡± Sikong Cuo shouted angrily. ¡°Speak up!¡±

    Zou Qing, who was at thete Saint domain and well-versed in lightning incantations, sagged his head and said in a low voice, ¡°The sect went through many major changes while you were in secluded cultivation. We¡¯re now in a perilous time. The sect could fall at any moment...¡±

    Bit by bit, he exined the major incidents that had happened to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce recently to Sikong Cuo.

    After he mentioned that Nie Tian had dealt a heavy blow to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, massacred enemies in the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh, severely injured Song Chequan in the Domain of Jade Heaven, destroyed the Realm of Jade Billows, and helped Zu Guangyao break through into the God domain, even Sikong Cuo fell silent.

    Hearing Nie Tian¡¯s unimaginable contributions, Zou Qing and his other subordinates rapidly cooled from the tion of Sikong Cuo breaking through into the Saint domain.

    Deep down, all of these subordinates had realized that Sikong Cuo no longer stood a chance in thepetition for the position of the Lord of the Stars.

    ¡°Even you don¡¯t think I have a chance anymore?¡± Sikong Cuo bellowed. ¡°No matter how impressive he seems, what cultivation base is he at? Void domain! He just entered the Void domain!

    ¡°And me? I¡¯ve stepped into the Saint domain! And my Heavenly Ster Stream, a level three Immortal grade divine tool, haspletely merged with my domain!

    ¡°Plus, I still have Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang¡¯s resolute support!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually think I¡¯ll lose!¡±

    As he ranted on like a madman, Zou Qing and the others remained silent. However, they contradicted him inwardly.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Heavenly Ster Stream a divine tool Nie Tian won back from the Demons by defeating Ophelia?¡±

    ¡°If Elder Mo Heng hadn¡¯t proposed that deal with Luo Wanxiang, how would the Heavenly Ster Stream have gone to you? Without it, how could you have entered the Saint domain so soon?¡±

    ¡°Times have changed. You¡¯re no longer the brightest star of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you need to wake up to the truth, and back out of thepetition against Nie Tian for the position of Lord of the Stars. Only that way will you and we have a future.¡±

    Numerous thoughts entered Zou Qing and the others¡¯ minds. However, knowing Sikong Cuo¡¯s hot temper, no one dared to give voice to them.

    ¡°Return to Fragmentary Star City with me!¡± Sikong Cuo shouted, sounding a bit hysterical. ¡°The Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect havein siege to our sect. A final battle can break out at any moment! I¡¯ll prove myself in this battle that will determine the course of this war! The future of our sect lies with me, not Nie Tian, not anyone!¡±

 Chapter 1289: The Nine Star Heavens

    The Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Streams of sparkling and crystal-clear light hovered around the realm. Numerous magicalws, spell formations, and talismans enveloped the realm, as if they were protection from gods.

    Upon a closer look, one could see that the sparkling and crystal-clear glowing streaks actually hovered around the realm on nine different levels!

    ¡°The Nine Star Heavens!¡± Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society eximed softly, a grim look filling his beautiful and feminine face.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The ancient starships from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society fired simultaneously, sting out streaks of zing energy that bombarded the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    BANG! BANG!

    The firstyer of protection, which consisted of fine star metal, somehow morphed into a god d in starry armor.

    Like a godly puppet, it swung its enormous fists to smash the iing massive energy streaks into countless bits of light that filled the void.

    Some bits of light touched the secondyer of protection, but were instantly annihted by the innumerable star talismans in it.

    The joint strike of several dozen ancient starships from the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect barely got through the First Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens.

    It failed to even breach the Second Heaven.

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect raised his hand high with a grim expression.

    The ancient starships from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect ceased fire. Looking pale and frustrated, Duan Hongwen flew over from one of the ancient starships and said in a sullen voice, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Nine Star Heavens is far too solid. We have so many starships, yet the damage of their joint strike turned out to be negligible.¡±

    You Qimiao sighed in admiration. ¡°No wonder they¡¯re a powerhouse that¡¯s ruled the human domains for eras.¡±

    ¡°Brother Shangguan, when can Sectmaster Jiang get here?¡± Duan Hongwen asked, fixing Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society with an anxious look. ¡°Perhaps only after he gets here will we find a way to break the Nine Star Heavens that¡¯s protecting the Realm of Fragmentary Star. Otherwise, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything we can do if the experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce simply hide behind their defenses.¡±

    FZZZ!

    Intense spatial fluctuations spread from one of the Shadow Society starships.

    Everyone seemed to be greatly spirited.

    However, it wasn¡¯t anyone from the Shadow Society that came from that starship. It was Song Chequan and a few Saint domain elders of the Jade Heaven Sect.

    ¡°Song Chequan!¡± Shangguan Zhi, You Qimiao, and Duan Hongwen eximed at the same time.

    Song Chequan had evacuated from the destroyed Jade Heaven Sect with the help of Hong Minghui from the Void Spirit Society. After passing through many domains, they finally arrived here. Upon the sight of Shangguan Zhi and the others, he yelled, ¡°Where¡¯s Sectmaster Jiang?¡±

    ¡°H-he¡¯lle,¡± Shangguan Zhi said in a low, diffident voice.

    Of course he had heard about the heaven-shaking changes that had happened in the Domain of Jade Heaven. However, he had deliberately concealed the fact that the Jade Heaven Sect had suffered a disastrous defeat, Song Chequan had escaped, and the Realm of Jade Billows had been destroyed.

    Because of this, very few elders of the Shadow Society knew about this recent upheaval, much less the members of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    ¡°What happened to you?¡± You Qimiao asked curiously. ¡°Nie Tian is running amuck in your domain. Instead of going back to stop him, you came here. Why?¡±

    Many Qi warriors of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect felt baffled.

    Instead of being angered, Song Chequan smiled coldly and said, ¡°Stop him? If he could be stopped, why didn¡¯t you stop him in the Domain of Heaven Python? Did I or did I not send you messages asking you toe and help defend my sect? You refused me with the excuse: Nie Tian is a junior, and doesn¡¯t deserve to be your opponent.

    ¡°Now, my realm was destroyed by that ¡®junior¡¯!

    ¡°And my sect was wiped out! The Domain of Spirit Sea, the Domain of Dark Marsh... Wherever that star of cmities went, countless people were killed!¡± Song Chequan¡¯s narration turned into snarls.

    ¡°What?!¡± You Qimiao¡¯s expression flickered drastically, and he jerked his head to fix Shangguan Zhi with a nasty stare. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us? Was the Realm of Jade Billows really destroyed by Nie Tian so easily?¡±

    Shangguan Zhi smiled bitterly. ¡°Umm, we also only received the news very recently.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Sectmaster Jiang?! If he doesn¡¯t show up anytime soon, we¡¯ll tear up our agreement too!¡± Song Chequan bellowed like a madman.

    ¡°Sorry to keep you waiting. I¡¯m here.¡± A gentle voice echoed out from within the teleportation portal in one of the Shadow Society starships.

    For some reason, Song Chequan and You Qimiao quieted down as soon as they heard that voice.

    The sectmaster of the Shadow Society took his time to walk out and calm the crowd. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nothing about our n has changed. Everything is still under control. What happened with the Jade Heaven Sect was only a small mishap. It wouldn¡¯t be a big deal even if the entire Domain of Jade Heaven had fallen, not to mention it¡¯s just the Realm of Jade Billows. We¡¯ll get many more domains from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°I only spent this long preparing because I¡¯ll shatter the Nine Star Heavens that¡¯s protecting the Realm of Fragmentary Star and tear down this mighty sect that has stood towering for countless years in one attempt.¡±

    ...

    In Fragmentary Star City.

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and Dou Tianchen all had heavy hearts as they waited in the grand hall of a majestic pce.

    SHEW!

    Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui stepped out of a teleportation portal with Wang Meijia after a bright sh of light.

    Wang Meijia was wearing a precious robe that had been vested with numerous mysterious star patterns. However, it was bereft of any radiance at this moment. Upon arriving, she sat down and closed her eyes, her aura drooping.

    Chu Rui, who had brought her back, also dropped into a seat and panted nonstop.

    With a single nce at them, Dou Tianchen realized the ordeal they must have been through. ¡°Who did you encounter, Vice Sectmaster? It seems that you suffered more injuries on your mission to rescue Junior Martial Sister Wang.¡±

    ¡°Oddly, instead of running into people from the Shadow Society, I ran into Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons,¡± Chu Rui said, bitterness filling his face.

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression instantly flickered. ¡°What?! Wasn¡¯t Grand Monarch Bloodlust badly injured by the grand elder? He hasn¡¯t shown up for a long time after his defeat. Howe he¡¯s mixed with the Shadow Society all of a sudden?¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was at the middle tenth grade, which happened to match Chu Rui¡¯s cultivation base.

    Chu Rui, however, had consumed a significant amount of his strength after being trapped in the Domain of Frigid Depths by Grand Monarch Ice Bones for a long time. During his battle against You Qimiao in the Domain of Heaven Python, he had sustained even more injuries.

    This time, when he had left to rescue Wang Meijia, who was said to have been seized by the Shadow Society, instead of encountering the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, he had run into Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s ambush. This didn¡¯t make sense.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust seemed to want to use Meijia to get something from us,¡± Chu Rui said, frowning. ¡°Perhaps he wants to retake that dark stone they lost, or it could be something else. Fortunately, I arrived in time and rescued Meijia from him.¡±

    ¡°But you sustained new injuries, didn¡¯t you?¡± Dou Tianchen asked.

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°I¡¯m in bad shape. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t even fight You Qimiao one-on-one now, much less the sectmaster of the Shadow Society.¡±

    Wei Lai let out a snort. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Our Nine Star Heavens has been blessed and strengthened by every Lord of the Stars. It won¡¯t break easily.¡±

    Yan Zhan chuckled and said, ¡°I bet you don¡¯t know, Vice Sectmaster. Nie Tian won a series of battles! Even Elder Zu Guangyao broke through into the God domain with Nie Tian¡¯s help! Once his cultivation base stabilizes, he¡¯ll be able to return to us through teleportation!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± An exmation escaped Chu Rui¡¯s mouth.

    Even Wang Meijia, who was resting with her eyes closed, snapped her eyes open upon hearing this.

    SHEW!

    At this moment, Sikong Cuo returned through a secret teleportation portal. Rushing into the grand hall, he asked, ¡°How¡¯s the situation, Vice Sectmaster, Elders?¡±

    He didn¡¯t try to mask his aura as a Saint domain expert in the slightest. Instead, he manifested the entirety of his newly-forged domain, which looked like a glorious neb.

    ¡°Saint domain! You¡¯ve broken through into the Saint domain?!¡± Fang Yuan eximed in shock.

    With a lofty smile, Sikong Cuo said, ¡°Pressure makes people advance rapidly in cultivation. Not only did I make a breakthrough myself, but my Heavenly Ster Stream also merged with my domainpletely.¡±

 Chapter 1290: Worshiped by People from Everywhere

    In the starry river, south of the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    Ancient starships of unknown origins would arrive every once in a while after sailing far and long to this region.

    While many came from different domains, many left as well. The traffic in this region was unprecedented.

    Most of those who had witnessed Nie Tian shatter the Realm of Jade Billows, destroy the Jade Heaven Sect, inflict serious injuries on Song Chequan, and help Zu Guangyao break through into the God domain, had gotten the answer they had wanted, and were thus leaving sessively.

    Those who were arriving sessively were mostly people who had heard about what had happened, and had thus traveled a great distance to worship their idols.

    On the one hand, they came to worship Zu Guangyao, who had advanced to the God domain. But more importantly, they came to worship Nie Tian, who was now known as the Star of Cmities and Godmaker.

    At first, it was mainly people from nearby advanced domains or minor human sects and ns.

    However, it wasn¡¯t very long before powerful experts from the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion arrived in groups.

    WHOOSH!

    A starship sailed past the zing sun. On it, He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion had already advanced to thete Void domain, and had been preparing for his advance to the Saint domain.

    Standing on the starship, he gazed off at the sun where Zu Guangyao was currently cultivating. After sensing in silence for a long while, he muttered, ¡°That¡¯s right. That whole sun is emanating Zu Guangyao¡¯s aura and divine power.¡±

    Ye Wenhan, who was at the early God domain and also from the Heaven Span Pavilion, sighed in admiration and said, ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seemed to be falling, but who would have thought they¡¯d present the world with another bright star? The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is indeed an ancient great sect with profound reserve power. There are always unique, brilliant stars in every generation of their Sons of the Stars.¡±

    ¡°Does Sikong Cuo count as one?¡± He Lianxiong asked.

    Ye Wenhan shook his head. ¡°He¡¯s not that outstanding. Many Sons of the Stars from past generations were more brilliant than him. Being in the same generation as Nie Tian, he was outshone from the day Nie Tian finished his path of stars and officially joined the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. After that, as Nie Tian¡¯s name is discussed by more and more people throughout the starry river, Sikong Cuo¡¯s name is almost forgotten.¡±

    He Lianxiong fell silent, turning to fix his eyes on the glorious sphere in the distance.

    Nie Tian was in it.

    After a long while, He Lianxiong said, looking puzzled, ¡°Our sect has been aware of this joint operation of the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect, but hasn¡¯t done anything about it. Why? Are we really going to watch the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce be torn apart and gobbled up by those sects?¡±

    Ye Wenhan frowned and said, ¡°Our sectmaster isn¡¯t around. Patriarch Fan takes no interest in worldly business. Who knows where he¡¯s wandered off to recently? Only those two can handle the sectmaster of the Shadow Society in battle. I don¡¯t possess such power. Besides, the Shadow Society made extremely great contributions and sacrifices to the survival of the human race. And they¡¯re on friendly terms with the other great sects as well. So...¡±

    ¡°What if Ji Cang and Mo Henge back and hold us ountable?¡± He Lianxiong asked.

    ¡°Who can be sure about the future?¡± Ye Wenhan said, feeling powerless. ¡°Right now, great changes are taking ce everywhere, giving rise to all kinds of trouble. We don¡¯t even know if our sect can survive this perilous time. Not only do we not have the energy to mind other sects¡¯ business, but it¡¯s also an unwise thing to do.¡±

    ...

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan and several Saint domain experts from the Five Elements Sect flew out of their ancient starships, and stopped in a ce close to the glorious sphere.

    ¡°Godmaker!¡± Ruan Qingliu eximed softly, her eyes glittering with aspiration.

    Since she had been stuck at thete Saint domain for many years, her aspiration was understandable.

    Huang Jinnan sighed in admiration. ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect Nie Tian to give us another great surprise like this. I thought he would find a secluded location to forge his domain after we parted ways in the Domain of Heaven Python. Who would have thought that he¡¯d make such a great stir with his breakthrough into the Void domain? He almost wiped out the entire Jade Heaven Sect single-handedly.¡±

    Lou Hongyan took a deep look at the glowing sphere and said, ¡°Nie Tian has already grown into a powerhouse. Even if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce falls, he¡¯ll be able to rise to the peak step by step from its ruins. As long as he doesn¡¯t die prematurely, he¡¯ll be bound to take Ji Cang¡¯s ce and rebuild the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡±

    Hou Chn smiled and said, ¡°As long as he¡¯s alive, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce won¡¯t fall in the first ce!¡±

    After pondering for a while, Huang Jinnan said, ¡°Given the current situation, I think it¡¯s necessary that we reconsider our position in this. How about we make another effort and see if we can change our sect elders¡¯ minds about staying out of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s what we should do.¡± Hou Chn agreed.

    ...

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open.

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society flew through it and arrived in a ce not far from the glowing sphere, along with Qi Lianshan and several other elders of the Void Spirit Society.

    This was the ce where Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, Xie Qian, and Master Blood Spirit were gathered.

    Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan sensed his aura the moment he arrived, their expressions flickering. ¡°Ji Yuanquan?!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan lifted his hands. ¡°Don¡¯t get us wrong!¡±

    Then, he flew into their midst, and exined in a low voice, ¡°I have nothing to do with the decisions Hong Minghui and Vice Sectmaster Xuan Guangyu made!¡±

    With these words, he fixed his eyes on the glowing sphere around Nie Tian, and sensed it with rapt attention.

    Dong Li pursed her lips into a smile. ¡°I also suspected Mr. Ji had nothing to do with that. As far as I know, Pei Qiqi has Mr. Ji¡¯s firm support. Nothing will change that.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan smiled wryly and said, ¡°Miss Pei is in secluded cultivation. She doesn¡¯t know what¡¯s happening in the outside world. Also, since our sectmaster is away on a trip, our vice sectmaster, Xuan Guangyu, has taken over sect affairs.¡±

    The purpose of his trip was to exin the situation.

    The Void Spirit Society¡¯s recent decisions had been cooked up by Hong Minghui and Xuan Guangyu, and had nothing to do with him, Pei Qiqi, or Qu Yi.

    Dong Li nodded slightly. ¡°I see why you¡¯re here.¡±

    ¡°When will Nie Tian finish his breakthrough?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked, frowning. ¡°Right now, the Realm of Fragmentary Star is facing a delicate situation. ording to reliable information, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society has already arrived in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, and is about tounch bombardments targeting the Nine Star Heavens. Once the grand spell formations that have protected the Realm of Fragmentary Star for countless years are breached, the Realm of Fragmentary Star will fall soon after.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t care what happens to the Realm of Fragmentary Star or the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.¡± Yu Suying made their stance clear. ¡°Nie Tian is who we care about. We¡¯re not going to rescue the Realm of Fragmentary Star without his instruction. To us, Nie Tian being able to stabilize his domain is more important than anything.¡±

    Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, Xie Qian, and Master Blood Spirit all nodded in agreement.

    They attached great importance to Nie Tian, not the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Because of this, when Xin Qing and Han Wanrong had returned to their sect earlier, their invitation for them to return together had been turned down without leaving any room for maneuver.

    That was when Xin Qing and Han Wanrong had understood that no one other than Nie Tian could get these patriarchs to do their bidding.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, a violent storm rose in the glowing sphere, which wasn¡¯t far from everyone.

    The star domain over Nie Tian¡¯s head, the fire domain around him, and the wood domain under his feet rapidly morphed among various manifestations, as if three different worlds were going to merge.

    Ji Yuanquan was bbergasted. ¡°Three domains, three attributes, and three kinds of incantations... Are they really going to fuse as one?

    ¡°The fusion of different attributes is always apanied by great risks! Many have been killed during their attempts to merge power of different attributes!¡±

    Those who knew how difficult it was to fuse different attributes gasped with astonishment before Ji Yuanquan even said these words.

    ¡°You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is only formidable because he managed to merge power of two different attributes,¡± Ji Yuanquan continued. ¡°However, I heard that his true soul almost perished during his fusion of power. Luckily, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation happens to be a great fit for fusing different attributes. Only because of this did he seed.

    ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be incantations like the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation among the incantations Nie Tian practices. Can he really make it work?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan looked deeply worried. It seemed that he really wanted Nie Tian to seed.

    ¡°He can. I¡¯m sure of it!¡± Dong Li¡¯s charming exmation rang out.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One spiritual tool after another suddenly flew into Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos.

    The Star Behemoth bone, the Spirit Pearl, the me Dragon Armor, and the unique treasures that had been nourished by Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence left the inneryers and flew into the outeryers of the glowing sphere.

    Simultaneously, all of them started to absorb power of different attributes.

    Everyone looked with rapt attention, and were shocked to discover that the outeryers that were filled with raging, twisting, and ripping power started to gradually shrink.

    From the look of it, the energies that had taken the maic field a long time to gather were being condensed and fusing into the unique treasures.

    More importantly, all of this seemed to be under Nie Tian¡¯s control.

 Chapter 1291: Withdrawing and Releasing with Ease

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In the outeryers of the glowing sphere, countless wisps of colorful light fused into the Star Behemoth bone, the me Dragon Armor, and the Spirit Pearl.

    The Primal Chaos at the core of the sphere slowly vanished.

    Taking its ce were the star, me, and wood domains, along with the Nine Stars Flower, the me spark, and the Godspirit Tree.

    ¡°There¡¯s one more thing!¡±

    As a thought entered his mind, verdant tree branches that seemed to be made of emerald flew out from within Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding one after another.

    Nie Tian intended for the seventy-two of them to gather wood power from the outeryers of the sphere.

    Gradually, he realized that the mixed power that had been captured from the starry river had been refined to the limit after having spun in the outeryers of the glowing sphere for so long.

    All that remained was their essence.

    The reason he decided to cancel the Primal Chaos was because he gradually realized that as his domains were infused with his soul will, and channeled more and more me, star, and wood power, the outeryers started to show signs of falling apart.

    In fact, the main cause was that he had consumed too much of the energies in the outeryers of the sphere to fight Song Chequan and destroy the Realm of Jade Billows.

    Nie Tian was immersed in thought.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± He suddenly eximed, and fixed the seventy-two tree branches with a surprised look.

    Oddly, the emerald green tree branches he had released from his ring of holding seemed to refuse to fly into the outeryers, as if they were attracted to his wood domain.

    His wood domain was an illusorynd that brimmed with wood power and life force.

    Rooted in it was the lush Godspirit Tree.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the seventy-two tree branches plunged down into thend in a circle with the Godspirit Tree at the center, forming the Wood Thriving Formation.

    As soon as the formation was established, thest remaining wood power essence in the outeryers condensed into sparkling green streams that poured into it.

    After a very short time, Nie Tian felt with absolute certainty that the outeryers werepletely drained of their wood power due to the establishment of the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Not just that, but the Godspirit Tree that had taken root in his wood domain seemed to be stimted by the formation, and entered another period of growth.

    ¡°This feeling...¡±

    What seemed even more incredible to Nie Tian was that those seventy-two tree branches seemed to have fused into his wood domainpletely and be a part of it, as the Godspirt Tree had.

    He could also summon them for use by simply thinking about it.

    However, after the fusion, those tree branches didn¡¯t seem to be able to return to his ring of holding anymore. Instead, like the Godspirit Tree, they could remain in his wood domain eternally, and return to his spiritual sea as a part of his wood power spiritual core.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor, the Spirit Pearl, and the Star Behemoth bone are all absorbing essence wisp after wisp.¡±

    Quietly floating in the starry river, Nie Tian looked up, around, and down from time to time as countless thoughts and enlightenment about incantations shed across his sea of awareness like lightning bolts.

    ¡°I have to be able to release and withdraw my domains freely. Can I really fuse three domains of different attributes into one?¡±

    Time passed bit by bit...

    Eyes closed, Nie Tian paced his breathing and focused on deriving enlightenment about domain-forging.

    As the bone, the me Dragon Armor, and the Spirit Pearl continued to absorb the remaining essence in the outeryers, the glowing sphere started to scatter bit by bit.

    Spotting the unfavorable change, Yu Suying said, looking worried, ¡°That glowing sphere around him is what allowed him to inflict serious injuries on Duan Hongwen, sweep the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh, shatter the Realm of Jade Billows, and force Song Chequan to retreat in defeat. But it looks like it¡¯s going to scatter soon.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t Nie Tian¡¯s own power that formed that glowing sphere in the first ce,¡± Yin Xingtian said. ¡°It was the mixed foreign power You Qimiao channeled from some other ce.¡±

    They discussed in low voices.

    Ji Yuanquan and Qi Lianshan from the Void Spirit Society had flown to the zing sun shortly after exining their intentions.

    At this moment, they were focused on observing Zu Guangyao, who was stabilizing his domain by splitting his divine will into countless wisps to cover and channel power from the sun.

    Mo Qianfan sighed and said, ¡°Things are tense in the Realm of Fragmentary Star. If Nie Tian loses that glowing sphere, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    Having followed Nie Tian throughout this journey, they knew better than anyone that he hadn¡¯t relied on his own strength to annihte all those Saint domain experts and scare Void domain experts stiff.

    It was the raging, twisting, and ripping power in the outeryers of that glowing sphere that had crushed everything and everyone it had run into.

    Now, his mightiest weapon was going to disappear.

    The Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect were still a major threat. A battle might soon break out in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, determining the fate of one of humanity¡¯s most ancient sects.

    If Nie Tian wasn¡¯t there to help, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would probably lose.

    Yu Suying and the others¡¯ hearts grew heavy as they reached this point in their train of thought. They started to think that Nie Tian shouldn¡¯t have refused Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling earlier. Instead, he should have gathered as many sects and ns around him as possible so that he could pressure the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society.

    WHOOSH!

    Shortly afterwards, the outeryers of the glowing sphere gradually dissipated.

    As everyone was dispirited by it, new changes took ce in Nie Tian¡¯s three domains, which were at the core.

    Originally, his star domain had hung over his head, his wood domain hadin under his feet, and his me domain had surrounded him. The three of them were on three different levels.

    However, at this moment, they started to change under everyone¡¯s gazes.

    The star domain spread out and descended. The me domain morphed into burning streaks that hovered around the illusorynd overflowing with life force.

    Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and the others started discussing the changes in Nie Tian¡¯s three domains.

    ¡°Thend where the Godspirit Tree and emerald tree branches grow is like a floating continent, or a realm.¡±

    ¡°The streaks of fiery light that hover around it are protecting it like a realm barrier.¡±

    ¡°Beyond that is a vast sea of stars.¡±

    ¡°These changes are transforming Nie Tian¡¯s three domains into something that looks like a small realm.¡±

    ¡°Exactly, all realms are enveloped in realm barriers filled with flowing currents. They help shield off the impurities in the starry river, and at the same time, channel and turn suitable power into spiritual Qi, Phantasm Qi, or Demon Qi, Qi that suits the different races.¡±

    ¡°And all realms exist in this starry river.¡±

    They had a feeling that the changes his three domains were experiencing agreed with thews of realms forming and morphing, and also reflected their fundamental structure.

    This newly-formed domain had essential differences from those of other Void domain cultivators.

    Other Void domain cultivators¡¯ domains either consisted of flying clouds, zing fire, ice-capped mountains, grand swords, rivers,kes, or seas...

    No one had ever heard of a domain like Nie Tian¡¯s, where three illusory domains mirrored the profoundws of the real world, much less seeing with their own eyes.

    ¡°This is not a fusion of different attributes, yet it seems to me that this brand new form is much more harmonious and wless,¡± Mo Qianfan said.

    Yu Suying nodded. ¡°Perhaps this is the perfect form of Nie Tian¡¯s void domain.¡±

    Yin Xingtian chimed in in a low voice. ¡°Such a domain is simply unheard of!¡±

    All of a sudden, thend at the center, the ming streaks in the middle, and the dazzling starry sky on the outside copsed towards Nie Tian.

    SHEW!

    Light that was crimson, misty white, and emerald green suddenly shrank into Nie Tian¡¯s abdomen, transforming into spiritual cores that reappeared in his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    In the next moment, all of his spiritual cores reformed in his spiritual sea.

    The me spark, the Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the shrunken tree branches could all be seen in his spiritual cores.

    The wisps of his soul will also returned to his sea of awareness, fusing back into his true soul.

    As soon as this happened, his somewhat blurry true soul grew clear. Wisps of soul will spread all over his true soul like meridians in a man¡¯s body. Each and every one of them was branded with the profound incantations and magics he had derived over his life.

    Dong Li turned to Yu Suying and asked excitedly, ¡°He can release and withdraw his domain freely now. This means he¡¯s seeded in forging his domain, right?¡±

    ¡°Technically, yes.¡± Yu Suying gave her an affirmative answer. ¡°However, his domain is very special. We¡¯ve never seen anything like it. So we can¡¯t tell how powerful it is or what unique wonders it has yet.¡±

 Chapter 1292: A Self-sustaining Domain

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    People that were originally paying close attention to Zu Guangyao suddenly flew over to Nie Tian one after another, along with numerous ancient starships.

    Among them were Ji Yuanquan, Hou Chn, Huang Jinnan, Ye Wenhan, and He Lianxiong.

    However, the majority of them were Void and Saint domain experts from across the human domains.

    All of them had noticed the disappearance of the terrifying maic field surrounding Nie Tian.

    Standing on an ancient starship, Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion gazed off at Nie Tian and asked with a frown, ¡°Why did that chaotic maic field filled with raging, twisting, and ripping power vanish all of a sudden? ording to reliable information, Nie Tian relied on that violent maic field to inflict heavy injuries on Duan Hongwen in the Domain of Heaven Python, and smash through the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh.¡±

    He Lianxiong chimed in. ¡°It was also the reason why the Realm of Jade Billows was destroyed, and Song Chequan had to retreat in defeat.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s three domains vanished simultaneously...¡± Ye Wenhan pondered for a brief moment before his expression flickered, and he asked, ¡°That means he¡¯s sessfully broken through into the Void domain, right?¡±

    A hint of disdain could be seen in He Lianxiong¡¯s tilted eyebrows as he said, ¡°That¡¯s no big deal. It¡¯s only the Void domain after all. I¡¯ll only be impressed if he breaks through into the Saint domain.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Hou Chn and Huang Jinnan rushed over to him, tion filling their faces.

    FIZZ!

    A streak of light shed past them and arrived in front of Nie Tian before everyone else.

    Ji Yuanquan seemed extremely curious as he asked, ¡°Has your cultivation base fully stabilized? And your domain too? How do you feel, having just entered the Void domain? I¡¯m not seeing your domain, but you don¡¯t seem to have a problem being in the starry river without its protection.¡±

    Human Qi warriors greatly relied on their domains to travel through the starry river.

    Only after they had forged their domains would they be able to stop the hazardous energies in the starry river from infiltrating their bodies.

    Most of the energies in the starry river were corrosive and destructive, and were usually mixed with Phantasm Qi, Demon Qi and a wide array of toxins.

    Without the protection of their domains, those energies would easily invade Qi warriors¡¯ bodies and kill them.

    Even many outsiders with tough bodies had to rely on their flesh aura seas to fend off those corrosive energies.

    Only a few of them could expose themselves in the starry river and be free of negative influences.

    Nie Tian happened to be one of them.

    His domain wasn¡¯t active at this moment, yet he was able to remain in the starry river, looking unharmed andposed. This came as a great surprise to Ji Yuanquan.

    ¡°Domain!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned and summoned power to activate his domain with the unique method he had derived.

    Firstly, glorious starlight formed the outermost parts of a huge sphere. Then, crimson mes formed in the middle like morning glow.

    Eventually, and full of life force appeared at the core, with the Godspirit Tree and emerald tree branches on it. In his domain, those tree branches seemed to be magnified like everything else, and looked like towering ancient trees.

    As soon as his domain formed, Nie Tian sensed with great rity that faint star, wood, and me power in the starry river started to gather towards his domain, as if they were attracted by it.

    The curtain of stars on the outside, the ming barrier in the middle, and the vegetatednd at the core all started to absorb power to make up for their consumption.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce was the first to notice the anomaly. She sensed in silence for a few seconds before suddenly asking, ¡°Nie Tian, is your newly-formed domain channeling star, wood, and me power from the starry river on its own?¡±

    Puzzled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t yours?¡±

    As soon as he said these words, he noticed that every Void, Saint, and even God domain expert present shook their heads with bitter smiles.

    ¡°No?¡± Nie Tian found this surprising.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed softly and exined, ¡°Nie Tian, our domains can only ward off the impurities in the starry river, preventing them from infiltrating and poisoning our bodies and souls. It¡¯s extremely hard to extract the power we need from the mixed energies in the starry river and fuse it into our domains.

    ¡°Only if we apply certain secret spells and unique precious materials to our domains do we have a slim chance to achieve that.

    ¡°Normally, to restore power to our domains, we either use spiritual materials of various attributes, or go to realms where we can channel and gather spiritual power.¡±

    Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian also chimed in to supplement Ji Yuanquan¡¯s exnation.

    Soon, Nie Tian learned that to restore lightning power to their domains, experts like Mo Qianfan had to consume spiritual materials that contained lightning power, or find realms that were rich in thunder pools and raging lightning, where they could channel lightning power.

    Even for experts like Mo Qianfan, it was almost impossible to extract lightning power from the numerous different types of power in the starry river.

    If powerful experts wanted to travel through the starry river without starships, they would have to prepare arge number of spiritual materials before their journey and stop in realms to restock their supplies midway.

    That was because as long as their domains were active to shield off the impurities in the starry river, there would be consumption.

    While God domain experts¡¯ domains might be able to sustain prolonged journeys, and Saint domain experts¡¯ domains as well, Void domain cultivators could easily drain the power in their domains after traveling in the starry river for a short period of time.

    The power within cultivators¡¯ domains could be viewed as the spiritual cores in their spiritual seas. Once they were drained of their power, they would scatter and vanish.

    Nie Tian, however, could extract star, wood, and me power from the starry river and fuse them into his domain, which meant he could travel long distances in the starry river without relying on any spiritual materials.

    This was unfathomable for most Void, Saint, and even God domain experts.

    After hearing their exnation, Nie Tian closed his eyes to examine himself. Momentster, he said, ¡°I guess it¡¯s my Heaven Nourished grade treasures that are making this happen. I fused three unique Heaven Nourished grade treasures into my domain. Their existence allows me to channel star, wood, and me power from the starry river into my domain.¡±

    Even Ji Yuanquan looked rather envious. ¡°Heaven Nourished treasures?!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As Nie Tian lifted his hand and made grabbing motions, the Star Behemoth bone, the me Dragon Armor, and the Spirit Pearl flew into his hand and disappeared into his ring of holding one by one.

    As the Star Behemoth bone and the me Dragon Armor flew into his hand, he could tell that they were much heavier than before.

    He felt an especially strong sense of change with the Star Behemoth bone. The crimson Bloodline Crystal Chains within it seemed to be constantly changing while emanating misty light.

    The Spirit Pearl, however, felt lighter than before. He almost didn¡¯t feel any weight as it touched his hand.

    Lou Hongyan curled her lips in a bitter way. ¡°The me Dragon Armor...¡±

    This treasure had originally been forged and given to her by her master, Shao Tianyang. Later, it had been seized by Pang Chicheng, and ended up in Nie Tian¡¯s possession after several changes of hands.

    Watching this treasure grow stronger and stronger gave her mixed feelings.

    ¡°My domain has been forged. The treasures have also experienced changes. I need time to get familiar with them. Besides, I haven¡¯t had a chance to condense all the Blood Essence I can after my bloodline entered the eighth grade. The amount of flesh power I need for my next bloodline upgrade will be astronomical. Time... All of these need time to finish...¡±

    As the me Dragon Armor, the bone, and the Spirit Pearl vanished from his palm, he thought to himself,

    He had yet to learn to fight with his domain and familiarize himself with the changes to the me Dragon Armor, the bone, and the Spirit Pearl. Plus, he needed time to umte flesh power.

    However, the sect was in peril. There didn¡¯t seem to be time for him to do any of those things.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the Realm of Fragmentary Star is in a critical situation,¡± Ji Yuanquan said. ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Fragmentary Star!¡± Nie Tian was instantly awoken from his thought. ¡°Senior Ji, could you send me to the Realm of Fragmentary Star?¡±

    ¡°Umm... all of the teleportation portals in the Realm of Fragmentary Star that connect to ours seem to have been shut down,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, looking embarrassed. ¡°If you want to go to the Realm of Fragmentary Star, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to use the teleportation portals in your realms.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, would you take me to my realms?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Ji Yuanquan nodded. ¡°Sure. However, are you sure you want to go? All of the powerful experts from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society are now gathered outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star. But that peculiar maic field of yours that deterred even God domain experts has vanished.¡±

    ¡°Whatever. I¡¯ve got to go to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Yuanquan understood. Then, he turned to Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and the others, and asked, ¡°What about you? Are you going to join Nie Tian in the uing war against the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, or do you have other ns?¡±

    ¡°Whatever Nie Tian decides to do.¡± Mo Qianfan was the first to answer.

    Yin Xingtian nodded slightly.

    Yu Suying hesitated for a brief moment before letting out a deep sigh and saying, ¡°Given all that has happened, it doesn¡¯t seem we have a choice anymore. We¡¯ve already offended all three of the Jade Heaven Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. We can only stick with this path now, whether it¡¯s the right one or not.¡±

    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve made up your minds,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°I¡¯ll help you get out of the Domain of Jade Heaven and to the Realm of Fragmentary Star as quickly as possible. I hope victory will be yours.¡±

 Chapter 1293: An Unfair Duel

    Outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Ancient starships from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society gathered around the dazzling realm in a formidable formation, like a shoal of sharks waiting for their prey.

    In an area in the starry river that was a certain distance from the Realm of Fragmentary Star, starships with various strange appearances quietly gathered.

    Floating in front of those starships, Void and Saint domain experts, who were dressed differently and practiced different powers, gazed off at the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Like Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa, they were from different human domains, and were leaders of powerful sects and ns.

    While some experts from powerful human forces had sailed to the Domain of Jade Heaven to observe Nie Tian¡¯s battles and witness Zu Guangyao¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain, others had sailed to this part of the starry river after learning that the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect were going to storm the Realm of Fragmentary Star together.

    Saint domain experts from different domains gathered up as they gazed off at the Realm of Fragmentary Star and whispered to one another.

    ¡°Elder Han just left the Domain of Jade Heaven. ording to him, Zu Guangyao has condensed his dharma idol with Nie Tian¡¯s help!¡±

    ¡°The vice sectmaster of my sect was also in the Domain of Jade Heaven. Word from him said that Nie Tian has forged his void domain.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian will be here shortly, right?¡±

    ¡°Ji Yuanquan is there. With his help, I suppose Nie Tian will be able to get here soon.¡±

    Their Saint domain cultivation bases allowed them to see even the slightest changes in the Realm of Fragmentary Star from thousands of kilometers away. They could even see the divine veins generations of Lords of the Stars had fused into the nine energy shields that enveloped the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°Perhaps this battle will change the future of our race, and determine whether a new great sect will rise.¡±

    ¡°Does the Shadow Society have to rise from the ruins of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no other way. There are only so many superrge-scale realms in the human world. And the four great sects control all of the domains that have the richest spiritual Qi and yield the most Earth Cultivated and Heaven Nourished grade treasures. Only if one great sect falls can a new one rise.¡±

    ¡°Is the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce fated to fall?¡±

    ¡°I doubt it. They still have Nie Tian, the Godmaker!¡± As long as that guy¡¯s alive, even if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce falls, it¡¯ll rise again as Nie Tian grows stronger and stronger!¡±

    ...

    Shangguan Zhi, You Qimiao, and Song Chequan all had their eyes fixed on a dark figure as they eximed, ¡°Sectmaster Jiang!¡±

    The figure loomed in a sphere of dark gray aura, which made it hard to get a clear view of him.

    The sphere exuded a dark, ice-cold, heavy aura, preventing everyone from seeing through its secrets.

    Jiang Yuanchi was the current sectmaster of the Shadow Society. He had umted at the middle God domain for ages.

    Very few had ever seen the face of this mysterious man. Even some of the senior members of the Shadow Society had no idea what he looked like.

    Rumor had it he was the one who had the best chance at advancing to thete God domain in ten thousand years.

    To deserve the title of ¡®great sect¡¯, a sect had to have at least e God domain expert. That was the case with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Since the founding of the Shadow Society, countless sectmasters had been stuck at the middle God domain.

    Not a single sectmaster in their history had been able to break through this barrier.

    However, Jiang Yuanchi, the current sectmaster of the Shadow Society, was believed to be the one who would finally make the breakthrough into thete God domain, and bring the Shadow Society to a new level by not only their own members, but also among the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society.

    If he actually managed to break through into thete God domain in ten thousand years, even if the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t fall, the Shadow Society would most likely rise to be the fifth great sect!

    However, Jiang Yuanchi didn¡¯t want to wait that long.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± Song Chequan said.

    He gazed into the sphere of dark gray aura. Even he felt insecure and uneasy sensing the bleak aura it exuded. ¡°My base, the Realm of Jade Billows, was destroyed by the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian. He also killed countless people that were loyal to me in the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh. I...¡±

    Song Chequan listed Nie Tian¡¯s recent deeds for Jiang Yuanchi, as if he was telling on him.

    ¡°Nie Tian is special indeed.¡± Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s gentle voice echoed from the vague figure. ¡°Many have told me that this kid has endless potential. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have asked Xuan Guangyu to mediate, or tell you to let go of what happened.¡±

    ¡°I did!¡± Song Chequan eximed with restrained fury.

    ¡°I understand your grudge.¡± Every word Jiang Yuanchi said seemed to have the magic to convince people. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. After we take the Realm of Fragmentary Star and destroy the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you¡¯ll take back all that you¡¯ve lost and more.¡±

    Shangguan Zhi, who was standing next to Song Chequan, gave a derisive chuckle and said in a more feminine voice, ¡°Sectmaster Song, I suppose what really made your heart ache was the destruction of the Jade Heaven Sect, the Realm of Jade Billows, and the Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons, right? Did your heart really ache when you learned about the deaths of your older brother and wife?¡±

    Song Chequan¡¯s face dropped. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    With a dry smile, Shangguan Zhi said, ¡°I think you know.¡±

    The Shadow Society was unmatched as far as information went. They had informants in almost every single realm throughout the human world.

    As the vice sectmaster, Shangguan Zhi had long since learned that Song Chequan¡¯s rtionships with Song Haiqing and Feng Jieling were far less harmonious than they appeared to be.

    ¡°Enough.¡± Jiang Yuanchi cleared his throat and put a stop to their escting conversation.

    An even darker field rapidly spread out with the dark figure¡¯s domain at the center.

    WHOOSH!

    Jiang Yuanchi activated his dharma idol, which quickly morphed into a humongous grayish-brown bat.

    As the bat spread its wings, they seemedrge enough to envelop the entire Realm of Fragmentary Star. That was when Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s gentle voice came from the bat.

    ¡°Brother Chu. I know you¡¯re back. Could youe out so we can have a talk?¡±

    His resonant voice prated the Nine Star Heavens and reached Fragmentary Star City. Every Qi warrior in the city caught every word he had said.

    Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia, Sikong Cuo, and other experts were waiting solemnly on a spacious balcony high up in the grand Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Hearing Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s voice, Chu Rui frowned and responded, ¡°Sure!¡±

    Afterwards, he turned to the others and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to him. Stay in the Realm of Fragmentary Star while I¡¯m away. You¡¯ll be protected by the Nine Star Heavens. They won¡¯t be able to touch you, unless they¡¯re joined byte God domain experts or their equivalents. However, once you step out, you¡¯ll lose your protection and have to face the experts from the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect alone.¡±

    ¡°We understand that,¡± Wei Lai said.

    Chu Rui¡¯s chubby body shook strongly as he prepared to activate his dharma idol.

    At this moment, Dou Tianchen eximed, ¡°This might be a trap!¡±

    Chu Rui smiled bitterly. ¡°What if this is a trap? This is the Realm of Fragmentary Star. I¡¯m vice sectmaster! Invaders havee to our door. Wouldn¡¯t I lose all of our sect¡¯s face if I didn¡¯t even dare to go face them?¡±

    ¡°But you¡¯re badly injured!¡± Wang Meijia said anxiously.

    Chu Rui took a deep breath. ¡°Even badly injured, I¡¯m still the vice sectmaster, and I¡¯m still at the middle God domain, which is the same as Jiang Yuanchi. As long as I¡¯m in this position, I must do what I have to do, no matter what.¡±

    With these words, he assumed his dharma idol form and charged out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star like a heaven-defying shooting star.

    FIZZ!

    He easily shot through the Nine Star Heavens and appeared in the starry river outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Facing Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol, Jiang Yuanchi said in a voice that was as profound and resonant as that of a huge bell, ¡°Long time no see.

    ¡°I, Jiang Yuanchi, have traveled great lengths to this ce. Now, I challenge Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to a duel!¡±

    A mor immediately burst through the Saint domain experts in a ce thousands of kilometers away.

    ¡°A duel?¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is challenging Chu Rui to a duel?!¡±

    ¡°Come on! As far as I know, he entered the middle God domain ten thousand years before Chu Rui did! Both his seniority and status in the human world exceed that of Chu Rui!¡±

    ¡°Even though the two of them have never fought each other before, it¡¯s widely acknowledged that he¡¯s the most powerful human expert under thete God domain!¡±

    ¡°This duel is clearly unfair!¡±

 Chapter 1294: The Strongest Expert Below the Peak

    A mor burst through the crowd.

    Long before, when Ji Cang, Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, and the other peak experts had discussed who would be the next to break through into thete God domain, one name had been mentioned repeatedly: Jiang Yuanchi.

    To these luminaries and imperial lords of the human world, Jiang Yuanchi had been the one who had the best chance at advancing to thete God domain.

    Many were also convinced that he was the strongest expert below the peak.

    Only after Mo Heng had broken through into the middle God domain, defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust, and survived his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon had people started topare him to Jiang Yuanchi.

    Even so, the majority still reckoned that Jiang Yuanchi was stronger.

    Now, the man who people referred to as the strongest expert below the peak was calling aloud outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star, challenging Chu Rui to a duel?

    In the Fragmentary Star Pce, Wang Meijia was so indignant that she itched to charge out by herself to use Jiang Yuanchi of being despicable and shameless. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! He knows perfectly well that Vice Sectmaster Chu has sustained multiple injuries after being trapped in the Domain of Frigid Depths by Grand Monarch Ice Bones for a long time and fighting that battle against Grand Monarch Bloodlust!¡±

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others were taken aback by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s words.

    Dou Tianchen sighed in frustration. ¡°After the disappearance of Vice Sectmaster Luo, Vice Sectmaster Chu has be the sole pir that¡¯s propping up our sect. I thought that Jiang Yuanchi would attack our Nine Star Heavens directly. I was convinced that as powerful as he and his divine tool might be, he wouldn¡¯t be able to shatter the Nine Star Heavens within a short time.

    ¡°By the time he¡¯d consumed a significant amount of his strength, Nie Tian and Elder Zu Guangyao might arrive.

    ¡°Who would have thought that he¡¯d challenge Vice Sectmaster Chu to a duel as soon as he got here?¡±

    Fang Yuan chimed in. ¡°This is a miscalction on our part, and impudicity on Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s!¡±

    Even if Chu Rui hadn¡¯t been injured, he wouldn¡¯t be able to match Jiang Yuanchi in battle.

    Not to mention he wasn¡¯t at his peak state now.

    Outside the realm barrier of the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Chu Rui, in his dharma idol form, looked deeply at the dark figure that was looming in a cluster of charcoal gray aura. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, Senior Jiang. You... want to challenge me to a duel?¡±

    Chu Rui found the idea ridiculous.

    ¡°We¡¯re both at the middle God domain, and you¡¯re a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said confidently and eloquently. ¡°Both your cultivation base and status make you a good match for me. What? I came here already, and issued the challenge. You¡¯re not too scared to ept it, are you?

    ¡°Don¡¯t you worry. No one has to die in this duel. We¡¯ll only fight until a winner emerges.¡±

    With a dark, cunning smile, Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society said, ¡°Of course, if Vice Sectmaster Chu wins, we¡¯ll turn around and leave right away. And we¡¯ll promise to not set foot in the Realm of Fragmentary Star for ten thousand years.¡±

    You Qimiaoughed coldly. ¡°Where¡¯s your heroic bravery, Chu Rui?! I still remember what you were like in the Domain of Heaven Python!¡±

    ¡°Chu Rui!¡± Duan Hongwen joined the taunting. ¡°Don¡¯t tell us you¡¯re too scared to ept the duel!¡±

    One after another, they tried to either lure or provoke Chu Rui into epting the duel.

    Chu Rui was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯sst bulwark. If he were defeated or injured so badly that he couldn¡¯t fight anymore, their following moves against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would meet much fewer obstacles.

    With a wan smile, Chu Rui asked, ¡°What if I lost?¡±

    ¡°If you lose, you lose. We won¡¯t demand anything from you.¡± Jiang Yuanchi said with a soft chuckle. ¡°This duel can be considered an opportunity for us to exchange and learn.¡±

    Face grim, Chu Rui pondered in silence for a long while before nodding and saying, ¡°Alright! I ept the duel!¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Sikong Cuo¡¯s loud cry suddenly echoed out.

    In the next moment, he flew out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star, enveloped in his newly-forged domain, which looked like a glorious neb filled with dazzling stars.

    Inside of his domain, the Immortal grade divine tool Heavenly Ster Stream morphed into numerous mysterious shooting stars.

    Each and every one of them seemed to carry enough might to inflict heavy injuries on any Saint domain expert.

    His star domain looked like a miniature starry river, where wisps of his soul awareness seemed to have merged with his star souls to form countless diamond-like stars.

    Every single star was a condensation of star power, with might beyond measure.

    Upon charging out, he shouted, ¡°I, Sikong Cuo, challenge the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect! If any Saint domain member of your sects can best me in a duel, I¡¯ll surrender all of my subordinate domains!¡±

    He bet all of his subordinate domains!

    ¡°Sikong Cuo, the sixth Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we heard anything about him. Who would have thought that he¡¯d entered the Saint domain?!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s a Son of the Stars, and he¡¯s refined the Immortal grade Heavenly Ster Stream into his domain. He does have what it takes to fight cultivators with higher cultivation bases. It seems to me that no normal disciple of the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect or the Jade Heaven Sect will be able to defeat him in battle, even if they¡¯re at thete Saint domain.¡±

    ¡°The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is an ancient great sect after all. Their reserve power is still there. This Sikong Cuo can¡¯t be treated lightly!¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s a pity he was born in the same era as Nie Tian. Nie Tian is simply too bright a star. Being called a Star of Cmities and Godmaker, how many Saint domain experts did he kill in the Domain of Spirit Sea and the Domain of Dark Marsh? He even injured Song Chequan and destroyed the Realm of Jade Billows.¡±

    ¡°Indeed. Compared to Nie Tian, Sikong Cuo does seem much less impressive.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re not even at the same level. Nie Tian helped Mo Qianfan AND Zu Guangyao enter the God domain. He has powerful patriarchs like Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian at his back. Manyte Saint domain experts are doing everything they can to please him. Can Sikong Cuo do such things?¡±

    A heated discussion broke out among the observers in a distant location. None of them took Sikong Cuo¡¯s feelings into consideration.

    Sikong Cuo had charged out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star in high spirits. After saying those heroic words, he had felt proud and ted. However, those morous remarks now put him in a bad mood.

    ¡°Sikong Cuo...¡±

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect measured him with narrowed eyes. Then, he let out a cold harrumph and said impatiently, ¡°You don¡¯t deserve it. Even your Immortal grade divine tool was won from the Demons by Nie Tian. You took the battle trophy of another and refined it into yourself. Only by doing that were you able to enter the Saint domain. You don¡¯t deserve to challenge us.¡±

    Shangguan Zhi chimed in. ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re not Nie Tian, not the future Lord of the Stars. You don¡¯t deserve to challenge us.¡±

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s expression froze.

    Duan Hongwenughed wildly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe a person who stole another¡¯s battle trophy has the nerve to challenge us. Howughable!¡±

    Song Chequan piled on. ¡°To tell you the truth, you¡¯re not even remotely as strong as Nie Tian.¡±

    These God domain experts from the three allied sects mocked Sikong Cuo in every possible way. However, Sikong Cuo didn¡¯t know how to refute their scathing remarks.

    After all, what they said was the truth.

    He had indeed relied on the Immortal grade divine tool Heavenly Ster Stream to break through into the Saint domain within such a short time.

    It was also true that the Heavenly Ster Stream had been a battle trophy Nie Tian had won by defeating Ophelia in the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°I, I...¡± Sikong Cuo was at a loss for words. He wanted to defend himself, but didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°Get out of here.¡±

    As You Qimiao flung his sleeve, the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror flew out of his cuff. Two currents of opposite attributes then swirled out like two fish, which morphed into a cluster of murky aura that enveloped Sikong Cuo.

    The dazzling stars within his domain instantly lost their brilliance, like pearls that were covered in dust.

    Even the shooting stars that had transformed from his Immortal grade divine tool Heavenly Ster Stream couldn¡¯t dash about smoothly anymore, as if they were mired down.

    WHOOSH!

    Immediately afterwards, Sikong Cuo¡¯s domain, along with his Heavenly Ster Stream, were tossed towards the Realm of Fragmentary Star, enveloped in the murky aura.

    The Nine Star Heavens didn¡¯t resist Sikong Cuo, who was a Son of the Stars, and let him fall through like a plummeting meteor.

    However, the murky aura You Qimiao had created with his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror was stopped by the First Heaven.

    Wisps of power that had been vested with the profound truths of star power by generations of Lords of the Stars even took the opportunity tounch a counterattack against You Qimiao. You Qimiao¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily cast the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation to cleanse himself with the power of his divine tool.

    ¡°The Nine Star Heavens sure is unfathomably powerful,¡± he marveled inwardly.

    ¡°Ah?! Sikong Cuo was denied just like that? And he was sent back to the Realm of Fragmentary Star by You Qimiao with a simple flick of his sleeve?¡±

    ¡°What else do you expect? You Qimiao is at the middle God domain, and his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror is a sub-level higher than the Heavenly Ster Stream. What does Sikong Cuo have that allows him to stand up to him?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps in You Qimiao¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian is the only Son of the Stars that¡¯s qualified to talk to him.¡±

 Chapter 1295: Give Face to Nie Tian

    With Ji Yuanquan¡¯s help, Nie Tian, Yu Suying, and the others arrived in the Realm of Split Void after a few transits through teleportation portals of the Void Spirit Society.

    Standing in front of the grand pce, Nie Tian frowned and asked, ¡°Senior Ji, Elder Zu Guangyao will be fine by himself, right?¡±

    ¡°Zu Guangyao has already forged his dharma idol. All he¡¯s doing now is gathering true sunme to stabilize his cultivation base.¡± Ji Yuanquan said in a consoling manner. ¡°No need to worry about him.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡±

    Then, he turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Summon every Saint domain cultivator in the Realm of Maelstrom, the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. I want them here as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± Dong Li nodded and left.

    FZZZ!

    A glowing spatial rift suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of the grand pce.

    Zhao Shanling stepped out of it.

    With a single nce at him, Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society gasped in amazement. ¡°Saint domain!¡±

    ¡°You really are talented. It¡¯s only been a short time since you left the Domain of the Falling Stars to explore this vast starry river. I really didn¡¯t expect you to advance to the Saint domain so quickly.¡±

    Even though Zhao Shanling¡¯s domain wasn¡¯t active at this moment, simply by standing there, he gave Nie Tian a feeling of the space around him being in disorder.

    That was how Nie Tian realized that his mastery of spatial power must have risen to a whole new level.

    Zhao Shanling took a deep look at Nie Tian, then said, ¡°Congrattions.

    ¡°I heard what happened in the Domain of Spirit Sea, the Domain of Dark Marsh, and the Domain of Jade Heaven. Your breakthrough into the Void domain caused a stir so great that countless Void and Saint domain experts from across the human world were attracted to the Domain of Jade Heaven.¡±

    Nie Tianughed and said, ¡°You did pretty good yourself. I see that you¡¯ve broken through into the Saint domain.¡±

    Zhao Shanling shrugged and said, ¡°Still, I was one step too slow. Your master Wu Ji was the first from the Domain of the Falling Stars to ever enter the Saint domain. I thought I¡¯d be the first one to do so, yet he turned out to be far ahead of me. He¡¯s cultivating in the Shatter Battlefield as we speak. Who knows what cultivation base he¡¯s risen to now?¡±

    He rarely had any admiration for anyone, especially for cultivators from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Wu Ji, however, had mastered time power. Even though his progress with his cultivation had been slow at first due to his lifespan problem, he had been unstoppable, and made shockingly rapid advances in his cultivation since he had entered the Shatter Battlefield and found that river of time.

    Now, it had been a long time since he had heard anything about him. However, he was convinced that Wu Ji¡¯s strength and cultivation base must have improved significantly.

    ¡°Wu Ji!¡± Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyes lit up, as if he had suddenly thought of something. He turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Your master might be able to help the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Since he can see into the future, why don¡¯t you ask him to see whether the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce still exists in the future?¡±

    Qu Yi had spoken extremely highly of Wu Ji when he had returned from the Shatter Battlefield. ording to him, Wu Ji was a sage and a gift to humanity. His potential was beyond measure.

    Because of this, Qu Yi had attached great importance to Wu Ji and Nie Tian, the master-disciple pair.

    If he hadn¡¯t been away, and Xuan Guangyu hadn¡¯t taken over the sect, perhaps the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Jade Heaven Sect wouldn¡¯t have dared to stir up such major trouble.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t n on involving my master in this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Realm of Fragmentary Star with you,¡± Zhao Shanling said.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Technically, this is a sect affair, which doesn¡¯t really concern you. You...¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s face split into a wide smile. ¡°I just made a breakthrough in my cultivation. I don¡¯t have much to do anyway.

    ¡°I was in the middle of my breakthrough when the Domain of Heaven Python experienced that unrest, so I wasn¡¯t able to join the battle. But this battle for the Realm of Fragmentary Star is bound to make history. I¡¯d very much like to be a part of it, mixing it up, you know.¡±

    ¡°Saint domain, the Voidspirit Pagoda... and everything about him seems peculiar...¡± Ji Yuanquan thought to himself, surprised by this feeling of being unable to see through Zhao Shanling, who was only at the early Saint domain. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars is a mystical ce indeed. Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, Wu Ji, and Zhao Shanling. Any of them would have been a figure of significant influence in any domain. It¡¯s hard to believe that they were all born in a small ce like the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Days passed.

    Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, Zhongli Jian, and many other Saint domain experts who were loyal to Nie Tian arrived upon Dong Li¡¯s summons.

    Nie Tian then activated the inter-domain teleportation portal in the Realm of Split Void with his Star Medallion.

    Saint domain experts were teleported to the Realm of Fragmentary Star in groups.

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as he arrived in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Nie Tian summoned his Star Boat and rose into the sky.

    He looked up.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Countless fragmentary stars seemed to be ignited and explode in the starry river outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    An enormous figure fell through the protective shields one after another, like a meteor that was plummeting towards the earth.

    ¡°Chu Rui!¡±

    The figure sputtered bits of starlight as it fell. It was clearly Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui.

    He plummeted like a dead star, his dharma idolpletely bereft of the dazzling starlight that used to wreath it.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, and many others charged into the sky at the same time in an attempt to catch Chu Rui.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Hundreds of thousands of talismans that were in the shape of grayish-brown bats swarmed out from Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol, extinguishing the starlight Chu Rui released bit by bit.

    Each and every one of them was a crystallization of Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s divine power, and was vested with his profound understanding of dark shadows.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Just as Chu Rui was about to crash into Fragmentary Star City, the city, which had stood for countless years, naturally released a mild stream of starlight, which fused into him.

    Sharp screeches instantly came from the bat talismans Jiang Yuanchi had used to invade Chu Rui¡¯s body and gnaw away at his power.

    However, the screeches onlysted a short while before dying out.

    BOOM!

    In a split second, all of the bat talismans scattered and vanished into the air.

    Outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Jiang Yuanchi, who had inflicted severe damage on Chu Rui with his secret magics, let out a muffled groan enveloped in his dark gray domain, as if he had suffered a minor injury as well.

    As this happened, Chu Rui¡¯s enormous shape shrank as he decelerated and slowlynded in Fragmentary Star City.

    Hundreds of Void and Saint domain Qi warriors gathered to him. Every one of them looked deeply worried.

    ¡°Star Boat! Another Star Boat!¡±

    ¡°That Star Boat belongs to the seventh Son of the Stars, Nie Tian!¡±

    Upon hearing people¡¯s cheers, Elder Han Wanrong and Elder Xin Qing jerked their heads, and instantly spotted Nie Tian floating over Fragmentary Star City on his Star Boat. ¡°Nie Tian! Nie Tian¡¯s finally here!¡±

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, and Wang Meijia also stood aghast. ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    Chu Rui, who had both his domain and dharma idol badly damaged by Jiang Yuanchi, looked ghastly, a shade of dark gray clouding the depths of his pupils.

    He had consumed about ny percent of his strength, which meant he wouldn¡¯t be of much help to this battle anymore.

    With great difficulty, he withdrew his divine power and set himself straight as he finallynded on a lofty balcony of the Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ¡°Is, is Nie Tian back?¡± he asked anxiously. ¡°Who else came with him? Are Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Yin Xingtian by his side?¡±

    ¡°It appears so,¡± Wang Meijia said softly.

    The Star Boat dashed over.

    Flying behind it were Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce, Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect, Yin Xingtian, Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and other Saint domain experts.

    Before even arriving, Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Yin Xingtian expressed their firm stance.

    ¡°I¡¯ve summoned every Saint domain member of my sect. They should be here shortly.¡±

    ¡°All of my sect¡¯s Saint domain members and my junior martial sister are also on their way to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.¡±

    ¡°The same goes for my sect. All of our Saint domain members will be here too.¡±

    Not only were they here to help, but all of the Saint domain experts of their sects had also answered their summons, and were rushing to the Realm of Fragmentary Star from different domains.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the seventh Son of the Stars is held in such high esteem!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the Godmaker, for heaven¡¯s sake! All of them know what that means. It¡¯s only understandable that they want to y up to him!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is back! Our sect shall not fall!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

 Chapter 1296: Strange Change

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    Outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star, many Saint domain experts, who had originally scattered at a great distance and deliberately kept their distance from the ancient starships of the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, suddenly screamed in surprise.

    Many figures didn¡¯t try to hide or worry about anything anymore. They all approached the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°Sectmaster...¡±

    Shangguan Zhi, who was as feminine as a woman, frowned slightly when he heard the roaring sound of the sea from inside the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Song Chequan clenched his teeth. You Qimiao and Duan Hongwen suddenly wore gloomy expressions, with murderous intent bursting forth from their eyes.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    More Saint domain experts moved their domains and approached one by one.

    Shangguan Zhi snorted lightly. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! Our Shadow Society is working with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Jade Heaven Sect to negotiate with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You¡¯d better not get too close to avoid being affected.¡±

    You Qimiao warned with a grave face, ¡°Fifty kilometers is the limit! If you move any closer, don¡¯t me me for being rude!¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi didn¡¯t say anything, but the God domain experts found something wasn¡¯t right.

    When the news spread that Nie Tian had entered the Realm of Fragmentary Star, those Saint domain experts who had scattered far away suddenly seethed with excitement.

    There was obsession, and a kind of irrational madness in their eyes.

    ¡°Godmaker!¡±

    Shouts of joy came out of the mouths of those Saint domain experts.

    Because of Shangguan Zhi¡¯s and You Qimiao¡¯s warnings, many Saint domain experts stopped in time, not daring to go too far so that they wouldn¡¯t be attacked by the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society.

    Still, there were some people who simply didn¡¯t care about the warning from the three forces.

    Like Hou Chn, Ruan Qingliu, Ye Wenhan, Helian Xiong, Ji Yuanquan, and Qi Lianshan...

    Due to their sensitive identities, they didn¡¯t teleport to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    If they entered the Realm of Fragmentary Star, that would mean that they were helpers of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, fighting alongside it.

    They wouldn¡¯t do that without the permission of their sects, but that didn¡¯t stop them from being onlookers, anding to see any changes taking ce at the Realm of Fragmentary Star first-hand.

    So when Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan casually broke through into the area restricted by Shangguan Zhi and You Qimiao, You Qimiao¡¯s face went pale.

    Ye Wenhan chuckled and said to Shangguan Zhi and You Qimiao, ¡°I used to casually walk in and out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star. Today I¡¯m just an onlooker, and want to watch it up close. Shall I ask you for permission first?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to know the answer too,¡± Ji Yuanquan said proudly.

    You Qimiao and Shangguan Zhi suddenly felt embarrassed, and forced a smile; they didn¡¯t know how to answer.

    Only then did the gentle voice of Jiang Yuanchi, sectmaster of Shadow Society, sound slowly through his dark grey aura. ¡°Of course it¡¯s okay for you all. In fact, I intended to invite you to be witnesses to begin with.¡±

    ¡°Witnesses?¡± Ye Wenhan¡¯s smile vanished. ¡°Witness what? Witness you destroy the Realm of Fragmentary Star? As you may know, the Realm of Fragmentary Star is a superrge-scale realm, and it can keep growing. Without external interference, this realm will never be exhausted. This is one of the few superrge-scale realms in the universe.¡±

    ¡°Rest assured, we would never destroy arge realm like the Realm of Fragmentary Star.¡± Jiang Yuanchi carefully assured them. ¡°The Realm of Fragmentary Star will rece our Shadow Realm as the new frontier of our Shadow Society. Why would we waste such a superrge-scale realm instead of cherishing it?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan was shocked. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, do you think the Realm of Fragmentary Star is already in your hands?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said. ¡°But it will soon be ours.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan frowned. ¡°Why?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi was silent.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The ancient starships of the Shadow Society suddenly converged on Jiang Yuanchi. His divine dharma idol quietly underwent a new change.

    Dark grey shadows flew out of the ancient starships one after another.

    The shadows looked blurred like soul bodies, but they clearly gave people a kind of weird feeling that they had flesh and blood, though none could see their faces.

    The shadows gradually blended into Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s divine dharma idol.

    As the others watched, his divine dharma idol slowly swelled and became neither human nor bat. Instead, he took on an indescribably strange form, which was like a giant, dark-gray, wriggling spherical shadow.

    The wriggling spherical shadow kept absorbing the shadows and emitting a horrifying aura which Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan had never felt before.

    ¡°What is this?¡±

    Ye Wenhan paled, feeling that the current Jiang Yuanchi was full of a weird aura.

    He looked at Ji Yuanquan.

    Ji Yuanquan shook his head in a daze; he was more confused than Ye Wenhan. He only said, ¡°Shouldn¡¯t Jiang Yuanchi be practicing the secret incantation of the Shadow Society? But now he gives me a feeling that he¡¯s very different from other members of the Shadow Society.¡±

    Helian Xiong felt deeply uneasy. ¡°Something isn¡¯t right! The auras are totally different! When he first fought Chu Rui, what he used was the Dark Shadow Grand Spell! But now the incantation Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s casting is totally different!¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi didn¡¯t make a sound.

    You Qimiao, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan were all out in the void when they saw the weird, dark gray currents that were writhing around Jiang Yuanchi.

    Shangguan Zhi quietly took a few steps back without saying a word, giving meaningful looks to You Qimiao, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan.

    The three men froze, and then also subconsciously moved away from Jiang Yuanchi.

    At this time, many visitors from other realms perceived that something was fishy, and they all retreated hundreds of kilometers away from Jiang Yuanchi.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, who got close to him on purpose, stared at the sphere of dark grey air for a few seconds.

    Suddenly, the two God domain experts from the ancient sects also felt there was something wrong, and actually escaped at a fast speed.

    ¡°Helian Xiong!¡±

    Ye Wenhan also shouted a warning as he retreated quickly.

    Helian Xiong was not stupid. He had flown out with his sword very early. When Ye Wenhan shouted, Helian Xiong turned into a sword beam, moving away from Jiang Yuanchi as fast as he could.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A terrifying momentum suddenly erupted from Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s sphere of dark gray air.

    The ancient starships from which the shadows had flown out of blew up in an instant.

    The remains of the ancient starships suddenly morphed into countless strange, earthworm-like symbols that no one could recognize, and fused into the wriggling sphere of air.

    ZZZZZLA!

    From time to time, strange electric lights shed in the sphere.

    All of a sudden, Ji Yuanquan paled. ¡°There is a flesh aura building up inside the sphere of air. A flesh aura that is clearly not what a human should have.¡±

 Chapter 1297: An Outsider Creature Called Gupi

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A multicolored poisonous miasma spread from Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark-gray god domain.

    The ces where the poisonous miasma covered and the strange forces in the river of stars let out sharp sounds, as if they were being corroded and prated by toxin.

    A flesh aura which had nothing to do with the humans came out of the miasma, which grew stronger and stronger.

    FIZZ!

    The multicolored miasma was driven by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark-gray god domain to gradually approach the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    The refined golden-armored warrior made of refined star metal, which constituted the First Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens, didn¡¯t put up any resistance. In fact, it didn¡¯t seem to detect anything.

    The miasma went through it easily.

    Countless star talismans of the Second Heaven suddenly became very brilliant.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Many star talismans burst like a rain of light, turned into starlight, then reformed.

    It seemed the star talismans could never be destroyedpletely. After being crushed, they would quickly reform by virtue of the energy of the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    However, with the bursting of the star talismans, the multicolored miasma spread on towards the third of the Nine Star Heavens.

    After moving some distance away, Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society said in a deep voice, and a cold face, ¡°What kind of evil spell is Jiang Yuanchi practicing? The multicolored miasma and the flesh aura that permeates it are clearly not from our race.¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi must have incorporated that creature of the Fiends into his own body,¡± Ye Wenhan whispered.

    Ji Yuanquan was puzzled. ¡°What?¡±

    Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan, and Ruan Qingliu of the Five Elements Sect, as well as Helian Xiong and the others, gathered quietly.

    The Saint Domain experts who came from other domains and didn¡¯t belong to the three ancient sects approached Ye Wenhan and the others shamelessly.

    ¡°Senior Ye, you¡¯re a senior. It¡¯s said that you are knowledgeable. Do you know the secret spell Jiang Yuanchi practices?¡±

    ¡°Senior! The secret spell Jiang Yuanchi cast is clearly evil! He is the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, but the spell that he practices is highly toxic. How can he do that?¡±

    ¡°I think Jiang Yuanchi is evil!¡±

    Many visitors from other domains pointed to Jiang Yuanchi and whispered usations.

    The sectmaster of the Shadow Society had always been mysterious. Most of them had never had a chance to see his true features.

    It was said that only Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, and a few others had deep contact and once fought side by side with Jiang Yuanchi, and they spoke highly of him.

    Ye Wenhan hesitated for a while before telling the truth. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi doesn¡¯t practice evil spells, but a creature of the Fiends entered his body. A long time ago, our human race stopped the outsiders from invading us in the Dead Star Sea. The Fiends released a variety of highly toxic creatures. One of them was called ¡®Gupi.¡¯ Its food was the miasma that can be found in most Fiend realms, and every part of its body contained deadly poison.

    ¡°Even the Fiends themselves regarded this creature as an evil thing.

    ¡°During the battle, while facing ¡®Gupi¡¯ from the Fiends, the four ancient sects didn¡¯t know what to do. Once a cultivator¡¯s inner domain was contaminated by its poison, it would slowly decay, Saint and God domains alike.

    ¡°Qu Yi and Chu Yuan were both powerless.

    ¡°In the end, it was Jiang Yuanchi who sealed the creature with the Dark Shadow Grand Spell he practiced. Because ¡®Gupi¡¯ was sealed, the humans were able to withstand the outsiders¡¯ onught, and win a lucky victory.

    ¡°However, ¡®Gupi¡¯ was extremely weird. After Jiang Yuanchi sealed it with the Dark Shadow Grand Spell, he himself was contaminated. He didn¡¯t... look like a human anymore.

    ¡°From then on, he has been hiding in his shadow domain and has never shown others his real face.

    ¡°As for ¡®Gupi¡¯, it has been sealed by Jiang Yuanchi with the Dark Shadow Grand Spell. He hasn¡¯t broken through his realm for a long time because it takes him a lot of time and energy to maintain the seal. Otherwise, the creature maye out again.

    ¡°Over the years, Jiang Yuanchi has been traveling the realms of the human race, looking for a way to get rid of it.

    ¡°Unfortunately, he hasn¡¯t seeded. Besides, whenever he appears in a new realm, if the realm has miasma, the miasma will be actively gathered by his domain.

    ¡°Gradually, ¡®Gupi¡¯ became stronger and stronger.

    ¡°This creature cannot be released in the realms of the human race. Once it is released, it is almost impossible to be annihted or refined, and it will cause the destruction of countless lives in our domains.¡±

    Ye Wenhan, who was experienced, told the others about this secret history.

    Then he added, ¡°The reason why it wasn¡¯t made public is we were afraid it would cause unnecessary panic. The creature is a big concern. If people know that it is very difficult to deal with, and can only be sealed by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s Dark Shadow Grand Spell, they will think too much.

    ¡°Or they will be worried day and night that ¡®Gupi¡¯ will break free, and about what will happen if Jiang Yuanchi dies.

    ¡°Or maybe, even many people of the four ancient sects would demand that Jiang Yuanchi be banished from the human realms, and preferably, never enter the human world.

    ¡°In fact, at first, Jiang Yuanchi was also worried that something might go wrong, so he went to a remote gxy and stayed there for a long time before returning.¡±

    HISS! HISS!

    While Ye Wenhan spoke, the poisonous miasma that came out of Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark grey god domain had infiltrated the Fifth Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens!

    ¡°Gupi! It¡¯s the power of Gupi!¡±

    In the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Chu Rui, who had finally regained some strength, stared at the sky over his head. Watching the multicolored miasma spread little by little, he sweated profusely.

    He was frightened by the power of Gupi!

    ¡°Gupi?¡± Nie Tian stood still and asked Chu Rui, ¡°What is Gupi? Is it Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s divine tool?¡±

    ¡°Gupi!¡±

    Upon hearing Chu Rui¡¯s words, Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce paled dramatically. ¡°Gupi? Wasn¡¯t it killed? There are records of this creature in the archives of the Profound Purity Pce! It¡¯s said that Gupi killed two God domain experts in thest battle in the Dead Star Sea, right?¡±

    Chu Rui replied with a wry smile. ¡°One was from our Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and the other was from the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it said that Gupi was killed by thebined forces present?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    ¡°That kind of saying is only meant to reassure people,¡± Chu Rui exined. ¡°Gupi was sealed by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s Dark Shadow Grand Spell! When I first fought Jiang Yuanchi, I vaguely sensed Gupi¡¯s presence, but I thought Gupi should have originally limited him, and prevented him from fighting with all his strength.

    ¡°I never thought he would be able to use the power of that creature.

    ¡°Could it be that after so many years of suppression and staying with each other all day long, Jiang Yuanchi and Gupi, that creature of the Fiends, reach some sort of agreement?¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s eyes were filled with fear for the first time. ¡°Gupi! Gupi actually still exists!¡±

    As the sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect, where there had been God domain experts before, Yin Xingtian had also heard of Gupi, and knew that it had been suppressed by Jiang Yuanchi. Hearing that Jiang Yuanchi was now using Gupi¡¯s power, he was pale as a sheet, and kept muttering, ¡°Gupi! Once that thing is released, it may lead to the extinction of all beings in the realms of the human race!¡±

    In those days, Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, and the others couldn¡¯t kill it. If Jiang Yuanchi could really use Gupi, which had killed two God domain experts, and force it to fight, what should they do now?

    ¡°The Nine Star Heavens can stop Jiang Yuanchi, but I doubt it can stop Gupi!¡±

 Chapter 1298: I Donâ€™t Believe

    In the Fragmentary Star Pce, Dou Tianchen couldn¡¯t help but roar as he watched the colorful miasma corrode the Sixth of the Nine Star Heavens.

    Chu Rui shivered. ¡°Gupi! It¡¯s the power of Gupi! With the power of Jiang Yuanchi, a middle God domain expert, it¡¯s impossible for him to suddenly break through the Sixth Heaven! Each of the Nine Star Heavens¡¯ nine defenses has a profoundw and meaning imprinted by a Lord of the Stars. The Nine Star Heavens, which nine Lords of the Stars worked together to create, may even be able to intercept those who are at the peak of the God domain.¡±

    Listening to Chu Rui talk about how powerful Gupi was, the elders and many disciples with different cultivation bases of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were so scared that they didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°Only an abomination such as Gupi that does not belong to the human realm can have the power to suddenly break through the Sixth Heaven!¡±

    ¡°What to do? There are only three heavens left! Once the Nine Star Heavens is broken and the power of Gupi leaks into the Realm of Fragmentary Star, will we be able to escape?¡±

    ¡°The power of Gupi can kill a God domain expert!¡±

    In the starry river.

    Ye Wenhan sighed. ¡°Our Heaven Span Pavilion, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect know clearly that Jiang Yuanchi joined hands with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Jade Heaven Sect to attack the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but we didn¡¯te forward to stop it. On the one hand, the Shadow Society has made contributions to the human race. On the other hand, isn¡¯t it because we are afraid of Gupi?

    ¡°If we annoy Jiang Yuanchi and he releases Gupi, it will be a pestilent nightmare that will prevail across the whole human world, and no domain will be able to escape.

    ¡°Until now, we have been unable to find another way to seal Gupi except the secret shadow spell of the Shadow Society. And it is more impossible to refine it.¡±

    As Ye Wenhan spoke, Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society said, ¡°I finally understand. Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s sealing of Gupi is like having a natural protection. There are some people who can kill Jiang Yuanchi, like your sectmaster, the sectmaster of our sect, and Ji Cang, who has disappeared.

    ¡°But once we kill Jiang Yuanchi, no one can continue to seal Gupi. Once Gupies out, it will dramatically destabilize the human world.

    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why Jiang Yuanchi has nothing to fear, and dares to attack the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. The others worry about Gupi¡¯s existence, so they can¡¯t do anything to him.¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    ¡°What to do?¡±

    The disciples, elders and the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were all deeply troubled.

    Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and others, who hade to help, didn¡¯t know what to do either. They could do nothing about Gupi.

    This creature that even Ji Cang, Qu Yi, and Chu Yuan couldn¡¯t kill could only be sealed by the secret shadow spell of the Shadow Society.

    ¡°The Seventh Heaven!¡±

    Colored miasma entered the seventh tier of defenses of the Nine Star Heavens. As a result of its pration, a number of miniaturized star formations actually burned and crackled.

    In his dark grey shadow domain, Jiang Yuanchi no longer made a sound. There was only arge amount of miasma continuously permeating his whole domain.

    Wei Lai suddenly woke up with a start and shouted in a loud voice, ¡°There are only two heavens left. All disciples above the Saint domain should immediately evacuate the Realm of Fragmentary Star through the teleportation portals!¡±

    Yan Zhan and Chu Rui also came to their senses.

    Judging from the current situation, the Nine Star Heavens, which had protected the Realm of Fragmentary Star for thousands of years, seemed destined to be permeated by Gupi.

    When the poisonous fog floated into the Realm of Fragmentary Star, who could survive a power that could even kill God domain experts?

    For a moment, everyone was shocked.

    Noticing the sect disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were all ready to leave the Realm of Fragmentary Star, helpers such as Yu Suying and Yin Xingtian naturally became more hesitant.

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    They stared at Nie Tian, waiting for him to nod. As long as Nie Tian gave the order, they would return the same way they came, and leave the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°Where there is life, there is hope,¡± Mo Qianfan said softly in an attempt to persuade Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian! The power of Gupi is beyond the reach of humans! Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, and Qu Yi were unable to seal or refine it that year. Now it and Jiang Yuanchi appear to have reached some kind of agreement that allows him to use its power. Let¡¯s not fight when there¡¯s no chance to win.¡±

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll have no hope until we leave here.¡± Chu Rui said with a sad smile, and urged Wang Meijia to take her disciples to leave quickly through the teleportation portals.

    In this hopeless situation, many disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce howled and shouted.

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave quickly while the Nine Star Heavens can shelter us for a while.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! You are the hope of the sect, you go first!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! Please kill Jiang Yuanchi in the future!¡±

    They all thought that only if he lived now, and in the future reached a deep realm, could he erase their sect¡¯s humiliation at some point in the future.

    ¡°Gupi, the abomination of the Fiends...¡± Nie Tian lowered his head, talking to himself. Suddenly, he looked at the miasma that was slowly permeating the Nine Star Heavens, and grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Under the astonished and inexplicable eyes of all the people present, he drove the Star Boat to rush into the sky.

    The Star Boat flew through the sky and sent him to the sky of the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Then he gave up on the Star Boat. With his own strength, he charged into the innermost defensive barrier of the Nine Star Heavens.

    HISS!

    All the three broken-star seals on his chest gave him a distinct burning sensation.

    He checked them, and immediately realized that because he practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation and thus had the three star seals in his body, theyers of defense in the Nine Star Heavens regarded him as a friendly force.

    He was able to travel through them freely.

    Chu Rui, Wei Lai and Fang Yuan all roared as their figures rushed into the sky, trying to forcibly take Nie Tian down.

    ¡°Don¡¯t! Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°You are the future hope of the sect. Don¡¯t do anything stupid!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian,e down!¡±

    Both inside and outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star, many Saint domain and Void domain experts of the human world all uttered simr sighs, as if they had seen the doomed death of Nie Tian.

    ¡°Is that real? A person flew out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star!¡±

    ¡°That, that¡¯s Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars! Now, the poisonous miasma of Gupi has prated the Seventh Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens. Why did he go to court death instead of quickly leaving the Realm of Fragmentary Star?¡±

    ¡°Is he who is called Godmaker a fool? Gupi is so horrible that Ji Cang, the Lord of the Stars, couldn¡¯t kill it in the Dead Star Sea!¡±

    ¡°What a pity! I was counting on his power to help me break through to the God domain!¡±

    ¡°Will his flesh power be corrupted by Gupi¡¯s miasma? Will his domain be dissolved? Will he die prematurely?¡±

 Chapter 1299: Deceleration

    The disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce burst into a great mor, as did those from the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Five Elements Sect, and other observers from various domains.

    Anyone who had any idea of Gupi¡¯s origin and formidable might thought Nie Tian had gone crazy.

    Back in the day, even Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, and Qu Yi had failed to seal it, much less refine it. What could Nie Tian do to it?

    Wasn¡¯t he courting death by charging directly at it?

    All of those Saint domain experts, who had traveled countless kilometers to this ce in attempts to befriend Nie Tian and better their chances at entering the God domain, beat their chests and stamped their feet as they used Nie Tian of not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. (Idiom: having an exaggerated opinion of one¡¯s abilities)

    Yan Zhan, Wei Lai, and other experts charged into the heavens after him.

    They wanted to drag him down from the Nine Star Heavens.

    After all, the future of the secty with him!

    However, by the time they charged into the Ninth Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens, Nie Tian, who had abandoned his Star Boat, had already reached the Seventh Heaven!

    The miasma released by Gupi had already infiltrated the Seventh Heaven. In everyone¡¯s eyes, it had be a deathtrap that would kill anyone who entered!

    Wei Lai gasped with astonishment.

    ¡°Stop!¡± he yelled for everyone to stop chasing as he himself came to an abrupt stop.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had entered the Seventh Heaven, while they were in the Ninth Heaven.

    Bearing great sorrow and reluctance, Wei Lai shouted towards Dou Tianchen, Yan Zhan, Han Wanrong, and the others, ¡°Nobody enters the Eighth Heaven!

    ¡°Gupi¡¯s miasma may infiltrate the Eighth Heaven at any moment. Even the slightest contact with it may cause our domains to dissolve! Even our souls may be poisoned, and perish.¡±

    One figure after another came to sudden stops in the Ninth Heaven.

    Across the Eighth Heaven, they fixed their eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    The Seventh of the Nine Star Heavens was a shield that consisted of numerous flying streaks of starlight, all of which had been vested with profound Dao and secret magics by previous Lords of the Stars. There were also magical symbols and small spell formations that seemed to carry profoundws and rules of power other than star power inside it.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The miasma released by Gupi came in colorful clusters. Its contact with the various talismans and spell formations gave rise to glorious sputtering lights.

    Some emerald green, dark cyan, and ink ck clusters of miasma seemed to have their own awareness, as they took the initiative to swoop towards Nie Tian like predators that had smelled blood.

    They rapidly morphed into slim tentacles that couldn¡¯t wait to drill into his nostrils, ears, and eyes.

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t activate his domain.

    That was because he had heard Chu Rui say that even God domain experts¡¯ domains couldn¡¯t ward off the miasma released by Gupi.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui shouted. ¡°You¡¯re being foolish!¡±

    After stuffing a handful of medicinal pills down his throat, he also charged into the Ninth Heaven. ¡°You encountered the Fiends¡¯ Domain-corroding mes before. Those were special mes refined by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiend race that could melt Void and Saint domain cultivators¡¯ domains away and suppress God domain cultivators¡¯ power. One of the main materials that were used to refine those Domain-corroding mes were the special toxins that Gupi discharged as it fed.

    ¡°The Domain-corroding mes couldn¡¯t kill God domain experts or break their domains.

    ¡°However, their might isn¡¯t even remotelyparable to that of Gupi¡¯s! You can¡¯t even imagine the destructive effect its toxins have on cultivators¡¯ spiritual power shields and fleshly bodies!¡±

    Chu Rui only shouted to restress the mightiness of Gupi because he hoped that Nie Tian would return immediately.

    However, as soon as he finished, he discovered that the fatal toxins released by Gupi had already morphed into numerous slender tentacles and touched Nie Tian.

    Technically, they had touched a special shield Nie Tian had enveloped himself in.

    The shield was a mixture of his flesh aura and raging mes .

    ¡°Life Strengthening, Potential Stimtion, Blood Essence Seething...¡±

    As one bloodline talent after another was activated, his well-built body bulked up instantly, every muscle bulging. This gave people a feeling that he was so explosive and powerful that he could split heaven and earth.

    At the same time, he drew power from the me spark in his spiritual sea and put on the me Dragon Armor.

    ¡°Gupi can easily corrode Qi warriors¡¯ power and melt their domains away. If that¡¯s the case, I just won¡¯t use human power against it. Instead, I¡¯ll fight it with my flesh power and power from my unique treasures, and see how it¡¯ll work out.¡±

    With this thought in mind, he operated his bloodline power.

    FIZZ!

    The moment the tentacles morphed from Gupi¡¯s miasma made contact with his special shield, a corrosive power that was a thousand times stronger than that of any acid impacted the shield, giving rise to arge amount of fiery sparks.

    The shield was a condensation of his flesh power and the power from the wondrous me spark.

    For this reason, not only was it stronger than the flesh aura seas of many powerful outsiders, but it also had its own unique wonders.

    Even so, it didn¡¯t hold very long under Gupi¡¯s ¡®miasma tentacles¡¯ before holes started to appear in it.

    This forced Nie Tian to draw more flesh power to mend the holes, so that the shield would endure.

    ¡°This toxic miasma is mighty indeed, and it¡¯s only something Gupi released, not part of its body.¡±

    His expression flickered as he forced himself to focus. His mind operated at a high speed as he sensed the acidic toxins in the miasma and, at the same time, searched for a solution.

    ¡°Nie Tian, even powerful outsiders and Ancientspirits would tremble before Gupi!¡± Chu Rui eximed. ¡°Among the numerous races in this starry river, perhaps only mighty Bonebrutes can resist their toxins! Only ninth and tenth grade Bonebrutes that have developed their Impregnable Form can be unharmed by their toxins!

    ¡°Even so, they won¡¯t be able to kill Gupi, as Gupi won¡¯t be able to kill them.¡±

    Bonebrutes were born without flesh and blood, only wondrous bones.

    Powerful Bonebrutes with great mastery of their Impregnable Form couldn¡¯t be harmed by any toxins. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that they were Fiends¡¯ natural bane.

    ¡°Bonebrutes...¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before an idea suddenly came to him. With a thought, he summoned the Bone Blood Demon, which hadin forgotten in his ring of holding for years.

    Since it was only at the eighth grade, under normal circumstances, it couldn¡¯t provide him with much help anymore.

    Furthermore, since it didn¡¯t have much room to improve, and its death power coupled with his life bloodline poorly, he didn¡¯t want to waste his Blood Essence on it. That was why it had been left in his ring of holding to gather dust.

    But now, after hearing Chu Rui¡¯s shouts, he realized that its moment was here.

    As soon as the Bone Blood Demon flew out, countless star talismans swooped over in an attempt to annihte it.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily drew wisps of aura from his star souls and fused them into the Bone Blood Demon.

    After the wisps of aura flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness into the Bone Blood Demon, they seemed to serve as an amulet that kept the star talismans and spell formations in the Seventh Heaven from seeing it as an enemy.

    SHEW!

    Enveloped in his special shield, Nie Tian blurred into action. In the next moment, he stopped right in front of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, which was very close to its heart.

    More colorful ¡®tentacles¡¯ released by Gupi came after Nie Tian.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Bone Blood Demon, which was only at the eighth grade, but had been strengthened over and over by Nie Tian, started to brandish its bony arms, releasing an aura of death. With its huge ws, it swatted and tore at the tentacles of miasma.

    Scattered by the Bone Blood Demon, the spreading miasma seemed to be unable to concentrate anymore.

    Therefore, the speed at which it spread towards the Eighth Heaven clearly became slower.

    In the Ninth Heaven, Chu Rui, Wei Lai, and the others eximed in shock, ¡°A puppet refined from a Bonebrute!¡±

    ¡°I heard that, back in the day, that puppet used to be of great help to Nie Tian in battle,¡± Fang Yuan said. ¡°But as he grew stronger and stronger, that eighth grade Bonebrute puppet was no longer helpful. Who would have thought...¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered as he eximed in high spirits, ¡°Powerful Bonebrutes with profound mastery of Impregnable Form can ignore the acidic toxins released by Gupi! As you can see, that puppet of Nie Tian¡¯s is scattering the miasma with the death aura it releases with swings of its bony arms!¡±

    Seeing hope, Wei Lai said, ¡°I can see that the miasma has been slowed down!¡±

    Yan Zhan was thrilled. ¡°This means that Nie Tian¡¯s n with that Bonebrute puppet is working!¡±

 Chapter 1300: Seal!

    Saint domain experts from various domains gathered to Ye Wenhan¡¯s side. After observing attentively for a while with narrowed eyes, they burst into a heated discussion.

    ¡°Is that puppet made from a dead Bonebrute?¡±

    ¡°That puppet refined from an eighth grade Bonebrute through a secret method is actually scattering the miasma released by Gupi?!¡±

    ¡°The Bonebrutes surely are the most special race among the myriad races in this starry river.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is resourceful indeed!¡±

    Huang Jinnan chuckled and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t know that not only do Bonebrutes have natural advantages when facing Fiends, but they can also handle such fatal toxins.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan smiled and said, ¡°That Bonebrute puppet is actually making a difference.¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion said softly. He was the only one who still seemed deeply worried. ¡°Perhaps tenth grade Bonebrutes can simply ignore the toxins released by Gupi, but ninth and eighth grade Bonebrutes might not be able to resist those fatal toxinspletely. You¡¯ve got to know that Gupi¡¯s toxins are not only destructive to our domains and fleshly bodies, but our souls as well!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions changed as they heard these words.

    ¡°So Nie Tian...¡± Hou Chn said.

    Ye Wenhan took a deep breath. Staring at the surging miasma in Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray domain and sensing the strange flesh aura within it, he said with a heavy tone, ¡°Those are only tentacles transformed from the toxic miasma released by Gupi, not its actual tentacles. The Gupi hasn¡¯t brought out its true might yet.¡±

    ¡°How mighty is Gupi really?¡± He Lianxiong asked.

    ¡°What makes it truly powerful are the actual tentacles thate out of its true form,¡± Ye Wenhan exined. ¡°They¡¯re much more destructive than the tentacles condensed from the poisonous miasma it releases. However, what worries me the most is what kind of rtionship Jiang Yuanchi and Gupi have now.¡±

    ¡°Gupi is an intelligent creature, right?¡± Hou Chn asked.

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s every bit as intelligent as any higher being we know. So if it has escaped Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s control, or worse, if it has possessed him, then the consequences...¡±

    With these words, he couldn¡¯t help but shiver, his face turning pale with fright.

    Ji Yuanquan shook his head repeatedly. ¡°No! That¡¯s impossible! Jiang Yuanchi is the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. He¡¯s sealed Gupi with secret shadow magics for ages. No one understands its might better than him. And he¡¯s a smart man. He wouldn¡¯t let something like that happen.¡±

    Ye Wenhan sighed. ¡°I hope you¡¯re right.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In front of the Bone Blood Demon¡¯s chest, the special shield Nie Tian had enveloped himself with would be fixed by his surging flesh power as soon as it was corroded andpromised.

    The Bone Blood Demon continued to swing its bony arms, which looked like huge swords wreathed in pale-gray death power, chopping and scattering the miasma.

    Failing to condense into tentacles to attack Nie Tian, the miasma that actually touched Nie Tian¡¯s protective shield turned out to be much less destructive.

    Surprisingly, with the help of the Bone Blood Demon, Nie Tian¡¯s special shield actually managed to resist the miasma and keep Nie Tian safe in the Seventh Heaven.

    Even so, more miasma spread towards the Eighth Heaven.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°It seems that I can resist Gupi¡¯s toxins to arge extent with this shield of mixed flesh power and power from the me spark. And the Bone Blood Demon has proven to be able to slow down the miasma as it spreads toward the Eighth Heaven. The only problem is that I still can¡¯t find a way to refine or wipe the miasma outpletely.¡±

    Chu Rui was right. Even though the Bonebrutes¡¯ unique features might make them invulnerable to Gupi¡¯s toxins, they couldn¡¯t kill them either.

    Even though his Bone Blood Demon could scatter the poisonous miasma, it couldn¡¯t refine or wipe it out.

    The miasma would regather once it spread far away from it.

    Gradually, Nie Tian noticed something.

    The miasma didn¡¯t seem to be concentrated enough to melt his protective shield anymore once it scattered and regathered. Even the miasma itself seemed to notice this.

    Therefore, it started to move away from the Bone Blood Demon, and away from him.

    Because of this, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have to exert himself to resist the miasma anymore.

    The regathered miasma picked up speed as it spread towards the Eighth Heaven, as if it intended to breach thest two defensive lines so it could finally disperse into the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°This miasma clearly has its own awareness!¡±

    In the Ninth Heaven, Yan Zhan wasn¡¯t ted for long before his expression flickered. He noticed that the miasma scattered by the Bone Blood Demon circled around Nie Tian¡¯s location, then after regathering, pierced towards the border between the Seventh and Eighth Heaven with great force, like an awl.

    Chu Rui smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Gupi is controlling that miasma. Like I said, Gupi is very intelligent. Even from beyond so manyyers of the Nine Star Heavens, it can still manipte its miasma with such precision. Is Jiang Yuanchi suppressing it or not?¡±

    ¡°Even though Nie Tian is unharmed, he doesn¡¯t seem to be able to stop that miasma from spreading,¡± Xin Qing said, looking anxious.

    ¡°You!¡± Eyes wide, Wei Lai turned and pointed at Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia, and Han Wanrong, demanding that they return to the Fragmentary Star Pce to arrange for core disciples to evacuate through teleportation portals in order to preserve their hope for a future.

    After hesitating for a few seconds, the several Sons of the Stars headed down.

    Chu Rui sighed and called out, ¡°Nie Tian! No more futile attempts! The future of our sect lies with you! You need to leave the Realm of Fragmentary Star now! Gupi is unbeatable, not to mention there¡¯s also Jiang Yuanchi! Come back now! What you¡¯re doing to that miasma is meaningless!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to hear him. Instead, he pondered, ¡°If Jiang Yuanchi sealed the Gupi with his shadow magic, can I seal the miasma with a simr magic?¡±

    He searched his memories and found several sealing magics, most of which came from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. There were also a few that had been passed on to him by his master, Wu Ji.

    However, he didn¡¯t think any of them would help him now.

    All of a sudden, a spiritual light shed across his mind like a bolt of lightning, showing him a direction. ¡°Wait! There is a wondrous sealing magic I can use!¡±

    He remembered the sealing magic he had derived from the buried titans in the magicalnd the me Dragon Armor had taken him to. It allowed him to create an Illusory Ancient Talisman that was in the shape of the character ¡®Seal¡¯.

    He had used that sealing magic to seal a cluster of corpse me he had encountered in the Stone Golem capital in the Shatter Battlefield.

    That cluster of corpse me was also extremely toxic. A mere touch of it would melt people¡¯s flesh away.

    Eventually, he had sealed it with the Illusory Ancient Talismans and presented it to Li Langfeng, who hadter refined it into himself bit by bit. This had allowed him to make a series of breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    What Nie Tian was facing now wasn¡¯t the actual tentacles of Gupi, but rather some toxic miasma released by it. Could it be sealed by an Illusory Ancient Talisman?

    With this thought in mind, he hesitated no more.

    ¡°Seal!¡±

    As he eximed the word, his hand wove in the air to summon all sorts of spiritual power, flesh power, and soul power to condense and weave into the Illusory Ancient Talisman as he remembered it.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As wisps of power flew out to interweave in front of his chest, the star power in the Seventh Heaven also answered his summons, and flew from every direction to join the action.

    Countless seemingly disorderly lines gradually wove into a gorgeous pattern, as if an ancient god were drawing it with a divine brush.

    Momentster, a mysterious ancient talisman came to form half a meter in front of him.

    A remote, thick, deep, and vast aura burst forth from within the Illusory Ancient Talisman. Nie Tian¡¯s wisps of soul awareness guided it to float towards the regions where the miasma was the thickest.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Upon receiving Nie Tian¡¯smand, the Illusory Ancient Talisman swooped towards the miasma.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wherever the Illusory Ancient Talisman flew, wisps of colorful toxic miasma were absorbed by it, like metal dust attracted by mas.

    ¡°It¡¯s working!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. He stared unblinkingly at the Illusory Ancient Talisman, the light of excitement filling his eyes.

    Under his gaze, the poisonous miasma was drawn into the Illusory Ancient Talisman wherever it glided.

    Soon, the Illusory Ancient Talisman reached the part where the toxic miasma was the most concentrated.

    WHOOSH!

    Wisp after wisp of colorful miasma was channeled into the Illusory Ancient Talisman and disappeared like an eraser wiping a ckboard.

    Gradually, the Illusory Ancient Talisman turned into a multicolored sphere that emanated suffocating light.

 Chapter 1301: Panic

    A mor burst through the crowd.

    ¡°God! What am I looking at?¡±

    ¡°Is the toxic miasma released by Gupi being absorbed by that ethereal talisman?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian condensed that talisman!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian can seal that toxic miasma?¡±

    Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion went nk for a few seconds before saying in disbelief, ¡°Even though that toxic miasma isn¡¯t a part of Gupi¡¯s actual body, it contains fatal toxin essence. Even though it can be scattered, it¡¯s almost impossible to refine or contain!¡±

    Ji Yuanquanughed. ¡°Nie Tian is extraordinary indeed!¡±

    The Saint domain observers in the starry river seemed inspired with enthusiasm.

    ¡°So that Son of the Stars had a solution all along. No wonder he dared to charge directly into it!¡±

    ¡°Good. I knew he was different. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be called the Godmaker! And Zu Guangyao and Mo Qianfan wouldn¡¯t have broken through into the God domain because of him!¡±

    ¡°It seems we made a smart choice bying all the way here!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, as long as he lives!¡±

    The numerous sect and n leaders that had traveled great distances to this ce finally felt relieved.

    Most of them had been stuck at thete Saint domain for ages. Since they weren¡¯t confident in making the breakthrough into the God domain by themselves, they had ced their hopes in Nie Tian.

    Therefore, none of them wanted anything to happen to him.

    In the Ninth Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens, Chu Rui eximed, starlight glittering in his widened eyes, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Xin Qing, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others also grew excited once again.

    WHOOSH!

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman Nie Tian had condensed and formed with all sorts of power continued to float about.

    Cluster after cluster of toxic miasma in the Seventh Heaven morphed into colorful streaks that disappeared into the Illusory Ancient Talisman before spreading to the Eighth Heaven.

    Soon, everyst wisp of multicolored miasma that had invaded the Seventh Heaven was absorbed by the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman then morphed into a glorious glowing sphere that continued to fly about, as if it were seeking new targets.

    ¡°The ancient talisman can absorb more miasma!¡±

    Aftering to this realization, Nie Tian grinned and dashed towards the Sixth Heaven like a streak of starlight.

    WHOOSH!

    The glorious glowing sphere the Illusory Ancient Talisman had turned into after absorbing a significant amount of toxic miasma flew after him.

    ¡°The Sixth Heaven! Carry on!¡±

    With a thought, hemanded the glowing sphere to roam the Sixth Heaven.

    Just like what had happened in the Seventh Heaven, clusters of toxic miasma in the Sixth Heaven were also absorbed by the Illusory Ancient Talisman wherever it flew.

    As Nie Tian moved on, the numerous Saint domain observers, along with Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and powerful experts from the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect, couldn¡¯t help but exim in disbelief.

    ¡°The Fifth Heaven!¡±

    ¡°The Fourth Heaven!¡±

    ¡°The Third Heaven!¡±

    Under their gazes, Nie Tian started with the Seventh Heaven, and soon worked his way up to the Third Heaven, cleansing every one of them of toxic miasma with a wondrous talisman.

    Floating fairly close to Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray domain were Shangguan Zhi, You Qimiao, Shangguan Zhi, and Duan Hongwen, four God domain experts. At this moment, they were all confused about what was happening.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on with Sectmaster Jiang?¡± Song Chequan asked, looking baffled.

    With narrowed eyes, Shangguan Zhi stared unblinkingly at Nie Tian and that Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    ¡°This can¡¯t be happening. I must be seeing it wrong.¡± he said. ¡°Even though it¡¯s only toxic miasma released by Gupi, it can¡¯t possibly be absorbed and sealed away so easily! That miasma can poison and corrode all spiritual tools!¡±

    The secret shadow magics the Shadow Society took pride in were known as the only magics that had proven to be effective at sealing Gupi.

    Shangguan Zhi had followed Jiang Yuanchi for many years. He knew how many methods he had tried to deal with Gupi.

    There were countless secret magics and profound incantations in this starry river, yet almost none of them were effective on Gupi.

    At least, almost no human incantation, magic, spell formation, or spiritual tool had proven to be effective on it.

    Otherwise, Jiang Yuanchi wouldn¡¯t have been gued and weighed down by Gupi for so many years. Since he had spent all of his time tangling with it using shadow magics, he hadn¡¯t even had time to practice cultivation anymore.

    Now, he saw that a talisman created by Nie Tian was somehow absorbing and sealing the toxic miasma released by Gupi. He was also bbergasted.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that the Illusory Ancient Talisman Nie Tian was using wasn¡¯t a human magic.

    Shangguan Zhi¡¯s eyes flickered with insecurity. ¡°I... I¡¯m afraid our sectmaster can¡¯t even hear my calls when he¡¯s employing Gupi¡¯s power. I think you should retreat to a ce that¡¯s farther away from our sectmaster. I¡¯m worried that...¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± You Qimiao asked.

    ¡°Nothing. Just put more distance between you and our sectmaster¡¯s shadow domain.¡± Shangguan Zhi said mysteriously, urging the others to back away and be careful.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s Illusory Ancient Talisman crossed into the Second Heaven.

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman rapidly swept through the Second Heaven, absorbing everyst wisp of toxic miasma and allowing the star symbols and spell formations to return to normal.

    After the Second Heaven was cleansed, the Illusory Ancient Talisman glowed even more dazzlingly. Even Nie Tian started to feel apprehensive about the surging power within it.

    ¡°This thing has refined a mass of toxic miasma and gathered a huge amount of toxin essence. A mere touch of it might be fatal.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Li Langfeng has followed me for many years. He practices poisonous incantations, and was able to refine that cluster of corpse me. Would he be able to refine Gupi¡¯s toxins in this Illusory Ancient Talisman bit by bit?¡±

    GULP! GULP! GULP!

    All of a sudden, very strange sounds came from the depths of Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray domain, which was now filled with multicolored toxic miasma.

    ¡°This is terrible!"

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression flickered drastically, light swords shing like lightning bolts in the depths of his pupils.

    Face grim, he slowly approached Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow domain.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± Ye Wenhan shouted, without even the slightest respect in his tone. ¡°In early years, you made great contributions to humanity by sealing Gupi inside of you. We¡¯re all grateful for it. That¡¯s also why we four sects have turned a blind eye to all of the inappropriate things your sect has done over the years.

    ¡°However, as the warden of Gupi, you shouldn¡¯t forget your responsibility!

    ¡°You can never allow yourself to be enved by it! You¡¯re a human whose responsibility is to prevent Gupi from ever showing up in our world again! No matter what, you can¡¯t release it!¡±

    With every step he took, his voice grew higher and more furious.

    Everyone who heard him wondered what he was doing, and were scared upon realizing why he was saying these words.

    ¡°Is Jiang Yuanchi going to release Gupi?¡±

    ¡°Or has he been enved, and only serves its will now?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society broke out in a cold sweat after realizing what Ye Wenhan meant. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± he bellowed. ¡°If you dare to release the Gupi, you¡¯ll be an enemy to all humanity! Anyone will have the right to kill you!¡±

    Upon hearing this, even Song Chequan, You Qimiao, and the others stood aghast.

    You Qimiao took a deep breath and yelled, ¡°Shangguan Zhi! What do Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan mean? What¡¯s the rtionship between Sectmaster Jiang and Gupi exactly? Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s been enved by it and takes orders from it now! Don¡¯t tell me the entire Shadow Society serves that abomination of the Fiends now!¡±

    Everyone from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Jade Heaven Sect looked highly vignt as they stared at Shangguan Zhi and the surging miasma.

    Shangguan Zhi smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I, I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t tell what rtionship our sectmaster has with Gupi. Before, he¡¯d only asionally employ a bit of the Gupi¡¯s power. Never like this...¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! Answer us!¡± Ye Wenhan shouted furiously. ¡°If you refuse to talk, we¡¯ll have to assume that you¡¯re not yourself anymore, but a ve to Gupi! If that¡¯s the case, don¡¯t me us for our manners!¡±

    No matter how hard people shouted, Jiang Yuanchi didn¡¯t give any response.

 Chapter 1302: Mutation

    Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan, two God domain experts, approached bit by bit.

    However, beforeing too close, Ye Wenhan came to a stop.

    He adjusted his breathing nervously and didn¡¯t activate his dharma idol. Instead, he gave Ji Yuanquan a meaningful nce.

    Upon meeting his eyes, Ji Yuanquan realized what he meant, and thus carefully spread mysterious spatial ripples into their surroundings to mobilize spatial power.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to aid an enemy to humanity!¡±

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s pupils shrunk as numerous thin spiritual swords flew out from the depths of his eyes like lightning bolts. Thousands of them hovered around him like arge shoal of fish, forming a profound sword formation.

    You Qimiao, Duan Hongwen, Song Chequan, and Shangguan Zhi were all God domain experts.

    You Qimiao¡¯s cultivation base was the highest, the middle God domain, which was even higher than that of Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan.

    However, even he fell silent at this moment.

    Face grim, he stared at Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray shadow domain. Failing to get a response from Jiang Yuanchi, he started to have doubts and hesitate.

    He jerked his head towards Shangguan Zhi. ¡°Shangguan Zhi...?¡±

    Shangguan Zhi shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on either.¡±

    ¡°What on earth do you know, Brother Ye?¡± You Qimiao asked with a heavy tone. ¡°Are you certain that he¡¯s been enved by Gupi?¡±

    ¡°Do you hear those strange sounds?¡± Ye Wenhan eximed. ¡°They¡¯re sounds made by Gupi. Only if it has broken free from Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow magics and escaped his control can it make sounds like that!¡±

    GULP! GULP! GULP! GULP!

    Strange sounds continued toe from the depths of the multicolored miasma that pervaded Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray shadow domain.

    You Qimiao¡¯s expression flickered.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, toxic miasma that was ten times more concentrated than what had invaded the Nine Star Heavens burst forth from the source of the sounds. Like clusters of colorful smoke, it spread in every direction.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression flickered drastically as numerous spatial lines blossomed with dazzling light in the dark void.

    The void seemed to be gashed by a sharp knife, revealing a glowing spatial rift with wondrous lights dashing inside.

    WHOOSH!

    A cluster of green and purple miasma that seemed to be sticky and in a liquid state suddenly floated to You Qimiao¡¯s location.

    You Qimiao released the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror and activated his dharma idol at the first possible moment, and rapidly enveloped himself in a shield of flowing fire and water auras.

    The sticky miasma that was filled with acidic toxins entered the shield of flowing auras without effort.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The flowing auras released by the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, which looked like yin yang fish, were instantly melted away.

    The huge Yin Yang Chaos Mirror that was emanating bright light over You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol suddenly grew dim.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! What the hell are you doing?!¡± You Qimiao eximed.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    More and more miasma that was ten times stronger than what had invaded the Nine Star Heavens flew towards Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Duan Hongwen, and everyone else in clusters.

    SHEW!

    At the same time, a green tentacle that looked like entwined rattan quietly reached out from the dark gray shadow domain, which was now filled with rolling miasma.

    The thorny tentacle was thick and long like a dragon, and had slime dripping from it. With lightning speed, it mmed towards You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol.

    A wall of mixed two-colored auras established by the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror to protect You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol exploded with a loud boom.

    Not even slowed down, the odd-looking tentacle whipped You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol with great force.

    You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol, which was close to ten thousand meters tall, was knocked flying dozens of kilometers by the impact.

    You Qimiao cried in pain as smoke rose from the parts where his dharma idol was whipped.

    Despite all this, he was the one with the highest cultivation base among those who were now close to Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s domain!

    Song Chequan and Duan Hongwen, who were at the early God domain, also suffered from attacks.

    Their dharma idols simply scattered as they were mmed by two other tentacles.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Ji Yuanquan cried aloud as he moved the spatial rift he had created to Ye Wenhan¡¯s location so he could leave through it.

    Ye Wenhan vanished into the void in the blink of an eye.

    In the next moment, Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan arrived in the ce where He Lianxiong, Hou Chn, and the other juniors were gathered.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi has lost his mind!¡± He Lianxiong shouted furiously.

    Ye Wenhan was extremely grim as he said, ¡°No, he he hasn¡¯t. He¡¯s possessed by Gupi. At least at this moment, he is. He hasn¡¯t said anything in a long time. I suspect that even his soul is now being controlled by Gupi. He¡¯s not himself anymore. He¡¯s Gupi.¡±

    ¡°So what should we do?" Huang Jinnan asked, seized with terror.

    Ye Wenhan pondered in silence.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian, who wasmanding the Illusory Ancient Talisman to absorb the remaining miasma in the Second Heaven and prepared to enter the First Heaven, was dumbstruck by what was happening.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Chu Rui, Yan Zhan, Wei Lai, and the others flew to the Third Heaven one after another.

    All of their gazesnded on the dark gray shadow domain, where strange tentacles flew out tosh at You Qimiao, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan.

    A hint of gloating appeared on Wei Lai and Yan Zhan¡¯s faces.

    Chu Rui, however, wasn¡¯t in the mood to gloat. Instead, he shouted towards Nie Tian, ¡°It seems that Gupi has gained the upper hand in its battle against Jiang Yuanchi. Those tentacles suggest that it has broken his shadow seals. Jiang Yuanchi is losing!¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Wei Lai and the others immediately stopped gloating.

    With knitted brows, Chu Rui said in deep frustration, ¡°This is disastrous. Not only our sect, but the entire human world may be gued by this abomination. And all of ourte God domain experts happen to be away at this perilous moment.

    ¡°If Jiang Yuanchi actually fails to contain it, and it¡¯s released into our world, the consequences will be catastrophic.¡±

    After hearing his exnation, Nie Tian also realized what a nightmare it would be if Gupipletely escaped Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s control.

    Chu Rui seemed to see a ray of hope as he stared at the Illusory Ancient Talisman that was emanating dazzling multicolored light like a glowing sphere.

    ¡°That talisman,¡± he said. ¡°If it can seal the toxic miasma the Gupi releases, is it possible for it to do a more thorough job?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Do you mean seal Gupi?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Immediately after saying these words, Chu Rui shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s my wishful thinking. That toxic miasma is only a condensation of its acidic toxins, not its true self. Back in the day, Jiang Yuanchi had mastered profound shadow incantations and was at the middle God domain when he was barely able to seal the Gupi. Now, he¡¯s suffered a bacsh and lost control of it.

    ¡°How can I expect you to seal it with nothing but a talisman?

    ¡°I guess I¡¯m just too desperate.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian flew into the First of the Nine Star Heavens.

    Controlled by his thoughts, the Illusory Ancient Talismans rapidly swept through the First Heaven and absorbed everyst wisp of toxic miasma like a ma.

    At this moment, the Gupi didn¡¯t seem to consider the Realm of Fragmentary Star as its primary target anymore.

    You Qimiao, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan, all of whom were at the God domain, suffered from the Gupi¡¯s attacks. Shangguan Zhi was the only one who had seen the potential problem and flown away in time, and thus avoided being hit.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, on the other hand, had evacuated the area through a spatial rift.

    However, the ancient starships of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society that were berthed in the vicinity weren¡¯t so lucky.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The strange tentacles flew out of Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow domain to whip and smash the ancient starships.

    At the same time, multicolored toxic miasma spread over. The domains of numerous Void and Saint domain experts from the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect melted away like heated snow.

    As soon as their domains melted away, they were left exposed in the starry river, and soon died miserably.

    The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society suffered heavy casualties in a matter of seconds.

    You Qimiao¡¯s enormous dharma idol got back up in a ce a few dozen kilometers away in the starry river.

    With a swift move, he grabbed the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror. Eyes wide and reddened from fury, he shouted, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! You instigated us and the Jade Heaven Sect to join you in this operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but you...!¡±

    ¡°I told you, he¡¯s not Jiang Yuanchi anymore!¡± Ye Wenhan stopped him before he could finish.

    The mes of rage seemed to burn in You Qimiao¡¯s eyes as he roared, ¡°If he¡¯s not Jiang Yuanchi, then he¡¯s that abomination from the Fiends! That being the case, we shall work together to y it! Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s life is no longer a concern!¡±

    ¡°y it? It¡¯s easier said than done!¡± Ye Wenhan said with a bitter expression.

    ¡°What other choice do we have?¡± You Qimiao bellowed.

 Chapter 1303: Fear Spreads

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Ancient starships from the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect exploded one after another after being whipped by Gupi¡¯s tentacles.

    Debris was sent flying in every direction as sparks sputtered.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray domain gradually flew away from the Realm of Fragmentary Star towards the area where the observers were gathered.

    Toxic miasma rapidly pervaded its surroundings.

    As this happened, agonized shrieks filled the void.

    Numerous surviving members of the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and Jade Heaven Sect became Gupi¡¯s targets, and had their void and saint domains melted.

    After losing the protection of their domains, they couldn¡¯t ward off Gupi¡¯s miasma as Nie Tian could, so they died instantly.

    At first, You Qimiao intended to join hands with Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the others to y the Gupi.

    However, he gave up the idea shortly.

    ¡°Retreat! All units, retreat!¡± He madly screamed for the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect Qi warriors who were close to the dark gray domain to retreat right away.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One figure after another abandoned their ancient starships and dashed off like streaks of colorful light.

    At this moment, everyone realized that Jiang Yuanchi had truly lost control!

    That was because he had even started to attack the Shadow Society, which he had devoted his life to!

    He was even capable of destroying core members of the Shadow Society without the slightest hesitation. How could he still be himself?

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The dark gray shadow domain gradually elerated. With a speed faster than that of any ancient starship or Saint domain expert, it dashed towards the ce where the foreign observers were gathered, along with Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan.

    Many members of the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect it encountered along its way suffered tragic deaths.

    Their agonized shrieks filled the void.

    In the First Heaven of the Nine Star Heavens, Nie Tian was dumbstruck. ¡°This is...¡±

    Since Nie Tian had absorbed all of the remaining toxic miasma with the Illusory Ancient Talisman, and Gupi had shifted its target from the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Chu Rui, Yan Zhan, Wei Lai, Xin Qing, Han Wanrong, and the others finally came to his side.

    They remained under the protection of the Nine Star Heavens as they observed what was happening outside with wide eyes.

    Numerous Void and Saint domain members, along with dozens of ancient starships from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, had traveled great distances tounch this invasion. Who would have thought that they would end up defeated by Jiang Yuanchi, or to be exact, Gupi?

    ¡°Why? Why is this happening? Jiang Yuanchi was clearly sane when he employed the Gupi¡¯s power and attempted to breach the Nine Star Heavens with its toxic miasma.¡± Xin Qing muttered in a low voice.

    ¡°He might have been in control of his faculties earlier, but clearly not now,¡± Han Wanrong said without any pity on her face.

    Watching the members of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society suffer and die, she continued, ¡°No matter how this battle will end, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect will suffer significant losses.¡±

    Yan Zhan chimed in. ¡°Both their strength and statuses in the human world will suffer drastic declines.¡±

    Chu Rui took a nce at them and said with a grim expression, ¡°It¡¯s not time to gloat. Let¡¯s focus on finding a way to take care of Gupi instead. Should we fail to do that, the Realm of Fragmentary Star will still fall. Not only us, but people throughout the human world will be plunged into misery and suffering!¡±

    Everyone fell silent.

    In Fragmentary Star City, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and the other powerful experts could only look up and wait.

    They had witnessed all that had happened. As things developed, they had gone from being surprised at first to being worried about the new problem.

    They weren¡¯t disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. They neither practiced the Fragmentary Star Incantation, nor had any special tools that would allow them to enter the Nine Star Heavens without being bombarded by its spell formations.

    Therefore, they could only stay on the ground and observe.

    Even if Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan were at the middle orte God domain, they wouldn¡¯t dare to enter the Nine Star Heavens, not to mention that they were only at the early God domain.

    ¡°What are they waiting for?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Yu Suying said, frowning deeply. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi from the Shadow Society seems to bepletely possessed by Gupi. The only sealing magic I know that has proven to be effective on the Gupi is the Dark Shadow Sealing Spell. If Jiang Yuanchi fails to contain it, who knows how much suffering humanity will face?¡±

    Mo Qianfan also felt strong fear. ¡°The worst part of this is that Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, and all of our peak experts happen to be away at this moment!¡±

    If Gupi entered the Domain of Endless Thunder and ravaged one realm after another, many from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and the Mo n would die within a short time.

    Even if they managed to evacuate in time, their realms would be gued by toxic miasma.

    ¡°Gupi is so powerful that even Jiang Yuanchi can¡¯t control it anymore, much less refine it. Who of us can seal it away?¡± Fang Yuan muttered to himself, sagging his head.

    Yu Suying sighed in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s going to be very hard. Even Chu Yuan and Qu Yi couldn¡¯t find a way to seal it back in the day.¡±

    BZZZ!

    Sparks of starlight jumped over Nie Tian¡¯s fingertips briefly before flying into the approaching Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    Seeing the Illusory Ancient Talisman approach under Nie Tian¡¯smand like a glorious glowing sphere, Chu Rui and the others gasped with astonishment, and hastily jumped away from him.

    They were even more surprised to see Nie Tian fuse sparks of starlight into it.

    ¡°What are you doing, Nie Tian?¡± Wei Lai eximed.

    ¡°I want to try and see if there¡¯s a kind of power that can limit the concentrated toxins within it,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°Those toxins are from Gupi. If I can refine or block them, I might be able to find a way to deal with Gupi.¡±

    ¡°Star power doesn¡¯t work on it,¡± Chu Rui said.

    As soon as he said this, Nie Tian realized that he was right.

    The sparks of starlight vanished without making a sound as soon as they entered the Illusory Ancient Talisman, like drops of water falling into the sea, not creating any noticeable ssh.

    ¡°Wood power!¡±

    He drew wisps of wood power from his wood power core to fuse into the wondrous talisman.

    Nothing happened either.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work,¡± Chu Rui said. ¡°None of the powers human cultivators practice do. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth powers... none of them can be used to refine or seal Gupi. People have already tried them and failed. Even soul power will be melted away when facing Gupi¡¯s power.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°That seems to be the case.¡±

    Even after he fused power from the me spark into the Illusory Ancient Talisman, it only flickered for a brief moment before dying out.

    ¡°The me spark came from the Divine me that burned down the Domain of me¡¯s End, and it has transformed and upgraded after receiving my Blood Essence. It has worked miracles on various asions. I thought it could refine or burn away Gupi¡¯s acidic toxins within the Illusory Ancient Talisman, but I guess I was wrong.¡±

    He finally realized how thorny the problem was.

    He had practiced me, wood, and star power for many years, and had found a matching Heaven Nourished grade treasure for each of them. Even so, they didn¡¯t have any noticeable effect on the acidic toxins released by Gupi in the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    At this moment, Nie Tian understood why Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the other experts dreaded Gupi so much.

    ¡°I enveloped myself in a shield of flesh power and me power earlier. Even though it also suffered from severe corrosion, it endured and kept me safe. As for this Illusory Ancient Talisman, it¡¯s a spell I picked up from the magicalnd the me Dragon Armor took me to. It should be a secret spell of the titans.

    ¡°If no human power or tool works on Gupi, what about powers and tools of other races?

    ¡°Can I refine the toxic miasma released by Gupi with my bloodline power, the Spirit Pearl, or the Star Behemoth bone?¡±

    After pondering for a while, he decided to test his spection.

    He first summoned the Spirit Pearl.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous star talismans and spell formations forged from refined star metal instantly came to form, and gathered to bombard the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Chu Rui hastily shouted.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he realized what was happening. Without dy, he left the Nine Star Heavens and crossed into the starry river.

    After he did, the Spirit Pearl, a precious Phantasm treasure, was saved from the bombardment it had been going to receive from the Nine Star Heavens.

    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be a problem now,¡± he muttered.

    Then, he summoned the five evil gods from within the Spirit Pearl andmunicated with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul. He wanted to see if they couldbine their power to refine Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma, and from there find a way to deal with Gupi.

 Chapter 1304: Calamity

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew out from the Spirit Pearl as rolling Phantasm Qi gathered and turned into five swirls.

    The evil gods floated with parts of their bodies immersed in the swirls, which seemed to connect to the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd: the Nether Realm, from where they channeled the purest Phantasm Qi.

    Having been infused with Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and all of the discarnate souls obtained from Kleist¡¯s Spirit Pearl, the five evil gods, which had transformed from evil spirits, had experienced new changes.

    Not only had they berger than before, but they had also be more like beings with flesh and blood. They didn¡¯t seem illusory at all now.

    With the appearances of sinister monsters, they exuded intense Phantasm Qi that carried ultimate negative emotions, including hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust. Chu Rui and the others¡¯ expressions flickered as soon as they sensed them even though they were under the protection of the Nine Star Heavens.

    By merely looking at the five evil gods, they felt their innermost negative emotions being stirred.

    ¡°Powerful! A mere look at them can twist people¡¯s thoughts and make them lose their minds!¡±

    Yan Zhan¡¯s face turned pale with fright as he hastily shifted his gaze from the five evil gods, and forced himself to fix his eyes on Nie Tian.

    Finally, his negative emotions got under control.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The evil gods swooped down towards the Illusory Ancient Talisman one after another. They thrust their sharp ws into it to touch the highly concentrated toxic miasma released by Gupi.

    FZZZ!

    Upon contact, dark green smoke rose from the evil gods¡¯ ws, as if they were corroded by strong acid.

    However, the damage didn¡¯t seem to be fundamental. The evil gods seemed to find it bearable.

    It was just that their wing didn¡¯t seem to cause any damage to the toxic miasma within the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t working.¡±

    After observing for a few seconds, Nie Tian realized that the power of the Spirit Pearl and the five evil gods didn¡¯t have any impact on Gupi¡¯s miasma, much less refining it.

    ¡°Come.¡±

    With a thought, hemanded the five evil gods to return to the Spirit Pearl.

    Earlier, when he had pondered powers that might work, he had discovered that Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma had be extremely concentrated after being absorbed by the Illusory Ancient Talisman, so much so that it had liquidized.

    Now, the toxic miasma looked very much like water!

    No tearing, chopping, or mming would have any impact on it.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem any simr attacks will work. I guess I can only try to confine or refine it.¡± With this thought, he took out the Star Behemoth bone. He attempted to refine the toxins in the Illusory Ancient Talisman with its power, but failed.

    After that, the me Dragon Armor was taken out and given a try.

    Momentster, looking at the Illusory Ancient Talisman that wasmanded by his soul will to float in front of him, he shook his head in frustration and said, ¡°No, none of my spiritual tools or powers work. Nothing other than this talisman can confine Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma, much less refine it.¡±

    Chu Rui sighed softly. ¡°That¡¯s what I figured.¡±

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Everyone gazed off into the distant starry river, and saw Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dark gray shadow domain flying around the Realm of Fragmentary Star to take more lives.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s loud cries echoed out from time to time.

    Apparently, he was using secret spatial spells to create spatial rift after spatial rift, so that the Void and Saint domain visitors could quickly evacuate from this part of the starry river.

    Not only was he exerting himself to rescue those from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion, but members of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society as well.

    Illusory or solid, domains were being smashed by Gupi¡¯s tentacles or melted away by its toxic miasma everywhere.

    Arge number of Void and Saint domain cultivators were injured or killed.

    Since it was the shadow domain of Jiang Yuanchi, a middle God domain expert, that was carrying the Gupi around, none of them could outrun it.

    ¡°Time to evacuate from this part of the starry river, everyone! It doesn¡¯t seem we can find an answer to Gupi problem at this moment, so we need to get as far away from it as we can!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan cried aloud in a background of cries from You Qimiao and numerous others.

    Soon, all of the surviving Qi warriors realized the truth: none of them stood a chance at fighting Gupi.

    Running was their only option!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The surviving cultivators either dashed away like streaks of light, sailed away on their ancient starships, or left through spatial rifts created by Ji Yuanquan. All of them stopped observing and evacuated from the Realm of Fragmentary Star with the fastest speed possible.

    Even Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society realized that Jiang Yuanchi would most likely be amon enemy to the entire human race. The Shadow Society would also be a target of public condemnation.

    Therefore, he ordered all members of the Shadow Society to forget about their sectmaster, Jiang Yuanchi, and return to the Realm of Dark Shadow right away.

    Floating by the realm barrier of the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Nie Tian came to his wits¡¯ end with the Illusory Ancient Talisman. Watching the powerful experts that had traveled great distances to this ce flee in panic like stray curs, he wasn¡¯t happy at all.

    After all of them left, Gupi would eventually target the Realm of Fragmentary Star again. What should he do?

    FIZZ!

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society flew out of a spatial rift that appeared out of nowhere to stand by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    ¡°Aughable battle with a pathetic ending,¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a grim expression. ¡°Not only did the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect suffer tremendous casualties, but arge number of Void and Saint domain observers from various domains also lost their lives.¡±

    He only dared to stay because he was an expert in spatial maniption magics.

    Even though there was nothing he could do to stop Gupi, since his knowledge about spatial power allowed him to create spatial rifts and leave whenever he wanted, he didn¡¯t have to be afraid of it either.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a deep sigh. ¡°Once Gupi loses new targets, it¡¯ll turn around to attack the Realm of Fragmentary Star again.

    ¡°I hope the Realm of Fragmentary Star will stand. If it falls, other realms and sects will be its targets. Then, it¡¯ll plunge one human realm after another into endless suffering.¡±

    As he spoke, Gupi, which had flown away from the Realm of Fragmentary Star to pursue Void and Saint domain cultivators and smash ancient starships, returned as he had expected.

    It seemed to know that the Realm of Fragmentary Star wasn¡¯t going anywhere. Therefore, it took its time flying back, as if it wasn¡¯t in a hurry.

    GULP! GULP!

    As strange sounds echoed out of the thick miasma, the dark gray shadow domain gradually dissipated.

    Multicolored miasma gathered and gradually morphed into an enormous vague shape.

    At first nce, it seemed to be Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dharma idol.

    However, upon closer look, it was actually a giant shapeless thing that had grown out of Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dharma idol, and was absorbing his power to strengthen itself.

    WHOOSH!

    The enormous shape experienced a sudden change.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dharma idol rapidly shrank into his true form.

    As it came closer and closer to the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Gupi, who had been hiding behind rolling toxic miasma the whole time, gradually became visible.

    Like the concentrated toxic miasma Nie Tian had sealed away in the Illusory Ancient Talisman, the Gupi was actually a multicolored liquid life form.

    With tiny sparkling tentacles that were as fine as hairs, it remained connected to Jiang Yuanchi. Most of them had pierced into his nostrils, ears, and eyes.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s eyes were open, looking directly at Nie Tian and the others. However, not even the slightest human emotion could be seen in his eyes, only numbness, hollowness, and indifference.

    Jiang Yuanchi looked at them like he was looking at air.

    ¡°It¡¯s Gupi,¡± Ji Yuanquan said in a low voice.

    ¡°Can itmunicate with us through Jiang Yuanchi?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°It canmunicate with us even without him, but that¡¯d bemunication on a soul level,¡± Ji Yuanquan exined. ¡°Through Jiang Yuanchi, it can converse with us in the humannguage.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°I wonder what it wants.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you return to the protection of the Nine Star Heavens and let me talk to it so I can find out what it wants?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked.

    ¡°Alright.¡±

 Chapter 1305: Tit for tat

    Nie Tian returned to the first of the Nine Star Heavens.

    Chu Rui and the others were also on this level, staring nervously at Gupi.

    WHOOSH!

    When its liquid form was only 500 meters from Ji Yuanquan, it suddenly stopped.

    Spatial rifts opened around Ji Yuanquan, brilliantly connecting to different domains. Through them, people could arrive at another domain in a sh. He was ready to leave at any moment.

    Nie Tian looked closely at Gupi.

    At first nce, it looked like a colorful marsh made up of bright colorful areas. The multi-colored marsh was sticky and liquid, and constituted Gupi¡¯s body.

    The colors actually made people feel it had a kind of weird beauty.

    Among them, hair-thin tentacles came out of the colorful marsh and pierced Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s eyes, nostrils and ears.

    Jiang Yuanchi floated above the colorful marsh, and was surrounded by dense miasma.

    From the First Heaven, Nie Tian perceived with his soul awareness. He could see that the tentacles shone brightly with mysterious soul energy.

    Jiang Yuanchi was clearly under the full control of Gupi.

    ¡°You, are from the Void Spirit Society, and practice the power of space...¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi opened his mouth, but his words were jumbled, and sounded ufortable.

    Hearing that, everyone was immediately certain that it was by no means Jiang Yuanchi.

    With a closer look, Nie Tian found that Jiang Yuanchi had swellings on his face, body and exposed skin.

    The swellings were also colorful, with slimy venom.

    He didn¡¯t know what Jiang Yuanchi used to look like, but now his skin was covered with swellings, which made his appearance extremely ugly and ferocious.

    Perhaps this was why he had refused to show his real face, hiding himself forever in his shadow domain.

    On the one hand, he looked ugly.

    On the other hand, maybe he was afraid that others would know that he had been controlled by Gupi, and that he had failed to permanently imprison this strange creature of the fiends.

    ¡°I¡¯m Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society!¡± Ji Yuanquan announced his name in a deep tone, and shouted with cold, sharp eyes, ¡°You must be Gupi! So you¡¯ve erased Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s soul? Why did you control him toe after breaking free from his sealing spell?¡±

    ¡°The human world will always belong to humans. Don¡¯t imagine that you can do anything you like here!¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi opened his mouth, with a dull face. ¡°Of course I¡¯m not Jiang Yuanchi.¡±

    His eyes were very strange, with mockery, disdain, and little human emotion.

    His facial expressions were gradually enriched, as if he were rapidly adapting to Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s body, and speaking like him.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± Ji Yuanquan shouted.

    Gupi was intelligent. Since it was controlling Jiang Yuanchi andmunicating with other humans in his form, it must be trying to inform them of its intentions.

    That was also what Ji Yuanquan wanted to learn!

    SWISH!

    The sticky liquid in the colorful marsh condensed into a weird hand, which wanted to give Ji Yuanquan a whipping.

    Nie Tian saw this scene clearly. The weird hand formed almost instantly. It was greasy, with numerous thorns and poisonous smoke, and instantly closed in on Ji Yuanquan.

    Ji Yuanquan snorted, and slipped into a spatial rift like a loach.

    HISS!

    Persistently, the weird hand extended to the spatial rift, which was still open, but was suddenly cut by the space des left inside by Ji Yuanquan.

    The weird hand broke into pieces, flew out of the spatial rift, and immediately reformed as an unharmed hand.

    Ji Yuanquan reappeared like a ghost,ing out of another spatial rift.

    Behind him was the spatial rift, through which he could disappear again in a second.

    ¡°Gupi, don¡¯t waste your time. I can¡¯t do anything about you, but you can¡¯t kill me, either,¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a cold smile. ¡°There are thousands of races and creatures in the world who all know the epted truth that those who are proficient in spatial power are extremely difficult to kill.¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    The nimble weird hand that was released by Gupi slithered, but didn¡¯t attack him again.

    Jiang Yuanchi, who was possessed by Gupi, started to move slowly.

    It came to the forefront of the colorful marsh, facing Ji Yuanquan and the Nine Star Heavens. All of a sudden, its nk, empty eyes stared at Nie Tian.

    To be exact, it was staring at the ancient talisman, which was in an illusory state in front of Nie Tian.

    Gupi¡¯s eyes seemed to form a suction force, and the talisman became restless.

    Nie Tian paled.

    SWOOSH!

    In the Nine Star Heavens, the Illusory Ancient Talisman, which was driven by his soul and able to change positions obeying his mind, actually wanted to uncontrobly fly to Gupi and out of the first of the Nine Star Heavens.

    Seeing the Illusory Ancient Talisman move, Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan and the others dared not touch or stop it.

    They were afraid of being poisoned!

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Ji Yuanquan roared as he saw the Illusory Ancient Talisman flying out of the First Heaven.

    But Nie Tian stood still in the first level, with a grave expression.

    Sparks of electricity sputtered from the corners of his eye. Apparently, he was using strands of soul power, trying to hold onto the Illusory Ancient Talisman so that it wouldn¡¯t be controlled by the Gupi.

    Unfortunately, all his efforts were in vain.

    As the Illusory Ancient Talisman floated past Ji Yuanquan, it slowed down.

    But Ji Yuanquan was motionless, and dared not to stretch out his hand to freeze the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    Gupi let out a strange snort, as if tough at his timidity.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s face flushed.

    He had seen that there was essence of miasma inside the Illusory Ancient Talisman. The miasma essence was a colorful liquid. If the talisman exploded and the miasma was let out, he...

    He knew for a fact that even the domains of God domain experts would corrupt and melt once touched by Gupi¡¯s miasma essence.

    WHOOSH!

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman abruptly quickened as it passed him.

    Nie Tian felt a pain in his head.

    At that moment, he suddenly realized that the connection between him and the Illusory Ancient Talisman, which was also a trace of his soul awareness that he had left behind, seemed to be snuffed out.

    At the same time, it seemed that a numb powerless feeling intended to intrude on his mind.

    WHOOSH!

    Strands of power flew out from the Spirit Pearl. As soon as they entered his mind, they morphed into tens of thousands of divine Phantasm characters, and formed an unknown talisman in the depths of his sea of soul awareness.

    It seemed the talisman could suppress, govern, and annihte all spirits, and seal all souls.

    Nie Tian felt numb and powerless. However, the strange feeling of his soul being corroded was erased before it could burst out.

    In the colorful marsh, the eyes of the Gupi-possessed Jiang Yuanchi glowed with colorful light, watching Nie Tian quietly.

    His colorful eyes were full of astonishment, and extremely obscure mumbling which wasn¡¯t in the humannguage came out of its mouth.

    It seemed to be wondering why Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness could dissolve the soul awareness and toxins it had imnted.

    SWISH! SWISH!!

    Several tiny tentacles were separated from the tentacles that had prated into the corners of Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s eyes, and pricked into the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    They pricked the Illusory Ancient Talisman, like steel needles.

    To its surprise, after entering the Illusory Ancient Talisman, the tentacles dissolved, became part of the colorful, poisonous liquid essence, and were sealed inside; they couldn¡¯t be withdrawn anymore.

    Its sense of touch and soul awareness was gone.

    The colorful light in the eyes of Gupi in Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s body grew brighter. It stared nkly at the Illusory Ancient Talisman, clearly with a hint of fear.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Perhaps that strange Illusory Ancient Talisman can seal Gupi!¡± Ji Yuanquan shouted.

 Chapter 1306: Infinite Transformation

    Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others gasped simultaneously.

    Those tentacles that separated from Jiang Yuanchi were a part of Gupi¡¯s actual body. However, they could only pierce into the Illusory Ancient Talisman, but note back out.

    What did that mean?

    That meant not only could that Illusory Ancient Talisman created by Nie Tian seal the toxic miasma released by Gupi, but it could also seal part of its body, its tentacles.

    It might even be able to seal Gupi¡¯s entire body inside of it!

    An odd-looking tentacle came to form and reached out from a dark green region of the seven-colored marsh.

    Like a huge, heavy anchor, it mmed towards the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    BOOM!

    The ancient talisman that had been forged with Nie Tian¡¯s different powers and vested with the profound mysteries of the character ¡®seal¡¯ exploded violently.

    The liquidized, highly-concentrated acidic toxins within the Illusory Ancient Talisman instantly fused into the odd-looking tentacle and vanished.

    Jiang Yuanchi, who had been possessed by Gupi, instantly fixed his eyes, which were glittering with seven colors, on Nie Tian with an unmasked vicious look on his face.

    Apparently, it wanted Nie Tian dead!

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Chu Rui said, frowning. ¡°Your cultivation base is still far too low, Nie Tian. If you were at the God domain as Jiang Yuanchi is, a talisman you created with the same method might have had a great chance at sealing that abomination of the Fiends inside!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s face was also filled with frustration as he sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. The problem is with your low cultivation base.¡±

    Both of them saw the sealing effect Nie Tian¡¯s Illusory Ancient Talisman had on Gupi.

    It only exploded because the power Nie Tian had infused it with wasn¡¯t strong enough. This had allowed Gupi, who was several times stronger than him, to crush it with dominating power.

    If Nie Tian had Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s cultivation base, an Illusory Ancient Talisman he refined would be thousands of timesrger, and contain thousands of times more power!

    With such an Illusory Ancient Talisman, he might actually be able to seal Gupi, and Gupi might bepletely suppressed by its restrictive power.

    So far, that Illusory Ancient Talisman of Nie Tian¡¯s was the only magical force that had proven to be effective at sealing Gupi, other than the Shadow Society¡¯s Secret Shadow Spell.

    From the look of it, it might work even better than the Secret Shadow Spell.

    Unfortunately, Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base was far too low, as was his bloodline grade, which was preventing him from bringing out the full might of that Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    Otherwise, he might have been able to solve this problem with Gupi single-handedly, and save the entire human world from its terror.

    WHOOSH!

    Gupi, which was in the form of a seven-colored marsh, suddenly picked up speed, carrying its puppet, Jiang Yuanchi, with it.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression flickered as he dashed back and forth through different spatial rifts to avoid it.

    All of a sudden, the marsh split into seven parts.

    The seven of them were the seven areas of the marsh with different colors. As soon as they sprouted numerous tentacles that pierced into Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s body, his eyes burst forth with blinding light.

    WHOOSH!

    The seven Gupis suddenly morphed into seven monsters Nie Tian had never seen before, and pounced towards the Nine Star Heavens.

    Some of them were covered in eyes. Some had a hundred hands and feet. Some had threerge heads. Some had sinister sharp horns...

    Each and every one of them seemed to have the ability to transform into anything. Their liquid forms seemed to allow them to transform into any living beings it had injured, killed, or seen.

    However, Jiang Yuanchi, who was now floating motionlessly, was the one that was exuding Gupi¡¯s soul aura.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The seven Gupis flew into the First Heaven in the blink of an eye, and instantly became the targets of countless star talismans and guardians made of refined star metal.

    A battle instantly broke out.

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered. Immediately after giving Nie Tian a meaningful look, he backed into the Second Heaven and then the Third Heaven with Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others.

    The seven Gupis constantly morphed to take the form of different spirit beasts, monsters, and strange things that lived in the depths of Fiend, Demon, or Phantasm realms. While they were madly attacked by the star talismans and golden guardians, they also released strong toxic miasma into their surroundings.

    Chu Rui and the others were afraid to be touched by the miasma. Thus, they had to retreat.

    As they did, they dragged Nie Tian with them.

    However, Nie Tian struggled free in the Second Heaven and stopped retreating.

    ¡°One of Gupi¡¯s unique features is that it¡¯s in liquid form, and can morph into anything it likes. Even after the star talismans and spell formations of the Nine Star Heavens tear it apart, the pieces will easilye back together. It¡¯ll never be truly destroyed this way.

    ¡°Only by refining or sealing it can we get rid of it for good.

    ¡°Also, this intelligent being seems to have a soul. As its body can split into many individuals, its soul can too. But its main soul is clearly with Jiang Yuanchi now.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, he watched the seven creatures that had split from Gupi be torn to shreds and then regather. Even so, they gradually approached the Second Heaven.

    ¡°Nie Tian,e back!¡± Chu Rui shouted anxiously. ¡°Haven¡¯t you noticed that because of that special talisman of yours, it has made you its primary target to kill?!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Wei Lai yelled. ¡°You need to return to the Fragmentary Star Pce and leave through a teleportation portal now!¡±

    Yan Zhan also tried to persuade him by saying, ¡°Perhaps only after you¡¯re strong enough, and made new breakthroughs in your cultivation base and bloodline, will you be able to seal Gupi with that talisman spell of yours! You¡¯ll be the key to us getting rid of Gupi in the future!¡±

    SHEW!

    As they spoke, one of the Gupis crossed into the Second Heaven and pounced towards Nie Tian. It was one with multiple heads and countless fluttering tentacles.

    ¡°Seal!¡±

    Nie Tian hastily summoned power to create another Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    Since he fused more power into this one, its sealing power should be stronger than that of thest one. Upon receiving his soul will, it expanded massively and shot towards the iing monster.

    A restrictive force was instantly generated in the Illusory Ancient Talisman, which seemed to allow it to capture and seal all evil and foul creatures!

    However, as soon as the restrictive spell formed, the Gupi swiftly returned to the First Heaven.

    Seeing this, Nie Tianmanded the Illusory Ancient Talisman to chase it into the First Heaven.

    That was when all seven Gupis that were in the form of satanic and vile beings from outsider realms pounced on and madly attacked the Illusory Ancient Talisman simultaneously.

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman soon exploded under the seven Gupis¡¯ frantic attacks.

    Suffering from a loss of his power and soul essence, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes grew slightly dimmer.

    He then made a quick assessment of the situation, and came to realize that it would be hard for him to create another Illusory Ancient Talisman with such might. Even if he did by overdrawing his power, he wouldn¡¯t be able to seal every bit of Gupi with it.

    As Chu Rui and Ji Yuanquan had said, his cultivation base and bloodline grade were far too low.

    This was preventing him from manifesting the divine power of that Illusory Ancient Talisman, which should be mighty enough to suppress all things that were foul and evil.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to create an Illusory Ancient Talisman to seal the Gupi with after I break through into the Saint domain, and my bloodline enters the ninth grade...¡± As his train of thought came to this point, an idea struck him.

    ¡°Senior Ji! Why don¡¯t you go find my master, Wu Ji, in the Shatter Battlefield?¡± He shouted.

    ¡°Wu Ji?¡± Ji Yuanquan went nk for a moment. Looking confused, he asked, ¡°What do you want from your master at this particr moment?¡±

    ¡°My master might be able to seal Gupi with his power!¡± Nie Tian exined.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°That¡¯s right! Time power! Time power is the most mysterious power in heaven and earth. If he can stop time, does that mean he¡¯ll be able to seal Gupi? No one has ever achieved the attainments Wu Ji has in the field of time power!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Time power hasn¡¯t been tried yet!¡± Eximing these words, he shot into one of the spatial rifts and vanished.

    Chu Rui and the others all recalled the wonders of time power upon hearing Wu Ji¡¯s name. Filled with anticipation, they eximed joyfully, ¡°Time power! The most profound and special power there is in heaven and earth, even more so than spatial power! I bet it can be used to seal Gupi!¡±

    Many years ago, Nie Tian had witnessed Wu Ji use time power to freeze powerful Demon experts, and then finish them off one by one.

    Now, having studied time power for many more years, Wu Ji had entered the Saint domain, and gained the ability to channel the mysterious river of time. Would he be able to imprison Gupi for good with his time maniption magics now?

    Nie Tian was also full of anticipation.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The seven Gupis in the First Heaven seemed to overhear and understand what he had said to Ji Yuanquan, and thus suddenly withdrew from the Nine Star Heavens.

    They reunited under the floating Jiang Yuanchi, morphing into a marsh with separate areas.

    After that, Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow domain spread out once again to envelope the seven-colored marsh and himself in dark gray shadows.

    Then, the dark gray shadow domain shot off into the distant starry river at a speed even faster than that of ancient starships.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck. ¡°Why did it leave?¡±

    ted, Chu Rui eximed, ¡°Not only is it highly intelligent, but it also has an exceptionally long lifespan! I know. Time power must work on it!¡±

 Chapter 1307: Crisis Easily Solved

    The dark gray shadow domain enveloped Gupi and flew farther and farther away like a ghostly shadow.

    After all, Jiang Yuanchi was at the middle God domain. If Gupi wanted him to fly at full speed, he could travel faster than most starships.

    Furthermore, there weren¡¯t any obstacles in its way anymore.

    All of those from the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and other domains had been scared soulless by Gupi and left without dy.

    WHOOSH!

    Soon, Gupi vanished from Nie Tian and the others¡¯ sight, enveloped in the dark gray shadow domain.

    Nie Tian, Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the other elders flew out of the Nine Star Heavens into the starry river.

    Chu Rui suddenly activated his dharma idol and morphed into a streak of starlight that shot off in the direction where the Gupi had vanished.

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the others spread out to examine the battlefield.

    ¡°Gupi is really gone, and it seems to have left in a hurry.¡± Chu Rui¡¯s ted voice came from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. ¡°Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, you can stop worrying about Gupi and go collect the bodies, spiritual tools, and rings of holding of those who were killed by Gupi.¡±

    Realizing what to do, Wei Lai took out a Star Medallion and sent a wisp of his soul will into it.

    Nie Tian, who also held a Star Medallion, took a brief moment to sense the fluctuations in his, and then received Wei Lai¡¯s message.

    Wei Lai instructed all members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, including Sons of the Stars, toe out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star to collect the spoils in the surrounding starry river.

    By spoils, he meant the valuables left by the Void and Saint domain experts from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect, and other domains, who had been killed by Gupi.

    ¡°Is this really over?¡± Nie Tian muttered in disbelief.

    He had never expected that the conversation between him and Ji Yuanquan about inviting his master Wu Ji here would scare the Gupi away.

    SHEW!

    Vice sectmaster Chu Rui returned in a streak of starlight.

    Aftering to a stop, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, I have no doubt that your master¡¯s time power can be used to restrict or seal Gupi! You should know it was Jiang Yuanchi, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, who¡¯s possessed by the Gupi!¡±

    Confused, Nie Tian asked, ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°The Shadow Society is extremely well-informed about everything that¡¯s going on throughout the human world,¡± Chu Rui said. ¡°As their sectmaster, Jiang Yuanchi must have learned of the upheaval that happened in the Shatter Battlefield a while back, and he must know that your master is well-versed in time power, and that he¡¯s entered the Saint domain. He probably knows everything about your master.

    ¡°Naturally, what he knows, Gupi knows too.

    ¡°The fact that it left immediately after you sent Ji Yuanquan for your master in the Shatter Battlefield proves only one thing: the time power your master practices must be a major threat to it!¡±

    Nie Tian took a moment to think about what he had said. He nodded slowly and said with a smile, ¡°So I suppose there are ways to contain Gupi after all. If I can strengthen the power I fuse into my Illusory Ancient Talisman, I might be able to contain it as well. I even have a feeling that after I break through into the Saint domain and my bloodline enters the ninth grade, I¡¯ll be able to seal Gupi for good with a talisman like that!¡±

    Chu Rui shrugged and said, ¡°Sure, but how many people are there throughout this vast starry river that are like you and your master? There are very few who can learn the rudiments of time maniption magics in the first ce. In human and outsider histories, no one is known to have achieved high attainments in the use of time power.¡±

    ¡°As for experts who can channel the river of time, they only exist in legends.¡±

    ¡°Your master is a real genius!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia, and some elders received the messages via their Star Medallions, and charged out of the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    ¡°Gupi really left?¡± Dou Tianchen asked, disbelief filling his face.

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°Not only did it leave, but we¡¯re lifted from the siege, and the prospect of a fierce battle against the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect is also over.¡±

    With a grim face, Sikong Cuo said, ¡°Sooner orter, we¡¯ll teach the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect a lesson for this.¡±

    Chu Rui chuckled. ¡°Nie Tian has taught them a memorable lesson already.¡± Instead of dwelling on the matter, he waved his hands, signaling the Sons of the Stars to spread out and get started. ¡°Gupi killed arge number of Void and Saint domain experts from various sects and domains. It¡¯s time to clean the battlefield.¡±

    Dou Tianchen and the others¡¯ eyes lit up.

    Without dy, they flew off in different directions.

    Void and Saint domain Qi warriors were considered human experts. Their spiritual tools and rings of holding were usually extraordinary.

    Plus, they usually had arge amount of valuable spiritual materials with them.

    Now, all of those valuables had be unimed items.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go with them?¡± Chu Rui asked curiously.

    ¡°I...¡± After thinking for a moment, Nie Tian chuckled and summoned the Spirit Pearl once again.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl flew out, the five evil gods manifested themselves. With part of their bodies immersed in Phantasm Qi swirls, they charged off in different directions.

    At the same time, Nie Tian sent a wisp of soul will, instructing the five of them to refrain from devouringplete souls.

    To survive the massacre, some cultivators had abandoned their domains and bodies, and escaped with nothing but their souls. Now, they might return to find their bodies and lost items.

    They still had a chance to reincarnate.

    However, the souls of those who had diedpletely and were beyond salvation would be a luxurious meal for the evil gods, especially those of therge amount of Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, Shadow Society, and Jade Heaven Sect disciples that had been annihted in battle.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you interested in those cultivators¡¯ spiritual tools?¡± Chu Rui asked curiously.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°I have enough of them. Also, they¡¯ll have to turn them in to the sect and have them converted into contribution points.

    ¡°And I...¡± Nie Tian smiled. ¡°How many contribution points do you think I¡¯ll get after this battle?¡±

    ¡°Your contribution is going to be hard to measure,¡± Chu Rui said with a serious expression.

    ¡°Then that¡¯ll be enough for me,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°What I truly need are high-grade outsider and spirit beast corpses. They¡¯ll be of great help to my bloodline upgrades.¡±

    ¡°Our sect does have those in stock,¡± Chu Rui said.

    The two of them just waited in the starry river outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    After an unknown period of time, Dou Tianchen and the other Sons of the Stars finished gathering the majority of the valuables of the Void and Saint domain experts killed by Gupi.

    Having finished their feast, the five evil gods returned to the Spirit Pearl, which was then put away by Nie Tian.

    FZZZ!

    A spatial rift ripped open in the void, and Ji Yuanquan, who had been gone for some time, returned by himself.

    Upon returning, Ji Yuanquan nced around and asked in confusion, ¡°Where¡¯s Gupi? Where did it go?¡±

    ¡°It retreated from the Realm of Fragmentary Star,¡± Chu Rui said.

    Ji Yuanquan was taken aback. ¡°It retreated?¡±

    ¡°It must have learned from Jiang Yuanchi that Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji, practices time power...¡± Chu Rui went on and exined it to him.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°It seems that time power really can be used to contain the Gupi !¡±

    Suddenly, his expression grew bitter, and he added, ¡°However, I couldn¡¯t find Wu Ji in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    As a God domain expert, Ji Yuanquan could travel to every corner of the Shatter Battlefield. Finding that river of time should be an easy task for him. Was it because his master wasn¡¯t there?

    Ji Yuanquan frowned and said, ¡°Your master wasn¡¯t at that branch of the river of time. He seems to have left. I also took a trip to the Domain of the Falling Stars, but failed to obtain any information about your master. I don¡¯t know where he went. He might have traced that branch to the source of the river of time. Who knows?¡±

    ¡°The source of the river of time?!¡± Chu Rui took a deep breath. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, Wu Ji¡¯s understanding of time power must havee to a whole new level! Perhaps the next time we see him, he¡¯ll have entered the middle or even thete Saint domain!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan was also excited by the thought. ¡°If he enters thete Saint domain, I suppose he¡¯ll even have the ability to seal God domain experts, right?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to that day, because if his cultivation base actually reaches such heights, Gupi won¡¯t be able to do whatever it likes in our domains anymore!¡± Chu Rui said.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while, then said, ¡°But we¡¯d better hide the fact that my master is out of touch. My current cultivation base doesn¡¯t allow me to seal the Gupi. The only one it fears is my master. If it learns that my master is missing, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°Rest assured,¡± Ji Yuanquan said. ¡°I understand your concerns. I¡¯ll send word to the other sects, telling them that your master got here only to find that the Gupi had left, so he stayed in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You should help cover for me too.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Chu Rui agreed. ¡°I bet Gupi won¡¯t dare toe back ever again after learning about that.¡±

    Nie Tian turned to Chu Rui and said, ¡°I¡¯ll head back and arrange for Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and the others to leave.

    ¡°I won¡¯t stay here for long either. I¡¯ll go into secluded cultivation after making a few purchases with my contribution points. I¡¯ve got to spend some time stabilizing my cultivation base.¡±

 Chapter 1308: Cashing Promise

    In the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Nie Tian, Yu Suying, and the others arrived through an inter-domain teleportation portal in batches.

    Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and the others were still in a state of astonishment.

    Out of fear for Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji, Gupi had left the Realm of Fragmentary Star. The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect had suffered heavy losses...

    However, the upheavals in the human domains were far from over. News of what had happened in different parts of the human world was still spreading.

    As Nie Tian stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom, he instructed Dong Li to have the forces from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries gather high-grade outsider and spirit beast corpses for him.

    He also had her trade for high-grade spirit beast corpses from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with his Star Medallion.

    A few dayster, news came in.

    Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society had announced that Jiang Yuanchi had been possessed by Gupi, and that he would rece him as the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. He also asked the other sects to stay vignt for Jiang Yuanchi and Gupi, since they were still on the loose.

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had led his remaining forces back to their headquarters, and didn¡¯t utter a word of seeking revenge with Nie Tian or the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    As for the Jade Heaven Sect, their sectmaster Song Chequan and several surviving elders were unounted for.

    Close to half of the Void and Saint domain observers from various domains had been killed. Many sect members of the dead had gone to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to ask for their deceased one¡¯s remains and lost items.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wasmunicating with them on such issues.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian received batches of rings of holding that were filled with spirit beast meat and outsider corpses through Dong Li while waiting for news.

    After that, he notified Yu Suying that his promise to her stood. He would try to find a way to help Han Qing break through into the God domain.

    After everything was ounted for, Nie Tian told Mo Qianfan to return to the Domain of Endless Thunder first.

    With Zhao Shanling¡¯s help, therge-scale teleportation portal in the Realm of Maelstrom was connected to the Domain of Endless Thunder.

    Zhao Shanling also located the spatial coordinates of Yin Xingtian¡¯s Streamcloud Sword Sect and Yu Suying¡¯s Profound Purity Pce, and therefore established connections to them as well.

    From now on, people could travel freely between the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Mo n, the Profound Purity Pce, the Streamcloud Sword Sect, and the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°Would you take a trip with me, Senior Yin?¡± Having sorted through the trivial matters, Nie Tian and Yin Xingtian left the Realm of Maelstrom. After a transit in the Realm of Split Void, they arrived in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and Yin Xingtian quietly appeared on a floating meteor.

    This was the ce where the Blood Sect, Master Blood Spirit, and Li Langfeng had holed up andter been discovered by Sikong Cuo and Luo Wanxiang.

    After the crisis with the identities of Master Blood Spirit and the Blood Sect had been solved, everyone had left this ce, which was why it was vacant now.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian cut to the chase. ¡°I¡¯ll help you prolong your lifespan.¡±

    He separated a drop of Blood Essence from his heart.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    For a long time, he had been anxious about approaching the end of his lifespan.

    He reckoned that if he had enough time left, and wasn¡¯t facing a lifespan problem, he might even be able to advance to the God domain without help from others.

    Nie Tian had long since promised to prolong his lifespan for him.

    Out of trust for Nie Tian, he had stood by him and provided firm support since their meeting in the Domain of Primal Yang. Now, this day finally came!

    ¡°Bloodline: Life Grant!¡±

    The drop of Blood Essence, which resembled a red diamond, flew to Yin Xingtian¡¯s chest, and fused into it in a sh.

    Upon entering Yin Xingtian¡¯s chest, it split into countless wisps of blood-colored light that flew into his heart, as if to reignite his me of life.

    Strong life force was then awakened. Rejuvenation started in Yin Xingtian¡¯s chest like a withered tree growing new buds.

    Yin Xingtian immediately focused on the changes in his chest and the feeling of youth returning to him. Tears almost filled his aged eyes.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t fail my trust!¡±

    At this moment, he finally realized that his decision to trust Nie Tian had been wise, and that he hadn¡¯t deceived him. What Nie Tian was now giving him was even better than Fruits of Life.

    WHOOSH!

    Another drop of Blood Essence was separated from Nie Tian¡¯s heart and fused into Yin Xingtian¡¯s, where it turned into vigorous life force.

    ¡°Another ten years of lifespan!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed.

    Then another drop...

    As drop after drop of Blood Essence were fused into him, Yin Xingtian¡¯s shriveled skin started to show a bit of moisture, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes started to fade.

    Yin Xingtian took the initiative to call a stop. ¡°Five hundred years! This is enough!¡±

    A drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence could give Yin Xingtian a decade of extra lifespan. Nie Tian had given him a total of fifty drops of Blood Essence!

    With a serious expression, Yin Xingtian said, ¡°I finally know why you¡¯re so special. I¡¯ll keep this a secret. I won¡¯t reveal it to anyone!¡±

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat tired and weak after losing fifty drops of Blood Essence.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll be able to break through into the God domain, Senior Yin,¡± he said.

    ¡°I¡¯m very confident now that I have this additional five centuries of lifespan,¡± Yin Xingtian said with all seriousness. ¡°Without this problem weighing on his mind, I might not even need five centuries. Perhaps I can make the breakthrough into the God domain within a short time. The series of battles we recently experienced have allowed me toe to a new understanding of things.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯d be the best,¡± Nie Tian said sincerely.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time I returned to my sect. From now on, the Streamcloud Sword Sect will be your strong ally.¡± After making the promise, Yin Xingtian left via the teleportation portal through which they had arrived.

    His leaving left Nie Tian alone in this area of starry river.

    Nie Tian casually cast the Star Behemoth bone out into the starry river to let it absorb the nourishment it needed. He did the same with the Spirit Pearl and the me Dragon Armor.

    Finally, he took out the high-grade spirit beast and outsider corpses Dong Li had purchased for him from the sect with the contribution points in his Star Medallion, and activated Life Drain.

    One after another, enormous spirit beast corpses and eighth grade Demon and Phantasm corpses were drained of their flesh power and reduced to dry bags of bones that wind easily blew into ashes.

    Rich flesh power was turned into Blood Essence in his heart.

    One drop, two drops...

    After an unknown period of time, the spirit beast and outsider corpses that had filled more than a dozen rings of holding were refined and turned into Blood Essence. Only then did the Blood Essence in Nie Tian¡¯s heart build up to three hundred drops.

    RUMBLE!

    His mind shook as a wisp of his soul awareness flew into his heart, allowing him to see the drops of translucent and sparkling Blood Essence hanging in his heart like fruits made of blood, each and every one of which as dazzling as rubies.

    Furthermore, the room within his heart seemed to have been expanded and be more spacious!

    The green aura that embodied his life bloodline was coiled within his heart like a resting dragon. The countless Bloodline Crystal Chains within it seemed to form a profound connection with his blood vessels, giving rise to new wonders.

    He opened his eyes and muttered in puzzlement, ¡°I¡¯ve built up my Blood Essence to three hundred drops, but it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m going to enter my Blood Realm.¡±

    When his bloodline had been at the seventh grade, as soon as he had umted fifty drops of Blood Essence, he had been sent to the origin of his bloodline: the Blood Realm.

    He had obtained new bloodline magics from it.

    Therefore, this time, he had assumed that the condensation of three hundred drops of Blood Essence would naturally send him to the Blood Realm again to obtain new bloodline magics.

    Who would have thought that nothing would happen?

    The feeling that he would be able to enter the Blood Realm didn¡¯t appear.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s because my bodycks refining.¡±

    With this thought, he resumed channeling flesh power from spirit beast and outsider corpses.

    Since he had already umted three hundred drops of Blood Essence, the newly-acquired flesh power naturally dispersed to every corner of his body to help him further refine his body.

    ¡°Do I have to further strengthen my body?¡±

    As soon as this idea hit him, he focused on sensing the flow of his flesh power and casting Heavenly Wood Heal to help with the process.

    ¡°Thest phase of Heavenly Wood Heal: Blood Condensing!¡±

    Heavenly Wood Heal was divided into five phases: Bone Crystallizing, Internal Organ Nourishing, Meridian Toughening, Flesh Tempering, and Blood Condensing. He had finished with the fourth phase, Flesh Tempering, long ago. However, he hadn¡¯t been able to start the fifth phase, Blood Condensing... until now.

    The moment he cast Heavenly Wood Heal, he sensed unusual changes in his blood!

    That was how he knew he must have met all of the requirements to start this phase.

    ¡°Blood Condensing!¡±

    His void domain unfolded in an instant, enveloping him in it. On thend that had been transformed from his wood power core stood the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree breaches. Together, they started channeling wood power from the starry river around them.

    Wisps of pure wood power blended with the flesh power he had channeled from spirit beast and outsider corpses before fusing into his veins.

    The blood in his veins started running torrentially, like wide, flooding rivers.

    His blood instantly seethed.

 Chapter 1309: Cultivation

    Every breakthrough in Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was apanied by a strengthening of his body.

    As long as he had a steady flow of flesh power, even if he didn¡¯t cast Heavenly Wood Heal now, his flesh power would slowly strengthen his internal organs, along with the other parts of his body.

    Once his body was fully refined, the flesh power that continued to flow into him would naturally fuse into the green aura to prepare his bloodline for its advance to the ninth grade.

    Every time he made a breakthrough in his bloodline, the first thing that happened would be the awakening of new bloodline talents. After that, he would condense Blood Essence with flesh power. Once the amount of his Blood Essence reached the limit, he would move on to body refinement. Eventually, after body refinement was finished, flesh power umtion began for the next bloodline upgrade.

    This was the pattern.

    However, things seemed different this time.

    ¡°Blood Condensing!¡±

    After activating his domain, he floated over the vegetated illusorynd in the vast starry river of the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    The Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches worked together to channel pure wood power from the starry river.

    Upon entering his domain, wisps of wood power morphed into emerald green streaks.

    Then, they were absorbed by Nie Tian like water being absorbed by a sponge.

    At the same time, wisps of flesh power also fused into his body.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Flesh power from numerous high-grade spirit beast and outsider corpses morphed into crimson lightning wisps that ran through his veins.

    His blood seemed to be ignited, as it instantly started seething!

    Veins in every part of his body started emanating blood-colored light.

    All of a sudden, he experienced pain beyond description!

    SHEW!

    At this moment, channeled by the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches, wisps of wood power poured into his veins to mix with his seething blood.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    His blood seemed to condense into thick crimson lightning bolts that shed through his veins, exploding with even richer and purer flesh power.

    The pain worsened ten times over.

    With the soul awareness he had sent to his every vein, Nie Tian kept a close watch on the changes in his blood.

    He noticed that his blood sputtered unceasingly with fragmentary lightning sparks as it ran through his veins, as if every drop of his blood was being purged and smelted.

    Together, the wood power and flesh power seemed to be infusing his blood with a brand new life force, nourishing his body and allowing his ruptured flesh and cracked bones to heal even faster.

    As new blood ran through every part of his body, it seemed to be reforging his body and further improving the resilience and self-healing ability of his meridians and bones.

    After seeing this, Nie Tian continued to channel flesh power from outsider and spirit beast corpses and wood power from his domain, and fuse them into his blood, while bearing excruciating pain.

    He immersed himself in the fifth phase of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    WHOOSH!

    A curvaceous figure enveloped in a ck aura shed into view in the teleportation portal on a nearby meteor.

    Stepping out of the dark aura, Dong Li looked at Nie Tian, who was floating in the distant starry river with hundreds of enormous corpses scattered around him.

    Some had already been sucked dry, while others were having their flesh power drained by Nie Tian using Life Drain.

    Some of the drained corpses were reduced to ashes as soon as any wind blew past. However, some of the corpses remained solid even after being drained of their flesh power, and could endure for a while in the harsh environment of the starry river.

    After observing for a moment, Dong Li cast a number of newly-obtained rings of holding towards Nie Tian without saying a word.

    Each and every one of them contained a few dozen spirit beast and outsider corpses, which Dong Li had traded for using the rare ore mined from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Since outsiders raided the human domains from time to time, battles broke out against them fairly frequently, yielding arge amount of dead outsiders.

    Meanwhile, many human realms were popted by high-grade spirit beasts, which were targets cultivators would kill as part of their trials.

    Thanks to Zhao Shanling¡¯s efforts, the inter-domain teleportation portal in the Realm of Maelstrom now connected to many other domains.

    Furthermore, word of what had happened at the Realm of Fragmentary Star had spread far and wide.

    Many now believed that Nie Tian had a divine ability to help Saint domain experts enter the God domain.

    Because of that, numerous sects and ns from various human domains expressed their desire to establish friendly rtionships and teleportation connections with the Realm of Maelstrom.

    They also knew that Jiang Yuanchi being possessed by Gupi had resulted in the failure of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s joint operation against the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    With Jiang Yuanchi gone, what could their so-called alliance do now?

    Not to mention that Chu Rui was still around, Zu Guangyao had entered the God domain, and Luo Wanxiang still mighte around...

    Most importantly, powerful experts, including Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Qianfan, were now gathered around Nie Tian.

    There was also a rumor that Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji, was the only one who might be able to seal Gupi with time power.

    Due to all of these factors, no one wanted to set themselves against Nie Tian anymore.

    Even the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect, which had suffered tremendous losses, didn¡¯t dare to make any moves against Nie Tian¡¯s subordinate domains at this moment.

    Looking at the rings of holding, Dong Li muttered, ¡°I wonder how many spirit beast and outsider corpses you still need...¡±

    Then, she flew to a ce close to Nie Tian, wreathed in dark power.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t even open his eyes as he made a grabbing motion in the air, and the rings of holding flew into his palm.

    Immediately afterwards, the rings of holding lit up.

    Corpses of eighth grade spirit beasts, Phantasms, Demons, ckscales, and Birdmen appeared, filling Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings.

    SHEW!

    Dozens of blood strings flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s chest to pierce into the corpses like needles and thread.

    Afterwards, Dong Li saw flesh power being transferred into Nie Tian.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Even from a considerable distance, she could hear his thumping heart.

    His heart beat like pping thunder, hurting Dong Li¡¯s eardrums.

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°What secret magic is this bastard practicing now? Why is his flesh aura so intense and vigorous that even I feel influenced?¡±

    Instead of leaving, Dong Li sat down in the lotus position as well.

    Beast bones that contained dark power were taken out, along with ink-ck spirit stones. With them, she established a simple power-gathering spell formation around her.

    Sitting in the middle of the spell formation, she channeled dark power and derived enlightenment from the dark stone obtained from the Demons, which had now be a part of her spiritual core.

    The ck tortoise crouchedzily at her feet, as if it had already fallen asleep.

    Time flew. Months passed before they knew it.

    WHOOSH!

    Hua Mu suddenly arrived through the teleportation portal.

    Upon arriving, he took a deep look at Dong Li and eximed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve entered thete Soul realm already, kid! Howe that dark stone provided you with such great help? I suppose it won¡¯t be long before you enter the Void domain.¡±

    Dong Li slowly opened his eyes and said, ¡°That¡¯s because the dark stone agrees with my cultivation attribute perfectly.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded and gazed off at Nie Tian. Frowning, he asked, ¡°It¡¯s been six months. Has he still not finished cultivating?¡±

    ¡°Did something happen out there?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°Gupi¡¯s stirring up trouble again. You haven¡¯t shown up recently either. Of course you don¡¯t know that Gupi has been to many human domains. Wherever it goes, realms are engulfed in toxic miasma, and not a single living being survives.¡±

    Dong Li smiled bitterly and said, ¡°It seems to be probing.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, perhaps it¡¯ll soon learn the fact that Wu Ji never went to the Realm of Fragmentary Star,¡± Hua Mu said, looking deeply worried. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll find its way here sooner orter.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You think it wants to kill Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Wu Ji hasn¡¯t shown himself. That leaves Nie Tian, who¡¯s getting stronger by the day, as the only threat to it.¡± Hua Mu exined. ¡°I think it¡¯s probing here and there with caution now. Once it¡¯s convinced that Wu Ji isn¡¯t avable, it might lose all scruples. If that happens...¡±

    ¡°What about the four great sects? ¡°Dong Li asked. ¡°They didn¡¯t do anything when Gupi devastated those realms?¡±

    Hua Mu sighed. ¡°The Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion all tried to stop it. The Heaven Span Pavilion even brought out their divine spell formation. However, none of that worked. Those three sects have all sent people to ask about Nie Tian. They hope he¡¯ll either make a breakthrough in his cultivation soon, or want him to try and find his master, Wu Ji.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s heart grew heavy. ¡°Gupi finally terrorizes all the human forces once again.¡±

 Chapter 1310: Forced to Bow And Admit to A Mistake

    In the Domain of Green Woods.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift appeared out of nowhere in the starry river.

    Then, a stream of figures arrived through it.

    They were Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, several Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect, and a number of Saint domain experts.

    Their expressions were unusually grim.

    Fifty thousand kilometers in front of them was a luxuriant realm named the Realm of Green Woods, which was now enveloped in multicolored miasma. Apparently, it was being attacked by Gupi.

    A few badly damaged ancient starships sailed over from the Realm of Green Woods¡¯s direction. No sound other than people weeping came from it.

    A Saint domain expert on the starship spotted Ji Yuanquan and the others, and thus shouted, ¡°There are people there!¡±

    Shortly afterwards, the ancient starship came close.

    ¡°They¡¯re people from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion!¡± The Saint domain expert, who appeared to be the leader, then enveloped himself in a golden domain and flew towards Ji Yuanquan.

    ¡°This old one is Fei Yiming, an elder of the Golden Radiance Sect. All of the sects and ns in our realm are suffering from Gupi¡¯s attacks now. Many of them have been wiped out. There are also over ten thousandmoners in our realm who haven¡¯t had a chance to evacuate...¡±

    He almost burst into tears as he spoke.

    Face gloomy, Ye Wenhan asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you evacuate all of your people after Gupi appeared?¡±

    ¡°We only have a few teleportation portals in our realm. Even if they run without breaks, they can¡¯t teleport everyone out of our realm within a short time!¡± Fei Yiming practically wailed.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a deep sigh. ¡°We...¡±

    Fei Yiming threw his head back, sorrow filling his eyes. ¡°There¡¯s nothing you can do?¡±

    Gupi had approached their realm quietly. By the time they had noticed the anomalies, toxic miasma had already engulfed their realm, not giving them a chance to react.

    He and a number of Golden Radiance Sect disciples had been patrolling on a starship in a nearby area. By the time they had realized what had been happening, it had already been toote.

    While a small number of disciples had been able to evacuate, the majority of the Golden Radiance Sect were still trapped in the Realm of Green Woods, along with his own descendants.

    Now, the realm barrier had already been breached by Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma. He could imagine the toxic miasma falling from the heavens to gue the luxuriant prairies and devastate cities.

    He could imagine his descendants and disciples of the Golden Radiance Sect wailing in despair.

    However, there was nothing he could do.

    Ji Yuanquan withdrew his gaze from the Realm of Green Woods and said, ¡°The Domain of Green Woods is the fourth domain Gupi has been to. If you learned what happened to the other three, you¡¯d probably know what you¡¯re facing now. I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to help you. We simply can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Fei Yiming said, furious. ¡°You¡¯re the lords of the human world. You upy the domains with the most cultivation resources and demand that advanced domains swear allegiance to you! They have to pay tribute to you by giving you the bestnds and most precious spiritual materials, so that your disciples can make faster advances in their cultivation and improve their battle prowess! You¡¯re the most powerful forces of our race!

    ¡°Since you take up so many resources, it¡¯s your responsibility to take care of Gupi, instead of standing here and telling us that there¡¯s nothing you can do!

    ¡°If you¡¯re really this useless, what gives you the right to lead us? What right do you have to take the best domains and the most precious spiritual materials?¡±

    Fei Yiming grew furious.

    Many on the starship, whose families were either dead or going to die soon, also yelled at Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the others.

    At this moment, they were no longer afraid of powerhouses like the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, and the Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect were ashamed facing these ranting survivors.

    Fei Yiming was right.

    From ancient times, the four great sects had been responsible for contending against the outsiders and fighting their strongest forces.

    They held the best cultivation resources and had the most Saint and God domain experts. It was only right that they step up and take charge when humanity faced great challenges.

    Now that Gupi was ravaging realms and devastating people, they should step up and take care of it.

    But now...

    A number of white ancient starships that were covered in ice and snow sailed over from the distant starry river.

    Han Qiong from the Ice Soul Divine Sect enveloped himself in his sparkling ice domain and flew to Fei Yiming and the others.

    ¡°Greetings.¡±

    After giving Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan a solute, he turned to Fei Yiming and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go take shelter in our domain?¡±

    ¡°Your domain?¡± Fei Yiming asked with a wry smile. ¡°Your domain borders ours. There¡¯s a great chance that Gupi will target your domain once he¡¯s finished with ours. If that happens, your domain will perish along with your sect. So even if we need to find shelter somewhere, we won¡¯t go to your domain.¡±

    With these words, he refused Han Qiong¡¯s invitation. Then, he started their badly damaged ancient starship and sailed off with the other survivors in a direction that was clearly different from where Han Qiong hade from.

    Han Qiong¡¯s expression grew deeply grim.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯ll find a solution to this Gupi disaster soon.¡± With these words, he bowed towards Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, and returned to one of his starships.

    Ling Bingyun, the Ice Soul Divine Daughter, stood like a frost-covered holy flower on the starship wreathed in a frigid aura. Anxiety filled her icy crystalline eyes as she asked, ¡°Well...? Why didn¡¯t Fei Yiming ept our offer?¡±

    ¡°He thought that we wouldn¡¯t be able to protect even ourselves,¡± Han Qiong said, without trying to hide the truth from her. ¡°He thought there¡¯s a good chance that our domain will be Gupi¡¯s next target.¡±

    The disciples of the Ice Soul Divine Sect burst into a loud mor after hearing Han Qiong¡¯s words.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°What should we do?¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster, do we evacuate all of our forces from the Domain of Frigid Frost now?¡±

    ¡°We all practice cold power. Where can we go? The Domain of Frigid Depths?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones rules the Domain of Frigid Depths now, along with the Extreme Coldness Pce!¡±

    ¡°So what should we do then? Who of us can survive if Gupi actuallyes?¡±

    Despair and panic were written all over their faces.

    Han Qiong turned to look at Ling Bingyun. ¡°Sectmaster...¡±

    Ling Bingyun sighed in frustration. ¡°I, I need some time to think. Is there really nothing the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion can do? Didn¡¯t they say that Gupi was scared away by someone before that man even showed up?¡±

    ¡°That was Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji.¡± Han Qiong cast his gaze down to avoid Ling Bingyun¡¯s eyes. ¡°There¡¯s also a rumor that some Saint domain observers saw Nie Tian seal Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma with some talisman spell. They said that after Nie Tian makes another breakthrough in his cultivation, he might be strong enough to seal Gupi by himself. In a word, the only two men Gupi is afraid of are Nie Tian¡¯s master and a stronger version of Nie Tian.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing smiled bitterly and said, ¡°But no one offended Nie Tian more than we did. He even said that he¡¯d ¡®pay us a visit¡¯ sooner orter. He was busy putting out fires for the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce before. Now, he¡¯s in secluded cultivation. When he has time, we¡¯ll be lucky if he doesn¡¯te after us...¡±

    ¡°But the only two people who can scare Gupi off are his master and himself after he gets stronger,¡± Han Qiong said.

    All of the Ice Soul Divine Sect disciples fell silent.

    That was when an old woman with white hair, who was at the early Saint domain, approached Ling Bingyun. Tottering and trembling, she said, ¡°Little Yun, it was your reckless actions that offended Nie Tian. Before that, our sect and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t have any enmity towards each other. As our sectmaster, I think sometimes you need to make some sacrifices for the survival of our sect.¡±

    Ling Bingyun was taken aback. ¡°What do you mean, Grandma Hong?¡±

    ¡°Take a trip to the Realm of Maelstrom to meet that Nie Tian, or have his subordinates tell him that you¡¯vee to atone for your mistake withvish gifts,¡± the white-haired old woman said.

    Her cultivation base was rather low, yet her seniority was higher than anyone present.

    Even Ling Bingyun had been taken care of by her when she had first joined the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    Now that she had put forth this idea, even Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing didn¡¯t dare to disapprove of it.

    Ling Bingyun ran her icy gaze over the crowd of disciples. With a sad feeling rising in her heart, she nodded stiffly and said, ¡°I see.¡±

 Chapter 1311: An Untroubled Land

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect, Qu Mingde from the Golden Vast Sect, Quan Zixuan from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, Master Blood Spirit, and Xie Qian had recently stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Simply too many powerful experts from various domains had traveled to the Realm of Maelstrom recently. The visitor flow was scary.

    Jing Feiyang and the others were afraid that conflicts would break out, and thus stayed to practice cultivation while keeping an eye on things.

    All of a sudden, the Realm of Maelstrom seemed to be an untroubled sacrednd of the human domains.

    The rumors of Nie Tian being a ¡®Godmaker¡¯ was the main reason for this, along with his reputation, which had been climbing after his deeds in the Domain of Spirit Sea, the Domain of Dark Marsh, and the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    His reputation reached the peak after what had happened at the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Many had been there to witness him sealing the toxic miasma released by Gupi with a wondrous sealing magic.

    Gupi had somehow left the Realm of Fragmentary Star after madly massacring numerous Void and Saint domain experts, along with powerful experts from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Shadow Society. Many believed the credit should go to Nie Tian and his master, Wu Ji.

    The exnation given by the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion was that Wu Ji had arrived and scared Gupi off.

    They said that Wu Ji was currently seeking new breakthroughs in his cultivation in one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret cultivation rooms in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    The fact that he was in secluded cultivation prevented him froming out to seal Gupi, who was causing trouble everywhere.

    Ji Yuanquan and the others had concealed the truth about Wu Ji.

    As far as others were concerned, Nie Tian and Wu Ji, this disciple-master pair, had proven their unique abilities as early as the upheaval in the Shatter Battlefield. Now, they were winning even more acknowledgment.

    Because of this, the Realm of Maelstrom, which belonged to Nie Tian and was a hub that connected to various domains, naturally became the focus of everyone¡¯s attention.

    Numerous Qi warriors from various sects and ns traveled countless miles to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Some came to befriend Nie Tian, hoping that they would receive his help when they made their attempts to enter the God domain, while others came out of fear of Gupi. Their realms bordered those that had been attacked by it, and they wanted to find a ce that was safe.

    Naturally, Nie Tian¡¯s Realm of Maelstrom came to mind.

    WHOOSH!

    In the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s territory, three people appeared in therge-scale teleportation portal, to which Zhao Shanling had recently made changes.

    In a ce not far from the teleportation portal, a group of seven people who were walking away after arriving caught sight of Ling Bingyun, Han Qiong, and Kong Shuangjing. ¡°Isn¡¯t this the Ice Soul Divine Sect?¡±

    Ling Bingyun took an icy nce at the leader of the seven and frowned slightly. ¡°Zhang Qiling!¡±

    Zhang Qiling curled his lips and said with a cold smile, ¡°This is odd. You started a fight with Nie Tian in the Domain of Primal Yang. If I remember correctly, Nie Tian even said that he¡¯d visit your sect to settle this matter with you. It¡¯s just that he¡¯s been busy with various things after that, and hasn¡¯t had a chance to go find you in the Domain of Frigid Frost. You should feel lucky about that. Whye to the Realm of Maelstrom all of a sudden?¡±

    Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing looked embarrassed.

    ¡°That¡¯s between me and him. It¡¯s none of your business,¡± Ling Bingyun said coldly.

    Zhang Qiling from the Heavenly Spirit Sect had long since learned about her temperament. Therefore, instead of getting angry, heughed, and walked away with the elders of his sect.

    As he walked, he said, ¡°Times have changed. That Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has already be a strong force. Even though his own cultivation base isn¡¯t very high at the moment, he can¡¯t be underestimated. Remember: when you¡¯re in the Realm of Maelstrom, behave yourselves and refrain from offending anyone. Don¡¯t think too much of yourselves, as certain people do.

    ¡°Also, try tomunicate more with Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates. There are a few important people you need to remember, such as Dong Li. She¡¯s...¡±

    The group of people from the Heavenly Spirit Sect gradually disappeared into the distance.

    Ling Bingyun¡¯s expression had never been grimmer.

    Zhang Qiling had clearly been referring to her testing Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess with her cold power in the Domain of Primal Yang, causing him to burst into a ming rage and hold a grudge against the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    Han Qiong, however, narrowed his eyes. Fine sparkling wisps could be seen jumping in the depths of his eyes.

    A few secondster, he gasped with astonishment and eximed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe a small ce like the Realm of Maelstrom is filled with crouching tigers and hidden dragons. I¡¯m sensing dozens of Saint domain experts! Thirteen of them are at thete Saint domain like Zhang Qiling!¡±

    Ling Bingyun was bbergasted. ¡°Howe there are so many experts here?¡±

    Han Qiong hesitated briefly before adding, ¡°There are also a few hidden auras that are so profound that even I find them unfathomable. I suspect they belong to God domain experts! Perhaps Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and possibly other God domain experts, have finished ounting for their sect affairs and returned to the Realm of Maelstrom. Perhaps they¡¯re afraid for the Realm of Maelstrom and that the Jade Heaven Sect will seek retaliation.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°God domain experts!¡±

    Ling Bingyun¡¯s expression grew even grimmer.

    She had assumed that given the Ice Soul Divine Sect¡¯s long history and her status, she might be able to settle this matter with Nie Tian in a face-saving manner.

    Now, after hearing that several God domain experts and more than a dozente Saint domain experts like her were currently in the Realm of Maelstrom, she lost more than half of her confidence.

    The three of them then left the teleportation portal to see Qu Mingde from the Golden Vast Sect and express their intentions.

    They were here to see Nie Tian.

    Qu Mingde sat in a tall seat with his arms and legs widespread. Ignoring Han Qiong¡¯s ttering smile, he said in a nonchnt manner, ¡°Sorry, our master isn¡¯t in the Realm of Maelstrom at the moment. He¡¯s in secluded cultivation, and I¡¯m not at liberty to disclose the time when he¡¯ll finish ande back to you.

    ¡°Also, there are a dozente Saint domain experts that are already in line to see our master. All of them are sect or n leaders like you.

    ¡°All of them are waiting for our master toe out of his secluded cultivation, and have lived in the Realm of Maelstrom for quite some time now. Whether or not our master will want to see them is up to him.

    ¡°Even if he decides to see them, he¡¯ll see them in order of arrival.¡±

    With these words, Qu Mingde shot a cold nce at Ling Bingyun, then added, ¡°Your domain didn¡¯t ask to establish a teleportation connection with the Realm of Maelstrom. So wherever you came from, our rules dictate that you need to pay spirit stones for your teleportation. Also, if you wish to stay in the Realm of Maelstrom, you¡¯ll have to pay the stipted amount of spirit stones as well.¡±

    Ling Bingyun¡¯s face became so cold that it seemed to have frozen. She was so furious that she couldn¡¯t speak.

    She was the sectmaster of the Ice Soul Divine Sect. She had been the chosen one, and everyone had showered her with praises and care from the day she had entered the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    Due to her unearthly appearance, many elders of the Five Elements Sect and the Heaven Span Pavilion had great affection for her.

    She far exceeded Qu Mingde in both status and cultivation base.

    However, Qu Mingde had poured scorn on her, showing her no respect at all.

    She hadn¡¯t had many simr experiences before.

    She felt utterly humiliated.

    Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing repeatedly gave her meaningful looks, signaling her to hold her temper.

    Thinking of the threat from Gupi the Domain of Frigid Frost was now facing, and the incredible power Nie Tian had at hismand, she eventually sighed inwardly and chose to remain silent.

    Seeing this, Han Qiong smiled bitterly and said to Qu Mingde, ¡°We shall abide by your rules. We¡¯re here to apologize to Nie Tian, and we¡¯ve broughtvish gifts. Hopefully, he¡¯ll forgive our rude actions in the Domain of Primal Yang.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯ll be for our master to decide after hees out of his secluded cultivation,¡± Qu Mingde said with an indifferent tone.

    ¡°Of course, of course,¡± Han Qiong said hastily.

    ...

    Shortly afterwards, a group of important figures from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion arrived in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°That¡¯s Ji Yuanquan!¡±

    ¡°Ye Wenhan!¡±

    ¡°And Huang Jinnan and Hou Chn too. Why are they here?¡±

    They went to find Jing Feiyang together under many gazes.

    In the middle of a quiet pce, Ji Yuanquan asked with knitted brows, ¡°When will Nie Tiane out of his secluded cultivation? The Domain of Green Woods is going to fall soon. Who knows which domain Gupi will set its mind on next? No one can stop it if Nie Tian doesn¡¯te out of his secluded cultivation, and his master, Wu Ji, doesn¡¯t show up!¡±

    All of the visitors from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion fixed Jing Feiyang with anticipating looks.

    ¡°Miss Dong instructed us to gather high-grade spirit beast and outsider corpses. She told us that they¡¯d help Nie Tian make advances in his cultivation and bloodline,¡± Jing Feiyang exined. ¡°We¡¯ve been doing that recently. Miss Dong is the only one who¡¯s staying by Nie Tian¡¯s side as he practices secluded cultivation. Since she¡¯s not back, we don¡¯t know when he¡¯lle out of his secluded cultivation.¡±

    Hou Chn from the Five Elements Sect turned to the crowd and said, ¡°It seems that Nie Tian has a great need for high-grade spirit beast meat and outsider corpses. Back in the day, he helped me enter the Saint domain on the condition that I provided him with high-grade spirit beast and outsider corpses. I suppose since we all want him toe out of his secluded cultivation as soon as possible, how about we help him by having our sect¡¯s stock of those items shipped to the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan exchanged a nce and nodded slightly.

    Ji Yuanquan was spirited.

    Recently, they had been able to obtain the sources of flesh power Nie Tian needed from visitors from various domains.

    However, they had had to trade spiritual materials with equal value for them.

    Now, due to the great threat from Gupi, Hou Chn proposed, and the Void Spirit Society, Five Elements Sect, and Heaven Span Pavilion agreed, to contribute their stock of the kind of cultivation materials Nie Tian needed the most at this moment. He was very grateful for this.

    ¡°Go.¡± Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion signaled for an elder to go into action.

    Two weekster.

    Jing Feiyang appeared in the teleportation portal on that meteor in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, holding a handful of rings of holding.

    Smiling, he handed them to Dong Li. Looking at her and Hua Mu, he said, ¡°These were contributed by the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion.¡±

    Dong Li grabbed the rings of holding. After scanning them quickly with her soul awareness, she eximed in shock, ¡°Corpses of ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider grand patriarchs! And there are more than a dozen of them!¡±

    ¡°The Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion have fought countless battles against Ancientspirits and outsiders in the Dead Star Sea, during which they¡¯ve killed quite a number of ninth grade Ancientbeasts and outsider grand patriarchs,¡± Jing Feiyang said, full of smiles. ¡°They stocked them up so they could take them out bit by bit. They may use them as materials to forge Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools, or bestow them upon disciples with agreeable cultivation attributes so they could practice cultivation with the residual power within them. Ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses are very useful and hard to find. If Gupi weren¡¯t giving them such great headaches, they would have never contributed so generously.¡±

    ¡°These will definitely help Nie Tian get stronger!¡± Dong Li said excitedly.

    The ck tortoise crouched at her feet also smelled the flesh power within the Ancientbeast corpses, and kept pulling at the bottom of Dong Li¡¯s dress with its mouth.

 Chapter 1312: Endless Demand

    The ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline was at the eighth grade. It relied on dark power and flesh power to make advances in its bloodline.

    Dong Li was well-aware of this.

    The dark stone that had been obtained from the Demon realms carried the profound truths and origin of dark power. It could also gather dark power on its own. This made it a supreme dark treasure.

    It had provided both her and the ck tortoise with great help.

    Even though it had yed an important role in the ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline upgrades, the strengthening of its body was also necessary if it wanted to make further advances in its bloodline.

    ¡°This ring of holding...¡± As a thought entered Dong Li¡¯s mind, an enormous Ancientbeast corpse floated out of the ring.

    The ck tortoise instantly grew excited.

    ¡°That¡¯s a ninth grade Scarlet Turtle!¡± Hua Mu eximed, staring at the red turtle that was the size of a mountain peak. Mysterious fiery patterns could be seen on its vast shell, as if the gigantic Ancientbeast corpse was still zing.

    ¡°Ye Wenhan got that ninth grade Scarlet Turtle out of the depths of the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s vault,¡± Jing Feiyang exined. ¡°Its heart was carved out and sealed within a special vessel. As you know, the intact hearts of ninth grade spirit beasts and outsiders have to be contained via special means. Otherwise, they might find a way toe back to life.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s a chelonian Ancientbeast. No wonder you¡¯re so excited.¡± Dong Li muttered.

    ¡°Your tortoise is wreathed in dark power, while that Scarlet Turtle is a fire-attributed Ancientbeast...¡± Jing Feiyang said, looking baffled.

    ¡°What it needs is not the Scarlet Turtle¡¯s me power, but rather the flesh power that remains in its flesh and blood.¡± With these words, Dong Li pondered briefly, then nodded at the ck tortoise.

    Seeing this, the ck tortoise skipped with joy.

    WHOOSH!

    Its body instantly expanded a thousand times over.

    In the blink of an eye, it became as huge as the Scarlet Turtle.

    Jing Feiyang and Hua Mu looked at it with rapt attention, and felt that even though the ck tortoise was only at the eighth grade, it seemed to be more mysterious than the dead ninth grade Scarlet Turtle.

    The dark magical patterns on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell seemed to form a natural spell formation that looked like a bottomless abyss. Only by looking at them, people would feel deeply disturbed, as if their souls were sinking.

    The ck tortoise stood on the back of the Scarlet Turtle, with its giant feet tightly adhering to the Scarlet Turtle like mas.

    SHEW!

    It took the Scarlet Turtle and flew off to find a secluded floating meteor to refine its residual power.

    ¡°You won¡¯t have a problem if I take that Scarlet Turtle, right?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Jing Feiyangughed. ¡°Nie Tian shares everything with you. Besides, you¡¯re his fiancee. That tortoise of yours is amazing. It¡¯ll be a good thing for you and Nie Tian if it gets stronger.¡±

    He had witnessed the ck tortoise¡¯s amazing abilities on the floating continent.

    Back then, it had unleashed its dark power to create ¡®Evernight¡¯, which had left a deep impression on him.

    For a moment, he had even suspected that the ck tortoise carried a Star Behemoth bloodline.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Corpses of ninth grade Ancientbeasts that were the size of mountains, along with Demons, Phantasms, Birdmen, and ckscales, were taken out from within the rings of holding one after another.

    More than a dozen of them floated to Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    FZZZ!

    Translucent and sparkling strings that were as scarlet as blood shot out of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian activated Life Drain once again.

    Jing Feiyang and Hua Mu¡¯s expressions flickered.

    ¡°Such strong flesh power!¡±

    ¡°The intensity of his flesh aura is even higher than that of most eighth grade outsiders and Ancientbeasts!¡±

    As far as they knew, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had only entered the eighth grade recently.

    However, none of the eighth grade Ancientbeasts or outsiders they had ever encountered had impressed them the way he did.

    Jing Feiyang seemed somewhat worried. ¡°More than a dozen ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses... Even without their hearts, they contain a tremendous amount of flesh power. Can Nie Tian really absorb all of their residual flesh power? Won¡¯t such massive power overwhelm him?¡±

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression grewplicated.

    He had been here for some time. He had witnessed numerous spirit beast and outsider corpses be drained of their residual power and rapidly decay.

    However, Nie Tian had never shown any sign of reaching the end of his cultivation session.

    It seemed to him that, like a bottomless pit, Nie Tian could absorb however much flesh power he was given.

    Dong Li smiled heartily. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nie Tian can take it. I guess there are positive sides to this Gupi crisis. Ancient great sects like the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion would only be willing to contribute their ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses at times like this.¡±

    Jing Feiyang took a moment to think, and asked, ¡°Will these be enough?¡±

    Dong Li shot a nce at Nie Tian. After a moment of pondering, she said, ¡°I doubt it.¡±

    Jing Feiyang was bbergasted. ¡°Even these won¡¯t be enough for him?¡±

    Dong Li nodded slightly.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how about I return to the Realm of Maelstrom and tell people Nie Tian¡¯s experiencing some unforeseen event in his secluded cultivation, and will need far more flesh power materials than this?¡± Jing Feiyang suggested.

    ¡°Sure, try to squeeze as many high-grade spirit beast and outsider corpses from the ancient great sects as possible,¡± Dong Li agreed. ¡°Only they haverge numbers of ninth grade ones.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded, and left in a hurry.

    ...

    Two weekster.

    Every realm in the Domain of Green Woods had fallen.

    All of the surviving Qi warriors had sailed as far away from the Domain of Green Woods as possible on their ancient starships, as Fei Yiming had.

    Dead silence now reigned over the Domain of Green Woods. Not a single life could be found in it anymore, human or spirit beast.

    All of them had been poisoned to death by Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma.

    A few of its neighboring domains, including the Domain of Frigid Frost, where the Ice Soul Divine Sect was based, were enveloped in anxiety and fear.

    Group after group of Saint domain experts did what Ling Bingyun had done, and rushed to the Realm of Maelstrom to express their urgent need to see Nie Tian.

    However, Jing Feiyang and the others refused them all.

    After learning that Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and other God domain experts were also in the Realm of Maelstrom, they went to see them in session. By either crying or kneeling, they begged them to solve this Gupi crisis for them.

    Ye Wenhan and Ye Wenhan, who were at their wits¡¯ end, couldn¡¯t stand their endless begging and had to leave the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Before leaving, theymunicated with Jing Feiyang onest time. They decided to dig deeper into their sect¡¯s stock of high-grade spirit beast and outsider corpses, and have them shipped here in secret, hoping that Nie Tian woulde out of his secluded cultivation soon.

    With Wu Ji missing, they could only ce all of their hopes on Nie Tian.

    ...

    Ancientbeast and outsider corpses surrounded Nie Tian like mountain peaks made of flesh and blood.

    Numerous strings of qi and blood pierced into them like sparkling blood-colored thread.

    Sitting in their midst, Nie Tian looked like a spider that had knitted a huge web with crimson blood strings!

    Qi and blood could be seen flowing through them into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart drummed so heavily that it caused Dong Li difort.

    Dong Li, Master Blood Spirit, Hua Mu, and Li Langfeng, those who were the closest to Nie Tian, were now gathered in this ce.

    They were worried about him.

    Monthster, grimy blood oozed from Nie Tian¡¯s pores to form a thick and hardyer over his entire body.

    It enveloped Nie Tian like a cocoon.

    Even his face couldn¡¯t be seen anymore.

    The only things that could be seen were the crimson blood strings that were still transfusing flesh power into him.

    Hua Mu cast his gaze down and said in a low in voice, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time. It¡¯s been almost a year since he came here to practice cultivation. During this time, not only we, but people from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion have also provided him with a tremendous amount of materials that contained rich flesh power.¡±

    After hearing his words, everyone nced around, and discovered that the majority of the spirit beast and outsider corpses around Nie Tian had been drained of their flesh power, and were rotting away.

    They almost couldn¡¯t see any unused corpses around him.

    Master Blood Spirit took a deep breath and said, ¡°The amount of the flesh power Nie Tian has consumed during the past year is astronomical. Even when I attempt to break through into the God domain, I probably won¡¯t consume as much flesh power as he has.¡±

    He practiced the Blood Refining Incantation, which relied on all kinds of blood.

    As ate Saint domain expert, he would attempt to advance to the God domain sooner orter. Even he found that the amount of flesh power Nie Tian had consumed exceeded his imagination.

    Master Blood Spirit sighed in admiration. ¡°Twenty-seven ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses... Even though they lost some of their flesh power when they died and had their hearts carved out, they were still ninth grade grand patriarchs. Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline is only at the eighth grade. The fact that he has absorbed such a tremendous amount of flesh power and hasn¡¯t exploded and died is a miracle.¡±

    Dong Li smiled. ¡°How many miracles has he worked so far?¡±

    Her words got everyone thinking,plicated expressions gradually filling their faces.

    After a while...

    The Spirit Pearl Nie Tian had left floating in the dim starry river suddenly blossomed with misty cyan light.

    The whole area was enveloped in misty cyan light, making everyone feel like they hade to theherworld.

    WHOOSH!

    Rich, pure Phantasm Qi poured out of the Spirit Pearl as the five evil gods flew out, baring their teeth and brandishing their ws.

    Dong Li was baffled. ¡°What¡¯s happening with that Phantasm treasure?¡±

    SHEW!

    The ck tortoise, which had disappeared with the Scarlet Turtle for quite some time, suddenly returned, wreathed in what looked like a huge ck cloud.

    A soul message then came from it.

    Dong Li shuddered. ¡°You¡¯ve entered the ninth grade?!¡±

    The ck cloud scattered, and the ck tortoise revealed itself.

    It had be five times asrge as before!

    ¡°W-what are you sensing?¡± Dong Li asked, looking astonished.

    ¡°I¡¯m sensing it too. Something is wrong.¡± Master Blood Spirit frowned, instantly activating his blood domain.

    The ck tortoise and Master Blood Spirit¡¯s warnings made everyone nervous, as if they were facing formidable foes. Li Langfeng hastily said, ¡°Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan are still in the Realm of Maelstrom. I¡¯ll go back and get them!¡±

    BOOM!

    As soon as he said these words, the teleportation portal on the meteor exploded.

 Chapter 1313: Grand Monarch Dark Nether

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered drastically. The teleportation portal was the only means through which Li Langfeng could leave to get Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan to this ce within a short time.

    Its destruction meant that they wouldn¡¯t be able to get any assistance even if they were in a difficult position.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Master Blood Spirit bellowed. At the same time, thick blood spread from his blood domain towards the depths of the starry river.

    Blood-colored lightning bolts mixed with his soul awareness to examine every inch of the void.

    However, he failed to capture any sign of an interloper after an extensive search.

    Despite this, the ck tortoise and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s unusual behavior and the sudden explosion of the teleportation portal had sent them a clear message: enemies had arrived.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods swooped out of the Spirit Pearl and nced around with vicious expressions.

    Dong Li continued tomunicate with the ck tortoise through wisps of obscure soul messages.

    Secondster, Dong Li¡¯s expression suddenly flickered, her obsidian-like bright eyes fixing on a distant location. ¡°A Phantasm?!¡±

    The five evil gods let out excited screeches towards the same area of dim starry river.

    A slender male figure d in a suit of battle armor that had been engraved with exquisite,plicated patterns gradually revealed himself in the void.

    A prismatic crystal could be seen between his eyebrows.

    It emanated bright cyan light as he fixed his eyes on the Spirit Pearl.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Nine streaks of cyan light shot out of the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows one after another.

    The dazzling streaks of cyan light seemed to be interconnected through a mysterious bloodline magic.

    Emanating vast, devilish, and stern auras, they shot towards the five evil gods and the Spirit Pearl, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    Master Blood Spirit, whose cultivation base was the highest among those present, couldn¡¯t help but exim upon seeing the neer¡¯s face, ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether!¡±

    At the time he eximed, the nine streaks of cyan light had alreadye very close to the Spirit Pearl and the five evil gods.

    HOWL!

    After devouring arge amount of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence over the years, the five evil gods had alreadypleted the transformation from illusory life forms to beings with flesh and blood.

    They howled with mysterious tunes in their voice.

    It was the Spirit Pearl¡¯s unique secret magic: Evil Spirit Chant!

    Fluctuations that could only be sensed with souls spread like waves on the sea.

    The magical evil power within the waves turned out to be even stronger than that in the nine streaks of cyan released by Grand Monarch Dark Nether!

    BOOM!

    All nine streaks of cyan light were sted into countless pieces before they could reach the Spirit Pearl or the evil gods!

    They were reduced to bits of sparkling cyan light that fell like rain.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s pupils shrank sharply as he eximed something in an ancientnguage, disbelief filling his face.

    He stared unblinkingly at the Spirit Pearl and the five evil gods.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether!¡± Master Blood Spirit bellowed like a frenzied beast as his blood domain spread towards him like a vast sea of blood.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether finally moved his gaze away from the five evil gods to take a nce at Master Blood Spirit.

    Master Blood Spirit was at thete Saint domain. His expanding domain contained blood power he had gathered from a wide array of beings. Therefore, even Grand Monarch Dark Nether had to attach importance to it.

    ¡°Nurkic!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether eximed in a deep voice.

    Another ethereal figure suddenly flew out from a dark area behind him.

    It was a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch, who ranked only after thete Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, Kleist.

    As soon as he appeared, he engulfed himself in his flesh aura sea and engaged in a fierce battle against Master Blood Spirit.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Three more figures revealed themselves from the dark area behind Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    All three of them were ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarchs.

    As Grand Monarch Dark Nether opened his mouth, perfect humannguage came out, without any ent or strange word-use. This proved that he had profound knowledge about human culture,nguage, and habits. ¡°I¡¯m here to retake our precious treasure and punish the one who¡¯s responsible for the death of Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, Kleist.¡±

    ¡°This is bad!¡± Hua Mu slowly moved to Dong Li¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether is at the early tenth grade. Thest time he showed up in the human world, he joined hands with Grand Monarch Withered Bones and killed Lu Jiefeng from the Five Elements Sect in the Domain of Nether Heaven. They nearly annihted his soul too. Nie Tian was in the domain of Nether Heaven when that happened.

    ¡°Who would have thought a Phantasm grand monarch like him woulde for Nie Tian this time?¡±

    Face grim, Dong Li continued tomunicate with the ck tortoise, anxiously seeking a solution.

    Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, who were at the early God domain, were strong enough to fight Grand Monarch Dark Nether. However, neither of them were avable now.

    Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang and the otherte Saint domain experts were also in the Realm of Maelstrom at this moment.

    Master Blood Spirit, who was the strongest among them, was now caught up in a fierce battle against a Phantasm grand patriarch. She, Li Langfeng, and Hua Mu were all there was left. None of them were strong enough to handle a Phantasm grand patriarch, not to mention Grand Monarch Dark Nether, whose name had been whispered in every corner of the human world for tens of thousands of years.

    Seeing that no one wanted to respond to him, Grand Monarch Dark Nether went on and said, as if he were passing a death sentence, ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian, is responsible for Kleist¡¯s death and the destruction of the Spirit Pearl in his possession. Not just that, but he also jeopardized our grand n in the Domain of Frigid Depths and made us lose face in the Dead Star Sea. He should have been punished with death long ago.¡±

    With these words, a drop of emerald green Blood Essence that looked like a crystal with many facets appeared in his left palm.

    Mysterious talismans merged with his soul will within the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows before flying out to fuse into the drop of Blood Essence.

    The drop of crystallized Blood Essence that looked like a cyan gem instantly started burning.

    ¡°Bloodline: Soul-burning Blood Spell!¡±

    The drop of Blood Essence suddenly morphed into a cluster of ghostly fire that floated ethereally towards Nie Tian.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s handsome face suddenly grew twisted and sinister.

    He had noticed that Nie Tian was surrounded by numerous Ancientbeast and outsider corpses, most of which had been drained of their residual flesh power, and were rapidly decaying.

    Among the Phantasm corpses, he spotted a few that belonged to those whom he had fought battles with!

    All of them had been killed by powerful experts from the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion in battles that had taken ce in the Dead Star Sea or human realms tens of thousands of years ago.

    One of them was a member of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s n. If he were to trace the origin of his bloodline, he was his cousin!

    His nsmen, including his cousin, had had their hearts carved out and sealed elsewhere, and their bodies ced around Nie Tian for him to drain their residual flesh power with some peculiar magic...

    AHHH!!

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether let out a sharp cry that was filled with fury, violence, and frenzy, forcing Dong Li and Li Langfeng to cover their ears.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Hua Mu¡¯s eyes also dimmed. However, upon seeing faint wisps rising from Dong Li, he hastily reminded her. ¡°Don¡¯t ever let that cyan ghostly fire touch your soul!¡±

    The Soul-burning Blood Spell was one of the Phantasms¡¯ most famous and powerful bloodline magics. It could easily burn any living being¡¯s soul away.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Seeing the cluster of ghostly fire flying towards Nie Tian, carrying a soul-burning spell, the five evil gods swooped on it simultaneously.

    Under the evil gods¡¯ fierce attacks with their de-sharp ws, the cluster of ghostly fire was ripped into tiny bits of sparkling light.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who was deeply grieved and furious, couldn¡¯t wait to torture Nie Tian to death to have his revenge. However, he froze at this moment.

    He was dumbstruck as the soul-burning talisman he had condensed with his Blood Essence was shredded by the five evil gods under his gaze, as if he found this unreal.

    ¡°The Soul-burning Blood Spell can burn any souls or spirits. The evil spirits that live inside the Spirit Pearl fall into that category, but why...?¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether muttered in the Phantasmnguage, looking deeply confused.

    A ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch behind him reminded him with an iparably grim tone, ¡°Grand Monarch! Those five flying from the Spirit Pearl don¡¯t seem to be illusory! As you must have sensed yourself, they have flesh and blood, and aren¡¯t pure spirit form beings anymore!

    ¡°Our Soul-burning Blood Spell is designed to annihte souls. Once spirit form beings develop fleshly bodies, the Soul-burning Blood Spell¡¯s effect on them will drop significantly. Also, by looking at those five, do you feel like you¡¯ve seen them somewhere?¡±

    After hearing his reminders, Grand Monarch Dark Nether examined the five evil gods with rapt attention. In the next moment, his expression flickered.

 Chapter 1314: Great Quietus Of Soul!

    ¡°Exactly the same, exactly the same!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether eximed in the Phantasm¡¯snguage, with an extremely weird expression.

    ¡°Have you noticed it at longst?¡± said a grand patriarch in the dark.

    ¡°They¡¯re exactly like the five mountain-like sculptures in the northern part of our realm!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether finally saw the resemnce, which was shockingly uncanny.

    It was said that the five statues represented five evil gods. They had appeared together in the Nether Realm with the mysterious Nether River.

    The Nether Realm was originally an insignificant realm.

    Because of the Nether River¡¯s appearance, the native beings in the Nether Realm used their souls tomunicate with it, obtaining numerous methods to cultivate souls and mutate their bloodlines. After thousands of years of evolution, they became today¡¯s Phantasms, who were one of the thousands of races in this starry river.

    The Nether River, known as the birthce of Phantasms, was the source of their soul secrets.

    As for the five evil gods represented by the five statues, they actually hadn¡¯t been built by the Phantasms to worship their deceased grand monarchs. They had emerged with the Nether River at the Nether Realm.

    The origin of the five evil gods had been a mystery since ancient times.

    There were many grand patriarchs and grand monarchs of the Phantasms that would visit the northern part of the Nether Realm. With the five statues around, sometimes their bloodline would suddenly break through, or they could suddenly derive some secret magics and spells.

    Aftering here, Grand Monarch Dark Nether hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the five evil gods. He had thought that they looked impressive butcked real worth, and that they were something the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had conjured on purpose.

    To him, the five evil gods only represented a kind of historical meaning, of things that had long vanished. They werememorative, but dead.

    He could never imagine that the five evil gods would emerge alive.

    But now...

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods who had easily smashed his Soul Burning Seal roared with ferocious expressions, their huge bodies submerged in thick Phantasm Qi.

    The surging Phantasm Qi formed deep holes, as if it were directly connected to the Nether Realm.

    ¡°Grand monarch...¡± Another Phantasm nsman emerged from the dark area.

    His hands held another Spirit Pearl!

    This Spirit Pearl was usually kept in the Nether Realm year-round, and hadn¡¯t been used for a long time.

    With thisst Spirit Pearl and others¡¯ guidance, they had followed clues, came here, and found Nie Tian.

    ¡°Come!¡± As soon as Grand Monarch Dark Nether raised his hand, the Spirit Pearl flew out and fell into his palm.

    After a wisp of his soul awareness flew into the empty interior of the Spirit Pearl, what he saw was a cyan arcane realm instead of many evil spirits.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether grinned, and immediately used his bloodline magic and soul awareness to channel the Spirit Pearl, trying to use the power of this Spirit Pearl to suppress the five evil gods.

    The Spirit Pearl could seal many souls, spirits, and phantom soul bodies.

    He wanted to see if thest and best treasure held by the Phantasms could suppress the five strange things he was facing now.

    ¡°Soul Imprisonment!¡±

    Due to Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s bloodline magic, an extremelyplicated talisman made of numerous soul threads was generated in the Spirit Pearl, which instantly formed a crazy sucking force.

    The Spirit Pearl flew toward the five evil gods, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    Almost at the same time, the Spirit Pearl belonging to Nie Tian emitted cyan light and dashed out as well.

    The cyan light it emanated seemed to create a magic world around it. Its brilliance and mystery seemed to go far beyond that of thest Spirit Pearl held by the Phantasms.

    CRACK!

    A crisp sound came from the Spirit Pearl released by Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    The Spirit Pearl actually split apart!

    The talisman Grand Monarch Dark Nether had formed inside the Spirit Pearl with the Phantasm¡¯s help was suddenly exposed.

    The five evil gods roared once again, turned into five cyan electric lights, and smashed the talisman that contained the essence of his blood.

    BOOM!

    The Spirit Pearl suddenly broke. Tadpole-like lines that even Grand Monarch Dark Nether couldn¡¯t recognize and that represented a kind of mysterious knowledge flew out one by one and blended into Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl.

    The five evil gods cried wildly. Billowy Phantasm Qi continuously flew out from the holes where they floated and blended into their weird bodies, making them expand again.

    ¡°Grand monarch!¡± Three ninth-grade grand patriarchs of the Phantasms shouted in unison.

    In the face of the five evil gods who had suddenly changed, they instinctively felt fear.

    ¡°Why are you able to use our n¡¯s unique treasure with such proficiency!?¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether roared, unable to ept what he was seeing. His bloodline instantly burst, and all kinds of secret soul spells came out one after another.

    ¡°Soul Imprisonment! Soul-capturing Hand! Blood Soul Spell! Soul-breaking Magic Sound!¡±

    Drops of blood flew out of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s palm. Many bloodline talents and magics that had to be cast with his Blood Essence were instantly generated, bombarding Nie Tian.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go help Nie Tian!¡± eximed Dong Li. Shrouded in darkness, and with the ck tortoise whose bloodline had broken through to Ninth Grade, she tried to help Nie Tian.

    Li Langfeng and Hua Mu felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether was a tenth-grade grand monarch!

    If the two of them rushed out, they would just be courting death. They couldn¡¯t help Nie Tian, and might be a drag on him, or be instantly killed by Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    ZZZZZLA!

    At this moment, the bone floating behind Nie Tian was blocked from sight by the corpses of numerous Ancientbeasts and outsiders, absorbing various kinds of forces in the starry sky.

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s unique bloodline talent was suddenly activated.

    Bloodline Suppression!

    The numerous talents and bloodline magics from Grand Monarch Dark Nether flying to Nie Tian were all affected, and their power was reduced by ten percent!

    The bone of the Star Behemoth came flying out from behind Nie Tian like a divine red spear.

    Cyan blood light, huge ghost hands, soul-sealing wards, and soul-capturing sounds were all ruthlessly crushed as the red spear shot out!

    The corpses of many spirit beasts and outsiders were all reduced to shreds that scattered everywhere.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether!¡±

    After being silent for a long time, Nie Tian suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who was clearly a bit rattled now.

    ¡°Great Quietus of Soul!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether shouted as he lowered his head so that the prismatic crystal in the middle of his eyebrows reflected and located Nie Tian urately.

    All sorts of secret soul spells and soul lights coagted in Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s Blood Essence.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s soul and ten-plus drops of his Blood Essence formed a mysterious rtionship.

    Souls with ferocious faces appeared from within the drops of Blood Essence, as if they had been injected with them by Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    If one took a closer look, they could find that each of the souls looked like the soul of a human being. They were souls of Saint domain humans whose true souls were imprisoned by Grand Monarch Dark Nether, and he had spent decades slowly refining them into evil souls!

    All the evil souls flew out from the drops of cyan Blood Essence, burnt, and formed a horrifying magic that could make the souls of all living creatures silent, and all living creatures soulless!

    ¡°Quietus, quietus, quietus...¡±

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s whispers sounded repeatedly.

    The five evil gods, thest remaining Spirit Pearl, and the bone of the Star Behemoth made hissing sounds, as if their soul awareness was being vaporized.

    ¡°Ouch!¡± A cry of pain came from the thick darkness that Dong Li and the ck tortoise had turned into.

    Then, the darkness receded. Dong Li, who stood on the huge ck tortoise shell, was wrapped in dark spirit energy. Even though she was enveloped in the ck tortoise¡¯s blood power, she was in so much pain that she had to hold her head.

    The power of the ck tortoise and her dark powers seemed unable to shield off the terrifying might of the Great Quietus of Soul.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Even Master Blood Spirit, who was fighting the grand patriarch of the Phantasms, suddenly screamed.

    His blood domain began shrinking sharply and rapidly.

    Void domains and Saint domains were formed by Qi warriors¡¯ strength and soul force. Under the effect of the Great Quietus of Soul, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s domain shrank, which meant that his soul power was being rapidly consumed.

    Because of the distance between them and the fact that they were not Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s targets, Hua Mu and Li Langfeng were the only ones who were unscathed.

    ¡°Quietus, quietus...¡±

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s soul voice rang out in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness was like a pool under many suns, and his soul power was rapidly evaporating like water.

 Chapter 1315: Fight Against Grand Monarch!

    Great Quietus of Soul!

    After Grand Monarch Dark Nether used his Blood Essence, burned evil souls, and disyed his bloodline magics, all the souls of the living creatures his eyes could see were affected.

    He looked at Nie Tian, at Master Blood Spirit, and then at Dong Li.

    But he didn¡¯t give Hua Mu or Li Langfeng a look.

    Because at this moment, Hua Mu and Li Langfeng were too weak to deserve his attention.

    He would not have given Dong Li a look if her ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline hadn¡¯t broken through to the ninth grade, its aura hadn¡¯t been so indescribable, and its origin hadn¡¯t been so unclear.

    However, when he gave her a look, the power of the Great Quietus of Soul came with it!

    It seemed that Dong Li¡¯s soul awareness was being evaporated like Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Her dark spirit energy couldn¡¯t stop it!

    ¡°Blood Escape Art!¡±

    In another location, Master Blood Spirit roared sharply. His shrinking blood domain turned into a river of blood, and suddenly flew far away and vanished from Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s vision.

    The prismatic crystal in the middle of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s eyebrows couldn¡¯t reflect Master Blood Spirit anymore.

    The terrifying feeling that wisps of his soul awareness were being evaporated instantly disappeared for Master Blood Spirit.

    The evil heaven and earth transformed from Nurkic¡¯s flesh aura turned into a streak of misty cyan light that shot after Master Blood Spirit.

    In fact, during his fight with Master Blood Spirit, Nurkic, whose bloodline was at thete ninth grade, had been at a disadvantage.

    This was because the bloodline magic that Master Blood Spirit practiced was unique among humans. He knew powerful forbidden spells that mixed the blood of thousands of races.

    Nurkic¡¯s sea of flesh aura had been suppressed by Master Blood Spirit¡¯s blood domain, and couldn¡¯t disy its full power.

    After that, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Behemoth bone had released Blood Suppression. Nurkic was affected once again, and the true strength of his bloodline was reduced by another ten percent.

    This had made Nurkic even weaker.

    Nurkic didn¡¯t have a chance of winning until Grand Monarch Dark Nether used the Great Quietus of Soul bloodline magic, which quickly reduced Master Blood Spirit¡¯s domain and consumed his soul power.

    It was only natural that Nurkic wanted to chase after him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Behind Grand Monarch Dark Nether, the three grand Phantasm patriarchs who had been hiding in thick Phantasm Qi emerged one after another.

    They were actually working together to move an arc-shaped wheel te.

    Strength that could connect to other parts of the starry river and cause spatial disorder came from the wheel te.

    It seemed they hade here from some other world through a spatial tunnel they had formed with the help of the wheel te after breakingyers of space.

    HISS! HISS!

    The thick blood film wrapping Nie Tian burned with raging mes until it turned into ashes.

    Wisps of smoke poured from Nie Tian¡¯s body and head.

    That was Nie Tian¡¯s vaporizing soul power!

    Seeing Nie Tian and Dong Li in such pain, Hua Mu¡¯s heart was filled with grief. ¡°A grand monarch¡¯s power! This is the horrifying power a grand Phantasm monarch can disy with the Blood Essence and soul magics he has spent a hundred thousand years deriving!¡±

    The image of the Heavenly Demonsbane between his eyebrows rapidly became clearer.

    It seemed the Heavenly Demonsbane was aware of his weakening, and thus wanted to break free and cause trouble again.

    Inplete darkness, Dong Li let out a cry of pain. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Surrounded by shattered bones and shredded corpses, Nie Tian¡¯s pupils seemed to be smeared with ayer of redness as violent madness rocketed in them.

    ¡°Bloodline Blend!¡±

    Drops of Blood Essence in his heart were suddenly ignited!

    His flesh power, which was as powerful as the deep sea, abruptly exploded from within his internal organs and bones.

    The bone of the Star Behemoth suddenly flew into his hand.

    SWISH!

    He clutched the bone with a swift move. His body, which was very robust to begin with, crackled and expanded.

    His bones, muscles, veins, viscera, and even blood seemed to swell in an instant. The first reinforcement of his original form was soonpleted.

    After the strengthening, he became like the dharma idol of a God domain expert, or a Demon after activating its Indestructible Form.

    BOOM!

    In an instant, his body grew dozens of times over, until it was a hundred meters tall.

    A thick flesh aura exuded from his erged body, a stream of which shot straight up into the sky from the top of his head.

    Because of his erged size, the Star Behemoth bone, which had originally been too long and thin for him to wield, suddenly became proportionate.

    ¡°sh!¡±

    In his erged form, Nie Tian drew on his surging flesh aura to sh the bone towards Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    The starry sky was split apart.

    A gorgeous crack, inside of which unknown brilliance flowed, suddenly appeared.

    A streak of blood-colored light flew to Grand Monarch Dark Nether like a red rainbow passing through the sun.

    Between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Dark Nether, the evil souls forming the Great Quietus of Soul, the drops of blood in the form of cyan crystals, and countless Phantasm magic incantations that ordinary people could not even perceive all exploded and vanished.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s Great Quietus of Soul, which could influence anyone he gave a look at, suddenly failed.

    Dong Li¡¯s screams stopped.

    Standing on a meteorite, Hua Mu, who had almost lost control under the influence of the Heavenly Demonsbane, froze. Then, with great strength of will, he managed to suppress the Heavenly Demonsbane inside of him.

    ¡°Nie Tian is actually able to break a Phantasm grand monarch¡¯s soul magic!¡± Hua Mu yelled as if he had seen something absurd.

    Li Langfeng finally calmed down.

    ¡°Grand monarch!¡± The three grand Phantasm patriarchs pushing the arc-shaped wheel te shouted at the same time.

    After his bloodline magic was broken by Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Dark Nether only froze for half a second before heughed wickedly, and prepared to draw more power to drive his bloodline talent.

    But just then, the shouts of his three nsmen behind him startled him.

    Unconsciously, he turned his head, and immediately found that there were many abnormal spatial fluctuations in the rifts torn by the arc-shaped wheel te.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s face became very gloomy as he roared, ¡°Who¡¯s doing this?¡±

    ¡°The space in this area of starry river can¡¯t be suppressed for much longer,¡± a grand patriarch hurriedly said. ¡°A God domain expert of the Void Spirit Society is trying toe here! We guess it must be Ji Yuanquan. If hees, he may bring other experts too. We can¡¯t stay too long!¡±

    SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

    The arc-shaped wheel te, which they were pushing, started to give off harsh sounds, as if it couldn¡¯t stand the pressure.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who didn¡¯t want to give up, shouted. ¡°That¡¯s thest Spirit Pearl of our race!¡±

    He held out his hand, andrge dark blue w grabbed towards the Spirit Pearl in an attempt to carry it back to the Nether Realm.

    The five evil gods suddenly emerged and bit the dark blue hand.

    Therge hand was a mixture of flesh aura and soul awareness, but after being bitten and torn by the five evil gods, it rapidly fell apart.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether shook his bleeding left hand. ¡°Ah!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch!¡± The three grand Phantasm patriarchs urged him in a loud voice again.

    Even Nurkic, who had fought Master Blood Spirit, came to his senses, and knew that they had to leave at once. He ended his pursuit of Master Blood Spirit and came back right away.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to give up!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether growled, shaking his bloody left hand. Looking at the Spirit Pearl and the five evil gods, which were identical to the five statues in the northern region of the Nether Realm, he felt extremely stifled as he eventually shrank into a spatial rift behind him.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    The four Grand Phantasm patriarchs also morphed into streaks of cyan light that disappeared with the arc-shaped wheel te.

 Chapter 1316: Godlike!

    Surging Phantasm Qi quietly scattered. This area of starry river, which had been suppressed by the grand wheel like a frozen sea, finally returned to normal.

    Li Langfeng looked back at the shattered teleportation portal. After a moment of pondering, he realized that its destruction must have been caused by that grand wheel, which had been jointly operated by three Phantasm grand patriarchs.

    WHOOSH!

    Face reddened, Master Blood Spirit morphed into a streak of blood-colored light and flew back.

    Darkness dissipated, revealing Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body. Standing on the back of the enormous ck tortoise, she also slowly approached Nie Tian.

    Stopping beside Hua Mu and Li Langfeng, Master Blood Spirit fixed his scarlet eyes on Nie Tian and eximed, ¡°This is godlike... He¡¯s only at the Void domain, his bloodline at the eighth grade, yet he was able to break Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s mighty soul spells. Utterly unbelievable...¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was about a hundred meters tall and iparably robust. Like a deity, he stood towering in the middle of the starry river.

    The Star Behemoth bone was more than two hundred meters long.

    Clutching it like a divine spear, he looked majestic and awe-inspiring. Even thete Saint domain Master Blood Spirit was shocked by the immensity of his flesh aura.

    FZZZ!

    All of a sudden, a brand new spatial rift ripped the void open.

    Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan, four God domain experts, arrived through it.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect eximed as soon as he saw Nie Tian, who had expanded dozens of times over into a deity that was a hundred meters tall, and could easily conquer mountains and rivers.

    Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and Yu Suying were also dumbstruck.

    ording to what they had learned, several Phantasm experts had arrived in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven with the help of a unique space maniption tool called the Wheel of Time and Space.

    Upon receiving the information, Ji Yuanquan had taken advantage of his mastery of spatial power to gather Ye Wenhan, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan within a short time, and prepared to travel to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to annihte the Phantasm interlopers.

    However, due to the existence of the Wheel of Time and Space, no matter how hard Ji Yuanquan had tried, he hadn¡¯t been able to split open a spatial rift.

    Since they had been dyed, he had been worried that mishaps would happen to Nie Tian.

    Who would have thought that the first thing he saw after stepping through the spatial rift would be this?

    All of the Phantasm experts were gone, leaving scattering Phantasm Qi among other signs of a fierce battle...

    Meanwhile, not only was Nie Tian unscathed, but he was also in this erged form, and holding a giant crimson bone like a spear. His dominating manner made even them feel threatened.

    Nie Tian looked down and thought to himself, ¡°Life Blend, Life Strengthening, Blood Essence Seething, and thest stage of Heavenly Wood Heal: Blood Condensing!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan, who hadn¡¯t activated their dharma idols at this moment, looked unusually small to him.

    The same went for Dong Li as he turned to look at her.

    Only the ck tortoise seemed to scale.

    That was because, like him, it had also expanded in size and stimted its bloodline potential to the fullest.

    ¡°Many factors have contributed to me going into this special form. I feel like I have endless power, as if vigorous qi and blood are running through me like torrential rivers, filling my internal organs, bones, and meridians to the brim.¡±

    Muttering these words, he assumed a tight grip of the Star Behemoth bone and shed it casually towards a nearby floating meteor that was hundreds of thousands of meters across.

    CRACK!

    The meteor that was evenrger than a human ancient starship was easily cut in half like a piece of tofu.

    Nie Tian examined himself with rapt attention.

    He realized that his flesh power had erupted during this process.

    Thick flesh auras poured out of his internal organs, bones, meridians, and blood into the Star Behemoth bone like rivers of qi and blood.

    Under the effect of Life Blend, he was struck by a peculiar feeling that he had turned into an overlord of the Primal Era that preyed on titans, ripped ancient Demons to shreds, and shattered realms.

    He felt that as the crimson de light shed through the void, the void seemed to be ripped open.

    By the time he came back to reality, the meteor he had targeted, which was many timesrger than any ancient starship, had already been cut in half, revealing dazzling golden minerals in the middle.

    ¡°Golden Obsidian!¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce eximed, her expression flickering.

    Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion also gasped, and fixed Nie Tian with a stare, as if he were some sort of monster.

    Golden Obsidian, a seventh level Premium grade spiritual material, was extremely solid, and a perfect material to forge advanced spiritual tools and ancient starships.

    That meteor contained Golden Obsidian, yet Nie Tian had managed to slice it effortlessly with that wondrous bone.

    Secondster, Ye Wenhan turned to the crowd and said with a very unusual tone, ¡°It seems to me that, in this form, Nie Tian can even split a Saint domain cultivator¡¯s domain with a move like that. I¡¯m afraid he already has the ability to contend against middle or evente Saint domain cultivators.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit let out a derisive snort. ¡°Saint domain?¡±

    Then, he took a step forward for Ye Wenhan to notice him and said, ¡°Before you got here, Grand Monarch Dark Nether cast his bloodline magic, the Great Quietus Of Soul, and almost burned all of our souls away. It was Nie Tian who broke it with the same move, in this very form!¡±

    The four God domain experts burst into a mor.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether came here?¡±

    ¡°A grand monarch?! Didn¡¯t they say it was a few ninth grade grand patriarchs?¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    ording to the information they had obtained, several Phantasm experts had nned to take a trip to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to retake their Spirit Pearl and avenge Grand Patriarch Evil Phantom, Kleist.

    They had been told that it was going to be several Phantasm grand patriarchs.

    Who would have thought that their information wasn¡¯t urate?

    It was actually the tenth grade Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who Ji Yuanquan had fought in the Domain of Nether Heaven, that had led the operation!

    ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether! I can¡¯t believe it was him!¡± An exmation escaped Ji Yuanquan¡¯s mouth. ¡°I¡¯ve fought him before, and I¡¯m well-aware of his might! Back when I fought him in the Domain of Nether Heaven, and he cast the Great Quietus Of Soul, I had to shrink into differentyers of space in order to avoid having my soul annihted!¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s chilling gaze pierced towards Nie Tian like an ice sword. ¡°What on earth did Nie Tian experience over the past six months?¡±

    At this moment, as a thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, the five evil gods flew back into the Spirit Pearl.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl then floated towards Nie Tian¡¯s head and stopped in a ce right between his eyebrows.

    In his erged form, Nie Tian was a hundred meters tall, and clutching the crimson bone like a spear. The Spirit Pearl looked like a small mole between his eyebrows.

    However small it might seem, when it was between his eyebrows, it allowed Nie Tian to draw power from this Phantasm treasure more effectively.

    He made an attempt to borrow the five evil gods¡¯ power.

    Immediately afterwards, his pupils flickered between different colors as they seemed to turn into some peculiar abysses.

    The abysses brimmed with hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust!

    Sensing Yu Suying¡¯s gaze, he subconsciously turned to look her in the eyes.

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    The God domain sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce screamed uncontrobly.

    She covered her eyes, as if she were having a breakdown. Countless rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light hovered around her, as if she were prepared to kill everyone in sight to vent her negative emotions.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed in shock.

    Realizing what was happening, Nie Tian hastily ended his soul connection to the Spirit Pearl and drove the five evil gods¡¯ power out of his pupils.

    ¡°Sectmaster Yu!¡±

    ¡°Calm down!¡±

    Mo Qianfan and Ye Wenhan released waves of soul power simultaneously in an attempt to cleanse and calm Yu Suying¡¯s mind with their ice-cold divine will, so that she would regain sanity.

    ¡°Cancel.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian canceled Life Blend, ending the profound connection between him and the bone.

    He didn¡¯t have to burn his Blood Essence to provide the bone with his flesh power anymore.

    His Life Strengthening bloodline talent ended as well.

    Surprisingly, his body started to experience changes. His surging blood was the first to shrink and condense. Then, it was his internal organs, bones, and meridians.

    WHOOSH!

    In seconds, he shrank down from being a hundred meters tall, and returned to his true form.

    However, he didn¡¯t feel any difort. It was just that the flesh power flowing through his internal organs, meridians, and bones became less torrential than before.

    Naturally, his consumption decreased steeply because of this.

    ¡°Blood Condensing, thest phase of Heavenly Wood Heal, seems to be thest piece of the puzzle that finally activated this erged form for me. Together with Life Blend, Life Strengthening, and my other bloodline talents, the recent transformation and refinement of my blood caused this wondrous change to my body, which is simr to the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form and the Bonebrutes¡¯ Impregnable Form.¡±

    His flesh power consumption would be off the charts when he was in this form.

    However, on the bright side, his battle prowess would rise to a level he hadn¡¯t imagined possible after Life Blend helped establish a profound connection between him and the Star Behemoth bone.

    This would allow him to contend against ninth grade grand patriarchs, or even early tenth grade grand monarchs for a short time.

    The only problem was that he couldn¡¯t remain in this form for long.

    That was because now, after he returned to his true form, he examined himself carefully, and discovered that he had consumed about eighty percent of the flesh power within his internal organs, meridians, bones, and blood within such a short time.

    Due to the activation of Blood Essence Seething, he had also lost fifty of the three hundred drops of Blood Essence he had gone to great lengths to condense.

    All he had done was enter his erged form and swing that bone twice, first to break the Great Quietus Of Soul, and then to cut up a meteor.

    ¡°The consumption is simply too great. Given my current strength, I must use it with caution. It¡¯s an unconventional weapon!¡± He thought to himself, heart-aching over the power he had lost.

 Chapter 1317: Unparalleled Battle Record

    Nie Tian had consumed a significant amount of flesh power for his bloodline to break through into the eighth grade and to initiate the fifth phase of Heavenly Wood Heal, Blood Condensing. Before this battle, he had condensed three hundred drops of Blood Essence with the tremendous amount of outsider and Ancientbeast corpses Dong Li and Jing Feiyang had brought to him.

    After prolonged, devoted cultivation, he had eventually finished Blood Condensing.

    His body was also further strengthened.

    However, he was still far from obtaining enough flesh power for his bloodline to advance to the ninth grade.

    During this time, he had drained close to thirty ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses.

    The amount of eighth grade ones he had consumed was even greater.

    Part of this immense flesh power had been used to practice Heavenly Wood Heal and refine Blood Essence, while another portion had been reserved in his bones, internal organs, and blood.

    However, he had consumed as much as eighty percent of his reserved flesh power, along with fifty drops of Blood Essence, in this most recent battle!

    Such consumption was simply too great. If he hadn¡¯t faced a Phantasm grand monarch, he wouldn¡¯t have entered his erged form at such a heavy cost.

    WHOOSH!

    As he made a grabbing motion in the air, the Spirit Pearl flew into his palm.

    Hemunicated with its soul once again.

    Numerous fragmentary magical symbols were flickering with mysterious light within the isted heaven and earth inside the Spirit Pearl, as if to solidify it from within.

    Meanwhile, the magical symbols would explode from time to time to fuse into the five evil gods.

    The five evil gods simply rested in silence in their own regions. Even though they seemed to be slumbering, they actively absorbed the magical symbols, as if they were tracing lost memories through them...

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ording to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, it didn¡¯t know the origin of the five evil gods either.

    It only knew that when the other two Spirit Pearls had exploded, part of their power and the ancient imprints within them had fused into this one.

    Therefore, in a sense, the three of them had be one.

    After the fusion, the wondrous cyan heaven and earth inside the Spirit Pearl had experienced subtle changes, allowing the five evil gods to gain power from it that would help them grow and awaken their memories.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul also told him that the battle prowess of the five evil gods, which had experienced a series of transformations and developed fleshly bodies after receiving his Blood Essence and arge number of discarnate souls, had improved significantly.

    Even though they hadn¡¯t awakened any peculiar evil magics, they were strong enough to contend against Saint domain experts with nothing but their fleshly bodies now.

    ¡°If it can contend against Saint domain experts, it can fight outsider grand patriarchs!¡±

    The information he received from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul greatly lifted Nie Tian¡¯s spirits. Furthermore, ording to it, the five evil gods were attempting to awaken some sort of lost power.

    If they managed to do so, each of them would possess battle prowess equal to that of a ninth grade grand patriarch, if not higher!

    Each and every one of them would be able to handle an outsider grand patriarch or Saint domain human expert alone!

    ¡°Such strong helpers will definitely give me an edge in my future battles against formidable foes.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. However, he also decided that he wouldn¡¯t activate his erged form and connect himself to the Star Behemoth bone through Life Blend to fully stimte his potential if it wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary, even though that would push his battle prowess to the limit.

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce finally recovered from the state where she had almost lost control of herself.

    With her sharp eyes, she shot Nie Tian a nasty nce, and eximed angrily, ¡°Nie Tian! Can¡¯t you tell friends from foes?!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°My apologies, Senior Yu. I didn¡¯t mean it.¡±

    Then, he flew towards the floating meteor where Master Blood Spirit, Li Langfeng, and Hua Mu were standing.

    Seeing that he had returned to his true form, Dong Li told the ck tortoise to do the same and return to her as well.

    Ye Wenhan looked up at the Star Behemoth bone that was floating over Nie Tian and moving along with him as he stepped through the void.

    ¡°Such intense flesh power,¡± he said. ¡°It seems to me that that bone has already be as mighty as an Immortal grade divine tool.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°An Immortal grade divine tool?¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Of course, that¡¯s how we humans would grade it. But yes, the power it contains and the might it manifests when you wield it tells me that it can be viewed as an Immortal grade divine tool now!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a broadugh. ¡°Who would have thought that I¡¯d have an Immortal grade divine tool of my own?¡±

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression grewplicated as he continued, ¡°Not just that, but that pearl from the Phantasms seems to be an Immortal grade divine tool as well!¡±

    Nie Tian was astonished.

    ¡°Plus, the me Dragon Armor seems to be getting more and more powerful since you obtained it,¡± Ye Wenhan added. ¡°Spiritual tools like the me Dragon Armor normally don¡¯t have room to improve. However, you¡¯re full of wonders. The way I see it, even though that suit of armor is quite mighty as it is, it¡¯s only a matter of time before it too reaches the Immortal grade.¡±

    Hua Mu gasped with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Are you saying that that bone, the Spirit Pearl, and the me Dragon Armor are all divine tools?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°I suppose so, but that¡¯s how webel them. Outsiders and Ancientspirits have their own tool-grading systems. No matter how we ssify them, the tools at the highest grades are usually equally powerful. Those three tools of yours are all at the highest grades, and have unlimited potential.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned and thought to himself, ¡°The me Dragon Armor, the Star Behemoth, and the Spirit Pearl...¡±

    Slowly, the group of peoplended on the meteor where the teleportation portal had exploded.

    As Ji Yuanquan lifted his hand, mysterious spatial power surged within his palm, soon forming aplicated imprint, as if he were scanning the shattered teleportation portal.

    Then, stones and materials that contained spatial power flew into the remains of the teleportation portal one after another.

    It wasn¡¯t long before a brand new, functioning teleportation portal was built by Ji Yuanquan.

    Only after he was finished did he exin, ¡°The power of the Wheel of Time and Space shattered this teleportation portal.

    ¡°The Wheel of Time and Space is a wondrous treasure of the Phantasms. It¡¯s also a unique space maniption divine tool. It can generate spatial tunnels, allowing the Phantasms to travel from one domain to another. Many of the teleportation portals the outsiders left in our domains, which connect to their domains, were created with the help of the Wheel of Time and Space.

    ¡°It¡¯s also the reason why even though I knew the Phantasms wereing after you, I wasn¡¯t able to get here in time to fight them.

    ¡°That spatial tool can freeze space in arge area. Even I couldn¡¯t break its space-freezing spell and teleport here.

    ¡°Of course, if our sectmaster wanted to break its spell, he could do it easily with the help of his Void Mirror. Unfortunately, our sectmaster was unavable.

    ¡°Oh, right. If Miss Pei and her Space Boundaries Crystal continue to get stronger, she might be able to break the space-freezing spell of the Wheel of Time and Space too.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan took his time to exin why he hadn¡¯t been able to arrive in time to help him.

    With knitted brows, Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion let out a sigh and said, ¡°This crisis with the Phantasms hase to an end, for now. However, you¡¯ve made lots of enemies.¡±

    ¡°What now?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The Demons...¡± Ye Wenhan said with all seriousness. ¡°Since all of our peak experts have disappeared together, the outsiders have grown restless. It¡¯s said that some Demons are preparing to invade your domains to settle ounts with you. Another reason is because...¡±

    He turned to look at Dong Li.

    Dong Li understood what he meant. ¡°They want to take their dark stone back?¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°Yeah. Since Mo Heng is missing, and we haven¡¯t heard from Ji Cang for a very long time, the Demons see this as an opportunity. As you know, while we have to go through the Dead Star Sea to reach the outsiders¡¯ heaven and earth, they cane to ours through the teleportation portals they left here long ago.¡±

    Hua Mu jumped in and said, ¡°Qiqi already eliminated the teleportation portals that connect your domains to the outsider world.¡±

    ¡°Even so, they can enter your domains from nearby domains,¡± Ye Wenhan said.

    Hua Mu¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s cross that bridge when wee to it. The Phantasms failed, didn¡¯t they, even with the help of the Wheel of Time and Space? I don¡¯t think the Demons can get more grand monarchs to join their operation. Even if they did, we might not necessarily lose.¡±

    By putting himself in an overloaded state and consuming a significant amount of his Blood Essence, he had managed to fight Grand Monarch Dark Nether briefly. This had allowed his self-confidence to rise to an unprecedented level.

    ¡°The strengthening and upgrading of my bloodline and tools rely on outsider corpses. The stronger they are, the more helpful they¡¯ll be!¡± Nie Tian said arrogantly. ¡°I even have a feeling that I should go hunt outsiders in their heaven and earth!¡±

    The four God domain experts fell silent after hearing this.

    All of them had a deep feeling that this battle had changed Nie Tian.

    Being able to fight Grand Monarch Dark Nether head-on had given him great confidence, as if he had experienced some sort of transformation and didn¡¯t know fear anymore, no matter how powerful his enemy might be.

    Even grand monarchs and God domain experts wouldn¡¯t intimidate him anymore.

    ¡°This is another name-making battle,¡± Yu Suying said in a low voice.

    Ye Wenhan shuddered slightly and said to Nie Tian, ¡°If word spreads, and people learn that you survived a head-on battle against Grand Monarch Dark Nether in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven...¡±

    Only after a ten-second pause did he brace himself to continue, ¡°This is even more shocking and unbelievable than your grand elder Mo Heng surviving his battle against Grand Monarch Primal Demon!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan, Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, Master Blood Spirit, and the others all gasped after taking a moment to mull his words over.

    Ye Wenhan was right.

    Mo Heng had first defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust, and then survived his battle against Grand Monarch Primal Demon. Both battles had taken ce immediately after he had entered the middle God domain.

    This incredible achievement had attracted worldwide attention, raised every human expert¡¯s eyebrows, and saved the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s plunging reputation.

    What about Nie Tian?

    He had only broken through into the Void domain recently, and his bloodline was only at the eighth grade. However, he had managed to survive a head-on battle against Grand Monarch Dark Nether, whose strength was many levels higher than his.

    This was a battle record humanity¡¯s history had never seen!

 Chapter 1318: Youâ€™re Not Qualified To Talk To Me!

    In the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Ling Bingyun and the others of the Ice Soul Divine Sect had waited in the stone building that the Golden Vast Sect had arranged for them for quite a long time now.

    Han Qiong could not help asking Qu Mingde several times for information about Nie Tian.

    But Qu Mingde just gave him the same answer ¡ª Nie Tian hadn¡¯t returned.

    In the Realm of Maelstrom, Ling Bingyun would still asionally get bad news from the Domain of Green Wood.

    Because of Gupi¡¯s rampage, people had been plunged into misery and suffering. The realms there werepletely enveloped in its miasma. Many experts and countless sects and forces had disappeared.

    Recently, there had also been disciples of her secting to the Realm of Maelstrom to inform her that their disciples had started to panic.

    ¡°Sectmaster, many of our disciples are so nervous that they want to leave our sect and evacuate from the Domain of Frigid Frost,¡± Kong Shuangjing said with a troubled expression, ¡°They all feel that after Gupi wipes out the Domain of Green Wood, it¡¯s very likely that it will enter the Domain of Frigid Frost.¡±

    Han Qiong wore a bitter face. ¡°They think we can¡¯t fight Gupi with our own strength.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Domain of Green Wood isn¡¯t the only domain that Gupi has visited. The foundations of the other domains weren¡¯t any weaker than that of ours, and they also had many sects with multiple Saint domain experts. However, what happened to them after Gupi showed up?¡±

    Both of them sighed.

    Ling Bingyun wore a cold face, feeling very stifled. ¡°I did what you asked of me, pocketing my pride anding to the Realm of Maelstrom to apologize to Nie Tian. What can I do when he hasn¡¯t returned? If those disciples who are terrified and nervous want to leave our sect, there¡¯s nothing I can do to stop them.¡±

    ¡°Why does Nie Tian have to go into secluded cultivation at this time?¡± Kong Shuangjing said irritably.

    Ling Bingyun snorted. ¡°Who knows?¡±

    Suddenly, there was a loud noise outside.

    ¡°There¡¯s news about Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°It seems that our master was attacked by Phantasms in Domain of Forbidden Heaven!¡±

    ¡°Ji Yuanquan rushed to the Realm of Maelstrom with Ye Wenhan, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan. It seemed he wanted to use his spatial magics to enter the Domain of Forbidden Heaven as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said that several grand Phantasm patriarchs went after Nie Tian!¡±

    The three people of the Ice Soul Divine Sect, as well as Zhang Qiling of the Heavenly Spirit Sect and arge number of Saint domain visitors, all walked out of stone buildings, pces, and quietpounds.

    These people floated in midair. Their eyes could see things thousands of kilometers away. When their soul awareness spread, it could cover the whole Realm of Maelstrom.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    It felt like there was an invisible wind sweeping across the Realm of Maelstrom. Many disciples with low cultivation bases from the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect had a strange feeling that they were being peeped on.

    Many of those who were talking also felt cold or burning sensations, or an aura brushing against them quietly.

    Soon, they understood that these sensations came from experts who practiced incantations of different attributes, and were at least at the Saint domain.

    Across the vast emptynd, Zhang Qiling noticed Ling Bingyun in another stone building, and looked surprised. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you left yet? The Domain of Frigid Frost is very likely to be Gupi¡¯s next target, but you seem rather calm about it for staying this long in the Realm of Maelstrom with your two most powerful sect elders. Hehe.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you still here too?¡± Ling Bingyun asked indifferently.

    Zhang Qiling chuckled and said, ¡°You and I want different things. And I have plenty of time to wait.

    ¡°My domain is far from where Gupi is, so I¡¯m not very worried. I¡¯m just waiting here because I want to establish a good rtionship with Nie Tian, and prepare for my future breakthrough into the God domain.

    ¡°But you...¡± Zhang Qiling didn¡¯t finish the sentence.

    Ling Bingyun didn¡¯t look very well.

    She no longer answered Zhang Qiling. With her soul awareness, she listened to the conversations of the disciples and sect elders of the Divine Seal Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, and the Golden Vast Sect. She learned that Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan hade in a hurry to get Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, torn open a spatial rift, and then disappeared.

    Ling Bingyun had gained a good deal of information from their conversations.

    ¡°Several grand patriarchs of the Phantasms joined up to deal with him in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. They even used a weapon named the Wheel of Time and Space...¡± she said to herself quietly as she frowned privately.

    Many disciples of the three forces attached to Nie Tian were still discussing the event.

    ¡°Our young master should be all right, four God domain experts have gone to him through a spatial rift.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Several grand Phantasm patriarchs have joined hands. I hope they arrive in time.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really worried.¡±

    Time ticked by.

    Elsewhere, Duan Shihu, Jing Rou, Jing Feiyang, and the others from the Divine Seal Sect were also very worried. They had received a message that the teleportation portal connecting to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven had stopped working.

    Momentster.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Outside the Realm of Maelstrom, a spatial rift was torn apart. Nie Tian, Ye Wenhan, Master Blood Spirit, Dong Li, and the others walked out of it one after another.

    ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡± Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, Qu Mingde, and the others who had been anxiously waiting for Nie Tian and had long since tied their future to him suddenly shouted in shock, as did Xie Qian, who hade immediately after hearing what had happened.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian and the others walked out of the spatial rift that Ji Yuanquan had created and flew towards the waiting crowds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness spread, and he was greatly surprised when it returned to him. ¡°Why are there so many Saint domain experts in the small Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    Narrowing his eyes, he looked into the sky and found many acquaintances.

    Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, Fu Yusen, Yan Bin, and Gou Junhao, as well as Ling Bingyun of the Ice Soul Divine Sect...

    These people had either witnessed him destroy the Realm of Jade Billows and fight Song Chequan in the Domain of Jade Heaven, or seen him seal Gupi¡¯s poisonous miasma with the Illusory Ancient Talismans in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    They were all famous Saint domain experts or sectmasters, or the masters of strong ns in the human world, with prominent positions.

    ¡°Ling Bingyun of the Ice Soul Divine Sect!¡±

    Suddenly, his expression became strange, and his eyesnded on the three people from the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    He summoned his Star Boat, jumped onboard, and then flew straight to the three of them.

    Many Saint domain experts who had a bad rtionship with the Ice Soul Divine Sect and disliked Ling Bingyun quietly gathered and made sarcastic remarks in low voices.

    ¡°Hehe! When they were in the Domain of Primal Yang, Ling Bingyun of the Ice Soul Divine Sect arrogantly offended Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect her toe to the Realm of Maelstrom.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it because the Domain of Frigid Frost and the Ice Soul Divine Sect will be Gupi¡¯s next targets?¡±

    Face cold, Han Qiong snorted as he watched some of the whispering people approaching.

    Nie Tian drove the Star Boat to slowlye into the sky over the Golden Vast Sect¡¯s territory, cast a nce at the three of them, and said with an unhappy face, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Sectmaster Ling? I remember when I was in the Domain of Primal Yang, Sectmaster Ling tried to test my strength in a domineering manner, and didn¡¯t give me any face.

    ¡°The Realm of Maelstrom is my turf. I¡¯m greatly honored by your gracious presence.¡±

    Ling Bingyun¡¯s face froze.

    Originally, she had wanted to apologize after meeting Nie Tian in a private ce.

    The situation she had expected was absolutely nothing like this, where she was being stared at by people who were hostile to her or had conflicts with her.

    ¡°I...¡± She opened her mouth, but couldn¡¯t find the right words, and didn¡¯t know how to break the ice.

    Kong Shuangjing smiled guiltily and said awkwardly, ¡°Nie Tian, our sect...¡±

    Nie Tian snorted and red at Kong Shuangjing. ¡°You aren¡¯t qualified to talk to me!¡±

    At the same time, he instantly borrowed the power of the five evil gods in the Spirit Pearl.

    The two kinds of power he borrowed were fear and despair.

    His eyes suddenly became as inscrutable and dark as the endless abyss. All of a sudden, the negative power of fear and despair hit Kong Shuangjing like a boundless, deep ocean.

    After being scolded by him, this elder of the Ice Soul Divine Sect who was at thete Saint domain snorted and met his eyes for a moment.

    Kong Shuangjing entered a daze. A few secondster, she suddenly cried out.

    Her face and eyes were filled with fear and despair, and her old body trembled.

    In her eyes, Nie Tian seemed to no longer be a person, but a horrifying, monstrous god rising from the abyss.

 Chapter 1319: Ice Soul Divine Daughter Bows Her Head

    Kong Shuangjing, who faced Nie Tian, broke down emotionally and cried out involuntarily, her face full of fear and despair.

    This Saint domain expert¡¯s good demeanor vanished!

    It seemed that Nie Tian¡¯s figure had turned into two evil gods of fear and despair that left a deep mark that could never be erased in the depths of her heart.

    ¡°Humph!¡± Nie Tian snorted, and instead of looking at Kong Shuangjing, he stared at Ling Bingyun.

    His eyes, which were dark as an abyss, had the power of the evil gods. In Ling Bingyun¡¯s eyes, his eyes were trying to drag her mind into them, like mysterious mas.

    ¡°Ice Crystallization!¡±

    Ling Bingyun cast a soul magic as her eyes emitted bright light, like cold crystals.

    Unfortunately, the negative emotions that the power of his two evil gods of fear and despair gathered could not be blocked by soul magics.

    Suppressing such negative emotions required more willpower than soul power.

    ¡°Ah!¡± The Ice Soul Divine Daughter, who had a transcendent identity and was adored by many peers in thest generation, didn¡¯t do much better than Kong Shuangjing, and suddenly shrieked.

    Seeing the two visitors from the Ice Soul Divine Sect behave disgracefully after Nie Tian gave them nothing more than a look, the onlookers felt puzzled.

    They didn¡¯t know what had happened.

    Only Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce, who had suffered from the same thing, understood what they were going through.

    ¡°Even I lost my senses after meeting Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, much less you...¡± Yu Suyingughed coldly from the bottom of her heart.

    She was at the God domain, but Ling Bingyun and Kong Shuangjing were only at thete Saint domain. If they could easily rid themselves of the influence, wouldn¡¯t it mean she was ipetent?

    Han Qiong, who felt that something was wrong, let out a scream before hurrying to say, ¡°Nie Tian! We came from the Domain of Frigid Frost and we¡¯ve been waiting here to apologize to you for what happened in the Domain of Primal Yang. Our sectmaster has acknowledged her mistake. Please forgive us.¡±

    Ling Bingyun and Kong Shuangjing were both at the Saint domain. Nie Tian just gave them a look, but they ended up like this. Wouldn¡¯t Han Qiong, with the same cultivation base, end up the same way if Nie Tian also gave him a look?

    Moreover, standing behind Nie Tian now were Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Mo Qianfan, and Yu Suying, who were all at the God domain.

    Every one of them was strong enough to suppress the Ice Soul Divine Sect.

    However, that wasn¡¯t all of Nie Tian¡¯s strength.

    Chu Rui, Zu Guangyao, who had recently entered the God domain, and many elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were Nie Tian¡¯s powerful backers.

    What could the Ice Soul Divine Sect rely on to fight against Nie Tian?

    As long as Gupi remained, and as long as Nie Tian was alive, they all had to surrender, praying that he would not hold a grudge and go to the Domain of Frigid Frost to hold Ling Bingyun responsible.

    As for now...

    Han Qiong lowered his head in a modest manner, apologized repeatedly, and carefully admitted their mistakes.

    Unconsciously, Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying, who were at the God domain, moved towards Ling Bingyun, ready to suppress them directly if they lost all control.

    ¡°Forget it.¡±

    Nie Tian waved his hand, and the power of the evil gods of fear and despair gradually dissipated.

    Ling Bingyun and Kong Shuangjing, who had almost copsed, didn¡¯t take any drastic actions because they hadn¡¯t been affected by hatred, rage, or bloodlust.

    When Nie Tian dissipated his strength, the two of them went nk briefly, then finally regained consciousness.

    Kong Shuangjing, who was ashamed, eximed angrily, ¡°Nie...¡±

    ¡°Enough!¡± Ling Bingyun said coldly, interrupting her. Suddenly, she bowed gently to Nie Tian and said, ¡°I was too abrupt, and shouldn¡¯t have provoked you in the Domain of Primal Yang. That was my personal action. Now, I apologize to you and hope you can forgive me.¡±

    She was finally scared.

    How old was Nie Tian?

    No matter what evil magic or evil tool he used, a single nce could make her fear, despair, and emotionally break down. How scary was that?!

    Hearing the news that Nie Tian had killed many Saint domain experts, badly hurt Song Chequan, and destroyed the Realm of Jade Billows in the Domain of Jade Heaven, she had already determined that their Ice Soul Divine Sect couldn¡¯t fight Nie Tian, and had to admit their mistakes.

    ¡°Mmm.¡± Nie Tian nodded slowly and said, ¡°As long as you know you were wrong.¡±

    Then, ignoring Ling Bingyun and the others, he flew straight in the direction of the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s territory.

    Those who had enmity towards Ling Bingyun taunted her without a word of praise.

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect this...¡±

    ¡°The arrogant Ice Soul Divine Daughter Ling Bingyun, apologizing to a young man.¡±

    ¡°Haha, times have changed. Nie Tian didn¡¯t take her as a beauty, so he naturally didn¡¯t care about her feelings.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s too old in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing was enraged. ¡°You...¡±

    Because Nie Tian had left, Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying had also walked away without a word.

    Ji Yuanquan wasn¡¯t on friendly terms with the Ice Soul Divine Sect, so he also turned around and left.

    Only Ye Wenhan of the Heaven Span Pavilion, who had been friends with Ling Bingyun¡¯s master, thought for a while, then approached Ling Bingyun after Nie Tian and the others were far away.

    Ling Bingyun saluted him. ¡°Senior Ye...¡±

    Ye Wenhan and her master were from the same generation. Although she had outstanding talent, and managed to reach thete Saint domain and take charge of Ice Soul Divine Sect in a short time, she was respectful to Ye Wenhan because he had once helped the Ice Soul Divine Sect, and didn¡¯t dare to look down on him because he had been stuck at the early God domain.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to see here, everyone,¡± Ye Wenhan said.

    Afraid of his status, the Saint domain experts who had flocked here to have a goodugh at her obediently retreated.

    When they were alone, Ye Wenhan said, ¡°It¡¯s a big step to recognize your mistakes early and apologize in person. But let me make it clear. It was only due to your apology just now that your Ice Soul Divine Sect escaped Nie Tian¡¯s revenge. Otherwise...¡±

    Ling Bingyun nodded. ¡°I know I was wrong.¡±

    Ye Wenhan sighed. ¡°Why did you provoke him of all people? You may not know it, but a while back, in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, he was actually able to withstand an attack from Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms, which was a magic of bloodline and soul, with his full fighting strength.¡±

    Ling Bingyun, Kong Shuangjing, and Han Qiong all paled. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Has Nie Tian been so strong? How is that possible!?¡± Kong Shuangjing didn¡¯t dare to believe it.

    ¡°It¡¯s understandable that you don¡¯t believe it,¡± Ye Wenhan said with a wry smile. ¡°Even I didn¡¯t dare to believe it. But it is true! Before we arrived, Nie Tian¡¯s might and the fluctuations of the battle proved that it was him who fought Grand Monarch Dark Nether!¡±

    Ling Bingyun¡¯s jaw dropped.

    ¡°If you didn¡¯t apologize, and Nie Tian didn¡¯t forgive you, even I couldn¡¯t have done anything to help you.¡± Ye Wenhan gave them a deep look and said, ¡°I know why you¡¯re here. As for Gupi, I¡¯ll try my best, but I can¡¯t guarantee that Nie Tian will agree.¡±

    Kong Shuangjing and Han Qiong bowed and saluted. ¡°Thank you!¡±

    In the vast pce of the Divine Seal Sect.

    Hearing the news, Jing Rou couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°What?! It was actually Grand Monarch Dark Nether who took the lead to enter the Domain of Forbidden Heaven?¡±

    Xie Qian, Jing Feiyang, Quan Zixuan, and the other loyal Saint domain experts were all dumbstruck.

    In the Domain of Jade Heaven, Nie Tian had been able to fight Song Chequan by relying on the weird maic field, which had first been formed by the foreign powers channeled by You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    They had seen it with their own eyes, so they knew that the power hadn¡¯t belonged to Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian had then been able to fight Grand Monarch Dark Nether in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven without using that violent maic field. This really surprised them.

 Chapter 1320: Turning Realms

    Both Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates and friends started to feel they couldn¡¯t see through him, as if he was full of mysteries.

    ¡°Gupi...¡± Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society brought up the topic while the atmosphere was heated.

    The morous hall suddenly fell silent.

    Looking somewhat embarrassed, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t want to put a damper on things. However, Gupi is like a fish bone stuck in our throats. It¡¯s a great threat to humanity. If we can¡¯t take care of it soon, I¡¯m afraid that riots might even break out in our domains.¡±

    Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Xie Qian, and the other experts remained silent, looking deeply worried.

    Even though their realms hadn¡¯t been ravaged by Gupi, who could tell what would happen in the future?

    What would they do if Gupiid its murderous hands on their realms one day?

    Someone or some force had to step up and stop it from doing whatever it wanted, and guing one domain after another.

    WHOOSH!

    Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion stepped into the meeting hall, and was surprised to see that everyone was silent.

    ¡°We were discussing Gupi,¡± Ji Yuanquan exined.

    Suddenly enlightened, Ye Wenhan turned to Nie Tian and said explicitly, ¡°As you know, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and our sect¡¯s strongest experts are all away at the moment. We tried to stop Gupi with various spiritual incantations and tools. However, nothing really worked. We couldn¡¯t even eliminate the toxic miasma it released.

    ¡°Also, if we had a solution, we wouldn¡¯t have paid such close attention to you and the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°And we wouldn¡¯t have learned that the Phantasms were nning to sneak into the Domain of Forbidden Heaven to seek trouble with you so fast.

    ¡°We¡¯re truly at our wits¡¯ end now, Nie Tian. That mysterious talisman of yours and your master¡¯s time power are the only two things we know that will work on Gupi.¡±

    They had expressed their attitude perfectly clearly, which was that they hoped that Nie Tian would contain Gupi and stop it from guing humanity, or find a way to get in contact with his master, Wu Ji.

    In fact, they had already paid a substantial price for him to do this.

    All of the ninth grade Ancientbeast and outsider corpses Jing Feiyang had brought him hade from them. They had also promised that as long as Nie Tian agreed to take care of Gupi, they would find ways to persuade their elders to let them scoop more of those items out of their sect vaults to give to him.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while before leveling his gaze and saying with a frown, ¡°You¡¯ve made yourselves perfectly clear. I fully understand.¡±

    ¡°However, I can¡¯t give you an answer now. Given my current strength, I don¡¯t know if I can seal Gupi. I need some time to learn more about its abilities and myself. Would you go find your sect¡¯s records about Gupi for me, the more detailed the better.¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Without dy, Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the few Saint domain elders of the Five Elements Sect exited the hall, leaving only Nie Tian¡¯s forces in the hall.

    ¡°What do you say?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking at them.

    ¡°Gupi is far too dangerous. I think that since it hasn¡¯te for us, why should we go after it now?¡± Master Blood Spirit took the initiative to express his opinion. ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯te to our domains, we may want to leave it alone. It¡¯s better if you go after it when your cultivation base and bloodline reach a certain level, and you¡¯re confident in your ability to defeat it.¡±

    Jing Feiyang chimed in. ¡°I think he¡¯s right.¡±

    The others then took turns to weigh in.

    Nie Tian listened for a long while, and discovered that the majority of the experts from his subordinate domains advised against going after Gupi, at least for now, since the risks were simply too high.

    Xie Qian, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan, however, suggested that he might want to give the matter serious consideration, and try to frustrate its unscrupulous attacks on the condition that his own safety was guaranteed.

    Eventually, Nie Tian said, ¡°Let me take some time to think about it.¡±

    ¡°Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, and many other Saint domain experts are waiting to see you,¡± Qu Mingde said.

    ¡°Tell them that I¡¯m not seeing anyone now,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Qu Mingde, Quan Zixuan, and Jing Feiyang expressed that they understood.

    ...

    In the Domain of Green Woods.

    Like a thin veil, grayish green miasma enveloped a realm that had been exuberant and full of life.

    The realm¡¯s name was the Realm of Green Sea.

    As one of the most famous realms of the Domain of Green Woods, it was covered in dense forests and the weather was mild year-round, which had made it a blessednd for cultivators who practiced wood incantations.

    Now, after Gupi had gued it and left, it had be and of dead silence.

    Poisoned by Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma, the vegetation in the Realm of Green Sea started to mutate. Even the realm¡¯s structure started to change, gradually turning the Realm of Green Sea into an ideal ce for Fiends to live in.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift appeared out of nowhere under the effect of some spatial treasure.

    WHOOSH!

    A tall Fiend with green skin and emerald pupils flew through the spatial rift.

    The flesh power he exuded seemed to instantly form a harmonious rtionship with the toxic miasma in the Realm of Green Sea.

    As soon as he stepped on thisnd, millions of poisonous bugs flew out of his palm, along with innumerable toxic bacteria.

    They spread out and flew in every direction to either merge with the ground, fuse into the nts, or vanish into the sea.

    Their arrival elerated the mutation of the Realm of Green Sea.

    Then, a stream of Fiends arrived after him. Every one of them had excitement written all over their faces as they opened the bottles and cans they had brought with them to release even more poisonous things.

    A ninth grade Fiend chuckled cunningly and said, ¡°Grand monarch, this realm seems very suited to be turned into a ce where we can nourish our bloodlines, more so than the other realms we¡¯ve been to. It¡¯s hard to believe that thing is actually helping us expand our territory into the human domains.¡±

    The other Fiend also grew excited.

    Their leader was the middle tenth grade Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, whose status was second only to their high chieftain, Grand Monarch Dark Depths.

    The Domain-corroding mes had been forged by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler with essence from Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma and a variety of fatal toxins. It was designed to melt Void and Saint domain human cultivators¡¯ domains.

    Even among the Fiends, Gupi was considered a strange thing. Many feared it a great deal.

    Very few Fiends could earn its trust and acknowledgment too.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler was one of them, and the one it trusted the most.

    It was said that Grand Monarch Nether Channeler hade from an insignificant n. As a youngster, he had been nothing but a young member of his n with an unimpressive bloodline grade.

    However, one day, when he had been traveling in a toxic realm, he had encountered Gupi.

    Gupi hadn¡¯t evolved to be so terrifyingly powerful back then. That was when the young Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and Gupi had be involved.

    Their involvement had eventually made a grand monarch and a mighty strange existence.

    At first, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler had kept it as his pet, and traveled through the Fiend realms to find ces with rich toxic miasma, so it could grow stronger.

    It had served him well, and helped him defeat powerful opponents.

    However, as time had passed, Gupi had gradually grown to be as strong as him, perhaps even stronger in certain aspects. That was when their rtionship had changed.

    The two of them had gradually be equals and partners.

    Later, Gupi had left his side and be independent again. It had relied on itself to search Fiend realms for toxic miasma that would help it grow stronger.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler had gradually strengthened his bloodline, and eventually ascended to the peak to be a tenth grade grand monarch.

    During that time, he had encountered several major unforeseen events, and gone to seek Gupi¡¯s help. Its power had helped turn peril into safety. (Idiom: ward off disasters)

    Theirst contact had happened when the Fiends¡¯ defensive lines in the Dead Star Sea had been on the verge of being breached. It was him who had convinced Gupi to join their defenses and inflict heavy damage upon the humans.

    Humanity suffered heavy losses from that battle. Two God domain experts had perished.

    Meanwhile, Gupi had been trapped and sealed by the sectmaster of the Shadow Society with his secret shadow magics, before it had been taken away from the Dead Star Sea and vanished.

    Over the years, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler had repeatedly snuck into human domains in attempts to find Jiang Yuanchi and rescue Gupi, but failed. This had frustrated him.

    However, who would have thought that people would interrupt his cultivation in the Fiend realms and inform him of the shocking news: Gupi had possessed Jiang Yuanchi!

    Not just that, but it had nearly breached the defenses of the Realm of Fragmentary Star. Multiple human domains had been gued and encroached on by it.

    Therefore, aftermunication with the high chieftain, he had snuck over with a handful of ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t met it yet.¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s soul aura spread towards every corner of the Realm of Green Sea along with the poisonous insects and bacteria. ¡°Its source of power is all kinds of toxins and poisons. So it needs to engulf realms in its toxic miasma and turn them. It¡¯s sort of like cultivating realms...¡±

    Surprised, a grand patriarch asked, ¡°Cultivating realms?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler said. ¡°Not every human realm can be easily turned into blessednds for us. It only chooses realms that can be transformed within a short time. Once the transformation is finished and the concentration of the toxic miasma multiplied, it will return to gather toxins.¡±

    The grand patriarchs nodded slightly. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡±

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler chuckled softly and said, ¡°I, on the other hand, can help it elerate the transformation, so these realms will soon turn into ces that suit its needs, and at the same time, are helpful to our bloodline upgrades. So let¡¯s follow its footsteps and do what we can while the peak human experts are away and Jiang Yuanchi is under its control.¡±

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s face suddenly split into a hearty smile. ¡°I think it¡¯s sensed my presence.¡±

    ¡°So what do we do, Grand Monarch?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll stay here and make sure the things we¡¯ve brought from our n spread to every corner of the Realm of Green Sea, so that its transformation willplete quickly.¡±

    SHEW!

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler morphed into a streak of pale green light that shot out of this realm.

    An hourter, in a remote area in the Domain of Green Woods, he saw a dark gray shadow domain that emanated Gupi¡¯s soul fluctuations, which he was more familiar with than anyone.

    In Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s form, Gupi slowly revealed itself in the dark gray domain.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler knew it was Gupi as soon as he saw Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s empty eyes that were bereft of any human emotions. ¡°After you were sealed, I thought up every method to rescue you from the human domains. However, since that Jiang Yuanchi is at the middle God domain and hid his whereabouts well, I couldn¡¯t track him down.¡±

    ¡°You, follow my footsteps, and finish the transformation of those realms...¡± Gupi said in broken Fiendnguage.

    ¡°I¡¯m already doing that,¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler said.

    ¡°Two humans are threats to me,¡± Gupi then said. ¡°One practices time power. The other is called Nie Tian. He uses this special sealing spell, very mysterious. He could use it to seal my toxin essence. Find them and kill them. Don¡¯t let them affect me.¡±

 Chapter 1321: The Realm of Fire Spirit

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t go anywhere after returning to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    During this time, all kinds of books and scrolls that had records about Gupi were delivered from the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Nie Tian focused on learning everything he could about Gupi.

    At the same time, he learned that Zu Guangyao from his sect had finally stabilized his cultivation base and returned to the Realm of Fragmentary Star from the Domain of Jade Heaven as a God domain expert.

    Chu Rui was recovering as fast as he could with the help of the sect¡¯s rare treasures and the wondrous medicinal pills he had stocked up.

    Sons of the Stars, including Dou Tianchen, Wang Meijia, and Fang Yuan, rubbed their hands together as they gathered forces to start a new round of punitive expeditions to the rebellious domains.

    Due to Nie Tian¡¯s sharp rise and the loss of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce showed signs of revival.

    Earlier, all of its thirteen subordinate domains had risen up in rebellion.

    However, as Chu Rui recovered his strength and Zu Guangyao entered the God domain, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce didn¡¯t want to sit back anymore.

    Wei Lai also sent Kan Zhisheng to ask Nie Tian if he could join the punitive expeditions to those rebellious domains.

    However, after learning that Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the other experts hoped that he would deal with Gupi, he didn¡¯t insist on him joining them anymore.

    Inside a secret hall.

    Dong Li handed an ancient scroll to Nie Tian and said, ¡°This is from the Five Elements Sect.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± Nie Tian said, without reaching out to grab it. ¡°I¡¯ve read pretty much every record they have about Gupi. All they say is that it has a close connection to Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends. However, there isn¡¯t a single record about its weaknesses or how it appeared in the first ce in those books and scrolls.¡±

    ¡°So... any ideas?¡± Dong Li asked in a soft voice.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll take a short trip,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°That thing I used to seal Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma in the Realm of Fragmentary Star was an Illusory Ancient Talisman. I learned how to conjure it from a magicalnd where the me Dragon Armor took me. It¡¯s been a long time since Ist visited it. I n on going there again and seeing what I can find.¡±

    Taken aback, Dong Li asked, ¡°A ce that the me Dragon Armor connects to? Where? Is it a human realm?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head gently. ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±

    ¡°How will you go there?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll take a trip to the fire element sect of the Five Elements Sect first.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll arrange it for you.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

    ...

    A few dayster, in the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    The scorching hot realm was like an upgraded version of the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Volcanoes could be seen everywhere, along with clouds so red that they seemed to be zing.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian appeared in a teleportation portal that stood atop a crimson mountain peak that was more than three thousand meters high.

    Lou Hongyan, the Divine Daughter of the fire element sect, nodded slightly upon seeing him. ¡°You¡¯re here.¡±

    A number of others stood beside her. Among them, he saw Huang Jinnan and Hou Chn.

    However, he found the restpletely unfamiliar.

    One of them was a young man who was as burly as a mountain, but looked somewhat simple-minded. As Nie Tian examined him with his bloodline power, he was surprised to discover that he was at the middle Saint domain.

    He caught Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    ¡°Nie Tian, allow me to introduce you.¡± Huang Jinnanughed heartily and pointed at the young man. ¡°This is our senior martial brother and the Divine Son of the earth element sect, Pu Yangbai. He doesn¡¯t talk much, but he has a kind heart. He¡¯s super nice to all of us. The reason why you haven¡¯t met him until now is because he had been seeking breakthroughs in his cultivation in a remote area, and only came up recently.¡±

    Each of the five sub-sects of the Five Elements Sect had their own home realm, which were the Realm of Gold Spirit, the Realm of Fire Spirit, the Realm of Earth Spirit, the Realm of Water Spirit, and the Realm of Wood Spirit.

    They also each had a Divine Son or Divine Daughter.

    Pu Yangbai was the Divine Son of the earth element sect. His cultivation base was at the middle Saint domain, which was the highest among all of the Divine Sons and Daughters, including Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect.

    Pu Yangbai chuckled and said, ¡°Hi, I spent the past few years seeking breakthroughs in my cultivation, so I rarely came back. After I did, I heard all of my junior martial sisters and brothers talk about you all the time. The other day, I learned that you wereing to the Realm of Fire Spirit, so out of curiosity, I decided toe meet you in person.¡±

    ¡°Me too,¡± a much younger girl with a ponytail eximed, looking rather immature.

    ¡°This is our junior martial sister, the Divine Daughter of the water element sect, Lin Yaoyao. She¡¯s even younger than me.¡± Hou Chn exined in a soft voice. ¡°Yaoyao, this is Nie Tian, the man you¡¯ve been wanting to see.¡±

    ¡°I also decided toe see you after learning that you wereing here,¡± Lin Yaoyao said with a serious expression.

    Nie Tian took a quick look at her, and then realized that her cultivation base was at the early Void domain. However, she looked very young and naive, very much like a girl next door.

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you,¡± Nie Tian said. Then, he quickly turned to Lou Hongyan and said, ¡°I want to know where the me Dragon Armor was forged, and why the magicalnd its Blood Core connects to is so full of wonder.¡±

    A hesitant look appeared on Lou Hongyan¡¯s face.

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Nie Tian frowned.

    After a moment of hesitation, Lou Hongyan said, ¡°My master is away. The grandpa who¡¯s in charge of sect affairs has a bad temper and... he doesn¡¯t seem to like you. Grandpa Peng thinks that the me Dragon Armor is a treasure of our sect. We were already tolerant enough for letting you carry it long-term, yet you wanted toe here to ask about its secrets. He was rather unhappy about this.¡±

    ¡°That secret sealing magic I used on Gupi. I got it through the me Dragon Armor.¡± Nie Tian said.

    Lou Hongyan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°You want to learn those things so you can deal with Gupi?¡± Hou Chn asked with a grim expression.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Hou Chn pondered briefly before turning to Lou Hongyan and saying, ¡°I think you should send a message to notify Senior Peng. With your master away, he¡¯s the only one who can tell Nie Tian about the me Dragon Armor¡¯s secrets.¡±

    Lou Hongyan smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure if Grandpa Peng knows them. My master forged the me Dragon Armor for me. He didn¡¯t even tell me much about its secrets. Earlier, he only instructed me to tell Nie Tian that he¡¯d go find him one day and borrow the me Dragon Armor. I suppose that has something to do with its secrets.¡±

    ¡°Still, let¡¯s inform Elder Peng,¡± Hou Chn suggested.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Lou Hongyan took out a Sound Stone and sent a wisp of her soul will into it.

    A whileter...

    An old man with red hair, whose appearance alone suggested that he was hot-tempered, flew over in an imposing manner.

    Before even reaching the mountaintop, he called out in an deafening voice, ¡°Nie Tian, did you say that the secret sealing magic you used on Gupi came from the me Dragon Armor? If so, why don¡¯t you give it back to our Divine Daughter and tell her what you know? Our sect will take on the responsibility to seal that Gupi.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly.

    The old mannded with a loud boom. Eyes wide, he said aloud, ¡°What is it? The me Dragon Armor was our sect¡¯s treasure to begin with. The head of our sect forged it for his disciple. You already got to keep it for so many years and derive secret magics from it. Isn¡¯t that enough? How much longer do you intend to keep it before giving it back to us?¡±

    Everyone present felt awkward after hearing these words.

    After taking a moment to think, Nie Tian said, ¡°It¡¯s not just a spiritual tool anymore. Why don¡¯t we let it decide who it wants to be with?¡±

 Chapter 1322: Flame Dragon Agaz

    The me Dragon Armor flew out, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    It released raging mes as a strong flesh aura surged within its Blood Core. Under everyone¡¯s gazes, it rapidly morphed into a me dragon with flesh and blood.

    It was several hundred meters long and covered in crimson scales. Its huge ws looked like burning anchors. All of this gave it a fierce and dangerous look.

    Intense bloodline power flowed out of its enormous body like rivers of fire, stirring up the senses of many of those who practiced fire incantations in the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Many nearby volcanoes seemed to be activated by the me dragon¡¯s bloodline talent, and started erupting violently and spewing arge amount ofva and earthme.

    Peng Yan from the fire element sect, who hade here upon receiving Lou Hongyan¡¯s message, shouted in astonishment, ¡°Agaz!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streaks of ming light rapidly flew over from different parts of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Aftering to a stop, every one of them turned out to be an elder of the fire element sect. Male or female, they were all at the Saint domain. However, none of them had Peng Yan¡¯s seniority.

    ¡°Elders, you...¡± Lou Hongyan said, looking baffled.

    Peng Yan took a deep breath, the light of excitement filling his eyes. Staring unblinkingly at the me dragon that had transformed from the me Dragon Armor, he marveled in disbelief, ¡°Agaz! This is unbelievable!¡±

    The newly arrived elders of the fire element sect also couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s Agaz!¡±

    All of them were senior members of the fire element sect, and recognized that the me dragon was none other than the son of Baptista, the high chieftain of the me dragons: Agaz.

    As a teenager, Agaz had been a troublemaker. He had repeatedly barged into the human domains and started fires here and there. Eventually, his actions had attracted the fire element sect¡¯s attention.

    As a result, Agaz had been killed by powerful experts of the fire element sect.

    Peng Yan and all of the elders present had seen Agaz before. Several of them had even contributed to his death.

    They clearly remembered that after Agaz¡¯s death, his bones, blood, heart, and soul had all been harvested.

    It was based on them that Shao Tianyang had forged the me Dragon Armor to bestow upon his disciple Lou Hongyan to improve her battle prowess.

    Agaz hadn¡¯t been a mighty me dragon when he had been in. Shao Tianyang had only decided to do this because he had had the blood of Baptista, the high chieftain of the me dragon race, running through his veins.

    Baptista¡¯s bloodline had reached thete tenth grade!

    He was known as a mighty me dragon not only by the dragons, but by all Ancientspirits as well. More than once, he had led his people into the human heaven and earth to seek revenge with the Five Elements Sect.

    Fortunately, the Five Elements Sect had been protected by multiple God domain experts, and Shao Tianyang was at thete God domain. Only because of this they had been able to survive Baptista¡¯s mes of wrath.

    It was a fact that Agaz had died. However, he had nowe back to life... Not just that, but his heart had been fixed and his Bloodline Crystal Chains had been regenerated in such a short time...

    All of these elders, who knew what had happened to him, were bbergasted.

    Agaz twisted its crimson body in midair like an enormous streak of fiery light as it said in a thunderous voice in slightly awkward humannguage, ¡°He is my one and only master.¡±

    He said these words with his eyes dead fixed on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian smiled in satisfaction. ¡°Great.¡±

    Then, as he beckoned with his hand, Agaz¡¯s enormous body morphed into a streak of crimson light that rapidly shrank back into a suit of armor. ¡°As you saw for yourself, the very foundation of this suit of armor, Agaz the me dragon, was resurrected by me. In fact, it was almost damaged beyond repair when I first got it. It was me who fixed it.

    ¡°Not to mention that I didn¡¯t take it from your sect. Pang Chicheng got into trouble and lost it. After that, it changed hands several times, and eventually ended up in my possession.

    ¡°I paid a huge price for it.

    ¡°Plus, the head of your sect made it clear that he wouldn¡¯t demand it from me. Instead, he¡¯d only borrow it sometime in the future.¡±

    Nie Tian put the me Dragon Armor on and talked in front of the fire element sect elders, feeling secure in the knowledge that he had strong backing.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± Peng Yan¡¯s eyes were filled with the me of fury. ¡°It¡¯s all because of that traitor! If it weren¡¯t for him, our Divine Daughter would have advanced to the Saint domain long ago!¡±

    ¡°Hong Yan, your master really said that?¡± One of the elders asked.

    Lou Hongyan nodded slightly, looking downcast. ¡°Master did say that he didn¡¯t n on demanding the me Dragon Armor from Nie Tian, but he¡¯d borrow it someday.¡±

    Peng Yan gradually calmed down, pulling at his wild red hair as if pondering a solution.

    Nie Tian nced over the elders and asked, ¡°So how much do you know about the me Dragon Armor¡¯s wonders? With Senior Shao away, can any of you answer my questions?¡±

    RUUUUMBLE!

    All of a sudden, a volcano in the distance erupted violently, shaking heaven and earth.

    WHOOSH!

    Without Nie Tian¡¯s consent, the me Dragon Armor separated itself from Nie Tian and dashed towards the volcano like a streak of crimson mes.

    ¡°Something over there is stirring up my bloodline...¡± a soul message came through from Agaz.

    ¡°Nie Tian, what is that suit of armor, I mean Agaz, doing?¡± Lou Hongyan asked, looking baffled.

    ¡°Apparently, something inside that volcano is stirring up his bloodline,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    Peng Yan and all of the other elders of the fire element sect gasped after hearing these words.

    ¡°That mountain...¡±

    With a hesitant look in his eyes, one of the elders first took a look at Peng Yan, and then quickly turned to look at Lou Hongyan, as if he wanted to say something.

    Confused, Lou Hongyan asked, ¡°What?¡±

    Nie Tian was also confused as he said, ¡°I¡¯m going with it. Since it says something in that volcano is stirring up its bloodline, there must be something there.¡±

    Then, he flew off into the distance.

    Full of curiosity, Hou Chn and several other Divine Sons and Daughters flew after him.

    Momentster, those from the fire element sect were the only ones that remained on the mountaintop.

    ¡°Tell me. What is it?¡± Lou Hongyan asked.

    ¡°That volcano is where Pang Chicheng used to practice cultivation,¡± Peng Yan said, his expression grim. ¡°However, he betrayed our sect long ago, and didn¡¯t dare to evere back again. Plus, the me Dragon Armor was forged by the head of our sect many years after he ran away.¡±

    ¡°So what does that mean?¡± Lou Hongyan asked.

    ¡°Why is there something in that volcano that stirs up Agaz¡¯s bloodline...?¡± The more Peng Yan thought about it, the more he found it baffling. ¡°Even after he stole the me Dragon Armor from you, he never dared toe back to the Realm of Fire Spirit. If he never came back, how can there be something in there that can stir up Agaz¡¯s bloodline?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he dide back. It¡¯s just that we don¡¯t know about it.¡± One of the elders said.

    Peng Yan¡¯s expression flickered strongly as he shook his head repeatedly, refusing to believe the possibility that elder suggested. ¡°What?! No! That¡¯s impossible!¡±

    ¡°I think that could be it. Otherwise, how can we exin this? Anyways, let go take a look first.¡±

 Chapter 1323: A Secret of the Fire Element Sect

    The Realm of Fire Spirit was baking hot year-round.

    As the base of the fire element sect, it naturally had arge number of volcanoes. Surging underneath the winding mountain ranges was raging earthme and boiling magma.

    They had made the volcanoes and the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Most cultivators who practiced fire incantations would choose to cultivate in realms with rich earthme, where they could better refine their spiritual cores, temper their inner domains, and forge spiritual tools.

    The same went for the disciples of the fire element sect.

    Truly powerful experts from the fire element sect would get to choose a volcano of their own in the Realm of Fire Spirit as their personal cultivation location. As a former expert of the fire element sect, Pang Chicheng had had his own volcano as well.

    It was a blessednd.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor morphed into a streak of fiery light that flew into the mouth of the volcano. ncing down, one could see violently boilingva. Even after hundreds of thousands of years, it was still emanating intense me power.

    Nie Tian also came to a stop above the mouth of the volcano, and gazed down standing on his Star Boat.

    ¡°You...¡± He attempted tomunicate with Agaz with a wisp of his soul will.

    However, Agaz assumed his me dragon form once again. A glorious zing aura flowed through its enormous body, which was hundreds of meters long, as it suddenly dove into the crater.

    SPLASH!

    Agaz dove into thevake at the bottom of the crater, making a huge ssh in the boilingva.

    Nie Tian could sense his excitement and tion, along with a hint of uneasiness.

    However, as soon as Agaz dove into thevake, his soul connection with him became unstable. He looked down with rapt attention, and discovered that the dark red inside of the volcano was actually carved with countlessplicated fiery spell formations, which were too profound and mysterious for him to understand.

    Those spell formations exuded a special aura that only an expert at the peak of the God domain would possess.

    ¡°Strange... such an aura, it feels...¡± Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian examined the aura with rapt attention, and felt that only Shao Tianyang, the head of the fire element sect, had the divine ability to fill the inside of this volcano with such exquisite fiery spell formations, and vest them with such an immense godlike aura.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Divine Sons and Daughters arrived one after another.

    Looking down at the volcano, Pu Yangbai, the Divine Son of the earth element sect, said, ¡°This seems to be the volcano where Senior Martial Brother Pang Chicheng used to practice cultivation.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered as soon as they heard these words.

    ¡°What?!¡± Huang Jinnan eximed in shock, his eyes glittering with golden light. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken, Senior Martial Brother? Is this volcano really the ce where Pang Chicheng used to practice cultivation?¡±

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    He had heard this name on various asions. Lou Hongyan had mentioned him, and so had many others from the Five Elements Sect.

    However, all of them had been vague about who he was and what he had done. This had made him very curious about this mysterious man.

    Hou Chn also found this surprising. ¡°Is this really the ce where Pang Chicheng used to practice cultivation?¡±

    Of all that were present, Pu Yangbai had joined the Five Elements Sect the earliest. Therefore, he knew many things that the others didn¡¯t.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Pu Yangbai said simply, scratching his head. ¡°Senior Martial Brother Pang Chicheng used to practice cultivation here. I¡¯de to visit him before. But that was a long time ago. I never saw him again after he was expelled from our sect. And since Martial Uncle Shao didn¡¯t give an exnation, I don¡¯t know why exactly he was expelled.¡±

    The seemingly-simple man looked confused as he said these words. He even seemed to feel sorry about Pang Chicheng¡¯s expulsion.

    Nie Tian finally couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°What status did Pang Chicheng hold in the Five Elements Sect?¡±

    All four Divine Sons and Daughters fell silent.

    That was when Lou Hongyan, Peng Yan, and the other fire element sect elders arrived.

    Upon arriving, Peng Yan finally decided to bring out the truth. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about it. Even though Pang Chicheng was a traitor of the fire element sect, he had a very special status. Our former sectmaster, Pang Bo, was Pang Chicheng¡¯s father. Our current sectmaster is his father¡¯s disciple.¡±

    ¡°Not only Sectmaster Shao, but many of us here were discovered by his father as he traveled across the human domains in search of those with special talent with fire incantations, and brought back to the fire element sect.¡±

    Reverence was written across Peng Yan¡¯s face as he talked about the former sectmaster of the fire element sect, Pang Bo.

    All of the other fire element sect elders and even the Divine Sons and Daughters also felt deep veneration upon hearing this name. Apparently, they all had great respect for the man.

    ¡°Pang Bo... I seem to have heard the name before,¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    He then remembered that Mo Heng and Wei Lai had mentioned Pang Bo when they had talked about the truly remarkable experts humanity had seen. Both of them had spoken very highly of him.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng showed his outstanding cultivation talent and attracted wide attention at a young age,¡± Peng Yan continued. ¡°Our former sectmaster had him in histe years. He reached the end of his lifespan and passed away soon after he was born. So Pang Chicheng was in fact raised by Sectmaster Shao.

    ¡°Out of respect and gratitude towards our former sectmaster, Sectmaster Shao treated him as his own son, and doted on him.

    ¡°As a matter of fact, Sectmaster Shao had always cultivated him as the Divine Son of the fire element sect. He hadn¡¯t even considered other candidates.

    ¡°For one thing, he was the former sectmaster¡¯s son. For another, he had outstanding cultivation talent. It would make perfect sense if he became the next sectmaster of the fire element sect.

    ¡°However, because he was spoiled, he gradually developed a ruthless and tyrannical temperament, and would often go to extremes.

    ¡°Because of that, he had conflicts with people from the Void Spirit Society, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Not only was he ruthless when facing outsiders, but he also showed absolutely no mercy when he fought his own kind. This put our sect in a lot of trouble.

    ¡°The damage his actions cost to our sect was beyond measure. Even Sectmaster Shao himself paid heavy prices for his actions.¡±

    All of the fire element sect elders fell silent, as if his words brought back memories of the major trouble Pang Chicheng had put the fire element sect in before his expulsion.

    ¡°Is that why he was expelled from the fire element sect?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°That was actually because of something else.¡± Frowning, Peng Yan hesitated for a long while before saying, ¡°It was a scandal of our sect, and I didn¡¯t want to tell anyone about it. However, since...¡±

    Lin Yaoyao from the water element sect suddenly jumped in and said, ¡°Was it because of that big sister before me?¡±

    Peng Yan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°My master mentioned it, but very vaguely. It appears that the water element sect had another Divine Daughter before me.¡± With these words, Lin Yaoyao shot a nce at Lou Hongyan. ¡°That sister seemed to have aplicated rtionship with Pang Chicheng. She seemed to have died because of him. Her death resulted in Pang Chicheng being expelled from the Five Elements Sect. Martial Uncle Shao even issued a worldwide me God Warrant for his arrest.¡±

    Peng Yan sighed and said, ¡°Yes, that was the main reason.¡±

    Even though he didn¡¯t borate, Nie Tian guessed that this had something to do with their romantic rtionship. Perhaps the former Divine Daughter of the water element sect had fallen in love with Pang Chicheng, andter died because of his unjustified actions. That incident had been thest straw. The fire element sect had finally run out of patience. They had expelled him and sent people after him across the human domains.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. The others were also stirred by something, and jerked their heads down.

    Intense spatial fluctuations wereing from thevake where Agaz had disappeared.

 Chapter 1324: A Possibility

    Lou Hongyan, the Divine Daughter of the fire element sect, also perceived the unusually intense spatial fluctuations that wereing from below them.

    Confusion filled her face as she eximed, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    Peng Yan and the other elders of the fire element sect went nk for a few seconds before their expressions suddenly flickered.

    One of the elders couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Pang Chicheng! He must have been back here some time!¡±

    Perhaps because he was overly shocked by his own realization and was fairly close to the mouth of the volcano, he sent a wisp of his soul awareness down into it without much thought.

    WHOOSH!

    Theplicated, exquisite fiery spell formations that had been carved on the crimson inside of the crater were suddenly activated.

    A terrifying zing aura that could burn anything and everything burst forth from within the spell formations.

    RUMBLE!

    That elder let out a pained cry before he was pushed thousands of meters away by some unknown great power.

    He struggled to steady himself in midair, a strange shade of red appearing on his face, and tiny sparks flying from the corners of his eyes.

    Astonished, Peng Yan eximed, ¡°Li Yu!¡±

    After quickly calming himself, he ordered the other elders to refrain from making more attempts.

    Then, he turned to Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, and the other Divine Sons and Daughters, and said with a stern expression, ¡°The volcano below us is a treasured cultivation location of our sect. Don¡¯t attempt to probe into its wonders! Even you, Nie Tian. Don¡¯t make any rash attempts. Just let the me Dragon Armor do what it has to do.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Golden light burst forth from within Huang Jinnan¡¯s body as he let out a muffled groan and stepped backwards.

    ¡°What did I tell you?!¡± Peng Yan thundered.

    After holding himself steady, Huang Jinnan smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Your warning came toote, Elder Peng. I sent a wisp of metal power into the crater as you spoke.¡±

    ¡°Alright, no more probing from now on!¡± After eximing these words, Peng Yan cast his eyes down in sorrow. ¡°This ce was where Pang Chicheng practiced cultivation. However, it belonged to another someone else before him.¡±

    Nie Tian came to a sudden enlightenment. ¡°Pang Bo!¡±

    He had long since sensed anomalies from the aura emanated by the mysterious andplicated spell formations that had been carved on the inside of the crater.

    It was true that only peak God domain experts who practiced me power incantations could vest them with such strong me aura.

    However, he had met Shao Tianyang, the current sectmaster of the fire element sect, in the Shatter Battlefield. Thanks to the me spark inside of him, he had been able to sense a surging me aura inside of him, which was different from the me aura he was sensing from the spell formations below.

    Coupling that with what Peng Yan had just said, how could he not derive the truth?

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Peng Yan admitted. ¡°This volcano belonged to our former sectmaster at first. Before he died, he demanded that it should be passed on to Pang Chicheng, his only child, as his private cultivation location. Of course Sectmaster Shao agreed to it. He rarely came here after that.

    ¡°This ce is blessed with numerous wondrous fiery spell formations he created in his lifetime.

    ¡°Many of them carry the ultimate mysteries of me power, which mark the peak of humanity¡¯s understanding of me power. Even Sectmaster Shao may not be able to solve all of them.¡±

    As Shao Tianyang¡¯s master, Pang Bo had been the most powerful human expert who practiced fire incantations during his time.

    ¡°So,¡± Peng Yan said with all seriousness, ¡°don¡¯t try to solve the mysteries down there anymore, at least not with your spiritual or soul power. I suppose it¡¯ll be fine if you just observe from here.¡±

    After he finished, Nie Tian let out a loud harrumph. ¡°You must know what spatial fluctuations mean, right?¡±

    Peng Yan fell silent.

    ¡°The fact that such noticeable spatial fluctuations areing from down there indicates that there¡¯s either a teleportation portal or a spatial rift down there,¡± Hou Chn analyzed. ¡°Whichever it is, it suggests that something down there connects to somewhere else. And people can enter and exit the Realm of Fire Spirit through it.¡±

    The elders of the fire element sect fell silent after hearing these words.

    They had also thought of this possibility.

    ¡°Even I can¡¯t go down there?¡± Lou Hongyan suddenly asked.

    Peng Yan hesitated for a brief moment before saying, ¡°You¡¯d better not. It¡¯s too risky to touch the spell formations left by our former sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°Then how do we know what¡¯s hidden down there?¡± Lou Hongyan asked reluctantly.

    She had been killed by Pang Chicheng once. How could she not hold a grudge against him?

    Now, she had suddenly learned that not only was the man alive, but he might have snuck back to the Realm of Fire Spirit to practice cultivation right under her nose. Her anger was understandable.

    While her master had issued a me God Warrant for Pang Chicheng¡¯s arrest, she herself had searched everywhere for him as well. She had even ordered her subordinates to do everything within their power to find the man.

    She had never expected that the man she had been trying so hard to find might have snuck back into her turf repeatedly over the years.

    She felt deeply frustrated that she had been fooled. She even felt that Pang Chicheng was sneering at her somewhere in the dark at this very moment.

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°This is absurd. Pang Chicheng is a traitor of your sect, yet he can enter and exit the Realm of Fire Spirit freely through this volcano. And you can¡¯t enter it to conduct an investigation? Let me put it this way, even if Pang Chicheng were practicing cultivation inside this volcano with the earthme of the Realm of Fire Spirit right now, you wouldn¡¯t know about it. Right?¡±

    Peng Yan and the other elders of the fire element sect, along with Lou Hongyan, all looked very grim after they heard these words.

    What Nie Tian said was actually a possibility.

    Throughout the entire fire element sect, Sectmaster Shao Tianyang was the only one who had the ability to enter the volcano and see what was inside of it.

    However, he wouldn¡¯t do such a thing out of respect for histe master.

    No one else was strong enough to enter the volcano themselves, or send their soul awareness into it.

    Because of this, if Pang Chicheng had snuck back here to practice cultivation in secret, who could find out about it?

    Even if he was hiding in there right now, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything they could do about it.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng isn¡¯t really hiding down there, is he?¡± Huang Jinnan asked, his voice growing strange. ¡°Nie Tian, your me Dragon Armor flew down there by itself. If it runs into Pang Chicheng, its former master, will it end up in his possession again?

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor was a Spirit Channeling grade treasure before, nothing too special. But now, with Agazing back to life, I have feeling that it¡¯s transforming into an Immortal grade divine tool. If Pang Chicheng actually takes it back, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll improve his strength to arge extent!¡±

    After hearing his words, Lou Hongyan was so angry that she nearly puked blood.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try tomunicate with it!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    ¡°What?!¡± Peng Yan eximed.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯m sure our soul connection is still there. It¡¯s only unstable at the moment.¡± With a stern expression, Nie Tian focused on the profound connection between his bloodline and the me Dragon Armor.

    After a while, his face grew grim, as he felt that the me Dragon Armor was like a stone that had been dropped into the sea. The flesh aura connection between it and him seemed to have beenpletely cut off.

    At the same time, the spatial fluctuationsing from under there grew stronger and stronger.

 Chapter 1325: Investigation

    A quarter-hourter.

    Nie Tian¡¯s connections to the me Dragon Armor, both soul and bloodline, werepletely cut off.

    His face grew very sullen.

    He stared at the inside of the volcano for a long while before saying, ¡°Pang Bo left those fiery spell formations. Are you sure no one in the fire element sect other than Senior Shao can get past them, not even your soul awareness?¡±

    Peng Yan and the other elders looked rather embarrassed as they nodded slightly.

    ¡°I can¡¯t sense the existence of the me Dragon Armor anymore,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim face. ¡°However, the spatial fluctuationsing from down there are bing stronger and stronger. What if Pang Chicheng is actually practicing secret incantations down there, and has intercepted the me Dragon Armor?¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Li Yu smiled bitterly.

    ¡°What if I go down there myself?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered as he said anxiously, ¡°What? That would be an unwise thing to do. I just made an attempt with a wisp of my spiritual power, and I suffered a strong bacsh. You¡¯ve got to know that those fiery spell formations were created by an extremely talented former sectmaster of our sect, who was at thete God domain before he reached the end of his lifespan and passed away!¡±

    Hou Chn, Pu Yangbai, and Lin Yaoyao also chimed in, joining his effort to dissuade Nie Tian.

    In his time, Pang Bo had truly stood at the peak of human cultivation. Not only had his words held enormous weight in the Five Elements Sect, but as a peak human expert, he had killed tenth grade outsider grand monarchs.

    How could the spell formations carved by such an expert to protect his private cultivation location be so easily breached?

    Nie Tian fixed his eyes on Peng Yan and asked, ¡°Do you mind if I give it a shot? You should know what it¡¯ll mean to your sect if Pang Chicheng is actually in there.¡±

    Face grim, Peng Yan said, ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that you¡¯ll die in there.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not your concern.¡± With these words, Nie Tian quickly nodded towards Lou Hongyan before jumping off his Star Boat, aiming for thevake.

    A wisp of his soul will first shot out like a lightning bolt.

    A small fiery spell formation on the crimson inside of the crater suddenly morphed into what looked like a zing eye, which thrummed with terrifying power that could burn any soul will to ashes!

    Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of soul will barely fell a few meters into the crater when it burst into mes with a boom.

    He experienced a nip in his mind, and knew that his wisp of soul will had been eliminated, along with the aura he had vested it with.

    ¡°Ate God domain expert who practiced fire incantations... Given my attainments, it¡¯s almost impossible for me to break the spell formation he left behind.

    ¡°So...¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, he sent a wisp of soul will into his me power core to summon the me spark.

    An orange-red sphere that seemed to burn like the sun unfolded to envelop him.

    An independent fire domain!

    Without stimting his star and wood power cores, he stimted only his me power core and the me spark within it. By doing this, he formed a domain that looked like a sphere of burning sunglow.

    The me spark¡¯s unique aura vested his me domain with endless mystery.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Peng Yan and the other elders of the fire element sect all raised their eyebrows, surprised looks filling their eyes.

    All of them were Saint domain experts that practiced fire incantations. However, they were deeply amazed by Nie Tian¡¯s me domain, which he had formed independently with his me power core.

    They didn¡¯t expect that Nie Tian¡¯s me domain could actually affect them and make their me auras flow uncontrobly towards him.

    In fact, not only them, but rich and pure me power was also being attracted to him from every corner of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Peng Yan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°There must be a Heaven Nourished grade fire-attributed treasure inside his me domain!¡±

    After taking a moment to sense Nie Tian¡¯s me domain with rapt attention, he added, ¡°A Heaven Nourished grade fire-attributed treasure! This aura seems to belong to the Origin of All mes, and is very simr to that of the Divine me that appeared in the Domain of me¡¯s End. Our sectmaster himself went there several times just to find that Divine me, but even he failed to locate it every time!¡±

    Li Yu chimed in. ¡°The Divine me that could burn down an entire domain and cause fundamental changes to all of its realms... No wonder it¡¯s so extraordinary!¡±

    The elders of the fire element sect then started discussing among themselves while they were still within Nie Tian¡¯s earshot, as if they didn¡¯t think it was inappropriate.

    ¡°Is that aura he exudes really from the Divine me that devastated the Domain of me¡¯s End?¡±

    ¡°This is odd... so odd!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he can actually enter and investigate inside the volcano to see if there¡¯s a teleportation portal or any sign of Pang Chicheng there.¡±

    Nie Tian, however, who was the focus of their discussion, slowly descended into the volcano, enveloped in his me domain.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Hundreds of fiery spell formations on the crimson inside of the volcano that had been vested with different wonders of fire seemed to be stimted, as they all burst into mes at the same time.

    Spell formations of different shapes and colors started transforming. Some morphed into me phoenixes. Some morphed into me qilins, while others took the form of Heaven me Beasts.

    Some even transformed into zing soul-form beings that floated in midair and eyed Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, me power that contained endless wonders burst forth, along with a soul-piercing power. They all had the same target: Nie Tian.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Sparks sputtered off the outermost part of Nie Tian¡¯s me domain as dazzling fiery light attacked his me domain from all directions in an attempt to burn it to ashes.

    ¡°This won¡¯t do! He¡¯s going to be overpowered!¡± With this thought, Huang Jinnan eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! Come back! Your strength and cultivation base won¡¯t allow you to contend against those fiery spell formations!¡±

    Hou Chn also cried out, ¡°Come back now, Nie Tian!¡±

    Peng Yan and the other elders¡¯ faces turned pale with fright as soon as they sensed the might of the fiery spell formations on the crimson inside of the crater multiply by the second. All of them were convinced that Nie Tian was going to be burned to death.

    ¡°This Son of the Stars is just too stubborn! If he dies in our sect, how will we exin it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    It seemed to them that Nie Tian¡¯s me domain could be melted and burned to ashes at any moment now.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, a streak of unusual spatial light shot from under thevake and wrapped around Nie Tian like a colorful ribbon.

    In the next moment, the power that the fiery spell formations had sent after his body and soul vanishedpletely.

    At the same time, Nie Tian was carried into thevake and disappeared.

    ¡°D-did a streak of spatial light just wrap around Nie Tian and drag him down?¡± Huang Jinnan eximed in shock, ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡±

    ¡°There are such unusual spatial fluctuations inside this volcano, and it¡¯s vested with such terrifying fiery spell formations,¡± Hou Chn said with a stern expression. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Martial Uncle Shao conduct a thorough investigation of it? Did he let Pang Chicheng off intentionally?¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, that senior martial sister of mine died, and the one who¡¯s responsible went unpunished?¡± Lin Yaoyao said angrily.

    Huang Jinnan and Lou Hongyan also fixed their eyes on Peng Yan and the other elders of the fire element sect, their eyes filled with suspicion and discontent.

    ¡°I¡¯m not in a ce to ask about that.¡± With these words, Peng Yan cast his eyes down in hesitation. Secondster, he turned to Lou Hongyan and said, ¡°Your master had his scruples. After all, our former sectmaster took him into our sect and taught him with all his heart. Perhaps it¡¯s his gratitude towards him that made him reluctant to dig into this ce, even though he must be aware of its abnormality.¡±

 Chapter 1326: A Divine Cauldron

    Nie Tian plummeted at an rming speed. After his head spun for a while, he seemed to be pulled into an open space by the unknown spatial power.

    SHEW!

    All of a sudden, hended on solid ground.

    After assuming a solid foothold, he realized that his connection to the me Dragon Armor was reestablished, and he could sense its existence and aura with great rity.

    He even sensed that it was in fear.

    ¡°This ce is...¡±

    Exceptionally pure and surging me power filled his surroundings like a sea.

    A number of earthme crystal strings could be seen floating in midair not far from him. Inside of them was branded the profound truths of me power.

    Nie Tian found himself in the middle of an empty pce hall, where everything seemed to be dark red. Over his head...

    Nie Tian looked up, and suddenly noticed that beyond the transparent doom of the hall was none other than the boilingvake.

    That made this ce the heart of the volcano!

    The me Dragon Armor, meanwhile, was suppressed by a huge cauldron in a corner of the hall, and couldn¡¯t move in the slightest.

    The huge cauldron had four legs, which were carved with a me dragon, a me qilin, a me phoenix, and a vermilion bird respectively. it seems as if the four powerful beasts were propping the cauldron up together.

    The precious four-legged cauldron exuded a boundlessly immense and ancient aura.

    With its four legs, it was now standing on the me Dragon Armor, holding it downpletely.

    With a single nce at it, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°An Immortal grade divine tool!¡±

    The me Dragon Armor couldn¡¯t move in the slightest underneath the huge cauldron. This made him realize that it must be an Immortal grade divine tool.

    ¡°Master...¡± Agaz¡¯s soul will came through, as if to beg him to rescue him.

    Without making any rash moves, Nie Tian slowly approached the me Dragon Armor and the huge cauldron.

    His mind operated at a high speed as he kept ncing around at his surroundings.

    ¡°An open space at the heart of the volcano where Pang Bo used to practice cultivation. The strange spatial power from earlier...¡±

    With these thoughts, he noticed that there were many huge cylindrical pirs in this underground pce. All of them were carved with incrediblyplicated fiery spell formations.

    If he stared at the fiery spell formations for more than a few seconds, he would feel a burning sensation in his mind.

    He soon noticed that the me Dragon Armor was actually floating over an ancient teleportation portal with an extremelyplicated structure, which was emanating unusual spatial fluctuations.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I suspected.¡±

    The moment he spotted the teleportation portal, he was convinced that itsplicated structure allowed it to conduct inter-domain teleportation.

    This was a special ce where the arched me ward overhead held up thevake.

    Not only could Peng Yan and the other elders of the fire element sect not enter in person, but even their soul awareness would be expelled and attacked by the spell formations.

    After all, this was the private property where Pang Bo, the former sectmaster of the fire element sect, had practiced cultivation.

    ¡°That huge cauldron...¡±

    Stepping closer slowly and carefully, Nie Tian was very vignt as he summoned his bloodline power and me power tomunicate with the me Dragon Armor. ¡°Is there someone else here? Is it just you and that Immortal grade divine tool suppressing you?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anyone,¡± Agaz answered. ¡°However, unusual spatial fluctuations keeping from the teleportation portal below me. I suspect that someonees here through it on a regr basis.¡±

    ¡°Master, this pce at the heart of this volcano is actually an ideal cultivation location for both of us.¡± Agaz continued, looking rather excited. ¡°The walls, pirs, and floor were all made from rare fire-attributed spiritual materials with exquisite techniques and methods.

    ¡°This entire pce is arge power-gathering spell formation that channels me power from the entire Realm of Fire Spirit.

    ¡°As far as I can remember, the only other ce that can gather such immense and pure me power is our people¡¯s Holy me Mountain, which is also where I was born.

    ¡°Not just that, but there are also arge number of earthme crystal strings here. They carry the profound truths of me power, and can be directly used to strengthen my bloodline.¡±

    Agaz seemed rather keen on the topic as he went on and on about the wonders of this ce, as if he hadpletely forgotten about the fact that he was being suppressed by a huge cauldron. ¡°Unfortunately,¡± he added, ¡°every wisp of me power in this pce seems to be intended for this huge cauldron, so it can continue to upgrade and be stronger.¡±

    He seemed frustrated by this.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered in surprise. ¡°All of this is for the purpose of strengthening this cauldron?¡±

    Then, he took a deep nce at the huge cauldron and asked, ¡°What sub-level do you think this divine tool is at?¡±

    ¡°Level five,¡± Agaz answered.

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°A level five Immortal grade divine tool! A divine tool at such a level must have developed remarkable intelligence. Can youmunicate with it?¡±

    ¡°Yes... but it refuses to give me any response,¡± Agaz answered in frustration.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing like the cauldrons I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± Agaz said. ¡°Its soul aura is actually abination of four independent soul auras that belong to a me dragon, a me phoenix, a me qilin, and a vermilion bird. All of them are powerful fire-attributed Ancientspirits. I even have a sense of familiarity towards that me dragon¡¯s aura. I suspect it has some bloodline connection to me.¡±

    me dragons, me phoenixes, me qilins, and vermilion birds were all fire-attributed beings.

    Looking at the carvings on the four legs of the huge cauldron and associating them with the soul wills of four powerful fire-attributed beings, Nie Tian grew increasingly vignt.

    ¡°Do you know what power pulled me down here?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    He had been pulled down here for some reason during his attempt to enter thevake, when he was being fiercely attacked by the spell formations. It must have been the result of a willful action.

    However, the huge four-legged cauldron in front of him was the only thing in this pce that had a soul and intelligence!

    WHOOSH!

    After he came to a certain distance from the cauldron, the carvings on the cauldron suddenly lit up like lifelike fire serpents.

    At the same time, a strong attractive force was born within the huge cauldron.

    All of a sudden, both his and the me Dragon Armor¡¯s me power started flying towards it wisp after wisp, as if they were being channeled by it.

    To his astonishment, he discovered that the me power core in his spiritual sea was shrinking bit by bit.

    Simrly, the Blood Core in the chest area of the me Dragon Armor also started to shrivel due to the me power loss.

    ¡°Master, it must have held me here to lure you in, so it can drain us of our me power!¡± Agaz¡¯s soul voice became anxious and shrill, stirring Nie Tian¡¯s sea of souls.

    Nie Tian let out a coldugh. ¡°You actually think you can strengthen yourself with me and my spiritual tool friend?

    ¡°You¡¯re nothing but an Immortal grade divine tool that¡¯s been forgotten and left here for who knows how many years, yet you attempt to upgrade yourself by draining us? Wishful thinking!¡±

    FIZZ!

    The Star Behemoth bone was summoned. As his life bloodline burst forth, the bone pierced towards the four-legged cauldron like a divine spear.

    Its raging flesh aura beat the bone to the huge cauldron. ¡°Split!¡±

    AHH!

    A strange sound that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t make out suddenly came from within the four-legged cauldron.

    At the same time numerous fiery spell formations that were hidden around the pce were activated simultaneously.

    WHOOSH!

    Countless earthme crystal strings, along with fierce me power, condensed into a huge ming hand, that descended from the dome.

    A formidable flesh aura that could suppress and bring all living beings to heel burst forth.

    As the huge hand fell, its raging flesh aura held the Star Behemoth bone, which had rarely suffered any losses, down like a captured python. It even found it difficult to wiggle.

    Then, the huge ming hand pped it with great force.

    BOOM!

    The slender Star Behemoth bone was knocked to the floor.

    Nie Tian, whose flesh aura was connected to the bone¡¯s, seemed to suffer a heavy blow to the chest as he let out a muffled groan and dropped to the floor. He felt as if he had a great mountain-like pressure on his shoulder, which stopped him from even rising to his feet.

    Nie Tian looked up at the huge ming hand. ¡°The divine power of a God domain expert!

    ¡°This Immortal grade divine tool can draw power from the divine formations left by Pang Bo, the former sectmaster of the fire element sect. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s his divine tool!¡±

    ¡°Pang Bo is my master indeed!¡± A thunderous voice echoed through the empty pce.

 Chapter 1327: Please Enlighten Me

    As soon as it said this, all the me formations in the whole pce seemed to be instantly activated.

    WHOOSH!

    The pce, the rock walls, the earth, and the air were burning with fire.

    Nie Tian seemed to be bathed in a sea of fire.

    When his and the me Dragon Armor¡¯s me power was pulled away, it did not immediately integrate into the giant four-legged cauldron. Instead, it dispersed and became part of the me power of the pce.

    ¡°A superrge-scale me power-gathering fire spell formation!¡±

    Nie Tian paled, and suddenly realized that me power was being channeled into this pce from not only every corner of the Realm of Fire Spirit, but him and the me Dragon Armor as well.

    Then he made another shocking discovery.

    As the giant four-legged cauldron activated all the me spell formations in the pce, he saw that the teleportation portal also showed abnormal fluctuations.

    Then, spatial rifts cracked in the air!

    He couldn¡¯t tell where the spatial rifts led or were connected to.

    From the slender spatial rifts, Nie Tian could see mes jumping, flying out, and then integrating into the pce.

    HISS!

    The mes sputtered, and the me power in the pce became purer and thicker.

    Part of the me power was absorbed by the Immortal grade divine tool, but most of it was used to power the pce...

    The Realm of Fire Spirit!

    This came as a great shock to him.

    He sensed carefully, and found that the me power that was being sucked out from the spatial rifts and integrated into the pce scattered into the depths of the earth with the pce as the center.

    He even vaguely sensed a rise in the concentration of me power in the magma in the earth.

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong. The pce¡¯s superrge-scale power-gathering spell formation does not gather spirit energy from the Realm of Fire Spirit to strengthen the Immortal grade divine tool, and to help it advance quickly!¡± Nie Tianmunicated with Agaz again. ¡°In this superrge-scale fire power-gathering spell formation, the Immortal grade divine tool is the leader and the operator. It is the soul of this pce, and even the whole Realm of Fire Spirit! It¡¯s drawing me power from other realms to nourish the Realm of Fire Spirit!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s partly because of this that the Realm of Fire Spirit is viewed as a holynd for practicing me incantations, and makes the fire element sect so powerful!¡±

    At this point, Nie Tian was also in awe of the fire element sect¡¯s previous sect master. ¡°This is all because of Pang Bo!¡±

    Even though Pang Bo had long since died, the me spell formation, the pce, and the giant four-legged cauldron he had left behind were all helping the Realm of Fire Spirit absorb me power from other realms and other unknown ces to nourish the buried fire veins that ran under the Realm of Fire Spirit, and increase the me power concentration of the magma.

    It was thanks to its extraordinary contributions that the Realm of Fire Spirit was more suitable for people practicing me incantations than any other realm.

    Nie Tian sighed in admiration. ¡°No wonder he was the strongest and the most famous human expert of thest era. However, such a figure had a son named Pang Chicheng at the end of his life. Perhaps the only stain on his whole life is his son.¡±

    His me power wasn¡¯t being drained from him as quickly as he had thought. He allowed the me power to drain away without despair or panic.

    He pondered for a few seconds, and then suddenly asked aloud, ¡°I am the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Why did you drag me in? And has Pang Chicheng evere here?¡±

    The giant four-legged cauldron¡¯s soul had made a sound earlier, along with its big move. This meant its intelligence must be extraordinary!

    He wanted an answer.

    In his mind, he was puzzled again, feeling that Pang Chicheng... might not havee to the Realm of Fire Spirit after he had left.

    It was most likely the four-legged cauldron that had triggered the me Dragon Armor¡¯s bloodline. Agaz had been affected because one of the me dragons drawn on the foot of the cauldron had a connection to his bloodline.

    The abnormal spatial fluctuations and the strange formation might be only used to connect the mysterious firend of other realms, and absorb me power for the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    It was just like the Tool Sect of the Realm of Unbounded Destion, which used Qi Bailu¡¯s me Mirror to connect to an arcane me realm and absorb me power.

    The grand spell formation and the giant four-legged cauldron here were naturally much more advanced than the Tool Sect and the me Mirror.

    The source of the me power absorbed by the pce and the formation couldn¡¯t be a small arcane realm, but should be a wide realm, or even a domain of me somewhere in the sea of stars discovered by Pang Bo.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng, Pang Chicheng, my lord¡¯s orphan...¡± The resonant voice of the giant four-legged cauldron, which was a little vague and breaking up, echoed through the pce. ¡°He hasn¡¯t been here. He is not allowed to set foot here until he reaches the God domain. He cannote here before he advances to the God domain, whereupon I will apany him and continue fighting for the fire element sect as my master wishes.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°Ah!¡±

    He did not expect that, as the soul of the pce, the giant four-legged cauldron would be Pang Chicheng¡¯s sharp de one day!

    When he was in the space disruption zonest time, he heard the Thunder Devil say Pang Chicheng had reached the middle Saint domain.

    Later, Pang Chicheng had persuaded the sectmaster of the Primal Yang Sect Wu Zhuri to stir up some trouble. Perhaps he had broken through again.

    In that case, he wasn¡¯t too far from reaching the God Domain.

    If Pang Chicheng really reached the God Domain one day and coulde here to take charge of the giant four-legged cauldron, wouldn¡¯t his strength be redoubled?

    ¡°Wait! Isn¡¯t this the ce where Pang Chichen practiced cultivation?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The ce he practiced before was above this pce,¡± the giant four-legged cauldron replied, ¡°Before reaching the God Realm, he cannot enter this pce, but can only use a little of my power in the upper magma pool to refine his spiritual core.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°He can¡¯t enter here until he reaches the God Realm?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Even if Pang Bo was very famous, he didn¡¯t expect that his son would be expelled by the fire element sect and then hunted all over the world, did he?¡± Nie Tian found this ironic.

    ¡°Do you know that your master¡¯s orphan has long since been expelled by the fire element sect?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Yes, but I only obey my master¡¯s orders,¡± the giant four-legged cauldron replied. ¡°I will abide by the agreement. When he bes a God domain expert, I will let go of everything to ept him. I will help him lead the pce and the Realm of Fire Spirit so that he can be the next master of the fire element sect.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re helping a tyrant!¡± Nie Tian roared furiously.

    The giant four-legged cauldron was silent and didn¡¯t exin at all, as if it couldn¡¯t be bothered to talk to him.

    ¡°Then why did you attract my spiritual tool toe here? Why did you want me toe down?¡± Nie Tian asked again.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you looking for answers? Don¡¯t you want to know the secret of that spiritual tool of yours?¡± The giant four-legged cauldron spoke more and more fluently.

    This was probably because it hadn¡¯t spoken for a long time. It wasn¡¯t used to it at first, but once it passed the initial stage, it wouldn¡¯t have any problem speakingter.

    ¡°You can hear our conversation from here?¡± Nie Tian was surprised.

    When he and the others had talked about me Dragon Armor, they had been on the mountaintop with Lou Hongyan, a thousand miles away from here.

    However, the giant four-legged cauldron could actually hear the conversations among him, Peng Yan, Lou Hongyanm and the others from this pce, which made Nie Tian feel very ufortable.

    With a very arrogant attitude, the giant four-legged cauldron said to Nie Tian, ¡°When I came to the Realm of Fire Spirit and helped strengthen its power, Shao Tianyang wasn¡¯t here yet! I know more about the secrets of the Realm of Fire Spirit and the fire element sect than him! I know this suit of armor, and its secret.¡±

    Nie Tian was cheered up immediately after hearing this. ¡°Please enlighten me!¡±

 Chapter 1328: A Great Change in the Fire Element Sect

    Above the volcanic crater.

    Many elders of the fire element sect and the Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sec waited anxiously.

    Nie Tian had vanished somehow, making them very upset. They didn¡¯t know how they could exin it to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion if something happened to Nie Tian.

    Due to Gupi¡¯s threat, Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the others regarded Nie Tian as the human race¡¯s key in fighting against that foreign abomination.

    Besides, in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, Nie Tian had really proved that once he was strong enough, he could seal Gupipletely!

    ¡°What on earth is hidden down there?¡± Huang Jinnan muttered.

    No one answered.

    Pu Yangbai, the Divine Son of the earth element sect, suddenly had doubts in his eyes. ¡°Er...¡±

    ¡°Senior martial brother, have you found anything?¡± Hou Chn asked curiously.

    Pu Yangbai thought briefly, then said, ¡°There¡¯s something weird, but it has nothing to do with the volcano or Nie Tian...¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Lou Hongyan was also curious.

    ¡°The earth of the Realm of Fire Spirit just shook mildly,¡± Pu Yangbai said. ¡°The shock must have been caused by the entrance of some powerful figure through a teleportation portal somewhere,¡±

    As the Divine Son of the earth element sect, he was naturally sensitive to the fluctuations of the cores of the realms.

    His domain and spiritual cores also contained great wonders.

    As long as he was in a realm, he could perceive even the most subtle fluctuations in the earth. He could even tell what the fluctuations represented, based on his previous experience.

    Hou Chn narrowed her eyes. ¡°A powerful figure?¡±

    Her bright eyes emitted sharp light as she asked, ¡°Do you mean a God domain expert?¡±

    Pu Yangbai nodded.

    ¡°All of the God domains seniors of our Five Elements Sect aren¡¯t here at the moment.¡± Lin Yaoyao cut in, ¡°Grandpa Lu hasn¡¯t reached the God domain yet after his reincarnation. Plus, he¡¯s not in the Five Elements Sect right now.¡±

    ¡°Is it Ji Yuanquan or Ye Wenhan?¡± Huang Jinnan asked.

    ¡°We would have known if they¡¯de,¡± Peng Yan couldn¡¯t resist interjecting, ¡°When the sectmasters of the five element sects leave their sects, our five realms are temporarily sealed, and people can only go in and out through teleportation portals. There are elders around every portal. If Ji Yuanquan or Ye Wenhan came, we should have been notified.¡±

    Hou Chn frowned. ¡°This is strange.¡±

    Half an hourter.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Spheres of dazzling light suddenly emerged in the distant sky.

    There were clearly figures in those spheres, which meant the spheres represented different cultivators¡¯ domains!

    ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± An overbearing, arrogantugh echoed throughout the Realm of Fire Spirit, as if it could reach any corner of the realm and make itself known to all the fire element sect disciples. ¡°I, Pang Chicheng, am back!¡±

    Hearing this, Peng Yan, Lou Hongyan, and many other Divine Sons and Divine Daughters suddenly paled, and were overwhelmed with shock.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡±

    ¡°How dare this traitor return to the Realm of Fire Spirit! How can hee back?¡±

    ¡°Here hees!¡±

    ¡°And he has partners!¡±

    Many elders of the fire element sect activated their me domains and flew from the crater to the higher sky to look into the distance and perceive with their soul consciousness.

    After taking a closer look at the people Peng Chicheng had brought with him, they turned out to be the leaders of various evil human sects who were notorious in the realms, and were resented by all.

    ¡°Sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society!¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster of the Death Curse Sect¡±

    ¡°Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan!¡±

    BOOM!

    Pang Chicheng showed up after them, covered with raging mes and an aura stronger than theirs.

    ¡°Late Saint domain!¡± Li Yu yelled in surprise. ¡°The traitor has actually reached thete Saint domain! Judging from his aura and state, he seems to be on the verge of breaking through to the God domain.¡±

    A short, stout figure suddenly appeared and yelled, ¡°Traitor? He¡¯s not a traitor. He should have been this generation¡¯s Divine Son of the fire element sect!¡±

    The clothes he was wearing were virtually the same as those of the elders like Peng Yan. He was obviously another elder of the fire element sect. From the look of it, he was even older than the others.

    However, his cultivation base was fairly low, as he was only at the middle Saint domain.

    ¡°Brother Fu!¡±

    Peng Yan, Li Yu, and the other elders of the fire element sect were shocked to see hime forward. It seemed they didn¡¯t believe this was true.

    ¡°Fu Huan! It¡¯s actually him!¡± Huang Jinnan eximed.

    Fu Huan was the oldest among this generation of elders of the fire element sect.

    Before Shao Tianyang, Peng Yan, Li Yu, and the others had joined the Realm of Fire Spirit, Fu Huan had already been a cultivator of the Realm of Fire Spirit, and Pang Bo¡¯s massager.

    Fu Huan had seniority over all of them, but his talent was average, so he was only at the middle Saint domain.

    Fu Huan stood up and stared at the other elders. ¡°You don¡¯t remember our sectmaster¡¯s kindness anymore, but I do. A gang of ungrateful wretches! If the old sectmaster hadn¡¯t brought you back to the Realm of Fire Spirit from those remote realms and taught you those me incantations, could you live a good life now?¡±

    ¡°Just because our young lord made some mistakes when he was young, Shao Tianyang expelled him from the sect! And you! Not only did you not stop him, but you actually supported him! Way to kick a man when he¡¯s down!¡±

    ¡°You all should die!¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    While Fu Huan spoke, Pang Chicheng came slowly, enveloped in his me domain and apanied by a number of evil viins.

    At the sight of Fu Huan, all the people present understood that it must be Fu Huan who had let Pang Chicheng, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, Ren Yuanji of the Death Curse Sect, and the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan arrive through a teleportation portal.

    ¡°Crap,¡± Huang Jinnan eximed in a low voice.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had returned to his peak when he had been in the Domain of Nether Heaven realm, which was the early Saint domain.

    Ren Yuanji of the Death Curse Sect was at thete Saint domain now, and so was the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan.

    On top of that, Pang Chicheng had also reached thete Saint domain.

    Also, this was only what people could see. They had no idea whether more intruders wereing, and what cultivation bases these invaders possessed.

    ¡°We¡¯re in big trouble,¡± Hou Chn said with a troubled face. ¡°Our masters are not at the Five Elements Sect. Uncle Lu hasn¡¯t recovered and isn¡¯t in the sect either. It should have been extremely difficult for people from the outside world to break in due to the spell formations here. I didn¡¯t expect one of us to take the initiative to let these demons in.¡±

    Every sectmaster of the Five Elements Sect was at the God domain.

    As long as they were in the Five Elements Sect, any sectmaster could quickly arrive and wipe out these viins, as the five realms were not far from each other.

    But the five sectmasters happened to be absent now.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to use the ce where I cultivated to break through to the God domain,¡± Pang Chicheng said without showing his face. In his domain of mes, he was like a burning man. ¡°When I reach the God domain, I will cross the barrier of the magma pool and enter the pce inside, which my father passed down to me.

    ¡°I will carry that divine tool and restore my father¡¯s invincible might. I will take charge of the Realm of Fire Spirit again and be the master of the fire element sect!¡±

    Lou Hongyan snorted. ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself.¡±

    Pang Chichengughed wildly. ¡°Ha ha, you, Daughter of mes, actually dare to question me? I¡¯ve killed you once, but didn¡¯t kill youpletely. I¡¯ll let you die thoroughly this time. Don¡¯t you understand that if I hadn¡¯t left the fire element sect, you would never have be the Divine Daughter?

    ¡°With your talent and cultivation aptitude, how can you possiblypete with me?

    ¡°You¡¯re from a lowmoner family, but you actually want to fight me for the throne of the fire element sect¡¯s future master? You should take a better look at yourself.¡±

 Chapter 1329: Iâ€™ve Heard A Lot About You!

    WHOOSH!

    The raging mes enveloping him only dissipated slightly as Pang Chicheng dashed out to stop about a hundred meters away from Lou Hongyan.

    Disdain was written all over his face.

    ¡°H-he¡¯s Pang Chicheng? He¡¯s actually quite handsome...¡± Lin Yaoyao from the water element sect thought to herself after taking a close look at the man.

    Pang Chicheng was a man of tall stature and impressive appearance. He seemed to only be in his thirties. His long hair cascaded to his shoulders, giving him a wild look.

    ¡°Senior Martial Brother Pang,¡± Pu Yangbai eximed.

    ¡°Your father was the former sectmaster of the fire element sect, but you¡¯re not him,¡± Lou Hongyan said coldly.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Pang Chichengughed wildly. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for my father, how could the fire element sect havee this far? How would Shao Tianyang be who he is today?¡±

    Hisugh faded as he cast a cold nce at Peng Yan and the others. ¡°You... All of you are ingrates! If my father hadn¡¯t discovered your cultivation talent and brought you to the Realm of Fire Spirit, who knows what forgotten corner of the world you¡¯d have been in now?¡±

    With all seriousness, Peng Yan said, ¡°We don¡¯t dare to forget that it was the former sectmaster who unearthed and taught us. But he¡¯s him, and you¡¯re you! You made countless mistakes when you were in the fire element sect, and brought shame to the whole sect! If you were anything like the former sectmaster, and had his kind heart, you wouldn¡¯t have been expelled from our sect and ended up in such a sorry state!¡±

    ¡°A sorry state?¡± Pang Chichengughed so hard that tears almost came out. ¡°I was never in a sorry state! In fact, I¡¯ve been doing quite well. But you lot, on the other hand...¡±

    ¡°Go inform the other four sects! Now!¡± Peng Yan shouted.

    Without hesitation, Li Yu and the other fire element sect elders behind him morphed into streaks of colorful light that shot off in different directions.

    Peng Yan then turned to face the five Divine Sons and Daughters. ¡°You¡¯ve got to leave too! This isn¡¯t the time to bicker with him!¡±

    He gave Lou Hongyan a stern look as he said these words. ¡°Go inform the other four sects and tell them to send their powerful experts to the Realm of Fire Spirit as quickly as possible!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The fire element sect elders flew off, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    With a cunning smile, Pang Chicheng turned his head slightly, and said to the sectmasters of the Death Curse Sect and the Nether Spirit Society and Yuan Jiuchuan, ¡°Would you please?¡±

    The three of them instantly went into action.

    All three of them flew after the fire element sect elders. Not one of them stayed behind with Pang Chicheng.

    Peng Yan was taken aback. ¡°You...!¡±

    Pang Chicheng was at thete Saint domain, which was the same as him.

    However, Pang Chicheng must have only entered thete Saint domain recently. His time as ate Saint domain expert wasn¡¯t nearlyparable to his.

    As for the old Fu Huan, his battle prowess had always been among the poorest. He wouldn¡¯t be able to provide him with much help.

    Pang Chicheng saw through his thoughts. ¡°You think you can beat me, right? But let me remind you: this volcano is where my father and I used to practice cultivation. Besides, since Elder Fu agreed to let us through and help us, do you think we¡¯de unprepared?¡±

    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± Peng Yan asked.

    Pang Chicheng let out a cold snort. ¡°Take the Realm of Fire Spirit, of course.¡±

    With these words, he suddenly dove towards the volcano.

    His sudden action took everyone present by surprise. None of them had expected this.

    Everyone other than Nie Tian had been attacked by its fiery spell formations when they had approached the crater.

    This had put Peng Yan under the impression that no one would dare to enter it.

    However, he had forgotten that Pang Chicheng had practiced cultivation in thevake of this very volcano before.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The fiery spell formations that had been carved on the crimson inside of the crater activated once again, zing lines lighting up and interconnecting like human meridians, through which flowed raging me power.

    However, unlike what had happened to Nie Tian, the fiery spell formations didn¡¯t attack Pang Chicheng as he fell into the crater. Instead, they seemed to cheer for his return.

    At this moment, it urred to Peng Yan and everyone present that Pang Chicheng had returned to his den.

    The numerous fiery spell formations operated, as if to gather me power at an increased speed.

    Thevake also boiled more fiercely than ever, as if it was cheering as well.

    With a joyful expression, Pang Chicheng said, ¡°This is the feeling. This is the blessednd where I¡¯ll make my breakthrough into the God domain. My father knew that I¡¯d be able to enter the God domain one day. Everything here, including this volcano, the Realm of Fire Spirit, and the fire element sect, must be his gifts to me.

    ¡°As for Shao Tianyang, he was only a transitional sectmaster, and my Dao Protector!

    ¡°However, as my Dao Protector, he actually dared to set himself against me and expel me from my own sect!¡±

    With these words, his face suddenly grew twisted with anger. He jerked his head towards Lou Hongyan, who hadn¡¯t left yet, and bellowed, ¡°You shall die too!¡±

    A fiery spell formation on the rocky inside of the crater was activated by his soul will.

    SHEW!

    A lifelike me phoenix rose from the spell formation, dancing elegantly. With a sharp screech, it spread its glorious ming wings and swooped towards Lou Hongyan.

    The me aura it exuded felt simr to that of a Saint domain human expert who practiced fire incantations.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    With a furious roar, Peng Yan spread his crimson me domain and cast a spell to attack the me phoenix with a zing pearl.

    All of a sudden, more fiery spell formations were activated by Pang Chicheng with his soul will.

    More than half of the me power that was flowing within that zing pearl was instantly neutralized.

    Peng Yan stood aghast.

    Pang Chicheng smiled coldly and said, ¡°My father forged that pearl for you. However, the fiery spell formations he carved on the rocky inside of this crater were vested with the profound understanding of me power he derived in hister years. Naturally, it¡¯s easy to suppress his early creations with histe creations.¡±

    Pu Yangbai stepped forward to stand next to Lou Hongyan. ¡°Senior Martial Brother Pang! Please don¡¯t do this!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The earth of the entire Realm of Fire Spirit trembled as he did, a gray sandy aura condensing into a solid ward that stood between Pang Chicheng and them.

    The dancing me phoenix mmed into the ward. Surprisingly, it exploded into countless sparks that filled the air and slowly dissipated.

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s expression grew cold. ¡°You simple-minded fool! You shadowed me wherever I went before I was expelled from the fire element sect. Back then, you¡¯d do whatever I said and never disobeyed me. Pu Yangbai, great changes are going to happen to our sect. All of the so-called rules will be overthrown. Don¡¯t foolishly think that things will remain the same. Back off now, and I won¡¯t hurt you for the sake of the old days.¡±

    Pu Yangbai shook his head. ¡°No!¡±

    Pang Chicheng frowned. ¡°If you refuse to see sense, I¡¯ll have to imprison you for now.¡±

    He seemed to know that, given Pu Yangbai¡¯s character, he wouldn¡¯t be able to persuade him with just a few words. Therefore, he decided to confine him with the spell formations¡¯ power first.

    Of all that were here, Pu Yangbai was the only one for whom he still had some positive feelings.

    However, just as he was about to draw power from the fiery spell formations, he suddenly noticed something.

    ¡°Is someone down there?¡±

    He shrewdly sensed a wisp of unfamiliar aura from the pce below thevake, where he hadn¡¯t even set foot himself.

    Someone had actually beaten him to the pce that belonged to him!

    ¡°Who is it?!¡± Pang Chicheng screamed fiercely, no longer in the mood to deal with the others. Instead, he stared unblinkingly into thevake.

    It was as if his gaze could go through the boilingva to see whaty underneath it.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng. I¡¯ve heard a lot about you.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice echoed from the depths of the earth beyond thevake.

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s voice, the five Divine Sons and Daughters eximed in shock.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s still alive!¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s fine and can talk, then he must have gotten the me Dragon Armor, right?¡±

    Peng Yan was taken aback. Expression strange, he asked, ¡°How is that? Don¡¯t tell me that he was allowed to enter the former sectmaster¡¯s private cultivation location underneath thevake. But why could he, but not others?¡±

 Chapter 1330: Heavenly Lava River

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Pang Chicheng, who had traveled a great distance to this realm, instantly figured out the identity of the man underneath thevake from the people¡¯s exmations.

    ¡°Get the hell out of there!¡±

    As he shouted, numerous wisps of his soul will swirled out like slithering me dragons, fusing into the fiery spell formations on the rocky inside of the volcano.

    RUMBLE!

    Dozens of different fiery spell formations burst into mes one after another as mysterious divine symbols came to form.

    Each and every divine symbol seemed to be vested with a unique profound truth of me power.

    By deriving enlightenment from just one of them, anyone who practiced me incantations would be able to enter the Saint domain.

    These fiery symbols had been vested with Pang Bo¡¯s lifetime understanding of me power.

    Every single one of them contained his heart-blood, and could interact with this volcano and even the entire Realm of Fire Spirit in a wondrous way!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Like zing butterflies, the divine symbols attempted to pass through the ward that separated thevake and the underground pce, then locate Nie Tian¡¯s soul aura and annihte him.

    FZZZ! FZZZ! FZZZ!

    However, as soon as the divine symbols fell and made contact with the ward, they were burned.

    They then had to return to thevake where they were safe.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron!¡± Pang Chicheng bellowed, staring into thevake with reddened, frenzied eyes.

    His me domain suddenly descended into thevake.

    As it did, countless fiery talismans, ming lines, earthme crystal strings, and mysterious spell formations swarmed into his domain.

    Part of the wonders his father had vested this ce with seemed to be sucked into his domain.

    Since this was the ce where he had practiced cultivation in his early years, he knew everything about it.

    Watching the divine symbols released by the fiery spell formations his father had left behind being stopped by the ward, he instantly realized something.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was warding him off!

    However, his father had left this divine tool for him, no one else.

    One of the reasons why he had returned to the Realm of Fire Spirit was because he was hoping to break through into the God domain with the help of the profound spell formations and immense me power in this ce.

    Another reason was that he aspired to finally take the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron into his own hands after he entered the God domain, and use that level five Immortal grade divine tool to awe all of the fire element sect elders.

    He had never expected that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, which had its own will, would help a stranger against him!

    Anyone who wasn¡¯t him that entered the pce was a stranger, no matter who it was!

    For his father had left everything in that pce for him, and only him!

    ¡°Pang Chicheng, I¡¯ve heard stories about you for years.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s calm, unhurried voice came from the underground pce. ¡°Thanks to the fact that you were cornered in the Shatter Battlefield and gave up the me Dragon Armor to save yourself, I was able to get its Blood Core. That Blood Core helped me a lot when I was a child. In a way, it helped make me who I am.¡±

    SHEW!

    Under Pang Chicheng¡¯s amazed gaze, a streak of crimson mes shot up from the depths of the earth.

    It passed through thevake in the blink of an eye, and came to a stop in the sky over the volcano,pletely ignoring the fiery spell formations on the inside of the crater.

    The five Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect, along with Peng Yan, couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    d in the me Dragon Armor, Nie Tian seemed to be bathed in fire like a true god of mes, his aura so fierce that it matched that of Pang Chicheng¡¯s, who was still in thevake.

    ¡°Young Lord!¡± Fu Huan cried out. ¡°That man... That man¡¯s aura! He came from that pce indeed! But master left that pce and everything in it for you!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard your name on various asions as well!¡± Pang Chicheng said, his eyes reddened and wide. ¡°I persuaded Wu Zhuri from the Domain of Primal Yang to rise up against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but you screwed things up for us. You stood in my way at every turn! Even the Thunder Devil, Yuan Jiuchuan, was almost killed because of you!¡±

    Nie Tian bowed slightly with a cold smile on his face. ¡°It¡¯s my honor that you¡¯ve heard about and are able to remember me.¡±

    Pang Chicheng let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°So you¡¯ve seen the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Of course I have.¡±

    ¡°That me Dragon Armor...¡± Pang Chicheng said, with tiny fiery sparks condensing in the depths of his eyes. ¡°Its great secret is intended for me! I killed Lou Hongyan and took the me Dragon Armor because it should belong to me!¡±

    ¡°My master forged the me Dragon Armor for me!¡± Lou Hongyan thundered.

    Pang Chichengughed coldly. ¡°For you? The me Dragon Armor¡¯s great secret doesn¡¯t lie with the armor itself or the Blood Core, which is Agaz¡¯s heart. Its great secret lies with the arcane realm it connects to! My father held the key to entering that arcane realm, andter gave it to Shao Tianyang. Who would have thought Shao Tianyang would forge it into the me dragon, along with Agaz¡¯s bones and heart?

    ¡°My father left that key for me!

    ¡°You, and you! Neither of you deserve to own the me Dragon Armor!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    A heaven-shaking, earth-toppling aura madly built up within Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain.

    Observed from afar, his domain seemed to turn into a boilingvake!

    Peng Yan¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°His saint domain was forged with thisvake as the blueprint. It¡¯s a wondrousbination of me power and soul will. I suppose this means he can draw as much power as he likes from this volcano, itsvake, and the spell formations the former sectmaster left in it.¡±

    Pang Chicheng let out a cunningugh. ¡°Of course!¡±

    In the next moment, rivers of burningva shot from within his me domain.

    They seemed to be the essence extracted from thatvake. Fine crimson earthme crystal strings could be seen looming inside of them.

    ¡°Heavenly Lava River! Burn!¡±

    As Pang Chicheng eximed, numerousva rivers spread through the sky like crimson burning gxies, releasing ultimate light and heat.

    Soon, they interwove into a gigantic fiery spell formation in midair.

    As soon as the spell formation came to form, the volcanoes throughout the Realm of Fire Spirit seemed to be shaken. Immediately afterwards, pure me power poured in from all directions.

    People looked up, and saw that the heavens seemed to be veiled by a curtain of fierce mes.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered as he couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°Such terrifying me power! It¡¯s almost as profound as that of a God domain expert! I can¡¯t believe Pang Chicheng, who¡¯s at thete Saint domain, can actually raise his power to such a level with the help of thevake and fiery spell formations here!¡±

    Peng Yan smiled bitterly. ¡°That¡¯s because our former sectmaster left all of this power for him, and he¡¯s the only one who can draw from it!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Theva rivers that were floating high in the heavens suddenly started to rain fire on everyone.

    FZZZ!

    Touched by the burning droplets, even Peng Yan¡¯s me domain started to burn in an unusual manner.

    Many others summoned Spirit Channeling grade treasures to ward off the ming rain.

    DRIP!

    A burning droplet fell on Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder, and immediately started burning fiercely.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. Bearing the pain, he cast bloodline magics in an attempt to put the fire out. However, he discovered that it would cost him a great amount of flesh power just to put out this single droplet of fire.

    After a quick attempt, he was forced to form protective wards with the help of the me Dragon Armor to shield off the burning rain.

    Each and every raindrop seemed to be a droplet of burningva that contained strong corrosive power and a vicious aura.

    Nie Tian frowned and shot a nce at Peng Yan, who was in a plight protecting himself. ¡°Did Pang Bo derive his fire incantations fromva? This power fromva seems to be hard to control and a bit unorthodox. Did your former sectmaster pass these kinds of truths of me power to him?¡±

    ¡°No, our former sectmaster¡¯s fire incantations merged all kinds of fire, with a focus on earthme and heavenme,¡± Peng Yan exined. ¡°Pang Chicheng found his own path, and focused on the me power withinva. It seems to have redeeming qualities as long as he uses it to do good. But who would have thought he...¡±

    ¡°No! Wait!¡± Nie Tian eximed. ¡°That¡¯s bloodline power! Like me, Pang Chicheng is also a hybrid!¡±

 Chapter 1331: A So-Called Cultivation Genius

    The people present wereboriously bathed in theva rain, but still couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°What?!¡±

    How was that possible?

    Pang Chicheng, who had lived in the Realm of Fire Spirit for many years and was once regarded as the hope of the fire element sect, with a talent better than Lou Hongyan, was actually a hybrid?

    Had he got some outsider¡¯s blood in his body?

    Pang Bo had fought the outsiders and been hated by all the outsider races, but he had actually gotten involved with a female outsider and given birth to Pang Chicheng?

    ¡°No way¡± Peng Yan shook his head. ¡°How is that possible? How could the old sectmaster, who hated outsiders more than anyone, possibly do that?¡±

    Lou Hongyan was also stunned. ¡°Impossible! How is that possible?¡±

    The other Divine Sons and Divine Daughters who used their domains and wards made by their weapons to stop the fiery rain from touching them, also stared eagerly at Nie Tian.

    They wanted Nie Tian to give them an exnation.

    ¡°It is bloodline power!¡± Nie Tian told them this fact in a very firm tone. ¡°I¡¯m sure of it! His unique bloodline is a natural fit for theva fire, and can use the magma, melt it, and strengthen bodies! I have the keenest feeling for special outsider bloodlines in the world!

    ¡°No matter how he conceals it or disguises it, he cannot hide it from me!

    ¡°He¡¯s a hybrid like me! His bloodline has something to do with theva fire!¡±

    Nie Tian stared at Pang Chicheng and shouted, ¡°Am I right?¡±

    Pang Chicheng justughed.

    However, at this time, when people took a closer look, they noticed that Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain and theva pool had merged, and his whole body seemed to have sunk to the point where he was thoroughly immersed in the magma.

    This was his fleshly body, unprotected by anything!

    His me domain hung a little above his head.

    He didn¡¯t use any spirit energy to form a protective shield, or establish a me power shield to absorb the power of theva pool.

    His body was directly immersed in the pool, with his skin touching theva.

    The human race was famous for their weak fleshly bodies. It was impossible for cultivators toe into direct contact withva without the use of spirit energy, except for cultivators who practiced special body-refining techniques like Yin Yanan.

    While humans couldn¡¯t do that, outsiders could!

    It was especially easy for those with special bloodlines whose bodies had been specially refined.

    For instance, the current Pang Chicheng!

    Hou Chn observed him for a few seconds before she took a deep breath and said, ¡°Without any spirit energy barrier, his body is immersed in theva pool! He is washing himself with the fire from theva pool, and using his body to absorb the me power to refine his... bloodline!¡±

    ¡°Hybrid!¡± Lin Yaoyao eximed.

    Peng Yan hesitated before muttering quietly, ¡°Looks like this may actually be true. The old sectmaster never said who Pang Chicheng¡¯s mother was, and no one has ever seen her. During hister years, when he returned from a trip, he brought Pang Chicheng back to the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    ¡°No one knows who the old sectmaster married.

    ¡°We were also curious and asked him about her. We wanted to see if the fire element sect could take care of her and her family after his death, but the old sectmaster was vague, and avoided answering those questions.

    ¡°So...¡± Even though Peng Yan was muttering to himself, his voice wasn¡¯t low. His expression, his manner, and the surprise in his eyes showed that his belief was wavering.

    ¡°It can¡¯t be wrong,¡± Nie Tian reaffirmed. ¡°His bloodline must have awoken veryte. I can sense that his body is still not strong enough. Also, there¡¯s one more thing...¡±

    If he wanted to mobilize me Dragon Armor¡¯s power and enter the magicalnd where the titans was buried, he would need his flesh power.

    Pang Chicheng hadn¡¯t entered it after taking the me Dragon Armor into his possession, which meant that his bloodline hadn¡¯t been awakened when he had abandoned the me Dragon Armor to save himself.

    Perhaps even Pang Chicheng himself did not know that he had a special bloodline before it had awakened.

    But because of the existence of his bloodline, he was still instinctively inclined to practice cultivation in theva pool, andprehended the great truths of his incantations in a direction that was different from his father¡¯s to make breakthroughs in his cultivation.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Pang Chichengughed wildly again and said to Nie Tian, ¡°You should know that with me Dragon Armor, one still needs his flesh aura to enter that specialnd. I was not able to take advantage of it to enter that ce and get the legacies, but everything will change today. I¡¯ll retake the me Dragon Armor and gain ess to thatnd!¡±

    His words indirectly admitted his identity ¡ª a hybrid!

    ¡°It¡¯s true!¡± Huang Jinnan was taken aback. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect our Five Elements Sect to have sessful hybrids long, long ago! No wonder, no wonder everyone says that you, Pang Chicheng, have a unique talent for cultivation, and you¡¯re one of the most transcendent figures that has ever appeared in the fire element sect¡¯s history.¡±

    Hou Chn sighed. ¡°What a pity...¡±

    It had been a long time since they had entered the sect, and they had heard some things from their seniors.

    Almost all the sect elders of the Five Elements Sect, including their respective masters, couldn¡¯t avoid mentioning a person who had been expelled when evaluating the cultivation talent of the Divine Sons and the Divine Daughters.

    It was Pang Chicheng!

    ording to the senior members, Pang Chicheng¡¯s talent was the most outstanding.

    If he had had a kinder heart and concentrated on cultivation instead of making so much trouble, he would have been able to reach the God domain within a short time!

    In fact, everyone felt that his speed at reaching the God domain would be the fastest in the history of the fire element sect, and even the Five Elements Sect.

    Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, Hou Chn, and the others had been indignant and reluctant to ept this.

    Now as Pang Chicheng returned, he was at thete Saint domain and about to break through to the God domain. This had already proved his outstanding cultivation talent.

    After all, he hadn¡¯t had the help of the sect¡¯s training resources, or Shao Tianyang¡¯s careful teaching. In addition, he had had to hide himself.

    But even under these circumstances, he still had such a cultivation base and aplishments. This showed how terrifying his talent was.

    ¡°So, he¡¯s a hybrid.¡± Huang Jinnan murmured to himself, ¡°I just wonder which outsider his bloodline came from. She wouldn¡¯t be some grand monarch outsider, would she? For she was able to win the heart of the old sectmaster of the fire element sect, and secretly had a baby with him despite their racial barriers?¡±

    Hearing his words, the people present couldn¡¯t help but think hard about whether there was a female outsider expert proficient in me power who had mastered and refinedva fire into her bloodline in the era during which Pang Bo lived.

    It was a pity that the era was far too remote for them. They couldn¡¯t imagine who it was.

    ¡°You¡¯vee back to be immersed in theva pool because you want to strengthen your body with the boilingva and integrate it into your bloodline, right?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s train of thought became more and more smooth as he continued, ¡°But it¡¯s still very risky for you to break through to the God domain. You¡¯re also worried and scared, so you¡¯vee here to improve your awakened bloodline as much as you can and strengthen your body one more time.

    ¡°Your saint domain has been built based on thisva pool. Your bloodline absorbs the power of theva fire, giving you more confidence so you can have a better chance of sessfully reaching the God domain.

    ¡°After reaching the God domain, you¡¯ll get the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and take control of the fire element sect and the Realm of Fire Spirit while Shao Tianyang¡¯s not here.¡±

    With a cunning smile, Pang Chicheng said, ¡°Yes. As expected of a figure who gained fame throughout the starry river, and outshone Sikong Cuo and all the other Sons of the Stars. Unfortunately, I¡¯m here, and you have my me Dragon Armor!¡±

 Chapter 1332: The Fire Element Sect Changes Hands

    BOOM! BOOM!

    In the south of the Realm of Fire Spirit, there was a sudden thundering, mixed with howls.

    ¡°Li Yu!¡± Peng Yan paled dramatically, and hurried to take a closer look with fixed attention. Then he took out a sound bracelet to contact Li Yu. ¡°How did it go? Have you spread word of the upheaval in our sect?¡±

    There was no response from the sound bracelet.

    Lou Hongyan looked shocked, and used secret spells to contact one of the elders of the fire element sect who had left.

    Unfortunately, there was no response.

    Fu Huan snorted and said coolly, ¡°Those people are too stubborn, and don¡¯t deserve to stay in the fire element sect. The new fire element sect will be the strongest among the five sects under the leadership of our young master!¡±

    Pang Chichengughed wildly. ¡°Stop wasting your time and energy. I will imprison or behead all the elders and disciples of the fire element sect who refuse to submit.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    A blinding sh of lightning came from the distant sky.

    Nie Tian gave it a look and said with a sneer. ¡°Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s him again.¡±

    Afternding and seeing Nie Tian, Yuan Jiuchuan reacted in a more surprised way. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    The Thunder Devil had officially reached thete Saint domain. As for Zheng Yi of the lightning element sect, since there was no news of him, he had probably been killed by Yuan Jiuchuan.

    ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan, congrattions. Zheng Yi is dead, isn¡¯t he?¡± Nie Tian asked with a half-smile.

    ¡°Damn it! Why have I run into you again? Every time I run into you, nothing good happens!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said, flustered and exasperated. ¡°Did Mo Qianfan of the Heavenly Thunder Sect reach the God domain with your help? When will you stop ruining my ns?¡±

    ¡°Thunder Devil!¡±

    Several Divine Sons and Divine Daughters suddenly noticed that Yuan Jiuchuan had a very obscure, deep fear when he saw Nie Tian, like a mouse seeing a cat.

    Lin Yaoyao found this strange, and thought to herself, ¡°The Thunder Devil is at thete Saint domain. He is ruthless and ferocious, and has been notorious in the human world for many years. He¡¯s killed lots of people, but why does he behave this way when he sees Nie Tian?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan was notorious for his crimes. Everyone knew he had a high cultivation base and outstanding strength. When he had first arrived, he had looked very arrogant, but now...

    ¡°Old Yuan, have you taken care of the man you chased?¡± Pang Chicheng asked.

    ¡°Yes. He has been imprisoned by my lightning power. He cannot die or break free from my grip now,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan answered casually, then fixed his eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°Why have youe to the Realm of Fire Spirit? Let me be clear. I don¡¯t want to have a conflict with or fight you anymore. Just don¡¯t interfere with my affairs from now on!¡±

    Pang Chicheng snorted. ¡°Thunder Devil! What do you mean?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan turned his head and said to Pang Chicheng, ¡°It¡¯s your personal affair to deal with the fire element sect. I didn¡¯t receive any orders. Considering that you helped me in the space disruption zone, I agreed toe and help. However, I won¡¯t fight Nie Tian. You need to leave him to others.¡±

    Hearing this, Chicheng frowned tightly. ¡°You are actually afraid of him?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan tried to argue. ¡°No, it¡¯s just that I... don¡¯t want to fight him.¡±

    Every time he met with Nie Tian, he couldn¡¯t benefit from anything. Thest few times, he had been suppressed by Nie Tian.

    Moreover, every time he saw Nie Tian again, he had be stronger and more unfathomable.

    Gradually, he had developed a slight fear of him.

    He had paid close attention to news about Nie Tian. He had been even more rmed when he had heard of Nie Tian¡¯s shocking deeds in the Domain of Spirit Sea, the Domain of Dark Marsh, and the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    Now, he had met Nie Tian again in the fire element sect, and suddenly became cowardly.

    Even though Nie Tian was seemingly much weaker than he was, and he had sessfully broken through to thete Saint domain with Zheng Yi¡¯s ¡°help¡±, he was still scared.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Violent rumbles came from every corner of the Realm of Fire Spirit, including numerous volcanoes and other ces for cultivation.

    After a while, several senior members of the fire element sect who were at the Saint domain or thete Void domain appeared one after another. Even their auras had an ancient feeling to them.

    When they arrived, they stood silently beside Fu Huan.

    Peng Yan was in a daze before he suddenly understood what was going on. He snapped, ¡°You, you...!¡±

    Fu Huan tilted his chin slightly and said, ¡°They have always been loyal to the young master. Like me, they think he is the fire element sect¡¯s hope. Peng Yan, unlike you, they all remember the old sectmaster¡¯s kindness, and don¡¯t dare to forget it for even a second. As for Shao Tianyang, I¡¯m sorry, but they have no gratitude towards him.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned, sensing the Realm of Fire Spirit¡¯s great changes. Listening to the conversation between Fu Huan and Peng Yan, he knew that the fire element sect might likely experience a disaster before Shao Tianyang returned.

    Pang Chicheng was immersed in theva pool, washing his body and strengthening his bloodline with its power.

    At this moment, he was no longer hiding. The auraing from his body wasn¡¯t spiritual power, but bloodline power, which was unique to outsiders.

    ¡°Why are you not leaving?!¡± Peng Yan thundered.

    He meant Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and the other Divine Sons and Divine Daughters.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Pu Yangbai of the earth element sect said to Lin Yaoyao, ¡°We need to inform the elders of other realms about the changes here as soon as possible, and let them decide what to do.¡±

    Pang Chicheng said, ¡°You won¡¯t be able to leave the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    At this moment, the giant figure of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society emerged from the distant sky like a giant floating ghost, as if he had activated his dharma idol. ¡°All the space teleportation portals in the Realm of Fire Spirit connecting to the outside world have been destroyed, or are under our control.¡±

    Pang Chicheng chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s good. Leave me the Son of the Stars from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. As for the other Divine Sons and Divine Daughters, catch them. I want them alive. As for Elder Peng Yan, it¡¯s up to you. I don¡¯t care whether he lives or dies.¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    One by one, Saint domain experts belonging to different sects who were dressed in colorful clothes flew over from different directions, Ren Yuanji of the Death Curse Sect among them.

    They had also arrived in the Realm of Fire Spirit with Fu Huan¡¯s help.

    They did note here at the first moment. However, in other areas of the Realm of Fire Spirit, they had worked with the elders of the fire element sect who had long since surrendered, killing some people of the fire element sect who disobeyed them and destroying the teleportation portals to prevent people from other realms from entering during this period of time.

    Their presence meant that the Realm of Fire Spirit and the fire element sect were almost entirely under their control.

    Huang Jinnan took a look and felt increasingly frustrated and helpless. ¡°There are more Saint domain experts! Will we and the fire element sect be...¡±

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s body blended into his saint domain of me again. ¡°Nie Tian is mine! It¡¯s time the me Dragon Armor returned to the hands of its true owner!¡±

    He raised his hand and beckoned, and many spell formations on the red rock walls burst forth with fiery light.

    The power of the fire spell formations enhanced his power, turning the hand he used to summon the me Dragon Armor into a giant ma to specially absorb the me Dragon Armor.

    The me Dragon Armor actually broke away from Nie Tian!

 Chapter 1333: Nether Spiritsâ€™ Natural Bane

    ¡°Stay!¡±

    Just as the me Dragon Armor was about to fly away from him, Nie Tian held it down with a swift move.

    ¡°Master, the fiery spell formations that are carved into the armor are interacting with the ones in the volcano!¡± Agaz¡¯s urgent soul whisper echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Nie Tian looked down with rapt attention, and noticed that the suit of armor was covered in spell formations that were very simr to those carved on the inside of the volcano.

    The me Dragon Armor had been forged by Shao Tianyang. Pang Bo was Shao Tianyang¡¯s master.

    It made sense that the fiery spell formations Pang Bo had left here to protect that underground pce could trigger great changes in the spell formations on the me Dragon Armor, and force it to move towards Pang Chicheng.

    ¡°So this is because of those fiery spell formations!¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t you return to my ring of holding.¡±

    As a thought entered his mind, the me Dragon Armor vanished from underneath his hand.

    After it returned to his ring of holding, he sent in a wisp of soul awareness to examine it, and discovered that the fiery spell formations on the me Dragon Armor quieted down as soon as it entered the space inside the ring.

    The inside of the ring of holding was an isted space.

    Even the fiery spell formations Pang Bo had left couldn¡¯t go beyond the spatial barrier to affect the me Dragon Armor inside under Pang Chicheng¡¯s control.

    Seeing the unfavorable turn of events, Huang Jinnan no longer hesitated. ¡°Let¡¯s split up and get out of here!¡±

    With these words, he morphed into a streak of golden lightning that shot towards the realm barrier of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Hou Chn and the other Divine Sons and Daughters also shot into the heavens after giving Nie Tian meaningful looks.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Hou Chn¡¯s soul message entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind. ¡°All of the teleportation portals in the Realm of Fire Spirit must have been destroyed. We can only rely on our own strength to leave the Realm of Fire Spirit now. The grand spell formation protecting the Realm of Fire Spirit won¡¯t stop us Divine Sons and Daughters from leaving.

    ¡°As for you, perhaps you can return to that underground pce.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to inform the other sects of the upheaval in our sect. Only if our experts from the wood element sect, metal element sect, earth element sect, and water element secte here together will we be able to put an end to this.¡±

    Hou Chn shot into the heavens as wisps of her soul messages lingered in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    All of a sudden, Peng Yan was the only expert left.

    ¡°They¡¯re for you to capture!¡± Pang Chicheng said loudly.

    Upon hearing his words, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, Ren Yuanji, and the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan flew after the five Divine Sons and Daughters, along with the experts from other evil human sects and the fire element sect experts who had turned traitor.

    Peng Yan, however, stood in ce,pletely motionless.

    ¡°The me Dragon Armor is mine. Since you refuse to return it, I have to kill you!¡±

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain unfolded with a loud rumble. The might of his domain, which now looked like a boilingvake, seemed to rise to a whole new level.

    ¡°Those fiery spell formations,va essence, and the divine symbols Pang Bo left here...¡±

    Nie Tian instantly realized that the might of Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain had only been boosted because it had benefited a great deal from its merging with thevake of this volcano.

    This was exactly what his father, Pang Bo, had intended.

    ¡°Earthme Spell Formation!¡± As he eximed, the sprinkling rain of fire suddenly turned into a storm. At the same time, the Heavenly Lava Rivers floating over Nie Tian experienced new changes.

    One by one, they seemed to morph into huge burning whips that mmed towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°Domain!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a snort as his me, star, and wood power burst forth simultaneously, his unique void domain forming in an instant.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The long burning whips mmed into Nie Tian¡¯s domain, causing numerous stars in his star domain, which formed the outermost part of his void domain, to go dim.

    Then, the power of the burning whips spread to the second defense, his me domain, which was abination of his me power and the me spark¡¯s power. As soon as that happened, the orange-red me spark lit up.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    For some reason, the might of the long whips that had transformed from the Heavenly Lava Rivers was greatly reduced the moment they entered Nie Tian¡¯s me domain.

    The orange-red me spark flew around swiftly in his me domain, as if to capture and devour fiery strings that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see with his eyes, but could sense with his soul.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The earthme crystal strings that have been fused into theva river!¡±

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Pang Chicheng¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he took a deep look at Nie Tian¡¯s me domain and the dashing orange-red me spark within it. ¡°That aura... It¡¯s the aura of the Divine me that burned down the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    He somehow managed to determine the origin of the me spark upon seeing it.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly jerked his head up.

    High in the heavens, a ghostly talisman that looked like the face of an evil spirit rapidly expanded, conjuring a frightening spell.

    ¡°Domain Shatter!¡± Ren Yuanji cried out.

    Peculiar magical symbols spread out to enter the domains of Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, and the other Divine Sons and Daughters like countless tadpoles.

    As soon as the tadpole-like magical symbols appeared in their domains, their domains shattered into pieces with a boom, and couldn¡¯te back together again.

    Unable to reform their domains, the Divine Sons and Daughters were dumbstruck high in the sky, and didn¡¯t dare to fly towards the realm barrier anymore. They could only stay there while the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society and the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan came to capture them.

    Human cultivators had to reach the Void domain or higher if they wanted to travel in the starry river.

    Without domains, they would be exposed to the deadly toxins and impurities in the starry river. If that happened, their fleshly bodies would perish within a short time. They would die soon even though they weren¡¯t facing any enemies.

    Now, since they couldn¡¯t reform their domains, the five Divine Sons and Daughters didn¡¯t dare to enter the starry river.

    With a gruesome smile, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society cast a secret soul-capturing magic. ¡°Come down now.¡±

    At the same time, his dharma idol morphed into a huge soul shadow that took up arge portion of the sky.

    As soon as this happened, thousands of ear-piercing screeches echoed through the seas of awareness of the five Divine Sons and Daughters.

    They hastily covered their ears, but it didn¡¯t help. Countlessher spirits seemed to have swarmed into their heads to capture and pull their true souls out of their seas of awareness.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Huang Jinnan cried for help. ¡°Help us! I know you can!¡±

    Lin Yaoyao from the water element sect screamed in pain. Numerousher souls could be seen swarming in the depths of her pupils.

    It appeared that her true soul had been captured, and was about to be pulled out of her sea of awareness.

    ¡°C-can Nie Tian really help us?¡± she thought to herself in a half-muddled state. ¡°How can he possibly break this secret soul magic of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society?¡±

    ¡°The Nether Spirit Society?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin as he released the Spirit Pearl before Pang Chicheng couldunch another attack.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl dashed off from over his head. As it was about to reach Huang Jinnan, strong hope filled his wide eyes.

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Huang Jinnan eximed.

    Lou Hongyan and Hou Chn were struggling to stay afloat. However, their eyes also lit up as soon as they saw the iing Spirit Pearl.

    Clearly, all three of them were convinced that the Spirit Pearl would set them free from the soul-capturing magic of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Pu Yangbai and Lin Yaoyao, however, didn¡¯t understand why those three looked as if they had seen a life-saver upon seeing the Spirit Pearl.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society gasped. ¡°Spirit Pearl!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew out of the pearl, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws.

    As soon as they did, the countlessher spirits the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had released let out panicked screeches that only he could hear, even though some of them couldn¡¯t even see.

    This was a kind of fear towards a natural bane!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods opened their huge mouths and forcefully sucked in air towards the five Divine Sons and Daughters.

    Then, all of theher spirits swarming in their seas of awareness flew out into the five evil gods¡¯ mouths, as if they were pieces of metal attracted to mas.

    Not one of them escaped.

    However, the five evil gods seemed unsatisfied after devouring all of thoseher spirits. Laying their eyes on the dharma idol of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society simultaneously, they flew into the dark soul shadow, letting out bloodcurdling screeches as they did.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society started wailing in agony right away.

 Chapter 1334: Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had formed his dharma idol by refining and mixing hundreds of thousands ofher spirits with his soul awareness.

    All of the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s secret magics, soul spells, and spiritual incantations had profound connections to the Phantasms, and that Spirit Pearl of Nie Tian¡¯s happened to be a precious treasure of the Phantasms.

    Plus, it had absorbed the other two Spirit Pearls.

    AHHH!!

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, who was at the early God domain, let out a sharp, bloodcurdling scream.

    His scream pierced into people¡¯s seas of awareness, causing them to feel numb in their scalps.

    He was the only one here whose cultivation base had reached the God domain.

    It was only natural that his soul-stirring scream rmed everyone present.

    All those who were fighting, including Nie Tian and Pang Chicheng, stayed their hands upon hearing the sharp scream.

    Their gazes shot towards the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society like lightning bolts.

    They saw that, under the attack of the five evil gods, the dharma idol of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society seemed to suddenly break apart.

    It seemed to everyone that his dharma idol was being torn to pieces, and the five evil gods were feasting on it.

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he saw this. ¡°Thunder Devil!¡±

    Reminded by his exmation, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society seemed to see hope, then he cried out, ¡°Yuan! Come help me destroy that pearl and annihte these soul-form beings!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, was well-versed in lightning incantations, which made him a natural bane to all spirit-form beings.

    Powerful Phantasms were also the most apprehensive about lightning power experts like him.

    Yuan Jiuchuan floated in the sky, with dazzling lightning bolts slithering around him like dragons. Each and every one of them was at hismand.

    However, he was clearly hesitant after hearing the requests of Pang Chicheng and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society. ¡°I...¡±

    That was because those five evil gods hade from within Nie Tian¡¯s Spirit Pearl, and he had made it clear that he didn¡¯t want to have any conflicts with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Yuan! All you need to do is take care of these spirit-form beings!¡± The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society shouted at the top of his lungs. ¡°I promise that I¡¯ll give you that thing you want from my sect if you do. You know that thing will be of great help to you when you attempt to advance to the God domain!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes lit up as he eximed, ¡°Okay!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    A thunderous rumble suddenly echoed from his lower abdomen.

    In the next moment, thousands of lightning bolts rapidly condensed into dazzling thunderballs in Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning domain.

    Each and every thunderball was filled with innumerable fine lightning wisps that carried his soul will. Together, they manifested the profound truths of lightning power, which were fatal to all evil spirits!

    ¡°Heavenly Thunder! Explode!¡±

    Numerous thunderballs shot towards the five evil gods simultaneously upon receiving Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s soul will.

    At the same time, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society roared and shrank his dharma idol as fast as he could.

    After shrinking into a streak of gray smoke, he flew off into the distance.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The thunderballs exploded one after another.

    Countless lightning wisps and blinding light engulfed the five evil gods like a sea.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Reappearing in a distant location, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society stared at the area that was engulfed in lightning and thunder with a vicious look in his eyes. ¡°Spirit-form beings will be either killed or badly wounded after being hit by powerful lightning and thunder, no matter how strong they are! You can¡¯t escape this unchangeablew. It doesn¡¯t matter what kind of spirits you are, or which powerful Phantasm made you!¡±

    Those who practice lightning power were a natural bane to spirits and souls. Everyone knew this.

    Pang Chicheng gave a cold snort. ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±

    Huang Jinnan and the others, who had just broken free from the restrictive spells of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society thanks to the five evil gods, looked deeply grim as they saw the Thunder Devilunch this attack against their saviors.

    ¡°No..." They were well-aware of how destructive Saint domain experts that practiced lightning power were to Phantasms.

    Even though Zheng Yi, the sectmaster of the lightning element sect, wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as the other sectmasters of the Five Elements Sect, he had proven to be a strong force when he had faced Phantasms. It was shocking how he was able to suppress the Phantasms¡¯ various soul magics.

    That was Zheng Yi. How about Yuan Jiuchuan, who had killed him and refined the lightning power he had spent his life umting?

    Watching the thunderballs explode one after another, engulfing the five evil gods in thunder and lightning, they seemed to be able to see what was going to happen to them: they would soon be imprisoned by the soul spells of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society again.

    ¡°Damn that Yuan Jiuchuan!¡± Lin Yaoyao cursed in a low voice.

    While everyone present assumed that Yuan Jiuchuan was going to turn the situation around by killing or at least inflicting severe damage on the five evil gods, the Thunder Devil himself eximed in shock. ¡°Wait!

    ¡°I knew it! I knew those beings released by that bastard Nie Tian can¡¯t be easily dealt with!¡±

    With these words, he forced a smile and turned to look at Nie Tian who was in the distance. ¡°Well... I didn¡¯t want to do this. It¡¯s just that...¡±

    HOWL!

    Suddenly, the five sinister evil gods emerged from the sea of lightning.

    The five of them seemed rather broken-down, with their skin ckened by the sky full of lightning and smoke rising from their nostrils.

    However, their auras weren¡¯t weakened in the slightest. Instead, they were as terrifying as they had always been!

    Enveloped in his me domain, which looked like avake, Pang Chicheng sucked in a breath of cold air. ¡°How is this possible? Those things flying out of the Spirit Pearl should be in spirit form, but why am I sensing flesh auras from them now?¡±

    By relying on his bloodline, he examined the five evil gods with rapt attention. Only then did he realize that the evil gods weren¡¯t in spirit form!

    They had actually developed fleshly bodies!

    Lightning power had been proved to be the bane of all spirit-form beings.

    However, once they developed fleshly bodies, lightning power wouldn¡¯t be able to pierce directly into their seas of awareness to annihte their souls.

    This was why the Thunder Devil panicked upon discovering that the five evil gods were actually protected by fleshly bodies.

    He realized that his profound mastery of lightning power probably wouldn¡¯t be able to help him kill these unfathomably mysterious beings with unknown origins.

    WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods turned simultaneously to fix their gruesome eyes on the Thunder Devil.

    As soon as the Thunder Devil¡¯s eyes met the evil gods¡¯, flickering lightning wisps appeared in the depths of his eyes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Numerous cyan wisp of lightning interacted in a profound way to form exquisite lightning formations to shield the Thunder Devil¡¯s mind tightly.

    However, after locking eyes with the evil gods for a short while, he still let out a muffled groan, his face turning pale.

    He had to adjust his breathing as he moved his arm with difficulty to cover his eyes.

    Waves of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust from the five evil gods continued to storm his mental defenses.

    He struggled to shield them off.

    The evil gods, however, no longer paid any attention to him. With their lower bodies immersed in Phantasm Qi-filled holes, they pounced towards the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society once again.

    It appeared that even all of the souls in the Realm of Fire Spiritbined weren¡¯t as appealing to them as the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    It was as if his dharma idol and god domain, which he had spent tens of thousands of years forging and refining, were irresistible delicacies to them.

    They were practically drooling!

    The strong desire in their eyes made the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society both angry and fearful.

    He didn¡¯t dare to activate his dharma idol anymore, or even his domain. Instead, he simply ran from the five evil gods in his true form.

    Huang Jinnan and the others felt relieved upon seeing this.

    However, the spells cast by Ren Yuanji, the sectmaster of the Death Curse Sect, were still preventing them from forming their domains so they could charge out of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Even so, they felt more relieved as the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society ran from the evil gods, and the Thunder Devil attempted to exin himself to Nie Tian with a wry smile.

    The spell Ren Yuanji had used to prevent them from forming their domains required channeling, even though he wasn¡¯t making any hand seals.

    This meant that even though they couldn¡¯t form their domains, Ren Yuanji couldn¡¯t attack them either.

    While running, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society barked, ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡±

    ording to their agreement, Pang Chicheng would deal with Nie Tian while they took care of Huang Jinnan and the other Divine Sons and Daughters.

    But now, by releasing his Spirit Pearl on him, Nie Tian was forcing him to run around in sore straits. Of course he was deeply upset about this. ¡°Kill Nie Tian now! If he dies, these things¡¯ might will at least be cut in half!¡±

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± Ren Yuanji also called out.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian became the key to this battle.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Waking up to the situation, Pang Chicheng spread his arms in his me domain.

    As soon as he did, the nearby volcanoes started interacting with him on a profound level, as if they were all his tomand now.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    As he eximed, all of the volcanoes erupted simultaneously, shooting zingva into the sky like reversed waterfalls.

    Theva rapidly joined to form a sea in the sky.

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain then rose up to merge with the sea of burningva.

    Countless crimson divine symbols and talismans could be seen in the sea ofva and his me domain. Like me Crystals, they were translucent and sparkling, as if they contained endless wonders.

    ¡°My domain is the melting pot, while all living beings are its fuel. Burn!¡±

    As Pang Chicheng roared, his me domain, which had be one with the sea of burningva, started morphing, countless divine symbols within it bursting forth with divine light.

    Momentster, the heaven-blocking sea of zingva morphed into a huge illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron!

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian was instantly sucked into the sky and devoured by it.

    Peng Yan turned pale with fright. ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation! It¡¯s powered by Pang Chicheng¡¯s domain together with the divine fiery symbols left by the former sectmaster! Even though hecks the actual Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron for the soul of the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation, he still managed to activate it!¡±

    Lou Hongyan gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation!¡±

    Hou Chn¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that even though he doesn¡¯t have his father¡¯s Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he managed to activate this spell formation with his own domain and the divine symbols left here by his father! This is terrible. Nie Tian has been sucked into the spell formation. Will he be burned to death in there?¡±

 Chapter 1335: Tribulation

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Clusters of mes spewed from four different directions, engulfing Nie Tian.

    This was an independent space that seemed to be filled with raging fire!

    A flying me phoenix, a zing me dragon, an ancient me qilin, and a vermilion bird with intelligent eyes.

    The four fire-attributed beasts seemed to rule this heaven and earth together, as if they were the gods of this dimension.

    Nie Tian found himself floating in a seemingly-endless fiery void, where nond could be seen.

    Surrounding him were the four fire-attributed beasts, which continued to spew fire towards him.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation!¡±

    He looked around with rapt attention, and was surprised to discover that this unique heaven and earth was actually made of innumerable sparkling fiery symbols, crimson earthme crystal strings, and rivers of burningva.

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s aura gradually grew from faint to intense.

    BOOM!

    The numerous stars in his star domains, which were formed from thebination of his star power and Nine Stars Flower, suddenly went dim.

    The mes spewed by the me qilin, the me phoenix, the vermilion bird, and the me dragon carried me power mighty enough to burn down realms, along with everyone and everything in them.

    Nie Tian¡¯s domain was losing power at an rming rate as it resisted such strong me power.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Even the orange-red me spark seemed to be overwhelmed by raging mes of the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation, and started to flicker like a candle in the wind.

    ¡°Even the luxuriousnd at the core of my domain, where my wood power blends with the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches, is baked to the point where it¡¯s starting to crack.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s true self stood on that illusorynd. His expression grew grim as he watched the exuberant greennd go dry and crack.

    ¡°Such a powerful spell formation!¡±

    He hadmunicated with the actual Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, an Immortal grade divine tool, in the underground pce.

    From it, he had learned that the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation was the very spell formation it relied on to burn down realms and refine lives.

    If this spell formation was in Pang Bo¡¯s hands or the hands of another God domain expert, it could actually be used to incinerate realms, along with everything and everyone in them.

    After all, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation that was carved inside of it had been Pang Bo¡¯s creations.

    This spell formation Pang Chicheng was disying now wasn¡¯t activated with the help of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. Instead, he had created it by transforming his domain into an illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron that looked the same as the original, and then fusing it with the fiery formations and divine symbols his father had left here.

    Naturally, the might of this spell formation was far weaker than that of the original one that needed to be activated with the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    Even so, when it was used to target a person instead of a realm, it would still disy terrifying might.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pang Chicheng¡¯s wildugh rumbled out in this fiery heaven and earth.

    A huge face, which looked like the face of a god, gradually revealed itself in the depths of the void.

    It was Pang Chicheng¡¯s face, which was abination of his soul and me power. Disdain filled the face as he looked down at Nie Tian from a great height. ¡°So what if you¡¯re a Son of the Stars? As long as you¡¯re trapped inside my Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation, you¡¯ll end up being refined to death, no matter how strong or special you are.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where your bloodline originated from or what grade it hase to. You won¡¯t be able to survive this tribtion.

    ¡°I¡¯ve actually learned a lot about you. I know that you managed to frustrate the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s invasion of the Domain of Heaven Python and defeat the Jade Heaven Sect. However, that wasn¡¯t because you were strong enough to fight God domain experts personally.

    ¡°Instead, it was the wondrous incantations and magics you obtained from the heaven and earth the me Dragon Armor took you to that allowed you to do those things.

    ¡°However, that Ancientspirit burial ground the me Dragon Armor connects to, along with all of its secrets, should have been mine!

    ¡°You stole them from me! You¡¯ll die for it!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    A burning hand that wasrge enough to prop up heaven and earth came to form under Pang Chicheng¡¯s giant floating face.

    Then, it pressed down with great force, like a god that was going to crush a puny life.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The me phoenix, the vermilion bird, the me qilin, and the me dragon each breathed out a mouthful of ming flesh aura, which fused into the giant burning hand, vesting it with overwhelming power!

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s star domain and me domain barely held for a second before being crushed by the giant burning hand.

    Like numerous sparkling diamonds, burning divine symbols flew out from between the fingers of the giant hand. They converged on Nie Tian in an attempt to infiltrate his body and burn his internal organs.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, the illusorynd where the seventy-two tree branches had formed the Wood Thriving Formation, was enveloped in a misty cyan ward. But now, sparks kept sputtering from it, giving rise to cracking sounds.

    Finally, even the Wood Thriving Formation was crushed by the giant burning hand.

    Countless burning divine symbols filled the void like a rain of fire.

    AHHH!!

    Nie Tian let out pained cries as his skin was scorched by the falling divine symbols.

    Pieces of his skin were set on fire and turned ck.

    Soon, his whole body was engulfed in mes.

    ¡°Burn! Burn him from inside and outside! Burn him to ashes!¡± Pang Chicheng¡¯s nastyughs echoed in the crimson void.

    On the outside...

    The five evil gods were still chasing after the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, while Ren Yuanji continued to channel his spell to prevent Huang Jinnan and the others from forming their domains.

    Every time Peng Yan intended to make a move, he would be held down by Fu Huan and a few elders of the fire element sect.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, however, stayed in ce, and paid close attention to the area that was engulfed in mes, with a skeptical look in his eyes.

    In that area, Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain had morphed into an illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. Raging mes surged within the enormous cauldron, emanating intense me power and flesh power from time to time.

    That flesh power came from the divine beasts, as well as Nie Tian and Pang Chicheng.

    ¡°Burn! Burn!¡±

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s savageughs also echoed from within the illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, as if he wanted people on the outside to know that Nie Tian was trapped and being burned by him.

    Lin Yaoyao seemed lost as she stared nkly at the illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. ¡°Can the Five Elements Sect ride out this tribtion? Is Nie Tian going to perish in this tribtion, along with the fire element sect?¡±

    Over the years, as the Divine Daughter of the water element sect, she had heard Lou Hongyan, Hou Chn, and Huang Jinnan talk about Nie Tian on various asions.

    At first, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t really made his name. Not everyone knew about him.

    However, after hearing many stories of him turning the situation around and saving the day from Huang Jinnan and the others, she had gradually grown to worship him, which had then developed into adoration.

    After that, she had secretly gathered information about Nie Tian through different means.

    Even though she hadn¡¯t met him back then, she had been convinced that he must be a very special man. For that reason, she had rushed to the fire element sect upon learning that he wasing.

    She clenched her fist. ¡°Big Brother Nie Tian is going to be fine! He¡¯s turned many desperate situations around before. He¡¯ll do the same this time too!¡±

    Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect overheard her soft mutter. With an insidious expression, he said, ¡°Quit dreaming! As a hybrid, Nie Tian could have had a ce in the uing new era. Even Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect helped him and reached out to him more than once. However, he just refused to see sense.

    ¡°Because of this, he has to be eliminated. The Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation is known across the domains. It managed to burn a tenth grade grand monarch to ashes, leaving not a single drop of blood behind. How can Nie Tian survive it?¡±

    Deep down, Ren Yuanji couldn¡¯t wait for Nie Tian to die.

    Many from the secret force he belonged to, including Feng Beiluo, would hold information back every time Nie Tian¡¯s name was mentioned.

    This made him suspect that Nie Tian had major secrets.

    However, many from his sect and the Nether Spirit Society had died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands in the Domain of Nether Heaven.

    After that, Nie Tian had sabotaged their operations repeatedly, causing them to be held ountable by their force.

    This time, he had joined this operation as a favor to Pang Chicheng. This operation wasn¡¯t in the official n. However, who would have thought that they would encounter Nie Tian again?

    He truly hoped that Pang Chicheng would kill him!

    However, Yuan Jiuchuan who was in a further location thought to himself, ¡°Morons. Nie Tian, as the most special hybrid, has been repeatedly referred to by Feng Beiluo and the other important members as the most important link in our future. Feng Beiluo even killed a Demon grand patriarch for him in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    ¡°Even when our n in the Shatter Battlefield was sabotaged by Nie Tian and his master, Feng Beiluo simply let it slide.

    ¡°If Pang Chicheng and Ren Yuanji actually manage to kill Nie Tian, would Feng Beiluo and the other seniors...¡±

    The Thunder Devil pondered in silence.

    Fear was only part of the reason why he had expressed his intention to avoid conflicts with Nie Tian upon seeing him. Another reason was that he was aware that Feng Beiluo and the other senior members of the secret force he belonged to clearly had a special opinion about him.

    RUMBLE!

    A flesh aura that was as immense as the sea suddenly burst forth from within the illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian, who seemed to have expanded dozens of times over, simply burst the cauldron, Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain, from within and stuck out.

    bbergasted, the Thunder Devil eximed, ¡°Is... Is that a dharma idol?!¡±

 Chapter 1336: Such Power?!

    The Thunder Devil¡¯s face was twisted with shock.

    Not only him, but all of the others also focused their attention on the illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and the battle against Nie Tian and Pang Chicheng.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian split the huge illusory cauldron that had transformed from Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain from within, revealing himself in this enormous, majestic form. It naturally caught everyone¡¯s eyes.

    Like the Thunder Devil, the first thing that came to their mind was also the question: did Nie Tian enter the God domain?

    Hou Chn came to a sudden enlightenment. ¡°Wait! It¡¯s his outsider bloodline that allowed his body to expand so dramatically! And the aura he exudes seems to have rich wood power flowing in it, which reminds me of the Floragrims¡¯ legendary Heavenly Wood Heal spell, even though it¡¯s notpletely the same!¡±

    ¡°Such a special bloodline aura!¡± The Thunder Devil eximed softly.

    RUMBLE!

    As soon as Nie Tian burst from within the illusory Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron in his erged form, the enormous cauldron exploded into a sky full of fiery sparks, which rapidly dissipated.

    After all, it wasn¡¯t the really Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, but rather an illusion transformed from Pang Chicheng¡¯s domain.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Pang Chicheng panted heavily as he made hand seals to gather the raining sparks to reform his me domain.

    However, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t be able to disy the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation again.

    FIZZ!

    In his erged form, Nie Tian clutched the Star Behemoth bone in one hand, with his Blood Essence burning inside of him.

    He had gone into this form by first activating Life Strengthening and Blood Essence Seething, and thenbining his power with that of the Star Behemoth bone through Life Blend.

    In this form, he had fought Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms head-on!

    What he had used to break the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation was the Star Behemoth bone¡¯s bloodline talent: Domain Split.

    The Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation was a fiery arcane realm that Pang Chicheng had built with earthme crystal strings and the divine symbols Pang Bo had left behind.

    Domain Split happened to work best on spell formations like that.

    In his erged form, Nie Tian stood towering in front of Pang Chicheng and looked down on him like a heavenly god. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that you haven¡¯t entered the God domain and haven¡¯t gotten your hands on the real Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.¡±

    The situation was suddenly turned around!

    Just earlier, Pang Chicheng had looked down on Nie Tian like a deity, and suppressed him with the power of the four magical beasts in the illusory heaven and earth he had created.

    However, as soon as his spell formation was broken, their situation reversed, and Nie Tian looked down on him instead in the real world, as if he were looking at a puny insect.

    ¡°sh!¡±

    Nie Tian activated his life bloodline and ignited his Blood Essence to lift the bone in his hand.

    Then, like a crimson divine sword, the bone was brought down from the heavens and shed towards Pang Chicheng.

    FIZZ!

    A sword light split the sky like a bolt of lightning.

    It ripped through the remains of the shattered spell formation, including the earthme crystal strings andva rivers, like a de ripping through gauze.

    Even space revealed fine fissures as it shed past.

    ¡°Such power!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he couldn¡¯t help but back away from Nie Tian, fearing that he would be hurt.

    He felt that this strike contained enough power to inflict serious damage on a God domain expert, or cut a grand monarch!

    The fear in Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes grew stronger and stronger. ¡°He¡¯s be even stronger!¡±

    He started to think about whether he should find an excuse to leave the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    ¡°Such strong void-splitting power!¡± Huang Jinnan eximed. ¡°Has that guy¡¯s power reallye to such heights?¡±

    Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan, and Lin Yaoyao were also shocked. They felt that the might of Nie Tian¡¯s strike could match that of a God domain expert¡¯s!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The sword light stretched through the sky and shed Pang Chicheng¡¯s me domain, which he had just reformed, in half.

    AHH!

    Pang Chicheng screamed as he fell out of the sky, along with his mangled me domain.

    As soon as he fell into thevake of the volcano, he summoned fierce me power from theva and the fiery spell formations his father had left behind to fix his domain and cure his injuries.

    Everyone noticed the fine cuts on his face as he fell out of the sky.

    That made them understand that this heaven-shaking, earth-shattering strike from Nie Tian had inflicted severe damage on both his domain and himself!

    ¡°You!¡± Nie Tian let out a soft cry. His eyes glittered as hemunicated with the Spirit Pearl.

    The five evil gods that were chasing after the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society seemed to receive hismand, as two of them suddenly turned around and flew towards Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect.

    One of those two evil gods looked like a scary fish that lived in the depths of the sea, covered in thick scales and extremely violent.

    The other was like a skinny bony creature, whose hands were as sharp as des and inspired endless fear.

    Both of them were exceptionallyrge and sinister. They only approached Ren Yuanji, yet he was almost engulfed in negative emotions.

    Fear appeared in the depths of Ren Yuanji¡¯s eyes, where mysterious talismans flew out from time to time.

    The talismans flew towards the two evil gods, as if to stop them.

    However, they seemed to bepletely immune to the spells of the Death Curse Sect.

    Those talismans didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest effect on them.

    The evil god of fear swung its bony arm, sending out a sh of devilish cyan light. In the next moment, Ren Yuanji screamed in pain and stumbled backwards.

    ¡°My... my spells!¡±

    The spell he had been using to prevent the five Divine Sons and Daughters from forming their domains failed.

    Blood dripped from his whole body as he fled from the evil gods.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± He bellowed.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society thundered after him.

    Both of them were suffering a great deal from the five evil gods released by Nie Tian.

    However, Pang Chicheng was supposed to take care of Nie Tian.

    Pang Chicheng was focused on recovering with the power within thevake after returning to it.

    Therefore, he hoped that the Thunder Devil would help suppress the five peculiar evil gods, or stop them from attacking Ren Yuanji and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan!¡± he shouted.

    The Thunder Devil shrugged. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve got to go take care of some things. See you.¡±

    Then, in nonchnt manner, he morphed into a bolt of lightning that shot off into the distance, as if he were nothing more than an onlooker.

    The Saint domain experts from the evil sects, who had been asked to join this operation by Pang Chicheng, stood aghast. ¡°What?¡±

    Peng Yan was also dumbstruck.

    ¡°The Thunder Devil left just like that, as if nothing that¡¯s happening here concerns him?¡± Lin Yaoyao muttered, looking confused.

    ¡°The power confining me is gone!¡± Huang Jinnan tried to move around, and found that he could mobilize his spiritual power to form his domain again.

    Hou Chn quickly turned to Pu Yangbai and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go first?¡±

    Pu Yangbai nodded. Enveloping himself in his earth domain, he charged towards the starry river outside the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    At this moment, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was still running away from three evil gods, while Ren Yuanji had just suffered a heavy blow. No one could stop him.

    Without meeting any obstacles, he went through the fiery spell formation in the realm barrier and entered the starry river.

    As soon as he did, the expressions of the intruders that were in the Realm of Fire Spirit flickered.

    It was even more so with Fu Huan.

    ¡°Young Lord!¡± He shouted.

    All of a sudden, all of those who hade from other realms fixed their eyes on Pang Chicheng, and waited for his decision.

    The fact that Pu Yangbai had escaped meant that it wouldn¡¯t be long before Saint domain elders of the wood element sect, the metal element sect, the earth element sect, and the fire element sect got here.

    Even though they had destroyed all of the teleportation portals, those elders of the Five Elements Sect would be able to get here by passing through the protective grand spell formation that enveloped the Realm of Fire Spirit, as the five Divine Sons and Daughters could.

    If that happened, they would have to face many more enemies.

    Even now, they hadn¡¯t found a way to get rid of Nie Tian, this major troublemaker.

    Pang Chicheng pondered briefly. His me domain fused into thevake as he said, ¡°Go if you want. I¡¯ll stay in the Realm of Fire Spirit and break through into the God domain! No one will be able to hurt me as long as I¡¯m here! After I enter the God domain, I¡¯ll be able to enter the underground pce to take the actual Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. Then, I can still gain control of the fire element sect!¡±

    He seemed full of confidence.

    ring at Nie Tian in his erged form, he said through gritted teeth, ¡°I¡¯m bent on taking what my father left for me, including that me Dragon Armor!¡±

    With these words, he disappeared into the depths of thevake.

    RUMBLE!

    One fiery spell formation after another lit up on the inside of the volcano, and started operating madly.

    In the next moment, raging me power started converging from every corner of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

 Chapter 1337: Holing Up

    ¡°Alright! I¡¯ll see you soon!¡±

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society made his decision without any hesitation.

    WHOOSH!

    His dharma idol somehow split into tens of thousands of soul shadows.

    Like drifting clouds, they flew ethereally towards different parts of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    The three evil gods that had been chasing after him were suddenly confused, failing to locate his true soul.

    Seeing this, many of the Saint domain experts Pang Chicheng had invited from other domains turned to Fu Huan and shouted, ¡°Open up those teleportation portals! We need to leave now!¡±

    They were aware that it wouldn¡¯t be long before Saint domain experts from the metal element sect, wood element sect, earth element sect, and water element sect arrived.

    From the look of it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to get rid of Nie Tian now. While Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, had already left, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was also determined to leave.

    What other choices did they have?

    Fu Huan turned to Pang Chicheng. ¡°Young Lord?!¡±

    ¡°Go, Elder Fu,¡± Pang Chicheng said, full of confidence. ¡°You cane back after I break through into the God domain and gain control of the Realm of Fire Spirit!¡±

    ¡°Fine!¡± Fu Huan said, clenching his jaw.

    ¡°I... I¡¯m out of here too.¡± Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect said, covered in blood. As he turned around, the wounds on his chest burst open. Dark blood sprayed out to form a magical talisman in the sky.

    Emanating blood-colored light, the seal seemed to carry profound mysteries about space and eleration.

    ¡°You want to leave too?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin as he blurred into action.

    RUMBLE!

    Like a mountain peak that was thousands of meters high, he suddenly appeared over Ren Yuanji¡¯s head.

    The immense life force Nie Tian exuded after activating his life bloodline made even Ren Yuanji, the current sectmaster of the Death Curse Sect, tremble in fear.

    Back when they had been in the Domain of Nether Heaven, he had sealed arge region to trap Nie Tian and the others.

    At that time, he had secretly examined Nie Tian.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t had help back then, he would have been able to kill Nie Tian without any effort.

    Who would have thought that not even a century had passed, yet Nie Tian had already grown so strong that he could actually force the Thunder Devil and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society to retreat, and threaten his life now.

    ¡°Die!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence seethed as he swung the spear-like bone in his hand again.

    FIZZ!

    A sh of crimson divine light shot forth.

    Ren Yuanji¡¯s talisman-filled saint domain, which he activated in haste, burst, along with the countless bug-like magical symbols in them.

    As soon as his domain exploded, he, who had sustained injuries from the evil gods, let out a pained wail and ran for his life. Seeing this, the evil gods of fear and rage flew after him.

    AHH!

    He released soul wisps to conjure a mysterious spell, hoping he could split up and escape as the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had.

    However, his attainments in soul magics weren¡¯tparable to those of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Before he could finish conjuring the spell, the evil gods opened their mouths and sucked all of his soul wisps in.

    Immediately afterwards, one of the evil gods sliced his body with his sharp bony hands.

    As bits of his flesh and blood sshed everywhere, his true soul flew out in an attempt to escape. However, it didn¡¯t even fly ten meters before another evil god opened itsrge mouth and devoured it.

    Just like this, the sectmaster of the Death Curse Sect, who was at thete Saint domain, was annihted.

    His death drove the others to despair.

    ¡°Ren Yuanji died!¡±

    ¡°Even he died in the Realm of Fire Spirit!¡±

    Needless for anyone to give them orders, they all ran for their lives.

    Instead of chasing after them, Hou Chn, Huang Jinnan, and the others stayed together and watched them flee in panic.

    Peng Yan didn¡¯t pay much attention to them either.

    All of them were paying close attention to the volcano, and every move Pang Chicheng made in it.

    After all, they had felt great changes in this heaven and earth the moment Pang Chicheng had descended into thevake. Now, me power was madly converging on this ce from every part of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    ¡°He¡¯s started his attempt to enter the God domain,¡± Hou Chn said with aplicated expression.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he sighed and said, ¡°God domain! That man is a rare talent indeed. He¡¯s not much older than Senior Brother Pu Yangbai. He doesn¡¯t have our sect¡¯s cultivation resources, and he¡¯s been hiding himself from ce to ce over the years. Despite all this, he managed to make his attempt to enter the God domain at this age.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s bound to be a formidable and ruthless character in the future if he doesn¡¯t die,¡± Lin Yaoyao said.

    ¡°He already is,¡± Hou Chn said, approaching her. Then, she looked up at Nie Tian in his erged form and added, ¡°But I¡¯m afraid this one is even more formidable.¡±

    Nie Tian swung the bone once again. ¡°Die, Pang Chicheng!¡±

    By activating its bloodline talent, he created a huge of interweaving blood-colored light, with which he hoped to shatter the volcano below.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Even more profound spell formations appeared on the rocky inside of the volcano. They gathered fierce me power to form multiple protective shields.

    Vested with Pang Bo¡¯s lifetime understanding of me power, the shields emanated waves of iparably violent power!

    BOOM!

    The of crimson light mmed into the shields, but failed to crush them as he had imagined.

    At the same time, he sensed wisps of unique auras rising from underneath thevake. The level five Immortal grade Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron seemed to have been activated as well.

    ¡°Let me try!¡±

    Lou Hongyan flew over, crimson ribbons flying from within her sleeves towards the fiery shields.

    A powerful force suddenly burst forth from within the shield, sting the Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools Shao Tianyang had forged for her into the sky.

    Lou Hongyan let out a muffled groan and quieted down.

    Hou Chn and Hou Chn knew better than to make attempts themselves. They took a look at the shields, and then turned to fix Peng Yan with inquiring gazes.

    Peng Yan shook his head. ¡°Nothing will work, unless Sectmaster Shao gets here himself... Our former sectmaster vested this volcano with far too many fiery spell formations and divine talismans. He made it as solid as a fortress with metal walls. And he did that so his son could break through into the God domain without being disturbed.

    ¡°Now, the day has finallye for the powerful grand spell formations within it to go to work.

    ¡°Even the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron has started helping Pang Chicheng from the underground pce as it had been instructed, so that no one will be able to sabotage his breakthrough into the God domain.

    ¡°At this moment, even if powerful experts from the other four sects get here, I doubt that they¡¯ll be able to affect Pang Chicheng.

    ¡°We can only hope that his knowledge of me power and experience are still insufficient, and his cultivation talent isn¡¯t remarkable enough to allow him to enter the God domain just yet. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid no one in the Five Elements Sect can ruin his breakthrough for him.¡±

    Huang Jinnan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°That senior of the fire element sect really doted on this son he had in hister years. It¡¯s a pity that he died before he could see what kind of person his son grew into.¡±

    As people discussed, Nie Tian was struck by a strong sense of weakness.

    WHOOSH!

    His enormous body shrank abruptly, and he returned to his true form within a short time. At the same time, the huge Star Behemoth bone shrank and returned to his ring of holding.

    He took a brief moment to examine himself, and discovered that he had consumed a considerable amount of Blood Essence, as well as the flesh power stored in his internal organs and bones.

    Even though his battle prowess soared through the sky when he was in his erged form, he couldn¡¯t stay in that form for too long.

    At least his current bloodline grade and flesh power umtion didn¡¯t allow him to do that yet.

    Furthermore, he also had a feeling that the fact that he was able to activate that form had a great deal to do with the Star Behemoth bone. Without its power, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to activate it at all.

    ¡°No one can tamper with his attempt to break through into the God domain?¡± He asked with a cold face.

    Peng Yan smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡±

    With a cold smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°I doubt it. Why don¡¯t you go retake the spatial teleportations in the Realm of Fire Spirit, so I can ask God domain experts, including Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Mo Qianfan, and Yu Suying, toe here together.

    ¡°I refuse to believe that even joined together, they won¡¯t be able to stop Pang Chicheng!¡±

    Peng Yan¡¯s eyes lit up as he heard these words. ¡°That might actually work!¡±

 Chapter 1338: Isolation

    ¡°Let¡¯s split up and do this!¡±

    With the help of the disciples and elders of the fire element sect that hadn¡¯t been incited to defection by Pang Chicheng, Peng Yan and the Divine Sons and Daughters went into action without dy.

    First, they had to regain control of the teleportation portals that connected the Realm of Fire Spirit to the outside world.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One after another, they left Nie Tian¡¯s side and flew off in different directions.

    Soon, Nie Tian became the only one left at this volcano where Pang Chicheng was holing up and making his attempt to enter the God domain.

    He summoned the Star Boat and sat down on it, looking rather exhausted.

    At this moment, the five evil gods returned to the Spirit Pearl from different directions.

    As the Spirit Pearl flew to him, he put out his hand, then it flew into his palm and vanished into his ring of holding.

    With the Star Boat floating right over the mouth of the volcano, Nie Tian gazed down.

    As a cultivator who also practiced fire incantations and had a me power spiritual core, he could sense that pure me power was converging on this location from every part of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    After being refined to the limit, some of the me power fused into the volcano in the form of fiery sparks that were visible to the naked eye.

    Nie Tian could see that the tremendous amount of me power was making the volcano increasingly solid, and the numerous fiery spell formations on its rocky inside increasingly powerful.

    ¡°Before, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron in the underground pce channeled me power from other realms through that curious spatial spell formation, so that the Realm of Fire Spirit would have a continuous supply of me power, and every part of the realm would be ideal cultivation locations for those who practice me incantations. Also for that reason, theva and earthme in the depths of the earth would grow more and more raging.

    ¡°But now, the mechanism has reversed.

    ¡°Wisp after wisp of me power is being channeled to thisvake from every corner of the Realm of Fire Spirit, as well as other fiery realms.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron is ying a crucial role in this. It¡¯s making all this happen. Its duty is Pang Bo¡¯s dying wish, which is to help Pang Chicheng enter the God domain.

    ¡°Once he enters the God domain, he¡¯ll gain control of this Immortal grade divine tool, and he¡¯ll be able to manipte the Realm of Fire Spirit with it.¡±

    A train of thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind as he sorted things through. After that, he prepared to leave through teleportation portals to get God domain experts toe help them frustrate Pang Chicheng¡¯s breakthrough.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, he noticed that a streak of zing fire shot across the heavens of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    A figure enveloped in golden light attempted to prate the grand spell formation in the realm barrier, but failed.

    The grand fiery spell formation seemed to be stopping him from entering.

    He knew that when Shao Tianyang had left, he had activated the grand spell formation in the realm barrier so that those who were unwanted wouldn¡¯t be able to enter the Realm of Fire Spirit while he was away.

    Even though that grand spell formation was weaker than the Nine Star Heavens of the Realm of Fragmentary Star, it should still be among the most powerful.

    Because of this, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, Yuan Jiuchuan, and the others had had to enter the Realm of Fire Spirit through teleportation portals with Fu Huan¡¯s help.

    The purpose of that grand spell formation was to protect the Realm of Fire Spirit from strangers.

    However, that figure enveloped in golden light was clearly a Saint domain expert who practiced metal power, probably a member of the metal element sect. Howe the grand spell formation was keeping him out?

    With this question in mind, he couldn¡¯t help but gaze into the heavens with rapt attention.

    Then, he realized that more and more experts that practiced metal power, wood power, earth power, and water power arrived.

    He even spotted Pu Yangbai among them!

    However, even he, who had left the Realm of Fire Spirit to inform the other sects, was kept out by the grand spell formation!

    WHOOSH!

    Elder Peng Yan flew over from the distance, looking grim.

    ¡°Strange changes have happened to the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation. It¡¯s keeping everyone out now.¡± With these words, he looked down at the boilingvake, as if he hoped to see into the underground pce at that Immortal grade divine tool. ¡°The spell formation Pang Chicheng used to deal with you earlier was called the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation, which is used to refine living beings.

    ¡°The realm-protecting spell formation that has been built into the realm barrier is called the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation.

    ¡°When it¡¯s activated, those who have its permission can still enter and exit the realm freely. For example, the disciples of the fire element sect, Divine Sons and Daughters of the other four sects, and other experts who had Sectmaster Shao¡¯s permission, will still be able to enter the Realm of Fire Spirit after the grand spell formation is activated.

    ¡°But now...¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian said, ¡°No one, even including Pu Yangbai, can enter through it now, right?¡±

    Peng Yan took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°That¡¯s not all. Even the teleportation portals in the Realm of Fire Spirit have stopped working, isting us from the outside world. Many spell formations are actually intact and undamaged. The only reason why they can¡¯t operate is because the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation is stopping them!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As they spoke, Hou Chn, Huang Jinnan, Lou Hongyan, and Lin Yaoyao returned, along with a few exhausted disciples of the fire element sect who were covered in blood.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation has been reversed. It¡¯s sealed heaven and earth and tempered with the spatial fluctuations.¡± With these words, Hou Chn looked down at thevake. ¡°Under such circumstances, even Xuan Guangyu of the Void Spirit Society won¡¯t be able to split open spatial rifts and enter this realm, much less Ji Yuanquan. I suppose only Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, may be able to split the void open with his Void Mirror and get in here.¡±

    ¡°If Qu Yi were avable, my master would be too,¡± Lou Hongyan said.

    Everyone had bitter expressions on their faces as they discussed among themselves.

    Nie Tian listened for a while, and learned that the great changes in the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation hadpletely sealed the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron doing everything it can to make sure that Pang Chicheng enters the God domain smoothly?¡± Lou Hongyan said with bitter envy in her tone. ¡°No wonder my master still hasn¡¯t introduced me to it even though I¡¯ve been the Divine Daughter of the fire element sect for a long time.¡±

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron could be viewed as the soul of every grand spell formation in the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Shao Tianyang had mentioned this to her, as had other elders of the sect.

    As the Divine Daughter, she should have gained the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s acknowledgment and the opportunity tomunicate with it long ago.

    After all, when Shao Tianyang had died, normally speaking, she would be the one to take his ce, and shoulder the responsibility tomunicate and work with the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    However, she hadn¡¯t had a chance to have any soulmunication with the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    Only at this point did she realize that the cauldron had been waiting for someone.

    However, she wasn¡¯t that someone.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯m afraid your n to ask God domain experts toe from other realms to frustrate Pang Chicheng¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain is not going to work,¡± Huang Jinnan said. After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°You were able to enter that underground pce earlier. You saw the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron in there, right?¡±

    The others¡¯ eyes lit up as soon as they heard these words.

    They all fixed their gazes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I sure did. It was the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron that attracted the me Dragon Armor with the aura of another me dragon, and lured it down there. And since I¡¯m the owner of the me Dragon Armor and there¡¯s something unique about me, it treated me differently, and pulled me into the underground pce.¡±

    ¡°So if it thinks you¡¯re so special, did you twomunicate?¡± Peng Yan asked, looking spirited. ¡°Can you tell it that Pang Chicheng has betrayed the fire element sect, and that Sectmaster Shao ordered that he should never be allowed to return?

    ¡°Tell it that it should stop helping him advance to the God domain!¡±

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was behind all of the great changes in the Realm of Fire Spirit. If it hadn¡¯t made these changes, the teleportation portals would have still been operable, and God domain experts would have been able toe and put a stop to Pang Chicheng¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain.

    ¡°Tell it to disobey the dying wish of its master?¡± Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Imunicated with it. Pang Bo is the only master he acknowledges. As far as it¡¯s concerned, Shao Tianyang is only a transitional sectmaster of the fire element sect. It doesn¡¯t concern itself with what¡¯s good and what¡¯s evil.

    ¡°All it knows is to obey Pang Bo¡¯s order, which is to help Pang Chicheng enter the God domain, and then ept him as its new master.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many crimes Pang Chicheng hasmitted. Nothing will sway it.¡±

    Nie Tian answered with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron, eliminating Peng Yan, Lou Hongyan, and the others¡¯ hope to solve this throughmunication.

    ¡°So... all we can do is watch him enter the God domain?¡± Lin Yaoyao asked timidly, ¡°If that man really enters the God domain and gains control of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron while our masters and martial uncles are still away, he...¡±

 Chapter 1339: Competition

    Outside the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Wrapped in colorful saint domains, several figures surrounded the realm.

    SWISH!

    Another streak of golden light was forcibly pushed out from the realm barrier of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Wang Haoming of the wood element sect shook his head and said dejectedly, ¡°It doesn¡¯t work. The power of the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation can badly hurt God domain experts, not to mention Saint domain experts.¡±

    Pu Yangbai of the earth element sect said urgently, ¡°The fire element sect is in great trouble. Senior Brother Pang Chicheng has joined forces with a group of evil viins...¡±

    He gave a detailed ount of what had happened.

    As he spoke, more Saint domain experts of the wood element sect and the metal element sect came in a hurry.

    With just a nce, one of the neers said in a deep voice, ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation has changed! The immortal grade divine tool that manages the Realm of Fire Spirit and can control all forms of formations still takes into ount that you are all disciples of the Five Elements Sect, so it doesn¡¯t kill you. There would have been many wounded or dead people... if you were outsiders.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    Suddenly, space cracked open, and a spatial rift emerged.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan had led Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying here.

    As soon as Ye Wenhan arrived, he eximed, ¡°We got the news that there¡¯s been an upheaval in your fire element sect? All the teleportation portals that can connect to the Realm of Fire Spirit have failed. What happened? Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡± Mo Qianfan asked too.

    He and Yu Suying came here because of Nie Tian. Only because they knew that Nie Tian was also in the Realm of Fire Spirit had they been persuaded toe by Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan.

    In the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms had joined hands with several grand patriarchs to attack Nie Tian, which had alerted Mo Qianfan and the others.

    They had been worried that the outsiders would make more moves against him.

    Especially the Demons, the Fiends that were rted to Gupi, and the Phantasms, who had suffered a recent defeat...

    Ji Yuanquan frowned. ¡°We begged Nie Tian to find a way to seal Gupi. No one expected that he woulde to the Realm of Fire Spirit. To my even greater surprise, he had hardly arrived at the Realm of Fire Spirit when the realm experienced an upheaval!¡±

    ¡°He is Star of Cmities as expected,¡± a female elder of the water sect murmured. ¡°The traitor Pang Chicheng never darede back after he was expelled, but when Nie Tian came to the Realm of Fire Spirit, he attracted Pang Chicheng, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, and the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan. He¡¯s really a Star of Cmities.¡±

    The Saint domain expert suddenly saw a few sharp eyes ring at her immediately after speaking.

    Facing the four God domain experts¡¯ angry stares, she immediately became timid and said, ¡°I¡¯m just, I¡¯m just being honest.¡±

    At that moment, Pu Yangbai of the earth element sect came forward and said seriously, ¡°Senior Lin, don¡¯t speak ill of Nie Tian like that. When the Realm of Fire Spirit had an ident, we were lucky that Nie Tian was there. If he hadn¡¯t been there, the situation would have been worse.

    ¡°It is precisely because Nie Tian released the Spirit Pearl that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society couldn¡¯t demonstrate the power of his mysterious evil soul spells, and we are safe and sound.

    ¡°Without Nie Tian, the fire element sect would have been upied by the enemy already.¡±

    Pu Yangbai bowed his head and added with remorse, ¡°Instead, we were the ones that weren¡¯t helpful. Even worse, we were a drag on the fire element sect.¡±

    Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce gave the elder a cold look and said, ¡°Did you hear that? Without Nie Tian at the fire element sect, the Realm of Fire Spirit would have been taken by Pang Chicheng. Please remember not to trust hearsay in the future. Don¡¯t be ignorant and take things for granted.¡±

    The elder was furious. ¡°You!¡±

    ¡°It seems that your Five Elements Sect doesn¡¯t wee us,¡± Mo Qianfan said slyly, ¡°In that case, why don¡¯t we leave now?¡±

    He looked at Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan and said, ¡°With my understanding of Nie Tian, he won¡¯t suffer a great loss. Ho ho, even if Pang Chicheng breaks through into the God domain, I doubt he¡¯ll be able to defeat Nie Tian.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan didn¡¯t look happy either.

    ¡°No, don¡¯t leave!¡± Wang Haoming of the wood element sect hurried to save the situation. He red at the elder of the water element sect before saying, ¡°Let¡¯s find a solution together. The fire element sect¡¯s upheaval doesn¡¯t only concern the Five Elements Sect, but Nie Tian as well. You said that Nie Tian is the key to fighting Gupi. You don¡¯t want him to have an ident, do you?¡±

    The other elders of the Five Elements Sect all came forward to persuade them.

    One of the water element sect¡¯s elders red at the female elder who had been rude, wanting her to shut up.

    At their request, Ye Wenhan and the others finally suppressed the anger and stayed.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation... It won¡¯t be easy for us to enter.¡± Ji Yuanquan looked troubled, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do, but I can¡¯t guarantee anything.¡±

    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    GLUG! GLUG!

    Inside the volcano where Pang Chicheng was, theva pool boiled and billows of red smoke rose.

    Meanwhile.

    Everywhere in the Realm of Fire Spirit, raging mes surged, condensing into the illusory forms of a me qilin, a me phoenix, a vermillion bird and a me dragon.

    The four spirit beasts showed in another form, as if they were supporting the realm barrier of the Realm of Fire Spirit and maintaining the operation of the formation.

    Moreover, the shapes of the four spirit beasts kept expanding.

    ¡°Oh!¡± Nie Tian, standing on his Star Boat, could sense the unique flesh auras in the four spirit beasts with his bloodline talent.

    He suddenly paled and said to himself, ¡°Tenth grade. The four spirit beasts were at the tenth grade before they died. Pang Bo, Pang Chicheng¡¯s father, was a real genius. He could actually make the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron with four tenth-grade spirit beasts that all had me bloodlines!

    ¡°It¡¯s not unusual that the giant cauldron can benefit the whole Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As he spoke, he slowly released his me domain alone.

    The me spark given him by the Domain of me¡¯s End¡¯s Divine me emerged in his me domain. Suddenly, it used his me domain to seize the pure me power in the area.

    The me spark restored its strength with the me power that was gathering to this area!

    The me power, gathering from all directions, was supposed to flow into theva pool to support Pang Chicheng¡¯s breaking through to the God domain.

    However, after Nie Tia spread his me domain, part of the me power actually flowed towards his me domain with a whoosh.

    Once the me power entered his me domain, it was refined by the me domain and condensed into little sparks, which were then swallowed by the me spark.

    ¡°This...¡± Nie Tian apparently sensed that as the me spark swallowed the little sparks, it rapidly recovered from the injuries Pang Chicheng had caused by hitting it with his huge me hand inside the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation.

    The me spark became very energetic. If one took a closer look, they would find that it seemed to be made of billions of crystal me strings.

    It seemed to be a crystallization of the true essence of fire!

    Most importantly, it was well nourished by Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence through Life Irrigation, which seemed to have vested it with a fleshly body like what had happened to the five evil gods.

    ZZZZZLA!

    In theva pool, an unknown earthme crystal string seemed to be triggered, and then actually flew out from below, integrated itself into Nie Tian¡¯s me domain, and became a part of the me spark.

    ¡°It seems to have had another vein added to it. How amazing the me spark is!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    He soon discovered that more and more me power, which had been pouring into theva pool, was taken away by his me domain and turned into nourishing power for the me spark.

 Chapter 1340: The Flame Sparkâ€™s Change

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s me domain gradually spread out into the nearby area, like a sea of fire.

    As more and more me power was stopped, absorbed, and refined by Nie Tian¡¯s me domain and obtained by the me spark, the speed at which his me domain gathered me power gradually increased.

    At first, his me domain could only capture about two or three percent of the me power that flowed into theva pool.

    But after a while, it reached nearly ten percent!

    Seeing this, the expressions of Peng Yan and Lou Hongyan of the fire element sect changed, as if they saw a way to hinder Pang Chicheng¡¯s breakthrough to the God domain.

    ¡°Nie Tian is absorbing the me power that¡¯s flowing to theva pool with his me domain!¡± Peng Yan said, his eyes bright. ¡°If we all learn from Nie Tian, and release our domains to absorb the me powering from all directions in the Realm of Fire Spirit, would Pang Chicheng¡¯s breakthrough fail due to ack of me power?¡±

    ¡°We can try that!¡± Lou Hongyan replied.

    Hou Chn and the others also agreed.

    Peng Yan even took out a Sound Stone and called in other disciples and elders of the fire element sect.

    After a while, many disciples of the fire element sect, who had just fought a fierce battle and were covered with blood, gathered from different directions.

    Peng Yan stood up and shouted, ¡°Everyone is injured and happens to be in need of recovery. The Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation is running, and gathering me power to theva pool from all directions in the Realm of Fire Spirit to help the traitor Pang Chicheng break through to the God domain. Let¡¯s absorb as much of the me power as possible and disrupt his breakthrough!¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± Many disciples and elders of the fire element sect agreed with Peng Yan, and scattered around the crater.

    me domains bloomed one after another. Some were like volcanoes, some were like earthme streams, some were like the ghosts of some kind of giant me beasts, and some were a mass of surging mes; they were all different.

    After their domains were sessfully released, they all cast incantations and secret spells of the fire element sect to absorb the me power in heaven and the earth.

    BOOM!

    Suddenly, a violent tremble came from the bottom of theva pool in the volcano below them.

    Seemingly countless mysterious me formations on the rock walls were ignited, and exploded at the same time!

    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Many disciples of the fire element sect let out screams of fear, withdrew their realms, and hastily ran away.

    Even Peng Yan suddenly paled and shouted, ¡°This isn¡¯t right!¡±

    Lou Hongyan cancelled her realm and asked in shock, ¡°Why? Why are our realms affected by theva pool, and why does the me power in our domains flow towards theva pool?¡±

    Peng Yan looked terrible. ¡°It¡¯s the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s restrictions!¡±

    ¡°Why can Nie Tian do that then?¡± Hou Chn asked curiously.

    They also noticed that when the disciples and elders of the fire element sect wanted to use their own domains to take away the me power that wasing from all directions, as Nie Tian was doing, not only did they not seed, but their domains¡¯ me power drifted uncontrobly towards theva pool.

    Their domains were made of a me power core and soul awareness. The disappearance of me power meant the disappearance of the spirit energy in the me power core.

    The speed of the me power¡¯s drifting was very quick, which was beyond their expectations.

    They could only escape the suction force of theva pool by keeping a great distance from it, or deactivating their domains.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Peng Yan shouted. ¡°What did the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron tell you in that underground pce?¡±

    ¡°Nothing much,¡± Nie Tian said, feeling more and more me power rush over to help the me spark recover and elerate the transformation of the me spark in his me domain, ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul just said that the me Dragon Armor¡¯s true secret is that it is connected to an Ancientspirit¡¯s burial ground, and it cannot enter that magicalnd without the cooperation of flesh aura.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian summoned the me Dragon Armor once again with a wisp of his soul awareness.

    This time, Pang Chicheng didn¡¯t try to take the me Dragon Armor because he was busy strengthening his bloodline with the me power of theva pool and preparing to break through to the God domain.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor had hardly entered Nie Tian¡¯s me domain when it started absorbing the gathering me power to strengthen itself.

    There was a little excitement in Agaz¡¯s soul awareness. It seemed that the Realm of Fire Spirit¡¯s upheaval and the gathering me power was of great help to it as well.

    During this period, Nie Tian¡¯s me domain continued to expand.

    In four directions of the Realm of Fire Spirit, the four spirit beasts, which were the me phoenix, vermillion bird, me qilin, and me dragon, jointly maintained the operation of the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation with their strong me and flesh power.

    Suddenly, the unique fluctuations of the four spirit beasts¡¯ flesh auras attracted Nie Tian¡¯s attention.

    For some reason, he sensed that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron in the pce underneath theva pool was touched by something, and suddenly became extremely nervous.

    ZZZZZLA!

    In his me domain, a fiery light blossomed from the me spark from time to time, as if it were being tempered by an invisible hammer and made into some unique form of life.

    Outside the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    The spatial rift that Ji Yuanquan and the others hade through didn¡¯t close up. It was still open, and people coulde and go at will.

    FIZZ!

    A light shed in that spatial rift.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, who were both close to it, instantly paled.

    A roaring me suddenly flew through the spatial rift and instantly appeared in the outer sky of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    As soon as it appeared, the dim, cold sky became intolerably hot.

    Everyone, including the four God domain experts, became very ufortable, as if they were being baked in a fire, and their god and saint domains were about to melt.

    If one looked closely, they could find that there seemed to be a being with the form of a woman inside the raging mes.

    ¡°Ah!¡± A Saint domain elder of the water element sect screamed and fled in fear as his water domain was consumed by the me power.

    The saint domain experts of the wood element sect also suffered so much that they were forced to fly away from the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Ye Wenhan was extremely frightened. ¡°This is, this is...¡±

    He stared at the raging mes, freezing. After a while, he suddenly screamed, ¡°Divine me! The Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    When he said this, everyone was terrified.

    The Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End had once destroyed a domain, reducing the entire Domain of me¡¯s End to a deadnd. All of its realms, which were once like the Realm of Fire Spirit, had been drained of their me power and died prematurely.

    Pang Bo, the former sectmaster of the fire element sect, and Shao Tianyang, the current sectmaster, had both visited the Domain of me¡¯s End in search of the Divine me after they had reached thete God domain.

    Both of them had failed to catch it.

    Rumor had that the Divine me had transformed from the most unique me god in the world. It had been born in the form of fire, and could refine mes with all kinds of characteristics in the world to strengthen itself.

    However, almost all the people who had been lucky enough to see it were dead, making it very difficult tomunicate with it.

    Why did it suddenly descend upon the Realm of Fire Spirit at this sensitive moment?

    God domain experts like Ji Yuanquan all froze, and released wisps of soul awareness, looking for a way tomunicate with it, but whenever their soul awareness got close to the ball of ming fire, they would be ashes somehow.

    Their pupils shrank, and a hint of pain appeared on their faces. Then they no longer dared to continue casting spells.

    The humanoid being in the Divine me seemed to stare at the Realm of Fire Spirit in silence. After a while, it actually tried to approach.

    ¡°It, it¡¯s going to the Realm of Fire Spirit?¡± Pu Yangbai said curiously.

    Wang Haoming frowned and paled. ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation is still there. None of us can get in there. Can it make it in... Maybe it can.¡±

    He said this because the Divine me started moving as he spoke.

    It flew up to the Realm of Fire Spirit with a whoosh.

    At first, the numerous me formations that made up the realm barrier of the Realm of Fire Spirit weren¡¯t driven to stop it.

    But as the Divine me continued to approach, everyone seemed to hear four resounding cries and roars from within the Realm of Fire Spirit!

    ¡°It¡¯s the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s spirits!¡±

    Sure enough, with cries and roars, the me dragon, me phoenix, vermillion bird, and me qilin rushed from different parts of the Realm of Fire Spirit into the sky to stop the Divine me.

    Nie Tian in the Realm of Fire Spirit was disturbed. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

    He suddenly looked up into the red sky, which was changing dramatically.

    His eyes fell suddenly on the ming me spark. ¡°It came for you? It sensed your transformation, and thus came from the Domain of me¡¯s End to the Realm of Fire Spirit? Does it want to make sure you¡¯ll transform sessfully?

    ¡°Just like Pang Bo who wanted to help Pang Chicheng sessfully reach the God domain in every possible way even after he died?¡±

 Chapter 1341: Change The Nature Of Life

    ¡°The four spirit beasts!¡± Lou Hongyan, who looked up at the sky and found something wrong, eximed in a low voice.

    Gazes broke away from Pang Chicheng¡¯sva pool and fell on the sky over the Realm of Fire Spirit immediately after she spoke.

    The me dragon, which was nearly ten thousand meters long, was condensed from fiery fire. The me qilin was like a me mountain spewing fire. The me phoenix was like a rosy cloud covering the sky, and the vermillion bird was like a burning bolt of lightning.

    From the different areas of the Realm of Fire Spirit, the four spirit beasts flew deep into the clouds with their tremendous power.

    At this moment, in the Realm of Fire Spirit, the elders and Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect could not feel the presence of the Divine me.

    Only Nie Tian could, for the Divine me was still on the outside, and hadn¡¯t prated the realm barrier.

    But outside the Realm of Fire Spirit, the four God domain experts, with Ji Yuanquan as the leader, and a number of Saint domain experts of the Five Elements Sect saw it clearly.

    WHOOSH!

    The Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End fell like a burning meteor.

    The numerous profoundws and meanings of me power engraved on the barrier of the Realm of Fire Spirit didn¡¯t burst forth at the first moment.

    Not until the four spirit beasts soared into the sky!

    The moment the four spirit beasts emerged, hundreds of secret fire formations and numerous divine me characters in the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation were triggered, and burst forth simultaneously.

    For a moment, the me power surrounding the Realm of Fire Spirit became iparably gorgeous.

    HISS! HISS!

    The human-shaped being inside the ming fire seemed to casually activate something.

    Hundreds of millions of rays of red light then flew from the Divine me to pierce into and move freely within the outer walls of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Surprisingly, it seemed that the grand formation, which was run by the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and had sealed the Realm of Fire Spirit for a long time, was somehow pacified.

    Even though the me power within it seemed to be turbulent and terrifying, it split apart, like a sea of fire that was separated by a sharp de.

    The Divine me dove straight down and flew past the realm barrier of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    The four spirit beasts¡¯ growls resounded through everyone¡¯s seas of awareness and made their hearts palpitate.

    Strong flesh power emanated from the four spirit beasts¡¯ huge bodies made of fire.

    But even in the face of the four spirit beasts¡¯ soul-suppressing power, the Divine me didn¡¯t seem to be affected at all, and still fell straight like a burning meteor.

    WHOOSH!

    Whether it was me qilin rushing at it, or the me dragon that was ten thousand meters long, it easily flew through both of them.

    The four spirit beasts that were illusory and condensed by mes dealt no damage to it at all.

    In the next moment, the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End appeared inside the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    When the people, whose eyes were glued to the sky, saw a fiery meteor emerge and suddenly stop to condense into a ball of mes, they were all taken aback. ¡°That is...¡±

    Huang Jinnan stared at the Divine me and eximed, ¡°What a fiery aura! The temperature of the Realm of Fire Spirit seems to be rising steeply!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just the temperature!¡± Lou Hongyan shouted in shock.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    In the Realm of Fire Spirit, volcanoes that hadin dormant for years started trembling for some reason, andva buried deep in the earth spurted abnormally.

    ¡°One, two, seven, neen volcanoes!¡± Peng Yan made a strange sound in his throat. He looked around in the sky, and sensed with his soul awareness, his eyes, and a tool on his wrist. As he did, he became more and more frightened and uneasy.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron isn¡¯t causing this!¡± Hou Chn said very firmly, ¡°The eruption of so many volcanoes in the Realm of Fire Spirit will shake the foundation of the realm! The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron may help Pang Chicheng seize the Realm of Fire Spirit and be the sectmaster of the fire element sect, but it would never destroy the realm!¡±

    ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t its doing!¡± Peng Yan eximed. ¡°Its existence serves to make the Realm of Fire Spirit the most suitable ce in the world for disciples of the fire element sect to practice, and that¡¯s what it¡¯s been doing since it was forged. Under no circumstances would it destroy the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    ¡°Its aura...¡± Lou Hongyan looked at the sky. Her eyebrows rose as she suddenly turned to stare at Nie Tian.

    At this moment, many others also sensed the profound changes.

    Huang Jinnan couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Nie Tian, what on earth is the rtionship between the me spark in your me domain and the Divine me in the sky? Why are their auras so simr?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End,¡± Nie Tian said without hesitation.

    The disciples and elders of the fire element sect looked shocked, and very uneasy.

    ¡°Divine me!¡±

    ¡°The Divine me that destroyed the Domain of me¡¯s End and made it a dead domain!¡±

    ¡°Gosh! It¡¯s actually that thing!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, d-did you summon it here?¡± Peng Yan stammered, ¡°We¡¯d hoped you could stop Pang Chicheng from breaking through to the God domain, but we don¡¯t want you to destroy the whole Realm of Fire Spirit!¡±

    ¡°This...¡± Nie Tian spoke, a little embarrassed. ¡°I didn¡¯t invite it. It did.¡±

    He pointed to the orange me spark in his me domain, and watched as it continued to transform as it absorbed the me power that was gathering from every direction, and should have flowed toward theva pool.

    The me spark seemed to be using the me power to temper its body and make an essential transformation!

    At first, the me spark had been just a cluster of mes with a little bit of soul aura, and didn¡¯t have a physical form, blood, flesh, or bones.

    Later, Nie Tian had used the bloodline talent of Life Irrigation to give the me spark drops of his Blood Essence, giving it an aura that only fleshy beings could have.

    But it was still far from bing a living thing with blood and flesh.

    But at this moment, Nie Tian had a feeling that the me spark was going to transform into a brand new life with a fleshly body, like the five evil gods.

    In other words, it was going to be the first of a whole new species!

    BOOM! BOOM!

    There were also unusual movements from the volcano that Pang Chicheng was tempering himself in.

    ¡°Eeeh!¡± Nie Tian suddenly found that, with the arrival of the Divine me, the me power flow had changed significantly.

    More than half of the me power wasn¡¯t fusing into theva pool anymore, but was instead attracted to his me domain.

    To be exact, it was attracted by the me spark in his me domain!

    ¡°What the hell is that!?¡± Pang Chicheng¡¯s angry voice came from within the bubblingva pool. His steps to cleanse his flesh and break the shackles in his bloodline with the power of theva were ruined.

    He sensed a sharp decrease in the me power flowing to theva pool!

    This meant that he wouldn¡¯t be able to rely on the Realm of Fire Spirit to smoothly reach the God domain after his bloodline broke through to the ninth grade!

    His father had left all sorts of arrangements and assistance for him, but things still went wrong!

    ¡°You¡¯ve controlled the Realm of Fire Spirit for years! But you actually allowed this to happen!¡± Pang Chicheng bellowed, knowing that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron could hear him. ¡°You must solve all the problems that are preventing me from breaking through! If I can¡¯t seed, you¡¯ll betray my father¡¯s trust in you!¡±

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The whole Realm of Fire Spirit shook, as if there were an earthquake. The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron seemed to finally be enraged by Pang Chicheng¡¯s words, and the arrival of the Divine me.

    SWISH!

    All of a sudden, the immortal grade divine tool that had hidden underground for numerous years flew out of theva pool.

    An overwhelming, horrifying aura that could destroy heaven and earth and turn all things into ashes came from the four-legged cauldron, which instantly grew hundreds of timesrger after it showed itself.

    ¡°Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron! I see it at longst!¡± Many disciples and elders of the fire element sect eximed dreamily.

 Chapter 1342: Life Creator

    The huge cauldron rose into the heavens.

    The me dragon, vermilion bird, me qilin, and me phoenix suddenly plunged down into the cauldron simultaneously, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    RUMBLE!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s might rose to a whole new level, and it started to emanate the four grand monarch-level Ancientbeasts¡¯ unique flesh auras!

    Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline allowed him to shrewdly discover that the huge cauldron suddenly brimmed with flesh power as soon as the four illusory Ancientbeasts disappeared into it.

    ¡°Flesh power!¡±

    He suddenly realized that the four powerful beasts that had manifested in different parts of the Realm of Fire Spirit had actually been transformed from four flesh auras and the raging me power that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had released.

    Now, as the huge cauldron flew out of the underground pce, it summoned the four flesh auras back.

    Upon summoning them back, the cauldron stood towering in the clouds like a mountain peak that was thousands of meters high. Anyone would feel deeply shaken by simply taking a look at it.

    Many elders and disciples of the fire element sect marveled upon seeing the huge cauldron rise into the sky, as if they had forgotten what rtionship it had with Pang Chicheng.

    ¡°Is that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the divine tool that¡¯s been protecting the Realm of Fire Spirit and making it a holynd for cultivators that practice fire incantations!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve got to admit that the former sectmaster¡¯s talent was unmatched!¡±

    ¡°That cauldron is the soul of the entire fire element sect!¡±

    They were practically obsessed with it.

    ¡°That treasure should have been mine!¡± Lou Hongyan eximed inwardly with a zing look in her eyes. ¡°If I were the one it acknowledged...¡±

    ¡°Do it! Kill them all!¡± Pang Chicheng¡¯s mad roar came from below, his figure looming within the boilingvake.

    FIZZ!

    Crimson bolts of lightning could be seen running under his skin, as if he were still absorbing power from theva to cleanse his body and upgrade his bloodline.

    Nie Tian looked down. With a single nce, he was able to tell that Pang Chicheng¡¯s bloodline was at the eighth grade.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t sure of what outsider or Ancientspirit race his bloodline hade from, he waspletely certain that it had a great deal to do withva.

    ¡°He¡¯s looking to break through into the ninth grade and lift his bloodline to the heights of grand patriarchs.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Then, with the help of his ninth grade bloodline, he¡¯ll be able to advance to the God domain more easily.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Another unforeseen change happened to the me power that was gathering from all directions.

    The speed at which Nie Tian¡¯s me domain intercepted and seized me power seemed to suddenly slow down significantly.

    More me power started flying towards thevake like a rain of fiery lights.

    Pang Chichengughed wildly. ¡°Nice! That¡¯s right! Help me upgrade my bloodline first! After I make another advance in my bloodline, I¡¯ll be able to enter the God domain with more ease!¡±

    Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and the others observed with rapt attention, and instantly realized that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and the Divine me were helping Pang Chicheng and Nie Tian respectively.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron ispeting against that Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End through different means!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t say!¡±

    The Divine me hade from another domain to help with the me spark¡¯s transformation.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, however, was helping Pang Chicheng strengthen his bloodline so that he could enter the God domain, to fulfill Pang Bo¡¯s dying wish.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the me spark or Pang Chicheng. The precondition for either of them to seed was gaining as much me power as possible.

    Throughout the human world, the Realm of Fire Spirit was the realm with the most immense and pure me power. Pang Bo¡¯s grand spell formation had made the me power in it extremely concentrated and refined.

    The raging me power within this realm should be enough for Pang Chicheng to make his breakthrough, or for the me spark to finish its transformation.

    However, it wasn¡¯t enough to help them both.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Countless scarlet crystalline strings, divine symbols that were branded with profoundws, and talismans that carried the profound truths of me power suddenly appeared in the reddened clouds and started shing.

    SHEW!

    The burning Divine me floated to the mouth of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    Compared to the huge cauldron, it was as small as a star in the night sky. Their sizes weren¡¯t even nearlyparable.

    However, as it floated to the mouth of the huge cauldron, the cauldron that was thousands of meters high started shaking violently. The me dragon, me qilin, me phoenix, and vermilion bird patterns on the surface of the cauldron started flickering, clear in one moment and blurry in the next.

    The fiery divine symbols, mysterious talismans, and ming crystalline strings the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had released from its mouth seemed to be greatly suppressed, along with the bloodline power of the four magical beasts.

    Gradually, Nie Tian discovered that much more me power started fusing into his me domain to help the me spark transform.

    RUMBLE!

    Immersed in thevake, Pang Chicheng was wreathed in me power. Boilingva seemed to be running through his veins.

    From him, Nie Tian sensed a strong feeling that his bloodline was breaking through into a new level.

    Pang Chicheng let out a wildugh. ¡°Great! Ninth grade! My bloodline is in line with my cultivation base now! I can start advancing to the God domain from now on!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    He seemed to activate some bloodline talent, as huge waves suddenly rose in the boilingvake. me power that was even more intense started fusing into his body, as if to strengthen his meridians, flesh, internal organs, and bones.

    ¡°Ifrit, Ifrit, Ifrit...¡±

    At the same time, Nie Tian listened with his soul, and caught the soul whispers of the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    ¡°Ifrit!¡± Nie Tian shuddered, suddenly realizing what it meant, then he jerked his head towards the me spark.

    The me spark had now developed a fleshly body, as the five evil gods had. More importantly, faint heartbeats starteding from its newly-developed human-shaped body.

    Now, more me power flowed towards the chest of the me spark, where there seemed to be a heart now.

    Nie Tian looked up at the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End. ¡°A heart, the origin of a bloodline! Bloodline Crystal Chains havee to form! A brand new species with flesh and soul: Ifrits! You vested it with a soul and the wonders of fire, while I gave it a fleshly body.¡±

    ¡°Ifrits!¡± Nie Tian eximed inwardly.

    The significance of this transformation of the me spark had far surpassed his expectations!

    This was the birth of a brand new species!

    A new species that was just like the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, had appeared for the first time in this starry river!

    He and the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End were its creators!

    Hou Chn was well-versed in wood power, which belonged to a branch of life power. She was the first to notice the change, and couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°That cluster of me in Nie Tian¡¯s me domain seems to have developed a flesh aura, and even a heartbeat! It doesn¡¯t seem intangible to me anymore. Instead, it looks very much like a living being in flesh form!¡±

    This set it apart from the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    Even though the Divine me had a human-shaped being in the middle of it, it seemed to Hou Chn that the Divine me didn¡¯t have flesh or blood, let alone a heart.

    Only when a being had developed a heart, a soul, and flesh and blood, could it be defined as a living being!

    The Divine me didn¡¯t fall into this category.

    However, the me spark had all of these features now.

    After going nk for a few seconds, Hou Chn practically screamed, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that a brand new species has been born!¡±

    She seemedpletely bbergasted.

    ¡°How... How is that possible?¡± Lou Hongyan muttered in a low voice, looking lost.

    Deeply-shaken, Peng Yan rubbed his eyes repeatedly in an attempt to get a better and more thorough view. ¡°That thing within Nie Tian¡¯s me domain is a living being, one with a fleshly body and a soul! And it doesn¡¯t belong to any existing species! Creating a brand new species... This is a miracle!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Upon the me spark¡¯s first heartbeat, arge portion of the me power that was being channeled to thevake by the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron changed directions, and fused into Nie Tian¡¯s me domain.

    However, Nie Tian felt that this change wasn¡¯t made by the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    Instead, it was the effect of a bloodline talent of this Ifrit, which was the first of its kind.

    This was a bloodline talent that allowed it to gather me power!

    After it was activated, while the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was distracted by the Divine me, Pang Chicheng couldn¡¯t find a way to contend against it. He could only watch the raging me power that should have fused into him to help him advance to the God domain be intercepted and absorbed by the me spark.

    The moment the me spark developed its first bloodline talent, Nie Tian sensed cheers from the Divine me.

    Furthermore, he sensed a bond between him and the me spark, which seemed to be deeply rooted in its heartbeat and aura.

    He felt as if the me spark was his child.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    After a while, the me spark, which now had flesh and blood, slowly separated itself from Nie Tian¡¯s me domain and dove directly into thevake.

 Chapter 1343: The Darling of Fire

    The me spark started madly seizing power from thevake, which was meant to help Pang Chicheng make his breakthrough in cultivation.

    RUMBLE!

    Pang Chicheng stormed into view, his eyes so red that they seemed to be bleeding.

    As he waved his hands, rivers of refinedva mixed with his flesh aura and flew out to form a mysterious spell.

    ¡°Flesh Power me Mobilization!¡±

    More than seventy different fiery spell formations that had been carved on the rocky inside of the volcano were activated simultaneously.

    In the next moment, a huge talisman that seemed to carry a wisp of his father Pang Bo¡¯s soul will came to form. Igniting the violent power within theva, it pounced on the me spark.

    WHOOSH!

    The me spark was instantly enveloped.

    Nie Tian looked down, and felt that the huge talisman had a lot inmon with the Illusory Ancient Talisman sealing magic he had derived from the Ancientspirit burial ground.

    However, it was also different in certain aspects.

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman he conjured contained a wide array of powers, including star, wood, me, flesh, and soul power...

    However, the talisman Pang Chicheng was now using only contained three types of power: me, flesh, and a wisp of soul power.

    Plus, that wisp of soul power didn¡¯t belong to Pang Chicheng himself, but rather his father, Pang Bo.

    ¡°Pang Bo!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly realized that Pang Bo, the former sectmaster of the fire element sect, must have been to that Ancientspirit burial ground the me Dragon Armor had taken him to repeatedly.

    From his conversation with the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he had learned that the me Dragon Armor was the key to that ce, and a legacy Pang Bo had left behind.

    ¡°Perhaps Pang Bo derived the Illusory Ancient Talisman from there as well,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°But because he was only human and didn¡¯t carry a unique bloodline or practice multiple powers like I do, he couldn¡¯t manifest the true might of that talisman.

    ¡°However, he was powerful enough. At the God domain, he was able to derive its profound mysteries and made adjustments to it ording to his situation. That might push its might to a high level as well.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, will the me spark be...¡±

    While he was worried that the me spark would be sealed within that talisman, Pang Chicheng suddenly let out a sharp cry.

    A number of ming crystalline strings separated themselves from the ming red walls of thevake and started floating towards the talisman, no matter how hard he tried to stop them with his soul will.

    More precisely, they were fusing into the me spark to provide it with the power it needed to generate Bloodline Crystal Chains in its heart.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    Strong heartbeats echoed from the chest of the humanoid me spark.

    A brand new bloodline talent seemed to be born and activated.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous divine symbols Pang Bo had left behind were attracted.

    One after another, they flew into the me spark¡¯s chest, as if they were being branded into its internal organs and flesh, and bing a part of it.

    A clear soul message came from the clouds where the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End was contending against that Immortal grade cauldron. ¡°First name: Yan. Last name: Nie!¡± (Yan means me in Chinese)

    It gave the me spark a name: Nie Yan!

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. As he turned to look at the me spark, he realized that it had already developed the body of a baby, pink and naked. It was just that its face was still blurry.

    The intense flesh aura it exuded, along with the me aura unique to the origin of all mes, made even Nie Tian marvel.

    The transformation of the me spark, or the birth of Nie Yan, shocked everyone present.

    Peng Yan and the other elders of the fire element sect, along with the Divine Sons and Daughters who were observing from the mouth of the volcano, were all dumbstruck.

    They had just witnessed the birth of a brand new life form, a brand new species, and the way it had been born was beyond their understanding.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    More and more me power, ming crystalline strings, and fiery symbols that wereing from throughout the Realm of Fire Spirit, thevake, and the rocky inside of the volcano fused into the talisman, and Nie Yan.

    As this happened, Nie Yan¡¯s appearance gradually grew recognizable, and resembled Nie Tian¡¯s a great deal.

    An exmation escaped Hou Chn¡¯s mouth. ¡°T-that¡¯s a baby! A baby that looks like Nie Tian! Even though his eyes aren¡¯t open yet, his flesh aura and unusually strong heartbeat suggest that he can¡¯t be human! Like Nie Tian, he¡¯s also born with a unique bloodline, which seems toe from the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    ¡°Dammit!¡± Pang Chicheng was so mad that he almost lost his mind.

    He gradually noticed that the talisman he had conjured couldn¡¯t possibly stop Nie Yan.

    With a loud ssh, Nie Yan dove into thevake, the ce where he had practiced cultivation since he had been a child!

    Pang Chicheng flew into a ming rage. With his soul will, he attempted to channel the spell formations and remaining divine symbols on the rocky inside of the volcano to annihte Nie Yan.

    However, that was when he came to a terrifying realization.

    Nie Yan seemed to have established a mysterious connection with the entire Realm of Fire Spirit!

    That included thevake where he was immersed, of course!

    Thisvake, this part of the heavens, and this realm... Everything seemed to have been taken away from him!

    He could only watch refined me power and ming crystalline strings be separated from thevake and the rocky inside of the volcano, and fuse into Nie Yan¡¯s body.

    Apparently, Nie Yan carried a bloodline that was simr to his, yet Nie Yan¡¯s bloodline was more wondrous.

    His bloodline overrode his the moment he was born!

    One could even say that his bloodline overrode those of all fire-attributed living beings, including me dragons, me phoenixes, me qilins, and vermilion birds!

    This made him a real darling of fire!

    WHOOSH!

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Nie Yan charged out of thevake. Pang Chicheng, who had suffered the greatest blow in his life, wasn¡¯t even in the mood to stop him.

    However, he shrewdly sensed that as Nie Yan left thevake, he took all of its wonders with him.

    In other words, all of the fiery spell formations, ming crystalline strings, and divine symbols had fused into Nie Yan and be a part of him.

    Standing on the Star Boat that floated over the volcano and enveloped in his me domain, Nie Tian was bbergasted as he stared at Nie Yan, who looked very much like him.

    ¡°Yee ya.¡± Waving his arms, Nie Yan mumbled something, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn¡¯t speak in the humannguage yet.

    Even so, everyone was in awe, and felt great pressure from him.

    Lou Hongyan had Earth Cultivated grade fire-attributed treasures inside of her spiritual sea. The moment Nie Yan flew out, all those treasures seemed very nervous, like subjects that were in the presence of their king.

    After mumbling something and looking lovingly at Nie Tian for a while, Nie Yan rose high into the heavens with reluctance.

    Everyone¡¯s gazes were fixed on him.

    Finally, he came to a stop next to the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    At this moment, even the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron saw reality, and gave up contending against the Divine me.

    It seemed to understand that the situation was beyond salvation, and that it wouldn¡¯t be able to change anything.

    FIZZ!

    The Divine me enveloped Nie Yan and morphed into a zing bolt of lightning that shot out of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron didn¡¯t even try to stop it.

    ¡°I thought that because I gave that Divine me my Blood Essence, it would be the beginning of a brand new life. Who would have thought that the me spark it left for me was? After receiving more and more of my Blood Essence, it became the first of a brand new species: Ifrit!¡±

    Nie Tian found this very unreal, and was reluctant to see Nie Yan leave.

    At this moment, he also woke up to a fact: what the Divine me had done to him was actually simr to what it had done to many realms.

    By leaving me sparks in many realms, the Divine me had turned them into fiery realms. By giving him this me spark, it had allowed Nie Tian to fuse it with his unique Blood Essence so it could develop into a brand new life form.

    The Divine me soon disappeared from the Realm of Fire Spirit with Nie Yan.

    The bloodline connection between Nie Tian and Nie Yan grew weaker and weaker until it vanishedpletely.

    Lou Hongyan let out a deep breath, looking feeble and exhausted. ¡°He... he¡¯s gone. More than half of the me power the Realm of Fire Spirit has spent countless years umting is gone within such a short time.¡±

    Peng Yan looked down at thevake, and discovered that the me auraing from it had be much fainter than before.

    What surprised him even more was that me power had also stopped gathering from different parts of the realm.

    Hou Chn saw through what had happened. ¡°That baby with Nie Tian¡¯s appearance took away more than half of the fiery spell formations and divine symbols the former sectmaster had left here. The ¡®heart¡¯ of thevake is gone. I suppose even if Pang Chicheng continues to stay in the Realm of Fire Spirit, he won¡¯t be able to break through into the God domain with the help of thatvake and the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, does this mean Pang Chicheng¡¯s breakthrough into the God domain has been disrupted?¡± Lou Hongyan asked, looking lost.

    ¡°Yes, he failed,¡± Nie Tian said with certainty.

    WHOOSH!

    The huge four-legged cauldron that was thousands of meters tall gradually shrank and descended from the heavens.

    By the time it was only about ten meters tall, it came to a stop and spun over the mouth of the volcano. That was when a soul connection was established between it and Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What? You want to leave the Realm of Fire Spirit?¡±

 Chapter 1344: Separation

    Earlier, when Nie Tian had been dragged down by the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he had talked with it for a while.

    Because of that, he knew that the me Dragon Armor was the key to the Ancientspirit¡¯s burial ground, and it had been handed to Shao Tianyang by Pang Bo.

    It had dragged Nie Tian into the pce because it had valued the uniqueness of his me domain.

    To be exact, it had sensed the uniqueness in the me spark!

    In the underground pce, it had talked to Nie Tian, quietly checked the magic of the me spark, and asked him where it hade from.

    It had intended to see if the me spark could be incorporated into theva of the Realm of Fire Spirit¡¯s inner earth, making the Realm of Fire Spirit¡¯s me power more intense. If so, it would be able to attract more me power from the starry river.

    But when it had learned the origin of the me spark, it had given up, because it had been afraid that it would attract the Divine me.

    The Divine me had left the Domain of me¡¯s End for thousands of years, but when it had returned to harvest me power, it had turned all of its realms into dead realms.

    It had been afraid that this kind of thing would happen again. In order not to attract the Divine me to the Realm of Fire Spirit, it had decided not to integrate the me spark into this realm¡¯s core.

    But it didn¡¯t expect that the me spark wouldplete its transformation and be a brand new life form called Ifrit in the Realm of Fire Spirit!

    To grow and transform, the me spark had absorbed arge part of the me power the Realm of Fire Spirit had umted for ages.

    However, this wasn¡¯t what it found the most uneptable.

    When the me spark had sessfully turned into a living body and fallen into theva pool, it had absorbed more than half of the me formations, me crystal threads and divine me characters Pang Bo had left behind, making theva pool and the most mysterious formation in the pce below iplete and defective.

    Pang Chicheng could no longer rely on theva pool and the current Realm of Fire Spirit to sessfully break through to the God domain.

    Even the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation sheltering the Realm of Fire Spirit had beenpromised.

    As a result, the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation was no longer imprable. God domain experts like Ji Yuanquan could enter the realm through a spatial rift now.

    Like Nie Tian and the people of the fire element sect, they also viewed Pang Chicheng as their enemy.

    Pang Chicheng was the only descendant of its master, and it was its responsibility to protect him.

    WHOOSH!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron fell, like an inverted bowl, and covered Pang Chicheng instantly.

    All of the purest me power, the remaining divine symbols, spell formations, and me crystal threads in theva pool flew into it.

    Soon, under everyone¡¯s gaze, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron slowly sank into the underground pce.

    Strong spatial fluctuations instantly came from the depths of the pce. Without looking into the pce, Nie Tian knew that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had taken Pang Chicheng and the remaining core spell formations to an unknown fierynd through the underground teleportation portal. Perhaps it would find other ways to help him break through into the God domain.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Space cracked open. Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the others emerged in session.

    Peng Yan looked shocked as he stared nkly into the sky. ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation has disappeared. The divine me formation which has existed and sheltered the Realm of Fire Spirit for thousands of years since the old sectmaster was alive has actually disappeared? The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, which is the soul and guardian of the Realm of Fire Spirit, has also disappeared.¡±

    He felt very sad.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Ji Yuanquan frowned tightly and asked, ¡°The Domain of me¡¯s End¡¯s Divine me came from some unknown space through a spatial rift I created. Soon after it entered the Realm of Fire Spirit, it came out and flew away like a burning meteor, taking a living being with a weird aura with it.

    ¡°Then, the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation ceased to exist, and the feeling that the Realm of Fire Spirit gave me changed.¡±

    As he spoke, the Saint domain elders of the other four sects also arrived in session.

    They floated at the crater, trying to sense and figure out the cause of the upheaval with their immense soul awareness and perception.

    Lou Hongyan lowered her head and said, ¡°Pang Chicheng left. He was taken away by the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. When we meet him next time, the traitor will likely have reached the God domain, and gained control of our sect¡¯s immortal grade divine tool. If our masters fail to return, no one in the fire element sect, or even the entire Five Elements Sect, will be able to subdue him.¡±

    Ye Wenhan asked, ¡°What on earth happened to Pang Chicheng?¡±

    Peng Yan took a deep breath and told him the whole story slowly with a grave face.

    After hearing Peng Yan, Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan, and the others exin the incident, the four God domain experts, Pu Yangbai and many Saint domain elders of the four sects burst into a mor.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian created an unusual living being with the Realm of Fire Spirit¡¯s me power?¡±

    ¡°It has something to do with the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End? And it has the power of a bloodline?¡±

    ¡°Pang Chicheng¡¯s bloodline was repressed? As soon as it was born, it naturally integrated all the gathering me power into itself?¡±

    Nie Tian was utterly fatigued. ¡°I need a break. If the Five Elements Sect has any corpses of Ancientbeasts or outsiders to spare, please give me some.¡±

    The me spark had sessfully transformed into Nie Yan, the first Ifrit, and had been taken away by the Divine me.

    He was very unwilling to part from it, but could do nothing.

    He had known in his heart that from the moment the Divine me had given him the me spark, a day woulde when they would be separated.

    He used to think of the me spark as a Heaven Nourished treasure, but now, it seemed that it wasn¡¯t appropriate to use ¡®Heaven Nourished treasure¡¯ to describe it.

    When the me spark had left, his me domain had lost its soul. He could feel that his me domain¡¯s power had been greatly reduced.

    After he got the me spark, there were several times when he had nearly been killed, but with the me spark, he had turned the situation around, won the battle, and survived.

    During this trip, the me spark hadpleted its transformation, but he didn¡¯t gain anything.

    Instead, the departure of the me spark and his appearance in giant form had consumed a lot of his blood essence, which had weakened his strength.

    Hou Chn came forward and said sincerely, ¡°Nie Tian, thank you very much. Without you, the Realm of Fire Spirit would have been upied, and we would have been taken prisoner. We, the Five Elements Sect, owe you a lot. You helped Uncle Lu Jiefengst time, and helped us this time. Rest assured. The Five Elements Sect still has a lot of corpses of spirit beasts and high-level outsiders.¡±

    Lou Hongyan, Huang Jinnan and Lin Yaoyao also took turns to express their opinions.

    ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll find a ce and rest for a while.¡± After agreeing and nodding, Nie Tian steered his Star Boat to a quiet area nearby.

    He took out the remaining corpses from within his ring of holding, which had been contributed by the Void Spirit Society and the Heaven Span Pavilion, and started refining them with Life Drain.

    By a volcano that had been dormant for years.

    Mo Qianfan and Yu Suyin, who were both God domain experts, looked at the ce in the distance where Nie Tian was and talked in a low voice.

    ¡°Nie Tian is really amazing,¡± Yu Suying said, still amazed. ¡°It was a miracle that he could create a God domain expert like you, which is unprecedented, but no one expected that he would actually be able to create a new race!¡±

    Nie Yan¡¯s appearance had shocked all the experts who came to the Realm of Fire Spirit!

    Mo Qianfan chuckled and said, ¡°Nie Tian can¡¯t be considered to be an ordinary person. I met Yin Xingtian before he left, and his life span had increased! He was very confident that he could reach the God domain with his own power. If he breaks through into the God domain, he¡¯ll be even stronger, and I¡¯ll be no match for him.¡±

    ¡°Yin Xingtian¡¯s lifespan problem was also solved by Nie Tian?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    Mo Qianfan chuckled. ¡°Who else could have done it?¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    After a while, some Saint domain experts from the Five Elements Sect brought corpses of Ancientbeasts and outsiders to Mo Qianfan, and asked him to give them to Nie Tian.

    Mo Qianfan had long grown used to this. When those people left, he took the corpses to Nie Tian in the valley.

    After this repeated a few times, when Mo Qianfan came again, he sensed abnormal spatial fluctuations.

    However, Nie Tian was gone.

 Chapter 1345: Revisiting the Magical Land

    In a mysterious heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian appeared out of thin air on the altar that was surrounded and faced by eight me dragon skeletons.

    Gazing into the distance at the lofty, mountain-like titan arms that stretched into the sky, Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±

    Earlier, when he had been recovering by refining Blood Essence from Ancientbeast and outsider corpses in the Realm of Fire Spirit, a soul message from Agaz had entered his mind, suggesting that he shoulde here right away.

    WHOOSH!

    Upon entering this magicalnd, Agaz no longer manifested himself in his armor form, but rather his dragon form.

    Exuding raging mes, he floated right above Nie Tian, restless for action.

    Nie Tian took a while to examine this ce, and discovered that even though many years had passed since hisst visit, nothing seemed to have changed.

    ¡°Why bring me here now?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I was worried that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron could take Pang Chicheng here,¡± Agaz answered. ¡°Shao Tianyang branded a key to this ce in my heart. However, since Pang Bo made and handed the key to Shao Tianyang, he could have left another one in the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    ¡°If Pang Chicheng actuallyes here, I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll turn this whole ce upside down.

    ¡°Plus, he¡¯s long since learned that I can take people to this magicalnd. He only wasn¡¯t able toe because his bloodline hadn¡¯t been awakened back then.¡±

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment before asking, ¡°Why was the key branded in your heart?¡±

    ¡°You may have noticed that this altar was forged from the remains of the ancestors of my race,¡± Agaz exined. ¡°It¡¯s actually a special teleportation portal that only Ancientspirits can use. It contains bloodline secrets. It was because I had a me dragon bloodline running inside of me that I could be forged into a key to this ce.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Nie Tian nodded, showing that he understood.

    ¡°But the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron contains a me dragon aura as well,¡± Agaz added. ¡°And there was a teleportation portal in that underground pce. I was afraid that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron could take Pang Chicheng here with the help of that teleportation portal and that wisp of me dragon aura.¡±

    Enlightened, Nie Tian said, ¡°That¡¯s actually a valid concern.¡±

    Then, he nced around and said with a in tone, ¡°You don¡¯t seem to know much about the wonders of this ce either. All I know is that sixteen titans are buried in four different directions in this ce, as if to seal a special location in the middle.¡±

    With these words, he shot into the distant sky.

    SHEW!

    He sped through the sky like a bolt of lightning.

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°This feels awesome! This is much better than before! When I came here for the first time, I couldn¡¯t even walk due to the unusual gravitational field here. Eventer, I could only walk within a small area. Thest time I was here, I took a tour around this ce. It took me several months.¡±

    Before, he hadn¡¯t been able to fly here due to his low bloodline grade and cultivation base.

    This time, he was finally strong enough to fight the gravitational field and soar through the heavens.

    It wasn¡¯t long before he came to the huge hole in the earth that seemed to be suppressed by a total of sixteen buried titans in the four cardinal directions.

    Nothing seemed to have changed.

    The huge hole was like a well that connected this heaven and earth to a dark starry river.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was exceptionally rich near the huge hole, where a nt that looked like a grayish-brown tree branch stuck out.

    The hole was covered by a misty spiritual power shield, which separated the dark starry river from this heaven and earth. Even standing on it, he couldn¡¯t fall through it.

    During hisst visit, he had tried every possible method, but still failed to prate that spiritual power shield.

    The grayish-brown nt seemed as solid as a piece of divine metal. Even fire couldn¡¯t burn it, which made it full of wonders.

    ¡°I¡¯ve uncovered most of the secrets here. Only this ce...¡± Frowning, Nie Tian gazed at the grayish-brown nt and the glowing shield that covered the huge hole. ¡°Agaz, this is an Ancientspirit burial ground, and your reforged heart is the key to this heaven and earth. Do you really have no memories of this ce?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t people say that your bloodlines are branded with even the most ancient memories of your race?¡±

    Agaz had followed him to the huge hole in his me dragon form.

    ¡°No,¡± Agaz answered. ¡°I have no memories of this ce. I even can¡¯t tell whether this is a realm in our world or a human domain.

    ¡°The sixteen dead titans seem to be sealing this huge hole in the earth. Or are they sealing something in this huge hole? This nt?¡± Nie Tian pondered for a while, rubbing his chin. ¡°If I can¡¯t go under, what if I go up? Will it help if I look down from outside of this heaven and earth?¡±

    With this thought, he enveloped himself in his domain and charged into the heavens.

    Now that his bloodline had reached the eighth grade and his cultivation base had reached the Void domain, the gravitational field here had much a smaller limitation on his movements.

    He soared high into the heavens.

    After a while, he looked down from ten thousand meters high, and realized that this realm actually wasn¡¯t very vast.

    Other than the fact that the mountain-like arms of sixteen titans stuck out of the earth, there seemed to be nothing special about it.

    He continued to rise.

    Shortly afterwards, he mmed into a ward that was not only invisible to the eye, but also undetectable by soul awareness.

    BOOM!

    He bounced right back.

    His expression changed. ¡°There¡¯s a ward sealing the heavens too? Is this ce a prison? This ward is kind of simr to the Nine Star Heavens and the Four Manifestations Heaven-sealing Formation. The only differences are this ward is made of pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and it¡¯s restrictive from the inside as well.¡±

    Pondering, he slowly descended back to the huge hole in the earth.

    Once again, he fixed his eyes on the grayish-brown nt and the spiritual power shield that was sealing the huge hole.

    ¡°Wood domain.¡±

    He canceled his star domain and me domain, and attempted to approach that nt standing on the illusorynd that was his wood domain.

    On thend stood the Godspirit Tree and the Wood Thriving Formation formed by the seventy-two tree branches.

    After trying for a long time, Nie Tian shook his head in frustration and withdrew his wood domain. ¡°Nope, this nt that looks like a sharp, solid tree branch doesn¡¯t have a single wisp of wood power left in it.

    ¡°If I can pierce through this spiritual power shield and have a peek at the dark starry river underneath it, I might be able to find something.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone was summoned from within his ring of holding.

    This item was by far the most powerful weapon at his disposal.

    ¡°Let¡¯s give it a shot.¡±

    Without activating his erged form or fusing his raging flesh power into the bone through Life Blend, he simply manipted the bone in his regr form.

    Like a crimson divine spear, it pierced towards the spiritual power shield that covered the huge hole.

    ¡°Domain Split!¡± A Star Behemoth bloodline talent burst forth from within the bone.

    Countless rays of blood-colored light sted out like crimson lightning bolts, fusing into the spiritual power shield.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Surprisingly, numerous mysterious veins emerged on the shield, emanating misty divine light.

    With a single look at it, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°It¡¯s abination of spiritual power and flesh auras!¡±

    At this moment, Agaz¡¯s message came through. ¡°That¡¯s a bloodline formation that¡¯s unique to Ancientspirits! Judging by its patterns, it should be a bloodline formation of the titans!¡±

    ¡°Bloodline Suppression!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he discovered that the bloodline formation that had surfaced was being damaged by the blood-colored strings.

    During the Primal Era, Star Behemoths had been predators at the top of the food chain.

    They even had bloodline suppression over beings that were as mighty as titans.

    Nie Tian was thrilled. ¡°This may actually work!¡±

    Thest time he had been here, he hadn¡¯t been able to break the spiritual power shield no matter what he had tried. Part of the reason was because he had been far too weak back then. Another reason was that he hadn¡¯t had a weapon as wondrous as the Star Behemoth bone.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Domain Split and Bloodline Suppression worked together, allowing the countless rays of blood-colored light to sever the glowing mysterious bloodline veins.

    The spiritual power shield had been absorbing spiritual power from this heaven and earth to power itself.

    However, as more and more of the bloodline veins faded away, it gradually lost the ability to channel spiritual power from its surroundings.

    After a while, with a fizz, a round opening appeared in the shield.

 Chapter 1346: Unknown Starry River

    Looking at the small hole in the spiritual power shield, Nie Tian found it hard to believe. ¡°It actually worked!¡±

    He still remembered that thest time he had been here, he had exhausted every means at his disposal, but still failed to leave even the slightest mark on the spiritual power shield.

    He remembered that so well that it had put him under the impression that the shield was imprable.

    He rubbed his nose. ¡°I guess I¡¯ve just be much more powerful, even though I don¡¯t feel it.¡±

    Without putting in more effort, he simply watched the hole expand bit by bit under the Star Behemoth bone.

    ¡°The flesh aura from that bone can beat the bloodline formation left by the titans,¡± Agaz said.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The strings of blood-colored light continued to slither in the spiritual power shield to damage the formation that had been branded into it.

    Momentster, the hole became wide enough for him to go through.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡±

    While Nie Tian hesitated, Agaz took it upon itself to morph into a streak of fiery light and fly into the opening.

    In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

    Nie Tian then stuck one end of the Star Behemoth bone into the hole, but still left part of it above the shield like the grayish-brown nt.

    He had a feeling that it shouldn¡¯t be pulled out. Otherwise, the opening would heal, stopping them from probing into the space below.

    Therefore, he sensed Agaz¡¯s movements by relying on his special flesh aura and soul bond with him.

    All of a sudden, he sensed unprecedented astonishment in Agaz.

    ¡°Y-you should get in here, Master!¡± Agaz stuttered in his message from being overly astonished. ¡°Even in my dreams, I haven¡¯t seen anything like this! This is utterly unbelievable! You¡¯ve got to take a look at this!¡±

    With these messages, Agaz urged him to enter the space below.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Without hesitation, Nie Tian listened to his advice and flew through the hole in the spiritual power shield into the dark void.

    SHEW!

    He fell at a high speed.

    A few minutes passed.

    After falling through what seemed like a deep tunnel, Nie Tian found himself in a starry space, an exmation escaping his mouth. ¡°My god! What is this? Is this a tree?! How can there be a tree so colossal that its branches have pierced through heaven and earths?!¡±

    In front of him was a scene he had never seen before. It was even beyond his imagination!

    In the dim starless void, an unimaginably huge tree was floating, with its branches going through numerous heaven and earths.

    The magicalnd he hade from was merely one of them.

    There were close to a thousand other heaven and earths, or in other words, realms! All of them seemed like fruits on that colossal tree!

    More surprisingly, most of the colossal tree¡¯s branches were empty, and stuck straight in different directions, as if they were eager to find realms to pierce.

    Also, the heaven and earths were extremely far apart. Even the distance between two close-together ones was greater than that between two realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°D-do you have any... umm... bloodline memories about this colossal tree before us?¡± As soon as Nie Tian said these words, he found that his voice had turned strange, and that he stuttered as Agaz had earlier. ¡°What in the world is it? I suppose even the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars aren¡¯t asrge as this.

    ¡°Perhaps it can easily destroy realms and kill titans and Ancientbeasts. Even Star Behemoths aren¡¯t nearly asrge, right?¡±

    That was when he remembered the Star Behemoth that had been hiding in the depths of the ck sea in that vast floating continent he had been to.

    That floating continent was extremely vast, and the ck sea took up arge portion of it.

    Even so, it was nothingpared to this colossal tree in front of him.

    Even the word ¡®heaven-blocking¡¯ couldn¡¯t describe its size. It was virtually ¡®domain-blocking!¡¯

    ¡°No, I have no bloodline memories about this colossal tree,¡± Agaz answered. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t seen it with my own eyes, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have believed that a tree thisrge actually existed in this era! Heaven-equal Vines, Heavenly Demonsbanes, Demon Eyes Flowers... None of those so-called terrifying nts areparable to this tree.¡±

    Deeply shaken, Nie Tian examined the tree with his bloodline power and soul awareness.

    After a while, he shook his head and said, ¡°I sense no auras from it, flesh aura or wood aura. None. I¡¯m afraid this tree died a long time ago. Don¡¯t tell me that it¡¯s the Tree of Life where the origin of the Floragrims lies? But if it were, I should have been able to sense something from it.¡±

    The seventy-two tree branches in his wood domain had something to do with the Floragrims¡¯ Tree of Life.

    Besides, he practiced the Floragrims¡¯ Heavenly Wood Heal, with which he had tempered and strengthened his internal organs, flesh, and bones over and over. Every part of him contained refined wood power.

    If this was, in fact, the Tree of Life, he should have felt something.

    ¡°Master, I have a feeling that by piercing its branches through those realms, it was channeling something from them,¡± Agaz said with caution. ¡°Luckily, it seems to have died long ago. But if were alive, what would it gain from those realms?

    ¡°Is it possible that it fed on realms like Star Behemoths?¡±

    Agaz was still deep in shock.

    Nie Tian was also bbergasted, as he didn¡¯t know how terrifying this tree would be if it were still alive.

    As vast as a domain, the tree had prated close to a thousand realms with only a third of its branches.

    If this strange thing were still alive, it would be far more dreadful than Gupi, which was devastating the human world.

    Nie Tian looked up at the magicalnd where sixteen titans were buried, then nced around at the other pierced realms. ¡°There are close to a thousand realms that are just like the one above us.¡±

    He found that some of them were spherical, while others were t. Their shapes varied.

    Though the one he hade from was a tnd, there were spherical ones in the distance. However, the significant distance prevented him from seeing what was on those realms.

    ¡°Are we in the human world, or the Ancientspirit world?¡± He asked.

    ¡°I... I don¡¯t know,¡± Agaz said, looking baffled. ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be any stars here, and none of the pierced heaven and earths are bright. There¡¯s nothing I can rely on to judge where this ce is. However, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of it.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°This is odd. Howe you don¡¯t have any memories of a ce where titans and me dragons are buried?¡±

    ¡°I really don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I think we need to explore some of the other realms and see what secrets they hold,¡± Nie Tian said.

    The burial ground he had been to had taught him Primal Chaos, Titan¡¯s Wrath, and that Illusory Ancient Talisman, which had given a strong boost to his battle prowess.

    However, that was only one of the thousand heaven and earths in this dark void.

    Would there be ones where huge Ancientbeasts or other types of dragons were buried?

    The thought thrilled Nie Tian.

    Since the unimaginably colossal tree was dead, he might as well explore thends one by one.

    Having entered the Void domain and the eighth grade, he was now capable of traveling through the starry river without help.

    Even though the distance between any twonds was vast, he could travel to them safely.

    ¡°Master, if you want to explore the other heaven and earths, you¡¯d better take that bone with you,¡± Agaz suggested. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that othernds and realms are enveloped in simr spiritual power shields. We might not be strong enough to go through them on our own.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right. I should bring that bone with us.¡±

    With this thought, he raised his hand and beckoned.

    SHEW!

    The Star Behemoth bone fell from the spiritual power shield above.

    After it did, the hole in the shield healed at a fast speed. In the blink of an eye, not even the slightest fissures could be seen in it.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to need to leave via thisnd,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Have you memorized its location? I don¡¯t want us to be lost when wee back.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I got it.¡± Agaz said.

    ¡°Good.¡±

 Chapter 1347: A Shocking Scene

    In the dark void.

    Nie Tian activated his unique domain and flew towards a nearby heaven and earth.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Agaz the me dragon and the Star Behemoth bone both shot forward, overtaking him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness spread into his surroundings like water.

    ¡°Strange...¡± he muttered softly.

    What he sensed here was different from what he had sensed in any other part of the starry river, including the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Dark Marsh, and the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    Normally, the starry river was filled with all kinds of energies. Even just in human domains, there was wood power, me power, lightning power, metal power, space dust, and dozens of other powers and impurities.

    Besides, many of them were extremely destructive, and could easily melt people¡¯s flesh away.

    Therefore, it didn¡¯t matter whether it was humans, outsiders, or Ancientspirits. They had to be strong enough to be able to travel through the starry river without help.

    To be able to do that, humans had to reach the Void domain.

    Only with their domains could humans protect their vulnerable bodies from the deadly energies and impurities in the starry river.

    Simrly, outsiders and Ancientspirits had to reach certain grades, and their bodies needed to be tough enough.

    Here, however...

    This unknown void was also filled with a wide array of energies. However, as Nie Tian examined them with his soul awareness, he discovered that almost none of them seemed to be corrosive or harmful in any way.

    More importantly, as he released his soul awareness to cover as much of his surroundings as he could, he didn¡¯t sense any storms, spatial gusts, or dashing meteors.

    ¡°Perhaps I can try and cancel my domain.¡±

    With this thought, he canceled his domain, exposing himself in the starry river, and started speeding forward using his flesh power.

    The result was as he had expected.

    Exposed in the void, he relied on his sensitive flesh and skin to sense the energies around him. He found that they were surprisingly mild, and practically non-aggressive.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If this is the case, most human cultivators won¡¯t need to reach the Void domain to travel in this part of the starry river.¡±

    Gazing off at the pierced heaven and earths, he thought to himself, ¡°If thosends were like ours, full of life and rich spiritual Qi, perhaps I could get some of the people from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars toe and practice cultivation here.¡±

    The magicalnd where sixteen titans were buried had exceptionally rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    It was just that the gravity was much heavier there than in normal human realms. Those with low cultivation bases wouldn¡¯t be able to stay there for long.

    There were close to a thousand othernds and realms here. If all of them were wreathed in rich spiritual Qi, then it would be a brand-new ideal location for humans to practice cultivation.

    WHOOSH!

    After speeding through the void for a long time, Nie Tian could finally get a better view of thend that was the closest to him.

    Only aftering closer was he able to see that it was actually covered in ice and snow. With the icy mountains and falling snow, it looked like a giant piece of ice.

    FIZZ!

    Agaz the me dragon floated before him, wreathed in mes. However, they seemed to be affected by frigid currents, and were about to go out.

    ¡°Master, I¡¯m sensing the aura of a member of my race!¡± Agaz called out. ¡°But instead of being a me dragon, it¡¯s from another branch of my race.¡±

    ¡°What branch?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Frost dragon,¡± Agaz answered.

    CRACK!

    The Star Behemoth bone plummeted, creating a hole in the invisible realm barrier and piercing towards the ice-coldnd.

    Agaz and Nie Tian followed it in.

    Snow-capped mountains could be seen everywhere in this white heaven and earth. Among them, there was a small winding mountain range that was in the shape of a dragon.

    ¡°A frost dragon!¡±

    Only after taking a closer look did Nie Tian realize that it was a frozen dragon that had apparently died a long time ago.

    ¡°Like how humans have different cultivation attributes, we dragons carry bloodlines of different attributes,¡± Agaz exined. ¡°Lightning dragons, me dragons, ck dragons, frost dragons, metal dragons, et cetera. During the Deste Antiquity Era, our race was a strong one. All of our branches were at the height of power and splendor. Each of our ns had at least one tenth grade leader.

    ¡°This frost dragon seemed to have been at the peak of the ninth grade when it died. It would have had a chance to advance to the tenth grade if it hadn¡¯t died.¡±

    The frost dragon before them didn¡¯t emanate any flesh aura. Ages of corrosion had already dispersed its flesh aura to every corner of this ice-coldnd, leaving not a single wisp in it.

    Its heart was gone as well, as if someone had carved it out.

    Nie Tian knew that once a living being lost all of its flesh power, it lost its value, no matter what species.

    If he wanted, he could swing the Star Behemoth bone at it casually, and the enormous frozen dragon would shatter into countless ice shards.

    After sensing for a long while, Nie Tian said, ¡°The frost power on thisnd is exceptional, which makes it an ideal cultivation location for those who practice frost power. However, it doesn¡¯t seem to have an edge over ces like the Domain of Frigid Frost and the Domain of Endless Snow.¡±

    With these words, he flew about to scan the realm with his soul awareness and bloodline power.

    Soon, he found that this heaven and earth was much smaller than the one the me Dragon Armor had taken him to, as he easily covered every corner of it.

    Shaking his head, he seemed somewhat disappointed. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything special about this ce other than that frost dragon that died who knows how long ago. And the frost dragon¡¯s remains have lost all of their flesh and frost power, making it worthless to me.¡±

    ¡°It seems that not every heaven and earth is helpful like the one we came from,¡± Agaz said.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°Let¡¯s not waste any more of our time here. There are many other heaven and earths. Let¡¯s go check a few others.¡±

    ¡°But I noticed that a branch of that huge tree pierced through this icynd as well,¡± Agaz said.

    ¡°I can see that,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°But a detail might have escaped your eyes, Master.¡± With these words, Agaz whizzed to a lower location. ¡°This tree branch pierced through this frozennd from below like a divine weapon. However, the ce it stuck out of thend happened to be where the frost dragon was. It went right through its heart after spearing out of thend.¡±

    Nie Tian looked down with rapt attention, and agreed. ¡°It appears so.¡±

    The tree branch was grayish-brown like the others. However, this one had only stuck thirty meters out of the earth.

    Even so, he knew that this was only the part he could see. Who knew how long the whole branch was, considering the size of the ancient withered tree.

    ¡°The tree branch pierced through the heart of this frost dragon, and our hearts are the most important part of our bodies,¡± Agaz exined. ¡°Once our heart is prated, we¡¯ll die. However, if the heart of this peak ninth grade frost dragon wasn¡¯tpletely destroyed or taken away, it might be able to repair it with the help of the frigid environment in this ce.¡±

    Nie Tian listened attentively, and was suddenly enlightened. ¡°Are you saying that this peak ninth grade frost dragon was killed by that tree branch?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I think so,¡± Agaz answered. ¡°I suppose it first came here to make its breakthrough into the tenth grade. But who would have thought that death would befall it without any sign. That tree branch pierced through thisnd, along with its heart, causing it to die instantly.

    ¡°I even suspect that the tree branch took its heart.¡±

    Baffled, Nie Tian asked, ¡°It took its heart? I doubt it. Perhaps it just drained the heart of its strong life force, along with its frigid Bloodline Crystal Chains, with some special method. I have a bloodline talent that allows me to do so.¡±

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, he suddenly paused, and then said, ¡°That colossal tree could locate the heart of this ninth grade frost dragon and pierce a branch through it with such precision, so it could take away everyst bit of its life force.¡±

    Agaz also looked surprised as he said, ¡°If that¡¯s true, there must be many more heaven and earths here where living beings had their hearts pierced and were killed by that ancient withered tree when they were off guard.¡±

    Frowning, Nie Tian said, ¡°The ancient tree can prate heaven and earths, along with the enormous living beings in them. So the question is, did it target these heaven and earths, or the living beings in them? Or was there something else that it wanted?¡±

    Deeply amazed, Agaz said, ¡°I suppose we have to go to other heaven and earths to test our theories.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious look in his eyes.

    Immediately afterwards, he and Agaz the me dragon left this frozen heaven and earth, and flew towards a nearby spherical realm.

 Chapter 1348: Plague

    After an unknown period of time.

    Nie Tian and Agaz the me dragon looked up into the void, floating in a deste heaven and earth.

    Agaz breathed out a breath of mixed flesh aura and mes, and sighed in frustration. ¡°This is the ninth one. All of the heaven and earths we¡¯ve explored have Ancientspirit corpses in them. They were either titans, Ancientbeasts, or dragons. But all of them had their heart pierced by a branch of the colossal tree and died.¡±

    Frowning, Nie Tian said, ¡°From the look of it, the close to a thousand realms here were originally popted by Ancientspirits. That unimaginablyrge tree must have arrived here secretly, and surprised them by piercing its branches into their realms to kill them.¡±

    ¡°There don¡¯t seem to be any tenth grade experts here,¡± Agaz said.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Indeed. Tenth grade Ancientspirits are extremely powerful beings. I suppose the ancient tree wasn¡¯t able to kill Ancientspirits at such a grade.¡±

    Agaz took a moment to ponder in silence before saying, ¡°There¡¯s another possibility. Perhaps they fought the ancient tree and lost, so they had to evacuate from this region.¡±

    ¡°There must have been lots of other ninth grade Ancientspirits here,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°What happened to them?¡±

    ¡°I suppose they evacuated as well,¡± Agaz said. ¡°Otherwise, they might have all died here. If that¡¯s actually what happened, it must have been considered a great humiliation to the whole Ancientspirit world. That would exin why it wasn¡¯t recorded in ancient records or branded in our bloodlines.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk briefly before saying, ¡°That¡¯s actually quite likely.¡±

    Agaz then continued, ¡°Each of these nine realms agree with cultivators of certain attributes and outsiders with certain bloodlines. But it¡¯s a pity that all of the Ancientspirits we¡¯ve found have lost everyst wisp of their flesh aura. Time has rendered thempletely worthless to you.¡±

    ¡°More importantly, all of their hearts were gone,¡± Nie Tian said, finding this pitiful as well.

    While talking to each other, the two of them left this heaven and earth to explore others.

    Time flew.

    After exploring eight more realms and failing to gain anything valuable, Nie Tian finally decided to give up. ¡°It¡¯s time we left here. There¡¯s nothing special with these heaven and earths we¡¯ve explored. The only one that¡¯s special is the one we first arrived in, the one with that altar surrounded by me dragon skeletons.

    ¡°Over there, I was able to derive a number of exquisite incantations, and the sealing magic that turned out to be effective on Gupi.

    ¡°All we¡¯ve found in the other heaven and earths were valueless corpses, and I couldn¡¯t derive any secret magics or incantations from any of them.¡±

    There were close to a thousand heaven and earths in this region that had been prated by the branches of the ancient colossal tree.

    Even if Nie Tian had time to kill, it would take an unknowably long time to go through them one by one.

    Not to mention that there was still plenty of urgent business that required his attention.

    He needed to make new breakthroughs in his bloodline and cultivation base as soon as possible. And the Realm of Fire Spirit...

    ¡°Master, if I return to my n one day and see my father, can I tell him about what we¡¯ve found here?¡± Agaz suddenly asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here and return to the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying were waiting bitterly, not daring to leave that region.

    They had been waiting there the whole time because Lou Hongyan and Peng Yan had told them that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be gone for long, and that he would return to the very ce where he had disappeared.

    WHOOSH!

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, two God domain experts, suddenly arrived, their faces grim.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mo Qianfan asked.

    Ye Wenhan took a deep breath and said, ¡°Gupi is secretly approaching the Domain of Heaven Python. And we received word that Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends seems to be wandering in domains that border the Domain of Heaven Python. We¡¯re worried that Gupi and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler have the same target: the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    ¡°I bet they¡¯vee for Nie Tian,¡± Yu Suying said.

    Ji Yuanquan nodded. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±

    Yu Suying smiled bitterly. ¡°But Nie Tian is still...¡±

    ¡°We can only wait for him toe back,¡± Ji Yuanquan said helplessly.

    Another two weeks passed.

    FZZZ!

    Unusual spatial fluctuations emerged. Sensing them, Ji Yuanquan let out a soft exmation.

    In the next moment, a portal of raging mes manifested out of thin air. As soon as Nie Tian jumped out of it, it healed and vanished.

    Astonishment was written across Ji Yuanquan¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Such a strange aura... Nie Tian, did you juste from the ¡®magicalnd¡¯ the me Dragon Armor took you to?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I did.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°I had a feeling that the heaven and earth on the other side of that portal didn¡¯t belong to the human world. Perhaps it¡¯s somewhere in the outsiders and Ancientspirits¡¯ territory, which happens to be where our people were born. If we can go through that portal, we won¡¯t have to cross the Dead Star Sea anymore.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it is,¡± Nie Tian said, dampening his enthusiasm. ¡°If it were, Pang Bo would have taken advantage of this shortcut and marched forces into outsider and Ancientspirit realms long ago.¡±

    Ye Wenhan let out a cold snort. ¡°Pang Bo? Now I even doubt that he would do that even if he had easy ess to the outsider world. Pang Chicheng clearly had outsider blood running through his veins. That means Pang Bo was very intimate with a powerful outsider in hister years.¡±

    His words got Nie Tian thinking.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to talk about that.¡± Ji Yuanquan put an end to the topic. ¡°Nie Tian, we received word that Gupi and a number of Fiends are secretly approaching the Domain of Heaven Python. If what we suspect is true, you¡¯re what they¡¯re after!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We suppose Gupi intends to get rid of you before you¡¯re strong enough to seal it,¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    ¡°Come on! To the Domain of Heaven Python!¡± Nie Tian said urgently.

    ...

    In the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Every Qi warrior in the Realm of Maelstrom was discussing the impending attack.

    ¡°What?! Instead of entering the Domain of Frigid Frost, Gupi is nowing towards the Domain of Heaven Python?!¡±

    ¡°The Domain of Green Woods and the Domain of Heaven Python are separated by many domains. How could Gupi suddenly show up so close to the Domain of Heaven Python?¡±

    ¡°Other than spatial tunnels, I can¡¯t think of another exnation.¡±

    ¡°But how could Gupi get here through a spatial tunnel? Don¡¯t tell me that it¡¯s also skilled at spatial maniption magics?¡±

    ¡°I suppose certain people, or more likely outsiders, are helping it.¡±

    Ling Bingyun, the Ice Soul Divine Daughter, along with Han Qiong and Kong Shuangjing, let out a sigh of relief after learning that Gupi wasing towards the Domain of Heaven Python instead of the Domain of Frigid Frost.

    Kong Shuangjing couldn¡¯t mask his tion as he said, ¡°Divine Daughter, we don¡¯t have to stay in the Realm of Maelstrom anymore. Gupi chose to not enter our domain when it was right in front of it. I suppose the odds of it entering it in the future are much lower.¡±

    ¡°Without the threat from Gupi, we can carry on with our lives as before,¡± Han Qiong said.

    ¡°With Gupi heading towards the Domain of Heaven Python, I¡¯m afraid Nie Tian is in big trouble this time,¡± Kong Shuangjing said. ¡°Now, after learning that Gupi is approaching the Realm of Maelstrom, many Saint domain experts that came from other domains and were reluctant to leave made up excuses and evacuated. Shouldn¡¯t we do the same?¡±

    As soon as word of Gupi¡¯s approaching spread, many of those who had traveled great distances to y up to Nie Tian, hoping to receive his assistance when they attempted to advance to the God domain, were scared and chose to leave quietly.

    After all, so far, no one could say that they could keep Gupi away.

    Numerous Saint domain experts had been killed wherever Gupi had gone.

    Even God domain experts had died because of it in the Dead Star Sea back in the day, not to mention them.

    Therefore, many who had learned about Gupi¡¯s imminent arrival made up excuses and left.

    Kong Shuangjing and Han Qiong also suggested that, as the cornerstones of their sect, they shouldn¡¯t risk their lives by remaining in the Realm of Maelstrom either.

    ¡°No, we¡¯re not leaving the Realm of Maelstrom,¡± Ling Bingyun said, looking serious.

    ¡°What?!¡± Han Qiong¡¯s face turned pale with fright. ¡°Why? What happens to the Realm of Maelstrom isn¡¯t our concern, Sectmaster! Gupi is Nie Tian¡¯s problem now. Why do we want to get in the middle of that? Besides, we apologized, and Nie Tian forgave us. Whether he can fight off Gupi or not, he won¡¯t have a reason toe after us anymore.¡±

    After he finished, Kong Shuangjing expressed his confusion as well.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand that Gupi¡¯s target isn¡¯t just Nie Tian or the Domain of Heaven Python?¡± Ling Bingyun said with all seriousness. ¡°It¡¯s goal is to encroach on the entire human world and turn all of our realms into nests that¡¯ll help it grow stronger. This time, it left the Domain of Frigid Frost alone toe here to deal with Nie Tian. What about in the future?

    ¡°If Nie Tian dies, and no one else can step forward to fight it, then it¡¯ll be able to ravage the human domains unscrupulously!

    ¡°At that time, we¡¯ll have no one to rely on.¡±

    Ling Bingyun seemed to have finallye around.

    Han Qiong cast his gaze down in shame. ¡°I... I suppose you¡¯re right, Sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go out and take a look.¡± The three of them then flew out of the stone pavilion the Golden Vast Sect had assigned to them. Spreading their soul awareness, they soon discovered that more than half of the Saint domain experts were gone.

    Some, however, had stayed.

    Some saint domain experts, including Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, Fu Yusen, Yan Bin, and Gou Junhao, didn¡¯t evacuate due to Gupi¡¯s imminent arrival.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Zhang Qiling looked up and noticed Ling Bingyun. Looking deeply surprised, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you didn¡¯t leave after learning that Gupi was on its way here.¡±

    ¡°Gupi is a gue to all humanity,¡± Ling Bingyun said coldly. ¡°If we don¡¯t get rid of it together, where will we hide after the Domain of Heaven Python falls and Nie Tian is killed?¡±

    Upon hearing these words, Zhang Qiling and the others felt a wave of respect.

    Li Wanfa nodded. ¡°It seems that I was prejudiced against you before. As arrogant and hot-tempered as you may be, I¡¯ve got to admit that you understand the big picture. Many people don¡¯t have that.¡±

    Ling Bingyun let out a cold snort, not saying anything.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open in the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian flew out of it with Ji Yuanquan and the others.

    Almost at the same time...

    Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion walked out of the teleportation portal in the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s quarters.

    Ye Wenhan was the first to sense his arrival, and eximed softly, ¡°I wonder why he came to the Realm of Maelstrom at such a time.¡±

 Chapter 1349: A Former Foe Wants to Be Friends

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked curiously.

    ¡°Big Brother Fan.¡± With these words, Ye Wenhan stepped forward and flew towards the teleportation portal in the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s quarters like a streak of sword light. A wide smile appeared on his face before he even saw the man.

    Upon arriving, he called out, ¡°Big Brother Fan, what brought you here?¡±

    He had nothing but heartfelt respect towards Fan Tianze.

    In a way, he had even more respect towards Fan Tianze than Chu Yuan, the current sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Senior Fan? Why is he here?¡±

    Fan Tianze had helped him through the crises in the Shatter Battlefield and the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Fan Tianze had also said that a day woulde when he would need his help.

    Could it be that the day hade?

    Heart filled with questions, he slowly descended towards the ground with Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and the others.

    Mo Qianfan chuckled and said, ¡°There are far fewer people here now. The number of Saint domain cultivators here was three times as many as now when we left for the Realm of Fire Spirit. It¡¯s only been a few months, yet so many people have left. Who would have expected that?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan snorted coldly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that all because the Shadow Society spread word of Gupi¡¯s imminent arrival? It seems to me Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society still hasn¡¯t epted their defeat.¡±

    As Nie Tian descended from the heavens, he noticed a handful of Saint domain experts that he was familiar with, including Ling Bingyun, Li Wanfa, Zhang Qiling, Yan Bin, and Gou Junhao.

    All of them greeted him upon seeing him, including Ling Bingyun.

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Hmm? I see that you didn¡¯t leave the Realm of Maelstrom. Gupi has left the Domain of Green Woods, and is now on its way to the Domain of Heaven Python. Your sect is safe now, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Gupi is a gue to all humanity,¡± Ling Bingyun said. ¡°Even though it didn¡¯t enter the Domain of Frigid Frost this time, it will eventually. If we don¡¯t take care of it together, human realms may fall one after another. None will be spared. Since Gupi considers you its greatest threat, we shall stay and help you.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep look at her and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be so incisive about this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ttered,¡± Ling Bingyun said with a in tone.

    SHEW!

    Ye Wenhan and Fan Tianze flew over from the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s quarters.

    Nie Tian bowed respectfully. ¡°Greetings, Senior Fan.¡±

    Fan Tianze waved his hand and said with a grim face, ¡°No need to stand on ceremony. I¡¯m not here to ask for your assistance. Rather, I was in a nearby domain, and noticed that Fiend experts were lurking in adjacent areas in the starry river, along with Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons and Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms.

    ¡°All three powerful outsider races have sent grand monarchs to this region. It seems to me that the Domain of Heaven Python is their target.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Mo Qianfan eximed in shock.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression also flickered. ¡°The Fiends, Demons, and Phantasms all sent out grand monarchs just to take the Domain of Heaven Python? Is it worth the trouble?¡±

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven Python isn¡¯t worth them sending out grand monarchs together... but you are!¡± Fan Tianze said.

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°Me?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Fan Tianze said with all seriousness. ¡°You¡¯re very much in the limelight recently. Grand Monarch Dark Nether had a direct encounter against you in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven not long ago. You¡¯re far too special, and your potential not only came as a shock to us, but to our enemies as well.¡±

    ¡°Eh...¡± Nie Tian was at a loss for words.

    However, he noticed that Mo Qianfan, Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and Yu Suying, who were all at the God domain, didn¡¯t seem surprised at all, as if they all shared Fan Tianze¡¯s opinion of him.

    It was understandable that the three powerful outsider races would want to join up to kill him.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian realized that, to the outsiders, he might have be a greater threat than God domain experts like Luo Wanxiang, Chu Rui, and Ji Yuanquan.

    Perhaps even Mo Heng, who had disappeared for a long time, wasn¡¯t considered as great a threat as he was.

    With a grim expression, Fan Tianze continued, ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, and Grand Monarch Bloodlust. These are only the ones we know are here. We don¡¯t know whether they¡¯re going to send other grand monarchster, or if powerful experts are already on their way here. But I have a feeling that this operation where they¡¯ve sent three grand monarchs to the Domain of Heaven Python is only the first step.¡±

    Ye Wenhan was taken aback. ¡°The first step?¡±

    Fan Tianze sighed. ¡°I have a feeling another inter-racial war is going to break out in the Domain of Heaven Python. Our battles in the Dead Star Sea have only ended recently, but it seems new ones areing. The only difference is that, in the Dead Star Sea, we were usually the aggressive side, and pressed on towards the outsiders¡¯ territory.

    ¡°But this time, the outsiders have sent strong forces directly into our domains through hidden teleportation portals they left behind.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression grew cold as he asked, ¡°Did they forget that every time they sent forces into our domains, they suffered heavy losses?¡±

    Fan Tianze shook his head. ¡°Things are different this time. None of our peak God domain experts are avable, and it doesn¡¯t seem that they¡¯lle back any time soon. We¡¯re at our weakest moment now.

    ¡°For one thing, we don¡¯t have as many early and middle God domain experts as the outsiders have early and middle tenth grade grand monarchs.

    ¡°For another, we still have Gupi, this major trouble, hovering over our heads.¡±

    Everyone fell silent after hearing Fan Tianze¡¯s words. Thinking about what he said, they couldn¡¯t help but frown one by one.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already informed my sect,¡± Fan Tianze continued. ¡°They¡¯ll send powerful experts to the Domain of Heaven Python to help you fight the outsiders. Brother Ji, you¡¯d better inform Xuan Guangyu of the situation, and have him send forces as well.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan smiled bitterly. ¡°I can only deliver the message. I¡¯m not in a position to make decisions like this.¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded. ¡°I understand. Unfortunately, none of the Five Elements Sect¡¯s God domain experts are avable. The two God domain experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce seem to be otherwise upied as well. I¡¯ll try to contact all of the other God domain human experts. Even if they can¡¯te to the Domain of Heaven Python, they need to be prepared.

    ¡°We¡¯re facing a fierce war.¡±

    Shocked by the fact that three powerful outsider races hadunched a joint invasion to the Domain of Heaven Python, everyone went into action.

    Dong Li arranged for those with low cultivation bases andmoners in the Domain of Heaven Python to move to certain realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Nie Tian, meanwhile, left for the floating meteor close to the Realm of Maelstrom where he had kept the Star Behemoth bone before.

    He intended to recover all of his lost Blood Essence and prepare his bloodline for its advance to the ninth grade with the Ancientbeast and outsider corpses he had received from the Five Elements Sect.

    Hua Mu and Jing Feiyang were responsible for delivering thetest information.

    Days passed.

    The teleportation portal Zhao Shanling had set up on the floating meteor suddenly gleamed with curious light.

    In the next moment, Jing Feiyang appeared in the teleportation portal with another person next to him. With a quick nce at the iparably sharp bone that was floating over Nie Tian and absorbing mixed energies from the starry river, he muttered, ¡°It seems to have risen to the same level as a divine tool now.¡±

    Nie Tian opened his eyes and saw the woman Jing Feiyang had brought here. ¡°It¡¯s you? Why are you here?¡±

    It was White Rose, the leader of a Star Hunters organization that roamed the starry river between the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Endless Snow, the Domain of me¡¯s End, and the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    Thest time he had seen her, he had been on his way to the Domain of Endless Snow. Master Bloody Despair, Old Shadow entric, and her had ambushed him in session. However, his experience with her had been fairly pleasant.

    Now, many yearster, she had advanced from the early Saint domain to the middle Saint domain.

    However, Nie Tian had heard that since Master Bloody Despair had left to join Sikong Cuo¡¯s forces, her Star Hunter organization seemed to have suffered heavy losses, and ended up much weaker than before.

    White Rose bowed in respect. ¡°I¡¯m here to share information with you. We spotted arge number of ninth and eighth grade Fiends, Phantasms, and Demons in areas adjacent to the Domain of Heaven Python. I suppose they¡¯re preparing for a great battle.¡±

    As the leader of a Star Hunter organization, she and her men spent arge portion of their time roaming the starry river between different domains.

    Furthermore, all of her subordinates were cunning fellows. They would leave teleportation portals in certain areas to bettermunicate with one another and watch out for enemies.

    For that reason, she had been the first to notice the arrival of the outsiders.

    Fan Tianze, the Shadow Society, and many other forces had learned of the outsiders¡¯ movements from her.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°We¡¯ve long since learned that the outsiders are nning an invasion. Thank you for your efforts. However, you could talk to Dong Li about the number and grades of the outsiders. You really didn¡¯t have toe here.¡±

    With these words, he gave Jing Feiyang a puzzled look.

    With a wry smile, Jing Feiyang said, ¡°Nie Tian, other than to share information, she also wishes to join your force.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Join my force?¡±

 Chapter 1350: A Storm Is Brewing

    With one knee on the ground, she bowed her head and said, ¡°I hope you¡¯ll ept my offer.¡±

    Nie Tian was right. She didn¡¯t have toe to him if she only had information about the outsiders to share.

    Either Dong Li or Jing Feiyang could pass the information on to him.

    However, if she wanted to join Nie Tian¡¯s force, she would have to get his personal consent.

    ¡°You want to join my force at this moment?¡± Nie Tian found this surprising. ¡°You were the first to notice the outsiders¡¯ unusual movements. You must understand that the Phantasms, Demons, and Fiends have all sent out grand monarchs to deal with me. On top of that, Gupi has made me its primary target as well.

    ¡°Now, the majority of the Saint domain experts who traveled to the Realm of Maelstrom have left after learning about the impending invasion of the joint outsider forces and Gupi.

    ¡°Why would you want to join my force at this moment?¡±

    White Rose raised her head. Icy gleaming light shone in her determined and stubborn eyes as she said, ¡°Only if I join you when you and the Domain of Heaven Python are in a difficult time can I show my sincerity. And only if I do this will you value me and know that I¡¯m a subordinate you can rely on in perilous moments.¡±

    Approval filled Jing Feiyang¡¯s face as he said, ¡°I¡¯m impressed. No wonder you¡¯re able to lead an organization that covers multiple domains.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep look at her. After hesitating for a while, he took a nce at Jing Feiyang.

    Jing Feiyang nodded and said with a smile, ¡°I think we can take her in. As a Son of the Stars, Sikong Cuo took Master Bloody Despair into his force, and that man was defined as a residual evil of the Blood Spirit Sect in his early days. He could absorb Star Hunters. Why can¡¯t you?

    ¡°Not to mention that your status in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce has long since risen above his!¡±

    With a sincere tone, he added, ¡°Besides, all of the four ancient great sects are relying on you and your missing master to confine or seal Gupi. Under such circumstances, you¡¯ll have a just reason to build up your force and your own strength.¡±

    At this moment, White Rose said softly, ¡°Even though I¡¯m only at the middle Saint domain, which isn¡¯tparable to the cultivation bases of many of your powerful subordinates, my people know the Domain of Heaven Python and its surrounding areas extremely well, and we¡¯ve set up manymunication devices and teleportation portals. We can learn the outsiders¡¯ movements, even the slightest of them, and inform you at the first possible moment.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Nie Tian finally gave his consent.

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± White Rose said excitedly.

    There was a vast difference between Nie Tian¡¯s status and battle prowess now and when he had traveled to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Right now, he was the most popr and powerful chosen one in the human world.

    If she could attach herself to him, her Star Hunters wouldn¡¯t have to hide anymore.

    The Heavenly Ice Sect from the Domain of Endless Snow and Master Bloody Despair definitely wouldn¡¯t dare to mess with her anymore.

    Furthermore, she would be able to openly find a realm and make it her headquarters, or ask Nie Tian to assign an area to her.

    Any human sect or n would have to consider the consequences of offending Nie Tian if they wanted to make a move against her.

    One had to know that Nie Tian had defeated the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and forced the Shadow Society to back off. Even the other three great sects had been keen about having him join them!

    Before, he had been a rapidly-growing sapling in her eyes, but now he had already grown into a sky-reaching tree.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll handle the rest,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a heartyugh. ¡°We¡¯re on the same ship from now on. And your people don¡¯t need to have any scruples about entering the realms in the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of the Falling Stars, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries anymore.¡±

    tion filled White Rose¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go. He needs to be alone.¡± With these words, Jing Feiyang entered the teleportation portal with White Rose. The spell formation was activated, and the two of them vanished into thin air.

    Nie Tian, however, took out an eighth grade Goldskin Beast and started absorbing its flesh power through Life Drain.

    At this point, he had already condensed all three hundred drops of Blood Essence and finished all the body refinement and upgrade that was allowed by his eighth grade bloodline.

    During the past few days, he had been fusing all of the pure flesh power he had absorbed and refined into the green aura in his heart, so it could grow and reach its next breakthrough point within a shorter time.

    However, the fact that he hadn¡¯t been presented with an opportunity to enter the Blood Realm after he had finished condensing Blood Essence and refining his body frustrated him.

    If he couldn¡¯t enter the Blood Realm, he wouldn¡¯t be able to learn new bloodline magics.

    When his bloodline had been at the seventh grade, an opportunity to enter the Blood Realm had presented itself naturally. However, he didn¡¯t feel any signs of such an opportunity now.

    ¡°Gupi... If I want to seal Gupi, I have to be stronger, and I need to acquire more diversified powers.¡±

    Two weekster.

    Everyst spirit beast and outsider corpse that the Five Elements Sect and the other sects had contributed had been exhausted.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline aura still hadn¡¯t fallen dormant, which meant it yearned for more flesh power.

    What it had absorbed was far from enough.

    ¡°Outsiders...¡±

    Like an icy bolt of lightning, Nie Tian¡¯s gaze shot into the distant void that was dimly lit by stars.

    He knew that in the direction he exerted his sight, Demons were gathering and preparing tounch a dreadful battle against him.

    ¡°Their rich flesh power can be used as my new source of flesh power will help me enter the ninth grade!¡± he said with a cold expression. ¡°If I can get rid of Gupi and then kill the outsider invaders, that¡¯ll probably help me umte enough flesh power for my bloodline upgrade.

    ¡°And if I can kill a grand monarch...¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian licked his lips, a ferocious look appearing in his eyes. However, it was quickly suppressed.

    ¡°Since I can¡¯t get my hands on more materials that provide flesh power for now, I¡¯m not getting anywhere with my bloodline, so I guess I¡¯ll have to shift my focus to the changes in my cultivation after I entered the Void domain. I¡¯ve got to try to derive new enlightenment of the Sea of Illusory Stars, which was derived from the Fragmentary Star Incantation.¡±

    With this idea, he gathered his soul awareness and sent it into the fragmentary star mark that recorded Sea of Illusory Stars.

    Losing his soul power bit by bit, he carefully studied the profound mysteries within the mark in an attempt to derive new enlightenment.

    ...

    In the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed softly and said, ¡°Our vice sectmaster is not going to send any powerful experts to join this battle. I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s really nothing I can do.¡±

    Face grim, Fan Tianze said, ¡°I noticed that Xuan Guangyu has disliked Nie Tian since the upheaval in the Shatter Battlefield. The Shadow Society must have gained his support. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to unite the Jade Heaven Sect and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect tounch an operation against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. That Hong Minghui he backs doesn¡¯t deserve to be the next sectmaster, yet he¡¯s still hell bent on helping him win thepetition.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan didn¡¯t dare to join in on this topic.

    Fan Tianze was at the middle God domain. Both his battle prowess and status were rarely matched. Therefore, there were things that he dared to say, but others didn¡¯t.

    ¡°The Five Elements Sect has sent quite a number of Saint domain disciples to help us,¡± Ye Wenhan said. ¡°But none of their God domain experts are around. This is the best they can do.¡±

    ¡°What about the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Fan Tianze asked. ¡°Nie Tian is their Son of the Stars. Why haven¡¯t their experts arrived yet?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because Chu Rui and Zu Guangyao are busy putting down rebellions in their subordinate domans,¡± Ye Wenhan answered. ¡°As for Luo Wanxiang, he seems to have disappeared for a long time. No one knows where he is.¡±

    Fan Tianze let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Rumor has it that Luo Wanxiang has close connections with the Phantasms. I¡¯d rather he didn¡¯te.¡±

    SHEW!

    Jing Feiyang suddenly flew over from afar.

    Upon arriving, he eximed, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce showed up in the starry river between the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of Heaven Python. He seems to have met Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms.¡±

    With a cold smile, Fan Tianze said, ¡°It seems that what Nie Tian said was true. That Luo Wanxiang does have secret connections with the Phantasms.¡±

    ¡°Where did you learn that?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    ¡°From White Rose¡¯s men,¡± Jing Feiyang exined. ¡°They left magical mirrors on many floating meteors. One of them caught sight of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s divine tool flying past. And the direction it flew in is where the Phantasms are gathering.

    ¡°In addition, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner seems to have be even stronger.¡±

    Fan Tianze pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Inform the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s appearance. He¡¯s with them. They need to know that he¡¯s in close connection with the Phantasms. And we¡¯ll see what they want to do with him.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±

    A few more days went by.

    White Rose¡¯s Star Hunters returned with thetest news. Gupi, the Fiend abomination, was spotted in Domain of me¡¯s End, which bordered the Domain of Heaven Python, and it no longer tried to hide itself as it dashed towards the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Upon learning this, the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends that had been hovering outside the Domain of Heaven Python showed themselves simultaneously.

    Their fleets of ancient starships sailed towards the Domain of Heaven Python in formidable arrays.

    A great battle could break out at any moment.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Many teleportation portals in the Realm of Maelstrom operated non-stop as powerful experts arrived through them. There were also experts that arrived through spatial rifts that manifested in the watery curtain in the heavens.

    Harboring gratitude towards Nie Tian for what he had done in the Realm of Fire Spirit, the Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect also came to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Their starships berthed in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Hou Chn spotted Nie Tian as her starship sailed past a floating meteor enveloped in shimmering starlight.

    ¡°Hmm? Isn¡¯t that Nie Tian?¡± With a soft exmation, she left her starship and flew over.

 Chapter 1351: Heavenly Stars Flower

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    A floating meteor was enveloped in dazzling starlight.

    Hou Chn gradually came to a stop as she approached the meteor. ¡°A star domain.¡±

    She examined it with rapt attention, and discovered that the spherical area enveloped in starlight was like an independent starry river that was dotted with ny-nine stars.

    Sparkling and crystal-clear, the stars seemed to form a certain formation, and move quietly following certain patterns.

    Hou Chn only looked at them for a short while, yet she felt lost in illusions that somehow entered her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯te out of them.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s most profound soul magic: Sea of Illusory Stars!¡±

    Shortly afterwards, she finally struggled free from the illusions, waking up to the fact that Nie Tian was practicing the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s most well-known killer spell.

    WHOOSH!

    Sudden changes took ce in Nie Tian¡¯s star domain.

    The Nine Stars Flower suddenly burst forth with blinding light!

    The devilish, wondrous nt that had exceeded its limits somehow went into full bloom within Nie Tian¡¯s star domain.

    The ny-nine stars that had transformed from Star Eyes instantly formed profound connections with it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Morphing and changing, the Sea of Illusory Stars spun at a high speed.

    Hou Chn felt dazzled.

    At the same time, glorious starlight seemed to be attracted by Nie Tian¡¯s star domain, and started gathering towards it from all directions.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, and his eyes snapped open in the middle of his star domain.

    His eyes also had countless stars glittering in them, as if they contained endless secrets of the starry river.

    ¡°I¡¯ve finally fully mastered Sea of Illusory Stars, our sect¡¯s core soul magic.¡± Whispering these words, he sensed the Nine Stars Flower¡¯s tion by relying on the barrier-freemunication between his soul awareness and every star in his star domain.

    That was when an immature awareness emerged within the Nine Stars Flower.

    ¡°You¡¯re called a Heavenly Stars Flower after your transformation?¡±

    From his soulmunication with the curious flower, he learned that it had experienced structural changes and risen to a whole new level after its recent transformation.

    The Earth Cultivated grade spiritual material had actually transformed into a Heaven Nourished grade treasure called the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    From Nie Tian¡¯s point of view, the Heavenly Stars Flower seemed to be an illusory nt that had taken root in the starry river, with numerous dazzling stars shimmering in its blossoming petals.

    It seemed to be channeling power from those illusory stars to strengthen itself.

    Those stars were like tiny realms...

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as soon as this thought entered his mind. He instantly summoned the me Dragon Armor.

    Puzzled, Agaz said, ¡°Master?¡±

    ¡°Would you take a close look at this Heavenly Stars Flower in my star domain?¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°It was my Nine Stars Flower. After I provided it with my Blood Essence and refined the Nine Stars Flower that belonged to Luo Wanxiang, its life structure mutated, and it transformed into this wondrous new life form.

    ¡°Take a look at it.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Agaz said.

    Momentster, Agaz the me dragon couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Master, this Heavenly Stars Flower is channeling power from the stars in your illusory star domain to strengthen itself. If your star domain is an actual area of the starry river, then what that nt is doing is just like...

    ¡°Like that incredibly colossal tree prating numerous realms with its branches in that peculiar space we explored earlier!

    ¡°Not just that, but that colossal tree also pierced through the hearts of Ancientbeasts and dragons to drain their flesh power.

    ¡°Even though this Heavenly Stars Flower is only an illusory manifestation right now, what it¡¯s doing is almost identical to what that colossal tree did!

    ¡°Master, do you think it has some sort of connection with that colossal tree? Will this Heavenly Stars Flower transform into something like it if it continues to grow and transform?¡±

    Agaz grew very excited as he observed the peculiar Heavenly Stars Flower, whose features reminded him of the withered colossal tree in that unknown part of the starry river.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and asked, ¡°You have that feeling too?¡±

    ¡°Yes!¡± Agaz said.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    His soul connection with the Heavenly Stars Flower allowed him to suddenly sense a cluster of exceptionally strong starlight in another domain!

    RUMBLE!

    His mind shook, and a curious scene presented itself in one of the Heavenly Stars Flower¡¯s petals.

    That petal seemed to turn into a clear mirror.

    It was a scene of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner floating and channeling star power from its surrounding stars in an area of the starry river that was wreathed in a faint cyan mist.

    Apparently, Luo Wanxiang was strengthening his All Manifestations Star Banner with the star power in that area.

    A fleet of Phantasm starships were berthed nearby like a shoal of fish. Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who he had met once, was casting some bloodline magic next to Luo Wanxiang, as if to provide him with assistance.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether! Luo Wanxiang!¡± Nie Tian gave a cunningugh. ¡°Who would have thought that the Nine Stars Flower would have such a wondrous use after transforming into the Heavenly Stars Flower! Perhaps the fact that I can sense and spy on him through it has something to do with the fact that I devoured and refined Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Nine Stars Flower!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Hou Chn suddenly eximed. ¡°Howe that petal of your Nine Stars Flower is reflecting Luo Wanxiang¡¯s image? What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Nie Tian snapped out of his daze, and realized that she was approaching him.

    Even separated by the boundless starry river, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who was also included in the image in the petal, suddenly noticed something and eximed, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    BOOM!

    The image in the sparkling petal exploded.

    Nie Tian immediately realized that the Phantasm grand monarch had noticed that he was spying on them, and thus destroyed the connection between the Heavenly Stars Flower and Luo Wanxiang or his All Manifestations Star Banner with a mighty soul magic.

    Nie Tian let out a cold snort and said, ¡°Luo Wanxiang is colluding with Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms. They¡¯ve met in the starry river between the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. From the look of it, they¡¯ve finished assembling their troops, and are ready for their impending invasion.¡±

    Hou Chn floated to him and said, ¡°White Rose¡¯s Star Hunters have informed us of such news already. That didn¡¯t surprise me. But what¡¯s the matter with your Nine Stars Flower? It¡¯s clearly different from the other Nine Stars Flowers of your sect.¡±

    ¡°It has advanced from the Earth Cultivated grade to the Heaven Nourished grade,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    ¡°What? Spiritual materials like Nine Stars Flowers can upgrade too? Howe I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing?¡± Hou Chn eximed in shock.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, the ny-nine stars in Nie Tian¡¯s star domain started moving following brand new tracks. The Sea of Illusory Stars spun madly.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower seemed to be behind such changes.

    Nie Tian¡¯s star domain seemed to rapidly turn into a vortex of streaming stars.

    A strange gravitational force was suddenly born, and started attracting Luo Wanxiang and his All Manifestations Star Banner.

    In another domain.

    The All Manifestations Star Banner was floating in the void, absorbing star power to recover its full might.

    With Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s assistance, the speed at which Luo Wanxiang recovered his strength seemed to be pushed to the limit.

    All of a sudden, the star power he had expended great effort to channel from the surroundings stars poured madly out of him before he could even refine it fully.

    ¡°AHH!¡± Luo Wanxiang cried in pain, blood flying from the corners of his eyes.

    Meanwhile...

    Having received Dong Li¡¯s messages, Wei Lai, Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia, and a few others from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce arrived in the Realm of Maelstrom through teleportation.

    As soon as they set foot in the Realm of Maelstrom, before they could even ask about thetest situation, they cast their gazes skywards.

    Wei Lai and the three Sons of the Stars who practiced star incantations instantly felt an overly strong attractive force, which seemed to be pulling at their star power cores in their spiritual seas.

    Even their bodies seemed to be about to escape their control and rise into the starry river.

    ¡°Who¡¯s in the starry river?¡± Wei Lai eximed in astonishment.

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian,¡± Jing Feiyang answered with a in tone. ¡°He¡¯s practicing cultivation outside the Realm of Maelstrom, preparing for Gupi¡¯s arrival.¡±

    ¡°But he, he...¡± Before Fang Yuan, whose cultivation base was the weakest of the four, could finish, he flew uncontrobly into the heavens.

    Immediately afterwards, Wei Lai and the others also rose into the starry river one after another through the well-like heavens in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Their strange behavior caught the attention of the God domain and many Saint domain experts in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    All of a sudden, streaks of glorious light shot up into the starry river like a reverse waterfall.

    Soon, people reached the floating meteor where Nie Tian was practicing cultivation, and saw the peculiar Heavenly Stars Flower in his star domain.

 Chapter 1352: Priceless Star Treasure

    Those who practiced star incantations or possessed star domains were all attracted to Nie Tian.

    To be exact, they were attracted by the transformed Heavenly Stars Flower in Nie Tian¡¯s domain, including Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner!

    SWISH!

    Hundreds of millions of miles away, the Immortal grade divine tool All Manifestations Star Banner connected to Luo Wanxiang¡¯s soul suddenly abandoned him and flew out.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether and the group of Phantasms with him instantly paled, and didn¡¯t know what was happening.

    Luo Wanxiang was shocked. Ignoring Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s inquiry, he turned into a streak of starlight that chased after the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    He could hear the intive cry of the All Manifestations Star Banner¡¯s soul, as if it couldn¡¯t stop itself.

    ¡°Realm of Maelstrom...¡±

    Sikong Cuo, the sixth Son of the Stars, arrived through the Thousandsword Mountain Sect¡¯s teleportation portal. However, he paled immediately after his arrival.

    SWISH!

    The Heavenly Ster Stream that had long since been refined and be one with him suddenly went out of control and flew into the sky.

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s face turned pale as he was horrified to find that his star power core seemed to be pulled by a maic field, uncontrobly leading him to fly out of the Realm of Maelstrom. ¡°What is happening?¡±

    Soon, figures left the Realm of Maelstrom, and emerged in the starry river outside.

    All of their surprised eyes were focused on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s manifested star domain and the uncanny Heavenly Stars Flower within it were simply too eye-catching!

    Around the Heavenly Stars Flower, which was rooted in the bright starry river, were ny-nine stars that had transformed from Star Eyes. All the stars seemed to be directed by the Heavenly Stars Flower, spinning in mysterious tracks.

    ¡°The, the Nine Stars Flower in my body!¡± Dou Tianchen, who was also a Son of the Stars and had reached thete Saint domain, stuttered.

    Of the seven Sons of the Stars, he was the oldest, and had the highest cultivation base.

    He also had fused a Nine Stars Flower into his body long ago.

    Moreover, the nine blossoms of the Nine Stars Flower had all bloomed.

    At the moment, staring at Nie Tian and the Heavenly Stars Flower which was obviously not the same as his Nine Stars Flower, Dou Tianchen actually had a kind of feeling that he was inferior, and was being repressed by Nie Tian.

    This kind of feeling made him very depressed, as if... he should submit himself to the rule of Nie Tian.

    Soon, Dou Tianchen came to his senses. His eyes were wide open as he stared at Nie Tian¡¯s star domain and the ny-nine stars within it. ¡°This is not my feeling, but rather the feeling of the Nine Stars Flower that has integrated into my star power core.

    ¡°Sea of Illusory Stars! The secret soul spell that Nie Tian¡¯s practicing is the Sea of Illusory Stars! It¡¯s just that the way his Sea of Illusory Stars works seems to be not quite consistent with the method recorded in our fragmentary star marks. His Sea of Illusory Stars seems to be moved by that weird flower simr to the Nine Stars Flower. What the hell is going on?¡±

    Wei Lai, Fang Yuan, and Wang Meijia all felt that their star power cores were being attracted and suppressed by the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    A little star power flew out from their bodies towards Nie Tian¡¯s star domain, like broken light.

    ¡°Hmm?! The Heavenly Ster Stream!¡± Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society couldn¡¯t help but exim.

    Soon, everyone noticed that there seemed to be a miniaturized starry river being dragged out from the Realm of Maelstrom, and it seemed it was about to fall into Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Sikong Cuo¡¯s exasperated voice came from the starry river below. ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream has long be one with me, which was permitted by the grand elder! Why are you suddenly taking my Heavenly Ster Stream away?¡±

    Nie Tian looked down at him with indifferent eyes. ¡°I didn¡¯t take it away. It¡¯s just that your tool is attracted to me.¡±

    Sikong Cuo nursed a grievance. ¡°Nonsense!¡±

    Nie Tian turned his head around to look at the dim sky, and added, ¡°Not just the Heavenly Ster Stream, but the All Manifestations Star Banner is attracted to me as well.¡±

    Wei Lai was taken aback. ¡°What? Vice Sectmaster Luo¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner is also attracted? Where is he?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯ll be here,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Hearing this, the people of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce suddenly fell silent.

    They hade here from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce because they had heard from Dong Li that Luo Wanxiang had appeared in the starry river near the Domain of Heaven Python.

    They all wanted to know whether Luo Wanxiang was in collusion with the Phantasms.

    But what could they do even if he was really in collusion with the Phantasms?

    Ji Cang and Mo Heng were the only two people who could defeat him, but they had both mysteriously disappeared.

    Who else could they turn to? Chu Rui? Zu Guangyao?

    As they stood silently, Sikong Cuo¡¯s Heavenly Ster Stream flew to Nie Tian¡¯s star domain and quietly stopped.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the Nine Stars Flower that was rooted and blossoming in Dou Tianchen¡¯s star power core suddenly flew out.

    His Nine Stars Flower rose from his head, and suddenly led him to get closer to Nie Tian.

    His Nine Stars Flower seemed to treat the Heavenly Stars Flower in Nie Tian¡¯s star domain in the way of worship, like a civilian kowtowing to an emperor!

    Looking at this spectacle, Wei Lai was greatly shocked, and suddenly said, ¡°Nie Tian, is this strange flower... transformed from a Nine Stars Flower?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Wei Lai¡¯s voice trembled as he said, ¡°The legend has actuallye true. Rumor has it that after the nine petals of the Nine Stars Flower are born, there¡¯s a very, very small probability of a transformation. After the transformation, it will be beyond the scope of Earth Cultivated spirit materials, and will be a priceless Heaven Nourished star treasure!¡±

    Fang Yuan, Wang Meijia and Sikong Cuo were all greatly shocked.

    ¡°Heaven Nourished! A priceless star treasure!¡±

    ¡°That strange flower is a Nine Stars Flower that has undergone metamorphosis?¡±

    Earth Cultivated spirit materials with attributes like water, fire, earth, lightning, ice, and space were rathermon, but Heaven Nourished spirit materials with these attributes were much harder to find.

    Even so, they did emerge from time to time.

    However, such a treasure with a star attribute was really rare!

    Millions or even tens of millions of years might pass without a single Heaven Nourished grade star treasure appearing.

    In Wei Lai¡¯s opinion, this strange flower, which had undergone a transformation from Nine Stars Flower to Heavenly Stars Flower, was such a priceless Heaven Nourished grade treasure.

    This kind of strange treasure was often the darling of a certain kind of power. It could usually absorb the power of a certain attribute on its own to strengthen itself, and affect other creatures and artifacts with the same attribute.

    Wei Lai, Fang Yuan, and Dou Tianchen were all affected.

    The Heavenly Ster Stream and the All Manifestations Star Banner were also being affected.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, whose faces were full of admiration, kept marveling.

    ¡° A priceless Heaven Nourished star treasure!¡±

    ¡°What an extraordinary thing that has been created!¡±

    ¡°Pei Qiqi gained the favor of the sectmaster because she got the priceless Space Boundaries Crystal in the Shatter Battlefield,¡± Ji Yuanquan said softly, ¡°That priceless space treasure can be a divine tool naturally, without refinement. This kind of divine tool is the most terrifying thing in heaven and earth. The Void Mirror of our sect grew stronger and stronger, and eventually became a priceless Heaven Nourished star treasure as well.¡±

    Mo Qianfan marveled. ¡°So this will grow into a divine tool. It¡¯s possible for a divine tool transformed from priceless Heaven Nourished star treasure to reach the peak.¡±

    Nie Tian was somewhat confused. ¡°A Heaven Nourished grade treasure can grow into a divine tool by itself?¡±

 Chapter 1353: Divine Tool Betrays Its Master

    Fan Tianze of the Heaven Span Pavilion took the initiative to exin, ¡°Some can, but not all Heaven Nourished treasures can be made into tools. Some Heaven Nourished treasures must be fused with other spiritual materials, and refined little by little by their masters before they can be tools.

    ¡°However, even if these kinds of treasures be immortal grade divine tools, they won¡¯t be particrly advanced, and their potential will be limited.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°What kinds of treasures can be advanced divine tools themselves?¡±

    ¡°They have to be tangible items,¡± Fan Tianze answered. ¡°I heard that when you were at the Realm of Fire Spirit, you created a living being with a cluster of me given to you by the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End?¡±

    Many people who were gathered here, including those from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, were bbergasted after hearing his words.

    They weren¡¯t very clear on the fact that Nie Tian had used the me spark as the base to produce Nie Yan of the Ifrits in the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Now, Wei Lai and the others were dumbfounded by Fan Tianze¡¯s words.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Even if the me is at the Heavenly Nourished grade, it¡¯ll be hard for it to grow into a tool on its own,¡± Fan Tianze exined. ¡°It¡¯ll need to melt into something else, or build itself a body with fire crystals or other spiritual materials before it can be a tool. But if the me miraculously developed a flesh body, it¡¯d be a whole other matter.

    ¡°Another example is the young Godspirit Tree in your body. It has a tangible body and developed intelligence, so it can be a divine tool itself as another Heavenly Nourished grade spiritual material.

    ¡°After its transformation, your Nine Stars Flower has be a Heavenly Stars Flower, which also has a physical body, so it can also be a divine tool by itself.¡±

    Fan Tianze looked at him. ¡°Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡±

    Nie Tian mulled over his words and nodded gently. ¡°I see. Only Heavenly Nourished grade treasures with physical bodies can be counted as tools, and develop into divine tools themselves.¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded and added, ¡°That¡¯s right. These kinds of treasures can be divine tools, and they have unlimited potential. Whether it¡¯s the Godspirit Tree or the Heavenly Stars Flower, if they continue to grow, they¡¯ll likely reach the sixth or even seventh level of the Immortal grade.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan and the others immediately chimed in, ¡°For acquired tools that have souls forcibly integrated into them, they may also have room to grow, but there¡¯s little hope of them reaching the peak.¡±

    Now, Nie Tian knew how precious these kinds of priceless star treasures like the Heavenly Stars Flower were.

    Earth Cultivated grade star-attributed spiritual materials that had developed consciousness were already hard to find.

    Heavenly Nourished grade spiritual materials were even rarer!

    Such priceless star treasures could affect living creatures and tools of the same attribute.

    The star power cores of Wei Lai, Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, and the others could vaguely interact with the Heavenly Stars Flower, and their star power cores and domains yearned for it.

    However, because the Heavenly Stars Flower¡¯s owner was Nie Tian, they rationally suppressed their desire.

    Nie Tian suddenly came to his senses. ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream and Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner are attracted to the Heavenly Stars Flower? Will the tools that are attracted by the Heavenly Stars Flower integrate into it, or take it from me instead?¡±

    ¡°They are attracted to each other, but in the end, it will depend on who is stronger,¡± Fan Tianze said.

    Nie Tian chuckled and looked coldly at Sikong Cuo. ¡°That is to say, after the Heavenly Ster Stream and the All Manifestations Star Banner are attracted here, they may try to take the Heavenly Stars Flower?¡±

    Fan Tianze shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. Tools with souls are asplicated as living creatures. Heavenly Nourished grade treasures are also intelligent. There will bemunication between them. Whether they integrate into each other, be mutually exclusive, or even hostile to each other, is unknown...¡±

    HISS! HISS!

    Suddenly, starlight sparks flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s Heavenly Stars Flower and magically fell onto Dou Tianchen¡¯s Nine Stars Flower.

    After receiving the Heavenly Stars Flower¡¯s scattered starlight sparks, the Nine Stars Flowers that was prostrating itself in worship suddenly grew gloriously radiant.

    Dou Tianchen looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

    A burst of indefinable starlight sparks shed in the depths of his eyes.

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s soul consciousnesses seemed to soar into a vast sea of glorious stars.

    BOOM!

    His star domain suddenly expanded.

    A river of stars surrounded him. Each and every glittering star was a brilliantbination of soul power and star power.

    His Saint domain seemed very real!

    Compared to Nie Tian¡¯s star domain, his star domain gave people a distinctly different feeling, as it was a miniature starry river that was an actual existence.

    Nie Tian¡¯s star domain, however, was like a flower in the mirror, or a reflection of the moon in the water, as it was unreal and blurry.

    WHOOSH!

    The stars in Dou Tianchen¡¯s star domain rotated and changed in an unfathomable manner.

    Sikong Cuo, the sixth Son of the Stars, cried out furiously. ¡°Dou Tianchen! What are you doing?¡±

    Suddenly, the Immortal grade divine tool Heavenly Ster Stream refined by Sikong Cuo turned into a meteor, and fell uncontrobly into Dou Tianchen¡¯s star domain.

    All the God domain experts present were dumbstruck.

    ¡°A divine tool betrays its master!¡±

    ¡°Really? Why has a divine tool that has been refined suddenly chosen a new master?¡±

    ¡°A divine tool betrays its master! This kind of phenomenon is extremely rare. Why, why is it happening now?¡±

    ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream and Dou Tianchen both have the characters ¡®Tianchen¡¯ in them. Is this destined to happen?¡± (¡®Tianchen¡¯ trantes into ¡®heavenly ster¡¯ when it¡¯s not used as a name)

    ¡°It¡¯s his Nine Stars Flower! It seems the Heavenly Stars Flower has triggered Dou Tianchen¡¯s Nine Stars Flower and vested it with something.¡±

    Dou Tianchen didn¡¯t seem to hear Sikong Cuo¡¯s words as his star domain took the Heavenly Ster Stream in.

    ¡°Elder Wei, please take me back to the Realm of Fragmentary Star as soon as possible. I want to go into secluded cultivation!¡± With these words, he left for the Realm of Maelstrom under the guidance of his star domain.

    ¡°Secluded cultivation?¡± Wei Lai was shocked.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s time for me to break through to the God domain, and I¡¯ll have an eighty percent chance of sess!¡± Dou Tianchen said.

    Wei Lai was so shocked that he simply ignored Sikong Cuo¡¯s shouts. ¡°An eighty percent chance? OK, I¡¯ll make arrangements!¡±

    ¡°My Heavenly Ster Stream!¡± Sikong Cuo growled.

    ¡°We¡¯ll determine who the Heavenly Ster Stream should belong to after he breaks through to the God domain!¡± With these words, Wei Lai dashed down toward the Realm of Maelstrom with Dou Tianchen.

    Sikong Cuo¡¯s eyes were red as he yelled, ¡°Nie Tian! Give my Heavenly Ster Stream back!¡±

    Nie Tian looked bored as he exined, ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream belonged to me to begin with. ording to the agreement, for you to have the Heavenly Ster Stream, Luo Wanxiang had to give me something in return. However, due to Elder Mo Heng¡¯s disappearance, Luo Wanxiang unterally broke the agreement.

    ¡°So you have no one to me if the Heavenly Ster Stream, which was mine to begin with, decides to go with a better master, and bes my eldest senior brother¡¯s tool.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about any agreement,¡± Sikong Cuo bellowed. ¡°The Heavenly Ster Stream was refined by me, so it¡¯s mine.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was cold as he said, ¡°You can talk to Luo Wanxiang about thatter. I have a feeling he¡¯sing anyway.¡±

 Chapter 1354: Start A Battle

    Sikong Cuo was infuriated.

    However, he looked around, and found that Fan Tianze and the other few God domain experts were all staring at him coldly and unhappily, so he gradually calmed down.

    For the first time, he felt deeply powerless.

    Even if Fan Tianze and the others weren¡¯t around, given only Nie Tian¡¯s current battle prowess and his many powerful Saint domain subordinates, he couldn¡¯t win a fight against him.

    Not to mention that he was in such a situation.

    He suddenly regretteding to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°Whatever! You must give me an exnation!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°Exnation?¡± Nie Tian shook his head andughed. ¡°It¡¯s Eldest Senior Brother Dou Tianchen who has taken the Heavenly Ster Stream. What does this have to do with me? If you want an exnation, you can go to the Realm of Fragmentary Star to find him.¡±

    ¡°I, I...¡± Sikong Cuo, who felt resentful, suddenly turned around and flew toward the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Watching him leave in anger, the God and Saint domain experts present, such as Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, and Ling Bingyun, smiled.

    ¡°He¡¯s unlucky,¡± someone murmured, ¡°If there had been no Nie Tian, he would have been the next Lord of the Stars. Unfortunately, Nie Tian is so outstanding that he looks mediocre inparison.¡±

    Fang Yuan and Wang Meijia, who were still there, looked slightly embarrassed when they heard the whispers.

    However, deep down, they knew that as long as Nie Tian was alive, the others would never have a chance to win when they vied to be the Lord of the Stars in the future.

    ¡°You won¡¯t even wait for Luo Wanxiang?¡± Nie Tian shouted.

    Hearing this, Sikong Cuo, who flew towards the Realm of Maelstrom, came to a sudden stop, looking hesitant.

    But after a while, he sped off again.

    Fang Yuan snorted coldly. ¡°It¡¯s likely that he didn¡¯t want to get involved with Luo Wanxiang again to avoid getting into trouble. There¡¯s a lot of evidence that Luo Wanxiang is privately in collusion with the Phantasms. He is the one Luo Wanxiang has been very supportive of. At this point, if he still gets involved with him, it won¡¯t be good for his future development in our sect.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    ¡°Is Vice Sectmaster Luo... reallying?¡± Wang Meijia asked curiously.

    Squinting, Nie Tian stared into the distance. ¡°The All Manifestations Star Banner is almost here. Unless Luo Wanxiang is willing to give up his divine tool, he¡¯ll definitely appear!¡±

    ¡°His arrival means the battle may start ahead of time,¡± Fan Tianze said in a serious tone.

    The expression of Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society flickered as he received thetest news. ¡°Gupi has left the Domain of me¡¯s End and entered the Domain of Heaven Python. Nie Tian, are you sure you can deal with it?¡±

    As soon as he said this, everyone present looked very grave.

    The atmosphere also instantly became tense.

    God domain experts like Fan Tianze had ages of experience of fighting outsider grand monarchs. Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons, Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms, and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends couldn¡¯t scare them.

    In fact, the humans had gained the upper hand in most of their previous battles.

    Therefore, they hadn¡¯t been frightened when they had learned that multiple outsider grand monarchs wereing at them while all of theirte God domain experts were absent.

    The only thing that could really scare them was that strange thing, Gupi.

    Gupi was the great terror that had left them helpless and powerless.

    Nie Tian spread his hands, and sensibly said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I can only say that I¡¯ll try to seal it, but I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯ll seed.¡±

    ¡°You brat! You could give us a little hope,¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a wry smile.

    Nie Tian looked very rxed as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s take care of the outsider invaders first, and leave Gupi till the end. Anyway, the mortals of the Domain of Heaven Python and qi warriors with low cultivations have left in advance. If I really can¡¯t get rid of Gupi, at worst we¡¯ll evacuate. When I get stronger, I¡¯ll be able to seal it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Gupi won¡¯t give you the chance to grow stronger,¡± Fan Tianze replied.

    Ye Wenhan nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right, if it weren¡¯t for the fact that they know that you may limit Gupi, the few grand monarchs of the Outsiders wouldn¡¯t hurry to attack the Domain of Heaven Python first. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Five Elements Sect are actually better choices. For the outsiders, it¡¯s more inspiring to defeat either of them than to win in the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian agreed.

    Everyone waited in silence. Since Ji Yuanquan could tear a rift open in space, they weren¡¯t very worried.

    A few hours went by.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A gorgeous spatial rift quietly tore open behind Ji Yuanquan.

    His eyes lit up. He couldn¡¯t mask his tion as he eximed, ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    Like a holy blue lotus, a young woman in a blue dress came out of the spatial rift, looking calm andposed.

    Fan Tianze took a close look at her, then eximed, ¡°The Late Void domain! Qu Yi really has an eye for talent. The Void Spirit Society may reach new heights because of you!¡±

    After the other God domain experts released their soul awareness to examine her carefully, they were also shocked.

    Pei Qiqi had indeed reached thete Void domain!

    She had progressed faster than Nie Tian in terms of cultivation. Furthermore, it seemed that her bloodline had also improved very quickly, as her aura was now ethereal and unpredictable.

    She was obviously standing in front of them, but the people present felt that she seemed to be in another unknown time and space.

    Ji Yuanquan beamed and said, ¡°I bet your Space Boundaries Crystal has grown even stronger! Why are you out of secluded cultivation? In fact, you weren¡¯t away for very long this time.¡±

    Since the day Qu Yi had taken Pei Qiqi to the Realm of Void Spirit, Ji Yuanquan had shown his intention to support and assist her.

    He had long seen that the future of the Void Spirit Societyy with Pei Qiqi.

    Compared to her, the others weren¡¯t worth mentioning.

    Hong Minghui, who Xuan Guangyu had been speaking highly of, didn¡¯t have a chance at surpassing her in talent, potential, or character.

    ¡°Long cultivation alone is not going to help me grow.¡± Pei Qiqi replied casually. Her clear, bright eyes were glued to Nie Tian.

    She nodded slightly, but didn¡¯t speak to him.

    However, judging from her expression, everyone knew that almost everyone else had been subconsciously ignored by her eyes.

    The only person she truly cared about was Nie Tian.

    ¡°I¡¯m d you came.¡± Nie Tian grinned. With his bloodline power, he vaguely sensed that Pei Qiqi¡¯s space bloodline was also at the eighth grade.

    It was just that her space bloodline was always fluctuating. It seemed she had already umted enough strength, and was ready to break through to the ninth grade.

    In this way, Pei Qiqi was one step ahead of him in both cultivation and bloodline.

    Pei Qiqi responded to him with a determined look.

    The meaning of that look was: With me around, you will be safe.

    She was proficient in space power, her cultivation base had improved rapidly and her bloodline had rocketed. Plus with the help of her treasure, the Space Boundaries Crystal, even if Nie Tian met Gupi, as long as he was not killed by its first strike, she had the confidence to take him to safety.

    WHOOSH!

    After a while, shimmering starlight suddenly emerged and turned into a starry cloud in the dim, distant starry river where Nie Tian looked from time to time.

    Wang Meijia took a deep breath and said with a mixed tone, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner! That¡¯s right. The All Manifestations Star Banner ising. I suppose Vice Sectmaster Luo will follow. The immortal grade divine tool is connected with his life, so he would never give it up.¡±

    ¡°Here hees.¡± Fan Tianze snorted. ¡°He¡¯s in collusion with the Phantasms indeed! I can sense Grand Monarch Dark Nether now!¡±

 Chapter 1355: Spirit Channeling Sword Intent

    WHOOSH!

    A glorious banner that was thousands of meters wide traveled through a vast expanse of the void to this part of the starry river.

    Countless stars could be seen being born and perishing in the banner. They moved in a profound way, as if to manifest the constant changes and the great Dao of this starry river.

    As soon as the banner flew out, an immense, heaven-filling divine power spread from it like crushing waves.

    Those with cultivation bases below the Saint domain felt dazzled merely by looking at it from afar.

    After looking at it for a while, many of them had a peculiar feeling of their soul awareness drowning in it.

    After examining it closely for a while, Ji Yuanquan gasped, his whole body trembling as he found this hard to believe. ¡°The All Manifestations Star Banner has reached the fourth level Immortal grade!¡±

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The fourth level? It barely passed as a first level Immortal grade divine tool when it was first forged. Then, it took Luo Wanxiang several dozen millennia to refine it into a second level Immortal grade divine tool. What allowed it to advance to the fourth level within such a short time?¡±

    Even Fan Tianze¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A fourth level Immortal grade divine tool!¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Fourth level? Last time when he retreated in defeat, his All Manifestations Star Banner dropped from the third level to the second level. I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s at the fourth level now that we meet again.¡±

    Something special must have happened to Luo Wanxiang.

    ¡°Limpid Cyan Sword! Heaven Sunder!¡±

    As Fan Tianze eximed softly, a divine sword flew out of his palm, emanating cyan light.

    Immediately afterwards, Fan Tianze activated his dharma idol. Grabbing the divine sword, he shed it with heaven-rending, earth-crushing power, splitting the void that was under the influence of the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    ¡°Wake up, all of you!¡± As he shouted, everyone that was lost looking at the All Manifestations Star Banner snapped out of their daze.

    ¡°The All Manifestations Star Banner is vested with a soul magic: Sea of Illusory Stars!¡± Fang Yuan called out. ¡°If you stare at it for too long, you¡¯ll be lost inside of it!¡±

    ¡°All Void domain cultivators! Return to the Realm of Maelstrom!¡± Fan Tianze eximed.

    Many Void domain Qi warriors from the Golden Vast Sect, the Divine Seal Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect hade to help Nie Tian fight in the uing battle.

    But now, upon hearing Fan Tianze¡¯s words, they sensibly dove towards the Realm of Maelstrom like falling stars, enveloped in their domains.

    They secretly heaved sighs of relief as they did.

    After all, Luo Wanxiang hadn¡¯t even arrived yet. They had done nothing more than look at his All Manifestations Star Banner, which had floated here by itself, and they almost lost control of themselves.

    If Fan Tianze hadn¡¯t lent them a hand, they would have lost more than half of their soul power already.

    ¡°Brother Fan from the Heaven Span Pavilion.¡± Luo Wanxiang¡¯s remote, unhurried voice echoed from the distant starry river. ¡°The Limpid Cyan Sword, a third level Immortal grade divine tool that¡¯s been passed down in the Heaven Span Pavilion for generations.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, his dharma idol arrived.

    Surrounded by countless stars, his enormous dazzling form entered everyone¡¯s sight.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Fang Yuan and Wang Meijia, who had seen his dharma idol before, gasped in astonishment upon seeing him.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems that both his divine tool and himself have grown stronger with the Phantasms¡¯ help after our previous encounter in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol was unprecedentedlyrge and dazzling, with power running through his meridians like shooting stars. The fragmentary stars hovering around him were so bright that people didn¡¯t dare to look directly at them.

    Wave after wave of immense dominating auras spread from him, putting a grim expression on everyone¡¯s faces, including Fan Tianze¡¯s.

    Looking deeply surprised, Fan Tianze said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯re ready to enter thete God domain. I really didn¡¯t expect you to make such rapid advances in the past few years. It seems that I underestimated you.¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t from now on,¡± Luo Wanxiang said coldly.

    The color of his pupils suddenly changed, bing cyan and misty like those of a Phantasm.

    Eyes devilishly cyan, he eximed, ¡°That Nine Stars Flower has transformed into a Heaven Nourished grade star treasure, a Heavenly Stars Flower! Such a wondrous nt. It was because of it that I suffered a great loss in the Domain of Frigid Depths! As a junior, you don¡¯t deserve to have such a precious treasure!¡±

    His dharma idol¡¯s enormous hand reached towards Nie Tian, as if to w the Heavenly Stars Flower from his domain.

    Unmasked greed filled his face as he eximed, ¡°If I can refine it into my All Manifestations Star Banner, it¡¯ll help my Immortal grade divine tool make at least two advances, and enter the sixth level! Perhaps it¡¯ll present the opportunity I need to enter thete God domain!

    ¡°Give it to me!¡±

    With unstoppable, heaven-crushing might, his huge heaven-blocking hand descended like a river of glorious stars.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡± Fang Yuan roared. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re going to take Nie Tian¡¯s precious treasure! Do you still consider yourself a member of our sect?¡±

    With a derisive snort, Luo Wanxiang said, ¡°Even if I said I¡¯m still a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, would you acknowledge that? Whatever. I don¡¯t care about that anymore. After I get that Heavenly Stars Flower, advance to thete God domain, and lift my All Manifestations Star Banner to the sixth level Immortal grade, where can¡¯t I go in this boundless starry river?¡±

    Fan Tianze smiled coldly. ¡°Quit dreaming!¡±

    With these words, he slowly swung the Limpid Cyan Sword.

    An iparably sharp sword intent that could end heaven and crush earth shot forth, along with countless glittering sword lights. Each and every one of them seemed to be spiritual, ted, and extraordinarily intelligent thanks to thorough refinement.

    ¡°Every sword light is spiritual, and has its own awareness!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed softly.

    ¡°Limpid Cyan Sword, Heaven Span Sword¡¯s Cry!¡± Ye Wenhan also eximed in shock.

    SHEW! SHEW! CHIRP! CHIRP! The cries of thousands of sword lights echoed out simultaneously.

    Nie Tian jerked his head up.

    Under his gaze, countless wisps of sword intent released by the Limpid Cyan Sword swooped excitedly towards the enormous falling hand like hundreds of thousands of curious living beings.

    As they gnawed at the huge hand, two different types of divine power shed violently.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless rays of starlight and sword intent seemed to have be alive, as they engaged in a fierce battle like the troops of two different species. There were ones being killed and ones being born with every passing second.

    Nie Tian watched the huge falling hand slowly be eliminated by the river of glittering sword lights.

    Fan Tianze and Luo Wanxiang were both at the middle God domain. Fan Tianze¡¯s Limpid Cyan Sword was one level lower than Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner. However, his profound understanding of sword incantations allowed him to overpower Luo Wanxiang.

    BOOM!

    The huge hand glittering with starlight finally exploded and vanished.

    Letting out a cold harrumph, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol grabbed the All Manifestations Star Banner and swung it over his shoulders like a glorious divine cape.

    Then, his dharma idol slowly vanished from everyone¡¯s sight, as if to leave for the depths of the starry river to strengthen himself with power he absorbed from the stars.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The rumbles of ancient starships grew closer and increasingly more deafening.

    Soon, a fleet of Phantasm ancient starships emerged one after another with Phantasms standing on them. Like famished sharks, they stared at Nie Tian and the others with bloodthirsty eyes.

    The flesh auras of ninth grade grand patriarchs slowly rose from the starships like pirs of cyan light.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether suddenly revealed himself and shouted, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    He bowed towards Fan Tianze and said, ¡°Please take care of Luo Wanxiang for us, Senior Fan.¡±

    Afterwards, he stepped towards Grand Monarch Dark Nether. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you dare toe here to court death after your defeat in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. Do you take the human domains as your backyard where you cane and go as you please?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether bellowed. ¡°My people made three Spirit Pearls. You stole one and refined the other two into the one in your hand! As our precious treasure, they record the secrets of my people¡¯s origin! If you don¡¯t give it back, we¡¯ll hunt you down and kill you wherever you hide!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a wildugh. ¡°I¡¯m standing right here, and I have the Spirit Pearl on me. See if you can take it.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying stood behind him, one on his left and the other on his right.

    Both of them were at the early God domain.

    Mo Qianfan, who was well-versed in lightning power, was the Phantasms¡¯ natural bane. He might emerge victorious even if he were to fight the early tenth grade Grand Monarch Dark Nether one-on-one.

    Not to mention that he had Yu Suying¡¯s help.

    Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan, who were also at the God domain, eyed the Phantasms as well. Even ten Phantasm grand patriarchs wouldn¡¯t pose a threat to them.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In the dark starry river behind the Phantasm starships, the Wheel of Time and Space appeared and started to spin slowly.

    Pei Qiqi was the first to notice it. Eyes lighting up, she eximed, ¡°A spatial treasure! The Phantasms are creating spatial tunnels with it.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan nodded and said, ¡°Let theme. The Wheel of Time and Space is at work. I¡¯m sensing it as well. I want to see how many Demon and Fiend grand monarchs they¡¯ve gathered.¡±

    Ye Wenhan agreed. ¡°Come as they may. It¡¯d be more troublesome if they invade the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries instead.¡±

    Knowing that the Wheel of Time and Space was being used to transfer the Fiend and Demon troops to this ce, they didn¡¯t try to stop it.

    They were well-aware that the Fiends and Demons had long since finished regrouping outside the Domain of Heaven Python, and been waiting for this great battle.

    The outsiders had nned for this invasion for a long time. Gupi just happened to give them a perfect opportunity.

 Chapter 1356: Flames All Over The Sky

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A strong wind blew and roared behind the Phantasms.

    BOOM!

    The sky of the Realm of Maelstrom, which was like the mouth of a well, was directly covered by a thickyer of blood that was full of a cruel, bloodthirsty aura.

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°It¡¯s Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons!¡±

    He looked down at the bloodyer that had enveloped the Realm of Maelstrom¡¯s sky and gave everyone no way back.

    Nie Tian, who was talking with Grand Monarch Dark Nether, suddenly froze and looked down.

    Ayer of scarlet blood, which was like a sea of blood, spread over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The sticky sea of blood and Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s aura made the people extremely depressed.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust himself was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Ah!¡± A Saint domain expert who tried to perceive the sea of scarlet blood with his soul awareness screamed, as if he were suffering piercing pain. His eyes seemed to be painted with blood, and became blood-red.

    A sh of lightning flew out from Mo Qianfan¡¯s fingertips, and fell like a sharp sword!

    BOOM!

    In the spatter of blood, Mo Qianfan¡¯s electric light suddenly vanished.

    His expression changed slightly as he shouted, ¡°Nie Tian! Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons has congealed that blood into a barrier! With it, he has sealed the Realm of Maelstrom, making it very difficult for us to go back.¡±

    ¡°Strange,¡± Yu Suying muttered, ¡°Why has the tenth-grade Grand Monarch Bloodlust spent a tremendous amount of his power just to seal the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    At the moment, most of the experts who remained in the starry river were at the Saint domain.

    The gifted void domain experts like Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi and Huang Jinnan who still stayed had powerful treasures. Their real battle prowess might not be weaker than that of a Saint domain expert.

    Cultivators with this kind of cultivation base would be able to fly through the starry river to nearby realms even if the Realm of Maelstrom was sealed off.

    They wouldn¡¯t have to return to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°I¡¯m thinking...¡± Hou Chn, who was the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, whispered gently. Suddenly, her expression changed, and her delicate body trembled. ¡°Fiends! If Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯sing, we¡¯ll have to watch out for Domain-corroding mes!¡±

    Hearing her reminder, all the experts who had flown out of the Realm of Maelstrom instantly came to their senses.

    ¡°Domain-corroding mes!¡±

    ¡°The Domain-corroding mes of the Fiends!¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what they¡¯re doing!¡±

    The Domain-corroding mes were a great weapon of the Fiends, especially when used against strong human experts.

    Once Void and Saint domain experts were infected with the Domain-corroding mes, their domains would burn and melt away.

    Human experts had to protect themselves with their domains when traveling in the starry river. They needed to prevent their bodies from being infiltrated by the impurities in the starry river, or, once their domains were gone, they would easily die.

    Even God domain experts would be greatly weakened if affected by the Domain-corroding mes.

    After losing the protection of their domains, they could only avoid being killed if they flew into a realm like the Realm of Maelstrom.

    It was likely because Grand Monarch Bloodlust nned to use the Domain-corroding mes to stop them from escaping that he congealed his blood into a blood membrane to seal the Realm of Maelstrom.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Gradually, the strong wind whistled louder and louder in all directions.

    Clusters of dense fire emerged in the strong wind. Sure enough, they were Domain-corroding mes.

    In the strong wind, the Fiends used deep eerie howls tomunicate with each other in an attempt to drive the strong wind and the Domain-corroding mes to flood every human.

    ¡°It¡¯s not safe to stay here anymore!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed.

    He gave Pei Qiqi a meaningful look.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Ji Yuanquan immediately attempted to cast a secret spatial magic to tear open a spatial rift, so that everyone would be able to return to the Realm of Maelstrom below through it.

    BAM!!!

    However, before a spatial rift could form, it suddenly exploded.

    Ji Yuanquan was shocked. ¡°The Wheel of Time and Space! It¡¯s the Wheel of Time and Space¡¯s power that¡¯s locking us down and preventing my spatial rift from forming. There must be at least ten Phantasm grand patriarchs driving it!¡±

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression changed. ¡°Ten grand patriarchs are joining hands to drive the Wheel of Time and Space?¡±

    All eyes naturally turned to the Phantasms¡¯ ancient starship.

    The prismatic crystal between Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s eyebrows twinkled as he said, ¡°You¡¯re clever enough to predict our moves.¡± Sometimes he looked at the others, and sometimes at Nie Tian, but he was not in a hurry. He seemed to be waiting for the situation to change in a way that was more favorable to them.

    Someone let out a cry. ¡°The Domain-corroding mes areing at us!¡±

    Nie Tian looked around, and found clusters of fire converging on them from all sides, driven by the strong wind in the void. He even found mes above his head.

    ¡°Nie Tian, this time...¡± Hou Chn said with a wry smile.

    Nie Tian looked grave. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Previously, he had absorbed the Domain-corroding mes with the me spark in his me power core. By doing so, he had turned the tables, allowing Hou Chn and He Lianxiong to escape.

    Therefore, when the Domain-corroding mes showed up again, Hou Chn wanted to count on him.

    However, she had also witnessed what had happened in the Realm of Fire Spirit, and knew that the me spark had transformed into a new life with the help of Nie Tian¡¯s blood essence ¡ª Nie Yan of the Ifrits.

    Nie Yan had been taken away by the Divine me, flying out of the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    It was hard to say whether Nie Yan and the Divine me had returned to the Domain of me¡¯s End. Even if they had returned, they might not be able to be summoned by Nie Tian again.

    Besides, it was toote now.

    Ji Yuanquan was helpless, and looked at Pei Qiqi, asking for help, ¡°Qiqi! It¡¯s impossible for me to break the lockdown of the Wheel of Time and Space under the joint operation of ten grand patriarchs. What about you? Can you break the seal of the Wheel of Time and Space and open a spatial rift?¡±

    Ye Wenhan was stunned. ¡°Her?¡±

    Pei Qiqi thought for a while, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll try. It shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem.¡±

    As soon as she said this, the irregr, multifaceted prismatic crystal that had melted into her body flew out of her.

    After epting Pei Qiqi as its master, the priceless spatial treasure from the Shatter Battlefield had continued to gather spatial power and be more and more powerful, following Pei Qiqi in her travels.

    As the prismatic crystal came out, a creaking strange sound suddenly came from the dim starry sky behind the Phantasms.

    The Phantasm grand patriarchs used bloodline magics to send messages to Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s mind to inform him of the situation.

    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s much more difficult to push the Wheel of Time and Space now.¡±

    ¡°Your Majesty! There¡¯s a divine spatial tool affecting the Wheel of Time and Space! You must get rid of it!¡±

    Pei Qiqi was reflected in the cyan crystal of Grand Monarch Dark Nether as he spat, ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi suddenly felt as if invisible silk threads were slowly wrapping around her.

    ¡°Dark Nether, I¡¯m your opponent!¡± Ji Yuanquan shouted.

    ¡°You?¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether sneered. ¡°Your opponents are the Domain-corroding mes! Everyone, including you, Ji Yuanquan. Your God domain will taste the Domain-corroding mes first!¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± Mo Qianfan eximed. ¡°Not the same! The Domain-corroding mes are extremely destructive to my domain!¡±

    Hearing this, several god domain experts who were originally calm panicked. ¡°What?¡±

 Chapter 1357: Three Grand Monarchs

    CRACKLING!

    The other people followed the sound, and saw Mo Qianfan¡¯s thunderbolt domain ignited by a cluster of dark green me.

    His whole domain was burning!

    Unless Void and Saint domain experts had special tools, they would find the mes very difficult to resist, but because of their domains¡¯ special natures, God domain experts were often able to resist, though their strength would be slightly affected.

    In the past, the Domain-corroding mes had been known to be unable to ignite God domains.

    But now, Mo Qianfan¡¯s thunderbolt domain was actually burning because of the Domain-corroding mes.

    What did that mean?

    Whether it was Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s refinement or Gupi¡¯s help, the Domain-corroding mes which only targeted Void and Saint domains had be more powerful, and were even able to threaten God domain experts, and make them suffer unspeakably!

    ¡°Domain-corroding mes!¡± Even Fan Tianze eximed with a shocked face.

    Only now did Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society understand the meaning of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s previous remarks.

    The Domain-corroding mes alone were enough to overwhelm them, rendering him powerless to protect Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Domain-corroding mes which can even ignite the domains of God domain experts!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed. He also had a headache while watching the ghost fire like ferocious dark green eyes being driven toward them by the strong wind from outside the domain, ¡°I¡¯ve lost the me spark. It¡¯s really difficult to eradicate the Domain-corroding mes now!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor floated out, and instantly fell on Nie Tian from overhead.

    Nie Tian burst into mes.

    Fierce mes could resist and melt this kind of erosive evil fire, andva could also dissolve them.

    This was a way to suppress the Domain-corroding mes that Nie Tian had long known.

    However, the me Dragon Armor¡¯s effect on the Domain-corroding mes was far different from that of the me spark, which had left him.

    The me spark could have devoured the Domain-corroding mes, and even strengthened itself with them!

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    As Lou Hongyan, the Divine Daughter of the fire element sect, summoned inwardly, magic balls of mes flew out from her domain one by one.

    The magic balls of mes surrounded her like burning suns.

    ¡°With me power, those who practice me incantations can fight the Domain-corroding mes!¡± Lou Hongyan shouted.

    With that, she rushed out to touch the Domain-corroding mes with her magic balls of me.

    HISS! HISS!

    The dark green mes fused into her me domain and burned furiously.

    She was still in high spirits inside, proving that her incantations and me domain could fight the Domain-corroding mes.

    Some me power experts demonstrated their Saint domains and scattered, cooperating very well.

    They surrounded the others in a sphere, using their domains to form a natural barrier to resist the dark green Domain-corroding mes from all directions.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether stared at Pei Qiqi and roared, ¡°Die!¡±

    ¡°Star Banner Thousand Changes.¡± As Luo Wanxiang snorted, the All Manifestations Star Banner which wrapped around him like a starry cape morphed into a glittering bow that could bend and shoot arrows.

    SWISH!

    With a power that could prate the heavens and crack the earth, an extremely sharp starlit arrow reached Fan Tianze¡¯s chest in an instant.

    BOOM!

    Carrying a strong bloodthirsty flesh aura, the body of a huge demon suddenly descended with a domineering air.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust!¡±

    At the same time, a greenke formed by flesh aura and toxins suddenly came from the other side.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Channeler!¡±

    In an instant, all three grand monarchs of the Outsiders attacked.

    Pei Qiqi held the irregr prismatic crystal in both hands. Each facet of the crystal seemed to correspond to a different space. ¡°Space Boundaries Crystal, Soul Shuttle!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul shadow flickered on each facet.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s attack caught Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul off-guard, but when the hitnded on her sea of soul awareness, he found it empty!

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s true soul and wisps of soul awareness had split and flown into the world inside the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    It seemed the Space Boundaries Crystal was like a medium connecting different spacetimes. Even Grand Monarch Dark Nether couldn¡¯t figure out its track and secret.

    Seeing Qi warriors proficient in me incantations forming me barriers to protect them from the erosion of the Domain-corroding mes, Ji Yuanquan rxed a little.

    He immediately noticed that Grand Monarch Dark Nether was attacking Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± However, before he could make a move, he saw Nie Tian furiously growl and quickly attack Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    Tremendously surprising fluctuations of flesh aura surged out of Nie Tian¡¯s body like volcanic eruptions.

    In a moment, Nie Tian used Life Blend to form a connection with the Star Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    BOOM!

    His body instantly expanded!

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    Summoned by him, the five ferocious evil gods flew out and looked around at the chaotic area filled withher qi with threatening gestures.

    In his erged form, Nie Tian pointed at Grand Monarch Dark Nether. ¡°Him! Kill him!¡±

    The five evil gods immediately moved, let out strange screams, and lunged at Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    ¡°You, you...¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s expression instantly changed. Looking at the five evil gods, who had fleshly bodies and horrifying auras, and seemed to have be stronger since he hadst seen them, he felt instinctively terrified.

    Even his bloodline was vaguely suppressed.

    ¡°Soul Burning Seal! Soul Imprisonment! Soul-capturing Hand!¡±

    He disyed various bloodline magicsmonly used by the Phantasms. They were all very powerful and matchless as dark souls and evil spirits whirled in the sky with terrifying momentum.

    However, the five evil gods were immune to all of them!

    The Phantasms¡¯ secret spells and bloodline talents thatnded on the five evil gods all disappeared without leaving a mark.

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s soul awareness and the evil spirits he mobilized were instead caught and swallowed by the five evil gods, as if they were delicious food.

    As strong as Grand Monarch Dark Nether was, he was shocked by this incredible scene, and had no idea what to do next.

    ¡°The stone statues in the far north of our ancestralnd, the Nether Realm...¡± He muttered to himself, and couldn¡¯t help stepping backward. ¡°Switch! Let¡¯s switch opponents!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with him.¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust said with a cruel smile, stepping out and standing right in front of the five evil gods, as if he were clothed in streams of blood. ¡°It seems I¡¯ve met these five guys once in your Nether Realm. Strangely enough, aren¡¯t they the statues of the evil gods that you worship?¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was enveloped in a sea of blood, and his mountainous demon body gave off a bright purple light.

    ¡°Demon Moon!¡±

    A purple crescent moon rose from the clouds of Demon Qi. If you looked at it carefully, you could see it was a scimitar with an extremely sharp edge.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s huge muscr hand, which seemed to be forged from purple gold, clutched the scimitar named Demon Moon and chopped at the evil god emitting an extremely bloodthirsty flesh aura.

    The evil god was filled with boundless killing intent and covered with ferocious spines, making him look like a giant hedgehog.

    ¡°Its killing intent actually makes me feel a connection to it...¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust muttered. The Demon Moon scimitar in his hand emitted gorgeous demonic light and cut at the evil god¡¯s body without the slightest hesitation.

    Sword light burst forth!

    BANG!

    The evil god¡¯s sinister spines suddenly shone brilliantly, like cyan crystals.

    Many of them exploded.

    The momentum of the evil god also suddenly withered. Stained with Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s flesh aura, the evil god turned into a wisp of soul shadow and took the initiative to shrink back into the Spirit Pearl.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it didn¡¯t die.¡±

    He spun the Demon Moon scimitar and looked for a new target, his scarlet eyes emitting rampant light. He was ready to attack a second evil god.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who had been defeated by Mo Heng before, had a tenth-grade bloodline. In terms of power, no one present was a match for him, save Fan Tianze.

 Chapter 1358: Rapid Growth

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind shook violently as the evil god was badly injured by Grand Monarch Bloodlust, and returned to the Spirit Pearl.

    His heart pounded heavily, as if it was filled with burning rage.

    It was his Blood Essence that had merged with the five evil gods¡¯ evil power, allowing them to gradually develop fleshly bodies.

    Now, even the Spirit Pearl found it hard to control them.

    Only he could give themmands that they would never refute with his wisps of soul awareness and flesh aura.

    He knew that profound flesh aura connections existed between them and him.

    For this reason, he was affected as one of the evil gods suffered heavy injuries.

    Nie Tian calmed himself, thinking, ¡°After all, Grand Monarch Bloodlust once engaged in a fierce battle against the Grand Elder.¡±

    Seeing that Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who was exuding a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering flesh aura, was about to attack a second evil god with the Demon Moon in his hand, he decided to change his strategy.

    As soon as the thought entered his mind, all of the other four evil gods flew back to the Spirit Pearl.

    Seeing this, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, who had been paying close attention to their fight, secretly let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Are those evil gods actual ancient gods, or mere puppets at Nie Tian¡¯smand? Even with such a mighty strike, Grand Monarch Bloodlust failed to kill that one, allowing it to shrink into the Spirit Pearl badly injured.¡±

    Grand Monarch Dark Nether was deeply shaken.

    He discovered that every time he met Nie Tian, he woulde to brand new understandings of the man.

    Even the Spirit Pearl and the five evil gods within it had grown stronger at an incredible rate and consistency.

    ¡°Does this mean they actually have some sort of connection to those five stone statues in our ancestralnd?¡± he thought to himself. ¡°If not, why does it feel like it? I¡¯ll have to inform the high chieftain of this upon his return, and let him decide what to do!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Wreathed in rolling ckish-violet Demon Qi, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who looked like a terrifying mountain, sought his next target with the crescent moon-shaped de clutched in his hand. ¡°Nie Tian, right?¡±

    His eyes that looked like purple burning suns suddenlynded on Nie Tian.

    Upon meeting his gaze, Nie Tian felt a chill spreading through his five yin organs and six yang organs.

    Within the green aura in his heart, Bloodline Crystal Chains that were as fine as hairs suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.

    His bloodline was fully activated.

    Under devastating pressure from Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence started burning at a faster rate.

    RUMBLE!

    Nie Tian, who was already in his erged form, further expanded from being a hundred meters tall to a hundred and fifty meters tall.

    As he assumed a tight grip of the Star Behemoth bone, his pupils took on a shade of blood-red, giving him an even more formidable look.

    With a wildugh, Grand Monarch Bloodlust said, ¡°Nice. Very impressive, kid. Even though I wasn¡¯t there when you fought Ophelia, your name was deeply engraved in my mind. Mo Heng defeated me, and you defeated Ophelia. Even though that brought shame to our n, I didn¡¯t resent you for that. Instead, that made me respect you.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ¡°Grand Patriarch Catie of my n died at your hands, right?¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust continued.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust nodded repeatedly with curled lips. ¡°But both your cultivation base and bloodline grade are far lower than mine. It¡¯ll be an unfair battle if I fight you myself. And since I respect anyone who can best me in a fair battle, I have a great deal of respect for Mo Heng.

    ¡°To give him face, I won¡¯t fight you myself!¡±

    He let out an explosive roar. ¡°me Maniac!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it, Grand Monarch!¡± A rugged, husky voice echoed from behind Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s vast flesh aura sea.

    In the next moment, Grand Patriarch Hazlitt, who was also known as the me Maniac, charged out, activating Ancestral Awakening, and stood in front of Nie Tian in his Indestructible Form.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°Hazlitt!¡± You were only at the middle ninth grade when we met on the floating continent. I didn¡¯t expect...¡±

    Standing in front of him, Hazlitt was wreathed in raging ckish-violet demonic mes, where drops of crystalline Blood Essence could be vaguely seen floating.

    When they had first met on the floating continent, the me Maniac had managed to advance to the middle ninth grade with the help of the me dragon corpses he had unearthed.

    Now, as they met again, he found that he had already reached thete ninth grade.

    His ranking among the Demon grand patriarchs must have improved to arge extent because of this.

    He had joined Catie and multiple other grand patriarchs in the operation to invade the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and the Domain of the Falling Stars to retake the dark stone.

    However, he had been with Gutas the whole time. Upon learning of Catie and Cardy¡¯s deaths, he and Gutas had retreated to the Demon realms.

    That time, Nie Tian had encountered Catie and Cardy, but not the me Maniac.

    The me Maniacughed wildly and said, ¡°I made tremendous gains during my trip to the floating continent, whichter helped me make another breakthrough in my bloodline.¡±

    However, he seemed to suddenly realize that Nie Tian¡¯s advance in cultivation was many times more rapid than his, as he put hisughs away and said in fluent humannguage, ¡°But the rate at which you¡¯ve advanced is even more surprising.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust, do you mean for the me Maniac to be my opponent?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yes. So?¡± me Maniac said furiously.

    Nie Tian licked the corners of his mouth and said, ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to be my opponent, not since long ago. Even though you¡¯ve entered the ninth grade, you don¡¯t have what it takes to stand before me as my opponent!¡±

    Wreathed in rolling ckish-violet Demon Qi, Grand Monarch Bloodlustid his eyes, which looked like purple burning suns, on the me Maniac, and then him.

    ¡°Prove it then,¡± he said.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power burst forth as he assumed a tight grip of the divine spear-like bone and threw himself at the me Maniac in his erged form.

    ¡°Bloodline: Ultimate Burning!¡±

    Cluster after cluster of dark purple mes were ignited by Hazlitt¡¯s Blood Essence, exuding an intense flesh aura.

    Crackling sounds came from the mes as dark purple Bloodline Crystal Chains formed a wondrous bloodline spell formation that pressed on towards Nie Tian from all directions.

    ¡°Such me power is far from strong enough.¡± Shaking his head, Nie Tian charged forward, as the divine spear-like Star Behemoth bone in his hand activated a bloodline talent. ¡°Bloodline Suppression!¡±

    As soon as this bloodline talent came into effect, not just the me Maniac, but every outsider present felt as if a huge invisible had suddenly appeared in the starry river and caught everyst one of them.

    The me Maniac, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, and even Grand Monarch Bloodlust frowned and muttered, ¡°My bloodline...¡±

    Even the grand monarchs were under its influence, their battle prowess undermined.

    ¡°Crimson ming Sword!¡±

    Scalding me power and intense flesh power fused madly into the Star Behemoth bone, rapidly turning it into a huge crimson burning sword.

    Nie Tian had derived this spell from ming Finger Swords, and it was one of the few attacking spells he could cast with this wondrous bone.

    The me power came from his me power core. The flesh power came from every part of his body. The two merged and sted out through the Star Behemoth bone.

    This spell was practically all-conquering!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As the fiercely-burning sword shed across the dark purple mes Hazlitt had released with Ultimate Burning, countless Bloodline Crystal Chains within them shattered.

    The Demon grand patriarch¡¯s bloodline was thoroughly suppressed by the Star Behemoth bone¡¯s aura.

    He felt as if an unimaginably huge shadow was burning furiously as it charged towards him.

    It seemed to view him as a meal.

    BOOM!

    The zing sword morphed from the Star Behemoth bone easily ripped through Hazlitt¡¯s purple flesh aura sea, at the same time severing one of his thick, muscr arms.

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    Hazlitt wailed as he hastily jumped backwards, holding his severed arm.

    ¡°Can¡¯t even withstand a single strike...¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    It wasn¡¯t very long ago that Nie Tian had had to rely on Saint domain experts like Jing Feiyang to handle Demon grand patriarchs like Hazlitt, while he had only been able to provide assistance.

    However, he had managed to kill Grand Patriarch Catie shortly after leaving the floating continent, even though he had drained practically all of his power and put himself in great danger to do so.

    This time, he faced the stronger me Maniac, who had entered thete ninth grade. However, he managed to sever one of his arms with a single strike in his erged form!

    This made him realize that as time passed, and he refined his body, strengthened his bloodline, and improved his cultivation base, he had be stronger indeed.

    Not the slightest anger could be seen on Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s tough, rock-like face as he stood in the depths of the rolling ckish-violet Demon Qi.

    ¡°The kid didn¡¯t lie about his abilities,¡± he said in a surprisingly calm voice. ¡°He managed to defeat Ophelia, and is growing stronger at such a shocking speed. He sure is a huge potential problem. Gutas, Ophelia, since both of you are here, who wants to fight him?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°Me.¡±

    Ophelia and Gutas¡¯s voices echoed out in session.

    Immediately afterwards, a male and a female chosen one of the Demon race walked out.

    With a cold smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Some old acquaintances. Gutas, You¡¯re only at the eighth grade. Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re looking to die at my hands.¡±

 Chapter 1359: Cannons Firing

    Gutas was referred to as ¡°young monarch¡± by Hazlitt and many other grand patriarchs.

    Like Catie, he was also from the Bispo n.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was the origin of his bloodline.

    He had led the operation where he, together with Cardy, Catie, and a few other grand patriarchs, had attempted to retake the dark stone.

    Now, many yearster, he had finally entered the early eighth grade.

    However, in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, since Gutas hadn¡¯t joined the ranks of grand patriarchs, he wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to match him in battle, no matter how talented he was.

    He no longer considered Gutas, who had created serious trouble for him in the Shatter Battlefield, a worthy opponent.

    ¡°You!¡± Gutas bellowed.

    ¡°The kid seems to be right about that,¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust muttered.

    Then, he turned to Gutas and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you stand down, Gutas? Your battle prowess is indeed lower than his.¡±

    ¡°Father!¡± Gutas eximed in discontent.

    ¡°Now!¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust said sternly.

    Gutas jerked around and disappeared into the raging Demon Qi with a whoosh.

    Only at this moment did Nie Tiany his eyes on his former opponent, the descendant of Grand Monarch Illusory Demon, Ophelia, who was holding the Doom de.

    His expression gradually grew grim as he found that Ophelia had already entered the early ninth grade.

    He sensed great danger from this Demon chosen one who had a mighty grand monarch¡¯s blood running through her veins.

    This made him realize that she would be a perfect match for him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The me domains of those who practiced fire incantations burned quietly under the attack of the Domain-corroding mes.

    All of the human experts were confined to a small area by the corrosive mes.

    ¡°Qiqi!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed softly.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes lit up as she nodded slightly.

    WHOOSH!

    As she slowly split the void open with her Space Boundaries Crystal, a glorious spatial rift appeared.

    Dazzling lights could been seen flowing and shing within it.

    ¡°Grand Monarch!¡± The Phantasm grand patriarchs that were driving the Wheel of Time and Space let out another cry.

    Because of Pei Qiqi¡¯s stimtion of her spatial bloodline and Space Boundaries Crystal, they finally lost control of this area of space, their sealing spell broken.

    Grand Monarch Dark Netherid his eyes on Pei Qiqi once again.

    ¡°Leave him to me. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    ¡°Rip it open!¡± As Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion eximed, his Limpid Cyan Sword shot through the starry river like a streak of cyan light.

    The numerous dazzling fragmentary stars surrounding Luo Wanxiang suddenly grew dim.

    With an unstoppable momentum, the Limpid Cyan Sword pierced into the All Manifestations Star Banner, creating arge hole in the wondrous banner that manifested all things and the profoundw of stars.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A heaven-blocking sea of Domain-corroding mes suddenly surged over and into Fan Tianze¡¯s god domain.

    However, all of them were mangled and destroyed by Fan Tianze¡¯s endless sword intent upon entering. Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends gasped upon seeing this. ¡°These newly-refined Domain-corroding mes are supposed to be mighty enough to melt god domains, but why did they fail to melt his domain?¡±

    With an impressive andmanding bearing, Fan Tianze made a grabbing motion in the air, and the Limpid Cyan Sword flew into his hand like a cyan bolt of lightning. ¡°I¡¯ll fight you, Bloodlust!¡±

    Countless spiritual swords cried as he fused wisps of refined soul will and sword intent into every one of them.

    Then, like an overwhelming storm, they shot towards Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    A battle between a God domain expert and an outsider grand monarch instantly broke out.

    In the blink of an eye, they both dashed off into the distant starry river.

    Luo Wanxiang, however, looked withered and defeated with his dharma idol wrapped in the damaged All Manifestations Star Banner.

    Yu Suying took a nce at him and sighed. ¡°He lost. I can¡¯t believe he actually lost to Fan Tianze when the two of them were at the same cultivation base, and his divine tool was at a slightly higher grade than Fan Tianze¡¯s.¡±

    ¡°After all, Fan Tianze was referred to as the ¡®strongest expert below the peak¡¯ before Mo Heng came along,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, full of respect.

    Fan Tianze had been given this title long ago.

    Everyone was convinced that he would be able to advance to thete God domain and reach the peak of human cultivation.

    Onlyter, when Mo Heng had defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust immediately after entering the middle God domain and survived his duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon, had Mo Heng been put on the same heights as him.

    Even so, many were still convinced that Fan Tianze was the stronger of the two.

    After all, Mo Heng had only entered the middle God domain recently.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± Grand Monarch Dark Nether yelled. ¡°You were supposed to take care of Fan Tianze! We provided you with so many cultivation resources and let you study the Book of Spirits. Even your divine tool was upgraded! But you still lost to him?! ¡°You just...!¡±

    He seemed to be mad about how useless Luo Wanxiang was.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang wasn¡¯t known for his battle prowess to begin with among the Sons of the Stars of his generation,¡± Ye Wenhan muttered in a low voice. ¡°Then again, even Ji Cang was only considered the second strongest.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Huang Jinnan eximed in shock. ¡°Then who was the strongest?¡±

    Ye Wenhan suddenly fell silent, realizing that he shouldn¡¯t have said that.

    Ji Yuanquan and the others who knew who he was referring to were also sensible enough to remain silent.

    Only Hou Chn from the Five Elements Sect snuck a nce at Nie Tian with aplicated look in her eyes.

    ¡°The spatial rift is essible now,¡± Pei Qiqi said, the Space Boundaries Crystal spinning in front of her.

    As the spatial treasure continued to work its wonders, the slender spatial rift grew long and wide enough for multiple people to enter simultaneously.

    ¡°Where does it connect, Miss Pei?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    ¡°The Realm of Maelstrom,¡± Pei Qiqi answered.

    Ye Wenhan nodded and said, ¡°Great! Let¡¯s return to the Realm of Maelstrom for now. The Domain-corroding mes will be useless if we do.¡±

    Hearing this, Zhang Qiling, Li Wanfa, Ling Bingyun, and all of the other Saint domain experts shot into the spatial rift.

    The same went for Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn, and the other Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    At the same time, loud rumbles came from the Phantasm starships that had been berthed in the distance.

    Nie Tian took a quick nce, and spotted huge crystal-clear cannons on those ancient starships. ¡°Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannons?!¡±

    He had witnessed the might of a Phantasm Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannonback when he had been in the Domain of the Falling Stars. Therefore, he knew that they were extremely powerful, and could shatter realm barriers.

    It had been just one Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannon back then, yet many sects had scrambled for it after the Phantasms¡¯ retreat.

    At this moment, multiple Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannons were lined up on the Phantasm starships, all pointing at the Realm of Maelstrom, as if the Phantasms were hoping to blow up the entire realm with them.

    The Realm of Maelstrom had already be a hub for the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and their window to the outside world.

    However, he hadn¡¯t built a grand spell formation to protect this special realm yet.

    Would it perish under the heavy bombardment of these Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannons?

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    While Nie Tian had a headache over the tricky situation, glorious lights suddenly appeared in the distant starry river.

    Ancient starships that belonged to the Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect sted off glorious beams of energy towards the Phantasm starships.

    Ruan Qingliu, Wang Haoming, Peng Yan, and many other Saint domain experts of the Five Elements Sect could be seen standing on those starships.

    Hou Chn and Huang Jinnan, who had just left through the spatial rift, also emerged on them.

    Suddenly, the Phantasm starships were in serious trouble.

    They were forced to adjust their Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannons to aim the Five Elements Sect starships.

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before realizing what had just happened.

    Hou Chn and the others had berthed their starships in distant areas beforeing to check his situation.

    Some of their subordinates had stayed behind to protect their starships.

    The Fiends¡¯ Domain-corroding mes hadn¡¯t reached the area where those starships were berthed.

    Then, immediately after retreating to the Realm of Maelstrom through Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial rift, Hou Chn and the others had teleported to their starships that were berthed outside the Realm of Maelstrom through teleportation portals.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Great! As long as they stay on their starships, the Domain-corroding mes won¡¯t be able to hurt them!¡±

    In deafening rumbles and booms, he saw the ancient starships of the Five Elements Sect and the Phantasms engaging in a fierce battle in the starry river like two shoals of different fish.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    More ancient starships sailed out from the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°The Domain-corroding mes won¡¯t get to us as long as we stay on our starships!¡± Li Wanfa¡¯s shout came from one of the starships.

    Standing on starships, they charged back out, controlling their spiritual tools with their soul awareness.

    Seeing this, Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, Ji Yuanquan, and Ye Wenhan turned their heads around and dashed towards Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and Grand Monarch Dark Nether.

    ¡°Don¡¯t imagine that you can return to your ancestralnds alive this time!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed.

 Chapter 1360: A Strange Dream

    At the border of the Domain of Heaven Python.

    Gupi, the Fiend abomination, quietly flew past an unknown realm, enveloped in multicolored toxic miasma.

    As it did, everyst low-grade spirit beast that remained in that realm died.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was poisoned by the miasma. Even the structure of the realm started to undergo significant changes.

    Fatally acidic and corrosive mists pervaded the air.

    WHOOSH!

    Gupi, the enormous dreadful being, flew away from the realm.

    A very long time went by.

    A spatial rift suddenly split open, and Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect stepped into that heaven and earth, looking very much at ease.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One Heavenly Corpse after another flew out of the spatial rift behind him, wreathed in thick corpse auras.

    Completely unaffected by the deadly toxins Gupi had left in the air, they charged off in different directions, as if to gather corpse power from the dead spirit beasts in order to strengthen themselves.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, arrived next to Feng Beiluo. Full of smiles, he said, ¡°Lord, Gupi has entered the Domain of Heaven Python and started encroaching on its realms. The Fiends, Phantasms, and Demons have alsounched a joint invasion of the domain, where they¡¯ve sent out multiple grand monarchs and starships. A fierce battle may break out at any moment. What should we do?¡±

    With a low chuckle, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°What is it that you really want to know, Yuan Jiuchuan?¡±

    The Thunder Devil cast his gaze down and said, ¡°Lord, the strength Nie Tian disyed in the Realm of Fire Spirit was simply unbelievable.

    ¡°If he hadn¡¯t been there, Pang Chicheng would have entered the God domain and gained control of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron with the help of the things his father had left for him.¡±

    ¡°That only means that Pang Chicheng¡¯s opportunity to enter the God domain has yet toe,¡± Feng Beiluo said.

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society sustained heavy injuries, and many of his evil spirits were devoured by five monsters that Nie Tian released.¡± Yuan Jiuchuan paid close attention to Feng Beiluo¡¯s expression as he spoke. ¡°Ren Yuanji from the Death Curse Sect even died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Normally speaking, this should make Nie Tian our sworn enemy, but I...¡±

    With these words, he gazed off in the direction where one of the Heavenly Corpses had left.

    That Heavenly Corpse had been refined from the corpse of a Demon grand patriarch: Cardy.

    Rumor had it that Cardy had been surrounded and killed by Nie Tian and his Saint domain subordinates in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    However, if that was the case, why had his body ended up in Feng Beiluo¡¯s hands?

    That made him suspect that Feng Beiluo was the one who had killed Cardy!

    However, Cardy had been on a mission to storm the Domain of the Falling Stars to retake the dark stone and kill Nie Tian...

    ¡°Pang Chicheng wasn¡¯t instructed to take that trip to the Realm of Fire Spirit,¡± Feng Beiluo said indifferently. ¡°He asked you and the others to join him as a favor. It wasn¡¯t a mission. Nie Tian being there was merely an ident. It was Pang Chicheng¡¯s bad luck that he ran into him in the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    With a wry smile, Yuan Jiuchuan nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, Pang Chicheng was unlucky...¡±

    Then, after a short pause, he asked, ¡°Lord, if I were to run into Nie Tian in the future... If I got into a conflict with Nie Tian, what should I do? As you know, given the speed at which I advance in my cultivation, it¡¯ll only be a matter of time before I enter the God domain.

    ¡°There are some unresolved issues between me and Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect.

    ¡°So my n is to go after him as soon as I enter the God domain. Those thunder pools in his possession and the profound magics he has derived from the Thunder-devouring Whale will be of great help to me. I¡¯m bent on taking them.

    ¡°The only thing that worries me is that Nie Tian might try to stop me.¡±

    Then, with a sincere expression, he asked, ¡°So what do you think I should do, Lord?¡±

    After a moment of silence, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°Mo Qianfan¡¯s life won¡¯t matter. As for Nie Tian, perhaps when you enter the God domain, he¡¯ll be so strong that you¡¯ll want to run upon seeing him.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I really want to know whether there¡¯s a special connection between us and Nie Tian.¡±

    Feng Beiluo¡¯s face split into a gruesome smile as he said, ¡°You may have a slim chance at learning something in that regard after you enter the God domain. However, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society won¡¯t have any chance at doing so even if he enters the God domain.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As they spoke, the Heavenly Corpses returned from different directions.

    After examining them with his divine awareness, Feng Beiluo shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity. If the Qi warriors andmoners in this realm had died in Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma instead of having evacuated, my Heavenly Corpses would havee to much greater gains. Well, forget it. I¡¯ll just follow Gupi and make as much out of it as I can.¡±

    With these words, he entered the spatial rift, along with his Heavenly Corpses and Yuan Jiuchuan, who was still trying to understand the meaning of his words.

    The Fiends had stopped following Gupi¡¯s footsteps to every realm it gued after it entered the Domain of Heaven Python.

    They didn¡¯t have the time and energy to turn every realm it gued into heaven and earths that were fit for them to live and procreate in.

    Even so, if those realms continued to transform under the influence of Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma without any interference, they might turn into agreeable homes for the Fiends after several dozen millennia.

    ...

    In the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    ¡°No!¡±

    Nie Qian, who was practicing cultivation, suddenly awoke from a dream and started sobbing.

    Hearing her, Nie Donghai rushed over. Frowning, he said, ¡°You¡¯re a seasoned cultivator now. I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d still fall asleep during cultivation, not to mention awakening from bad dreams...¡±

    He shook his head slightly, as if he, as a father, expected better of her. ¡°You¡¯re being surpassed by even some kids of our n. If Nie Tian and Dong Li hadn¡¯t provided you with all those precious materials, you wouldn¡¯t even have entered the early Worldly realm. Do you know that Little Tian has entered the Void domain already?¡±

    Not ashamed of herself, Nie Qian said, ¡°Of course I¡¯m notparable to Little Tian.¡±

    Looking at her, Nie Donghai pondered for a short while and asked, ¡°So was it Little Jin again?¡±

    Nie Qian nodded. ¡°Yes, not only did I see her in my dream this time, but she talked to me. I even have a feeling that she¡¯s very close.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s close?¡± Nie Donghai asked, looking deeply sad. ¡°Little Tian said that she¡¯s still alive. But if she is, why has she still note to see us? Don¡¯t tell me that so many years have passed, but she still hates me for not approving of her rtionship with that man.

    ¡°I never never got to see that man. How was I supposed to show them support?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself, father.¡± Nie Qian tried tofort him. ¡°My younger sister told me in my dream that she doesn¡¯t me you for what happened. She only hasn¡¯te see us because the time isn¡¯t right.¡±

    Nie Donghai was taken aback. ¡°If it was only a dream, why did you dream about her telling you that?¡±

    Nie Qian seemed hesitant as she said, ¡°I have a feeling that it wasn¡¯t just a dream. Everything seemed so real. It¡¯s as if she can see us. And she justmunicated with me through the form of a dream. I think there¡¯s some connection between me and her. When she¡¯s close enough, she¡¯ll be able to talk to me through dreams.¡±

    Nie Donghai¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°There are many things in this world that can¡¯t be exined,¡± Nie Qian said.

    Then, after taking a pause to think, she added, ¡°She also told me something, which I find a bit fuzzy now. She wanted me to warn Nie Tian against something or someone. I can¡¯t remember what.¡±

    ¡°Think harder!¡± Nie Donghai said anxiously.

    ¡°Give me some time.¡±

 Chapter 1361: The Beginning of A War

    Sects and ns across the human domains soon learned that a fierce battle had broken out in the Domain of Heaven Python through various means.

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven Python is suffering from a massive outsider invasion. Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler have each led a troop of ninth grade grand patriarchs there!¡±

    ¡°Their target is the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps this goes beyond simple retaliation for Nie Tian defeating Ophelia and taking the dark stone from the Demons. This may turn into a inter-racial war that¡¯ll sweep across the human domains!¡±

    ¡°Do we summon our sect¡¯s experts and join the battle in the Domain of Heaven Python?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said that Gupi has entered the Domain of Heaven Python as well. Who of us can contend against it?¡±

    ¡°Gupi!¡±

    Three powerful outsider races had sent three grand monarchs, numerous grand patriarchs, and fleets of ancient starships to kill Nie Tian.

    The Saint domain experts who had previously evacuated from the Domain of Heaven Python had only learned about Gupi¡¯s impending arrival, but hadn¡¯t realized that outsiders wouldunch such a massive invasion against an insignificant domain like the Domain of Heaven Python, and that they would be so bent on annihting Nie Tian, rather than the four great sects.

    ...

    In the Void Spirit Society.

    Qi Lianshan went to meet Xuan Guangyu. With a grim expression, he asked, ¡°Vice Sectmaster, do we send powerful experts to join the battle in the Realm of Maelstrom? Miss Pei split open a spatial rift with her Space Boundaries Crystal and headed to the Realm of Maelstrom as soon as she came out of secluded cultivation. Ji Yuanquan went there too. Now he¡¯s leading the defenses, along with Ye Wenhan and Fan Tianze.

    ¡°Both Miss Pei and Ji Yuanquan are of great importance to our sect. We can¡¯t just sit back and watch while they fight a dangerous battle, right?¡±

    Inside the white spacious grand hall, Xuan Guangyu, Hong Minghui, and a few others had their eyes fixed on a shiny magical mirror.

    Fleets of ancient starships could be seen facing each other in the mirror.

    As glorious beams of light sted across, some of the ancient starships that belonged to the Five Elements Sect and the Phantasms shattered, their debris flying everywhere.

    Face grim, Xuan Guangyu looked attentively into the mirror, as if he hadn¡¯t heard what Qi Lianshan had just said.

    A number of Void Spirit Society elders who were at the Saint domain stood off to the side. They snuck nces at Xuan Guangyu from time to time, unpleasant looks filling their eyes.

    After a long while, Xuan Guangyu seemed toe back to reality as he snorted and said, ¡°Nie Tian is a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. What profound connection does he have with our sect?

    ¡°I fail to see the reason why Pei Qiqi and Ji Yuanquan were so keen on putting their lives at risk to help him in the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian might be the key to dealing with Gupi, Vice Sectmaster...¡± Qi Lianshan said.

    Xuan Guangyu let out a derisive snort. ¡°Well, he¡¯ll have to prove his ability to seal Gupi first.

    ¡°Even Jiang Yuanchi from the Shadow Society suffered a destructive bacsh after sealing Gupi inside of him for ages. No one understands Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s abilities and strength better than I do. Even he failed to suppress Gupipletely. What makes Nie Tian think he can?¡±

    Everyone fell silent.

    Xuan Guangyu waved his hand and said, ¡°Alright, this is the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s problem. Let them take of it. This meeting is over. This battle in the Domain of Heaven Python may only be the first of many toe. What we need to do now is protect our own territory from any potential outsider invasions.¡±

    Qi Lianshan sighed softly. ¡°Umm... got it.¡±

    ...

    Outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Dharma idols that wererge enough to prop up heaven and earth were engaged in fierce battles against Grand Monarch Dark Nether and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler in the starry river.

    Wielding his divine sword, Fan Tianze was fighting Grand Monarch Bloodlust in a distant area.

    Berated by Grand Monarch Dark Nether, Luo Wanxiang hesitated briefly before charging off with his All Manifestations Star Banner, as if to team up with Grand Monarch Bloodlust against Fan Tianze.

    Cannon strikes illuminated this area of the dim starry river.

    Immediately after retreating to the Realm of Maelstrom, Saint domain experts teleported back to areas in the starry river that were away from the Domain-corroding mes, where they engaged in fierce fights against outsiders.

    Meanwhile, clutching the Star Behemoth bone in his erged form, Nie Tian fought Ophelia in close quarters in the starry river.

    Wielding the Doom de, Ophelia, who had activated Ancestral Awakening and the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form, was just as huge as Nie Tian.

    While fighting, she, who carried Grand Monarch Illusory Demon¡¯s bloodline, released numerous illusions that not only looked identical to her, but also carried the same flesh and soul auras as her. It was almost impossible to tell them from her true self.

    Nie Tian, however, stood unwavering as he shattered the illusions that swooped toward him one by one with the divine spear-like bone in his hand.

    After shattering another illusion, Nie Tian seemed somewhat bored as he said, ¡°Put your Demonic Mirage Pearl away already. It¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t fought each other before. You know those illusions you create with it won¡¯t work on me.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Ophelia said with an ice-cold voice.

    Drops of demon blood then oozed from her skin and flew into the demonic weapon in her hand, the Doom de.

    Every single drop was devoured by the de¡¯s soul, the Doom Spirit.

    Immediately afterwards, a heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing aura came from the demonic de.

    The Demon Qi wreathing the other Demon grand patriarchs was somehow attracted, and started fusing into the demonic de, further strengthening its aura.

    The Doom de was worthy of being called a powerful magical treasure of the Demons.

    All of a sudden, ckish-violet light shot out of the Doom de, along with ck demonic mes that seemed mighty enough to burn all living beings to ashes.

    Furious, soul-shaking roars also echoed from the Doom de.

    Even Nie Tian felt numbness in his scalp.

    He frowned and thought to himself, ¡°This is a bit tricky now that I don¡¯t have the me spark anymore. During our previous duel, soulmunication was established between the me spark and the Doom Spirit, resulting in them adopting mutual inaction. But the me spark has transformed into a brand new life form and left me. I¡¯m afraid I have nothing I can restrain the Doom Spirit with this time.¡±

    Even with this thought, he wasn¡¯t scared.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The void cracked as the demonic light spread, ck mes and purple lightning bolts flying towards Nie Tian, as if to annihte any life force it came across.

    ¡°Destroy, destroy, destroy all lives...¡±

    Vague echoes continued toe from the Doom de. They grew increasingly loud and rapid, as if they could twist people¡¯s minds.

    ¡°This is far from enough.¡± With a derisive smile, Nie Tian drew a bit of power from the five evil gods within his Spirit Pearl, and the evil will that had invaded his mind was easily eradicated.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor burned furiously as it took its me dragon form and wrapped itself around Nie Tian in his erged form.

    ¡°Primal Chaos!¡± As soon as Nie Tian let out a soft exmation, powers of different attributes formed a frenzied, twisting maic field around him, which immediately started channeling all sorts of energies from the starry river.

    Enveloped in his Primal Chaos, all of the demonic light, ck mes, and purple lightning bolts released by the Doom de were instantly contained.

    His face split into a smile as he said, ¡°Ophelia, I¡¯ve got to admit that you can use the Doom de more skillfully now that you¡¯ve entered the ninth grade and joined the ranks of grand patriarchs.¡±

    ¡°However, you should know that I didn¡¯t cease to progress either. So what if you¡¯re a grand patriarch now? Your bloodline is still going to be suppressed by me!¡±

    With these words, he activated the Star Behemoth bone¡¯s bloodline talent, Bloodline Suppression, targeting Ophelia only.

    Ophelia, who carried Grand Monarch Illusory Demon¡¯s bloodline, then instantly felt great difficulty in mobilizing her bloodline power, as if the Bloodline Crystal Chains within her heart had been tied into knots.

    ¡°I¡¯ll win this battle against you even if I have to rely solely on my fleshly strength.¡±

    Laughing wildly, Nie Tian charged towards Ophelia enveloped in his Primal Chaos, brandishing his spear-like bone to sh repeatedly with her Doom de.

 Chapter 1362: An Old Eccentric

    The Doom de was one of the Demons¡¯ most well-known signature treasures. The Doom Spirit within it was also known as the Demonic Doom Spirit.

    As a weapon, it exuded an endless destructive aura. Now, after Ophelia had stimted it with her Blood Essence, it had be even mightier.

    However, as Nie Tian, who had connected his flesh aura to that of the Star Behemoth bone through Life Blend, wielded the bone in his erged form to sh head-on with the Doom de, the bone didn¡¯t seem to be any weaker than the demonic de.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    Nie Tian and Ophelia engaged in closebat in the starry river like two devilish gods, Nie Tian in his erged form and Ophelia in her Indestructible Form.

    Every sh between the Doom de and the bone gave rise to arge amount of dazzling light and ming sparks.

    Intense destructive auras and explosive roars from the Doom Spirit struck the Star Behemoth bone over and over.

    However, countless fine Bloodline Crystal Chains within the divine spear-like crimson bone glittered with a mysterious light.

    The wisps of destructive aura rapidly dissipated before they could even pass through the bone to reach Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Someone who was hiding in the dark and observing the battle between Nie Tian and Ophelia from the midst of the fighting Demons muttered, ¡°She can finally disy the Doom de¡¯s true might now that she has entered the ninth grade and be a grand patriarch.

    ¡°Even though she can defeat any ninth grade grand patriarch now, that junior martial brother of mine is simply too...¡±

    It was Han Yu with a grim expression.

    He seemed to be out of ce, surrounded by numerous Demons and their ancient starships.

    Even Ophelia¡¯s subordinates, who understood his special rtionship with her, didn¡¯t want to stay close to him.

    Han Yu had be half-human, half-Demon after merging with the Demon Eyes Flower. Even though his battle prowess was extraordinary, and he had killed countless humans after fighting alongside Ophelia for ages, he still hadn¡¯t won the Demons¡¯ acknowledgment, especially not at this moment when the joint forces of the three powerful outsider races were engaged in a fierce battle against the humans in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    As someone who was originally a human, Han Yu felt awkward in this situation.

    ¡°What are you doing, Han Yu?¡± Feimos, who was also known as the Controller, yelled at him while manipting multiple enormous outsider beasts. ¡°If you want to prove that you¡¯re one of us, you have to earn our trust by helping us kill our enemies!¡±

    Han Yu went nk for a few seconds. Then, after taking another deep look at Ophelia, he nodded stiffly and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    He summoned the Demon Eyes Flower and flew towards a nearby Saint domain expert from the Five Elements Sect who practiced earth power, hoping to prove his identity as a Demon with his actions.

    With his face hidden in the shadows of the devilish blossoms, he thought to himself, ¡°What will my future be like? I have to be strong enough to be independent of the Demons and humans. And this Demon Eyes Flower has to reach its peak state. Only if that happens will I be free of all restrictions!¡±

    This notion instantly drove all hesitation and confusion out of his mind.

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    Gupi traveled in the starry river somewhere in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    At first, it had gued every realm it hade across with its toxic miasma, so they would slowly transform.

    However, it hadter discovered that all of those realms had been evacuated, with nothing but low-grade spirit beasts left in them, which had made thempletely worthless to it.

    It didn¡¯t want to waste its energy to leave his aura in each of those realms only to slowly turn them into favorable homes to the Fiends over hundreds of thousands of years.

    Because of this, the speed at which it traveled in the starry river gradually picked up.

    After it came within a certain distance from Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends, a soul connection formed between them. From him, it learned that the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends had sent out fleets of ancient starships, and that they were currently engaged in a fierce battle against the humans in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    It quietly adjusted its direction ording to the directions Grand Monarch Nether Channeler gave it.

    ...

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open in the void.

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect and Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, walked out of it.

    Frowning, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°Gupi seems to have established soulmunication with Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, as it¡¯s changed its direction and it no longer gues the human realms ites across along its way.

    ¡°I suspect that its target is the Realm of Divine Seal, judging from the direction it¡¯s heading in.¡±

    ¡°The ce where the Divine Seal Sect was founded?¡± Yuan Jiuchuan asked, looking both surprised and ted. ¡°Isn¡¯t that good news to you, Lord? There must be disciples of the Divine Seal Sect in the Realm of Divine Seal. After Gupi is finished with it, it¡¯ll definitely yield arge number of corpses. Then your Heavenly Corpses will be able to gain a tremendous amount of power there.¡±

    Feng Beiluo didn¡¯t say anything, his expression slightly grim.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Scary soul echoes suddenly came from a bracelet made from pale bones on his wrist.

    Feng Beiluo sent his soul awareness into it without hesitation. Momentster, he said with a grim expression, ¡°You may leave now, Yuan Jiuchuan. I don¡¯t need you to travel with me anymore.¡±

    Feeling confused and wronged, Yuan Jiuchuan said, ¡°Lord, I...¡±

    ¡°Just go," Feng Beiluo said, looking rather impatient.

    ¡°Fine.¡± Yuan Jiuchuan didn¡¯t have a choice but to leave through the spatial rift behind them.

    After some time, a small meteor flew over from the distant starry river.

    Sitting on it was a shriveled old man. Like a ghoul, he was covered in white hair, and pale mes could be seen jumping in his pupils, which gave him a deeply gruesome look.

    Feng Beiluo looked reluctant as he bowed towards the old man. ¡°Martial uncle. The upheaval taking ce in the Domain of Heaven Python doesn¡¯t concern you. Why would youe here at such a time?¡±

    The old entric¡¯s face split into a cunning smile. ¡°That Nie Tian and his master, Wu Ji, ruined my great n in the Shatter Battlefield! Of course I have to join the action after learning that he¡¯s being attacked front and back. Also, it¡¯s said that Gupi¡¯s corrosive toxins are all-conquering. Since my body is proven to be immune to all known toxins and poisons, I¡¯d like to have a taste of them.¡±

    Feng Beiluo let out a cold snort. ¡°You¡¯re wasting your time. Even though Gupi may not be able to kill you with its toxins, you won¡¯t be able to kill or seal it either. As for Nie Tian...¡±

    Feng Beiluo suddenly came to a stop. Then, with a very sincere tone, he continued, ¡°Martial Uncle, I strongly suggest that you stay away from Nie Tian. It doesn¡¯t matter whether he messed with your business in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    With a disdainful look in his eyes, the old entric said, ¡°Is the brat that hard to deal with?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only telling you this because you¡¯re my martial uncle. I wouldn¡¯t have bothered to do so if it were someone else.¡± Feng Beiluo said with an unpleasant expression. ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether you want to take my advice. However, if you don¡¯t and something bad happens to you, don¡¯t me me for not warning you. This is all that I can say. The choice is yours.¡±

    Immediately after saying these words, Feng Beiluo turned around and left.

    ¡°He¡¯s just a hybrid brat. How powerful can he be?¡± The old entric muttered to himself. ¡°Did that kid Feng Beiluo warn me because Nie Tian has some sort of connection to the force he belongs to?¡±

    He grew hesitant. On the one hand, he yearned for revenge, but on the other, he feared that he would attract cmities by attacking Nie Tian.

    ¡°Whatever. I¡¯ll test Gupi¡¯s toxins first.¡±

 Chapter 1363: The Longer He Fights, the Stronger He Becomes!

    In the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Spatial rifts appeared from time to time in the well-like watery curtain in the heavens.

    Zhao Shanling, who had entered the Saint domain, flew about in it with his Voidspirit Pagoda floating over his head.

    Years ago, Pei Qiqi hade to the Realm of Maelstrom, where she had either destroyed or absorbed the spatial rifts that might connected to outsider heaven and earths with her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Right now, all of the spatial rifts that remained connected to other human realms. The same went for the ones that were now appearing.

    SHEW!

    A Qi warrior flew out of one of the spatial rifts, d in a glorious suit of armor and holding a long sword.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhao Shanling asked.

    The man was at thete Saint domain, and bore a strong resemnce to Yin Xingtian. ¡°My name is Yin Zhong. I¡¯m here to join the battle in the Realm of Maelstrom as our sectmastermands.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Qu Mingde said, ¡°Great. Come with me.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded as they left.

    Time went by...

    Having learned about the battle, many sects and ns that were close to Nie Tian sent their Saint and Void domain experts, which were the backbones of their forces, to the Realm of Maelstrom through teleportation portals or spatial rifts.

    ¡°I¡¯m Mo Li from the Heavenly Thunder Sect. These members of our sect and the Mo n are here to join the battle with me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from the Profound Purity Pce...¡±

    With the help of his Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling flew about to receive them, before sending them to the Five Elements Sect starships in the starry river through teleportation portals.

    Group after group of Qi warriors from different realms then appeared in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Upon arriving, they dove into the fierce battle against the Phantasms, Fiends, and Demons.

    The inter-racial battle went on like a raging fire.

    SHEW!

    A glorious streak of light shot across and vanished in the well-like heavens in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Jing Rou from the Divine Seal Sect let out a soft sigh and said, ¡°Another Saint domain expert seems to have perished. I hate that we¡¯re not strong enough to take part in a battle at such a level.¡±

    Duan Shihu smiled bitterly. ¡°You said it.¡±

    Before, Jing Rou had had the higher cultivation base between the couple, which was thete Soul realm.

    But now, while she was still at thete Soul realm, Duan Shihu had advanced to thete Soul realm, and was only a step away from entering the Void domain.

    However, since they hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain, it would be far too dangerous if they joined the battle that was taking ce in the starry river without domains to protect themselves with.

    Therefore, they had been ordered to remain in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    All of a sudden, a Qi warrior from the Divine Seal Sect rushed over to report to Jing Rou, ¡°Miss, the Fiend abomination, Gupi, is heading directly towards the Realm of Divine Seal!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Jing Rou eximed in shock.

    ¡°Has everyone evacuated?¡± Duan Shihu asked aloud.

    Casting his gaze down, the man said, ¡°A part of us, yes. But there are also people who have faith in our grand spell formation, which has protected our realm from previous outsider invasions.

    ¡°So they chose not to leave the Realm of Divine Seal. They said that someone had to stay and operate the grand spell formation and defenses with their soul will.¡±

    Looking anxious, Jing Rou said, ¡°Everyone knows how devastatingly powerful Gupi is. I can¡¯t believe there are still people who are foolish enough to remain in the Realm of Divine Seal!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go inform the sectmaster,¡± Duan Shihu said in a worried voice.

    ...

    In the starry river.

    Nie Tian roared in his erged form. Wreathed in raging mes and flesh aura, he swung the Star Behemoth bone that was more than two hundred meters long, releasing a streak of blinding red light.

    ¡°Destroy, destroy...¡± The Doom Spirit¡¯s deafening roars continued toe from the Doom de.

    Rolling ckish-violet Demon Qi, along with demonic mes and purple lightning bolts, attempted to destroy all lives and envelop its surroundings in death.

    Drops of Ophelia¡¯s Blood Essence spun and burned in the raging Demon Qi like purple crystals.

    The fierce battle had already covered Ophelia and Nie Tian¡¯s enormous bodies in bloody wounds.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fragmentary crimson sparks could be seen flickering in Nie Tian¡¯s wounds.

    With his vast flesh aura, Nie Tian was snuffing out the wisps of destructive intent Ophelia¡¯s demonic de left in those wounds.

    At this point, the Star Behemoth bone could no longer easily neutralize all of the Doom de¡¯s attacks as it had been able to when the battle had first started.

    CRACK!

    The demonic de was brought down with great power, and cut into Nie Tian¡¯s stone-hard shoulder.

    Nie Tian¡¯s skin and flesh was instantly ripped open. However, his crystallized bones were strong enough to stop the de, and at same time, give it a violent bacsh!

    Then, as a loud rumble echoed out, numerous blood-colored strings flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s sides to pierce into Ophelia¡¯s sides like red steel needles.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    As soon as he eximed, Ophelia¡¯s flesh power left her like water rushing through a shattered dam.

    She hastily swung her demonic de to sever the blood-colored strings. Only by doing so did she stop her rich flesh power from hemorrhaging.

    ¡°Such an extreme and evil bloodline talent, even more so than my people¡¯s!¡± Ophelia bellowed.

    POOPH!

    In a sh of blinding starlight, Nie Tian cast the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Starshift, and vanished from Ophelia¡¯s side.

    In the next moment, he appeared behind the Demon grand patriarch that Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling were fighting together.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    He activated the bloodline talent once again.

    In the blink of an eye, the Demon grand patriarch was pierced by countless blood strings. His scalding hot flesh power started pouring madly into Nie Tian.

    The flesh power he had consumed in his fierce battle against Ophelia was instantly made up for, along with the Blood Essence he had burned to maintain Life Blend.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± With a cunning, wildugh, Nie Tian absorbed the flesh power of the Demon grand patriarch, who was less than a hundred meters tall and significantly smaller than him, to his heart¡¯s content.

    His courage and confidence mounted as Life Drain worked its magic. For the first time, he used this scary bloodline talent without trying to hide it.

    ¡°You! You¡¯re more freakish than any outsider!¡± By the time Ophelia snapped out of her daze, she realized that that nsman of hers had already been drained of all his flesh power, and died.

    Even his heart was robbed of everyst wisp of its power.

    That was when the five evil gods swirled out of the Spirit Pearl, shredded his soul, and then flew back with the pieces.

    Within such a short time, the grand patriarch¡¯s body and soul were taken by Nie Tian and the evil gods respectively!

    PUFF!

    As Nie Tian cast the Star Behemoth bone casually towards a Phantasm grand patriarch, it easily pierced through his abdomen and flew out of his back.

    Ling Bingyun, Han Qiong, and Kong Shuangjing, who were attacking him from different directions, then seized the opportunity tounch fatal attacks.

    ¡°Ice st!¡±

    Frost power first froze the Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s heart, and then ignited it.

    The Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s heart then exploded into countless frozen bits that were the size of fingernails.

    WHOOSH!

    After casting Starshift again, Nie Tian appeared like a shadow.

    Blood strings madly shot out of him into the Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s corpse, as well as the bits of his shattered heart, where they started absorbing rich flesh power.

    ¡°This Star of Cmities is scary...¡± Kong Shuangjing said inwardly before he quickly gave Ling Bingyun and Han Qiong a meaningful nce.

    Then, the three of them sensibly flew away from the Phantasm grand patriarch.

    ¡°Nie Tian! I¡¯m the one you¡¯re supposed to fight!¡± Ophelia shouted furiously.

    In the middle of their duel, Nie Tian had suddenly changed his strategy, and effortlessly killed a Phantasm and a Demon grand patriarch to drain their flesh power. Him doing this while a winner hadn¡¯t emerged from their duel infuriated Ophelia.

    Furthermore, this also made her slightly insecure and uneasy.

    After all, she couldn¡¯t recover her Blood Essence and flesh power as quickly as Nie Tian could.

    Within a short period of time, Nie Tian, who had grown slightly weary from the battle, returned to being as vigorous as when the battle had begun, or even more vigorous!

 Chapter 1364: Competition

    Nie Tianughed heartily as he eximed with tion, ¡°Heavenly Wood Heal!¡±

    It had only been a short time, yet all of the wounds he had sustained from his battle against Ophelia magically healed, without leaving any signs of him sustaining serious injuries earlier.

    The severed meridians in his shoulder where it had been cut by the Doom de also reattached, and became even more resilient than before.

    ¡°Flesh power, abundant flesh power!¡±

    His spirits were greatly lifted as he realized that with Life Drain, he could turn the ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs¡¯ rich flesh power into long streams of flesh power that he fused into himself, allowing him to rapidly recover his strength and battle prowess in battle.

    ¡°This basic bloodline talent of mine is actually more mighty and direct when used in battle!¡±

    Before, he had always used Life Drain to condense Blood Essence, strengthen his bloodline, and temper his body.

    He had assumed that this bloodline talent was the most helpful when it came to bloodline upgrades.

    Only now, when he used it in his battle against Ophelia without trying to hide it anymore, did he suddenly realize that its might could be better disyed when it was used in battle!

    Just now, when he had used it to absorb flesh power from his Demon and Phantasm victims, their flesh power had been scalding hot, and much richer than what he could usually get from dead outsiders.

    Such rich flesh power had helped him heal his injuries effortlessly.

    The Blood Essence he had consumed was also rapidly restored.

    ¡°Hahaha! This feels awesome!¡±

    With a wildugh, he casually tossed the dead Phantasm away, and cast Starshift again before Ophelia could reach him.

    In a sh of blinding starlight, he vanished from his original ce, and reappeared right in front of another Demon grand patriarch.

    Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°Feimos, the Controller, it¡¯s nice to see you again.¡±

    Feimos, who had just urged Han Yu to fight the humans, was surrounded by arge number of odd-looking winged demonic bugs and beasts.

    He was controlling the swarms of them to attack Yin Zhong from the Streamcloud Sword Sect. Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s voice, he felt a sudden numbness in his scalp.

    As he jerked around and saw Nie Tian, in his erged form, holding a divine spear-like bone and wreathed in an overwhelmingly fierce flesh aura, he felt nothing but fear.

    He simply couldn¡¯t find the courage to fight him.

    A tightly-woven of blood-colored light fell from over his head.

    Feimos¡¯ bloodline waspletely suppressed.

    Sensing the Star Behemoth aura, all of the demonic bugs and beasts he was controlling trembled in fear, without the slightest will to fight.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The demonic bugs and beasts exploded one after another.

    Feimos was then caught in the crimson. As the tightened, and the blood strings cut into his flesh, Nie Tian activated Life Drain.

    His flesh power poured out of him at an rming rate.

    To take advantage of the situation, the five evil gods swirled out of the Spirit Pearl, which took it upon itself to shoot forth and float over Feimos¡¯ head.

    With a single look at the Spirit Pearl, Feimos lost his mind.

    ¡°Ninth grade grand patriarchs are too weak to handle my attacks.¡± Shaking his head, Nie Tian shifted back and forth across the battlefield to reap lives under the gazes of numerous human and outsider experts.

    His opponent Ophelia, however, exerted herself, clutching her Doom de, but still failed to catch up to him.

    Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs were surprised, attacked, and killed by Nie Tian one after another, before their flesh power was drained by him and their souls dragged into the Spirit Pearl.

    ...

    In the Void Spirit Society.

    Vice Sectmaster Xuan Guangyu, Hong Minghui, and many elders and disciples were still gathered around and looking quietly into the Magic Gold Mirror.

    Battles between God domain Qi warriors and outsider grand monarchs couldn¡¯t be reflected in the mirror.

    Peak experts at their level could prevent all sorts of spying with their god domains, dharma idols, or flesh aura seas.

    Therefore, even Xuan Guangyu, who was one of the most skilled spatial power experts, could only observe the fights between grand patriarchs and Saint domain cultivators through the Magic Gold Mirror when separated from the battlefield by the boundless starry river.

    However, after a while, the Magic Gold Mirror started to fix on Nie Tian for some reason.

    The images continued to show Nie Tian shifting back and forth like a ghost to kill Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs.

    Each and every grand patriarch he killed would be prated by blood strings that swirled out of him, then their bodies would shrivel at a shocking rate to the point where they looked like bags of bones that had been left in the sun for thousands of years.

    Hong Minghui¡¯s face twitched in an unnatural way as he said with a somewhat hoarse voice, ¡°This Nie Tian... What¡¯s the origin of his bloodline? Have you noticed that the longer he fights, the stronger he bes? He seems to be able to rapidly recover his strength with those outsider grand patriarchs. It¡¯s as if he never gets tired, and his flesh power is inexhaustible.¡±

    Not a single elder of the Void Spirit Society said a word in response, yet all of them nodded slowly with different expressions on their faces.

    Some looked shocked. Some looked respectful. Some looked furious, while others looked hesitant.

    Apparently, those of them who were loyal to Qu Yi and approved of Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t help butpare Nie Tian to Hong Minghui inwardly.

    Afterwards, they all realized that Hong Minghui, who had thought of every possible way to pursue Pei Qiqi, was nothing whenpared to Nie Tian.

    If Pei Qiqi, who Sectmaster Qu Yi viewed as the future leader of the Void Spirit Society, were to find a partner, Nie Tian, who was also from the Domain of the Falling Stars, would probably be the only suitable match for her.

    As many men as there might be in this vast starry river, he was it!

    ...

    ¡°This is awesome!¡±

    Laughing wildly, Nie Tian cast Starshift once again, and appeared in a ce that was several thousand meters away.

    After he drove the Star Behemoth bone into a Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s chest, the grand patriarch¡¯srge body shriveled at a visible rate.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian¡¯s aura continued to build up, as if it had no limits.

    ¡°I¡¯ve condensed all three hundred drops of Blood Essence, and my flesh power has experienced rounds of replenishment. Battle! Battle against the outsiders is the best way for me to umte power and push my bloodline towards its breakthrough to the ninth grade!¡±

    Now, he suddenly realized that asking for spirit beast and outsider corpses from other powerful sects and ns wasn¡¯t the most ideal and sustainable choice for him.

    Instead, fighting in interracial battles like this one was the best way for him to strengthen his unique bloodline.

    Of course, the precondition was that he could survive these battles.

    Ophelia¡¯s pupils exuded demonic auras as she watched him reap lives here and there to umte power, instead of facing her in battle.

    She finally lost it. ¡°Nie Tian! There must be someone you care about a lot!¡±

    With these words, she scanned the battlefield, before her devilish eyes suddenly fixed on Dong Li. ¡°That¡¯s our dark stone she¡¯s using! That woman must be your fiance. I wonder if you care about her life!¡±

    She charged directly towards Dong Li.

    As this happened, Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect called out, ¡°Nie Tian, Gupi is heading towards the Realm of Divine Seal! It has already gued many realms along its way as it traveled from the Domain of me¡¯s End. The Realm of Divine Seal is where our sect¡¯s foundation lies. If there¡¯s any chance, I hope you can take some time to stop Gupi from destroying it.¡±

    Jing Feiyang had hesitated over this for a long time now, but at the end of the day, he couldn¡¯t let the Realm of Divine Seal fall. Therefore, he made the request.

    ¡°The Realm of Divine Seal...¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°Taking care of Ophelia is still the more pressing matter. It¡¯s about time I finished my battle against her.¡±

    He definitely couldn¡¯t watch Ophelia kill Dong Li.

    However, just as he was about to cast Starshift to rush to Dong Li¡¯s aid, he froze.

    ¡°Demon bitch! You think I¡¯m easy to kill?¡± With a cunning, charming chuckle, Dong Li suddenly vanished into utter darkness, where she used the dark stone to stimte the ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline power.

    WHOOSH!

    Enveloped in darkness, the ck tortoise expanded madly into its true form, which looked like a pitch-ck mountain.

    As soon as Ophelia¡¯s Doom de, which she ignited with her Blood Essence, shot into the pure darkness, it lost track of Dong Li¡¯s aura.

    Instead of inflicting damage, the Demons¡¯ signature treasure was stomped on by the enormous ck tortoise, and let out sharp, pained screeches.

    Ophelia was bbergasted to sense insecurity and uneasiness in the Doom de.

    FIZZ!

    Despite hermands for it to pierce into the depths of the darkness to kill Dong Li and the ck tortoise, the demonic de morphed into a streak of light and flew back.

    The darkness seemed indescribably bizarre as it continued to devour light and expand. No light seemed to be able to shine into it.

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about my safety anymore, Nie Tian.¡± Dong Li¡¯s remote voice echoed from the depths of the darkness. ¡°I¡¯m capable of protecting myself now. This so-called Demon chosen one won¡¯t be able to harm me.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The vast cluster of darkness suddenly moved towards a Fiend with Dong Li and the ck tortoise in it.

    The Fiend, which in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was too weak and not worth killing, was instantly engulfed in the darkness.

    The Fiend¡¯s wails echoed from within the darkness, as if he were suffering excruciating pain.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck as he looked nkly at the darkness. ¡°Umm... That¡¯s a ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch.¡±

    Then, he turned to check Ophelia, and saw hesitance on her face.

    Meanwhile, Pei Qiqi drove one of her Ethereal Swords into the heart of an early ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch with the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s help.

    Afterwards, she turned around to look at the cluster of utter darkness.

    It was as if the two girls werepeting in killing outsider grand patriarchs, where they were both putting on a great performance.

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded.

 Chapter 1365: Tough Women

    ¡°Dark Night: ck Wings Reaping!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s soft exmation came from the depths of the darkness.

    The cluster of darkness flew about in the starry river to devour every wisp of fiery light, starlight, and blood-colored light it came across, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    Another nearby Fiend was caught off-guard, and dragged into the darkness.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    In the darkness, the ck tortoise went berserk, and killed the Fiend grand patriarch with attacks no one could see.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, and saw the cluster of darkness swoop towards another Fiend grand patriarch like a set of life-reaping ck wings.

    Astonishment spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face as he muttered to himself, ¡°Have her and her ck tortoise be so powerful already?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t made Fiends his primary targets because every part of their bodies contained various kinds of deadly toxins, with their hearts the most poisonous of all.

    After killing them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to absorb their flesh power with Life Drain. Therefore, as far as he saw it, it would do him no good to kill them.

    That was why he had always targeted Phantasms and Demons.

    While Nie Tian was absorbed in thought, a spatial rift split open in front of him.

    ¡°Here you go!¡±

    Through it, the Phantasm grand patriarch Pei Qiqi had killed with the help of her Space Boundaries Crystal was transferred to him.

    Pei Qiqi had always known how Nie Tian¡¯s Life Drain worked, and how scary it was.

    ¡°I¡¯ll fight you, Ophelia.¡±

    With a soft exmation, Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial bloodline power burst forth.

    Glorious auras flowed around in the Space Boundaries Crystal in her palm as it seemed to suddenly establish connections to different spaces.

    Numerous shiny spatial des then flew out of it to hover around her.

    As she dashed forward, she seemed to be shuttling between different spaces.

    Ophelia, who was hesitating over sending her Doom de into the strange darkness again to attack Dong Li, was surprised to see Pei Qiqi flying towards her, surrounded by countless spatial des.

    Face grim, Ophelia muttered to herself, ¡°A spatial divine tool, an eighth grade bloodline, and spatial incantations that were passed on to her by the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society!¡±

    She had heard Pei Qiqi¡¯s name before.

    She hadn¡¯t paid much attention to her before. However, as Pei Qiqi charged towards her now, the profound aura emanated by those spatial des and her Space Boundaries Crystal made her deeply uneasy.

    Even the demonic spirit within her Doom de sent a warning growl to the depths of her soul.

    Astonished, Ophelia didn¡¯t dare to slight her anymore. ¡°She¡¯s a strong opponent!¡±

    Without any hesitation, she further stimted the Doom de with her Blood Essence, releasing torrential Demon Qi, along with ck mes and purple lightning bolts that filled arge area of the starry river.

    She and Pei Qiqi instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

    Because of this, even if she wanted to, she didn¡¯t have the energy to attack Dong Li anymore.

    ...

    In the Void Spirit Society, Fan Wen noticed through the Magic Gold Mirror that Pei Qiqi picked Ophelia as her opponent as soon as she killed a Phantasm grand patriarch.

    Watching a fierce battle breaking out between the two of them, he couldn¡¯t help but exim in high spirits, ¡°Miss Pei! I can¡¯t believe she¡¯s strong enough to fight a duel against Ophelia now!¡±

    Many elders of the Void Spirit Society were also thrilled to see this. ¡°Our sectmaster has an eye for true talent!¡±

    ¡°Qiqi hasn¡¯t entered the Saint domain yet. Normally speaking, she shouldn¡¯t be strong enough to fight Demon grand patriarchs, much less Ophelia, the Demon chosen who has recently joined the ranks of grand patriarchs!¡±

    ¡°With Grand Monarch Illusory Demon¡¯s blood running in her veins, Ophelia could defeat grand patriarchs from her n when she was only at the eighth grade!¡±

    ¡°Not to mention that she has the Doom de at hermand! But despite all this, Qiqi doesn¡¯t seem to be at a disadvantage facing her in a duel. This means that Qiqi¡¯s battle prowess has already risen to the same level as ours, right?¡±

    ¡°Right now, she¡¯s strong enough to fight evente Saint domain cultivators!¡±

    All of the elders who had high opinions of Pei Qiqi were greatly spirited, and discussed that the future of the Void Spirit Society was worth looking forward to.

    Some of them even whispered that Nie Tian, who was also from the Domain of the Falling Stars, would be a perfect match for Pei Qiqi, and that the two of them would be the future leaders of humanity, Nie Tian as the Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and Pei Qiqi as the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.

    Hong Minghui, who was standing not far from them, had a grim look on his face.

    Xuan Guangyu also frowned deeply.

    ...

    ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Nie Tian grabbed the dead Phantasm grand patriarch with a swift move.

    Then, he activated Life Drain to channel and refine the ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s rich flesh power into himself.

    ¡°Do you want dead Fiends?¡± Dong Li¡¯s cry came from the cluster of darkness. ¡°If you do, I¡¯ll bring them to you.¡±

    ¡°Not exactly,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you collect them and give them to Li Langfengter?¡±

    After taking another deep look at the girls, he realized that both Dong Li, who had the ck tortoise at hermand, and Pei Qiqi, who had the Space Boundaries Crystal at hers, seemed to have grown so strong that he no longer needed to worry about their safety.

    Dong Li could kill outsider grand patriarchs with the help of the dark stone and the ck tortoise.

    Ophelia was entangled in a fierce battle against Pei Qiqi, which kept her from dealing with anything else.

    ¡°Realm of Divine Seal...¡±

    At this moment, he suddenly remembered that Gupi was about to invade the Realm of Divine Seal.

    ¡°Senior Ji, could you take me to the Realm of Divine Seal now?¡± Nie Tian called out to Ji Yuanquan, who was fighting Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and Grand Monarch Dark Nether together with Yu Suying and other human experts.

    ¡°Realm of Divine Seal?¡± Ji Yuanquan hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you there!¡±

    Thanks to Pei Qiqi¡¯s efforts and the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s existence, the sealing spell the Wheel of Time and Space had inflicted on this part of the starry river had long since been broken.

    Ji Yuanquan arrived in front of Nie Tian in the blink of an eye. Grabbing him with one hand, he split the void open with a sharp de, creating a spatial rift.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    As soon as he cried, the two of them flew into the spatial rift. In the next moment, they abruptly appeared in the starry river outside the Realm of Divine Seal.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Upon arriving, Ji Yuanquan let out a surprised exmation, jerking his head towards a dark area in the starry river.

    A meteor could be seen floating there,pletely motionless.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked coldly.

    He took Nie Tian and appeared in front of the meteor in a sh.

    On the meteor, the old entric from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, Feng Beiluo¡¯s martial uncle, was facing the Realm of Divine Seal. Wreathed in a ghostly aura, he was staring at a crystal in his palm.

    Reflecting in the crystal was the battle that was taking ce in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°That¡¯s the kind of prismatic crystal Phantasms have between their eyebrows.¡± After taking a quick nce at it, Ji Yuanquan realized that a Phantasm grand patriarch must have died at this man¡¯s hands, the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows gouged out and turned into this device, which allowed him to witness the battle through the eyes of the Phantasms that had bloodline connections with his victim.

    ¡°It¡¯s you,¡± The old entric said, his face dreadfully pale, his pupils even scarier.

    Eyes wide, Ji Yuanquan measured the strange man for a long while before eximing, ¡°Such a strong corpse aura and ghoul-like appearance... The Heavenly Corpse Sect! And your aura seems to be more remote than Feng Beiluo¡¯s. You, you¡¯re....¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°That dead Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield was almost turned into the mightiest Heavenly Corpse ever! If what I suspect is true, you were the one behind it, right?¡±

    ¡°Kid!¡± The old entric eximed. ¡°Feng Beiluo was right. You¡¯re indeed very hard to deal with!¡±

    He had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s incredible battle performance in the battle that was taking ce outside the Realm of Maelstrom, where he had in arge number of outsider grand patriarchs, wielding that Star Behemoth bone in his erged form.

    At his current cultivation base, Nie Tian was already strong enough to butcher grand patriarchs. How strong would he be if he was given time to grow?

 Chapter 1366: Resentment

    Suddenly realizing who the man was, Ji Yuanquan pointed at him and eximed in disbelief, ¡°Wu Yi! You¡¯re Wu Yi, Feng Beiluo¡¯s martial uncle!

    ¡°But didn¡¯t you die already? I distinctly remember that your soul was scattered!

    ¡°And this body is clearly not yours!¡±

    If the old entric had borne his original appearance, instead of being a half-man half-ghoul as he was now, Ji Yuanquan would have been able to recognize him upon seeing him.

    Wu Yi was a powerful expert of the Heavenly Corpse Sect from the previous generation.

    Both he and Feng Beiluo¡¯s master had been killed in the four great sects¡¯ joint operation to wipe out the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

    Wu Yi had been at thete Saint domain when he had died. Who would have thought that many yearster, he would reappear in such a body, with an aura that was even stronger than before?

    In Ji Yuanquan¡¯s senses, this man before him might possess the battle prowess of an early God domain expert.

    However, since he hadn¡¯t released his corpse power or activated his domain, it was hard to say for sure.

    With a low, cunningugh, Wu Yi said, ¡°Of course, this isn¡¯t my true self. A secret magic of my sect allows me to ce my soul inside a ghoul, and strengthen my true self through strengthening the ghoul. I¡¯m taking a different path. The cultivation method I¡¯m using is no longer the same as that of the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s disciples.¡±

    ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect...¡± Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian didn¡¯t fear or panic. Instead, he asked, coldly, ¡°What do you want bying to the Realm of Divine Seal? Your previous scheme led to a bloody war between human experts and experts of various races in the Shatter Battlefield, from which all sides suffered heavy losses. Now, you¡¯ve suddenly shown up here outside the Realm of Divine Seal. I bet you don¡¯t bear good intentions either.¡±

    A sinister smile appeared on Wu Yi¡¯s face. ¡°Good intentions? Hahaha! my sect was destroyed by the joint efforts of the four so-called great sects. My senior martial brother was killed, body and soul. Why would I bear any good intentions towards them?¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re here to pick up a fight?¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly.

    The smile faded from Wu Yi¡¯s face as he fixed his gruesome eyes on Nie Tian and said, ¡°I came here for Gupi.

    ¡°You and your master, Wu Ji, ruined my great n in the Shatter Battlefield. I¡¯ll never forget that. No matter who mediates, I¡¯ll settle that ount with you one day.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°You can try.¡±

    He might harbor a bit of a scruple about going to battle against Feng Beiluo. That was because Feng Beiluo had helped him before, and his attitude towards him had been strange every time they had met.

    However, he didn¡¯t have even the slightest positive feeling about this Wu Yi in front of him, and he wouldn¡¯t relent if they were to battle.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As they spoke, Gupi slowly appeared in the distant starry river, enveloped in acidic, toxic miasma. Judging from the direction in which it was moving, it was indeed heading towards the Realm of Divine Seal, which it seemed to be hoping to turn into a heaven and earth that suited it and the Fiends with its toxic miasma.

    ¡°It¡¯s here.¡±

    Upon seeing Gupi, Wu Yi, who had waited for a long time, ended his conversation with Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan. Surprisingly, he looked rather excited as he controlled the floating meteor to shoot towards Gupi.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the meteor carried Wu Yi to Gupi¡¯s toxic miasma, where they both disappeared.

    Astonished, Nie Tian asked, ¡°That old entric from the Heavenly Corpse Sect is courting death by doing that, right? The essence of Gupi¡¯s acidic toxins can melt even God domain experts¡¯ domains, causing them to die miserable deaths. Jiang Yuanchi is at the middle God domain. Even he suffered a heavy bacsh after sealing Gupi inside of him for ages.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps Gupi won¡¯t be able to kill him,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, his face grim. ¡°After all, technically, he¡¯s not human anymore. The aura he exudes and the structure of his body are different from those of humans. I suppose, in such a state, he may actually be immune to the Fiends¡¯ great varieties of toxins. Even Gupi¡¯s corrosive toxins may not be fatal to him.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Is that so?!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan nodded. ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect was a very special and wicked sect to begin with.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the founder of the Heavenly Corpse Sect derived their special cultivation methods from the Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends¡¯ bloodline magics. Those cultivation methods were considered evil from the day they were born. And they were the reason why members of their sect were hunted down and killed by powerful experts in different times.

    ¡°However, even today, the Heavenly Corpse Sect hasn¡¯tpletely died out, as Feng Beiluo is still alive.

    ¡°Whether we admit it or not, the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s cultivation methods are very powerful in their own way. Hmm... Feng Beiluo alone is already a big headache for all of us. Who would have thought that Wu Yi is also alive?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    With these words, Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan flew forward and stopped in Gupi¡¯s path.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression was extremely grim as he said, ¡°Nie Tian, as you know, I can¡¯t deal with Gupi. You may give it a shot if you want. However, should you fail, I¡¯ll do everything within my power to take you away from here.

    ¡°You have to be extra careful. Don¡¯t despair if things don¡¯t work out this time. Give up the Realm of Divine Seal if ites to that.

    ¡°As long as you stay safe, you¡¯ll find a way to confine Gupi when you¡¯re stronger, and your cultivation base and bloodline rise to new heights.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly. ¡°Got it.¡±

    With these words, wisps of his flesh aura flew out through his pores all over his body, and he activated Primal Chaos in his erged form. As soon as he did, he felt that its influence and might were much greater than when he had activated it in his regr form!

    Spiritual power of different attributes, his flesh power, and wisps of his soul will surged violently in the starry river outside the Realm of Divine Seal.

    Twisting and splitting power gradually formed in the chaotic maic field, and soon became hard to control.

    However, he continued to stand unwavering in its midst like a terrifying god, staring coldly at the iing Gupi.

    Gupi had originally traveled at a high speed. However, for some reason, it gradually came to a stop. It might be Wu Yi¡¯s entry, Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, or other reasons.

    Gupi stopped in a ce that was a fairly safe distance from the Realm of Divine Seal.

    The Void domain Qi warriors who had insisted on staying and fighting for the Realm of Divine Seal saw Nie Tian, in his erged form, standing in Gupi¡¯s way like a solid wall immediately after they flew out enveloped in their domains.

    ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s our leader, Nie Tian!¡±

    Their spirits were instantly lifted.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that he was able to contain the acidic toxins Gupi released to attack the Realm of Fragmentary Star. Hopefully, he¡¯ll fight the abomination off again this time. The Realm of Divine Seal is the very foundation of our sect. If it¡¯s gued by Gupi, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to find another realm that suits our cultivation needs the way it does.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. We¡¯ve vested every river and mountain of this realm with profound seals and magical talismans, so our disciples can derive enlightenment from them and make progress in their cultivation.¡±

    ¡°If we abandon the Realm of Divine Seal and restart on another realm, our sect¡¯s vital energy will be greatly undermined, from which we won¡¯t be able to recover in centuries, or even millenia.¡±

    This was the reason why these disciples of the Divine Seal Sect had insisted on staying and holding on to their hope of winning, even though they knew perfectly well how great a threat Gupi was.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention, then said, ¡°The way Gupi gathers the essence of its acidic toxins is different from before.

    ¡°Apparently, it has made contact and established soulmunication with Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect. I just wonder if it¡¯ll make Wu Yi its enemy or ally. We¡¯ll be in trouble if it decides on ally.¡±

 Chapter 1367: A Different Corpse Refining Technique

    Spiraling toxic gas rose from Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow domain, where Gupi¡¯s enormous shape loomed.

    However, Gupi spent most of the time hiding in the depths of the shadows, where strange sounds echoed out from time to time.

    It was unknown whether Gupi was fighting ormunicating with Wu Yi.

    Nie Tian assumed a vignt stance, as if he were facing formidable foes.

    Ji Yuanquan also waited with a grim expression. He turned around and said sternly to the Void domain disciples of the Divine Seal Sect, ¡°Get out of here now! No one can guarantee that they can save the Realm of Divine Seal! If you insist on staying, you¡¯ll only end up dead and reduced to piles of bones. And your deaths won¡¯t mean anything!¡±

    The Divine Seal Sect Qi warriors were all deeply frustrated after hearing his words.

    ¡°Come on! Don¡¯t be our burden!¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a berating tone.

    At the same time, Jing Rou and Duan Shihu arrived in the Realm of Divine Seal through teleportation portals. They also sent messages to those disciples of the Divine Seal Sect, urging them to evacuate immediately.

    After receiving the messages, those who had charged out of the Realm of Divine Seal in high spirits hesitated, but eventually flew back downhearted.

    Soon, they evacuated through teleportation portals at Jing Rou and Duan Shihu¡¯s strong demand, leaving the vast Realm of Divine Sealpletely empty.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    In the starry river, Nie Tian operated his Primal Chaos in his erged form. With the help of the Heavenly Stars Flower, Godspirit Tree, and seventy-two tree branches in his activated domain, he channeled the kinds of power he could from his surroundings.

    ¡°Even though I¡¯m in a muchrger form now than I was in the Domain of Jade Heaven, the energies in my Primal Chaos aren¡¯t as strong,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    He started to miss the wonderful feeling when he had taken the violent mixed energies You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had channeled from unknown parts of the starry river into his own Primal Chaos.

    Back then, he had started his journey of fury in the Domain of Heaven Python, and gathered more and more energies from the starry river as he had passed through domains.

    Eventually, under the influence of the mysterious maic field at the heart of his Primal Chaos, those energies had be all-conquering, so much so that they had torn God domain experts¡¯ domains and shattered the Realm of Jade Billows.

    ¡°If I had those energies and coupled them with my erged form, would I be able to cast an Illusory Ancient Talisman mighty enough to deal with Gupi?¡± He thought to himself.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± An unsettling voice echoed out as Jiang Yuanchi revealed himself in his shadow domain.

    Next to Jiang Yuanchi, Wu Yi was chuckling cunningly, wreathed in a strong corpse aura.

    With a single nce at Jiang Yuanchi, Nie Tian realized that he was nothing but a puppet. It was Gupi that was speaking and pulling the strings.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression suddenly grew very serious.

    The fact that Wu Yi was standing by Jiang Yuanchi, or Gupi to be exact, proved that things had developed in the direction he wanted to see the least: an alliance had formed between Gupi and Wu Yi.

    The foundation on which their alliance was built was that they couldn¡¯t kill each other.

    ¡°It¡¯s not going to stop with the Realm of Divine Seal,¡± Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect said with a gruesome, cunning smile. ¡°Many more human realms have yet to be gued. Countless humans will die. I, on the other hand, will be able to absorb the corpse power I need from those mountains of corpses, so I can grow stronger and stronger.

    ¡°But I¡¯ll also help it get rid of some potential obstacles.

    ¡°For instance, you.¡±

    Now, having formed an alliance with Gupi, Wu Yi had already cast Feng Beiluo¡¯s warnings out of his mind.

    ¡°Your master, Wu Ji, isn¡¯t here. If he were, I would kill him as well,¡± Wu Yi said with strong killing intent. ¡°In fact, my agreement with it is that your master, Wu Ji, is our primary target, not you!¡±

    Right now, Nie Tian wasn¡¯t the person Gupi was the most apprehensive about. Rather, it was Wu Ji, who was said to be well-versed in time power.

    Secret time power magics could definitely be used to seal it, which made them more scary than secret shadow magics.

    Gupi had only reached a mutual understanding with Wu Yi because it was afraid that Wu Ji would show up one day and prove to be so powerful that even Grand Monarch Nether Channeler couldn¡¯t stop him. Wu Yi, who was wreathed in a heaven-defying corpse aura, would actually be a great help.

    ¡°Then again, you also need to be taken care of as soon as possible.¡±

    With these words, Wu Yi shot towards Nie Tian standing on the floating meteor, apanied by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow domain.

    At the same time, clusters of pale mes flew out of the shadow domain. Just as they were about to enter Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos, wolf-like ghouls emerged from within them.

    After they did, they devoured the pale mes, let out ear-piercing screeches, and then mmed into the Primal Chaos.

    The ghouls that looked like rabid wolves seemed to be forged from pure metal. Though they were violently twisted by the mixed energies within the Primal Chaos, they didn¡¯t fall apart, but only had fiery sparks sputter from their skin.

    Frowning, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°Be careful, Nie Tian! These ghouls were the Demons¡¯ hellhounds. He must have turned them into what they are now by refining a vast variety of metal into them using the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s corpse refining technique. Ghouls like them are almost impervious to mortal weapons. One can only kill them with Immortal grade divine tools.¡±

    ¡°Ghouls refined from hellhounds... And there are so many of them...¡± Nie Tian had a headache over the tough situation.

    Wu Yiughed wildly. ¡°There are more toe!¡±

    Numerous clusters of pale mes flew out of his palm.

    The hearts of those me clusters seemed to connect to an arcanend where countless ghouls were kept. Rabid ghouls continued to crawl out, devour those mes, and throw themselves into the Primal Chaos.

    ¡°Fowl, beasts, and even dragons...¡±

    Ji Yuanquan observed with rapt attention, and discovered that a wide array of beings had been turned into surprisingly strong ghouls by Wu Yi with his powerful corpse refining technique.

    They might not have been outstandingly strong when they were alive, but they had all been unique in some way.

    Most importantly, their bones and flesh could be fused with different kinds of metal after they had died. This way, they would be more powerful after Wu Yi turned them into ghouls.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    The twisting and ripping power of the Primal Chaos failed to rip open or kill a single ghoul.

    ¡°Immortal grade divine tools, you say?¡± Nie Tian let out a snort as he swung the Star Behemoth bone in his erged form.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As interweaving blood-colored lights came in an overwhelming manner, the ghouls that had been refined from hell hounds were finally cut to pieces.

    But surprisingly, their mangled remains continued to pounce towards him in the Primal Chaos.

    His giant legs were their targets.

    ¡°Ouch!¡±

    With a pained exmation, he looked down. He noticed that the mangled ghouls had clung to his legs and bitten into his skin likerge mosquitoes, wisps of toxic corpse aura piercing into his flesh like steel needles.

    A feeling of numbness and that his blood cirction was undermined immediately came from his legs.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe they can still attack after being cut to pieces! And the damage they cause doesn¡¯t seem to be weakened at all.¡± With a violent shake of his legs, Nie Tian shattered the mangled ghouls. However, as he leveled his eye, he discovered that his Primal Chaos was already filled with ghouls of various appearances. Large or small, they all threw themselves towards him, baring their fangs and ws as they did.

    Eyes narrowed, Wu Yi simply stood on the floating meteor, bleakness filling his gruesome white pupils.

    ¡°Even though my ghouls¡¯ individual battle prowess isn¡¯tparable to that of Feng Beiluo¡¯s Heavenly Corpses, my ghouls have their advantage in battle: there are more of them than you can kill!¡±

 Chapter 1368: Resurrection?

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    In the Primal Chaos, the remains of various ghouls collided with each other like pieces of fine iron.

    The ghouls that Wu Yi had made with the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s corpse-refining technique through integrating fine gold into the corpses of peculiar creatures like Ancientbeasts and outsiders were as solid as iron, and full of wonder.

    The twisting and tearing power of the Primal Chaos couldn¡¯t shatter or harm them.

    The Star Behemoth bone chopped these peculiar ghouls into pieces, but couldn¡¯t wipe them out.

    Compared to the giant body of Nie Tian, who was in his erged form, the ghoul remains were as small as mosquitoes.

    However, it was these mosquito-like ghoul fragments that managed to hurt Nie Tian. They bit into his flesh and corroded it with a strange power.

    ¡°It¡¯s a little tricky,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself as he found that the ghouls were endlessly entering his Primal Chaos.

    Wu Yi was still summoning more ghouls, which then swarmed into it like an army.

    The old entric from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had probably lived for tens of thousands of years. After his death, he had put his soul into a ghoul; in this way, he had survived, and would perhaps continue to live in this world for a long time.

    The strange corpses that he had refined and umted over the past tens of thousands of years were beyond count.

    At first, it was just hundreds, and then it became thousands. Soon after that, Nie Tian noticed that tens of thousands of different types of ghouls flooded his Primal Chaos, stopping it from functioning smoothly.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t working. The Primal Chaos that I obtained from the mysteriousnd has no effect on these ghouls.¡±

    He made a quick analysis of the situation, then decisively withdrew the various forces that had formed the Primal Chaos.

    His giant body was no longer confined to the area enveloped in the Primal Chaos.

    SWISH!

    With Starshift, he quickly broke the limits of space and moved away from the ce where the ghouls were gathered.

    As soon as he moved away, the flesh aura rolling inside him burst forth.

    Under the wondrous healing effect of Heavenly Wood Heal and his life bloodline, the gnawed wounds in his corroded flesh which had been caused by the fragmentary ghouls recovered rapidly.

    In the blink of an eye, all his wounds healed.

    ¡°What?!¡± At the same time, he noticed that the managed pieces of the ghouls rbined like balls of sticine because of his absence.

    The ghouls, which had been cut to pieces by the Star Behemoth bone, were actually restored to their original state.

    After watching for a while, Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society marveled, ¡°The Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s corpse-refining technique is really unusual! As expected of the toughest crooked sorcery!¡±

    The fact that he hadn¡¯t made a move so far was because he wanted to reserve his strength.

    As long as he didn¡¯t expend too much spatial power, when things went wrong, it would be easy for him to take Nie Tian away from the Realm of Divine Seal in a moment, or to bring more experts here to join the fight.

    Therefore, as Nie Tian and Wu Yi fought, he chose to wait and see.

    ¡°Go!¡± Nie Tian in his erged form suddenly threw out his Bonebrute puppet.

    The Bone Blood Demon!

    The blood demon given to him by the Blood Sect and activated by his life bloodline flew past Wu Yi and his numerous ghouls, and fell into Gupi¡¯s miasma-enveloped shadow domain.

    The Bone Blood Demon was the only strange thing Nie Tian knew that was not afraid of Gupi¡¯s toxins.

    Like Wu Yi, who had reappeared in the body of a ghoul, this special inhuman being was also able to resist Gupi¡¯s toxins, and wouldn¡¯t be affected by them.

    Wu Yi grinned. ¡°A puppet refined by the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s secret technique. The Blood Spirit Sect, like us, was jointly besieged by your so-called righteous sects. I didn¡¯t expect that you, Nie Tian, the Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, would have a puppet of the Blood Spirit Sect.¡±

    The Bone Blood Demon fell into the shadow domain, since Nie Tian wanted to investigate the mystery of Gupi through his connection with the blood demon.

    ¡°A mere puppet...¡± Using Jiang Yuanchi as the medium, Gupi spoke as its tentacle flew out from the depths of the shadow.

    Its tentacle pped the Bone Blood Demon with great force.

    The Bone Blood Demon wasshed by Gupi¡¯s brute force, and had to fly out of the divine shadow domain. Its body made of crystallized bones was covered with cracks.

    After just one hit, the Bone Blood Demon was badly injured by Gupi.

    ¡°It has a body and isn¡¯tpletely illusory,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I should have known the Bone Blood Demon can resist the acid essence Gupi releases, but once it¡¯s attacked by Gupi¡¯s true form, it won¡¯t be able to withstand it.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Ji Yuanquan said. ¡°I¡¯ll invite someone else to deal with Wu Yi. You just focus on trying to seal Gupi.¡±

    Like a ghost, the possessed Jiang Yuanchi floated out of the shadows where Gupi¡¯s true form was.

    He looked wooden with empty eyes. However, his eyes, which originally showed no signs of life, gradually started to have emotions in them.

    He stood in the shadow and looked coldly at Ji Yuanquan.

    Ji Yuanquan felt that something had gone wrong, so he immediately prepared to use a secret magic to tear open a spatial rift to establish a connection to the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom, so he could bring over God domain experts like Ye Wenhan, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan to help.

    A grey and white jade seal engraved with more than a dozen ancient talismans appeared, floating above Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s palm.

    BOOM!

    The talismans in the jade seal shone as brightly as stars. It seemed this area of starry river was suddenly reflected in the jade seal, and became its internal space.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression instantly changed.

    Nie Tian was also shocked. When he looked up, he felt that the stars in the distant starry river, which had been bright just now, suddenly dimmed.

    Even the Realm of Divine Seal, which was very close to him, somehow disappeared from under his nose.

    It felt as if he and the area of starry river where he was were being enveloped by something.

    ¡°Heaven-wrapping Seal!¡± Ji Yuanquan finally called out the name of the unique treasure.

    Then, he stared at Jiang Yuanchi and growled, ¡°You, where did you get this Heaven-wrapping Seal? Is it the real thing or a replica? Either way, it¡¯s not something that Gupi could wield! Jiang Yuanchi, why do you help Gupi now that you¡¯ve regained consciousness?¡±

    As soon as he said these words, both Nie Tian and Wu Yi stopped fighting.

    ¡°Hasn¡¯t the consciousness of Jiang Yuanchi, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, beenpletely taken over by Gupi? He¡¯s regained consciousness now? Is he still Jiang Yuanchi?¡± Nie Tian looked puzzled as he stared fixedly at Jiang Yuanchi. Then he noticed that Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s expression kept changing, as if he were hesitant, and had many misgivings.

    Ji Yuanquan froze for a while. ¡°Does this mean that Gupi didn¡¯tpletely obliterate your consciousness?¡±

    Seeing that Jiang Yuanchi wasn¡¯t speaking, he continued, ¡°Have you and Gupi made some kind of agreement? What is it that makes you willing to give up your nsmen and help the abomination of the Fiends Gupi murder people of your kind?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi was silent, but the existence of the jade seal had clearly destroyed Ji Yuanquan¡¯s n.

    Enshrouded by the jade seal, Ji Yuanquan couldn¡¯t forcibly tear open a spatial rift, so he couldn¡¯t send Nie Tian away, or lead others toe in.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! Say something. Are you yourself, or it?¡± Ji Yuanquan yelled angrily.

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me,¡± Jiang Yuanchi replied in a low voice.

 Chapter 1369: Wrap The Heavens Up

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly changed.

    Wu Yi of the Heavenly Corpse Sect looked stunned. He didn¡¯t imagine that Jiang Yuanchi, whose soul awareness was supposed to have been wiped out by Gupi, could actually walk out of his shadow domain alive as if nothing had happened.

    He had believed that only he was capable of soulmunication with Gupi in the depths of the shadow domain.

    He was convinced that he hadmunicated with Gupi, the Fiend abomination, instead of Jiang Yuanchi.

    But Jiang Yuanchi suddenly appeared now. So what was the rtionship between him and Gupi?

    Had Jiang Yuanchi submitted, or were they equal partners?

    Was Gupipletely in control of Jiang Yuanchi, or did Jiang Yuanchi have some extent of freedom, and could be freed from Gupi¡¯s control for a short time to exist with his own consciousness?

    Wu Yi couldn¡¯t see it through. He waved his hand, and the numerous ghouls which nned to continue to surround and attack Nie Tian froze in the void.

    Nie Tian also looked at Jiang Yuanchi.

    Because of the so-called ¡°Heaven-wrapping Seal¡± that Jiang Yuanchi had taken out, the starry river had been shrouded in an invisible divine spell.

    Nie Tian examined the area with rapt attention, and found that his soul awareness and life aura, which could perceive life force, only spread for a while before they met an invisible wall.

    The wall was the boundary of the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    ¡°The starry river where we are now has already be a small world in the Heaven-wrapping Seal.¡± He was slightly enlightened, but didn¡¯t panic. He just secretly drove Blood Essence and infused strands of thick flesh aura into the Star Behemoth bone, ready to act ordingly at any time.

    Its Domain Split was exactly the bloodline talent that could break all kinds of seals, and was from a Star Behemoth.

    He was not worried that the starry river, which the Heaven-wrapping Seal had temporarily wrapped up, would really limit him.

    It was not Gupi that really worried him; it was Jiang Yuanchi.

    After all, Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s cultivation base was at the middle God domain!

    ¡°Suppress!¡± Jiang Yuanchi looked down and slowly pressed a finger toward the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    BOOM!

    A force fell from the sky with very strong momentum, rushing directly at Ji Yuanquan.

    Ji Yuanquan screamed in shock, but his muffled voice was intermittent. It seemed to be smothered.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Go! Quick!¡± An indistinct soul shout rang in Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Nie Tian froze, nkly staring at Ji Yuanquan.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s body suddenly turned into a divine dharma idol.

    It seemed his divine dharma idol wasposed of many streaks of bright spatial light. It looked gorgeous and magical, but it gave people a feeling that it waspletely empty, as if there were nothing in it.

    However, no sooner had Yuanquan¡¯s magical divine dharma idol been formed than it suddenly exploded, sending streaks of glorious light in all directions.

    With the explosion of his divine dharma idol, Ji Yuanquan¡¯s wisps of soul awareness shattered into thousands of pieces, which seemed to want to fly away from this part of the starry river.

    But because of the existence of the Heaven-wrapping Seal, his scattered soul awareness was imprisoned, seemingly unable to escape.

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu!¡± Shrill soul cries let out by Ji Yuanquan¡¯s soul awareness echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s head again.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t freeze this time. ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    Drops of Blood Essence surged and burnt in his heart. A mighty force, driven by the ming Blood Essence, rushed into the Star Behemoth bone.

    In an instant, countless rays of blood-colored light that could tear heaven and earth apart flew out from the internal veins of the bone.

    The rays of red light morphed into the Star Behemoth¡¯s sharp bone, and then flew out in all directions towards the boundaries of the Heaven-wrapping Seal like brandished ws, with a fierce momentum that could smash all sorts of bonds and break the heavens and the starry river.

    Jiang Yuanchi, floating in his shadow domain, did not even cast a nce at Nie Tian.

    Nor did he care for Ji Yuanquan¡¯s growl.

    His attention was focused on the floating Heaven-wrapping Seal as he stared down at it with unequalled concentration.

    At this moment, scratches kept emerging within the jade seal.

    Expressionless, he stroked the seal with one hand, rubbing it slowly and with difficulty.

    The scratches that had appeared in the Heaven-wrapping Seal then disappeared one after another.

    When all the scratches were wiped off, he lightly let out a breath and pressed a finger on the Heaven-wrapping Seal again. It seemed that his finger prated into the seal.

    BOOM!

    At that moment, Nie Tian in his erged form instantly suffered from the same heavy pressure that Ji Yuanquan had suffered from just now.

    He felt a powerful force, which could wipe out lofty mountains, falling upon him.

    His gigantic body could not bear the force. With a single hit alone, his strong body, which had been tempered by Heavenly Wood Heal, let out crisp crackling sounds.

    Many of his crystallized bones were instantly broken by the hit!

    POOH!

    Blood surged out of his mouth uncontrobly, like a huge blood snake.

    The blood he spurted was then absorbed by the Star Behemoth bone.

    Beads of blood dripped onto the bone, lighting up countless Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    ¡°Nie Tian, quick! Run, run...¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s intermittent soul shouts sounded in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness from time to time, urging him to run away from this ce, where he was imprisoned by the Heaven-wrapping Seal, as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Escape?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s mouth was full of blood; even his erged form had been broken by the hit.

    In his normal form, he looked at Jiang Yuanchi, who was looking down and pressing a finger on the Heaven-wrapping Seal in the shadows.

    Eyes gloomy, he said, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, Sectmaster of the Shadow Society, are you really under the control of Gupi? Judging from the power, the means, and the fighting strength that you¡¯ve demonstrated, I don¡¯t think so.¡±

    He gave up on running away.

    Domain Split couldn¡¯t tear apart the world that the Heaven-wrapping Seal had enveloped. His erged form had also been broken by the finger, and he didn¡¯t know how many more terrifying techniques the sectmaster of the Shadow Society had in his skill set.

    In the Void Spirit Society...

    ¡°Where¡¯s the vice sectmaster?¡± Fan Wen asked suddenly.

    The elders of the Void Spirit Society, who had gathered by the Magic Gold Mirror, also found that Xuan Guangyu, who had been among them before, had quietly left.

    ¡°He controls the Magic Gold Mirror,¡± Fan Wen said with a frown. ¡°We would like to see how Nie Tian of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce will restrict Gupi. Didn¡¯t Gupi go to the Realm of Divine Seal? Didn¡¯t Nie Tian also go there with the help of Elder Ji? In my opinion, the battle in the Realm of Divine Seal is more important.¡±

    The elders discussed among themselves, but they didn¡¯t know where Xuan Guangyu had gone.

    ¡°Yes, we also want to know if Nie Tian has a way to restrict Gupi.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the vice sectmaster?¡±

    ¡°Ahem.¡± After a while, Xuan Guangyu suddenly came in and spun the Magic Gold Mirror.

    Unfortunately, no matter how hard he spun it, it couldn¡¯t lock onto the starry river around the Realm of Divine Seal to capture a clear scene of what was happening there.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster, when you control the Magic Gold Mirror with spatial forces, we should be able to have a clear view of all battles except for the battles between God domain experts, shouldn¡¯t we?¡± an elder asked.

    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s something wrong,¡± Xuan Guangyu replied in a perfunctory tone. ¡°Don¡¯t take it too seriously. Since Elder Ji is there, he should be able to handle it easily.¡±

    ¡°Where have you been, Vice Sectmaster?¡± Fan Wen asked.

    ¡°A disciple wanted to see me just now, so I went out for a while,¡± Xuan Guangyu answered coldly. ¡°Given Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base, he can¡¯t possibly threaten Gupi. The battle in the Realm of Maelstrom is more important.¡±

    With that, he adjusted the focus of the Magic Gold Mirror.

    After he did, the elders of the Void Spirit Society saw a scene where many Saint and Void domain human experts fought grand patriarchs outside the Realm of Maelstrom, while the Realm of Divine Seal was deliberately ignored by Xuan Guangyu.

 Chapter 1370: Warning

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s thousands of wisps of soul awareness kept swerving and rushing about, but failed to break away from the area of the starry river shrouded by the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    Streaks of brilliant light from his broken divine dharma idol gathered together.

    CRASH!

    His soul awareness and the broken divine dharma idol came together to be one, like young swallows returning to the nest.

    Ji Yuanquan reappeared in the world.

    He looked dispirited, and the light in his eyes had be dim.

    Staring at Jiang Yuanchi, who slowly raised his head and moved his gaze away from the Heaven-wrapping Seal in his shadow domain, he asked bitterly, ¡°Are you really in collusion with Gupi? Have you forgotten your identity?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi was silent.

    On the other side, Nie Tian had returned to his normal state, with the Star Behemoth bone floating above his head. His face looked extremely grave.

    He felt a sharp pain all over. He activated his life bloodline and Heavenly Wood Heal to heal his wounds with the flesh power that he had absorbed from grand patriarchs outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Jiang Yuanchi had badly injured him when he had pressed his finger onto the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    His injuries were much more serious than those he had sustained from his prolonged battle against Ophelia, and he had consumed much more fighting strength.

    Wu Yi of the Heavenly Corpse Sect was stunned. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, which of you gives the orders, you or Gupi?¡±

    Instead of hurrying to attack Nie Tian again, he red at Jiang Yuanchi and at Gupi¡¯s gigantic body covered with strong toxic miasma. ¡°Strange, the two of you are such a strange duo. I can¡¯t tell which is the master and which is the servant.¡±

    ¡°Your deal with it still counts,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said gently.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, what is the deal between you and Xuan Guangyu?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked coldly.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± Jiang Yuanchi chuckled. ¡°Originally, you should have been able to reach the middle God domain in a few centuries, and then you and Xuan Guangyu would have been on equal footing in the Void Spirit Society. Unfortunately, you may not have that chance now.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression changed slightly.

    Jiang Yuanchi then turned to look at Nie Tian and said regretfully, ¡°And you. I warned you early on, as I didn¡¯t want to fall out with you, but you didn¡¯t listen. You should have stopped being too aggressive after what happened in the Domain of Jade Heaven. However, you went to the Realm of Fragmentary Star to destroy my n again...¡±

    As he spoke, he pressed a finger onto the Heaven-wrapping Seal again.

    His finger came through the air with great power, as if it had the might of a giant god.

    BOOM!

    A giant finger suddenly emerged in the real world. It was asrge as a mountain, floating right above Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Its shadow covered the world as a cold, dark aura filled heaven and earth, making Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and wood power immediately run out of control.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Nie Tian cast Starshift multiple times, flitting about in the starry river, trying to dodge the giant finger.

    Starshift wasn¡¯t a true spatial magic. It was only extremely fast, and could create an effect simr to teleportation.

    However, no matter how he struggled, how he changed his position with Starshift, the finger still locked firmly onto him, and abruptly fell.

    BAM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s body, which was as strong as that of a Demon grand patriarch, was pressed to the bottom of this sealed area of the starry river, his blood spattering.

    Standing on what felt like solid ground, he was forced to hunch over to bear the force.

    In a few seconds, however, he prostrated himself on the invisible barrier, as if he were kowtowing, and could hardly raise his head.

    ¡°You¡¯re not dead, which proves you¡¯re quite powerful,¡± Jiang Yuanchi marveled. ¡°You are promising. You should be able to soar in the starry river and be an influential figure in the human world. But you were foolish to insist on opposing me. Besides, your sealing magic can affect Gupi, so you have to die.¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Maelstrom.

    In the pce of the Divine Seal Sect, Hua Mu looked up at the fierce battle in the starry river through the heaven that looked like the mouth of a well.

    A beautiful figure approached him quietly and said, ¡°Mr. Hua.¡±

    Hua Mu was surprised. ¡°Qin Yan? Why are you here? Haven¡¯t you been assigned to cultivate in the Realm of Shattered Earth?¡±

    ¡°The sectmaster of the Nie n and Nie Qian asked me toe tell you something so that you can inform Nie Tian or Dong Li,¡± she said.

    Stunned, he asked, ¡°Nie Donghai? What is it?¡±

    ¡°Nie Qian has been dreaming recently. She said she dreamed of her younger sister, who had died.¡± Speaking of this, even Qin Yan herself found it somewhat ridiculous. ¡°She said her sister asked her to warn Nie Tian to watch out for Jiang Yuanchi, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. She said Jiang Yuanchi still has his own consciousness, and he hasn¡¯t beenpletely possessed by Gupi.¡±

    Hua Mu was taken aback, and couldn¡¯te to his senses quickly. ¡°I¡¯m a little confused.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s dead mother appeared in a dream, asking her to give Nie Tian a warning,¡± she exined. ¡°Before I came back from my cultivation session in the Realm of Shattered Earth, I went to say goodbye to the old man and Nie Qian, and ask them what they needed so I could bring it with me next time. She told me about her dreams, and asked me to tell you, Nie Tian or Dong Li.¡±

    Whenever she cultivated in the Realm of Shattered Earth, she would usually bring some spirit materials that could help the youngsters of the Nie n improve their cultivation base and fighting strength.

    By doing that, she hoped to build a good rtionship with the Nie n, and leave a good impression on Nie Donghai and Nie Qian.

    Hua Mu was bbergasted. ¡°Nie Jin...¡±

    As one of the closest people to Nie Tian, Hua Mu knew some of his secrets, and had heard him mention that his mother Nie Jin might still be alive.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi of the Shadow Society.¡± After pondering for a long while, Hua Mu decided that he shouldn¡¯t think little of it. He nodded and said, ¡°Good! I¡¯ll tell Dong Li and Nie Tian about it and ask them to be careful.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better be quick,¡± Qin Yan added, ¡°I think ording to the old man and Nie Qian, Nie Tian seems to be in danger.¡±

    ¡°Danger... Gupi!¡± Hua Mu suddenly came to his senses. ¡°Nie Tian has gone to the Realm of Divine Seal to deal with Gupi! If what she said about Jiang Yuanchi is true, and he isn¡¯t dead and managed to keep his own consciousness, then he¡¯s a middle God domain enemy. Then, he, coupled with Gupi...¡±

    Hua Mu was shocked, and quickly took out the Sound Stone to contact Dong Li.

    In the sky outside the Realm of Maelstrom, Dong Li, who was still fighting the outsiders in the dark depths, soon heard Hua Mu¡¯s warning.

    In an instant, she became panicky. Aftermunicating with the ck tortoise, she shouted to Pei Qiqi, ¡°The Realm of Divine Seal! Pei, Nie Tian may be in distress at the Realm of Divine Seal. Since you¡¯re proficient in spatial power, you¡¯d better open a spatial passage to the Realm of Divine Seal and take us there to check what¡¯s going on.¡±

    Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Ye Wenhan were engaged in a fierce battle against Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and Grand Monarch Dark Nether in their flesh aura seas. Hearing Dong Li¡¯s shout, the three of them were shocked.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian might be in trouble in the Realm of Divine Seal?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t Ji Yuanquan with him?¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Divine Seal? Okay, I¡¯ll open a spatial passage!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed.

    She spun the Space Boundaries Crystal. In the blink of an eye, she vanished from before Ophelia, and opened a spatial passage where the humans were gathered with the wonders of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    ¡°Something is wrong in the Realm of Divine Seal!¡± She cried in shock.

 Chapter 1371: Light And Shadow Share the Same Origin

    CRACK!

    All of Nie Tian¡¯s bones crackled under the great pressure as he was pressed into the invisible barrier.

    Jiang Yuanchi put away his shadow domain and temporarily separated himself from Gupi, who was still hiding in the toxic miasma.

    He approached Nie Tian slowly in the void where the stars were no longer bright.

    The Heaven-wrapping Seal remained suspended in the palm of his left hand. Countless tiny talismans twinkled within the seal like stars, as if they had their own awareness.

    FIZZ!

    In the Heaven-wrapping Seal, a spot of light the size of a grain of rice lit up in a sh.

    BOOM!

    In the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, a huge ball of light suddenly appeared and burst forth with dazzling light, which made Nie Tian feel a stabbing pain in his mind.

    The wisps of soul awareness that formed his true soul seemed to have no ce to hide from the dazzling ball of light.

    It seemed all his life experiences and his deepest secrets were being illuminated by the ball of light.

    At the same time.

    The aura wreathing Jiang Yuanchi, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, changed drastically.

    At this moment, Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s body was like the brightest crystal, emitting a blinding light.

    He was actually emanating light!

    It seemed that the world enshrouded by the Heaven-wrapping Seal, which was originally dark, was illuminated by the light of a huge sun, as if to illuminate even the slightest speck of dust.

    Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect was extremely taken aback. ¡°Light, light power!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s jaw dropped as he stared nkly at Jiang Yuanchi. He was shocked too. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve actually merged light power and shadow power! Jiang Yuanchi, you¡¯ve hidden so much. You clearly cultivate the shadow power of the Shadow Society, but why are you able to master light power as well?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all as he said, ¡°Light and shadow are not opposites. Shadow can only appear in the light. Without light, there is no shadow. The shadow power that our Shadow Society cultivates is not like the ultimate dark power in the bloodline of the dark grand patriarchs of the Demons. Extreme darkness will devour everything, and even shadows will not exist.¡±

    Wu Yi understood instantly, and saluted him by sping his hands and saying, ¡°I see. I¡¯m enlightened.¡±

    At this moment, Ji Yuanquan shouted, ¡°You didn¡¯t seem to use light power when you imprisoned Gupi!¡±

    ¡°I hadn¡¯t fully mastered it at that time,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said calmly, ¡°In fact, I was only able to see the truth that light and shadow can coexist because of the strange thing¡¯s guidance.¡±

    ¡°Gupi?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    As he was talking with Ji Yuanquan and Wu Yi, he looked like a god of light, radiating bright light like crystal or ss.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, the bright ball of light spun and approached his true soul.

    It seemed to be trying to snatch his deepest secrets.

    His cultivation base, bloodline, incantations, tools... Jiang Yuanchi wanted all of them.

    Ji Yuanquan was about to make a move when Jiang Yuanchi chuckled, ¡°You¡¯d better behave yourself.¡±

    Inside the Heaven-wrapping Seal, the tiny talismans that looked like stars suddenly formed a spell formation.

    Ji Yuanquan was horrified to see rays of light as tiny as hairs, which were actually formed by golden characters, emerge densely around his whole body.

    Sensing a sharp aura from the rays of light, Ji Yuanquan dared not move.

    He had a bad feeling that as long as he cast incantations or disyed his dharma idol, his arms and legs would be broken upon touching the light.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I...¡± He wanted to send a message through a wisp of his soul awareness. However, he let out a muffled groan as soon as he made the attempt.

    His soul awareness was cut and destroyed by the light.

    He dared not make another move.

    ¡°You are not my target,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said. ¡°There is nothing in you that I want,¡±

    Then he leisurely and slowly walked to where Nie Tian was, and licked his lips. He didn¡¯t hide the cruelty and greed in his eyes any longer. ¡°I want to check where the bloodline of one of our most brilliant hybridses from. I also want to know how you can magically create God domain experts, and a whole new race of life!

    ¡°You simply have too many secrets. Every one of these secrets is worth me taking this risk.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to expose myself too early. If I continued to hide behind Gupi, I could have it take all the me, but you...¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi seemed to be talking to himself.

    The expression of Wu Yi of the Heavenly Corpse Sect gradually changed after he heard these words.

    Without saying a single word, he quietly budged in a little movement that Jiang Yuanchi didn¡¯t notice.

    He wanted to leave the ce that the Heaven-wrapping Seal had sealed.

    He could tell from Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s self-talk that he had deliberately hidden behind Gupi.

    Jiang Yuanchi clearly didn¡¯t want anyone to know that he was alive, and had retained his own independent awareness.

    So...

    ¡°Ji Yuanquan can¡¯t leave, but you think you can?¡± Jiang Yuanchi suddenly said while his gaze was still fixed on Nie Tian.

    Wu Yi felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He suddenly sensed that a dark shadow was wriggling in the area through which he intended to leave.

    The shadow seemed to be another Jiang Yuanchi, transformed from the shadow of the shining Jiang Yuanchi. Right now, it was silently watching Wu Yi in the dark.

    Wu Yi forced a smile as he said, ¡°Sectmaster Jiang, there is no conflict between you and me. My Heavenly Corpse Sect and your Shadow Society have never been enemies. I don¡¯t want to know what the rtionship between you and Gupi is. No matter how you treat Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan, it won¡¯t have anything to do with me. How about letting me go? I¡¯ll forget what I saw today, and won¡¯t tell anyone about it.¡±

    ¡°As long as you obediently stay, it will be good enough. After I get rid of Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan, I will merrily talk and drink with you,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said gently.

    Wu Yi¡¯s face froze.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± The expression of Jiang Yuanchi, who was smiling and looking expectantly at Nie Tian, suddenly changed as he eximed angrily, ¡°How dare two little bitches attack the ce that my Heaven-wrapping Seal has sealed!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Gupi, which was enveloped in a thick, poisonous miasma, went into action, and broke away from this area of the starry river in the blink of an eye.

    Outside the Divine Seal Sect, Pei Qiqi had used her bloodline power and the Space Boundaries Crystal to form a giant, heaven-reaching sword, with which she chopped at a seemingly normal area of the starry river. ¡°Heaven Shattering!¡±

    As the sharp light from the Space Boundaries Crystal scraped the starry river and actually arrived, that area of the starry river suddenly became radiant with a loud bang.

    An invisible barrier immediately appeared. Many tiny talismans that were like stars appeared densely in them, radiating light.

    ¡°Light power!¡± Dong Li couldn¡¯t help shouting as she stepped on the ck tortoise. The dark magic stone that had be one with her was triggered. It flew out before she could order it, letting out strange shouts.

    ¡°The power of light,¡± Mo Qianfan stuttered, looking shocked. ¡°Such a rare force has actually appeared here. Judging from the form of the barrier, the person who practices this power has entered the God domain.¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, sectmaster of the Shadow Society. It must be him,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± As the three people eximed, Gupi suddenly appeared, enveloped in thick poison miasma.

    It raised torrential acid miasma clouds that flooded towards them, filling their sight.

    ¡°This...¡± The three people who had tried to figure out the truth and find Nie Tian felt their scalps turning numb.

    For them, Gupi was likely more dangerous than Jiang Yuanchi.

 Chapter 1372: Dark Descends

    ¡°If Gupi is here, then who¡¯s sealing this area of starry river with light power?¡±

    With this thought, Pei Qiqi cast a secret soul spell that Qu Yi had taught her, sending out wisps of soul will that were vested with her bloodline power in an attempt to tear the light ward open and peek into the sealed area.

    ¡°Soul¡¯s Void Change.¡±

    As she cast the spell that was only passed on to certain members of the Void Spirit Society, one of her numerous wisps of soul will managed to pierce through the sealing spell.

    FZZZ!

    Like a wisp of light, her profound soul magic lit up the area where Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan were imprisoned.

    However, immediately after that one sh, the wisp of soul will that contained a wisp of her flesh aura and the profound mysteries of spatial power perished.

    A hint of pain shed across Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes.

    Having a wisp of her soul will eliminated like this, she had clearly suffered a blow.

    Even so, she had managed to pierce through the sealing of the Heaven-wrapping Seal with a wisp of her refined soul will to have a peek at what was happening inside.

    As the Void Spirit Society¡¯s top-secret magic, this soul magic Qu Yi had passed on to her was vastly profound and full of wonders.

    Even spatial treasures like the Heaven-wrapping Seal couldn¡¯t stop it from prating.

    ¡°Elder Ji and Nie Tian...¡±

    Pei Qiqi turned to Mo Qianfan, who looked as if he was facing formidable foes, and Dong Li. Gently biting her lower lip, she said, ¡°Elder Ji from my sect and Nie Tian seem to be imprisoned in there by Jiang Yuanchi from the Shadow Society. Also, I saw two Jiang Yuanchis inside the isted space. One was emanating a great amount of light, while the other was shadowy and uncanny.

    ¡°The bright Jiang Yuanchi was standing beside Nie Tian, as if he were trying to take something from him.

    ¡°The shadowy Jiang Yuanchi was staring at a shriveled old man wreathed in a rich corpse aura. Instead of a human, he looked more like a ghoul.

    ¡°As for Elder Ji of my sect, he seemed to be bound by the Heaven-wrapping Seal¡¯s power, and couldn¡¯t move at all...¡±

    Mo Qianfan and Dong Li were startled more than once as Pei Qiqi rapidly exined the situation she had learned with that quick peek.

    ¡°Two Jiang Yuanchis, one dazzlingly bright, and the other shadowy and gruesome...¡± Mo Qianfan, who was at the early God domain, was overwhelmed and confused after hearing this.

    ¡°One of them must be well-versed in profound light power spells!¡± Dong Li said, looking very confident.

    With a knitted brow, Mo Qianfan said, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi has always been the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, and he practices shadow magics. Everyone knows that.

    ¡°And about light power, very few humans have ever been able to master it. It¡¯s like the dark power that you practice. Only a small portion of Ancientspirits and outsiders are born with bloodlines that carry such special powers.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is clearly a pure human. How could he possibly learn light power, much less be so skilled in it?¡±

    Mo Qianfan found this hard to believe.

    WHOOSH!

    Hiding in the depths of thick toxic miasma, Gupi¡¯s enormous body floated past the area sealed by the Heaven-wrapping Seal, and approached them.

    ¡°Gupi is an even bigger headache.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Dazzling sparkling light burst forth from within the precious spatial treasure.

    In the space between her and Gupi, numerous crystalline faces suddenly appeared out of thin air, each of which seemed to be a brand new heaven and earth with glorious light reflecting among them.

    She took Mo Qianfan and Dong Li and shed among the mirror-like faces.

    All of a sudden, she came to a stop.

    Dong Li and Mo Qianfan, who were bewildered by the inter-space shuttling, took a moment toe to their senses before realizing that they had already lost Gupi, as they were now on the other side of the Realm of Divine Seal.

    Gupi was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°Now let¡¯s try to break the ward,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a grim expression. ¡°But that¡¯s a job for you two. I, on the other hand, will make sure that Gupi won¡¯t find or catch us within a short time. Since it¡¯ll be an extremely consuming task, I won¡¯t be able to help you break the ward.¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Mo Qianfan said with strong decisiveness as he activated his dharma idol.

    In rumbling rolls of thunder, his dharma idol morphed into a Thunder-devouring Whale that wasrge enough to devour heaven and earth, and spewed out huge thunder pools by simting its unique bloodline talent.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Innumerable lightning bolts interwove in the thunder pools that looked like magic balls that were as vast as realms.

    One after another, the thunder pools flew out of his mouth towards the area of the starry river where Nie Tian and Ji Yuanquan were trapped by the wonders of the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    Upon contact, countless lightning bolts that were as thick as heavenly rivers flew out to slither on the manifesting ward.

    At the same time, in the ward, hundreds of millions of unknown talismans that were the size of flies burst forth with blinding light, light that seemed to have formed after the tempering of endless time and evolution of the universe.

    Like divine symbols that carried the profound truth of light, the talismans lit up the dark starry river. By driving the darkness away, they seemed to bring light to all lives so they could thrive and procreate.

    The blindingly bright talismans shed with the storm of thunder and lightning, causing the thick, heavenly, river-like lightning bolts from the thunder pools to explode and perish.

    Mo Qianfan let out a muffled groan, his Thunder-devouring Whale-form dharma idol suddenly growing illusory and withered.

    Only seconds after activating his Thunder-devouring Whale-form, he was forced to return to his true form and say, ¡°Such profound light power. If this is really Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s power, his attainments in light power must be every bit as high as his attainments in shadow power. If that¡¯s the case, and since he¡¯s at the middle God domain, I...¡±

    By saying these words, he practically admitted that he was no match for Jiang Yuanchi.

    ¡°Let me give it a shot,¡± Dong Li said.

    ¡°You?¡± Mo Qianfan was taken aback.

    Dong Li pointed into the pitch-ck darkness and said, ¡°Or should I say this, that, and me? Oh, I¡¯m talking about the dark stone and thatzy turtle.¡±

    With a stern expression, Mo Qianfan said, ¡°You¡¯d better be careful if you want to use that dark stone. And as for the ck tortoise...¡±

    He sensed that the ck tortoise was at the ninth grade.

    Ninth grade Ancientspirits and outsiders were only categorized as grand patriarchs.

    A ninth grade grand patriarch fighting Jiang Yuanchi, who was at the middle God domain... Even if it had the help of that dark stone and Dong Li, would it really be victorious?

    He himself was at the God domain. Even after consuming his thunder pools and activating the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline talents, he had failed to shatter the ward created by the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    He didn¡¯t think Dong Li would seed.

    ¡°Go.¡±

    Wisps of pitch-ck light swirled out of Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous body to envelope her in a pure ck shield.

    In seconds, she vanished from the others¡¯ sight.

    At the same time, the dark stone flew out from within her spiritual sea in her dantian region. As it gradually expanded in the starry river, a mysterious hole that only she and the ck tortoise could perceive came to form in the stone.

    The hole seemed to have transformed from ultimate darkness.

    The dark stone slowly adjusted its direction so that the hole directly faced the area sealed by the Heaven-wrapping Seal, where Mo Qianfan had just bombarded repeatedly.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    A panicked exmation suddenly escaped Dong Li¡¯s mouth.

    She was shocked to discover that the dark power she had gone to great lengths to refine and umte, along with her soul power that she had tempered over and over, was now being drained madly by the dark stone.

    It seemed to her that the dark stone had turned into an invisible hand that was pulling her power and even her soul will from her.

    At the same time, the ck tortoise¡¯s rapid calls caught her ears, and she noticed that lines of dark magical script were rising from its enormous shell to fuse into the dark stone.

    Each and every line of those dark scripts contained the profound truths of dark power!

    ¡°Evernight, ck Hole Erosion, Dark Assimtion...¡±

    She, who was telepathically connected to the ck tortoise, could even hear its soul voice, and learned that the dark magical scripts that were being taken away from it carried its understanding of dark power and the bloodline talents that had been branded in its bloodline!

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s eyes grew wide.

    Pei Qiqi, who had focused her attention on Gupi, also gasped with astonishment.

    An incredible scene suddenly took ce in the area of the starry river that was sealed by the Heaven-wrapping Seal!

    Countless talismans that were the size of flies left the manifested dazzling ward, which Mo Qianfan had failed to shatter with thunder pools in his Thunder-devouring Whale-form.

    They swarmed out like bits of rusted metal that were attracted to a ma!

    As soon as they separated themselves from the ward, they, which were originally dazzlingly bright, became dark and lifeless.

    In other words, the pure light power within the talismans was being assimted or eradicated by dark power, which eliminated the very core that had allowed them to emanate dazzling light in the first ce.

    It looked like a rain of sparks being devoured by darkness.

    As the light power, with which the Heaven-wrapping Seal had tightly sealed this area of the starry river, perished bit by bit, the ward became very fragile.

    After observing for a few seconds, Pei Qiqi quietly spun the Space Boundaries Crystal with her jade-like finger.

    She ignited a drop of Blood Essence in her heart and said inwardly, ¡°Bloodline: Space Perish.¡±

    At this moment, Jiang Yuanchi jerked his gaze away from Nie Tian to look down at the Heaven-wrapping Seal in his palm.

    He saw fissures appear on the wless jade seal.

    He even heard faint cracking soundsing from within it.

    Astonished, this Jiang Yuanchi looked around, as if to make sure that everything was still fine within this area of starry river sealed by the Heaven-wrapping Seal.

    Meanwhile, the other Jiang Yuanchi, which practiced shadow power, cursed, his face twisted with anger. ¡°Two little bitches!¡±

    As Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect saw this, his gruesome eyes gradually lit up.

    Ji Yuanquan, who was sagging his head in low spirits, shuddered upon seeing that the fine but extremely sharp rays of light that had trapped him had somehow vanishedpletely.

    In the next moment, a familiar blue-robed figure appeared in front of him.

    ¡°Qiqi!¡± Ji Yuanquan was overjoyed by the sight of her.

    The moment he saw Pei Qiqi, he realized that this area of starry river was no longer sealed by the Heaven-wrapping Seal, and they were free.

 Chapter 1373: Start the Second Round!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the girl was right! There are actually two Jiang Yuanchis!¡± Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect eximed in astonishment.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed that mysterious light flickered in the eyes of the bright Jiang Yuanchi, which was facing Nie Tian in a seemingly calm manner.

    The shadow-like Jiang Yuanchi, however, was staring coldly at Wu Yi.

    ¡°Help Nie Tian break free!¡± Ji Yuanquan thought of Nie Tian¡¯s safety the moment he was freed.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li, who was standing on the ck tortoise¡¯s back and enshrouded in pure darkness, roared!

    The dark stone that had been taken from the Demon realms suddenly appeared, floating high above the ck tortoise.

    As soon as the ck tortoise let out strange, low-pitched howls, a unique soul voice echoed out.

    At this moment, a strong bloodline interaction took ce between it and Nie Tian!

    In the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, his true soul was being illuminated by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s secret light magic, as if every single secret he had ever had would be dug out and disyed in broad daylight.

    BOOOOM!

    An enormous ck shape that didn¡¯t seem to belong suddenly flew in.

    The ck shape was a wisp of the ck tortoise¡¯s soul awareness. Channeled by his bloodline, it managed to enter his sea of awareness.

    The ck tortoise that had suddenly entered Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness turned its back, which was filled with wondrous engravings, against the glowing sphere Jiang Yuanchi had refined.

    The pure light power within the glowing sphere was then drowned in darkness.

    Being at the ninth grade, the ck tortoise should have been far weaker than Jiang Yuanchi. However, it somehow managed to shatter a soul magic cast by Jiang Yuanchi with a wisp of its soul awareness.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s face fell.

    BOOOOM!

    Nie Tian, who was only meters in front of him, burst into a ming rage. Summoning different powers, he threw a punch towards him.

    ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    From Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s point of view, Nie Tian¡¯s fist filled heaven and earth.

    He thought he heard the bellows of titans from the Deste Antiquity Era, as if they were demanding justice from the heavens with the terrifying will of ancient gods.

    All of a sudden, space copsed as unknown streaks of light sted from within Nie Tian¡¯s fist.

    Jiang Yuanchi waved his hand in a casual manner.

    Multiple dazzling wards quickly formed in front of his chest.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s fist mmed into the wards of light, he felt as if he had hit a mountain peak that was thousands of meters high. The wards remainedpletely still.

    Only a small portion of the glowing talismans within the wards vanished.

    Jiang Yuanchi frowned, confusion filling his face. ¡°I still can¡¯t locate the origin of the brat¡¯s bloodline. What the hell is up with that?¡±

    The light soul spell he had cast on Nie Tian had allowed him to easily dig out people¡¯s deepest memories, and learn everything he wanted to.

    What he wanted to know the most now was from what race Nie Tian had obtained his unique bloodline.

    However, the light soul spell hadn¡¯t really worked on Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, as if it had been shaded by something, preventing him from gaining the revtion he yearned for.

    Just as he decided to double his power, the Heaven-wrapping Seal in his palm had shattered.

    WHOOSH!

    Failing to shatter the wards with his strike, Nie Tian didn¡¯t hesitate before retreating to a safer location by casting starshift.

    After taking a deep breath, he lifted his hand and made a grabbing motion. In the next moment, the Star Behemoth bone shrank and flew into his hand.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl flew out. Before the five evil gods could evene out, a soul message from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul came through. ¡°Master, that Jiang Yuanchi attempted to trap your true soul and dig out your deepest secrets with a secret soul magic earlier. What he didn¡¯t know is that even though I was inside of the ring of holding, I was able to protect your true soul.¡±

    Upon receiving the message, Nie Tian realized that the Spirit Pearl was the reason why Jiang Yuanchi had failed to get what he wanted.

    The moment Jiang Yuanchi saw the pearl, it struck him where the problem was. ¡°That¡¯s a Spirit Pearl, an invaluable Phantasm treasure! So that¡¯s why. Its soul secretly clouded my soul will and stopped me from infiltrating his soul and getting what I want.¡±

    As he yelled, Pei Qiqi and Dong Li arrived behind Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi on the left and Dong Li on the right.

    Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal in her palm as she gave Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Ji Yuanquan meaningful nces, signaling them toe closer to her.

    That was because she realized that Gupi had been summoned by Jiang Yuanchi, and was rapidly approaching.

    After rushing to her side, Ji Yuanquan said, without being bothered by the fact that Dong Li and Nie Tian were also there, ¡°Qiqi, Jiang Yuanchi must have secret connections with Xuan Guangyu of our sect. The Heaven-wrapping Seal Jiang Yuanchi used was a wondrous tool that allowed him to seal an area of starry riverpletely. However, it isn¡¯t an Immortal grade divine tool, as it can only be used three times before it loses its effect. Only God domain members of our sect who¡¯re well-versed in spatial power know how to forge something like it.

    ¡°I¡¯ve never forged one. The sectmaster doesn¡¯t have any connection with Jiang Yuanchi. Only Xuan Guangyu could have helped him forge a tool like that.

    ¡°Normally speaking, this type of tool is used to imprison those of our disciples who have betrayed our sect.

    ¡°It¡¯s against our rules to give such powerful consumable tools to people who aren¡¯t members of our sect, lest they use them against us.

    ¡°The fact that Jiang Yuanchi had that Heaven-wrapping Seal proves that he broke our rules!¡±

    With every word Ji Yuanquan, who had nearly been killed because of the Heaven-wrapping Seal, said, his anger towards Vice Sectmaster Xuan Guangyu grew stronger.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a cold harrumph. ¡°The Magic Gold Mirror is being controlled by the vice sectmaster. I bet he doesn¡¯t dare to focus it on us now. Now that we¡¯ve defeated the Heaven-wrapping Seal, even if Gupi gets here, we¡¯ll be able to leave safely.

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to hear what the vice sectmaster will have to say after we return to our headquarters!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere,¡± The two Jiang Yuanchis said simultaneously. Even their tones were identical.

    The bright Jiang Yuanchi, who had been keeping a close watch on Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, seemed to whisper something to him in a soul voice that the others couldn¡¯t perceive.

    Wu Yi first went nk, but a momentter, he nodded vigorously and said in tion, ¡°Great! No problem! I¡¯ll help you take care of them!¡±

    No one knew what agreement the two of them had reached. However, Wu Yi, who had been eager to leave just now, suddenly turned around to face Nie Tian and those beside him.

    ¡°Leave Ji Yuanquan to me.¡± With a soft exmation, he summoned numerous ghouls with various appearances, which then swarmed towards Nie Tian and the others in a formidable array.

    Nie Tian and the girls were their target.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, Wu Yi himself expanded like a Bonebrute, with cracking soundsing from every single bone inside of him. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a monster covered in white fur that looked like a gigantic white ape.

    After the expansion, he was wreathed in an even stronger corpse aura, his fingernails like sharp bone swords that exuded frosty auras.

    FZZZ!

    He made a wing motion with his monstrous hand, and the area of starry river where Ji Yuanquan was cracked like a torn rag.

    Astonished, Ji Yuanquan eximed, ¡°Wu Yi! Where did you get this ghoul that you contain your soul with?¡±

    The giant ape-like ghoul gave him a strong sense of danger. Even his hair stood on end.

    This feeling hadn¡¯t been very strong up until the ghoul revealed its true form.

    ¡°I have no time for chitchat,¡± Wu Yi said with a nasty smile.

    ¡°Gupi ising!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed.

    ¡°Shadow...¡± With a whoosh, the shadowy Jiang Yuanchi vanished into Gupi, which was approaching with an unstoppable momentum.

    Meanwhile, the bright Jiang Yuanchi took his time to weave his hands to form and release magical seals that looked like spheres that emanated dazzlingly bright divine light.

    All of a sudden, a vague soul message came through from the ck tortoise.

    With a confused expression, Nie Tian looked into the utter darkness that had blocked the ck tortoise from sight, and asked, ¡°You want me to use the method I used on the floating continent?¡±

    The ck tortoise immediately gave him an affirmative response.

    The ¡®method¡¯ it was referring to was his bloodline talent: Life Blend.

    Back when they had been caught in a difficult position on the floating continent, it was through Life Blend that Nie Tian and the ck tortoise had be one, allowing him to stimte its terrifying bloodline talent with his Blood Essence and immense flesh power, so it could engulf everything in darkness.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian nodded, the enormous ck tortoise emerged from theplete darkness.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian flew onto the ck tortoise¡¯s vast back, where he activated Life Blend without any dy, countless wisps of his flesh aura connecting him and the ck tortoise. Even their meridians seemed to be connected in a profound manner.

    Drops of his Blood Essence were ignited, and started to burn violently!

    As rich life power fused into the ck tortoise, it actually allowed it to expand evenrger.

    At the same time, brand new dark magic scripts appeared on its vast shell.

    ¡°Its... its aura...¡± Mo Qianfan¡¯s jaw dropped and his eyes widened as he watched the increasingly huge ck tortoise releasing a dark aura that rapidly spread and devoured all light it encountered. ¡°It seems to be about to transcend its limits as a ninth grade Ancientbeast! And it carries Nie Tian¡¯s aura!¡±

    Pei Qiqi, who was going to take everyone away with the help of her Space Boundaries Crystal, suddenly grew hesitant.

    At this moment, the mixed aura of Nie Tian and the ck tortoise and their soaring power gave her a feeling that they might actually have a chance at fighting Jiang Yuanchi.

 Chapter 1374: A Heavenly River Descends

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian, who had connected himself to the ck tortoise through his bloodline talent Life Blend, his eyes filled with the light of excitement. ¡°It must carry a Star Behemoth bloodline!¡±

    This feeling hadn¡¯t been so strong before the ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline had advanced to the ninth grade.

    However, just now, when he had ended his Life Blend state with the Star Behemoth bone and entered a Life Blend state with the ck tortoise, a strong sense of familiarity had stricken him.

    The two states were simr in many ways.

    This had reminded him of the Star Behemoth hiding in the depths of the ck sea on the floating continent and the ck tortoise¡¯s special features, allowing him toe to this conclusion.

    Even if the ck tortoise wasn¡¯t a purebred Star Behemoth, it must carry a Star Behemoth bloodline!

    It was a hybrid as well!

    WHOOSH!

    Boundless darkness spread in every direction, with the ck tortoise as the center.

    Wherever it spread, light went out like blown outmps. Even the stars shining in the distance wentpletely dark, as if they had been shrouded by pitch-ck cloth.

    Dong Li, Ji Yuanquan, Wu Yi, and Pei Qiqi were all engulfed in utter darkness.

    Of course, Jiang Yuanchi was no exception!

    However, while everyone else lost all of their soul and flesh aura senses in the darkness, Dong Li¡¯s senses were greatly heightened, as if this darkness were water and she was a fish.

    Jiang Yuanchi, who practiced shadow magics, and Gupi also lost their bearings in the darkness, without any idea of where they should go.

    Nie Tian sensed the area of the starry river with rapt attention. To his surprise, he found Gupi, along with the shadowy Jiang Yuanchi that had merged with it, flying in circles within a small area.

    ¡°This dark arcane realm the ck tortoise created with its ultimate dark bloodline seems to have a strong subduing effect on the shadowy Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

    ¡°And this ultimate darkness even works on Gupi as well!¡±

    Nie Tian was thrilled by this discovery.

    The bright Jiang Yuanchi raised his arms and shouted in the depths of the darkness. ¡°Light: Divine Illumination!¡±

    As he did, a glorious glowing pearl slowly flew out, and started radiating a great amount of light, as if to disperse all this darkness.

    Jiang Yuanchi morphed into a streak of light that flew into the pearl that looked like a glowing crystal ball.

    His wisps of divine will turned into sparkling bits that shone brightly within the pearl, making it increasingly bright and dazzling.

    ¡°Come!¡± Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s soul voice echoed out from the pearl.

    Gupi and the shadowy Jiang Yuanchi instantly had a direction. The Jiang Yuanchi that practiced shadow power separated himself from Gupi and flew to the pearl in the blink of an eye.

    ¡°Light and shadow share the same origin!¡±

    With these words, he reached out and grabbed the pearl.

    The moment his hand touched the pearl, the two Jiang Yuanchis seemed toe back as one.

    BOOM!

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s enormous dharma idol manifested in the utter darkness like a condensation of the purest light. It was so bright that no one could look directly at it.

    Behind it, another shady dharma idol seemed to exist in its shadow. Both of them exuded auras that were unique to God domain experts.

    ¡°This beast carries a dark bloodline that¡¯s even purer than those of ck dragons and ck phoenixes.¡± As soon as Jiang Yuanchi spoke, his divine voice morphed into bright talismans that fell upon the ck tortoise¡¯s vast back like glowing mountain peaks.

    Suffering from the crushing pressure, the ck tortoise let out low bellows as it did its utmost to draw Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence into itself.

    WHOOSH!

    The dark stone that had been taken from the Demon realms was channeled by its bloodline and flew to it.

    In the ck hole in the middle of the stone, a gravitational force strong enough to devour heaven and earth was suddenly born.

    The gigantic talismans that looked like glowing divine mountain peaks let out remote cries as they were pulled by the gravitational force.

    Jiang Yuanchiughed coldly. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that, as a junior, you can actually exchange a few moves with me with the help of that beast and dark treasure. You should be proud of yourself. However, both your cultivation base and bloodline grade are still far from high enough! Don¡¯t tell me that you actually think you scared us when you marched into the Domain of Jade Heaven.

    ¡°I only retreated because I didn¡¯t want unnecessary trouble. But since you¡¯re so eager to die, I¡¯ll grant you that wish.¡±

    More dazzlingly bright talismans descended like a storm. While only a small portion had their light sucked away by the dark stone, the majority of them fell heavily on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell.

    The ck tortoise started to sink bit by bit!

    The darkness it had released to devour all light couldn¡¯t spread any further.

    Nie Tian, who was in a Life Blend state with it, could feel the great pain and mountain-like pressure it was suffering from. At the same time, he was losing his flesh power at an rming rate.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a soft sigh in the darkness and muttered, ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work.¡±

    Then, he turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is far too strong for Nie Tian. Right now, Fan Tianze might be the only avable human expert that can fight and suppress him in battle.¡±

    He knew that Dong Li was probably the only one who could hear him in this utter darkness, since she practiced dark power.

    PUFF!

    Nie Tian¡¯s arm was ripped open, with blood pouring out. The wisps of blood strings through which he was transfusing flesh power into the ck tortoise seemed to be clogged by some power.

    At the same time, countless rays of sparkling bright light that were as fine as hairs appeared around him.

    Before he could react, they wrapped around him in an attempt to shred him.

    ¡°Ahhh!¡±

    He let out heart-wrenching cries as his body, which had been tempered a thousand times over, was cut bloody by the rays of bright light.

    With a derisiveugh, Jiang Yuanchi said, ¡°No matter how talented you are, you¡¯re still a junior that¡¯s far too weak to handle my attacks, definitely not before your cultivation base advances to the God domain, and your bloodline enters the tenth grade.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Shadows suddenly flew out from a dark ce behind Jiang Yuanchi.

    Each and every one of them was vested with his profound soul power and shadow power, and carried a deadly secret magic.

    Ji Yuanquan couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Qiqi!¡±

    However, enveloped in utter darkness, Pei Qiqi wasn¡¯t aware of the perilous situation. Even if she was, she couldn¡¯t locate and take Nie Tian and the others to safety within a short time.

    Even Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect was muddled like a person that was both blind and deaf in the darkness.

    Dong Li was the only one who could actually see that Nie Tian was in a dangerous situation. Upon seeing Jiang Yuanchi making his killing move, she screamed and released her ck phoenix beast spirit.

    With a sharp screech, the ck phoenix flew over like a streak of dark aura and spread its wings over Nie Tian¡¯s head to protect him.

    However, in a mere second, the ck phoenix let out a pained wail as the soul power and dark power it had expended a great effort to refine was crushed and scattered by the shadows.

    If the ck phoenix beast spirit hadn¡¯t been in this utter darkness, it would have shattered upon contact.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li let out a panicked wail.

    For the first time, she thought Nie Tian might actually die, and that the exceedingly powerful Jiang Yuanchi might kill him right here and now.

    FZZZ!

    Just as she despaired, a wondrous river flowed over from the distant starry river.

    Countless streams of glorious light could be seen flying within the river. Each of them seemed to record a lost time, a past history, or the evolutionary course of a species.

    ¡°It¡¯s the river of time!¡± Dong Li, who was in despair, eximed, and her pitch-ck pupils burst forth with the light of excitement. ¡°Senior...¡±

    The river that was stretching from the distant starry river seemed to carry unfathomable time power, which rapidly froze the entire area, along with everyone in it.

    Dong Li was frozen before she could finish her sentence. Even the huge waves in her sea of awareness seemed to be instantly frozen.

    The dazzlingly bright talismans Jiang Yuanchi, who was at the middle God domain, had released also wentpletely still. Even Gupi stopped moving.

    Time went still.

    Only the river of time flowed slowly across the area, where a fierce battle had been taking ce just now.

    As it quietly scraped against Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dharma idol, the enormous dharma idol exploded like ss that had been dropped to the ground.

    In the shadows, Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s other shady dharma idol also copsed into a pile of sand with a loud boom.

    The river of time continued to flow. After winding past Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and the ck tortoise, who were allpletely frozen, it came to the ce where Gupi hid within its toxic miasma.

    Like a divine rope, the river wrapped around Gupi¡¯s true form and pulled it out of the toxic miasma it surrounded itself with.

    The gigantic strange being didn¡¯t move a hair, as if it had died. It didn¡¯t struggle in the slightest as the river of time bound and dragged it towards the distant starry river.

    This was because even its soul and mind werepletely frozen by time power, causing it to lose all consciousness.

    Just before the river of time vanished into the distant starry river, some sand of time that spattered from it fell on Wu Yi from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, who now was in the form of a giant ape-like ghoul. It was unknown whether this was intended, or a coincidence.

    Either way, the ghoul¡¯s white fur fell off and flew away like a willow catkin that flew in the wind as its intense corpse aura quietly scattered.

    Eventually, the river of time vanished in the distance before anyone could react in any way.

    It was as if someone in another space-time had controlled this unfathomably mysterious river to break the boundaries of time and space to enter this part of the starry river at this time, and single-handedly turned the situation around.

    ¡°Wu!¡± Thest word of Dong Li¡¯s exmation finally echoed out.

    This meant the end of the time freeze.

    As this happened, both the utter darkness and dazzling light dispersed.

    The area of the starry river returned to its original state.

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s agonized shriek and Wu Yi¡¯s miserable wail echoed out at the same time.

    Ji Yuanquan, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi werepletely unaffected.

    Ji Yuanquan and Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t even know what had just happened. Enveloped in utter darkness, they had neither seen the river of time, nor heard Dong Li¡¯s cry.

    They felt as if they had awoken from a dark dreand, and opened their eyes to a clear starry river.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s bright dharma idol had been reduced to countless glowing pieces. The precious pearl he had wielded earlier had also exploded and disappeared.

    Even his shadow dharma idol had be clusters of shadow that were squirming and slowly gathering back together.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Gupi?¡± Pei Qiqi asked with a surprised look on her face.

    ¡°Senior Wu... seems to have swept it away with the river of time,¡± Dong Li said.

    Even Nie Tian was bbergasted after hearing this. ¡°What?! My master was here?¡±

    He had been busy handling the rays of light that had cut into his flesh, and failed to notice that a glorious river of time had arrived from an unknown part of the starry river.

    ¡°I... I saw the river of time, but my awareness was frozen before I could call out ¡®Senior Wu.¡¯¡± With these words, Dong Li let out a breath of relief, a longing expression appearing on her face. ¡°I suppose he¡¯s the only one who has mastered time power and derived enlightenment from the river of time.

    ¡°The fact that the river of time was here means his soul will must have been here with it, allowing him to see everything that happened here.¡±

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    Wu Yi let out miserable screams as he looked down at himself and saw that the ghoul he had refined from a tenth grade giant ape of the Ancientspirit family had lost arge part of its intense corpse aura. ¡°Who was it? Who took away the corpse power I expended great effort to refine?¡±

    Even he didn¡¯t know what had happened.

    WHOOSH!

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s clusters of shadow and bits of glowing crystal seemed to have their own awareness, as they morphed into streaks of darkness or bright light that quickly flew away from this area.

 Chapter 1375: Follow Orders

    No one knew how deeply shocked Jiang Yuanchi was!

    He had reached the middle God domain, and could merge light and shadow into one. Plus, with the help of the great weapon Gupi, he had thought he was as strong as anyone with his cultivation base. However, he had been so deeply embarrassed just now!

    He knew he had been attacked by Wu Ji, who had recently be famous for hisprehension of time power, and who was also Nie Tian¡¯s master.

    However, he had heard that Wu Ji had disappeared in the Shatter Battlefield, and was of course not anywhere close to the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    This was why he and Gupi had dared run amok in one realm after another.

    He hadn¡¯t expected Wu Ji to suddenly intervene when he was about to kill Nie Tian.

    Besides, wasn¡¯t Wu Ji only at the Saint domain?

    As low as his cultivation base was, he could actually use the power of the river of time, and Time Freeze to even freeze his two divine dharma idols?

    Jiang Yuanchi found it hard to imagine.

    The moment he woke up from the frozen time, he found that both his divine dharma idols had been infiltrated and shattered by time power, so much so that he had returned to when he was at the Saint domain, before his divine dharma idols were condensed.

    Now, he was like himself tens of thousands of years ago.

    This came as a great shock to him. Jiang Yuanchi was deeply scared of a person for the first time in his life.

    He didn¡¯t have this kind of fear even when he had faced Gupi, Ji Cang, and Qu Yi in those days.

    His wisps of soul awareness emerged from different lights and shadows. ¡°Time power and the force of the river of time can reverse time, greatly reduce a person¡¯s cultivation base and make his strength that he has umted for ten thousand years disappear!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s eyelids twitched as he immediately informed Pei Qiqi and Dong Li, as well as Mo Qianfan further away, saying, ¡°His aura is very faint! Attack Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s fleeing lights and shadows! The sectmaster of the Shadow Society may now be the weakest he¡¯s ever been. Even if we can¡¯t kill him, we must severely cripple him!¡±

    ¡°OK!¡±

    Joining hands, they used thunderbolts, spatial des, and peculiar dark light to hunt Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s lights and shadows, which had split into pieces and fled in many different directions.

    Inparison, they paid little attention to Wu Yi.

    Wu Yi, who had fused his soul into a ghoul that had been made from the body of a giant tenth-grade ape, wailed. He was unable to care about Jiang Yuanchi anymore.

    Tens of thousands of ghouls emerged to clear the way in front of him.

    He, who had returned to his normal state, stepped on a meteorite. He looked at Nie Tian with a gloomy face, and there was killing intent in his eyes. ¡°Nie Tian, and that Wu Ji who can use time power. I¡¯m going to kill the master-disciple pair sooner orter!¡±

    Nie Tian canceled Life Blend and looked up.

    With the starry sky above him, he found that the river of time, which Dong Li said had tethered Gupi and taken it away, had long since vanished and left no trace.

    He was at a loss as thoughts entered his mind.

    ¡°Master, how did you know I was in danger? Where are you? And how were you able to rescue me with a branch of the river of time?

    ¡°Have you really imprisoned and taken away Gupi, the Fiend abomination, with your time power?

    ¡°What is your cultivation base now? What is the rtionship between you and the river of time?

    ¡°You...¡±

    He felt more and more puzzled about his master, whom he had gotten to know on Cloudsoaring Mountain. From the moment Wu Ji had stepped into the Shatter Battlefield and begun to derive enlightenment from the mysteries of the river of time, everything had changed.

    Wu Ji had been breaking through with his cultivation base and moving forward in an irrational way, as if he wouldn¡¯t have a bottleneck at all.

    It hadn¡¯t been long, but he was already powerful enough to seriously injure the sectmaster of the Shadow Society with a branch of the river of time in an unknown ce, and take Gupi away without meeting any resistance.

    Wu Ji¡¯s actions could be said to be miraculous and unthinkable.

    Ji Yuanquan and the others continued to try and severely cripple Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadows and lights.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian, who had been badly injured, was in a trance, suspended in the air.

    After quite a long time, Ji Yuanquan and the others returned one by one, looking gloomy. It seemed they had failed to kill Jiang Yuanchi.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed and said, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is slowly recovering his power since that branch of the river of time disappeared. It¡¯s a pity that it failed to kill him once and for all, leaving a hidden danger for us...¡±

    Speaking to this point, he was delighted again. ¡°However, the trouble with Gupi has been solved at longst. Our inference was right. Wu Ji, who is proficient in time power, is indeed our best chance to deal with Gupi!¡±

    One of the biggest problems guing the humans had been easily resolved by a branch of Wu Ji¡¯s river of time.

    Ji Yuanquan was greatly encouraged.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Xuan Guangyu...¡± Pei Qiqi reminded him.

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s face darkened, ¡°We don¡¯t want to question Xuan Guangyu as soon as we return to our sect. The sectmaster isn¡¯t back yet. I¡¯m afraid that if we confront him and expose his dirty deeds now, it will force him to take drastic measures. His forces are very strong in the sect, and the conflict between him and us may even bring chaos to the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked indifferent. ¡°Oh.¡±

    ¡°The fight in the Realm of Maelstrom isn¡¯t over yet. Let¡¯s hurry back!¡± eximed Dong Li.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Mo Qianfan said with a cold smile. ¡°Without Gupi¡¯s threat, our morale will be boosted! Those allied forces of the outsiders who have marched into the depths of the human world shall taste another sound defeat!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan opened a spatial passage. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ...

    In the western starry sky of the Realm of Divine Seal.

    WHOOSH!

    Wu Yi of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, along with his army of ghouls, was driving the peculiar meteorite and hurrying on his journey.

    His eyes were malicious as he cursed under his breath, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, sectmaster of the Shadow Society. How useless he is! And strangely, that Gupi was inexplicably taken away! Damn it! If I had known that, I wouldn¡¯t have wasted my time on them!¡±

    His curses grew louder and louder.

    Then, after a while, he suddenly shut up.

    He looked ahead and asked, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ¡°Martial Uncle...¡± Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect called with a grim expression, and reluctantly emerged from a dead star.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Heavenly Corpses, refined by Feng Beiluo, followed him and showed up one after another.

    The Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan and several figures Wu Yi had met ages ago also emerged; he had assumed that they had been dead for years.

    Wu Yi¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°Feng Beiluo, what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±

    It looked like Feng Beiluo wasn¡¯t here to have a peaceful talk with him, which made Wu Yi, who had been weakened by time power, uneasy. ¡°Are you here to deal with Jiang Yuanchi? I¡¯m telling you, he wasn¡¯t possessed by Gupi the whole time. He still has his own independent consciousness. In addition to that, he has cultivated light power, he¡¯s...¡±

    Feng Beiluo sighed and interrupted him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    Wu Yi stopped rambling, froze for a moment, then asked, ¡°Are you here to kill me?¡±

    Feng Beiluo bowed and saluted him respectfully. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Martial Uncle. I warned you against this, but you didn¡¯t listen. I hope you can understand I¡¯m just following orders. But rest assured, Martial Uncle. After I take your ghoul body, I¡¯ll leave a strand of your soul essence, so that you¡¯ll have a chance to cultivate after reincarnation.¡±

    ¡°Feng Beiluo!¡± Wu Yi yelled furiously. ¡°My lifespan has already reached its limit! Even if I have a strand of soul essence, it¡¯ll be impossible for me to break the shackles and cultivate after reincarnation! You know that!¡±

    Feng Beiluo acted as if he hadn¡¯t heard his Martial Uncle¡¯s heaven-shaking shouts. ¡°Sorry.¡±

    With a wave of his hand, his Heavenly Corpses that he had refined from ninth-grade grand patriarchs lunged at Wu Yi.

    There were numerous ghouls standing in their way, but they were all very small. They were no match for the grand patriarch Heavenly Corpses, and shivered under the pressure of their horrifying auras.

    The Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan chuckled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll scatter Wu Yi¡¯s soul for you.¡±

 Chapter 1376: The Cruelty of Wars

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    After arriving through a spatial rift, Nie Tian looked around with rapt attention, and went nk.

    ¡°The battle is over?¡± Dong Li asked, looking baffled. ¡°But it shouldn¡¯t have.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan and Mo Qianfan also had confusion written all over their faces.

    They hadn¡¯t spent very long at the Realm of Divine Seal. This battle had involved three powerful outsider races and many human forces. Normally speaking, it shouldn¡¯t have ended so quickly.

    However, upon arriving, they saw wrecked starships everywhere.

    Some of them belonged to outsiders, while others belonged to humans.

    Dead humans and bits of their shattered domains were scattered everywhere.

    Enormous dead outsiders could also be seen floating around in the void.

    Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion flew over with a whoosh. ¡°We were wondering about that too. We were in the middle of a fierce battle against the outsiders when they suddenly received some sort of message, and evacuated in a hurry.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, you¡¯re okay, right?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Senior Fan Tianze?¡± Dong Li suddenly asked.

    ¡°He went after Luo Wanxiang after Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons left,¡± Ye Wenhan said with a grim expression. ¡°Now it¡¯s settled. Luo Wanxiang is in collusion with the Phantasms. Not only has he betrayed the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but he¡¯s betrayed humanity. That¡¯s why Big Brother Fan was so eager to capture him and make him answer for his crimes.¡±

    ¡°Even though they¡¯re both at the middle God domain, Fan Tianze is much stronger than Luo Wanxiang,¡± Ji Yuanquan said. ¡°However, if Luo Wanxiang is bent on fleeing and avoiding battle, it¡¯ll be difficult to catch him.¡±

    ¡°What on earth happened to you? Where¡¯s Gupi?¡± Yu Suying asked with increased urgency in her tone.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a deep breath and said, ¡°Gupi isn¡¯t a problem now. However, we found that Jiang Yuanchi from the Shadow Society wasn¡¯t possessed by it. He had his own awareness the whole time. So I suspect that Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society is still taking orders from him. The situation was veryplicated, but thanks to Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji...¡±

    He and Mo Qianfan went on and exined the unexpected turns they had experienced at the Realm of Divine Seal.

    Everyone, including Ye Wenhan, Yu Suying, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling, as well as Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates such as Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang, were shocked after hearing their words.

    A heated discussion instantly burst out among them.

    ¡°What? Wu Yi, that old entric of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, was there too?¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi still has his own will?! And.. he mastered light power with Gupi¡¯s help?!¡±

    ¡°If Jiang Yuanchi practices both light and shadow power, perhaps he¡¯s strong enough to fight Fan Tianze now.¡±

    ¡°But as strong as he is, Nie Tian¡¯s master scattered his dharma idols with a branch of the river of time? Where is Wu Ji? And where did he take Gupi after capturing it?¡±

    Nie Tian, however, stood off to the side, where he released Heaven Eyes to scan this area of the starry river.

    Arge number of Void and Saint domain experts that hade from great distances to join this battle had perished. Even their souls had been eliminated by Phantasms with their soul-ying spells.

    Close to a hundred ancient starships that belonged to various sects and ns had exploded.

    The explosions of flesh aura seas, void and saint domains had filled the area with a vast variety of auras and energies.

    Nie Tian remained motionless as he examined the area with his awareness.

    ¡°Sectmaster Ling,¡± he called out softly.

    Ling Bingyun from the Ice Soul Divine Sect was flying past, dragging an ice coffin that contained the body of an old woman, Kong Shuangjing.

    Grief filled Han Qiong¡¯s face.

    Upon hearing his call, Ling Bingyun stopped and said, ¡°She had her ice domain shattered by a Demon grand patriarch, before a Phantasm grand patriarch annihted her soul. She doesn¡¯t even have a chance to reincarnate now.¡±

    Han Qiong sighed with strong emotions. ¡°Even if she did, she wouldn¡¯t have made it. She was far too old to reincarnate. However, this is war. It¡¯s hard to say when you¡¯re going to be injured or killed.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly. ¡°I...¡±

    Just as he was about to say somethingforting, Ling Bingyun stopped him by saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay. Wars between us and the outsiders have always been like this. My sect has been very supportive of our battles in the Dead Star Sea since ancient times. For us, it¡¯s not a grievance to die fighting outsiders. Instead, it¡¯s an honor. Also, many died in this battle, not just experts from my sect..¡±

    Without saying another word, she flew towards the Realm of Maelstrom with Han Qiong.

    Nie Tian looked around again, and discovered that a few more groups of people had found the bodies of their dead experts and were taking them back to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    There were also arge number of bodies that had been badly mangled by outsiders.

    Their fellow sect members, family, and martial brothers and sisters sighed mournfully as they collected their remains. Some older people did so with numb expressions, as if they had seen far too many deaths.

    After watching Ling Bingyun leave with the ice coffin, Fu Yusen from the Heavenly Illusion Sect turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself, Nie Tian. We all came here voluntarily.

    ¡°This battle might be the beginning of another war between us and the outsiders, and it just happened to take ce in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    ¡°When wars break out, deaths are inevitable. The outsiders also suffered heavy losses.¡±

    With these words, he snorted. ¡°In fact, it¡¯s easier for us to recover from our losses. This battle might have hurt them more deeply than us.

    ¡°Interracial wars are bitter indeed,¡± Dong Li said in a faint voice. ¡°We lost fifteen Saint domain experts, and forty-three Void domain experts. As for the outsiders, they had nine grand patriarchs and over twenty eighth grade members killed in battle.

    ¡°It seems our casualties are heavier than theirs.¡±

    ¡°Well, this is actually a rather favorable result,¡± Zhang Qiling said with an expressionless face. ¡°We¡¯re the side that suffers heavier casualties in most of our battles against the outsiders.¡±

    ¡°However...¡± He continued. ¡°We enjoy arger poption, and it takes us much less time to grow into Void or Saint domain experts than it takes outsiders and Ancientspirits to advance to the eighth or ninth grade! Outsiders and Ancientspirits procreate and grow much slower than we do.

    ¡°Because of this, every time a powerful outsider dies, it¡¯ll take them a longer time to fill the void.

    ¡°Therefore, over the course of time, our battle force in general has surpassed that of the outsiders. Now, they have to join up with the Ancientspirits to defend against our attacks in the Dead Star Sea.¡±

    Dong Li took a moment to mull over his words before nodding slightly. ¡°It¡¯s just... It¡¯s just hard to see so many of us fall in battle, many of whom were even Saint domain experts.¡±

    Nie Tian felt the same way.

    ¡°There¡¯s something familiar about the auras here!¡± He slowly closed his eyes and focused on sensing the mixed auras in the battlefield with his soul awareness and flesh aura.

    The battle had ended not long ago. All sorts of energies and power from shattered domains and scattered flesh aura seas filled this area of the starry river.

    ¡°Previously, when I fought You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, he channeled a stream of chaotic mixed energies from some unknown ce, and shot it out of his cuff.

    ¡°He couldn¡¯t refine those chaotic energies into himself, so he could only cast them out to attack others.

    ¡°I, on the other hand, was able to gather them with Primal Chaos. And as I traveled through the starry river, the energies continued to umte. Eventually, they became so mighty that I was able to shatter the Realm of Jade Billows, and force Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect to retreat with them.

    ¡°Those mixed energies are actually quite simr to what I¡¯m sensing here right now.¡±

    With these thoughts, he continued to sense his surroundings with rapt attention.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me those chaotic energies You Qimiao used to attack me came from a battlefield simr to this one? Was it a ce that had just witnessed a battle, or a ce where battles took ce ages ago?

    ¡°But I didn¡¯t sense such chaotic energies in the Shatter Battlefield. Was it because the battles happened far too long ago, so the energies had dissipated?¡±

    Gradually, Nie Tian followed his heart and summoned a small amount of each type of his power to form a Primal Chaos.

    A twisting and ripping maic field rapidly formed around him.

    Since he had suffered heavy blows from his very consuming battle against Jiang Yuanchi, this Primal Chaos was much smaller than it usually was.

    However, no matter how small, its core profound meaning, which he had derived from that magicalnd, remained the same.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of power from shattered void and saint domains, along with flesh power from eighth and ninth grade outsiders that had died fighting in the starry river, suddenly converged on him from every direction.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°They¡¯re gathering towards me on their own.¡±

    After going nk for a brief moment, he drove all other thoughts out of his mind and focused on feeling the changes.

 Chapter 1377: Gather

    ¡°Didn¡¯t Nie Tian need arge number of outsider corpses? Collect the corpses of the outsiders who were killed, andter we¡¯ll take them to the Realm of Maelstrom, so that he can use them to improve his bloodline,¡± Ye Wenhan of the Heaven Span Pavilion made a decision by himself.

    The Saint domain experts of the other sects didn¡¯t disagree.

    Even if they had suffered great losses and gained nothing, they didn¡¯t open their mouths to im the outsiders¡¯ corpses, because Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji, had taken Gupi, which used to be their biggest problem, away from the Realm of Divine Seal with a branch of the river of time.

    Gupi had always been their greatest threat. It was because of their fear of Gupi that people hade from afar to fawn on Nie Tian.

    The battle prowess Nie Tian had shown in his battle in the Domain of Heaven Python had also made them believe in him, as they were now convinced that he, as a Son of the Stars, was iparably strong, as the rumors had said.

    Any outsiders that weren¡¯t grand monarchs could barely fight him.

    In addition, Dong Li and Pei Qiqi, the two women who were clearly close to Nie Tian, had also turned out to be surprisingly powerful, especially Dong Li.

    All of a sudden, the experts from the other domains realized that even if Nie Tian, who was the lord of the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of the Falling Stars, didn¡¯t rely on the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, his personal force alone was also miraculously strong.

    Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Yin Xingtian of the Streamcloud Sword Sect were all his followers.

    People started thinking, ¡°If he were considered as an independent force, he¡¯d be a force equal to the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, only inferior to the four great sects.¡±

    ¡°He is a Godmaker, as he can create God domain experts. If things go on like this, more and more powerful Saint domain experts wille from afar to form alliances with him.¡±

    ¡°In any case, there¡¯s no harm in making friends with someone like him.¡±

    The visitors from other realms who had different thoughts suppressed the grief caused by theirpanions¡¯ deaths. Some went to cozy up to Dong Li, while others went to have quiet talks with Hua Mu, Jing Feiyang, and others who Nie Tian trusted.

    After a short while.

    The corpses of some nsmen of the Fiends, the Phantasms, and the Demons were gathered in storage rings, which were put into Dong Li¡¯s hands.

    All she asked for was corpses. She didn¡¯t take any of the tools or materials in the outsiders¡¯ storage rings; she knew that Nie Tian didn¡¯t need them.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce shrewdly sensed a sudden stir in the mixed auras in the starry river.

    She warned, ¡°Attention, all of you.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan, Mo Qianfan, and Ye Wenhan, who were all at the God domain, were the first to perceive it immediately after hearing her words.

    Their eyes suddenly focused on Nie Tian, who was emitting brilliant light. ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    Ye Wenhan thought for a few seconds, then asked the visitors from other realms to leave. ¡°Why don¡¯t you return to the Realm of Maelstrom first? It seems Nie Tian has derived some new enlightenment. We¡¯ll stay here to guard him for a while. You don¡¯t have to stay.¡±

    Zhang Qiling took the lead to air his opinion. ¡°Alright.¡±

    After that, the other people, who hadn¡¯t sworn allegiance to Nie Tian and only came to help with the battle, left one after another.

    Soon, only those who were truly close to Nie Tian remained in the starry river outside the Realm of Maelstrom.

    WHOOSH!

    Drawn by Nie Tian¡¯s Primal Chaos, wisps of energies, which were supposed to dissipate in the void, gathered quietly around him.

    Nie Tian closed his eyes, frowning from time to time and saying inwardly, ¡°In the Primal Chaos, the energies of various attributes are mixed. Once the twisted maic field is formed, it¡¯ll spontaneously affect its surroundings. Outsiders¡¯ flesh aura seas contain different bloodline powers, and the domains of the Void and Saint domain experts are also different from one another.

    ¡°But all of these energies that should have scattered in the starry river are actually attracted to me?

    ¡°Also, the starry river is filled with various kinds of energies. Did they alsoe from the deaths of powerful creatures?

    ¡°The scattered energies can be attracted to realms and transformed by them before forming all kinds of realms. Those that are rich in spirit Qi will be suitable for humans. Those that contain torrential Demon Qi will be suitable for Demons. And those...¡±

    It seemed that he had actually discovered something from his unsorted thoughts.

    BOOM!

    His unique domain was suddenly released.

    Stars could be seen shining in the outeryer, which looked like a starry river, while the middleyer was filled with raging fire. In the inneryer, there was and full of life force.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of wood, star and me power were channeled by the Primal Chaos. After being refined by the twisted maic field, they merged into the Nie Tian¡¯s domain, which was at the very core.

    The God and Saint domain experts, who were watching Nie Tian closely, caught the subtle changes in the energy flow, and had a strange feeling.

    ¡°It seems Nie Tian¡¯s domain is being filled with pure power.¡±

    ¡°The Void domain is divided into early, middle andte stages. He¡¯s at the early stage, but now I feel he¡¯s advancing towards the middle Void domain.¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this kind of breakthrough seem a bit too casual? Shouldn¡¯t a Void domain expert suddenly find fortune at some point, and break through after meditating around the clock and umting strength for many years?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a little odd.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, who carried a space bloodline, listened as they spoke, her eyes glittering.

    She sensed that Nie Tian¡¯s exhausted life aura was being rapidly restored.

    Nie Tian¡¯s body, which had been badly mutted by Jiang Yuanchi, was gathering flesh power and recovering speedily.

    While others only saw changes in Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base, she could see other things as well.

    As Nie Tian gathered more and more mixed energies, the same weirdly powerful maic field that had surrounded him when he had flown away from the Realm of Maelstrom gradually took shape.

    At this time, Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan realized what was happening.

    Yu Suying froze for a while, and then asked Mo Qianfan in an uncertain tone, ¡°Isn¡¯t that the same maic field Nie Tian formed with the chaotic energies released by You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect? What do you think?¡±

    ¡°It does seem to be simr,¡± Mo Qianfan said.

    Yu Suying had an odd look on her face.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    After a long time, strange streaks of light suddenly appeared in the maic field around Nie Tian.

    Each streak of light was like a shing spatial rift, which vanished immediately after it split open. They kept flickering and were simr to the spatial rifts in the watery curtain over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    ¡°Strange.¡± Ji Yuanquan was very intrigued, and asked, ¡°Do you notice that spatial rifts seem to be appearing in the maic field around Nie Tian? It can¡¯t be because he¡¯s stayed in the Realm of Maelstrom for long that the spatial rifts on the edge of the realm formed a connection with his domain, can it?¡±

    He looked at Pei Qiqi.

    In terms of cultivation base, he had surpassed Pei Qiqi, but because Pei Qiqi owned a priceless space treasure, carried a unique bloodline, and had been carefully educated by Qu Yi, he thought she should have a unique viewpoint on this.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal floated in front of her ample chest. Every time it rotated, it seemed to reflect a new world.

    ...

    In the most mysterious Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    On a dead star, a disciple of the Pure Heaven Sect was watching the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Since the nsmen of the Stone Golems had flown out from the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, and outsiders had shown up nearby, the sects in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had been paying close attention to the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    They were afraid that something else would walk out of it.

    The man sitting on the dead star was at the Void domain. He had been stationed here to pay special attention to any changes in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    He had been observing it for years, but hadn¡¯t seen anything strange. He thought there might be no more heaven-shaking, earth-shattering changes in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    He gave the sea another casual nce, ready to look away.

    But suddenly he froze, and quickly stood up.

    After a few seconds, he crushed a jade talisman that was used to send messages without hesitation.

 Chapter 1378: A New Unforeseen Event!

    In the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    There were very slight ripples on the calm peaceful sea, but suddenly, the sparkling blue sea seemed to turn into a mirror.

    The bright blue mirror strangely reflected Nie Tian.

    At the edge of the sea, waves gradually rose. Water started swirling around the bright blue mirror in the center, as if the sea were pulling at something.

    Qi Refining warriors who were standing guard at other dead seas near the blue sea also saw the anomaly, and eximed, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong!¡±

    Some of those warriors belonged to the Beast-controlling Sect, and some were from the Divine me Sect.

    They all knew that all of the Saint domain experts and many of the Void domain experts in their sects had been summoned by Jing Feiyang, and had gone to the Realm of Maelstrom.

    They also knew about the bloody battle that might go down in history between the humans and the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends.

    That bloody battle specially targeted Nie Tian, so it had started in the Domain of Heaven Python.

    But why did an image of Nie Tian, the focus of the battle, quietly emerge in the Seven-star Blue Sea?

    ¡°Report to the sect!¡±

    Astonished, the Qi warriors from the five major sects and three major ns all sent messages to their headquarters after seeing the unusual image in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    In the starry sky above the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Beams of strange light fizzed and shed in the twisted maic field around Nie Tian from time to time as he wholeheartedly absorbed human experts¡¯ broken domains and grand patriarch outsiders¡¯ scattered flesh aura seas.

    Each beam of strange light was like a spatial rift that quickly healed after explosively splitting open.

    Ji Yuanquan and Pei Qiqi, who were experts in spatial power, also found that something was wrong.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The strange light started to swallow a small amount of the mixed energies Nie Tian was gathering from his surroundings as they healed.

    After a while, the strange beams of light couldst longer and longer.

    BOOM!

    Unusual spatial fluctuations abruptly formed.

    Nie Tian and his Primal Chaos, as well as the twisted maic field surrounding him, seemed to be suddenly absorbed into the many beams of strange light.

    In the blink of an eye, Nie Tian actually disappeared into thin air.

    As everyone screamed, the strange light healed and vanished at an extremely fast speed.

    The starry sky returned to its original state.

    The experts who had chosen to stay here, talking and watching Nie Tian break through instead of returning to the Realm of Maelstrom, were all deeply shocked and puzzled.

    ¡°Wait, what happened to Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Why did he suddenly disappear when he was meditating and trying to break through into the middle Void domain?¡±

    ¡°Where did he go?¡±

    They didn¡¯t know what had happened, so they subconsciously stared at Pei Qiqi and Ji Yuanquan, who were the only people present who were experts in spatial power.

    Before Pei Qiqi and Ji Yuanquan could reply and exin, Jing Feiyang shook. ¡°What?!¡±

    He quickly turned to the others and said, ¡°Something has happened in the Seven-star Blue Sea! Qi warriors of the five major sects and three major ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries who have been keeping an eye on the Seven-star Blue Sea saw Nie Tian¡¯s image clearly disyed in the sea near the dead star.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan immediately confirmed something. ¡°So he¡¯s connected to the Seven-star Blue Sea!¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°It feels like he¡¯s being pulled and moved by something, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The Seven-star Blue Sea... is a wonderful Realm Sea.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan nodded. ¡°Yes, it must be a Realm Sea.¡±

    Pei Qiqi turned the Space Boundaries Crystal. ¡°I¡¯ll take you there.¡±

    All sides of the Space Boundaries Crystal radiated strange light and reflected different images, as if they were searching for the exact location of the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    Soon, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Found it.¡±

    One side of the Space Boundaries Crystal clearly reflected the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Pei Qiqi used the power of the priceless spatial treasure to open a spatial rift, and took the lead to step into it. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    ¡°This girl is powerful,¡± Yu Suying said in surprise.

    Only experts like Ji Yuanquan and Xuan Guangyu in the Void Spirit Society who were at the God domain couldplete a space shift across domains.

    Saint domain experts could only shuttle between different realms in the same domain.

    Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t even reached the Saint domain, but she was actually able to make use of the magic of the Space Boundaries Crystal to open a spatial rift in the Realm of Maelstrom of the Domain of Heaven Python and send people to the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    This was totally irrational.

    ¡°It¡¯s not surprising. Pei is a gifted genius that our Void Spirit Society has never seen before, and she owns a priceless space treasure,¡± Ji Yuanquan, who was very proud, lightly exined. Then he urged the others to enter the spatial rift and the Seven-star Blue Sea as fast as possible.

    ...

    Almost at the same time.

    In the depths of the boundless Dead Star Sea connecting the human world and the outsiders.

    The dead stars were like tiny pieces ofnd, and pieces of floating meteorites filled the Dead Star Sea.

    BOOM!

    Huge dragons moved through the Dead Star Sea, like giant ancient starships of the humans.

    As their scaly bodies flew past the meteorites, their tails swung and crushed them into pieces.

    There were dozens of them. The ones that looked like fire meteors were from the Fire Dragon n. Some which were like a sh of lightning were Thunderdragons.

    There were also ck dragons which were pitch ck, as if they were formed from ck gol

    On the other side of the Dead Star Sea.

    Titans flew through the sky with amazing momentum. The meteorites closest to them were pushed away from them, as if they were being pushed by waves.

    The titans were like gods wearing all kinds of gold and silver armor. Some held huge axes, while others swung stone hammers.

    ¡°Trouble,¡± a Titan that was ten thousand meters tall said as his stone hammer swung forward.

    The huge meteorites in his way were smashed and broken by the overwhelming force of the hammer, and the broken stones were scattered like lime.

    To the north of the Titans, there were giant bestial growls that shook the world.

    Along with the roars came the sound of dead stars being sted and reduced to rubble.

    The Dead Star Sea was not suitable for ancient starships because it was full of sted fragments of dead stars, which made it difficult for the humans to invade the outsiders¡¯ world.

    Likewise, the ancient starships of the Fiends, Phantasms and Demons had difficulty in crossing it.

    But with the brisk march of the Titans, Ancientbeasts, and Dragons, many star roads seemed to be opened in the Dead Star Sea one after another to enable the outsiders¡¯ ancient starships to cross it.

    Ancientspirits were born to be enormous.

    The spatial passages and spatial rifts they needed to help them enter the human world had unique features. Not only did they have to be big enough, but they had to be able to bear their terrifying auras.

    Most of the spatial passages they had left in the human world long ago had been destroyed.

    Hence, it was extremely difficult for them to go to the human world. Besides, if they were careless and were consequently besieged by the human experts, they would unlikely be able to even escape and go back to their world.

    In the current era, the humans were very strong, and kept invading through the Dead Star Sea, intending to attack their world.

    The Dead Star Sea used to be a natural barrier. Moreover, the experts of the outsiders and Ancientspirits had built a dead star into a fortress, which they guarded year-round.

    But all of a sudden, Ancientspirits were crossing the Dead Star Sea on arge scale, opening star roads and abandoning their fortress.

    Judging from their movements, the Ancientspirits, Titans, Dragons, and Ancientbeasts had already shared a tacit understanding, and they didn¡¯t sneak in through their two remaining spatial passages.

    It was clear that the Ancientspirit experts had gathered to invade!

    As the Ancientspirits started their long journey, they passed a long star road as they were about to cross the Dead Star Sea, and the human experts guarding it finally discovered them in fear. ¡°Titans! Ancientbeasts! Dragons!¡±

 Chapter 1379: One of the Realm Seas

    In the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    Human starships that were deployed here burst into mes and exploded one after another.

    A mighty Bonebrute that was asrge as a lofty mountain peak flew into the midst of the human starships.

    It was Grand Monarch Pale Bones.

    As he swung his huge arms, misty gray death power was stimted by his bloodline talent and rapidly enveloped the entire area.

    On the starships, those with low cultivation bases felt as if their seas of awareness were engulfed in a sea of death.

    Their glittering eyes instantly grew dim and lifeless. Tainted with death power, their skin became pale-gray and shriveled, like the skin of corpses that had been left in the sun for ages.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Arge number of Bonebrutes swarmed over under Pergson¡¯smand, and started killing Void and Saint domain humans.

    Gutas of the Demons suddenly stepped out of a portal. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again, Pergson.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Illusory Demon of the Demons, along with arge number of ninth grade Demon grand patriarchs, streamed through the portal.

    Upon arriving, the invading outsiders snorted and muttered derisively, ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven...¡±

    A fierce battle instantly broke out.

    In a ce not far from them, Han Wanrong from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce suddenly let out an agonized scream.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    With his huge pale-white bone arm, Grand Monarch Pale Bones casually stirred her water domain, giving rise to loud sshes.

    Soon, death power shot out of Grand Monarch Pale Bones¡¯ fingertips, and sliced Han Wanrong¡¯s water domain like sharp des.

    Grand Monarch Pale Bones then pointed his huge palm at Han Wanrong in her mangled domain. ¡°Go to hell!¡±

    A cluster of strange devilish mes suddenly appeared, and flew into Han Wanrong¡¯s water domain, right before it disappeared into her sea of awareness.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Gruesome white mes could be seen burning in Han Wanrong¡¯s eyes, as if her sea of awareness was burning.

    It wasn¡¯t long before her soul was burned away.

    Just like that, thete Saint domain Han Wanrong, who was one of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s twelve elders, perished.

    ¡°Spread out and take the Realm of Remote Heaven.¡±

    In other locations, Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends led their nsmen to attack the parts where the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion had set up defenses.

    No one had expected that the outsiders would quietly appear here after retreating from the Realm of Maelstrom.

    The Realm of Remote Heaven was easily overwhelmed and fell.

    ...

    In the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡± Fan Wen eximed, looking anxious. ¡°There seems to be something wrong with our teleportation portal in the Realm of Remote Heaven, as it¡¯s no longer essible. We don¡¯t know what happened there. Also, I just contacted the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect. And they¡¯re all experiencing the same thing.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu, who was spinning the Magic Gold Mirror, went nk for a brief moment before asking, ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven?¡±

    ¡°Yes! The Realm of Remote Heaven!¡± Fan Wen answered.

    After pondering for a while, Xuan Guangyu said, ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven is rather special. Given my cultivation base, it¡¯s going to be hard for me to break the spatial barrier and get there directly. I can only teleport to a nearby location, and then travel to the Realm of Remote Heaven from there to see what¡¯s happening.¡±

    Fan Wen bowed and said, ¡°Please do that and find out what¡¯s going on as soon as possible, Vice Sectmaster. The other sects are waiting for information from us.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± Xuan Guangyu rose to his feet and started casting a spell.

    ...

    At the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Figures were floating high above the sea and looking down with grim expressions.

    Those that the five major sects and three major ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had stationed here looked nervously at them, so much so that they didn¡¯t even dare to breathe loudly. In very low voices, they exined the strange things that had appeared in the sea to them.

    Nie Tian was floating in the blue sea, still surrounded by his Primal Chaos.

    The twisting and ripping energies were still slowly spinning around him as he floated motionlessly at the sea floor.

    No one knew why Nie Tian had been attracted by a mysterious force and suddenly appeared in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    What was more surprising was that he was umting power at an incredible speed.

    ¡°He seems to have stabilized his middle Void domain cultivation base,¡± Yu Suying whispered.

    Frowning, Ye Wenhan turned to look at Ji Yuanquan and Pei Qiqi. ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on? Why did a mysterious connection suddenly form between Nie Tian and this sea, and why was he suddenly dragged here?

    ¡°Also, I heard that those Stone Golems that showed up in the Shatter Battlefield first appeared here.

    ¡°Are there secret tunnels at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea that connect to some special realms?

    ¡°If there are, where do they connect to?¡±

    Not just Ye Wenhan, but all of the other Saint domain experts that hade here from the Realm of Maelstrom showed strong interest in these questions.

    Patriarch Pure Heaven and many other powerful experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had also rushed to the Seven-star Blue Sea upon receiving word of what had happened. Staring down at the sea, they also didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°This is a Realm Sea,¡± Zhao Shanling suddenly said.

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Realm Sea?¡±

    ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea down there has absorbed arge number of outsider grand patriarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas and human experts¡¯ broken domains,¡± Zhao Shanling exined. ¡°I came to derive enlightenment from this mysterious sea before, but failed due to my low cultivation base.¡±

    With these words, he turned to Ji Yuanquan and Pei Qiqi. ¡°Your sect should understand the wonders of Realm Seas better than anyone.¡±

    He had learned everything he knew about Realm Seas from the Voidspirit Pagoda, whose original owner was Qu Feng, Qu Yi¡¯s son.

    Since both Pei Qiqi and Ji Yuanquan were from the Void Spirit Society, they should know more about the Realm Seas¡¯ unique features, and why they existed in the first ce.

    ¡°Are you sure that this is a Realm Sea?¡± Ye Wenhan wanted to make sure.

    Apparently, this senior member of the Heaven Span Pavilion had heard about Realm Seas.

    However, since he wasn¡¯t well-versed in spatial power, he couldn¡¯t tell that the Seven-star Blue Sea below was one of them.

    Only after hesitating for a long while did Ji Yuanquan give an affirmative answer. ¡°ording to our sect¡¯s records, the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is indeed one of the Realm Seas. In our history, several of our sectmasters and powerful God domain experts have entered this Realm Sea in an attempt to find the truth about it.¡±

    With these words, he sighed. ¡°However, none of them were able to uncover its secrets.¡±

    Those who had lived their whole lives in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and hade to explore the Seven-star Blue Sea many times, including Patriarch Pure Heaven, were dumbstruck.

    ¡°Realm Sea?¡±

    This seemed to be the first time they had ever heard that the Seven-star Blue Sea was something called a Realm Sea, and that it wasn¡¯t the only one.

    Seeing the baffled expressions on everyone¡¯s faces, Ye Wenhan took the initiative to exin, ¡°It¡¯s hard to say how Realm Seas havee to form, and what wonders they hold. We just need to know one thing.¡±

    Curious, Xie Qian asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°A Realm Sea is usually a bridge that connects two realms,¡± Ye Wenhan said.

    ¡°Connects two realms?¡±

    ¡°Or you can say two heaven and earths.¡± Ye Wenhan tried to exin with the simplest words possible. ¡°Like our realms, outsiders¡¯ realms, and Ancientspirits¡¯ realms, they can all be connected through Realm Seas.¡±

    After hearing these words, all those who hadn¡¯t heard about Realm Seas felt suddenly enlightened.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what about the Dead Star Sea?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Dead Star Sea is a Realm Sea as well. It¡¯s a bridge that connects our world and the outsider world. If we don¡¯t use teleportation portals or spatial tunnels, we¡¯ll have to cross the Dead Star Sea in order to reach the outsider world, which is actually where the human race was first born.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that this is the part of the starry river where we derived the methods through which we could practice cultivation with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Gradually, we grew stronger here, and gained the ability to stand up to the outsiders.

    ¡°As time passed, we even forgot that the ¡®outsider world¡¯ was in fact our ancestralnd.¡±

    Taken aback, Dong Li said, ¡°I can understand if you call the Dead Star Sea a Realm Sea because it connects the human world and the outsider world. Also, it¡¯s iparably vast and filled with countless dead realms and broken meteors, which makes it hard for even ancient starships to sail through it. But what qualifies the Seven-star Blue Sea as a Realm Sea?¡±

    The azure sea surrounded by seven dead stars didn¡¯t even take up arge area of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    However, the Dead Star Sea was at least ten times vaster than the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. The Seven-star Blue Sea was to the Dead Star Sea like a rock was to a mountain peak.

    Did such a sea deserve to be called a Realm Sea? Did it really connect to another heaven and earth?

    Dong Li found this hard to believe.

    Assuming a serious face, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°Realm Seas are full of mysteries. Even our sectmasters of different generations didn¡¯t dare to say that they had uncovered their mysteries. Also, don¡¯t underestimate the Seven-star Blue Sea. Since it¡¯s defined as a Realm Sea, it means it can connect to another heaven and earth.¡±

    ¡°Those Stone Golems came from the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea,¡± Patriarch Pure Heaven said.

    ¡°See?¡± Ji Yuanquan said, raising his voice slightly, ¡°The Stone Golems were gone for hundreds of thousands of years. We all thought they had died out. Who would have thought that some of them would walk out of the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea? You should know that it was a great era-changing war that killed the majority of the Stone Golems.

    ¡°Right before that war, they sent a handful of their nsmen to explore a newly found area. They might have entered the Seven-star Blue Sea from there.

    ¡°Back then, we weren¡¯t the masters of this part of the starry river yet. Instead, it was the outsiders and Ancientspirits that ruled here.¡±

    Many powerful experts couldn¡¯t help but marvel as they heard Pei Qiqi, Ji Yuanquan, and Ye Wenhan exin the wonders of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Ye Wenhan took a deep breath and said, ¡°Through a Realm Sea, one might be able to find a brand new heaven and earth. As you must have heard, all of ourte God domain experts are away on trips. Manyte tenth grade outsider grand monarchs seem to have disappeared recently as well. Do you know where they went?¡±

    ¡°Where?¡± Mo Qianfan asked.

    ¡°They went to another Realm Sea.¡±

 Chapter 1380: Turmoil

    ¡°They went to another Realm Sea.¡± Ye Wenhan fell silent after saying these words.

    No matter how Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, or the others asked, he didn¡¯t say another word about it.

    Where was that other Realm Sea?

    What about it had attractedte God domain experts andte tenth grade grand monarchs to leave their own realms?

    These were the questions in everyone¡¯s heads.

    Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan seemed to know the answers, yet they refused to share them.

    After that, Pei Qiqi, Ji Yuanquan, and Ye Wenhan only exined more about the wonders of Realm Seas.

    After a while, an idea struck Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect. ¡°If Nie Tian can improve his cultivation base in the Seven-star Blue Sea, what about others?

    ¡°Is it possible that people can absorb power from the Seven-star Blue Sea at this point? If that¡¯s the case...¡±

    With these words, he turned to fix Dong Li with an inquiring gaze.

    ording to seniority, Dong Li should call him Patriarch. Besides, the Dong n had a close rtionship with the Beast-controlling Sect.

    After the Demons had invaded the Realm of a Hundred Battles and almost wiped out the Dong n, many of the surviving members of the Dong n had been taken to the Beast-controlling Sect, where they practiced cultivation.

    Her older brother Dong Baijie was one of them.

    ¡°What are you saying?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°Do we arrange for our disciples toe try their luck in the Seven-star Blue Sea?¡± Dong Qisong asked with a suggestive tone. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯ll help them improve their cultivation base, like what¡¯s happening to Nie Tian.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, many from the five major sects and three major ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were intrigued, their eyes lighting up.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a derisiveugh and said, ¡°Not everyone is the freak Nie Tian is. As I said, even sectmasters of our sect didn¡¯t dare to say that they had uncovered all of the Realm Seas¡¯ secrets. As unimpressive as the Seven-star Blue Sea may seem, it¡¯s actually full of danger.¡±

    With these words, he intended to warn people against doing such a risky thing.

    Ye Wenhan jumped in and said, ¡°It won¡¯t hurt to try. I don¡¯t think we should tell people what to do. Life and death are ruled by fate. Sometimes, people need to take chances in order to achieve certain things...¡±

    FZZZ!

    A wisp of bright light suddenly flew out from a corner of his eye.

    It was a sparkling and crystal-clear sword that was as thin as cicadas¡¯ wings.

    Under his control, the tiny sword flew past the area where Nie Tian was immersed and plunged into the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Ji Yuanquan and everyone else observed with rapt attention.

    They saw the sparkling sword shing about like a very quick fish after diving into the blue sea.

    However, it didn¡¯t swim for long before it suddenly vanished.

    Expression flickering, Ye Wenhan, who was at the early God domain, said, ¡°I spent a lot of time and effort refining that flying sword. It carries a wisp of my soul will, and is connected to me telepathically. But now, I¡¯ve lost it. Even with my soul, I can¡¯t sense its existence. Realm Seas are unfathomably mysterious indeed. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll try to explore it anymore.¡±

    After hearing this, everyone exchanged nces, not sure what to do.

    Ye Wenhan spread his arms. ¡°But the fact that I failed doesn¡¯t mean that others will too. Even though I can¡¯t give advice on what to do or how, perhaps those with lower cultivation bases will be able to derive some enlightenment and make advances in their cultivation like Nie Tian has after entering the Seven-star Blue Sea.¡±

    ¡°Do I arrange for our disciples toe and try their luck?¡± Dong Qisong asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s up to you,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°Just don¡¯t me others if they die trying.¡±

    ¡°Of course. And we shall be very careful.¡± Dong Qisong gave a wry smile and turned to look at the powerful experts from the other local ns and sects.

    They had already grown restless. Upon receiving Dong Li¡¯s permission, they startedmunicating and making arrangements.

    ...

    In the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Pure star power poured out of the Nine Star Heavens like a glorious waterfall before falling onto a majestic stone pavilion where Dou Tianchen practiced cultivation.

    Numerous stars flew out of the Heavenly Ster Stream to receive the star power, and then fused back into Dou Tianchen¡¯s saint domain.

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, his star domain manifested countless changes.

    After changing for a while, it shrank and morphed into an early-stage dharma idol.

    ¡°Dharma Idol!¡±

    Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, and the other elders were thrilled as they looked at the dharma idol, which wasn¡¯t veryrge yet.

    Sikong Cuo, who was also a Son of the Stars, observed from a high balcony of his pavilion. With a vicious look on his face, he spat, ¡°That¡¯s my Heavenly Ster Stream! I expended great effort to refine and strengthen it. I can¡¯t believe it somehow left me and chose Dou Tianchen as its new master! This is uneptable!¡±

    A Saint domain subordinate of his said in a low voice, ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t do that for no reason. Dou Tianchen¡¯s Nine Stars Flower seemed to receive something from Nie Tian¡¯s Heavenly Stars Flower.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Sikong Cuo said through his gritting teeth.

    ¡°Elder! The Realm of Remote Heaven has fallen, and Elder Han was killed! Even her soul didn¡¯t survive!¡± Heartrending and furious cries suddenly filled the air in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s headquarters.

    All of the elders, Sons of the Stars, and numerous disciples that were in Fragmentary Star City got the news.

    ¡°Not just powerful experts from our sect, but those from the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion were also killed,¡± the man said, wailing. ¡°Almost all of those in the Realm of Remote Heaven died. And the realm that we four great sects have operated for thousands of years fell into the outsiders¡¯ hands in a matter of hours.

    ¡°The invaders were a joint army of Phantasms, Fiends, Demons, and Bonebrutes. Multiple grand monarchs showed up in the Realm of Remote Heaven.

    ¡°It seems that another great war that involves all sides is going to break out in the Dead Star Sea.¡±

    Almost at the same time, the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and the Heaven Span Pavilion received word of the fall of the Realm of Remote Heaven, and learned that all of their elders that had been stationed there had been killed.

    The news spread through the human domains with lightning speed.

    Soon, Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, and the others that were gathered at the Seven-star Blue Sea also learned about the outsiders¡¯ massive invasion.

    All of those from the Five Elements Sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Void Spirit Society, including every Divine Son and Daughter, Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, and even Pei Qiqi, were required to return to their headquarters.

    ...

    In the Realm of Looming Shadow, the base of the Shadow Society.

    A sun hung high in the sky. However, a huge pce stood in a shadowy location that was surrounded by lofty mountain peaks. It was the Shadow Pce.

    Standing in the middle of a grand hall, Shangguan Zhi had a worried face.

    The walls of the spacious hall were carved with thousands of insidious creatures.

    They were connected to the Shadow Society¡¯s secret agencies in different realms that gathered and transferred information to this Shadow Pce.

    ¡°Gupi was taken away, and the sectmaster...¡±

    Shangguan Zhi sighed in frustration, unsure what to do and how to define the Shadow Society¡¯s role and status in the human world.

    He had spent day and night worrying that powerful experts from the four great sects would march on the Shadow Society to hold him ountable for what had happened.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The numerous insidious creatures in the walls seemed to sense something, and suddenly grew excited.

    In the next moment, a wisp of shadow appeared in a corner of the hall and rapidly expanded.

    Shangguan Zhi, who was feminine and snaky, shuddered upon seeing the shadow. Then, he approached it naturally and eximed, ¡°Sectmaster! I knew that you¡¯d be fine!¡±

    Slowly walking out of the shadow, Jiang Yuanchi smiled faintly and asked, ¡°Oh? You didn¡¯t wish that I died?¡±

    Shangguan Zhi bowed his head. ¡°How do I dare? The Shadow Society will always be yours! Not once did I think about undermining your authority in the sect while you were gone. I knew that you¡¯de back one day. It seems that I was right.¡± With these words, he chuckled softly.

    Jiang Yuanchi stared at him for a while before nodding and saying, ¡°It¡¯s good that you don¡¯t have an exaggerated opinion of yourself. I knew that things wouldn¡¯t go wrong in the Shadow Society while you were in control.¡±

    ¡°Certainly,¡± Shangguan Zhi said hastily.

    ¡°Tell Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect and You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect that I want to see them,¡± Jiang Yuanchi ordered. ¡°Tell them to drop whatever¡¯s on their hands ande here right away.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it!¡±

    ...

    Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base soared as he was immersed in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    It didn¡¯t take very long before he felt that he had smoothly entered the middle Void domain without meeting any obstacles.

    He closed his eyes and sensed the changes in the maic field around him. Without him doing anything, he continuously absorbed the residual power that hade from outsider grand patriarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas.

    Countless wisps of grand patriarch flesh aura essence fused into him after being purged by the twisting ripping maic field.

    Under the magical effect of his life bloodline and Heavenly Wood Heal, his crystallized bones that had been fractured and his resilient meridians that had been severed during his battle against Jiang Yuanchi rapidly healed and strengthened.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As he took in pure flesh power, he breathed out impurities.

    Beforeing to the Seven-star Blue Sea, the speed at which he had absorbed flesh power had been fairly slow. However, after somehow arriving in the depths of the wondrous sea, the speed at which he obtained flesh power had soared through the ceiling.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling said that Realm Seas usually contain outsiders¡¯ shattered flesh aura seas and humans¡¯ broken domains. That means Realm Seas are filled with a vast variety of violent energies! I bet those mixed energies You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect cast at me came from a Realm Sea!

    ¡°It might not be the Seven-star Blue Sea, but some other Realm Sea You Qimiao discovered...¡±

    me, star, and wood power condensed into tiny bits of crystalline essence that flew towards him from every corner of the Realm Sea, giving rise to whooshes. After being purged, they fused into his unique domain, where the Heavenly Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the seventy-two tree branches manifested and feasted on the different powers.

    ¡°This is weird.¡±

    He felt as if he was in a trance as he saw wisps of light smoke descending in his sea of awareness.

    He tried to touch them with his true soul, and discovered that they carried power that could help nourish and refine his soul.

    ¡°There¡¯s soul power in this Realm Sea as well?¡±

    bbergasted and confused, he attempted tomunicate with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    After a wisp of his soul awareness entered the Spirit Pearl, the first thing he discovered was that the five evil gods seemed to be unusually excited, as they were making strange sharp sounds.

 Chapter 1381: A Branch of the Nether River

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    He examined himself with rapt attention, and discovered that it was the Spirit Pearl, or to be exact, the five evil gods, that were channeling wisps of soul-nourishing power from the Seven-star Blue Sea into his sea of awareness.

    At this moment, the five evil gods were letting out low cheerful growls in their respective regions inside the Spirit Pearl, as if to establish some profound spell formation.

    The establishment of the spell formation seemed to have stimted the Spirit Pearl, allowing it to gather wisps of soul-strengthening power from his surroundings.

    Soon, he sensed another, deeper emotion from the five evil gods.

    It was like they were missing something...

    ¡°What are they missing?¡±

    Nie Tian was baffled, wondering what in the Seven-star Blue Sea the five evil gods could possibly miss.

    Was it the Nether Realm that they missed?

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul took it upon itself to exin, ¡°Master, their stone statues appeared in the Nether Realm along with the Nether River. They weren¡¯t there from the beginning. We don¡¯t know why the Nether River flowed into the Nether Realm, and why their statues appeared with it.¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had been a Phantasm grand patriarch, who had visited the ce where the stone statues of the five evil gods stood to derive soul incantations from them before.

    ¡°If they¡¯re not from the Nether Realm originally, what are they missing?¡± Nie Tian frowned and suddenly remembered the Stone Golems that hade out of the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯re missing a heaven and earth that the sea connects to? Is there a spatial tunnel at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea that connects to their ancestralnd?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect, who practiced body-refining incantations, slowly flew over with a valiant bearing.

    The shrunken ninth grade Frost Blood Python coiled around her curvy waist like a sparkling belt of ice.

    Nie Tian examined her with his bloodline power, and discovered that she, who was like a robust female cougar, was exuding a strong flesh aura. Enveloped in a sparkling icy shield, her well-built sexy physique slowly descended towards the sea.

    Nie Tian looked quietly up at her as he continued to channel all sorts of power from the Seven-star Blue Sea into his domain and sea of awareness.

    Yin Yanan looked down at him, and was surprised to discover that he had awoken.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± she called softly.

    However, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t hear what she said. He could only see her lips moving.

    Finally, she descended into the sea.

    Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and a few Saint domain experts that were close to Nie Tian hadn¡¯t left. They floated over the sea, and waited to see if Yin Yanan could benefit from entering the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Upon contact with the Seven-star Blue Sea, Yin Yanan, who had moved flesh power around her body, tightened her whole body.

    A shocked expression appeared on her face.

    FZZZ!

    Like horses that ran wild, countless wisps of unknown power madly attacked her flesh aura defense and the icy shield she and her Frost Blood Python had formed together.

    CRACK!

    The icy shield barelysted a second before shattering.

    All of a sudden, Yin Yanan started sinking towards the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea at a fast speed, fear and panic filling her face. The ninth grade Frost Blood Python exerted its frost power, but still couldn¡¯t stop her from sinking.

    Those who were observing from high above prepared to dive down to help her.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± Dong Li said sternly. ¡°That Frost Blood Python is at the ninth grade, which makes it as powerful as an outsider grand patriarch. Also, Yin Yanan is one of very few who practices body-refining incantations. If even she can¡¯t stop herself from sinking, which of you can say that you¡¯ll be able to fish her out of the Seven-star Blue Sea?¡±

    With these words, Dong Li turned to fix Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying with an inquiring gaze.

    It seemed to her that if anyone could save Yin Yanan, it would be Mo Qianfan or Yu Suying, who were both at the God domain.

    However, the two of them were clearly hesitant.

    Their hesitation was because they deemed Yin Yanan to be of little importance, and that she wasn¡¯t worth them risking their own safety.

    Eventually, it was Zhao Shanling who stepped up and said, ¡°Let me give it a try.¡±

    He summoned the Voidspirit Pagoda and flew off. ¡°I took a secret trip here to explore the Seven-star Blue Sea years ago, but didn¡¯t find anything. But things seem to be different this time. Now, the sea appears to be filled with opportunities, but in fact, it¡¯s filled with danger.¡±

    The Voidspirit Pagoda whooshed out and warded off seawater with spatial power.

    As he lost his spatial power at an rming rate, he rapidly dove towards Yin Yanan, grabbed her, and pulled her out of the peculiar sea. Afterwards, he said, sounding still badly shaken, ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea has be far more dangerous than when Ist entered it! Even with the Voidspirit Pagoda, I can¡¯t stay underwater longer than a few seconds.¡±

    Having just escaped death, Yin Yanan looked down at Nie Tian, who was still immersed in the sea. ¡°But why is he...?¡±

    ¡°Who the hell knows?!¡± Zhao Shanling cursed in a low voice.

    At that moment, Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, suddenly eximed. ¡°Look!¡±

    People then shifted their gazes from Yin Yanan back to the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    In a corner of the sea, waves were rising due to Nie Tian¡¯s twisting ripping maic field. However, for some reason, the sea suddenly quieted down.

    The surface of the sea soon became as serene as a mirror that reflected glorious light.

    That was when a mysterious stream with a color different from the sea appeared in the gorgeous sea, and quietly flowed towards the center of it. More surprisingly, the stream exuded rich Phantasm Qi!

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Even Zhao Shanling was dumbstruck, not sure what he was looking at.

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce went nk for a while before suddenly eximing, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that that¡¯s the legendary Nether River that runs through the Nether Realm!¡±

    Everyone was bbergasted upon hearing her spection. But immediately afterwards, they all shook their heads in disbelief.

    ¡°What? The Nether River?¡±

    ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    It was said that the Nether River was the ce where the Phantasms had been born, and the origin of all of their bloodlines and soul magics. Like the river of time, from which Wu Ji had derived enlightenment, the Nether River also held countless secrets.

    Even today, no Phantasm grand monarchs dared to say that they had uncovered all of the Nether River¡¯s secrets.

    No one in their long history had!

    Even their most ancient records and legends didn¡¯t exin the origin of that wondrous river that only ran through the Nether Realm.

    Now, why did it suddenly show up in the Seven-star Blue Sea?

    This was unbelievable!

    Mo Qianfan took a deep breath and said with a concerned tone, ¡°The Phantasm Qi is growing richer and richer. Even the mixed energies in the Seven-star Blue Sea are failing to drown it out. Perhaps that actually is a branch of the Nether River. Didn¡¯t Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan say that the Seven-star Blue Sea is a Realm Sea?

    ¡°If it connects to another heaven and earth, I suppose it¡¯s possible for the Nether River to flow into it from the Nether Realm.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± Yu Suying shook her head. ¡°If this Realm Sea actually connects to the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd, then howe they¡¯ve never invaded through it? There aren¡¯t any records of the Phantasms invading the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries over the past hundreds of thousands of years.¡±

    People held different opinions.

    However, they soon discovered that the stream, which had magically appeared in the Seven-star Blue Sea, was flowing directly towards Nie Tian, like a long sword.

    ¡°It¡¯s not going to hurt Nie Tian, is it?¡± Dong Li asked, looking a bit nervous.

    Yu Suying shook her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It seems to me that it¡¯s being attracted by Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Attracted?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The invaluable Phantasm treasure, the Spirit Pearl, suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding, wreathed in a misty cyan aura, before it shrank and embedded itself in Nie Tian¡¯s forehead, like a third eye between his eyebrows.

    It looked very simr to the prismatic crystal on every Phantasm¡¯s forehead.

    The five evil gods could no longer suppress their excitement as they flew out to have a good swim in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    The evil god of bloodlust, which had suffered heavy blows from Grand Monarch Bloodlust, recovered rapidly.

    As their master, Nie Tian discovered that its aura was growing stronger with every passing second. Therefore, he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before it fully recovered from its injuries.

    bbergasted, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul cried out, ¡°Master, that river is none other than the Nether River that runs through my people¡¯s ancestralnd, the Nether Realm!

    ¡°Even though it seems to be a branch, it¡¯s still the Nether River! Why on earth would it suddenly appear in the human heaven and earth? What secrets does this sea hold that are making the evil gods so excited, and the Nether River stretch all the way here?!¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°So that actually is the Nether River!¡±

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl that was embedded in his forehead seemed to actually be his third eye, as he gained another view through it!

    The branch of the Nether River he saw through this ¡®eye¡¯ waspletely different from the Nether River that Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and everyone else who was floating over the sea saw.

    Deeply shaken, he observed the Nether River with rapt attention. He could see spirits drifting in it and soul strands interweaving in a wondrous way, as if they represented a specific method to use soul power.

    ¡°A soul magic!¡±

 Chapter 1382: Deriving Enlightenment

    As Nie Tian used his Spirit Pearl toprehend the mystery of the Nether River in the Seven-star Blue Sea, the outside world was inplete chaos.

    The Realm of Remote Heaven had fallen. Ancientspirits had crossed the Dead Star Sea and officially entered the human world on arge scale.

    This was different from previous invasions. This time, experts dispatched by the Ancientspirits and outsiders, such as Phantasms and Demons, swarmed out in full strength!

    The Ancientspirits and outsiders swept over and took many advanced domains, but didn¡¯t attack the four great sects immediately after crossing the Dead Star Sea.

    Instead, they stormed human domains one by one.

    The whole human world was badly shaken.

    The damage that this invasion brought was far more serious than what Gupi had caused.

    The human beings in the domains that were close to the Dead Star Sea and were bound to be crossed by the Ancientspirits were evacuating through teleportation portals while asking the four great sects for help.

    Soon afterward, the leaders of the four great sects gathered in the Heaven Span Pavilion to discuss important issues.

    Chu Rui, Wei Lai, Ji Yuanquan, Xuan Guangyu, and several elders and Divine Sons and Divine Daughters of the Five Elements Sect all came to the Heaven Span Pavilion to consult with Fan Tianze.

    They chose the Heaven Span Pavilion because its domain was the closest to the Dead Star Sea among the four great sects.

    As long as those invaders didn¡¯t change their direction or use spatial rifts or teleportation portals, they were destined to collide with the Heaven Span Pavilion first.

    It was because of this that the two God domain experts of the Heaven Span Pavilion, Fan Tianze and Ye Wenhan, had summoned all the other sects.

    After somemunication, the leaders of the four great sects made the decision to ask Qi warriors and mortals of all the human domains along the way to evacuate through teleportation portals.

    Those human domains would be temporarily abandoned.

    The domains where the Heaven Span Pavilion was located would be the ce where the human race would officially fight the invaders.

    The battle at the Realm of Maelstrom in Domain of Heaven Python had onlye to a hasty end.

    Phantasm, Fiend, Demon, and Bonebrute grand monarchs and grand patriarchs hade to fight this new interracial war, along with the Dragons, Titans, and Ancientbeasts of the Ancientspirits.

    This battle would likely be one that would change the fates of different races, and determine the situation of the starry river for thousands of years toe.

    ...

    In the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    The Saint domain experts and talents like Dong Li and Yin Yanan that were close to Nie Tian were still focused on the sea.

    The stream, which they had identified as a branch of the Nether River, continued spreading until it reached Nie Tian.

    Relying on the Spirit Pearl between his eyebrows, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone brightly and focused on this branch of the Nether River, as if he wereprehending a mystery in it.

    Standing on an ancient starship, Dong Li looked down at Nie Tian and said with a frown, ¡°Half a month has passed. He¡¯s obviously awake, but we can¡¯tmunicate with him. We can only see him motionlessly gaze at the branch of the Nether River.¡±

    Yu Suying looked very envious as she said, ¡°His cultivation base continues to improve so rapidly that it seems to have no end. He has stabilized at the middle Void domain and is advancing towards thete Void domain. From the look of it, as long as he¡¯s given enough time, he may even be able to advance to the Saint domain here.¡±

    ¡°His flesh aura¡¯s getting stronger and stronger too,¡± Yin Yanan said.

    She had practiced the unique body techniques of the Beast-controlling Sect, so she was the only one who could see a little bit of the fluctuations in Nie Tian¡¯s life aura.

    Staring at Nie Tian, the so-called lucky, gifted women like Mu Biqiong, Qiao Yunxi, and herself all had a strong sense of frustration, because they found that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t catch up with him.

    Their gap in cultivation base and strength was bing bigger and bigger.

    Besides him, Dong Li, who was from the Domain of the Falling Stars, was also surpassing them at an unimaginable speed, leaving them far behind.

    ¡°The auras of the five so-called evil gods are growing more horrifying,¡± Mo Qianfan of the Heavenly Thunder Sect said with a grave expression, ¡°It seems this Seven-star Blue Sea can nourish the evil gods, and enable them to continue to extract power to strengthen themselves. I have a feeling that if the five evil gods join hands aftering out of the Seven-star Blue Sea, I¡¯ll likely be no match for them.¡±

    Yu Suying looked shocked. ¡°What?¡±

    The five evil gods were the real trump card the Spirit Pearl had given birth to. By nature, they should not be widely different from the other soul spells and creatures of the Phantasms.

    Mo Qianfan was a God domain expert who cultivated lightning power. He was their natural bane!

    If even he thought it would be difficult to deal with the five evil gods, wouldn¡¯t that mean that the other early God domain experts would feel even more troubled when they faced them?

    ¡°What if I were to fight them?¡± The thought made Yu Suying both apprehensive and ted.

    Snapping out of her thoughts, she said, ¡°This is good. The situation out there is getting worse and worse. Experts of the four great sects have brought the heads of the sects of all the major domains together. Now, they¡¯re all gathered at the Heaven Span Pavilion, ready to fight the invaders to the death.

    ¡°Because we just fought a battle here and Nie Tian is in this special situation, they have allowed us some time.

    ¡°But when the real war breaks out, we¡¯ll still be required to participate in it.

    ¡°When the timees, Nie Tian will have to go, too. The stronger he is, the better the situation will be for us.¡±

    A few dayster.

    Those who had been quietly paying attention to the Seven-star Blue Sea found that as time went by, the five ferocious evil gods not only grewrger, but also started to slowly descend toward the depths of the sea.

    But they descended very slowly.

    It seemed that only when they became a bit stronger could they descend an inch.

    ¡°The bottom. They¡¯re going to the bottom,¡± Zhao Shanling murmured with a confused face. ¡°Is there really such a thing as a realm passage at the bottom of the sea? The Stone Golems came out of the bottom of the sea. What do those five evil gods with strange origins want to achieve by trying so hard to go deeper? Before these changes happened to the sea, I also tried to sink to the depths with the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, but...¡±

    Previously, he had tried to reach the bottom of the sea with the power of the Voidspirit Pagoda and his secret spatial spells, but had failed.

    However, as the five evil gods dove deeper and deeper, it was bing more and more difficult for the people above to see them.

    Only the two God domain experts, Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, could still see their huge vague figures.

    ¡°They¡¯ve even abandoned their master temporarily,¡± Yu Suying muttered softly, shaking her head. ¡°They won¡¯t make trouble at the bottom of the sea, will they? The Ancientspirits and the outsiders have thrown the world into chaos. They better not bring more things like the Stone Golems out of the depths of the sea.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re Nie Tian¡¯s soul servants, and are under the Seven-star Blue Sea, so there¡¯s really nothing we can do,¡± said Mo Qianfan.

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    BOOM!

    At that moment, Nie Tian, who had been deriving enlightenment from the Nether River¡¯s mystery, suddenly had a headache.

    A wisp of worried soul message came through from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul. ¡°The connection between those five guys and me is bing very weak! I have a feeling they¡¯re getting further and further away from me.¡±

    With a strong will, Nie Tian tore his gaze away from the Nether River, and called out to the five evil gods with his soul.

    They gave intermittent responses.

    Perhaps their responses were influenced by the Seven-star Blue Sea, as they were very erratic. He needed to be very focused to even receive a bit of their response.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go down and check!¡±

 Chapter 1383: Soul Cleansing

    The branch of the Nether River that had appeared out of nowhere slowly retreated towards the glorious part of the sea after he tore his gaze from it, as if it was going to return to its origin now that it had lost his attention.

    Nie Tian felt an internal struggle.

    The Nether River had been the Phantasms¡¯ most mysterious asset since ancient times. Its value far exceeded that of the Book of Spirits.

    For Phantasms, nothing could match the Nether River¡¯s significance.

    Even though the Book of Spirits recorded wondrous soul spells, everything in it hade from the Nether River.

    The Nether River was the foundation of the entire Phantasm race, as it was their mother river and the origin of all of their soul magics.

    Right now, with the help of the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian, who wasn¡¯t a Phantasm, was able to perceive the countless seemingly disorderly soul strands in the Nether River, and derive pieces of obscure enlightenment from them.

    Such enlightenment would help him uncover the ultimate secrets of his sea of awareness and true soul.

    They would even be helpful when he attempted to enter the Saint and God domain.

    He wasn¡¯t sure if he would have a chance to see that branch of the Nether River again if he left the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Should he give up his opportunity to derive enlightenment from the Nether River so he could descend towards the sea bottom to reestablish contact with the five evil gods and find out what was happening with them? Would it be worth it?

    ¡°Master, we¡¯re losing connection with the five evil gods,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul reminded him.

    After pondering for a moment, he asked through a soul voice, ¡°Will I have a chance to channel that branch of the Nether River here again?¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul took a moment to think, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I have a feeling that I can only help you see the profound wonders within the Nether River. Normally, humans can¡¯t see them. However, I wasn¡¯t the reason why that branch of the Nether River magically showed up here.¡±

    ¡°Then what was?¡±

    ¡°I suppose it was the unique aura released by the spell formation those five formed.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I know what to do now.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t hesitate anymore. Enveloped in the Primal Chaos he had created around him and his unique void domain, he started to slowly descend towards the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Everything happened smoothly at first.

    Due to the existence of the unique maic field, the mixed energies within the Seven-star Blue Sea couldn¡¯t hurt him.

    Not just that, but those energies, which were deadly to Yin Yanan and other powerful Qi warriors, were purged by the maic field and fused into his domain as wisps of pure power.

    Also, as his domain went deeper and deeper, the Godspirit Tree, the Heavenly Stars Flower, and the seventy-two tree branches within his domain were able to absorb more power than before.

    Even his sea of awareness and true soul started to emanate fiery light as he sank deeper!

    His true soul seemed to be cleansed over and over by countless wisps of invisible power!

    Overjoyed by this discovery, he eximed, ¡°I can¡¯t believe my true soul is being refined in a simr way to my fleshly body being refined through Heavenly Wood Heal!¡±

    ¡°Master, this is the power of this mysterious sea that floats in the starry river,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul responded. ¡°Not just you, but those five are also either recovering or strengthening themselves with the power of this magical sea.¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°But why is this happening? I¡¯ve been in this sea before. Nothing like this happened.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    The conversation between Nie Tian and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul continued as he started to sink at a slower speed.

    Pain started to show on his face as well.

    He started to experience excruciating pain as the unknown power within the Seven-star Blue Sea continued to help refine his true soul.

    Even his body, which he had tempered a thousand times over, started to suffer from heavy impacts.

    However, since his body was tough enough, such impacts were still bearable to him.

    His soul, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t nearly as tough as his fleshly body. It was only being lightly cleansed by the power of the Seven-star Blue Sea, yet it pained him so much that he wanted to die.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul also sensed the changes. ¡°Master, you were in a rtively high level before. In shallow areas of the sea, there are more spiritual energies than power that can infiltrate seas of awareness and affect souls. However, as we sink deeper and deeper, our surroundings are filled with more and more soul-impacting power.

    ¡°The deeper we go, the stronger impacts we¡¯ll have to face.

    ¡°Even I...¡±

    With these words, the Spirit Pearl, which was embedded in Nie Tian¡¯s forehead and emanating cyan light, quietly went dim.

    WHOOSH!

    After sending ast wisp of soul message, the Spirit Pearl suddenly flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Nie Tian went nk, as if he hadn¡¯t expected that the Phantasms¡¯ invaluable treasure would choose to take shelter in his ring of holding after descending to a certain depth.

    ¡°Is this really that scary? Isn¡¯t it just our souls being torn at by a mysterious power from the depths of the sea?¡± He thought to himself. ¡°Plus, my true soul keeps recovering from the damage and bing stronger, which allows it to withstand even stronger tearing.¡±

    However, it seemed that the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul didn¡¯t hear any of that.

    BOOM!

    Inside of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, many of the soul strands that had woven into his true soul suddenly snapped like strained strings.

    Nie Tian suffered terribly as this happened.

    However, immediately afterwards, wisps of power flew into his sea of awareness, fusing into his true soul.

    Nourished by them, the severed soul strands not only reattached themselves, but also became more resilient than ever, with a new sense of solidity added to Nie Tian¡¯s illusory true soul.

    Stars shone and changed position over his sea of awareness.

    His nine star souls were also gathering power that was helpful to them as they grew stronger and shone with increasingly glorious starlight.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness was being nourished as he sank towards the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Before he knew it, Nie Tian¡¯s soul connection to the five evil gods was restored. ¡°This is interesting...¡±

    ¡°Is this just because I¡¯m close enough to them?¡± Muttering, he tried to focus on sensing the evil gods. However, the pain in his true soul rapidly built up to the point where he could no longer focus.

    Therefore, even though the connection between him and the five evil gods was reestablished, it was hard for him to actuallymunicate with them.

    However, he refused to give up.

    Bearing the excruciating pain in his soul, he continued diving, and saw that the water in his surroundings started to move in a strange way due to the violent twisting power of his maic field. Soon, a vortex came to form.

    All of a sudden, a huge arched red bronze gate appeared underneath him.

    The five evil gods were gritting their teeth as they pushed at the closed gate together.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°A bronze gate!¡±

    As he tried to take a closer look at it, he discovered that his sight had be blurry, and that the huge arched gate had disappeared, along with the five evil gods that were gathered around it.

    Even more unbearable pain overtook his true soul, stopping him from focusing.

    Even though he suffered great pain and his head buzzed nonstop, he couldn¡¯t help wondering, ¡°A gate... Where does it lead?¡±

    At this moment, Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying eximed simultaneously over the Seven-star Blue Sea, ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang, who was a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and held the All Manifestations Star Banner, somehow appeared here at such a special time.

    He had teamed up with Grand Monarch Bloodlust to fight Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    After Grand Monarch Bloodlust had retreated, Fan Tianze had chased after him regardless of everything, as if he had been bent on punishing him for his betrayal and making him an example.

    However, shortly afterwards, word of the Realm of Remote Heaven falling and Ancientspirits and outsidersunching a massive invasion had spread. Fan Tianze had been forced to hurry back to the Heaven Span Pavilion to preside over the defenses.

    Luo Wanxiang had gone missing since then.

    No one had expected that this vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, whose authority in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been second to only Ji Cang, would show up at the Seven-star Blue Sea at this moment.

    Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan looked grim, as if they were apprehensive about this formidable foe.

    Dong Limunicated with the ck tortoise in a low voice before casting a meaningful gaze towards Xie Qian and Jing Feiyang. She also snuck a nce at Zhao Shanling, signaling him to leave right away to inform other powerful experts of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s appearance at the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Chu Rui, Fan Tianze, and the other God domain experts of the four great sects were all gathered in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters now.

    If they were informed of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s presence, who was a traitor for colluding with the Phantasms, many would be bound toe after him.

    Strangely, Luo Wanxiang, who had suddenly arrived, was expressionless as he nodded slightly towards Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan. While they were confused by this, he morphed into a streak of starlight and disappeared into the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Those who were concerned with Nie Tian¡¯s safety started discussing anxiously.

    ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea! Is he here to kill Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°If not, why would he choose to enter the Seven-star Blue Sea when it¡¯s the most bizarre?¡±

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang is at the middle God domain. What do we do?¡±

    Dong Li turned to Jing Feiyang and said, ¡°Inform Fan Tianze and Chu Rui of what¡¯s happened here right away. I think they¡¯lle after Luo Wanxiang after learning that he showed up here.¡±

    Jing Feiyang nodded.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The streak of starlight transformed from Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol sputtered sparks as it suffered from the corrosion of the strange power in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Nie Tian jerked his head up. ring at him, he eximed, ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°Tell those five things of yours to open that bronze gate!¡± Luo Wanxiang¡¯s fierce shout immediately reached Nie Tian¡¯s mind, rumbling through his sea of awareness.

 Chapter 1384: Open The Arch

    It seemed that Luo Wanxiang had plotted this for a long time.

    His shout was prating and resounding, and could actually ignore the uncanny sea water of the Seven-star Blue Sea and reach Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Because of his shout, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, which had been refined and cleansed over and over in the Seven-star Blue Sea suddenly shook and broke apart, as if it were sliced by countless sharp des.

    WHOOSH!!

    Countless wisps of unknown energies from the Seven-star Blue Sea swarmed in like gossamer.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul quickly came back together. All the soul strands were extremely fine and pure.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying, who were both at the early God domain, shouted and plunged into the sea.

    Mo Qianfan was like a streak of electric light, while Yu Suying was like a beam of silver light.

    As soon as they entered the Seven-star Blue Sea, all sorts of energies which were hundreds of times stronger than the tangled forces in the starry river crept in, inflicting great pain upon the two God domain experts.

    Worse still, the deeper they sank into the Seven-star Blue Sea, the more they suffered.

    ¡°They¡¯re dividing my soul, like pulling silk from cocoons.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!!

    Tiny electric arcs sputtered from the bolt of lightning Mo Qianfan had morphed into.

    Those electric arcs were his soul power that he was losing.

    As for Yu Suying, her sputtering soul power was like silver shavings.

    The two God domain experts who cultivated powers of different attributes were both under great pressure as their souls and spiritual defenses were repeatedly impacted by the uncanny sea water.

    ¡°Don¡¯t! You all stay where you are!¡± shouted Dong Li.

    She stopped Xie Qian, Zhongli Jian, and the other Saint domain experts who had attached themselves to Nie Tian. ¡°You should have noticed that it even seems hard for the electric light and silver light transformed from Senior Mo and Senior Yu¡¯s divine dharma idols to bear the impact of the Seven-star Blue Sea. Besides, Luo Wanxiang is at the God domain. Even if you go down there, you won¡¯t be able to do anything.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t take that risk!¡± Yin Yanan said to Dong Qisong.

    ¡°The Seven-star Blue Sea has be much more dangerous than it used to be,¡± Zhao Shanling said seriously. ¡°I once explored it with the help of my Voidspirit Pagoda. At that time, it was far less dangerous than it is now. Something weird must have happened in this sea. Let¡¯s just wait and see. Don¡¯t rush it.¡±

    ¡°As for Nie Tian...¡± He smiled and curved his lips. ¡°I¡¯ve known him for so long, but I¡¯ve never seen him suffer much. The Seven-star Blue Sea gives me a feeling that it¡¯s epting him and being friendly to him. Anyone other than him that enters the sea is considered a stranger, and will be targeted.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± eximed Dong Li. ¡°Is that what you feel?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°It should be the case.¡±

    Hearing this, Dong Li was suddenly relieved, and became more certain about preventing the others from acting rashly.

    BAM! BAM!

    Balls of bright starlight kept exploding in the twisted, tearing, and raging maic field around Nie Tian.

    The balls of starlight were released by Luo Wanxiang, the vice sectmaster.

    The force that a middle God domain expert disyed, even casually, should be very powerful, but in the Seven-star Blue Sea, it was greatly weakened.

    By contrast, the maic field surrounding Nie Tian turned out to be surprisingly powerful, as it easily neutralized Luo Wanxiang¡¯s attacks.

    Nie Tian suddenly became very calm. He fixed a re at Luo Wanxiang and shouted, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo, I¡¯ve just cast a nce at the bronze arched gate under the sea. What secret is hidden behind it? What kind of secret can make you show up after hiding for so long? Are you not afraid that Fan Tianze and the others wille from the Heaven Span Pavilion to kill you?¡±

    ¡°Kill me?¡± Luo Wanxiang sneered. ¡°I¡¯ll be gone by the time they get here.¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned. ¡°Gone?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have left the human world through this Realm Sea!¡± Luo Wanxiang didn¡¯t bother to give a detailed exnation. ¡°I can¡¯t believe a moron like you, who doesn¡¯t understand anything, fused the three Spirit Pearls of the Phantasms into one! I wonder how you managed to give the five evil gods fleshly bodies.

    ¡°Unfair, this is really unfair. You don¡¯t know a damn thing, yet everything has worked out for you, as if it were a god¡¯s will!¡±

    As he spoke, Luo Wanxiang held out his finger to point at Nie Tian¡¯s forehead.

    Simple yet ancient Phantasm characters then streamed out of his finger.

    ¡°Book of Spirits, Soul Skill¡ª Control!¡±

    The Phantasm characters suddenly disappeared, but in the next moment, they appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, and morphed into miniature soul shadows of Luo Wanxiang. They couldn¡¯t wait to w into Nie Tian¡¯s true soul one after another to rece his consciousness and be the new master of his true soul.

    ¡°Soul-controlling Arcane Spell...¡± Nie Tian shouted spontaneously, with a weird look in his eyes.

    Not long ago, he had used the Spirit Pearl as his third eye to explore the mysteries of the Nether River¡¯s branch, and saw much analysis of souls and many arcane soul skills that hadpletely baffled him.

    There were also some soul skills that were in and easy to understand.

    The so-called soul skill recorded in the Book of Spirits that Luo Wanxiang now disyed was one of the soul spells that he had seen: Soul-controlling Arcane Spell; he had alreadyprehended its mystery.

    It was a spell that allowed the caster to use wisps of his soul awareness to fetter other people¡¯s true souls, drive their consciousness away, and rece it temporarily.

    ¡°Soulde!¡± Nie Tian said inwardly. Refined soul strands rapidly condensed into a long, narrow sword.

    The small sword followed a certain track to reach and slice Luo Wanxiang¡¯s miniature soul shadows, like a butcher skillfully dismembering an ox.

    It didn¡¯t meet any obstacles.

    The small figures with Luo Wanxiang¡¯s appearance turned back into ancient evil Phantasm characters after being dismembered. Then, after the sword made of Nie Tian¡¯s soul strands shed them a few more times, they were reduced to light smoke that dissipated.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes, there seemed to be clusters of cyan mes going out one by one.

    His expression changed dramatically. ¡°You, you...¡±

    He had gone through a lot of hardships, and even secretly turned against his sect, before he could get a part of the Book of Spirits from the Phantasms and practice the variety of soul skills within it.

    How could he expect that Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t even touched the threshold of the God domain, would be able to easily neutralize the soul skill he had painstakingly practiced?

    While he was in a daze, Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying approached and attacked him, heedless of the gap between their cultivation bases.

    SWOOSH!

    Nie Tian wanted to do something, but he found that the violent maic field around him suddenly changed.

    His head spun, and he fell headlong.

    When he came to his senses, he saw that he had fallen to the great bronze arched gate he had seen earlier.

    It was the five evil gods that had brought him down!

    As soon as he arrived, the five evil gods roared simultaneously and pushed at the arched gate with all their might, as if they wanted to open a gate to a new world, a brand new world that was different from the human world.

    ¡°Wait,¡± Nie Tian said hastily.

    Luo Wanxiang was here to open the bronze arched gate. With his understanding of Luo Wanxiang, it wouldn¡¯t be a good thing to open it!

    He tried to stop them, but it was already toote.

    Pushed by the five evil gods, the huge bronze arch slowly creaked open.

 Chapter 1385: The Other Side

    The huge arched gate was slowly pushed open under the five evil gods¡¯ joint efforts.

    The moment the gate opened, a figure that wasrge enough to prop up heaven and earth entered Nie Tian¡¯s view.

    It seemed to be the dharma idol of an expert who was fighting swarm after swarm of evil spirits, with its broad back against the arched gate.

    Millions of evil spirits and vicious souls madly threw themselves at him.

    With his back against the gate, he cast an exquisite spell, condensing the purest spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into a glowing de that could shatter heaven and earth. With a casual swing of his arm, he sent it out, reducing thousands of evil spirits to scattering ashes and dissipating smoke.

    However, there seemed to be an endless stream of evil spirits that came at him, as if he would never be able to kill them all.

    The expert guarding the gate seemed to have sensed movement behind him, and thus jerked his head around to take a look at the huge arched gate.

    As soon as he did, he and Nie Tian were both dumbstruck.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Grand Elder!¡±

    Mo Heng, who was on the other side of the gate, and Nie Tian, who was in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, eximed at the same time.

    However, their voices were trapped within their own worlds, failing to spread through the arched gate to the other side.

    Even so, this didn¡¯t stop the two of them from seeing each other¡¯s faces and the shapes of their mouths.

    HOWL!

    After pushing the huge gate open, the five evil gods seemed extremely excited, and couldn¡¯t wait to charge into it.

    On the other side of the gate, Mo Heng¡¯s expression flickered violently.

    He glowered at the five evil gods as wisps of pure spiritual power wove into a mysterious seal in front of his chest. In the shape of a stone te, the seal emanated dazzling light, along with an aura that suppressed evil spirits.

    Since Nie Tian had reestablished his soul connection with the five evil gods, he was able to sense the insecurity and uneasiness they were feeling now.

    But even so, the five of them seemed to be eager to risk their lives by charging into the heaven and earth beyond the opened gate to fight Mo Heng.

    ¡°They opened this gate to fight the grand elder?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he shouted fiercely, ¡°Get back here!¡±

    Regardless of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s willingness, he pulled it out of his ring of holding where it was hiding, held it up towards the five evil gods, andmanded with his bloodline and soul, ¡°Get in here!¡±

    The five evil gods growled at the same time.

    Their growls were filled with anger, discontent, and rebellion.

    From when the five evil gods had been born to when they had developed fleshly bodies after consuming his Blood Essence, the bond between them and Nie Tian had be closer and closer.

    Not once had they disobeyed him.

    This was the first time!

    Ignoring their discontent, Nie Tian focused his soul awareness and summoned his bloodline power to let out powerful calls. ¡°Come back here! Now!¡±

    Each and every call exploded in the five evil gods¡¯ minds like thunderps, and bent their will bit by bit with what seemed like soul-binding force.

    Gradually, their natural desire to charge to the other side of the arched gate was neutralized by his calls.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew uncontrobly into the Spirit Pearl one by one, as if they were ripped away from their innate desires.

    Nie Tian hastily threw the Spirit Pearl back into his ring of holding, and ordered its soul to keep an eye on the strangely-behaving evil gods, which had even dared to disobey him.

    HOWL! ROAR! ROAR!

    On the other side of the gate.

    Surrounded by countless evil spirits, a few exceptionallyrge spirit-form beings let out deafening howls and sharp screeches.

    If Nie Tian were able to see them, he would have found that they had a lot inmon with the five evil gods he had just sent back into the Spirit Pearl by force, including their sizes and appearances.

    The only difference was that these enormous spirit-form beings didn¡¯t have fleshly bodies.

    They were very simr to what the five evil gods had been like before Nie Tian had vested them with his Blood Essence and helped them develop fleshly bodies.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Upon hearing their howls and screeches, the innumerable evil souls attacking Mo Heng seemed to have their spirit ignited, as they charged towards him in different soul spell formations and cast soul magics that were simr to those of the Phantasms.

    Mo Heng fought back by condensing dazzling light into a stream of mighty power.

    Numerous soul spell formations exploded, with evil spirits reduced to wisps of smoke that scattered into the void.

    Standing in front of the red bronze gate, Nie Tian, who had expended great effort to drag the five evil gods back into the Spirit Pearl, gazed nkly at Grand Elder Mo Heng, who had disappeared for a long time, as he fought countless evil spirits in the dim starry river beyond the arched gate.

    ¡°Is that the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd, the Nether Realm, that this arched gate connects to?

    ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s the only ce where there may be so many evil spirits, and I bet it takes a very long time for them to reach such a great number.

    ¡°Wait, there isn¡¯t a realm barrier in sight. It looks more like somewhere in the starry river.

    ¡°This is strange. Why is the grand elder guarding this gate?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that all these years he¡¯s been missing, he¡¯s been guarding this gate for humanity in another part of the starry river, so that those countless evil spirits controlled by Phantasms won¡¯t charge into our world.¡±

    With this thought, Nie Tian took a deep breath and slowly stepped towards the huge arched gate.

    On the other side of it, Mo Heng was being attacked by innumerable evil spirits, with his back facing him.

    All of a sudden, Mo Heng jerked his head around to warn him against crossing the gate with a stern look.

    Then, he shouted. By the shape of his mouth, he was ordering him to shut the gate right away!

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Shut the gate?¡±

    While he hesitated, Mo Heng jerked his head back to refocus on his fierce battle against the evil spirits.

    FZZZ!

    At this moment, Nie Tian looked up and saw Mo Qianfan, who had morphed into a bolt of lightning, and Yu Suying, who had morphed into a streak of silver light. The two of them were engaged in a bitter battle against Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang as they sank together.

    While they were fighting, the three of them cast nces downwards from time to time, confused looks appearing on their faces.

    It seemed as if they couldn¡¯t see Nie Tian standing in front of the huge arched gate.

    As they sank deeper and deeper, Luo Wanxiang gradually withdrew from his battle against Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying.

    Apparently, the deeper they sank, the more Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying struggled, even if they didn¡¯t fight.

    Luo Wanxiang, however, still appeared to be able to handle the pressure from the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang is so bent on opening this gate, and he even knows to use the five evil gods¡¯ help,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°His collusion with the Phantasms must be very deep. I have the Spirit Pearl, but even so, I didn¡¯t know that such a wondrous gate existed in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea that the five evil gods could push it open...¡±

    He pondered the situation, but didn¡¯t dare to let the evil gods out again.

    He was afraid that they would not only ignore hismand for them to close the gate, but even join the evil spirits on the other side in fighting Mo Heng.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t take too long if I just take a short trip to the heaven and earth beyond the gate, right?

    ¡°Perhaps only if I go talk to the grand elder will I be able to learn what¡¯s actually going on.¡±

    He made up his mind.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a streak of light, he shot into the open arched gate while Mo Heng wasn¡¯t looking. His mind rumbled, and he felt like he was shuttling for a while in a torrent of dazzling light.

    Soon, he found himself on the other side of the gate, behind grand elder Mo Heng.

    Standing towering behind him in the dim starry river was a huge arched gate that connected to the one in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    The arched gate was like a lofty mountain peak, whose peak was hard to see!

    Like locusts, a sea of evil spirits stretched as far as the eye could see. Those that were close to the huge arched gate were attacking Mo Heng in waves.

    In a distant location, a few exceptionally huge spirit-form beings were howling and waving their arms to give orders.

    With a single nce at them, Nie Tian gasped. ¡°They... They look just like the five evil gods. Don¡¯t tell me that they belong to the same species. However, ording to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, the statues of the five evil gods appeared with the Nether River when it flowed into the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd, the Nether Realm.

    ¡°And the five evil gods don¡¯t belong to the Phantasms. In fact, the Phantasms have worshiped them as their gods for generations.¡±

    Nie Tian felt baffled.

    Mo Heng sensed the anomaly. Without even turning around, he shouted, ¡°What are you doing here, Nie Tian?! This is no ce for you to be! Go back now! After you do, do everything in your power to close that gate! Should you fail to do that, find someone who can! In a word, that gate has to be closed!¡±

    ¡°Where is this ce, Grand Elder? And why are you here?¡± Nie Tian aired his questions. ¡°I¡¯ll go back, but you have to give me an answer, right? Since I probably can¡¯t stay here for very long, please make it short.

    ¡°Also, Vice Sectmaster Luo was behind me. He tried to force me to open the gate for him from the other side.¡± Nie Tian sounded urgently.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± Mo Heng roared. ¡°It¡¯s him again!¡±

 Chapter 1386: Reunion

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°It¡¯s him again?! What else did he do?¡±

    ¡°Is he on the other side of the gate right now, in the Seven-star Blue Sea?¡± Mo Heng asked with an icy expression.

    FZZZ!

    At the same time, Mo Heng wove his fingers to form a profound hand seal.

    Then, a glorious scene gradually unfolded in the dim starry river before him.

    All sorts of manifestations, including the rotation of day and night, the change ofndscapes, and the transition of seasons, seemed to be transformed from pure spiritual Qi and carry the profound truths of heaven and earth.

    A wisp of Mo Heng¡¯s soul will seemed to be the god that controlled anything and everything.

    Millions of evil spirits in this area were enveloped in the wondrous manifestations.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    One after another, they were melted, and soon vanishedpletely.

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Luo Wanxiang is in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea right now.¡±

    Mo Heng suddenly seemed a bit hesitant.

    He wondered whether he should tell Nie Tian the truth of this ce.

    ¡°Evil spirits, vicious souls, and giant spirit-form beings...¡± Muttering these words, Nie Tian decided to take the risk. He took the invaluable Phantasm treasure, the Spirit Pearl, from within his ring of holding.

    As soon as he gave the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul an order, the pearl emanated a misty cyan light. At the same time, a gravitational force that only targeted spirit-form beings was born within it.

    The evil spirits and vicious souls that were gathered in front of the enormous arched gate and attacking Mo Heng madly seemed to be suppressed the moment the Spirit Pearl appeared.

    They all became insecure and uneasy, and struggled in attempts to get away from this area.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, some weaker evil spirits and vicious souls were pulled by the Spirit Pearl¡¯s power and disappeared into it.

    Mo Heng¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°The Phantasms¡¯ invaluable treasure, the Spirit Pearl!¡±

    But immediately afterwards, he frowned. ¡°It¡¯s said that there are a total of three Spirit Pearls. And this Spirit Pearl you hold seems to be strangely powerful.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°This is the only one left now. While you were gone, the other two Spirit Pearls were shattered and became a part of this one. Now, the three of them have merged, and be this most special soul treasure.¡±

    Mo Heng nodded slowly. ¡°I see.¡±

    Eager to get answers, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Grand Elder, who in the world did you encounter in the Domain of Endless Thunder? Is this part of the starry river controlled by the Phantasms? Is their ancestralnd, the Nether Realm, in this region? Before I came here, I witnessed a branch of the Nether River running through the Seven-star Blue Sea.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°A branch of the Nether River?¡±

    ¡°Both Senior Yu Suying and Senior Mo Qianfan confirmed that it was a branch of the Nether River.¡± Nie Tian assured him. ¡°However, that branch of the Nether River seemed to be somehow attracted to the five evil gods that were born within this Spirit Pearl. With the help of this Spirit Pearl, I was even able to derive some soul magics from that branch of the Nether River.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang then showed up and came after me. As he did, he cast the Phantasms¡¯ soul magics...¡±

    Since he trusted Mo Hengpletely, he exined what had happened to him in detail, without leaving anything out.

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°A branch of the Nether River was channeled into the Seven-star Blue Sea by the five evil gods in your Spirit Pearl?!¡±

    With these words, he suddenly reached out to point at the exceptionallyrge spirit-form beings behind the countless evil spirits and vicious souls. ¡°Do those so-called evil gods look simr to them?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded repeatedly. ¡°Yes, very simr. It¡¯s just that the five evil gods born in my Spirit Pearl aren¡¯t pure spirit-form beings anymore. They have developed fleshly bodies.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression flickered again.

    Now, due to the sudden appearance of the Spirit Pearl, the countless swarming evil spirits and vicious souls no longer dared to attack Mo Heng.

    Seeing this, the few outstandingly tall spirit-form beings that had beenmanding them in the back grew irritated and impatient.

    They started floating through the sea of swarming evil spirits and vicious souls towards Mo Heng and Nie Tian.

    All of those in their way backed away nervously to give way to them.

    ¡°They finally dare toe to the front.¡± With these words, Mo Heng turned to Nie Tian and exined with a cold expression, ¡°Nie Tian, we¡¯re not in the Phantasms¡¯ territory, and the Nether Realm isn¡¯t in this region. In fact, this is neither the Ancientspirit world, the outsider world, nor our human world.

    ¡°This is the ce where the origin of the Nether River lies.

    ¡°And those things...¡± Mo Heng reached out to point at the approaching huge spirit-form beings. ¡°They¡¯re the higher beings that rule this part of the starry river. As for that Nether River in the Phantasms¡¯ Nether Realm, it¡¯s actually only a branch. The real Nether River is here. And it¡¯s actually the sea of awareness of the strongest leader of these beings in front of you.

    ¡°After that mighty expert, who was well-versed in all sorts of soul magics, died, his sea of awareness transformed into the so-called Nether River.¡±

    Mo Heng finally brought out the truth.

    Nie Tian, who had been listening, stood aghast.

    The legendary Nether River, where the Phantasm race had been born, was actually the sea of awareness of a deceased mighty being in this part of the starry river?

    The wondrous river that ran through the Nether Realm and the one that had appeared in the Seven-star Blue Sea were merely two branches of that unimaginably immense sea of awareness?

    Such a mighty being had actually died?

    Mo Heng curled his lips and said, ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable, right? I thought so too before I came here and faced these powerful beings. Only after I got here did I realize that this starry river is truly boundless, and that there is a whole other world other than ours, the Ancientspirits¡¯, and the outsiders¡¯. And they actually have a profound connection to us.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Just as Mo Heng was going to borate, a figure shed through the arched gate behind him and arrived.

    Upon arriving, he eximed in disbelief, with wide eyes, ¡°Mo Heng! How... Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°Long time no see, Vice Sectmaster,¡± Mo Heng said with an icy expression. ¡°Why did you go through all those hardships and difficulties just toe to this world? I also remember that I gave something to you to give to Nie Tian before I left for the Domain of Endless Thunder. Did you deliver it?¡±

    An awkward expression appeared on Luo Wanxiang¡¯s face.

    He hadn¡¯t seen Mo Heng before lunging into the huge arched gate.

    If he had, he probably wouldn¡¯t have dared toe through it.

    WHOOSH!

    Mo Heng¡¯s giant figure shifted position with lightning speed, stopping between Luo Wanxiang and the enormous arched gate. ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t leave so quickly. Let¡¯s have a good talk.¡±

    HOWL!

    The giant spirit-form beings that were approaching from different directions seemed to grow excited upon seeing Luo Wanxiang, as they yelled something in anguage Nie Tian didn¡¯t understand.

    However, Luo Wanxiang jerked his head towards them, as if he could understand them. The anxious look on his face rapidly disappeared, and he became calm again.

    It seemed as if he had found stronger backers.

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°You... I can¡¯t believe you can understand them! Vice Sectmaster Luo, you sure are full of surprises. Not only do you seem to know these things, but you were also able to find that gate in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea. I¡¯m curious who told you all that.¡±

 Chapter 1387: Strange Spatial Power

    Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying flew out of the Seven-star Blue Sea with grim expressions.

    ¡°Well...?¡± Dong Li asked, looking anxious.

    Mo Qianfan shook his head in frustration and said, ¡°There was a strange power in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea that disturbed our souls and kept us from maintaining our god domains for a long time. The pressure we felt down there was simply too great. If we lost the protection of our domains, our fleshly bodies would have shattered immediately. Even our souls might have perished.¡±

    ¡°What about Luo Wanxiang from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Yu Suying smiled bitterly. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because his cultivation base is higher than ours, or because he had some special means he could rely on... he sank to the depths that we couldn¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry. The two of us didn¡¯t have that ability. We suspect that he¡¯s reached the bottom of the sea. We just don¡¯t know if he¡¯s found Nie Tian.¡±

    FZZZ!

    A spatial rift suddenly appeared out of thin air, and Pei Qiqi and Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society arrived through it.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang is in the depths of the sea?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked upon arriving.

    Mo Qianfan nodded and exined what had happened to them.

    With a knitted brow, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, and the other experts that are gathered in the Heaven Span Pavilion are busy preparing for the imminent battle. Even though they want to, they can¡¯te here. Qiqi, I...¡±

    Without any hesitation, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°I don¡¯t care about the battle that might break out in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s territory. I¡¯ll go under, find Nie Tian, and see if I can get him out of there.¡±

    With these words, she released her Space Boundaries Crystal, despite vigorous opposition from the others.

    With a whoosh, she vanished into one of the facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Immediately afterwards, the wondrous crystal plummeted into the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Surprisingly, the irregrly-shaped crystal didn¡¯t seem to be met with much resistance as it dove into the Seven-star Blue Sea. Soon, it went so deep that it vanished from people¡¯s view.

    ¡°No wonder the Space Boundaries Crystal is regarded as an invaluable spatial treasure,¡± Zhao Shanling marveled. ¡°It¡¯s indeed much more powerful than my Voidspirit Pagoda.¡±

    Even with the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, he wouldn¡¯t be able to sink as smoothly and rapidly to the depths of the sea as Pei Qiqi could.

    He could only watch and marvel at what a wondrous thing it was to achieve.

    Before long, the invaluable spatial treasure that hade from the Shatter Battlefield reached the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    With a strange fizzing sound, Pei Qiqi flew out of the crystal and floated in front of the red bronze arched gate Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang had entered sessively.

    Her eyes burst forth with glorious light. ¡°There¡¯s a portal at the sea bottom!¡±

    The huge arched gate that hadn¡¯t seemed very special to Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang was full of magic and wonders to her.

    There were obviously certain things that she could see, but Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang couldn¡¯t.

    With a single nce at the arched gate, Pei Qiqi, who was well-versed in spatial power and carried a spatial bloodline, spotted numerous spatial power spell formations within the red bronze that made up the gate.

    Not just that, but her spatial bloodline suddenly grew restless, as if it was stirred by the arched gate.

    Pei Qiqi shuddered, and her eyes grew even wider. She suddenly thought of a possibility. ¡°I can¡¯t believe my bloodline is actually interacting with this portal. Don¡¯t tell me that this huge arched gate that connects to another heaven and earth was established here in this Realm Sea by someone who carried the same bloodline as me?

    ¡°One of my parents must carry a spatial bloodline.

    ¡°Then, is it possible that the expert who built this portal belongs to the same race as that parent of mine?¡±

    Thrilling thoughts shed across her mind.

    However, immediately afterwards, she noticed Luo Wanxiang and Nie Tian¡¯s blurry figures in the portal.

    ¡°They¡¯re in there as I expected.¡±

    Without trying to derive enlightenment from the portal, Pei Qiqi grabbed the Space Boundaries Crystal with a swift move. Even to this point, she hadn¡¯t suffered a bit from the strange soul-disrupting power Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying had talked about.

    An interpretation would be that she was immune to that strange soul power!

    WHOOSH!

    After Nie Tian and Luo Wanxiang, she was the third person to fly into the huge arched gate.

    However, the moment her tall and slender physique entered the gate, her spatial bloodline seemed to suddenly start seething.

    Her heart beat so heavily that it sounded like a titan sounding a drum. Even her head spun from her thunderous heartbeat.

    Wisps of strange spatial power that carried an evident flesh aura came from the red bronze arched gate, fusing into Pei Qiqi like shards of curious light.

    The strange spatial power rapidly found its way to Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart, where it strengthened her spatial bloodline.

    Because of this, it took her a bit longer to cross through the portal.

    But eventually, she traveled through the portal and arrived in the part of the starry river where Nie Tian and Mo Heng faced Luo Wanxiang, as well as the huge spirit-form beings and an army of countless evil spirits and vicious souls.

    The three of them exchanged astonished gazes.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Senior... Mo!¡±

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

    Pei Qiqi felt relieved upon seeing Mo Heng, who had vanished for years.

    She believed that no matter how powerful Luo Wanxiang was, he would never be able to hurt Nie Tian with Mo Heng here.

    Plus, Nie Tian had long since grown into a brilliant fighter. Not just anyone could defeat him in battle.

    Mo Heng took a deep look at Pei Qiqi. He seemed to sense some special aura from her as he said, ¡°Kid, you seem to carry an aura that¡¯s very simr to the aura of that portal on the other side.¡±

    Nie Tian, who hade to the same finding, chimed in, ¡°They both carry flesh auras that are vested with the profound truths of spatial power.¡±

    ¡°I sensed that too,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°Also, when I traveled through that portal earlier, wisps of strange spatial power flew out of it and fused into my bloodline. Now, I¡¯m trying to digest it bit by bit to see if I can find some sort of information in them.¡±

    Many years ago, Pei Qiqi had found a vast volcano on the floating continent that had been prated by a beam of spatial power.

    Thanks to her unique bloodline, she had been able to absorb the residual spatial power within it. After refining it into her bloodline, she had rapidly built up her bloodline power and made breakthroughs in her bloodline grade.

    This was the second time something like that had happened.

    HOWL!

    The enormous spirit-form beings suddenly howled, staring at Pei Qiqi.

    From the look of it, they considered Pei Qiqi, who was thest to arrive and carried a spatial bloodline, to be a greater and more hideous foe than Mo Heng.

    However, they had clearly never met Pei Qiqi before.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he instantly realized something. ¡°Bloodline! They must have sensed your spatial bloodline. I bet their sworn enemies are a people that carry a spatial bloodline like you! They¡¯re powerful beings in this part of the starry river, yet they seem to be confined here by this portal. Perhaps portals like this are what have been keeping them from entering our heaven and earths...¡±

    After a brief moment of pondering, he jerked his head towards Mo Heng and said, ¡°I once heard from some people I met in the depths of a space disruption zone that some members of the Void Pce Sect from the Realm of Split Void were living in another part of the starry river. Grand Elder, have you met anyone here from the Void Pce Sect?¡±

    Mo Heng took a moment to think, then said, ¡°No, but someone certainly has something to do with the Void Pce Sect... Girl, you carry a special bloodline. You might be able to reseal this portal from the other side. You¡¯d better take Nie Tian back in a bit. As for this vice sectmaster of our sect, just leave him here with me.¡±

 Chapter 1388: Netherspirits

    Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang let out a coldugh, with evil magical symbols that seemed to carry numerous secret Phantasm soul magics flowing across his brow like a peculiar river.

    ¡°Mo Heng! You¡¯re not protected by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce anymore! Do you really think that you can still do whatever you want?¡±

    The few huge spirit-form beings that had crossed the sea of evil spirits and vicious souls seemed to suddenly sense something.

    In the next moment, an unusually strong soul connection came to form between them and Luo Wanxiang.

    For some reason, Nie Tian only took a brief moment to observe and sense the evil magical symbols streaming across Luo Wanxiang¡¯s brow, and he learned what soul magic he was using. ¡°Soul Rhythm: Resonance.¡±

    What he didn¡¯t know was that the Book of Spirits Luo Wanxiang had obtained was a book of soul magics that a powerful Phantasm grand monarch had written after deriving enlightenment from the Nether River.

    In fact, what he held wasn¡¯t even the whole book, but only a part of it.

    Simr evil magical symbols could be seen flowing quietly in the unfathomable pupils of the giant spirit-form beings, as they seemed to be trying to learn something or obtain some sort of knowledge.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before one of them mastered the humans¡¯mon tongue through Luo Wanxiang¡¯s secret soul magic.

    The enormous being opened its mouth, and what came out was no longer howls that didn¡¯t make sense to humans. Instead, it was perfect humannguage.

    ¡°Humans!¡±

    As soon as it spoke, a hint of excitement appeared in Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes, and he said, ¡°Gentlemen, I derived enlightenment from the Book of Spirits. Through a sacrificial method, I was able to establish soulmunication with a powerful expert of your race. He promised that as long as I could open the portal at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea ande here through it, he would teach me the Netherspirits¡¯ most powerful soul magic!¡±

    ¡°Is your name Luo Wanxiang?¡± The huge spirit-form being asked.

    Luo Wanxiang nodded repeatedly.

    Both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were bbergasted, and couldn¡¯t help turning to look at Mo Heng.

    WHOOSH!

    Luo Wanxiang, who had activated his dharma idol and been hiding within his Immortal grade divine tool, the All Manifestations Star Banner, suddenly flew away from Nie Tian, Mo Heng, and Pei Qiqi to the midst of the giant spirits.

    ¡°Spirit Pearl and Netherspirits...¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself, looking at Mo Heng. ¡°Grand Elder, do those spirit-form beings belong to a race called the Netherspirits? What connection do they have with the Phantasms?¡±

    ¡°So Luo Wanxiang secretly practiced the Phantasms¡¯ Book of Spirits! Dammit!¡± Mo Heng spat.

    Pei Qiqi was also taken aback. ¡°The Book of Spirits!¡±

    Apparently, both Mo Heng and Pei Qiqi had heard about the Phantasms¡¯ Book of Spirits.

    However, it seemed that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t.

    With a deep frown, Pei Qiqi exined, ¡°The Phantasms had a very brilliant grand monarch in their history. He named himself Grand Monarch Nether Spirit. It¡¯s said that he was the one who created the Spirit Pearls and wrote the Book of Spirits by relying on the profound enlightenment he had derived from the Nether River. He was invincible in the prime of his life.

    ¡°Even the Phantasms¡¯ current high chieftain, Grand Monarch Nether River, wouldn¡¯t be able to match him in battle.

    ¡°However, towards the end of Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s life, he seemed to enter deviation during cultivation and went insane. He even killed arge number of his nsmen. Eventually, he exploded and died in the Nether River as he sought its origin and the ultimate secrets of his bloodline.

    ¡°Of course, these are all legends. No one knows their authenticity.¡±

    After a short pause, she continued.

    ¡°The Phantasms consider the three Spirit Pearls, which were Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s weapons, as their precious treasures. The same goes for the Book of Spirits, which records the profound soul magics he derived in his lifetime.

    ¡°However, in the following generations, all those who studied the Book of Spirits went insane, and died violent deaths.

    ¡°There wasn¡¯t a single exception!

    ¡°As time passed, even the Phantasms didn¡¯t dare to study it anymore.¡±

    With these words, she cast a cold nce at Luo Wanxiang. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he actually dares to study an evil book that even drove the person who wrote it insane. I wonder what he¡¯s thinking.¡±

    Mo Heng suddenly chimed in. ¡°I was only able to understand why Grand Monarch Nether Spirit is considered the most powerful Phantasm ever after I came to this part of the starry river. He was probably the only Phantasm that ever found the origin of the Nether River.

    ¡°I suppose he found out that the Nether River running through the Nether Realm actually transformed from the sea of awareness of an extremely powerful Netherspirit expert who died.

    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that the Netherspirits, as a higher species in this part of the starry river, created the Phantasms.

    ¡°After all, the Phantasms only appeared and developed because of the Nether River. All of their soul magicse from the Netherspirits.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang must have establishedmunication with a Netherspirit through some evil soul-sacrificing method he learned from the Book of Spirits. From that expert, he learned about the portal in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea, and received instructions to open it so that Netherspirits would be able to swarm into our world!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang didn¡¯t even bother to deny it. Instead, he looked very calm andposed as he admitted to it. ¡°No wonder you¡¯re the grand elder. It¡¯s amazing how urate your spection is.

    ¡°So it¡¯s not the Phantasms that I¡¯ve been secretly working with this whole time. It¡¯sughable that Grand Monarch Dark Nether thought he could restrain me! The entire Phantasm race doesn¡¯t know their own origin.

    ¡°Perhaps only Grand Monarch Nether River, who¡¯s at thete tenth grade, knows something about their origin. Even so, he doesn¡¯t dare to breathe a word of it.

    ¡°Even though I only read half of the Book of Spirits, I managed to breach the world barrier with the sacrificial method recorded in it, and establishmunication with a powerful Netherspirit.

    ¡°I¡¯vee to an even deeper understanding of the book than all the Phantasms who have studied it.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang became wildly arrogant.

    ¡°You¡¯ve gone insane,¡± Mo Heng said softly.

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Luo Wanxiang said, looking as if he couldn¡¯t care less. ¡°Sectmaster Ji Cang, Qu Yi from the Void Spirit Society, and Chu Yuan from the Heaven Span Pavilion are all at thete God domain. What do they pursue at all costs? Why can¡¯t I pursue what they pursue? Even though my cultivation base is still lower than theirs, I have faith that I¡¯ll reach their heights eventually!

    ¡°The Netherspirits in this world havee to a deep understanding of the profound truths of souls. Their mightiest expert¡¯s sea of awareness even reached eternal indestructibility and stretched to another world, where it created the Phantasms.

    ¡°By coupling my Dao of cultivation with their profound understanding of souls, I might be able to find a brand new path!

    ¡°To pursue that, I was willing to do everything, including betraying our sect.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang didn¡¯t feel the slightest remorse.

    Eyes filled with disgust, Mo Heng said, ¡°All I know is that the Netherspirits¡¯ evil sacrificial ceremonies require an endless stream of souls. Even the Phantasms who studied the Book of Spirits couldn¡¯t get their hands on such a great number of souls. The fact that you seeded proves that billions of lives must have died because of you.

    ¡°Now that I think about it, I even believe that you had a lot to do with the prolonged internal wars that broke out among human domains!¡±

    After Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi heard these words, their expressions also became icy and stern as they red at Luo Wanxiang.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Luo Wanxiang said, slightly tilting his chin. ¡°It requires countless souls to hold the sacrificial ceremony. However, the poptions of Ancientspirits and outsiders are simply too small. Only if human domains wage wars against each other will it produce a tremendous number of souls, enough to initiate the sacrificial process.¡±

    ¡°In the end, you¡¯re the most crooked one!¡± With these words, Mo Hengunched a sudden attack.

 Chapter 1389: Worship

    Mo Heng closed two fingers together to form a sword.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Dazzling light that was formed by extremely condensed spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, and was filled with a continuous, billowy sword intent, rushed at Luo Wanxiang like a waterfall.

    In an instant, clusters of evil spirits were shed and shattered by Mo Heng¡¯s overwhelming sword intent.

    Even the tall Netherspirits looked a little fearful as they avoidedit .

    WHOOSH!

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner floated out, filled with glittering stars, as if it had a small starry river inside of it.

    The stars shone dazzlingly at first, but rapidly faded in session.

    Just like that, Mo Heng¡¯s seemingly-infinite sword intent and the bright stars of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner collided head-on.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up, and he shouted lightly, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the grand elder to be proficient with sword incantations.¡±

    The world considered the Heaven Span Pavilion to have the best sword incantations. They were followed by other sword sects like the Streamcloud Sword Sect.

    No swordsmanship prodigies had ever appeared in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. In other words, no one had broken through and reached the God domain by relying solely on their profound swordsmanship.

    This causal sh from Mo Heng, who was at the middle God domain, contained amazing sword intent, which continuously extinguished the bright stars within the All Manifestations Star Banner one after another.

    It was obvious who was stronger.

    Mo Heng did nothing more than close his two fingers and wield them as a sword, yet Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner, which was an immortal grade divine tool, went dim.

    This was enough to prove that in terms of true fighting strength, Mo Heng, who had just reached the Middle God domain, had left Luo Wanxiang far behind, even though both of them shared the same cultivation base.

    ¡°Senior Mo is, in the end, a great talent who defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust and survived a duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon immediately after entering the middle God domain,¡± Pei Qiqi marveled. ¡°He and Luo Wanxiang are both from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but your vice sectmaster is much weaker.¡±

    Nie Tian shared her opinion.

    Not long ago, he had witnessed how cruel and heartless Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons was.

    The more formidable Grand Monarch Bloodlust had seemed to him, the more it proved how powerful the grand elder in front of him was.

    Nie Tian thought and muttered softly, ¡°He only cultivates pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth and uses nothing but it to create thousands of techniques. Legend has it that Qi warriors in ancient times didn¡¯t cultivate power of any attributes, only the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.¡±

    ¡°The grand elder has the demeanor of an ancient Qi warrior, reaching the summit with a single kind of Dao!¡±

    The stars of the All Manifestations Star Banner went out one by one.

    It seemed like Luo Wanxiang¡¯s divine dharma idol had a river of stars under his feet and a brilliant starry sky over his head. As his hands moved, a river of glittering stars extended towards Mo Heng.

    The river of stars wasbined with pure star power, and seemed to be able to connect different worlds.

    Mo Heng stood unwavering. His divine dharma idol abruptly turned into a ball of blinding white light.

    SWOOSH!

    The white light suddenly morphed into a divine sword that shed at Luo Wanxiang¡¯s divine dharma idol and All Manifestations Star Banner.

    It gouged out holes in both of them, like a white rainbow prating the sun.

    Luo Wanxiang groaned as his Divine dharma idol broke up and morphed into thousands of soul shadows.

    Glittering with starlight, the soul shadows whooshed about to devour evil spirits to enhance their own soul power.

    Several Netherspirits turned a blind eye to it. By doing that, they seemed to be giving him their approval.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed slightly as he said in a low voice, ¡°It seems that he has learned a lot of mysterious soul spells from the Book of Spirits. He extracts a bit of pure soul power from evil spirits and merges it into his own soul to strengthen his cultivation base, which is simr to the effect that the Spirit Pearl can achieve.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± A Netherspirit suddenly eximed, staring at Nie Tian. ¡°You have our nsmen¡¯s aura in you! You are clearly from another world. Why do you carry the aura of our nsmen?¡±

    The other Netherspirits also fixed their eyes on him.

    Pei Qiqi rotated the Space Boundaries Crystal before her chest, calmly speaking, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can take you into the portal at any time. I can probably seal it off at the bottom of the Seven-star Blue Sea as well, but I wonder if I should take the grand elder with us.¡±

    As Mo Heng fought Luo Wanxiang, she had obtained some knowledge from the unusual spatial power that she had absorbed when passing through the portal.

    She already knew the way to open and close it.

    She was very confident that with her Space Boundaries Crystal and her bloodline and space powers, she would be able to close the portal once she returned to the human world.

    ¡°I suppose the aura you refer toes from this.¡±

    Nie Tian shook the Spirit Pearl in front of the Netherspirits, as if to unt it.

    Suddenly, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul shrilled inside.

    Through his connection with the evil gods, Nie Tian detected that they also seemed to sense the aura of their kind, and wanted to charge out of the Spirit Pearl again.

    Looking at the Spirit Pearl, the few Netherspirits seemed a little confused.

    WOOSH! WOOSH!

    Uncontrobly, the five evil gods broke free of the shackles of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul again and rushed out of the Spirit Pearl, roaring.

    Compared to the few nsmen in front of them, the five evil gods, who were also from the Netherspirits, had fleshly bodies, and weren¡¯t illusory.

    In addition, their bodies released five extremely negative emotions of bloodlust, fear, despair, hatred, and rage that surged like oceans in a storm!

    The moment the five evil gods came out, the expressions of the so-called Netherspirits in this world suddenly changed.

    They stared at the five evil gods and probed the five extremely negative emotions they emitted.

    ¡°Woo-hoo, woo-hoo ah!¡± Out of the blue, the few Netherspirits kowtowed to the five evil gods, and shouted in their uniquenguage, looking excited and fanatical.

    The five evil gods floated high above their heads calmly, as if the few Netherspirits ought to behave in front of them like that to begin with.

    This was an attitude of the superior to the inferior!

    Nie Tian froze. Looking at the five evil gods, who were like five emperors being worshipped by their subjects, his expression gradually turned weird. ¡°What? Those five guys actually put on such airs in front of the Netherspirits they meet in this world? The moment the Netherspirits see them, they have to kowtow to them?¡±

    Pei Qiqi was taken aback. She had secretly prepared to take Nie Tian away at any time, but now, after seeing this, she temporarily gave up on the idea. Instead, she decided to wait and see.

    ¡°Those five things...¡±

    Even Luo Wanxiang, whose soul shadows had broken into thousands of pieces to swallow evil spirits, was also taken aback. He didn¡¯t understand why the Netherspirits of this world he had taken great pains to establishmunication with would behave this way.

    As the one who knew the truth best, Mo Heng said, ¡°It¡¯s the aura of the five strongest experts under the patriarch whose soul awareness morphed into the Nether River after death.¡±

    But in the next moment, his expression became very grave as he spoke, ¡°Nie Tian, why do those five have fleshly bodies?¡±

    ¡°I gave them to them, in a sense,¡± Nie Tian replied.

 Chapter 1390: Fragmentary Souls Reunite

    ¡°Gave them?!¡± Mo Heng was so shocked that he couldn¡¯t help but perceive the five evil gods¡¯ flesh auras with his soul awareness, which was as thin as gossamer, before saying, ¡°Different. They¡¯re different from the Netherspirits indeed!¡±

    ¡°Woo-hoo!¡± Thousands of miles away, a few figures lurked in a sea of numerous evil spirits.

    If Nie Tian were there, he could recognize at a single nce that they were none other than the few Netherspirits who had kowtowed to the five evil gods.

    The only difference was that they were in fleshly form, and wearing fine cyan armor.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know that they were the Netherspirits¡¯ true selves.

    As for the Netherspirits who had driven the thousands of evil spirits to surround Mo Heng, they were only their sub-souls.

    Now, the Netherspirits with fleshly bodies looked at each other, and saw astonishment in each other¡¯s faces.

    One of them shouted, ¡°Those five lords are, are...¡±

    ¡°Hurry and report this to the higher-ups, and lead the five lords back into the n!¡±

    ¡°Our sub-souls aren¡¯t mistaken, are they? Didn¡¯t the bodies of the five lords explode and their souls perish and scatter across two worlds long ago? Why have they shown up again after so many years?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t be mistaken! It¡¯s their auras!¡±

    After secretlymunicating for a while, the several Netherspirits cast a soul magic to send out messages.

    In front of the portal, their sub-souls then respectfully made requests to the five evil gods who had flown out of the Spirit Pearl in thenguage of the Netherspirits.

    ¡°Your Majesties, please return to our holynd with us!¡±

    ¡°Wee back, lords!¡±

    ¡°Pleasee home with us!¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    Suddenly, a cluster of miraculous ghostly light that only souls could perceive merged into the five evil gods¡¯ bodies.

    The five evil gods, who had developed fleshly bodies, floated high in the air. Their eyes stared nkly forward, as if they were quietly absorbing something. They didn¡¯t leave even though the Netherspirits invited them to.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Mo Heng waved his hand, and Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner instantly flew into the sea of evil spirits, as if it were swept away by strong wind.

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked in astonishment.

    ¡°The five Netherspirits that you gave fleshly bodies to are gathering fragments of their memories and souls that are scattered in this world,¡± Mo Heng said with a grave face. ¡°They are called evil gods by their own kind, so it¡¯s actually right for you to call them five evil gods.

    ¡°They were killed in a battle, and their exploded fragmentary souls were scattered across two worlds.

    ¡°It was Grand Monarch Nether Soul who painstakingly collected fragments of their souls from outsider and Ancientspirit worlds with the three Spirit Pearls.

    ¡°Because Grand Monarch Nether Soul already had a vague understanding of their secret back then, and was afraid that their soul fragments would merge and then sessfully wake up, he made three Spirit Pearls. This way, he could borrow their strength without needing to worry that their souls would reform, allowing them to regain consciousness.

    ¡°You got all three Spirit Pearls, which means you¡¯ve got all their scattered fragmentary souls and memories that were scattered in the outsider and Ancientspirit worlds.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that they¡¯re still iplete.¡±

    Mo Heng took a deep breath and continued, as if he knew the whole story. ¡°They still have fragmentary souls and memories scattered in this world.

    ¡°Because they¡¯ve returned to this world now, the fragmentary souls and memories that can sense their presence are all returning.

    ¡°There is a great possibility that these five evil gods who used to be matchlessly strong Netherspirits will be truly resurrected in this world when their fragmentary souls and memories that are scattered in this world merge into their souls!

    ¡°Besides, you¡¯ve helped them reforge their bodies, bodies that may be even stronger and more special than their original ones!

    ¡°Nie Tian, think about whether you want to leave them alone and allow them to gather the rest of their fragmentary souls and memories carefully!

    ¡°You¡¯d better be sure that you can control them, and that they¡¯ll do whatever you want them to do!¡±

    Mo Heng exined the secret to Nie Tian in a serious tone, but didn¡¯t force him to directly put the five evil gods back into the Spirit Pearl.

    After he finished speaking, the sub-souls of the few Netherspirits red at him.

    Apparently, they hated him for exposing their secret in detail. They were afraid that because of Mo Heng¡¯s words, the five lords would be unable to gather their souls in this world ande back to life!

    ¡°The origins of the five evil gods are... actually so unusual?¡± Nie Tian found this unimaginable, ¡°After death, their souls were scattered across two worlds, instead of beingpletely annihted. The three Spirit Pearls that Grand Monarch Nether Soul made were used to collect the fragmentary souls scattered in outsider and Ancientspirit worlds?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, why don¡¯t... we get out of here first?¡± Pei Qiqi suggested.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul also tried hard to get Nie Tian to focus all his soul consciousness, and forcibly seal the five evil gods in the Spirit Pearl again as soon as possible.

    ording to the soul of the Spirit Pearl, the bond between it and the five evil gods was bing weaker and weaker.

    It silently and clearly perceived that the five evil spirits that had broken free of the Spirit Pearl and shown up in this world were reforming their souls and restoring their memories through clusters of ghostly light that flew into them.

    They would retrieve all their lost souls and memories over time.

    When the time came, they might abandon the Spirit Pearl and their master Nie Tian, and descend upon this world in their original form!

    Or perhaps, at a certain moment on a certain day, they would suddenly present themselves in the human world or the Nether Realm, which was the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd, in an invincible form.

    After hesitating for a while, Nie Tian asked, probing, ¡°Since you know the five evil gods¡¯ origins, grand elder, do you know how their fighting strength was in their heyday? Will they be a threat to us if they return?¡±

    Mo Heng sighed. ¡°In their heyday, each of them wasparable to ate God domain expert, or Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi werepletely dumbfounded.

    Luo Wanxiang had swallowed many evil spirits to strengthen his soul, and was ready to attack again with his All Manifestations Star Banner. However, he stood aghast upon hearing this. ¡°The five of them areparable tote God domain experts, experts like Grand Monarch Primal Demon? How is that possible?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Netherspirit who beguiled you and made you abandon your own kind to open the portal in the Seven-star Blue Sea tell you?¡± Mo Heng said in disgust, ¡°As the vice sectmaster of our sect, you colluded with the Netherspirits in this world for your own selfish desires. You¡¯re a disgrace to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    ¡°Do you even know why our sectmaster disappeared, and where he is now?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang was a little ashamed, and silently lowered his head.

    Mo Heng snorted coldly. ¡°The person trapping our sectmaster is the Netherspirit who youmunicated with through the evil sacrificial ceremony recorded in the Book of Spirits. He has figured out the secrets of all of our sect¡¯s star incantations through his soulmunication with you, using the soul arts he gave to you as bait.¡±

    Mo Heng continued to rebuke him. ¡°Our sectmaster gained the upper hand at the beginning of his battle against him, butter, he was gradually trapped. Luo Wanxiang, your behavior is unforgivable!¡±

    Lowering his head and saying nothing, Luo Wanxiang quietly retreated into the sea of countless evil spirits.

    Just then, the several Netherspirits came roaring in their true form in order to ensure that the five evil gods would be sessfully resurrected.

 Chapter 1391: Betray Their Master?

    The sub-souls that the several Netherspirits had released merged into their bodies immediately after they arrived.

    Afterwards, they kowtowed to the five evil gods with ancient graceful etiquettes and fanatical looks in their eyes.

    Mo Heng snorted.

    He had faced these Netherspirits who had released sub-souls to control evil spirits many times. They knew each other very well.

    Not only did their arrival not upset him, but it actually excited him.

    He was well-aware that he could not kill them no matter how hard he tried, if they only appeared as sub-souls.

    A sub-soul was only part of their soul.

    Each Netherspirit could create a number of sub-souls. Killing a sub-soul could hurt them, but couldn¡¯t kill them.

    If he destroyed a Netherspirit¡¯s true form, however, even though that might not kill them either, it would cause them much greater damage.

    A Netherspirit could have more than one sub-soul, but only one body.

    ¡°Nie Tian, think about it carefully,¡± Mo Heng said as he withdrew his divine dharma idol, returning to his normal form.

    Standing in front of the Netherspirits, he held his hands in front of his chest, with his palms facing each other.

    Pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth swirled out of his palms and twisted together, like dragons or snakes.

    Like rune lines, the ¡®dragons and snakes¡¯ manifested the great Dao and truths that ancient Qi warriors had derived while exploring the heavens and earth in the small space between his palms.

    ¡°Even if the five evil gods gather their fragmentary souls and memories one by one, andpletelye back to life, their fighting strength cannot return to the peak in a short time,¡± Mo Heng continued, ¡°If I were in charge of the Spirit Pearl, I would have had the power to make them obediently follow my orders, because they could still be killed by me in a short time after restoring their lost memories andpleting their souls.

    ¡°But your cultivation base isn¡¯t high enough, so I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    He was afraid that Nie Tian didn¡¯t have the power to control the five evil gods, and would end up being drowned by tides of their negative emotions, bing their puppet.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pei Qiqi shouted.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you return to the human world first?¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul also anxiously advised him again and again. ¡°You cane back to this world after your cultivation base and bloodline advance to a higher level. When you do, those evil gods will still be able to gather their fragmentary souls and memories scattered in this world.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, a determined look appearing in his eyes. ¡°No!¡±

    Looking coldly at the five evil gods, he said, ¡°I¡¯d like to see if they can actually break free of my control after they retrieve their memories, regainpletely independent consciousnesses, and find their true selves!¡±

    Mo Heng seemed to be impressed by these words, with an unusual light in his eyes. ¡°This is not wise, but... your courage is admirable.¡±

    Pei Qiqi instantly calmed down and said, ¡°Alright then.¡±

    Since their sub-souls had had secretmunications with Luo Wanxiang, the Netherspirits who came from far away seemed to have learned thenguage of the humans, and could understand the conversation between Nie Tian and Mo Heng.

    As soon as they heard that Nie Tian would leave the five evil gods alone and allow them to gather their fragmentary souls and memories, they became more excited.

    They no longer felt the need to attack Mo Heng and Nie Tian right away.

    WHOOSH!

    Clusters of ghostly light, which were from the extremely far starry river in this world, broke their restrictions, quietly flew over, and merged into the five evil gods¡¯ bodies like curious imprints.

    The five evil gods shrieked as their tremendous auras roared upwards one after another, like smoke beacons.

    Their five negative emotions of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust became stronger and stronger. It seemed like they had been materialized, and could beguile creatures and make thempletely lost in an instant.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Through the five evil gods, Nie Tian perceived somehow that there were five regions in this world that seemed to establish mysterious connections with them.

    The five regions were situated in different directions of the world, like five deep seas that were filled with hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust!

    As the five evil gods gathered their fragmentary souls and memories, the five deep seas started flying toward them, as if they had been summoned.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul panicked and yelled, ¡°Master, the power of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust in the five deep seas seems to be a hundred times stronger than that of in the five regions of the cyanherworld within the pearl! I don¡¯t even think the five deep seas are illusory seas, but rather some sort of evil tool!¡±

    BOOM!

    At this moment, the five evil gods, whose bodies Nie Tian had forged with drops of his Blood Essence and countless evil spirits and discarnate souls, suddenly struggled violently!

    They growled and tore at their fleshly bodies.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Under their skin, blood-colored light blossomed within their meridians, bones, and internal organs.

    Through their bloodline connection, Nie Tian, who was their master, perceived that with the recovery of their memories and souls, the five evil gods seemed to want to shatter the shackles and imprints rted to him in their bodies, and free themselves from his very.

    They wanted to regain freedom!

    ¡°Freedom?¡± Nie Tian smiled coldly. ¡°Without me, the three Spirit Pearls wouldn¡¯t have be one, and the five of you wouldn¡¯t have evolved from evil spirits to evil gods, or remade your fleshly bodies! Now that you¡¯re back in your ancestralnd, and found more of your fragmentary souls and memories, you want to get rid of me?

    ¡°You¡¯ve got all the benefits, but now you don¡¯t want me as your master anymore? There¡¯s nothing like that in the world!¡±

    The five evil gods suddenly red at him.

    Mo Heng frowned. ¡°Ungrateful things!¡±

    The Star Behemoth bone was quietly summoned by Nie Tian, who shrank it so he could hold it in his hand.

    He stood solemnly and held fast to his mind to prevent the five evil gods from attacking him with their soul awareness.

    Squinting slightly, he looked deeply at them. He discovered that no matter how they tore at their bodies, their flesh and meridians still retained his unique flesh aura.

    Strands of flesh auras from his Blood Essence were like ropes and bonds, connecting him with the five evil gods.

    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°It seems that as long as it¡¯s a body that is remade with my Blood Essence, it will always be branded with my unique imprints!¡±

    With that, he concentrated his soul awareness, and issued an order to the five evil gods by relying on his flesh aura connection with them. ¡°Clear the obstacles ahead!¡±

    As soon as his soul awareness was released, many rays of mysterious crystalline bloodline light shot out toward their bodies, flickering.

    A bloodline constraint formed upon Nie Tian¡¯s soulmand. Even the evil gods¡¯ souls struck a spiritual chord with him with strange rhythms.

    Gathered near the evil gods, the Netherspirits suddenly felt a strong fear.

    Then, with vicious screeches, the five evil gods actually stretched out their uncanny hands in an attempt to kill them, heedless of the bonds between nsmen.

 Chapter 1392: Letting Loose

    Netherspirits had a strong and deep-rooted fear towards their superiors.

    Every Netherspirit had heard stories about the five evil gods and their tremendous contributions to their people since they had been little, and knew by heart every detail of the great battles they had fought alongside their mightiest leader before they had perished, and their souls had scattered across two worlds.

    All of them knew how mighty and formidable they had been.

    Their legendary deeds hung high in the heavens of the Netherspirits¡¯ history like bright, ever-shining stars that guided their people generation after generation.

    ¡°Lords!¡±

    The Netherspirits, whomanded countless evil spirits and vicious souls, couldn¡¯t summon even the slightest will to fight them.

    As soon as a slight wisp of fighting will rose in their hearts, it was forcibly scattered by some mysterious power.

    The Netherspirits exchanged nces, and saw helplessness and uneasiness in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Wisps of soul will shed across their minds like invisible lightning bolts.

    They soon reached a mutual understanding.

    FIZZ!

    Like plumes of smoke, they flew off and vanished into the distant starry river.

    Since they didn¡¯t dare to fight the evil gods, they could only leave.

    However, as they flew away, they let out calls in peculiar soul voices, as if to send out messages.

    The five evil gods, which had been born in the Spirit Pearl and took orders from Nie Tian, seemed to be attracted by their soul calls, as they spread out to chase after them.

    ¡°Master, this doesn¡¯t seem good...¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul secretly reminded Nie Tian. ¡°This is their ancestralnd. By staying here, they¡¯ll be able to gather their scattered soul and memory fragments. If they stay by your side the whole time, you may still be able to restrain and control them.

    ¡°However, if they get too far away from you and me, your profound connection with them may break. Then, after they gather all of their soul fragments and recover their memories fully, perhaps they¡¯ll be able to break free from your flesh aura restrictionspletely, and regain their freedom with the help of other Netherspirits.¡±

    By saying these words, the Spirit Pear¡¯s soul wanted Nie Tian to issue another order to call the five evil gods back.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression gradually changed as he sensed his soul and flesh aura connection with the evil gods.

    As the distance between him and the five evil gods grew greater and greater, his soul connection with them and his flesh aura constraints on them became weaker and weaker.

    At the same time, they gathered more and more memory and soul fragments.

    As time passed, he came to the shocking realization that he had to maintain his control of the five evil gods by keeping them from getting too far away from him!

    Without any dy, he focused his soul awareness and sent out orders.

    Secondster, with a deeply grim expression, he sent the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul a soul message. ¡°It seems I was toote.¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul let out a soft sigh from within the cyan pearl, and then fell silent.

    Pei Qiqi and Mo Heng didn¡¯t know any of this. They still looked around with calm expressions, assuming that the five evil gods would soon return after chasing the Netherspirits away.

    ¡°No wonder they¡¯re considered the five most powerful evil gods in their history,¡± Mo Heng said, looking impressed. ¡°Netherspirits have an extremely strict hierarchy. Those Netherspirits¡¯ fear and reverence towards the evil gods are so deeply rooted in their souls and bloodlines that they couldn¡¯t summon even the slightest will to fight them.

    ¡°Only after they rise to the evil gods¡¯ heights will they be able to ovee that fear and reverence.¡±

    Pei Qiqi pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Senior Mo, it¡¯s said that you went to the Domain of Endless Thunder to help defend the Mo n and the Heavenly Thunder Sect against Yuan Jiuchuan and other crooked human forces, but disappeared soon after that. How did you end up here, guarding this portal?

    ¡°Also, you said that Sectmaster Ji Cang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is also in this world. Is that true?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As the Netherspirits retreated, the five evil gods chasing after them and the sea of countless evil spirits and vicious souls theymanded also withdrew like an ebbing tide.

    Luo Wanxiang from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce went with them.

    Soon after his battle against Mo Heng had ended, he had secretly backed away and vanished into the sea of swarming evil spirits.

    Since Mo Heng had to look after Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, he didn¡¯t go after him.

    Perhaps to Mo Heng, this vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was nothing to be feared.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°I can only roughly sense the direction of those five through my flesh aura connection with them now. They should still be able to receive my orders. However, since they¡¯re getting farther and farther away from me and growing stronger by the second, they can defy my orders now.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was astonished.

    Mo Heng frowned and said, ¡°If they manage to gather their soul fragments and break your control, they may be able to recover their peak strength with the help of other Netherspirits. Then, they¡¯ll be a real problem.¡±

    He also had a headache over the situation.

    ¡°I can only try and see if I can get them back.¡± With these words, Nie Tian prepared to fly after the five evil gods by following their flesh auras to see if he could draw them back into the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Pei Qiqi stopped him.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal spun in front of her ample breasts.

    Every facet of the crystal had glorious light flowing inside of it, as if they were eyes that were curiously scanning their surroundings in the starry river.

    Soon, the glorious light in five of the facets morphed into images.

    Images of the five evil gods were presented in five different facets of the crystal.

    They showed that they were being led by the Netherspirits and flying away in different directions.

    Their killing intent had been strong and violent at first. However, as they flew farther and farther away, it gradually grew faint, and was reced by confusion.

    During their pursuit, clusters of mysterious light that looked like some sort of imprints hit them, and quickly fused into their souls, where they became their deepest soul imprints and started awakening their memories and numerous soul magics they had mastered in their previous life.

    Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal to show the images of the five evil gods to Nie Tian and Mo Heng. ¡°They¡¯re slowly growing stronger indeed as their souls be more and moreplete. This invaluable spatial treasure of mine is now locked onto them. If you want, I can take you to any of them within a breath¡¯s time.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°So they won¡¯t go beyond its detection range?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they will anytime soon.¡± Pei Qiqi gave an affirmative answer. ¡°However, I can¡¯t seem to locate Luo Wanxiang...¡±

    Mo Heng snorted disdainfully. ¡°Luo Wanxiang was charmed by a Netherspirit from this world who¡¯s well-versed in bewitchment. That expert is at thete tenth grade. Together with several other Netherspirit experts, he managed to bewitch our sectmaster, Ji Cang, and trap him in his own mind.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian said, ¡°I heard that the sectmaster was imprisoned by a secret force in some remote part of the starry river.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, Zhao Shanling, and Dong Li had all apanied Nie Tian to a space disruption zone, where they had met the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan and Feng Beiluo, and had many uncanny encounters.

    From them, they had learned that there was a hidden force in the human world that absorbed crooked human forces like the Nether Spirit Society and the Death Curse Sect, as well as forsaken outsiders.

    They had assumed that that hidden force was responsible for Ji Cang going missing, and Mo Heng¡¯s sudden disappearance.

    A mixed look appeared in Mo Heng¡¯s eyes as he took a nce at Nie Tian and said, ¡°You mean them? It¡¯s not like you think.¡±

    Suddenly remembering something, Nie Tian said, ¡°Grand Elder, I met Senior Mo Qianfan, and he told me that you went to see someone right before your disappearance. Who was it? What did he tell you? Was he the reason why you¡¯re here, guarding a portal that connects to the Seven-star Blue Sea many years after your disappearance?¡±

    Pei Qiqi also waited for Mo Heng¡¯s answers.

    As long as Pei Qiqi and the Space Boundaries Crystal were there, Nie Tian would be able to reach the evil gods within a breath¡¯s time, no matter how far away they flew.

    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t think the five evil gods would be able to gather all of their soul and memory fragments and break away from his control within a short period of time.

    On the contrary, he thought it might be a good thing to give the evil gods some time to recover their memories andplete their souls before he put them back into the Spirit Pearl one by one.

    That was why he wasn¡¯t so worried about them, but instead wanted to learn more about this world, Mo Heng¡¯s disappearance, and Ji Cang¡¯s situation.

    Mo Heng looked hesitant as he said, ¡°The sectmaster is trapped by the joint efforts of multiple Netherspirit experts. But I¡¯m more worried about the Netherspirits opening this portal behind me and swarming into our world through it. If they do pour into our heaven and earth, our world will definitely be plunged into turmoil.¡±

    Mo Heng avoided answering Nie Tian¡¯s questions regarding who he had met and what they had talked about.

    ¡°Who else lives in this world other than Netherspirits?¡± Pei Qiqi asked. ¡°Those Stone Golems seem to havee from the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea. If the portal was closed the whole time, then how were they able toe out of the sea? And why didn¡¯t any Netherspiritse out with them?

    ¡°Plus, we met Feng Beiluo, Yuan Jiuchuan, and others in the depths of a space disruption zone.

    ¡°There, I discovered and briefly explored another heaven and earth, which is quite different from here. That ce was filled with hybrids like me and Nie Tian.

    ¡°ording to Feng Beiluo, a brand new era is at hand. Does that ¡®brand new era¡¯ have anything to do with this world? Also, what kind of rtionship does that secret force have with the Netherspirits in this world?¡±

    Pei Qiqi put forth a series of questions in one go, like firing cannonballs.

    ¡°My master, Senior Chu from the Heaven Span Pavilion, and those seniors from the Five Elements Sect have all disappeared recently. They¡¯re not all there, are they?¡± Pei Qiqi gave voice to another question in her heart.

    Mo Heng pondered for a long while before slowly opening his mouth.

 Chapter 1393: A New Visitor

    In the Seven-star Blue Sea of the human world.

    Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying, who were both God domain experts, looked dejected. Now and then, they looked down at the calm, quiet sea where Nie Tian had disappeared.

    Zhao Shanling released the Voidspirit Pagoda, which held many spatial mysteries, to swim around in the depths of the sea for a while before he turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°Compared to Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal, my Voidspirit Pagoda is much weaker. The pagoda can¡¯t go down to the bottom of the sea to detect Nie Tian¡¯s tracks.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t even go that deep if he sank with the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    Dong Li could hardly remain calm as she said, ¡°Nie Tian, Luo Wanxiang, and Pei Qiqi all dove into the Seven-star Blue Sea and disappeared without a trace. Even Senior Mo and Senior Yu can¡¯t see what¡¯s going on at the bottom of the sea clearly. I¡¯m afraid that Luo Wanxiang will make Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi...¡±

    Everyone was silent.

    Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society, who had speciallye from the Heaven Span Pavilion, also had a gloomy expression. ¡°It is detestable that the outsiders havee to attack us on such arge scale. Fan Tianze and Chu Rui can¡¯t pay attention to the movements of the Seven-star Blue Sea at the same time. Only after the war situation bes stable over there, will they be able toe here to see what Luo Wanxiang was up to.¡±

    Suddenly, a gentle, remote voice rang out. ¡°I know what Luo Wanxiang is up to.¡±

    A seemingly hidden ancient starship suddenly appeared.

    The ancient starship looked dim andcked luster. It was made of some special taupe metal, and had dark ripples flowing through its hull.

    ¡°Shadow Warship!¡± Ji Yuanquan shouted.

    Yu Suying was taken aback. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Shadow Warship, which was hundreds of meters long and looked like a giant flying shuttle, quietly arrived at the surface of Seven-star Blue Sea without a sound.

    The Shadow Warship of the Shadow Society was the most special starship in the human world.

    It was famous for its speed and lightness.

    Its drawback was that its hull wasn¡¯t strong enough. If it was attacked, it would easily break apart.

    The many mysterious formations engraved on the Shadow Warship could make it faster and nimbler. There were also a number of formations that could hide it as long as they were triggered by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow power.

    Once those formations were triggered, it could escape anyone¡¯s soul perception unless it was someone whose cultivation base was higher than Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s.

    The fact that the Shadow Warship that was famous in the human world suddenly manifested out of nowhere meant that Jiang Yuanchi, sectmaster of the Shadow Society, must be in it.

    Otherwise, Mo Qianfan, Ji Yuanquan and Yu Suying, who were God domain experts, would have perceived it.

    Even Shangguan Zhi, the vice sectmaster of the Shadow Society, couldn¡¯t trigger those formations to hide the Shadow Warship because he didn¡¯t practice shadow power.

    Sure enough, as Yu Suying let out an exmation, Jiang Yuanchi, who cultivated both light power and shadow power and had disappeared after the battle outside the Realm of Divine Seal, showed himself on the Shadow Warship with a calm expression.

    You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect, Shangguan Zhi, and Duan Hongwen were standing on either side of him.

    Five God domain experts!

    All the Saint domain experts present gasped in great shock. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s face suddenly turned very gloomy. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! Since you have your own consciousness instead of being enved by Gupi, then you should not have colluded with it! At the very least, humans are now being attacked by outsiders and Ancientspirits in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s domains. Why have you brought these experts here instead of joining the defense with the Heaven Span Pavilion?

    ¡°Only because of your personal enmities? Because Nie Tian¡¯s master Wu Ji took away the Gupi that you relied on with the river of time?

    ¡°Are you here to take vengeance?¡±

    Everyone was on-guard, as if they were facing formidable enemies.

    The Shadow Society had joined hands with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Profound Purity Pce, and conspired to rece the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and take over its vast territory.

    Since the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had set foot in the Realm of Maelstrom, they had been badly injured again and again. Duan Hongwen had been seriously injured by Nie Tian, and You Qimiao had also been forced to retreat.

    Moreover, Nie Tian had suppressed the Jade Heaven Sect during his ¡®journey of fury,¡¯ which had resulted in the destruction of the Realm of Jade Billows.

    Afterwards, Jiang Yuanchi, who had reached a secret agreement with Gupi, had been exposed by Nie Tian in the Realm of Divine Seal. He had had no choice but to separate himself from Gupi. Because of this, his n was once again destroyed by Nie Tian.

    No one was surprised that Jiang Yuanchi hated Nie Tian.

    But this was a very sensitive time, as outsiders were invading!

    Ji Yuanquan rebuked Jiang Yuanchi out of righteousness; he wasn¡¯t wrong.

    ¡°Vengeance?¡± Jiang Yuanchi was speechless, shook his head and said, ¡°Ji Yuanquan, you underestimate me. If I wanted to kill Nie Tian out of personal enmity, there are better ways than this. How hard would it be for me to kill him as long as he travels without Chu Rui and Fan Tianze? I have the rest of my life to find an opportunity like that.¡±

    Mo Qianfan snorted. ¡°That may not necessarily be the case! In the Realm of Divine Seal, you didn¡¯t seed. Given Nie Tian¡¯s progress in his cultivation, I don¡¯t think it will be long before you cannot easily defeat him.¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi chuckled and didn¡¯t defend himself. He just said, ¡°I didn¡¯te here to take my revenge. I¡¯vee for the Seven-star Blue Sea. To be exact, it should be called the Seven-star... Realm Sea!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan was slightly surprised, ¡°Did your Shadow Society know that this is a realm sea?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi responded by asking rhetorically, ¡°What do you think? My Shadow Society is informed of even the littlest things that happen in human domains. Your Void Spirit Society, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Five Elements Sect all have my Shadow Society¡¯s informants. We¡¯ve been keeping an eye on the Realm Sea for a long time.¡±

    You Qimiao chimed in. ¡°In fact, one of the most important reasons why the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect came to the Realm of Maelstrom to upy Nie Tian¡¯s three domains was that we wanted to gain control of the Seven-star Realm Sea. Unfortunately, because of Nie Tian, we failed to take over the three domains as nned.¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi squinted as he said, ¡°It¡¯s not toote. Now is a good time. While the other people have left to fight against the outsiders, we can just finish the rest of our n.¡±

    Then, he tapped his head and said to Ji Yuanquan, as if he had just remembered something, ¡°I forgot. I know what Luo Wanxiang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce wants to do.¡±

    ¡°What does he want to do?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked, suppressing his anger.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s smile faded and spoke, his face grim, ¡°There is a portal sitting at the bottom of the Seven-star Realm Sea. It connects to another world! I believe that there are also records of it in your sect¡¯s ancient secret records.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan was surprised. ¡°I know of no such records.¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi was condescending as he said, ¡°You don¡¯t know because your status isn¡¯t high enough. Only sect leaders like Qu Yi and Xuan Guangyu know of its existence.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan froze for a while before shouting. ¡°Did you learn about the Seven-star Realm Sea and the portal from...?¡±

    He stopped himself before he could say the words ¡°Xuan Guangyu.¡±

    Even so, Jiang Yuanchi smiled and nodded. ¡°Yes, we are here for the portal. I suppose it¡¯s because he wants to open the portal and explore another world that Luo Wanxiang has been nning for a long time. He and I have nevermunicated or contacted each other in secret. I only guessed what he was after through some clues.¡±

    Then, he looked at You Qimiao and said with a smile, ¡°Sectmaster You. You¡¯ll stay here while I go down and see if the portal is open.¡±

 Chapter 1394: Secret

    In front of the portal, Mo Heng hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, ¡°In fact, this world is deeply rted to the human world and the outsider races! As far as I know, there are Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes in this world.¡±

    He continued with a troubled expression, ¡°The Netherspirits can be seen as the source of the Phantasms¡¯ bloodline. The Devils are the origin of the Demons¡¯ bloodline, and the Bonedrudes and the Bonebrutes are inseparable.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were both taken aback and eximed, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Mo Heng added, ¡°The Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes of this world have all wanted toy a hand on our world since the Primal Era and the Deste Antiquity Era. However, Star Behemoths were the overlords in the Primal Era. Not only did the three races fail to benefit from their invasions, but they also suffered great losses.

    ¡°However, I vaguely heard that they yed an important role in the extinction of the Star Behemoths.

    ¡°After the era of the Star Behemoths was over, Ancientspirits, led by titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons, took over the world. The strongest Ancientspirit experts approached and fought the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes. Numerous powerful creatures perished in battle.

    ¡°After that, the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes changed their tactics and adopted another approach, where they created Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes in the world where our ancestralnd is.

    ¡°These three outsider races aren¡¯t native races. They were born in mysterious ways after the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes performed some sort of bloodline irrigation.

    ¡°At the end of the Deste Antiquity Era, led by the Phantasms, the Demons, Bonebrutes, Fiends, Birdmen, Stonemen, ckscales, and others joined up to fight against the Ancientspirits. After those battles, they won some say and their own domains in the world controlled by Ancientspirits.

    ¡°Originally, the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes in this world intended to achieve their goal of invading the Ancientspirit world through the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes.

    ¡°However, after the strongest experts of the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes grew into grand monarchs, the imprints hidden in their bloodlines were awakened. After they learned the source of their bloodlines and their creators¡¯ plot, they turned against them and refused to work for them as their tools.¡±

    Nie Tian listened attentively. Then he suddenly understood, and said, ¡°That is to say, the bloodline sources of the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes are the three outsider races in this world. They created them through the Nether River, their bloodlines, or other means? The purpose of the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes¡¯ existence was only to help them smoothly invade the world where the Ancientspirits and we lived?¡±

    Mo Heng nodded.

    ¡°Then what bloodline grade do Phantasm, Demon, and Bonebrute grand monarchs have to reach before they can learn these truths from their blood imprints?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°The middle tenth-grade at least. Most of the time, they have to reach thete tenth-grade to do so,¡± Mo Heng replied. ¡°For example, for Grand Monarch Primal Demon, the Demon high chieftain, Grand Monarch Nether River, the Phantasm high chieftain, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, the Bonebrute high chieftain, the imprints hidden in their bloodlines werepletely awakened after their bloodlines sessfully reached thete tenth-grade.

    ¡°The three of them naturally understood the origins of their bloodlines, and the existence of this world.

    ¡°However, they don¡¯t want to take orders from the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils. Therefore, they won¡¯t even tell their nsmen about the secret behind their origins, but will deliberately hide it from them.

    ¡°Again, after reaching levels like Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, how can they possibly be willing to be led by others?¡±

    Hearing Mo Heng¡¯s statement, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi learned of the ethnic distribution in this world, and that Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes were actually not native races.

    ¡°I once went to another gorgeous world through a portal in the depths of the space disruption zone,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°That¡¯s a strange zone between two worlds, this world and our human world,¡± Mo Heng, who clearly knew about it, said, ¡°It¡¯s like the Dead Star Sea, which separates us from the Ancientspirits and the outsiders. In fact, a long time ago, it wasn¡¯t called the Dead Star Sea. It was called the Myriad Stars Sea.

    ¡°It¡¯s because humans, Ancientspirits, and outsiders constantly fought each other in the starry river there that eventually led to the explosion of the stars and the elerated death of the Myriad Stars Sea, which was reduced to the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°The zone between us and the Netherspirits, however, hasn¡¯t been reduced to a sea of dead stars.

    ¡°The so-called crooked forces like Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect and the sectmasters of the Death Curse Sect and the Nether Spirit Society were driven into a corner by the four great ancient sects. Losing their footholds in the human world, they went to live in that zone between two worlds under the guidance of a person.¡±

    Speaking up to this point, Mo Heng gave Nie Tian a look, with a weird expression.

    For some reason, Nie Tian knew almost immediately that the person Mo Heng was talking about was his father whom he had never met.

    ¡°If the crooked forces are on theirst breaths, why haven¡¯t the four great ancient sects marched into that zone between two worlds and wiped them out?¡± Pei Qiqi asked. ¡°I also saw a lot of hybrids in there. Those hybrids are very young, but growing quickly. Do my master, Senior Chu, and Senior Ji of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce know of their existence?¡±

    ¡°They do,¡± Mo Heng answered.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Pei Qiqi was bewildered.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t go to wipe them out, partly because under the guidance of that person, the so-called crooked forces have be so strong that even the four great ancient sects don¡¯t want to fight them,¡± Mo Heng exined. ¡°On the other hand, it¡¯s because their existence in the zone between two worlds can help the humans be on guard against the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was surprised. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, those crooked forces are equivalent to a solid barrier that stands between us and the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils of this world, right?¡±

    Mo Heng nodded. ¡°Exactly.¡±

    ¡°What about the Stone Golems? What¡¯s their story?¡± Pei Qiqi continued asking.

    ¡°Some Stone Golems came to this world through the Seven-star Blue Sea in earlier times. It¡¯s a pity that they were enved by the Netherspirits shortly after they arrived, and the Netherspirits even cast some evil secret spells on their souls,¡± Mo Heng said with a sigh. ¡°There are still some Stone Golems living in this world now, helping the Netherspirits open up new realms.

    ¡°Those Stone Golems who walked out of the Seven-star Blue Sea through this portal had imprints and evil spells of the Netherspirits branded on their souls.

    ¡°The Netherspirits were probably able to learn everything those Stone Golems had done, including returning to their ancestralnd in the Shatter Battlefield, through those evil spells.

    ¡°They were none other than eyes that the Netherspirits used to explore the human world. The Netherspirits didn¡¯t care about their lives.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Why could the Stone Golems pass through the portal?¡±

    Mo Heng didn¡¯t want to hide anything anymore, and said, ¡°That¡¯s because the portal in the Seven-star Blue Sea was created by the Voidspirits of the space disruption zone using the dead body of the strongest Stone Golem. Your bloodline source is the Voidspirits from the space disruption zone!¡±

    ¡°Voidspirits are the most miraculous of all the races in this starry river. And there are extremely few of them. All Voidspirits are born with space bloodlines. Most Voidspirits live in the depths of space disruption zones. When they¡¯re strong enough, they can travel freely between different worlds.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy for them to enter and exit this world, the Ancientspirit world, and the human world.

    ¡°They built the portal under the Seven-star Blue Sea to facilitate travel between this world and the human world. And because the main material used to build this portal was the body of a powerful Stone Golem who had died, they made an exception, allowing the Stone Golems to pass through the portal.

    ¡°That¡¯s why some Stone Golems were able to enter this world through the portal in early times.

    ¡°And those Stone Golems are able to return from this world only because they are Stone Golems. Whether the portal is open or closed, there are no restrictions for the Stone Golems, who can easily pass through...¡±

    Mo Heng patiently and carefully exined the secret to both of them.

    ¡°Voidspirits. My bloodline source is actually Voidspirits?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, her eyes bright, ¡°Senior Mo, do you know where the Voidspirits are living now? I, I¡¯m dying to know if my parents are still alive.¡±

 Chapter 1395: Voidspirits

    ¡°Voidspirits can travel freely among the three worlds,¡± Mo Heng said, reverence appearing in his eyes. ¡°There are trails of their activities in this world, the Ancientspirit world, and the human world.

    ¡°I suppose the Void Pce Sect you referred to, which is from the Realm of Split Void in the Domain of the Falling Stars, was founded by a Voidspirit.

    ¡°The experts from the Void Spirit Society aren¡¯t the most skilled at spatial power in this starry river. Voidspirits are.

    ¡°Also, ording to what I recently learned, the first sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society probably received profound knowledge about spatial power from Voidspirits. That¡¯s how he was introduced to spatial power, and gradually grew into a master of spatial maniption magics.

    ¡°It seems that he even named his sect ¡®The Void Spirit Society¡¯ in order to pay tribute to them.

    ¡°Of course, the fact that the Void Spirit Society developed bit by bit and eventually became one of the four great human sects is thanks to the unremitting effort of their generations of sectmasters. Through tireless cultivation and study, they derived all sorts of wonders and profound truths of spatial power.

    ¡°I suppose the Voidspirits only inspired the first sectmaster of your sect. Your sect couldn¡¯t have achieved their current prosperity without their generations of brilliant sectmasters.

    ¡°However, I do believe that your sect¡¯s most ancient secret magics and incantations have a lot to do with Voidspirits. When you were first taken back to the Void Spirit Sect, did you find the secret spatial magics Qu Yi taught you very easy to learn? In fact, you barely needed to learn them, right?¡±

    With these words, Mo Heng looked at Pei Qiqi.

    A strange light shed across Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes as she said, ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    She distinctively remembered the time when she had been taken back to the Void Spirit Society to learn all sorts of profound knowledge about spatial power and arcane incantations that weren¡¯t passed on to just any disciple of the sect, and the astonishment and ecstasy on Qu Yi¡¯s face when she was able to master the essence and cast the spells within a short time.

    Mo Heng nodded. ¡°That sounds about right. Qu Yi probably views you as a priceless treasure because he knows that you carry the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline. It¡¯s just that I doubt that he knows the Void Spirit Society only exists because the first sectmaster was inspired by the Voidspirits. I only learned about these secrets and came to such a conclusion aftering to this world recently.¡±

    After a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°Even the fact that you were able to find the Space Boundaries Crystal in the Shatter Battlefield was thanks to your unique bloodline. It was attracted to you because your Voidspirit bloodline is a perfect match for spatial treasures like the Space Boundaries Crystal that have developed their own awareness.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Pei Qiqi said, nodding. ¡°Then where should I go if I want to find the Voidspirits?¡±

    After a moment of pondering, Mo Heng added, ¡°You can find them in this world, the zone between this world and ours, and the deepest part of the space disruption zone. Those people seem to have a good rtionship with the Voidspirits, since many Voidspirits live in the zone that separates this world from ours...¡±

    ¡°What people?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking confused.

    ¡°The forces we call crooked and evil,¡± Mo Heng answered.

    Nie Tian¡¯s mind exploded with questions as the two of them talked.

    The information Mo Heng provided was simply too much. He needed time to wrap his head around it.

    The three worlds, the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes, the Voidspirits, the portal that Stone Golems could enter and exit freely...

    Pieces of information shed across his sea of awareness like lightning bolts.

    After taking a while to sort them through, he asked, ¡°Grand Elder, were those evil gods the most powerful Netherspirits when they were alive? You said that the five of them were the generals of a mighty Netherspirit leader. If they were at the same level aste God domain cultivators andte tenth grade outsider grand monarchs in their prime, how powerful would it make that leader they followed?¡±

    Mo Heng took a deep breath and said, ¡°Powerful enough to form the Nether River that flows through three worlds. As the most powerful chief in Netherspirit history, he¡¯s referred to as Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. After his demise, his sea of awareness, which achieved eternal indestructibility, morphed into the Nether River that runs through three worlds.¡±

    Even though he was talking about a foe, his heart was filled with respect.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim.

    Mo Heng nodded heavily. ¡°He¡¯s the legendary expert who went beyond the limits of the tenth grade.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi shouted involuntarily upon hearing these words.

    It didn¡¯t matter if it was Ancientspirits or outsiders like Phantasms, Demons, Bonebrutes, and Fiends. The limit of their bloodlines was thete tenth grade.

    The two of them had never heard any Ancientspirit or outsider exceeding thete tenth grade, or any human exceeding thete God domain, as these were their absolute limits.

    At this moment, another person quietly arrived through the portal behind them. ¡°If he exceeded thete tenth grade, doesn¡¯t it mean that he was invincible across the three worlds? It¡¯s hard to believe that a being exceeding thete tenth grade actually existed in this world. And it¡¯s even more incredible that after he perished, his eternally indestructible sea of awareness morphed into the Nether River that runs through the three worlds!¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you found the portal too!¡±

    Without paying any attention to Nie Tian or Pei Qiqi, Jiang Yuanchi nodded towards Mo Heng and said, ¡°I¡¯ve long since learned of the existence of this portal from Xuan Guangyu. Who would have thought that we¡¯d meet again in this world after so many years? Brother Mo, congrattions on entering the middle God domain. You showed our strength to the outsiders by defeating Grand Monarch Bloodlust and surviving your duel against Grand Monarch Primal Demon.¡±

    Looking confused, Mo Heng asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    With an icy expression, Nie Tian joined the conversation. ¡°What¡¯s the situation on the other side of the portal, Jiang Yuanchi? Considering that you managed toe down here, something must have happened over at the Seven-star Blue Sea.¡±

    ¡°You...¡± Mo Heng frowned, switching his gaze back and forth between Nie Tian and Jiang Yuanchi. ¡°Nie Tian, is there some kind of misunderstanding between you and him?¡±

    ¡°Grand Elder, you¡¯ve been away from the human world for too long,¡± Nie Tian said, feeling somewhat uneasy, as he was worried that great changes had happened over at the Seven-star Blue Sea. ¡°As the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, Jiang Yuanchi colluded with the Fiend abomination, Gupi, and gued numerous human realms. He also practices light and shadow power at the same time...¡±

    He went on and briefly exined everything.

    As he spoke, Mo Heng¡¯s brow gradually furrowed. ¡°Brother Jiang, back in the day, you single-handedly sealed Gupi, saving humanity from its ws. I really didn¡¯t expect you toe to an agreement with it and massacre your own kind after going through so much.¡±

    Instead of answering, Jiang Yuanchi asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang of your sect?¡±

    A corner of Mo Heng¡¯s mouth twitched as he said disdainfully, ¡°Him? After seeing me here, he found an opportunity and left. I doubt that he¡¯ll be able to make waves in this world. But you, on the other hand...¡±

    Mo Heng clearly attached more importance to Jiang Yuanchi. ¡°Why are you here? Don¡¯t tell me that you were also bewitched by the Netherspirits and made some kind of deal with them?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± Jiang Yuanchi denied it. ¡°The purpose of my trip to this world is the same as that of the generations ofte God domain experts before us.¡±

    Pupils shrinking, Mo Heng said grimly, ¡°You came a bit too early, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    With a derisiveugh, Jiang Yuanchi said, ¡°Are you suggesting that I haven¡¯t reached thete God domain yet?

    ¡°You and I share the same cultivation base. Aren¡¯t you here? And from the look of it, someone asked you to guard this portal. I suppose the Netherspirits have sent strong forces toe deal with you, but you seem to be doing fine, right?

    ¡°If Ji Cang and the others cane here, and you cane here, why can¡¯t I?¡±

 Chapter 1396: Evil Gods Awakening

    WHOOSH!

    A mirror of two blending colors shot through the portal.

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect reached out and grabbed the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror. Then, in a confident manner, he said, ¡°Things are under control over at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    Duan Hongwen, Shangguan Zhi, and Song Chequan, three early God domain experts, remained at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Since they shared the same cultivation base as Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Ji Yuanquan, it would be difficult for them to reach the bottom of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    But at the same time, their cultivation base made Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Ji Yuanquan hesitate about going to battle against them.

    That was why You Qimiao had felt confident about the situation.

    Besides, the appeal of a brand new world was simply too great for him to obey Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s instruction for him to stay put.

    With a warm smile, Jiang Yuanchi nodded. ¡°So you came. Might as well.¡±

    ¡°Mo Heng!¡± You Qimiao said with a concerned tone.

    He suddenly realized why Jiang Yuanchi seemed okay with him disobeying him. Mo Heng being here was the reason!

    He, Luo Wanxiang, Jiang Yuanchi, and Mo Heng were all at the middle God domain.

    However, as far as You Qimiao saw it, Luo Wanxiang was nothing to be feared. Jiang Yuanchi and Mo Heng were the truly strong ones, probably stronger than any other cultivators at their level.

    ¡°Herees another,¡± Nie Tian said in a low voice.

    Since the portal gate had been pushed open by the five evil gods, three middle God domain experts had gone through it, aside from Pei Qiqi and him.

    At this moment, Luo Wanxiang and the Netherspirits had already disappeared.

    The five evil gods had been led away in different directions to gather fragments of their lost memories and souls. It was only a matter of time before they came to their senses as mighty Netherspirit generals.

    Originally, Nie Tian had nned to go after them and seal them back in the Spirit Pearl one by one with the help of Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal.

    But now...

    Mo Heng frowned deeply. ¡°The two of you are so keen abouting to this world. What is that you¡¯re after?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi waved his hand casually. ¡°Rx, Brother Mo. We¡¯ve long since learned about this world. However, since we¡¯ve never been here, we¡¯re understandably curious about it. And we didn¡¯te here to let the beings in this world into our world so they could devastate our people. We¡¯re only here to find some things.¡±

    ¡°What things?¡± Mo Heng asked.

    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you about that,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said, smiling.

    Then, he turned around to take a look at the portal behind him. A hint of hesitation appeared in his eyes as he said, ¡°You n to close the portal, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°Other than through this portal, how else can we return to the human world?¡± You Qimiao asked.

    ¡°The distance between the two worlds... is far too great to cover without teleportation.¡± Mo Heng said.

    After serious consideration, Jiang Yuanchi said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, how about we make a deal? Don¡¯t close the portal yet. We only need a bit of time to find a few things in this world. And if we encounter native beings that want toe attack you and open the portal, we¡¯ll try to stop them.¡±

    With these words, he looked at Mo Heng.

    Mo Heng weighed his offer.

    ¡°Unlike Luo Wanxiang, we don¡¯t have any secret agreement with the beings in this world,¡± Jiang Yuanchi continued. ¡°We just want to find a few things that we don¡¯t have in our world. And hopefully, we¡¯ll be able to survive our breakthroughs into thete God domain with the help of those things.

    ¡°Besides, I can also order our people at the Seven Stars Realm Sea to keep the peace with Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates, so no one gets hurt.¡±

    His words plunged Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi into thought.

    ¡°Girl, take Nie Tian to find the evil gods he released,¡± Mo Heng suddenly said.

    Jiang Yuanchi and You Qimiao¡¯s expressions flickered slightly upon hearing this.

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, Pei Qiqi grabbed Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder and stimted the Space Boundaries Crystal, its profound spatial power bursting forth in circr ripples.

    WHOOSH!

    Taking Nie Tian with her, she went up and down in the circr ripples, as if they were traveling between different spaces.

    The portal, Jiang Yuanchi, You Qimiao, and Mo Heng grew more and more vague in Nie Tian¡¯s senses until theypletely disappeared.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi arrived at a ce where one of the evil gods was recovering.

    The evil god had a set of feathered wings growing out of its back and the head of a bird. Its whole body was wreathed in endless hatred.

    At this moment, it was standing on a small meteor that floated silently in the starry river. With its mouth open, it seemed to be actively channeling the fragments of its memories and soul that were scattered in this world into itself, so it could recover its memories and reforge its soul.

    From thousands of meters away, two Netherspirits were looking at it in the midst of numerous evil spirits and vicious souls, reverence filling their eyes.

    ROAR!

    Upon sensing Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, the evil god fixed its ring eyes on him, its master, and released endless hatred.

    Shocked by the unfavorable turn of events, Nie Tian cried inwardly and took out the Spirit Pearl, focusing all of his attention to face the soul attack.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the evil god had only gathered soul and memory fragments for a while, yet it was already so eager to break away from his control... and even to kill him.

    ¡°Human! Our lords will never be your ves!¡± One of the Netherspirits in the distance shouted in the humannguage, which they had just mastered thanks to Luo Wanxiang. ¡°We know that your entire race were ves in ancient times. Even nowadays, that one of you had to sacrifice countless souls of your people to establishmunication with us!¡±

    Another Netherspirit chimed in, an icy look filling his eyes. ¡°Such a low race.¡±

    To them, humans, asrge as their poption was, were nothing but sources of the evil spirits and vicious souls they needed. They were no different from livestock.

    Ignoring the two Netherspirits¡¯ taunts, Nie Tian held the Spirit Pearl up high facing the evil god, and cried, ¡°Soul Imprisonment!¡±

    The soul within the pearl immediately went to work!

    Numerous discarnate souls within the cyan world inside the pearl, along with mixed soul power, were mobilized by the soul. With the help of the pearl¡¯s restrictive power and Nie Tian¡¯s power, a gravitational force that only targeted the evil god quickly came to form.

    It intended to pull the evil god into the Spirit Pearl to regain control of it with the power within the pearl.

    Surprisingly, the evil god that was exuding endless hatred let out a low chuckle and said in broken humannguage, ¡°I... will only serve Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit... ever! There are countless realms in the three worlds... He¡¯s the only being who canmand me!

    ¡°You, puny human brat, can¡¯t!¡±

    As the evil god let out ferocious howls, muscles bulked up all over its sinister-looking body, numerous mysterious patterns manifesting on its skin like tattoos.

    All of the power Nie Tian and the Spirit Pearl unleashed on it was rapidly drowned by its endless hatred.

    As its master, Nie Tian stood aghast. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you can even speak the humannguage now... Before, you could only vaguelymunicate with me by relying on our soul connection. It seems that as you continue to gather memory and soul fragments, you¡¯re awakening and bing a real, powerful Netherspirit expert.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s good that you can see that for yourself.¡±

    The arrogant evil god spread and fluttered its enormous feathered wings.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The meteors floating around it suddenly exploded. Its soaring power sent the pieces dashing in every direction.

    Violent and peculiar flesh power madly surged in the surrounding area of the starry river, making Nie Tian both amazed and uneasy.

    Pei Qiqi took a deep breath and said with aplicated look in her eyes, ¡°This aura can even match that of an early tenth grade outsider grand monarch! Nie Tian, if you can regain control of all five evil gods, it¡¯ll be like you have five outsider grand monarchs at yourmand. Also, as their bloodlines awaken, and they recover their strength, they¡¯ll be even stronger.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that...¡±

    With these words, she hesitated. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯d better give up if you¡¯re notpletely confident. I¡¯ll close the portal after we return to our heaven and earth. Then, after your bloodline enters the tenth grade and your cultivation base advances to the God domain, we cane back to this world to take them back into your hands. That¡¯ll work too, right?¡±

    She was worried that Nie Tian would refuse to acknowledge his inferior strength, and end up suffering from his forced attempt to regain control of this evil god.

 Chapter 1397: â€œSealâ€ Is the Seal

    Wreathed in endless hatred, the evil god let out a sinisterugh. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just run for your life?¡±

    Hismand of the humans¡¯mon tongue seemed to be improving rapidly.

    As it continued to gather fragments of its lost memories and soul, it gradually recovered its intelligence, power, and control over souls.

    As one of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s five most powerful subordinates, it naturally had a awe-inspiring and dominant quality in this world, where it had been born.

    Like other parts of the starry river, this area was also dim and filled with a vast variety of energies and auras. However, the Nether Qi here was extremely pure and rich, far richer and purer than in any other part of the starry river.

    WHOOSH!

    As the evil god of hatred fluttered its feathered wings, casting a bloodline magic, it started attracting and devouring the immense Nether Qi in its surroundings like a ck hole.

    Nie Tian observed with rapt attention. To his surprise, he saw wisps of misty cyan Nether Qi condensing into sparkling and crystal-clear cyan wisps of lightning before fusing into it.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    In just about ten seconds, the evil god of hatred was covered in slithering cyan wisps of lightning.

    It strode forward and said, with Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s reflections in its glittering cyan pupils, ¡°I¡¯m one of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s loyal followers.

    ¡°The grand monarch¡¯s awareness has morphed into the Nether River that runs through the three worlds! The prismatic crystal in the brow of every Phantasm serves as an eye of his!

    ¡°As long as the Nether River doesn¡¯t run dry, the grand monarch will live forever. He¡¯ll watch over the three worlds with his soul awareness and decide the fate of all that live in them.¡±

    FIZZ!

    With these words, bolts of cyan lightning flew out of the evil god of hatred.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°The prismatic crystals between the Phantasms¡¯ eyebrows are Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s eyes? Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit will live forever as long as the Nether River doesn¡¯t run dry? If that¡¯s true, doesn¡¯t it mean every Phantasm has been serving him without even knowing it?¡±

    Every Phantasm he had met had a prismatic crystal embedded in their forehead between their eyebrows.

    Like a third eye, it was what Phantasms relied on to cast all sorts of soul magics.

    If what the evil god of hatred had said was true, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit could actually see through those crystals on Phantasms¡¯ foreheads, wouldn¡¯t it mean every single Phantasm was his informant?

    Would Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit be able to bend them to his will in the future?

    ¡°Soul Magic: Sea of Hatred!¡±

    At this moment, the spread feathered wings of the evil god of hatred suddenly stretched out to his left and right, and a raging sea that could only be detected by souls rushed out.

    This sea of endless hatred seemed to actually exist in this world, and it was now being summoned and put back together by the evil god of hatred.

    The moment the sea of huge, heaven-reaching waves of hatred appeared, deafening rumbles echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Soul strands that were either gray or cyan rapidly infiltrated his sea of awareness. Each and every one of them carried the hatred that resided in the discarnate souls of the dead.

    It was a strong grudge against heaven and earth!

    FIZZ!

    Inside Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, star souls burst forth with dazzling light as his true soul cast an exquisite soul spell to form multiple protective soul shields, doing everything within its power to resist the soul attack.

    At the same time, he established a connection with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, embedding the wondrous pearl in his brow like his third eye.

    Through the Spirit Pearl, he could see with great rity that the evil god of hatred was gathering memories and soul fragments at an even higher speed in the vast sea of hatred, as if it were a fish that had returned to water.

    The evil god continued to grow stronger.

    ¡°Hatred...¡±

    Nie Tian muttered inwardly as he did his utmost to hold on to his sanity. With his star souls and true soul, he formed heavy defenses, lest his mind be engulfed in the surging waves of hatred released by the evil god.

    In the meantime, he suddenly activated his life bloodline, igniting his Blood Essence!

    As his Blood Essence burned, he established Life Blend with the Star Behemoth bone. His flesh aura then soared as his body expanded at a shocking rate.

    An aura that was even more ancient and overwhelming than those in this world burst out to wreath Nie Tian.

    It was the aura of a Star Behemoth!

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the evil god of hatred or the two Netherspirits in the distance. They all gasped with fear the moment they sensed the aura wreathing Nie Tian.

    Their fear towards Star Behemoths had been branded in the deepest part of their bloodlines.

    During the Primal Era, Star Behemoths had been the unchallenged overlords of the entire starry river.

    When they had ruled the starry river, not only had the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils never dared to enter the other world, but they had even had to be vignt all the time in case the Star Behemoths reached their murderous ws into their world.

    Their fear towards the Star Behemoth was deep-rooted.

    ¡°You!¡±

    In his erged form, Nie Tian was wreathed in raging flesh power as he locked his ferocious eyes on the evil god of hatred and released the various types of power within him.

    ¡°Illusory Ancient Talisman!¡±

    Star, me, wood, soul, and flesh power all merged together, morphing into an uncanny talisman with an unknown origin that was vested with the profound mysteries of the character ¡°Seal.¡±

    It seemed to carry the most fundamental truths of the character ¡°Seal.¡±

    It was because of this wondrous talisman that Gupi had been bent on getting rid of Nie Tian as soon as possible.

    At first sight, the Illusory Ancient Talisman looked like a sphere that was filled with currents of star, wood, me, soul, and flesh auras.

    It seemed to have all the mysteries an actual realm would have as floated ethereally towards the evil god of hatred.

    The most surprising thing was that even the sea of hatred the evil god of hatred had somehow summoned had its might greatly reduced after the Illusory Ancient Talisman in the shape of the character ¡°Seal¡± came to form.

    WHOOSH!

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman flew towards the evil god like an actual realm.

    The evil god¡¯s cyan eyes widened as it struggled to leave the area to avoid being captured by the peculiar talisman. However, that was when its expression flickered drastically.

    It shrewdly sensed an unusual beating of its heart.

    It was as if its heart was catering to a special power released by the Illusory Ancient Talisman: Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power.

    At this moment, it suddenly remembered that the irrigation of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence was the reason why it had been able to reforge its fleshly body, which was tougher and more resilient than those of regr Netherspirits.

    It still had Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura running inside of it!

    While Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura within the evil god¡¯s body was affected by Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura in the Illusory Ancient Talisman, Nie Tian¡¯s soul aura, which he had fused into the evil god, was bound by Nie Tian¡¯s soul aura in the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    The evil god of hatred instantly felt great difficulty in moving its arms and legs, as if both its fleshly body and soul were bing stiff.

    HOWL!

    With a mad howl, it jerked its head towards the Netherspirits, signaling them toe to its aid and attack Nie Tian.

    However, it was already toote.

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman had already crossed the sea of hatred. Like a sparkling crystal-clear sphere, it seized the evil god that was continuously gathering pieces of its lost memories and soul.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Nie Tian tossed out the Spirit Pearl, which flew to the Illusory Ancient Talisman and pulled it into the misty cyan world inside of the pearl.

    More surprisingly, even after the evil god of hatred was pulled into the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian could still sense wisps of strange power flowing and disappearing into the pearl.

    All of a sudden, the sea of hatred, which was about to engulf Nie Tian, ebbed like the tide.

    Nie Tian, who was drawing arge amount of soul power to deal with the negative emotions released by the evil god, instantly felt relieved

    He observed with rapt attention, and discovered that the so-called sea of hatred seemed to have vanishedpletely in the blink of an eye, along with all of the negative emotions in the air.

    ¡°It seems that five seas of negative emotions float in this world just like the fragments of the five evil gods¡¯ lost memories and souls,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°As the evil gods gradually awaken, they can summon their negative emotions to reform the five seas of negative emotions!

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul hastily said, ¡°And the evil god of hatred is still gathering its memory and soul fragments that are scattered in this world. It seems to have cast a secret soul spell, which allows it to call upon every fragment of its soul that¡¯s scattered across this world. When that soul magic is activated, an irresistible power seems toe to form that¡¯ll enable the unity of its soul.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re saying that even though the Illusory Ancient Talisman can be used to seal the evil gods, that won¡¯t stop them from gathering their lost soul fragments to make their soulsplete again?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said. ¡°And we have four to go!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡± Nie Tian grabbed the Spirit Pearl with a swift motion, and shifted to Pei Qiqi¡¯s side in a split second. ¡°Next one. Ignore those Netherspirits. They¡¯re not our main focus now.¡±

    AHHH!

    The two Netherspirits beat their chests and howled as they watched the evil god be captured by a peculiar talisman Nie Tian released in his erged form and pulled into the Spirit Pearl.

    Since this waspletely beyond their expectations, they didn¡¯t even have a chance to do anything.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Pei Qiqi said as she spun the Space Boundaries Crystal and took Nie Tian to the area where the second evil god was.

    Served by a number of Netherspirits, the evil god of fear was standing on a huge stone altar, where it threw its head back and roared.

 Chapter 1398: A Difficult Situation

    On a deste dead realm.

    The evil god of fear stood in the middle of a huge stone altar, howling into the void.

    Every syble it let out shook heaven and earth. In a mysterious rhythm, they seemed to be gathering his soul and memory fragments that were scattered in this world.

    Corpses were piled into hills around the altar.

    Most of the corpses belonged to strange-looking spirit beasts Nie Tian had never seen before, species that were clearly different from those in the human world.

    Three Netherspirits fixed the evil god of fear with fanatical gazes.

    A number of Netherspirits, whose auras were clearly not as profound, were gathered in a ce quite far from the altar.

    Nie Tian found the three Netherspirits unfamiliar, and supposed that they weren¡¯t among the Netherspirits that had attacked the world portal earlier.

    Spinning her Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi gazed off at the altar that was wreathed in surging pure Nether Qi, and muttered, ¡°A fortress set up on a dead star.¡±

    Then, she turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Those Netherspirits seem to be able to extract pure Nether Qi from the mixed energies in the starry river with the help of that stone altar in their fortress on a dead star. That evil god that has broken free from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s confinement is now gathering its lost memory and soul fragments at a higher speed with the help of that stone star.¡±

    HOWL! ROAR!

    Upon spotting Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, the Netherspirits on the dead star howled furiously at them, who didn¡¯t belong to this world.

    However, since none of them had been at the portal to learn the humannguage from Luo Wanxiang through secret soul magics, they couldn¡¯tmunicate with Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi in anguage they understood.

    Communication failing, they then adopted an extreme approach.

    WHOOSH!

    Manipted by their secret soul magics, numerous evil spirits and vicious souls suddenly swarmed towards Nie Tian.

    The evil god of fear also pointed its finger towards Nie Tian and gave an order in the Netherspirits¡¯nguage, ordering all of the Netherspirits to kill Nie Tian right away.

    Apparently, this evil god had also broken free from Nie Tian¡¯s constraint.

    ¡°These Netherspirits are at fairly low grades. Let me take care of them.¡± With an icy look in her eyes, Pei Qiqi pointed her jade-like finger at the iing Netherspirits and swarming evil spirits, and then made a gentle swiping motion.

    FIZZ!

    Space was instantly ripped open, creating spatial rifts that devoured each and every evil spirit and vicious soul.

    Like them, several weaker Netherspirits were also torn to pieces.

    Upon seeing this, the more powerful Netherspirits let out fierce howls.

    The Netherspirits that had had their fleshly bodies destroyed instantly escaped with their souls, which seemed to be rather angry, but not scared at all.

    Pointing at Nie Tian, the evil god of fear bellowed in the humannguage, ¡°You! You¡¯d better leave this world right now! Otherwise, after we recover our memories and strength, you, who used to control us, will be our primary target!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°You¡¯re my primary targets too!¡±

    BOOM!

    As his immense flesh power burst forth, he took a stride in his erged form, and instantly arrived in front of the evil god. Without any dy, he summoned all sorts of power from within him to form another Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    ¡°Seal!¡±

    A unfathomably mysterious talisman that looked like a translucent and sparkling realm that was filled with Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and soul power instantly suppressed the evil god in front of it.

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman¡¯s own sealing power was also overwhelming.

    As the Illusory Ancient Talisman flew towards the evil god, it felt bound just as the evil god of hatred had. No matter how it howled and tried, it couldn¡¯t defeat Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline and soul imprints that had been branded on its body and soul. Eventually, like the evil god of hatred, it was pulled into the Spirit Pearl.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, feeling that casting the Illusory Ancient Talisman twice within a short period of time was surprisingly consuming. ¡°Done with the second one. Three more to go. Ignore the Netherspirits here.¡±

    ¡°Master, like the evil god of hatred, this evil god is also still gathering fragments of its soul and memories,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He seemed to be even more confident than before as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll give them time to recover their souls and memories in this world.¡±

    Then, he turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°Next one.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    One glowing spatial de after another flew out of the Netherspirits¡¯ badly mangled bodies and returned to her, rapidly disappearing into her sleeve.

    With these words, Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal once again.

    In the next moment, she and Nie Tian appeared not far from a stone altar in another dead realm.

    However, this time, he faced the evil gods of despair, rage, and bloodlust all at once!

    It was unknown whether the three evil gods had sensed that something had happened or it was pure coincidence. The three of them were gathering their memory and soul fragments on the same stone altar.

    Aside from them, hundreds of Netherspirits were gathered around the altar. Their bloodline grades varied.

    The few Netherspirits Nie Tian had met at the portal were among them. They were standing in front of the altar, as if they were waiting for orders from the evil gods.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, they grinned with deep, cold looks in their eyes.

    A shadowy Nether River could be seen floating high in the void.

    Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang was standing underneath it and staring up at it, looking deeply obsessed. Reverence and worship filled his face.

    ¡°The Nether River runs through the three worlds, the embodiment of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul will...¡± he muttered nonstop.

    However, Nie Tian, who had seen an actual branch of the Nether River in the Seven-star Blue Sea, knew that this Nether River wasn¡¯t the actual Nether River.

    It seemed to him that it was merely a reflection of the actual Nether River.

    He examined it with rapt attention, but failed to see any profound mysteries in it.

    One of the Netherspirits turned to Luo Wanxiang and instructed in fluent humannguage, ¡°Now go take care of this junior from your world.

    ¡°Finish him off and help us open the portal, then we¡¯ll take you to the actual Nether River so you can derive enlightenment from the profound truths of souls it carries.

    ¡°We believe that given your cultivation base, as long as you get to derive new enlightenment from the Nether River¡¯s main stream, you will be able to make your breakthrough into your people¡¯s so-calledte God domain without any obstacles. Perhaps the profound knowledge within the Nether River will even allow you to defeat the known limits, and transcend the God domain!¡±

    The Netherspirits led Luo Wanxiang on gradually and skillfully.

    Luo Wanxiang, who was deeply obsessed with the illusory Nether River, had his inner evil fanned by their words. Removing his gaze from the Nether River, he asked Nie Tian, ¡°Where¡¯s Mo Heng?¡±

    ¡°Guarding the portal of course,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning. He took a look at the three recovering evil gods, finding the situation a bit tricky.

    Luo Wanxiang was at the middle God domain and had the All Manifestations Star Banner at hismand. He wasn¡¯t strong enough to fight him yet. Not to mention that he¡¯d have to spare his attention to keep an eye on the three increasingly powerful evil gods.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s cultivation base and strength only allowed her to fight opponents at the Saint domain or equal grades.

    ¡°What a party! Are those the so-called Netherspirits? A native race of this world?¡± The voice of You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect suddenly echoed out.

    Wielding his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, he appeared without making a sound. ¡°It¡¯s really tiring to track you two.¡±

 Chapter 1399: Another Soul-devouring Lake

    The tricky situation was already giving Nie Tian a headache. Now that You Qimiao had appeared out of nowhere, his frown grew even heavier. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s you.¡±

    Pei Qiqi heart sank as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation over at the portal? What happened to Senior Mo? If you¡¯re here, does that mean he...?¡±

    Both Jiang Yuanchi and You Qimiao were at the middle God domain, which was the same as Mo Heng. Plus, the two of them had entered the middle God domain far earlier than Mo Heng.

    She was worried that by teaming up against him, Jiang Yuanchi and You Qimiao might have inflicted serious injuries upon Mo Heng.

    You Qimiao let out a snort. ¡°You still don¡¯t get what it means to be able to survive a duel against the Demons¡¯ high chieftain.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even if I joined up with Sectmaster Jiang, we couldn¡¯t possibly kill him. Perhaps only if we had both entered thete God domain would we have a slight chance at killing him.¡±

    Judging from his expression, he didn¡¯t seem to be lying. Instead, he seemed rather frustrated when saying these words.

    Relieved, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Then why did you track our auras to this ce?¡±

    Luo Wanxiang, who was just about toy his murderous hands on Nie Tian, came to a sudden stop. At the same time, he asked the Netherspirits through a secret soul magic to wait and see how the situation would develop.

    You Qimiao let out a cold harrumph. ¡°Nie Tian, the true purpose of my sect¡¯s invasion of the Realm of Maelstrom was to seize the Seven Stars Realm Sea, so that we could cross into this world. Now, I¡¯m here. I can finally seek the things I want from this world, from the hands of these so-called Netherspirits.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Yin Yang Chaos Mirror hung high in the heavens. Glorious light could be seen flowing on its smooth surface as it shone over the earth.

    Tens of thousands of wisps of soul awareness that carried two opposite all-pervasive auras flew out of it to infiltrate the depths of the earth and the highest heavens, as well as the Netherspirits that were gathered in this ce.

    Even Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi felt a warmth inside of them, which was immediately followed by a feeling of coldness.

    They immediately realized that You Qimiao had already started sweeping this heaven and earth with his immense soul awareness to look for the things he was after.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    As You Qimiao reached out and pointed in a direction, the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror rapidly expanded into a chilly full moon that hung high above everyone¡¯s heads. Then, like a bolt of lightning, it shot off and disappeared into the distant sky.

    ¡°It¡¯s going there!¡±

    The three Netherspirits, who had mastered the humannguage, gasped in shock, looking in the direction where the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror had disappeared.

    HOWL!

    With a fierce howl, the three of them hastily cast a soul spell formation together.

    In the next moment, countless evil spirits and vicious souls climbed out of the earth and rose into the air, along with rich Nether Qi.

    As this happened, the evil gods that had broken free from the control of the Spirit Pearl also seemed to be enraged.

    The evil gods of despair, rage, and bloodlust were originally going to attack Nie Tian, their former master. However, at this moment, they suddenly changed directions and charged towards You Qimiao instead, their enormous sinister-looking forms surrounded by numerous evil spirits.

    The situation took a sudden twist.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had been their primary target. However, You Qimiao¡¯s sudden arrival and surprising action drew all of their attention to him.

    ¡°Netherspirits...¡± The corners of You Qimiao¡¯s mouth rose in a disdainful manner. ¡°I know some of your secrets. I understand that you¡¯re a tough, ambitious people. But it¡¯s too bad that the strongest chief in your history, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, has died, and turned into the Nether River that runs through the three worlds.

    ¡°I suppose your current chief can¡¯t ever reach Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s heights, right?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still easy for Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits to kill someone like you!¡± One of the Netherspirits spat in the humannguage. ¡°Luo Wanxiang! You need to kill these people you¡¯ve attracted here from your world. As long as our five returning grand monarchs gather their lost memories and soul fragments, and return to their peak strength, you¡¯ll be allowed to derive enlightenment from the profound truths within the Nether River.¡±

    BOOM!

    You Qimiao suddenly activated his dharma idol.

    Two currents, one frigid and the other zing, then shot out of his cuffs. Slithering like dragons, they met in front of his chest and morphed into a maic field that was filled with mixed energies.

    ¡°Remote Chaos Soul-shattering Incantation!¡± You Qimiao eximed, one of his pupils icy like a frozen crystal and the other zing like a sun. Sparkling soul strands flew out of him, fusing into the maic field in front of his chest.

    Numerous evil spirits that were being manipted by the Netherspirits fell into the maic field, where they were instantly torn to pieces that scattered in the wind like willow blossoms.

    ¡°Almost there... Almost...¡± You Qimiao said to himself as he cast anticipating gazes in the direction where the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror had vanished from time to time. ¡°I can¡¯t be mistaken. That must be it. My chance at safely advancing to thete God domain to stand abreast with Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, and Qu Yi lies with this!¡±

    A vast deepke sat quietly in the southwest of the dead realm.

    WHOOSH!

    You Qimiao¡¯s Yin Yang Chaos Mirror shot over and stopped right above theke.

    If Nie Tian were here, he would have been able to recognize the simrity between thiske and the Soul-devouring Lake he had been to and gathered soul crystals from years ago.

    The only difference was that thiske was wider, and had more soul shadows looming in its depths. There was probably arger reserve of soul crystals lying at the bottom of theke.

    The mes of excitement filled You Qimiao¡¯s eyes as he eximed softly, ¡°Such arge number of soul crystals!¡±

    Then, he flung hisrge sleeves and went into a fierce battle against the evil gods of fear, rage, and bloodlust, his enormous dharma idol wreathed in silver white and golden red power ribbons.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The three evil gods channeled their seas of negative emotions that were scattered in this world as they attacked You Qimiao¡¯s seas of awareness. However, they met strong resistance from his unique maic field.

    Surrounded by silver white and golden red power ribbons, You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol seemed as tough as iron, but at the same time as absorbent as cotton. No matter how hard the three evil gods tore at him, they couldn¡¯t cause him any actual damage.

    After observing for a while, Pei Qiqi whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°The three of them haven¡¯t recovered their peak strength yet, with their memories and souls iplete. Also, I think I know what the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is after.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Look.¡± As Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal, one of its many facets showed the mysterious deepke, with the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror hanging high above it like a bright moon. ¡°Thiske is very simr to the Phantasms¡¯ Soul-devouring Lakes, but it contains more wonders. I believe arge number of premium-grade soul crystals are lying at theke bottom.

    ¡°Soul crystals are precious treasures that Void, Saint, and God domain experts all dream about having. Outsiders yearn for them as well!

    ¡°My master told me that premium-grade soul crystals will even y a crucial role in cultivators¡¯ breakthroughs into thete God domain. However, those kinds of soul crystals are extremely hard to find. They have only been known to exist in Phantasm realms, but not our human heaven and earths.

    ¡°As the race that created Phantasms, the Netherspirits in this world have the greatest chance at having the things You Qimiao needs.

    ¡°So he came for premium-grade soul crystals.¡± Nie Tian felt enlightened. ¡°If it¡¯s ake that¡¯s even more wondrous than the Phantasms¡¯ Soul-devouring Lakes, the quality of the soul crystals that form at its bottom will be understandably high.¡±

    Since he had the Spirit Pearl at his disposal, he had been able to obtain the soul power he had needed toplete his breakthroughs in cultivation from it.

    After all, the Spirit Pearl was the Phantasms¡¯ invaluable treasure.

    For others, if they wanted to make rapid advances in their cultivation, their soul power umtion was more significant than their umtion of spiritual power.

    For God domain experts like You Qimiao, if their soul cultivation fell short, the chances of their breakthroughs failing would increase tremendously.

 Chapter 1400: Temporary Alliance

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡±

    The Netherspirits grew anxious after seeing that, even after joining up, the three evil gods were losing their battle against You Qimiao.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Wearing the All Manifestations Star Banner like a cape and standing on a river of stars, Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol seemed to defy the distance between them, and instantly appeared in front of You Qimiao.

    ¡°Infinite Star Transformation!¡±

    The glorious All Manifestations Star Banner morphed into a giant broad axe that shone with dazzling starlight. As it scraped across the sky and hacked towards You Qimiao, it left a trail of stars in the air.

    ¡°Even though you¡¯re a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you¡¯re worthless in my eyes,¡± You Qimiao said with a derisive expression. ¡°Only people like you would rely on outsiders to make breakthroughs in cultivation. How pathetic! As a Son of the Stars, you used to contend against brilliant cultivators like Ji Cang, but now you¡¯ve actually descended so low that you¡¯d collude with outsiders!¡±

    With these words, he held out his arm to point his cuff towards Luo Wanxiang.

    His cuff emanated auras of various attributes, as if it was connected to different realms. As it rapidly bloated, remote and heavy metallic nking sounds came from within it, as if an ancient deity were swinging a metal hammer to forge some divine weapon.

    FIZZ!

    Fiery and icy light poured out of the sleeve at the same time, causing the three evil gods and numerous evil spirits and vicious souls to let out panicked cries.

    ¡°Heaven-earth Sleeve!¡±

    You Qimiao took a step forward and swung his sleeve. Torrential mixed energies simr to those Nie Tian had once taken for his own mmed into the huge axe transformed from the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    ¡°Nie Tian, these chaotic mixed energies, like those you took from me before, are from a Realm Sea,¡± You Qimiao said with a surprisingly calm tone. ¡°The only difference is that they¡¯re not from the Seven Stars Realm Sea. I, on the other hand, can¡¯t refine them into myself to use them to strengthen myself.

    ¡°So I can only cast them at others like a weapon.¡±

    His voice was filled with frustration, as if he were standing on a mountain of various treasures, but couldn¡¯t take any of them away.

    He suddenly turned to Luo Wanxiang and raised his voice. ¡°Even so, they¡¯re more than powerful enough to be used to fight you!¡±

    BOOM!

    Like a misty gray dragon, murky mixed energies that belonged to another Realm Sea mmed heavily into the huge axe transformed from the All Manifestations Star Banner immediately after flying out of his so-called Heaven-earth Sleeve.

    Upon impact, the shiny All Manifestations Star Banner, whose sub-grade had been lifted recently, instantly went dim.

    You Qimiao chuckled derisively as he switched to another incantation, controlling the current of murky energies to stretch into the distance to engulf the three evil gods, along with the Netherspirits and the evil spirits and vicious souls surrounding them.

    The murky energies You Qimiao had gathered from another Realm Sea seemed to rapidly morph into a strange mire that bogged down every living being within it.

    The evil gods, Luo Wanxiang, and the Netherspirits all had their bodies and souls corroded by the murky energies. Their situation continued to worsen.

    A wisp of excitement suddenly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    With the help of Primal Chaos, which he had learned from the magicalnd, he had sessfully seized simr murky energies You Qimiao had released before.

    Then, by relying on those violent energies, he had devastated three domains, shattered the Realm of Jade Billows, and defeated Song Chequan.

    Upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s glittering eyes, You Qimiao became flustered, and hastily said, ¡°Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t ruin my efforts like you did thest time! Here, we¡¯re not enemies, but people who can mutually benefit! If we work together, I can get the things at the bottom of the Soul-devouring Lake, and you can regain control of those three evil gods with your Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°I¡¯ve tracked and observed you the whole time. I know you can do it.

    ¡°This way, we can both get what we¡¯re after. Isn¡¯t that a happy ending for both of us?¡±

    As he spoke, he had already spared a wisp of soul will from his true soul to control the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror to sink towards the bottom of the Soul-devouring Lake.

    He had already put his hand to it.

    The murky energies he had gone to great lengths to gather from another Realm Sea were his trump card, with which he was overpowering Luo Wanxiang, the evil gods, and the Netherspirits.

    Nie Tian was the only person he knew that could and actually had defeated it.

    ¡°Now that I know what lies at the bottom of that Soul-devouring Lake, I want a share of it!¡± Nie Tian said with determination.

    You Qimiao looked exasperated. ¡°Nie Tian! Don¡¯t be too foolish and not appreciate my favor! You killed many of my subordinates in that battle in the Realm of Maelstrom. I haven¡¯t settled that ount with you yet!¡±

    ¡°Monk Goldbone from your sect also killed many of my people!¡± Nie Tian said with a cold expression. ¡°I¡¯m fine with it if you want to settle ounts with me. As for those three evil gods, now that you¡¯ve weakened them, I¡¯ll have no problem recapturing them myself. But if I take these mixed energies from you...¡±

    ¡°Alright! You got it!¡± You Qimiao stopped him before he could finish. ¡°I¡¯ll give you thirty percent of the things at the bottom of the Soul-devouring Lake!¡±

    ¡°Thirty percent?¡± Nie Tian asked, frowning.

    ¡°I know what lies at the bottom of that Soul-devouring Lake too,¡± Pei Qiqi said, tilting her chin. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be entitled to a share as well?¡±

    You Qimiao¡¯s mild expression grew a bit twisted as he said, ¡°Alright, Nie Tian gets thirty percent. You get ten percent! Don¡¯t you two mess with my n again!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Deal!¡±

    Clutching the Star Behemoth bone in one hand, Nie Tian suddenly appeared in his erged form above the mire of murky energies You Qimiao had released. With his other hand, he lifted the Spirit Pearl and started condensing an Illusory Ancient Talisman. ¡°The three of you have had your fun. Time toe home.¡±

    An Illusory Ancient Talisman then floated towards the evil god of despair.

    Having its power restricted by the mire of murky energies, the evil god of despair couldn¡¯t possibly resist Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura and soul will within the Illusory Ancient Talisman, and was quickly tied down again.

    Then, its enormous body was forcibly dragged into the Spirit Pearl.

    Upon seeing this, the other two evil gods howled furiously and struggled violently in an attempt to free themselves from the mire of strange murky energies You Qimiao had released.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work,¡± You Qimiao said. ¡°No one other than that freak Nie Tian can maintain their strength and break free from these energies.¡±

    Even You Qimiao himself stayed far away from the area engulfed in the strange energies, where he fixed Nie Tian with a baffled and envious look and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t understand why you can adapt to it so easily.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you that.¡± After giving a cold response, Nie Tian went on to condense a second Illusory Ancient Talisman, which he felt was more difficult than the first one.

    After consuming arge amount of different powers, the second Illusory Ancient Talisman finally came to form, and pulled the evil god of rage into the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°One more to go!¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to exert himself to condense thest Illusory Ancient Talisman, he suddenly felt a bit lightheaded. ¡°Damn it! The condensation of multiple Illusory Ancient Talismans is causing me to run low on my soul power.¡±

    Pei Qiqi sensed the anomaly. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I need soul crystals! I need them to recover my soul power so I can capture thest evil god.¡± With these words, Nie Tian jerked his head towards You Qimiao. ¡°About the soul crystals we agreed upon, which your magical mirror is mining from the bottom of that Soul-devouring Lake, can you give me some in advance?¡±

    ¡°Huh? You only wanted soul crystals?¡± You Qimiao asked, looking surprised.

 Chapter 1401: Human World, Spirit World, and Void World

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi exchanged a nce.

    ¡°What else is at the bottom of that Soul-devouring Lake?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    You Qimiao pondered for a brief moment, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll help you get the soul crystals you need!¡±

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! He¡¯s after our Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡± One of the Netherspirits that was bogged down in the mire of murky energies bellowed in the humannguage. ¡°Among the three existing worlds, the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World, ours, the Void World, is the only one that has Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded. ¡°The Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World...¡±

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡±

    Eyes wide, he stared at You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and asked, ¡°How do you know about the Netherspirits¡¯ Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir?¡±

    HOWL! HOWL!

    The evil god of bloodlust, thest remaining evil god that hadn¡¯t been captured and sealed inside the Spirit Pearl, was skinny, with sharp de-like bones sticking out of its odd-looking body. At this moment, it was absorbing refined Nether Qi from its surroundings like a sponge absorbing water.

    Surprisingly, the more Nether Qi it absorbed, the more shriveled it became.

    However, its aura soared. Even the mire of murky energies You Qimiao had gathered from another Realm Sea started to have difficulty confining it.

    ¡°You, girl from the Void Spirit Society! Take Nie Tian to thatke now!¡± You Qimiao said urgently.

    ¡°Okay!¡± Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal once again, using one of its many facets as a void passage. Then, she grabbed Nie Tian and shot into the crystal like two streaks of light.

    Luo Wanxiang fixed You Qimiao with a death re as his shattered All Manifestations Star Banner came back together. ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re after Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir only exists in the Void World, and only Netherspirits have it. Even the Phantasms of the Spirit World can¡¯t produce Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir with their Soul-devouring Lakes.¡±

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± A Netherspirit let out a fierce cry. ¡°If you can kill this man right now, we¡¯ll grant you three drops of our Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, so after you derive profound enlightenment from the Nether River, you¡¯ll be able to break through into thete God domain with its help!¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Luo Wanxiang asked with zing desires in his eyes.

    ¡°Really!¡±

    ¡°Alright then!¡±

    Even though Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol was bogged down in the murky energies, a wisp of his true soul managed to disy a profound soul magic recorded in the fragmentary star marks with the help of his All Manifestations Star Banner.

    ¡°Sea of Illusory Stars!¡±

    Ny-nine dazzling Star Eyes were created and aligned in a profound formation. Each and every one of them was vested with his soul power and the wonders of his star souls.

    In the next moment, the sea of dazzling stars manifested in You Qimiao¡¯s view.

    Wisps of You Qimiao¡¯s soul will, which he had dispersed over this area, were affected by the strange power of the magical sea and had their connection with his true soul cut off, as if he were lost in the Sea of Illusory Stars.

    The murky energies he had channeled from another Realm Sea were originally concentrated, but they now started to scatter and spread into their surroundings.

    This meant that the mire of murky energies was bing thinner and less binding.

    The evil god of bloodlust, the few Netherspirits, and Luo Wanxiang all started to gradually regain their mobility, and the ability to cast soul magics.

    More importantly, the numerous evil spirits and vicious souls controlled by the Netherspirits gradually regained the ability to fly around.

    Swarms of them morphed into curious symbols that were very simr to the Phantasms¡¯nguage and looked like squirming earthworms.

    They were the Netherspirits¡¯ unique soul symbols, which carried the profound truths of souls, and could be used to cast a wide array of profound soul magics.

    ¡°Soul Ignition!¡±

    In the blink of an eye, the soul symbols flew past the mire of murky energies to form a soul spell in the air over You Qimiao¡¯s head.

    BOOM!

    Like strange fiery sparks, the numerous soul symbols that emanated mysterious dim light vanished.

    In the next moment, fiery light started to appear in every part of You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol.

    The wisps of soul will he had used to construct his dharma idol were ignited by the Netherspirit soul spell, and were being burned away at an rming rate.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± he bellowed.

    Meanwhile...

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi came out of a spatial rift that manifested over the Soul-devouring Lake, where they looked down at the dark, unfathomableke.

    You Qimiao¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool seemed to have morphed into a giant yin-yang fish that was swimming swiftly in the depths of the Soul-devouring Lake.

    Both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi could only see the vague shape of the huge fish that had transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror.

    As for the soul crystals and the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir the Netherspirits had referred to, they could see none.

    Also, as they sent soul awareness into the Soul-devouring Lake, they rapidly lost connection with them, as if they were stones that were tossed into the ocean.

    Nie Tian turned to Pei Qiqi and asked, ¡°Have you heard about Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir? From what those Netherspirits and Luo Wanxiang said, it seems to be even more precious than soul crystals. And it seems to be the real reason why You Qimiao came here. Whatever soul crystals he gets from here may be only add-ons.¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°My master has never told me anything about the Void World, much less the Netherspirits. I only just learned that our world is called the Mortal World. The world where Ancientspirits and outsiders live is called the Spirit World. And this world is called the Void World. The Void World... and the Void Pce Sect...¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but think of the former most powerful sect in the Realm of Split Void.

    Her parents were members of the Void Pce Sect. One of them was even a Voidspirit. They seemed to have moved to another heaven and earth they had discovered through a spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    WHOOSH!

    The giant fish transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror suddenly charged out of the surface of the unfathomableke, which didn¡¯t show the slightest ripples.

    The giant fish that seemed to be thebination of twopletely different auras opened its mouth and blew towards Nie Tian.

    Then, pitch-ck crystals that looked like ck diamonds flew towards Nie Tian in a stream of strange water from the Soul-devouring Lake.

    ¡°Soul crystals! Close to a hundred of them!¡± Nie Tian was so thrilled that he forgot all about the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. He blurred into action and entered the stream of water in a sh. As he made grabbing motions, strings made of pure spiritual power flew out to pull the soul crystals into his palms.

    ¡°Please hurry,¡± The huge fish said in the humannguage. ¡°My master is now in a difficult situation. That vice sectmaster of your sect has gone all-out against him for three drops of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir that the Netherspirits have promised him.¡±

    SPLASH!

    With these words, the yin-yang fish transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror jumped back into the Soul-devouring Lake.

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t even get to ask about the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir as she had nned.

    She turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°This yin-yang fish must be the true form of that Immortal grade divine tool¡¯s soul. No wonder it¡¯s considered the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s signature treasure. Its soul can not only take the form of a yin-yang fish, but it can also speak in the humannguage.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll refine the soul crystals first. Give me some time and don¡¯t take me back to You Qimiao just yet. It¡¯s safer here.

    ¡°Here. These are for you.¡±

    With these words, he casually tossed a third of the soul crystals to Pei Qiqi. ¡°You must have consumed a significant amount of soul power as well after shuttling through space with the help of your spatial treasure.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Pei Qiqi said without any pleasantries. She received the soul crystals and started refining them right away as he did.

    Before, when the five evil gods had been obedient, Nie Tian had been able to extract and refine soul power into himself with the help of the Spirit Pearl.

    However, things were different now.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had to guard the four evil gods that had been captured and pulled into the misty cyan world inside the pearl by four Illusory Ancient Talismans, which was a very consuming task.

    Plus, it had consumed a tremendous amount of power to pull the evil gods into the pearl in the first ce.

    For that reason, Nie Tian had had no choice but to ask You Qimiao for soul crystals in advance, so he could condense another Illusory Ancient Talisman and confine thest remaining evil god within the Spirit Pearl.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A soul crystal burned in Nie Tian¡¯s palm like a cluster of ck mes.

    With an incredibly high speed, he absorbed wisps of pure soul power and refined them into his sea of awareness, allowing his blurry and illusory true soul to be clear-cut and real again.

    One soul crystal after another was drained of their power.

    Cluster after cluster of ck mes burned out, without even leaving any ashes.

    After consuming twenty soul crystals, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes finally became brilliant and full of life again.

    ¡°I¡¯m finished...¡± As soon as he spoke, he discovered that Pei Qiqi had only finished draining three of the soul crystals he had given her.

    Apparently, the speed at which she refined soul crystals was far slower.

    Pei Qiqi opened her eyes. ¡°Oh, as long as you¡¯re finished, I¡¯m okay. Since I haven¡¯t fought any hard battles, my consumption of soul power isn¡¯t that great.¡±

    With these words, she activated the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    On the battlefield they hade from...

    You Qimiao found it harder and harder to keep the murky energies he had gathered from another Realm Sea from scattering, since his soul power was being burned away and he was losing himself in Luo Wanxiang¡¯s Sea of Illusory Stars.

    The mire of murky energies continued to spread thinner and thinner.

    The hideous evil god of bloodlust swung its arms that looked like frosty bone des as it engaged in a fierce battle against You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol.

    With every swing, it sent out a wave of strong bloodlust, cutting You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol open. However, he would rapidly heal his dharma idol by relying on pure refined spiritual power.

    At the same time, Luo Wanxiang and the Netherspirits cast a brand new restrictive spell with the soul symbols transformed from the numerous evil spirits and vicious souls.

    You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol was already riddled with holes. It seemed that this mightybination of yin and yang powers, as well as his soul power, was on the verge of breaking apart.

    If it did, You Qimiao would be bound to suffer severe injuries!

    At this perilous moment, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi suddenly appeared.

    You Qimiao¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he saw Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone as brightly as stars. Apparently, he had, to a great extent, replenished the soul power he had consumed with soul crystals.

    This meant he was going to capture thest evil god soon.

    ¡°No!¡±

    The evil god of bloodlust, who had witnessed what had happened to its friends, sensed the unfavorable situation upon seeing Nie Tian¡¯s return.

    Even at this point, it still hadn¡¯t finished gathering the fragments of its lost memories and soul, which meant it had yet to recover its peak strength.

    Therefore, it only looked at Nie Tian and instinctively wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

    Nie Tian¡¯s return also made Luo Wanxiang and the Netherspirits insecure and uneasy. Their faces were grim as they looked at him.

    Without rushing into action, Nie Tian frowned and asked, ¡°Sectmaster You, I have some questions about the so-called Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. What is it? And how can it help you with your breakthroughs in cultivation? We made a deal earlier, ording to which we¡¯ll get forty percent of what you gather from that Soul-devouring Lake, while you¡¯ll keep sixty percent. I suppose by that you mean Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, right?¡±

    ¡°No! I meant soul crystals! Only soul crystals!¡± You Qimiao said anxiously.

    Nie Tian seemed rather calm andposed as he touched his head and said, ¡°Sectmaster You, you see, if I don¡¯t capture that evil god and those strange energies of yours escape your control... I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be in serious trouble. You¡¯ll only have a chance at winning the battle if you summon your Immortal grade divine tool back from that Soul-devouring Lake and fight with its help.¡±

    Both he and Pei Qiqi saw the dangerous situation You Qimiao was in.

    The Netherspirits were burning his soul power with a powerful soul spell, causing cracks to appear all over his dharma idol.

    Meanwhile, the evil god of bloodlust was chopping at his dharma idol, and Luo Wanxiang was clouding his mind with the Sea of Illusory Stars.

    If this went on, his dharma idol would most likely explode within a short time.

    If that happened, even if he called the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror back, he would only be able to escape, leaving the treasures in the Soul-devouring Lake behind.

    You Qimiao gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Alright! I meant Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! You¡¯ll get forty percent of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and soul crystals I gather! As you know, I¡¯m a man of my word. Once I agree to something, I¡¯ll never go back on it!¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently. ¡°That seems to be true.¡±

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°So what can Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir do, and what makes it so valuable?¡±

    ¡°Soul crystals can only help cultivators improve their soul power and strengthen their souls.¡± You Qimiao seemed anxious, and wanted to rush through his exnation. ¡°Even without them, cultivators can umte enough soul power to reach the breakthrough point through time.

    ¡°So the purpose of soul crystals is only to speed up the process.

    ¡°But that¡¯s not the case with Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! That wondrous elixir can be used to cleanse souls! As we umte soul power to make breakthroughs in our cultivation, some intangible harmful matter will be inevitably left in our souls. We call them soul impurities.

    ¡°Outsiders have to refine their fleshly bodies and drive impurities from their bodies in order to make advances in their bloodlines. Unlike outsiders, we humans don¡¯t attach much importance to body refinement. However, impurities in our souls will also keep us from reaching the peak of cultivation.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m facing myst breakthrough, which is from the middle to thete God domain. The purity of my soul will be of great importance.

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir can help me purify my soul and significantly improve my sess rate.

    ¡°Not just to me; Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir can be of great help to those who seek to enter the early or middle God domain as well. The purer your soul, the fewer obstacles you¡¯ll face in your breakthroughs.

    ¡°Now! That¡¯s all you wanted to know!¡±

    You Qimiao raised his voice.

    Pei Qiqi waspletely amazed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that elixir is so full of wonders! Nie Tian, if what he said is true, Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir is indeed much more valuable than soul crystals.¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°That sounds like some treasure indeed! No wonder you and Jiang Yuanchi went through so much trouble toe to the Void World. Neither of you have the confidence to enter thete God domain without it, and that¡¯s why you want Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir so badly!¡±

    ¡°I suppose Senior Mo Heng, Fan Tianze, and Chu Rui will want it too,¡± Pei Qiqi said softly.

    The smile vanished from Nie Tian¡¯s face as he locked eyes with the evil god of bloodlust and said, ¡°Alright, you¡¯re thest one now. Why don¡¯t you juste back by yourself?¡±

 Chapter 1402: You Are Outsiders to Us!

    The fifth Illusory Ancient Talisman was sessfully created.

    WHOOSH!

    The evil god of bloodlust, which had reached the strength of an early tenth grade grand monarch after gathering a tremendous amount of soul and memory fragments, somehow managed to break free from the mire of murky energies and charged off into the void.

    ¡°Lord!¡±

    Under the Netherspirits¡¯ control, numerous soul symbols that had been transformed from evil spirits and vicious souls flew into the evil god like a rain of lights.

    Each and every soul symbol was a condensation of soul power and Nether Qi, and even perhaps a drop of the Netherspirits¡¯ Blood Essence.

    WHOOSH!

    After absorbing the soul symbols, the enormous evil god of bloodlust somehow split up into seven smaller versions of itself that shot off in different directions like seven streaks of light.

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to split into multiple doppelg?ngers. From the look of it, the soul and memory fragments you¡¯ve gathered from this world have actually helped you awaken some of the exquisite spells you mastered in your previous life. But you might have forgotten that after you split up, you¡¯ll be weaker individually.

    ¡°Also, I have a spatial power expert with me!¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian controlled the Illusory Ancient Talisman with his true soul, and cast Starshift to appear face-to-face with one of the doppelg?ngers.

    ¡°Come on.¡±

    As soon as he released the Illusory Ancient Talisman, the doppelg?nger flew uncontrobly into it.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei,¡± Nie Tian called softly.

    Pei Qiqi quickly arrived by his side with her Space Boundaries Crystal, and located the other doppelg?ngers of the evil god with wisps of soul will she released.

    As the Space Boundaries Crystal spun, the two of them traveled between different locations.

    One after another, the doppelg?ngers of the evil god of bloodlust were pulled into the Illusory Ancient Talisman, where they merged back together.

    Finally, the evil god of bloodlust was also sealed within the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°Done.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t put the mysterious Spirit Pearl away immediately after capturing thest of the evil gods.

    The Spirit Pearl floated high above Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    None of the evil spirits and vicious souls controlled by the Netherspirits dared toe near due to its existence.

    After all, the Spirit Pearl was a mighty soul tool, with a powerful soul and five evil gods inside.

    As lowly as they were, they instinctively feared and kept their distance from it.

    You Qimiao let out a sigh of relief. ¡°With the evil god gone, a heavy weight is lifted from my shoulders. Nie Tian, why don¡¯t you two take care of the rest of the Netherspirits? I¡¯ll deal with Luo Wanxiang.¡±

    ¡°Gather!¡± As he raised his arms and called out, the scattering murky energies rapidly gathered back together.

    Since You Qimiao had found an opportunity to take a handful of medicinal pills, his damaged dharma idol also rapidly recovered, and glittered with divine light again.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡±

    Wreathed in frigid and zing auras, his dharma idol suddenly rammed into Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol, which was surrounded by countless dazzling fragmentary stars. The two of them shed like two enormous dragons from the Deste Antiquity Era. sts from their shes even scattered the Nether Qi in the area.

    ¡°Nine Twists Void sh!¡±

    Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal, and dazzling spatial des shot out of its many facets. They zigzagged among the Netherspirits to reap lives.

    POOPH! POOPH!

    Weaker Netherspirits were cut in two at the waist one after another, though wisps of their souls managed to escape.

    With a cold look in her eyes, Pei Qiqi said in a low voice, ¡°Soul Split.¡±

    Struck by mysterious ripples of spatial power, the Netherspirits¡¯ fleeing souls were instantly ripped apart and sucked into spatial rifts that manifested out of nowhere and connected to unknown parts of the starry river.

    ¡°These Netherspirits are a bit too weak,¡± Nie Tian said with a derisive tone.

    Clutching the Star Behemoth bone, he also started reaping lives in his erged form. The devastated Netherspirits wailed and shrieked as they fled in every direction.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe these Netherspirits actually want to invade the Spirit World and the Mortal World. Howughable!¡± Nie Tian thought to himself as he ughtered Netherspirits. ¡°They don¡¯t have a single grand monarch among them, yet they aspired to defeat Mo Heng and breach the portal with their army of evil spirits.¡±

    He found this hard to believe.

    AHH! WOO!

    The fleeing Netherspirits let out sharp cries, which fell into the illusory Nether River like tangible musical notes.

    After receiving those notes, the illusory Nether River suddenly started twisting, with countless strange shadows wriggling within it, as if to send out messages.

    ¡°Nie Tian, even though that Nether River is merely an illusion, it seems to contain wonders,¡± Pei Qiqi reminded him.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay here anymore.¡± You Qimiao¡¯s ethereal voice echoed out. ¡°Go to the Soul-devouring Lake. My Immortal grade divine tool will harvest all that it has to offer. Then, when it tells you to leave,e back here, and we¡¯ll leave together.¡±

    A suspicious look appeared in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°You seem to be afraid of something. What is it?¡±

    ¡°Do you really think that Netherspirits are a weak people?¡± You Qimiao said with a stern expression. ¡°They¡¯re a race that has seen leaders like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit in their history. That¡¯s a mighty figure who transcended the limits of the tenth grade. Even after his demise, his sea of awareness morphed into the Nether River that runs through three worlds.

    ¡°Their current high chieftain, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, is a figure who¡¯s every bit as strong as Grand Monarch Nether River of the Phantasms, if not stronger.

    ¡°If he¡¯s toe here, I¡¯ll definitely be the losing one.

    ¡°In fact, even if I join up with Mo Heng and Jiang Yuanchi, we might not be able to match him in battle!¡±

    You Qimiao seemed very vignt. By telling Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian this, he didn¡¯t want them to take the Netherspirits as a weak people just because they had killed a bunch of their weaker members.

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±

    ¡°Now go!¡± You Qimiao said. ¡°Something seems to be going on over at the Soul-devouring Lake. Help my divine tool if it asks for it. We might be enemies in the Mortal World, but I hope we can cast our differences aside and work together here in the Void World.¡±

    ¡°I can do that,¡± Nie Tian said.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal spun once again.

    In a sh, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi arrived above the Soul-devouring Lake.

    A devilishly beautiful figure was standing quietly by theke, her purple hair cascading to her perky bottom like a waterfall. Curiosity filled her purple crystalline eyes as she cast a nce at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, and asked in what sounded like awkward Demonnguage, ¡°Who are you? Where are you from?¡±

    ¡°A Devil!¡± An exmation escaped Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouths as they saw the female being that had a ny percent resemnce to a high-tier Demon.

    ¡°She¡¯s an early tenth grade Devil grand monarch!¡± Nie Tian whispered to Pei Qiqi.

    The bloodline origin of the Demons in the Spirit Worldy with the Devils in the Void World.

    This curvaceous female being with purple hair and pupils was clearly a Devil. Dressed in a semi-transparent silk dress, her every move and smile seemed to be exceedingly charming.

    Plus, she was at the early tenth grade.

    Nie Tian, who understood the Demons¡¯nguage, warned Pei Qiqi in the humannguage, ¡°Such profound flesh aura and strong power fluctuations. She seems to be much stronger than Grand Monarch Blood Axe of the Demons, who I once fought in the Spirit World. This Devil grand monarch can¡¯t be taken lightly.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded and said with a grim expression, ¡°If anything goes wrong, I¡¯ll take you away from here immediately.¡±

    ¡°Where are the two of you from?¡± The female Devil asked, her pupils devilishly purple. ¡°From the look of it, you don¡¯t belong to any of the higher races in our world. And your flesh auras are very special, especially you...¡±

    She ran her eyes up and down Pei Qiqi. ¡°You seem to carry the Voidspirits¡¯ aura, but it¡¯s not the same.¡±

    ¡°Which part of your world do the Voidspirits live in?¡± Pei Qiqi asked in well-pronounced Demonnguage.

    ¡°Such a strangenguage you speak. It¡¯s very simr to ours but, again, not the same.¡± The female Devil pondered for a brief moment before her eyes suddenly lit up. She chuckled and continued, ¡°So you¡¯re not from our world. Are you from the Spirit World or the Mortal World?¡±

    ¡°The Mortal World,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    The female Devil was taken aback. ¡°Very curious. As far as I know, the humans from the Mortal Worldck fleshly strength, and don¡¯t carry particr bloodlines. But you two exude rich flesh auras, and your bodies seem to be well-tempered and exceptionally strong.

    ¡°Oh wait! You must be from that region between two worlds!

    ¡°Many hybrids of humans and races from the Spirit World live there!¡±

    With these words, she paused and took a nce at the Soul-devouring Lake. ¡°You came for what lies at the bottom of thiske, right?¡±

    ¡°What if we did?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°If you did, then I¡¯ll have to kill you,¡± The female Devil said casually. ¡°After all, you¡¯re outsiders to us.¡±

 Chapter 1403: Tie

    The female Devil made a grabbing motion towards Pei Qiqi.

    Her tender palm suddenly expanded wildly and tremendously, billowing Devil power surging out of it.

    The purple-ck Devil power kept changing, and then condensed into many native and peculiar Devil beasts of the Void World.

    All of a sudden, Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression changed.

    Her Space Boundaries Crystal turned, and then like a streak of lightning at dawn, she fled from the ce that the Devil¡¯s palm shrouded.

    BOOM!

    A huge, deep pit extending dozens of miles suddenly appeared in the dead realm where the Devil¡¯s palm had been.

    The huge pit was a palm print with five closed fingers.

    ¡°I was right. You do carry the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline.¡± The female Devil seemed to have known it. She sneered and pulled her palm towards Nie Tian.

    In his view, a palm filled with bright purple magic light magnified infinitely.

    It seemed that there was a sea of purple clouds that was about to drown this heaven and earth, and evenpletely covered Nie Tian¡¯s body in his giant form.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Thousands of purple lightning bolts flew out from the sea of purple clouds that the palm had morphed into. The lightning contained ultimate Devil power, stunning Nie Tian.

    WOOSH!

    His bloodline burst forth. In the Life Blend state, he used drops of Blood Essence to activate the Star Behemoth bone, which flew against the current like a godly spear and a lightning rainbow!

    An ancient, wild, and fierce aura from the bone rushed out from the giant Nie Tian, and was suddenly magnified by it.

    BAM!

    A lightning rainbow condensed by the Star Behemoth bone collided violently with the sea of devilish clouds with purple lightning.

    The billowing, strong Devil Qi from the female Devil¡¯s palm seemed to morph into countless crazy ferocious beasts that gnawed at the power that shot out from the bone.

    The female Devil was slightly surprised. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Her eyes that were like purple diamonds quietly looked at Nie Tian through the surging Devil Qi and the crimson light from the bone as she said, ¡°A human hybrid can actually be so strong. Your bloodline and aura do not seem to be of any species known to us. And the bone you are wielding has a very ancient origin. It seems to be...¡±

    While speaking, she pointed another hand at Nie Tian from afar. ¡°Bloodline, Devil Power Tide.¡±

    The surging Devil power turned into a raging Devil power sea. Blinding Devil light exploded like thunderbolts to form a Devil Power Tide, which was even more powerful and overwhelming.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Increasingly strong explosive forces burst forth over Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    In an instant, he canceled his Life Blend with the Star Behemoth bone, his body in the giant form bombarded and beaten back to its original form.

    He was dispirited, his expression grim.

    He knew that because he had used the Illusory Ancient Talisman five times in a row, most of the various powers in his dantian and spiritual sea had been exhausted, as had most of his profound flesh power.

    The grand monarch Devil in front of him was at the early tenth grade, but her strength wasn¡¯t any weaker than that of Demons like Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    His strength wasn¡¯t strong enough to begin with. When he suddenly encountered the female Devil, it was normal that he couldn¡¯t even maintain his Life Blend state after being bombarded.

    SWISH!

    While he was absorbed in thought, Pei Qiqi drove her Space Boundaries Crystal and appeared beside him, whispering, ¡°Let¡¯s give up the wonders in the Soul-devouring Lake for the time being. We cane back and try again when You Qimiao is finished with Luo Wanxiang.¡±

    Nie Tian hesitated.

    SPLASH!

    Suddenly, the most glorious treasure of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, which had sunk to the Soul-devouring Lake and morphed into a huge yin-yang fish, flew out of theke.

    The yin-yang fish was red and white. It stared at Nie Tian with its weird eyes, and then suddenly exhaled a mouthful of stale air.

    It was a mouthful of muddy energies of different attributes, and it came from the same origin as the energies You Qimiao had disyed before!

    Nie Tian froze for only a second before he suddenly realized something, and shouted, ¡°Thanks!¡±

    He forcibly summoned his remaining strands of energy of different attributes to create a Primal Chaos around him. Then, under the female Devil¡¯s bewildered gaze, he flew into the torrent of muddy energies.

    WHOOSH!

    The moment he entered it, the torrent of mixed energies swirled around him naturally.

    A twisting, tearing, and raging maic field easily came to form. The uncanny energies swirling around him started working for him!

    WHOOSH!

    The wildly turbulent Devil Power Tide the female Devil had released was immediately shattered by the twisting, tearing force after touching the raging maic field around Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Pei Qiqi hesitated. Instead of urging him to leave, she quietly shrank to the side and kept as far away as possible from Nie Tian and the female Devil.

    In a sh, Nie Tian, who seemed to be enveloped in a thick natural carapace with the twisting, tearing maic field surrounding him, entered a fierce battle against the female Devil.

    Pei Qiqi was dazzled by their battle. ¡°She¡¯s so strong!¡±

    The native early tenth grade grand monarch from the Void World didn¡¯t even use the Demons¡¯mon bloodline talent, Ancestral Awakening, yet she was able to walk elegantly in the twisting, tearing maic field around Nie Tian.

    She suffered from the tearing and erosion of the murky energies from a Realm Sea.

    However, she remained unhurried and calm from beginning to end. Even her semi-translucent silk dress wasn¡¯t torn in the slightest.

    Her purple-ck flesh aura sea, which had been thoroughly refined, was extremelypressed, and guarded her firmly like a purple forcefield.

    The turbulent maic field that even Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect had to avoid seemed to be unable to hurt her.

    Her casual waves of a hand, punches that carried billowing Devil Qi, or simple flicks of her finger could create a momentary rift in the twisting tearing maic field, through which she could press on towards Nie Tian.

    Seeing the female Devil easily breaking in, Nie Tian, who had just restored a bit of his confidence with the external help, looked very gloomy.

    ¡°Both of you are very interesting. I¡¯ve changed my mind. I don¡¯t want to kill you right now.¡± The female Devil said softly in what sounded like broken Demonnguage, as if she had total control of the situation, ¡°You humans are very interesting, and canbine your bloodlines with those of other races to create hybrids.

    ¡°Both of you are undoubtedly the most sessful of the hybrids.

    ¡°I¡¯m very curious about you, and I¡¯m going to study how you sessfully became a hybrid.¡±

    She crossed the dangerous raging maic field and suddenly appeared in front of Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian felt his scalp turn numb.

    BOOM!

    Twisted ropes of Devil light suddenly flew out from the female Devil¡¯s body.

    The dozens of ropes didn¡¯t give Nie Tian time to react before they tied him up like purple lightning bolts, rendering him unable to move.

 Chapter 1404: Captured

    ZZZZZLA!

    Purple lightning bolts that were thin as hairs flew out from the ropes and rushed to every corner of Nie Tian¡¯s body, stopping his flesh aura fluctuations and numbing his spiritual sea.

    His expression flickered violently.

    He took a closer look, and noticed that countless purple lightning bolts were scattered in every part of his flesh, blood, and bones.

    His flesh aura, blood flow, and even heartbeat seemed to be bound by invisible cages.

    Even his spiritual sea was filled with purple swirling mist.

    Due to the presence of the purple mist, the connection between his soul and his three spiritual cores of wood, star, and me power was broken, preventing him from condensing the three kinds of power to disy his void domain.

    After a moment, the weird purple lightning bolts reached his sea of soul awareness, filling it with purple mist. Even his true soul seemed to be wrapped in thick purple smoke.

    His fleshly body, spiritual sea, and true soul were all under the influence of the purple lightning.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Noticing that something was wrong, Pei Qiqi drove all other concerns out of her mind and activated the Space Boundaries Crystal, as she nned to move across the space to Nie Tian¡¯s side and take him out of this ce.

    BANG!

    The female Devil gently punched an empty area in the air.

    The empty space suddenly copsed and exploded. Pei Qiqi let out a dull groan as a trace of blood appeared at the corner of her pretty mouth.

    The female Devil chuckled, looked at her yfully, and said, ¡°What? You don¡¯t want to part with your lover, do you? I¡¯m in fact more interested in your Voidspirit bloodline. Well, if you give up resistance, I¡¯ll let go of your little lover.¡±

    Frowning, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t speak.

    Nie Tian opened his mouth in an attempt to speak, but suddenly found thick purple-ck Devil Qi gushing out from his mouth.

    Clusters of Devil Qi seemed to being out of his internal organs.

    What he was going to say came out as strange sounds. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t speak clearly.

    ¡°This pearl...¡± The female Devil¡¯s eyes glittered with unusual light as she said, ¡°It¡¯s gathering five different negative emotions on its own. Strangely enough, none of the Netherspirit grand monarchs of this generation seem to have mastered these five unique negative emotions. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the Netherspirits¡¯ five legendary evil gods who were under themand of Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit?¡±

    Her eyes suddenly lit up.

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡± Pei Qiqi screamed at the Soul-devouring Lake and her Space Boundaries Crystal. Then, gritting her teeth, she exerted the crystal¡¯s power to crack open a spatial rift, and shouted into it. ¡°Senior Mo!¡±

    One facet of the Space Boundaries Crystal connected to the battlefield where You Qimiao and Luo Wanxiang were fighting.

    The spatial rift led to the portal where Mo Heng was.

    She was proficient in space power, carried a space bloodline, and owned a priceless space treasure, but it overburdened her to forcibly use the Space Boundaries Crystal again and again.

    SPLASH!

    A mouthful of blood gushed out of her mouth uncontrobly and sprayed on that facet of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    The female Devil¡¯s bright eyes twinkled. She suddenly snorted and said, ¡°Little wench! You¡¯re proficient in space power and carry a special bloodline. You¡¯re a little difficult to deal with indeed.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    She suddenly rose into the heavens with Nie Tian, who she had captured. In a sh, theypletely disappeared from the dead realm.

    Before she left, she sensed You Qimiao¡¯s horrifying aura that was scattered in the dead realm, and detected another stronger aura from within the cracked spatial rift.

    Even though she was very strong, it was impossible for her to kill Pei Qiqi, who held the Space Boundaries Crystal, within a short time.

    Even though Pei Qiqi seemed to be her primary target, Nie Tian was the one who she wanted to capture first.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pei Qiqi stared at the dark heavens, worried and anxious. However, she couldn¡¯t go after them right now.

    Once she left, You Qimiao and Mo Heng wouldn¡¯t be able to cross the boundary of space and reach here in a moment, especially Mo Heng.

    Even an expert like him couldn¡¯t travel to the dead realm from the portal within a short time.

    Only with the help of the spatial rift she had torn open could he get here in an instant.

    She waited anxiously.

    WHOOSH!

    Soon, Mo Heng crossed the spatial rift and stepped into the dead realm, looking grave. ¡°What happened? The portal may face new attacks at any moment. Why did you summon me so urgently?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian was captured by a female Devil,¡± Pei Qiqi said quickly. ¡°She has the bloodline grade of an early tenth grade grand monarch. But she¡¯s much stronger than Demons like Grand Monarch Blood Axe that we know of. I was able to avoid her capture and pursuit, but I couldn¡¯t save Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± he said with a solemn face. ¡°Where is she? Can you locate her and take me there?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°I tried, but I couldn¡¯t locate her.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°Which direction did they go?¡±

    She held out her finger to point in a direction. ¡°That way.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave a wisp of your aura on me?¡± he said.

    Following the direction in which the female Devil had left, he flew quietly away, like a wisp of weightless smoke. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Nie Tian. You¡¯ll always be able to locate me. I¡¯ll search for him and that female Devil. As long as I can sense his aura, or locate her, I¡¯ll definitely be able to bring him back.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Soon after Mo Heng left, You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect also arrived. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Why did Mo Heng suddenlye here? Does he want a share of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir?¡±

    ¡°A native female Devil captured Nie Tian and left in that direction.¡± Pei Qiqi exined, pointing up. ¡°I summoned Senior Mo Heng here. He even had to abandon the portal temporarily.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡± You Qimiao said, her face expressionless. ¡°No matter what happens, I¡¯ll fulfil my desires. This dead realm is not vast. Even without the help of your Space Boundaries Crystal, it won¡¯t take long for Luo Wanxiang to track me down here.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I won¡¯t interfere in Nie Tian¡¯s affairs, I came to the Void World for the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.¡±

    With that, he plunged into the Soul-devouring Lake, regardless of her thoughts.

    At the bottom of the Soul-devouring Lake, his huge yin-yang fish became unusually cheerful upon sensing his arrival.

    All of a sudden, astonishing waves rose up from below the Soul-devouring Lake.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Pei Qiqi cursed under her breath, as she knew she couldn¡¯t count on this man to help Mo Heng bring back Nie Tian. ¡°He... will be alright, won¡¯t he?¡±

    In the starry river in the Void World.

    After the female Devil flew into the starry river with Nie Tian, theynded on a small flying tool that was flexible and fast.

    Casually, she threw Nie Tian to the floor. Examining him with narrowed eyes, she sent out strands of purple lightning to check the flesh aura fluctuations within him. ¡°You look like someone I¡¯ve met before.¡±

 Chapter 1405: A Heavy Blow

    Nie Tian was as stiff as a board.

    His flesh aura, spiritual sea, and all of his senses werepromised by countless wisps of purple lightning.

    However, he could still hear the female Devil and see every move she made.

    ¡°I look like someone she¡¯s met...¡± he thought to himself as he gradually fell into a trance.

    FIZZ!

    More wisps of purple lightning flew out of the female Devil into Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    They quickly found their way to his heart.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    His strong heart immediately started pounding heavily, as if it was somehow stimted.

    Drop after drop of the Blood Essence that was stored in his heart were ignited, bursting forth with an immense flesh aura.

    Countless Bloodline Crystal Chains suddenly lit up within the green aura that carried the profound truths of life.

    An irrepressible surge of pure flesh power rushed out of his heart like a dragon charging out of the depths of ake, dispersing through his whole body.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Numerous wisps of purple lightning that were swimming in his flesh and internal organs exploded after being attacked by the surging flesh power.

    The female Devil was taken aback. ¡°What?!¡±

    She fixed him with a curious gaze and said, ¡°You¡¯re different indeed. I really didn¡¯t expect you to be able to resist my imprisonment spell given your current bloodline grade. However, what you¡¯re doing is far from enough...¡±

    With a slight twist, she took a circr badge that seemed to have been forged from purple metal off her high-rising chest. It seemed to be wreathed in an enchanting scent as she pressed it on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    It felt as heavy as a mountain peak to him!

    As soon as the small badge was ced on Nie Tian¡¯s chest, all of his surging flesh power and ignited Blood Essence were suppressed.

    Not a single wisp of power stirred inside of him anymore.

    The wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power that were running inside of his body were rapidly overtaken and dissolved by the wisps of purple lightning released by her.

    The female Devil fixed him with a deep look and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    A bewildered look appeared in her gem-like purple eyes, as if she remembered something she treasured. ¡°I know a man... who looks very much like you. He doesn¡¯t belong to any of the races in our world either. Like you, he¡¯s also from the Mortal World.

    ¡°He spends most of his time in the region that separates our world from the Mortal World, but he¡¯ll also go deep into our world from time to time to find secrets of my people, the Netherspirits, and the Bonedrudes.

    ¡°I viewed him as prey at first.

    ¡°However, he was cunning and strong. And he grew stronger very fast. Every time I injured him badly, he was able to escape from my hands. Then as time passed, he became so strong that not only could I not defeat him anymore, but I had to run from him instead of him from me.

    ¡°Eventually, I was defeated and captured by him. Like you right now, I wasn¡¯t even strong enough to break free from his imprisonment.

    ¡°However, he didn¡¯t kill me. Rather, he talked to me about his dreams, and how he was notorious in the Mortal World and targeted by all sides.

    ¡°He told me that he believes what he¡¯s been doing is right, and even though there are myriad different species and races in this starry river, there might be a way for them to all live together in harmony.

    ¡°He travels across the Mortal World, the Void World, and the Spirit World, and is trusted by many.¡±

    The devilishly charming female Devil seemed to be lost in her memories. Gradually, she started to have an intoxicated look in her eyes as she looked at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck.

    Judging from this female Devil¡¯s manner of speaking and the look in her eyes, she was clearly in love with the man she was talking about, whether she knew it or not.

    Also, there was a great chance that... that man was his father whom he had never met before.

    Even though he was full of questions and dying to ask them, he couldn¡¯t utter a word due to the restraint of the purple lightning bolts.

    ¡°Seriously, you really look like him,¡± The female Devil muttered as her peculiar air-transportation spiritual tool traveled through the dim starry river at a speed who knew how many times faster than any human or outsider starship. ¡°Eventually, he let me go for some reason.

    ¡°And he left and continued to build up his name in that region between the two worlds. Many years after that, we met a few times, but every time, we were on opposing sides. We even had to fight each other sometime. However, he always held back...

    ¡°Then one day, a woman appeared by his side, a woman of his kind. Only when I saw him with that woman did I realize that I was already...¡±

    With these words, the female Devil gave a sad smile. ¡°Well, howughable is that? He¡¯s the leader of an alien kind for god¡¯s sake. All hybrids who don¡¯t have their ce in the three worlds view him as their wise leader.

    ¡°Also, his hands are covered with the blood of my people, the Netherspirits, and the Bonedrudes. Countless have died at his hands.

    ¡°Many of us don¡¯t know the names of any powerful experts from the Spirit World or the Mortal World, yet his name long resounds in the ears of the experts in our world.

    ¡°After all, he¡¯s the heavy wall that stands between our world and the Mortal World. For ages, we¡¯ve made many attempts to go through that region that separates the two worlds, but all of our attempts have been frustrated by him.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I hate him? Why... Why do I think about him day and night, and do everything I can to learn how he¡¯s doing?¡±

    The female Devil cast her gaze down, her face filled with sadness and frustration.

    The devastating battle prowess and overwhelming capturing skills she had disyed earlier werepletely gone.

    She shook her head and continued, ¡°How funny is this? I¡¯m telling you all this just because you¡¯re part-human and you look like him... Perhaps all humans look simr to us. But again, your eyes, nose, and...¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know what to think.

    Lying on his back on the floor of the air-transportation spiritual tool, he looked into the dim void. Not a single star was in sight.

    ¡°Who is it?¡± The female Devil suddenly called out and looked vigntly around, as if she sensed danger.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Mo Heng¡¯s resounding voice rumbled through the void as waves of raging spiritual power madly converged on the air-transportation spiritual tool from all directions.

    The Devils¡¯ unique air-transportation spiritual tool, which was originally traveling at an astounding speed, suddenly slowed down like assoed wild horse.

    WHOOSH!

    Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol suddenly flew over and stopped in front of the air-transportation spiritual tool.

    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡± The female Devil said with a frown upon seeing Mo Heng, as if she knew him. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be guarding that portal? The Netherspirits put together armies of evil spirits and formed all sorts of soul formations just to breach your defense. Howe you have time toe here?¡±

    Without any pleasantries, Mo Heng said with a stern expression, ¡°Agatha, give your captive to me, and I¡¯ll let you go. Otherwise, don¡¯t me me for using force.¡±

    ¡°You came for this one?¡± The female Devil who Mo Heng referred to as Agatha said as she looked down at Nie Tian. ¡°It was ¡®him¡¯ who persuaded you toe all the way from the Mortal World to guard that portal. I¡¯m starting to understand your rtionship with him. This hybrid kid looks a lot like him. Don¡¯t tell me that...¡±

    Agatha¡¯s gorgeous eyes gradually lit up.

    ¡°Is this his child?¡± Agatha asked.

    After a moment of hesitation, Mo Heng nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Agatha, the female Devil, had aplicated expression as she said, ¡°My instincts are as urate as always. So this is their child, who came from the Mortal World...¡±

    Her voice grew lower and lower.

    The badge she had ced on Nie Tian¡¯s chest suddenly shone with purple light, and increased its pressure on Nie Tian¡¯s chest bones so much that bone-cracking sounds echoed out.

    Agatha looked expressionless.

    However, several of Nie Tian¡¯s ribs were already broken. Wisps of purple lightning that were many times fiercer than before flew out of the badge and pierced into his heart like sharp des.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face distorted as he almost fainted from the excruciating pain.

    Even so, he couldn¡¯t make a single sound. He could only watch the female Devil before him looking down at him with a calm but scary look in her eyes.

    ¡°Agatha!¡± Mo Heng flew into a rage. ¡°You¡¯ve only lived to this day because he held back every time he faced you on the battlefield! Don¡¯t you forget his kindness and try to kill this young man who you know is his child!¡±

    ¡°He needs to die,¡± Agatha said with a profound, icy look in her eyes. ¡°If this child of his inherits his power, he¡¯ll surely grow into a formidable foe of my people, and even the entire Void World. For my people and my world, I have to kill him. This is not personal.¡±

    BOOM!

    Blood spurted from Nie Tian¡¯s chest under the badge¡¯s crushing pressure.

 Chapter 1406: A Purple Glede Badge

    ¡°Stop it!¡± Mo Heng shouted angrily, but didn¡¯t dare to do anything.

    He didn¡¯t even dare to get too close to the female Devil because he saw that the badge was still pressing on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    He knew what the badge meant, and how powerful it was.

    He knew that if Agatha wanted, the badge could easily crush Nie Tian¡¯s heart and turn his repeatedly-tempered body into blood rain and scattered flesh.

    Agatha¡¯s tone became calmer and calmer as she said, ¡°I¡¯m not doing this because I want to vent my anger. I don¡¯t hate him.

    ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m a grand monarch of the Void World, and I must finish my mission. Since this young man is his child, he¡¯ll definitely be unusual in the future. I¡¯ve carefully checked his bloodline, aura and strength.

    ¡°After he makes more breakthroughs in his bloodline and cultivation, perhaps even I won¡¯t be able to catch him.

    ¡°I must get rid of such a threat. Even if he finds me and kills meter for his kid, I still have to do this for my people.¡±

    She seemed to be trying to persuade both Mo Heng and herself.

    The badge suddenly emitted a bright purple light. Many intertwined sharp powers rampaged and permeated Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    Many of his ribs were broken, and blood poured out of him.

    ¡°Ow!¡± Some kind of restriction seemed to be torn apart, allowing him to let out a soul cry in sharp pain.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    In the world inside his Spirit Pearl, a resounding roar came from the five Illusory Ancient Talismans that imprisoned the evil gods.

    ZZZZZLA!

    It seemed that under the guidance of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, and under the effect of the Illusory Ancient Talismans, the five evil gods¡¯ soul power poured crazily into his sea of soul awareness, where it wiped out all of the purple lightning bolts that Agatha had released to imprison his sea of soul awareness, like a flood that burst the dike.

    His sea of soul awareness was soon free again.

    ¡°Spirit Pearl, me Dragon Armor, bone...¡± Nie Tian called inwardly.

    WHOOSH!

    The me Dragon Armor was the first to fly out from his ring of holding. Before Agatha could react, it turned into a crimson suit of armor that covered Nie Tian¡¯s body, which was now a bloody mess.

    The me dragon¡¯s raging power rushed into his body, helping him remove Agatha¡¯s purple lightning.

    Then came the Star Behemoth bone.

    The bone was like a ming divine spear. The bloodline and veins imprinted on it were lit. A wild, ancient and overbearing flesh aura that was different from his own poured into his body.

    BAM! BAM!

    His mangled body kept shaking, blood spattering.

    He saw rays of purple lightning fly out from his body along with his sshing blood.

    Strangely, as soon as the rays of purple lightning flew out of his body into the starry sky, they morphed into light purple feathers and merged into the badge.

    If one looked closely, one would find a vivid and exquisite devilish bird engraved on it.

    However, the Star Behemoth bone shrank and morphed into a beam of crimson lightning that pierced towards the badge that had been put on his chest by the female Devil Agatha.

    It hit the badge hard!

    BOOM!

    Twopletely different horrifying powers which could shatter the heavens and crush the earth burst forth on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    The me Dragon Armor gathered all its power to protect his chest, so that his heart and other viscera would not be crushed by these two raging powers.

    However, the unique air-transportation spiritual tool Nie Tian and Agatha were on suddenly exploded.

    The violent sh between the two wild powers and the explosion of the flying tool sent Nie Tian plunging downwards.

    The badge suddenly morphed into a dancing purple Devil bird, and fought the Star Behemoth bone above him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Mo Heng was overjoyed by Nie Tian¡¯s breakout. His divine dharma idol extended his huge hand.

    Strands of pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth wove into a giant hand with five crystal fingers, each of which was a hundred meters long and looked like gorgeous light ribbons filled with spirit energy.

    Nie Tian, who was falling rapidly, was caught by the huge hand.

    ¡°Agatha!¡± Mo Heng said angrily. ¡°You will definitely regret what you did today!¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t regret it,¡± Agatha said in a very stubborn manner. ¡°After I spread word of this kid wandering nearby, stronger experts from the Netherspirits and my people wille to deal with him and you. Since that portal you guard can allow humans toe into our world, then there¡¯s a possibility that our people can enter your world!¡±

    SWISH!

    The purple Devil bird shook off the Star Behemoth bone and flew to her.

    She instantlynded on the bird¡¯s back.

    ¡°Ancient magical beast, Purple Glede!¡± Pei Qiqi, who hade through a cracked spatial rift, eximed softly as she watched Agatha fly away riding the Devil bird, covering thousands of miles in a split second.

    Mo Heng froze for a moment, and then returned to his normal form, saying, ¡°It seems that your master Qu Yi has taught you a lot of things. You can even recognize a Purple Glede.¡±

    Nie Tian fell out of his disappearing hand and then floated before him enveloped in a ball of spirit energy.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it said that Purple Gledes are ancient magical beasts raised by the Demons?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°Like the Demons¡¯ bloodline, the origin of the Purple Gledes¡¯ bloodline is also from here,¡± Mo Heng answered casually. ¡°That female Devil¡¯s mount is a Purple Glede with the purest bloodline. Compared to our ancient starships, that Purple Glede is much faster. Others can hardly catch up with it, save experts like you who cultivate spatial power.¡±

    ¡°I can still locate her now,¡± Pei Qiqi said hurriedly. ¡°If we don¡¯t hurry up, it will be toote.¡±

    Mo Heng shook his head and said, ¡°Forget it. Don¡¯t pay any attention to her. It¡¯s awfully difficult and troublesome to kill her. The most urgent thing at hand is to protect Nie Tian and see how badly he¡¯s injured, and if his life is in danger.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t die,¡± Nie Tian cut in weakly, then coughed violently. ¡°I need a tremendous amount of flesh power. Take me back to the Seven-star Blue Sea. From it, I can absorb flesh aura from those unknown sources that will help me recover faster.¡±

    He had heard every word of the conversation between the female Devil Agatha and Mo Heng.

    He had too many questions, but he knew that this was not a good time to ask them. He also knew that if Mo Heng didn¡¯t want to tell him, he wouldn¡¯t get anything out of him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to that dead realm of the Netherspirits first. We have an agreement with You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°What is it about?¡± asked Mo Heng.

    ¡°You Qimiao promised us that he¡¯ll give Nie Tian and me forty percent of the soul crystals and Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir in a Soul-devouring Lake he found,¡± Pei Qiqi replied. ¡°Soul crystals aren¡¯t so important, but Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir has a wondrous effect. Senior Mo, if you drink it, it will help you a lot when you break through into thete God domain in the future.¡±

    Mo Heng was shocked. ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! You Qimiao actually has such good knowledge of the Void World. Even I didn¡¯t know that there¡¯s a dead realm with a Soul-devouring Lake around here with Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir at the bottom. It¡¯s clear that this is the first time he¡¯s been here, but he knows it so well.¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao and Jiang Yuanchi of the Shadow Society have long known about the Void World, but they just couldn¡¯t find a way to enter it,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    Mo Heng pondered, then said, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t only be Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir that the two of them are after,¡±

    Pei Qiqi turned her Space Boundaries Crystal, opened a new spatial passage, and led Mo Heng and Nie Tian to walk through it.

    Above the Soul-devouring Lake.

    At the moment, there was a fierce battle taking ce between You Qimiao, Luo Wanxiang, and the Netherspirits.

    Dozens of Netherspirits had been killed by You Qimiao and reduced to mists of blood that floated above the Soul-devouring Lake without falling.

    Nie Tian was lying on his back. His body automatically activated Life Drain.

    The mists of blood that had formed after the Netherspirits had been killed were then attracted by his body, and swarmed directly into his heart.

 Chapter 1407: Return

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of flesh aura that were as thin as gossamer seemed to be attracted by mas, merging into Nie Tian¡¯s pores and quickly converging in his heart.

    Two kinds of wonders, Life Bloodline and Heavenly Wood Heal, which could heal a severely injured body, simultaneously burst forth.

    His fractured sternum and ribs regrew. Then, his broken bones were reattached, and became even firmer and stronger than before.

    WOOSH!

    Letting out a breath of air, Nie Tian felt a bit better.

    He took matters into his own hand by disying Life Drain to channel the blood mists transformed from the Netherspirits¡¯ dead bodies that were floating around.

    More and more flesh power gathered towards him.

    Pei Qiqi stood beside him motionlessly and kept an eye on him to prevent him from having an ident or being targeted by the Netherspirits.

    Luo Wanxiang, who was fighting You Qimiao, suddenly calmed down and eximed, ¡°Mo Heng!¡±

    BOOM!

    Mo Heng¡¯s divine dharma idol appeared with the unique, handsome demeanor of an ancient Qi warrior, like an ancient god in charge of heaven and earth,

    With a wave of his hand, brilliant spirit energy traversed the sky of the dark, dead realm like rainbows of different colors.

    As the brilliant rainbows shot across, many Netherspirits died.

    At the same time, numerous evil spirits suddenly dissipated due to a mere breath exhaled by Mo Heng, as if they had been annihted.

    Luo Wanxiang, who had been beguiled by a Netherspirit expert, was determined toprehend the true meaning of the Nether River, and wanted to show his loyalty in a bid to get Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, was the first to flee in fear.

    His divine dharma idol morphed into a ray of bright light that flew away like a shooting star.

    Many of the remaining Netherspirits exploded, but in an instant, the remainder morphed into wisps of souls and fled.

    Perhaps the Netherspirits in front of him... might not even be their true selves; their true selves might have left long ago.

    In a word, due to Mo Heng¡¯s arrival, both the Netherspirits who had been guarding this ce and Luo Wanxiang, who had stirred up trouble, instantly sensed danger and retreated.

    ¡°How did you hear about the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir?¡± Mo Heng asked curiously.

    You Qimiao replied with a cold face, ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t tell you that. However, I will give Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi forty percent of the soul crystals and Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir ording to our agreement. As for you, Mo Heng...¡±

    Mo Heng looked indifferent as he said, ¡°Just give Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi what you promised them, but you must hurry up. Grand Monarch Thousand Spirit¡¯s soul consciousness must be connected to this dead realm. If you have heard the name Grand Monarch Thousand Spirit, you should know he is very strong. It¡¯s said that he is a figure who is expected to seed in transcending the tenth grade, and bing invincible in the three worlds.¡±

    You Qimiao¡¯s expression changed dramatically.

    In the next moment, he floated above the Soul-devouring Lake, staring intently at what was happening below.

    Nie Tian was still busy gathering the Netherspirits¡¯ blood mists through his bloodline talent, trying to stabilize his injuries quickly.

    Therefore, he couldn¡¯t see what You Qimiao was doing.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    In the Soul-devouring Lake, the huge fish that had transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror seemed to be devouring something at the bottom of theke. Its belly was round, which made it look fat and ridiculous.

    It seemed that most of the soul crystals and the so-called Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir that were buried at the bottom of theke had been gathered by it.

    After a while, the unfathomable Soul-devouring Lake gradually became clear, and the souls inside of it seemed to have diedpletely.

    Momentster, You Qimiao stretched out his hand and said, ¡°Come out!¡±

    The huge fat fish then morphed into Yin Yang Chaos Mirror and fell into his hand.

    ¡°About the soul crystals, and Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir...¡± He looked at Mo Heng, and then at Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Girl, let¡¯s go back to the portal and return to the Seven-star Realm Sea now,¡± Mo Heng said. ¡°After your return, you close the portal from the other end. As for the soul crystals and the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, you can distribute them in the Seven-star Blue Sea after you return to the human world.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine with that,¡± You Qimiao agreed.

    Pei Qiqi also said, ¡°Okay!¡±

    As her Space Boundaries Crystal spun, a new spatial rift split open.

    At the portal.

    Nie Tian and the others quickly came out of a spatial rift one after another.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Jiang Yuanchi?¡±

    You Qimiao froze for a moment. ¡°Before I left, it was clear that two of you quarreled and wanted to fight. Why isn¡¯t he at the portal?¡±

    Mo Heng had an odd look on his face as he said, ¡°He flew away soon after you left. What you want is Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. But what exactly does he want from the Void World? Has he talked with you about it?¡±

    ¡°He needs Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir too,¡± You Qimiao answered. ¡°I promised him that if I got any Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, I would give him some.¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s face darkened as he said, ¡°You can either wait for him to return or leave as soon as possible. You¡¯ve got what you want anyway. As for Jiang Yuanchi, given his cultivation base, he should be safe as long as he doesn¡¯t encounter Grand Monarch Thousand Spirit or the chiefs of the Devils and the Bonedrudes in this World.¡±

    You Qimiao hesitated.

    Mo Heng tried to persuade him. ¡°I think Jiang Yuanchi is hiding something from you,¡± Mo Heng added. ¡°He¡¯ll likely stay in the Void World for a long time. If you wait here for him, you¡¯ll have to wait quite a long time. I suggest you return to the human world and cleanse your soul with the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir as soon as possible.

    ¡°When Jiang Yuanchi returns to the human world from the Void World, perhaps you¡¯ll have sessfully broken through the cultivation base barrier and reached thete God domain already.¡±

    ¡°Even if Jiang Yuanchi does not return, it¡¯ll be safer for you to explore the Void World again with your improved cultivation base.¡±

    After listening for a while, You Qimiao¡¯s furrowed brow gradually rxed. ¡°If you see Sectmaster Jiang again, tell him that I¡¯ve left first. As for the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, I¡¯ll set some of it aside for him as promised so that he can also enjoy its wonders, which will greatly improve his chances of breaking through into thete God domain.¡±

    ¡°Goodbye,¡± Mo Heng said with an expressionless face.

    You Qimiao turned his head towards Pei Qiqi. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±

    ¡°Shall we go?¡± Pei Qiqi asked Nie Tian for instructions with an inquiring gaze.

    ¡°Grand elder...?¡± Nie Tian wanted to say something, but stopped on second thought.

    Mo Heng sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t leave for the time being. The crisis in the Void World is no smaller than that in the human world.

    ¡°I believe the troubles in the human world will be solved. With Miss Pei and her unique bloodline around, if the both of you want toe here again, all you¡¯ll need to do is enter the portal in the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    ¡°Just remember, after you return, you¡¯ll have to shut the portal down.

    ¡°In the future, perhaps soon, when you¡¯re stronger and the situation in the human world is stable, if you want toe, you can just reopen it. When the timees, perhaps you can also invite other God domain experts to pass through the portal with you to fight in the Void World. Everything depends on your ability.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay!¡±

    Mo Heng said no more. As he beckoned, the three people passed through the portal and disappeared from the Void World.

    ¡°We¡¯ll meet again soon,¡± Mo Heng whispered. ¡°I know you can¡¯t wait. And I¡¯m afraid your parents also can¡¯t wait to meet you.¡±

 Chapter 1408: Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits

    In the starry river where the portal stood.

    After Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and You Qimiao disappeared into the portal, the portal gradually closed due to Pei Qiqi¡¯s efforts with her unique bloodline wonders.

    Shortly afterwards, giant spirit-form beings marched towards this area of the starry river in a formidable array.

    They were all hundreds of meters tall and had different appearances. Some looked like evil spirits. Some looked like satanic beasts, while others looked like sinister monsters.

    Each and every one of them exuded an aura that was as immense as that of a God domain expert.

    Mo Heng, who was guarding the portal, grew grim as he watched them march in his direction.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯s sub-souls...¡±

    As powerful as Mo Heng was, he felt great pressure after examining them with his soul awareness. It was a suffocating feeling that his true soul might be destroyed if all of them attacked him at the same time.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, the current chief of the Netherspirits, had as many as a thousand sub-souls. Every single one of them possessed outstanding battle prowess, and soul power that was as immense as the sea.

    Mo Heng did a rough calction, and realized that he was facing about a hundred of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯s sub-souls.

    This meant that this overlord of the Void World, who aspired to rise to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s height, had sent as much as ten percent of his power through the boundless starry river to fight him.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, by sending so much of your power to this part of the starry river, aren¡¯t you afraid that your true self and true soul will be severely injured by Sectmaster Ji Cang of my sect?¡± Mo Heng asked aloud.

    ¡°Ji Cang won¡¯t be able to injure me any time soon.¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ voice came from every one of his sub-souls present.

    It was in perfect humannguage.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang from your sect turned against you upon my incitement,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said, sounding perfectly calm. ¡°He was one of your sect¡¯s so-called Sons of the Stars. The star incantations and soul spells he practices have no essential difference from Ji Cang¡¯s.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that Ji Cang¡¯s cultivation base is higher, and his understanding of star power is more profound.

    ¡°Small things always reveal big truths. From what I¡¯ve learned from Luo Wanxiang, I¡¯ve already figured out the secrets of your sect¡¯s various secret magics. Ji Cang might be the strongest human, but he¡¯s in the Void World now, and his opponent is me.¡±

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ resounding voice filled this entire area of the starry river.

    More than a hundred of his sub-souls suddenly started rotating around Mo Heng to form a profound soul formation that had been passed down from the Netherspirits¡¯ ancestors.

    ¡°Soul Capture!¡±

    A dome of glorious light came to form over Mo Heng.

    As the glowing dome continued to morph, countless soul symbols fell out of it. As Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits let out a low exmation, they seemed to unleash profound truths of souls that had existed in the Void World from ancient times.

    Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol instantly split apart, and morphed into his true form.

    However, a soul shadow with Mo Heng¡¯s appearance was separated from his true form and started flying backwards, like a balloon being blown away by a gust of wind.

    As this happened, Mo Heng¡¯s eyes started to grow dim and lifeless.

    ¡°Shadow Wings!¡±

    A set of enormous, shadowy bat wings with a span of a thousand kilometers suddenly spread out over Mo Heng¡¯s head, sheltering him from the glowing dome for a split second.

    In just this split second, Mo Heng¡¯s soul shadow that was flying farther and farther away from him flew back into him through the top of his head.

    Mo Heng¡¯s eyes glittered with life once again.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡±

    The shadowy wings gradually grew bright and shiny as they continued to stretch.

    Then, a mysterious shadow manifested under the dazzlingly bright wings.

    That piece of shadow seemed to hide Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s true form. ¡°Mo Heng, even though the two of us may not be able to fight Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯s true self or true soul, we should be able to handle these bodiless sub-souls.¡±

    Mo Heng nodded. ¡°Right.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Mo Heng and Jiang Yuanchi, who were both from the Mortal World and at the middle God domain,unched joint attacks against the hundred sub-souls of the Netherspirits¡¯ current chief.

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi and You Qimiao flew out of the calm surface of the sea.

    Floating over the sea were Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, Ji Yuanquan, Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society, Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect, none of whom had left during this time.

    Dong Li and Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates were also waiting in silence.

    ¡°You were gone for nearly two weeks. What on earth happened at the bottom of the Seven Stars Realm Sea?¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian? Where¡¯s Luo Wanxiang and Jiang Yuanchi?¡±

    The two groups of people poured out questions upon seeing them.

    You Qimiao took a moment to straighten his sleeves and then said, with the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror in his hand, ¡°Grand Elder Mo Heng of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is in another world, guarding a portal that connects it to this Realm Sea. That world is called the Void World. There live Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes. Jiang Yuanchi is still searching for the spiritual materials he needs for his breakthrough into thete God domain.¡±

    ¡°Qiqi!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed softly.

    ¡°Nie Tian was badly injured in the Void World,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°Right now, he¡¯s recovering in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea with the help of its unique wonders. As for Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, he¡¯s been bewitched by the Netherspirits. He betrayed us all for an opportunity to derive enlightenment from the Netherspirits¡¯ Nether River.¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Mo Heng!¡±

    Astonished, Yu Suying said, ¡°Who would have thought that Mo Heng went to another world after his sudden disappearance from the Domain of Endless Thunder! And the Void World? What is it? What special features do the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils have?¡±

    Many powerful experts were gathered around Pei Qiqi, but it seemed that none of them had heard anything about the Void World or the three major races that lived there.

    Therefore, Pei Qiqi had to exin what she and Nie Tian had seen and heard in the Void World to them, with an emphasis on what they had learned about Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Netherspirits.

    ¡°An expert who transcended the limits of the tenth grade. After his death, his immortal soul morphed into the Nether River that runs through three worlds!¡±

    Everyone gasped with astonishment after hearing about Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, as if this was the first time they had heard that someone could actually transcend the limits of the tenth grade.

    ¡°What¡¯s the situation over at the Heaven Span Pavilion?¡± Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Has our main force met that of the Ancientspirits and outsiders?¡±

    Hearing this, Ji Yuanquan and many others grew very grim.

    Even Duan Hongwen, Shangguan Zhi, and Song Chequan cast their gazes down, looking somewhat embarrassed and ashamed.

    Ji Yuanquan let out a sigh. ¡°Things aren¡¯t looking good over there. Since none of ourte God domain patriarchs are around, and...¡±

    With these words, he cast a nce at You Qimiao, Shangguan Zhi, and Song Chequan. ¡°and some of us came to the Seven Stars Realm Sea while they should have joined the battle that¡¯s taking ce there, we¡¯re currently at a clear disadvantage. Our forces are being forced to make retreats. And we receive word of Saint domain cultivators dying in battle every day.¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster You,¡± Pei Qiqi said, fixing her eyes on him.

    Duan Hongwen, Shangguan Zhi, and Song Chequan also turned to look at him, hoping to hear Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s stance on the matter.

    You Qimiao shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know when he¡¯lle back or what his stance will be. But I¡¯m certain about one thing: we don¡¯t need to wait here at the Seven Stars Realm Sea anymore. As for the battle between us and the invaders, you should make your own decisions.¡±

    With these words, he beckoned for Pei Qiqi to go to a nearby dead star with him, where he gave her the soul crystals and Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir he had promised her and Nie Tian.

    In the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t activate Primal Chaos or use any external help. He didn¡¯t even activate his domain. He simply floated in the sea, not doing anything.

    However, countless wisps of flesh power that might be from Ancientspirits, outsiders, or even the three powerful races of the Void World seemed to be attracted by his life bloodline, as they took it upon themselves to swim towards him like tiny fish and disappear into the parts where he had suffered the most serious wounds.

    At this moment, a message from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul entered his mind. ¡°Master!

    ¡°Due to our departure from the Void World, the five evil gods have failed to gather all of their lost memories and soul fragments. However, they¡¯ve be much stronger than before, and arge part of their power and memories are still being awakened.

    ¡°If we enter the Void World again, they¡¯ll be able to continue toplete their souls and memories.

    ¡°So you¡¯ve got to be stronger yourself before they¡¯re fully awakened. Also, you¡¯d better strengthen your control over them with that mysterious talisman spell and the restraining power of the pearl. They have to submit to you, body and soul. Otherwise, you may find yourself in trouble when you visit the Void World again.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi returned from the dead star. Eyes glittering with the light of excitement, she flew into the Seven Stars Realm Sea and went directly to Nie Tian. With a wisp of soul awareness, she said to him, ¡°I got the soul crystals and the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. You Qimiao didn¡¯t go back on his word.

    ¡°Also, I solved the mysteries of the spatial power the creator of the portal left in it.

    ¡°I came to a shocking discovery.¡±

 Chapter 1409: Origin of the Realm Sea

    Several hundred meters under the surface of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Pei Qiqi was transparent like an immacte crystal. Even her robes were semi-transparent.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian examined her with rapt attention, and found that he could even see her veins, bones, and internal organs with great rity through her exposed skin.

    He didn¡¯t know what had happened to her.

    The inner space of Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints had been expanded with the help of his Blood Essence before.

    Therefore, she still had his life aura inside of her.

    Through those wisps of life aura, he felt that her spatial bloodline was growing more and more active, as if it was going to advance again soon.

    ¡°The portal at the bottom of the sea was forged by Voidspirits.¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul voice came through. ¡°In fact, not only the portal, but even this entire Seven Stars Realm Sea was created by Voidspirits instead of forming naturally. They established a spell formation with seven stars in this area to drain them of all of their power.

    ¡°All of these stars were originally full of life and rich in power of different attributes, which made them ideal cultivation locations, even more so than the Realm of Divine Seal, the Realm of Jade Billows, and the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    ¡°With their unique profound measures, the Voidspirits made this Seven Stars Realm Sea at the price of those seven stars.

    ¡°After the Seven Stars Realm Sea came to form, it started channeling all sorts of energies that were drifting in the starry river in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and even farther domains.

    ¡°That includes powers from the shattered domains of human cultivators and the scattered flesh aura seas of deceased outsider and Ancientspirit experts. These energies should have slowly dissipated in the starry river. However, if they weren¡¯t too far from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, they would be attracted and pulled into it.

    ¡°You were in the Realm of Maelstrom of the Domain of Heaven Python before you came to the Seven Stars Realm Sea, right?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded with an attentive look in his eyes, signaling for her to continue.

    ¡°This Seven Stars Realm Sea created by the Voidspirits can not only absorb energies from the shattered domains of human cultivators and the scattered flesh aura seas of deceased outsider and Ancientspirit experts, but also fragments of their souls and memories as well.¡±

    With these words, Pei Qiqi frowned as a spark of spatial power suddenly burst forth with dazzling light in her heart.

    It was branded with fragments of memories she had obtained from the portal.

    ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea was created a long time ago, so much so that it was shortly after the Ancientspirits and the outsiders discovered the Mortal World. In fact, they didn¡¯t even call it the Mortal World back then, but rather the ¡®New World.¡¯ At that time, humans were still weak, and enved by Ancientspirits and outsiders.

    ¡°However, the Seven Stars Realm Sea had already existed then. Ancientspirits and outsiders shipped their respective human ves to the new heaven and earths they had discovered that suited their needs, and had the humans nt herbs and mine minerals for them.

    ¡°Back then, the Ancientspirits and outsiders viewed this ¡®New World¡¯ as their battlefield as well.

    ¡°Many fierce battles broke out between them here. The enormous bodies of those who died in battle drifted in the boundless starry river, their scattered flesh aura seas absorbed by the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°Later, after humanity rose to prominence, we drove the Ancientspirits and outsiders from this world. Then our wise ancestors renamed it the Mortal World.

    ¡°During the eras that followed, Ancientspirits and outsiders invaded repeatedly through the secret portals they had left in our world. However, their every invasion was frustrated by powerful experts from the four great sects. All three sides suffered casualties. We lost Saint and God domain experts as the Ancientspirits and outsiders lost grand patriarchs and grand monarchs.

    ¡°As that happened, the Seven Stars Realm Sea continued to gather dissipating power from destroyed flesh aura seas and shattered domains.

    ¡°Over time, the Seven Stars Realm Sea umted a vast variety of energies, which became chaotic and deadly.¡±

    Nie Tian took a moment to ponder before asking with a wisp of his soul will, ¡°So why did the Voidspirits build the Seven Stars Realm Sea in the first ce?¡±

    ¡°The Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes of the Void World asked them to build it,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°They reached an agreement with them, where it stipted that they make such a Realm Sea. The chaotic mixed energies in the Seven Stars Realm Sea were organized by the Voidspirits so they could be used to power the portal at the bottom of the sea. After all, it requires a terrifying amount of power to open and keep the portal essible.

    ¡°As for the portal, it was forged from the body of a Stone Golem patriarch named Patriarch Red Bronze.

    ¡°Originally, the three major races of the Void World nned to march directly into the Mortal World through the portal at the bottom of the sea, so they could avoid fighting through the region that separates the two worlds.

    ¡°Butter, the Voidspirits had a falling out with them for some reason.

    ¡°They somehow became sworn enemies. The Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils even hunted Voidspirits all over the Void World. As a result, arge amount of Voidspirits were forced to leave the Void World to live in the Spirit World and Mortal World.

    ¡°I have a feeling that it was a Voidspirit who established the Void Pce Sect in the Realm of Split Void.

    ¡°Another result was that the Voidspirits unterally shut down the portal they had forged for the three major races of the Void World to enter the Mortal World.

    ¡°Stone Golems were able to travel through it because one of their ancestors¡¯ bodies was the main material that was used to forge the portal.

    ¡°I can travel through it thanks to my unique bloodline. But the fact that you were able to enter the portal first with the help of those evil gods is a bit confusing. Normally speaking, the portal has to be opened with a special method.¡±

    After pondering a while, Nie Tian asked, ¡°The Voidspirits built the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the portal for the three major races of the Void World to use, right? So it¡¯s possible that they informed the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils of the method to open the portal long ago.

    ¡°And since the evil gods used to be Netherspirit nobles, perhaps they learned how to open the portal.¡±

    Pei Qiqi pondered for a while before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s a possibility. From the bloodline imprints the Voidspirits intentionally left in the portal, I¡¯ve learned the reason why this portal was built and some of the wonders of my spatial bloodline. I suppose it¡¯ll help me break through into the ninth grade within a short time.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions!¡± Nie Tian said in tion.

    After a moment of pondering, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°It¡¯s really amazing that you can extract the energies you need from the mixed chaotic energies in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°Go ahead. I guess it won¡¯t be a bad thing even if you take such a great amount of energies from it that there isn¡¯t enough left to power the portal.

    ¡°Without energy to support its operation, it¡¯ll be as useful as a stone gate.

    ¡°Stone Golems won¡¯t be able to pass through it, and neither will I.¡±

    After finishing exining the origin and meaning of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, she prepared to leave.

    Right before she did, she said, ¡°You seem to be able to gather wisps of soul power from the sea. If so, you don¡¯t need the soul crystals yet. The same goes for the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.¡±

    ¡°Give them to Dong Li and let her distribute them,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Dong Li?¡± Pei Qiqi said. After taking a moment to think, she added, ¡°Sure. We¡¯re in an unfavorable situation in the human world. The wonders of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir can help make new God domain experts. Or it can be used to help experts like Yu Suying, Ji Yuanquan, and Ye Wenhan enter the middle God domain. Perhaps Fan Tianze will be able to seek his breakthrough into thete God domain with its help.

    ¡°But are you willing to give it away? There isn¡¯t much Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to begin with.¡±

    Nie Tian weighed the matter for some time before saying, ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t need it yet.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll put it in Dong Li¡¯s hands.¡± With these words, Pei Qiqi seemed to sudden remember something. ¡°Also, I learned a secret from the Voidspirit memories I acquired from the portal.¡±

    ¡°What secret?¡±

    ¡°That dark stone isn¡¯t originally from the Mortal World or the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s from the Void World?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression grew grim as she said, ¡°That¡¯s right. ording to the Voidspirits, that dark stone was one of the eyes of a perished Devil grand monarch, who was referred to as the Dark King. Like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Netherspirits, he had also transcended the bloodline limits of the tenth grade.

    ¡°However, the two of them didn¡¯t live in the same era.

    ¡°No one knows how the Dark King died. Even from the imprints the Voidspirits left in the portal, I can only see that his eyes turned into two dark stones after his death.

    ¡°One of them remains in the Devils¡¯ hands, while the other somehow ended up in the Demons¡¯ Sixth Demon Realm, and made Grand Monarch Utter Darkness.

    ¡°Now, that eye of the Dark King is Dong Li¡¯s possession.¡±

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°The Dark King?! A mighty leader of the Devils that had transcended the bloodline limits of the tenth grade as Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had? The dark stone is one of his eyes, and there¡¯s another one out there?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils of the Void World have all seen such mighty overlords in their long histories,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Netherspirits, the Dark King of the Devils, and the Bone Emperor of the Bonedrudes are those we know.

    ¡°But those three transcendent leaders didn¡¯t live in the same era.

    ¡°Some of ourte God domain experts and the Ancientspirits¡¯ and outsiders¡¯te tenth grade experts try every possible method to cross the region that separates our worlds from the Void World when they approach the end of their lifespan. I guess the reason why they want to go to the Void World is because they hope to find a method to transcend their limits.

    ¡°After all, the Void World has produced mighty existences like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Dark King, and the Bone Emperor...

    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s all I have to tell you.¡±

    With these words, Pei Qiqi flew out of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

 Chapter 1410: A Gift

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit! The Dark King! The Bone Emperor!¡±

    Nie Tian still couldn¡¯t calm himself long after Pei Qiqi left.

    He had assumed that the Void World had only seen one transcendent figure in its long history, which was Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    Who would have thought that Pei Qiqi would identally learn of the existence of two other patriarchs that were just as illustrious from the memory imprints the Voidspirits had left in the portal?

    All three of them had transcended the limits of the tenth grade!

    Luckily, the three of them hadn¡¯t lived in the same time period. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t the Spirit World and Mortal World have fallen long ago?

    ¡°I still have a long way to go with my bloodline and cultivation.¡±

    Nie Tian felt somewhat rueful as he slowly forced himself to calm down.

    Then, he activated his void domain.

    Dazzling stars filled the outermost parts of his spherical illusory domain, while an exuberant illusorynd floated at the core, and mes filled the space in between.

    As soon as his domain came to form, he activated Primal Chaos to envelop himself in a mysterious maic field, which then took it upon itself to absorb star, me, and wood power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, along with flesh aura.

    He started to realize how truly special he was.

    The three major races of the Void World had entrusted the Voidspirits to build the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which gathered and stored all sorts of energies. No one he knew could absorb power from it like he could.

    They couldn¡¯t even reach the bottom of the sea unscathed.

    Even Pei Qiqi, who carried a Voidspirit bloodline, could only obtain tiny fragments of spatial power from the depths of the sea.

    That was it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Flesh power that carried unique auras were channeled by his bloodline talent Life Drain, and fused into him like multicolored raindrops.

    Through the refinement of his bloodline, wisps of flesh aura that were from Ancientspirits and outsiders were taken into his heart.

    Thanks to the nourishment of those flesh auras and the wonders of Heavenly Wood Heal, his cracked crystallized bones grew back and reattached themselves.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Crisp cracking sounds that only he could hear came from all over his body.

    Time passed bit by bit...

    After an unknown period of time, Nie Tian felt that he had finally recovered from the injuries the female Devil had inflicted on him in the Void World, which had almost killed him.

    He even felt stronger than before.

    Then, instead of leaving, he remained in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, where he continued to channel wisps of flesh power from the sea.

    After all, other than the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he couldn¡¯t find another sustainable source of flesh power.

    He concentrated on practicing cultivation.

    His bloodline was at the eighth grade. The amount of flesh power he needed to advance to the ninth grade was astronomical.

    Now, he had finally found a blessednd with seemingly endless flesh power. How could he give up this opportunity?

    During this time, his domain also took upon itself to absorb star, wood, and me power at a slow rate. Even his sea of awareness slowly umted soul power.

    Before he knew it, six months passed.

    Nie Tian had spent all this time practicing cultivation in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Meanwhile, God domain experts such as Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Ji Yuanquan, along with Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates, including Jing Feiyang, Master Blood Spirit, and Xie Qian, had been summoned to join the bitter battle against the outsiders and Ancientspirits in the Domain of Heaven Span, where the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters sat.

    Dong Li, Li Langfeng, and a few others were the only ones that remained over the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Even Pei Qiqi had returned to the Void Spirit Society to seek breakthroughs in her bloodline after deriving new enlightenment from the spatial power left within that portal.

    On one of the seven dead stars that surrounded the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Enveloped in pure darkness, Dong Li took out a soul crystal and started absorbing the pure soul power within it.

    The ck tortoise crouchedzily on the ground next to her. Every once in a while, it would lift its chin to take an enjoyable breath of the dark aura Dong Li exuded.

    That dark aura seemed to contain power that could help it grow stronger.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Dong Li suddenly rose to her feet.

    Endless darkness rapidly spread into her surroundings, devouring all light.

    The ninth grade ck tortoise, which was stronger than most outsider grand patriarchs, seemed to sense something, as it suddenly expanded to assume its true form.

    At the same time, the darkness faded, revealing Dong Li, who was wearing a ck dress embroidered with gold, which gave her a devilish and mysterious look. At first nce, she looked even more gorgeous than Agatha, the female Devil Nie Tian had met in the Void World.

    ¡°Void domain... This is how the Void domain feels...¡±

    Muttering, she suddenly unleashed her dark domain, enveloping everything around her in utter darkness.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    The dark stone she had refined into her spiritual sea was summoned. As it flew out, a thrilling aura enshrouded the entire dead star, as if to plunge it into eternal darkness.

    The ck tortoise let out anxious shrieks.

    rmed, Dong Li eximed with a stern look in her eyes, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect took his time to walk out from behind a huge irregrly-shaped rock in the distance. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t followed by his borately-refined Heavenly Corpses, but rather a small woman with a veil covering her face.

    The woman was fairly short and thin, and dressed in a long grayish-brown robe. The veil she was wearing had many gems on it. Each and every one of them was extremely valuable and useful. Some could be used to strengthen souls. Some could be used to stabilize cultivation bases. Some could be used to magnify the might of divine tools, while others could be used to improve mobility.

    As the person who spoke for Nie Tian and ran his three domains for him, Dong Li was experienced and knowledgeable. Even so, she could only recognize one of the gems, which was the size of a grain of rice.

    It was called a Soul-shaping Crystal.

    Soul-shaping Crystals could only be found in Phantasm heaven and earths. Any Void, Saint, or God domain expert could benefit from them, as they could help them stabilize their cultivation bases within a short period of time after their breakthroughs.

    As long as they wore them like jewelry, they would be able to stabilize their cultivation bases speedily after every breakthrough they made in their cultivation. They might even help them better understand the wonders of their domains.

    Even though that Soul-shaping Crystal was as small as a grain of rice, it was probably many times more valuable than a realm like the Realm of Divine Seal.

    Feng Beiluo, who had walked out first, stepped to the side after the woman came out. He bowed and waited as the woman stepped forward.

    Both his manners and expression were full of respect.

    Taken aback, Dong Li thought to herself, ¡°That¡¯s a Soul-shaping Crystal. I haven¡¯t even seen the other gems on her veil before.¡±

    Her expression grew grim as she noticed the way Feng Beiluo treated her. She started to wonder if she should send messages to summon Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates.

    She was worried that Feng Beiluo and the woman she didn¡¯t know hade for Nie Tian.

    ¡°You¡¯re Dong Li, right?¡± The seemingly delicate woman asked, her voice as silky and soothing as creeks running through mountains.

    For some reason, Dong Li felt calmed upon hearing her voice, and didn¡¯t send out any messages.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Dong Li.¡±

    A warm smile filled the woman¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°I¡¯ve long since heard about you. I know a lot about you. You¡¯re a good girl.¡±

    Baffled, Dong Li asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not your enemy,¡± the woman said, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m here to give you something.¡±

    ¡°Give me something?¡± Dong Li was full of questions.

    The woman nodded. ¡°Yes, something that agrees with you perfectly. I didn¡¯t give it to you until now because you hadn¡¯t entered the Void domain. Now that you¡¯re at the Void domain, you can truly put the power within that dark stone from the Void World to use.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You know about the Void World too?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡± The woman smiled and turned to give Feng Beiluo, who was standing behind her, a signaling look.

    Feng Beiluo nodded. Then, he carefully took out a ck iron box that was engraved with exquisite patterns and handed it to Dong Li. ¡°This is yours now.¡±

    Dong Li frowned and asked, ¡°What¡¯s inside of it? It¡¯s not dangerous, is it?¡±

    At this moment, the ck tortoise suddenly became restless, and couldn¡¯t stop wiggling, as if it were urging her to ept what was in the box.

    Dong Li was even more baffled.

    That was when she suddenly sensed changes in the dark stone within her.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± An exmation escaped Dong Li¡¯s mouth as she pointed at the ck iron box and asked, ¡°Does the thing inside this box have something to do with my dark stone?¡±

    With a smile, the mysterious woman nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s yours now.¡±

    ¡°Cherish it,¡± Feng Beiluo said, and then went back to waiting, bowing his head.

    Without saying another word, the woman turned around and walked away. Soon, she disappeared behind therge irregrly shaped rock with Feng Beiluo, without leaving the slightest aura in the air.

    Dong Li was at a loss. ¡°Who in the world is she? Why would she give me a gift for no reason?¡±

    No matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t see why a woman who Feng Beiluo served so carefully would suddenly show up and give her a gift.

    Feng Beiluo, the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, held a lofty position among the so-called crooked sects.

    Plus, he was at the God domain. With the help of his fierce Heavenly Corpses, he might be able to defeat Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Ye Wenhan single-handedly.

    WHOOSH!

    Like a shadow, the mysterious woman appeared above the surface of the Seven Stars Realm Sea with Feng Beiluo.

    With a gentle look in her eyes, she looked down, and could vaguely see Nie Tian in the depths, gathering different powers to strengthen his bloodline and seek new advances in his cultivation. ¡°It won¡¯t be too long.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s be even stronger,¡± Feng Beiluo said.

    In the next moment, the two of them vanished from above the Seven Stars Realm Sea, as if they had never been there.

    The water level of Seven Stars Realm Sea had slowly dropped over the past six months.

    All sorts of energies constituted the water that made up the sea. The fact that a portion of it was gone meant the loss of those energies.

 Chapter 1411: A Perfect Match

    WHOOSH!

    Standing on an eighth grade Goldskin Beast, Dong Qisong from the Beast-controlling Sect plummeted towards the dead star like a streak of golden light beforending with a loud crash.

    He seemed to be so exhausted that even breathing had beborious.

    Sparks of spiritual power fell from him like snowkes.

    He was drenched in sweat.

    Dong Li removed her gaze from the ck iron box to fix him with a confused look. ¡°What the hell happened to you, Patriarch? Why does it look like someone just fished you out of a river?¡±

    Dong Qisong panted heavily as he gradually calmed himself.

    ¡°Kid, did you see someone?¡± Dong Qisong asked with a grim expression. ¡°Just now, a few strands of aura suddenly descended on this dead star. They suppressed even my soul awareness.¡±

    FIZZ!

    Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect, who had advanced to the early Saint domain as Dong Qisong had, arrived like a streak of mes. Upon arriving, he asked aloud, ¡°Who were they?¡±

    Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi were the two Saint domain experts that had been charged with protecting Dong Li and Nie Tian at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    All of Nie Tian¡¯s other followers, whether they were at the God domain or the Saint domain, had been summoned by the four great sects to join the battle against the outsiders and Ancientspirits in the distant Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Two people were here.¡± Dong Li said, looking somewhat puzzled. ¡°One was Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect. The other was a mysterious woman with a veil covering her face. That woman even said that I¡¯m a good girl, and gave me this.¡±

    With these words, she pointed at the ck iron box in her hand.

    ¡°ording to what I sensed, it couldn¡¯t have been just Feng Beiluo and that woman,¡± Dong Qisong said with great certainty. ¡°There were at least three God domain experts! Feng Beiluo was only one of them! Not only that, but I also sensed three strands of unusually mighty flesh auras!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. I believe three outsider grand monarchs were here too.¡± Yue Yanxi said with decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! I only saw Feng Beiluo and that woman I don¡¯t know. Even though Feng Beiluo treated that woman with great respect and caution, she didn¡¯t seem very powerful to me.¡±

    Dong Qisong smiled bitterly and said, ¡°Feng Beiluo was only the one you were able to see. The others probably hid in the dark after escorting that woman and Feng Beiluo here. But there were three God domain experts and three outsider grand monarchs! They represent the peak strength of both humans and outsiders. What made them get along?¡±

    Dong Li went silent for a while before suddenly saying, ¡°If you¡¯re right, then I¡¯m afraid it was the secret strong force behind Feng Beiluo that wanders between worlds. I learned from Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi that that secret force not only takes in the so-called crooked humans, but outsider rebels as well.¡±

    With a grim expression, Yue Yanxi said, ¡°So that woman gave you that ck iron box in your hand? You¡¯ve got to be careful with it!¡±

    Dong Qisong also seemed worried. ¡°That secret force might be up to something. Don¡¯t fall into their trap!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think they mean harm.¡± Dong Li looked down at the ck iron box, and found the exquisite engravings on it somewhat simr to the dark magical patterns that had naturally formed on the ck tortoise¡¯s shell. ¡°But this box does seem a bit peculiar.¡±

    Despite what Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi had said, she reached out to touch the box with a finger.

    However, the ck tortoise suddenly let out a soul cry.

    Surprise filled Dong Li¡¯s face as she asked, ¡°You want to do it?¡±

    The ck tortoise nodded repeatedly. Then, under Dong Li¡¯s nervous gaze, it held one of its gigantic feet towards the ck iron box.

    In its true form, the ck tortoise looked like a ck mountain peak, which put both Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi under great pressure.

    As soon as that huge foot touched the ck iron box, the unearthly fine engravings on the box morphed into bolts of ck lightning that fused into its foot.

    The ck tortoise then let out afortable moan as gorgeous dark magical patterns were added to its mountain-like shell one after another.

    FZZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fine ck lightning bolts that only Dong Li could sense flew into the ck tortoise¡¯s heart, stimting its bloodline and generating brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    Dong Li was suddenly enlightened. ¡°So it¡¯s the engravings on this ck iron box that you know are helpful to you.¡±

    The lid of the box was quietly lifted by a wisp of the ck tortoise¡¯s flesh aura.

    Extreme darkness then poured out of the box. Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi, who were at the Saint domain, gasped with shock upon seeing this. They didn¡¯t even warn each other before fleeing from the dead star with their fastest possible speed.

    Within seconds, this dead star, one of the seven that surrounded the Seven-star Blue Sea, was engulfed inplete darkness.

    However, the darkness didn¡¯t stop spreading.

    In merely a few minutes, this entire area of the starry river over the Seven-star Blue Sea, including all of the seven surrounding stars, were engulfed in utter darkness.

    Dong Qisong, Yue Yanxi, Li Langfeng, and several Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries all retreated to areas that were far from the Seven-star Blue Sea.

    Disbelief and confusion filled their faces as they looked at the vast expanse of darkness and the azure sea underneath it.

    ¡°Sectmaster Dong, Sectmaster Yue, what¡¯s up with that darkness?¡± A Qi warrior from the Bliss Mountain Sect asked with a puzzled expression. ¡°Is Miss Dong practicing some forbidden dark incantation with that dark stone? Even if she is, she doesn¡¯t have to create such a stir, right?¡±

    ¡°This is scary indeed,¡± someone chimed in.

    Yue Yanxi and Dong Qisong exchanged a nce, and saw puzzlement and a hint of worry in each other¡¯s eyes.

    Neither of them had seen what was in the box that the ck tortoise had opened with a wisp of its flesh aura. All they knew was that when the intense darkness had poured out, their instincts had made them flee in fear.

    ...

    In the headquarters of the Void Spirit Society.

    Cheers suddenly came from the pce where Pei Qiqi had been practicing secluded cultivation.

    ¡°Miss Pei¡¯s domain has finished the transformation from illusory to solid!¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei has sessfully broken through into the Saint domain!¡±

    ¡°Saint domain! Pei Qiqi has entered the Saint domain!¡±

    Upon hearing the news, many elders that were close to and had high opinions of Pei Qiqi, such as Fan Wen and Qi Lianshan, gathered at the pce where Pei Qiqi practiced cultivation.

    A stone gate that had been closed for quite a while slowly opened, and Pei Qiqi walked out with an unearthly and proud demeanor.

    She nced around. All she saw were people fixing her with feverish gazes.

    Many elders and disciples of the Void Spirit Society were truly happy, and cheered for her.

    The speed at which she had progressed in cultivation after joining the Void Spirit Society had been unprecedented. Not a single disciple or even sectmaster in the Void Spirit Society¡¯s history had made such fast advances in their cultivation.

    ¡°I¡¯m off to join the battle in the Domain of Heaven Span.¡± With these words, she split open a spatial rift that connected to the Domain of Heaven Span with a casual move of her hand. She didn¡¯t even need to use the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    She flew into it.

    Over the following days, word about her continued toe from the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    ¡°Miss Pei killed three Demon grand patriarchs in the Domain of Heaven Span. All three of them were at thete ninth grade!¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei added two Fiend grand patriarchs to her list!¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei defeated Grand Monarch Remote Demon of the Demons! She even severed one of his arms with her spatial des!¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei has just entered the early Saint domain, yet she managed to single-handedly defeat a tenth grade Demon grand monarch!¡±

    The entire Void Spirit Society cheered as messages arrived from the Heaven Span Pavilion. All of the disciples that had been required to stay in the sect started viewing Pei Qiqi as their idol.

    Even Mo Heng had only challenged Grand Monarch Primal Demon of the Demons, who was a minor level higher than him, to a duel, which he had lost.

    Now, Pei Qiqi had just entered the early Saint domain. Even though she had only severed Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s arm with the help of the Space Boundaries Crystal instead of killing him in battle, it still came as astounding news to all of humanity.

    After all, this was something that had never been achieved by anyone.

    The five Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect, He Lianxiong from the Heaven Span Pavilion, and the Sons of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were all dwarfed by her brilliance.

    It was even more so with Hong Minghui, who used to be the hope of the Void Spirit Society.

    That was because he had been badly injured by a powerful Fiend expert with deadly toxins when Pei Qiqi had entered the Domain of Heaven Span, and hadn¡¯t recovered yet.

    As for that Fiend expert, he was only at the middle ninth grade.

    Both of them were Qu Yi¡¯s disciples. However, Hong Minghui, who had joined the sect much earlier than Pei Qiqi, was only at thete Void domain, and had been bested by a middle ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch.

    In the eyes of many, Pei Qiqi, who was rising strongly, had long since defeated herpetition.

    Many, both from within the Void Spirit Society and without, deemed that she and Nie Tian were bound to be the future leaders of humanity, one as the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, and the other as the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    While Pei Qiqi disyed her brilliance in the battle against the Ancientspirits and outsiders in the Domain of Heaven Span, Dong Li continued to grow stronger at a shocking speed at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The mysterious darkness continued to pervade that entire area of the starry river, devouring all light with its reach.

    It also continued to slowly spread into its surroundings.

    Many of Nie Tian¡¯s Saint domain subordinates, and even Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying, hade back to check on her.

    However, even their God domain soul awareness hadn¡¯t allowed them to detect what Dong Li was doing within the darkness.

    The only thing they were certain of was that Dong Li was alive and unharmed.

    That was because her aura was in every inch of that extreme darkness.

 Chapter 1412: A Perilous Situation

    In the Realm of Heaven Span.

    The headquarters of the Heaven Span Pavilion, which was one of the four great sects that had jointly ruled the Mortal World for ages, consisted of numerous lofty pavilions that pierced into the highest heavens like divine swords.

    A piece ofnd floated in the air in the midst of the lofty pavilions. On it was a square paved with cyan stones.

    Large-scale inter-domain teleportation portals that connected to different domains and realms stood on the square.

    At this moment, each and every one of them was running at full capacity, with disciples of the Void Spirit Society watching over them at all times, lest they encounter problems.

    Qi warriors continued to arrive through them from various advanced human domains.

    Most of them were Void and Saint domain experts, who would be arranged to set out to different battlefields upon arriving.

    Qi warriors with lower cultivation bases, however, would be arranged to board different ancient starships that would take them to fight outsiders and Ancientspirits in different realms of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    A well-dressed youngte Saint domain Qi warrior was standing with a heroic bearing in the middle of the square, with a broadsword behind his back.

    Many of the Qi warriors that arrived or left through this ce would greet him by nodding towards him, whether they were from the Heaven Span Pavilion or not.

    He wore a grave expression and didn¡¯t utter a word. Only when he saw acquaintances would he nod slightly at them.

    He was Shang Li, one of Chu Yuan¡¯s stepsons. Compared to He Lianxiong, he had joined the Heaven Span Pavilion and won Chu Yuan¡¯s approval earlier.

    Years ago, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s reputation had plunged due to Ji Cang¡¯s long absence and their repeated losses to the Demons in the Dead Star Sea.

    Instigated by someone, Shang Li had then attempted to seize some of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s subordinate realms.

    However, after Mo Heng had broken through into the middle God domain and defeated Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Ye Wenhan had approached and apologized to Mo Heng on behalf of the Heaven Span Pavilion, and punished the one who had instigated him.

    One of Shang Li¡¯s subordinates arrived through a teleportation portal and walked to his side. He nced around at the Void Spirit Society disciples working on the square and said, ¡°Master! Almost all of our realms in the Domain of Heaven Span have fallen into the Phantasms and Demons¡¯ hands.¡±

    Face grim, Shang Li asked, ¡°What about He Lianxiong¡¯s realms?¡±

    ¡°Things are better with his realms,¡± The man answered nervously. ¡°Miss Pei cut off a fourth of the Realm of Common Heaven when she severed one of Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s arms with her invaluable spatial treasure, the Space Boundaries Crystal. I suppose it¡¯ll be impossible to restore it to its original state.¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s eyes twitched as he said, ¡°The Realm of Common Heaven!¡±

    The Realm of Common Heaven was the realm Chu Yuan had specially assigned to him.

    It was rich in a wide array of rare metals, many of which were necessary materials for forging premium spiritual swords.

    Now, a fourth of it had been permanently destroyed because of Pei Qiqi and her Space Boundaries Crystal. It was only natural that he was upset.

    WHOOSH!

    Dou Tianchen from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce walked out of one of the teleportation portals and arrived in front of Shang Li in the blink of an eye. ¡°I need to go to the front line where my junior martial brother Fang Yuan and junior martial sister Wang Meijia are holding. Would you arrange it for me?¡±

    At this point, Dou Tianchen had already broken through into the early God domain with the help of the Heavenly Ster Stream, the Immortal grade divine tool that had originally belonged to Sikong Cuo.

    Shang Li from the Heaven Span Pavilion, who was in charge of this ce, didn¡¯t dare to slight him. He nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll arrange it for you right now.¡±

    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Dou Tianchen added, frowning slightly. ¡°I heard that your Realm of Common Heaven was partially destroyed due to a battle between Miss Pei and Grand Monarch Remote Demon.¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s face grew grim. ¡°So I guess everyone knows about it now.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I just learned about it.¡± With a smile, Dou Tianchen suddenly leaned towards Shang Li, so close that he almost touched him.

    As ufortable as this made Shang Li feel, he refrained from backing away. He looked at him and asked with a cold expression, ¡°What do you want to say, Dou Tianchen?¡±

    Dou Tianchen, who was slightly taller than him, looked down at him and said, ¡°Nothing much. As you know, Shang Li, Miss Pei is my seventh junior martial brother¡¯s dear friend. You¡¯d better not try anything funny with her. I know perfectly well what kinds of things you¡¯re capable of doing.

    ¡°Be warned. If you dare to stab her in the back, I¡¯ll make you pay. I won¡¯t care that this is the Heaven Span Pavilion.¡±

    With an icy look in his eyes, Shang Li said, ¡°Dou Tianchen, do you think you¡¯re so powerful now just because you¡¯ve entered the God domain?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Dou Tianchen said, smiling. ¡°Surely more powerful than you. Of course, if youpare me to Miss Pei or my seventh junior martial brother, I don¡¯t seem so impressive. But I¡¯m a sensible and grateful man. The fact that I was able to enter the God domain has a lot to do with my seventh junior martial brother.

    ¡°It¡¯s only right that I keep an eye out for Miss Pei as a favor to him. After all, Miss Pei has a simple mind, and doesn¡¯t understand how terrible people can be.¡±

    Shang Li seemed angered. ¡°I understand the big picture. I don¡¯t need you to lecture me.¡±

    Dou Tianchen let out a cold harrumph. ¡°So what was with you trying to seize our domains right after my sect suffered heavy losses from the Demons in the Dead Star Sea? If you hadn¡¯t done those despicable things before, I wouldn¡¯t have had to warn you.¡±

    At this moment, a group of people walked out of another teleportation portal, their leader being Hou Chn from the Five Elements Sect.

    The Divine Daughter of the wood element sect looked exhausted, her emerald green dress covered in blood that had yet to dry.

    With a deep frown, she looked at the two and said, ¡°You two...¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he asked, ¡°How are your people holding up?¡±

    ¡°Many of my subordinates had their domains ripped apart by enormous Ancientbeasts,¡± Hou Chn said, grief filled her eyes. ¡°The Ancientspirits, Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes have never been so united.¡±

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s face grew grim.

    Hou Chn turned to him and said, ¡°Things aren¡¯t much better with those from your sect. From the look of it, we¡¯ll most likely lose this war if things don¡¯t change soon. So if you two want to be at each other¡¯s throats, would you please do it after this war? Most of the God domain experts of the four great sects are currently engaged in bitter battles against the Ancientspirits and outsiders in the starry river and different realms of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be putting your energy and focus on killing those Ancientspirits and outsiders?¡±

    Hou Chn had just fought a bitter battle, and was going to be teleported back to the Realm of Wood Spirit through the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters to replenish her stocks of medicinal pills. She was very down when she saw the tension between Shang Li and Dou Tianchen upon arriving, which was why she hadshed out at them when she normally wouldn¡¯t.

    Feeling ashamed, Dou Tianchen nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right, Miss Hou.¡±

    With these words, he prepared to teleport to the area that the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was helping defend.

    ¡°Senior Martial Brother Dou, is your seventh junior martial brother Nie Tian... still at the Seven-star Blue Sea?¡± Hou Chn asked, looking concerned. ¡°Is he okay?¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Shang Li¡¯s face.

    He had recently noticed that many well-known beauties that hade from different human domains to join the battles against the outsiders and Ancientspirits seemed to have a strong interest in Nie Tian.

    Many young women that were both gorgeous and talented had asked about Nie Tian after arriving from different advanced domains. Among them were Hou Chn, Lou Hongyan, and Lin Yaoyao.

    They had all asked him whether Nie Tian hade to the Heaven Span Pavilion to join the battles against the outsiders and Ancientspirits.

    Shang Li found this baffling.

    It was as if Nie Tian had already be the most popr man of this generation before he realized it.

    ¡°ording to word I received from my sect before I came here, my seventh junior martial brother is still at the Seven-star Blue Sea,¡± Dou Tianchen said with a warm smile. ¡° He seems to be trying to break through into the Saint domain in the depths of the sea. Perhaps he¡¯ll be at the Saint domain when you see him next time.¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    Hou Chn¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Saint domain! That¡¯s fast, unbelievably fast. I still remember the time when he came to the Realm of Wood Spirit to help me with my breakthrough into the Saint domain. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s making his own breakthrough into the Saint domain already.¡±

    With a smile, Dou Tianchen said, ¡°Not just him, but Dong Li who runs his three domains for him seems to have found an amazing opportunity too.¡±

    ¡°What amazing opportunity?¡± Hou Chn asked curiously.

    ¡°I can¡¯t tell for sure,¡± Dou Tianchen said. ¡°But her understanding of dark power should have risen to a brand new level.¡±

    After a short pause, heughed and added, ¡°Both Miss Pei and Dong Li are amazing women. It seems you¡¯ve got to put in some extra effort, Junior Sister Hou.¡±

    Hou Chn gave him a nasty look before flying lightly into a teleportation portal and saying, ¡°Take me to the Realm of Wood Spirit.¡±

 Chapter 1413: Grab What He Can

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Utter darkness enveloped the area above the sea.

    The surface of the sea was lowering bit by bit, like a pond in the fierce sun that would dry up one day.

    Tens of thousands of kilometers away.

    A few ancient starships were berthed, where local Saint domain experts from around the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, including Patriarch Pure Heaven, were quietly observing the vast darkness-enveloped area.

    The ck tortoise¡¯s horrifying cry would echo out from it every once in a while.

    Each and every cry was filled with the excitement of new progress.

    However, to the Saint domain cultivators, its cries might be powerful enough to shatter their seas of awareness if they were too close to it.

    Therefore, none of them dared to go into the darkness.

    Because of that, not a single expert from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries could look down into the Seven Stars Realm Sea from above to see what Nie Tian was doing at the moment.

    Instead, these Void and Saint domain subordinates of Nie Tian sighed with amazement.

    ¡°The two of them are truly... astonishing.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not forget Pei Qiqi, who¡¯s currently ying outsiders in the Domain of Heaven Span. Miss Pei is bound to be the next sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. She¡¯s just entered the early Saint domain, yet she managed to defeat Grand Monarch Remote Demon and sever one of his arms.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but judging from this major stir Dong Li has created, she¡¯s every bit as amazing as Miss Pei.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re equally amazing.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, huge waves rose on the sea that the local Qi warriors of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries now referred to as the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    However, the surface of the sea soon calmed again.

    That was when Nie Tian appeared in the observers¡¯ sight, rising from the sea¡¯s surface in his erged form.

    This time, he gave them the feeling of a slightly smaller titan, which was stillrger than a Demon or a Bonebrute in their Ancestral Awakening form.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Numerous wisps of crimson lightning slithered all over his enormous body like zing dragons.

    A suffocatingly mighty flesh aura sea that could defeat heaven and earth burst forth, spreading into his surroundings and inspiring fear in many of his observing subordinates.

    ¡°Such devastating flesh power!¡±

    ¡°Even though its immensity still can¡¯t match that of a grand monarch, it should be at the same level as that of grand patriarch.¡±

    ¡°So has Nie Tian¡¯s unique bloodline advanced to the ninth grade?¡±

    Many muttered and wondered if Nie Tian had made a breakthrough in his bloodline.

    ¡°This feels awesome!¡± As Nie Tian threw his head back and shouted, the endless view-blocking darkness caught his eyes. ¡°What the...? And there¡¯s Dong Li and the ck tortoise¡¯s auras in the darkness. Both the ck tortoise and Dong Li are gathering dark power and building up their strength. What¡¯s going on?¡±

    At this moment, his bloodline was still at the eighth grade.

    However, he had already gathered enough flesh power to make the advance to the ninth grade from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Now, it had been nearly a year after his return from the Void World.

    During this time, he had absorbed flesh power from the shattered flesh aura seas of Ancientspirits and outsiders that the Seven Stars Realm Sea had gathered over the past hundreds of thousands of years. After absorbing it through Life Drain, he had refined it into Blood Essence, used it to heal himself, and provide it to his bloodline aura.

    Just now, the green aura that had been thirsty for flesh power for a long time had finally fallen dormant again.

    This meant that his unique life bloodline had finally umted enough power. Now, it was slowly digesting the power and making its transformation. When it awoke again, he would finish his breakthrough from the eighth to the ninth grade.

    Nie Tian looked down at his erged body and muttered to himself, ¡°I don¡¯t have to enter a Life Blend state with the Star Behemoth bone to activate this erged form anymore. All I need to do is activate Heavenly Wood Heal. This special form is the product of many sessions of body refinement and thest stage of Heavenly Wood Heal. What should I call it?¡±

    As he contemted, he suddenly noticed that the Seven Stars Realm Sea seemed to have shrunk by a quarter.

    A somewhat vague soul message then came through from the Star Behemoth bone, causing a surprised look to appear in his eyes.

    The Star Behemoth bone, which had fought alongside him for many years, was asking for his Blood Essence.

    ¡°Sure.¡±

    Drop after drop of translucent and sparkling Blood Essence that contained rich life power was separated from his heart and fused into the bone.

    As soon as a drop of Blood Essence touched the bone, it was absorbed with a fizzing sound, like water being absorbed by a dry sponge.

    A long time passed.

    The Blood Essence sent him a soul message, telling him that it didn¡¯t need any more of his Blood Essence.

    While Nie Tian was surprised by this, the Star Behemoth bone took it upon itself to dive into the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    It dove all the way to the bottom of the sea where the portal stood.

    Blood-colored patterns then lit up on the bone, emanating a devilishly beautiful light that shocked even Nie Tian.

    Immediately afterwards, he sensed that power of a variety of attributes started quietly gathering towards the bone from every corner of the sea.

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°What?!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected the bone to start doing exactly what he had done, which was absorb power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Almost at the same time, the ck tortoise let out a sharp cry from the depths of the utter darkness.

    Its enormous, mountain-like body charged out of the vast darkness and plunged into the Seven Stars Realm Sea as well, giving rise to a loud crash. Then, it started absorbing power from the sea as the Star Behemoth bone did, like two tigers going after the same prey.

    It was just that the Star Behemoth bone was absorbing a vast variety of powers, while the ck tortoise was only taking in flesh power from the dissipated flesh aura seas of Ancientspirits and outsiders.

    ¡°Judging from the power of the ck tortoise¡¯s flesh aura, it¡¯s reaching the peak of the ninth grade.¡± Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that the ck tortoise, which had hatched with the help of his Blood Essence and been nurtured by Dong Li¡¯s dark power, was rising towards the tenth grade at an unbelievable speed.

    The tenth grade was the level of grand monarchs!

    How many years had it been since the ck tortoise had been born?

    There probably hadn¡¯t been a single Ancientspirit or outsider in their histories that had been able to rise to the height of a grand monarch within such a short time.

    ¡°Both that bone and the ck tortoise have received a considerable amount of my Blood Essence.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Is it possible that their being able to absorb the powers they need from the Seven Stars Realm Sea has something to do with the Blood Essence they received from me?

    ¡°Star Behemoths, as the overlords of the Primal Era, devoured realms, and preyed on titans and Ancientbeasts. They could refine and make use of all sorts of power.

    ¡°But the ck tortoise only needs two types of power: dark power and flesh power.

    ¡°It seems to have absorbed enough dark power from the utter darkness above. Does it only need flesh power for its breakthrough into the tenth grade now...?¡±

    While he was absorbed in thought, he noticed that the Seven Stars Realm Sea was shrinking bit by bit.

    His expression flickered slightly as he thought of a problem. ¡°Will the two of them drain the Seven Stars Realm Seapletely? If the sea runs dry, then the portal will be exposed. The mixed energies in the Seven Stars Realm Sea are what maintain and power the portal.¡±

    ¡°If the Seven Stars Realm Sea disappears, will it be much more difficult to activate the portal, even though it remains intact?

    ¡°Plus, I still need more soul power to refine my true soul and more spiritual power to refine my void domain. If I want to advance to the Saint domain, I also need to obtain power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he, who had just finished gathering the flesh power he needed for his bloodline to advance to the ninth grade, resumed his true form, unleashed his void domain, and dove into the sea.

    The Nine Stars Flower, the Godspirit Tree, and the seventy-two tree branches manifested one after another, and started working their wonders.

    In the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he did his best to absorb wood, star, and me power, as well as soul power, in an attempt to finish the solidification of his void domain and enter the Saint domain before the sea ran dry.

    He, the Star Behemoth bone, and the ck tortoise all did what they could to obtain power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

 Chapter 1414: The Exhaustion of the Spirit World

    In the southeast part of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    Many realms had been reduced to dead realms that were bereft of any life and light. The starry river was filled with pieces of shattered realms, debris from ancient starships, and numerous dead human cultivators.

    Those cultivators¡¯ domains had perished, their power joining the mixed energies that filled the starry river.

    A battle had broken out here not long ago. The Phantasms, led by Froste, had emerged victorious.

    The other side of the battle had consisted of disciples of the Heavenly Thunder Sect from the Domain of Endless Thunder, Qi warriors from the Domain of Green Woods, and a few experts from the Ancient Law Sect.

    As Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s son, Froste had entered the eighth grade. The prismatic crystal between his eyebrows shone with icy light as he asked with a heavy tone, ¡°What are our casualties?¡±

    Standing behind him and bowing, a Phantasm gave him the numbers. ¡°We lost nine eighth grade nsmen, fifty-three seventh grade nsmen, and three starships. One of our ninth grade grand patriarch sustained heavy injuries...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch operated a Soul-devouring Lake on an ancient starship.

    A darkke that was built into the Phantasm starship suddenly gave rise to a strong gravitational force simr to that of the Spirit Pearl, causing the discarnate souls of the dead humans that hadn¡¯t dissipated into the starry river to fly towards it from all directions.

    ¡°Who is it?¡±

    Froste asked, mysterious patterns flowing on the surface of his Soul Ferry Battle Armor.

    A flying carpet woven by vines flew swiftly over with a Floragrim standing on it.

    Upon seeing the arrival, Froste frowned with surprise and said, ¡°Fata! What are you doing here? Is your battle going well?¡±

    Fata shook his head. ¡°Not so much.¡±

    Froste let out a snort. ¡°We¡¯ve been on the same boat for a long time now, yet your people thought of yourselves as high and pure, and refused to associate with us evil races. But didn¡¯t you march into the human world with us and kill humans this time?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because we don¡¯t have a choice now,¡± Fata said coldly.

    He sighed as he nced around at the wrecked ancient starships and humans and Phantasms that had died miserable deaths. ¡°This isn¡¯t exactly a victory for you in the long run.¡±

    Froste¡¯s expression grew grim.

    The humans had arge poption. The speed at which they grew into Qi warriors and made advances in their cultivation was much faster than any other race.

    It took humans less time to produce fighters that could join battles.

    Neither the Ancientspirits nor the outsiders had this advantage. As they grew older, it took them increasingly more time to be stronger.

    More importantly, the Ancientspirits and outsiders¡¯ procreation was far less efficient than humans.

    Battles like this one inflicted heavy casualties on the Phantasms as well as the humans. However, it would take them a much longer time to cultivate new fighters to fill the void left by those that had died in battle.

    For humans, however, a whole new generation of capable Qi warriors would rise in merely a few hundred years to make up for their lost forces.

    Froste took a deep breath. ¡°But we don¡¯t have time to wait anymore. Fata, your people¡¯s realms are usually full of life force. Are they experiencing the same thing as ours? Have your father and the wise elders of your n figured out why?¡±

    Fata shook his head. ¡°Not just our people, but the entire Spirit World hasn¡¯t found an exnation for what¡¯s happening.¡±

    Images of the changes that had recently taken ce in the Floragrim domains entered his mind.

    Realms that were enveloped in rich life and covered in exuberant vegetation were losing their vital power at an increasingly fast speed.

    He and many Floragrim grand monarchs had traveled to numerous realms, but all failed to find the reason for such changes. All they knew was that those realms were rapidly turning into dead realms in a very strange manner.

    The Floragrim realms weren¡¯t the only ones that were experiencing this.

    Titans, Ancientbeasts, dragons, Phantasms, Fiends, Demons, and many other races that lived in the Spirit World were experiencing the same thing, their realms gradually changing.

    As the oldest world, the Spirit World had seen many wars, where numerous explored realms had been reduced to uninhabitable dead realms.

    During the Primal Era, Star Behemoths had destroyed countless realms with favorable environments as they had ruled the starry river.

    Later, devastating wars had broken out between the Ancientspirits and the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends, rendering arge number of realms uninhabitable.

    There were fewer inhabitable realms in the Spirit World than in the Mortal World to start with.

    Now, all of a sudden, many of their remaining realms were rapidly running out of vital energy and turning into dead realms. This naturally forced the races of the Spirit World to think of ways to survive.

    Therefore, they decided that for the continuation of their races, they had to enter the Mortal World to find realms that suited them.

    This was the fundamental reason why the Ancientspirits and outsiders hadunched this massive invasion at all costs.

    ¡°Our world is going through great changes. Perhaps this is the beginning of a prolonged decline.¡± Fata said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°One of our deceased grand monarchs got a piece of information from the Tree of Life, but even he couldn¡¯t tell if it was true.¡±

    ¡°What information?¡± Froste asked with a serious expression.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that worlds that include innumerable realms like our Spirit World aren¡¯t as immutable as we may think,¡± Fata said as he pondered. ¡°They die too. In fact, our world may be copsing under unbearable pressure, and is about to die.¡±

    ¡°Will there be no hope if it dies?¡± Froste asked with a worried and curious expression.

    ¡°No, death and life take their turn,¡± Fata exined. ¡°An unknowable number of years after the Spirit World diespletely, it may be reborn. The dead realms will be able to regather power from the starry river, and return to realms that were full of vigor.

    ¡°It¡¯s like an ever-moving circle. However, I¡¯m not sure if this is true.¡±

    Froste was bbergasted by this new viewpoint put forth by Fata.

    ¡°Are you saying that our world has reached the end of a life cycle?¡± Froste asked, following his train of thought. ¡°Then, many, perhaps hundreds of millions of yearster, new changes will happen to it and restore life to the dead realms?¡±

    Fata nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the opinion of that grand monarch of my race, if we didn¡¯t misunderstand him.¡±

    ¡°So if we establish our footholds in the Mortal World, we¡¯ll be able return to the Spirit World, to our ancestralnds, in hundreds of millions of years?¡± Froste asked.

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Fata said. ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure.¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, some secrets are hidden in the depths of my people¡¯s bloodlines,¡± Froste, who was Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s son, said. ¡°Even though it¡¯s been a long time since my father left, I know he¡¯s alive and well. But at the same time, I can tell he went to a ce that¡¯s extremely far away.¡±

    A strange look shed across Fata¡¯s dark-green pupils. ¡°Your people are ¡®outsiders¡¯ to begin with!¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Froste asked, looking deeply confused.

    Staring at him, Fata said with an unpleasant tone, ¡°The reason why our high chieftains have always distanced themselves from the Demons, the Bonebrutes, and your people is because you all came from another world. They say that who knows if you¡¯ll turn against us one day. You¡¯re your father¡¯s son. If you can decode the secret imprints in your bloodline, you should be able to find the truth.¡±

    Froste gasped. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I am,¡± Fata said, looking up into the heavens. ¡°Times have changed. We¡¯re being forced to leave our ancestralnds to take realms that are inhabitable for us from the humans.

    ¡°Whether the humans like it or not, this is something we have to do for the continuation of our races.

    ¡°Nothing will stop us from achieving this goal, however heavy casualties we may have to suffer.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that... I¡¯m worried that new changes may emerge while we and the humans are busy killing each other.¡±

    Deeply concerned and baffled, Froste said, ¡°Fata, I know that you know things we don¡¯t. Can you please tell me what you think will happen?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯ll be ideal if we can reconcile with the humans and they agree to give some of their domains for us to live in, then we can avoid all the killing.¡± Fata muttered. ¡°Perhaps I should try to have a good talk with someone wise on the human side.¡±

    Froste gave a coldugh. ¡°Who will you talk to? Do you think that¡¯s possible?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot nheless,¡± Fata said, looking as if he didn¡¯t have a better n. ¡°After all, we¡¯ll all suffer losses as heavy as them if the battles don¡¯t end soon.¡±

 Chapter 1415: A Newly-made Grand Monarch

    In the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    An ancient starship that clearly belonged to the Demons suddenly arrived.

    Dong Qisong¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he called loudly, ¡°Demons! Quick! Send word to the Realm of Maelstrom to ask the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to send people here as soon as possible! Get Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying here too!¡±

    Because of the battles that were taking ce in the Domain of Heaven Span, the experts who had originally gathered here to protect Nie Tian had long since left.

    Pei Qiqi, who was out of secluded cultivation, also went to the Domain of Heaven Span, and hadn¡¯te here again.

    Since the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was remote and separated from the Domain of Heaven Span by numerous domains, no one expected that a Demon ancient starship would suddenly arrive here.

    A male and a female Demon walked out from the front of the starship, which looked like an ancient Demon beast when observed from afar.

    The female was Ophelia, who was a ninth grade grand patriarch and the wielder of the Doom de.

    The man was the human traitor, Han Yu, who was now neither a human nor a Demon, as he had fused with the Demon Eyes Flower.

    Behind them were nearly a thousand Demon warriors from various Demon ns from different Demon realms.

    Staring at the endless darkness above the Seven-star Realm Sea, a Demon from the Astarte n of the Sixth Demon Realm gritted his teeth and said, ¡°That area enshrouded in utter darkness... The dark stone that belongs to our Sixth Demon Realm and Astarte n is in it!¡±

    His name was Wilkes, and he had an eighth-grade bloodline. As a member of the Astarte n, his bloodline contained dark power.

    Back when the Sixth Demon Realm had been invaded and the Astarte n had been wiped out by the humans, he had been out fighting Ancientspirits, and thus hadn¡¯t been killed.

    The Astarte n¡¯s dark bloodline flowed in his body, so as soon as he arrived, he felt the purest power in the darkness-enshrouded area.

    His eyes instantly zed!

    Wilkes was about to dash into the darkness-enshrouded area to get the dark stone that Dong Li had seized when a hand gripped his shoulder.

    He couldn¡¯t budge, and said in shock, ¡°Grand Monarch Chaos Demon!¡±

    The Demon holding him down was nearly five meters tall, even though his body wasn¡¯t demonized. The dark purple scales around his belly and midriff emitted a cold light.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon was a new grand monarch.

    In the past, like Grand Patriarch Cardy, he had also been regarded as one of the most promising grand patriarchs whose bloodline could reach tenth grade, but unfortunately, Grand Patriarch Cardy had been killed by Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon had sessfully reached the tenth grade due to the battles he had fought against the Ancientbeasts away from home, along with some other opportunities.

    The Demons had six grand monarchs, including him. The other five were Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Blood Axe, Grand Monarch Remote Demon, and Grand Monarch Illusory Demon.

    In the history of the Demons, the emergence of six grand monarchs in an era was a sign of prosperity.

    ¡°Idiot!¡± Grand Monarch Chaos Demon spat with a ferocious expression. ¡°Do you want to die? Take a look at what¡¯s below!¡±

    Wilkes looked down, and saw the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    The first thing he saw was the ck tortoise.

    In the Seven-star Realm Sea, the dark magic patterns on the shell of the mountainous ck tortoise seemed to be constantly changing and forming profound arrays representing the true meaning of darkness.

    Wilkes was dazzled as he looked at the dark magic patterns on the ck tortoise¡¯s back.

    ¡°Those patterns, those patterns seem to imply the true meaning of dark power!¡± He was instantly delirious, staring unblinkingly at the dark patterns.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon took a deep breath and said, ¡°A spirit tortoise that is gathering flesh power and is about to break through to the tenth grade! But as for the dim figure at the bottom of the sea, I can¡¯t see it clearly.¡±

    He turned to look at Ophelia.

    Ophelia didn¡¯t seem to care about what was in the sea as she said, ¡°Let¡¯s take the dark stone and kill Dong Li. As for Nie Tian, if we can find him and kill him, then good. But if we can¡¯t, we can¡¯t. Pei Qiqi of the Void Spirit Society has chopped an arm off Grand Monarch Remote Demon in the Domain of Heaven Span. We must do something.¡±

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s lips curled in disdain. ¡°Grand Monarch Remote Demon is the weakest of our grand monarchs. Even I, who has just reached tenth grade, would not have such a miserable ending as he did if I were to fight that girl from the Void Spirit Society. Because he underestimated his enemy, he brought disgrace on our race. He must be punished!¡±

    Ophelia snorted and said, ¡°Enough of that, let¡¯s not forget our goal here. You and I have fought together for years, and I know your strength. You¡¯ll enter that darkness-enshrouded area. Wilkes, you¡¯ll go too. Show him the way through the darkness-enshrouded area, find Dong Li, and bring out the dark stone.¡±

    After a pause, she shot a nce at Dong Qisong in the distance and said, ¡°I¡¯ll stop and kill the humans that stand in our way.¡±

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon nodded. ¡°Good!¡±

    Then, he grabbed Wilkes and threw him into the darkness-enshrouded area. ¡°Show me the way, idiot!¡±

    ¡°Come with me, Grand Monarch! I¡¯ll help you find Dong Li in there. Trust me!¡± Wilkes said hastily.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon grinned. Instead of disying the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form, he enveloped himself in his flesh aura sea and casually moved into the darkness with Wilkes.

    Ophelia warned him, ¡°You¡¯d better take this seriously. Don¡¯t have your arm cut off by a human junior like Grand Monarch Remote Demon!¡±

    His arrogant voice then came out from the darkness. ¡°Ha ha ha! My arm cut off by a little girl from the Domain of the Falling Stars? The Domain of the Falling Stars has been our pasture since ancient times. If the spatial passages hadn¡¯t been sealed, we could have gone there at any time and ughtered every single human there.¡±

    ¡°Demons, Demons.¡± Looking at the Demonsing out of the starship, Dong Qisong, who was only at the early Saint domain, looked very grim.

    ¡°When I perceived that Demon with my soul awareness, even my soul shivered,¡± Yue Yanxi said with a dejected face as he pointed at Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, who had just entered the darkness, ¡°If I¡¯m right, he should be at tenth grade. But he doesn¡¯t look like any of the legendary grand monarch Demons we know.¡±

    ¡°What shall we do?¡± a Qi warrior from the Bliss Mountain Sect asked in a loud, panicked voice.

    Dong Qisong was filled with uneasiness in his heart as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s first wait and see if any God domain experts cane to help us. I heard that the situation in the Domain of Heaven Span is also very serious. I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    ¡°Han Yu, go wipe out the humans over there,¡± a Demon behind Ophelia ordered maliciously.

    Ophelia frowned slightly.

    Han Yu, who was neither a human nor a Demon, looked at her, and saw her nod somewhat unwillingly.

    He sighed inwardly, and summoned the Demon Eyes Flower that was ranked first among the mighty nts in the Demon realms. By virtue of the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s uniqueness, he floated between the darkness-enveloped area and the Seven-star Realm Sea, aiming at the leaders of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries like Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi.

    The petals of the Demon Eyes Flower opened like demonic eyes that fixed on the souls of the human experts, causing them to tremble with fear.

    SWISH!

    All of a sudden, the Demon Eyes Flower, which was connected to Han Yu¡¯s flesh aura, crossed the space between the darkness-enveloped area and the sea, and appeared in front of Dong Qisong and the other humans.

    With a growl, the eighth-grade Goldskin Beast that Dong Qisong rode charged at the Demon Eyes Flower like a golden bolt of lightning.

    ¡°Entangle,¡± Han Yu said as he held out a hand toward it, and the Goldskin Beast was entangled in the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s branches and leaves, and pulled towards one of its buds little by little.

 Chapter 1416: A Battle Between Magical Plants

    That eighth grade Goldskin Beast was a metal-attributed spirit beast, its body as hard as a piece of divine metal.

    However, it still didn¡¯t seem to be strong enough to resist the Demon Eyes Flower that entangled it. No matter how hard it struggled, howled, and stimted its bloodline, it couldn¡¯t break free from the Demon Eyes Flower.

    Dong Qisong could only watch as the Goldskin Beast vanished into one of the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s buds.

    POOPH!

    Golden blood spurted from within the bud like a water fountain.

    As Dong Qisong experienced a sharp pain in his chest, a low moan escaped his mouth.

    Wisps of his connection with the Goldskin Beast were relentlessly severed.

    The beast¡¯s soul will rapidly perished. Soon, he couldn¡¯t sense even the slightest wisp of it.

    However, the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s branches expanded in a devilish manner, rapidly filling arge area around it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Most surprisingly, it was able to channel mixed energies from its surroundings and turn them into rich dark purple Demon Qi.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Han Yu, who had partially merged with the Demon Eyes Flower, said with a gray face. Mysterious lights of an awareness that wasn¡¯t his could be seen swimming in the depths of his eyes like fish.

    The Demon Eyes Flower suddenly extended its branches in all directions. Each and every one of them looked like an all-conquering sharp de.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wherever the branches went, ear-piercing sounds echoed out, as if even space was being cut open, revealing glorious dashing lights.

    All of the Void and Saint domain experts of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries that saw this were overtaken with fear.

    The terrifying aura they were sensing from the Demon Eyes Flower and Han Yu made them realize that the two of them had perfectly merged in both soul and body.

    The two of them were a whole now!

    At this moment, unusually strong spatial fluctuations came from a berthed starship that belonged to the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    A young woman with a veil walked out and floated quietly from the starship. Eyes deep and mysterious, she had an extraordinary bearing.

    ¡°Holy Daughter!¡± A Void domain expert from the Bliss Mountain Sect eximed in ecstasy.

    The arrival was Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    She had been practicing cultivation in the Bliss Mountain Sect¡¯s headquarters when she had received word of what had happened, and teleported here at the first possible moment.

    ¡°A Demon Eyes Flower.¡±

    With her deep eyes, she looked at the Demon Eyes Flower, which was brandishing its branches everywhere like sharp des, and Han Yu, who was clearly not human anymore.

    Upon meeting her eyes, Han Yu suddenly sensed strong danger.

    ¡°The Demon Eyes Flower is only considered the deadliest nt among the magical nts that grow in the Demon realms,¡± Mu Biqiong said with a cold look in her eyes. Then, she ripped her veil off with a quick move, revealing the unearthly beautiful face behind it.

    A colorful flower and a ck flower surfaced on her cheeks.

    In the depths of her pupils, the shadows of the devilish flowers also grew more and more distinct.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the coexisting flowers¡¯ enormous roots shot out of Mu Biqiong¡¯s palms like two raging dragons.

    One was pitch-ck like a charred pir, while the other was glorious like a rainbow.

    The two roots also exuded different auras, one hideous and the other evil. In the blink of an eye, they entangled the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s branches.

    CRACK!

    Many branches of the Demon Eyes Flower that belonged to Han Yu were torn to pieces.

    The coexisting flowers that had developed their doubled souls and lodged in her since she had been little suppressed the Demon Eyes Flower in an overwhelming manner.

    Secondster, the ck root suddenly shot towards Han Yu.

    The ¡®Demon Eyes¡¯ surrounding Han Yu then unleashed their bewitching power simultaneously. One demonic voice after another reached the depths of Mu Biqiong¡¯s soul in an attempt to make her lose herself in the illusions created by the Demon Eyes Flower and give up resistance.

    However, as a sharp screech came from the ck flower of the coexisting flowers, one of Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes turned into an unfathomable ck hole that seemed to be able to devour everything.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Han Yu covered his ears as he suffered a bacsh. Blood started streaming through his fingers.

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The demonic eye-like buds of the magical nt that was considered the most powerful nt throughout the Demon realms exploded one after another.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    As Mu Biqiong gave the order, a pitch-ck root and a glorious rainbow-like root extended to munch their way through the Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s branches, like they were a feast to them.

    Han Yu was almost scared out of his mind. No longer daring to make any aggressive moves, he hastily shrank into one of the buds of the Demon Eyes Flower.

    Then, the whole Demon Eyes Flower shrank at an rming rate before splitting into numerous purple petals that escaped in different directions.

    ¡°The coexisting flowers inside of me tell me that nt of yours is a joke, even though people say it¡¯s the deadliest magical nt throughout the Demon realms,¡± Mu Biqiong said in a surprisingly calm voice towards the fleeing petals, in one of which Han Yu must be hiding. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll take a very long time for it to recover after this battle.

    ¡°It may take decades, or centuries. Since you attach your cultivation base and hope of bing powerful to it, its decline is bound to affect you a great deal.¡±

    Han Yu didn¡¯t give any response.

    However, most of the fleeing petals of the Demon Eyes Flower flew towards Ophelia of the Demons.

    Yin Yanan from the Beast-controlling Sect also arrived after receiving word of what had happened. Seeing that Dong Qisong was unharmed, she said, ¡°It¡¯s nice to see that you¡¯re safe, Sectmaster. Why did those Demons suddenlye here instead of joining the battles against our main force in the Domain of Heaven Span?¡±

    Dong Qisong secretly let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°Who knows?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the best, Holy Daughter!¡± The disciples of the Bliss Mountain Sect cheered.

    Like Yin Yanan, who had just arrived, Mu Biqiong was also only at thete Soul realm.

    She hadn¡¯t even entered the Void domain yet.

    Even so, she, who had the coexisting flowers lodged inside of her since she had been a little girl, was quickly growing into the strongest Qi warrior of the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Her battle prowess was already higher than that of most Saint domain cultivators.

    The mysterious coexisting flowers inside of her were the reason.

    The speed at which they grew stronger had surpassed the speed at which she herself grew. However, thanks to the counterbnce between the two flowers, she was able to benefit from them, even though she was rtively weaker.

    It was the coexisting flowers that had convinced her that even the Demon Eyes Flower, which was ranked number one among the deadliest magical nts in the Demon realms, couldn¡¯t match her in battle.

    After all, its so-called number-one ranking was only among the magical nts that grew in the Demon realms.

    The coexisting flowers, however, were considered one of the most powerful magical nts throughout the Mortal World and the Spirit World. The Demon Eyes Flower didn¡¯t evene close to that.

    FZZZ!

    Almost at the same time, a purple lightning bolt ripped through the vast darkness that had enveloped the area above the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The darkness seemed to be split open by a giant purple de.

    The newly-made Demon grand monarch was revealed in his Ancestral Awakening form, like an enormous low-tier Demon from the Deste Antiquity Era.

    Shockingly, Grand Monarch Chaos Demon had three giant heads and nine robust arms, yet his chubby body was filled with explosive power.

    He roared up into the void. However, his roars were filled with fury and a hint of confusion.

    Meanwhile, Wilkes, who carried a dark bloodline and had led him into the darkness, had his bloodpletely drained by the dark power from the Sixth Demon Realm.

    He floated in midair like a shriveled corpse.

    Dong Li¡¯sughs came from the depths of the darkness.

    The darkness rapidly rushed into her body like an ebbing ck sea.

    Everyone looked up and saw the endless darkness being absorbed into her body within a very short period of time, along with the dark stone.

    FIZZ!

    Dong Li held out a finger, and wisps of ck lightning shot out of it. As they shed across the void, Wilkes from the Astarte n was cut into a thousand pieces that rained on the dead star she was standing on, giving rise to quiet sounds as they hit the ground.

    All of Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s three heads had purple horns growing out of them. All of those horns shone with icy light as he eximed in shock, ¡°This dark aura is identical to that of the legendary Grand Monarch Utter Darkness, who was from the Sixth Demon Realm!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you, as a human, have actually refined the dark stone!¡±

    ¡°I doubt that you know the true origin of this dark stone,¡± Dong Li said with a derisive smile, clutching the ck iron box given to her by that mysterious woman. ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t need to know. All you need to know is that as a newly-made grand monarch, you don¡¯t get to do whatever you want in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    With these words, she cast a nce at Ophelia from afar. ¡°The same goes for you.¡±

    As she spoke, the enormous ck tortoise that had been absorbing flesh power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea suddenly rose from under the sea¡¯s surface, giving rise to a loud crash.

    At this moment, it was three timesrger than Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, and the aura it exuded was every bit as strong as his own.

    ¡°Do you really think you cane here and retake the dark stone while our God domain experts are consumed with the battles in the Domain of Heaven Span?¡± Dong Li asked rhetorically, with a mysterious smile. ¡°Get this: that dark stone has long since be a part of me. You¡¯ll never be able to retake it.¡±

 Chapter 1417: The Dark Aureole

    Dong Li opened the ck iron box, and thick darkness immediately poured out.

    At the same time, something that looked like a ck sun flew out of the box.

    By simply looking at the aureole, all of the Demons that hade with Ophelia couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    It was a deep reverence and fear that inferiors had towards superiors, which had been branded in the deepest parts of their bloodlines!

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    All of the Demons present, including Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, the newly-made grand monarch, experienced unusual heart palpitations.

    Their hearts pounded more and more violently.

    A ninth grade grand patriarch gasped with astonishment and pointed at the aureole that floated over Dong Li like a ck sun. ¡°My... my bloodline power is leaving my body and flowing towards that thing!¡±

    HOWL!

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s three heads howled at the same time.

    He found that as long as he looked at the ck aureole, he couldn¡¯t summon his bloodline power. He couldn¡¯t even approach Dong Li.

    Ophelia¡¯s expression also flickered drastically, as she wasn¡¯t sure what was happening. She only knew that all of the Demons she had brought here started behaving strangely after that ck aureole appeared and started floating over Dong Li¡¯s head.

    The Doom de, which was connected to her on a soul level, was the only thing that didn¡¯t seem to be affected.

    A ninth grade Demon grand patriarch trembled nonstop as he said to Ophelia. ¡°I somehow feel terrified by that ck aureole. This feeling is simr to what I felt when I met the high chieftain and sensed his aura for the first time.¡±

    The petals of the Demon Eyes Flower suddenly came back together, revealing Han Yu, who then advised Ophelia with a very serious tone, ¡°We¡¯d better get out of here as soon as possible. The power that ck aureole emanates is even more ancient and terrifying than that of your Doom de.¡±

    ¡°Ophelia!¡± Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s enormous body started shrinking in size as his bloodline power left him. ¡°I think it¡¯s time for us to leave. This woman who took the dark stone from us is quite hard to deal with!¡±

    Aside from Dong Li, they were also facing the ck tortoise, which was only a step away from entering the tenth grade.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon couldn¡¯t help but look at the ck aureole from time to time. However, every time he looked at it, his eyes felt sore and painful.

    This newly-made grand monarch lost his fighting will before a battle even truly broke out.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not leaving!¡±

    Ophelia took a deep breath, and fused drops of purple Blood Essence into her Doom de to awaken the Demonic Doom Spirit inside.

    ¡°Doom, doom...¡±

    As Heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing cries echoed from the famous demonic de that had been used to fight Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, it morphed into an extremely long streak of light that shed towards Dong Li.

    As it did, ckish-violet mes flew out of it, along with countless ck lightning bolts.

    A corner of Dong Li¡¯s mouth twitched as she yanked the aureole that looked like a ck sun down and cast it towards Ophelia¡¯s Doom de.

    Endless darkness rapidly engulfed all of the lightning bolts and ckish-violet mes released by the Doom de.

    Ultimate darkness soon devoured everyst bit of light in the area between Dong Li and Ophelia.

    That was when Ophelia sensed fear from the Demonic Doom Spirit for the first time.

    The Demonic Doom Spirit let out soul screams that only she could hear as it madly drew wisps of soul power from her in an attempt to escape from the darkness, no matter the cost.

    WHOOSH!

    The Doom de shot out of the darkness and fled directly towards the Demon ancient starship that was berthed in the distance, despite Ophelia¡¯s obstruction.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± Ophelia finally cried out in fear.

    The Demons that had snuck here from a secluded region in the Domain of Heaven Span through a special means were first dumbfounded by the order, but started running for their lives immediately afterwards.

    Dong Li floated over the Seven Stars Realm Sea like a dark god. Eyes like bottomless ck holes, she pointed at the fleeing Demons and said expressionlessly, ¡°Darkness: Encroach.¡±

    Theplete darkness spread like a sea, engulfing the Demons that didn¡¯t flee fast enough.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether they were at the seventh or the eighth grade. As long as they disappeared into the spreading darkness, they disappeared for good.

    ¡°Han Yu and the Demon Eyes Flower...¡± Dong Li let out a low chuckle. ¡°Since you¡¯ve decided to join the Demons and killed so many of your own kind, it¡¯s about time you died. And since your master, Wu Ji, doesn¡¯t have the heart to do it, I can only do it for him. I hope Nie Tian won¡¯t me me for this after he returns from down there.¡±

    Wisps of ck light seemed to dance at her fingertips as she guided the darkness.

    Eventually, Han Yu, who was neither human nor Demon, was devoured by the darkness as well.

    As fierce as he was, he couldn¡¯t let out even the slightest sound.

    Even that Demon Eyes Flower, which was the so-called deadliest magical nt in the Demon realms, seemed to be annihted soundlessly.

    The darkness continued to spread.

    The remaining Demons fled to their ancient starship with Ophelia. However, before they could even start the starship, the darkness came.

    ¡°Abandon the starship!¡± Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s panicked shout echoed out.

    However, as the other Demons looked around for him, he had already canceled his Ancestral Awakening form and flew off like a streak of demonic light.

    Ophelia and her Doom de flew after him, abandoning their ancient starship.

    After that, the aureole that looked like a ck sun, which had been released from Dong Li¡¯s ck iron box, expanded and devoured the Demon ancient starship.

    A quarter hourter...

    The ck aureole shrank and flew back into the ck iron box, which Dong Li then put away.

    As the endless darkness faded, numerous Demon corpses were revealed floating over the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The dark power within them seemed to have been picked clean. All that was left were wisps of faint flesh power that had yet to dissipate.

    Seeing them, the ck tortoise let out an excited cry.

    Like an enormous ck cloud, it flew out from behind Dong Li¡¯s back to swallow the dead Demons that floated over the Seven Stars Realm Sea, one at a time.

    It didn¡¯t take it long to clean the floating Demon corpses out.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    With its pir-thick feet, it smashed the ancient starship the Demons had left behind to pick at and swallow the dead Demons within it.

    Gathered at the perimeter of the Realm Sea, many Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were bbergasted.

    Earlier, when the darkness had spread out to cover arge area, they had only sensed the ck tortoise¡¯s aura, from which they had realized that it was growing stronger at a shocking speed. Never had they expected that Dong Li, who had remained hidden for a long time, had already be so devastatingly strong.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, Ophelia, a ninth grade Demon grand monarch, and a troop of seventh and eighth grade Demons...

    After releasing the ck aureole from the ck iron box, she had smashed through them as if they were dry weeds and rotten wood.

    Such battle prowess rendered Dong Qisong and all of the Void and Saint domain experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries speechless.

    They found it unbelievable.

    Dong Li let out a breath. ¡°As the spiritual tool used by the Dark King of the Void World, this Dark Aureole is mighty indeed.¡±

    She had to take out some of the soul crystals Pei Qiqi had given her previously to recover her soul power.

    Before leaving the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Pei Qiqi had left the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and soul crystals Nie Tian had earned from You Qimiao to her.

    She had also exined the Void World and the origin of the dark stone to Dong Li.

    From her, Dong Li had learned that the dark stone she had refined was actually one of the Dark King¡¯s eyes.

    Later, a mysterious woman had given her that ck iron box, which contained the Dark Aureole. From the unique aura connection between it and the dark stone, she had realized that the Dark Aureole had also belonged to the Dark King, a mighty Devil who had transcended the limits of the tenth grade.

    ¡°The fact that Ophelia and Grand Monarch Chaos Demon had to retreat was probably because the Dark Aureole was stopping them from manifesting their bloodline power,¡± Dong Li thought to herself. ¡°The Dark King of the Devils was the mightiest existence throughout the Void World in his time. The bloodline origin of the Demons of the Spirit World lies with the Devils in the Void World.

    ¡°That¡¯s why the magical tool left by the Dark King can be used to suppress all Demons.

    ¡°If it were the Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends that sought trouble with me this time, instead of the Demons, the Dark Aureole probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to suppress their bloodlines.¡±

    With these thoughts, Dong Li couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at the dead star she had left.

    ¡°Who was she? She could even get her hands on the Dark King¡¯s magical tool. And she simply gave it to me, as if it was nothing to her.¡±

    Dong Li couldn¡¯t find an answer.

 Chapter 1418: From Illusory To Real

    ZZZZZLA!

    Bright starlight suddenly rushed out from the bottom of the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    The whole sea seemed to be filled with bright starlight. When everyone fixed their eyes on it, they felt as if the mysterious sea amid the seven dead stars had be a gorgeous gxy.

    The starlight dazzled their eyes!

    WHOOSH! WHOOOSH!

    The scattered starlight floating around the Seven-star Realm Sea started to converge in one ce little by little.

    At the portal, Nie Tian slowly floated toward the sea¡¯s surface.

    The branches of the mysterious Heavenly Stars Flower in his star domain absorbed the starlight in the sea like a sponge absorbing water.

    Its branches and leaves filled the entire star domain surrounding Nie Tian.

    Standing on a dead star, Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, took a look at the Seven-star Realm Sea. The peculiar coexisting flowers in her body immediately sensed something. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Her expression changed before she secretlymunicated with the souls of the coexisting flowers.

    Yue Yanxi of the Divine me Sect frowned slightly and asked her, ¡°Girl, do you feel anything? Your flowers have a mysterious origin. Which do you feel is stronger, Nie Tian¡¯s peculiar starry flower in the Seven-star Realm Sea or your coexisting flowers? Even the Demon Eyes Flower, which is considered the most powerful nt in the Demon realms, is no match for your coexisting flowers. Nie Tian¡¯s...¡±

    ¡°The coexisting flowers in my body have never heard of that peculiar flower of his that seems to be dotted with stars,¡± Mu Biqiong said with a bitter expression, ¡°but they feel instinctively uneasy in its presence. That alone makes me believe that Nie Tian¡¯s peculiar flower is stronger.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is breaking through into the Saint domain!¡± Dong Qisong of the Beast-controlling Sect suddenly shouted.

    Hearing this, many Qi warriors of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries became excited, their eyes shining with fanatical light.

    ¡°Nie Tian is really breaking through to the Saint domain!¡±

    ¡°How fast! He cultivates three powers of different attributes, which are star, wood, and me, and he has a special bloodline, yet he can actually make his attempt to break through into the Saint domain in such a short time! He¡¯s really a genius!¡±

    ¡°If it hadn¡¯t been for this fact, would we have been willing to swear allegiance to him so early?¡±

    ¡°Ha ha! You¡¯re right!¡±

    At the same time, Dong Li gave the ck tortoise a stern look. ¡°Get back here!¡±

    The ck tortoise had its eyes on the Seven-star Realm Sea after swallowing up the dead bodies that the Demons had left behind.

    It intended to make an effort to break through to tenth grade with the flesh aura of the Ancientspirits and outsiders that the Seven-star Realm Sea had amassed for the past hundreds of thousands of years.

    After being scolded by Dong Li, the ck tortoise immediately became well-behaved, and obediently shrank its body and rubbed against Dong Li¡¯s ankles.

    Dong Li snorted. ¡°Nie Tian is trying to make his breakthrough into the Saint domain, which is veryplicated and full of danger. He needs the Seven-star Realm Sea because he needs to channel star, me, wood power, and possibly other forces from it. Be quiet, and don¡¯t make trouble during this time.¡±

    Although it felt wronged, it agreed.

    FIZZ!

    The Star Behemoth bone morphed into a red bolt of lightning and flew out from the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    It seemed to know that Nie Tian was on the verge of a breakthrough, and thus didn¡¯t continue to absorb the powers from the sea that would help it continue to grow.

    FIZZ!

    Channeled by the Primal Chaos that Nie Tian had disyed, wood, star, and me power were cleansed before they merged into Nie Tian¡¯s domain in their purest form.

    All eyes were fixed on his domain, which was originally illusory, but was gradually bing real as the powers continued to pour in.

    His star domain, which was in the outermost parts of his domain, surrounded his zing me domain like a curtain of starlight.

    The vibrantnd at the heart of his domain kept gathering wood power with the help of the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two branches to substantialize the illusorynd little by little.

    The transformation from illusory to real was the heart of the transformation from the Void domain to the Saint domain.

    Combining with wood, star, and me power, Nie Tian¡¯s soul power also fused into his domain.

    Countless wisps of pure and colorless spiritual power from his spiritual sea mixed with the powers of three different attributes and his soul power. As they were refined over and over, his illusory domain could hoard more and more energy.

    Time ticked away.

    The waters of the Seven-star Realm Sea continued to quietly lower. Nie Tian¡¯s Void domain was continuously kneaded and polished by various forces, giving people a feeling that it was bing heavier and truer.

    A few dayster.

    Most of the water of the Seven-star Realm Sea had disappeared. In everyone¡¯s eyes, Nie Tian¡¯s domain was quite different now.

    ¡°me aura, such strange me aura,¡± Yue Yanxi of the Divine me Sect said as he watched strands of me aura that seemed to contain the true meaning of fire flying about in the center of Nie Tian¡¯s me domain like living things, dragging long zing tails as they did. ¡°The profound truths of me that heprehends have a deep connection to the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End.¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Dong Li shouted. Her eyes seemed to turn into ck holes as she instantly took out the ck iron box and stared in one direction, as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

    A Floragrim walked out in shock.

    The Qi warriors of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries took a closer look, and saw his special green skin with tree-like patterns on it. ¡°A Floragrim?¡±

    Knowing the neer¡¯s identity, everyone gathered around and surrounded him with gloomy faces.

    ¡°I¡¯m Fata of the Floragrims.¡± After introducing himself, the neer said to Dong Li in very fluent humannguage, ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight you or Nie Tian. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t havee alone while I am well aware that Grand Monarch Chaos Devil and Ophelia of the Demons have suffered greatly because of you.¡±

    Dong Li frowned. ¡°Has the news that the Demons arrived been spread?¡±

    Fata nodded. ¡°Even though not many humans know about it yet, word of the newly-made grand monarch Grand Monarch Chaos Devil and the gifted Ophelia of the Demons being defeated here has shocked many in the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m here for Nie Tian,¡± Fata said bluntly. ¡°The Heavenly Wood Heal that Nie Tian has been cultivating is our Floragrims¡¯ secret spell. His Godspirit Tree and those branches are also deeply rted to our n.¡±

    ¡°But of course, they¡¯re not why I¡¯m here.¡±

    Dong Li was impatient. ¡°Cut to the chase!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, I can only talk to Nie Tian.¡± Fata was alone, but facing Dong Li, a woman who was famous for being stronger and more vicious than Pei Qiqi in the eyes of the Spirit World, he didn¡¯t have much awe. ¡°The only thing I can say is that Ie here with sincerity, and I hope that I can change the situation of the Domain of Heaven Span with Nie Tian¡¯s help.¡±

    Dong Li was surprised. ¡°With Nie Tian¡¯s help?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 1419: Breakthrough

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly flew out of the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    In everyone¡¯s eyes, the Seven-star Realm Sea was no longer deep.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Nie Tian flew out of the sea like a sh of lightning, and instantly flew away from this area.

    Yue Yanxi stared nkly at Nie Tian. ¡°That¡¯s the direction of the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    Then, after taking another look at the Seven-star Realm Sea, he suddenly said, ¡°There seems to be no me power in the sea under us anymore.¡±

    Among all the people present, he was the only one who cultivated me incantations and had sessfully reached the Saint domain.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li immediately lost interest in her talk with Fata. Surprised, she quickly flew away on the ck tortoise, like a ck cloud.

    Fata pondered for a few seconds before saying, ¡°I really don¡¯te with malice.¡±

    ¡°Follow Nie Tian!¡± Dong Qisong yelled.

    Some experts disyed their domains, while others started ancient starships as they flew after Nie Tian.

    They didn¡¯t pay any attention to Fata anymore.

    However, the Star Behemoth bone that had flown out from the Seven-star Realm Sea didn¡¯t follow them away from this part of the starry river.

    After all the people left with Nie Tian, it slowly sank back into the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    The sea continued to be evaporated and refined by it.

    The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries shared a border with the Domain of me¡¯s End to begin with, otherwise the Qi warriors of the Domain of me¡¯s End would not havee to the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to found the Divine me Sect due to the destruction of the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    Nie Tian shuttled through the dim starry river, enveloped in his domain.

    Thanks to the existence of the Heavenly Stars Flower, brilliant sparks of starlight flew into his starlit, sky-like domain like raindrops from time to time.

    ¡°My me domain hears a cry from the Domain of me¡¯s End!¡± Though separated by the boundless starry river, Nie Tian suddenly sensed the auras of the Divine me and Nie Yan from the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    The Divine me and Nie Yan, who had developed a fleshy body after absorbing Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, were calling him.

    His me domain was also hungry for power from the Domain of me¡¯s End!

    He headed for the Domain of me¡¯s End despite his doubts.

    During this process, by relying on the Heavenly Stars Flower, his star domain continued to absorb star power from the nearby stars to finish its transformation.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Pei Qiqi casually tore open a spatial rift somewhere in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    After walking out to the other side, she turned the Space Boundaries Crystal to find her way.

    Momentster, Dong Li arrived.

    Pei Qiqi frowned and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian? I just came from the Seven-star Realm Sea after finding that he wasn¡¯t there.¡±

    Upon seeing her, Dong Li said anxiously, ¡°He¡¯s breaking through into the Saint domain. Judging from the way he¡¯s behaving, I think there¡¯s something wrong. It seems that he¡¯s flying in the direction of the Domain of me¡¯s End. You¡¯re proficient in spatial power. If he needs to go to the Domain of me¡¯s End, you should give him a hand and help him get there in an instant!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Domain of me¡¯s End! Which direction?¡±

    Dong Li held out a finger and pointed. ¡°That way!¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll send Nie Tian to the Domain of me¡¯s End. You don¡¯t need to follow him anymore.¡±

    After that, she instantly disappeared under Dong Li¡¯s gaze.

    ZZZZZLA! ZZZZZLA!

    Before the spatial rift that she had torn opened could close, Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society arrived.

    Upon arriving, he saw Dong Li cursing by herself.

    Ji Yuanquan had a strange look on his face as he asked, ¡°Miss Dong, where did Pei Qiqi go aftering here? She was just chasing a grand patriarch Fiend in the Domain of Heaven Span everywhere. We all thought that he couldn¡¯t shake her off, but then she suddenly vanished.

    ¡°I knew she came here because of the tiny fluctuations I captured in the void, so I hurried here after her.¡±

    ¡°Why did youe after her?¡± Dong Li asked crossly.

    He smiled and said, ¡°I was afraid that something would happen to her, and that she would be secretly set up by some outsider grand monarch because she¡¯s young and reckless. In the Domain of Heaven Span, she¡¯s made more contributions to our battle than anyone else from our sect. She¡¯s young, and has just reached the early Saint domain, so I¡¯m afraid the Ancientspirits and outsiders will want to kill her at all costs.¡±

    Dong Li pursed her lips and said, ¡°Rest assured. She didn¡¯te here because she¡¯s been set up by Ancientspirits or outsiders. She must have heard something, or been secretly observing the Seven-star Realm Sea somehow. She must havee here in a hurry because she saw there was something wrong with Nie Tian during his breakthrough into the Saint domain.¡±

    Ji Yuanquan nodded. ¡°Oh, she came for Nie Tian. I¡¯m relieved.¡±

    However, he suddenly yelled in surprise, ¡°What? Nie Tian started breaking through to the Saint domain?¡±

    Dong Li nodded.

    Ji Yuanquan was bbergasted. ¡°So that¡¯s it! One of the facets of Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal must have been located in the Seven-star Realm Sea the whole time. While she was fighting in the Domain of Heaven Span, she must have been casting nces at the Seven-star Realm Sea from time to time to see what was happening there.¡±

    Dong Li clenched her teeth and said, ¡°Since the damn woman could see everything in the Seven-star Realm Sea through the Space Boundaries Crystal, why didn¡¯t shee to help when Grand Monarch Chaos Devil, Ophelia, and the other Demons invaded!? If she had been there, neither Grand Monarch Chaos Devil nor Ophelia would have been able to escape alive!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan was shocked. ¡°The newly-made grand monarch, Grand Monarch Chaos Devil, and Ophelia were defeated in the Seven-star Realm Sea? But Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and the powerful experts of the Domain of Heaven Python and the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have all been summoned to fight in the Domain of Heaven Span! How did you defeat Grand Monarch Chaos Devil?

    ¡°The newly-made grand monarch is every bit as strong as Grand Monarch Remote Demon, if not stronger!¡±

    With a cold smile, Dong Li said, ¡°Demons grand monarchs don¡¯t seem that scary to me.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Dong Qisong arrived, enveloped in his domain, at longst.

    He had been far behind the ck tortoise. ¡°Senior Ji, what Dong Li says is true. Grand Monarch Chaos Devil, Ophelia, and Han Yu, who is neither a human nor a Demon, all came to the Seven-star Realm Sea. Han Yu died. Grand Monarch Chaos Devil and Ophelia retreated in defeat. And hundreds of Demon soldiers died in the Seven-star Realm Sea.¡±

    ¡°Who did that?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked in shock.

    ¡°Haha, this very girl from our n,¡± Dong Qisong said proudly.

    Ji Yuanquan was dumbstruck.

    ...

    Somewhere in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal emerged quietly, all its facets rotating. With its rotation, the distance between this domain and the Domain of me¡¯s End seemed to be suddenly narrowed.

    Fifteen minutester.

    Nie Tian, whose flesh aura roiled endlessly, suddenly emerged enveloped in his semi-finished saint domain, wisps of soul awareness in his mind maintaining a subtle connection to the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End and Nie Yan.

    ¡°Here!¡± Pei Qiqi held out her finger to point, and her Space Boundaries Crystal suddenly emitted numerous rays of light that congealed into a huge arched gate, which was a little simr to the portal in the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    It was just that this arched gate wasn¡¯t physical, but was woven from strands of spatial power.

    The arched gate didn¡¯t have the magical ability to connect two worlds like the Spirit World and the Mortal World, but it had the power to send Nie Tian to the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    If Nie Tian, who was in the middle of his breakthrough, went there through a spatial rift, he was likely to be affected by the streaks of spatial light, which could lead to a severe ident.

    The special arched gate could protect him from being affected during his breakthrough.

    This was the result of Pei Qiqi¡¯sprehension of the spatial mysteries left behind by the Voidspirits in the portal of the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    It was also thanks to her breaking through into the Saint domain, the advancement of her bloodline, and her improved spatial attainments.

    Because of her shout, the dizzy Nie Tian suddenly woke up. ¡°Okay!¡±

    Without the slightest doubt, he dashed into the arched gate with his unfinished domain.

    Immediately afterwards, he appeared out of nowhere in a lifeless realm that had long been burnt out in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

 Chapter 1420: Reignition

    In the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    This was a realm that was covered in charrednd. A dead, silent mountain range stretched as far as the eye could see.

    A very long time ago, these mountain ranges had been filled with active volcanoes that had spewedva year-round, making this realm a blessednd simr to the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    However, the Divine me hadter returned to retake the me sparks it had nted in the depths of these realms.

    This had rendered the entire Domain of me¡¯s End uninhabitable and unfit for cultivation.

    All of the Qi warriors that had lived the Domain of me¡¯s End had either been burned to ashes or fled from it.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian arrived through the wondrous arched gate.

    The outermost starlit part of his domain, along with the Heavenly Stars Flower within it, suddenly went dim.

    Since there wasn¡¯t a single bright star in the Domain of me¡¯s End, the Heavenly Stars Flower couldn¡¯t gather star power here as it could elsewhere.

    Fortunately, as far as Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough into the Saint domain was concerned, the refinement of his star domain was alreadyplete.

    His mysterious starlit star domain had finished its transformation from illusory to solid, like a heaven that was filled with miraculous stars.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower had yed an important role in this process.

    ¡°me!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly jerked his head towards an area in the dead silent mountain range.

    WHOOSH!

    He summoned power and flew towards it like a bolt of lightning.

    In an area of the unknown mountain range, he found a cluster of volcanoes that had remained silent for who knew how many years.

    However, zing light could be seening from the mouths of those volcanoes now.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    Agaz, the me dragon, took it upon himself to fly out in his me dragon form.

    He seemed unusually excited.

    ¡°Master! Wondrous changes are taking ce in the earth¡¯s core!¡± After taking a moment to sense the area with his me dragon bloodline talents, he suddenly plunged into the mouth of one of the volcanoes, like a stream of divine fire pouring from the highest heavens into the depths of the earth.

    Soul messages kepting from him.

    By relying on the bloodline and soul connections he had with Agaz, Nie Tian could see the amazing scenes that unfolded before Agaz eyes.

    After flying for a while in the depths of the earth, Agaz suddenly entered a wondrous space that seemed to be the earth¡¯s core, where countless streams of mes interwove like a hugework of rivers.

    The space appeared empty of anything other than the interweaving zing rivers, which seemed to have been brought together by a mysterious power so they could form an iparablyplicated and profound grand spell formation, one that could not only channel me power from the surrounding areas of the starry river, but from neighboring domains as well!

    Agaz was overwhelmed with excitement as he said, ¡°This is fascinating, Master! Thiswork of ming rivers in the depths of the earth carries the profound truths of me power! You may not believe this, but even the Holy me Mountain, my people¡¯s holynd, isn¡¯t as wondrous as this! I have a feeling that this undergroundwork of mes is not only changing this realm, but the entire Domain of me¡¯s End!¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°The realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End may be zing heaven and earths that agree with cultivators who practice fire incantations again!¡± Agaz exined. ¡°All the dead realms may be alive and energetic again. As time passes and it continues to gather me power, this realm we¡¯re in may actually turn into a blessednd that even surpasses my people¡¯s Holy me Mountain and the fire element sect¡¯s Realm of Fire Spirit!

    ¡°It¡¯ll be the most ideal cultivation location for humans that practice fire incantations and races like me dragons, me phoenixes, and me qilins that rely on me power to refine their bloodlines and improve their strength!

    ¡°Man! This realm will be a treasurednd that all fire-attributed beings will dream of visiting!¡±

    Agaz sounded as if he were whispering these soul messages in a dream.

    Nie Tian scanned the earth¡¯s core through Agaz¡¯s eyes.

    Soon, he saw a boiling undergroundvake with faint smoke rising from it.

    For some reason, a strange notion hit him as soon as he saw it.

    Thatvake might be the heart of this realm, an incredibly wondrous heart!

    As he observed the interweaving zing rivers again with this notion in mind, he found them to be the meridians that supported the wonders of this realm.

    A light of enlightenment shed across his sea of awareness like a lightning bolt. ¡°I, I think I just found something...¡±

    His sub-soul that had been focused on deriving enlightenment from fire incantations suddenly burst forth with zing sparks of inspiration.

    ¡°This realm is like a living being. Thatvake is like its heart, and those ming rivers are like its meridians. Life is being restored to this dead heaven and earth.

    ¡°Also, it¡¯s spontaneously channeling me power from the surrounding starry river, and even other domains.

    ¡°This may turn it into a holynd that all fire-attributed beings in this starry river will long for in the future!¡±

    As he sorted through this newfound enlightenment, his soul awareness split into a thousand strands.

    Some of them mixed with power from his star souls to form so-called Star Eyes, which then plunged into the depths of the earth through the mouths of numerous volcanoes.

    In the next moment, he felt as if he had dozens of eyes flying underground, following the rivers of me.

    More of his soul awareness dispersed into the earth like water and spread to every corner of the realm.

    Soon, as he tracked the underground rivers of mes to thevake, a clear map came to form in his mind.

    As this happened, his me domain quietly changed.

    As he continued to scan with his Heaven Eyes and infiltrate the earth with his soul awareness, me power seemed to condense into zing lines that gradually made up aplicated drawing of the profound fiery spell formation in the depths of the earth.

    ¡°The power derived by the Divine me, the divine fiery symbols Pang Bo carved on the inside of that volcano in the Five Elements Sect, and the wondrous power he vested the me Dragon Armor with...¡±

    Carried away in thought, he suddenly caught a sense of different truths of me power.

    That was when it urred to him that the me spark had seized the majority of the profound fiery symbols and spell formations Pang Bo had left in that volcano in the Realm of Fire Spirit, and transformed into a brand new life form with the help of his Blood Essence.

    ¡°The incredible changes in the depths of the earth have a great deal to do with Nie Yan and the Divine me¡¯s power!¡±

    This realization calmed him.

    He now knew that the wonders of this realm had been the work of the Divine me and Nie Yan, who had summoned him here!

    ¡°They summoned me here so that I could derive enlightenment from the well-tested truths of me power during my breakthrough into the Saint domain. Also, the rich me power underground will help me forge my me domain within a shorter time!¡±

    BOOM!

    His me domain suddenly burst into raging mes.

    Clusters of mes started flying out of the nearby enlivened volcanoes and fusing into his me domain without meeting any obstacles.

    With the infusion of this me power, the further refinement of his soul, and the perception of his Heaven Eyes, the mysterious fire-drawn spell formation within his me domain became more and more distinct.

    At the same time, his me power sub-soul continued to observe the underground zing veins and thevake that he viewed as a special heart.

    ¡°This is awesome!¡±

    Even though he didn¡¯t sense the Divine me or Nie Yan¡¯s aura, he knew they must be somewhere close, perhaps in a nearby realm, or some other realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    This was their gift to him!

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open, and Pei Qiqi flew lightly out.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Upon entering this realm, she eximed in surprise, as she felt that Nie Tian¡¯s aura had filled the entire realm.

    It was as if he was everywhere, in the highest heavens and the depths of the earth.

    ¡°This is strange. Don¡¯t tell me that his me domain has some sort of connection to this realm.¡± Baffled, Pei Qiqi looked around, and soon found Nie Tian.

    She saw rivers of zing light forming and interweaving within his me domain, as if someone was drawing numerous profound fiery formations with a divine pen.

    Each and every spell formation seemed to represent a truth of me power. Upon closer look, some of the spell formations resembled outsider meridians, while others glittered like Bloodline Crystal Chains, as if they could give birth to mighty bloodline talents and burst forth with raging bloodline power at any moment.

 Chapter 1421: The Ifritsâ€™s Domain

    WHOOSH!

    The me dragon Agaz flew out of a crater like a streak of light.

    Fiery light merged into his dragon body little by little. His crimson body stretched and writhed, his bloodline condensing and strengthening quietly and slowly.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Suddenly, a confused look appeared on his face, and he said, ¡°My bloodline and heart seem to have just jumped. Who? Who resonated with my bloodline? Only when my father or his bloodline aura is close will I have such a violent reaction!¡±

    With this thought, he was shocked. ¡°Father?¡±

    He sent a peculiar bloodline message that was too secret for others to discern.

    In another realm that had been dead for years in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    In this realm, there was a deep pit in the earth, so deep that there was no way to know where it led.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°There¡¯s unusual spatial power there!¡±

    Before Agaz could confirm her discovery, she turned her Space Boundaries Crystal and suddenly vanished from the realm where Nie Tian was. In the next moment, she appeared with perfect precision in the deep pit in that other realm.

    The pit was dark, and even with her eyes and soul perception, she couldn¡¯t see its true appearance.

    However, distinct spatial power and spatial fluctuations came from the depths of the pit every now and then.

    ¡°A secret realm passage?¡± Pei Qiqi hesitated briefly, then dropped her Space Boundaries Crystal into the bottomless pit. However, she didn¡¯t sink with it.

    Agaz suddenly appeared out of nowhere and cried, ¡°There! My father¡¯s flesh aura ising from down there!¡±

    ¡°You go.¡± Pei Qiqi was well aware that the me dragon Agaz was the me Dragon Armor¡¯s true form. She had helped Agaz leave the realm where Nie Tian was for the pit in this realm upon noticing a leak of a special flesh aura in the pit below.

    WHOOSH!

    Agaz morphed into a streak of fiery light and flew into the pit after the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Fifteen minutester.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal and Agaz both flew out of the pit.

    Pei Qiqi frowned and said, ¡°A hidden realm passage set up in the Domain of me¡¯s End. Even I didn¡¯t sense this realm passage at the beginning. It only manifested because your bloodline interacted with it.¡±

    Agaz nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s my father. He¡¯s been to the human world several times. He also went to the Realm of Fire Spirit to take revenge on Shao Tianyang and the fire element sect for my death. It¡¯s just a pity that every time he attacked, he lost.¡±

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and Shao Tianyang, who was at thete God domain, had protected the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Even though Baptista was ate tenth grade grand monarch and the high chieftain of the me dragons, he hadn¡¯t been able to defeat Shao Tianyang in the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    As a special domain in the human world, the Domain of me¡¯s End had caught his attention, and he had found a special location to establish this hidden realm gate.

    ¡°Perhaps you can return to the me Dragons through this realm gate,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an indifferent expression. ¡°Agaz, you were revived because of Nie Tian. And when you were made into the me Dragon Armor, your bloodline was altered because of the numerous secret me patterns that were engraved on it.

    ¡°I know you¡¯re grateful to Nie Tian, and you want to fight alongside him.

    ¡°But things have changed. You and Nie Tian have been in his storage ring and the Seven-star Realm Sea for too long. You may not know that your nsmen have invaded the Domain of Heaven Span. Your people and the humans are enemies now.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been enemies all along,¡± Agaz said after being silent for a while.

    She shook her head and said, ¡°No. It¡¯s different this time. You haven¡¯t been to the Domain of Heaven Span, so you don¡¯t know how terrible the situation is there. Perhaps...¡±

    She frowned. ¡°Perhaps you should go back to your n. Also, we want to know why your nsmen are so crazy and desperate this time.¡±

    Agaz was at a loss.

    Fata of the Floragrims suddenly appeared. ¡°No need for that, I can tell you why.¡±

    Surprisingly, he was much faster than Dong Li, Dong Qisong, and the other human experts.

    Pei Qiqi looked at him.

    Fata felt a chill in his heart. ¡°Miss Pei, I have great respect for you! Even though we, the Floragrims, arebatants, we are rtively conservative. I¡¯m here to tell you the truth.¡±

    She snorted. ¡°The truth?¡±

    He sighed and said, ¡°We didn¡¯t have a choice. We need to survive, and our race needs to continue.¡±

    ¡°Tell me in detail,¡± she said sternly.

    Fata immediately exined things to her carefully.

    ...

    In the depths of the earth in the other realm.

    The Heaven Eyes Nie Tian had formed entered thevake at the earth¡¯s core.

    THUMP!

    All of a sudden, his heart beat violently.

    ¡°Nie Yan!¡± Nie Tian, who wasprehending the me¡¯s true meaning and copying the structure of the me spell formation in the earth¡¯s core, suddenly had a strong feeling.

    One of his Heaven Eyes noticed that a naked young man was slowly rising from thevake.

    The young man showed only his head.

    He was bald, his eyes as clear as crystals, without the slightest impurities.

    Every time his eyes moved, mysterious me patterns would instantly emerge.

    His wisps of soul awareness instantly connected with Nie Tian¡¯s Heaven Eye.

    The two peoplemunicated without difficulty!

    ¡°The Domain of me¡¯s End will rekindle mes and be a me domain that¡¯s more prosperous than it ever was. This me domain will be home to the Ifrits, where new Ifrits will be born. And you will be their ancestor, leading them to establish themselves in this starry river as a new race of life.¡±

    Through their soulmunication, Nie Tian immediately learned from Nie Yan what he and the Divine me were up to.

    Nie Yan¡¯s soul messages continued to enter Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    As this happened, Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness that had prated beneath thend gradually returned.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Numerous streaks of fiery light flew out of volcanoes all over thend and poured into Nie Tian¡¯s saint domain toplete the eerieplicated me array that was gradually forming in it.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian found that his me domain had started drawing the me power scattered in the starry sky at a very fast speed.

    ¡°I¡¯ll engrave my saint domain with the me¡¯s true meaning, and the me power that you and the Divine me haveprehended,¡± Nie Tian said, filled with emotion.

    He freed himself, and let the mes rain down.

    His me domain was watered by the purest fire, which would eveny a solid foundation for his breakthrough to the God domain in the future after being thoroughly tempered.

    Since it had beenpleted on thisnd, it and thisnd also formed a magical connection.

    It was like the Realm of Fire Spirit that had been made by Pang Bo, which could dramatically increase his strength.

    This was simr to the volcano he had left behind, which could increase Pang Chicheng¡¯s strength and allow him to reach the God domain.

    Nie Tian built his domain on thisnd, and copied the wonders of the me formation below, so he now had a resonance with it.

    ording to the me dragon Agaz, thisnd was destined to be the most covetednd for the races that cultivated me power throughout the starry river.

    ¡°This will be my foundation, too.¡± After a few days, Nie Tian¡¯s Saint me domain no longer absorbed me power from thend under his feet.

    Without releasing his Heaven Eyes or using his bloodline, he could still shrewdly sense the underground heart-likevake beneath him, and could clearly perceive the numerous ming streams that connected to the pool.

    His aura had a perfect rapport with this realm.

    He even felt that this realm had developed its own independent consciousness and life, like a mysterious peculiar tool.

 Chapter 1422: Nie Tianâ€™s Proposal

    ¡°me Land.¡±

    Aftermunicating with Nie Yan, he learned that thend under his feet had been renamed ¡®me Land¡¯ by the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End and Nie Yan.

    A whole new realm.

    As his soul awareness spread, Nie Tian could sense the wondrous rhythm of thevake in the depths of the earth¡¯s core in the me Land.

    He vaguely felt that thevake had a profound connection with his heart.

    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not thevake, but Nie Yan who¡¯s bathing in it.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°His formation and his fleshly body alle from my Blood Essence. My bloodline gave birth to the miracle that is the Ifrits, a brand new race of life.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    His domain gradually broke away from the me Land and escaped into the starry river of the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    His star domain was like a brilliant shield of light, enveloping his me domain, which had a mysterious grand me formation inside of it.

    This grand spell formation echoed with the me Land, and could absorb the me power in the starry river like it. After it was refined, the me power would merge into his spiritual sea and be the source of his strength.

    ¡°Wood...¡±

    His illusory wood domain, which was at the core of his domain, had substantialized in the Seven Star Realm Sea.

    The illusorynd was a condensation of pure wood power, and was full of life.

    Both the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two branches could help him capture wood power and gather wood power from the starry river.

    ¡°Saint domain, this should be my saint domain.¡±

    His soul awareness suddenly allowed him to sense the auras of Pei Qiqi, Fata of the Floragrims, and the me Dragon Armor in another realm.

    He quickly formed a soul connection with the me dragon Agaz.

    Pei Qiqi sensed him and drove her Space Boundaries Crystal with her strength. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    A spatial rift was cracked open in front of him. His figure blurred into motion, and in the next moment, appeared in front of Pei Qiqi and Fata in another realm of the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    ¡°This is Fata of the Floragrims. You¡¯ve met before. He...¡± Pei Qiqi said softly.

    Nie Tian nodded before she could finish. ¡°We¡¯ve met indeed.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here to...¡± Pei Qiqi took her time to exin the purpose of Fata¡¯s visit. ¡°ording to him, the realms and stars in the Spirit World where the Ancientspirit and outsiders live are dying at a very fast speed due to unknown reasons. The Ancientspirits and Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes are forced to invade our human world for the sake of the continuation of their races.

    ¡°What they really want is realms that are suitable for the continuation of their races.

    ¡°ording to Fata, as long as the humans can cede a domain that suits them to the Floragrims, allowing them to have a ce to live, they will stop fighting.

    ¡°The Ancientspirits, Titans, Ancientbeasts, and Dragons must not want to fight endlessly against the humans either. As long as they¡¯re given realms suitable for their reproduction, many races will stop fighting...¡±

    Pei Qiqi told Nie Tian about Fata¡¯s exnation.

    Fata looked at Nie Tian expectantly and quietly.

    When she stopped, Fata said, ¡°Nie Tian, the Heavenly Wood Heal you cultivate and those branches of yours are deeply rted to my people. You¡¯ve gradually made your name among the humans. Now, many trust you. Egged on by the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, many races in our Spirit World feel they have no choice but to fight you to the death.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t fight or invade the domains of the human world, we won¡¯t be able to survive.

    ¡°So I hope you can tell the heads of the humans about our thoughts, and see if it¡¯s possible for us to agree to a ceasefire, and find a reasonable solution to our problem.¡±

    Fata¡¯s attitude was very sincere.

    Nie Tian was incredulous. ¡°All the realms in the Spirit World are dying? The Spirit World that is the oldest and has given birth to countless lives as humanity¡¯s homnd is about to perish?¡±

    Fata nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the case as far as we know.¡±

    Nie Tian was silent, as he didn¡¯t know whether his words were true or false.

    Agaz took the initiative to send him soul messages. ¡°Master, I can go back to the me Dragons¡¯ ancestralnd. There¡¯s a secret realm passage that my father built back in the day. My bloodline enables me to easily go in and out. I¡¯ll go to our ancestralnd in the Spirit World to learn the truth.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Will you be in danger?¡±

    Agaz was proud as he said, ¡°I¡¯m Agaz, son of Baptista! How can I be in danger if I return to our ancestralnd? All the dragons have to give my father face. Wherever my father is, as long as he¡¯s alive, no nsman will dare to do anything to me.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡®I¡¯m going!¡± Agaz was clearly excited. After getting Nie Tian¡¯s permission, he rushed to the bottomless pit, emitting a fiery dragon aura and mes. ¡°It won¡¯t take long. When I find the answer, I¡¯lle back.¡±

    ¡°The underground realm gate is protected by Baptista¡¯s dragon aura. It¡¯ll be troublesome even if I try to enter with the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s help.¡± Pei Qiqi casually exined.

    Then, she said to Nie Tian with bright eyes, ¡°Congrattions.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Fata also said.

    As a matter of fact, the two of them had observed Nie Tian through their own ways since he had arrived.

    To them, Nie Tian¡¯s aura was different now even if he didn¡¯t disy his saint domain.

    That was because there were sometimes rays of starlight, and sometimes dense me arrays in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    The eyes were the window to the soul.

    The changes in his eyes meant that his sea of soul awareness was still changing.

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Fata, have you ever thought of another question?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Fata asked curiously.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°Not long ago, we went to another world through the Seven Star Realm Sea. It¡¯s a ce called the Void World. There live Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes, three outsider races that correspond to the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes of the Spirit World.¡±

    Fata nodded. ¡°I know that.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°ording to you, after the Spirit World perishes, it may take thousands of years before it can recover, change, and be reborn. The Ancientspirits and your races will need vast territories and domains to continue your races.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± said Fata.

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°Then why do you have to target our domains? I know that the three outsider races in the Void World dream of invading the Spirit World and our Mortal World. In my opinion, the three outsider races in the Void World are not very strong. Would you like to go back to your people, talk to the grand monarchs, and persuade them to change their target?¡±

    Fata was taken aback. ¡°You mean invade the Void World instead?¡±

    ¡°Yes, invade the Void World and get the Ancientspirits and all your nsmen to flood the Void World.¡± Nie Tian lured Fata like a demon. ¡°We¡¯ve juste back from the Void World. In the Netherspirits¡¯ territory, we found a special Soul-devouring Lake that contained the purest soul crystals, and...¡±

    He turned to look at Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°It¡¯s a magical treasure that can cleanse the impurities in your soul. In addition to that, it seems Ji Cang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is also in the Void World. Besides him, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society is also looking for something there that can help him break through to thete God domain.

    ¡°By the way, I can also assure you that since ancient times, all the tenth-grade grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits and the other races have tried every possible way to get into the Void World in their heyday.

    ¡°Apparently, there is a secret in the Void World that can help them transcend the limits of the tenth grade! Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Dark King, and the Bone Emperor were all born there.

    ¡°All three of them rose beyond the tenth grade!¡±

 Chapter 1423: His Confidence Skyrockets

    She continued, ¡°Fata, the Void World may be more suitable for the races in your Spirit World than the human world.¡±

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi told Fata of the Floragrims in turns how wonderful the Void World was to beguile him into targeting the native creatures of the Void World.

    Fata looked confused. He seemed to be inspired by the two of them, and began to think seriously in this direction. ¡°Void World...¡±

    Pei Qiqi hesitated for a moment, then whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°You¡¯d better take that unusual bone of yours out of the Seven-star Realm Sea now.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°That bone returned to the bottom of the Seven-star Realm Sea right after you left,¡± Pei Qiqi said as she moved the Space Boundaries Crystal to make one of its facets clearly show the Seven-star Realm Sea to Nie Tian. ¡°Look how much of the water of the Seven-star Realm Sea has disappeared because of you, Dong Li¡¯s tortoise, and that bone of yours.¡±

    Nie Tian leaned forward and fixed his eyes on it. Then, he found that the surface of the sea was indeed much lower than when he had first seen it.

    Pei Qiqi dropped a hint to him with her eyes and said, ¡°That portal at the bottom of the sea relies on the chaotic energies that the Seven-star Realm Sea has umted over the past hundreds of thousands of years. If we want to go to the Void World, we need to keep the portal open for a long time, which will also consume the energies in the Seven-star Realm Sea. If the bone absorbs all its remaining energies, it¡¯ll be hard to open the portal again.¡±

    Nie Tian understood instantly. ¡°I see! Take me there now!¡±

    ¡°Fata, right? Think about what we said,¡± Pei Qiqi said before she used the power of the Space Boundaries Crystal to tear open a gorgeous spatial rift, and swiftly flew into it with Nie Tian.

    Soon after she and Nie Tian disappeared, Dong Li, Dong Qisong, and the other Saint domain experts of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries finally arrived.

    ¡°Fata of the Floragrims!¡± Dong Li shouted in surprise. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re faster than us, and beat us to the Domain of me¡¯s End! Where¡¯s Nie Tian? And where¡¯s Pei Qiqi?¡±

    Fata was awakened from his thoughts, and said, ¡°They¡¯ve just returned to the Seven-star Realm Sea.¡±

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Dong Li couldn¡¯t help swearing. ¡°Pei Qiqi, do you really think you can have Nie Tian? As soon as you sensed my aura, you took him and left. Are you ying hide-and-seek with me? Don¡¯t think that you can do whatever you want just because you¡¯re proficient in spatial power!¡±

    All the experts of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries kept silent, and didn¡¯t dare to try tofort her.

    One was the next sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, a fierce figure who had chopped an arm off of Grand Monarch Remote Demon.

    The other had recently killed Han Yu in the Seven-star Realm Sea, and forced the newly-made grand monarch, Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, and Ophelia to flee in fear.

    These two women who were close to Nie Tian were both very tough and powerful.

    After a while, Dong Li calmed down and asked Fata, ¡°How¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base? Is he alright?¡±

    ¡°I think his Saint domain should have stabilized,¡± Fata replied.

    ¡°Good.¡± Dong Li heaved a sigh of relief, and then suddenly shouted, ¡°Senior Ji, where are you? Don¡¯t hide from me! Even though I swore at Pei Qiqi of your sect, you still have toe out and take me to the Seven-star Realm Sea!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming,¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a wry smile. ¡°I¡¯m not Miss Pei. Without a priceless spatial treasure, it is extremely tiring for me to travel between domains. When I came from the Domain of Heaven Span earlier, I was very exhausted already. Then, I came here with difficulty, but now I have to go to the Seven-star Realm Sea without a break. It¡¯s too tiring.¡±

    Though full ofints, Ji Yuanquan, who was at the early God domain, slowly flew over from the distance.

    Since he knew that Dong Li had killed many Demons and forced Grand Monarch Chaos Demon and Ophelia to retreat from the Seven-star Realm Sea with the Dark Aureole and the dark stone, he had a little fear towards her.

    In his eyes, apart from Pei Qiqi, Dong Li was the most frightening woman in the new generation of humanity.

    Besides, because of Dong Li¡¯s rtionship with Nie Tian, Ji Yuanquan was even more unwilling to provoke her.

    ¡°Take a break, and then send us to the Seven-star Realm Sea,¡± Dong Li urged him.

    ...

    In the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    Upon his return, Nie Tian took a look at the sea, and sent out a strand of soul awareness.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone fell into his palm like a crimson lightning bolt.

    It was like a divine spear. The moment it fell, the wisps of flesh aura in his palm fused perfectly with the flesh aura in the bone, like veins.

    Life Blend was instantly activated.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian naturally entered his erged form. His boundless flesh aura, which was like a deep sea, vaguely presented an outsider grand monarch¡¯s demeanor.

    However, his bloodline still couldn¡¯t break through to the ninth grade, and was far from an actual grand monarch¡¯s.

    After feeling shocked for a moment, Nie Tian was enlightened. ¡°It¡¯s the bone. The bone became more powerful after it swallowed up the multifarious energies of the Seven-star Realm Sea.¡±

    He turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Send me to the Domain of Heaven Span. Whether or not Fata has thought it through and made up his mind, I want to know how strong I am now.¡±

    His confidence skyrocketed to an unprecedented level!

    His Saint domain, peak eighth-grade bloodline, drops of Blood Essence that emitted strong life force, repeatedly-tempered body, and the bone that emitted an ancient, boundless flesh aura after absorbing the Seven-star Realm Sea¡¯s water.

    All of these various improvements made him excited and eager to fight outsider experts in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    Pei Qiqi pondered, nodded slightly, then said, ¡°You want to test your fighting strength after your breakthrough in cultivation? Fine. I¡¯ll take you to the Domain of Heaven Span to fight those outsider experts.¡±

    She began to cast spells.

    On a defensive line in the starry river guarded by the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    The dharma idol of Zu Guangyao, who was at the early God domain, was like a zing radiant sun as he fought Grand Monarch Blood Axe in an area filled with floating meteorites.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe wielded a giant blood axe in his enormous form. With each swing of the axe, a river of blood would be condensed and formed.

    The zing sun, which was Zu Guangyao¡¯s dharma idol, changed from time to time.

    However, no matter how it changed, it remained in the rivers of blood created by Grand Monarch Blood Axe, it¡¯s sun power gradually worn down by Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s strong flesh aura.

    On the other side.

    Dou Tianchen, who had recently reached the God domain, drove his Heavenly Ster Stream that emitted boundless dazzling starlight to fight Grand Monarch Withered Bones of the Bonebrutes.

    The stars of the Heavenly Ster Stream bombarded Grand Monarch Withered Bones¡¯ body, dazzling starlight sputtering.

    The bones of Grand Monarch Withered Bones, who was at the early tenth grade, were unhealthily gray. But no matter how hard the Heavenly Ster Stream bombarded them, his Impregnable Form did not crack, and showed no sign of damage.

    On the contrary, the deathly flesh aura from his body gradually filled the air, and quietly consumed Dou Tianchen¡¯s strength.

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s dharma idol, which had been dazzling at first, was no longer as bright.

    Numerous Qi warriors, Saint domain and Void domain experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce fought Demons and Bonebrutes among the ancient starships.

    All kinds of spiritual tools and the Demons¡¯ Demon tools, roaring Demon beasts, and the gunfire of the ancient starships brilliantly lit up the dim sea of stars.

    Dead Demons, Bonebrutes, and humans could be seen everywhere.

    This area of the starry river had be a factory that produced dead bodies.

    Nie Tian¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out. ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones of the Bonebrutes... two grand monarch outsiders who fought us in the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    Although they didn¡¯t see Nie Tian¡¯s figure and merely heard his voice, many disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce were thrilled, and couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian, the seventh Son of the Stars!¡±

    ¡°The most powerful Son of the Stars!¡±

    In their hearts, Nie Tian had be the sect¡¯s mainstay, equal to their grand elder Mo Heng!

 Chapter 1424: Fights in the Domain of Heaven Span

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian appeared in his erged form, clutching the Star Behemoth bone like a divine spear.

    His saint domain instantly spread out to envelop him.

    The outermostyer of power that resembled the boundless starry river wrapped around a middleyer of raging mes and a secret grand spell formation that carried the profound truths of fire.

    At the core was an exuberantnd that was full of life force.

    Standing on the exuberantnd in his erged form, Nie Tian seemed to be strengthening himself with the endless wood power it contained.

    The Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce that were fighting in different parts of the battlefield couldn¡¯t help but cast their gazes towards him.

    Elders and Sons of the Stars, including Wei Lai, Yan Zhan, Xin Qing, Fang Yuan, and Wang Meijia, along with numerous regr disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, all cheered upon noticing that Nie Tian had entered the Saint domain.

    ¡°Saint domain!¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars has broken through into the Saint domain!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian has entered the Saint domain!¡±

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Withered Bones of the Bonebrutes mmed a huge pale-white hammer made of shattered bones down onto Dou Tianchen¡¯s Immortal grade divine tool. ¡°Split!¡±

    The Heavenly Ster Stream that shone like a cluster of sparkling gem-like stars instantly exploded.

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s glowing dharma idol that was a condensation of pure star power fell apart along with it.

    WHOOSH!

    The Immortal grade divine tool, Heavenly Ster Stream, flew back into him like a stream of glorious stars.

    Resuming his true form, Dou Tianchen hastily took out a medicinal pill and stuffed it down his throat without even looking at it.

    FIZZ!

    As soon as the medicinal pill entered his stomach, tiny sparks of starlight started flying from his eyes and nose.

    ¡°That¡¯s a Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill!¡± Wei Lai eximed softly. ¡°The former sectmaster refined them. Each and every Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill is a condensation of star essence he gathered from close to a hundred stars and his own power. Since they¡¯re extremely valuable, they¡¯re usually used to save lives. I can¡¯t believe Dou Tianchen is actually using it to improve hisbat prowess.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°A Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill!¡±

    Only after bing a Son of the Stars had he learned that the former Lord of the Stars had gone to great lengths to refine a cauldron of Seven Orifices Star Essence Pills.

    These miraculous pills suited the needs of all those who practiced star power.

    Ji Cang, Chu Rui, Luo Wanxiang, and a few others had each been bestowed one when they had been Sons of the Stars, so that they could save themselves with them when their lives were in danger.

    Both Chu Rui and Luo Wanxiang had survived perilous situations with their Seven Orifices Star Essence Pills.

    However, Ji Cang, the current sectmaster, had never used his. After he had broken through into thete God domain, his strength had be unmatched throughout the Mortal World. This had made his Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill useless to him.

    Therefore, he had handed it down to the first Son of the Stars of the next generation: Dou Tianchen.

    ¡°Such intense star power!¡±

    Even Dou Tianchen, who was at the early God domain, couldn¡¯t fully digest the star power within the Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill immediately after swallowing it.

    Glorious starlight starteding out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His whole body soon started to emanate bright starlight.

    WHOOSH!

    His dharma idol that had just been shattered by Grand Monarch Withered Bones manifested again, shining even more dazzlingly than before. Even his Immortal grade divine tool, the Heavenly Ster Stream, shone brighter than ever.

    Wei Lai let out a soft sigh and said, ¡°Even though that Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill can help Dou Tianchen recover his strength and heal his injured sea of awareness within a breath¡¯s time, he¡¯s only entered the early God domain recently. And he¡¯s facing Grand Monarch Withered Bones, a mighty Bonebrute who managed to injure even Grand Elder Mo Heng in the Domain of Nether Heaven.¡±

    ¡°Let me give it a try, Eldest Martial Brother,¡± Nie Tian called out.

    Immediately afterwards, he flew over in his erged form and stood between Dou Tianchen and Grand Monarch Withered Bones.

    Gazing at Nie Tian, who had entered his erged form after activating his bloodline talents, many disciples were both shocked and baffled.

    ¡°What¡¯s Nie Tian doing?!¡±

    ¡°Is that his dharma idol?!¡±

    ¡°No, it can¡¯t be!¡±

    ¡°Then why is he in a form that... that¡¯s every bit asrge as Grand Monarch Withered Bones and Dou Tianchen?!¡±

    Elder Yan Zhan took a close look at him and said, ¡°That¡¯s a form simr to the Demons¡¯ Ancestral Awakening form and the Bonebrutes¡¯ Indestructible Form! His flesh power is shockingly immense!¡±

    ¡°I can manage!¡± Dou Tianchen eximed.

    WHOOSH!

    As he cast a spiritual incantation, his Immortal grade divine tool, the Heavenly Ster Stream, morphed into an enormous hand glowing with starlight.

    ¡°Grand Starry Sky Hand Seal!¡±

    A hand that covered arge area of the starry river pressed down towards Grand Monarch Withered Bones. Countless clusters of starlight exploded within it like stars to release heaven-rending, earth-crushing divine power, causing all lives in its presence to tremble in fear.

    ¡°Death Pulse!¡±

    As soon as Grand Monarch Withered Bones activated this bloodline talent, the pale-gray death power wreathing him poured upwards like reverse waterfalls.

    Close to a hundred streams of death power with pale-gray spots glittering inside seemed to manifest the ultimate truths of death as they mmed into the descending giant hand seal.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Blinding light that stung even the souls of those who looked at it burst forth from the ces where Dou Tianchen¡¯s huge falling hand shed with Grand Monarch Withered Bones¡¯ rising streams of death power.

    Clusters of starlight exploded like perishing stars, sending fragments of starlight flying in all directions like shooting stars.

    Death power that carried the profound truths of death also scattered into their surroundings. A mere touch of it wouldpromise those with low cultivation bases, causing them to rapidly approach the end of their lives.

    Having just taken a Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill, Dou Tianchen seemed to have more power than he could use. His battle prowess was off the charts.

    However, it seemed to Nie Tian that Dou Tianchen was only able to match Grand Monarch Withered Bones in battle now because of that miraculous pill he had just taken.

    Once its efficacy wore off, Dou Tianchen would soon return to his original strength.

    ¡°If you insist...¡±

    Nie Tian turned to look in another direction, and blurred into action. In the next moment, he arrived beside Zu Guangyao and looked at Grand Monarch Blood Axe of the Demons, grinning.

    With a smile as bright as the sun, Zu Guangyao said, ¡°I¡¯m not like that kid. I don¡¯t have a Seven Orifices Star Essence Pill I can use, and I don¡¯t strain myself to prove my strength. Nie Tian, I can see how strong you must have be. I believe you can handle Grand Monarch Blood Axe for a while. My battle with him hassted quite some time now. It¡¯s about time I take a break.¡±

    He took the initiative to back down.

    WHOOSH!

    His dharma idol shrank into a zing sun-like sphere before returning to his true form.

    Without seeking privacy, he simply took out Heavenme Crystals and clusters of true sunme he had gathered, and started recovering his strength and nourishing his soul with them.

    Standing in front of the Demon grand monarch in his erged form, Nie Tian seemed to be the same size as him. ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe.¡±

    Clutching his gigantic blood-colored axe, Grand Monarch Blood Axe seemed like a mountain peak as he unleashed his flesh aura sea to enshroud arge area around him. By doing this, he put such a heavy pressure on the space around him that it seemed to be on the verge of copsing. ¡°Seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I witnessed your battle against Ophelia in the Shatter Battlefield. You were quite weak back then.¡±

    He spoke with narrowed eyes, his dark purple pupils emanating suffocating light. ¡°But I guess you deserve to be my opponent now.¡±

    Without saying another word, he raised his Blood Axe and brought it down towards Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Raging Demon Qi fell like a ckish-violet heaven, as if to crush Nie Tian.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s flesh aura sea filled every inch of the area of the starry river where Nie Tian was, keeping him from shifting to another location with Starshift.

    Not just that, but Nie Tian felt that even his soul was bogged down as he looked up at the falling Blood Axe.

    He didn¡¯t expect an axe strike from Grand Monarch Blood Axe to be so mighty.

    ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    Effortlessly, Nie Tian ignited drops of his Blood Essence to activate the Star Behemoth¡¯s bloodline talent.

    An ancient aura that had inspired fear across the three worlds instantly burst forth from the bone.

    In a split second, a raging flesh aura mixed with the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura behind Nie Tian in his erged form, morphing into what seemed to be the true form of the Star Behemoth, which had ruled the Primal Era.

    As the colossal illusion quietly came to form, this entire area of the starry river seemed to be crushed by its aura, giving rise to cracking sounds.

    The colossal illusion that was a condensation of Nie Tian and the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh auras crouched down and roared, throwing its head back.

    WHOOSH!

    As this happened, the Star Behemoth illusion morphed into a pir of crimson light that grew thicker and thicker, so much so that it seemed to be able to prate Realm Seas and shatter realm barriers.

    The pir of crimson light met the falling Blood Axe head-on.

    BOOM!

    Arge amount of blood-colored light sshed upon the mighty impact. As it scattered, the Star Behemoth bone could be seen pierced into Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s Blood Axe.

    Time seemed to freeze for a second before Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s flesh aura sea suddenly grew thin and dispersed.

    Nie Tian, in his erged form, was knocked flying downwards by the impact, and vanished from everyone¡¯s view.

 Chapter 1425: Suppression

    The Demons and the disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce shouted in unison.

    ¡°Grand monarch!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s flesh aura sea immediately scattered after the axe strike.

    His gigantic Demon body rushed upwards into the depths of the sea of stars overhead like a stream of rolling purple smoke.

    His huge axe spun and flew out of his hand.

    Then, the Blood Axe that had concentrated his Blood Essence and strong Demon energy dove after Nie Tian with tremendous momentum.

    Unconsciously, everyone looked down.

    Nie Tian was so far that, in their eyes, he seemed only the size of a fist even in his erged form.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, the starlight Nie Tian emanated was still blindingly bright.

    ¡°Starstrike!¡± Nie Tian let out a loud cry.

    It seemed beams of dazzling starlight were suddenly attracted to Nie Tian from every part of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    To be exact, they were attracted to the Heavenly Stars Flower in Nie Tian¡¯s star domain!

    The Heavenly Stars Flower that seemed to have taken root in an ancient starry river shone brightly with boundless divine light!

    WHOOSH!

    His star domain spread out like a vast sea of stars and floated over Nie Tian¡¯s head. It was dotted with hundreds of millions of dazzling fragmentary stars.

    Protected by his star domain, Nie Tian in his giant form jerked his head up to look at the huge axe striking at him.

    ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    Star, wood, and me power, flesh aura, soul power, and other mixed powers fused into Nie Tian¡¯s right hand like rivers and streams before he suddenly threw a punch.

    BOOM!

    A brilliant torrent of energies shot up against the axe, like a st from a cannon.

    Because of the punch, the tremendous force and the billowing dark purple Demon Qi that the axe had brought with it scattered and dispersed.

    With a gorgeous starry river over his head, Nie Tian syed his other hand, which then morphed into a palm print.

    ¡°Starstrike,¡± as he shouted, countless streaks of starlight fell into his palm.

    His palm instantly seemed to contain a whole sea of stars, with countless tiny stars shining and flying within it, forming a mysterious star array.

    The star array flew out of his hand and immediately changed again before wrapping around the Blood Axe like Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner.

    The remaining flesh aura from Grand Monarch Blood Axe on the surface of the Blood Axe was dissolved by starlight, and drops of amethyst-like Blood Essence quickly burned to ashes.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Blood Axe gave a wail of rage in the depths of the sea of stars, and then summoned his demonic weapon with his strong heart and flesh aura.

    The fine bloodline veins in the huge axe suddenly burst forth with dark purple light.

    The axe then broke away from the array, broke through multiple starlight barriers, and fell back into Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s hands.

    Holding it with both hands, he stared at Nie Tian with his demonic eyes and panted, before shouting in the humannguage, ¡°You¡¯re a good fighter indeed. No wonder you could defeat Ophelia.

    ¡°But you¡¯re still a little too young. Your bloodline hasn¡¯t even reached the ninth grade.

    ¡°You can never defeat me by relying on your current cultivation base, which is only at the Saint domain.¡± Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s every word thundered through the starry river.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Oh, really?¡±

    FIZZ!

    The Star Behemoth bone suddenly morphed into a sh of crimson lightning.

    ¡°Bloodline Suppression!¡±

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s all-powerful bloodline from the Primal Era that could overwhelm all living creatures suddenly burst forth. The unique bloodline talent that had allowed it to hunt Ancientspirits and feed on ancient Demons suppressed Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    It was not only Grand Monarch Blood Axe; Grand Monarch Withered Bones also let out a muffled groan.

    The two grand monarchs, as well as the other Demons and Bonebrutes, all felt very stifled.

    HOWL!

    At the same time, a howl that only Grand Monarch Blood Axe could hear rang vaguely in the bone that pierced towards him like a red lightning bolt.

    It was the Star Behemoth¡¯s howl!

    BOOM!

    Due to that howl, Grand Monarch Blood Axe felt a sharp pain in his heart and a sudden jolt in his flesh aura sea, which had just coagted again.

    In that moment, Grand Monarch Blood Axe grimaced, as if he had somehow be slow-minded.

    BAM! BAM!

    In the next moment, the crimson divine spear that the Star Behemoth had morphed into pierced his back, causing purple blood to spurt from his body.

    The blood spurted like streaks of fire and lightning, but died out quickly.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe felt the stabbing pain, and regained consciousness. Then he screamed wildly, chased Nie Tian, and struck at him with the huge axe.

    ¡°Come on then!¡± Nie Tian said with a nastyugh. His saint domain with three attributes surrounding his erged body absorbed mixed energies from the starry river as he drove his exuberant flesh aura to retrieve the bone. Catching it with a swift move, he started fighting Grand Monarch Blood Axe face-to-face.

    Almost instantly, the two were bruised andcerated, their blood sshing.

    Many Demons and Bonebrutes turned to observe their battle, and shot angry res at Nie Tian from time to time.

    The Qi warriors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce fighting the Demons and Bonebrutes suddenly felt that their opponents had be weaker than before.

    They all felt much less pressure.

    Zu Guangyao was swallowing medicinal pills to regain his lost strength. After he took a closer look, a relieved expression suddenly appeared on his face as he said, ¡°Bloodline Suppression! This Bloodline Suppression only targets outsiders!

    ¡°Attention, everyone. Because of the Bloodline Suppression of Nie Tian¡¯s tool, all the outsiders are now weakened! You must seize this opportunity to do your best to severely cripple or kill the opponents in front of you!¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    In a corner of the starry river, Pei Qiqi suddenly flew out of a spatial rift, but then left quickly.

    She just passed by and cast a nce at the situation.

    What she saw told her that because of Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, the battle here wouldn¡¯t be uphill.

    Therefore, she left for the ce that the Void Spirit Society had been guarding, hoping to help its disciples fight the outsiders.

    Nie Tian, still fighting Grand Monarch Blood Axe, quietly triggered his bloodline talent. ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    When he triggered Life Drain, many Demons, including Grand Monarch Blood Axe, somehow consumed more flesh power than ever in their battles.

    SWOOSH!

    Suddenly, more and more rays of crimson blood light shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s body and bit into Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s flesh aura sea like weird snakes.

    Life Drain, which was engraved in the rays of blood light, gnawed at Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s flesh aura sea and devoured his Blood Essence in the simplest, roughest, and most direct way!

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe suddenly realized what was happening, his eyes almost popping out. ¡°What a wicked Bloodline Talent!¡±

 Chapter 1426: Equally Matched

    ¡°Life Drain!¡± Nie Tian roared inwardly once again.

    Streaks of bloody crimson light bit into the exuberant flesh aura sea that surrounded Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s giant Demon body.

    An outsider¡¯s flesh aura sea and a human¡¯s domain worked in simr ways.

    The difference was that a flesh aura sea was refined and formed by an outsider¡¯s strong flesh aura.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Upon touching Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s ckish-purple flesh aura sea, the crimson light that had surged out of Nie Tian¡¯s body gnawed at the wisps of pure flesh aura from Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe was finally a little frightened.

    He was a grand monarch. His flesh aura sea was filled with billowing Demon Qi, and his bloodline carried various kinds of marvelous powers.

    However, gnawed at by that bloody crimson light, the most fundamental flesh aura power that was maintaining his flesh aura sea was being absorbed.

    Purple light shone in his Demon eyes like lightning.

    ¡°Seventh Son of the Stars, the bloodline you carry is more venomous and wicked than ours!¡± Grand Monarch Blood Axe shouted furiously as thousands of purple lightning bolts formed and kinked in his flesh aura sea.

    There were numerous wisps of crystal light that were as tiny as hairs within every purple lightning bolt. The energy they emitted and released was the core power imprinted in his bloodline.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe snorted. ¡°Origin Demon Power!¡±

    CRACKLE!

    Streaks of crimson light that had flown out of Nie Tian¡¯s body sputtered with purple lightning as they flew back into him.

    Upon returning, the bloody light fed his injuries with wisps of pure flesh aura. Then, many gaping wounds on his erged body healed at once.

    Seeing this, Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s face changed again as he said, ¡°This self-healing ability actually works faster than ours!¡±

    He could hardly believe his own eyes.

    Among the outsiders, the Bonebrutes¡¯ Indestructible Form was famous for being unbreakable.

    The Demons¡¯ Ancestral Awakening was strong because of its amazing self-healing ability. It allowed Demons like Grand Monarch Blood Axe to recover quickly after being wounded.

    But now, while his gaping wounds that had been caused by the battle between him and Nie Tian hadn¡¯t recovered yet, Nie Tian¡¯s had healed already.

    SWISH!

    While he was stunned, Nie Tian moved horizontally through the starry river with Starshift.

    ¡°Come here!¡± He yelled as he raised his hand. Then, a huge Demon beast that looked like a rhino quickly flew uncontrobly into his hand.

    The Demon beast was known as a ck-horned Demon Rhino. It carried an eighth-grade bloodline, so it wasn¡¯t weak.

    However, in the hands of Nie Tian in his giant form, the ck-horned Demon Rhino seemed much smaller than it actually was.

    The streaks of crimson blood light in his palm that had targeted Grand Monarch Blood Axe earlier pierced the ck-horned Demon Rhino like steel needles.

    The Demon beast let out a wail of pain, and its robust body quickly shriveled like a deted ball.

    In a very short time, the flesh aura and Blood Essence of the ck-horned Demon Rhino that had an eighth-grade bloodline was refined by Nie Tian.

    Streaks of crimson lightning flew into Nie Tian¡¯s gaping wounds. Together with his wood power, they restored his fighting strength a little.

    Savoring the sweet taste of this, he flew to another nearby Demon with Starshift.

    He raised his divine spear to prate into the back of the Demon, whose bloodline was at the eighth grade.

    The Demon¡¯s flesh aura quickly was drained by his Life Drain.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe, who had just recovered a little, flew into a rage. Just as he was about to kill some disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in retaliation, Nie Tian chuckled and suddenly reappeared in front of him.

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Under the influence of Bloodline Suppression, your flesh aura sea can¡¯t seal this area like it did before. However, I still have help I haven¡¯t used yet. Now¡¯s a good time to use it.¡±

    With that, he released his Spirit Pearl.

    Once the Spirit Pearl came out, a bright cyan sphere spread around him.

    ¡°Ow! Ow!¡± The five evil gods in the Illusory Ancient Talismans screamed like crazy, as if they wanted to take this opportunity to break free.

    In the Void World, the evil gods had been sealed by five Illusory Ancient Talismans, and thus had failed to restore all their soul fragments and memories.

    However, because they had gathered part of their soul fragments and memories, their strength had been restored to arge extent.

    In the Seven-star Realm Sea, Nie Tian had umted abundant flesh aura for his bloodline. After his bloodline had fallen dormant and started advancing towards the ninth grade, he had spent some timemunicating with the five evil gods in the Spirit Pearl.

    The Illusory Ancient Talismans¡¯ existence was preventing them from breaking free.

    However, with their help, their master Nie Tian was still able to use their negative emotions.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with five extreme emotions: hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust.

    He didn¡¯t cast a nce at Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    Instead, his eyes wandered among the Demons and Bonebrutes who were weaker.

    Upon meeting his eyes, the minds of those Demons, Demon beasts, and Bonebrutes whose bloodline was at the eighth grade or early ninth grade seemed to have been corrupted by evil powers.

    ¡°Ahh! Kill!¡± The Demons, Demon beasts, and Bonebrutes, whose inner demons had been ignited by the five negative powers of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust, suddenly shouted and started fighting whoever was closest to them, whether they were their enemies or not.

    Zu Guangyao was the first to see through the chaos, and eximed, ¡°Pull back! Stay away from them! Everyone leave those crazy outsiders and let them kill each other!¡±

    After reminding the others, he, who had regained some strength, reactivated his divine dharma idol.

    BOOM!

    Like a zing sun, Zu Guangyao emanated light and heat as he joined Dou Tianchen in fighting Grand Monarch Withered Bones.

    He even stopped paying attention to Nie Tian.

    It seemed that, in his heart, the current Nie Tian had be an expert who was as strong as Grand Monarch Blood Axe, and didn¡¯t need his help anymore.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Blood Axe yelled in fury as he struck at Nie Tian repeatedly with his huge axe.

    Above Nie Tian¡¯s head was his star domain, with the Heavenly Stars Flower gathering beams of mysterious starlight, which then condensed intoyers of star heaven barriers. His star domain was like the Nine Star Heavens in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    As the axe came down, some of its power was offset by the power of the star domain.

    After that, most of its power was neutralized by his me and wood domains.

    As the blood axe broke through the threeyers of his Saint domain and came to Nie Tian, he threw a punch.

    WHOOSH!

    His colorful fist that was full of all kinds of energies gradually expanded, filling the void.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe could see nothing in his eyes except a huge fist that seemed to grow infinitelyrger.

    The fist was impregnable and unbreakable, like a current of chaotic light.

    The fist mmed into the huge axe. The axe shook violently, as if some ancient Demon soul was shivering and sending a message ofint to Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    BOOM!

    The drops of Blood Essence that Grand Monarch Blood Axe had bestowed upon the Demon soul with the axe exploded like thunderballs.

    The huge axe whirled and was suddenly sent thousands of miles away.

    ¡°Go!¡± Almost at the same time, the seventy-two sparkling mysterious branches in Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain morphed into streaks of green lightning that prated Grand Monarch Blood Axe, making him look like a hedgehog.

    ¡°Heavenly Wood Thorns!¡± Nie Tian shouted as he activated Heavenly Wood Heal, controlling the branches to pierce deeper Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s Demon body.

 Chapter 1427: Grand Monarch Primal Wood

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a brutal smile.

    As powerful as Grand Monarch Blood Axe was, fear and astonishment appeared on his face as he lost his demonic tool and had his body prated by the seventy-two tree branches.

    ¡°Grow.¡± As Nie Tian spoke with an icy expression, wisps of wood power flew out of him into the tree branches.

    After the wisps of refined wood power fused into the tree branches, countless mysterious patterns were activated and manifested on their surface.

    The seeminglymon tree branches instantly started growing at an rming rate, as if they had received the Tree of Life¡¯s blessing.

    They became as solid and sharp as steel thorns. Even Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s tough body couldn¡¯t stop them from growing deeper and deeper into him.

    POOH!

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe looked down, and discovered that the madly growing tree branches had pierced through his chest and into his internal organs and bones. He was bleeding incessantly.

    Furthermore, he sensed a strange aura that only Floragrim grand monarchs had from the tree branches.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe shuddered. ¡°This is the Tree of Life¡¯s aura! My goodness!¡±

    He didn¡¯t have to rely on his eyes to see what was happening inside of the tree branches. Through the drops of refined purple Demon Blood inside of him, he could see that mysterious tree patterns were evolving inside of the emerald green tree branches that had pierced into his body, as if these were branches of the legendary Tree of Life growing inside of him.

    ¡°Tree of Life!¡±

    ording to the Floragrims¡¯ legends, it was the Tree of Life that had given birth to them, a race of higher beings.

    The Tree of Life¡¯s meaning to the Floragrims was simr to the Nether River¡¯s meaning to the Phantasms. It was viewed as the origin of the Floragrim race, and hadyers of mystery added to it.

    Now, ages had passed. Rumor had it that the Tree of Life on the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd had withered and died.

    Even the Demons had learned from Floragrim grand monarchs that the Tree of Life had lost its wonders, and no longer protected the Floragrims.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe had never thought that he would see the wonders of the Tree of Life in the Domain of Heaven Span in the Mortal World from the tree branches that had flown out from Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe activated bloodline talents to ignite drops of his dark purple Demon Blood, which morphed into clusters of mes that flew out to burn the tree branches.

    However, the emerald green tree branches didn¡¯t show even the slightest signs of being burned by the purple demonic mes.

    On the contrary, they grew even faster.

    Excruciating pain gradually spread to every inch of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s body.

    Newly-grown emerald branches pierced into his neck, internal organs, and many parts of his enormous, tough body.

    Upon first nce, he seemed to have sharp emerald thorns splitting his skin and growing out of every part of him.

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe howled as he activated various bloodline talents, but still couldn¡¯t break the tree branches.

    Heavenly Wood Thorns allowed thorns to spread like weeds inside of living beings. It would be especially destructive when used on outsiders.

    Within a very short time, Grand Monarch Blood Axe suffered severe internal damage. In unbearable pain, he morphed into a beam of purple light that shot away from this area of the starry river, as if he were eager to escape from this battle against Nie Tian.

    In the depths of the starry river, the Star Behemoth bone continued to release crimson light to maintain Bloodline Suppression.

    Some of the Demons and Bonebrutes had been plunged into senseless killing and by the five evil gods. While they madly attacked each other, those that hadn¡¯t lost their minds couldn¡¯t disy the true power of their bloodlines due to Bloodline Suppression.

    Death soon came for them.

    One Demon after another was killed as the Bonebrutes had their bodies made of pale-gray bones shattered.

    Grand Monarch Withered Bones, who was facing Zu Guangyao and Dou Tianchen¡¯s joint attacks, suddenly cried out in the Bonebrutenguage.

    The Bonebrutes retreated upon hearing his cry.

    Seeing this, the Demons searched for Grand Monarch Blood Axe, only to see him fleeing farther and farther from this part of the starry river, spilling purple blood as he did.

    Noticing the unfavorable situation, a ninth grade grand patriarch let out a furious roar. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡±

    The Demons immediately broke away from their enemies and fled in different directions.

    ¡°Blood Axe, Blood Axe, Blood Axe...¡± Remote calls echoed through the void as drops of Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s Demon Blood were ignited.

    FIZZ!

    His demonic weapon that was flying off into the depths of the starry river flew back like a bolt of lightning.

    Stimted by his bloodline, the Blood Axe mutated.

    It suddenly split into hundreds of smaller axes wreathed in slithering wisps of purple lightning that quickly flew into Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s enormous body.

    Wielded by Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s bloodline and soul, the axes started chopping at the tree branches.

    CLANK!

    Metallic nks that only he and Nie Tian could hear echoed within him.

    Every time a Blood Axe that was dozens of times smaller than the original hacked at a tree branch, Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Blood Axe experienced a violent shake simultaneously.

    Seeing this, Grand Monarch Blood Axe immediately infused those Blood Axes with more soul and flesh power. Nie Tian was also forced to summon and fuse more wood power into the seventy-two tree branches.

    However, due to the excessive wood power consumption, his wood domain started shrinking at an rming rate.

    No matter how hard the Godspirit Tree tried, it couldn¡¯t summon enough wood power from the surrounding starry river to support such scary consumption.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, wisps of emerald green power suddenly flew over from the distant starry river.

    Flesh power!

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe had gone to great efforts to suppress the tree branches with his Demon Blood. However, as soon as the wisps of green power showed up, he shuddered violently and coughed up a mouthful of purple blood.

    At the same time, Nie Tian discovered that the tree branches within Grand Monarch Blood Axe suddenly burst forth with dazzling light and vast life force.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe threw his head back and roared with demonic mes burning furiously in his eyes, ¡°Primal Wood!¡±

    BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Explosions echoed inside of him. With every explosion, his heart took a violent beat, and about ten drops of his precious Demon Blood that had taken him thousands of years to umte vaporized.

    With this method, he finally drove the tree branches out of his body.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he wrapped his wood power around the tree branches and pulled them back into his wood domain.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe turned to shoot Nie Tian a nasty nce before flying into the distant starry river after Grand Monarch Withered Bones and the other Demons.

    ¡°Elder Zu!¡± Fang Yuan, one of the Sons of the Stars, eximed in excitement. Apparently, he wanted to pursue the fleeing enemies.

    Just as Zu Guangyao was about to say something, his expression suddenly grew grim, and he quickly gave Nie Tian an rming gaze, signaling him to watch out.

    Nie Tian frowned slightly.

    He suddenly discovered that his wood domain had also absorbed the green power of an unknown origin. Both the Godspirit Tree and the tree branches he had retrieved blossomed with unusual light.

    It was a fresh, green divine light!

    Momentster, everyone¡¯s gazes fixed on a dark corner of the starry river.

    A senior Floragrim with wrinkles all over his face flew slowly towards them, his back stooped.

    To them, this Floragrim seemed like a withering old tree that was nearing the end of its life. There was no way he could make any waves.

    However, Nie Tian, by relying on his life bloodline, sensed extremely rich life force within him.

    Zu Guangyao took a deep breath and eximed, ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims!¡±

    He hastily jerked his head around to instruct disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to pull back, and at the same time, sent a secret message to Dou Tianchen, saying, ¡°Summon Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui and Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion!¡±

    Yan Zhan let out a low sigh and muttered with a grim expression, ¡°Middle tenth grade.¡±

    Both Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones were at the early tenth grade. However, this Grand Monarch Primal Wood in front of them was at the middle tenth grade, which meant that he was much more powerful than the two of thembined.

    Since all of the peak human and outsider experts had gone missing recently, the peak strength that was fighting in the Domain of Heaven Span was represented by middle God domain experts like Chu Rui and Fan Tianze, and middle tenth grade outsider and Ancientspirit grand monarchs.

    This Floragrim grand monarch before everyone was the one who had summoned and marched Floragrim troops into the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°The Tree of Life¡¯s aura...¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood didn¡¯t take a single nce at Zu Guangyao or Dou Tianchen as he slowly stepped over. His eyes were fixed on Nie Tian the whole time. ¡°I heard about you a long time ago. I wanted to meet you in the Shatter Battlefield, but things happened and deprived me of the chance.¡±

    Adjusting his breathing, Nie Tian said, ¡°Fata found me earlier.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded slightly. ¡°I know that. He had an idea, one that isn¡¯t shared by the majority of our people.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°What about you? Do you share his idea?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood burst intoughter.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift showed signs of splitting open in the midst of Zu Guangyao and the other humans.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood suddenly shot a sharp look at it, a strange light shing across his eyes.

    Then, the splitting spatial rift somehow slowly healed before it could fully form.

 Chapter 1428: A Radical

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s face turned pale.

    His current cultivation base allowed him tomunicate with Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui with the help of his Star Medallion.

    He had sent the message.

    That opening spatial rift had been for Chu Rui to arrive with the help of Void Spirit Society disciples.

    However, Grand Monarch Primal Wood only gave the spatial rift a look, and it was instantly and mercilessly destroyed.

    He beckoned to Nie Tian. ¡°Come with me. I need to talk to you.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the wood domain that Nie Tian had disyed flew uncontrobly towards Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    Zu Guangyao¡¯s and Dou Tianchen¡¯s expressions changed as they shouted, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. Then he took a closer look and noticed that although his wood domain had been attracted by Grand Monarch Primal Wood, the wood power he had previously consumed was being replenished very quickly.

    At the same time, wisps of the Heaven-equal Vine¡¯s unique aura appeared.

    In a trance, Nie Tian seemed to see the Heaven-equal Vine send him a reassuring message in some mysterious way.

    He had been nervous, but now, all of a sudden, he calmed down and shouted towards Zu Guangyao, Dou Tianchen, and the others, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡±

    After that, he sped up and flew away.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims chuckled and morphed into a green lightning bolt that covered thousands of miles in a split second, leaving all the disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce far behind.

    Only Nie Tian could match his speed, following the flesh aura power he had deliberately left behind.

    After only an hour, Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Primal Wood both disappearedpletely.

    Only then did the spatial rift that had been previously sealed split open.

    Pei Qiqi jumped out of it with Chu Rui.

    Her sharp eyes searched the surrounding sea of stars as she asked, ¡°Who did that? Was that Grand Monarch Primal Wood? The power he released forcibly changed the rules of space. Even with my Space Boundaries Crystal, I couldn¡¯t open a rift and get here.¡±

    All the elders and Qi warriors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce then quickly exined what had happened, and why they were so anxious.

    ¡°Greetings, Vice Sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°Vice sectmaster, Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims suddenly appeared. Then, after Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones left, he wanted to talk to Nie Tian alone.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re afraid that Nie Tian will be imprisoned by Grand Monarch Primal Wood.¡±

    Chu Rui waved his hand to silence them. ¡°Enough. How long have they been gone?¡±

    ¡°Half an hour,¡± Wang Meijia answered.

    ¡°Miss Pei, can you locate Grand Monarch Primal Wood and Nie Tian?¡± Chu Rui asked with a solemn face. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims was one of the organizers of this invasion. Originally, the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons of the Ancientspirits were hesitant. It was him who persuaded the Ancientspirits to set aside their prejudices against the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, and join hands with them to sweep across the Dead Star Sea and invade the Realm of Remote Heaven.¡±

    Pei Qiqi then said with a cold face, ¡°Not long ago, Fata of the Floragrims went to the Seven-star Realm Sea, and then the Domain of me¡¯s End. He wanted to...¡±

    She exined Fata¡¯s request in detail.

    The elders and Son of the Stars present were all shocked.

    Most of them didn¡¯t know that the Ancientspirits and outsiders¡¯ crazy invasion was actually caused by the fact that many realms in the Spirit World were perishing.

    Hearing her words, Chu Rui mused for a moment, and then said, ¡°Fata¡¯s proposal may be sincere, but it¡¯s hard to determine Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s attitude. I¡¯ve long heard of Fata of the Floragrims. His father is the current chief of the Floragrims, Grand Monarch Life Wood.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the rtionship between Grand Monarch Life Wood and Grand Monarch Primal Wood isn¡¯t harmonious.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood has always loved peace. In the years when he led the Floragrims, they rarely joined interracial wars. But Grand Monarch Primal Wood is a radical in the Floragrims, and often had conflicts with Grand Monarch Life Wood.¡±

    ¡°I believe that if Grand Monarch Life Wood weren¡¯t away from his post, he would have considered asking the humans for suitable realms as Fata suggested, even if the realms of the Floragrims are perishing one by one. But Grand Monarch Primal Wood didn¡¯t do that. Instead, he traveled around to persuade the Ancientspirits to join forces with the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes to invade our world.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes grew cold. ¡°So Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims yed a very important role in persuading the Ancientspirits and outsiders to set aside their prejudices.¡±

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°When you went to the Seven-star Realm Sea and Domain of me¡¯s End, Grand Monarch Primal Wood attacked and wounded Xu Guangyu of your sect.¡±

    Pei Qiqi instantly made her decision. ¡°I¡¯ll go find Nie Tian.¡±

    Before Chu Rui and others could try to persuade her, she turned her Space Boundaries Crystal and flew away in the direction Dou Tianchen had told her, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with her. You stay here and hold our defenses,¡± said Chu Rui.

    ...

    In an unknown dead realm of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    BAM!

    Glowing green shields sealed up this dead realm tightly.

    Nie Tian, who was chasing Grand Monarch Primal Wood, found that the dead realm in front of him had suddenly disappeared. It was even difficult for his soul to perceive it.

    However, his bloodline could still perceive extraordinarily exuberant flesh power in the seemingly empty area ahead.

    That was Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea!

    It was very easy for grand monarchs like Grand Monarch Primal Wood to envelop a dead domain with their flesh aura sea to prevent anyone from detecting it.

    ¡°He sealed the realm with his flesh aura sea, so that even if others track us here, it¡¯ll be difficult for them to find us because they won¡¯t be able to see it, and their souls can¡¯t perceive it,¡± Nie Tian thought.

    Looking at the emptiness in his field of vision that was in fact an area that had been covered up and hidden, Nie Tian was a little hesitant, as he wasn¡¯t sure whether he should go into it, following Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    ¡°Come on in.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s soul invited. ¡°What? Are you scared, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled nomittally and flew into it.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next second, the dead realm that had been hidden by Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea appeared before his eyes.

    ¡°Originally, these branches weren¡¯t very special. What makes them so sharp and able to pierce Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s body is the pattern of the Tree of Life within them.¡± As Grand Monarch Primal Wood spoke, his finger moved, and a green branch flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain.

    He held the branch between his fingers.

    FIZZ!

    Wisps of green light flew out of his fingers into the branches. He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he were using his soul toprehend the mystery of the patterns of the Tree of Life in the branches.

    ¡°This is the power contained in the patterns of our race¡¯s Tree of Life indeed.¡±

    He nodded slowly. ¡°When the Heaven-equal Vine returned to our territory, it mentioned you. It said a lot about you, your bloodline and the Heavenly Wood Heal you have cultivated, and the fact that you can establish the Wood Thriving Formation with the help of these branches. But they¡¯re all our secret magics.¡±

    BAM!

    His eyes suddenly lit up like two greennterns.

    A kind of mysterious soul awareness that could see through minds permeated Nie Tian¡¯s body and sea of soul awareness, as if he wanted to see through Nie Tian. ¡°I need to find out why you¡¯re capable of these things before we can talk.¡±

 Chapter 1429: Entering the Blood Realm

    Hundreds of thousands of wisps of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura that were finer than hairs swam inside Nie Tian¡¯s internal organs and sea of awareness.

    Nie Tian suddenly felt as if he were bound by magical ropes.

    He opened his mouth to yell, only to find that he couldn¡¯t make a sound.

    However, his mind wasn¡¯t affected, as his true soul could still see Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura exploring his sea of awareness in a mysterious spell formation.

    Though different, the spell formation held wonders that were held simr to that of the Wood Thriving Formation.

    ¡°Bloodline, bloodline...¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood muttered in a low voice as his greenntern-like eyes moved up and down Nie Tian, before they eventually fixed on his heart.

    Wherever his gaze traveled, his flesh aura followed!

    Thousands of fine wisps of flesh aura converged on Nie Tian¡¯s heart like tiny green lightning bolts.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart immediately started pounding vigorously, like a god of ancient times thundering a battle drum with great force. Each and every thump was heaven-shaking and earth-splitting!

    BOOM!

    Glorious cyan light suddenly exploded within Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s wisps of flesh aura that contained wood power essence trembled as soon as they flew into Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Surprisingly, the green aura that was only as thick as a small finger started devouring Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s probing wisps of flesh aura!

    Even though Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s wisps of flesh aura had greater numbers, they were far finer than the green aura within Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    The green aura preyed on Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura like a huge python swallowing tiny snakes!

    WHOOSH!

    Trembling in fear, Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s wisps of flesh aura scrambled to pull out of Nie Tian¡¯s heart, but were still ruthlessly devoured by his green aura.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    His stooped back instantly straightened. The wrinkles that filled his face also seemed to be magically erased by a hand of time.

    Moisture and radiance were restored to his face.

    In merely a few seconds, Grand Monarch Primal Wood shed his senior appearance and turned into a young Floragrim that was even more handsome than Fata, and stood with a proud bearing like a pine tree.

    FIZZ!

    Numerous green sparks lit up in the depths of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes like stars.

    ¡°Bloodline talent: Godly Wood!¡±

    The wisps of his green flesh aura that were still wandering in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness and parts of his body other than his heart rapidly converged to condense into a small but lush tree on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    As small as it was, the tree exuded a very ancient aura.

    WHOOSH!

    The green aura within Nie Tian¡¯s heart that was vested with the profound truths of life charged out violently like a hidden dragon charging out of a deepke!

    As soon as it flew out, it saw the small tree standing before it.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood felt instinctively uneasy, his expression flickering.

    The green aura suddenly burst forth with light so blindingly bright that even Grand Monarch Primal Wood couldn¡¯t look directly at it. The Bloodline Crystal Chains within it were unprecedentedly dazzling, and exuded an aura that drowned that of the illusory ancient tree.

    In the next moment, Grand Monarch Primal Wood saw the green aura wrapping around the ancient tree and starting to absorb nourishment, including the profound mysteries it held and the essence of his flesh aura, from it.

    BOOM!

    In the dazzling green light, brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains came to form inside the green aura.

    With the help of the rich flesh power and wood power within the ancient tree, the green aura rapidly transformed and readied Nie Tian for his advance to the ninth grade.

    In less than a minute, everyst bit of the flesh power Grand Monarch Primal Wood had used to examine Nie Tian was annihted... or to be urate, devoured.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was bbergasted.

    What he had just cast on Nie Tian was a profoundly powerful bloodline magic that the first grand monarch in Floragrim history had derived from the Tree of Life when he had entered the tenth grade.

    That grand monarch¡¯s name was Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood. Both the Wood Thriving Formation and Heavenly Wood Heal that Nie Tian had mastered had been created by Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood.

    ording to the legends, Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood had been the first of the Floragrims, and he had been created by the Tree of Life.

    The Tree of Life hadn¡¯t withered when he had broken through into the tenth grade and be the first Floragrim grand monarch in history.

    At that point, he had awoken bloodline wonders through the Tree of Life, which had allowed him to create Heavenly Wood Heal, the Wood Thriving Formation, and many other secret bloodline magics. By doing that, he hadid the foundation for the prosperity of the Floragrims.

    The small ancient tree Grand Monarch Primal Wood had conjured up just now had carried Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood¡¯s wisdom and the Tree of Life¡¯s wonders.

    He had never expected that such a wondrous tree would be so easily devoured by that green aura from Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s face grew grim over this.

    WHOOSH!

    The green aura flew back into Nie Tian¡¯s heart and fell dormant again.

    Now that all of the wisps of flesh aura restricting him were gone, Nie Tian fixed Grand Monarch Primal Wood with a strange look and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    He could tell that the flesh aura he had obtained from Grand Monarch Primal Wood would greatly shorten the dormancy of his bloodline aura.

    Perhaps his bloodline would be able to advance to the ninth grade within a short time.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was taken aback. ¡°Thank me? You think I¡¯m helping you intentionally by presenting those auras?¡±

    He found Nie Tian¡¯s notion funny.

    ¡°Am I wrong?¡± Nie Tian asked, though he obviously knew the answer.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that my people¡¯s first grand monarch and some human had you as a child before he died,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said with a disbelieving expression. ¡°But that¡¯s impossible! Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood has been dead for far too long! However, if that¡¯s not the case, then how could your bloodline aura devour that ancient tree so easily?

    ¡°What allowed you to practice Heavenly Wood Heal, learn the Wood Thriving Formation, and obtain the patterns of the Tree of Life?

    ¡°Only if you were Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood¡¯s descendant can it exin all this.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was deeply baffled.

    The more he racked his mind for an answer, the more agitated he became.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline aura, which had fallen dormant in his heart again, was suddenly stirred.

    Numerous interweaving Bloodline Crystal Chains within it gave rise to a strange maic field.

    Drop after drop of sparkling, crystal-clear Blood Essence burst forth with dazzling light.

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body. ¡°Blood Realm!¡±

    Wisps of his soul awareness rapidly condensed into a shadow that flew out of his sea of awareness and into his pounding heart.

    It disappeared into the green aura in the blink of an eye!

    The burning of his Blood Essence created a vast amount of flesh power that helped it break through the limits of space.

    As soon as the shadow reached the center of the strange soul-attracting maic field, it was transferred to his Blood Realm to seek new bloodline magics and wonders.

    Like a shooting star, his shadow of soul awareness crossedyers of glorious space before suddenly arriving in a raging blood sea.

    He found himself immersed in a boundless sea of blood and qi that contained immense life power.

    There were countless drops of sparkling, crystal-clear Blood Essence in the blood sea. Each and every drop contained far more of the essence of life power than his Blood Essence did.

    His soul awareness swam in it without obstacles.

    In the depths of the blood sea, he found an area that emanated the purest life aura, which seemed to be the true essence of life.

    As his cluster of soul awareness attempted to approach it to gain a better sense of its incredibly pure life aura, countless rays of glorious light shot out of it.

    Each and every ray of light seemed to carry a profound truth of life.

    He found some of them extremely hard to understand, while others were much iner, and he could understand them as soon as they made contact with his soul awareness.

    Both his Blood Essence and soul power burned at a fast rate as he did his utmost to derive new knowledge and enlightenment.

    In the outside world, Grand Monarch Primal Wood was dumbstruck looking at him.

    The seventy-two tree branches that had been branded with the Tree of Life¡¯s unique tree patterns spread out around Nie Tian.

    They emanated a misty green light that naturally formed the Wood Thriving Formation.

    After the spell formation came to form, the Tree of Life¡¯s unique tree patterns could be seen flowing spontaneously in the glowing green shield that had enveloped Nie Tian.

    Wood power continued to fly out of Grand Monarch Primal Wood and fuse into the Wood Thriving Formation.

    At the same time, the Godspirit Tree that had be a part of Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain manifested itself, and started channeling wood power from the starry river before refining it into his wood domain.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was even more confused as he muttered, ¡°Blood Realm! Did he somehow enter his Blood Realm?

    ¡°Could it be that my flesh power stimted his bloodline and sent him into his Blood Realm?

    ¡°A Blood Realm is the origin of someone¡¯s bloodline, a mysterious ce that only their soul can reach.

    ¡°Where¡¯s his Blood Realm? Could it be the same Blood Realm as my people¡¯s?

    ¡°Perhaps I can find the answers if I enter our Blood Realm!¡±

    With this thought, Grand Monarch Primal Wood sat down in the lotus position ten meters in front of Nie Tian, and instantly stimted his Blood Essence and condensed soul power.

    Having reached his level, he could enter his Blood Realm whenever he wanted. Opportunities weren¡¯t needed.

    ¡°Activate Blood Realm!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood called softly.

    His soul will instantly flew into his heart, crossed boundless space, and entered the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm. He wanted to see if he could meet Nie Tian there.

    If he could sense Nie Tian¡¯s soul aura or see Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow in the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm, then he¡¯d be able to confirm that the origin of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was the same as that of his race.

    He needed an answer.

    ...

    Outside the dead realm, Pei Qiqi spun her Space Boundaries Crystal, and pointed at what seemed to be empty void. ¡°There! Nie Tian is in there. Grand Monarch Primal Wood must have enshrouded that area with his flesh aura, so I can¡¯t see or sense anything from it. But my subtle connection to Nie Tian tells me that he¡¯s in there.¡±

    Chu Rui nodded slightly. ¡°I trust your judgment.¡±

    ¡°Nine Heavens Starfall!¡±

    Meteors that were flying hundreds of thousands of kilometers away were suddenly channeled by Chu Rui.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    They dashed over one after another from different directions, iparably glorious.

    ¡°Condense! Fall!¡±

    As Chu Rui changed his hand seal, the iing shooting stars condensed into one giant shooting star that crashed towards the empty area Pei Qiqi was pointing at.

    BOOM!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s intense flesh aura sea, which he was using to hide the dead realm, instantly became visible. The collision created a ssh of dazzling wood power and starlight.

    Then, Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui looked over with rapt attention, and saw Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

 Chapter 1430: Parallel Explorations

    The glowing emerald shield that was as thin as cicada wings had been transformed from Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    Thanks to it, the dead realm seemed to be filled with life force again.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood and Nie Tian sat face-to-face. Both of them had their eyes closed and didn¡¯t have any verbal or visual contact.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain continued to emanate green light. The Tree of Life¡¯s tree patterns continued to swim about within the light screen established by the seventy-two tree branches.

    Meanwhile, Grand Monarch Primal Wood had taken on apletely different appearance, handsomely arrogant, with a heroic bearing.

    It was just that wisps of his wood power continued to be attracted by the Wood Thriving Formation that was protecting Nie Tian, and absorbed by the tree patterns that belonged to the Tree of Life.

    However, Grand Monarch Primal Wood didn¡¯t seem to be angered by it.

    Both him and Nie Tian seemed unusually quiet, as if their souls had entered the same arcane realm.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As Pei Qiqi spun her Space Boundaries Crystal, numerous spatial des condensed into glorious spatial rifts that approached the dead realm, squeezing and crushing space as they did.

    ¡°Void Split!¡±

    As the spatial rifts moved closer and closer towards the dead realm, glorious light sputtered on the tracks they took.

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he eximed, ¡°Stop!¡±

    Pei Qiqi froze and asked in confusion, ¡°Why?¡±

    Just now, Chu Rui had channeled meteors from the surrounding starry river with a secret magic of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, condensed them into one shooting star, and shot it at the dead realm. Why would he suddenly stop her while she tried to build on his effort?

    ¡°Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Primal Wood seem to have entered arcane realms!¡± Chu Rui said.

    ¡°Arcane realms?¡± Pei Qiqi pondered for a brief moment before her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Are you saying they¡¯ve entered their Blood Realms?¡±

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°Exactly!¡±

    Pei Qiqi immediately canceled her spell.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The swimming spatial rifts instantly split into numerous glowing spatial des that flew into the Space Boundaries Crystal and disappeared.

    Pei Qiqi cast her gaze down and said in a low voice, ¡°Most Ancientspirit and outsider races have their own Blood Realms. However, even though I carry a Voidspirit bloodline, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever sensed the existence of a Blood Realm.¡±

    With a serious expression, Chu Rui exined, ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood is at the middle tenth grade. Outsider experts like him can not only enter and exit their Blood Realms whenever they want, but they can also leave the secret bloodline magics they¡¯ve derived in them. It¡¯s a tradition for grand monarchs to imprint their lifetime understanding of their bloodline wonders and the bloodline magics they¡¯ve derived in their Blood Realms. That way, their descendants andter generations will be able to learn from them.¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°So what¡¯s going on between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Primal Wood?¡±

    With a somewhat bitter smile, Chu Rui said, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that yet. The more important issue is that unlike Grand Monarch Primal Wood, Nie Tian is far from being able to enter and exit his Blood Realm freely. An opportunity must have presented itself for him to enter his Blood Realm to learn new bloodline magics.

    ¡°It couldn¡¯t have been easy for him to enter it. It won¡¯t be easy for him toe out of it right away.

    ¡°As for Grand Monarch Primal Wood, he¡¯ll be able toe out of his Blood Realm whenever he wants. Also, if he wants, he can kill Nie Tian with ease, given how close they are to each other.

    ¡°Since Nie Tian is in a trance, he basically doesn¡¯t have the ability to protect himself. That ward formed by those tree branches probably can¡¯t protect him from a strike from Grand Monarch Primal Wood either.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Pei Qiqi realized that Chu Rui was worried that they might awaken Grand Monarch Primal Wood if they bombarded his flesh aura sea over and over. Then, after noticing their arrival, he might try to kill Nie Tian.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s very interesting that Grand Monarch Primal Wood and Nie Tian would enter their Blood Realms at the same time.¡± Chu Rui also found this puzzling. ¡°Let¡¯s not rush into anything yet. We might as well wait and see what they¡¯re up to.¡±

    ¡°Alright,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    It was hard to exin why Blood Realms existed.

    Many races that carried wondrous bloodlines, including titans, Ancientbeasts, dragons, Demons, Phantasms, Floragrims, and Fiends, had their own Blood Realms.

    A Blood Realm was like an enormous knowledge base that only members of their race could enter with their soul awareness to seek bloodline magics and the secrets of their race¡¯s origin and prosperity.

    For outsider grand monarchs, who represented their race¡¯s peak power, entering and exiting their Blood Realm was effortless.

    Not just that, but they could also brand their lifetime understanding of their bloodline power in their Blood Realm using secret magics, soter generations would be able to learn from it.

    Inside the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s soul awareness floated around in what looked like a boundless green sea.

    In fact, it was a sea of innumerable emerald green leaves that could only be detected by soul awareness.

    Each and every leaf had been branded with a profound understanding of power from some wise Floragrim ancestor, along with the mysteries of the Floragrims¡¯ origin and the rises and falls in their history.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s soul awareness morphed into a soul shadow that slowly rose above the sea of leaves.

    He had been here countless times.

    He had alreadye to a deep understanding of this Blood Realm of the Floragrims.

    The countless green leaves here seemed to form a huge heaven-reaching tree that was identical to the Tree of Life in their ancient records.

    All of the leaves were connected to veins that even one¡¯s soul awareness couldn¡¯t perceive, which served as branches.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood had known the whole time that the existence of those veins represented some profoundw and meaning.

    After breaking through into the tenth grade, he had also concentrated his soul awareness and branded bloodline magics he had derived on leaves that he left in here.

    Each and every one of them carried knowledge about the Floragrims and their bloodline magics.

    The Blood Realm was a race¡¯s true vault.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s soul shadow continued to fly and scan the Blood Realm that he was already very familiar with for any strange auras.

    Every once in a while, he would detect soul auras from his nsmen in different parts of the Blood Realm. However, none of them belonged to Nie Tian.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood got more and more confused. ¡°No, none of these auras belong to Nie Tian. That first one belongs to Cheelie, and those following ones belong to a few young ones of my n.

    ¡°If Nie Tian¡¯s here, I should be able to sense his existence, given the coverage of my soul awareness. But if he¡¯s not here, then what he was able to do earlier...¡±

    As a middle tenth grade grand monarch, he had a profound soul connection with their Blood Realm that allowed him to detect every wisp of soul awareness that was in it within a short time.

    Now, after searching it over and over, he could locate the soul awarenesses of the few talented youngsters of his n precisely.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Am I wrong? Does he have no connection to Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood?¡± He thought to himself. ¡°Even if he isn¡¯t his direct descendant, the origin of his bloodline should lead him to our Blood Realm. If my spection is wrong, then why can he practice Heavenly Wood Heal and the Wood Thriving Formation?¡±

    He didn¡¯t n to give up. As soul power-consuming as it was, he conducted another thorough scan of the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm.

    His effort turned out to be in vain.

    ¡°Still no sign of him!¡± After he pondered for a long while, something suddenly urred to him. ¡°Why don¡¯t I go through the memory fragments Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood left in the Blood Realm before he died? Perhaps I can find some clues there.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Like drops of water, his soul awareness flew to the top part of the Blood Realm, where the emerald green leaves had been branded with Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood¡¯s profound knowledge.

    As the first Floragrim who had been born from the Tree of Life, Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood had left behind many leaves full of pieces of his memories. Grand Monarch Primal Wood now browsed through them carefully with his soul awareness.

    ...

    In the endless blood sea.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow waded towards the depths of the blood sea, wherey its origin that emanated the essence of life.

    This ce waspletely different from the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm.

    If Grand Monarch Primal Wood had been here, he would have discovered that this endless blood sea was made of countless drops of translucent and sparkling Blood Essence, instead of the tree leaves that made up the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm.

    Each and every drop of Blood Essence here contained the purest life power!

    If he coulde here, he would instantly realize that there was an essential difference between Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Realm and the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm.

    Beams of life light shot from the depths of the blood sea to prate Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow from time to time.

    Every time a beam of light shot through his soul shadow, a piece of knowledge about life power would be infused into him, even though many of them were too profound for him to understand yet.

    ¡°The origin of my life bloodline must lie in the depths of this blood sea!¡±

    After putting forth a tremendous amount of effort, Nie Tian found it hard to sink any deeper.

    That was because with every inch he sank, his soul had to bear excruciating pain, along with a terrifying feeling that his soul shadow might be scattered and sent back to his body in the next moment.

    Most importantly, the deeper he went, the more profound the truths of life the curious lights contained, so profound that he couldn¡¯t possibly understand them.

    ¡°I¡¯d better learn the secret bloodline magics that are within my abilities before I burn out my Blood Essence!¡±

    After making up his mind, his cluster of soul awareness finally came to a stop.

    Then he opened up his mind and let out a soul call. ¡°I, Nie Tian, am at the eighth grade. I seek bloodline magics that my grade allows me to practice. I also yearn to learn the origin of my bloodline to get the things I¡¯m entitled to.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Beams of life light shot out from the depths of the blood sea.

    Like lightning bolts, they shot through Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow, leaving pieces of brand new information that his soul could instantly understand.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow shuddered violently.

 Chapter 1431: Waking Up

    In the dead realm, Grand Monarch Primal Wood suddenly opened his eyes.

    His soul awareness had just returned from the Floragrims¡¯ Blood Realm, and he looked confused.

    Frowning, he murmured, ¡°No. The memories left by Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood have nothing to do with the humans. In the era he lived in, the humans... were still our ves. The human world hadn¡¯t even been explored at that time. How could he have possibly gotten involved with a female human in the human world?¡±

    ¡°So it isn¡¯t Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood. Nie Tian had no presence in the Blood Realm, which means that the bloodline of this hybrid before my eyes isn¡¯t from our race!¡±

    At the thought of this, Grand Monarch Primal Wood looked at Nie Tian with cold eyes.

    Since Nie Tian wasn¡¯t his nsman, he definitely wouldn¡¯t act for the good of the Floragrims.

    As someone who wasn¡¯t a Floragrim, Nie Tian could somehow cultivate the Floragrims¡¯ Heavenly Wood Heal and obtain the branches that were closely rted to them.

    These anomalies suddenly made Grand Monarch Primal Wood instinctively detest Nie Tian.

    ¡°Oh?¡± He looked up at Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui, who were ready for action outside his flesh aura sea.

    He chuckled.

    Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui were extremely nervous, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

    ¡°What should we do?¡± Pei Qiqi asked Chu Rui with a worried look in her eyes.

    Chu Rui frowned tightly, feeling powerless. ¡°They¡¯re too close, and he was the first one to wake up. If he wants to kill Nie Tian, there¡¯ll be nothing that we can do to stop him.¡±

    Pei Qiqi had a headache.

    It was impossible for them to prate Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea in an instant.

    If Grand Monarch Primal Wood attacked Nie Tian now, how could Nie Tian, whose soul was still wandering in his Blood Realm, resist?

    ¡°So he¡¯s just someone whose bloodline isn¡¯t from our Floragrims,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood whispered to himself in the Floragrims¡¯nguage as he slowly rose to his feet.

    As he looked at Nie Tian again, his eyes were filled with an icy look. ¡°You refined my flesh aura that I used to explore your bloodline, and took the opportunity to step into the source of your bloodline. Hehe, you can¡¯t monopolize all the good things in the world.¡±

    As he spoke, he suddenly made a grabbing motion towards the light-green curtain of light formed by the seventy-two branches with his hook-like fingers in an attempt to grasp the patterns of the Life of Tree and tear up the light shield that was protecting Nie Tian.

    Meanwhile, as he changed his blood flow, no wood energies could leave him anymore.

    Neither the Godspirit Tree nor the Wood Thriving Formation could absorb wood power from him anymore.

    ¡°Bloodline, Essence Backflow.¡±

    Wisps of light-green energies that had entered Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation, wood domain, and Godspirit Tree suddenly condensed into crystal-clear green light pearls that flew out one by one.

    That was the power that Grand Monarch Primal Wood had deliberately released earlier.

    If he didn¡¯t do this, the energies that had flown out of his body would naturally be slowly refined and be a part of the Godspirit Tree in Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, and a source of power for the Wood Thriving Formation.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood had been under the impression that Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline and his shared the same origin. Therefore, he had allowed some of his flesh aura to be channeled away to help Nie Tian.

    However, at this moment, the wisps of energies that had previously fallen into Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, Godspirit Tree, and Wood Thriving Formation were reimed by Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    The wood power lined up in the Wood Thriving Formation, like green light pearls.

    WHOOSH!

    The green light pearls fused with each other and became a green light ball that then fluctuated and morphed into a doppelganger of Grand Monarch Primal Wood that was less than a meter tall.

    Just like this, it appeared in the Wood Thriving Formation and floated above Nie Tian¡¯s head, looking down at Nie Tian with a gloomy face.

    Chu Rui couldn¡¯t wait anymore. ¡°Attack!¡±

    He activated Nine Heavens Starfall to summon meteors from all directions to bombard Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    Pei Qiqi fully activated her bloodline. With her spatial power, she reopened the spatial rifts and controlled them to shed at the green flesh aura sea wrapping the dead realm. ¡°Void Shatter!¡±

    Both of them could see that Grand Monarch Primal Wood intended to kill Nie Tian. They couldn¡¯t just sit back and watch.

    ¡°Can we stop him in time?¡±

    Outside of the Wood Thriving Formation, Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s true self looked up at Chu Rui and Pei Qiqi with cold eyes. ¡°Nie Tian is far too special. If I let him live, all races will suffer!¡±

    His doppelganger suddenly plunged toward Nie Tian¡¯s head like a powerful sharp sword.

    WHOOSH!

    Just then, Nie Tian exhaled and slowly woke up.

    A gorgeous shield of starlight instantly surged out of his star domain. The mysterious Heavenly Stars Flower within it seemed to suddenly expand.

    The doppelganger condensed from Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura ended up stomping on the shield of starlight instead of Nie Tian.

    All of a sudden, the shield of starlight warped!

    A mountainous power suddenly burst forth, causing even the light of the Heavenly Stars Flower to grow a little dim.

    Nie Tian, who was somewhat disoriented and caught up in the secret bloodline magics that he had gained from the endless sea of blood, waspletely woken up by the mighty strength of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s doppelganger.

    Nie Tian looked up and quickly understood what was going on. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood! A doppelganger condensed from his flesh aura?¡±

    With a wave of his hand, strands of his flesh aura poured into the Wood Thriving Formation made by the seventy-two branches.

    As soon as his flesh aura melted into the patterns of the Tree of Life, the light-green shield suddenly burst forth with dazzling light!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Branches flew out of the hard stones below and prated Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s doppelganger like rainbows.

    Nie Tian looked at Grand Monarch Primal Wood with a sneer in the eyes and said, ¡°This is only a doppelganger condensed from a little flesh aura, and you think you can kill me with it? But since you¡¯re so generous, it¡¯ll be rude if I don¡¯t take it.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he activated his Life Drain.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s doppelganger, which had been prated by the branches, dissolved quickly like a burning candle, and turned back into green light pearls in the blink of an eye.

    The light pearls dropped one by one and were absorbed by the Godspirit Tree, bing the most basic nutrient in Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain.

    All of a sudden, Grand Monarch Primal Wood found that he was no longer able to contact the flesh aura that had left his body.

    The eyes of Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui, who were outside worrying, lit up as they yelled in unison. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    As they repeatedly bombarded Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea, forcing him to redirect his flesh aura to contend against them, Nie Tian activated a magic recorded in his fragmentary star marks. ¡°Starshift!¡±

    In a sh, he disappeared from the Wood Thriving Formation and reappeared ten miles away from Grand Monarch Primal Wood in the sky, quickly approaching Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui so that Grand Monarch Primal Wood wouldn¡¯t be able to attack him again.

    The branches that were engraved with the patterns of the Tree of Life flew away after him.

    ¡°Where on earth did you go earlier?¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood asked, staring at him. ¡°Your bloodline has nothing to do with the Floragrims! I didn¡¯t sense even the slightest hint of your aura in our Blood Realm!¡±

 Chapter 1432: Lifeblood Wheel

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh aura sea that enshrouded the dead realm suddenly withdrew.

    Along with rich, heaven-filling life force and shimmering green light, it returned to Grand Monarch Primal Wood like rivers rushing into the sea.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood then expanded drastically.

    BOOM!

    Countless emerald green patterns could be seen swimming under his skin as he expanded at an rming rate like a huge, sky-reaching tree.

    ¡°Ancient Tree: Heaven Block!¡± As he eximed, the Floragrim grand monarch seemed to turn into the Tree of Life in the Floragrim legends.

    The emerald green leaves were condensations of his sparkling crystal-clear Blood Essence, emanating an aura that could nourish all things.

    Under his feet, the dead realm that had run out of energies long ago was somehow stimted by his aura, and started to show signs of revival.

    As Nie Tian rose into the heavens, his life bloodline allowed him to sense a strong life force fusing into the dead realm.

    With a derisive snort, he said, ¡°This is meaningless. Even if you can revive this dead realm with your flesh power, you can only give rise to vegetation like grass, flowers, and trees. You can¡¯t create new lives! By that I mean higher living beings with sentience!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expression flickered as he said, ¡°Only our Tree of Life and the Phantasms¡¯ Nether River can work such miracles as creating living beings!¡±

    ¡°Oh, really?¡± Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°It seems you¡¯re not very well-informed. Otherwise, you would have heard some stories about me.¡±

    What he meant was him creating Nie Yan, the first Ifrit, in the Realm of Fire Spirit by vesting that me spark with his Blood Essence.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who was now in a form simr to the Tree of Life, suddenlyunched an attack.

    One ckish green branch after another that could easily prate metal shot towards Chu Rui, Pei Qiqi, and Nie Tian.

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Lifeblood Wheel!¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence that were sparkling and crystal-clear like diamonds flew out of his heart to manifest a bloodline magic that he had just derived from the endless blood sea.

    The drops of Blood Essence spread out to form a wheel that emanated blood-colored light.

    As soon as the wheel came to form, rich flesh power and wood power flew out of him into it.

    The two types of energy, one crimson and the other green, swirled and blended in the wheel. Upon first nce, it looked quite simr to the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror that belonged to You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    ¡°Lifeblood Wheel! Spin!¡±

    Even richer flesh power and wood power poured madly into the enormous wheel, causing it to start spinning.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Pei Qiqi, who carried a spatial bloodline, was the first to cry out in rm.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal in her palm burst forth with dazzling light, and she instantly moved away.

    Only after retreating several dozen kilometers away did her racing heart and unusual flesh aura flow gradually stop.

    From afar, she fixed her gaze on the blood-colored wheel that was spinning over Nie Tian on the dead realm. Astonishment filled her eyes as she muttered, ¡°Lifeblood Wheel? Howe I¡¯ve never seen him use this bloodline magic? Don¡¯t tell me that he just learned it from his Blood Realm?¡±

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s heart also pounded unusually fast and violently.

    He had to cancel the Floragrim bloodline magics he was casting.

    He couldn¡¯t even maintain his Tree of Life form anymore. With a loud rumble, he returned to his true form as a handsome, arrogant young male.

    He rubbed his chest subconsciously and said, ¡°How... Howe my heart suddenly started beating randomly?!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a wideugh. ¡°Randomly? No. Lifeblood Wheel: Resonance!¡±

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Heartbeats that were at the same pace echoed out from Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood immediately realized that his heartbeat had been keeping pace with Nie Tian!

    Nie Tian¡¯s unusual heartbeat hadpletely disrupted his flesh aura flow, keeping him from maintaining his Tree of Life form and casting the bloodline magics he was going to cast.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    His finger emanated dazzling wood power as he pointed it at his heart in an attempt to cut off whatever connection Nie Tian had established with him and expel the power Nie Tian might have infiltrated him with.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of dazzling wood power flew into his heart to cleanse it over and over.

    However, the unusual heartbeat didn¡¯t stop.

    Deeply uneasy, Grand Monarch Primal Wood asked, ¡°What in the world is the origin of your bloodline? Why can you affect my heartbeat with your own?¡±

    Floating calmly over the dead realm, Nie Tian said, ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s because you¡¯re a Floragrim. The Floragrims¡¯ bloodline has a close connection to wood power. Even your race was only born because of what you received from the Tree of Life. To upgrade your bloodline, you need realms with rich life force like the Realm of Wood Spirit. Only by channeling power from nts can you strengthen yourselves.

    ¡°Even though your people¡¯s bloodline originates from the Tree of Life, it¡¯s only a branch of the ¡®life bloodline.¡¯¡±

    As soon as he said these words, the exasperated Grand Monarch Primal Wood suddenly fell silent.

    Chu Rui and Pei Qiqi, who were originally nning to attack Grand Monarch Primal Wood together, were dumbstruck as well.

    ¡°I don¡¯t follow,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said in a grim voice.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°Perhaps we do need to talk.¡±

    Then, he turned to face Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui. ¡°Let¡¯s have a truce. I suppose this Floragrim grand monarch won¡¯t make another attempt to kill me before I help eliminate his confusion. Also, life-or-death battles are unnecessary between us and the Floragrims, or the other races of the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°They started the war,¡± Chu Rui said.

    ¡°I know,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Then, he turned to Grand Monarch Primal Wood and said, ¡°I¡¯d like to have a talk with you if you can remain calm. Perhaps what I¡¯m about to say will inspire you.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was taken aback.

    After a moment of pondering, he nodded and said, ¡°Alright,e. I promise I won¡¯t hurt you.¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡± Chu Rui asked.

    ¡°Just stay where you are.¡± As a thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, the blood-colored wheel flew to float between him and Grand Monarch Primal Wood. Maintaining the rotation of the Lifeblood Wheel with his flesh and wood power, he flew down to the ground and said, ¡°Have you discovered that this special wheel of mine has a strong suppressing effect on your bloodline?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°This is just the first time I¡¯ve seen a secret magic that can affect heartbeat and blood flow, nothing more. Once I make adjustments and think things through, I can definitely find a solution.¡± He refused to admit that his bloodline was being suppressed by the peculiar blood-colored wheel.

    Nie Tian smiled casually and said, ¡°I believe you¡¯ll be able to find a way to ease your difort, but the bloodline suppression will always be there, just like how Ancientspirits, Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes will always tremble in fear before this bone of mine.¡±

    Hearing this, Grand Monarch Primal Wood carefully sensed the Star Behemoth bone and the blood-colored wheel with his bloodline power.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood took a deep breath and said, ¡°Alright, I admit that that bone and that wheel have some suppressing effect on my bloodline. But that bone belongs to a Star Behemoth. Star Behemoths were the true overlords of the starry river back in the Primal Era. All living beings were easy prey in their eyes.

    ¡°So I understand that a Star Behemoth¡¯s bloodline aura can make me instinctively uneasy.

    ¡°However, I don¡¯t understand why that wheel you condensed with your Blood Essence also has a suppressing effect on my bloodline, causing my heart to beat unusually.¡±

    ¡°All this time, I¡¯ve been referring to my bloodline as a life bloodline,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Life bloodline? The Tree of Life also has a ¡®life¡¯ in its name. But we Floragrims refer to our bloodline as the Floragrim bloodline, not a life bloodline. The other higher beings also refer to our bloodline as the Floragrim bloodline. Even we ourselves don¡¯t think it¡¯s appropriate to call our bloodline a ¡®life bloodline.¡¯¡±

    With a derisive smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°I guess that¡¯s because even Grand Monarch Primal Wood, the first of your kind, knew that your bloodline was only a branch of the life bloodline. Beings that have flesh and blood, like the major outsider races, are regarded as life forms, as are beings that don¡¯t have fleshly bodies but have developed intelligence, right?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood looked confused. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m saying that there are a wide variety of life forms,¡± Nie Tian said with a deep look in his eyes, which shone with the light of wisdom. ¡°Ancientspirits and all the major outsider races are lives. Even the Bonebrutes that are wreathed in death Qi and the Heavenly Corpses made by those from the Heavenly Corpse Sect count as lives. All kinds of flowers and grass that have developed intelligence, such as the Heaven-equal Vine and the Heavenly Demonsbane, are also considered lives.

    ¡°My bloodline leads to the fundamental truths of life, all life. Therefore, my bloodline is called a life bloodline.

    ¡°Perhaps your people¡¯s bloodline can also be referred to as a life bloodline. However, it wouldn¡¯t be the life bloodline in its true sense.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s face grew cold. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that your bloodline is superior to ours?¡±

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°I bet you don¡¯t want to believe or ept it if I put it that way, but that¡¯s the truth. My bloodline is purer and more advanced. My life bloodline allows me to refine flesh power as well as wood power.

    ¡°That¡¯s also why both the Godspirit Tree and the Heaven-equal Vine took the initiative to approach me. The coexisting flowers inside a friend of mine were bent on stealing my bloodline because it represents the ultimate origin of life!¡±

 Chapter 1433: The More Advanced Bloodline!

    ¡°The ultimate origin of life?!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood eximed, looking both astonished and puzzled.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, the ultimate origin of life.¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Technically speaking, my life bloodline is purer than yours! I don¡¯t have any connections to Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood, the first of your kind. However...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood asked.

    ¡°The Tree of Life that created him and has been considered your kind¡¯s bloodline origin is probably at the same level as me,¡± Nie Tian said with a strong tone.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Are you kidding? How is that possible?!¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t answer him right away.

    Earlier, his soul shadow had been prated by numerous beams of life light when he had attempted to approach the ultimate origin of life in the depths of the blood sea.

    One of them had been branded with peculiar images.

    In them, he himself seemed to have morphed into an enormous heaven-reaching tree that wandered through different domains, bringing life to numerous realms.

    Thanks to his efforts as the enormous tree, vigorous life force and exuberant vegetation was restored to many dead realms in the Spirit World.

    Not just that, but he had also created a variety of wondrous nts in some of the special realms. Both the Heaven-equal Vine and the Godspirit Tree had profound connections to him as the tree.

    As he thought about it, he realized that the tree might be the Tree of Life!

    One of the beams of life light that shot from the depths of the endless blood sea had been branded with memories that belonged to the Tree of Life. What did that mean?

    That meant the Tree of Life, which the Floragrims considered their creator and bloodline origin, had entered that endless blood sea as he had.

    Their only difference was that since the Tree of Life was strong enough, it had been able to leave its marks!

    Nie Tian even started to think that some of the beams of life light that carried secret incantations too profound for him to understand had been left there by the Tree of Life as well.

    Only after pondering for a while did Nie Tian exin. ¡°I found marks that the Tree of Life left in the Blood Realm that my bloodline connects to. The fact that it has entered the same Blood Realm as me means that we¡¯re at the same level, it and I. As for the Blood Realm that Floragrims, including Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood and all of your people, have ess to, it should be only a creation of the Tree of Life.¡±

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s words rumbled through Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s mind, countless glorious wisps of soul will tangling and untangling from time to time.

    ¡°Everyone knows that the origin of our bloodline lies with the Tree of Life.

    ¡°If it also belongs to a race of living beings, then where did ite from? Does it also have its own bloodline origin? Is it the so-called ultimate origin of life?

    ¡°Because it created Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood, the first Floragrim, the Blood Realm where the origin of all Floragrims¡¯ bloodlines lie is in its form?¡±

    As a series of thoughts shed across Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s mind, many issues that he hadn¡¯t understood before gradually became clear to him.

    Meanwhile...

    Their conversation also got Nie Tian thinking. ¡°If this is actually true, then what about Nie Yan, the first Ifrit that I created by vesting it with a fleshly body using my Blood Essence? Am I the bloodline origin of him and all of the Ifrits that¡¯lle after him? Or is it going to be the Divine me?¡±

    Lights of enlightenment continued to sh across his mind.

    ¡°Are all Blood Realms in a tree diagram? If the endless blood sea is the ultimate origin of life, then it¡¯s like arge tree. The Tree of Life and I are all branches that grow out of it. The Tree of Life then grows sub-branches that are the Floragrims. Is that it?¡±

    The more he thought about it, the more overwhelming it seemed.

    Outside the dead realm.

    Chu Rui and Pei Qiqi observed from afar, and saw both Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Primal Wood absorbed in their thoughts with furrowed brows. There was no sign of another conflict breaking out between them. This put their hearts at ease.

    A long time went by.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood awoke from his contemtion and asked, ¡°Nie Tian, how can you prove that you¡¯ve actually seen marks left in your bloodline origin by our Tree of Life? How can you prove that your bloodline is at a higher level than ours, and at the same level as our creator?¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I don¡¯t think I need to do anything to prove it. The fact that I can practice your people¡¯s incantations and that Heaven Nourished wood-attributed nts like the Heaven-equal Vine and the Godspirit Tree favor me have already proven it. If you insist that I prove it, I guess we¡¯ll have to go find that young Tree of Life.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment once again. ¡°Young Tree of Life? What are you talking about?¡±

    Nie Titan was surprised by his reaction. ¡°You know that your Tree of Life has a young sapling, right? It¡¯s in a very special ce, rooted in the eye of a titan. Thest time I saw it, it was still growing, and had born Fruits of Life, which I picked and used to prolong my master¡¯s lifespan.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Grand Monarch Primal Wood became uncontrobly excited. With a sharp move, he grabbed Nie Tian around the shoulder and asked, ¡°Are you... are you telling the truth? Is there really a young Tree of Life?¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Heaven-equal Vine tell you after Fata took it back to your people?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s face froze for a bit as he said, ¡°The Heaven-equal Vine has never liked me. Since it was taken back, it has been taken care of by Fata and others, and never had any sort ofmunication with me.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly and said, ¡°Oh, it seems that you¡¯re not very popr even among your kind.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a cold snort. ¡°Where is this young Tree of Life you¡¯re talking about?¡±

    ¡°You can go ask Fata. He knows.¡± With these words, Nie Tian frowned. ¡°However, even if you know where it is, you might not be able to find it. The spatial rift that connects to that special ce is constantly on the move, and extremely hard to detect. I was only able to find it because my bloodline and that young Tree of Life¡¯s bloodline share the same origin.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood fell silent.

    What Nie Tian had just said was simply too much to take. He had to take some time to process it.

    However, if what Nie Tian had said was true, and he actually shared the same bloodline origin as the Tree of Life that had created the Floragrims, then Nie Tian would be superior to every single Floragrim that had ever lived, bloodline-wise.

    RING! RING! RING! RING!

    Rapid rming rings suddenly came from a silver bracelet on Pei Qiqi¡¯s wrist.

    With a charming frown, Pei Qiqi sent a wisp of her soul awareness into the bracelet to analyze the rming rings.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± At the same time, the tips of Chu Rui¡¯s eyebrows flickered as he also seemed to receive some urgent message. After he took a brief moment to examine it, his expression flickered violently.

    Nie Tian, who noticed this, was confused.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed that wisps of emerald green light lit up in the depths of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s dark-green pupils, who had been trying to sort through the information about their bloodline origin, as if he had received some shocking message as well.

    Nie Tian hesitated for a brief moment before asking Grand Monarch Primal Wood, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Then, he looked up at Pei Qiqi and Chu Rui. ¡°Did something major happen? Is it the battle between us and the Ancientspirits and outsiders?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood eximed as he shot out of the dead realm, enveloped in his flesh aura sea.

    ¡°Do you want me to give you a lift?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°No need!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said grimly.

    WHOOSH!

    In a breath¡¯s time, he hurried away from the dead realm where Nie Tian was, even though he still had many questions to ask about the ultimate origin of life, life bloodlines, and the Tree of Life.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones, who retreated from the front line defended by your sect earlier, have made a move against his people,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°Apparently, his power was somehow affected by yours when he arrived on the battlefield. Wisps of his power seemed to have fused into your domain, allowing your battle prowess to soar through the ceiling.

    ¡°In the Demons¡¯ and Bonebrutes¡¯ eyes, he went back on their alliance by doing that.¡±

    Gloating filled Chu Rui¡¯s face as he said, ¡°Now, those two grand monarchs have attacked the Floragrims and imprisoned Fata. Fata is the son of the Floragrims¡¯ current high chieftain, Grand Monarch Life Wood. What the Demons and Bonebrutes have done will definitely lead to fierce internal conflicts.¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°The Demons and Bonebrutes imprisoned Fata?!¡±

 Chapter 1434: Life Revival!

    Fata was the son of Grand Monarch Life Wood.

    Nie Tian had borne a bit of hope for him to be able to persuade the Floragrims and Ancientspirits to solve their crisis in the Spirit World by invading the Void World.

    Who would have thought that the Demons and the Bonebrutes would capture him after his return and use him against Grand Monarch Primal Wood?

    ¡°Yes, why are you so surprised?¡± Chu Rui asked, looking puzzled. ¡°As a young lord of the Floragrims, he¡¯s by no means insignificant. Not just the Floragrims, but many Ancientspirits also have high opinions of him. Floragrims¡¯ special bloodlines give them the ability to heal severe injuries. Grand Monarch Life Wood, Fata¡¯s father, has unmatched healing ability.

    ¡°Fata has not only inherited his father¡¯s abilities, but shown talent that even his father didn¡¯t possess...¡±

    Chu Rui went on and said more about Fata.

    From him, Nie Tian learned that Grand Monarch Life Wood, the current high chieftain of the Floragrims, had friendly rtionships with many powerful Ancientspirit experts.

    Ancientspirits detested Bonebrutes, Phantasms, and Demons. Battles would break out between them in the Spirit World from time to time.

    However, they had always been friendly to the Floragrims.

    Part of the reason was because Grand Monarch Life Wood had awakened many bloodline talents that could be used to help the titans, Ancientbeasts, dragons, and other enormous beings recover from severe injuries.

    For instance, if a titan sustained severe injuries from his trip to a foreign domain, it might take him decades to recover if he relied on his own power.

    However, if Grand Monarch Life Wood agreed to help, the recovery phase would be greatly shortened.

    As long as they turned to Grand Monarch Life Wood for help and could pay the price he named, he would usually provide them with the help they needed for a speedy recovery. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were titans, dragons, or Ancientbeasts.

    Sometimes, even powerful Demon experts would seek Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s help after suffering heavy injuries.

    Furthermore, Grand Monarch Life Wood had always promoted peace, which had earned him the respect of many powerful experts in the Spirit World.

    His son, Fata, had inherited his bloodline perfectly. Many believed that his achievements would rise above those of his father.

    ¡°But for us, Fata might be a potential problem,¡± Chu Rui added. ¡°After he bes a tenth grade grand monarch, he¡¯ll be able to heal the injured outsiders and Ancientspirits and help them recover their battle prowess as his father can if another war breaks out between them and us. It seems to me that he¡¯ll y an even bigger role in the future than Ophelia and Gutas.¡±

    Chu Rui knew nothing about the recent talk between Nie Tian and Fata.

    RUMBLE!

    An ancient starship that belonged to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce sailed over.

    Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, and Dong Li were all standing on it.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li, who had arrived from the Seven Stars Realm Sea after a series of teleportations, was pleased to see Nie Tian unscathed.

    However, the moment she saw Pei Qiqi, who was right next to him, her face dropped, and she called out fiercely, ¡°What the hell, Pei Qiqi? Shuttling between the Domain of me¡¯s End, the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and now the Domain of Heaven Span, what is it that you want?¡±

    Face cold, Pei Qiqi shot her a sideways nce and said nothing.

    Seeing the tension between these women, who had recently raised as many eyebrows as Nie Tian had, Chu Rui, Dou Tianchen, and Zu Guangyao exchanged gazes and smiled bitterly.

    After Dou Tianchen gave Chu Rui a meaningful look, Chu Rui swiftly flew onto the ancient starship, which then sailed away from this part of the starry river.

    After they left, Pei Qiqi thought briefly, and then split open a spatial rift with her Space Boundaries Crystal. She turned to Nie Tian and Dong Li, and asked, ¡°How about I send you to the ce that Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and the others are currently defending? Nie Tian, because your subordinates are so outstandingly strong, the Heaven Span Pavilion arranged for them to defend a front line by themselves.¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Sure, I want to go take a look.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, Dong Li and Nie Tian appeared in a grayish-yellow realm in the northeast of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian and Dong Li were met with cheers.

    Disciples of the Heavenly Thunder Sect, the Profound Purity Pce, and the Streamcloud Sword Sect were holding this realm together, along with Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Vast Darkness. Upon noticing their arrival, they came out from different areas to cast gazes in their direction.

    Ancient starships that belonged to different sects could be seen berthed closely outside the realm.

    Debris from outsider ancient starships could be seen around them, along with shattered flesh aura sea and domains.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian scanned his surroundings with both his eyes and bloodline power, and obtained an approximate time and scale of the most recent battle.

    Mo Qianfan approached him and said with exhaustion written all over his face, ¡°Nie Tian, the Domain of Heaven Span was in a perilous situation when you were cultivating in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, so we had toe help.¡±

    Numerous Void and even weaker Qi warriors from his three subordinate domains, along with Qi warriors from his allied sects and domains, had been summoned to defend this area of the starry river. A number of battles had broken out between them and the invading Fiends, Bonebrutes, and Phantasms in this area with this realm as the center.

    Starships had been destroyed. The sects and ns that had rushed here from different domains had all suffered casualties to different extents.

    Yu Suying let out a deep sigh. ¡°Interracial wars are always cruel. All of our sects have suffered significant casualties. Of course, the Fiend, Bonebrute, and Phantasm invaders have paid a tremendous price as well...¡±

    A few others then chimed in to exin the fierceness of the battles they had fought.

    As he listened, Nie Tian expanded his saint domain.

    WHOOSH!

    Enveloped in a shield of dazzling stars was ayer of zing fire. At the heart was his wood domain, which exuded rich life force and seemed extremely mysterious.

    A total of seventy-two tree branches and the Godspirit Tree were rooted on the exuberantnd, channeling dissociative wood power from the starry river.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood of the Floragrims can help Ancientspirits quickly recover from their injuries, and I just acquired a secret bloodline magic from that endless blood sea that has simr wonders,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Perhaps that bloodline magic came from the Tree of Life...¡±

    ¡°Bloodline magic: Life Revival!¡±

    Drop after drop of his Blood Essence was ignited, fusing pure life power into his wood domain.

    BOOM!

    A misty green aura that was simr to that of the Wood Thriving Formation, but more ancient and powerful, was suddenly released from his wood domain.

    As this happened, his both star and me domains instantly disappeared.

    The misty green aura carried the profound truths of life as well as the patterns of the Tree of Life as it gradually spread into Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Master Blood Spirit, who was at the peak of the Saint domain, was the first to notice the anomaly.

    Taking a leap forward, he entered the spherical area around Nie Tian that was enveloped in the mysterious aura released by his wood domain. Bathed in rich life force, he took a whiff of the fresh aura with an intoxicated look on his face. In the next moment, his eyes lit up, and he eximed, ¡°My blood domain!¡±

    The blurry images of numerous spirit beasts and outsiders manifested in Master Blood Spirit¡¯s blood domain.

    His domain now looked like a sea of seething blood. Enveloped in Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, a wide array of blood power within it seemed to be amplified.

    Master Blood Spirit refined his blood domain with all sorts of beast blood and outsider blood through the Blood Refining Incantation, which was widely different from the regr cultivation method most human cultivators adopted. Therefore, it was more difficult for him to make advances in cultivation.

    At this moment, however, he was only bathed in the misty green aura released by Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, yet he was clearly benefiting from it a great deal.

    Both Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, who were at the God domain, also subconsciously approached Nie Tian and entered the wondrous sphere created by Life Revival without activating their dharma idols or god domains.

    The two of them, who had gone through prolonged fierce battles, didn¡¯t sense any anomalies at first.

    However, a few secondster, they both shuddered violently with the light of excitement in their eyes.

    Without any hesitation, the two of them took out medicinal pills or crystals that contained lightning power and started recovering with them.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Mo Qianfan eximed as he absorbed lightning power from a lightning-wreathed crystal. ¡°The speed at which we refine spirit stones and crystals is greatly improved when we¡¯re close to you. Even our souls are calmer than usual, which helps us contemte the profound truths of the power we practice. This feels wonderful!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As he said these words, numerous lightning bolts interwove in his chest, gradually taking the form of a Thunder-devouring Whale.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale made of lightning bolts then helped him refine lightning power more efficiently.

    ¡°These are the wonders of Bloodline magic: Life Revival!¡±

    A hint of tion appeared at the raised corners of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth, as he hadn¡¯t expected to immediately put the bloodline magic he had acquired from that endless blood sea to use.

    He had learned two bloodline magics from his recent trip to that endless blood sea: Lifeblood Wheel and Life Revival.

    Lifeblood Wheel was used to attack enemies, while Life Revival was used to help himself and those around him recover strength at an enhanced speed.

    Yu Suying beckoned to the others. ¡°Come in here, everyone.¡±

    Astonished, Qi warriors from different domains that were loyal to Nie Tian flew over and scattered around him, where they took out medicinal pills and spiritual materials of different attributes to recover their strength absorbedly.

 Chapter 1435: Internal Conflicts

    It wasn¡¯t very consuming to cast Life Revival.

    Nie Tian only had to summon a small amount of flesh power and wood power to cast it.

    After that, his wood domain would take over. The Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches within it would channel dissociative fragmentary wood power from the starry river to maintain its operation.

    The misty green aura continued to spread and envelop heaven and earth like the shade from an enormous tree.

    A hour passed...

    Life Revival spread to cover a five kilometer radius around Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain.

    Almost every Qi warrior that was close to Nie Tian got to personally feel the wonders of Life Revival, and benefit from the green aura it created.

    The closer they were to Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, the richer the aura was, and the more they benefited.

    God domain experts including Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Master Blood Spirit, and Xie Qian, along with Saint domain experts, sat silently around Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain in the lotus position. They would take deep breaths from time to time as they refined medicinal pills and spiritual materials of their respective attributes.

    Wisps of emerald green aura that contained refined wood power would pour in through their mouths and noses.

    Such wood power seemed to be able to nourish all things. Whether it was their bodies, spiritual seas, or seas of awareness, as soon as they were infused with such power that carried the profound truths of life, they would have life force awakened within them.

    An open wound on Mo Qianfan¡¯s left arm gradually scabbed over.

    Xie Qian had suffered a heavy blow to his abdomen while fighting a Bonebrute grand patriarch, causingsting severe pain in his internal organs. But now that he was bathed in the aura filled with rich life force, that pain was greatly relieved.

    The other Qi warriors also recovered from their respective injuries at a shocking speed.

    Most humans, except hybrids and people like Yin Yanan who practiced body refinement incantations, were physically feeble.

    Humans had to envelop themselves in spiritual power shields or their domains during battle, so that outsiders and Ancientspirits wouldn¡¯t be able to touch their most vulnerable fleshly bodies.

    If they sustained fleshly injuries, their recovery would be understandably far slower than that of outsiders, who were born with tough bodies.

    Therefore, once they were physically injured, it would usually take them a long time to recover with medicinal pills and spiritual materials.

    But now, after Nie Tian had cast Life Revival, each and every human cultivator around him was recovering rapidly. Even their chronic diseases seemed to be healing.

    The speed at which they refined spirit crystals and medicinal pills was also improved to a great extent.

    Plus, with their souls calmed and fire of wisdom kindled, they were now able to derive new enlightenment as they reviewed the difficult points they had encountered with certain incantations.

    Their bodies, souls, and wisdom all benefited when they were enveloped in Life Revival.

    Up in the sky.

    Dressed in ck robes, Dong Li was surrounded by a pitch ck aureole. Like a dark goddess, she looked down and watched Nie Tian¡¯s followers heal and benefit from his wondrous bloodline magic.

    Spatial fluctuations suddenly spread out from a berthed ancient starship in the distance.

    Elder Ye Wenhan of the Heaven Span Pavilion walked out of the teleportation portal in the ancient starship.

    Upon flying out, he scanned his surroundings with his divine sense, and found that there wasn¡¯t a single Qi warrior on the ancient starships that were berthed here.

    Surprised, he gazed down with rapt attention. Only then did he notice Nie Tian and the Qi warriors gathered around him.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Ye Wenhan flew into the area enveloped in Nie Tian¡¯s Life Revival, and immediately felt soothed. Even his hidden injuries grew itchy and started to heal.

    He couldn¡¯t help but exim. ¡°Such amazing power!¡±

    Then, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Congrattions, Nie Tian! I just heard that you¡¯d broken through into the Saint domain ande to the Domain of Heaven Span. Now, since some internal conflicts broke out between the Ancientspirits and outsiders, and they¡¯ve stopped attacking us, we can finally catch a breath.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because Fata, the young Floragrim lord, was imprisoned by the Demons and Bonebrutes, right?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°Right. The Demons and Bonebrutes seem to have had a falling out with Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims. The Ancientspirits, who are close to Grand Monarch Life Wood, have chosen to side with the Floragrims. After all, Fata is Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s son, and carries a unique bloodline.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and asked, ¡°Did youe here just to tell me this, Senior Ye? I met Grand Monarch Primal Wood not long ago. I already know this.¡±

    Ye Wenhan assumed a serious expression and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m actually here to invite you two to the Heaven Span Pavilion. We have some important issues to discuss. We¡¯re in a temporary ceasefire because of the internal conflicts between the Ancientspirits and outsiders. However, since many realms in the Spirit World are still perishing, our war isn¡¯t going to end just yet.

    ¡°Therefore, I¡¯m inviting you to the Heaven Span Pavilion so that we can meet and talk about our next move, and how we should fight our future battles against them.¡± With a pause, he turned to Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re invited as well.¡±

    All leaders of the major sects and God domain experts were invited to the meeting.

    Originally, Dong Li had been deemed to be unqualified to participate in the meeting. However, in light of her recent outstanding performance at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Fan Tianze had demanded that she take part as well.

    ¡°Alright,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go back first? We¡¯ll be there shortly.¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded.

    After he left, Nie Tian maintained Life Revival and secretly released his bloodline power to examine how his followers were recovering.

    Only after he sensed that most of them had healed with the help of his Life Revival did he cancel it.

    Then, he left for the Heaven Span Pavilion with Dong Li, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan through teleportation portals.

    ...

    In the Realm of Heaven Span.

    Lofty and magnificent pavilions pierced into the clouds like enormous swords.

    One of them was exceptionally lofty. Surrounded by the other pavilions like the moon being surrounded by stars, it stood out like a crane in a flock of chickens.

    It seemed to have countless floors that pilled all the way up to the depths of the heavens.

    At this moment, many were gathered on the spacious top floor. All of them were important figures that could cause major stirs throughout the human domains with mere stomps of their feet.

    Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, Ji Yuanquan, Pei Qiqi, Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect, Dou Tianchen, Fang Yuan, Zu Guangyao, Shang Li, He Lianxiong...

    Leaders of renowned human sects and different advanced human domains like Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling, who were at thete Saint domain, were also among those present.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± As someone eximed, many of the powerful experts that were gathered here subconsciously turned their eyes and saw the new arrivals.

    Those who were close friends with Nie Tian, like Huang Jinnan and Fang Yuan, called out in tion, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve entered the Saint domain, Nie Tian!¡±

    Some Saint domain experts from advanced human domains quietly examined the ck-garbed Dong Li, who stood with an imposing manner, and whispered to each other, ¡°Is that Dong Li? It¡¯s said that she defeated Grand Monarch Chaos Demon and Ophelia, forcing them to pull out of the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s only at the Void domain. What made her so powerful?¡±

    ¡°Pei Qiqi has already shocked us with her battle prowess, and now this woman too. The women the seventh Son of the Stars has by his side are simply amazing.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a small ce that I¡¯ve never heard of like the Domain of the Falling Stars produced three such brilliant Qi warriors at the same time!¡±

    Discussions went on among those who were present.

    Since some important people still hadn¡¯t arrived, this meeting in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters had to wait.

    Nie Tian then went to talk with Hou Chn, Huang Jinnan, Fang Yuan, and others he knew well. From them, he learned the situation of the battles that had taken ce in different parts of the Domain of Heaven Span, and the identities of those here who he found unfamiliar.

    ¡°Nie Tian, right? I¡¯m...¡±

    During that time, manyte Saint domain experts who hadn¡¯t met Nie Tian before leaned in and cottoned up to him.

    Not just Nie Tian; even Dong Li was soon surrounded by cozying experts.

    ¡°Godmaker! That¡¯s the one who worked miracles over and over! It was all thanks to him that Mo Qianfan, Zu Guangyao, and Dou Tianchen were able to break through into the God domain! It¡¯s said that Patriarch Yin from the Streamcloud Sword Sect is also preparing for his breakthrough into the God domain, and he only dares to make his attempt now because of him!¡±

    ¡°Wow! Making God domain experts!¡±

    ¡°If I can win his favor and enter the God domain with his help, I¡¯ll be willing to take orders from him as Mo Qianfan does! But...¡±

    Many whispered on and on.

    All of a sudden, Shang Li from the Heaven Span Pavilion eximed softly to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say.¡±

    Fan Tianze, the convener of this meeting, was surprised, and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    Ye Wenhan was also puzzled.

    ¡°Not long ago, You Qimiao, the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, suddenly announced that he was going to make his attempt to advance to thete God domain,¡± Shang Li said in a loud voice. ¡°After probing through various means, I learned that he acquired Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir from a secret ce.

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡± Some who knew the wonders of the elixir eximed, their expressions flickering in astonishment.

    ¡°Some of you might not know what Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir is. Allow me to exin...¡± Shang Li went on and exined the wondrous use of the elixir. Then, he added, ¡°Since it can be used to cleanse people¡¯s souls, it¡¯s extremely helpful to those who wish to break through into the early, middle, orte God domain!

    ¡°That¡¯s why You Qimiao announced that he¡¯d enter secluded cultivation to break through into thete God domain upon returning with some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!

    ¡°From what I¡¯ve learned, his chance at seeding is greatly improved by that elixir!¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s eyes shone with veiled desire as he spoke.

    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of you saying all this, Shang Li?¡± Ye Wenhan asked with a frown. ¡°You Qimiao has long since gone rogue. If we weren¡¯t facing threats from the outsiders and Ancientspirits, we would have marched down to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to talk it out with him.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m only telling you about the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir because I have another piece of news.¡± With these words, Shang Li¡¯s eyes glittered as he suddenly turned to fix his eyes on Dong Li. ¡°I learned that some of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir You Qimiao got from his trip is in thisdy¡¯s possession.¡±

    Dong Li frowned.

    With a zing look in his eyes, Shang Li said, ¡°If used properly, Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir can make God domain experts within a short time. Experts like you, Elder Ye, Elder Fan, and Senior Chu can all benefit from it! Even those of you who are at thete Saint domain can break through to the God domain with its help!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face dropped.

 Chapter 1436: Who Do You Think You Are?

    Upon returning from the Void World, You Qimiao had fulfilled his promise and given Pei Qiqi Nie Tian¡¯s and her share of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and soul crystals.

    Considering that Nie Tian had been focused on his cultivation in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Pei Qiqi had left all of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and soul crystals in Dong Li¡¯s hands.

    It hadn¡¯t urred to Nie Tian to ask about the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, since he was only at the early Saint domain, and didn¡¯t need it for the time being.

    Now, all of a sudden, Shang Li from the Heaven Span Pavilion came out and said everything about the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and its wonders. This upset him deeply.

    Even now, Shang Li was still going on. ¡°You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect is trying to break through into thete God domain with the help of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. Once he seeds, things might getplicated.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi and Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society, Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect, and Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. None of these God domain experts have joined the battles in the Domain of Heaven Span. If all of them make breakthroughs in cultivation with the help of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, it¡¯ll probably change thendscape of our world.¡±

    With these words, he stopped and cast worried nces at Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, and the other major leaders.

    Many experts, who had been excited a moment ago, seemed to be suddenly brought back to cold reality.

    Even Fan Tianze and Chu Rui frowned deeply after hearing his words.

    Ji Cang, Qu Yi, and all of the other peak human experts were currently away from the Mortal World. If rogue God domain cultivators like You Qimiao and Shangguan Zhi made breakthroughs in their cultivation at this moment, would it be destructive to the humans?

    After all, some of those experts, including Jiang Yuanchi and You Qimiao, had attacked the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce not long ago in an attempt to divide itsnds.

    Now, when none of the peak human experts were around, who would be able to contain You Qimiao if he advanced to thete God domain?

    As for Jiang Yuanchi, he had even colluded with Gupi to massacre humans in various domains.

    Only after a while did Fan Tianze let out a breath of air and say, ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir... I¡¯ve heard about it, but it¡¯s not something we can find in our world.¡±

    Shang Li further raised his voice and said with all righteousness, ¡°Nie Tian, Miss Dong, I hope you can put the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir you¡¯ve obtained from You Qimiao to good use in this perilous time. We need more God domain experts, and we need our current God domain experts to be stronger! I think it¡¯s crucial that we improve our strength as much as we can while the Ancientspirits and outsiders are having an internal struggle!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned and nodded. ¡°Well-said.¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You agree?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s grin grew wider. ¡°Of course I do. It¡¯ll be very helpful for our future battles against the Ancientspirits and outsiders if we make more and stronger God domain experts with Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. Why wouldn¡¯t I agree?¡±

    ¡°So your Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir...¡± Shang Li said.

    Nie Tian turned to Dong Li and asked, ¡°How much Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir do we have? Let me see. Those of us who are ready to make new advances in their cultivation are Master Blood Spirit, Xie Qian, and Senior Yu Suying. Senior Mo Qianfan has only advanced to the early God domain recently. I doubt that the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir will help him make another breakthrough soon.

    ¡°Oh right, Senior Yin Xingtian is already making his attempt to advance to the early God domain, and he didn¡¯t ask for any spiritual materials, so he doesn¡¯t need the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir either.

    ¡°Also, I promised that I¡¯d try my best to help Senior Han Qing from the Profound Purity Pce advance to the early God domain. Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir happens to be what she needs, since she can use some to cleanse her soul and ready herself for her breakthrough.

    ¡°Would you remind me who else on my side is at thete Saint domain or the God domain?¡±

    Dong Li had been rather grim at first, her pitch-ck pupils exuding a dangerous aura.

    However, as Nie Tianbed through their situation and how they could put their Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to use, her furrowed brow gradually rxed. A hint of a smile appeared on her lips as she said, ¡°I think Grand Elder Mo Heng might also need Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. He said himself that it probably won¡¯t be long before hees back.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce breathed heavily, her eyes glittering with the light of excitement.

    She hadn¡¯t known much about Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. Only after hearing Shang Li¡¯s words did she realize how precious it was, and how vastly helpful it would be to her and her junior martial sister Han Qing.

    Judging from what Nie Tian had just said, he was nning on granting them some of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir that had been taken from the Void World to help her break through into the middle God domain, and her junior martial sister to break through into the early God domain. How could she not be thrilled?

    ¡°What a wise decision I¡¯ve made!¡± She suddenly felt that her decision to break up with the Shadow Society, Jade Heaven Sect, and Realm of Looming Shadow and join Nie Tian¡¯s force had been one of the wisest decisions she had made in her life.

    ¡°Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and many other subordinates of his will be bestowed Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir?!¡±

    Powerful experts from various advanced domains couldn¡¯t help but felt envious after hearing the conversation between Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    A strange look appeared on Shang Li¡¯s face as he saw Nie Tian and Dong Li so easily decide who the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir would go to. ¡°Umm... Well, I think something as precious as Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir is better given to those who¡¯ll make a difference. Perhaps we can only turn the situation around if we can makete God domain experts with it.¡±

    Laughing derisively, Nie Tian said with a sharp look in his eyes, ¡°You think? Who do you think you are? I risked my life to obtain and take it back from another heaven and earth. Do I need your approval to decide how I¡¯ll use it?¡±

    Shang Li¡¯s face stiffened. ¡°I¡¯m suggesting this for the good of humanity!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Nie Tianughed. ¡°Do you harbor the thought that since you¡¯re at thete Saint domain, you might be able to advance to the God domain if you can get some of my Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir? Or do you want me to hand over all of my Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to the four great sects so they can decide how to divide it together?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± Shang Li defended himself.

    ¡°As you said yourself, we¡¯re not the only ones who have Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has more than we do.¡± With these words, Nie Tian picked his ear in azy manner and casually flicked his finger towards Shang Li. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go find him and ask him to give you some of his Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir so you can divide it the way you want?

    ¡°He schemed against us, and hasn¡¯t shown up to fight in the Domain of Heaven Span anyway.

    ¡°You¡¯ll have justice on your side if you go after him right now.¡±

    The disgust on Nie Tian¡¯s face and the mockery in his eyes were unveiled.

    Shang Li, who had apulsive need for neatness, turned his shoulder to avoid what might be flying at him, then said coldly, ¡°Of course we¡¯ll hold You Qimiao ountable for his deeds! But that¡¯ll have to wait for the situation to stabilize!¡±

    Nie Tian finally lost his patience. ¡°Senior Fan, do you think it¡¯s appropriate for this moron to talk such nonsense in this meeting? How was someone like him taken in as one of your sectmaster¡¯s stepsons? If everyone from your sect is so ignorant, then I see no meaning in fighting this war against the Ancientspirits and outsiders anymore.¡±

    Even He Lianxiong, who was also a stepson of Chu Yuan and had always detested Nie Tian, wouldn¡¯t have thought as wishfully as Shang Li did.

    Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir was invaluable. However, Shang Li assumed that Nie Tian should give it away to the most fit recipients so they could make more or stronger God domain experts.

    ¡°How dare you call me a moron, Nie Tian?¡± Shang Li said with a cold expression.

    Their conflict gave Fan Tianze a headache. He cast Shang Li a nasty look and said, ¡°Shut up.¡±

    Then, he flicked his sleeve, and overwhelming sword intent enveloped Shang Li like a cage. ¡°You need to leave the meeting and go reflect on your behavior in your quarters.¡±

    With a ssh, Shang Li was taken away by a strong force.

    Nie Tian looked up in the direction Shang Li had just disappeared and said, ¡°I heard that someone came after our domains right after our hard-fought battles against the Demons in the Dead Star Sea. Now, the internal strife between the Floragrims and the Demons and Bonebrutes has given us a chance to catch our breath. It¡¯ll beughable if we get into internal strife ourselves because of someone like him.¡±

    ¡°What an ignorant fool.¡± Pei Qiqi said with an expressionless face.

    Fan Tianze cleared his throat. ¡°Alright, Shang Li¡¯s cultivation talent is quite outstanding, but he has a one-track mind. Forget what he said, Nie Tian.¡±

    Nie Tian represented the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, while Pei Qiqi represented more than half of the Void Spirit Society.

    Those from the Five Elements Sect were also close to Nie Tian.

    Plus, many Saint domain experts had shown strong interest in making friends with Nie Tian.

    Fan Tianze was a smart man. He knew that the battles against the Ancientspirits and outsiders were taking ce in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    If he sided with Shang Li now, it might upset Nie Tian, and possibly lead to him pulling his forces out of the Domain of Heaven Span, which would then lead to significant changes. That was something he didn¡¯t want to see.

    Nie Tian pondered for a while, then said, ¡°I had a talk with Fata of the Floragrims not long ago. As some of you might have heard, the Seven-star Blue Sea in my Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries has another name: the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and it leads to a whole other world that¡¯s called the Void World.¡±

    Many Saint domain experts present gasped in astonishment after hearing this for the first time.

    ¡°What? The Seven Stars Realm Sea connects to another world?¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another world other than the Spirit World and our world?¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded, as if to say that he knew about the existence of the Void World, and signalled for Nie Tian to go on.

    ¡°Now, the Spirit World is experiencing an upheaval. Many of the Ancientspirits and outsiders¡¯ realms are dying.¡± Nie Tian continued. ¡°Perhaps if we can persuade the Ancientspirits and outsiders to enter the Void World and establish footholds in realms that suit their needs, that¡¯ll solve our crisis.

    ¡°As for the Void World, their native races, including the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes, have been drooling over the Spirit World and our world.

    ¡°The Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir I got was from the Netherspirits. And I suppose there are many more precious treasures to be discovered in the Void World that we don¡¯t have in our world and the Spirit World, treasures that can help the Ancientspirits and outsiders strengthen their bloodlines, and help us seek breakthroughs in our cultivation.

    ¡°There¡¯s a gate to the Void World in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea that we can open for them.¡±

 Chapter 1437: Discussion

    WHOOSH!

    Dong Li took out a transparent ss vessel from within her ring of holding and showed it to everyone present. ¡°This is the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir we obtained from the Netherspirits in the Void World.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gazes immediately converged on the vessel.

    It was a ss bottle that was the size of a fist, filled with clear, sparkling liquid.

    With her jade-like finger, Dong Li gently opened the bottle.

    BOOM!

    Everyone present instantly felt a strong jolt to their true souls.

    One after another, their true souls rose out of their seas of awareness to float over their heads like ghosts, whose eyes were naturally fixed on the ss bottle that contained the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    Even Nie Tian was no exception.

    Cultivators gained the ability to separate their true souls from their fleshly bodies after entering the Profound realm.

    After they reached the Saint domain, their true souls could travel thousands of kilometers away from their fleshly bodies, and even attack enemies with profound soul magics.

    At this moment, everyone¡¯s true souls left their bodies just because Dong Li opened the ss bottle.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow examined the ss bottle in Dong Li¡¯s palm from afar. ¡°Such a wondrous aura. Even my true soul is feeling an overwhelming desire to refine it.¡±

    He discovered that his true soul yearned for the clear, sparkling liquid within the bottle.

    It seemed as if his true soul would be cleansed if he simply controlled it to enter the bottle, allowing his soul cultivation to instantly rise to a new level.

    PAH!

    Dong Liughed softly and closed the bottle.

    As soon as the bottle was recapped, one true soul after another calmed down due to losing their sense of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir¡¯s aura, and flew back to their fleshly bodies.

    Fan Tianze took a deep breath and sighed. ¡°The wonders of this universe are simply unpredictable. By merely smelling the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir¡¯s aura, I felt greatly soothed on a soul level. I firmly believe if I could cleanse my soul with it, it would be greatly helpful to my breakthrough into thete God domain.¡±

    ¡°I agree.¡± Chu Rui chimed in.

    Yu Suying¡¯s eyes also shone with the light of excitement.

    In a casual manner, Dong Li returned the bottle that held the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to her ring of holding, and then smiled like a hundred gorgeous flowers blooming. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll put this Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to good use. If you also want some, you¡¯re wee to enter the Void World and take it from the Netherspirits there.

    ¡°And perhaps You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect still has some left.¡±

    Nie Tian cleared his throat to catch everyone¡¯s attention, then said, ¡°However, what I really want to tell you is that even though we don¡¯t have such wondrous things as Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir in our world or the Spirit World, the Void World might have them inrge numbers.

    ¡°Both Jiang Yuanchi from the Shadow Society and You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect entered the Void World to seek what they truly wanted!

    ¡°While You Qimiao returned with Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, Jiang Yuanchi is still in the Void World, looking for whatever he¡¯s after.¡±

    Pei Qiqi joined the conversation. ¡°We can enter and exit the Void World through the Seven Stars Realm Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. If we can persuade the Ancientspirits, the Floragrims, and perhaps other minor outsider races to march into the Void World with us, I¡¯ll figure out a way to activate the portal and let them through.¡±

    Then, after a short pause, she added, ¡°Of course, if you yearn for Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and want to explore the Void World, I can make that happen too.¡±

    Just like this, Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi fueled the desires of those present.

    After they finished, many Saint domain experts breathed heavily, looking deeply intrigued.

    Even the eyes of God domain experts, including Fan Tianze, Ye Wenhan, and Chu Rui, burst forth with glorious light, as if they were seriously considering Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi¡¯s proposal: march into the Void World!

    After a long while, Ye Wenhan said, ¡°If we want to enter the Void World, we¡¯ll have to solve our current problem first: the invasion of the Domain of Heaven Span. Only if we can persuade the Ancientspirits and the outsiders that are seeking to establish footholds in our world to march into the Void World with us will we be able to do it without fear of being attacked from behind.¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded. ¡°Also, we need to learn more about the Void World.¡±

    ¡°Titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons...¡± Nie Tian whispered to himself before suddenly realizing something. ¡°Perhaps I should go have a talk with the Ancientspirits. If I can persuade them, then it¡¯ll most likely put an end to this war.¡±

    Astonished, Fan Tianze asked, ¡°You want to go talk with the Ancientspirits?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that, Nie Tian! That¡¯s too great a risk!¡± Chu Rui shouted. ¡°You should know that you¡¯re the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes¡¯ primary target now! They probably want to kill you even more than God domain experts like me!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right, Nie Tian,¡± Fan Tianze said with a serious expression.

    ¡°They really are looking to kill you,¡± Hou Chn from the Five Elements Sect also said with all seriousness. ¡°ording to the information I obtained, you and Pei Qiqi are at the top of the list of humans that the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes want to kill. They¡¯ll kill you at all costs, even if it¡¯s the deaths of multiple grand patriarchs!¡±

    Huang Jinnan chimed in. ¡°Some grand monarchs have even said that they¡¯re willing to risk the destruction of their fleshly bodies, as long as they can kill you.¡±

    Even if grand monarchs¡¯ fleshly bodies perished, they could be reborn with the Blood Essence that was kept in their ns, so it wouldn¡¯t be death in a real sense.

    Even so, the resurrection process would be full of difficulties, and might take tens of thousands of years and perhaps even more toplete. During the process, their nsmen would have to provide them a tremendous amount of flesh power.

    Nie Tian rubbed his nose andughed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve be so important. However, I¡¯ve made my decision. I¡¯ll go to the Ancientspirits and have a thorough talk with their leaders. Titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons all have a certain connection with me.¡±

    Titan¡¯s Wrath and the Illusory Ancient Talisman, which he had learned from that magicalnd, hade from the titans.

    On that floating continent, he had provided the ice phoenixes with help. Other than that, Agaz¡¯s older brother had talked to him.

    ¡°That¡¯ll be far too risky! Don¡¯t do it!¡± Chu Rui said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly said to Nie Tian. ¡°Even though I can¡¯t promise that I¡¯ll be able to take you back safely with my Space Boundaries Crystal, I¡¯ll try my best.¡±

    They would be facing multiple Ancientspirit grand monarchs. As powerful as Pei Qiqi was, she wasn¡¯t sure that she would be able to travel freely in the area controlled by powerful Ancientspirit experts.

    ¡°Just take me there. Leave the rest to me.¡± With these words, Nie Tian pondered briefly, and then turned to Chu Rui and Fan Tianze and said, ¡°Originally, I wanted to ask Fata of the Floragrims to exin my stance to the Ancientspirits. But who would have thought that he would be suddenly held hostage by the Demons and Bonebrutes?

    ¡°In this case, I can only take a trip myself. Perhaps the Ancientspirits won¡¯t harm me for the sake of our previous association.¡±

    ¡°Ancientspirits...¡± Fan Tianze pondered. ¡°How about this: you wait here while I go talk to Chatvic in person first?¡±

    ¡°Chatvic? The ancient god-level titan that we met in the Shatter Battlefield?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Fan Tianze nodded slowly. ¡°That¡¯s right. He was very curious about you. Even when we fought on the battlefield, he had said how wondrous your bloodline was on several asions, and mentioned that your bloodline might have something to do with theirs.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Well, my connection with them might not be on the bloodline level.¡±

    ¡°Anyways, wait for word from me!¡± Fan Tianze said with unquestionable decisiveness. Nie Tian pondered for a brief moment, then nodded.

    Only after seeing this did Fan Tianze continue, ¡°Your proposal about the Void World has given us a new direction.¡±

    ¡°If the Ancientspirits actually agree to your proposal, then the crisis of our domain and even the entire human world will be solved.¡±

    After hearing these words, everyone started looking at Nie Tian differently.

    Chu Rui jumped in and said, ¡°Also, the Seven Stars Realm Sea is in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, which belongs to Nie Tian. If this actually works out, Nie Tian¡¯s contribution will be greater than anyone else¡¯s. Do you agree?¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded. ¡°Of course. I just hope the Ancientspirits will have a strong interest in this proposal.¡±

    After pondering for a while, Pei Qiqi from the Void Spirit Society said, ¡°How about we talk to the Ancientspirits and set up a meeting in a mutual location, and see if they want toe and talk to Nie Tian? Let¡¯s find out what their attitude is first.¡±

    Fan Tianze took a moment to consider her suggestion, then said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    ¡°I can take you to the area where the Ancientspirits are gathered,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°If some of the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons know you personally, they might agree to meet.¡±

    ¡°Sure." Fan Tianze agreed.

    The two of them then prepared for departure.

    Just like this, this important meeting between the leaders of the human forces from various domains came to an end because of Nie Tian¡¯s proposal before all the attendants could even arrive.

    Soon, Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal and vanished with Fan Tianze.

    Everyone else waited, hoping they would return with good news.

    Experts from across the human world hade to join this hard-fought war. They had suffered greater casualties than the outsiders, and thus wished it to be over soon.

    While everyone waited, Shang Li from the Heaven Span Pavilion became theirughingstock.

    As they cozied up to Nie Tian and Dong Li, they would often say that Shang Li had shown extraordinary cultivation talent since he had been little. However, he had alwayscked worldly wisdom, and thus was usually instigated by his followers to do ignorant things.

    Many, including Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling, expressed their desire for Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir both overtly and covertly.

    They expressed that they would be willing to do anything if they could have a few drops of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and enter the God domain with its help.

    That included joining Nie Tian¡¯s service while dering to be his allies as Xie Qian had, which would effectively attach their sects to Nie Tian, this war chariot that was quickly charging forward.

    However, Dong Li eventually refused their offers after serious consideration.

 Chapter 1438: A Lobbying Trip

    In the southwest part of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    A dozen realms were scattered in a fan-shaped area, with enormous beings floating outside of each of them.

    Upon closer look, one could see that those enormous beings were either dragons, qilins, phoenixes, or titans.

    All of them were at the eighth grade or higher. Some were even at the tenth grade.

    Even though the Ancientspirits had sacked these realms, they were so huge that these realms couldn¡¯t contain all of them.

    Since those with lower bloodline grades couldn¡¯t protect themselves in the starry river, the stronger ones had to jam up the areas outside the realms, while the weaker ones were arranged to stay in the realms so they weren¡¯t harmed by the chaotic and impure energies in the starry river.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift suddenly split open.

    ROAR!

    HOWL!

    Many of the powerful titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts that were resting in the vicinity were awoken.

    Theirntern-sized, blood-red eyes opened one after another in the dim starry river.

    At the same time, their flesh auras that were as immense as the sea burst forth like erupting volcanoes, making it difficult to even breathe.

    Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion flew out of the spatial rift. Casting a sharp gaze at the area where the titans were gathered, he eximed, ¡°Chatvic!¡±

    ¡°Present.¡±

    A figure that was asrge as a mountain peak flew over with a loud whoosh, and arrived in front of Fan Tianze in the blink of an eye. Exuding an ancient aura, he said in the humannguage, ¡°Did youe here by yourself to start new battles? Do you think we¡¯re afraid of you?¡±

    BOOM!

    His immense flesh aura sea instantly burst forth from within him, and terrifyingly strong auras poured into his surroundings like invisible rivers.

    Pei Qiqi had juste out of the spatial rift at this moment. Her spatial bloodline shone with strange light as the independent spaces within her acupoints were nearly crushed by Chatvic¡¯s expanding flesh aura sea.

    Gasping in shock, she hastily stimted her bloodline and spun the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Currents that were somehow connected to different spaces rapidly wrapped around her.

    In the next moment, she seemed to retreat from this area, and started shuttling between different spaces.

    By doing that, she managed to escape the impact of Chatvic¡¯s explosive flesh aura.

    Standing unwavering in his flesh aura sea, Fan Tianze said, ¡°You wanted to see Nie Tian in the Shatter Battlefield. Now, he¡¯se over from his domains and expressed his intention to discuss a major issue with you, the dragons, and the Ancientbeasts. He already talked to Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims not long ago.¡±

    Some dragons and Ancientbeasts in the vicinity roared with surprise in the humannguage upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s name.

    ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood? He doesn¡¯t represent the Floragrims. We only agreed to join up with them to give Grand Monarch Life Wood face.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    This area of the starry river almost copsed under their rumbling roars.

    Chatvic went nk for a moment before suddenly realizing who Nie Tian was and saying, ¡°Nie Tian, I remember him! He¡¯s the hybrid who carries a very strange aura and can cast our secret magics! He wants to talk to us? My people, the dragons, and the Ancientbeasts?¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded.

    Chatvic then turned his enormous body towards the areas where the Ancientbeasts and the dragons were gathered, and asked in the Ancientspirits¡¯nguage, ¡°What do you think?¡±

    In the area where the dragons were gathered, Felix, Agaz¡¯s older brother, was the first to give his answer. ¡°Sure.¡±

    In the area where the Ancientbeasts were gathered, Ste, a ninth grade ice phoenix, whispered what Nie Tian had done on the floating continent to a few beside her.

    Soon, she gave their answer. ¡°We agree to talk.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    In her true form, Ste fluttered her shiny icy wings in an elegant manner and rapidly flew to Chatvic¡¯s side. Upon seeing Pei Qiqi, she said in the humannguage, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to rise to such heights. I realized that you were different upon seeing you for the first time. That¡¯s why I took you to the Shatter Battlefield, but I never expected you to be as powerful as you are now.¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s ethereal voice echoed from within the mysterious currents that enveloped her. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be who I am today if you hadn¡¯t taken me to the Shatter Battlefield from the Realm of Maelstrom. That¡¯s why I only fought Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes in these battles, but left your people alone.¡±

    Ste fell silent.

    ¡°Since they all agree to meet, I¡¯ll bring Nie Tian here right now,¡± Pei Qiqi said to Fan Tianze.

    Fan Tianze frowned slightly. ¡°Meet here?¡±

    As he spread his soul awareness into his surroundings, he could sense many mighty flesh auras in the nearby realms, which clearly belonged to tenth grade Ancientspirit experts.

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°It should be fine. Since they¡¯ve agreed to meet and talk, I think it¡¯s unnecessary to assign another location. Unlike the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, the Ancientspirits normally wouldn¡¯t stoop so low as to use schemes. I really doubt that they¡¯ll seal this space after Nie Tian gets here and try to kill us.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Fan Tianze nodded and said, ¡°Alright.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Without any hesitation, Pei Qiqi blurred into action and disappeared into the spatial rift.

    On the central square in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Nie Tian, are you sure that things will work out with the Ancientspirits?¡± Fang Yuan asked with a knitted brow. ¡°We¡¯ve had prolonged battles against them in the Domain of Heaven Span. Some of their experts died because of us. I¡¯m worried that...¡±

    Interracial wars were never mild. Death was always the theme.

    Even before marching into the Domain of Heaven Span, the Ancientspirits, along with the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, had butchered arge number of humans in the Realm of Remote Heaven and many other realms they had crossed.

    For this reason, when they had arrived in the Domain of Heaven Span, the human experts had shown no mercy to them either.

    Many eighth and ninth grade titans had been in. Ancientbeast starships had exploded in the starry river, causing the deaths of numerous low-grade Ancientbeasts.

    Some dragons had also been cornered and killed. Even their bones had been harvested.

    The fierce battles had caused heavy casualties to both the Ancientspirits and humans.

    At this sensitive moment, Nie Tian wanted to talk to the Ancientspirits. Wouldn¡¯t it be a bit too rash? Would the furious Ancientspirits rip him to shreds?

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi returned, which happened sooner than anyone had expected. ¡°Come, Nie Tian. The Ancientspirits have agreed to meet you.

    ¡°Chatvic has agreed to talk, as have the Ancientbeasts and the dragons. Seeing their attitude, I doubt that they¡¯ll try to kill you in their gathering ce, so I took it upon myself to make it your meeting location.¡±

    Upon hearing this, everyone advised against it. Dong Li was especially worried and against it.

    However, Nie Tian nodded vigorously and said, ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡±

    FZZZ!

    Momentster, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi arrived in the area where the Ancientspirits were gathered.

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian felt a sudden jolt to his bloodline, and his heart started pounding heavily.

    Wisps of extremely rich flesh power converged on him from all directions!

    After taking a moment to examine them with his life bloodline, he quickly realized that several tenth grade Ancientspirit experts were examining him with wisps of their profound flesh auras.

    Those flesh auras belonged to titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons.

    Chatvic suddenly fixed his enormous eyes that looked like two glowing spheres on him.

    The pressure Nie Tian was feeling instantly multiplied.

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone naturally flew out and manifested an aura that was unique to the Star Behemoths of the Primal Era, as if it were trying to intimidate something by baring its fangs and brandishing its ws.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Many Ancientbeasts, dragons, and titans in the vicinity let out astonished exmations from the dark.

    In their senses, that Star Behemoth bone seemed to suddenly turn into a colossal ancient creature that preyed on them!

    Fearful memories that were branded in the deepest part of their bloodlines seemed to be suddenly awakened, and started to grow clearer and clearer.

    Wisp after wisp of flesh aura that had converged on Nie Tian in attempts to figure out the wonders of his bloodline were shaken and quickly retrieved by the powerful Ancientspirits.

    Felix of the dragons flew over in the form of a thousand-meter-long me dragon. The crimson scales that covered his body burned fiercely, and released a significant amount of light and heat. ¡°Do you remember me, Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly and said in a sincere manner, ¡°I do. I hear that your world is going through great changes. That¡¯s why Agaz decided to return to your n to see how things are going. I suppose it won¡¯t be long before he returns to me.¡±

    Felix was taken aback. ¡°What? Agaz went back to our n? How did he return?¡±

    ¡°Through a portal left by your father ages ago,¡± Nie Tian answered. Then, he turned to Chatvic and said, ¡°I have some questions that I hope you can answer before we get to business.¡±

    Looking down at him like a heavenly god, Chatvic said in a mighty voice, ¡°Sure.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been to a magicalnd where many titans were buried,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I was able to learn some incantations from them, all of which proved very helpful. However, I¡¯m not sure whether those titans were dead or just dormant.¡±

    With these words, he summoned powers of different attributes that flowed within him.

    BOOM!

    He threw a punch towards Chatvic in the manner of Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    All of the high-grade titans in the vicinity, including Chatvic, were deeply shaken. Their bloodlines started seething.

    Wisp after wisp of surging flesh aura somehow flew out of the ninth and tenth grade titans and into Nie Tian¡¯s striking fist.

    This spell cast by Nie Tian seemed to be mighty enough to split the heavens and crush the earth. With it, he even seemed to poke a huge hole in the void.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    Because of this strike, many titans instinctively thumped their chests and let out raging roars.

 Chapter 1439: Besieged

    BOOM!

    With Nie Tian¡¯s punch, a brilliant hole instantly showed up.

    The hole gradually expanded. Streaks of fiery light shed inside it, emitting a cold deste aura.

    Pei Qiqi froze, and then said in surprise, ¡°It reaches all the way into the space disruption zone.¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    The flesh power flying out of the titans¡¯ bodies was still pouring into the hole, as if it were helping it widen.

    After howling, every powerful titan was in a daze.

    Even Chatvic found this unbelievable. ¡°My flesh aura is naturally aroused by his punch. The way he summoned power to throw that punch is clearly from the Ancient God Incantation of our race! Nie Tian, how did you learn the Ancient God Incantation? Where are those nsmen of ours that you mentioned earlier buried?¡±

    ¡°Not just titans, but there are me dragons¡¯ skeletons there too.¡± Nie Tian turned his head and looked at Felix, whose scales were as red as fire, saying, ¡°Eight me dragon skeletons created an unusual teleportation portal, and its key is on your younger brother Agaz. He is the only one who can get in and out of it.¡±

    Hearing his words, Felix of the me dragons was instantly shocked, ¡°My people too?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±

    Fan Tianze and Pei Qiqi both looked surprised.

    After hearing Nie Tian¡¯s words, more titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons in this part of the starry river took the initiative toe closer.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Chatvic¡¯s voice was deafening as he shouted, ¡°We¡¯re very interested in the world you¡¯re talking about. If possible, could you be more specific? Will you take us there to take a look?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t agree right away. Instead, he said, ¡°We can talk about thatter. I¡¯m here today to discuss another issue with you.¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Felix asked.

    ¡°Fata of the Floragrims has told me that many of your realms in the Spirit World are perishing ahead of time. There is nothing you can do about it, so you are forced to migrate from the Spirit World to establish footholds in realms that suit you in the human world.¡± As Nie Tian spoke, he noticed that the Ancientspirits¡¯ eyes grew grim.

    He continued, ¡°But in fact, the human world isn¡¯t your only choice. You... are aware of the existence of the Void World, right?¡±

    Hearing this, the huge eyes of Chatvic, Felix, and some Ancientspirits who had advanced bloodlines burst forth with unusual light.

    Obviously, they knew something about the Void World.

    Nie Tian spected that there was a high possibility that the most powerful grand monarchs of different races had already entered the Void World in advance, as thete God domain human experts had.

    Those grand monarchs had probably told them about the Void World right before their departure, or long before that.

    Chatvic hesitated before saying, ¡°Do you mean you want us to go to the Void World? How much do you know about the Void World? What have you discovered? Also, do you know that going to the Void World alsoes with a lot of dangers? Each of the Void World¡¯s three unusual races cannot be underestimated. Once the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes enter the Void World, they are likely to instantly turn traitor, driven and enved by the three unusual races there.¡±

    Felix sighed. ¡°We¡¯ve already thought about it, but the situation in the Void World is veryplicated. It¡¯s very surprising that you know about the Void World. But do you know that in our eyes, the Void World is much more frightening than your human world? It¡¯s much more difficult to survive in the Void World than to invade your human world.¡±

    Some Ancientbeasts chimed in from distant realms. ¡°Indeed, we¡¯d have to face more troubles in the Void World.¡±

    ¡°What if human experts joined your trip to the Void World?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Chatvic was stunned. ¡°Humans? We join hands with the humans?¡±

    A golden bird suddenly flew over from the ce where the Ancientbeasts were gathered. ¡°The vile humans have killed too many of our nsmen. We must not join hands with them!¡±

    Streaks of golden lightning sputtered from her feathered wings.

    She wasn¡¯t veryrge, not even a tenth of the size of the ice phoenix Ste, but the flesh aura from her body was even more terrifying than Ste¡¯s.

    Fan Tianze squinted slightly. ¡°A Golden-feathered Divine Finch of the Ancientbeasts, whose bloodline is at the tenth grade.¡±

    Looking at the golden bird, he said, ¡°You started this ughter. How many humans have you killed all the way from the Dead Star Sea to the Realm of Remote Heaven and the Domain of Heaven Span?¡±

    ¡°Human lives are worthless,¡± the Golden-feathered Divine Finch said in a shrill voice. ¡°Every death of our nsmen is a great loss to our Ancientspirits!¡±

    At the sight of her, the crystal icy eyes of the ice phoenix Ste were immediately filled with helplessness.

    Looking at the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, Chatvic and Felix seemed to be worried, as if they had known its bad temper.

    ¡°Our lives are worthless?¡± Fan Tianze looked coldly at the Golden-feathered Divine Finch and said, ¡°In my eyes, your life is worthless.¡±

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch was instantly infuriated. ¡°Fan Tianze! How dare you despise us?¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    She spread her wings, and brilliant golden electric lights that were densely intertwined together filled half of the starry river.

    Even Nie Tian was taken aback by her.

    The flesh power that the dense golden electric lights exuded was very terrifying, every bit as terrifying as that exuded by the mountainous Chatvic and the one-kilometer-long me dragon Felix.

    ¡°The middle tenth grade,¡± Pei Qiqi frowned, quietly shifted to Nie Tian¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°Do you want me to take you out of here? The Golden-feathered Divine Finch is known for its bad temper even among the Ancientspirits. The situation might have be a little tricky.¡±

    Nie Tianforted her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re having a secret meeting with the humans!¡± Just then, the growl of Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons sounded from another area, his scarlet flesh aura sea appearing immediately afterwards. ¡°We¡¯ve long agreed to carved up the human world together. What on earth do you want by secretly talking to them?¡±

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends also arrived. ¡°We¡¯d better besiege and kill these three humans first.¡±

    Then, Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones also flew over from two different directions, with gloomy expressions.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian and the others seemed to be besieged.

    Pei Qiq¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. Seeing the unfavorable situation, she prepared to turn the Space Boundaries Crystal and directly take Fan Tianze and Nie Tian away.

    However, as she activated her Space Boundaries Crystal, she suddenly found that the space was full of restrictions. ¡°It¡¯s the Phantasms¡¯ Wheel of Time and Space!¡±

    Fata looked up from the bone cage he was imprisoned in and sighed. ¡°Nie Tian... someone has divulged your arrival in advance.¡±

    Fan Tianze also saw through the situation. ¡°There¡¯s a traitor among us.¡±

    If no one had tipped them off, these grand monarchs of the Demons, Bonebrutes, and Fiends wouldn¡¯t have appeared so coincidentally in such a timely manner; they all emerged soon after the three of them came.

 Chapter 1440: Confrontation

    There had been a history of humans colluding with outsiders.

    Luo Wanxiang had colluded with the Phantasms in seeking to break through into thete God domain with the help of their famous Book of Spirits.

    Later, it had been proved that he had not only colluded with the Phantasms, but also established an even closer connection to the Netherspirits of the Void World. Through sacrificing countless souls, he had formed a soul bond with Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    Plus, he was a vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and a middle God domain expert.

    If someone like Luo Wanxiang existed, there might very well be other traitors among the humans.

    ¡°Who could it be?¡± Names started shing across Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    Fan Tianze and Pei Qiqi also realized that there were traitors among them as soon as they saw the arriving outsider grand monarchs.

    However, they didn¡¯t have time to think about that now. They had to focus on how to escape their current plight.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Blood Axe, Grand Monarch Withered Bones, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms.

    Among them, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind were at the middle tenth grade, and were themanders of the Demons, Fiends, Bonebrutes, and Phantasms in this invasion.

    While all these grand monarchs descended upon this area, Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Fata was taken here as a prisoner, as if they wanted to tell Nie Tian that all those who had made contact with him would share Fata¡¯s fate.

    ROAR!

    A furious dragon cry suddenly echoed out from the area where the dragons were gathered.

    An enormous silver-white dragon that was several timesrger than Felix flew over with a terrifying momentum and countless wisps of silver lightning slithering all over its body. ¡°Who are you to decide who we can or can¡¯t meet? Did you march down here together to hold us ountable for this?¡±

    BOOM!

    Like a winding mountain range, the dragon that was close to ten thousand meters long unleashed a heaven-shaking, earth-ripping aura.

    Large thunderballs seemed to be condensing within its silver scales, giving rise to violent rolls of thunder.

    ¡°Scotte!¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms eximed upon seeing this lightning dragon, strong apprehension appearing in the depths of his cyan pupils. ¡°Don¡¯t you forget that we made an agreement before invading the Mortal World!¡±

    Scotte was at the middle tenth grade. His status in the entire dragon race was second only to Agaz and Felix¡¯s father, Baptista the me dragon.

    Baptista, who was at thete tenth grade, was the chief of the me dragons, and also the high chieftain of the entire dragon race.

    Now, while Baptista was away, Scotte the lightning dragon led all dragons in his stead. He was known for his hot temper and mighty lightning bloodline, which made him the Phantasms¡¯ natural bane.

    Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t be able to overwhelm Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, or Grand Monarch Nether Channeler in battle. However, he would enjoy a significant natural advantage in battle against Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    Most of the Phantasms¡¯ bloodline magics were soul-rted, and would have notable effects when used on other Ancientspirits.

    However, they would bepletely useless to lightning dragons like Scotte.

    Not just that, but Scotte¡¯s lightning bloodline would make every Phantasm suffer.

    Once they were engulfed in this cranky old dragon¡¯s flesh aura sea, all of their soul magics and evil spirits would fail, and they would soon be annihted.

    Almost at the same time, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch shouted in a shrill voice, staring at the arriving outsider grand monarchs, ¡°This is between us and them. You¡¯re in no ce to tell me what to do!¡± It was as if her shiny golden feathers were going to turn into arrows and shoot off at every outsider grand monarch present.

    Seeing Scotte and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch¡¯s soaring fighting will, the outsider grand monarchs that had swarmed to this area felt a headache.

    As the current heads of the dragons and Ancientbeasts, the two of them were both hot-tempered and warlike.

    In their long history, they had often had frictions with the Ancientspirits when they weren¡¯t facing threats from the humans.

    Scotte and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch were opponents they had fought many times. Every outsider grand monarch present had fought the two of them at least once.

    Therefore, they were well-aware of how terrifyingly mighty their lightning-filling flesh aura sea and all-prating golden feathers were.

    WHOOSH!

    The Titans also rallied behind Chatvic.

    Like mountain peaks, they seemed to fill up this area of the starry river.

    Except the Golden-feathered Divine Finch of the Ancientbeasts, all of these titans and dragons were incrediblyrge. Even Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who was in his Ancestral Awakening form, was far smaller inparison.

    Perhaps these Ancientspirit experts¡¯ collective strength wasn¡¯t as high as that of the outsider grand monarchs.

    However, they seemed to be the stronger side.

    ¡°Umm...¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback, as he had never expected that these Ancientspirit experts would draw their swords and bend their bows (Idiom: enter a state of mutual hostility) against the suddenly-arriving outsider grand monarchs. Now, from the look of it, a battle might very well break out if someone made an offment.

    The corners of Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouth moved slightly, and wisps of a subtle voice echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s ears. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Ancientspirits have never truly united with the outsiders, we would have lost the Domain of Heaven Span long ago. They even fought a few small-scale battles just before marching into our world together.

    ¡°They fought each other even more frequently than they fought us. If the Spirit World weren¡¯t going through major changes, they wouldn¡¯t possibly have joined together. Even after forming a union and marching into the Domain of Heaven Span, they had many differences regarding which areas to attack.

    ¡°Plus, they refused to aid each other in battle. Instead, they just fought their own battles.¡±

    Nie Tian was suddenly enlightened after hearing her exnation. He finally realized why such arge number of grand monarchs had failed to force the Heaven Span Pavilion out of the Domain of Heaven Span within a short period of time, which they should have been able to do, given how much stronger they were than the human experts.

    Chatvic nced around, and then asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Grand Monarch Primal Wood? We only agreed to join this invasion because of the Floragrims, and he¡¯s the one who persuaded us to do so. Get him here. We want to talk to him!¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust pointed at Nie Tian and said, ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood had a secret talk with this Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce not long ago. We believe he¡¯s at odds with us on many issues, so it¡¯s no longer fit for him to be our middle man.¡±

    ¡°They attacked Grand Monarch Primal Wood together,¡± Fata said with difficulty. ¡°Now, he¡¯s heavily injured.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    Chatvic gasped with shock. ¡°What?! You attacked Grand Monarch Primal Wood together? If you attacked and injured him, then the Floragrims...¡±

    ¡°Since they¡¯ve betrayed us, it¡¯s only right that they be removed from our alliance,¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust said with a vicious expression. ¡°That Floragrim grand monarch helped this Son of the Stars, which led to Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Withered Bones¡¯ failure to breach the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s defensive line!¡±

    ¡°How are you sure that Grand Monarch Primal Wood helped him?¡± Chatvic asked.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe jumped out and shouted, ¡°This Son of the Stars was basically exhausted when he suddenly received Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s flesh power and wood power! That was Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s power. I couldn¡¯t have been mistaken! Since he¡¯s helped the humans, neither him nor his people deserve to be one of us anymore.¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust licked a corner of his mouth and said coldly, ¡°That means they won¡¯t be entitled to a domain to establish their foothold after we win this war against the humans. They¡¯ll perish with the Spirit World.¡±

    Apparently, all of these outsider grand monarchs had reached an agreement on this, as they all condemned the Floragrims.

    Fata simply sagged his head, too weak to argue.

    Wisps of pale-gray death power quietly exuded from the bone cage that contained him, and slowly devoured his flesh power.

    He knew that even if these powerful experts didn¡¯t do anything, this cage would kill him eventually.

    ¡°Father isn¡¯t here. If he were, these Ancientspirit grand monarchs would definitely do everything within their power to protect me.¡± Sorrow filled his heart. All he had done was try to find a peaceful solution to their crisis, so that the Ancientspirits, the outsiders, and the humans would be able to stop killing each other.

    He didn¡¯t want to see people of different races die for the survival of their races, their blood flowing into rivers and their corpses piling into mountains.

    However, too many things were out of his hands, and he couldn¡¯t make things go in the direction he wanted.

    ¡°Release Fata,¡± Scotte the lightning dragon said. A dangerous aura could be seen in the depths of his shiny silver eyes as lightning started to appear in his increasingly heavy breaths. ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood has healed and saved me before. I have to keep his son safe!¡±

 Chapter 1441: The Mysterious Floating Continent

    Scotte¡¯s furious roar seemed to ignite the old enmity that had built up in the hearts of the outsider grand monarchs, and their eyes grew dark and fierce.

    A great battle could break out at any moment!

    However, Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion felt greatly relieved seeing that the situation was developing in a direction that was favorable to him. Anticipation filled his eyes as he observed the situation.

    If the Ancientspirits entered an intense battle against these outsider grand monarchs in this area of the starry river, no matter who emerged victorious eventually, it might help the humans tide out the major crisis they were now facing.

    Pei Qiqi, who was anxious about failing to get Nie Tian and Fan Tianze out of this area because of the spatial restrictions of the Phantasms¡¯ Wheel of Time and Space, also calmed down.

    As long as a fierce battle broke out and the spatial restrictions were undermined, she would be able to leave with Nie Tian and Fan Tianze with the help of her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    She also waited in silence.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, the Star Behemoth bone Nie Tian had summoned from within his ring of holding started shining with blood-colored light.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian fixed it with a confused look.

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons gave a nasty grin and asked, ¡°Do you really want to start a fight with us? Be warned that you won¡¯t have any advantage over us even if we¡¯re to fight in the human world! Plus, once a fight breaks out between us, it¡¯ll end our invasion of the human world prematurely.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better think about the consequences!¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms chimed in with an icy look in his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re invading the Mortal World for the continuation of our races! The Spirit World will soon be exhausted! If you insist on going to war with us, you¡¯ll be killing the future of your people!¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to fight as long as you give Fata to us!¡± Scotte bellowed. ¡°He carries a special bloodline. We¡¯ll have to rely on him in the future!¡±

    He was joined by many Ancientspirits.

    ¡°Give Fata to us!¡±

    ¡°We can let you off for injuring Grand Monarch Primal Wood, but Fata has to be safe!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood has done us many favors! Fata is his son. We have to keep him alive when Grand Monarch Life Wood isn¡¯t around to protect him!¡±

    Fata, who had been sagging his head and waiting for his death sentence, was suddenly spirited.

    Looking at the enormous dragons, the mountain-like titans, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, he felt a warmth in his heart, and that what his father had done to help these Ancientspirits over the years had paid off at this moment.

    FZZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    While the Ancientspirits and the outsider grand monarchs were at each other¡¯s throats, Nie Tian fixed his eyes on the Star Behemoth bone, which was behaving strangely.

    He quietly condensed a wisp of his soul awareness and sent it into the bone.

    BOOM!

    The moment his soul awareness entered the bone, it seemed to open a gate to another world, an image unfurling in front of him.

    A vast, ckish gray continent that was wreathed in thick gray air was flying through the void at a high speed.

    The continent seemed to consist of two parallelnds.

    After a quick look at it, Nie Tian shuddered violently. ¡°Floating continent!¡±

    This continent made of two parallel floatingnds had been quietly drifting in the depths of the starry river. Very few people knew of its existence.

    He had visited it a few times, and learned that a Star Behemoth had been lying dormant in the depths of the ck sea on the bottomnd.

    During his most recent visit, he had met Demons and Ancientbeasts who had gone there to seek advances in their bloodlines and collect the corpses of their nsmen.

    Furthermore, the Star Behemoth on that floating continent had an agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, which allowed disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to go temper themselves on the floating continent.

    Of course, they would have to follow the rules set by the Star Behemoth.

    Now, this continent that used to be a superrge-scale realm and could spontaneously channel power from the starry river to maintain its vitality was flying somewhere at a high speed. What was happening to it?

    Why did this bone, which he had revived with his Blood Essence, allow him to see these images?

    WHOOSH!

    An ancient and immense awareness suddenly came through to him from the images he was looking at.

    It was the Star Behemoth on that floating continent!

    ¡°Get out of there, now!¡± The Star Behemoth¡¯s awareness told him to leave where he was.

    BOOM!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness that he had sent into the bone was scattered and returned to his sea of awareness.

    After snapping back to reality, he saw that the tension between the Ancientspirits and the outsider grand monarchs had be even stronger, as if a battle could break out at any moment.

    A light of enlightenment shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind. ¡°If it¡¯s urging me to leave, then it must mean that the floating continent is flying here! Is that Star Behemoth controlling the floating continent to fly to this ce? Why is it telling me to leave?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s head was filled with questions.

    ¡°Enough talk!¡±

    Scotte the lightning dragon finally ran out of patience. As his ten thousand meter-long silver body wound in the void, numerous blinding lightning balls that were infused with his flesh power came to form.

    Every single one of them contained as much lightning power as that of a Saint domain cultivator¡¯s lighting domain!

    Together, the several dozen thunderballs were equal to several dozen lightning domains filled with devastating lightning power!

    ¡°Give Fata to us!¡±

    As Scotte whipped his tail, a long river of lightning came to form in the void.

    Countless bits of crystalline light could be seen in the dazzling river of lightning. Each and every one of them seemed to contain Scotte¡¯s lifetime understanding of the great Dao of lightning and thunder!

    ¡°Quit challenging our patience!¡± The Golden-feathered Divine Finch¡¯s golden feathers suddenly burst forth with suffocating golden light, as if they started burning with golden mes.

    A power that was sharp enough to pierce through any wards and shields rapidly built up within the feathers.

    By simply looking at her, Nie Tian felt a stabbing pain in his eyes.

    Even Fan Tianze was full of respect as he said, ¡°Each and every golden feather of that Golden-feathered Divine Finch has been refined with her Blood Essence and soul power for hundreds of years. With any one of them, she can easily pierce through any realm in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed somewhat ufortable after hearing this. ¡°Not the realms in other domains?¡±

    ¡°The realms that are protected byrge-scale spell formations might be able to resist a bit.¡± Fan Tianze didn¡¯t take his word back. ¡°However, none of the nine realms of the Domain of the Falling Stars have an ancient spell formation that can protect a whole realm.¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly changed the topic. ¡°An unforeseen event might happen soon, Senior Fan.¡±

    Fan Tianze was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Have you heard about the floating continent?¡± Nie Tian whispered.

    ¡°The floating continent?¡± After thinking for a moment, Fan Tianze nodded slightly. ¡°I have. In fact, I heard about the wonders of that floating continent from Ji Cang, your sectmaster. He said that a sectmaster of your sect made an agreement with an ancient being that ruled that floating continent.

    ¡°Ji Cang himself went to temper himself on the floating continent several times before bing the Lord of the Stars.

    ¡°Why do you ask?¡±

    Pei Qiqi had her interest sparked by the topic, and joined the conversation. ¡°The floating continent is full of wonders. I suppose the ancient being hiding in the depths of that ck sea is a Star Behemoth, right?¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°It and the floating continent are approaching this area at a high speed!¡±

    Fan Tianze stood aghast. ¡°Approaching here?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s heading here. I just had a briefmunication with it with this bone. It told me to get out of here as soon as possible.¡±

    Surprised, Pei Qiqi asked, ¡°What does it want?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea,¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat frustrated.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The river of lightning Scotte had created with ash of his long tail mmed towards Grand Monarch Pale Bones of the Bonebrutes like an enormous whip. ¡°Give us Fata, then we can talk!¡±

    BOOM!

    Grand Monarch Pale Bones, who was at the middle tenth grade, suddenly activated his Impregnable Form. As soon as he did, his pale bones grew translucent and sparkling, and he expanded at an rming rate.

    Before the river of lightning could reach him, he assumed an enormous size and called out in the Bonebrutenguage, ¡°Pergson!¡±

    ¡°Here you go!¡±

    With these words, Pergson of the Bonebrutes tossed their race¡¯s precious treasure, the Bone Shatterer, to him.

    As soon as the bone de fell into Grand Monarch Pale Bones¡¯s hand, extremely rich death power poured into his surroundings like a flood.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s Star Behemoth bone once again burst forth with dazzling light.

    A secret soul message came from within it. ¡°The Bone Shatterer was made from a bone taken from the Bone Emperor.¡±

 Chapter 1442: The Behemoth Dines

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°The Bone Emperor!¡±

    Staring unblinkingly at the Bone Shatterer that was being wielded by Grand Monarch Pale Bones, he thought to himself, ¡°No wonder! No wonder that de is so powerful and regarded as one of the Bonebrutes¡¯ most precious tools!¡±

    The Bone Emperor was the strongest Bonedrude in their history.

    Like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and the Dark King, he was a terrifying existence that had transcended the limits of the tenth grade.

    If a bone was taken from his body and forged into a de, it had to be exceedingly powerful.

    ¡°The Bone Shatterer, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, and the Bonedrudes in the Void World...¡± Frowning, Nie Tian felt that there must be some sort of connection between them. It was just that he didn¡¯t know the truth because he wasn¡¯t a Bonebrute.

    The only thing he knew for sure was that the Bone Shatterer, which had been forged from a bone of the Bone Emperor, must be devastatingly mighty in Grand Monarch Pale Bones¡¯s hands.

    WHOOSH!

    Just as he expected, immediately after Grand Monarch Pale Bones swung the Bone Shatterer at the river of lightning released by Scotte, intense death power that contained white sparks split the river of lightning in half.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Strange bone cracking sounds came from within the Bone Shatterer.

    As soon as this happened, Scotte felt bone-piercing pain all over. Even his joints seemed to be rusty, stopping him from moving as freely as before.

    ¡°Bone Shatter!¡±

    As drop after drop of Grand Monarch Pale Bones¡¯ Blood Essence fused into the Bone Shatterer, they seemed to activate a bloodline magic.

    Scotte let out a sharp, pained howl.

    If one could see into his bones, they would see numerous fissures appearing in them, rendering them fragile, as if they could shatter at any moment.

    ¡°Bloodline: Thunder Roar!¡±

    Scotte bellowed as the silvery thunderballs that had condensed from his scales exploded, unleashing devastating lightning power that scattered the sea of intense death power released by Grand Monarch Pale Bones with the Bone Shatterer.

    Countless dashing wisps of lightning shot in every direction to eliminate Grand Monarch Pale Bones¡¯s death power, giving him a headache and forcing him to swing hisrge bony arms to smash the thunderballs and wisps of lightning they released.

    After being lost in thought for a moment, Nie Tian quickly snapped back to reality and fixed the Star Behemoth bone with a puzzled gaze. ¡°How do you know the Bone Shatterer was forged from a bone of the Bone Emperor? Don¡¯t tell me that you have some sort of history with the Bone Emperor?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian! When will the floating continent get here?¡± Fan Tianze asked urgently.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The fierce battle between Scotte and Grand Monarch Pale Bones greatly undermined the restrictions on this area of the starry river.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up as she whispered, ¡°Nie Tian, the space restrictions are failing.¡±

    Fan Tianze¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Does that mean we can leave with the help of your Space Boundaries Crystal now?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly.

    ¡°The floating continent is...¡± Nie Tian said. However, before he could finish, he suddenly jerked his head to look into the distance. ¡°There! It¡¯sing from that direction!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As he spoke, the floating continent entered his view, wreathed in thick misty gray auras.

    It was an area where many Demons and Phantasms were gathered.

    Among them, several Phantasm grand patriarchs were operating the Wheel of Time and Space together, struggling to maintain the restrictions on this area of space.

    However, as the super-vast floating continent flew over with a devastating momentum, the Wheel of Time and Space instantly lost control.

    The Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas seemed as fragile as paper in front of the floating continent.

    Hit by it, many dark purple Demon flesh aura seas and misty cyan Phantasm flesh aura seas were reduced to fragments of light that filled the void. At the same time, the Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs fell through the thick gray mist that enveloped the floating continent and vanished.

    Immediately afterwards, their miserable screams echoed out.

    CRACK!

    The Phantasms¡¯ precious treasure, the Wheel of Time and Space, was also crushed by the overwhelming power from the floating continent, and reduced to countless fragments.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the Wheel of Time and Space exploded, glowing fragments of spatial power shot in all directions.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up. She rapidly spun her Space Boundaries Crystal to channel and absorb the fragments of spatial power from the Wheel of Time and Space.

    One sparkling fragment after another then flew into the Space Boundaries Crystal, making it stronger and stronger.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°The Phantasms¡¯ Wheel of Time and Space was destroyed just like that?¡±

    Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion shuddered violently. ¡°All those Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs perished on that floating continent! That ancient being¡¯s aura fills every corner of the continent!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The super-vast floating continent continued to charge forward like an enormous war chariot. In its presence, every titan, Ancientbeast, and Ancestral Awakening Demon that was here seemed like puny insects.

    The destruction of the Wheel of Time and Space and the deaths of the Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs instantly made every Ancientspirit and outsider focus their attention on the floating continent that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

    All of the tenth grade outsiders, titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts fixed their eyes on it.

    RUMBLE!

    With an unstoppable momentum, it flew on towards Grand Monarch Blood Axe of the Demons, wreathed in thick gray auras.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Upon seeing this, Grand Monarch Blood Axe, who was at the early tenth grade, attempted to flee, only to discover that his bloodline was firmly suppressed.

    Nie Tian sensed with his bloodline power. After a heartbeat, he quickly realized why Grand Monarch Blood Axe was standing still with zed eyes. ¡°It¡¯s the Star Behemoths¡¯ unique bloodline talents: Bloodline Suppression and Predation!¡±

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s Demon bloodline waspletely suppressed by the Star Behemoth that was lurking in the depths of the ck sea!

    RUMBLE!

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s rich reddish purple flesh aura sea was dissolved and refined by the gray auras that wreathed the floating continent in the blink of an eye.

    After his flesh aura sea vanishedpletely, he, in his giant Ancestral Awakening form, was sucked into the floating continent.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Horrifying sounds of a colossal beast ripping flesh to pieces and crushing bones with its teeth echoed out from the floating continent. All those who heard them couldn¡¯t help but tremble in fear.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe, an early tenth grade grand monarch, was... consumed just like that?¡± Pei Qiqi found this unbelievable.

    The floating continent loomed behind thick gray auras. She could only vaguely see that it consisted of two parallelnds, but not what was on thosends, or the Star Behemoth that hid in the depths of the ck sea.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said with a grim expression, ¡°I think so... That Star Behemoth is nothing like this bone of mine. I guess for that Star Behemoth, tenth grade Demons like Grand Monarch Blood Axe are the ideal food!¡±

    With these words, he nced at the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons, then added, ¡°So are they.¡±

    ¡°What about us?¡± Fan Tianze, who was at the middle God domain, asked, fear rising in his heart.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll consider us a good meal,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°What it needs is the vast flesh power that enormous Ancientspirits and outsiders carry. Humans are far too weak to spark its interest.¡±

    ¡°Good. Good.¡± Fan Tianze secretly congratted himself.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    Suddenly, all of the Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends howled in fury.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe¡¯s death seemed to have enraged them and made them hysterical.

    To this day, they hadn¡¯t lost a single grand monarch in their battles against the humans.

    Even Grand Monarch Remote Demon had only lost one of his arms, but he had lived.

    Now, a floating continent had appeared out of nowhere, crushed a number of Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs, shattered the Wheel of Time and Space, and killed Grand Monarch Blood Axe. How could they not be infuriated?

 Chapter 1443: Show-stopper

    The Star Behemoth on the floating continent had a very long lifespan, most of which it spent in dormancy.

    Even though Nie Tian had been able tomunicate with it during his visit to the floating continent, he knew that it had been crouching in the depths of the ck sea, but not fully awake.

    Every time a Star Behemoth came out of its dormancy to feed, it would be devastating for other beings.

    As far as Nie Tian knew, thest time it had fed, it had destroyed the top continent, reducing it to pieces of brokennd that floated over the bottom continent.

    Many of the creatures that had lived on the top continent had also died because of it.

    Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, Floragrims, Birdmen, and Bonebrutes had lived on the top continent. Ancientspirits had been the inhabitants of the bottom continent.

    The outsiders from the top continent hadunched a massive invasion of the bottom continent, which had led to an unprecedentedly fierce war.

    As a result, their war had awakened and angered the Star Behemoth that had been slumbering in the depths of the ck sea on the bottom continent.

    After awakening, the Star Behemoth had effortlessly shattered the top continent, causing the deaths of the majority of the Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, Floragrims, Birdmen, and Bonebrutes that had lived on it.

    The bottom continent had also suffered severe damage. Its bnce of spiritual powers had been broken, nearly reducing it into a dead realm.

    This had forced all of the surviving inhabitants, Ancientspirits and outsiders alike, to evacuate and start lives in other heaven and earths.

    As a superrge-scale realm, the floating continent had continued to spontaneously channel energies from the starry river to fix itself.

    As for the Star Behemoth, it had fallen dormant again in the depths of the ck sea after being fed.

    Until today.

    ¡°That floating continent! That Star Behemoth!¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons shouted in astonishment. ¡°There are ancient records in my n that say that some of our ancestors came from a floating continent! That floating continent was their home! They had to evacuate it after a great war!¡±

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends also eximed in shock, ¡°My people have simr records!¡±

    ¡°That floating continent is also the ancestralnd of some of my people!¡± Grand Monarch Pale Bones said, clutching the Bone Shatterer, looking both angered and apprehensive. ¡°Back in the Deste Antiquity Era, that floating continent was one of the superrge-scale realms in our world!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms chimed in. ¡°That floating continent originally drifted in the Spirit World, with people of different races living on it! Later, an unprecedented war caused the destruction of the top continent, forcing our people to abandon their homes!¡±

    All of the outsider grand monarchs red at the floating continent with high vignce as it whizzed past.

    Even though none of them dared to stand in front of it, they gathered around it, as if they were ready to attack together.

    WHOOSH!

    To their surprise, the floating continent gradually slowed down.

    CRUNCH!

    However, the sounds of bones being ground and flesh being munched continued toe from it.

    All of the outsider experts felt a slight chill in their spines hearing the bone-grinding sounds.

    Grand Monarch Blood Axe had been at the early tenth grade. His battle prowess had only been matched by few.

    However, when the floating continent had hit him and the Star Behemoth had made its move, he had failed tost even a minute.

    In such a short time, a well-known grand monarch that had been feared in both the Spirit World and the Mortal World was devoured by the Star Behemoth on the floating continent. Who wouldn¡¯t be scared?

    ¡°Floating continent!¡±

    Not only the outsiders, but the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts were also deeply shaken. They all stared at the floating continent withplicated look in their eyes.

    Many of them had heard of the floating continent before.

    Some of their ancestors had also lived on it during the Deste Antiquity Era until the dormant Star Behemoth had been awoken.

    At this moment, memories about it wereing back to them.

    RUMBLE!

    Wreathed in gray auras, the incredibly vast floating continent started moving once again.

    This time, its target was a nearby ninth grade titan!

    That titan was several thousand meters tall. His body, full of bulging muscles, shone with a bronze luster, and exuded a strong flesh aura.

    However, upon contact with the floating continent, his flesh aura sea exploded, his mountain-like body sucked in. Facing the floating continent, hested for even less time than Grand Monarch Blood Axe.

    Immediately afterwards, the scalp-numbing sounds of flesh being ripped and bones being gnawed echoed out.

    ¡°Dammit!¡±

    Infuriated by the titan¡¯s death, Chatvic, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch and Scotte felt somewhat bound with the outsiders by hatred for amon enemy.

    ¡°Every time a Star Behemoth awakens, it¡¯ll feed madly for a while. We¡¯re all their ideal food.¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind yelled. ¡°But since you¡¯re evenrger and have richer qi and blood, you¡¯re an even better choice to them than us!¡±

    ¡°Food? We¡¯re food?¡± Felix of the dragons found the notionughable, as if he had yet to see the hard truth. ¡°We¡¯re the rulers of the Spirit World, chosen by heaven and earth. How can some other life form see us as their food?¡±

    Scotte the lightning dragon suppressed his rage and let out a deep sigh. ¡°We actually were their food in ancient times. ording to the ancient records in our Blood Realm, this Star Behemoth devoured many of our people as well after shattering the top continent and ughtering all those outsiders.¡±

    Felix stood aghast. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°It was never our ally,¡± Scotte exined. ¡°Whenever it was hungry, we would be nothing but food in its eyes. Every time it awoke, it would need an endless amount of flesh and blood. If the outsiders weren¡¯t enough, it woulde for us.¡±

    Eyes reddened and wide, Chatvic said, ¡°Since it has awoken again, do we kill it?¡±

    ¡°Kill it!¡±

    ¡°Get rid of it!¡±

    ¡°Its crimes are beyond forgivable!¡±

    The Ancientspirit and outsider grand monarchs soon reached a mutual understanding.

    These experts from the Spirit World decided that they would kill the Star Behemoth that was hiding on the floating continent to avenge their dead ones.

    ¡°It¡¯s truly amazing that your sect coulde to an agreement with that Star Behemoth.¡± Fan Tianze whispered as he secretly signaled Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian to back away from the floating continent, as well as the Ancientspirit and outsider experts. ¡°This is interesting. I suppose this major crisis we¡¯re facing might actuallye to an end because of the sudden appearance of this floating continent.¡±

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open behind Pei Qiqi.

    Xuan Guangyu, vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, walked out of it. After he did, he took a nce at the floating continent and the Ancientspirits and outsiders surrounding it, his expression surprisingly calm.

    Fan Tianze was taken aback. ¡°Xuan Guangyu? Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here to solve problems,¡± Xuan Guangyu answered.

    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be very surprised by this,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you knew that these Ancientspirits and outsiders and this floating continent were going to be here.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society, Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect, and Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, all of whom were at the God domain, walked out of the spatial rift after Xuan Guangyu.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face dropped. ¡°Did you tell these outsiders that we wereing here? Also, I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re working with the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    With a knitted brow, Fan Tianze asked, ¡°Did you do that, Xuan Guangyu?¡±

    ¡°Sort of,¡± Xuan Guangyu said expressionlessly. ¡°I used you to start a brawl between the Ancientspirits and the outsiders to solve some problems. However, it seems it didn¡¯t solve the problems as I thought it would. So I had to go in another direction and bring that Star Behemoth here.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°You brought it here?¡±

    ¡°I sure did.¡±

 Chapter 1444: Conflict

    Everyone knew Jiang Yuanchi of the Shadow Society and Xuan Guangyu had been close friends for many years.

    Back when Nie Tian had ughtered many in the Jade Heaven Sect, Xuan Guangyu of the Void Spirit Society had sent Qi Lianshan to ask Nie Tian to stop fighting Song Chequan, but Nie Tian had refused to do so.

    Later, Jiang Yuanchi had used a Heaven-wrapping Seal when Ji Yuanquan had gone to stop him.

    Only God domain experts of the Void Spirit Society could make a Heaven-wrapping Seal, which had been originally used by the Void Spirit Society to punish traitors.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s Heaven-wrapping Seal meant there was a very deep connection between him and Xuan Guangyu.

    Now, Xuan Guangyu suddenly tore open a spatial rift, and emerged with three God domain experts, Shangguan Zhi, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan, which further proved that he had likely colluded with the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect from the very beginning!

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s previous statement had made Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi suspect that things weren¡¯t simple with Xuan Guangyu.

    However, they had never expected Xuan Guangyu would not only bring Shangguan Zhi, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan, but also get the floating continent and the Star Behemoth toe here.

    It was the floating continent and the Star Behemoth that really amazed Nie Tian.

    ¡°Hasn¡¯t the Star Behemoth in the floating continent long shared a tacit understanding with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Fan Tianze asked, frowning. ¡°Xuan Guangyu, how could you persuade the Star Behemoth and get the floating continent to fly here?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to know how I made it happen,¡± Xuan Guangyu said, looking haughty. ¡°You just need to know that we can defuse this crisis in our human world.

    ¡°Look, the floating continent is here, and the Star Behemoth has woken up and is feeding on the outsider grand monarchs and Ancientspirits. Hehe, without a single peak tenth grade grand monarch around, the Ancientspirits and the outsiders are no match for it.

    ¡°Perhaps you can also see that even if their tenth grade grand monarchs were around, it would take more than two of them working together to suppress the Star Behemoth.

    ¡°Unfortunately, their strongest experts aren¡¯t here.

    ¡°In this way, the Star Behemoth hidden in the floating continent will be able to do whatever it wants. The Spirit World is also our homnd. We¡¯ve spent countless years trying to retake it, but failed. However, if the powerful Ancientspirit and outsider experts die here one after another, it will be ours sooner orter.¡±

    With that, Xuan Guangyu looked very expectant.

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu! You don¡¯t think it¡¯s wrong for you to collude with the outsiders and divulge our information?¡± Fan Tianze asked with cold eyes. A beam of sword intent that could tear through heaven and earth shot up from the top of his head. ¡°Your original n was to sacrifice us so a bloody battle would break out between the Ancientspirits and the outsider grand monarchs?¡±

    Xuan Guangyu chuckled and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? Even if the floating continent hadn¡¯t shown up, the Ancientspirits and the outsider grand monarchs would have focused on fighting each other and ignored you temporarily, right? Perhaps when they were done killing each other, the three of you might have still been alive.¡±

    With a feminine smile, Shangguan Zhi of the Shadow Society said, ¡°You should understand that if the Ancientspirits and the outsiders reallye together, it¡¯ll be very difficult for the current human world to stop them.

    ¡°It¡¯s wise to use their weaknesses to divide them, and get them to kill each other.¡±

    Song Chequan also joined the conversation. ¡°Fan Tianze, there are always sacrifices in war! For the human world¡¯s safety and humanity¡¯s victory, you¡¯ll just need to make small sacrifices. Why is that uneptable?¡±

    Duan Hongwen chuckled and spoke, ¡°Look, isn¡¯t this a wonderful situation? The Ancientspirits and outsiders will suffer heavy casualties because of the awakening of the Star Behemoth on the floating continent. The problems that have gued the humans for years will be solved in one fell swoop. As for the fact that the realms in the Spirit World are perishing, even though it¡¯s reaching the end of a cycle, a new cycle will start in a few thousand years.

    ¡°At that time, the humans will be the overlords and the ultimate rulers of the Spirit World and human world.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu and the three God domain experts whom he had taken here spoke in turns. They allughed, as if their long-premeditated n was being sessfully carried out step by step, which made them very pleased.

    ¡°I¡¯m still curious about how you persuaded the Star Behemoth,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s attitude suddenly became intransigent as he said, ¡°Sorry, that we can¡¯t tell you. Nie Tian, you attacked Duan Hongwen and hurt Song Chequan at the Jade Heaven Sect. Some of Sectmaster Jiang¡¯s ns have also failed because of you. Don¡¯t think you¡¯re so undefeatable. If it weren¡¯t for...¡±

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Xuan!¡± Pei Qiqi growled to interrupt.

    Xuan Guangyu snorted. ¡°What do you have to say?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes were filled with anger as she snapped. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi of the Shadow Society gued the human world with Gupi. You¡¯re in cahoots with him. How can you criticize others? When the three forces led by the Shadow Society plotted against the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in an attempt to rece it, you secretly backed them, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    Fan Tianze said, ¡°Xuan Guangyu, you¡¯re distorting the truth. Do you really think nobody can defeat you?¡±

    While the Ancientspirits and outsider grand monarchs joined forces to attack the Star Behemoth on the floating continent, it seemed that a battle might break out among these humans as well.

    Nie Tian was silent. For some reason, he felt that something wasn¡¯t right.

    Xuan Guangyu, Jiang Yuanchi, and You Qimiao, the three middle God domain experts, must be up to something!

    They must be working on something together.

    With their strength, they could do a lot of things if they joined hands.

    Moreover, You Qimiao had been trying to break through to thete God domain. With the help of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, there was a great chance that he would seed.

    Once You Qimiao reached thete God domain while all the top human experts were away, considering the collective strength of him, Xuan Guangyu, the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, it would be very difficult to stop them if they wanted to do something together.

    As Fan Tianze confronted Xuan Guangyu, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help wonder, ¡°Did they really bring the Star Behemoth here to solve humanity¡¯s troubles and badly injure the Ancientspirits and outsider experts without any selfish motives?¡±

    While Xuan Guangyu argued with Fan Tianze, Song Chequan and Duan Hongwen of the Jade Heaven Sect nced at Nie Tian from time to time, with cold eyes that were like poisonous snakes¡¯ tongues.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was grim. As he searched for answers, he used his bloodline to perceive the battle that was taking ce in the distance.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Driven by the Star Behemoth¡¯s bloodline, the tearing force of the grey auras that surrounded the floating continent suddenly erupted.

    In the next moment, numerous titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons that were besieging the floating continent were bruised andcerated, their blood spattering.

    While he was perceiving this, Nie Tian felt that the Star Behemoth had be quite different since it had been awakened from its dormancy. ¡°This kind of tearing force has a lot inmon with the tearing, twisting force of the turbulent maic field formed by Primal Chaos. Perhaps I can find the answer through it!¡±

    At the thought of this, holding the Star Behemoth bone, he condensed his soul awareness again. But this time, he didn¡¯t send it into the bone.

    SWISH!

    A strand of his soul awareness shot into the floating continent like a sharp arrow.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t left yet?¡± The Star Behemoth¡¯s omnipresent awareness instantly contacted him again and urged him to leave, somewhat discontented. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t stay here!¡±

    ¡°Why are you here? Were you awoken by others?¡± Nie Tian asked.

 Chapter 1445: Ripper Behemoth!

    WHOOSH!

    As he approached the floating continent, the Demonic Cloud Shield that Grand Monarch Bloodlust had condensed with his flesh aura and Demon clouds was suddenly torn and shattered.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The floating continent seemedpletely unmatched as it released a tempestuous power that forced the Ancientspirit and outsider experts to keep retreating.

    The Star Behemoth never showed itself.

    ¡°Bloodline! Giant Demon Hand!¡± As he spoke, Grand Monarch Bloodlust made a grabbing motion toward the floating continent with hisrge satanic hand. It looked as if its fingers could pierce any barriers. Dense purple lightning bolts swam through them like serpents.

    Each purple lightning bolt was mighty enough to shatter a Saint domain experts¡¯ domain.

    ¡°Bloodline! Great Quietus of Soul!¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind roared as he activated one of his race¡¯s secret magics. As his soul power resonated with his bloodline, a torrent ofplex energies that could silence and strangle souls flooded towards the floating continent.

    ¡°Death st!¡± Grand Monarch Pale Bones shouted as he swung his Bone Shatterer to unleash thousands of de lights that carried pure life-annihting death power.

    ¡°Eye of Wither!¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler stared at the floating continent, his dark green pupils releasing uncanny light.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Colorful poisonous miasma condensed into clusters of air masses, which then fell into the floating continent.

    The grand monarchs of the Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends activated their bloodline talents one after another, and madly bombarded the floating continent with the powerful tools of their races.

    However, the gray cyclones that surrounded the floating continent werepletely resistant to all of their attacks, like unbreakable barriers.

    Once they touched the gray cyclones and fell into the floating continent, all of their bloodline magics, talents, and energies sent by their tools disappeared forever, soundless.

    Meanwhile, the Star Behemoth¡¯s awareness still had time tomunicate with Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of soul awareness.

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s soul will was very clear as it said, ¡°You are a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and the bone you own belongs to my race, so you need to stay alive. Leave while I¡¯m still sane and able to control myself. Otherwise, when I go berserk, I won¡¯t be able to recognize you!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness that had flown into the floating continent suddenly flew back to him.

    His expression flickered. ¡°Will it go berserk? It won¡¯t be able to tell friend from foe after entering a berserk state?¡±

    As he looked closely, he saw that the floating continent was not severely damaged under the siege of the Ancientspirit and outsider experts. Instead, its gray cyclones kept breaking free of it.

    Upon contact with any outsiders, they would cut and mangle them with their tearing power, like sickles reaping lives.

    Feeling the tearing power, the thunder dragon Scotte, Golden-feathered Divine Finch, and the head of the titans looked grave.

    ¡°Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the Ripper Behemoth of the floating continent!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s really it!¡±

    Hearing the three Ancientspirits¡¯ screams, Nie Tian was suddenly shocked. ¡°Tearing, tearing power!¡±

    He recalled that when he had first visited the floating continent, he had fought his talented peers from the Heaven Expanse Sect and Thunder Mountain Sect, including Su Lin.

    He remembered that he had channeled a strange power when he had channeled power from his surroundings to condense spiritual power balls in battle. That was this same tearing power!

    The horrifying power that could tear everything apart was far mightier than the raging, twisting maic field that he created with Primal Chaos, which he had learnedter.

    Even the reason why his Primal Chaoster contained a little tearing power was because the tearing power he had absorbed from the floating continent had been fused into his spiritual incantations and magics without him realizing it.

    He was enlightened. ¡°So the tearing power that I usedter came from the floating continent, from the so-called Ripper Behemoth hiding in the depths of the ck sea. The grayish-brown clouds that float between the top and bottom continents year-round must have been transformed from its flesh aura. That¡¯s why they were full of tearing power!¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    The gray cyclones swirled among the Ancientspirits and outsiders like sharp des that could tear everything apart.

    Flesh and blood spattered!

    Once touched by the gray cyclones, those at lower grades would have chunks of flesh ripped from their bodies and sucked into the floating continent.

    It seemed the Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent opened its giant mouth and swallowed all the flesh in the deep sea.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power couldn¡¯t enter the floating continent to perceive the behemoth¡¯s horrifying flesh aura, he could see with his eyes that the clusters of gray cyclones were getting thicker and denser!

    It seemed that by devouring the flesh of Grand Monarch Blood Axe and the other Demon and Phantasm grand monarchs, the Ripper Behemoth had umted more fighting strength, and refined more tearing energies!

    FIZZ!

    Just then, apletely new spatial rift came to form between Fan Tianze and Xuan Guangyu, who were still arguing.

    Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, as well as Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Chu Rui, Zu Guangyao, and Dou Tianchen, who were all at the God domain, came out of the spatial rift in session.

    Upon arriving, they red at the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society with furious eyes. ¡°Xuan Guangyu!¡±

    Xuan Guangyu wore an expressionless face. ¡°What?¡±

    Fan Tianze was surprised, but at the same time secretly heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Why are you here? Did you hear something?¡±

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu told the outsiders that you were here,¡± Ji Yuanquan replied with a cold face. ¡°I¡¯ve been investigating him in secret for a long time, and I¡¯ve learned that he¡¯s secretly in collusion with Jiang Yuanchi of the Shadow Society. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t expect that he would send a message to Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms in secret after you left.

    ¡°It was a message that the three of you hade to consult with the Ancientspirits!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan had been keeping an eye on Xuan Guangyu for a long time now, wanting to find further evidence of his rtionship with the Shadow Society, and he had even used a tool that the former sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had given to him.

    The tool that could always detect Xuan Guangyu¡¯s movements had suddenly shown that Xuan Guangyu had opened a spatial rift and made a trip to the ce where the outsiders had gathered.

    After some observation, Ji Yuanquan had located the Wheel of Time and Space, and found that the space maniption tool of the Phantasms had taken a few grand monarchs to this area. Then, he had immediately realized that Xuan Guangyu had secretly told them about Fan Tianze, Nie Tian, and Pei Qiqi¡¯s trip.

    They had immediately realized that the three of them were in danger, but they hadn¡¯t been able toe here because of the Wheel of Time and Space.

    When it had been shattered by the impact of the floating continent and Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal had absorbed its debris, Ji Yuanquan had hurried to gather Chu Rui and the others and rush here with them.

    Chu Rui had fixed his eyes on Xuan Guangyu since arriving. Now, he looked around and noticed that the Ancientspirits and several outsider grand monarchs were working together to attack the floating continent. ¡°Floating continent!¡±

    Zu Guangyao was taken aback as well. ¡°Ah! Why is the floating continent here?¡±

    Many of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s experts knew that the Star Behemoth on the floating continent had made a pact with them.

    When the Star Behemoth was dormant, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would be responsible for helping it wipe out intruders that harbored evil intentions, like the Demon grand patriarchs that had intrudedst time.

    In return, the Star Behemoth allowed the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s disciples with low cultivation bases to improve themselves and harvest spirit materials in the ces that it designated.

    The floating continent, whose whereabouts had always been uncertain, had suddenly appeared here now, and was besieged byrge numbers of the Ancientspirits and outsider grand monarchs that had invaded the human world. This instantly stunned them.

    They suddenly realized that the situation was much moreplicated than they had thought.

 Chapter 1446: Natural Bane!

    WHOOSH!

    Swirling auras that looked like cyclones continued to fly out from the floating continent.

    The Ripper Behemoth suddenly made Grand Monarch Dark Nether of the Phantasms its target.

    A soul-shattering howl rumbled through the depths of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s soul.

    CRACK!

    Upon hearing the skull-cracking sounds, Grand Monarch Dark Nether felt as if his head was going to explode. Meanwhile, all of the Phantasms¡¯ secret soul magics he was using lost their effect.

    In the next moment, the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s tearing power engulfed him.

    As the swirling auras flew into his flesh aura sea, everyone realized that he was done for.

    The tearing power from the Ripper Behemoth rapidly shredded his misty cyan flesh aura sea, along with his fleshly body.

    BOOM!

    After Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s body exploded, bits of mangled flesh and sshing blood were effortlessly captured by the Star Behemoth on the floating continent.

    ¡°Prey...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as he realized that the Ripper Behemoth had just hunted and killed a second outsider grand monarch with its unique bloodline talent.

    He noticed that not a single piece of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s torn body or a single drop of his blood escaped the Star Behemoth.

    Even the wisps of his fragmented soul will were devoured by the swirling auras that surrounded the floating continent like cyclones.

    The sudden death of Grand Monarch Dark Nether deeply shocked the disputing human experts.

    They all froze and fixed their eyes on the floating continent, watching pieces of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s body, blood, and soul will flying into it.

    ¡°AHH!¡±

    The surviving outsider grand monarchs almost lost their minds, especially Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms.

    Grand monarchs represented the peak strength of a race. They determined whether a race would be revered throughout the boundless starry river.

    The reason why Demons stood out as one of the most powerful outsider races was because other than their high chieftain, Grand Monarch Primal Demon, they also had Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Remote Demon, Grand Monarch Blood Axe, and the newly-made Grand Monarch Chaos Demon.

    The outsiders¡¯ invasion of the human world hadsted some time now, during which many bloody battles had broken out. However, they hadn¡¯t lost a single grand monarch until today.

    This proved that the battles between the outsiders and the humans hadn¡¯te to the ending phase, where it was usually the most bitter.

    However, now the Star Behemoth had shown up and changed everything.

    In such a short time, the Demons lost Grand Monarch Blood Axe and the Phantasms lost Grand Monarch Dark Nether. Together, they had also lost many ninth grade grand monarchs and powerful tools like the Wheel of Time and Space.

    It was safe to say that their losses from their invasion of the human world weren¡¯t as great as those caused by this Star Behemoth within such a short time.

    ¡°Natural bane! This is our natural bane!¡±

    For some reason, even though Grand Monarch Unholy Wind and Grand Monarch Bloodlust continued to let out frenzied roars, the other outsiders, titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts started to have doubts.

    They started to think that Star Behemoths were, in fact, their natural banes that they couldn¡¯t possibly defeat!

    Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society smiled derisively and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we let everyone decide whether I was right to do this after things are over here and we return to the Heaven Span Pavilion? I awakened this Ripper Behemoth and guided it to this ce.

    ¡°It can single-handedly turn the situation around for us by killing these outsiders and Ancientspirits.¡±

    With a dark smile, Shangguan Zhi said, ¡°Chu Rui, even though your sect has an agreement with it, you weren¡¯t able to persuade it to help us by crushing the invaders with its natural abilities, right? All that takes is one feeding session, and it can help us solve all of our problems. How simple is that?¡±

    ¡°What if the Ancientspirits and outsiders retreat, while it hasn¡¯t eaten its fill?¡± Chu Rui countered with a grim expression. ¡°You have no idea how terrifying a Star Behemoth¡¯s so-called feeding session is.¡±

    He lowered his voice and continued, ¡°If those Ancientspirits and outsiders are smart enough to leave before losing more of their forces, hunger will gradually drive the Star Behemoth into a frenzied, out-of-control state! When that happens, the domain it¡¯s in will be its source of food!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Fan Tianze and Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion looked deeply grim.

    Nie Tian shuddered. ¡°Hunger will drive it into a frenzied, senseless state?! I suppose that¡¯s why it urged me to leave. It knows that it might slowly fall into a frenzied state...¡±

    ¡°You canmunicate with it?¡± Xuan Guangyu asked with a cold, disbelieving smile.

    ¡°Did you not hear me? Of course I can.¡± Nie Tian said with disgust.

    Xuan Guangyu was angered. ¡°Nie Tian! Do you know who you¡¯re talking to? No matter how popr you are now, you¡¯re not the Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet! Do you not have the most basic respect for a senior?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a nasty smile. ¡°Respect for a senior? You colluded with the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and helped them with their n to take our domains and rece my sect as one of the great human sects.

    ¡°Do you deserve my respect, considering what you¡¯ve done? You don¡¯t even deserve to be called a senior!¡±

    With these words, he didn¡¯t show Xuan Guangyu the slightest respect a senior should be treated with.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s face was distorted with anger. Fine wisps of light could be seen flying in the depths of his eyes as dangerous spatial power rapidly built up in the void behind him.

    ¡°I advise you to stay calm.¡± Fan Tianze warned him.

    After casting Xuan Guangyu a cold nce, Chu Rui sighed and said, ¡°What really worries me is that the Ancientspirits and outsiders may soon find out there¡¯s nothing they can do to this Ripper Behemoth. Sooner orter, they¡¯ll realize the only way they can deal with this natural enemy is to seek revenge after the return of their peak tenth grade leaders.

    ¡°If they leave, hunger will drive this Ripper Behemoth you awakened and led here to find new targets.

    ¡°Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi carry outstanding flesh auras. They¡¯ll be its first choice.

    ¡°Then, it¡¯ll go for the realms in the Domain of Heaven Span that are rich in spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It¡¯ll drain their energy in a destructive manner!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions flickered.

    Many God domain experts whispered to each other while paying close attention to the floating continent.

    ¡°Let¡¯s hope those Ancientspirits and outsiders fight to the death.¡±

    ¡°If they fight on and lose more of their grand monarchs, then not only will it end our crisis effectively, but the appetite of this awakened Star Behemoth may be satisfied as well.¡±

    ¡°We can only hope so.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, Ji Yuanquan, and Xuan Guangyu split open three different spatial rifts, so they could evacuate as soon as things went south.

    HOWL!

    An enormous dragon that spewed acidic toxins was suddenly pulled into the floating continent by an irresistible force.

    ¡°McEleney!¡± Ste, the ninth grade ice phoenix, screamed in the Ancientspiritnguage.

    Nie Tian instantly looked over from afar and let out a low, emotional sigh.

    That dragon named McEleney had taken a trip to the floating continent with Ste to collect the bodies of their dead nsmen. That was where they had first met.

    McEleney had been friendly to him both then andter, when they had met in the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°McEleney!¡± Felix the me dragon also howled with grief.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The clear sounds of bones being crushed echoed from behind the thick gray swirling auras that surrounded the floating continent.

    BLUB! BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

    The Star Behemoth that had lived through many eras slowly rose from the depths of the ck sea and rose into the air.

    An incrediblyrge and blurry shape soon loomed behind the gray flesh aura sea that enshrouded the floating continent.

    WHOOSH!

    Chatvic the titan sucked in a breath of cold air, feeling a chill in his spine.

    Only by looking at the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s looming shape, he felt as if his bloodline was instinctively trembling in fear.

    Even his fighting will was gradually wearing out.

    Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Yu Suying, Duan Hongwen, and the other God domain experts observed from afar. They were also deeply shaken to see the colossal shape rise into the gray flesh aura sea from the bottom continent.

    ¡°Such a colossal shape!¡±

    ¡°That Ripper Behemoth is asrge as arge-scale realm! Even titans aren¡¯t nearly asrge!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a true overlord of the Primal Era, a terrifying creature that feeds on titans and ancient gods, and devours realms for spiritual energies!¡±

    ¡°If there were more of them, I¡¯m afraid the Spirit World and our world would have been destroyed by them long ago.¡±

    HOWL!

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons finally couldn¡¯t help but let out a howl as he saw the Ripper Behemoth slowly rise from the ck sea.

    His howl was filled with apprehension and an intent to retreat.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, who had rushed to this area not long ago, and Ophelia, who held the Doom de, shuddered upon hearing Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s howl.

    Suddenly, the Phantasm, Bonebrute, and Fiend grand monarchs eximed simultaneously, ¡°Stay away from it!¡±

    Even though the Ripper Behemoth hadn¡¯t revealed itself to this point, its devastating power had taken a toll on these outsider grand monarchs.

    Now, after devouring Grand Monarch Blood Axe, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, and numerous eighth and ninth grade outsiders, it seemed to have finally worked up its appetite, and slowly rose from the depths of the sea into its gray flesh aura sea. Only now did these outsider grand monarchs from the Spirit World realize that there was no way they could defeat this Ripper Behemoth.

    The aura released by the Ripper Behemoth continued to suppress all of their bloodlines, making them increasingly fearful.

    The outsiders and Ancientspirits started to panic. Losing the courage to fight, they cried and yelled as they flew away from the floating continent.

    ¡°This is not going to work! We¡¯re no match for it!¡±

    ¡°If we don¡¯t leave, we¡¯ll only end up as its food like Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Dark Nether!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps only after all of our high chieftains return will we be able to contend against it!¡±

    However, a raging roar suddenly echoed from the floating continent.

    Every living being heard the Star Behemoth¡¯s message in its roar: None shall leave!

    Like a summons from Death, its roar crushed the Ancientspirit and outsider experts¡¯st mental defense, causing them to break down and run for their lives.

 Chapter 1447: The Might of A Behemoth

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Eighth grade dragons, Vermillion Birds, and Heaven me Beasts were reduced to bloody mist.

    More and more clusters of gray auras flew from the floating continent like swirling sharp des.

    Many low-grade Ancientspirits and Demons that had arrived with Ophelia died miserably upon contact with the swirling gray auras.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s mad roars rumbled through the void.

    Some fleeing Phantasms bled from their eyes and fell dead.

    The stronger their souls were, the more they suffered from the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul cries.

    ¡°Soul-ripping cries!¡±

    Many Phantasms had their souls shredded and scattered like smoke.

    All of a sudden, an overwhelming gravitational force was born in the floating continent.

    All of the dragons, Ancientbeasts, Phantasms, and Demons that had suffered violent deaths were pulled towards the floating continent, both their mangled bodies and shredded souls.

    Staring at the unwavering floating continent, the remaining Ancientspirit and outsider grand monarchs finally saw the cruel truth.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here now!¡±

    ¡°Get away from this Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°Its power isn¡¯t something we can fight against!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian nced around with rapt attention. Wherever he looked, he saw exploded bodies and shattered souls.

    The Ripper Behemoth, however, simply floated in the gray flesh aura sea that surrounded the vast floating continent.

    Even Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see through the thick gray mists to get a clear view of it.

    However, he could tell that even after brutally killing and devouring so many Ancientspirits and outsiders, it still hadn¡¯t eaten its fill.

    In fact, it was far from being full!

    With a knitted brow, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°The amount of flesh power I needed for my bloodline to advance from the eighth to the ninth grade was already astronomical. The amount of flesh power this Ripper Behemoth has to take in every time it¡¯s awakened must be vastly greater than that.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s flesh power wasn¡¯t rich enough. Grand Monarch Blood Axe and the ninth grade grand patriarchs definitely weren¡¯t enough to satisfy its appetite.¡±

    Miserable shrieks echoed out from time to time as Ancientspirits and outsiders of different races exploded and died, their flesh auras and soul strands absorbed by the floating continent.

    This area of the starry river, where the Ancientspirits had been recuperating, became hell on earth.

    The God domain human experts, who hadn¡¯t been targeted yet, fixed their eyes on the floating continent. With an increasingly strong desire to leave, they couldn¡¯t help but talk to those who had taken them here.

    ¡°Such a terrifying behemoth!¡±

    ¡°This overlord of the Primal Era is stunning indeed! It seems we¡¯d better leave as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°Is its hunger really going to plunge it into a frenzied state?¡±

    However, Xuan Guangyu¡¯s eyes flickered, as if he were waiting for something.

    Chu Rui took a deep breath and made his decision. ¡°We need to get out of here. Miss Pei, Brother Ji, let¡¯s go. These Ancientspirits and outsiders aren¡¯t enough to fill its stomach. Hunger will drive it insane and make it attack any nearby living being.

    ¡°When there are no living beings left around it, it¡¯ll head out to find realms with rich spiritual energies.

    ¡°In ancient times, numerous realms that were full of vigor had their energies drained by Star Behemoths like this one, and became dead realms.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society then ushered everyone to the spatial rift he had created that led to the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters.

    ¡°Come on, Nie Tian. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chu Rui said. ¡°We¡¯ll talk and see if we can find a way to contain this Star Behemoth.¡±

    Pei Qiqi, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan all turned to fix their eyes on him.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go ahead? I¡¯ll stay a bit longer.¡± Nie Tian said, still paying close attention to the floating continent. ¡°It hasn¡¯t entered a frenzied state yet. Perhaps there¡¯s something I can do. I¡¯ll leave if it actually loses its mind.¡±

    Chu Rui gave him a stern look. ¡°It may be toote then.¡±

    CRACK!

    At that moment, a bone cage in the distance suddenly exploded.

    Fata, who had been imprisoned in the cage by death power, broke free.

    After regaining his freedom, Fata cast a nce at the floating continent, and then the Bonebrutes that were retreating after the other outsider races. ¡°As revolting as the Bonebrutes are, they enjoy certain advantages while others don¡¯t. For example, even the Ripper Behemoth doesn¡¯t seem to have much interest in them.¡±

    He had been observing during this time he had been trapped in the bone cage.

    He had long since expected that the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends would suffer heavy casualties after the arrival of the Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent.

    The Ancientspirits wouldn¡¯t be spared either.

    The Bonebrutes, however, would suffer the least casualties.

    Without flesh or blood, the Bonebrutes only had pale-white bones that exuded a death aura. The Ripper Behemoth would never make them its first choice.

    The Ripper Behemoth wasn¡¯t even scrupulous about devouring the Fiends that contained deadly toxins.

    However, it only killed the Bonebrutes with its tearing power, but left their shattered bones alone afterwards.

    Also, because the bone cage that contained him was wreathed in death power, he didn¡¯t fall victim to the Ripper Behemoth.

    Only after the Bonebrute grand patriarch that had created the bone cage was annihted and the death power in the bone cage dissipated was he finally able to break free.

    Fata nced around and called out upon seeing Nie Tian, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Grabbing pieces of broken bones from the cage, Fata cautiously circled around the floating continent and flew towards Nie Tian. ¡°Help me, Nie Tian! Take me away from this damned ce. I have things to tell you!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the son of Grand Monarch Life Wood,¡± Fan Tianze said, looking somewhat hesitant. ¡°Do we take him with us, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s son... That¡¯s not just anyone.¡± Ye Wenhan whispered.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of him,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims was jointly attacked and injured by the Demon, Bonebrute, and Phantasm grand monarchs. They practically kicked the Floragrims out of their alliance. Even if Grand Monarch Primal Wood recovers, I doubt they¡¯ll work with the Demons, Bonebrutes, and Phantasms anymore.¡±

    ¡°You guys talk it out, but we¡¯ve got to go,¡± Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society said.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi, who was ready to spin the Space Boundaries Crystal at any moment, suddenly eximed, ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°You should leave,¡± she said to the others. ¡°I¡¯ll take Nie Tian back and make sure he¡¯s safe.¡±

    With these words, she gave Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan a meaningful nce and added, ¡°Go to the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    The two early God domain experts, who only took orders from Nie Tian, went nk upon hearing this.

    They turned to look at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Do as she says.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan flew into the spatial rift Ji Yuanquan had split open.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Chu Rui and Fan Tianze tried to persuade Nie Tian to leave with them.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave in a bit!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly and flew off towards Fata.

    Pei Qiqi followed along without hesitation.

    As the Ripper Behemoth continued killing the Ancientspirits and outsiders thatgged behind, the human experts streamed through the spatial rifts created by Ji Yuanquan and Xuan Guangyu, and vanished.

    They all feared that hunger would make the Star Behemothy itsnds on them.

    The Star Behemoth was still in full possession of its faculties at the moment. That was why neither its flesh power attacks nor ripping soul voice targeted the humans.

    After all, it had an agreement with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and Xuan Guangyu was the one who had awakened it.

    Plus, no matter how many humans it devoured, it wouldn¡¯t stop it from being hungry.

    Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t attack humans as long as it was still in possession of its faculties. However, it would bepletely different if it fell into a frenzied state.

    Pei Qiqi quietly leaned over and spun the Space Boundaries Crystal to show Nie Tian the facet that was locked onto the Seven Stars Realm Sea. ¡°Look, Nie Tian.¡±

    With a single nce at it, Nie Tian eximed in astonishment, ¡°Why is that happening?¡±

    He saw that the level of the Seven Stars Realm Sea was gradually rising.

    He distinctly remembered that the Seven Stars Realm Sea had almost been drained by the ck tortoise, the bone, and himself when he had sought breakthroughs in both his cultivation and bloodline.

    Why was it being replenished?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that there¡¯s some sort of secret connection between the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the floating continent.¡± Pei Qiqi suspected. ¡°Many battles have broken out in the Domain of Heaven Span recently. However, the Seven Stars Realm Sea didn¡¯t change much until just now. Is it because two grand monarchs and arge number of Ancientspirits have been killed here?¡±

    Nie Tian said, ¡°But weren¡¯t their flesh aura seas devoured by that Ripper Behemoth?¡±

    ¡°Whatever, the activation of that portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea relies on the mixed energies in the Seven Stars Realm Sea,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°We need the Seven Stars Realm Sea to replenish to reenter the Void World. I¡¯ll keep a close watch on it and see if I can find the reason behind this.¡±

    ¡°Great.¡±

 Chapter 1448: Questions

    The Seven Stars Realm Sea had been built by Voidspirits to facilitate the three major races of the Void World¡¯s invasion of the Mortal World.

    Later, the Voidspirits had fallen out with them, which had resulted in them being expelled from the Void World to live in the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    The portal at the bottom of the Seven Stars Realm Sea had then been sealed.

    The wondrous Seven Stars Realm Sea spontaneously gathered destroyed flesh aura seas and shattered domains from its surroundings, and maintained secret connections to special ces like the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Nie Tian had been pulled into the Seven Stars Realm Sea when he had been practicing cultivation over the Realm of Maelstrom.

    However, the Domain of Heaven Span and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were separated by the boundless starry river!

    How could the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which was all the way in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, be replenished by the flesh power from the dead outsider grand monarchs and grand patriarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas?

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t find an answer.

    The same went for Pei Qiqi.

    WHOOSH!

    Fata of the Floragrims finally met Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi after taking a long detour, holding broken bones from the cage that exuded death power.

    Upon seeing Pei Qiqi, he let out a sigh of relief and said, ¡°It¡¯s nice that you¡¯re here.¡±

    He knew that Pei Qiqi, who was well-versed in spatial power and possessed the Space Boundaries Crystal, could get him and Nie Tian out of this area of the starry river in a breath¡¯s time.

    ¡°I¡¯m disappointed, Fata,¡± Nie Tian said with a somewhat taunting tone. ¡°I had high hopes that you could persuade the Ancientspirits and some of the outsiders to march into the Void World together. Who would have thought that you would be captured as soon as you returned? I really thought you were going to make a difference.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re the one to talk,¡± Fata said with grievances. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for your secretmunication with Grand Monarch Primal Wood, they wouldn¡¯t have seized me and used me against my people.¡±

    ¡°Even though they seized you, you could have tried to talk sense into them and turned them around,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Fata shook his head with a strange expression. ¡°Turn them around? The Demons, Bonebrutes, and Phantasms? What I needed to tell you is that I believe some of them might have already been bewitched by the three powerful races of the Void World.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What?¡±

    Fata took a moment to think, and then exined, ¡°The Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Demons¡¯ bloodline origins lie with the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and Devils in the Void World. That¡¯s their special bond. Those who have reached thete tenth grade, like Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, can learn the truth about that through their bloodline imprints.

    ¡°Even though they know the truth, they¡¯re too proud to acknowledge their inferiority.

    ¡°However, they¡¯ve been gone for a long time now.

    ¡°Many under them that are at the middle and early tenth grade can also derive the truth of their bloodlines from their Blood Realms and magical ces like the Nether River. The Phantasms can even break the geographical restrictions and establishmunication with powerful Netherspirit experts in the Void World through soul sacrifices.

    ¡°That way, they may be able to talk to the three major races of the Void World.

    ¡°If they¡¯ve already been influenced, then no matter what I say, I won¡¯t be able to persuade them to invade the Void World with you and the Ancientspirits.¡±

    ¡°That would exin why those outsider grand monarchs would go through all the trouble toe here and sabotage our negotiation with the Ancientspirits,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a frown. ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo Wanxiang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce actually establishedmunication with Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits through sacrificing souls. That¡¯s how he was instigated.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly. ¡°That¡¯s indeed a possibility.¡±

    Even Luo Wanxiang was able to acquire the method of soul sacrifice from the Book of Spirits and establish soulmunication with Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits. Why couldn¡¯t the Phantasm grand monarchs?

    After learning the truth about their bloodline origins, would the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes swear allegiance to the three races of the Void World?

    If they did, they would of course want to stop the Ancientspirits, Floragrims, and other outsider races from invading the Void World.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The vast floating continent continued to crash around to kill and harvest the flesh and blood of the eighth grade outsiders and Ancientspirits thatgged behind.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s enormous shape loomed behind the gray mists as thousands of strands of soul awareness that belonged to it spread in every direction.

    Each and every one of them was like a tentacle of the Ripper Behemoth that searched for flesh and blood that could be used to fill its stomach.

    WHOOSH!

    One of them struck Nie Tian like an invisible bolt of lightning.

    A soul connection was instantly established between it and Nie Tian.

    ¡°Go, get out of here now. I... I¡¯m losing control of myself.¡± By saying this, the Ripper Behemoth clearly wanted Nie Tian to leave so it wouldn¡¯t make him its target when hunger took control.

    ¡°You¡¯re far too appealing to me, so you have to leave! Only when I¡¯m in full possession of my faculties can I resist the temptation to consume your delicious flesh aura!¡±

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Swirling auras that looked like cyclones exploded around the floating continent.

    ¡°The aura of my life bloodline is irresistible to it...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he suddenly remembered that both Mu Biqiong¡¯s coexisting flowers and Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python had thought up every possible method to devour him and steal his flesh aura.

    Apparently, his flesh aura was exceedingly appealing to all kinds of magical beings.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t hesitate anymore. He turned to Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here! Let¡¯s go, not to the Domain of Heaven Span, but to the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Pei Qiqi split open a spatial rift.

    Nie Tian thought he¡¯d better take this opportunity to ask the Ripper Behemoth some questions while it hadn¡¯t lost its mind. ¡°Do you have any sort of connection with the Seven Stars Realm Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries? Was it because you killed two grand monarchs and shattered their flesh aura seas that the Seven Stars Realm Sea rose?

    ¡°Also, did you wake up by yourself, or did someone awaken you? What will you do if you enter a frenzied state? Will the Domain of Heaven Span perish because of you? Do you know of the existence of the Void World?¡±

    Nie Tian tossed these questions like cannonballs.

    ¡°I am the reason why the Seven Stars Realm Sea is replenished,¡± The Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°I reached an agreement with the Voidspirits. They came to the floating continent in a distant era.

    ¡°And I didn¡¯t wake up naturally. In fact, I didn¡¯t want to wake up at this time, but someone awakened me despite that.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯m fully awakened, I have to feed before I can go back to sleep. The man who awakened me pointed me in this direction, and said there¡¯s a rich source of food here.¡±

    ¡°Is the man who awakened you and told you toe here that spatial power expert I was with earlier?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    A violent aura started to fill the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice. ¡°No, the man who awakened me had a divine tool that I know is called the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. His name is Pang Chicheng, a God domain human.¡±

    FZZZ!

    With that, the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s strand of soul awareness was suddenly retrieved, as if it was afraid it would lose control and rip Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness to pieces.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron! Pang Chicheng! Who would have thought that Pang Chicheng has entered the God domain, and gained control of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and he also has secret connections with Xuan Guangyu!¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking confused.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and I¡¯ll exin!¡± Nie Tian said urgently.

    ¡°We can go now,¡± Pei Qiqi said, pointing at the spatial rift she split open. ¡°But do we go and get Mo Qianfan and the other experts first?¡±

    ¡°No, we go to the Seven Stars Realm Sea directly!¡± With these words, Nie Tian flew into the spatial rift.

    Fata hesitated briefly before following him into the spatial rift.

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea, many Qi warriors from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries cheered upon seeing him. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Master...¡±

    Upon arriving, Nie Tian felt a jolt to his soul, sensing a soul call from Agaz.

    Agaz, who had taken a trip to the me dragon¡¯s ancestralnd in the Spirit World from the Domain of me¡¯s End, had returned, and was at the Seven Stars Realm Sea at this moment. ¡°Master, our world is really ending this time.¡±

 Chapter 1449: The Return of A Remaining Evil

    ¡°Agaz!¡±

    Nie Tian released his bloodline power. By relying on the subtle connection between their flesh aura and soul connection, he soon located Agaz the me dragon.

    He turned to look at one of the dead stars that surrounded the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    He spotted not only Agaz, but Zhao Shanling¡¯s Voidspirit Pagoda as well.

    ¡°He brought me back.¡± Agaz¡¯s soul message came through.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian flew towards the dead star.

    Floating by the spatial rift, both Pei Qiqi and Fata looked down at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The sea level was indeed rising gradually.

    ¡°The portal to the Void World is at the bottom of the sea?¡± Fata asked.

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°Yes.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, she dove into the sea, and at the same time, activated the Voidspirits¡¯ unique bloodline talents in an attempt to find out whether the rise of the sea level was because energies were pouring in from the Domain of Heaven Span.

    Meanwhile, Fata stayed where he was, above the sea.

    On one of the seven dead stars that surrounded the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Agaz presented itself in his me dragon form, wreathed in raging mes.

    Zhao Shanling was sitting in the lotus position, with the Voidspirit Pagoda floating over him. Countless dazzling spatial lines slithered around the pagoda, weaving into mysterious spatial formations.

    ¡°Finally... you caught up to me,¡± Zhao Shanling said with mixed emotions.

    Nie Tian took a deep look at him, and somehow didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Back when he had first met Zhao Shanling, his cultivation base had been so low that Zhao Shanling could kill him with a snap of his fingers.

    As a one-of-a-kind cultivator, Zhao Shanling had made advances in cultivation faster than anyone else in the Domain of the Falling Stars, with the only exception being his master, Wu Ji.

    However, as he, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li had risen to prominence and attracted attention from across the human world, and Wu Ji had obtained unimaginable power from the river of time, Zhao Shanling had gradually been outshone.

    Now, while Zhao Shanling, an expert in spatial power, was still at the early Saint domain, he had risen to the same cultivation base as him.

    ¡°Master,¡± Agaz said. ¡°My people¡¯s holynd, the Holy me Mountain, is quickly running out of its me power. The titans¡¯ and Ancientbeasts¡¯ realms are also losing their energies at an rming rate. No one knows what¡¯s happening to the Spirit World. All Ancientspirit realms echo with the wails of panicked creatures, while their leaders desperately seek solutions.¡±

    Agaz¡¯s voice was filled with sorrow. ¡°Some newborn dragons have been ordered to stay in our n since they¡¯re too weak to travel long distances. However, as those realms die, they¡¯ll probably die with them. Master, if it¡¯s possible, can you please assign some of your realms to my people so they can survive this disaster?

    ¡°Those realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End will suit our needs nicely.

    ¡°So if you don¡¯t object...¡±

    Agaz seemed rather depressed after his return from the Spirit World. Concerned with the continuation of his people, he decided to ask Nie Tian for realms that suited the me dragons for the sake of his rtionship with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian took a moment to ponder the matter, then said, ¡°I can¡¯t promise you realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End. As you know, I¡¯ve already given that domain to Nie Yan as a base where the Ifrits will grow as a people. But I can go through my other realms and see what I can do. Of course, that¡¯s on the condition that your people won¡¯t set themselves against me.¡±

    ¡°Umm... I was away from my n for too long,¡± Agaz said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I can persuade the seniors.¡±

    Nie Tian hesitated briefly before letting out a sigh and said, ¡°I just came from the Domain of Heaven Span. The Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent was awakened and shown to that area by Pang Chicheng. Many Ancientspirits and outsiders were killed by the Ripper Behemoth. Even Grand Monarch Blood Axe and Grand Monarch Dark Nether died...¡±

    He briefly exined what had happened.

    Agaz¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What?! I can¡¯t believe such an upheaval took ce in the Domain of Heaven Span while I was in the Spirit World! So what¡¯s the situation now?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning. ¡°The Ripper Behemoth is about to fall into a frenzied state. If that happens, not only your kind, but the people and realms of the Domain of Heaven Span will also be its food. And with all of our peak experts missing, who¡¯s left to contain it?¡±

    Zhao Shanling gasped. ¡°Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    This was also the first time he had heard about the upheaval in the Domain of Heaven Span. He found it hard to believe that the arrival of the Ripper Behemoth had resulted in the deaths of two outsider grand monarchs within such a short time.

    For any outsider race, the deaths of grand monarchs were significant matters, which meant a great reduction in the power and influence of their race.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    At that moment, Dong Li, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Xie Qian, and the others arrived through arge-scale teleportation portal as Nie Tian had instructed.

    ¡°Woo!¡±

    The ck tortoise was thrilled at the sight of the slowly-rising Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Without any hesitation, it expanded and prepared to dive into the Seven Stars Realm Sea, hoping to break through its bloodline barriers and enter the tenth grade by devouring the mixed outsider flesh auras in the sea.

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s fierce aura suddenly burst forth from under the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    As her Space Boundaries Crystal spun, seven glittering spatial des shot from the depths of the sea, carrying terrifying auras that could annihte all lives.

    As powerful as the ck tortoise was, it was startled and froze in midair.

    ¡°Hey! What the hell?¡± Dong Lished out immediately. ¡°Now that the Seven Stars Realm Sea is being replenished, what¡¯s wrong with my ck tortoise consuming some of its mixed energies to seek its advance to the tenth grade? This wondrous sea is part of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, which is not your personal territory!¡±

    Rising from the depths of the sea, Pei Qiqi said with a cold face, ¡°The activation of the portal relies on the mixed energies in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. If the ck tortoise consumes too much of the energies in the sea, then no one can go to the Void World.¡±

    ¡°How much do you think a spirit beast can consume?¡± Dong Li challenged.

    ¡°Whatever,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°It just can¡¯t take energies from the sea for the time being.¡±

    Some leaders of the five major sects and three major ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were gathered on the other dead stars that surrounded the sea, with Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong among them. However, they all pretended that they didn¡¯t see the dispute between Dong Li and Pei Qiqi.

    Their bickering gave Nie Tian, who was in the middle of hismunication with Agaz, a headache, forcing him to think of a solution.

    Fata of the Floragrims was still floating over the Seven Stars Realm Sea, but upon sensing the tension between Pei Qiqi and Dong Li, he rapidly retreated to a distant location.

    ¡°Master!¡± Agaz suddenly said. ¡°I¡¯m sensing the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s aura!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron?! Pang Chicheng! Pang Chicheng must be near!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    A huge zing cauldron suddenly showed up in a corner of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Beside the huge cauldron floated Pang Chicheng, who was in his dharma idol form, which seemed to be a deration of his advance to the God domain.

    Like a god of fire, Pang Chicheng¡¯s dharma idol emanated terrifying light and heat. If people listened carefully, they could hear distant sounds of volcanic eruptionsing from it.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng, did you awaken the Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent?¡± Nie Tian asked aloud.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± His arrival also put an end to the heated conflict between Pei Qiqi and Dong Li, especially after they heard what Nie Tian had just said: that it was Pang Chicheng who had awakened the Ripper Behemoth!

    With a broadugh, Pang Chicheng said, ¡°Yes, I awakened that Ripper Behemoth. Because of that, countless invading Ancientspirits and outsiders have died, which has effectively ended the crisis of our world. Shouldn¡¯t you lot be thanking me?

    ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯ve long since learned about the Ripper Behemoth, the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and the situation in the Void World.¡±

    ¡°What do you want bying here?¡± Nie Tian asked, frowning.

    Time had changed. Given his current Saint domain cultivation base and the fact that he had Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan by his side, even though Pang Chicheng had entered the God domain and gained full control of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he didn¡¯t consider Pang Chicheng as a great threat.

    What worried him was Xuan Guangyu, Shangguan Zhi, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan, who seemed to have secret connections with Pang Chicheng.

    There was also You Qimiao, who might or might not have entered thete God domain.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to ask Miss Pei to do me a small favor,¡± Pang Chicheng said, his attitude suddenly bing much warmer. ¡°It¡¯s actually quite simple. Miss Pei, all you need to do is activate the portal at the depths of the sea and help me enter the Void World.¡±

 Chapter 1450: The Nether River Reappears!

    Taken aback, Nie Tian said, ¡°You want to enter the Void World?¡±

    Then, he nced down at the slowly-rising Seven Stars Realm Sea. ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea is rising because the Ripper Behemoth killed all those Ancientspirits and outsiders in the Domain of Heaven Span. And you¡¯re the one who awakened the Ripper Behemoth. Don¡¯t tell me...¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Pang Chicheng said. ¡°I knew that if I awakened the Ripper Behemoth and let it devour those Ancientspirits and outsiders, the Seven Stars Realm Sea would rise again. See? Didn¡¯t I do you another favor? The Seven Stars Realm Sea almost went dry because of you and those with you.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯ve helped you replenish the sea. And instead of seeking revenge with the fire element sect, I decided to go to the Void World. Isn¡¯t that good news for you?¡±

    Pang Chicheng was confident and spirited as he spoke.

    Pei Qiqi and Dong Li, who had been at each other¡¯s throats, calmed down and fixed their eyes on him.

    Floating over the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan let out a cold harrumph and unleashed their mighty auras that only God domain experts possessed.

    Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li¡¯s strength had all risen to new heights. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult for them to fight Pang Chicheng, even though he had entered the God domain.

    ¡°We can talk about it if you want to enter the Void World,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°However, the Seven Stars Realm Sea is in my domain, and I have control over the portal. If you want to use it, you¡¯ll have to tell me why you awakened the Ripper Behemoth, what your deal with Xuan Guangyu, Shangguan Zhi, and those other people is, and why you want to enter the Void World.¡±

    Pang Chicheng let out a cold harrumph. ¡°I awakened the Ripper Behemoth to deal a heavy blow to the invading Ancientspirits and outsiders and put an end to this crisis for the human world. About Xuan Guangyu and the others, of course we¡¯ve reached a mutual understanding, but I can¡¯t tell you the details. As for why I want to enter the Void World, it¡¯s even more not for you to know.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see. If that¡¯s the case, you may rely on yourself to enter the portal at the bottom of the sea.¡±

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s face froze. ¡°Is this your attitude too, Miss Pei?¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked at him with an expressionless face, and didn¡¯t even bother to answer.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯m giving you face and you should appreciate it!¡± Pang Chicheng bellowed. ¡°I haven¡¯t demanded the me Dragon Armor back yet! And I let go of the fact that you repeatedly sabotaged my ns in the Realm of Fire Spirit! Now, all I want is to use the portal to enter the Void World, yet you¡¯re going to stand in my way?¡±

    ¡°What if I am?¡± Nie Tian didn¡¯t give him face at all. ¡°Pang Chicheng, don¡¯t think that you¡¯re so powerful now that you¡¯ve entered the God domain and gained control of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. In fact, the early God domain isn¡¯t that impressive. And since you¡¯re not in the Realm of Fire Spirit, how much of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s power can you disy by relying on yourself?¡±

    Pang Chicheng let out a cold snort. ¡°So you have help here but I don¡¯t. Is that what you¡¯re saying?¡±

    At that moment, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul suddenly sensed something.

    In the next moment, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society arrived at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Nie Tian said with a sneer. ¡°Weren¡¯t you injured badly enough in the Realm of Fire Spirit? Have you forgotten that this Spirit Pearl of mine is a natural bane for yourher spirit spells? Have you forgotten how badly you fared in front of my five evil gods before?¡±

    The face of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society turned ashen after hearing this.

    ¡°Not to mention that I have him by my side.¡± With these words, Nie Tian pointed at Mo Qianfan. ¡°You and him are both at the early God domain, yet his lightning power will render all of your evil soul magics useless.¡±

    Then, he turned to Pang Chicheng and continued, ¡°It¡¯sughable if you want to rely on him to strong-arm me into activating the portal?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯sughable at all,¡± Pang Chicheng said coldly.

    ¡°Oh, alright. Be my guest.¡± Nie Tian turned to the side, granting Pang Chicheng and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society ess to the Seven Stars Realm Sea so they could try to enter the Void World through the portal by themselves.

    WHOOSH!

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society morphed into a wisp of gray mist that dove into the Seven Stars Realm Sea in the blink of an eye.

    A strange look appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    He was well-aware of how dangerous it was to enter the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Only middle God domain experts like Luo Wanxiang, You Qimiao, and Jiang Yuanchi could contend against the violent energies and reach the bottom of the sea.

    Even though the level of the Seven Stars Realm Sea was considerably lower than it had been, the portal remained unactivated. So what if the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society could reach the sea bottom?

    Pei Qiqi frowned and paid close attention to the man as he went down.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    To her surprise, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society seemed to be gathering soul power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea after entering the sea.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    All of a sudden, the Nether River, which Nie Tian had once examined through the Spirit Pearl, manifested in the Seven Stars Realm Sea!

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society stared unblinkingly at it, the color of his pupils gradually changing.

    Like they were somehow being painted, they slowly turned dark cyan.

    ¡°Netherspirits have pupils that color!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly. ¡°Something is wrong. This sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society seems to be going through changes!¡±

    ¡°Let me see!¡± With a swift move, Nie Tian grabbed the Spirit Pearl and pressed it between his eyebrows, and then concentrated all of his soul awareness on it.

    He hoped to examine the Nether River using the Spirit Pearl as his third eye, so he could see what the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was up to.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    The five evil gods that were sealed in the misty cyan world inside the pearl by Illusory Ancient Talismans seemed to sense something, and suddenly grew restless. They let out mad howls and struggled nonstop.

    It seemed that they were eager to break free from the Illusory Ancient Talismans!

    ¡°Something is wrong indeed!¡±

    Ignoring the evil gods, Nie Tian rapidly formed a soul connection with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    Suddenly, the Spirit Pearl seemed to be his eyes, through which he took a closer look at the Nether River that had appeared out of nowhere, and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    He noticed that glowing cyan spots were flying out of the Nether River and into the eyes of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Each and every one of them contained extremely pure soul power and wisps of soul will.

    Apparently, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was receiving something from the Nether River.

    ¡°The Nether River was transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul awareness. A branch of it runs through the Phantasms¡¯ ancestralnd.¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°Is this another branch of the Nether River? Why could the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society activate it? And what is he receiving from it?¡±

    What he didn¡¯t know was that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was experiencing tremendous changes in his sea of awareness.

    Glowing cyan spots from the Nether River were fusing into his sea of awareness, where they blossomed and nourished a brand new soul.

    The seed of the new soul seemed to have long since been nted in his sea of awareness. However, it had been quietly hiding in the dark and influencing him until now.

    Now, as the cyan spots entered his sea of awareness, they seemed to activate that seed, allowing it to grow into a soul.

    WHOOSH! The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society took a deep breath, his eyespletely ckish-cyan.

    His expression and the way he smiled made people feel that he had be a different person.

    ¡°So this is the Mortal World. It¡¯s quite a ce,¡± he said with a low darkugh, and continued to absorb soul power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, along with the part of Grand Monarch Dark Nether¡¯s flesh aura that had somehow been transfused to it after his death.

    Even Pang Chicheng¡¯s expression flickered slightly as he asked, ¡°What happened to you? You told me that you have the ability to open the portal, but you didn¡¯t even sink to the bottom of the sea. What¡¯s up with that?¡±

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had told him that even without Pei Qiqi, he could activate the portal and help him enter the Void World.

    He had also told him of many wonders and rare treasures of the Void World, many of which could help him advance to the middle God domain within a short period of time, and perhaps even thete God domain.

    With a cunningugh, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society said, ¡°I¡¯m a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, the high-chieftain of the Netherspirits of the Void World.¡±

 Chapter 1451: Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits

    The cunningugh of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, or to be exact, his soul¡¯sugh, echoed from the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Everyone that was gathered at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, including Nie Tian and magical beasts like the ck tortoise and the Frost Blood Python, sensed his soul-shakingughter.

    BOOM!

    Some Qi warriors that hadn¡¯t reached the Void domain were killed outright, their true souls scattered like ashes in the wind!

    ¡°Ahh! Little Qi!¡±

    ¡°Little Yue!¡±

    Leaders of the five major sects and three major ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries either died on the dead stars that surrounded the Seven Star Realm Sea or let out heartbroken wails from their ancient starships that were berthed in farther locations.

    With great decisiveness, Dong Li yelled towards Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi, ¡°Anyone who hasn¡¯t reached the Saint domain needs to evacuate from the Seven Stars Realm Sea now! From now on, no one shall approach the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    RUMBLE!

    The rumbles of ancient starships echoed as several starships quickly sailed off into the distance.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he gazed down at the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, whose aura was changing constantly. ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits?!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    All of the Saint domain experts and even God domain experts like Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying had strange light sputtering from their domains, as if invisible soul power was repeatedly attacking and trying to rip their domains apart!

    WHOOSH!

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, soul strands that didn¡¯t belong to him had somehow infiltrated his sea of awareness.

    However, they were instantly annihted by blinding light that burst forth from his star souls.

    Even Pang Chicheng took a deep breath and muttered in disbelief, as if he hadn¡¯t expected that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, who had been telling him how wondrous the Void World was and inciting him toe to the Seven Stars Realm Sea, would suddenly turn into a puppet of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits from the Void World either.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit! The high chieftain of the Netherspirits and one of the strongest experts of the Void World!¡±

    He had learned most of this information from the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society. However, Xuan Guangyu, Shangguan Zhi, and the others had also told him about some of these things.

    It was hard for him to ept the fact that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was possessed by one of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-souls.

    HOWL!

    The five evil gods within the Spirit Pearl howled madly as they attempted to break free from the restraint of their Illusory Ancient Talismans and join Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul.

    ¡°It must be true, considering how strangely the evil gods are behaving!¡± Nie Tian was convinced that the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was possessed by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits from the Void World.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits?!¡± Pei Qiqi muttered. ¡°If he¡¯s in fact Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits...¡±

    With these words, she started spinning the Space Boundaries Crystal secretly.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, who was facing the Nether River in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, suddenly lifted his hand to point towards her.

    ¡°ckout Soul Curtain!¡±

    The discarnate souls and soul will fragments of creatures that had perished and muddy Nether Qi rapidly condensed into a hemispherical cyan-gray curtain that expanded from under the sea.

    Condensed Nether Qi and fragmentary soul will could be seen slithering on the curtain like spirit snakes, and gradually came together to form wondrous bloodline spell formations.

    WHOOSH!

    The cyan-gray curtain enveloped Pei Qiqi in the blink of an eye.

    As soon as that happened, her soul connection with the Space Boundaries Crystal seemed to be cut off, as she could no longer stimte it with the wisps of soul power she released, which prevented her from opening a spatial tunnel to the Domain of Heaven Span to spread word of what was happening at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Dong Li also gasped as she discovered that her soul connections with her dark stone and ck tortoise also seemed to have been severed by an invisible de.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society took a deep look at Dong Li and said, ¡°That dark stone is an eye of the Dark King! That thing you refer to as the dark stone doesn¡¯t belong to you. The Devils from my world shall have a strong interest in it. I¡¯ll be able to trade it for resources that my people are short on.¡±

    ¡°Give it here!¡± His soul voice, which was filled with bewitchment, echoed in Dong Li¡¯s mind. ¡°That¡¯s right. Give that stone to me.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s bright eyes instantly turned hollow, as if she had be a puppet that was controlled by another.

    The dark stone then flew out of her spiritual sea. With it floating over her palm, she descended towards the Seven Stars Realm Sea slowly and obediently.

    Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, Dong Qisong, and many others shouted at her.

    ¡°Dong Li!¡±

    ¡°Dong Li!¡±

    ¡°Little Li!¡±

    All of their shouts were vested with soul-resounding vibrations, as they hoped to awaken her and stop her from handing out the dark stone.

    At the same time, they flew down after her like cannonballs.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society let out a low call, ¡°Seven Soul Concussions!¡±

    The bloodline spell formations on the cyan-gray curtain suddenly burst forth with mighty soul concussions.

    They spread downwards like seven raging waves!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As they crashed down from above, everyone, even Mo Qianfan and Yu Suying¡¯s dharma idols, faltered under their devastating vibrations.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The waves of soul concussion ripped wisps of Yu Suying¡¯s soul will from her sea of awareness.

    With her true soul shaking violently, all of her spiritual incantations and soul defenses failed.

    Even Mo Qianfan, who was well-versed in lightning power, suffered from the seven waves of soul concussion, with wisps of lightning sputtering from his mouth, eyes, and nose.

    Soon, blood rolled down the corners of his mouth. Clearly, even the foundation of his soul was shaken.

    WHOOSH!

    d in the me Dragon Armor and clutching the Star Behemoth bone, Nie Tian dove to Dong Li¡¯s side.

    As he did, a shudder ran through him. The seven waves of soul concussions entered his sea of awareness like gusts of soul-engulfing wind. They impacted him so hard that he felt as if his true soul was going to fall apart, the soul imprints and core incantations that made up his true soul scattered...

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    ¡°Ehh!¡±

    Impacted by the soul concussion, Saint domain experts like Dong Qisong and Yue Yanxi were barely able to maintain their domains as they retreated with agonized shrieks.

    The bizarre cyan eyes of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society turned to see Nie Tian. ¡°A Spirit Pearl? It¡¯s a condensation of Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s soul will, an interesting Phantasm creation. But what¡¯s really important about it is the five seniors that you¡¯ve sealed within it!

    ¡°One of the goals of me sending a sub-soul here is to take them home!

    ¡°Come on!¡±

    With these words, he gently waved his hand in Nie Tian¡¯s direction.

    Then, the Spirit Pearl that had imprisoned the five evil gods seemed to be wrapped by invisible strings. No matter how hard Nie Tian tried, he couldn¡¯t stop it from flying towards the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Its soul let out agonized shrieks.

    It was calling for help!

    However, Nie Tian was barely able to protect himself from the soul concussions, with his true soul on the verge of falling apart. Of course he didn¡¯t have the power to keep the Spirit Pearl in his palm.

    In such a short time, the situation at the Seven Stars Realm Sea experienced drastic changes.

    A sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had possessed the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, vesting this early God domain human expert with incredible power and making him extremely tough to beat.

    Wielding the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, Pang Chicheng started reflecting. ¡°If Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits so easily took control of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, then me awakening the Ripper Behemoth,ing here, and doing all these things... was that all because of his bewitchment?¡±

    At this moment, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron somehow broke the restrictions of the ckout Soul Curtain and resumed contact with Pang Chicheng.

    ¡°You can¡¯t associate yourself with the Netherspirits! Now that you¡¯ve realized that they bewitched and took advantage of you, you need to do the right thing now!¡±

    Pang Chicheng had a grim face as he listened to the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul voice.

    Rubbing his chin, he hesitated. ¡°If it¡¯s a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, the high chieftain of the Netherspirits... This really has nothing to do with me. I didn¡¯t even know him. But Nie Tian and these people are my enemies. At best, I won¡¯t kick them when they¡¯re down. It¡¯s impossible for me to help them.¡±

    Controlling the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, Pang Chicheng slowly backed away from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°Miss Pei, I¡¯m not going to the Void World anymore. I think I¡¯ll focus on nning my return to the Realm of Fire Spirit and retaking my position as the head of the fire element sect instead.¡± After uttering these words, he vanished from everyone¡¯s view.

 Chapter 1452: Poking the Soul

    Pang Chicheng flew farther and farther away until he vanished from everyone¡¯s sight.

    Cries for help that came from within the Spirit Pearl pierced through Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness like sharp arrows.

    However, there was nothing Nie Tian could do to stop it.

    ¡°The portal!¡± A shudder suddenly ran through Nie Tian, whose sea of awareness was being violently stirred.

    It struck him why the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society wanted the Spirit Pearl: he wanted to reopen the portal!

    Last time, the five evil gods had pulled the portal open together.

    Once the five of them broke free from the Illusory Ancient Talismans that were sealing them in the Spirit Pearl, they would be able to open the portal again without resorting to Pei Qiqi¡¯s Voidspirit bloodline.

    He also realized that awakening the Ripper Behemoth and letting it devour Grand Monarch Blood Axe, Grand Monarch Dark Nether, and numerous Ancientspirit grand patriarchs to refill the Seven Stars Realm Sea had also been part of the effort to reopen the portal.

    ¡°What lies on the other side of the portal?¡± This thought made Nie Tian insecure and uneasy. He suspected that something might have happened to Mo Heng, who was guarding the portal from the other side.

    Perhaps Netherspirit, Bonedrude, and Devil armies were gathering in front of the portal, ready to swarm into the human world.

    Since the Seven Stars Realm Sea was located in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, if they actually made it through the portal, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries would be the first to fall.

    ¡°I can¡¯t allow a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits to run amuck under my nose!¡± Nie Tian bellowed.

    ¡°Bloodline: Lifeblood Wheel!¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence that looked like sparkling blood diamonds were separated from Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    They sprayed out and formed a blood-colored wheel that looked like a bloody sun.

    ¡°Spin!¡±

    The Lifeblood Wheel started spinning slowly.

    As it did, rays of blood-colored light shot out from within the wheel, carrying a power that could suppress all living beings¡¯ bloodlines, making their bloodline power weak and sluggish.

    FZZZ!

    Many of them pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    RUMBLE!

    The power from the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, which was having a significant impact on his sea of awareness, started ebbing away.

    As that happened, he regained contact with the Star Behemoth bone and the me Dragon Armor.

    Through his true soul, he sent the Spirit Pearl a soul call. ¡°Come back!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Soul strands shot out of his eyes and instantly entangled the Spirit Pearl like invisible strings.

    The moment his soul strands made contact with the Spirit Pearl, he shrewdly sensed that even more strands of power that didn¡¯t belong to him or the Spirit Pearl were also wrapped around the pearl.

    That power was dark, cold, and very resilient.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯s soul power!¡±

    As he let out a cold harrumph, and the star souls within his sea of awareness suddenly burst forth with dazzling light. At the same time, the soul strands that were wrapped around the Spirit Pearl turned visible and started emanating blinding light.

    At the same time, the ck tortoise expanded, its bloodline power engulfed Dong Li in the blink of an eye like a pitch-ck cloud.

    Power that belonged to the ck tortoise infiltrated Dong Li¡¯s body through her every pore, as if to stimte her potential.

    ¡°Dark Aureole!¡± Dong Li¡¯s voice echoed from within the endless darkness. In the next moment, an ink-ck aureole that looked like a ck sun slowly rose from the utter darkness.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The soul voice the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had used to bewitch Dong Li was suddenly snapped by the dark power.

    Dong Li instantly regained her senses.

    ¡°Darkness Devours!¡±

    Regaining control of the dark stone, Dong Li used it to further power the Dark Aureole, which released dark power that instantly devoured all light around it.

    Even the ckout Soul Curtain released by the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was engulfed by darkness.

    The numerous soul spell formations in the ckout Soul Curtain ceased operating.

    As that happened, the unusual soul magic that was suppressing everyone¡¯s souls failed.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl that was slowly floating towards the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society suddenly broke free from his control, and returned to Nie Tian¡¯s hand.

    Without hesitation, Nie Tian returned it to his ring of holding to end any possibility of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society reestablishing a soul connection to it.

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society looked up at the Dark Aureole, disbelief filling his unfathomable eyes. ¡°The Dark Aureole! I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s the Devils¡¯ Dark Aureole! That mighty tool of the Dark King was lost for ages!¡±

    He was well-aware of how overwhelmingly powerful the Dark King had been when he had led the Devils.

    As someone who had transcended the tenth grade, he had plunged vast areas of the Void World into eternal darkness with his Dark Aureole, making them a paradise for the Devils and all other creatures of darkness.

    After his demise, none of the other Devil experts had been able to manifest the true might of the Dark Aureole, nor could the following generations of Devil experts.

    Therefore, the Devils had carefully guarded it as one of their most precious treasures, until it had somehow disappeared one day.

    No one had known where it had gone.

    For a long period of time, the Devils had almost gone mad trying to recover it. However, they had searched through the entire Void World, but failed to find it.

    Who would have thought that such a mighty devilish tool would be in the Mortal World, in the possession of a female human?

    More importantly, this woman with a rich dark aura could actually wield it, and had fused the dark stone, an eye of the Dark King, into herself, using it as the source of her dark power!

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, who had possessed the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society with one of his sub-souls, was deeply confused by these young humans he faced in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°A young woman that carries a Voidspirit bloodline, a young woman that can wield the Dark Aureole and has absorbed the dark stone... And a young man who has imprisoned Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s five mighty subordinates inside a Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°If every one of the humans¡¯ younger generations is as extraordinary as they are, won¡¯t we, the three higher races from the Void World, be bound to lose to them?

    ¡°No! That can¡¯t be it!¡±

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯s sub-soul let out a furious roar, refusing to believe this.

    Then, he nced around in every direction with his cyan eyes and released more of his bewitching soul voice.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Void domain subordinates that were scattered around the Seven Stars Realm Sea were the first to be stricken by his bewitching soul voice.

    Pupils turning cyan, many of them seemed to be possessed by wisps of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ soul will as they charged madly towards Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Don¡¯t kill them! They¡¯ve lost control of themselves!¡± Yue Yanxi shouted anxiously.

    At the same time, he held his head with an agonized expression, as if he were struggling to prevent the infiltration of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯s soul will. ¡°It¡¯s Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits. He¡¯s gued their minds with his soul will!¡±

    Before he could say more, Nie Tian realized that this was an evil soul magic cast by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    He could achieve a simr effect by influencing his enemies with power from the five evil gods that were currently sealed within the Spirit Pearl, plunging them into fear, despair, or bloodlust.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits is the one that¡¯s behind all this.¡±

    As Pei Qiqi spun her Space Boundaries Crystal to lock down the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits was distinctly reflected in one of its facets.

    To her surprise, his reflection seemed to be illusory and semitransparent, and the true soul in his sea of awareness lookedpletely different from what the true soul of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society should look like.

    It appeared that his true soul had been transformed into somethingpletely different: a strange soul form made of multiple souls.

    At first nce, it looked like a bunch of grapes, each grape being a soul cluster. This seemed to be what Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ true soul looked like.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the true soul of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society has been assimted, and is the same as that of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits now,¡± Pei Qiqi whispered to Nie Tian. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t really matter. They¡¯re both our enemies anyways.¡±

    With these words, Pei Qiqi took a milky-white jade-like finger and poked it towards Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ reflection in the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    PUFF!

    Her finger went into the Space Boundaries Crystal effortlessly.

    Many of the grape-like soul clusters on Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul were crushed and burst.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, who was releasing his bewitching soul voice, instantly let out a miserable wail. Wisps of cyan smoke flew from the eyes, nose, and mouth of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

 Chapter 1453: The Portal Is Seized!

    Exuding a fierce aura, Pei Qiqi¡¯s jade-like finger was as sharp as a sword.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Reflected in the Space Boundaries Crystal, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ strange soul clusters were popped one after another.

    Many Void domain Qi warriors that had been bewitched by his soul voice instantly returned to their senses.

    Thanks to this, Nie Tian didn¡¯t have to go through trouble to awaken them himself.

    ¡°Miss Pei has be so powerful already?¡± Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect muttered with aplicated look on his face. ¡°That¡¯s Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits from the Void World, for heaven¡¯s sake. A mighty existence that made even us suffer!¡±

    With a bitter smile, Yu Suying said, ¡°Those three are no ordinary youngsters!¡±

    She meant Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian, and Dong Li.

    Mo Qianfan took a moment to think, and then nodded repeatedly. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Wisps of cyan smoke flew out from the mouth, nose, and eyes of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    Upon flying into the Nether River, they morphed into cyan sparks that became a part of the mysterious river.

    As soon as that happened, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society withered.

    His sea of awareness seemed to instantly shrivel, like a deted balloon.

    All of a sudden, the branch of the Nether River that had miraculously appeared in the Seven Stars Realm Sea due to the rise of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ will vanished.

    BOOM!

    The sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society exploded in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, as if he could no longer withstand the heavy pressure the sea put on him. His blood dispersed and became a part of the sea.

    Dong Li stood aghast. ¡°Now he¡¯s dead. What happened to Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul? Did it escape?¡±

    ¡°It fused into the Nether River and left with it.¡± With these words, Nie Tian flew closer and looked at where the Nether River had just vanished with a frown. ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits managed to transform the soul of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society with nothing but one of his sub-souls. It seems to me that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits practices an evil soul spell that allow him to nt ¡®seeds¡¯ in others¡¯ minds, and make them sprout at a certain time.¡±

    ¡°Such a scary soul magic,¡± Mo Qianfan muttered with a grim expression. ¡°If Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits could nt his soul will in the mind of the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society without others finding out, could there be others among us that are being secretly manipted by him like he did with the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society?¡±

    Everyone gasped upon hearing his words.

    ¡°The secret spells and incantations the Nether Spirit Society disciples practice are quite simr to those of the Phantasms,¡± Dong Li said as she withdrew her dark power. The endless darkness ebbed into her and the ck tortoise like ck tides. ¡°Perhaps those like them, who practice special soul magics, are prone to Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ influence.¡±

    After a short pause, she continued, ¡°For example, the Spirit God Sect from the Realm of Dark Underworld in the Domain of the Falling Stars practiced secret magics that originated from the Phantasms¡¯ bloodline magics. If we hadn¡¯t wiped them out, but allowed their sectmaster to slowly rise to the same cultivation base as the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, he might have been able to establish a connection with Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits in the Void World and be his puppet.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Gazing down at the rising sea, Yu Suying said, ¡°We¡¯ve got to guard the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea very carefully. I¡¯m afraid Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits wants to open the portal because...¡±

    ¡°Because something happened to Senior Mo Heng, who was guarding it from the other side,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart took a jolt. ¡°You think so too?¡±

    ¡°He may not be in danger, but the portal might have been sacked.¡± Pei Qiqi gave voice to her spection. ¡°I betrge numbers of Bonedrudes, Devils, and Netherspirits are waiting to swarm into our world through it, so they can do whatever they want here while we¡¯re busy dealing with our other major troubles.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°If anyone wants to open the portal, they¡¯ll have to rely on either your special bloodline or the five evil gods in my Spirit Pearl. You can decide whether you want to open or seal the portal with your Space Boundaries Crystal. That means I have to gain full control of the five evil gods in my Spirit Pearl!¡±

    He made up his mind.

    He decided to forget about the crisis in the Domain of Heaven Span for the time being, whether the Ripper Behemoth would chase after the Ancientspirits and outsiders or devour realms of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    He had to tame the evil gods that were currently sealed by the Illusory Ancient Talismans first!

    Just earlier, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had managed to summon the Spirit Pearl, along with the five evil gods within it, to him with nothing but one of his sub-souls. This made him realize that he had to do something.

    The fundamental reason why the Spirit Pearl had escaped his control was because its soul had been far too weak.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was abination of the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch and a wisp of his soul essence.

    However, all of the five evil gods had beente tenth grade Netherspirit grand monarchs that had served Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit before they had died.

    Plus, the discarnate souls and soul power the Spirit Pearl had gathered had helped them regain their strength.

    With Blood Essence Irrigation, he had vested them with fleshly bodies, which had made them even stronger.

    Later, during his trip to the Void World, they had been able to gather fragments of their souls and lost memories.

    This had allowed them to slowly regain not only their strength, but their awareness and memories.

    While they had grown stronger and stronger, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul hadgged behind, the gap between them growing wider and wider.

    That was why the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had a hard time controlling the evil gods.

    Face grim, Nie Tian took the Spirit Pearl from within his ring of holding and instantly established soulmunication with it. ¡°I have to figure out a way to solve this problem. Otherwise, they may be stirred again next time when experts like Grand Monarch Thousand Spiritse along. What can I do to truly tame those five evil gods?¡±

    ...

    In the Void World where the portal stood.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    Countless ancient species of devilish beasts, Devils, bone chariots, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits were gathered in front of the portal and letting out bloodcurdling howls.

    Together, there were hundreds of thousands of them, stretching as far as the eye could see.

    Dazzling devilish light shot straight up like pirs in some ces.

    Where the Netherspirits stood in a formidable formation, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-souls gathered in soul form, each of them exuding an aura as strong as that of a God domain human expert.

    An illusory branch of the Nether River abruptly appeared in the dim starry river.

    With fizzing sounds, glowing cyan spots flew out of the Nether River and into Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ gathered sub-souls.

    Agatha of the Devils bowed respectfully in Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ direction and said, ¡°Grand monarch! Why is the portal still not open from the other side?¡±

    A Bonedrude grand monarch, whose pupils were murky gray, chimed in. ¡°We¡¯ve waited a long time, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.¡±

    Not long ago, the three major races of the Void World had sent some of their grand monarchs to this area together.

    Both Mo Heng and Jiang Yuanchi from the Shadow Society, who had been guarding the portal, had been severely injured by them as they were led by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-souls.

    Mo Heng had only been able to escape because Jiang Yuanchi had wrapped him in his secret shadow magic.

    As soon as the portal had been sacked, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had sent word to the Bonedrudes and Devils, asking them to send over more warriors and promising that the portal would soon be opened.

    The Bonedrudes and Devils had done as they had been asked. However, they had waited in front of the portal a long time now, and there was still no sign of the portal being opened.

    This portal that the Voidspirits had built to connect the Void World and the Mortal World was full of mysteries.

    If the Bonedrude and Devil grand monarchs wanted, they could destroy it together.

    However, they couldn¡¯t solve the portal¡¯s mysteries and activate it.

    They could only put their hope in Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, who had made promises to them.

    After all, it hadn¡¯t been peaceful in the Void World recently either.

    Many of the three major races¡¯ forbidden areas, which even they normally wouldn¡¯t enter, had been intruded upon by peak experts from the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    The arrival of the human and outsider experts had plunged the Void World intosting turbulence.

    Seeing this, the three major races had decided to adopt another approach, and invade the Mortal World and the Spirit World. Their n was to destroy their bases and kill their people while their peak experts were upied.

    ¡°The sub-soul I nted in the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society failed to open the portal.¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ soul voice echoed from his every sub-soul. ¡°However, I did manage to make the situation in the human world moreplicated. Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before the elites of the Mortal World and Spirit World die in groups. Be patient. I have other ns.¡±

 Chapter 1454: Killing Intent!

    In the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    WHOOSH!

    As the me Dragon Armor burst forth with raging mes, a mysterious portal manifested out of thin air.

    In a sh, Nie Tian went through the portal and arrived at the magicalnd where eight me dragon skeletons faced a dpidated altar, on which time had left plenty of marks.

    ¡°This is it!¡±

    Standing in the middle of the dpidated altar, Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and took the Spirit Pearl out.

    Many years ago, shortly after he had obtained the Spirit Pearl, he hade to this magicalnd and purged the Spirit Pearl with the power of the altar and the eight me dragon skeletons.

    That time, all of the discarnate souls within the Spirit Pearl had been refined into pure soul power that he had then absorbed.

    After being activated, this ancient dpidated altar and the eight me dragons could be used to refine and rid the Spirit Pearl of its impurities.

    This was also the ce where Nie Tian had derived the wonders of the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    This was Nie Tian¡¯s blessednd!

    ¡°Get on with it.¡±

    As soon as he gave an instruction with his soul, the me Dragon Armor started channeling flesh power from him and me power from his me domain.

    Fiery lines then began moving ording to a profound spell formation on the surface of the burning suit of armor.

    RUMBLE!

    All of a sudden, the eight me dragon skeletons seemed to be ignited, and started burning violently.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Eight streams of fire flew out of the me Dragon Armor into the eight me dragon skeletons, temporarily vesting them with the me dragons¡¯ bloodline power and life force.

    The streams of fire slithered along the red me dragon skeletons.

    Nie Tian examined the me dragon skeletons with rapt attention, and saw numerous fine crystalline lines of fiery light shing inside of them like dragon meridians.

    me power rapidly built up.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, fierce me power spewed from the eight me dragon skeletons¡¯ opened mouths, fusing into the dpidated altar.

    The Spirit Pearl rose over the center of the altar.

    ¡°Master, as my bloodline upgrades and my memories are recovered, I finally understand one fact now.¡± Agaz¡¯s soul voice echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. ¡°These eight ancestors of my people were all at the tenth grade when they were alive! Now, hundreds of thousands of years after they¡¯ve died, their skeletons are still brimming with power!

    ¡°Even though their souls have scattered, their bones can still hold the fiercest me power!

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who collected their remains and built this spell formation with them. But I know that this teleportation portal is very mysterious and powerful, and full of wonders!¡±

    Agaz grew more and more excited as he spoke.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What? All eight of them were tenth grade me dragons? Your people were so powerful?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s true that we witnessed more tenth grade experts in distant eras,¡± Agaz answered. ¡°Of course, not all eight of them are from the same era. During my recent trip to the Holy me Mountain, I went through my people¡¯s ancient records, hoping to identify the reason why the Spirit World is withering.

    ¡°Even though I failed to find a reason, I read that the remains of many of our ancestors went missing, and weren¡¯t returned to the Holy me Mountain.

    ¡°It seems that some of them were taken here.¡±

    As Agaz sent Nie Tian soul messages, raging fire engulfed the entire dpidated ancient altar.

    Bathed in torrential fire, the Spirit Pearl became hotter and hotter, giving rise to fizzing sounds and sputtering sparks.

    ¡°Master...¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul¡¯s voice also echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, from which he could sense growing fear.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Those five evil gods are the target of this spell formation.¡± Nie Tian said with a strong killing intent. ¡°A bit longer, and I¡¯ll get the Illusory Ancient Talismans sealing them out of the pearl. Let¡¯s see if this ancient spell formation and the increased me power it generates will make them submit to me.¡±

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    As strange sounds continued toe from the dpidated altar, space started to twist. Even Nie Tian started to feel ufortable as he was scorched by the me power.

    ¡°Come out!¡± As he called out, the five Illusory Ancient Talismans he had condensed with all sorts of power started rising from within the Spirit Pearl.

    HOWL! AWW!

    The evil gods within the Illusory Ancient Talismans seemed to sense danger, and started struggling violently in an attempt to stop the Illusory Ancient Talismans from flying out of the Spirit Pearl.

    Before, they had repeatedly attempted to break free from the Illusory Ancient Talismans and the Spirit Pearl.

    This was the first time they had fought to stay within the pearl.

    The pearl provided them with ayer of protection. Before the raging fire burned down the wondrous ward that enveloped its cyan internal space, they didn¡¯t have to worry about their safety.

    However, once they left the pearl, they would have to rely on themselves to face every threat.

    Apparently, having gathered fragments of their souls and lost memories in the Void World, they had be more intelligent, and could shrewdly sense danger.

    With a coldugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°What is it? You¡¯re wussing out now? You clearly weren¡¯t like this when you bore your fangs and reached your ws towards me in the Void World! Without me, could you have gathered your soul fragments in the Mortal World and developed fleshly bodies?

    ¡°I gave you all that, yet you went against me?

    ¡°Get the hell out of there!¡±

    Furious, Nie Tian released his soul will to pull out the Illusory Ancient Talismans.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five wondrous Illusory Ancient Talismans Nie Tian had created with all sorts of power and flesh auras to seal the evil gods were dragged from within the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The raging mes that had engulfed the dpidated altar then infiltrated the Illusory Ancient Talisman and fused into the evil gods without any obstacles.

    The five evil gods couldn¡¯t move inside the Illusory Ancient Talismans.

    They let out miserable shrieks as soon as their hard-earned fleshly bodies caught fire.

    The devastating mes were burning their bodies, as well as their souls.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up, while his face remained ice-cold. ¡°The Illusory Ancient Talismans I derived from this magicalnd seem to be perfectlypatible with this dpidated ancient altar and its evil-purging mes. Instead of keeping you by my side so you can mess with me at crucial moments, I might as well purge you now, before you gather all your soul fragments and recover your peak strength.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t obey me, you¡¯ll die!

    ¡°It¡¯s just all that Blood Essence I used to forge your fleshly bodies will go to waste, along with the time and effort I spent collecting discarnate souls for you, you ingrates!¡±

    The raging mes were indeed causing damage to the five evil gods.

    WHOOSH!

    As Nie Tian raised his hand and made a grabbing motion, the Spirit Pearl flew from the altar into his palm.

    ¡°Master...¡± A soul voice came through from the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, which was still in a state of fear. ¡°This ancient altar is capable of burning down the cyan heaven and earth inside the pearl. If this pearl is destroyed, I¡¯ll die too.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since I made you with a strand of my soul essence, and you¡¯ve been nothing but loyal, I won¡¯t let you die.¡± Nie Tian said casually. ¡°Now, I¡¯m thinking about whether I can refine those five ingrates into pure soul power.¡±

    ¡°You mean?¡±

    ¡°Since they¡¯ve lost their value to me, I might as well use them to make you stronger.¡±

    Standing outside the altar and watching the five Illusory Ancient Talisman bathed in mes, Nie Tian added, ¡°I remember that the first time I came here and refined the Spirit Pearl, I gained quite an amount of pure soul power.

    ¡°Considering that you don¡¯t have a fleshly body, all you need to grow stronger is soul power, right?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul answered without hesitation.

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian said, ¡°Good. If I can refine them into pure soul power, I¡¯ll see if I can give it to you so you¡¯ll grow stronger. If they have to die, so be it. It won¡¯t be a terrible waste if I can strengthen you with their deaths.¡±

    ¡°But it¡¯s such a pity,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said.

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity because even if I obtain the soul power from them, I won¡¯t be as powerful. They were peak tenth grade grand monarchs when they were alive. As long as they continue to recover their lost memories and soul fragments and build up their strength, they¡¯ll be able to return to their previous heights. My rise will be much more difficult, and I can¡¯t promise that I¡¯ll be able to rise to the heights of any of them.¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul sounded frustrated.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°No!¡±

 Chapter 1455: Beg for Mercy

    The evil gods¡¯ shrill soul screams echoed from within the five crackling Illusory Ancient Talismans.

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±

    They had been able tomunicate with Nie Tian the whole time.

    After all, it was Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence that had vested them with fleshly bodies. It was Nie Tian who had gone to great lengths to help them gradually build up their strength.

    They had long since developed their own awareness and learned the humannguage. They simply chose not tomunicate with Nie Tian on a soul level out of repulsion towards him.

    However, at this moment, trapped on the dpidated altar, they were suffering from the raging mes. Their fleshly bodies that had been reforged thanks to Nie Tian were being relentlessly damaged by the very person who had reforged them.

    Their bodies weren¡¯t the only things being damaged; their souls were as well.

    They finally started to feel afraid.

    Thanks to their soul connection, they could vaguely sense that Nie Tian wasn¡¯t just saying things to scare them, but he was actually prepared to sacrifice them to strengthen the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, which had limited potential, but abundant loyalty.

    Due to the restrictions of the Illusory Ancient Talismans and the fact that they had failed to gather all of their lost memories and soul fragments from the Void World, they hadn¡¯t recovered their peak power yet, and thus couldn¡¯t resist the increasingly violent me power from this wondrous altar.

    If they didn¡¯t yield, then they would be refined, both their bodies and souls perishing here.

    They also had a terrifying feeling that if they were burned away on this altar, their soul awareness would dissipatepletely, and could never be regathered.

    That meant that even if others wanted to gather their remaining soul fragments in the Void World, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to bring them back.

    Therefore, they were finally scared. Realizing that they were facing extinction, they yielded and begged Nie Tian for mercy.

    A sinister grin appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°You¡¯re begging me for mercy now? It¡¯s toote. I don¡¯t want to waste any more time on you! So what if you werete tenth grade grand monarchs? Do you really think I can¡¯t survive without you?

    ¡°When my bloodline enters the tenth grade and my cultivation base reaches the God domain, what are your grand monarchs, including that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, to me?

    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve never faced a tenth grade grand monarch in battle!¡±

    Overtaken with anger, Nie Tianpletely ignored the evil gods¡¯ pleas for mercy, and issued an order to the me Dragon Armor. ¡°Go on! Burn their bodies and refine their souls! Those who don¡¯t obey me are useless, and a waste of my precious Blood Essence!¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡± After giving a simple answer, the me Dragon Armor channeled even more flesh power from him to fuel the eight me dragon skeletons, which then spewed even fiercer me power at the altar.

    ¡°Master...¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul wanted to say something, but stopped and sighed after seeing the state Nie Tian was in.

    In despair, the five evil gods wailed for his forgiveness.

    Nie Tian turned a deaf ear.

    He had made up his mind. If he couldn¡¯tpletely tame the five of them, he might as well destroy them as soon as possible. Otherwise, they might stir up more trouble when he took another trip to the Void World.

    Not to mention that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits might be able to use them to reopen the portal.

    In order to prevent future problems, he had decided to kill the five of them and use their soul power to strengthen the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    As the five evil gods were being purged, the Spirit Pearl seemed toe under increasingly heavy pressure. The cyan heaven and earth inside of it seemed to be on the verge of falling apart.

    ¡°Master! Stop!¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul cried anxiously.

    Nie Tian was confused.

    ¡°It seems to me if they die, this pearl will perish too, and I¡¯ll lose the ce I need to survive!¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul panicked. ¡°There¡¯s a strong connection between them and the Spirit Pearl. It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that they¡¯re a whole. I, however, am the expendable one.

    ¡°If I perish, the Spirit Pearl can still persist. But if they perish, the Spirit Pearl will explode, and you¡¯ll lose it forever.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before letting out a cold snort and lifting a hand to make a grabbing motion.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five Illusory Ancient Talismans immediately flew over from the dpidated altar.

    ¡°There were three Spirit Pearls originally, all of them forged by Grand Monarch Nether Spirit of my people with the five evil gods¡¯ soul fragments he collected from the Spirit World and the Mortal World,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul exined. ¡°He only made three of them because he was afraid that they would awaken and be difficult to contain if their soul fragments came together.

    ¡°Only by splitting them into three Spirit Pearls could he use their wonders with no scruples.

    ¡°Master, by fusing the three Spirit Pearls together, you allowed them to gather their broken souls and regain their awareness. Then, you vested them with fleshly bodies with your unique Blood Essence.

    ¡°I am the one the pearl can live without.

    ¡°In fact, in a sense, I¡¯m not the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul. They are!¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul that Nie Tian had created with a strand of his soul essence and the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch sounded sad and helpless as it carried on.

    Nie Tian took a moment to think before letting out a gentle sigh.

    Originally, the Spirit Pearls hadn¡¯t needed a soul to control them. Each of them held nothing but a third of the five evil gods¡¯ soul fragments that had been scattered in the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    Because of that, the unawakened five evil spirits had grown stronger and stronger as the Spirit Pearls devoured discarnate souls.

    ¡°If the three Spirit Pearls hadn¡¯t merged, and their broken awareness hadn¡¯t regathered, I might have still been able to restrain them as the soul of a Spirit Pearl,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said, full of bitterness. ¡°My strength only allowed me to suppress them when they were unawakened and weak.¡±

    Nie Tian listened in silence as it brought out the truth it was reluctant to say. Even after it finished, he remained silent for a while.

    During this time, the five Illusory Ancient Talismans floated quietly beside him. The evil gods within them could feel the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul¡¯s sorrow.

    However, none of them dared to make a sound, fearing that they would stir Nie Tian¡¯s emotions, which were not yet stable. They were afraid that he would throw away all that he had helped them achieve, and plunge them into eternal silence.

    After a long while, Nie Tian asked, holding the Spirit Pearl, ¡°What do you think I should do? What can I do to benefit you? You don¡¯t have to take those five into consideration. And this Spirit Pearl isn¡¯t that valuable to me either. The stronger I be, the less helpful it¡¯ll be, so don¡¯t worry about that.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the five evil gods within the Illusory Ancient Talismans grew very uneasy.

    They concentrated on sensing even the most subtle changes in the soul will of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    With a method Nie Tian couldn¡¯t detect, they secretly sent it auras, asking for help and hoping it would talk Nie Tian out of eliminating them.

    After contemting for a long time, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said, ¡°We can¡¯t trust them whatever they say now.

    ¡°I have a feeling that they¡¯re only loyal to their former master, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. Even the Netherspirits¡¯ current high chieftain, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, might not be able to gain their allegiance.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then you can only solve the problem on the fundamental level by deriving Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul-enving magic from the Nether River and using it on the essence of their souls.

    ¡°Master, you observed that branch of the Nether River in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. You must have discovered many of its wonders. You might as well go through them in your mind and see if you can find anything.

    ¡°If you can¡¯t, then there¡¯s also another way.¡±

    ¡°What way?¡±

    ¡°Go to the Nether Realm. There¡¯s another branch of the Nether River there, and those statues.¡±

    ¡°The Nether Realm?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, my ancestralnd. While grand monarchs of all races are out finding a solution to the crisis they¡¯re facing, I doubt that branch of the Nether River is heavily guarded. I suppose it¡¯ll be safe to go there now. By going there, you can examine that branch of the Nether Realm and those stone statues, and see if you can find a way to control thempletely.¡±

    The evil god of rage let out a violent roar. ¡°You bastard!

    ¡°You¡¯re nothing but the discarnate soul of a petty Phantasm! All Phantasms should serve us as their masters! Yet you stoop so low as to swear allegiance to a human junior. For shame!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe a despicable one like you managed to rise to the ninth grade when you were alive!

    ¡°We should have devoured you when we had the chance!¡±

    The suggestion put forth by the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul seemed to sting the evil gods, as they all sent furious soul will to it, venting their fury and expressing their intent to kill it. In fact, if they hadn¡¯t been confined within the Illusory Ancient Talismans, they would have charged out and annihted it right away.

 Chapter 1456: Another Branch

    The five evil gods swore in the most vicious possible ways.

    They had a deep-rooted concept that the Phantasms from the Spirit World were an inferior race.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had been made from the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch and a strand of Nie Tian¡¯s soul essence.

    They naturally attached no significance to any outsider grand patriarchs. After all, they had been at thete tenth grade when they had been alive.

    Plus, they had naturally assumed that all Phantasms should serve them and treat them as their masters.

    However, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was now offering Nie Tian advice from his standpoint and pinpointed the most crucial issue. This infuriated them.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Control them with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul-enving magic... The Nether River was transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s sea of awareness, and I observed its wonders through the Spirit Pearl in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. Those profoundly mysterious soul strands recorded marvelous soul magics. Let me see.¡±

    He fell silent.

    The me Dragon Armor saw what he was doing, and thus stopped infusing the eight me dragon skeletons with its me power.

    As that happened, the mes that had engulfed the dpidated altar gradually faded.

    The me Dragon Armor floated quietly over Nie Tian¡¯s head and waited for him to recall the wonders he had seen in the Nether River in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Time couldn¡¯t be measured on this magicalnd where there were no suns, moons, or stars.

    After an unknown period of time.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul asked.

    ¡°I sensed the existence of the Nether River!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul gasped. ¡°What? Where is it?¡±

    With a shocked expression, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems to be very far from here, but I¡¯m almost certain that there¡¯s another branch of the Nether River in this part of the starry river! I find this unbelievable too. The Nether River that runs through the three worlds runs through here as well!

    ¡°I wonder which world we¡¯re in now. The Mortal World or the Spirit World?

    ¡°If this is the Spirit World, then is the Nether River I¡¯m sensing the one in the Nether Realm?¡±

    Nie Tian drifted away in thought.

    While titans were buried on this magicalnd, there were other heaven and earths where frost dragons were buried.

    That tree was more colossal than anyone could imagine, and pierced through numerous heaven and earths. Many of them that he and the me Dragon Armor had explored before turned out to be Ancientspirit burial grounds.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had also said that this magicalnd was a burial ground of the Ancientspirits.

    If that were the case, shouldn¡¯t they be in the Spirit World?

    The Nether Realm was in the Spirit World!

    ¡°Master, have you found anything regarding Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul-enving method in your memories?¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul asked.

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why don¡¯t we start searching this area of the starry river? See if we can find that branch of the Nether River by following your senses?¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul suggested. ¡°If we find it, then you¡¯ll be able to observe its wonders and perhaps find a method to keep those five obedient.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go." Nie Tian nodded as he beckoned with his hand, and the Illusory Ancient Talismans were returned to the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    Knowing the terrain well, he soon came to the area where the titan arms stuck out of the ground, and found the huge hole in the ground in the middle.

    Summoning the Star Behemoth bone, he, who had be stronger than thest time he had been here, prated the ward covering the hole with ease.

    After he dove through the hole into the starry river below, the same scene that should only exist in dreams unfurled before him once again.

    A tree that wasrger than anyone could imagine had pierced through numerous heaven and earths with its branches.

    Holding the Spirit Pearl, he concentrated his soul awareness and muttered inwardly, ¡°The Nether River...¡±

    As he did, he suddenly sensed something from a very distant location in the dim starry river.

    WHOOSH!

    Without even activating his saint domain, he simply enveloped himself in his flesh aura and then flew off into the unknown mysterious starry river, following the subtle interaction between him and what might be another branch of the Nether River.

    ...

    A long time went by.

    On the dpidated altar with eight me dragon skeletons facing it from different directions, spatial fluctuations appeared out of thin air.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A glowing crimson spot the size of a grain of rice manifested and rapidly expanded.

    WHOOSH!

    Pang Chicheng entered this mysteriousnd for the first time with the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron floating over him. As soon as his head stopped spinning, the enormous arms reaching towards the heavens caught his eyes.

    Overtaken with excitement, Pang Chicheng eximed, ¡°Titans! This is it! This is the magical ce Nie Tian talked about and my father visited!

    ¡°Because I couldn¡¯t make breakthroughs in my bloodline when I had the me Dragon Armor, I hadn¡¯t been able to activate the key to this ce.

    ¡°Now, my bloodline finally broke through, and I took the opportunity to enter the God domain and win your acknowledgment.

    ¡°With your help and the contingency arrangements my father left, I finally set foot in this heaven and earth.¡±

    Pang Chicheng practically skipped with joy.

    ¡°These dragon skeletons seem to have been fused with me power and activated recently, very recently,¡± the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron suddenly said.

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°What? Are you saying that Nie Tian was here... again?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, and he¡¯s currently in this heaven and earth,¡± The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron answered.

    ¡°How is that possible?!¡± Pang Chicheng cried out. ¡°They were struggling to contend against a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits when I left. I saw that he and Dong Li were at their wits¡¯ end! Even his Spirit Pearl escaped his control and flew towards Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here,¡± The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron repeated itself mechanically.

    Pang Chicheng took a deep breath and a sinister smile appeared on his face. ¡°So what? I¡¯m at the God domain now, and I doubt any of hispanions were able toe here with him. It¡¯s just me against him. Will I be scared of him?

    ¡°Nie Tian! This is Pang Chicheng. Where are you? Do you dare toe face me?

    ¡°I¡¯m right here at the altar!¡±

    With a loud boom, he unleashed his me domain and activated his bloodline. Defying the gravity, which was many times stronger than that in regr realms, he charged into the heavens!

    Then, he spread his vast soul awareness through this heaven and earth in every direction to search for Nie Tian¡¯s aura.

    ¡°No, he just left this heaven and earth,¡± the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron said. ¡°Come with me.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron morphed into a streak of fiery light that shot away from the central area of the magicalnd.

    After going nk for a moment, Pang Chicheng decided to trust the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and flew after it.

    Along the way, he saw enormous titan arms that reached towards the heavens, some with syed hands, some making fists, and some forming mysterious hand seals. ¡°Nie Tian must have derived many powerful magics from these buried Ancientspirits. If he could, I can too. I wonder what these hand seals mean.¡±

    After a while, he came to a stop in the ce where Nie Tian had dove into the dim starry river.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron sheltered a me dragon soul, which shrewdly captured Agaz¡¯s aura. ¡°I can also sense the me Dragon Armor¡¯s residual aura from under there. They must have left through this ce, but I¡¯m not sure where they went. So do you want to explore this heaven and earth or go after Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I need to find Nie Tian first!¡± Pang Chicheng said without the slightest hesitation.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll st the ward open.¡±

 Chapter 1457: Mysteries

    Dashing through the dim starry river, Nie Tian suddenly eximed in shock, ¡°The Nether River!¡±

    He came to an abrupt stop.

    A winding river ran past a few realms that were prated by the sword-like branches of the incredibly colossal tree.

    That river didn¡¯t run through any of the realms, but rather floated quietly in the starry river.

    Not a single discarnate soul could be seen in the long, winding river, only dazzling cyan spots that lit up from time to time.

    This river was clearly different from the one Nie Tian had seen in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    However, it was undoubtedly what had stirred his senses and attracted him here.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul examined the Nether River in its unique manner, and then said, ¡°This river is different from the one we have in the Nether Realm.

    ¡°That one runs through the north of the Nether Realm, with countless souls and spirits floating in it, killing each other and transforming.

    ¡°This Nether River, however, doesn¡¯t have any soul-form beings in it. And it doesn¡¯t run through any of these realms...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s hand and into the distant starry river.

    Like a cyan bolt of lightning, it flew off following the Nether River, as if to trace this branch of the Nether River to see if it connected to the one in the Nether Realm.

    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t connect to that branch of the Nether River, then it¡¯s a whole new branch...¡± Surprised by this thought, Nie Tian sensed the Spirit Pearl¡¯s movement, but didn¡¯t fly after it. At the same time, he returned the Star Behemoth bone to his ring of holding.

    RUMBLE!

    The me Dragon Armor suddenly assumed its dragon form: Agaz. Staring at the branch of the Nether River in front of him with his enormous dragon eyes, he said, ¡°This river contains copious Nether Qi. Phantasms should be able to absorb power from it and enhance their strength. It¡¯s just that...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking curious.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that they can¡¯t collect evil spirits and vicious souls from it to refine into their bloodlines or keep as their servants,¡± Agaz said. ¡°Back when I was still with my father, he told me that the Phantasms¡¯ branch of the Nether River gathered discarnate souls, evil spirits, and all sorts of soul-form beings spontaneously.

    ¡°In this sense, it¡¯s kind of simr to the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°Every time a fierce battle broke out between the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Bonebrutes, or other races in the Spirit World, some of the discarnate souls of those who died in battle would be magically absorbed by that branch of the Nether River.

    ¡°Once they entered the Nether River, they would either be devoured by stronger spirits or devour weaker spirits themselves and be stronger.

    ¡°Many Phantasm grand patriarchs and grand monarchs would pick powerful spirits from the Nether River to refine with secret soul magics or enve for use in battle.

    ¡°However, I can¡¯t sense the existence of a single spirit in this branch of the Nether River.¡±

    Rubbing his chin, Nie Tian pondered in silence for a long while before suddenly saying, ¡°If this branch of the Nether River hasn¡¯t absorbed any spirits or souls, then it means no battle has taken ce in this part of the starry river. Perhaps those cyan spots that light up from time to time record Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s profound soul magics.¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, he focused his attention on the spots in the river.

    Without the help of the Spirit Pearl, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t see what was vested in the cyan spots that grew dazzling every now and then.

    While he observed with rapt attention, he also saw interweaving soul strings shing across the Nether River from time to time.

    However, he couldn¡¯t see through their wonders, even though he was concentrated quite hard.

    ¡°It seems that I have to turn to the Spirit Pearl for help.¡± He thenmunicated with the Spirit Pearl, asking it to return, so he could observe the wonders of this branch of the Nether River through it as his third eye.

    ¡°Give me a bit more time...¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul responded as it flew farther and farther away, as if it intended to find the origin of this branch of the Nether River and an answer.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve got time. I¡¯ll wait.¡± He nodded and waited in this unknown area of the starry river.

    While waiting, he nced around at thendmasses and the unimaginably colossal tree that had prated and been absorbing nourishment from them. ¡°Where on earth did this colossal treee from? Even the Tree of Life that created the Floragrims shouldn¡¯t be thisrge. Besides, didn¡¯t the Tree of Life wither long ago?¡±

    ...

    At the same time, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron sted through the ward that covered the hole in the ground surrounded by buried titans.

    ¡°My heavens!¡± An exmation escaped Pang Chicheng¡¯s mouth as soon as he dove through it into the starry river below.

    What he saw was so overwhelming that he couldn¡¯t say a word for a long time.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron also lost itsposure. ¡°T-this is far too magnificent... Unbelievable... I only heard master talk about this ce. Even though he imprinted the essing method in me, since you hadn¡¯t awakened your bloodline and I had to protect the Realm of Fire Spirit, I¡¯ve never had a chance toe here myself.

    ¡°But master never mentioned this colossal tree!

    ¡°All he ever told me about was the magicalnd where titans were buried, but he never said this ce held so many wonders!

    ¡°Wait! I¡¯m sensing the me Dragon Armor¡¯s aura!¡±

    ¡°Take me there!¡± Pang Chicheng blurted, overtaken with fighting will. ¡°I want to see what Nie Tian is up to in this mysterious part of the starry river! Everything here is rightfully mine! My father left them for me! Nie Tian is nothing but a despicable thief. He stole my fortune!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Pang Chicheng cursed furiously as he sped through the starry river with the erged Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    ...

    Agaz the me dragon suddenly sensed something. ¡°Pang Chicheng! As I expected, he can also ess this ce now that he¡¯s broken through to the God domain and gained the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s acknowledgment. As Pang Bo¡¯s divine tool, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron carries a special me dragon aura. Now that Pang Chicheng¡¯s bloodline has broken out, he can finally ess this ce with its help.¡±

    Nie Tian gave a cold harrumph. ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone was summoned from within his ring of holding. Clutching it, he took a deep breath and activated his life bloodline.

    RUMBLE!

    His body expanded violently, his rich flesh aura bursting forth like an erupting volcano.

    After assuming his erged form, he instantly reached a Life Blend state with the Star Behemoth bone.

    HOWL!

    Without meaning to, he let out a furious howl in Pang Chicheng¡¯s direction.

    His flesh power suddenly changed, as if he had turned into a Star Behemoth from the Primal Era.

    Though separated by a great distance, Pang Chicheng bellowed, ¡°Nie Tian! My father left this mysterious ce for me! And I¡¯m the me Dragon Armor¡¯s one and only master!¡±

    ¡°You?¡± Nie Tian said with a nastyugh. ¡°Deluded by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, you awakened the Ripper Behemoth and nearly caused the portal to be reopened, allowing the powerful races of the Void World to invade our world. How dare you say that you deserve to be the me Dragon Armor¡¯s master? Since you¡¯ve been expelled from the fire element sect and the Realm of Fire Spirit, you should have lived the rest of your life with your tail between your legs. However, you just continue to stir up trouble everywhere!

    ¡°As stupid as you are, all that you¡¯ve done has ended up hurting the human race!¡±

    Pang Chicheng was just about to fight back as he suddenly caught sight of the mysterious river.

    He was bbergasted. ¡°The Nether River?! Howe there¡¯s a branch of the Nether River here? Don¡¯t tell me this is the Nether Realm...¡±

    A frown of surprise appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about this river either?¡±

    Pang Chicheng was Pang Bo¡¯s only son. Nie Tian had assumed that now that he had gained the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s acknowledgement and found his way to this mysterious ce, many of his questions about the wonders of this ce would be answered.

    Who would have thought that Pang Chicheng would know nothing about the unusual phenomenon here either?

    ¡°Of course I¡¯ll figure out what¡¯s going on here, but I¡¯ll kill you first so I¡¯ll have every secret here to myself.¡± With a cunningugh, Pang Chicheng unleashed his dharma idol, which then morphed into an erupting volcano.

    If anyone examined it with rapt attention, they would see that it was very simr to the volcano in the Realm of Fire Spirit where he used to practice cultivation, and with a secret teleportation portal underneath it.

    FIZZ!

    Thousands of streams of fiery light met on the rocky surface of the volcano, instantly forming close to a hundred spell formations that were vested with the profound truths of fire.

    WHOOSH!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron suddenly dove into the volcano through its mouth at the top, its raging me power fusing with that of the volcano.

    ¡°Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation!¡± Pang Chicheng¡¯s furious roar echoed out from within the volcano.

 Chapter 1458: Stranded

    In the Domain of Heaven Span.

    Controlling the floating continent, the Ripper Behemoth instinctively chased after the powerful outsiders and Ancientspirits, and managed to kill many of them.

    Not many Ancientspirits and outsiders had died during their battles against the humans in the Domain of Heaven Span. However, arge number of them ended up being devoured by the Ripper Behemoth.

    Gradually, the Ripper Behemoth couldn¡¯t locate any new sources of flesh power that interested it anymore.

    It grew more and more famished.

    Every time it awakened, it would take control of the floating continent with its flesh aura sea and conduct a session of frenzied feeding.

    This time, it had already devoured two outsider grand monarchs, more than a dozen grand patriarchs, and numerous Ancientspirits, yet it was far from being full.

    The flesh power it had obtained from them couldn¡¯t meet its need, which led to the awakening of another instinct: devouring realms.

    This would spur it to destroy realms, devour the spiritual energy of heaven and earth they contained, and convert it into the power it needed.

    Now, it gradually lost its sanity.

    The Realm of Common Heaven had been a resourceful realm that belonged to Shang Li.

    However, during Pei Qiqi¡¯s battle against Grand Monarch Remote Demon, she had severed a fourth of itsnd with her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    All of Shang Li¡¯s loyal followers that had lived there had long since evacuated.

    Now, the floating continent reached the Realm of Common Heaven.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s bellow rumbled from the floating continent as a sea of rolling gray mist spread towards the Realm of Common Heaven.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The spiritual energy that filled every corner of the Realm of Common Heaven was rapidly devoured.

    Lands shook and mountains were rocked in every part of the realm.

    Due to the drastic loss of energy, mountains toppled,kes ran dry, and chasms ripped through the earth. Flowers, grass, and trees withered. Large spirit beasts reared by Shang Li¡¯s subordinates wailed in despair before being pulled into the sea of gray mist by a mysterious power.

    CRACK!

    The Realm of Common Heaven snapped like a cookie.

    Pieces of it drifted into the distant starry river.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the Realm of Common Heaven, which Chu Yuan had assigned to Shang Li, was drained of its spiritual energy and life force, and all its spirit beasts sucked into the floating continent with the sea of gray mist.

    Then, the floating continent slowly flew away from the Realm of Common Heaven, which was now nothing but broken lifeless pieces that drifted in the starry river.

    ...

    In the headquarters of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and many others frowned in worry after hearing thetest news.

    ¡°The... the Realm of Common Heaven was...¡± One of Shang Li¡¯s subordinates said haltingly, as if he was going toin.

    ¡°Enough,¡± Fan Tianze said coldly. He waved his hand at the man. ¡°You may leave now. Tell Shang Li that we¡¯ve been informed of the destruction of the Realm of Common Heaven, and tell him not to act rashly before we make our decision.¡±

    ¡°Yes, patriarch.¡± The man left obediently.

    Powerful experts from the four great sects gathered in the great hall, along with Divine Sons and Daughters and Sons of the Stars like Dou Tianchen.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Xuan Guangyu?¡± Chu Rui asked.

    Ji Yuanquan, who was also from the Void Spirit Society, smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought he woulde here after retreating from the floating continent, but clearly, he didn¡¯t. I asked our sect elders, and they said he didn¡¯t return to our sect either. He seems to have disappeared with Shangguan Zhi, Duan Hongwen, and Song Chequan.¡±

    ¡°He did this!¡± Fan Tianze spat. ¡°Sure, the Ancientspirits and outsider grand monarchs suffered a heavy blow, but so what? Now, all of the Ancientspirit and outsider invaders have pulled out of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°Driven mad by hunger, the Ripper Behemoth has activated another instinct that was branded in its bloodline, and started draining realms of their energy to ease its sense of hunger.

    ¡°Who¡¯s going to stop it now?¡±

    The crowd of human experts in the great hall fell silent.

    Perhaps they would have harbored the hope of defeating the Ripper Behemoth before witnessing its devastating power. However, now that they had seen it single-handedly crush the invading Ancientspirits and outsiders, they didn¡¯t dare to think that anymore.

    Ye Wenhan let out a sigh and said, ¡°I remember that the mere aura of a dead Star Behemoth plunged many races into senseless killing in the Shatter Battlefield. What we¡¯re facing now is a living Star Behemoth... that has entered a frenzied state.¡±

    ¡°Do we abandon the Domain of Heaven Span?¡± Chu Rui suggested.

    ¡°It¡¯s the foundation of our sect we¡¯re talking about!¡± Ye Wenhan said with determination. ¡°If our sectmaster returns only to find that the Domain of Heaven Span is gone, all of its realms devoured by the Ripper Behemoth, then we...¡±

    ¡°But what if we can¡¯t fend off the Ripper Behemoth?¡± Ji Yuanquan said with a helpless look on his face.

    Fan Tianze¡¯s eyebrows suddenly rose as he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian now? He seems to know how tomunicate with that Ripper Behemoth. He hasn¡¯t shown up again since we retreated from the floating continent. Where did he go?¡±

    ¡°It appears that he went to the Seven Stars Realm Sea,¡± Ye Wenhan answered.

    ¡°Go find him, and Pei Qiqi too. See if they have a solution.¡± Fan Tianze, who was at his wits¡¯ end, finally thought of Nie Tian. ¡°And his mysterious master, Wu Ji. Perhaps he has the answer we need.¡±

    ¡°Wu Ji!¡± Chu Rui eximed.

    When Gupi had devastated human domains and made all the experts bite their nails for a solution, it was Wu Ji who hade to their rescue. The river of time had appeared out of nowhere and swept Gupi away.

    ¡°Perhaps he does!¡±

    ...

    In front of the Nether River in the unknown part of the starry river.

    ¡°The Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation?¡± Nie Tianughed and shook his head. ¡°Pang Chicheng, do you think this is the Realm of Fire Spirit? As powerful as the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron is, its might will be greatly reduced once it leaves the Realm of Fire Spirit! You want to use it to reproduce the might of the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation here? Quit dreaming!¡±

    FIZZ!

    The Star Behemoth bone suddenly grew longer, like a crimson divine spear.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Like a red lightning bolt, it shot towards the volcano transformed from Pang Chicheng¡¯s dharma idol.

    At the same time, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron burst forth with blinding divine light.

    A me qilin, a me dragon, a me phoenix, and a vermilion bird manifested on the four sides of the enormous cauldron simultaneously. Each and every one of them emanated a tremendous amount of light and heat, like gods of fire.

    Upon their manifestation, a holy aura that could burn the heavens and destroy the earth came to form.

    BOOM!

    The crimson bone Nie Tian had cast forward was instantly intercepted by a sea of mes conjured by the volcano and the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation.

    However, the bone wasn¡¯t frustrated. Instead, it inched forward.

    ¡°Bloodline: Blood Essence Seething!¡±

    Drop after drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence was ignited, and started burning violently.

    ¡°Life Erosion!¡±

    Another bloodline talent of Nie Tian¡¯s was activated with the bone as its medium.

    WHOOSH!

    Wisps of life aura flew out of the bone to hover around the volcano.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Pang Chicheng eximed in astonishment. ¡°What a strange feeling! My lifespan seems to be slowly shortening!¡±

    After going nk for a brief moment, he spat, ¡°Burn!¡±

    With a cunningugh, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, your bloodline is wondrous indeed. But you don¡¯t seem to have thought things through. Are you sure that bloodline magic is going to work on me? Should I remind you that I also carry a unique bloodline?

    ¡°You and I are both hybrids. You should understand how long my lifespan is!¡±

    BOOM! RUMBLE!

    Fluctuations that seemed to be caused by a volcanic eruption came from Pang Chicheng¡¯s heart as hisva-rted bloodline suddenly burst forth.

    Like boilingva, his flesh aura fused into the volcano transformed from his dharma idol, magnifying the might of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    Pang Chicheng let out a cold snort and continued, ¡°You¡¯re right. I can only disy the might of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron to the fullest in the Realm of Fire Spirit. But you¡¯ve got to know that when we met in the Realm of Fire Spirit, I hadn¡¯t entered the God domain or gained the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s acknowledgement!

    ¡°Even though this isn¡¯t the Realm of Fire Spirit, I¡¯m at the God domain now, and I¡¯ve gained full control of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. The damage I can cause you now is bound to be much greater than that time!¡±

    ¡°Life Erosion doesn¡¯t fare well with him indeed.¡± Nie Tian quickly opened his eyes to the truth and switched to another bloodline magic. ¡°Lifeblood Wheel!¡±

 Chapter 1459: High-spirited!

    ¡°Lifeblood Wheel!¡± As he yelled, a scarlet wheel made of drops of Blood Essence flew out of his chest and hung over his head.

    Its crimson blood light shone in every direction to make this dark starry river an endless sea of blood that was simr to the source of his bloodline.

    THUMP! THUMP!!

    An unusually rapid heartbeat suddenly rang out from the volcano that Pang Chicheng¡¯s dharma idol had morphed into, like a beating drum.

    BOOM!

    A huge me qilin¡¯s illusory figure suddenly rose from the volcano and burst forth with endless divine light.

    Lava oozed out of the me qilin. With a mere nce at its magnificence, one would know that it was a tenth-grade grand monarch!

    It seemed the zingva matched the me qilin¡¯s aura and bloodline perfectly, and made the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s power suddenly skyrocket.

    ¡°A me qilin rises from a mountain¡¯s heart!¡± Nie Tian eximed in shock, and suddenly remembered Pang Chicheng¡¯s bloodline. ¡°The bloodline of a me qilin of the Ancientbeasts! Your father Pang Bo actually got together with an Ancientbeast grand monarch who then gave birth to you? Pang Chicheng, I never expected you to carry a me qilin bloodline!¡±

    The me dragon Agaz was also shocked. ¡°me qilin!¡±

    Among the Ancientspirits, the me qilins were a very special race. There were very few of them in this starry river. It was extremely difficult to give birth to new me qilins.

    However, each me qilin could improve its bloodline to a very advanced grade as long as it didn¡¯t die prematurely.

    In the history of the Ancientspirits, there were quite a number of me qilins whose bloodline had reached the tenth grade.

    Recovering from his astonishment, Agaz said, ¡°A me qilin is much more skilled at using the power of earthmeva than an Earth me Beast. No wonder that Pang Chicheng¡¯s cultivation base could improve so fast in the volcano. No wonder his father Pang Bo chose that volcano in the Realm of Fire Spirit to be the location for his breakthrough to the God domain!

    ¡°After his breakthrough, his dharma idol and God domain are also in the form of a volcano.

    ¡°The me qilin¡¯s bloodline and core talents can maximize his dharma idol¡¯s power indeed.¡±

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The deafening heartbeat of Pang Chicheng, who had manifested his me qilin bloodline, kepting from the volcano.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pang Chicheng shouted furiously. ¡°Your secret bloodline magic is unusual indeed! I didn¡¯t expect that it could actually drive my heartbeat out of control, and make my flesh aura magics reveal their ws!¡±

    He suddenly ordered the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron that had sunk into the volcano. ¡°Go!¡±

    His heartbeat was out of control and his flesh power was in chaos. Therefore, he used his soul awareness to drive the immortal grade divine tool to attack Nie Tian.

    The burning illusory figures of the me souls of the me qilin, vermillion bird, me dragon, and me phoenix flew out of the giant cauldron and came down towards Nie Tian from four directions. ¡°Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation!¡±

    A me divine formation instantly formed.

    In a sh, Nie Tian in his giant form was besieged by the illusory figures of the four Ancientspirits¡¯ me souls and the giant cauldron, which seemed to berge enough to cover heaven and earth.

    SWOOSH!

    Four hundred-meter-wide me waterfalls poured from the illusory figures of the me dragon, me qilin, vermillion bird, and me phoenix.

    The me waterfalls were filled with brilliant, crystalline divine light, and were vested with the ancient and immortal truths of me. The truths of me had developed into the most core power that had existed since the birth of the first cluster of fire: the power to burn.

    ¡°Four Manifestations Burning Heaven!¡± cried Pang Chicheng.

    Enveloped in the influence of the giant cauldron, Nie Tian and the surrounding space burned with loud crackling sounds, like burning straw.

    SWISH!

    The mixed sparkling divine light in the me waterfalls from the me dragon, me qilin, vermillion bird, and me phoenix seemed to morph into thousands of invisible ming streaks of light that infiltrated Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and viscera.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Nie Tian let out a cry of surprise and examined himself. He felt that his veins, viscera, and bones were being burned by the streaks of light.

    Hundreds of fire-attributed bloodline talents, spirit incantations, and magics that were both familiar and unfamiliar to him roamed in his body.

    ¡°Want to burn my viscera and flesh, and finally... my soul?¡± Nie Tian sneered and spread out his me domain.

    His me domain was of course unusual.

    Inspired by the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End and Nie Yan, his me domain had been forged on the me Land!

    In the depths of the earth¡¯s core in the me Land, there was a me formation that might be the most mysterious in the world. It could channel the stray me power in the vast domain and constantly build up the me power of the me Land.

    ording to Agaz, due to the me formation, the me Land might surpass the Holy me Mountain and the Realm of Fire Spirit and be the most ideal cultivation location for those who practiced me power throughout the human domains, and even possibly the three worlds!

    When Nie Tian had broken through to the Saint Domain and his me domain had been condensed, he had imprinted the unusual formation in the earth¡¯s core of the me Land in his me domain!

    Because of the existence of the unusual formation, his me domain had a wide range of uses, and could be even connected to the me Land!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The extremelyplex me formation that was made of many small me arrays in Nie Tian¡¯s me domain quietly activated.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    The ming streaks of light that had slithered into Nie Tian¡¯s blood and viscera and were going to burn his flesh were suddenly attracted and ripped out from his body, before they flew into his me domain.

    At the same time, something strange suddenly happened to the four me waterfalls that were pouring me power on him.

    The wide me waterfalls that fell into his me domain were somehow channeled by theplex and mysterious me formation. They morphed into streaks of light that flew into the formation and then disappeared.

    The power of the Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation disyed by the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron that had made Nie Tian fretful and ufortable was instantly weakened!

    All of a sudden, the me souls of the me qilin, me dragon, me phoenix, and vermillion bird felt terrified.

    ZZZZZLA! ZZZZZLA!

    Rays of sparkling zing light suddenly disappeared into the formation of Nie Tian¡¯s me domain, but appeared in his me power sub-soul immediately afterwards.

    Each ray of light represented a truth of me, and were vested with the me qilin¡¯s, me dragon¡¯s, me phoenix¡¯s, and vermillion bird¡¯s understandings of me.

    Nie Tian was overjoyed. ¡°Marvelous!¡±

    He hadn¡¯t expected that the unusual formation in his me domain would be so wonderful.

    It could not only transport superfluous me power to the me Land, helping it be the hottest ce in the Mortal World, Spirit World, and Void World, but it could also absorb the crystalline fiery light and analyze its secrets before merging it into his me power sub-soul, deepening his understanding of me power.

    In this way, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t have to worry about this aspect when he tried to break through to a higher cultivation level.

    ¡°Ah ha! Ah ha!¡± Pang Chicheng shouted as he didn¡¯t want to give up.

    Nie Tian in his giant form grinned and let out a cunningugh. ¡°The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, an immortal grade divine tool?¡± With his huge arms that were like red iron pincers, he suddenly sped the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    ZZZZZLA! ZZZZZLA!

    Endless me currents sputtered out of his arms, but they couldn¡¯t hurt him at all.

    me power burst forth from the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, manifesting the me qilin¡¯s, vermillion bird¡¯s, me dragon¡¯s, and me phoenix¡¯s bloodline talents, and their insights into extreme me.

    However, as soon as these secret magics burst forth, they were ruthlessly crushed, swallowed, and refined by the unusual formation in his me domain.

    At this moment, Nie Tian was high-spirited!

 Chapter 1460: Suppress The Giant Cauldron!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was a level five Immortal grade divine tool, but it couldn¡¯t break free of his control!

    He remembered how powerless he had been when he had entered the pce underneath that volcano in the Realm of Fire Spirit and confronted the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron.

    Now, they had met again, and the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was still being controlled by Pang Chicheng, and had been vested with even stronger power.

    However, he was not who he had been before!

    Gripping the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he burst outughing and said, ¡°It¡¯s no use. You can¡¯t break free of my control. With me here, your me power, secret me arrays, and all kinds of me incantations can¡¯t disy their extreme power!¡±

    He was deeply aware thatpared to the formation in his me domain, the so-called Four Manifestations Heaven-burning Formation and the immortal grade divine tool that the previous sectmaster of the fire element sect had left to his son were simply nothing.

    The grand me power formation that had been forged in the depths of the me Land by the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End and Nie Yan was unprecedentedly unusual!

    It might be the most mysterious and powerful me formation in the world!

    The soul of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was struggling fiercely, and the giant three-legged cauldron was trembling. ¡°Mm-hmm!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s hands held onto the legs of the cauldron. No matter how it struggled and released raging mes, he showed no intention of letting it go.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had already sent a message to ask Pang Chicheng for help.

    However, under the suppression of Nie Tian¡¯s Lifeblood Wheel, Pang Chicheng himself couldn¡¯t use his me qilin bloodline.

    Even his volcano was being restricted by the Lifeblood Wheel.

    When Pang Chicheng finally managed to calm his heart and control the volcano transformed from his dharma idol to approach Nie Tian, he instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

    When it came close to Nie Tian¡¯s me domain, his volcano actually wanted to copse!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The most miraculous me power in the volcano he had created with his understanding of the truths of me and the divine me symbols his father had left for him were being attracted by the formation in Nie Tian¡¯s me domain, as if they were going to be sucked into it.

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s expression suddenly changed.

    He didn¡¯t know where the miraculous formation in Nie Tian¡¯s me domain was from.

    However, he had just clearly seen the me waterfalls released by the me dragons, me qilin, vermillion bird, and me phoenix disappear inside it.

    Now, if the volcano transformed from his dharma idol was being attracted as well, then...

    At the thought of it, he suppressed his inner impulse to save the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and backed away from Nie Tian step by step with great will.

    He had to avoid Nie Tian¡¯s me domain.

    He could even hear the wailing of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and feel that its soul was deeply disappointed in him.

    ¡°You are not as good as your father. You¡¯re nowhere near him.

    ¡°I fought alongside him for years, but he never had the idea of abandoning me in a bid to save himself.

    ¡°Not once.

    ¡°No wonder you couldn¡¯t truly win the me Dragon Armor¡¯s acknowledgement, and have never really owned it.

    ¡°After all, when you were besieged in the Shatter Battlefield, you chose to sacrifice it to save yourself.¡±

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul awareness was released intermittently and passed to Pang Chicheng, whose heart was filled with shame.

    Nevertheless, he firmly retreated step by step. ¡°Do your utmost to break free of Nie Tian¡¯s control. The uncanny formation in his me domain is simply far too terrifying. Once my God domain and the volcano that my dharma has morphed into get close to him, all the me power that has formed the core of my God domain flows to him.

    ¡°I came to this mysterious world toote.

    ¡°If I hade here a little earlier than he did, I might have mastered all the mysteries of this ce!¡±

    He mistakenly believed that Nie Tian¡¯s strength and the mysteries of his me domain were all from this ce.

    He had decided to explore the magics in this ce, and use them to strengthen himself before getting even with Nie Tian.

    He was very rational as he chose not to fight Nie Tian, but quickly retreated in the direction he hade from.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, whose legs had been sped by Nie Tian, struggled like crazy.

    Nie Tian had to mobilize his bloodline power and spiritual energy from his spiritual sea in order to firmly hold the giant cauldron and prevent it from flying to Pang Chicheng. ¡°Hey, give up already.

    ¡°I doubt he can even leave this ce without you.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see if he can return to the human world by relying on his God domain cultivation base after he abandons you, just like he abandoned the me Dragon Armor.¡±

    Nie Tian looked strangely calm. He just held the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron instead of pursuing Pang Chicheng, allowing him to escape.

    Pang Chicheng went farther and farther until he finally disappeared.

    ¡°Look at him. For his own safety, he ran away without the slightest hesitation,¡± Nie Tian said andughed. ¡°A man like him deserves to be your master? Haha, why don¡¯t you change your mind and serve me as your new master?¡±

    He didn¡¯t run after Pang Chicheng, but let the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron see clearly that Pang Chicheng would only think about himself at a critical moment, because he wanted to say these words to it.

    He wanted to rece Pang Chicheng as the new master of the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron!

    After all, it was an immortal grade divine tool at an extraordinary level.

    He didn¡¯t think Pang Chicheng deserved to own such a priceless treasure.

    ¡°Impossible. No matter what he has done, he will always be my master,¡± the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul said, sounding sad. ¡°He is the new master whom my old master entrusted to me. Once he reaches the God domain, he is my master. No one can change that.

    ¡°Also, you don¡¯t need me anyways. You have better choices.¡±

    ¡°Both the me Dragon Armor and the unusual formation in your me domain will grow to be no weaker than me.¡±

    It no longer struggled as it spoke, as if it had epted its fate. ¡°You can restrain me, but I will not listen to you or fight for you. If you don¡¯t release me, you¡¯ll only have one more item added to your collection.¡±

    Nie Tianughed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Put it simply, you epted Pang Bo and allowed his will to rise above yours. But it¡¯s not impossible for me to erase his will and influence on you! Back when Pang Chicheng seized the me Dragon Armor, he erased the Daughter of mes¡¯ soul memory and left the me Dragon Armor¡¯s soul nk, didn¡¯t he?¡±

    Hearing this, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron finally panicked. ¡°You, you don¡¯t have the ability to do that!¡±

    ¡°The ability to contend against your previous master Pang Bo¡¯s will?¡± Nie Tian snorted and said, ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true! Pang Bo was proficient in a variety of me incantations and was at thete God domain, but there are so many soul magics, and he might not have been proficient in all of them. But I...¡±

    He turned to look at the Nether River in front of him. ¡°I¡¯ll derive Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul mysteries from this Nether River. If I can bring the five evil gods to their knees and make thempletely loyal to me, how can you, a strange soul condensed from four fragmentary souls, possibly break free from my grip?

    ¡°Anyway, now that Pang Chicheng has given you up, he can never take you back from me. Without you, it¡¯ll be a dream if he wants to return to the Realm of Fire Spirit and be the new sectmaster of the fire element sect while Shao Tianyang is away!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    While this giant Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was scared, Nie Tian wrapped it up with his soul awareness and threw it into his ring of holding.

    ¡°Stay in there and behave yourself. After I understand the Nether River¡¯s true meaning, I¡¯ll find a way to erase the will Pang Bo left and make you only listen to me. Then you¡¯ll probably forget who Pang Bo and Pang Chicheng are.¡±

 Chapter 1461: His Soul Is Connected To The Flame Land!

    ¡°The Immortal grade divine tool Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron is a priceless treasure of the fire element sect,¡± Nie Tian murmured, frowning slightly. ¡°Even if I can¡¯t erase your will, you still have other uses. I don¡¯t believe that when Shao Tianyang returns, he can¡¯t deal with you.¡±

    A strand of his soul awareness still lingered in his ring of holding.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron asked.

    ¡°I obtained the me Dragon Armor identally, but it also counts as a powerful tool of the fire element sect,¡± Nie Tian said, stroking his jaw, ¡°As for you, if I really can¡¯t control you, I¡¯ll give you to Shao Tianyang or Lou Hongyan. After all, the Realm of Fire Spirit will be able to make the best use of you.¡±

    ¡°I belong only to Young Master Pang!¡± the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron shouted.

    ¡°That¡¯s not up to you,¡± Nie Tian said, pulling his soul awareness from his ring and no longer talking to it.

    Just then, the me dragon Agaz sent him a soul message full of awe. ¡°The formation in your me domain may be the nemesis of many me creatures.¡±

    ¡°Maybe,¡± Nie Tian said, and carefully examined the formation.

    He was keenly aware that the me waterfalls he had absorbed from the me qilin, me dragon, me phoenix, and vermilion bird and put into his me domain were actually being transfused by the formation to the me Land.

    He could even vaguely sense Nie Yan¡¯s surprise and tion.

    ¡°This formation is connected to the me Land by some unusual spatial power?¡± He marveled inwardly. ¡°This is really awesome! Pang Chicheng was at the early God domain, and his me qilin bloodline has awakened. He also owned the Immortal grade divine tool Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. Despite all this, he was firmly suppressed.

    ¡°Since even Pang Chicheng is no match for me, then would the rest of the God domain experts who practice me incantations and the tenth-grade outsiders like the me dragon and me phoenix suffer as soon as I disy my me domain in battle against them?¡±

    Agaz, whose mind was connected to his, immediately gave him a positive answer. ¡°The Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End is probably the only true me divine spirit in the three worlds! If what I suspect is true, the unusual formation buried deep in the me Land that it and Nie Yan have built is also the most mysterious me formation.¡±

    Agaz¡¯s heart was filled with envy. ¡°No formation can match that one! There will be no other holy mendsparable to the me Land.¡±

    As a member of the me dragons, he had been thinking whether he could find a realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End for his nsmen to live.

    He believed that any realm of the Domain of me¡¯s End would be a treasurednd for the me dragons in the future!

    As the Spirit World dried up and the Holy me Mountain withered, the Domain of me¡¯s End in the human world would be the most desirable ce for his nsmen to live in.

    The Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End had a very harmonious rtionship with Nie Yan and Nie Tian.

    Agaz secretly decided to follow Nie Tian wholeheartedly, hoping that he could make a favorable impression on him, and provide a ce for the younger generations of me dragons to live and grow in the future for his sake

    ¡°The master has been so kind to the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul. If I follow him and give him more help, I should be able to win his favor too,¡± Agaz thought to himself.

    Now that Pang Chicheng had disappeared and the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had been thrown into his storage ring, Nie Tian stared at the Nether River as if in a trance.

    The Spirit Pearl had left for some time. Through his connection with its soul, he knew that the pearl was very far away from him now, and he didn¡¯t know whether it had traced this branch of the Nether River to its origin.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Nie Tian, who had been lost in thought, suddenly shouted in amazement.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Agaz asked.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian looked carefully at theplex mysterious formationposed of different mysterious me arrays in his saint domain.

    His me power sub-soul was still examining the veins that made up the unusual formation.

    ¡°You can ess this magicalnd because of the key that Pang Bo engraved in the armor.¡± Nie Tian said while pondering. ¡°This ce isn¡¯t necessarily in the human world. Why can the unusual formation in my me domain send me power to the me Land after swallowing the raging me power of the me dragon, me phoenix, me qilin, and vermillion bird?

    ¡°Also, why can I vaguely sense Nie Yan¡¯s joy through the unusual me formation?

    ¡°If we¡¯re actually in another world, then isn¡¯t this unusual me formation simply far too powerful?¡±

    Nie Tian found this unbelievable.

    Hearing his words, the me dragon Agaz also fell silent.

    After a long time, Agaz responded, ¡°It¡¯s very amazing indeed. It¡¯s incredibly amazing. No matter how strong the unusual formation in the me Land is, the me power that it can gather shoulde from nearby domains. At least, it muste from the human word.

    ¡°I¡¯m not so surprised that the me waterfalls that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron attacked you with were absorbed by the formation in your me domain.

    ¡°But it¡¯s really unusual that they disappeared from the formation in your me domain and fused into the me Land of the Domain of me¡¯s End.¡±

    SWISH!

    The crimson me power sub-soul in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness flew out of his head and into his me domain.

    It was a burning illusory shape that had Nie Tian¡¯s appearance.

    The me power sub-soul was filled with countless vein-like crystal me threads that represented the true meaning of different mes that he had derived.

    The me power sub-soul tried to fly toward the eye of the formation in his me domain.

    Suddenly, it sank into the eye.

    ¡°Nie Yan, Nie Yan, can you... hear me?¡± His me power sub-soul cried over and over again in the very spot where the me waterfalls had disappeared, as it tried to use its soul voice tomunicate with Nie Yan in the me Land.

    He wanted to figure out the truth!

    ¡°Nie Yan, if you hear my voice, please give me a response,¡± he called repeatedly, focused onmunicating with Nie Yan, who should still be in the me Land, through his me power sub-soul.

    After a long time, a faint wisp of soul awareness came through. ¡°I can hear you.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s me power sub-soul flickered violently, showing that he was deeply surprised. ¡°Nie Yan!¡±

    The wisp of soul awarenessing from the eye of the formation was very vague, but he was instantly convinced that it was Nie Yan¡¯s reply!

    Maybe it was because of the long distance andyers of spatial restrictions that Nie Yan¡¯s reply was slow and fuzzy.

    Nevertheless, it was Nie Yan indeed!

    Didn¡¯t that mean that Nie Tian and Nie Yan in the me Land could establish soulmunications through the formation in his me domain, which was a duplicate of the wondrous formation in the me Land?!

    ¡°How amazing!¡±

 Chapter 1462: An Unprecedented Battle!

    WHOOSH!

    Because he was deeply shaken, his me power sub-soul could no longer maintain its connection to the me Land.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t do anything about it. When he tried to sense Nie Yan¡¯s aura in the me Land again, he couldn¡¯t sense the existence of the me Land anymore.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think that the formation in your me domain could even connect your soul to the me Land,¡± Agaz eximed in admiration. ¡°Does this mean that you can draw me power from the me Land through your me domain?¡±

    Nie Tian raised his eyebrows. ¡°Maybe.¡±

    Agaz was more and more envious. ¡°One day, the me Land will be the hottest holy mend in the three worlds. I¡¯m afraid even our sect¡¯s Holy me Mountain and the Realm of Fire Spirit in their heyday will be no match for it.

    ¡°If you can channel me power from the me Land through your me domain at any time, then your battle prowess will gradually increase as the me Land gathers me power. In the near future, perhaps you¡¯ll be able to receive a steady flow of me power from it. In this way, when you fight, your endless me power alone can make your opponent feel hopeless.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.

    Then, he tried tomunicate with Nie Yan in the me Land.

    However, he soon found that maybe because the distance was too far, or there were too manyyers of restrictions between them, but Nie Yan seemed to be busy gathering the me power scattered in the me Land, and could not reply to him.

    Therefore, he stopped trying.

    His me power sub-soul returned to his sea of soul awareness, where it resumed analyzing the me mysteries he had obtained from the me qilin, me dragon, me phoenix, and vermillion bird.

    After a long time, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul sent Nie Tian a message. ¡°Master...¡±

    ¡°Have you found anything?¡± Nie Tian asked quickly.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul voice fluctuated strongly as it said, ¡°You ought toe to my location to take a look. I can¡¯t describe or understand what this anomaly I¡¯m looking at means.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡± Nie Tian responded.

    SWISH!

    He activated his flesh power and flew off like a streak of fiery light, following the Spirit Pearl¡¯s aura.

    Somewhere in the dark starry river.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All sorts of energies mixed together to form a turbulent vortex.

    After taking a moment to perceive it with his soul and flesh aura, Nie Tian identified more than ten kinds of energies, including the outsiders¡¯ flesh auras, Nether Qi, Demon Qi, acerbic toxins, and so forth.

    The Nether River branch had flown out of the center of the vortex.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, which had followed the Nether River branch for a long time, stopped by the strange vortex and said, ¡°This is it. The Nether River branch that is in this starry river originates from this vortex. The space in the vortex fluctuates strongly, but I don¡¯t know where it connects to. Master, I feel that the turbulent maic field that surrounded you in the Domain of Dark Marsh and Domain of Jade Heaven was simr to the auraing from this vortex.¡±

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes and stared nkly at the vortex. ¡°This vortex...¡±

    After sensing it for a long time, he found that the vortex bore a strong resemnce to the vortex that connected the upper part of the floating continent to its lower part.

    ¡°It is a pity that Senior Martial Sister Pei didn¡¯te. Otherwise, with her Space Boundaries Crystal, she might be able to see through it.¡±

    He felt that it was a shame.

    ¡°Master, since I can¡¯t sense where the vortex connects, I dared not recklessly enter it before you got here,¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul said.

    Nie Tian looked around and suddenly found that the incredibly colossal tree was quite far from here.

    Thends pierced by its giant branches were also far away.

    Nothing but the unusual vortex existed here at one end of the Nether River branch.

    He changed his position and looked around, standing closer to the vortex.

    Observing from the vortex, he discovered that the Nether River branch that had flown out of it wound its way around the piercednds, and it seemed to want to extend to the roots of the colossal ancient tree, but hadn¡¯t been able to do so.

    He continued to change positions and observed it from every angle before he realized that the Nether River branch had been winding its way, but its final destination was the ancient tree¡¯s roots!

    Suddenly, a strange notion struck him!

    It seemed that the Nether River branch had flown out of the vortex and descended on this world in a bid to deal with the colossal ancient tree!

    The Nether River branch hadn¡¯t wanted to get too entangled when it had bypassed thends and the branches that had been pierced, as it wanted to storm its enemy¡¯s den and stab the ancient tree¡¯s roots.

    As the thought entered his mind, he couldn¡¯t help imagining the scene in his mind, where the Nether River branch suddenly flew out of the vortex, wound its way and stabbed at the ancient tree¡¯s roots.

    To his surprise, in the scene that he had imagined, thends that had been pierced by the branches seemed to be the weapons of the ancient tree, as it swung them to intercept the Nether River branch.

    Like the magicalnd that he had first arrived at, each of thends was an independent realm.

    Pierced by the branches, thends seemed to be owned by the ancient tree.

    ¡°If that¡¯s true, how fantastic!¡± Imagining the scene, Nie Tian let out a groan as if he were in a dream, feeling that the battle he had imagined overturned his cognition of all living things.

    ¡°The Nether River branch was transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul awareness after his death, running through the three worlds.

    ¡°Now that he¡¯s dead, why did the Nether River branch that his soul awareness morphed into suddenly show up here? Is it true that this Nether River branch wanted to destroy the ancient tree¡¯s roots, as I imagined?

    ¡°The other Nether River branches are all full of ghosts and spirits, and those spirits are always fighting and swallowing each other. There¡¯s not a ghost in this Nether River branch at all!

    ¡°Is it possible that when this Nether River branch wound its way out of the vortex, it was also full of spirits? It was just that as it fought the ancient tree, all the spirits and evil ghosts were wiped out by the power of the ancient tree?

    ¡°While fighting, the Nether River branch¡¯s energy was gradually consumed. In the end, its attempt to pierce the ancient tree¡¯s roots was unsessful. Without a stable power supply, the Nether River branch could no longer extend, so it just floats in this world somehow?

    ¡°However, if the ancient tree was the winner, why did it wither and die?

    ¡°What happened? If a battle actually took ce between the Nether River branch and the ancient tree, how long did itst?

    ¡°A twinkling? Or thousands of years?¡±

    Lights of wisdom shed across Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness as his thoughts ran wild.

    Standing by the vortex, he looked at the Nether River branch and then the giant withered ancient tree, deducing what had happened here over and over in his mind;

    He had a vague feeling that his deduction, conjecture, and imagination might likely be the truth!

    He thought, ¡°The Nether River branch was formed by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul awareness after his death. The Nether River branch represents Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and the Netherspirits in the Void World! In that case, this Nether River branch was the invader, while the ancient tree guarded this part of the starry river?

    ¡°It prated all the realms to absorb their power, because it needed to fight the Nether River branch?

    ¡°Is the battle really over?¡±

    While he had been in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he had activated his Spirit Pearl, but somehow attracted a branch of the Nether River.

    After one of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s sub-souls possessed the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s sectmaster, it had sessfully made the Nether River branch reappear in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The Seven Stars Realm Sea had been created by the Voidspirits as a unique ce in the human world.

    There was also a Nether River branch in the Nether Realm.

    The Netherspirits in the Void World also had a Nether River that was said to be the main stream.

    ¡°The Nether River can run through all three worlds and send its branches everywhere, but why didn¡¯t the Nether River branch here continue to stab at the ancient tree¡¯s roots? Why didn¡¯t the branch that was originally extended continue after all the spirits and evil ghosts had been killed? If it lost, shouldn¡¯t the Nether River branch be at least withdrawn?

    ¡°Or is it possible that the battle isn¡¯t over, and is still going on?¡±

 Chapter 1463: Disaster!

    His soul awareness spread as he pulled the five Illusory Ancient Talismans out of the Spirit Pearl. ¡°Come out!¡±

    As soon as the Illusory Ancient Talismans appeared, the five evil gods inside noticed the peculiar Nether River branch.

    They were visibly excited.

    Through the Illusory Ancient Talismans, Nie Tian could see that their bodies were charred in many ces. They must have been badly injured because they had been burned by the eight me dragon skeletons.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes twinkled as he seemed toe to some realization. ¡°The eight me dragon skeletons and the dpidated altar can burn evil souls and purge the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°The Spirit Pearl was created by Grand Monarch Nether Spirit to collect the scattered fragmentary souls and memories of these five evil gods in the Mortal World and Spirit World. The Spirit Pearl carries their aura. It¡¯s not so much a magical tool of the Phantasms as a token of the Netherspirits.

    ¡°If the dpidated altar can purge the Spirit Pearl and refine them...¡±

    He snorted and said, ¡°When the five of you see this Nether River branch, do you remember anything? It¡¯s rumored that the soul awareness of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, who you followed, became the Nether River after his death. Is this branch of the Nether River an extension of his soul awareness?¡±

    Having followed Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit for many years, the five evil gods must have had an impression of the Nether River, even if they had not yet gathered all their fragmentary souls and memories.

    They should know more about Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit than anyone else.

    Nie Tian was trying to figure out through them what was going on in the Nether River branch before his eyes.

    Did it actually have an unprecedented battle with that ancient tree as he imagined?

    He wanted to know whether the battle was over, and how long it hadsted.

    The five evil gods who had been excited suddenly all fell silent upon hearing his words, as if they had a mutual understanding.

    It was as if they had suddenly be mute.

    No matter how Nie Tian asked them, they gave no response.

    Nie Tian was irritated. ¡°Ingrates! If I¡¯d known you¡¯d be like this, I would have refined you alive on the altar without leaving a single trace of your soul awareness!¡±

    They remained silent.

    ¡°It¡¯s clear that they know something, master,¡± Agaz said.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul chimed in, ¡°The moment they flew out of the pearl, their souls fluctuated violently. They must know something about this peculiar Nether River branch!¡±

    Even without their reminders, Nie Tian knew that the five evil gods must know something.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± he swore and then suddenly stared at the center of the whirlpool from which the Nether River extended. ¡°Get the hell back into the pearl!¡±

    The five Illusory Ancient Talismans were stuffed into the Spirit Pearl.

    He grasped the Spirit Pearl and pressed it against between his eyebrows, as if it were his third eye.

    Strands of his condensed soul awareness converged on the pearl between his eyebrows.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl lit up between his eyebrows like a new eye opening. With the help of this strange pearl and its soul, he surveyed the Nether River branch once again.

    Because of the existence of the Spirit Pearl, the bright cyan light and intertwined soul strings became extremely distinct in the river, even though there weren¡¯t any spirit-form beings or evil ghosts.

    He felt as if his soul awareness had sank into it.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Arge number of obscure soul characters flew out of the brilliant cyan light, shining. The intertwined soul strings started swimming in his eyes, as if they were being rearranged to show him the wonders of soul spells, simr to how he had received information from the Nether River branch in the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    These soul characters were the unique soul symbols of the Netherspirits in the Void World. They recorded soul magics that Nie Tian should not be able to understand.

    However, with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s help, everything seemed to be easy. He was able to take in the soul characters imprinted within the bright cyan light in the Nether River, and understand their meaning without hindrance.

    The Spirit Pearl between his eyebrows emitted cyan light more and more brilliantly.

    He could no longer notice the five evil gods who the Illusory Ancient Talismans had imprisoned inside the pearl.

    He didn¡¯t see that the five evil gods were baring their teeth, sometimes ferocious, sometimes itching to fight, sometimes with killing intent in their eyes, as if they were all waiting for something to happen!

    In the middle of the whirlpool of mixed energies where the Nether River branch had prated, the turbulent energies suddenly grew more and more raging.

    The Nether River branch, which had wound its way around numerousnds and branches of the ancient tree, had been motionless for thousands of years.

    SPLASH!

    However, sounds of torrential water suddenly came from the center of the whirlpool!

    The sounds instantly reached the depths of the souls of Agaz, the Spirit Pearl, and the five evil gods!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Fresh Nether River water flowed from the whirlpool.

    Thousands of ghostly souls, evil ghosts, and unconscious spirit-form beings could be seen fighting instinctively in the fresh water and devouring each other!

    Upon seeing the changes in the Nether River, the me dragon Agaz burst into mes and let out a howl.

    He did this to warn Nie Tian!

    In the Spirit Pearl, the soul also howled in an attempt to awaken Nie Tian and make him withdraw his soul from the Nether River immediately.

    The frantic mor of the five evil gods rang shrilly in the Illusory Ancient Talismans inside the pearl. ¡°Ha ha! Ha ha ha!¡±

    They seemed to beughing at the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and Nie Tian.

    With new water springing out from the source, the other end of the Nether River that pointed at the roots of the colossal tree started stretching slowly but firmly forward again.

    Nonds were manipted by the branches to intercept it this time!

    ¡°We¡¯re going to win this prolonged war eventually!¡± The five evil gods¡¯ growls rang out in the pearl. In the Nether River that was infused with fresh water, rays of bright cyan light were attracted by them and flew into the Spirit Pearl from time to time.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul couldn¡¯t stop them at all!

    When the first ray of cyan light flew toward the bloodthirsty evil gods, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul felt that the light was also part of the evil god of bloodlust!

    ¡°Crap!¡± the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul shouted, turning pale with fright and trying harder to call Nie Tian¡¯s name, urging him to wake up quickly to deal with the sudden changes.

    At that moment, the me dragon Agaz suddenly seemed to understand a lot of things. ¡°The Illusory Ancient Talismans, the skeletons of the eight me dragons, and the dpidated altar can all limit souls. Their original target must have been the Nether River and the evil spirits that fly out of it! Did the strange ancient tree and the Ancientspirits that have been buried in this ce help the same cause?¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As the bright cyan light of the Nether River swarmed into the Spirit Pearl like raindrops, the five Illusory Ancient Talismans actually showed signs of melting little by little.

    Once the Illusory Ancient Talismans meltedpletely, the five evil gods would break free from the pearl.

    Since they had long desired to rebel and had already made trouble in the Void World, they might be even more aggressive this time.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul would be their first target.

    ¡°Disaster! Big disaster!¡± The me dragon Agaz was tremendously anxious. He watched the situation change in the worst direction, but there was nothing he could do.

    Worse still, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t responded for a long time, as if his soul had gotten lost in the Nether River.

 Chapter 1464: Take Sides

    This branch of the Nether River, which had been quiet for thousands of years, seemed toe to life again as fresh water rushed out of the whirlpool!

    In contrast, the giant ancient tree was still dead and lifeless.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    Slowly but firmly, the new water pushed the Nether River branch that was like a bent sword towards the roots of the ancient tree.

    Both the me dragon Agaz and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul were calling out warnings like crazy.

    Nevertheless, Nie Tian seemed unaware of what was happening, as if his consciousness had been bogged down in the Nether River and couldn¡¯t get out.

    Agaz and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul suddenly felt that maybe it was the Nether River that had deliberately made him unable to break free of its attraction to his soul!

    The five evil gods¡¯ sinisterughter became harsher and harsher!

    As more cyan light flew into the Spirit Pearl and merged into the Illusory Ancient Talismans, giving rise to swishing sounds, the talismans that were sealing the evil gods seemed to be subjected to a virulent erosion, and were starting to melt away little by little.

    Agaz was very anxious, and thought, ¡°Since the Illusory Ancient Talisman is a magic he learned from this unusual ce, I suppose it has a mysterious connection to the ancient tree. And the real goal of the Nether River flowing here is to destroy the ancient tree! Plus, those rays of shining light carry the fragmentary wills of the five evil gods. Is it possible... that it¡¯sing directly from the Netherspirits in the Void World?¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul¡¯s howl echoed in the Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, impacting and trying to wake him up. ¡°Master! Master!¡±

    As the five Illusory Ancient Talismans gradually melted, the five evil gods¡¯ sinisterughter suddenly stopped.

    Their dark cold eyes were fixed on the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, as if they were waiting for the moment when the restrictions were removed, so they could wipe out the so-called Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul that had been made from a Phantasm grand patriarch¡¯s fragmentary soul.

    As their memories and intelligence returned, it became harder and harder for them to ept the fact that they were enved by such a guy!

    ¡°We don¡¯t deserve this!¡±

    ¡°Except for our master Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, no one in the three worlds can boss us around!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s more, it¡¯s a Phantasm, a race that was developed from our master¡¯s soul awareness.¡±

    ¡°The Phantasms should serve us as their gods! This race should have been our appendage since its birth! All Phantasms should obey us!

    ¡°It¡¯s only at the ninth grade!¡±

    The five evil gods didn¡¯t howl orughed sinisterly anymore. Instead, they simply looked at the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul, but it could clearly perceive and analyze what they were thinking.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    The me dragon Agaz morphed into the me Dragon Armor. The rays of light in the armor representing the truths of me flew like lightning as they emitted fiery me power.

    The me power turned into a sea of fire and wrapped around the Spirit Pearl in case the five evil gods rushed out.

    He would do his best to resist the five evil gods, who were likely to break free of the five Illusory Ancient Talismans.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul continued to wander in the Nether River, lingering in those mysterious soul strings. Once the peculiar soul characters were reflected in his soul awareness, they would directly merge into his true soul.

    He was receiving the soul magics imprinted in this branch of the Nether River.

    As he concentrated on the Nether River, the cries of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and Agaz were unusually low.

    In fact, they were barely audible.

    ¡°Soul spell: Soul-capturing Hand.¡±

    ¡°Soul spell: Grand Soul Grinder.¡±

    ¡°ckout Soul Curtain.¡±

    Soul strings and soul characters were being analyzed and eternally stamped onto his soul, bing a part of it.

    He waspletely immersed in this, and for some reason, he had a peculiar feeling that he had be a Netherspirit himself, and wasprehending the soul¡¯s true meaning.

    As heprehended the mysteries, he started to be suspicious, as this seemed a bit too smooth. ¡°It¡¯s strange that various soul spells and knowledge in the Nether River are so easily acquired. What¡¯s wrong? It seems that someone is calling my name.¡±

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, his body shook violently, and he heard the crazy cries from Agaz and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul at longst!

    His soul awareness was quickly withdrawn from the Nether River and returned to his soul.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    The moment he woke up, his true soul heard the strange sounds of the Nether River flowing. Looking closely, he was shocked to see that there was indeed fresh water flowing from the center of the whirlpool.

    Within it, there were uncountable evil spirits biting and devouring each other to strengthen themselves in the new river water.

    ¡°What happened?¡± his expression changed as he questioned Agaz and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul.

    ¡°The five of them are about to break free of the pearl. The cyan light that flies out of the Nether River can melt the talismans and strengthen and restore the evil gods!¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul described the difficult situation to him as quickly as it could. ¡°What¡¯s scarier is that the Nether River has resumed flowing!¡±

    ¡°Look!¡± Agaz shouted. ¡°The Nether River is flowing towards the roots of the giant ancient tree. It wants to sever them!¡±

    ¡°Has that unprecedented battle resumed?¡± Nie Tian asked in shock as he soon realized that he and the Spirit Pearl might have had something to do with their current situation.

    Because Nie Tian had woken up, the five evil gods who had just quieted down began to howl crazily again.

    A wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness flew into the Spirit Pearl. With a single nce, he could see that the Illusory Ancient Talismans he had made were melting.

    WHOOSH!

    Many rays of cyan light flew out of the Nether River and into the Illusory Ancient Talismans like raindrops.

    The Illusory Ancient Talismans fizzed, as if they were being corroded by strong acids.

    He understood instantly. ¡°There¡¯s a battle going on between the Illusory Ancient Talismans and those rays of cyan light! And there¡¯s also a battle between the Nether River and the ancient tree in this unusual ce! The Primal Chaos, Titan¡¯s Wrath, and Illusory Ancient Talisman that I learned are all rted to this unusual ce. As for the soul spells that I¡¯ve justprehended, I obtained them from the Nether River through the Spirit Pearl.¡±

    ¡°If I have to take sides...¡± After a brief hesitation, he made his decision. He snorted, turned to the five evil gods and said, ¡°You want to break free and continue to challenge me and fight against my will? You¡¯re not strong enough yet!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Powers with various attributes were condensed together and poured into the Spirit Pearl and the Illusory Ancient Talismans in the form of magical symbols.

    Thanks to the infusion of powers that shared the same origin as them, the corrosion of the Illusory Ancient Talismans immediately slowed.

    The five evil gods let out hysterical cries of rage and struggled desperately, as if they were calling for the support of more power from within the Nether River.

    Just then, Nie Tian said, ¡°When ites to you, I seem to have figured out a way to enve spirit-form beings. Let me see. Those mysterious soul strings and soul characters engraved in my true soul... must be the soul incantations that have been engraved in the Nether River, right?

    ¡°Let me have a try and see if I can have you behave yourselves with the soul spells in the Nether River.¡±

    Suddenly, his true soul seemed to light up in his sea of soul awareness.

    His true soul was exactly the same as his true form, but was in an illusory, unreal form. With his thoughts, recollections andprehension, rays of crystal light morphed to take brand new formations in his true soul.

    It was as if some wonderful soul spell that had been engraved in the Nether River was about to show itself, with Nie Tian as its master.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

 Chapter 1465: Heavenly Spirit Seal!

    ¡°Heavenly Spirit Seal!¡±

    All of a sudden, a spark of unusual light exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    Countless soul strings intertwined as soul characters shed in his true soul body. From illusory and fuzzy, they suddenly became dazzling!

    His mind kept rumbling.

    He had sessfully analyzed a soul spell ¡ª Heavenly Spirit Seal ¡ª that could enve spirit-form beings from the many soul characters and soul strings that he had obtained from the Nether River!

    Once the seal was formed and stamped on the spirit-form beings, it would enve them fundamentally!

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were bright as he thought, ¡°Heavenly Spirit Seal, the soul magic that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit created! As long as it can be condensed and stamped on the five evil gods, they¡¯ll...¡±

    As he pondered andprehended the soul magic, the five irritable and restless evil gods became more and more crazy!

    Because he had poured power into the Illusory Ancient Talismans, making them more and more solid, the five evil gods were unable to break free.

    WHOOSH!

    A few huge, ferocious, grotesque spirit-form beings in the flowing Nether River suddenly came flying over, as if they had been attracted by the five evil gods.

    These spirit-form beings from the Nether River were all survivors of the endless fights in the Nether River. Each spirit-form being¡¯s soul power wasparable to that of a Saint domain human expert.

    Nie Tian, who was stillprehending how to form the Heavenly Spirit Seal suddenly awoke with a start. He snorted, and looked at the spirit-form beings that were charging at him.

    There were three of them. They had grotesque, disgusting shapes, as if they were made of different kinds of souls blended together.

    Nie Tian snorted and said, ¡°You only stand out from the fight in the Nether River temporarily. Such spirit-form beings actually dare to bother me. Howughable!¡±

    ¡°Soul Spell! Grand Soul Grinder!¡±

    His soul awareness spread, and a cluster of light and shadow from his soul condensed into a revolving grinder in front of the Nether River, based on the soul spell he had justprehended.

    SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

    The three spirit-form beings who had flown out of the Nether River and charged at him, baring their fangs, were instantly pulled into the grinder.

    The illusory grinder that had been transformed from souls slowly rotated.

    With each rotation, the three spirit-form beings were crushed into smaller spirit-form beings that fell into the Nether River, like a rain of light.

    Once they entered the Nether River, they were ruthlessly swallowed and refined by fiercer spirit-form beings to make stronger spirit-form beings.

    The three strongest spirits lured by the five evil gods were instantly returned to the Nether River and remade.

    In the past, Nie Tian would have used his Spirit Pearl to directly swallow the spirit-form beings and quickly refine them.

    He wouldn¡¯t do that anymore because he was aware that all the souls swallowed into the Spirit Pearl were still, in essence, strengthening the five evil gods.

    The benefits the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul could get were too few and far between.

    This was why the five evil gods, which he had fed with the souls he had collected after solving problems with the Spirit Pearl over the years, had gradually gone out of control.

    SQUEAK!

    The Grand Soul Grinder that had been transformed from Nie Tian¡¯s soul power slowly rotated in front of his chest, like a huge millstone.

    The aura it emanated scared the spirit-form beings in the Nether River.

    Hidden in the Spirit Pearl, the five evil gods continued their efforts to secretly send out calls using the Netherspirits¡¯ soul spells. However, no spirits were tempted anymore.

    Nie Tian thought and muttered to himself, ¡°The more powerful the spirit-form beings, the stronger their instincts. The spirit-form beings in the Nether River are resources that the Phantasms and Netherspirits use to cultivate soul spells and strengthen themselves. I can start with weak spirit-form beings to practice the Heavenly Spirit Seal and enve spirit-form beings.¡±

    A mysterious light shed in his eyes as they fixed on the flowing Nether River.

    ¡°Master...¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul called.

    After observing for a while, Nie Tian responded, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Even though the Nether River¡¯s target is indeed the ancient tree, judging from the speed at which the Nether River is flowing, it¡¯ll take a while for it to reach the roots of the ancient tree. And after I woke up and poured power into the Illusory Ancient Talismans, the five evil gods can¡¯t make any waves now.¡±

    ¡°So what should we do?¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul asked.

    Nie Tian mused for a bit and said, ¡°If I can condense a Heavenly Spirit Seal, I¡¯ll be able to thoroughly neutralize the threat from the five evil gods. I feel that after the Heavenly Spirit Seal is sessfully formed and stamped on their souls, it¡¯ll be very difficult for them to break free of my control even if they return to the Void World and gather all their fragmentary souls and memories.¡±

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul shuddered. ¡°That¡¯d be the best!¡±

    ¡°Now give me some time to think.¡± As he spoke, Nie Tian¡¯s thoughts shed and flew quickly in his sea of soul awareness like peculiar electric lights. He went over the mysteries of the Heavenly Spirit Seal over and over in his mind.

    The Nether River was still flowing forward.

    More spirit-form beings flew out of the whirlpool and killed one another in the river, making fiercer and stronger spirit-form beings.

    ¡°The Heavenly Spirit Seal needs a Nether River branch to vest itself with Grand Monarch Nether Soul¡¯s aura?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Grand Soul Grinder floating in front of Nie Tian¡¯s chest suddenly morphed into a ghostly soul shadow that was vested with a wisp of his soul.

    The soul shadow wriggled quietly as it approached the Nether River.

    ¡°A Heavenly Spirit Seal channels the Nether River¡¯s unusual power...¡± Nie Tian whispered inwardly, trying to gain strength from the Nether River through the method he had derived.

    WHOOSH!

    Cyan light suddenly flew out of the Nether River and melted into the soul shadow, like iron attracted by a ma.

    The soul shadow swallowed the cyan light little by little, and evolved into an embryonic Heavenly Spirit Seal, absorbing pure Nether Qi

    As the soul shadow came nearer and nearer to the Nether River, the spirit-form beings, which had been brutally fighting in the Nether River, instinctively moved away from it.

    Before the cluster of soul shadow could even reach the Nether River, the strong spirit-form beings in the Nether River kept away from it, as if they sensed danger and knew that the moment the soul shadow reached them, it would instantly enve them and make it difficult for them to break free.

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly remembered the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. ¡°If the Heavenly Spirit Seal can enve the five evil gods, then what about the soul of a tool?

    ¡°The soul of the immortal grade divine tool only epted Pang Bo as its master, and acted ording to his will. It must serve Pang Chicheng with all it can, whether it wants to or not. If the Heavenly Spirit Seal is sessfully formed and applied to tool souls, can it change the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul¡¯s consciousness and erase its memory of Pang Bo?¡±

    Thinking of this, he looked forward to the formation of the Heavenly Spirit Seal even more.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron was a grade higher than the current me Dragon Armor, and was a priceless treasure of the fire element sect that even the current sectmaster Shao Tianyang hadn¡¯t been able to own.

    If Nie Tian could really control the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, with the me incantations engraved in his me domain, his fighting strength would climb to a new height!

 Chapter 1466: Wake Up

    In the main realm of the Floragrims in the Spirit World.

    Ancient trees stood towering like green mountain peaks, blocking the heavens from sight.

    During thest decade, however, it had be extremely difficult for those ancient trees to extract wood power from the starry river, so the realm where the Floragrims had been living for many generations no longer brimmed with energy.

    In this realm, the growth of all sorts of nts had be stagnant.

    Lots of spirit grass had withered and turned yellow, seeming to be on the verge of dying.

    WHOOSH!

    A green spatial passage burst open.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims flew through it from the Domain of Heaven Span.

    He was covered in wounds, and the wondrous natural tree patterns on his skin were faded to the point where they were almost invisible.

    ¡°Grand Monarch!¡± The elders of the Floragrims who had stayed behind gathered and asked, fixing him with concerned gazes, ¡°You¡¯re the one whomands our forces in the human world. Was there a problem?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood looked around and saw genuine concern in their eyes.

    ¡°I was attacked by Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood replied with a wry smile. ¡°And we suffered setbacks with our invasion of the human world. I think...¡±

    With a deep sigh, he suddenly activated Heavenly Wood Heal.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Wisps of green wood power gathered towards him like green rivers.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s injuries began to recover immediately.

    Seeing him use this bloodline magic to absorb the wood power in this realm to heal his injuries, many Floragrims showed a look of hesitation. ¡°Grand Monarch...¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood asked curiously.

    An old Floragrim elder lowered his head and said, not daring to look into his eyes, ¡°It is extremely difficult for this realm to absorb wood power from outside the realm. In the past, you could heal yourself however you wanted with the help of the wood power in the realm because the wood energy was endless.

    ¡°But now, if you absorb too much wood power, it will affect the growth of the children.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood stiffened.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A streak of green lightning shone from his fingertips, instantly cutting off his connection with the wood power of this realm.

    After that, there was no longer a trace of wood powering close to him.

    He drew in a deep breath and asked gravely, ¡°How much time do we have? How long will it be before the wood power of this realm ispletely exhausted, rendering it uninhabitable for our race?¡±

    The Floragrim elder weighed his words and said, ¡°A hundred years at most. Our nsmen whose bloodlines have reached seventh grade had better leave as soon as possible, since the stronger their bloodline is, the more wood power they need.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± said Grand Monarch Primal Wood with a heavy heart, nodding.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Fata?¡± the elder asked.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s face froze. ¡°Well...¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Fata was captured by the Demons and Bonebrutes, and I was unable to rescue him.¡±

    ¡°Ah!¡± the other Floragrims elders screamed.

    Almost at the same time, a ray of unusual light shed in Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes and one of his bloodline talents naturally started.

    ¡°Ancestralnd!¡± he shouted and flew high into the sky, heading for the legendary birthce of the Floragrims.

    That was where the Tree of Life had grew and wilted. Only the grand monarchs of the Floragrims were eligible to go there and derive the true meaning of life from the wonderful patterns of the withered Tree of Life.

    ¡°Grand Monarch!¡± Many Floragrim elders shouted, wanting to know what had happened.

    However, Grand Monarch Primal Wood turned a deaf ear to them.

    The wood power here, in the endless sea of green trees, was purer and thicker than anywhere else. Upon entering the ce, Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s injuries started healing on their own.

    BOOM!

    His body shook violently as the bloodline imprints in his heart seemed to suddenly light up.

    Somehow, he seemed to hear a cry from the depths of the ancestralnd.

    An immense ancient will seemed to be gradually waking up!

    ¡°The Tree of Life!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was so excited that he kneeled on the spot and kowtowed despite himself toward the depths of the exuberant green ancestralnd. ¡°Is it you who are calling me? Are you still alive?¡±

    In their legends, the first Floragrim, Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood, was born from the Tree of Life.

    The Tree of Life was recognized as the creator of the Floragrims.

    The meaning the Tree of Life had to the Floragrims was just like that of the Nether River to the Phantasms.

    ording to the previous generations of Floragrim grand monarchs, the Tree of Life, which stood in the depths of the ancestralnd, had wilted and died long ago. When Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s bloodline had broken through to tenth grade, he had gone to the depths of the ancestralnd to worship the Tree of Life.

    However, he hadn¡¯t been able tomunicate with the Tree of Life with his bloodline, or derive any special bloodline magics from the patterns it held.

    As far as he saw it, the Tree of Life had truly died.

    Now, when the Floragrims were in great trouble and all of their realms were dying, Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s whereabouts were unknown and Grand Monarch Primal Wood was badly injured. However, their creator, the Tree of Life, seemed to be recovering quietly. How could Grand Monarch Primal Wood possibly not be thrilled or overjoyed?

    WHOOSH!

    A green energy stream mixed with a tremendous amount of green essence flew out of the depths of the ancestralnd, exuding a warm, nourishing aura.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who had lowered his head and kowtowed, felt something unusual, and suddenly looked up.

    As he did, the stream mysteriously merged into his heart.

    His body, which had been seriously wounded by Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Pale Bones, and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, was instantly healed, and his Heavenly Wood Heal became more powerful than before!

    ZZZZZLA! ZZZZZLA!

    Strands of unknown soul power merged into his soul, blood, viscera and bones.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s strength increased little by little!

    Outside the ancestralnd, the Floragrim elders didn¡¯t dare go too deep into the ancestralnd after arriving. Nheless, they perceived Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s turbulent and vigorous flesh aura with their bloodline.

    ¡°Grand monarch! The grand monarch is healed!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not only healed, but also stronger than ever!¡±

    ¡°What happened? Did he learn some magic from the Tree of Life in such a short time?¡±

    ¡°Magics can¡¯t help him recover so quickly. Only a steady stream of power can!¡±

    After a long time.

    SWISH!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood flew out of the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd like a bolt of lightning.

    The elders screamed, ¡°Grand Monarch!¡±

    At that moment, they sensed that the flesh aura emanating from Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s body was as strong as that of Grand Monarch Life Wood, whose bloodline was at tenth grade!

    Was it possible that Grand Monarch Primal Wood had not only recovered from his injuries, but also taken the opportunity to break through to thete tenth grade in such a short time?

    ¡°Our creator ising back to life!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood shouted, sharp light shing in his eyes.

    ¡°What?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood took a deep breath and said, ¡°I¡¯m not kidding. It¡¯s waking up now as the realms of the Spirit World are about to perish. And it has shown me the way. I¡¯ll do as it has told me.¡±

    ¡°What way?¡±

    ¡°I need to find Nie Tian first!¡±

 Chapter 1467: Domestication

    In the unknown area of the starry river.

    Nie Tian floated in front of the Nether River as the soul power in his sea of awareness was consumed at an rming rate.

    His fluctuating soul shadow, which he was concentrated on, dove into the Nether River in the blink of an eye.

    BLUB! BLUB! BLUB! BLUB!

    The slowly-flowing Nether River instantly started surging.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow, along with his soul will, seemed to be experiencing repeated tempering from the surging water.

    During this time, glowing cyan spots would fuse into his soul shadow from time to time.

    Soon, the soul shadow started to morph into a prismatic seal.

    As Nie Tian examined the morphing seal closely, his eyebrows suddenly rose. ¡°A prismatic seal that looks just like the prismatic crystal on the forehead between the eyebrows of a Phantasm!¡±

    He came to realize that this unique seal bore a great resemnce to the prismatic crystals the Phantasms had on their foreheads.

    All of a sudden, a strange gravitational force was born within the forming prismatic seal.

    The vicious spirits and evil souls in the Nether River that had backed away to avoid his soul shadow let out terrified shrieks.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The soul-form beings were sucked into the prismatic seal one after another, shrieking as they did.

    This was simr to how the Spirit Pearl absorbed discarnate souls.

    In a sh, six soul-form beings were absorbed by the prismatic seal.

    Further refined, the prismatic seal seemed to congeal into a solid form, sparkling with cyan light.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian stared nkly at the prismatic seal that had practically turned solid from an illusory state after absorbing six soul-form beings.

    ¡°This Heavenly Spirit Seal was formed based on a wisp of my soul essence. Now after being tempered by the Nether River and absorbing soul-form beings, it has actually morphed...¡±

    While he was absorbed in thought, the prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal suddenly rose out of the Nether River. Semitransparent and sparkling, it bore a certain resemnce to the Spirit Pearl as well.

    ¡°A Heavenly Spirit Seal can be used to brand and enve any soul-form being.¡± Muttering to himself, hemunicated with the Heavenly Spirit Seal with his soul, and controlled it to fly into the Spirit Pearl and towards one of the Illusory Ancient Talismans.

    That Illusory Ancient Talisman was sealing the evil god of hatred.

    HOWL!

    The evil god of hatred let out shrill cries, as if it knew that it was facing a dire situation and that once the prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal entered, it would be bereft of freedom forever.

    A cold smile appeared at a corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth. ¡°Are you scared? Good. That means this Heavenly Spirit Seal actually works on beings like you! I¡¯ve been trying to figure out a way to enve and gain full control of you this whole time. Now I¡¯ve finally found it.

    ¡°As I expected, the answer lies with your previous master, the strongest grand monarch in your people¡¯s history.¡±

    The prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal made contact with the Illusory Ancient Talisman.

    FIZZ!

    The Illusory Ancient Talisman started to sputter wisps of crimson, white, and green light that looked like worms.

    Apparently, the Illusory Ancient Talisman was resisting the infiltration of the Heavenly Spirit Seal.

    A sh instantly broke out between the powers from two different origins.

    Seeing this, the evil god of hatred let out a cunningugh.

    ¡°You want tough?¡± Nie Tian reached out and pointed a finger at the Illusory Ancient Talisman, and the me, star, and wood power, along with his flesh and soul power, that had made it started to dissipate.

    As more than half of the powers disappeared, the prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal he had forged with his own soul will and the nourishment of the Nether River descended into the evil god of hatred without any obstacles.

    FIZZ!

    The prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal vanished.

    Nie Tian shuddered slightly. Eyes glittering with excitement, he muttered, ¡°My soul will seems...¡±

    For a moment, he felt as if his true soul was swimming inside the evil god of hatred, sensing and absorbing its memories.

    ¡°Such a vast sea of memories!¡±

    The evil god had been ate tenth grade Netherspirit grand monarch that had lived for several dozen thousand years before his death. Even though the soul fragments of its soul will had been scattered across the three worlds, arge part of them had been recovered over the years.

    Because of that, though still iplete, its sea of memories seemed boundless to Nie Tian.

    However, the memories were separated from each other and in disarray, without any logical order or pattern to them.

    If Nie Tian tried to sort through them to derive knowledge from its lifelong experience, it would only overburden his mind and affect his cultivation.

    In merely a few seconds, Nie Tian pulled himself from his thoughts.

    He chose to focus on what was happening instead of the iplete but vast sea of memories of the evil god of hatred.

    ¡°Umm...¡± As he examined the evil god of hatred, which had just been branded with a Heavenly Spirit Seal and was free from the confinement of an Illusory Ancient Talisman, an astonished expression appeared on his face. ¡°You look very much like a Phantasm now with that prismatic crystal on your forehead like a third eye.¡±

    A prismatic crystal had been added to the forehead of the evil god of hatred.

    Clearly, it was the Heavenly Spirit Seal!

    After entering the body of the evil god of hatred, the Heavenly Spirit Seal had absorbed itsher power and flesh aura, and eventually condensed into a crystal.

    At this moment, the evil god of hatred looked quite simr to the Phantasms in the Spirit World.

    The Heavenly Spirit Seal on its forehead had been vested with Nie Tian¡¯s soul will. As long as he liked, he could activate a terminative spell with a thought, and the evil god¡¯s soul would be eliminated.

    Through it, he could even vaguely sense what the evil god was thinking now.

    Most surprisingly, the evil god that had been nothing but hostile towards him seemed to have its hostility erased as soon as the Heavenly Spirit Seal was imnted and the prismatic crystal appeared on its forehead.

    What took its ce was obedience and loyalty.

    The Heavenly Spirit Seal seemed to have actually changed the evil god fundamentally.

    Stroking his chin, Nie Tian looked at the evil god of hatred with a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s so easy.¡±

    Then, he gave an order, ¡°Get out of there.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The evil god of hatred flew out of the Spirit Pearl to float in front of him, obedient and full of respect.

    Without saying a word, it bowed its head and asked with its soul, ¡°What can I do for you?¡±

    It appeared its rebellion towards him had actually been erased.

    ¡°Even a being at such a level bes so obedient after being imnted with a Heavenly Spirit Seal?¡± Nie Tian was carried away in thought. ¡°It¡¯s said that the Phantasms rose as a people because of the Nether River. It was the Nether River that vested them with power and intelligence.

    ¡°Then, the Nether River was transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul awareness after his demise. All Phantasms were born with a prismatic crystal on their foreheads.

    ¡°Many of their bloodline talents and secret magics need to be cast through it.

    ¡°Is it possible that those prismatic crystals are Heavenly Spirit Seals too?

    ¡°If they are...¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, his expression suddenly grew grim.

    Frowning deeply, he turned to look at the flowing Nether River. ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, has your awareness really perished? If your awareness still exists, then are all Phantasms your ves? Do you have full control over what they think and do?¡±

    Though rendered anxious by the thought, he separated another wisp of his soul will and sent it into the Nether River, where it condensed Nether River water into a new Heavenly Spirit Seal.

    Then, he repeated the process.

    One Heavenly Spirit Seal after another came to form as his soul power was rapidly consumed.

    With the same method, he fused the newly-formed Heavenly Spirit Seals into the other four evil gods.

    After the Heavenly Spirit Seals entered their bodies, identical prismatic crystals appeared on their foreheads.

    Then, all of their resistance and killing intent against Nie Tian was eliminated. Instead, they became very obedient and docile.

    Nie Tian even found the effectiveness of the Heavenly Spirit Seals a bit hard to believe.

    ¡°The Heavenly Spirit Seals work incredibly well on them. Is this because of the Nether River water, or the fact that this is Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s secret magic?¡± Nie Tian pondered. ¡°If these Heavenly Spirit Seals can erase their rebellious intentions, will one work on the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron?¡±

    With this thought, he went on to condense a sixth Heavenly Spirit Seal.

 Chapter 1468: Coming Clean

    The Nether River continued to flow.

    Though winding, its goal to reach the roots of the colossal ancient tree had never changed.

    However, as Nie Tian condensed one Heavenly Spirit Seal after another with its water and the powerful soul-form beings within it, its flow seemed to have slowed down.

    During this time, Nie Tian¡¯s soul power was also consumed rapidly.

    Free from the confinement of the Illusory Ancient Talismans, the five evil gods floated over Nie Tian, each with a prismatic crystal embedded in the spot between their eyebrows.

    WHOOSH!

    More glowing cyan spots flew constantly out of the Nether River and into the five evil gods.

    With every spot that flew into them, peculiar ripples seemed to stir in the evil gods¡¯ souls, as if they could rearrange their soul memories.

    Thanks to the existence of the Heavenly Spirit Seals, all of their rebellion and unruliness had been eliminated.

    Through the Heavenly Spirit Seals, Nie Tian could not only end their lives any time he wanted, but he could also capture the subtle changes of their emotions.

    He could feel that the five evil gods no longer harbored hostility towards him, but were instinctively loyal to him now.

    The shocking might of the Heavenly Spirit Seals lifted his spirits.

    ¡°Now the sixth one!¡±

    The sixth prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal came to form after devouring powerful soul-form beings from the Nether River. Then, as he mustered soul power, the seal flew out of the Nether River under his control.

    ¡°Come out!¡±

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, an Immortal grade divine tool from the fire element sect, was yanked out of his ring of holding.

    The me dragon, me qilin, me phoenix, and vermilion bird manifested on the surface of the giant three-legged cauldron, exuding intense a me aura as though they were still alive.

    Upon leaving the ring of holding, the giant cauldron¡¯s soul sensed the Heavenly Spirit Seal¡¯s unique aura. Its instincts told it that this wasn¡¯t good. ¡°What... what are you doing, Nie Tian? Something, something about that seal is very disturbing!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a smile. ¡°I made it specially for you.¡±

    The prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal burst forth with cyan light as countless sparkling cyan particles constantly collided with each other, giving rise to peculiar sounds that only the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul could perceive.

    With every sound that echoed out, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron felt like it was going to copse.

    ¡°No! Stop!¡±

    It panicked by simply hearing the peculiar sounds and watching the Heavenly Spirit Seal approach.

    This divine tool, which had been forged by Pang Bo and regarded as the protector treasure of the fire element sect, had a unique feature.

    Its soul had been made bybining and refining the discarnate souls of a me dragon, a me qilin, a me phoenix, and a vermilion bird. This gave its soul an unstable nature.

    Now, as the Heavenly Spirit Seal approached, its soul felt as if it were going to break apart.

    ¡°If you use this seal on me, you won¡¯t control me, you¡¯ll destroy me,¡± The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul cried aloud. ¡°Unlike other tool souls, I¡¯m abination of four discarnate souls. Once I break apart and dissipate, the might of the cauldron will be significantly reduced! Its grade will plunge too!

    ¡°Calm down, Nie Tian. Perhaps you can take me back to the Realm of Fire Spirit to give me to Shao Tianyang or others from the fire element sect.

    ¡°That way, Pang Chicheng won¡¯t be able to take me back, and my value and power will be put to good use when I¡¯m with the fire element sect.

    ¡°Just don¡¯t use that seal on me, please!

    ¡°You may consider this a favor returned to me for me helping you in the pce underneath that volcano before.¡±

    From the way the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron begged, it was clearly terrified by the Heavenly Spirit Seal that had been conjured from water and powerful souls from the Nether River.

    Nie Tian stayed his hand.

    Watching the panicked giant cauldron implore on and on, he grew hesitant.

    After a while of silence, Nie Tian said, ¡°I want to know what happened after you and Pang Chicheng left the Realm of Fire Spirit. Where and how did he advance to the God domain? Was it him who awakened that Ripper Behemoth, or did he do it with your help?

    ¡°Why would the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society suddenly show up at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, possessed by a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits?

    ¡°Also, I want to know who¡¯s behind everything Pang Chicheng did. Is there some kind of deal between him and Xuan Guangyu, the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect?¡±

    Considering that the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had been with Pang Chicheng, it should know everything he had done.

    Nie Tian intended to figure out his rtionships with Xuan Guangyu and the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society.

    ¡°I can tell you all that, but you¡¯ve got to promise that you¡¯ll take me back to the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡± The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul bargained. ¡°You¡¯ll return me to the current sectmaster, Shao Tianyang, or other members of the fire element sect, and let them decide where I should be.

    ¡°And you won¡¯t use that creepy seal against me!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Okay, you got it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll talk after you dissipate or put that seal away.¡± The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s soul insisted.

    ¡°Alright then.¡± Looking at the prismatic Heavenly Spirit Seal that was glittering with cyan light, he pondered how to dissipate it.

    He had expended great effort to master the method to make Heavenly Spirit Seals. However, he hadn¡¯t learned how to destroy them.

    Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t easy to make a Heavenly Spirit Seal. He had to channel water and souls from the Nether River andbine them with his soul will. Therefore, he cherished it too much to throw it away.

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had been observing the whole time. At this moment, it said, ¡°Master, seals like that can be kept in the cyan heaven and earth inside the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°You throw it in here, and I¡¯ll guard it. Now that you¡¯ve enved those five with Heavenly Spirit Seals and stopped their rebellion, I¡¯m not under pressure anymore. I can help keep that Heavenly Spirit Seal, so you can enve another soul-form being with it in the future.

    ¡°Master, I even think you may want to make more of them while you¡¯re here, and this branch of the Nether River is still flowing.

    ¡°You can keep all of them in the pearl for future use.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As a thought entered his mind, the Heavenly Spirit Seal flew into the Spirit Pearl.

    Since the seal had been vested with his soul awareness, it was like an extension of his awareness.

    As soon as it entered the cyan heaven and earth inside the Spirit Pearl, the Heavenly Spirit Seal seemed to float there and glow wondrously, as his star souls did in his sea of awareness.

    He gave the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron a cold look, as if to tell it toe clean. ¡°Now, tell me everything Pang Chicheng did after leaving the Realm of Fire Spirit.¡±

    At the same time, he summoned soul power to condense more Heavenly Spirit Seals through the Nether River in front of him, so he could store them in the Spirit Pearl for future use.

 Chapter 1469: A Messy Situation

    Aftering to form in the Nether River, the new Heavenly Spirit Seals were tossed into the Spirit Pearl.

    By the time there were four Heavenly Spirit Seals in the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian was struck by a strong sense of weakness.

    He then realized that he had overdrawn his soul power, and thus gave up on condensing a fifth Heavenly Spirit Seal.

    During this time, the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, the signature treasure of the fire element sect, exined Pang Chicheng¡¯s experiences after leaving the Realm of Fire Spirit in detail.

    ording to it, that underground pce in the Realm of Fire Spirit was connected to many fiery arcane realms.

    Those arcane realms had been discovered by Pang Bo andter put under the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron¡¯s control, so it could transfuse me power from them to the Realm of Fire Spirit continuously.

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron had taken Pang Chicheng to those arcane realms, allowing him to advance to the God domain with the help of the rich me power there.

    After Pang Chicheng¡¯s defeat in the Realm of Fire Spirit, he had fallen out with the Thunder Devil and Feng Beiluo, which had undermined his rtionship with the secret force behind Feng Beiluo.

    After that, Pang Chicheng hade into contact with Xuan Guangyu, the Shadow Society, the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and the Jade Heaven Sect. During that time, the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society had found him, and incited him to take a trip to the floating continent and awaken the Ripper Behemoth.

    After storing four Heavenly Spirit Seals in the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tianbed through the information he had obtained from the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron. ¡°So Pang Chicheng had a falling out with Feng Beiluo¡¯s force. Then, he associated with Xuan Guangyu and those with him. That was when he was incited by the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society...¡±

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°If the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was possessed by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, doesn¡¯t it mean Xuan Guangyu and the others have been his chess pieces as well? Is You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect a part of this too? He¡¯s trying to break through to thete God domain, and there¡¯s a good chance he¡¯ll seed. If he¡¯s also...¡±

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, Nie Tian felt a headache over the messy situation.

    At this moment, no more glowing cyan spots flew from the Nether River into the five evil gods to help restore and integrate their memories.

    Nie Tian turned to take a deep look at the huge vortex from which fresh water was flowing.

    ¡°Where does it connect? The Phantasms¡¯ Nether Realm or the Void World?¡± Eyebrows knitted, he switched his gaze between the slowly-flowing Nether River and the colossal ancient tree. ¡°Now, with the infusion of fresh water, the Nether River has gained the upper hand in its battle against the ancient tree, which hassted for who knows how long. Is there anything I can do to help the ancient tree?¡±

    Now that five Heavenly Spirit Seals had been sessfully embedded in the foreheads of the evil gods in the form of prismatic crystals, the main goal of his trip to this mysterious ce had been achieved.

    After all, he hade here harboring the intent of gaining full control over the five evil gods.

    ¡°The situation in the outside world is even messier. I guess I should get out of here as soon as possible.¡± He thought to himself. ¡°However, if I leave, this slowly-flowing branch of the Nether River will eventually reach that ancient tree. If that happens, what changes will happen to this ce? Will it be assimted by the Nether River and be enveloped in gruesome Nether Qi? Will Netherspirits from the Void World invade?

    ¡°That vortex is full of spatial wonders, yet I probably can¡¯t uncover its secrets by myself.

    ¡°What if I ask Senior Martial Sister Pei toe here and explore its wonders with her Space Boundaries Crystal?¡±

    Thoughts shed across his mind, making him hesitant about what to do.

    Furthermore, Pang Chicheng was still here. Without the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he could probably only wander around in this mysterious area of the starry river.

    This gave him another concern: that Pang Chicheng might sabotage the bnce in this ce and trigger some major turbulence.

    ¡°This is such a headache.¡±

    After pondering the matter from different angles, he finally decided to leave to get Pei Qiqi¡¯s help, so he could uncover the truth and ferret out and kill Pang Chicheng with her strength.

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Ancient starships that belonged to different human forces were berthed around the seven dead stars that surrounded the Realm Sea.

    Sects like the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, and the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, along with the five major sects and three major ns of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, had people entering and exiting the area all the time.

    Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Xie Qian, Master Blood Spirit, and other experts all visited quite frequently.

    As the mysteries of the Realm Sea were gradually known to people, this area suddenly became the one ce in Nie Tian¡¯s territory that enjoyed the utmost importance.

    Its status quickly rose above that of the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Not just Nie Tian¡¯s followers, but other human experts would alsoe from different parts of the human world after learning about the wonders of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Intense spatial fluctuations would emerge on the seven dead stars from time to time, followed by visitors who asked to meet Dong Li or Pei Qiqi with different purposes.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift was split open by Ji Yuanquan.

    Then, Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and other cornerstones of the four great sects arrived through it.

    Upon seeing Pei Qiqi, Fan Tianze cut to the chase and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian, kid? The Ripper Behemoth has been driven into madness by hunger. It has started devouring realms of the Domain of Heaven Span that are rich in spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. That domain is the foundation of my sect. We can¡¯t allow the Ripper Behemoth to destroy it.¡±

    Face expressionless, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°Go kill it then.¡±

    As soon as Fan Tianze heard this, the smile froze on his face.

    Ji Yuanquan gave her a stern look and said, ¡°What¡¯s with the attitude, kid? We wouldn¡¯t havee here if we could kill it. We¡¯re only here because we know Nie Tian canmunicate with it. Where is he? We want to know if he can bring that Ripper Behemoth back to its senses.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s out in secluded cultivation, and he¡¯s not back yet,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°Can you please try and see if you can get in touch with him and ask him to end his secluded cultivation as soon as possible?¡± Ye Wenhan asked, full of smiles. ¡°All of the Ancientspirit and outsider grand monarchs that survived the Ripper Behemoth have already pulled out of the Domain of Heaven Span. However, that has made things even moreplicated. If after they regroup, they spread out to invade different domains simultaneously, it¡¯ll only result in more deaths on our part.¡±

    ¡°You may try and contact him yourselves. I can¡¯t,¡± Pei Qiqi said expressionlessly.

    ¡°How about we go ask Miss Dong?¡± Chu Rui suggested.

    ...

    Fata of the Floragrims was temporarily living in a remote corner of a dead star.

    All of a sudden, he sensed a stir in his bloodline.

    He shrewdly derived a soul message from the fluctuations in his bloodline. It was a soul message from Grand Monarch Primal Wood. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood! He must be nearby!¡±

    Fata then took a deep breath and establishedmunication with Grand Monarch Primal Wood through bloodline magics.

    After a while, he shuddered and sprang to his feet. ¡°I need to see Dong Li or Miss Pei now!¡±

    Li Langfeng nodded and said, ¡°Sure.¡±

    Without any dy, he took out his Sound Stone and contacted Dong Li.

    Before long, Dong Li floated over like a goddess of darkness, devouring the light around her and exuding an oppressing dark aura.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood of my people has talked to all the Ancientspirits. Now, he asks to see Nie Tian. There¡¯s a very important matter he needs to discuss with him right away!¡± Fata said excitedly and without any hesitation. ¡°ording to him, he has received guidance from our people¡¯s creator, the Tree of Life!¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°The Tree of Life?! Didn¡¯t people say it died a long time ago? Even though Nie Tian and I came across a young Tree of Life in a special ce we visited, from which we even picked fruits of Life, it was clearly different from your Tree of Life.¡±

    Fata seemed to be in high spirits as he said, ¡°I thought our Tree of Life was dead too, but who would have thought that it¡¯s somehow reviving now, when the entire Spirit World is withering? Grand Monarch Primal Wood and several Ancientspirit grand monarchs are nearby. They wish toe to the Seven Stars Realm Sea to talk to Nie Tian in person. They have vital information to share with him.¡±

    Hearing this, Dong Li said, ¡°Many God domain human experts have gathered here too. This isn¡¯t a good ce to meet, is it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Fata said with determination. ¡°ording to Grand Monarch Primal Wood, this is a matter of paramount importance. The God domain human experts should be there to hear it.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with surprise. ¡°Really?!¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect, who was on the other side of the dead star, eximed in shock, ¡°What? You Qimiao has broken through to thete God domain? Is your information reliable?¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao has advanced to thete God domain!¡± Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, who was floating over the Seven Stars Realm Sea, also eximed, as if he had just received word of it as well. ¡°Is it good or bad news that he¡¯s entered thete God domain at such a time when all of our peak experts are away?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m just worried that Xuan Guangyu and his lot will be emboldened, knowing that they have strong backing.¡±

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! His breakthrough must have a lot to do with the wondrous effect of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡±

 Chapter 1470: The Calamity of Behemoth

    The Ripper Behemoth continued to devastate the Domain of Heaven Span.

    The armies of Ancientspirit and outsider experts that had marched into the Domain of Heaven Span in formidable arrays had been crushed by it before they could establish firm footholds.

    After arge number of them had been killed and devoured by the Ripper Behemoth, they had no choice but retreat.

    The Spirit World was running out of its energy of heaven and earth, rendering them uninhabitable.

    Therefore, the invaders, who shouldered the responsibility of finding new homes for their nsmen, fled to nearby domains after suffering an utter defeat from the Ripper Behemoth in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    In a dark, gray realm.

    In their true forms, Chatvic the titan, Scotte the lightning dragon, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch devoured spiritual energy of heaven and earth to replenish the tremendous amount of power they had consumed earlier.

    All of their people had suffered heavy casualties.

    Every time they mentioned the Ripper Behemoth, they gnashed their teeth furiously and let out futile sighs.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims suddenly arrived like a river of green flesh aura.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Every Ancientspirit that was recuperating in the realm felt a jolt to their flesh auras.

    The enormous Chatvic, who was sitting on the ground, slowly rose to his feet.

    Amazed, he said, ¡°It¡¯s Grand Monarch Primal Wood? Such flesh aura seems to contain the truths of life. His arrival vests this heaven and earth with added life force!¡±

    Scotte the lightning dragon took a deep breath and said, ¡°He¡¯s attracting wood power from the surrounding areas of the starry river to this realm. His arrival is speeding up the recovery of my flesh aura.¡±

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch found this confusing. ¡°Didn¡¯t they say he was badly injured by Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Pale Bones?¡±

    ¡°This aura...¡± Scotte sensed with rapt attention before suddenly eximing, ¡°Thete tenth grade! I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s actually broken his bloodline shackles and risen to the same height as Grand Monarch Life Wood! This is unbelievable!¡±

    While they discussed this, Grand Monarch Primal Wood flew over with a loud whoosh.

    As hended in their midst, the originally-thin wood power in this realm experienced subtle changes.

    Countless emerald green sparks rained from the heavens.

    Bathed in the rain of green sparks, all of the Ancientspirits with enormous forms felt a warmth running through them, and their flesh auras began to recover at an rming rate.

    All of their open wounds healed at a visible speed.

    ¡°What happened to you, Primal Wood?!¡± Chatvic eximed, his eyes filled with tion. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have been able to advance to thete tenth grade within such a short time!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood took a deep breath and said, ¡°The Tree of Life, the creator of my people, is reviving! It turns out it didn¡¯t die. It was merely dormant from a prolonged session of self-healing. Now, it has sensed the unprecedented crisis we¡¯re experiencing, with the energy of the entire Spirit World falling out of bnce, so it vested me with power and showed me the way!¡±

    ¡°What? Your Tree of Life is reviving?¡± Chatvic asked, astonished.

    ¡°I¡¯m here because I hope you¡¯ll join me in a talk with Nie Tian and the human experts,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said with a grim expression. ¡°This will not only determine the future of our kinds, but the humans too. In fact, the humans aren¡¯t our enemy. The Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes are.

    ¡°Or I should say, the three major races of the Void World are our true enemy!¡±

    ...

    ¡°You Qimiao has made his breakthrough!¡±

    This piece of news rapidly traveled through the human domains.

    If Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, and the other peak human experts had been around, this wouldn¡¯t have been considered breaking news.

    After all, any of them would be strong enough to overtake You Qimiao.

    But now...

    After advancing to thete God domain, he had be the one with the highest cultivation base among the human experts that were currently in the human domains.

    At the same time, his Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had close connections with the Shadow Society and the Jade Heaven Sect. Even Xuan Guangyu had joined their gang.

    Since their retreat from the Domain of Heaven Span, Xuan Guangyu and the others hadn¡¯t shown up till now.

    No one knew what they were up to.

    Xuan Guangyu and the others had been a hidden problem. Now that You Qimiao had officially entered thete God domain, their strength was practically unmatched throughout the human world.

    If they wanted to do something, who would be able to stop them?

    ¡°What? Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims and three Ancientspirit leaders want to meet us and Nie Tian?¡± Fan Tianze asked aloud, fixing Dong Li with a disbelieving look. ¡°What do they want by meeting with us at this time?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually Nie Tian who they mostly want to meet, Senior Fan,¡± Dong Li said, looking somewhat apologetic.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t Grand Monarch Primal Wood badly injured?¡± Chu Rui asked with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°He¡¯s recovered,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°In fact, he¡¯s even advanced from the middle to thete tenth grade. Thanks to his healing bloodline magics, the other Ancientspirit grand monarchs seem to be recovering speedily.¡±

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Thete tenth grade?!¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian now?¡± Fan Tianze asked. ¡°Let¡¯s figure out a way to get him back and find out what Grand Monarch Primal Wood and those Ancientspirits want.¡±

    ¡°He...¡± Dong Li said, frowning. Then, she cast a nce at Pei Qiqi, who was standing expressionlessly in a ce not far from her. ¡°Do you know how to get him out of there?¡±

    Both of them knew Nie Tian had gone to the Domain of me¡¯s End to enter that magicalnd with the me Dragon Armor as the key, so he could refine the five evil gods.

    Dong Li thought that Pei Qiqi¡¯s expertise in spatial power might allow her to reach him.

    Pei Qiqi, however, remained expressionless.

    ¡°You...¡± Dong Li seemed exasperated.

    ¡°Just wait,¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly.

    Dampened, Dong Li spread her hands helplessly and said, ¡°It seems we can only wait for him toe back. Grand Monarch Primal Wood and those Ancientspirits will have to wait too.¡±

    ¡°How about we talk with Grand Monarch Primal Wood and those who havee with him first?¡± Chu Rui asked.

    Dong Li shook her head. ¡°They said that Nie Tian has to be there. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t meet, much less discuss what they¡¯re here for. It seems that Nie Tian¡¯s attendance is the premise of this meeting.¡±

    Upon hearing this, all of the God domain experts and leaders of various human sects and ns present had strange looks on their faces.

    No matter how talented Nie Tian was, he was merely at the Saint domain.

    However, all of them found his Saint domain cultivation base unmatched by his unique cultivation talent and wonders.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was them, the Floragrims, or the Ancientspirits. They all attached great importance to Nie Tian, and had asked for his opinion or had asked him to do certain things at crucial moments.

    Even though Nie Tian hadn¡¯t be the Lord of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce yet, his status had already risen to the level of figures like Ji Cang.

    Chu Rui nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s wait then.¡±

    ¡°But the Domain of Heaven Span is still suffering from the Ripper Behemoth. How long will we have to wait?¡± Ye Wenhan said bitterly.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t make a sound.

    While they waited, pieces of news came from the Domain of Heaven Span.

    New realms were reduced to dead realms by the Ripper Behemoth every once in a while.

    Fan Tianze had to order the humans that lived in realms close to the Ripper Behemoth to leave their homes.

    This meant the Heaven Span Pavilion was quite helpless when it came to containing the Ripper Behemoth.

    No one knew how long it would continue to feed or how many more realms it would devour.

    The disciples of the Heaven Span Pavilion could only pray that the frenzied Ripper Behemoth would stay away from their main realms, most importantly the Realm of Heaven Span.

    On this day, He Lianxiong rushed over from the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°Elder Ye!¡± He eximed, his eyes reddened and his robust body shivering. ¡°You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect went to the Domain of Heaven Span! He provoked and made the Ripper Behemoth pursue him! Now, he¡¯s heading towards the very foundation of our sect, the Realm of Heaven Span!¡±

    Fan Tianze and Ye Wenhan¡¯s faces became ashen as soon as they heard this.

    The first thing You Qimiao did after entering thete God Domain was to go to the Domain of Heaven Span, provoke the senseless Ripper Behemoth, and lead it towards the Realm of Heaven Span. His sinister motives couldn¡¯t be clearer.

    He wanted to use the Ripper Behemoth to deal the Heaven Span Pavilion a heavy blow.

    The Realm of Heaven Span was the foundation of the Heaven Span Pavilion, which was one of the four ancient sects. It¡¯s protective grand spell formation was so sturdy that even You Qimiao couldn¡¯t breach it with his current strength.

    However, that Ripper Behemoth could most likely destroy the grand spell formation that protected the Realm of Heaven Span.

    Once that was aplished, the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s efforts to build up this realm over the past hundreds of thousands of years would go down the drain.

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡±

 Chapter 1471: The Nether River Calls

    The floating continent sped through the dark void dotted with stars.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s howls created heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing sound waves that swept overrge areas.

    BANG! BOOM!

    Meteors that flew past it would explode violently.

    Any broken pieces from shattered realms would be sted into dust as it came near.

    Some reckless living beings that came to observe the Ripper Behemoth from thousands of kilometers away were engulfed in the sound waves of its mad howls. Their flesh auras were reversed, and they died instantly.

    Even the probing soul will sent by some Phantasm grand patriarchs was wiped out.

    The frenzied Ripper Behemoth controlled the floating continent with its bloodline power from the depths of the gray mist that surrounded it. From time to time,rge rocks would be separated from the upper continent and shot aimlessly into its surroundings like huge hammers.

    The aura that spread from the floating continent was mighty enough to severely injure any outsider grand patriarch.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s soul quietly observed from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. ¡°Simply terrifying!¡±

    Then, he let out a sigh of relief as he realized that the Ripper Behemoth was distracted by an aura, and had stopped chasing after the outsiders with rich flesh power.

    ¡°That aura leading it away seems to belong to a human.¡±

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind frowned, finding it strange. ¡°Where is that human taking it? Is it leading it out of the Domain of Heaven Span so that the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s foundation will be preserved?¡±

    He backed away as he pondered the matter.

    FIZZ!

    Momentster, wisps of cyan lightning burst out from the Bloodline Crystal Chains in his heart.

    An unintentional moan escaped Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s mouth as his slightly skinny body shuddered violently. Immediately afterwards, he focused his soul awareness on his bloodline.

    ¡°The Nether River! The Nether River is calling upon me!¡±

    He had been waiting for the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgement from the day he had advanced to the tenth grade, joined the ranks of the grand monarchs, and gained the privilege of deriving enlightenment from the Nether River in the north of the Nether Realm.

    After all, ording to the Phantasms, only those who won the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgment could understand the profound truths of the Nether River, seek to advance to thete tenth grade, and qualify to be the Phantasms¡¯ high chieftain.

    Their current high chieftain, Grand Monarch Nether River, was the only one of his generation to have won the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgement.

    Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s original name was Grand Monarch Soul Ferry. Only after he had understood the profound truths of the Nether River, won its acknowledgment, and advanced to thete tenth grade had he received the respect of all Phantasms, and changed his name from Grand Monarch Soul Ferry to Grand Monarch Nether River.

    There was a Phantasm saying that those who won the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgment would be high chieftains.

    Furthermore, only one Phantasm could have the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgement at the same time.

    This had been an unbroken rule.

    But now...

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind was still far from being ready to advance to thete tenth grade, and currently in the human world. However, he distinctly sensed that the Nether River was calling upon him.

    ¡°Those who win the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgment will be high chieftains! And there can only be one chosen at the same time!¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind took a deep breath, various expressions shing across his face. He seemed ecstatic in one moment, but deeply worried in the next. ¡°If the Nether River is calling upon me now, does that mean something has happened to Grand Monarch Nether River?¡±

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind felt somewhat uneasy.

    He and Grand Monarch Nether River were sworn friends. He was well-aware of how powerful he was, and the fact that he was surpassed by him in cultivation talent, strength, and wisdom.

    Therefore, he had never expected to rece him as the high chieftain of this generation.

    But now, an opportunity had presented itself.

    After pondering for a long while, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind made up his mind. ¡°I¡¯ve got to return to the Nether Realm now. Whatever it is, I¡¯ve got to receive the Nether Realm¡¯s acknowledgement first!

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what has happened to Soul Ferry, the Nether River guides our people! Now that it¡¯s calling upon me, it¡¯ll be my duty to take the position of the new high chieftain, and bring hope to my people at this time, as the Spirit World is in an unprecedented crisis!¡±

    With these thoughts, he forgot about the crushing defeat in the Domain of Heaven Span and focused on returning to the Nether Realm as quickly as possible.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    He sped through the starry river towards a hidden portal through which he could return to the Spirit World.

    As soon as he arrived at the ce where the portal stood, many Phantasms that were gathered there eximed, ¡°Grand monarch!¡±

    ¡°Froste!¡± Upon arriving, he discovered that Froste was covered in blood, and the Soul Ferry Battle Armor he was wearing seemed to be melting somehow.

    As Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s son, Froste was referred to as the young lord.

    The Soul Ferry Battle Armor he wore was a powerful tool Grand Monarch Nether River had used in his early years. With Grand Monarch Nether River¡¯s original name in its name, it had been vested with his bloodline power.

    At this moment, Froste was clearly not fighting anyone, yet he was bleeding nonstop. Even the Soul Ferry Battle Armor was melting. Grand Monarch Unholy Wind stood aghast.

    Because of his rtionship with Grand Monarch Nether River, he had always considered Froste his nephew.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?!" Grand Monarch Unholy Wind roared, ring at the Phantasm experts around him. ¡°You¡¯re all here. Why is this happening to him?!¡±

    ¡°I... I won¡¯t be able to make it, Uncle.¡± Froste couldn¡¯t even get outplete sentences anymore. ¡°Something has happened to my bloodline origin. I don¡¯t know why, but I can tell that my power is leaving me. Even the Soul Ferry Battle Armor father gave me is melting away.¡±

    Wisps of smoke rose from the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows as he spoke.

    Meanwhile, the crystal was shrinking rapidly, like a melting candle.

    ¡°Froste!¡±

    ¡°Young lord!¡±

    In the midst of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s and the Phantasms¡¯ shouts, this young lord they had ced high hopes on actually died.

    ¡°Something must have happened to the high chieftain!¡± One of the ninth grade grand patriarchs said. ¡°Not just Froste, but many others that had bloodline connections to him are also dying. The root of the problem must lie with the high chieftain!¡±

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The high chieftain... I sensed the Nether River¡¯s call upon me.¡±

    ¡°What?! The Nether River called upon you?¡± Another grand patriarch eximed in shock. ¡°Only one can have the Nether River¡¯s favor at a time. If the Nether River actually called upon you, does that mean Grand Monarch Nether River has died? Otherwise, Froste and those who have bloodline connections with him shouldn¡¯t have died.¡±

    ¡°But when our high chieftains died of old age or in battle before, their descendants didn¡¯t die with them!¡± Someone retorted.

    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind! If the high chieftain actually died, you¡¯d better return to our ancestral realm right away!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought!¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Heaven Span.

    Surrounding the realm, countless sword lights wove into a vast glorious that glittered with divine light.

    All of the sword lights were transparent and sparkling like strings made from crystal. They clearly had their own awareness as they flew around following the set sword formation, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    Each and every of them had been condensed and left there by extremely talented cultivators in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s history.

    This grand spell formation was known as the Godspan Sword Formation, a grand ancient formation that had been protecting the headquarters of the Heaven Span Pavilion, which was one of the four great sects.

    It was as wondrous as the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s Nine Star Heavens.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Sword lights flew across, giving rise to sharp whooshes, as if this was how theymunicated with each other.

    The entire Godspan Sword Formation consisted of hundreds of thousands of fierce sword lights that could condense as one to eliminate even God domain experts and tenth grade grand monarchs.

    Once this spell formation was activated, people could only ess the Realm of Heaven Span through teleportation portals. Any ancient starships and living beings would be kept out.

    If they entered a ten thousand meter radius of the realm, the defensive mechanism of the sword formation would be triggered, until they were annihted.

    Any flesh auras or soul wills of living being that approached the sword formation would also attract their destructive bombardment.

    WHOOSH!

    You Qimiao, who stood on the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, sped through the dark void, and rapidly approached the Realm of Heaven Span.

    His breakthrough seemed to have caused changes in even his appearance. At this moment, with a hair bun, his gray hair and beard fluttered in the wind like an immortal.

    The Immortal grade divine tool Yin Yang Chaos Mirror was under his feet like a clear que that hung over the gate of a pce.

    Inside the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, two powers of different attributes seemed to have fused as one, allowing the speed at which You Qimiao flew to improve severalfold.

    Due to You Qimiao¡¯s breakthrough in his cultivation and the infusion of his divine power, the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, which was originally at level four Immortal grade, seemed to have risen to level five.

    Plus, itspatibility with his soul seemed to have further improved as well.

    ¡°Evil creature!¡±

    You Qimiao turned around to let out a peculiar soul cry towards the vast empty area of the starry river behind him. The strange fluctuations reached all the way to the depths of the floating continent.

    HOWL!

    The Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent responded with a furious howl.

 Chapter 1472: Redirecting A Calamity

    Enshrouded in a thick gray mist, the vast floating continent chased after You Qimiao in a relentless and overbearing manner.

    A hint of a cold smile appeared at the corner of You Qimiao¡¯s mouth as he said, ¡°Even though I¡¯ve entered thete God domain and my Yin Yang Chaos Mirror has entered a new level, I still can¡¯t breach the Godspan Sword Formation on my own. However, this Star Behemoth should be able to. It¡¯s not only tremendous in size, but it also has a tremendously strong flesh aura, and the Star Behemoths¡¯ unique bloodline talent: Domain Split.¡±

    ¡°The Heaven Span Pavilion!¡± His expression grew colder and colder as he gazed into the distance where the Realm of Heaven Span gradually entered his sight, enveloped in awork of countless interweaving sword lights.

    Duan Hongwen, who was also from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, suddenly appeared in front of him. ¡°Sectmaster.¡±

    Floating next to him were Xuan Guangyu, Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society, and Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect.

    Xuan Guangyu, who was well-versed in spatial power, had brought them here.

    Full of smiles, Xuan Guangyu sped his hands respectfully towards You Qimiao and said, ¡°Congrattions, Brother You, for advancing to thete God domain with the help of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir you obtained from the Void World.¡±

    You Qimiao, who was speeding through the void on his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, frowned slightly and said, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re here to aid you, of course,¡± Xuan Guangyu said.

    ¡°Aid me?¡± A derisive smile escaped You Qimiao¡¯s mouth as he shook his head and said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you may leave now. I don¡¯t need your aid anymore. Even if I¡¯m not strong enough to destroy that Godspan Sword Formation, the Ripper Behemoth is here with me, isn¡¯t it? Star Behemoths like it are natural banes to realms and all sorts of grand spell formations.¡±

    ¡°We can help, Sectmaster,¡± Duan Hongwen said.

    You Qimiao let out a cold harrumph and eyed Duan Hongwen for a few seconds before saying, ¡°No need. If you hadn¡¯t awakened the Ripper Behemoth with them, I would have killed you right now!¡±

    A sense of coldness rose in Duan Hongwen¡¯s heart as he hastily said, ¡°Sectmaster, I only did as Sectmaster Jiang instructed.¡±

    You Qimiao fixed him with a cold look. ¡°Do you work for the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect or Jiang Yuanchi?¡±

    ¡°The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, of course,¡± Duan Hongwen said without hesitation.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, make a clean break with them.¡± With these words, You Qimiao tilted his chin disdainfully as he cast a nce at Xuan Guangyu, Shangguan Zhi, and Song Chequan. ¡°If Jiang Yuanchi were here, I might consider working with you. But since he¡¯s not, I don¡¯t even want to waste my time talking to you.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s face immediately grew grim. ¡°Brother You, that Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir you have...¡±

    As soon as he mentioned the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, greed appeared on Song Chequan, Shangguan Zhi, and Duan Hongwen¡¯s faces, as they all hoped to obtain a bit of it so they could make their breakthroughs as smoothly as You Qimiao had.

    ¡°I actually still have some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir,¡± You Qimiao said casually.

    ¡°So...¡± Xuan Guangyu said, with a zealous smile.

    ¡°But that has nothing to do with you,¡± You Qimiao said expressionlessly. ¡°ording to my agreement with Jiang Yuanchi, I¡¯ll give the remaining Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to him, if hees back alive from the Void World, of course.

    ¡°As for you... If you really want Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, you might as well go to the Void World and fight the Netherspirits for it.

    ¡°I can give you some pointers. Pei Qiqi can open the portal in the depths of the Seven-star Blue Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    ¡°Oh, also, Nie Tian has some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. You can try to take it from him if you want.¡±

    With these words, You Qimiao turned to let out a soul roar in the floating continent¡¯s direction, a soul roar that pierced into the depths of the floating continent. ¡°Come at me, evil creature!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Standing on his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, he charged towards the Realm of Heaven Span at a speed even faster than before, leaving everyone, including Duan Hongwen, exchanging awkward nces with each other.

    Only after a while did Xuan Guangyu growl in a low voice, gritting his teeth. ¡°You Qimiao!¡±

    ¡°The Ripper Behemoth ising this way,¡± Shangguan Zhi eximed.

    With a cold snort, Xuan Guangyu split open a spatial rift and said, ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here first! What about you? Are youing with us or your sectmaster?¡±

    He looked coldly at Duan Hongwen.

    After pondering for a moment, Duan Hongwen gave his answer by diving into the spatial rift without saying a word.

    With a cold expression, Xuan Guangyu gazed off at You Qimiao, who was gradually approaching the Realm of Heaven Span, and said, ¡°Do you really think you can seed without us? Perhaps you¡¯ve be the one with the highest cultivation base in the human world, but cultivation base doesn¡¯t mean everything.¡±

    With these words, he flew into the spatial rift after the others.

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, and many others had returned to the Realm of Heaven Span to activate the Godspan Sword Formation and prepare for the dire situation they might have to face.

    At the same time, Pei Qiqi immersed herself in the azure sea and studied the wonders of the portal in the depths of the sea by relying on her Voidspirit bloodline.

    Suspended in front of her, the Space Boundaries Crystal spun from time to time.

    One of its many facets suddenly showed an image.

    It was an image of Nie Tian appearing in the Domain of me¡¯s End with the me Dragon Armor.

    Pei Qiqi, who was condensing her bloodline power to solve the mysteries of the portal, snapped awake.

    This whole time, that facet of the Space Boundaries Crystal had been locked onto the area in the Domain of me¡¯s End where Nie Tian had left, as she knew that Nie Tian would return to his original location.

    WHOOSH!

    She charged out of the Realm Sea, split open a spatial rift, and crossed into the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    ¡°You¡¯ve got toe to the Seven Stars Realm Sea. The situation has gottenplicated.¡± Upon arriving, she exined the situation to Nie Tian, telling him that Grand Monarch Primal Wood and other Ancientspirit experts were waiting to meet him.

    She also told him that the Ripper Behemoth was still ravaging the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°I returned with the intention to ask you toe with me... but considering the situation, I guess that can wait.¡± With these words, Nie Tian followed her to the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    He assumed that since it would take a long time for the Nether River to reach the roots of that ancient tree, it wasn¡¯t the most pressing issue at hand.

    After returning to the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he went to meet Fata under Dong Li¡¯s escort. Upon seeing Fata, he said, ¡°You may inform Grand Monarch Primal Wood that I¡¯m back.¡±

    ted, Fata said, ¡°Sure!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, You Qimiao from the Realm of Heaven Span is leading the Ripper Behemoth towards the Realm of Heaven Span, which puts the Heaven Span Pavilion in a dangerous situation,¡± Dong Li said with a frown. ¡°Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, and many other experts have gone to help with the defenses. Do we join them?¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°I doubt that I can calm the Ripper Behemoth. Besides, it warned me and urged me to stay away from it before it was driven mad by hunger. As for You Qimiao, he¡¯ll be tough to deal with as well now that he¡¯s entered thete God domain. However, I find it weird that he¡¯d provoke the Star Behemoth and attract it to the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    ¡°Does he harbor some bitter hatred towards the Heaven Span Pavilion? Otherwise, why would he do this to the Heaven Span Pavilion as his first act after entering thete God domain at such a moment when the human race is facing peril?

    ¡°Didn¡¯t he join hands with the Shadow Society in the siege of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    He and Pei Qiqi had worked with You Qimiao in the Void World.

    Even though he was full of ruses, he was a man of his word. He had given Pei Qiqi the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and soul crystals he had promised them after leaving the Void World.

    He had detested You Qimiao because of the battle in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    However, their experience in the Void World had slightly relieved his aversion towards the man.

    He had a feeling that there might be a reason for him going after the Heaven Span Pavilion as soon as he had broken through to thete God domain.

    After pondering for a while, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s forget about the Realm of Heaven Span for the time being, and meet Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the Ancientspirit visitors first.

    ¡°In fact, I want to meet them too. There are things I¡¯d like to ask them about.¡±

    Many titans, me dragons, and Ancientbeasts were buried on the magicalnds in that mysterious area of the starry river.

    He didn¡¯t know what had happened between that colossal ancient tree and that peculiar branch of the Nether River.

    His original n was to take Pei Qiqi there, but he had changed his mind. If his meeting with Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the Ancientspirits was productive, he nned to take them to that mysterious ce to find answers to his questions.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood of my people and the Ancientspirit grand monarchs will arrive at the Seven Stars Realm Sea in a few hours,¡± Fata said.

    ¡°Good!¡±

 Chapter 1473: Meeting Again

    In the Realm of Heaven Span.

    FIZZ!

    Wielding the Limpid Cyan Sword, Fan Tianze flew through the Godspan Sword Formation into the starry river.

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡± Fan Tianze shouted, holding the divine sword, his torrential aura connected to the countless sword lights in the grand spell formation behind him in a subtle manner.

    Some of the sword lights seemed to be chirping joyfully, as if they could shoot out of the Godspan Sword Formation to kill his enemy for him at any moment.

    Those sword lights had been branded in the grand spell formation by the former sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Rather than Chu Yuan, Fan Tianze had been the disciple the former sectmaster had adored the most, and ced the highest hopes on.

    For this reason, those sword lights he had branded in the Godspan Sword Formation warmed up to him and expressed their willingness to fight for Fan Tianze upon sensing his aura.

    You Qimiao came to a stop in front of him, standing on his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror. After taking a deep look at him, he said, ¡°No wonder they called you the strongest cultivator below the peak before Mo Heng came along.

    ¡°But it¡¯s too bad that you haven¡¯t reached thete God domain. Even though you¡¯ve won those sword lights¡¯ acknowledgment, it¡¯s meaningless. After all, I¡¯m not here to fight you in the starry river outside the Realm of Heaven Span.¡±

    With the Godspan Sword Formation at his back, Fan Tianze could undoubtedly create trouble for him.

    However, those sword lights couldn¡¯t go too far from the Godspan Sword Formation.

    If the distance was too great, then Fan Tianze wouldn¡¯t be able to use them in battle and vest himself with the might of the grand spell formation.

    ¡°What do you want by attracting that Ripper Behemoth to us, You Qimiao?¡± Fan Tianze asked.

    ¡°You spend little time in the Heaven Span Pavilion. Most of the time, you travel around and cultivate without the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s vast resources.¡± You Qimiao¡¯s eyes grew narrow and cold as he continued, ¡°So perhaps you don¡¯t know certain things. Chu Yuan, the sectmaster of your sect, took several precious treasures from my sect so he could use them to forge a sword.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you still have them. If you do and are willing to return them to me now, I promise I¡¯ll lead the Ripper Behemoth away.

    ¡°But if Chu Yuan has already consumed them, then...¡±

    Intense killing intent filled You Qimiao¡¯s eyes. ¡°Then I¡¯ll have to let the Ripper Behemoth rip through your Godspan Sword Formation and destroy your sect, because only by doing that can I face my master without feeling ashamed.¡±

    Confusion filled Fan Tianze¡¯s face. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°Go ask Elder Ye Wenhan of your sect if you want.¡± You Qimiao waved his hand, signaling him to make haste. ¡°But it won¡¯t be long before the Ripper Behemoth traces the aura I left for it to this ce. You¡¯d better give me an answer as soon as possible.¡±

    Fan Tianze nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he flew through the Godspan Sword Formation and returned to the Realm of Heaven Span. His immense soul awareness rapidly locked onto Ye Wenhan, and he said urgently, ¡°You Qimiao demands the things we took from him be returned to him. He said that the sectmaster took them from his sect in order to forge some sword. Is that true?¡±

    Ye Wenhan let out a sigh and nodded. ¡°Yes. The sectmaster did seize a few things from the former sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°Then where are those things now?¡± Fan Tianze asked aloud.

    Ye Wenhan cast his gaze down. ¡°Only the sectmaster knows that.¡±

    Fan Tianze¡¯s face fell.

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates were gathered on the seven dead stars that surrounded the Realm Sea, along with powerful Saint domain experts from across the human domains.

    Upon hearing that Nie Tian had returned, all of them showed a strong interest in meeting with him.

    As the Domain of Heaven Span was facing a perilous situation, Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the Ancientspirit experts were eager to meet with Nie Tian.

    There was a portal at the bottom of the azure sea that connected to the Void World.

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had returned from the Void World with Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, which had helped him sessfully break through to thete God domain.

    There were even rumors that the peak experts from the four great sects had also gone to the Void World, which held the secrets to transcending the limits of the God domain.

    Rumors like these somehow spread through the human world, focusing the attention of powerful experts from different domains on the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Even the seven lifeless stars became popted locations for Void and Saint domain experts to reside temporarily.

    In the distant starry river.

    In rolling lightning and thunder, a huge dragon slowly appeared, surrounded by slithering lightning bolts.

    ¡°Scotte the lightning dragon!¡±

    After the huge dragon, Chatvic the titan, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, and Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims appeared one after another.

    ¡°What the?!¡± Some uninformed Qi warriors unleashed their Saint domains in panic and prepared for battle, assuming this was another Ancientspirit invasion.

    ¡°No need to panic. They¡¯re here to meet Nie Tian.¡± Those who knew what was happening hastily said to them. ¡°Even before Chu Rui and Fan Tianze returned to the Heaven Span Pavilion, rumor had it that Grand Monarch Primal Wood and a few Ancientspirit grand monarchs wanted to see Nie Tian. It¡¯s just that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t returned, so they had to wait somewhere else.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re here to meet with Nie Tian? Not Fan Tianze, not Chu Rui?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right. They mostly want to meet with Nie Tian, our master!¡±

    Qi warriors from the five major sects and three major ns from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries felt proud as they exined things to the others.

    They even stuck out their chests as they spoke, even though their cultivation bases were lower than those of the visitors they talked to.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims called, wreathed in his immense sparkling green flesh aura sea, which seemed to be able to nourish all lives.

    Ecstatic, Fata eximed, ¡°You¡¯ve not only recovered from your injuries, but joined the ranks ofte tenth grade grand monarchs! I really didn¡¯t expect this!¡±

    He was truly happy for Grand Monarch Primal Wood, especially now when his father was away and the Spirit World was withering away, leaving their people no ce to survive.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s breakthrough at this special time was of great importance to the Floragrims.

    Nie Tian flew out. Floating over one of the dead stars, he waved at Grand Monarch Primal Wood and said, ¡°I¡¯m here. It¡¯s good timing that you came here to meet me now. I happen to have something I want to talk to you about.¡±

    Scotte the lightning dragon, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, and Chatvic approached.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I hear that you learned Titan¡¯s Wrath from a special ce you visited. Is that true?¡± Chatvic asked before Grand Monarch Primal Wood could say anything. ¡°Can you please take us there?¡±

    A surprised expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°That¡¯s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. What are the chances?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Scotte said. ¡°You wanted to see us because you wanted to take us there?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood seemed thrilled to hear this. ¡°Nie Tian! Did you find anything special there? The creator of my people, the Tree of Life, is reviving. It instructed me to find you and give you the help you need.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°The Tree of Life is reviving?¡±

    He had sensed marks left by the Tree of Life in the endless blood sea that was his bloodline origin.

    He and the Tree of Life seemed to share the same bloodline origin.

    Now, the Tree of Life was reviving, and had instructed Grand Monarch Primal Wood toe help him... Was that incredibly colossal tree in the mysterious area of the starry river the reason?

    So that colossal tree wasn¡¯t the Tree of Life?

    ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s not just me. They¡¯re also here hoping that you¡¯ll take us to that special ce,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said, looking rather urgent. ¡°I can assure you that we mean no harm. If there¡¯s anything else you want to talk about, we can talk after we get there. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll be toote to stop the infiltration of the Void World if we waste too much time here.¡±

    A puzzled look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°By infiltration of the Void World, do you mean the branch of the Nether River that extended there?¡±

    ¡°We can only figure out the details after we get there,¡± Chatvic said.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly before nodding and saying, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you there. Also, will youe with me too, Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡±

 Chapter 1474: Distributing Resources

    On one of the dead stars that surrounded the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    WHOOSH!

    Summoned by Nie Tian, the me Dragon Armor flew out in the form of a suit of armor.

    Exceptionally strong spatial fluctuations suddenly emerged on the chestpiece of the armor, as Agaz¡¯s soul awareness instantly pierced through space and reached the dpidated altar surrounded by eight me dragon skeletons.

    ¡°Agaz!¡± Scotte, who also belonged to the dragon race, eximed. His enormous dragon eyes, like two balls of raging lightning, sputtered wisps of lightning.

    Now, many yearster, as Scotte sensed Agaz¡¯s aura, he found that not only had he inherited his father¡¯s bloodline wonders, but his bloodline seemed to have been vested with other fiery wonders.

    In his senses, Agaz¡¯s bloodline had advanced to the middle ninth grade, which was only slightly lower than that of his older brother Felix¡¯s bloodline.

    Furthermore, he had a feeling that Agaz¡¯s potential had risen above that of Felix, and perhaps even their father Baptista.

    Baptista was the high chieftain of the whole dragon race, ate tenth grade grand monarch!

    If Agaz were to surpass Baptista one day...

    Even more wisps of lightning sputtered from Scotte¡¯s eyes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fiery light blossomed as the me Dragon Armor opened a spatial tunnel.

    ¡°We¡¯re good to go,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Without any hesitation, Grand Monarch Primal Wood took the initiative to fly into it.

    Scotte, Chatvic, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch also flew into the spatial tunnel after shrinking to a fitting size.

    ¡°See you on the other side.¡± After saying these words to Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi also flew into the portal in a sh.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go too,¡± Dong Li said, looking discontent.

    ¡°No, you¡¯ll stay here and manage the situation,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°In that mysterious ce, there¡¯s this vortex from which a branch of the Nether River is flowing out of. I want Senior Martial Sister Pei to go because she might be able to unveil its secrets.¡±

    Before Dong Li could say anything, Nie Tian turned around and flew into the spatial tunnel.

    As soon as he did, the fiery tunnel that Agaz had created shrank into a small cluster of fire that dissipated.

    ¡°Asshole!¡± Dong Li cursed, looking exasperated.

    ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad, Miss Dong,¡± Fata of the Floragrims said with a smile. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have essed that tunnel anyways.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Dong Li asked, looking even more exasperated.

    ¡°That tunnel has an aura that¡¯s simr to that of the portals we use to travel between our realms and the human world,¡± Fata exined. ¡°That aura has a restrictive effect on those with feeble bodies, which means only hybrids like Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian and pure-bred beings that were born with special bloodlines can ess it.

    ¡°No matter how profound your dark power is, the moment you enter that tunnel, all of your dark power protections will fail.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to pass through that zing tunnel by relying on your fleshly body.¡±

    His exnation was in and honest.

    Even though Dong Li understood after listening for a while, that didn¡¯t stop her from being unhappy.

    However, she gradually calmed herself and muttered, ¡°The situation is grim indeed. You Qimiao led the Ripper Behemoth to the Realm of Heaven Span. Grand Monarch Primal Wood probably came here because they¡¯re facing some dire situation as well.¡±

    She gazed down at the Seven Stars Realm Sea. ¡°The portal down there connects to the Void World, where three powerful races are lurking...¡±

    Having reached this point in her train of thought, she made an important decision.

    Without dy, she summoned Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Master Blood Spirit, and Xie Qian to a secret cabin in an ancient starship. Looking at them, she said, ¡°It¡¯s unknown how things will develop from this point forward. It¡¯s about time we put the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to use. Which of you are ready to break through to new cultivation bases?¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s eyes lit up as she said with excitement, ¡°Me! And my junior martial sister Han Qing!¡±

    Dong Li nodded and turned to Mo Qianfan. ¡°What about you?¡±

    Mo Qianfan smiled bitterly and shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve only broken through to the early God domain recently with Nie Tian¡¯s help. I haven¡¯t fully grasped the wonders of the Thunder-devouring Whale yet. It¡¯s impossible for me to make another breakthrough so soon.¡±

    His heart wasden with rue.

    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Dong Li said with aforting tone. ¡°Even though it¡¯s still going to be some time before you¡¯re ready to break through to the middle God domain, perhaps we¡¯ll have more Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir when that dayes.¡±

    After hearing this, Mo Qianfan smiled brightly and said, ¡°I hope so.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit¡¯s eyes glittered as he said, ¡°I¡¯m only a step away from entering the early God domain now. I¡¯m quite confident about it! Even without the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, I think I have a seventy percent chance to seed!¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°Good, you¡¯ll take a share of the soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.¡±

    ¡°Many thanks!¡± Master Blood Spirit was very grateful.

    After pondering for a long while, Xie Qian said, ¡°I think I¡¯ll try to make my breakthrough too. Unlike Master Blood Spirit, I¡¯m not quite confident in seeding on my own. However, if I can cleanse my soul of its impurities with some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, I think my odds will be pretty good.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Xie Qian took a deep breath and assumed a serious expression. ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re entitled to a share of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir too,¡± Dong Li said.

    With these words, she went on to distribute the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, hoping it would help these cornerstones of Nie Tian¡¯s force make breakthroughs in their cultivation within a short time.

    Once they did, the strength of Nie Tian¡¯s force would be every bit as strong as that of the current four great sects.

    ¡°You¡¯re forgetting someone: Yin Xingtian,¡± Mo Qianfan suddenly said.

    Yu Suying jumped in and said, ¡°Yin Xingtian doesn¡¯t need Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir anymore. He began his breakthrough into the God domain long ago. I believe it won¡¯t be long before we receive word of his sess.¡±

    The only thing that had held Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect back was his diminishing lifespan.

    After Nie Tian had extended his lifespan through Life Grant, he had gained the confidence to break through to the God domain on his own.

    As ate Saint domain cultivator, that old entric had dared to fight those at the early God domain. If he actually broke through to the God domain, his strength would be bound to soar.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s better that he¡¯s given some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir when he attempts to enter the middle God domain,¡± Mo Qianfan said with mixed emotions. ¡°No wonder people call him an old entric. Once he breaks through to the God domain, I doubt that I¡¯ll be able to match him in battle anymore. Even his Heavenbreaker may advance to a higher grade thanks to his breakthrough in cultivation.¡±

    Smiling, Yu Suying said, ¡°My junior martial sister will give a strong boost to our strength too once she enters the God domain!¡±

    ¡°Great! The more God domain experts we have, the firmer our status in the human world will be!¡± Dong Li said with an encouraging tone. ¡°I sincerely hope that all of your breakthroughs will be sessful.

    ¡°If you all advance to new cultivation bases, Nie Tian will definitely be pleasantly surprised when hees back!¡±

    ...

    ¡°Eight me dragons!¡±

    ¡°Ancestors of my people!¡±

    Scotte the lightning dragon and Chatvic let out exmations upon setting foot on the dpidated altar.

    Scotte¡¯s eyes were captured by the me dragon skeletons, while Chatvic fixed his gaze on the unbending titan arms that reached into the heavens. Both of them were astonished.

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch let out a sharp cry and flew into the distance.

    Upon arriving, the three Ancientspirit experts spread out to explore the wonders of this heaven and earth.

    Pei Qiqi, however, simply stood there and observed the dpidated altar quietly.

    ¡°Nie Tian, this altar...¡±

    Eyes narrowed, she suddenly activated a bloodline magic, muttering, ¡°Bloodline: Void Tracing!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Like transparent flies, tiny bits of sparkling light flew out of the dpidated altar before joyfully fusing into her and bing a part of her bloodline.

    All of a sudden, illusory images manifested before Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows rose as he asked curiously, ¡°Was this dpidated altar built by Voidspirits like the portal at the bottom of the Seven Stars Realm Sea was?¡±

    Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°Not exactly. This altar wasn¡¯t built by Voidspirits. However, they did make changes to it after it was built. The one who built this ancient altar vested it with the ability to refine...¡±

    With these words, she pointed at the eight me dragon skeletons that faced the altar. ¡°With power channeled from these me dragon skeletons. They and this altar are made into a harmonious whole.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t something the Voidspirits are good at. Later, some Voidspirits came along and added teleportation spell formations to this altar, vesting it with the ability to shatter the shackles of space and teleport living beings.¡±

    As she spoke, frequent bloodline fluctuations came from her, as if her bloodline were receiving the bloodline imprints the Voidspirits had branded within the altar.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who had entered with them, didn¡¯t go around and examine this magicalnd as the three Ancientspirit experts had.

    However, as he quietly listened to Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s conversation, his immense sea-like soul awareness secretly spread out.

    Having reached thete tenth grade, he simply stood there as his soul awareness spread to every corner of this heaven and earth.

    Soon, he gained a panoramic soul view of this ce. Not even the slightest details could escape his soul awareness.

 Chapter 1475: Three Generations of Ancient Trees

    Floating high in the air like a towering mountain peak, Chatvic looked around and saw all the enormous arms. After using his bloodline to perceive them, he sighed with mixed feelings and said, ¡°Our ancestors have thoroughly died, but their unyielding will has been engraved in their arms forever!¡±

    ¡°Though our eight ancestors have also diedpletely, their bones still contain pure me power,¡± Scotte said.

    SWISH!

    Like a streak of golden lightning, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch flew over to Chatvic and cried in a shrill voice, ¡°This is not the onlyndmass here!¡±

    The three Ancientspirits were all amazed.

    At the mottled altar, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were whispering when Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims suddenly closed his eyes.

    Emerald veins quietly appeared on his arms, neck, and forehead.

    The patterns were very simr to the mysterious patterns of the Tree of Life in Nie Tian¡¯s Wood Thriving Formation.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s body emitted vitality vivaciously.

    WHOOSH!

    A green pir of light suddenly surged out from the top of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s head and pierced directly into the sky.

    There were many spectacr sights inside the pir of light. There were blurred figures of deceased Floragrim grand monarchs, and a towering image of the Tree of Life before it had withered.

    There were also lots of intricate tree patterns that represented the true meanings of the Floragrims¡¯ bloodline.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, who were about to discuss the altar in-depth, instantly fell silent.

    Subconsciously, they looked at Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    SWOOSH!

    It seemed that the green pir of light that had shot from the top of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s head had prated the realm barrier and reached the starry river.

    Nie Tian was secretly shocked.

    Because the gravitational field of this realm was terrifying, every time he came here, he would have to leave through the huge pit in the middle of thisndmass after piercing through the ward with the Star Behemoth bone.

    His strength hadn¡¯t yet enabled him to soar into the sky.

    However, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, whose bloodline was at the tenth grade, managed to pierce through the realm barrier with nothing but a pir of his flesh aura.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood opened his eyes abruptly.

    In an instant, Nie Tian noticed that images of the impossiblyrge tree and the Nether River branch that was slowly but firmly flowing towards the roots of the ancient tree emerged in the depths of his pupils.

    At that moment, Nie Tian suddenly understood ¡ª Grand Monarch Primal Wood was here for the ancient tree!

    The three Ancientspirit experts, who had sensed something, sped over from different directions. ¡°Primal Wood!¡±

    Upon arriving, they also saw the unusual sight in Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s pupils.

    The three Ancientspirit experts, whose bloodlines were all at the tenth grade, were greatly shocked. ¡°Good heavens!¡±

    ¡°Primal Wood, thatrge tree, is, is...¡± Chatvic could no longer speak fluently. ¡°I can¡¯t believe a tree can be sorge! Compared to it, even the Star Behemoth is too small! There¡¯s actually such a wonderful species in this starry river!¡±

    Scotte and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch both marveled in awe.

    Pei Qiqi was also absolutely amazed. ¡°That is?¡±

    As a neer to this ce, she was also shocked by the unusual sight in the depths of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s pupils. A little dazed, she felt that her view of this starry river was being overturned.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and asked, his eyes shining brightly, ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood, is the giant tree the creator of your people? Is it the Tree of Life?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the first generation,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood replied in a deep tone.

    ¡°First generation?¡± Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°What do you mean? Are there other generations of the Tree of Life?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood responded by asking, ¡°Do you remember the Heaven-equal Vine that you returned to us?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Of course. As the Heaven-equal Vine approached the end of its life, it wanted to return to the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd and leave its seed before it died naturally.¡±

    ¡°Exactly. This Tree of Life went through the same thing,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said.

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes as he tried to digest his words.

    ¡°This Tree of Life was the first one,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood exined, ¡°After it withered, its seed fell into our ancestralnd. After taking root and sprouting, the seed grew into the Tree of Life that stood in our forbiddennd. Our race was created by the second generation of the Tree of Life. That dead Tree of Life is the source of our bloodline.

    ¡°However, the second generation of Tree of Life has also withered and died.¡±

    Speaking to this point, Grand Monarch Primal Wood became emotional. ¡°There¡¯s a limit to the longevity of creatures that have a physical body in heaven and earth. Unusual species like the Tree of Life outlive almost all other beings, but they still need to produce offspring, like the Heaven-equal Vine.

    ¡°So it¡¯s the third generation...¡±

    ¡°I know!¡± Nie Tian shouted with sharp, sparkling eyes. ¡°When I was in the Domain of the Falling Stars, I visited an unusual ce by ident where a titan was hidden in the ground. A Tree of Life grew out of a pool filled with wood power that Iter found out to be one of his eyes. That Tree of Life even bore Fruits of Life!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the third generation.¡±

    Chatvic was shocked. ¡°One of our Titans is nourishing the third generation Tree of Life with his own flesh aura?¡±

    This was the first time he had heard it. He looked doubtfully at Grand Monarch Primal Wood. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken? Where is the third generation of Tree of Life? Why would my nsman help it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s even difficult for us to set foot in the unusualnd where the third generation of Tree of Life is,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said before giving Nie Tian a deep look, with aplicated expression. ¡°You could get into it because it epted your aura. The reason why the third generation Tree of Life is so elusive is that it is not yet fully grown.

    ¡°But it was the third generation Tree of Life that guided me and gave me strength.

    ¡°It has met you. Those Fruits of Life were a gift from it. You would not have been even qualified to enter the ce, let alone pluck those Fruits of Life, if it hadn¡¯t been for your peculiar aura.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°It was actually it who guided you?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded and said, ¡°Yes. As it grows, its consciousness is gradually reviving. Even though it¡¯s not in our ancestralnd, it can still reach me through the withered second generation of Tree of Life in our ancestralnd. It called upon me and helped me recover and break through the bloodline barrier because it has sensed a crisis.

    ¡°What crisis?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°This Nether River branch is going to eat away at the body of its first generation Tree of Life,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood replied. ¡°The reason why it wanted me toe to you was because it wanted us to cooperate with you to stop the Nether River branch, and cut it off.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian, who had doubts about what he had said, was more convinced than doubtful.

    ¡°It¡¯s obviously on another unusualnd, but it¡¯s aware of what¡¯s going on here?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood exined, ¡°Although it is the third generation, the bodies of its first two generations are eternally connected to it. To it, the shriveled tree in our ancestralnd and the tree here are like two mirrors through which it can see everything that¡¯s going on in those two ces. It¡¯s just that it hasn¡¯t been able to break the spatial limits and infiltrate its consciousness into the shriveled trees.¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned. ¡°What if it grows?¡±

    ¡°Then it can certainly do it,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood replied positively. ¡°So it needs time now, time to grow up. But the Nether River branch didn¡¯t want to give it that time, as it wants topletely destroy it from the source, from the first generation.¡±

 Chapter 1476: Silent Star Sea

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Will it be affected if the remains of its first generation are destroyed? Didn¡¯t its first and second generations wither and die already? How will anything that happens to the remains of its first generation affect it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll affect its growth,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said.

    ¡°Affect its growth...¡± Nie Tian said with a frown. ¡°So what is this ce? Is it in the Spirit World or the Mortal World? Also, why would a branch of the Nether River flow here? Where did ite from?¡±

    He had far too many unanswered questions about this mysterious ce.

    After a moment of hesitation, Grand Monarch Primal Wood decided to tell him the truth. ¡°This area of the starry river we¡¯re in is called... the Silent Star Sea.¡±

    He casually picked up three small rocks and ced them on the ground in front of him in a triangle.

    ¡°The Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World are basically in a triangle.

    ¡°This empty space between the Spirit World and the Mortal World is known as the vast Dead Star Sea, one of the so-called Realm Seas.

    ¡°This vast expanse of space between the Spirit World and the Void World is where we are now, the Silent Star Sea, which is being sealed by the first generation of the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Between the Mortal World and the Void World, there¡¯s another Realm Sea, which is called the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that many human rebels, along with rogue Ancientspirits and outsiders, are living there.¡±

    The three Ancientspirit experts also listened with rapt attention as Grand Monarch Primal Wood spoke.

    It appeared that Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch didn¡¯t know much about the Realm Seas that separated the three worlds.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Dead Star Sea, Silent Star Sea, and Doomed Star Sea!¡±

    Looking at the three rocks on the ground and listening to Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s narration, he hade to an overall understanding of the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World for the first time.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes also lit up.

    Apparently, her master Qu Yi hadn¡¯t told her much about the Realm Seas that separated the three worlds either.

    ¡°ording to the Tree of Life, the Dead Star Sea that separated the Mortal World and the Spirit World was filled with vigorous realms a long time ago. However, countless interracial battles, including battles between Star Behemoths and Ancientspirits, fights between Ancientspirits and outsiders, and battles between the humans and those from the Spirit World, in that order, have reduced the realms in the Dead Star Sea to dead realms.

    ¡°As for the Silent Star Sea we¡¯re currently in, it has witnessed simr battles in distant eras as well.

    ¡°Sometimes, Star Behemoths would travel through the Silent Star Sea to the Void World to prey on its local races and devour its realms. There were also times that Netherspirit, Bonedrude, and Devil experts sailed through the Silent Star Sea tomit all kinds of outrages in the Spirit World.

    ¡°At the end of a distant era, the first-generation Tree of Life led the Ancientspirits in a fierce battle against powerful beings from the Void World. During that battle, even Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Netherspirits perished, his soul awareness transforming into the Nether River.

    ¡°Meanwhile, the first-generation Tree of Life also withered and died. Luckily, its seed drifted to my people¡¯s ancestralnd, where it grew, and created us.

    ¡°Aside from being brave fighters, our grand monarchs also have powerful bloodline talents that allowed them to heal and help Ancientspirits recover their battle prowess at a much faster speed.

    ¡°In fact, the second-generation Tree of Life created my kind to further the Ancientspirits¡¯ cause.

    ¡°It knew that even after being reduced to the Nether River, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit wouldn¡¯t rest until he destroyed the remains of the first-generation Tree of Life and opened the gate to the Spirit World.

    ¡°That¡¯s because even in death, the first-generation Tree of Life is sealing the Silent Star Sea tightly.

    ¡°Because of this, even we can¡¯t usually enter the Silent Star Sea from the Spirit World.

    ¡°It¡¯s even harder for the three races of the Void World to pass through the Silent Star Sea and enter our world.

    ¡°What that branch of the Nether River is doing now is trying to destroy the remains of the first-generation Tree of Life, which are the foundation of this entire sealing spell. Once its roots are destroyed, the sealing spell will fail. It¡¯ll be very easy for powerful experts from the Void World to travel through the Silent Star Sea and invade our world.

    ¡°Furthermore, as you must have noticed, unlike the Dead Star Sea, thendmasses in the Silent Star Sea still contain spiritual energy.

    ¡°Because of that, living beings can survive here. They can even strengthen their bloodlines and procreate here.

    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s on the premise that the Silent Star Sea is battle-free.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes glittered as he reached this point in his speech.

    The eyes of Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch also lit up.

    ording to Grand Monarch Primal Wood, the Dead Star Sea wasn¡¯t a ce where living beings could live long-term, but the Silent Star Sea was.

    Now, with the Spirit World withering away, migrating to the Silent Star Sea was actually a valid option for the Ancientspirits.

    Of course, that was based on the Silent Star Sea being safe.

    ¡°The Silent Star Sea, the Doomed Star Sea...¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries was built by the Voidspirits. It¡¯s...¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood interrupted him by saying, ¡°Technically speaking, the Seven Stars Realm Sea isn¡¯t a true Realm Sea. It¡¯s more of a portal that connects two worlds, like the portals the powerful races from the Spirit World left in the Mortal World in early years.

    ¡°Through those portals, we can enter the Mortal World without crossing the Dead Star Sea.

    ¡°Plus, there aren¡¯t any realms in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. How can it be regarded as a Realm Sea?¡±

    Hearing this, Pei Qiqi joined the conversation. ¡°He¡¯s right, Nie Tian. The Seven Stars Realm Sea isn¡¯t a Realm Sea in a real sense. It just contains a portal that connects the Mortal World and the Void World, a very special one though.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said. ¡°The situation in the Void World is different from the Mortal World and the Spirit World. It¡¯s much more difficult for their inhabitants to build portals that connect to the Mortal World and the Spirit World. In distant eras, countless battles broke out between their world and ours, but the three major races of the Void World just couldn¡¯t find a way to build a portal like the one in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°The only known shortcut through which the inhabitants of the Void World can leave their world without passing through the Silent Star Sea or the Doomed Star Sea is the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°The Silent Star Sea is the only gateway through which powerful experts from the Void World can enter our World, and it¡¯s sealed by the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Other than the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which is currently under your control, the Doomed Star Sea is another gateway to your world. However, ording to what I¡¯ve learned, though like the Silent Star Sea, the Doomed Star Sea is also filled with energetic inhabitable realms, it¡¯s not sealed. The three major races from the Void World and humans can enter it at any time.

    ¡°So I guess that makes the Doomed Star Sea the most deadly and war-stricken ce across the three worlds.

    ¡°However...¡±

    ¡°What is it?¡± Nie Tian asked. He was convinced that the strongest force in the Doomed Star Sea was the one that his father and Feng Beiluo belonged to, the one that had absorbed so-called crooked cultivators, all sorts of outsider rebels, and arge number of young hybrids.

    ¡°It¡¯s really surprising that even though the three powerful races from the Void World can easily ess the Doomed Star Sea, they haven¡¯t crossed it into the Mortal World to this day,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said.

    Pei Qiqi jumped in and said, ¡°That¡¯s because an extremely powerful force in the Doomed Star Sea has been shielding off their attacks.¡±

    She had the privilege to briefly visit the Doomed Star Sea from the space disruption zone, and get a glimpse of what it was like.

    She was convinced that the majority of the Voidspirits were living in the Doomed Star Sea, and that the Void Pce Sect had also moved to the Doomed Star Sea after disappearing from the Realm of Split Void.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood took a deep breath and said, ¡°After I¡¯ve said so much, you should understand the overall situation now, right? Time is of the essence here. We¡¯ve got to act now to stop and neutralize the Nether River that extends here from the Void World.

    ¡°We¡¯d better wipe out Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual power in it so things like this won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    Nie Tian curled his lips and said with a taunting tone, ¡°If you want to prevent things like this from happening again, don¡¯t forget that there¡¯s a branch of the Nether River in the Nether Realm in your world. I don¡¯t understand why you would allow Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes to exist in the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°You think we don¡¯t want to get rid of them?¡± The Golden-feathered Divine Finch said in a low, but sharp voice. ¡°It¡¯s just that they developed quickly while we weren¡¯t paying attention. When we decided to eradicate them, they had already be too strong for us to do so.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s another thing,¡± Chatvic joined the conversation. ¡°Many of them don¡¯t know the truth about their origins. Those who do, like Grand Monarch Nether River, Grand Monarch Primal Demon, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, refuse to have any connection with the Void World. As long as the three of them still rule, they won¡¯t allow their people to be enved by the three races of the Void World.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood chimed in. ¡°Thosete tenth grade grand monarchs have their oldest bloodline imprints awakened, allowing them to know everything. How would beings as proud as them be willing to kneel before others?¡±

    ¡°But those three seem to have disappeared for a long time,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°They went to the Void World to seek the so-called secrets of transcending the limits of the tenth grade. There¡¯s no telling whether they¡¯re still alive. The only thing I know is that Grand Monarch Life Wood of my people has probably died.¡±

    ¡°What? Grand Monarch Life Wood died?¡± Scotte the lightning dragon bellowed. ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense, Primal Wood!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a sigh. ¡°That is the truth. The third-generation Tree of Life sensed it and told me. He¡¯s the only leader that it knows has died.¡±

 Chapter 1477: Robbers

    In the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    A vastke with mild ripples was dotted with green isles that looked like emeralds.

    The Water Moon Sect¡¯s headquarters was located here.

    After gaining a special vessel that contained three drops of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir from Dong Li, Xie Qian, who was at thete Saint domain, returned to his base through inter-domain teleportation portals.

    As soon as he emerged in a magnificent stone pce that was close to three hundred meters tall, elders of the Water Moon Sect gathered to greet him.

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    ¡°Wee back, Sectmaster!¡±

    Not only the elders of the Water Moon Sect, but the leaders of many local forces of the Domain of Vast Darkness also came from different domains to offer him respectful greetings upon hearing of his return.

    Years ago, when Xie Qian had insisted on gathering the Water Moon Sect¡¯s forces to support Nie Tian, he had been met with strong resistance. Many of the other major local sects of the Domain of Vast Darkness had been opposed to his decision.

    However, all of them regretted their decision now.

    An untimely icy voice suddenly echoed out. ¡°Xie Qian!¡±

    With a loud boom, the inter-domain teleportation portal in the pce through which Xie Qian had returned cracked and exploded.

    At the same time, a glorious spatial rift came to form, from which a man walked out.

    Many Qi warriors from the Domain of Vast Darkness eximed in shock upon seeing the new arrival.

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu?!¡±

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Xuan of the Void Spirit Society!¡±

    Xie Qian¡¯s face dropped. ¡°What can I help you with, Vice Sectmaster Xuan? We fought side by side in the Domain of Heaven Span not long ago. Yet you barge in here now and destroy my sect¡¯s teleportation portal. What¡¯s that about?¡±

    Xuan Guangyu simply reached out with one hand and said, ¡°Cough it up.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Xie Qian asked, looking baffled.

    Xuan Guangyu let out a cold snort. ¡°The three drops of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir Dong Li gave you. You¡¯re merely at the Saint domain. It¡¯d be a great waste to let you use them.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re here to rob me?¡± Xie Qian found this hard to believe.

    He had never expected that Xuan Guangyu, as the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, would so openly rob him at this special time when they were facing an invasion of Ancientspirits and outsiders.

    ¡°You said it,¡± Xuan Guangyu said.

    Xie Qian took a deep breath. ¡°What if I refuse?¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯ll die.¡± With these words, Xuan Guangyu lowered his chin.

    Raging spatial fluctuations instantly burst forth. At the same time, he unleashed his dharma idol and his Immortal grade divine tool, the Void Splitter.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As soon as his dharma idol manifested, the spacious great hall of the Water Moon Sect was filled with slithering unstable spatial des.

    Within seconds, the grand pce toppled with loud rumbles.

    All of the Water Moon Sect disciples and Qi warriors that had rushed over from other parts of the Domain of Vast Darkness ran for their lives, screaming or cursing.

    ¡°Want to run?¡± In his enormous dharma idol form, Xuan Guangyu wielded his Void Splitter.

    As the giant de shed across the air, a dazzling spatial rift was split open.

    Numerous disciples of the Water Moon Sect and experts from across the Domain of Vast Darkness were sucked into the spatial rift. In the next moment, their bodies were reduced to bloody chunks of flesh, and their souls dissipated.

    Xie Qian howled madly as he unleashed his saint domain. Drops of blood could be seen floating in it, emanating misty blood-colored light.

    This was a manifestation of him going all-out.

    However, the gap between his cultivation base and Xuan Guangyu¡¯s was simply too great.

    Xuan Guangyu swung his giant de a second time.

    Hundreds of thousands of spatial des instantly drowned Xie Qian¡¯s saint domain. As they interwove, Xie Qian¡¯s soul was shredded along with his body.

    WHOOSH!

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s dharma idol shrank, and he resumed his true form.

    Then, he lifted his hand and made a grabbing motion. Xie Qian¡¯s belongings, including his ring of holding, flew past his syed hand one after another.

    ¡°Found it.¡±

    Without any hesitation, he destroyed the sealing spell Xie Qian had vested the ring of holding with, and saw a transparent bottle with three drops of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir spinning in it, exuding unusual soul power fluctuations.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This is it!¡±

    With a wildugh, he split open a spatial rift and left in an unhurried manner.

    A few hourster...

    Xie Wanting and Xie Yunhai, the sister-brother pair, rushed back to the Domain of Vast Darkness upon hearing the shocking and terrible news. At the sight of the Water Moon Sect¡¯s ravaged headquarters and Xie Qian¡¯s remains, they choked with sobs. ¡°Father!¡±

    ...

    In the Blood Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Sitting upright on her Blood Lotus, Li Jing, the sectmaster of the Blood Sect, fixed Master Blood Spirit with an ted look. ¡°Are you really going to make your breakthrough to the God domain here?¡±

    All of the Blood Sect disciples with low cultivation bases had been asked to leave the headquarters.

    Now, the blood cisterns were filled with the blood of all sorts of spirit beasts as vastly rich blood power filled the sky like multicolored clouds.

    Ever since Nie Tian had had an acrimonious falling-out with Luo Wanxiang in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and gained the support of experts such as Fan Tianze, Chu Rui, and Ye Wenhan in rectifying Master Blood Spirit and his Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s name, the Blood Sect could stop hiding.

    Master Blood Spirit had taken Li Jing and other disciples of the Blood Sect to the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s former headquarters.

    However, they had found the ce to be deserted and uninhabitable, which made it an unfit location for the Blood Spirit Sect to reestablish itself in.

    Furthermore, since the Blood Spirit Sect disciples¡¯ cultivationrgely relied on refined spirit beast and outsider blood, as long as they had enough blood resources, any realm would work for them.

    Therefore, they had chosen the Blood Sect¡¯s old site in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Master Blood Spirit smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m confident in breaking through to the God domain even without the help of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, not to mention that I have three drops of it now.¡±

    Seeing his confidence, Li Jing, who had entered the early Void domain, said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, allow me to celebrate your sess in advance, Patriarch.¡±

    Since the Blood Sect was Master Blood Spirit¡¯s legacy, there was nothing wrong with her calling him patriarch.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± Master Blood Spirit, who was just about to enter secluded cultivation, suddenly sprang to his feet and unleashed his saint domain. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±

    Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect, both of whom were at the early God domain, revealed themselves, their hidden auras bursting forth. ¡°Give up your Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, Master Blood Spirit.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Duan Hongwen! Song Chequan!¡±

    Astonished, Li Jing cried out, ¡°Earth Web!¡±

    Countless rays of blood-colored light then shot out from the depths of the earth, from every corner of the Blood Sect¡¯s headquarters.

    They rapidly wove into a huge blood-colored that enveloped the entire area.

    The pungent smell of blood from the made even Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan nauseated.

    Song Chequan¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°The blood contains toxins!¡±

    Master Blood Spirit¡¯s face split into a cunning smile. ¡°Blood domain: Bloodflow Reverse! Duan Hongwen, Song Chequan, it¡¯s not so easy to take my Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir! My saint domain isn¡¯t like just anyone¡¯s!¡±

    In his bloody saint domain, streams of blood that belonged to different outsider races flowed in a peculiar way following Master Blood Spirit¡¯s soul will.

    Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan, who had reached the early God domain, felt that their bloodflow had suddenly reversed and be uncontroble!

    ¡°Hurry! Send word!¡± Master Blood Spirit called out in a deep voice. ¡°I can trap these two God domain cultivators here for a quarter of an hour! I¡¯ll be safe, but only during this time!¡±

    Li Jing¡¯s expression flickered drastically as she said in a hurry, ¡°Got it!¡±

    Meanwhile...

    Zhao Shanling, who was in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, jerked his head up to look in the direction of the Realm of me Heaven. ¡°God domain cultivators have entered the Realm of me Heaven and are causing a major stir in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!¡±

    FIZZ!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda opened a spatial rift, and he flew in without dy.

    Shortly afterwards, a spatial rift manifested in the sky over the Blood Sect¡¯s headquarters in the Realm of me Heaven.

    Zhao Shanling flew out of it, holding his Voidspirit Pagoda.

    He was followed by Dong Li, who was wreathed in an ink-ck dark aura. The Dark Aureole over her head unleashed endless darkness that devoured all light as it spread like a sea.

    It appeared as if the entire Realm of me Heaven was going to be engulfed in utter darkness soon.

    In the darkness, Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan¡¯s faces turned pale with fright.

    ¡°Dong Li!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s be so powerful already?!¡±

    Their divine will failedpletely in the darkness as they lost their senses to arge extent.

    The might of their spiritual incantations was greatly reduced.

 Chapter 1478: Blowing up the River!

    At the same time.

    The Ripper Behemoth flew towards the Realm of Heaven Span controlling the floating continent with its immense flesh aura.

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡± Fan Tianze, who didn¡¯t have what You Qimiao wanted, swung his Limpid Cyan Sword to unleash rivers of light that looked like silk, with which he attempted to put an end to You Qimiao¡¯s efforts.

    Sword cries came from the dazzling rivers of light, like thousands of frogs croaking.

    At the same time, wisps of sword intent flew out of the Godspan Sword Formation. They were so fierce and sharp that they seemed to be able to cut any grand monarch open and reduce any solid items to shreds.

    However, You Qimiao had no intent to fight him head-on.

    WHOOSH!

    Standing on his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, he flew back and forth like the wind to avoid the interconnecting rivers of light that filled the void.

    As he did, mighty energies that were zing and ice-cold surged from within the mirror from time to time.

    As hard as Fan Tianze tried, he couldn¡¯t lock his soul will onto You Qimiao.

    He knew that this was caused by the gap between their cultivation bases.

    After a while, You Qimiao said in an ethereal voice, ¡°It¡¯s finally here.

    ¡°Your sect bullied mine by relying on your profound reserve power. My master went to great lengths to find those unique treasures. He nned to use them to improve his odds at entering thete God domain, yet Chu Yuan took them from him to forge his divine sword!

    ¡°This can¡¯t be forgiven!¡±

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The Yin Yang Chaos Mirror created even more violent fluctuations that further provoked the Ripper Behemoth.

    While the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s heaven-shaking, earth-shattering howls finally rumbled through the void, You Qimiao vanished.

    In a ming rage, the Ripper Behemoth soon reached the Realm of Heaven Span, and the floating continent where it hid itself entered Fan Tianze¡¯s view.

    ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    A peculiar soul cry echoed from the depths of the floating continent, but instantly reached Fan Tianze¡¯s soul.

    Clusters of gray mist that were vested with bloodline wonders and the profound truths of ripping power flew into the Godspan Sword Formation and the realm barrier that protected the Realm of Heaven Span.

    At this moment, all the Qi warriors in the Realm of Heaven Span looked up, and saw fiery explosions that looked like magnificent fireworks in the highest heavens.

    They were extremely beautiful, but extremely deadly as well.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Ye Wenhan moaned in a low voice.

    He could sense that as soon as the frenzied Ripper Behemoth activated its bloodline talent Domain Split, even the structure of the Realm of Heaven Span went through changes.

    The earth trembled, lofty mountain peaks toppled, and rivers ran dry.

    Countless small insects that lived underground, where it was dark and damp, died violently.

    As his soul awareness spread out, he discovered that the entire Realm of Heaven Span was like a punctured balloon that was rapidly deting.

    The leaking ¡®air¡¯ was spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Explosions gave rise to dazzling fiery light that lit uprge areas of the realm barrier.

    The sword lights branded by generations of sectmasters of the Heaven Span Pavilion were crushed by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s bloodline talent like small rocks crushed by a charging war chariot.

    Chu Rui let out a sigh. ¡°That¡¯s the Star Behemoth¡¯s unique bloodline talent: Domain Split.¡±

    Ye Wenhan had aplicated expression on his face.

    All of a sudden, Fan Tianze¡¯s furious roar echoed from high above. ¡°Evacuate! Evacuate the Realm of Heaven Span now!

    ¡°What are you waiting for, Ye Wenhan?! The Godspan Sword Formation can¡¯t stop the Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    Ye Wenhan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he finally turned to the elders who had long since been waiting for his decision and said, ¡°Tell everyone to evacuate through our teleportation portals! We¡¯re leaving the Realm of Heaven Span for now!¡±

    ¡°For now?¡± An elder said, sagging his head. ¡°It¡¯s most likely going to be forever.¡±

    Another elder chimed in deep frustration, ¡°Any realm that a Star Behemoth sets its mind on will be deprived of all its energy of heaven and earth. What a shame! For generations, our sect has developed and thrived on thisnd. We¡¯ve developed the Godspan Sword Formation and numerous sword-testing sites in the mountains! And all that will be destroyed in one day because of a Star Behemoth!¡±

    The Qi warriors of the Heaven Span Pavilion evacuated in order,ining and mourning as they did.

    ¡°How will we atone for this when the sectmaster returns? How will we face our former sectmasters in death?¡±

    ¡°What have we done to deserve this? First, the Ancientspirits and outsidersunched a joint invasion of our domain. After we barely survived that crisis, that Ripper Behemoth came along and set its eyes on us. Why is it always our sect that suffers?¡±

    Chu Rui withdrew his gaze from the heavens, turned to Zu Guangyao and Dou Tianchen, who were standing next to him, and said, lowering his chin, ¡°The Heaven Span Pavilion is bound to suffer tremendous losses from this series of tribtions. We, on the other hand, have slowly regained strength from recent events. Unlike our sect, the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Five Elements Sect, and the Void Spirit Society are all going downhill.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re only rising because of Nie Tian,¡± Zu Guangyao said with blunt honesty. ¡°Dou Tianchen and I both broke through into the God domain because of Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Chu Rui agreed.

    Dou Tianchen smiled and added, ¡°It seems to me that the power Nie Tian currently possesses is already every bit as strong as that of the four great sects. Experts like Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and Xie Qian. There¡¯s also Dong Li and Pei Qiqi. Actually, that seventh junior martial brother of mine doesn¡¯t need our sect anymore.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he doesn¡¯t need us anymore, but we need him,¡± Chu Rui said with a wry smile.

    Everyone nodded, agreeing with hisst remark.

    ...

    In the Silent Star Sea.

    Floating in front of the winding branch of the Nether River, Grand Monarch Primal Wood and three Ancientspirit grand monarchs fixed their eyes on the flowing river with knitted brows.

    Some changes had happened to the Nether River since Nie Tian hadst visited.

    Soul-form beings from the huge vortex had already filled the entire branch of the Nether River.

    In every part of the Nether River, countless souls and spirits could be seen fighting endlessly and devouring each other to make themselves stronger.

    Nature¡¯s ¡®survival of the fittest¡¯ was cruelly manifested here.

    WHOOSH!

    Wielding her Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi flew off towards the source of this branch of the Nether River by herself.

    She hoped to study the wonders of that vortex and derive new enlightenment.

    Pointing at the winding river, Nie Tian said to the four grand monarchs that were with him. ¡°Alright, this is the ce. How are we supposed to destroy this branch of the Nether River?¡±

    ¡°Scotte.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood, Chatvic, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch turned to look at the lightning dragon simultaneously.

    As a middle tenth grade lightning dragon, every drop of Scotte¡¯s blood contained mighty lightning power that could easily destroy heaven and earth.

    Furthermore, lightning power was a natural bane of Phantasms and Netherspirits!

    The Nether River should be any easy target.

    ¡°Alright, let me give it a shot.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, violent thunderps came from the huge scales that covered Scotte¡¯s magnificent dragon form, which was close to ten thousand meters long.

    ¡°Bloodline: Thunder st!¡±

    Scotte opened his mouth, and thunderballs that contained raging life-exterminating power flew out of it.

    Each and every one of them was vested with his boiling dragon blood, which seemed mighty enough to destroy even a small-scale realm.

    ¡°Such mighty bloodline power, much mightier than the power of that Thunder-devouring Whale and any thunder pool!¡± After briefly sensing them, Nie Tian discovered that each of those thunderballs contained more lightning power than the lightning power in all the thunder pools in a lightning realmbined.

    In a winding stream, dozens of them flew towards a ce in the middle of the Nether River.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Blow up a ce in the middle of the Nether River?

    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea,¡± Chatvic said in approval.

    Nie Tian also nodded slightly.

    This branch of the Nether River had stretched countless kilometers from that huge vortex, and wound through numerous realms.

    If Scotte severed it in the middle, it would be like a broken bridge. The fresh water from the great vortex wouldn¡¯t be able to reach the far end of the river.

    RUMBLE!

    One thunderball after another fell into the Nether River, giving rise to heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing explosions.

    A sea of lighting and thunder rapidly drowned that segment of the river. No matter how strong those vicious spirits and evil souls were, they perished like dissipating smoke in a breath¡¯s time.

    That segment of the Nether River vaporized under Scotte¡¯s devastating bloodline power.

    Nothing remained of that segment that was once hundreds of kilometers long.

    ¡°It worked!¡± Golden-feathered Divine Finch eximed in tion. ¡°No wonder lightning power is regarded as the bane of soul-form beings! Even the Nether River transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul awareness can be destroyed by it!¡±

    A hint ofcence appeared in Scotte¡¯s enormous eyes.

    However, thatcence soon vanishedpletely.

 Chapter 1479: An Opening

    Thecence in Scotte¡¯s eyes faded rapidly. ¡°Why is this happening?¡±

    The other three grand monarchs also fell silent.

    ¡°This is...¡± Nie Tian frowned as he watched the blown-up part of the Nether River morph slowly.

    The Nether River that had extended from the great vortex to the Silent Star Sea was simply too long.

    The part that Scotte had vaporized with Thunder st only took up less than a thousandth of it.

    At this moment, the broken Nether River was slowly reconnecting on its own, as if it had its own awareness.

    From the look of it, it wouldn¡¯t be long before it healed.

    Scotte panted and said, with wisps of lightning in his breaths, ¡°I can only use Thunder st nine times.¡±

    Apparently, he felt awkward. ¡°After that, my bloodline power will be drained. If I could destroy this Nether River with nine Thunder sts, I¡¯d be willing to do it. But it seems...¡±

    Even if he didn¡¯t say that, everyone saw for themselves that nine Thunder sts weren¡¯t enough to destroy this Nether River with a self-healing ability.

    Nie Tian turned to the other three grand monarchs and asked, ¡°Is there anything you can do?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a soft sigh. ¡°The Nether River isn¡¯t a solid existence. Rather, it was transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual soul awareness after his demise. The only things I could think of that might be effective were raging mes and Scotte¡¯s lightning power. In fact, I thought Scotte¡¯s lightning bloodline was our best shot.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe even after his physical demise, the Nether River his awareness transformed into turned out to be this hard to kill,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°After all, he¡¯s one of the three mighty existences that have ever transcended the limits of tenth grade bloodlines.¡± Even space shook as Chatvic spoke. ¡°Let me give it a shot!¡±

    HOWL!

    With a furious howl, his immense flesh aura spread towards a segment of the Nether River like a sea.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The sh between his flesh power and the Nether River gave rise to strange sounds.

    Even though the soul-form beings in the Nether River perished in groups, that segment of the Nether River didn¡¯t vanish.

    Soon, he gave up and retracted his flesh aura in frustration. ¡°My soul magics aren¡¯t nearlyparable to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s. It seems to me that searing mes, raging lightning power, and intense soul power are the only things that might have a chance at neutralizing this Nether River.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s another way,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood eximed softly.

    ¡°What?¡± Scotte said.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood turned to look in Pei Qiqi¡¯s direction. ¡°There! That great vortex is the source of this branch of the Nether River. If we can find a way to destroy that great vortex and stop fresh water from flowing here from the Void World, then our problem will be solved.¡±

    ¡°Good point!¡± Chatvic said excitedly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± The four grand monarchs from the Spirit World rushed towards the distant great vortex where Pei Qiqi was.

    Nie Tian followed along.

    A figure stood aghast on a floatingndmass that was covered in ice.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood and three Ancientspirit grand monarchs!¡± Pang Chicheng couldn¡¯t believe his own eyes.

    Having lost the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, he couldn¡¯t leave the Silent Star Sea on his own.

    At the same time, since he had been worried that Nie Tian would be waiting for him in the magicalnd where that dpidated altar stood, he had refrained from going back there to derive enlightenment from those titan arms, and had holed up in this frigid heaven and earth instead.

    He had sealed all of his me aura within to hide himself.

    Since Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the Ancientspirit grand monarchs were focused on the Nether River and the distance between them was far too great, they didn¡¯t sense his existence.

    He, however, saw their enormous figures flying across the distant starry river.

    ¡°Nie Tian! How did he enter a friendly rtionship with these grand monarchs from the Spirit World?¡±

    Pang Chicheng thought hard, but failed to think of an answer. Even so, he realized that they seemed to be here to destroy the Nether River.

    ¡°The Nether River!¡±

    It urred to him that this might be an opportunity to retake the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and rece Nie Tian as the controller of this mysterious ce.

    Therefore, he also flew towards the great vortex stealthily.

    ...

    ¡°Nie Tian, only pure soul-form beings can pass through this great vortex.¡±

    Pei Qiqi activated her bloodline talent, and a wisp of her soul will flew into the Space Boundaries Crystal, which then attempted to enter the great vortex with the crystal as its vessel.

    However, even the Space Boundaries Crystal couldn¡¯t get through.

    That wisp of her soul will, on the other hand, could enter without any obstacles.

    Scotte was taken aback. ¡°Only pure soul-form beings can pass through? Doesn¡¯t that mean even the Netherspirits, Devils, and Bonedrudes from the Void World couldn¡¯t get here through the Nether River, but only those evil souls and vicious spirits can?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    ¡°Can we enter with our souls?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Pei Qiqi pondered for a moment then said, ¡°Probably, but that¡¯d be a great risk. After all, you don¡¯t know what lies on the other side. Also, if you want to go to the other side, you¡¯ll have to sink your soul into this Nether River and go against its current. If you do that, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    Countless spirits and souls fought and devoured each other in the Nether River.

    There seemed to be some evil power in the Nether River that could bereave the souls that entered of their sanity.

    No one present dared to separate their soul from their fleshly body and use it to enter the Nether River, where it would be subject to the corrosion of the Nether River water and the gnawing of countless evil spirits, much less going against the current into the Void World.

    Who could guarantee that they would survive a journey like that?

    ¡°The first-generation Tree of Life sealed the Silent Star Sea with all of its power, and the power it channeled from numerous realms,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°That great vortex is a small opening that was createdter. I suppose it was Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will that did it.

    ¡°However, since this opening only allows the Nether River and soul-form beings from the Void World to pass through, I suppose even the Netherspirit grand monarchs didn¡¯t have the courage to abandon their fleshly bodies, dive into the Nether River, and enter the Silent Star Sea with those senseless evil spirits.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood took a moment to think, then said, ¡°An opening that only allows soul-form beings through... Miss Pei, if someone created that opening, can it be destroyed? Can you destroy it with your spatial power and invaluable spatial treasure?¡±

    Pei Qiqi had disyed her remarkable talent in the recent battles that had taken ce in the human world. Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the outsider experts knew her shocking battle prowess better than anyone.

    He was aware that she was most likely going to be the next sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.

    He also knew that the Space Boundaries Crystal in her possession was one of the most powerful spatial tools throughout the three worlds.

    In fact, given time, it might actually grow to be more powerful than Qu Yi¡¯s Void Mirror.

    ¡°Destroy the opening created by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit?¡± Pei Qiqi shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that I can do it. Also, I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll get the opposite result if I do it.¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Opposite result?¡±

    ¡°What if I end up blowing the great vortex evenrger?¡± Pei Qiqi said, seeming very uncertain about this solution. ¡°What if it allows not only the soul-form beings, but fleshy beings through as well? If that happens, I suspect the Netherspirits will find out about it immediately, and then send forces into the Silent Star Sea at the first possible moment.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, everyone present had grim looks on their faces.

    ¡°Then we can¡¯t do it!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said hastily. ¡°If we don¡¯t know for sure what will happen if we try to blow up the great vortex, we¡¯d better wait till we find a reliable solution.¡±

    ¡°But fresh Nether River water is flowing through it with every passing minute,¡± Scotte said.

    Having a headache over the situation, Nie Tian frowned and turned to Grand Monarch Primal Wood. ¡°Did the third-generation Tree of Life give you any specific instructions before you came to find me? It only told you toe here with me and provide any help I need. Nothing more?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded silently.

    ¡°Was it so certain that I¡¯d be able to find a solution?¡± Nie Tian found this hard to believe.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded again. ¡°Yes, it told me that you¡¯d be able to lead us to a solution to the trouble in the Silent Star Sea and eliminate the threat of the branch of the Nether River that extends into it.¡±

    Nie Tian felt perturbed. ¡°But I don¡¯t have a solution.¡±

 Chapter 1480: A Moment of Enlightenment

    The Star Behemoth bone, the me Dragon Armor, and the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron were summoned one after another.

    Nie Tian attempted to attack the Nether River with each of them.

    He soon discovered that all kinds of physical attacks were ineffective against the Nether River.

    Sure enough, the raging me power unleashed by the me Dragon Armor and the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron could vaporize a small segment of the Nether River, along with the evil spirits in it, as Scotte had done with his Thunder sts.

    However, they faced the same problem as Scotte had.

    They didn¡¯t have endless resources of me power that allowed them to neutralize this entire branch of the Nether River.

    Furthermore, fresh water was still pouring in through the great vortex from the Void World, along with more evil spirits.

    It seemed to him that as long as that great vortex existed, fresh water and evil spirits would be able to enter the Silent Star Sea endlessly.

    However, he didn¡¯t have even a remotely equal amount of me power to vaporize the Nether River.

    ¡°None of these work.¡± As he pondered other options, the Spirit Pearl came to mind. However, he soon gave up on the idea. ¡°That won¡¯t work either. The Spirit Pearl was created by Grand Monarch Nether Spirit of the Phantasms to collect the soul fragments of the five evil gods. How can it be used against the Nether River?

    ¡°If none of my tools work, what about my incantations?

    With these thoughts, he unleashed his star, me, and wood domains together, which emanated divine light. Then, he cast different profound spells and incantations he had learned targeting the Nether River.

    Titan¡¯s Wrath, Primal Chaos, and Illusory Ancient Talisman were cast one after another, but failed to make any impact.

    ¡°No, they don¡¯t work either.

    ¡°Even the Sea of Illusory Stars and other profound star magics from the Fragmentary Star Incantation couldn¡¯t cause any noticeable damage to the Nether River.

    ¡°me power, lightning power, and soul power. Only these three types of power work. However, they all require inexhaustible energy sources to make an impact, and they can¡¯t destroy the Nether River at its source.

    ¡°The Nether River transformed from the broken soul awareness of that mighty one runs through the three worlds. Even though he¡¯s dead now, I guess it¡¯s hard to find anyone who can contend against his power.¡±

    Nie Tian racked his mind, but still couldn¡¯t think of a solution.

    He even started to doubt that Grand Monarch Primal Wood had actually received instructions from the third-generation Tree of Life.

    What made it so confident that he would be able to solve the problem in the Silent Star Sea with the help of these grand monarchs?

    ¡°Why does it believe in my ability to find a solution? How much does it know about me?

    ¡°I only met it briefly in that mysterious ce. Its understanding of me is probably only limited to my life bloodline, right?

    ¡°If it¡¯s my life bloodline that gave it such confidence...¡±

    His expression flickered as a lightning bolt of enlightenment shed across his sea of awareness.

    Bloodline talents and bloodline magics he had picked up from that endless blood sea entered his mind one after another.

    He moved on to make new attempts.

    He tried Life Drain, but failed to draw any power from the Nether River.

    After all, the Nether River didn¡¯t consist of flesh power.

    Then, he tried Life Shackle and Life Erosion. The Nether River didn¡¯t show any noticeable reaction to those either.

    ¡°What bloodline talent or magic could it be?

    ¡°If the third-generation Tree of Life is right and I can indeed find a solution to destroy this Nether River, could it be some bloodline talent or magic I¡¯ll pick up after my bloodline enters the ninth grade?¡±

    His bloodline aura had fallen dormant again, and was now only a step away from entering the ninth grade.

    The upgrade could happen at any moment now.

    He suspected that the third-generation Tree of Life had assumed that his bloodline had already entered the ninth grade, and had thus spected his abilities against that standard, which was why it was so convinced that he could handle the Nether River.

    ¡°Do I really need to enter the ninth grade?¡± The question took up his mind.

    ¡°What about Profound Truths Crystallization?¡± He suddenly remembered this bloodline talent, which he had awakened after entering the eighth grade.

    He thought he might as well give it a shot, given the desperate situation he was in. Then, as he activated his bloodline, drop after drop of his Blood Essence was ignited.

    He attempted to refine and separate Profound Truths Crystals from the Nether River.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    His Blood Essence continued to burn.

    ¡°Profound Truths Crystallization!¡±

    His flesh aura flowed with his soul awareness. Life Drain, which had been ineffective earlier, suddenlybined with Profound Truths Crystallization in some way, giving rise to an unusual gravitational force.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Numerous peculiar soul symbols and soul strands that were swimming in the Nether River seemed to be attracted, as they instantly gathered from a scattered state towards the spot where Nie Tian fixed his gaze!

    ¡°What the?!¡± The four grand monarchs from the Spirit World and Pei Qiqi sensed the anomaly right away.

    Originally, all they could see in the Nether River were countless evil spirits that brutally fought and devoured each other.

    They couldn¡¯t see or perceive the soul symbols and soul strands in any way.

    However, as Nie Tian activated Profound Truths Crystallization by burning his Blood Essence, they suddenly noticed that a small glowing sphere started to form in the Nether River.

    Even though they didn¡¯t know what was in it, they knew it must contain some unusual wonders.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood finally couldn¡¯t help but exim softly, ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    Waves of extremely strong life aura exuded from Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who had advanced to thete tenth grade after being granted power by the Tree of Life, shuddered, his eyes lighting up. ¡°That¡¯s the aura of the origin of life!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A misty, emerald green stream of pure wood power flew out of him into Nie Tian.

    He did this because he sensed that Nie Tian was losing his life power at an rming rate now that he had activated that mysterious bloodline talent. That made him realize his role in this, and his duty, which was to provide Nie Tian with the power he needed as he sought to deal with the Nether River.

    Eyes wide, Grand Monarch Primal Wood turned to Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, and called out, ¡°Join me!

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t destroy or refine the Nether River ourselves, let¡¯s give Nie Tian the grand monarch-level flesh power he needs to do so!

    ¡°He needs a tremendous amount of power to sustain that special bloodline talent of his!¡±

    The three Ancientspirit experts stood aghast. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Fuse your flesh power into Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood repeated himself aloud.

    He had learned that there was a difference between Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline and his Floragrim bloodline.

    Life power could be divided into two categories: wood power and flesh power.

    He could only extract and refine wood power.

    Other than their unique bloodline wonders, Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch also carried immense flesh power.

    Flesh power was the foundation on which all outsider and Ancientspirit races built up their strength. Flesh power was to them as spiritual power was to humans.

    Their various bloodline powers corresponded to humans¡¯ spiritual power with different attributes.

    Different bloodline powers spawned and were boosted by different bloodline talents and magics.

    Therefore, even though Grand Monarch Primal Wood had entered thete tenth grade, he couldn¡¯t absorb the other three Ancientspirit experts¡¯ bloodline powers to strengthen himself.

    However, Nie Tian could.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The soul symbols and soul strands that were scattered throughout the Nether River were somehow gathering under the effect of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline talent: Profound Truths Crystallization.

    ¡°This is far more difficult than condensing a Profound Truths Crystal from that Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence burned as his flesh power was consumed at an rming rate.

    ¡°Hurry! Don¡¯t hesitate anymore!¡± Having observed for a while, Grand Monarch Primal Wood was convinced that the bloodline talent Nie Tian was using now had an incredible effect on the Nether River.

    The three Ancientspirit grand monarchs exchanged nces. Apparently, they were still hesitant.

    ¡°The Spirit World hase to the end of a life cycle! The Silent Star Sea is of great importance now!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood eximed. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯ll be the answer to our problem! This area of the starry river has been sealed by the first-generation Tree of Life, and is a ce where our people can survive and grow stronger!¡±

    ¡°Alright!¡±

 Chapter 1481: Grief

    In the Realm of me Heaven.

    FZZZ!

    A long bolt of lightning shed across the sky before morphing into an enormous Thunder-devouring Whale that let out a furious cry in midair.

    Engulfed in ink-ck darkness, Song Chequan and Duan Hongwen, who were both at the God domain, realized that they couldn¡¯t win this battle, and thus flew skywards in an attempt to escape.

    In the blink of an eye, their dharma idols charged through the realm barrier.

    They split up and disappeared into the boundless starry river.

    In the headquarters of the Blood Sect.

    Endless darkness shrank to a point like the ebbing sea.

    Finally, everyst bit of the darkness returned into Dong Li¡¯s body, and the Dark Aureole disappeared.

    Chilly moonlight fell from the sky, illuminating every corner of the heavily damaged headquarters.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale shrank and took Mo Qianfan¡¯s form before hended in front of Dong Li. ¡°I just went to the Domain of Vast Darkness. Xie Qian from the Water Moon Sect and many Qi warriors from the Domain of Vast Darkness were killed by Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society. Xie Qian died a violent death. Even his soul couldn¡¯t be saved, and the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir was taken away.¡±

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu!¡± Dong Li said, gritting her teeth.

    Master Blood Spirit, whose aura was slightly withered, took a deep breath and said, ¡°You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect has the majority of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, yet Duan Hongwen, Xuan Guangyu, and Song Chequan, who have close connections to him, came to rob us of ours instead of asking him for some?¡±

    Pitch-ck wisps of lightning sputtered from Dong Li¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°Even though You Qimiao has the most Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, he might not want to share it with them. Now that he¡¯s broken through to thete God domain, he won¡¯t attach importance to anyone anymore. He even dared to provoke and attract the Ripper Behemoth to the Realm of Heaven Span. Who will he fear?¡±

    Mo Qianfan let out a sigh and said, ¡°Thete God domain does generate great confidence.¡±

    Thete God domain represented the peak of human cultivation.

    Having reached this cultivation base, You Qimiao was practically invincible in the current human world.

    Even if other peak experts like Chu Yuan and Shao Tianyang returned to the human domains, though they might be able to defeat You Qimiao in battle, it would be very difficult for them to kill him.

    If a cultivator at the same cultivation base as him was bent on killing him, they would have to pay a great price themselves.

    Face filled with hatred, Dong Li said, ¡°You Qimiao provoked the Ripper Behemoth and led it to the Realm of Heaven Span. This forced Chu Rui, Fan Tianze, and the other experts to focus on dealing with You Qimiao and the Ripper Behemoth.

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t cautious enough. Because of my negligence, Senior Xie was killed, and you had a narrow escape.¡±

    Not many of Nie Tian¡¯s strongest followers had been killed; Xie Qian was the firstte Saint domain follower Nie Tian had lost.

    Many, including Mo Qianfan and Master Blood Spirit, sighed as Xie Qian¡¯s name was mentioned.

    They all knew that when Nie Tian had gone to rescue Fan Kai and the others in the Domain of Endless Snow, Xie Qian had provided him with strong assistance.

    Later, every time Nie Tian had been in trouble, Xie Qian had also stood by his side or gone to his aid with disciples of the Water Moon Sect.

    It was fair to say that Xie Qian had been devoted and loyal to Nie Tian.

    Because of this, Xie Qian was the first name Dong Li had thought of when it hade to distributing the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    Even Master Blood Spirit, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan¡¯s positions in her heart weren¡¯t as high as Xie Qian¡¯s.

    Extremely regretful and harboring bitter hatred towards Xuan Guangyu, Dong Li bellowed, ¡°We¡¯ll have our revenge! Xuan Guangyu, Song Chequan, Shangguan Zhi, and Duan Hongwen, all of them shall burn in hell!¡±

    ¡°Could Sectmaster Yu be in danger?¡± Li Jing reminded her.

    Mo Qianfan pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Unlikely. Compared to the Water Moon Sect and the Blood Sect, the Profound Purity Pce¡¯s reserve power is stronger. Their headquarters is protected by a divine spell formation left by their founders. Even Xuan Guangyu probably doesn¡¯t have what it takes to break it. Even if he can break it, it¡¯d take a very long time.¡±

    Hearing this, Li Jing nodded slightly to show that she understood.

    Suddenly, Zhao Shanling descended from the sky with the Voidspirit Pagoda floating over his head. ¡°Tough bastards. I think we¡¯d better stay put and wait for Nie Tian to return before we go after them.¡±

    ¡°Stay put?!¡± The ends of Dong Li¡¯s eyebrows rose.

    Xie Qian¡¯s death had infuriated her. She was already thinking of how she should retaliate and make Xuan Guangyu suffer.

    She even considered gathering strength and marching into Xuan Guangyu¡¯s realms, even though those realms technically belonged to the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°Duan Hongwen is with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and You Qimiao, their sectmaster, has now entered thete God domain.¡± Zhao Shanling analyzed. ¡°You Qimiao alone is already hard to deal with. Not to mention that there¡¯s also Xuan Guangyu from the Void Spirit Society.

    ¡°That man is a middle God domain expert in spatial power. Even after breaking through to the middle God domain, Yu Suying might not be able to match him in battle, much less us.

    ¡°I suppose even peak experts like Chu Yuan from the Heaven Span Pavilion and Shao Tianyang from the Five Elements Sect can¡¯t kill a spatial power expert with Xuan Guangyu¡¯s skills and cultivation base.

    ¡°Perhaps only Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, who¡¯s also extremely skilled in spatial power, can trap and kill him with the help of his Void Mirror.

    ¡°That Pei girl is the most skilled in spatial power among us. And she won¡¯t have a chance to kill him until she enters a higher cultivation base and makes major breakthroughs in her bloodline.¡±

    Everyone fell silent after hearing Zhao Shanling¡¯s words. They contemted the situation, and realized that even though they were stronger than ever now, they still weren¡¯t strong enough to contend against You Qimiao and Xuan Guangyu.

    ¡°Do we have another option?¡± Dong Li asked in anger.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem so,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°We have to wait for Sectmaster Yu and Master Blood Spirit to make their breakthroughs in cultivation, wait for good news from Yin Xingtian, and wait for Nie Tian to return.¡±

    ¡°What if Xuan Guangyu also breaks through to thete God domain with the help of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir he stole from us?¡± Master Blood Spirit asked.

    Zhao Shanling sighed. ¡°Then we¡¯ll probably have to wait till Qu Yi returns to kill him.¡±

    ...

    In the Silent Star Sea.

    With Profound Truths Crystallization activated, Nie Tian lost his flesh power and Blood Essence at a shocking rate.

    The four grand monarchs from the Spirit World transfused their power into Nie Tian together.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood transfused wood power, while the other three grand monarchs transfused rich flesh power.

    To Nie Tian at his current level, these grand monarchs¡¯ power seemed boundless.

    He activated all of his bloodline talents that were helpful.

    Life Drain helped him better absorb the wood and flesh power he received from the grand monarchs, while Blood Essence Condensation helped transform the immense power into Blood Essence.

    With Profound Truths Crystallization, he gathered the soul symbols and soul strands in the Nether River without pausing for a moment.

    The glowing sphere they stared at unblinkingly grewrger andrger.

    The glowing sphere was the Profound Truths Crystal that was being condensed from the countless soul symbols and soul strands that filled the Nether River.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened as he suddenly discovered something. ¡°This is strange...¡±

    This branch of the Nether River flowed from the Void World, and was an extension of the Nether River¡¯s main stream.

    However, the fresh water that flowed out of the great vortex didn¡¯t contain any soul symbols or soul strands.

    There were only all forms of souls and spirits in the fresh water that flowed in here.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Without the infusion of new soul symbols and soul strands, the soul symbols and soul strands currently in this branch of the Nether River are all it has. Now, all of them are being gathered by the Profound Truths Crystal, along with the wonders of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul magics and soul will.

    ¡°When there are nothing but evil spirits in the Nether River, does that mean the Nether River will have lost its ¡®soul¡¯?¡±

    His eyes lit up as his train of thought reached this point.

    He had a feeling that his Profound Truths Crystallization might be the key to limiting this branch of the Nether River!

    Once a Profound Truths Crystal came to form, this branch of the Nether River would lose all of its soul symbols and soul strands, and without the infusion of few ones, it would lose its purpose!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous soul symbols and soul strands shed across his pupils like fish. Voluntary or not, they disappeared into the Profound Truths Crystal.

    The glowing sphere gradually turned solid, and became a sparkling crystal.

    Like tiny characters, countless mysterious soul symbols could be seen densely packed in it, with soul strands shing across from time to time.

    ¡°Back in the day, I helped Mo Qianfan enter the God domain by refining a Profound Truths Crystal from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s heart and giving it to him.

    ¡°Butpared to that one, the amount of Blood Essence and power I expended to condense this one is far greater! And that Thunder-devouring Whale wasn¡¯t remotelyparable to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!

    ¡°After this Profound Truths Crystal is refined, how can I put it to use?

    ¡°Will I be able to absorb it when I advance to the God domain?¡±

 Chapter 1482: Crystallization

    In the Realm of Heaven Span.

    Because of the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s Domain Split bloodline talent, the Godspan Sword Formation that the sectmasters of the Heaven Span Pavilion had engraved sword incantations on and constructed with painstaking efforts was destroyed in a twinkling.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    The energy in the Realm of Heaven Span turned into pirs of white spirit fog that shot skywards.

    All the pirs disappeared into the floating continent.

    The great Heaven Span Pavilion shook, and was torn apart.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Under the power of the Ripper Behemoth, thends detached themselves from the Realm of Heaven Span one by one, like pieces of fine iron cut off by a sharp de.

    However, when the sound reached Chu Rui¡¯s and Fan Tianze¡¯s ears, it sounded like the Ripper Behemoth was munching on the Realm of Heaven Span and swallowing pieces of it.

    All the Qi warriors of the Heaven Span Pavilion and the experts from other domains who had rushed here had long been evacuated.

    Staring at the broken Heaven Span Pavilion and the Ripper Behemoth hidden in the floating continent from afar, many Saint domain experts from other domains sighed with mixed emotions in the sparkling starry river.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the foundation of the Heaven Span Pavilion, one of the most ancient sects of the human race, was so easily destroyed by a Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°Such damage is simply unheard-of!¡±

    ¡°As many invasions as the Ancientspirits, Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes haveunched, they were never able to damage the foundation of a great sect! But that Ripper Behemoth did it easily.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Heaven Span being destroyed has a strong influence on us too!¡±

    ¡°What should we do now? Can anyone stop that Ripper Behemoth?¡±

    You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had disappeared immediately after bringing the Ripper Behemoth here and seeing it start to attack.

    With the Godspan Sword Formation destroyed, Fan Tianze couldn¡¯t use the power of the divine formation to stop You Qimiao anymore. Thus, You Qimiao, who was at thete God domain, was officially the strongest person in the current human world.

    No matter where You Qimiao wanted to go or what he wanted to do, it would be very hard to stop him.

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡± At the mention of that name, all human experts present had a heavy heart.

    Chu Rui sighed and said with a consoling tone, ¡°Brother Fan, don¡¯t be too sad. Though you couldn¡¯t stop the Realm of Heaven Span from being destroyed, thankfully, the disciples of your sect have been evacuated in time. Only the realm is damaged.¡±

    Fan Tianze still found it hard to ept this. ¡°Our sect has spent so much effort on this realm. It all went up in smoke because of You Qimiao and the Ripper Behemoth. I¡¯m going to try to break through to thete God domain!¡±

    Chu Rui was shocked. ¡°Brother Fan, you...¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know when the sectmaster will return,¡± Fan Tianze said with a determined look in his eyes. ¡°Now, the human race is beset by enemies from within and without. There are Ancientspirits and various outsiders invading us from the outside, and there are traitors like You Qimiao and Xuan Guangyu corroding us from the inside. In this situation, we must have someone who is able to suppress You Qimiao and deter the Ancientspirits and outsiders!¡±

    ¡°But...¡± Chu Rui said, frowning. ¡°Nie Tian hasn¡¯t shown up for a long time. I wanted to ask him for some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir for you, but I haven¡¯t been able to see him. As for Dong Li, she won¡¯t necessarily give me any face.¡±

    Fan Tianze¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Weren¡¯t there people who could break through to thete God domain without the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir? Did Ji Cang and Qu Yi rely on it to break through to thete God domain?¡±

    Chu Rui froze for a moment, and then couldn¡¯t help nodding. ¡°So you¡¯ve made up your mind.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen. Please look after my sect for me,¡± Fan Tianze said solemnly. ¡°Later, I¡¯ll ask Ye Wenhan to avoid the Ripper Behemoth, retain the sect¡¯s strength as much as possible, and prevent it from suffering more serious damage.¡±

    Chu Rui made a promise. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    ...

    In the unusual area of the starry river.

    After Nie Tian had activated Profound Truths Crystallization, the soul symbols and soul strings from the Nether River branch extending from the whirlpool converged on the ball of light.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs continued to transfuse their wood power and flesh aura into Nie Tian.

    As the soul symbols and soul strings disappeared into the crystal forming with Profound Truths Crystallization, the number of spirit-form beings that continuously swarmed into the mysterious Nether River gradually decreased.

    ¡°I¡¯ve used up ten percent of my flesh aura!¡± Chatvic said, looking shocked. ¡°This human hybrid is only using his bloodline talent to condense a crystallization, but he can actually consume so much flesh aura!¡±

    ¡°I told you he¡¯s different,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said in a deep voice.

    No creature who had a ninth-grade bloodline could bear the flesh aura that the four grand monarchs had joined hands to channel into Nie Tian.

    Even if Felix, Agaz¡¯s elder brother of the Dragons, had taken in such power from the four of them, his dragon body would have exploded, and Felix¡¯s bloodline had reached the apex of the ninth grade!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The glittering ball of light slowly condensed into a crystal.

    A peculiar cyan light emanated from within the crystal.

    ¡°Eeeh?!¡± Pei Qiqi, who had been watching the movements of the whirlpool eximed, attracting the attention of the four grand monarchs.

    They all turned to look at her.

    Pei Qiqi pointed her beautiful finger in the direction of the whirlpool. ¡°There¡¯s no more water flowing out of the center of therge whirlpool, or spirit-form beings swarming into it. Since there won¡¯t be any more water flowing into the Nether River, it shouldn¡¯t extend towards the roots of the first generation Tree of Life anymore.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was instantly relieved. ¡°Great!¡±

    His biggest problem had been solved at longst.

    He and the other three grand monarchs didn¡¯t know that it was because all the soul symbols and soul strings in this Nether River branch had merged into the Profound Truths Crystal that there was no longer water flowing into the Nether River, or spirit-form beings swarming in it.

    Reflected in Nie Tian¡¯s pupils, the cyan light from the crystallization looked very dazzling.

    It seemed that each beam of light contained soul symbols and soul strings, as if it represented the most mysterious soul magics that Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit had left behind!

    Seeing the Profound Truths Crystallization slowly form, Nie Tian fixed his eyes on the crystal, with a weird expression. ¡°I wonder why this Profound Truths Crystal seems so simr to the Spirit Pearl.

    ¡°The Spirit Pearls were spheres that Grand Monarch Nether Soul of the Phantasms used to collect the five evil gods¡¯ fragmentary souls and memories in the Mortal World and the Spirit World. And there were three of them until I fused them into one.

    ¡°After the fusion, the Spirit Pearl gave birth to the five evil gods. Because of my Blood Essence, they came back to life.

    ¡°This Profound Truths Crystal was condensed from a Nether River branch in the Silent Star Sea with the help of four grand monarchs. The many soul symbols and soul strings in this crystal were all left behind by Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit. Will a soul of Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit with its own awareness be born after they fuse together, like the evil gods?

    ¡°If so, is what I¡¯m doing going to achieve the opposite result?¡±

    Various thoughts shed through his mind and confused him.

 Chapter 1483: Drive His Bloodline

    In front of the whirlpool, Pei Qiqi turned the Space Boundaries Crystal and raised her eyebrows. ¡°Someone is here.¡±

    Pang Chicheng¡¯s figure was clearly reflected on a facet of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    On and that the Nether River branch wound past, Pang Chicheng, who had suppressed his spiritual energy and flesh aura, looked furtively at the Nether River branch, as if he were expecting something.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal. In a sh, she emerged before him.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± He yelled in shock, and instinctively wanted to escape.

    He was waiting for Nie Tian to have a mishap while he refined the Nether River branch.

    He didn¡¯t dare to make trouble as Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs gifted Nie Tian with their power to help him condense the Profound Truths Crystal because he had lost the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and was thus no match for Nie Tian, not to mention that there were four grand monarchs around him now.

    Without saying anything, Pei Qiqi instantlyunched attacks. ¡°Void Shatter.¡±

    The space around Pang Chicheng shook violently.

    He shrieked and activated his bloodline.

    ¡°A me qilin bloodline,¡± the Golden-feathered Divine Finch said in a low voice.

    It stopped channeling its golden flesh aura into Nie Tian. Feeling the unusual fluctuations in Pang Chicheng¡¯s body, it was very surprised. ¡°The me qilin bloodline is very pure. I can¡¯t believe it belongs to another hybrid. It¡¯s scary enough to have a hybrid like Nie Tian. How can there be another hybrid with a pure me qilin bloodline?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, Chatvic, nor Scott couldn¡¯t answer her question.

    They had no intention of intervening in the battle between Pei Qiqi and Pang Chicheng. All their attention was focused on Nie Tian.

    FIZZ!

    Brilliant crystal light burst forth from the Profound Truths Crystal. Strands of uncanny soul aura rose out of it, which made these grand monarchs from the Spirit World instinctively ufortable.

    However, they could all see that there was no more watering into the Nether River branch, or spirit-form beings emerging.

    This also meant that the problem that weighed on Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s mind was basically solved.

    The roots of the first generation Tree of Life wouldn¡¯t be harmed by the Nether River, and the aura of the first generation Tree of Life sealing the Silent Star Sea wouldn¡¯t be broken. The three races of the Void World wouldn¡¯t be able to go straight into it anymore.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood mused for a moment before asking, ¡°Nie Tian, what¡¯s with this ball of light? I can feel that a lot of the mixed power in the Nether River seems to be converging on this ball of light. Can it be refined or burned to ashes?¡±

    Scott and Chatvic nodded repeatedly, looking at Nie Tian.

    They all instinctively sensed that the Profound Truths Crystal Nie Tian had condensed with his bloodline was very dangerous.

    The aura it exuded made their souls tremble in spite of themselves.

    Nie Tian thought for a bit then said, deliberately hiding the truth, ¡°This crystal contains Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit¡¯s residual soul wonders in this Nether River branch. The fragmentary souls that he has left behind can¡¯t be refined. They can only be sealed by special means. I¡¯ll take care of it!¡±

    Then he threw the Profound Truths Crystal into his ring of holding, where the Heaven Spirit Seals he had previously condensed were preserved.

    Nie Tian thought deeply, ¡°What should I do with it?¡±

    The so-called Heaven Spirit Seal was actually a soul magic that Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit had left behind. This magic could be used to limit the five evil gods, but could it also limit Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit¡¯s own consciousness?

    He was unsure how to use the Profound Truths Crystal that had been made from the many soul characters and soul strings in the Nether River branch.

    Scott¡¯s eyes brightened as he said, ¡°At any rate, the problem of the Nether River branch targeting the roots of the first generation Tree of Life is temporarily solved. Nie Tian, this ce is called the Silent Star Sea. It sits between our world and the Void World. Also, as you know, thends pierced by the branches of the Tree of Life are rich in energy, and some of our Ancientspirits are buried down there.¡±

    The other three grand monarchs also looked longingly at Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    The lightning dragon Scotte wasn¡¯t cranky any more as he exined with great patience, ¡°Fata has told you about the crisis our world is experiencing. He¡¯s your... friend, isn¡¯t he? Our people need a ce where our next generation can live. Survival is what we invaded the human world for!¡±

    ¡°So?¡±

    ¡°So could you allow the races in the Spirit World to move to the Silent Star Sea?¡± Scott asked with a sincere tone. ¡°If you agree, we¡¯ll talk to our nsmen that are now in the human world and end our invasion. The alliance between us and the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes will also cease to exist!¡±

    ¡°We can talk about thatter,¡± Nie Tian said with a snort, pointing at Pang Chicheng in the distance. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be in the Silent Star Sea.¡±

    ¡°Who is he?¡± the Golden-feathered Divine Finch asked.

    ¡°His name is Pang Chicheng. He¡¯s the son of Pang Bo,¡± Nie Tian replied. ¡°His bloodline is from his mother, a me qilin grand monarch. You should be able to find out who she is.¡±

    Scott was shocked. ¡°Pang Bo!¡±

    Chatvic gasped and said, ¡°Pang Bo, the previous sectmaster of the fire element sect! Pang Bo was the most famous person in thest flourishing age of the human race! I didn¡¯t expect this one here to be his son!¡±

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch of the Ancientbeasts fell silent for a while before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll have to return to my people to find out which grand monarch is the source of his me qilin bloodline.¡±

    ¡°You may take him back to your people,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    ¡°You want me to catch him?¡± the Golden-feathered Divine Finch inquired.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch instantly came to her senses, and quickly flew over to Pang Chicheng.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was about to speak as he shrewdly sensed that Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura was surging.

    BOOM!

    A wave of surprisingly pure flesh aura fluctuations exploded, like a flood breaching a levee.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly turned greenish-red.

    As he fixed his mind on the green bloodline aura in his heart, he saw the fine Bloodline Crystal Chains burst forth with dazzling light, and his bloodline undergo metamorphosis. ¡°Ninth grade! I¡¯ve finally broken through to the ninth grade!¡±

    He had been waiting for this day since he had absorbed an abundant amount of blood essence from the Seven-star Realm Sea, putting his bloodline to rest.

    He had been waiting for his bloodline to improve and advance so that he could be a ninth-grade grand patriarch!

    His brand-new bloodline breakthrough meant that he would awaken wondrous new bloodline talents, and have an opportunity to enter his Blood Realm again to explore the secret of his bloodline!

    Nie Tian thought, ¡°My rapid advance this time was because of the condensation of the Profound Truths Crystallization, and the fact that the flesh aura the four grand monarchs gave me pushed my bloodline. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been so easy.¡±

    Then, he took a deep breath to calm his mind before going on to sense the subtle changes in his bloodline.

 Chapter 1484: Evil Revives

    In the Seven-star Realm Sea.

    Li Langfeng stood in front of Dong Li, bowed gently and reported thetest news to her. ¡°A lot of Demons and Phantasms have emerged in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven recently. The outsiders suffered heavy casualties because of the sudden appearance of the Ripper Behemoth, so they were forced to evacuate the Domain of Heaven Span. Now, they¡¯ve spread out to invade other human domains.

    ¡°In the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, outsiders are frequently seen in areas nearest to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°In my view, their real target is likely the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    ¡°After all, it used to have spatial rifts that connected directly to the Demon realms.¡±

    As Li Langfeng reported, experts like Mo Qianfan, Hua Mu, and Jing Feiyang stood there and listened.

    Dong Li said with a gloomy face, ¡°We haven¡¯t solved our problem with Xuan Guangyu, the Shadow Society, and the Jade Heaven Sect yet. Now, the outsiders havee out to stir up trouble... What on earth are the God domain experts of the four ancient sects doing?¡±

    She had thought that all the outsider experts would be hunted down and killed in batches after suffering a serious blow from the Ripper Behemoth.

    However, something unexpected happened: You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    Mo Qianfan sighed. ¡°You Qimiao angered the Ripper Behemoth, causing the destruction of the Godspan Sword Formation and the Realm of Heaven Span, and now Fan Tianze has to forcibly seek a breakthrough in his cultivation. He was humanity¡¯s main force. Now that he¡¯s been forced to go into secluded cultivation, it affects all of us greatly.¡±

    Jing Feiyang¡¯s eyes were filled with hatred as he said, ¡°As for Xuan Guangyu, who should have been the mainstay of the Void Spirit Society, he also disappeared after killing Brother Xie and stealing his Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. If I¡¯m not wrong, he also wants to break through after he got the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.¡±

    Mo Qianfan frowned tightly. ¡°Those outsiders must have learned that the experts of the human race are not at peace with each other at present, so they dare to split up and attack us in different areas. There used to be three spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars connected to the Demon realms. If they are restored by the Phantasms and the Demons and bepletely interconnected, we¡¯ll be likely in trouble.¡±

    Dong Li said, ¡°The nine realms in the Domain of the Falling Stars used to be the territory of the Demons, Phantasms and Fiends a long time ago. As long as the geological structure is slightly changed and the energy is transformed, it¡¯ll be very suitable for the outsiders to live, and suitable for outsiders with low bloodline grades to migrate there and grow safely.¡±

    ¡°Whether it¡¯s Xuan Guangyu, You Qimiao, or the outsiders who often show up, they are all very difficult to deal with,¡± Mo Qianfan said, looking worried. ¡°We¡¯re still not strong enough. It looks like we¡¯ll have to wait for Nie Tian to get back as soon as possible. I wonder what mutual understanding he has reached with the Ancientspirits.¡±

    ...

    In the Second Demon Realm of the Spirit World.

    A scarlet blood sea suddenly boiled and bubbled continuously.

    This was the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    Ophelia, who had been frightened by Dong Li and retreated from the Seven-star Realm Sea, returned to her post as the guardian of the Blood Purgatory Sea. She had brought back the bodies of her nsmen and other outsiders who had died tragically in the human world, and hurled them into the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    BAM!

    All of a sudden, the bottom of the Blood Purgatory Sea burst forth with brilliant dark purple Demon light.

    Ophelia quickly flew into the sky. Looking down at the bottom of the Blood Purgatory Sea, she could see countless rays of purple crystalline light rapidly converging!

    Gradually, an extremely strong Demon power tide formed in the depths of the sea.

    Ophelia¡¯s eyes that were like amethysts glittered with ecstasy and worship. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura is rapidly reviving! Now that there¡¯s a great change in the Spirit World, and we are in urgent need of help, you areing to life at longst!¡±

    Almost all the Demons of the noble ns in the Second Demon Realm gathered from all directions immediately after hearing the news, especially the Gaytons n!

    ¡°Blood Purgatory Sea!¡±

    ¡°That one at the bottom of the Blood Purgatory Sea... is finallying out of there?¡±

    The dead Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was the origin of the Gaytons n¡¯s bloodline. Before he had died, he had carried ate tenth grade bloodline!

    Legend had it that he had been born in the Blood Purgatory Sea, and hadprehended the true meaning of power from it. After stepping out of the blood sea, he had advanced step by step and be ate tenth grade Demon grand monarch.

    Grand Patriarch Cardy, who had been said to be the most promising grand patriarch to be a grand monarch, had died tragically in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. He had also been a member of the Gaytons n, and his bloodline had been engraved with some strength from Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    A doddering Demon fell on his knees and cried out in tears immediately after he arrived, ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory! You fought and killed Ice Emperor Xuan Yu of the human race, and returned to the blood sea as only a drop of Blood Essence. Now, you¡¯re finallying out of the sea after reviving your power and regathering your fragmentary soul and consciousness little by little! Your Majesty, pleasee out as soon as possible. We need your guidance!¡±

    A group of Demons kneeled by the Blood Purgatory Sea in worship, their eyes full of fanaticism and expectation. ¡°Please walk out of the blood sea!¡±

    A melodious, ancient Demon voice suddenly sounded in the soul of every Demon. ¡°I hear your cries. How did Cardy, who I had vested with strength, die?¡±

    The current head of the Gaytons n reported with excitement. ¡°My well-beloved ancestor, Cardy died in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven of the human race. It¡¯s said that he was besieged and killed by the seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and numerous human experts.¡±

    The level of the Blood Purgatory Sea suddenly lowered. It seemed the flesh aura and energy that it had umted for thousands of years was pouring into an overwhelmingly-powerful being¡¯s body like a flood. ¡°The humans!¡±

    Ophelia took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling. Her enchanting body was trembling slightly. ¡°It has begun!¡±

    ...

    In the Nether Realm.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who had received the Nether River¡¯s summons, stood under the Nether River, his soul consciousness swimming in the Nether River, receiving glowing spheres of soul power.

    Mysterious soul imprints entered the depths of his soul and became part of him, along with thick, pure soul power.

    That soul power was from the many spirit-form beings in the Nether River.

    As his flesh aura rocketed, the countless spirit-form beings that drifted in the Nether River branch disappeared ordingly.

    As he epted power from the Nether River, a very obscure thought fell into his soul. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Ferry turned his back on his own bloodline and was punished by the Nether River! All of his descendants had their strength taken back by the Nether River, and died in a twinkling because of him!¡±

    From it, he learned that Grand Monarch Soul Ferry, the current head of the Phantasms who had renamed himself Grand Monarch Nether River, had betrayed the Nether River after leaving the Nether Realm.

    No one knew if Grand Monarch Soul Ferry had died, but the Nether River had clearly given him up.

    This had indirectly led to Froste¡¯s sudden death.

    ¡°Finally, ate tenth grade grand monarch with ate tenth grade bloodline...¡±

    All of a sudden, some of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s ancient bloodline imprints unraveled pieces of ancient memories.

    ¡°The origin of our people lies with the Netherspirits from the Void World. We were made by abination of Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit¡¯s sea of soul awareness and the native creatures at that time.¡±

    In a sh, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind understood the whole story, and became aware of the responsibility he shouldered.

 Chapter 1485: Lots of Bad News

    Almost in the blink of an eye, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline upgraded.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Countless beams of cyan light erupted from his Bloodline Crystal Chains. New bloodline talents were instantly awakened and engraved in him forever.

    His flesh aura stirred as his body softly shook.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, the lightning dragon Scotte, and Chatvic were all quietly observing Nie Tian, sensing the aura that was surging out of his heart.

    After a while, Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a low cry. ¡°That¡¯s the origin of life.¡±

    SWISH!

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch of the Ancientbeasts returned. Pang Chicheng was wrapped in feathers that were condensed from golden divine light.

    Streaks of golden light suppressed his bloodline like lightning bolts.

    There were more than a dozen deep cuts in his rib cage. Sharp spatial power light sputtered from those wounds from time to time.

    Pang Chicheng had apparently been injured by Pei Qiqi before being captured alive by the Golden-feathered Divine Finch.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take this human hybrid to the Ancientspirits¡¯ territory and find out the origin of his me qilin bloodline.¡± The Golden-feathered Divine Finch¡¯s shrill voice rang out, but stopped abruptly. Surprise suddenly shed in its slender, sharp golden eyes. ¡°His bloodline upgraded?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded lightly. ¡°He had already umted enough strength, and required only a push. As he refined the Nether River branch earlier, the flesh power we gave him gave him a push.¡±

    ¡°So he¡¯s a ninth grade grand patriarch now?¡± the Golden-feathered Divine Finch asked.

    The lightning dragon Scotte took a deep look at Nie Tian and said, ¡°You bet. I don¡¯t know what wonderful talents he awakened when he broke through to the ninth grade, but there¡¯s one thing I know for sure. He¡¯s even stronger now after his bloodline has advanced again.¡±

    Every time someone¡¯s bloodline advanced, brand-new talents would be awakened. The stronger the person, the more powerful the awakened bloodline talents would be.

    This was a well-known truth.

    In the four grand monarchs¡¯ eyes, Nie Tian had just broken through to ninth grade, but thinking of his past deeds, they had to believe that his awakened bloodline talents must be very mysterious and strong.

    ¡°In my opinion, his fighting strength isparable to that of an early grand monarch, or an early God domain expert now,¡± Chatvic spoke.

    ¡°More than that,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood replied.

    The three Ancientspirit grand monarchs turned to look at him in shock. ¡°More than that?¡±

    They were all middle tenth grade grand monarchs. If what Grand Monarch Primal Wood had said was true, and Nie Tian was actually stronger than an early grand monarch after his bloodline had just reached the level of a ninth grade grand patriarch, wouldn¡¯t that mean he could fight them head-on now?

    A ninth-grade grand patriarch and a tenth-grade grand monarch werepletely different.

    ¡°He should be able to fight you by relying on his tools, bloodline and cultivation base now,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood aired his opinion.

    The three middle tenth grade Ancientspirit grand monarchs suddenly fell silent.

    There was surprise and disbelief in their eyes.

    SWISH!

    Pei Qiqi drove the Space Boundaries Crystal and returned, her aura unstable. She was also keenly aware that Nie Tian hadpleted the advance of his bloodline very quickly.

    At this moment, it was clear that Nie Tian was carefullyprehending his newly-awakened bloodline talents.

    All of a sudden, she tensed up and subconsciously assumed a tight grip on the Space Boundaries Crystal, afraid that the grand monarchs led by Grand Monarch Primal Wood would harm Nie Tian.

    ¡°Little girl, I was entrusted by the third generation Tree of Life toe and find Nie Tian,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said with indifferent eyes. ¡°Nie Tian is closely connected to the creator of our race. Given their rtionship, I won¡¯t kill Nie Tian. Besides, I dare not disobey the Tree of Life.¡±

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t let down her guard.

    The minutes ticked away.

    After a while, Nie Tian exhaled lightly and said calmly, ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s get out of the Silent Star Sea.¡±

    As soon as he exhaled, his soaring flesh aura seemed to vanishpletely.

    Pei Qiqi was amazed. ¡°Nie Tian, your bloodline...¡±

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°It has sessfully advanced. Later, I¡¯ll need time toprehend my new bloodline talents.¡±

    Looking at Pang Chicheng, who was flushed and had a strange look in his eyes while being imprisoned by the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, he said, ¡°Before you ran away from the Realm of Fire Spirit, you were a threat to me, but you don¡¯t deserve to be a threat to me anymore.¡±

    Pang Chicheng struggled and shouted, ¡°Arrogant fool!¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t be bothered to exin. He gestured to Pei Qiqi before taking the lead to fly towards thend where the dpidated altar was. He wanted to leave the Silent Star Sea first.

    As for the use of the Profound Truths Crystal that had been condensed from the soul characters and soul strings in the Nether River branch, he wouldn¡¯t think about it untilter.

    In any case, the trouble the first generation Tree of Life had faced in the Silent Star Sea had been solved for the time being.

    ...

    In the Seven-star Realm Sea, as soon as the spatial fluctuations appeared, Zhao Shanling was the first to perceive it. ¡°Nie Tian is back!¡±

    On the seven dead stars, there were experts from the Domain of Heaven Python, Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and Domain of the Falling Stars, as well as many visitors from other domains.

    Hearing Zhao Shanling¡¯s shout, everyone looked shocked.

    All the visitors knew that Xie Qian had died, and that Master Blood Spirit had been besieged by Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan in the Realm of me Heaven and had almost died as well.

    Dong Li, who had tried hard to suppress her fury, was waiting for Nie Tian to return to attack the Shadow Society, Jade Heaven Sect, and Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    WHOOSH!

    Figures flew out of the bright spatial tunnel.

    As soon as Nie Tian came out, he felt the heavy atmosphere. He asked curiously, ¡°What happened? Was the Realm of Heaven Span breached?¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Heaven Span shattered as we expected, but that has nothing to do with us,¡± Jing Feiyang said with a deep tone and a sad face. ¡°While you were gone, Xuan Guangyu of the Void Spirit Society went to the Domain of Vast Darkness. He killed Brother Xie Qian and took the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir that was given to him.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian growled.

    ¡°Master Blood Spirit was also attacked by Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan together. If it were not for the fact that Zhao Shanling sensed that something was wrong and got Miss Dong there in time by relying on his spatial power, the result would have been disastrous too,¡± Jing Feiyang continued.

    ¡°Are theypletely shameless now?¡± Bright starlight shed in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, but soon dimmed as he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Xuan Guangyu?¡±

    Dong Li walked over. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was thoughtless. Because I intended to improve my fighting strength as soon as possible, I failed to follow up with a thorough protective job after the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir was assigned.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not her fault. She hadn¡¯t expected Xuan Guangyu to rob the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir for himself while the humans were fighting the outsiders.¡± Mo Qianfan exined in a soft voice. ¡°Nie Tian, Xuan Guangyu is proficient in spatial power, I¡¯m afraid he¡¯ll be difficult to deal with, especially when he deliberately hides his tracks. In addition, You Qimiao is at thete God domain now, which means he¡¯s currently the strongest human expert we have.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression was very grim. ¡°The Shadow Society, Jade Heaven Sect, and Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    At that moment, the images of tender leaves emerged in Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s pupils.

    Those tender leaves seemed to record pieces of information.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood shook, and sent Nie Tian a secret message. ¡°Nie Tian, there¡¯s bad news. I¡¯ve just learned that the Phantasms¡¯ Grand Monarch Unholy Wind has returned to the Nether Realm urgently, as if he had been summoned by the Nether River. He seems to be gaining great strength from the Nether River branch in the Nether Realm.

    ¡°What¡¯s more, it¡¯s said that the ancestor of the Gaytons n of the Demons and the master of the Blood Purgatory Sea has reawoken.

    ¡°Before he died with Ice Emperor Xuan Yu, he was ate tenth grade grand monarch!¡±

 Chapter 1486: Slaying A Grand Monarch!

    Wave after wave of spatial fluctuations came from the ancient starships that were berthed on the seven dead stars.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Chu Rui from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society, and Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, along with the Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect, arrived one after another after hearing about Nie Tian¡¯s return.

    ¡°You!¡± Chu Rui grew very uneasy upon seeing Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs.

    ¡°Pang Chicheng!¡± The Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect eximed in shock upon seeing Pang Chicheng, who was imprisoned by the Golden-feathered Divine Finch.

    ¡°We¡¯llmunicate through Fata.¡± After sending Nie Tian onest secret message, Grand Monarch Primal Wood gave the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs a meaningful nce, then flew away without saying a word.

    Chu Rui and the other human experts could only watch them leave. None of them dared to stop them.

    After all, Grand Monarch Primal Wood had entered thete tenth grade, while the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs were all at the middle tenth grade.

    Fan Tianze had gone into secluded cultivation to seek his breakthrough to thete God domain. Xuan Guangyu had turned against his own kind. For these reasons, humanity¡¯s strength was currently far weaker than that of these experts from the Spirit World.

    ¡°I asked the Ancientbeasts to help me find the origin of Pang Chicheng¡¯s bloodline. As for the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron...¡± With these words, Nie Tian whistled, and the huge cauldron Pang Bo had forged with the residual flesh auras of a me qilin, a me phoenix, a me dragon, and a vermilion bird flew out in front of everyone.

    He took a deep look at Lou Hongyan and said, ¡°This divine tool belongs to your sect and the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m returning it to its rightful owner!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron seemed very obedient as it rapidly flew towards Lou Hongyan, as if it was afraid that Nie Tian would change his mind.

    It had developed a deep fear towards Nie Tian ever since it had witnessed him enving the mighty evil gods with the Heavenly Spirit Seals he had forged through the Nether River.

    To it, its best option right now was to leave him and return to the Realm of Fire Spirit.

    Lou Hongyan and many disciples of the fire element sect were both surprised and ted to see the giant cauldron fly towards them. ¡°The Immortal grade Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron flew into Lou Hongyan¡¯s spiritual sea in her dantian region, as if it never wanted toe out again.

    Lou Hongyan shuddered violently. She attempted tomunicate with it, but received no response.

    ¡°It...¡± Lou Hongyan wanted to say something, but gave up on second thought.

    ¡°Take it back to the Realm of Fire Spirit and let your master decide what he wants to do with it after he returns,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Years ago, the me Dragon Armor came into my possession for various reasons. To be honest, I felt that I owed your sect a bit. But now that I¡¯ve retaken the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron from Pang Chicheng for you, I think we¡¯re even now.¡±

    Not a single disciple of the Five Elements Sect opposed him.

    They gave their consent by remaining silent.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and Ji Yuanquan then gathered around to brief Nie Tian on what had happened in the human world recently. They told him that the Ripper Behemoth was looking for new realms to devour after destroying the Realm of Heaven Span, and hoped that Nie Tian woulde up with a solution.

    You Qimiao, who had entered thete God domain and provoked the Ripper Behemoth to destroy the Realm of Heaven Span, was still a major threat, even though he had disappeared for now.

    Furthermore, the Demon, Fiend, Phantasm, and Bonebrute experts had spread out to terrorize different human domains. They were also unsure about how to deal with that.

    After hearing about the major changes, Nie Tian dropped a bomb himself, ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms has returned to the Nether Realm, and is receiving power from the Nether River. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s trying to break through to thete tenth grade. Also, that Demon grand monarch who died killing Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor, hase back to life after spending so long in the Blood Purgatory Sea.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± These experts were already having headaches over the difficult situation. These two pieces of news struck them like lightning.

    Ye Wenhan let out a long sigh and said, ¡°We¡¯re beset with enemies from within and without. Perhaps this the most perilous moment humanity has ever seen!

    ¡°Shame on the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect for undermining us repeatedly at such a moment when we need unity more than ever! And that You Qimiao happens to break through to thete God domain at this moment!¡±

    Despair filled the hearts of the Saint domain experts from across the human domain as they heard their conversation.

    You Qimiao, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory...

    Who would be able to deal with them?

    ¡°Beset with enemies from within and without?¡± Nie Tian said coldly. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just annihte them one by one?¡±

    Chu Rui went nk for a moment before saying with a bitter expression. ¡°I wish it were that easy.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem very difficult to me,¡± Nie Tian said.

    At this moment, Hua Mu suddenly jumped in and eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! Grand Monarch Chaos Demon of the Demons has been spotted in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven! It seems that he¡¯s hoping to enter the Domain of the Falling Stars to fix those three spatial rifts that connect to the Demon realms!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Chaos Demon?¡± With a thoughtful look in her eyes, Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal gently, and one of its many facets reflected an image in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. ¡°He¡¯s in the Realm of Shattered Earth!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan sighed with admiration. ¡°The Space Boundaries Crystal has be more and more mysterious.¡±

    With nothing but her thoughts, Pei Qiqi managed to show the clear reflection of a realm in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven with the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    He had thought only Qu Yi, the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, could do such a wondrous thing.

    Now, Pei Qiqi could do it as well.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°The Realm of Shattered Earth?!¡±

    The Realm of Shattered Earth had been named by him. As a realm in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, it had been protected by the Heaven-equal Vine. That grand pce in it was connected to the Realm of Split Void.

    Right now, his grandfather, aunt, and numerous talented youngsters from the Nie n and across the Domain of the Falling Stars were cultivating in the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    ¡°Take me there!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Pei Qiqi nodded gently. As she grabbed the Space Boundaries Crystal and swung it across the sky, a spatial rift that connected to the starry river outside the Realm of Shattered Earth manifested out of thin air.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian shot into it, roaring, ¡°Grand Monarch Chaos Demon!¡±

    Before the spatial rift disappeared, Nie Tian¡¯s image showed in that facet of the Spatial rift in Pei Qiqi¡¯s hand, floating in that silent area of the starry river.

    Along with him, the crystal also showed the five evil gods that he summoned upon arriving!

    ¡°What in the world are those strange beings wreathed in rich Nether Qi?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see them clearly from such a distance, but they seem to be very simr to the evil gods in the Phantasms¡¯ legends!¡±

    ¡°And they all answer Nie Tian¡¯s summons?!¡±

    Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and the other experts talked as they saw the five evil gods swoop towards Grand Monarch Chaos Demon with half of their bodies in holes filled with Nether Qi, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws as they did.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, who had been scared off by Dong Li in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, clearly sensed danger, and intended to leave.

    However, before he could, the five evil gods pounced on him together, and started wing and biting chunks of flesh off this early tenth grade Demon grand monarch with their sharp teeth and ws.

    ¡°What the?!¡± Eyes wide, Ye Wenhan watched this Demon grand monarch being easily torn apart by the five evil gods released by Nie Tian. His jaw almost dropped to the ground.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    One figure after another flew into the spatial rift to the battle zone in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    An intense flesh aura spread through the void as Grand Monarch Chaos Demon let out miserable ear-piercing screams. ¡°No! This is impossible!¡±

    ¡°Nothing is impossible.¡± Facepletely expressionless, Nie Tian reached out with one hand towards Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, who was being ripped apart by the five evil gods.

    ¡°Life Drain!¡± As he eximed, wisps of Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s pure flesh aura flew from his badly-mangled body towards Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s blood that was sshing everywhere took it upon itself to gather into purple crystals.

    Each and every purple crystal was a pure crystallization of his blood, which also couldn¡¯t escape from Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Like purple shooting stars, they plummeted into his palm and disappeared.

    ¡°Early grand monarchs seem to be pretty easy to kill,¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°Having entered the ninth grade, I happen to need a tremendous amount of flesh power. On the one hand, I need flesh power to strengthen my body. On the other, I need to umte an even more terrifying amount of flesh power for my advance to the tenth grade.¡±

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Like purple stars, the crystals shed across the void and disappeared into his palm.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, however, was gradually dismembered.

    His soul was divided and devoured by the five evil gods, while his flesh power and everyst drop of his Blood Essence became a part of Nie Tian, helping strengthen his bones and meridians.

 Chapter 1487: Settle Scores

    Meteorites were scattered in the silent starry river.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s huge demonic body was torn apart and turned into purple crystals and wisps of aura that flew into Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    Such a mighty grand monarch was finely broken down and killed in a very short time, leaving nothing behind.

    HISS!

    After arriving through the spatial rift, Gou Junhao of the Heavenly Changes Pavilion sucked in a breath of cold air and said, ¡°Although Grand Monarch Chaos Demon has only be a grand monarch recently, his ranking in the Demons was in fact higher than Grand Monarch Remote Demon.¡±

    Gou Junhao¡¯s eyes were filled with shock. ¡°Such a potent grand monarch actually had no power to fight back and was easily killed by Nie Tian. Not even a drop of his blood or soul was left behind.¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Qi warriors passed through the gaping spatial rift one after another.

    Some were from the four ancient sects, and most of them were Saint domain experts from various human domains. They had all paid close attention to the Seven-star Realm Sea for a long time because they had hoped to break through to the God domain with the help of the Seven-star Realm Sea and Nie Tian.

    They were greatly shocked as soon as they saw Nie Tian standing among the five evil gods, spreading his hands to absorb amethyst-like Blood Essence crystals one by one, as if he were going to take the whole starry river in.

    ¡°Is it so easy for the seventh Son of the Stars to y a grand monarch?¡±

    ¡°That was a grand monarch for heaven¡¯s sake, yet he couldn¡¯t even escape!¡±

    The battles in the Domain of Heaven Span hadsted a long time now, but not a single outsider or Ancientspirit grand monarch had been killed by the humans.

    Only Pei Qiqi had chopped an arm off Grand Monarch Remote Demon with the aid of her powerful Space Boundaries Crystal.

    However, everyone knew that losing an arm or a leg wasn¡¯t a big deal for a Demon grand monarch, who had the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form.

    As long as he had abundant flesh aura, Grand Monarch Remote Demon could grow his arm back easily.

    The fact that Pei Qiqi, who was proficient in space power and possessed the Space Boundaries Crystal, had only managed to chop an arm off Grand Monarch Remote Demon proved that she wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill him.

    Otherwise, he couldn¡¯t have escaped Pei Qiqi¡¯s pursuit.

    However, this time was different.

    Nie Tian had actually killed a grand monarch!

    Ye Wenhan seemed rather excited as he said, ¡°Grand Monarch Blood Axe of the Demons was killed and swallowed by the Ripper Behemoth. Grand Monarch Remote Demon had an arm cut off, and now the newly-made Grand Monarch Chaos Demon was directly killed by Nie Tian. After this battle, the Demons, who were the strongest among the outsiders, have been greatly weakened.¡±

    Gou Junhao sighed. ¡°Nie Tian is awesome!¡±

    Many sect leaders from different human domains chimed in, standing beside him.

    In fact, they had felt deeply suppressed and depressed recently.

    The Ripper Behemoth had rampaged in the Domain of Heaven Span, but they could do nothing to stop it. When You Qimiao had provoked it to destroy the Realm of Heaven Span, they had also been powerless.

    When the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes had spread out to invade other human domains, they had also felt powerless. After all, even Fan Tianze had felt that his cultivation base wasn¡¯t strong enough, and had thus rushed off to attempt to make new breakthroughs.

    At this moment, Nie Tian returned. The moment he did, he rushed to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and killed Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, who was trying to attack the Realm of Shattered Earth, with a clean move.

    Grand monarchs were the backbone of any outsider race. Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s death would surely weaken the Demons¡¯ strength.

    After hearing of Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s death, the Fiends, Bonebrutes, and Phantasms would have to be more careful with their actions.

    Hou Chn, the Divine Daughter of the wood element sect, stood among the elders of the wood element sect. Looking at the majestic figure with a frightening aura that was surrounded by the five evil gods, she secretly sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s be so strong already...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A streak of dark light flew off toward the Realm of Shattered Earth, but soon returned.

    As the darkness faded, Dong Li appeared and said, ¡°Nie Tian, the youths of the Nie n, your grandpa, and the others are all fine. I had a lot of restrictive spells quietly set up around the Realm of Shattered Earth. If people from other realms try to get close to it, we¡¯ll find out about it immediately.¡±

    When Grand Monarch Chaos Demon had quietly arrived here, it was those restrictive spells that had been triggered and rmed her.

    HISS!

    Thest piece of amethyst-like Blood Essence that had been condensed from Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s body fused into Nie Tian¡¯s palm and was broken down by his bloodline, giving birth to pure flesh aura that went to strengthen his bones.

    Hearing Dong Li¡¯s words, he nodded softly. ¡°I knew that with you around, the Realm of Shattered Earth would be safe.¡±

    ¡°Later, we¡¯ll likely need to be ready for the Demons¡¯ retaliations,¡± Dong Li said with a frown. ¡°ording to Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the others, the owner of the Blood Purgatory Sea is waking up. He is a mighty figure who died killing Ice Emperor Xuan Yu, but hase back to life now.¡±

    ¡°Ate tenth grade grand monarch?¡± Nie Tian asked coldly as he absorbed Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s tremendous flesh aura. ¡°Since he¡¯se back to life, it¡¯s likely that he can¡¯t reach his peak in a short time. Coming out of the Blood Purgatory Sea, he should only be as strong as Grand Monarch Bloodlust, or slightly stronger.¡±

    Chu Rui agreed, ¡°Yes. He¡¯ll need to recover and regather his strength before he returns to thete tenth grade.¡±

    ¡°Get ready. After I adjust, we¡¯ll go to the Realm of Looming Shadow,¡± Nie Tian said with determination.

    Dong Li was shocked. ¡°The Realm of Looming Shadow?¡±

    ¡°Among the Shadow Society, the Jade Heaven Sect, and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, the Shadow Society was the initial initiator,¡± Nie Tian said with a cold face. ¡°As for the whereabouts of Xuan Guangyu, Song Chequan, and Duan Hongwen, we can ask Shangguan Zhi of the Shadow Society. Even though Shangguan Zhi wasn¡¯t there to kill Xie Qian or attack Master Blood Spirit, he must have been a participant!¡±

    Chu Rui was astonished. ¡°The Shadow Society?!¡±

    Ye Wenhan came forward and said, ¡°Nie Tian, shall we unite against the invaders first? Jiang Yuanchi of the Shadow Society is missing. As for You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, he¡¯s with Jiang Yuanchi. If You Qimiao rushes out to stop you in the Shadow Society...¡±

    He was ready to bear the humiliation and swallow his anger before Fan Tianze broke through to thete God domain, even though he had lost the Realm of Heaven Span.

    He was waiting for Fan Tianze to break through or Chu Yuan to return so that they could go after You Qimiao and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.

    He didn¡¯t want to sh with them until one of the strongest Qi warriors had returned, someone who could suppress and defeat You Qimiao.

    Nie Tian¡¯s attitude was cold and firm. ¡°What happened between you and You Qimiao has nothing to do with me. I don¡¯t need you to intervene in this conflict between me and the Shadow Society, Jade Heaven Sect, and Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect.¡±

    ¡°Umm...¡± Ye Wenhan could only smile wryly.

    At this moment, a thick blood aura flew from Nie Tian¡¯s pores and formed a blood membrane that wrapped him tightly.

    His voice came from the blood membrane. ¡°Three days. I only need three days. Three dayster, I¡¯ll go to the Shadow Society to meet with Shangguan Zhi and have a talk with him. If he isn¡¯t in the Realm of Looming Shadow, then I¡¯ll copy the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s behavior, destroying the Realm of Looming Shadow and the Shadow Society.

    ¡°Feel free to pass the message to Shangguan Zhi and inform all the people of the Shadow Society of my intentions.¡±

 Chapter 1488: Declare War

    The people of various advanced domains and sects like the Heavenly Illusion Sect, Streamcloud Sword Sect, and Martial Spirit Sect discussed the sensational news.

    ¡°Nie Tian killed Grand Monarch Chaos Demon!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said that Nie Tian came to a tacit agreement with the Ancientspirits and Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian will go find Shangguan Zhi in the Shadow Society in three days!¡±

    ¡°What? They¡¯re going to fight the Shadow Society?!¡±

    ¡°Are they out of their minds?¡±

    ¡°The Shadow Society is allied with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. How can they possibly fight You Qimiao and Xuan Guangyu?¡±

    ¡°Even if Nie Tian can kill Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, he can¡¯t possibly defeat You Qimiao or Xuan Guangyu in battle!¡±

    ¡°This is the moment when we most need unity. Whatever the reason, it¡¯s unwise to fight the Shadow Society at this time.¡±

    Many people were shocked that Nie Tian was able to kill Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, but they also thought it was inappropriate for him to go seek trouble with the Shadow Society.

    After all, those who were known to be on the Shadow Society¡¯s side included Xuan Guangyu, Shangguan Zhi, Song Chequan, Duan Hongwen... and You Qimiao!

    The Realm of Heaven Span had been destroyed, but even the Heaven Span Pavilion led by Fan Tianze hadn¡¯t marched down to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to fight You Qimiao to the death. How did Nie Tian dare to challenge him?

    As word of Nie Tian¡¯s decision spread, even the God domain experts of the four ancient sects tried hard to dissuade him.

    Unfortunately, Nie Tian, who was wrapped in the blood membrane, turned a deaf ear to it.

    Hence, everyone understood his determination.

    ...

    In the Shadow Pce.

    SWISH!

    A shadow abomination suddenly flew out of the stone wall of the spacious pce and intto Shangguan Zhi¡¯s fingertips.

    Messages were passed to his mind one by one.

    Shangguan Zhi smiled sinisterly and said to Song Chequan and Duan Hongwen next to him, ¡°Nie Tian actually wants toe here to settle scores with us in three days.¡±

    In a sh, Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan, who had been sitting quietly, sprang to their feet. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Shangguan Zhi looked quite calm as he said, ¡°Xie Qian¡¯s death and the fact that you attacked Master Blood Spirit in the Realm of me Heaven must have angered him, but even if he could kill Grand Monarch Chaos Demon of the Demons, does he really think he can do whatever he wants in our Shadow Society?¡±

    He let out a low cry.

    In the pce, innumerable shadow abominations that were wandering in the walls seemed to sense his anger as they let out shrieks that could prate souls.

    Shangguan Zhi then said with a snort, ¡°Our sect¡¯s strength is only outmatched by the four ancient sects. For thousands of years, the Shadow Society has never been conquered! Now that all the peak God domain experts are missing and Fan Tianze, whose battle prowess was outstanding, is seeking a breakthrough in his cultivation base, I can¡¯t think of anyone who¡¯ll end well after attacking our sect.¡±

    ¡°What about Chu Rui?¡± Song Chequan asked softly.

    ¡°Him?¡± Shangguan Zhi said, looking surprised. Then, he shook his head and said, ¡°He is not as strong as Fan Tianze, and is even weaker than Luo Wanxiang.¡±

    ¡°Shall we inform Xuan Guangyu?¡± Song Chequan asked.

    ¡°We won¡¯t need his help,¡± Shangguan Zhi said calmly, ¡°at this stage, I don¡¯t think Nie Tian can mobilize many experts to besiege our Shadow Society. After getting the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, Yu Suying went into secluded cultivation to break through. She won¡¯t be able to help.¡±

    Duan Hongwen looked hesitant as he said, ¡°My sectmaster...¡±

    ¡°What on earth is Sectmaster You up to?¡± Song Chequan asked curiously.

    Duan Hongwen shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s clear that he still has some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir left, yet he didn¡¯t give me any to help me break through.¡±

    The reason why he had chosen to join Xuan Guangyu and these others was because You Qimiao hadn¡¯t given him any of his Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    ¡°Since he provoked the Ripper Behemoth to destroy the Realm of Heaven Span, he has been staying in your Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and never showed up again.¡± Shangguan Zhi, who had temporarily reced Jiang Yuanchi as the head of the Shadow Society, was clearly well-aware of various kinds of news. ¡°He has broken through to thete God domain. Unless those peak God domain experts return, no one can threaten him.¡±

    With these words, he turned to look at Duan Hongwen. ¡°And you... You¡¯re from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and you¡¯ve followed him for many years. Even if you haven¡¯t done many meritorious deeds, you¡¯ve done a lot of hard work. If you were really cornered by Nie Tian, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d refuse to help you. You also represent the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. If you die, how can he earn the respect of the rest of the sect?¡±

    Hearing this, Duan Hongwen became more and more at ease. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve done nothing to wrong him.¡±

    Even though he hadn¡¯t obeyed You Qimiao¡¯s every order, he had only done so to get some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir in order to break through to a higher cultivation base.

    ¡°Three days? I¡¯ll see how he¡¯ll break the Wall of Shadows that protects our sect in three days!¡±

    Shangguan Zhi held out his left hand, which was fairer and prettier than a woman¡¯s, and pressed a stone stele that seemed to imprison thousands of powerful shadow abominations.

    The weird shadow abominations that had been condensed from powerful creatures¡¯ souls through the Shadow Society¡¯s magics rushed toward the sky screaming.

    Thousands of shadow abominations in the walls of the pce echoed them by letting out blood-curdling cries.

    As that happened, wisps of shadow abominations that looked even more mysterious than the spirits in the Nether River appeared in the realm barrier of the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    ...

    ¡°The Wall of Shadows of the Shadow Society is not only famous in the Mortal World, but also famous in the Spirit World,¡± Dou Tianchen of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce exined to Dong Li while looking at Nie Tian, who was enveloped in the blood membrane in the distance. ¡°The Wall of Shadows is full of shadow abominations made by the Shadow Society with their secret magics.

    ¡°Those abominations...¡±

    Speaking to this point, he was silent for a while before he said, ¡°Before Jiang Yuanchi sealed Gupi, the shadow abominations of the Shadow Society could only be imprisoned in shadows and refined by powerful cultivators. But since Jiang Yuanchi sealed Gupi inside of himself, those abominations in the shadows have be unusual.

    ¡°In a sense, the Wall of Shadows may be even more difficult to deal with than the Godspan Sword Formation.¡±

    Huang Jinnan of the Five Elements Sect also chimed in, ¡°It¡¯s as if the presence of Gupi has increased those shadow abominations¡¯ power and changed them fundamentally. And those changes have allowed the defense and counterattack forces of the Shadow Society¡¯s Wall of Shadows to reach a higher level.¡±

    Pei Qiqi also said, ¡°My master has also said that the Wall of Shadows of the Shadow Society is one of the most mysterious formations in our world.¡±

    Everyone began to talk about various legends regarding the Wall of Shadows.

    Various signs suggested that the shadow abominations in the Wall of Shadows might have been strengthened by Gupi and gone through fundamental changes, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

    Dong Li frowned and turned to Pei Qiqi. ¡°Even you¡¯re not sure you can crack it?¡±

    Pei Qiqi was silent for a while, then said, ¡°I haven¡¯t been to the Shadow Society, so I don¡¯t know the wonders of the Wall of Shadows. I won¡¯t know if I can crack it unless I see it.¡±

    Dong Li nodded. ¡°I see.¡±

    After that, everyone focused their eyes on the blood membrane again.

    Even those who didn¡¯t practice body-refinement incantations could sense Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura surging inside of it.

    On the first day, the flesh aura in the blood membrane was extremely strong and terrifying.

    On the second day, it subsided abruptly.

    On the third day, the blood membrane was still there, but there wasn¡¯t any flesh aura inside.

    Even Pei Qiqi and Yin Yanan, who hade to observe this wonder, could not sense any movement inside of it.

    Everyone was wondering if a mishap had urred while Nie Tian was refining Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s blood and flesh aura when the blood membrane suddenly cracked like an eggshell.

    Dazzling bloody light burst forth, dazzling their eyes.

    Nie Tian¡¯s boundless flesh aura sea also naturally formed!

 Chapter 1489: Righteous

    Once their bloodline reached a certain grade, creatures with special bloodlines would naturally form flesh aura seas.

    The specific grade varied between different races due to their different bloodlines.

    However, most creatures formed their flesh aura seas when their bloodlines reached the eighth or ninth grade.

    When Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had reached the eighth grade, his real flesh aura sea hadn¡¯t appeared.

    Due to his excessive consumption of flesh aura, his flesh aura sea hadn¡¯t formed immediately after he had reached the ninth grade either.

    At this moment, his flesh aura sea formed after he hadpletely refined Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s flesh aura and strengthened his body and bones again.

    The flesh aura sea of the Ancientspirits and outsiders had a lot inmon with human Qi warriors¡¯ domains.

    Their flesh aura seas could protect them from outside bombardment, and could also be used in battle to crush or attack others¡¯ flesh aura seas or human Qi warriors¡¯ domains.

    At this moment, when the blood membrane was broken and Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea burst forth with dazzling bloody light, the boundless flesh aura fluctuations were extremely terrifying.

    The other human Qi warriors present didn¡¯t find it particrly impressive, but Pei Qiqi and Yin Yanan were deeply impressed.

    It seemed that the exuberant flesh auras in them were being attracted by Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea, and strands of their refined flesh aura flew out on their own to merge into his body.

    The two girls were secretly scared, and hurried to use magics to stop their flesh auras from being absorbed.

    Yin Yanan quietly distanced herself from Nie Tian. Looking at the crimson, greenish, and unusual flesh aura sea, she thought, ¡°This flesh aura sea... If he spreads his flesh aura sea while fighting outsider or Ancientspirit experts, such as Demon and Phantasm experts, won¡¯t his flesh aura sea absorb his opponents¡¯ flesh power?

    ¡°While they fight fiercely, it¡¯ll be difficult for his opponents to have the energy to prevent changes in their flesh aura seas. In that way, no matter who fights Nie Tian, wisps of their flesh aura will be absorbed by him.¡±

    At the thought of this, she was shocked.

    The Frost Blood Python that had practically be one with her didn¡¯t even dare to budge.

    ¡°Are you finally scared?¡± she asked.

    The mutant Frost Blood Python had hoped to get Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline and devour his body to strengthen itself the whole time.

    Every time she had met Nie Tian, she had had to work hard to curb the Frost Blood Python¡¯s greed so that it wouldn¡¯t do something stupid.

    But now, after Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had officially reached the ninth grade, as his flesh aura sea naturally spread, the Frost Blood Python, whose bloodline had also reached the ninth grade, felt overwhelming fear and anxiety.

    It seemed that it felt fearful merely by being close to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian shook his shoulders and his blood membrane turned into flying ashes with a whoosh. ¡°In addition to new bloodline talents, the ninth grade also produces a wonderful flesh aura sea. After refinement, Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s flesh aura not only greatly enhanced my fleshly body, but also allowed me to release my own flesh aura sea.

    ¡°A grand monarch is indeed of great benefit to me.¡±

    Thanks to the power given to him by Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits, he had refined that Profound Truths Crystal, and his bloodline had taken the opportunity to break through.

    He grinned and smiled brilliantly. ¡°Ninth grade. The ninth grade is different.¡±

    As soon as a thought entered his mind, the five evil gods fell into the Spirit Pearl one by one. ¡°Let¡¯s go! To the Realm of Looming Shadow!¡±

    Without saying a word, Pei Qiqi, who had waited for a long time, turned her Space Boundaries Crystal with her fingers. Beams of light shed in a facet of the crystal, as if it was slowly searching and locking onto the distant Realm of Looming Shadow.

    Soon, a spatial rift burst open.

    Figures streamed into the spatial rift and reached the Realm of Looming Shadow directly from the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    As soon as Nie Tian arrived in the starry river outside the Realm of Looming Shadow, what he saw first was ancient starships berthed outside of the Realm of Looming Shadow like ghost ships, waiting solemnly.

    Nie Tian knew at one nce that the ancient starships belonged to the Shadow Society.

    ¡°They dared to sail their ancient starships out of the Realm of Looming Shadow.¡± With these words, Nie Tian frowned and shouted, ¡°Shangguan Zhi, do you dare toe out to see me?¡±

    ¡°Why not?¡± Shangguan Zhi¡¯s feminine voice rang out from one of the ancient starships.

    His figure that was as thin as a female¡¯s slowly emerged. ¡°Nie Tian, why have youe here? It was Xuan Guangyu who went to the Domain of Vast Darkness and killed Xie Qian.

    ¡°It was Duan Hongwen and Song Chuquan who attacked Master Blood Spirit in your Realm of me Heaven. Does it have anything to do with my sect?

    ¡°You should go find Xuan Guangyu. If you fail to do that, you can go to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and find Duan Hongwen. Is it because you¡¯re afraid of Sectmaster You, and you dare not go to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, that you¡¯vee to my sect to show off your strength?

    ¡°Do you think my sect is an easy target?¡±

    Shang Guanzhi was very eloquent, and what he said seemed logical.

    Experts from various domains who had heard that Nie Tian woulde in three days had already arrived, and taken their seats in the starry river.

    If one looked closely, one would find that there were ancient starships berthed far away from the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    There were undisguised auras of more than ten Saint domain expertsing from them, and many with lower cultivation bases.

    They just wanted to witness this battle between Nie Tian and the Shadow Society.

    ¡°After dealing with the Shadow Society, I¡¯ll find Duan Hongwen of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect,¡± Nie Tian said as he fixed his eyes on the Realm of Looming Shadow, paying special attention to the Wall of Shadows. He could indeed see many so-called shadow abominations flitting in the realm barrier. ¡°Gupi helped you improve the Wall of Shadows, didn¡¯t it?¡±

    Shangguan Zhi¡¯s expression changed slightly.

    With a snort, Nie Tian said, ¡°Under Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s control, Gupi ran rampant in many realms and killed many human beings. Given that alone, will there be a problem if I demand that your sect give us an exnation? I have fought Gupi several times. I saw Jiang Yuanchi order Gupi to attack when he was conscious!¡±

    As soon as the onlookers heard Nie Tian talking about Gupi and turned to see the abominations in the Wall of Shadows, they all grew furious, and started condemning Shangguan Zhi, listing the various crimes of Jiang Yuanchi and the Shadow Society.

    ¡°The abomination Gupi!¡±

    ¡°Right! Jiang Yuanchi released Gupi to kill his own kind!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s said that it was Nie Tian¡¯s master Wu Ji, who imprisoned Gupi with the power of the river of time, took it to a secret ce and suppressed it. If Gupi hadn¡¯t been suppressed, the consequences would have been dire, and our domains would have copsed one by one before the Ancientspirits and outsiders even invaded.¡±

    ¡°The Shadow Society is unpardonable!¡±

    ¡°It was Jiang Yuanchi who made those mistakes. It has nothing to do with my sect,¡± Shangguan Zhi argued. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is no longer our sectmaster. I am the new sectmaster.¡±

 Chapter 1490: Shadow Stele

    Shangguan Zhi denied any connection to Jiang Yuanchi with stern righteousness.

    ording to him, Jiang Yuanchi had long since stopped being the sectmaster of the Shadow Society. He listed proofs including the fact that Jiang Yuanchi had blown up even the Shadow Society¡¯s ancient starships in the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    After all, no one had witnessed how respectful and loyal he had been to Jiang Yuanchi when facing him in private.

    Yan Bin from the Domain of Red Sunglow found thisughable. With a derisive smile, he said, ¡°You deny any connection with Jiang Yuanchi? I distinctly remember you being there to support them when Jiang Yuanchi, You Qimiao, and Luo Wanxiang dove into the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Gou Junhao chimed in. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say that he no longer had any connection with the Shadow Society back then?¡±

    The changes in the Seven Stars Realm Sea had attracted the attention of experts from across the human world. Many had witnessed what had happened there. Therefore, Shangguan Zhi couldn¡¯t deny that.

    ¡°That was before,¡± Shangguan Zhi said with a stern face. Then, he waved his hand and added, ¡°If any of you want to have a taste of my sect¡¯s Wall of Shadows, then I¡¯ll be happy to oblige.¡±

    ¡°Shadow Stele!¡±

    As soon as Shangguang Zhi called out, the stone stele in the Shadow Pce shot straight up from under a sea of clouds and stopped behind Shangguan Zhi, giving rise to a loud whoosh.

    Then, as numerous shadow abominations swarmed out of the Wall of Shadows and into it, the stone stele that Shangguan Zhi referred to as the Shadow Stele expanded at an rming rate.

    In merely ten breaths of time, it became a thousand timesrger than its original size.

    Floating underneath the stone stele, Shangguan Zhi looked like an insect. Eyes shining with cold, vicious light, he said, ¡°Nie Tian, I heard that you killed Grand Monarch Chaos Demon and refined his body in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. I¡¯ve got to say that was very impressive. I certainly didn¡¯t expect that. However, don¡¯t you naively think you¡¯re invincible now.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Shadow Stele flew forward.

    Like a magnificent mountain peak, it flew towards Nie Tian with an unstoppable momentum. Countless shadow abominations could be seen swimming on its surface like shoals of fish.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A peculiar emerald green light rose from the Shadow Stele and descended towards Nie Tian like a dome.

    ¡°Corrosive...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he sensed Gupi¡¯s acidic and corrosive aura from the emerald green light.

    He was immediately convinced that the Shadow Society¡¯s so-called shadow abominations had been vested with power by Gupi, which was why they carried terrifying power so simr to Gupi¡¯s.

    ¡°What¡¯s on earth is the rtionship between Jiang Yuanchi and Gupi? Does he have control over Gupi, or do they have some sort of agreement? It¡¯s hard to believe it actually expended its own power to empower those shadow abominations and strengthen the Wall of Shadows.¡±

    With these questions in mind, he raised his hand and beckoned for the others to back away.

    Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, Mo Qianfan, and the others had sensed danger upon detecting Gupi¡¯s peculiar aura. They were already backing away.

    ¡°So they carry Gupi¡¯s power,¡± Nie Tian said with a derisive snort. ¡°Even Gupi itself didn¡¯t scare me outside the Realm of Fragmentary Star, not to mention that these are merely a bunch of abominations that carry a bit of its aura.¡±

    RUMBLE!

    His me domain, which connected to the me Land, manifested in an instant. A mysterious me spell formation could be seen in it, enveloped in raging mes.

    All of the Qi warriors from different human domains that practiced fire incantations gasped.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether they were at the Void domain or the Saint domain, they all somehow felt insecure and uneasy.

    This peculiar feeling originated from their me domains.

    ¡°This is weird. Why do I feel as if Nie Tian¡¯s me domain can absorb mine? This doesn¡¯t make sense. He¡¯s only entered the Saint domain recently, hasn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°The strange auraing from Nie Tian¡¯s me domain is making me very ufortable.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s as if I was passing through the dead realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End, and my saint domain could perish at any moment and disperse into that part of the starry river.¡±

    ¡°I have a strange feeling that I¡¯m facing the origin of fire.¡±

    Everyone who practiced me power wondered while paying close attention to Nie Tian.

    They soon saw that as the dome of emerald green light fell towards Nie Tian, it was ignited by his me domain and started burning furiously, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    Nie Tian looked up at the shadow abominations swimming on the surface of the stone stele. ¡°They are powerful spirits vested with Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s shadow power and Gupi¡¯s toxic power.¡±

    After pondering for a brief moment, he called out, ¡°Come on out. Time to test their strength.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew out one after another.

    Having gathered more soul fragments from the Nether River branch in that mysterious ce, they had be even mightier than before. Each and every one of them was thousands of meters tall, and looked every bit as awe-inspiring as the so-called Shadow Stele.

    RUMBLE!

    Five negative emotions, hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust, burst forth like seas, causing stirs in the souls of almost every powerful expert present.

    Even the God domain experts felt apprehensive merely by staring at them from afar.

    FIZZ!

    With a casual swing of its arm that looked like a sharp bone de, the evil god of fear unleashed a heaven-tearing, earth-shredding aura, which made Shangguan Zhi¡¯s heart jolt.

    As the evil god of bloodlust stared into his eyes, the desire to spill blood in the depths of his heart seemed to be instantly ignited.

    At the same time, the evil god of despair and the evil god of rage pounced towards him from his nks, soul-drowning despair and rage spreading in an overwhelming manner.

    Shangguan Zhi broke almost immediately.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    With a sharp scream, he morphed into a streak of light that flew through the Wall of Shadows and back into the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    Each and every evil god exuded an aura as mighty as that of an early tenth grade Phantasm grand monarch.

    How could he not cower when the five of them attacked him together?

    After all, he was only at the early God domain.

    Only as he fled did he realize why Nie Tian could kill Grand Monarch Chaos Demon of the Demons so easily.

    He had originally assumed that Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, and Mo Qianfan had contributed to Grand Monarch Chaos Demon¡¯s death.

    However, the moment the five evil gods had pounced towards him, he had realized that these peculiar puppets of Nie Tian¡¯s alone were powerful enough to tear that newly-made Demon grand monarch to shreds.

    Therefore, he could only escape and think of other ns.

    After he left, the Shadow Stele stood alone in the deep starry river. Countless shadow abominations started shing about like spiders spinning a web of light, which gradually morphed into a gruesome symbol.

    ¡°Shadow. Silence.¡±

    Ancient chanting seemed to echo from within the stone stele.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was Nie Tian or the observers in the distance. They all heard the two words echo in their ears, not very loudly, but strangely clearly.

    WHOOSH!

    The shadow abominations in the stone stele suddenly swarmed out and swirled towards the five evil gods.

    The evil gods¡¯ arms, backs, and legs, which had many sharp bone thorns growing out of them, seemed to be instantly wrapped in extremely strong and sticky rubber, as every movement had beborious and hard.

    The worst part was that cyan smoke started rising from the evil gods.

    That was a sign of their bodies being corroded by the acidic toxins.

    Having observed for a while, Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Such strange shadow abominations... Like the fire element sect¡¯s Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, this Shadow Stele is also an Immortal grade divine tool that protects a realm. It¡¯s just that Shangguan Zhi doesn¡¯t practice the shadow incantations that the Shadow Society is known for. Therefore, he can¡¯t disy the true might of the Shadow Stele.¡±

    With these words, he turned to Dong Li and Pei Qiqi, who were next to him, and added, ¡°If it were controlled by Jiang Yuanchi close to the Wall of Shadows, the Shadow Stele might disy such might that evente tenth grade grand monarchs andte God domain experts wouldn¡¯t be able to get anywhere near him.¡±

    The girls nodded, fully convinced.

    Their current cultivation bases, strength, and knowledge allowed them to see through the wonders of the Shadow Stele.

    Seeing that even the evil gods were having such difficulty handling the shadow abominations, Dong Li was prepared to release her dark power and see if she could suppress the Shadow Stele.

    Nie Tian gradually lost his patience. ¡°I could confine even Gupi¡¯s toxic essence. You¡¯re nothing inparison.¡±

    At this point, he had noticed that it wasn¡¯t shadow power that was giving the evil gods a hard time, it was the terrifying toxic power that Gupi had vested these shadow abominations with.

    ¡°Illusory Ancient Talisman.¡±

    With a cold snort, he made hand seals facing the five evil gods.

    However, before a talisman could form, the numerous sticky shadow abominations that had wrapped around the five evil gods sensed danger.

    WHOOSH!

    They shrank back into the Shadow Stele like intelligent beings.

    Then, the stone stele slowly returned to the Wall of Shadows. As soon as it fell into the realm barrier, the shadow abominations that hade from the Wall of Shadows returned to it.

    ¡°Since attacking with the Shadow Stele and the shadow abominations didn¡¯t achieve good results, we¡¯ll have to put all of our strength in our defense.¡± Shangguan Zhi¡¯s dark, cold voice echoed remotely from behind the realm barrier that protected the Realm of Looming Shadow.

 Chapter 1491: Darkness Enshrouds

    Shangguan Zhi wasn¡¯t Jiang Yuanchi, after all.

    Even if he could use the Shadow Stele, he didn¡¯t practice shadow magics, so he couldn¡¯t disy the Shadow Stele¡¯s true strength.

    He couldn¡¯t make the utmost use of the offensive power of the Shadow Stele by releasing the shadow abominations within it.

    However, the Wall of Shadows¡¯ defenses didn¡¯t rely on him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Thousands of shadow abominations surged in the Realm of Looming Shadow¡¯s realm barrier, making it, which was already quite tough, even tougher.

    Nie Tian reached out and pointed. ¡°Go!¡±

    The five ferocious evil gods either spread their sharp des, expelled thick Nether qi, or let out roars as they all charged at the Wall of Shadows.

    BAM! BAM!

    Upon making contact with the Wall of Shadows, the tough giant bodies of the five evil gods, whose true strength wasparable to an early tenth grade grand monarch, were actually rebounded.

    The Wall of Shadows was like a surprisingly stic rubber ball.

    HISS! HISS!

    There was light smoke surrounding the five evil gods¡¯ limbs that had touched the Wall of Shadows, which was the result of their fleshly bodies being strongly eroded.

    ¡°Gupi¡¯s poisonous energy, and... the shadow abominations¡¯ own resilience,¡± Pei Qiqi said, observing carefully.

    Suddenly, she turned her Space Boundaries Crystal and said. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡±

    All of a sudden, lightning manifested in the dark sky!

    It was a zing blinding de that had flitted out of the Space Boundaries Crystal!

    The light de was extremely sharp. All the human Qi warriors present had a tingling and burning sensation only by looking at it with their eyes.

    It was as if the light de could cut up the bodies of all the creatures on earth.

    Many of the Qi warriors scattered around the Realm of Looming Shadow marveled, looking at Pei Qiqi with strong fear in their eyes.

    ¡°What a terrifying sharp power!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that my earth domain would be easily cracked by it!¡±

    ¡°This kind of sharpness can even tear space to pieces, let alone your saint domain.¡±

    They suddenly realized that Pei Qiqi, who had been able to cut off an arm of Grand Monarch Remote Demon, seemed to have her cultivation base and battle prowess improved in a short period of time.

    ¡°What a scary woman!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s nonstop rapid growth gave them a sense of frustration that they were left so far behind that they would never be able to keep up with her.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The dazzling light de cut through space and pulled out streaks of brighter light, tearing the Wall of Shadows like a long white rainbow.

    Cut by the light de, countless shadow abominations were reduced to fragmentary shadows.

    The Wall of Shadows was slowly torn open like a gray curtain, forming a rift.

    However, the riftsted only a few seconds before it was filled with numerous shadow abominations, and slowly healed again.

    Pei Qiqi frowned slightly and slowly lowered the pretty hand with which she was holding her Space Boundaries Crystal. Then she shook her head slightly and said, ¡°The Wall of Shadows of the Shadow Society is very mysterious and unusual indeed. Even my power to cut space won¡¯tst long enough to really break it open.¡±

    Dong Li jumped in and said, ¡°Let me have a try.¡±

    The Dark Aureole suddenly rose above her head like a dark sun.

    In an instant, darkness swallowed all light around her.

    Boundless darkness spread rapidly. The purest darkness soon enveloped a hundred mile radius around her.

    The immense darkness emitted a mysterious, cold, and uncanny aura, making even the God domain experts present very ufortable.

    Looking into the darkness, many people felt great terror, as if their souls were being pulled into the darkness, and they couldn¡¯t break free no matter how hard they tried.

    ¡°Darkness, extreme dark power!¡± An expert who had carefully learned about the dark forces of the Demons and outsiders marveled. ¡°Even the ck dragons, the ck phoenixes of the Ancientspirits, and the dark race of the Demons can¡¯t release such darkness! This kind of extreme dark power seems to be able to suppress even the origin of the Demons¡¯ power!¡±

    In everyone¡¯s eyes, the immense darkness gradually drowned the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    BAM! BAM!

    Strange bursting sounds came from the darkness. Those who heard it felt more and more uneasy.

    Even when Nie Tian used his bloodline and soul perception, he couldn¡¯t see what kind of power Dong Li was using against the Realm of Looming Shadow in the darkness.

    The only thing he could tell was that she had borrowed the ck turtle¡¯s power.

    In the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    The Shadow Stele was suspended motionlessly in front of Shangguan Zhi, whose face grew more and more gloomy.

    Floating next to him, Song Chequan of the Jade Heaven Sect looked skywards, his expression bing more and more grave. ¡°Can the Wall of Shadows really resist all these attacks? It¡¯s getting dark.¡±

    Duan Hongwen was also uneasy.

    The three experts who were at the early God domain looked up into the sky, but could only see the immense darkness gradually engulfing the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    It seemed as if the whole Realm of Looming Shadow waspletely covered in a giant ck curtain.

    On the ground, looking at the sky covered by darkness, the humans living in the Shadow Society and the captive spirit animals were terrified despite themselves.

    The extreme darkness engulfed the Realm of Looming Shadow, making it difficult for all the creatures in the Realm of Looming Shadow to see each other.

    The extreme darkness could ignore the Wall of Shadows!

    Soon, the humans and spirit beasts in the Realm of Looming Shadow could no longer see anything, and they even were about to lose their soul perception as time went on.

    The panic was spreading and deepening little by little...

    After a while, Duan Hongwen restlessly yelled, ¡°It is obvious that Dong Li doesn¡¯t have a high cultivation base. How can she engulf the whole Realm of Looming Shadow in darkness? Even your sect¡¯s Wall of Shadows can¡¯t prevent the dark power from eroding it.¡±

    ¡°The dark power can¡¯tpletely prate the Wall of Shadows and the Realm of Looming Shadow!¡± Shangguan Zhi exined, ¡°It¡¯s just that her dark power is enshrouding the Realm of Looming Shadow. She and the others still have no way to prate the Wall of Shadows and enter the Realm of Looming Shadow!¡±

    Song Chequan joined the conversation in the darkness, ¡°Even if they don¡¯te in, how can a realm survive when it is engulfed by darkness, there is no light, we can¡¯t see each other, and our souls can perceive nothing? Maybe we¡¯ll be able to endure the darkness for a time, but what about the others? How long can the Qi warriors with low cultivation bases in your sect endure?¡±

    Shangguan Zhi was silent.

    The extreme darkness made them feel as if they were confined in a dark house, unable to see or perceive anything. That kind of loneliness and fear of the unknown was enough to break many who didn¡¯t have a strong heart.

    He began to worry that the disciples and spirit beasts in the Realm of Looming Shadow would lose control and go mad.

    Dong Li¡¯s casual voice echoed in the darkness. ¡°I don¡¯t need to break the Wall of Shadows. I don¡¯t believe your people can survive after losing all their light.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with surprise. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could enshroud a whole realm in your dark power now.¡±

    Even tenth grade ck dragons and ck phoenixes that were proficient in dark power probably couldn¡¯t do such a thing.

    ¡°The strength of the dark stone, Dark Aureole, and that foolish ck turtle enables me to engulf an entire realm in darkness,¡± Dong Li exined in a soft voice.

    Looking confident, she added, ¡°Trust me. In three days at most, the Qi warriors with low cultivation bases of the Shadow Society will break.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll take three days,¡± said Gou Junhao.

 Chapter 1492: Stress

    The Realm of Looming Shadow was dim to begin with.

    After the extreme darkness blotted out all the light and drowned the realm, the humans living in the realm became more and more frightened.

    Without light, nothing could be seen. Even the extension of people¡¯s souls became intermittent.

    The transmission and connection of sound also slowly became problematic.

    The evil gods of fear and despair didn¡¯t need to do anything; fear and despair already began filling the Realm of Looming Shadow, lingering in the depths of everyone¡¯s hearts.

    On the first day of darkness, many Qi warriors of the Shadow Society instinctively approached the Shadow Pce. They wanted to evacuate the Realm of Looming Shadow through teleportation portals, and go to the realms closely rted to the Shadow Society to avoid this disaster.

    Unfortunately, the teleportation formations set up in the Shadow Pce couldn¡¯t operate properly.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi!¡± In the dark, Shangguan Zhi¡¯s voice appeared to be extremely deep and cold. ¡°Her Space Boundaries Crystal has been getting stronger and stronger after refining the fragments of the Phantasms¡¯ Wheel of Time and Space. Its power makes the Realm of Looming Shadow¡¯s space fluctuations deviate. We¡¯re stuck for now.¡±

    As Pei Qiqi had cut off one of Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s arms and disyed her outstanding battle prowess time and again, her Space Boundaries Crystal gradually became famous for its strength.

    People like Ji Yuanquan in the Void Spirit Society believed that one day the Space Boundaries Crystal would be a divine tool, just like the Void Mirror.

    Since it was wielded by Pei Qiqi, whose incantations and bloodline were experiencing explosive growth and whose strength was unfathomable, it was very easy for such an invaluable spatial treasure that had repeatedly increased its power to influence the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    They couldn¡¯t use teleportation portals, so none of the Realm of Looming Shadow¡¯s Qi warriors could escape the darkness, unless they charged through the Wall of Shadows.

    People were scared and restless in the dark. Many of them began to copse.

    On the second day, some experts attempted to leave through the Wall of Shadows.

    However, due to Dong Li¡¯s Dark Aureole, all the Qi warriors who rushed out of the Realm of Looming Shadow and fell into the darkness lost their lives.

    It was dark outside, as if a sea of ink had drowned the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    Beams of electric light came from Pei Qiqi¡¯s fingertips from time to time and prated the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    The Realm of Looming Shadow¡¯s reflection on one facet of the Space Boundaries Crystal was pure ck.

    Nie Tian was very curious. ¡°Are all the teleportation portals of the Realm of Looming Shadow limited by the Space Boundaries Crystal and no longer working? It¡¯s clear that you¡¯re outside the realm, but your strength and Space Boundaries Crystal can influence the space fluctuations in the Realm of Looming Shadow?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded.

    As the Realm of Looming Shadow was drowned by the darkness, the Saint domain humans originally scattered elsewhere emboldened themselves, and moved closer to her.

    Upon hearing their conversation, the Saint domain Qi warriors looked astonished.

    ¡°Nie Tian, Dong Li, Pei Qiqi.¡±

    These three names carried such weight that they felt pressured.

    For many of them, this was the first time they had witnessed the power of the three. They found that these three youngsters who had risen abruptly from the Domain of the Falling Stars had already be the pioneers of this new era.

    Facing their power, even the powerful Shadow Society was in a dilemma.

    Dong Li used her darkness to drown the Realm of Looming Shadow, Pei Qiqi used her Space Boundaries Crystal to seal its teleportation portals, and Nie Tian waited for any Shadow Society members who tried to escape.

    In fact, all the Shadow Society members who had charged out of the Realm of Looming Shadow and entered the darkness under the pressure of fear and despair had perished without making a sound.

    There was no need for Nie Tian to do anything.

    The pressure that the three could bring to bear was almost suffocating.

    The other people secretly wondered how long Shangguan Zhi of the Shadow Society could endure. Would You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and Xuan Guangyu, who had betrayed the Void Spirit Society, show up in time?

    Judging from the current situation, even if the Wall of Shadows couldn¡¯t be broken, Shangguan Zhi wouldn¡¯t be able to hole up in the Realm of Looming Shadow forever.

    If he didn¡¯t make changes, the Shadow Society was bound to perish.

    ¡°The power of the Shadow Society is outmatched only by the four ancient sects. It¡¯s well-established, but now it has no power to fight back. Ah, it seems that it¡¯s been on the decline since Jiang Yuanchi left.¡±

    ¡°On the decline? It¡¯s uncertain whether it can even survive or not.¡±

    ¡°How long has it been? I remember how overbearing the Shadow Society was when it joined hands with the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and the Jade Heaven Sect in an attempt to rece the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. In a twinkling, now it¡¯s so suppressed by Nie Tian that its disciples can¡¯t even go out.¡±

    ¡°Will Shangguan Zhi surrender?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.¡±

    ...

    A huge mountain floated in a boundless sea of clouds.

    The Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect sat on the top of the mountain, as if floating in a sea of clouds.

    A Saint domain elder knelt down in front of You Qimiao and said in a sincere tone, ¡°Sectmaster! Old Duan has made great contributions to our sect! Even though he didn¡¯t inform the sect before he attacked Master Blood Spirit for the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, he¡¯s still a member of our sect! Sectmaster, after your breakthrough, you are invincible in the human world. Do you really want to watch him get bullied by those brats like Nie Tian?¡±

    On the mountaintop, You Qimiao stood in front of the pces with his hands behind his back, gazing at the ever-changing sea of clouds.

    His Yin Yang Chaos Mirror had taken the form of into two giant yin-yang fish, ying happily in the sea of clouds, as if it were swallowing the power of the sea of clouds, so that the realm where the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect was located could gather more abundant spiritual power of heaven and earth.

    It seemed his dimly discernible and faintly ethereal voice didn¡¯te from himself, but from the sea of clouds as he said, ¡°The Realm of Looming Shadow hasn¡¯t been broken yet, has it? With Duan Hongwen¡¯s aptitude and cultivation base, even if I gave him some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, he still wouldn¡¯t have been able to seed in breaking through. He spent a great deal of effort in advancing to the God domain back in the day. It was me who helped him at that time. How can I not know his potential?

    ¡°Only with another thousand years of concentrated cultivation can he possibly break through to thete God domain with the help of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    ¡°Because the youths like Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi have been quickly breaking through their cultivation bases, his cultivation mentality has gone wrong. He has the illusion that he can ovee the barrier of his cultivation base off the beaten track in a short time, like Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know that unusual people like Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi have been unprecedented miracles in the human race since ancient times.

    ¡°In my opinion, if he drinks the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir now, it¡¯ll be wasted.¡±

    Hearing You Qimiao¡¯s exnation, the elder kneeling down was sincerely convinced, and said, ¡°Sectmaster, even if Old Duan has misunderstood you and is dissatisfied with you, it¡¯s our internal affair. As you are usually in secluded meditation, it¡¯s him who has been in charge of the internal affairs of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. I think you should know he has worked hard, and made very positive contributions to the sect over the years.¡±

    You Qimiao pondered for a moment, then said, ¡°Rest assured, I won¡¯t let him die.¡±

    The elder, who was Duan Hongwen¡¯s close friend, heaved a sigh of relief and said, ¡°I¡¯m relieved to hear that. Sectmaster, do you think it is possible for Xuan Guangyu to break through with the help of Xie Qian¡¯s Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and reach the same level as you in a short time?¡±

    ¡°No way,¡± You Qimiao replied in an indifferent air.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because he dreads facing Qu Yi. He is always worried that Qu Yi will return, so he is very anxious, and wants to break through to thete God domain as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the more anxious he is, the harder it¡¯ll be for him to break through.¡±

    ¡°Understood.¡±

 Chapter 1493: Kill the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

    WHOOSH!

    The thick darkness ebbed like the sea, revealing the iparablyrge ck tortoise that floated outside the Realm of Looming Shadow like a berthed ancient starship.

    On its vast back, more than a dozen Qi warriors from the Shadow Society were wrapped in ck light, unable to move.

    The Dark Aureole could be seen floating over Dong Li¡¯s head, her body curvaceous and enchanting.

    Her ink-ck pupils seemed to carry powerful magic that would make all those who looked into her eyes long enough lose themselves.

    ¡°Howe the darkness ebbed?¡± Some people eximed softly. Only after observing with rapt attention did they realize that Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society hade out of the Realm of Looming Shadow without them knowing it, and was now floating in front of the Wall of Shadows.

    Everyone could see the helplessness on his face and the fury in his eyes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Dazzling light suddenly shot forth from within the Wall of Shadows.

    As this happened, the shadow abominations that had been active in the Wall of Shadows hid themselves sensibly.

    ¡°That light...¡± Huang Jinnan from the Five Elements Sect observed with rapt attention before eximing, ¡°That¡¯s light power! I can¡¯t believe the Wall of Shadows contains light power as well!¡±

    Hou Chn was dumbfounded for a moment before saying, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is a rare talent indeed. As an expert who practices both light and shadow power, he actually managed to vest the Wall of Shadows with the wonders of light. It¡¯s just that the light power within the Wall of Shadows is rather weak. Light power and dark power mutually augment and suppress each other. Dong Li has clearly devoured arge proportion of the light power in the Wall of Shadows with her Dark Aureole and dark stone.¡±

    Huang Jinnan nodded. ¡°It seems that the Wall of Shadows only failed to shield off the darkness because Jiang Yuanchi isn¡¯t here.¡±

    Hou Chn sighed in admiration. ¡°Dong Li is powerful indeed.¡±

    ¡°You want Xuan Guangyu, right? He¡¯s not here.¡± Shangguan Zhi said, looking exasperated.

    As soon as he said these words, a mor burst out among the onlookers.

    They had suspected that things were about to take a new turn after seeing Dong Li withdraw her endless darkness and Shangguan Zhie out of the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    They had suspected that he was going to admit defeat.

    Now, the first thing he said aftering out proved that they were right. It hadn¡¯t even been three days, yet Shangguan Zhi, who had temporarily taken Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s ce as the head of the Shadow Society, had surrendered.

    ¡°One, two, three... all sixteen of them are at the Void domain or higher.¡± Gou Junhao counted sixteen Shadow Society Qi warriors that were bound by dark light on the ck tortoise¡¯s back. ¡°Three of them are at the Saint domain. Arge part of the Shadow Society¡¯s power has fallen prisoner to Dong Li. It seems that by announcing that they woulde to the Shadow Society in three days, they allowed the Shadow Society to gather their powerful experts, so they could catch them all at once.¡±

    As the sectmaster of the Heavenly Changes Pavilion, Gou Junhao was well-informed as well. Many powerful experts from the Shadow Society knew him.

    The sixteen captured experts were people who the Shadow Society had put in charge of information collection in different domains.

    Some of them had panicked and charged out of the Realm of Looming Shadow on their own, while others had been instructed to charge out of the Realm of Looming Shadow by Shangguan Zhi.

    Through them, Shangguan Zhi had attempted to test the might of the darkness that Dong Li had enshrouded the Realm of Looming Shadow in, and make preparations for his next move.

    Also, he had hoped that they would break through the siege and inform Xuan Guangyu or You Qimiao of the situation.

    However, things hadn¡¯t gone as he had nned.

    All sixteen of them had been captured by Dong Li. Not a single one had managed to break through the dark blockade.

    If Dong Li had killed them all, the intelligence department of the Shadow Society would have been immediately paralyzed.

    Then, their strong suit and means of livelihood would be gone.

    ¡°If Xuan Guangyu isn¡¯t in the Realm of Looming Shadow, where is he?¡± Dong Li asked, a strong murderous aura brewing in her pitch-ck eyes. ¡°Also, how can you prove that he¡¯s not in the Realm of Looming Shadow? If you want peace, then deactivate the Wall of Shadows and allow us to enter the realm to conduct our own search.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± Shangguan Zhi said angrily.

    Dong Li frowned. ¡°Impossible?¡±

    As the Dark Aureole floating over her head spun lightly, pure dark power sprayed and fell on threete Void domain Qi warriors from the Shadow Society.

    With a loud boom, the dark power restraining the three of them exploded.

    Surprisingly, as soon as their bodies and souls were blown to pieces, the darkness engulfed all the pieces before condensing into ck spheres.

    WHOOSH!

    The ck spheres then flew into the Dark Aureole and vanished.

    All of this happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint.

    Before Shangguan Zhi could react, he saw that three powerful experts from the Shadow Society were killed and absorbed by the Dark Aureole.

    ¡°Such a ruthless woman!¡±

    Many onlookers sucked in a breath of cold air, as if this were the first time they had witnessed this side of Dong Li.

    Many of them only knew that she was the woman behind Nie Tian, and that Nie Tian trusted herpletely.

    Everything they had heard about her before was in rtion to Nie Tian. After all, her cultivation base had been rather unimpressive.

    Only after she had obtained the dark stone with Nie Tian¡¯s help and merged it with her had she started to make rapid advances in her cultivation. It was then that people had started to learn about her strength.

    Her power hadn¡¯t truly burst forth until she had obtained the Dark Aureole and fought off Grand Monarch Chaos Demon and Ophelia.

    That was when people from across the human world had truly acknowledged her battle prowess andpared her unearthly talent with Pei Qiqi¡¯s.

    However, very few knew what kind of person she was.

    At this moment, after seeing her kill three Void domain experts from the Shadow Society in such a ruthless manner, they finally realized that this woman behind Nie Tian was even deadlier than Pei Qiqi.

    ¡°How dare you!¡± Shangguan Zhi thundered with wide eyes.

    BOOM!

    Another early Saint domain Qi warrior from the Shadow Society exploded, his shattered body and soul enveloped and condensed into a ck sphere, which then flew into the Dark Aureole.

    All of the remaining Shadow Society Qi warriors who were wrapped in dark light were scared to death, and started howling madly.

    They begged Shangguan Zhi toply.

    The fact that four of their powerful experts were ruthlessly killed by Dong Li and their desperate howling finally cracked Shangguan Zhi. ¡°Stop! Xuan Guangyu went to the depths of the space disruption zone, where he hopes to break through to thete God domain with the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡±

    ¡°Where exactly?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know the exact location!¡± Shangguan Zhi said in deep frustration.

    ¡°Alright, deactivate the Wall of Shadows. We¡¯ll conduct a thorough search of your realm.¡± Dong Li said with an overbearing tone, as if she was Shangguan Zhi¡¯s superior. ¡°I want to see if Song Chequan and Duan Hongwen are hiding in your realm.¡±

    Just as Shangguan Zhi was about to speak, Duan Hongwen¡¯s resounding voice echoed from inside the Realm of Looming Shadow. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±

    A cold look appeared in the eyes of Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t said a word so far, as he said, ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°Now deactivate the Wall of Shadows,¡± Dong Limanded.

    ¡°Let them in. I want to see which of them dares to fight me.¡± Duan Hongwen shouted.

    After a moment of hesitation, Shangguan Zhi let out a sigh and nodded. ¡°You may enter.¡±

    The Shadow Stele then flew out.

    All of the most powerful shadow abominations that had been wandering in the Wall of Shadows flew out and entered the Shadow Stele.

    The wonders of the divine spell formation then disappeared.

 Chapter 1494: Simply Too Powerful

    WHOOSH!

    The moment the Wall of Shadows disappeared, Nie Tian morphed into a streak of light that shot into the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    Before he could expend any effort to search for Duan Hongwen from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, he found that he was floating upright in the heavens, waiting.

    ¡°Duan Hongwen!¡± Nie Tian flew to face him in the blink of an eye. ¡°You and Song Chequan attacked Master Blood Spirit. It¡¯s about time we settle ounts.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, the five evil gods flew out of the Spirit Pearl.

    Without any dy, the five of them that were bing stronger with every passing day unleashed negative emotions, which spread towards every corner of the Realm of Looming Shadow like the sea.

    Soon, the sky, the earth, and the oceans were all filled with the evil gods¡¯ auras.

    Duan Hongwen¡¯s expression flickered violently as he, who practiced earth power, immediately activated his dharma idol.

    The moment his dharma idol manifested, it formed a subtle connection with the earth¡¯s core.

    With faint rumblesing from the depths of the earth, pirs of grayish-yellow earth power sted out of the earth like powerful fountains, converging on his dharma idol and shaping it into a lofty, divine mountain peak.

    The divine mountain peak looked even more magnificent than it had been in the Realm of Maelstrom.

    Nie Tian smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you still dare to fight me. Don¡¯t you remember how I severely injured you in the Realm of Maelstrom?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and Mo Qianfan descended from the starry river one after another.

    In the blink of an eye, Duan Hongwen was surrounded.

    Hou Chn from the wood element sect flew lightly through the realm barrier and entered the Realm of Looming Shadow. ¡°If You Qimiao doesn¡¯t show up soon, I¡¯m afraid this vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect will definitely be captured. Duan Hongwen¡¯s battle prowess is only at about the same level as Mo Qianfan¡¯s. Even though Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li haven¡¯t entered the God domain yet... I doubt that any of them are any weaker than him.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Seeing that Shangguan Zhi wasn¡¯t going to stop them, more figures streamed through the realm barrier.

    All of a sudden, the Realm of Looming Shadow was filled with moring onlookers.

    Many of them looked at Duan Hongwen with gloating looks in their eyes.

    Shangguan Zhi snorted disdainfully and said, ¡°Nie Tian, I advise you to stand down. After all, Duan Hongwen is the vice sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. You Qimiao will be enraged if you do anything to him! Do you really want to enrage You Qimiao and make him go after you at this moment when the human world is in turmoil and terrorized by outsider invaders?¡±

    ¡°So you know that the human world is in turmoil?¡± Nie Tian said with narrowed eyes. ¡°How can you exin You Qimiao provoking the Ripper Behemoth to destroy the Realm of Heaven Span? Did you lot think about the consequences when you killed Xie Qian and attacked Master Blood Spirit?

    ¡°How dare you talk about the big picture?¡±

    Suddenly, strange cracking sounds came from the magnificent Shadow Pce as thousands of beams of zing white light shot out of its numerous windows.

    Each and every inter-domain teleportation portal inside the pce trembled, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    BOOM!

    The Shadow Pce shook violently as intense spatial fluctuations surged out of it.

    Everyone noticed that Pei Qiqi shook slightly.

    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡±

    Holding the Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi took her time to fly towards the Shadow Pce.

    One of its many facets lit up every inch of the Shadow Pce, revealing every single shadow abomination that was hiding in the stone walls.

    Standing before the Shadow Pce, she said, ¡°All of the teleportation portals that connect the Realm of Looming Shadow to the outside world have been destroyed. Even You Qimiao can¡¯t possibly arrive here within a short time without their help.¡±

    The divine mountain peak that had been floating unwavering in the sky suddenly gave a jolt.

    Since the divine mountain peak had been transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol, its jolting meant that Duan Hongwen was no longer calm.

    You Qimiao was his backer. He had been convinced that You Qimiao woulde to his rescue if his life was in danger.

    This was why he had dared to let Shangguan Zhi deactivate the Wall of Shadows and confront Nie Tian in such a provocative manner.

    But now, his greatest reliance was eliminated by Pei Qiqi.

    Even if You Qimiao wanted toe here, he would most likely not be able to arrive in time to save him.

    ¡°Stop hiding. It¡¯s useless.¡±

    As soon as Pei Qiqi eximed these words, her spatial bloodline burst forth with iparably fierce flesh power, causing the Space Boundaries Crystal in her hand to emanate glorious divine light.

    Then, a beam of blinding light shot out of one end of the crystal and towards the Shadow Pce, giving rise to a loud sting sound.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift was split open over the magnificent pce by the beam of light. Lights of different colors could be seen shing across in it.

    Everyone gasped with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s the space disruption zone! With a casual spin of her Space Boundaries Crystal, she actually managed to break the spatial barriers to summon such devastating power!¡±

    Then, under their gaze, the divine pce that had stood unwavering in the Realm of Looming Shadow for hundreds of thousands of years was sliced by the dazzling light shooting out of the spatial rift.

    All of the mysterious spell formations that had been engraved in the stone walls exploded as the pce toppled.

    With loud cracks and rumbles, the splendid pce was reduced to piles ofrge stones, the teleportation portals within the pce long since destroyed.

    WHOOSH!

    Song Chequan from the Jade Heaven Sect charged out of the rubble, his face and robes covered in dust and his expression grim.

    ¡°Our divine pce!¡± Shangguan Zhi wailed in despair.

    He hadn¡¯t expected that Pei Qiqi would demolish their divine pce with her Space Boundaries Crystal without even saying anything first.

    The Wall of Shadows, which was the realm barrier integrated with shadow abominations, was the Shadow Society¡¯s strongest defense.

    As the most important function of the Shadow Pce was to receive from and send out messages to various human domains through the shadow abominations in it, its defenses weren¡¯t exceptional.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Even Pei Qiqi herself was bbergasted after reducing the Shadow Pce to rubble with merely one strike, as she had never expected that the famous Shadow Pce would be so fragile.

    Only till Song Chequan flew out of the rubble did she snap out of her daze and say, ¡°Leave the sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect to me.¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s mine!¡± Dong Li¡¯s charming shout echoed out.

    Two beautiful figures shot after Song Chequan one after the other, as they both wanted to kill him.

    Song Chequan, who had just escaped from the toppled Shadow Pce, hadn¡¯t calmed himself yet before seeing a sea of darkness spreading towards him, and Pei Qiqi, who was flying in front of it, wreathed in dazzling light.

    Song Chequan only went nk for a second before turning around and charging towards the starry river.

    Disbelief filled the eyes of Gou Junhao from the Heavenly Changes Pavilion after he saw the unexpected turn of events. ¡°This is...¡±

    He shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Song Chequan is a well-established God domain expert. I can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t even have the courage to fight when facing Dong Li and Pei Qiqi, neither of whom have entered the God domain.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t me him,¡± Yan Bin said. ¡°Dong Li and Pei Qiqi¡¯s recent battle performance is simply shocking. Song Chequan was scared by Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess during their encounter in the Domain of Jade Heaven. What was Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base back then, and what¡¯s his cultivation base now? Unlike Duan Hongwen, he doesn¡¯t have You Qimiao at his back. How could he dare to stay and fight to the death?¡±

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect is such a joke.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that the Jade Heaven Sect is a joke, but Nie Tian and those around him are simply too powerful.¡±

 Chapter 1495: Savior?

    A streak of dazzling light and a sea of darkness chased Song Chequan into the distance.

    The dazzling light morphed a few times before eventually confining Song Chequan to a small area of the starry river.

    Cornered, Song Chequan was forced to unleash his dharma idol and engage in a battle with Pei Qiqi, who held the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    ¡°Bloodline: Space Storm!¡±

    Instead of casting a Void Spirit Society secret magic, Pei Qiqi¡¯s first move was to cast one of the Voidspirits¡¯ unique bloodline talents.

    Numerous dazzling spatial des shot out from her acupoints and rapidly formed a vast storm of spatial des.

    The storm rotated and sliced the void as it swept towards Song Chequan¡¯s dharma idol with an overwhelming momentum.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In merely a few seconds, Song Chequan¡¯s huge dharma idol was sliced and reduced to a thousand glowing pieces, his aura dropping significantly.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Dong Li arrived, wielding the Dark Aureole.

    ...

    Inside the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    The five evil gods were stillunching waves of raging attacks towards the divine mountain peak transformed from Duan Hongwen¡¯s dharma idol.

    HOWL!

    Apanied by their fierce howls, wondrous talismans and peculiar spell formations that only souls could perceive were branded on the divine mountain peak.

    Nie Tian, who was watching the evil gods attack at will, saw that those talismans were the Netherspirits¡¯ unique soul symbols, and those spell formations consisted of countless soul strands.

    It was well-known that the Netherspirits were the most skilled at soul attacks.

    The divine mountain peak Duan Hongwen had morphed into seemed unbreakable as it continued to absorb earth power from the Realm of Looming Shadow. However, things started to change under the five evil gods¡¯ frenzied attacks.

    Duan Hongwen¡¯s refined soul power inside the divine mountain peak started to be skillfully dismembered, like a skilled butcher dismembering a deer.

    Fissures began to emerge inside the lofty mountain peak, which looked very much like a real one.

    Numerous profound incantations Duan Hongwen had inscribed inside of it with earth power were severed.

    Momentster, with a loud boom, the divine mountain peak crumbled, just like the Shadow Pce had.

    As the mountain peak copsed, grayish-yellow divine light regathered to Duan Hongwen¡¯s true form, though he looked quite weary now.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    Endless rumbles came from the earth he stood on as more earth power was channeled from the depths of the earth to replenish his drastic consumption.

    At the same time, he took out a handful of medicinal pills with a mild scent, and stuffed them down his throat.

    Duan Hongwen nced around at the evil gods. Sensing their formidable power, he, who had learned about the Void World from You Qimiao, eximed, ¡°Nie Tian! These monsters of yours carry intense Nether Qi. They either belong to the Phantasms, or more likely the Netherspirits!

    ¡°You must have secret connections with the Netherspirits in the Void World! Otherwise, why can you order them to fight for you? Both their power and understanding of souls outmatches yours!

    ¡°And they have their own awareness!

    ¡°What can possibly allow you to control such powerful beings if you don¡¯t have connections to the Netherspirits? You work for them, don¡¯t you?¡±

    Seeing the unfavorable situation he was in, Duan Hongwen had to adopt another approach to confront Nie Tian while panting heavily.

    ¡°I work for the Netherspirits?¡± Nie Tian said, looking confused. ¡°Even you don¡¯t believe that, do you? You¡¯re dying here today, whatever excuse you try to find.

    ¡°Also, you say they¡¯re stronger than me?¡± Nie Tian grinned, and his torrential flesh power burst forth.

    In a split second, his bloodline was activated. His flesh aura sea came to form as he expanded into his erged form. Lastly, the Star Behemoth bone fell into his hand like a divine spear.

    He stood towering like a god from ancient times, the flesh aura he exuded rapidly spreading to every corner of the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    Bulging veins could be seen on his exposed skin. Like heavenly rivers, they seemed to contain crimson crystals that shone like stars.

    After he assumed his erged form, Shangguan Zhi from the Shadow Society was the first to let out an exmation. ¡°What the?!¡±

    At this moment, everyone felt terrifying pressure from Nie Tian, who was clutching the huge Star Behemoth bone, and whose bloodline had entered the ninth grade!

    Shangguan Zhi was no exception.

    ¡°Such incredible power!¡± Almost every human expert that had entered the Realm of Looming Shadow after Nie Tian sensed his aura, and felt as if they were beholding a high mountain with awe.

    ¡°Actually, even if you hadn¡¯t deactivated your Wall of Shadows due to the pressure from the dark power, I would have been able to break it myself.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice rumbled through heaven and earth as he casually shed the Star Behemoth bone towards Duan Hongwen. ¡°Domain Split.¡±

    The Star Behemoth bloodline within the bone instantly burst forth.

    As soon as this happened, everyone present felt as if a giant horrifying shadow had manifested in their sea of awareness.

    The horrifying shadows were all branded with a Star Behemoth¡¯s aura.

    CRUNCH!

    Right after Domain Split was activated, blood-colored light shot out of the bone to cut the Realm of Looming Shadow like huge scythes. Because of this, the Realm of Looming Shadow started to crack as the Realm of Heaven Span had.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Shangguan Zhi screamed. ¡°How dare you go against your promise?!¡±

    Without any dy, the Shadow Stele shot up into the heavens. Countless shadow abominations returned to the realm barrier to stop the Realm of Looming Shadow from being destroyed by Nie Tian.

    ¡°You¡¯re toote.¡± He assumed a firm grip on the Star Behemoth bone in his hand and shed it towards the heavens as the Wall of Shadows reformed. ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Countless rays of crimson light shot skywards and cut the Wall of Shadows like numerous pairs of scissors.

    As the Star Behemoth¡¯s bloodline talent burst forth, the Wall of Shadows was cut open right aftering to form.

    ¡°You bastard!¡± Face distorted with fury, Shangguan Zhi attempted to intercept the power from the bone.

    FIZZ!

    A streak of dazzling lightning suddenly shed in front of Shangguan Zhi, then in a breath¡¯s time, it morphed into a huge Thunder-devouring Whale that spit out devastating thunderballs towards him.

    Shangguan Zhi was instantly engulfed in lightning and thunder.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Struck by interweaving lightning bolts repeatedly, Shangguan Zhi let out muffled groans, and could no longer stop Nie Tian from destroying the Realm of Looming Shadow with Domain Split.

    While the Realm of Looming Shadow crumbled, Duan Hongwen, who had suffered raging attacks from the evil gods and returned to his true form, could only do his best to avoid the countless rays of crimson light that filled heaven and earth.

    Like a god, Nie Tian looked down at Duan Hongwen and said with an expressionless face, ¡°You¡¯d die here today even if you had entered the middle God domain, not to mention that you haven¡¯t.¡±

    All of a sudden, he reached out and made a grabbing motion towards Duan Hongwen with his enormous hand.

    From Duan Hongwen¡¯s point of view, his enormous hand that was emanating blood-colored light was like a red all-enveloping dome that he couldn¡¯t possibly escape.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± The shout of You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect suddenly echoed from the distant starry river. ¡°Duan Hongwen is with my sect. Spare his life, and I won¡¯t care what you do with Shangguan Zhi and Song Chequan.¡±

    Duan Hongwen was overjoyed. ¡°Sectmaster! You came!¡±

 Chapter 1496: He Has to Die

    In the dim, boundless starry river.

    A huge fish was flying at a high speed, wreathed in gold and silver mes.

    Even though they were both mes, the golden mes were hot enough to burn the heavens and destroy the earth, while the silver mes exuded a frigid aura that could seal all things in ice.

    The huge fish emanated two opposite auras, one frigid cold and the other zing hot.

    Through the mes, one could see that the huge fish¡¯s scales were also two different colors, gold and silver.

    Each and every scale shone with divine light.

    The fish was close to ten thousand meters long, even longer than the ancient starships of the four great sects.

    Standing on the back of the fish was a thin figure.

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡± Some Qi warriors who were observing the battle between Pei Qiqi, Dong Li, and Song Chequan in the starry river gasped upon seeing the huge fish swimming in their direction with an unstoppable momentum.

    They hastily spread out to clear its path, fearing that they would be targeted.

    The huge fish transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror could cover arge area of the starry river with just a wag of its tail, which was much faster than even the fastest ancient starship.

    You Qimiao¡¯s pupils, one golden and the other silver, reflected everything that was happening inside the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    He had rushed here wielding his Yin Yang Chaos Mirror upon learning that Pei Qiqi had suppressed the spatial fluctuations in the Realm of Looming Shadow with her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± His lips only moved slightly, yet his heaven-shaking, earth-shattering voice rumbled through the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Because of his call, spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth rose from the ruins of the Shadow Pce and morphed into a huge blurry face that everyone within a thousand-kilometer radius could see.

    It was the face of You Qimiao, who still had yet to arrive.

    Gou Junhao from the Heavenly Changes Pavilion took a deep look at the giant forming face and marveled, ¡°With a wisp of his soul will, he can actually condense the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into a reflection of himself! No wonder thete God domain represents the peak of human cultivation!¡±

    The face condensed with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was misty gray and thousands of meters tall, and floated before Nie Tian at roughly the same height as him.

    It opened its mouth and said, ¡°Nie Tian! Seeing as we¡¯ve fought the Netherspirits together in the Void World to loot the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, I¡¯m asking you to let Duan Hongwen live. I assure you that he won¡¯t seek trouble with you or enter your domains ever again.¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster!¡± Duan Hongwen screamed.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± The illusory and blurry face of You Qimiao berated.

    Duan Hongwen trembled and sealed his lips.

    ¡°What?!¡± Many experts that were observing from afar stood aghast upon hearing You Qimiao¡¯s words.

    Who was You Qimiao for heaven¡¯s sake?

    He was currently the strongest expert in the human world. Now, he was actually asking Nie Tian nicely instead of pressuring him with force?

    He was the crazy one who had provoked the Ripper Behemoth to destroy the vast main realm of the Heaven Span Pavilion, one of the four great sects!

    What did Nie Tian have that made him ask nicely?

    From the look of it, You Qimiao was asking Nie Tian to give him face and let Duan Hongwen live.

    Many onlookers found You Qimiao¡¯s approach confusing, and contradictory to his status as the strongest expert throughout the human world.

    This was also not how he had always done things!

    ¡°Go!¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian eximed, the five evil gods suddenly charged out of the Realm of Looming Shadow towards You Qimiao¡¯s true form.

    At the same time, in his erged form, he swung the Star Behemoth bone and pierced it towards the huge face of You Qimiao condensed from the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. ¡°We¡¯ll talk after I kill Duan Hongwen!¡±

    Hundreds of thousands of rays of blood-colored light flew out of the bone to gnaw at You Qimiao¡¯s reflection.

    With a loud boom, the blurry face exploded and perished.

    As this happened, dazzling stars shone in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils.

    WHOOSH!

    The huge bone morphed into a streak of crimson lightning that shot towards Duan Hongwen, who then ran for his life.

    ¡°Starchains!¡±

    As numerous chains of sparkling starlight filled the vast sky like rivers of stars, the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils reflected Duan Hongwen, which showed the crimson divine spear its target with precision.

    At the same time, his other hand reached towards Duan Hongwen like a blood-colored dome.

    Locked down by the bone and Nie Tian¡¯s enormous hand, Duan Hongwen had nowhere to run.

    POOPH!

    Like a red sh, the bone pierced through Duan Hongwen¡¯s earth power defensive shield. The moment the shield exploded, Nie Tian¡¯s huge hand arrived and descended on him like a heaven-reaching mountain peak.

    Duan Hongwen looked up, and discovered that blood-colored light filled his view, and that every wisp of his life force seemed to be channeled away from him.

    All of a sudden, he realized that his heart had stopped beating, which meant his body had died.

    Then, he attempted to separate his soul from his sea of awareness to secure a smidgen of hope of rebirth.

    WHOOSH!

    Duan Hongwen¡¯s soul flew out sessfully. Overjoyed, he prepared to fly to the depths of the earth, where he assumed that he would be able to escape Nie Tian¡¯s murderous hand.

    The incantations he had practiced his whole life were all earth power-rted.

    His grayish-yellow soul carried an earth attribute, which allowed it to travel without obstacles in the depths of the earth.

    ¡°As long as I can secure my soul, I¡¯m not dead in the real sense! After the sectmaster gets here and annihtes Nie Tian, he¡¯ll definitely find an opportunity to bring me back to life!¡±

    However, while he was indulging in his smug calctions, another hand flew out of the palm of Nie Tian¡¯s enormous blood-colored descending hand!

    That hand seemed to be made of nothing but Nie Tian¡¯s refined soul power. The aura it exuded made Duan Hongwen¡¯s soul tremble with fear. ¡°That... That¡¯s the Phantasms¡¯ evil soul magic!¡±

    Nie Tian sneered and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. This is the soul magic the Phantasms usually use: Soul-capturing Hand. It proves to be effective on discarnate souls that have left their bodies, like you.¡±

    The strange-looking hand grabbed Duan Hongwen¡¯s soul with a swift move.

    Grasped by the neck, he couldn¡¯t break free no matter how hard he struggled.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As his soul was rapidly reduced to wisps of smoke under the effect of the Soul-capturing Hand, his soul imprints quickly vanished.

    Nie Tian looked down and watched the misty gray soul in his hand scatter like smoke. ¡°My Soul-capturing Hand isn¡¯t quite the same as that of the Phantasms, as I derived mine directly from the Nether River, which was transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s sea of awareness. With your soul burned out and memories dissipated, the only slightly useful thing that remains of you is your pure soul power.¡±

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl flew out, the wisps of scattering smoke from Duan Hongwen¡¯s incinerated soul flew into the pearl.

    Soon, there was nothing left of his soul.

    One figure after another flew out of the Realm of Looming Shadow into the starry river.

    ¡°He killed Duan Hongwen and refined his soul so that he has no chance to be reborn!¡±

    ¡°He didn¡¯t give even You Qimiao face!¡±

    ¡°This is bad. Now that Duan Hongwen¡¯s been killed, You Qimiao, as the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, definitely won¡¯t let this go easily! I bet You Qimiao will annihte those five monsters as Nie Tian annihted Duan Hongwen.¡±

    They all wondered what violent means You Qimiao would use to deal with Nie Tian after finding out that Duan Hongwen had been eliminated, body and soul, after his reflection had been scattered by Nie Tian.

    At this moment, Song Chequan¡¯s desperate wail echoed out. ¡°Help me, Sectmaster You!¡±

 Chapter 1497: Atonement

    Song Chequan had been cornered.

    Only after he had to face Pei Qiqi and Dong Li in battle did he truly realize how terrifyingly powerful these two women, who had attracted worldwide attention recently, were.

    Plus, he had to fight them single-handedly.

    Theirpetitiveness made the two of them go all-out in their battle against him, as they both wanted to make the kill.

    Song Chequan¡¯s dharma idol morphed into a sparkling heavenly river filled with small rocks that looked like diamonds.

    Every rock and every drop of water was the condensation of his spiritual power.

    However, at this moment, that heavenly river transformed from his dharma idol was gradually contaminated by inky-ck darkness.

    The cirction of his spiritual power became hindered.

    All of a sudden, the Space Boundaries Crystal flew into the sparkling heavenly river like a swift fish, causing the numerous profound water power incantations the river had been vested with to break apart with loud noises.

    Within seconds, the sparkling heavenly river dissipated entirely.

    Immediately afterwards, the endless darkness engulfed Song Chequan¡¯s true form and put him in agony, as the dark power gnawed at every inch of his fleshly body.

    In despair, a call suddenly caught his ears.

    That made him realize that You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had decided toe to Duan Hongwen¡¯s rescue at this perilous moment to save his sect¡¯s face.

    Therefore, he wailed and called for help.

    WHOOSH!

    Standing on the vast back of the golden-silver fish, You Qimiao sent the five evil gods that were spewing murky energy flying off to the side with a fling of his sleeve. After that, he shot a sideways nce in Song Chequan¡¯s direction.

    Eyes filled with disgust, he said, ¡°The vice sectmaster of my sect only attacked Master Blood Spirit after being incited by you lot. Now he¡¯s dead, killed by Nie Tian.¡±

    Song Chequan¡¯s expression flickered with shock.

    ¡°He died. What right do you have to live on?¡± You Qimiao¡¯s voice was as cold as ice. ¡°After all, you two joined hands to attack Master Blood Spirit, right?¡±

    As soon as he said these words, the huge fish transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror swam off into the distance like a bolt of lightning.

    Song Chequan instantly realized that You Qimiao had no intention of helping him. He had been abandoned.

    CRACK!

    After Nie Tian activated the bone¡¯s Domain Split bloodline talent, the vast Realm of Looming Shadow fell apart as the Realm of Heaven Span had.

    Landmasses that were thousands of kilometers across were cut off, and drifted away from the realm.

    Duan Hongwen, who had ced high hopes in You Qimiao rescuing him, had long since perished. Not even a wisp of his soul survived.

    In his erged form, Nie Tian slowly rose out of the Realm of Remote Heaven, clutching the Star Behemoth bone.

    He looked down, and saw mountains toppling, rivers disappearing, and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth dissipating into the starry river. His face remained expressionless.

    This was the second human realm that had been destroyed by him. The Realm of Jade Billows was the first.

    However, he didn¡¯t have any regrets.

    Many Qi warriors from different domains were scattered in different areas in the starry river. As You Qimiao drew near, they didn¡¯t even dare to breathe loudly.

    ¡°You Qimiao...¡± Many of them had heavy hearts as they said the name inwardly.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift suddenly split open.

    God domain experts, including Chu Rui, Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Zu Guangyao, and Dou Tianchen, came out of the spatial rift one after another.

    They had been paying close attention to the situation in the Realm of Looming Shadow and what Nie Tian was up to the whole time.

    Upon learning that You Qimiao wasing from another domain, they had realized that a major conflict between him and Nie Tian was inevitable.

    Before Nie Tian had made his killing move, they had done everything they could to urge him to hold his temper and avoid getting into a fight against You Qimiao at this moment, when his power was unmatched throughout the human world.

    Now, Duan Hongwen had died. You Qimiao was clearly enraged. They had no choice but to rush here together.

    Since they knew that none of them could single-handedly handle You Qimiao in battle, they hoped to scare him off with their numbers.

    Finally, You Qimiao arrived. The huge fish resumed its form as the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror and floated over his head.

    Instead of unleashing his dharma idol right away, he stood before the majestic, mountain-like Nie Tian in his true form, and said, ¡°Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan attacked Master Blood Spirit together in order to secure some Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. Sure, he was in the wrong for doing that. But since Master Blood Spirit is still alive, the punishment of death was a bit too harsh, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Oh? How do you think I should have handled it then?¡± Nie Tian said.

    You Qimiao let out a cold snort. ¡°You should have given him an opportunity to be reborn at least! But you didn¡¯t even do that. Clearly, you attach no importance to my sect or myself!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s done is done. There¡¯s no meaning in us talking about that now, is there?¡± Nie Tian said coldly.

    You Qimiao nodded slowly. ¡°You¡¯re right. He died. Talking about it won¡¯t bring him back.¡±

    All of a sudden, his puny figure expanded at an rming rate like an inting balloon.

    At the same time, his aura skyrocketed, and became raging like a storm.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The scattered spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the crumbling Realm of Looming Shadow was attracted by him, and started fusing madly into him. In the blink of an eye, a power shield came to form around him.

    Staring at You Qimiao, whose aura rose through the heavens, Chu Rui took a step forward and shouted, ¡°You Qimiao! Nie Tian is a Son of the Stars of my sect. If you dare to make a move against him, you¡¯ll be challenging my sect! You¡¯re well-aware of how powerful our sectmaster and grand elder are. If either of them returns, your sect won¡¯t be able to survive their wrath!¡±

    ¡°Your sect?¡± You Qimiao shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve shattered the Realm of Heaven Span already. Do you really think I¡¯m afraid of your sect? So what if Ji Cang and Mo Heng return? Even Ji Cang would have to pay a heavy price himself if he were bent on killing me! As for Mo Heng, he¡¯ll have to advance to my cultivation base before he can even talk about killing me.¡±

    As his voice rose, and his aura continued to climb, the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror also expanded in size.

    In merely ten seconds, You Qimiao¡¯s dharma idol expanded to the same size as Nie Tian in his erged form. Even though his dharma idol didn¡¯t carry the slightest flesh power, the power of two opposing attributes, one zing hot and the other frigid cold, along with the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the Realm of Looming Shadow, vested his dharma idol with an ethereal, unbridled, and immortal quality.

    ¡°Nie Tian, you killed the vice sectmaster of my sect,¡± he said in a grim voice. ¡°I have to make you atone for your doing. My entire sect will turn against me if I don¡¯t.¡±

    Nie Tian breathed at afortable pace as he took his time to release the me Dragon Armor and press the Spirit Pearl into his forehead, between his eyebrows. Clutching the Star Behemoth bone, he asked, ¡°Atone for my doing? How do you propose we do it?¡±

    ¡°One strike. As long as you let me throw one strike at you, whether you survive it or not, we¡¯ll be even. I won¡¯t seek trouble with you or your subordinates again to settle Duan Hongwen¡¯s death.¡± With these words, You Qimiao turned to look at the darkness-enveloped area in the distance. ¡°I¡¯ll let those girls off as well.¡±

    ¡°One strike? Alright!¡± Nie Tian agreed to it without hesitation.

    ¡°Wait!¡± Chu Rui eximed. ¡°Nie Tian, he¡¯s currently the strongest expert in the human world. I¡¯m sure that given time, your battle prowess will surpass his, but this is definitely not the time to fight him!¡±

    Many others joined in the effort to talk him out of it.

 Chapter 1498: Freeze

    Since Chu Rui had fought You Qimiao in the Realm of Maelstrom years ago, he was well-aware of how powerful he was.

    Besides, just recently, he had witnessed the brief confrontation between You Qimiao and Fan Tianze outside the Realm of Heaven Span.

    He was convinced that You Qimiao, who had entered thete God domain, was now an unmatched force throughout the human world.

    As strong as Nie Tian might be, he hadn¡¯t entered the God domain yet, and his bloodline was only at the ninth grade.

    Grand Monarch Chaos Demon and Duan Hongwen¡¯s strength weren¡¯t nearlyparable to You Qimiao¡¯s.

    Not to mention that Nie Tian had relied on the five evil gods and multiple powerful tools to y them.

    What kind of impact would his tools and the evil gods be able to make on someone with You Qimiao¡¯s cultivation base and strength?

    Also, You Qimiao¡¯s Yin Yang Chaos Mirror had advanced to the level five Immortal grade when he had made his breakthrough in cultivation, which meant it was at a much higher level than his me Dragon Armor, the Spirit Pearl, and that Star Behemoth bone.

    You Qimiao had an overwhelming edge over him in cultivation base, tools, and battle experience.

    Because of this, the result of a single strike from You Qimiao would be no different from the result of a prolonged battle with him.

    What did Nie Tian have that could possibly help him survive a strike from him?

    Dong Li and Pei Qiqi¡¯s soft cries suddenly echoed from Song Chequan¡¯s location.

    ¡°Darkness: Devour!¡±

    ¡°Space Split!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Song Chequan¡¯s life and soul auras scattered and dissipated.

    Song Chequan seemed to be pulled into the deepest part of the endless darkness, where his fleshly body was dissolved bit by bit.

    At the same time, Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial power shattered that area of the void, preventing even a wisp of his soul from escaping.

    ¡°Song Chequan died.¡±

    ¡°After Duan Hongwen, this sectmaster of the Jade Heaven Sect, a God domain expert, also perished like smoke in the wind.¡±

    ¡°The Jade Heaven Sect is also a major sect that has stood tall in the human world for hundreds of thousands of years, and had great prosperity. However, just because of Song Chequan¡¯s wrong decision of joining with the Shadow Society and the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, it came to its destruction.¡±

    ¡°What a pity!¡±

    Many knew that since Nie Tian had destroyed the Realm of Jade Billows of the Jade Heaven Sect, Song Chequan had ced all of his hopes in Jiang Yuanchi.

    He had hoped to reestablish the Jade Heaven Sect and reclimb the peak with Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s help.

    However, after Jiang Yuanchi had entered the Void World and lost contact with him, he had lost his backer, and thus had to focus on himself. That was why he had aspired to steal the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir from Master Blood Spirit, and seek his breakthrough to the middle God domain.

    He had assumed that after he entered the middle God domain, he might have a chance to make the Jade Heaven Sect thrive again.

    However, all of his illusions burst at this moment.

    Someone sighed in frustration. ¡°With all of our peak experts away, we have very few God domain experts left to begin with. Now, Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan have died. We¡¯ll be in an even harder situation if the Ancientspirits and outsidersunch another attack. And we¡¯re still suffering from these endless internal brawls!¡±

    Song Chequan¡¯s death made many uneasy.

    Dong Li and Pei Qiqi seemed to have an argument in the darkness.

    You Qimiao slowly retrieved his gaze from the darkness-enshrouded area.

    It seemed as if he only hadn¡¯t made his attacking move until now because he wanted to see Song Chequan die first.

    ¡°Okay, those who ought to die have died.¡± As he said these words, two streams of violent power shot out from within the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, one gold and zing, the other silver and frigid.

    The spiritual energy from the crumbling Realm of Looming Shadow gathered towards You Qimiao once again.

    In his erged form, Nie Tian saw You Qimiao gathering power. He let out a deep cry as he rapidly raised his arms, then brought his hands together in front of his chest with a quick move.

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as he did this, wisps of misty white spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth started gathering in the space between his palms, where they condensed into spheres filled with surging spiritual power.

    It wasn¡¯t just that.

    All sorts of energies in the starry river near the Realm of Looming Shadow were also channeled by Nie Tian, and rapidly gathered into his opposite palms.

    Infused with the mixed energies, the originally brightly glowing spheres gradually turned murky.

    However, the aura they exuded became more raging and terrifying.

    With a surprisingly calm look in his eyes, You Qimiao said, ¡°I know that the incantations and spells you practice are quite profound, and the powers you use are quite wondrous, perhaps even more so than those from my sect. Unfortunately, your cultivation base is still far too low. No matter how hard you try, you can¡¯t possibly bridge the gap between our cultivation bases within such a short period of time.¡±

    With these words, he raised his hand and made a grabbing motion.

    The Yin Yang Chaos Mirror then flew into his hand, and two streams of power shot out of it, one gold and the other silver, entwined, and morphed into two glowing spheres, one gold and the other silver.

    The light they emanated was so glorious and bright that they illuminated this entire area of the starry river.

    Like a gold and silver sun, they rose from You Qimiao.

    Seeing them form, Nie Tian made haste with his effort to condense more spiritual energy balls.

    One, two, three...

    Soon, seventeen spiritual energy balls that contained mixed energies from the starry river and the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth from the destroyed Realm of Looming Shadow came to form.

    Each and every spiritual energy ball emanated power fluctuations stronger than that of a Saint domain expert¡¯s domain.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the glowing spheres Nie Tian makes by channeling mixed energies from the starry river emanate fluctuations even stronger than that of my domain!¡±

    ¡°There are seventeen of them. Aren¡¯t they equal to seventeen Saint domain experts?!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he actually can survive a strike from You Qimiao!¡±

    Discussion went on among those who were present.

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered drastically, and he shouted as he saw the gold and silver glowing spheres rise like suns. ¡°You Qimiao! Are you really going to bully a junior like Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Bully him?¡± You Qimiao muttered. ¡°What if I am? I suggest that you stay out of this, Chu Rui. Even put together, the few of you can¡¯t match me in battle.¡±

    SPLASH!

    The glowing silver sphere suddenly left You Qimiao and floated towards Nie Tian in a slow and ethereal manner.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Wherever the silver sphere flew, extreme coldness followed. Even the void seemed to be frozen and cracked. Anyone who dared to examine it with their soul awareness felt numbness in their scalps.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Even Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society cried out, and couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    Wisps of extreme coldness flew out from within the silver glowing sphere, freezing even his soul awareness and stopping him from casting all sorts of exquisite spatial spells.

    Teeth chattering, he said, ¡°It can even freeze my soul awareness!

    ¡°Chu Rui! ording to the legends, only the Ice Emperor, Xuan Yu, who had reached the peak of ice power cultivation, could freeze the soul awareness of existences at our level with ice power!¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s face grew even grimmer.

    As the silver glowing sphere flew towards Nie Tian, countless magicalws of ice power materialized into crystalline strings that shone with blinding white light.

    CRUNCH!

    One of the spiritual energy balls that Nie Tian had condensed approached the crystallized glowing sphere, and was immediately frozen.

    Every single wisp of the murky energies within it lost their liveness.

    WHOOSH!

    The other spiritual energy balls that Nie Tian had condensed flew out together, giving rise to loud sounds.

    Before they froze, Nie Tian detonated his soul will that he had fused into them.

    BOOM!

    All of the spiritual energy balls cracked and exploded simultaneously. However, just after the countless rays of power with different attributes burst forth, they were frozen by ice power.

    There were many different colored rays of power.

    Nheless, they were all frozen, and became fine icy strings.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe his cold power can freeze even the purest rays of power!¡±

 Chapter 1499: Fire from Flameâ€™s End

    Multicolored frozen strings densely filled the space between Nie Tian and You Qimiao.

    Wherever the glowing silver sphere flew, extreme coldness followed, freezing everything, tangible or intangible.

    Soul awareness, spiritual power, space, and even sound...

    Even after all of the spiritual energy balls Nie Tian had condensed exploded, the silver glowing sphere still pressed on, as if it waspletely unaffected.

    The fully-crystallized sphere looked like a spherical realm or a sparkling and crystal-clear star.

    Only by looking at the glowing sphere, Nie Tian had wisps of icy light flying from the corners of his eyes.

    As the icy sparkling sphere continued to approach, Nie Tian sensed its frigid aura hitting him like crashing waves. He couldn¡¯t help but shudder. ¡°Such extreme coldness! If this is the ultimate coldness, then...¡±

    With this thought, his life bloodline suddenly burst forth. Blood started running through his veins like surging rivers.

    Rich flesh power poured into the me Dragon Armor as it descended and d itself on his erged form.

    Wreathed in raging mes, he looked like a fire god from ancient times.

    ¡°Saint domain, unleash!¡±

    His me domain, star domain, and wood domain were unleashed simultaneously.

    Bits of dazzling starlight emerged in the void before a sphere dotted with stars soon came to form, enveloping arge area around him.

    Like a burning shield, raging mes closely enveloped his huge form as he stood towering on a piece ofnd that was exuberant and full of life force.

    The Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches could be seen growing on thend that was the manifestation of his wood domain, breathing pure wood power.

    CRACK!

    All of a sudden, the countless multicolored strings of light that had been frozen by You Qimiao¡¯s cold power snapped and exploded all at once.

    WHOOSH!

    The star, me, and wood power within them became tiny crystalline fragments that naturally fused into Nie Tian¡¯s domain.

    In his glorious, mysterious star domain, the Heavenly Stars Flower could be seen slowly growing taller.

    Its sparkling leaves and branches seemed to be channeling bits of star power from even the remote depths of the boundless starry river.

    Enveloped in his star domain, an extremelyplicated spell formation that was a replica of the grand spell formation in the me Land could be seen rotating slowly inside his me domain. With every rotation, it seemed to manifest a profound truth of me power.

    At the same time, strange scenes emerged in the depths of You Qimiao¡¯s pupils as he wielded the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror.

    His pupils, one gold and the other silver, seemed to suddenly be a window through which he could observe the entire starry river.

    Through it, he could see the rotation of night and day, the change of seasons, and the life circle of all living beings.

    All those who observed You Qimiao could also see the peculiar changes in his eyes.

    ¡°You Qimiao...¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Remote Beginning Heavenly Chaos Incarnation is actually so unfathomably profound!¡±

    ¡°It seems that their incantations are every bit as profound as those of the four great sects. Perhaps the only reason why they haven¡¯t joined the ranks of the most powerful sects despite their long history is because they didn¡¯t have a mighty figure like You Qimiao.¡±

    ¡°Now they do.¡±

    None of them had ever seen anything like it before, not in the eyes of any peak human expert.

    They hadn¡¯t expected You Qimiao to be so incredibly powerful after advancing to thete God domain.

    Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, and many others didn¡¯t dare to move a hair as they watched himunch his strike against Nie Tian.

    After all, he had condensed two strange glowing spheres, one gold and the other silver.

    The one he was attacking Nie Tian with was silver, and contained frigid power that could freeze all things.

    He was a man of his word, as he didn¡¯t cast the other golden sphere at Nie Tian as well.

    The golden sphere had been floating beside him and releasing extreme heat the whole time, as if to tell Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and the others to stay out of this.

    The terrifying might of the silver glowing sphere, which could freeze the void and any tangible and intangible thing, had dropped Chu Rui and the others¡¯ jaws.

    Considering this, the zing me power within the golden glowing sphere couldn¡¯t be weak.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed in frustration and gave Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, Dou Tianchen, and Zu Guangyao a meaningful gaze. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s wait and see how things go.¡±

    By that, he meant that You Qimiao¡¯s gold zing sphere was there to prevent their interference, so they had better stay put for now.

    Dou Tianchen, who had been observing with rapt attention, said, ¡°Given Nie Tian¡¯s peculiar incantations and freakishly tough body, even if he can¡¯t shield off You Qimiao¡¯s strike, I¡¯m pretty sure that he¡¯ll survive.¡±

    Everyone was slightly spirited to hear these words.

    WHOOSH!

    The sparkling icy sphere finally reached Nie Tian after floating ethereally for a while.

    BOOM!

    It exploded violently, countless rays of icy light bursting forth.

    A marvelous firework show seemed to instantly take ce within Nie Tian¡¯s star domain. The intense sh between the starlight and icy light created light so bright that no one could look directly at it.

    While the Heavenly Stars Flower continued to expand and sparkle, without being frozen by the extreme cold power, Nie Tian¡¯s star domain failed to withstand the piercing rays of frigid power and shattered like ice in the blink of an eye.

    BOOM!

    A terrifying aura that could burn down anything in this starry river burst forth from Nie Tian¡¯s me domain as the spell formation replicated from the mighty grand spell formation in the me Land operated madly.

    Both Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power and me power poured into the ¡®eye¡¯ of theplicated spell formation.

    All of a sudden, he sensed that a profound connection was established between his me domain and the me Land in the Domain of me¡¯s End through that spell formation.

    Also, that grand fire spell formation in the depths of the me Land was activated.

    Immediately afterwards, a small cluster of orange-red me slowly manifested inside the ¡®eye¡¯ of the spell formation.

    The cluster of me exuded the same aura as that of the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End!

    Apparently, this cluster of me had been vested with the Divine me¡¯s power.

    WHOOSH!

    The cluster of orange-red me suddenly flew towards You Qimiao¡¯s glittering icy sphere.

    They instantly mmed into each other. Countless mysterious magicalws that carried the profound truths of fire and ice burst forth from them to sh and neutralize each other.

    The light created by their collision lit up that entire area of the starry river.

    None of the powerful experts present could see how the cluster of me and the icy sphere were fighting each other. They could only vaguely perceive with their soul awareness that hundreds of different magicalws of fire and ice were entangling in a fierce manner.

    During this time, Nie Tian lost his me power, flesh power, and soul power at an rming rate.

    It was hard to believe that the cluster of me that hade from the me Land was actually consuming his power in a drastic manner to contend against You Qimiao¡¯s icy sphere.

    BOOM!

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the icy sphere cracked and exploded.

    Countless ice shards shot in every direction towards the broken pieces from the destroyed Realm of Looming Shadow like tiny stars.

    All that was left in the ce of their collision was a me spark the size of a fingernail. Like a crystal made of fire, it flew into Nie Tian¡¯s me domain with a sharp whoosh, and disappeared into the ¡®eye¡¯ of the spell formation.

    Having been practically drained of his flesh power and soul power, Nie Tian had to return to his true form.

    ¡°That was the most mysterious me in the Domain of me¡¯s End, the legendary origin of all mes!¡± You Qimiao said, staring nkly at Nie Tian, who seemed to be as small as an insect after resuming his true form. There wasn¡¯t even the slightest disdain in his eyes now. ¡°You and your me domain can actually summon and power it with your flesh and me power?!¡±

    Nie Tian tilted his chin slightly and asked, ¡°Do you want to have another go with that zing gold sphere of yours?¡±

    You Qimiao shook his head. ¡°No need. I said that I¡¯d onlyunch one strike, and that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. To be honest, I really thought I could freeze and shatter your body with this strike. Who would have thought that you could establish a connection with the Divine me that¡¯s all the way in the Domain of me¡¯s End, and fight with its power?

    ¡°Anyways, this matter with Duan Hongwen ends here.¡±

 Chapter 1500: The Tortoise Upgrades

    You Qimiao turned around and left.

    BOOM!

    Thend Nie Tian was standing on, which was the manifestation of his wood power, started crumbling like the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    His face gradually turned pale.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    The extremely cold ice shards You Qimiao had left behind flew tondmasses that were drifting away from the broken Realm of Looming Shadow, turning them into frigidnds that were covered in ice and frost.

    Icy wind blew past as sparkling snowkes fell.

    Covered in snow, thosends seemed to be vested with the profound truths of cold power by You Qimiao¡¯s residual power. Each and every gust of freezing wind seemed to whisper the wonders of cold power.

    Many Saint domain Qi warriors from various domains engaged in heated discussions.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe You Qimiao¡¯s strength has reached such a level after his breakthrough to thete God domain!¡±

    ¡°Even his residual cold power can manifest such wondrous changes... Perhaps his attainments in cold power have alreadye to the same level as Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor!¡±

    ¡°It seems to me that You Qimiao, who has mixed his cultivation of ice and me power and entered thete God domain, might posses battle prowess even higher than Chu Yuan¡¯s!¡±

    ¡°Chu Yuan? The sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion? I doubt that he can defeat You Qimiao in battle now!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps only after Fan Tianze enters thete God domain will the Heaven Span Pavilion be able to seek revenge for the destruction of the Realm of Heaven Span.¡±

    Some who practiced ice power were overjoyed as they scattered and flew towards the bone-piercingly frigidnds, where they hoped to derive enlightenment of ice power from the ice shards left by You Qimiao.

    Even Yin Yanan and her ninth grade Frost Blood Python flew to one of the snow-cappednds.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Her eyes lit up upon direct contact with the frigid aura You Qimiao had left behind, as if she were instantly inspired.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed in admiration and said, ¡°You Qimiao has outstanding talent indeed!¡±

    Face grim, Chu Rui didn¡¯t make anyments. However, now, after You Qimiao had left, he finally saw why Fan Tianze would want to do such a risky thing as to break through to thete God domain in this turbulent time, instead of waiting for Chu Yuan to return.

    ¡°Perhaps he knew that he was the only one from his sect who would have a chance at defeating You Qimiao,¡± Chu Rui said inwardly.

    Only at this moment did Dong Li return, enveloped in thick darkness. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    BOOM!

    A ck pir of immense flesh aura suddenly shot skywards.

    A fearsome cry from the ck tortoise shook the void, along with the hearts of the experts that were present.

    Flicking its tongue, Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python was gathering the tiny ice shards bit by bit as it suddenly heard the ck tortoise¡¯s cry, and was scared motionless.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Is that tortoise ready to advance to the tenth grade?¡±

    Nie Tian looked rather exhausted as he slowly breathed, surrounded by hovering currents of different energies that were being channeled from the starry river.

    His star, me, and wood domains recovered at a slow pace. The Heavenly Stars Flower shone as brilliantly as ever, while the wondrous fire spell formation resumed its smooth operation.

    On the exuberantnd, the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches helped him channel wood power from his surroundings.

    He did everything he could to recover his strength.

    All of a sudden, his heart jolted as he sensed the ck tortoise¡¯s unusual changes. ¡°The tenth grade?¡±

    Dong Li stepped out of the darkness and said, ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine. I knew that even You Qimiao couldn¡¯t threaten your life. Now, with Song Chequan dead, Shangguan Zhi is the only one left. Do whatever you want with him. That foolish tortoise of mine is ready to advance to the tenth grade now. I¡¯ve got to take it to a ce that¡¯ll help with its upgrade.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°A ce that¡¯ll help with its upgrade?¡±

    With a slightly awkward expression, Dong Li nodded and said, ¡°Yes, it picked a ce itself...¡±

    The ck tortoise remained inside the thick darkness that looked like an enormous inky cloud, which continued to devour the light around it, as if it would never stop expanding.

    ¡°Where?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Dong Li looked somewhat embarrassed as she shot Ye Wenhan a quick nce and said, ¡°The Domain of Heaven Span.¡±

    Ye Wenhan couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°What?¡±

    Nie Tian felt confused as well.

    ¡°It seems that the Ripper Behemoth that destroyed the Realm of Heaven Span left a bit of its flesh aura there,¡± Dong Li exined.

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered violently as he asked, ¡°What does that mean? Did the Ripper Behemoth leave some of its flesh aura for it especially?¡±

    ¡°Sort of,¡± Dong Li said with a dry smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know all the details. I just know that it¡¯s eager to make the upgrade, and its intelligence has risen to a level where it canmunicate with me perfectly on a soul level.¡±

    ¡°Alright, go ahead,¡± Nie Tian said.

    A spatial rift was then split open by Pei Qiqi using her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    The endless darkness poured into it.

    As the darkness gradually ebbed into the spatial rift, Dong Li and the ck tortoise flew into it, and vanished from this part of the starry river.

    Though having said nothing, Pei Qiqi seemed to understand that Nie Tian was no longer facing a threat now that You Qimiao had left. Therefore, she left with Dong Li.

    The others were still somewhat bewildered from the information they had just heard.

    The ck tortoise was going to the destroyed Realm of Heaven Span to seek the power that would help it break through to the tenth grade?

    The power it sought had been specially left there by the Ripper Behemoth?

    Finally, Chu Rui couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Nie Tian, what¡¯s the rtionship between that tortoise of Dong Li¡¯s and that Ripper Behemoth? As far as we know, the Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t return to its senses after destroying the Realm of Heaven Span. It¡¯s still running amuck in that area of the starry river, destroying realms and devouring their power.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. I don¡¯t know either.¡±

    Shangguan Zhi¡¯s face was twisted with fury as he bellowed from afar, ¡°Nie Tian! You destroyed the Realm of Looming Shadow. The foundation that my sect built up over hundreds of thousands of years has gone up in mes! You¡¯re our sworn enemy now! I look forward to Sectmaster Jiang returning from the Void World. When he does, he¡¯ll surely avenge us!¡±

    Nie Tian curled his lips and said with a derisive smile, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi? I remember you saying not so long ago that Jiang Yuanchi has long since been dissociated from your sect.¡±

    Shangguan Zhi fixed him with a ferocious stare, but didn¡¯t say a word.

    ¡°Also, so what if Jiang Yuanchi returns?¡± Nie Tian said withposure. ¡°As long as he hasn¡¯t entered thete God domain, he won¡¯t be able to kill me even if he returns! As for you... forget it. Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan are dead, and your realm has been destroyed. Let¡¯s say you¡¯ve all paid for what you did.¡±

    With these words, he waved his hand and said impatiently, ¡°You can go now. Wait for Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s return if you want.¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idol that looked like a vast thunder pool rapidly shrank into his true form, before he said, ¡°Watch yourself from now on, Shangguan Zhi!¡±

    Shangguan Zhi turned to nce over Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and the other experts, and then suppressed his fury.

    He suddenly realized that unlike You Qimiao, Jiang Yuanchi hadn¡¯t entered thete God domain yet.

    Furthermore, Gupi, which Jiang Yuanchi had relied on to do whatever he wanted, had been taken away by Wu Ji.

    In such a condition, even if he returned from the Void World, would he be able to kill Nie Tian for them?

    Shangguan Zhi fell into endless frustration and didn¡¯t say another word. Finally, he cast onest wistful look at the Realm of Looming Shadow, and then flew away alone.

    WHOOSH!

    After he left, Nie Tian¡¯s star, me, and wood domains continued to channel power from this broken area of the starry river.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you go keep an eye on the situation in the Domain of Heaven Span?¡± He said to Mo Qianfan. ¡°Be careful though. Don¡¯t get too close to the Ripper Behemoth. Only Pei Qiqi can get out to safety whenever she wants with the help of her Space Boundaries Crystal.¡±

    Mo Qianfan nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±

    Seeing that Nie Tian was no longer in danger, with You Qimiao gone, Chu Rui and many others showed their interest in what would happen in the Domain of the Heaven Span, Ye Wenhan especially.

    He repeatedly encouraged the other experts to go and see how things would develop.

    ¡°Take care of yourself, Nie Tian.¡± With these words, Chu Rui asked Ji Yuanquan to split open a spatial rift, through which he and the other powerful experts that hade to support Nie Tian left for the Domain of Heaven Span.

    Many other experts that had traveled great distances to this ce were also curious about what would happen in the Domain of the Heaven Span. After observing Nie Tian for a while and realizing that he was only recuperating, they also left quietly.

    All that remained were cultivators who practiced ice power, as they were still trying to derive the profoundws of ice power from the frigidnds in this area.

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian activated his life bloodline and manifested himself in his erged form.

    As soon as he did, the star, me, and wood power in this area of the starry river started converging on him at a faster rate.

    The ninth grade Frost Blood Python suddenly let out a terrified cry on one of the frozennds.

    With its sharp and rapid cries, it seemed to be urging Yin Yanan to take it away.

    Sitting in the lotus position, Yin Yanan was awoken from her cultivation. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    Following the python¡¯s gaze, she saw Nie Tian in his erged form. ¡°Is it because of him? Is he making you uneasy?¡±

    The Frost Blood Python nodded repeatedly in response.

 Chapter 1501: Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory

    In the Second Demon Realm.

    A massive 10,000-meter-tall figure slowly rose from the turbulent Blood Purgatory Sea.

    As it surfaced, the surface of the Blood Purgatory Sea lowered quickly.

    It had two ferocious Demon horns, purple tentacle-like whiskers on the sides of its nose, and a pair of deep purple eyes that burst forth with cold, ferocious, and heartless light.

    BOOM!

    His flesh aura spread, and countless Bloodline Crystal Chains seemed to be instantly condensed and formed.

    Like swimming dragons, strands of sharp purple light from the bottom of the Blood Purgatory Sea flew into his nose and mouth and became part of his Bloodline Crystal Chains to help him regain his strength and awaken his bloodline talents, which had been dormant for years.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Pure Demon Qi converged like a rushing river.

    The Demon¡¯s body was still expanding!

    Countless Demons and grotesque demonic beasts knelt by the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    Looking up at the stalwart Demon figure that was full of explosive power, towering muscles, and seemingly boundless magic power, both the Demons and demonic beasts looked very fanatical.

    Ophelia raised her head. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    Despite her high status, she was so suppressed by the billowing Demon Qi that her heartbeat quickened as the Demon body emerged from the blood sea.

    ¡°Even if he hasn¡¯t fully returned to his peak strength, the strength that he can disy will surpass any other grand monarch in our race!¡±

    Ophelia took a deep breath and suddenly felt that the Demons¡¯ crusade against the Mortal World would have a breakthrough because of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s awakening.

    BAM!

    Suddenly, a deep purple hole appeared in the sky of the Second Demon Realm.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust stepped out.

    ¡°Greetings, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, whose bloodline was advanced and whose status and strength was only inferior to Grand Monarch Primal Demon in the Demons, had hurried to leave the First Demon Realm toe here upon learning that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had awakened.

    ¡°Our race needs your guidance!¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust said in awe.

    As a senior Demon, he had known from birth that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had been very strong.

    In his opinion, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who had died together with Ice Emperor of the human race and used only a drop of Blood Essence to revive himself with the Blood Purgatory Sea¡¯s help, was even stronger in his heyday than their current chieftain, Grand Monarch Primal Demon.

    Although Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had just awakened, and his boundless magic power hadn¡¯t recovered, he was still stronger than Grand Monarch Bloodlust thanks to his mighty bloodline talents and countless years ofbat experience.

    When Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s strength returned to its peak, perhaps even Grand Monarch Primal Demon would have to show humility if he returned.

    ¡°Take me to the Mortal World.¡± As Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory spoke, the magic power veins in the depths of earth in the Second Demon Realm seemed to rumble.

    Because of his awakening, many of the profoundws and meanings that had existed in this realm since ancient times were undergoing subtle changes.

    Every member of the Gaytons n felt that the Demon Qi of the Second Demon Realm had be much agreeable and closer to them.

    ZZZZZLA!

    In the depths of the heavens, the heart of the earth, and certain deste ces in the realm, miraculous streaks of Demon light shed across from time to time, as if they were cheering and greeting Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    Purplish-red Demon light burst forth in the depths of the Blood Purgatory Sea he had walked out of, like precious crystals.

    Outside the realm, even the tiniest traces of dissociative Demon flesh power that had been dead for thousands of years were channeled by the Blood Purgatory Sea, and merged into the sea of blood with a swish.

    Eerie rumbles echoed from every corner of the sea as it started expanding.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way, my lord,¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust said aloud.

    ...

    In the broken Realm of Looming Shadow, Nie Tian spread his saint domain and his figure became gigantic.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Stray star, wood, and me power in this whole area of the starry river was all being absorbed by his saint domain.

    With his eyes closed, he wasprehending the Fragmentary Star Incantation, Heavenly Wood Heal, and Wood Thriving Formation, as well as various true meanings of me.

    At the same time, he activated a talent that had awakened when his bloodline had broken through to the ninth grade ¡ª Life Purification!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    There were a lot of dust and dregs that contained weak flesh auras in the depths of the starry river.

    However, the flesh auras had long been contaminated, so they were difficult to absorb to begin with.

    However, after Nie Tian had activated Life Purification, the dross in the flesh auras that had existed for countless years after being contaminated by toxins and various supernatural evil forces was magically melted and dissolved into fine wisps of power that merged into his body.

    As this happened, all his viscera and limbs were cleansed by his flesh aura again and again.

    Strange fiery light would sputter from his pores from time to time.

    Feelingfortable, he let out a low moan inwardly, subconsciously twisting his neck. ¡°Life Purification!¡±

    The most important bloodline talent that he had awakened when his bloodline had broken through to the ninth grade was Life Purification.

    This talent enabled him to absorb various stray energies in the vast starry river and extract the flesh auras that fitted him.

    Advancing from the ninth grade to the tenth grade would likely be a long, endless process.

    Perhaps the existence of Life Purification was to enable him to absorb and convert flesh auras wherever he was.

    Wherever there was life, there would be flesh auras.

    After so many battles with the outsiders and Ancientspirits, the vast Mortal World contained much flesh power.

    Some had dissipated into the starry river, or returned to heaven and earth.

    Some had been changed by the environment and contaminated by other energies, and had been retained forever. It was just that such flesh power couldn¡¯t be absorbed directly with Life Drain.

    The awakening of Life Purification had enabled Nie Tian to find and use flesh auras in extremely harsh environmental conditions, or when he didn¡¯t have any dead giant beings.

    In addition, Life Purification could also help him sharpen his body again.

    ¡°Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir can cleanse the soul so that the impurities in the soul will be discharged from the body. My Life Purification works in a simr way! The only difference is that Life Purification is aimed at the fleshly body instead of the soul.

    ¡°What will happen if my fleshly body is strengthened to the extreme once again?¡±

    As he thought of this, he focused on cleansing his body repeatedly with Life Purification.

    Life Purification¡¯s tempering made him feel that the density of his bones had been increased, and his veins and blood could contain even more powerful force!

    ¡°It turns out that my fleshly body has been wed the whole time, but Life Purification can perfect its defects and give it the most perfect form!¡±

    Surprisingly, as he used Life Purification to perfect his fleshly body, his giant body slowly shrank instead of growingrger.

    However, the smaller his body, the more dangerous Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python felt he was!

 Chapter 1502: Ice Bone

    With the activation of his Life Purification, drops of new blood essence were condensed.

    He could store 300 drops of blood essence when his bloodline had been at the eighth grade.

    Once the number had reached that limit, no new blood essence could be condensed even if there had been a copious amount of flesh aura.

    When his bloodline reached the ninth grade and his drops of blood essence were improved, the total number of drops he could hold had a breakthrough as well.

    One thousand drops!

    After his bloodline reached the ninth grade, the number of drops of blood essence that his heart could hold went from three hundred drops to one thousand.

    Not only that, but he felt every drop of blood essence that had been condensed after he had reached the ninth grade contained more surging power, and purer quintessence.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Crimson blood light sputtered from his skin and pores.

    His giant body was still slowly shrinking.

    Originally, after he activated his bloodline talents and used Life Blend to control the Star Behemoth bone, his height could reach almost ten thousand meters.

    Now, however, as Life Purification cleansed his veins and strengthened his bones, his towering body that was nearly ten thousand meters tall shrank to about nine thousand meters.

    In a daze, he had an idea as he continued using his Life Purification. ¡°Does nine thousand meters correspond to a ninth-grade bloodline?¡±

    The contaminated flesh aura of the strong creatures that had been dead in the dested starry river for thousands of years quietly converged.

    Light green smoke rose and faded away as toxins were dposed.

    Purplish-red light surged as the dregs of the Demons¡¯ flesh aura in the starry river were crushed to pieces.

    Hard, dark-brown particles were blown to powder as strands of brown flesh aura flew into his body.

    His giant body, which had shrunk from nearly ten thousand meters to nine thousand meters, slowly shrank again to about eight thousand meters before continuing to shrink.

    Even he was bbergasted.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Every now and then, fine lightning shed across his exposed neck and forehead.

    Qi warriors from other domains, who cultivated cold power and had reached the Saint domain, looked up at Nie Tian¡¯s shrinking body from time to time with shocked expressions.

    The cold voice of Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, suddenly echoed out. ¡°Is he reinforcing his fleshly body?¡±

    Yin Yanan, sitting quietly in a forest of icicles, suddenly opened her eyes, gave her a surprised look, and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    The most bustling ce in the Mortal World now should be the Domain of Heaven Span. Many had gone there to watch Dong Li help the ck tortoise break through to the tenth grade.

    The fact that Mu Biqiong suddenly showed up here while many so-called advanced Qi warriors had gone there made Yin Yanan very confused.

    ¡°I...¡± Mu Biqiong, who was still wearing a veil, showing only her matchlessly beautiful eyebrows, stuttered. A touch of panic shed in her beautiful deep eyes. ¡°The fate of all of us is closely rted to Nie Tian. He is the key to our future and our lives. So the Bliss Mountain Sect asked me to keep an eye on him so that I can report everything.¡±

    ¡°Bliss Mountain Sect?¡± Yin Yanan said, pursing her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t use your sect as an excuse! You¡¯ve merged so well with the coexisting flowers and have a high cultivation base. Who else in the Bliss Mountain Sect canmand you now?¡±

    Mu Biqiong said calmly, ¡°I am willing to do things for my sect.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Yin Yanan retorted with a sneer, ¡°It¡¯s said that your sect is trying to marry you to Huang Jinnan of the Five Elements Sect. Huang Jinnan is the divine son of the metal element sect, and one of Nie Tian¡¯s best friends. He has a very promising future.

    ¡°Originally, the Five Elements Sect didn¡¯t take you seriously, but your coexisting flowers turned out to be so amazing that they became interested, and wanted to see what they could do before they made their decision. Is it because it upset you to meet people from the Five Elements Sect in the Domain of Heaven Span that you came here?¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡± asked Mu Biqiong.

    Yin Yanan raised the end of her eyebrow. ¡°Of course I know that. I also know...¡±

    She smiled slyly and looked up at Nie Tian. ¡°Is it because you want to see him that you want toe here for rxation? I remember he lifted your veil when you were on the Shatter Battlefield. I also remember you...¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Mu Biqiong shouted angrily.

    Yin Yanan sighed, ¡°You and I fought for years, but we have no conflicts of interest now, after both my Beast-controlling Sect and your Bliss Mountain Sect chose to attach themselves to him. In fact, I know what you¡¯re thinking. You¡¯ve seen higher mountains and better scenery, so of course you don¡¯t want to settle for lower mountains.

    ¡°Huang Jinnan is a divine son, butpared to him, he is really inferior.¡±

    Mu Biqiong lowered her head in silence.

    ¡°You can refuse the marriage,¡± Yin Yanan added. ¡°You¡¯re very strong. If you don¡¯t want to marry him, no one in the Bliss Mountain Sect will dare to force you. Besides, there¡¯s no one in the Five Elements Sect who would dare to do something to his subordinates.¡±

    Hearing this, Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes lit up, as if she had found an answer.

    ¡°You were right,¡± Yin Yanan continued. ¡°He¡¯s reinforcing his body in a whole new way. His body seems to have shrunk considerably, but the flesh aura in him has be purer. He¡¯s getting stronger, and his body is probably no weaker than that of any early tenth grade Demon or Bonebrute grand monarch.¡±

    Mu Biqiong nodded. ¡°The coexisting flowers in my body also feel that way.¡±

    ¡°What a pity.¡± Yin Yanan sighed, shaking her head and no longer speaking.

    A few dayster.

    Yin Yanan¡¯s Frost Blood Python suddenly shivered, and hurried to pass a soul message to her.

    ¡°An extremely frigid aura?¡± she screamed, subconsciously releasing her soul awareness to perceive her surroundings.

    Then she noticed that the Saint domain Qi warriors who were meditating on the profound meanings of cold power that You Qimiao had left behind rose to their feet one by one.

    WHOOSH!

    A giant Bonebrute flew roaring like an icy mountain, releasing frigid currents as he did.

    Those frigid currents spread out and turned into ice storms as they consciously absorbed the debris of shattered ice crystals that You Qimiao had left behind.

    Almost none of the Qi warriors present had seen this legendary grand monarch before.

    However, the instant he appeared, they felt his chill and cold aura, and then blurted out his name. ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones had been defeated in his battle with Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, the chief of the Bonebrutes. He was rumored to have died, but in fact, he had been lurking in the Domain of Frigid Depths.

    Even Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been suppressed by his cold power, and nearly unable to walk out of the domain.

    ¡°What, what is he doing here?¡± someone asked.

    Everyone grew very nervous and dared not continueprehending the profound meanings of cold power. They hurried to disy their cold domains and gather around, ready for battle.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong also stared vigntly at the unexpected guest.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones said.

 Chapter 1503: Coercion And Cajolery

    SWISH!

    Attracted by Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s bone body, strands of crystal cold light naturally merged into it.

    After Grand Monarch Ice Bones arrived, You Qimiao¡¯s profoundws and meanings that had transformed from cold power quickly copsed.

    His presence caused creatures who cultivated cold power like Yin Yanan and the Frost Blood Python to shiver, as if their fleshly bodies were slowly being infiltrated by his flesh aura sea.

    In his Bonebrute Impregnable Form, Grand Monarch Ice Bones looked like a huge transparent ice sculpture with white flesh power that implied the true meaning of death coursing through his bones. ¡°Nie Tian.¡±

    Compared to his flesh aura back when they had met in the Domain of Frigid Depths, Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s current flesh aura was even more amazing.

    ¡°You¡¯re only a step away from bing ate tenth grade grand monarch.¡± After a quick nce at him, Nie Tian¡¯s mysterious bloodline told him that Grand Monarch Ice Bones in front of him seemed to be able to break through the limits of his bloodline soon, bing ate tenth grade grand monarch and a supreme grand monarch of the outsiders like Grand Monarch Crystal Bones of the Bonebrutes.

    Only ate tenth grade grand monarch could have the chance to be considered an outsider paragon.

    ¡°Why are you here, instead of using Ice Emperor Xuan Yu¡¯s remaining cold power to break through your bloodline in the Frigid Depths?¡± Nie Tian asked with an unkind expression. ¡°With your achievements, you aren¡¯t here for the little strength that You Qimiao left behind, are you?¡±

    ¡°Of course not,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones spoke in broken humannguage. ¡°You should know that the Frigid Depths was slowly transformed from the Ice Emperor¡¯s god domain, with the unique features of the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce had taken his side since the beginning because she had been hoping that when he was strong enough one day, she could rely on his strength to take the Frigid Depths from Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    The Frigid Depths was filled with the profound meanings of cold power that Ice Emperor Xuan Yu had left, which could help her junior martial sister Xu Qing reach the early God domain, and perhaps even the middle andte God domain.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones looked down at the puny frightened humans below and continued with an indifferent air, ¡°They aren¡¯t qualified to hear the conversation between you and me.¡±

    SWOOSH!

    Cold air currents emerged from under Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s armpits.

    Like icy waterfalls and cold streams, the cold air currents took Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python. and Mu Biqiong far away.

    Secondster, a sparkling and crystal-clear barrier with cold light that was made of flesh aura sealed this area of the starry river.

    Through the transparent barrier, Nie Tian could see that Yin Yanan, Mu Biqiong, and those Qi warriors who cultivated cold power hadn¡¯t died.

    Having been carried away, they shivered and looked suspiciously in his direction.

    It was just that they had confused looks in their eyes, as if they were unable to see him or Grand Monarch Ice Bones, or know what they were talking about.

    After this was done, Grand Monarch Ice Bones said, ¡°Done. I¡¯ve heard you promised the Profound Purity Pce that you will help them take the Frigid Depths from me?¡±

    The Extreme Cold Pce of the Domain of Frigid Depths had beenpletely controlled by Grand Monarch Ice Bones, so he could obtain information like this through them.

    Nie Tian was silent.

    ¡°I can give up the Frigid Depths,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones said with a different tone than earlier. ¡°In fact, after such a long time, I¡¯ve almost understood all the engraved true meanings of cold power that the Ice Emperor Xuan Yu left behind after his God domain exploded. I will give you the Frigid Depths so you can give it to the Profound Purity Pce as a favor.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s of limited help to me now,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones answered. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the Seven Stars Realm Sea connects directly to the Void World. Only you and Pei Qiqi are able to open that passage. Ie to you and will give you the Frigid Depths because I hope that when you open the portal at the bottom of the sea, I can also pass through it.¡±

    Nie Tian was astonished. ¡°You want to go to the Void World? There¡¯s another way to get to the Void World, isn¡¯t there? The Doomed Star Sea is also connected to the Void World. Why don¡¯t you go to the Void World through there?¡±

    ¡°The Doomed Star Sea...¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones muttered, with a little apprehension in his eyes. ¡°The Doomed Star Sea is indeed a ce that connects the Mortal World and the Void World. I suppose the peak human experts, as well as Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Dark Depths, went to the Void World through the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°I also want to walk through the Doomed Star Sea, but it¡¯s a pity that my bloodline hasn¡¯t reached thete tenth grade, so it is very difficult for me to go safely to the Void World through the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian asked with a serious face, ¡°Is it really that dangerous for you to travel through the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    Hesitating for a while, Grand Monarch Ice Bones exined, ¡°The current situation in the Doomed Star Sea is veryplicated. Even I can¡¯t bepletely sure that I¡¯ll be able to smoothly travel through it, so I thought of the passage in the Seven Stars Realm Sea that connects to the Void World. I¡¯ve also learned that that newly-madete God domain human obtained his lucky fortune from the Void World.¡±

    Nie Tian snorted coldly and said, ¡°The Void World. What do you know about it?¡±

    The Bonedrudes, which were one of the three outsider races of the Void World, was the source of the Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodline. Once Grand Monarch Ice Bones went to the Void World, it was likely that he would be quickly assimted by the Bonedrudes and be a great trouble to the human race.

    It was even possible that Grand Monarch Ice Bones had already hadmunications with the Bonedrudes in the Void World, and had been instigated by them to trick Nie Tian into opening the portal.

    At the thought of this, Nie Tian said before Grand Monarch Ice Bones could reply, ¡°The portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea won¡¯t be opened for the time being. If the portal is opened, that will mean that the Mortal World will be exposed to the beings from the Void World. I don¡¯t want to fight them when the Mortal World is facing a threat from the strong outsider races!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s eyes went cold. ¡°The Frigid Depths alone aren¡¯t enough, is it?¡±

    Nie Tian grinned and said, ¡°Grand Monarch Ice Bones, do you think I¡¯m as weak as I was when we met in the Domain of Frigid Depths? I know what you¡¯re capable of, but if you want to threaten me now, I¡¯m afraid that you can¡¯t.¡±

    After suffering from You Qimiao¡¯s mighty strike, his body had been strengthened further, so his confidence had soared.

    Even You Qimiao, who was at thete God domain, couldn¡¯t kill him with cold power. How could Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was a little weaker, possibly kill him?

    Besides, he was in the Mortal World, and his territory now!

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s tone gradually turned cold as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard how strong you are and I also know about your fight with You Qimiao. I may not be able to kill you very easily, but what about the people with you? Nie Tian, you should know that you¡¯re not alone, but I am. I wouldn¡¯t care if the Extreme Coldness Pce were to be destroyed, or even if the entire Bonebrute race were to be wiped out.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed.

    He had seen such desperate, cold-blooded characters who had no family members or friends before.

    Zhao Shanling was one of them. Nothing could threaten him.

    HISS!

    Cold air currents suddenly flew out of the barrier toward Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python, and Mu Biqiong like frigid streams.

    The countless Bloodline Crystal Chains in the cold air currents burst forth with silvery bright light and an intense blood aura, easily freezing Yin Yanan, the Frost Blood Python, and Mu Biqiong, as well as those Qi warriors who cultivated cold power, and turning them into ice sculptures.

    You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect was a human himself. He had to take his identity and his sect into consideration, so he hadn¡¯t dared to act recklessly.

    He hadn¡¯t, but Grand Monarch Ice Bones did.

    In a sh, those Qi warriors were all frozen by Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s cold power, whether they had a rtionship with Nie Tian or not. Moreover, they were obviously being eroded by his death aura little by little.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s voice was filled with cold killing intent as he said, ¡°Do you see that? If I want, I can kill them right now. Not only that, but I can also go kill the humans and your rtives in the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, and the Domain of Heaven Python.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face stiffened.

 Chapter 1504: The River Of Time Reappears!

    Faint soul voices rippled from the ice sculptures, as if ghosts were sobbing.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Help us!¡±

    ¡°Please!¡±

    The Saint domain experts who had been turned into ice sculptures couldn¡¯t speak or budge, but they could make Nie Tian hear their soul screams.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t even spare them a look.

    He looked only at the two women with whom he had connections. One of them was from the Beast-controlling Sect, while the other one was from the Bliss Mountain Sect.

    Frigid crystalline ice coated the two female bodies. One was vigorous and curvy, while the other looked tall and delicate.

    However, Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong didn¡¯t beg him to save them with their soul voices.

    Streaks of grayish brown light appeared in their fair necks, foreheads, and the depths of their bright eyes from time to time.

    That was Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s death aura.

    Even if he didn¡¯t kill them right away, their vitality would be slowly exhausted, and they would die after their bodies were eroded by his flesh aura over a long period of time.

    Through Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, Grand Monarch Ice Bones immediately figured out who he really cared about. ¡°Mmm.¡±

    CRACK!

    With a simple flick of Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s finger, the ice coating a middle Saint domain Qi warrior, who cultivated cold power and was releasing intense soul fluctuations, suddenly broke.

    With it broke his fleshly body and domain.

    ¡°Too much nonsense,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones muttered.

    Those Qi warriors who had tried their best to release soul fluctuations in a bid to draw Nie Tian¡¯s attention instantly quieted down, and no soul awarenesses appeared anymore.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones raised his hand and made a grabbing motion.

    Two frigid air currents caught Yin Yanan¡¯s and Mu Biqiong¡¯s ice sculptures and brought them over to him.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, who had be two balls of ice, fell into therge boney palms of Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was in his Bonebrute Impregnable Form.

    The ice wrapping the two women in his icy cold palms looked like two snowballs ced in two vast, cold snowfields.

    His death aura slid into the ice balls like serpents.

    Even though Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan were frozen, the looks in their eyes showed that they were suffering piercing pain.

    Thanks to his cultivation base, long lifespan, and insight, Grand Monarch Ice Bones could see at a single nce that Mu Biqiong and Yin Yanan were gifted. ¡°Nie Tian, these two girls are very unusual. Both of them are blessed with great talent. They have greater power in them than most of their nsmen at the same grade.

    ¡°And I¡¯d say that their faces are beautiful, too.¡±

    BAM!

    The veil covering Mu Biqiong¡¯s face suddenly exploded into countless ice kes.

    Her aloof beautiful face that was covered by the veil at all times was instantly seen by Nie Tian. She looked like a quiet, beautiful picture.

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be a pity if they died?¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones asked.

    Nie Tian was in a dilemma.

    ¡°If you refuse, they will only be the first to die,¡± Grand Monarch Ice Bones said as an icy and merciless light shed in his eyes. ¡°After I was defeated by Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, I broke away from the Bonebrutes. I have no descendants or anyone else that I care about. I have already found out that the nsmen of the Nie n and your rtives are in a broken realm in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. I can kill them all if I want to.

    ¡°Other than You Qimiao, none of the humans in the Mortal World can really stop me from killing!

    ¡°As long as I want, I can plunge the people in the Domain of the Falling Stars, Domain of Heaven Python, and Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries into misery and suffering! Nie Tian, you¡¯d better decide which one is more important, your rtives and subordinates, or the opening of the portal!

    ¡°I want to go to the Void World because I want to make my breakthrough to thete tenth grade there!¡±

    ¡°If you let me in, you won¡¯t suffer a great loss! What¡¯s more, I¡¯ll also give the Frigid Depths to you so that you can use it to help the God domain experts of the Profound Purity Pce gain power of a higher level!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones took his time, using both coercion and cajolery, to bend Nie Tian to his will.

    Nie Tian was furious, but couldn¡¯t find a way out even though he racked his brains.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was alone and only a step away from bing ate tenth grade grand monarch, threatened him with the lives of his rtives and subordinates, targeting his weakness. He couldn¡¯t find a solution right away.

    ¡°Once the portal is opened, the three outsider races in the Void World will likely take the opportunity to enter the Mortal World. It¡¯s likely that Grand Monarch Ice Bones has been instigated by the Bonedrudes, and that¡¯s why he¡¯s deliberately asking me to do this!¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    His expression kept changing while his eyes constantly flickered. He couldn¡¯t make up his mind.

    Just then, Grand Monarch Ice Bones suddenly snapped, ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡±

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    All the fingers of his huge bone palms stiffened.

    The thick ice coating Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong, who had been imprisoned by his cold bloodline power, suddenly exploded. In a twinkling, the two women were released, and flew away like two streaks of light.

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones, whose bone body was cold and crystalline, looked around with eyes that were like balls of ice.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, he found that he was having difficulty turning his neck.

    Unusual quicksand that contained time¡¯s true meaning sprinkled from the depths of the starry river to his enormous body.

    Every grain of sand that fell on his glittering golden body felt like an ancient realm that crashed into him, making it hard for him to breathe.

    His huge body sank bit by bit towards the starry river below.

    ¡°Time! The power of time!¡± he eximed with fear in his eyes. He sensed the aura of time in every grain of sand and perceived in horror that the time in the small area where he was standing was flying... backwards!

    The flesh power that he had painstakingly umted for thousands of years with the Frigid Depths¡¯ help was leaving him at an rming rate.

    It seemed that as time flew backward, he would soon relive the unforgettable moment of humiliation when he had been defeated by Grand Monarch Crystal Bones.

    He growled in despair.

    He ruled over the Pce of Extreme Cold, so he knew about most of the major events in the Mortal World.

    Gupi, which Jiang Yuanchi had originally sealed, had rampaged in all the human domains with an invincible air. However, it had been taken away by the river of time in the end, and its current whereabouts were a mystery.

    He had known how strong Gupi was while he had still been with the Bonebrutes, before he had left the Spirit World for the Mortal World.

    Even Gupi couldn¡¯t resist the power of the river of time. How could he possibly do so?

    At that moment, he suddenly thought of one thing ¡ª in the current era, the only person who could drive the river of time happened to be Nie Tian¡¯s teacher.

    ¡°I should have thought of that man!¡± he cried with regret.

    Then a gorgeous river carrying the power of time that had extended from parts unknown suddenly appeared, and poured down onto Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s head, and then his giant bone body.

    He opened his mouth, trying to scream, but he could not make a sound.

    The river of time finally enshrouded him.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who was nearly ten thousand meters tall and looked like an iceberg, was dragged into the river of time like a marite.

    As soon as he fell into the river of time, the giant Grand Monarch Ice Bones seemed to be a grain of rice, shrinking by hundreds of millions of times.

    He sank to the bottom of the long river of time like a grain of sand, before the river soared up into the void.

    ¡°Master!¡± Seeing that the river of time was about to leave under his eyes as it had taken Gupi away thest time, Nie Tian shouted into the void, hoping that his voice could prate the river of time and be heard by Wu Ji.

    To his surprise, he got a response this time!

 Chapter 1505: The Place Where Mighty Ones Died

    The river of time continued to fade.

    Every being in this area of the starry river, whether they were humans or spirit beasts like the Frost Blood Python, seemed to be frozen by time right after their initial astonishment.

    At this moment, there wasn¡¯t any change of emotions in Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes.

    This indicated that they were frozen at this moment.

    Nie Tian was the only one in this entire area whose calls could spread into the distant void like ripples.

    Glorious light could be seen interweaving in the depths of the river of time. Each and every ray of it seemed to record what had happened in the past, a history.

    Countless sparkling particles could be seen at the bottom of the mysterious river, like sand that flowed with the river.

    All of a sudden, the flowing sand at the bottom of the river seemed to be channeled by some power, as it swirled and morphed into an illusory shape.

    It was Wu Ji!

    The illusory shape only presented Wu Ji¡¯s face, not his body.

    However, his pupils manifested the alteration between day and night, the change of eras, and the reincarnation of all lives.

    As Nie Tian looked into his eyes, he felt as if he were looking at images of what had happened in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and even the Void World over the past hundreds of thousands of years.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian shuddered violently. ¡°I can¡¯t believe there are even images of the Void World!¡±

    He had always assumed that the unsearchable river of time only recorded the history of the Mortal World and the Spirit World.

    Did the fact that he could see the past of the Void World in the river of time mean that it ran through the Void World as well?

    Only that would exin why he could see the changes and countless lives in the Void World through the river of time!

    All of a sudden, the illusory shape of Wu Ji¡¯s face that had manifested in the river of time turned to look at him.

    He had a feeling that Wu Ji¡¯s gaze had pierced throughyers of space and reached him.

    ¡°Master!¡± He called out once again, gazing unblinkingly at Wu Ji. ¡°Where are you, Master? Where does this river of timee from? Where is it going to return to?¡±

    With his divine abilities, Wu Ji¡¯s soul seemed to have traveled through numerous spatial barriers to this ce, and manifested in this form.

    They looked into each other¡¯s eyes.

    BOOM!

    Huge waves suddenly rose in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness as his soul power started hemorrhaging like water flooding through a broken dam.

    At the same time, messages came through from the depths of Wu Ji¡¯s illusory eyes.

    The conveyance of messages suddenly made Wu Ji¡¯s illusory shape in the river of time more ethereal and visionary.

    Within a very short time, Wu Ji¡¯s shape dissipated along with the river of time.

    Theirmunication also made Nie Tian lose his soul power at an uncontrobly high rate.

    Despite that, the messages from Wu Ji¡¯s illusory shape transformed into images in his sea of awareness, even though they were somewhat disorderly.

    ¡°Communication that defies space!¡±

    The moment the images entered his mind, Nie Tian realized that Wu Ji had consumed a significant amount of his power to convey those messages through boundless space, as they might very well be in two different worlds!

    It was the wonders of the river of time that had bridged the space between them!

    Images emerged in his sea of awareness one after another.

    It was an area of the starry river that was dotted with countless dazzling stars. Multiple zing suns and chilly moons could be seen in the distance.

    An enormous Floragrim was floating quietly, bereft of any flesh aura.

    He could see the face and the figure of the Floragrim clearly.

    After examining it for a few seconds, he came to the conclusion that this was the Floragrim high chieftain and Fata¡¯s father, Grand Monarch Life Wood.

    ording to Grand Monarch Primal Wood, he had received the third-generation Tree of Life¡¯s summons and guidance, which was proof that Grand Monarch Life Wood had died.

    It was said that Grand Monarch Life Wood had crossed the Doomed Star Sea into the Void World to seek the method to transcend the limits of the tenth grade, along with the otherte tenth grade Ancientspirit grand monarchs.

    ¡°So it¡¯s true. Grand Monarch Life Wood is dead. Could this be the image of a forbidden ce in the Void World where he died...?

    ¡°Or has this not happened yet?

    ¡°My master is well-versed in time power. With the help of the river of time, he can look into the past as well as the future.

    ¡°So is this in the past or the future?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Another image entered his sea of awareness.

    It was the image of a Phantasm.

    The Phantasm bore a great resemnce to Froste, but his rich flesh aura with the Phantasms¡¯ unique features was gradually dissipating.

    He was in his true form, yet his dispersing flesh aura spurred an uncanny manifestation of profound soul wonders in that area around him.

    Nie Tian found many of the soul wonders and secret magics familiar, as he had seen them in the Nether River.

    Nie Tian stood aghast once again. ¡°That¡¯s the Phantasms¡¯ high chieftain, Grand Monarch Nether River!¡±

    Both Grand Monarch Life Wood and Grand Monarch Nether River had beente tenth grade overlords whose strength had been unmatched in their vast domains.

    What on earth had happened after they had crossed the Doomed Star Sea? What had killed them?

    All of a sudden, another image entered his mind.

    An image of Gupi, which had been wrapped up and taken away from the human world by the river of time, manifested with iparable rity.

    No one throughout the entire human world had been able to kill it, which had reached some mutual agreement with Jiang Yuanchi.

    However, at this moment, it looked like a giant multicolored maggot that had been cut to pieces.

    Apparently, this was its true form.

    ¡°Gupi!¡±

    It was hard to believe that Gupi, which even Ji Cang, Qu Yi, and Chu Yuan had been unable to defeat, had ended up like this after being taken away by the river of time.

    Gupi¡¯s true form was every bit asrge as a mighty dragon.

    As powerful as it might have been, it had been ripped apart, seeming to have lost all of its regenerating power, along with the toxic power it had relied on to terrorize the Mortal World and the Spirit World.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment.

    Immediately afterwards, he discovered that he had drained all his soul power within such a short time.

    No more images entered his mind.

    He looked around, and realized that the river of time that had appeared out of nowhere had long since disappeared.

    Frustration filled his face as he cast his gaze down and muttered, ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Gupi all died in that peculiar ce where numerous suns and moons shone, along with countless dazzling stars? If Gupi was ripped apart and killed there, does that mean my master is there too?¡±

    ¡°Is that some mysterious forbidden area of the Void World?

    ¡°Since it¡¯s appealing enough for both Grand Monarch Life Wood and Grand Monarch Nether River to go there, does that mean that it really hosts the supreme power that can helpte tenth grade grand monarchs transcend their limits?¡±

    He suddenly realized that Grand Monarch Ice Bones of the Bonebrutes, who had been taken away by the river of time, had a good chance at dying there as well.

    Gupi, Grand Monarch Life Wood, and Grand Monarch Nether River... Any of them had been stronger than Grand Monarch Ice Bones.

    Only at this moment did Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong¡¯s shocked cries echo out. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    The two of them felt bewildered, as if they had just awoken from a strange dream. As hard as they tried to recall what had just happened, they could only remember that Grand Monarch Ice Bones had imprisoned them in ice, and that they had seen the mysterious river of time manifest out of nowhere when they had flown into Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s huge hands.

    They could remember nothing after that.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Grand Monarch Ice Bones?¡±

    At the same time, the Saint domain experts that had been frozen by cold currents also broke free of their ice prisons and returned to their senses due to Grand Monarch Ice Bones¡¯s disappearance.

    They nced around for Grand Monarch Ice Bones with panicked looks on their faces.

    Gazing up into the boundless starry river, Nie Tian seemed to see through spatial barriers into the curious ce that had just appeared in his mind. ¡°I¡¯ll visit that ce someday! Master might be waiting for me there.¡±

 Chapter 1506: Itâ€™s Not Fair

    The Ripper Behemoth had long since left the Realm of Heaven Span, which it had reduced to scattered and broken pieces.

    Many Qi warriors from the Heaven Span Pavilion flew back and forth between the broken pieces and floatingnds to sense sword intent and search for spirit swords that were buried in them.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    Glorious sword lights would sh across from time to time.

    As sword lights branded within the Godspan Sword Formation, they contained deeply-refined sword intent, even after the grand spell formation had fallen apart.

    These sword lights were spiritual, and currently unimed. As long as those Heaven Span Pavilion Qi warriors matched their attributes and temperament, they would be able to win their favor easily.

    Since each and every one of these sword lights was a legacy from the most powerful experts in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s history, anyone who could find and refine them into themselves would receive a strong boost in their strength and cultivation base.

    For that reason, these Qi warriors, who had lost the Realm of Heaven Span, were all trying hard to find and fuse sword lights into themselves, hoping that they would be able to rebuild the Godspan Sword Formation in another realm someday.

    An early Void domain Qi warrior from the Heaven Span Pavilion sensed a strange flesh aura as soon as hended on a brown piece ofnd. ¡°There!¡±

    BOOM!

    For some reason, the floatingnd suddenly exploded.

    Streams of flesh aura that carried intense tearing power burst forth from within the shatterednd, and shot up like lightning bolts.

    High above this area filled with drifting realm pieces was a vast area that was enshrouded in thick darkness.

    An enormous being could be seen looming behind the darkness.

    The Qi warriors from the Heaven Span Pavilion didn¡¯t know what was happening. They only nced up in its direction from time to time with confused looks on their faces.

    Their cultivation bases didn¡¯t allow them to see through the darkness. What they didn¡¯t know was that important figures from across the human world were floating above the darkness-enveloped area.

    God domain experts such as Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, Chu Rui, and Dou Tianchen were among them.

    From their point of view, they could see that the Realm of Heaven Span had been reduced to close to a hundredrge pieces that were scattered over arge area.

    The distances between the pieces varied, but they all contained residual spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

    However, at this moment, they spewed strange flesh power every now and then.

    All of the flesh power rose and fused into the darkness like wisps of smoke.

    Enveloped in the darkness were Dong Li and the ck tortoise, which was trying to break through to the tenth grade.

    After examining them for a long time, Ye Wenhan said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that spirit tortoise of Dong Li¡¯s is a hybrid with Star Behemoth blood running through its veins! I doubt that it¡¯s the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s direct descendant, but its ancestor and bloodline origin probably have a close rtionship to it!

    ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s why the Ripper Behemoth left it some of its flesh aura after sensing the aura of an old acquaintance, hoping that would help it break through to the tenth grade.¡±

    Ye Wenhan was a man of high learning.

    He had conducted painstaking research to learn everything about Star Behemoths since the dead Star Behemoth in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield had shaken the heavens and toppled the earth, causing serious trouble.

    His gut had told him that the Star Behemoths that had ruled the starry river during the Primal Era hadn¡¯t died outpletely.

    Perhaps one day, they would reappear in this starry river and make all beings tremble before their devastating might again.

    Now, his suspicion had proven to be true.

    Looking deeply surprised, Chu Rui asked, ¡°Are you saying that a Star Behemoth and some powerful spirit beast made that ck tortoise? And that Star Behemoth knew the Ripper Behemoth? That¡¯s why the Ripper Behemoth left some of its flesh aura here to help the ck tortoise break through to the tenth grade?¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded. ¡°That Ripper Behemoth must have learned of the existence of the ck tortoise long ago, because from you, I learned that Nie Tian and Dong Li had visited the floating continent together. They had killed Demons with the ck tortoise¡¯s help there, helping the dormant Ripper Behemoth remove these annoying ¡®ticks.¡¯¡±

    Ye Wenhan referred to the Demon grand patriarchs that had intruded into the floating continent as ticks.

    ¡°If that¡¯s true, will the ck tortoise be able to help return the Ripper Behemoth to its senses after breaking through to the tenth grade?¡± Chu Rui asked, his heart filled with anticipation.

    ¡°That¡¯s actually possible,¡± Ye Wenhan said.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of flesh aura continued to rise from the broken pieces from the Realm of Heaven Span to help the ck tortoise and spur wondrous changes in the mysterious patterns on its vast shell.

    Many patterns that were originally separated from each other suddenly magically linked together.

    At the same time, the Bloodline Crystal Chains within the ck tortoise¡¯s heart burst forth with pure ck light that only Dong Li could perceive.

    It broke through to the tenth grade!

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, the sword lights that had shot in every direction after the explosion of the Godspan Sword Formation and be very hard to find seemed to be attracted by something, as they flew out from different areas, cheering as they did.

    Then, the countless sword lights came together to form rivers of sword intent in a splendid way.

    Each and every river was a condensation of numerous sword lights, vested with the Dao of the sword and the wonders of the Godspan Sword Incantation.

    The Heaven Span Pavilion Qi warriors that were still seeking to find and fuse sword lights into themselves were bbergasted, looking nkly at the sword lights that flew into the distance.

    Ye Wenhan was also at a loss.

    Even the sword lights that had been found and were warming towards the Heaven Span Pavilion Qi warriors that agreed with their attributes and temperament suddenly flew away, joining the rivers of sword light that flew off into the distant starry river.

    ¡°Those sword lights are the core of the Godspan Sword Formation, but now they...¡± Chu Rui said with wide eyes, confusion filling his face. ¡°Brother Ye, those sword lights are very spiritual. Can you tell me why they¡¯re all flying off, seemingly in the same direction now?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the scattered Godspan Sword Formation, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed.

    Ye Wenhan thought hard for a while before suddenly realizing something. ¡°Those sword lights have their own awareness. After the explosion of the Godspan Sword Formation, they became independent and free to choose their new masters. If someone with shocking talent in sword cultivation came into being during this time, they would sense it immediately even if they were separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometers.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Chu Rui was still confused.

    Ye Wenhan took a deep breath before saying excitedly, ¡°Someone must have mastered the Dao of the sword, and thus triggered a resonance in them, making them fly to greet their new master! Don¡¯t tell me that Brother Fan has broken through to thete God domain already?!¡±

    ¡°That might be it!¡± Chu Rui said, looking greatly spirited.

    Suddenly, a cold, untimely voice echoed out. ¡°It¡¯s not Fan Tianze.¡±

    Floating over the darkness-enveloped area and spinning the Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi took a nce at the fleeting rivers of sword intent with her bright eyes before saying, ¡°The new master they¡¯re attracted to and flying to greet is Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°That old entric has broken through to the God domain?¡±

    ¡°Even so, he must only be at the early God domain! I can¡¯t believe the wisps of power that are vested with the true Dao of the sword, the foundation of the Godspan Sword Formation that we¡¯ve spent tens of thousands of years to build, are actually throwing themselves into his arms! It¡¯s not fair!¡±

 Chapter 1507: Sword Qi Shoots Up Into The Sky

    A sea of clouds surged where the Streamcloud Sword Sect¡¯s headquarters stood.

    Pavilions stood atop lofty mountain peaks that rose above the sea of clouds.

    All of a sudden, a grand pavilion that looked simple and unsophisticated blossomed with blinding light, beams of sparkling sword lights bursting forth like frosty spider threads.

    Skilled Qi warriors that were practicing cultivation in sky-reaching pavilions, on sword-like mountain peaks, and in sword ponds looked up and saw the amazing phenomenon. They all sensed Yin Xingtian¡¯s advance in cultivation base from the unusual changes.

    ¡°Sectmaster has ended his secluded cultivation!¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster has made his breakthrough in cultivation!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of sword intent suddenly shot out from the depths of the earth, the sea, and frozen mountain peaks.

    Such sword intent carried the Dao of the sword that the brilliant schrs of the Streamcloud Sword Sect had derived from and then returned to heaven and earth to allow disciples of the Streamcloud Sword Sect to derive enlightenment from it.

    This was simr to the purpose of the profound truths of the five elements that had been branded in the five different regions of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    At this moment, all the sword intent and lifelong understanding of sword cultivation the brilliant schrs of the Streamcloud Sword Sect had fused into the earth and the sea somehow flew out simultaneously.

    Old cultivators from the Streamcloud Sword Sect looked up at the sword lights that were converging on the tallest pavilions that sat in the sea of clouds, their eyes brimming with tears of excitement.

    ¡°His breakthrough has spurred myriad swords toe greet him!¡±

    ¡°Sectmaster¡¯s talent is peerless indeed! Our sect might rise to a whole new level because of him!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve lived ten thousand years. And today, I finally get to see the so-called ¡®greetings from myriad swords!¡¯¡±

    It was said that only those who sought the Dao of the sword wholeheartedly and had derived the ultimate truths of sword cultivation could inspire the sword intent in their surroundings to go pay homage to them on their own.

    It seemed that only the Heaven Span Pavilion had witnessed such amazing phenomena throughout human history.

    Who would have thought that Yin Xingtian, the current sectmaster of the Streamcloud Sword Sect, would trigger the resonance of the sword intent, making theme greet him from all directions, right after he had merely broken through to the early God domain?

    Floating by a spatial rift, Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and the others gazed down at the realm wreathed in seas of clouds withplicated expressions.

    ¡°Yin Xingtian!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s him!¡±

    The whole realm was enveloped in thick clouds, making it look like a huge sphere of clouds.

    The headquarters of the Streamcloud Sword Sect sat here.

    After casting profound soul magics, powerful experts like Chu Rui could see the realm as clearly as the palm prints on their hands.

    Every de of grass, tree, and Streamcloud Sword Sect disciple in the realm were disyed before their eyes with incredible rity.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe it¡¯s him,¡± Ye Wenhan said in frustration.

    The Heaven Span Pavilion led the entire human world in sword cultivation. The Streamcloud Sword Sect was noticeably weaker inparison.

    For hundreds of thousands of years, the Heaven Span Pavilion had maintained its lead in sword cultivation. There wasn¡¯t a single period of time when the Streamcloud Sword Sect had been able to challenge the Heaven Span Pavilion in that area.

    That was mostly because the Streamcloud Sword Sect hadn¡¯t witnessed a singlete God domain expert in their history.

    However, the moment Yin Xingtian had broken through to the early God domain, he had not only triggered resonance in the wisps of sword intent in the Streamcloud Sword Sect, but also the sword intent that had made up the Godspan Sword Formation in the Realm of Heaven Span.

    Ye Wenhan found this hard to ept.

    WHOOSH!

    Pei Qiqi spun her Space Boundaries Crystal and created another spatial rift that connected this ce to the shattered Realm of Heaven Span.

    The rivers of sword intent that had sensed Yin Xingtian¡¯s changes shrewdly discovered the spatial tunnel, flew through it one after another, and headed towards the lofty pavilion where Yin Xingtian had practiced secluded cultivation.

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society sighed in admiration and said, ¡°Yin Xingtian was going to reach the end of his lifespan not so long ago. It¡¯s true that his whole life has revolved around his sword cultivation, and he hasn¡¯t deviated from that path or had doubts about it for even a second. He¡¯s not younger than you or me. However, while our peers attempted to advance to the God domain, sessful or not, he took his time to deepen his understanding of sword cultivation and sharpen himself.

    ¡°Who would have thought that he would keep a low profile before stunning the whole world with a single brilliant feat!¡±

    All of the powerful experts from the four great sects who hade from the Realm of Heaven Span showed great respect.

    FIZZ!

    The sea of clouds seemed to be pierced and scattered by the countless wisps of sword intent from all directions, revealing the lofty pavilions to the powerful experts within and without the realm.

    Over the loftiest pavilion atop the highest mountain peak, the sword intent interwove and let out low, cheerful whizzes.

    Upon closer look, one could see that countless glowing sword lights gradually formed a hemispherical ward that enveloped the pavilion, as if to protect Yin Xingtian.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Godspan Sword Formation!¡±

    ¡°Exactly! That¡¯s a downscaled Godspan Sword Formation!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the divine formation built by our generations of brilliant patriarchs has be Yin Xingtian¡¯s!¡±

    ¡°Now that Yin Xingtian has entered the God domain and gained control of the Godspan Sword Formation, doesn¡¯t that mean his battle prowess outmatches that of anyone with his cultivation base now?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re underestimating the Godspan Sword Formation. I think that unearthly grand spell formation built by generations of brilliant members of the Heaven Span Pavilion can annihte even middle God domain experts under Yin Xingtian¡¯s control!¡±

    A mor burst through the crowd as soon as they heard these words.

    ...

    Inside the Realm of Looming Shadow.

    After Grand Monarch Ice Bones had been taken away by the river of time, all those he had frozen regained their freedom.

    Yin Yanan and Mu Biqiong were still in a state of shock as they talked about the might of Grand Monarch Ice Bones and the wonders of the river of time.

    Nie Tian, however, had already taken out soul crystals to replenish his soul power after thinking things through.

    Only after recovering his soul power with arge number of soul crystals did he take a deep breath and mutter, ¡°I¡¯ve almost drained this area of the starry river around the shattered Realm of Looming Shadow of its mixed energies. It¡¯s about time I moved to another location.¡±

    He flew off into the distant starry river before Yin Yanan or Mu Biqiong could say anything.

    A few dayster...

    He arrived at the Domain of Illusory Abyss, where he slew two ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarchs and arge number of eighth grade Phantasms.

    After that, he moved on to an area that was infested with Bonebrutes, where he killed a Bonebrute grand patriarch and close to a hundred Bonebrutes at lower grades.

    Then, he sought out a ce where apany of Demons was holed up, and killed every one of them.

    All of the Ancientspirit and outsider invaders had pulled out of the Domain of Heaven Span after the Ripper Behemoth had appeared.

    Most of them hadn¡¯t returned to the Spirit World, but rather spread out to scout some of the medium and advanced human domains for realms that suited their needs, and clean out the humans in them as they did.

    The humans were consumed with internal strife, and thus didn¡¯t have the time to deal with them.

    Now, after the crisis with Grand Monarch Ice Bones and witnessing the incredible scenes through the messages Wu Ji had conveyed to him, Nie Tian¡¯s desire for power had grown higher than ever.

    The strengthening of his flesh aura, the upgrade of his bloodline, and the purification of his body all required a tremendous amount of flesh power.

    To him, the outsiders were a decent source of flesh power.

    Therefore, he traveled from one domain to another to hunt the outsiders in them.

    WHOOSH!

    A Demon grand patriarch with ck wings growing out his back flew for his life towards the realm barrier of a bright yellow realm.

    ¡°Don¡¯t waste my time.¡±

    A crimson divine spear shed across the heavens.

    In the next moment, blood spilled from the chest of the Demon grand patriarch, who was about three thousand meters tall and enveloped in a dark purple flesh aura sea, as he seemed to be pierced by a bolt of red lightning.

    Nie Tian then flew over in his erged form. With an expressionless face, he grabbed the Demon grand monarch¡¯s ck fleshy wings with his huge tong-like hands, and pulled.

    The grand patriarch¡¯s ck wings were ripped off, blood spilling everywhere.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to further my body refinement after Life Purification. I¡¯ll return to being nine thousand meters tall.¡± While muttering, Nie Tian activated Life Drain, and the flesh power of the Demon grand patriarch on hisst gasp started pouring madly into him.

 Chapter 1508: Accumulating Strength

    In a deep mountain valley filled with rolling Demon Qi, Grand Monarch Remote Demon had already regrown his severed arm.

    Staring at the Demon kneeling in front of him, he sprang to his feet and eximed, ¡°What? Another grand patriarch of our n died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands? Tell our nsmen to stay put before Lord Bloodlust and Lord Eternal Purgatory get here.¡±

    At this moment, a high-tier Demon d in dark purple armor rode in on a giant lizard-like monster. Casting his gaze down, he said, ¡°Grand Monarch Chaos Demon is confirmed to have been killed by Nie Tian in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.¡±

    Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s face grew even grimmer. ¡°I see.¡±

    The Demons had sensed it as soon as Grand Monarch Chaos Demon had perished.

    It was just that they hadn¡¯t known who the killer was. Later, when word hade in saying that Nie Tian was the killer, Grand Monarch Remote Demon had questioned its authenticity.

    Now, after his loyal subordinate had confirmed it, he realized that it was true.

    ¡°If even Chaos Demon died at his hand, I...¡± Grand Monarch Remote Demon, who had expended great effort to regrow his arm through secret bloodline magics, felt uneasy, even though this ce where he was hiding was a human realm that had been transformed by Demon Qi.

    He should be the one to step up and avenge his people after they were butchered in the Mortal World.

    However, the death of Grand Monarch Chaos Demon made him hesitant.

    ¡°Nie Tian is hunting not only our people, but the Phantasms and Fiends as well,¡± the high-tier Demon said.

    Grand Monarch Remote Demon took a deep breath and said with a grim look in his eyes, ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s special. His unique bloodline allows him to strengthen himself by refining our flesh auras. What surprises me is that he¡¯s even started killing the Fiends now. Fiends¡¯ flesh auras contain all sorts of deadly toxins. How can he possibly absorb and refine them?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, my lord.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Grand Monarch Remote Demon said with a ferocious look in his eyes. ¡°Lord Eternal Purgatory has already awoken. It won¡¯t be long before he gets here. Both Nie Tian and that Pei Qiqi will die miserable deaths after Lord Eternal Purgatoryes to the Mortal World! And we¡¯ll finally retake the dark stone we lost.¡±

    ¡°Got it.¡±

    ...

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    As Nie Tian activated Life Purification, multicolored flesh aura mists rose from the dead Fiends that were scattered before him at odd angles.

    A Fiend starship had been blown up by Nie Tian, and its debris covered arge area.

    A Fiend grand patriarch that seemed to be the leader wailed as the life in his eyes faded.

    Even now, he still couldn¡¯t believe this human hybrid could actually purge the various toxins within his flesh aura, making them rise like smoke, and then absorb it as pure flesh power.

    Grief filled his heart as he struggled to nce around at his nsmen that had died miserable deaths.

    ¡°You¡¯re more evil than any outsider race, or the so-called crooked forces.¡± After saying this with hisst gasp, the Fiend grand patriarch¡¯sst drop of Blood Essence burned out in his heart, and he died with unfulfilled grudges.

    As wisps of pure flesh power fused into Nie Tian¡¯s erged body, he grew considerably taller.

    After he had cleansed his body with Life Purification, his erged form had shrunken from close to ten thousand meters tall to only seven thousand meters tall.

    That was the result of his body being further refined.

    He knew that though smaller, his body had be tougher than before, and his battle prowess had risen to a new level.

    Now, after the purification, the infusion of fresh flesh power started to help his erged form growrger again.

    He knew that the limit of his height at the ninth grade was nine thousand meters.

    Through absorbing flesh power from therge number of Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends he had killed recently, his height had already climbed to roughly eight thousand meters.

    ¡°Still not enough,¡± Nie Tian muttered with strong killing intent in his eyes. ¡°Only the flesh power of tenth grade outsider grand monarchs can help me grow at a fast enough rate.

    ¡°And I can¡¯t put the flesh power of Bonebrutes to use. Even Life purification can¡¯t change that.¡±

    After his previous encounter with a Bonebrute infested area, he had intentionally left the Bonebrutes alone when he had hunted outsiders for flesh power.

    After all, the Bonebrutes¡¯ death power and his life power conflicted and suppressed each other.

    ¡°Several Demon, Phantasm, and Fiend grand monarchs have been killed by the Ripper Behemoth, while their peak experts have all gone to Void World...¡± He thought to himself. ¡°And my recent killing of their people has made them scrupulous. It¡¯s going to be hard to find their grand monarchs now.¡±

    He had a headache over the situation.

    Because of the Tree of Life, a friendly rtionship had been established between him and the Ancientspirits and Floragrims.

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll have to seek immense flesh power from the three major races of the Void World someday.¡±

    He suddenly thought of the powerful races of the Void World, and realized that perhaps battles against them would help him make much quicker advances in his bloodline.

    FZZZ!

    A spatial rift manifested out of thin air.

    Pei Qiqi arrived through it.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a broad smile. ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal was bing more and more mysterious and powerful, making it easier and easier for her to travel through the human world if she wanted to search for things.

    ¡°You...¡± With a single nce at him, Pei Qiqi discovered that even though his huge form seemed smaller than before, the power it contained seemed to be fiercer and more refined.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Remote Demon, whose arm I severed, still hasn¡¯t left the human world, and thinks that he¡¯s hiding himself well.¡± Pei Qiqi cut to the chase. ¡°I¡¯ve received word that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons hase out of the Blood Purgatory Sea. I suppose it won¡¯t be long before he enters our world. Under such circumstances, we¡¯d better get rid of Grand Monarch Remote Demon as soon as possible.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Grand Monarch Remote Demon! I happen to need grand monarch grade flesh power to strengthen my bloodline!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± Pei Qiqi said, nodding. ¡°Dong Li is helping the ck tortoise advance to the tenth grade in the Domain of Heaven Span. I was there to observe. After a while, I realized that things were going well with its breakthrough, and the Ripper Behemoth was driving that floating continent away from the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°Besides that, Senior Yin Xingtian has entered the God domain sessfully.

    ¡°As soon as he did, all of the sword lights and sword intent that made up the Godspan Sword Formation were attracted, and flew towards him on their own.

    ¡°Before I came here, I saw that the Godspan Sword Formation already reformed under his power.¡±

    She went on and exined the major events that had taken ce recently to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian was overjoyed. ¡°Yin Xingtian!¡±

    ¡°By the way, I heard that you met Grand Monarch Ice Bones not long ago?¡± Pei Qiqi changed the topic.

    ¡°Oh, that reminds me,¡± Nie Tian said, a hint of tion appearing at the corners of his mouth. ¡°The Frigid Depths in the Domain of Frigid Depths belongs to the Extreme Coldness Pce. However, now that Grand Monarch Ice Bones is out of the picture, the Extreme Coldness Pce themselves aren¡¯t strong enough to hold it. I¡¯ve decided to give it to the Profound Purity Pce. Hopefully, they¡¯ll be able to learn from the profound truths of cold power the Ice Emperor left behind.¡±

    ¡°Did your master take Grand Monarch Ice Bones away, the same way he took Gupi away?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, looking surprised.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Yes, my master took him to his location, a mysterious forbidden ce in the Void World. I believe it won¡¯t be long before I am qualified to go there myself. Grand Monarch Remote Demon will be my stepping-stone.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you there,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

 Chapter 1509: Slaughter

    In the Realm of Ancient Heights.

    A glorious spatial rift slowly split open in the dark sky, as if the sky were cut open by some sharp de.

    Numerous multicolored lights could be seen shing past within the mysterious opening.

    WHOOSH!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi flew out of the spatial rift and arrived in the Realm of Ancient Heights.

    ¡°Life Detection.¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian activated his bloodline talent, wisps of flesh aura that were as fine as hairs flew out to scan every inch of the Realm of Ancient Heights for living beings that carried flesh auras, as if they had their own awareness.

    Detected by his life bloodline, all living beings in the Realm of Ancient Heights were mirrored in his mind, whether they were as small as flies or asrge as low-tier Demons.

    Life Detection was a bloodline talent he had awakened after entering the ninth grade.

    Now, after activating Life Detection, he felt as if his life power had enveloped the entire realm.

    The puny insects and huge low-tier Demons manifested in his mind as spots of light that were as small as grains of rice, orrge clusters of light that shone brightly like suns.

    ¡°The weaker the flesh aura, the fainter the reflection in my mind. The stronger the flesh aura, the brighter the reflection!¡±

    Nie Tian closed his eyes, and the living beings in the Realm of Ancient Heights, billions of them, morphed into countless stars that lit up the darkness before his eyes.

    Fish that were swimming in the brooks, insects that were crawling underground, birds that were flying in the sky, and humans that had fallen prisoner...

    ¡°This is amazing.¡±

    Nie Tian had a feeling that after he activated this bloodline talent while floating high in the sky, a distribution diagram of all the living beings in the entire Realm of Ancient Heights unfolded in his mind.

    He could easily see where there wererge numbers of powerful beings, and where weak beings were gathered.

    The truly powerful experts shone brightly over his sea of awareness like suns. None of them could escape his detection!

    Momentster, Nie Tian opened his eyes and said, ¡°Grand Monarch Remote Demon isn¡¯t here. Perhaps he left temporarily. There are two ninth grade Demon grand patriarchs in the Realm of Ancient Heights, along with neen eighth grade Demons and several hundred seventh and sixth grade Demons. I also sensed the existence of a few hundred demonic beasts at various grades. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the Realm of Ancient Heights has been transformed into Demon Qi by Grand Monarch Remote Demon using a demonic spell formation.

    ¡°Most of the human inhabitants have been cleaned out, with only a small number in captivity.¡±

    After Nie Tian briefly exined the situation in the Realm of Ancient Heights, Pei Qiqi¡¯s bright eyes shone with surprise. Nodding slightly, she said, ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve awakened new bloodline talents after your recent bloodline upgrade.¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian casually pointed in a direction and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go there. That deep valley holds the most raging Demon Qi. That¡¯s where the two ninth grade grand patriarchs are hiding.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± Pei Qiqi summoned spatial power without hesitation.

    Thick Demon Qi filled the deep, spacious valley.

    After Pei Qiqi and Nie Tian appeared abruptly in the air over the valley, all of the Demons that were holed up in caves screamed in fear.

    All of them were members of Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s n.

    They all recognized Pei Qiqi immediately, as she was the terrifying woman who had severed one of Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s arms and almost captured him alive.

    As soon as Pei Qiqi flicked her sleeve, beams of sharp bright light shot out to slice and carry the surging Demon Qi in the valley into glorious spatial rifts.

    As the ckish-violet Demon Qi faded, the whole valley was presented before their eyes.

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes, cold auras filling them like icy des.

    Countless human corpses were piled up in a corner of the spacious valley.

    Low-tier Demons could be seen feasting on them, while flies and foul smells filled the air.

    In another corner of the valley, several well-dressed high-tier Demons were sitting on a lofty tform, holding goblets that seemed to be filled with red wine. However, Nie Tian sniffed the air, and immediately realized that it was the blood of young girls.

    The low-tier Demons feasted on older humans, while the high-tier Demons savored the blood of young women.

    If this was the situation in the Realm of Ancient Heights, the other human realms that had been invaded by the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends had probably suffered the same fate.

    The weak were prey to the strong. This was how humans had been treated before they had developed their Qi refining techniques. How were they different from animals to these Demons?

    After ncing around for a few seconds, Pei Qiqi found the scene too horrible to bear.

    ¡°They all deserved to die,¡± she said coldly. ¡°I suppose the majority of the mortals that lived in the Realm of Ancient Heights died right after the Demons invaded and Grand Monarch Remote Demon turned the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into Demon Qi. Those who survived must have been Qi warriors. However, I doubt that their fates turned out any better.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°This is how brutal and savage interracial wars are.¡±

    BOOM! BOOM!

    In desperation, the two ninth grade Demon grand patriarchs morphed into two streaks of demonic light that flew off in different directions. However, they both mmed into spatial restrictions that felt like metal walls, and bounced back.

    ¡°Let¡¯s kill them all.¡± With these words, Nie Tian summoned the Star Behemoth bone. However, he didn¡¯t assume his erged form, but only unleashed his ninth grade flesh aura sea.

    Pei Qiqi alsounched attacks without holding back.

    In the next moment, the deep valley was filled with extremely sharp spatial des, beams of crimson light that shed across, and the miserable wails of the Demons.

    One Demon after another was reduced to chunks of flesh and spraying blood.

    In less than a quarter of an hour, everyst Demon in the valley was ughtered by the two of them.

    Then, they split up to ferret out and kill the Demons that were hiding in other parts of the realm.

    As Nie Tian activated Life Drain, wisps of flesh power rose from the Demons and fused into his flesh aura sea, which looked like a vast sea of blood.

    In a couple of hours, the entire Realm of Ancient Heights was purged of Demons.

    The Life Detection bloodline talent allowed Nie Tian to find every living Demon, no matter how or where they hid.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Huge pitch-ck stone columns that stood tall in different areas of the realm exploded.

    They were key to transforming the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into Demon Qi. After they exploded, the spell formation ceased to exist. Therefore, the Demon Qi gradually dissipated into the starry river outside the realm.

    Newly-generated spiritual Qi slowly rose from some of the spirit mines and mineral veins to wash this heaven and earth.

    As a clear sky was gradually restored to the Realm of Ancient Heights, Nie Tian took a deep breath and assumed his erged form.

    WHOOSH!

    Wisps of residual Demon flesh auras then converged on him from different parts of the realm, fusing into his vast flesh aura sea.

    His huge form slowly grew.

    ¡°I¡¯m sensing unusual spatial fluctuations!¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly said vigntly.

    Hearing this, Nie Tian, who was gathering flesh power to make his purified body grow taller, was ted instead of nervous. ¡°Is Grand Monarch Remote Demon back?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not him,¡± Pei Qiqi said with a grim look in her eyes.

 Chapter 1510: Family

    The Space Boundaries Crystal spun in midair, spraying dazzling divine light.

    Each and every beam of light contained spatial power, as if they could help Pei Qiqi establish connections to different areas in the starry river, allowing her to perceive what was happening in any human domain.

    FIZZ!

    In the beams of light shooting from the Space Boundaries Crystal, Nie Tian could vaguely see that darkness had enveloped an area of the starry river by the shattered Realm of Heaven Span, where the ck tortoise¡¯s enormous looming shape was slowly expanding.

    Though separated by endless space, he could imagine the ck tortoise¡¯s immense flesh aura thrumming from that darkness-shrouded area.

    In another mirror-like beam of light, he saw the headquarters of the Streamcloud Sword Sect, which sat in a sea of clouds.

    He saw the loftiest pavilion Pei Qiqi had mentioned, and the countless Godspan Sword Lights hovering around it and letting out cheerful low chirps, as if they were waiting to greet Yin Xingtian.

    He instantly realized that the ces Pei Qiqi had been to recently would be reflected in the beams of mysterious light that shot out of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    In this case, it was the Realm of Heaven Span and the Streamcloud Sword Sect.

    ¡°It seems that the Space Boundaries Crystal has be a divine tool already...¡± Nie Tian said inwardly.

    Pei Qiqi, however, assumed a tight grip on the Space Boundaries Crystal with a grim expression, as if they were facing formidable foes.

    ¡°Outside.¡± In a few seconds, she charged out of the Realm of Ancient Heights into the starry river, holding the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Nie Tian followed along.

    The starry river outside the realm was dark and dotted with a few dim stars. There wasn¡¯t a single sun or moon in sight.

    WHOOSH!

    Strange energies suddenly started madly gathering and condensing in a distant location, as if a bottomless hole was about to form.

    Eyes like icy diamonds, Pei Qiqi pointed in that direction and said to Nie Tian, ¡°That¡¯s it. It¡¯s said that powerful ancient beings could split open spatial rifts with the help of wondrous tools even if they weren¡¯t skilled at spatial power. Grand Monarch Remote Demon is only at the early tenth grade. He doesn¡¯t have such an ability.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you saying that whoever¡¯sing here is much more powerful than Grand Monarch Remote Demon?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded slightly. ¡°Didn¡¯t people say that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons has awoken ande out of the Blood Purgatory Sea? He was at thete tenth grade before he died. If he¡¯s reallye back to life, given his bloodline grade, I suppose he can create spatial rifts with his terrifying flesh aura and the help of certain wondrous spatial items.

    ¡°The spatial barriers between the Spirit World and the Mortal World aren¡¯t very rigorous. Many outsider races have left plenty of spell formations in the Mortal World that they can use to facilitate teleportation.¡±

    As she spoke, the energies surged and condensed even more violently.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered strongly. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    A spatial rift slowly split open in the void behind Pei Qiqi.

    Clearly, Pei Qiqi was prepared to evacuate at any time. ¡°We¡¯d have nothing to fear if it was just Grand Monarch Remote Demon that¡¯sing here. He¡¯d die beyond the shadow of a doubt after you and I joined hands. However, if it¡¯s both Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, we¡¯d better avoid getting into a fight against them, considering our current battle prowess.¡±

    Nie Tian wasn¡¯t reckless. He nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s be cautious and see what we¡¯re facing first.¡±

    The two of them then fixed their gazes on the energy-gathering ce, wondering who would suddenlye to the Realm of Ancient Heights at this moment.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Momentster, Nie Tian¡¯s heart suddenly started racing.

    Taken aback, he activated Life Detection, hoping to locate the source of the vigorous flesh aura he was sensing in this boundless starry river.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    A huge cluster of blindingly bright light suddenly manifested in his sea of awareness.

    Its size and brightness surpassed that of all living beings in the Realm of Ancient Heights put together!

    Even those ninth grade Demon grand patriarchs had only seemed like two brightmps in the darkness under Life Detection.

    However, at this moment, that huge cluster of light took up almost his entire sea of awareness, and was shining so brightly that he couldn¡¯t see anything else.

    He even started to feel lightheaded looking at it.

    He couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Such immense flesh aura! It¡¯s definitely not Grand Monarch Remote Demon. The flesh aura of an early tenth grade grand monarch can¡¯t possibly reach such heights!¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory then,¡± Pei Qiqi said, feeling uneasy. ¡°We¡¯re not strong enough to contend against ate tenth grade grand monarch yet. Do we leave?¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head with an expression of disbelief. ¡°It¡¯s not Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory either. It¡¯s the Ripper Behemoth. It¡¯sing here...¡±

    Pei Qiqi was in disbelief as well. ¡°Isn¡¯t it somewhere near the Domain of Heaven Span? Why would ite here all of a sudden? Also, the Domain of Heaven Span is so far away from here, and that Ripper Behemoth has been hiding on that floating continent. How did it get here so fast? With a sudden realization, she added, ¡°It must be here for Grand Monarch Remote Demon!

    ¡°Only vigorous flesh auras have such strong appeal to it!¡±

    She hastily spun the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    In the next moment, the image of the floating continent emerged on one of the facets of the crystal.

    The floating continent was speeding through the void, giving rise to spatial ripples. It coveredrge areas of the starry river with every passing second.

    Pei Qiqi was bbergasted. ¡°My heavens! It¡¯s the floating continent indeed! But it¡¯s traveling using spatial wonders. That¡¯s why it can cover an area of the starry river in the blink of an eye. Don¡¯t tell me that the Ripper Behemoth has even mastered spatial power after its feeding session?!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯sing here...¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking worried. ¡°Can you establish soulmunication with it as you did before, so we can see if it¡¯s returned to its senses after its mad killing and realm-devouring in the Domain of Heaven Span?¡±

    ¡°Alright, let me give it a shot,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Clutching the Star Behemoth bone, he sent wisps of his flesh aura and soul awareness into it as he tried tomunicate with it as he had in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°How are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯vee to my senses.¡±

    Their soulmunication was established without any obstacles!

    In a few seconds Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently as he jerked his head towards Pei Qiqi.

    Pei Qiqi was baffled.

    ¡°There are Voidspirits on the floating continent. I heard them calling your name!¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°What?!¡±

    Pei Qiqi shuddered. ¡°What did you say? Some Voidspirits on the floating continent called my name? Are they my family? Are you sure?¡±

    Her eyes instantly welled up. Tears started rolling down like fragmentary diamonds.

    How many years had it been?

    She had painstakingly searched for her family since when she had been in the Realm of Split Void.

    She had searched almost every spatial rift in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. Because of that, her master had been killed.

    She had been to the space disruption zone and numerous destends, but had returned empty-handed every time.

    Now, all of a sudden, Nie Tian told her that some Voidspirits on the floating continent were calling her name. How could she not be thrilled?

    ¡°Qiqi.¡± A distant voice traveled through space to echo in Pei Qiqi¡¯s ears.

    She instantly burst into tears.

    Nie Tian suddenly realized that the reason why the floating continent could travel in such a manner that defied space was because there were Voidspirits on the floating continent, not because the Star Behemoth had mastered spatial power.

    Also, they weren¡¯t just anyone. They were Pei Qiqi¡¯s family.

 Chapter 1511: Wiping the Space

    The floating continent came to a stop.

    A figure flew out of the superrge-scalendmass that was enshrouded in thick mists.

    It was a middle-aged man with jade-like skin and a handsome appearance. His pure white robes and loose azure hair gave him a confident and unbridled look.

    After flying out, he stared unblinkingly at Pei Qiqi and said, ¡°Is that you, Qiqi?¡±

    Looking at him, Pei Qiqi sensed a strong but natural stir in her spatial bloodline. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    This made her realize that this man in front of her must have some sort of bloodline connection with her.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Off to the side, the unceasingly surging energies were still emanating intense spatial fluctuations.

    Taken aback, the man took a nce at the surging energies. Blue light shed across his eyes before he said, ¡°This forming portal connects to the Second Demon Realm. Judging from the auras that are leaking through it, the newly-awakened Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is on the other side.¡±

    With these words, he reached out with one hand and made a pressing motion towards the surging energies.

    FIZZ!

    Lines of pure spatial power instantly wove into a mysterious glowing symbol.

    In the blink of an eye, the glorious symbol seemed to tten and erase the fluctuating energiespletely, destroying the portal that was just about to take form and establish a connection to the Second Demon Realm.

    WHOOSH!

    The mysterious symbol left his palm and flew into the forming spatial tunnel right before it copsed.

    ...

    Thick rolling Demon Qi formed what looked like a pitch-ck, bottomless abyss in the open starry river outside the Second Demon Realm.

    Millions of Demons and howling demonic beasts were gathered in the vicinity.

    All of a sudden, a glorious symbol flew out of the abyss of surging Demon Qi.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It exploded upon flying out.

    Beams of extremely sharp light shot through the sea of Demons and demonic creatures that were rubbing their fists and palms, (Idiom: itching to fight) reaping tens of thousands of lives in a split second.

    BAM!

    Wreathed in rolling purple flesh aura, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory flung his huge arms, trying to swat and kill the light that carried the profound truths of spatial power.

    ¡°Damn Voidspirits!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory bellowed, staring at the destroyed spatial tunnel.

    His rich flesh aura rapidly condensed and morphed into an ancient demonic python and multiple sinister serpents that coiled around his waist as he said, ¡°Sooner orter, I¡¯ll kill everyst one of them!¡±

    Ophelia was confused after hearing of this race for the first time. ¡°What are... Voidspirits, Lord Eternal Purgatory? There don¡¯t seem to be any legends about them in our world or the human world. Do they have something to do with the Void Spirit Society?¡±

    As noble as she was, she hadn¡¯t heard about the wonders of this special race.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about them because your bloodline hasn¡¯t reached the heights that allow you to learn about our people¡¯s history.¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s voice rumbled through the void. ¡°Once your bloodline enters the tenth grade, your deepest bloodline imprints will be awakened.

    ¡°Then, you¡¯ll know that we¡¯re not an indigenous people of the Spirit World. In fact, the origin of our bloodline lies in the Void World.

    ¡°The Devils in the Void World created us. The purpose of our existence was to help them take the Spirit World and the Mortal World one day.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± A loud mor burst through the Demons that were present.

    After all, even Grand Monarch Primal Demon, the current Demon high chieftain, had never told them about this.

    Therefore, many of them doubted the truthfulness of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s words as they turned to fix Grand Monarch Bloodlust with baffled and inquiring looks.

    After the disappearance of Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Bloodlust had temporarily taken over his position. Despite the fact that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was a legendary grand monarch, he had been killed before, and wasn¡¯t a grand monarch of this era. As much as they worshiped him, they don¡¯t know him well enough.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is right.¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust gave a reaffirming response under everyone¡¯s gazes. ¡°The origin of our bloodline lies with the Devils in the Void World. Eventually, we¡¯ll return to our actual ancestralnd and uncover the secrets of bloodline transcendence!¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°In fact, the high chieftain has taken the initiative to return to our ancestralnd in search of the power that¡¯ll help him transcend thete tenth grade! We¡¯ll follow the high chieftain¡¯s footsteps!¡±

    With a snort, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory said, ¡°We¡¯ll find another way to the Mortal World. Since Voidspirits have shown up near the Realm of Ancient Heights, I suppose our people in the Realm of Ancient Heights are most likely dead.¡±

    ¡°March into the Mortal World with me!¡± Grand Monarch Remote Demon¡¯s bellow echoed out in the distance. ¡°I¡¯m going back to transfer more of our forces to the Realm of Ancient Heights! All of my nsmen and followers in the Realm of Ancient Heights might have been killed by now, along with the spell formations I set up there.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll go there soon enough,¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory said, wreathed in strong killing intent. ¡°I can also sense the existence of the Ice Emperor¡¯s shattered god domain. I¡¯ll destroy his cold power legacy as well!¡±

    ...

    The man who had wiped the spatial fluctuations away looked unblinkingly at Pei Qiqi. His eyes gradually welled up.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s charming shoulders trembled as she looked back at him.

    He turned to take a measuring look at Nie Tian, then said, ¡°You¡¯re Nie Tian, right? Good. You¡¯re exactly how I imagined you would be.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to respond, he heard the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s cry once again.

    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you alone now.¡±

    Very sensibly, he morphed into a streak of bright light that shot towards the floating continent.

    In a sh, he flew through the thick mists, and the endless ck sea on the floating continent entered his view.

    He sensed unusually strong flesh aura fluctuations in the depths of the sea.

    SPLASH!

    Huge waves rose in an area of the endless ck sea as the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s immense soul awareness instantly filled the entire floating continent. ¡°I¡¯m fully awake.¡±

    Nie Tian looked down, floating high in the sky.

    At this moment, he could finally see an enormous creature looming in the pitch-ck sea.

    From what he could tell, the creature was evenrger than a small-scale realm.

    Compared to it, any titan, Ancientbeast, or dragon would look as puny as an insect.

    The flesh auraing from the depths of the sea was more immense and vast than anything Nie Tian had sensed in his whole life.

    Perhaps such boundless flesh auras only existed in the endless blood sea inside his Blood Realm.

    ¡°Do you have an agreement with Voidspirits as well?¡± Nie Tian cut to the chase.

    ¡°Yes.¡± An iparably clear soul message came through from the Ripper Behemoth.

    ¡°Do you have any memories of what happened in the Domain of Heaven Span?¡±

    ¡°I do. Every bit is well-preserved in my mind. However, all I¡¯ve done in the Domain of Heaven Span was a result of me being overtaken with hunger. Now, after a session of feeding, I¡¯ve finally returned to my senses. My sobriety came at a heavy price.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Star Behemoth bone suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s hand and fell into the ck sea.

    This was willed by the Ripper Behemoth.

 Chapter 1512: Powerful Backing

    WHOOSH!

    Like stars in the ck sea, flickering sparks of power could be seen fusing into the bone from all directions.

    The bone absorbed thempletely, like a magical sponge.

    Floating in the air, Nie Tian looked down and saw the bone suspended in the ck sea like a giant piece of iron that had turned red from heat.

    Bright crimson light could be seen interweaving within the bone, shining like a divine treasure.

    Those were brand new Bloodline Crystal Chainsing to form!

    ¡°You...¡± Nie Tian was confused as to why the Ripper Behemoth would want to fuse the power it had gone to great lengths to condense into that bone.

    First, it had left some of its flesh aura in the shattered Realm of Heaven Span for the ck tortoise to break through to the tenth grade.

    Now, it was gifting this bone of an unknown origin its own power.

    Thanks to the keen perception of his life bloodline, he could tell that even though it had only been a short while, the mysterious sparks the Ripper Behemoth had fused into the bone contained enough flesh power to make five ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs!

    However, this highly-refined power was only helping the bone generate new Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    It still seemed unreachable for the owner of the bone, a Star Behemoth that had long since perished in the river of history, toe back to life in modern times.

    Shortly afterwards...

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    The bone flew slowly out of the vast ck sea to float in front of Nie Tian.

    Sparkling light could be seen flowing through the crimson bone, with numerous Bloodline Crystal Chains interweaving inside of it like red lightning bolts.

    Even though he hadn¡¯t fused his own flesh aura into it, the bone was now five hundred meters long, and several meters wide.

    It was sorge he could no longer hold it in his true form. Only after activating Life Blend and fusing his flesh aura into it would he be able to wield it.

    A wisp of his flesh aura that contained the profound truths of life slithered into the bone like a snake made of blood.

    The crimson bone that was five hundred meters in length rapidly shrank to two meters long.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s palm that was gripping the bone was suddenly pierced by some Bloodline Crystal Chains from the bone. Then, soul calls that were filled with a strong desire for his blood came from the bone.

    ¡°Bloodline: Life Irrigation.¡±

    After a thought entered his mind, drop after drop of Blood Essence that Nie Tian had condensed after advancing to the ninth grade was fused into the bone.

    The bone instantly let out cheerful calls.

    What surprised Nie Tian the most was that while the Bloodline Crystal Chains within the bone burst forth with blindingly bright light, clusters of pale-gray smoke somehow also rose from the bone as his Blood Essence was gradually fused into it.

    That smoke seemed to carry toxins that had resided in it for hundreds of thousands of years, and were only being expelled at this moment!

    As soon as the pale-gray smoke left the bone, the Ripper Behemoth let out a rumbling roar from the depths of the ck sea.

    The smoke dissipated in a sh.

    However, the death power the smoke had exuded right before its dissipation made Nie Tian feel as if he had been plunged into a frozen cave.

    Such death power seemed to be his life power¡¯s natural enemy, and sparked an innate sense of repulsion in him.

    Even his heart started pounding heavily as his fighting spirit was ignited.

    Staring unblinkingly at the smoke, he muttered, ¡°The aura those clusters of smoke exuded was very much simr to the aura Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign unleashed in the Realm of Unbounded Destion. They both gave people an extreme sense of death that seemed to be capable of extinguishing all lives in this starry river!¡±

    The simrity was uncanny.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s power resided in the mists and the ck sea.

    Under its impact, the clusters of smoke that carried the profound truths of death finally dissipatedpletely, everyst wisp of death power within them neutralized by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s rich flesh power.

    ¡°The Bone Emperor¡¯s truths of death are dreadful indeed.¡± The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice had a hint of grimness in it, as it appeared to have consumed a significant amount of power just to eliminate that smoke. ¡°The Bone Emperor is the strongest expert throughout Bonedrude history, and the only one to ever earn the title ¡®True God of Death.¡¯ Only now, so many years after his demise, has his residual power beenpletely eliminated.¡±

    Nie Tian shuddered. ¡°What? The smoke rising from this bone was actually the Bone Emperor¡¯s residual death power?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± The Ripper Behemoth said with certainty. ¡°It was power left by the Bone Emperor, the strongest Bonedrude that has ever lived.¡±

    Nie Tian stood aghast.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Dark King, and the Bone Emperor were the only monarchs of the three powerful races in the Void World to have ever solved the mysteries of bloodline limits and risen to a whole other level.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had perished together with the first-generation Tree of Life in their confrontation.

    Nie Tian had no idea how the Dark King had perished.

    Was it possible that the Bone Emperor had died fighting...?

    ¡°The owner of this bone died after a legendary battle against the Bone Emperor.¡± Waves rose on the ck sea as the Ripper Behemoth spoke. ¡°In the distant era it lived in, it was even stronger than me. It used to take care of me when I was little.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°So it actually died in a battle against the Bone Emperor? What happened to the Bone Emperor? Did he die with it, or did he survive the battle?¡±

    ¡°Actually, the Bone Emperor died first,¡± The Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°However, his truths of death managed to infiltrate its flesh and bones. Eventually, it failed to expel the Bone Emperor¡¯s death power from its severely-injured body. The death power gradually devoured itsst remaining flesh aura, and killed it.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Bone Emperor died first. He was the Bonedrude high chieftain that had transcended the tenth grade, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡±

    ¡°The three major races in the Void World didn¡¯t dare to mess with us when we were at the height of our power.¡± The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s disdainful soul voice echoed through the entirety of the floating continent. ¡°Times changed, and resulted in the decline of my race. These heaven and earths couldn¡¯t support our prosperity. They limited our growth, while the smaller and weaker beings took the opportunity to rise to prominence.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he asked, ¡°So you were helping it expel the residual death power just now, right?¡±

    ¡°Actually, it was your Blood Essence that expelled the death power from it,¡± The Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°Even I can¡¯t refine or expel the Bone Emperor¡¯s death power from its bone. Only your bloodline and the truths of life it contains can neutralize the Bone Emperor¡¯s death power.¡±

    ¡°Is it possible to revive it?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    The Ripper Behemoth let out a sigh. ¡°Revive it? It¡¯s far too difficult to do that. Times have changed. The amount of power required to revive it is beyond your imagination. Only if you can gather the flesh power of at least tente tenth grade Ancientspirits or outsider grand monarchs will you have a chance at bringing it back to life.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian instantly dropped the idea of reviving it.

    There might not even be that manyte tenth grade grand monarchs in the Spirit World.

    Not to mention how powerful they had to be.

    The flesh aura of tente tenth grade grand monarchs put together might give him a chance at reviving the owner of this bone. Wasn¡¯t this like a joke?

    Also, even if he was strong enough to killte tenth grade grand monarchs, he would probably benefit more by channeling their flesh auras into himself outright than using them to revive that Star Behemoth.

    What would be the meaning of him reviving it then?

 Chapter 1513: Pei Yukong

    An opening suddenly appeared in the thick mists that enshrouded the floating continent.

    Pei Qiqi and the Voidspirit descended onto the floating continent through the opening, which looked like a heavenly well.

    As soon as they did, the Ripper Behemoth ended his soulmunication with Nie Tian and stopped telling him about the secrets and the past of their race.

    It didn¡¯t even get to why that battle had broken out between the Bone Emperor and the owner of that bone.

    Nie Tian suspected that even though the Ripper Behemoth had some agreement with this Voidspirit, their rtionship hadn¡¯t reached the point where they shared their secrets.

    Apparently, the Ripper Behemoth attached more importance and felt closer to him than the Voidspirit who was rted to Pei Qiqi.

    Tears could still be seen at the corners of her eyes as Pei Qiqi said with an excited expression, ¡°Nie Tian, this is my family who I¡¯ve spent many years looking for.¡±

    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Nie Tian said immediately. ¡°I¡¯m very happy for you.¡±

    With a faint smile, the man introduced himself. ¡°My name is Pei Yukong. I¡¯m Qiqi¡¯s father.¡±

    After that, he reached out and made a grabbing motion down towards an isle on the ck sea.

    Pulled by his unusual spatial power, the isle rose from the ck sea.

    The isle looked like a piece of argendmass to Nie Tian. Upon closer examination, he came to the spection that it was a fragment of the shattered top continent that had crashed into the bottom continent.

    FIZZ!

    Dazzling silver light des rapidly cleared the sand and soil that veiled the isle.

    By the time they finished, the isle was presented before Nie Tian as an enormous Space Spirit Jade!

    ¡°A Space Spirit Jade!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he recalled the time when he had searched for Space Spirit Jades in the depths of the Void Illusion Mountain Range with Li Ye and Pei Qiqi.

    In fact, they had found quite a number of them.

    However, he had never seen a single Space Spirit Jade that was asrge as a piece ofnd.

    Space Spirit Jades could be used to establish teleportation portals, forge spatial tools, and practice cultivation. Their importance to those who practiced spatial power far surpassed that of other spiritual materials.

    Pei Qiqi had searched for them in the Shatter Battlefield, hoping to fuse them into her Space Boundaries Crystal in order to elerate its growth.

    Now, streams of mysterious spatial light could be seen flying around inside the translucent jade.

    ¡°Bloodline...¡± Pei Yukong mumbled something in a low voice.

    In the next moment, wisps of flesh aura that carried spatial wonders flew into the Space Spirit Jade, giving rise to ripples that spread through it, which made it seem to have ake inside.

    BOOM!

    As the ripples calmed, the image of a vast open area filled with unusually violent spatial power emerged.

    In the middle of it stood a figure Nie Tian found familiar: Xuan Guangyu, the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society!

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly turned cold, mes of fury almost spewing from his eyes.

    Xuan Guangyu had killed Xie Qian, along with arge number of Qi warriors in the Domain of Vast Darkness.

    In order to avenge them, he had even destroyed the Realm of Looming Shadow and killed Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan.

    However, their crime wasn¡¯t the most unforgivable. Xuan Guangyu¡¯s was!

    Even though he knew that Xuan Guangyu had been holed up in the space disruption zone trying to break through to thete God domain with the help of the three drops of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir he had stolen, there was nothing he could do. After all, he wasn¡¯t skilled in spatial power, and Pei Qiqi¡¯s cultivation base wasn¡¯t high enough.

    Who would have thought that Pei Yukong would be able to find Xuan Guangyu so effortlessly?

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu!¡± Nie Tian bellowed with a ferocious expression.

    ¡°Easy, Nie Tian,¡± Pei Qiqi said softly.

    ¡°Leave him to me,¡± Pei Yukong said in a gentle and calming voice. ¡°Consider him a gift to you at our first meeting.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk. ¡°What?¡±

    Pei Yukong smiled without saying anything.

    It showed in the Space Spirit Jade that Xuan Guangyu had activated his god domain in the depths of the space disruption zone. With the profound truths of space flowing through it, his god domain looked like a small independent world, which was simr to the one Master Voidspirit had created back in the day. The only difference was that his wasrger and more mysterious.

    That small independent world continued to gather fragments of spatial power from the space disruption zone.

    Glittering, silver creatures that bore a resemnce to both dragons and snakes could be seen swimming around Xuan Guangyu¡¯s god domain and breathing power towards it from time to time.

    ¡°Those are spatial creatures, Silver Domain Snakes!¡± An exmation escaped Nie Tian¡¯s mouth.

    Silver Domain Snakes were very scarce, as they could only be found in the space disruption zone. Spatial power experts from the Mortal World and the Spirit World would all go to the space disruption zone in attempts to capture them after their strength rose to certain heights.

    That was because Silver Domain Snakes contained pure spatial power that could be refined by them directly.

    Pei Qiqi was also bbergasted. ¡°There are so many Silver Domain Snakes, and from the look of it, they¡¯re all at the eighth or ninth grade.¡±

    Pei Yukong smiled and nodded slightly. ¡°Those Silver Domain Snakes swimming around his god domain are helping it gather spatial power more efficiently. Xuan Guangyu has entered the space disruption zone dozens of times during the past thousands of years. He went to great lengths to capture and tame those Silver Domain Snakes, which he then reared in his private realms. Now, he¡¯s finally taken them all out.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    With these words, he shed into the enormous Space Spirit Jade in a confident and unrestrained manner.

    In the next moment, his image manifested in the Space Spirit Jade, and he was in the space disruption zone.

    Even though the space disruption zone and the floating continent was separated by infinite space, his voice came from within the enormous Space Spirit Jade with incredible rity.

    Floating outside Xuan Guangyu¡¯s god domain, Pei Yukong took out an earthenware pot from within his sleeve and said, ¡°Come here, all of you.¡±

    As soon as he did, countless ancient mysterious symbols rose slowly from the mouth of the pot. Each and every one of them shone as dazzlingly as stars, as if they had been vested with the ultimate secrets of space.

    Who knew how many years Xuan Guangyu had spent taming those Silver Domain snakes, and how many Space Spirit Jades and other spatial materials he had fed them? However, as soon as the earthenware pot was taken out, they flew cheerfully into it one after another.

    They even took upon themselves to cut their soul connections with Xuan Guangyu, abandoning their master at the first possible moment.

    Their abandonment was so abrupt and unhesitant that Nie Tian found it unbelievable.

    Naturally, Xuan Guangyu let out a heaven-shaking howl from the depths of his god domain. ¡°Those are my Silver Domain Snakes!¡±

    Originally, he had captured a dozen seventh grade Silver Domain Snakes from the space disruption zone.

    As the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, he had taken a tremendous amount of the sect¡¯s cultivation resources to feed and breed them over the past three thousand years.

    Now, there were forty-five of them.

    After being showered with precious spatial materials, all of the Silver Domain Snakes had reached the eighth grade. Some had even reached the ninth grade.

    They helped channel spatial power from the space disruption zone into his domain, providing him with sufficient power for his effort to break through to thete God domain.

    But now...

    Pei Yukong took his time to seal the earthenware pot, then sneered. ¡°Your Silver Domain Snakes? All Silver Domain Snakes belong to my people. We were born in this space disruption zone. We are the true masters of this special domain between spaces.

    ¡°You, on the other hand, are a thief who stole our domestic spatial creatures and attempted to make your breakthrough with our property in our domain.¡±

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Xuan Guangyu asked furiously.

    With a derisive smile, Pei Yukong said, ¡°Qu Yi knows very well who I am, but since you¡¯re not the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, you¡¯re not qualified to know certain things. You¡¯re trying to solve the mysteries of spatial power and advance to thete God domain here, but you didn¡¯t ask for the master¡¯s permission.¡±

    bbergasted, Xuan Guangyu asked, ¡°You¡¯re the master of this ce?¡±

    ¡°As the current chieftain of the Voidspirits, I¡¯m of course the master of this space disruption zone,¡± Pei Yukong said with indisputable certainty. ¡°That¡¯s acknowledged by the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World. However, of course, only a handful of peak experts know it. And you are not one of them.¡±

    By taunting him in the most hurtful way possible, Pei Yukong shook his self-confidence.

    Stroking the earthenware pot and looking at the Silver Domain Snakes slithering inside of it, Pei Yukong continued with a smile, ¡°However, I¡¯ve got to thank you for helping me feed them so well. Even though we¡¯re the masters of this space disruption zone, thieves like you have stolen too many spatial materials from us, causing us to have less than enough to feed our pets.

    ¡°In that regard, I should thank you.¡±

    As he spoke, Pei Yukong moved his syed hands across the air towards Xuan Guangyu¡¯s god domain, as if he were scraping a piece of paper with his fingers.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    Rays of sparkling spatial light suddenly merged into Xuan Guangyu¡¯s god domain.

    The iparably pure spatial power in the depths of the space disruption zone instantly fused into the mysterious light.

    In the blink of an eye, Xuan Guangyu¡¯s god domain was cut to pieces.

    The moment that happened, Xuan Guangyu, who had his Silver Domain Snakes taken from him, realized that the efforts he had expended over the past thousands of years had been ruined minutes after Pei Yukong¡¯s appearance.

    In an icy cold voice, Xuan Guangyu said, ¡°I don¡¯t care who you are. I¡¯ll find you and kill you one day.¡±

    Pei Yukong looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he were looking at a fool. ¡°Xuan Guangyu, don¡¯t tell me that you think you still have a chance to get out of here alive? Do you think you¡¯re Qu Yi? Even if he were here, he¡¯d have to humble himself before me on my turf. You¡¯re nothing.¡±

 Chapter 1514: He Canâ€™t Even Escape!

    Nie Tian had a strange look on his face, as he had never expected that a man calling himself Pei Qiqi¡¯s father would dare to talk about the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society like that. ¡°He even looks down on Qu Yi?¡±

    In the next second, in the space disruption zone presented in the Space Spirit Jade, interweaving lights filled Xuan Guangyu¡¯s entire god domain.

    Though separated from it by boundless space, Nie Tian was shocked by the scene.

    He dimly saw that each ray of interweaving light was connecting to different spaces.

    Pei Yukong activated his bloodline magics. He didn¡¯t only use power from the space disruption zone, but he also used spatial power of other origins to attack Xuan Guangyu.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s domain, which had already been shattered, suddenly exploded.

    Shrieks of anguish and misery rang out from Xuan Guangyu¡¯s shattered domain.

    His domain suddenly started morphing as he tried to appear in the form of his divine dharma idol again.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s Void Splitter burst forth with dazzling light. It seemed that he was trying to condense his spatial spiritual power to fight Pei Yukong in front of him.

    However, Xuan Guangyu soon discovered in despair that he was unable to use even the slightest bit of the spatial power in the space disruption zone.

    The only thing that he could use was the spatial power he had painstakingly condensed from other sources. Even so, when he wanted to infuse his power into the Void Splitter, there seemed to beyers of restrictions there as well.

    He finally began to feel uneasy.

    Pei Yukong made him think of a person who made him shudder every time he thought of him ¡ª Qu Yi!

    Pei Yukong sneered, forming a diamond-shaped imprint as bright as a diamond with his weaving fingers. The moment the imprint was formed, it flew towards Xuan Guangyu¡¯s divine dharma idol.

    ¡°Space Split.¡±

    BOOM!

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s divine dharma idol suddenly jolted, and numerous cracks instantly appeared in it.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s perception, Xuan Guangyu¡¯s divine dharma idol seemed to be cut apart by folded spaces, with each piece of his flesh in a different space.

    The connections between Xuan Guangyu¡¯s flesh, blood, viscera, and bones seemed to be forcibly separated.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up as she whispered, ¡°Space Split is like Void Split from the Void Spirit Society. Thetter is activated with spatial spiritual power, while the former is disyed with his bloodline. Although they have different names, their method of activation and cooperation with aura and soul awareness aren¡¯t different at all. It¡¯s just that Space Split is unimaginably more powerful.¡±

    She instantly realized that the Void Spirit Society was deeply rted to the Voidspirits indeed.

    She even wondered if Qu Yi, her second master who had taken her into the Void Spirit Society, had known that the source of her bloodline was her father, who had just been reunited with her, after learning that she had a special bloodline.

    SWISH!

    Because of Space Split, Xuan Guangyu¡¯s divine dharma idol was reduced to broken light that filled the starry river.

    Beams of light flitted from space to space, hoping to reunite with each other in the same space, as if they had their own awareness.

    Every beam of light was a crystallization of Xuan Guangyu¡¯s power, carrying a deep fear.

    He was really frightened.

    ¡°You and Qu Yi both cultivate spatial power, but you¡¯re much weaker than him,¡± Pei Yukong said with a calm face. ¡°Xuan Guangyu, I suppose it¡¯s because you¡¯re afraid that Qu Yi will return that you¡¯re so anxious and dying to break through in a short time. After all, you also understand that since you¡¯re much weaker than him in cultivation base andbat strength, you can¡¯t even escape!

    ¡°Facing Qu Yi, you have no way out, but it¡¯s the same when you face me.

    ¡°All living beings in the world know that creatures that are proficient in spatial power are the most difficult to kill, but what they don¡¯t know is that when confronted by a stronger expert who is also proficient in spatial power, the weaker spatial power expert will have no chance to survive.¡±

    FIZZ!

    The folded spaces separated again.

    Xuan Guangyu¡¯s wisps of fleeing soul awareness and spiritual power were cut to pieces.

    Little by little, the connections between the pieces of his soul awareness began to disappear.

    At this moment, Pei Yukong said with an expression of pity, ¡°What a pity! He was originally also a great talent.¡±

    His figure instantly divided into dozens of copies and they all shed quickly into the folded spaces to hunt down Xuan Guangyu¡¯s soul awareness and spiritual power.

    The difference was that he was in aplete form in every space.

    However, Xuan Guangyu had even lost the fragments of his body, leaving only the condensation of his pure soul power and spiritual power.

    Nie Tian observed carefully through the Space Spirit Jade, and noticed that lots of tiny points of light were flying into the different spaces in the space disruption zone, as if they were strengthening Pei Yukong.

    After a while, Nie Tian muttered to himself, ¡°Voidspirits...¡±

    He turned his head around to look at Pei Qiqi. ¡°Xuan Guangyu can¡¯t escape, can he? Even with my bloodline, I can¡¯t see the exact grade of your father¡¯s bloodline.¡±

    ¡°Xuan Guangyu should be dead this time,¡± Pei Qiqi said with confidence.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±

    Xuan Guangyu, who he had been desperate to kill, was about to be killed by Pei Yukong, but somehow, he didn¡¯t feel very happy.

    He said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity after all that Xuan Guangyu won¡¯t be killed by me.¡±

    ¡°I may have to leave you for some time,¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly said.

    In the Space Spirit Jade, Pei Yukong¡¯s figure became more and more vague as he shuttled between different spaces.

    Nie Tian froze. ¡°Leave? Where are you going?¡±

    ¡°The ancestralnd of the Voidspirits,¡± Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t hide anything from him, ¡°My space bloodline can be rapidly improved, and the Space Boundaries Crystal can also improve in the ancestralnd of my race. My father has just told me that there has been a great upheaval in the three worlds, and there will be great chaos. Neither you nor I can stop it. We must be stronger.¡±

    ¡°How long will you be away?¡± he asked.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she replied as a strange bright light shed in her eyes. ¡°Take care of yourself, and don¡¯t do anything stupid while I¡¯m away.¡±

    He forced a smile. ¡°You bet.¡±

    Suddenly, she took a step toward him, and they were face to face.

    They were so close to each other that he could even smell the breath she exhaled.

    THUD! THUD!

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart beat faster than ever.

    Looking at her so closely, Nie Tian¡¯s heart also raced somehow. He was more nervous than he had been when he had fought Grand Monarch Chaos Demon, refined the Nether River, or learned that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory woulde soon.

    ¡°Senior martial sister Pei...¡± He had hardly opened his mouth when she put her pretty finger on his lips.

    In a sh, he fell silent.

    A faint scent flew into his mouth and nose. Looking at Pei Qiqi, who stared at him with bright bold eyes, he was suddenly fascinated and flustered.

    ¡°I...¡± Pei Qiqi, her breath quickening, opened her mouth, but quickly stopped talking.

    Thousands of emotions seemed to fill her heart, but she couldn¡¯t find the exact words to describe them.

    Nie Tian froze for a moment before naturally reaching out to hug her.

    As soon as he did that, she came closer to him without hesitation.

    It was the first time that the two of them had hugged each other.

    THUD! THUD!

    Their hearts beat more and more violently. It sounded like a god was beating a drum, shaking heaven and earth in their hearts.

    Pei Yukong killing Xuan Guangyu in the space disruption zone, the Ripper Behemoth lurking in the ck sea on the floating continent, theplicated situation outside, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who could arrive at any time...

    The moment they embraced each other, they forgot it all.

 Chapter 1515: Reluctant To Part

    The floating continent waspletely silent.

    Only the huge Space Spirit Jade was still floating beside Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi.

    The Ripper Behemoth in the ck sea was also unusually quiet, and didn¡¯t disturb them.

    FIZZ!

    Suddenly, a strange noise came from the huge Space Spirit Jade.

    Pei Qiqi snapped out of her daze.

    She shyly pushed Nie Tian away and blushed for the first time, revealing a beautiful side that no one had known.

    However, she quickly returned to her usual aloofness and said, ¡°I must leave now.¡±

    Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t yete to his senses, froze, and asked in puzzlement, ¡°What?¡±

    Then, he sobered up and hurried to ask, ¡°What¡¯s the hurry?¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s unusual behavior gave him a feeling that her return to the Voidspirits with her father, who she had just met, was not as simple as she had said.

    He had a vague sense that Pei Qiqi¡¯s departure might be fraught with unpredictable peril.

    Perhaps she was unsure that she would be able to survive the peril, so she decided to open up to him and act so boldly.

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Theyers of space in the Space Spirit Jade seemed to be forcibly pushed aside.

    Pei Yukong¡¯s weary face emerged in the huge Space Spirit Jade.

    He was still in the space disruption zone, but his eyes seemed to be able to see through theyers of space.

    Looking at Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, he said, ¡°I have killed the vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society, but I¡¯ve also used a lot of my strength. Qiqi, you can¡¯t stay there for long. Come over as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°OK,¡± Pei Qiqi said as she nodded and looked at Nie Tian for thest time.

    ¡°See you,¡± she said softly.

    Then she slipped into the Space Spirit Jade.

    A momentter, her figure appeared in the depths of the space disruption zone in the Space Spirit Jade.

    She waved at Nie Tian.

    And then all the images were cut.

    Like andmass, the Space Spirit Jade that Pei Yukong had taken out of the ck sea slowly sank and morphed into an ind on the ck sea again. All its wonders were gone.

    It looked as if Pei Yukong had never been here, or killed Xuan Guangyu in the space disruption zone.

    The only difference was that Pei Qiqi was no longer around.

    The scent of her fingertip still lingered in Nie Tian¡¯s nose. He couldn¡¯t help remembering in a daze what they had experienced together since they had met in the Realm of Split Void.

    Their brief embrace finally made him understand that the woman he had always called Senior Martial Sister Pei had been branded deeply in his heart.

    Suddenly, the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice sounded in the floating continent. ¡°It wasn¡¯t as easy as Pei Yukong said to kill that Xuan Guangyu.¡±

    A ckish-green tentacle that was ten thousand metres long yet as soft as cotton flew out of the deep ck sea and extended toward the ind that the Space Spirit Jade had morphed into.

    Mud and dirt covered the Space Spirit Jade again, along with various trees and flowers that were moved over from other inds by the tentacle, magically obscuring the huge Space Spirit Jade and making it look like just another ind.

    After doing all these things, the Ripper Behemoth, whose tentacle stretched like a giant dragon, continued speaking. ¡°Pei Yukong is dying. He wants to engrave all the true meanings of space that he hasprehended in his life onto the depths of the girl¡¯s bloodline through the ancient magic altar of the Voidspirits before he dies.

    ¡°It¡¯s just hard to say whether he¡¯ll seed.¡±

    It seemed to know a lot about Pei Yukong and the Voidspirits.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed as he asked, ¡°What?! The man... is dying? Really? He¡¯s just met Senior Martial Sister Pei, but he¡¯s about to die? Is it because of his battle with Xuan Guangyu? But in my opinion, it wasn¡¯t that difficult for him to kill him. Did Xuan Guangyu fight back before he died? Did he seriously injure him?¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth answered, ¡°No, it had nothing to do with the battle.¡±

    It hesitated before slowly exining, ¡°He was about to die. If he hadn¡¯t been dying, I guess he wouldn¡¯t have been in such a hurry to meet that girl.¡±

    ¡°Please tell me,¡± Nie Tian said aloud with a solemn expression. ¡°Will Senior Martial Sister Pei be in danger after leaving with him?¡±

    ¡°Of course there¡¯ll be danger,¡± the Ripper Behemoth said. ¡°Pei Yukong isn¡¯t inferior to Qu Yi of the Void Spirit Society when ites to his knowledge of the true nature of bloodlines and spatial power. Bloodlines mean inheritance, especially for the Voidspirits. They can forcibly transfer their bloodline power and wonders through their unique ancient altars.

    ¡°If the transfer seeds, Pei Yukong will die, leaving no trace behind.

    ¡°Your Senior Martial Sister Pei may be able to use his bloodline power to greatly improve her strength, and her bloodline will likely reach the tenth grade in a short time.

    ¡°In addition, she will benefit a lot in her subsequent growth.¡±

    Nie Tian hesitated, then said, ¡°You¡¯re talking about sess. What if... the transfer fails?¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t hide the truth from him, and exined candidly, ¡°If it fails, the girl¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains will explode, and her heart will be destroyed. The Voidspirits are different from most outsider races. They cannot be revived with only a drop of blood.

    ¡°They can¡¯t be reincarnated like humans can after their bodies perish.

    ¡°When a Voidspirit is dead, they¡¯re really dead, and will never be able toe back to life.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed as he hurried to ask, ¡°But Senior Martial Sister Pei isn¡¯t a pure Voidspirit! She¡¯s a hybrid of the Voidspirits and the human race! In addition to possessing the bloodline of the Voidspirits, she has cultivated with humanity¡¯s system that¡¯s made up of spiritual energy and spiritual cores. She should be different, right?¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth straightforwardly answered, ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any difference. Once she dies, she is really dead, because her father Pei Yukong isn¡¯t really a pure Voidspirit either. They¡¯re the same, because his mother was also a human.

    ¡°Because of this, he encountered many obstacles on his way to bing the chief of the Voidspirits.

    ¡°In some races¡¯ opinion, impure blood is a great insult. It took him a long time to get the Voidspirits to slowly ept him.

    ¡°What he has been doing isying the groundwork for his daughter¡¯s future, because only if he is epted by his nsmen and bes the chief of the Voidspirits will those nsmen ept his daughter.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that he¡¯s going to die after he has finally gotten what he wants.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he won¡¯t be able to see his daughter be epted by his nsmen after her bloodline reaches the tenth grade. It¡¯s even doubtful whether the arrogant Voidspirits will ept her after his death.

    ¡°After all, since he became the chief, the voices against him have never stopped.

    ¡°He can silence those people, but his daughter doesn¡¯t necessarily have that kind of ability...¡±

    It went on and told Nie Tian about Pei Yukong and the internal disputes among the Voidspirits.

    Nie Tian listened carefully, and finally asked, ¡°Why will he die soon? Is it because he is too old, or something else?¡±

    ¡°Irreparable injuries,¡± it answered.

    ¡°My bloodline has magical healing powers,¡± he said.

    The Ripper Behemoth dampened his spirits by saying, ¡°Even Grand Monarch Life Wood of the Floragrims cannot heal him, let alone you. Even though your bloodline is more mysterious than his, its grade is low. Pei Yukong has too little time left to live. He can¡¯t wait for you to be ate tenth grade grand monarch like Grand Monarch Life Wood.¡±

    Nie Tian fell silent.

    Grand Monarch Life Wood, who was the best at healing serious injuries, was ate tenth grade grand monarch. If even he couldn¡¯t help Pei Yukong recover from his injury, then considering Nie Tian¡¯s current strength and grade, it seemed there was really nothing he could do about it.

 Chapter 1516: The Fifth Sect!

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice suddenly rumbled out. ¡°You need to get stronger.¡±

    The spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in the floating continent changed suddenly.

    WHOOSH!

    It converged on Nie Tian from all directions, as if being summoned and condensed by the Ripper Behemoth.

    In an instant, Nie Tian felt that the purity of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in his area had increased exponentially.

    He naturally stopped sensing the changes with his bloodline, but spread out his unique saint domain on the floating continent.

    Once his star, me, and wood domains that had three different properties and different auras appeared, the energy of heaven and earth gathering from all directions started swarming into them.

    ¡°Hmm!¡± he eximed softly as was surprised to find that the gathering energy of heaven and earth seemed to be activating his three saint domains and helping them advance to a higher grade.

    ZZZZZLA! FIZZ!

    Starlight shone in his star domain as mes sputtered in his me domain. Even thend that his wood domain had morphed into seemed to have endless vitality.

    When he had cultivated in the starry river before, he had constantly gathered the wood, star, and me power floating in the starry river and brought them into his saint domains.

    He had believed that the breakthrough of his three domains depended entirely on these three core powers.

    However, when the wisps of pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth that were channeled by the Ripper Behemoth flew into the saint domains, he realized that in fact his saint domains still needed the most basic, primitive spiritual Qi.

    All of his three saint domains needed pure spiritual power to support them.

    His eyes lit up as he came to this realization. He opened his heart at once, allowing his saint domains to devour the pure spiritual Qi that the Ripper Behemoth was gifting him.

    The Ripper Behemoth had ughtered numerous Ancientspirits and outsiders in the Domain of Heaven Span after waking up.

    Then, it had destroyed the Realm of Heaven Span and many other realms. By feeding on their spiritual Qi, it had stored an abundant amount of flesh aura and spiritual Qi for itself and the floating continent.

    Perhaps it was because of this that Nie Tian, who had entered the floating continent again, found the spiritual Qi on the floating continent to be thicker and more boundless than before.

    ¡°Since it is your kindness, I¡¯ll take it,¡± he murmured inwardly. For the moment, he did not ask the Ripper Behemoth more about the origins of the bone, or Pei Yukong.

    Instead, he focused on the condensation of his saint domains with the pure spiritual Qi on the floating continent.

    He guessed that the Ripper Behemoth wanted something from him.

    Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have helped him cleanse his bone, or given him the rich spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    He didn¡¯t ask what it needed him to do.

    Time flew as he concentrated on his cultivation.

    He was unaware that, during his cultivation, the floating continent gradually drifted away from the Realm of Ancient Heights and this area of the starry river.

    ...

    In the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    WHOOSH!

    Dong Li and the ck tortoise that had reached the tenth grade arrived through a teleportation portal.

    Dozens of ancient starships were now berthed on the dead star, while rugged stone buildings stood towering on the dry ground.

    Seeing here out of the teleportation portal, Dong Qisong of the Beast-controlling Sect looked relieved as he said, ¡°You¡¯re back. If I¡¯m right, it¡¯s not only the tortoise¡¯s cultivation base and strength, but also yours that has improved again.¡±

    Dong Li was the heir of the Dong n. After the Dong n had been wiped from the Domain of the Falling Stars, she had naturally be closer to the Beast-controlling Sect.

    As the sectmaster of the Beast-controlling Sect, Dong Qisong was very proud of Dong Li.

    Dong Li smiled and said confidently, ¡°My cultivation base is now at thete Void domain, which is not very high, but my merging with the dark stone and my knowledge of the Dark Aureole have both greatly improved. I don¡¯t know my true fighting strength, but with the help of this fool...¡±

    She looked down at the ck tortoise, which looked rather unimpressive due to its shrunken size, and continued, ¡°I think I can fight a middle God domain expert, or a middle tenth grade grand monarch now!¡±

    Dong Qisong was overjoyed. ¡°Oh, right. You canmunicate with the Profound Purity Pce and tell them to go and take over the Frigid Depths of the Domain of Frigid Depths.¡±

    ¡°But Grand Monarch Ice Bones is in the Frigid Depths,¡± she said.

    Dong Qisong exined, ¡°Yin Yanan hase back from the Realm of Looming Shadow and said Grand Monarch Ice Bones wanted to ckmail Nie Tian into opening the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea because he wanted to go to the Void World. However, the river of time reappeared. Like Gupi, Grand Monarch Ice Bones was also taken away by the river of time.

    ¡°Since he has disappeared, how can the Extreme Coldness Pce continue to hold the Frigid Depths with its own strength?¡±

    Dong Li was very surprised, but nodded and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect there to be new changes while I was away cultivating and the ck tortoise was breaking through. Nie Tian promised the Frigid Depths to Senior Yu Suying. Now that Grand Monarch Ice Bones is out of the picture, it should be easy for them to take the Frigid Depths.¡±

    SWISH!

    Jing Feiyang flew over from another dead star. Before even arriving, he yelled, ¡°I¡¯ve just received thetest news that Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce has sessfully broken through to the middle God domain!¡±

    Dong Li froze for a moment before her face split into a wide smile. ¡°As I expected.¡±

    Then, she soared high into the sky.

    Dark magical light surged behind her as she overlooked the seven dead stars in amanding manner.

    She saw that clusters of stone buildings stood towering like mountain peaks on the seven dead stars that were bereft of any spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, while many ancient starships were berthed on them, and numerous Void and Saint domain experts were bustling around.

    When she looked closely, she also noticed that curtains of dazzling light enshrouded some of the newly-built stone buildings and squares.

    There were some Qi warriors with low cultivation bases in them.

    Some of the Qi warriorsing to and leaving the seven dead stars were from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, but the majority were visitors from other domains, and their number wasrge!

    Such a spectacle exceeded Dong Li¡¯s expectations. She was surprised to find so many changes had happened in the Seven Stars Realm Sea while she and the ck tortoise had broken through.

    She was both surprised and delighted by the grand spectacle in the seven dead stars nowadays.

    ¡°The Realm of Remote Heaven in the Mortal World was the first to be destroyed by the Ancientspirits and outsiders after they marched through the Dead Star Sea. It was originally a precious ce for Qi warriors from various advanced domains to exchange spiritual materials.¡± With these words, Jing Feiyang smiled and added, ¡°Now, the seven dead stars of the Seven Stars Realm Sea have imperceptibly reced the Realm of Remote Heaven, and be the world¡¯s most bustling trading ce.

    ¡°Recently, because the Realm of Heaven Span was shattered and the Realm of Looming Shadow was destroyed by Nie Tian, the Seven Stars Realm Sea has seen more and more visitors.¡±

    He continued, exining, ¡°Now, there¡¯s a saying among the people that we, at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, are the fifth ancient sect of our human race.¡±

    ¡°What? Have we already been considered as the fifth great sect?¡± Dong Li eximed in shock.

    Then she saw Dong Qisong, Jing Feiyang, Li Langfeng, and the others all nod gently.

    A smile yed on her lips. ¡°So we have be so strong before we knew it. The fifth great sect.¡±

 Chapter 1517: Demons Descend

    The Seven Stars Realm Sea had reced the Realm of Remote Heaven as thergestmunication center for human experts.

    Floating in the sky, Dong Li looked at the seven dead stars with mixed emotions.

    In the past, the Seven Stars Realm Sea had been enveloped in dead silence, and no Qi warriors would linger on any of the dead stars for long.

    However, because a portal had been discovered in the sea that connected to the Void World, and You Qimiao had sessfully reached thete God domain with the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir he had brought back from there, it had recently be one of the busiest ces in the human world.

    ¡°The Void World...¡± Dong Li frowned, her eyes a little worried. ¡°They all want to step into the Void World, but they don¡¯t know that the three races in the Void World are trying their best to swarm into the Mortal World. What if the Spirit World, Mortal World, and Void World are really connected?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t help but think deeply.

    As she had fused with the dark stone further and studied the Dark Aureole, she had learned a great deal from the memory fragments imprinted on them.

    Even though she had never been to the Void World, she had already learned about the origin of the three races there.

    She could even enumerate some secret forbidden ces of the Void World and ancient legends of the Devils with great familiarity. They were what the dark stone had given her.

    The more she learned about the Void World and the more familiar she became with the three powerful races, the more worried she became.

    The bloodline origins of the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes in the Spirit Worldy with the three outsider races in the Void World. It was just that their nsmen at lower grades didn¡¯t know the truth because their bloodline imprints hadn¡¯t been awakened.

    But what if those powerful outsiders who knew the truth told them about it?

    Once the Demons, Phantasms and Bonebrutes joined hands with the three outsider races in the Void World to attack the Mortal world, how would the humans handle it?

    The Void World was an unusualnd that had given birth to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Dark King, and the Bone Emperor. Could it be possible that there were some advanced experts who were as strong as them in the Void World?

    ¡°They all expect the portal to open one day so that they can swarm into the Void World to plunder the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir,¡± Done Li said and sighed softly. ¡°If the portal really opens, given their strength...¡±

    The Qi warriors from various domains were all below the God domain. Such fighting strength was nothing impressive to Dong Li now.

    As her experience and knowledge of the Void World grew, she knew that the human race was not powerful enough to fight the three outsider races of the Void World at present.

    She flew down and looked at Jing Feiyang and Dong Qisong. ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian? Where did he go after destroying the Realm of Looming Shadow?¡±

    ¡°He traveled around to kill outsider experts,¡± Jing Feiyang answered with a smile. ¡°Recently, he has killed several outsider grand monarchs, hundreds of eighth-grade outsiders and thousands of seventh-grade outsiders. Because of his actions, the outsiders who used to run amok have be extremely well-behaved and cautious.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all thanks to him,¡± Dong Qisong cut in. ¡°Before he started the ughter, the outsiders had rampaged everywhere in the Mortal World, killing and plunging humans into misery and suffering in many human realms. He rushed out of the Realm of Looming Shadow and killed some outsider grand monarchs so ruthlessly that the other outsiders had to hide themselves.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily a good thing that the outsiders are keeping a low profile,¡± Dong Li said with a solemn expression. ¡°Since the Ripper Behemoth left the Domain of Heaven Span, no one has learned about its whereabouts. Several middle grand monarchs survived. ording to Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has woken up, and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms has been summoned by the Nether River.

    ¡°Maybe when those outsiders reappear, even the Ripper Behemoth won¡¯t be able to fight them off.

    ¡°It¡¯s said thatte tenth grade grand monarchs aren¡¯t particrly afraid of Star Behemoths. Even if they can¡¯t kill the Ripper Behemoth, they have the power to protect themselves, and perhaps even hurt it. If there are enoughte tenth grade grand monarchs, perhaps the Ripper Behemoth won¡¯t dare to fight them recklessly.¡±

    ¡°What should we do then?¡± Jing Feiyang asked.

    ¡°Be on guard. We must pay special attention to the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡± Dong Li replied with a serious face. ¡°I¡¯m worried that one day the Seven Stars Realm Sea will be the most important battleground, and the outsiders will attack here and forcibly open the portal to bring the three outsider races of the Void World into our world.¡±

    Jing Feiyang sucked in a breath of cold air and hurried to say, ¡°Got it.¡±

    ...

    Time flew silently.

    Because the outsiders were keeping a low profile, many of the Void and Saint domain experts who felt they were too weak wanted to take this opportunity to break through their cultivation base.

    All the sects took out all the cultivation sources that they had kept for thousands of years to create top experts.

    After all, their sects were facing the danger of being besieged and exterminated. Facing the fear of death, the humans burst forth with amazing potential.

    News that experts had broken through kepting from different human domains. Some Void domain experts sessfully broke through to the Saint domain, while some Saint domain experts like Han Qing of the Profound Purity Pce had sessfully advanced to the God domain.

    Of course, some Qi warriors who were too rash failed, and perishedpletely when they tried to break through.

    However, the probability of sessfully breaking through was far higher than that of any other era in the past.

    Because of the human cultivators¡¯rge poption, despite the many who failed and died, the emergence of winners still inspired others, especially after Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Han Qing, and Master Blood Spirit sessively reached a higher level. Their breakthrough inspired many, including Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society, one of the four great ancient sects, who chose to go into secluded cultivation after Xuan Guangyu disappeared.

    Chu Rui and Ye Wenhan were both trying to break through their cultivation base and improve the grades of their tools with precious materials, making preparations for fiercer battles against the outsiders.

    The Mortal World was peaceful for some time; for so long, in fact, that it seemed a little weird.

    Until...

    In the Heavenly Ice Sect of the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Cold currents surged in the starry river outside.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Lonely, frigid wind suddenly converged at one point and became a tiny ice crystal that suddenly exploded.

    Because of its explosion, the sky seemed to have been chipped open, and a hole emerged.

    The hole was just about to heal when two demonic hands that seemed to be able to tear the sky apart suddenly stretched out.

    The demonic hands pulled the hole wider and wider.

    The space was casually kneaded as if it were dough.

    Momentster, the hole was torn a hundred timesrger. A giant demonic body that wasrge enough to prop up heaven and earth slowly walked out of the hole.

    The Realm of Crystal Snow was below him, like a snow-white puck.

    ¡°A human realm, yes. Here we are,¡± the giant Demon grand monarch muttered.

    Then, he said into the hole he had torn open, ¡°It¡¯s done. Come out in order. Don¡¯t be too anxious. Don¡¯t crowd together.¡±

    BOOM!

    His deep purple flesh aura sea instantly erupted as he shot at the Realm of Crystal Snow like a bolt of lightning.

    The realm barrier of the Realm of Crystal Snow and the defensive formations of the Heavenly Ice Sect seemed as fragile as tissue paper as he breached them in an instant.

    Looking up into the sky, all the disciples of the Heavenly Ice Sect in this realm saw a giant demonic figure enveloping the Realm of Crystal Snow with a deep purple flesh aura sea.

    And the Realm of Crystal Snow fell.

 Chapter 1518: A Great Tribulation

    In the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol shuttled back and forth between the nineyers of the Nine Star Heavens to absorb and refine his dharma idol with dazzling sparks of condensed star power.

    The sparks seemed to dot his dharma idol, making it shine iparably brightly.

    WHOOSH!

    His dharma idol flew out of the Nine Star Heavens and into the starry river.

    The wisps of starlight that were being channeled to the Realm of Fragmentary Star by the Nine Star Heavens started fusing into his dharma idol instead.

    Even the breaths Chu Rui breathed out carried sparks that seemed to be impurities generated during starlight refinement.

    If he had intercepted the star power that was being channeled to the Realm of Fragmentary Star before, he would have been disdained and condemned by the board of elders and all disciples.

    After all, if he absorbed that star power, the Nine Star Heavens would bepromised, and Fragmentary Star City would fall short of pure star power.

    No God domain expert of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was allowed to steal the power that belonged to the Realm of Fragmentary Star.

    After all, the amount of star power God domain experts needed was far too immense.

    A God domain expert¡¯s needs could easily destroy the power bnce in the Realm of Fragmentary Star, and thuspromise the grand spell formation.

    The star power that flowed into the Realm of Fragmentary Star was what allowed the weaker disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to advance in cultivation and temper their spiritual tools.

    But now, even though Chu Rui was openly doing that, no one from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce objected.

    Instead, all the sect elders, Son of the Stars, and powerful disciples expressed that they understood.

    After all, everyone knew how perilous the situation was. With Ji Cang and Mo Heng away, the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and even the entire human world was in dire need ofte God domain leaders.

    Since Chu Rui had what it took to make his breakthrough in cultivation, the sect would of course provide him with all the support possible.

    WHOOSH!

    Wei Lai suddenly flew out from the Realm of Fragmentary Star, and stopped beside Chu Rui¡¯s dharma idol in the blink of an eye.

    Surprised, Chu Rui asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    Face as grim as a coldke, Wei Lai said, ¡°A portal was split open outside the Heavenly Ice Sect¡¯s Realm of Crystal Snow. All of the powerful Qi warriors in the Realm of Crystal Snow have been ughtered by Demons. Even Patriarch Icy Crystal, who was at the middle Saint domain, had his domain ripped apart by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, and died a miserable death.¡± His shoulders trembled involuntarily as he spoke.

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Demons¡¯ newly-awakened Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is upon us. The Realm of Crystal Snow is only the first victim. I¡¯m afraid the entire Domain of Endless Snow will fall into the Demons¡¯ hands within a short time. Billions of humans in the many realms in the Domain of Endless Snow are facing cmities.¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s heart grew very heavy.

    Since Fan Tianze was in the middle of his attempt to break through to thete God domain, he couldn¡¯t possiblye out of his secluded cultivation any time soon. Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan were only at the early God domain...

    Right now, no one other than him among the four great sects could step out and fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. Even so, he didn¡¯t have confidence that he would emerge victorious.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go fight him,¡± Chu Rui said reluctantly.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡± Wei Lai eximed softly. ¡°This is Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory we¡¯re talking about, thete tenth grade grand monarch who died while killing Xuan Yu, the Ice Emperor!¡±

    Chu Rui let out a deep sigh. ¡°I know. But who else can go fight him? Even though he was at thete tenth grade, he revived just recently, didn¡¯t he? It¡¯s unlikely that he was able to return to his peak state within such a short time. I think I¡¯ll have a fighting chance.¡±

    ¡°But still, he was ate tenth grade grand monarch!¡± Wei Lai said anxiously.

    ¡°Whatever. It can only be me.¡± Chu Rui said.

    ...

    In the Domain of Endless Snow controlled by the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    Demon starships sailed among different realms, giving rise to gruesome whooshes like ancient monsters.

    Once a starship reached a realm, it would release swarms of Demons that ripped through the realm barrier and descended on the realm riding demonic beasts.

    The realms of the Heavenly Ice Sect fell one by one as their disciples died.

    Patriarch Snowy Peak, who was at thete Saint domain, madly sent messages to the four great sects while arranging for his forces to evacuate after learning that Patriarch Icy Crystal had died at the hands of the legendary Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    However, what he could evacuate were only the core disciples of the Heavenly Ice Sect. The majority of the Heavenly Ice Sect disciples and themoners were abandoned.

    Agonized whines filled every corner of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    A few dayster, a light boat arrived in the vast starry river in the Domain of Endless Snow, wreathed in glorious starlight. A heaven-shaking voice then echoed through the realms in the area. ¡°This is Chu Rui from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. I¡¯m here to challenge Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to a duel!¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s resonant voice echoed out from the snow-capped mountains in the Realm of Crystal Snow. ¡°Even though you know you can¡¯t win, you stille to fight me. Yours lives up to the name of ¡®ancient great sect.¡¯ Chu Rui, is it? Even if you die in battle, I¡¯ll remember your name. I, Eternal Purgatory, the grand monarch of a mighty race, ept your challenge.¡±

    In the next moment, he, who had ruled the roost throughout the Spirit World for hundreds of thousands of years, charged into the heavens.

    Like a pir of dark purple light, his flesh aura pierced through the realm barrier filled with thick mists in an instant, before spreading towards Chu Rui like overwhelming waves of qi and blood.

    From Chu Rui¡¯s point of view, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory seemed to suddenly transform into the mysterious Blood Purgatory Sea in the Second Demon Realm.

    The color of blood quickly filled his entire view.

    ...

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons has revived and appeared in the Domain of Endless Snow!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s ate tenth grade Demon for heaven¡¯s sake! His arrival will immediately plunge our world into turbulence!¡±

    ¡°Now that all of the peak experts of the four great sects are away, who can stop thatte tenth grade Demon?¡±

    Heated discussions took ce in almost every stone pavilion, pce, cultivation venue, and secret room that was enveloped in multicolored wards on the seven dead stars that surrounded the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Not everyone knew about Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s revival.

    To prevent panic, Dong Li had only secretly informed the four great sects after receiving word of it from Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    Therefore, the heads of the sects from various human domains, who were now gathered in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, were rattled upon hearing of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s sudden arrival in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The Domain of Endless Snow wasn¡¯t far from the Domain of Heaven Python or the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    They were only separated by the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    The existence of the portal in the depths of the Seven Stars Realm Sea would most likely make it the Demons¡¯ primary target.

    These experts had thought up every method and paid heavy prices to negotiate with Jing Feiyang and Dong Qisong for the right to establish branches here. Now, they all felt bitter at heart, but couldn¡¯t reallyin.

    They had handed in tremendous amounts of cultivation resources in order to be allowed to erect those towering stone pavilions on the seven dead stars.

    Not only that, but they also had to pay a certain amount of spiritual materials to Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates every year.

    They had assumed that this was a wise decision that would earn them the privilege to enter the Void World early after the portal was opened.

    Who would have thought...?

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce went to the Domain of Endless Snow to challenge Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to a duel!¡± The thrilling news soon spread through the anxious human experts, lifting their spirits slightly and making them pay close attention to it.

    Dong Li, Li Langfeng, Jing Feiyang, and the others also gave it continual attention.

    Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and Master Blood Spirit had made breakthroughs in their cultivation sessively. They all rushed to the Seven Stars Realm Sea upon learning of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s arrival in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    All of them had a feeling that by showing up in the Domain of Endless Snow, the Demons were actually targeting the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Nie Tian, Dong Li, and themselves!

    Frowning deeply, Yu Suying, who had advanced to the middle God domain with the help of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, said, ¡°Even though Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has just revived, Chu Rui might not be able to match him in battle. I fear for his life.¡±

    Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect nodded slowly. ¡°Me too.¡±

    Glorious sword light sputtered from his eyes as he blinked. Apparently, the Godspan Sword Formation had merged with himpletely. Even though he was only at the early God domain, he looked like a god of myriad swords only by standing there.

    He, who was only at the early God domain, took a deep breath and said, ¡°I won¡¯t shy from a battle against any Demon grand monarch other than Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. Even Grand Monarch Bloodlust doesn¡¯t scare me. If someone can hold off Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, I¡¯m confident that I¡¯ll be able to stop Grand Monarch Remote Demon or Grand Monarch Bloodlust.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is also the only one that I¡¯m apprehensive about,¡± Yu Suying said.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, whose name had inspired fear throughout the Spirit World and the Mortal World for hundreds of thousands of years, was the greatest threat to them. After all, even the humans¡¯ legendary Ice Emperor, Xuan Yu, had died fighting him.

    A dayter.

    A piece of news came from the Domain of Endless Snow, plunging every human into despair.

    Vice Sectmaster Chu Rui of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been severely injured in his duel against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. His dharma idol had shattered into countless sparkling fragments before he had split himself up and escaped.

    Having his dharma idol shattered was a tremendously heavy injury. Even though he hadn¡¯t died, he wouldn¡¯t be able to fight again for a very long time.

    Dayster, the entire Domain of Endless Snow fell.

    The Demons¡¯ spirits skyrocketed.

 Chapter 1519: Demanding A Battle!

    Chu Rui had been defeated and returned severely injured.

    As soon as the news came out, all of the human sects entered a constant state of anxiety, as if they had shadows hanging over them.

    After the Demons¡¯ arrival, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes also gathered inrge numbers in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Apparently, the portal split open by the Demons had be a gateway through which the outsider races poured into the human world.

    A new round of outsider invasions soon spread into the areas surrounding the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Realms that were close to the Domain of Endless Snow fell one after another.

    Outsider starships charged around in nearby domains, iming realms that suited their needs and transforming the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in them with grand spell formations.

    The spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was either turned into Demon Qi, Phantasm Qi, or corrosive Toxic Qi.

    The entire human world seemed to suddenly fall silent as letters were constantly put in the hands of the elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Heaven Span Pavilion, the Five Elements Sect, and the Void Spirit Society, begging for help.

    However, Chu Rui¡¯s defeat had greatly shaken the four great sects.

    Since no one could handle Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, the God domain experts from the four great sects didn¡¯t dare to make any rash moves.

    Soon, vicious curses targeting the four great sects started to rise among the Qi warriors whose realms had fallen.

    These powerful ancient sects that had stood unwavering, had been worshiped by cultivators from across the human world, and had upied the richestnds, quickly became the target of public condemnation.

    Since they upied the most cultivation resources, they should take the greatest responsibility.

    However, after Chu Rui¡¯s defeat, they hadn¡¯t organized any effective resistance.

    Therefore, it was understandable that they were cursed and condemned.

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce came to see Dong Li, with a crystal emanating bright starlight in his palm.

    Chu Rui¡¯s aura could be sensed from the crystal.

    Chu Rui¡¯s image slowly emerged in the crystal.

    Dong Li seemed to feel deep veneration as she eximed, ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡±

    Looking at the crystal and sensing the godly aura it emanated, she asked, ¡°Is this your...?¡±

    ¡°This is a fragment from my shattered god domain.¡± Chu Rui¡¯s weak voice echoed from within the crystal. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory turned out to be much more powerful than I had thought. He could even draw power from the Blood Purgatory Sea in the Second Demon Realm at will. Besides that, he¡¯s rapidly recovering his power by killing human experts in the Domain of Endless Snow and nearby domains, and casting their bodies into the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    ¡°That way, the Blood Purgatory Sea can provide him with endless power to help him recover to his peak state.

    ¡°The more humans die at his hands, the thicker the Blood Purgatory Sea will be, and the quicker he¡¯ll be able to recover.¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s soul shadow looked somewhat sad and helpless within the crystal. ¡°Instead of marching on the Seven Stars Realm Sea right away, he¡¯s waiting for the Blood Purgatory Sea to grow thicker. His strength is being restored with every passing day. And his speedy recovery is based on the heavy casualties of the humans in that area.¡±

    All of the God domain experts present, including Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying, had grim expressions as they listened.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory...¡± Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect let out a sigh and said bitterly, ¡°Even you lost your battle against him within such a short time. What can we do, even if we know that the reason why he hasn¡¯t marched on the Seven Stars Realm Sea yet is because he¡¯s rapidly recovering his strength?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here because I hope you¡¯ll find Nie Tian,¡± Chu Rui said. ¡°He canmunicate with that Ripper Behemoth and has a friendly rtionship with the Ancientspirits. We can¡¯t defeat Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with our current strength. Perhaps if Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims and the Ripper Behemoth join us, we¡¯ll be able to put an end to the Demons¡¯ atrocities.¡±

    With all honesty, Dong Li said, ¡°We¡¯re looking for him as well. For some reason, he vanishedpletely after leaving the Realm of Looming Shadow.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡± Chu Rui¡¯s soul shadow instantly grew faint within the star crystal. ¡°Even he disappeared. First, it was the sectmaster. Then it was the grand elder. Now, even he¡¯s missing...¡±

    With these words, Chu Rui¡¯s soul shadow fadedpletely from the crystal.

    Wei Lai grabbed the crystal and said, ¡°He¡¯s so badly injured that even inter-domainmunication through his soul shadow in a fragment of his god domain has be difficult. We can only do everything within our power to help him recover. Even so, it may take more than six months to just reforge his god domain.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll do everything we can to find Nie Tian,¡± Dong Li said.

    Wei Lai nodded. ¡°We will too. Also, Ye Wenhan has used a secret magic tomunicate with Fan Tianze, who¡¯s in secluded cultivation for his breakthrough to thete God domain. We hope that he¡¯ll be able to break through his cultivation barrier before Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory returns to his peak state.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s hearts grew heavier after hearing this.

    They all doubted that Fan Tianze would be able to match Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in battle if he came out of his secluded cultivation before entering thete God domain.

    It would be unwise to ce all of their hopes on him.

    More than ten days passed.

    An atmosphere of despair and distress continued to spread rapidly among the humans.

    Many sects and ns that were based in realms fairly close to the Domain of Endless Snow did everything they could evacuate their people.

    Even some of those who were gathered at the Seven Stars Realm Sea feared that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory would suddenly descend upon them one day, and thus withdrew from the area.

    However, the majority chose to stay and hold the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Figures like Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Dong Li, and Master Blood Spirit made them feel that they might be safer at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    More days passed.

    A huge fish suddenly appeared in the cold currents in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Standing on the broad back of the huge fish was a scrawny old man with an ordinary and expressionless face. ¡°I, You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, am here to challenge Lord Eternal Purgatory to a duel.¡±

    ¡°You Qimiao!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s voice seemed to rumble out from different parts of the Domain of Endless Snow. ¡°I can sense your power. Both your strength and cultivation base exceed that of that vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. You seem to be a worthy opponent. I ept your challenge.

    ¡°My true form will arrive in three days, then we¡¯ll fight in a duel.

    ¡°I promise you that none of us or our allies will further our invasions during this time.¡±

    Every syble from Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory echoed in You Qimiao¡¯s ears with great rity, even though his true form was actually all the way in the Second Demon Realm, recovering strength in the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect appeared in person in the Domain of Endless Snow after Chu Rui¡¯s defeat!

    Word of it soon spread, shaking heaven and earth. Many powerful experts that were weighed down with anxiety felt suddenly relieved.

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Dong Li sprang to her feet. ¡°What?!¡±

    Jing Feiyang, who brought the news, took a deep breath and said excitedly, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that You Qimiao stepped out! I didn¡¯t expect that, and I doubt anyone did! Just not so long ago, he provoked the Ripper Behemoth to destroy the Realm of Heaven Span, but now he enters the Domain of Endless Snow at this moment of peril and challenges Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to a duel!¡±

    Even Yu Suying couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°You Qimiao!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes shone with excitement as the waves of emotions in her heart took a long time to calm. ¡°Who would have thought that this man, who¡¯s generally regarded to have turned rogue, would stand up against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory at the most perilous moment?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps he can actually match Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in battle,¡± Mo Qianfan said in a grim voice.

    Dong Li pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°No matter what major conflicts and unpleasantness there were between You Qimiao and us, his act of challenging Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory at this time deserves our admiration. The battle between Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Chu Rui happened so abruptly and ended so quickly that we didn¡¯t even have a chance to witness it.

    ¡°Since this battle between You Qimiao and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is taking ce in three days, how about we go witness it in the Domain of Endless Snow?¡±

    ¡°Sounds great!¡± Many approved of her suggestion.

    The battle between You Qimiao and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory that was going to take ce in the Domain of Endless Snow in three days attracted worldwide attention.

    Not only the humans, but the Ancientspirits and Floragrims in the Spirit World also received word of it.

    All of a sudden, people from the two worlds started moving in secret. Many who were confident in their strength quietly approached the Domain of Endless Snow after hearing about Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s guarantee.

    There were humans among them, as well as people of other races from the Spirit World.

    All of them were very curious about how powerful Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory really was after his revival.

    Chu Rui was only at the middle God domain, which had been outmatched by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s bloodline grade and far from enough to force Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to bring out his true strength.

    However, as the great talent who had entered thete God domain most recently, You Qimiao had disyed devastating might in the starry river outside the Realm of Heaven Span.

    He had what it took to force Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to go all-out.

    Even Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims came out of their ancestralnd after receiving the news. He hadn¡¯t done so until now because he wasn¡¯t sure how powerful Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory really was.

    Now that You Qimiao had stepped out to fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, he was presented with an opportunity to find the answer to that question.

    Also, at this moment...

    The floating continent that had drifted in the boundless starry river in the human world for quite some time suddenly came to a stop.

    Nie Tian, who had been absorbed in his cultivation, slowly withdrew his soul awareness that was scattered in different corners of the floating continent to his sea of awareness, and woke up.

 Chapter 1520: Great Achievement in Sub-soul Refinement

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The wisps of soul awareness carried different auras as they either looked like shining pieces of silver, crimson lightning bolts, or green tree branches.

    They seemed to have roamed the floating continent for a long while before returning to Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness now, like young swallows returning to their nest.

    Then, they fused into different sub-souls.

    His me power sub-soul, wood power sub-soul, and star power sub-soul hung high in his sea of awareness like brightmps.

    His true soul, on the other hand, continued to gather and refine itself with pure soul power, so that every soul strand that constituted it seemed to carry endless power.

    Every once in a while, some wondrous soul scripts within his true soul would light up.

    They were the Netherspirits¡¯ unique soul symbols, which he had obtained from the Nether River and fused into his true soul.

    Aside from that, numerous exquisite soul lines that had woven into different secret soul magics could also be seen branded on his true soul.

    ¡°My soul refinement has risen to a whole new level.¡±

    His true soul seemed to be all-seeing, since through it, he could see his me power, star power, and wood power sub-souls that had transformed from his star souls floating high in his sea of awareness.

    ¡°This is amazing.¡± A clear soul voice echoed from his true soul.

    As soon as that happened, his me power, star power, and wood power sub-souls echoed the same soul voice.

    He had been bestowed with nine star souls when he had obtained the fragmentary star marks. As his cultivation base continued to improve, three of them had been branded with his soul imprints and fused with the profound truths of me, star, and wood power, and be sub-souls.

    Their existence allowed Nie Tian to study the truths of me, star, and wood power more efficiently.

    Also, even if his true soul perished, as long as any of his sub-souls survived, he could be reincarnated.

    Even though he had nine star souls, only three of them had been exploited and refined into sub-souls.

    But now...

    The other six star souls had also been refined into sub-souls that formed a hexagram in his sea of awareness.

    What amazed Nie Tian the most was that five of those six sub-souls corresponded to the souls of the five evil gods, as they were wreathed in intense auras of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust.

    However, thest sub-soul was thergest one in his sea of awareness.

    It exuded an aura that was ancient, dominating, and vastly immense, which was the aura only Star Behemoths had!

    The five sub-souls burst forth with cyan starlight within Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    A faded magical seal could be seen within each of them.

    Heavenly Spirit Seals!

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he saw the faded Heavenly Spirit Seals within the sub-souls.

    He had a profound feeling that he had finally gained total control of the five evil gods.

    Those five sub-souls seemed to exist so that he could control the five evil gods and plunder the knowledge they had umted their whole lives from the depths of their souls.

    Puzzlement spread across Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Is this because of the Heavenly Spirit Seals, or the fact that the evil gods rebuilt their fleshly bodies with my Blood Essence as the foundation?¡±

    Then, he saw thergest sub-soul, which was as red as blood.

    The aura it exuded was none other than the aura of that Star Behemoth bone.

    This discovery bbergasted Nie Tian, as he had never imagined that such heaven-shaking, earth-shattering changes would happen to his sea of awareness while he cleansed and refined his saint domain with the rich spiritual Qi of heaven and earth the Ripper Behemoth had bestowed upon him.

    Three of his nine sub-souls carried the truths of me, star, and wood power he had derived, and were connected to his me, star, and wood domains in a profound manner.

    Five of the other sub-souls corresponded to the five evil gods. Not only did they give him full control of the evil gods and ess to their power, but they were also branded with their lifetime understanding of souls.

    Thanks to them, he could manipte the five evil gods as easily as his me, star, and wood domains.

    Thest sub-soul corresponded to the Star Behemoth bone, which had recently had its residual death power expelled from it and regained part of its iplete soul.

    At this point, the nine star souls he had obtained after transcending the rigorous tempering of the trials and bing the seventh Son of the Stars were finally all put to good use.

    Nine sub-souls and a true soul.

    He had a feeling that the one and only true soul had be even moreplicated than before.

    He examined it with rapt attention, and discovered that there were more Netherspirit soul symbols, soul lines, and soul formations within it than he could count, and each and every one of which had been vested with the profound truths of souls.

    All of them had been obtained from the Nether River.

    ¡°This is so odd, truly odd...¡±

    He couldn¡¯t figure out what had happened during this session of cultivation that would cause such incredible changes to his sea of awareness.

    Baring this question in mind, he attempted to release his saint domain.

    WHOOSH!

    His star domain unfurled like a mysterious vast sky that was dotted with dazzling stars, where the Heavenly Stars Flower bloomed in a glorious fashion.

    As soon as his me domain manifested, a sea of mes that could burn myriad realms to ashes enveloped him, with a profound connection to the grand spell formation in the me Land, which was perhaps the mightiest fire spell formation throughout the three worlds.

    In his activated wood domain, the Godspirit Tree and the tree branches that had been engraved with the profound truths of life were so exuberant that they blocked Nie Tian¡¯s sight, as if they could channel life power endlessly from the depths of the starry river.

    The moment his three domains were activated, he was overtaken with a feeling that he was going to transcend this mortal world and rise out of the floating continent and into the starry river enveloped in his domains.

    With a bbergasted expression, he examined his me, star, and wood domains with rapt attention, and discovered that they seemed to have been lifted to a new level through this period of cleansing with the spiritual Qi bestowed by the Ripper Behemoth.

    Then, his domains shrank and morphed into three spiritual cores that returned to his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    The me, star, and wood power they carried was far richer than before.

    The divine light they emanated even burst forth from within his spiritual sea in his dantian region to manifest as glowing crimson, emerald, and silver light around him.

    Even so, thergest spiritual core within his spiritual sea was still the one that was filled with pure condensed spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    It provided him with a continuous supply of pure spiritual power, nourishing his wood, me, and star power spiritual cores, and maintained the normal functioning of his spiritual sea.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he came to a sudden realization. ¡°My spiritual core without any attributes is the one that¡¯s receiving the pure spiritual Qi from the Ripper Behemoth. Based on what I¡¯ve observed, I suppose my cultivation base has risen to a new level. So am I at the middle Saint domain or thete Saint domain now?¡±

    At this moment, the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice rumbled out once again. ¡°Your cultivation base has reached the so-calledte Saint domain with my help. You¡¯re even not far from entering the God domain now. I also don¡¯t understand why your advances happened so quickly. I assume it has something to do with the great changes to your soul.¡±

    Its words puzzled Nie Tian even more. ¡°Great changes to my soul?¡±

    ¡°I only provided you with pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth to help you advance your cultivation base,¡± The Ripper Behemoth exined. ¡°Your saint domain took upon itself to channel star, wood, and me power from the starry river and refine them into itself. But during that time, great fluctuations took ce in your sea of awareness.

    ¡°Only after a long time did they quiet down.

    ¡°Immediately after that, the refinement of your saint domain seemed to suddenly be iparably easy.¡±

    Nie Tian stood aghast. After a moment of pondering, he asked, ¡°How long did I spend practicing cultivation here?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time,¡± the Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°I heard ate tenth grade Demon grand monarch has marched into the Mortal World. This one named Eternal Purgatory is by no means insignificant.¡±

    ¡°Where is he?¡±

    ¡°Your people¡¯s Domain of Endless Snow.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°The Domain of Endless Snow?!¡±

 Chapter 1521: Thousands Of Corpses In Rivers!

    In the Domain of Endless Snow.

    A colossal fish, which was transformed from the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, floated quietly in the starry river where frigid currents surged.

    Silently, You Qimiao bowed his head and closed his eyes on the back of the fish.

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as the frigid currents flowed near him, they melted into his body meekly, and seemed to be the source of his strength.

    He cultivated two distinct powers that were extremely cold and extremely hot andbined them into one. The ability he had shown when he had attacked Nie Tian in the Realm of Looming Shadow had already been enough to show how high his attainments were.

    Compared to him, Patriarch Snowy Peak of the Heavenly Ice Sect was like a clown.

    The moment he had arrived, miraculous changes had taken ce in many realms of the Domain of Endless Snow, in forbidden areas that had been frozen for thousands of years and had frigid veins deep in the ground.

    CRACK!

    Fine cracks appeared on many ciers. Matchlessly pure cold power flew from the ciers and into the sky before merging into the cold currents and flying naturally into You Qimiao¡¯s body.

    Dozens of miles away, Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society looked at the colossal fish with aplicated expression.

    A gorgeous spatial rift behind him was wide open.

    Figures came out in session.

    Ye Wenhan, Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, many Saint domain experts of the four great sects, and some experts of some sects like the Heavenly Changes Pavilion and Ancient Law Sect streamed through the spatial rift.

    A fierce battle was at hand.

    You Qimiao and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory respectively represented the peak strength of the human race and the outsiders. The oue of their battle would have a great influence on the future of both races.

    No one would dare ignore the oue. After Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had given permission for others to watch the battle, numerous experts swarmed to the location where the battle was to take ce.

    Each arrival would look at You Qimiao before their eyes and soul awareness began to wander.

    The Demons, who had already upied the Domain of Endless Snow, didn¡¯t fly out from within the upied realms right away. Only several ancient starships that looked like ancient Demon beasts could be seen berthed outside the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    To all the people high in the starry river, the Realm of Crystal Snow looked like a huge sparkling ice ball.

    ¡°You Qimiao...¡± Dou Tianchen muttered, then morphed into a streak of light in the starry river and flew to the colossal fish.

    He wanted to ask You Qimiao how certain he was of his victory over Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. He also wanted to pay his respects to him as a junior.

    Before even arriving, he called out, ¡°I, Dou Tianchen, Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, am here to pay respect to...¡±

    All of a sudden, an elder of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect flew over and stopped before him.

    The elder bowed slightly and said, neither servile nor haughty, ¡°Sorry. My sectmaster has ordered that he has yet to fully understand a key incantation, so he doesn¡¯t want anyone to disturb him before Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory arrives, so...¡±

    The elder, looking apologetic, motioned Dou Tianchen to stop moving forward.

    Dou Tianchen looked embarrassed as he nodded and agreed, ¡°If that is his order, I won¡¯t disturb him. It¡¯s just that the appointed time is almost here.¡±

    ¡°Once Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatoryes, my sectmaster will definitely feel it. You don¡¯t have to worry,¡± the elder said.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Dou Tianchen spoke with resignation.

    He flew back to where Ji Yuanquan and the others were and told them what that elder had said.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed. ¡°Forget it. No matter how arrogant You Qimiao is, we have to give him face now. Today¡¯s situation requires him to fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. Only he has the strength to fight him, so let¡¯s do what he says.¡±

    Even Ye Wenhan of the Heaven Span Pavilion nodded with a wry smile.

    You Qimiao had driven the Ripper Behemoth to smash the Realm of Heaven Span, their sect¡¯s headquarters. Reasonably speaking, he was their irreconcble enemy.

    However, facing such a major issue rted to the fate of the human race, he decided to put aside his personal enmity with You Qimiao for the time being.

    They would most likely fight You Qimiao in the future, when Chu Yuan returned or Fan Tianze broke through to thete God domain, but not today.

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Master Blood Spirit also arrived by virtue of Ji Yuanquan¡¯s spatial rift.

    Upon arriving, they instantly caught everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°The fifth great sect!¡± Saint domain experts like Li Wanfa and Gou Junhao eximed under their breath.

    Their eyes were filled with amazement as they looked at Dong Li and the others. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯ve be so powerful already.¡±

    Withoutparison, they might not have been able to see the problem visually.

    As Dong Linded next to Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan, the leaders from the other realms took a closer look, and stood aghast.

    After being severely wounded by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, Chu Rui¡¯s god domain had been shattered, so he didn¡¯te.

    Xuan Guangyu of the Void Spirit Society had be a public enemy of the human race.

    He had gone and holed up somewhere to break through his cultivation base with the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    Fan Tianze was also in secluded cultivation.

    The Five Elements Sect was even more embarrassed, as their peak experts had all disappeared. Even Lu Jiefeng, who used to be a God domain expert, hadn¡¯t regained his power after being reincarnated and cultivating again.

    Therefore, there weren¡¯t even any middle God domain experts among those from the four great sects now.

    However, Dong Li and the others were different.

    Dong Li had scared off Grand Monarch Chaos Demon and Ophelia, which had proved her awesome strength. Her spirit tortoise had also advanced to the tenth grade, and was deeply rted to the Ripper Behemoth.

    Yu Suying was now at the middle God domain.

    Yin Xingtian had aroused the resonance of the fragments of the Godspan Sword Formation, and merged this tremendous legacy of the Heaven Span Pavilion into himself immediately after advancing to the God domain.

    He, who controlled the Godspan Sword Formation, was likely every bit as powerful as Yu Suying.

    Mo Qianfan and Master Blood Spirit, who had just broken through to the early God domain, were also present. Even when Master Blood Spirit had been at thete Saint domain and besieged by Duan Hongwen and Song Chequan, he hadn¡¯t been killed.

    In addition, Han Qing of the Profound Purity Pce had recently reached the early God domain, but she had stayed behind to protect the Profound Purity Pce.

    Most crucially, Nie Tian was their mainstay, making all of them fully assured.

    Looking at Dong Li and the others, the leaders and sectmasters of the sects started muttering inwardly.

    ¡°The fifth great sect really lives up to its name.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re really a powerful force now. If they had a peak God domain expert added to their force, they would likely be not just the fifth great sect.¡±

    ¡°They justck a member who can fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.¡±

    From their point of view, since the strongest experts of the four great sects had all disappeared in the Void World, it was likely that only this so-called fifth great sect was able to take responsibility for the human race.

    In the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    A beam of magic light that could break heaven and earth suddenly sted into the sky as a tide of matchlessly horrifying Demon Qi surged in the icy crystal realm.

    A strong, nauseating smell of blood seemed to rise from the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    White cold fog dispersed from the Realm of Crystal Snow, and the world inside the realm that was covered by the cold currents slowly unfolded like a picture before everyone¡¯s eyes.

    Many of the ciers and rivers in the Realm of Crystal Snow turned red.

    Countless corpses could be seen at the bottom of the river. They all belonged to humans.

    Their blood painted the river red, and their bodies piled up, making the river overflow and leaving the frozen fields along the riverbank covered with dried blood.

    In the valley, the headquarters of the Heavenly Ice Sect and the cities where mortals had lived were all empty now.

    All the people had been tossed into those streams and had filled them with their blood.

    Deep purple Demon lights flickered in all the red streams, as if they were wondrously interconnected to the Blood Purgatory Sea in the Second Demon Realm, and were pouring billows of blood into the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    As the human experts saw the scenes in the realm, their eyes were set aze with rage. Anger seemed to burn in their hearts as they felt very stifled, wanting to rush and kill every outsider they saw.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re all dead. Every human in the Realm of Crystal Snow has been killed by the Demons.¡±

    ¡°The Demons!¡±

    Just then, numerous outsiders in the other realms of the Domain of Endless Snow leisurely flew out of the realms.

    The Bonebrutes and Phantasms, as well as some minor races like Fiends, ckscales, and Birdmen, came on ancient starships, rode on ferocious Demon beasts, or released their flesh aura seas.

    There were millions of outsiders!

 Chapter 1522: Uprightness

    Compared to the Domain of Heaven Span, the number of outsiders that hade to attack the Domain of Endless Snow was far greater.

    As the human experts who had entered the Domain of Endless Snow looked around, they could see that many outsiders had been deployed in every realm of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The outsidersing out of the realms were warriors whose bloodlines were at the seventh or eighth grades, as well as ninth-grade grand patriarchs and tenth grade grand monarchs.

    The outsiders with bloodlines below the sixth grade looked up at the sky from within the realms.

    The Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes had filled all the realms of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The humans, however, had been killed and reduced to food for the demonic beasts and low-tier Demons... and sacrificial offerings for the outsiders¡¯ ancient ancestors.

    Anyone who had the least bit of morals would be furious to find their nsmen suffering such miserable fates.

    Many human experts growled.

    ¡°Damn those outsiders!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re bound to fight a life-and-death war against them! This has been unchangeable since the day they entered our world!¡±

    ¡°We must punish them with death!¡±

    The experts of the Demons, Phantasms, Bonebrutes, and Fiends who didn¡¯t want to be outdone either released their flesh aura seas or growled towards the humans from their ancient starships.

    Their behavior was full of provocation!

    Only You Qimiao sat unwavering on the back of the colossal fish.

    BOOM!

    Finally, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s monstrous Demon body charged out of the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    His sinister Demon body was ten thousand meters tall. His ckish-purple muscles bulged, and the crooked Demon horns on his forehead glinted with cold, sharp light. The whiskers on the wings of his nose squirmed like serpents.

    His billowing flesh aura sea was full of a nauseating smell of blood.

    If one took a closer look, one would find his unique flesh aura sea almost identical to the Blood Purgatory Sea of the Second Demon Realm.

    From time to time, purple lightning bolts would light up his flesh aura sea from within, as if it were engraved with mysterious bloodline imprints.

    The flesh aura sea suddenly spread into its surroundings.

    It seemed as if all the realms that had been upied by the outsiders in the vast Domain of Endless Snow were instantly enveloped by a purple shadow.

    SQUEAK!

    Regardless of whether the experts were at the Saint domain or at the God domain, the domains that they had disyed all made strange noises, as if they were being squeezed by a great force.

    Many of the saint domains deformed and seemed to be about to explode.

    An early Saint domain Qi warrior who cultivated earth power was the first to copse.

    POOH!

    The man coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    Without time to think, he directly flew into the spatial rift Ji Yuanquan had opened, fleeing from the Domain of Endless Snow and returning to his sect to recuperate.

    He no longer dared observe this peak battle in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Upon seeing the man retreat, many Qi warriors with weaker cultivation bases sensibly retreated via the spatial rift as well. ¡°What a horrifying aura Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has!¡±

    Just moments after he walked out of the Realm of Crystal Snow, arge number of the human experts who had swarmed into the Domain of Endless Snow left.

    Those who stayed were at least at thete Saint domain, or chosen ones, like Dong Li, who were full of wonders.

    Sitting on the colossal fish, You Qimiao suddenly opened his eyes and let out a heavy snort. ¡°Humph!¡±

    The colossal fish opened its mouth in the direction of the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes, and spat out currents of multicolored streams of mixed energy.

    The currents spread through the starry river like a foul sea of dregs.

    HISS! HISS!

    Many outsider warriors¡¯ flesh auras sputtered with weird light as they growled and retreated into their realms.

    When You Qimiao had fought Nie Tian in the Realm of Maelstrom, the sameplex energy the colossal fish was spitting out had been expelled from his cuff, but then it had been seized and used by Nie Tian to severely injure Song Chequan and destroy the Realm of Jade Billows.

    Now, as You Qimiao used it to deal with the outsiders, it was working quite well.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s husky and deep voice echoed out. ¡°You Qimiao.¡±

    He had released his flesh aura sea uponing out of the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Now, his giant Demon body was surrounded by his flesh aura sea that was just like the Blood Purgatory Sea. He walked slowly toward the sectmaster of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. With every step, he covered a great distance in the starry river.

    At the same time, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the human race to have so many talents after the Ice Emperor Xuan Yu died. It is a pity that the era when your race is strong wille to an end soon. From now on, your race will return to its original state: enved by us forever.

    ¡°Just like the people of the Domain of Endless Snow who we¡¯ve ughtered or enved.¡±

    As Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory spoke, a strong smell of blood suddenly rose from the realms of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Many realms that looked like crystal ice balls like the Realm of Crystal Snow seemed to be painted red with blood in an instant.

    Dong Li¡¯s gaze pierced throughyers of space, allowing her to see into the realms where the bloody water in the streams, rivers, andkes suddenly started boiling. ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Numerous human beings were weeping, screeching with pain, or wailing in despair.

    Even Dong Li, who was ruthless, couldn¡¯t bear to watch it. The darkness in her eyes seemed to be purer and moreplete. ¡°The source of the Demons¡¯ bloodline lies with the Devils in the Void World. And my dark stone...¡±

    Instead of continuing to watch the cruel scenes within the realms, she closed her eyes gently, and used her soul to stimte the deepest imprints within the dark stone.

    ¡°Since this Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is ate tenth grade grand monarch, he should know the source of the Demons¡¯ bloodline. Has he evermunicated with the Devils of the Void World?¡± Dong Li thought.

    All of a sudden, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory burst intoughter.

    Strands of pure flesh power suddenly flew out of the human realms like straight arrows!

    Hundreds of blood arrows that were condensed from the blood streams and rivers in the realms carried Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s power and shot at the colossal fish that You Qimiao was riding.

    Gazing at the blood arrows, the God domain human experts present could perceive with their souls that the power gathered in the blood arrows was from all the humans who had been refined.

    You Qimiao frowned and eximed softly, ¡°Morph!¡±

    The colossal fish suddenly morphed into the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, which he then seized readily.

    In the next moment, he disyed his divine dharma idol. His eyes turned silver and gold, one of his eyes extremely cold, while the other as fiery hot as the sun.

    BOOM!

    An extremely powerful tide of spiritual power burst out from his sleeve.

    A pure spiritual power barrier formed just in front of his chest, intercepting all the blood arrows.

    The blood arrows exploded one by one.

    However, every time a blood arrow exploded, the flesh power sting from it would condense into an ancient Demon imprint.

    When all the blood arrows exploded, numerous Demon imprints appeared on You Qimiao¡¯s divine dharma idol, as if they constituted a chapter in ancient Demon script.

 Chapter 1523: Catching Everyoneâ€™s Attention!

    All of a sudden, deafening vigorous sounds came from those ancient characters. ¡°Woot!¡±

    The sounds seemed to contain power mighty enough to prate metal and stone.

    Even from a great distance, the Saint domain and God domain human experts felt stabbing pain in their eardrums as their expressions suddenly changed.

    The sounds alone seemed to pierce their seas of soul awareness.

    The strangest thing was that even the high-tier Demons seemed to have never seen those ancient characters or heard the uncanny sounds before.

    Nheless, as soon as they heard the sound, all their souls felt at peace.

    Many Demons looked very intoxicated, and enjoyed themselves as if they were enjoying delicious food.

    Driven by the mysterious sound, even the Bloodline Crystal Chains in the hearts of a few Demons whose bloodlines were about to break through burst forth with gorgeous deep purple light.

    The wiser high-tier Demons were surprised at first, but soon understood what was happening.

    ¡°This kind of sound can even inspire my bloodline!¡±

    ¡°Why are there characters like this? That¡¯s obviously not the samenguage we¡¯re using today!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps these are the characters and sounds from the Devils of the Void World that Lord Eternal Purgatory mentioned! Our bloodlinees from them, so they can inspire us.¡±

    As Demon sounds rang out, the glowing ward that You Qimiao had used pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth to condense was about to copse, like an independent realm.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory grinned and yelled, ¡°Great Heavenly Devil Script!¡±

    Then the ancient characters lined up and became an obscure, esoteric secret article of the Devils that only he couldprehend.

    The characters fell onto the glowing ward like purple locusts.

    BAM!

    The glowing ward exploded. All of a sudden, the numerous mysterious characters morphed into countless devilish shadows that pounced on You Qimiao.

    Every devilish shadow seemed to be a Devil expert of the Void World that had once run amuck throughout the starry river.

    Countless devilish shadows attacked together, biting at You Qimiao¡¯s divine dharma idol, chopping at it with sharp des, or fighting against its frigid and fiery power with their bloodline magics.

    You Qimiao¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he held the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror in front of him like a shield.

    His Yin Yang Chaos Mirror instantly changed into a hole filled with turbid surging power that seemed to be connected to other realms, and the extremely cold and hot power in it naturally dragged the devilish shadows in.

    BAM!

    Immediately after falling into the hole, each devilish shadow exploded into uncanny characters, which then morphed into purple fragmentary crystals.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory snorted, shes of lightning flying from the corners of his eyes from time to time.

    A drop of Blood Essence rose from the flesh of his palm, and the amethyst-like Blood Essence whirled and spun, taking in the purple crystals.

    After the crystals all fell into the amethyst-like Blood Essence, he gathered their strength once again.

    WHOOSH!

    The Demon experts like Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Remote Demon, and Ophelia appeared off to the side to show their support for Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends and Grand Monarch Pale Bones of the Bonebrutes also emerged in session, their eerie eyes staring at the humans.

    ¡°Demons, Demons...¡± Dong Li, who was sensing the mysteries of the dark stone, whispered, her eyes closed.

    All of a sudden, her eyes snapped open.

    A momentter, endless darkness was released from her body and the ck tortoise.

    The tenth-grade ck tortoise expanded in a blink as many natural dark patterns on its shell started unfolding.

    ¡°Come out!¡± Dong Li shouted.

    She released the Dark Aureole. Relying on the power of the ck tortoise, dark stone, and Dark Aureole and enveloped in the most extreme darkness, she seemed to be a dark god incarnate.

    At this moment, Dong Li temporarily reced You Qimiao as the one who attracted the attention of all the humans and outsiders.

    The auraing from the thick darkness was uncanny and unfathomable, as if it were the primary Demon power that the Demons had mentioned.

    It also stirred all the Demons present in a peculiar way.

    Looking at the thick darkness, they were all instinctively scared. Ophelia, who had a weaker bloodline and hadn¡¯t be a grand monarch, even wanted to kowtow to the darkness, as if she were kowtowing to an ancient Demon god of their race.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Ophelia screamed.

    She had never had such a strange feeling, not even when she had faced Grand Monarch Primal Demon, the chief of the Demons.

    ¡°It¡¯s her again! The woman who stole the dark stone!¡± she eximed as the blood in her body boiled uncontrobly.

    She instinctively wanted to get away from Dong Li.

    At this moment, even Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was fighting You Qimiao, looked at her in amazement.

    As all his ancient bloodline imprints had been awakened, he immediately decided that the power Dong Li had released was the dark power unique to the Dark King, who had been the strongest Devil in the Void World in history. ¡°The aura of that king of our race!¡±

    Before he had even woken up, he had known that the dark stone had been stolen by the humans.

    However, he had refused to believe that a human could really master the power of the dark stone until now.

    When Dong Li released the powers of the dark stone and Dark Aureole at will, even his bloodline was suppressed and he was in awe of her, as if he were in the face of a superior.

    The bloodline imprints in his heart mistakenly thought Dong Li, who was releasing the aura of the Dark King, was the Dark King!

    It made him instinctively frightened and uneasy.

    All the Demons who hade out of the realms were screaming.

    They were ninth-grade grand monarchs and strong Demons like Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Remote Demon, and Ophelia. The more powerful they were, the more keenly they could feel the aura from Dong Li.

    All the human experts eyed each other in astonishment.

    They had no idea what was happening. They only saw that Dong Li had been suddenly enveloped in darkness, and an aureole had risen like a dark sun.

    After that, the Demons seemed to go mad.

    Sensing the unfavorable situation, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, whose heart was racing violently, suddenly growled, ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ming,¡± Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms replied as he charged out of the Realm of Crystal Snow, roaring.

    It seemed that sshes of the running Nether River continuously rang out from the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows.

    The instant he flew out of the Realm of Crystal Snow, countless souls were summoned by him and flew out the realm barriers of the human realms in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s emergence immediately caused uproar in the human race.

    ¡°Ate tenth grade grand monarch!¡±

    ¡°After Grand Monarch Nether River disappeared, the Phantasms gained anotherte tenth grade grand monarch!¡±

    ¡°Anotherte tenth grade grand monarch!¡±

    The human race had only You Qimiao, but twote tenth grade grand monarchs of the outsiders had appeared simultaneously in the Domain of Endless Snow, which was something that no one had ever expected beforeing here.

 Chapter 1524: Overwhelming Sword Intent

    Dong Li, who had the dark stone and Dark Aureole, was able to suppress all the Demons with the Dark King¡¯s aura.

    Even the grand monarchs were horrified and upset by the Dark King¡¯s remnant power.

    However, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind of the Phantasms wasn¡¯t a Demon, so he was naturally unaffected.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Thousands of vicious ghosts and evil spirits flew swiftly from various realms of the Domain of Endless Snow immediately after Grand Monarch Unholy Wind appeared.

    Unexpectedly, the vicious ghosts and evil spirits condensed into an illusory weird river like the Nether River.

    The river was a magic Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had developed with his bloodline power, his knowledge of souls, and the souls of the dead humans after deriving enlightenment from the Nether River.

    Both pain and despair appeared in the depths of the eyes of any living being who gazed at it.

    This pain and despair was conveyed to all the onlookers. As soon as they looked at it, they would be affected.

    Even God domain experts like Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Ye Wenhan suffered from anguish as they looked at the illusory Nether River.

    Watching the river condensed from the vicious ghosts and evil spirits of the dead humans, they could feel the torture and pain that those people had suffered before they died.

    That feeling of despair and pain permeated the depths of their souls, making them so ufortable that they wanted to scream wildly.

    ¡°Dong Li!¡± As Yin Xingtian shouted, the Godspan Sword Formation spread out behind him like a peacock spreading its tail.

    As soon as the Godspan Sword Formation appeared, he looked like a different person. He had an imposing ancient manner, along with overwhelming sword intent, like a supreme sword paragon.

    He shouted because he had noticed that the Nether River that Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had created was flowing in the direction of the dark area where Dong Li was.

    SWISH!

    The illusory Nether River passed the saint domain of Fu Yusen of the Heavenly Illusion Sect.

    His domain seemed to be easily ripped open by the illusory Nether River.

    In a twinkling, numerous soul lights merged into that illusory Nether River, and Fu Yusen¡¯s saint domain fell apart.

    He uttered a heartrending cry before a strand of his soul fled desperately to the spatial rift next to Ji Yuanquan.

    Thete Saint domain sectmaster of the Heavenly Illusion Sect, who had been bent on breaking through to the early God domain in a short time, ended up losing his domain and only escaping with a strand of his soul.

    It was hard to believe how fragile his saint domain that was full of illusions turned out to be as the Nether River passed by.

    Many human experts shouted and stayed as far away as they could from the fleeting illusory Nether River.

    ¡°Brother Fu!¡±

    ¡°Fu Yusen¡¯s saint domain was broken just like that? The power of ate tenth grade grand monarch is really unusual!¡±

    ¡°Beware that illusory Nether River!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind has been different since his bloodline reached thete tenth grade!¡±

    However, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Master Blood Spirit, who stood next to Dong Li, didn¡¯t cower.

    ¡°Godly Dao of the Sword,¡± Yin Xingtian eximed.

    Then he shed the Heavenbreaker, whose grade had been improved, at the Nether River that Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s power had morphed into.

    After that, the Godspan Sword Formation behind him that was as colorful as a peacock¡¯s feathers also moved.

    A sword light shed at the illusory Nether River, as if it hade from an endless void and prated time and space.

    Because of the sword light, the starry river outside the Domain of Endless Snow was split in two, like a giant curtain.

    There seemed to be sword spirits ¡°chirping¡± in the Godspan Sword Formation. When the God domain experts sensed it with their souls, they seemed to see that the sword light had morphed into intelligent children who shouted and yed happily, showing the primitive mystery and the ultimate meaning of swordsmanship in the simplest way.

    Gawking at Yin Xingtian and the changing Godspan Sword Formation, Ye Wenhan was suddenly lost in thought.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect the shapes of the sword spirits to be like this. The sword intent and sword spirits imprinted by generations of sectmasters of my Heaven Span Pavilion seems to have been vested with spirit by Yin Xingtian!¡± The thought put a strange look on his face.

    SWISH!

    Dragging a colorful tail of godly brilliance, the dazzling, gorgeous sword light finally came down.

    This sh seemed mighty enough to separate heaven and earth, and even change time.

    It seemed as if all the sectmasters of the Heaven Span Pavilion, the first human who hadprehended the true meaning of swordsmanship, and all the other talented swordsmen hade from ancient times to manifest in Yin Xingtian¡¯s sh in the form of sword spirits.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The illusory Nether River that Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had created by joining his bloodline with hundreds of millions of human souls and engraving it with secret soul magics was cut in two by the sh from Yin Xingtian!

    Countless rainbows of light, sword intents, and soul fragments were released.

    Yin Xingtian spread his aura, and his divine dharma idol suddenly manifested, like the first paragon of swordsmanship who had forged metal into sword-shaped weapons in ancient times.

    BOOM!

    Hundreds of metres above his divine dharma idol¡¯s head, his extremely sharp sword intent and pure spiritual power condensed into a vague, small sword.

    That sword was a manifestation of his soul!

    The small sword released the purest sword intent to drive the Godspan Sword Formation, and to make the Heavenbreaker cut the severed illusory Nether River.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who had flown out of the Realm of Crystal Snow, suddenly stopped.

    Looking at Yin Xingtian in astonishment, he felt the terrifying power of the Godspan Sword Formation in the man¡¯s hands; it seemed to put him in a trance.

    All the human experts who had seen Fu Yusen¡¯s saint domain be prated by the illusory Nether River stayed far away, as they were afraid that they would be hurt by the illusory Nether River or Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s power.

    At this moment, seeing Yin Xingtian use the Heavenbreaker to drive the Godspan Sword Formation and tear apart the illusory Nether River with a single sh, they all shouted with excitement.

    ¡°Patriarch Yin!¡±

    ¡°He has truly amazed the world with that single, brilliant strike! Grand Monarch Unholy Wind is clearly ate tenth grade grand monarch, an outsider bigwig equal to Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he can neutralize Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s bloodline magics already!¡±

    They had known that Yin Xingtian must have terrifying battle prowess now that he had broken through his cultivation base and won the acknowledgment of the Godspan Sword Formation.

    However, they now found that they had misjudged his strength!

    The strength Yin Xingtian had disyed was simply unbelievable. Even Chu Rui, who had been severely injured by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, was likely no match for him.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s voice rang in the hearts of Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Master Blood Spirit. ¡°Let¡¯s join hands to stop Grand Monarch Unholy Wind so that Dong Li can help You Qimiao by fighting the Demons. It seems Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s bloodline was forcibly upgraded. In my opinion, he¡¯s nowhere near Grand Monarch Nether River, so if we all work together, we may have a chance to win.¡±

    After that sh, he had keenly perceived that the power that Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had released wasn¡¯t on the same level as that of the legendary Grand Monarch Nether River, whose original name was Grand Monarch Soul Ferry, the chief of the Phantasms.

    They were bothte tenth grade grand monarchs, but there was a veryrge gap between their strengths.

    This made Yin Xingtian¡¯s confidence skyrocket.

    ¡°OK!¡± Yu Suying and the others shouted.

 Chapter 1525: Bogged Down In Crisis

    In the depths of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims, Chatvic of the Titans, Scotte of the dragons, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch of the Ancientbeasts looked down, enveloped in spheres of murky auras.

    They had a panoramic view of the battle that was taking ce below.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind has entered thete tenth grade,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said with a worried frown. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory alone is a major problem. Now with Grand Monarch Unholy Wind joining the battle, the situation is getting out of hand.¡±

    Holding his mighty lightning bolts within, Scotte the lightning dragon said, ¡°What do you know about the reason behind this, Primal Wood?¡±

    Chatvic chimed in, ¡°Yeah, none of their high chieftains were as aggressive as they are now. Things seem to have changed since Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones disappeared.

    ¡°I looked up my people¡¯s ancient records. ording to them, in different eras, the high chieftains of the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes adopted different policies.¡±

    He had already sensed that something was off.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood pondered for a moment before taking his time to say, ¡°Once Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes enter the tenth grade, their oldest bloodline imprints will be awakened. Then, they¡¯ll learn the true origins of their bloodlines, and realize that they belong with the three powerful races of the Void World.

    ¡°Those bloodline imprints are vested with bewitching power that will stir up their desire to return to their bloodline¡¯s origins, and do everything they can to establishmunication with their master races in the Void World.

    ¡°If they manage to do that, they¡¯ll join hands with the three races of the Void World, and togethery their murderous hands on us and the humans.¡±

    After a short pause, Grand Monarch Primal Wood added, ¡°Now, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind are among those who are friendly towards their master races and yearn to return to the Void World. Now that they¡¯re in power, it¡¯s only natural that they want their people to know that they belong to the Void World, and need to help the three powerful races of the Void World.¡±

    Scotte the lightning dragon went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°But why weren¡¯t Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, and Grand Monarch Nether River so recklessly eager to open the portal that connects the Mortal World and the Void World? Not just that, but they¡¯ve never even admitted to having any sort of connection with the three races in the Void World.¡±

    Chatvic and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch also found this baffling.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood took a deep breath and said, ¡°That¡¯s because those three were powerful, and don¡¯t even acknowledge those bloodline imprints. After those bloodline imprints were awakened, they all decided to hide the truth about their bloodline connections with the three races. The three races from the Void World, on the other hand, have tried to establish soul connections with them through various secret magics and sacrificial rituals in the Void World, but have been met with clean-cut rejection every time.¡±

    Upon hearing this, all three Ancientspirit experts stood aghast.

    Scotte took a moment to think before saying, ¡°They actually refused to answer the summons from the Void World after bingte tenth grade grand monarchs? Are they bent on remaining independent?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood then exined, ¡°Even though we¡¯ve often had conflicts with the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes in the Spirit World, we¡¯d always stand together when the humans invaded. Part of the reason is because we were sure that as long as Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones led them, they¡¯d never establish connections with the Void World.¡±

    ¡°As a matter of fact, most of the Demon, Phantasm, and Bonebrute high chieftains in their histories have refused to work for the Void World.

    ¡°For that, they even oppressed and killed many of their own, just to avoid the situation we¡¯re in now.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± The Golden-feathered Divine Finch eximed sharply. ¡°They even oppressed and killed their own nsmen just because they attempted to establishmunication with the three races in the Void World without permission?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood gave a positive answer. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory didn¡¯t fully revive after so long, yet he did shortly after Grand Monarch Primal Demon¡¯s disappearance. Is that because Grand Monarch Primal Demon knew what he¡¯s been thinking and intentionally thwarted his revival, hoping that he would sleep in the Blood Purgatory Sea eternally?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Scotte eximed in shock. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Demon is the reason why Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory didn¡¯t revive until recently?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded. ¡°Of course. If Grand Monarch Primal Demon were still around, I¡¯m afraid Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory would never have a chance to be truly revived. After all, he doesn¡¯t want Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory tomunicate with the Devils in the Void World and show the wolf into his house.¡± (Idiom: open the door to an enemy)

    With these words, Grand Monarch Primal Wood sighed and continued, ¡°Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that those three high chieftains still haven¡¯t returned from their prolonged trips to some forbidden area in the Void World.

    ¡°Now that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who are weaker, have taken over control of their races, I bet they¡¯ve already been bewitched by the three powerful races of the Void World, and have decided to do everything they can to open the portal that connects to the Void World.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, shouldn¡¯t we join hands with the humans?¡± Scotte asked in a grim voice.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Judging by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s recent acts, they can be counted as servants to the Devils and Netherspirits already. They¡¯ll definitely think up every possible method to connect the Void World and the Mortal World. Since those races from the Void World can¡¯t or don¡¯t have the courage to pass through the Doomed Star Sea, the Seven Stars Realm Sea is their only option.¡±

    Chatvic¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he said, ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea! Dong Li and Nie Tian¡¯s God domain followers are all down there. They all came from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    ¡°I guess Nie Tian is the true target of these outsiders,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said. ¡°Perhaps Grand Monarch Unholy Wind is here because they need him to deal with Dong Li and the others. I suppose they intend to capture Dong Li and the others and use them to threaten and force Nie Tian to open the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    ¡°It¡¯s just that they didn¡¯t expect these people around Nie Tian to have grown so much stronger within such a short time.¡±

    Scotte nodded. ¡°Their strength has grown tremendously indeed! That man wielding the Godspan Sword Formation is so strong that even I sense great danger from him.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s appearance might not be enough to end the battle within a short time,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said. ¡°Let¡¯s see if they have cards that they haven¡¯t used yet.¡±

    ¡°Right.¡±

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Zhao Shanling was practicing cultivation and deriving enlightenment about spatial power in a secret room in a secluded area on one of the dead stars.

    All of a sudden, the Death Reign, which he had forged in the Realm of Unbounded Destion ages ago, took it upon itself to fly out of his ring of holding.

    Face filled with confusion, he frowned and stared at the Death Reign. ¡°I haven¡¯t used it for many years. Ever since I obtained the Voidspirit Pagoda and acquired the Void Spirit Society¡¯s legacies of spatial wonders and secret magics, I stopped using it. Why has it stirred now?¡±

    He slowly rose to his feet and grabbed the Death Reign that was floating in the air, and then sealed it in multiple spatial wards.

    WHOOSH!

    He flew out of the dead star. Floating over the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he nced around for anomalies.

    Li Langfeng, Dong Qisong, and many others flew out from the other dead stars.

    ¡°Are you leaving for the Domain of Endless Snow, Mr. Zhao?¡± Dong Qisong called out. ¡°If you want to observe the battle, I think it has already begun. However, it¡¯s going to be quite dangerous. I just received word that even middle andte Saint domain experts might be killed there. It¡¯s quite unpredictable.¡±

    Even though he knew how powerful Zhao Shanling was, he decided to warn him, lest he went unprepared.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°I have no interest in the battle between Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and You Qimiao. No matter how fierce a battle is, I doubt I¡¯ll be in danger as an observer, unless it¡¯s a battle between spatial power experts.¡±

    Dong Qisong was baffled. ¡°Then why are you...?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better watch out. I¡¯m afraid that Bonebrutes might being to make trouble in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling looked down at the pale-gray cloud spinning in his palm. ¡°This little thing I made is sensing a stir, which means there might be Bonebrutes in the vicinity.¡±

    Before he could finish, the Death Reign he had sealed in spatial wards suddenly flew out of his palm and off towards a gray area in the distant starry river.

    Intense death power suddenly emerged and started spreading in that area.

    A giant grayish-brown Bonebrute revealed himself, looking like a corpse that had just crawled out of the earth after having been buried for hundreds of thousands of years.

    An aura that only tenth grade grand monarchs had exuded from the Bonebrute as he opened his mouth and sucked Zhao Shanling¡¯s Death Reign in.

    ¡°Quite tasty, and it replenishes my death power,¡± The Bonebrute said with a strange tone. ¡°I, Gray Bones, have been imprisoned by my traitor of a disciple, Crystal Bones, for thirty thousand years. Now, I¡¯m finally free.¡±

 Chapter 1526: An Old Bonebrute From The Previous Generation

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect¡¯s face turned pale with fright as he eximed, ¡°That¡¯s Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes! Come back, Mr. Zhao! And please send word to the Domain of Endless Snow to ask Sectmaster Yu or Senior Yin toe back to defend the Seven Stars Realm Sea against powerful enemies!¡±

    Some of the sect leaders at the Seven Stars Realm Sea who had extensive knowledge of the outsiders also screamed in shock, their faces ghastly. ¡°Grand Monarch Gray Bones! I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s Grand Monarch Gray Bones!¡±

    Zhao Shanling, however, had never heard of Grand Monarch Gray Bones since he was from the Domain of the Falling Stars, and Grand Monarch Gray Bones wasn¡¯t a Bonebrute expert of this generation. Confusion spread across his face.

    An early Saint domain Qi warrior from the Streamcloud Sword Sect hastily said, ¡°Mr. Zhao! Grand Monarch Gray Bones was the master of Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, the current Bonebrute high chieftain. After losing thepetition for the position of high chieftain, Grand Monarch Gray Bones focused on training Grand Monarch Crystal Bones.

    ¡°But for some reason, he was imprisoned by the high chieftain before Grand Monarch Crystal Bones could grow into a powerful grand monarch.

    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been any word of him since then.

    ¡°Before he was locked away, Grand Monarch Gray Bones was at the middle tenth grade, and he fought Pang Bo from the Five Elements Sect in a duel. Pang Bo, who was at the middle God domain back then, emerged victorious. Now, so many years have passed. While Pang Bo is long gone, this Bonebrute grand monarch who¡¯s been suppressed for thirty thousand years suddenly shows up.¡±

    While exining to Zhao Shanling, the Qi warrior from the Streamcloud Sword Sect didn¡¯t forget to urge him to use his spatial power to split open a spatial rift that connected to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Pale-gray currents of death Qi rose from Grand Monarch Gray Bones¡¯ every bone. Within a very short time, a realm of death came to form around him.

    With his gruesome eyes, he gazed past Zhao Shanling at the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Somewhat excited, he said, ¡°The portal connecting to the Void World lies right in the depths of the Realm Sea. How many years has it been? If I hadn¡¯t been suppressed, I probably would have gone to the Void World long ago and be ate tenth grade grand monarch with the help of our kind in the Void World. Perhaps I even would have been able to follow the footsteps of that great emperor!¡±

    With these words, a huge bone de suddenly appeared in his hand, wreathed in endless death power.

    Many who had dealt with Bonebrutes before recognized the huge bone de at first sight, and realized that it was none other than the Bonebrutes¡¯ most famous weapon.

    ¡°The Bone Shatterer!¡±

    ¡°Howe he has the Bonebrutes¡¯ mighty treasure, the Bone Shatterer?¡±

    ¡°I suppose some major changes have happened to the Bonebrutes.¡±

    However, shouldn¡¯t the Bone Shatterer be in Pergson¡¯s hands?

    ¡°Let¡¯s see if I can split this Realm Sea built by the Voidspirits.¡± With a sinisterugh, Grand Monarch Gray Bones, who was asrge as a mountain peak, shot towards the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The Bone Shatterer in his hand morphed into a crescent moon-shaped light de that shed down towards the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The sea that was a condensation of a wide array of energies, flesh auras, and discarnate souls was actually shed in two by the light de!

    Pale-gray death power seemed to form membranes that separated the sea.

    With an arrogant expression, Grand Monarch Gray Bones took his time to descend towards the bottom of the sea.

    His eyes turned to look at Zhao Shanling and the other human Qi warriors that were gathered around the sea, but he clearly didn¡¯t attach any importance to them.

    Zhao Shanling summoned a wondrous mirror from within his ring of holding.

    As he locked it onto the coordinates of the Domain of Endless Snow, the blurry image within the mirror gradually grew clearer. This was the key procedure for him to create a spatial rift that connected to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    However, the strange thing was that even though he locked onto the Domain of Endless Snow with spatial power, the spatial rift didn¡¯t split open as it was supposed to.

    Considering his early Saint domain cultivation base and the might of the Voidspirit Pagoda, it should have been as easy as turning his hand over to establish a connection to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    ¡°Mr. Zhao?¡± Jing Feiyang asked anxiously.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid something must have happened to the space in the Domain of Endless Snow,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a grim expression. ¡°Whatever it is, it¡¯s keeping me from creating a spatial tunnel that connects to the Domain of Endless Snow. Apparently, this Grand Monarch Gray Bones is here to open the portal in the Realm Sea and let the three powerful races of the Void World into our world.¡±

    Grand Monarch Gray Bones¡¯ intense aura and rich death power suggested that he was at the middle tenth grade, and only a step away from entering thete tenth grade.

    Given his strength, if he decided to start a massacre in the Seven Stars Realm Sea now, when there weren¡¯t any God domain human experts around, most of the humans here would most likely suffer the fate of being ughtered, except Zhao Shanling, who was well-versed in spatial power.

    However, Grand Monarch Gray Bones didn¡¯t do that, but charged towards the bottom of the Seven Stars Realm Sea instead.

    Apparently, his primary goal was to activate the portal and bridge the Void World and the Mortal World.

    At the same time, in the Domain of Endless Snow...

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Remote Demon, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and numerous ninth grade outsider grand patriarchs swooped towards Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and the other human experts, riding enormous monsters, as a way to assist Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    All the Demons were still being suppressed by Dong Li¡¯s dark stone and Dark Aureole, and couldn¡¯t bring out their full might.

    Even so, knowing that this was a battle that would determine the future of their races, they threw themselves at the humans.

    Seeing the iing outsiders, God domain human experts like Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Zu Guangyao, and Dou Tianchen, along with many Saint domain experts, instantly realized what was happening. ¡°Kill them!¡±

    Even though this battle was regarded as a duel between Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and You Qimiao, the outsiders had clearly harbored ill intentions, since Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had demanded that the battle should take ce in three days, and allowed anyone to observe.

    If they hadn¡¯t nned this, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, the newly-madete tenth grade grand monarch, wouldn¡¯t have been hiding in the Realm of Crystal Snow before suddenly showing himself.

    Such arge number of tenth and ninth grade outsider experts weren¡¯t gathered in the Domain of Endless Snow to witness the battle between Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and You Qimiao.

    They were here to end this war against the humans once and for all!

    Ji Yuanquan soon realized that the vast Domain of Endless Snow was sealed by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura in its entirety, which kept him from changing the space in the slightest with his secret magics.

    It was as if the space had turned into an imprable metal te!

    ¡°This battle will determine the continuation of humanity, and whether we can avoid falling ve to the outsiders!¡± Ji Yuanquan¡¯s encouraging words echoed through the entire area. Every human that was in the Domain of Endless Snow suddenly realized the perilousness of the situation, and cast their own safety out of their minds.

    Those who had been hiding in the distance and waiting to see how the battle between Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind would turn out also flew to the front by themselves.

    All sorts of spiritual tools flew out like dazzling stars and blinding suns.

    At the same time, domains that carried different wonders were released one after another. Some looked like seas of mes, some were filled with raging lightning, some were made of thick, heavy earth, while others contained vast ciers.

    The Demon, Phantasm, Fiend, and Phantasm forces, on the other hand, howled furiously, their eyes brimming with bloodlust.

    All of a sudden, relentless battles broke out in every corner of the Domain of Endless Snow, on every realm and floating meteor.

    Meanwhile, the floating continent in the nearby Domain of me¡¯s End sped towards the Domain of Endless Snow, driven by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s power.

    ¡°Almost there.¡± Nie Tian gazed off into the distance from time to time, and could see the Domain of Endless Snow engulfed in dark purple flesh auras.

 Chapter 1527: Origin of The Divine Flame

    Standing on the floating continent with a grim expression, Nie Tian urged with his soul voice, ¡°Dark purple flesh power! Demons!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth suddenly condensed into four giant whirls in the space between the top continent and the bottom continent, spinning and surging violently.

    The floating continent instantly picked up speed and became a dozen times faster than any known ancient starship.

    However, it was still slower than when Pei Yukong had raised its speed with his unusual spatial power.

    ¡°I bet it¡¯s Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory,¡± the Ripper Behemoth said in perfect humannguage, instead of a soul voice. ¡°Only grand monarchs at his level can temporarily envelope a whole domain in their flesh aura. Ate tenth grade Demon grand monarch is going to be a tasty meal.¡±

    ¡°But they say thatte tenth grade outsider grand monarchs aren¡¯t particrly afraid of Star Behemoths like you,¡± Nie Tian said.

    ¡°Perhaps I can¡¯t kill Grand Monarch Primal Demon by myself.¡± The Ripper Behemoth responded. ¡°But this Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is much weaker than him, even though they¡¯re bothte tenth grade grand monarchs. I heard that he was only able to enter thete tenth grade because of help he received from the Devils in the Void World.

    ¡°Without their help, he wouldn¡¯t have entered thete tenth grade so smoothly.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the Devils activated an ancient spell formation in the Void World by relying on their bloodline connection, and by doing that, they helped him awaken his bloodline imprints. For that reason, ever since he joined the ranks of tenth grade grand monarchs, he has wanted to return to the Void World, to the Devils¡¯ arms, with all his heart.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was such a hidden story.¡±

    ¡°Over the years I¡¯ve spent on this floating continent, I¡¯vee to have close rtionships with many sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± the Ripper Behemoth exined. ¡°Your current sectmaster and many previous ones came to temper themselves on thisnd when they were still Sons of the Stars. After they became sectmasters, they also paid me secret visits from time to time, and told me lots of things.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian was even more curious. ¡°So are you helping me because I¡¯m a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s only part of the reason,¡± the Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°The most important reason is that you¡¯re very special. I bet you¡¯ll be able to help me in the future.¡±

    With these words, the Ripper Behemoth suddenly fell silent.

    A zing hot soul awareness suddenly descended on the floating continent. Both the Ripper Behemoth and Nie Tian sensed its aura immediately.

    ¡°It¡¯s you?¡± Nie Tian said with a softugh. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be protecting the me Land? I¡¯m only passing through the Domain of me¡¯s End on my way to the Domain of Endless Snow. I¡¯m not here to visit you this time.¡±

    The soul awareness belonged to the Divine me that had been residing in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    It asked Nie Tian whether he needed assistance.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°No need for that. I should be able to solve the problems in the Domain of Endless Snow by myself. Besides, with you in the Domain of me¡¯s End, I suppose the outsider experts won¡¯t dare to act wildly there.¡±

    Hearing this, the Divine me¡¯s soul awareness gradually faded.

    Soon, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t detect a single shred of the Divine me¡¯s soul aura anymore.

    The floating continent continued to speed through the starry river, approaching the Domain of Endless Snow that was sealed by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura.

    As the floating continent was about to fly out of the Domain of me¡¯s End, the Ripper Behemoth suddenly said, ¡°That was one of the few beings in the Mortal World that I find unfathomable and apprehensive.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°That Divine me?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°In fact, it doesn¡¯t belong to the Mortal World or the Spirit World. I suspect that it came from some mysterious forbidden area of the Void World. The ce in the Void World that all of the human, outsider, and Ancientspirit peak experts left for might very well be the ce where it was born.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment. ¡°It actually has such a mysterious background? Are you sure that it came from some forbidden area of the Void World? What is it exactly?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have all the answers,¡± the Ripper Behemoth said, ¡°but I do know that it doesn¡¯t belong to any species in the Spirit World or the Mortal World. You¡¯re quite lucky to be able to win its acknowledgment. Perhaps, hundreds of thousands of yearster, the Ifrits in the Domain of me¡¯s End will grow into a major species that¡¯s as powerful as the Demons, Bonebrutes, and the Phantasms.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian was carried away in thought.

    The floating continent suddenly started shaking violently. ¡°We¡¯re here!¡±

    As the Ripper Behemoth summoned power, pirs of condensed spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth sted out towards the dark purple flesh aura.

    A huge opening was easily created in the flesh aura shield with which Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had sealed the Domain of Endless Snow.

    WHOOSH!

    In a sh, the floating continent flew through the opening and arrived in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Numerous human experts, along with powerful Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes, suddenly cried out in astonishment.

    ¡°That floating continent!¡±

    ¡°The Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    The catastrophes that had taken ce in the Domain of Heaven Span not long ago were still vivid in their minds.

    After the floating continent¡¯s previous sudden appearance, the Ripper Behemoth had madly killed and devoured any Ancientspirits and outsiders it hade across, which had resulted in a crushing defeat for the Ancientspirits and outsiders¡¯ joint forces. They had been forced to split up and pull out of the Domain of Heaven Span.

    Driven mad by hunger, the Ripper Behemoth had also destroyed the Realm of Heaven Span after being provoked by You Qimiao.

    Therefore, every human, Ancientspirit, and outsider expert who saw the floating continent and thought of the Ripper Behemoth hiding in it had a headache over the situation.

    After all, all of them were afraid of the Ripper Behemoth.

    In the next moment, the human experts saw a figure flying out of the floating continent. They couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    After flying out of the floating continent, Nie Tian looked around with rapt attention, and discovered that Dong Li and those with her were being attacked by Grand Monarch Unholy Wind and several outsider grand monarchs. At the same time, a few dozen ninth grade outsider grand monarchs were fighting the other Saint domain human experts.

    The outsiders¡¯ oddly-shaped ancient starships were spewing demonic light and toxic liquid, causing several Saint domain experts¡¯ domains to explode.

    As Grand Monarch Unholy Wind cast the Phantasms¡¯ unique bloodline magics, the shrill wails and howls of a thousand souls came from the boundless darkness Dong Li had enveloped herself with.

    He could even hear the ck tortoise, which had entered the tenth grade recently, moaning in agony.

    Meanwhile, Yin Xingtian was wielding his Heavenbreaker and the Godspan Sword Formation with the small sword soul that floated over his head to fight Grand Monarch Unholy Wind and Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    But now, his face was ghastly, and blood wasing out of the corners of his eyes.

    The countless spiritual swords and sword lights of the Godspan Sword Formation had been corroded by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler with deadly toxins within his Blood Essence.

    The originally-sparkling spiritual swords and sword lights had all be dim and dull, as if even their divine power and spirits had been tainted.

    In the pitch-ck darkness, Dong Li realized that Nie Tian had arrived, and thus cried out, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Her voice wasden with a sense of weakness.

    BOOM!

    Sparks of dazzling starlight instantly appeared in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils like a sea of stars.

    At the same time, he suddenly noticed that hundreds of thousands of wisps of dark-green flesh aura that were as fine as hairs were flying out of a piece of rotten flesh that seemed to be countless years old in Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s palm.

    Those wisps of flesh aura reeked with a foul smell as they flew into Dong Li¡¯s dark domain, and were guing Dong Li and the ck tortoise.

    ¡°Gupi¡¯s residual flesh power!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face dropped as he instantly realized that Grand Monarch Nether Channeler was the reason why Dong Li seemed so weak.

 Chapter 1528: Everything Has Its Nemesis

    An illusory Nether River that glittered like a silver ribbon wound past Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and Mo Qianfan¡¯s dharma idols in the starry river.

    It exuded a soul power aura that was unique to the Netherspirits.

    Even Mo Qianfan, who was well-versed in lightning power, couldn¡¯t destroy it with his raging lightning bolts and thunderballs.

    Instead, he seemed to have his soul suppressed by the river, with a painful look on his face.

    Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, Zu Guangyao, and Dou Tianchen, who were all at the early God domain, also suffered from the influence of the mysterious river.

    It was an illusory Nether River, which couldn¡¯t be destroyed by just any spiritual power or spiritual tool.

    Only Yin Xingtian¡¯s Heavenbreaker had managed to sever the river River once with the help of the Godspan Sword Formation. However, it had rapidly healed after Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had fused it with his bloodline power.

    The illusory Nether River was abination of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s soul awareness, flesh aura, and the discarnate souls of the humans that had been killed in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The magic he used to form it was a powerful and profound soul magic he had derived from the real Nether River: Soul-channeling Incantation.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face dropped as he turned his eyes away from the darkness-enveloped area and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler to examine the illusory Nether River. ¡°That¡¯s the Soul-channeling Incantation.¡±

    He realized that the illusory Nether River was having a major influence on the battle.

    Its power was suppressing the souls of all of the human experts present and stirring up chaos in their seas of awareness, keeping them from disying the true might of their exquisite incantations.

    ording to the knowledge he had derived from the Nether River, any Netherspirit would be able to manifest an illusory Nether River by channeling the Nether River with their bloodline and soul and sacrificing arge number of disembodied spirits, after their bloodline reached a certain grade.

    A corner of his mouth rose as cold light shone in his eyes like icy crystals. ¡°It¡¯s only an illusory Nether River. I could refine even the real Nether River, not to mention a fake one that you¡¯ve created with your bloodline power!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After hearing his soul call, the five evil gods immediately flew out of his Spirit Pearl.

    As soon as the evil gods presented themselves in enormous fleshly form, every Phantasm present felt a jolt to their souls, and couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at them.

    Many Phantasms who didn¡¯t know what was going on were bbergasted upon seeing the evil gods fly out in a dominating manner and channel Nether Qi from the Nether Realm by relying on some profound connection.

    ¡°The statues carved on our holy mountains!¡±

    ¡°Why were they released by Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve worshiped and offered sacrifices to them for so long, shouldn¡¯t they be helping us?¡±

    Five of Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls within his sea of awareness corresponded to the five evil gods. A Heavenly Spirit Seal could be seen glittering in each of them.

    The five evil gods suddenly let out furious roars.

    The evil god of bloodlust, which was covered in thorns like a sinister-looking hedgehog, swooped towards the middle part of the illusory Nether River, then swung its huge arm repeatedly with shocking speed to m the river.

    BAM!

    Hundreds of cyan sparks were sent flying out of the illusory Nether River.

    Each cyan spark contained a soul shadow of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, along with a wisp of his refined soul power and a drop of his Blood Essence.

    As this happened, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind let out a muffled, pained groan. Then, staring at the evil god of bloodlust, he bellowed in the ancient Netherspiritnguage.

    After advancing to thete tenth grade by drawing power from the Nether River in the Nether Realm, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had established soulmunication with Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits in the Void World.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had exined the connection between the Netherspirits in the Void World and the Phantasms in the Spirit World in detail.

    Furthermore, he had made promises to Grand Monarch Unholy Wind and lured him into joining Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in his effort to open the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, so the three powerful races of the Void World would be able to swarm into the Mortal World and the Spirit World.

    From him, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had also learned that the mountain-like statues in the Nether Realm were statues of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s five mighty subordinates, all of whom had beente tenth grade Netherspirit grand monarchs.

    To Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, since they were Netherspirit grand monarchs and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s faithful subordinates, it was an act of treason to help Nie Tian attack the illusory Nether River.

    Therefore, he berated them in the ancient Netherspiritnguage, hoping to open their eyes to what they were doing.

    However, as a response to his berating, the other four evil gods joined the evil god of bloodlust in tearing at the illusory Nether River he had condensed with his Blood Essence and soul power from different angles.

    The illusory Nether River that Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, and Zu Guangyao had failed to ovee was actually torn to pieces and devoured by the five evil gods.

    As soon as this happened, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind let out shrill cries.

    The illusory Nether River had been vested with his Blood Essence and soul power. Now that it was being ripped apart and wolfed down by the five evil gods, his vital energy suffered a heavy blow.

    Since his bloodline upgrade had been the result of a forced infusion of the Nether River¡¯s power, his foundation as ate tenth grade grand monarch wasn¡¯t stable yet.

    Meanwhile, the Nether River had transformed from the sea of awareness of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, who the five evil gods had followed loyally before their deaths, which made them even more familiar with its wonders than he was.

    Besides that, the evil gods¡¯ strength had already risen to the same level as middle tenth grade grand monarchs after regaining their soul fragments and umting flesh power.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind instantly felt great pressure facing the five of them.

    Many Saint domain human experts had been on the verge of having their domains shattered by the joint outsider forces. However, they were all thrilled to see that Nie Tian managed to have the illusory Nether River that was suppressing their souls torn to shreds.

    ¡°Nie Tian is doing a great job!¡±

    ¡°The five puppets he released alone managed to limit Grand Monarch Unholy Wind! He¡¯s at thete tenth grade, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡±

    ¡°It seems to me that those five puppets happen to be Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s nemesis!¡±

    ¡°We may actually be able to win this battle!¡±

    BOOM!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian assumed his erged form, took out the Star Behemoth bone, and charged towards Grand Monarch Nether Channeler.

    A terrifying aura that was as vast as the sea spread out from Nie Tian¡¯s enormous body, making every outsider present insecure and uneasy.

    High above.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs, who had been observing the whole time, hid their auras even more meticulously after Nie Tian and the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s arrival.

    It wasn¡¯t Nie Tian that they were afraid of. It was the Ripper Behemoth.

    At this moment, seeing Nie Tian fully disying his power, they carefully sensed his soaring flesh aura, and were instantly shocked.

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been very long since Ist met him, yet his flesh aura and strength have experienced such a sharp rise!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that even with that piece of rotten flesh from Gupi, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler won¡¯t be able to stop him.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Channeler is in big trouble!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A beam of crimson light shot out of the Star Behemoth bone.

    More than a dozen eighth grade Fiend soldiers near Grand Monarch Nether Channeler were instantly blown to pieces by its devastating flesh power.

    A ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch attempted to stop the light with shields he condensed from toxic miasma using a secret bloodline magic.

    BOOM!

    The shields of toxic miasma exploded violently, along with the ninth grade Fiend grand patriarch¡¯s body.

 Chapter 1529: Turning the Tide

    To Nie Tian, ninth grade Fiend grand patriarchs were as weak and fragile as chickens made of y now.

    FIZZ!

    The beam of crimson light suddenly split into countless wisps of sparkling light as fine as hair that pierced ferociously into the corpses of the eighth and ninth grade Fiends that had died miserably.

    With a cold expression, Nie Tian said inwardly, ¡°Life Purification!¡±

    All of a sudden, everyone noticed that multicolored smoke started rising from the dead Fiends.

    The smoke was none other than the essence of the deadly toxins within the Fiends¡¯ flesh and blood.

    Then, wisps of pure flesh power condensed into glowing green droplets that flew towards and drizzled on Nie Tian¡¯s erged form as he made a beckoning motion with his hand.

    An expression of enjoyment appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Many outsider experts were bbergasted by the scene. ¡°The Fiends are the most poisonous beings in this starry river. Even they are having their toxins purged and their flesh power absorbed by him?¡±

    Watching Nie Tian bathing in a drizzle of green droplets and enjoying the Fiends¡¯ flesh power essence, they felt as if they were looking at a monster.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends bellowed like an angered beast as deadly toxic smoke poured madly out of the piece of Gupi¡¯s rotten flesh in his hand and into the darkness-enveloped area.

    ¡°Haha!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a grin as he activated the wonders of the Star Behemoth bone with the correspondent sub-soul in his sea of awareness.

    At the same time, he himself was wreathed in dazzling starlight.

    His star domain naturally came to form with the Heavenly Stars Flower manifesting in it, as it started channeling bits of star power from remote areas of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    BOOM!

    Under the wondrous effect of the Heavenly Stars Flower, hundreds of thousands of sparks of star power seemed to light up simultaneously.

    Every being that was fighting in the Domain of Endless Snow felt that everything around them was suddenly illuminated by dazzling light.

    The entire Domain of Endless Snow seemed to be bathed in the light of countless bright stars.

    ¡°Starshift!¡±

    The dazzling divine light onlysted a brief moment.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian appeared in the darkness-enveloped area where Dong Li was, enveloped in his sparkling star domain.

    The dazzling divine light fadedpletely.

    ¡°Life Purification.¡±

    Nie Tian activated the bloodline talent once again.

    Like intelligent snakes, countless crystalline wisps that carried the profound truths of life started slithering in the depths of the darkness to capture the infiltrating toxic aura from Gupi¡¯s rotten flesh.

    Upon contact with the wisps, the toxic aura from Gupi¡¯s rotten flesh was purged and reduced to wisps of pure smoke that quickly dissipated.

    The considerable flesh power it contained was left behind for Nie Tian to absorb into himself.

    Nie Tian was ted. ¡°This is awesome! I never thought that such a tremendous amount of flesh power would remain after Gupi¡¯s unmatched devastating acidic toxins were purged!¡±

    He sensed with certainty that the amount of flesh power he was receiving by purging Gupi¡¯s acidic toxins was far greater than the amount of flesh power he had absorbed from the eighth and ninth grade Fiends earlier.

    This Life Purification bloodline talent, which he had awakened after his bloodline had entered the ninth grade, was full of wonders. Not only could it be used to absorb the Fiends¡¯ toxic flesh auras whenbined with Life Drain, but it could also be used to treat those who were poisoned by deadly toxins.

    Its unique wonders were the reason why he had told the Ripper Behemoth with confidence that he might be able to help Pei Yukong.

    However, he had been unsure whether he would be able to purge Gupi¡¯s toxins with it. After all, Gupi had earned its notorious name as the most poisonous being in the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    Even the Fiends were afraid of it. Even experts like Ji Cang and Qu Yi couldn¡¯t contain it.

    But now, after making his attempt, he was overjoyed to see that Life Purification was also effective against Gupi¡¯s acidic toxins!

    This meant that if he had entered the ninth grade and awakened Life Purification earlier, he would have been able to defeat Gupi without the Illusory Ancient Talismans or his master¡¯s time power.

    He would be able to purge and turn every wisp of the essence of toxins Gupi released into pure flesh power that he could absorb.

    Soon, Dong Li, who had been suffering from the infiltration of Gupi¡¯s acidic toxins, recovered strength in her boundless darkness.

    The tenth grade ck tortoise also stopped crying for help.

    Satisfaction was written across Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    In such a short time, the amount of flesh power he had managed to obtain by purging Gupi¡¯s toxins in the darkness was already greater than what he had obtained from three ninth grade Fiend grand patriarchs!

    ¡°I suppose if I were dealing with Gupi¡¯s true self, the amount of flesh power I could get would be even more significant!¡±

    He suddenly felt regretful for the fact that Gupi had been taken away to that unknown ce in the Void World, where it had been cut to pieces like a huge multicolored maggot by some mighty existence.

    Dong Li¡¯s curvaceous figure emerged from the endless darkness. ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Channeler!¡±

    Standing on a sea of darkness, she red and pointed at Grand Monarch Nether Channeler from afar with her long, jade-like finger. ¡°Darkness! Encroach!¡±

    The Dark Aureole flew out and rapidly morphed into a pitch-ck hole in the ce where Grand Monarch Nether Channeler was.

    As soon as the ck hole came to form, it started devouring all light and living beings around it!

    The Fiends surrounding Grand Monarch Nether Channeler either howled in despair or begged for mercy as they were pulled into the ck hole one after another and quickly vanished.

    Even the piece of rotten flesh from Gupi that Grand Monarch Nether Channeler was grasping tightly escaped his grip.

    WHOOSH!

    It also vanished into the ck hole.

    Even Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s flesh aura sea, which was filled with ckish green, grayish cyan, and light purple flesh auras, split into colorful rivers that started flowing into the ck hole.

    The flesh auras of three different colors contained toxins he had spent ten thousand years collecting from the atmosphericyers of the three most toxic realms in the Spirit World and refining into himself.

    The three different kinds of flesh auras had the effect of poisoning, freezing, and numbing his enemies. His core bloodline talents relied on them.

    Each of these flesh auras had taken ten thousand drops of Blood Essence and tremendous amounts of effort to condense.

    However, they were all flowing into the ck hole now.

    What surprised Grand Monarch Nether Channeler the most was that he couldn¡¯t sense the existence of those flesh auras as soon as they disappeared into the ck hole.

    His past experience had told him that even if the flesh auras he condensed with Blood Essence were separated from him and taken to another world, he would still be able to sense their existence.

    But now...

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler was overtaken by a sense of weakness, and started making desperate attempts to retain the flesh auras he had gone to great lengths to refine.

    However, the ck hole transformed from the Dark Aureole and amplified by Dong Li¡¯s soul and dark power turned out to be so overwhelmingly mighty that even he couldn¡¯t stop his flesh auras from leaving him.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s erged form charged out of the sea of darkness.

    He nced around, and immediately discovered that the battle in the Domain of Endless Snow had been turned around after the five evil gods had shredded and devoured the illusory Nether River.

    No longer influenced by the illusory Nether River, the human Qi warriors could finally disy their true power.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons jerked free from Yu Suying¡¯s Heaven-purging Divine Light and charged out of the sea of glittering silver light.

    As he lifted his enormous arm and made a grabbing motion, a demonic de that was in the shape of a crescent moon seemed to be summoned from some forbidden ce in the First Demon Realm.

    Even the space in the Domain of Endless Snow seemed to be shattered by its aura as it crossed into the Mortal World.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust had left the Demonic Moon Saber in a secret cultivation location of the Demons for it to receive nourishment. Despite having fought in the Domain of Endless Snow for so long, he hadn¡¯t thought of summoning it once, but he had to now.

    FIZZ!

    The shattering of space destroyed Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura seal.

    All of a sudden, a familiar and ethereal voice echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s ears. ¡°Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes has entered the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s urgent voice came through the shattered space.

 Chapter 1530: Battle Prowess Skyrockets

    The space had originally been sealed. However, the arrival of Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s demonic de shook and broke the seal.

    Thanks to this, a connection was suddenly established between the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Domain of Endless Snow

    Zhao Shanling, who had been eager to seek help from the Domain of Endless Snow, shrewdly sensed the subtle changes in space, and formed a spatial tunnel at the first possible moment.

    His cries came through the tunnel to the battlefield in the Domain of Endless Snow. ¡°We¡¯re under attack from Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes!¡±

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s low cry echoed out, like the bellow of an ancient demonic creature. ¡°Demonic de: Moon Perish!¡±

    He shed the Demonic Moon Saber towards Nie Tian, who was in his erged form, with full force.

    As hundreds of purple and ck lightning bolts sputtered from the crescent moon-shaped de, drops of blood rose from the pores all over Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s enormous, mountain-like body.

    Each and every drop of blood was asrge as a grown man¡¯s fist, and shone with dazzling purple light.

    It seemed as if the drops of blood had been vested with the power of generations of mighty Devil patriarchs in the Void World, along with countless ancient powerful seals.

    BOOM!

    The fist-sized drops of blood were suddenly channeled by the ancient seals within them and came together.

    Horrific, raging demonic power built up within the drops of blood, which rapidly aggregated into a ckish-violet crescent moon.

    Carrying Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s bloodline wonders and the boundless power of his demonic de, the crescent moon plummeted towards Nie Tian like a meteor.

    Nie Tian, who was more than eight thousand meters tall, looked up.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s senses, the ckish-violet moon was like a long-deceased ancient Devil god that was brought back to life, only to perish with him again.

    The aura of frenzy, bloodlust, madness, and destruction the ancient Devil god exuded spread through the void, as if it were going to envelop all three worlds.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s soul seemed to be influenced, as he felt as if he were bogged down and couldn¡¯t bring out his full power.

    He knew that the nine sub-souls within his sea of awareness were being suppressed by the ancient Devil god¡¯s torrential aura at this moment.

    HOWL!

    All of a sudden, floating over his sea of awareness, the crimson sub-soul that corresponded to the Star Behemoth bone let out a ferocious roar that sounded to be from an overlord of the entire starry river.

    It was a voice that used to make countless races in the three worlds tremble in fear!

    As the Star Behemoth¡¯s bloodline burst forth to suppress Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s bloodline, countless crimson blood strings instantly flew out of the Star Behemoth Bone and shot up into the void, where they wove into a tight.

    One, two, three... countless...

    Blindingly-bright sparks of starlight flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s dantian region.

    Seeming to be bathed in a sea of dazzling stars, his every piece of skin and flesh became as translucent and sparkling as jade.

    Then, the sparks of starlight suddenly shot up, like a reverse waterfall, to help the divine spear-like Star Behemoth bone defend against Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s full-power strike.

    In a split second, zing light exploded in the void between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Heaven-destroying and earth-extinguishing flesh power and star power engulfed the whole area. Even the power spreading into their surroundings caused hundreds of nasty fissures to appear in the starry river.

    It was as if this sh alone caused irreparable damage to the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The scary-looking fissures might connect to the space disruption zone, allowing deadly streams of light to pour into the Domain of Endless Snow and plunge its realms into eternal dead silence.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s cry broke the moment of silence that followed the violent sh.

    At this moment, most human and outsider experts were gawking at the area where Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Nie Tian were, lost in the aftermath of the magnificent sh between the two.

    After only a brief moment of bewilderment, Yin Xingtian¡¯s expression flickered as he turned to Yu Suying and Mo Qianfan, and said, ¡°I think with Nie Tian here, things won¡¯t go out of control even if I leave.¡±

    That strike Grand Monarch Bloodlust had cast with the Demonic Moon Saber he had summoned from the Demon realms was every bit as mighty as a strike from Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    Even so, Nie Tian had managed to fend it off with the Star Behemoth bone and his reverse waterfall of stars.

    Furthermore, it seemed that Nie Tian hadn¡¯t even had to exert himself, as his eyes were still glittering with immense divine light.

    This proved that even without the help of the five evil gods, Nie Tian was strong enough to fight Grand Monarch Bloodlust head-on!

    At this moment, the five evil gods who had destroyed the illusory Nether River were keeping Grand Monarch Unholy Wind busy.

    Dong Li, who had been liberated, was suppressing and making Grand Monarch Nether Channeler suffer from her dark power.

    You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect was engaged in a fierce battle with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, where he wasn¡¯t at a considerable disadvantage.

    Even though the humans weren¡¯t dominating the battle, they weren¡¯t at a disadvantage anymore. Therefore, Yin Xingtian felt safe about leaving to deal with Grand Monarch Gray Bones himself.

    ¡°Alright, go,¡± Mo Qianfan said.

    Yin Xingtian nodded.

    WHOOSH!

    Like gorgeous feathers, countless magnificent sword lights came together nine meters over his head before morphing into the Godspan Sword Formation.

    Then, with a quick move, he entered the spatial rift Zhao Shanling had used to convey his messages and vanished.

    Many who had learned that Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes had shown up in the Seven Stars Realm Sea had felt uneasy.

    Both Nie Tian and Dong Li had nned to take a quick trip back to the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    However, Yin Xingtian¡¯s going put their hearts at ease.

    Having entered the early God domain and merged the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s Godspan Sword Formation into himself, he could easily match a middle tenth grade outsider grand monarch in battle with his awe-inspiring sword intent.

    Even the newly-madete tenth grade Phantasm grand monarch, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, had failed to gain an overwhelming advantage against him.

    Because of that, everyone felt confident about him leaving to deal with the old Bonebrute expert in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    In the depths of the void, Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims and the three Ancientspirit experts discussed among themselves.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Nie Tian can even fight Grand Monarch Bloodlust head-on now. I¡¯m truly impressed!¡±

    ¡°And he¡¯s not relying on the five evil gods. He¡¯s actually fighting with his own strength!¡±

    ¡°They say that Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes showed up in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Gray Bones! If he showed up in the Seven Stars Realm Sea at this moment, does that mean...?¡±

    ¡°There must be a reason!¡±

    Momentster, they made their decision.

    BOOM!

    Chatvic the titan, Scotte the lightning dragon, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch suddenly revealed themselves.

    Their enormous forms shrank sharply as they intended to follow Yin Xingtian through the spatial rift to the Seven Stars Realm Sea. At the same time, Grand Monarch Primal Wood nced around vigntly before calling out to Nie Tian, ¡°The three Ancientspirit leaders intend to go to the Seven Stars Realm Sea to help you defend the portal!¡±

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded, floating in the void.

    His aura hadn¡¯t calmed yet after his violent sh against Grand Monarch Bloodlust. Right now, he was doing his utmost to channel me, star, and wood power from the starry river to recover his strength.

    ¡°Why?¡± He asked subconsciously.

    Many human experts that were gathered around the spatial rift created by Zhao Shanling also had confused looks on their faces.

    ¡°Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes was Grand Monarch Crystal Bones¡¯s master,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood exined in a hurry. ¡°He seems to have made contact with the Bonedrudes in the Void World after he entered the early tenth grade. He¡¯s one of those who want to join the Void World wholeheartedly!¡±

    Enlightened about the situation, Nie Tian waved his hand and said, ¡°Let them through!¡±

    Zu Guangyao, Dou Tianchen, and the several Saint domain experts from the four great sects who were gathered around the spatial rift immediately stepped aside.

    The shrunken Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch then flew into the spatial rift.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims, however, remained in the Domain of Endless Snow.

 Chapter 1531: Stonemen, Birdmen, and Blackscales

    CRACK!

    A pir of magnificent light suddenly sted out of the Realm of Falling Snow and into the starry river.

    A grayish-brown outsider grand monarch that looked like a stone mountain charged out of the pir of light.

    He seemed to have been hiding in the Realm of Falling Snow and watching the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends fight the humans to the death until now.

    As soon as he charged out of the Realm of Falling Snow, numerous Stonemen flew out after him, looking rather fierce.

    The Realm of Falling Snow, where it snowed year-round, originally floated silently in a corner of the Domain of Endless Snow. But now, it seemed to be influenced by his bloodline power and became his weapon.

    The Stoneman expert thumped his chest and roared as he activated his unique bloodline talent. ¡°Bloodline: Realm Actuation!¡±

    Like a colossal snowball, the Realm of Falling Snow rammed towards the nearest God domain human expert: Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Countless divine swords that shone with dazzling golden light could be seen flying within Ye Wenhan¡¯s sword domain, dragging glorious golden tails behind them.

    However, as the Realm of Falling Snow crashed into his sword domain, his sword domain rapidly unraveled.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims gasped as he turned his head to see what was happening. ¡°Stonemen! Grand Monarch Stone Mountain!¡±

    Many Qi warriors who recognized the new arrival also eximed in shock, ¡°Grand Monarch Stone Mountain!¡±

    Grand Monarch Stone Mountain proudly presented himself in front of everyone like an ancient divine mountain. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s me!¡±

    He was the high chieftain of the Stonemen, and an early tenth grade grand monarch.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a cold snort and said with a berating tone, ¡°Stone Mountain! Why would you mix yourselves with their lot? As the high chieftain of the Stonemen, you should know where the Demons¡¯, Phantasms¡¯, and Bonebrutes¡¯ bloodline origins lie! All they want to do now is open the portal to the Void World and invite their master races into our worlds. What can you possibly get from helping them do that?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    An elegant female Birdman spread her wings and flew out of another realm of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Her face was so beautiful in a ssic fashion that she seemed to be from a painting. The set of feathered wings on her back shone with holy and pure light asplicated tattoos could be seen on her snow-white neck, which seemed to have something to do with her bloodline wonders.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood gasped once again. ¡°Grand Monarch Godly Wings of the Birdmen! If you two are here, I suppose the high chieftain of the ckscales is here too. Am I right?¡±

    ¡°You are right,¡± another outsider grand monarch answered in an awkward-soundingnguage as he slowly rose into the starry river from a realm that was close to the realm where Grand Monarch Godly Wings had hidden.

    It was an outsider expert with the appearance of a scary-looking abyssal fish that was covered in pitch-ck scales, Grand Monarch ck Armor.

    Grand Monarch Stone Mountain, Grand Monarch Godly Wings, and Grand Monarch ck Armor were the high chieftains of the Stonemen, Birdmen, and ckscales, all of whom had entered the early tenth grade and joined the ranks of grand monarchs not long ago.

    Compared to the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Bonebrutes, and Floragrims, they were minor races.

    They had always maintained close rtionships with the major races, and would usually stand with them in battle.

    However, unlike the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, they were local races that had been born in the Spirit World. Like the Floragrims, their ancestors had lived in the Spirit World since ancient times.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones had never considered joining hands with the Void World before their sudden disappearance. They had only led their people into battles against the humans and the Ancientspirits from time to time.

    Therefore, Grand Monarch Primal Wood had assumed that the Stonemen, Birdmen, and ckscales wouldn¡¯t want to join the Demons¡¯ cause as he didn¡¯t.

    Who would have thought that even their high chieftains had been persuaded to join this operation led by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind?

    Grand Monarch Stone Mountain of the Stonemen had made his stance clear by manipting the Realm of Falling Snow to hit Ye Wenhan upon revealing himself.

    ¡°Primal Wood,¡± he said, ¡°the Spirit World is running out of its vital power. Our ancestralnds are withering. We Stonemen, Birdmen, and ckscales need to find a new home where we can live and reproduce.

    ¡°But when you and the Ancientspirits reached a mutual understanding with the humans, you didn¡¯t take us into consideration.

    ¡°Since we can¡¯t survive in the human world by ourselves and you didn¡¯t think of us, we can only join them.

    ¡°Regardless of the origin of their bloodlines and whether they¡¯ll let the races of the Void World into our worlds, as long as we¡¯ll be given a ce to live, we¡¯re willing to fight for the survival of our people.¡±

    Grand Monarch Godly Wings and Grand Monarch Stone Mountain shared his stance on the matter.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    More Stonemen, Birdmen, and ckscales charged out of the realms the three early tenth grade grand monarchs had emerged from to surround and attack the Saint domain human experts.

    Most of the Stonemen, Birdmen, and ckscales were at the seventh or eighth grade.

    Very few ninth grade members of their races could be seen.

    However, they wererge in number. Any Saint domain cultivator would feel a strong headache when dozens of eighth grade outsiders teamed up to attack him and messed with the spiritual power flow of his domain with their various bloodline magics.

    This was especially true if they were dealing with Stonemen.

    Their unique bloodline talents allowed them to control meteors in the starry river.

    Also, by controlling therge amount of debris in the starry river to swarm into the Saint domain cultivators¡¯ domains, they could stagnate the operation of their domains.

    Those who were stronger, like Grand Monarch Stone Mountain, could even control realms to attack God domain human experts.

    Now, seeing that they hade out of hiding and decidedly joined the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends in attacking the humans, Grand Monarch Primal Wood grew hesitant.

    He understood that they had viewed humans as dreadful monsters for countless years.

    Their whole lives, they had been taught that humans were invaders.

    On the numerous asions the humans had marched into the Dead Star Sea,rge numbers of Stonemen, Birdmen, and ckscales had been arranged by the Demons and Phantasms to fight human experts from the four great sects.

    Too many of their nsmen had been killed by humans, which was why they hated humans to their guts.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a long sigh, knowing that even he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to change the Stonemen, ckscales, and Birdmen¡¯s minds.

    He was in a dilemma as to which side he should take.

    Having adjusted his flesh aura after the strike, Grand Monarch Bloodlust raised his Demonic Moon Saber and bellowed, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    With a wild, cunningugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯m not using any spiritual tools now. I want to see if the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form is in fact truly indestructible!¡±

    With these words, he cast the Star Behemoth bone behind him.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was dumbfounded for a moment before bursting intoughter and saying, ¡°I also want to find out how powerful your bloodline as a hybrid bastard really is!¡±

    BOOM!

    Like two magnificent mountain peaks, they cast their tools aside and engaged in a fight in close quarters like fierce, primitive monsters, where they fought with nothing but their hands, feet, ws, and teeth.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In the void high above the Realm of Crystal Snow, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura sea and You Qimiao¡¯s gold and silver energy currents had already shed more than a thousand times.

    Each and every sh sputtered bright sparks that rained down on the fighting outsiders and humans.

    Every spark that fell into the domains of Saint domain cultivators carried terrifying power, and would make them let out agonized cries.

    Things were even worse with the eighth grade outsiders, as those who were touched by the sputtering sparks would be instantly reduced to a bloody mist with a boom, and die beyond salvation.

    As it turned out, even the slightest bit of power sputtering from the shes between ate God domain cultivator and ate tenth grade grand monarch could kill eighth grade outsiders and Void domain cultivators.

    Many weaker ones were affected by the fallout of their battle and died without realizing what had happened.

    Soon, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons was the first to realize what was happening, and took the initiative to draw their battle away from the others.

    After all, even the weakest human experts were at thete Saint domain, which allowed them to survive the sputtering energy particles created by his battle against You Qimiao.

    However, seventh and eighth grade outsiders made up the bulk of their forces.

    While blood was being spilled everywhere, a set of eyes were observing the situation closely, Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    After observing for a while, he suddenly noticed that the floating continent, which had remained quiet after taking Nie Tian here, suddenly started floating towards areas whererge numbers of outsiders were gathered.

    A bitter expression appeared at the corner of his mouth as he muttered, ¡°Humans¡¯ flesh auras are far too weak for it to feed on.¡±

    AHHH! AHHH! AHHH! AHHH!

    Agonized shrieks suddenly echoed out while Grand Monarch Stone Mountain of the Stonemen manipted the Realm of Falling Snow with his bloodline power.

 Chapter 1532: Fighting For The Portal

    An enormous tentacle reached out of the pale-gray mist that enshrouded the floating continent, like a dragon charging out of a deepke.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s tentacle alone was thousands of meters long, and exuded a multicolored flesh aura.

    Its all-ripping bloodline talent was instantly activated.

    Before the tentacle could even touch the early tenth grade Grand Monarch Stone Mountain, his flesh aura sea was ripped apart by the dazzling light that shot out of the tentacle.

    Grand Monarch Stone Mountain¡¯s flesh aura sea, which seemed to be filled with vegetated mountains, unraveled in a split second.

    WHOOSH!

    Only after that did the thick, long tentacle m into Grand Monarch Stone Mountain.

    Surprisingly, upon being hit by the tentacle, Grand Monarch Stone Mountain¡¯s body, which was as hard as godly stones, crumbled, like a giant stone statue crumbling after hitting the ground.

    Stonemen had close bloodline connections with the Stone Golems of the Ancientspirits. Their flesh auras were one of the most special and wondrous in this starry river.

    For the Ripper Behemoth, Grand Monarch Stone Mountain¡¯s flesh aura wasn¡¯t the kind it considered tasty nourishment.

    What it needed from Grand Monarch Stone Mountain was his body, because his body could be used to reconstruct the floating continent!

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Stone Mountain¡¯s body that had been reduced to rubble was channeled by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s power, and started flying toward the floating continent.

    The countless pieces floated around and magically reattached the broken pieces from the shattered top continent.

    Thanks to the remains of Grand Monarch Stone Mountain, the broken pieces actually joined together to form a vast floatingndmass.

    The floatingndmass was filled with rich spiritual Qi, and seemed to be bound by wondrous veins refined from Grand Monarch Stone Mountain¡¯s flesh aura, which was hard to believe.

    Even Grand Monarch Primal Wood was bbergasted by this.

    He didn¡¯t understand why a tenth grade Stoneman¡¯s remains, bloodline wonders, and residual power could be used to restructure a shattered continent.

    ¡°The Shatter Battlefield, the Stone Golems¡¯ ancestralnd, is in pieces...¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood couldn¡¯t help but wonder that perhaps the Shatter Battlefield could actually be restored to its original state with enough powerful Stone Golems, or Stonemen like Grand Monarch Stone Mountain.

    Grand Monarch Stone Mountain was killed practically the second the Ripper Behemoth attacked, which reminded the outsiders of the horror the Ripper Behemoth had put them in.

    They instantly recalled the nightmarish massacre the Ripper Behemoth hadmitted in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    ¡°Stone Golems and Stonemen¡¯s bloodline wonders can actually be used to fix realms?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Stone Mountain!¡±

    ¡°A grand monarch was killed by the Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°Why is it onlying after us?¡±

    Many Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes cried for help, as they couldn¡¯t even summon enough courage to fight their natural bane: the Ripper Behemoth.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    ¡°Lord Bloodlust!¡±

    ¡°High Chieftain Unholy Wind!¡±

    They ce all of their hope in their leaders.

    However, all of their leaders, who they viewed as theirst straw to clutch at, were caught up in fierce battles against powerful enemies, which kept them from dealing with the Ripper Behemoth.

    WHOOSH!

    Outsiders, dead or alive, continued to be sucked into the floating continent as it floated about in the Domain of Endless Snow, wreathed in thick gray mist.

    The living ones let out terrified wails, giving people goosebumps, as they flew uncontrobly into the floating continent.

    However, not a single human was attacked by the Ripper Behemoth. After all, their flesh auras were far too weak for its appetite.

    Outsiders continued to be devoured in groups.

    Since Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind couldn¡¯t rise to the asion, the outsiders finally broke down, and history repeated itself.

    Like what had happened in the Domain of Heaven Span, the Phantasms, Fiends, Demons, and Bonebrutes scattered and fled in all directions so they wouldn¡¯t end up as food for the Ripper Behemoth.

    They suffered another sound defeat because they didn¡¯t have anyte tenth grade grand monarchs around to deal with their natural bane, the Ripper Behemoth.

    Ji Yuanquan nced around at the fleeing outsiders and sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°Star Behemoths are such mighty weapons of war! Now I finally understand why the powerful races of the Void World didn¡¯t dare to invade the Spirit World during the Primal Era. These enormous creatures that can even devour realms inspire true fear.¡±

    At the bottom of the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes shed the Bone Shatterer repeatedly at the wondrous red bronze gateway built by the Voidspirits.

    Originally, the portal could only be opened by Pei Qiqi, who carried a Voidspirit bloodline, and Nie Tian¡¯s evil gods.

    But now, as Grand Monarch Gray Bones swung the Bone Shatterer over and over, the Bone Emperor¡¯s residual death power within it seemed to be altering the exquisite spatial formations the Voidspirits had built into the portal.

    After all, the Bone Emperor was the strongest Bonedrude that had ever lived.

    As the master of the Bone Shatterer, Grand Monarch Gray Bones had visited the Doomed Star Sea in his prime, andmunicated with the Bonedrudes in the Void World by relying on the wondrous de.

    From the Bonedrudes, he had learned that the essence of death power residing in the Bone Shatterer could be used to change the portal.

    At the same time, in the Void World...

    More and more pale-gray spots appeared on the closed gate of the portal that connected to the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Numerous Devil, Netherspirit, and Bonedrude experts were gathered in front of the portal.

    Heaven-defying flesh auras rose high into the depths of the void like pirs of beacon smoke.

    These flesh auras were either filled with frenzied bloodlust, frosty souls, or intense death Qi, as they belonged to more than a dozen tenth grade grand monarchs!

    Once the portal was opened and these grand monarchs charged into the Seven Stars Realm Sea, not only would it be a nightmare for humanity, but the Ancientspirits and Floragrims in the Spirit World would suffer as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost done!¡±

    ¡°The Bone Emperor¡¯s essence of death power is being used to alter the spatial formations in the portal!¡±

    ¡°Our creations are fighting the humans and helping us reopen the portal in the Mortal World!¡±

    ¡°After they open the portal, we¡¯ll go conquer the Mortal World!¡±

    The powerful experts of the three races of the Void World let out howls and cries that shook and even distorted the starry river.

    ...

    ¡°Grand Monarch Gray Bones!¡± Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect shouted after charging into the Seven Stars Realm Sea through the spatial rift Zhao Shanling had split open.

    WHOOSH!

    The Godspan Sword Formation made up of spinning swords that looked like a peacock¡¯s spread tail plunged towards the bottom of the Realm Sea before Yin Xingtian.

    Grand Monarch Gray Bones was still swinging the Bone Shatterer, and slowly altering the spatial formations the Voidspirits had carved into the portal by fusing it with the Bone Emperor¡¯s essence of death power.

    ¡°sh!¡±

    With another sh of the Bone Shatterer, dozens of glowing sparks that contained the essence of death power flew out of the de and into the portal.

 Chapter 1533: Reopen?

    In the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons and Nie Tian, who was eight thousand meters tall in his erged form, were engaged in a fierce battle.

    The numerous purple lightning bolts and streams of flesh aura they unleashed shed violently, lighting up ancient Devil talismans and imprints that carried the profound truths of life power.

    FIZZ!

    As Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s huge arm swung across Nie Tian¡¯s chest, a rainbow of demonic power was created by his fingernails that were like sharp icy des.

    A deep gash instantly appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s broad chest, revealing even his crystallized bones, which shone with dazzling blood-colored light.

    It was like a chasm ripping through the earth, yet not a single drop of blood was spilled.

    That was because his refined life power instantly formed a dark-red blood membrane over his vital organs.

    ¡°Blood Essence! Heavenly Wood Heal: Flesh Reforge!¡± As soon as Nie Tian bellowed, crimson blood strings flew out of his meridians that were as thick as streams to weave over more than a dozen wounds in his chest, back, and abdomen.

    It was as if numerous tiny living beings with their own awareness were helping suture his cuts.

    As the battle continued, new wounds were added to his body, but the old ones were also healed at the same time.

    This was the terrifying self-healing ability Nie Tian had awakened after his bloodline had broken through to the ninth grade, which was a result of his deepened understanding of life powerbined with the wonders of Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Even Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons couldn¡¯t match his self-healing ability.

    BOOM!

    As Nie Tian pressed his palm forward, numerous star formations flew out of it to explode on both sides of Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s body.

    ¡°Star Explosion!¡±

    Like the great explosions that had created this starry river and the myriad realms in it, the explosions sent out countless dazzling sparks that shot into both sides of Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s body.

    Despite the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form, Grand Monarch Bloodlust was blown bloody.

    Pieces of dark purple skin and flesh that were as hard as armor were torn from under his armpits. Each and every piece weighed hundreds of kilograms.

    However, the chunks of flesh torn from Grand Monarch Bloodlust emanated demonic light like purple gems.

    Even his spilling blood let out roars that seemed toe from his soul.

    Shortly afterwards, the chunks of flesh torn from his body squirmed in a strange way and rapidly morphed into numerous tiny versions of himself.

    Even though they were only a few meters tall and carried weak flesh auras, they seemed to be doppelg?ngers of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, as they each had their own awareness, and could use his bloodline magics skillfully.

    Secondster, the doppelg?ngers merged into Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s true self and reconstructed his Indestructible Form.

    He became full of energy once again.

    Seeing this, Nie Tian summoned his bloodline power, star power, and me power, and entered another round of close-quarters fighting against Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Numerous bloodline imprints, profoundws of star power, and divine symbols of me power once again shed with Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s blustering demonic power.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian made a casual grabbing and tossing motion, and zing glowing spheres that looked like downscaled suns bombarded Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust roared as his dark purple flesh aura sea was unleashed. The purple lightning bolts within it set off some of the glowing spheres as his magnificent form charged through the storm of zing spheres and rammed into Nie Tian¡¯s woundden chest with his head that felt like a plummeting meteor.

    ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    Nie Tian then raised his fist, infused it with star, me, wood, and flesh power, and mmed it down on Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s head.

    It was like an ancient god hammering a realm in his arms.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s strike gave rise to waves of immense and frenzied flesh aura from Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s head that caused even him to wobble.

    At the same time, starlight and zing sparks sputtered from Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s eyes, as he was hammered dizzy as well.

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the human hybrid and the Demon grand monarch were evenly matched in a battle without any demonic weapons or spiritual tools.

    The nine shining sub-souls within Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness corresponded to his me power, wood power, and star power cores, along with the five evil gods and the Star Behemoth bone.

    Even at this moment, in the depths of his battle against Grand Monarch Bloodlust, he could still rely on them to pay close attention to the battle between Grand Monarch Unholy Wind and the evil gods.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, thete tenth grade Phantasm grand monarch, had lost his confidence after having the illusory Nether River he had created with his flesh power, soul power, and dead humans¡¯ souls ripped apart and devoured by the five evil gods.

    He had been at a clear disadvantage in his battle against them.

    His obscure soul voice morphed into ancient Netherspirit soul symbols, which formed talismans that connected to the Nether River that ran through the three worlds.

    With those talismans, he cast profound soul magics, including the Soul-burning Blood Spell, the Dark Soul Ward, and the Great Quietus of Souls...

    However, the five evil gods seemed unaffected by the deadly soul magics, as they continued to pounce fiercely towards him in attempts to capture him.

    Not just that, but the evil gods infiltrated Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s soul with their ultimate negative emotions, like devastating seasing from five different directions.

    ¡°No!¡± he howled in disbelief, not understanding why Nie Tian could revive and control the evil gods their people had enshrined and worshiped for countless generations.

    Having won the Nether River¡¯s acknowledgment, he naturally knew the background of the so-called five evil gods.

    Not only were Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s five strongest subordinates not helping him, but they were actually attacking him together under Nie Tian¡¯s instructions, and carrying Nie Tian¡¯s unique aura.

    This both enraged and baffled Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    ¡°Door Knock!¡±

    A drop of Blood Essence that looked like a cyan, water drop-shaped jade suddenly started burning in his heart.

    Hundreds of soul symbols that shone dazzlingly like stars then manifested in the drop of Blood Essence. Each soul symbol was only the size of an ant.

    Then, the souls of numerous beings that the Mortal World and the Spirit World had never seen emerged in the drop of Blood Essence.

    Apparently, those souls belonged to members of weaker races that had perished in the Void World.

    They were the sacrificial offerings that had helped establish a connection between Grand Monarch Unholy Wind and the Netherspirits in the Void World.

    Through ¡®Door Knock,¡¯ his questions crossed the barrier between worlds in a profound manner and fell into the Nether River in the Void World.

    Then, they were perceived by the Netherspirits¡¯ current high chieftain: Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    Wisp after wisp of soul messages that were released by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits instantly entered Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s mind.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Is this really just because of the Spirit Pearl? A pearl alone allows him to control the evil gods? Even though Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, the former master of the Spirit Pearl, was ate tenth grade grand monarch, he died a long time ago. Even his sea of awareness has transformed into the misty cyan world within the pearl.¡±

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind was still confused.

    However, he received another wisp of soul message in the next moment.

    He instantly grew thrilled and eximed, ¡°The portal is opening soon! Our people are going to descend upon the Mortal World from the ce where we originated!¡±

    Upon hearing this, every human expert in the Domain of Endless Snow gasped, their faces turning pale.

    ¡°Even Yin Xingtian and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs together can¡¯t stop Grand Monarch Gray Bones?¡± Ji Yuanquan eximed as he split open a spatial rift connecting to the Seven Stars Realm Sea at the first possible moment.

    Every human felt deeply uneasy.

 Chapter 1534: Fighting to the End!

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Grand Monarch Gray Bones rose from the bottom of the sea, clutching the Bone Shatterer. Floating above the sea, he threw his head back and howled into the void.

    The Bone Shatterer was held horizontally in front of his chest like a bone dragon.

    A devastating death aura was released from the bone de and rapidly swept across that area of the starry river.

    As that happened, millions of broken bones seemed toe together to form a colossal blurry shape.

    Examining the blurry shape made of countless broken bones and the Bone Shatterer¡¯s aura, Chatvic the titan, Scotte the lightning dragon, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch all eximed involuntarily, ¡°The Bone Emperor!¡±

    All three of them were at the middle tenth grade, and enjoyed awe-inspiring fame in both the Mortal World and the Spirit World.

    However, only by observing the terrifying shape from afar, they couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    It was a fear that was rooted in their bloodlines!

    As the first emperor of the Bonedrudes in the Void World, the Bone Emperor had long since perished in the long river of history.

    However, even after his death, the de made from a dry bone taken from his body inspired such strong fear and uneasiness in them.

    By merely looking at the Bone Emperor¡¯s illusory shape, the three Ancientspirits felt as if they were losing their flesh auras, Blood Essence, and even their minds.

    BOOM!

    A cluster of flesh aura that contained the truths of lightning power suddenly exploded underneath Scotte¡¯s scales.

    The explosion shattered one of his silver-white scales and expelled a puff of pure dragon aura.

    However, the puff of flesh aura was somehow drained of its vitality right under Scotte¡¯s nose as he stared at the Bone Emperor¡¯s illusory shape, as if it was affected by the Bone Emperor¡¯s death power.

    Scotte¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he eximed, ¡°Stop looking at the illusory shape morphed from the Bone Emperor¡¯s residual flesh aura! Even after his death, that outstanding emperor¡¯s residual death aura and extremely deep understanding of death power can still gue our minds!¡±

    As soon as Scotte said these words, Chatvic the titan let out a heaven-shaking, earth-toppling howl.

    Pale-gray spots suddenly appeared on his towering body. Wreathed in death aura, the pale-gray spots looked like cadaveric spots that formed naturally after a creature died.

    Chatvic howled madly as he summoned his bloodline power and burned his Blood Essence to remove the pale-gray spots.

    However, his flesh power didn¡¯t seem to be able to cleanse the strange spots.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one who was affected.

    Anyone at the Seven Stars Realm Sea who dared to gaze at the Bone Shatterer and the Bone Emperor¡¯s illusory shape for a prolonged period of time suffered from his residual death power. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were humans or outsiders.

    Many Saint domain experts who were gazing at the Bone Emperor¡¯s illusory shape, like Dong Qisong and Jing Feiyang, were losing their life auras without knowing it.

    Only after hearing Scotte¡¯s exmation did they snap back to reality and realize what was going on.

    All of them retrieved their gazes at the first possible moment.

    To their relief, they found that as long as they didn¡¯t look at the Bone Emperor¡¯s illusory shape, it seemed that it wouldn¡¯t be considered offensive, and they would be spared from the influence of the death aura.

    ¡°Sword Chirp!¡±

    As soon as Yin Xingtian let out a soft cry, the glorious Godspan Sword Formation that looked like a peacock¡¯s spread tail flew towards Grand Monarch Gray Bones, chirping joyfully as it did.

    The Bone Emperor¡¯s illusory shape transformed from the Bone Shatterer¡¯s death aura suddenly changed.

    It morphed into a pale-gray heaven and earth, where countless skeletons piled up in burial grounds and had their residual power converted into death power.

    The tens of thousands of chirping swords of the Godspan Sword Formation were temporarily lost within the realm of death.

    Apparently, only in Grand Monarch Gray Bones¡¯ hands could this precious tool of the Bonebrutes manifest its true might, so much so that it could even suppress the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s wondrous Godspan Sword Formation for a bit.

    Grand Monarch Gray Bones¡¯ eyes turned to look down at the Realm Sea and said, ¡°You¡¯re toote.¡±

    It appeared that he had made a wise decision by not massacring the human Qi warriors that were gathered at the Seven Stars Realm Sea upon arrival, but rather focusing on cracking the portal built by the Voidspirits with the power of the Bone Shatterer.

    He had cracked the defensive mechanism of the portal before Yin Xingtian and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs had arrived.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    High waves rose in the Seven Stars Realm Sea as numerous shadows could be seen swarming at the bottom of the sea, as if beings from the Void World were on the verge of crossing the portal into the Mortal World.

    Most of the Qi warriors from the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, who were aware of the strength of the three major races of the Void World, were apprehensive about the situation, and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    ¡°Damn it!"

    ¡°Miss Pei isn¡¯t here. Nie Tian is fighting in the Domain of Endless Snow. None of us here can stop the portal from opening.¡±

    ¡°Once the portal is opened, doesn¡¯t that mean the three powerful races of the Void World will be able to swarm into our world?¡±

    However, there were also Qi warriors from the other domains who had no idea how dangerous the Void World really was that couldn¡¯t wait for the portal to open so they could go look for Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir in the Void World.

    Even though they were also concerned about the invasion of the three major races of the Void World, they looked forward to exploring the Void World themselves.

    The level of the Seven Stars Realm Sea started to descend at an rming rate.

    All of the lost energies poured into the portal at the bottom of the sea to open it bit by bit.

    After a short while, the portal at the bottom of the sea was slowly revealed under everyone¡¯s gazes.

    However, Yin Xingtian and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs were still caught up in their fight against Grand Monarch Gray Bones, who swung the Bone Shatterer madly.

    Many powerful experts who had paid heavy prices to set up branches at the Seven Stars Realm Sea grew feverish upon seeing the portal cracking open thanks to Grand Monarch Gray Bones¡¯ effort.

    ¡°The portal!¡±

    ¡°It seems the portal is opening soon!¡±

    ¡°On the other side of it lies the Void World, the magical ce where there is Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir!¡±

    ¡°All of the heads of the four great sects went to the Void World! It¡¯s a ce that holds countless secrets and precious materials!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! They¡¯ve firmly controlled the gateway to the Void World and seized all that they¡¯ve gained from it. It¡¯s never even urred to them to share their gains with us! Perhaps that¡¯s the key reason why our sects could never rise to their heights!¡±

    ¡°Resources! The resources they gained from the Void World!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    A dozen Saint domain and Void domain Qi warriors dove at all risks towards the bottom of the Realm Sea, the fire of greed burning in their eyes.

    The way they saw it, the earlier they entered the Void World, the faster they would be able to harvest precious resources, and the closer they would be to finding Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    You Qimiao, You Qimiao, and Master Blood Spirit¡¯s breakthroughs in cultivation had made them see the value of Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir; it was a precious treasure that could help them enter the God domain, for heaven¡¯s sake!

    ...

    In the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Nie Tian was covered in wounds from his battle against Grand Monarch Bloodlust. However, none of the cuts were bleeding, but rather had blood strings weaving inside of them.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    All of a sudden, he sensed that the five evil gods, with which he had formed soul connections, were gathering their soul fragments and lost memories again.

    His expression flickered.

    All of the evil gods¡¯ soul fragments and lost memories that had been scattered in the Spirit World and the Mortal World had been absorbed into the three Spirit Pearls by that brilliant grand monarch in Phantasm history, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    There shouldn¡¯t be any soul fragments or lost memories of the evil gods left in the Mortal World and the Spirit World now.

    He instantly realized that the situation in the Seven Stars Realm Sea must have gone out of control, and the portal must have been opened, which was why the five evil gods¡¯ soul fragments and lost memories had flowed in from the Void World.

    ¡°Damn it!"

    As tough as he was, he was slightly rattled upon realizing that the portal had opened.

    His pupils gradually turned blood-red as his gaze shifted between Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who he was fighting, and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was fighting You Qimiao in the depths of the void.

    ¡°I need grand monarch flesh auras!¡±

    As he took a deep breath, a fierce flesh aura rapidly built up in his chest.

    He believed that, given the wonders and might of his life bloodline, if he could obtain the flesh auras of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, and the other grand monarchs here, he would be able to lift his battle prowess to a new level within a short period of time!

    If he could lift his battle prowess above that of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, he might have a chance to stop the three powerful races from the Void World even if they poured in through the portal.

 Chapter 1535: Grand Monarch Unholy Wind Has An Undeserved Title

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After the portal opened, the soul fragments and memory imprints of the five evil gods came roaring out in a way that ordinary people couldn¡¯t perceive, seemingly ignoring theyers of spatial restrictions.

    Perhaps it was because the five evil gods were strong enough!

    They were strong enough to instinctively channel their fragmentary memories and soul awareness from the Void World as long as the portal was open.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, his five sub-souls corresponding to the five evil gods could clearly see that their souls were gradually bingplete.

    Thepleteness of their souls meant that they could use all the bloodline talents and soul magics that they had mastered before their deaths.

    Due to thepleteness of the memory imprints, a new bloodline talent emerged in the soul of evil god of fear, who now made a move. ¡°Fear Howl!¡±

    Its ferocious terrifying body let out a howl from his soul at Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    As sound waves and soul power condensed, hundreds of soul symbols flew from its mouth. Each and every one of them was filled with fear and terror.

    Listening to the howl, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind uncontrobly let out a scream of terror.

    A momentter, Nie Tian suddenly discovered that fine cracks had appeared in the innate prismatic crystal between his eyebrows as the evil god of fear howled.

    He was tremendously shocked.

    All Phantasms had an inherent prismatic crystal like the one between his eyebrows.

    They were the key to their use of soul magics and their ability to connect their souls and bloodlines. The prismatic crystal was like their third eye, enabling them to see soul power fluctuations that were invisible to normal eyes.

    The cracks in his prismatic crystal made Grand Monarch Unholy Wind realize that he was in danger.

    He hurried to contact Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits, hoping that he would quicklye to the Domain of Endless Snow to rescue him.

    Unfortunately, with the opening of the portal, all the five evil gods¡¯ strength was skyrocketing.

    As their memories recovered and their souls became more and moreplete, not only the evil god of fear, but the evil gods of bloodlust, hatred, rage, and despair could also use brand new bloodline talents and soul magics now.

    The evil god of bloodlust, who had sharp spikes all over his body, shook itself like a giant hedgehog. In anguage that did not belong to the Phantasms, it shouted in a deep voice, ¡°Killing Blood Light Refinement!¡±

    Like a shower of swords, the sharp spikes darted violently toward Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    A bloodthirsty flesh power poured out from the spikes. It was so frightening that it looked like it could prate heaven and earth.

    ¡°Pupils of Despair!¡± The evil god of despair growled, its eyes fixed on Grand Monarch Unholy Wind like two strange and dangerous cyan suns. A connection between their souls was instantly established.

    The moment the evil god of despair looked into Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s eyes, his fighting will vanishedpletely.

    His heart was filled with despair, and he just wanted to surrender and submit himself to the rule of the five evil gods.

    The evil gods of hatred and rage cried out in the ancientnguage of the Netherspirits to summon powers that allowed them to connect their souls and bloodlines and cast them on Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    ¡°Endless Resentment!¡±

    ¡°Power of Wrath!¡±

    Relying on the Nether River of the Phantasms, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had been forcibly improved to ate tenth grade grand monarch. Therefore, his foundation hadn¡¯t stabilized yet. Now, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the bloodline and soul powers that the five evil gods released on him.

    Nie Tian was a little surprised.

    In the vision of his five sub-souls, he only saw that the five evil gods had suddenly made a move, and turned fivepletely different powers of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust into a flesh aura rampage mixed with negative emotions that engulfed Grand Monarch Unholy Wind.

    FIZZ!

    A strange sound came out of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s soul, as if it were being refined or devoured.

    Then, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s flesh aura sea suddenly copsed and fell apart with a bang.

    As the flesh aura sea of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who had barely be ate tenth grade grand monarch, perished, his body became the target of the five evil gods.

    At the moment, even the Ripper Behemoth seemed to notice Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, and want a share of his body.

    This caused an uproar in the crowd.

    Some of the outsiders in the Domain of Endless Snow who had just been overjoyed at the opening of the portal found that Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who had brought the good news, had failed to fend off the attacks of the five evil puppets unleashed by Nie Tian, and his flesh aura sea had unexpectedly exploded.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind died!¡±

    ¡°The high chieftain is dead!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind!¡±

    Then, he sent a message to the evil gods through his five sub-souls.

    The stars seemed to suddenly shift and the distance between things seemed to change.

    SWISH!

    A river of bright starlight shed by and disappeared right in front of Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust instantly froze.

    Nie Tian, who he was fighting, disappeared all of a sudden, which put him at a loss.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who had been stimted by Nie Tian, was releasing his flesh aura to its full extent, and intending to have a sound battle against him, but was now very unhappy. He shouted in a loud voice that seemed to break heaven and earth. ¡°Nie Tian! Come out!¡±

    However, he was answered by five hideous and terrifying evil gods, who released auras of hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust.

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s residual flesh power was still lingering on the five evil gods.

    Nie Tian had already left Grand Monarch Bloodlust for Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s corpse by virtue of the power of Starshift, andunched Life Drain!

    Thousands of crimson flesh aura strings instantly pierced into Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s body, like shining blood threads.

    GLUG!

    Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s flesh aura ran along those blood threads and into Nie Tian like flowing rivers.

    The light of excitement suddenly lit up in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils. ¡°Good! Good! This tremendous essence of flesh aura is exactly what I desire and what I need to be stronger!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The floating continent suddenly stopped, and didn¡¯t advance anymore.

    The sound of the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s panting came out of the floating continent.

    Obviously, had it not been for Nie Tian, thete tenth grade Phantasm grand monarch would have been dragged into the floating continent and quickly consumed by the Ripper Behemoth.

    Only Nie Tian could make it give up such a great meal.

    The floating continent paused for a few seconds after seeing Nie Tian make his move to absorb Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s flesh aura. Then, it even released an air current that contained a tearing force to iste that area of the starry river.

    With its help, no one in the Domain of Endless Snow could stop Nie Tian.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons, the only one who could stop him, was caught up in his battle against You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, while Grand Monarch Bloodlust was now besieged by the five evil gods.

    The five evil gods divided and devoured Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s soul, which enabled them to channel their own memories more efficiently.

    They improved their powers every second, unleashing brand new soul magics that gave Grand Monarch Bloodlust a headache.

    Isted in the tearing currents...

    Due to the power of Life Drain, there didn¡¯t seem to be the slightest moisture in Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s skinny body, as if all his blood had been drained.

    His soul had long been divided and devoured by the five evil gods, who had been his nemesis.

    Thanks to Nie Tian¡¯s Life Drain and Life Purification, his flesh aura was helping Nie Tian grow stronger and stronger, expanding from eight thousand meters towards nine thousand meters, as well as tempering and strengthening his body.

    Soon, Nie Tian sensed Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s flesh aura flow cken. ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind was ate tenth grade grand monarch, but his flesh aura isn¡¯t as vigorous as a Demon grand monarch. His real power and his main source of strength should have been his soul!¡±

    He frowned slightly,paring Grand Monarch Unholy Wind to his former rival Grand Monarch Bloodlust, and then immediately realized that the flesh aura Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who the Nether River had forcibly made into ate tenth grade grand monarch, was not strong enough.

    Suddenly, he looked down on Grand Monarch Unholy Wind in his heart. ¡°He¡¯s a dilettantete tenth grade grand monarch. No wonder he was so vulnerable. If he had been Grand Monarch Nether River, the missing chief of the Phantasms, the battle would not have ended like this.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not just Grand Monarch Unholy Wind. Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Domain of Endless Snow has also yet to regain his peak strength. It was also with the help of the Tree of Life that Grand Monarch Primal Wood was promoted to ate tenth grade grand monarch after Grand Monarch Life Wood died in an ident. Thesete tenth grade grand monarchs can¡¯t bepared to those who have gone to the Void World. This may be a good opportunity for me!¡±

 Chapter 1536: Annihilation?

    In the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Seeing that the sea had be shallow and the portal had emerged, those Saint and Void domain experts of various domains who had paidrge numbers of spirit stones to gain footholds around the Seven Stars Realm Sea were driven by greed, and rushed at it recklessly.

    BAM!

    A dark purple Demon light instantly erupted from within the indistinct portal.

    Gold, silver, and cyan light suddenly burst out from the bottom of the sea.

    The spluttering rainbow light was the fleeting light from broken void and saint domains, which meant that the human experts down there had been killed in an instant.

    Only then did extremely shrill screamse from the portal¡¯s location.

    Zhao Shanling looked down, his eyes full of shock.

    He saw a Saint domain human expert who was proficient in water power desperately try to steer his blue saint domain and break away from the portal.

    Just then, a tender arm stretched out of the portal.

    The arm that was covered withplicated, borate purple patterns gave the Qi warrior who was at the middle Saint domain a seemingly casual tug before his blue water domain was easily torn apart like thin sheets of paper.

    Then, the arm tugged back and forth a few times, and his saint domain waspletely shredded, along with the Qi warrior¡¯s body.

    A Demonic light shed, and his soul exploded with a pop, like a balloon, before turning into light smoke that quickly dissipated into the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The level of the sea rose slightly.

    WHOOSH!

    Soon, Agatha of the Devils passed through the portal and floated motionlessly in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. ¡°The Mortal World, the treasurednd we¡¯ve been trying to conquer for hundreds of thousands of years!¡±

    In the sea, Saint and Void domain Qi warriors died one after another.

    With their deaths, their void and saint domains broke and merged into the Seven Stars Realm Sea, bing drops of energy-infused sea water in it, enabling the portal to remain open more stably and longer.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression suddenly changed. As Yin Xingtian and the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits fought Grand Monarch Gray Bone, he kept shing back and forth.

    With each sh, he opened a spatial rift on a dead star. ¡°Go! Leave the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries as soon as possible!¡±

    Dong Qisong, Jing Feiyang, Qu Mingde, and the many Saint domain experts who had attached themselves to Nie Tian knew clearly how strong the outsider races of the Void World were. Seeing the portals open, they immediately realized that they had lost the battle.

    Heeding Zhao Shanling¡¯s warning, they immediately arranged for their disciples to evacuate through the spatial rifts that he had opened.

    Spotting the first Devil of the Void Worlding out of the portal, Ji Yuanquan, who had rushed over from the Domain of Endless Snow, also knew the outsider races couldn¡¯t be stopped anymore.

    Like Zhao Shanling, he opened up spatial rifts for the humans who had nothing to do with Nie Tian, but were frightened by the deaths of their elders at the portal, to evacuate from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Grand Monarch Gray Bone¡¯s rampantughter echoed through the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The Bone Shatterer had helped him survive for a while under the joint attacks of Yin Xingtian, Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch.

    SWOOSH!

    A tenth-grade grand monarch Bonedrude from the Void World suddenly charged out of the portal at the bottom of the sea.

    As soon as he came out, Grand Monarch Gray Boneughed even more happily.

    Yin Xingtian and the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits suddenly felt depressed, because they were well-aware that as the grand monarchs of the Void World showed up one after another, a catastrophe would inevitably fall on the human race and Ancientspirits.

    ¡°The battle in the Domain of Endless Snow hasn¡¯t ended yet. Now, the Seven Stars Realm Sea has fallen.¡±

    Yin Xingtian manipted the Godspan Sword Formation with his soul awareness. He looked down and saw Agatha of the Devils slowly stepping out of the sea.

    He instantly knew that even he could not stay for long in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Otherwise, he would be torn to pieces by the many grand monarchs of the three outsider races of the Void World that were swarming in.

    ...

    The Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes who had fled from the Blood Realm had received guidance from Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s dying cry.

    ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    ¡°Our nsmen have descended into the Seven Stars Realm Sea from our ancestralnds! The Seven Stars Realm Sea is full of our reinforcements now!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    They all knew that when the Ripper Behemoth ran amuck and hunted them down, the only way out was the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Hence, they all thought up every possible method to leave for the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    With the help of Zhao Shanling and Ji Yuanquan, the humans were evacuating the Seven Stars Realm Sea and escaping from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    By contrast, all the outsiders were heading towards the Seven Stars Realm Sea, hoping to join the three outsider races of the Void World in their efforts to make the entire Mortal World into their domains with overwhelming momentum!

    In the gray tearing currents, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s dry body was affected by the tearing aura and turned to ash.

    Nie Tian¡¯s body was shining with bloody light as he gradually grewrger andrger. ¡°Not enough, this isn¡¯t enough. The flesh aura of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, who had an undeserved title, isn¡¯t enough for me to sessfully temper my body to the limit!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian leapt out of the gray currents in his giant form.

    As soon as he came out, he heard cries of surprise from all directions.

    ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea has fallen!¡±

    ¡°The three outsider races of the Void World have entered the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡±

    ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries is done for!¡±

    Nie Tian heard cries everywhere, and saw that many Qi warriors, who were finally driving the Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends out of the Domain of Endless Snow after the Ripper Behemoth had made its impact, were in a panic.

    Most of those people had also wanted to go to the Void World to vie for the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir.

    But now...

    After hurrying back from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, Ji Yuanquan breathed heavily and shouted, ¡°A dozen grand monarchs have invaded! The Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes of the Void World are far stronger than we thought! In my judgment, the Devils are probably much more powerful than Demons at the same grade!¡±

    Behind him, the opened spatial rift was hissing.

    Secondster, Chatvic, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, and Scotte, who had shrunken their forms, arrived through it. Once the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits stepped into the Domain of Endless Snow, they regained their original shapes.

    Their bodies had deep wounds on them, and were wreathed in death auras.

    The wounds continuously sputtered with Demon light and death power that ate away at their life power.

    Scott¡¯s dragon voice was full of unease as he said, ¡°The grand monarchs of the three outsider races from the Void World have all appeared in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. Before I came, I saw that thousands of warriors, beasts, and chariots of the three outsider races had swarmed in through the portal. If they join forces with the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes of the Spirit World, it¡¯s likely that...¡±

    He didn¡¯t go on, but everyone knew what he wanted to say.

    It was likely that the human race, Ancientspirits, and Floragrims of the Spirit World wouldn¡¯t have enough power to contend with the three outsider races of the Void World, and would end up being annihted.

    Because the portal had been opened, the five evil gods¡¯ strength had soared with the soul fragments and lost memories had gathered. Now, they tore a piece of flesh off Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s body.

    After that piece of flesh was torn off, it morphed into a doppelganger of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, wanting to merge into his original body.

    Nie Tian snorted and quickly seized the doppelganger. ¡°Life Drain!¡±

 Chapter 1537: Struggle

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s doppelganger roared in Nie Tian¡¯s palm and burst forth with dazzling Demon light in an attempt to activate his bloodline talents.

    ¡°Noisy,¡± Nie Tian said, looking impatient. His hand closed, and then slowly tightened.

    CRACKLE!

    The cracking of bones rang out as purple blood came out through his fingers.

    Nevertheless, due to Life Drain, the blood didn¡¯t leave his hand, but prated into his skin and veins, fused into his flesh, and improved his strength.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s true self was strong enough to fight Nie Tian, but how could the doppelganger that had been transformed from a piece of flesh torn off by the five evil gods possibly match Nie Tian¡¯s strength?

    Moreover, after refining Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s body, not only had Nie Tian recovered the power he had previously consumed, but his strength had also risen to a new level.

    ¡°Noisy and boring,¡± Nie Tian cursed and charged upwards to attack Grand Monarch Bloodlust with the five evil gods.

    At the same time, he said to Zu Guangyao and the others, ¡°Kill the remaining outsiders in the Domain of Endless Snow as quickly as possible.¡±

    Ye Wenhan and the others nodded. ¡°OK!¡±

    At the same time, a strand of Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness was also passed on to the Ripper Behemoth.

    When the Ripper Behemoth lurking in the floating continent learned that the Seven Stars Realm Sea had fallen and the three outsider races of the Void World had descended one by one, it roared from the interior of the floating continent.

    Suddenly, pieces ofnd fragments from the top continent drifted away from the floating continent.

    The floating continent had been a superrge scale realm. Just the fragments of its upper part wereparable to huge meteorites in the starry river, and they were vested with the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura.

    The pieces ofnd fragments weighed more than a thousand pounds, and their tearing power was matchlessly overwhelming.

    Grand Monarch Divine Wing of the Birdmen was suddenly struck by pieces of thend fragments.

    Feathers fell from her feathered wings like snowkes, glittering with precious bloodline light that was soon extinguished like a brightmp. Under the tearing force, she let out a mournful, miserable wail.

    Her flesh aura seasted only a few seconds before copsing.

    As the floating continent quietly approached, the snowke-like feathers fell freely to the continent.

    Her beautiful body plummeted towards the floating continent like a cannonball, as if it had been bound by gravity.

    Her rapid shrill screams of terror became stato.

    Before she could even touch the ground, her body was reduced to a shower of blood.

    SWISH!

    Another piece ofnd shooting from the floating continent struck Grand Monarch ck Armor heavily.

    The moment the armor-like scales of the chief of the ckscales were impacted by thend fragment, they burst forth with brilliant dark light.

    Immediately afterwards, a scream of pain rang out.

    Dou Tianchen took a closer look, and saw gray cyclones that contained the profound meaning of tearing power had infiltrated through the cracks between Grand Monarch ck Armor¡¯s armor-like scales like lightning bolts.

    Then, they destroyed his body from inside.

    A python-like tentacle extended from the floating continent and suddenly wrapped around Grand Monarch ck Armor¡¯s thick waist and slowly pulled him into the floating continent.

    In the gray currents, the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s terrifying colossal body emerged from the deep sea.

    All those who looked at its vague colossal figure through the gray currents held their breath subconsciously.

    ¡°It¡¯s simply too big!¡± Dou Tianchen said, and then found his own voice very strange. ¡°This kind of behemoth may be the real weapon to fight the three outsider races of the Void World! No wonder the three outsider races of the Void World never dared to invade the behemoths¡¯ territory in the era when they thrived.¡±

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The sound of the Ripper Behemoth crushing bones in the floating continent rang out eerily.

    After being taken to the floating continent, even Grand Monarch Divine Wing and Grand Monarch ck Armor¡¯s screaming stopped.

    It seemed that the chiefs of the Birdmen and ckscales, who had been persuaded to join the operation by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, had already be the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s food.

    The Star Behemoth bone fell back into Nie Tian¡¯s hand again. ¡°Bloodline! Domain Split!¡±

    As soon as his bloodline talent Life Blend was released, the bone immediately absorbed his tremendous flesh aura, and thus disyed the Domain Split talent in a more perfect form.

    Rosy clouds drifted toward Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Each rosy cloud was made of fine blood threads. Grand Monarch Bloodlust was almost drowned by the strong brute force of the ancient primordial aura that could kill all creatures and dominate the three worlds.

    Enveloped in the beautiful rosy clouds, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s flesh aura sea quickly melted, like ice and snow that were being burned by fire.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s bloodline was also subdued by the flesh aura from the Star Behemoth bone.

    After his flesh aura sea was broken by Domain Split, the five evil gods joined hands to m, scratch, and tear at his Demon body, ripping pieces of flesh off his body.

    Each piece of flesh ripped off by the five evil gods was absorbed smoothly by Nie Tian.

    As soon as the chunks of flesh fell into his palm, their pure flesh power was mercilessly taken away, and Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s connection with them was cut off.

    Every piece of flesh contained flesh power that he had umted for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. It was the origin of his strength.

    With every lost piece of flesh, his fighting strength was diminished.

    However, after Nie Tian got his flesh, he refined it in a very short time.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust could see that Nie Tian in his giant form was growing little by little like an ancient tree by virtue of his flesh power!

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust bellowed. He was extremely unwilling to be beaten by Nie Tian like this, and unwilling to see his own flesh be the energy that made Nie Tian stronger.

    Moreover, the five evil gods that besieged him were clearly getting stronger and stronger.

    The soul magics that they disyed were bing more and more borate. Even though he was very familiar with the Phantasms, he couldn¡¯t see through their soul magics.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s heart was filled with doubts. ¡°No, this isn¡¯t right. None of this is!¡±

    He soon realized that he was no longer able to fight against Nie Tian, whose strength had soared again with the five evil gods¡¯ help. For the first time, he thought that he was no match for Nie Tian.

    ¡°The Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡± With this thought, his gaze seemed to prateyers of space and see in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust got excited again, andughed, ¡°Ha ha! They¡¯ve arrived indeed!¡±

    Instead of stubbornly staying to fight Nie Tian to the death, Grand Monarch Bloodlust tried hard to fly towards the spatial rift connecting to the Seven Stars Realm Sea that Ji Yuanquan had opened.

    He wanted to join the Devils of the Void World in the Seven Stars Realm Sea!

    Ji Yuanquan sneered. ¡°Nice try.¡±

    Because of his words, the spatial rift that Grand Monarch Bloodlust was aiming for suddenly began to close.

    Just as the spatial rift was about to close, a sharp cry that could tear eardrums suddenly sounded from within it. ¡°Open!¡±

    A white arm full of death power stuck out from within the closing rift, and forcibly reopened it.

 Chapter 1538: A Hopeless Situation?

    An outsider with white bones was about to pass through the spatial rift and enter the Domain of Endless Snow.

    It seemed that he wasughing sinisterly as clouds of death energy exploded in the spatial rift. ¡°The Mortal World!¡±

    The spatial power that Ji Yuanquan had released and the soul awareness that he had fused into it were both impacted and suppressed by the death energy.

    His soul awareness was controlling the spatial power to close the spatial rift. The explosion of these two powers meant that Ji Yuanquan had lost control over the spatial rift he had opened.

    He could only watch the Bonedrudes of the Void World make their way into the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The eyes of Grand Monarch Bloodlust suddenly lit up as he came roaring. ¡°Void World! Bonedrudes!¡±

    Then he hurried to shout, ¡°I am Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons in the Spirit World! Please inform the Void World of our defeat in the Domain of Endless Snow!¡±

    The Bonedrude who was halfway through the spatial rift said aloud, ¡°Agatha is right behind me. Rest assured. We¡¯ll charge into the Domain of Endless Snow one by one.¡±

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    At this moment, pieces ofnd fragments suddenly shot out of the floating continent.

    The fragments flew into the gaping spatial rift with extremely fast speed and terrifying momentum, like falling meteorites.

    The bone body of the Bonedrude that was filled with death aura was knocked back into the spatial passage by thend fragments.

    ¡°The power of a Star Behemoth!¡± the Bonedrude squealed inside the spatial rift.

    Like meteorites, more fragments bombarded the Bonedrude one after the other, and made him gradually disappear.

    Ji Yuanquan looked very surprised and ted. ¡°I¡¯m back in control!¡±

    He hurriedly released a wisp of his soul awareness to drive his spatial power to close the spatial rift.

    A grim look appeared in the eyes of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who had been looking forward to the three outsider races of the Void World descending on the Domain of Endless Snow one by one.

    The other outsiders who hadn¡¯t fled the Domain of Endless Snow were all disappointed to see the spatial rift close.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian slowly descended.

    The five evil gods snarled, raised billowing Nether Qi, and locked their eyes onto Grand Monarch Bloodlust once again, wanting to kill the grand monarch of the Demons on the spot.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who was battered and bruised, suddenly morphed into a purple lightning bolt and fled.

    As soon as he fled, the other outsiders were utterly defeated and dispersed, no matter their grades and ranks.

    Some of the outsiders who considered themselves strong retreated to remote areas of the Domain of Endless Snow, or left the Domain of Endless Snow for the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Meanwhile, other weaker ones that were at the seventh or eighth grade returned to their ancestralnds in the Spirit World through the spatial passages through which they hade, where they would wait for the three outsider races of the Void World to take over the Mortal World so that they could return.

    Ji Yuanquan, who had returned from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, said with a solemn face, ¡°Nie Tian! I left spatial rifts in the Seven Stars Realm Sea for those humans to leave as soon as possible. I¡¯ve also informed and urged the five sects and three ns in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to leave the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries as soon as possible by means of teleportation portals. However...¡±

    He paused a bit before continuing, ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries borders the Domain of the Falling Stars and Domain of Heaven Python. The strong Qi warriors can likely evacuate, but there are arge number of mortals in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries who will hardly be able to escape. In addition, the three outsider races of the Void World are likely going to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars and Domain of Forbidden Heaven as well.¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian¡¯s heart suddenly became very heavy.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to be hard to wipe out the outsiders who have fled,¡± Ye Wenhan of the Heaven Span Pavilion said softly.

    Then, he waved his hand to beckon for everyone to gather around. ¡°How strong are those from the Void World at the Seven Stars Realm Sea? Do we have a chance of winning if we join against them?¡±

    ¡°Not a chance,¡± Ji Yuanquan replied with a wry smile. ¡°A dozen grand monarchs, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, and the outsiders from the Spirit World. Considering our strength, it¡¯s impossible to fight them.¡±

    ¡°What if we join hands with the Ancientspirits?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    Everyone naturally turned to look at Grand Monarch Primal Wood, Chatvic, Scotte and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, who were all grand monarchs.

    Being watched, the three Ancientspirits were very ufortable.

    Nie Tian, who had just fought a fierce battle, looked up and found that You Qimiao and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had already been carried away by their fight, and could no longer be seen.

    He was silent for a while before saying to Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the others, ¡°If the outsider races of the Void World join forces with the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes of the Spirit World to destroy our race and your races, neither we nor you will be able to stay out of it.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Scotte of the Dragons spoke.

    He hesitated, and then said, ¡°Whether we join hands or not, we don¡¯t have enough power to fight against them at present.¡±

    Chatvic agreed, ¡°He¡¯s right. Even if we, the Ancientspirits, join hands with you, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re no match for them, unless our high chieftains and yourte God domain human experts return. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to fight against the three outsider races that areing for us.¡±

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch nodded.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t fight, where can we go?¡± Ye Wenhan asked loudly.

    The three Ancientspirit grand monarchs looked at Nie Tian with twinkling eyes.

    After freezing for a while, Nie Tian realized what they meant to say and sneered. ¡°The Silent Star Sea? Do you think the Silent Star Sea is safe? The Nether River flowed all the way into the Silent Star Sea. Do you think the Netherspirits will just forget about it?¡±

    ¡°No, we are willing to fight,¡± Chatvic came forward and spoke. ¡°But we hope that our nsmen with low bloodline grades will have a ce to live. If they¡¯re moved to the Silent Star Sea, we will have no scruples, and will fight the outsiders of the Void World to the end.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we need to ensure the continuation of our races,¡± Scotte chimed in.

    The message in Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch¡¯s eyes was the same as they both looked at Nie Tian.

    Listening to the conversation between Nie Tian and the Ancientspirit grand monarchs, some humans who weren¡¯t in the know were full of doubts as they discussed and asked each other, ¡°The Silent Star Sea is a safend?¡±

    Even some people from the four ancient great sects were unaware of the Silent Star Sea¡¯s existence, or the fact that Nie Tian could ess it.

    After thinking for a while, Nie Tian replied, ¡°I promise. I¡¯ll allow you to move your nsmen with low bloodline grades in the Spirit World into the Silent Star Sea. But your experts will join hands with us to fight the outsider races from the Void World.¡±

    ¡°That was our original idea,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood aired his opinion.

    Scotte sighed deeply. ¡°Even if we lose, even if we all die in the Mortal World, as long as our race survives, our sacrifice will be worth it. I didn¡¯t expect that the outsider races of the Void World would join forces to attack the Mortal World when the Spirit World is perishing. It seems that we won¡¯t be able to escape a troubled era.¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily,¡± Nie Tian spoke in a deep voice.

    Scott was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    Nie Tian snorted. ¡°Who said we¡¯re bound to lose? Have you forgotten that there¡¯s a ce called the Doomed Star Sea? Have you forgotten that the experts there have stopped the Void World outsiders from crossing the Doomed Star Sea to make trouble in the Mortal World?¡±

    ¡°The Doomed Star Sea!¡±

 Chapter 1539: Reentering The Blood Realm

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Countless Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits from the Void World filled the area above the Realm Sea, along with ancient beasts, including Devilme War Beasts, Netherworld Birds, and Bloodhell Ligers.

    All of these beasts needed Nether Qi, Devil Qi, and Death Qi to survive, and were the most trusted battle partners of the Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits.

    Some of them exuded flesh auras even stronger than their masters.

    An enormous wheel that was thousands of meters tall and seemed to have been forged from dozens of different kinds of metals could be seen slowly rotating high above the Realm Sea.

    It was engraved with the Devils¡¯ ancient talismans, the Netherspirits¡¯ soul symbols, and the Bonedrudes¡¯ secretnguage of death. As it rotated, all of those talismans, symbols, and secret scripts shone dazzlingly like innumerable stars.

    At the same time as the wheel rotated, not only the energy in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, but the energy in the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries seemed to be affected, and started to undergo great changes.

    The vast starry river in the Mortal World was filled with spiritual Qi, Phantasm Qi, Demon Qi, me power, and star power, along with numerous other types of power and energy.

    But now, all sorts of powers were being forcibly converted into pure Devil qi, Nether Qi, and Death Qi.

    Those special powers that couldn¡¯t be converted seemed to dissipate like smoke as the enormous wheel rotated.

    The wheel rotated high in the void in a dominating fashion, as if it were being pushed by thousands of evil gods and forcibly reshaping the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries.

    HOWL!

    Many spirit beasts that lived near the Seven Stars Realm Sea and carried special flesh auras died violent and sudden deaths.

    After their deaths, their residual power dispersed into the starry river and was converted into Death Qi.

    The Devil Qi, Nether Qi, and Death Qi were ckish-violet, misty cyan, and pale-gray in color.

    They rapidly condensed into clusters that flew towards the seven dead stars that surrounded the Realm Sea.

    The numerous splendid stone pavilions and pces that various human sects had built on the dead stars were crushed, their protective wards and shields reduced to bits of light that dissipated into the starry river.

    d in a suit of demonic armor made of purple divine metal and sitting astride a gorgeous monster that carried a Purple Glede bloodline, Agatha of the Devils nced around and said in an awe-inspiring fashion, ¡°The Void Energy Converting Wheel is a mighty weapon of war indeed.¡±

    The Void Energy Converting Wheel was a special weapon the Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits had prepared for their invasion of the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    This mighty weapon of war could convert a wide array of powers, and turn realms and domains into the Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits¡¯ home courts.

    BOOM!

    A Bonedrude suddenly flew backwards out of a gaping spatial rift.

    ¡°Lord Bone Posterity!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bone Posterity!¡±

    Both Grand Monarch Gray Bones of the Bonebrutes and Agatha of the Devils eximed in shock, as if they hadn¡¯t expected that the Bonedrude expert would fail to enter the Domain of Endless Snow through that spatial rift.

    That spatial rift rapidly healed and vanished.

    Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s shrill voice then rumbled out. ¡°It was that Star Behemoth you people refer to as the Ripper Behemoth. It bombarded me when I was halfway through.¡±

    ¡°Damn!¡± Many Bonedrudes cursed, standing on war chariots made of bones or sitting astride bone horses.

    ¡°A Star Behemoth?¡± Agatha the Devil asked with a cold look in her eyes. ¡°We did pay heavy prices dealing with Star Behemoths during distant eras. But times have changed. We¡¯ve never stopped moving forward. Now, even Star Behemoths aren¡¯t unbeatable anymore!¡±

    With a cunningugh, Grand Monarch Bone Posterity chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right. We¡¯ve long since found an effective way to deal with Star Behemoths!¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately, the Voidspirits turned against us,¡± Agatha said with a cold snort. ¡°If we still had those spatial power experts on our side, we would have made our way into the Spirit World and the Mortal World long ago. Not only did they betray us, but they even made great efforts to thwart our invasion ns.¡±

    ¡°Anyways, Pei Yukong is dying,¡± Grand Monarch Bone Posterity said. ¡°Once he does, the Voidspirits won¡¯t be a problem anymore.¡±

    Agatha gave hermand. ¡°Now let¡¯s sweep across the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, then we¡¯ll turn it into our stronghold from where we¡¯ll take one human domain after another, until we conquer the entire Mortal World. Also, we¡¯ve got to establish connections with the Demons, Bonebrutes, and Phantasms, so we can transfer information and forces effectively.¡±

    Grand Monarch Bone Posterity issued the same order to his nsmen.

    WHOOSH!

    A sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits suddenly flew out of the Realm Sea below.

    Even though it was only a sub-soul, both Agatha and Grand Monarch Bone Posterity turned to face it with respect.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Unholy Wind has perished,¡± the sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said. ¡°There¡¯s this hybrid named Nie Tian in the Mortal World that you need to pay special attention to. I don¡¯t know how he did it, but he managed to revive five mighty grand monarchs of my people and make them fight for him.¡±

    Agatha¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°Nie Tian... I captured him alive once in the Void World. He¡¯s special indeed. We do need to be extra careful with him.¡±

    ¡°There are a few others too,¡± Grand Monarch Gray Bones suggested. ¡°A woman named Dong Li carries the Dark King¡¯s aura.¡±

    Agatha the Devil stood aghast. ¡°Dong Li? The Dark King?¡±

    ...

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society looked spirited and thrilled as he asked, ¡°The Doomed Star Sea?! What do you know, Nie Tian? Is there power in the Doomed Star Sea that can be used to fight the invaders from the Void World?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Doomed Star Sea...?¡± Ye Wenhan said, frowning.

    Zu Guangyao and the others from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce cast their gazes down,plicated expressions appearing on their faces.

    It was a taboo to talk about the human rebels in the Doomed Star Sea. Therefore, no one normally would.

    Was it possible that those who were regarded as crooked by the four great sects and had been either banished or chased to the Doomed Star Sea had formed a force strong enough to contend against the powerful races from the Void World?

    Even though some of them had heard rumors of that secret force recently, they didn¡¯t dare to believe them.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian said, ¡°If wee to a ce where the hills and streams end, (Idiom: at the end of one¡¯s rope) perhaps I¡¯ll take a trip to the Doomed Star Sea. I¡¯ve had a few conversations with Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect. I think those people in the Doomed Star Sea will be willing to help us deal with the outsiders from the Void World. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know how strong they actually are.¡±

    Hearing this, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°If we actuallye to the point where humanity faces annihtion and we have to seek their help, I¡¯ll be willing to put my pride aside and go ask for their help.¡±

    The others, however, remained silent.

    ¡°Now, I need the dead outsiders¡¯ bodies.¡± Nie Tian released his Star Eyes, which then floated in different directions like brightmps in search of outsiders that had been killed by human Qi warriors in battle.

    Most of those outsiders had been at the seventh and eighth grade.

    Outsiders at such grades didn¡¯t interest the Ripper Behemoth.

    However, inrge numbers, they would be helpful for Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline upgrade.

    ¡°You¡¯re free to collect them,¡± Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion said without hesitation. ¡°Other than You Qimiao, your contribution to our victory was the greatest. Since it seems that those dead outsiders won¡¯t be helpful to him, and you¡¯ll y a key role in our future battles, the stronger you be, the better it¡¯ll be for all of us.¡±

    No one opposed him.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Alright then!¡±

    Then, he turned to Dong Li, who was rather exasperated by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s escape, and said, ¡°I¡¯m not good at devising strategies. You guys should discuss how we should fight the invaders from the Void World.¡±

    With these words, he pointed at the floating continent. ¡°The Ripper Behemoth has returned to his senses and won¡¯t lose them again anytime soon. It¡¯ll be a great help to us in the uing battle as well.¡±

    After uttering these words, he started shifting between different areas of the Domain of Endless Snow using Starshift.

    Every time he cast Starshift, one or several new outsider corpses would be tied to his erged form.

    This repeated dozens of times.

    As he returned to the frozennd in the Realm of Falling Snow, there was already a huge pile of dead Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, ckscales, and Birdmen attached to his enormous form.

    ¡°Life Drain! Life Purification!¡±

    He activated his bloodline talents to absorb flesh power from the pile of outsider corpses. Fresh Blood Essence was condensed as his body was further refined and expanded.

    By the time his body grew back to being nine thousand meters tall, and his Blood Essence reached its one thousand drops limit, the Blood Realm that corresponded to his bloodline took the initiative to open its gate for him.

    In the next moment, a wisp of his soul flew into the endless blood sea.

 Chapter 1540: Behemoth Crawlers

    Rich and immense life power filled every corner of the boundless blood sea.

    Innumerable drops of sparkling Blood Essence hade together to form this Life Blood Realm, the origin of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline.

    The wisp of his soul drifted in the blood sea like a balloon floating in the wind.

    A mysterious maic field was emanating pure life power from the depths of the blood sea, wherein there seemed to lie the ultimate truths of life.

    Attracted to it, the wisp of his soul flew directly towards the depths of the blood sea.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Like arrows, numerous beams of the light of life shot from the depths of the blood sea in all directions.

    They either carried profound knowledge and truths about life power, secret methods to cast life magics, or pieces of memories that had been lost to history.

    Many of them hit Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of soul and rapidly vanished, like lightning bolts shing across the sky.

    However, upon the moment of contact, the knowledge and truths of life they carried were imprinted on his soul and became an eternal part of his memories.

    It was just that most of the knowledge they carried was very profound and hard to understand.

    Even though his life bloodline had entered the ninth grade and he had awakened arge number of bloodline talents and magics, he still felt as if he was amidst the clouds and mist. (Idiom: puzzled)

    ¡°What new bloodline magics will I be able to awaken this time?¡±

    Full of anticipation, he did his utmost to approach the heart of the blood sea, where a maic field was emanating the power of the essence of life.

    He had a feeling that if his wisp of soul could reach the heart of the blood sea and see the mysterious essence of life, then he would be able to awaken the most powerful life magics and uncover the greatest secrets of life power.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t spend any time contemting the knowledge that was imprinted on his soul as beams of light shed across and hit his wisp of soul.

    He was well aware that he wouldn¡¯t be able to stay in this endless blood sea for very long.

    Therefore, he had to make full use of his time here to approach the heart of the blood sea wherein therey the essence of life.

    On the outside world, his Blood Essence and soul power were being consumed at an rming rate as he explored his Blood Realm. Sensing this, he grew more and more anxious.

    Even though he could tell that he was already close to the heart of the blood sea, and he could sense the existence of the active maic field of life ahead of him, he just seemed to be unable to reach it.

    ...

    In the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Dong Li, God domain experts from different sects, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs were gathered in the Realm of Crystal Snow to discuss how they would fight against the outsiders from the Void World.

    The Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t take part in the meeting.

    The floating continent flew between different areas of the Domain of Endless Snow as it ferreted out the outsiders that were hiding in different realms and seeking retaliation like digging out earthworms.

    A number of ninth grade Demon and Phantasm grand patriarchs were dragged into the floating continent and became its delicious meals.

    After a while, the entirety of the vast Domain of Endless Snow was purged of outsiders.

    WHOOSH!

    A pale-gray aura gradually spread from the floating continent towards every corner of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Like a shield, it slowly sealed the entire Domain of Endless Snow.

    It was the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s way of protecting it.

    This way, even if those from the Void World who were well-versed in spatial power attempted to enter the Domain of Endless Snow, they would have to break its flesh aura seal first.

    Meanwhile, Ji Yuanquan, Zhao Shanling, and the other human experts could still enter and exit the Domain of Endless Snow freely.

    After doing this, the floating continent flew to the Realm of Falling Snow, where Nie Tian was focused on his cultivation.

    ¡°He¡¯s entered the origin of his bloodline...¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth could cover the entire Domain of Endless Snow with its flesh aura and soul awareness. It was only natural that he could infiltrate the Realm of Falling Snow with its soul awareness and see that Nie Tian was sitting quietly, enveloped in a special blood membrane.

    Thanks to its flesh aura and soul awareness, the Ripper Behemoth suddenly sensed an anomaly. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±

    Millions of strange insects appeared to be screeching in a ce along the border of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    It was a sea of brown insects that were as tiny as flies, which made them almost nonexistentpared to its size.

    However, when millions of them came together, the aura they exuded gave it a sense of danger.

    It was a feeling that they could cause it actual damage.

    Grand monarchs from the Void World suddenly emerged from the sea of innumerable insects. Among them were Agatha of the Devils, Grand Monarch Bone Posterity of the Bonedrudes, and a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, who was the Netherspirit high chieftain. ¡°As we expected, it¡¯s the Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura that¡¯s sealing the Domain of Endless Snow!¡±

    Swarming around Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s enormous bone body, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul, and Agatha, the insects seemed to be working for these grand monarchs.

    Behind the sea of insects stood Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and Grand Monarch Gray Bones.

    Within such a short time, the outsider grand monarchs from the Spirit World had met and reached a mutual understanding with the grand monarchs from the Void World, and made the Domain of Endless Snow their first target.

    In other words, they had decided to get rid of the Ripper Behemoth, which had frustrated them repeatedly, first!

    Rising over the sea of insects, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ soul shadow said to Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Spirit World, ¡°We¡¯ve been looking for ways to deal with the Star Behemoths since the first defeat we suffered from those grim, colossal creatures. Only after searching for countless years did we finally find a way to defeat them, which is through these Behemoth Crawlers.

    ¡°Behemoth Crawlers carry the bloodlines of neen different kinds of rare insects, including Bone-devouring Leeches, Metal-devouring Bugs, and Heaven Beetles. Some of them only live in the Void World, while others can only be found in the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    ¡°The most important of them is a special kind of parasitic insect that lives in the bodies of Star Behemoths!

    ¡°Like a toxin, they can damage and gnaw at a Star Behemoth¡¯s body from within, weakening them and undermining their flesh auras.

    ¡°We found them and mixed them with the other rare insects from the three worlds to make them even stronger and deadlier to Star Behemoths.

    ¡°Also, we¡¯ve been rearing them in a restricted area in the Void World and feeding them the flesh and blood of Star Behemoths, so they would be fascinated with the Star Behemoths¡¯ flesh power. After a long time, they finally evolved into a new species of insect that can infiltrate a Star Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura and drill into their bodies: Behemoth Crawlers.

    ¡°If arge number of Behemoth Crawlers enter a Star Behemoth¡¯s body, they¡¯ll be able to feed on its flesh and blood and give birth to even more Behemoth Crawlers within a short time, and eventually kill the Star Behemoth.¡±

    Strong killing intent brimmed the eyes of Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and Grand Monarch Gray Bones, all of whom had lost many nsmen because of the Ripper Behemoth, as soon as they heard this.

    ¡°If we can get rid of that Ripper Behemoth, there¡¯ll be no one strong enough to defend the Mortal World,¡± Grand Monarch Gray Bones said.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was also deeply impressed by the power of their allies from the Void World.

    Now, they had joined up with more than a dozen Devil, Netherspirit, and Bonedrude grand monarchs. Even though as their leaders, Agatha was only at the early tenth grade and Grand Monarch Bone Posterity was only at the middle tenth grade, they wererge in numbers.

    Furthermore,te tenth grade grand monarchs were on their way to the Mortal World as well.

    This made them feel that sweeping across the Mortal World would be as easy as turning their hands.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    As soon as Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits waved his hand, the sea of Behemoth Crawlers swarmed towards the Domain of Endless Snow like a great flood.

    SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

    Sensing the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, the Behemoth Crawlers let out thrilled squeaks, and quickly reached the flesh aura shield created by the Ripper Behemoth.

    As they gnawed madly at the shield of immense flesh aura, their most evil and uncanny bloodline that was designed for Star Behemoths burst forth.

    Momentster, they gnawed arge hole in the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura shield, like acid eating through rubber.

    After devouring that flesh power, the tiny Behemoth Crawlers wobbled, as if they were drunk. While flying, theyid eggs, which hatched and became new Behemoth Crawlers within a shockingly short time.

    Soon, the number of Behemoth Crawlers increased by twenty percent.

    Instead of swarming towards the heart of the Domain of Endless Snow, the newborn Behemoth Crawlers and the old ones spread along and gnawed at the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura shield to give birth to even more Behemoth Crawlers.

    ¡°It¡¯s actually working!¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust eximed with a nastyugh.

    The other outsiders from the Spirit World joined him in letting out nasty and wildughs.

    They had spent far too long being suppressed by and in fear of the Ripper Behemoth.

    The Ripper Behemoth had yed crucial roles in both of their defeats in the Domain of Heaven Span and the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The way they saw it, if they had found a way to deal with the Ripper Behemoth, the humans would have long since fallen, and be ves to them.

    ¡°No wonder the origin of our bloodlines lies with them. Upon entering the Mortal World, they brought out the mighty Void Energy Converting Wheel, and released the Behemoth Crawlers to solve our problem from the root.¡±

 Chapter 1541: The Son of Darkness

    On the seven dead stars that surrounded the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The broken teleportation portals left behind by various human sects were repaired by the Devils and Netherspirits.

    Through them, powerful experts from the Void World infiltrated the human world with the help of the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes.

    Together they had more than a dozen grand monarchs, each of whom would be able to easily dominate any human domain that wasn¡¯t protected by God domain experts.

    The Domain of Frigid Depths, the Domain of Nine Twists, the Domain of Dark Marsh, the Domain of Heavenly Illusion...

    Human domains fell one after another.

    With the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes leading the way, the Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits sacked the human domains, and ughtered all those who dared to rebel against them, only keeping and rearing the weak ones like livestock.

    Within a very short time, more than a dozen human domains fell into the hands of the invaders from the Void World.

    ...

    In the Realm of Crystal Snow, wisps of sword light hovered around Ye Wenhan¡¯s sleeves as he received thetest news.

    Frowning, he turned to Dong Li and said, ¡°The Domain of Heaven¡¯s Origin was just sacked. The Martial Spirit Sect has been razed to the ground, all of their disciples at the Void domain or higher butchered.¡±

    Dong Li sighed. ¡°The Martial Spirit Sect.¡±

    She had learned from Nie Tian that he had a fairly good rtionship with the Martial Spirit Sect, since he had fought alongside Chai Longge and Chai Fengwu, the brother-sister pair, in the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Why weren¡¯t the disciples of the Martial Spirit Sect evacuated to a realm protected by a godly grand spell formation?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Ye Wenhan smiled bitterly and said, ¡°How many realms are there that are protected by godly grand spell formations? There are the main realms of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, the Five Elements Sect, and a handful of sects like the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and Profound Purity Pce. How vast is the human world? How many sects are there in it? How can we evacuate them all to safe areas?¡±

    ¡°That is true,¡± Ji Yuanquan chimed in.

    As the outsiders from the Void World joined up with the outsiders from the Spirit World, humanity¡¯s crushing defeat was almost inevitable.

    After a thorough discussion, Dong Li and the other experts agreed that the main realms of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Void Spirit Society, and the Five Elements Sect were currently the safest ces in the human world. Evente tenth grade outsider grand monarchs wouldn¡¯t be able to sack them within a short time.

    Therefore, they would arrange for their elite forces that were out there in different domains to go take shelter in realms like the Realm of Fragmentary Star that were protected by godly grand spell formations.

    By doing this, they hoped to ensure the survival of some of their sect or n members.

    At this moment, the ck tortoise, which had been lyingzily on the ground, suddenly gave a jerk and became rmed.

    It looked up and cried into the heavens.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as she immediately established soulmunication with the ck tortoise. Her gorgeous face gradually grew grim as she said to those around her, ¡°Bad news. The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s sealing magic on the Domain of Endless Snow is failing. The invaders from the Void World have arrived under Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ leadership. They¡¯ve released a kind of outsider insect called Behemoth Crawlers to gnaw at the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura.¡±

    Everyone gasped upon hearing these words.

    The existence of the Ripper Behemoth was the reason why they were staying in the Domain of Endless Snow instead of other ces.

    Nie Tian had made it perfectly clear before leaving that the Ripper Behemoth would provide them with strong assistance in the uing battles.

    In both the Domain of Heaven Span and the Domain of Endless Snow, the Ripper Behemoth had proved its ability to turn the situation around single-handedly.

    The Ripper Behemoth joining them had given them great confidence.

    But now...

    ¡°The Behemoth Crawlers were specially bred to deal with Star Behemoths. Those invaders brought them from the Void World.¡± Dong Li added with a heavy heart. ¡°The Ripper Behemoth told the ck tortoise to tell us that if we don¡¯t take care of those Behemoth Crawlers, it won¡¯te out and help us fight.¡±

    Ye Wenhan was in a fret as he asked, ¡°Behemoth Crawlers? What the hell are they?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of them either,¡± Ji Yuanquan said. Then, his eyes glittered as he added, ¡°If the Behemoth Crawlers have undermined the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s sealing and control of the Domain of Endless Snow, this is no longer a safe ce for us. I suggest we arrange for our weaker members to go take shelter in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Void Spirit Society¡¯s headquarters, while the rest of us stay and figure out a way to exterminate those Behemoth Crawlers.¡±

    Dong Li took a look at him and said, ¡°Those controlling the Behemoth Crawlers are a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and Devil and Bonedrude grand monarchs. And they¡¯re joined by Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and Grand Monarch Gray Bones. These are only the ones that we know. We don¡¯t know if more mighty grand monarchs have arrived from the Void World. Do we have the confidence to exterminate the Behemoth Crawlers right under their noses?¡±

    The whole crowd of powerful experts fell silent after hearing this.

    WHOOSH!

    A beam of dark light suddenly shot across the boundless starry river and arrived outside of the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    From within the dark light echoed a resonant voice. ¡°Excuse me, but is Miss Dong here?¡±

    Immediately afterwards, a young male Devil with an extraordinarily handsome appearance emerged from the darkness.

    He was dressed in extremelyplicated and exquisite garments, with long purple hair cascading down his shoulders. His pitch-ck pupils seemed to be the origin of darkness, shimmering with intoxicating devilish charm. ¡°My name is Aztec. In the Void World, people call me the Son of Darkness. I¡¯m hoping you¡¯lle out to have a meeting with me.¡±

    Every God domain expert in the Realm of Crystal Snow gasped. ¡°A Devil!¡±

    The eyes of Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and many other human experts burst forth with dazzling divine light.

    Their gazes prated the realm barrier andnded on the starry river outside the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    However, they couldn¡¯t sense Aztec¡¯s aura at all, as if he waspletely sealed in dark power.

    Even Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs, who released their flesh power and soul power to probe him, sensed nothing but darkness, the most extreme darkness!

    Dong Li was the only one who didn¡¯t make any special attempt to examine him, yet his appearance and aura seemed to enter her mind very naturally.

    ¡°Dark power!¡± Dong Li eximed softly. Though separated from Aztec by the realm barrier, she managed to sense an aura that she found very familiar from him, the aura of the dark stone.

    ording to the legends, there were a total of two dark stones, which were the eyes of the deceased Dark King.

    One of them was in her possession, and had already merged with her spiritual sea.

    The other one...

    Dong Li suddenly realized that the other dark stone, the other eye of the Dark King, must be on Aztec, who was waiting outside the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    ¡°The Dark King is the strongest leader in my people¡¯s history, and I have his blood running through my veins.¡± As Aztec¡¯s mighty voice echoed from the starry river, the realm barrier of the Realm of Crystal Snow shook so violently, giving rise to cracking sounds, that it seemed as if it were going to shatter.

    BOOM! RUMBLE!

    Many snow-capped mountains in the Realm of Crystal Snow toppled as deep chasms ripped through the earth.

    Thick darkness started seeping from the chasms like pitch-ck water.

    It was as if endless darkness was going to devour the entire Realm of Crystal Snow within a short time.

    Even now, none of the human experts or Ancientspirit grand monarchs could see through Aztec¡¯s bloodline grade.

    Only his voice rumbled from high above, as if the heavens were copsing.

    WHOOSH!

    Agatha, who was also a Devil, appeared behind Aztec, looking very charming.

    Bowing slightly, she said from behind him, ¡°You could have simply gone down there and retaken that lost treasure, my lord. Why waste your time talking to these humans? You have a good chance at transcending the tenth grade in the future as your ancestor did.¡±

    Her tone and manners clearly suggested that she was talking to a superior.

    Aztec shook his head and said, ¡°My ancestor¡¯s legacy has already merged with her. It won¡¯t be easy to separate it. There are things you won¡¯t understand even if I exin them to you.¡±

    ¡°So are you...?¡± A confused look appeared on Agatha¡¯s face.

    Aztec smiled. ¡°I have a n.¡±

    The darkness in the starry river suddenly dissipated.

    In the next moment, Aztec¡¯s dark aura seemed to fill every dark area in the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    It was as if he were in every dark corner.

    ¡°Miss Dong, you and I, we¡¯re a perfect match. Only if wee together can the origin of darkness be reunited.¡± Aztec¡¯s voice seemed to echo from all directions. ¡°That man named Nie Tian doesn¡¯t deserve you at all.¡±

 Chapter 1542: Refuse to Obey!

    Soon, all light was blotted out.

    The human experts that were gathered in the Realm of Crystal Snow to discuss how they would defend against the invaders from the Void World felt as if they were plunged into an eternal night.

    Their sight, sense of touch, and soul awareness were all undermined.

    In the starry river, it seemed to Agatha the Devil that the Realm of Crystal Snow, which looked like a snowball originally, was suddenly painted ck by ink, and she could only sense Aztec¡¯s aura from it now.

    Added respect could be seen on Agatha¡¯s face as she muttered to herself, ¡°No wonder he¡¯s called the Son of Darkness.¡±

    She had been somewhat reluctant to acknowledge inferiority to this rising star of the Devils.

    But now, after seeing him engulfing the entire Realm of Crystal Snow in thick darkness, along with every human expert in it, she finally let out a sigh of admiration and muttered, ¡°Perhaps they¡¯re right. He may actually be a mighty leader like the Dark King!¡±

    In the darkness...

    The ck tortoise growled uneasily as it activated its tenth grade bloodline. Dark magical patterns that exuded mysterious auras started slithering on its enormous shell that looked like a pitch-ck mountain peak.

    Standing on its vast shell, Dong Li watched the dark patterns morph under her feet like magical waves.

    Since darkness was the source of her power as well, she felt iparably adapted to it.

    Enveloped inplete darkness, her eyes burst forth with pure ck magical light, allowing her to see every tree, insect, and de of grass in the Realm of Crystal Snow with great rity.

    This was a fascinating feeling that she had never felt before.

    At this moment, she felt as if she had be a god in the darkness-engulfed Realm of Crystal Snow.

    She could not only see, but even perceive with her soul the bewilderment, uneasiness, and astonishment Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs were feeling.

    She had a feeling that if she wanted, she could shape the darkness into des and sh them at all of the living beings in the Realm of Crystal Snow with nothing but a thought.

    Her confidence in her strength soared.

    However, she snapped out of it in the next moment.

    She suddenly realized that she wasn¡¯t the only god of darkness in the Realm of Crystal Snow, as she discovered that a young male Devil had quietly appeared in the distance, and was smiling cunningly at her.

    ¡°Allow me to introduce myself again,¡± he said. ¡°Aztec, the Son of Darkness. Do you feel that the Realm of Crystal Snow is like your own dark domain at this moment? That you can capture every movement the living beings in it make and perceive what they¡¯re thinking? That you can sense the flow of their auras and even the subtle changes in their spiritual seas?¡±

    Dong Li frowned. ¡°The Son of Darkness? You¡¯re just one person. Do you really think you can do whatever you want in the Realm of Crystal Snow?¡±

    Aztec smiled and said, ¡°Of course not. My nsmen and Netherspirit and Bonedrude allies are also in the vicinity. Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Gray Bones, and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Spirit World have also joined us. As for that Ripper Behemoth, if it dares toe near here, we¡¯ll send it to meet its maker.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A dark stone that seemed to have be one with his heart suddenly flew out of Aztec¡¯s chest.

    As soon as it did, the dark stone in Dong Li¡¯s dantian region and the Dark Aureole grew restless.

    In the ultimate darkness, Aztec¡¯s dark stone reflected images of the starry river near the Realm of Crystal Snow like a magical mirror. In it, Dong Li saw countless Behemoth Crawlers, a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Bone Posterity, and several Devil, Netherspirit, and Bonedrude grand monarchs, along with Grand Monarch Bloodlust and the other grand monarchs from the Spirit World.

    They seemed to be searching for the Ripper Behemoth with some special method in areas that weren¡¯t far from the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    With a smile, Aztec said, ¡°As you can see, we¡¯ll find that Ripper Behemoth soon if it doesn¡¯t leave the Domain of Endless Snow. Once we do, our Behemoth Crawlers will crawl into its body, gnaw through its internal organs, and kill it from within. As for the humans and the Ancientspirits in the Realm of Crystal Snow...

    ¡°As long as I can trap them here till my people get here or till the others get rid of the Ripper Behemoth, what will they be able to do?

    ¡°Many of your human domains have already fallen into our hands. Many sects and ns that have Saint domain experts surrendered upon seeing us, knowing that their resistance would be meaningless.

    ¡°Miss Dong, the humans¡¯ era is over.

    ¡°Your peak experts and the Ancientspirit peak experts are all bogged down in a forbidden area in our world. There¡¯s no way for them toe back in time to save you.

    ¡°So...¡±

    To end his lengthy speech, Aztec assumed a serious expression and said, ¡°After we take over your world as its new masters, those who kneel and submit to our reign might still have a chance to survive. Those who don¡¯t obey can only be sterilized.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Endless darkness suddenly spewed from within Dong Li.

    Her dark stone and Dark Aureole flew out into the darkness, and burst forth with dark auras that matched hers.

    ¡°I refuse to obey!¡± Dong Li¡¯s cold growl pierced through the darkness.

    Aztec¡¯s smile grew wider as he said, ¡°Good! You¡¯re my type of girl!¡±

    In the starry river outside the realm.

    Even though Agatha the Devil couldn¡¯t see what was happening in the Realm of Crystal Snow, Dong Li¡¯s unyielding growl ripped through the darkness and echoed in the starry river.

    Agatha then realized that a battle had broken out between Dong Li and Aztec.

    Her lips curled into a derisive smile as she muttered, ¡°This is exactly what Aztec wants you to do: fight him with your dark stone and his lost weapon. Otherwise, with the power of himself and his dark stone, how can he possibly seal the Realm of Crystal Snow long enough for the others to get here?

    ¡°But with the power of the other eye of the Dark King and the Dark Aureole, he¡¯ll be able to seal any realm.

    ¡°As long as a battle breaks out and she uses the Dark Aureole and that eye of the Dark King, they¡¯ll release enough dark power to seal the Realm of Crystal Snow eternally.¡±

    As someone who knew Aztec well, Agatha had seen through his n.

    ...

    ¡°Nie Tian, Nie Tian.¡± The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s urgent soul voice echoed on and on in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    Even his nine sub-souls were exasperated after being shaken by its rumbling soul voice for a long time.

    ¡°I need you to take care of the Behemoth Crawlers.¡± The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul awareness raised a mighty storm in the area where Nie Tian was sitting quietly as a wisp of his soul explored his Blood Realm.

    In the storm, even the rocky mountains around Nie Tian started to show cracks.

    Even the nine sub-souls floating over Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness like bright stars made attempts to waken his true soul.

    However, his true soul still didn¡¯t give any response.

    The Fiends, Phantasms, Demons, Birdmen, and ckscales that were piled up on the icy ground around Nie Tian were still being drained of their flesh power thanks to the wonders of Life Drain and Life Purification.

    All of a sudden, the speed at which Nie Tian took in flesh power increased at an rming rate.

    Momentster, the piles of outsider corpses exploded with a loud boom, and were reduced to ashes that flew in the storm.

    Every wisp of flesh power from every corpse was captured by Nie Tian and turned to nourishment that helped him explore his Blood Realm and seek the profound truths of life.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Rendered impatient by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul calls, the nine sub-souls that floated over Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness year-round somehow flew out through the top of his head one after another.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s immense soul awareness then condensed into an enormous blurry shape in the sky of the Realm of Falling Snow.

    ¡°The invaders from the Void World are here, with a kind of insects known as the Behemoth Crawlers,¡± The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s blurry shape said. ¡°They¡¯re bred by mixing the bloodlines of a special kind of parasitic insect that lives inside us Star Behemoths and various other toxic insects from the three worlds. The purpose of their existence is to deal with us. Also, the Realm of Crystal Snow is engulfed in darkness. I suppose the people there are in trouble...¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth, who was well-aware of the current situation in the Domain of Endless Snow, exined it in detail.

    After listening for a while, the nine soul shadows that had flown out of Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, bearing Nie Tian¡¯s appearance, grew grim, as if they were racking their minds independently for ways to turn the situation around. ¡°The Behemoth Crawlers, the darkness-enveloped Realm of Crystal Snow, and the powerful experts from the Void World...¡±

    All of a sudden, drops of scarlet Blood Essence flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s chest and rapidly condensed into a doppelg?nger of him.

    Immediately afterwards, his me power sub-soul fused into it, vesting it with a violent me aura.

 Chapter 1543: Thatâ€™s Enough!

    An iparably strange fleshly doppelganger was formed in front of his true form with his bloodline essence and me power sub-soul as its cornerstone, and his flesh power as its energy.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Wisps of red light wandered on the red naked skin of the me doppelganger Nie Tian had made.

    WHOOSH!

    A brilliant fiery spiritual core flew out of the dantian region of his true form into his me doppelganger.

    With a soul, a fleshly body, and a spiritual core, his me doppelganger had all the conditions that were necessary to be a true being.

    ¡°me Dragon Armor!¡± the doppelganger eximed softly, and the burning armor instantly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s ring of holding to d itself on it.

    BOOM!

    The me doppelganger was ignited. It even smoothly disyed Nie Tian¡¯s me domain. The unfathomable me formation in the me domain that was connected to the me Land clearly appeared.

    ¡°Behemoth Crawlers...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelganger frowned and muttered, ¡°Is it only the Behemoth Crawlers that can threaten you? Can¡¯t those outsider grand monarchs from the Void World hurt you?¡±

    ¡°So far, only the Behemoth Crawlers can!¡± the Ripper Behemoth replied.

    The burning doppelganger of Nie Tian nodded gently. ¡°Got it.¡±

    Soon, he noticed that the Domain of Flying Snow seemed to be slowly melting due to this me doppelganger of his. ¡°It looks like the frigid Domain of Flying Snow can¡¯t withstand my me doppelganger.¡±

    ¡°What do you n to do, Nie Tian?¡± the soul shadow of the Ripper Behemoth asked. ¡°Your doppelganger is powerful, but it seems to me that it¡¯s only at thete Saint domain. It doesn¡¯t have a particrly vigorous flesh aura, so it¡¯s not a hybrid like your true self. What your doppelganger can resort to is only the power equal to that of ate Saint domain expert who cultivates me power!¡±

    During its long life, it had witnessed many wonders and dealt with many intelligent beings in the Mortal World and Spirit World.

    It had seen various doppelgangers. To him, Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelganger was nothing special.

    ¡°It¡¯s only at the Saint domain...¡± Nie Tian said with a smile, ¡°but that¡¯s enough.¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth still wanted to persuade him, but its huge soul shadow suddenly twisted and scattered. ¡°I¡¯ve been found!¡±

    ¡°Great,¡± Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelganger said, suddenly soaring into the sky. He broke away from the Domain of Flying Snow and flew into the starry river, where he immediately saw the floating continent that was surrounded by tearing currents.

    As soon as his me doppelganger left, the icy aura in the Domain of Flying Snow recovered.

    It seemed that Nie Tian¡¯s silent and motionless true form was still swimming in the endless blood sea to seek the true meaning of life force.

    His other eight sub-souls didn¡¯t return to his sea of soul awareness, nor did they condense into other doppelgangers. They simply floated above his true form, sensing the changes in the starry river through the eyes and soul of the me doppelganger.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons held the Demonic Moon Saber. The deep purple flesh aura floating next to his waist was like a python breathing out demon aura. ¡°There!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the floating continent!¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler also shouted. ¡°The Ripper Behemoth is lurking within the floating continent! Finding the floating continent means that we¡¯ve found the Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    Billions of densely-packed Behemoth Crawlers immediately flooded towards the floating continent like a sea.

    With the Behemoth Crawlers, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul, Grand Monarch Bone Posterity, and several other grand monarchs of the Void World marched in a formidable array.

    As they moved, dense Devil Qi, Nether Qi, and Death Qi spread towards the Domain of Flying Snow.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul pointed to the floating continent and gave an order to the Behemoth Crawlers. ¡°Go!¡±

    The innumerable Behemoth Crawlers, which had long smelled the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s aura on the floating continent, seemed extremely excited as they swarmed forward.

    They instinctively felt that the Ripper Behemoth in the floating continent would be a supreme delicacy!

    As long as they could eat its flesh, they would be able to reproduce infinitely in a short time, giving birth to new generations of Behemoth Crawlers.

    The new generations of Behemoth Crawlers would be even more powerful. In the distant future, they might even be a unique race of life.

    Driven by their instinct, they wanted to devour the Ripper Behemoth and make stronger new generations with its death!

    WHOOSH!

    Suddenly, a ming little figure appeared in front of the floating continent. To the outsider grand monarchs, it looked like a grain of rice, only a little bigger than a Behemoth Crawler.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust squinted. ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    After taking a closer look, he eximed, ¡°No! It doesn¡¯t have his violent, turbulent flesh power. Instead, it¡¯s more like an ordinary Saint domain human. Is he here to die?¡±

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits only gave it a quick look before realizing what was going on. ¡°Doppelganger. It¡¯s a doppelganger transformed from Nie Tian¡¯s me power and flesh power. I didn¡¯t expect a mere doppelganger to dare toe out to obstruct us. This is like throwing an egg against a rock.¡±

    A deep cyan ancient seal that was like a ghost¡¯s face suddenly emerged in the depths of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ pupil.

    ¡°Soul-splitting Seal!¡± he eximed softly before an imprint that was like a ghost¡¯s face was formed.

    The ghost-faced seal wriggled uncannily, morphed into the form of Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelganger, and then... cracked open little by little, as if it were corresponding to Nie Tian¡¯s me power sub-soul.

    Nie Tian actually experienced a piercing pain that originated in his soul.

    It seemed that his me power sub-soul was about to crack and explode because of the explosion of the magical seal formed by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    As the Spirit Pearl floated out of the Domain of Flying Snow, the five evil gods broke through the realm barrier and suddenly appeared before Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul, like five divine mountain peaks wreathed in Nether Qi.

    Seeing the five evil gods, even though Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits was very strong, he was also startled. ¡°They¡¯re...¡±

    The Netherspirits behind the sea of Behemoth Crawlers screamed at the sight of the five evil gods.

    ¡°The five lords!¡±

    ¡°The five venerable ones!¡±

    When they had been young, they had heard legends of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and his five strongest subordinates from their elders.

    The legends of the five evil gods had been passed down from generation to generation in the Void World and in the hearts of the Netherspirits.

    They could see the five evil gods¡¯ appearances in numerous magnificent halls of the Netherspirits, holy mountains, and forbidden ces, so they had deep impressions of their faces.

    BANG!

    The moment the five gods flew out, the Soul-splitting Seal that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had condensed suddenly exploded.

    It couldn¡¯t be easier for the five evil gods, who were also Netherspirits with fleshly bodies and were still bing stronger and stronger, to destroy the Soul-splitting Seal that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul had condensed.

    ¡°Lords, I don¡¯t understand...¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul fixed its eyes on the five evil gods and uttered ancient soul words with strange rhythms, as if he wanted to wake them up.

    Suddenly, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits noticed that as he chanted the soul words, imprints emerged between all the eyebrows of the five evil gods.

    ¡°Heavenly Spirit Seals!¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits let out a cry of terror for the first time.

    He rubbed his eyes as if he couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing. He looked again, and found that it was still the Heavenly Spirit Seals that were imprinted between the eyebrows of the five evil gods, like prismatic crystals.

    He groaned. ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    At that very moment, Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelganger flew into the sea of Behemoth Crawlers like a burning river of mes that gradually morphed into a ming dragon baring its fangs and brandishing its ws.

    Amid the zing mes, Nie Tian¡¯s doppelganger had an enjoyable expression on its face. ¡°This is such a wonderful feeling.¡±

    The me formation in his me saint domain that was copied from the me Land was suddenly activated, erupting with splendid divine me, crimson crystal light, and unknown me threads with divine characters.

    WHOOSH!

    The void shook as the strong power from and of extreme mes rushed out of Nie Tian¡¯s me domain.

    In an instant, Nie Tian¡¯s me domain began to change, releasing a terrifying me aura that could burn out everything and reduce all living creatures and even heaven and earth to ashes.

    As this happened, the sea of Behemoth Crawlers started burning from the center, like a carpet catching fire.

    In the raging mes, they crackled as their burning stink spread for thousands of miles.

 Chapter 1544: The Wrath of the Behemoth!

    In the me Land in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Numerous volcanoes shook violently, erupting with rivers of heaven-burning, earth-destroyingva that flowed to every corner of the vastnd, filling the air with a strong sulfuric smell.

    At the same time, mysterious veins of mes interconnected in the depths of the earth, forming the most profound me formation throughout the three worlds.

    This grand spell formation helped the me Land channel me power from the nearby realms, and boosted its reserve power steadily.

    In a zingvake deep underneath the earth¡¯s surface, Nie Yan¡¯s eyes suddenly snapped open. ¡°Father...¡±

    He sensed Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura and heard his soul call.

    Then, he looked down at his own form, which was floating in thevake like a fiery crystal.

    Numerous meridians could be seen glittering through his skin. Magnificent and wondrous, every single one of them seemed to be branded with the ultimate secrets of fire.

    All of a sudden, his body burst forth with endless fiery light as it started interacting with the grand me formation of the me Land in a profound fashion.

    SPLASH!

    Many rivers of boilingva that were zing through the earth suddenly came together and shot up into the sky, where they seemed to break the barrier of space and go to another ce in the starry river.

    Outside the Realm of Falling Snow...

    Burning rivers flew out of the ¡®eye¡¯ of the spell formation in Nie Tian¡¯s me domain one after another.

    Each and every one of them carried me power mighty enough to burn down any realm.

    Cooperating with the zing rivers, Nie Tian cast exquisite fiery incantations as the me Dragon Armor released torrential mes without holding anything back.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Millions of Behemoth Crawlers were soon reduced to ashes in the devastating mes.

    The outsider grand monarchs from the Void World, along with Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, were all bbergasted by the raging mes that had appeared out of nowhere.

    By the time they snapped out of their daze, arge proportion of the Behemoth Crawlers they had brought from the Void World had already died.

    If put under a magnifying ss, the Behemoth Crawlers also had thick exoskeletons and sharp teeth. Even normal Spirit Channeling grade spiritual tools couldn¡¯t annihte them.

    After all, they had been bred from a wide variety of powerful insects from across the three worlds.

    It was almost impossible for the mes released by a regr Saint domain expert to hurt them.

    However, facing the devastating mes channeled from the me Land, even these outsider grand monarchs were feeling great pressure, not to mention the Behemoth Crawlers.

    Both Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul and Grand Monarch Bone Posterity of the Bonedrudes eximed in shock, ¡°The Behemoth Crawlers!¡±

    Grand Monarch Bone Posterity was in the middle of the sea of Behemoth Crawlers. Now, as the mes spread wildly, even his white bony body was surrounded by red fiery light.

    ¡°This me aura...¡± Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s body suddenly shone with the pale light of death as his eyes wandered, as if he were searching his memories for something.

    A momentter, a bone broke from his chest to float before him.

    Crystalline strings of his death bloodline could be seen flickering within the bone, which was wreathed in a strong aura of death and corruption.

    ¡°Bones of the Dead!¡± Grand Monarch Bone Posterity whispered in an ancientnguage as he cast a bloodline spell that allowed him to control the bone to fly and probe into the sea of raging mes.

    In a burst of crackling sounds, the crystalline strings vaporized in a split second.

    Astonishment appeared in the depths of Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s eyes as he eximed, ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, we need to take the Behemoth Crawlers back now! That ming aura is from that forbidden area of our world!¡±

    Many outsider grand monarchs were rattled upon hearing this.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul was also bewildered by Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s words for a few seconds before hastily casting a bloodline magic to activate a special storage ring with his soul.

    A miniature arcane realm slowly manifested in his palm.

    In the next moment, all of the surviving Behemoth Crawlers fled desperately from the sea of mes into the mysterious cyan arcane realm.

    ¡°Burn! Burn them all!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger shouted wildly in the raging mes that stretched as far as the eye could see.

    He had never felt so wonderful before.

    Even though this was only his me doppelg?nger, he had managed to channel zing me power from the me Land with it, and gained an overwhelming advantage when facing the Behemoth Crawlers.

    The raging mes were still burning away. Even Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and Grand Monarch Bone Posterity didn¡¯t dare to approach them.

    Originally, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ profound soul magics should have been a great threat to Nie Tian. However, thanks to the joint efforts of the five evil gods, this sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits couldn¡¯t cast Netherspirit soul magics to annihte or suppress his me power sub-soul no matter how hard it tried.

    Because of this, he could control the extraordinary me power to burn the Behemoth Crawlers under minimal pressure.

    WHOOSH!

    More streaks of mes shot out of his me domain to ignite the Behemoth Crawlers that fell behind.

    As the Behemoth Crawlers were turned to ashes, tiny bits of flesh power flew out.

    However, since this was only Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger, it couldn¡¯t rely on his unique bloodline talents to channel the dissociative flesh power into its body.

    Momentster, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits gathered all of the surviving Behemoth Crawlers.

    The previously-formidable sea of Behemoth Crawlers vanishedpletely, revealing Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul, Grand Monarch Bone Posterity, Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and the other grand monarchs from the Void World in front of the floating continent.

    ¡°Puny insects!¡± the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s roar echoed from within the floating continent, rumbling through the starry river.

    Clearly, it had been enraged by the Behemoth Crawlers. For the first time, it, which had spent countless years hiding in the depths of the endless ck sea, rose out of the sea¡¯s surface.

    WHOOSH!

    An incredibly humongous shape slowly rose through the pale-gray mist that enshrouded the floating continent.

    HOWL!

    As it let out a howl of wrath, even the space around it showed fine fissures like a cracked mirror. Each and every fissure seemed to connect to an uncharted area of the starry river.

    With a howl, it actually shattered space!

    This was the true might of the Ripper Behemoth.

    Only after that did the Ripper Behemoth fly out of the mist-enshrouded floating continentpletely.

    Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger jerked his head towards it and couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°What the...!¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s true form was like a humongous centipede with countless razor-sharp feet. A few tentacles were growing out of its gigantic, scary-looking head.

    Its gigantic tentacles had reached out from the floating continent before, where they had seemed as enormous as heavenly dragons to people.

    However, as the Ripper Behemoth revealed its true self, those tentacles now seemed iparably small and tender.

    The Realm of Falling Snow, which was not far from the Ripper Behemoth, looked like an unimpressive snowballpared to its incredibly humongous body.

    Inparison, Grand Monarch Bloodlust and all of the grand monarchs from the Void World looked as tiny as ants.

    Even Nie Tian, who was about nine thousand meters tall, seemed like a tiny insect next to the Ripper Behemoth.

    FIZZ!

    With a casual swing of its two razor-sharp front legs, the Ripper Behemoth managed to channel glorious streaks of light from some unknown space disruption zone.

    Carrying tearing power, they shot into Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s bony chest one after another like glowing swords.

    Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s chest was instantly split open, and then his huge bone body broke apart like toy bricks and exploded into countless fragments that filled the void.

 Chapter 1545: Overseeing the Battle

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s shattered bones continued to be impacted by the unrelenting tearing power.

    The broken pieces of bone soon further exploded into dust.

    His heart that had been protected by his ribcage and shone with the light of death was also reduced to a puff of pale-gray smoke that dissipated in the interweaving streaks of light.

    These streaks of light the Ripper Behemoth had channeled from unknown areas of the starry river carried not only the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s devastating bloodline power, but a wide variety of unidentified powers.

    Those peculiar powers ground Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s broken body to dust, without leaving even the tiniest fragments.

    Even his soul failed to escape, and went out like amp in the wind.

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl floated over from the Realm of Falling Snow.

    The wisps of Grand Monarch Bone Posterity¡¯s broken soul were channeled and flew into it with faint whooshes. With every wisp that fused into the pearl, the pearl lit up for a brief moment.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul stood aghast. Just as he was about tosh out, he noticed that the five evil gods were eying him fiercely from different directions.

    All of the powerful outsider experts from the Void World were deeply shaken as they eximed, ¡°Grand Monarch Bone Posterity!¡±

    ¡°A middle tenth grade grand monarch of our race was killed by the Star Behemoth just like that?!¡±

    ¡°Such devastating power!¡±

    As a middle tenth grade grand monarch, Grand Monarch Bone Posterity of the Bonedrudes had made his name among the three races of the Void World.

    However, formidable as he had been, he had perished as soon as the Ripper Behemoth had emerged from the floating continent and cast a strike of wrath.

    All of the other outsider grand monarchs¡¯ hearts raced in horror as they stared at the Ripper Behemoth, which looked like a humongous centipede that was seven timesrger than the Realm of Falling Snow.

    WHOOSH!

    Their fear towards Star Behemoths, which had been branded in the deepest parts of their bloodlines, was awakened.

    Images of Star Behemoths hunting down and killing outsider experts of various races during the Primal Era erupted in their minds.

    They were from the ancient bloodline imprints their ancestors had passed on toter generations through secret magics.

    ¡°The might of Star Behemoths!¡±

    With those horrifying images in their minds, the powerful outsider experts sucked in a breath of cold air, and finally realized why their ancestors hadn¡¯t had the audacity to enter the Spirit World during the time when these humongous creatures had thrived.

    An early tenth grade Devil grand monarch seemed to snap out of a nightmare as he muttered to himself, ¡°Luckily for us, this species of dreadful creatures has practically died out.

    ¡°However, what killed these mighty overlords of the starry river? Other than this Ripper Behemoth, are there any other living Star Behemoths in the three worlds?¡±

    Like a humongous centipede, the Ripper Behemoth howled, pieces of soul messages entering Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger like lightning bolts. ¡°Nie Tian! Help me deal with the Behemoth Crawlers! Burn them to ashes if they ever fly out again!¡±

    With these words, it started brandishing its razor-sharp feet.

    With every move of every foot, it ripped the void open, like slicing a dark curtain with des.

    Light that even Nie Tian couldn¡¯t identify poured out of the rifts like glorious waterfalls, mixing with the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s unique bloodline power: tearing power.

    The waterfalls of light rapidly spread out and flew towards the outsider experts from the Void World and the Spirit World in an attempt to annihte them all.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Each streak of glorious light seemed to carry devastating power that could easily tear through and destroy a realm like the Realm of Falling Snow.

    Nie Tian was convinced that no human Qi warriors with a cultivation base under the God domain would be able tost even a second under the attacks of those streaks of light. Their so-called void and saint domains would most certainly explode upon contact.

    The same went for the outsiders.

    As a streak of glorious light shot past, a shouting early tenth grade Devil grand monarch exploded, along with his flesh aura sea and the Devilme War Beast he was sitting astride.

    His blood, bones, internal organs, and chunks of his flesh fell like rain.

    Even though the broken pieces attempted to join back together, the interweaving streaks of glorious light struck them over and over until they were ground to dust.

    In the blink of an eye, the light reduced the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch into nothing but dark purple flesh aura.

    Powerful experts from the Void World and the Spirit World finally broke down and started fleeing while screaming. ¡°Lord Thousand Spirits!¡±

    Even though Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had only presented himself in one of his sub-souls, he was the leader of this operation.

    The high chieftains of the Devils and Bonedrudes hadn¡¯t descended upon the Mortal World with their forces, since they were currently upied in certain areas of the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea.

    Nie Tian nced around in the raging mes, paying special attention to Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    The Behemoth Crawlers controlled by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits were their most important weapon to use against the Ripper Behemoth. If Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits released them again, he would do his utmost to channel more mes from the me Land to exterminate them.

    As long as Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits didn¡¯t release them, he would just wait and see how the situation would develop.

    Soon, he realized that the Star Behemoths that had dominated the Primal Era were exceedingly powerful indeed!

    ...

    In the Realm of Falling Snow.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true self was still sitting there,pletely motionless.

    Originally, the dark purple flesh aura of the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch that had been killed by the Ripper Behemoth should have slowly dissipated in the starry river. However, it was somehow channeled by Nie Tian.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of dark purple flesh aura fell from the starry river and fused into Nie Tian¡¯s true self, who was still seeking the truths of life in the endless blood sea.

    Originally, the tremendous flesh power consumption had made his body slightly shriveled.

    However, the infusion of the early tenth grade grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura quickly replenished his true self with power, and made his body full and robust again.

    Even so, Nie Tian didn¡¯t open his eyes.

    His sub-souls were still floating over his head, guarding his true self vigntly. However, they still couldn¡¯t reestablishmunication with his true soul.

    Among them, Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul was shining like a star as it reflected on the situation independently.

    ¡°My true soul and sub-souls should have been interconnected at any moment, unless the endless blood sea my true soul is now exploring is outside this world. The bloodlines of different species correspond to different Blood Realms, where members of the species can seek their unique bloodline magics. Do these mysteriousnds actually exist, or are they illusory, and can only be assessed by souls?

    ¡°If they actually exist, where are they located?

    ¡°It can¡¯t be the Mortal World or the Spirit World.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me they¡¯re in the Void World!¡±

 Chapter 1546: The Blood Realms of All Lives

    In the endless blood sea.

    Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of soul was still focused on flying towards the heart of the blood sea, where a mysterious maic field of lifey.

    This wisp of soul had long since been isted from his fleshly body and all of his sub-souls.

    Therefore, it had no idea what his true self, sub-souls, and doppelg?nger were doing at this moment.

    WHOOSH!

    Beams of life light continued to shoot from the depths of the blood sea like gorgeous rainbows.

    His wisp of soul continued to be hit from time to time.

    Every time it was hit, the profound truths of life and secrets of life power the beam of light carried would be naturally imprinted on it.

    However, most of the knowledge was obscure and hard to understand.

    Soon, he realized something.

    This wasn¡¯t the first time he had entered his Blood Realm. All of his previous visits had been brief, where he had felt exhausted shortly after his entry and his soul had been returned to his body.

    This time, however, he wasn¡¯t feeling exhausted at all, even though he had already been here for quite a long time.

    He found this rather unusual.

    All of a sudden, he spotted an emerald-green shape in the distance. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Deeply intrigued, he couldn¡¯t help but change directions and fly towards it.

    He gradually approached it.

    Soon, he discovered that the emerald-green shape was also in pure soul-form, and was a cluster of soul awareness.

    After he came close enough, the emerald-green shape seemed to suddenly notice his existence, and morphed into a small emerald-green tree.

    It was so young and fresh that it seemed to be made of water.

    A sense of familiarity instantly struck Nie Tian. ¡°The Tree of Life! It¡¯s the third-generation Tree of Life!¡±

    He was convinced that this small emerald-green tree in front of him was the Tree of Life he had met once that was rooted in the eye of a titan: the third-generation Tree of Life!

    The light of life shooting from the depths of the blood sea was also piercing through it from time to time, imparting the profound truths of life.

    ¡°It¡¯s doing the same thing I am!¡±

    Nie Tian instantly realized that like him, the third-generation Third-generation had also entered the origin of its bloodline through some special method to seek the ultimate secrets of life power.

    Seeing how active the Tree of Life was, he had a feeling thatpared to him, it might be easier for it to approach the heart of the blood sea, where that mysterious maic fieldy.

    Sensing his approach, the third-generation Tree of Life sent him a wisp of somewhat vague soul awareness. ¡°It¡¯s you... I¡¯ve got to thank you for what you did in the Silent Star Sea.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims had only been able to join the ranks ofte tenth grade grand monarchs because of the power the Tree of Life had bestowed upon him.

    It was also because of it that Grand Monarch Primal Wood had been able to form an alliance with the Ancientspirits, go find him in the Silent Star Sea, and stop the branch of the Nether River with his help.

    It had also created the Floragrims. Every Floragrim grand monarch, including Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood and Grand Monarch Life Wood, viewed it as the origin of their bloodline.

    It was a mighty existence that was able to create new species and vest grand monarchs with power!

    Every time Nie Tian recalled the unforgettable scene where the colossal first-generation Tree of Life had pierced through numerous realms with its enormous branches, he would feel deeply shaken.

    This Tree of Life in front of him only looked so small because it was the third-generation, and it was just a soul shadow.

    Knowing its background, Nie Tian was full of veneration when facing it.

    Plus, Nie Tian had obtained Fruits of Life from it when he had been young and weak.

    From what he had learned, it had been an intelligent existence with its own awareness the whole time, which meant he had only been able to pick those Fruits of Life because it had let him.

    Nie Tian continued to fly towards it, saying, ¡°You¡¯re wee. Who would have thought that my spection was actually correct, and our bloodlines do share the same origin? The only difference between us is that the life power you inherit mostly carries wonders of the life of vegetation, while the life power I inherit is mainly regarding beings in fleshly forms. After all, I¡¯m a fleshly being.¡±

    The third-generation Tree of Life responded with a soul message. ¡°I have sensed your existence since the day you awakened your bloodline. I also know that your soul awareness has never left the blood sea, since you spent all of your time here exploring the wonders of the blood sea. But again, your current strength doesn¡¯t allow you to leave the blood sea yet.

    ¡°However, now that I¡¯m here, I can show you around.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian was baffled.

    ¡°I¡¯ll show you what the starry river was like at the very beginning.¡± With these words, the Tree of Life¡¯s soul shadow rapidly morphed and enveloped Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow like an emerald-green bubble.

    Then, like a beacon light, the emerald-green bubble slowly rose out of the endless blood sea that Nie Tian had been doing his utmost to explore.

    Innumerable drops of scarlet Blood Essence hade together to form this endless blood sea, the origin of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline.

    At this moment, however, he was carried out of the blood sea that he had been restricted to till this point by the Tree of Life like a fish being scooped out of the sea.

    Suddenly, he discovered that his wisp of soul had left the blood sea and was rising higher and higher into the sky.

    From his point of view, the endless blood sea still seemed to be boundless and filled with unfathomably immense flesh power.

    However, after emerging from the sea, he could finally see things he hadn¡¯t been able to see before.

    He saw chaotic multicolored currents that seemed to contain every type of power that was known to man, such as spiritual Qi, Devil Qi, Nether Qi, Death Qi, and sparks of starlight...

    The vast variety of them floated over the endless blood sea like clouds of different colors.

    A misty cyan river suddenly entered his view. It floated and stretched as far as the eye could see in this chaotic heaven and earth. He couldn¡¯t see either end of it.

    ¡°The Nether River!¡±

    Upon seeing the river, Nie Tian shuddered and had a peculiar feeling that his wisp of soul aspired to fly into it.

    In both the Silent Star Sea and the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he had derived enlightenment from the Nether River and taken soul imprints into his true soul.

    All of a sudden, another glorious river manifested in another area in the heavens, though it didn¡¯t cross the Nether River.

    Staring at the river and sensing the flow of time in it, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°The river of time!¡±

    Then, he continued to nce around. That was when he spotted an area enveloped in extreme darkness in the midst of the mists of various colors. The essence of dark power exuded from it.

    Then, there was an unfathomably-high pale-gray mountain peak that was filled with death power.

    The Tree of Life¡¯s soul message echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind, suddenly enlightening him. ¡°Life manifests as a sea, soul and time manifest as rivers, death manifests as a mountain peak, while darkness manifests as ckness. This is the ce where the bloodlines of all species originated, and what this starry river was like at the very beginning.¡±

 Chapter 1547: The Transcendent

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul was deeply shaken.

    Countless drops of Blood Essence had condensed into the endless blood sea that held the treasure that was the profound truths of life.

    A winding river contained the wonders of souls, with innumerable powerful spirits rising and sinking in it.

    Another glorious long river recorded pieces of rich history, with its one end representing the past and its other end representing the future, loaded with the secrets of time.

    A lofty pale-gray mountain peak that seemed to be made of nothing but bones stood on the opposite side of the blood sea of life. Wreathed in the light of death, it embodied the Dao of death.

    Then, there was an area of darkness that devoured all light that shone into it and emanated the ultimate, most essential dark power.

    The Sea of Life, the River of Souls, the River of Time, the Mountain of Death, and the Origin of Darkness...

    These were only the wonders the Tree of Life told Nie Tian about.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    There were many more colorful clouds and dashing streaks of light that contained mighty power in this chaotic heaven and earth, which also seemed to contain unlimited wonders that were waiting to be discovered.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian had a feeling that he was losing his soul power at an rming rate.

    Before his soul wisp had left the blood sea, his consumption of soul power hadn¡¯t been drastic. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t felt exhausted.

    However, now that he had been enveloped by the Tree of Life and carried out of the blood sea his life bloodline corresponded to, while he was shocked by the wondrous scenes around him, he also started consuming his soul power at an unprecedented speed.

    The same went for the Tree of Life.

    He could see that the emerald ward that enveloped him like a balloon was growing thinner and less stable.

    Sensing his rapid soul power loss, he hastily asked, ¡°Where in the world is this ce? Why is that river here? Is that the Netherspirits¡¯ so-called Nether River? Wasn¡¯t it transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s sea of awareness after his demise? Also, what are the rtionships between that Origin of Darkness and the Dark King, the Mountain of Death and the Bone Emperor?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The spherical ward morphed from the Tree of Life¡¯s soul shadow dove back into the endless blood sea.

    Upon returning to the blood sea, the Tree of Life resumed its form as a small, emerald green tree.

    Nie Tian¡¯s drastic soul power consumption also stopped the moment his soul shadow sank into the blood sea.

    This Sea of Life was the origin of his bloodline, his Blood Realm. Therefore, it was fairly safe for his soul wisp as long as it stayed within it. However, once it left it, he would consume his soul power dozens of times more quickly.

    The Tree of Life took its time to answer his questions. ¡°The chaotic heaven and earth you just saw is the Blood Realm of All Beings. The Nether River you talked about is called the River of Souls. As far as I know, this Sea of Life has been here since this chaotic heaven and earth came into existence. As for that River of Souls, River of Time, and Mountain of Death, since they¡¯re not the origin of my bloodline, I¡¯m not sure when they appeared.

    ¡°But I know that the so-called Nether River that runs through the Void World, the Spirit World, and the Mortal World is only a reflection of that River of Souls.

    ¡°It was a product of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual willmunicating with the River of Souls.

    ¡°When that River of Souls first appeared here, the Netherspirits didn¡¯t even exist yet. Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was only the first to ever unravel the mysteries of the River of Souls and win its acknowledgment. That was why he was able to transcend the limits of the tenth grade.

    ¡°The Dark King of the Devils grasped the ultimate profundity of the Origin of Darkness.

    ¡°And the Bone Emperor of the Bonedrudes derived the Dao of death from that Mountain of Death.

    ¡°The three of them managed to transcend the limits of tenth grade, and were considered the most extraordinary figures throughout the three worlds.¡±

    Nie Tian was full of veneration after the Tree of Life exined the reason why the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had been so powerful to him.

    Nie Tian felt enlightened. ¡°So the so-called Nether River wasn¡¯t transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s sea of awareness, but rather a mysterious manifestation, or reflection, resulting from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual willmunicating with the River of Souls.¡±

    But then, he seemed toe to a shocking realization as he suddenly said, ¡°The first-generation of yourself fought a battle against Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, which appeared to contribute to his death. If Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit unraveled the profound mysteries of the River of Souls and became a luminary that transcended the tenth grade, then doesn¡¯t that mean you, the one who defeated him... have also transcended the tenth grade?!

    ¡°If Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Dark King, and the Bone Emperor won the acknowledgment of the River of Souls, the Origin of Darkness, and the Mountain of Death respectively, then you must have won the acknowledgment of this Sea of Life!¡±

    A light of enlightenment seemed to sh across Nie Tian¡¯s wisp of soul.

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The Tree of Life responded. ¡°Only by transcending the limits of the tenth grade can we leave our own Blood Realms to see what this ce is really like. For example, if it weren¡¯t for my help, you couldn¡¯t have left the Sea of Life to see the entirety of this chaotic heaven and earth just now.

    ¡°The Dark King emerged from the Origin of Darkness; Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit came out of the River of Souls; The Bone Emperor stepped out of the Mountain of Death. Like me, all three of them charged out of their own Blood Realms and discovered that there were also other Blood Realms in this mysterious ce.

    ¡°I¡¯ve consumed a significant amount of power to show you the truth. I¡¯ve got to return to my true self now.¡±

    After answering Nie Tian¡¯s questions, the Tree of Life¡¯s emerald green soul shadow gradually grew blurry, as if it were going to dissipate into the blood sea soon.

    Apparently, even for it, it was extremely consuming to leave the origin of its bloodline to see the rest of this mysterious ce.

    Not to mention, it had had to take Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow with it.

    ¡°Wait! I still have many questions!¡± Nie Tian let out a soul call.

    The Tree of Life¡¯s soul awareness became intermittent as it said, ¡°My true self is in the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd in the Spirit World. Come and find me if you want to know more. Also, don¡¯t be so eager to explore the origin of life. Your bloodline grade and strength don¡¯t allow you to do that yet. Be patient. It won¡¯t be very long before you can reach the maic field of life at the heart of this blood sea.

    ¡°Just remember: you¡¯ll have to reach the tenth grade to reach the heart of this blood sea. And you¡¯ll have to transcend the tenth grade to leave this blood sea to explore this ce where everything started.¡±

    Finally, the Tree of Life¡¯s soul shadow vanishedpletely.

    Floating in the blood sea, Nie Tian sensed the fluctuationsing from the depths of the sea, and decided to take the Tree of Life¡¯s advice and stop pursuing the origin of this blood sea with all his heart.

    Instead, he focused on capturing the beams of light that shot across from time to time, and imprinting his soul wisp with as much profound knowledge and truths about life power as possible.

    ...

    In the Realm of Falling Snow.

    Even though Nie Tian¡¯s true self was sitting in the lotus position,pletely motionless, he managed to absorb the flesh power that continued to fall from the starry river.

    All of that flesh power was from the outsiders from the Void World and the Spirit World killed by the Ripper Behemoth. After their bodies exploded, along with their flesh aura seas, their dissipating flesh power would be channeled by Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline and fly towards him.

    ROAR!

    Floating in front of the Realm of Falling Snow, the Ripper Behemoth that looked like an enormous centipede continued to stimte its bloodline, sh the void with its feet, mix its bloodline power with the destructive light it channeled from unknown parts of the starry river, and deal the outsider grand monarchs heavy blows.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the grand monarchs from the Spirit World, who had witnessed the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s devastating might, or the grand monarchs that had onlye from the Void World recently. All of them finally understood how terrifying Star Behemoths actually were now.

    ¡°The Behemoth Crawlers! Release the Behemoth Crawlers!¡± A grand monarch from the Void World cried at the top of his lungs towards Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul.

    However, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul looked somewhat hesitant as he nced at Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger from time to time.

    At that moment, an ear-piercing sharp voice echoed from within a spatial rift. ¡°Thousand Spirits! Release the Behemoth Crawlers!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, a female Netherspirit that seemed to have just arrived in the Mortal World through the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea appeared.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul gasped upon seeing her.

    As opposed to how they usually behaved, the five evil gods that had been tamed by Nie Tian started talking among themselves upon seeing this Netherspirit.

 Chapter 1548: The Spirit Scepter

    The new arrival appeared to be a very young female Netherspirit.

    Judging by human standards, she only looked like a thirteen-year-old girl.

    However, her cyan pupils were as cold and fierce as remote mountains and frostykes.

    For some reason, Ophelia of the Demons looked at this Netherspirit girl in a very strange way, her face filled with reverence.

    Ophelia was a Demon. Even if she were going to pledge her allegiance, she should pledge her allegiance to the Devils.

    While clearly spirited by the young female Netherspirit¡¯s arrival, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul hastily exined the situation. ¡°If I release the Behemoth Crawlers, Nie Tian will...¡±

    Apparently, even he treated her with great respect.

    ¡°Leave him to me.¡± After taking on the important task in an arrogant manner, she turned to look at Nie Tian. ¡°It¡¯s you, right? You don¡¯t carry a rich flesh aura. You¡¯re nothing but a normal human being.¡±

    ¡°No, Barbara. That¡¯s only his doppelg?nger.¡± Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit said.

    ¡°His doppelg?nger?¡±

    The little Netherspirit girl, who he referred to as Barbara, said, numerous mysterious soul symbols appearing in her deep, cold eyes.

    Like cyan lightning bolts, the soul symbolsbined into a mysterious formation in the depths of her eyes, brewing a wondrous soul magic.

    All of a sudden, a sharp, ear-piercing drone filled the mind of Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger.

    He felt a heart-wrenching pain.

    Since his me power sub-soul wasn¡¯t his true soul, it hadn¡¯t been branded with the profound truths he had derived from the Nether River, and it wasn¡¯t immune to the Netherspirits and Phantasms¡¯ various powerful soul magics.

    He had only been able to contend against Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits because the five evil gods had been helping him.

    However at this moment, the five evil gods were simply sitting by and letting Barbara attack him with soul magics.

    Seeing the pain on Nie Tian¡¯s face, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul was instantly spirited. While releasing the Behemoth Crawlers, he shouted, ¡°Barbara, the magical seals on the brows of the five lords are Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s Heavenly Spirit Seals!¡±

    The remaining Behemoth Crawlers then flew out once again in formidable swarms, and flooded towards the Ripper Behemoth that was massacring outsiders of different races.

    The three major races of the Void World had bred the Behemoth Crawlers with the sole purpose of dealing with Star Behemoths. As long as they could find Star Behemoth flesh auras to devour, they could reproduce infinitely.

    Even if Nie Tian burned ny percent of them with the raging mes he channeled from the me Land, the remaining ten percent would still be able to reproduce at a shocking speed as long as they could find enough Star Behemoth flesh auras.

    Seeing that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had released the Behemoth Crawlers again, the Ripper Behemoth, which looked like a humongous centipede, felt a strong threat and grew anxious.

    It howled and cried out Nie Tian¡¯s name, signaling for him to burn the Behemoth Crawlers.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s head was splitting with pain as he suffered from Barbara¡¯s soul magic. He couldn¡¯t even use the spell formation within his me domain to summon me power from the me Land.

    As this happened, the Heavenly Spirit Seals on the brows of the five evil gods started flickering.

    That was a manifestation of Nie Tian¡¯s attempt tomunicate with the five evil gods andmand them to attack Barbara of the Netherspirits.

    However, even though the evil gods had dared to attack Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and any other Netherspirit or Phantasm, they seemed too timid to attack Barbara.

    HOWL!

    Failing to see any response on Nie Tian¡¯s part, the Ripper Behemoth let out an angry howl as it turned its terrifying colossal centipede-like body around and flew towards the floating continent.

    The floating continent was its sanctuary.

    ¡°Wanna run?¡±

    With a cold snort, Barbara, the little Netherspirit girl, took out a scepter that didn¡¯t seem to be made of metal or wood.

    However, winding Nether Rivers could be seen carved on it, as if they were flowing inside of it.

    As soon as she took out the scepter, every outsider grand monarch present and even Nie Tian felt a jolt in their souls.

    Many Devils and Bonedrudes couldn¡¯t help but exim upon seeing the scepter, ¡°The Spirit Scepter!¡±

    Holding it, Barbara seemed to suddenly turn into an evil god that controlled all spirits and souls as her tiny form sped towards the Ripper Behemoth like a petal flying lightly in the wind.

    As she did, she pointed towards the Ripper Behemoth with the scepter in her hand and made a gentle shing motion.

    WHOOSH!

    Several Nether Rivers seemed to suddenly manifest out of nowhere before rapidly stretching toward the Ripper Behemoth.

    As mighty as the Ripper Behemoth was, its humongous centipede-like body shook violently.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Wisps of light smoke rose from the head of the Ripper Behemoth as a significant amount of its soul power appeared to be vaporized by the power of the Spirit Scepter.

    Upon seeing the Spirit Scepter, Nie Tian, who was suffering from an excruciating headache, realized that the five evil gods were only so timid because they feared that scepter.

    Barbara must carry the scepter¡¯s unique aura. Therefore, after sensing it, the five evil gods instinctively wanted to avoid it.

    As its soul power was being dissolved at a high rate, the Ripper Behemoth slowed down flying towards the floating continent.

    Some newborn Behemoth Crawlers shot forward like bolts of lightning, leaving the other Behemoth Crawlers behind. In an effortless manner, they entered the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura sea and started gnawing at its flesh.

    ROAR!

    Stung by the insects, the Ripper Behemoth shook its colossal body and roared at Barbara.

    Even the void was shattered by its roar, as thousands of streaks of unknown light poured out of the rifts towards Barbara like magnificent waterfalls.

    No matter how Barbara brandished the Spirit Scepter, she couldn¡¯t stop such substantial damage with it. She had to muster her flesh power to defend against the devastating light that poured towards her in an overwhelming fashion.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The flesh aura shield she released exploded upon impact from the light, and scattered like cyan rain.

    In such a brief moment, Barbara was badly injured and couldn¡¯t stop coughing blood.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ face turned pale with fright. ¡°Barbara!¡±

    Many other Netherspirits rushed to her side to protect her by putting their lives at risk.

    Like the Spirit Pearl in Nie Tian¡¯s possession, the Spirit Scepter was a mighty soul weapon, which had an exceeding suppressing and destructive effect on the souls of all lives.

    However, it couldn¡¯t help Barbara prevent materialized damage.

    Even though she was at the middle tenth grade, she wasn¡¯t strong enough to neutralize the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s mighty power.

    Even though she was puking blood, she had a fierce andcent look on her face as she said, ¡°That Ripper Behemoth is done for! The Behemoth Crawlers have already found their way into its body!

    ¡°Those that have entered its body are from the newest generation. They¡¯ll gnaw at and destroy it more thoroughly.¡±

    The Behemoth Crawlers had been upgrading through generations since Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had released them to gnaw at the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura ward along the borders of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    The Behemoth Crawlers of the new generations were even more powerful and deadlier for the Ripper Behemoth.

    After all, they had been upgrading through devouring the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura.

    The Ripper Behemoth finally charged into the floating continent, its heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing roar echoing from behind the pale-gray mist that enshrouded the floating continent. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Apparently, it was desperate for Nie Tian¡¯s assistance.

 Chapter 1549: Tough Enemies

    Inside the floating continent.

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s colossal body was shaking as it sank into the endless ck sea.

    Though smaller than beetles, the Behemoth Crawlers had easily pierced into its body.

    Not only did its tearing aura have absolutely no effect on them, but they were even devouring it happily and using it to elerate their growth and transformation.

    Each new generation of Behemoth Crawlers was more powerful than thest, and the speed at which they gnawed at the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s body increased several-fold.

    By devouring its blood and flesh to their hearts¡¯ content, the Behemoth Crawlers continued to multiply by the thousands.

    No matter how powerful the Ripper Behemoth was, it wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand their endless gnawing, and would die eventually.

    However, it couldn¡¯t exterminate these foul insects that had been designed to deal with its kind by relying on its own power.

    Like the ticks on elephants and lions, these Behemoth Crawlers could only be killed by another force.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Nie Tian!¡± The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s roars rumbled out from the floating continent like mighty waves.

    The wrath of the behemoth shook heaven and earth!

    Many realms in the Domain of Endless Snow that looked like frozen crystals were influenced, their realm barriers cracking, their mountains shattering, and their earth trembling.

    Even rifts connecting to unknown ces appeared in the vast area of the starry river, and let out streaks of strange light that formed terrifying storms within a short time.

    It seemed to the outsider grand monarchs that the entire Domain of Endless Snow was shaking under the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s furious roars.

    Not just that, but even Qi warriors in the Realm of Crystal Snow, which was enveloped in utter darkness, felt great pressure on their chests, their hearting pounding heavily.

    All of them had a feeling that they were facing imminent doom, assuming that this was the doing of Aztec, the Son of Darkness. None of them expected this to be caused by the Ripper Behemoth.

    WHOOSH!

    Countless dark-yellow streaks of light gathered and formed another peculiar storm in the void.

    The storm contained not only strong tearing power, but also a twisting maic field.

    Due to a momentarypse in attention, Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons was hit by the storm of strange light. Hisrge, mountain-like body that was wreathed in dazzling purple light was instantly mangled and spilled dark purple blood.

    CRACK!

    Even his bones exploded and flew from his body, along with chunks of flesh.

    ¡°Twisting Void Storms!¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he yelled to the other grand monarchs from the Spirit World and the Void World, ¡°Be careful everyone! The Ripper Behemoth has activated its core bloodline talent to create these storms! Evente tenth grade grand monarchs can¡¯t contend with the devastating power within these storms!¡±

    Upon hearing this, none of the other grand monarchs dared to approach the floating continent.

    Their enormous bodies of various appearances rapidly backed away from the floating continent and the Realm of Falling Snow.

    PUFF!

    Barbara of the Netherspirits coughed up another mouthful of blood.

    Even her sharp eyes grew slightly dim.

    The soul connection between her and the Spirit Scepter in her hand seemed to be severed, as the scepter¡¯s suppression on the souls of other beings was suddenly lifted.

    Barbara looked rather weak as she said to the several grand monarchs from the Void World that were gathering around and protecting her. ¡°That Ripper Behemoth will die beyond the shadow of a doubt if it has no one to help it. Don¡¯t mind me. Go kill that Nie Tian. If his doppelg?nger is here, his true self must be nearby. Go get rid of him, both his doppelg?nger and his true self.

    ¡°He can burn the Behemoth Crawlers with his mes. He has to die!¡±

    Barbara red at Nie Tian from afar, her young, tender face filled with icy killing intent.

    ¡°Barbara of the Netherspirits and the Spirit Scepter...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger soon recovered in the torrential mes he had released.

    Barbara¡¯s secret soul magic had failed after she had suffered from that heavy blow.

    Thanks to this, Nie Tian, whose me power sub-soul had been on the verge of breaking down just now, recovered his ability to channel mes from the me Land with his me domain.

    Of course, he had also heard the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s cries for help.

    WHOOSH!

    In the blink of an eye, he morphed into a streak of crimson mes and shot towards the floating continent.

    The five evil gods, on the other hand, returned to the Spirit Pearl, which sped towards the Realm of Falling Snow where his true self was.

    From the five evil gods, he had already learned that the Spirit Scepter had belonged to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    Since the evil gods had served Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit as their master their whole lives, they had been reverent and unable to bring themselves to attack Barbara, its current owner.

    This was a result of the rigid hierarchy among the Netherspirits.

    It was said that the Spirit Scepter was a super-powerful soul weapon Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had forged with his bloodline power, soul power, and countless precious treasures he had looted from the three worlds after he had transcended the limits of the tenth grade.

    After Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s demise, the Netherspirits had viewed the Spirit Scepter as their most precious treasure. However, only many millennia after his death had a young member of their race emerged to win the scepter¡¯s acknowledgment and be its second master: Barbara.

    Though talented, Barbara had originally only been known by a few. However, she had made shockingly rapid advances in her bloodline since she obtained the Spirit Scepter.

    No one knew why or how she had managed to win the Spirit Scepter¡¯s acknowledgment. However, everyone knew that after obtaining the scepter, she was bound to be the strongest member of their race.

    Even Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, their current high chieftain, treated her with much respect.

    For some reason, there were even times that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits couldn¡¯t see through her, and sensed mysterious terrifying auras from her.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Barbara suddenly cast the Spirit Scepter forward.

    As the scepter shot through the void, the Nether Rivers engraved on it seemed to suddenlye to life. Numerous fierce spirits could even be seen fighting and devouring each other in those Nether Rivers.

    It was as if the Nether River¡¯s branches in the Phantasms and Netherspirits¡¯ ancestralnds had been magically downscaled and branded on the scepter.

    Apparently, the Spirit Scepter could channel and draw power from the Nether River, and thus greatly enhance Barbara¡¯s battle prowess.

    It looked as if many Nether Rivers flowed across the starry river as the Spirit Scepter hurtled.

    They all shared the same destination: the Realm of Falling Snow.

    A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Barbara¡¯s mouth as she said, ¡°The Spirit Pearl. Compared to the Spirit Scepter, all other soul tools are garbage. It¡¯s hard to believe such a mediocre pearl could enve those five. It appears to be time to liberate them. While the Spirit Pearl will be a part of the Spirit Scepter, those five powerful ones will be mine tomand!¡±

    She had unshakable confidence.

    Hearing this, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul was greatly spirited, and asked, ¡°Barbara... Can you really liberate those five lords? They had their bodies reforged, and they¡¯ve almost regathered all of their lost memories and soul fragments. If you can return their senses to them and make them fight for us, we¡¯ll suddenly have fivete tenth grade grand monarchs joining our side.¡±

    As the two of them spoke, several outsider grand monarchs cautiously threaded through the twisting storms and approached the floating continent.

    Their goal was to kill Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger.

    At the same time, several other grand monarchs followed the Spirit Scepter towards the Realm of Falling Snow.

    Their goal was Nie Tian¡¯s true self.

    Barbara fixed Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits with a strange look and said, ¡°With the help of the Spirit Scepter, isn¡¯t it a given for those five to be liberated from the humans¡¯ very and return to the arms of their own people? The Spirit Scepter is connected to the Nether River. You know what that means, right? Those fivete tenth grade grand monarchs will rejoin us, and we¡¯ll be like a tiger that has grown wings!¡± (idiom: with redoubled power)

    ¡°If the five of them are actually liberated, then I¡¯ll be able to focus on the battle in the Doomed Star Sea,¡± Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit eximed.

    Barbara didn¡¯t seem to fear Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits at all as she said to him, ¡°You can summon this sub-soul of yours back now. With me here, things won¡¯t go wrong in the Mortal World. The battles in the Doomed Star Sea and the Void World are of greater importance. The battle in the Doomed Star Sea is the most tricky of all.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s true self shuddered in the Realm of Falling Snow, and his eyes finally slowly opened.

 Chapter 1550: Refinement!

    Rivers of flesh auras that belonged to outsider grand monarchs fell out of the heavens.

    They should have been absorbed by Nie Tian like rivers joining the ocean thanks to his Life Drain bloodline talent.

    However, the moment Nie Tian¡¯s true self opened his eyes, the rivers of flesh auras changed directions.

    FIZZ!

    What seemed like crimson lightning bolts suddenly burst forth from Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, illuminating the frigid Realm of Falling Snow with blood-red light.

    As this happened, the falling rivers of flesh auras exploded into clusters of bloody mist with loud booms.

    Then, the clusters of mist surged and rapidly condensed intorge drops of Blood Essence!

    The Blood Essence that belonged to Devils and Demons looked like amethysts, the Phantasms¡¯ Blood Essence looked like cyan crystals, and the Fiends¡¯ Blood Essence looked like emeralds.

    The Blood Essence of different colors were all crystal-clear, and sparkled with dazzling, gorgeous light.

    Each and every drop contained as much flesh power as a ninth grade grand patriarch as they floated quietly in the heavens in the Realm of Falling Snow.

    If the Tree of Life had been here, looking up at the numerous drops of Blood Essence in the heavens, it would probably think of another ce: the endless blood sea, the bloodline origin it shared with Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian sprang to his feet.

    As soon as he did, countless beams of crimson light shot in every direction.

    It was as if he had turned into the mysterious maic field of life at the heart of the endless blood sea, and started releasing the light of life that contained the profound truths of life power.

    WHOOSH!

    Beams of crimson light pierced through the cyan, green, and purple drops of Blood Essence floating in the heavens, as if to brand them with the profound knowledge of life Nie Tian had mastered, along with wisps of his soul awareness.

    All of a sudden, every drop of Blood Essence started spinning. Vested with life and awareness, they slowly morphed into what seemed like smaller versions of Nie Tian.

    It was as if the Devil, Phantasm, and Fiend Blood Essences were transforming into tens of thousands of Nie Tians.

    Then, as his true self raised hisnd and made a grabbing motion, the Spirit Pearl flew into his palm with the five evil gods holed up inside of it.

    They were afraid of the Spirit Scepter that had been following them like their shadow after being cast out by Barbara.

    ¡°The Spirit Scepter,¡± Nie Tian muttered with countless dazzling sparks shining like stars in the depths of his eyes, and crimson lightning wisps shing across from time to time.

    This gave his eyes a deeply mysterious look, as if the entire starry river, along with the myriad stars and everything on them, had been included in his eyes.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul suddenly flew out of his sea of awareness to float above the top of his head.

    His true soul had been branded with the essence of his soul, his lifetime of memories and experiences, and his understanding of soul power.

    Numerous cyan soul strings and mysterious soul symbols could be seen flickering and flowing like winding rivers within his true soul.

    Upon a closer look, one could see that those flowing soul strings and soul symbols resembled the Nether River a great deal.

    They seemed to carry all sorts of soul wonders and profound soul magics, and represented the magicalws of soul power that seemed to originate from the origin of all souls: the River of Souls.

    FIZZ!

    The realm barrier of the Realm of Falling Snow was split open by the arriving Spirit Scepter and the illusory Nether Rivers that followed it.

    The Spirit Scepter effortlessly flew into the Realm of Falling Snow.

    On the pommel of the scepter was a cyan gem that looked like a dark cyan moon. The bleak aura it exuded was very simr to Barbara¡¯s aura.

    All of a sudden, a blurry soul shadow of Barbara manifested in the gem, and rapidly grew clear.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Barbara¡¯s sharp soul cry echoed out.

    Her soul shadow, which was now distinct, seemed to be filled with hostility and hatred, like an evil ghost that had been imprisoned in the gem struggling to break free and make all lives suffer.

    Looking at her, Nie Tian was baffled as to why this Netherspirit from the Void World hated him so much.

    As far as he could remember, he didn¡¯t seem to have had many encounters with Netherspirits before.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul that had possessed the sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society was perhaps the only one.

    As for this Barbara, he didn¡¯t have any memories of her.

    However, he found the way she red at him very familiar. It was as if she couldn¡¯t wait to y him alive to collect a blood debt.

    The illusory Nether Rivers arrived after the scepter.

    As soon as they flew into the Realm of Falling Snow, countless discarnate souls in the frigid, silent realms in the vicinity were channeled.

    They were the discarnate souls of the humans that had been ughtered by outsiders, the spirit beasts that had been devoured, and the seventh and eighth grade outsiders that had been killed recently, and hadn¡¯t dissipatedpletely.

    ¡°Those are the discarnate souls and evil intentions of the perished lives!¡± Barbara¡¯s cold voice echoed from within the gem on top of the Spirit Scepter. ¡°That Spirit Pearl of yours could never gather such arge number of them. Throughout the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World, the Spirit Scepter is the only thing that can gather and utilize such arge number of discarnate souls!¡±

    As she said these words, the Spirit Scepter suddenly burst forth with blinding light!

    Countless discarnate souls and evil spirits, along with all sorts of negative emotions, seemed to quickly form a nation of ghosts under the power of the Spirit Scepter.

    Blood-curdling, scalp-numbing soul cries prated the realm barrier of the Realm of Falling Snow.

    It was as if the entire Realm of Falling Snow was engulfed by the nation of ghosts in a split second.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s view, the mountains,kes, and wastnds in every part of the Realm of Falling Snow had suddenly be distorted and unreal, as if he had entered another dimension.

    Millions of discarnate souls, evil spirits, and various negative emotions swept towards him like gusts of wind and pouring rain.

    Standing in the Realm of Falling Snow, he felt like a small boat in the middle of a devastating storm, ruthlessly ravaged by the waves and the storm. It was as if he could be ripped to shreds and devoured by the storm at any moment.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. All of her attacks are soul-rted.¡± Holding fast to his soul, Nie Tian seemed to manage to see through theyers of illusions and fix his eyes on the Spirit Scepter.

    He noticed that the Nether River engravings on the scepter were already gone.

    His lips curled into a cold smile. ¡°The power it¡¯s using must be from the Nether River or the River of Souls. When my soul wisp emerged from the Sea of Life in that chaotic unknown ce, I sensed intimacy from that River of Souls. I suppose my soul is also favored by the River of Souls. If I could refine the Nether River branch in the Silent Star Sea, maybe I can...¡±

    ¡°Profound Truths Crystallization!¡± As soon as he let out a bellow, the drops of Blood Essence that Nie Tian had refined into fist-sized versions of himself that filled the sky suddenly began burning.

    They released pure flesh power, which Nie Tian mixed with his own Blood Essence and soul power using his bloodline talents, and sent towards the illusory Nether Rivers created by the Spirit Scepter.

    This was the same method he had adopted to refine everything wondrous within that Nether River stretching towards the first-generation Tree of Life in the Silent Star Sea into a crystal.

    BOOM!

    Rich flesh power continued to be released by the furiously-burning tiny Nie Tians, and poured out of the sky like scarlet waterfalls.

    The condensation of Profound Truths Crystals required a tremendous amount of flesh power.

    The fact that he had been able to condense that Profound Truths Crystal in the Silent Star Sea wasrgely thanks to the assistance of Grand Monarch Primal Wood and those three Ancientspirit grand monarchs. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to seed.

    This time, he used external assistance as well.

    He took advantage of the flesh power of the outsider grand monarchs that had been killed by the Ripper Behemoth.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Just as he was hoping to condense a new Profound Truths Crystal with his bloodline talent, the Profound Truths Crystal he had condensed in the Silent Star Sea suddenly flew out of his ring of holding on its own.

    As soon as it did, all of his flesh power and soul power gathered and poured into it.

    Then, to his surprise, the Profound Truths Crystal actually took upon itself to refine the illusory Nether Rivers that had flown out of the Spirit Scepter, and pull the nation of ghosts transformed from countless vicious souls and evil spirits into itself!

 Chapter 1551: Dominating the Domain of Endless Snow

    In the chilly starry river.

    Barbara of the Netherspirits, who hade from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, couldn¡¯t stop trembling.

    At the same time, blood starteding out of her cold, fierce eyes.

    ¡°Barbara!¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger and the few grand monarchs protecting her were bbergasted by what was happening to her.

    Her bleeding eyes were a sign of her over-consuming her soul power.

    However, she was only wielding the Spirit Scepter with a wisp of her soul. How could she possibly over-consume her soul power within such a short period of time?

    Even Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits didn¡¯t know what to do as he asked anxiously, ¡°What¡¯s going on, Barbara? Don¡¯t tell me that the Spirit Scepter failed to absorb the Spirit Pearl after entering the Realm of Falling Snow.¡±

    Ophelia of the Demons also eximed softly, ¡°Lady Barbara!¡±

    However, this young outsider grand monarch, who hade with an overbearing manner and made many other outsider grand monarchs wait upon her cautiously, seemed to turn a deaf ear to their calls.

    Or perhaps she couldn¡¯t hear them to begin with.

    ¡°The Realm of Falling Snow!¡± Expression flickering, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger ordered, ¡°Look after Barbara¡¯s true self. I¡¯ll go to the Realm of Falling Snow and see what¡¯s going on.¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ...

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The nation of ghosts the Spirit Scepter had formed by channeling the discarnate souls of all lives that had died in the nearby realms was sucked bit by bit into the Profound Truths Crystal like an illusory reflection.

    Barbara¡¯s soul shadow within the cyan gem on top of the scepter looked more sinister than ever.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits didn¡¯t know that she had already transfused the vast majority of her soul power to the Spirit Scepter by relying on her soul connection with it.

    Her n was to annihte Nie Tian with a single strike.

    But now, to her astonishment, she discovered that the power she had channeled from the Nether River and the discarnate souls she had summoned from the nearby realms by casting exquisite soul spells was gradually escaping her control.

    She couldn¡¯t stop the nation of ghosts she had created from being absorbed by the peculiar crystal.

    Not only that, but she also had a scary feeling that the power making up the illusory Nether Rivers, which made the Spirit Scepter so powerful, were also morphing into numerous sparks that fused into that crystal.

    The five evil gods suddenly grew excited.

    ¡°It¡¯s our master¡¯s aura!¡±

    ¡°That crystal contains our master¡¯s aura!¡±

    They shrewdly sensed Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s unique soul aura from the Profound Truths Crystal!

    The Spirit Scepter was the soul weapon Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had used when he had been alive, which was why it carried his soul aura.

    However,pared to the Profound Truths Crystal, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul aura within the Spirit Scepter was much fainter.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Barbara¡¯s soul shadow within the Spirit Scepter let out a miserable shriek.

    Her soul connection with this precious treasure of the Netherspirits seemed to be growing weaker and weaker.

    ¡°You... you!¡±

    Her soul shadow red at Nie Tian and his peculiar Profound Truths Crystal, sensing the power of the Spirit Scepter being transferred towards the crystal.

    However, there was nothing she could do to stop it!

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger arrived with a whoosh. ¡°Barbara!¡±

    Even before arriving, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had noticed that the entire Realm of Falling Snow seemed to have turned into a terrifying nation of ghosts, which was very much like their people¡¯s most profound bloodline incantation: Nether Soul Realm.

    It appeared that any spirit or soul that dared to enter it would be trapped in it for all eternity.

    However, he was shocked to find that Nie Tian¡¯s soul aura filled the entire Realm of Falling Snow, as if he were the god of spirits that ruled this Nether Soul Realm!

    Also, he saw streaks of cyan light flying out of the Spirit Scepter and fusing into the cyan crystal floating before Nie Tian like endless streams.

    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger sensed the crystal with his soul, and fear instantly filled his heart.

    From the crystal, he sensed an immense, ancient, indestructible aura that seemed to dominate the souls of all lives, which was very simr to the aura of the Nether River, yet different in some way.

    ¡°Help me!¡± Barbara¡¯s soul shadow cried for help from within the gem on top of the Spirit Scepter.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a nasty grin. ¡°You¡¯re nothing but a doppelg?nger, yet you have the audacity to mess with my business!¡±

    He expanded at an rming rate, and became nine thousand meters tall in the blink of an eye.

    He casually grabbed some of the burning Blood Essence that was floating in the sky and stuffed it into the crimson bone in his hand.

    The Star Behemoth bone then morphed into a bolt of lightning that shot towards Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger.

    HOWL!

    The devastating howl of a Star Behemoth from the Primal Era seemed to echo from within the crimson lightning bolt. The mighty vibration even ripped Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger¡¯s flesh open.

    The toughness of the Netherspirits¡¯ fleshly bodies weren¡¯tparable to that of Devils and Bonedrudes.

    Not to mention that this was only a doppelg?nger of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had close to a thousand sub-souls. Close to a hundred of them were doppelg?ngers with fleshly bodies. This doppelg?nger of his seemed to be suddenly weakened by the mighty howling from the Star Behemoth bone.

    ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    The crimson lightning bolt suddenly split into countless rays of blood-colored light that rapidly interwove into an enormous that enveloped Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger.

    Within seconds, the doppelg?nger was cut into a thousand pieces.

    Then, with loud booms, the chunks of flesh and bone exploded into a bloody mist that filled the sky.

    In the bloody mist, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul ran for its life. In a split second, it managed to fly out of the Realm of Falling Snow and arrive beside Barbara¡¯s true self in the form of a soul shadow.

    Many powerful experts from the Void World gasped upon seeing Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul that returned after the explosion of its fleshly body. ¡°Grand monarch!¡±

    How could that Nie Tian be so powerful?

    Barbara, who wielded the Spirit Scepter, had a deep understanding of various soul spells. Even though the grand monarchs present weren¡¯t impressed by her fleshly strength, they were all apprehensive about the kind of damage she could cause with the Spirit Scepter.

    Yet, she failed to annihte Nie Tian¡¯s true soul in the Realm of Falling Snow?

    Even though Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had only presented himself in one of his doppelg?ngers, he was ate tenth grade grand monarch after all. The strength of his doppelg?nger should be equal to that of an early tenth grade Netherspirit grand monarch.

    Yet, his doppelg?nger was reduced to bloody mist so easily, and only his sub-soul managed to escape?

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Cyan wisps of smoke starteding out of the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of Barbara, who they were keeping a close watch on.

    With a violent shudder, she snapped awake and screamed hysterically, ¡°My Spirit Scepter!¡±

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian, who was nine thousand meters tall in his erged form, charged out of the Realm of Falling Snow and into the starry river.

    The Spirit Scepter, which the Netherspirits considered their most precious treasure, could be seen floating before his chest. It just looked rather tinypared to his enormous body.

    He gently pressed his giant palm towards it, and it vanished.

    ¡°The floating continent!¡±

    Then, he dashed towards the floating continent as if he were treading on stars.

    With every step, he covered thousands of kilometers, quickly approaching the floating continent.

 Chapter 1552: A Brilliant Star

    Dazzling stars flickered around Nie Tian.

    Having assumed his erged form, he looked like a nine thousand meter high mountain peak. Even the outsider grand monarchs were impressed by his form.

    Billowing waves of seemingly endless flesh aura emanated from within Nie Tian, shaking even the area of the starry river around him.

    With every step he took, stars seemed to explode under his feet, and his star, me, and wood power seemed to manifest profound wonders, stirring up a resonance in heaven and earth.

    Even though his cultivation base was only at thete Saint domain, and his bloodline was only at the ninth grade, the aura he exuded now was ancient and boundless in the outsider grand monarchs¡¯ senses.

    At first nce, he looked like a peak God domain human expert, but after they sensed his aura with rapt attention, they found himparable to a mighty behemoth from the Primal Era.

    Staring at Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ escaped sub-soul sighed with mixed emotions and said, ¡°Another expert from the Mortal World has risen to prominence.

    ¡°Ji Cang, Qu Yi, Mo Heng, You Qimiao... Whenever the humans are in peril, people with extraordinary talent have risen to the challenge! Although the humans have a long history, it hasn¡¯t been long since they became a powerful race, yet they always manage to surprise us.¡±

    All of the other grand monarchs from the Void World fell silent after hearing this.

    Even they felt great pressure from the mighty aura Nie Tian now released after charging out of the Realm of Falling Snow.

    The fact that Barbara, who controlled the Spirit Scepter, had failed to defeat him, and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger had had its fleshly body destroyed by him made him even more formidable.

    Furthermore, what Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had just said couldn¡¯t be more urate.

    ording to the records of the three major races of the Void World, their most powerful opponents during ancient times were Star Behemoths, titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts.

    However, in this era, the vast majority of their truly powerful adversaries, who put them in perilous situations, were humans.

    Ji Cang, Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, Shao Tianyang, Mo Heng...

    These mighty God domain experts that had vanished from the Mortal World had caused them far too much trouble in the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea.

    Those humans in the Doomed Star Sea, who had beenbeled as viins and rebels and spit on by their own kind, were especially hard to deal with. Every time they had attempted to cross the Doomed Star Sea, they had had to pay a heavy price of countless casualties.

    Even so, most of their attempts had failed eventually.

    ¡°Nie Tian of the humans!¡± Many powerful experts from the Void World called his name inwardly, memorizing it with their hearts full of respect.

    At this moment, Nie Tian seemed to rise to the same height as Mo Heng, Ji Cang, and Qu Yi, and be one of the truly mighty opponents in the eyes of the three major races of the Void World!

    Seeing Nie Tian¡¯s true self speeding towards the floating continent, a Netherspirit expert hastily called out, ¡°Grand monarch!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul said, looking fairly calm. ¡°Ourte tenth grade grand monarchs haven¡¯t arrived yet. I¡¯ve already sent word to our people in the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea, informing them of the situation.¡±

    Hearing this, all of the grand monarchs from the Void World instantly felt relieved.

    He was right. Not a singlete tenth grade grand monarch from the Void World had actually arrived yet.

    Even Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had only presented himself in one of his many doppelg?ngers, and his various soul magics had been greatly suppressed by the five evil gods.

    Meanwhile, Barbara only enjoyed her unique lofty status among the Netherspirits because of the Spirit Scepter.

    She herself wasn¡¯t ate tenth grade grand monarch.

    Everyte tenth grade grand monarch of the three major races of the Void World was a mighty existence that could shake heaven and earth, and inspire fear throughout the starry river.

    If any of them got here, even the Ripper Behemoth might not be able to secure a victory against them, much less Nie Tian.

    ¡°What do we do about those who we¡¯ve sent to the floating continent to kill Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°Call them back,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits ordered. ¡°Some of the Behemoth Crawlers have already found their way into the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh and blood. Even Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger won¡¯t be able to get rid of them now! To Star Behemoths, Behemoth Crawlers are an incurable gue!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    ...

    In the floating continent that was enshrouded in pale-gray mist.

    The Ripper Behemoth, which looked like a humongous centipede, howled in agony as it sank into the depths of the endless ck sea.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger prated the flesh aura ward and entered the floating continent, the Ripper Behemoth sensed his existence and reemerged from the ck sea.

    Watching its body that looked like a winding mountain range rise to the sea¡¯s surface, Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger didn¡¯t know what he should do.

    BOOM!

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends, and an early tenth grade Devil grand monarch charged through the flesh aura ward enveloping the floating continent.

    Nie Tian was their target.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Controlled by the Ripper Behemoth, enormous rocks and brokennds from the top continent plummeted towards the outsider grand monarchs, making them cry out in fear.

    However, they soon discovered that, perhaps because the Ripper Behemoth was suffering from the Behemoth Crawlers, its attacks weren¡¯t as deadly as they had expected them to be.

    Another reason might be because they had entered the floating continent.

    In its own home, the Ripper Behemoth might have scruples, fearing that the whole floating continent would fall apart if it went all-out to attack them.

    The floating continent was like a colossal ship. Not only could it provide shelter to its humongous form, but it could also channel all sorts of power from the starry river.

    It was only natural that the Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t want it to be damaged.

    ¡°Nie Tian... Nie Tian...¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice echoed over and over in the mind of Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger.

    Its emerging body that looked like a winding mountain range shivered unceasingly as its flesh aura weakened bit by bit.

    Originally, the speed at which its flesh aura was consumed had been very slow and almost negligible, considering its vastly immense flesh aura.

    That was because very few of the Behemoth Crawlers had managed to pierce into its body.

    However, as time passed, the Behemoth Crawlers had multiplied at a shocking rate within it by gnawing at its flesh and blood!

    The speed at which its flesh aura was being consumed had grown faster and faster!

    ¡°I...¡± Examining the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s humongous form, Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger felt somewhat helpless. ¡°Even though I can burn the Behemoth Crawlers with me power, they¡¯re inside of you now. If I burn them, your body will be burned as well.¡±

    ¡°Try it anyway!¡± The Ripper Behemoth whined.

    ¡°Alright!¡±

    Rays of fiery light then flew out towards the Ripper Behemoth under the subtle maniption of Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    However, upon contact with the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, the rays of fiery light burst into raging mes, and were neutralized before they could pierce into the behemoth¡¯s body.

    Seeing this, the Ripper Behemoth canceled the flesh aura ward around it and opened its pores. Only then did the rays of fiery light finally reach and pierce into its body.

    HOWL!

    As soon as the fiery light entered its body, the Ripper Behemoth howled even more painfully than before.

    Even the entire floating continent started to shake violently. The Ripper Behemoth seemed to lose its precise control of its power, as numerous huge pieces ofnd started showering down, hitting Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler.

    At this moment, the grand monarchs received Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ order and prepared to return to him.

    However, Nie Tian¡¯s true self also charged through the pale-gray mist that enshrouded the floating continent at this moment, and spotted Grand Monarch Bloodlust upon arriving.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust!¡±

 Chapter 1553: Overwhelming Fighting Power!

    When Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons looked up, he couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Not long ago, he had fought a fierce battle against Nie Tian in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    In that battle, he had felt that he and Nie Tian had been somewhat equally matched, so he hadn¡¯t suffered any serious injuries at first.

    However,ter, while he had over-consumed his flesh aura, Nie Tian had been able to recover his flesh aura with his nsmen¡¯s flesh aura thanks to his mysterious bloodline talent, and be the slightly stronger one in the match.

    But now...

    After he cast a quick nce at Nie Tian¡¯s body that had emerged once again, his heart kept thudding.

    A deep fear and unease that was rooted in his bloodline instantly sprang up.

    The soul of the Demon Moon Saber that Grand Monarch Bloodlust was holding screeched with demon sounds that only he could hear, making him feel a wrenching pain in his mind.

    Even his hair stood on end despite himself.

    This was a natural reaction that his body would have only in the face of a life-threateningly strong enemy!

    After the exmation, Grand Monarch Bloodlust shouted to Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and the early tenth grade grand monarch of the Devils, ¡°Be careful, everyone! His Excellency Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits has sent a message, asking us to end our battle against his me doppelganger and the Ripper Behemoth and retreat from the floating continent now!¡±

    BOOM!

    A rich, deep purple flesh aura sea instantly burst forth with demonic power.

    The giant rocks from the broken upper part of the floating continent were shattered into powder by the rays of purple demonic light that Grand Monarch Bloodlust released.

    All of a sudden, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s mountainous body abnormally shrank to... an ordinary high-tier Demon form.

    He was only two meters tall, splendidly dressed, and handsome after shrinking.

    Amid the gravel and in the face of the boundless floating continent and Nie Tian, who was nine thousand meters tall, Grand Monarch Bloodlust appeared extremely small, and it was difficult to perceive his movements.

    Besides, he tried hard to cover his strong demon flesh aura and violent heartbeat; he clearly wanted to avoid Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura perception.

    ZZZZZLA!

    After shrinking, Grand Monarch Bloodlust was as nimble as a swimming fish. He flitted through the spaces among the gravel and gradually broke free from the pursuit of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true form descended. ncing at Grand Monarch Bloodlust, he eximed softly. ¡°Come back.¡±

    His me doppelganger was fretting in the lower part of the floating continent where the Ripper Behemoth was suffering.

    Suddenly, his me doppelganger condensed into a streak of me light, rose from the lower part of the floating continent, and vanished in the chest of his true form like a drop of water merging into the sea.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Sparks sputtered from his giant body.

    ¡°Bloodline, Life Search!¡±

    With the power of his bloodline talent, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s flesh aura manifested like a brilliant purple sun. No matter how hard he tried to hide himself, he shone too brightly to be hidden.

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t leave so fast,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Unhurriedly, he summoned the Star Behemoth bone and swung it casually in the sky. The movement seemed to be vested with the mysteries of his bloodline and heaven and earth.

    Then, a ray of scarlet blood light so dazzling that it made people¡¯s eyes sore and swell traversed heaven and earth, as if it were going to sever even the sea of clouds above the floating continent.

    Wherever it went, the blood light seemed to create a bloody realm that carried the aura, power, and charm of an evil god.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, who was escaping, was instantly scared out of his wits when he looked back.

    In both his sight and his soul¡¯s perception, the blood light somehow transformed into a strange, unknown star behemoth.

    The terrifying aura it exuded was even stronger than that of the Ripper Behemoth.

    Even his demon blood was suppressed by the aura, and shivered.

    It seemed that the unknown star behemoth had been transformed from the bone in Nie Tian¡¯s hand. Its boundless flesh aura filled Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s path of escape, as if sealing the entire area of the starry river.

    Before Grand Monarch Bloodlust could activate his Indestructible Form, he saw the behemoth open its mouth.

    A huge made from strings of bloodline crystal light emerged. It seemed that the, which had been branded with the true meaning of the behemoth¡¯s bloodline, was a natural threat to him.

    When the huge came down, not only Grand Monarch Bloodlust, but even Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch from the Void World were also affected.

    In a moment, pieces of flesh were cut off in the giant, spilling purple blood and green Blood Essence.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch wailed inside the blood.

    Nie Tian pursed his lips derisively as his huge mountainous body slowlynded. ¡°Grand monarchs¡¯ power... I¡¯m so not impressed. They fall prey to me just as others do.¡±

    ¡°Blood Essence Shadow!¡±

    An ancient demon voice rang out from Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s heart.

    The demon voice was deep, and sounded like the chanting of an old devil god of the Void World.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s fleshly body quickly split and morphed into drops of amethyst-like blood beads in the blood, which quietly condensed into purple devilish shadows.

    Each devilish shadow was different from Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s true form. Some were like rough bulls, while others were like ferocious giant pythons. If one took a closer look, they were quite simr to many devil beasts in the Void World.

    Those devilish shadows were the gods of the devils in the Void World, which were their original forms.

    The devil grand monarchs in the current Void World had also evolved into their current forms from devil beasts through generations of evolution and enhancement of their bloodlines.

    At this moment, the most ancient secret bloodline imprints in Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s heart broke out.

    His flesh was first condensed into Blood Essence. After the Blood Essence morphed into numerous original devil shadows, they broke free from the shackles of the blood, and flew away from the floatingnd with swishes.

    As Grand Monarch Nether Channeler saw this, he was so frightened that his body instantly shrank to a heart-like mass of foreign abominations that was filled with Gupi¡¯s acrid poisonous fumes.

    As soon as the mass of foreign abominations was formed, toxic fluid dripped from it, eroding the blood and breaking free.

    Uponing out, the mass of foreign abominations morphed back into Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, who fled the floating continent in a panic.

    However, the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch from the Void World had overestimated his own abilities, and wasn¡¯t as decisive as Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler as he attempted to escape the blood with the power of his devil body.

    However, the more he struggled, the tighter the became.

    In the end, the strings of the blood prated his fleshly body. The flesh power from the blood paralyzed him like countless electric bloodline lights.

    Nie Tian froze for a moment and thought, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler to have mastered such life-saving bloodline magics,¡±

    When he looked down, he found that only the early tenth grade devil grand monarch was still trapped in the blood.

    Nie Tian was a little regretful. ¡°Forget it. Though he¡¯s only an early tenth grade grand monarch, he¡¯s still a devil from the Void World. A devil of the Void World should be a little more powerful than a demon with the same grade.¡±

    Then, he sank into the endless ck sea and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you fly the floating continent to the Realm of Crystal Snow? I¡¯ll help you deal with the Behemoth Crawlers.¡±

    The Ripper Behemoth was surprised. ¡°Have you figured out a way to deal with the Behemoth Crawlers?¡±

    ¡°My doppelganger couldn¡¯t deal with them, but my true form can,¡± he replied with a smile.

    Suddenly, thousands of lines of blood light flew into the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s body like lightning, ¡°Behemoth Crawlers are also a race of living beings. As long as they¡¯re living beings and carry flesh auras and consciousness, I can deal with them.¡±

    His words were very imperious, showing his great confidence.

    The Ripper Behemoth was about to say something when it immediately sensed unusual movements in its body.

    The Behemoth Crawlers that were unscrupulously gnawing at its body and flesh aura suddenly seemed to feel that doomsday wasing. The hundreds of thousands of them all shared one feeling: despair.

 Chapter 1554: Heâ€™s Comparable To A Legend!

    No matter how the Behemoth Crawlers evolved, they were still living beings with fleshly bodies.

    As long as it was a living being formed by a fleshly body, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline could definitely work on it!

    Countless blood strings that contained Nie Tian¡¯s consciousness and were dozens of times thinner than a hair had flown into the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s body like lightning when it had canceled the defensive mechanism of its body.

    Nie Tian looked expressionless, but there was a trace of expectation in the depths of his eyes.

    The Behemoth Crawlers were small, but there were arge number of them. Hundreds of thousands of Behemoth Crawlers could also be arge source of flesh aura.

    Soon, the life blood auras caught the first Behemoth Crawler in the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s body.

    ¡°Life Drain,¡± Nie Tian said.

    As soon as the bloodline talent was activated, the Behemoth Crawler, which was as small as a grain of rice, was immediately infiltrated by the flesh aura.

    It¡¯s body instantly stiffened. Under the influence of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline power, the Behemoth Crawler even didn¡¯t have the power to struggle before wisps of its flesh aura all flowed into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura.

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

    With his soul awareness, he subtly manipted all the flesh aura to move around in the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s body.

    He became extremely focused as he did this.

    After all, he couldn¡¯t be too aggressive as he swallowed the Behemoth Crawlers with his flesh aura. Otherwise, he would absorb even the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura.

    He had to be focused and avoid even the slightest mistake, because a lot of the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura had been eaten away by the Behemoth Crawlers. If he used his bloodline to absorb more of the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, it could easily cause a big problem.

    The Ripper Behemoth might be driven into an irrational state of frenzied eating again.

    He had seen the Ripper Behemoth in that state before. He didn¡¯t want it to happen again.

    At the same time, the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch, who had been trapped in the blood, wailed unceasingly.

    In the scarlet blood, the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch named Tuta was cut into pieces and infiltrated by Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline aura, which nibbled at his flesh aura essence.

    Tuta had been slow to react. When he had tried to activate a life-saving bloodline magic, he had found that his heart had beenpletely infiltrated by the blood¡¯s power, and he couldn¡¯t even disy the unique escaping bloodline talent of the Devils.

    His wailing gradually stopped, and his huge devil body waspletely broken down and turned into wisps of rich flesh aura that merged into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    CRACKLE!

    When Nie Tian, who was nine thousand meters tall, got his flesh aura, his bones crackled, as if rtively fragile bones were being smashed and rebuilt.

    ¡°An early tenth grade grand monarch of the Devils,¡± he thought to himself.

    He multitasked. While he helped the Ripper Behemoth get rid of the Behemoth Crawlers inside its body, he also channeled the early tenth grade Devil grand monarch¡¯s boundless flesh aura into his body to temper it and condense Blood Essence.

    Steered by the Ripper Behemoth, the floating continent flew toward the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Nie Tian was well-aware that Dong Li and many God and Saint domain experts were making ns in the Realm of Crystal Snow as to how to fight against the outsiders from the Void World.

    If Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and many outsider grand monarchs had shown up here to deal with the Ripper Behemoth, the Realm of Crystal Snow must be in trouble as well.

    ...

    SWISH!

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s fresh purple blood escaped from the floating continent. Strands of fresh purple blood came together, condensed, and morphed into his true form again in the starry river.

    He looked pale; it was very clear that he had been badly injured.

    After that, drops of green jade-like blood beads with an acidic, foul smell gathered together and condensed into Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends.

    He didn¡¯t look much better than Grand Monarch Bloodlust. Still rattled, he asked, ¡°How could Nie Tian get so much stronger in such a short time? I... I almost couldn¡¯t even escape!¡±

    The two middle grand monarchs watched the floating continent fly away, but had no intention of pursuing it.

    Once upon a time, either of them would have been able to kill Nie Tian effortlessly.

    During their most recent battle, Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Nie Tian had been equally matched, which had given Nie Tian a headache.

    Now suddenly, Nie Tian had defeated the three of them after flying out of the Domain of Flying Snow. While trapping an early tenth grade Devil grand monarch, he almost trapped them in the blood as well.

    Moreover, they felt a solid threat of death from Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s rapid progress and horrifying speed of improvement made them more and more frightened.

    WHOOSH!

    While the two grand monarchs were still frightened, Barbara, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul, and the other grand monarchs from the Void World all approached with gloomy faces.

    Watching the floating continent fly farther and farther away, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ soul shadow asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Grand Monarch Tuta? He¡¯s part of the retinue of Aztec, the Son of Darkness. He...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s dead now,¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler said in a bitter tone.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits was surprised and asked. ¡°Dead? The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s body has clearly been prated by the Behemoth Crawlers. Reasonably speaking, it should have been too busy to deal with you.¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust lowered his head and said in frustration, ¡°It wasn¡¯t the Ripper Behemoth. It was Nie Tian. He has be much stronger than before. I don¡¯t know why his power has increased so quickly. But in my opinion, even if I went all-out, I wouldn¡¯t be able to match him in battle.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the people of the Void World all screamed, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°So Nie Tian has really be an expert like Ji Cang and Mo Heng?¡±

    ¡°That man is a great threat to us!¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    The whole realm was enshrouded by boundless darkness. Seen from the starry river, it looked as if the Realm of Crystal Snow were wrapped in an ink-ck cloth, and no light shone in it.

    Agatha of the Devils gazed silently at the Realm of Crystal Snow in the cold and lonely starry river outside the realm.

    Suddenly, devilish sounds rang out from a magical crystal on her neck.

    She squinted, and the message in the devilish sounds instantly melted into her soul.

    Her expression suddenly changed as she pressed the crystal with her fingertip.

    BAM!

    A purple light flew into the crystal, as if it carried some sort of information.

    In the depths of endless darkness.

    Aztec, the Son of Darkness, unhurriedly controlled the dark stone with his bloodline to fight Dong Li.

    A magical crystal on his chest shook suddenly.

    His devil body shuddered violently. ¡°Tuta is dead!¡±

    He, who had been leisurely waiting for the arrival of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, suddenly became impatient. ¡°Tuta was my subordinate. All of these people who have connections with Nie Tian shall die!¡±

    BOOM!

    His body expanded like crazy as purple crystalline light shone like stars in the depths of his bloodline.

    ¡°Break!¡± he growled.

    After his devilization, he brought his fist down towards Ji Yuanquan like a giant hammer.

    Ji Yuanquan, who had never given up in the darkness, had tried again and again to use his spatial power to open spatial rifts so that they could break away from the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    Suddenly, his soul felt fear that originated from the darkness.

    He instantly realized that he had been targeted by Aztec, who wanted to kill him.

 Chapter 1555: Meeting Agatha Again

    Ji Yuanquan was terrified.

    He used the secret spells of the Void Spirit Society and his spatial power to createyers of barriers in the sky. Each barrier was like a novel world with boundless fog.

    The devilized Aztec activated his bloodline power, and his fist that could shake earth and heaven was suddenly brought down like a hammer. ¡°Heaven Devil Hammer!¡±

    With a crack, the icy world of the Realm of Crystal Snow seemed to be cracked open.

    As the hammernded, numerous ancient devil gods of the Void World seemed to be roaring.

    A devil god manifested enveloped in endless devil light, with devil horns on his head and the shape of a giant ape. It was as if he was holding a giant hammer and trying to smash this heaven and earth.

    The devil god looked quite simr to the devilized Aztec.

    He seemed to be the original flesh form of Aztec¡¯s race.

    BOOM!

    Theyers of barriers that Ji Yuanquan had condensed instantly exploded.

    Then the divine dharma idol that he had managed to disy copsed in the dark Realm of Crystal Snow like a sand sculpture.

    Wisps of unusual spatial power rapidly converged and wove together, soon reappearing as a new Ji Yuanquan.

    However, the new Ji Yuanquan had clearly been seriously injured, and couldn¡¯t help letting out a scream of pain.

    In the dark, many God and Saint domain experts who heard his bitter scream knew that he had suffered from a heavy blow from Aztec.

    However, no matter whether it was Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Ye Wenhan, Zu Guangyao, or the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits, they were now blinded by the absolute darkness, as they couldn¡¯t see or feel anything.

    Even Ji Yuanquan¡¯s bitter scream seemed to have been deliberately made audible by Aztec.

    In the sky of the Realm of Crystal Snow, the darkness that Aztec¡¯s dark stone, Dong Li¡¯s dark stone, and the Dark Aureole had released seemed to have thrown the whole realm into eternal darkness.

    WHOOSH!

    Only Dong Li, who was on the ck tortoise and also practiced dark power, could see Aztec striking at Ji Yuanquan with rity.

    She wanted to help Ji Yuanquan, but found that her dark stone and Dark Aureole had been affected by Aztec¡¯s dark stone.

    The dark stone that Aztec had released, which was connected to his bloodline, was now really like a ck eye, which was fixed on her, her dark stone, and Dark Aureole she held all the time.

    Inside the eye were extremely fine purple crystalline chains.

    The purple crystalline chains burst forth with profound devil light that secretly affected her dark stone and Dark Aureole, as if the light were gradually assimting them.

    Dong Li was full of bitterness in the heart. She needed to constantly use her dark powers and the power of the ck tortoise to fight against the assimting power within that eye. ¡°Bloodline...¡±

    She was well aware that the reason for this was because the self-proimed Son of Darkness Aztec was a real descendant of the Dark King of the Void World.

    Unlike Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi, who were hybrids, she was a pure human.

    Her ability to merge with and refine the dark stone had been the result of much serendipity.

    She practiced dark power incantations and had tamed a ck phoenix that carried dark power.

    Then, with the help of Nie Tian, she had obtained the ck tortoise and dark stone, and then the Dark Aureole.

    There was simply too much luck in it.

    The blood running through Aztec¡¯s veins came from the fallen Dark King!

    As a descendant of the Dark King and a genius of the Devils of the Void World, Aztec, the Son of Darkness, fit perfectly with the dark stone, which was the Dark King¡¯s eye.

    Because of that, he was able to release the dark power of the eye to the fullest.

    He could also mix the secret power inside his bloodline with the eye to influence Dong Li¡¯s eye, the Dark Aureole... and even the dark power spiritual core within her spiritual sea in her dantian region.

    He was trying to assimte her as well.

    Dong Li was worried, though she didn¡¯t show it.

    Aztec¡¯s frenzied howl grew louder and louder, like a storm raging in the ocean.

    Because of Grand Monarch Tuta¡¯s death, his ferocious nature was stirred up and he wasn¡¯t going to leisurely wait for Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ arrival anymore. He was going to spend his devil power and Blood Essence on killing some people for Grand Monarch Tuta first.

    He had prepared to reserve his strength for a difficult situation, but he finally couldn¡¯t hold it anymore.

    ¡°Blood of Darkness!¡± As he yelled, a drop of Blood Essence appeared in his palm.

    The drop of Blood Essence was deep purple in the beginning, but as it continued to engulf dark power, it turned pure ck in a very short time.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The pure ck Blood Essence was instantly ignited.

    A drop of burning Blood Essence was like a dark ball of light. The aura it released was like the aura of the origin of darkness from some darkness-enshrouded area before the starry river had even been created.

    The burning Blood Essence suddenly floated to Yu Suying, the sectmaster of the Profound Purity Pce, who was at the middle God domain.

    In the sky, two Eyes of Darkness turned simultaneously to look at the drop of burning Blood Essence.

    It looked as if they had suddenly given strength to that drop of dark Blood Essence.

    Within the burning Blood Essence, dozens ofplicated unknown dark arrays and many tiny bits of dark particles manifested.

    Yu Suying was instinctively scared. She spread her god domain and released the Heaven-purging Divine Light. With the densely-interweaving light, she hoped to protect herself from being infiltrated by the burning Dark Blood Essence.

    Suddenly, dark power filled the air.

    The Heaven-purging Divine Light, which was the divine object of the Profound Purity Pce, crackled crisply, like beans being fried.

    Broken light spluttered in all directions, and strands of Yu Suying¡¯s refined soul melted.

    Within seconds, her divine dharma idol was full of holes. Infiltrated by that drop of burning dark Blood Essence, Yu Suying felt as if the dark power it was releasing was from the Dark King of the Void World.

    Maybe it was just a wisp of Blood Essence from the Dark King.

    But even so, Yu Suying couldn¡¯t bear it. She only felt that with the melting of the divine light, her spiritual power and soul power was engulfed by the darkness, and her divine dharma idol suddenly copsed.

    Aztec¡¯s roar shook heaven and earth. ¡°Nie Tian, you killed one of mine. I want all your people dead!¡±

    He then turned to fix his eyes on Master Blood Spirit.

    ...

    Agatha of the Devils frowned in the frigid starry sky outside the realm. ¡°The floating continent!¡±

    A ray of crimson blood light suddenly shot out from the floating continent.

    The moment the blood light flew out, an overwhelming frenzied flesh aura seemed to fill the whole world.

    She suddenly had an ufortable feeling that the area of the starry sky she was in had suddenly be too congested to allow her and her flesh aura to exist.

    She was taken aback by the ufortable feeling. It suddenly dawned on her that it was the crimson blood light that had flown out of the floating continent that had given her this illusion.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s voice rang out. ¡°Agatha of the Devils, we meet again.¡±

    The blood light suddenly stopped, and Nie Tian appeared in his normal form.

    At this moment, he was only about two meters tall. His physique was very strong and robust. His eyebrows were as sharp as knives, and his profile was cold and hard, giving people a strong feeling that he was overbearing, sharp, and aggressive.

    Agatha gasped. ¡°Compared to your strength when we met in the Void World, your current strength is a real miracle.¡±

    When she had learned of the upheaval in the Domain of Flying Snow, she had doubted its authenticity.

    She had captured Nie Tian alive and been able to torture him at will when they had first met in the Void World.

    How long had it been?

    After escaping from the Void World and returning to the Mortal World, he had suddenly be powerful enough to kill Grand Monarch Tuta and scare many grand monarchs of the Void World?

    She had been incredulous before.

    However, the moment Nie Tian actually appeared in front of her, she believed it.

 Chapter 1556: I Can Kill You Today!

    The Realm of Crystal Snow was still enshrouded in darkness.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t sense the movements of the living beings in the Realm of Crystal Snow until he activated Life Detection. ¡°A powerful Devil of the Void World!¡±

    As Nie Tian perceived with his bloodline, the boundless flesh aura of the Son of Darkness was iparably eye-catching, so he instantly knew that a Devil from the Void World was making waves inside.

    Darkness enshrouded everything.

    The Devil was clearly proficient in dark power. In the Realm of Crystal Snow, he was naturally in his element.

    It seemed Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits had been bogged down and had difficulty moving in the darkness. They were greatly limited by the dark power.

    ¡°Agatha, is the Devil in the Realm of Crystal Snow yourpanion?¡± ¡°Nie Tian asked.

    Agatha didn¡¯t hide the truth from him. ¡°He is the Son of Darkness, a descendant of the Dark King. Grand Monarch Tuta, the one you killed, was his subordinate.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Got it. He¡¯s descended from the Dark King. But I don¡¯t care who he is. Since he dares to run amuck in the Realm of Crystal Snow, a human realm, then...¡±

    Snorting, he didn¡¯t spare Agatha another look, and was ready to charge into the Realm of Crystal Snow.

    After returning from the endless blood sea, he had gained a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the blood realms and had acquired new bloodline magics. Hence, he was unprecedentedly confident.

    He had forced both Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler to escape and killed Grand Monarch Tuta. This gave him a feeling that even the grand monarchs from the Void World and the descendants of the Dark King weren¡¯t to be feared.

    Agatha, who had captured Nie Tian alive in the Void World, was angered by his contempt. ¡°Nie Tian! Do you not see me? Have you forgotten that I was able to do anything to you in the Void World?¡±

    SWISH!

    Ten ropes made of twisted purple lightning suddenly shot out of Agatha¡¯s fingertips. ¡°Soul-Imprisoning devilish snake!¡±

    The ropes were like devilish snakes from forbidden devil-refiningnds in the Void World that could engulf all living beings. With burning dark purple devil mes, they flicked their forked tongues and bit at Nie Tian.

    Wherever the snakes flew, they filled the icy starry river with surging devil power.

    Nie Tian sneered. ¡°Agatha, you said yourself that it was when we first met in the Void World. Sure, you once imprisoned me with this bloodline magic in the Void World. Do you think you can do it again now?¡±

    He came to a stop in the void.

    He let the devilish snakes wind him round and round like ropes with billowing streaks of devil power light.

    When he had been captured in the Void World, his flesh aura, spiritual power, and soul awareness had all been restricted, and be unusable.

    This time, strands of Agatha¡¯s pure flesh aura once again flew out from the rope-like devilish snakes to prate his flesh aura in order to bind and imprison him.

    Nie Tian let out a disdainful chuckle.

    His shoulders, which had been constrained by the devilish snakes, suddenly stretched.

    A terrifying brute force burst from his every muscle, like an exploding domain.

    In Agatha¡¯s perception, it seemed as if the devilish snakes that she had used her flesh aura and devil power to condense with the bloodline magic were actually wrapped around an ancient behemoth from the Primal Era!

    Once the behemoth was slightly angered, it would be able to burst forth with brute violent power and break realms with its palm alone.

    SNAP!

    As Nie Tian expanded his chest and his shoulders stretched, the devilish snakes snapped.

    Nie Tian, who had freed his hands, used his hands to grab the rope-like snakes and rip them apart one by one.

    Every time a snake was broken, it exploded into streaks of purple hair-like blood light that flew back to Agatha, wanting to return to her bloodline.

    Nie Tian turned to look at Agatha and grinned. ¡°It is the greatest shame in my whole life that I was captured by you in the Void World. Whatever your rtionship with that man is, I will repay you for the insult you have inflicted on me.¡±

    With a considerable distance between them, he raised his palm and pressed in Agatha¡¯s direction.

    His palm suddenly expanded. In the boundless blood Qi, stars flickered, mes billowed, and pure spiritual power shed like lightning bolts, but it looked as if all of this came from the giant, god-like palm.

    Agatha¡¯s expression suddenly changed.

    In her eyes, the giant palm with billowing power took up heaven and earth.

    Thick dark purple flesh aura condensed intoyers of barriers above her head. The glittering surface of the devil armor she wore had ancient devil patterns that formed sixteen kinds of defensive formations of the Devils in the Void World.

    The giant hand crashed down like heaven copsing!

    BAM!

    All of Agatha¡¯s flesh aura barriers broke. Most of the sixteen kinds of ancient devil formations engraved on her devil armor disappeared right away.

    Impacted by the tremendous brute force, Agatha¡¯s inviting body dropped tens of thousands of miles.

    It sank into the unknown starry river below and disappeared, like purple light spots.

    Nie Tian¡¯s arrogantughter rang out in the surrounding world, ¡°Agatha, this is not like before. You could capture me alive in the Void World, but if I want to kill you in the Mortal World now, it won¡¯t be difficult.¡±

    With that, he prated the realm barrier of the Realm of Crystal Snow that had been permeated by darkness, and reached the inner world.

    A fiery light burst from his eyes, illuminating the Realm of Crystal Snow as he tried to see through the darkness-enshrouded scenes. ¡°Who is the Son of Darkness?¡±

    To his surprise, hardly had his eyes burst forth with light when the light was assimted and drowned by the darkness, and he couldn¡¯t see anything anymore.

    Dong Li in the Realm of Crystal Snow could clearly see that the moment he came down, the two Eyes of Darkness floating in the sky suddenly fixed on him.

    What had swallowed the light was the Eyes of Darkness, which were the eyes of the Dark King of the Devils.

    Aztec¡¯s howl billowed and shook every darkness-enshrouded corner. ¡°Nie Tian! Nie Tian!¡±

    The moment Nie Tian came, the many God domain experts, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, and the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits could unexpectedly hear his voice, and knew of his arrival.

    In fact, none of the God domain experts and grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits were weak.

    They were only trapped because of the eyes of the Dark King and the Dark Aureole¡¯s true power, which had been galvanized by Aztec¡¯s bloodline.

    Those powers, after all, had belonged to the Dark King.

    As soon as Nie Tian had arrived, the Dark King¡¯s eyes suddenly fixed on him, so their restrictions on the Realm of Crystal Snow had been naturally weakened.

    On the frigidnd of the Realm of Crystal Snow, the God domain experts and grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits looked up and saw vaguely the figures of Nie Tian, Dong Li, and Aztec, who imed to be the Son of Darkness.

    Arge portion of the immense darkness that enveloped the earth seemed to dissolve as the Eyes of Darkness looked up.

    ¡°Son of Darkness!¡± Angry eyes suddenly converged on Aztec, making even the Son of Darkness feel a chill down his spine.

    Nie Tian eximed softly internally. ¡°Bloodline...¡±

    His every drop of Blood Essence was ignited, and he let out a bloodline cry towards the ck tortoise.

    With his drops of Blood Essence, the ck tortoise squealed joyfully, abandoned Dong Li, and flew obediently towards him.

    As it did, its body got bigger and bigger. Many dark devil patterns on its shell rippled like water, releasing pure magical light.

    The ck tortoise, whose bloodline was at the tenth grade, grew at lightning speed, as if it had morphed into a ckndmass.

    The boundless darkness and strong dark power that filled the Realm of Crystal Snow began to flow toward and fuse into the ck tortoise as more and more mysterious dark devil patterns emerged on its shell.

 Chapter 1557: The Real Origin of the Eye of Darkness

    The ck tortoise was mostly close to Dong Li because she practiced dark power and held that Dark power and the dark stone.

    However, fundamentally, it was Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence that had given the ck tortoise its life.

    Only after absorbing his Blood Essence had the ck tortoise been hatched.

    Therefore, the ck tortoise was actually closer to Nie Tian, considering their unique connection.

    ¡°Life Blend!¡±

    As Nie Tian activated his bloodline talent, wisps of his flesh power rapidly infiltrated the ck tortoise like aplicatedwork, forming a blood connection between them.

    Drop after drop of his Blood Essence that he had gone to great lengths to condense started burning furiously.

    As his immense bloodline power fused into the enormous ck tortoise, numerous crystalline chains within its heart burst forth with dazzling light.

    His bloodline power helped the ck tortoise generate new Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    At the same time, brand new dark patterns emerged on the huge tortoise¡¯s shell.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Surprisingly, the dark power that filled every inch of the Realm of Crystal Snow was somehow channeled by the ck tortoise¡¯s bloodline, and started fusing into its shell.

    As this happened, more and more dark patterns emerged on its shell, giving it a deeply mysterious look, like a ck hole devouring everything around it.

    The darkness gradually faded.

    The Realm of Crystal Snow that had been engulfed in darkness for a long time finally resumed its glittering icy appearance, its broken mountains, ripped earth, frozen ins, and frigid wastnds all returned to the light.

    ¡°Everything has returned to normal!¡± As soon as the darkness dissipated, Scotte the lightning dragon released crackling lightning bolts into his surroundings. Then, he threw his head back, and roared into the heavens like a liberated beast.

    With loud rumbles, lightning power was channeled from the starry river.

    Like thick pirs, lightning bolts condensed and struck down from the heavens.

    FIZZ!

    The two eyes of the Dark King and the Dark Aureole that were floating in the sky were all struck by the lightning bolts. However, they didn¡¯t seem to be badly damaged, with only lightning wisps slithering in them, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    tion and astonishment filled Dong Li¡¯s eyes as she suddenly discovered that the dark stone she had refined and the Dark Aureole started flying towards her.

    Only after a brief moment of confusion did she realize that Scotte¡¯s lightning power had just eliminated Aztec¡¯s soul strands and flesh aura he had infiltrated the dark stone and the Dark Aureole with.

    Even though his lightning power couldn¡¯t destroy the eye of the Dark King or the Dark Aureole, it could easily purge Aztec¡¯s soul strands and flesh aura from them.

    Standing on the back of the ck tortoise, Nie Tian fixed his zing eyes on Aztec and stimted his life bloodline. ¡°Aztec, the Son of Darkness, right?¡±

    In the perception of his life bloodline, Aztec looked like a cluster of purple mes.

    The immensity of his flesh aura, the intensity of his dark power, and the rough grade of his bloodline seemed as clear as day.

    Nie Tian shook his head and said with a derisiveugh, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re only at the early tenth grade.

    ¡°It seems that you only had the audacity to seal the Realm of Crystal Snow because of your powerful tools. Aztec, right? You¡¯re quite ballsy, but I¡¯m curious about how you n to escape now that you¡¯ve lost the backing of the Dark King¡¯s residual power.¡±

    Yin Xingtian wasn¡¯t seriously injured. Both Yu Suying and Master Blood Spirit were still alive...

    He was only soposed and calm because he knew these people had only sustained minor injuries, and none of their lives were in danger.

    Considering the wonders of his life bloodline, as long as they weren¡¯t dead, there was nothing to worry about.

    Aztec fell silent with a grim look in his eyes.

    Agatha¡¯s urgent message suddenly came through via the magical stone he was wearing.

    She urged him to evacuate from the Realm of Crystal Snow right away.

    The smile on Nie Tian¡¯s face grew even more derisive as he said, ¡°You¡¯re not talking? Do you really think you can do whatever you like just because you carry the Dark King¡¯s bloodline and that allows you to influence and stimte the power of that dark stone and the Dark Aureole? I bet you¡¯re curious as to why this spirit tortoise can devour the darkness you used to enshroud this heaven and earth.¡±

    Aztec nodded. ¡°I am.¡±

    He measured the ck tortoise with his gaze. Even he found the densely-packed dark patterns on its back too profound to understand, as if they were branded with the essence of darkness.

    The ck tortoise was the reason why the situation in the Realm of Crystal Snow had been turned around.

    Only because the darkness had been absorbed by it had the God domain human experts, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, and the Ancientspirit grand monarchs been freed.

    If the Realm of Crystal Snow hadn¡¯t been liberated from the darkness, Aztec, who had the Dark King¡¯s blood running through his veins, would still have been able to disy the Dark King¡¯s residual power within the Eyes of Darkness and the Dark Aureole.

    He wouldn¡¯t have feared Nie Tian or the Ripper Behemoth outside the realm.

    But now...

    Frowning, Nie Tian turned to Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs, and said, ¡°There¡¯s a female Devil outside the realm. Her name is Agatha. Will you please try and see if you can capture her? And do me a favor. I need her alive.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± After saying this, Scotte the lightning dragon charged towards the starry river without hesitation, his winding dragon form like a mighty lightning bolt.

    In the next moment, deafening thunderps echoed from outside the realm.

    ¡°A Devil?¡± Chatvic and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch flew after Scotte.

    Only Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims stayed behind and said, ¡°As long as that Devil hasn¡¯t gone too far, the three of them will be more than capable of capturing her. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll need my help.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± After giving a casual response, Nie Tian suddenly left the ck tortoise¡¯s back and charged towards Aztec.

    Aztec was very nervous, knowing that he was facing a formidable foe.

    From the messages he had received via his magical stone, he had already learned that Nie Tian had killed Grand Monarch Tuta, blown up Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelganger, and seized Barbara¡¯s Spirit Scepter.

    He had started feeling anxious when he could no longer seal the Realm of Crystal Snow with darkness.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face split into a nasty smile. ¡°Even though you carry the Dark King¡¯s bloodline and you¡¯re his descendant, you don¡¯t deserve to own that Eye of Darkness. It¡¯ll be a huge waste for you to keep it.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s words enraged Aztec. ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s a legacy from my ancestor. It¡¯s only right that I keep it! And only my dark bloodline can bring out its full might!¡±

    Composed and calm, Nie Tian said, ¡°That¡¯s only your opinion.¡±

    Then, he no longer paid attention to Aztec, but rather turned to look at the Eye of Darkness floating over Aztec¡¯s head.

    Even he shuddered the moment his eyes met it.

    The other Eye of Darkness, which was in Dong Li¡¯s control, suddenly grew restless, as if it were going to break free from her control.

    Only because Dong Li assumed a death grip on it did it fail to escape.

    ¡°Impressive.¡± With narrowed eyes, Nie Tian then informed the ck tortoise with his soul voice, ¡°The origin of your bloodline is a dark Star Behemoth, who lost to the Dark King in a battle for the essence of darkness. That battle made the Dark King¡¯s name.

    ¡°The so-called eyes of the Dark King and that Dark Aureole were actually forged out of your ancestor¡¯s eyes and body. That¡¯s why you feel a sense of closeness towards Dong Li.¡±

 C 1558: Refining Into A Crystal!

    WHOOSH!

    The ck tortoise¡¯s gigantic form gradually approached the eye.

    All of a sudden, the eye burst forth with flesh power that gave it a terrific, familiar feeling!

    ¡°That eye!¡±

    Some hidden Bloodline Crystal Chains in the so-called Son of Darkness¡¯s heart shone with mysterious dark purple light in a subtle manner.

    The flickering and morphing light seemed to be manifesting pieces of forgotten history that had been passed on as bloodline legacies.

    Aztec¡¯s soul roamed the light, as if to perceive certain things that had happened in the past.

    To his astonishment, he saw an ancient Devil god fighting an incredibly huge dark behemoth somewhere in the Void World.

    Their battle was catastrophic to that area of the starry river and those who lived in it.

    As their flesh auras shed and they tore at each other, mighty waves of power from their sh spread into their surroundings, spinning and shattering realms.

    An unknown number of realms and living beings in the area were eliminated by their battle.

    Even Aztec, the Son of Darkness, had never seen a battle at such a level.

    From the memory imprints, he saw that the dark behemoth was eventually engulfed by the Devil god¡¯s boundless power and died in their prolonged battle.

    However, the Devil god also suffered severe injuries and almost died.

    Finally, by ripping off and devouring pieces of flesh from the dark behemoth, the Devil god recovered. He gouged out the dark behemoth¡¯s eyes and transformed them by mixing them with his own flesh aura and dark power.

    He also took the dark behemoth¡¯s enormous heart and fused his own power into it, along with dozens of kinds of mysterious dark metals, and forged it into a tool that emanated darkness unceasingly, like a dark sun.

    After strengthening himself with the dark behemoth¡¯s flesh and forging its eyes and heart into unmatched tools, the Devil god finally finished his transformation and transcended the limits of the tenth grade.

    Then, he got to touch the essence of darkness. He entered the origin of darkness, which was like an area of eternal darkness. This allowed his understanding of dark power to rise above that of any other living being!

    After that, the Devil god refined those two eyes and heart of the dark behemoth for a second time, this time with his transcended bloodline. That was when the Dark Aureole became the most precious dark treasure, and the Devils¡¯ signature tool.

    The Devil god naturally became the most powerful expert in Devil history. Even the Bonedrudes and Netherspirits bowed their heads and acknowledged their allegiance to the Devils during his era.

    ¡°That... That¡¯s my ancestor.¡± Aztec finally learned the truth from his deepest bloodline imprints. ¡°That dark behemoth looked like a giant tortoise. Don¡¯t tell me that...¡±

    With a violent shudder, his soul snapped out of his bloodline imprints and back to reality.

    Eyes wide, he examined the ck tortoise for a few seconds before he suddenly realized the connection behind everything. ¡°This is unbelievable! No wonder the dark power released by this eye and that Dark Aureole could be absorbed by the dark magical patterns on the shell of that tortoise! That tortoise carries its bloodline!¡±

    At this moment, the ck tortoise raised its foot to touch the eye that belonged to Aztec.

    Aztec¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily activated his dark bloodline, burned his Blood Essence, and stimted his soul power.

    Purple light and ck clouds flew out of him and swirled towards that eye, the purple light being his bloodline power and the ck clouds being his soul energy.

    Now that he had learned the real origin of those eyes, he realized that this ck tortoise could very well rece him as the new master of that eye.

    However, even though that eye belonged to the dark behemoth, his ancestor, the Dark King, had refined it over and over.

    Because of this, that eye of the dark behemoth had been branded with his ancestor¡¯s dark bloodline as well. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to control it so skillfully, or influence that other eye and the Dark Aureole that belonged to Dong Li in the Realm of Crystal Snow using his bloodline power.

    Since Dong Li didn¡¯t carry the dark behemoth¡¯s bloodline or the Dark King¡¯s bloodline, she had been at a disadvantage in their scramble for the eye and the Dark Aureole.

    However, now that the ck tortoise had learned the truth and gone all-out to stimte its bloodline, it shrewdly discovered that not only the eye in Aztec¡¯s control, but even Dong Li¡¯s eye and the Dark Aureole had started interacting with its bloodline.

    The ck tortoise was instantly thrilled.

    ¡°Aztec, are you still trying to hold onto that eye of the Dark Behemoth?¡± Nie Tian said with a crafty smile. "Wake up already. Do you not know where you are right now? This is the Realm of Crystal Snow, my turf. Look around and see how many God domain experts are gathered here.¡±

    For a moment, after hearing these words, Aztec was rattled, and didn¡¯t know what to do.

    WHOOSH!

    Before he could say anything, Yin Xingtian¡¯s Godspan Sword Formation spread like the gorgeous tail of a peacock and fell towards him like a rain of sword lights. ¡°You dealt me a heavy blow earlier because my battle prowess was greatly limited by the darkness. Now that the darkness has dissipated, I¡¯d like to give you a taste of the true might of my sword formation!¡±

    The swishes of myriad swords echoed out simultaneously!

    The extremely sharp sword intent of the Godspan Sword Formation seemed endless as it sliced even the space where Aztec was.

    Aztec, who had activated Ancestral Awakening, was instantly cut bloody. Pieces of flesh were cut off his body, but before they could touch the ground, they morphed into drops of purple blood that flew back to him.

    Even so, he suffered serious injuries from the attack, and couldn¡¯t help but shout, ¡°What a contemptible way to attack a man!¡±

    ¡°Contemptible?¡± Nie Tian said with augh. Then, his eyes grew cold. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you expected us to just stand here and watch while you fight the ck tortoise for that eye. When you invaded our world and ughtered our people in our realms, did you ever give them fair treatment?¡±

    As soon as he said these words, Yu Suying, Zu Guangyao, Ji Yuanquan, and Ye Wenhan swooped toward Aztec together.

    Divine light burst forth from their bodies and the Immortal grade divine tools in their hands as Aztec from the Void World lost control over that eye.

    Even Yin Xingtian alone was too much for him to handle, not to mention so many God domain experts.

    Overwhelmed by the attacks of many powerful tools and incantations, his enormous body exploded into a blood mist that filled the sky with a boom.

    In the blood mist, drops of blood attempted to join back together.

    Seeing this, the God domain experts, who had fought countless battles against the outsiders from the Spirit World, smiled coldly and cast spells to form various restrictive wards, starlight shields, spatial barriers, and sword intent cages.

    Aztec¡¯s blood mist was then confined to a small area for a second round of exterminating attacks.

    Seeing that Aztec was on the verge of elimination, Nie Tian stepped forward and made a grabbing motion towards him. ¡°Don¡¯t refine him just yet. I have a use for his dark bloodline.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Aztec¡¯s heart, which was still beating, but filled with fierce sword intent, flew into his palm.

    ¡°Bloodline: Profound Truths Crystallization!¡±

    Nie Tian activated his bloodline talent and refined fine wisps of mysterious light that represented the essence of Aztec¡¯s dark bloodline from it.

    A dark purple gem-like crystal gradually formed in his palm.

    After that, Nie Tian said, ¡°Leave his flesh aura to me.¡±

    Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Zu Guangyao, and the others immediately opened up the wards to allow the purple blood mist to be channeled into the Profound Truths Crystal by Nie Tian.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Aztec vanishedpletely. All that was left was a sparkling purple crystal in Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    He handed it to Dong Li with a smile. ¡°Go ahead. Take it.¡±

 Chapter 1559: Gains

    Dong Li took the purple crystal subconsciously, and her mind immediately started rumbling. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Even her heartbeat became rapid.

    The spiritual core emanating mysterious dark power in her spiritual sea also grew restless, as if it were urging her to refine that crystal as soon as possible.

    Numerousplicated bloodline veins that were vested with the profound truths of dark power could be seen in the depths of the purple crystal in her palm.

    Besides, the crystal was infused with rich dark bloodline power!

    With a smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°This is what the so-called Son of Darkness has be. Even though Aztec was only at the early tenth grade, he did carry the Dark King¡¯s bloodline. This crystal is a condensation of all of his flesh aura, along with the majority of his bloodline power and his understanding of dark power.

    ¡°If you can refine it, not only will it help your cultivation base improve, but yourpatibility and closeness with the dark stone and the Dark Aureole will also improve.¡±

    As he spoke, the ck tortoise¡¯s footnded on the dark stone that had belonged to Aztec.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    Wisps of ck lightning sputtered from that eye, as if they were the manifestations of some dark magicalw.

    The ck tortoise retracted its enormous foot abruptly and sent a message to Nie Tian, informing him that it wasn¡¯t that easy to neutralize the Dark King¡¯s residual power.

    Nie Tian nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ve long since suspected that this would happen. After transcending the tenth grade and understanding the true essence of darkness, the Dark King refined the dark stones and the Dark Aureole over and over. That¡¯s why they all carry his bloodline imprints. Aztec could only control them so skillfully because they shared the same bloodline origin.

    ¡°However...¡± He smiled and turned to look at Dong Li. ¡°After you refine this Profound Truths Crystal, you¡¯ll be able to wield the dark stones and the Dark Aureole as skillfully as Aztec could. By that time, the dark power you and the ck tortoise will be able to wield together will shake heaven and earth. Even normal middle tenth grade outsider grand monarchs will be no match for you.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Are you serious? If I refine this crystal, will I really be able to do what Aztec could?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± Nie Tian gave an affirmative answer. ¡°Aztec¡¯s heart and all of his dark blood are condensed in that crystal. Once you refine and merge it with you, you¡¯ll have the bloodline of the descendants of the Dark King.¡±

    Overjoyed after hearing this, Dong Li asked, ¡°How are you doing?¡±

    Everyone¡¯s gaze instantly fixed on Nie Tian.

    Having been enveloped in darkness for so long, they didn¡¯t know the current situation in the outside world, or the reason for Nie Tian¡¯s sudden arrival.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, but the situation the human domains are facing isn¡¯t so good,¡± Nie Tian said with a grim expression. ¡°Now that the darkness has dissipated, you can turn to your respective sources of information. They¡¯ll tell you everything.¡±

    ¡°Have outsider armies from the Void World poured into the Domain of Endless Snow already, Nie Tian?¡± Ye Wenhan asked, looking concerned.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Nie Tian said.

    After taking a moment to think, he added, ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, why don¡¯t you return to your main realms or the realms that are protected by powerful grand spell formations for now? I¡¯m not sure whether more outsider grand monarchs are pouring into our world through the Seven Stars Realm Sea. All we can do now is figure out the situation we¡¯re in, and then n our next move.¡±

    A mor then broke out among the human experts.

    Thanks to the dissipation of the darkness, Ji Yuanquan, who was well-versed in spatial power, could split open spatial rifts now.

    Soon, spatial rifts that connected to the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, the Void Spirit Society, and the Heaven Span Pavilion opened one after another.

    Many Saint domain leaders of various human sects and ns were just feeling relieved for being saved when they learned that their realms had been sacked by the outsiders from the Void World. Others learned that their realms were safe for now, but still had heavy hearts and feared for their future.

    Therefore, all of them left hurriedly through the spatial rifts.

    Many from the four great sects also returned to their headquarters to gather information.

    WHOOSH!

    A bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens and morphed into Scotte.

    ¡°That Devil was too fast, and we lost her,¡± Scotte said in frustration. ¡°Also, we didn¡¯t dare to chase too far, lest we fall into a trap and be surrounded by grand monarchs from the Void World.¡±

    As he spoke, Chatvic and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch also returned and apologized.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we find another ce to talk and arrange for your people to move to the Silent Star Sea first, so they¡¯ll have a safe ce to stay?¡± Nie Tian said without trying to squeeze in more negotiation. ¡°The Domain of Endless Snow has lost its value. It¡¯s about time we left.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and several others jerked their heads towards him.

    The Seven Stars Realm Sea had fallen. The experts from various domains that had been gathered in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries had been evacuated to the Domain of Heaven Python and the Domain of the Falling Stars. Now that they needed a ce to go, they suddenly didn¡¯t know where they should go.

    Nie Tian pondered briefly, then said, ¡°The Domain of Forbidden Heaven.¡±

    ...

    ¡°Agatha!¡±

    In the silent starry river filled with surging frigid currents, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul was slowly losing wisps of soul power.

    Numerous grand monarchs from the Void World and the Spirit World gazed in the direction of the Realm of Crystal Snow from a great distance.

    They saw that Agatha of the Devils had manifested her most profound bloodline talent, which had allowed her to morph into a member of the ancient Purple Glede race, and flew towards them in glorious light.

    A Devil noticed that Agatha had returned by herself. With a bad feeling, he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Aztec? You didn¡¯t abandon him and run by yourself, did you?¡±

    Arriving before them, Agatha resumed her form as a high-tier Devil and said coldly, ¡°If I didn¡¯t, I would have died with him in the Realm of Crystal Snow. Three middle tenth grade Ancientspirit grand monarchs were chasing after me together. If I hadn¡¯t been vignt and activated my bloodline talent in advance, I probably would have died too.¡±

    ¡°What? Lord Aztec died in the Realm of Crystal Snow?¡± The Devil screamed in shock.

    Agatha fell silent.

    In a soft voice, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said, ¡°I¡¯m not sensing Aztec¡¯s soul fluctuations in the Domain of Endless Snow. That Nie Tian even took Barbara¡¯s Spirit Scepter. If Aztec actually died at his hands... I suppose even his soul wisps and Blood Essence failed to escape.¡±

    Barbara looked very embarrassed as she said, ¡°The scepter is still in Nie Tian¡¯s hands.¡±

    With a confused and disappointed expression, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said, ¡°Barbara, you¡¯re the Spirit Scepter. The Spirit Scepter is you. Someone took your vessel, and you can¡¯t even take it back? What¡¯s up with that?¡±

    ¡°His true soul carries the master¡¯s aura,¡± Barbara said, her face grim and filled with anger.

    Hearing the conversation between Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and Barbara, many outsiders from the Void World shuddered.

    Agatha, who had been silent, was bbergasted. ¡°Are you the soul of the Spirit Scepter? I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re actually the soul of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s Spirit Scepter! You left the scepter to find a Netherspirit with extraordinary potential and possessed her body with secret soul magics, so you had this fleshly vessel?¡±

    ¡°No wonder you could wield the Spirit Scepter!¡± Some Bonedrude said in astonishment.

    Netherspirits were the race that was the most skilled with soul power. Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had been the most skilled of all.

    The Spirit Scepter was a tool he had forged. It was natural that it possessed a powerful soul that had helped him better channel the Nether River and stimte his bloodline.

    However, who would have thought that the soul would leave the scepter and be this Barbara after his demise?

 Chapter 1560: Soul Switch

    Enormous meteors andndmasses floated quietly in the dim starry river.

    This was the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, a vast domain between the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Fierce battles had caused many of its realms to explode into countless meteors andndmasses.

    However, the Realm of Shattered Earth, which was located in the depths of the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, was filled with life force, and all sorts of spiritual energies of heaven and earth.

    Nie Tian sat quietly on an irregrly-shaped meteor near the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    With a whoosh, the Spirit Scepter, which he had seized from Barbara, manifested in his palm. Since he hadn¡¯t put a strong restrictive spell on it, it attempted to escape.

    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡± He pped it with his other hand, releasing wisps of lightning-like bloodline power and a glorious glow of divine light.

    After being hit, the Spirit Scepter wiggled a bit before finally bing silent and obedient.

    Barbara¡¯s soul shadow in the gem on top of the scepter had already fadedpletely.

    WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew out of the Spirit Pearl one after another to float around Nie Tian like five ancient Devil gods, humbling themselves before and serving him.

    With a derisiveugh, Nie Tian took out a cyan crystal.

    It was the Profound Truths Crystal he had refined from the countless mysterious soul symbols and soul strings in the branch of the Nether River in the Silent Star Sea.

    In that recent battle, this very crystal had suppressed and devoured soul power from the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°This scepter...¡± As he muttered to himself, the five evil gods suddenly sent out pieces of soul messages.

    Like a rain of glowing spots, the messages fell into his sea of awareness and became a part of it.

    ¡°This super soul tool of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit has a powerful soul within it.¡±

    ¡°The scepter went missing after his demise. That Barbara only made us feel uneasy and apprehensive because she carried his aura. It felt as if Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was there himself when she channeled power from the Nether River with the Spirit Scepter.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t Barbara that was fearsome. It was the unique aura of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit she carried...¡±

    From the soul messages from the evil gods, Nie Tian soon came to a deeper understanding of the Spirit Scepter. ¡°A mighty soul tool that belonged to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. If Barbara could use it to channel the Nether River, then...¡±

    Nie Tian contemted with a frown and narrowed eyes.

    During his battle against Barbara, he had activated his life bloodline, but failed to sense any special bloodline aura from her.

    It appeared that she had relied on her soul power to wield and stimte the Spirit Scepter, not her bloodline power.

    This waspletely different from how Aztec, the Son of Darkness, had wielded that eye.

    ¡°Aztec mainly relied on his bloodline, which allowed him to interact with the Dark King¡¯s residual power within that eye. Even though the Spirit Scepter also contained Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual power, Barbara doesn¡¯t carry a bloodline that allows her to interact with it. However, the Spirit Scepter somehow carries her soul strands and soul imprints.¡±

    After pondering for a long while, he fixed his gaze on the gem that was embedded on the pommel of the Spirit Scepter. The longer he examined it, the more puzzled he felt.

    Barbara¡¯s soul shadow had manifested within that gem before.

    Even now, he could still sense her soul aura thrumming within it, as if she was trying to locate it even though they were separated by the boundless starry river.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    He gouged the gem out with brutal force.

    The gem appeared to be the vessel of the scepter that held Barbara¡¯s residual soul will.

    ¡°Barbara senses the existence of the Spirit Scepter through this gem, doesn¡¯t she?¡± With a derisive snort, he summoned me power. Streams of mes that contained the magicalws of fire swirled out and engulfed the gem in raging mes.

    He could even hear Barbara¡¯s agonized shrieks from within it.

    He took the Spirit Pearl out and sent messages to its soul, ¡°Capture and refine Barbara¡¯s residual soul awareness if it flies out of the gem. Don¡¯t let a single wisp escape.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Barbara¡¯s soul awareness within the gem was gradually burned away by the raging mes.

    Momentster, wisps of cyan-gray soul awareness rose from the gem in an attempt to escape, but were captured and devoured by the Spirit Pearl, which had been well-prepared.

    Shortly after that, the peculiar gem exploded and turned into gray powder in the raging mes.

    Barbara¡¯s soul awareness and soul aura werepletely purged from it.

    Then, Nie Tian fixed his eyes on the Spirit Scepter again. After looking at the recess on the top, which was left by the gem, for a long time, he muttered to himself, ¡°Perhaps I can try and fit the Profound Truths Crystal in it...¡±

    With this thought, he pressed the cyan crystal, which he had refined from countless soul symbols and talismans in the Nether River branch in the Silent Star Sea with his bloodline talent, towards the recess.

    The size and shape of the recess didn¡¯t fit the cyan crystal.

    However, as soon as the crystal made contact with the recess, the Spirit Scepter burst forth with blinding cyan light that seemed to create a misty magical heaven and earth very simr to the misty cyan space inside of the Spirit Pearl.

    The recess also changed its size and shape on its own to fit the cyan crystal.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a soft exmation as he watched the recess sink deeper and expand wider so that the cyan Profound Truths Crystal fit seamlessly with the Spirit Scepter.

    All of a sudden, the engravings of Nether Rivers on the scepter seemed toe alive, and started flowing slowly.

    bbergasted, Nie Tian examined them with rapt attention, and saw that countless evil spirits and vicious souls were killing and devouring each other within them, while iparably small soul symbols flickered in them like fragmentary stars.

    It was as if all of the Nether River branches in the Spirit World and the Void World had been downscaled and engraved on this very scepter.

    With a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, he said, ¡°The Profound Truths Crystal seems to suit the Spirit Scepter even better! And this brand new Spirit Scepter doesn¡¯t carry Barbara¡¯s aura anymore. This Profound Truths Crystal is a condensation of the wonders within the Nether River branch in the Silent Star Sea. I went to great lengths to make it. Let¡¯s see if I can...¡±

    He took a deep breath as he focused his attention on the scepter.

    Staring at the Profound Truths Crystal on top of the scepter, a soul shadow flew quietly out of his eyes.

    It was a wisp of his true soul.

    In a bold manner, the soul shadow approached the Spirit Scepter to touch the Profound Truths Crystal on its top.

    SHEW!

    Upon contact, the soul shadow fused into the Profound Truths Crystal, as if it had crossed into a whole other heaven and earth.

    ...

    In the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Barbara suddenly started howling like crazy, as if she were suffering a heart-wrenching pain.

    Barbara, who was like a little girl, suddenly became as sinister as a ghoul. She even pulled her own hair off, causing her scalp to bleed. ¡°My, my soul within the scepter is burning!¡±

    The hearts of those from the Void World sank, as they knew that Nie Tian must be doing something to the Spirit Scepter.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul noticed that the soul strings that connected the Spirit Scepter and her had been severed. With a deep sigh, he said, ¡°The scepter is no longer yours. Even though I don¡¯t know why, I¡¯m sure that Nie Tian knows some of our race¡¯s secrets.¡±

 Chapter 1561: Bad News Doesnâ€™t End

    Meteors floated densely around the Realm of Shattered Earth like countless grains of sand.

    Even though they seemed small from afar, upon closer looks, one would see that most of them were pieces ofnd that had broken from the Realm of Shattered Earth. Each one could easily take up hundreds of cubic kilometers.

    Right now, ancient starships could be seen berthed on many of them. Teleportation portals were being built.

    All of this seemed to be done around the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    God domain experts like Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, Master Blood Spirit, and many Saint domain experts who had sworn their allegiance to Nie Tian were currently staying on the meteors in the vicinity of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    The Domain of Forbidden Heaven was where the Realm of Shattered Earth bordered the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, which had already fallen into the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    If the outsiders from the Void World and the Spirit Realm wanted to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars, they would have to sail through the Domain of Forbidden Heaven

    The Domain of Forbidden Heaven had been upied by the outsiders from the Spirit World for a long time.

    It was Ji Cang, the current sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who had joined powerful experts of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with experts of other sects and driven the outsiders out of the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. He had still been a Son of the Stars back then.

    That battle had shaken heaven and earth, plunging many lively realms of the Domain of Forbidden Heaven into dead silence.

    After that fierce and bloody battle, such a vast domain had been turned into ruins.

    Since arge number of realm fragments filled the starry river in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven,rge-scale ancient starships could hardly sail through it.

    Living beings could rarely be seen in realms other than the Realm of Shattered Earth, which made it a perfect battlefield.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Huge meteors suddenly started exploding in the distant starry river.

    Yin Xingtian, who was in recuperation, sprang to his feet and gazed into the distance with a grim expression.

    Mo Qianfan, Yu Suying, and Master Blood Spirit rose nervously to their feet after him.

    The Realm of Shattered Earth was very close. Even though many talented youngsters from the Nie n and different parts of the Domain of the Falling Stars had been relocated, some had insisted on staying.

    Nie Donghai was among them.

    Yin Xingtian was worried that the outsiders that had arrived through the Seven Stars Realm Sea had marched into the Domain of Forbidden Heaven on their way to invade the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Even though the explosions were happening very far away, Master Blood Spirit said with absolute certainty, ¡°Wait! That¡¯s not the outsiders! That¡¯s the Ripper Behemoth and the floating continent!¡±

    Yu Suying¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    Master Blood Spirit nodded and pointed in the direction of the explosions, saying, ¡°My perception of flesh auras has improved significantly after I broke through to the God domain. The Ripper Behemoth is simply too conspicuous in my flesh aura perception. I haven¡¯te across another living being that carries such an immense flesh aura so far, so it can only be it.¡±

    As expected, the floating continent soon entered everyone¡¯s view. Wreathed in pale-gray tearing currents, it crushed meteors as it approached.

    Putting his heart at ease, Yin Xingtian said, ¡°It appears that Nie Tian told the Ripper Behemoth that he was going to defend against the outsiders in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. Or the Ripper Behemoth started flying towards the Domain of Forbidden Heaven even before he left to deal with Aztec, the Son of Darkness. After all, it¡¯s sorge, and couldn¡¯t fit through spatial rifts created by Ji Yuanquan like Nie Tian could.¡±

    HOWL! ROAR!

    Fierce beastly howls echoed from around a spatial tunnel in the starry river northeast of the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Enormous dragons, mountain-like titans, and numerous gigantic Ancientbeasts were gathered in that area.

    They were sorge that they seemed to fill up that area of the starry river.

    Since Nie Tian had given them his word, Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch had been transferring their younger generations to this area, which had been designated by Nie Tian, from their ancestralnds.

    Ji Yuanquan, who was well-versed in spatial power, along with a few elders of the Void Spirit Society, had helped them open up spatial tunnels.

    Now, the sudden arrival of the floating continent and the Ripper Behemoth was making them tremble with fear. They even muffled their howls, fearing that they would attract the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s attention.

    Some of them had witnessed and been bbergasted by the massacre and bloody feeding session it had conducted in the Domain of Heaven Span.

    After spending a while in fear, they discovered that the Ripper Behemoth seemed to be quiet and unaggressive. Only then did they go back to transferring their younger n members to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, where Nie Tian would have spatial tunnels opened and arrange for them to continue their lives in the Silent Star Sea, eliminating their scruples.

    As time passed, pieces of news came from various sources.

    The four great sects spread word of the outsiders¡¯ atrocities in the human domains. More and more human realms were falling. Some human sects and ns that were without honor even gave up resistance and went to serve the outsiders from the Spirit World and the Void World.

    Soon, a quarter of the human domains fell into the outsiders¡¯ hands.

    Most of the fallen domains were advanced domains protected by Saint domain experts and powerful sects, while the weaker developing domains didn¡¯t seem to spark the outsiders¡¯ interest, and remained fairly safe.

    As for the Seven Stars Realm Sea, it seemed to have been engulfed in rich Devil Qi, Nether Qi, and Death Qi, which humans couldn¡¯t adapt to.

    It appeared that the vast array of powers and spiritual energies in the starry river in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries were being transformed by the outsiders¡¯ grand tool, the Void Energy Converting Wheel, causing the entire Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries to descend into a paradise for the three races of the Void World.

    On this day, the uneasy humans that were gathered in the Realm of Shattered Earth received another piece of shocking news: You Qimiao had been defeated!

    Standing on one of the meteors, Wei Lai, who had just arrived from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, said to Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, and the other experts, ¡°You Qimiao was defeated.

    ¡°He returned to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect badly injured. He even sealed their headquarters off after his return. As for Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons, he went to the Seven Stars Realm Sea with the glory of a victor, and was met with a grand reception by the outsiders from the Void World.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is ate tenth grade grand monarch. Even though he¡¯s also suffered injuries from his battle against You Qimiao, he¡¯ll most likely have a speedy recovery with the help of the Devils from the Void World.

    ¡°However, it¡¯ll be much harder for You Qimiao to recover his battle prowess.

    ¡°After all, he¡¯s only entered thete God domain recently, and hasn¡¯t familiarized himself with his new cultivation base and the usage of his newly-gained power.¡±

    Even though Wei Lai had never liked You Qimiao, frustration and sympathy filled his face at this moment.

    You Qimiao represented the peak strength of the human world. If he hadn¡¯t stepped up and fought Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, the humans would probably have been crushed in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Now that he had lost, the outsiders from the Spirit World and the Void World had an even greater momentum.

    The humans, on the other hand, were wallowing in despair. Their wails of doom filled many domains.

    Furthermore, everyone knew that the outsiders that had poured in from the Void World were only the first batch. Their truly powerful experts hadn¡¯t even arrived yet.

    Chu Rui had been defeated. If Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory hadn¡¯t shown mercy, he might have died already.

    Now, You Qimiao had been defeated as well. When Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory recovered with the help of the Devils from the Void World, who would be able to match him in battle?

    At this moment, spatial fluctuations spread from a teleportation portal on a meteor not far from them.

    A voice then echoed out from that meteor, ¡°I¡¯m an elder of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect. I¡¯m here to see Nie Tian and deliver a message from our sectmaster.¡±

    Wei Lai¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°A messenger from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect!¡±

    Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying exchanged confused nces.

    Dong Li should have been the one to handle these things. However, she had returned to the Dong n¡¯s ancestralnd in the Realm of Unbounded Destion to refine that Profound Truths Crystal that had been refined from Aztec.

    ¡°Come here.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out.

 Chapter 1562: Terrifying Reserve

    The elder of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect flew over to Nie Tian upon hearing his summons.

    tion filled the eyes of Yin Xingtian and the others as soon as they heard Nie Tian¡¯s voice. ¡°Nie Tian is awake!¡±

    Then, they watched the elder of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect fly off to meet with Nie Tian.

    A whileter, they saw the elder leave through the same teleportation portal he hade from.

    As soon as the elder left, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Wei Lai, and the other experts saw Nie Tian flying out of the meteor where he had been practicing cultivation towards the floating continent like a glorious shooting star.

    At the same time, his resonant voice echoed through the void.

    ¡°Floragrims and Ancientspirits, please speed up your preparations. As soon as all of your young n members get here, I¡¯ll have spatial tunnels opened, so they can move into the Silent Star Sea.¡±

    ¡°Senior Yin, would you and the otherse into the floating continent with me?¡±

    ¡°All God domain, Saint domain, and Void domain cultivators from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of the Falling Stars, and the Domain of Heaven Python are allowed to enter the floating continent.¡±

    ¡°You cane too, Elder Wei.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s voice echoed in everyone¡¯s ears as he flew towards the floating continent.

    Every human, Ancientspirit, and Floragrim on the meteors around the Realm of Shattered Earth heard him perfectly.

    ¡°The floating continent!¡± Yin Xingtian was the first to spring to his feet, his eyes lighting up and his back straight like an unsheathed sword.

    Wei Lai, who hade from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, looked confused as he asked, ¡°The floating continent? Why is Nie Tian summoning us to the floating continent?¡±

    ¡°Every God domain, Saint domain, and Void domain cultivator from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars is invited,¡± Yu Suying said with a thoughtful expression. ¡°It seems that only we and those who have sworn allegiance to him are allowed to enter the floating continent. So I guess this is a good thing.¡±

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect turned his eyes thoughtfully before suddenly realizing something. ¡°A good thing! Okay, I¡¯m taking a quick trip back to the Domain of Heaven Python to get all of our disciples who¡¯re at the Void domain or higher to teleport here. Then, I¡¯ll take them to check things out on the floating continent.¡±

    Upon hearing his words, Dong Qisong, Zhongli Jian, and Yue Yanxi, who had been forced to move their remaining forces to this ce after the fall of the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, also grew excited.

    Instead of flying into the floating continent right away, figure after figure flew off and left.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in first!¡± With these words, Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect shot towards the floating continent like a long, glorious bolt of lightning.

    He was followed by Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Wei Lai, and Master Blood Spirit.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Upon Nie Tian¡¯s summons, streaks of divine light shot into the floating continent one after another without meeting any resistance from the pale-gray tearing currents.

    Aftering to a stop at the top continent, they instantly found themselves in a vast expanse filled with countless pieces of floatingnd.

    Upon entering the floating continent, Wei Lai, Yin Xingtian, and the others couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment.

    ¡°Such rich spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the spiritual Qi here is several times richer than that in the Realm of Fragmentary Star!¡±

    ¡°This is probably the most ideal ce there is for human Qi warriors to practice cultivation!¡±

    During the past few days, Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying, who had suffered heavy blows from Aztec, the Son of Darkness, in the Domain of Endless Snow, had been healing themselves with medicinal pills they had taken from their sects.

    Now, they both felt refreshed and spirited sensing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth on the floating continent, which was much richer than that at their headquarters.

    Then, floating high in the air, they nced down with their piercing, torch-like eyes.

    Originally, the top continent and the bottom continent had been separated by a sea of pale-gray mist. Now, even though the mist still existed, the devastating tearing power within it seemed to have been canceled by the behemoth.

    This allowed Yu Suying and the other God domain experts to see through the mist and obtain aprehensive view of the bottom continent.

    They could see mountains,kes, and the vast ck sea that seemed to take up most of the continent.

    In the ck sea, there were inds even vaster than some realms. Even the smaller ones took up vast areas.

    Suddenly, they noticed that glorious light was spewing from certain areas on the inds andndmasses.

    In some areas, the earth and mountains split open, revealing veins of magical minerals that emanated intoxicating light like long, winding crimson dragons.

    The pale-gray mist that enshrouded some of the inds scattered, revealing a wide array of spirit herbs that had long since be extinct in the Spirit World and Mortal World.

    Each and every nt was at the Earth Cultivated grade. After growing for who knew how long, their leaves were emerald green and wreathed in divine light, giving people a wondrous feeling that if they took them, they would be able to recover from any injuries or diseases, and even their souls would grow.

    Some vastndmasses were covered in glorious light that emanated shocking power fluctuations.

    Some mountains were cracked open, allowing blocks of metal to roll down them. Even though they hadn¡¯t been forged into weapons, those blocks of metal seemed sharp enough to pierce through heaven and earth and split the realm barriers of ancientnds.

    There were all sorts of mineral veins, wondrous metals, rare herbs, soul-nourishing fruits, lights filled with peculiar energies, and other streaks of light that carried unusual spatial power...

    ¡°Oh my god!¡± Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce groaned as if he were in a dream. ¡°I¡¯ve been to this floating continent before, but I¡¯d never thought there to be such arge reserve of precious materials!¡±

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s agreement with the Ripper Behemoth only allowed young disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to take trials in certain areas of the floating continent.

    However, the vast majority of the floating continent had remained closed to them. That was why Wei Lai and many others that had taken trials on the floating continent were still unfamiliar with most parts of it.

    They didn¡¯t know how vast the floating continent actually was, or how many secrets it held.

    That changed at this moment!

    Wei Lai was dumbfounded as he looked down at the wide variety of precious materials, wondrous spell formations, and treasures that couldn¡¯t even be found in the Spirit World or the Mortal World, and sensed them with his soul.

    He didn¡¯t even recognize many of the precious materials.

    However, those he could recognize were all precious treasures that were rumored to be very helpful for improving one¡¯s battle prowess, things that humans and outsiders of different races would die for.

    After gazing about for a short while, Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said with her face filled with astonishment. ¡°My horizons have been broadened today. As one of the most powerful second-tier human sects, I had thought my sect had quite profound reserves. But only after seeing this do I realize that I was a frog in a well. I¡¯m afraid the number of precious treasures on the floating continent is even greater than the reserves of the four great sectsbined!¡±

    Yin Xingtian from the Streamcloud Sword Sect sighed with admiration. ¡°No wonder the Ripper Behemoth chooses to hide on this floating continent. For the past hundreds of thousands of years, the floating continent has drifted between the Mortal World and the Spirit World. It has even been to the remote corners of both worlds.

    ¡°Also, because the Ripper Behemoth has been hiding on it, it has remained full of energy and guided by its awareness.

    ¡°Many eras have passed. Countless grand monarchs and God domain experts have perished. Yet, the floating continent and the Ripper Behemoth have lived on. The history of this floating continent is even longer than that of any of the four great sects. Perhaps that is the reason why it holds such arge reserve of rare treasures, and so many herbs that have long since gone extinct in the Mortal World and the Spirit World can be found on the floating continent.¡±

    Yin Xingtian appeared to have recovered from the initial moment of shock, and figured out the reason behind this.

    Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce finally calmed himself as well. Looking down at Nie Tian, who was suspended over the ck sea on the bottom continent, he asked, ¡°Why did you want us toe here with you, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°A great battle awaits,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°We¡¯ve got to do everything we can to improve our battle prowess.¡±

 Chapter 1563: Making Stronger Followers

    Like the Shatter Battlefield, the floating continent was also a superrge-scale realm.

    After numerous interracial battles, the Shatter Battlefield had been severely damaged and broken into many pieces. Even so, it still contained numerous wonders and precious materials that attracted powerful experts from across the Spirit World and the Mortal World to explore it.

    The spatial treasure Pei Qiqi had found and named the Space Boundaries Crystal hade from the Shatter Battlefield.

    Great treasures like it were unearthed in the Shatter Battlefield from time to time.

    However, since the Shatter Battlefield was connected to the Mortal World and the Spirit World by spatial tunnels, arge proportion of the precious treasures in the Shatter Battlefield had already been harvested.

    Things were different with the floating continent.

    Due to the existence of the Ripper Behemoth and the fact that the floating continent had drifted from ce to ce over the past hundreds of thousands of years, only disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce with low cultivation bases had set foot on it, and they had been restricted to a very small trial area designated by the Ripper Behemoth.

    For this reason, the floating continent, which was also a superrge-scale realm, got to keep almost all of the wonders and treasures it had umted over the ages.

    Now, as the Ripper Behemoth manifested the dazzling precious materials to them ording to its agreement with Nie Tian, Wei Lai, Yin Xingtian, and the others werepletely bbergasted.

    Master Blood Spirit was flushed with excitement as he swooped down to Nie Tian. Sensing the existence of rich flesh power in several areas with the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s secret magics, he eximed, ¡°Master! I sense the existence of the remains of powerful spirit beasts! Even though they don¡¯t seem to spark the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s interest, I think I can forge them into a spiritual tool that agrees with me!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and pointed in several directions. ¡°You¡¯re talking about there, there, and there, right?¡±

    Master Blood Spirit nodded repeatedly.

    Nie Tian then said, ¡°They¡¯re the remains of spirit beasts the Ripper Behemoth captured a long time ago. Even though it has devoured their flesh and blood, their bones still contain considerable flesh power. With minimum forging and sanding, you can turn them into sharp weapons.¡±

    ¡°So can I...?¡± Master Blood Spirit asked.

    Nie Tian waved his hand. ¡°Go ahead. Now that you¡¯ve entered the God domain, you need a spiritual tool that truly suits and belongs to you. Aside from the spiritual materials on the floating continent, you can also ask Jing Feiyang for the materials you need. We¡¯ll do everything we can to get the spiritual materials you need. I believe your battle prowess will rise to a whole new level after you have a divine tool of your own.¡±

    ¡°No words can express my gratefulness for your great kindness!¡± Full of gratitude, Master Blood Spirit morphed into a streak of blood-colored light and flew off towards the areas where the remains of powerful spirit beasts were buried.

    Nie Tian then turned to Mo Qianfan, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying, and said, ¡°The same goes for you. You¡¯ll find all sorts of treasures on the floating continent. Some of them can be fused into your divine tools to boost their might. Some can be used to help you recover strength speedily. As for the materials you don¡¯t need, you may consider distributing them to those who wille after you.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already reached an agreement with the Ripper Behemoth. We¡¯re allowed to consume or use any spiritual material or precious treasure we can see or find on the floating continent.¡±

    Overjoyed, Yu Suying said, ¡°I sense the existence of strange silver stones that can help strengthen my Heaven-purging Divine Light!¡±

    ¡°Any materials that you can sense and see are allowed to be harvested,¡± Nie Tian said with an encouraging tone. ¡°Go ahead and strengthen your Heaven-purging Divine Light with those silver stones.¡±

    Yu Suying then left in a great mood.

    After a moment of hesitation, Yin Xingtian decided to approach Nie Tian, and said, ¡°The soul of my Heavenbreaker has also sensed several types of rare metals that only exist in the Spirit World. I can refine those metals into my Heavenbreaker to improve its grade.¡±

    ¡°What are you waiting for then?¡± Nie Tian said.

    Yin Xingtian bowed slightly and then flew off, giving rise to a whoosh.

    ¡°I...¡± Mo Qianfan said with excitement.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°I know what you want to say. There are quite a few ces on the floating continent that contain raging lightning power. Those ces have spawned many unique lightning fruits that you can use to further cleanse your soul. Those fruits may achieve better results with you than Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. Perhaps you can even make another advance with your cultivation base.¡±

    Mo Qianfanughed heartily. ¡°It was thanks to you that I was able to break through to the early God domain. If it weren¡¯t for your help and bestowal, I would have been destroyed in both body and mind. I assumed that after barely making the breakthrough into the early God domain with the heart of a Thunder-devouring Whale, I wouldn¡¯t have a chance to make another advance in my cultivation. Who would have thought I¡¯d actually have this opportunity to harvest unique fruits that contain the profound truths of lightning power?!

    ¡°With their help, I may be able to capture the great magicalws of lightning power and actually advance to the middle God domain!

    ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    After bowing respectfully towards Nie Tian, he assumed the form of a Thunder-devouring Whale and flew towards a lightning power-infused area like a gigantic whale that was surrounded by glorious lightning bolts and breathing thunderballs.

    Within such a short time, Master Blood Spirit, Yin Xingtian, Mo Qianfan, and Yu Suying had all flown off towards their respective targets.

    Wei Lai was the only one who was still floating in the sky, looking somewhat awkward. After all, he wasn¡¯t Nie Tian¡¯s follower.

    He had also sensed the existence of some wondrous materials on the floating continent that would help him with his breakthrough in cultivation. Even though he couldn¡¯t tell what they were exactly, his spiritual cores had grown restless, and were urging him to take action.

    ¡°What are you still waiting for, Elder Wei?¡± Nie Tian asked with a puzzled expression.

    Wei Lai pointed at himself and said with a wry smile, ¡°Me? Umm...¡±

    Up to this day, even though Nie Tian still had the title of Son of the Stars, his exceeding battle prowess and abundant force had almost made his influence rise above the entire Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. This was acknowledged by many, including Wei Lai.

    Right now, even the position of the Lord of the Stars might not necessarily spark Nie Tian¡¯s interest.

    Judging by the behaviors of Dong Li, Master Blood Spirit, Mo Qianfan, and the other experts who followed Nie Tian, they didn¡¯t seem to consider themselves as a part of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce either, but more like an individual force: the so-called fifth great sect!

    Nie Tian took a deep look at him and said, ¡°You¡¯ve treated me kindly from the day I was taken in by our sect. Now, you¡¯re only a step away from entering the God domain. There¡¯s a profound connection between our sect and this floating continent. That thing you¡¯re sensing will y an important role in your breakthrough to the God domain. Because of that, you have my permission to take it for yourself.¡±

    ¡°But that thing can help you too,¡± Wei Lai said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need it anymore.¡± With these words, Nie Tian smiled and spread his star domain.

    Right in front of Wei Lai, the Heavenly Stars Flower within his star domain seemed to manifest various profound secrets of the stars as it channeled glowing spots from the distant starry river and fused them into his star domain.

    Deeply shocked, Wei Lai said, ¡°I see.¡±

    After that, he added, ¡°You Qimiao lost his battle. Why did he send an elder of his sect to meet with you?¡±

    ¡°He wants me to be careful with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, and he told me how strong he is,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°Also, he asked me to do something for him.¡±

    With a bitter expression, Wei Lai said, ¡°Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has won the battle. The truly powerful experts might be on their way from the Void World. The Domain of Forbidden Heaven borders the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries. Are you sure you want to fight the uing battle here?¡±

    ¡°Sort of,¡± Nie Tian said vaguely.

    Then, after a moment of pondering, Wei Lai asked, ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll win if a battle actually breaks out here?¡±

    After taking a moment to ponder, Nie Tian said with a serious expression, ¡°There are too many uncertainties, but there are still plenty of things that I can do before the battle. It¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have others to turn to besides the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims.¡±

    Wei Lai was baffled. ¡°What others?¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly fixed him with a zing gaze. ¡°I¡¯d like to learn about someone, Elder Wei. Someone from the previous generation of our sect used to outshine our current sectmaster, Ji Cang. It was also him who first put forth the idea of breeding hybrids, and took grand elder Mo Heng into the sect.

    ¡°I want to know everything about him!¡±

    Wei Lai was bbergasted, and hastily said, ¡°What?! I was merely a normal disciple back then, and only had the privilege to meet him a couple of times. I don¡¯t know much about him either.¡±

    ¡°Just tell me what you know.¡±

    ¡°Umm... Alright."

 Chapter 1564: Going In The Opposite Direction

    In the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    A group of people were walking slowly, their leader being Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, who had long since entered the God domain, was walking behind Feng Beiluo and ncing around from time to time.

    They were surrounded by Heavenly Corpses that Feng Beiluo had refined. Even his martial uncle Wu Yi¡¯s corpse, which was like an enormous tenth grade ape, had been refined into a Heavenly Corpse, and followed hismands now.

    After a long while, Feng Beiluo came to a stop and said, ¡°This is it. This is where that Star Behemoth is buried.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions instantly grew stern.

    Ages ago, Feng Beiluo¡¯s martial uncle, Wu Yi, had attempted to turn this Star Behemoth into the most powerful Heavenly Corpse through mighty means, but failed.

    After that, the Star Behemoth had remained buried in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Holding a grudge towards Nie Tian for ruining his grand n, Wu Yi had made repeated attempts to kill him. However, after joining hands with Jiang Yuanchi and losing for thest time, he had been killed by a group of powerful experts led by Feng Beiluo. Feng Beiluo had only reserved a wisp of his soul.

    However, his body had been turned into Feng Beiluo¡¯s sharp weapon: a Heavenly Corpse.

    As the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, Feng Beiluo knew all of their sect¡¯s secrets. There was clearly a reason for their sudden arrival in this particr ce in the Shatter Battlefield.

    ¡°Get moving.¡±

    As soon as Feng Beiluo gave the order, all of the Saint domain experts that hade with him, along with his Heavenly Corpses, went into action. Many of them appeared to be skilled in building spell formations.

    Towering stone columns that contained different wonders were soon erected in a special formation.

    It was like building a cluster of towers at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield.

    If one looked down from the heavens, they would be able to see lofty stone columns standing densely in an area of a thousand square kilometers. Each and every one of them was channeling energies from heaven and earth and the starry river, gradually forming mists of different colors that enshrouded the area.

    At the same time, wisps of corpse power could be seen being pulled out of the earth.

    In order to refine that Star Behemoth into the strongest Heavenly Corpse this world had ever seen, Wu Yi had done everything within his power to fuse it with corpse power. It had only sought cooperation with Nie Tian because it couldn¡¯t allow itself to descend into a senseless Heavenly Corpse.

    Now, the residual corpse power within its body was somehow being sucked out by the grand spell formation.

    The Star Behemoth clearly weed such a change.

    Even though it didn¡¯t know why Feng Beiluo was doing this, it was happy to let his wondrous spell formation extract the corpse power from its body and the underground space it was in.

    The Heavenly Corpses Feng Beiluo had brought with him, however, continued to absorb and refine the corpse power into themselves in order to make them stronger.

    By the time all of the residual corpse power in the Star Behemoth¡¯s body and the earth at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield was extracted by the grand spell formation, a sudden change took ce.

    All sorts of violent energies split open a strange hole at the center of the spell formation.

    Flesh auras of various sorts came pouring out of the hole. There were Devil flesh auras, Phantasm flesh auras, and the flesh auras of other races.

    The hole gave people a bleak, silent, and gruesome feeling. It was unknown where it led to.

    However, the seemingly endless flesh auras poured madly down into the earth, like water flooding through a broken dam.

    Both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had entered and obtained power from the unusual underground space the Star Behemoth had created with its flesh aura.

    Now, immense flesh power suddenly started pouring down into it, strengthening the unique space and nourishing the Star Behemoth¡¯s body.

    In the depths of the earth, the terrifying body of the Star Behemoth actually started healing and recovering at a noticeable rate due to the infusion of the flesh auras.

    If an outsider grand monarch was killed, they would be able to return to life by relying on a drop of their Blood Essence.

    Star Behemoths had dominated the three worlds during the Primal Era. If they died, they would have a chance at rebirth as well, as long as they weren¡¯t refinedpletely.

    Any bone, drop of Blood Essence, or piece of flesh carried their unyielding will and the instinct to revive themselves.

    This Star Behemoth had only chosen to die and bury itself in the Shatter Battlefield because it had hoped to take advantage of superrge-scale realms¡¯ unique capability of channeling energies from the starry river, so it could earn itself a chance at revival after many years of umtion.

    Unfortunately, the Heavenly Corpse Sect had learned about its existence and n.

    Generations of sectmasters of the Heavenly Corpse Sect had dreamed about and dedicated themselves to refining it into a Heavenly Corpse. Not only had they sabotaged its chance at revival, but they had even nearly seeded.

    Wu Yi was the one who had been the closest to sess.

    Feng Beiluo, the current sectmaster of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, however, didn¡¯t contribute to that cause. Not just that, but he even went in the opposite direction.

    He had first drawn residual corpse power from the Star Behemoth and the earth around it, then infused it with rich flesh aura to help it regenerate its flesh and blood, pushing it down the path of resurrection.

    The Star Behemoth¡¯s soul awareness had originally been dormant, but now, sensing the unusual changes, it gradually awoke.

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Its mighty soul voice suddenly echoed in Feng Beiluo¡¯s mind.

    He was the only one who could hear it. Even Yuan Jiuchuan, who was standing right next to him, didn¡¯t hear a thing.

    ¡°All three worlds are in turmoil,¡± Feng Beiluo answered. ¡°My master thinks we need you to be revived at this crucial moment. Don¡¯t worry about your flesh aura supply. This hole here will continue to provide you with flesh auras from the Doomed Star Sea. Fierce battles are taking ce in the Doomed Star Sea as we speak. Many grand patriarchs and grand monarchs from the Void World have died in battle.

    ¡°The torrential flesh power your revival requires can only be generated by the deaths of numerous outsider grand monarchs and grand patriarchs.

    ¡°We, however, happen to be able to make this happen, and help you soar in the three worlds again.¡±

    ...

    On the floating continent.

    Figures shed about on the floating continent like streaks of glorious light.

    They were Saint and Void domain cultivators from the Divine Seal Sect, the Golden Vast Sect, the Thousandsword Mountain Sect, the Beast-controlling Sect, the Divine me Sect, and the Domain of the Falling Stars. They were all followers of Nie Tian.

    With Nie Tian¡¯s permission, they had entered the floating continent to seek resources that would help them make new breakthroughs in their cultivations, or simply strengthen themselves.

    They discussed excitedly as they searched, as if they had found a brand new world.

    ¡°There are so many precious materials!¡±

    ¡°The reserves on the floating continent are indeed shocking, and much greater than those in the Shatter Battlefield!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because the Shatter Battlefield has practically been mined dry by the joint efforts of various races. After all, we and the outsiders have taken countless exploration trips to the Shatter Battlefield via different means over the past hundreds of thousands of years. Every time, we¡¯d return with tremendous gains.¡±

    ¡°The reason why we could unearth all those rare treasures in the Shatter Battlefield is because that Star Behemoth is dead.¡±

    On an ind on the ck sea.

    Wei Lai from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce thought hard as he told Nie Tian everything he knew and could remember about that man.

    Nie Tian spent most of the time listening in silence, and would only ask questions every once in a while.

    A long time passed.

    Waves suddenly rose on the tranquil surface of the ck sea as the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s soul voice suddenly echoed in Nie Tian¡¯s mind. ¡°There¡¯s an upheaval in the Shatter Battlefield. That one is rapidly regathering its awareness! This is very strange, because its awareness shouldn¡¯t be reviving at this time!¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Nie Tian asked with a puzzled expression.

    ¡°The one that¡¯s buried in the Shatter Battlefield, and didn¡¯t descend into a walking corpse thanks to your help,¡± the Ripper Behemoth answered. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this upheaval is good or bad for us. I¡¯m sending you there to take a look.¡±

 Chapter 1565: Chaos Behemoth

    Spatial fluctuations suddenly emerged in the central area in the Shatter Battlefield.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift split open.

    Nie Tian walked out of it and arrived from the floating continent, which was currently in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Both Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil felt a jolt in their souls, and eximed subconsciously the moment he arrived. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Both of them were early God domain experts. One of them had numerous fierce Heavenly Corpses at his disposal. The other had earned himself the name Thunder Devil, and inspired fear across the human domains.

    Both of them hade into contact with Nie Tian at some point. However, at this moment, they both had a sense of unfamiliarity when examining Nie Tian, who had suddenly arrived.

    Many Saint domain Qi warriors who hade here with the two of them also examined Nie Tian with strange expressions. ¡°So he¡¯s the Nie Tian everyone¡¯s talking about...¡±

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Nie Tian asked, floating in midair.

    Then, he spread his soul awareness and bloodline power, which rapidly covered a thousand-kilometer radius around him. Any living being with flesh and blood couldn¡¯t escape his perception, even including puny insects. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Star Behemoth in the depths of the earth is actually...¡±

    He shrewdly sensed that the Star Behemoth was being infused with flesh power at an rming rate, like a balloon being inted.

    He didn¡¯t need to see it to know that its flesh was being regenerated, its internal organs wereing to form, and it was on its way to resurrection.

    All sorts of flesh auras were pouring endlessly through the bizarre hole in the middle of the cluster of stone columns that stood towering like mountain peaks.

    Then, the flesh auras infiltrated the earth, and were absorbed by the Star Behemoth.

    Those flesh auras of different colors were the key to its resurrection. Nie Tian only took a brief moment to sense them, and his expression flickered.

    In the short time after his arrival, the flesh auras pouring out of the hole matched that of ten outsider grand patriarchsbined!

    Face filled with astonishment, Nie Tian tried to determine the source of every wisp of flesh aura by relying on his life bloodline. ¡°The flesh auras of Devils, Netherspirits, Fiends, ckscales, Ancientspirits, Floragrims, and many other unknown races. Those flesh aurase from such a wide array of races. Where does that hole connect?¡±

    With a faint smile, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°The Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. ¡°The Doomed Star Sea!¡±

    From hismunication with the Ripper Behemoth, Wei Lai, and the Spirit Scepter, he hade to a rough understanding of the Void World, the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and his father, whom he had never met.

    The Doomed Star Sea separated the Mortal World and the Void World, and was considered the most dangerous ce throughout the three worlds nowadays.

    Battles broke out year-round between the humans and the three major races of the Void World there.

    Many powerful races of the Spirit World, including the Floragrims, the Ancientspirits, and even the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes would march forces there to help fight against those from the Void World.

    That was because not all Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes wanted to find and join their origin as Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory did.

    In fact, Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Crystal Bones had done everything within their power to sever their connections to the three races of the Void World. They hadn¡¯t wanted anything to do with them.

    Feng Beiluo let out a sigh of frustration and said, ¡°The fierceness of the battles in the Doomed Star Sea is unprecedented. Don¡¯t think that the outsiders that have invaded the Mortal World represent the true strength of the Void World, Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I¡¯m not that naive.¡±

    Up to this day, not a singlete tenth grade grand monarch from the Void World had descended upon the human domains.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger didn¡¯t count.

    Feng Beiluo took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Their most powerful experts are still in the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea. We¡¯ve suffered tremendous casualties from our battles against them. Pei Yukong of the Voidspirits sustained fatal injuries. Only because of that did he go to find Pei Qiqi. I suppose you met him on the floating continent.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s only one of our injured. At least he didn¡¯t die, and managed to find Pei Qiqi. I¡¯ve seen too many Voidspirits fall in battle.¡± With these words, Feng Beiluo cast his gaze down. ¡°Since we¡¯ve been in a bad situation in our battles recently, and couldn¡¯t think of a solution, we thought of this Star Behemoth here in the Shatter Battlefield. Its power was unmatched before it died, so we thought it would be a great help to us if we revived it.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What?!¡±

    As of now, he had seen how terrifyingly mighty the Star Behemoths from the Primal Era really were.

    That Dark Behemoth had fought the Dark King, but lost, which had allowed the Dark King to touch the essence of darkness, and therein transcend the tenth grade.

    The bone he currently had in his possession was from another Star Behemoth: The Rampage Behemoth.

    It had fought a fierce battle against the Bone Emperor from the Void World, and exploded.

    After its death, one of its bones had drifted in the starry river until that old Lizardman identally obtained it. Eventually, it had fallen into his hands.

    Those powerful beings from the Primal Era had been mighty enough to contend against the Dark King and the Bone Emperor.

    Even so, the Dark Behemoth and the Rampage Behemoth had failed to defeat the Dark King and the Bone Emperor.

    This proved how exceedingly mighty the transcendent experts from the Void World had been.

    This Star Behemoth in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield was the Chaos Behemoth.

    Back in the day, the flesh auras it had released had plunged countless human and outsider experts into senseless killing, and had almost made those peak experts of the Mortal World and the Spirit World fight each other to the death, therefore causing great turmoil in the two worlds.

    Nie Tian had long since witnessed the might of the Chaos Behemoth. However, he didn¡¯t know what had killed it.

    The only thing he knew was that it could easily influence the living beings in its surroundings and make them lose sight of who their enemies and friends were.

    Once it was revived and tossed into the Doomed Star Sea, all living beings close to it might lose their minds and engage in endless, senseless killing.

    Feng Beiluo nodded. ¡°It can create chaos. And that¡¯s what we need it for. You have no idea how mighty the tenth grade grand monarchs from the Void World are. The Netherspirits, the Devils, and the Bonedrudes all have powerful leaders. We even suspect that they have mighty figures like the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°What? They actually have experts at the same level as those three in this era?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Feng Beiluo said, his expression bitter. ¡°Of course, I haven¡¯t encountered any of them myself. But your father ran into them in a forbidden ce in the Void World. Ji Cang, Qu Yi, Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and the high chieftain of the Ancientspirits, these peak experts of the Mortal World and the Spirit World, have all vanished after entering that forbidden ce. Perhaps they¡¯ve all fallen into a trap.¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°What?!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, and a few other experts also stood aghast after hearing this.

    It appeared that even they didn¡¯t know that there were experts in today¡¯s Void World that were as mighty as those legendary beings.

    If this was true, why didn¡¯t the humans and those from the Spirit World give up resistance and acknowledge allegiance to them already?

    Who could possibly contend against such mighty existences?

    After a while, Nie Tian asked uneasily, ¡°If he encountered such powerful experts in that forbidden ce in the Void World... Is he still alive? If powerful existences on par with the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and the Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit actually wanted to kill him, could he escape?¡±

    ¡°How do you think that Dark Aureole was obtained?¡± Feng Beiluo said rhetorically.

    Nie Tian was lost for a moment before asking, ¡°How?¡±

    Feng Beiluo smiled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know all the details, but I know that your father took it from that mighty Devil in that forbidden ce in the Void World. He might have won it as the spoils of a battle, or from some sort of bet.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised.¡± Feng Beiluo said with an expression as if this couldn¡¯t be more normal. ¡°How long has it been since your bloodline awakened? Yet you managed to fight off Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and ughter early tenth grade grand monarchs in the Domain of Endless Snow. Even you could defeat such powerful enemies. You don¡¯t think he could escape with ease from those mighty beings?

    ¡°If he couldn¡¯t do that, why would so many unruly arrogant human and outsider experts swear their allegiance to him?

    ¡°For us from the Mortal World and the outsiders from the Spirit World, unparalleled battle prowess is what earns respect.¡±

 Chapter 1566: Heavily-injured Mo Heng

    What Feng Beiluo had just said was simply unbelievable.

    However, those present, like Yuan Jiuchuan the Thunder Devil, didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest doubt about it.

    Heartfelt reverence filled their faces.

    Nie Tian, however, fell silent after hearing these words.

    Nie Tian pondered in silence, but huge waves rose in his heart. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he actually managed to take the Dark Aureole from a Devil expert at that level. He actually possesses such power...¡±

    The information he had acquired about the man from Wei Lai, Mo Heng, and the others had been very limited.

    He knew that whoever could fight the outsiders from the Void World in the Doomed Star Sea must not be weak.

    However, he had never expected the man to be so powerful.

    If he had taken the Dark Aureole from a Devil expert that possessed power like the Dark King¡¯s, wouldn¡¯t it mean that he also possessed power at that level?

    If this was true, then he was probably stronger than Ji Cang, Qu Yi, Chu Yuan, and Shao Tianyang.

    What level would it be if a human expert transcended thete God domain?

    Had the man done it already, or was he on his way to seed?

    A series of questions filled Nie Tian¡¯s mind, plunging him into silence.

    WHOOSH!

    The hole surrounded by stone columns was still spewing flesh auras that belonged to various races, which was then fused into the earth and absorbed by the Chaos Behemoth.

    Soon, sounds starteding from the depths of the earth.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    Its heartbeat was faint at first, but gradually grew as loud as drum beats.

    The eyes of Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, lit up as his face split into a brutal grin. ¡°The Chaos Behemoth¡¯s heartbeat has resumed! We¡¯re almost there. Once it¡¯s revived and tossed into the Doomed Star Sea, we¡¯ll have a good show to watch.¡±

    With a faint smile, Feng Beiluo nced around at the enormous corpses that were breathing in corpse power that had been channeled from the depths of the earth, and said, ¡°My Heavenly Corpses have also grown significantly stronger. Also, Nie Tian...¡±

    Upon hearing Nie Tian¡¯s name, several Qi warriors that had followed him here from the Doomed Star Sea started whispering among themselves with flickering light in their eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the young master has the name of Godmaker.¡±

    ¡°He managed to single-handedly make multiple God domain experts. What a divine thing to do!¡±

    ¡°Not just that, but he seems to have visited the Void World and taken back precious Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir. Plus, the Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent appears to have a close rtionship with him as well. As we know, the floating continent is one of the most wondrousnds throughout the three worlds. It¡¯s said that it holds arge number of precious treasures that can¡¯t be found elsewhere.¡±

    All of them were Saint domain experts that had been held in good repute in the human world.

    They were from the same generation as Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying. It was because they practiced unorthodox incantations and had gotten into the habit of killing that they had been hunted and driven into the Doomed Star Sea by the four great sects, where they had eventually been subdued and joined the force that fought against the outsiders from the Void World.

    They were well-aware of Nie Tian¡¯s rtionship with their leader. It was only natural that they had the idea of advancing to the God domain with his help.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, chuckled, his eyes shining with greedy light. ¡°That¡¯s right. He has such abilities. The moment he arrived, I sensed that an incredible lightning treasure was unearthed on the floating continent.¡±

    That spatial tunnel connecting the floating continent and the Shatter Battlefield hadn¡¯t existed for very long. However, Yuan Jiuchuan had managed to sense Mo Qianfan¡¯s aura, from which he had learned that Mo Qianfan had obtained an amazing lightning treasure.

    Even he couldn¡¯t resist the idea of seeking Nie Tian¡¯s help.

    The band of violent rogue experts suddenly fixed Nie Tian with eager gazes. ¡°Young Lord...¡±

    ¡°Silence!¡± Feng Beiluo said with a stern look in his eyes. ¡°What do the treasures on the floating continent have to do with you? If you want to enter the God domain, focus on defeating the outsiders from the Void World in the Doomed Star Sea. There are even more rare treasures in the Void World. Perhaps you can even transcend the God domain with their help, not to mention entering the God domain.¡±

    ¡°The Void World...¡± Upon the mention of the Void World, some of the experts seemed to be filled with killing intent, while others seemed to suddenly grow apprehensive.

    At this moment, Nie Tian, who had been silent thus far, said, ¡°If the Chaos Behemoth down there can be revived, then...¡±

    With these words, he took the bone of the Rampage Behemoth from within his ring of holding. ¡°This bone belongs to the Rampage Behemoth. If you have enough flesh power to transfer here, can we revive the Rampage Behemoth with this bone as well?¡±

    Feng Beiluo¡¯s expression grew bitter as he shook his head. ¡°That¡¯d be extremely difficult, young master. The Chaos Behemoth¡¯s remains have been kept in a special underground space it built with its flesh aura. However, this bone is the only thing that¡¯s left of the Rampage Behemoth. It¡¯s almost impossible to revive it with so little to start with. Besides, the Chaos Behemoth is going to be more useful inrge-scale battles.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed a bit disappointed after hearing this. However, after a moment of pondering, he asked, ¡°Do you have enough flesh auras to transfer here from the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    ¡°Enough to revive the Chaos Behemoth,¡± Feng Beiluo said.

    ¡°Will there be leftovers?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I suppose so,¡± Feng Beiluo answered. Then, with a confused expression, he asked, ¡°Why do you ask, young master?¡±

    ¡°I want whatever flesh auras are left over.¡±

    Feng Beiluo took a moment to ponder, then said, ¡°Let¡¯s focus on reviving the Chaos Behemoth first. Once it¡¯s revived and put into the Doomed Star Sea, more flesh auras wille naturally.¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was about to speak, a figure flew through the hole, and Nie Tian cried out, ¡°Grand Elder!¡±

    He barely saw the figure, but he recognized him: Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    WHOOSH!

    Mo Heng stopped before him.

    However, unlike what Nie Tian had expected, Mo Heng¡¯s aura was extremely weak. His soul fluctuations were surprisingly unstable as well, as if his soul could explode at any time.

    Upon seeing Mo Heng, Feng Beiluo, Yuan Jiuchuan, and the other experts fell silent.

    They all fixed him with pitiful gazes. Some even let out soft sighs.

    With a surprised look in his eyes, Mo Heng asked, ¡°Nie Tian? Howe you¡¯re here in the Shatter Battlefield?¡±

    Then, he turned to Feng Beiluo and the others, and asked, ¡°How is it going?¡±

    Nie Tian sensed him with rapt attention before his expression flickered violently. ¡°Your cultivation base has dropped, Grand Elder?! It has dropped from the middle God domain to the early God domain?! And it appears to be dropping still! What happened?¡±

    ¡°Heavy injuries to the soul,¡± Feng Beiluo said with a sigh.

    The mes of fury were instantly ignited in Nie Tian¡¯s heart. ¡°Which Netherspirit grand monarch did this? Was it Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits?¡±

    Mo Heng was the one he respected the most in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. He had helped him over and over when he had been weak. Even though they had never talked much, he had always helped with actions.

    Now, Mo Heng had sustained heavy injuries, his cultivation base in recession. It must have been the Netherspirits¡¯ doing.

    ¡°It¡¯s not important whether my cultivation base is dropping or not,¡± Mo Heng said with a calm expression. ¡°I was very d to hear that you managed to defeat outsiders from the Spirit World and the Void World repeatedly. The most important thing is that you and the Pei girl are growing stronger, and bing our main force to fight the outsiders.¡±

    ¡°Who? Who did this to you?¡± Nie Tian asked again.

    Mo Heng pondered in silence. Just as he was about to speak, Nie Tian summoned the Spirit Scepter with a swift move, and said, ¡°Let me see what kind of soul injuries you¡¯re suffering from.¡±

 Chapter 1567: Soul Devourer

    RUMBLE!

    As soon as the Spirit Scepter flew out, every expert present couldn¡¯t help but shudder.

    Its shaft, which was neither made from metal nor wood, was engraved with winding Nether Rivers.

    Countless cyan spots that were branded with profound soul symbols could be seen lying at the bottom of the flowing rivers like cobblestones. The rivers seemed to contain the profound truths of souls, and ancient wonders that originated from the River of Souls.

    Embedded on the pommel of the scepter, the Profound Truths Crystal, which had reced that gem, shone with soul-capturing light, like a third eye on the forehead of a Phantasm.

    Looking at the Spirit Scepter, everyone felt their souls start to float out from their minds like balloons with severed strings.

    Their souls were leaving their seas of awareness.

    As powerful as Yuan Jiuchuan was, he shouted with a grim expression, ¡°No!¡±

    Bolts of lightning shot out of his sea of awareness, wrapped around his soul, and dragged it back into his sea of awareness.

    Feng Beiluo and the others hastily withdrew their gazes from the Spirit Scepter and shut their eyes. They each cast secret soul spells to hold fast to their souls, preventing them from breaking away from their seas of awareness and being captured by the Spirit Scepter.

    BOOM!

    To everyone¡¯s surprise, peculiar light suddenly blossomed in the depths of the eyes of Mo Heng, whose aura was weak and whose cultivation base was on the decline. Countless rays of light densely interwove into what looked like two mysterious soul seals.

    As this happened, a fierce gruesome look filled Mo Heng¡¯s eyes, giving him a sense of unfamiliarity.

    However, at the same time, his face was distorted, as if he was in a lot of pain.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Tiny wisps of lightning sputtered from the corners of Mo Heng¡¯s eyes.

    Mo Heng clenched his teeth to stop himself from letting out painful wails. However, as lightning wisps continued to sputter from the corners of his eyes, blood started flowing from his nose and ears, giving him a scary look.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± He suddenly held his head and struggled to close his eyes.

    However, he couldn¡¯t even do that.

    His eyes seemed to be kept open by a mysterious, undefeatable force.

    The peculiar soul seals within his pupils seemed to be absorbing power from his sea of awareness, and rapidly assuming theirplete form. It appeared that someone wanted to exchange gazes with Nie Tian through them, despite the boundless space between them.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± Nie Tian let out an explosive roar, the ring of holding on his finger suddenly lighting up.

    As soon as the Spirit Pearl was released, the five evil gods, which he was in full control of, flew out, giving rise to loud whooshes. Staring at the increasingly clear soul seals within Mo Heng¡¯s pupils, he said with a cold face, ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, is that you? I defeated that doppelg?nger of yours first in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and then again in the Domain of Endless Snow! And that Barbara from your n lost the Spirit Scepter to me. This has made you angry, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    Feng Beiluo, who had buried his head in his hands and shut his eyes, suddenly took a deep breath and said, ¡°It¡¯s not Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.¡±

    After a dozen pale auras shrank back into his body and formed a silver protective shield made of corpse power, Feng Beiluo finally opened his eyes, free from the influence of the Spirit Scepter and the peculiar soul seals that were forming in the depths of Mo Heng¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°Even though Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits is the high chieftain of the Netherspirits, he¡¯s not their strongest expert,¡± Feng Beiluo exined. ¡°Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits has only risen to his position because the unique soul incantation he practices allows him to split into arge number of doppelg?ngers and sub-souls. Thanks to the profound connections between his doppelg?ngers, sub-souls, and true self, he can juggle various matters that happen in the three worlds at the same time.

    ¡°However, his excessive number of doppelg?ngers and sub-souls also causes his power to be scattered. Even if they alle into one, his battle prowess will suffer.

    ¡°Therefore, even though he¡¯s the high chieftain, he¡¯s not the strongest individual Netherspirit.

    ¡°The one who badly injured Mo Heng was actually Grand Monarch Soul Devourer. Like Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, he¡¯s also at thete tenth grade. However, his battle prowess outmatches Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯. It was him who inflicted heavy injuries on Mo Heng with secret soul magics, and left indestructible soul seals in his mind. Those soul seals are consuming Mo Heng¡¯s soul power and causing his cultivation base to drop.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew grim. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The originally blurry soul seals finally finished their formation in the depths of Mo Heng¡¯s pupils.

    The two of them were in strange prismatic shapes, with numerous fine soul strings slithering within them like tiny snakes. The gravitational force they generated continued to pull in Mo Heng¡¯s soul power.

    The peculiar soul seals had originally resided in Mo Heng¡¯s sea of awareness. They had only manifested in his pupils after being stimted by the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian frowned as he realized that he couldn¡¯t determine where the bizarre soul seals within Mo Heng¡¯s pupils hade from.

    He had derived enlightenment from the Nether River branches in the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Silent Star Sea. He had obtained numerous profound soul imprints, and even acquired the ability to generate Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s Heavenly Spirit Seals.

    The Profound Truths Crystal he had condensed from the countless soul symbols and soul formations within the Nether River branch in the Silent Star Sea contained arge number of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s exquisite soul incantations.

    After he had embedded it in the Spirit Scepter, reaching perfectpatibility, his understanding of souls had risen to another level. This had made him believe that even though he wasn¡¯t well-versed in the Netherspirits¡¯ wide array of wondrous soul magics, he could at least recognize them all.

    After all, ording to the legends, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had been well-versed in almost all of the Netherspirit and Phantasm soul magics and bloodline talents.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Mo Heng said, his voice remote and ethereal. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer is the one of our time that has the best chance at touching the ultimate truths of souls. The two soul seals he condensed are absorbing my soul power with every passing second, and I can¡¯t get rid of them. Eventually, they¡¯ll drain my soul power and assume their most powerful form.

    ¡°I only came back because I need to take care of some personal affairs within the shortest time possible.

    ¡°After that, I¡¯ll detonate my soul, giving up my chance at rebirth, so that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer won¡¯t get what he wants.¡±

    As he spoke, the peculiar seals flickered in the depths of his eyes.

    Like Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s eyes, they stared coldly at Nie Tian, with a hint of derision.

    At this moment, Nie Tian realized that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer was actually examining him with rapt attention through the strange soul seals in Mo Heng¡¯s pupils.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer!¡± Nie Tian bellowed.

    ...

    There was a strange ce filled with strong soul fluctuations countless kilometers beyond the Doomed Star Sea in the Void World.

    A dark snort suddenly echoed out. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    Clusters of soul power that were floating like cyan ghostly fires rapidly came together and morphed into an extremelyrge and terrifying soul shadow.

    Every time it breathed, it would create violent soul fluctuations that spread through this peculiar ce, and wails would echo from all directions. ¡°Hmm, I can¡¯t believe a human hybrid brat like you actually thinks he can eliminate the seals I nted in Mo Heng¡¯s sea of awareness.¡±

    ¡°Bloodline: Soul Essence Cross Boundaries!¡±

    In a split second, several of the powerful clusters of souls in this heaven and earth exploded like glorious fireworks.

    A wisp of soul will then crossed boundless space and floated into the space disruption zone, where it entered hidden rifts and entered the Shatter Battlefield with incredible precision.

    The peculiar soul seals within Mo Heng¡¯s pupils suddenly started gathering soul will of an unknown origin.

    Mo Heng immediately sensed what was happening. Face ghastly, he eximed, ¡°He¡¯s here, Nie Tian!

    ¡°A wisp of Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul will has left his body, and is on its way here from the Void World under the guidance of the soul seals within my eyes.¡±

 Chapter 1568: He Is Expected To Be A Paragon

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The two uncanny soul seals burned like torches in the depths of Mo Heng¡¯s eyes.

    He gave a violent shudder.

    Wisps of soul power that had been refined to the purest form morphed into burning fuel for the soul seals.

    Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect gasped. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer!¡±

    The corpse power shield he had enveloped himself in crackled and burned, and he was exposed in a split second.

    The Thunder Devil¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he morphed into a bolt of lightning that instantly fled the area.

    Several Saint domain Qi warriors who hade with Feng Beiluo suddenly cried out.

    There seemed to be indescribably giant ghost shadows quickly condensing in the depths of their seas of soul awareness, like their nightmares.

    It looked as if the ghost shadows were making waves in their seas of soul awareness. Every breath and movement could turn their seas of soul awareness into raging oceans of high rough waves.

    Even their true souls were trembling with fear in their seas of soul awareness as they were drawn uncontrobly closer and closer to the ghost shadows.

    ¡°Oh, no!¡± Feng Beiluo¡¯s face turned pale as he shouted in a panic. ¡°Nie Tian, how thoughtless you are! Grand Monarch Soul Devourer wouldn¡¯t have paid attention to Mo Heng if your scepter hadn¡¯t moved! Now that he has noticed Mo Heng, you, and what we¡¯re doing here on the battlefield, he must have realized our goal, and thuse after us!¡±

    As the uncanny soul seals in Mo Heng¡¯s eyes burnt violently, his face was distorted with pain in one moment, but was filled with frenzy in the next, and he bellowed.

    Mo Heng was fighting Grand Monarch Soul Devourer with his strong will.

    From Feng Beiluo¡¯s words, Nie Tian realized that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer of the Netherspirits must have be aware that Feng Beiluo and the others were going to wake up the Chaos Behemoth buried underground, so he had used his soul magic to send a strand of his soul to the Shatter Battlefield through boundless space.

    Staring at the burning torch-like uncanny soul seals, Nie Tian grinned and shouted, ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer! With only a strand of soul and two soul seals, do you think you can do whatever you want on the Shatter Battlefield? Go to hell!¡±

    Nie Tian held the Spirit Scepter and pointed at Mo Heng¡¯s eyes from a distance.

    Illusory Nether Rivers then flew out of the Spirit Scepter.

    The Nether Rivers became muddy, with many shining bright cyan soul characters in them. It looked as if ancient soul symbols and secret sacrificial records of the Netherspirits came out of the rivers, roaring.

    All of a sudden, Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s cold grim voice rang out in the depths of Mo Heng¡¯s eyes. ¡°That¡¯s Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul magic.¡±

    ¡°It is amazing that as a mere human hybrid brat canprehend the marvelous soul magics of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, who is the strongest in the history of the Netherspirits. No wonder, no wonder you could defeat both Barbara and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelganger.

    ¡°However...¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s voice suddenly became shrill and harsh. ¡°You¡¯re not Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!¡±

    BANG!

    The heads of those who hade with Feng Beiluo suddenly exploded.

    Clusters of souls wreathed in cyan light flew out immediately after their blood and brains sshed everywhere.

    Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan were able to avoid them in time. Because they were both at the God domain, they survived Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul magic.

    The clusters of souls then flew to Mo Heng and Nie Tian.

    As Grand Monarch Soul Devourer chanted, the souls he had pulled out suddenly exploded and condensed into soul characters and strings that contained the profound meanings of souls. ¡°Exploded souls constitute curses!¡±

    In a sh, those uncanny soul characters and strings condensed into another soul seal that Nie Tian couldn¡¯t recognize, and suddenly flew towards his forehead.

    It was clear that the soul seal was hoping to fly into his sea of soul awareness through his head between his eyebrows.

    ZZZZZLA!

    In a far distance, the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan wove his hands to create dozens of thunderbolts, with which he attempted to intercept the soul seal.

    SNAP!

    Bombarded by the thunderbolts, the uncanny soul seal shrank a little, but still shot towards Nie Tian¡¯s brows instead of melting.

    The five evil gods Nie Tian had released also howled and roared as they came to intercept it.

    Nheless, the soul seal didn¡¯t seem to be affected as it flew past the five evil gods¡¯ fleshly bodies, as if there wasn¡¯t any resistance.

    By contrast, when the soul seal flew through the five evil gods, they froze, as if they had been struck by lightning.

    The connection between them and the five sub-souls in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness was unexpectedly cut off for an instant.

    Only as the Heavenly Spirit Seals between their eyebrows suddenly became bright did they seem toe back to their senses.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian twirled the scepter a bit, and one of the floating Nether Rivers swerved back and stopped between his eyebrows with sharp precision.

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul seal then fell into the illusory Nether River.

    BAM!

    In the Nether River, many brilliant soul characters seemed to be blown out likenterns in a hurricane.

    Nie Tian rapidly lost soul power.

    ¡°This Spirit Scepter is a priceless treasure of my race. I am really disappointed that, as its soul spirit, Barbara can¡¯t even guard it,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Devourer said, looking very dissatisfied. ¡°The path I pursue is different from that of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, so I don¡¯t need the Spirit Scepter. However, it mustn¡¯t be contaminated by outsiders!¡±

    The soul seal that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer had condensed suddenly shone brilliantly in the muddy Nether River.

    The soul seal seemed to be a bottomless ck hole, and started engulfing all the soul shadows and soul characters in the river.

    The water, soul characters, and cyan light in the Nether River that had morphed from the engravings on the Spirit Scepter began to disappear into the soul seal.

    The soul seal, on the other hand, expanded sharply, and started to spawn changes.

    Nie Tian was greatly shocked.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Grand Monarch Soul Devourer is expected to be a paragon like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!¡± Feng Beiluo shouted. ¡°Not long ago, he beat Chu Yuan of the Heaven Span Pavilion in a forbiddennd in the Void World. You must be very careful. I¡¯m sending a message to other experts for help now!¡±

    The so-called paragons referred to the Dark King, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, and the Bone Emperor.

    In the eyes of the truly powerful human experts, only the three of them, whose bloodline had transcended the tenth grade, could be called paragons.

    Even the high chieftain of the Netherspirits, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, wasn¡¯t qualified to be called a paragon.

    However, many human experts deeply feared this Grand Monarch Soul Devourer Nie Tian was now dealing with, thinking that he had what it took to be a paragon and super expert like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed. ¡°What? Grand Monarch Soul Devourer defeated Chu Yuan, the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion?¡±

    As the Nether River was about to vanish, he took a deep breath and activated his bloodline with all his might.

    With a bang, he expanded into a mountain nine thousand meters tall in a split second!

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Rich blood mist floated above his head like clouds. Surrounding him were streaks of brilliant light like rainbows.

    ¡°I will destroy all of your soul seals and free the grand elder today!¡± Nie Tian yelled.

    After his body erged, his mountainous form suddenly leaned towards the Nether River, reached into it, and clutched the uncanny soul seal condensed by Grand Monarch Soul Devourer. ¡°Break!¡±

 Chapter 1569: Breaking The Seal!

    Endless blood light shot out from his palm.

    It was as if the boundless flesh aura of his life bloodline had be divine des and fiery swords after being refined numerous times.

    BANG!

    The uncanny soul seal that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer had condensed with many Saint domain experts¡¯ souls shattered!

    Hundreds of rays of bright light sshed out of it, but quickly morphed into a that rushed at Nie Tian¡¯s skull again.

    Nie Tian snorted.

    When he had erged, the Spirit Scepter had also erged. At this moment, he drove it into the uncanny and tore at it.

    The crushed soul strings quickly merged into the cyan Profound Truths Crystal on the scepter.

    His wildly growing momentum made both Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan exim in shock. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    They hadn¡¯t seen him for a long time. All they knew about his exceeding battle prowess they had heard from others.

    Now, after Nie Tian had assumed his giant form and his bloodline had been fully stimted, Nie Tian¡¯s every bulging muscle seemed to contain volcanic, terrifying energies.

    If one closed their eyes and sensed their surroundings with their soul, they would have a feeling as if the whole Shatter Battlefield had been filled with Nie Tian¡¯s aura!

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t yet reached the tenth grade, or be a God domain human expert.

    However, Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan felt greater pressure from him than most grand monarchs of the Void World and God domain human experts!

    ¡°Is this the kind of aura and power he should possess now?¡± Feng Beiluo had a very strange look on his face as he murmured, as if he couldn¡¯t believe it.

    THUD! THUD!

    They even heard Nie Tian¡¯s heartbeat clearly. It was so loud and deafening that it sounded as if mountains were copsing and the earth was splitting.

    This wasn¡¯t an illusion!

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline burst forth, the earth split and mountains copsed in many areas of the Shatter Battlefield.

    There were also a lot of unknown energies swarming deep in the clouds, as if they were being attracted by his aura.

    One of Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s two uncanny soul seals flew out of Mo Heng¡¯s eyes, screaming ¡°You¡¯re courting death!¡±

    The soul seals writhed and slowly morphed into a huge soul shadow, ¡°ckout Soul Curtain!¡±

    As the soul shadow formed, many stray souls from afar were suddenly attracted and instantly arrived, as if they had passed throughyers of space restrictions.

    The stray souls had been sealed in the mountains and buried in the earth. However, because Nie Tian¡¯s turbulent surging flesh aura had caused the mountains to copse and the earth to split, they had been revealed, and were now made use of by Grand Monarch Soul Devourer.

    Shortly after the ckout Soul Curtain came to form, the whole area was enshrouded by a dark sky.

    Under the dark sky, Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan felt that their souls were being extremely oppressed.

    It seemed as if a gray sky were slowly descending, and weighing down on their seas of soul awareness so much that their souls were on the verge of exploding.

    ¡°He can gather the stray souls on the Shatter Battlefield and use them,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said as his expression flickered. ¡°The Shatter Battlefield is a ce where the human race and the outsider races from the Spirit World have fought for thousands of years. There are arge number of stray souls and spirits in the cold, strange ces here. However, Grand Monarch Soul Devourer is making use of them!¡±

    Feng Beiluo¡¯s expression also flickered.

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer was far fiercer and more skilled in soul power than he had imagined.

    As a Netherspirit expert who was expected to be a paragon, his strength made both Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan believe that if he continued to advance, he could actually be on par with Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit one day!

    Nie Tian looked up. Then he saw the sky seemed to copse, giving him an extremely ufortable feeling. ¡°Huh? A soul barrier?¡±

    With a nasty grin, he struck his fist towards the sky above him.

    Crimson blood light hit the dark barrier above like ss shards mming into an iron te, and exploded into even smaller blood strands, sputtering in all directions.

    The seemingly illusory dark barrier turned out to containher power that was as tough as steel!

    ¡°Domain Split!¡± Nie Tian yelled as he summoned the bone of the Rampage Behemoth. Then, he cast it into the sky like a divine spear.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s residual will roared, shattering the earth. It seemed its horrifying flesh aura could annihte all living things and smash any barriers.

    The bloodline power brought out by the Domain Split suddenly morphed into thousands of rays of blood light, like fireworks exploding.

    Thanks to the unique bloodline talent of the Star Behemoth, the ckout Soul Curtain that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer had disyed was finally riddled with holes and fell apart.

    The Spirit Scepter then flew out, roaring, and vied with Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul awareness for the broken dark curtain¡¯s residual power, which was soul power from the stray souls and spirits of the Shatter Battlefield.

    Wondrous soul chants echoed from within the Profound Truths Crystal, which was shining with divine light at the top of the scepter. It was as if Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit of the Netherspirits was chanting for the Spirit Scepter with the profound truths of souls.

    WHOOSH!

    Most of the soul power was absorbed by the Spirit Scepter.

    There was only one uncanny soul seal left in Mo Heng¡¯s eye, flickering.

    Mo Heng, whose face had been distorted with a splitting headache, gradually assumed a calm expression. The eye that had been rid of the uncanny soul seal quickly became clear.

    He lowered his head slowly, pointing the little finger of his left hand at his other eye with Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s uncanny soul seal.

    The purest spiritual power suddenly flew from his fingertip into the eye, like strange streaks of light from the starry river.

    Each streak of light pierced into the uncanny soul seal.

    A howl of pain then came from Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul seal.

    At the same time, Nie Tian waved the Spirit Scepter and instantly condensed various soul magics of the Netherspirits and Phantasms to absorb the residual soul strands of the exploded soul seal all over the sky. ¡°Annihtion!¡±

    Commanded by Nie Tian¡¯s soul, the five evil gods also swooped in to swallow the remaining power while letting out strange cries.

    Soon, the residual power of the uncanny soul seal that had flown out of Mo Heng¡¯s eye vanishedpletely.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul essence started fading away from the other soul seal in Mo Heng¡¯s eye.

    FIZZ!

    In Mo Heng¡¯s eye, the soul seal started shrinking and expanding intermittently, while burning violently.

    All of a sudden, Mo Heng¡¯s calm expression changed dramatically, ¡°You must leave. This soul seal is about to explode and blow up my sea of soul awareness and body. Grand Monarch Soul Devourer has decided that he won¡¯t wait for it to grow and mature anymore.¡±

    Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan immediately fled after hearing his words.

    Nie Tian snorted derisively and said, ¡°Grand Elder, my Spirit Scepter has unraveled some of the mysteries in the soul seal that has just been annihted.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±

    SWISH!

    The Spirit Scepter flew out of his palm and disappeared into Mo Heng¡¯s eye like a bright cyan lightning bolt.

    Immediately afterwards, a small Spirit Scepter slowly emerged in the uncanny soul seal in the depths of Mo Heng¡¯s eye.

    In a sh, the constantly changing soul seal stabilized.

    The Spirit Scepter that had shrunk down was actually absorbing the soul wonders Grand Monarch Soul Devourer had vested the soul seal with.

    As the soul seal slowly faded, the Spirit Scepter slowly erged.

    Mo Heng looked relieved. ¡°Nie Tian, you actually contained the soul seal.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s likely that Grand Monarch Soul Devourer has what it takes to be a paragon, but he hasn¡¯t yet,¡± Nie Tian spoke as his body shrank slowly. ¡°Besides, this Spirit Scepter is the soul weapon of Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit, an actual paragon of the Netherspirits. The Profound Truths Crystal I embedded it with contains many marvelous soul magics of Grand Monarch Heaven Spirit, so it¡¯s only natural that it can break Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul seal.¡±

 Chapter 1570: Iâ€™ll Give You A Hand

    In the Void World.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s roar shook heaven and earth.

    As soon as his roar came out, the souls of every tenth-grade Netherspirit grand monarch in the Void World were shaken as they heard it very clearly.

    Several Netherspirit grand monarchs were either in secluded meditation or recovering from their wounds in the ancestralnd of the Netherspirits. Others were refining powerful, ferocious souls at the Nether River and mysterious forbiddennds.

    They all opened their eyes as soon as they suddenly heard Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s angry roar.

    ¡°Why is Grand Monarch Soul Devourer so angry?¡±

    ¡°And who is Nie Tian? There doesn¡¯t seem to be a human being from the Doomed Star Sea or an Ancientspirit who is called Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer doesn¡¯t normally get this furious!¡±

    Suddenly, streaks of brilliant cyan light flitted in the boundless starry river in the Void World, as if they were shuttling betweenyers of space.

    It was the Netherspirit grand monarchs, who were rtively close to each other,municating with their bloodline and soul magics.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-souls were ying an important role in informing all the grand monarchs in his race of Nie Tian¡¯s deeds.

    Within a short time, the name of Nie Tian began to spread among the Netherspirits, and then to the Devils and Bonedrudes as well.

    ¡°What? Nie Tian repeatedly destroyed our ns in the Mortal World? The Spirit Scepter has been robbed by him?¡±

    ¡°He killed the Son of Darkness of the Devils?¡±

    ¡°Is it him who¡¯s causing us trouble in the Mortal World?¡±

    Soon, every truly important figure of the three races in the Void World heard the name ¡°Nie Tian¡±, and secretly kept it in mind

    ....

    WHOOSH!

    One of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-souls flew to the unusual area with violently surging soul power where Grand Monarch Soul Devourer was.

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer, who had been furious, quickly calmed down after its arrival.

    A huge soul shadow slowly emerged from thend that was filled with surging soul power.

    As soon as it did, shrill howls and wails came from the vast floatingnds in its surroundings, as if thousands of dead souls and evil spirits were crying together.

    The dead souls and evil spirits seemed to know that their doom was upon them, so they uttered theirst wails.

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul shadow snorted and opened its mouth to exhale, as if to vent its anger.

    In its vicinity, a dozen or so floatingnds were full of wandering dead souls and evil spirits. At this moment, all of those souls that didn¡¯t have physical bodies morphed into clouds and were devoured by the soul shadow, bing its nourishment.

    ¡°My battle against Chu Yuan has over-consumed my soul power,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul shadow said darkly. ¡°My n was to wait a little longer and see if the spirits could kill and swallow each other to make some promising intelligent spirits, but my patience has run out. If the Mortal World is still not conquered, I¡¯ll go there personally.¡±

    Hearing this, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to go to the Mortal World in person for the moment. Our allies among the Devils and Bonedrudes will send strong reinforcements.¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer snorted coldly and said, ¡°That little human brat Nie Tian smashed the soul seeds I nted in Mo Heng¡¯s body. In addition, the Chaos Behemoth buried beneath the Shatter Battlefield is being revived by them. The Chaos Behemoth is exceedingly powerful. Once it wakes up, it will definitely stir up great trouble.¡±

    ¡°Even still, you can¡¯t go to the Shatter Battlefield now,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits tried to persuade him. ¡°A strand of your soul awareness going to the Shatter Battlefield has shown the humans that you already know the situation there. If you force your way into the Shatter Battlefield now, I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer was bewildered. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the other side will be well-prepared for the arrival of your true form,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said. ¡°Also, you¡¯ve seen Nie Tian. Can¡¯t you see who he resembles?¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Devourer asked in puzzlement. ¡°Who?¡±

    Thinking carefully for a while, he seemed shocked as he asked, ¡°You mean...?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve guessed it,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said in a very serious tone. ¡°That¡¯s the one! We have solid information to prove that that person has recovered.¡±

    Hearing his words, Grand Monarch Soul Devourer calmed down. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll wait a little longer. I will go and snuff out Nie Tian¡¯s soul after Iprehend the essence of the soul magic.¡±

    ...

    On the Shatter Battlefield.

    SWOOSH!

    The Spirit Scepter flew out of Mo Heng¡¯s eye.

    The two uncanny seals that had previously existed in the depths of his eyes werepletely gone.

    Mo Heng, who had suffered a serious loss of soul power, suddenly looked extremely rxed. ¡°I¡¯ll recover my lost soul power, and my cultivation base will be restored along with it.¡±

    Feng Beiluo came up and said, ¡°Congrattions!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuanughed and congratted Nie Tian. ¡°Nie Tian, I was really surprised that you could break even Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s soul seals.¡±

    Nie Tian, who had shrunk into his normal form, held the Spirit Scepter.

    A strand of his soul awareness flew into the Profound Truths Crystal of the scepter.

    In the Profound Truths Crystal, Grand Monarch Soul Devourer¡¯s uncanny soul seals that had exploded appeared in a fragmentary form, with many soul strands continuously merging into them.

    HISS! HISS!

    The two seals burst forth with electric light from time to time, as if they were struggling against the power of the Profound Truths Crystal.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Devourer is really extraordinary,¡± Nie Tian said gravely. ¡°Even the Profound Truths Crystal can¡¯t quickly derive the profound truths from his uncanny seals. What arrived here was only a strand of his soul awareness, but it forced me to use the Spirit Scepter with only the power of the stray ghosts in the Shatter Battlefield and the soul seals in Mo Heng¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t used the Spirit Scepter, perhaps I wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat that strand of his soul awareness with only the five evil gods and Spirit Pearl.¡±

    At that moment, he suddenly realized how incredibly powerful a person who was expected to be a paragon really was.

    He had seen Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul. Compared to Grand Monarch Soul Devourer, it was obviously much weaker.

    Mo Heng thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Soul Devourer called the soul seals he nted in my sea of soul awareness ¡®seeds.¡¯ They started with swallowing my soul power. When they took root and sprouted, they began to merge into my soul awareness. Eventually, when they were fully grown, I would no longer be me.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed. ¡°They would have possessed your soul?¡±

    Mo Heng slowly nodded and said, ¡°Basically, yes. Grand Monarch Soul Devourer would have made himself stronger with my soul, but thankfully, I survived. His soul magics will no longer affect me when I regain my strength and enter thete God domain.¡±

    He seemed to have great confidence as he said these words.

    He had lost to Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Grand Monarch Soul Devourer, but he hadn¡¯t been depressed. Instead, he had be tougher and tougher.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a hand and help you obtain some pure soul power,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile.

    Then he threw the Spirit Scepter into the sky before it stretched across the sky of the Shatter Battlefield like a winding mountain range. Suddenly, it released dark circles of light that fell into the nearby mountains, deep chasms, and marshes.

    WHOOSH!

    In a sh, hidden sinister souls and evil spirits seemed to be forced out of them by the power of the Spirit Scepter.

    Even Grand Monarch Soul Devourer couldn¡¯t do this.

 Chapter 1571: Great Soul-conjuring Spell

    For thousands of years, the Shatter Battlefield had been an important battlefield for the Mortal World and Spirit World.

    In earlier eras, the Ancientspirits of the Spirit World had fought against the Phantasms and Demons in it as well.

    Powerful creatures would have fragments of their souls left behind after their deaths. Thanks to the unique features of the Shatter Battlefield, they would experience new changes instead ofpletely dissipating.

    For example, when ninth-grade Phantasm grand patriarchs died, their fragmentary souls could remain imperishable in certain bleak ces on the Shatter Battlefield.

    The imperishable fragmentary souls could even quietly absorb other fragmentary souls for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years in those kinds of unusual ces.

    Of course, when the fragmentary souls existed in such a form, they weren¡¯t the original souls anymore.

    Such ferocious souls and evil spirits could not only be found in the Shatter Battlefield, but in some unusualnds of the Mortal World and Spirit World as well.

    Most of them had no intelligence. Few of them had a confused intelligence, so they could only lurk in the dark, preying on weak creatures and swallowing their spirits to strengthen themselves by relying on their most basic instincts.

    Rumor had it that as they grew up, such souls would be stronger and stronger, and one day they would be able to recover their lost intelligence and memories and walk the worlds as their true selves again.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    The ferocious souls and evil spirits with sharp thorns and bloody long tongues shrieked and resisted in despair with threatening gestures.

    However, under the power of the Spirit Scepter, their ethereal illusory soul bodies were forced to leave the ces where they had hidden.

    ¡°Great Soul-conjuring Spell!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly, and the sounds of rushing water came from all the Nether Rivers engraved on the Spirit Scepter.

    At the same time, a beam of cyan light sted wildly from the top of his head, and shot straight up into the Profound Truths Crystal in the scepter.

    The cyan ward that the Spirit Scepter had released burst forth with dense uncanny soul characters, runes, imprints, and interwoven soul strands that were like twinkling bright stars.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with brilliant, cyan divine light.

    No matter how hard the ferocious souls and evil spirits struggled, they were all bound by the bright ward the Spirit Scepter had released, before they were quickly refined, giving rise to fizzing sounds.

    When the souls and spirits dissipated, strands of extremely pure soul power were condensed.

    SWISH!

    Under Nie Tian¡¯s guidance, the strands of gossamer-like soul power fell into Mo Heng like wisps of lightning.

    Mo Heng shuddered, and his dim eyes instantly lit up.

    As soon as the first strand of soul power slipped into his sea of soul awareness, he felt veryfortable, like a dry well that was being filled with fresh water. He realized at once that the soul strands could help him regain his soul power rapidly.

    Hence, he closed his eyes and sat down on the spot to calmly ept Nie Tian¡¯s help.

    As more refined soul strands flew into Mo Heng¡¯s sea of soul awareness, the exhaustion on his face gradually disappeared.

    ¡°Great Soul-conjuring Spell!¡± Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect screamed before he took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°This kind of soul magic is a secret spell even among the Netherspirits and Phantasms! As far as I know, many Netherspirit and Phantasm grand patriarchs and even grand monarchs are unable toprehend the Great Soul-conjuring Spell!¡±

    ¡°Great Soul-conjuring Spell! The legendary Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s wonderful soul magic!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan eximed softly.

    After joining that powerful force as Feng Beiluo¡¯s subordinate, Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s areas of activity had no longer been confined to the Mortal World over the years. He had fought some battles with the experts of the Void World in the Doomed Star Sea.

    He had suppressed many of his Netherspirit peers because he cultivated lightning power, and had gradually be a main force in the battles against the Netherspirits.

    Therefore, he had learned about many secrets of the Netherspirits in the Void World, the existence of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, and the rare, powerful soul magics that he had created.

    The Great Soul-conjuring Spell was a well-known, terrifying soul magic that he had left behind!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Under the power of the Great Soul-conjuring Spell, the illusory soul shadows of the Saint domain experts that hade with Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan and had been so easily killed by Grand Monarch Soul Devourer seemed to gather slowly.

    Their souls had been broken by Grand Monarch Soul Devourer and condensed into clusters of soul power, which he had then unleashed on Nie Tian in the form of a soul seal.

    They were dead andpletely gone.

    But unexpectedly, because of the Great Soul-conjuring Spell, some of their remaining soul power was now gathering.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Even their fragmentary souls were purified by the power of the Spirit Scepter, and then fused into Mo Heng¡¯s sea of soul awareness to help him recover quickly.

    ¡°Sorry...¡± Feng Beiluo murmured, but his expression wasn¡¯t apologetic at all, as if those people¡¯s deaths had nothing to do with him.

    He continued to channel powerful flesh auras from the Doomed Star Sea down into the earth to help the Chaos Behemoth revive itself.

    Momentster, no more ferocious souls or evil spirits emerged in the surrounding area of tens of thousands of miles, and the cyan bright light that the Spirit Scepter had released gradually dimmed.

    Nie Tian, who now looked tired, heaved a long sigh of relief and put away the Spirit Scepter.

    Feng Beiluo came forward, his eyes filled with the light of anticipation. ¡°Young Master... Mo Heng¡¯s soul power has recovered very quickly, and he has regained his middle God domain cultivation base. If you could continue, he should be able to break through to thete God domain in a short time! Given his fighting power, he¡¯d be a great help if he can reach thete God domain!¡±

    Seeing through his thoughts, Nie Tian thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Casting the Great Soul-conjuring Spell was too exhausting. I need time to recover. Why don¡¯t you continue to help the Chaos Behemoth revive? I¡¯ll go to the floating continent and help the Ancientspirits and Floragrims migrate their young and weak into the Silent Star Sea first.¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded and said, ¡°Sure. Umm, it won¡¯t be long before your mother...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes instantly lit up. ¡°Where is she?¡±

    Feng Beiluo seemed to feel deep veneration as he said. ¡°The Doomed Star Sea. She may need your help, too.¡±

    Nie Tian was worried. ¡°She¡¯s hurt too?¡±

    When Dong Li had obtained the Dark Aureole at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, he had learned that the person who Feng Beiluo had served should be his mother, Nie Jin.

    His grandfather and aunt had also said that they had often dreamed about his mother.

    Now, he, who had also seen some signs through his master Wu Ji¡¯s time power, waspletely sure that she was still alive.

    Feng Beiluo pondered for a while, then said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go to the Doomed Star Sea after the disaster in the Mortal World is solved? It¡¯s very difficult to mobilize many experts from the Doomed Star Sea because we¡¯re facing trouble there as well. The main reason is that manyte God domain experts and top grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits are trapped in some forbidden ce in the Void World.

    ¡°Why are they trapped?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Feng Beiluo¡¯s mouth glinted with sarcasm. ¡°Why else? They have always wanted to transcend and see the best scenery like the three paragons of the Void World. But how can it be easy to transcend the God domain? In the end, they were all trapped in a forbidden ce in the Void World, and we have no idea if they¡¯re still alive, which is why we have been so passive.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the floating continent first!¡± Nie Tian said.

    Knowing that his mother was injured, he was very eager to finish with all the troubles in a short time.

    He held the bone of the Rampage Behemoth andmunicated with the Ripper Behemoth in the floating continent through it. ¡°Take me back!¡±

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, the area of space above his head copsed, forming a passage full of surging energies.

    He flew in like a sh.

 Chapter 1572: The Envious

    On the floating continent.

    Streaks of rainbow light flew across the bottom continent as deafening wildughter echoed out from time to time.

    Hardly had Nie Tian entered the floating continent from the Shatter Battlefield when he saw the hustle and bustle of thend.

    Saint domain experts like Jing Feiyang, Zhongli Jian, and Qu Mingde, as well as many Void domain experts whose faces Nie Tian didn¡¯t even recognize, had swarmed in.

    He also spotted Hua Mu, Qi Bailu, and many others from the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    The Saint and Void domain experts from the Domain of Heaven Python, the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries and the Domain of the Falling Stars who had attached themselves to him were all flying about on the floating continent to search for precious materials and treasures that could help improve their cultivation bases or their spiritual tools.

    After the Ripper Behemoth had opened the floating continent up, many rare spiritual materials that it had spawned over hundreds of millions of years had helped many of the visitors achieve new levels.

    News that experts broke through kepting out.

    In the depths of the clouds, Nie Tian overlooked thend below andmunicated with the Ripper Behemoth for a while, telling it that Feng Beiluo and the others had gone to the Shatter Battlefield to revive the Chaos Behemoth.

    Then, he flew away from the floating continent and returned to the area where the Ancientspirits were gathered.

    He summoned his me Dragon Armor and opened a passage connecting to the Silent Star Sea. Then, he watched as Chatvic and the others gave loud instructions, and young titans, dragons, Ancientbeasts, and arge number of Floragrims entered in order and started a new life in the Silent Star Sea.

    The Golden-feathered Divine Finch of the Ancientbeasts fixed her golden feathered wings and said slowly, ¡°That Pang Chicheng...¡±

    Nie Tian asked, ¡°Have you found out the source of his bloodline yet?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± she replied in a sharp voice. ¡°His father is Pang Bo, and his mother is an Ancientbeast¡ª a ninth grade me qilin. ording to the records of our race, she has long since abandoned our race, and it seems she has been banished to the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    He was startled. ¡°The Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    ¡°Mm, her bloodline was at the ninth grade and she had not yet be a grand monarch before she was banished,¡± she said. ¡°We do not know how she met Pang Boter and how she broke through to the tenth grade and gave birth to Pang Chicheng.¡±

    ¡°Why did she turn her back on your race?¡± he asked curiously.

    She was also puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t know. We¡¯re keeping Pang Chicheng prisoner in the ce where the me qilins live. The me qilin blood and fiery flesh aura in his body have been stripped by a spell formation to help the young me qilins grow rapidly. He is still alive for the time being. If you want him, we can bring him to you at any time.¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°No need.¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t pay attention to people like Pang Chicheng anymore now.

    Even if Pang Chicheng escaped, retook the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron, and his cultivation base and bloodline returned to the peak, Nie Tian could still easily kill him.

    As long as Pang Bo wasn¡¯t revived and restored to his prime, Pang Chicheng would hardly pose a threat to him.

    This was also why he was indifferent to the life or death of the betrayer of the fire element sect.

    He had taken away the Four Manifestations me Soul Cauldron and given it back to the fire element sect anyways.

    The Ancientspirits were asrge as mountains, but they had a far smaller poption than the humans.

    In just one day, all of the weak Ancientspirits and Floragrims were transferred to the Silent Star Sea through that spatial passage.

    The Ancientspirits and Floragrims that remained in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven were all at least at the eighth grade.

    Only then did Grand Monarch Primal Wood of Floragrims whisper to Nie Tian, ¡°Nie Tian, the third generation of Tree of Life hopes that you can go to the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd. The power of the Spirit World has been exhausted, so the third generation of the Tree of Life has to seek another ce to live. It¡¯s not strong enough now, and the Spirit World doesn¡¯t have enough wood power to help it grow stronger within a short time.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t very long ago when he had run into the third generation of Tree of Life in the endless blood sea by ident.

    It was because of its help that he had been able to see the truth of the Blood Realms, the so-called River of Souls, the Mountain of Death, the Origin of Darkness, and the River of Time.

    The Tree of Life had revived twice. Even though its soul was still strong, its body had been weakened by its revivals.

    If the new Tree of Life wanted to grow rapidly, it would need boundless wood power, just as Nie Tian would need an astronomical amount of flesh aura if he wanted to make his bloodline break through to the tenth grade.

    However, he was just about to leave when a surprised look suddenly appeared on his face.

    There were spatial fluctuationsing from a giant meteorite close to the Realm of Shattered Earth.

    Given Nie Tian¡¯s current cultivation base, as long as he wanted, he could easily find out exactly how many people wereing, and what their cultivation bases were.

    The nine arrivals were all at thete Saint domain. ording to the detection of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline, they were all long-lived patriarchs.

    He knew only one of them ¡ª Patriarch Snowy Peak of the Domain of Endless Snow.

    Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s melodious voice suddenly sounded. ¡°Nie Tian, my young fellow cultivator.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned with a disdainful look at the corners of his mouth. ¡°Patriarch Snowy Peak.¡±

    When the Domain of Endless Snow had been invaded by the outsiders, Patriarch Snowy Peak, the sectmaster of the Heavenly Ice Sect, had seen the unfavorable situation, and thus left in a hurry without putting up a fight.

    On the contrary, many middle-level disciples of the Heavenly Ice Sect had fiercely fought the outsiders before all of them had been killed.

    Many years ago, Patriarch Snowy Peak had imprisoned Fan Kai and the others to force Nie Tian to show himself. However, under pressure from Xie Qian and Nie Tian¡¯s status as a Son of the Stars, Patriarch Snowy Peak had been forced to let them go with resignation.

    Since then, Nie Tian had been very dissatisfied with him. It was just that since his cultivation base had been rather high, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been able to do anything to him.

    Nie Tian also knew that White Rose, who had chosen to attach herself to him, had also been a Heavenly Ice Sect disciple to begin with. She should have been the sectmaster of the Heavenly Ice Sect, but she had been set up by Patriarch Snowy Peak and thus left her sect and be a Star Hunter.

    Right now, she was at the middle Saint domain, and was looking for frigid spiritual materials on the floating continent.

    When Nie Tian had flown away from the floating continent, he had perceived that the White Rose had made strides in her cultivation, and might be able to break through to thete Saint domain with the Divine Frigid Crystal on the floating continent.

    SWISH!

    In a sh, Nie Tian left the ce where the Ancientspirits had gathered and arrived above the giant meteorite.

    A gray-haired old man stepped forward and said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re really young and high-achieving. I am Wei Ming, the previous sectmaster of the Heavenly Sea Sect. We heard the legendary floating continent has opened up in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, so we came to witness the magnificence of the floating continent the Ripper Behemoth has chosen.¡±

    The other old men, who seemed to be on the verge of dying of old age, also introduced themselves. It turned out that they were all from strong sects in remote high-level domains.

    ¡°I am...¡±

    ¡°My name is...¡±

    They either smiled while stroking their long beards, or continuously threw quick nces at the floating continent with twinkling eyes.

    After patiently listening to their self-introductions, Nie Tian frowned and said, ¡°Not long ago, I didn¡¯t seem to see any of you in the fierce battles in the Domain of Heaven Span or the Domain of Endless Snow.¡±

    Wei Ming from the Heavenly Sea Sect forced a smile and looked slightly embarrassed. ¡°Well... We are all old, and have been stuck at the Saint domain for nearly ten thousand years. We haven¡¯t shown ourselves in public for such a long time that we¡¯ve almost forgotten how to fight. All of us are working hard to advance to the God domain.

    ¡°But the God domain is like a sky-high barrier that we cannot cross.¡±

    The other old men sighed, their eyes full of regret.

    Nie Tian nodded, showing his understanding. ¡°Oh, I see. In that case, why don¡¯t you go home and continue breaking through to the God domain? Presumably, you¡¯re too old to help in our battles against the outsiders from the Spirit World and Void World. Just leave it to us, the younger generation, to fight your battles.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, the smiles on the old men¡¯s faces froze.

 Chapter 1573: Why Should I Give You Access?

    Patriarch Snowy Peak forced a smile and said, ¡°Kiddo, well, we want to go to the floating continent to broaden our horizons. I¡¯ve heard that the floating continent is one of thest remaining superrge-scale realms, and it drifts about year-round, which is amazing.¡±

    Wei Ming hurried to nod in agreement.

    Nie Tian refused in a tough manner. ¡°The floating continent is not open to strangers.¡±

    The nine Saint domain experts, who hade together, were silent again.

    At this moment, seeing the arrival of the nine old men, many Qi warriors from other sects that were gathered on nearby meteors approached them curiously.

    Many recognized the nine Saint domain experts. Some had thought that some of them had already died of old age.

    ¡°That¡¯s Wei Ming of the Heavenly Sea Sect.¡±

    ¡°Eeeh, Patriarch Snowy Peak...¡±

    After seeing the nine old men arriving at the same time and hearing about the conversation between them and Nie Tian from the people around them, the Qi warriors quickly understood what was happening. ¡°So they came for the floating continent...¡±

    During this period of time, they had watched many experts from the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars swarm into the floating continent, and had seen divine light bursting forth from the floating continent, shooting into the sky. When they sensed others¡¯ breakthroughs in cultivation bases and tools, how could they not be envious?

    Naturally, they also yearned to enter the floating continent to look for the materials they needed.

    However, most people had more or less seen Nie Tian¡¯s sternness in the Domain of Heaven Span, the Domain of Endless Snow, and the Realm of Fragmentary Star. With the incident of the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, Nie Tian had already made it clear that his precious treasures would only be used on his own people.

    Knowing that Nie Tian was very difficult to handle, most cultivators from other domains hadn¡¯t dared to say anything despite their aspirations.

    However, because the nine old men lived in remote realms and hadn¡¯t participated in the fierce battles that had recently taken ce in the Mortal World, they didn¡¯t know much about Nie Tian. Hence, they had fantasies.

    Wei Ming broke the silence by clearing his throat and saying in a frank manner, ¡°We wanted to help when the outsiders from the Void World and Spirit World ran amuck in the Domain of Endless Snow and Seven Stars Realm Sea. Now, if we can obtain the rare materials that will help us advance to the God domain on the floating continent, we promise to lead all the experts of our sects to fight the outsiders to the death in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.¡±

    Another old man hurried to add, ¡°We¡¯re only a step away from entering the God domain. As long as there¡¯s a little push, there¡¯s a great chance that we¡¯ll seed.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± another man echoed. ¡°We¡¯ll also be more helpful if we reach the God domain. After all, you¡¯re facing arge number of outsider grand patriarchs and grand monarchs from the Void World and Spirit World.¡±

    Patriarch Snowy Peak chimed in, ¡°Nie Tian, the Domain of Endless Snow has fallen, and the Heavenly Ice Sect exists in name only. I also want to avenge my disciples¡¯ deaths. If I can reach the God domain, I believe I¡¯ll be able to help you handle a grand monarch in the uing battles.¡±

    As the nine visitors hurried to give voice to their intentions, Nie Tian looked at them with a half-smile. After they finally stopped talking, he shook his head. Pointing around at the onlookers, he said, ¡°They fought the outsiders of the Void World and Spirit World in the Domain of Heaven Span and Domain of Endless Snow. However, they didn¡¯t ask me to open the floating continent up for them.¡±

    Then, he slowed down on purpose. ¡°So... Why should I open it for you?¡±

    In an instant, the nine old men¡¯s faces all turned awkward.

    ¡°And you, Patriarch Snowy Peak,¡± Nie Tian said with a sneer. ¡°When the outsiders appeared in the Domain of Endless Snow, you abandoned your disciples and left. If you hadn¡¯t done that, with your reputation, you should have been able to rescue many in the Domain of Endless Snow. It¡¯s hard to say if you¡¯ll be able to break through even if you get to enter the floating continent and you¡¯re lucky enough to obtain priceless materials. Even if you can, I doubt that people like you will be our main force in the uing battles.¡±

    Hearing his words, Patriarch Snowy Peak¡¯s face grew cold, and he said, ¡°We were surprised by many grand monarch outsiders. With my Saint domain cultivation base, even if I stayed, my resistance would have been useless in the face of such powerful enemies. I only left so that I could fight another day.¡±

    SWISH!

    The Heavenbreaker¡¯s sword light suddenly flew out of the floating continent like a turbulent river.

    Boundless sword intent enveloped this entire area as the Godspan Sword Formation of the Heaven Span Pavilion emerged behind Yin Xingtian¡¯s head, like a gorgeous peacock spreading its tail.

    ¡°The grade of my Heavenbreaker has improved a lot,¡± Yin Xingtian said as his eyebrows were full of tion.

    Even though he didn¡¯t disy his divine dharma idol, he gave people the feeling that he was the god of all swords.

    It looked as if the sword light of his Heavenbreaker was manifesting a variety of sword principles, while strands of sharp sword intent seemed to be answering his joy and crowing joyfully, as if they had their own intelligence.

    Many people eximed in shock.

    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

    ¡°The treasures hidden inside the floating continent must be unmatched. Even the Heavenbreaker upgraded again!¡±

    ¡°Patriarch Yin is getting stronger and stronger.¡±

    Seeing Yin Xingtian fly away from the floating continent, Wei Ming of the Heavenly Sea Sect instantly shouted with great enthusiasm, as if seeing a savior, ¡°Old Yin!¡±

    Yin Xingtian looked surprised by the sight of him. As he canceled the Godspan Sword Formation and withdrew his Heavenbreaker, the sword light all over the starry river disappeared. ¡°Eeeh, it¡¯s you. Why are you here? I thought you¡¯d died of old age.¡±

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not dead,¡± Wei Ming said.

    Yin Xingtian frowned. ¡°But you¡¯re nearing the end of your life. Since you¡¯re going to die anyway, why didn¡¯t you show up when the outsiders of the Spirit World ran amuck in the Domain of Heaven Span and the four ancient sects called in experts from every human domain? And you...¡± As his eyes swept across the other old men, his expression grew more and more unpleasant.

    Wei Ming and the others were all his contemporaries. He had thought that since they had disappeared for years, they had all died. He hadn¡¯t expected that they would all suddenly appear now.

    ¡°When we fought bloody battles against the outsiders, all these old men seemed to have shrunken into their shells, and none of them came out,¡± Nie Tian spoke with a sneer. ¡°Now they¡¯ve heard that I¡¯ve opened up the floating continent, and that it holds countless magical treasures, they want to see if they can get some so they can break through to the God domain, increase their strength, and prolong their lives.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Yin Xingtian understood Nie Tian¡¯s attitude.

    He nodded and said to him, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go take care of your business? I¡¯ll watch the floating continent. No one will enter except for those who have your permission. Even the people of the four ancient sects won¡¯t be allowed to go in without your permission, let alone them.¡±

    With that, he warned everyone present with his eyes, including the Saint domain experts of other sects who had long since arrived at the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. ¡°There aren¡¯t as many resources on the floating continent as you¡¯ve imagined. We don¡¯t even have enough for ourselves. There aren¡¯t any extra resources that can be used to help you improve your strength.¡±

    After Yin Xingtian had advanced into the God domain and obtained the Godspan Sword Formation, many people had seen his powerful fighting strength.

    Except for You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, there was no one in today¡¯s Mortal World that he considered a powerful adversary.

    Even Chu Rui, a middle God domain expert, was no match for him now.

    Hence, he had said those words with great confidence.

    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll leave it to you. I¡¯m actually quite busy,¡± Nie Tian said, then shrugged and left without sparing Wei Ming and the others another nce.

 Chapter 1574: Revisit

    In the Floragrims¡¯ main realm in the Spirit World.

    Ancient trees that were hundreds of meters tall stood like mountain peaks. However, all of them were withered, their leaves fallen. Clearly, they had been dead for some time.

    The wood aura was also fading in the realm.

    ¡°This is our ancestralnd, the ce where my people have lived for many generations,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said.

    His face was filled with sorrow as he watched the once-exuberant forest that had withered because it could no longer absorb wood power from the starry river.

    Though reluctant, he knew that they had to abandon this realm.

    Floating high in the sky, Nie Tian gazed off into the distance, and saw a piece of greennd, which appeared to be the only one left in this realm.

    That was where the third-generation Tree of Life was.

    His life bloodline grew unusually active the moment he entered the realm.

    As he activated his Life Detection bloodline talent, every one of the few remaining Floragrims in this realm manifested before his eyes likenterns in their precise locations.

    All of them were at the eighth or the ninth grade.

    ¡°Those members of my n have stayed behind to collect saplings,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood exined. ¡°If we start our new lives in the realms in the Silent Star Sea without arge enough variety of trees, it¡¯ll limit the growth of our bloodlines.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded to show that he understood.

    The third-generation Tree of Life¡¯s soul call suddenly echoed from the green area, and he caught every word of it.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood bowed slightly, his face filled with respect. ¡°It¡¯s calling upon you.

    ¡°Since it¡¯s only you that it wants to see, why don¡¯t you go meet it yourself? I¡¯ll take you back to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven after your meeting is over.¡±

    As of this day, Grand Monarch Primal Wood had gradually realized that what Nie Tian had said to him before was true.

    It was true that Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was fundamentally above theirs.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian suddenly released his wood domain and activated his life bloodline.

    His wood domain looked like an exuberantnd where the Godspirit Tree had taken root, and the tree branches had taken the form of sky-reaching trees.

    Enveloped in his wood domain, he flew in the direction of the third-generation Tree of Life.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    On his way there, he gazed into the starry river from time to time, and sensed his surroundings. A surprised look appeared on his face.

    Before, as soon as he released his wood domain, it would start absorbing wood power from its surroundings, whether he was in a realm or the starry river.

    At this moment, however, not only did he not sense any wood power flowing towards him from the starry river, but not a single wisp of wood power seemed to be converging on him from within the realm either.

    He sensed more carefully, and discovered that wisps of faint wood power were gathering towards the ce where the third-generation Tree of Life was.

    Momentster, he arrived at the wondrousnd where the ancient trees were still green.

    BOOM!

    He felt as if he had prated an invisible ward before suddenly arriving inside of another heaven and earth.

    ncing around, he couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment, ¡°Ahh!¡±

    The wood power here was so rich that it felt like a liquid that filled the dense forest. Emerald green auras floated in midair like numerous green ribbons.

    The moment he entered, rich wood power started pouring into his wood domain.

    Standing in mid-air, he was overtaken by a strong sense of familiarity with this ce.

    Years ago, he and Dong Li had clearly tumbled into this wondrous ce, where he had found a young Tree of Life and obtained a few Fruits of Life.

    ¡°I... I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s here.¡±

    Eyes filled with surprise, he morphed into a streak of green light that flew directly to the Tree of Life¡¯s location, seeming to know this ce rather well.

    The shallow pond from years ago had already be a greenke. The green sapling had also now grown to a huge tree that was close to a hundred meters tall, with each leaf fresh and green like emeralds and their veins containing the profound truths of life power. He also quickly discovered that a mysterious light seemed to be flowing over the patterns on its trunk and branches.

    He took a deep breath, and felt a soothingfort he couldn¡¯t describe.

    His activated wood domain also started to experience changes after he entered this heaven and earth.

    Bathed in the divine light of the Tree of Life, the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two tree branches seemed to be branded with the divine patterns of life power, which continued to morph in a subtle manner.

    With a self-mocking smile, Nie Tian muttered, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that I¡¯m here again. Back in the day, I tried everything I could to find this ce in the Realm of Unbounded Destion in order to help the Heaven-equal Vine return to its ancestralnd, but failed. It appears that this ce Dong Li and I found had moved to this forbidden area of the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re finally here.¡± The Tree of Life¡¯s voice seemed to echo from its every leaf. ¡°There are many things that I didn¡¯t have the time to tell you in the Blood Realm. I sent Primal Wood for you so I can tell you those secrets, but there¡¯s also something of great importance we need to do.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What is it?¡±

    The Tree of Life took its time to exin, ¡°Your cultivation base is at thete Saint domain, which is only a step away from the God domain. In the Silent Star Sea, you helped prevent my first-generation form from being damaged by that branch of the Nether River. Now, you¡¯ve helped the Floragrims move into the Silent Star Sea. And there¡¯s a profound connection between you and me to start with, so I¡¯d like to help you enter the God domain.¡±

    ¡°You want to help me enter the God domain?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s about time you took that step.¡±

    SHEW!

    Countless rays of divine green light burst forth from within the emerald green tree leaves before flying into Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain like wisps of lightning.

    Each and every ray of light contained profound wood power that made his soul cheer.

    His wood domain rapidly absorbed all of the divine green light like a sponge absorbing water, and then started expanding bit by bit under Nie Tian¡¯s gaze.

    The Godspirit Tree started growing at a noticeable rate.

    Curious changes happened to the lush green trees that had morphed from the seventy-two tree branches, as the trees started to vary, as if they belonged to different species now.

    It appeared that they had been nourished and prepared for such changes since he had arrived here.

    ¡°Such concentrated and pure power!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    Then, looking at the changes of his wood domain, he said doubtfully, ¡°I cultivate three different powers. Can I really enter the God domain by relying only on one of them?¡±

    It was said that the more powers one cultivated, the harder it would be for them to make advances in their cultivation.

    Humans had rather limited lifespans. Most cultivators wouldn¡¯t even reach the point where they were ready to break through to the God domain before they died of old age. Therefore, most cultivators would choose only one power to cultivate, and try to master it fully.

    ¡°You¡¯re not like the others,¡± the Tree of Life responded. ¡°Your wood domain interacts with your life bloodline. Thus, with my assistance, I think I can carry you through the barriers and into the God domain. After you enter the God domain, your battle prowess will rise to a new level.

    ¡°Only then will you be able to fight against the truly powerfulte tenth grade grand monarchs from the Void World.

    ¡°And your power will also be needed to end the turmoil in the Mortal World.¡±

    As the Tree of Life spoke, wisps of pure wood power continued to fuse into Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain, causing it to change constantly.

    Meanwhile, streaks of green light hovered around it, protecting thend of rich life force like a realm barrier protecting a realm.

 Chapter 1575: Heaven Or Hell

    The God domain currently represented the peak of human cultivation.

    Even though there were as many Saint domain cultivators as the stars in the starry river, God domain cultivators were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

    Entering the God domain was the dream of every Saint domain cultivator.

    Experts like Wei Ming, Patriarch Snowy Peak, Li Wanfa, and Zhang Qiling had worked hard for thousands of years with the sole purpose of advancing to the God domain.

    The Saint domain and the God domain were separated by a chasm. One either crossed into heaven or fell into hell.

    SHEW!

    Streaks of emerald green auras hovered in Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain. On the exuberant greennd, pure wood power was ever-changing, as if to manifest the profound truths of life in various ways.

    Some were manifested in the mysterious patterns on the Godspirit Tree, and the sky-reaching trees that had transformed from the seventy-two branches.

    Some were manifested in the faint energy rivers that flowed through thend.

    Some were manifested in the green clouds that floated high above.

    WHOOSH!

    One of Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls suddenly flew out of his sea of awareness and stopped above the greennd.

    It was his wood power sub-soul.

    It was a cluster of green mist at first, but quickly morphed into an illusory version of Nie Tian with clear edges.

    ¡°This is amazing.¡±

    Floating above the greennd, his wood power sub-soul watched green light streak past him, and he was struck by a feeling that this was simr to when his true soul had entered the endless blood sea to derive the profound truths of life power.

    ¡°My life bloodline contains the wonders of both flesh power and wood power,¡± he muttered to himself as he attempted to derive new enlightenment. ¡°All of the bloodline magics I¡¯ve derived from the Blood Realm are flesh power-rted. Life Drain, Blood Essence Condensation, Life Blend, and all the other bloodline talents and magics are to be used on myself or other fleshly beings.

    ¡°However, these wonders that are being manifested in the streaking light and tree patterns in my wood domain are all wood power-rted.

    ¡°In other words, they¡¯re the profound truths of wood power the Tree of Life has obtained from the Blood Realm.

    ¡°Both kinds carry the profound truths of life power, as they share the same origin...¡±

    He focused on deriving enlightenment.

    Outside...

    Fata and Grand Monarch Primal Wood stood shoulder to shoulder in midair and gazed off at the green forbidden area.

    ¡°Thest piece of greennd in our ancestralnd is dying,¡± Fata said.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood remained silent.

    Both of them could see very clearly that the ce where the third-generation Tree of Life stood was losing its rich wood power at an rming rate.

    From this, they suddenly realized that the third-generation Tree of Life must have summoned Nie Tian here to present him with a great fortune and opportunity. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be fusing itsst remaining wood power into Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain.

    After hesitating for a while, Fata finally decided to ask the question that had been weighing on his mind, ¡°Has my father really died in the Void World?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. The Spirit World is a lost cause. What I worry about now is where the third-generation Tree of Life will go. It hasn¡¯t grown up yet. It needs a vast amount of wood power and a long time to regain its power.¡±

    ¡°Why is this happening to the Spirit World? Is there really no way to fix it now?¡± Fata asked in frustration.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood let out a sigh. ¡°Even though I¡¯ve entered thete tenth grade with the Tree of Life¡¯s help, I still can¡¯t figure out the reason for all this. Actually, the Silent Star Sea isn¡¯t the ideal ce for us to migrate to either. There must be realms in the Void World that are more suitable for us.¡±

    Fata¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Void World? Why not the Mortal World?¡±

    With a thoughtful expression, Grand Monarch Primal Wood said, ¡°Your father, thosete tenth grade Ancientspirit grand monarchs, and outsider grand monarchs like Grand Monarch Primal Demon all went to the Void World. They clearly knew that the ultimate power that would allow them to transcend their limitsy there. The same goes for the peak human experts. Unfortunately, they all seem to have failed to get what they were after.

    ¡°However, the fact that the Void World has produced the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit proves a lot.

    ¡°If we can defeat the outsiders from the Void World and figure out the secrets of the Void World, then perhaps we may be able to pinpoint the problem with the Spirit World.¡±

    Both hope and apprehension filled Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes as he said these words.

    Fata sighed in a low voice. ¡°The Void World...¡±

    All of a sudden, pirs of emerald green light sted into the heavens from the forbidden area.

    Like heaven-piercing swords, they pierced through the realm barrier of the Floragrims¡¯ main realm and reached the dim starry river.

    At the same time, an enormous nt emerged from the exuberant greennd, surrounded by what seemed like dazzling stars.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower, which seemed to be nted in a vast sea of stars, slowly rose from the forbidden area towards the starry river.

    ¡°The Heavenly Stars Flower! That¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s star domain!¡± Fata examined it with rapt attention, as he discovered that even Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul was inside that sea of stars with the Heavenly Stars Flower, and the sea of stars was expanding.

    Fata pondered for a brief moment before frowning and saying, ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s star domain has left his true form and is rising into the boundless starry river in the Spirit World. Why is he doing this? With the realms in the Spirit World dying, can he be hoping to gather the star power within those realms with his star domain and the Heavenly Stars Flower?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said.

    WHOOSH!

    The dazzling sea of stars rose out of the Floragrims¡¯ main realm and into the starry river.

    Within it, standing on a branch of the Heavenly Stars Flower, Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul suddenly burst forth with gorgeous starlight, its connection with his true soul iparably clear and strong.

    In the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, his wood domain was being refined toward a higher level with the power of the Tree of Life.

    It was this profound wood power that had driven his star domain into the starry river.

    ¡°The Spirit World... It¡¯s said that humanity was born here.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul had be one with his star domain. As it spread its soul power into its surroundings, it seemed to be able to sense even the slightest movements of the stars that were millions of kilometers away.

    However, no pure star power flew towards it after being channeled by the Heavenly Stars Flower and the star domain.

    ording to his soul perception, all of these stars in the Spirit World seemed to have be dark and lifeless.

    Plus, there didn¡¯t seem to be any considerable star power in the starry river that he could refine into his star domain to use as external help.

    All stars and floatingnds had star cores.

    Star cores released star power, which the majority of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce disciples relied on to practice cultivation. The star souls Nie Tian had been bestowed when he had been made a Son of the Stars had been refined from star power.

    Right now, the star cores of many stars and realms in the Spirit World had be weak, their lost star power untraceable.

    The other types of power of those realms had had also dissipated. He had no idea as to where they had gone, or why such a vast world would enter such a sudden and sharp decline after a period of longsting prosperity.

    WHOOSH!

    While he contemted, his me domain and me power sub-soul also left his true self and entered the starry river.

    Immediately after that, his true soul left his true self and the realm well.

    As soon as it flew into the starry river, he was overtaken by a feeling that something was appealing to him from millions of kilometers away.

    ¡°The Nether River!¡±

 Chapter 1576: Calling Upon The Nether River!

    In the far north of the Nether Realm.

    The Nether River floated in the sky, stretching as far as the eye could see. Countless soul symbols, evil spirits, and sparkling rays of light could be seen flickering within the misty cyan river.

    However, due to the upheaval that had swept across the Spirit World, even the Phantasm Qi that the Nether Realm depended on was dissipating.

    The energy exhaustion of the Spirit World seemed to be irreversible.

    A spatial altar made from cyan jade sat among the five towering stone statues, with Phantasms leaving and arriving through it from time to time.

    Some of the Phantasms looked sad and dreary, while others looked ted and cheerful.

    Some of the old and conservative Phantasms were reluctant to leave the Nether Realm for the Void World even though they knew that the origin of their bloodlinesy with the Netherspirits, and that the Spirit World was withering.

    A wrinkled old female Phantasm with a dim prismatic crystal on her forehead gazed up absorbedly at the Nether River. A reluctant look filled her murky eyes as she sighed and said, ¡°These changes the Spirit World is going through... Even the Nether River seems to be more and more distant from us... Back when Soul Ferry broke through to thete tenth grade, even the Nether River seemed to be cheering. That spectacr scene was simply unprecedented.

    ¡°However, when Unholy Wind joined the ranks of thete tenth grade grand monarchs, the Nether River didn¡¯t show even the slightest changes.¡±

    She seemed to be overtaken with emotions.

    Apparently, she didn¡¯t approve of Grand Monarch Unholy Wind, and was still convinced that the bright future of their race hadin with Grand Monarch Soul Ferry, their high chieftain who had probably died in the Void World.

    She approved of his stance on the matter of the Netherspirits. Even though he was aware of the profound bloodline connections between them and his people, he had kept his distance and refused to join them.

    In contrast, she was deeply discontent with what Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had done since he had assumed power.

    Even so, the Phantasms, along with the Demons and Bonebrutes, had already attached themselves to this war chariot that was the outsiders from the Void World. Even Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had been killed by Nie Tian. Because of this, the entire Phantasm race didn¡¯t have a presentable leader now.

    PHEW! PHEW!

    A few elegant, skinny figures arrived through the spatial altar.

    One of the arrivals nced around with her fierce, icy eyes before finallyying them on the old female Phantasm and saying impatiently, ¡°I¡¯m Barbara, a Netherspirit from the Void World. Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits ordered you to evacuate the Nether Realm as soon as possible. Why are you still here?¡±

    The old female Phantasm cast her gaze down. ¡°We find it hard to abandon our home. There¡¯s an emotional attachment after all.¡±

    Barbaraughed coldly. ¡°Even the Nether River branch here is fading and merging into ours in the Void World. What¡¯s left for you to miss?

    ¡°As for those five...¡± A vicious, murderous look filled her eyes as she turned to look at the five towering statues of the evil gods. ¡°They don¡¯t deserve to be worshipped! As the master¡¯s five most capable subordinates, they¡¯ve already gathered their soul fragments from the three worlds, yet they¡¯re taking orders from a stranger. They¡¯re traitors!¡±

    She hated the evil gods to the bones.

    After she said these words, the few ninth grade Netherspirit grand patriarch that had followed her here dashed back and forth in the air, dropping sparkling magical balls on the mountain-like statues of the evil gods.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    With heaven-rending, earth-crushing explosions, the statues were bombarded by balls that contained countless lightning wisps.

    After the violent energy dissipated, the Phantasms looked with rapt attention, and discovered that the statues had toppled, but hadn¡¯t really shattered.

    ¡°Quite sturdy they are.¡± Barbara gave a cold harrumph and ordered the Netherspirits to keep going.

    She herself, however, flew towards the Nether River branch.

    Her soul was the soul of the Spirit Scepter, which was used to channel and draw power from the Nether River. Now that she had lost the scepter and suffered serious injuries to her soul, she wanted to see if she could recover her strength with the numerous evil spirits in this branch of the Nether River.

    Down on the ground, many Phantasms had grim expressions, as they couldn¡¯t bear to see the statues of the gods they had worshiped for generations be toppled down.

    They hadn¡¯t been to the Void World. They had lived in the Nether Realm their entire lives, and those statues had been treated as gods since they had been old enough to remember.

    Many of them had even derived exquisite soul magics from those statues.

    Many elder Phantasms felt deeply attached to them. Seeing them being toppled and damaged by the Netherspirits, the old female Phantasm couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Would it be possible that you spare the statues?¡±

    One of the ninth grade grand patriarchs snorted disdainfully and cast her a cold look. ¡°Shut up! Even though you carry our bloodlines, you¡¯ll always be our inferiors! Remember to address us respectfully from now on. Your bloodline is impure. Even though you can derive soul wonders from the Nether River, you¡¯re bound to be our vassals.¡±

    The other Netherspirits also had arrogant expressions, as if this was exactly how things should be between them.

    Hearing this, the Phantasms grew even grimmer and sadder.

    They just realized that to the Netherspirits in the Void World, they were nothing but inferiors that carried an impure bloodline.

    They had originally been a native species. It was true that only after being influenced by the power of the Nether River for many generations had they developed their current bloodline and great resemnce to the Netherspirits.

    However, they were still excluded by the Netherspirits, despite the fact that their bloodline hade from the Nether River and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    All of a sudden, the Phantasms present started to miss their high chieftain, Grand Monarch Soul Ferry, and the days when they had been a proud and unprejudiced race.

    The toppled statues suddenly started exuding flowing cyan light.

    The few ninth grade Netherspirit grand patriarchs that hade with Barbara stood aghast, unsure what was happening. ¡°What the...?¡±

    Even Barbara, who was flying up towards the Nether River, eximed, ¡°The Nether River!¡±

    She suddenly sensed the presence of the Spirit Scepter!

    Then, the Nether River branch seemed to be channeled by the Spirit Scepter, as it left the Nether Realm and flew off somewhere very far away with a shocking speed.

    RUMBLE!

    Almost at the same time, the five mountainous statues appeared to be lifted by some force, and flew off after the Nether River one by one.

    ¡°The stone statues and the Nether River!¡±

    The Phantasms shuddered violently as they suddenly remembered the ancient legends, which said that those statues and the Nether River had been first carried to the Nether Realm by some force.

    From there, the Phantasms had been born and grown into a powerful race of the Spirit World.

    Now, the Nether River had left, followed by the statues. What did this mean?

    After being dumbfounded for a while, Barbara snapped to a realization. ¡°Nie Tian! Dammit! I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s in the Spirit World!¡±

    ...

    In the dim starry river outside the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul held the Spirit Scepter in one hand and the Spirit Pearl in the other. The five evil gods had already swirled out in their fleshly forms, and were letting out heaven-shaking, earth-shattering summoning howls with their heads thrown back.

    He sensed with great rity that the Nether River branch in the Nether Realm had answered the Spirit Scepter¡¯s summons, and was flying towards him.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s star domain and star power sub-soul were making an attempt to channel star power from every star in the Spirit World.

 Chapter 1577: A Grand Return

    The Nether River flew out of the Nether Realm and headed directly towards the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, followed by the five mountainous statues.

    Barbara and the other Netherspirits chased the Nether River into the starry river, but found that it was leaving at a speed beyond their imagination.

    No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t catch up to it. They could only watch it fly farther and farther away.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Barbara roared madly in the starry river outside the Nether Realm.

    Inside the Nether Realm.

    Numerous Phantasms had a feeling of being driven into a dead end watching the Nether River leave along with the five statues that they had worshiped for countless years.

    Deeply confused, the old female Phantasm cast her gaze down. ¡°Why did this happen?

    ¡°Aren¡¯t the Netherspirits supposed to take us over? Isn¡¯t the Nether River in the Nether Realm only a branch of the Nether River in the Void World? If that¡¯s true, why did it suddenly fly away after their arrival?

    ¡°And it didn¡¯t seem to be leaving the Spirit World.¡±

    She couldn¡¯t think of an answer.

    Some Phantasms flew into the starry river after Barbara and the Netherspirits with her, and whispered among themselves.

    They also wanted to figure out what had just happened.

    Barbara was an important figure of the Netherspirits. She had clearly attempted to draw power and strong spirits from the Nether River. However, it seemed to... havepletely ignored her.

    Not just that, but it had unprecedentedly left the Nether Realm and flown seemingly towards the Floragrims¡¯ domain, as if it had been channeled by some force.

    It was very strange that it would do that instead of returning to its origin in the Void World.

    After pondering for a long while, the old female Phantasm said, ¡°Barbara was calling Nie Tian¡¯s name. Grand Monarch Unholy Wind died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands, and I heard that he made a branch of the Nether River appear in the Seven Stars Realm Sea. Our lost treasure, the Spirit Pearl, is also in his possession. And those evil gods appeared to have developed fleshly bodies because of him...¡±

    ¡°That Nie Tian has a profound connection to us somehow!¡± another Phantasm eximed softly.

    The old female Phantasm nodded. ¡°Strangely, yes. Possessing the Spirit Pearl,manding the evil gods, and being able to channel the Nether River... This is all very unusual. I also heard that he seized the Netherspirits¡¯ precious treasure. Don¡¯t tell me the Nether River¡¯s leaving is actually his doing.¡±

    ...

    In the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true form was cleansing and refining his wood domain over and over with the power of the Tree of Life.

    After absorbing arge amount of the wood power bestowed upon him by the Tree of Life, his wood domain had gone through incredible changes, as if it had be a brand new piece ofnd.

    Other than the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two ancient trees, a wide array of flowers and nts were now blooming in many areas of thend, as if they had been spawned by the terrifyingly strong wood power.

    Rivers of rich wood power also flowed across thend like rivers.

    The Floragrims¡¯ forbiddennd, however, was quickly withering. However, just before the ancient sky-reaching trees died, their seeds seemed to be transnted into Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain with the power of the Tree of Life.

    Gradually, his domain grew into a magicalnd that was very simr to the Floragrims¡¯ main realm in its glory.

    Furthermore, his domain seemed to grow more and more materialized as these changes took ce.

    Nie Tian¡¯s wood power sub-soul sensed the subtle changes, and muttered, ¡°This domain of mine was forged from the pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, wood power, and soul power. Other cultivators may also need to gather and fuse various spiritual materials of a certain attribute into their domains in order to forge them.

    ¡°But since I have the Godspirit Tree, I was able to skip that troublesome step.

    ¡°Once my saint domain transforms into a god domain, it¡¯ll be able to morph infinitely and assume the form of a dharma idol, yet it¡¯ll still be different from an actual realm.

    ¡°What will my dharma idol be like...?¡±

    He mobilized his power as he contemted.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of rich wood power suddenly infiltrated his true form and started streaming through his meridians.

    Even his star power sub-soul and me power sub-soul, along with his star domain and me domain, seemed to be nourished by the highly-refined power. As the power surged within his true form, they were all growing stronger rapidly.

    Outside the realm.

    Nie Tian¡¯s star domain was filled with shining stars. His true soul, which had also flown out of the realm, was surrounded by the five evil gods. Right now, it was wielding the Spirit Scepter as if to conduct a summoning ritual.

    SHEW!

    The Nether River that should have remained in the Nether Realm arrived after crossing boundless space.

    This Nether River looked very different from the ones Nie Tian had seen in the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Silent Star Sea.

    Both those ones had seemed to be soulless.

    However, this Nether River, the one summoned here by the Spirit Scepter, seemed to have its own awareness.

    Having witnessed the truth about the Blood Realms, he now knew that the so-called Nether River was a reflection of the River of Souls.

    All of the Nether River branches that manifested in the three words were reflections of the River of Souls.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will had created them by channeling the River of Souls and casting its reflections in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World.

    As Nie Tian pondered, the Spirit Scepter suddenly flew out of his hand and into that Nether River. As this happened, he noticed that five enormous stone statues had followed the Nether River here.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    The five evil gods immediately let out howls of excitement.

    Before Nie Tian could do anything, the five of them swooped towards the mountainous statues.

    The statues then started cracking. With every piece that fell off of them, a wisp of cyan flesh aura flew out and fused into one of the evil gods, as if to contribute to their strength.

    ¡°Stashed flesh power!¡± Nie Tian eximed, as he hadn¡¯t expected that the stone statues that had flown here with the Nether River actually had the evil gods¡¯ flesh power sealed within them.

    Rumor had it that the five evil gods had exploded and perished.

    Who would have thought that their soul fragments that had scattered across the Mortal World, Spirit World, and Void World would be regathered by the Spirit Pearl and him?

    Besides that, some of their flesh auras had actually been secured and sealed within these stone statues for their revival.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisp after wisp of flesh aura flew out of the peeling statues and fused into the five evil gods like lightning bolts.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyelids throbbed with astonishment as he discovered that as the flesh auras fused into the evil gods, their strength skyrocketed.

    As of now, the five evil gods had already regathered their soul fragments. Compared to their former lives, all theycked now was their flesh power aste tenth grade grand monarchs.

    Now, as the flesh auras that belonged to them were returned to them, their strength was boosted sharply.

    ¡°Right now, their individual battle prowess should be higher than that of a middle tenth grade grand monarch like Grand Monarch Bloodlust or Grand Monarch Nether Channeler. But they¡¯re still not as strong aste tenth grade grand monarchs yet. If they can recover their peak strength, then they¡¯ll be fivete tenth grade grand monarchs at mymand!¡± With this thought, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Now, I just don¡¯t know how much power is sealed within these statues.¡±

 Chapter 1578: Heavenly Spiritâ€™s Will

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Countless wisps of cyan flesh auras slithered on and disappeared into the five evil gods¡¯ bodies like snakes made of lightning.

    The evil gods roared, baring their fangs and brandishing their ws. As they devoured these flesh auras that werepletelypatible with them, their sinister, enormous bodies seemed to be refined very effectively.

    At the same time, wisps of pure Nether Qi flew out of the Nether River.

    They fused into the evil gods, as if to help with their body refinement.

    The evil gods grew stronger with each passing second.

    The five stone statues that the Nether River had taken to this ce continued to crack and peel off, the pieces crumbling and falling into the Nether River.

    While the stone statues grew smaller and smaller, the evil gods grew stronger and stronger.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul floated there quietly,pletely unharmed by the various impurities in the starry river.

    ¡°If the five evil gods regain their peak strength, they¡¯ll definitely be of great help in the uing battles! The only thing I need to worry about is whether the Heavenly Spirit Seals will continue to limit them after they do.¡±

    The Heavenly Spirit Seals had been branded on the foreheads of the evil gods, like the prismatic crystals on the foreheads of Phantasms.

    They were what was restraining the evil gods and making them follow his everymand.

    However, he wasn¡¯t Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit after all. Could the Heavenly Spirit Seals he had condensed make fivete tenth grade grand monarchs serve him obediently?

    He wasn¡¯t so confident in that.

    Then, he fixed his eyes on the Spirit Scepter, and saw that countless soul symbols and cyan spots within the Nether River had started fusing into its shaft and the glittering cyan Profound Truths Crystal after it fell into the Nether River.

    After observing for a while, Nie Tian came to a realization. ¡°Even though it¡¯s only a reflection of the River of Souls, it contains Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual power and will!¡±

    He had created this Profound Truths Crystal by refining the Nether River branch in the Silent Star Sea with his Blood Essence, soul power, and with the help of Grand Monarch Primal Wood and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs.

    A profound connection had formed between him and the Spirit Scepter from the moment it had been embedded on the pommel of the scepter.

    It was the key to his control of the Spirit Scepter.

    Now, after the Spirit Scepter fell out of his hand and into the Nether River, he felt somewhat confused watching the numerous soul symbols, soul imprints, and soul strands within the Nether River that were vested with the profound truths of souls be absorbed by the scepter.

    This branch of the Nether River had remained in the Nether Realm for many millennia. Now, however, after having been summoned here by the Spirit Scepter, it was actually taking the initiative to merge with the Spirit Scepter. This was very strange.

    BOOM!

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will seemed to be detonated within the Profound Truths Crystal.

    In a sh, numerous secret soul imprints that no one could read were branded in the crystal, and almost at the same time, were acquired by Nie Tian.

    At this moment, a giant ancient soul shadow suddenly manifested out of nothing within the crystal.

    Startled, Nie Tian shuddered violently. ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!¡±

    He thought the deceased Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was going to revive himself through this Profound Truths Crystal.

    However, the giant soul shadow only existed for a brief moment before dissipatingpletely.

    However, the soul imprints that seemed to carry pieces of lost history didn¡¯t dissipate with it, but were left in their entirety.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul was deeply shocked as information poured in. ¡°What? The Phantasms in the Spirit World are actually Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s descendants who carry his bloodline! The Nether River in the Nether Realm carries most of his wonders!¡±

    Many of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s memories and secrets that had been kept in the Nether River unraveled before his eyes.

    He saw image after image of the past, from which he learned that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, in his prime, had had a supreme aspiration: build a new species!

    As an expert who had transcended the tenth grade, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had hidden his identity and powers, and traveled through the Mortal World and the Spirit World. Eventually, he had chosen the Nether Realm in the Spirit World to be the ce where he carried out his grand creation.

    However, before he could, the first-generation Tree of Life had discovered his n.

    A fatal battle had broken out between them. After the battle, the Tree of Life had withered, its seed drifting to the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, where it had grown into the second-generation Tree of Life.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had perished. After his residual will hadmunicated with the River of Souls, a branch of the so-called Nether River had manifested in the Silent Star Sea, vested with his will to conquer all those who opposed him.

    Another branch of the Nether River had manifested in the Netherspirits¡¯ ancestralnd in the Void World, vested with his will to guard his own kind.

    A third branch of the Nether River had manifested in the ce of his choice, the Nether Realm, vested with his will to create a new species!

    As it turned out, he had seeded.

    All Phantasms could be viewed as his creation. This was simr to how the second-generation Tree of Life had created the Floragrims in the Floragrims¡¯ current main realm.

    Technically speaking, the origin of the Floragrims¡¯ bloodliney with the Tree of Life, while the origin of the Phantasms¡¯ bloodliney with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    The five evil gods, who had fought alongside him until they had died doing so, had been given the responsibility of guarding the Phantasms, his descendants that carried his bloodline.

    Since the evil gods had died before him, he had sealed their residual flesh auras in stones with his divine abilities, and shaped them into five statues.

    He had also scattered their soul fragments, which should have dissipated as time passed, across the Mortal World, Spirit World, and Void World.

    If it hadn¡¯t been for Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the five evil gods would have perishedpletely, devoid of any chance at rebirth.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had paved the road for their rebirth, and his residual will had illuminated the truth to his descendant, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who had thus forged the Spirit Pearls to collect the evil gods¡¯ soul fragments.

    It appeared that the Phantasms in the Nether Realm were more important to him than his people in the Void World.

    The Netherspirits in the Void World were his nsmen, but the Phantasms were his descendants that carried his bloodline!

    From the memories, Nie Tian also learned that something had happened to the Nether River in the Void World recently.

    The sudden and mysterious deaths of Grand Monarch Soul Ferry and his son had a great deal to do with it.

    After that, Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had been aided and be the new high chieftain of the Phantasms. Then, he had secretly contacted Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and done everything he could to join the Netherspirits. This also had a great deal to do with it.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will in the Nether River in the Void World seemed to have been gradually wiped out or assimted by something.

    BOOM!

    The five enormous stone statues finally exploded, the dust vanishing into the Nether River.

    The five evil gods roared, shaking the starry river.

    Their roars seemed to be filled with fury and discontent as they roared in the Nether Realm¡¯s direction.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Nether River that had remained in the Nether Realm since its creation slowly dissipated, all of the spirits, soul spells, and soul power it contained fusing into the Spirit Scepter.

    Floating in the starry river, the scepter seemed like a supreme soul tool that could dominate the souls of all living beings.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will within the Profound Truths Crystal also presented a few requests.

    Face filled with disbelief, Nie Tian said, ¡°What? You want me to guide the Phantasms, your descendants? All of the Phantasms have been convinced that the origin of their bloodline lies in the Void World thanks to Grand Monarch Unholy Wind¡¯s persuasion, and the Netherspirits¡¯ demonstration. What makes you think I can get them to trust me just because I hold the Spirit Scepter?

    ¡°Also, I¡¯m a human. Why do you think I would want to go to the Void World and help find out what happened to the Nether River there?¡±

 Chapter 1579: Guide

    The Nether River finally vanished.

    As the Spirit Scepter burst forth with endless divine light, a storm of soul power seemed to be unleashed by the Spirit Scepter to fill that area of the starry river with fluctuations.

    Meanwhile, the five evil gods screeched.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul gazed at the scepter, and seemed lost in Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will.

    He had never expected that he woulde into such a connection with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit so long after his battle against the first-generation Tree of Life, where they had practically killed each other, and that all of this had started with him identally obtaining a Spirit Pearl.

    Perhaps Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will had been the reason why the Nether River had actively approached him in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    The Nether River in the Silent Star Sea had been vested with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s will to kill and conquer. As hard as it had been to contain, he had managed to seed and refine it into a Profound Truths Crystal.

    Now, after he had obtained the Spirit Scepter and entered the Spirit World, the Nether River in the Nether Realm had somehow taken it upon itself to merge with the Spirit Scepter, which belonged to him now.

    All of these were signs that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had approved of him to some extent.

    ¡°Are you choosing me to guide your descendants to freedom now, when Grand Monarch Soul Ferry has died and the Phantasms are on the verge of being enved by the Netherspirits?¡± Nie Tian asked inwardly.

    HOWL! ROAR!

    At this moment, the five evil gods seemed to sense the responsibility Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had given them from within the Spirit Scepter, as they left Nie Tian and flew off in the Nether Realm¡¯s direction.

    A mysterious and natural connection seemed to have formed between the Nether Realm and the evil gods, whose bloodline power was soaring through the ceiling.

    Ayer of vast cyan space seemed to be cut open by the five evil gods.

    They, who were outside the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, somehow ripped through theyers of space and traveled to the Nether Realm directly.

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Why did those five leave for the Nether Realm in such a hurry?

    ¡°The Nether River there has flown here and merged with the Spirit Scepter. Even the stone statues that used to seal their flesh auras have been taken here, and they had strengthened themselves with the flesh auras they contained.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that something is happening in the Nether Realm, and their power is needed to contain the situation?¡±

    Having absorbed the flesh auras sealed within those stone statues, each evil god was now stronger than Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler. Even though they hadn¡¯t joined the ranks ofte tenth grade grand monarchs, the gap between their strength and that ofte tenth grade grand monarchs should be quite narrow.

    Nie Tian even felt that together, they probably wouldn¡¯t lose a battle against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons.

    Then again, after they had obtained those flesh auras and lifted their strength to a new level, he started to feel that it might not be so easy to control them from now on.

    ¡°Now that none of the true experts of the Spirit World are around, I suppose those five have nothing to fear here,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°As long as Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory doesn¡¯t return from the Mortal World with thete tenth grade grand monarchs from the Void World, I guess I¡¯ve got nothing to worry about.¡±

    Even though the five evil gods had left, his soul connection with them seemed to be tight, and showed no sign of breaking.

    This made him slightly relieved.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± A furious, violent voice suddenly echoed from the depths of the dim, icy starry river.

    Before Nie Tian could realize what was happening, a Demon grand patriarch entered his sight, wreathed in strong killing intent.

    Having activated Ancestral Awakening, the Demon grand patriarch looked like a robust, raging bull. Pitch-ck and back covered in solid armor, he emanated purple light.

    Nie Tian let out augh of derision. ¡°Only at the ninth grade.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A Fiend grand patriarch, a Bonebrute grand patriarch, and another Demon grand patriarch showed themselves after him.

    After their arrival, the four outsider grand patriarchs first looked down at the Floragrims¡¯ main realm with a hint of apprehension in their eyes. Only after seeing that no one seemed to being out of it did they put their minds at ease.

    They knew that Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims had already joined the ranks ofte tenth grade grand monarchs, and that the Tree of Life was still there.

    For that reason, after the Floragrims and the Ancientspirits had decided to work with the humans, even though these outsiders lived close to the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, they hadn¡¯t dared to rashly approach it.

    Now, however, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul had flown out into the starry river by itself.

    ¡°Kill it!¡± The Demon grand patriarch in the form of a raging bull bellowed. ¡°What makes Nie Tian so powerful is his fleshly body and unique bloodline power. Without his fleshly body, his true soul is nothing to be feared!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s true soul!¡± The Fiend grand patriarch said in a shrill voice that was full of excitement.

    The Bonebrute grand patriarch sensed around with his death bloodline, and shuddered. ¡°His true form is in the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, and wreathed in rich life force! It appears that he¡¯s trying to make breakthroughs in his bloodline and cultivation with the Tree of Life¡¯s help! This is a great opportunity!¡±

    The four outsider grand patriarchs¡¯ murderous auras were instantly aroused.

    They were facing a golden opportunity to kill Nie Tian. As long as his true soul was annihted, his cultivation breakthrough and bloodline upgrade would definitely be interrupted. There was even a chance that his fleshly body would explode.

    FIZZ!

    Like lightning bolts, dark purple demon power morphed and manifested various bloodline talents and wonders in the dim starry river.

    The roars of ancient demonic gods echoed out from within the twisting lights, emanating an aura of violence and destruction that yearned to engulf Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    At the same time, the Fiend grand patriarch tossed out a porcin bottle. The foul-smelling liquid that spilled from it instantly morphed into a green river that stretched towards Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    The pale-gray particles in the depths of the Bonebrute grand patriarch¡¯s eyes suddenly burst forth with dazzling, soul-capturing light, as a bloodline talent called Death Grinding was activated.

    As soon as that happened, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul started losing soul power.

    With a derisiveugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°A bunch of fools with death wishes.¡±

    Even though this was augh let out by his true soul, it traveled through the nearby realms in a split second. Every Floragrim in their main realm caught every word he had said.

    Of course, Grand Monarch Primal Wood and Fata also heard him perfectly.

    Even without flying out of their main realm, their eyes with emerald green pupils could see through the realm barrier. A hint of mockery appeared on their cold faces as they realized what the four outsider grand patriarchs were trying to do.

    ¡°Do you really think you can win, even though it¡¯s Nie Tian in his soul form?¡± Fata muttered.

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul lifted the Spirit Scepter. He pointed it towards the four outsider grand patriarchs respectively and eximed softly, ¡°Soul-capturing Hands!¡±

    Four giant, scary hands made of nothing but evil spirits and vicious souls flew out of the Spirit Scepter one after another.

    Each and every one of them blocked out arge area of the starry river as they reached towards the four outsider grand patriarchs.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul looked like a god who controlled souls, casting spells on the four grand patriarchs with his overwhelming power and an indifference to the lives before him.

    As the Soul-capturing Hands descended, the four grand patriarchs¡¯ souls were gripped tightly and yanked out of their heads like chickens captured by eagles that swooped down from the sky.

    No matter how hard they struggled and how much power they summoned, all soul wards and protections seemed to be rendered useless as soon as the giant hands reached in.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The four grand patriarchs¡¯ souls were grabbed and stuffed into the Spirit Scepter.

    They had justunched attacks towards Nie Tian, yet they lost before their bloodline magics could even manifest their might.

    Nie Tian let out a coldugh. ¡°Howughable.¡±

    Devoid of any life, the four grand patriarchs¡¯ bodies fell towards the Florigrims¡¯ main realm.

    The Bonebrute grand patriarch¡¯s body exploded and turned into ashes upon contact with the realm barrier.

    The other three Demon and Fiend grand patriarchs¡¯ bodies fell through the realm barrier. Channeled by some invisible power, they fell towards the area where Nie Tian¡¯s true form was in the middle of a breakthrough, like streaks of glorious light.

    ¡°The Nether Realm!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls that had profound connections with the five evil gods¡¯ souls suddenly saw images of the Nether Realm through the evil gods¡¯ eyes.

    Numerous Phantasms were looking up into the sky, watching the five evil gods they had worshiped for generations descend into the Nether Realm in flesh and blood.

    After the Nether River had left, along with the stone statues, all of them had fallen into despair and the feeling that their ancestors and gods had abandoned them.

    Now that the five evil gods had returned in fleshly forms, they were lifted from their despair, their hope reignited.

    In contrast, Barbara and the other Netherspirits looked very grim, their eyes filled with anger.

    ¡°Traitors!¡±

 Chapter 1580: Killing In The Spirit World

    BOOM!

    A spatial altar made of cyan jade suddenly exploded as the evil god of bloodlust approached it.

    The altar connected to the Seven Stars Realm Sea, through which arge number of Netherspirits from the Void World could pour in at any time.

    It was also the means through which the Phantasms were going to evacuate their withering ancestralnd and start their new lives in the Void World.

    The Phantasms in the Nether Realm stood aghast upon seeing the evil gods destroy the spatial altar upon their arrival. ¡°What...?¡±

    These were the evil gods they had worshiped for generation after generation. They assumed that since they had been Netherspirits in their previous lives, they should preside over justice for them after their resurrection.

    However, they clearly hadn¡¯t expected them to go directly against the Netherspirits upon their return.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The mountainous evil gods flew out one after another, giving rise to loud whooshes. Residual Nether Qi in every corner of the Nether Realm was summoned by them.

    Barbara and the Netherspirits from the Void World had be their targets.

    ¡°Traitors! You despicable traitors!¡± Barbara, who had lost the Spirit Scepter, screamed as she flew away to avoid them without hesitation.

    The moment the evil gods had arrived, she had realized that they had be entirely different from when she had met them in the Domain of Endless Snow.

    She was merely the soul of the Spirit Scepter. If she had still controlled the Spirit Scepter, perhaps she would have been able to make the evil gods apprehensive.

    However, now that she had lost it, she was nothing to the five evil gods.

    Seeing the evil god of fear charging towards him covered in sharp thorns and with icy killing intent in his eyes, one of the Netherspirits became scared, and hastily called out, ¡°Lords! We¡¯re from the Void World, just as you are!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve killed quite a few of my own kind,¡± the evil god of fear said in the Netherspirits¡¯ ancient, genuinenguage. ¡°These Phantasms are our master¡¯s descendants. They carry his bloodline, which is the noblest of all! How dare you filthy ones mess with them in the ce of my master¡¯s choice! You shall all die!¡±

    The evil god of fear spoke in a rhythmic manner, as if it were delivering a death sentence with a low chant.

    His sharp bone hand shed across the dim void like a cyan glowing de, leaving a trail of icy cyan light. Then, the begging Netherspirit was cut in half and exploded with a boom.

    His blood, shattered bones, and chunks of flesh rained down, filling the void with a strong bloody smell.

    ¡°Lords!¡± the other Netherspirits howled in panic upon seeing this.

    ¡°In the name of our master, we will guard the Nether Realm and protect his descendants!¡± The five evil gods spoke together, like chanting in a low voice in the ancient Netherspiritnguage. By doing this, they seemed to be dering their loyalty to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, who had died many millennia ago.

    Then, they chased all of the Netherspirits, who hade from the Void World to take over the Phantasms as their inferiors.

    Every few seconds, a Netherspirit was caught and exploded, their flesh and blood flying everywhere.

    Barbara was no exception. Caught by the evil god of despair, she even blurted her identity as the soul of the Spirit Scepter. But still, she was annihted, body and soul.

    All of the Phantasms were dumbstruck by the unbelievable turn of events.

    This killing was between the five evil gods, who they had worshiped for generations, and emissaries of the Netherspirits, who imed to be the origin of their bloodline. They had profound connections with both of them, and couldn¡¯t afford to offend either side.

    The old female Phantasm was at a loss for a long while before saying, ¡°All of the Netherspirit emissaries are dead. The spatial altar is destroyed. What should we do now?

    ¡°The Spirit World is dying. We could only go with the Netherspirits. But now that their emissaries are ughtered, where are we supposed to go?¡±

    ¡°You have a new guide.¡± The evil god of bloodlust¡¯s cold voice echoed out.

    ¡°A new guide? Grand Monarch Soul Ferry has died, along with all those who carried his bloodline. Grand Monarch Unholy Wind has been killed by Nie Tian. Who else can guide us?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian can,¡± The evil god of bloodlust said.

    The Phantasms burst into a great mor upon hearing this.

    ¡°What? Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is a human. How can he possibly guide us? Plus, he¡¯s the one who killed Grand Monarch Unholy Wind! That makes him our sworn enemy!¡±

    ¡°Humans have no right to guide us!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is our sworn enemy!¡±

    The expression of the evil god of bloodlust didn¡¯t change in the slightest as he said in a cold, celestial voice, ¡°Nie Tian has earned the master¡¯s approval. Grand Monarch Unholy Wind had only himself to me for his death. You all carry the master¡¯s bloodline. Nie Tian has inherited the master¡¯s soul magics and controls the Spirit Scepter. He qualifies to guide you to a path of continuation.¡±

    ¡°No, we don¡¯t ept this.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t let a human guide us! Never!¡±

    ¡°This can¡¯t happen.¡±

    ...

    Outside the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul was holding the Spirit Scepter. His immense soul awareness spread like a colossal spiderweb.

    With the help of the Spirit Scepter, he could now spread his soul awareness millions of kilometers into his surroundings.

    Not only was he able to sense the existence of souls within the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, but he could sense the existence of souls in the nearby realms as well.

    The souls of powerful beings were as bright as torches, while the souls of weak ones were like fireflies.

    ¡°This is an unearthly soul tool indeed!¡± Nie Tian marveled at the fact that the range and keenness of his soul perception had been magnified by the Spirit Scepter, and the feeling that his soul awareness was everywhere.

    Holding the Spirit Scepter, he could even perceive what was happening in the Nether Realm through the connection between it and his sub-soul.

    He learned about Barbara¡¯s death as soon as it happened.

    In the senses of his true soul, there were seven torch-bright souls in the nearby realms, all of which belonged to ninth grade grand patriarchs, although he couldn¡¯t determine their species.

    However, he was convinced that they were aware of his presence, and that it wouldn¡¯t be long before they learned of the deaths of those four grand patriarchs.

    ¡°A bunch of ninth grade grand patriarchs, nothing to fear.¡± He thought to himself. ¡°However, unlike the Void World, it¡¯s easy to ess the Spirit World, since there are many spatial tunnels that connect it to the Mortal World. Now I¡¯m exposed. Once word of me seeking my breakthrough to the God domain in the Floragrim¡¯s main realm spreads, it¡¯ll most likely attract the attention of the grand monarchs from the Void World.

    ¡°If theye here to thwart my breakthrough with experts like Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, then I¡¯ll be in trouble.

    ¡°I suppose I need to get rid of the potential problems while trying to make my breakthrough as quickly as possible!¡±

    After realizing what he had to do, he went into action.

    WHOOSH!

    Wielding the Spirit Scepter, his true soul shuttled through the starry river at an unimaginable speed.

    In the Realm of ck Nightmare.

    At the bottom of a clearke sat a magnificent pce. A ninth grade ckscale grand patriarch seemed to sense imminent danger as he suddenly charged out of the pce, and theke.

    He made a desperate effort to run to a nearby Demon realm, where he hoped to escape through their teleportation portal.

    The mysterious Spirit Scepter arrived like a shooting star that streaked across the Spirit World.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul stood weightlessly on the scepter. Spotting the ckscale from afar, he said, ¡°A ckscale. Since you joined the Demons and the Fiends in invading the Mortal World and ughtering our people, you had thising.¡±

    With a swing of the Spirit Scepter, Nie Tian killed the ckscale grand patriarch, who had had a chance at bing Grand Monarch ck Armor¡¯s sessor as the ckscale high chieftain.

    ¡°Next.¡±

 Chapter 1581: Humans

    Nie Tian¡¯s true form was still transforming his wood domain with the power bestowed upon him by the Tree of Life.

    His true soul, on the other hand, continued to shuttle through the starry river between nearby realms, wielding the Spirit Scepter.

    ckscale, Demon, Bonebrute, Fiend, and Birdman grand patriarchs died at his hands one after another.

    Without his true form, bloodline power, or power from his spiritual sea, he was able to cast Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s various wondrous soul magics by relying solely on the profound connection between his true soul and the Spirit Scepter.

    Not only had he mastered all of the Phantasms¡¯ soul magics within a short time, but his power had been magnified by the Spirit Scepter.

    In the Fiends¡¯ domain, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul sat quietly on the scepter like a mysterious soul shadow and muttered, ¡°No wonder Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was considered a remarkable talent of many generations.¡±

    Most living beings wouldn¡¯t dare to have their souls leave their fleshly bodies and travel the starry river alone.

    He, however, didn¡¯t seem concerned at all.

    Unburdened by his fleshly form, his true soul and the Spirit Scepter traveled faster than he had ever imagined.

    He could cover millions of kilometers within a breath¡¯s time.

    In the boundless Spirit World, he could shuttle among realms that belonged to the Demons, ckscales, Bonebrutes, and Fiends in a very short time.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t travel among realms as fast as spatial power experts could, he was far faster than any known starship.

    Though his true soul and true form were separated from each other by boundless space, the connection between them remained iparably strong and clear. There was no sign of it breaking.

    He knew that that was thanks to the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    All of a sudden, he sensed a vast amount of living beings as he approached a domain.

    ording to his soul perception, the souls of all those beings appeared to be rather weak.

    BOOM!

    The Spirit Scepter suddenly burst forth with cyan light, and soul power as immense as the sea immediately spread out.

    Soon, what seemed to be billions of glowing spots manifested in Nie Tian¡¯s senses.

    After being dumbstruck for a moment, he snapped to a realization. ¡°Humans!¡±

    Not a single outsider race could reproduce as humans could. Even the entire poptions of the Ancientspirits, Demons, and Phantasms put together wouldn¡¯t match the number of the beings he was sensing now.

    Such a vast poption of intelligent beings with weak souls.

    There was only one possibility: these were humans.

    It was said that humans had also originated in the Spirit World.

    The Mortal World hadn¡¯t been discovered untilter. After the discovery of the Mortal World, humans had been shipped to these new realms to mine resources as the ves of the outsiders and Ancientspirits. Only after they had developed a set of methods to practice cultivation by absorbing the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth had they turned the tide, taking those realms for their own and expelling the Ancientspirits and outsiders that had enved them for millennia.

    After the humans¡¯ rise in the Mortal World, the four great sects had organized human powers to march into the Dead Star Sea over and over, their goal being to find their ancestralnds and liberate their kind in the Spirit World.

    However, so much time had passed, and the four great sects hadn¡¯t seeded once.

    Every time they had been close to sess, the outsiders and Ancientspirits would join hands and defeat them together.

    Now, the Spirit World was running out of its energy, every realm withering. The outsiders and Ancientspirits were all seeking another ce to live. What was the situation with the humans in the Spirit World?

    Nie Tian was thrilled upon figuring out to whom those souls belonged. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s my own kind!

    ¡°For countless years, the four great sects have attempted to enter the Spirit World, find the origin of humanity, and take their suffering fellow humans back to the Mortal World. Who would have thought that I¡¯d be so lucky as to find the origin of humanity?¡±

    With this thought, he immediately withdrew his soul power.

    Under the influence of his true soul, even the Spirit Scepter seemed to suddenly lose its physical form.

    A sphere of dim light that only powerful experts could detect with their souls enveloped the Spirit Scepter and Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    SHEW!

    They both assumed intangible forms, and sped through the starry river at an unimaginable speed.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Nie Tian entered a dim domain.

    ording to the perception of his true soul, there were arge number of realms in the domain. However, all of them were much smaller than the ones he had seen in the Demon, Fiend, and Floragrim domains.

    Not only were they smaller, but they were also rather dested, as if they had been drained of their energies of heaven and earth a very long time ago.

    WHOOSH!

    He randomly chose a realm and entered it.

    Floating high in the sky with the Spirit Scepter, his true soul scanned the realm with the help of the Spirit Scepter¡¯s power, and found numerous ancient buildings. However, all of the loftiest ones appeared to have been built in the Demons¡¯ style.

    He listened to the conversations among the humans.

    Arge amount of information then poured into his mind.

    Soon, he found out that this realm had been controlled by the Bispo n, the Demon n Grand Monarch Bloodlust was from.

    Whenever the Bispo n had explored new realms, they woulde to this realm to muster humans and make them go mine spirit minerals and nt spirit nts in those realms to serve their needs.

    The Bispo n would only provide the humans here with simple food. The outstanding ones would be given a few tips regarding human cultivation methods, along with some very low-grade spiritual materials.

    Of course, whenever the Bispo n held a grand sacrificial ceremony for their ancient gods, they would choose the weakest and most useless of their human ves as the sacrificial offerings.

    After listening for a while, Nie Tian learned that the Bispo n had pulled their overseers from this realm a long time ago, and had never returned since.

    Of course, he knew that the Demons had long since evacuated the withering Spirit World in batches.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust was the Bispo n¡¯s current n chief. Together with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, he had sworn allegiance to the Devils in the Void World. It was only natural that he had evacuated his n members from the Spirit World.

    As for the human ves here, they wouldn¡¯t care if they died.

    However, the fact that the Spirit World was running out of energies hadn¡¯t affected the humans here much.

    After all, the vast majority of the humans here weremoners, who didn¡¯t need to practice cultivation with the spiritual energies of heaven and earth or spiritual materials.

    They could survive with just the livestock they reared and the nts they grew.

    ¡°This is only a regr human realm, not the ce where humanity originated.¡±

    Though he was sympathetic towards these humans, Nie Tian didn¡¯t spend more time in this realm. Upon finding out that this wasn¡¯t the ce he was looking for, he left with a whoosh.

    He and the Spirit Scepter flew to one realm after another.

    Almost all of them were realms popted with human ves that had been abandoned by the Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, Birdmen, and ckscales.

    From the conversations between the humans in them, he gradually learned about the origin of humanity.

    It was a ce called the Realm of Middle Earth.

    ¡°The Realm of Middle Earth!¡±

 Chapter 1582: The Realm of Middle Continent

    In the Netherspirits¡¯ Realm of Dark Souls in the Void World.

    A long Nether River wound around the entire realm from the starry river, like a colossal snake with its mouth and tail connected.

    Souls of the dead that belonged to various species could be seen drifting in its murky water.

    Numerous soul symbols lit up and went dim intermittently like mysterious stars.

    Whenever the Netherspirits within the Realm of Dark Souls looked up, they could see the cyan rainbow-like river there, eternally gorgeous.

    Any Netherspirit could send their soul awareness or their true souls into the Nether River to derive enlightenment from it after their bloodlines reached a certain grade.

    Those who were lucky could obtain all sorts of exquisite soul magics from it, without having to enter their Blood Realm.

    However, this Nether River hadn¡¯t been here since the beginning of time.

    All Netherspirits knew that it had only manifested after Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s demise, surrounding the Realm of Dark Souls and allowing all qualified Netherspirits to derive the profound truths of souls from it.

    Before that, only during bloodline upgrades could lucky Netherspirits send their souls into their Blood Realm to seek for new soul magics.

    The Nether River, however, allowed any Netherspirit to enter it at any time to derive exquisite soul magics as long as they had reached a certain grade.

    It was like a Blood Realm that was open all the time.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    On this day, wisps of soul awareness and soul shadows suddenly flew out of the Nether River one after another.

    Like gray raindrops, they fell out of the heavens to different areas of the realm.

    Before long, Netherspirits rose into the sky from those areas.

    Some were wearing ancient,plicated robes. Some were d in suits of battle armor, while others were wielding exquisite soul tools. Either way, they all looked very grim.

    ¡°The Nether River expelled my soul awareness!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe my soul awareness was expulsed by the Nether River! I¡¯ve derived soul magics from the Nether River since I was a kid. How many years has it been? Why would it suddenly exclude me today?¡±

    ¡°The same thing happened to me! I was tossed out of the Nether River while I was trying to derive a new soul magic!¡±

    Arge number of Netherspirits looked up at the Nether River and experienced a feeling of unfamiliarity and unease.

    They sensed that something was off. Otherwise, such unusual changes wouldn¡¯t have happened to this Nether River that had surrounded the Realm of Dark Souls for so long.

    One of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?ngers suddenly manifested out of thin air in the dark sky.

    ¡°Thousand Spirits!¡± Some old Netherspirits eximed in an unpleasant manner, even though their bloodline grades weren¡¯t as high as his. ¡°What the hell did you do? Why is the Nether River rejecting us now?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, did you anger the Nether River with your battles in the Doomed Star Sea, the Spirit World, and the Mortal World?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better give us an exnation, Thousand Spirits!¡±

    The bunch of old Netherspirits, who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, stared at and interrogated Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits. All of them had high seniority, and had made significant contributions to his rise to the position of high chieftain back in the day.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits let out a sigh. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, I¡¯m afraid that I have bad news. As you know, the Nether River doesn¡¯t just exist in our world. There are branches in the Spirit World, the Mortal World, and the Silent Star Sea.

    ¡°All of them are interconnected, and interact in mysterious ways.

    ¡°However, now that many eras have passed, the Nether River branches in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Silent Star Sea have been gradually tainted by beings of other races.

    ¡°Just days ago, the Nether Realm branch in the Spirit World was tainted by some kind of power and vanished.

    ¡°Now, the problems that the Nether River branches in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Silent Star Sea have experienced seem to be taking a toll on this main stream of the Nether River as well. But don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re trying to find solutions. We believe that once we conquer the Mortal World and the Spirit World, everything will be back to normal.¡±

    While this doppelg?nger of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ gave an eloquent speech to put the old Netherspirits¡¯ hearts at ease, another doppelg?nger of his said to the grand monarchs from the Spirit World and the Void World at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, ¡°Barbara, who we sent to the Nether Realm, has died. And Nie Tian has already killed seven grand patriarchs in the Spirit World. His true form appears to be seeking his breakthrough to the God domain in the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.¡±

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What? Nie Tian has already disyed unbelievably high battle prowess at the Saint domain. If we let him break through to the God domain...¡±

    All of the outsider experts who had witnessed Nie Tian¡¯s battle prowess felt nervous and anxious after hearing this.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and kill him in the Spirit World!¡±

    ¡°We need to stop him from entering the God domain!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian will be a great threat to us if we don¡¯t get rid of him now!¡±

    The outsider experts from the Void World and the Spirit World quickly reached a mutual understanding.

    They even decided to put their invasion of the Mortal World on hold, and canceled their n to march into the Domain of Forbidden Heaven because of Nie Tian.

    Gradually, they had realized that Nie Tian had be a more formidable enemy than You Qimiao and all the other human experts.

    A Bonedrude grand monarch calmed himself and suggested, ¡°It¡¯s said that the Tree of Life is in the Floragrims¡¯ main realm. We all know what level of existence it is. I think it¡¯s unwise to make a move against Nie Tian in the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.¡±

    ¡°You got it wrong,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said. ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s true soul has left the Floragrims¡¯ main realm. It¡¯s traveling among different domains of the Spirit World now.¡±

    The Bonedrude grand monarch¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it¡¯ll be a much easier job. So, where is his true soul now? Do you know that?¡±

    ¡°It appears he¡¯s in the ce where humanity originated, a realm called the Realm of Middle Continent,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits answered.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends gasped upon hearing this,plicated looks appearing in their eyes.

    ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he went to the Realm of Middle Continent.¡±

    ...

    Dim, yellow earth and jagged mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. However, not a single de of grass was in sight.

    Deserts and wastnds took up most of the realm, along with clusters of extinct volcanoes. All of the rivers andkes were dry. Everything seemed lifeless.

    This was what Nie Tian saw upon arriving at the Realm of Middle Continent, standing on the Spirit Scepter.

    What he saw here reminded him a great deal of the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    With the help of the Spirit Scepter, his profound soul power spread out, covering heaven and earth.

    As vast as the Realm of Middle Continent was, not only did he not sense the existence of any vegetation, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any insects in it either.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Spatial fluctuations suddenly emerged in a remote corner of the realm.

    It was as if someone was conducting short-range space travels, which made their aura and soul awareness hard to capture.

    SHEW!

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul flew over on the Spirit Scepter in the blink of an eye.

    FIZZ!

    A spatial rift suddenly split open above a vast wastnd.

    Immediately after a scrawny figure shed out of it, he summoned spatial power, as if to move on to another location.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul let out a weird, sharp cry. ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡±

    Zhao Shanling, who had been shuttling among different areas of the Realm of Middle Continent, fell out of the air andnded on the deste ground. Bewildered, he nced around, ¡°Strange. I thought I heard that kid Nie Tian calling me. I must have been traveling alone for too long, and I¡¯ve started to experience illusions.¡±

    ¡°No illusions.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and the Spirit Scepter manifested out of thin air.

    Zhao Shanling stood aghast, as if he were looking at a ghost. ¡°Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

 Chapter 1583: Full of Questions

    Fixing Zhao Shanling with a baffled look, Nie Tian said, ¡°I was going to ask you the same thing.¡±

    Immediately after that, he added, looking even more baffled and surprised, ¡°What? Howe you¡¯ve made such rapid advances in your cultivation? Last time I saw you, you were still at the early Saint domain. Now, you¡¯re well into the middle Saint domain, and only a step away from entering thete Saint domain!¡±

    Unlike him and Pei Qiqi, Zhao Shanling wasn¡¯t a hybrid.

    And unlike Dong Li, he hadn¡¯t encountered heavenly fortunes like the dark stone and the Dark Aureole.

    No matter how hard Nie Tian tried, he couldn¡¯t figure out how Zhao Shanling had been able to make a series of breakthroughs in cultivation within such a short time, given the cultivation resources he had ess to.

    Even the Son of the Stars and Divine Sons and Daughters of the four great sects couldn¡¯t make such rapid advances in their cultivation.

    Furthermore, what was this ce?

    This was the Spirit World, for heaven¡¯s sake.

    It was true that there were arge number of portals and spatial tunnels that connected the Spirit World and the Mortal World. However, most of those portals and spatial tunnels had been built by Ancientspirit and outsider grand monarchs. They were the fruits of their millennia of painstakingbor.

    Only Ancientspirits and outsiders with strong fleshly bodies could survive the unusual spatial pressure and ess them safely.

    The only spatial tunnels humans could ess were the threerge-scale spatial tunnels in the Realm of me Heaven, the Realm of Mystic Heaven, and the Realm of a Thousand Devastations that connected the Domain of the Falling Stars to the Demon realms.

    That was why Nie Tian was so surprised to see Zhao Shanling here.

    ¡°Do you remember the spatial patterns you, Pei Qiqi, and I found in the ruins of the Bone Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, fixing the Spirit Scepter with a strange look. ¡°I told you that those spatial patterns seemed to constitute a spell formation that connected to another heaven and earth.¡±

    Nie Tian shuddered and eximed, ¡°So this is the ce where that spell formation connects to?¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°Exactly!¡±

    Shocked to his very core, Nie Tian said, ¡°Tell me everything!¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t have much to do after I broke through to the Saint domain, so I spent most of my time deriving enlightenment from those spatial patterns in the ruins of the Bone Sect in the Realm of Unbounded Destion,¡± Zhao Shanling exined. ¡°Every time I discovered some wonders in them, my understanding of spatial power grew deeper. That was the reason why I was able to make remarkable progress in my cultivation.

    ¡°After I entered the middle Saint domain by deriving enlightenment from those spatial wonders, I finally couldn¡¯t resist the temptation, and decided toe and explore this ce.

    ¡°Upon arriving, I found that this deste realm was surprisingly simr to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Now, I¡¯ve explored it for a few days, but haven¡¯t found anything noteworthy yet.

    ¡°And I haven¡¯t figured out where this ce is either.

    ¡°What about you? Why are you here? What happened to your true form? Don¡¯t tell me that someone destroyed it, and you escaped with your true soul. I didn¡¯t think I heard that the outsiders from the Spirit World and the Void World had startedrge-scale battles in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven, or am I wrong?¡±

    Zhao Shanling was full of questions as well.

    ¡°You still don¡¯t know where you are now?¡± Nie Tian found this surprising. ¡°You¡¯ve left the Mortal World and entered a whole other part of the starry river, the Spirit World. This realm we¡¯re in is called the Realm of Middle Continent. It¡¯s the very ce where humanity originated, the ancestralnd of all human beings!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul voice shook heaven and earth like a storm.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes spewed light like white torches. ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent?! The ce where humanity originated?!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda suddenly flew out and expanded at an rming rate.

    Momentster, it became thousands of meters high.

    Covered inplicated spatial patterns, the magnificent mountain-like pagoda seemed to hold countless glowing spatial des.

    While it floated quietly over Zhao Shanling, wreathed in dazzling divine light, he would cast an exquisite spell from time to time, causing it to rotate.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Tens of thousands of spatial des suddenly swam out of the pagoda. Like silver fish, they either flew off towards distant areas of the realm, down towards the depths of the earth, or up towards the starry river outside the realm.

    Each and every one of them carried a wisp of Zhao Shanling¡¯s soul awareness.

    Zhao Shanling, however, stood in ce with a thoughtful expression. Every once in a while, spatial des would emerge and interweave in his eyes, as if he were trying to sense something.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul simply stood on the Spirit Scepter and watched him cast spells.

    Apparently, Zhao Shanling, who was at the middle Saint domain and practiced spatial incantations, was searching for something within the Realm of Middle Continent and the starry river near it in his unique way.

    ¡°I suppose the Domain of the Falling Stars witnessed a brilliant spatial power expert back in the day,¡± Zhao Shanling said in a low voice. ¡°He probably didn¡¯t have anything to do with the Void Spirit Society, nor was he a hybrid like Pei Qiqi. And he was the one who created those spatial patterns and that spell formation in the Bone Sect.

    ¡°Either he built that spell formation that led him to the Realm of Middle Continent in the Spirit World, or he built a spell formation in the Realm of Middle Continent that led him to the Realm of Unbounded Destion in our domain.¡±

    Nie Tian went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s it.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded slightly. ¡°You may be right. I¡¯ve also heard something about our fellow humans in the Spirit World. If they actually had someone so well-versed in spatial power that he could establish a secret teleportation portal to connect the Realm of Middle Continent and the Realm of Unbounded Destion, then he would probably have led the humans in the Realm of Middle Continent to freedom long ago.¡±

    ¡°So what are you looking for?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Evidence,¡± Zhao Shanling answered. ¡°I want to see if there are teleportation portals that connect to the Realm of Unbounded Destion other than the one through which I came here.¡±

    Nie Tian was curious. ¡°What exactly are you trying to prove?¡±

    A strange expression appeared on Zhao Shanling¡¯s face as he said, ¡°For some reason, I have a feeling that you, your father, Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and all of us from the Domain of the Falling Stars may find our roots here, in the Realm of Middle Continent.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Of course, the humans in the other human domains might have migrated from the Spirit World originally as well,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°But their ancestors probably came from other areas of the Spirit World. I have a feeling that the ancestors of the humans in the Domain of the Falling Stars came from the Realm of Middle Continent. I even think...¡±

    He pondered and hesitated. ¡°That they didn¡¯t migrate to the Domain of the Falling Stars untilter.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment again. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean they didn¡¯t migrate to the Domain of the Falling Stars until the humans rose to prominence, expelled the outsiders and Ancientspirits, and became the masters of the Mortal World,¡± Zhao Shanling answered. ¡°As you know, the Domain of the Falling Stars and the Domain of Forbidden Heaven were controlled by the outsiders at first. There weren¡¯t any humans there until muchter.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not what the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce said,¡± Nie Tian said, looking confused. ¡°ording to them, Ji Cang, the current Lord of the Stars, took the Domain of Forbidden Heaven from the outsiders long ago. Even though they didn¡¯t say much about the Domain of the Falling Stars, the existence of that pce in the Realm of Split Void suggests that people from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce did go there.¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see if we can find some answers here,¡± Zhao Shanling said.

 Chapter 1584: The Start of Prosperity

    In the Nether Realm.

    Seeing that they didn¡¯t seem to be persuading the Phantasms, the evil gods stopped trying.

    With their fleshly bodies reforged and their soul fragments regathered, all theycked now was their power aste tenth grade grand monarchs.

    All of their memories had returned to them.

    While Nie Tian explored the origin of humanity, the five evil gods didn¡¯t just stay in the Nether Realm either. Ignoring the old Phantasms¡¯ questions, they charged into the starry river.

    There were some realms in the Nether Realm¡¯s surroundings that also belonged to the Phantasms.

    The evil gods flew to those realms and destroyed the teleportation portals on them that might connect to the Mortal World.

    The Phantasms on the Nether Realm, however, only knew that the evil gods seemed to be traveling among those realms, but didn¡¯t know what they were up to.

    Until...

    A Phantasm gazed into the starry river and called out, ¡°Look!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, all of the Phantasms in the Nether Realm looked up and saw that the five realms closest to the Nether Realm were somehow approaching the Nether Realm, as if they were attracted by some sort of power.

    After they were close enough to the Nether Realm, streaks of cyan auras flew out of them and stretched towards the Nether Realm like gorgeous ribbons of energy.

    Mysterious soul symbols, various soul-nourishing gems, and exquisite spell formations could be seen glittering within the cyan ribbons of auras.

    The evil god of bloodlust¡¯s mountainous body suddenly emerged and said in a cold, emotionless voice, ¡°The master made these deployments for you. He madeprehensive preparations since he explored the Nether Realm and decided to make it home to the new species he was going to create. Those five realms weren¡¯t anywhere near the Nether Realm originally. The master moved them here with his divine abilities.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The cyan ribbons connected to the Nether Realm simultaneously.

    All the Phantasms were shocked to discover that the dissipating Nether Qi in the Nether Realm suddenly began growing richer and richer.

    An old Phantasm was bbergasted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe those realms were moved here! Is there some kind of connection between them, the Nether Realm, and you?¡±

    Those who were strong could vaguely sense auras from the five realms that corresponded to the five evil gods.

    That proved that there was indeed a special connection between the realms and the evil gods.

    ¡°We¡¯re all connected by a grand spell formation,¡± the evil god of bloodlust said. ¡°Activate!¡±

    In the next moment, majestic mountains started shifting and rivers started changing their courses in the Nether Realm and the five realms.

    Misty cyan energies started running through thends like currents of light.

    Every Phantasm¡¯s face turned pale as they felt the realm shake violently.

    BOOM!

    Mountains toppled in the five realms, revealing extremely pure Nether Crystals that had been hidden underneath them.

    The power that was being transfused to the Nether Realm came from these sealed-up crystalline veins. They were only there because Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had carved wondrous spell formations inside those realms that had channeled power from the starry river and turned it into Nether Qi, which had then gradually condensed into crystals over the years.

    Many Phantasms were deeply shocked and couldn¡¯t believe their own eyes. ¡°God! I can¡¯t believe suchrge numbers of Nether Crystals have been hidden underground in those realms!¡±

    ¡°The master left them for you. He knew that his own kind in the Void World would reach their ws towards this ce.¡± The evil god of bloodlust said with a fierce, icy look in its eyes. ¡°All of you, with prismatic crystals on your foreheads, are his descendants. Each and every one of you carry his soul imprints and bloodline imprints in you!

    ¡°No one in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, or the Void World, can ride roughshod over you, not even the Netherspirits!¡±

    BOOM!

    Immense, sea-like Nether Qi suddenly poured out of the five realms in an overwhelming manner, enveloping them and the Nether Realm in what seemed like a small domain, one that was isted from the Spirit World!

    ...

    In the Realm of Middle Continent.

    With the help of the Voidspirit Pagoda, Zhao Shanling searched the realm from within and without for unique wonders.

    Nie Tian was deeply shocked and plunged into contemtion by his words.

    All of a sudden, the Spirit Scepter burst forth with dazzling light.

    As soon as a thought entered his mind, he learned what had happened to the Nether Realm through the Spirit Scepter. He learned that the five evil gods, whose strength had recently been boosted, had actually pulled the five realms in the Nether Realm¡¯s surroundings towards it.

    ¡°A small, unique, isted domain filled with rich Nether Qi,¡± Nie Tian marveled.

    Even though his true soul was in the Realm of Middle Continent, which was separated from the Nether Realm by boundless space, he now had a peculiar feeling that he could rule that small domain and control the grand spell formation in it that had been left by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    ¡°The scepter is the key!¡±

    The unusual changes in the Nether Realm were causing changes to the Spirit Scepter as well. Right now, Nie Tian had a feeling that his perception with his true soul was improving with each passing second.

    Suddenly, he sensed the arrival of outsider grand monarchs in areas controlled by the Demons, the Fiends, and the Bonedrudes. ¡°The grand monarchs have returned!¡±

    Thanks to the evil gods¡¯ previous actions, not a single grand monarch returned from the Mortal World to the Phantasm realms.

    ¡°A total of six grand monarchs.¡±

    Upon sensing the return of the six grand monarchs, Nie Tian shrewdly discovered that they were all moving towards the same destination: the Realm of Middle Continent.

    ¡°As expected, they¡¯reing for me. They¡¯re smart enough to avoid the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, where my true form is, ande directly to the Realm of Middle Continent to kill my true soul.¡±

    Nie Tian saw right through their n.

    Zhao Shanling somehow sensed the anomalies as well, with the help of his Voidspirit Pagoda. ¡°I¡¯m sensing unusual spatial fluctuations. Powerful outsider experts might have returned to this part of the Spirit World. Nie Tian, you...¡±

    ¡°Six grand monarchs, and they¡¯reing for me,¡± Nie Tian said before he could finish.

    ¡°Six grand monarchs have returned to kill your true soul?¡± Zhao Shanling asked in disbelief.

    ¡°Exactly!¡± Nie Tian answered.

    A thoughtful expression appeared on Zhao Shanling¡¯s face, and momentster, it was reced by a dark grin. ¡°Nie Tian, all outsiders and Ancientspirits in the Spirit World havee to a mutual understanding, which is that it¡¯s not hard for them to slip into the Mortal World. However, if humans want to slip into the Spirit World, they¡¯ll have to be hybrids like you. Otherwise, it won¡¯t be possible.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Do you think those grand monarchs will expect me to be here?¡±

    ¡°Of course they won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Zhao Shanling¡¯s grin grew even darker and nastier. ¡°If I can be here without them expecting it, so can Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Zu Guangyao, Dou Tianchen, Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, and every God domain human expert. What do you think those six outsider grand monarchs will think if theye to the Realm of Middle Continent only to find that all of the most powerful human and Ancientspirit experts are waiting for them?¡±

    Nie Tian was enlightened upon hearing these words. ¡°Nice thinking!¡±

    ¡°I suppose it¡¯d be a heavy blow to the Void World too if those six grand monarchs all die here!¡± With these words, Zhao Shanling let out a snort. ¡°This is the Realm of Middle Continent, the ce where humanity originated. Our people¡¯s second rise will start with the annihtion of those six grand monarchs!¡±

    ¡°Great!¡±

 Chapter 1585: The New Findings

    In the main realm of the Floragrims.

    Looking down from the sky, the greenery of the Floragrims¡¯s ancestralnd where Nie Tian¡¯s true form was had faded away.

    Even the leaves of the towering trees had withered and be yellow, giving people a decayed feeling that the vitality in everything was disappearing.

    Only the ce where the third generation of Tree of Life was was still green and full of life.

    SWISH!

    In thend that his wood domain had transformed into, Nie Tian¡¯s body instantly assumed its giant form.

    His nine-thousand-meter body stood in the middle of thend like a towering mountain peak.

    Streaks of green energy light seemed to be wandering on the surface of the mountain, removing all the impurities from his body.

    His half-naked body emitted a fresh smell, simr to vegetation, in keeping with the smell of thend under his feet and this area of the realm he was in.

    His wood domain that consisted of spiritual Qi, wood energy, a Godspirit Tree, and seventy-two ancient trees continued to extend.

    Mysterious patterns constantly appeared in the sky and on thend.

    ¡°Wood power...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s wood sub-soul murmured, feeling the transformation of his Saint domain.

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims shouted from the outside.

    At the moment, because Nie Tian was in the critical moment of breaking through to the God domain, even the third generation of Tree of Life didn¡¯t have time to pay much attention to trifles. It was focused on merging the true meaning of life that it had understood into Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain to help him advance to the God domain.

    The third generation of Tree of Life was unmoved by Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s shout.

    WHOOSH!

    A sub-soul flew quickly out of the wood domain.

    The bone from the Rage Behemoth left with it.

    ¡°What is it?¡± The sub-soul corresponding to the Rage Behemoth asked Grand Monarch Primal Wood.

    ¡°I¡¯ve just got word that outsider grand monarchs from the Void Word and Spirit World have reached the Mortal Word at the same time,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said with a grave expression. ¡°There are six grand monarchs. They seem to be aiming for your true soul.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s what you want to tell me,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Tell the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs about it, but you must keep others from knowing, and ask them to wait in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. I may need their help.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood was surprised. ¡°You know this already?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you just need to ask them to wait for me. And you¡¯ll return to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven too after you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°Okay, got it.¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Although Nie Tian¡¯s sub-soul was in the birthce of the human race in the Spirit World, his true form was in the main realm of the Floragrims, and his star and me sub-souls were outside the realm, all of these and the five evil gods in the Nether Realm could maintainmunication through their souls without a hitch.

    The way his true soul was able to connect all his sub-souls was iparably marvelous .

    ¡°I can achieve whatever Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits could achieve,¡± Nie Tian said.

    The more enlightenment he derived from the Spirit Scepter, the deeper he understood Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s various soul magics. He believed that even Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits couldn¡¯t do what he could; each of his sub-souls had different wonders and attributes, strengths and corresponding objects.

    WHOOSH!

    The Voidspirit Pagoda shrank abruptly, and Zhao Shanling suddenly stood up with bright eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°Come with me!¡± Zhao Shanling shouted as he grabbed the Voidspirit Pagoda and whizzed away.

    He didn¡¯t disy any spatial power or tear open space. Perhaps it was because he was afraid that Nie Tian¡¯s true soul didn¡¯t have a fleshly body, and thus might not be able to withstand the distorting power when it shuttled betweenyers of space.

    Wielding the Spirit Scepter, Nie Tian didn¡¯t talk much, but simply followed Zhao Shanling.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Zhao Shanling took him to the mountains in the eastern region of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    There was a deep ckke surrounded by three bare mountain peaks of different heights.

    There was not a single ripple in the darkke. As they got closer, they felt a piercing chill.

    There were bright light des flickering in theke.

    Nie Tian¡¯s sub-soul floated above the surface of theke, and could see that the light des were the few spatial light des that Zhao Shanling had released before.

    He was a little puzzled.

    Even though his true form was nowhere near this ce, with the Spirit Scepter¡¯s help, his soul awareness could cover the entire Realm of Middle Continent, and even other nearby human realms. However, his true soul could only perceive and locate creatures with souls.

    He couldn¡¯t perceive soulless existences.

    His true soul alone couldn¡¯t acutely perceive energies like frigid power, me power, and lightning power.

    FISS!

    Zhao Shanling slowlynded a few dozen meters from the coldke. He gasped and said to Nie Tian, ¡°The frigid power in thiske is changing little by little. I¡¯ve been in the Realm of Middle Continent for a while, and I¡¯ve long since explored thiske. But when I explored it, it seemed like a normalke.

    ¡°However, it¡¯s now growing colder and colder.¡±

    BAM!

    As he spoke, the spatial light des that had sunk into theke suddenly exploded.

    ¡°They shattered from the frigid power!¡± Zhao Shanling was shocked, and started to feel pain in his head. ¡°Thiske is weird. Even my soul awareness that I ced in it has been frozen and shattered into pieces!¡±

    After a moment of pondering, he suddenly dove into theke.

    He summoned the Voidspirit Pagoda, andyers of space wrapped his body.

    However, only seconds after he sank into theke with the Voidspirit Pagoda, they flew back out with a swish.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Chunks of ice fell off him and the Voidspirit Pagoda. He kept shivering and eximing as he said, ¡°Damn it was cold! Thiske is weird. In just a few days, it¡¯s gathered such terrifying frigid power! What¡¯s weirder is that I don¡¯t know where the frigid power in thekees from. I didn¡¯t find anything when I first explored it.¡±

    SWISH!

    The Spirit Scepter burst forth with misty cyan light that flew down into the frigidke.

    Each ray of cyan light contained Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness and the Spirit Scepter¡¯s power.

    Surprisingly, as soon as the rays of cyan light fell into theke, they were affected by the cold power, and instantly morphed into cyan crystal balls that floated in theke, without being able to sink any lower.

    In fact, the crystal balls were a kind of frigid power imprisonment of the cyan light that Nie Tian¡¯s soul had condensed into.

    Soon, Nie Tian and Zhao Shanling saw more wisps of cold power converging on the cyan crystal balls until they couldn¡¯t take it, and exploded with loud bangs.

    Afterwards, wisps of crystal light sank into theke as Nie Tian¡¯s wisps of soul awareness took the chance to fly back to him.

    ¡°Go back to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and ask Yu Suying to get her junior martial sister Han Qing here,¡± Nie Tian ordered. ¡°And help me summon the God domain experts, and ask them to get ready.¡±

    Zhao Shanling nodded. ¡°That teleportation portal makes things easy.¡±

    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He pondered for a while before speaking. ¡°Go to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and tell You Qimiao about the wonders here and ask him if he¡¯s interested.¡±

    Zhao Shanling was taken back. ¡°You Qimiao?!¡±

    Nie Tian said, ¡°Yes. You Qimiao.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    Zhao Shanling opened a spatial rift and disappeared.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul remained above the coldke.

    He wanted to get You Qimiao here because he felt that the six outsider grand monarchs from the Void Word and Spirit World were by no means insignificant, and there were likelyte tenth grade grand monarchs among them.

    Only Grand Monarch Primal Wood, You Qimiao, and the many experts of the human race and Ancientspirits together could likely kill these visitors.

    In addition, both You Qimiao and Han Qing were proficient in cold power, with You Qimiao being one of the best, so Nie Tian wanted to figure out the wonders of the coldke by virtue of You Qimiao¡¯s ability.

    A few hourster, Zhao Shanling came back with You Qimiao!

 Chapter 1586: A Mysterious Lake

    ¡°Nie Tian,¡± You Qimiao greeted him.

    He had a haggard face, sunken cheekbones, and a dying appearance.

    However, his eyes shone brightly like stars.

    With Nie Tian¡¯s current cultivation base and aplishments, he could see through You Qimiao¡¯s problem even if his true form wasn¡¯t here. ¡°Flesh aura...¡±

    You Qimiao had been badly injured after losing his battle against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons.

    His injuries were mainly to his body and god domain.

    A human body was frail. Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh power must have prated You Qimiao¡¯s body, gnawing at him day and night, so he had to use his extreme cold power and extreme hot power to fight against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s residual power from time to time.

    Many years before, Fang Tianyi of the Fang n had been severely wounded during his battle against Grand Patriarch Blood Warden, Cardy of the Demons, and his Saint domain had been tainted with Cardy¡¯s flesh aura, which had made him suffer a lot.

    With Nie Tian¡¯s help, the flesh aura had eventually been dealt with.

    The so-called origin demon power within Cardy¡¯s terrifying flesh aura, which had been so dreadful, had been from Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, the master of the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    Cardy had also been Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s descendant.

    ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s the exact same issue: the terrifying flesh aura of the Blood Purgatory Sea is corroding your god domain,¡± Nie Tian said after carefully examining You Qimiao for a while. ¡°Sorry. You asked one of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect elders to tell me how strong Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was, and asked me to think of ways to deal with your injuries. But I had too much on my te, so...¡±

    After the battle against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, You Qimiao had retreated to the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect¡¯s headquarters and silently healed his injuries.

    He had used a strand of his soul awareness to record the details of his battle against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory before he had arranged for an elder to find Nie Tian and show him the record, so that Nie Tian could know how terrifyingly powerful Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory actually was.

    You Qimiao had done this because he had thought that after his defeat, Nie Tian would most likely be the only human who would have a chance at stopping Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    In addition, he had also told Nie Tian that the flesh aura that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had left in him had been damaging his body and god domain. If he had to deal with it himself, it would cost him far too much time and energy, so he had wondered if Nie Tian could help him.

    Nie Tian had had a lot of work to do at that time, so he had told the elder that he would helpter.

    However, he had been preupied since then.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± You Qimiao said with an expressionless face. ¡°The power Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has left can¡¯t hurt my foundation. It¡¯s just quite troublesome. However, I do have a keen interest in the mysterious coldke in the human birthce that you¡¯ve talked about.¡±

    At this moment, Yu Suying arrived with her junior martial sister Han Qing. ¡°Nie Tian,¡± she said.

    Han Qing, who was young, fair and pretty, had a distant temperament. She was currently at the early God domain.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul examined her carefully, and unexpectedly saw a strange scene in her spiritual sea in her dantian region. ¡°Mm!¡±

    He saw a familiarke in her spiritual sea.

    Theke was as smooth as a mirror and covered with cold white fog. Many mysterious ice patterns that contained iparably profound principles and truths of ice could be seen on the frozen surface of theke.

    Nie Tian suddenly came to a realization, and stared at Han Qing in surprise. ¡°Is that the Frigid Depths in the Domain of Frigid Depths, that transformed from the broken domain of Ice Emperor Xuan Yu? Have you merged what¡¯s left of the Ice Emperor Xuan Yu¡¯s profound meanings of ice into your spiritual sea, and made it a part of you?¡±

    Han Qing, who usually wore a straight face and kept to herself, nodded slightly.

    Yu Suying chuckled and said, ¡°That¡¯s all thanks to you. I knew that because of you, Grand Monarch Ice Bones, who had hogged the Frigid Depths, was suppressed by your master Wu Ji and carried away to an unknownnd by his River of Time, so that we could enter the Domain of Frigid Depths, where the Extreme Coldness Pce was located, and thus find the Frigid Depths. To my surprise, my junior martial sister only sat quietly in the Frigid Depths for several days, and the whole Frigid Depths fused into her dantian and became a part of her.¡±

    Nie Tian marveled at it, saying it was unbelievable.

    The Frigid Depths had been transformed from Ice Emperor Xuan Yu¡¯s broken god domain. Back in the day, Grand Monarch Ice Bones had regained his strength through the Frigid Depths and studied the extreme cold power that the Ice Emperor had left behind.

    However, even Grand Monarch Ice Bones could only understand part of the profound meanings the Frigid Depths contained.

    Who could have expected that Han Qing would merge the whole Frigid Depths into her spiritual sea after only sitting in the Frigid Depths for a few days?

    ¡°Thiske...¡± You Qimiao muttered, taking the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror out. As streaks of sparkling cold light swirled out of his sleeves, he morphed into a streak of cold sharp light and flew into the piercing coldke.

    Unlike Zhao Shanling, You Qimiao, who was at thete God domain, sank straight into the depths of theke, holding the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror, and disappeared.

    Theke was very weird, since even with the Spirit Scepter¡¯s help, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul couldn¡¯t sense what was in its depths. He could only wait silently.

    However, they ended up waiting for a very long time.

    It took such a long time that Han Qing, who had also be a top expert at extreme cold power after merging the Ice Emperor Xuan Yu¡¯s broken god domain into her dantian, lost her patience. ¡°I¡¯ll go down too.¡±

    Before Yu Suying could stop her, Han Qing dove into theke just as You Qimiao had.

    With a strange look on his face, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Sectmaster Yu, your junior martial sister is acting a little rashly. After all, You Qimiao is at thete God domain, which allows him to move around in theke, but she has just reached the early God domain. I¡¯m worried that...¡±

    On their way here, he had told both Yu Suying and Han Qing about the terrors of theke.

    Yu Suying was also worried as she berated inwardly, ¡°The girl is too stubborn!¡±

    She turned to Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Nie Tian, will You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect do anything to my junior martial sister in theke?¡±

    As a person who also cultivated cold power, You Qimiao¡¯s attainments and cultivation base were clearly more profound and powerful.

    You Qimiao didn¡¯t have a good reputation in the human race. If he hadn¡¯te forward to fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in a time of crisis, he would have still been an enemy of the human race.

    Yu Suying didn¡¯t like him at all.

    Nie Tian sounded uncertain as he said, ¡°I don¡¯t think he will. Even though I can¡¯t see through him and don¡¯t know what he wants to do, I think he¡¯ll give me face instead of making trouble when we¡¯re in the Realm of Middle Continent. What I¡¯m afraid of is that even without You Qimiao... your junior martial sister may not be able to stand the cold in theke.¡±

    Yu Suying retorted. ¡°I have confidence in her in that respect.¡±

    ¡°Oh, if so, then good,¡± Nie Tian said.

    His true form was still breaking through to the God domain with the Tree of Life¡¯s help. Without it, he couldn¡¯t use the marvelous power of his me domain. Therefore, at this moment, he couldn¡¯t discover the secrets of theke by relying solely on his true soul.

    Meanwhile, the six grand monarchs of the Void World and Spirit World wereing towards the Realm of Middle Continent, so he had to reserve his strength.

    After pondering for a moment, he looked at Zhao Shanling. ¡°How did things go in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven? Have you informed all of our God domain experts?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Yu Suying answered before Zhao Shanling could. ¡°All the experts of the four ancient sects that have reached the God domain and haven¡¯t been in secluded cultivation have gone to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. My junior martial sister and I came here without a problem. That means they can all teleport directly to the Realm of Middle Continent from the Realm of Unbounded Destion. I¡¯m also dying to see how the outsider grand monarchs who want to wipe out your true soul will react after they suddenly see a group of God domain humans appear in the Realm of Middle Continent.¡±

    At the same time...

    A beam of dark demonlight shot skywards from the ruins of the Dong n that were surrounded by mountains in the Realm of a Hundred Battles in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    BAM!

    The demonlight exploded, pure ckness enshrouding the whole realm, like an eternal ck curtain.

    People of the several ns and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce that still lived in the Realm of a Hundred Battles suddenly found that the whole realm was plunged into darkness, and that they couldn¡¯t see or perceive anything. ¡°Dong Li must have merged that other dark stone into herpletely.¡±

 Chapter 1587: Weird Changes!

    You Qimiao and Han Qing, who had dived into theke sessively, didn¡¯t surface again...

    Theke was deep and dark. If the others got closer, they got so cold that even their teeth chattered.

    Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce, who was at the middle God domain, made an attempt herself, but as powerful as she was, she had to fly out of theke shortly after her entry.

    Ice fragments fell to the ground and shattered. Yu Suying shook her head, her expression heavy. ¡°Nie Tian, I can¡¯t sense the movements of You Qimiao or my junior martial sister. Thiske is so weird that it¡¯s extremely difficult for my soul awareness to move around underwater. And theke is bottomless. I don¡¯t know where they are.¡±

    ¡°Theke wasn¡¯t deep at first,¡± Zhao Shanling said. ¡°When I first came to the Realm of Middle Continent and scanned it with my soul awareness, it was nothing out of the ordinary. But as the frosty aura in it grew, it suddenly changed, and I can no longer see through it.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, what now?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    Nie Tian thought for a moment, then said, ¡°You Qimiao and your junior martial sister are both talented cultivators proficient in the profound meaning of cold ice. Maybe they¡¯re studying the wonders in theke and aren¡¯t in a hurry to leave before they can figure them out. Well, let¡¯s ignore them for the time being.¡±

    ¡°Then what should we do now?¡± Yu Suying asked curiously.

    ¡°Zhao, get ready. I have a feeling that those grand monarchs will be here soon.¡± Nie Tian said.

    Zhao Shanling chuckled. ¡°Rest assured. The only thing I¡¯m worried about is that the six grand monarchs will sense the anomaly in advance and make other preparations.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Nie Tian said with great confidence. ¡°My true soul has mastered the Spirit Scepter. Once the six grand monarchs with fleshly bodies and soulse near the Realm of Middle Continent, I¡¯ll locate them before they can sense your presence. Besides, they won¡¯t even know that I¡¯ve sensed their arrival. We don¡¯t have to get everyone here until then.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, are you sure that your true form will not fight in this battle?¡± Yu Suying asked.

    ¡°No, it won¡¯t¡± Nie Tian replied, ¡°As long as our enemies are souled creatures, I, who rule the Spirit Scepter, can subdue them. My fighting strength won¡¯t suffer without my true form. Besides...

    ¡°I should be able to summon the five evil gods when I need them.¡±

    With the connection between his true soul and the five evil gods, he felt that he could summon them to his aid at any time by relying on the grand spell formation Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Netherspirits had left, and the Spirit Scepter¡¯s power.

    Even the starry river of the Spirit World had been split open by the grand spell formation, allowing them to arrive in the Nether Realm in an instant.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul could feel that the five evil gods had been increasing their strength in the Nether Realm and the surrounding five realms.

    He believed that together, they could even fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons head-on.

    After absorbing the sealed flesh aura inside the stone statues, the five evil gods had been growing stronger by the day.

    Now, even You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, who had been badly injured, should be no match for them.

    Half a dayter.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s wandering spatial light des suddenly sensed something strange in another area of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    A nearby bluish-brown mountain only three-thousand-meters high had looked rather ordinary.

    When Zhao Shanling had arrived with Nie Tian and Yu Suying, they had noticed that there were small spatial light des flying inside the mountain, making cutting sounds.

    Bluish-brown rubble constantly rolled down the mountain.

    Suddenly, the mountain burst forth with golden light, which looked like countless golden lightning bolts.

    The ordinary mountain immediately becamepletely different.

    ¡°A golden mountain,¡± Zhao Shanling said, looking dazed and puzzled. ¡°Nie Tian, I can swear that I didn¡¯t perceive anything abnormal in the spatial light des that I released. These spatial light des that I¡¯ve left behind were flitting nearby when I suddenly sensed metal power bursting from this mountain, so I came here to check.

    ¡°Who would expect that the metal power inside the mountain would suddenly increase dramatically, and in a while, even this ordinary mountain would be a golden one containing weird energy?¡±

    Yu Suying was also surprised. ¡°Metal power, metal power... The power I¡¯ve been cultivating is actually a kind of metal power. I¡¯ll see if my Heaven-purging Divine Light can detect anything.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    In an instant, a cluster of silvery light flew toward the golden mountain.

    The Heaven-purging Divine Light was an immortal grade divine tool of the Profound Purity Pce. The rays of divine light it was made up of were like silver needles that were so sharp and powerful that they could prate outsiders¡¯ flesh aura seas and humans¡¯ domains.

    Many rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light stabbed into the weird golden mountain and burst forth with gold and silver light with a loud clear ¡®ding.¡¯

    However, not a single mark was left on the mountain.

    All the rays of Heaven-purging Divine Light bounced back and reappeared behind Yu Suying.

    A grim look appeared in Yu Suying¡¯s eyes as she said to Nie Tian, ¡°ording to my perception, the mountain seems to be changing continuously. It seems that it is made of divine gold and fine iron. It is rumored that the metal element sect of the Five Elements Sect has a simr mountain with special metal inside, which can be made into the most powerful divine weapons after being mined.

    ¡°I have luckily seen the mountain once before, but it didn¡¯t seem as special as this one.¡±

    A surprised look appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°First it was theke. Now, it¡¯s this golden mountain. Why are strange changes urring in the human birthce one after another at this stage? Isn¡¯t it said that the Spirit World is running out of energies, and is no longer fit for living? Isn¡¯t it experiencing the end of a cycle?¡±

    BOOM!

    At this moment, thunder rolled and lightning shed in another area of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul couldn¡¯t help but shudder upon hearing the first roll of thunder.

    It seemed that the raging thunder and lightning were even mighty enough to injure his true soul.

    Even those who were proficient in thunder principles like the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan and Scotte, the lightning dragon, couldn¡¯t scare Nie Tian¡¯s true soul now that it held the Spirit Scepter, much less ordinary thunder and lightning.

    However, now a single roll of thunder in the Realm of Middle Continent made his true soul uneasy.

    ¡°This is far too strange!¡± Zhao Shanling said, grabbing his hair in distress. ¡°I¡¯ve been in the Realm of Middle Continent for a while now and I¡¯ve explored every inch of it, but there wasn¡¯t anything weird before. If I hadn¡¯t met your true soul, I might have left for other realms in search of wonders.¡±

    With the thunder, rain poured down.

    The pattering rainstorm contained wood vitality. It seems to be nourishing the earth that had been dry for hundreds of millions of years!

    Thend of the Realm of Middle Continent absorbed the nutrients crazily, like a sponge!

    Yu Suying was dumbstruck. ¡°What¡¯s happening? A realm can change so much in such a short time? And the changes are so dense and weird!¡±

    Nie Tian was also puzzled. ¡°I don¡¯t understand either. Why are there so many weird changes in the Realm of Middle Continent, the birthce of the human race, while the Spirit World declines and the energies of heaven and earth vanish?¡±

 Chapter 1588: The Inheritor

    The changes in the Realm of Middle Continent continued.

    Apart from the coldke, golden mountain, thunder and lightning, and torrential rainstorm full of wood power, strange changes were popping up in other areas of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Because of the violent thunder, Nie Tian¡¯s main soul that held the Spirit Scepter dared not act recklessly.

    He left the follow-up exploration to Zhao Shanling and Yu Suying.

    Nie Tian¡¯s main soul deliberately stayed away from the ce where the thunder kept roaring, and pondered. ¡°This is so very strange.¡±

    The sudden changes in the Realm of Middle Continent were simply too unusual.

    Moreover, this was a time when the energies of heaven and earth in the whole Spirit World, including the realms of the Ancientspirits and all the outsider races, were fading away.

    Nie Tian thought hard. ¡°What¡¯s going on in the Spirit World? Are the weird changes in the Realm of Middle Continent caused by natural or man-made reasons? If it¡¯s man-made, then why can¡¯t we find any clues? Besides, the humans in the Realm of Middle Continent can¡¯t be strong enough to cause these changes!¡±

    On the next day.

    Through the Spirit Scepter¡¯s transcendent perceptivity, Nie Tian¡¯s main soul finally sensed the fluctuation of the first outsider grand monarch¡¯s soul. ¡°A middle Netherspirit grand monarch of the Void World.¡±

    With a sneer in his heart, he secretlymunicated with Zhao Shanling, asking him and Yu Suying to suspend their search of the Realm of Middle Continent and go to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    Since the coldke that You Qimiao and Han Qing had sunk into could even ward off his soul awareness, the middle Netherspirit grand monarch could never sense it.

    In the sky, Zhao Shanling¡¯s voice came from a spatial light de that had remained by Nie Tian¡¯s side. ¡°Got it.¡±

    Zhao Shanling shifted between locations in the Realm of Middle Continent by relying on his spatial power.

    He quickly located Yu Suying. After meeting with her, he activated his spatial power and left for the Realm of Unbounded Destion through the secret spatial teleportation portal in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    At the ruins of the Bone Sect.

    As soon as Zhao Shanling and Yu Suying arrived, they were taken aback.

    The first thing they saw was Dong Li in a ck dress. Her enchanting and coquettish qualities made her look like a goddess of darkness.

    The moment they looked into her eyes, both of them had a scary feeling that they were sinking into a dark abyss from which they could never escape.

    They only broke free of the feeling after Dong Li moved her lips and smiled.

    Yu Suying, who was at the middle God domain and had recently made extraordinary progress on the floating continent, pointed her fine fingers at Dong Li, and asked, ¡°You... What is your current cultivation base? All I can see and sense after I close my eyes is darkness, darkness that shrouds your spiritual and soul auras entirely.¡±

    ¡°I feel the same way,¡± Zhao Shanling chimed in with a wry smile.

    The other God domain experts of the four ancient sects like Zu Guangyao, Dou Tianchen, Ye Wenhan, and Ji Yuanquan also said with bitter smiles, ¡°So do we.¡±

    The moment Dong Li had entered the Realm of Unbounded Destion from the Realm of a Hundred Battles, all the experts who had gathered in front of the Bone Sect ruins waiting for Nie Tian¡¯s dispatch had felt as if the whole Realm of Unbounded Destion had been instantly plunged into darkness.

    In fact, it had been daytime in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, with the sun hanging high in the sky, emanating scorching heat.

    However, Dong Li¡¯s arrival had made their hearts and souls experience such strange feelings.

    Due to her arrival, the whole realm had seemed to be quietly assimted.

    The scariest part was that the God domain experts hadn¡¯t been able to detect Dong Li¡¯s cultivation base or strength, whether they had tried to see it with their eyes or sense it with their eyes closed.

    When they had examined Dong Li, it was as if they were looking into a dark, mysterious, unfathomable abyss.

    Over time, it seemed that even they themselves had been assimted by the darkness, and werepletely affected by Dong Li.

    Dong Li¡¯s mouth tightened into a thin line. ¡°Rx. I¡¯ve just refined the other dark stone andprehended the true meaning of darkness it contained. My cultivation base and my knowledge of dark power are still not profound enough. Perhaps a battle will help me digest what I¡¯ve learned.¡±

    Crouching on the ground, the ck tortoise took azy nce at those present.

    Zhao Shanling hurried to say, ¡°Nie Tian sensed that the first outsider grand monarch, who is also a Netherspirit, is going to reach the Realm of Middle Continent soon. He believes that other grand monarchs are also going to arrive shortly, so he wanted us toe here and get everyone ready.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s You Qimiao?¡± Ye Wenhan asked curiously.

    Several of the God domain experts present were well-aware that Zhao Shanling had secretly asked You Qimiao of the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect to go to the Realm of Middle Continent first.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Han Qing? Why hasn¡¯t shee back?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked.

    Zhao Shanling was a little hesitant. ¡°Well...¡±

    After a pause, he said, ¡°Strange changes are taking ce in the Realm of Middle Continent. It¡¯s as if it¡¯s reviving, but we can¡¯t figure out why.¡±

    Hearing his words, the three grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits and Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims were dumbstruck. ¡°What?!¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood fixed his eyes on Zhao Shanling. ¡°How is that possible? Are you mistaken? How can the Realm of Middle Continent, the birthce of the human race, experience such miraculous changes when the rest of the Spirit World is withering and running out of energy?¡±

    Chatvic of the titans couldn¡¯t believe it either. ¡°The realms of our Ancientspirits and many outsider races have perished one by one. Why is the birthce of the human race suddenly regaining its vitality?¡±

    Zhao Shanling spread his hands. ¡°Well, perhaps when Nie Tian summons youter on, you can go over and see if you can figure out why.¡±

    ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent!¡±

    ...

    In the dark starry river.

    A total of six grand monarchs arrived at almost the same time.

    The one taking the lead was Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons, who had recently fought against You Qimiao.

    In addition to him, there were also Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker of the Netherspirits, and Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes.

    Thest one was Ophelia, who was also a Demon.

    Ophelia had joined the ranks of the tenth-grade grand monarchs now, and she held the Doom de. Even though she was only an early tenth grade grand monarch, in others¡¯ opinions, she was every bit as dangerous as Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    She was also the one who spoke first in the starry river. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    She brandished her Doom de before the roar of its demon spirit shook heaven and earth and drowned the Realm of Middle Continent, like a storm that could destroy everything.

    In the Realm of Middle Continent, the voice of Nie Tian¡¯s main soul seemed to tear the sky apart as it echoed out. ¡°Ophelia!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Holding the Spirit Scepter, Nie Tian instantly charged out of the barrier of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    At the sight of the scepter, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker of the Void World said darkly, ¡°The Spirit Scepter! It¡¯s the most powerful soul weapon of my race, and a lost treasure that belongs to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit! Was it you who killed Barbara?¡±

    Nie Tian, who was in a pure soul form, smiled contemptuously. ¡°Oh, you mean the former spirit of the Spirit Scepter? That mere spirit named Barbara thought she could do as she pleased since she had a fleshly body. I guess she was so bent on killing me because she knew that I¡¯m the true sessor of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Breaker was taken aback. ¡°You? Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s sessor? A human?¡±

 Chapter 1589: The Day Will Come!

    Nie Tian in his soul form clutched the Spirit Scepter, cast a nce at Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, and said, ¡°Is there something wrong with that? How much do you know about Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit? Do you think only the Netherspirits of the Void World carry pure bloodlines and qualify to inherit his marvelous soul magics? Hasn¡¯t the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls been contaminated by you?¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Breaker was surprised. ¡°Contaminated? What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls was left by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. It contains his immortal will.¡± Nie Tian replied with a cold face. ¡°But now, it¡¯s being eroded and contaminated by power from another source year after year. It was because Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s remaining will sensed what was happening that it chose me to guide the Phantasms of the Spirit World.

    ¡°All the Phantasms in the Spirit World are his bloodline descendants!

    ¡°Barbara and you, the Netherspirits from the Void World, acted as if you were their superiors in the Nether Realm, and gave them orders. Without Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s Nether River, would your race have risen to the same heights as the Bonedrudes and Devils, and thrived for so long in the Void World?¡±

    The Bonedrudes, Devils, and Netherspirits weren¡¯t the only races in the Void World.

    There were many other strong races that also had solid foundations and long histories.

    The reason why the Bonedrudes, Devils, and Netherspirits were able to dominate the Void World was because they had respectively produced Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Bone Emperor, and the Dark King.

    The powers, bloodline inheritance, and soul magics that the three paragons had left had been influencing generations of the three races.

    No matter how hard the other Void World races tried, they couldn¡¯t catch up with the three outsider races, because they had never seen a paragon in their history!

    Simrly, tenth grade grand monarchs had never appeared among the ckscales, Birdmen, and Stonemen despite their long histories.

    Therefore, in terms of ranking among the races, the ckscales, Birdmen, and Stonemen were always considered to be second-tier.

    Since Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Bone Emperor, and the Dark King had been paragons, the three outsider races would always be first-tier in the Void World, and be able to mobilize andmand the other races.

    The other races would be unlikely able to join the first tier unless they produced experts at that level one day.

    ¡°As the spirit of the Spirit Scepter, Barbara fought alongside Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit for many years. I don¡¯t think it was wrong for her to teach Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s descendants a few lessons,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Breaker said with a snort. ¡°At the very least, their differences with the Phantasms was our internal affair. You¡¯re just a human. You have no right to interfere with our internal affairs, nor to judge us!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Terrifying evil souls emerged one by one behind Grand Monarch Soul Breaker.

    At first nce, they seemed to be the soul forms of humans and Ancientspirits.

    However, upon a closer look, one would see that those evil souls seemed to be mixed with the features of other races¡¯ souls. They seemed to be messybinations of human and outsider souls.

    Nie Tian sneered. ¡°The strongest evil souls that have undergone a metamorphosis after killing the weaker and surviving thew of the jungle. I have a good knowledge of the Netherspirits¡¯ soul-raising magics. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be disappointed if you try to attack me with those evil souls.¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s eyes burst forth with dark light. ¡°Really? I don¡¯t believe it. As a human, even if you are a hybrid, your bloodline isn¡¯t from our race. What gives you the right to wield the Spirit Scepter? Today I¡¯ll take back that priceless treasure of our race. Let¡¯s see who can stop me.¡±

    ¡°Millstone of Souls!¡± he shouted before the evil souls suddenly gathered and condensed into a colossal ck millstone.

    The millstone turned slowly. With every rotation, the piercing sad wails of countless living beings¡¯ souls came from it, shaking the souls of those who heard it to the verge of dissipation.

    Nie Tian¡¯s main soul, which was holding the Spirit Scepter, was also affected.

    As soon as the millstone started rotating, it suffered wrenching pain.

    His main soul was clearly far away from the millstone, but he had a strange feeling that he was being pulled into the millstone and slowly crushed.

    The scariest part was that the feeling wasn¡¯t illusory.

    He clearly sensed that strands of his soul power were vanishing with the wrenching pain.

    In a sh, he recalled the Grand Soul Grinder of the Spirit God Sect in the Domain of the Falling Stars. It seemed that the Grand Soul Grinder had been derived from the Millstone of Souls that Grand Monarch Soul Breaker was now disying.

    Their names were different, but their effects were much the same.

    ¡°Soul magics?¡± Nie Tian muttered.

    Seeing that Ophelia and the other grand monarchs only eyed him with hostility and weren¡¯t in a hurry to make a move, he said, ¡°It seems that I should show you what I¡¯ve inherited.¡±

    He lifted his Spirit Scepter.

    SPLASH!

    A murky Nether River manifested out of thin air. Hundreds of millions of spots of cyan light sank in the Nether River like pebbles, recording endless histories and the true meaning of souls that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit hadprehended.

    ¡°Great Soul-conjuring Spell!¡±

    As soon as he yelled, arge amount of cyan light burst forth from the Nether River and enveloped the Millstone of Souls.

    As the curtain of cyan light shone on the colossal millstone that was slowly turning, the evil souls that had been influenced by the Great Soul-conjuring Spell suddenly split apart.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The evil souls reformed quickly afterwards, but they were now emitting smoke.

    The smoke was Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s soul seals!

    He had gone to great lengths to merge unique seals into the evil souls, but the moment Nie Tian activated his Great Soul-conjuring Spell, they melted and vaporized, and no longer belonged to him.

    All the evil souls cheered with excitement, rushing towards the Spirit Scepter like crazy, as if the scepter were their home, their paradise of bliss, and their most desired abode.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Summoned by the Spirit Scepter, they all merged into it.

    Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, who was a middle grand monarch, froze, as if he were unable to ept what he had seen. ¡°Impossible. It took me three thousand years to collect those fragmentary souls of God domain humans and Ancientspirit grand monarchs. I used thirty-two kinds of soul magics and countless spirits to refine and feed them!¡±

    His heart was bleeding.

    Squinting, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory said, ¡°It looks like he really is capable of exerting great power with the Spirit Scepter. In this case, it would be rather difficult for Phantasms or Netherspirits to kill him with soul magics.¡±

    After a pause, he ordered, ¡°Ophelia, go have a try.¡±

    ¡°Aye!¡± Ophelia agreed.

    Drops of amethyst-like blood suddenly oozed out of the newly-made Demon grand monarch¡¯s chest and fused into the Doom de.

    Ophelia swung it, and a bright purple de light containing a terrifying will that could destroy realms and annihte all the living beings in them shed at Nie Tian¡¯s main soul with surging murderous intent.

    SWISH!

    At that very moment, a beam of overwhelming sword light shot out of the Realm of Middle Continent, and smashed into the destructive de light like a reverse waterfall.

    BAM!

    The starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent was suddenly lit up, boundless light created by the collision between the de light and sword light spreading out like waves.

    The surrounding space copsed inch by inch.

    ¡°Yin Xingtian of the Streamcloud Sword Sect!¡±

 Chapter 1590: The Bell of Death!

    ¡°Yin Xingtian!¡± Ophelia and Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons eximed simultaneously.

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s Heavenbreaker shot out of the Realm of Middle Continent with an unstoppable momentum, andpletely neutralized the de light Ophelia had shed towards Nie Tian with her Doom de.

    In the form of a glowing river, it separated Nie Tian and the outsider grand monarchs.

    Countless wisps of sparkling sharp sword intent could be seen flying and chirping within it, as they all had their own awareness.

    WHOOSH!

    More glorious rays of sword light shot out of the Realm of Middle Continent in a stream.

    ¡°The Godspan Sword Formation!¡±

    The multicolored rays of sword light spread out behind Nie Tian like the divine aura behind the Buddha¡¯s back.

    The endless sword intent within the Godspan Sword Formation manifested the Dao of the sword in different forms, which morphed every second.

    Only at this moment did Yin Xingtian charge out of the Realm of Middle Continent himself, unhurried and expressionless.

    BOOM!

    Immense sword intent suddenly burst forth from within him, and spread into his surroundings like torrential rivers.

    Strange fizzing sounds came from the six outsider grand monarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas as the billowing sword intent washed against them.

    The flesh aura sea of Ophelia, whose grade was the lowest, was even infiltrated by the sword intent. She felt burning pain all over her body as blood oozed out, forming beads on her skin.

    Ophelia¡¯s expression flickered violently.

    Technically speaking, as an early tenth grade grand monarch, her strength should match that of Yin Xingtian, who was at the early God domain.

    She even thought that even Grand Monarch Bloodlust might not be able to suppress herpletely now that she had entered the early tenth grade.

    Her confidence in her Doom de was sky-high.

    However, Yin Xingtian, who was only at the early God domain, had managed to neutralize the de light of her Doom de with a casual sh of his Heavenbreaker. Now, as he unleashed his endless sword intent, she felt so much pressure that she had a terrifying feeling that she was going to be crushed.

    ¡°How can this old man be so powerful?¡± she couldn¡¯t help but wonder.

    ¡°Yin Xingtian!¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons muttered, and immediately realized something. Expression flickering violently, he asked, ¡°How did youe to the Spirit World?¡±

    The same question struck the other outsider grand monarchs as soon as they heard this. Their expressions flickered as well.

    Yin Xingtian was a pure human. If he could get here, didn¡¯t it mean that others also could?

    The thought shocked them deeply.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As if to respond to their astonishment, God domain human experts charged out of the Realm of Middle Continent one after another at this moment. All of them entered the starry river in their dharma idol forms, wielding their Immortal grade divine tools.

    ¡°Zu Guangyao, Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan...¡± Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Ophelia, and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler called out their names one after another.

    The more names they called out, the more apprehensive they became.

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims, Chatvic the titan, Scotte the lightning dragon, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch also charged out into the starry river.

    While these renowned experts of the Spirit World emerged one after another, even Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons grew very grim. ¡°Who would think that the humans actually set up a trap in our world?¡±

    Nie Tian let out a derisive snort. ¡°Your world? The Realm of Middle Continent is the very ce where humanity originated. For millennia, our people have made great efforts to return to the Spirit World and liberate our people from this world of suffering. I never thought that what we¡¯ve striven for for so long would actuallye to fruition today.¡±

    The God domain experts and Ancientspirit grand monarchs quietly spread out to surround the six outsider grand monarchs.

    It appeared that they were hoping to kill all six of them with this one go.

    However, to Nie Tian¡¯s surprise, the six grand monarchs from the Spirit World and the Void World didn¡¯t flee at the first possible moment. Instead, they seemed ratherposed, even though they were surrounded by powerful adversaries.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you think you can even the odds by yourself, Eternal Purgatory.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims frowned and cast a cold nce at Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. ¡°I know that you sustained injuries in your battle against You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect, and have yet to recover. You can¡¯t change the course of this battle by yourself!¡±

    With a nasty grin, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons said, ¡°Is that so? You¡¯re nothing but a junior to me, Primal Wood. You only entered thete tenth grade because the Tree of Life bestowed its power upon you. Ate tenth grade grand monarch like you is nothingpared to Grand Monarch Life Wood.¡±

    Apparently, he didn¡¯t attach any importance to this Grand Monarch Primal Wood before him.

    ¡°Not to mention...¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory added, turning to fix his eyes on Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes. ¡°I won¡¯t be the one to fight you. He is your natural enemy.¡±

    Hearing this, everyone subconsciously turned to look at Grand Monarch Ash Bone, whom none of them had met before.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ash Bone...¡±

    Under everyone¡¯s gazes, a smidgen of uncanny green light blossomed in the depths of the hollow eyes of Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who hade all the way from the Void World.

    An intense death aura instantly spread out.

    WHOOSH!

    Arge bell suddenly flew out of Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s bony chest. Through the mouth of the bell, gray bones could be seen burning inside.

    Suddenly, the peculiar bell seemed to be struck by an unknown power, giving rise to an unusual toll.

    Everyone who heard it felt a sharp pain in their heart, as if they were stabbed by a sharp de.

    Faces twisted with unbearable pain, they all turned to fix the bell with gazes of astonishment.

    Wreathed in wisps of death aura, the peculiar pale-white bell seemed to be made from the bones of some rare beast.

    Bones were burning in raging mes in its mouth.

    Everyone who looked at it felt as if they were looking at a god that spread death, and that their life force was being sapped by it.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons looked coldly at Grand Monarch Primal Wood. Face full of sneering disdain, he said, ¡°How do you feel about the Bonedrudes¡¯ Bell of Death?

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ash Bone took this bell specifically from his n to use it against the Tree of Life in your ancestralnd.

    ¡°Our original n was to firste to the Realm of Middle Continent and snuff out Nie Tian¡¯s true soul without his help.

    ¡°Then, we would head to your ancestralnd, where he¡¯d destroy Nie Tian¡¯s true form, which was under the Tree of Life¡¯s protection, with his Bell of Death.¡±

    As he spoke, Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s death aura continued to build up.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim softly, ¡°He¡¯s ate tenth grade grand monarch!¡±

    He had mistaken Grand Monarch Ash Bone as a middle tenth grade grand monarch upon first seeing him, and assumed that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was the onlyte tenth grade grand monarch they had to deal with.

    Only now, after he had summoned the Bell of Death and released his death power did he realize that he had been hiding his bloodline power.

    Many God domain human experts gasped, their faces growing grim.

    ¡°Ate tenth grade grand monarch!¡±

    ¡°Ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch from the Void World!¡±

    ¡°And he wields a powerful tool of his n!¡±

    They had heard that everyte tenth grade grand monarch from the Void World was exceedingly mighty.

    The Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits they had dealt with before had only been a doppelg?nger. His true form had been in a whole other world.

    Only humans like Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, Qu Yi, and Shao Tianyang could matchte tenth grade grand monarchs from the Void World in battle. Grand Monarch Primal Wood and thete Grand Monarch Unholy Wind were nothingpared to them.

    Furthermore, the Bell of Death was a highly regarded tool in the entire Bonedrude race, a tool that was even more powerful than the Bonebrutes¡¯ Bone Shatterer.

    By merely looking at it, the God domain human experts felt a deeply uneasy feeling that their life force was leaving them. Then, with a single toll, it managed to inflict heavy blows upon them, making them feel as if their hearts had been punctured and paining them to the point where they wanted to die. This put fear in their hearts, and greatly undermined their confidence in their victory.

 Chapter 1591: Fierce Flames

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone took out what looked like a grayish-brown bone fragment and tossed it into the Bell of Death.

    BOOM!

    The grayish-brown bone instantly burst into mes.

    A soul shadow slowly manifested in the pale mes, seeming to be in agony.

    ¡°No!¡± Holding his head with one hand and his chest with his other hand, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who was at thete tenth grade, let out a painful cry. ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood!¡±

    Apparently, he recognized the soul shadow that had risen from the burning bone fragment in the Bell of Death.

    It was none other than Fata¡¯s father and the Floragrims¡¯ high chieftain, Grand Monarch Life Wood!

    While the bone fragment from Grand Monarch Life Wood burned within the Bell of Death, its pale mes appeared to boost the might of the bell, conjuring peculiar tolls that could blow up people¡¯s souls.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood!¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s time power had once carried him to an unknown area of the starry river, where he had caught a glimpse of Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s enormous corpse.

    Therefore, he was convinced that Grand Monarch Life Wood had died, and was floating in a strange ce he had never been to.

    However, he didn¡¯t know what had killed him or, whether his bones had been taken from his body.

    A bleak, life-despising look flickered in the depths of Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s green eyes. ¡°That¡¯s right. That piece of bone burning in my Bell of Death belongs to your high chieftain, Grand Monarch Life Wood. You Floragrims are our natural enemies. Our death bloodline and your life bloodline conflict on a fundamental level.¡±

    A nasty grin appeared on his face as he continued, ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood died because I smashed his skull with my Bell of Death! That piece of bone there was taken from his shattered skull! Hmm. The Floragrims¡¯ so-called high chieftain turned out to be a real disappointment. Now, by burning his life power-infused bone within my Bell of Death, I¡¯m doubling the power of the tolls it lets out.¡±

    ¡°Damn you!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood bellowed.

    Both he and Grand Monarch Life Wood were Floragrims. They had only had a difference of opinions regarding their rtionships with the other races.

    Grand Monarch Life Wood had pursued peaceful coexistence. He had provided many races with assistance, such as the Ancientspirits, Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, however, was much more aggressive, and had disapproved of Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s approach. Only after receiving the third-generation Tree of Life¡¯s guidance and learning the truth about the three worlds had he realized how difficult it had been for Grand Monarch Life Wood to make those decisions, and that he had done so under the Tree of Life¡¯s instructions.

    Now, the fact that Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes was burning a piece of his high chieftain¡¯s shattered skull with mes of death in front of him plunged him into a maddening fury.

    ¡°Bloodline...¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood raised his huge arms and activated Heavenly Wood Thorns.

    Thorned rattans immediately grew out of his thick arms and stretched towards Grand Monarch Ash Bone, like sharp swords with which he hoped to prate Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s body made of pale-white bones.

    ¡°You think too much of yourself.¡± A bone-piercing cold filled Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s green, unfathomable pupils.

    With one of his bony fingers, he knocked on the Bell of Death.

    DONG!

    Clusters of pale mes flew out of the mouth of the giant bell, enveloping this part of the starry river with intense death power.

    At the same time, images appeared in the pale mes, showing the head of the Floragrim high chieftain being bashed repeatedly by the Bell of Death and blood sshing everywhere.

    Even Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s twisted, begrudging expression and agonized shrieks were vivid before everyone¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°No!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood screamed, as if he couldn¡¯t bear the sight of his high chieftain being humiliated and killed by a Bonedrude.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s green pupils suddenly turned gruesomely white. ¡°Eyes of Death!¡±

    Not a single wisp of life could be seen in them anymore.

    Anyone who exchanged gazes with him could see nothing but withering, silence, blight, and an intense death aura.

    It was as if any normal beings would yearn for death after meeting those gruesome eyes of his.

    Before Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s thorny rattans could even reach him, they were engulfed in death power and pale mes. Then, he grabbed the Bell of Death and started beating them with it like he was wielding a hammer.

    All of the rattans within his reach broke to pieces, giving rise to loud cracks.

    The pieces burst forth with Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s Blood Essence, emanating a tremendous amount of light. However, the life power within the light was burned away by the mes of death in the blink of an eye.

    Just like that, Grand Monarch Primal Wood was seriously injured. His flesh aura drooped.

    Many of the human experts wanted to help. However, as long as the Bell of Death didn¡¯t stop tolling, they would continue to suffer heart-wrenching pain and lose their life force.

    That kept them from concentrating and causing Grand Monarch Crystal Bones any considerable damage. Therefore, they couldn¡¯t really threaten him.

    Like a terrifying mountain of bones, Grand Monarch Ash Bone slowly approached Grand Monarch Primal Wood, clutching the Bell of Death. ¡°Even your high chieftain was no match for me. I smashed his skull and killed him. How dare you fight me? Your name is Grand Monarch Primal Wood, right? I¡¯ll break your skull and kill you the same way I killed Grand Monarch Life Wood!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s face was filled with disdain, as if he didn¡¯t find killing Grand Monarch Primal Wood to be challenging at all.

    ¡°You¡¯re far weaker than Grand Monarch Life Wood. I suppose that makes sense. After all, he relied on himself to enter thete tenth grade, a grade you have never truly reached. With Grand Monarch Life Wood dead, the Tree of Life realized that your people needed a new leader, so it forcibly sped up your growth and practically carried you into thete tenth grade.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you can never be mentioned in the same breath with Grand Monarch Life Wood. Never!¡±

    He stomped on Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s self esteem while swinging the Bell of Death about.

    CRACK!

    More thorny rattans Grand Monarch Primal Wood had refined with his Blood Essence broke to pieces and exploded.

    With every piece that exploded, Grand Monarch Primal Wood lost part of his flesh aura.

    Before Grand Monarch Ash Bone could even reach his side, his grade drooped from thete tenth grade to the middle tenth grade.

    It was hard to believe that Grand Monarch Ash Bone beat him to the point that his bloodline retrograded.

    Strong killing intent filled Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s icy pupils as he said, ¡°Good, this is the grade you should be at. Now taste the true might of my Bell of Death and die the same way Grand Monarch Life Wood did.¡±

    The bell suddenly expanded.

    Like Mount Tai, it mmed down towards Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s head.

    All of the human and Ancientspirit experts were still deeply affected by the Bell of Death, and couldn¡¯t shake off the death power haunting their hearts.

    There was only one exception.

    The Bell of Death mmed hard into a scepter.

    BOOM!

    The peculiar bell that had been branded with the magicalws of death seemed to m into a piece of divine metal. Not only was there not a single crack on the scepter, but the Nether River engravings on it started flowing rapidly, giving rise to sshing sounds.

    Since the countless evil spirits within those Nether Rivers had long since died, the death power didn¡¯t hold them in fear at all.

    Instead, they swarmed into and flooded the Bell of Death. Even the pale mes burning fiercely within it seemed to be extinguished by water of the Nether Rivers.

    Clutching the Bell of Death with his huge bony hand, Grand Monarch Ash Bone red down at the scepter, and let out a snort. ¡°The Spirit Scepter!¡±

    ¡°Your Bell of Death doesn¡¯t work on me!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true soul said, holding up the Spirit Scepter.

    In pure soul form, he didn¡¯t seem to be under much pressure facing the Bell of Death as he wielded Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s unmatched soul tool.

    The Bell of Death didn¡¯t even leave a mark on the Spirit Scepter after such a heavy hit.

 Chapter 1592: Goddess of Darkness

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone wasn¡¯t surprised that Nie Tian was unscathed.

    After all, he hadn¡¯te all the way from the Void World to deal with Nie Tian¡¯s true soul. His targets were Nie Tian¡¯s true form and the third-generation Tree of Life, which was still young, in the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to fight you,¡± Grand Monarch Ash Bone said with an icy look in his eyes before turning his head, giving rise to scary cracking sounds, and lunging towards the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs clutching the Bell of Death.

    He was targeting Chatvic, Scotte, and the Golden-feathered Divine Finch.

    At the same time, his ultimate death bloodline power burst forth.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous rays of pale, sparkling light seemed to weave into sigils that embodied the magicalws of death in the starry river.

    The three middle tenth grade Ancientspirit grand monarchs¡¯ immense flesh aura seas were instantly infiltrated by the magicalws of death, and became powerless.

    Death power had a terrifyingly strong effect on Ancientspirits and outsiders that relied on vigorous flesh auras as the source of their power.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to make a move, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons took a step forward.

    BOOM!

    The entire area was filled with his raging flesh aura.

    The unfathomable, mysterious Blood Purgatory Sea in the Demon realms seemed to be summoned by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, and manifested in this part of the starry river.

    The surging dark purple sea appeared to be filled with the blood of billions of lives, with bloodcurdling shrieks echoing from it, making people¡¯s hair stand on end.

    ¡°With the Spirit Scepter, your true soul can suppress Netherspirits rather well,¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory said with a stern expression. ¡°And the Bonedrudes¡¯ death power can¡¯t really threaten you, since you¡¯re in a pure soul state. However, I... can incinerate your true soul.¡±

    FIZZ!

    Purple bolts of lightning suddenly flew out of the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    Each and every one of them was vested with soul-eliminating power, with purple crystalline particles visible within them.

    ¡°Purgatory Karmic mes!¡± As soon as Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory eximed, the sparkling particles within the purple lightning bolts started burning violently, and emanated a power that could incinerate souls and any intangible existences.

    Apparently, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was the one who was responsible for killing Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    Nie Tian sensed danger from the purple lightning bolts and mes. Right now, he couldn¡¯t use many of his killer moves, not without his true form. All he could use was his soul power.

    However, whatever soul spell he cast would most likely be neutralized by the purple lightning bolts.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory snorted and said, ¡°Nie Tian, the era of you humans hase to its inevitable end. Over the years, you¡¯ve invaded the Spirit World more times than we can count. You even wanted to invade the Void World. Do you really think you can just do whatever you like across the three worlds?¡±

    FZZZ!

    As Nie Tian brandished the Spirit Scepter, the Nether Rivers engraved on the scepter manifested in the starry river.

    However, under Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s precise and subtle control, the purple lightning bolts managed to circle around the Nether Rivers and avoid the infiltration of the Spirit Scepter¡¯s power.

    In the blink of an eye, the lightning bolts reached Nie Tian.

    ¡°Go deal with Grand Monarch Ash Bone.¡± Dong Li¡¯s voice came from within the Realm of Middle Continent at this very moment.

    Immediately afterwards, endless darkness spread out from the Realm of Middle Continent.

    While the Realm of Middle Continent remained unaffected, a vast area of the starry river outside of it seemed to be slowly covered by an iparablyrge heavenly curtain.

    Everything was enveloped in darkness!

    Even the tolls and death power released by the Bell of Death were engulfed and drowned by the darkness.

    All of the God domain human experts and Ancientspirit grand monarchs, whose hearts had been infiltrated by the death power released by the Bell of Death, became unrestrained, and recovered their power.

    ¡°Dong Li!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed softly, unleashing the Godspan Sword Formation once again. Innumerable sword lights and sword intent flew out towards Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Ophelia by relying on his fading perception.

    In the endless darkness, Dong Li stood like an ancient goddess of darkness, with the Dark Aureole spinning over her head.

    Gracefully and slowly, she floated towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons.

    PUFF!

    The so-called Purgatory Karmic mes Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had released seemed to be snuffed out one after another byrge hands made of pure darkness.

    As this happened, the purple lightning bolts lost track of Nie Tian.

    Dong Li simply moved her hand and pointed casually in the darkness, and the purple lightning bolts perished and vanished with puffs, like spirit snakes killed by sharp swords.

    Finally, Dong Li arrived before Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    ¡°Dark Erosion,¡± she whispered in what sounded like an ancient Devilnguage.

    By doing this, she appeared to be channeling the origin of darkness. Immediately afterwards, a darkness that was even more intense surged towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura sea from all directions.

    The Blood Purgatory Sea around him, which he had summoned with his bloodline, seemed to be infused with billions of liters of ink as it rapidly turned pure ck.

    The Blood Purgatory Sea somehow became a ck sea.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s connection with the blood sea was instantly cut off, depriving him of his ability to draw power from it to strengthen himself or fight others.

    ¡°Such aura, such power...¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory experienced strong difort, so much so that he felt that he was going to puke blood. Even during his battle against You Qimiao, he hadn¡¯t felt so yoked.

    The feeling that his power was gradually escaping his control and that his flesh aura was leaving him made him want to scream.

    ROAR! ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!

    He did. However, he was the only one who could hear him. His mad roars didn¡¯t leave his surroundings at all.

    At the same time, his eyes werepletely blocked by darkness. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t see Dong Li.

    He couldn¡¯t see anyone, hear anything, or sense any aura.

    It was as if he was locked away in a cage of eternal darkness, where there was no sound, no light, and no way out, where he would be trapped in endless darkness until the day he died.

    This was a horrifying feeling, hard to put into words.

    ¡°This... This is power from the origin of darkness,¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory muttered to himself. ¡°The Devils in the Void World had a paragon in their history: the Dark King. Don¡¯t tell me the power Dong Li is wielding now is the power of that Devil paragon.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Scepter flickered with misty light.

    The connection between Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and the Spirit Scepter had never been severed, which allowed him to sense movements in the endless darkness in the light emanated by the Spirit Scepter.

    The Spirit Scepter was from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, another paragon. Therefore, it could still function in the endless darkness.

    This allowed Nie Tian to see Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons, and how insecure and uneasy he was when he couldn¡¯t move as he usually could in the darkness.

    He also saw that Yin Xingtian had managed to inflict heavy injuries upon Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons with his Godspan Sword Formation by relying on his rough hold of his bearings.

    Ophelia, however, managed to avoid his attack thanks to the Doom de¡¯s keen perception.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Dong Li has be so powerful already after refining that other dark stone!¡±

 Chapter 1593: Trap And Kill

    Nie Tian was greatly spirited!

    He had assumed that they were going to suffer serious losses due to the existence of Grand Monarch Ash Bone and his Bell of Death.

    If Dong Li wasn¡¯t here, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with only his true soul and the Spirit Scepter.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone, however, had already beaten Grand Monarch Primal Wood to the point where his bloodline had retrograded by stimting his death bloodline and boosting the power of the Bell of Death with a piece of Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s skull.

    With You Qimiao in that frigidke, Grand Monarch Primal Wood had be the onlyte tenth grade expert on their side, yet he had turned out to be no match for Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    All of this had made it apparent that they were going to lose this battle.

    However, Dong Li¡¯s arrival turned the tide.

    Having refined both dark stones and reached a thorough understanding of the truths of darkness, she could suppress any Demon now.

    After all, the Dark King had been a Devil paragon from the Void World!

    The dark power Dong Li had grasped was from him. The dark power and the two dark stones had all been branded with the ultimate dark power of this Devil paragon.

    SHEW!

    Dong Li pointed her fingers about casually, and the Purgatory Karmic mes and purple lightning bolts Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had released were snuffed out.

    Even the Blood Purgatory Sea he had summoned from the Demon realms was infiltrated by her dark power.

    As immense as his flesh aura was, since it could no longer merge with the Blood Purgatory Sea, his might suffered to a great extent. This gave him an ufortable feeling that he had never felt before.

    Nie Tian finally put his mind at ease.

    WHOOSH!

    He flew to Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s location, wielding the Spirit Scepter.

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Ash Bone was swinging the Bell of Death around aimlessly and with great force.

    BOOM!

    With every swing of the giant bell, he seemed to stir up a storm of death, which would vacuumize a small area around him, allowing him to see the things close to him.

    Apparently, even the ultimate darkness didn¡¯tpletely restrain thiste tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch.

    ¡°A titan...¡±

    With another swing, he hit the mountainous Chatvic with his Bell of Death.

    Even before the storm of death could engulf Chatvic, the giant peculiar bell shattered the bones in his shoulder.

    The mighty impact created a bloody mist around his shoulder.

    Only then did the storm of death the Bell of Death stirred up envelop him.

    ¡°Chatvic!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as he saw several shattered bones in Chatvic¡¯s shoulder being channeled and flying into the mouth of the bell.

    New pale mes lit up as soon as they did.

    After the swing of the Bell of Death, Grand Monarch Ash Bone had a temporary vision of what was around him. With eyes like two green gruesomemps, he growled, ¡°You! It¡¯s true that I can¡¯t kill you since you¡¯re not in a flesh form and you have Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s Spirit Scepter at yourmand. However, you can¡¯t possibly defeat me either, not without your true form.¡±

    With a nastyugh, Grand Monarch Ash Bone pointed his pale bony hand at Scotte, who was close to him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll shatter this lightning dragon¡¯s bones just as I did that titan.¡±

    The pale mes within the Bell of Death burned more and more furiously, as if they manifested dozens of different magicalws and profound truths of death.

    Pale mes suddenly flew out of the mouth of the bell and spread towards Scotte, the lightning dragon, who wasn¡¯t aware of what was happening.

    His dragon form was thousands of meters long and wreathed in lightning bolts. Right now, he was wiggling about, as if he were trying to break free from this darkness so he could find a target to attack.

    However, Dong Li¡¯s dark domain was indiscriminate.

    Once they were enveloped, it would be very hard to break free, much less be able to see things like they were in daylight as Dong Li could.

    ¡°You¡¯re ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch, so what?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true soul cried out.

    At the same time, the Spirit Scepter whizzed out like a bolt of lightning and reached the Bell of Death that was being brought down with great force.

    BOOM!

    The Bell of Death mmed hard into the Spirit Scepter for a second time. The scepter was once again unscathed, while Scotte escaped a heavy blow from the bell.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Vast, murky rivers were released from within the Spirit Scepter.

    As soon as the illusory Nether Rivers manifested, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul let out a call of the soul, which seemed to travel throughyers of space to a destination that was billions of kilometers away.

    ...

    The misty cyan Nether Realm was surrounded by five realms, and pure, immense Nether Qi enveloped and separated the entire group of realms from the rest of the starry river.

    All of a sudden, strong spatial fluctuations emerged.

    ¡°Our new master is calling upon us!¡±

    Roaring, the five evil gods immediately flew out of the realms and traveled through space to the darkness-enveloped area in a breath¡¯s time by relying on the unparalleled grand spell formation Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had left behind.

    Heaven-shaking, earth-shattering flesh power instantly filled the area of the starry river that was engulfed in endless darkness. Even Dong Li was shocked.

    Upon shrewdly sensing the evil gods¡¯ arrival, she cast a secret spell.

    After she did, the darkness rapidly fused into her in clusters.

    In a matter of seconds, the darkness vanishedpletely.

    The starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent returned to its original cold, dim state.

    Meanwhile, the five sinister evil gods pounced towards Grand Monarch Ash Bone at the first moment, baring their fangs and ws. Grand Monarch Ash Bone then woke up to the abrupt turn of events, and screamed.

    For some reason, even his Bell of Death spiraled out of his hand after being bombarded by the evil god of bloodlust.

    He could no longer stimte the power of his Bell of Death to manipte the situation as easily as before.

    At that moment, all of the God domain human experts and Ancientspirit grand monarchs discovered that the death power spell that had been weighing down on their hearts seemed to be liftedpletely.

    Yin Xingtian was the first to speak. ¡°Leave Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons to me!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, the Godspan Sword Formation regained its mobility, countless sword lights rapidly weaving into a glorious vast that flew directly towards Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends,¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said, unleashing her Heaven-purging Divine Light. Like a storm of silver needles, it enveloped towards Grand Monarch Nether Channeler.

    ¡°Let me deal with the Netherspirit grand monarch!¡± Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect shouted.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help you!¡± Scotte, the lightning dragon, shouted after him.

    Mo Qianfan was a human, and Scotte was a dragon. However, they were both well-versed in lightning power. They would enjoy a significant advantage in battle against their Phantasm or Netherspirit peers.

    Even if Scotte were to fight Grand Monarch Soul Breaker single-handedly, he might not necessarily lose, not to mention that he now had the assistance of Mo Qianfan, whose strength had soared thanks to his findings on the floating continent.

    Grand Monarch Soul Breaker immediately found himself in an unfavorable situation.

    After Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan adjusted themselves to the light and prepared to join the battle, they realized that the six outsider grand monarchs were already engaged in fierce battles against those with Nie Tian.

    A puzzled look appeared on Ji Yuanquan¡¯s face. ¡°Nie Tian, we...¡±

    ¡°Do everything you can to seal off this area of the starry river. Don¡¯t give them any chance to escape.¡± Nie Tian said, holding the Spirit Scepter. ¡°With the help of my scepter, I¡¯ll make sure that their souls don¡¯t escape. I want all six of them annihted here today, body and soul!¡±

 Chapter 1594: Decapitation

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent.

    The Godspan Sword Formation morphed into a vast of sword lights and trapped Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s blood axe was knocked flying out of his hand upon a head-on collision with Heavenbreaker.

    Spiraling out of control, the blood axe left a long peculiar rift in its wake, as if it somehow cut the starry river open.

    Glorious streaks of light instantly burst forth from within the rift, along with unknown spatial power.

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society wove his fingers in the air to cast a series of spells to heal the spatial rift and reseal the space with his profound understanding of spatial power.

    FIZZ!

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s flesh aura sea was suddenly prated by the Godspan Sword Formation.

    Within seconds, his dark purple flesh aura sea was riddled with holes like a tattered curtain.

    The Godspan Sword Formation, which had protected the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters for millennia, split into countless spectacr sword lights that manifested the true meaning of the Dao of the sword, as if many deceased brilliant sword masters in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s history were disying their divine skills.

    It was as if gods of swords were wielding the sword lights, dressed in elegant traditional robes.

    The sword lights seemed to be boundless, as they rapidly filled arge area of the starry river, and pierced into every inch of Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s majestic body.

    CRACK!

    Like a huge piece of jade, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s scary body, the so-called Indestructible Form, fissured.

    Drop after drop of amethyst-like Blood Essence flew out of his body, but were quickly struck by the sword lights, which were as fast as lightning bolts.

    The Blood Essence instantly exploded and turned into wisps of purple smoke, which then attempted to rejoin his body in order to heal and release the ultimate power of his Indestructible Form.

    ¡°God-breaking sh!¡±

    Face solemn, Yin Xingtian channeled the Godspan Sword Formation with his soul. At the same time, he assumed a tight grip on Heavenbreaker with both hands, and shed it towards Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    The fierce aura Heavenbreaker released seemed to be able to break the magicalws of the universe and split open the starry river!

    Nothing was ever so sharp!

    A divine light that seemed capable of ending the heavens and destroying the earth swept across Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s neck.

    PUFF!

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s head shot straight up, leaving his body.

    The cut on his neck was as smooth as a mirror. Not a single drop of blood could be seen, but then, thick, resilient meridians stretched out like earthworms, as if they were attempting to catch and pull his head back.

    Secondster, however, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s headless body suddenly broke apart with a loud boom.

    The chunks of flesh then morphed into purple lightning bolts that shot up after his head, hoping to reform his body that way.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    The Godspan Sword Formation, which had been prepared for this, morphed once again into multicolored lightning bolts that spread out and hunted down the chunks of flesh, before annihting the extremely refined flesh power within them.

    As this happened, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s vigorous flesh aura rapidly dissipated.

    HOWL! HOWL!

    His bodiless head let out furious, begrudging roars.

    Deeply amazed, Nie Tian swung the Spirit Scepter towards Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s severed head from afar.

    A wisp of cyan light sted out of the scepter, and pierced into Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s forehead in a sh.

    Immediately afterwards, Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s soul copsed, like a balloon being pierced by a silver needle.

    Then, holding Heavenbreaker, Yin Xingtian shed over to Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s head, where he brought the divine sword down and across a few times, slicing the huge head into pieces with clean cuts.

    Just like that, this Demon grand monarch, who had been feared throughout the Spirit World and Mortal World, perished beyond salvation under Yin Xingtian¡¯s Heavenbreaker and Godspan Sword Formation.

    Ye Wenhan, Zu Guangyao, Dou Tianchen, and the other God domain experts witnessed the whole process, where Grand Monarch Bloodlust had first been decapitated, then his body had broken apart, and eventually his head had been cut to pieces. They couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment.

    ¡°Yin Xingtian killed Grand Monarch Bloodlust!¡±

    ¡°A middle tenth grade Demon grand monarch was killed just like that?¡±

    ¡°That was a middle tenth grade grand monarch, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Breaker of the Netherspirits is next,¡± Scotte said, his blood rapidly condensing into mighty thunderballs beneath the silver scales that covered his thousand-meter-long dragon form.

    ¡°Bloodline: Dragon Thunder st!¡±

    Hundreds of thunderballs fizzed as they flew out and surrounded Grand Monarch Soul Breaker from the Void World.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    The thunderballs detonated, instantly turning the area of the starry river where Grand Monarch Soul Breaker was into a vast thunder pool, which was dozens of times more powerful than the thunder pools people could find anywhere else.

    As the thunderballs exploded, countless crystalline bloodline chains burst out, as if to manifest the magicalws of lightning and thunder.

    Engulfed in a world of lightning and thunder, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker cast various evil soul spells unique to the Netherspirits. However, as soon as he did, the spells would be neutralized by the violent lightning and thunder. Not once did he seed.

    ¡°Lightning dragons!¡±

    Under the repeated lightning strikes, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s body turned ck.

    Heart burning with anxiety, he knew that as a Netherspirit, he was at a disadvantage when facing lightning dragons like Scotte in battle.

    SHEW!

    He had no choice but to cast a forbidden blood technique, which allowed him to morph into a cyan bolt of lightning that shot out of the area that was engulfed in lightning and thunder.

    However, to his horror, he then found himself in another area filled with violent lightning.

    Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect had assumed his dharma idol form, which was an enormous Thunder-devouring Whale. He spewed out bolts of lightning that were as thick as heavenly pirs, turning his surroundings into a forbidden domain of lightning and thunder.

    He was excited to see that Grand Monarch Soul Breaker had tumbled into his trap after assuming that he found the weakest spot in Scotte¡¯s lightning domain.

    ¡°Lightning refines all lives!¡±

    Numerous thick lightning bolts fell straight like a waterfall, and struck Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s body, covering him in countless lightning snakes that made buzzing sounds as they slithered all over him.

    The lightning snakes seemed to be doing everything they could to crawl into Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s body.

    As a Netherspirit, he knew that once lightning power entered his body, it would harm his soul, his very essence.

    Driven into despair, he started letting out sad wails.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust is dead. Grand Monarch Soul Breaker is hanging by a thread.¡± Nie Tian felt relieved as he nced around with the Spirit Scepter in his hand.

    The five evil gods were still wing and biting at Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes. Their strength boosted by the flesh auras sealed within the stone statue, the five evil gods were currently at an advantage in the battle after Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s Bell of Death had been knocked out of his hand.

    Under the joint bombardment of the evil gods, fissures even started showing on his bony body.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends was tangled up in a battle against Yu Suying. Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory of the Demons was still being suppressed by Dong Li¡¯s Dark Aureole, his Blood Purgatory Sea still as ck as ink.

    Master Blood Spirit, who had entered the early God domain, managed to trap Ophelia single-handedly.

    Eternal Purgatory, Bloodlust, and Ophelia, all of whom were Demons, together with Nether Channeler, Soul Breaker, and Ash Bone, made up the six iing grand monarchs. Right now, they were either dead or caught up in difficult battles.

    All of this was Nie Tian¡¯s people¡¯s doing.

    ¡°We have be such a strong force before I realized it.¡±

    Watching those who were fighting, thinking that his true form was still in the middle of his breakthrough into the God domain, and that Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t returned yet¡­ Nie Tian felt for the first time that he had the confidence to fight against any race and any force throughout the Mortal World, Spirit World, and Void World now.

 Chapter 1595: Stepping Into The God Domain!

    In the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    All sorts of outsider starships and buildings of different styles could be seen on the seven dead stars that surrounded the Realm Sea.

    The outsiders had long since reced the humans as the masters of this wondrous ce.

    A wide array of foreign energies surged in the sea, providing power for that portal in the depths of the sea, so that members of the three major races of the Void World could continue to pour into the Mortal World without obstacles.

    In the area where the Devils were gathered, Agatha¡¯s expression flickered violently as she eximed, ¡°Bloodlust died!¡±

    Floating in front of her chest was a transparent ssware holding a drop of Blood Essence that lit up with purple demonic light from time to time.

    It was a drop of Blood Essence Grand Monarch Bloodlust had left behind, branded with all of the profound truths he hadprehended about his bloodline.

    ¡°What?!¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger, along with many Bonedrude and Netherspirit experts that were gathered on the surrounding dead stars, flew over in a breath¡¯s time and fixed the drop of Blood Essence with bbergasted looks.

    In the amethyst-like Blood Essence, they saw Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s soul shadow wallowing in agony.

    His heartrending shrieks kept echoing from within it.

    However, it wasn¡¯t long before Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s soul shadow faded from the amethyst-like Blood Essence.

    After looking into the Blood Essence for a bit longer, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said with a deeply grim face, ¡°It seems that this middle tenth grade Demon grand monarch has indeed died. But this is very strange. We sent six grand monarchs to take care of Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and destroy the young Tree of Life. It shouldn¡¯t be that hard.¡±

    ¡°If something happened to Grand Monarch Bloodlust, would Lord Ash Bones...?¡± A Bonedrude said with a deeply-disturbed expression.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits fixed him with a cold gaze. ¡°Grand Monarch Ash Bone has the Bell of Death with him. I doubt that there¡¯s anyone in the Spirit World now that can pose a threat to him.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Agatha chimed in. ¡°As long as the Tree of Life doesn¡¯t build up its power within a short time, no one can hurt his life.

    ¡°Let¡¯s not forget Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is also on this mission. Twote tenth grade grand monarchs together... How can there be mishaps when all of the peak grand monarchs of the Spirit World are trapped in our world?¡±

    She couldn¡¯t imagine any scenario where Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s life would be in danger.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits pondered briefly, then said, ¡°Battles are usually full of mishaps. Perhaps Grand Monarch Primal Wood and those three Ancientspirit grand monarchs rushed to Nie Tian¡¯s aid in the Realm of Middle Continent. But if Grand Monarch Bloodlust died fighting them, the four of them probably died as well. I guess it¡¯s not too bad to lose Bloodlust, but win the battle in the Spirit World.¡±

    He assumed that Grand Monarch Bloodlust might have detonated himself as hisst desperate move, killing himself and the Ancientspirit grand monarchs.

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case...¡± Agatha of the Devils said, nodding. ¡°I¡¯m keeping this drop of Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s Blood Essence anyways. After we win our battles and return to the Void World, it shouldn¡¯t be hard to bring him back to life with my people¡¯s abundant resources.¡±

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits smiled. ¡°I¡¯m d that you see it that way.¡±

    However, the smile didn¡¯t stay on his face for very long before his face suddenly turned ashen.

    One of his sub-souls obtained a shocking piece of information from the Realm of Dark Souls, the Netherspirits¡¯ main realm.

    Grand Monarch Soul Breaker had died in battle!

    All Netherspirit grand monarchs would leave a cluster of soul fire in their n before marching off to battle. That cluster of soul fire would retain a profound connection with them and reflect their situation.

    The cluster of soul fire Grand Monarch Soul Breaker had left in his n had be frail due to the destruction of his true soul. It seemed as if it could go out at any moment, like a candle in the wind.

    This meant that Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, who had gone to join the operation in the Spirit World, had suffered the same fate as Grand Monarch Bloodlust.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits couldn¡¯t stay calm anymore as he immediately issued orders for the outsider experts to instantly return from whichever human domain they were in.

    ¡°If Bloodlust¡¯s death was a mishap, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s death couldn¡¯t be a mishap as well!

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid our people who we sent to the Spirit World are in danger. Prepare for a rescue mission!¡±

    ...

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Chunks of flesh and mangled limbs streamed into a spatial rift and disappeared.

    Ji Yuanquan was keeping the rift open with his spatial power.

    Driven by Yin Xingtian¡¯s power, pieces of Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s severed head, mangled flesh, and a rain of blood fell into the spatial rift and vanished.

    The charred body of Grand Monarch Soul Breaker of the Netherspirits was also pulled by bolts of lightning conjured by Mo Qianfan and Scotte, and slowly flew into the spatial rift.

    The spatial rift Ji Yuanquan was keeping open was like the mouth of a greedy monster, devouring the broken bones, mangled flesh, and scattered blood.

    The other outsider grand monarchs, who were still in battle and having more and more injuries added to their bodies, couldn¡¯t help but shiver upon ncing at the spatial rift.

    The spatial rift connected to the Floragrims¡¯ main realm.

    Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Grand Monarch Soul Breaker¡¯s bones, flesh, and blood were caught by a mysterious gravitational force as soon as they streamed out of the spatial rift.

    Like a meteor shower, the chunks of flesh, bones, and blood plummeted towards the forbidden area, where Nie Tian¡¯s true form was seeking to break through to the God domain.

    HOWL!

    Nie Tian was half-naked in his erged form, standing towering like a god that had existed since the beginning of time. His each and every muscle seemed to contain power that could easily destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

    Under his feet was his wood domain, that exuberant greennd.

    Right now, it seemed to be receiving Grand Monarch Soul Breaker and Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s mangled bodies. As soon as the pieces fell from the sky, they were consumed and transformed by Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline.

    The two grand monarchs¡¯ immense flesh power was further refined within his true form.

    BOOM!

    His life power-infused wood domain suddenly burst forth with mysterious light that looked like a green sea.

    Streaks of light that were branded with the profound truths of life could be seen transforming within it like divine rainbows and sunglows, as if this was lifting his mastery of wood power to a whole new level.

    The transformation of his wood domain, the transformation from a saint domain to a god domain, wasplete in a sh!

    After the transformation, his wood domain seemed like an immacte green jade at first nce, so fresh and green that it was intoxicating even to look at it.

    Only after those first moments did the Godspirit Tree and the ancient sky-reaching trees manifest within his transformed wood domain.

    WHOOSH!

    The luxuriant wood domain suddenly rose into the sky. In the blink of an eye, it charged through the realm barrier of the Floragrims¡¯ main realm and entered the starry river like a spectacr green heaven and earth.

    Then, the wood domain squeezed into Nie Tian¡¯s star domain, which was controlled by his star power sub-soul.

    The rich wood power within his wood domain morphed into clear rivers of pure energy that flew to every corner of his star domain. Like catalysts, they somehow made his star domain burst forth with dazzling light.

    The illusory starry river conjured by the Heavenly Stars Flower seemed to materialize, filled with sparkling diamond-like stars.

    Both his star domain and the Heavenly Stars Flower seemed to be stimted by his brand new wood domain, and started transforming.

    His me domain was next.

    ¡°My wood domain agrees with my life bloodline, which makes it the key to my breakthrough to the God domain! Thepletion of the transformation of my wood domain is catalytic, and is making every part of my breakthrough to the God domain fall into ce!¡±

 Chapter 1596: Blow!

    The advance to the God domain was made!

    There were innumerable Qi warriors in this starry river. However, no more than a thousand of them could reach the Saint domain in their lifetime, and each generation would only see a handful of God domain experts.

    Many, like Li Wanfa and Zhang Qiling, had chosen to stay at thete Saint domain for millennia instead of making rash attempts to break through to the God domain.

    After all, one mishap during the breakthrough, and they would have to wait for rebirth, or worse, die beyond salvation.

    Hundreds would fail before one could seed.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Thanks to the catalysis of his wood domain, Nie Tian¡¯s star domain and me domain were also slowly making the transformation to god domains, spawning infinite wondrous changes.

    His star domain, which looked like a dazzling starry river, soonpleted its transformation. Like diamonds, countless stars surrounded the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    The magicalws of stars manifested within his star domain. All of his star incantations and spells, including the Fragmentary Star Incantation, Starfall, Starshift, and Starchain, seemed to be patterns of profound truths that were branded within his god domain.

    Meanwhile, the mysterious spell formation in his me domain that had been copied from the me Land seemed to go through changes as well.

    The patterns that made up the spell formation condensed into fiery and crystalline lines, each and every line representing a profound,plicated truth of fire.

    His wood, me, and star power sub-souls also seemed to be growing stronger at a shocking rate.

    Glorious lights streaked through his sub-souls as rumbling chants of magicalws echoed out.

    All sorts of profound knowledge about star, wood, and me power that Nie Tian hadn¡¯tprehended before, including the wonders of life power he had acquired in the endless blood sea, suddenly became clear to him at this moment.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul suddenly arrived through the spatial rift Ji Yuanquan had created, holding the Spirit Scepter.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Spots that contained the essence of wood power, me power, and star power flew out of his three domains and into his true soul, cleansing and purifying it.

    His true soul was the foundation of all of his sub-souls, which held all sorts of profound truths of souls and burned the essence of his soul fire.

    At his moment, being cleansed and refined by his sub-souls, his true soul felt unprecedented rity. It was a feeling of having all impurities and scum purged from it.

    Even without the help of the Spirit Scepter, the shrewdness of his soul perception seemed to be lifted to a whole new level.

    It was a rity that most God domain experts would have to rely on Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir to achieve.

    ¡°Now, spread my soul awareness...¡± As soon as he said that inwardly, he discovered that his soul awareness spread into his surroundings like a billowing sea, and covered a vast area of the starry river around him at a speed he found unimaginable.

    Even the slightest bit of soul aura couldn¡¯t escape his detection.

    ¡°What if I add in the Spirit Scepter¡¯s power?¡±

    With this thought, hemunicated with the Spirit Scepter with his true soul. In the next moment, his spread soul awareness seemed to merge and spread with the illusory Nether Rivers all the way to the hearts of the surrounding domains.

    He even vaguely sensed the soul fluctuations of Grand Monarch Bloodlust of the Demons and Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes.

    The Floragrims¡¯ main realm and the Realm of Middle Continent were separated by a boundless void.

    Ecstatic, Nie Tian cast another soul spell, shouting, ¡°This Spirit Scepter is an unmatched soul tool indeed! Soul Grind!¡±

    An enormous meteor that was drifting thousands of kilometers away in the dim starry river was suddenly ground to dust.

    To his surprise, he could actually crush solid objects with his soul power now!

    The meteor was reduced to dust just because he had cast that soul-grinding spell.

    Thrilled by this discovery, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but let out a soft exmation. ¡°Fundamental changes have happened to my soul power after my advance to the God domain!¡±

    When he had been at the Saint domain, the use of his soul power had been limited to the detection of soul fluctuations, invading his enemies¡¯ seas of awareness, and inflicting serious damage to his enemies¡¯ souls.

    However, he hadn¡¯t been able to cause any actual damage to solid and sturdy objects using his soul power as he could with his spiritual power.

    Now, after he had entered the God domain, it waspletely different.

    It seemed to him that he could not only summon wisps of soul power to detect, locate, and cause damage to other souls, but also use them as sharp des, needles, and wires, with which he could cause material damage to stones, tools, and living beings now, as he could with spiritual power.

    Now that he had entered the God domain, his soul power had new wondrous changes added to it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of soul power shot across the starry river like invisible icy bolts of lightning, causing many small meteors to explode with loud booms.

    ¡°Soul-capturing Hand, ckout Soul Curtain, Soul Turbulence...¡±

    He cast the exquisite soul spells he had acquired from the Nether River one after another, soul spells that hade from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    A sinister-looking giant cyan hand suddenly condensed and took form, as if it could rend the heavens and twist the starry river into copsing.

    BOOM!

    The giant hand suddenly bashed into a huge nearby meteor, shattering it into countless pieces.

    The same thing happened to the ckout Soul Curtain and Soul Turbulence that he cast afterwards. Their damage was no longer limited to souls, but solid objects and fleshly bodies as well.

    ¡°It seems that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit didn¡¯t need his fleshly body at all. As long as his soul was powerful enough, he could fight any battle!¡±

    The more Nie Tian tried, the more he was amazed by the wondrous changes of his soul power after his advance to the God domain.

    WHOOSH!

    His wood, star, and me domain gradually morphed and returned to their original forms, surrounding him as a splendid mix.

    His true form stood on thend of lush vegetation, surrounded by a sea of mes. On the outermost edge was a vast area dotted with mysterious stars.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower floated high above him, maintaining the stability of his star domain like a celestial guardian.

    The Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two ancient trees were exuding vigorous life power as they continued to channel wood power from the starry river in order to support the changes to his wood domain.

    The wondrous spell formation in the sea of raging mes, which had been copied from the me Land, retained its connection to the me Land in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    More pieces of mangled flesh and severed limbs were still falling out of the spatial rift from time to time.

    All of them belonged to grand monarchs.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul suddenly sank back into his sea of awareness, and his eyes lit up like suns!

    ¡°Life Drain.¡±

    All of the mangled body parts falling out of the spatial rift were consumed, refined into the purest flesh power, and condensed into numerous drops of Blood Essence in a breath¡¯s time.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Breaker and Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s flesh power has also helped with my breakthrough to the God domain,¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°However, since I haven¡¯t umted enough flesh power, my life bloodline hasn¡¯t entered dormancy and started the next upgrade cycle yet. Who would have thought that I¡¯d make my breakthrough to the God domain before my bloodline entered the tenth grade?¡±

    Before, his bloodline grade had always been ahead of his cultivation base. He had made faster breakthroughs in his bloodline than cultivation base.

    That was because he had been able to acquire enough flesh power to drive his life bloodline into dormancy before. From there, all he had had to do was wait for the upgrade to take ce naturally.

    But now, his bloodline was still at the ninth grade.

    The amount of flesh power he needed for his bloodline to transform from the ninth grade to the tenth grade was so incredibly vast that it was almost impossible to meet.

    ¡°There are still a few outsider grand monarchs over at the Realm of Middle Continent, including Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡± With this thought, intense killing intent burst forth from the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes. ¡°That Demon grand monarch seriously injured Chu Rui and defeated You Qimiao in the Domain of Endless Snow. His impressive battle performances makes him think that he¡¯s invincible, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    At this moment, the third-generation Tree of Life¡¯s soul voice echoed out, ¡°Congrattions. You¡¯ve finally entered the God domain. I believe you¡¯re now capable of lifting humanity from this perilous situation.¡±

    With a hearty smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Yes, but I¡¯ve got to take a trip to the Realm of Middle Continent and finish up resolving the trouble in the Spirit World first. It won¡¯t take long. I¡¯lle back and thank you properly for this afterwards.¡±

    After saying these words, he flew into the spatial rift and vanished.

    Right before he entered the spatial rift, he d the me Dragon Armor on his half-naked body and took out the bone that belonged to the Rampage Behemoth.

    In the next moment, he reappeared outside the Realm of Middle Continent.

    The first thing he saw upon his arrival was Ophelia, who was brandishing her Doom de. Without even putting any thought into it, he clenched his fist and mmed it towards her in the form of Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    A huge hole seemed to appear in the starry river as he threw the mighty punch!

    His star, me, wood, flesh, and soul power all poured madly into the hole, as if a peculiar vacuum space had formed in the hole!

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Ophelia ignited her Blood Essence and raised her Doom de to meet Nie Tian¡¯s punch.

    BOOM!

    With a heaven-shaking sound of impact, the Doom de was knocked spiraling out of her hand. Ophelia, who had joined the ranks of grand monarchs, fell before his devastating fist strike, despite her so-called Indestructible Form!

 Chapter 1597: Unmatched Power!

    CRACK!

    While spiraling out of control, the Doom de cracked bit by bit, demonic light bursting forth from within the cracks.

    Within seconds, it was overwhelmed by Nie Tian¡¯s devastating power and shattered into countless pieces.

    A wisp of a peculiar soul then flew out of the broken de and fled towards the Demon realms.

    It was the Doom Spirit.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± The chosen one of the Demon race let out a grudge-filled cry as her body gradually cracked and broke apart under the might of Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    As much as the chunks of flesh hoped to join back together, they were sted by wave after wave of power.

    Within seconds, they were sted into even smaller pieces, which then exploded into a purple bloody mist.

    Ophelia was originally thousands of meters tall after activating Ancestral Awakening.

    However, Nie Tian managed to st her Indestructible Form into a bloody mist with Titan¡¯s Wrath. Such power was simply unheard of.

    Dou Tianchen from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce was bbergasted. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Ophelia, the Demons¡¯ newly-made grand monarch, actually exploded and died under Nie Tian¡¯s single fist strike!¡±

    Before Nie Tian¡¯s return, he had joined Master Blood Spirit in attacking Ophelia.

    Having been engaged in a fierce battle against her, he had been deeply impressed by her battle prowess and the might of her Doom de.

    He knew that it would have been impossible for him to defeat her single-handedly.

    That was based on the fact that of her two opponents, she had put more effort into fighting Master Blood Spirit than him.

    ¡°After all, she¡¯s only an early tenth grade grand monarch,¡± Nie Tian, who looked like a majestic mountain in his erged form, muttered before activating Life Drain.

    Immediately afterwards, the purple bloody mist, which was what remained of Ophelia, was channeled by his life bloodline, and started flying towards him in clusters.

    They entered his body through the pores all over his body, and were added to his source power.

    At the same time, he pointed the top of the Spirit Scepter at the void.

    WHOOSH!

    Wisps of Ophelia¡¯s discarnate soul were drawn by the scepter and swirled into it, giving new fuel to the scepter.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was also a Demon, was still bogged down in Dong Li¡¯s dark power. By the time he noticed that Ophelia had been killed by Nie Tian with a single strike, he had almost lost his mind. ¡°You¡¯re seeking to die, Nie Tian!¡±

    He had attached great importance to Ophelia, who had carried a pure bloodline and had the Doom de at hermand. He had been convinced that she would be his right hand in the future.

    As far as he saw it, her potential had outmatched Grand Monarch Bloodlust¡¯s!

    In fact, she had made significant contributions to his speedy revival from the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    Now that such a nsman of tremendous promise had died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands, it was only natural that he flew into a rage.

    Nie Tian let out a derisive chuckle. Then, without sparing Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory another nce, he cast his gaze down and whispered, ¡°Starshift!¡±

    Sparks of dazzling starlight gradually manifested behind his back, as if he was growing a set of wings made of stars.

    In the next moment, his entire body blossomed with blinding light.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Channeler of the Fiends, here Ie.¡±

    The bone belonging to the Rampage Behemoth shot across the void like a crimson divine spear. Catching Grand Monarch Nether Channeler off guard, it pierced right through his flesh aura sea like a steel needle piercing through a balloon.

    PUFF!

    With lightning speed, the bone pierced through Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s abdomen.

    Raging bloodline power instantly burst forth in his punctured abdomen, countless sparkling crimson strings rapidly spreading and riddling his internal organs with holes.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler let out heaven-shaking, earth-shattering shrieks.

    Immediately afterwards, Yu Suying¡¯s Heaven-purging Divine Light arrived. Like numerous silver lightning bolts, the light pierced and drilled into his body, and started ravaging his flesh and muscles.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler could only let out agonized howls, while spewing out foul-smelling acidic liquid.

    The acidic liquid then transformed into fatally poisonous smoke that seemed to be capable of corroding the flesh of all lives and tainting all divine tools.

    With fizzing sounds, Yu Suying¡¯s Heaven-purging Divine Light was corroded by Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s bloodline toxins, and started to lose its brilliance. Seeing this, she hurried to pull the wisps of light out of his body.

    ¡°That bone...¡± she examined with rapt attention while summoning her Heaven-purging Divine Light back to her. She noticed that even though the bone sticking out of Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s abdomen was also corroded by the toxins, it didn¡¯t seem much affected, as it was still releasing wisps of crimson light that gradually destroyed Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s internal organs like blood-colored snakes.

    ¡°Time to die!¡± Nie Tian shouted in a deep voice.

    Like a monstrous god from ancient times, he suddenly appeared in front of Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, fixing him with an icy look.

    Grand Monarch Nether Channeler was shrieking in heart-wrenching pain. Nie Tian¡¯s arrival made even his soul tremble in fear.

    Wreathed in a torrential aura, Nie Tian now inspired deeper fear in him than anyone he had fought in his entire life!

    Even when facing his high chieftain, Grand Monarch Dark Depths, he hadn¡¯t felt such fear.

    Now, however, even the space seemed to be on the verge of copsing under Nie Tian¡¯s heaven-shaking, earth-shattering aura, and started to give off fizzing sounds.

    Standing on a wondrousnd, surrounded by stars, and with a mysterious fiery spell formation operating around him, he seemed to possess the power to reduce realms to scorchednd and incinerate all living beings.

    ¡°No!¡± Grand Monarch Nether Channeler cried out upon seeing the intense killing intent in his eyes.

    He decisively abandoned his severely injured body and fled in only a wisp of his soul.

    However, as soon as his soul left his body, fine wisps of soul power sputtered from the corners of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes like tiny lightning bolts.

    Immediately afterwards, a giant densely-woven of soul power came to form, taking up Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s whole view.

    After easily catching his fleeing soul like a fish, the pulled up into the shape of a ball.

    Then, he felt that his soul was gradually sliced into many pieces, along with his lifetime memories.

    ¡°I... I¡¯m done this time.¡±

    Soon, his awareness grew vague, and he no longer knew who he was.

    Nie Tian grabbed the bone belonging to the Rampage Behemoth with his huge hand and yanked it straight up.

    FIZZ!

    From the waist up, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s body split in half.

    Emerald-like drops of Blood Essence with Bloodline Crystal Chains flickering within them spilled out and sought Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s residual awareness in an attempt to secure a chance at rebirth.

    Nie Tian pursed his lips into a smile. ¡°No one I kill gets to be reborn! Life Drain! Life Purification!¡±

    His flesh aura sea instantly rushed out of his body and engulfed Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s remains, along with his acidic poisonous flesh aura.

    Every once in a while, drops of Blood Essence that contained deadly toxins were unraveled within Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea and turned into poisonous miasma, which then floated into the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Infused with the essence of Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s toxins, that miasma might turn an area of the realm into a poisonous swamp and spawn poisonous creatures in a few centuries.

    Surrounded by the thick flesh aura Grand Monarch Nether Channeler had left behind, Nie Tian gradually purged and refined it into himself. Suddenly, his eyes turned to see Grand Monarch Ash Bone and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. ¡°Twote tenth grade grand monarchs to go.

    ¡°The Bonedrudes¡¯ death power conflicts with my life bloodline... so Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory it is.¡±

    Wreathed in a scarlet flesh aura, he fixed his eyes on Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was restrained by Dong Li¡¯s dark power and couldn¡¯t manifest the true might of the Blood Purgatory Sea, suddenly felt a chill running down his spine.

    Immediately afterwards, he noticed that Nie Tian was staring at him...

    Ophelia had been at the early tenth grade. Grand Monarch Nether Channeler had been at the middle tenth grade. Both of them had been butchered by Nie Tian without being able to even put up a fight.

    This made Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory insecure and uneasy, which was a feeling that even Dong Li, who was wielding the Dark Aureole before him, couldn¡¯t give him.

    Even though Dong Li had merged the dark stones with herself and gained control of the Dark Aureole, she could only suppress his bloodline power by relying on the Dark King¡¯s residual power. It was impossible for her to kill him.

    In fact, he was convinced that not a single expert present, including the Ancientspirit grand monarchs and Grand Monarch Primal Wood, could pose a threat to him.

    The whole time, he had only been suppressed by the Dark King¡¯s paragon-level residual power. His life had never been in danger.

    That was why even though he saw the unfavorable situation, he had never thought about retreating and admitting defeat.

    As ate tenth grade grand monarch, he was from a distant era. Even the humans¡¯ Ice Emperor, Xuan Yu, had died after a battle against him. Who in this expert-deprived era could kill him?

    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ll finally be able to advance to the tenth grade with your death,¡± Nie Tian muttered as he assumed a tight grip on the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone and approached Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with his face filled with aspiration.

 Chapter 1598: The Strongest Human

    ¡°Blood Purgatory: Blood Refinement!¡±

    As Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory howled out these words, clusters of ckish-violet demonic mes flew out of his chest.

    Burning furiously, they fused into the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    The Blood Purgatory Sea, which had turned pitch-ck after being corrupted by Dong Li¡¯s dark power, burst into mes.

    The demonic mes carried the profound truths of demonic powers and bloodlines that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory hadprehended over the past hundreds of millennia.

    Now, a special connection seemed to form between them and the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    The burning blood sea suddenly started seething!

    A frenzied, bloodthirsty aura rose from it as deafening explosions echoed out.

    As drop after drop of translucent and sparkling Blood Essence shattered in the ck blood sea, the ck in the sea slowly faded, like pencil marks being erased by an eraser.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered slightly.

    To her surprise, she noticed that the Dark Aureole, which she was wielding with her dark power, started shaking violently.

    Now, after Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had stimted his bloodline power at all risks, even her Dark Aureole and dark stones didn¡¯t seem to be enough to suppress the Blood Purgatory Sea anymore.

    She took a deep breath. ¡°The might of ate tenth grade grand monarch is extraordinary indeed.¡±

    As soon as she stimted the two dark stones that had merged with her spiritual sea, the flesh aura and soul aura connection between her and the ck tortoise grew stronger.

    However, just as she was about to muster all of her strength and make a move, she discovered that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had suddenly broken away from her, surrounded by the blood sea.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    In the depths of the surging blood sea, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s body, which was ten thousand meters tall, suddenly burst forth with numerous purple lightning bolts. Sparkling purple wisps even flew out of his frenzied eyes.

    ¡°Ophelia and Bloodlust were members of my n. You killed them both, so I¡¯ll make you pay!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s howl shook heaven and earth.

    The lower half of his gigantic body was immersed in the seething Blood Purgatory Sea. Two ck horns stuck out of his forehead, as sharp as des and shining with an icy metallic luster. The purple beard on his chin dangled like purple bolts of lightning.

    With a wildugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you toe at me! Let me see how powerful thete tenth grade grand monarch who made Xuan Yu the Ice Emperor die from exhaustion in thest era really is!¡±

    He, who was about nine thousand meters tall, seemed a bit shorter than Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    However, his momentum was every bit as strong as his.

    In his erged form, Nie Tian was standing on and of exuberant life force, with a river of stars over his head and a sea of mes behind him like a burning cape. Furthermore, he was in the middle of a flesh aura sea that could devour the flesh power of all lives.

    CRACK!

    Cracking sounds echoed out as he took a step forward, as if even the void was going to cave in under his might.

    He clenched his fist and said, ¡°I¡¯ve waited a very long time for this battle.¡±

    It was as if just by doing this, he managed to seize endless power in his hand. Stars came to hover around his fist as fiery sparks sputtered from it. Wisps of flesh aura essence slithered on it like snakes before disappearing into his skin.

    BOOM!

    As Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory came close, Nie Tian took the initiative tounch a fist strike.

    ¡°What?!¡± Chatvic the titan couldn¡¯t help but exim as his heart suddenly started racing.

    He looked over with rapt attention, and discovered that Nie Tian seemed to fill up that area of the void with his fist strike.

    Everyone turned their eyes, and felt as if Nie Tian¡¯s torrential power and killing intent instantly created a vacuum tunnel bridging the starry river between him and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    WHOOSH!

    A pir of chaotic energy sted straight from Nie Tian¡¯s first towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s chest.

    It seemed to the powerful experts that the terrifying energy within the pir could easily prate any human realm that wasn¡¯t protected by a divine grand spell formation.

    ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡± Chatvic cried out, realizing that this fist strike was much mightier than the one he had killed Ophelia with.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°Bloodline: Demonic Armor!¡±

    Rich essence of flesh aura rapidly gathered from every part of his mountainous demonic body to his chest.

    The pure flesh power condensed into a ck chest armor that was extremely sturdy. Theplicated purple demonic engravings on it seemed to serve the purpose of improving its strength.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s pir of energy mmed into the ck armor like a Star Behemoth ramming into a vast realm. Demonic power, star power, me power, flesh auras, and various other powers exploded upon impact.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory stood unwavering like a mountain. Lightning wisps burst forth from his demonic eyes as purple lightning bolts were sent flying from his gigantic body.

    Nie Tian felt as if he had mmed his fist onto a huge hard rock that had existed for millions of years. ¡°Impressive. Late tenth grade grand monarchs are indeed not as easy to kill as Ophelia.¡±

    As much as he was amazed by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s power, he didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, he swiftly thrust the bone that belonged to the Rampage Behemoth towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s heart.

    The bone carried the Domain Split bloodline talent, which would have a strong effect on the ck chest armor Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had condensed with his flesh aura.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s expression flickered as he sensed a terrifying aura from the bone. He had a feeling that it could pierce through his chest armor and into his heart.

    Seeing the boneing at him, he, who hadn¡¯t moved a hair facing Titan¡¯s Wrath, hastily moved his gigantic body to avoid it. Afterwards, the two enormous beings started fighting in close quarters in the starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent. They exchanged moves with demonic des, sharp tools, bloodline magics, and flesh aura spells. It appeared that their battle would be asting one.

    None of the others dared to join their battle. They could only observe from afar.

    CRACK!

    A st of energy from Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s exchanges shot off and hit a huge floating meteor close to the Realm of Middle Continent, causing it to instantly break apart.

    After that, the broken pieces continued to explode into smaller pieces.

    ¡°Heavenly Demonic Seal!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory bellowed as he pressed his enormous, view-blocking hand down towards Nie Tian. As he did, an ancient demonic seal that was vested with the profound bloodline wonders of the Devils in the Void World descended with a crushing momentum.

    SHEW!

    In a blinding sh of starlight, Nie Tian vanished.

    The magenta seal that was ten thousand acresrge hit a realm close to the Realm of Middle Continent that had withered long ago.

    Upon impact, the dead realm exploded into countless pieces that shot in every direction like shooting stars.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that Nie Tian can actually contend against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, the Demon grand monarch who defeated You Qimiao!¡± Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion muttered without knowing it as he stared nkly at the two enormous beings engaged in a fierce battle in the dim starry river.

    He felt sad about himself as he realized that even he would have to avoid the stray energy sts from the shes between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh auras.

    If he didn¡¯t, any of them would inflict serious damage upon him.

    Not just him, but other early God domain experts like Zu Guangyao and Dou Tianchen also had awkward expressions as they constantly shifted about to avoid being hit by the stray energy sts from Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s fight.

    Ji Yuanquan sighed in admiration and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid, now that Nie Tian has entered the God domain, he has be the strongest expert on our side.¡±

    With their peak experts missing, You Qimiao had been the strongest human expert. However, seeing that this battle between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory seemed to be well-matched, and considering Nie Tian¡¯s advantage in age and potential, he had clearly surpassed You Qimiao as a Qi warrior.

    ¡°You forgot something,¡± Dou Tianchen said, pointing at the five evil gods, which together were keeping Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes upied. ¡°If Nie Tian fought Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with their help, their battle wouldn¡¯t have been so well-matched.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°It would be one-sided.¡±

    Upon hearing this, everyone snapped out of their daze, their expressions flickering violently.

    He was right. Right now, Nie Tian was fighting Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory without any assistance from the evil gods.

    If the five evil gods, which could keep ate tenth grade grand monarch fully upied for so long, joined Nie Tian in attacking Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, how long would he be able tost?

 Chapter 1599: Unstoppable!

    Enveloped in intense dark power and with the Dark Aureole floating over her head, Dong Li gazed off at Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who were fighting in the distance.

    She didn¡¯t seem to have any interest in aiding Nie Tian in this battle anymore as she said, ¡°I suppose it¡¯s not hard to solve the crisis in the Mortal World now.¡±

    ¡°The Mortal World...¡± Ye Wenhan looked puzzled.

    ¡°I suppose Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone were the two strongest ones of all the outsider grand monarchs gathered at the Seven Stars Realm Sea,¡± she exined, ¡°Now that they¡¯re bogged down here, I doubt the grand monarchs that are still there will be tough to defeat.¡±

    A bolt of lightning shed across Ji Yuanquan¡¯s widened eyes. ¡°So you¡¯re saying...?¡±

    ¡°Senior Zhao!¡± Dong Li eximed softly.

    Zhao Shanling flew to her side in the blink of an eye and asked, ¡°What is it?¡±

    With a smile, she said, ¡°I think it¡¯s about time we returned to the Seven Stars Realm Sea through the Realm of Unbounded Destion.¡±

    Then, she turned to Ji Yuanquan. ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep an airtight sealing spell on the space around our ancestralnd anymore. I seriously doubt that the outsider grand monarchs in the Void World will pour endlessly into the Mortal World and the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°So do we return to the Seven Stars Realm Sea now?¡± Zhao Shanling asked, his eyes filled with excitement.

    Dong Li nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, now!¡±

    SHEW!

    Overhearing their conversation, Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes, who was busy handling the joint attacks of the five evil gods, suddenly flew off towards the Bonebrutes¡¯ realms in the Spirit World, looking rather rattled.

    BONG! BONG! BONG! BONG!

    Strange sounds rang out from the Bell of Death, which had been knocked out of his hand, as if to help with his attempt to leave this ce of trouble.

    The five sinister evil gods, however, chased after him unrelentingly.

    Surging Nether Qi spiraled into a storm, inside of which the evil gods released seas of negative emotions that made waves of impact on Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s soul.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s state of mind was no longer stable, as all he wanted at this moment was to break free and inform his nsmen in the Mortal World and the Void World of their defeat in the Spirit World.

    Dong Li curled her lips and said to the others, ¡°Look. That Bonedrude grand monarch is trying to escape. What does that mean?

    ¡°That means what we suspect is probably right, that there might not be many powerful grand monarchs from the Void World at the Seven Stars Realm Sea now. Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Ophelia, and Grand Monarch Soul Breaker have perished here one after another. If we return to the Seven Stars Realm Sea now, I believe we¡¯ll be the stronger side.

    ¡°Not to mention that the Ripper Behemoth on that floating continent will also be there to help us!¡±

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up after hearing this.

    With a sigh of admiration, Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that Nie Tian actually turned the situation around by himself! Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone are the twote tenth grade grand monarchs that can change the course of a battle. Now that they¡¯re trapped here, things will be much easier.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ye Wenhan said, full of admiration. ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough to the God domain has yed a crucial role!¡±

    With a charming smile, Dong Li said, ¡°So what are we waiting for? It¡¯s about time the outsiders from the Void World and the Spirit World paid for the atrocities they¡¯vemitted in the Mortal World during this period of time! Also, believe me that the three major races of the Void World can¡¯t send an endless stream of grand monarchs into the Mortal World.

    ¡°They¡¯re fighting a strong force in the Dead Star Sea as well. Many of their experts must be caught up insting battles against them.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s return to the Mortal World!¡± Dou Tianchen shouted in high spirits.

    ¡°To the Seven Stars Realm Sea!¡± Zu Guangyao yelled. ¡°We shall retake every single domain that the outsiders from the Spirit World and the Void World took from us!¡±

    Greatly spirited, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Great! I¡¯ll take you there!¡±

    ¡°You go,¡± Ji Yuanquan said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and keep an eye on Nie Tian.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    With Dong Li¡¯s deployment and Zhao Shanling¡¯s assistance, they left for the Realm of Unbounded Destion through the teleportation portal in the Realm of Middle Continent. From there, they returned to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    ...

    Nie Tian threw his head back and cried out, ¡°Sea of Illusory Stars!¡±

    Numerous dazzling stars instantly shot out of his star domain.

    They shone increasingly dazzlingly as they expanded at a shocking rate.

    Within seconds, a sea of dazzling stars came to form, enveloping Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was ten thousand meters tall.

    In the dazzling starlight, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory discovered that even his soul and flesh aura perception was undermined.

    Most surprisingly, he couldn¡¯t locate Nie Tian anymore.

    All he saw and sensed with his flesh and soul aura was a boundless sea of stars, where all sorts of star formations morphed unceasingly, manifesting numerous profound magics.

    WHOOSH!

    mes suddenly fell from above the illusory sea of stars like a waterfall of molten iron.

    As the mes poured down on Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, his demonic skin and flesh were melted, as if turning into a mixture ofva and blood.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± he let out a furious roar. ¡°Show yourself, you little bastard!¡±

    The mes pouring down on him like a waterfall carried a unique aura that could incinerate all lives.

    As mighty as he was, he suffered excruciating pain as his so-called Indestructible form burned in the raging mes. He even had to mobilize his flesh aura to heal the wounds.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    Under the influence of the fierce me power, even the Blood Purgatory Sea that had a profound connection to his bloodline started boiling violently.

    As it did, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura was consumed at an rming rate.

    FIZZ!

    A crimson divine spear suddenly shot towards him like a red bolt of lightning.

    Caught off-guard, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory hastily twisted his waist to avoid it.

    Even so, a bone-deep gash split open in the abdomen of his mountainous form.

    The bone that belonged to the Rampage Behemoth was iparably sharp, and had a strong suppressing effect on Demons like Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. Even though it barely caught his flesh, the flesh aura it carried inflicted great pain upon him.

    Rays of purple light could be seen stitching up the nasty gash like thread and needles. Apparently, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was doing everything he could to heal himself.

    Nie Tian, however, had retreated to a far corner of the illusory sea of stars, and assumed his regr form.

    In his regr form, he was only two meters tall. Compared to Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was ten thousand meters tall, he now seemed as tiny as a fly.

    However, the unique flesh aura sea he had created around him with his life bloodline was still refining and absorbing Ophelia and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s residual flesh power.

    While Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was trapped within his Sea of Illusory Stars and being repeatedly attacked by his star power, me power and the bone from the Rampage Behemoth, he himself was recovering his strength with Ophelia and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s severed limbs and mangled flesh through Life Drain and Life Purification.

    Drop after drop of brand new Blood Essence came to form within his heart.

    Only after he had fully refined and absorbed Ophelia and Grand Monarch Nether Channeler¡¯s residual flesh aura did he take his time to say, ¡°Blood Essence Seething!¡±

    As numerous drops of Blood Essence were ignited simultaneously, Nie Tian resumed his erged form and returned to being nine thousand meters tall in the blink of an eye.

    Suddenly, he sensed the change in the other battle. Taken aback, he muttered, ¡°Hmm? Grand Monarch Ash Bone is trying to escape now?¡±

    As soon as he sent a wisp of his soul awareness into the Spirit Scepter, it arrived in the Realm of Middle Continent and establishedmunication between him and Dong Li.

    His eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re going to return to the Seven Stars Realm Sea? Brilliant move! If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ve got to make sure that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone remain upied! Elder Ji, please cancel the space-sealing spell. I¡¯d like to see if other outsiders dare toe here and court death!¡±

 Chapter 1600: Rise!

    In a corner of the Spirit World.

    The Bell of Death, which was thousands of meters tall, mmed into a dead star.

    BOOM!

    The entire star shook violently. Pieces ofnd broke off and drifted into the starry river.

    The mountainous Grand Monarch Ash Bone then plummeted into the star like a meteor, causing chasms to rip through the earth.

    Like a bone dragon, his huge arm stretched into the distance, hooked his bony fingers onto the Bell of Death, and brought it back to him.

    Icy, wrathful light filled the depths of Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s dark-green pupils as he cried out, ¡°The five of you were Netherspirit lords from the Void World in your previous lives. Now that you¡¯ve reforged your bodies and recovered your memories, why are you still taking orders from a despicable human?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil godsnded heavily one after another, forming a circle around Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    FZZZ!

    All five of them fixed their eyes on Grand Monarch Ash Bone. Peculiar lightning wisps could be seen slithering in the depths of their unfathomable eyes.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone felt an acute pain in his head, and realized that these Netherspirit experts were burning his soul power with their consummate mastery of soul incantations.

    He grew more and more furious. ¡°You¡¯re not anyone¡¯s puppets! Back in the day, you were bold enough to fight Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit for the position of high chieftain! After your loss, you chose to serve a paragon as his loyal subordinates. There was no shame in that! But now, you¡¯ve clearly recovered your self-awareness and memories, yet you choose to side with the lowly humans and even takemands from them! I don¡¯t understand!¡±

    As ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch, he had heard a great deal about the five evil gods. He knew how mighty they had been in their heyday.

    If Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit hadn¡¯t made that uncanny breakthrough and peaked as an invincible paragon, any of them would have had a fair chance at rising to the position of Netherspirit high chieftain.

    However, such brilliant warriors revered by all Netherspirits in the Void World were pursuing him unrelentingly under the instructions of a human. He found this hard to understand.

    He could defeat any of them with the help of his Bell of Death if he were to fight them one-on-one. However, if the five of them teamed up on him and released surging seas of negative emotions to impact his soul, he wouldn¡¯t have much of a chance to win.

    ¡°You know nothing of loyalty and honor,¡± the evil god of bloodlust said coldly, an intense flesh aura filled with torrential killing intent shooting up from behind him like beacon smoke. ¡°Ourte master, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, created the Phantasms in the Nether Realm in the Spirit World. All of them are his descendants and carry his bloodline! To us, their bloodline is every bit as pure as the Netherspirits¡¯!

    ¡°As for our new master, he¡¯s not a pure human. He represents the future! And he is the one that will open a new era!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone was confused. ¡°Open a new era? What are you talking about?

    With a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth, the evil god of bloodlust said, ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit created the Phantasms in the Spirit World. The Dark King entered the Spirit World, and the Demons were born as a people. Your Bone Emperor brought the Bonebrutes into the Spirit World. Do you think these paragons went to create new races in the Spirit World at different times only to conquer the Spirit World and expel the Ancientspirits?¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone was even more confused. ¡°Did they not?¡±

    The evil god of bloodlust let out a cold snort. ¡°Of course not! However, it¡¯s not my responsibility to exin their true intentions to you. All you need to know is that we¡¯ll devour your soul, and it¡¯ll be very helpful for us to recover our peak strength.¡±

    Immediately after saying these words, the five evil gods pounced on Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    The dead star couldn¡¯t withstand the battle between these mighty beings, and started falling apart.

    zing purple lightning bolts and surging seas of negative emotions shed with Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s death bloodline. The soul-iming tolls of the Bell of Death echoed far and wide, causing all those who heard them to die violent deaths.

    Hard-fought battles weren¡¯t only taking ce in the Spirit World.

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which was currently upied by the outsiders from the Void World and the Spirit World.

    Many Saint domain experts of the Void Spirit Society and Zhao Shanling joined hands and quietly split open spatial rifts in a dark area of the starry river.

    After that, Saint and God domain experts from the four great sects, along with Dong Li, Master Blood Spirit, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, and the three Ancientspirit grand monarchs, streamed in through different spatial rifts.

    ¡°Humans!¡±

    ¡°Floragrims and Ancientspirits too!¡±

    The outsiders from the Spirit World and the Void World that were gathered on the dead stars surrounding the Seven Stars Realm Sea shouted, their faces turning pale with fright.

    A doppelg?nger of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits also stood aghast upon seeing the massive assault led by the humans and the Ancientspirits. ¡°How could this be happening? How do they dare to attack us? Shouldn¡¯t we be marching into the Domain of Forbidden Heaven after regrouping our forces?¡±

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Many outsider starships that were berthed on the dead stars spewed mes and zing energies as they slowly flew away in deafening rumbles.

    HOOOWL!

    The heaven-shaking, earth-shattering howl of the Ripper Behemoth suddenly echoed out.

    Immediately afterwards, the superrge-scale floating continent entered everyone¡¯s view, and rammed towards the fleeing outsider starships with a heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing momentum.

    All of the outsider starships were thousands of meters long. However, they were reduced to scrap metal one after another upon impact with the floating continent.

    Tens of thousands of Devils, Phantasms, Demons, and Netherspirits on the starships were instantly reduced to bloody mists, which were then absorbed by the floating continent.

    As the rampage of the floating continent went on, more fleeing outsider starships exploded into balls of mes.

    More outsiders at different grades were killed without a chance to fight, and had their mangled flesh and broken bodies pulled into the floating continent.

    Even the burning debris of their starships was collected by the floating continent.

    In such a short time, the outsiders suffered heavy losses.

    Surrounded by a sea of twinkling stars, Chu Rui from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who hade out for the first time after his severe injury, said in a rhythmical voice, ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to march our forces into the Spirit World for the past millennia.

    ¡°As a people, we have never submitted to our enemies in this world since we rose to prominence and expelled the outsiders.

    ¡°We never have, and we never will!¡±

    FIZZ!

    Yin Xingtian cast his Godspan Sword Formation, and glorious sword light instantly enveloped Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger. ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, and Ophelia have all died in the Spirit World. You thought you could kill Nie Tian in the Spirit World? Hahaha, I wish you had sent more of your kind to die there.¡±

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ expression flickered violently.

    ¡°Oh, I forgot to tell you,¡± Yin Xingtian added. ¡°There¡¯s actually a secret spatial tunnel between the Mortal World and the Realm of Middle Continent, the birthce of my people.¡±

    Only then did he yell, ¡°Break him!¡±

    Countless wisps of sword light instantly pierced into Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelg?nger, causing it to instantly explode like a splendid firework.

    Even the wisps of his soul were snuffed out by the sword lights before they could escape.

 Chapter 1601: Dream?

    Bright stars changed their positions repeatedly in mysterious tracks.

    Once these stars moved out of their original positions, they would morph intoyers of illusory formations.

    Floating among the stars, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory felt that each star was tremendously huge. The starlight they emanated was so dazzling that it stung his eyes.

    The stars were clearly very close to him, but he couldn¡¯t tell where they were exactly.

    It seemed that his demon soul had been blinded, and he couldn¡¯t sense anything in the Sea of Illusory Stars.

    ¡°It¡¯s only the Sea of Illusory Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory thought, frowning.

    His deep ck flesh aura surged out of his nose. His ten-thousand-meter-high demon body was bombed repeatedly by Nie Tian, who was nowhere to be found.

    Also, he was scalded by waterfalls of me and shot by streaks of stars from time to time.

    The scariest thing was the Rampage Behemoth bone. Every time it passed by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, it would leave a deep wound in his body.

    If it weren¡¯t for his strong Indestructible Form and amazing self-healing ability, he would have been badly injured long ago.

    His growl resounded in the Sea of Illusory Stars, which seemed to make the stars almost copse. ¡°Nie Tian! Do you dare show yourself and face me?¡±

    Suddenly, he was surprised to smell wisps of demon Qi slipping in from outside the Sea of Illusory Stars. ¡°Eeeh!¡±

    He froze for a moment, and then suddenly came to his senses, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that we¡¯vee to the Demon realms somehow. Which Demon realm is this?¡±

    He spected that Nie Tian feared that their battle would affect the human realms around the Realm of Middle Continent, so he took great pains to secretly take him to the Demon realms of the Demons.

    Here, he could fight with no scruples. He wouldn¡¯t care even if they blew up the Demon realms.

    SWISH!

    The bright stars suddenly disappeared one by one, fusing into the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    The Sea of Illusory Stars spell that Nie Tian had disyed was instantly canceled. Having hidden in the dark for a long time, he handsomely emerged in front of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, pointed at a purple glowing sphere not far away, and said, ¡°The Sixth Demon Realm.¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory turned his head around, and found that the purple glowing sphere was indeed the Sixth Demon Realm.

    The Demon realms and the Realm of Middle Continent were separated by a boundless starry river. How did Nie Tian get him here?

    Unless he had been stuck in the Sea of Illusory Stars for a long time, and it had even been clouding the passing of time.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was suddenly uneasy.

    The Sixth Demon Realm was ruled by the Astarte n. One of Dong Li¡¯s dark stones was from here, where it had made one of the Astarte n¡¯s ancestors, Grand Monarch Utter Darkness.

    Of course, Grand Monarch Utter Darkness of the Demons was no match for the Dark King of the Void World.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was a little confused. ¡°Why did you use the Sea of Illusory Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to bring me here? You¡¯ve invaded the Sixth Demon Realm, plundered it, and massacred all the local Demon ns. You¡¯ve even stolen the Astarte n¡¯s prized dark stone. What do you want bying to the Sixth Demon Realm now?¡±

    RUMBLE!

    Suddenly, three deep purple ancient starships sailed from near the Sixth Demon Realm, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    It was clear that the three ancient starships belonged to the Demons, with a number of seventh and eighth grade Demons onboard.

    Several soldiers on the Demons starships spotted Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s huge body and recognized him immediately. ¡°Grand, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    They were instantly excited. ¡°Your Excellency, why are you in the Sixth Demon Realm? We¡¯re members of the Lancelot n of the Sixth Demon Realm. We¡¯re responsible for collecting and transporting the rare demon stones and insects in the surrounding small realms. We...¡±

    ¡°Go back to the Sixth Demon Realm!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory shouted.

    Seeing his pale face, the Demons on the three starships were frightened. They observed carefully, and finally saw Nie Tian, who looked extremely smallpared to him.

    One nsman of the Lancelot n recognized Nie Tian. ¡°A human! It¡¯s Nie Tian!¡±

    Then, the three demon starships didn¡¯t dare to stay any longer, but fled at full speed towards the Sixth Demon Realm.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura surged as he readied himself, wanting to prevent Nie Tian from killing them.

    However, Nie Tian did nothing.

    ¡°Those kinds of Demons warriors don¡¯t spark my interest anymore,¡± Nie Tian said with a smile. ¡°I only kill those who are at the ninth-grade or higher now.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t answered me. Why have you secretly brought me to the Sixth Demon Realm?¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory asked with a cold face. ¡°Do you think you can threaten me with the death of my nsmen in the Sixth Demon Realm? To tell you the truth, all of our truly gifted and talented nsmen have evacuated from the Spirit World.

    ¡°Those who carry the purest bloodlines have been sent to the Devils in the Void World. The others have established footholds in the Mortal World.¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory continued, ¡°Those who are still in the Demon realms are those whose bloodlines have no potential for advancing. They only stay to gather the things that our race has left behind.¡±

    ¡°Now that you¡¯re a tenth-grade grand monarch and your bloodline imprints have been awakened, you should know that the original birthce of the Demons isn¡¯t really the first or second Demon realms,¡± Nie Tian said, grinned and pointed at the purple glowing sphere again. ¡°The Sixth Demon Realm is the weakest among the six Demon realms.

    ¡°However, the truth is that the Demons gradually explored and upied the other five Demon realms, while the first Demon realm that was created was the Sixth Demon Realm!¡±

    A strange light shed in Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s eyes as he said, ¡°Who told you that?¡±

    Nie Tian changed the subject by asking, ¡°Do you know why your bloodline was suppressed by Dong Li¡¯s Dark Aureole and dark stones even though you¡¯re ate tenth-grade grand monarch? That¡¯s because the master of the Dark Aureole, the Dark King of the Devils, created your kind.¡±

    ¡°The ancestor of the Demons in the Spirit World and the source of your bloodline is the Dark King of the Devils!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s words were powerful and resonant.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory frowned. ¡°So you didn¡¯t go through all that trouble to bring me here to prevent my power from destroying the human realms near the Realm of Middle Continent.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression instantly became solemn and grave. ¡°Dong Li holds the Dark Aureole, and has merged the dark stones into herself. It¡¯s safe to say that she has obtained the inheritance of the Dark King. Although she doesn¡¯t carry his so-called bloodline, she has actually won the Dark King¡¯s acknowledgment.¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory snapped, ¡°Nonsense! The source of my race¡¯s bloodline lies with the Devils of the Void World!¡±

    Nie Tian grinned and said slowly, ¡°To be exact, it¡¯s the Dark King, the paragon of the Devils. Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, you¡¯re the strongest Demon now. If you are willing to dere that Dong Li has obtained the Dark King¡¯s inheritance, I can spare your life. What do you say?

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had a strange look on his face. ¡°Are you dreaming?¡±

    Nie Tian wasn¡¯t angry. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re unwilling, I¡¯ll ask someone else to take your ce. In fact, another demon grand monarch from your era is still alive.

    ¡°You should know that after he defected, he went to the Doomed Star Sea, where he¡¯s now fighting the three outsider races of the Void World.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be happy to return to his people and tell them that Dong Li has been acknowledged by Dark King andprehended the original power of the source of darkness.¡±

    Hearing this, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s expression instantly changed.

 Chapter 1602: Hell Demon

    In the Doomed Star Sea, the boundary between the Void World and the Mortal World.

    A grand ancient city made of white bones flew through the void like and of bones.

    The city of bones was called a Bone Shatter City, a great weapon of war built by the Bonedrudes.

    There were a total of three Bone Shatter Cities that were named after the weapons of the Bone Emperor of the Bonedrudes in the Void World.

    A Bone Shatter City could be considered to be a super warship. They had strong defenses, terrifying attacking ability, and could sail through the starry river like the floating continent.

    At the moment, the Bone Shatter City in the Doomed Star Sea was full of killing intent as shouts echoed out from every part of it. ¡°Kill them!¡±

    Thousands of Bonedrude warriors had died, their bones shattered and turned into a part of this Bone Shatter City.

    Meanwhile, many Bonedrudes were still fighting fiercely against humans and outsiders from the Spirit World.

    If Nie Tian were present, he would have seen that the incantations and magics that those humans practiced were mostly evil spells the four great ancient sects regarded as forbidden spells, like those practiced by the disciples of the Nether Spirit Society, Death Curse Sect, and Blood Spirit Sect.

    Those humans, the so-called crooked forces, had been hunted by the four great ancient sects and forced to flee from the Mortal World.

    However, they were now using all kinds of weird spiritual tools and manipting powerful Heavenly Corpses and Earthly Corpses to besiege and kill the Bonedrudes.

    ¡°How strange! Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who should have been guarding this Bone Shatter City, isn¡¯t in the city!¡± said a Demon grand monarch, who was three meters tall without activating Ancestral Awakening or Indestructible Form.

    The grand monarch had a single horn growing out of his head, and was carrying arge ck stone pir on his shoulder. His upper body was in the form of a high-tier Demon, while his lower body was in the form of an elephant.

    A Heavenly Corpse Sect Qi warrior who was controlling heavenly corpses approached him and asked, ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon, since Grand Monarch Ash Bone isn¡¯t here, why don¡¯t we make it quick?¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon was a powerful Demon from the previous era. He and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had been called the ¡°Demon Twins.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon seemed a little reluctant. Perhaps because Grand Monarch Ash Bone wasn¡¯t present, he felt regret, and said, ¡°Alright. I came here for the Bell of Death. It¡¯s a pity that I don¡¯t know where the Bonedrudes have redeployed Grand Monarch Ash Bone. Without him and the Bell of Death, this fight has lost its fun.¡±

    ¡°Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir!¡± He shouted as he suddenly cast the gigantic ck stone pir on his shoulders towards the highest bone pce in this Bone Shatter City.

    Demon light that could destroy heaven and earth shot out of the ck stone pir. Hundreds of Bonedrude warriors who were at the eighth and seventh grades were touched by the demon light, and were instantly reduced to bone powder that vanished.

    BOOM!

    Under the blow of the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir, the thousand-meter high bone pce instantly disintegrated and copsed.

    The Bonedrudes who had hidden there, activating their death bloodlines to power the death formations, died tragically in an instant.

    ¡°You may take care of the rest. Pulverize this Bone Shatter City thoroughly.¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon said and flew away.

    The Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir that had morphed into a gigantic stone pir flew out of Bone Shatter City and followed him.

    He felt his victory wasn¡¯t glorious. ¡°It¡¯s a contribution to smash a Bone Shatter City, but it¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t get to fight Grand Monarch Ash Bone. Otherwise, the oue might have been different.¡±

    SWISH!

    Suddenly, Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect unexpectedly appeared in front of him.

    He bowed slightly and said, ¡°Lord Hell Demon.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon frowned. ¡°It¡¯s you. Weren¡¯t you supposed to wake up the Chaos Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield? Don¡¯t tell me that things didn¡¯t go well over there?¡±

    ¡°The Chaos Behemoth has been revived, and is about to be dispatched to the Doomed Star Sea,¡± Feng Beiluo said with a smile. ¡°Your Excellency, congrattions on breaking a Bone Shatter City, one of the Bonedrudes¡¯ great war weapons. This is a great victory!¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon snorted. ¡°What victory?! Grand Monarch Ash Bone, the guardian of this Bone Shatter City, wasn¡¯t there. Without him and his Bell of Death, the Bone Shatter City¡¯s power wasn¡¯t disyed at all. Besides, without Grand Monarch Ash Bone to protect it, who could fight against me?¡±

    Feng Beiluoughed. ¡°Haha! Your Excellency, do you know where Grand Monarch Ash Bone has gone? Do you know why he isn¡¯t here?¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon was curious. ¡°No, why?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ash Bone was summoned by the Bonedrudes to help with a secret mission in the Spirit World,¡± Feng Beiluo exined. ¡°It¡¯s perhaps because they didn¡¯t want us to be alert that he left quietly without taking the Bone Shatter City with him. He only took the Bell of Death with him, thinking that they would win the battle within a short time.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon was very surprised. ¡°Why did he go to the Spirit World? Isn¡¯t it said that all its races are migrating because the energies of heaven and earth in the Spirit World have been exhausted?¡±

    ¡°He and your old rival, who has been revived in the Blood Purgatory Sea, quietly went to the Spirit World at the same time to prevent the Young Master from advancing to the God domain.¡± With these words, Feng Beiluo¡¯s expression grew dark. ¡°But their n failed. They joined hands, but still couldn¡¯t ruin Young Master¡¯s effort.

    ¡°Young Master sessfully broke through to the God Domain anyways!¡±

    Feng Beiluo seemed very proud as he continued, ¡°Upon breaking through to the God domain, the Young Master killed Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Ophelia. Grand Monarch Nether Channeler and Grand Monarch Soul Breaker also died shortly afterwards. Even your old rival and Grand Monarch Ash Bone are trapped.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon was taken aback. ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    He had fought both his old rival Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone. Back when he had defected and fled from the Demon realms, it had been Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory who had been responsible for hunting him down.

    At that time, he had only been a middle tenth grade grand monarch. He would have been killed by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory if it hadn¡¯t been for a certain turn of events.

    It had taken a long time for him to umte strength and be ate tenth grade grand monarch after Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Ice Emperor of the human race had died fighting each other.

    Nheless, he could still vividly remember Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s ferocity.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes, who had the Bell of Death and a Bone Shatter City at hismand, possessed outstanding battle prowess. Once the Bell of Death rang, it meant all living beings would be extinguished.

    How many evil human spellcasters and outsider rebels had been killed by the Bell of Death in the Doomed Star Sea?

    His duty in this battle was to prevent the Bone Shatter City from helping the Devils in the Doomed Star Sea, not killing Grand Monarch Ash Bone and destroying the Bone Shatter City.

    This showed that the man who had dispatched him didn¡¯t think that he alone could both kill Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who was also ate tenth grade grand monarch, and destroy the Bone Shatter City.

    Now, twote tenth grade grand monarchs had snuck into his homnd, the Spirit World. However, their mission had failed, and they had been trapped?

    He was doubtful.

    Feng Beiluo smiled and said. ¡°Now that your job is done here, why don¡¯t you take a trip back to the Spirit World? Perhaps you should meet and talk with your old friend Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.¡±

    ¡°Now?¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon said, feeling surprised.

    Feng Beiluo nodded. ¡°One of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelgangers has perished in the Mortal World, and the three outsider races of the Void World that have invaded the Mortal World have all suffered heavy losses. The victory in the Mortal World is too important to us. With Grand Monarch Ash Bone and Grand Monarch Soul Breaker leaving, we aren¡¯t at a disadvantage in the Doomed Star Sea anymore. When the Chaos Behemothes, we¡¯ll be in an even better situation.¡±

    ¡°Am I going to the Spirit World to help the Young Master, or deal with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory?¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon asked.

    ¡°After you get there, just listen to him.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    For some reason, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, whose heart was full of doubts, felt that Feng Beiluo had exaggerated Nie Tian¡¯s strength. He didn¡¯t believe that the Young Master, who had be famous recently, already had the power to fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    ¡°I suppose the man wants me to protect him, to prevent Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory from killing him, and prevent Grand Monarch Ash Bone from shattering his bones.¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon thought inwardly.

 Chapter 1603: Good News

    In the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    With Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ sub-soul shattered, the Ripper Behemoth hiding in the floating continent didn¡¯t have to hide anymore.

    The outsider warships exploded like fireworks, their debris absorbed by the floating continent like ming meteors.

    Those who were below the ninth grade were all shaken to death by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s devastating flesh aura.

    Various kinds of blood fell into the floating continent like springs and waterfalls.

    The brokennds in the upper part of the floating continent that had existed since ancient times absorbed the outsiders¡¯ blood, transformed it, and made it morph into strange drops of liquidized energy that fell with loud plops.

    In many areas of the lower part of the floating continent, arge number of exotic and rare flowers and herbs absorbed the abundant energy, and started growing vigorously.

    Due to the infusion of new energy, many areas with ore veins gave birth to rare spiritual materials and treasures.

    Since the floating continent had opened, people like Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying, who had attached themselves to Nie Tian, had been allowed to collect fruits, refine weapons, and improve their cultivation bases on it. Because of that, a significant proportion of the floating continent¡¯s reserve had been consumed.

    Now, the Ripper Behemoth was making up for the consumption of the floating continent¡¯s resources by virtue of the outsiders it killed.

    As long as the energy was sufficient, the floating continent would be able to give birth to exotic flowers, herbs, and treasures again.

    Many Saint and Void domain experts of the four great ancient sects, who had arrived through spatial rifts, were flying about on their brilliant air-transportation spiritual tools, which looked like pieces of jade.

    Many outsiders who hade from both the Void World and Spirit World became their targets.

    ¡°It is normal that we can win this battle after Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, and Ophelia died, and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone are trapped in the Spirit World,¡± Ye Wenhan said as he looked at the outsiders wailing in the distance.

    Then he sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°Only the strongest experts can change the course of a battle. Without Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone, a Ripper Behemoth alone can make them feel helpless.¡±

    Standing gracefully on the broad back of the ck tortoise, Dong Li seemed to be standing on a dark continent.

    Even though the ck tortoise, which had appeared in its giant form, didn¡¯t use dark power, it still made Dong Li look like an invible dark goddess.

    Since the ck tortoise carried the Dark Behemoth¡¯s bloodline and had reached the tenth grade, it could channel all kinds of energies from the starry river to strengthen itself at all times.

    Its body had slowly erged to the point where it wasrger than most outsider grand monarchs, and it continued to expand.

    ¡°We¡¯re retaking control of the Seven Stars Realm Sea,¡± said Dong Li.

    She looked down at the realm sea, watching streaks of blood and light fly into it. ¡°As you can see, the corpses of many outsiders are slowly raising the waters of the Seven Stars Realm Sea. It¡¯s about time we finished off the outsiders who havee from the Void World and Spirit World to invade our domains.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s sit here and wait for the cornered people who have scattered all over the Mortal World toe forward,¡± Ye Wenhan said with a snort. ¡°It¡¯s time for us to settle the score with those who have ughtered as they pleased in our domains.¡±

    Dong Li frowned. ¡°The only thing I¡¯m a little worried about is that Pei Qiqi has been missing for a while. With her around, the situation in the Seven Stars Realm Sea would be even better. As long as the portal is closed, outsider experts from the Void World won¡¯t be able to get here even if they have more to send here.¡±

    Ye Wenhan aired his opinion. ¡°The Void Spirit Society may know about Miss Pei¡¯s disappearance, but we know nothing about it.¡±

    FIZZ!

    Suddenly, a shocking sh of lightning came out of nowhere and arrived in front of Dong Li.

    The lightning stopped, and morphed into Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Those who recognized Yuan Jiuchuan gave a sudden start, and couldn¡¯t help exim in shock. ¡°Thunder Devil!¡±

    However, Dong Li wasn¡¯t scared. She looked at the Thunder Devil and asked in amazement. ¡°Yuan Jiuchuan, what are you doing here?¡±

    With her current strength, a mere Yuan Jiuchuan couldn¡¯t harm her at all.

    Yuan Jiuchuan answered, ¡°I¡¯m here under orders.¡±

    Dong Li felt curious. ¡°Orders? Whose orders?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan replied, ¡°The person who gave you the Dark Aureole.¡±

    Dong Li raised her eyebrows slightly.

    All of a sudden, endless darkness surged out of the ck tortoise¡¯s shell and her body.

    The darkness enshrouded her and Yuan Jiuchuan, making Ye Wenhan and all the experts of the four great ancient sects unable to see her or listen to her conversation with Yuan Jiuchuan.

    Momentster, the darkness abruptly dissipated. Dong Li and Yuan Jiuchuan reappeared.

    Dong Li said, ¡°Give the Phantasms and the Demons from the Spirit World a chance to live. Don¡¯t wipe them out. It¡¯s better to confine them to a particr domain or region. Of course, it doesn¡¯t hurt to kill those who refuse to surrender, and havemitted monstrous crimes before.

    ¡°If the people below the ninth grade haven¡¯tmitted any terrible acts, spare their lives...¡±

    She kept giving orders.

    The orders she gave were directed at the Demons and the Phantasms of the Spirit World in a bid to protect them from being wiped out. This left many experts of the four great ancient sects and Ancientspirits with doubts and resentments.

    Even Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying found it very strange and confusing.

    ¡°Why?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    ¡°Nie Tian will exin when hees back from the Spirit World,¡± Dong Li smiled apologetically and answered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Elder Ye. Please understand.¡±

    Hearing this, a Saint domain expert from other forces red up at her, ¡°Miss Dong! It was the Demons who conquered our domain! They have killed many disciples of my sect. Now we¡¯ve finally gained the upper hand, yet you say that we should spare the Demons and Phantasms? What is this about?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you we can kill those who havemitted heinous crimes,¡± Dong Li exined. ¡°Just spare the Demons and Phantasms with weak cultivation bases, and give the two races a chance to continue.¡±

    The man argued forcefully, ¡°The hands of the Demons with weak cultivation bases are also covered in humanity¡¯s blood. They deserve to be eradicated!¡±

    Dong Li frowned, looking unhappy.

    Noticing that she had gone silent, the man shouted even louder, ¡°Since they aren¡¯t humans, they won¡¯t act for the good of the human race. Since the Demons and Phantasms have been defeated in the human world, they deserve to be wiped out. Not just that, but we should also enter the Spirit World through the formation in the Realm of Unbounded Destion and wipe out all the descendents of the Phantasms, Demons, and Bonebrutes so that we can avoid trouble in the future.¡±

    Dong Li said, ¡°We can treat the Devils and Netherspirits in the Void World like that, but the disposal of the Phantasms and Demons must be put off!¡±

    The man growled, ¡°Why?¡±

    Dong Li squinted and emitted a dangerous aura. ¡°Because that¡¯s what I said. If you don¡¯t agree, you can go wipe out the Demons and Phantasms by yourself. My people will just sit back and watch you do it. How about that?¡±

    The man flew into a rage. ¡°You!¡±

    Although the experts of the four great ancient sects didn¡¯t agree with her decision either, they remained sensibly silent, because they were well-aware that it was really because Nie Tian had trapped Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone, and the strength of those like Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and Yu Suying that the human crisis had been solved.

    In the Sixth Demon Realm of the Spirit World.

    A hidden spatial passage suddenly absorbed the surging demon Qi, and became unimpeded.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s lower body, which looked like an elephant, emerged from the passage before he stepped onto the earth of the Sixth Demon Realm, causing the whole realm to shake.

    ¡°Demon realms. I¡¯m back after so many years,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed and roared.

    After that, he morphed into a surging beam of demon power, and instantly broke through the realm barrier to reach the starry river. ¡°Eternal Purgatory, you didn¡¯t expect me toe back, did you?¡±

 Chapter 1604: Young Master?

    Drops of Blood Essence were oozing out of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s mountainous, formidably strong body like sparkling, crystal-clear purple fruits.

    If one took a closer look, they could see that every drop of Blood Essence contained wisps of electricity and violent turbulent energy.

    BUZZ!

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon listened with his heart, and could even hear eerie low criesing from within the drops of Blood Essence.

    He was taken aback. ¡°With those drops of Blood Essence merging into his soul, doppelgangers can be created at any time!¡±

    He observed carefully again, and soon noticed that it was not only the Blood Essence of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who had been famous since a previous era, which was wailing; even his demon bones were giving out cracking sounds.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was clearly injured, and far from recovering.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon! It¡¯s you?¡± While he was stunned, a sh of crimson lightning shot through his lower back.

    He couldn¡¯t help but let out a fierce howl of pain. ¡°The Star Behemoth bone!¡±

    At the sight of the crimson lightning, Grand Monarch Hell Demon from the Doomed Star Sea suddenly felt that his bloodline was being suppressed.

    Only the Star Behemoths that had been overlords of the Primal Era could give him this kind of feeling in this starry river!

    ZZZZZLA!

    The lightning, which carried a shower of blood, circled around and vanished behind Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    He turned around hurriedly.

    By turning around, he was presenting his back to Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    He had forced Grand Monarch Hell Demon to flee from the Demon realms, and he had hunted him down and nearly killed him.

    Now, many yearster, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who had be ate tenth grade grand monarch, had returned from the Doomed Star Sea. Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s heart must be filled with hatred for him, but he... still dared to expose his back to him.

    This was because he felt that the person behind him was clearly more threatening and deadly than Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon flew into a rage. ¡°You look down on me, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory! You were able to defeat me and hunt me down because your bloodline grade was higher than mine! You and I were called the Twin Stars in our era, but you are much older than me! I¡¯ve never cked off with my cultivation when your Blood Essence rebuilt your body in the Blood Purgatory Sea after you died with the Ice Emperor!

    ¡°Like you, I am also ate tenth grade grand monarch now, but you actually dare to ignore me!¡±

    The Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir suddenly burst forth with demon light that was mighty enough to prate the heavens.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s demon light poured into the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir, causing the huge stone pir to continuously erge and rise until it was tens of thousands of meters high.

    WHOOSH!

    Countless demonic patterns surged with power on the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir, sputtering dark electric light, as the pir flew towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with a crushing momentum.

    The starry river seemed to be shaken and cracked, as odd crunching sounds echoed out. Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s activated bloodline talents helped improve aspects such as tenacity, enhancement, and sharpness, all of which targeted the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir.

    ¡°Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir!¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon roared.

    The demon light surging out of the huge stone pir seemed to make even the void sink, giving others an ufortable sense that space was twisting and copsing, and the maic field was in great chaos.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s expression changed slightly as he said, ¡°You are really much stronger after bing ate tenth grade grand monarch. Now, you are a formidable opponent indeed!¡±

    With that, he gave his shoulders a violent shake.

    Countless drops of Blood Essence on his demon body fell and condensed into a miniature Blood Purgatory Sea.

    The sea rolled up and stopped the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir. The powering from within the Blood Purgatory Sea steadily diminished the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir¡¯s terrifying force.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had never turned his head around to look at Grand Monarch Hell Demon since he had turned around.

    His eyes and attention had been focused on the person in front of him.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The demon light from the pir and the Blood Purgatory Sea shed with each other tens of thousands of times within a second.

    However, the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir just couldn¡¯t break through the Blood Purgatory Sea to bombard Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s skull as expected.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon, whose strongest weapon had been blocked by the Blood Purgatory Sea, leaned over and noticed the man standing in front of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    It was a human whose flesh aura was so intense and turbulent that it was like a sea that could engulf the flesh aura of any creature that dared to enter his surroundings.

    The human had a bright sea of stars above his head and a verdantnd under his feet. There seemed to be a secret realm of fire behind him, where destructive fire was burning. His nine-thousand-meter-tall body wasn¡¯t his divine dharma idol, but his actual flesh and blood...

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon, right? Legend has it that your potential was even greater than Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s. Feng Beiluo told me about you. It was me who asked you toe to the Sixth Demon Realm in the Spirit World.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon was surprised. ¡°Are you... the Young Master?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t heard of the so-called Young Master until recently. In fact, he hadn¡¯t thought of him as a strong fighter.

    He had been amused to hear Feng Beiluo, the Thunder Demon, and others praise him in unimaginable ways.

    He had suspected that their ingratiation, praise, and exaggeration of the Young Master had been meant to make it easy for him to gain their approval and loyalty after he came to the Doomed Star Sea in the future.

    He had thought that Feng Beiluo had summoned him to the Spirit World to rescue Nie Tian.

    But now...

    He hesitated, and then asked doubtfully, ¡°Was it you who injured Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory? Also, where¡¯s Grand Monarch Ash Bone? I¡¯ve heard he¡¯s also in the Spirit World, and he came to kill you.¡±

    ¡°My five evil god puppets are keeping Grand Monarch Ash Bone busy. He¡¯s not returning to the Doomed Star Sea any time soon.¡± Nie Tian said gently with a smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t summon you to the Spirit World to use your power to fight Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. I want you to go to the Demon realms to gather the remaining Demons.

    ¡°You have to convince them that they must obey you instead of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, or the Devils of the Void World.¡±

    Overhearing his words, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was angered. ¡°Nie Tian, do you think Grand Monarch Hell Demon can rece me?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bloodlust and Ophelia have died. After you die, the Demons will naturally obey Grand Monarch Hell Demon,¡± Nie Tian said, taking it for granted. ¡°You are different from Grand Monarch Primal Demon. Since you intend to join the Devils of the Void World, you must die.¡±

    ¡°Young Master, why do we have to bring the remaining Demons together and make them obey me?¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon asked in puzzlement.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes went cold. ¡°You just need to know one thing ¡ª if you can¡¯t make that happen, we will wipe out the Demons in the Spirit World, but if you be the new master of the Demons, they¡¯ll be given a way out.¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Hell Demon screamed in unison.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon made a quick decision, and immediately said, ¡°OK! I¡¯ll help you kill Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory! Once he¡¯s dead, I¡¯ll be able to lead the remaining Demons as you wish!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon, I can¡¯t believe that as a Demon, you¡¯re actually colluding with a human to kill your own kind!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory growled in anger.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed wickedly. ¡°I¡¯ve done many things like this in the Doomed Star Sea. Besides, don¡¯t you remember the reason why I was banished and hunted down by you?¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory immediately froze, and became speechless.

 Chapter 1605: Beyond The Reach Of An Ordinary Person!

    In the dark starry river east of the Sixth Demon Realm.

    A huge demon figure, who had activated Ancestral Awakening, appeared in the graceful form of a purple glede.

    It flew closer and closer.

    Nie Tian, who was about to attack Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory again, looked east with astonishment. ¡°Eeeh?¡±

    Then heughed and said to Grand Monarch Hell Demon, ¡°We¡¯ve got a new visitor.¡±

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s eyes brightened.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon was slightly taken aback. ¡°This is the Demons¡¯ territory. Could it be a Demon?¡±

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°An old acquaintance.¡±

    SWISH!

    Brilliant light suddenly shed in the east, like a deep purple meteor.

    The purple meteor suddenly morphed into the original form of Agatha aftering close to the Sixth Demon Realm. After spotting the erged Nie Tian, and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory Grand Monarch Hell Demon in their Indestructible Forms from afar, she had a weird look on her devilishly beautiful face, as if she had seen ghosts.

    After hesitating for only three seconds, she ignited her Blood Essence, wanting to flee to another Demon realm at a faster speed than she hade.

    Many human experts and Ancientspirits had swarmed into the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which had led to the three outsider races of the Void World that had been gathered there being killed or wounded in an instant.

    The Ripper Behemoth had controlled the floating continent to smash the ancient starships one by one with an overwhelming momentum, causing her nsmen to die and their portals to fall in an instant.

    Seeing that their n of invading the Mortal World had failedpletely, Agatha had known that if she stayed, she would only be caught and killed.

    Struck by an idea, she had quietly left the Mortal World for the Spirit World through a secret spatial passage.

    She came to the Demon realms of the Spirit World with the intention of quickly regaining her bloodline power by virtue of the remaining demon Qi in them. She also wanted to see if she could figure out a way to help her return to the Void World.

    Even if she couldn¡¯t do that, she could hole up for a while until the Mortal World became safe to her.

    ¡°What the...? Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s battle against Grand Monarch Ash Bone should have been taking ce near the Realm of Middle Earth!¡± Agatha cursed inwardly as her bloodline talent exploded, and drops of Blood Essence burst into mes.

    Nie Tianughed. ¡°It must be fate that we meet again. Now that you¡¯re here, don¡¯t leave just yet.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    The curtain of stars morphed into a sea of stars and suddenly disappeared from over his head.

    As it reappeared, the Heavenly Stars Flower flickered and shot out brilliant divine starlight, blocking Agatha¡¯s retreat.

    In Agatha¡¯s eyes, there was a bright sea of stars full of Nie Tian¡¯s aura in front of her.

    Strange light shed in therge eyes of Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who hade from the Doomed Star Sea under Feng Beiluo¡¯s demand. ¡°Agatha of the Devils...¡±

    He stared at Agatha. After seeing that she was trapped by Nie Tian¡¯s star domain, he faltered. ¡°Young Master, Agatha of the Demons, she... You¡¯d better pull your punches.¡±

    Nie Tian was confused. ¡°Why?¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon lowered his head and exined somewhat awkwardly, ¡°Umm... I¡¯ve heard that Agatha has a connection to Master. Master has had many chances to kill her, but he has spared her life every time.¡±

    ¡°Master?¡±

    ¡°Your father, Young Master.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I certainly didn¡¯t expect them to have a connection.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you keep an eye on Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory. It¡¯s up to you whether you fight him or not. As long as he doesn¡¯t leave the Spirit World through any spatial passages, he¡¯ll be mine eventually.¡±

    With that, he suddenly took a step in the void.

    With that single step, he crossed tens of thousands of meters, and reached the curtain of stars.

    When Agatha, who had rushed into his star domain, saw him suddenly arrive, she instantly felt despair.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will only imprison you for now,¡± Nie Tian said, with a grim expression.

    Strands of dark green wood energies surged wildly out of the Godspirit Tree and seventy-two towering ancient trees on thend under his feet. They bound Agatha¡¯s Demon body tightly, like vines that could entwine all creatures.

    Agatha, who had previously wanted to flee the Sixth Demon Realm in the form of a purple glede, shrank sharply.

    However, as she shrank, the dark green vines shrank ordingly.

    In the end, the dark green vines still bound her tightly.

    FIZZ!

    Agatha repeatedly activated her bloodline power to release electric light and demon fire, but she just couldn¡¯t get rid of the vines containing the true meaning of life. She remained tightly imprisoned.

    Nie Tian looked at her coldly and joked, ¡°Give up already. Considering your bloodline grade, you can¡¯t possibly break free. I remember that you imprisoned me in a simr way in the Void World. You never expected this, did you? It¡¯s been such a short time, but our positions are reversed. Now, you are my prisoner.¡±

    Agatha felt very stifled. She tightened her lips and said nothing.

    Back when she had attacked Nie Tian in the Void World, she had captured him alive without difficulty.

    Now, it was just as easy for Nie Tian to capture her.

    How long had it been?

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon looked shocked. ¡°It seems so... easy?¡±

    Agatha was a grand monarch. It was natural that he had heard about her when he had been in the Doomed Star Sea.

    In particr, he had heard rumors about her and Nie Tian¡¯s father.

    Agatha had defeated many early God domain experts and early tenth grade Ancientspirit grand monarchs on their side in the Doomed Star Sea.

    However, Nie Tian had now imprisoned her almost immediately after she showed up, which exceeded Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s estimate of Nie Tian¡¯s fighting strength.

    ¡°No wonder, no wonder Eternal Purgatory was so afraid of him.¡± Bright light shed in Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s eyes as he stared warily at Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and contemted.

    Then, he noticed that Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory was now quietly releasing wisps of flesh aura, as if trying to decide where he should escape quickly with the Devils¡¯ Blood Escape Art.

    He suddenly shouted, ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, do you want to escape? Are you afraid of me?¡±

    With a loathing expression, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory said, ¡°You? You¡¯re not worthy of my fear.¡±

    At that moment, Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s Bell of Death suddenly tolled with an earth-shaking sound in the distance. ¡°Eternal Purgatory! Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who seemed to be made of nothing but bones, was so panicked that he crushed a number of meteorites near the Sixth Demon Realm as he rushed over.

    Many of his bones were visibly cracked, and his Bell of Death tolled constantly.

    However, there weren¡¯t any mes of death in his Bell of Death.

    Following Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh aura, Grand Monarch Ash Bone had finally found his way here, stumbling the whole way. However, the first person he saw was Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone looked shocked. ¡°Wh-what are you doing here?¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon froze, and thenughed grimly. ¡°Grand Monarch Ash Bone! It¡¯s great that you¡¯re here. Before I left the Doomed Star Sea, I destroyed the Bone Shatter City that you were supposed to be guarding. Without you, it was so fragile that I felt bored smashing it!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone flew into a rage. ¡°What?! How dare you... destroy my Bone Shatter City!¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon chuckled. ¡°I just did, so what?¡±

    He had already seen the five balls of cyan smoke that were rapidly following Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s tracks.

    The fluctuations of energying from the five balls of aura frightened him.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon observed carefully, and finally saw the approaching evil gods¡¯ terrifying bodies. ¡°Are the five balls the evil god puppets that Nie Tian mentioned? Feng Beiluo didn¡¯t lie to me. This Young Master is no ordinary person indeed!¡±

 Chapter 1606: Life Blend In A Real Sense

    The five evil gods grew increasingly fierce and dominant.

    ¡°You can¡¯t get away, Ash Bone.¡± The evil god of bloodlust said with an icy look in its eyes. Like a gigantic human-form hedgehog, it was covered in sharp thorns that were hundreds of meters long, and shone with a cold, metallic luster.

    Each and every thorn was covered inplicated engravings, which seemed to carry profound bloodline wonders.

    Heart full of tion and excitement, the evil god of bloodlust thought to itself, ¡°This new body of mine appears to be even more powerful and full of potential than the one I had in my previous life!¡±

    He could tell that his fourpanions, the evil gods of hatred, fear, despair, and rage, shared his feelings, and they were also marveling inwardly at the might of their reforged bodies.

    Having regathered their lost memories and soul fragments and absorbed the flesh auras that had been sealed within those stone statues, the five evil gods had been resurrected in a real and full sense.

    They had fully recovered their memories of their previous lives in the Void World, and the profound truths they had derived about their bloodlines.

    That was why they were so excited to discover that their new bodies were much more powerful than their previous ones.

    Nie Tian had reforged their bodies with countless drops of his Blood Essence. For this reason, there were significant differences between their new bodies and their old Netherspirit bodies.

    Among the races of the Spirit World, the Demons had their Indestructible Form, the Bonebrutes had their Unbreakable Form, and the Floragrims had their Heavenly Wood Heal.

    All of these races had powerful fleshly bodies with unique wonders.

    However,pared to them, the Netherspirits and the Phantasms were far inferior regarding the strength of their fleshly bodies.

    Their advantage was in their understanding of souls and mastery of soul power.

    Back when the five evil gods had inspired fear across the Void World as Netherspirit lords, it had been their exceedingly powerful souls that they had relied on. Their bodies had always been their weak spot.

    In fact, their untimely deaths had a great deal to do with their rtively weak fleshly bodies.

    However, now...

    CRACK! CRACK!

    As soon as the fully-resurrected evil god of bloodlust activated his bloodline, cyan lightning wisps could be seen sparking among his sinister sharp thorns.

    Each and every thorn burst forth with terrifying light, as if they were divine weapons that could pierce through any flesh-form being.

    He clenched his fist, and was struck by a feeling that his bones had be as hard as celestial metal, and that the pure flesh power he could muster now had far surpassed what he could muster in his previous life.

    The evil god of bloodlust took a deep breath and said, ¡°I was stuck at thete tenth grade for a long period of time before I died in my previous life, and I saw no hope of advancing to the next stage. I even had a feeling that it was myck of fleshly strength that had been keeping me from taking that step forward. Now, however, with the wondrous bodies our new master has forged for us with his Blood Essence, I might actually be able to achieve what I couldn¡¯t in my previous life!¡±

    The other four evil gods perceived his thoughts due to their interconnected souls, and responded, ¡°We have the same feeling!¡±

    The five of them exchanged nces with each other before turning to look at Nie Tian in the distance.

    For the first time, heartfelt gratitude appeared in their eyes.

    They realized that it was Nie Tian who had revived them with his Blood Essence, helped them recover their lost memories and soul fragments, and given them a chance to rise to heights they couldn¡¯t have risen to in their previous lives.

    ¡°Transcend the limits of the tenth grade and walk the starry river as paragons!¡±

    As soon as the five evil gods, who had won countless battles and made their names throughout the Void World, opened their arms and let out deafening roars, five seas of five different negative emotions engulfed Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    The tolls of the Bell of Death suddenly grew sad and dreary.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was just about to escape, was caught off-guard and engulfed by the seas of negative emotions as well. His expression flickered violently as he cried, ¡°Ahh!¡±

    The same went for Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    The seas of negative emotions were invisible and formless. One could only perceive them with their souls.

    The intense hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust within them seemed to be peculiar energies drawn from thest words and final emotion-venting of countless living beings before their deaths.

    The three grand monarchs, Ash Bone, Eternal Purgatory, and Hell Demon, seemed to see images of the misery and brutality that beings of a wide array of species had suffered before their deaths.

    Among them were beings of various species from the Void World, along with Ancientspirits, Floragrims, and ckscales from the Spirit World.

    The three grand monarchs instantly realized that the beings they were seeing that had suffered violent deaths must have been killed by the five evil gods. To their surprise, some of the hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust appeared to have been drawn fromte tenth grade grand monarchs like them.

    This proved that any of the evil gods had been capable of single-handedly killing experts at their level in battle in their prime.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Agatha, who was tightly bound by the dark-green rattans, trembled with fear from time to time as she looked at the five evil gods from afar. Apparently, she was also influenced by the negative emotions and lost herself in them from time to time.

    Her mind was switching back and forth between sanity and confusion.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian turned to examine her with a frown. Only then did he realize that since she had to muster power to fight the vines and the pressure they imposed on her, she was poisoned by the seas of negative emotions released by the evil gods despite the significant distance between them.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but sigh in admiration. ¡°Those five are getting more and more powerful indeed. Even though Agatha is at a rtively low grade, she¡¯s still a grand monarch, and she¡¯s so far away from them.¡±

    With this thought, he sent out a wisp of soul will.

    Enveloped in the seas of negative emotions, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who hade from the Doomed Star Sea, felt as if he were a small boat at the heart of a devastating storm.

    However, the violent sea seemed to suddenly grow calm.

    ¡°Would you keep an eye on Agatha and what¡¯s going on in the vicinity for me?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s voice echoed in his ears. ¡°I¡¯ll take my time wearing Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone down.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon went nk for a moment.

    Immediately afterwards, he found Nie Tian, in his erged form, shifting his position in the void and arriving in front of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the blink of an eye, who was enveloped in the seas of negative emotions created by the five evil gods.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Blinding bolts of starlight and devastatingly fierce mes instantly burst forth from within him.

    With his god domain unactivated, the three spiritual cores within his spiritual sea in his dantian provided him with seemingly endless power like superrge-scale realms. Each and every move he made seemed to be vested with profound celestial power.

    The surging wood power within his wood power spiritual core worked with his flesh aura sea perfectly, allowing him to heal injuries and recover flesh power efficiently.

    ¡°Bloodline: Life Blend!¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian called out in a low voice, the bone that belonged to the Rampage Behemoth blossomed with violent crimson light.

    Then, the light rapidly condensed into the illusory shape of a Star Behemoth that wrapped itself around Nie Tian¡¯s erged form like a suit of armor, which seemed to be a part of him.

    A brutal and frenzied power that was unmatched throughout the starry river poured out of the illusory shape into Nie Tian¡¯s body, as if to bless him with the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bloodline and power.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes shone as bright as a zing sun. ¡°This is Life Blend in a real sense, infusing me with the power of another species!¡±

    As he moved his arms, he felt endless power inside of him. Therefore, he gathered strength and threw a casual punch towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s chest.

    BOOM!

    The shield the ten-thousand-meter tall Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had condensed with his Blood Essence instantly shattered.

    His chest sank considerably as purple demonic blood poured down the corner of his mouth like a stream.

 Chapter 1607: Devastating Power!

    ¡°This feels great!¡±

    Nie Tianughed wildly as his magnificent form shone with a crimson, jade-like luster.

    If one examined him with rapt attention, they would see the illusory shape of the Rampage Behemoth looming on his crimson, jade-like skin.

    Under his skin, blood that carried the essence of life power ran like mighty rivers.

    The blood seemed like his own blood crossed with that of the Rampage Behemoth.

    It gave others a feeling that the Rampage Behemoth had merged into Nie Tian and be a part of him.

    ¡°Now let¡¯s try again!¡±

    Nie Tian took a step forward and threw another heavy punch towards Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.

    As the fist strike sted forth, it seemed to be going to end the heavens and crush the earth. Its dominating power even split the seas of negative emotions.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The dark purple shields Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had scrambled to form in front of him exploded one after another.

    With each shield that exploded, a stream of blood ran down the corner of his mouth.

    Then, sted by Nie Tian¡¯s heavy power, the blood vaporized into a light purple mist that rose into the void.

    ¡°Nice! This is what Life Blend should be like! Hahaha!¡±

    With a wildugh, Nie Tian, who was slightly shorter than Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, tried to get as close as he could to Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, and went on to bombard him with his pure, dominating flesh power.

    ¡°This is brilliant!¡±

    The blood-colored light released by the bone had condensed into an illusory shape of the Rampage Behemoth, which had attached itself to his body like a full suit of armor in the form of Life Blend. Now, it was providing him with its devastating power as a brand new source of strength.

    This was something Life Blend had never done before.

    Before, whenever he had activated Life Blend, he would have a feeling of himself enhancing andmanding the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s power within the bone.

    It seemed to him that he had been the one assisting the bone.

    Now, however, he felt as if the Rampage Behemoth had be a part of him as he bombarded Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with ease and verve. He could feel the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s power strengthening his body and enhancing his battle prowess.

    The bone and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s power within it was assisting him.

    ¡°I used to leave the bone in the starry river for it to absorb all sorts of power. After that, I infused it with many drops of my Blood Essence, and let it absorb arge amount of flesh power from the Seven Stars Realm Sea. Thanks to all that, this bone came to hold terrifying power.

    ¡°It was just because it was so powerful that I ended up being dominated by it in my previous battles!

    ¡°However, now that I¡¯ve broken through to the God domain and refined my body over and over with the deaths of outsider grand monarchs, I¡¯m finally strong enough to dominate the bone and fuse the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s power into myself in the form of Life Blend!

    ¡°This has lifted my flesh power to a whole new level!¡±

    During its prime, the Rampage Behemoth had fought an ultimate battle against the Bone Emperor in the Void World, which had killed both of them.

    As a paragonparable to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and the Dark King, the Bone Emperor was the strongest expert in Bonedrude history, who had created the Bonebrutes in the Spirit World.

    That bone of the Rampage Behemoth had previously been tainted with the Bone Emperor¡¯s death power, which had kept it from manifesting its true might until it had been purged

    Now, as Nie Tian merged it with himself through Life Blend, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s residual power within it instantly took his battle prowess to a new height.

    ¡°Flesh aura sea! Change!¡±

    His flesh aura sea, which contained immense life power, instantly condensed and morphed into a huge scarlet wheel that slowly rotated over his head.

    ¡°Lifeblood Wheel!¡±

    As the huge scarlet wheel rotated, it seemed to crush the space in its surroundings and emanated infinite bloodline power.

    At the same time, the wisps of mist transformed from the blood spilling from Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s mouth and nose were somehow drawn by the Lifeblood Wheel, and flew rapidly into it.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s heart also started to pound abnormally. As he ignited his demonic Blood Essence, he shrewdly discovered that part of his stimted flesh power was somehow gone.

    His expression flickered violently. ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s enormous iing fist and its torrential aura filled his entire view and soul perception.

    The devastating fist strike seemed to be vested with star power by every star in this starry river, along with me power that could incinerate all things, flesh power that could engulf all life force, and soul power that could infiltrate minds like steel needles.

    HOWL!

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory howled as the blood sea he had used to stop the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir morphed into a boundless blood prison, with which he attempted to stop Nie Tian¡¯s frenzied fist strike.

    Like the fist wielded by an ancient god, Nie Tian¡¯s fist mmed into the Blood Purgatory Sea, dragging a tail of torrential energies behind it.

    In the next moment, the blood sea in the Demon realms that was said to be full of mysteries exploded like a bloody realm, countless rays of blood-colored light shooting in every direction and blood falling like rain.

    AHH! AHH! AHH!

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s body, which was ten thousand meters tall, burst forth with purple lightning bolts, as if he were going to explode with the blood sea.

    As this happened, the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir was no longer caught in the Blood Purgatory Sea, and was retrieved by Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    Then, he slowly pulled away from the seas of negative emotions to the ce where Agatha the Devil was being bound.

    However, he kept his eyes on the battle between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory the whole time. Not once did he turn around toy his eyes with glittering purple pupils on Agatha.

    It seemed to him that every single punch he threw carried enough power to shatter the Sixth Demon Realm now that he had seemingly merged the Rampage Behemoth with himself, and his strength had risen through the ceiling.

    A bitter expression appeared at the corner of Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s mouth. ¡°Even though Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory hasn¡¯t recovered his peak strength, he¡¯s stronger than manyte tenth grade grand monarchs. However, as he faces the young master¡¯s storm of attacks, he doesn¡¯t even seem to be able tounch any counterattacks. This young master, who I didn¡¯t know about until just recently, is a freak indeed!¡±

    The seas of negative emotions quietly changed, making more fissures appear in the bones of Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who was caught in the middle of them.

    ¡°We were at a clear disadvantage in the battle in the Doomed Star Sea, so much so that we had to go awaken the Chaos Behemoth even though we weren¡¯t sure about the result of it joining the battle.¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon muttered to himself. ¡°Then, I thought I was summoned to the Spirit World to protect him. However...¡±

    Time passed bit by bit.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon soon noticed that the blood wheel slowly rotating over Nie Tian¡¯s head was quietly absorbing the flesh aura Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory exuded as the two of them fought on.

    The absorbed power was then fed to Nie Tian, allowing him to be full of vigor at all times.

    ¡°Even Agatha and I...¡± To his surprise, he noticed that wisps of flesh power were even flying out of the bound Agatha and himself, being absorbed by the blood wheel and used to build up Nie Tian¡¯s strength.

    ¡°If this goes on, Eternal Purgatory¡¯s defeat will be certain,¡± he muttered to himself.

    After observing for a bit longer, he suddenly eximed, ¡°He¡¯s trying to escape, young master!¡±

    As soon as he finished, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory abruptly merged with the badly-damaged Blood Purgatory Sea and fled towards the Second Demon Realm.

    ¡°The Second Demon Realm is where the Blood Purgatory Sea normally is!¡± he eximed. ¡°His battle prowess will greatly improve there!¡±

 Chapter 1608: A Fatal Strike!

    ¡°The Second Demon Realm?¡± Nie Tian said with a casual smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Let him go. I want to see if that Blood Purgatory Sea of his can actually help boost his power in the Second Demon Realm.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon didn¡¯t know what to say.

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who was ten thousand meters tall, split up and morphed into numerous rivers of blood that flowed towards the Second Demon Realm.

    The blood rivers were also mixed with the blood of the Blood Purgatory Sea.

    SPLASH!

    As the rivers stretched rapidly into the distance, Nie Tian took his time to follow them.

    ¡°Master!¡± the evil god of bloodlust eximed, the light of intelligence shining in the depths of his cyan pupils. ¡°Even if Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory flees to the Second Demon Realm, he¡¯ll still be in the Spirit World. We might as well kill Grand Monarch Ash Bone first. Once Grand Monarch Ash Bone is dead, we¡¯ll be able to team up with you, and killing Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory will be much easier.¡±

    The evil god of fear chimed in, ¡°Eternal Purgatory is a fool! He¡¯ll only have a chance to survive if he joins hands with Grand Monarch Ash Bone. By fleeing to the Second Demon Realm, not only will he get Grand Monarch Ash Bone killed, but himself too.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get rid of Ash Bone first, master,¡± the evil god of rage also said with determination.

    Nie Tian let out a low chuckle and said, ¡°You¡¯ve changed indeed. It seems to me that you¡¯ve finally be living beings withplete souls and independent consciousness.¡±

    It surprised him that the five evil gods were suggesting that they kill Grand Monarch Ash Bone first.

    This made him realize that, having visited the Nether Realm and absorbed the flesh auras sealed up within those stone statues, they hadpletely merged the soul fragments and soul will that had been gathered from the three worlds into themselves now.

    They had finally been reborn in a real sense!

    ¡°They¡¯re right. Let¡¯s kill Ash Bone first!¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon chimed in. ¡°Once we kill Ash Bone, there¡¯ll be nothing Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory can do to escape death. Even holing up in the Second Demon Realm won¡¯t help. In fact, not a single ce in the Spirit World or the Mortal World will keep him safe. Death awaits him, as long as he doesn¡¯t flee to the Void World within a short time!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly. ¡°Since you all think this is the wise thing to do, alright then.¡±

    The Bonedrude grand monarch, who was suffering in the invisible seas of negative emotions, felt deep fear for the first time upon overhearing their conversation and seeing Nie Tian nod.

    It wasn¡¯t imposed on him by the evil god of fear, but rather fearing straight from the heart!

    ¡°Eternal Purgatory!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s bellow somehow condensed into a thick beam of pale white death light that sted directly towards the Second Demon Realm.

    Hundreds of thousands of white lightning wisps could be seen slithering within the pir of death light, manifesting the profound truths of death.

    All of a sudden, the pir of death light changed its direction, and shot towards the Sixth Demon Realm instead.

    The glowing purple sphere that was the Sixth Demon Realm seemed to be instantly pierced through by a beam of mysterious white light.

    After putting a hole in the Sixth Demon Realm, the white light returned to its original trajectory for the Second Demon Realm.

    FIZZ!

    In the Sixth Demon Realm, countless wisps of white lightning and pale mes that carried death auras spread rapidly through heaven and earth.

    Many Demons that hadn¡¯t left the Sixth Demon Realm exploded and died upon being caught by the lightning wisps and pale mes.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone was ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch. Even in the Void World, he was among the handful of most powerful experts.

    As he spread his death power, any outsiders who weren¡¯t tenth grade grand monarchs would be coiled by his mighty death power.

    The Sixth Demon Realm was the weakest Demon realm. It was hard to find even ninth grade grand patriarchs in it.

    Because of this, as Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s death power spread out, almost every Demon that remained in the Sixth Demon Realm died upon the slightest contact with it!

    Then, the wisps of death power rising from the dead Demons were somehow attracted by the pir of death light, and started converging on it from different directions, enhancing its power.

    The air was filled with the bloodcurdling screams of the low-grade Demons in the Sixth Demon Realm.

    Those from the Lancelot n, who Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory had ordered to return to the Sixth Demon Realm, didn¡¯t die at Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Instead, their lives were now madly reaped by Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory with his death bloodline.

    ¡°You shall die, Grand Monarch Ash Bone!¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon flew into a rage, and hurried to cast out his Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir.

    The demonic pir expanded at an rming rate as it plummeted into the Sixth Demon Realm and jammed into the hole left by the pir of death light with a loud rumble.

    Countless mysterious andplicated patterns instantly lit up on the colossal demonic pir.

    It took in the residual Demon Qi in the Sixth Demon Realm and rapidly enveloped the entire realm in a protective flesh aura shield for the purpose of stopping the death power from spreading further.

    Sparks that contained the essence of Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s bloodline power pursued the death power wisps through the Sixth Demon Realm like dazzling purple stars.

    Gradually, all of white lightning wisps and pale mes were captured by the purple stars, and purged of the death power and bloodline wonders Grand Monarch Ash Bone had vested them with.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Hell Demon roared as he threw himself towards the evil gods¡¯ seas of negative emotions.

    The evil god of bloodlust, who had realized that thiste tenth grade Demon grand monarch was actually a friend instead of a foe, called out, ¡°Cancel!¡±

    The seas of negative emotions instantly vanished.

    Immediately after that, Grand Monarch Hell Demon plunged into the battlefield, and joined the five evil gods in attacking Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    RUMBLE! BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The seven grand monarchs immediately engaged in a fierce battle. Blood Essence sshed in every direction as demonic power,her power, and death power shed, filling the area of the starry river with surging power and dazzling lights.

    Their battle gave Nie Tian a deeply unsettling feeling that the starry river could break and copse at any moment.

    Nie Tian examined the fighting grand monarchs with narrowed eyes, and found them somewhat unreal, as if their power were somehow affecting and twisting the space around them.

    WHOOSH!

    Every once in a while, bright sts of energy from their violent shes would find their way to the Sixth Demon Realm.

    Fortunately, the light shield created by the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir protected the realm from the bombardments like an unbreakable realm barrier.

    However, many smaller meteors and floatingnds in its vicinity weren¡¯t so lucky, and were reduced to ashes in loud booms.

    After observing for a while, Nie Tian grinned and let out a low chuckle. ¡°Seven grand monarchs fighting...¡±

    ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    The bone that belonged to the Rampage Behemoth suddenly morphed into a crimson river filled with hundreds of thousands of fine crystalline chains, in which fierce life power could be seen running like blood.

    Within the blood-like life power, tiny sparks that carried the essence of life power shone like fragmentary diamonds.

    However, the mysterious river suddenly vanished.

    As it reappeared a momentter, it bizarrely showed up and pierced into Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s bony chest, as if it had defied the space between them.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Boundless blood-colored light poured madly into Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s vast chest, towards hisrge, vigorously-beating heart that could be seen through his ribs.

    It was a heart that was wreathed in death mes and sputtering pale lightning wisps from time to time!

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone threw his head back and let out a cry of agony, as if he was being cut by a thousand des and pained to the point where he wanted to die.

    He looked down and saw the crimson bone sticking out of his chest.

    He noticed that the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s power had ripped through his flesh aura barrier in the form of Domain Split, and was pouring Nie Tian¡¯s immense flesh power into his body, flesh power that exuded shockingly strong life force.

    If such flesh power was infused into beings of other races, like titans or dragons, they would probably wee it, skipping with joy.

    However, such flesh power that contained the essence of life was like deadly poison to Bonedrudes.

    As everyone knew, life and death stood on opposite sides.

    If his heart, which was branded with variousws of death, was ripped open by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone and infused with Nie Tian¡¯s life power, it would be none other than a fatal strike!

 Chapter 1609: The Death of A Grand Monarch!

    ¡°This is...¡±

    Astonishment filled Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s face as he slowly removed his huge arm from Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s bony back. The wisps of pale white death aura wreathing his arm quickly vanished.

    The second before, he had been mustering his demonic power to neutralize the death power that had been damaging the flesh in his arm.

    Now, however, the pale white auras wreathing his arm vanished on their own, along with the profound wonders of the death bloodline they carried.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s eye shone with demonic light. ¡°The heart is the source of bloodline power. If something happens to the heart, the bloodline wonders it releases will disappear. For beings like us, our hearts are the foundation of our bloodlines and everything.¡±

    He pulled himself back a bit.

    That was when he noticed that the five evil gods, who had been fighting Grand Monarch Ash Bone together with him, were also quietly backing away from Grand Monarch Ash Bone.

    As they did, they all seemed to have their eyes fixed on Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s chest...

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone had already pierced into Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s heart, which was burning violently, giving rise to wisps of white mist.

    Numerous crystalline chains of his death bloodline could be seen struggling in the rising mist before they gradually dissipated.

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone was looking down at his chest.

    The cold ferocious look in his eyes had been reced by a confused and bewildered look.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    His Unbreakable Form, which was as solid as divine jade, started to crack, the fissures in his bones snapping open one after another.

    In the next moment, thiste tenth grade grand monarch, who had overseen a Bone Shatter City and inspired fear across the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea, fell apart like a giant pile of bones, giving rise to a loud rumble.

    After falling off his enormous body, one broken bone after another shot off into the distance, whizzing towards the Bonebrutes¡¯ territory in the Spirit World.

    ¡°Haha!¡± With a nastyugh, Grand Monarch Hell Demon immediately summoned his Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir from the Sixth Demon Realm.

    ¡°Shake the Heavens!¡±

    As the gigantic pir burst forth with blinding demonic light, beams of dark purple light shot after the fleeing bones and sted them into ashes one after another.

    The five evil gods didn¡¯t just watch. They split up and went into action as well.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s fleeing broken bones were caught up and ground to ashes one by one.

    As for the Bell of Death, it simply floated quietly in the void after losing its master, emitting no more tolls of death.

    Nie Tian lifted his arm, and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone flew back into his hand like a zing bolt of lightning. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch died just like that. Well, it¡¯s a pity that he¡¯s a Bonedrude. His death bloodline is nothing but harmful to me.¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s heart had been ignited by his life power-infused Blood Essence, giving rise to pale white currents of death Qi that soon pervaded and turned a vast area of the starry river close to the Sixth Demon Realm into a dead zone.

    Not only was the dead zone even vaster than the Sixth Demon Realm, but it was also slowly drifting instead of staying in one ce.

    Nie Tian sighed with mixed emotions. ¡°Ate tenth grade grand monarch...¡±

    He had found an opportunity after Grand Monarch Hell Demon had joined the five evil gods in fighting Grand Monarch Ash Bone. Then, he hadunched the killing strike by breaking the death ward in Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s chest with the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, and injecting his life power into his heart.

    Life power was a bane to Bonedrudes. Any injection to the heart would be fatal.

    If he had been a grand monarch of another race, such as a Devil or a Netherspirit grand monarch, Nie Tian¡¯s life power would have only achieved the result of slowly depriving him of his flesh power.

    Plus, he would have been able to resort to various means to slow down his flesh aura loss.

    It was only because Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline and the Bonedrudes¡¯ death bloodline mutually suppressed each other that his heart had seemed so fragile after being infiltrated by Nie Tian¡¯s life power.

    Nie Tian frowned and thought to himself with a grim face, ¡°Bonedrudes and I suppress each other. I¡¯ll have to be extra careful when I encounter them in the future. My life power-infused Blood Essence can effectively destroy their hearts. If their death power finds its way into my heart...¡±

    His expression flickered as soon as his train of thought reached this point.

    The evil god of bloodlust flew to him like a gust of raging Nether Qi. ¡°Congrattions, Master!¡±

    In a very respectful manner, he said to Nie Tian, ¡°Ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch is by no means insignificant. Even if I had recovered my peak strength, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill ate tenth grade grand monarch like him so easily by myself. The five of us might have been able to kill him together if we had all returned to our peak state.

    ¡°However, we¡¯d also have to pay a heavy price, because we¡¯d probably suffer from his residual death power, and lose the ability to fight for the next millennia.¡±

    ¡°He was ate tenth grade grand monarch,¡± the evil god of fear chimed in. ¡°Late tenth grade grand monarchs represent the peak of strength, and are in tiny numbers in any world! We¡¯ve justpleted our resurrection in a real sense, and don¡¯t know the current situation in the Void World. However, we¡¯re certain that the Bonedrudes don¡¯t have many powerful experts like Grand Monarch Ash Bone.¡±

    ¡°Of course, there are only three otherte tenth grade grand monarchs in the entire Bonedrude race,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon said as he returned. His enormous form shrank a thousand meters every second as he did.

    It would take flesh power to maintain his Ancestral Awakening form, even if he wasn¡¯t fighting.

    Therefore, he canceled it at the first moment after he was convinced that Grand Monarch Ash Bone had died.

    After resuming his regr form, he continued, ¡°Among the Bonedrude grand monarchs, Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s battle prowess was ranked number three. Among the experts from the entire Void World, his battle prowess was ranked number nine.

    ¡°The death of ate tenth grade grand monarch like him is definitely going to affect the bnce of power in the three worlds!¡±

    With these words, he suddenly grew excited. ¡°Young master! I really didn¡¯t expect that Grand Monarch Ash Bone would die in the Spirit World! I¡¯ve got to send word of his death to the Doomed Star Sea as soon as possible! With him gone, we¡¯ll have much more room to maneuver in the Doomed Star Sea now. Many adjustments can be made to our battle n!¡±

    ¡°Adjustments?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°We can redirect some of our forces that are fighting the Bonedrudes and have them join our fights against the Devils and Netherspirits now,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon exined quickly. ¡°I first thought that me leaving the Doomed Star Sea would take a toll in our battles. But now, it seems that Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s death is going to solve many of our problems. And we¡¯ll be able carry out ns that we couldn¡¯t before!¡±

    Eyes narrowed, the evil god of bloodlust said with surging killing intent, ¡°But Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is still alive. We might as well go get rid of him as well. His death will be much more helpful to our master. Perhaps his flesh aura will help our master make another breakthrough in his bloodline!¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon went nk for a brief moment before saying, ¡°Umm, that sounds good too.¡±

    ¡°To the Second Demon Realm!¡± The evil god of bloodlust cried out.

    Frowning, Nie Tian turned to look at the peculiar energy field Grand Monarch Ash Bone had left behind. ¡°What about this dead zone? Will it be a problem if we don¡¯t deal with it?¡±

    ¡°No, it won¡¯t,¡± The evil god of bloodlust said. ¡°It holds nothing but Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s residual flesh aura and his understanding of death power. Only Bonebrutes can enter it to derive enlightenment from the profound truths of death from it and draw from its residual death power. It can do nothing other than that.¡±

    ¡°Then what about that bell?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The Bell of Death?¡± The thought of it seemed to give Grand Monarch Hell Demon a headache. ¡°It¡¯s difficult for beings of any other race to use the Bonedrudes¡¯ mighty tools. And it¡¯s going to be very hard to destroy that bell. It¡¯s probably best to seal it.¡±

    After pondering for a moment, he added, ¡°Leave it to me. You go ahead to the Second Demon Realm.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slightly and said, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave it to you then. Thanks.¡±

 Chapter 1610: Settling the Spirit World

    There were still a considerable number of Demons in the Second Demon Realm.

    If Nie Tian went to kill Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the Second Demon Realm with the five evil gods, it would definitely lead to the deaths of many Demons.

    Even though Grand Monarch Hell Demon was a rebel, he was a Demon after all, and he was to shoulder the responsibility of leading the remaining Demons while Grand Monarch Primal Demon was missing.

    Therefore, he didn¡¯t want to see arge number of his people die miserable deaths when Nie Tian dealt with Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the Second Demon Realm.

    After Nie Tian left, he first disposed of Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s residual death power outside the Sixth Demon Realm, and then sealed the Bell of Death with spells. Lastly, he sent word to the Doomed Star Sea via a secret method, informing those who were fighting the three races from the Void World that they could make adjustments ordingly.

    ...

    In the Second Demon Realm.

    Unlike the Sixth Demon Realm, the Second Demon Realm wasn¡¯t a sphere, but rather a vast, irregrly-shaped tnd.

    Since it was enveloped in ckish-violet Demon Qi, Nie Tian observed from afar, but failed to see what was going on in it.

    Only after he activated his life bloodline did he vaguely sense clusters of life auras in it.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± He frowned, his expression growing cold. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory isn¡¯t in the Second Demon Realm!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not?¡± Taken aback, the evil god of bloodlust immediately cast a bloodline magic. A cyan cloud of soul power then flew out from the prismatic crystal between his eyebrows, and stopped in front of the Second Demon Realm.

    The cloud burst forth with countless rays of soul-detecting light.

    Looking down, Nie Tian could sense that the soul fluctuations of the Demons in the Second Demon Realm were affected by the cloud, and manifested in full.

    ¡°You¡¯re right. He¡¯s not here.¡± Through his soul-detecting bloodline magic, the evil god of bloodlust found out that the strongest Demons in the Second Demon Realm were only at the eighth grade.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory did fly in the Second Demon Realm¡¯s direction,¡± the evil god of hatred chimed in. ¡°I nted a wisp of hatred in his body. That wisp of hatred arrived in the Second Demon Realm with him. I¡¯m sure of it. Only then did he find out about it and refine it with the Blood Purgatory Sea. I guess he escaped through some teleportation portal in the Second Demon Realm.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s the case,¡± The evil god of bloodlust said.

    The other three evil gods also joined the conversation, discussing Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s possible whereabouts.

    They all agreed that he must have left the Second Demon Realm.

    Before Nie Tian could give them instructions, the five of them ripped the realm barrier open with their sharp ws and descended upon the Second Demon Realm like satanic creatures.

    Nie Tian, however, remained where he was in the starry river.

    He suddenly realized that the five evil gods weren¡¯t his so-called puppets anymore.

    Instead, they were independent beings withplete souls and fleshly bodies now, practically no different from the fearsomete tenth grade grand monarchs they had been in their previous lives!

    ¡°Are those Heavenly Spirit Seals the only reason why they¡¯re not rising against me?¡± he asked himself inwardly.

    The Heavenly Spirit Seals that had been cast upon the five evil gods looked like five crystals embedded in their foreheads between their eyebrows. Their purpose was to manipte their minds and force them to obey him.

    In many ways, the Heavenly Spirit Seals were very simr to the prismatic crystals on the foreheads of the Phantasms.

    However, before the evil gods had finished gathering their soul fragments and memories, they had shown strong resentment and hostility towards him.

    Now, as time had passed, they seemed to have changed somehow. They had gradually epted him as their new master and be willing to fight for him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°There¡¯s another important reason other than the Heavenly Spirit Seals! The Nether River! I¡¯ve derived profound truths from the Nether River branches in the Silent Star Sea, the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and the Spirit World. And I¡¯ve gained the Spirit Scepter! In other words, I¡¯m gradually gaining all of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s legacies!¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, he felt suddenly enlightened.

    The Heavenly Spirit Seals might be part of the reason why the five evil gods had truly acknowledged him. However, more importantly, he had inherited the profound wonders of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul magics.

    He also shouldered the responsibility of guiding the Phantasms and helping those bloodline descendants of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit find a new home.

    He even had to help Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit cleanse the tainted Nether River branch in the Realm of Dark Souls!

    ¡°The Realm of Dark Souls in the Void World!¡±

    Even though that branch of the Nether River had been tainted by an unknown power, it was part of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s legacies. It had benefited countless Netherspirits, and still carried Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s numerous profound soul wonders.

    ¡°Perhaps I should pay the Realm of Dark Underworld a visit after the battles in the Spirit World and the Mortal Worlde to an end,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°I have the Spirit Scepter and the five evil gods, and I¡¯ve refined more than one Nether River branch. Once I purge that Nether River branch in the Netherspirits¡¯ ancestralnd of its impurities, it¡¯ll probably acknowledge me too!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The evil god of fear ripped the ckish-violet realm barrier of the Second Demon Realm to shreds with his sharp ws.

    The vast Second Demon Realm was finally presented to Nie Tian with great rity.

    In the middle of the colossal continent was a vast hole that kept exuding intense flesh auras.

    ¡°Master, that¡¯s where the Blood Purgatory Sea was,¡± the evil god of bloodlust said, standing by the edge of the vast hole. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory must have drained it when he left. It appears that a beam of Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s death power also reached here, but Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory erased it before he left.¡±

    The evil god of fear joined the conversation by saying, ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory left through a teleportation altar. Judging from the coordinates set up in the altar, he left for a domain that belonged to Xuan Guangyu, thete vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Xuan Guangyu! That vice sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society had secret connections with the Demons?¡±

    It appeared that no one could answer that question now, since Xuan Guangyu had already been killed by Pei Yukong. Both his body and soul had perished.

    The evil god of bloodlust seemed regretful as he said, ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory must have hidden his aura, fleeing from ce to ce in the Mortal World. The Mortal World covers a vast expanse of the starry river. There are many ces that haven¡¯t even been explored yet. As ate tenth grade grand monarch, if he¡¯s bent on hiding from us, it¡¯s going to be very difficult to capture him. Perhaps only experts with extremely high attainments in spatial power can help us locate him in the boundless Mortal World.¡±

    Hundreds of seventh and eighth grade Demons were scattered around the vast emptied hole in the ground.

    They looked up at the five evil gods and implored in mortal fear, ¡°Please don¡¯t kill us, grand monarchs!¡±

    ¡°Mercy! Our people have been allies with the Phantasms for generations!¡±

    ¡°Spare our lives, please!¡±

    With indifferent eyes, the evil gods didn¡¯t give any response.

    Nie Tian pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon will take over here. Why don¡¯t you go search the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Demon Realms, and see if there are other Demon grand monarchs hiding in them?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re on it!¡± The five evil gods turned around and flew off.

    The Demons¡¯ six major realms weren¡¯t very far from one another. The evil gods¡¯ current strength allowed them to shuttle through the starry river like cyan lightning bolts.

    Besides, each and every one of them was well-versed in ancient soul magics. Thebination of their flesh and soul power allowed them to locate the strongest being in every Demon realm effortlessly.

    It wasn¡¯t very long before the five evil gods returned one after another. Gathered around Nie Tian, they started reporting their findings.

    ¡°None of the other Demon realms have powerful Demon experts in them. The strongest ones we¡¯ve found in them are also only at the eighth grade.¡±

    ¡°And there are very few Demons in those realms too, only about three thousand of them in total. Most of them are at the seventh grade or lower, with fleshly bodies too weak to travel through the starry river without starships.¡±

    ¡°Master, we didn¡¯t find any spiritual crystal reserves, powerful demonic tools, or Demon Blood Essence in the First Demon Realm.¡±

    ¡°They must have been shipped away long ago...¡±

    Nie Tian listened in silence until they finished. Then, he nodded and said with a grim expression, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, inform Grand Monarch Hell Demon. Tell him to gather the remaining Demons in the Spirit World. There are more Demons in the Mortal World that also need his leadership. As for you, why don¡¯t you divide and conquer? Some of you stay and oversee things in the Spirit World, while the rest leave for the Mortal World?

    ¡°There are also arge number of Phantasms in the Mortal World. With Grand Monarch Nether River and Grand Monarch Unholy Wind out of the picture, only you can bring them to heel now.¡±

    Having been revived in a real sense, the evil gods couldprehend issues with minimal instructions now. They all nodded to show that they understood after Nie Tian finished.

    ¡°Master... are you sure you don¡¯t need us to be by your side?¡± The evil god of bloodlust asked.

    ¡°No, not for now,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°I¡¯m going to the Realm of Middle Continent to figure out the origin of those strange changes. And I need to have a talk with the Tree of Life. After all that, perhaps I¡¯ll take a trip to the Void World or the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

 Chapter 1611: The New Base

    In the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society shuttled back and forth within the realm by relying on his spatial power.

    After all of the other experts had left the Realm of Middle Continent, Ji Yuanquan had stayed behind to keep an eye on Nie Tian and help him travel between different areas of the Spirit World when needed.

    However, the battle between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and the battle between the five evil gods and Grand Monarch Ash Bone had created such a major stir that even Ji Yuanquan hadn¡¯t dared to go anywhere near their battle zone.

    Later, Nie Tian had carried their battles farther and farther away from the Realm of Middle Continent. Seeing the trend of the battle, Ji Yuanquan had chosen not to follow them.

    He had chosen to wait for Nie Tian in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    WHOOSH!

    After another void travel, he arrived in front of the icyke You Qimiao and Han Qing had entered.

    There weren¡¯t even the slightest waves on the ckke that exuded a frigid aura that could freeze even heaven and earth.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since You Qimiao and Han Qing entered thiske,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, frowning. ¡°No matter what grand secrets it holds, they should have uncovered them by now. Don¡¯t tell me that they¡¯ve frozen to death down there. That can¡¯t be it. Han Qing perhaps, but You Qimiao is ate God domain expert, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t figure out an answer.

    All of a sudden, he saw an emerald-likend with a lush ancient tree on it emerging in the starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Every branch and leaf of the ancient tree was covered inplicated patterns, which seemed to carry the profound truths of life. Only by looking at it from afar, Ji Yuanquan felt dazzled somehow.

    Having never seen the Tree of Life before, he went nk for a long while before eximing, ¡°The Tree of Life!¡±

    All of a sudden, the emerald-likend split the realm barrier and descended towards the southern part of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    BOOM!

    The moment thend hit the ground, the entire Realm of Middle Continent gave a strong shudder.

    Overwhelmed by the shudder, Ji Yuanquan hesitated for a few seconds before flying off towards the southern part of the realm.

    However, as he arrived in the area, he found a vast, emerald green hemispherical shield enveloping the region where the Tree of Life hadnded, rippling with energy.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims was standing outside the glowing green shield, confusion filling his face.

    During his battle against Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes, Grand Monarch Primal Wood had been seriously injured by the Bell of Death. Even his bloodline grade had dropped from thete tenth grade to the middle tenth grade.

    After that, he had joined the battle at the Seven Stars Realm Sea and helped the humans attack the outsiders from the Void World and the Spirit World under Dong Li¡¯smand.

    However, that battle hadn¡¯t helped him return to thete tenth grade. Right now, he was still at the middle tenth grade.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the birthce of humanity was chosen as its new base,¡± he muttered in the Floragrims¡¯nguage. Not the Silent Star Sea or the Mortal World, but a human territory in the Spirit World?

    ¡°How did you get here, Grand Monarch Primal Wood?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who was muttering to himself, snapped out of his thoughts. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Howe you¡¯re still in the Realm of Middle Continent? Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°His fierce battle against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has carried them away from the Realm of Middle Continent. I don¡¯t know where he is exactly.¡± With these words, Ji Yuanquan stepped forward and prepared to enter thend where the third-generation Tree of Life had taken root.

    ¡°Stop!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood called out with a serious expression.

    Ji Yuanquan came to an abrupt stop and asked curiously, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Our people¡¯s creator has chosen this area as its new home, where it¡¯ll recuperate and gather strength,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said. ¡°It¡¯s reshaping the area into a ce that suits its every need, just like our ancestralnd. During this time, I can¡¯t allow anyone to enter without its permission.¡±

    ¡°But the Realm of Middle Continent is the birthce of my people,¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded. ¡°I know. I don¡¯t quite understand its decision either. However, you should know that our creator provided crucial assistance in Nie Tian¡¯s breakthrough to the God domain. And there¡¯s a profound connection between the two of them. Perhaps it¡¯ll invite Nie Tian to meet it in there when he returns.¡±

    After pondering for a while, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°Umm, alright then.¡±

    ¡°Can you please tell me what changes have happened to this realm recently?¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood asked with a sincere tone. ¡°I joined the battle as soon as I got here thest time. I only heard that many uncanny changes were happening to this realm, but I don¡¯t know what they were.¡±

    ¡°A frigidke appeared by itself, along with an indestructible golden mountain that seemed to be forged out of divine metal,¡± Ji Yuanquan exined. ¡°And there¡¯s this other ce, where violent lightning shes and devastating thunder rolls all the time. All of them magically appeared recently. Even this area only became filled with rich wood power not long ago.¡±

    ¡°A frigidke, a metal mountain, and of lightning and thunder, and an area filled with rich wood power.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood cast his gaze down and drifted away in thought. ¡°These human realms have been controlled by different outsider races for the past hundreds of thousands of years. During this time, none of them, including the Realm of Middle Continent, have shown any miraculous changes. Howe changes have started to take ce in the Realm of Middle Continent when all of the other realms in the Spirit World are losing their power and withering. What does this mean?

    ¡°Does this mean that the humans are going to rise and thrive in the Spirit World?¡±

    Dayster, Nie Tian returned like a plummeting meteor, dragging a glorious tail behind him.

    As soon as he entered the Realm of Middle Continent, he sensed the presence of Ji Yuanquan, Grand Monarch Primal Wood, and the Tree of Life. Hence, he cast Starshift and arrived in a breath¡¯s time.

    ¡°Nie Tian, where are Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone?¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood asked upon seeing him.

    ¡°I joined hands with the five evil gods and killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone in the Demon realms,¡± Nie Tian said casually. ¡°As for Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, he fled to Xuan Guangyu¡¯s territory from the Second Demon Realm. If there are no mishaps, he must have hidden his aura and holed up somewhere in the Mortal World.¡±

    Both Ji Yuanquan and Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s expressions flickered with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    Nie Tian, however, didn¡¯t pay attention to their astonishment. Pointing at the green area that was exuding wood power unceasingly, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Wasn¡¯t the third-generation Tree of Life in the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd? Why is it here?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood smiled bitterly. ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand either.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll go ask it.¡± With these words, Nie Tian entered the area directly.

    Even though Grand Monarch Primal Wood had dared to stop Ji Yuanquan from entering without invitation, he didn¡¯t do anything as Nie Tian entered. He simply let him through and didn¡¯t utter a word.

    As soon as Nie Tian walked through the green energy shield, he was struck by a feeling that this area had been transformed by the third-generation Tree of Life into a ce that was basically identical to the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd.

    The only difference was that pure, rich wood power was rising from this area of the realm spontaneously.

    Channeled by the Tree of Life, the wood power morphed into numerous green wisps that disappeared into the giant, heaven-reaching tree.

    Nie Tian examined the third-generation Tree of Life with rapt attention, and noticed that it appeared to be growing slowly.

    Its fresh and green tree leaves were translucent like jade and sparkling with precious light, giving the tree an exceptionally mysterious look.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the energy of the Realm of Middle Continent, the birthce of your kind, isn¡¯ting from the starry river.¡± The Tree of Life¡¯s awareness seemed to fill this mysterious heaven and earth. ¡°The energy ising from within the realm! And the strange thing is that I can¡¯t reach the depths of the earth with my awareness or power.¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°What?! The energy ising from within the realm? And even you can¡¯t perceive what¡¯s in the depths of the earth?¡±

    In its prime, the Tree of Life had been an existence at the same level as the paragons in the Void World. Even though it had been reborn a few times, it was by no means ordinary.

    Now even it was saying that the peculiar changes the Realm of Middle Continent was experiencing originated from the realm itself, and that it couldn¡¯t determine the reason?

    ¡°Perhaps you can give it a try and see if you can send your true soul down there with the power of the Spirit Scepter,¡± the Tree of Life said. ¡°Soul power is a fascinating power that can be both intangible and tangible. I suppose with your soul power and the power of the Spirit Scepter, your perception may actually beat mine.¡±

 Chapter 1612: Clamor

    In the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which had changed hands several times now.

    The azure sea was now at a high level, and had a copious amount of various energies.

    The portal at the bottom of the sea that connected to the Void World remained open.

    However, no more grand monarchs or powerful experts from the Void World were entering the Mortal World through it.

    All of the buildings and pces the outsiders had established on the seven surrounding dead stars had been destroyed.

    Powerful experts, including Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, Mo Qianfan, and Saint and God domain experts from the four great sects, were now gathered on the seven surrounding dead stars and paying close attention to the Realm Sea.

    Standing by Dong Li¡¯s side, Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion frowned deeply and said, ¡°This is strange... Many of the powerful experts from the Void World and the Spirit World have fled back to the Void World through the portal. The three major races of the Void World must have learned what happened in the Mortal World, but why haven¡¯t they sent in more powerful experts?¡±

    Many human experts were wondering the same thing.

    They had been summoned by Dong Li to fight the outsider invaders in the Seven Stars Realm Sea after Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone had been trapped, and Grand Monarch Bloodlust, Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, and Ophelia had been killed by Nie Tian in the Spirit World.

    After that sub-soul of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had exploded, and Agatha had fled to the Spirit World, many experts from the Spirit World and the Void World had hurtled into the Realm Sea and returned to the Void World through the portal.

    Now, cultivators from the four great sects were gradually purging the human domains of outsider invaders with the help of forces from across the human world.

    All of the outsiders¡¯ top fighters had either been killed or were now in hiding.

    The situation in the Mortal World was clearly developing towards the humans¡¯ advantage.

    The three major races of the Void World possessed profound reserve power. Since they knew that their battles in the Mortal World weren¡¯t progressing smoothly, why hadn¡¯t they sent more powerful experts to the Mortal World?

    Ye Wenhan, Zu Guangyao, and the other human experts only hadn¡¯t left the Seven Stars Realm Sea because they were waiting for more powerful experts from the Void World to pour out of the Seven Stars Realm Sea, which could happen at any moment.

    However, they had waited for a long time now, and nothing seemed to be happening in the Realm Sea.

    ¡°It¡¯s a pity that Nie Tian and Miss Pei aren¡¯t here,¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said with a slight frown. ¡°If they don¡¯t return, none of us can seal the portal at the bottom of the Realm Sea. Even those from the Void Spirit Society don¡¯t have the power to close the portal. Zhao Shanling, can you...?¡±

    Zhao Shanling shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t close it either, but to be honest, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be a major problem if the portal remains open now.¡±

    With these words, he turned to look at Dong Li.

    After he did, many others also turned to fix their eyes on her.

    Dong Li was wearing ck robes, which brought out her milky white skin, making her even more gorgeous and enchanting. With a charming smile, she gazed off at two people on another dead star, who were in a state of mutual hostility, and called out, ¡°Would you stop already?¡±

    They were Mo Qianfan from the Heavenly Thunder Sect and Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, who hade to see Dong Li.

    The two of them had old feuds. Yuan Jiuchuan had almost gotten into a fight against Mo Qianfan immediately after his private conversation with Dong Li. If Dong Li hadn¡¯t stopped him, a fight would have broken out between them long ago.

    ¡°Hmm!¡± With an icy expression, Yuan Jiuchuan snorted and said to Mo Qianfan, ¡°How lucky are you in making Nie Tian your backer? Would you have been able to enter your current cultivation base if you hadn¡¯t attached yourself to Nie Tian? Years ago, you schemed against me and got me killed. I had no choice but to seek rebirth. A fight is bound to take ce between you and I.¡±

    Face expressionless, Mo Qianfan said, ¡°You kill those who cultivate lightning power and use their power to make yourself stronger. If we hadn¡¯t killed you back then, we would have been killed by you. I¡¯ve never regretted doing what I did. If revenge is what you want, I¡¯ll be happy to oblige.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Yuan Jiuchuan flew off like a bolt of lightning andnded next to Dong Li.

    Many Qi warriors present frowned as they looked at him. Clearly, they didn¡¯t like him.

    ¡°He can answer your questions,¡± Dong Li said to the crowd.

    ¡°Him?¡± Zu Guangyao was surprised.

    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem whether we close the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea or not, at least for now,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said in a nonchnt manner. ¡°The three major races from the Void World aren¡¯t invincible, and they don¡¯t have endless experts. Right now, fierce battles are still taking ce between them and us in the Doomed Star Sea, the barrier between the Mortal World and the Void World.

    ¡°They pulled some of their forces from our battlefield and sent them into the Mortal World in an attempt to conquer the Mortal World with the help of their subordinate races in the Spirit World, but failed. This must have made them change their minds.

    ¡°Grand monarchs like Grand Monarch Soul Breaker, the Son of Darkness, Agaz, and Grand Monarch Bone Posterity were all powerful experts, even among those in the Void World.

    ¡°Their deaths have hurt the three races deeply. They can no longer sparerge forces to stir up trouble in the Mortal World, especially after we¡¯ve awakened and released the Chaos Behemoth on our battlefield in the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    With these words, he pointed into the distance at the floating continent that was enshrouded by gray mists. ¡°You¡¯ve seen how devastatingly powerful Star Behemoths are.¡±

    The crowd of Saint domain experts started discussing among themselves immediately after hearing Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s words.

    ¡°What?! There¡¯s another force fighting the three major races from the Void World in the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    ¡°How strong are they to be able to fight against the three powerful races from the Void World? Isn¡¯t the Doomed Star Sea said to be a horrifying ce that people call ¡®the grand monarch graveyard?¡¯¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s not that they don¡¯t want to send more experts, but rather that their experts are otherwise upied!¡±

    ¡°A Star Behemoth sent to the battlefield is terrifying indeed!¡±

    Meanwhile, thoughtful expressions appeared on the faces of Ye Wenhan, Zu Guangyao, and a few others.

    Among them, Chu Rui, who had almost recovered from his injuries, pondered with narrowed eyes for a while, then said, ¡°If what you said is true, shouldn¡¯t we go help Nie Tian kill Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory and Grand Monarch Ash Bone in the Spirit World now?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan shook his head. ¡°Oh, no need for that. I¡¯ve just received word from the Spirit World saying that the young master has killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes already. Meanwhile, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory has fled from the Second Demon Realm to Xuan Guangyu¡¯s territory in the Mortal World. You can just try and see if you can ferret out that hiding Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory.¡±

    The crowd of human experts burst into a great mor, where a series of questions were tossed to Yuan Jiuchuan.

    ¡°What? Nie Tian killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone?¡±

    ¡°Young master? Why do you call Nie Tian the young master?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is in Xuan Guangyu¡¯s territory right now? What about Ji Yuanquan? Does the entire Void Spirit Society have secret connections to the Demons?¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, however, remained expressionless. He only bowed slowly towards Dong Li, ignoring all of the others¡¯ questions. Then, in an arrogant manner, he morphed into a streak of lightning and flew off into the distance.

    The mor grew even louder after he left.

    Annoyed by the morous crowd, Dong Li whispered something to Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and the other core members before suddenly morphing into a cluster of darkness.

    Then, the darkness shrank into a ck spot and vanished with a poof.

    Hua Mu and Li Langfeng remained at the Seven Stars Realm Sea, where they presided over the situation with Jing Feiyang and the others.

    All of the God domain experts like Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and Mo Qianfan found excuses and left one after another.

    Before long, they all arrived at the birthce of humanity in the Spirit World through the secret teleportation portal in the Realm of Unbounded Destion with Zhao Shanling¡¯s help.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

 Chapter 1613: People Demonstrating Different Skills

    As vast as the Realm of Middle Continent was, Nie Tian¡¯s aura seemed to be everywhere.

    It was as if his flesh aura and soul awareness had filled every single area of the realm.

    More shockingly, as many as ten sub-souls of Nie Tian were scattered in different areas of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Each and every one of them had their own awareness. They were roaming the sky of the Realm of Middle Continent like ten Nie Tians, and attempting to infiltrate the earth with the soul power they released.

    Dong Li was bbergasted by the scene she saw upon arriving.

    Ji Yuanquan was thrilled by their arrival. With a fizzing sound, he manifested in front of the neers and said, ¡°You¡¯re here! Don¡¯t be rmed. Nie Tian has decided to probe into the miraculous changes the Realm of Middle Continent is experiencing after his private conversation with the Floragrims¡¯ creator, the Tree of Life.¡±

    Astonished, Dong Li said, ¡°The Tree of Life! Is it in the Realm of Middle Continent as well?¡±

    She still remembered the time when she had gone on a trip to find Fruits of Life in the Realm of Unbounded Destion with Nie Tian, which was shortly after they had be friends.

    They had picked Fruits of Life from the Tree of Life.

    Now, she had realized that Nie Tian had only been able to find and pick those Fruits of Life because the Tree of Life had allowed him to. Otherwise, considering their cultivation bases and strength back then, they wouldn¡¯t even have been able to find the magical ce where the Tree of Life had hidden itself.

    For this reason, she had harbored gratitude towards the Tree of Life.

    ¡°It only moved over here recently,¡± Ji Yuanquan said, pointing at what looked like a green sea in the distance. ¡°Grand Monarch Primal Wood is in charge of protecting the area where it took root. As soon as it got here, it started transforming the area with its power. Grand Monarch Primal Wood told me that the third-generation Tree of Life chose the Realm of Middle Continent as its new base because it wants to grow stronger as quickly as possible with the help of its wonders.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°What? With the Spirit World withering away, wasn¡¯t the Silent Star Sea its first choice?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Ji Yuanquan said.

    WHOOSH!

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul flew over, wielding the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°Where¡¯s your true form?¡± Dong Li asked, looking surprised.

    ¡°With the third-generation Tree of Life,¡± Nie Tian answered. ¡°How¡¯s the situation in the Mortal World?¡±

    ¡°The turmoil in the Mortal World is practically over...¡± Dong Li quickly exined the situation in the Mortal World to him. Then, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on in the Realm of Middle Continent? And you, why are your sub-souls attempting to infiltrate the earth with their soul power?¡±

    ¡°I want to find the reason for the strange changes in the Realm of Middle Continent,¡± Nie Tian said.

    From hismunication with the Tree of Life, he had learned that it had explored the Realm of Middle Continent, the birthce of humanity, very long ago.

    The Tree of Life had been its first-generation back then, and the Floragrims hadn¡¯t been created yet.

    The Realm of Middle Continent had been in a remote corner of the Spirit World.

    It had only caught the Tree of Life¡¯s eyes and made it examine it with its power because it had spawned humanity all of a sudden.

    The birth of humanity had happened very early, which had given humanity a very long history, one that was only shorter than that of the Ancientspirits.

    ording to the Tree of Life, humanity had been born far earlier than local species like the Floragrims, ckscales, Birdmen, and Stonemen, not to mention the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes, which hadn¡¯t been born until muchter.

    It had created the Floragrims itself.

    Even though it hadn¡¯t created the ckscales, Birdmen, and Stonemen, it had a good guess regarding their origins.

    Obviously, it was even more familiar with the origins of the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes.

    It had even derived the origins of the Ancientspirits from the features of their bloodlines and appearances.

    Humanity, however, was an exception.

    Humans seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and started procreating in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    The first-generation Tree of Life had scanned the Realm of Middle Continent with its power, but had failed to identify the reason why it had spawned humanity. It had appeared to be an ordinary realm with nothing noteworthy.

    However, the humans¡¯ outstanding reproductive capacity had caught its attention.

    In fact, it had yed an important role in humanity¡¯s reproduction in the nearby realms.

    Back in the day, humans hadn¡¯t possessed the ability to soar through the starry river. It was the Tree of Life that had relocated a number of them to some of the realms near the Realm of Middle Continent.

    It had picked those realms for the humans because it had wanted to see whether they could change somehow and quickly grow stronger as a species in different environments and realms.

    Unfortunately, humans didn¡¯t possess bloodline powers, nor could they strengthen their bodies and be stronger through feeding like spirit beasts could.

    At that time, when humanity had been a weak race, they hadn¡¯t shown much potential, even though they had remarkable intelligence.

    The Tree of Life had nurtured the Ancientspirits, created the Floragrims, and secretly helped the Birdmen, ckscales, and Stonemen for the purpose of having them ward off invaders from the Void World in the future.

    Since the humans had failed to show their potential, it had soon given up on them.

    Later, as wars had broken out between the races of the Spirit World and the Void World, there had been many turns of events, which had led to the births of the Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes.

    As the weakest intelligent race, humans had found themselves in increasingly worse situations, until they had be ves to the other powerful races. There had appeared to be no hope for them to ever rise as a species.

    Like in the jungle, only the fittest survived. The humans had turned out to be feeble and disappointing. Therefore, the Tree of Life had decided to let them fend for themselves.

    It wasn¡¯t until muchter that the Ancientspirits and outsiders had discovered a brand new world, the Mortal World. When they had sent powerful members to explore it, they had decided to bring their numerous human ves with them.

    Only after that had some humans suddenly discovered methods to draw power from spirit stones and practice cultivation by channeling the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, and had quickly risen to prominence.

    After listening for a long while, Dong Li asked, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the Realm of Middle Continent used to be a regr realm with nothing noteworthy? Humanity was just born on it somehow? And these strange changes that are taking ce in the Realm of Middle Continent have never happened before?¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly. ¡°Even though the third-generation Tree of Life is still young, it has mighty power at itsmand. It¡¯s very strange that even the power it releases can¡¯t reach the heart of the earth in the Realm of Middle Continent. That frigidke You Qimiao and Han Qing are exploring, that golden mountain, and thatnd of raging lightning. All of them seem to have appeared all of a sudden.¡±

    Mo Qianfan¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°And of raging lightning? I¡¯ve got to check it out.¡±

    Without saying another word, he flew off towards the area that was enveloped in violent lightning and thunder.

    ¡°Nie Tian, even you can¡¯t reach the depths of the earth with your power?¡± Yin Xingtian asked with a grim expression.

    Nie Tian shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve made attempts with my flesh aura and spiritual powers of three different attributes, but all have failed. Various kinds of energy keep rising from the earth in the Realm of Middle Continent. It appears that even the structure of the realm is going through changes, subtle and weird changes. I¡¯ve tried every type of power at mymand before you came. Soul power was myst hope...¡±

    Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and even Dong Li immediately had their interest sparked.

    ¡°Let us give it a shot then!¡±

    ¡°Come on.¡±

    Dark power, sword lights from the Heavenbreaker and the Godspan Sword Formation, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s refined blood aura, and Yu Suying¡¯s Heaven-purging Divine Light shot down towards the depths of the earth one after another.

    With all of them, it was easy going down at first. However, it grew increasingly more difficult, and they started inching down.

    It was as if the earth was strengthened more and more as they went deeper, until it was so solid that no divine weapon or power could go through.

    They soon discovered that they couldn¡¯t seed with spiritual power of any attribute.

    Then, inspired by Nie Tian, they started condensing and sending their soul awareness towards the depths of the earth.

    Dong Li even brought out her Dark Aureole.

    Amplified by it, her soul awareness seemed to experience fundamental changes, causing the speed at which it flew deeper to improve considerably. ¡°Hmm?! My soul power hase into contact with a strange ward!¡±

 Chapter 1614: More Questions

    Confusion filled Dong Li¡¯s face as she turned to fix her eyes on Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian, who was wielding the Spirit Scepter, looked almost identical to his true form other than the fact that he was in pure soul form.

    Meeting her eyes, he remained as calm as ever.

    Dong Li came to a sudden realization. ¡°You know about that strange ward? What¡¯s up with it? Though amplified by the Dark Aureole, my soul power still can¡¯t prate it, not in the slightest.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a ward made of a wide array of weird energies. It appears to be protecting something. The sudden changes in the Realm of Middle Continent appear to be stimted by something in the depths of the earth. Hence, I suspect that the heart of the Realm of Middle Continent is going through significant changes.¡±

    ¡°Can you prate that ward with your soul awareness?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t seeded yet,¡± Nie Tian said honestly.

    He had only released his nine sub-souls because he wanted to see if they could make their refined soul power prate that energy ward and reach the heart of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    He remembered when the existence of the Divine me and Nie Yan had caused fundamental changes to the heart of the me Land.

    They had modified the veins that ran through the depths of the earth, created avake at the heart of the earth, and established aplicated grand spell formation that contained the ultimate me power.

    As soon as the grand spell formation hade to form, the me Land had started channeling me power from its surrounding realms, and even the entire Domain of me¡¯s End.

    The convergence of rich me power had made Agaz and many who practiced fire incantations believe that the me Land was bound to be a holynd for fire-attributed beings throughout the three worlds, one that would surpass the Realm of Fire Spirit and the Holy me Mountain.

    The me Land was indeed developing in that direction.

    Could the sudden appearance of the frigidke, the golden mountain, thend of lightning, and the area wreathed in wood power be signals that the heart of the Realm of Middle Continent was also experiencing some sort of transformation?

    If the Divine me and Nie Yan had made the me Land, who or what was transforming the Realm of Middle Continent?

    Also, who had built the secret teleportation portal in the Bone Sect¡¯s ruins in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, which connected to the Realm of Middle Continent?

    ording to Zhao Shanling, there wasn¡¯t any flesh power in that teleportation portal, which meant it hadn¡¯t been built by Voidspirits or members of the other outsider races.

    Even though there were a number of races throughout the three worlds that didn¡¯t carry special bloodlines, and humanity was only one of them, the Realm of Middle Continent and the Realm of Unbounded Destion were both human realms.

    Therefore, it was most likely that humans had built the teleportation portal.

    ¡°Could it be some sectmaster or expert of the Void Spirit Society?¡± With this thought, he assumed a serious expression and asked Ji Yuanquan, ¡°Elder Ji, has any spatial power expert in the history of your sect ever lived in the Realm of Unbounded Destion, ore to the Domain of the Falling Stars?¡±

    Ji Yuanquan immediately realized what he was thinking. ¡°So you suspect that the secret teleportation portal in the Realm of Unbounded Destion was established by someone from the Void Spirit Society?¡±

    ¡°It can¡¯t be someone from the Void Spirit Society!¡± Zhao Shanling called out with a grim face.

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ¡°I¡¯ve learned arge number of the Void Spirit Society¡¯s spatial incantations through the Voidspirit Pagoda,¡± Zhao Shanling said with a serious expression. ¡°The teleportation portal in the Realm of Unbounded Destion doesn¡¯t match the Void Spirit Society¡¯s system in the slightest!¡±

    ¡°If he says so, then I guess it really doesn¡¯t have anything to do with us,¡± Ji Yuanquan then said, ¡°That Voidspirit Pagoda of his does carry our sect¡¯s legacies. If he¡¯s certain that the portal didn¡¯te from our system, then it must not be. Besides, I thought about that possibility since I learned about that teleportation portal and this ce.

    ¡°I did some research, and I¡¯m certain that none of our renowned seniors have ever lived in the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ¡°So I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any connection between that teleportation portal in the Realm of Unbounded Destion and the Void Spirit Society.¡±

    At this moment, Yu Suying, Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and the others withdrew their soul power one after another.

    They shook their heads as they exchanged frustrated nces.

    Yu Suying, who was at the middle God domain, had failed to even detect that energy ward with her soul power, not to mention going through the ward to explore the wonders thaty beyond it.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s nine sub-souls, which were scattered in different areas of the realm, flew back to the area where the Tree of Life had taken root one after another, returning to his true form.

    Only his true soul was reluctant to give up. Wielding the Spirit Scepter, it hesitated over making more attempts.

    At that point, Dong Li, who had made great efforts to stretch her soul power to the ward with the help of her Dark Aureole, withdrew her soul power and said, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because my cultivation base isn¡¯t high enough that I can only sense the existence of that energy ward. I tried to send my soul power through it, but I couldn¡¯t.¡±

    Outstanding battle prowess didn¡¯t always mean profound soul power.

    Dong Li had been able to suppress mighty Devil and Demon grand monarchs mostly because of the dark stones, the Dark Aureole, the Dark King¡¯s overwhelming bloodline power, and the ck tortoise.

    She herself hadn¡¯t entered the God domain as Nie Tian had.

    ¡°Let me try again.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul stimted the power of the Spirit Scepter.

    Three murky rivers suddenly poured out of the scepter and stretched down towards the ground.

    ¡°Nether Rivers!¡± Yu Suying and the other eximed in astonishment.

    In the blink of an eye, the three illusory Nether Rivers disappeared into the ground like water merging with the sea.

    At the same time, the Spirit Scepter burst forth with cyan light, which rapidly enveloped arge area around it. Nie Tian¡¯s true soul, however, gradually lost its clear edges and grew blurry.

    With a single nce at it, the others realized that this was a sign of rapid soul power loss.

    It appeared to be very consuming for Nie Tian to conjure those three Nether Rivers and send them into the depths of the earth, even with the help of the Spirit Scepter.

    Nie Tian¡¯s awareness seemed to have merged with the three illusory Nether Rivers. He felt as if his ethereal soul form had split in three, and plunged deep into the earth.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the energy ward Dong Li had detected appeared before him.

    ¡°Soul Infiltration!¡±

    The three illusory Nether Rivers suddenly blossomed with misty light. Countless soul symbols shone like dazzling stars as they stimted various soul wonders and shot into the energy ward.

    FIZZ!

    The peculiar energy ward suddenly burst forth with countless rays of unidentified energies, easily neutralizing the sea of soul symbols released by the Nether Rivers.

    ¡°There¡¯s something strange about these energies,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Years ago, when I fought You Qimiao in the Realm of Maelstrom, he pulled out a river of chaotic energies and attacked me with it. However, I contained and gained control of it with the special maic field I created with Primal Chaos. I even destroyed the Jade Heaven Sect¡¯s headquarters with it. No one in the entire Domain of Jade Heaven was able to stop me.

    ¡°These energies are quite simr to those. Also, they carry an aura simr to that of the wondrous underground space in the Shatter Battlefield where the Chaos Behemoth was buried. And they remind me of the wide array of energies in the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    Shortly afterwards...

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul power, which he had vested the three illusory Nether Rivers with, was almost drained, yet he still couldn¡¯t prate the energy ward.

    He had no choice but to withdraw his power.

    The three illusory Nether Rivers flew back out of the earth and fused into the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°Nope.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true soul shook his head andmunicated with the third-generation Tree of Life through the sub-souls that had returned to his true form. ¡°Even with the Spirit Scepter¡¯s help, I still can¡¯t prate that energy ward with my soul power and see what lies beyond.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try using the fragmentary star marks that are branded on your chest?¡± The Tree of Life responded.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°The fragmentary star marks?¡±

 Chapter 1615: Fragmentary Stars Enter The Earth

    Standing in the area where the Tree of Life had taken root, Nie Tian looked down at his chest.

    FIZZ!

    His robes exploded from the waist up, revealing three small star-like marks on his chest.

    Face filled with confusion, he said, ¡°The fragmentary star marks only record secret spells and incantations of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. All sorts of powers have proven incapable of breaking through that underground ward. What can the fragmentary star marks do?¡±

    He found it baffling.

    As his bloodline upgraded and his cultivation bases grew more profound, his power system had gradually deviated from that of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s.

    Today, only his star power sub-soul would still derive enlightenment from the incantations recorded in the fragmentary star marks.

    He had already mastered most of the spells, and could use them skillfully.

    He didn¡¯t think the fragmentary star marks would prove to be more effective than the Spirit Scepter, and allow him to prate that energy ward in the depths of the earth.

    ¡°You may not believe this,¡± the Tree of Life responded, ¡°but I sensed an unusual stir in the star core of the Realm of Middle Continent when you and those others sent your soul power and all sorts of other power into the depths of the earth.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered violently. ¡°Star core?!¡±

    Suddenly, memories that were buried deep in his mind came back to him. Images started appearing before his eyes.

    It was the wondrous scene he had seen through his me power sub-soul and the Divine me many years ago.

    When the Divine me had firste to the Domain of me¡¯s End, it had sprayed me sparks that had fused into the realms and elerated their growth. Eventually, almost every realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End had grown into fiery realms that could gather me power spontaneously, and produce volcanoes and various fiery treasures.

    A thought urred to Nie Tian. ¡°The realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End experienced those incredible changes because the Divine me arrived and infused their star cores with its me sparks, so is the reason the Realm of Middle Continent is going through these strange changes because its star core is changing? If it is, what could have triggered the changes in its star core?¡±

    Star cores were to realms like hearts were to living beings. They were of paramount importance.

    Most realms withered because their star cores were exhausted, and could no longer channel power from the starry river on a continuous basis.

    Star cores were full of wonders.

    Due to the existence of the Divine me, the star core of every realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End was iparably zing.

    The star cores of the realms in the Domain of Endless Snow, however, were unimaginably frigid, with all of the energies they channeled from the starry river transformed into frigid cold power.

    The main realms of the five sects of the Five Elements Sect had five star cores of different attributes.

    It wasn¡¯t the ancient races in the Spirit World or the three major races in the Void World that had led this entire starry river in the knowledge and exploration of star cores.

    It was the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    Their understanding of star power, star cores, star souls, and the birth, withering, and revival of stars exceeded that of all other races across the three worlds.

    Like Ji Cang, every sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would spend most of their time traveling through the starry river and deriving enlightenment from the profundity of stars after entering the God domain.

    ¡°Fragmentary star marks!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul suddenly flew over from the distance and merged into his fleshly body.

    His star power poured into the three fragmentary star marks on his chest, causing them to shine like brilliant stars.

    As soon as wisps of soul will flew out of his star power sub-soul and fused into the fragmentary star marks, innumerable symbols within them started realigning to manifest Starshift, Starfall, Sea of Illusory Stars, and other secret spells of the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    ¡°Come on out!¡±

    As soon as a thought entered his mind, the three small marks separated themselves from his chest and flew out.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Like three dazzling stars, the three fragmentary star marks first dashed out of this small heaven and earth that had been transformed by the Tree of Life.

    Then, dragging tails of starlight, they plunged towards the ground from three different ces.

    Fragmentary star marks weren¡¯t material objects, but rather condensations of star power. As they entered the ground, they seemed like clusters of pure energy in Nie Tian¡¯s senses.

    Unlike anything he had tried before, they didn¡¯t meet even the slightest obstruction as they sank deeper!

    Nie Tian was greatly spirited. ¡°Interesting!¡±

    He mustered his strength and flew out of the area where the Tree of Life had taken root. Then, he activated his star domain.

    SPLASH!

    A dazzling starlight shield spread out from above his head and quickly enveloped him. The enormous Heavenly Stars Flower swayed its branches and leaves, each of which carriedplicated star veins that resembled a downscaled star sea.

    Before witnessing the grand first-generation Tree of Life in the Silent Star Sea, Nie Tian had reckoned the Heavenly Stars Flower to be the most wondrous nt in this starry river.

    Now, as the Heavenly Stars Flower manifested in his star domain like a gigantic magical nt connecting numerous star seas, the entire Realm of Middle Continent was enveloped in its enchanting starlight.

    Even the connection between him and the three fragmentary star marks that were sinking towards the depths of the earth instantly grew stronger.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Seeing him adopting a different approach, Yin Xingtian and the other God domain experts rapidly gathered to his location.

    He just looked down towards the ground with narrowed eyes, and sensed the movements of the fragmentary star marks.

    Before long, the fragmentary star marks reached the energy ward. ¡°Here we are!¡±

    Apparently, they were much faster than the soul power his true soul had sent out after amplification by the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°If they can prate the ward...¡± A shudder suddenly ran through him.

    He found it hard to believe that the three fragmentary star marks actually went into theyer of peculiar energies that had been imprable to Dong Li¡¯s and his soul power!

    The energy ward didn¡¯t seem to be stopping his fragmentary star marks at all!

    However, his awareness that he had vested them with was clouded immediately after they entered the ward.

    He couldn¡¯t perceive anything as the fragmentary star marks flew into theyer of peculiar energies.

    However, it wasn¡¯t long before the fragmentary star marks passed through the energy ward that was protecting the heart of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    As soon as they did, they seemed to be his eyes.

    His awareness, which he had vested them with, allowed him to perceive everything around the fragmentary star marks with great rity!

    WHOOSH!

    Above the earth¡¯s surface, Nie Tian¡¯s star domain suddenly lit up. Countless stars shone so dazzlingly that even experts like Yin Xingtian didn¡¯t dare to look at them.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower also swayed with great force, spraying wisps of brilliant starlight in every direction.

    Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul, which had risen out of the top of his head, suddenly grew blurry.

    Seeing this, everyone realized that his star power sub-soul was losing soul power at an rming rate.

    However, his mysterious and glorious star domain expanded and shrank from time to time, changing nonstop.

    ¡°What¡¯s down there, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°What do you see?¡±

    ¡°Our creator wants me to ask you what you can see through those fragmentary star marks.¡±

 Chapter 1616: A Sealed Heaven And Earth

    At the heart of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    The three fragmentary star marks shone as brilliantly as stars!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous wisps of Nie Tian¡¯s soul essence, which he had infused into the marks, flew out.

    They came together and rapidly morphed into a soul shadow with Nie Tian¡¯s appearance.

    The soul shadow fluctuated violently as it nced around. ¡°My heavens!¡±

    It nearly scattered from excessive excitement.

    After sinking through theyer of peculiar energies, he hade to a whole other heaven and earth, which was very simr to the vast underground space the Chaos Behemoth had created at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield!

    Murky clusters of energies floated high in the vast space like clouds.

    Underneath the clouds, a robust half-naked giant with only fur around his waist was lying on his back on a green, exuberantnd, his gigantic body stretching thousands of kilometers like a mountain range!

    The astonishment the sight of this giant put him in was evenparable to that he had felt years ago, when he had witnessed the first-generation Tree of Life for the first time.

    Like chains, numerous thick lightning bolts wrapped tightly around the giant¡¯s entire body.

    Nie Tian was in fear as the lightning bolts made fizzing sounds, as he knew that his soul shadow would perish upon even the slightest contact with them.

    Every once in a while, bolts of lightning would fly out of them towards the energy shield enveloping this vast space.

    In the middle of the chest of the giant was a golden, shiny te, which appeared to be a heart protector.

    Streaks of golden light would rise skywards from the heart protector from time to time.

    There was an unknown gem where the giant Adam¡¯s apple was, emanating an ultimate frigid aura that made even Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow feel bone-piercing cold.

    The hairs on the giant head were like a forest of lush trees, exuding rich wood power.

    ¡°Lightning bolts wreathing his body, a shiny golden te protecting his heart, a frigid gem on his Adam¡¯s apple, and hair that exudes wood power...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow fluctuated more and more strongly as he examined the giant. ¡°It seems to me that his every muscle contains endless power. However, there clearly aren¡¯t even the slightest soul power fluctuations within him... I guess he died a long time ago.

    ¡°Did he release the murky energy that filled this vast space?

    ¡°His body stretches as long as a mountain range. Even titans aren¡¯t nearly asrge!

    ¡°He...¡±

    Nie Tian waspletely overwhelmed.

    Even tenth grade titans could only grow to be several dozen kilometers tall. The same went for tenth grade dragons and Ancientbeasts.

    As for the three major races from the Void World, their grand monarchs could only expand to be ten kilometers tall after activating Ancestral Awakening, which made them even shorter than the Ancientspirits.

    However, this giant, who was lying on his back, was about five thousand kilometers in height!

    ¡°And he doesn¡¯t have the appearance of an Ancientspirit or a Star Behemoth, but rather a human,¡± Nie Tian muttered, bbergasted. ¡°It appears to me that this is his regr form, not his dharma idol. Even if this is his dharma idol, no human¡¯s dharma idol should be thisrge! What in the world is he? Is he a human or what?¡±

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± You Qimiao¡¯s voice suddenly echoed out from another location in the vast space.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian watched You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect and Han Qing from the Profound Purity Pce rising into the sky from behind the enormous head of the giant.

    ¡°You Qimiao! Han Qing!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow suddenly released intense soul fluctuations.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    You Qimiao flicked his sleeves backwards and flew towards Nie Tian with Han Qing, carefully avoiding the devastating lighting bolts and golden lights that shot skywards from time to time.

    ¡°Be careful, Nie Tian,¡± You Qimiao hurried to say. ¡°Your soul shadow may perish if it¡¯s touched by any of these powers.¡±

    ¡°You...?¡± Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow stayed in one ce, not daring to move around, while the three fragmentary star marks guarding him shone with dazzling starlight. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since you entered that frigidke and vanished. Howe you¡¯re here?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve been stuck here since we got here,¡± You Qimiao said with a deeply grim face. ¡°No matter what we do, we can¡¯t find a way back. Do you see the frigid gem on the giant¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple, Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°I do.¡±

    ¡°The cold power in the frigidkees from it. I¡¯d never imagined there to be something so frigid in this starry river. I cultivate cold power, and have entered thete God domain. But still, I can¡¯t collect that frigid gem.¡±

    Han Qing joined the conversation and said, ¡°I¡¯ve gained the Ice Emperor¡¯s legacy and refined the Frigid Depths into my spiritual sea, and I can¡¯t collect it either.¡±

    ¡°Aside from that frigid gem, there¡¯s that golden heart-protecting te,¡± You Qimiao continued. ¡°It¡¯s a premium Heaven Nourished grade treasure like the Space Boundaries Crystal that Pei Qiqi obtained in the Shatter Battlefield. Since it¡¯s a precious metal-attributed treasure, if Huang Jinnan from the metal element sect gets it, it¡¯ll most certainly help him enter the God domain!

    ¡°That golden mountain on the realm¡¯s surface only exists because the divine golden light shooting out of it filled up and transformed that mountain.

    ¡°Also, the wood power released by his hair is also rising to the realm¡¯s surface and causing a sharp rise in the wood power content in the air.

    ¡°As for those lightning bolts wreathing his body, I¡¯m afraid they¡¯re even mightier than the bloodline power of Scotte the lightning dragon!¡±

    The frigidke, the golden mountain, the area filled with lightning, and the wood power that appeared out of nowhere... All of these mysteries were now solved thanks to You Qimiao¡¯s exnation. However, what exactly was this giant lying before them? Where had ite from?

    ¡°Since you¡¯ve been in this space for some time, have you figured out what this giant is?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I think he¡¯s a human like us...¡± You Qimiao said in a soft voice due tock of confidence. ¡°I know it¡¯s hard to believe. Other than Star Behemoths, no beings throughout the three worlds should be thisrge. However...¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°He¡¯s exuding the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, even though he appears to be dead. I even have a feeling that if we can send our soul awareness through those chain-like lightning bolts into his abdomen, we might be able to find a spiritual sea in the dantian region.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Are you saying that he belongs to the same cultivation system as we do? And he also channels the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth into his spiritual sea in his dantian region and refines it into spiritual cores?¡±

    ¡°I feel it¡¯s not just spiritual Qi, but all sorts of energies of heaven and earth,¡± You Qimiao exined. ¡°The boundless starry river is filled with a wide array of energies. Spiritual Qi is only one of them. It seems that like Star Behemoths, he can also take all sorts of energies into his spiritual sea in his dantian region. While Star Behemoths use those energies to temper their flesh, strengthen their bones, refine their internal organs, and upgrade their bloodlines, he channels them into his spiritual cores.¡±

    Han Qing from the Profound Purity Pce nodded slightly and said, ¡°I also think that he¡¯s a human, a human like us.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened with astonishment.

    Could this giant, who was as magnificent as a mountain range, really be a human?

 Chapter 1617: Close-up Examination

    Nie Tian had never expected there to be such an incredible space in the depths of the earth in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    On the realm¡¯s surface.

    Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and Master Blood Spirit burst into a great mor.

    ¡°What? There¡¯s a giant human-form corpse in the depths of the earth?¡±

    ¡°No way! Even in dharma idol form, no human should be thatrge!¡±

    ¡°My heavens! The wondrous changes in the Realm of Middle Continent are actually caused by the strange energies released by that dead giant?¡±

    After listening to Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and also eximed, ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±

    bbergasted, Ji Yuanquan said, ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to report this to our creator first!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said hurriedly.

    At that moment, Dong Li¡¯s expression changed as he called out, ¡°Zhao Shanling! Would you deactivate the teleportation portal that connects the Realm of Middle Continent and the Realm of Unbounded Destion for the time being? We can¡¯t let those who¡¯re not with us enter this realm before we figure out what¡¯s going on with that dead giant in the depths of earth!¡±

    Ji Yuanquan¡¯s expression changed slightly as he heard this.

    Almost everyone present were Nie Tian¡¯s trusted followers. Only he and Grand Monarch Primal Wood were technically ¡®those who weren¡¯t with them.¡¯

    Even though they hadn¡¯t figured out the origin of that dead giant in the depths of the earth, ording to Nie Tian, the heart-protecting te and the frigid gem were both precious treasures at the same level as the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Perhaps there were even more treasures that had yet to be discovered.

    The dead giant could be considered a secret treasure house. If the Realm of Middle Continent was sealed off, then the four great sects of the Mortal World wouldn¡¯t be able to enter.

    Then, no matter what treasure or wonders were unearthed from the dead giant, they would have nothing to do with the four great sects.

    After a moment of hesitation, Zhao Shanling turned to fix Nie Tian with an inquiring look.

    Nie Tian nodded slowly. ¡°This is a matter of great importance. We¡¯d better keep it a secret before we figure out what¡¯s happening.¡±

    Without saying another word, Zhao Shanling flew off with a whoosh.

    Shortly afterwards, he returned and said, ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent is sealed off now. No one can get here through the teleportation portal in the Realm of Unbounded Destion anymore. The only way to enter is through the realm barrier from the starry river.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great,¡± Nie Tian said, looking somewhat relieved. ¡°Alright, now, let¡¯s talk it out. Do you think it¡¯s possible for a human that size to exist? Also, it¡¯s very consuming to maintain my connection to my soul awareness down there. Is there a solution?

    ¡°Are there other ways to enter that underground space?

    ¡°Both You Qimiao and Han Qing found themselves in there somehow after reaching the bottom of that frigidke, but that won¡¯t be an option for you. We¡¯ve got to see if there are other ways.¡±

    ...

    In the vast space in the depths of the earth.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow turned to You Qimiao and Han Qing, and said, ¡°My true form isn¡¯t here, so I can¡¯t use my flesh power. With my soul awareness alone, I can¡¯t determine whether this giant is a human or not. However, like you said, the wide array of energies in this vast space appear to being from him, and we suspect that he belongs to the same cultivation system as we do.

    ¡°Hence, it¡¯s very likely that he¡¯s a human.

    ¡°If he¡¯s actually a human, where did hee from?¡±

    Nie Tian looked deeply puzzled.

    Both You Qimiao and Han Qing remained silent, as neither of them could answer this question.

    ¡°The Tree of Life examined the Realm of Middle Continent very long ago,¡± Nie Tian added. ¡°Shortly after the birth of humanity, the Tree of Life extended its power here. However, it failed to find anything noteworthy about the Realm of Middle Continent back then. And it didn¡¯t understand why humanity would suddenly be born in a ce like it.

    ¡°So the question is: was this giant here before or after the birth of humanity? If he was here before the birth of humanity, and the Tree of Life just failed to detect him, could the birth of humanity have something to do with him?¡±

    Both You Qimiao and Han Qing shuddered slightly upon hearing this.

    This enormous human-form being was so full of mysteries that the three of them felt as if their heads were in the clouds.

    ¡°I failed to prate the energy ward with my soul power. It was my three fragmentary star marks that seeded.¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Also, ording to the Tree of Life, it sensed an unusual stir in the star core of the Realm of Middle Continent. Star core... Where can it be?¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, his soul shadow suddenly split into three and returned to the three fragmentary star marks.

    As soon as his soul wisps entered the fragmentary star marks, he felt much safer, as if the lightning bolts and streaks of golden light that shot skywards from the giant human-form being from time to time could no longer harm him.

    Hence, his three soul wisps controlled the fragmentary star marks from within.

    Like three brilliant stars, the wondrous marks flickered as they started flying about in this vast space. They carefully examined the giant from above, carefully avoiding the rising lightning bolts and steering clear of the golden heart-protecting te on the giant¡¯s chest.

    FIZZ!

    Despite his cautiousness, a raging bolt of lightning suddenly sted skywards and struck one of the marks.

    The wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul within it realized that this could be its end.

    However, to his surprise, nothing seemed to happen after the bolt of lightning struck the fragmentary star mark. It didn¡¯t pierce into the mark or anything.

    That wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul remained unscathed.

    The numerous magical symbols within the mark remained as brilliant as before.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that my fragmentary star marks can be used as protective talismans in this special space!¡±

    After going nk for a moment, he tried to fly one of the fragmentary star marks to the giant¡¯s chest where the heart-protecting te was.

    He waited there for a while.

    All of a sudden, a streak of golden light sted straight into the sky.

    WHOOSH!

    It went through the fragmentary star mark and continued skywards, if it didn¡¯t exist.

    ¡°What I suspected is true!¡± Nie Tian was thrilled by the realization that the three fragmentary star marks really couldn¡¯t be harmed by the lightning bolts or the streaks of golden light

    Shining with starlight, the three wondrous marks immediately started flying around the giant with absolutely no scruples.

    They started examining the giant¡¯s dantian region, eyes, and head with unprecedented boldness.

    ¡°Uhh...¡± You Qimiao from the Remote Beginning Heavenly Sect had a veryplicated look on his face as he watched the three wondrous marks flying back and forth before him, being struck by lightning bolts and golden lights from time to time.

    ¡°Those marks can protect Nie Tian¡¯s soul wisps from being annihted,¡± Han Qing said.

    You Qimiao nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, but you and I have to be very careful! I was struck by a bolt of lightning when I first got here. Only after using the strength of nine bulls and two tigers (Idiom: make tremendous effort) and the Yin Yang Chaos Mirror was I able to neutralize the lightning power.¡±

    ¡°I know how mighty they are,¡± Han Qing said with a grim face. ¡°Even though I haven¡¯t been struck by the lightning bolts or the light shooting out of that golden heart-protecting te, I feel stabbing pain in my every pore whenever Ie close to them.¡±

    Her cultivation base was lower. She might not be able to withstand the power that You Qimiao could. Therefore, she was even more cautious.

    WHOOSH!

    One of the fragmentary star marks suddenly plunged towards the giant¡¯s abdomen, where a Qi warrior¡¯s dantian would be.

 Chapter 1618: Boundless Spiritual Qi

    The fragmentary star mark passed through the thunder and lightning and flew into the colossal corpse¡¯s dantian.

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as the fragmentary star mark flew into it, Nie Tian¡¯s soul naturally sensed something.

    The colossal corpse did have a spiritual sea in his dantian!

    A turbulent tidal wave of energies surged in his spiritual sea. The energies in it were mostly the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, but mixed with many weird energies.

    It was a seemingly boundless ocean of energies!

    In a moment, this fragmentary star mark was somehow repelled and pushed out by the sea of energies.

    In a sh, the fragmentary star mark reappeared in front of You Qimiao and Han Qing.

    A strand of Nie Tian¡¯s soul emerged from it. ¡°You were right. He... does have a spiritual sea in his dantian. And the power within his spiritual sea isn¡¯t being slowly exhausted with his death. My soul only stayed in it for a moment, but the energies I could feel were...¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Han Qing asked curiously.

    ¡°This might be hard to believe, but I feel that the energies in his spiritual sea are on par with the ones in the floating continent controlled by the Ripper Behemoth,¡± Nie Tian said.

    You Qimiao was taken aback. ¡°The floating continent? Does his spiritual sea hold the same amount of power as the superrge-scale realm floating continent? Nie Tian, you¡¯re mistaken, aren¡¯t you? The kind of superrge-scale realms where Star Behemoths hide, like the floating continent and the Shatter Battlefield, are extremely rare in the Mortal World and Spirit World.¡±

    Nie Tian exined, ¡°Perhaps you didn¡¯t realize that the thickyer of energies you¡¯ve prated is most likely being released by his spiritual sea. Normally speaking, the power within human Qi warriors¡¯ spiritual seas will dissipatepletely soon after their deaths.

    ¡°That¡¯s why people say what Qi warriors take from heaven and earth, they return to heaven and earth.

    ¡°After his death, the energies in his spiritual sea also dissipated, but very slowly. The energies that escaped from his spiritual sea somehow condensed into an energy ward that separates the underground space and the surface of the Realm of Middle Continent.¡±

    ¡°If all the energies in his spiritual sea leak out, the Realm of Middle Continent will likely be a wondrous realm within a short time!¡±

    At the thought of this, Nie Tian was secretly excited.

    You Qimiao¡¯s and Han Qing¡¯s eyes also brightened with excitement.

    The energies of heaven and earth could make everything. All kinds of spiritual materials and elixirs could be nurtured through the abundant energies of heaven and earth.

    When the floating continent had opened before, many experts who had attached themselves to Nie Tian had entered it and obtained great fortunes, as if they had stepped into a magicalnd of treasure.

    The Realm of Middle Continent would also experience magical changes if it obtained all the energies in the dantian of the colossal corpse, and its mountains,kes, swamps, and forests would all undergo a metamorphosis.

    Perhaps while the various realms of the Spirit World dried up and perished, the Realm of Middle Continent would go in the other direction, and shine brilliantly.

    After thinking for a while, You Qimiao said with bright light glowing in his eyes, ¡°Other things aside, the fact that his spiritual sea in his dantian is full of energies means that he¡¯s a human. Meanwhile, the Realm of Middle Continent is the birthce of the human race. Is it possible that he has something to do with the birth of our race?¡±

    Nie Tian was bbergasted. ¡°Do you mean that he created us? Like the Tree of Life creating the Floragrims? Like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit creating the Phantasms?¡±.

    ¡°But he¡¯s obviously dead!¡± Han Qing eximed.

    ¡°Who knows?¡± You Qimiao said, gazing deeply at the colossal corpse with narrowed eyes. ¡°Maybe he was exhausted after he created the humans, or something happened that led him to his death? If he was in fact our creator, he would be at least as strong as the Tree of Life, and it would make sense that he wanted to deceive the Tree of Life so that it couldn¡¯t discover him.¡±

    SWISH!

    At this moment, another fragmentary star mark fell to the area between the colossal corpse¡¯s eyebrows.

    The mark flew in quickly, but his sea of soul awareness was totally empty, without a single wisp of fragmentary soul or soul awareness.

    ¡°The soul must have dissipated,¡± Nie Tian thought to himself. ¡°Has itpletely perished or... left his body the same way my soul has left my sea of soul awareness for somewhere else?¡±

    At the thought of this, he was taken aback.

    SWISH!

    The third fragmentary star mark quickly flew into the colossal corpse¡¯s chest.

    The golden heart-protecting armor on his chest emitted a brilliant golden light.

    The brilliant golden light didn¡¯t attack the fragmentary star mark, but the mark was unable to pass through the heart-protecting armor to see the condition of the colossal human¡¯s heart.

    The dantian, spiritual sea, and heart were the most important parts of humans.

    The dantian was the source of spiritual power and energies of all attributes. The spiritual sea was the soul¡¯s hiding ce, while the heart could provide vitality for the body.

    For humans, the importance of their hearts was secondary to that of their spiritual seas, unlike the outsiders.

    However, the golden heart-protecting armor protected his heart from any damage anyway.

    The three fragmentary star marks finally reconvened.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul wisps merged into one again, and morphed into a vague soul shadow.

    ¡°I cannot look into his heart,¡± his vague soul shadow said to You Qimiao and Han Qing. ¡°His dantian is full of energies, but his sea of awareness is empty.¡±

    At the same time, his true form said the same thing to Dong Li and the others on the surface of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims stood as straight as a green pine tree, and the shadow of the Tree of Life manifested clearly in the depths of his green eyes.

    Apparently, the Tree of Life was watching what was happening here closely.

    Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and the others were more and more puzzled. They kept discussing, but found no answers.

    ¡°The colossal corpse is probably a human with a spiritual sea and a sea of awareness. The energies of his spiritual sea seem to be inexhaustible, andparable to those that a superrge-scale realm has umted energies for billions of years!¡±

    ¡°Did he create us?¡±

    ¡°Where did hee from?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood kept silent.

    Suddenly, Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyelids fluttered and his expression changed as he said, ¡°Someone¡¯sing! The teleportation portal that I closed has been opened!¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Nie Tian asked aloud.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zhao Shanling replied, shaking his head. ¡°The person who can break my seal and reach the Realm of Middle Continent through the Realm of Unbounded Destion must be proficient in spatial power. Senior Ji is here and Xuan Guangyu seems to have died. Then who could it be...¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°It¡¯s Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    He had sensed Pei Qiqi¡¯s aura.

    A spatial rift opened between them before Pei Qiqi, who had been gone for a long time, came out. ¡°Why are you all here?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face dropped. ¡°What happened, Senior Martial Sister Pei? You don¡¯t look well! Your flesh aura is failing badly. Are you hurt? Who hurt you?¡±

    Others could only find that Pei Qiqi looked a little pale, but couldn¡¯t detect her abnormal flesh aura.

    But Nie Tian had spent many drops of Blood Essence helping her temper her body and opening up space in her acupoints.

    This enabled him to keenly sense Pei Qiqi¡¯s flesh aura, and see that she had fought a fierce battle and been injured before she stepped into the Realm of Middle Continent with a single nce.

 Chapter 1619: An Upheaval Of Our Race

    The Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline was very special.

    After Pei Qiqi¡¯s space bloodline had been awakened, all the acupoints in her body could be used to store Blood Essence.

    Her Blood Essence contained spatial mysteries, which could make each acupoint expand and amodate more flesh aura, like spiritual seas.

    Her spatial blood power was scattered in numerous acupoints instead of her blood and heart.

    Years ago, with his Blood Essence, Nie Tian had helped her expand the internal space of her acupoints one by one, thus allowing them to store more flesh aura.

    However, at this moment, Nie Tian secretly examined her, and found that all of her acupoints seemed to be closed.

    There was still flesh power in her heart and body, but not nearly as much as when she had parted ways with him.

    Normally, at least ny percent of her flesh aura power resided in her acupoints.

    The closure of her acupoints would make it very difficult for her to use the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline power.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A sharp light shed in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes.

    He clearly saw that there was still immense spiritual power in Pei Qiqi¡¯s spiritual sea, and the soul power in Pei Qiqi¡¯s sea of soul awareness also remained abundant.

    ¡°The spiritual sea in the dantian region is the vessel through which humans cultivate. The heart is the key to strength for outsiders, while the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline mysteries lie within their acupoints.¡± Nie Tian muttered to himself. ¡°Acupoints are not only the ce for storing flesh aura, but also the key to stimting a space bloodline. Why are your acupoints sealed?¡±

    Pei Yukong, her father, had taken Pei Qiqi away from the floating continent, hoping that she would inherit his position among the Voidspirits in the depths of the space disruption zone.

    However, Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints had been closed, and she had been severely injured...

    Nie Tian came to a sudden realization. ¡°Where¡¯s your father? ording to the Ripper Behemoth, your father was in bad shape, and his path to bing the chief of the Voidspirits was a very difficult one. He took you away to give you the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline inheritance and make you their new chief. Did you encounter difficulties during that?¡±

    All eyes were fixed on Pei Qiqi.

    The star domain that Nie Tian had disyed was bright in one moment, but dim in another.

    His star power sub-soul was clearly withering.

    This meant that because the three fragmentary star marks were still in the underground space, and Nie Tian¡¯s star sub-soul needed tomunicate with his soul awareness down there, his soul power was being consumed the whole time.

    ¡°After my father gave me the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline inheritance, hisst remaining power was basically exhausted,¡± Pei Qiqi said with an indifferent face. ¡°When he demanded that I rece him as chief of the Voidspirits, I was strongly opposed. He sent me back to the Mortal World before... he died amidst the civil strife...

    ¡°Even after I returned to the Mortal World, I was hunted down by a few nsmen. With the help of my Space Boundaries Crystal, I traveled through space to the Realm of Unbounded Destion.

    ¡°I learned that you and Elder Ye were here, so I came here.¡±

    ¡°Voidspirits?¡± Ye Wenhan shouted. ¡°No outsider species can do whatever they want in our world, not even them! It never urred to me that you would disappear because of the Voidspirits!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was getting darker and colder as he said, ¡°Does the whole Voidspirit race want to kill you? How is their strength? Is itparable to the strength of the three outsider races in the Void World?¡±

    ¡°Only the strongest expert wants me dead,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°When my father was badly wounded and dying, he took it for granted that he would be the new chief of the Voidspirits. He didn¡¯t expect that my father would suddenly disappear for a while, and then bring me, his daughter, back.¡±

    ¡°My father demanded that I ept the inheritance and be made me the new chief. That¡¯s why the conflict started.¡±

    Everyone present was seasoned and sophisticated. They all understood what had happened as soon as she said these words.

    Zhao Shanling, who had the Voidspirit Pagoda, suddenly turned grim and said, ¡°The Voidspirits are proficient in spatial power, and their bloodlines are full of wonders. If you can reopen the secret teleportation portal of the Realm of Unbounded Destion ande to the Realm of Middle Continent, then they...¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims suddenly spoke. ¡°They don¡¯t have to pass through the Realm of Unbounded Destion. As long as they know Miss Pei is in the Realm of Middle Continent, they will be able to get here. The Voidspirits may be the one race that can travel among the three worlds without the slightest bit of difficulty. They have been seen in the Void World, Mortal World and Spirit World.

    ¡°In fact, many of the early spatial passages and spatial rifts in the Spirit World and Mortal World were created by them.¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°Them?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood nodded. ¡°Yes, the human race hadn¡¯t yet risen at that time. As long as the experts of any race paid them with enough spatial spiritual materials, they would help them create inter-world portals. You should know that they fell out with the three outsider races of the Void World before.

    ¡°The three outsider races of the Void World hunted them for a long time. During that period of time, other than wandering in the space disruption zone, they also stayed in the Spirit World.

    ¡°There are records about this among our race.¡±

    With these words, Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s tone changed suddenly. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    A tremendously clear image of the Tree of Life appeared in the depths of his eyes.

    At this moment, Nie Tian knew that it was no longer Grand Monarch Primal Wood, but the third generation of Tree of Life that was talking with him!

    ¡°We have yet to figure out the origin of that colossal human corpse underground,¡± the Tree of Life said. ¡°That vast underground space is still filled with a vast amount of energies, and it will take time to unravel the mysteries below. During this period, try not to let any Voidspiritse and stay in the Realm of Middle Continent. They are naturally sensitive to unique spaces. If a tenth grade Voidspirit gets to spend a long time here, they¡¯ll definitely learn about the mysteries underground.

    ¡°If they want to make it public, chances are that the people of all the three worlds will know about the abnormalities underground in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be in trouble then.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°I see.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s underground?¡± asked Pei Qiqi curiously.

    Nie Tian frowned and said, ¡°With your acupoints closed, the power of your space bloodline is greatly weakened.¡±

    Then, his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°With your bloodline, strength, and Space Boundaries Crystal, maybe you can find a way to enter that space!¡±

    ¡°That man conspired against me when I was epting the inheritance of the Voidspirits, causing my acupoints to close,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking downcast. ¡°I¡¯ve tried many ways, but I can¡¯t reopen the closed acupoints and revive my space bloodline.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t, but maybe I can,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s body shook as she said under her breath, ¡°It¡¯s mainly because I wanted to see if you could find a way to open my closed acupoints that I came here.¡±

    Because she was unable to use her space bloodline, her fighting strength had been reduced by more than half.

    That was why she had faced so many difficulties and had been injured after returning to the Mortal World.

    When she had been badly injured, all she could think about was Nie Tian. She had believed that he would be able to help her open the closed acupoints, even though she couldn¡¯t!

    She was probably the person who was the most familiar with Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline in the world. After all, she herself had benefited from it!

 Chapter 1620: The Hunters

    In the starry river outside the main realm of the Floragrims in the Spirit World.

    A spot of light that was about the size of a grain of rice swelled into a dazzling passage of light.

    WHOOSH!

    Four well-dressed beings with beautiful faces flew out of it one by one.

    All of them had blue hair and eyes like blue crystals. Strands of light wreathed the edges of their robes like sharp spatial des.

    Silver Domain Snakes could be seen slithering within the open passage, trying to cross over.

    The man taking the lead squinted, looked around and said, ¡°It¡¯s the Spirit World. She must have escaped here. Let¡¯s scatter and search the realms one by one.¡±

    The other three nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Layers of spatial ripples manifested out of nowhere in the starry river.

    The four Voidspirits, who hade from the space disruption zone, activated their bloodline magics, and the vast Spirit World unfolded in front of their eyes like picture scrolls.

    Then, they started shuttling among the different scrolls by relying on their space bloodline.

    As they did, spatial rifts appeared in the Demon realms, the Nether Realm, the main realm of the Floragrims, and the realms of the Ancientspirits before suddenly disappearing shortly afterwards.

    The Spirit World was vast, but in the eyes of the Voidspirits, no matter how vast it was, as long as they used their space bloodline, they could go wherever they wanted in a moment.

    As immense as the starry river was, they feared no one except for those who were proficient in spatial power, and a few experts who were able to freeze space.

    At worst, they could just retreat into differentyers of space.

    In the Nether Realm, a female Voidspirit flew out of a spatial rift. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Grand Monarch Hell Demon has conquered the remaining Demons in the six Demon realms. Isn¡¯t Grand Monarch Hell Demon supposed to be fighting in the Doomed Star Sea? Why did he suddenlye here?

    ¡°And such strange changes have happened to the Nether Realm! Five realms surround the Nether Realm, and are connected to each other with rivers of Nether Qi!¡±

    Just then, the evil god of fear sensed their presence and growled in anger. ¡°Voidspirits!¡±

    In the depths of the realm where he hid, surging Nether Qi suddenly condensed into a cyan spear.

    Filled with the power of fear, the spear burst forth with glorious light, along with strands of flesh aura that contained a variety of soul wonders.

    With the emergence of the spear, the soul power that could wipe out all the living beings unexpectedly formed a.

    Even space itself was almost bound by the soul.

    The female Voidspirit who had flown out of the brilliant spatial rift turned pale with fright and screamed, ¡°Grand Monarch Fear of the Netherspirits of the Void World! We¡¯re just looking for a hybrid of my race. We have no intention of disturbing your quiet cultivation, senior! We didn¡¯t expect you to be in the withering Spirit World!¡±

    With that, before the evil god of fear could respond, she retreated into the spatial rift.

    She knew that if she waited even a little longer, she would be unable to escape when thepletely enshrouded her.

    The evil god of fear, who had been known as Grand Monarch Fear of the Netherspirits, had once participated in their hunting of the Voidspirits. In their race, there were detailed records of his appearance, aura, and even the soul magics that he had cultivated.

    As she hurried to escape, she also sensed terrifying soul power fluctuations from another realm surrounding the Nether Realm, which made her even more uneasy. ¡°Grand Monarch Fear, and another... who seems to be Grand Monarch Despair?¡±

    ...

    In the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul broke free from his true form, but was still controlling his star domain.

    His body was controlling his flesh aura sea.

    Released by him, his vivacious flesh aura sea seemed to be capable of robbing all those in his surroundings of their life force.

    However, almost all those present were humans with weak flesh auras, except for Grand Monarch Primal Wood, whose bloodline was closely rted to Nie Tian¡¯s. Therefore, he was exempted from the influence of his flesh aura sea.

    FIZZ!

    Thousands of thin gossamer-like blood lights suddenly flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea into Pei Qiqi¡¯s body, and started infiltrating her closed acupoints like lightning.

    Each of her acupoints contained spatial power and magics, forming spatial barriers that prevented Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura from prating them.

    It felt simr to how Nie Tian had recently attempted to pass through theyer of energies underground in the Realm of Middle Continent with various powers, but was blocked by the thickyer of energies.

    Pei Qiqi stood, electric sparks sputtering from her body.

    The sputtering electric sparks were the result of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power colliding with the power that was sealing her acupoints.

    ¡°Hmm!¡± Holding the Spirit Scepter, his main soul that was numerous miles into the earth suddenly perceived a soul message that the evil god of fear conveyed, and immediately knew that the Voidspirits had appeared in the Spirit World, and were traveling from ce to ce.

    Without giving it a second thought, he knew at once that the Voidspirits wereing for Pei Qiqi.

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Middle Continent, space split open, and four Voidspirits showed up one after another.

    ¡°Nie Tian! They¡¯re here!¡± shouted both Zhao Shanling and Ji Yuanquan.

    Having been inspired by the Tree of Life, Nie Tian had asked Zhao Shanling and Ji Yuanquan to join hands to disrupt the space in the Realm of Middle Continent in a bid to at least stop the Voidspirits from entering directly.

    If they couldn¡¯t enter the Realm of Middle Continent, they would have no chance of perceiving the mysteries underground.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect them toe so fast. Besides, there are four of them,¡± Nie Tian said.

    He unhurriedly mustered more drops of Blood Essence to continuously impact the spatial barriers that sealed Pei Qiqi¡¯s flesh aura. ¡°None of the four arete tenth grade grand monarchs. The Voidspirits are the best at escaping among all species in the three worlds. Their actual fighting strength can¡¯t overwhelm experts of other species that are at their grade.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± Yin Xingtian said, nodding. Then, he charged into the sky, waving his Heavenbreaker, like a meteor rising into the starry river, followed by Yu Suying, Master Blood Spirit, and Dong Li.

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Streaks of terrifying light suddenly charged out of the Realm of Middle Continent, making the four Voidspirit visitors instantly freeze in shock.

    ¡°Howe there are God domain humans in the Realm of Middle Continent in the Spirit World?¡± the man taking the lead thought inwardly as his expression changed dramatically.

    His knowledge of the Spirit World and the Realm of Middle Continent was from far back in time.

    He didn¡¯t know much about the great changes that had recently taken ce in the Spirit World and Mortal World.

    Because the Voidspirits had a small poption to begin with, and had recently been consumed by their civil strife, they hadn¡¯t devoted their energies to matters that didn¡¯t concern them.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± the man taking the lead asked.

    He hesitated, and then suddenly looked at Ji Yuanquan, ¡°Are... are you a disciple of the Void Spirit Society? So is the hybrid of our race in the Realm of Middle Continent now?¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei, you mean?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked.

    ¡°Yes!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s in the Realm of Middle Continent,¡± Ji Yuanquan replied.

    He looked at the four Voidspirits carefully and said to Dong Li, ¡°Only one of them is a middle tenth grade grand monarch. The other three should be early tenth grade grand monarchs. They have weak fighting strength. It must be because Miss Pei is injured and her acupoints have been sealed. Otherwise...¡±

    Suddenly, Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice cut through space and rang among them. ¡°Don¡¯t kill them. Catch them alive if you can. Or just let them go. They¡¯re under orders. It isn¡¯t them who injured me. I¡¯d promised my father I¡¯d show mercy to my nsmen, no matter what.¡±

 Chapter 1621: Stop

    The Realm of Middle Continent suddenly went dark.

    The light in the sky faded quickly. After a while, the whole Realm of Middle Continent seemed to be in the dead of night.

    Darkness engulfed all light sources.

    A drop of crimson Blood Essence prated into Qiqi Pei¡¯s body like a treasured drill before it exploded with a boom and turned into dozens of rays of blood light that prated her acupoints.

    While mobilizing his bloodline power, Nie Tian leisurely smiled with disdain and said, ¡°They¡¯re the people who harmed you? It¡¯s impossible for the four of them to seal your acupoints. How dare theye after you?¡±

    With his knowledge of Pei Qiqi¡¯s fighting strength, even though the four Voidspirits were all grand monarchs, they were no match for her.

    Even though Pei Qiqi¡¯s bloodline had been sealed and unavable, there was a great possibility that she could badly injure the four with only the power of her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    He couldn¡¯t figure out why Pei Qiqi had ended up in such a terrible situation.

    ¡°They¡¯ve been deceived by Duru,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°When I was epting the Voidspirits¡¯ bloodline inheritance, Duru secretly interfered, which caused my acupoints to be sealed. And he did it with a spatial tool of the Voidspirits.

    ¡°Like my father, he¡¯s also ate tenth grade grand monarch, but he¡¯s a pure Voidspirit instead of a hybrid.

    ¡°Those four out there were my father¡¯s subordinates for a time. They¡¯ve onlye after me because they think I¡¯m responsible for my father¡¯s death.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    Strands of crimson bloodline light, mixed with brilliant spatial des, sputtered on her body.

    Nie Tian asked her a few more questions, and learned that Duru, who had been in charge of the bloodline inheritance of her race, had plotted to make Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints close during the inheriting process.

    Later on, Pei Yukong had learned the news, but because he had already been badly injured, he had been no match for Duru, and gotten himself killed.

    Duru had controlled the situation, falsely used Pei Qiqi of causing Pei Yukong¡¯s death, and ordered his nsmen to hunt down and kill Pei Qiqi.

    The four outside the realm knew nothing about it. In addition, they were Voidspirits. Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t want to fight them to the death, so she kept running away.

    Enlightened, Nie Tian said, ¡°I see.¡±

    A strand of his soul awareness directly reached the starry river through the realm barrier, ¡°Capture them alive or force them to retreat.¡±

    Soon, he refocused on Pei Qiqi, and paid no attention to the battle in the starry sky.

    He had faith in Dong Li, Yin Xingtian and the others. Any Voidspirit who was not ate tenth grade grand monarch couldn¡¯t harm them at all.

    Drop after drop of his Blood Essence that he had painstakingly condensed was separated from him and generously channeled into Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints.

    The acupoints in her body were as bright as stars. There seemed to be a mysterious connection between them.

    If all Nie Tian¡¯s flesh power intently attacked a single acupoint, the spatial power barrier would suddenly be tens of times stronger.

    Hence, as he attacked the power sealing Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints, he had to spread out his flesh power.

    Pei Qiqi sat still, her bright eyes emitting a soft light.

    She knew that it was very difficult for Nie Tian to condense that Blood Essence.

    Every drop of Blood Essence contained an outsider expert¡¯s flesh aura essence. With Nie Tian¡¯s current bloodline, he only had 1,000 drops of Blood Essence in his heart.

    However, in order to help her break the bloodline seal, Nie Tian had already spent more than 300 drops.

    Moreover, the number kept going up.

    She was greatly touched.

    Nie Tian, who had been continuously stripping his Blood Essence to attack the power sealing her bloodline, frowned slightly and murmured, ¡°This is strange...¡±

    Arge amount of Blood Essence had converged on her acupoints and rushed into the spatial barriers. It seemed a part of it had offset the unusual spatial power and dispersed into Pei Qiqi¡¯s flesh and viscera, while most of it had strangely disappeared into the depths of her acupoints, as if it had been channeled away to some other ce.

    Every spatial barrier sealing Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints was tightly closed, seemingly without any rift or defect.

    However, after his flesh power counteracted the unusual spatial power after hitting the barriers, only a small part of it had merged into Pei Qiqi¡¯s flesh and viscera.

    Where did most of his flesh power go?

    It wasn¡¯t long before the darkness gradually cleared.

    ¡°The four Voidspirits ran away because they were no match for us,¡± Dong Li said, wearing a ck dress and standing on the ck tortoise, her charming face full of reluctance.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s frown rxed.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t allow us to kill them. Capture them alive? They¡¯re Voidspirits. We¡¯re not that strong yet.¡± Dong Liined as she stared at Nie Tian for a long time.

    Then she suddenly said, ¡°You¡¯ve consumed a lot of your flesh aura. What happened? You haven¡¯t broken the seal yet?¡±

    Nie Tian replied frankly, ¡°No.¡±

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and the others flew in one after another from outside the realm.

    Looking at Nie Tian, then at Dong Li and Pei Qiqi, they sensibly kept silent and quietly moved away from the area, unwilling to get involved.

    Only Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who wasn¡¯t sensible, remained next to Nie Tian.

    Dong Li thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Nie Tian, every drop of your Blood Essence is very precious. If your Blood Essence can¡¯t help her break the seal, don¡¯t waste your energy. You can ask the Void Spirit Society to find a way to help her. Besides, maybe Grand Monarch Hell Demon and the five evil gods can help her break the seal?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon also has bloodline power, and he¡¯s ate tenth grade grand monarch. Perhaps it¡¯ll be easier for him to break the seal.¡±

    Nie Tian said with a wry smile, ¡°If my bloodline power breaks the seal, there won¡¯t be any side effects. Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s could cause damage to her acupoints.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood eximed softly.

    ¡°What?¡± Turning his head, Nie Tian noticed the vague shadow of the Tree of Life in the depths of Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s eyes, and he knew at once that it was the Tree of Life who was speaking to him.

    The moment his eyes looked into Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s, a mysterious soul connection was instantly established.

    Strands of fluctuations secretly containing mysteries life that only he could perceive slipped into his sea of awareness.

    His expression changed dramatically.

    ¡°Decide for yourself,¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said, and then turned to fly in the direction of the third generation of the Tree of Life.

    Seeing Nie Tian have a strange look on his face, Dong Li, who hadined that he had consumed too much Blood Essence for Pei Qiqi, went nk for a moment before hurrying to say, ¡°I don¡¯t mean that you shouldn¡¯t save her or help her break the seal. I just want to tell you that you¡¯re probably just wasting your time if you can¡¯t break the seal after consuming your Blood Essence for such a long time.

    ¡°Rather than that, you might as well askte tenth grade grand monarchs like Grand Monarch Hell Demon to figure out a solution for her.

    ¡°Yes, I dislike her, but I¡¯m not ignorant. She¡¯s the one who took the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir from You Qimiao and gave it to me, so I don¡¯t have much prejudice against her. I just think...¡±

    Dong Li was clearly feeling guilty. The more she exined, the more awkward she became.

    Suddenly, Nie Tian stopped activating his bloodline and fusing his flesh power into Pei Qiqi¡¯s body. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, you are fine.¡±

 Chapter 1622: Intrigue

    Pei Qiqi looked confused.

    As Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence stopped flowing into her body, she suddenly had a strong sense of loss.

    Pei Qiqi was suddenly upset, thinking, ¡°Has he reached his limit, or is he going to give up on me?¡±

    For a while, she just looked at Nie Tian in a daze, and didn¡¯t know what to say.

    Dong Li looked bbergasted.

    She was also rendered speechless by Nie Tian¡¯s unusual behavior. She hadined simply out of jealousy that Nie Tian had used his precious Blood Essence to help Pei Qiqi break the seal.

    She had been well-aware of it, so seeing Nie Tian have a strange look, she had hurried to defend herself.

    However, when Nie Tian really stopped delivering Blood Essence to Pei Qiqi¡¯s body, she calmed down instantly, but also became more and more confused.

    Why did Nie Tian do that?

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for wasting so much of your Blood Essence,¡± said Pei Qiqi, her bright eyes growing mournful. ¡°Thank you for helping me fight off the Voidspirits pursuers.¡±

    As she spoke, she got up slowly and summoned her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Her face grew cold as she continued, ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal even if my bloodline is sealed. With my human cultivation base, I can still use the Space Boundaries Crystal. Since I have no reason to stay in the Spirit World anymore, maybe I should go back to the Void Illusion Mountain Range. That¡¯s where I can feel the most at ease...¡±

    Nie Tian and Dong Li could see clearly how disheartened she was.

    Nie Tian was stunned, and then suddenly realized that she had misunderstood him. He put his hand on her shoulder.

    Pei Qiqi quivered slightly and turned to stare at his hand. ¡°What are you stopping me for?¡±

    Nie Tian took a breath and said in a very serious voice, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, don¡¯t get me wrong. As I told you, you¡¯re in fact fine. The seal on your bloodline should be temporary. Also, with all due respect, why did you know that you shoulde to me for help?¡±

    ¡°My father told me before he died that only your flesh aura could break the bloodline seal,¡± Pei Qiqi answered.

    A hint of a strange smile yed on his lips. ¡°Pei Yukong... Senior Martial Sister Pei, your heart is too pure. You know nothing about intrigues and maneuvers.¡±

    She looked confused. ¡°What?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression changed, and she understood things instantly, ¡°There¡¯s something suspicious with the seal on her bloodline, right Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°The third generation of Tree of Life has just had a brief soulmunication with me,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    Thinking for a while, he began, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, when I injected my flesh power into your body in a bid to help you break the seal, a part of it offset the unusual spatial power and merged into your fleshly body.

    ¡°Not only my flesh power, but also the unusual spatial power constructing the spatial barrier merged into your body.

    ¡°They can actually help you temper your body and make your flesh strong.

    ¡°You¡¯ve felt that yourself, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    He fixed his eyes on Pei Qiqi.

    She didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°Yes. When you hit my acupoints in an attempt to reopen them, the sputtering flesh power and unusual spatial power both merged into my flesh. I could vaguely sense that my flesh was bing stronger, and that my veins and bones were being tempered to carry greater strength.¡±

    ¡°But that¡¯s only a part of it. Most of my flesh power...¡± he slowly said. ¡°Most of my flesh power has mysteriously disappeared. It seemed to disappear in your acupoints, while in fact, they flew to another realm through a very powerful spatial spell. The Tree of Life believes that most of my lost flesh power is now in the ancestralnd of your race, the Voidspirits¡¯ territory.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± she eximed.

    ¡°I had a talk with the Ripper Behemoth after your father took you away,¡± he said with a solemn face. ¡°It said your father had been badly injured and was going to die soon, and that it was because he thought he was going to die that he took you back to the Voidspirits to pass all of their bloodline legacies to you.¡±

    Pei Qiqi was deeply bewildered. ¡°Is there a connection between that and this?¡±

    Dong Li snorted, her face darkening. ¡°Despicable! I don¡¯t know how Pei Yukong knew that Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence had infinite wonders, but I believe that Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence must have flowed to the Voidspirits.¡±

    ¡°He probably wants to see if my Blood Essence can keep him alive,¡± sighed Nie Tian.

    No matter how muddle-headed Pei Qiqi was, she realized something was wrong after listening to their words. ¡°Do you mean all of this is my father¡¯s idea? Why? Why would he do that?¡±

    Dong Li, who had a quick mind said, ¡°He wants to live, and every drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence is iparably precious! His condensed Blood Essence is based on the deaths of many grand monarchs! You should know how precious a drop of his Blood Essence is. Nie Tian is willing to spend his hard-earned Blood Essence for you, but he might not be willing to help your father.¡±

    Dong Li gave voice to all her guesses one by one. ¡°Now, some of the Blood Essence that Nie Tian used to hit your acupoints helped you temper your body, but most of it went to the Voidspirits imperceptibly. His intrigue is really well-thought-out!

    ¡°Moreover, as long as your bloodline seal isn¡¯t broken, Nie Tian will do everything possible to refine more Blood Essence to help you. In this way, your father will get more Blood Essence.

    ¡°The only part that raised my suspicion was that he told you to find Nie Tian, and said that his bloodline would help you break the seal.

    ¡°It is a pity that he didn¡¯t expect there to be an existence like the Tree of Life in the Realm of Middle Continent where Nie Tian is. Even if it¡¯s still growing, the third generation of Tree of Life has amazing senses.¡±

    Pei Qiqi listened quietly, and her expression kept changing.

    After a while, she felt so upset that she looked at Nie Tian for help. ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t think the third generation Tree of Life is mistaken; most of my Blood Essence didn¡¯t enter your acupoints. If your father wanted my Blood Essence to prolong his life, he could have told me. Considering our rtionship and the fact that he killed Xuan Guangyu, I would have agreed to help. However, he...¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked a bit helpless. ¡°I... I can¡¯t believe it.¡±

    Pei Yukong had taken her away, taken good care of her among the Voidspirits, and passed on blood magics to her, making her feel the warmth of fatherly love.

    It was what she had longed for all her life.

    However, now Nie Tian and Dong Li suddenly told her that her father had used her to steal Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, which totally overwhelmed her.

    Before fleeing from the Voidspirits¡¯ ancestralnd, she had seen her father die fighting Duru so that she could escape.

    Nie Tian hesitated for a while, and then said, ¡°The seal on your acupoints and your bloodline isn¡¯t real. The Tree of Life said that if you were in a perilous situation, your soul would surge and remove the so-called seal quietly.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t harbor malicious intentions towards you.¡±

    ¡°However, it¡¯s very difficult for me to break your seal. But if you want to break the seal yourself, all you have to do is put yourself in danger.¡±

    Nie Tian said these words in a whisper.

    ¡°I see,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    She went nk for a moment before spinning her Space Boundaries Crystal, ready to leave. ¡°I¡¯m going to verify your theory.¡±

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, where are you going?¡± Nie Tian asked in amazement.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the Void World through the Seven Stars Realm Sea,¡± Pei Qiqi replied. ¡°The Void World is the only ce in the world that can put me in danger.¡±

 Chapter 1623: A Human Paragon!

    Wielding the Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi vanished from the Realm of Middle Continent in the blink of an eye.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t even stop her.

    By the time he flew to the secret teleportation portal, he saw Zhao Shanling and Ji Yuanquan staring at the portal with confused looks on their faces.

    ¡°Did you break Miss Pei¡¯s bloodline seal, Nie Tian?¡± Ji Yuanquan asked curiously.

    ¡°No, I couldn¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian said with aplicated expression.

    Ji Yuanquan frowned. ¡°Then why did she leave in a hurry? Where is she going?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s going to the Void World.¡±

    Both Zhao Shanling and Ji Yuanquan gasped with astonishment. ¡°The Void World?!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and the others arrived one after another.

    ...

    In the depths of the earth.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have some urgent business to take care of. I can¡¯t stay here and explore the wonders here anymore.¡± Nie Tian¡¯s soul shadow exined to You Qimiao and Han. ¡°Even though you¡¯re trapped here for now, this vast underground space is filled with all sorts of power. You won¡¯t be in danger as long as you remain cautious.¡±

    ¡°What is it? Can it be more important than unraveling the mysteries of this giant corpse?¡± You Qimiao asked with a stern face.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it is,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The three fragmentary star marks split up and shot upwards.

    The energy ward that had been keeping You Qimiao and Han Qing from leaving didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on the fragmentary star marks.

    Momentster, those on the surface saw the three fragmentary star marks fly out of the earth and return to Nie Tian¡¯s chest, the soul essence within them fusing back into his sea of awareness.

    After that, his star domain shrank sharply and gradually dissipated.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li said, looking somewhat upset. ¡°By retrieving your fragmentary star marks, are you going to...?¡±

    ¡°The giant corpse in the depths of the earth isn¡¯t going anywhere anyways,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Also, You Qimiao and Han Qing are still down there. You can take your time to look for ways to unravel its mysteries.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he added with an apologetic tone, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I have to go to the Void World.¡±

    Dong Li looked even more upset.

    ¡°Will you help me, Senior Zhao?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Being suddenly called upon, Zhao Shanling went nk for a second before saying quickly, ¡°Sure.¡±

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Spatial fluctuations emanated on one of the dead stars before Nie Tian manifested.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Ye Wenhan, Chu Rui, and many other experts from the four great sects that were gathered there were excited by the sight of him.

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect reported in a hurry. ¡°Nie Tian, Miss Pei was here earlier, but she didn¡¯t try to close the portal. Instead, she plunged into the Realm Sea without saying a word and left for the Void World through that portal. As long as we don¡¯t shut the portal, the three powerful races in the Void World will still be able to invade our world!¡±

    The other experts also looked concerned.

    Nie Tian, however, had already flown off to float above the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    With an expressionless face, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not that easy for the three races of the Void World to invade our world now.¡±

    After some time.

    The five evil gods arrived one after another, flying from different directions.

    They had been scattered in the Nether Realm in the Spirit World and the temporary areas the humans had assigned to the Phantasms. When Nie Tian had decided to enter the Void World, he had sent them his soul will through the Spirit Scepter.

    Even without the secret teleportation portal in the Realm of Middle Continent, the evil god of fear made it to the Mortal World through a teleportation portal in the Nether Realm.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    They floated quietly behind Nie Tian like five scary gods from ancient times. The enormous shadows they cast made the entire Seven Stars Realm Sea look dim.

    Human experts from different domains had long since learned of the rtionship between Nie Tian and the five evil gods.

    When the evil god of rage hade to subdue the Phantasms in the Mortal World, he had even exined to the human experts that he had been enforcing Nie Tian and Dong Li¡¯s will.

    Therefore, their effort to subdue the remaining Phantasms in the Mortal World had been unobstructed.

    As a result of that, many human experts were already used to the sight of them in the Mortal World.

    Looking up at the five mountainous evil gods, who were releasing terrifying auras, and thinking of the force Nie Tian had at hismand, the human experts that were gathered here started whispering among themselves.

    ¡°Five evil gods with the battle prowess ofte tenth grade grand monarchs! There isn¡¯t a single force in the Mortal World that can match Nie Tian¡¯s anymore!¡±

    ¡°Aside from the evil gods, he also has the support of the Ripper Behemoth on the floating continent. Then, there¡¯s Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan, Master Blood Spirit, Dong Li, Han Qing...¡±

    ¡°You forgot that he¡¯s close to Miss Pei too.¡±

    ¡°Never has the human world seen a force so strong!¡±

    ¡°Even in their prime, the four great sects wouldn¡¯t have been able to contend against Nie Tian with his current strength!¡±

    ¡°Now, he deserves to be called the strongest force throughout the human world!¡±

    Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion let out a deep sigh, realizing that a new era hade.

    Before, he had ced all of his hope in Chu Yuan¡¯s return, assuming that as long as Chu Yuan returned, the Heaven Span Pavilion would be able to keep its status as one of the four great human sects. Perhaps they could even get their Godspan Sword Formation back from Yin Xingtian.

    However, he now realized that that was only his wishful thinking.

    Even at his peak, Chu Yuan, as ate God domain expert, would only be able to contend against two evil gods at the most. However, Nie Tian had five evil gods at hismand!

    Furthermore, Nie Tian himself was strong enough to y Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes.

    What would Chu Yuan be able to do even if he returned?

    Chu Rui from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce let out a sigh. Feeling both gratified and bitter, he thought to himself, ¡°Life is so full of changes. I thought he was going to rece Ji Cang as the new Lord of the Stars, and help the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce rise to new heights. Who would have imagined that his rise would be so steep?!¡±

    The way he saw it, Nie Tian had already surpassed Ji Cang.

    Even though Ji Cang had been regarded as the strongest Qi warrior, and had governed the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce for a long time, he had never had Nie Tian¡¯s powers.

    Nie Tian had made the Ripper Behemoth cooperate with the humans, had made the Floragrims and Ancientspirits take orders from him, and had gained the allegiance of the five evil gods and a group of God domain experts that were strong enough to sweep across the Mortal World!

    Right now, the power he himself controlled outmatched that of the four great sectsbined!

    The Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect had a surreal feeling when looking at Nie Tian, who had five evil gods standing guard behind him.

    Once upon a time, Nie Tian had been just anotherpetitor, whose cultivation base and strength had been inferior to theirs.

    How many years had it been, and now he had enough power to shake the three worlds?!

    Ate Saint domain expert cast his gaze down, sensing the flesh aura of the evil god of bloodlust. ¡°It seems that Nie Tian will call the shots from now on. Let alone the Demons and Phantasms, even if he demands that the ckscales and Birdmen be spared as well, we¡¯ll have no choice but to do it.¡±

    Being from a remote domain, he had only heard stories about Nie Tian before. Never had he met him in person.

    He had nned to berate Nie Tian for allowing the Phantasms and Demons to live, assuming that the four great sects might back him up and pressure Nie Tian into changing his mind.

    Now, however, after paying secret attention to the expressions of the leaders from the four great sects and feeling the fierceness of the five evil gods, he dropped that idea.

    Suddenly, Nie Tian, who was towering over the Seven Stars Realm Sea, started talking. ¡°There¡¯s no need to close the portal. I¡¯ll enter the Void World and turn it upside down. Countless numbers of the three races in the Void World will die because of my arrival. And they won¡¯t have any forces they can spare and send to the Mortal World.

    ¡°They¡¯ll be in endless fear and unease as long as I¡¯m alive.¡±

    With these words, he plunged into the Realm Sea.

    The five evil gods roared simultaneously, causing even the seven surrounding dead stars to shake violently.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    They disappeared into the Seven Stars Realm Sea after Nie Tian, their auras gradually vanishing from the air.

    With a bitter smile, Ye Wenhan turned to Chu Rui and asked, ¡°What do you think of Nie Tian¡¯s wild talk just now, Brother Chu?¡±

    Chu Rui turned to look at him. ¡°Wild talk? You mean where he said that he¡¯ll turn the Void World upside down and make the three races of the Void World live in fear and unease?¡±

    Ye Wenhan nodded.

    ¡°He was able to kill Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes, force Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to go into hiding, end the turmoil in the Mortal World, and do whatever he wanted in the Spirit World. Can his words still be regarded as wild talk?¡± Chu Rui retorted.

    Ye Wenhan went nk after hearing his words.

    Chu Rui then turned to the others and said, ¡°We don¡¯t have to guard this Realm Sea anymore. I think the three races of the Void World might want to close the portal and guard it from the other side soon. After all, when Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and those with them rise to new cultivation bases and gain more power, they might make the Void World their target.¡±

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s eyes shone with the light of astonishment. ¡°Are you saying... that they¡¯ll invade the Void World?¡±

    ¡°Why is that so shocking?¡± Chu Rui said with a wry smile. ¡°You¡¯ve heard yourself that the forces from the Void World are in an unfavorable situation in their battles in the Doomed Star Sea. And they¡¯ve lost a considerable number of people in the Mortal World and the Spirit World. While their strength suffers, Nie Tian and those around him are growing stronger at shocking rates. Why won¡¯t they dare to enter the Void World?¡±

    Dou Tianchen seemed excited. ¡°So we...?¡±

    ¡°Some of us will remain here. If Dong Li and the others are going to enter the Void World too...¡± After a short pause, Chu Rui continued, ¡°we¡¯ll go with them and make some waves in the Void World together!¡±

 Chapter 1624: Unstoppable In The Void World

    In the Void World.

    No powerful experts of the three major races or ancient starships could be seen around the portal that floated alone in the starry river.

    Only a handful of low-grade Devils and Netherspirits could be seen roaming the vicinity of the portal and casting gazes towards it from time to time.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As soon as Nie Tian and the five evil gods flew out of the portal, those Devils¡¯ and Netherspirits¡¯ faces turned pale with fright.

    However, the five evil gods were clearly thrilled about returning to the Void World.

    ¡°The Void World, our homnd!¡±

    ¡°This is the first time that we¡¯ve returned since we were revived in the real sense!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Next to them, Nie Tian, who hadn¡¯t assumed his erged form, looked significantly smaller.

    Because of this, the Devils and Netherspirits that were responsible for keeping a close watch on the portal focused all of their attention on the evil gods. It appeared that they didn¡¯t even see him.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei...¡± Nie Tian said inwardly as he spread out his bloodline power and cast secret soul spells. However, he failed to capture Pei Qiqi¡¯s aura in the surroundings of the portal.

    His face turned cold as he suddenly fixed his eyes on a Devil that was sitting astride arge beast and shouted, ¡°Come here!¡±

    Only then did the eighth grade Devil notice him. After examining him with rapt attention, he gasped with fright, and then hastily turned around and ran.

    However, dazzling starlight rapidly caught up to and engulfed the Devil.

    The starlight then morphed into a star formation that pulled him to Nie Tian.

    ¡°Did a young female humane through this portal earlier?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°A human?¡± the eighth grade Devil said with a confused expression.

    With a brutal grin, the evil god of bloodlust said, ¡°Why bother asking them, Master? Grand Soulsearch!¡±

    The Netherspirits were scared soulless upon hearing ¡®Grand Soulsearch.¡¯ ¡°Lords! Please don¡¯t kill us!¡±

    FIZZ!

    As soon as the evil god of bloodlust moved his hands to form a hand seal, glowing cyan spheres that contained soul power flew out towards the Devils and Netherspirits that were scattered around the portal one after another.

    The glowing cyan spheres easily broke through their flesh aura seas and defenses, and sank into their souls.

    Cyan mes appeared and started burning fiercely in the depths of their eyes.

    Within a very short time, everyst Devil and Netherspirit that was guarding the portal had their souls burned away, and their recent memories harvested by the evil god of bloodlust.

    The evil god of bloodlust took a forceful breath, and all of the Devil and Netherspirit souls were sucked into his nose and transformed into his power. Then, he took his time to exin, ¡°Master, in their cognition, the female human you referred to was a young female Voidspirit.

    ¡°She arrived through the portal not long ago. However, since these ones were only at the seventh and eighth grade, she didn¡¯t even bother to kill them. She only asked for directions to ces that were heavily guarded by the Devils and Netherspirits, before she split space open and left.

    ¡°Since she could travel through space like that, they thought that she was a Voidspirit, and reported her arrival to their superiors...¡±

    The evil god of bloodlust went on as he chewed on their memories.

    Nie Tian soon realized that Pei Qiqi had already arrived in the Void World and left the area through spatial magics.

    He frowned and said, ¡°Damn it, I forgot about her abilities. Senior Martial Sister Pei is well-versed in all sorts of spatial magics, and she has the Space Boundaries Crystal at hermand. Locating her in the Void World is going to be like finding a needle in the sea.¡±

    With these words, he activated his bloodline talent.

    The Devils and Netherspirits that had been killed by the evil god of bloodlust were pulled towards him, and floated in his flesh aura sea like corpses floating in the sea.

    Then, in the blink of an eye, all of them were drained of their flesh power.

    Three drops of Blood Essence came to form in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    ¡°This is too few,¡± Nie Tian muttered. Then he turned to the evil gods. ¡°The Void World used to be your home. How can I locate her within the shortest time?¡±

    The evil god of fear thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Master, ording to what you said, she¡¯s bound to start a bloody battle in the Void World. The reason why she asked these Devils and Netherspirits for directions to heavily guarded ces must be because she was looking for a ce where she¡¯ll have to go all-out to fight her opponents. So it¡¯s got to be somewhere close and overseen by grand monarchs...

    ¡°However, it¡¯s been too long since we lived here. Too much has changed in the Void World after we were gone. I don¡¯t know...¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± the evil god of bloodlust jumped in and said. ¡°Master, from what I¡¯ve gathered from those weaklings¡¯ memories, I learned that there¡¯s only one ce nearby that¡¯s heavily guarded and might create enough trouble for her. Given her expertise in spatial power, she might have gotten there already. We¡¯d better hurry.¡±

    ¡°Lead the way then!¡±

    ¡°Sure,e with me please.¡±

    The five evil gods sped through the dim starry river in the Void World like five cyan lightning bolts, covering hundreds of thousands of kilometers per second.

    In the Heaven Seal Devil Land in the Devils¡¯ territory.

    Numerous gruesome fortresses sat on a vast ckish-violetnd. Countless satanic beasts and insects fought and killed each other unceasingly in the Heaven Seal Swamp, which was enshrouded in thick Devil Qi.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Nie Tian and the five evil gods suddenly arrived high in the clouds.

    Looking down at the vastnd below, the evil god of bloodlust said, ¡°Thisnd has been here since ancient times. It produces tens of thousands of devilish insects and low-tier devilish beasts every day. For the Devils, these devilish insects and low-tier devilish beasts can not only be used as forces in battle, but also be devoured as a source of power. As far as I know, the Devil grand monarch that¡¯s charged with guarding the Heaven Seal Devil Land is called Devil Monarch Heaven Seal.

    ¡°The current Devil Monarch Heaven Seal is at the middle tenth grade. Technically speaking, he¡¯d be a good match for the Pei girl.¡±

    The evil god of fear joined the conversation. ¡°As an important source of devilish insects and creatures, the Heaven Seal Devil Land needs to be protected by a grand monarch year-round. Many of the Devils¡¯ battle beasts and mountse from here. There¡¯s a power pool in the earth¡¯s core of the Heaven Seal Devil Land. The aura and Devil Qi it exudes is what spawns these devilish insects and creatures.¡±

    The evil god of despair spread out his soul awareness and said, ¡°Howe I can sense the soul auras of billions of devilish insects and creatures, but not the soul aura of a single Devil grand monarch?¡±

    ¡°But from what I¡¯ve learned, the current Devil Monarch Heaven Seal should be here,¡± the evil god of bloodlust said, looking confused.

    BOOM!

    The terrifying flesh aura of the evil god of bloodlust suddenly burst forth without the slightest masking.

    Even the purple devilish clouds that were keeping them from sight were sted and scattered.

    Immediately afterwards, three ninth grade Devil grand patriarchs flew into the sky.

    Seeing that the arrivals were five Netherspirit grand monarchs that they didn¡¯t recognize, the Devil grand patriarchs were scared to say, ¡°I... I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met before, Lords. I¡¯m sure you must be renowned experts in the Netherspirit race, but I don¡¯t seem to have heard about or met you in person.¡±

    ¡°Did a young female Voidspirite here earlier?¡± the evil god of bloodlust asked coldly.

    One of the grand patriarchs hastily nodded and said, ¡°Yes! She came here and demanded that Devil Monarch Heaven Seal fight her. However, Devil Monarch Heaven Seal had received urgent summons and left for the Land of Devil Refinement. Then, that Voidspirit killed several of us and searched about. After realizing that Devil Monarch Heaven Seal was indeed not here, she asked for directions and left for the Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    The evil god of bloodlust gasped. ¡°What? The Devil Monarch Heaven Seal left for the Land of Devil Refinement? And she went there too?¡±

    The Devil grand patriarch nodded. ¡°I believe so.¡±

    ¡°Do you have a teleportation portal here that can get us to a ce that¡¯s close to the Land of Devil Refinement?¡± The evil god of bloodlust asked.

    ¡°Yes, we do.¡±

    ¡°Take us to it! We¡¯re going too!¡±

 Chapter 1625: The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement

    Not daring to disobey the evil god of bloodlust, the Devil grand patriarchs took them to the teleportation portal and activated it obediently.

    Stepping into the spell formation and sensing the spatial fluctuations growing stronger in a sharp manner, Nie Tian muttered in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s your lucky day.¡±

    The three ninth grade grand patriarchs and numerous Devil soldiers could be used to refine a considerable amount of Blood Essence.

    However, he also knew that if he were to start a massacre on the Heaven Seal Devil Land, all the Devils here would be easily wiped out. However, the teleportation portal might also be damaged during the ughter.

    If that happened, it would be much more troublesome to get to the Land of Devil Refinement.

    WHOOSH!

    A momentter, Nie Tian found himself and the five shrunken evil gods on arge grayish-brown rock.

    Under their feet was a teleportation portal built by the Devils.

    The evil god of bloodlust pointed into the distance and said with a serious expression, ¡°Master, that is the Land of Devil Refinement. The Devils call it the Land of Devil Refinement, while the other outsider races call it the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Wow!¡±

    The so-called Land of Devil Refinement looked like a colossal beehive at first sight.

    With a vast opening at the top, it seemed to be hollow inside, its heart filled with raging devilish mes. The countless honeb-like structures in it contained countless life auras that were either strong or weak.

    ¡°Those devilish mes in the Land of Devil Refinement can help low-tier devilish insects and beasts transform at a high speed,¡± the evil god of bloodlust exined. ¡°This ce existed even before our time. Powerful Devil experts would tossrge numbers of devilish insects and beasts into those honeb-like structures and let them be baptized by the devilish mes.

    ¡°Those that survived would rapidly upgrade and grow stronger. Those that didn¡¯t would be reduced to ashes.

    ¡°Not only devilish insects and beasts, but many high-tier Devils would alsoe here to temper their Indestructible Form. Of course, only those who could endure the violent mes would be stronger. It was normal for those who failed to endure the mes to be burned to ashes.

    ¡°Also, there¡¯s something strange with the mes in the Land of Devil Refinement. The weaker the participant was, the weaker the mes would be. The stronger the participant was, the stronger the mes would be.

    ¡°There were even Devil grand monarchs that were burned to death by those mes.

    ¡°And that¡¯s the Devils. If they were beings of other species, they¡¯d die even faster after being tossed into the Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    The evil god of fear chimed in. ¡°We Netherspirits aren¡¯t good at body refinement. In fact, our fleshly bodies are the weakest among the three major races of the Void World. If members of our race fall into the Land of Devil Refinement and are burned by the devilish mes in it, they¡¯ll most likely die within a short time. However... the five of us may be exceptions.¡±

    The evil god of rage grinned and said, ¡°That¡¯s all thanks to you, Master. The new bodies you gave us are much tougher, and have more potential than our old ones! I can feel that as our flesh auras build up, our bodies are being strengthened bit by bit. Perhaps we can endure the mes in the Land of Devil Refinement for a while now.¡±

    BOOM!

    The Land of Devil Refinement, which looked like a colossal beehive, shook violently.

    At the same time, fierce mes spewed from the countless honeb-like structures, instantly reducing hundreds of thousands of devilish insects and beasts to flying ashes.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The flesh auras of the dead insects and beasts wandered around the Land of Devil Refinement until stronger insects and beasts absorbed and refined them through their bloodline magics.

    ¡°Kill! Don¡¯t stop!¡±

    Frenzied howls seemed toe from the depths of the Land of Devil Refinement.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± As a thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, his life bloodline channeled and absorbed part of the flesh auras of the devilish insects and beasts that had been killed by the violent shake and the fierce mes.

    Drop after drop of brand new Blood Essence soon came to form in his heart.

    However, as he attempted to extend his soul awareness and flesh aura to the Land of Devil Refinement, they seemed to be affected by the devilish mes and lost all perception. Therefore, he couldn¡¯t locate the Devil that was howling or determine the grade of his bloodline.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go and take a look down the opening at the top.¡± With these words, Nie Tian condensed into a streak of starlight that shot towards the Land of Devil Refinement. The shrunken evil gods followed along, confusion appearing in their cyan eyes.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Nie Tian arrived high above the Land of Devil Refinement.

    He looked down, and saw that the Land of Devil Refinement looked like a colossal well from this point of view.

    It seemed as if the raging mes burning inside of it would never die out.

    Like countless rivers, streaks of mes fused into the honeb-like structures, where there were innumerable devilish insects, beasts, and Devils at different grades.

    At the very heart of the well, there seemed to be a huge fiery shape, twisting and casting all sorts of exquisite incantations.

    The incantations manifested fireballs, fire wards, and streaks of crimson mes.

    me power that seemed to be vested with infinite magicalws of fire was mustered and released by the giant fiery shape that looked like a god of fire.

    ¡°Keep killing! Don¡¯t stop!¡± The mad roars of Devils continued to echo from the honeb-like structures.

    ¡°Master, Devil starships are approaching,¡± the evil god of bloodlust rmed Nie Tian in a soft voice as he and the other evil gods rapidly cast bloodline magics to withdraw their soul fluctuations.

    Nie Tian went nk for a brief moment before he also cast bloodline magics to mask his intense flesh aura.

    All forbidden areas in the Void World enjoyed special statuses. If a ce was called a forbiddennd, it was usually full of mysteries and danger.

    He also wanted to see what was so special about this wondrous ce that the outsider races referred to as the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    The giant fiery shape that was looming in the devilish mes was clearly in a state of fury. However, the mes were keeping its appearance from sight.

    Even though Nie Tian couldn¡¯t see what it really was, it gave him a sense of familiarity.

    He had a peculiar feeling that the fiery shape wasn¡¯t a Devil who was refining their body at the heart of the mes, but rather someone he knew.

    In deafening rumbles, Devil starships sailed from the distance in a formidable array.

    Even though Nie Tian, who had masked his aura, couldn¡¯t send his soul awareness or flesh aura into the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, none of the iing Devils could escape his perception.

    ¡°Such arge amount of devilish insects and beasts!¡±

    Hundreds of thousands of devilish insects and beasts were driven into the honeb-like structures in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement like herds of cows and sheep.

    A dozen ninth grade Devil grand patriarchs seemed to be in charge of the starships.

    After all of the devilish insects and beasts entered the colossal beehive, they also morphed into streaks of light that flew towards the wondrousnd.

    Only after they had entered did the seventh and eighth grade Devil soldiers stream into it as well.

    Within a short time, all of the starships that had been loaded with Devils and devilish insects and beasts were emptied.

    ¡°Hmm.¡± After observing for a while, the evil god of bloodlust said, ¡°All those devilish insects and beasts don¡¯t seem to be driven there to upgrade their bloodlines, but rather sent to die in there. That way, the Devils can strengthen themselves and improve their battle prowess with their flesh power.¡±

    ¡°I think they¡¯re trying to refine something inside the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement,¡± the evil god of fear said, pointing down at the giant fiery shape looming in the mes. ¡°Look! It¡¯s not a being of an outsider race! It¡¯s a human!¡±

    Nie Tian caught a fairly clear view of the shape as well. ¡°That¡¯s a dharma idol! That¡¯s Shao Tianyang, the sectmaster of the fire element sect!¡±

 Chapter 1626: An Acquaintance

    It wasn¡¯t a Devil that was being refined in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement before them, but a human!

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Bolts of crimson lightning that were vested with the magicalws of fire slithered around, as divine fiery symbols shone abruptly like zing stars, lighting up the vague fiery shape for a brief moment.

    As brief as it was, Nie Tian recognized that the giant fiery shape was none other than the dharma idol of Shao Tianyang, the sectmaster of the fire element sect!

    It was hard to believe that Shao Tianyang, who had been missing from the Mortal World for so long, was actually trapped here in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Who knew how long the Devils had been refining him?

    Shao Tianyang¡¯s dharma idol was thousands of meters tall. However, he still seemed very small in the colossal mes-filled well in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    WHOOSH!

    After struggling for a while, Shao Tianyang¡¯s dharma idol shrank abruptly into a zing sphere.

    In the sea of fierce devilish mes, the zing sphere seemed as puny as a grain of dust.

    However, the light it emanated was iparably bright!

    It constantly manifested various magicalws of fire. Numerous exquisite fiery incantations and divine symbols skipped around, forming what seemed like a downscaled fire domain.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Like thousands of purple lightning bolts, streaks of purple light suddenly shot out from different honeb-shaped structures towards the zing sphere in the middle.

    Each and every one of them contained Devil Blood Essence!

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes and looked with rapt attention. Then, he saw a male Devil walk out of one of the countless honeb-shaped structures, d in a suit of fine devilish armor.

    Face cold, he fixed the zing sphere with a dark, fierce look.

    ¡°A grand monarch,¡± Nie Tian said inwardly.

    After him, another tall, male Devil that hadn¡¯t activated Ancestral Awakening walked out.

    His naked upper body was covered in tiny ck scales, his flesh aura sea devouring the flesh power of the numerous devilish insects and beasts that had been burned to death.

    Nie Tian let out a loud harrumph. ¡°Another grand monarch.¡±

    After that, a gigantic devilish serpent emerged from another honeb-shaped hole. From the look of it, it must be at the tenth grade as well. Eyes shining with the light of wisdom, it also stared at the zing sphere Shao Tianyang had morphed into.

    After a moment of amazement, the evil god of fear whispered, ¡°Both of those Devils are middle tenth grade grand monarchs. One of them must be Devil Monarch Heaven Seal. That devilish serpent is also at the tenth grade, as its aura is every bit as intense as that of the two grand monarchs. However, even together, the three of them aren¡¯t strong enough to imprison that human expert.¡±

    The evil god of bloodlust jumped in and said, ¡°The wondrous power in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is what¡¯s really keeping him here. They¡¯re only assisting.¡±

    Nie Tian, however, nced around and secretly scanned the vicinity with his soul awareness and life bloodline. Failing to detect Pei Qiqi¡¯s aura, he frowned and thought to himself, ¡°Senior martial sister Pei must havee here, but she¡¯s nowhere to be seen. Don¡¯t tell me that she¡¯s inside the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement?¡±

    He hade here mostly because he was worried about Pei Qiqi¡¯s safety.

    Finding Shao Tianyang from the fire element sect was only an ident.

    Seeing that he didn¡¯t give any response, the evil god of rage continued, ¡°Those two middle tenth grade Devil grand monarchs are nothing to be afraid of, Master. As long as theye out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, we¡¯ll be able to take care of them, as well as that serpent. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s going to be hard for us to enter the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Our fleshly bodies can¡¯t withstand the devilish mes over a long time.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a derisiveugh. ¡°You can¡¯t? I¡¯d like to see what¡¯s so special about it.¡±

    ¡°Please don¡¯t!¡± the five evil gods eximed at the same time.

    However, at that very moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering dragon¡¯s cry echoed from the depths of the vast well that was filled with raging mes.

    ¡°Roar!¡± The me Dragon Armor suddenly flew out despite Nie Tian¡¯s objections, and manifested as Agaz high above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    ¡°Father!¡± Agaz shouted, his dragon form wreathed in flowing streaks of fiery light. Hisrge dragon eyes were bursting with fury as he red downward.

    In the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, the two Devil grand monarchs and the giant serpent jerked their heads, and looked coldly at Agaz.

    After another dragon¡¯s cry rumbled out, Nie Tian finally saw a gigantic me dragon struggling and roaring madly in the depths of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, its enormous body emanating endless fire.

    Apparently, he had sensed Agaz¡¯s aura.

    bbergasted, Nie Tian stared nkly into the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. ¡°Baptista, ate tenth grade me dragon and the high chieftain of the me dragon race! Not just Shao Tianyang, but Baptista too? Those two are mortal enemies! It was Shao Tianyang who captured and refined Agaz, forged his meridians and bones into the me Dragon Armor, and bestowed it upon the Daughter of mes!¡±

    He had never thought that two mortal enemies, both of whom were well-versed in me power, would be imprisoned in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement together, being continuously refined by the Devils.

    The great serpent slowly retreated to one of the honeb-shaped holes.

    If Nie Tian could see into the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, then he would be able to see that the great serpent shrank into a bolt of lightning that flew swiftly through thework of holes and tunnels.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the serpent came out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and exposed itself in the starry river.

    Then, as it let out a strange low cry, its body expanded at an rming rate, like an inted balloon. In the blink of an eye, it grew to be seven thousand meters long.

    CRACKLE!

    Numerous ck lightning bolts emerged and slithered around its terrifying form.

    ¡°Hey there, little me dragon,¡± it said with a nasty smile, as it appeared to havee for Agaz. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a me dragon as weak as you to have the audacity toe to our Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. How in the world did you cross the Doomed Star Sea, which is known to be a ughterhouse?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°That beast...¡±

    ¡°That can¡¯t be called a beast anymore now that it has entered the tenth grade,¡± the evil god of despair exined. ¡°Many high-tier Devils were born as devilish insects or beasts, and slowly worked their way up. Once they entered the tenth grade, they are viewed as grand monarchs of the Devil race.

    ¡°For those Devil grand monarchs that have gradually risen from low backgrounds as devilish insects and beasts, they¡¯re considered the first, and creators of new sub-races under the Devil race.

    ¡°That serpent might be one. Thanks to the heights it has reached, the chances for its descendants to be grand monarchs is greatly improved. Its descendants will no longer be regarded as devilish beasts, but rather high-tier Devils with remarkable intelligence.¡±

    ¡°Wait! You carry my father¡¯s aura!¡± Agaz shouted.

    The evil god of bloodlust nodded and said, ¡°Oh, so it must have benefited from the high chieftain of the me dragon race. Master, it hasn¡¯t sensed our presence, and thinks it¡¯s only facing a me dragon. It¡¯s courting death bying out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Do we kill it?¡±

    HOWL! ROAR! Baptista¡¯s furious roars continued to echo out from the depths of the peculiar mes, his dragon form struggling madly like a winding mountain, as if it was going to charge out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    However, the more violently he released his flesh aura, the more devilish mes converged on him.

    Nie Tian could even see the mes finding their way through his dragon scales to infiltrate his flesh, and starting to burn him from within as well. Soon, his mad roars turned into agonized shrieks. His dragon aura gradually withered in the devilish mes.

    The two Devil grand monarchs, however, greedily sucked the flesh aura he had released to strengthen themselves.

 Chapter 1627: Reckless?

    Devilish mes burned furiously in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    The howls of the me dragon high chieftain were filled with agony.

    Crimson flesh aura kept oozing through his dragon scales and being greedily absorbed by the two Devil grand monarchs in wisps.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Even though the two Devil grand monarchs hadn¡¯t activated their Indestructible Form, strange crisp sounds kepting from their bones.

    They were the sounds of powerful flesh aura tempering their bones.

    One of the grand monarchs let out a nasty, wildugh and said, ¡°Baptista! You might be a peak expert in the Spirit World. However, you made a dumb decision bying to mess with us in the Void World!¡±

    The other grand monarch chimed in, smiling. ¡°Now that brat of yours hase to his grave as well. Grand Monarch Serpent Devil is in luck.¡±

    In the depths of the mes, the me dragon high chieftain wailed as he suffered wave after wave of impact from the mes.

    His one and only purpose was to send one piece of information: Leave now!

    He wanted Agaz, his young son, to leave thisnd of trouble right now, lest he be food for that hideous serpent.

    Even he, ate tenth grade grand monarch, had been trapped in the Land of Devil Refinement, suffering from the devilish mes day and night, and having his flesh aura being slowly gnawed away by the Devils.

    He could still manage, but could his son?

    ¡°Go! Leave now!¡± He howled on.

    A subtle, almost imperceivable sigh echoed from the zing sphere Shao Tianyang had morphed into.

    Inside the zing sphere, numerous divine fiery symbols morphed into Shao Tianyang¡¯s soul shadow, which looked quietly at the tortured Baptista and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that your son actually found his way here.¡±

    He tried tomunicate with Baptista through soul awareness that only they could perceive.

    ¡°Your son is one of Nie Tian¡¯s followers. If he had stayed with Nie Tian instead ofing to search for you, given another millennium, he might actually have had a good chance at entering the tenth grade. Of course, you and I would probably have had ourst bit of power squeezed out by this damned ce and died by then.

    ¡°But at least your bloodline would have been carried on that way.

    ¡°He really shouldn¡¯t havee to the Void World, to the Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As he spoke, the devilish mes in the Land of Devil Refinement converged on the violent Baptista, causing the mes at the top to thin out.

    This allowed Shao Tianyang¡¯s soul shadow to see through mes above him and get a vague view of what was happening.

    He saw the serpent grand monarch slithering towards Agaz.

    Compared to the great serpent, Agaz was considerably inferior in both size and flesh aura.

    Shao Tianyang sighed. ¡°Their strengths aren¡¯t at the same level at all. Even though I forged Agaz into the me Dragon Armor, I also vested it with the profound truths of me power that I¡¯ve derived. If Agaz was at the same grade as that serpent, I suppose the two of them would have been well-matched. But now...¡±

    ¡°Agaz!¡± Despair filled Baptista¡¯s eyes as he struggled with his life, hoping to break free from the Land of Devil Refinement.

    However, his enormous dragon form had only moved slightly upwards before devilish mes that were dozens of times fiercer descended upon him, along with the terrifying power unleashed by numerous unknown devil formations.

    In the blink of an eye, his whole dragon form was covered in blood!

    As soon as his golden-red blood flowed out through his scales, the two Devil grand monarchs and the countless devilish insects and beasts went feverish.

    It was as if every devilish being in the Land of Devil Refinement could get a share of the golden-red blooding out of Baptista and strengthen themselves with it.

    ¡°Calm down!¡± Shao Tianyang yelled as the zing sphere suddenly shifted in an attempt to stop Baptista. ¡°Don¡¯t try to break free! You¡¯ll only end up draining your flesh power in a short time and killing yourself! If you stay here, perhaps there¡¯s still a chance for you to survive. But if you try to break free, you¡¯ll die for sure!¡±

    ¡°A chance to survive? Are you delusional?¡± Baptista said with a miserable smile. ¡°If I stay in this damned ce, I¡¯ll have my power squeezed out bit by bit. My death will be slow, but certain. If I charge out now, I may die an instant death, which is not that different. If Agaz hadn¡¯te, I probably would have held onto what¡¯s left of my life and waited for those in the Doomed Star Sea to fight their way into the Void World, but now...¡±

    With these words, the me dragon high chieftain resumed his violent struggling.

    Even though he knew that he was courting death, his son was more important to him than his own life.

    ¡°Wait! Stop!¡± Shao Tianyang¡¯s exmation went straight into Baptista¡¯s mind. ¡°I see Nie Tian! I can¡¯t believe Nie Tian is here too!¡±

    While the five evil gods remained hidden, Nie Tian quietly revealed himself, floating above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Serpent Devil, a middle tenth grade serpent,¡± Muttering these words, Nie Tian suddenly shifted his location. Floating with his back against Agaz, he raised his hands and yanked them down, as if to pull something.

    SPLASH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s star domain manifested abruptly in front of the great serpent like a sea of dazzling stars.

    Grand Monarch Serpent Devil was startled. ¡°A God domain disciple from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    His body was more than seven thousand meters long, and his head was like a mountain. As he blinked, ck lightning bolts shot out of his eyes. ¡°Oops, only at the early God domain!¡± he added with augh. ¡°Even Ji Cang himself is currently trapped in the Void World. How does an early God domain disciple like you dare toe to our Land of Devil Refinement?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian has entered the God domain!¡± Shao Tianyang¡¯s soul shadow shuddered, as if he found this unbelievable. ¡°This is way too fast! How on earth did he advance to the God domain within such a short time? Damn! His foundation must be unstable! He must have forced his breakthrough into the God domain with the help of some rare treasure!¡±

    He suddenly felt deeply sorry for Nie Tian, assuming that he must have advanced his potential to make the breakthrough, and that the early God domain would most likely be his ceiling.

    Baptista finally calmed down after hearing Shao Tianyang¡¯s exmation. However, after getting a hold of the situation, he lost hope again. ¡°He came alone? I thought he¡¯d be apanied by God domain experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the other three ancient sects.

    ¡°If he¡¯s here himself, what difference can he make? He¡¯ll only get himself killed like my son.

    ¡°It seems that this Nie Tian who Agaz speaks so highly of is a reckless man after all. It¡¯s a waste of his unmatched talent and potential!¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian¡¯s star domain morphed into streaks of starlight that poured down towards the great serpent like a waterfall.

    At the same time, the Heavenly Stars Flower manifested behind Nie Tian.

    Countless rays of blinding starlight shot out of its branches and leaves and fused into the falling streaks of starlight, amplifying their might.

    Shao Tianyang and Baptista¡¯s jaws dropped.

    They were shocked to see countless fragmentary stars and star formations within the plummeting starlight.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Like being hit by meteors, Grand Monarch Serpent Devil¡¯s winding serpent form was instantly ripped open in many ces, and became riddled with bloody holes.

    In the blink of an eye, he suffered injuries that were almost as severe as Baptista¡¯s.

    Baptista, the me dragon high chieftain, couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°How is that possible?! That Nie Tian is clearly only at the early God domain! And judging from his aura, he must have only entered the early God domain recently!¡±

    Shao Tianyang¡¯s eyes also lit up. ¡°He¡¯s a hybrid! Can it be his bloodline?¡±

 Chapter 1628: Drawing The Snake Out Of The Cave

    Grand Monarch Serpent Devil¡¯s purple blood poured down towards the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement like heavy rain.

    His body was riddled with bloody holes, from which bright fragmentary stars kept flying out, enveloping his enormous serpent form in mysterious starlight. It looked gorgeous, but cruel.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    It pained Grand Monarch Serpent Devil to the point where he wanted to die, as if countless stars were doing everything they could to drill into his body.

    Vested with the magicalws of star power, they seemed to be cutting through his meridians, flesh, and bones.

    Without assuming his erged form, Nie Tian looked puny whenpared to Agaz, not to mention Grand Monarch Serpent Devil.

    However, those in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement had silent, grim looks on their faces as they looked up at him, especially the Devils!

    At first, the two Devil grand monarchs hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the battle that was taking ce above. Instead, they had focused on Baptista, the me dragon high chieftain.

    They had looked forward to him struggling harder against the restrictive spell of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, so they could harvest more of his flesh power.

    However, they were rmed as soon as Nie Tian released his star domain and caused serious damage to Grand Monarch Serpent Devil.

    ¡°A God domain Qi warrior from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce...¡± one of the Devil grand monarchs said, fixing Nie Tian with a cold stare. ¡°We¡¯d better be cautious and go help Grand Monarch Serpent Devil. We don¡¯t want him to get killed.¡±

    ¡°I doubt it¡¯lle to that,¡± The other Devil grand monarch said.

    Baptista, who was struggling with his life in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, suddenly calmed down.

    He fixed Shao Tianyang with a skeptical look, and then his enormous dragon form, which was covered in wounds, slowly sank back down.

    As he did, he suffered much less from the devilish mes.

    Then, as his form slowly shrank, many of the bloody wounds under his dragon scales started to heal.

    ¡°Shao Tianyang, can that Nie Tian really defeat Grand Monarch Serpent Devil?¡± he asked with his soul.

    Wisps of fiery light flew from his eyes into the devilish mes.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Shao Tianyang¡¯s soul shadow answered, flickering in the zing sphere. ¡°It¡¯s been too long since Ist met him. And our power is suppressed by the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, which is keeping me from sensing his actual power. However, I don¡¯t think your son is in danger anymore. Unless...¡±

    He paused and turned to look at the two Devil grand monarchs from within the zing sphere with aplicated expression. ¡°Unless those two decide to join the battle.¡±

    ¡°Get back here, Agaz!¡±

    Above the forbiddennd, Nie Tian shouted and reached out towards the me dragon.

    His hand seemed to suddenly expand countless times and hook onto Agaz¡¯s burning dragon form like an iron anchor.

    Agaz howled and struggled like crazy, as he wanted to charge into the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement with all his heart.

    The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, where devilish mes were burning fiercely, made even Nie Tian somewhat uneasy. His conversation with the five evil gods had made him realize that the ce was by no means ordinary.

    Otherwise, why were Shao Tianyang and Baptista trapped in it by merely a couple of middle tenth grade Devil grand monarchs?

    If even they couldn¡¯t break free from the agonizing refinement of the devilish mes, wouldn¡¯t Agaz be courting death if he charged into it?

    WHOOSH!

    Agaz was tossed far away from the forbiddennd into the starry river like a streak of fire.

    ¡°Master!¡± Agaz madly called to Nie Tian through his soul, begging him to rescue Baptista from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    ¡°You just stay there and watch. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡± With these words, a thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind. Then, as his soul will reached the depths of his soul, he called out, ¡°Heavenly Wood Thorns!¡±

    Numerous rays of starlight inside of Grand Monarch Serpent Devil, which no one could see by relying on just their sight, suddenly started changing violently.

    The starlight rapidly condensed into many translucent and sparkling tree branches.

    As soon as they came to form, they started draining Grand Monarch Serpent Devil¡¯s flesh aura and growing madly within him!

    They quickly turned into sinister thorns that ripped through Grand Monarch Serpent Devil¡¯s serpent form like sharp des, causing massive ruptures in his meridians and bones.

    Even his agonized shrieks became intermittent.

    His eyes were filled with terror as he looked at Nie Tian, as if he were some evil creature.

    Now he realized that this Qi warrior in front of him was by no means insignificant. The thorns devouring his flesh power and madly growing inside of him were definitely not something a disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce could conjure.

    This means of attack also deviated from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s system.

    Heart burning with anxiety, he gave up on the idea of killing Agaz and focused on returning to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement alive. ¡°As long as I can make it back, I bet I can refine these thorns inside of me with the devilish mes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement! I¡¯ve got to go back!¡±

    However, as soon as he moved his serpent form, the thorns that seemed to have reached every corner of his body made him suffer excruciating pain, as if someone were scraping his bones with des.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian quietly appeared by one of his giant serpent eyes. Staring into it with a cold expression, he said in a soft voice, ¡°Grand Monarch Serpent Devil, is it? Since you dared toe out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, don¡¯t imagine that you can go back in one piece.¡±

    Then, he suddenly looked down at the two Devil grand monarchs in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. ¡°Are you just going to watch him die?

    ¡°You feel much safer hiding inside the forbiddennd, don¡¯t you? Are all Devils cowards like you?¡±

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Like ignited powder kegs, the two Devil grand monarchs bellowed and instantly flew out of two of the honeb-like holes, casting Baptista and Shao Tianyang out of their minds.

    Nie Tian was only an early God domain Qi warrior. What did they have to be afraid of?

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The two Devil grand monarchs rapidly flew out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. As soon as they did, they activated Ancestral Awakening.

    ¡°I am Devil Monarch Heaven Seal!¡±

    d in fine battle armor, Devil Monarch Heaven Seal looked like a majestic mountain in his Indestructible Form.

    ¡°I am Grand Monarch Purple Scythe!¡±

    Grand Monarch Purple Scythe was naked from the waist up and covered in scary scales. After activating Ancestral Awakening with a nasty smile, he summoned a giant scythe into his hand and pointed it at Nie Tian from afar. ¡°Human brat, you must have a death wish foring to insult us in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡±

    Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain were surprised to discover that the devilish mes had suddenly be much less aggressive.

    Immediately afterwards, they noticed that the two Devil grand monarchs were facing Nie Tian above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Both of them had activated their bloodline talents and assumed their Indestructible form.

    ¡°Three grand monarchs!¡± the me dragon high chieftain let out a low cry. ¡°Nie Tian should have left this ce after his small victory! If he had left the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement with Agaz to seek help from the four great sects, perhaps he would have had a chance toe back and defeat those two!¡±

    Shao Tianyang was also speechless.

    The fact that Nie Tian could hurt Grand Monarch Serpent Devil had shocked him indeed. However, thinking of Nie Tian¡¯s background, he assumed that it was abination of some divine tool and his bloodline.

    Now, he was facing three middle tenth grade grand monarchs. Did he really have a chance?

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good, you¡¯re out of your cave. If you had just holed up inside the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, even I would have had to go through a ton of trouble to kill you. But now that you¡¯re out of there, things are much easier. Cut off their retreat, and don¡¯t let them return to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡±

    ¡°Got it!¡± Five peculiar voices echoed out simultaneously from the dim starry river behind Nie Tian.

    In the next moment, the five evil gods, who had been hiding the whole time, flew out with loud whooshes.

    Forming a line behind the Devil grand monarchs, they fixed dark gazes on the two Devil grand monarchs who had juste out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and said, ¡°They¡¯re not going back, Master.¡±

 Chapter 1629: Killing Devils!

    Not just the two Devil grand monarchs, but Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain were bbergasted as well. ¡°What the...?!¡±

    The sudden appearance of the five evil gods was like a hammer to the chests of the Devil grand monarchs.

    The two of them and Grand Monarch Serpent Devil had been guarding the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement recently, and were thus uninformed about what was happening in other parts of the Void World, not to mention the great changes in the Mortal World.

    For that reason, they had thought that they had nothing to be afraid of, since they were only facing an early God domain disciple of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    They knew nothing about the revival of the five evil gods.

    Now, seeing five scary-looking, Nether Qi-wreathed Netherspirit experts suddenly showing up behind them, they misunderstood.

    Had the Netherspirits turned against them?

    After a moment of pondering, Devil Monarch Heaven Seal said, ¡°No, that can¡¯t be it. I know every single Netherspirit grand monarch. Howe I¡¯ve never seen any of you?¡±

    A strong shudder ran through Grand Monarch Purple Scythe as he eximed, ¡°You... You were Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s subordinates! But didn¡¯t you die long ago?¡±

    Devil Monarch Heaven Seal and Grand Monarch Serpent Devil gasped simultaneously upon hearing this. ¡°What?!¡±

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian emanated violent bloodline fluctuations as he suddenly started expanding.

    In the blink of an eye, he became ninth thousand meters tall.

    Grand Monarch Serpent Devil¡¯s narrow snake eyes were filled with fear. ¡°Y-you...¡±

    The response he received from Nie Tian was a low cry, ¡°Life Drain!¡±

    The translucent and sparkling thorns that had been spreading inside of Grand Monarch Serpent Devil suddenly changed, giving rise to a strong attractive force!

    WHOOSH!

    Wisp after wisp of Blood Essence that Grand Monarch Serpent Devil had expended great effort and thousands of years to refine morphed into rays of blood-colored light that left him at a terrifying rate.

    His enormous serpent form rapidly shriveled, with strange mists rising from his bloody wounds.

    He let out agonized shrieks, staring unblinkingly at Nie Tian.

    Suddenly, a surge of bleak, moist soul power flew out like his forked tongue, and pierced towards Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness like a sharp sword.

    ¡°Soul magic?¡±

    With a derisiveugh, Nie Tian took his time to summon the Spirit Scepter and held it in front of him in a casual manner.

    Grand Monarch Serpent Devil gasped with astonishment. ¡°T-the Spirit Scepter! Howe the Netherspirits¡¯ Spirit Scepter is in your hand? W-who the hell are you?!¡±

    Calm as ever, Nie Tian said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter to you anymore. You¡¯re dead.¡±

    With these words, he summoned the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone and called out, ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    Countless rays of blood-colored light wove into a giant that caught Grand Monarch Serpent Devil.

    Numerous gashes were inflicted upon Grand Monarch Serpent Devil¡¯s enormous serpent form, as if he were being cut by a thousand des.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bloodline power then found its way into his body, and started tearing through his flesh and bones.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s Life Drain was fully activated.

    Under its wondrous effect, iparably rich flesh power poured out of Grand Monarch Serpent Devil into Nie Tian.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence that contained immense life power was condensed.

    The Blood Essence he had consumed to help Pei Qiqi, who had been set up by the Voidspirits, was being rapidly replenished through the death of this Grand Monarch Serpent Devil.

    After all, Grand Monarch Serpent Devil was a middle tenth grade grand monarch. The flesh aura he had umted through his prolonged life was immense enough to make up for all of Nie Tian¡¯s consumption.

    Soon, Nie Tian recovered all of his consumed Blood Essence.

    Then, as more flesh power poured in, it was devoured by his bloodline aura and used to build up the flesh power deposit it needed to advance to the tenth grade.

    ¡°Run!¡±

    Grand Monarch Purple Scythe and Devil Monarch Heaven Seal fled towards the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement upon seeing this.

    However, they were only middle tenth grade grand monarchs.

    The five evil gods, on the other hand, had already recovered their strength aste tenth grade grand monarchs. Plus, their fleshly bodies were every bit as strong as theirs as well.

    The screeches and howls of the billions of devilish insects, low-tier beasts, and Devils in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement quickly died out.

    Without the protection of the three grand monarchs, they had stopped sucking power from Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain, and were waiting for their return.

    Shao Tianyang and Baptista, however, were dumbstruck as they looked up through the ¡®mouth of the well.¡¯

    Upon seeing the five evil gods revealing themselves, they had realized that the tables had been turned, and it had happened in a way they found unbelievable.

    Why would Netherspirit grand monarchs take orders from Nie Tian?

    Then, as Nie Tian activated his bloodline and instantly expanded to be nine thousand meters tall, both of them werepletely shocked, their faces filled with disbelief.

    ¡°Is that really Nie Tian?¡± Baptista muttered in a low voice.

    ¡°The seventh Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡± Shao Tianyang said, his every word filled with ecstasy. ¡°What on earth has happened to him over the years? It¡¯s been such a short time, yet he¡¯s be so powerful already?!¡±

    Baptista was suddenly enlightened, and said in high spirits, ¡°I see. It was his n for my son to reveal himself and draw Grand Monarch Serpent Devil out, while those five Netherspirits, who clearly have special rtionships with him, hid in the dark and waited for Grand Monarch Purple Scythe and Devil Monarch Heaven Seal to appear!¡±

    Shao Tianyang¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯re right! I was afraid that he couldn¡¯t kill those Devil grand monarchs in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement either. However, once they¡¯vee out, they won¡¯t be able to rely on the power of the forbiddennd. Then, they¡¯ll be no match for him and those Netherspirits.¡±

    Baptista sighed deeply. ¡°I really didn¡¯t see thising. I can¡¯t believe Agaz has actually found himself a brilliant master!¡±

    As they spoke, blood continued to rain from above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    Most of the blood belonged to Grand Monarch Serpent Devil, with a small portioning from Grand Monarch Purple Scythe and Devil Monarch Heaven Seal.

    One ninth grade Devil after another quietly emerged from the holes in the forbiddennd. Shaking violently, they hadpletely cast Baptista and Shao Tianyang out of their minds.

    They knew that the three protectors of the forbiddennd were in major trouble.

    Not a single one of them dared toe out of the forbiddennd, but rather remained in the mes and looked up from time to time, thinking about how they were going to deal with Nie Tian.

    Asrge as a mountain, Nie Tian spread out his flesh aura sea and descended into the midst of the three Devil grand monarchs.

    Soon, the five evil gods ripped Grand Monarch Purple Scythe and Devil Monarch Heaven Seal to shreds with their teeth and ws. Drops of Blood Essence that looked like amethysts flew out of their mangled corpses and attempted to escape.

    However, the evil gods conjured a misty cyan ward together that stopped all of their soul wisps and Blood Essence from escaping.

    With a low chuckle, Nie Tian said, ¡°Three middle tenth grade Devil grand monarchs. If I can refine the three of them, my life bloodline might be able to enter dormancy again in preparation for its advance to the tenth grade!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    His immense flesh aura sea spread into his surroundings towards the three Devil grand monarchs.

    Countless wisps of blood-colored light could be seen shooting back and forth in his flesh aura sea like swift snakes.

    As soon as his flesh aura sea engulfed the Devil grand monarchs, the crimson snakes of light split into even finer light wisps that manifested the might of Life Drain to its full extent.

    ¡°Such profound flesh power!¡±

 Chapter 1630: Brimming With Flesh Power

    Time flew.

    The three Devil grand monarchs¡¯ mountainous corpses had shrunk significantly and no longer shone with dazzling devilish light as they were drained of their flesh power.

    SPLASH!

    Blood ran through Nie Tian¡¯s veins with unprecedented speed.

    His flesh aura sea spread thousands of meters into his surroundings.

    WHOOSH!

    A few Devil starships seemed to have sailed far and long, and finally arrived here.

    All of a sudden, the Devils on the ancient starships noticed the three Devil grand monarchs¡¯ shriveled, mangled corpses.

    Just as they cried out orders to retreat, a crimson blood sea spread towards them with an overwhelming momentum.

    In the blink of an eye, the Devil starships were engulfed by Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    Everyst Devil on board, along with the numerous devilish insects and beasts that were being shipped with them, exploded with a violent boom, before morphing into wisps of purple blood mist that joined Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea was like a blood-colored abyss that devoured all lives!

    ¡°This is the fifth batch now,¡± Shao Tianyang muttered in a low voice in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    He no longer presented himself in the form of a zing sphere, nor his dharma idol.

    Rather, he manifested in his true form, surrounded by numerous profound fiery spell formations and battling against the devilish mes.

    For once, a hint of relief appeared on his face as he said, ¡°Nie Tian has killed all of the devilish insects and beasts that have been shipped here on Devil starships over the past ten days. Without being fueled by fresh devilish creatures or amplified by the three Devil grand monarchs, the might of the mes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is clearly on the decline, and so is the speed at which we¡¯re being drained of our power.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, we can finally rx a bit,¡± Baptista said. ¡°This is the easiest time I¡¯ve had since I was imprisoned here.¡±

    Even though his enormous dragon form was still bathed in the devilish mes, he shrewdly sensed that the mes¡¯ impact on him had greatly weakened, as long as he remained where he was and didn¡¯t touch the restrictive spells.

    Not a second had gone by without them suffering from the devilish mes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    Since they couldn¡¯t get replenishment, their me power and flesh auras were bound to be exhausted one day, and that would be their doom.

    Before Nie Tian¡¯s arrival, they had sensed that day drawing near, which had gradually driven them into despair.

    However, now that Nie Tian had annihted the three Devil grand monarchs and engulfed all of the arriving devilish insects and beasts in his flesh aura sea, they felt a much lighter pressure on their shoulders.

    Even though they were still being gnawed at by the devilish mes, the speed at which they were losing their power had be much more eptable.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The sinister huge evil gods hovered around the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement unceasingly.

    FIZZ!

    Every once in a while, a cyan bolt of lightning would sh by above the forbiddennd, which was usually apanied by a soft groan from one of the evil gods.

    It was from the pain of their soul awareness being burned by the devilish mes.

    ¡°Nope,¡± the evil god of bloodlust said, hovering. ¡°No wonder the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is known as one of the forbidden areas in the Void World. Even our soul awareness can¡¯t infiltrate it. We can only see that human and that me dragon looming in those mes, but it doesn¡¯t seem possible for us tomunicate with them.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t establishmunication with them either,¡± Agaz the me dragon chimed in.

    The evil god of fear frowned and took a deep look at Nie Tian. ¡°But for our master... I think the flesh power of those three Devil grand monarchs might actually help his bloodline advance to the tenth grade. Then again, the great changes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement might beckon the Devils¡¯ counteraction. Perhaps it won¡¯t be long before powerful Devil experts start pouring in from all directions.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± The evil god of bloodlust agreed.

    The evil god of rage pondered for a moment, then said, ¡°However, if we can free those two from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement below, we may be able to create some major waves together in the Void World. Then, the Devils may not be able to put us down even if they send all of their avable forces after us.¡±

    The evil god of fear let out a deep sigh. ¡°But the devilish mes in the forbiddennd can burn even our soul awareness, not to mention our bodies.¡±

    Several days passed...

    With a poof, the shriveled corpses of the three Devil grand monarchs that had been in charge of protecting the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement crumbled, their ashes rapidly dissipating in the starry river.

    Not a single trace was left behind.

    The Spirit Scepter, which was floating quietly next to Nie Tian, suddenly burst forth with cyan divine light, reflecting in the prismatic crystals on the foreheads of the five evil gods.

    One of the Nether River engravings on the scepter started flowing, giving rise to sshing sounds.

    Countless clusters of cyan light seemed to shine within it.

    The five evil gods looked unblinkingly at the Nether River on the Spirit Scepter. ¡°What?!¡±

    Their eyes seemed to see through it and capture the unusual changes that were taking ce in the Realm of Dark Souls.

    ...

    The Nether River that was said to have been transformed from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s true soul surrounded the Realm of Dark Souls. Now, numerous clusters of cyan light started exploding violently within it.

    The wide array of exquisite soul spells and soul wonders Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had left in it seemed to be detonated, and soon disappeared.

    Many Netherspirits that were deriving enlightenment from the Nether River sprung to their feet, their faces turning pale with fright.

    ¡°The Nether River is rejecting my soul awareness!¡±

    ¡°Mine too! A wisp of my soul essence was in there, trying to master a soul spell. But all of a sudden, it was expelled!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is the Nether River changing like this?¡±

    ¡°Who knows?!¡±

    Many Netherspirits were deeply anxious as they rushed about to inform their leaders of the terrifying changes that were happening to the Nether River.

    Word of the Nether River changing rapidly spread out in the Void World.

    Almost at the same time, another shocking piece of news spread through all of the major Devil realms: they had lost contact with all of their n members that had sailed out for the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!

    Many old Devil ns were shaken by the news.

    ¡°Something major must have happened in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡±

    ¡°Did the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement fail to keep Shao Tianyang and that old dragon imprisoned? It can¡¯t be. Even without those three grand monarchs there, the forbiddennd¡¯s restrictive spell alone should be able to keep Shao Tianyang and that old dragon from breaking free.¡±

    ¡°Under the might of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, they may only find a way to postpone their deaths, but they can¡¯t possibly change the final result!¡±

    ¡°To the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡±

    ...

    At the same time.

    Nie Tian slowly opened his eyes and reached out to grab the Spirit Scepter.

    The moment he grabbed the scepter, his true soul seemed to suddenly travel through the void, and he sensed the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Underworld.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± He frowned and said in astonishment, ¡°The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Underworld is calling out to me, as if it¡¯s calling me and begging for my help!¡±

    Now, having absorbed all of the three Devil grand monarchs¡¯ flesh power through Life Drain, his life bloodline had finally entered dormancy again.

    He had finally umted enough flesh power to advance to the tenth grade!

    The green aura in his heart was dormant, and no longer yearned for more flesh power, which meant its advance to the tenth grade might finish at any time now.

    Of course, the process might take a breath¡¯s time or ages. That was uncertain.

    ¡°The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls has sensed the presence of me and the Spirit Scepter, and it carries Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual awareness...¡±

    With this thought, Nie Tian turned to fix his eyes on the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    At that moment, Agaz flew over. ¡°Master, I¡¯ve followed you for so long, and I¡¯ve never asked you for anything. Now, I just want to ask you to free my father from the torment of those devilish mes and get him out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡±

 Chapter 1631: The News Of His Arrival

    Agaz had followed Nie Tian for years, and had quite a bit of blind faith in him.

    He didn¡¯t know what the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement meant, nor did he know how dangerous and terrifying it was.

    He only thought that if Nie Tian was willing to help him, his father would definitely be able to escape from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    However, he had no idea that his father... was the high chieftain of the me dragons, and a giant tenth grade grand monarch dragon.

    Perhaps, in his mind, Nie Tian¡¯s fighting strength had unconsciously surpassed his father¡¯s.

    His father couldn¡¯t make it, but he thought Nie Tian could.

    The evil god of fear instantly became nervous. ¡°The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is very unusual!¡±

    He didn¡¯t care about the little Agaz. He said to Nie Tian in a solemn tone, ¡°As you can see, ate God domain human expert and a me dragon high chieftain have been imprisoned below. As strong as they are, they can¡¯t escape from the forbiddennd.¡±

    The other evil gods also tried to persuade Nie Tian.

    They had been born in the Void World. The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement had been there when they had inspired fear across the Void World.

    Even when they had been at their peak, they wouldn¡¯t havee to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and fought the Devils, because it was neither necessary nor rational.

    Agaz implored, ¡°Master...¡±

    Nie Tian lowered his head, looking down at the slightly vague figures of Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain in the forbiddennd before he said, ¡°Agaz, I promise you that I will try my best to save them. Both your father and Senior Shao Tianyang have deep connections with me. But...¡±

    ¡°But what?¡±

    ¡°But we can¡¯t be rash,¡± Nie Tian replied. ¡°I need time to get to know the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. The devilish mes in the forbiddennd are very uncanny. Neither my flesh aura nor my soul awareness can infiltrate it. Besides, I don¡¯t want to rush into the depths of the devilish mes in my fleshly form at this moment.¡±

    His bloodline, which was at the ninth grade, was still full of potential, especially if he could umte enough energy.

    He didn¡¯t want to rush this.

    Moreover, Pei Qiqi wasn¡¯t even in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    Where was she now? To test Nie Tian¡¯s guess and have her spatial bloodline freed again, Pei Qiqi had to put herself in danger.

    Was there a ce that was as dangerous as the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement?

    Or was Pei Qiqi dyed by something, and thus couldn¡¯te to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement yet?

    A stream of doubts shed through his mind like streaks of light.

    He thought quietly.

    After a long time, he suddenly asked, ¡°Is it true that any creature except the Devils will suffer from the devilish mes after entering the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement?¡±

    ¡°Master, you¡¯re mistaken about one thing,¡± the evil god of fear responded. ¡°Even the Devils will be burned by the devilish mes. However, the power of the devilish mes can be used to help the Devils temper their bodies. The premise is, of course, that they can withstand the mes. The power and bloodlines that the other races possess, however, have no connection to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. If they are continually eaten away by the devilish mes, it will do more harm than good.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is...¡±

    ¡°Master!¡± the evil god of fear eximed softly. ¡°Believe me. A Bonedrude grand monarch whose body was very powerful entered the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, but ended up being refined to death by the devilish mes. That Bonedrude grand monarch¡¯s body was even more powerful than that of the me dragon below! As for you, master, you haven¡¯t even entered the tenth grade yet. You cannot risk it!¡±

    Other evil gods also dissuaded him. ¡°You mustn¡¯t act foolishly!¡±

    For a moment, Nie Tian hesitated.

    After hesitating for a while, the evil god of fear continued, ¡°Perhaps yourpanion who masters darkness might be able to get in and out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. The Dark King is the Devils¡¯ paragon. The devil tools he left behind and his dark inheritance are likely able to resist the devilish mes.¡±

    Nie Tian was in a daze. ¡°Do you mean Dong Li? But she¡¯s too far away, how can she help us now?¡±

    The evil god of hatred opened his mouth. ¡°Master, I suggest we leave the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement first. The three Devil grand monarchs are dead, so the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement will definitely be a target for many. And because of your Spirit Scepter, the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Underworld has changed. The Netherspirit experts must have been rmed, too.

    ¡°If we stay here, before long, we may find ourselves surrounded by enemies.¡±

    Nie Tian was not surprised, but rather pleased. ¡°Surrounded by enemies? While most of the top experts of the three outsider races of the Void World are in the Doomed Star Sea, only a few are in the Void World. If my presence rms many grand monarchs of the Void World, they¡¯ll have toe to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and concentrate on fighting against me, and thus Senior Martial Sister Pei will be safe.

    ¡°Besides, with a priceless spatial treasure in her hand, she¡¯ll be in her element in the Void World!¡±

    At the thought of this, he suddenly made up his mind.

    He would stay in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and wait for the three outsider races of the Void World toe and fight him!

    Time passed.

    Ancient starships of the Devils arrived one after another. As they approached the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, they caught sight of Nie Tian.

    A ninth grade Devil grand patriarch stood on one of the warships and snapped, ¡°Who is that?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t call upon the five evil gods, disy his god domain, or release his flesh aura sea. He suspended himself above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and introduced himself to the Devils. ¡°I¡¯m from the Mortal World. My name is Nie Tian!¡±

    Amazingly, all of the Devils on this trip seemed to have heard of Nie Tian.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian of... the Mortal World!¡±

    ¡°That star of cmities!¡±

    As soon as they learned that it was Nie Tian who they were facing, they turned their warships around and tried to leave as quickly as possible.

    ¡°Retreat! Evacuate the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡± a devil grand patriarch cried bitterly. ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian! He has killed too many of our nsmen in the Mortal World and the Spirit World! Even Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes was killed by him in the Spirit World! He¡¯s now the strongest in the human race!¡±

    ¡°No wonder the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement had an ident! It¡¯s him who hase!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s here, but Grand Monarch Serpent Devil, Grand Monarch Purple Scythe, and Grand Monarch Heaven Seal are nowhere to be seen. This shows that the three grand monarchs have likely been murdered!¡±

    ¡°Hurry, inform the others and get reinforcements!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s name was like a vicious curse that scared the Devils that hade from afar soulless.

    In the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, Shao Tianyang and the high chieftain of the me dragons could faintly hear their conversations.

    They looked at each other, dumbfounded.

    Had Nie Tian be so strong already?

    His name alone scared the Devils like that?

    Nie Tian had killed many from the Void World in the Mortal World and Spirit World over the years, including even Grand Monarch Ash Bone?

    The two trapped experts couldn¡¯t believe it.

    Floating, Nie Tian watched coldly as the warships of the Devils left under his very nose.

    He sat by and did nothing.

    He thought with a smile on his lips, ¡°Go. Go and spread the news of my arrival to every corner of the Void World. I wonder what the three outsider races of the Void World will do to me. I guess even Senior Martial Sister Pei will soon learn that I¡¯m in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

 Chapter 1632: Wait

    In the Void World.

    A city of bones was wreathed in thick death aura as it sped through the void.

    In the city, a tall Bonedrude grand monarch spat loudly, ¡°How dare you, dregs of the Voidspirits,e to make trouble in my city!¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Three bone spears shot out of the city like lightning.

    In the dark starry river, Pei Qiqi¡¯s figure suddenly appeared with a sh of light. ¡°Bloodline, Void Barrier!¡±

    She wore a solemn expression as her hands formed a mysterious seal. The acupoints of her whole body burst forth with the bloodline power of the Voidspirits at the same time, like volcanoes that had been deeply buried.

    Her Voidspirit bloodline had been fully unsealed!

    Layers of crystal spatial realm barriers that were constructed by her bloodline condensed instantly.

    CRACKLE!

    The three bone spears that could pierce through realms stabbed at the Void Barrier.

    In a sh,yer afteryer of spatial barrier was pierced by the bone spears.

    However, a spatial rift suddenly cracked open. Numerous streaks of light flew out and poured into the broken barriers like mercury repairing them in a short time.

    With the Space Boundaries Crystal floating before her chest, Pei Qiqi stood behind the barriers, looked coldly at the Bonedrude grand monarch, and snorted. ¡°What can you do other than cowering in your Bone Shatter City? If you have the guts and you¡¯re really capable,e out of that Bone Shatter City and fight me fair and square.¡±

    Bone Shatter Cities were great weapons of the Bonedrudes, and there were three of them in total.

    The guardian of this Bone Shatter City she was in was Grand Monarch Bonefall, a rising warrior of the Bonedrudes.

    Although Grand Monarch Bonefall was only a middle tenth grade grand monarch, his battle prowess wasn¡¯t any weaker than Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s, and his potential was even greater.

    On her way to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, Pei Qiqi hade across this Bone Shatter City, provoked him, and gone deep into the Bone Shatter City.

    As a result, Grand Monarch Bonefall, who relied on the power of the Bone Shatter City, had trapped her directly in the Bone Shatter City with the death stele, and then used his death power to nibble away at her vitality.

    Facing an impasse, she had suddenly broken her bloodline seal, allowing her Voidspirit bloodline to burst forth. Then, she had escaped from the Bone Shatter City by virtue of her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Having seen how powerful the Bone Shatter City and Grand Monarch Bonefall were, she had never entered the city again.

    Instead, she had just been fighting Grand Monarch Bonefall with the help of her Voidspirit bloodline and the wonders of her Space Boundaries Crystal recently.

    This way, once the situation changed, she would be able to escape instantly. Grand Monarch Bonefall wouldn¡¯t be able to stop her.

    Grand Monarch Bonefall, who recoiled in the Bone Shatter City, had a death stele, which was a great weapon of the Bonedrudes, and a Bone Shatter City that could help him replenish death power. Pei Qiqi couldn¡¯t prate them even with her spatial power.

    The two of them had already fought several times in the void, but neither of them could defeat the other.

    After breaking her bloodline restriction, Pei Qiqi now realized that spell was indeed a fake.

    She naturally realized that the many drops of Blood Essence from Nie Tian that had disappeared for no reason had most likely flowed to the Voidspirits¡¯ ancestralnd.

    Her father, Pei Yukong, was presumably still alive.

    It seemed that he had indeed set up a trap to steal Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence with her as bait in order to survive.

    One was her dying father, and the other was Nie Tian. Stuck in the middle, she was in a dilemma, and almost broke down.

    She hadcked fatherly love since childhood. Even though she knew that her father had stolen Blood Essence from Nie Tian to prolong his life, she couldn¡¯t rush into the space disruption zone to denounce him.

    At the same time, she felt apologetic towards Nie Tian.

    After breaking the restriction, she had been able to return to the Mortal World or the Voidspirits, but she had been reluctant to face either of them, so she had wandered in the Void World and fought Grand Monarch Bonefall of the Bonedrudes, trying to eliminate her inner turmoil through a series of duels.

    RUMBLE!

    Suddenly, she saw a huge stele of bones rise high above the Bone Shatter City.

    Countless imprints and runes appeared on the stele like raindrops.

    Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s eyes instantly widened as he looked at them. ¡°Nie Tian of the human race!¡±

    Pei Qiqi was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    Grand Monarch Bonefall ignored her as he waved his hand and shouted to his subordinates, ¡°Let¡¯s head toward the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!¡±

    The huge Bone Shatter City changed directions with slight difficulty and flew away from Pei Qiqi, rumbling.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bonefall, you¡¯re fighting me!¡± cried Pei Qiqi.

    Grand Monarch Bonefall suddenly sat on the death stele and looked back at her. ¡°There¡¯s no point in you and me fighting like this. You¡¯re proficient in spatial power, so I cannot kill you, but you can¡¯t break the Bone Shatter City to harm me either. Instead of wasting my time fighting you, I¡¯d better go to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and kill Nie Tian!¡±

    Pei Qiqi was panicky. ¡°Is Nie Tian in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and he has killed three Devil grand monarchs there,¡± Grand Monarch Bonefall said with a cold smile. ¡°Now, not just the Devils, but even the Bonedrudes and Netherspirits know he¡¯s in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Hehe, he¡¯s daydreaming if he thinks he can save Shao Tianyang and that me dragon from the Spirit World.

    ¡°The three races have gathered nearly ten grand monarchs and dispatched them to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    ¡°There are at least threete tenth grade grand monarchs among them! No matter how strong Nie Tian is, he¡¯ll die in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Nobody can save him!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Bone Shatter City elerated abruptly.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression changed dramatically. ¡°Nearly ten grand monarchs! I can¡¯t believe that he¡¯s entered the Void World too! Even I hesitated about going to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, but he just went there! That fool! What did he enter the Void World for?¡±

    ...

    In the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    In the surrounding areas of the starry river, ancient starships of different races, floating meteorite fragments, and numerous ninth grade grand patriarchs appeared.

    The outsiders kept a proper distance from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, and were in no hurry to attack.

    Their eyes were fixed on Nie Tian, who was as small as a grain of rice above the forbiddennd.

    They had received the news, knowing that the experts of the three major races had reached a tacit understanding, and were dispatching arge number of grand monarchs to kill this human who had broken into the Void World.

    News about Nie Tian had also spread through the various realms of the Void World.

    Not only the Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits, but the weaker indigenous races that had never given birth to a paragon in the Void World had also heard Nie Tian¡¯s name.

    ¡°Tens of millions of devilish insects and beasts, along with dozens of ninth grade grand patriarchs and tens of thousands of eighth grade outsiders,¡± Nie Tian thought as he floated in the sky in the human form and activated Life Search from time to time to sense the subtle fluctuations of flesh aura in the vicinity.

    His eyes swept the group of outsiders as he thought inwardly, ¡°Hmm, there are members of other races too, and their flesh auras aren¡¯t weak either. There are even grand monarchs among them. Haha, good, very good.¡±

    ¡°Your Excellency, why is that human brat from the Mortal World not afraid?¡± One of the Seaspirits of the Void World frowned and asked. ¡°And I feel uneasy as he stares at us curiously.¡±

    ¡°Your unease shows that he can kill us easily.¡±

 Chapter 1633: Traitor

    The Seaspirits¡¯ status in the Void World was inferior to that of the Netherspirits, Devils and Bonedrudes.

    They had never produced a paragon. Evente tenth grade grand monarchs had rarely emerged in their history.

    Because of this, the Seaspirits had no choice but to obey the orders of the three major races. When they had been summoned, they hadid aside the matters of their race and dispatched experts toe here.

    The Seaspirits who had spoken stood on an ancient starship that was in the form of arge conch. Most of their members on board were at the eighth and ninth grades.

    Only their leader was an early tenth grade grand monarch.

    The Seaspirits¡¯ warships were surrounded by those of Moonspirits and Lightspirits. Like the Seaspirits, they had also been ordered toe to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement to assist the three major races in the uing battle.

    The Seaspirits, the Moonspirits, and the Lightspirits of the Void World were simr to the Birdmen, Stonemen, and ckscales of the Spirit World. Because they were fairly weak, they had to attach themselves to the stronger races in a bid to survive.

    SWOOSH!

    The Moonspirits were led by a female who was an early tenth grade grand monarch. She floated to the Seaspirits, cast Nie Tian a distant, measuring look, then whispered, ¡°Who on earth is that Nie Tian of the Mortal World?¡±

    The Seaspirits quickly told her what they had heard.

    While listening to their words, the Moonspirit leader turned pale.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Seal, Grand Monarch Serpent Devil, and Grand Monarch Purple Scythe have all been killed by him?¡± she asked in a slightly shaky voice. ¡°Even Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes died in the Spirit World because of him?¡±

    Grand Monarch Ash Bone was an awe-inspiring name throughout the Void World.

    Since his territory wasn¡¯t far from the Moonspirits¡¯, she had seen how cruel and powerful he had been.

    He had visited her not long ago. She still remembered how terrifying the aura from his Bell of Death had been.

    The Seaspirit grand monarch nodded slowly, looking gloomy. ¡°Right, he has killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone! Such a figure has suddenly descended on the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, and looks so confident. I¡¯m afraid...¡±

    The Moonspirits¡¯ leader looked tremendously pale as she said, ¡°Crap! We¡¯ll be in trouble! You and I will definitely be pushed to the forefront when the battle really begins. We may very well be fodder that¡¯s used to test his strength.¡±

    ¡°Of course that¡¯s going to happen,¡± the Seaspirit leader said with a wry smile.

    They were appendages. Whenever the Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes fought against strong enemies, and summoned them to join the battle, they would have a high chance to be the vanguard.

    Through them, the three major races could judge the strength of their enemies and adjust their strategies ordingly.

    The Moonspirit leader looked around for a while, then spoke. ¡°I don¡¯t see a grand monarch with the Lightspirits. They didn¡¯t dispatch any powerful experts? Are they not afraid of being punished by the three major races?¡±

    Frowning, the Seaspirit grand monarch said, ¡°It seems that there was a great upheaval among the Lightspirits not long ago. I heard that even their leader was reced. Then again, the Lightspirits have always been secretive. Since they haven¡¯t made it public, I don¡¯t know the specific situation either.¡±

    ¡°What shall we do if we are pushed to the forefront in the battle toe?¡±

    ¡°What else can we do? I just hope they won¡¯t sit by and watch us die.¡±

    Hearing their leaders¡¯ conversation, the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits who had been summoned to join this battle looked gloomy. They all stared at Nie Tian from afar, their eyes full of fear.

    ...

    Above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    Unusual light suddenly shed in the eyes of Nie Tian, who stood motionless in the void.

    His face darkened, and he looked coldly at the area where the Netherspirits were gathered in the distance.

    Bright starlight suddenly burst out.

    Then, a huge silk banner that seemed to show a river of stars inside manifested out of nothing.

    The silk banner was densely covered with stars, emanating boundless divine light.

    Nie Tian squinted, with strong killing intent in his eyes. ¡°The All Manifestations Star Banner! Luo Wanxiang! I really didn¡¯t expect the first strong expert to arrive to be an acquaintance!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Luo Wanxiang yelled

    The colorful All Manifestations Star Banner flew out from the area where the Netherspirits were gathered.

    Luo Wanxiang, who hadn¡¯t disyed his divine dharma idol, was like a star, shining brightly. Under the fluttering All Manifestations Star Banner, he shouted towards Nie Tian, ¡°Can you feel it?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°Late God domain!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang, who had first colluded with the Phantasms and studied the Book of Spirits, and had then been bewitched by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and entered the Void World through the Seven Stars Realm Sea, had finally advanced to thete God domain.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s eyes were grimly cold. ¡°Yes! Lord Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits kept his promise, and rewarded me with Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir and ess to many exquisite soul magics. Thanks to that, I finally reached thete God domain. Given my current strength, even Ji Cang may not be able to defeat me, much less you, Nie Tian.

    ¡°Do you see my All Manifestations Star Banner? With the help of the spiritual materials in the Void World, it has reached the fifth level of the immortal grade!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang was in high spirits, releasing an overwhelming aura. Streaks of stars that seemed to have been summoned from the All Manifestations Star Banner flew around it ceaselessly.

    The Bonedrudes and Devils looked at Luo Wanxiang curiously, and started whispering to each other.

    ¡°Is he the traitor of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce of the human race? I didn¡¯t expect that traitor, who is not weak in talent, to be able advance to thete God domain with the help of the Netherspirits.¡±

    ¡°Late God domain! Can Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer really control him?¡±

    ¡°He had no choice but to join us. He has betrayed the human race. Who would ept him?¡±

    Some of the Bonedrudes and Devils despised Luo Wanxiang, while others had sneers and disgust on their faces.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang, have youe to fight me, too?¡± Nie Tian asked, taking a step forward.

    With only one step, he crossed space, and suddenly appeared in the front of the All Manifestations Star Banner. ¡°Yes, you¡¯ve entered thete God domain by betraying your nsmen, kind of achieving what you have wished. But are you really confident in fighting against me?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Luo Wanxiang and the All Manifestations Star Banner quickly backed up a bit.

    Everyone could tell that the vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, an expert from the Mortal World, feared Nie Tian in his bones.

    Nie Tian was somewhat taken aback, and couldn¡¯t help butugh and say, ¡°Luo Wanxiang, before, it was always you who oppressed me, and I could barely hurt you. I didn¡¯t expect you to be so afraid of me now. Ha ha! Ha ha ha!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang snorted with a gloomy face, not in a hurry to attack.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Ash Bone is dead because of you,¡± Luo Wanxiang exined. ¡°And he was one of the top ten grand monarchs in the Void World. Of course I don¡¯t want to underestimate you.¡±

    He mentioned Grand Monarch Ash Bone as if he wanted to tell others that he had backed up for a good reason, ¡°But I know that Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s death was not caused by you alone! Where are the five evil gods hiding now? Are they still in your Spirit Pearl?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    ¡°Summon them,¡± Luo Wanxiang snapped with a cold face. ¡°It¡¯s time to let the Netherspirits know that their ancestors have sworn allegiance to a stranger and turned against them!¡±

    He had fought Nie Tian many times over the years, and had once been injured by the five evil gods, so he knew a good deal about their background.

    Nie Tian grinned. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you¡¯re brave enough to make a move, they¡¯ll show up. But I don¡¯t think you dare do it now, since you¡¯re still waiting, right?

    ¡°Laugh all you want. You won¡¯t be able to soon.¡±

 Chapter 1634: Fight!

    With the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement as the center, many experts from across the Void World were gathering!

    Ancient starships of various races were parked densely around it. Ninth grade grand patriarchs could be seen everywhere.

    Seven or eight early tenth grade grand monarchs of the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits had arrived one after another. They were all ring at Nie Tian with grave faces, secretly on the alert.

    Nie Tian¡¯s name had spread quickly in the Void World.

    Word of his deeds in the Mortal World and Spirit World and the heavy blows he had dealt the major races of the Void World had reached every corner of the Void World where members of different races lived like lightning.

    Then, Nie Tian dared to stay in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement of the Devils and wait for the experts of the Void World to gather against him. His arrogance made all the experts both shocked and furious.

    SWOOSH!

    Suddenly, a deep ck colossal halberd came roaring from behind the Devils¡¯ warships, like an enormous warship.

    As the colossal halberd flitted, devilish clouds surged around it, with fine bolts of purple lightning shing among them.

    Seeing the colossal halberd flying over from the distant starry river with a terrifying momentum, the waiting outsiders¡¯ expressions all suddenly changed, and they hurried to clear out of its way.

    As the colossal halberd passed the Devils¡¯ warships, the innumerable devilish insects from various Devil realms exploded with loud bangs.

    All of their flesh auras flew into the colossal halberd.

    Only the powerful devilish insects and beasts fell prostrate on the ground, trembling with fear.

    ¡°That¡¯s the Devil Cloud Halberd!¡± a Devil expert eximed, staring at the ck halberd, his face looking excited and fanatical, ¡°It¡¯s Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher! Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher ising!¡±

    The expressions of the Bonedrudes and Netherspirits changed dramatically at the sight of the colossal halberd as well. ¡°Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher!¡±

    Every member of the three outsider races spontaneously avoided the colossal halberd.

    After it emerged, Luo Wanxiang, who had arrived early, remained silent.

    The grand monarch of the Seaspirits took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, his lips twitching, ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher! Isn¡¯t he supposed to be in the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    Shao Tianyang and the high chieftain of the me dragons in the devilish fire on the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement were shocked as well. ¡°Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher!¡±

    Both of their eyes were wide open and bloodshot.

    Clearly, both of them had suffered losses from Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher, and were well-aware of how strong he was.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Hmm!¡±

    He could feel his heart beating faster after the colossal halberd showed up.

    His bloodline could clearly sense the colossal ck halberd emanating earth-shattering flesh power fluctuations!

    With a wide grin, Nie Tian murmured, ¡°Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher is one of the top ten grand monarchs in the Void World. He ranks seventh, which is even above Grand Monarch Ash Bone. Grand Monarch Ash Bone was only ranked ninth. The Bonedrudes are of no use to my bloodline, but the Devils are the best source of flesh aura!¡±

    The soul awareness of the evil god of bloodlust suddenly sounded in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness. ¡°Master! This Devil grand monarch¡¯s flesh aura is boundless, and the devil power surging within the Devil Cloud Halberd... is tremendous. Be careful of him. Even with our strength, the five of us are no match for him if we fight one-on-one.¡±

    Although the other four evil gods were also hiding in the shadows, they perceived Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s power, and they all warned Nie Tian.

    ¡°Ate God domain human cultivator and Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher. Master, you must be careful, and try not to get trapped.¡±

    ¡°Master, Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher is far more powerful than the three middle tenth grade grand monarchs who were guarding the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. His strong flesh aura is rarely seen, even throughout the history of the Devils.¡±

    At that moment, a hoarse, rough voice echoed from the colossal ck halberd. ¡°I¡¯ve heard there are five ancestors of the Netherspirits who obey your orders.¡±

    In an instant, countless purple lightning bolts condensed in the devilish clouds as the boundless flesh aura in them surged violently. The purple lightning bolts came together and morphed into an indomitable colossal Devil that was nearly ten thousand meters high, ¡°I¡¯ve sensed your existence, five ancestors. Stop hiding.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    Five purple bolts of lightning shot at the empty starry river surrounding Nie Tian like torrents of water.

    The lightning bolts exploded one by one.

    In the empty starry river, unusual light flickered as the five evil gods that were hiding seemed to be illuminated bymps, and exposed one by one.

    Watching the five evil gods show up, a Netherspirit was so shocked that he almost went crazy and screamed, ¡°Ah! Those are... I, I can¡¯t believe that the five ancestors really exist! I¡¯ve seen their faces in the ancient books of our race! That¡¯s right. They are the experts who once followed Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and inspired fear across the three worlds!¡±

    Being exposed, the evil god of bloodlust whispered to Nie Tian, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Our soul magics can deceive Luo Wanxiang, but our flesh aura fluctuations cannot escape Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s perception. The Devils are more sensitive to flesh auras than us Netherspirits.¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and waved his hand. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    ¡°Five lords!¡± a Netherspirit screamed. ¡°You are our ancestors. Now that you have been revived, why don¡¯t you return to the Realm of Dark Soul? Our people need your guidance!¡±

    ¡°The Nether River that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit left in the Realm of Dark Soul has been tainted,¡± the evil god of despair said with a cold face. ¡°Meanwhile, the Phantasms of the Spirit World are Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s direct descendants! Did you lot kill Grand Monarch Soul Ferry of the Phantasms when he entered the Void World? Grand Monarch Soul Ferry was the one that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit truly acknowledged!¡±

    These words made all the Netherspirits¡¯ expressions change.

    ¡°Ancestors, Grand Monarch Soul Ferry of the Phantasms was disobedient, and tried to refine the Nether River of the Realm of Dark Soul. He deserves to die!¡± the Netherspirit argued loudly. ¡°As a mixed-blood from an uncivilizednd like the Spirit World, he dared to challenge Grand Monarch Soul Capturer. Didn¡¯t he deserve to die?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°Was the Grand Monarch Soul Ferry so aggressive? If he tried to refine the Nether River and challenged Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, it was likely that he wanted to be the high chieftain of the Netherspirits as well!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Ferry had been Froste¡¯s father. Nie Tian had been paying attention to information about him since he had run into Froste.

    Grand Monarch Soul Ferry of the Phantasms, Grand Monarch Primal Demon of the Devils, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones of the Bonebrutes, and Grand Monarch Dark Depths of the Fiends had all disappeared in the Void World.

    They were all brilliant overlords who didn¡¯t want to have anything to do with the Void World or the three major races from it.

    However, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t expected that Grand Monarch Soul Ferry would want to refine the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Soul and fight Grand Monarch Soul Capturer after entering the Void World.

    Nie Tian was suddenly in awe of him.

    The evil god of bloodlust snorted. ¡°Refine? He just wanted to purge the Nether River!¡±

    The soul voice of the evil god of despair reverberated around Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, ¡°Master! We¡¯re facing ate God domain human cultivator, ate tenth grade Devil grand monarch and countless nsmen of the three outsider races. Let¡¯s not wait any longer. We know that you are capable of umting strength in battle.¡±

    ¡°We feel the time is ripe, and we should strike now,¡± said the evil god of rage.

    ¡°Alright!¡± Nie Tian replied, and directly attacked Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher.

    SWISH!

    Suddenly, the countless streaks of starlight surrounding Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner went out of control, and shot into the areas where the Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, and Moonspirits were gathered.

    In a sh, nearly a thousand Devils and Netherspirits were bombarded and killed by the streaks of starlight.

    ¡°Luo Wanxiang!¡± a Netherspirit snapped.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it!¡± Luo Wanxiang eximed.

    He was greatly frightened as he turned around to look at his immortal grade divine tool, and then jerked his head towards Nie Tian.

    Then, he saw a colossal strange flower that was wreathed in numerous stars rising from behind Nie Tian. ¡°The Heavenly Stars Flower!¡±

 Chapter 1635: Not A Rule-follower

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s face turned pale with fright.

    Those streaks of starlight hovering around the All Manifestations Star Banner had gone out of control because of the Heavenly Stars Flower!

    Those streaks of starlight, which had been channeled from the surrounding areas of the starry river by the All Manifestations Star Banner, shot in every direction, causing the deaths of numerous Devils and Netherspirits.

    He suddenly disyed his divine dharma idol, grabbed the All Manifestations Star Banner, and shouted fiercely, ¡°Freeze!¡±

    What frustrated him was that several beams of starlight still broke free of the All Manifestations Star Banner and shot madly at the ces where the Netherspirits and Devils were gathered.

    ¡°Ahh!¡± With screams, many Netherspirits and Devils at lower grades were prated and killed by the streaks of starlight.

    Even several ancient starships exploded.

    Wisps of flesh aura that could be seen by the naked eye flowed toward Nie Tian like rivers.

    Nie Tianughed wickedly as the Heavenly Stars Flower emerging behind him burst forth with a ray of charming, gorgeous light.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s expression changed. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the Heavenly Stars Flower has be so strong!¡±

    He had an ufortable feeling that the uncanny flower, which had only existed in legends, could suppress his dantian and spiritual sea, and stop his All Manifestations Star Banner from manifesting its full might.

    With a cunningugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°Vice Sectmaster Luo, since I¡¯ve stepped into the Void World, I¡¯ve never attached any importance to you. You are no threat to me, whether you¡¯re at the middle or thete God domain!¡±

    He was telling the truth.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s cultivation system consisted of the star incantations of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the exquisite soul magics of the Netherspirits.

    All star incantations were somewhat suppressed by the Heavenly Stars Flower. As for Luo Wanxiang¡¯s unskillful soul magics, how could they possibly cause any real damage in the presence of the Spirit Scepter?

    Each of the five evil gods had a much better understanding of the power of the Netherspirits than he did.

    Therefore, Nie Tian hadn¡¯t taken Luo Wanxiang seriously; his target was only Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline burst forth, and he assumed his giant form.

    Without hesitation, he raised his hand and threw a punch towards Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher.

    The flesh aura he had gathered from the dead Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, and Moonspirits merged into this punch, and sted towards Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher in the form of Titan¡¯s Wrath.

    Filled with tremendous raging energies, a beam of light that was broad and unusually muddy shot towards Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher.

    It looked as if Nie Tian¡¯s punch had created an energy tunnel through the void!

    One could see many types of flesh and spiritual powers twisting together tighter and tighter like ropes inside the tunnel, emitting an extremely dangerous and mysterious bright light.

    With a grim face, Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher said in a deep voice, ¡°Powerful indeed!¡±

    CRACKLE!

    Purple lightning bolts intertwined beneath the Devil Cloud Halberd in the depths of the surging devil clouds, letting out piercing cracking sounds.

    A drop of amethyst-like Blood Essence spun and fell like a devilish stone into the intertwining lightning bolts, and it instantly activated and turned them into a twisted purple ball of light.

    The purple ball of light flew out of the devilish clouds to meet Nie Tian¡¯s fist strike.

    All of a sudden, the void cracked open, and an earth-shattering explosion rang out.

    Countless wisps of electric light, starlight, sparkling strings of fire, flesh auras, magical principles, and Bloodline Crystal Chains burst forth from the gaping void and sputtered in all directions.

    The void became filled with the wails of the outsiders from the Void World.

    Every outsider warrior of the Void World who had been touched by the light currents and the remaining energies let out wails of pain.

    Curses also came from all sides.

    ¡°Evacuate! Evacuate the battlefield!¡±

    ¡°Everyone on the ancient starships stay away from it, as far as possible!¡±

    ¡°Damn it! That human junior doesn¡¯t follow the rules!¡±

    The outsiders from the Void World were in a hurry to sail their warships away from Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher for fear of being injured.

    The battle had started without the slightest warning; it was iparably sudden.

    Nie Tian had only brieflymunicated with the five evil gods with his soul awareness before he had suddenlyunched an attack.

    The outsiders who had been curious about Nie Tian had been bombarded by the power sputtering from their sh because they had been too close and unprepared.

    In the presence of that kind of power, which was far stronger than their bloodlines, those who were below the ninth grade could do nothing but wait to die.

    Even grand patriarchs who were hit by the stronger streaks of energy, electric light, and me crystal strings suffered great pain, and howled ceaselessly.

    ¡°Such power!¡±

    The warships of the Seaspirits and Moonspirits retreated as far as they could. They didn¡¯t stop until they were a hundred miles away from the two.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A streak of Nie Tian¡¯s star power shot forth from the distance in a split second and prated one of the Seaspirits¡¯ conch-shaped warships, causing it to explode instantly.

    The Seaspirits screamed and fled from their warship and shouted that they should retreat farther.

    The Moonspirit grand monarch was at first bbergasted, but then he looked a little grateful as he said, ¡°The battle took ce so quickly that the leaders of the three races have not yet arrived to give us any orders.¡±

    Hearing this, the Seaspirit grand monarch¡¯s eyes also brightened as he muttered, ¡°Yeah.¡±

    The battle between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher had broken out in a split second. All the besiegers were backing away from them, the Seaspirits and Moonspirits included.

    In such a time of chaos, no one had time to pay attention to them, so they had gotten to avoid being the first to attack Nie Tian.

    Having seen how mighty Nie Tian was, they knew in their hearts that if they had been arranged to be the vanguard by the three races, they would have likely been bombarded and killed by him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Luo Wanxiang, who held the All Manifestations Star Banner, snapped. ¡°Sea of Illusory Stars!¡±

    Sparks of dazzling starlight flew out of the All Manifestations Star Banner, wanting to line up and form an array to limit Nie Tian¡¯s power.

    Nie Tian sneered.

    He sensed a unique soul aura from those sparks of starlight that had flown out of the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    That aura was clearly from powerful souls that had been fused into them.

    Nie Tian said after thinking for a while, ¡°You have derived some of the true meanings in the Nether River in the Void World. You have found powerful souls that you fused into your star souls to enhance their power. The enhancement of your star souls means that when you cast the Sea of Illusory Stars, the array will increase in strength ordingly.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m d that you know that!¡± Luo Wanxiang said with a sneer.

    Nie Tian shook his head.

    He turned his back to Luo Wanxiang and fixed his eyes on Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher, saying, ¡°It¡¯s a pity that the soul magics that you haveprehended are not the truly exquisite ones.¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    The evil god of bloodlust and the evil god of despair suddenly charged out.

    The two evil gods charged through the space among the sparks of starlight with an unstoppable momentum. The souls hiding in the bright starlight howled bitterly, flew out of the starlight, and merged into the evil gods¡¯ bodies.

    ¡°I knew it,¡± Nie Tian said without looking back. Instead, he fixed his eyes on Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher and watched as the Devil grand monarch clutched the Devil Cloud Halberd in his hand, as if facing a formidable enemy.

    ¡°Even though you must have killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone with the help of those ancestors, it was enough to prove your strength,¡± Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher said with a grave expression. ¡°Although I didn¡¯t feel like I underestimated you to begin with, I now see that you are much stronger than I expected. Therefore, from now on, I will do everything I can, and even use assistance, to kill you.¡±

 Chapter 1636: Slaughtering Grand Patriarchs Like Chicken

    ¡°I¡¯ll do anything to kill you!¡±

    The entire Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement started shaking the moment Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher finished speaking.

    It was as if the mysterious forbiddennd was acting in cooperation with him.

    Nie Tian looked down, and was shocked to see that even those devilish mes had started burning more violently than before.

    Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain were clearly under greater pressure, and had to retreat to deeper areas of the forbiddennd to avoid the devastating mes.

    Having spent some time at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, he had long since figured out, through the five evil gods, that the deeper they sank into the forbiddennd, the weaker the devilish mes would be.

    The more they attempted to break free through the top of the forbiddennd, the stronger the bacsh they would suffer from the devilish mes.

    The fact that Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain were sinking suggested that this Devil grand monarch had triggered great changes in the forbiddennd with nothing but his words.

    Perhaps this meant that he couldmand the power of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement!

    As his train of thought came to this point, his expression slowly grew grim.

    ¡°Life Drain,¡± he whispered in his heart.

    THUMP! THUMP!

    As his heart pounded violently, all of the flesh power of the dead outsiders in the surroundings of the forbiddennd that had yet to dissipate seemed to suddenly find a vent.

    Streak after streak of auras stretched towards him like rainbows, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s eyes widened in shock as he said, ¡°So you can not only channel and fuse the flesh power of the members of other races into your attacks, but you can also use it to strengthen yourself and make up for your own consumption! Even I can only absorb and refine the flesh power of the low-tier insects and beasts of my race!¡±

    He finally realized what made Nie Tian terrifying.

    ¡°All those who haven¡¯t entered the ninth grade pull back to two hundred kilometers away!¡± he shouted in a grim voice.

    The original n had been to gather forces from various races and use them to wear Nie Tian down. As strong as Nie Tian might be, he would eventually grow tired and exhaust his flesh power after dealing with hundreds of thousands of weak beings.

    That was why the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits had been summoned to join this battle.

    That Seaspirit grand monarch¡¯s spection had been right. The three major races had nned on using them as cannon fodder.

    However, now that Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher had found out about the unique wonders of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline and the fact that he could strengthen himself with the flesh power of the outsiders of different races, he immediately changed his mind.

    Given Nie Tian¡¯s unique abilities, if he sent the weaker ones to attack him, they would only end up fueling Nie Tian¡¯s power.

    ¡°Got it!¡±

    In fear, countless outsiders at low grades retreated from the area like locusts, steering their starships away.

    Momentster, there weren¡¯t any easy targets within a two hundred kilometer radius around Nie Tian.

    All those that were left were ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    The early tenth grade leaders of the Moonspirits and the Seaspirits let out a sigh of relief after receiving Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s orders.

    After all of their weak members retreated to a safe distance, they each took a few ninth grade grand patriarchs and gathered together.

    With the weak outsiders retreating to further locations, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t replenish his flesh power with them as easily as before. With a broadugh, he said, ¡°You¡¯re smart. However, killing those who are under the ninth grade won¡¯t be very meaningful. Your death will provide me with more value than all of thembined! Come on out!¡±

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone suddenly shot out like a long, bloodthirsty spear.

    As soon as it manifested, the countless densely-packed Bloodline Crystal Chains within the crimson bone lit up like rainbows, activating the Star Behemoth¡¯s unique bloodline talents.

    Every outsider expert of the Void World present shrewdly sensed that their bloodlines were being somehow suppressed. Even Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher was no exception.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    As Nie Tian waved his hand in a casual manner, the bone shot forth like a famished beast, roaring as it did.

    The illusory shape of a colossal creature that should only exist in the nightmares of the creatures in the Void World suddenly manifested as the bone sped through the void.

    ¡°My heavens!¡±

    Many grand patriarchs of the Void World, who had never seen a Star Behemoth in their lives, felt as if even their bones were shivering as they stared at the colossal, illusory shape.

    They couldn¡¯t even summon the courage to fight.

    POOPH! POOPH!

    The crimson bone that seemed sharp enough to prate anything pierced through one grand patriarch after another without effort.

    Both the Devils¡¯ Indestructible Form and the Bonedrudes¡¯ Unbreakable Form seemed to be as fragile as paper facing the bone.

    Wherever the bone flew past, bodies exploded with loud booms, jade-like Bonedrude bones and purple Devil blood flying everywhere.

    Complicated feelings filled Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he watched the bone flitting around. ¡°Ninth grade grand patriarchs.¡±

    He remembered years ago when ninth grade grand patriarchs had seemed asrge and unconquerable as mountains. By merely looking at them, he had felt great pressure weighing down on his chest.

    There had been a time when Cardy, the Blood Warden, had cornered and nearly killed him on his way from the Demon realms to the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    Luckily, Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect had shown up and killed Grand Patriarch Cardy for him. Otherwise, he would have died, and the Domain of the Falling Stars would have fallen.

    Now, however, he had merely released the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, without using his own power or burning a single drop of Blood Essence, and several grand patriarchs from the Void World had exploded and died in front of him.

    From what he could tell, every one of them was every bit as strong as Cardy had been.

    ¡°Time really flies...¡±

    He narrowed his eyes slightly and released his flesh aura sea. In the next moment, rivers of flesh power flew out of the exploded grand patriarchs and converged on him from different directions.

    Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher turned around and yelled. ¡°Go! All grand patriarchs retreat to two hundred kilometers away too!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a broadugh and took a step forward. ¡°It¡¯s toote.¡±

    A sea of dazzling starlight blossomed under his feet as he somehow shed past Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher and appeared behind the back of a Devil grand patriarch.

    ¡°Since your lord said that he¡¯s going to do anything to kill me, don¡¯t me me for what I¡¯m about to do to you.¡±

    As he wove his hands in the air, glorious starlight condensed into spell formations in his palm, which he then cast towards the grand patriarchs from the Void World one after another.

    Each and every one of them contained his bloodline power and zing me power.

    Then, the grand patriarchs, all of whom were moderately famous in the Void World, were knocked downwards into the bottomless starry river like tiny birds.

    Bone cracking sounds filled his ears.

    He clicked his tongue and muttered, ¡°They¡¯re far too weak, like puny insects.¡±

    He then cast Starshifts to casually switch between different locations. Every time he did, he would make a patting motion, and a grand patriarch from the Void World would explode and die.

    All the Seaspirits and Moonspirits were scared out of their minds, and scrambled away from him.

    They had never imagined that Nie Tian could so brutally smash these Devil, Bonedrude, and Netherspirit grand patriarchs.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± A familiar dark voice suddenly echoed out from an area where a number of Lightspirits were gathered.

    Spatial fluctuations gradually calmed in the void.

    Nie Tian went nk for a brief moment before suddenly realizing that someone must have arrived through a teleportation portal.

    It was just that he found the voice surprisingly familiar.

    WHOOSH!

    A pir of light shot up into the void like a bolt of lightning.

    Then, a human figure slowly manifested in the pir of light.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

 Chapter 1637: You Want To Be A Dog, But I Donâ€™t!

    The figure manifesting in the pir of light was actually Jiang Yuanchi, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society!

    He appeared in the area where the Lightspirits were gathered.

    Lightspirits carried bloodlines that contained the profound truths of light power. It was said that they had enjoyed a rather lofty status in the Void World before the Dark King of the Devils had risen to prominence.

    As the Dark King had grown to show his unparalleled power, and the Devils had reached their prime, they had begun to reject and suppress the Lightspirits.

    There had even been a time where they had massacred the Lightspirits.

    At this moment, all of the Lightspirits were fixing Jiang Yuanchi with feverish looks.

    Lightspirits had pale skin, golden hair, and feathered wings on their backs.

    Unlike the Birdmen from the Spirit World, they didn¡¯t have just one pair of feathered wings growing out of their backs. Some had multiple pairs.

    After Jiang Yuanchi manifested himself in his dharma idol form, which was awe-inspiring and blindingly bright like a sun, all of the Lightspirits bowed towards him.

    The two of them locked eyes.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

    FIZZ!

    A beam of strong light seemed to suddenly drive all the darkness away from the area of the starry river between them.

    Many outsiders of different races felt stabbing pain in their eyes as the ufortably strong light burst forth and filled the space between the two.

    Even Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils was bbergasted, and stayed his Devil Cloud Halberd-holding hand. Face grim, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Lightspirits are looking at a human in such a worshiping way. Their expression and manners... They¡¯re clearly treating that human as their leader, their high chieftain!

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe while our invasion of the Mortal World has ended in failure, some human hase to our world and gainedmand of the Lightspirits!¡±

    Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher was apparently upset, and shifted his focus from Nie Tian to Jiang Yuanchi without realizing it.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± Luo Wanxiang also eximed in shock.

    He had been fighting two evil gods. After being startled by the blinding light Jiang Yuanchi had released, he looked over with rapt attention. Then, he shuddered and yelled, ¡°The Void World is a wondrousnd indeed! Even you¡¯ve made your breakthrough here as well! I can¡¯t believe that after me, anotherte God domain cultivator would be born here in the Void World!¡±

    Many Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and members of the three major races were filled with disbelief as they gazed off at Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s dharma idol, which was emanating endless light like a giant sun. ¡°A human has be the Lightspirits¡¯ new high chieftain?!¡±

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± Luo Wanxiang yelled. ¡°It¡¯s very impressive that you¡¯ve be the Lightspirits¡¯ leader, but you¡¯re still just one person! The Lightspirits still have to follow the leadership of the three major races! As their leader, you need to help us kill Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Hehe.¡± With a low, derisiveugh, Jiang Yuanchi cast Luo Wanxiang a look from afar. Then, eyes narrowed, he said with a biting tone, ¡°You want to be their dog, but I don¡¯t.¡±

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s face turned ashen as soon as he heard these words.

    There was no doubt that Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s words had hurt him by using the worst thing he thought about himself against him.

    The Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes¡¯ expressions also flickered after they heard these words.

    Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s face split into a nasty smile as he pointed his halberd towards the Lightspirits and Jiang Yuanchi. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you actually have the audacity to go against our orders. You may be worth fighting, but you¡¯re not even a Lightspirit. Other than you, you don¡¯t even have a singlete tenth grade grand monarch, and you dare to stand up against us? Do you have a death wish?¡±

    The way he saw it, like the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits, the Lightspirits were a weak race.

    A weak race like them should just take orders from them and pay tribute to them on time in exchange for some living space.

    Any Lightspirit, even their high chieftain, should remain humble and obedient when speaking to him, like talking to their superior.

    Any Lightspirit who refused to follow hismands needed to be punished.

    Jiang Yuanchi took a deep breath. ¡°Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher, is it?¡±

    Countless raindrop-like glowing spots in the pir of light were taken into his dharma idol, causing his aura to build up to a point where even Nie Tian frowned in amazement.

    Both Fan Tianze and Jiang Yuanchi had been considered great Qi warriors with transcendent battle prowess even before entering thete God domain.

    Even though Chu Rui, Xuan Guangyu, and You Qimiao had been at the same cultivation base as them, none of them had been able to match the two of them in battle.

    Furthermore, the power and influence of the Shadow Society had been exceeded by only the four great sects.

    Now, Jiang Yuanchi, who practiced both light power and shadow power, had somehow managed to advance to thete God domain, win the acknowledgment of the Lightspirits, and be their leader.

    This made Nie Tian, who had destroyed the Shadow Society in the Mortal World, look very grim.

    He felt an even greater threat from him than Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils.

    Jiang Yuanchi didn¡¯t show the slightest fear facing Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s threats. ¡°My one and only goal ining here is to announce that the Lightspirits will take orders from no one from now on! You Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes can forget about riding roughshod over the Lightspirits now!

    ¡°The Lightspirits will take orders from me and me alone. And I will protect the Lightspirits from any threat!¡±

    His words were as powerful and resonating as it got!

    Even Nie Tian was taken back, an approving look filling his eyes.

    He had assumed that Jiang Yuanchi hade here to fight him just as Luo Wanxiang had. Who would have thought...

    Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher flew into a rage. ¡°How dare you challenge us?! What¡¯s your name? Who is your backer? And you lot!¡±

    He pointed at the Lightspirits with four pairs of wings on their backs who were standing next to Jiang Yuanchi. ¡°You¡¯re actually allowing a human to lead your people?!¡±

    Hearing this, those Lightspirits said together with deep solemness, ¡°His name is Jiang Yuanchi, and he¡¯s our high chieftain from now on! Whatever he says, he says on behalf of all Lightspirits!¡±

    ¡°Alright! You asked for this!¡± After Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher let out a roar of fury, his mountainous devilish form shifted across the void and instantly arrived in the area where the Lightspirits were gathered. He lifted his foot, which was covered in sharp thorns, and stomped towards their starship.

    By doing this, he intended to punish the Lightspirits and, at the same time, set an example for the Seaspirits, the Moonspirits, and the other minor races, lest they disobey them as the Lightspirits had.

    ¡°Like I said, I¡¯ll protect the Lightspirits from now on.¡± Jiang Yuanchi tilted his chin to fix Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher with a dark stare. ¡°Shadow Fetter!¡±

    The shadow Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s brilliant dharma idol cast on Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher, who was ten thousand meters tall, suddenly grew lifelike.

    In the next moment, it somehow jerked around and stopped his descending foot with its hands.

    No matter how much power he mustered, he couldn¡¯t crush the Lightspirit starship, which was right underneath his foot.

    At the same time, he had an iparably peculiar feeling that his own power was fighting against him...

    It appeared that his own shadow was mobilizing his flesh power to fetter him and stop him from punishing the Lightspirits.

    Some Demon that had joined them from the Mortal World called out to warn Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher. ¡°Grand Monarch, that¡¯s shadow power, the most wicked kind of power that the humans cultivate!

    ¡°The humans¡¯ Shadow Society is the most skilled with shadow power! It was through shadow power that Gupi was sealed, its rampage in the Mortal World and the Spirit World put to a stop! Please be careful, Grand Monarch!¡±

    The three major races of the Void World had taken some loyal Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes that had potential with them when their invasion of the Mortal World had failed, forcing them to retreat through the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Those outsiders from the Spirit World naturally knew about the Shadow Society and their use of shadow power.

    A strange expression appeared on Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s face. ¡°Shadow power? The Lightspirits¡¯ bloodlines contain the profound truths of light power. Why would a race like them swear allegiance to a human who also practices shadow power?¡±

    He found this baffling.

    Nie Tian, who felt forgotten, rubbed his nose. ¡°Now, this is awkward.¡±

    Then, he ordered the evil gods, ¡°Considering the situation, why don¡¯t you join hands and get rid of that traitor Luo Wanxiang first?¡±

 Chapter 1638: A Dogfight

    He had suspected that Jiang Yuanchi hadn¡¯t returned to the Mortal World since he had entered the Void World.

    Otherwise, he would have gone all-out to kill him upon the sight of him.

    He had practically uprooted the entire Shadow Society by himself. As the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, Jiang Yuanchi would definitely have held him ountable if he had returned to the Mortal World.

    Nie Tian looked around, and was pleased to find that the powerful experts of the three major races had suddenly made Jiang Yuanchi their primary target. ¡°Go ahead and fight. The moreplicated the situation gets, the more it¡¯ll benefit me!

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s sudden arrival and the turmoil here at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement will force the three major races of the Void World to mobilize some of their experts. I guess that way, the battles in the Doomed Star Sea should be easier.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods formed a circle around Luo Wanxiang.

    Five types of negative energies that were hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust condensed into seas that rapidly spread towards him.

    Nie Tian sensed with rapt attention, and discovered that negative energies that the evil gods had scattered in the Void World seemed to be joining the seas of negative energies and boosting their might.

    Then, he knew that Luo Wanxiang was definitely no match for them.

    As expected, the brilliant All Manifestations Star Banner was quickly engulfed by the surging seas of negative energies.

    The countless stars on the banner rapidly grew dim, as if they were covered in dust.

    BOOM!

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol burst forth with violent fluctuations.

    He discovered that five mysterious wells had suddenly appeared in his sea of awareness.

    Each and every one of them was spewing strong emotions that were hatred, fear, despair, rage, and bloodlust.

    The wells then started attacking his true soul in a way that was simr to how the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement refined its victims!

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s sea of awareness was instantly plunged into chaos by the negative energies, causing his various exquisite star incantations to fail.

    ¡°Wring!¡±

    The five evil gods started circling around him and chanting in what seemed to be the Netherspirits¡¯ ancientnguage.

    Their huge, sinister forms madly elerated, as if they had somehow turned into a giant capstan. With every rotation, they were wringing something out of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol.

    That something was Luo Wanxiang¡¯s refined soul power.

    ¡°No!¡±

    Luo Wanxiang wailed and quickly cast three soul magics in a row.

    However, the Grand Soul Wringer the five evil gods had conjured together was an unmatched soul magic of the Netherspirits.

    In their previous life, when they had been at their peak, they had even used it on Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and trapped him for quite a long time.

    Face calm, Nie Tian looked at Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol and clicked his tongue in disappointment. ¡°Poor fool. You thought you could establish a foothold in the Void World and do whatever you want now that you¡¯ve mastered the essence of the Netherspirits¡¯ soul incantations. But you didn¡¯t know that Imand power that has the best subduing effect on those like you.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t very long before Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol, which seemed to be a condensation of all the stars in the starry river, broke apart.

    It was as if his dharma idol were wrung tighter and tighter by numerous invisible ropes until it was torn to shreds.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Five streaks of misty cyan light shot straight up from the head of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s dharma idol, as if they had sted through its skull.

    Then, with a loud boom, his dharma idol exploded into countless wisps of gray light, which then shot off in every direction into the dim starry river.

    Those gray wisps were the condensations of his soul power and star power, the very core of his strength.

    With a nasty grin, the evil god of fear said, ¡°This is the Void World, our homnd. If you think you can escape from us here, then you¡¯re mistaken.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian saw the five evil gods split in a violent manner into cyan wisps that outnumbered Luo Wanxiang¡¯s by several times. Like sharks that had tasted blood, they swam after Luo Wanxiang¡¯s fleeing gray wisps.

    At that moment, it urred to Nie Tian that the vice sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce that had inspired awe across the Mortal World for ages and had once made him feel tremendous pressure was actually done for this time.

    Not a singlete tenth grade Netherspirit grand monarch had arrived here. All of the Netherspirits that were gathered here had a deep-rooted fear towards the evil gods.

    They neither dared nor had the ability to stop them from pursuing and killing Luo Wanxiang.

    ¡°Come back here after you¡¯re done.¡± After issuing an order through soul will, Nie Tian stopped paying attention to Luo Wanxiang, but refocused on the battle between Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher and Jiang Yuanchi.

    He had an endless need for flesh power. However, Luo Wanxiang couldn¡¯t provide him with any, and was thus unworthy of his further attention.

    As for his soul, the five evil gods would naturally divide and devour it after killing him. He didn¡¯t intend to take a share for himself.

    ¡°Seaspirits and Moonspirits, you don¡¯t have to continue to bear with the three major races either,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said, his dharma idol brilliant like a sun. With every move he made, he emanated blinding light that put continuous pressure on Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher like countless sharp des. ¡°Their invasion of the Mortal World has failed, and they¡¯re not in a favorable situation with their battles in the Doomed Star Sea. They absolutely won¡¯t have the time or energy to deal with you.¡±

    These words seemed to plunge the Seaspirit leader and the Moonspirit leader into contemtion.

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, a floating city made of pale bones arrived, emanating the white light of death.

    The two Seaspirit and Moonspirit grand monarchs eximed simultaneously.

    ¡°A Bone Shatter City!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bonefall!¡±

    However, immediately afterwards, they quieted down and secretly told their weaker members to try to stay out of the battle. Meanwhile, since they didn¡¯t dare to back out of the battle zone themselves, they just stay put.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bonefall! Grand Monarch Bonefall is here!¡±

    The Bonedrudes burst into feverish cheers, and flew towards the city made of bones one after another.

    The Bone Shatter City seemed to wee them as well.

    WHOOSH!

    The enormous Death Stele suddenly rose from within the city. Standing on the floating stele, Grand Monarch Bonefall looked at Nie Tian from afar and said, ¡°So you¡¯re Nie Tian? Hehe. A certain Voidspirit girl seems to care a lot about you.¡±

    His words instantly raised Nie Tian¡¯s attention. ¡°Where is she? I¡¯ve heard that Grand Monarch Ash Bone had a Bone Shatter City too. Was it the same as this one?¡±

    Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s eyes grew cold as he said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Grand Monarch Ash Bone was a senior to me. As for that Voidspirit girl, I killed her. Her corpse is right here in the city. Do you want toe in and take a look?¡±

    Nie Tian let out a derisiveugh. ¡°You killed her? You?¡±

    Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s face fell.

    ¡°Given your strength, there¡¯s no way for you to kill her.¡± With these words, Nie Tian took a deep breath. ¡°However, I do want to see what¡¯s in there. And it¡¯s said that Bonedrude grand monarchs have the toughest bodies throughout the starry river. I killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone by crushing his bones. I¡¯d like to see if your bones are as hard as his!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He, who had felt somewhat bored, stepped forward, and arrived in front of the Bone Shatter City in a split second.

    Grand Monarch Bonefall was infuriated. Pale mes burning in his eyes, he spat, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that you could crush his bones with your own power. And he didn¡¯t take his Bone Shatter City to the Spirit World. Otherwise, with that Bone Shatter City there to amplify his strength, you would have never had a chance to defeat him!¡±

 Chapter 1639: Smashing the Stele!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Air whirls emerged on the Stele of Death that floated above the Bone Shatter City like a giant piece of white jade.

    As the air whirls rotated slowly, they started channeling death power from the Bone Shatter City.

    At the same time, countless rays of pale-gray light radiated from the air whirls, rapidly filling the entire stele like spider webs.

    Each and every ray of pale-gray light seemed to carry the profound truths of death power, and secretly resonated with Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s bloodline.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    The Bonedrudes in the Bone Shatter City ignited their bloodline power.

    Numerous death power shields went up one after another to merge with the defenses of the floating city.

    BOOM!

    An iparably thick and solid shield of pale-white power came to form, enveloping the entire Bone Shatter City.

    Floating under the Stele of Death, Grand Monarch Bonefall stared coldly at Nie Tian.

    Then, while he remained behind the pale-white spherical power ward that enveloped the entire city, the Stele of Death suddenly shot out with a sharp whiz.

    It flew directly towards Nie Tian like a giant kite, with dozens of rays of pale-gray light connecting the bottom part of the stele and the power ward enveloping the Bone Shatter City.

    Like some sort of band, the rays of light could not only transfer power to the Stele of Death, but also pull the stele back to the Bone Shatter City in moments of danger.

    Under the city¡¯s protection, Grand Monarch Bonefall raised his white, bony hands, as if to call out to the god of death and stimte the stele with his own bloodline.

    ¡°Bloodline: Mortal Sacrifice!¡±

    The air whirls on the white jade-like stele elerated abruptly.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim softly as he discovered that he was losing his flesh power. At the same time, Pale-gray spots had somehow appeared on his skin, and were gnawing at his life power.

    He let out augh of disdain. ¡°So this Stele of Death is a precious treasure of the Bonedrudes, right? I suppose it has simr effects as Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s Bell of Death. Even he failed to cause me any serious damage with that bell of his, not to mention you, who¡¯s only at the middle tenth grade.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as he infused the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone with his bloodline power, it expanded in an extremely fast and peculiar manner, as if an invisible monster was hiding inside of it, madly devouring his flesh power and letting out howls that made everyone¡¯s souls tremble in fear.

    HOWL!

    The howls even shook space, rendering it unstable.

    WHOOSH!

    As a rift split open in the void, a streak of light shed out of it and quickly vanished into the distant starry river.

    ¡°Nie... Nie Tian...¡± Pei Qiqi¡¯s voice seemed to echo in his ears as the streak of light flitted past, even though there must be endless space between them.

    ¡°Ehh...¡± After a moment of bewilderment, Nie Tian refocused on the bone that had already expanded hundreds of times over, and infused drop after drop of his Blood Essence that carried immense life power into it.

    All of a sudden, a terrifying, massive shape of the Rampage Behemoth manifested in the blood-colored light that was released by the bone.

    At the same time, the bone shot towards the Stele of Death like a divine spear that was going to tear through the heavens.

    HOWL!

    The Rampage Behemoth that manifested outside the bone seemed to somehowe back to life. Devastating power spread into its surroundings in an unstoppable fashion as clusters of crimson light exploded.

    The clouds they created looked like the sshes of meteors plummeting into a sea of blood, gorgeous but deadly.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Wave after wave of frenzied, bloody power that was mixed with crimson crystalline chains and emanated the behemoth¡¯s bloodline wonders mmed into the Stele of Death.

    The white jade-like stele that was thousands of meters tall instantly had ayer of red added to it.

    The air whirls within it could no longer operate as they had before.

    HOWL! HOWL! HOWL!

    As more frenzied howls of the Rampage Behemoth echoed out, more clusters of explosive clouds were created, all of which targeted the Stele of Death.

    The countless rays of pale-gray light that covered the Stele of Death like spiderwebs snapped one after another, spraying refined death power.

    ¡°No!¡±

    Cracking sounds somehow came from Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s enormous bony form that was in the Bone Shatter City.

    Through his soul awareness, he seemed to see the Rampage Behemoth, which had inspired fear across the three worlds, reviving after spending eons in silence, and bombarding the Stele of Death with its unparalleled power.

    For some reason, he even vaguely heard the Rampage Behemoth bellowing something as it ravaged the stele.

    ¡°Bone... Bone...¡±

    As the Rampage Behemoth bellowed, a scary, mountainous body of bones seemed to rise from within the Stele of Death and stand several dozen kilometers tall.

    Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s heart nearly exploded as soon as he saw the terrifying bone form.

    ¡°E-emperor!¡±

    Grand Monarch Bonefall stuttered, not daring to believe his own eyes.

    He hadn¡¯t built the Bone Shatter City or the Stele of Death. Both of them were precious treasures of his n that had been handed down to him.

    Therefore, he had assumed that he knew everything there was to know about them.

    However, only at this moment, as the terrifying bony form manifested in front of him, did he realize that the Bone Shatter City and the Stele of Death carried the residual power and awareness of the Bone Emperor, the Bonedrude paragon.

    BOOM!

    The magnificent bony form that had manifested from within the Stele of Death suddenly exploded.

    It was actually smashed by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s illusory shape!

    CRUNCH!

    At the same time, the Stele of Death, which had been passed through numerous generations and made countless Bonedrude grand monarchs, cracked and shattered.

    Many Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, and Moonspirits were bbergasted after witnessing that bone of Nie Tian¡¯s smashing the Stele of Death, which they had believed to be unbreakable.

    ¡°The Stele of Death shattered! This is unbelievable!¡±

    ¡°My heavens! That was a priceless treasure that only the most promising Bonedrude grand monarchs were allowed to carry!¡±

    ¡°Since I learned about the existence of the Stele of Death, I¡¯ve never heard of it being severely damaged by anyone or any force!¡±

    ¡°A precious treasure of the Bonedrudes...¡± Nie Tian muttered with an indifferent look in his eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m impressed.¡±

    Then, he sensed the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s wrath within the bone and thought to himself, ¡°It seems that you only truly recovered after the Ripper Behemoth purged the Bone Emperor¡¯s residual power in you. After all, you died after a legendary battle against the Bone Emperor.

    ¡°No wonder you¡¯re so angry and relentless when facing a tool the Bonedrudes forged with his residual power.

    ¡°Bad luck for this Grand Monarch Bonefall.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone suddenly shot towards the Bone Shatter City, bursting forth with a tremendous amount of blood-colored light.

    An image entered the mind of every single Bonedrude in the Bone Shatter City as they looked up at the iing bone.

    A colossal creature that was even vaster than the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and could devour stars seemed to be pouncing towards them, emanating boundless frenzied power as it did.

    Each and every one of them, including even Grand Monarch Bonefall and the Bone Shatter City, seemed to be too weak to withstand a single strike from it.

    Scared soulless, the Bonedrudes whispered, ¡°A Star Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°Is this the might of a Star Behemoth?!¡±

    ¡°With something like it around, how did we dare to invade the Mortal World and the Spirit World?!¡±

 Chapter 1640: Crushing Dry Weeds and Smashing Rotten Wood

    Inside the magnificent Bone Shatter City.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    Many Bonedrudes¡¯ eyes suddenly exploded!

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s soul power had prated the ward of death power, pierced into their seas of awareness, and detonated their souls!

    Like ss that had dropped to the ground, their white bony forms also shattered into countless pieces.

    In the blink of an eye, the city ground was covered in translucent and sparkling broken bones.

    Numerous white misty wisps of death power rose to join the ward enveloping the entire floating city.

    FIZZ!

    The spherical death power ward, which was as solid as a divine mountain, was easily ripped open by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s power.

    Like a bolt of lightning, the crimson bone shot directly into the city.

    The miserable wails of the Bonedrudes instantly filled the vast Bone Shatter City.

    In a deep panic, the surviving ninth grade Bonedrudes scrambled to flee the city.

    However, numerous rays of crimson light flew out of the bone, spread out, and pierced into their bony forms like steel strings. Before they could leave the city, their bodies exploded, and they died violent deaths.

    The Seaspirits, the Moonspirits, and some of the Lightspirits were like ducks in a thunderstorm.

    The overwhelming power Nie Tian had disyed put them in great fear.

    ¡°This is a ughter!¡±

    ¡°Howe the Bonedrudes can¡¯t even put up a fight?¡±

    ¡°My heavens! I think we¡¯d better keep our distance and try not to offend that human.¡±

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Hundreds of thousands of rays of crimson light shot everywhere in an unstoppable manner in the vast Bone Shatter City.

    Under the might of the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s Domain Split bloodline talent, the so-called ward of death and the allegedly impregnable Bone Shatter City were merely a joke.

    With a deafening rumble, the Bone Shatter City exploded.

    Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s heart sank horribly as he watched the city topple around him and the Stele of Death lie in pieces.

    He had finally realized that Grand Monarch Ash Bone hadn¡¯t only died in the Spirit World because he had left his Bone Shatter City in the Doomed Star Sea.

    He had also woken up to the fact that the devastating bone Nie Tian was wielding had a profound connection to the Bone Emperor, the paragon of his n.

    After all, the Bone Emperor¡¯s residual will showed a strong hatred towards the bone as well.

    It was just that the Bone Emperor¡¯s residual will within the Stele of Death was far weaker than the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s will within the bone, which Nie Tian had infused with a tremendous amount of Blood Essence and made iparably sharp.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face was filled with disgust as he muttered, ¡°I hate fighting Bonedrudes and Bonebrutes more than any other race. Their death bloodlines arepletely useless to me. Killing them is a waste of my power.¡±

    Even so, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone shot on towards Grand Monarch Bonefall.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Countless broken bones and even space exploded in the area where Grand Monarch Bonefall was standing.

    Cluster after cluster of crimson clouds rapidly gathered over and engulfed him.

    Immediately afterwards, heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sounds of explosions echoed out from his location in the toppled Bone Shatter City, along with his shrill, begrudging cries.

    ¡°The Bonedrudes have underestimated me,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that they sent you to fight me, knowing that I¡¯ve killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone and three middle tenth grade Devil grand monarchs in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. They thought that you could defeat me by relying on your Bone Shatter City? Howughable!¡±

    ¡°Split!¡± As he eximed in a deep voice, more crimson light burst forth from within the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    Countless rays of crimson light rapidly wove into a spherical shield that imprisoned Grand Monarch Bonefall, inside of which his bones broke one after another. Even his heart was stealthily pierced by one glowing de after another.

    Suffering the stabbing pain, Grand Monarch Bonefall looked down, and saw wisps of glowing light swimming around in his chest, from which he sensed spatial power. ¡°Voidspirits!¡±

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian was both surprised and ted.

    From Grand Monarch Bonefall¡¯s words, he quickly came to the realization that Pei Qiqi had secretly joined the battle.

    Knowing that Pei Qiqi was safe, he put his heart at ease. Then, with a broadugh, he shifted through space, and suddenly appeared in the area where the Devils were gathered like a glorious sea of stars.

    ¡°Since the Bonedrudes are useless to me, I¡¯ll just recover my flesh power by killing you.¡±

    Every time Nie Tian swung his arm in a casual manner, a Devil starship would explode with a loud boom.

    It was like a tiger jumping into a flock of sheep.

    Even though they had already withdrawn hundreds of kilometers away from the battlefield, they still fell prey to Nie Tian, who was skilled with Starshift.

    Starlight wove into spell formations with profound wonders that plummeted like a dazzling shower of light.

    At the same time, mes that carried zing power that could incinerate anything and everything started burning in the midst of the Devils.

    Nie Tianughed wildly. His enormous form, which was nine thousand meters tall, looked like a volcano erupting with devastating power. With every move he made, hundreds of Devils at different grades would perish.

    This was nothing more than a massacre!

    His actions lookedpletely effortless, as if he were strolling idly in his courtyard, yet Devil lives were being reaped by him in an incredible manner.

    Like crimson rivers, the flesh power of the dead Devils converged and joined his flesh aura sea from different directions.

    With their flesh power, he managed to generate fresh Blood Essence and deliver refined flesh power to every corner of his body, his every bone, muscle, and internal organ.

    Meanwhile, the two grand monarchs of the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits had long since recognized the situation and ordered their nsmen to retreat to a farther location.

    Now, their ancient starships were sailing farther and farther away from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, despite the calls of the three major races, before they soon vanished in the distant starry river.

    Only their two grand monarchs remained thousands of kilometers away from all of the action, hid their forms and auras, and watched Nie Tian secretly.

    After observing in silence for a while, the Seaspirit grand monarch said, ¡°That human, the Lightspirits¡¯ new leader, might be right. This Nie Tian person indeed possesses unmatched power! With the three major races having a hard time with their battles in the Doomed Star Sea, and their invasion of the Mortal World and the Spirit World turning out to be a failure, thendscape of the Void World may actually be changing soon.¡±

    The Moonspirit grand monarch was taken aback. ¡°Are you saying that...?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps the three major races will no longer be able to do whatever they want in the Void World,¡± the Seaspirit grand monarch whispered with a light flickering in his eyes. ¡°There¡¯s that portal that connects to the Mortal World. If we¡¯re so oppressed by the three major races that we can¡¯t make a living in the Void World anymore, we might as well go live in the Mortal World for a while, right?¡±

    The Moonspirit grand monarch¡¯s eyes lit up.

    Underneath the thinned devilish mes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain had observed in silence for a long time now.

    Watching the situation change so quickly and dramatically, the two luminaries that hadmanded the wind and the clouds (idiom: be all-powerful) in the Mortal World and the Spirit World for millennia had gasped many times within such a short time.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s arrival, Jiang Yuanchi joining the battle, Nie Tian going berserk, and the destruction of the Stele of Death and the Bone Shatter City... All of these changes had dazzled their eyes.

    After a while, Shao Tianyang cast his gaze down and muttered, ¡°Nie Tian... He might be the one to lead humanity after Ji Cang.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A pretty figure suddenly manifested in the starry river directly above the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    ¡°Pei Qiqi from the Void Spirit Society!¡± Shao Tianyang eximed.

    As her Space Boundaries Crystal spun slowly, wondrous light shot out of its many crystalline facets.

    The me dragon high chieftain was greatly spirited to see the Space Boundaries Crystal stimte uncanny changes in space as it spun. ¡°An invaluable spatial treasure!¡±

 Chapter 1641: Dividing The Enemies From Within

    Nie Tian was ughtering the Devils. However, the moment he saw her, a hearty smile appeared on his face, and he said, ¡°I¡¯m so d that you¡¯re okay, Senior Martial Sister Pei.¡±

    However, Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t look at him, but rather focused her attention on the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement with a grim look on her face.

    FZZZ! FZZZ!

    Wisps of power that contained her spatial bloodline power flew into one of the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s many facets. Immediately afterwards, Shao Tianyang¡¯s fiery figure manifested in it.

    ¡°Space Connection!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly as she pressed her jade-like finger on that facet with great force.

    With a boom, a tremendous amount of wondrous light burst forth from the point where her fingertip contacted the crystal.

    Her Voidspirit bloodline was instantly activated. The internal spaces within her every acupoint seemed to channel the internal heaven and earth within the spatial treasure.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    The ends of her eyebrows rose as a hint of astonishment appeared in her eyes.

    As she tried to connect to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement through the crystal, she encountered a strong restrictive force. The force was so strong that it even kept her spatial bloodline from manifesting its wonders.

    She jerked her head down, and discovered that countless profound restrictive spells seemed to be activated within the forbiddennd.

    In the depths of the raging devilish mes, hundreds of thousands of purple lightning wisps could be seen interweaving into secret spell formations that prevented the inspection of any sort of power, including spatial power!

    ¡°Forget it...¡± Pei Qiqi muttered, and stopped wasting her power making more attempts.

    Then, she sent a wisp of soul message to Shao Tianyang through the Space Boundaries Crystal, saying, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to help you, but rather my power, cultivation base, and spiritual tool don¡¯t allow me to go through the restrictive spells in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and get you and that me dragon out to safety.¡±

    Surrounded by raging devilish mes, Shao Tianyang¡¯s face turned ashen as he let out a sigh of frustration.

    Seeing his change of expression, the me dragon high chieftain muttered, feeling as if he had been dampened by a bucket of cold water, ¡°Even that Voidspirit, who carries a spatial bloodline and is well-versed in spatial power, can¡¯t get through the restrictive spells in the forbiddennd with the help of her spatial treasure. I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s really no hope for us to get out of here.¡±

    He and Shao Tianyang were losing their power with every passing second.

    Sooner orter, he would lose all of his flesh power, and Shao Tianyang¡¯s me power spiritual core would burn out, along with his me domain.

    That would be their doom.

    Over time, all of their sources of flesh power and spiritual power and even their souls would be burned away, leaving no trace behind.

    WHOOSH!

    The evil god of bloodlust suddenly flew from the distant starry river and stopped by Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    He returned with Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner, which fluttered in the wind.

    A twisted, morphing soul could be seen in the banner. Apparently, the evil god of bloodlust was suppressing it with his profound soul magic, keeping it from moving around.

    He bowed respectfully towards Nie Tian and tossed him the banner. ¡°We¡¯ve killed Luo Wanxiang, Master. And we¡¯ve taken his Immortal grade divine tool back for you.¡±

    The banner floated towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°The All Manifestations Star Banner, an Immortal grade divine tool with a soul of its own...¡± Nie Tian muttered with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. ¡°It¡¯d be a waste if I erase the soul that he spent so much time and effort refining. But if I don¡¯t, I doubt it¡¯ll submit itself to me. So I guess I have to try something special.¡±

    FZZZ!

    A cyan seal that looked like a glowing sphere suddenly flew out of the Spirit Pearl, and shot towards the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    If one examined the seal closely, they would see illusory Nether Rivers within it, all of them intertwining like the meridians of a living being.

    Each and every one of them carried countless tiny soul symbols and were vested with the wonders of the Netherspirits¡¯ most exquisite soul magics.

    Many fleeing Netherspirits suddenly came to a stop.

    Faces filled with astonishment, they turned around to look at the cyan seal.

    All of those Netherspirits who knew about Heavenly Spirit Seals were bbergasted.

    ¡°T-that¡¯s a Heavenly Spirit Seal!¡±

    ¡°Heavenly Spirit Seal, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s most exquisite soul spell?!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he can actually forge Heavenly Spirit Seals!¡±

    The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls had existed for countless generations. All those who could roam it with their soul awareness and derive enlightenment from the profound soul magics Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had left in it were well-aware of how wondrous and powerful Heavenly Spirit Seals were.

    After all, Heavenly Spirit Seal was Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s most important signature soul spell.

    Even many Netherspirit grand monarchs had failed to derive the essence of that spell from the Nether River, and were therefore unable to forge Heavenly Spirit Seals. Why could Nie Tian, aplete stranger, do it?

    Did the fact that he could forge Heavenly Spirit Seals prove that he had won Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s acknowledgment?

    Some Netherspirits couldn¡¯t help but wonder, ¡°Those five ancestors of ours have chosen to follow him, and he can wield the Spirit Scepter... Does this mean that he has obtained Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s legacies? Did he take it by force, or was he chosen by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will?¡±

    While the Netherspirits were in deep amazement, the Heavenly Spirit Seal disappeared into the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    The soul shadow in the banner immediately burst forth with blinding cyan light.

    At the same time, a cyan crystal that was identical to those on the foreheads of the evil gods appeared on the forehead of the soul shadow, and shone with iparable brilliance.

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s will and restrictive spells, with which he had branded the banner, immediately melted away.

    What took their ce were Nie Tian¡¯s will and soul imprints!

    Nie Tian burst intoughter. ¡°This is awesome!¡±

    He could sense with great rity that the All Manifestations Star Banner was already bing close to him.

    Its soul was rapidly taking him in as its new master.

    ¡°A level five Immortal grade divine tool! Luo Wanxiang had just gone to great lengths to upgrade it, and now it¡¯s mine!¡±

    Whileughing heartily, he suddenly pointed his hand at some of the fleeing Bonedrudes.

    The All Manifestations Star Banner flew out without any dy.

    In a split second, the banner enveloped the Bonedrudes like a dazzling sea of stars.

    The innumerable fragmentary stars within the divine tool cut and broke the Bonedrudes¡¯ bones like sharp diamonds.

    Their agonized shrieks filled the void.

    Momentster, streaks of white auras flowed out of the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    Nie Tian, who had noticed the Netherspirits¡¯ reaction, only killed the fleeing Devils, while the All Manifestations Star Banner, which he had just turned with a Heavenly Spirit Seal, focused on killing the Bonedrudes.

    The Netherspirits were intentionally left alone.

    He wanted to pass on a message through these fleeing Netherspirits: the five evil gods had sworn allegiance to him, and he could forge and use Heavenly Spirit Seals.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go and refine the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Soulster. Perhaps when I go, there¡¯ll be different voices among the Netherspirits.¡± With these words, Nie Tian let out a low chuckle. ¡°Sometimes, division from within is more effective at breaking a race. All I need is conflicting opinions!¡±

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea in the Mortal World.

    Dong Li, Master Blood Spirit, Yin Xingtian, and the other experts were floating above the azure sea and gazing down with grim expressions.

    Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Chu Rui, and many experts from the four great sects were also gazing down with serious looks in their eyes. All of them had their eyes fixed on the open portal in the depths of the sea.

    ¡°Before, people would have to have unusually tough bodies in order to enter that portal,¡± Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society said with narrowed eyes. ¡°However, after the invasion of the three races from the Void World, they seem to have stabilized the sea through some special means. It appears that all those who are at the Saint domain or higher can ess it now.¡±

    Yin Xingtian chimed in, ¡°The outsiders have strong bodies. This allows them toe and go even more easily.¡±

    Dong Li took a deep breath and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking, but since my fiance has charged into the Void World, I¡¯m going to go join him.¡±

 Chapter 1642: Handle The Situation Skillfully

    In the Doomed Star Sea.

    Countless meteors were crashing into one another in the dim starry river, giving rise to heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosions.

    A behemoth that was evenrger than a realm was roaring madly as it swatted at numerous Devil and Bonedrude starships that hovered around it like buzzing flies.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Twisting, chaotic power kept spewing from its colossal form.

    Wherever the chaotic energy sted, many ancient starships were hit, burst into mes, and then exploded with loud booms.

    Numerous Bonedrudes and Devils could be seen abandoning their starships, wailing as they did.

    Standing in a corner of the tempestuous battlefield, Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect looked spirited as he said, ¡°The Chaos Behemoth is truly worthy of its name!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, who had returned from the Seven Stars Realm Sea, along with numerous Heavenly Corpses and so-called crooked cultivators, were gathered around him.

    After observing for a while, Feng Beiluo frowned and said, ¡°But something is off. As far as I know, this area of the starry river should have been protected by two of the top ten grand monarchs of the Void World, Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils and Grand Monarch Soul yer of the Netherspirits. If they were here, even the Chaos Behemoth wouldn¡¯t have been able to ughter these outsiders so easily.¡±

    At this moment, the incredibly huge Chaos Behemoth suddenly rammed into the Devils¡¯ floating fortress, which was made of a few dozens enormous meteors that were carved with hundreds of devil spell formations.

    BOOM!

    Upon contact, countless devil carvings and spell formations on the walls of the vast devil fortress were reduced to a rain of purple light that filled the void.

    As soon as the spell formations broke, the power binding the meteor disappeared. The entire fortress instantly broke apart, the majority of the Devils hiding within it mangled and torn to pieces by the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s power.

    ¡°This is brilliant!¡± Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect said with a dark, cunningugh. ¡°Even with my army of corpses, I failed to sack that stronghold. Who would have thought that the Chaos Behemoth would destroy it with such ease upon entering the battlefield?! All the flesh power we¡¯ve expended to awaken and get it out of the Shatter Battlefield didn¡¯t go to waste!¡±

    The so-called crooked cultivators around him also looked excited by what was happening.

    Not long ago, Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils and Grand Monarch Soul yer of the Netherspirits had joined hands and in many of their people in this battle zone.

    Feng Beiluo had lost millions of corpse soldiers in that battle. Arge number of elite hybrids that they had created in the Doomed Star Sea had also been lost.

    This time, however, all they had done was release the Chaos Behemoth. Feng Beiluo hadn¡¯t even summoned his army of corpses. However, numerous outsider starships had burst into mes and exploded before them, and the Devil fortress had fallen apart.

    The Devils and devilish insects and beasts that had been killed by the Chaos Behemoth were beyond count.

    Devil and Bonedrude starships had exploded by the hundreds.

    This was a grand victory!

    WHOOSH!

    Standing towering behind Feng Beiluo, the Heavenly Corpse that had been forged from Cardy¡¯s corpse spit out a grayish-brown pearl.

    Like fish, numerous magical symbols could be seen swimming chaotically inside of it.

    Surprised, Feng Beiluo froze for a brief moment before reaching out and grabbing the pearl. The moment he did, the magical symbols within it started swimming even faster. By doing that, they seemed to be transferring some secret message to him.

    A shudder ran through him as he eximed with astonishment in his eyes, ¡°Thunder Devil, do you know that the young master went to the Void World?¡±

    The Thunder Devil¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What? He went to the Void World? I only know that he was still in the Spirit World when I left the Seven Stars Realm Sea, and that he killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone in the Spirit World. I know nothing about his trip to the Void World.¡±

    With a grim expression, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°I just received word that he¡¯s entered the Void World. It appears that he did it because of Pei Qiqi from the Void Spirit Society. On top of that, he went to the Devils¡¯ Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Now, he¡¯s already killed the three middle tenth grade grand monarchs guarding the forbiddennd, and is waiting for the powerful experts of the three major races to go to him.¡±

    Someone among the crowd of so-called crooked cultivators eximed, ¡°The young master has be so powerful already?!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s good news, right?¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said.

    ¡°Good news?¡± Feng Beiluo said with a deep frown. ¡°Things here are only so easy because Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils and Grand Monarch Soul yer of the Netherspirits have been ordered to go to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Other than them, ate tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch seems to be on his way there as well. Threete tenth grade grand monarchs and a joint army of strong fighters from the three races fighting on their own turf... How can he survive a perilous situation like that?¡±

    A Qi warrior from the Death Curse Sect gasped and said, ¡°Threete tenth grade grand monarchs and numerous strong outsiders? Those outsiders from the Void World are really taking the young master seriously.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because the young master¡¯s battle prowess has already risen to heights beyond their imagination,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with an expression of respect.

    ¡°As strong as he may be, he can¡¯t possibly fight threete tenth grade grand monarch single-handedly,¡± Feng Beiluo said. ¡°Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher ranks number seven among the grand monarchs in the Void World. Grand Monarch Soul yer ranks number eight. The two of them are already formidable enough, not to mention that they¡¯re going to be joined by anotherte tenth grade Bonedrude grand monarch, we don¡¯t know who, and arge number of strong outsiders.¡±

    He took a deep breath and quickly continued, ¡°We should be the ones fighting Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher and Grand Monarch Soul yer. Prepare yourselves. We¡¯re going to the Void World!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡±

    ...

    In the Void World.

    Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and a few other powerful human experts were scattered in front of the portal.

    Most of the Netherspirits and Devils around the portal had already been in.

    Yin Xingtian captured a Netherspirit, and questioned him about Nie Tian¡¯s whereabouts.

    Momentster, as he opened his mouth and breathed in, a small sparkling sword flew out of the spot between the Netherspirit¡¯s eyebrows and into his mouth. ¡°Nie Tian seems to be in a ce called the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Powerful experts of the three major races of the Void World are gathering towards the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. It seems that Nie Tian killed the three middle tenth grade Devil grand monarchs that guarded the forbiddennd.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement? How do we get there within the shortest time?¡±

    ¡°The nearest Devil realm is called the Heaven Seal Devil Land,¡± Yin Xingtian said. ¡°There should be a teleportation portal that connects to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement there.¡±

    ¡°To the Heaven Seal Devil Land then!¡± Dong Li said aloud.

    ¡°Should we wait for a while?¡± Master Blood Spirit asked.

    With a charming frown, Dong Li pondered briefly, then said, ¡°No, we¡¯re not waiting.¡±

    At that moment.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    Powerful experts from the four great sects, with Chu Rui and Ye Wenhan as the leaders, flew out of the portal one after another. They were followed by a stream of Saint domain Qi warriors from many other human sects.

    ¡°The three major races of the Void World have butchered many of our kind. It¡¯s about time we show them our strength!¡± Chu Rui shouted.

    Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Now, with you joining us, we¡¯re even more confident in the battles toe.¡±

    Ye Wenhan stepped forward and said, ¡°Nie Tian has done plenty for us and our people. It¡¯s about time we repaid him.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s in the Devils¡¯ Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement,¡± Yin Xingtian said.

    ...

    While many from the Mortal World and the Doomed Star Sea assumed that Nie Tian was in a perilous situation, he was actually catching the fleeing Devils, refining their flesh power into Blood Essence, and strengthening himself.

    ¡°If we can¡¯t break the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement open soon, I¡¯ll just head to the Realm of Dark Souls and refine that onest Nether River,¡± he thought to himself.

 Chapter 1643: Changing The Target

    Tens of thousands of Devils and Netherspirits had died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Their floating bodies filled the starry river around the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, along with the wreckage of starships, making the entire area of the starry river look congested.

    The Seaspirits and Moonspirits had long since retreated from the area. Even their two grand monarchs, who had chosen to stay, cautiously hid their auras and were nowhere to be seen.

    As for the Lightspirits, they were still gathered where Jiang Yuanchi had first arrived.

    Meanwhile, Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s battle against Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils carried the two of them from ce to ce. They would be seen fighting far away from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement in one moment, but found fighting close to it in the next moment.

    Soon, the Lightspirits received Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s soul messages and also retreated from that area of the starry river.

    Then, practically no member of the three major races could be seen in the vicinity of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement anymore.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Countless wisps of flesh auras that were either dark purple or misty cyan converged and fused into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence that was rich in life power was condensed in his heart, like crimson crystals.

    Within a short time, he recovered all of the Blood Essence he had consumed in battle.

    FIZZ!

    As he attempted to activate his life bloodline, wisps of flesh power that he had refined from the Devils and Netherspirits shed through his bones and internal organs like lightning bolts.

    He examined himself with his soul awareness, and saw the sparkling essence of flesh and blood filling his flesh, meridians, and bones like sweet morning dew.

    ¡°My bloodline aura has fallen dormant, and no longer requires more flesh power. Hence, all of the flesh power I acquire after I¡¯ve replenished my Blood Essence goes directly to tempering my body.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian observed himself with rapt attention, and then discovered that fine lightning wisps could be seen flickering on his skin somehow.

    He moved his arms in a casual manner, and the lightning wisps slithering on his skin immediately came together to boost his power.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    Pieces of starship debris that were nearly ten thousand square metersrge were pushed away from him, and then exploded into tiny grains of dust that dissipated in the void.

    He shrewdly sensed that his body had been further strengthened, and had started slowly growing again.

    ¡°The restrictive spells in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement are very strange and powerful.¡± Pei Qiqi flew weightlessly to his side and said with an expressionless face, ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t get the sectmaster of the fire element sect and that me dragon out of there.¡±

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei...¡± Nie Tian wanted to say something, but hesitated.

    At this point, there were barely any living beings in the vast area around the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement due to the retreat of the outsiders and the terrifying ripples of power caused by the sh between Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher and Jiang Yuanchi.

    The vast area of the starry river was filled with floating outsider bodies and starship debris, which seemed to be telling the cruelty of the battle that had taken ce here...

    Seeing that Pei Qiqi remained quiet and distant, Nie Tian pondered for a while, then said, ¡°You have nothing to be embarrassed about, actually.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already recovered all the flesh power I used to try to lift the seal on your bloodline. As long as you¡¯re safe, I don¡¯t care if I lose some power.¡±

    ¡°I care,¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly. ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed for what he did. However, he¡¯s my father, and he¡¯s dying. I spent my whole life trying to find him. Now, I¡¯ve finally found him and felt familial love for the first time. I can tell that his feelings for me are real. Then, he used me against you...¡±

    Nie Tian stopped her, and said, ¡°It¡¯s in the past. Let¡¯s not talk about it. All that matters is that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    Pei Qiqi cast her gaze down slightly. ¡°So... Why did youe to the Void World?¡±

    ¡°I feared for your safety.¡±

    ¡°Oh...¡±

    The two of them fell silent.

    Pei Qiqi was never a person who knew how to express their feelings, especially now. The guilt she was feeling made her even more withdrawn.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to break the ice by saying something, he suddenly received warnings from all five evil gods simultaneously.

    ¡°Ate tenth grade Netherspirit grand monarch is rapidly approaching,¡± The evil god of fear said hastily. ¡° If what I suspect is correct, he¡¯s most likely the third most powerful Netherspirit of this generation: Grand Monarch Soul yer, whose strength is only surpassed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.¡±

    Spirited, Nie Tian said, ¡°Grand Monarch Soul yer? The one that ranks the eighth among all grand monarchs in the Void World?¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± The evil god of bloodlust answered.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± Nie Tianughed. ¡°With Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher fighting Jiang Yuanchi, and Luo Wanxiang in by you, I¡¯m feeling bored for not having a worthy opponent.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯sing?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul yer of the Netherspirits,¡± Nie Tian answered.

    ¡°He ranks number eight among all grand monarchs in the Void World,¡± Pei Qiqi said, her face turning grim. ¡°He¡¯s even stronger than Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who you killed in the Spirit World with the help of the evil gods.¡±

    The truth was that there were quite a fewte tenth grade grand monarchs in the Void World.

    Among them, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils ranked number one, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of the Netherspirits ranked number two, and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes ranked number three.

    The three of them were acknowledged to be the tier-one, peak experts of the Void World.

    After them, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits ranked number four, Grand Monarch Sharp Bones of the Bonedrudes ranked number five, and Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer ranked number six.

    Ranked number seven was Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher, who was fighting Jiang Yuanchi at this moment. After him were Grand Monarch Soul yer, who was on his way to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, and Grand Monarch Ash Bone, who had already died at Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    Thest one, ranking number ten, was also a Devil, who people referred to as Grand Monarch Lurking Devil.

    Even for the races in the Void World, Grand Monarch Lurking Devil was a mysterious existence. Many Devils knew nothing about the background of this mysterious senior and had never met him in person, let alone the Netherspirits and Bonedrudes.

    Rumor had it that he spent most of his time lurking in the Doomed Star Sea, the Mortal World, and even the Spirit World.

    ¡°Master...¡± the evil god of rage said, his soul fluctuations somewhat unusual. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul yer seems to have changed directions and left.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°I suppose he learned about your might from the fleeing Netherspirits and realized that he¡¯s no match for you,¡± the evil god of rage said with anger rising in his heart. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the younger generations of Netherspirits have be so cowardly! He didn¡¯t even engage in battle, and he fled in fear! Howe someone like him is among the top ten experts of the Void World?!¡±

    With a derisiveugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°It appears that it¡¯s time we head for the Realm of Dark Souls! After all, the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is full of bizarre restrictive spells, which even I can¡¯t break. Perhaps only Dong Li can break them with the wondrous tools of the Dark King.

    ¡°Right now, the ce I should be is the Realm of Dark Souls, where thatst Nether River is.¡±

    If Pei Qiqi hadn¡¯t been by his side, he would have to concern himself with what he might encounter during his lengthy journey to the Realm of Dark Souls of the Netherspirits.

    However, with Pei Qiqi around, and with the help of her Space Boundaries Crystal, traveling to and from the Realm of Dark Souls would be much easier!

    ¡°Do you know where the Realm of Dark Souls is, Senior Martial Sister Pei?¡± he asked. ¡°Do you know if you can take me there?¡±

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°I know the general location. Originally, the Realm of Dark Souls and the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement were both targets that I considered. But since I knew that the Realm of Dark Souls was even more dangerous, and I was afraid that I¡¯d be trapped there, I chose the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    With a smile, Nie Tian summoned the Spirit Scepter and said, ¡°Come with me this time. With this treasure, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be able to leave unscathed if things go south, even though it¡¯s the Realm of Dark Souls. This scepter can channel the Nether River. That Nether River belongs with it in the first ce.¡±

 Chapter 1644: Combat The Root Of The Problem

    In the Realm of Dark Souls.

    The winding Nether River surrounded the entire realm like a magical band. Dozens of old Netherspirits charged out of the Realm of Dark Souls to examine the Nether River.

    All of them were at the ninth or tenth grade, yet their withering life auras suggested that they were nearing the ends of their lives, like oilmps that were on theirst bit of oil.

    The murky Nether River was originally filled with countless brilliant soul symbols. But now, it was dim and lifeless.

    The originally vibrant Nether River appeared to be dying...

    Looking distressed and without hope, one of the elders said, ¡°Our n members can no longer channel the Nether River with their bloodlines or derive the profound truths of their bloodlines from it. How can this be?!¡±

    Many Netherspirit elders wailed in sorrow by the bleak Nether River.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe those five ancestors of our race are actually taking orders from a human after their revival!¡±

    ¡°Right now, that very human is wielding the Spirit Scepter andmitting mass murder at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. There are our nsmen among those whom he¡¯s ughtered!¡±

    ¡°Thousand Spirits!¡±

    ¡°Soul Capturer!¡±

    Their soul voice should have been transmitted to their numerous strongholds in different parts of the Void World through the Nether River.

    However, at this moment, the soul voice they had conveyed by stimting their Blood Essence could no longer travel as smoothly as it had before. Their soul voice could only inch forward in it, like wading through a mire.

    WHOOSH!

    A figure manifested out of nothing.

    ¡°Soul yer!¡±

    One of the Netherspirit elders fixed him with a gloomy stare. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement? Thousand Spirits demanded that you go to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and help Luo Wanxiang y that little punk named Nie Tian. Why did youe back?¡±

    Many Netherspirit elders stared at him with fierce looks in their eyes.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer, whose battle prowess ranked number eight throughout the Void World, had a face that was thin and covered in sinister scars, his cyan pupils filled with gloom and indifference toward life.

    In a casual manner, he said, ¡°The joint forces of the three races were defeated before I could even arrive at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Luo Wanxiang failed and died, and Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils was caught up in a battle against a human expert who¡¯s skilled in light power. As for that Nie Tian, on top of his soaring battle prowess, he had those five ancestors of our race at hismand.

    ¡°The Bonedrudes only sent Grand Monarch Bonefall, who had his Bone Shatter City destroyed and died before I even got there.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, I¡¯d be courting death if I still went there.¡±

    With these words, Grand Monarch Soul yer quickly exined what had happened at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement to the Netherspirit elders.

    The elders all gasped in disbelief after hearing the news. ¡°What?!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul yer¡¯s eyes flickered with hesitation as he said, ¡°Also, there¡¯s something I¡¯d like to raise your attention to. I think that human hybrid named Nie Tian didn¡¯t just seize the Spirit Scepter, but... he has actually won the scepter¡¯s acknowledgment!¡±

    An elder of virtue and prestige stamped with anger. ¡°That¡¯s impossible! You know what the Spirit Scepter means, don¡¯t you? One has to obtain Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s legacies in order to win the scepter¡¯s acknowledgment! How can a human possibly obtain Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s legacies?¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s forged Heavenly Spirit Seals, and he can use them skillfully.¡± Grand Monarch Soul yer added.

    The elders burst into a great mor. Even their eyes seemed to be exploding with disbelief.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My heavens! How is that possible?!¡±

    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken? He actually forged Heavenly Spirit Seals and used them expertly?¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul yer nodded vigorously. ¡°Even though I didn¡¯t see him using them with my own eyes, many fleeing members of our n have testified to it. The soul of Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner had its soul essence altered by a Heavenly Spirit Seal, causing it to acknowledge him as its new master within a very short time. What else other than Heavenly Spirit Seals in the three worlds could have achieved such a heaven-defying effect!?¡±

    All of the Netherspirit elders fell silent after hearing this.

    Only after a long time did one of them mutter in a bitter voice, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that human hybrid has actually obtained Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s legacies... Is the fact that he can use Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s power proof that he¡¯s gained his acknowledgement?¡±

    FIZZ!

    At that moment, numerous soul symbols that were lying at the bottom of the Nether River like deposits suddenly lit up.

    The sudden change attracted everyone¡¯s attention.

    ¡°What the...?! Is... Is the Nether River reviving?!¡± An elder stuttered with ecstasy. ¡°I knew that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit wouldn¡¯t abandon us! There must be some other reason for the odd changes to the Nether River!¡±

    The other elders also shouted in tion.

    Only Grand Monarch Soul yer had a deeply grim face, as if he were facing formidable foes. Looking into the distant starry river, he eximed, ¡°Nie Tian, is that you?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian?!¡± Upon hearing the name, the cheering Netherspirit elders were all scared soulless, and jerked their heads towards a dark area of the starry river.

    Even though they were all at fairly-high grades, they were actually nearing the ends of their lengthy lives.

    Since they had no hope of advancing to the next stage, both their strength and battle prowess had been on the decline.

    For some of them, their battle prowess had even fallen back to the level it had been at ten thousand years ago.

    Given their situation, they were only fit to assume the roles of mentors, wise elders, and learned schrs. It was long past the time that they had been able to fight.

    As for Nie Tian¡¯s name, they had long since heard that arge number of their n members had been butchered by him in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World.

    A casualugh echoed from the dark void as Nie Tian slowly revealed himself. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s me.¡±

    He cast a sideways nce at Grand Monarch Soul yer and said, ¡°You¡¯re the strongest one here, so I guess you¡¯re Soul yer, right? I suppose you were able toe back so quickly because you used your secret teleportation portals. The fact that I could get here so quickly surprised you, didn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°No, it didn¡¯t,¡± Grand Monarch Soul yer said with a stern expression. Then, he bowed slightly to the Netherspirit elders and said, ¡°Please return to the Realm of Dark Souls now.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure, sure!¡± Many of the elders nodded repeatedly as they practically fled back to the Realm of Dark Souls.

    BOOM!

    As soon as they flew through the realm barrier of the Realm of Dark Souls, a ward of multipleyers of gem-like light enveloped the entire realm.

    A Netherspirit elder couldn¡¯t help but sigh with mixed feelings, watching the ward being activated. ¡°How many years has it been? I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s been thousands of millennia since thest time our Dark Soul Ward was activated. We¡¯re always the ones to invade others¡¯ realms. Not once have we been forced to activate the Dark Soul Ward!¡±

    He didn¡¯t leave as the other elders had. Instead, he stayed by the Nether River.

    Floating beside him were three Netherspirit elders whose faces were filled with indignation and rage.

    Nie Tian examined the dim ward with narrowed eyes. ¡°Dark Soul Ward? The Phantasms have a bloodline magic that¡¯s also called ¡®Dark Soul Ward.¡¯ I suppose they named it after this realm-protecting ward.¡±

    With these words, he suddenly shot a wisp of his refined soul power towards the Realm of Dark Souls.

    FZZZ!

    Upon contact with the Dark Soul Ward, his wisp of soul power, which was as sharp as a de that could prate any metal and rock, vanished like a rock that was tossed into the sea.

    His soul power seemed to have joined the Dark Soul Ward and be its power.

    Amazed, Nie Tian paid it apliment. ¡°Hmm, impressive.¡±

    Then, he added, ¡°I just don¡¯t know if that wondrous ward can stop this as well.¡±

    With these words, he summoned the Spirit Scepter.

 Chapter 1645: The Shadow At The Bottom Of The River

    As soon as the Spirit Scepter showed up, the Netherspirit elders looked extremely unhappy.

    WHOOSH!

    The Nether River, which had long been silent, suddenly started surging, as if a force was recovering quickly at the bottom of the river!

    All the Netherspirits who were floating next to the Nether River or were in the Realm of Dark Souls sensed it.

    The eyes of countless people were fixed on the Nether River as they woreplicated expressions.

    Only Grand Monarch Soul yer¡¯s face was calm, and his eyes were unruffled.

    It was as if he had long since known this would happen.

    ¡°It¡¯s the power of the Spirit Scepter!¡± the dim eyes of the elder who had spoken to Nie Tian lit up as he snapped at Nie Tian. ¡°The scepter was left behind by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. It was transformed from the Nether River and the paragon¡¯s sea of soul awareness. Now, by relying on the Spirit Scepter, you¡¯vee to make waves in the Realm of Dark Souls. Do you really think you can walk all over us like you did with the Devils?¡±

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°What? Due to the existence of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, dealing with the Devils was actually troublesome. As for you...¡±

    His face turned cold and he said, ¡°Dealing with you is going to be easier.¡±

    His words were simply humiliating!

    The several elders who hadn¡¯t yet returned to the Realm of Dark Souls were so angry at his words that they almost spat out blood.

    Nie Tian took a breath and said, looking down, ¡°I can sense your longing for this Nether River. In that case, I¡¯ll let you go and find the answer by yourself.¡±

    SWISH!

    The Spirit Scepter flew out of his palm towards thest Nether River.

    Pei Qiqi slowly emerged from the dark area of the starry river where Nie Tian hade from.

    After her, the five evil gods who had been Netherspirits also showed their faces one by one, but with hesitation on their faces.

    As soon as they appeared, the Netherspirit elders looked as if they had been struck by lightning.

    The elders pointed at the five evil gods and stammered. ¡°You, you...¡±

    They had worshipped Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and the five powerful evil gods following him since childhood.

    For them, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and the five evil gods were a kind of faith!

    When they saw the evil gods that they had worshipped for hundreds of thousands of years emerge alive, standing behind Nie Tian, a human invader, and regarding Nie Tian as their master, how could they possibly ept it? Their pride wouldn¡¯t allow it.

    They were one of the most advanced races throughout the three worlds!

    What was the human race inparison?

    All of a sudden, a deep voice echoed slowly from the bottom of the Nether River. ¡°How does a mere human dare to hold our race¡¯s sacred weapon?!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul yer¡¯s eyes instantly lit up, as if he had been waiting for this.

    The Netherspirit elders were stunned at first, and then suddenly came to their senses.

    They instantly grew excited and full of confidence.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer? Is that you? Shouldn¡¯t you still be in secluded meditation?¡±

    ¡°Your voice came from the bottom of the Nether River. Where, where are you?¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer! Get rid of this insolent human brat, quickly!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul yer, who had looked stern before, instantly became rxed. He seemed to know that since Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had spoken, Nie Tian no longer had a chance to escape, and would die in the Realm of Dark Souls of the Netherspirits.

    The evil god of bloodlust sensed something was wrong, so he said to Nie Tian hurriedly, ¡°Crap! Master, thest Nether River¡¯s reviving strength has fallen silent again. We can¡¯t perceive our previous master¡¯s aura from the Nether River now. Another power has reced him and taken over the Nether River.¡±

    ¡°Thest Nether River has beenpletely polluted!¡± the evil god of fear chimed in.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul suddenly felt a stabbing pain and strong unease.

    He felt that the Spirit Scepter was being forcibly infiltrated by another power. ¡°Ah!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s voice was full of scorn as he said, ¡°How dare you invade the Realm of Dark Souls of our race? You think too much of yourself!¡±

    SPLASH!

    The Nether River, which surrounded the Realm of Dark Souls, suddenly rushed towards the area where Nie Tian and the five evil gods were, like a colossal serpent.

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian felt as if his sea of awareness was about to explode.

    Pei Qiqi and the five evil gods all turned pale with fright.

    The Nether River had never moved like this since the demise of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    Now, someone had managed to manipte it, and was using it to kill his enemy!

    The Netherspirits were thrilled!

    ¡°Master! This power is too strong, you...¡± the evil god of bloodlust hurried to remind Nie Tian to run away quickly, because he had sensed his previous master¡¯s power in the iing Nether River!

    Nie Tian wore a very grave face as he stared fixedly at the Nether River.

    His bloodline eruptedpletely. In a sh, he grew to be nine thousand meters tall, unleashed his flesh aura sea, and activated his domains of star, me, and wood power.

    He had sensed a great danger as well.

    In his eyes, the surging Nether River that was rushing towards him with an unstoppable momentum contained enough power to destroy many realms, and perhaps even a domain of the Mortal World!

    WHOOSH!

    A shadow seemed to rapidly form and growrger by swallowing countless soul spirits at the bottom of the murky Nether River.

    The shadow¡¯s appearance was very vague, but Nie Tian somehow knew he wasughing madly and wickedly.

    It seemed that thousands of rays of glowing souls, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s countless soul imprints, marvelous soul symbols, and soul magics had been seized by him, and transformed into his power.

    At that moment, Nie Tian instantly realized that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was in fact forcibly refining the Nether River!

    The Nether River had been transformed from the remaining soul awareness of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. It allowed the Netherspirits toprehend the wonders of his soul and acquire fighting strength early on.

    However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had refined the Nether River because he wanted to make it his own!

    He wanted to use the Nether River to help himself, and make the Nether River that guarded the entire Netherspirit race be his personal weapon, and the foundation for the advancement of his bloodline.

    And he seemed to have seeded.

    All the soul spirits that had fused into the Nether River had be the source of his strength, and his sharp des!

    The Nether River came roaring. In the face of the Nether River, the flesh aura sea Nie Tian had activated with his bloodline, as well as his domains of star, me, and wood power, all became infinitely fragile.

    BOOM!

    It was as if his flesh aura sea was hit by an ancient starship that was thousands of miles long, as it crumbled in an instant. The broken flesh aura sea was reduced to drops of blood that filled the void, but madly rushed back into Nie Tian¡¯s skin.

    His bright, dreamlike, and magnificent star domain immediately exploded with a loud bang.

    ¡°Ouch!¡± Nie Tian screamed.

    The nine-thousand-meter tall Nie Tian¡¯s bones cracked, and his badly mutted fleshly body was hurled at Pei Qiqi.

    The colossal shadow forming at the bottom of the Nether River snorted. ¡°Humph!¡±

    The Nether River didn¡¯t stop attacking. Smaller rivers flew out of it and charged at Pei Qiqi and the five evil gods.

    ¡°Five seniors, don¡¯t me me for being cruel. If you want to me someone, me yourselves for being blind and taking orders from a human!

    ¡°You might as well not have been revived at all!¡±

 Chapter 1646: Badly Injured

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s resounding criticism shook the void!

    BOOM! BOOM!

    Even the five evil gods¡¯ minds seemed to be surging violently because of his roar.

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    The smaller rivers that had flown out of the Nether River charged at the five evil gods.

    Like Nie Tian, the five evil gods were badly injured in an instant.

    Thick drops of blood sprayed out of their fleshly bodies.

    Pei Qiqi was about to speak when a soul-piercing chill came from the Nether River in front of her.

    At the bottom of the river, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s shadow seemed to look coldly at her. ¡°Voidspirits? Hey, because of our hunting, your ancestors fled from realm to realm and were barely able to continue your race. Even the so-called space disruption zone, which was your race¡¯s ancestralnd, had once fallen in our hands.

    ¡°How dare youe to make waves in the Void World?¡±

    As he spoke, a ferocious shadow suddenly flew out of the Nether River.

    As soon as it left the Nether River, it turned into smoke that dissipated.

    Pei Qiqi froze for a moment, and soon saw a soul figure rising above her sea of soul awareness and charging towards her true soul, as if it wanted to tear her true soul apart.

    Her mind immediately suffered an ineffable sting.

    She could not help but groan softly.

    CRACKLE!

    Nie Tian¡¯s bones broke one by one. The terrifying impact from the Nether River was incredibly violent.

    A Netherspirit elder grinned. ¡°Soul Capturer! You¡¯re doing great! Mere humans dare to swagger to our ancestralnd. They¡¯re really courting death!¡±

    All the other Netherspirits shouted. ¡°Kill them! Kill them!¡±

    Even many Netherspirits who had hidden themselves in the Realm of Dark Souls after seeing the unfavorable situation rushed out through the grand ward and red darkly at Nie Tian and the others.

    The Nether River quickly encircled Nie Tian and the others in a dark area of the starry river.

    The Nether River, whose head and tail had been linked like a colossal serpent, burst forth with cyan light that hurt Nie Tian and the others¡¯ eyes.

    Many originally-dim soul characters within it seemed to shine again.

    The only regret was that the bright soul characters and true meaning of souls with the Nether River still couldn¡¯t be perceived orprehended.

    ¡°His Excellency Grand Monarch Soul Capturer has long known that Nie Tian woulde to the Realm of Dark Souls after he obtained the Spirit Scepter,¡± Grand Monarch Soul yer called out. ¡°Obeying His Excellency¡¯s orders, I showed weakness at the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and deliberately enticed Nie Tian intoing here. In fact, the changes in the Nether River were also a part of His Excellency¡¯s n.

    ¡°He did so in a bid to lure Nie Tian to the Realm of Dark Souls to refine the Nether River.

    ¡°He never would have expected that His Excellency would have resonated with the Nether River, and His Excellency would be able to mobilize the Nether River¡¯s real power at will!

    ¡°It is ridiculous that a puny human dares toe here to court death.¡±

    He sneered and kept fawning over Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in every possible way.

    An elder was instantly enlightened, and nodded repeatedly. ¡°Oh, so Grand Monarch Soul Capturer has long had a n. Great! Rumor has it that Nie Tian killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone of the Bonedrudes in the Spirit World. Grand Monarch Ash Bone was among the top ten experts, but died at this man¡¯s hands. It¡¯s time for Grand Monarch Soul Capturer to kill Nie Tian as payback now.¡±

    Hearing this, many Netherspirits became very cheerful, as if they were celebrating the Spring Festival.

    ¡°Maybe Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s ranking should be improved, and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s ranking should make way.¡±

    Because Nie Tian had been badly injured, his giant form had shrunk into his true form.

    Fragmentary stars shone faintly beside him like grains of sand.

    They were the remaining essence of his shattered star domain.

    Even the Heavenly Stars Flower looked in distress, as if it were about to perish.

    Wisps of wood power flew out of the Godspirit Tree and seventy-two towering ancient trees to nourish his badly injured fleshly body, but the healing was far too slow.

    Hearing the Netherspirits¡¯ haughty conversation, Nie Tian had mixed feelings.

    He had never expected that it would be so terrifying when Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of the Netherspirits refined thest Nether River and drove it to attack.

    Before he could even parry, he had been defeated.

    It appeared that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who was also one of the top ten experts in the Void World, was much stronger than Grand Monarch Ash Bone!

    The soul awareness of the evil god of bloodlust was a little intermittent as it entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, ¡°Master... apart from his own strength, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is strong mostly because of the Nether River! The Nether River guarding his race carries the paragon¡¯s remaining power! Now that he has refined the Nether River, he canmand that power now!¡±

    ¡°Do you mean...Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s power?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the evil god of bloodlust sighed. ¡°The paragon was almost invincible in his era. Only a man of his level has a chance at fighting against this power.¡±

    BAM!

    Suddenly, a myriad of soul characters showed a strong intent to fly out of the turbid Nether River, like runaway horses.

    Many Netherspirits took a closer look, and found that the Spirit Scepter that had flown into the Nether River seemed to have morphed into a horrible colossal soul, which was screaming with anger and trying to break free from the Nether River.

    The expression of a Netherspirit elder, who stared at the terrifying colossal soul, flickered, as if he had remembered suddenly something. ¡°That is...?¡±

    At the sight of the colossal soul, some Netherspirits were so excited that they practically wailed. ¡°It¡¯s the paragon¡¯s fragmentary soul!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer sighed deeply. ¡°The paragon¡¯s fragmentary soul has been defiled in the so-called Nether Realm of the Phantasms in the Spirit World. Only this Nether River can purify the paragon¡¯s fragmentary soul. I have worked hard for many years, waiting for the paragon¡¯s fragmentary soul to return, so that I can help liberate the paragon and he can guard our race again.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s soul shadow at the bottom of the river suddenly rushed out.

    His soul shadow was a thousand times smaller than the colossal soul it was after, but he instantly rushed into its interior. As he had said, he started trying to cleansing the paragon¡¯s fragmentary soul.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer! You bastard!¡± the five evil gods who had been badly injured growled and struggled desperately to enter the Nether River.

    They understood what was happening.

    Just like how they had been revived and awakened, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual awareness had flown into this Nether River to gather soul fragments andplete his fragmentary awareness. Now, it was taking the initiative to cleanse the Nether River and purge Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s will from it.

    However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was fighting against Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!

    ¡°Prepare to die, you traitors,¡± Grand Monarch Soul yer said with a snort as he stepped forward.

    ¡°What Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is doing now is unprecedented! Like the paragon, you have been defiled by mere barbarians of the Spirit World and don¡¯t deserve to return to our race! Not to mention that you¡¯re serving a human now! You are a disgrace to our race!¡± Grand Monarch Soul yer snapped with great righteousness.

    ¡°Asshole! Do you know what Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is doing?¡± the evil god of fury screeched.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer looked impatient. ¡°Whatever he¡¯s doing, he¡¯s doing it for our sake. Perhaps it is time to fuse your power into the Nether River to aid Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s cause.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At that moment, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ soul shadows flew out of the Realm of Dark Souls.

 Chapter 1647: Surrounded By Enemies

    PHEW! PHEW!

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ soul shadows flew out of the Realm of Dark Souls like a hundred butterflies.

    However, as soon as they entered the starry river, they joined together as one.

    WHOOSH!

    In the blink of an eye, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits came to form.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Now, as Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits manifested in the Void World, his aura turned out to be much stronger than that of his doppelganger that Nie Tian had fought in the Mortal World.

    Countless cyan lightning wisps slithered all over his body while numerous gigantic evil spirits could be seen floating behind him, emanating ruthless, frenzied soul power.

    Some of them were in the form of titans. Some of them were in the form of dragons, while others were in the form of ancient Devils.

    Each and every one of them wasrger than the evil gods, and had beente tenth grade grand monarchs when they had been alive.

    Nie Tian, who had his bones broken and meridians ruptured, slowly sat up straight from a lying position.

    With a single nce at Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, he knew that he deserved his title as the fourth strongest expert in the Void World.

    Even though those formidable evil spirits didn¡¯t possess fleshly bodies, the feeling they gave him was every bit as strong as what he felt from the evil gods. As they bore their fangs and brandished their ws, the soul power they exuded felt like sharp metal des.

    Soul power was a mysterious thing. Once it was strong enough, it could easily break rocks, cut through metals, and even prate realms.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pei Qiqi yelled as she spat out a mouthful of azure Blood Essence.

    As the beads of gem-like Blood Essence dropped onto the Space Boundaries Crystal, they seemed to stimte its spatial power to the fullest.

    ¡°Void Split!¡±

    Her thin, jade-like fingers seemed to be covered in a misty blue aura, with fine wisps of blue lightning interweaving underneath her milky-white skin, as she wove her hands to form aplicated seal.

    As soon as the seal came to form, blood oozed and shot out from her fingers, which looked like azure jade.

    BOOM!

    The seamless space seemed to be bombarded open by an ancient god with brutal force.

    At the same time, blinding light burst forth from within the Space Boundaries Crystal as it started spinning, its many facets cutting the void open behind Nie Tian and causing numerous spatial rifts to manifest.

    It looked very much like the countless interweaving spatial rifts in the sky in the mysterious Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Realm of Split Void.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    ¡°Go!¡± Pei Qiqi shouted. Azure Blood Essence kept flying out of the tips of her jade-like fingers.

    Apparently, she was consuming a tremendous amount of flesh power with every second she kept the Space Boundaries Crystal operating in this manner.

    At the same time, her sea of awareness was suffering heavy blows from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer ceaselessly.

    It was just that Nie Tian didn¡¯t notice the damage that was being inflicted upon her sea of awareness.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes reddened as he felt a strange, heart-wrenching pain, which he had never felt before.

    It wasn¡¯t a pain caused by the trauma to his body, but it was excruciating, as if someone had taken a knife to his heart.

    HOWL!

    He stopped fixing his badly-damaged body with hisst remaining Blood Essence, but rather fused it madly into Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    The bone burst forth with crimson light as tens of thousands of Bloodline Crystal Chains suddenly condensed in it.

    In the next moment, a colossal illusory shape of the Rampage Behemoth manifested in the void.

    In its presence, the enormous evil spirits floating behind Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits suddenly looked significantly smaller.

    With a demented expression, Nie Tianpletely ignored the fact that he was bleeding as he shouted at Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and the roaring evil spirits that were charging towards him under hismand, ¡°Come on, Thousand Spirits! I could destroy your doppelg?nger and sub-souls in the Mortal World. I can do the same in the Void World! Die!¡±

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s illusory shape then lunged forwards like a frenzied monster.

    The evil spirits that had taken Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits hundreds of millennia and tremendous effort to refine trembled uncontrobly upon sensing the aura of the Rampage Behemoth.

    However, despite their fear, they charged on towards the Rampage Behemoth.

    Each about thirty thousand meters tall, they managed to unleash soul power that could shatter heaven and earth as they let out doomsday-like dragon cries and beastly howls.

    Surprisingly, the illusory shape manifested by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone failed to gain an upper hand in the encounter, and soon ended up badly cut by the power released by the evil spirits.

    However, it healed itself within the blink of an eye.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The sh between them filled the entire area of the starry river with violent soul fluctuations.

    Meanwhile...

    Floating among the five evil gods, Grand Monarch Soul yer smiled coldly as he rapidly turned the pages of arge, ancient book in his hand.

    He dropped a drop of his Blood Essence on every page he turned.

    The soul symbols in those pages seemed to be instantly activated, as they formed mysterious soul formations that rose from the pages and rapidly expanded and morphed in the void. Some of them took the form of enormous des and cyan shields, while others morphed into vengeful spirits. All of them were used to defend against the evil gods¡¯ attacks.

    The light emanated by the book merged with Grand Monarch Soul yer¡¯s Blood Essence and soul power in a mysterious way, making him ethereal and hard to capture, as if he were floating in the void in one second, but hidden inside the book in another.

    The evil gods couldn¡¯t even lock onto him with their soul awareness, much less deal him damage with their soul magics.

    ¡°I¡¯m here!¡±

    Another Netherspirit expert, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, roared as he charged out of the Realm of Dark Souls. In a split second, he rushed into the starry river and joined Grand Monarch Soul yer in his battle against the evil gods.

    This Grand Monarch Soul Converger was also ate tenth grade grand monarch.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pei Qiqi called out with increased urgency. ¡°Enough fighting! Let¡¯s get out of here now! This ce is no longer safe!¡±

    She had a strong feeling that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had nned this whole thing, and Nie Tian was his target!

    Through this battle, he intended to retake the Spirit Scepter, the Nether Rivers that had vanished from the Silent Star Sea and the Nether Realm, and the five evil gods!

    The unusual changes to the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls were nothing but a setup!

    Through this, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits could also take his vengeance on Nie Tian for frustrating their invasion of the Mortal World.

    ¡°Damn!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s heart sank.

    At the same time, his true soul shrewdly sensed that the colossal shape manifested by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone was losing its soul power as it fought on.

    The same went for the enormous evil spirits released by Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits.

    All of their lost soul power was being fused into the Dark Soul Ward and the murky Nether River.

    Noticing this, he paid close attention to the Nether River.

    Inside the Nether River, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s soul shadow had entered the gigantic soul shadow formed by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s fragmentary soul. Right now, he was using the power he had branded in the murky river to neutralize Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will.

    As this happened, the Spirit Scepter was being gradually corrupted by the power of the murky river.

    ¡°Bloodline: Soul-burning Blood Spell!¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s voice suddenly echoed from the depths of the murky river.

    WHOOSH!

    A cluster of burning Blood Essence morphed into a cyan blood cloud that flew out of the Nether River.

    The cyan blood cloud somehow reflected the soul images of Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and the five evil gods.

    All of a sudden, the cyan blood cloud burst into raging mes.

    Pei Qiqi immediately held her head with her hands and started groaning in agony. Meanwhile, cyan mes started burning in the eyes of the five evil gods, who were fighting Grand Monarch Soul yer and Grand Monarch Soul Converger.

    ¡°Master!¡± They called out for help simultaneously.

    Nie Tian was the only one who didn¡¯t seem affected by the soul spell. Apparently, in his sea of awareness, where fragmentary stars shone dazzlingly, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul wonders that had been branded in his true soul burst forth with a power that stopped his soul from being ignited.

    SHEW! SHEW! SHEW!

    All of a sudden, the numerous spatial rifts Pei Qiqi had split open by stimting the Space Boundaries Crystal with her bloodline strangely came together.

    It was as if many secret spatial tunnels were being forcibly connected at this moment.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Even Pei Qiqi found this astonishing as she turned around to look behind her.

    She saw hundreds of spatial rifts twisting together like hemp ropes.

    So many different spatial tunnels rapidly banded together to form an unprecedentedly vast, but rather unstable spatial tunnel.

    Glorious lights could be seen streaking through the tunnel.

    Then, a gigantic monstrous head entered Pei Qiqi¡¯s view. It was sorge that it even stretched and deformed the spatial tunnel.

    At the same time, a chaotic, twisting power filled the entire spatial tunnel, expelling even her bloodline power.

    Pei Qiqi was bewildered by the incredible scene. ¡°Chaotic power... Is this the Star Behemoth in the Shatter Battlefield, the one that was nearly turned into a Heavenly Corpse?¡±

    ¡°Young master!¡± Feng Beiluo¡¯s panicked exmation echoed from the congested spatial tunnel. Covered by the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s aura, his voice was faint and muffled.

 Chapter 1648: Spreading Chaos

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless rays of sparkling yellow light shot out of the gaping spatial tunnel.

    Before Pei Qiqi could say anything, the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s enormous head stuck out of the spatial tunnel.

    WHOOSH!

    Its vastly long tail was still wriggling in the bottomless tunnel like a winding mountain range.

    Feng Beiluo, Yuan Jiuchuan, and a group of so-called crooked cultivators, who were following it, were all cursing in pain.

    Finally, the Chaos Behemoth, which had already shrunk many times, made it through the spatial tunnel in whole.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression flickered.

    She and Nie Tian had once entered the underground space the Chaos Behemoth had created at the heart of the Shatter Battlefield.

    However, since the Chaos Behemoth had been lifeless back then, they had focused their attention on the chaotic energies that had filled that vast, isted space.

    For this reason, she had no idea what the Chaos Behemoth actually looked like.

    Now, after squeezing through the spatial tunnel, the Chaos Behemoth rapidly expanded to its true size, its flesh aura skyrocketing as it did.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A boundless yellow bloodline aura burst forth from the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s colossal body in apletely unbridled manner.

    Upon first nce, the Chaos Behemoth, who had revealed itself for the first time, looked like a colossal scorpion, brandishing its two gigantic ws to release chaotic power.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As soon as the Chaos Behemoth appeared, countless soul symbols lit up within the Dark Soul Ward that protected the Realm of Dark Souls.

    The Dark Soul Ward madly channeled power from its surroundings, as if it knew that its sworn enemy had arrived.

    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± All the Netherspirits entered a short daze after seeing the Chaos Behemoth charging out of the spatial tunnel.

    Since the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s illusory shape which Nie Tian had released was only in its soul form, it was significantly smaller than its true form.

    However, the Chaos Behemoth that had broken into this area of the starry river was a Star Behemoth in its true form, a top predator that could devour realms and feed on ancient Devils and titans!

    Compared to it, even the Realm of Dark Souls seemed smaller, not to mention the Netherspirits.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer went nk for a few seconds before suddenly realizing what was happening. ¡°A Star Behemoth! Damn it! They actually got a Star Behemoth to the Realm of Dark Souls!¡±

    He stared down at the ancient book he was holding, and shouted, ¡°Ghosts Ferry!¡±

    mes suddenly flew out of his eyes and into the open book.

    The five evil gods¡¯ souls had already been ignited by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s Soul-burning Blood Spell. Now, as Grand Monarch Soul yer activated his bloodline talent, even their fleshly bodies caught fire.

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect spotted Nie Tian, who was badly injured and covered in blood, the moment he charged out of the spatial tunnel. ¡°Young master!¡±

    Many Netherspirit elders were dumbstruck upon hearing Feng Beiluo¡¯s call. ¡°Y-young master? Is this Nie Tian that man¡¯s son?!¡±

    Face grim, Feng Beiluomunicated with the Chaos Behemoth through secret soul fluctuations. ¡°Smash away!¡±

    Then, the Chaos Behemoth raised its gigantic ws and brought them down with terrifying force towards the Realm of Dark Souls.

    WHOOSH!

    Two streaks of light came to wreath its gigantic ws.

    They instantly absorbed the few dozen types of power in this starry river, and fused them as one: an extremely chaotic power that wished to destroy any order!

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The Chaos Behemoth¡¯s two enormous ws fell on the Dark Soul Ward in session.

    A huge dent instantly appeared in the Dark Soul Ward, which had protected the Netherspirits for countless years, and billions of cyan lights burst forth from within the ward like raindrops.

    At the same time, heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing power rippled from the ward, causing the earth in the Realm of Dark Souls to shake violently, and numerous Netherspirits at low grades to explode and die.

    Rivers of misty Nether Qi that flowed ethereally through the realm were severed in many ces like snakes.

    Within them, innumerable evil spirits and vicious souls that the Netherspirits had gone to great trouble to capture were set free.

    They finally escaped the Netherspirits¡¯ control and the fate of being grindstones that the low-grade Netherspirits would use to improve their power and temper their bloodlines.

    Some old Netherspirit gazed skywards from within the Realm of Dark Souls, and saw the unimaginablyrge scorpion blocking even the stars from sight, as if it was hoping to spread chaos across the three worlds. Finally realizing what it was, he said, ¡°The Chaos Behemoth! Didn¡¯t it die long ago?¡±

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The Chaos Behemoth, however, paid attention to no one. It simply swung its gigantic ws and mmed the Dark Soul Ward with them over and over.

    The impacts sent yellow light sputtering everywhere, as if a cksmith was hammering a piece of iron.

    As one huge dent after another appeared in the great misty cyan ward, the power the Netherspirits had spent countless years infusing it with was consumed at an rming rate.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, and numerous Netherspirit elders forgot about all else, but focused on attacking the Chaos Behemoth from different directions.

    Because of this, the five evil gods were relieved.

    The mes burning Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul in her mind also magically disappeared.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The evil gods and Pei Qiqi quickly flew to Nie Tian and gathered behind his back.

    ¡°What happened, young master?¡± asked Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect and Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, who had been secretly protecting Nie Tian for a long time now.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer refined the Nether River and set up this trap to lure me to the Realm of Dark Souls.¡± Blood flowed from the corner of Nie Tian¡¯s mouth as soon as he opened his mouth to speak.

    He turned to take a deep look at the murky Nether River, and added in a soft voice, ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer turned out to be much stronger than I thought. Through the Nether River, he managed tomand part of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s power, and injured me badly before I could realize it.¡±

    With a single strike he hadunched from within the Nether River, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had nearly made Nie Tian¡¯s whole body explode.

    Even now, he was still fixing the damage to his body with his flesh power and Blood Essence.

    He was far from being healed.

    A disciple of the Nether Spirit Society that hade with Feng Beiluo gasped, then said with great respect on his face, ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer! I can¡¯t believe he attacked you with the help of the power of the Nether River!

    ¡°To be honest, I had doubts about your strength, but now that I get to see it for myself, I finally know that the rumors were all true! The fact that you managed to survive Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s attacks is simply unbelievable! You should be proud of yourself, young master!¡±

    The other cultivators nodded repeatedly, sharing his opinion.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave with our young master now, Miss Pei?¡± Feng Beiluo said with a grim expression. ¡°If Grand Monarch Soul Capturer has actually nned this, then it means that the Netherspirits will go out-all to secure their victory. Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is among the top three experts of the Void World, and on his way to transcending the tenth grade. Now that he has refined the Nether River, I¡¯m afraid that the power he canmand...¡±

    Feng Beiluo turned to fix the Chaos Behemoth with a worried look.

    He was aware that the Chaos Behemoth, which was smashing away right now, had far from recovered its peak strength.

    In fact, its soul was still iplete. Even though it had been revived, part of its soul was missing.

    That was why he had been able to reach a mutual understanding with it and get it to aid them in battle.

    Right now, it was iplete. Its current battle prowess might even be surpassed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.

    Not to mention that he had the assistance of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Soul yer, and Grand Monarch Soul Converger. Who knew whether the Netherspirits were secretly mobilizing more powerful experts to join the battle?

    After weighing the situation in his mind, Feng Beiluo decided that retreat was the wise thing to do.

    At that moment, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s gigantic shadow in the murky Nether River gradually shrank.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer reappeared!

    ¡°This is amazing!¡±

    The murky Nether River somehow grew clearer and clearer.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s skinny form absorbed the power of the Nether River and rapidly manifested out of nothing.

    Holding the Spirit Scepter with his scrawny hand, he grinned towards Nie Tian and the others from within the misty cyan water.

    Everyone felt a chill running down their spine.

    ¡°Why leave in such a hurry?¡±

    As he pointed the Spirit Scepter at them, a huge hand formed from his soul awareness and the water of the Nether River. Empowered by the Spirit Scepter, it grabbed abruptly towards Nie Tian and those around him.

    Soul-splitting pain immediately came from everyone¡¯s minds.

    Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, the evil gods, Feng Beiluo, and those so-called crooked cultivators... None of them were spared.

    ¡°Soul Capturing Hand!¡±

    The souls of sixte Saint domain cultivators that hade with Feng Beiluo were instantly separated from their saint domains and flew towards the huge hand.

    Their saint domains dissipated with a boom.

    As soon as the huge hand flicked slightly, the six souls morphed into wisps of clouds that fused into the palm of the huge hand.

    In the next moment, six souls were added to the bottom of the limpid Nether River.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturerughed derisively,pletely ignoring the heavy blows the Chaos Behemoth was dealing the Realm of Dark Souls and the cries of the Netherspirit elders. Instead, he fixed his eyes on Nie Tian and the others and said, ¡°Come and join the Nether River, especially you, our five ancestors. It¡¯s been a long time since you left home. It¡¯s about time you returned.¡±

    Then, with a pitiful expression he added, ¡°But since you refuse to serve your own people, your existence is no longer meaningful.¡±

 Chapter 1649: Peak Strength Of The Void World

    ¡°Leave!¡± The five evil gods kept urging Nie Tian.

    They all knew that since Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had refined the Nether River and gained control of the Spirit Scepter, right now, he was even stronger than them in their prime.

    No one present could possibly fight against him.

    Even the Chaos Behemoth might prove insufficient in a duel against him.

    Perhaps Nie Tian would have a chance at fighting against him after his bloodline advanced to the tenth grade, but not now.

    SPLASH!

    The Nether River that was flowing in a circle around everyone tightened like a hemp rope around a person¡¯s neck.

    The spatial rifts Pei Qiqi had split open by stimting the Space Boundaries Crystal with her Voidspirit bloodline disappeared one after another, as if they were being crushed by the power of the Nether River.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer pointed the Spirit Scepter towards Nie Tian from afar and shouted, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    The Soul-capturing Hand he had conjured with his soul power flew straight towards him with hooked fingers.

    BOOM!

    The void over Nie Tian¡¯s head suddenly cracked and shattered, countless streaks of light flying out.

    The streaks of light were actually condensations of spatial power that hade to form after being triggered by Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial bloodline when the void shattered.

    However, the streaks of light didn¡¯t seem to be under Pei Qiqi¡¯s control, as they surprisingly shot towards the five evil gods.

    Before the Soul-capturing Hand could reach Nie Tian, those streaks of spatial power pierced through the evil gods¡¯ bodies like numerous glowing des, causing them to bleed nonstop.

    Apparently, Nie Tian and the five evil gods were still Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s primary targets.

    He didn¡¯t seem to attach any importance to Feng Beiluo, Yuan Jiuchuan, and those with them.

    HOWL!

    The five evil gods let out agonized, bloodcurdling shrieks as chunks of flesh were cut off their giant, scary forms.

    BOOM!

    At the same time, the Soul-capturing Hand released by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer suddenly vanished. However, in the next moment, it appeared within Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness, and grabbed ferociously towards Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul defenses failedpletely in the face of the Soul-capturing Hand¡¯s overwhelming power.

    The moment the ghostly hand entered his sea of awareness, he felt excruciating pain in his each and every sub-soul.

    His pain was instantly aggravated ninefold.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you actually dared toe and mess with us in the Realm of Dark Souls. Weak and foolish.¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturerughed disdainfully as he thrust the Spirit Scepter a few times like it was a sharp sword.

    Rays of cyan divine light instantly shot across the starry river.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The light prated the Saint domain Qi warriors from the Nether Spirit Society, the Heavenly Corpse Sect, and the Death Curse Sect, who hade with Feng Beiluo, one after another. Both their domains and bodies exploded violently.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer clicked his tongue and sneered after he ughtered every single Saint domain cultivator, leaving only their leaders, Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan. ¡°Too weak to withstand a single blow.¡±

    Feng Beiluo survived because he was surrounded and protected by numerous Heavenly Corpses. The Thunder Devil survived because the lightning power he practiced had a natural resistance against those rays of cyan divine light.

    After all, they were condensations of iparably refined soul power by nature.

    CLANK! CLANK!

    Rays of divine light pierced towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest and abdomen like swords, while his sea of awareness suffered wing from the Soul-capturing Hand.

    Upon contact, the rays of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s concentrated and refined soul power seemed to be mming into solid metal.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was surprised, and then chuckled. ¡°The body refinement of hybrids is impressive indeed. However, it¡¯s far from enough!¡±

    SPLASH!

    A bright, sparkling stream suddenly flew out of the limpid Nether River and bombarded his chest like a rainbow.

    Bone cracking sounds echoed out upon contact.

    Blood sprayed from his body as he was knocked flying towards a spatial rift behind Pei Qiqi like an arrow.

    In astonishment, Pei Qiqi hastily stimted her spatial bloodline. One of the many facets of her Space Boundaries Crystal was instantly filled with azure light, as if it had an azure sea inside of it.

    The power she had sealed within the spatial treasure, which she would only resort to in times of peril, was now stimted.

    WHOOSH!

    The spatial rift Nie Tian was flying to split wider, with Silver Domain Snakes emerging in it and trying to pull Nie Tian inside with a special attractive force.

    ¡°It won¡¯t work.¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer let out a cold harrumph, a peculiar seal forming in each of his pupils.

    The moment those seals formed, the same seal appeared in the eyes of every Silver Domain Snake in the spatial rift that was trying to help Nie Tian escape.

    Then, the snakes¡¯ heads exploded one after another.

    ¡°Like I said, none of you are leaving,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer said with a calm expression. In a split second, he shed to the midst of the human Qi warriors he had just brutally killed.

    As he wove the Spirit Scepter, all the fragments of the Saint domain cultivators¡¯ broken souls and domains were collected.

    ¡°Soul Capturer!¡±

    BOOM!

    Loud cries and collisions echoed out simultaneously.

    The Dark Soul Ward, which had been built by numerous Netherspirit grand monarchs and had protected the Realm of Dark Souls for countless years, was finally broken by the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s colossal ws.

    Domain Split was a bloodline talent that all Star Behemoths could awaken, and was especially useful for breaking through realm barriers and power wards of all types.

    Since the Dark Soul Ward was fundamentally a condensation of power, it was susceptible to Domain Split as well.

    ROAR!

    The Chaos Behemoth went berserk upon seeing that the ward had copsed. Its devastating form immediately plummeted towards the Realm of Dark Souls, and it brought its colossal ws down with enough force to destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

    Having been awakened just recently, the Chaos Behemoth yearned for all kinds of power. Whether it was flesh power or powers from realms, it needed them as the source of its power.

    The Realm of Dark Souls happened to brim with soul power!

    The Chaos Behemoth, whose soul was still iplete, instinctively yearned for the soul power carried by the mysterious rivers that ran through the Realm of Dark Souls, which was why it had epted Feng Beiluo¡¯s demands and attacked the Realm of Dark Souls with everything in its power upon arriving.

    It had a feeling that if it could destroy the Realm of Dark Souls and acquire enough soul power from it, it would be able to recover part of its lost soul.

    Only by doing that would it have a chance to truly revive itself.

    ¡°Go!¡± As soon as Feng Beiluo eximed, all of the corpse ves he had brought with him, including Heavenly Corpses and the others, morphed into streaks of pale light that shot toward the Realm of Dark Souls.

    The Chaos Behemoth, meanwhile, went on a rampage. It smashed mountains and destroyedkes with its colossal ws.

    As it inhaled with force, all sorts of power, river water, broken mountains, and low-grade Netherspirits were sucked into its mouth, which looked like a bottomless pit.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, and all of the Netherspirit elders flew into a rage and attacked the Chaos Behemoth madly.

    However, the Chaos Behemoth seemed to have gone insane after breaking into the Realm of Dark Souls. The various attacks it was receiving only spurred it on and made it ravage the Realm of Dark Souls even harder.

    ¡°Soul Capturer!¡±

    Hearing the other experts¡¯ repeated bellows, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer finally redirected the power of the Nether River.

    The Nether River surrounding Nie Tian and the others like a circle stopped tightening, and morphed into a python that slithered towards the Realm of Dark Souls.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had no choice but to wave the Spirit Scepter to concentrate the power of the Nether River to fight the Chaos Behemoth. ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Dark Soul Ward was actually so damn fragile that it broke it so easily,¡± he thought to himself.

    As soon as he turned around, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Soul yer, and Grand Monarch Soul Converger charged towards Nie Tian and the others together.

    ¡°We¡¯ve got to go!¡±

    Without giving them a chance to speak, Pei Qiqi controlled a spatial rift to rapidly devour Nie Tian, the evil gods, Feng Beiluo, and Yuan Jiuchuan.

    One after another, they were sucked into the spatial rift like bolts of lightning.

    Pei Qiqi was thest to leave.

    By the time Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Soul yer, and Grand Monarch Soul Converger arrived, they found nothing but numerous spatial rifts that connected to different spaces lingering in the starry river.

    All of them were slowly healing.

    ¡°They escaped and left the Chaos Behemoth behind,¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits said with a grim expression. ¡°Might as well. It¡¯s a Star Behemoth after all. If we can y or tame it, it¡¯ll be an epoch-making achievement for us and our entire race! The humans can¡¯t possibly explore the power of a Star Behemoth as we can.¡±

    ¡°What about Nie Tian and those with him?¡± Grand Monarch Soul yer asked.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits pondered for a moment, then said, ¡°This is the Void World, our turf. The way I see it, they can¡¯t go very far. That girl with a Voidspirit bloodline also suffered heavy injuries.¡±

    At that moment, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s voice echoed from the direction of the Realm of Dark Souls. ¡°I¡¯ll give you their locationster. I¡¯ve put my sigils on them. As long as they don¡¯t flee to the Doomed Star Sea, we¡¯ll find them and kill them with the collective strength of the three major races!¡±

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ eyes lit up. ¡°You¡¯ve marked them? That¡¯s great!¡±

    However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer said in a deeply grim voice, ¡°Tell the Devils and the Bonedrudes to prepare themselves. That Nie Tian will definitely be a great threat to all of us if we don¡¯t kill him. Even now, I still can¡¯t gain full control of the Spirit Scepter. I can only suppress its soul and use it for the time being.¡±

    He didn¡¯t mention to Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and the others that the soul of the Spirit Scepter had already been swapped.

    The Spirit Scepter¡¯s former soul was Barbara. However, its current soul was a transformation of the residual soul will of their deceased paragon, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    After all, the Spirit Scepter had absorbed and refined the Nether Rivers in the Silent Star Sea and the Nether Realm.

    This had also allowed the might of the Spirit Scepter to rise to heights it had never reached before.

 Chapter 1650: A Narrow Escape

    In a corner of the Void World.

    Countless corpses were drifting in the starry river like dead flies.

    Those corpses belonged to a wide array of species, such as humans, spirit beasts, Demons, Phantasms, dragons, and species that didn¡¯t belong to the Mortal World or the Spirit World.

    If Bonedrude or Bonebrute grand monarchs were here, they would easily sense the wisps of death power those floating corpses were emanating.

    All of a sudden, a tiny spot of light appeared in the midst of the floating corpses, and rapidly expanded.

    In a few seconds, it expanded into a glorious spatial tunnel that spit out bloody figures like beans pouring out of a can.

    Thest one that flew out was Pei Qiqi, who could barely hold on to her Space Boundaries Crystal, her azure robes also covered in blood.

    ¡°Miss Pei!¡± Feng Beiluo, who was barely injured, hurried to her side.

    Meanwhile, Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, hesitated for a bit, and then decided to stay with Nie Tian and watch the enormous evil gods crush hundreds of floating corpses in their surroundings.

    All five evil gods were covered in bone-deep gashes. Their souls were withering, with a few sparks of fire burning in their pupils.

    The sparks of fire in their eyes suggested that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s Soul-burning Blood Spell still hadn¡¯t worn off.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, which had followed Nie Tian through the spatial rift, floated lifelessly behind Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Cyan wisps kept sputtering from Nie Tian¡¯s head as hey unconsciously in the void, facing up.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s Soul-capturing Hand seemed to have transformed into a unique tattoo that manifested on Nie Tian¡¯s forehead between his eyebrows. It was like an insidious face of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer that wasughing at everyone present.

    ¡°Young master!¡± the Thunder Devil called softly.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t seem to be able to hear him. His eyelids flickered nonstop, as if he were contending against Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s residual power in his sea of awareness.

    After a moment of hesitation, Yuan Jiuchuan said in a grim voice, ¡°Sorry, but I have to do this.¡±

    He pressed his finger on Nie Tian¡¯s forehead with tremendous force.

    BOOM!

    Raging lightning power instantly mmed into the Soul-capturing Hand tattoo between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows.

    The thirty-six profoundws of lightning and thunder that the Thunder Devil had derived in his lifetime morphed into bolts of lightning that engaged in a frenzied fight against Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s residual power.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face turned grim, as if he was facing a formidable foe.

    As he dealt heavy blows to the ghostly hand with lightning power, he vaguely heard Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s furious bellows.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s residual power transformed into evil spirits and vicious souls of several dozen kinds that tore at the magicalws of lightning and thunder with their fangs and ws.

    With every magicalw they snapped, the Thunder Devil would let out a moan of pain, and his face would grow slightly paler.

    Not far away from them, Pei Qiqi subconsciously covered her lips with her jade-like hand, but blood slipped through her light cyan fingers.

    Like tiny azure meteors, wisps of her blood floated ethereally into the starry river around her, and spontaneously activated a bloodline talent.

    Then, in a peculiar way, they vanished.

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect was floating next to her. He was just about to help her when he suddenly saw the wisps of blood magically vanish. Confusion filled his face.

    After a long while, Pei Qiqi opened her eyes.

    After spending a second on Feng Beiluo, her gaze quickly wandered about in search of Nie Tian. ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian? Is... he okay?¡±

    As she finally saw Nie Tian lying not far from her, and that Yuan Jiuchuan was pressing his forehead with a finger, she shook violently and red at him, ¡°Thunder Devil! If you dare to hurt him while he¡¯s vulnerable, I¡¯ll hunt you down and kill you no matter where you hide!¡±

    She didn¡¯t notice the beads of sweat rolling down Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face, or the fact that thunderballs were perishing one by one at the tip of his fingers like tiny lightning domains.

    Feng Beiluo hurried to exin, ¡°You¡¯ve misunderstood. He¡¯d never have the audacity to harm the young master. In fact, he has had nothing but heartfelt admiration for the young master since he returned from the Seven Stars Realm Sea.¡±

    Hearing this, Pei Qiqi calmed down and realized that Yuan Jiuchuan was indeed helping Nie Tian.

    ¡°Your blood...¡± Feng Beiluo said curiously.

    Aplicated look appeared in Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes as she said, ¡°It left for the space disruption zone, the Voidspirits¡¯ ancestralnd. They should be able to receive word of our encounters in the Void World and the fact that we¡¯re badly injured soon. We¡¯re in the Void World, the home of the three powerful races, and I¡¯ve over-consumed my bloodline power...

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can no longer get you to safety.

    ¡°I only sent word to the Voidspirits because I want to see if they¡¯ll do something to atone for their wrongdoing after learning about the situation.¡±

    Feng Beiluo was taken aback. ¡°What wrongdoing?¡±

    Pei Qiqi fell silent.

    HOWL!

    A begrudging howl suddenly rumbled through everyone¡¯s minds.

    It was a howl from the Rampage Behemoth.

    Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s finger was shaking violently. He was just about to be defeated by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s residual power when streams of rich, crimson flesh aura poured out of the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone and into Nie Tian.

    That begrudging howl had been from one of these streams of flesh aura.

    With every mad howl that echoed out, the Soul-capturing Hand mark on Nie Tian¡¯s forehead grew slightly fainter, along with Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s residual power in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the markpletely vanished.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s residual power was finally purged by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s lightning power, and Nie Tian¡¯s own resistance.

    That was also when Nie Tian weakly opened his eyes.

    The Thunder Devil withdrew his finger with a hearty smile. ¡°You¡¯re finally awake, young master.¡±

    With these words, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. Numerous fine lightning wisps could be seen flying out of him, but perishing immediately after leaving his body.

    Those lightning wisps somehow contained Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s aura.

    Staring at them, the Thunder Devil said with a grim expression, ¡°That Netherspirit grand monarch put his sigil on every one of us. I suppose he¡¯s already learned our position. It won¡¯t be long before members of the three major races find their way here.¡±

    ¡°Where are the others?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°See for yourself,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with a bitter smile before turning sideways to let him see Pei Qiqi, Feng Beiluo, and the evil gods, who were covered in blood and floating motionlessly among the drifting corpses. ¡°Everyone other than Lord Feng and I are in poor condition, especially you and Miss Pei.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I just don¡¯t have power to use for the time being.¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that I can¡¯t use Void Travel anytime soon.¡±

    ¡°The most important thing is that you¡¯re still alive.¡± With these words, Nie Tian sat up straight.

    Wisp after wisp of his flesh aura flitted through his every internal organ, bone, and muscle, meticulously examining the heavy injuries his body had sustained.

    His meridians were severed. His bones were shattered. His muscles were torn.

    There wasn¡¯t a single ce on him that didn¡¯t hurt.

    Furthermore, most of the injuries were internal, and couldn¡¯t be made out from the outside.

    After long-term refinement, he was convinced that his fleshly body was already tougher than that of ate tenth grade Devil grand monarch. He hadn¡¯t suffered such heavy blows to his body since he had mastered Heavenly Wood Heal.

    Not only was his body suffering, but his soul was in distress as well.

    While his sub-souls were in a rtively good condition, his true soul, which had derived profound truths from the Nether Rivers, had shrunk significantly, and be blurry and less condensed.

    He even had a feeling that it would soon dissipate if it were to leave his body.

    This was a sign of soul power over-consumption and soul injury.

    Given enough flesh power, his fleshly injuries would be fairly easy to heal. However, it would be much more time-consuming to recover from his soul injuries, especially now that he had lost the Spirit Scepter.

    A strong sense of failure had been eating him alive from the moment he had opened his eyes. It had opened his eyes to the truth, that he still had a long way to go before he could contend against the peak experts of the Void World.

    After killing Grand Monarch Ash Bone with the evil gods¡¯ help and ying the three middle tenth grade Devil grand monarchs in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, his confidence had skyrocketed, putting him under the impression that he was invincible.

    This had made him arrogant, and he thought that the so-called top ten grand monarchs of the Void World weren¡¯t to be feared.

    His battle against Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was like a pot of cold water that had been dumped on him.

    It was a lesson that had made him realize how shallow he still was.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was only the second strongest expert of the Void World, who was weaker than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils. However, the power he had manifested with the Nether River had been beyond his imagination. He could easily inflict severe damage upon him and even destroy him.

    Now that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had obtained the Spirit Scepter, his battle prowess might have risen even higher.

    Even that Chaos Behemoth, which had smashed its way into the Realm of Dark Souls, might not be able to match him in battle. Once it was surrounded by the Netherspirit experts, it might not be able to escape.

    After a long while, he let out a sigh of frustration and said, ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I thought too much of myself. After I entered the God domain and battled Grand Monarch Ash Bone and Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the Spirit World, I falsely believed that so-calledte tenth grade grand monarchs were nothing to be afraid of. That made me think that I could do whatever I wanted in the Void World. Then, I rashly entered the Netherspirits¡¯ ancestralnd and learned my lesson the hard way.¡±

    At that moment, Feng Beiluo, who had rxed after seeing Nie Tianing to, nced around and suddenly eximed in shock, ¡°Miss Pei, is this ce...?!¡±

 Chapter 1651: The Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones

    An endless sea of floating corpses stretched as far as the eye could see.

    They belonged to a wide array of species, and quietly exuded death auras.

    This entire area of the starry river was filled with intense death Qi, giving Nie Tian a deeply ufortable feeling that his life bloodline was being suppressed.

    He knew that if he stayed here, the recovery of his fleshly injuries would definitely be affected.

    The feeling the Floragrims¡¯ ancestralnd had given him and the feeling this ce was giving him were two different extremes.

    One was brimming with life power, while the other waspletely devoid of life power.

    Feng Beiluo took a deep breath and said, staring at Pei Qiqi, ¡°The Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones! Why did you choose here of all ces, Miss Pei? The Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, and the Forbidden Land of Endless Spirits correspond to the three major races of the Void World. Only their most powerful experts can benefit from entering them.

    ¡°This Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones is the Bonedrudes¡¯ most mysterious burial ground. It exudes death Qi that powers their ancestralnd year-round.

    ¡°Perhaps there are Bonedrude experts at the same level as Grand Monarch Ash Bone here somewhere.¡±

    With an expressionless face, Pei Qiqi said, ¡°I had a feeling that there weren¡¯t any noticeable spatial fluctuations here, and that it¡¯s going to be hard to conduct Void Travel here.¡±

    Feng Beiluo looked baffled. ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°It means that there aren¡¯t any teleportation portals in this area,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°Only those like me who are skilled in spatial power and possess spatial treasures like the Space Boundaries Crystal cane and go freely. Even if Grand Monarch Soul Capturer has sensed that we¡¯re in this so-called Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, they¡¯ll have to travel through the starry river to get here.¡±

    ¡°So are you saying that we¡¯re safe here for the time being?¡± Feng Beiluo asked.

    ¡°Yes,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°Even if we¡¯re to encounter enemies here, they¡¯ll most likely be Bonedrudes. If we¡¯re so unlucky that we¡¯re to encounter powerful Bonedrude experts that happen to be cultivating in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, then...¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just hope we¡¯re not that unlucky,¡± Feng Beiluo said with a bitter smile.

    After sobering up, Nie Tian examined the others and discovered that not only him, but Pei Qiqi, Yuan Jiuchuan, and the five evil gods were also being corroded by the death power that filled this ce.

    The evil gods seemed to have fallen into aa.

    ¡°Their souls must have suffered heavy blows from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.¡±

    After pondering for a moment, instead of asking about the features of the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, he summoned the Spirit Pearl andmunicated with its soul, ¡°The five of them first started their soul convergence in the Spirit Pearl. Now that I¡¯ve lost the Spirit Scepter, can you awaken them from theira? As much as I want to help them myself, my true soul has also suffered serious injuries.¡±

    ¡°No problem,¡± The soul of the Spirit Pearl responded.

    Immediately afterwards, five beams of soul power shot out of the Spirit Pearl, and fused into the prismatic crystals on the foreheads of the five evil gods, which were transformations of Heavenly Spirit Seals.

    BOOM!

    Soul imprints seemed to be lit up by the five beams of light as their scattered soul awareness rapidly regathered in their seas of awareness.

    It wasn¡¯t long before the five evil gods¡¯ soul awareness recovered, and they slowly opened their eyes.

    After the evil god of bloodlust came to himself, he turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is strong indeed. Now that he has gained control of the Spirit Scepter, he can wield part of our former master¡¯s power. Judging by his current battle prowess, he¡¯s really close to joining the ranks of paragons. If Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes are as strong as him, then...¡±

    ¡°Then what?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Then it makes sense that thete tenth grade grand monarchs from the Spirit World and thete God domain experts from the Mortal World were defeated in the Void World.¡±

    With these words, the five evil gods, who hadn¡¯t returned to the Spirit Pearl for a long time, morphed into five streaks of cyan light and flew into the arcane world inside the Spirit Pearl, where they healed themselves with the Nether Qi and the discarnate souls and evil spirits the Spirit Pearl had gathered years ago.

    Ever since Nie Tian had obtained the Spirit Scepter and merged it with a Profound Truths Crystal, he had been using the discarnate souls of the beings he had killed to nourish the transformed Spirit Scepter.

    It had been a long time since the Spirit Pearl had absorbed any souls or power.

    Because of this, it had required quite a strenuous effort for it to awaken the five evil gods now.

    The soul of the Spirit Pearl was a bit bashful as it sent out a soul message, ¡°Master, would you give me a share of the discarnate souls from your battles from now on? I also need soul power to transform and upgrade. My current soul power reserves aren¡¯t enough to even help them recover. I¡¯m afraid that when ites to the injuries of your true soul, my hands are tied.¡±

    As it spoke, the originally-bright Spirit Pearl grew slightly dimmer.

    ...

    In the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    FIZZ!

    A slender spatial rift split open in the dark starry river.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Figures streamed through the spatial rift, and floated above the forbiddennd.

    In the forbiddennd below, Shao Tianyang from the fire element sect and the me dragon high chieftain sensed their arrival, and instantly grew excited again.

    Frowning, Dong Li nced around and said, ¡°Hmm? Isn¡¯t a battle supposed to be taking ce in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement? Howe all we can see here are mangled Bonedrude corpses and the debris of shattered starships? Oh!¡±

    She came to a sudden realization. ¡°I suppose the battle is already over.¡±

    ¡°Someone is here!¡± Yin Xingtian eximed with narrowed eyes.

    Then, as he let out a cold harrumph, a streak of sword light shot straight out of the corner of his eye.

    The streak of sword light pierced through dozens of pieces of enormous starship debris beforeing to an abrupt stop at the throat of a Lightspirit.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Yin Xingtian¡¯s voice echoed from within the sword light.

    ¡°Human? A human, just like our high chieftain!¡± The Lightspirit with four pairs of wings growing out of his back hastily exined in broken humannguage, ¡°I¡¯vee here to check if that Nie Tian has fled to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    ¡°What? Fled?¡± The sword light transformed from Yin Xingtian¡¯s soul essence pushed an inch forward.

    The skin on the Lightspirit¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple was cut by his fierce sword intent, blood instantly squirting out.

    The Lightspirit immediately screamed, ¡°That Nie Tian went to the Netherspirits¡¯ Realm of Dark Souls with a girl who carries a Voidspirit bloodline. He daringly attempted to refine the Nether River there, but was ambushed by the Netherspirits. It turned out that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, and Grand Monarch Soul yer had been waiting for him in the Realm of Dark Souls...¡±

    He went on and quickly exined the battle Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had fought, the heavy blows the evil gods had suffered, and theter arrival of Feng Beiluo and the Chaos Behemoth.

    Hearing his words, the crowd burst into a mor.

    ¡°What? Nie Tian was ambushed and badly injured?¡±

    ¡°Was he insane?! He and Pei Qiqi actually dared to break into the Netherspirits¡¯ ancestralnd with just the two of them?!¡±

    ¡°Damn it. Now that they¡¯re on the run, how can we find them?¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s charming face turned icy. ¡°Be quiet! Let him finish!¡±

    Her bright eyes suddenly turned pitch-ck, and started devouring the light around her like ck holes, which made the others¡¯ flesh creep.

    ¡°You! Go on!¡± Yin Xingtian said fiercely.

    ¡°Okay! Okay! Eventually, they split open a spatial rift and escaped while Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was forced to go and stop the Chaos Behemoth and the corpse ves from ravaging the Realm of Dark Souls.¡± The Lightspirit came out with everything he knew, trembling with fear. ¡°Right now, all the races of the Void World are searching for them in every corner of the Void World under the three major races¡¯mand. I was ordered by our high chieftain toe and check the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.¡±

    After sneaking a nce at Yin Xingtian and the others, and seeing the killing intent in their eyes, he hastily added, ¡°We Lightspirits aren¡¯t your enemy! Our new high chieftain is a human. His name is Jiang Yuanchi!¡±

    Everyone was confused after hearing these words. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s being imprisoned in this forbiddennd?¡± Dong Li asked aloud.

    ¡°I heard it¡¯s the sectmaster of some fire element sect and a me dragon,¡± The Lightspirit hastily said.

    Hearing this, the crowd of neers burst into another mor. ¡°Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain?!¡±

    Dong Li took a deep breath and said, ¡°Even though I can¡¯t locate Nie Tian, I can fuel the turbulence in the Void World! And the enemies of the three major races of the Void World will help me achieve that!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Dark Aureole was suddenly released, along with the dark stone, which had already merged with her spiritual sea.

    She suddenly plunged towards the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    In the devilish mes, the me dragon high chieftain saw Dong Li morph into a cluster of utter darkness, and plunge towards the forbiddennd. ¡°That girl is courting death! How impetuous! How can she possibly think that she can survive the devilish mes and the restrictive spells of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement?¡±

    However, what he wanted to say next turned into an exmation of astonishment. ¡°What the...?!¡±

    Disbelief filled his eyes as he watched the cluster of darkness dive through the raging mes and devastating restrictions, ande to an abrupt stop between him and Shao Tianyang, as if none of them could hurt her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you out of here. All I want you to do is promise me one thing: plunge the three major races of the Void World into a world of misery and suffering!¡±

 Chapter 1652: Upheaval In Various Places

    Shao Tianyang and the high chieftain of the me dragons watched helplessly as raging devil fire circled Dong Li, whopletely ignored it.

    Strangely enough, when Dong Li plunged into the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, it seemed that the restrictions, which were tremendously frightening, suddenly failed to work.

    What was more frightening was that their sight and perception could no longer reach the starry river above the forbiddennd.

    That area of the starry river had bepletely dark and without any light.

    Outside.

    The Lightspirit, who was restrained by Yin Xingtian and too frightened to move, shivered as he stared nkly down at the area filled with darkness where Dong Li had fallen.

    This fear, which wasing from his bloodline, was even greater than the fear that he had felt from the sword that had been pressed against his throat, and the sword intent that was about to prate his fleshly body.

    Feeling his muscles, cells, and drops of blood trembling nonstop, he eximed inwardly, ¡°This aura belongs to the Dark King, the paragon of the Devils!¡±

    The Lightspirits had seen a period of glory before the Dark King had been born andprehended the origin power of darkness.

    It was because of the Dark King that the Lightspirits had been enved andpletely surrendered, and had been willing to be driven!

    To all Lightspirits, the Dark King was their nemesis!

    This Devil paragon had been born to be the Lightspirits¡¯ natural enemy, because he had frozen the bloodline power of numerous Lightspirit experts and turned all their sacrednds into ruins.

    Momentster, the experts from the Mortal World saw that the devil fire in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement suddenly quieted down. ¡°Eeeh?!¡±

    Dark power quickly filled the forbiddennd, and the devil fire was put out.

    A dragon¡¯s cry of relief suddenly echoed out from the darkness.

    Dong Li¡¯s cold voice rang in the darkness. ¡°I hope the two of you will keep your promise and throw the Void World into confusion. You should use the power of the three outsider races of the Void World to replenish your consumption.¡±

    The darkness gradually dissipated.

    The colossal ck tortoise could be seen crouching over the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement in its original form and uttering intive cries.

    CRACK!

    Weird sounds of broken bones came out of the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, which was shaped like a colossal beehive. ck spots of light that were mixed with devil fire flew towards the ck tortoise.

    Countless devilish beasts and insects let out cries of terror, but still couldn¡¯t escape death.

    Even some Devil warriors exploded and died due to the dramatic changes in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement. Strands of their flesh aura merged into the ck tortoise.

    More and more fine dark patterns emerged on the back of the ck tortoise.

    Shao Tianyang, the sectmaster of the fire element sect who had been hollow-eyed and dejected, showed himself and softly said, ¡°What is the rtionship between the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and that spiritual tortoise?¡±

    ¡°The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement is special and mysterious because it was mixed with the Dark Behemoth¡¯s fleshly body and broken bones when it was built,¡± Dong Li replied.

    ¡°And this tortoise?¡±

    ¡°Is the Dark Behemoth¡¯s descendant.¡±

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is!¡±

    Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and the others gathered in ecstasy. ¡°Sectmaster Shao!¡±

    They hadn¡¯t expected that the man being imprisoned in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement was actually the sectmaster of the fire element sect.

    Shao Tianyang stood outside the forbiddennd, feeling as if a lifetime had passed. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that I would see daylight again. I thought my me power would be drained day and night by the Devils in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement until the day I died.¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s cold eyes suddenly fell on the Lightspirit. ¡°Where is the nearest realm of the Netherspirits?¡±

    Trembling all over, the Lightspirit hurried to show her the exact direction.

    Dong Li then told the ck tortoise with her soul, ¡°Let¡¯s go. The source of your bloodline has been defeated by the Dark King, so of course he wanted to make the most of everything. Its eyes, bones, and flesh have either been refined into unusual dark treasures or merged into the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, making this forbiddennd a ce where the Devils can temper their fleshly bodies.

    ¡°We¡¯re very lucky that we found this ce so you can retrieve its remaining flesh power.¡±

    As she spoke, the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement returned to normal, with devil fire burning in different ces. However, the most terrifying restrictions had failed to work.

    It was because of the power of the Dark Behemoth that the restrictions had been so strong that even Shao Tianyang and the high chieftain of the me dragons had been unable to break free.

    The ck tortoise gave a low, intive cry. Suddenly, its huge feet stomped the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement.

    BANG! BANG!

    With its heavy stamps, the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement exploded and broke into boulders.

    The devil beasts, devil insects, and devil warriors who had low level bloodlines within it had long since died thoroughly. The forbiddennd, which had been built at some point and somehow be unusually strong after being fortified by the Dark King, fell apart.

    What Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi had failed to achieve seemed so easy under Dong Li and the ck tortoise¡¯s power.

    Just like this, Shao Tianyang and the high chieftain of the me dragons were saved, while the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement was destroyed.

    This was a heavy blow to the Devils.

    In the space disruption zone.

    In the brilliant magnificent starry river, numerous void spirit beasts that were like Silver Domain Snakes were absorbing wisps of unusual spatial power that were thin as gossamer to strengthen their bloodlines.

    There was a secret arcane realm in the depths of the space disruption zone, and only those who carried Voidspirit bloodlines could see into it.

    At this moment, a magnificent pce made of numerous Space Spirit Jades was floating in the dazzling space inside of it.

    Inside the pce stood huge, bright mirrors.

    Each mirror reflected an area of the starry river, such as the domains of the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World.

    It seemed that the Voidspirits were monitoring the three worlds with the help of those bright mirrors.

    Streaks of blue light went into and out of those mirrors every now and then. They were entering and returning from the domains corresponding to the mirrors.

    It appeared that each mirror could be regarded as a spatial passage.

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Rays of blue electric light suddenly flew out of one of the mirrors.

    Upon arriving, the electric light seemed to be tranted into a message by the strange power of this ce.

    Immediately afterwards, numerous voices rang from the mirrors or the Voidspirits in the pce.

    ¡°Crap! Miss Pei was badly injured by the Netherspirits in the Void World!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer set a trap in the Void World, causing Nie Tian and Miss Pei to almost die in the Realm of Dark Souls!¡±

    ¡°Miss Pei is now missing. The flesh aura we received from her also contains the smell of death.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s in the Bonedrudes¡¯ territory?¡±

    Soon, thetest news was passed up to the high levels of the Voidspirits.

    Thick life aura came out of a pool of blood in a secret room of the pce.

    Pei Yukong, the high chieftain of the Voidspirits who should have been dead, was immersed in the pool of blood, staring emptily at the dome of the pce.

    The dome was covered with extremelyplicated patterns made of spatial light.

    A harsh voice quietly rang in the silent pce. ¡°Chief, Miss Pei is in danger. The Doomed Star Sea may not have heard about it yet, but Nie Tian and Miss Pei have been ambushed by the Netherspirits. No one knows if they are dead or alive.¡±

    Pei Yukong¡¯s empty ssy eyes slowly focused. ¡°Inform those in the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    ¡°High Chieftain, you...?¡±

    Pei Yukong sighed and said, ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence can only dy my death for a while. It can¡¯t fundamentally change anything. It¡¯s time for me to get out of here.¡±

 Chapter 1653: The Place Where Grand Monarch Life Wood Dies

    In the Doomed Star Sea.

    An ancient starship that was made from multicolored refined metal and carved with thousands ofplex spirit arrays sailed through the starry river with an unstoppable momentum.

    BANG! BANG!

    This indestructible ancient ship crushed any meteorites it touched along the way.

    Several Devil warships and the Bonedrude warships were fleeing from it.

    However, the ancient ship made of multicolored refined metal caught up to them and crushed them neatly one by one, like a giant shark hunting in the deep sea.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Many streaks of light surged out of the warship.

    Arge number of Bonedrude and Devil warriors left their exploding warships one by one like kites that were cut loose, before being hit by streaks of light.

    The Devils exploded into fragments of mangled flesh, and the Bonedrudes exploded in an instant like smashed porcin.

    This ancient starship was named the Rainbow Boat.

    The ship was unknown in the Spirit World and Mortal World.

    However, it was very well-known in the Doomed Star Sea and the Void World.

    In the eyes of the three outsider races of the Void World, this boat was none other than a lethal weapon to strangle all kinds of living beings, as it had killed many of their nsmen.

    There were eighteen Heaven Rainbow Divine Cannons on the Rainbow Boat, which were far more advanced than the Heaven-shattering Crystal Cannons and Heaven-sweeping Jade Sea Cannons.

    If the eighteen Heaven Rainbow Divine Cannons all fired together, they would be able to kill monarchs and destroy gods!

    In the case of an encounter, even outsider grand monarchs¡¯ flesh aura seas and God domain humans¡¯ god domains would be severely damaged or even destroyed by the gunfire of the Heaven Rainbow Divine Cannons.

    A spatial array tower that stood in the middle of the Heaven Rainbow Divine Cannons suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon suddenly stepped out of the tower, making his way to the cabins with a grim face, and called out towards a pce made of a multicolored divine stone, ¡°Mistress, I¡¯m back from the Spirit World. The Voidspirits sent me thetest news. The young master was ambushed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in the Realm of Dark Souls. Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, and Grand Monarch Soul yer all joined the action. Together, they badly injured the young master.¡±

    In an instant, the divine stone pce burst forth with a tremendous amount of dazzling colorful light, then someone¡¯s anxious cry echoed out. ¡°What?!¡±

    ¡°Feng Beiluo, Yuan Jiuchuan, and the others drove the Chaos Behemoth there in a hurry,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon continued. ¡°With the help of Pei Qiqi, the young master managed to escape through a spatial passage, but his current whereabouts are unknown. The Chaos Behemoth and many Heavenly Corpses are still in the Realm of Dark Souls. Grand Monarch Soul Capturer has refined the Nether River and taken over the Spirit Scepter. Now, he¡¯s trying to tame the Chaos Behemoth through soul magics.¡±

    A fierce cry came from the pce. ¡°Netherspirits! Attack the Netherspirits¡¯ strongholds in the Doomed Star Sea with full force. Don¡¯t spare the Devils and Bonedrudes¡¯ strongholds either. Also, go awaken your master!¡±

    ¡°Understood!¡±

    ...

    In the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.

    While the five evil gods recuperated in the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi took out elixirs and pills to heal their wounds and nourish their souls.

    Lightning wisps kept flying in and out of Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s nostrils, like tiny green snakes.

    Only Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, who was almost unharmed, was wandering around.

    ¡°I¡¯ve long known that there¡¯s a Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones in Bonedrude territory, where countless bones are kept,¡± he muttered as his eyes shone. ¡°To you, this is an uncanny and unustomed Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, but not to me. Death power is fundamentally the same as corpse Qi.

    ¡°When a creature dies, both its flesh aura and spiritual aura will dissipate into heaven and earth. Death power will be produced during that process. The Bonedrudes can absorb and refine death power so they can fuse it into their meridians and bones in order to strengthen themselves.

    ¡°The spells of our sect, the Heavenly Corpse Sect, work slightly differently. What we do is prevent those powerful creatures¡¯ flesh aura and remaining spiritual aura from dissipating after their deaths.

    ¡°We seal their powers inside their corpses, and after tempering those powers, we transform them into corpse power.

    ¡°Our corpse power enables corpses to rise again without souls or intelligence. But we have ways to manipte such a corpse so that corpse ves that have no soul, but do have corpse power, can fight.¡±

    Feng Beiluo continued to speak to himself, looking with amazement at the countless floating corpses. ¡°It¡¯s a pity that most of these corpses¡¯ power has dissipated and turned into death power for the Bonedrudes to absorb. Eeeh, this one is better, but its grade was far too low when it died. Well, this is a natural corpse bank. Every corpse could be a ve with a little refining.

    ¡°If there¡¯s a strong tenth grade creature¡¯s corpse here, maybe I can try refining it into a corpse ve.

    ¡°If not, I¡¯ll have to adopt other means, so that my trip to the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones will be worthwhile. I was a little scared of it before I came, but now...¡±

    Feng Beiluo was a little more talkative than usual in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.

    ¡°Profound Heaven Corpse-transforming Spell!¡± he eximed softly as he suddenly activated the secret spell of the Heavenly Corpse Sect and disyed his God domain.

    His God domain was a wondend transformed from immense corpse power. It looked as if there were ancient divine corpses lined up in a special way and absorbing corpse power.

    WHOOSH!

    Gray white smoke started flying out of the many motionless floating corpses in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones and merging into Feng Beiluo¡¯s God domain.

    Feng Beiluo¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he eximed, ¡°This is simply a blessednd for the disciples of my sect!¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly sensed something.

    Opening his eyes, he nced at Feng Beiluo and said suddenly, ¡°I can¡¯t stay here in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones any longer. It¡¯s very difficult to recover from my injuries quickly with only these elixirs and pills. Also, my bloodline is terribly unustomed to this ce.¡±

    ¡°But this is the only ce that doesn¡¯t have spatial arrays,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°If you show up anywhere else, the experts of all the races in the Void World will swarm in.¡±

    ¡°Fighting and killing the Devils and the Netherspirits will help me recover,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Also, If I can help you, your bloodline will heal faster, but it all depends on me having enough flesh aura.

    ¡°The Bonedrudes¡¯ territory isn¡¯t a blessednd to me. The death power here can even inhibit the advancement of my bloodline!¡±

    ¡°So you want to leave?¡± Pei Qiqi asked.

    After thinking for a moment, she added, ¡°I¡¯ve consumed too much power. I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t have enough power to activate another Void Travel. This forbiddennd also has restrictions that make my space bloodline unstable.¡±

    Nie Tian abruptly got up and said to Thunder Devil and Feng Beiluo. ¡°We can¡¯t leave with the help of spatial power, but we can fly out of this forbiddennd. Come on. Let¡¯s go!¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±

    Feng Beiluo was reluctant, but he gave priority to Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian found his bearings and took the lead to shuttle through the many floating corpses. ¡°We¡¯ll head in the direction with the faintest death aura.¡±

    They left one floating corpse after another behind.

    As they sped along, they didn¡¯t see any Bonedrudes or truly powerful floating corpses.

    Until...

    The number of floating corpses were dwindling, and the death aura was getting thinner. As Nie Tian thought that he was about to leave the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones with the others, he saw an extremelyrge corpse floating quietly before them.

    There weren¡¯t other corpses in the area, only it.

    This area was filled with shining stars, along with more than one bright sun and one cold moon.

    Shocked, Nie Tian shouted, ¡°I-I¡¯ve seen this ce before! The floating corpse clearly belongs to Grand Monarch Life Wood, the high chieftain of the Floragrims. He was killed by the Bonedrudes. It¡¯s his bones that Grand Monarch Ash Bone¡¯s Bell of Death burned!¡±

    ¡°How did you see it?¡± the Thunder Devil shouted.

    ¡°My master used time power to show me for a short time,¡± Nie Tian exined.

    After going nk for a while, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°It appears that we are not heading away from the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones. Instead, we¡¯re going deep into it. The death aura here is thin purely because the residual life aura of the corpse of the Floragrim high chieftain has counteracted the death power.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned. ¡°Strange, it¡¯s strange.¡±

    Wu Ji had used time power to show him the corpses of Grand Monarch Life Wood and Grand Monarch Nether River of the Phantasms, as well as the abomination Gupi, which had been severed into pieces.

    Wu Ji must have done so for a reason.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t figure out what that reason was. ¡°Since Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s body is here, are Master and the River of Time somewhere in the Void World too? Grand Monarch Life Wood ought to have been killed by the Bonedrudes, with his bones used by Grand Monarch Ash Bone. But what on earth do the Bonedrudes want to do by cing this corpse here?¡±

    THUD!

    At that moment, his heart started beating violently.

    Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s corpse suddenly emitted a pale green halo as strands of wood power and flesh aura started flowing towards Nie Tian spontaneously.

    He shuddered.

 Chapter 1654: By Accident

    Grand Monarch Life Wood was dead, but his rich flesh aura hadn¡¯tpletely dissipated.

    At this moment, the masterless flesh aura seemed to have found its new master as it took the initiative to flow toward him.

    Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil couldn¡¯t help eximing. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    After a shudder, Nie Tian¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he couldn¡¯t help shouting, ¡°Thank you, Senior!¡±

    To him, Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s remaining flesh aura was now the best panacea!

    Lowering his head, he could see the wisps of green flesh aura swimming through his veins and flesh like intelligent little snakes, repairing his broken veins and regenerating tiny flesh fibers.

    His body, which had been badly injured by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, seemed to be under the utmost care of the best surgeon.

    Grand Monarch Life Wood had had a reputation for kindness in the Spirit World.

    He had helped the Ancientspirits as well as the Demons and Phantasms.

    Before he had disappeared, the experts of all the races in the Spirit World, including Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Grand Monarch Nether River, had had to give him face.

    His bloodline power could work miracles in mending their wounds.

    However, who would have thought that his remaining flesh power would have such an amazing effect after his death?

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It was as if the visibly deep wounds in Nie Tian¡¯s chest, waist, belly, and back were being mended little by little by invisible hands.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and thought inwardly, his heart filled with joy, ¡°The energy of life that this thick flesh aura contains leans towards wood healing. This kind of power is made for healing wounds. I can¡¯t believe that I¡¯ve found such a ce by ident. Your soul is gone, but this body...¡±

    He squinted and examined the corpse intently.

    ¡°Nie Tian, it seems that Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s power is being channeled away little by little by the Bonedrudes,¡± Feng Beiluo suddenly interjected. ¡°This Floragrim grand monarch should have been very difficult to kill, because the wonders of the Floragrims¡¯s Heavenly Wood Heal are singr in the world. A drop of their Blood Essence can allow them toe back to life, which is much faster than the spells of any other race.

    ¡°There is a saying that as long as you collect a drop of the Blood Essence of a dead grand monarch who cultivated Heavenly Wood Heal, and throw it into any realm with greenery, the Blood Essence will absorb wood essence and bring him back to life. It¡¯s also very hard to destroy a Floragrim¡¯s bodypletely.¡±

    Feng Beiluo continued to exin, ¡°This grand monarch¡¯s soul has been destroyed, but the Bonedrudes can hardly get rid of his body in a short time to avoid future troubles.

    ¡°So his body was thrown to the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones to be nibbled away by the death power in it until thest bit of its power is exhausted.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°Does it work in a way that¡¯s simr to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement of the Devils?¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded and said, ¡°Sort of. Now look at his chest. There¡¯s intense death power enveloping his heart. It looks as if his heart is still condensing Blood Essence. As soon as one drop of Blood Essence is exhausted, another drop will be condensed again.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Nie Tian said in astonishment.

    There was a ball of death power in Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s chest indeed. The death power was condensed and undispersed. Besides that, there seemed to be death principles that burst forth with pale gray currents now and then to quench the Blood Essence that Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s body kept condensing.

    Feng Beiluo frowned. ¡°It¡¯s not safe here. The Bonedrudes must be able to sense that something is happening here, so it may not be long before theye here.¡±

    ¡°The source of Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s bloodline is the Tree of Life,¡± Nie Tian spoke, narrowing his eyes, ¡°Master allowed me to get a glimpse of this ce by using the power of the River of Time. He must have done it for a reason.¡±

    At the thought of this, he summoned the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    CRASH!

    Wisps of his refined flesh aura poured into the bone like rainbow currents.

    The bone was pointed towards Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s chest where the death power was gathered.

    All of a sudden, the bone burst forth with an amazing power to shatter the ball of death power with the Domain Split bloodline talent, so that fresh Blood Essence would endure after being condensed in Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s heart.

    The moment the ball of death power was scattered, Nie Tian suddenly saw clearly that Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s flesh, crystallized bones, and heart were entwined by countless rays of pale gray light.

    It was death power that had been thinned a thousand times over.

    Death power had long since filled Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s corpse. It had been rotting away on the inside through years of erosion.

    The moment the death power exploded, a bloodcurdling growl rang out. ¡°Who?!¡±

    However, it was just one single growl, nothing more.

    Even so, it shocked several people, and caused them to turn pale, and a number of unknown pale powers to condense into bones around them.

    The bones were illusory, but they looked very real.

    Fine engravings could be seen on the bones. Like the death god¡¯s wicked smile, they put people in awe.

    Feng Beiluo was greatly frightened. ¡°Grand Monarch Bone Piercer! It¡¯s the voice of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer! That ball of death power was from Grand Monarch Bone Piercer!¡±

    Shocked and doubtful, he continued, ¡°Nie Tian, it¡¯s hard to believe that you¡¯ve wiped away Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s power. That bone of yours is truly remarkable. However...¡±

    The Thunder Devil, who was also scared, said, ¡°Since Grand Monarch Bone Piercer can feel it, then he¡¯s definitelying soon! You first angered Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, and now you¡¯ve angered Grand Monarch Bone Piercer too. You¡¯re really something.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    The heart in Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s chest that had long since withered condensed another drop of Blood Essence, which looked like a precious green gem.

    ¡°That¡¯s the one!¡± Nie Tian spread out his hand and eximed softly. ¡°Come!¡±

    The drop of Blood Essence from Grand Monarch Life Wood that had just been condensed flew into Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    He carefully put away the drop of Blood Essence and solemnly vowed. ¡°As long as I live, I will find you a new realm and give you time to be revived.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The numerous white bones suddenly shook and attacked together.

    Almost at the same time, thousands of light green beams shot out of Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s corpse.

    The refined pure wood power they carried merged into Nie Tian¡¯s body like seawater.

    Meanwhile, Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s bones rapidly rotted, his rattan-like veins reduced to ashes and his drab skin and flesh dissipating like light smoke.

    It seemed that Nie Tian¡¯s obtaining the drop of condensed Blood Essence had freed Grand Monarch Life Wood, who seemed to find a hope for rebirth.

    Hence, his remaining wood power naturally flooded into Nie Tian, and no longer protected his flesh and kept his corpse immortal.

    BANG!

    Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s enormous body scattered like gray smoke.

    The countless wisps of dense gray death power just intertwined by themselves in that area, as if they were confused.

    The death power had been suppressing, eroding, and unraveling Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s corpse, but now they suddenly found their target dissipating like smoke. It seemed that these powers from the Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had yet to figure out what had happened.

    Nie Tian, however, raised his head to look into the sky and let out a light, relieved cry.

    Pei Qiqi and the others suddenly discovered that the visibly deep wounds on his body had somehow healed in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 1655: The Beginning of Chaos

    Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s residual flesh power had a wondrous healing effect.

    It was a blessing from the Tree of Life, and the unique feature of a life bloodline.

    Since Nie Tian also carried a life bloodline, as he was now infused with such flesh power that brimmed with life force after suffering severe injuries, thepatibility between them was perfect.

    His wounds healed at a visible speed.

    Pei Qiqi and the others, however, faced the bones that were hovering around them with grim expressions.

    FZZZ!

    Two streaks of lightning suddenly shot out of Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes like two giant serpents.

    Upon contact, they reduced a bone to scattering ashes, giving rise to a fierce cry.

    Immediately afterwards, the numerous pale white bones started attacking Pei Qiqi and Feng Beiluo.

    Yuan Jiuchuan was intentionally avoided.

    ¡°These bones are condensations of refined soul power and death power!¡± The Thunder Devil¡¯s eyes lit up as he instantly realized that his lightning power could be used to deal with these illusory bones heavy blows.

    That was something Pei Qiqi and Feng Beiluo couldn¡¯t do.

    The Thunder Devil suddenly became their main fighter. He quickly released his lightning domain, which consisted of many thunder pools. Each and every thunder pool burst forth with devastating lightning bolts.

    In rolling thunder, the lightning bolts slithered through the void like heavenly serpents, reducing bone after bone to dissipating ashes.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian stayed where he was, floating motionlessly.

    ¡°Fifty percent, sixty percent, seventy percent...¡± He muttered inwardly, sensing the recovery of his fleshly wounds and the condensation of fresh Blood Essence. His expression gradually grew calm. ¡°Almost there.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, the concentration of death power is rising rapidly,¡± Feng Beiluo said.

    Thanks to the Thunder Devil, he and Pei Qiqi no longer needed to worry about the hovering bones, which was why they examined their surroundings.

    They shrewdly discovered that the concentration of the death power in this area was rising rapidly now that Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s body had turned into ashes and dissipatedpletely.

    ¡°The existence of Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s body and his exuberant residual life power was the reason why the death Qi here was thin,¡± Feng Beiluo said. ¡°Now that it¡¯s gone, the death power that was originally gathered here is flooding back.¡±

    ¡°Some Bonedrudes areing towards us,¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly said.

    WHOOSH!

    A streak of blood-red flesh aura shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s chest and disappeared into Pei Qiqi¡¯s chest.

    A rich life aura instantly broke out. Like thousands of tiny lightning bolts, they flew to every corner of her body to fix her ruptured meridians, allowing her to recover from the bacsh she had suffered from overly stimting her space bloodline.

    This recovery rate surpassed any medicinal pill she had ever taken.

    Looking at her, Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s residual power has helped me a great deal. Now, we need you. We need your help.¡±

    All of a sudden, voices echoed out. Some Bonedrudes were shouting something in anguage that was very hard to understand.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go kill them!¡±

    ¡°Kill the intruders!¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re in the area where that Floragrim grand monarch died!¡±

    Before long, a group of Bonedrudes, who had been traveling and seeking to upgrade their bloodlines in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, entered the view of Nie Tian and the others.

    None of these Bonedrudes were tall.

    It seemed that they were only at the fifth or sixth grade, their eyes turning and flickering with the light of intelligence.

    However, upon seeing Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and the others, they were dumbstruck. ¡°Humans? Humans from the Doomed Star Sea?!¡±

    They scrambled to turn around and ran for their lives, as if they had seen the most horrible ghosts.

    Pei Qiqi was baffled. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±

    ¡°I suppose they¡¯re only low-grade Bonedrudes that were traveling in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones,¡± Feng Beiluo said. ¡°Age-wise, they¡¯re only a bunch of teenagers. Their bloodline grades don¡¯t allow them to go fight in the Doomed Star Sea yet. However, from their n elders, they¡¯ve learned that the humans in the Doomed Star Sea are the most vicious and deadly, and have ughtered countless talented members of their n.

    ¡°Just as our youngsters fear the three major races in the Void World, they fear us as well.¡±

    ¡°After all, we have indeed killed more grand patriarchs and grand monarchs of the three races than we can count in the Doomed Star Sea. Many of them might be considered figures of great talent from the generations that came before them.¡±

    Pei Qiqi took a moment to think, and then nodded slowly.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Nie Tian said, sensing around by relying on his life bloodline. ¡°I¡¯ve found a new direction. It won¡¯t be wrong this time.¡±

    ¡°Okay!¡±

    Then, Nie Tian took the lead and sped through the void like a lightning bolt, heading towards areas where the death power was the faintest.

    The other three followed along in silence.

    Pei Qiqi summoned her Space Boundaries Crystal. As she flew on, azure light burst forth from within her from time to time. Even her eyes grew brighter and brighter.

    The flesh power essence Nie Tian had given her, which was infused with the fortune of life, continued to roam in her body and heal her bloodline.

    They encountered a few groups of Bonedrudes along the way.

    However, all of them were at low grades, and ran in fear upon the sight of them.

    Nie Tian turned a blind eye to them, refusing to waste his power killing Bonedrudes that didn¡¯t matter.

    Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan, however, struck out in every encounter, and bombarded those low-grade Bonedrudes into bone powder.

    ¡°Those Bonedrudes who are allowed toe temper themselves in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones may be cornerstones of their race in the future. Even though their battle prowess isn¡¯t worth mentioning now, they may very well grow into grand patriarchs and grand monarchs that¡¯ll charge into the Doomed Star Sea and be our arch rivalster on.¡± With these words, Feng Beiluo smashed a fifth grade Bonedrude, shattering his every bone.

    After an unknown period of time...

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline could no longer detect death power, which used to be everywhere. Even the starry river seemed brighter.

    That was when he saw Bonedrude starships being surrounded and attacked by arge number of human hybrids.

    All of the Bonedrude starships were on fire and exploding in ces.

    While Bonedrudes were being bombarded to death by human hybrids, human hybrids were being ughtered by the Bonedrudes with death power.

    This bloody battle was taking ce right outside the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.

    While observing the battle, Feng Beiluo suddenlyughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s our people, young master. This is the Bonedrudes¡¯ Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones. If our people are attacking a Bonedrude star fleet here, then it means battles like this are likely taking ce in other parts of the Void World as well.¡±

    Surprised, Nie Tian asked, ¡°So they¡¯re not here for us?¡±

    Feng Beiluo shook his head. ¡°I suppose not. If they knew that we were here, they wouldn¡¯t have sent a force like this to attack the Bonedrudes.¡±

    ¡°Feng Beiluo! It¡¯s you!¡± A somewhat fierce voice echoed out before a tall, slim, charming young woman flew over to them.

    She was a hybrid, and her bloodline had reached the ninth grade.

    ¡°Which of you is Nie Tian?¡± she asked with a stern voice.

    With a cold snort, Feng Beiluo said, ¡°You need to address him as ¡®young master!¡¯ Watch your manners!¡±

    The young woman curled her lips with a bit of disdain. ¡°I¡¯ll call him that after he returns to the Doomed Star Sea and wins everyone¡¯s acknowledgment!¡±

    Finally, sheid her eyes on Nie Tian and asked, ¡°You¡¯re him, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Nie Tian said inly. ¡°Who are you?¡±

 Chapter 1656: A Chosen One from the Doomed Star Sea

    This was the first time Nie Tian had seen such arge number of hybrids.

    Right now, the hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea were still fighting the Bonedrudes, using the samebination of power he did in battle: abination of spiritual power and flesh power.

    Only human hybrids could refine their bodies with their bloodline power and make advances in their cultivation bases at the same time. It was like having another source of prowess added to their battles.

    As for these few hundred hybrids, all of their bloodlines were at fairly low grades, but their cultivation bases were mostly at the Void and Saint domain.

    The tall, slender young woman in front of him was the only one whose bloodline was at the ninth grade.

    Meanwhile, her cultivation base was at the peak of the Saint domain. She would most likely advance to the God domain within a short time.

    However, as talented as she might be, she didn¡¯t really surprise Nie Tian.

    He had ughtered even grand monarchs. How could he be impressed by a grand patriarch or a Saint domain cultivator anymore?

    ¡°Her name is Jiang Qinghuang, young master,¡± Feng Beiluo said to Nie Tian. ¡°Her bloodlinees from the phoenixes of the Ancientbeasts. She¡¯s one of our three prodigies in the Doomed Star Sea whose bloodlines have entered the ninth grade. As you know, it¡¯s rtively easy to make advances in cultivation base, but it takes much longer time to temper and upgrade bloodlines.¡±

    Nie Tian looked surprised as he said, ¡°To me, it appears to be easier to make advances in my bloodline than in my cultivation base.¡±

    Upon hearing this, the young woman named Jiang Qinghuang let out a derisive snort. ¡°That¡¯s some big talk there. Your cultivation base has clearly entered the God domain, but your bloodline is still at the same grade as mine, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Feng Beiluo gave her a nasty look and said, ¡°Shut it, Jiang Qinghuang! Don¡¯t think that your father can protect you from any wrongdoing because he¡¯s ate tenth grade senior in the Doomed Star Sea. Do you know who you¡¯re talking to?¡±

    ¡°The master hasn¡¯t announced his status yet, and he hasn¡¯t returned to the Doomed Star Sea. I don¡¯t have to tter him now.¡± With these words, Jiang Qinghuang tilted her chin and took a sideways nce at Nie Tian. ¡°Theyud you to the skies in the Doomed Star Sea. Who knows if those rumors are true or false? They say that you killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone and fought off Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory in the Spirit World, and slew three Devil grand monarchs in the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement...¡±

    After a short pause, she added, ¡°I don¡¯t believe them anyway.¡±

    Taken aback, Nie Tian pointed at her and said to Feng Beiluo, ¡°There are only three hybrids like her in the Doomed Star Sea whose bloodlines have entered the ninth grade?¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded with a bitter smile. ¡°Well, it hasn¡¯t been long since our hybrid project started, and it takes a long time to upgrade bloodlines. It¡¯s already an impressive achievement that we have three grand patriarchs now. Not everyone has your bloodline talent, and thus the ability to secure an unimpeded path of bloodline advancement.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head slightly. ¡°I¡¯m not very impressed.¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang and a few hybrids whose bloodlines were at the eighth grade and whose cultivation bases were at the Saint domain fixed Nie Tian with furious res.

    ¡°Well, if they¡¯re now fighting the Bonedrudes outside the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, doesn¡¯t it mean that we¡¯re safe?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°I suppose we are...¡± Feng Beiluo said, before fixing Jiang Qinghuang with an inquiring look, as if to ask, ¡°Right?¡±

    ¡°You seem anxious.¡± With these words, Jiang Qinghuang let out a snort and took her time to exin the current situation to him.

    Nie Tian then learned that heaven and earth had turned upside down (Idiom: chaos) in the Void World since Pei Qiqi had taken them to the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones with her spatial power.

    Thanks to Dong Li, the Devils¡¯ Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement had ceased to exist.

    Both Shao Tianyang, the head of the fire element sect, and the me dragon high chieftain had been freed. Since they had regained their freedom, they had been ying Devils and absorbing me power from the Devils¡¯ fiery realms to recover their strength.

    Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, Chu Rui, and the others from the Mortal World had also been ravaging the Devil realms without holding back.

    The Devils¡¯ territories had been plunged into chaos. The Devils were busy handling the situation.

    Meanwhile, Pei Yukong had led a force of Voidspirits into the Void World to hunt and kill Netherspirits.

    It hadn¡¯t been long since their arrival, yet several Netherspirit grand patriarchs and hundreds of young Netherspirits with great potential had died at their hands.

    It was said that even Grand Monarch Soul Converger had been severely injured by Pei Yukong.

    Word of it had spread to the Doomed Star Sea and shaken the people there.

    In the Doomed Star Sea, powerful experts that had been fighting the three races from the Void world hadunched forceful raids, and sacked many strongholds that the outsiders had built in the Doomed Star Sea.

    After that, three of the powerful experts in the Doomed Star Sea had entered the Void World.

    Jiang Qinghuang¡¯s father and Grand Monarch Hell Demon were among them.

    They had been moving around to attack the Bonedrude and the Netherspirit realms, and plunging Bonedrudes and Netherspirits everywhere into confusion.

    Jiang Qinghuang¡¯s father was ate tenth grade phoenix.

    It was said that there had been conflicts between him and the me dragon high chieftain a hundred millennia ago. After a hard-fought battle, he had lost and escaped to the Doomed Star Sea, where he had hoped to find opportunities to make himself stronger.

    After many years, he had met Nie Tian¡¯s father.

    Right after that, he had decided to join Nie Tian¡¯s father and be his right-hand man.

    Jiang Qinghuang was the hybrid child of him and a female human. Since she had awakened her bloodline at a young age and had been making strides in both her bloodline and cultivation, she had been considered the most promising hybrids in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Even Jiang Qinghuang herself thought that she was the brightest future star of the younger generation in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Then, Nie Tian had suddenlye along.

    Gradually, his name and identity had be known by more and more people, along with his unbelievable battle performances and miraculous achievements.

    The title ¡®young master¡¯ had started to be mentioned in the Doomed Star Sea.

    All of the talented young hybrids, who had been made in the Doomed Star Sea and served the purpose of keeping the three major races of the Void World from invading the Mortal World, had suddenly been outshone.

    There was even a rumor that Nie Tian¡¯s mother, that graceful woman, had joked that she and Nie Tian would make a perfect match.

    As soon as that rumor had spread, people had started to say that it was only a matter of time before Nie Tian was ushered into the Doomed Star Sea, and then the two of them would most likely get married, considering the rtionship between her father and Nie Tian¡¯s.

    Then, Jiang Qinghuang had finally started paying attention to words about Nie Tian. Soon, she had learned about Dong Li and Pei Qiqi, which had made her furious.

    After exining the situation, Jiang Qinghuang said somewhat coldly, ¡°So you don¡¯t have to worry anymore. I¡¯m taking you to my father right now. He¡¯s in the vicinity, overseeing our battles.¡±

    Feng Beiluo was overjoyed upon hearing this. ¡°Lord Dn is nearby?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Jiang Qinghuang said with an expressionless face.

    Feng Beiluo let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Then we really have nothing to worry about.¡±

    He turned to Nie Tian and said, ¡°With Lord Dn here, you should be able to have a full recovery soon. Then, it¡¯ll be about time you entered the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    Nie Tian was intrigued. ¡°The Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    ¡°Now follow me.¡± With these words, Jiang Qinghuang took the lead to fly off.

    Nie Tian and the others followed along.

    As they did, Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect whispered the situation in the Doomed Star Sea to Nie Tian, along with many things that most people didn¡¯t know.

    Nie Tian listened with rapt attention.

    Through Feng Beiluo¡¯s exnation, the mysterious Doomed Star Sea finally revealed itself before him, like the mist veiling an ind gradually dissipating.

 Chapter 1657: Trend

    The Doomed Star Sea had been an unusualnd of the cursed since the human race had risen in the Mortal World.

    The human race had various kinds of Qi warrior sects, among which the four great ancient sects were the strongest. In ancient times, there had also been strong sects that hadpeted with the four great ancient sects, but after losing thepetition, they had also lost their ce in the Mortal World, so they had gone out to explore new worlds. That was how they had found the Doomed Star Sea.

    For thousands of years after that, countless cultivators who hadmitted heinous crimes and sects that hadn¡¯t been considered to be legitimate had entered the Doomed Star Sea to take refuge.

    Later on, some rebellious outsiders from the Spirit World had alsoe to the Doomed Star Sea.

    Over time, the Doomed Star Sea had be a ce where evil beings and crooked forces gathered. With its tough environment, the closer it was to the Void World, the more dangerous it became.

    Nie Tian¡¯s father was named Qin Yao.

    Before he had entered the Doomed Star Sea, the situation in the Doomed Star Sea had been veryplicated, with many experts upying different areas and fighting each other year-round.

    The battles in the Doomed Star Sea were often fiercer than those in the Mortal World and Spirit World.

    After reaching the Doomed Star Sea, Qin Yao had be stronger and stronger. Through numerous bloody battles, he had climbed to the top and brought together all the vicious forces in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Jiang Qinghuang¡¯s father, Dn of the Ancientbeasts, had been one of the overlords in the Doomed Star Sea. Nheless, he had bowed down to him eventually.

    Right now, the Doomed Star Sea had six experts who were eitherte tenth grade grand monarchs like Dn or at thete God domain.

    As for early and middle tenth grade grand monarchs and human Qi warriors who were at the early and middle God domain, their numbers were naturally much greater.

    This was because Qin Yao had begun to organize and nrge-scale battles against the three outsider races of the Void World after he had risen to power in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Previously, the forces in the Doomed Star Sea hadn¡¯t been able to put up a fight facing the suppression and invasion of the three outsider races of the Void World.

    When the three outsider races of the Void World had entered the Doomed Star Sea, their intention had always been to cross into the Mortal World.

    Especially after the Tree of Life had used its tremendous power to iste the Silent Star Sea, the Void World could only target the Doomed Star Sea.

    However, the Doomed Star Sea had turned out to be full of danger. The three outsider races of the Void World had failed to get anything from it or wipe out those from the Spirit World and Mortal World.

    After his arrival, Qin Yao had quickly united the forces in the Doomed Star Sea, and organized battles against the three outsider races of the Void World.

    Because Qin Yao and the others were familiar with the Doomed Star Sea, they had had a slight advantage when fighting against the three outsider races. Besides, if they couldn¡¯t defeat the other side, they would just run.

    While they had fought and escaped, many years had passed. However, the three outsider races still hadn¡¯t taken down the Doomed Star Sea and marched into the Mortal World.

    In contrast, Qin Yao¡¯s force had gradually grown stronger, and had vaguely gained enough power topete with the three outsider races.

    This wasrgely because there were rare materials and resources in the Doomed Star Sea and the Void World that were unavable in the Mortal World or Spirit World.

    It was very difficult for outsiders to enter the Doomed Star Sea, but the crooked forces in the Doomed Star Sea were capable of entering the Mortal World and Spirit World as long as they remained hidden.

    Dn of the Ancientspirits who carried the phoenix bloodline, for example, could easily go to the Spirit World through the spatial passages between the Mortal World and the Spirit World.

    One could find a wide variety of priceless treasures that were hard to find across the three worlds. Even Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir wasn¡¯t rare in the Doomed Star Sea.

    As a result, many outsiders with low bloodline grades and Qi warriors with low cultivation bases were likely to make rapid advances after entering the Doomed Star Sea.

    In addition, the countless battles they had fought against the three outsider races of the Void World for years had inspired and allowed many to be powerful experts.

    However, those in the Doomed Star Sea had also suffered horrifying casualties.

    Powerful experts could survive in the poor environment of the Doomed Star Sea, but the weak were prone to idents and died easily. It was even harder for newly-born human children to survive in the Doomed Star Sea before they became Qi warriors.

    Hence, breeding hybrids had be a new path.

    Back when he had been in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce of the Mortal World, Qin Yao had been the advocate and enforcer of the new hybrid system.

    However, he had failed too many times and made a big mistake in his early trials. The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been so furious that they had driven him out.

    The hybrid road that he had studied had failed to carry forward in the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the Mortal World. However, after he hade to the Doomed Star Sea, his hybrid road had seeded and had been regarded as a miracle by all the experts.

    Therefore, he had won the title of ¡°Creator.¡±

    This so-called title meant that he had created a new system of beings that could cultivate both their bloodlines and spiritual seas.

    As arge number of hybrids had been born in the Doomed Star Sea, and more and more people had begun to cultivate bloodlines as well as spiritual seas, those in the Doomed Star Sea had started to say that a new age wasing.

    Feng Beiluo told Nie Tian that almost all of their early battles against the three outsider races had taken ce in the Doomed Star Sea, because they had been more familiar with the Doomed Star Sea than the three outsider races.

    Only the top experts, such as Nie Tian¡¯s father and Jiang Qinghuang¡¯s father, had ventured into the Void World asionally, showing up in various forbiddennds of the Void World in search of priceless treasures unique to the Void World.

    That was because the overall strength of the Doomed Star Sea was much weaker than that of the three outsider races in the Void World.

    The top ten grand monarchs of the Void World were allte tenth grade grand monarchs.

    There were alsote tenth grade grand monarchs like Grand Monarch Soul Condenser who couldn¡¯t even make the top ten.

    Apart from Qin Yao, there were only sixte tenth grade grand monarchs andte God domain experts in the Doomed Star Sea

    If they had been in the Mortal World, this kind of power would have surpassed any of the four great ancient sects¡¯ strength, but if they wanted to fight the three outsider races in the Void World, it was still not enough.

    Hence, most of the time they wouldn¡¯t leave the Doomed Star Sea. They only stayed to fight the three outsider races by virtue of their familiarity with the Doomed Star Sea.

    Over the years, many experts had been killed by the three outsider races of the Void World, but had gradually been supplemented by the new crooked forces from the Mortal World and the Spirit World, so that they could always maintain their fighting strength, umte power and be stronger and stronger.

    ¡°A while ago, the Void World made up their minds to gather the powers of the three outsider races and even instigate small races like the Lightspirits, Seaspirits, and Moonspirits to swarm into the Doomed Star Sea. After they started a full-frontal war with us, we couldn¡¯t resist, and were forced to retreat from battles.

    ¡°Several of our strongholds were found and suffered heavy losses.

    ¡°We had no choice but to go to the Shatter Battlefield to wake up the Chaos Behemoth, hoping to turn the tables with the help of its chaos power.

    ¡°However...¡± Feng Beiluo sighed with mixed emotions.

    His spirits suddenly rose again as he added, ¡°The fact that you dealt them a heavy blow in the Mortal World and killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone and forced Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory to flee from the Spirit World was an inspiration to us!

    ¡°While we were in a bad situation, you won battle after battle in the Mortal World and Spirit World. In addition to your identity, your name has already spread all over the Doomed Star Sea without your noticing it.¡±

    As the two talked, Pei Qiqi said nothing and just listened.

    ¡°What is the rtionship between the Doomed Star Sea and the Voidspirits?¡± she asked suddenly.

    ¡°We¡¯re partners,¡± Feng Beiluo answered. ¡°Each side takes what it needs because we share amon enemy.¡±

    Soon, his eyes brightened and he pointed to a dazzling phoenix that appeared in its true form in the distance. ¡°Lord Dn!¡±

 Chapter 1658: Become Well-known

    Dn¡¯s true form burst forth with golden light so dazzling that no one could open their eyes.

    The phoenix looked like a golden ocean after spreading his wings, which had a span of several thousand meters.

    Each of his feathers was filled with fierce energy, bursting forth with dazzling light.

    Even though it was still far away, as Nie Tian squinted and examined it carefully, he could see the golden light flowing through the golden feathers.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Golden light sputtered from his wings now and then. He let out a light cry, and streaks of golden light in the starry river were channeled and gathered towards him.

    Upon seeing him, Jiang Qinghuang and several hybrids shouted loudly.

    Jiang Qinghuang yelled, ¡°Father, we found Nie Tian on the edge of the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.¡±

    The golden phoenix gave out a scream, and its huge body instantly shrank. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    In a sh, Dn morphed into his human form. Dressed in fine gilded robes, Dn looked like a handsome, radiant young man.

    Circles of golden halos that were filled with an amazing flesh aura surrounded him.

    He instantly flew past Jiang Qinghuang and the young hybrids, came directly to Nie Tian, and examined him with curious eyes, ¡°Hmm? Weren¡¯t you seriously injured? Howe it doesn¡¯t look like it?¡±

    His eyes were like priceless golden beads, and he seemed to see right through Nie Tian.

    ¡°Umm...¡± Nie Tian hesitated before saying, ¡°I found Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s corpse in the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones. Because Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s flesh aura hadn¡¯t dissipatedpletely and had some connection with mine, it merged into my body. The injuries Grand Monarch Soul Capturer inflicted upon me have healed to arge extent.¡±

    ¡°So it was due to Grand Monarch Life Wood!¡± Dn eximed softly, before he sighed and added, ¡°When Grand Monarch Life Wood crossed the Doomed Star Sea, I paid him a secret visit and tried to dissuade him. I owed a debt of gratitude to him in the early days when I was still in the Spirit World. But he didn¡¯t listen to me, and resolutely went to the Doomed Star Sea to seek a so-called opportunity in the forbiddennds. As a result...¡±

    As he thought of this, Dn felt regret.

    Before he had left the Spirit World, he hadn¡¯t been able to match the chieftain of the me dragons in either bloodline grade or battle prowess.

    After he had left, he entered the Doomed Star Sea. Within a short time, his bloodline had broken through, and he had be one of thete tenth grade grand monarchs and established a position in the Doomed Star Sea.

    His choices and achievements had intrigued Grand Monarch Life Wood.

    Grand Monarch Life Wood had thought he would have an even better chance if he went to the forbiddennds in the Void World, since Dn had been able to achieve so much in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Grand Monarch Primal Demon and Grand Monarch Nether River had had the same idea as him. After they had entered the Doomed Star Sea and learned about it, they had be even more determined, rushing into the Void World one after another.

    They had all assumed that it was due to the wonders of the forbiddennds in the Void World that Qin Yao, as well as all thete tenth grade grand monarchs andte God domain experts, could build up their strength so quickly.

    Those outsider grand monarchs and God domain experts had been far weaker than them when they had first entered the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°Lord Dn, young master hasn¡¯t recovered from his wounds yet. Should we send him to the Doomed Star Sea or help him regain his strength as soon as possible?¡± Feng Beiluo asked.

    ¡°What do you think, Nie Tian?¡± Dn asked.

    ¡°Regain my strength? How?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy,¡± Dn replied with a smile and flicked his sleeve. Then, a streak of golden light streaked across the void, and balls of light that were likerge walnuts appeared in his palms. ¡°Here you are. These are Blood-condensing Pills.¡±

    The Blood-condensing Pills were dark red. They were asrge as fists and rich in flesh aura.

    There were six Blood-condensing Pills in total. Each of them contained flesh aura that was equal to that of an outsider grand patriarch.

    In fact, the six Blood-condensing Pills in Dn¡¯s palms were really made from six grand patriarchs of the Devils and Netherspirits. ¡°Six Blood-condensing Pills should be enough to help you recover, right?¡±

    ¡°Dad, his bloodline is at the ninth grade like mine. How can he consume all of these Blood-condensing Pills?¡± Jiang Qinghuang asked, her heart full of grievances. ¡°Besides, haven¡¯t you said those Blood-condensing Pills are for me when my bloodline breaks through to the tenth grade? If you give him all those precious Blood-condensing Pills, are you even taking me into consideration?¡±

    ¡°How dare you be so disrespectful?!¡± With these words, Dn sighed and said apologetically to Nie Tian, ¡°She¡¯s been spoiled and willful in the Doomed Star Sea since childhood. I have been fighting the three outsider races of the Void World all the time, so I¡¯m not strict with her. Just ignore her. It¡¯s extremely difficult for others to absorb all these Blood-condensing Pills, but if you take your time, you should be able to absorb them all. Ehh...¡± He stood aghast before he could finish.

    Before the six Blood-condensing Pills could even fall into Nie Tian¡¯s hands, they were already ignited and set aze like dark red balls of fire.

    Wisps of pure flesh aura rose from all six of them, flew into Nie Tian¡¯s pores, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

    Momentster, all six Blood-condensing Pills burnt out, leaving no trace of flesh aura.

    Dn and Jiang Qinghuang, as well as the other hybrids, were dumbfounded.

    Blood-condensing Pills were a kind of flesh aura medicine specially invented by Nie Tian¡¯s father for hybrids and outsiders like Dn.

    Dn¡¯s Blood-condensing Pills had been refined from the grand patriarchs he had killed. Reasonably speaking, if someone with a ninth grade bloodline absorbed a Blood-condensing Pill that contained a ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s flesh power, they should be able to regain their fighting strength.

    Shouldn¡¯t the flesh auras of people who shared the same grade be equal?

    However, Nie Tian had easily absorbed six Blood-condensing Pills before their eyes, and seemed to need even more.

    Dn froze for a moment before he said, ¡°I thought that your power originated from your human God domain cultivation base and the wonders of your tools. I now know that that is not the case. It seems that I¡¯ve misunderstood. A few Blood-condensing Pills can¡¯t provide the flesh aura that you need.¡±

    Nie Tian spoke truthfully, ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Dn was immediately impressed with Nie Tian. ¡°Those were all the Blood-condensing Pills I had. Well, I¡¯ll go ask Grand Monarch Hell Demon for some. I¡¯ve got to admit that I underestimated you. Grand Monarch Hell Demon has been speaking highly of you since he came back. A lot of people were unconvinced. I was a little skeptical too, but I¡¯m not now.¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang and the several other hybrids fell silent.

    Nie Tian was calm as ever. In fact, he hadn¡¯t attached any importance to the so-called hybrid geniuses in the Doomed Star Sea like Jiang Qinghuang.

    In his opinion, only Grand Monarch Hell Demon and this Dn in front of him could speak to him as equals.

    It was also because of this that he hadughed off Jiang Qinghuang¡¯s previous provocation and ignored her, because the gap between the two of them was simply too vast.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need Blood-condensing Pills anymore. Do you have a way to send me to the territory of the Devils?¡± Nie Tian asked with a smile. ¡°I hear that my people are there now. You can just send me there and help me find them.¡±

    Dn pondered for a bit, then nodded. ¡°Sure.¡±

    Nie Tian made an obeisance by sping his hands. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    ¡°Father, the chieftain of the me dragons is also in the Devils¡¯ territory, but you...¡± Jiang Qinghuang reminded Dn.

    Dn waved his hand. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±

    BOOM!

    A golden spatial altar manifested out of thin air. ¡°This altar was built by Pei Yukong himself. It connects to the Devils¡¯ territory.¡± Dn said.

    Pei Qiqi seemed to sense something through her bloodline, and nodded to Nie Tian.

 Chapter 1659: An Invisible Deterrent!

    In the territory of the Devils in the Void World.

    The starry river was filled with the corpses of many devil beasts, devil insects and, devils, as well as the fragments of ancient starships.

    SWISH!

    Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, Dn, and the others flew out of a spatial passage.

    Aftering out, Dn nced at the battlefield and felt surprised. ¡°Thetest information I got said that Dong Li and the neers from the Mortal World were here, in the Domain of Devil Abyss. So many devil beasts and devil insects have died. Looks like fierce battles have taken ce here.¡±

    ¡°Lots of them are seventh and eighth grade devil beasts and Devils!¡± Jiang Qinghuang eximed. ¡°Strange. It seems that the winners didn¡¯t collect the corpses.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because they simply didn¡¯t spark their interest,¡± Dn said coolly.

    Nie Tian said inwardly, ¡°Life Drain.¡±

    BOOM!

    His peculiar flesh aura sea instantly burst forth, and a sea of scarlet blood spread around him.

    As soon as his flesh aura sea formed, it seemed that numerous crystalline chains appeared, manifesting thews of life and many profound truths. Each beam of blood light that shot out of it was like a brilliant rainbow.

    Blown by the strong wind in the starry river, many scattered devil insects were suddenly reduced to flying ashes.

    After them, devil beasts with rtively low bloodlines also dissipated like powder.

    Only the corpses of the devil beasts and Devils whose bloodlines had reached the eighth grade could be seen rapidly decaying, as if they were experiencing thousands of years of erosion in a second.

    Jiang Qinghuang and the several eighth-grade hybrids instantly opened their eyes wide.

    They were not stupid.

    The disappearance of the many devil insects as well as the rapid decay of the eighth-grade devil beasts and Devils made them instantly understand that this was because Nie Tian had disyed his flesh aura sea and absorbed their remaining flesh aura within a short time, which had elerated the erosion of the devil creatures¡¯ corpses, which no longer had any power to support them.

    WHOOSH!

    A piercingly cold current flew past.

    All the dead devil insects, devil beasts, and Devils immediately vanished. Only the wreckage of the destroyed warships remained in the dim starry river.

    Nie Tian took a breath, and his flesh aura sea instantly shrank.

    Countless rays of electric crimson light flew into him along with his flesh aura sea, like bloodthirsty pythons that had finished a frenzied feeding session.

    As the electric crimson light vanished, Nie Tian¡¯s frown rxed a little. He smiled and said to Dn, ¡°Now that we¡¯re in the Devils¡¯ territory and there are plenty of Devils that I can use, I don¡¯t need Blood-condensing Pills anymore. I¡¯ll continue to stay in the Void World, but I¡¯ll be more careful so that what happened before, where I was nearly killed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, won¡¯t happen again.¡±

    Dn was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, ¡°The origin of life... the most wonderful bloodline. Its wonders are inconceivable indeed.¡±

    Nie Tian froze and said in surprise, ¡°Are you unfamiliar with my bloodline?¡±

    Dn replied frankly, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anything like it.¡±

    ¡°No wonder, no wonder you were able to improve your bloodline to the ninth grade in such a short time,¡± Jiang Qinghuang said, looking a little frustrated. ¡°This kind of wondrous bloodline talent can condense outsiders¡¯ flesh auras, purify, then use them. With this kind of bloodline, you can continue to advance as long as you keep killing and condensing.¡±

    The other hybrids looked envious.

    Nie Tian was amazed. ¡°Is he not the source of my bloodline? You¡¯ve known him for years. Howe you haven¡¯t seen it?¡±

    Nie Tian was talking about Qin Yao, of course.

    His mother, Nie Jin, was a pure human. Since he carried a life bloodline, Qin Yao, his father, should carry it too.

    Dn smiled. ¡°Who told you Brother Qin was an outsider? If he were an outsider, how could the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce have possibly kept him as a member for so long?¡±

    Nie Tian was surprised. ¡°Then my bloodline?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯te from nowhere, of course. After youe back to the Doomed Star Sea and meet Brother Qin, you can ask him about the details,¡± Dn let out augh and said. ¡°He¡¯s a pure human, but he knows the bloodlines of all races better than anyone. Otherwise, how could he earn himself the title of ¡®Creator¡¯?¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Nie Tian agreed with a nod. He didn¡¯t continue asking.

    He activated Life Detection to search for Dong Li and the others in this so-called Domain of Devil Abyss.

    He didn¡¯t find Dong Li, but found many dead devil beasts and Devils in many realms and the starry river surrounding the Domain of Devil Abyss.

    He could see from the corpses that some of them had been killed by star power, some had been killed by sword light, and some of them had been killed by cold power.

    He hadn¡¯t witnessed the battle, but he could guess from the corpses which sect the killers belonged to.

    Jiang Qinghuang and the others discussed this and other information they knew passionately.

    ¡°This fight was remarkable!¡±

    ¡°After stepping into the Void World, those Qi warriors of the Mortal World were really unkind to the Devils in the Void World.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because, not so long ago, when the outsiders of the Void World and Spirit World invaded the Mortal World, they ughtered everyone. This is retribution.¡±

    Nie Tian paced slowly among all the Devils and devil beasts.

    He released his flesh aura sea and activated his Life Drain bloodline talent. Strands of flesh aura merged into his flesh aura sea, like scraps of iron being drawn to a huge crimson ma.

    His wounds quickly healed.

    ¡°Hmm? There are still spirits!¡± His eyes lit up as he summoned the Spirit Pearl. ¡°Come out. Many fragmentary souls of the Devils and devil beasts have not yetpletely dissipated.¡±

    The five evil gods flew out of the Spirit Pearl and opened their mouths to inhale before gray clouds of smoke disappeared in their mouths.

    Jiang Qinghuang and the other hybrid juniors looked up at the five evil gods that Nie Tian had summoned, their souls trembling.

    They had already heard of the five evil gods from Grand Monarch Hell Demon and Yuan Jiuchuan.

    However, they hadn¡¯t met them in person, so they hadn¡¯t been able to perceive the five evil gods¡¯ power.

    At this time, looking at the five evil gods, they suddenly realized that Nie Tian, who could drive the five evil gods to fight, wasn¡¯t the same as them in terms of fighting strength at all.

    Jiang Qinghuang suddenly felt bitter and helpless, as if she finally understood why Nie Tian had not responded to her previous provocation.

    He had never seen her as a rival.

    Just then, Nie Tian sighed. ¡°They have also been badly injured by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, but it¡¯s harder for them to recover from their wounds and condense soul power than me.¡±

    Dn¡¯s face twitched in spite of himself.

    Feng Beiluo grinned and said, ¡°The fact that these bodies and fragmentary souls haven¡¯t dissipatedpletely suggests that the battle did not end too long ago. Young Master, we shall soon see Miss Dong and your subordinates.¡±

    Nie Tian said, ¡°Mm. I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±

    Pei Qiqi suddenly had a strange look on her face as she said apologetically to Nie Tian, ¡°Well, I sense my father calling me. He¡¯s not in the Devils¡¯ territory. My injuries have almost healed, and I can use the Space Boundaries Crystal now.¡±

    Nie Tian fixed her with a confused look.

    Vaguely, he thought Pei Qiqi was unwilling to see Dong Li. It was perhaps because Pei Yukong stealing his Blood Essence embarrassed Pei Qiqi, and she seemed afraid that Dong Li would me and taunt her for that.

    ¡°They¡¯re nearby. You¡¯re safe now, but my father may need my help,¡± Pei Qiqi spoke perfunctorily. ¡°When we meet, I¡¯ll ask him to apologize.¡±

    Although Nie Tian tried to persuade her to stay, she activated the Space Boundaries Crystal and left.

    Nie Tian looked puzzled.

 Chapter 1660: Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer

    Nie Tian was dying to say that even though her father Pei Yukong had plotted against him, he was not unforgivable.

    At least Pei Yukong¡¯s scheme had brought her to him.

    However, the incident, which wasn¡¯t inexcusable, had be Pei Qiqi¡¯s knotted worry, making her unwilling to face Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates before it was solved.

    What Nie Tian didn¡¯t know was that she also med herself for the heavy blow he had suffered at the Realm of Dark Souls when he had been ambushed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.

    She felt that Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t havee if she hadn¡¯te to the Void World in an attempt to break her bloodline seal and find an answer.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯te, how could he possibly have fallen into the Netherspirits¡¯ trap and even lose his Spirit Scepter?

    This made her afraid to face Dong Li and Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates.

    ¡°We¡¯re losing a great helper without her around,¡± Feng Beiluo spoke, feeling a little disappointed. ¡°When her bloodline recovers, we¡¯ll be able to enter and leave the Void World at will.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t we have that spatial altar?¡± Jiang Qinghuang asked.

    Feng Beiluo sighed. ¡°How can that spatial altar beparable to her? Qinghuang, your life in the Doomed Star Sea has made you arrogant. As a hybrid, you aren¡¯t evenparable to her, much less to the young master.¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang was a little indignant. ¡°She¡¯s not better than me.¡±

    Without realizing it, she had already epted the fact Nie Tian was far stronger than her.

    However, when it came to Pei Qiqi, she was reluctant to acknowledge her inferiority.

    Dn shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. That¡¯s only because she has been severely injured, like Nie Tian. Besides, her Voidspirit bloodline can¡¯t help her regain her fighting strength as quickly as Nie Tian can. And for other reasons, she was silent and didn¡¯t disy her strength.¡±

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s keep searching,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°Once I reconvene with my people, we can part ways.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯vee under orders to bring you back to the Doomed Star Sea, which is more important than fighting the three outsider races of the Void World,¡± Dn said, with a solemn face. ¡°In fact, we only fought in the Void World because we wanted to muddy the waters and buy you time.¡±

    Nie Tian was at a loss. ¡°The Doomed Star Sea, my parents...¡±

    Finally knowing his parents¡¯ whereabouts, he was a little confused and uneasy. He was even a little afraid to go to the Doomed Star Sea to face Qin Yao and his mother Nie Jin.

    At this point, a dark red crystal hanging in front of Dn¡¯s chest suddenly burst forth with rainbow light.

    Feng Beiluo, Yuan Jiuchuan, Jiang Qinghuang, and the other hybrids all looked at him.

    The crystal was amunication tool simr to a sound stone.

    Dn pointed his finger at the dark red crystal and said, ¡°I¡¯ve received exciting news. The battle between Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils and Jiang Yuanchi, who has be chief of the Lightspirits, has ended. I can¡¯t believe that Jiang Yuanchi was the winner! Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher has quietly gone into hiding to recover after being injured.¡±

    Nie Tian was stunned. ¡°Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s battle against Jiang Yuanchi wasn¡¯t over until just now? How long has it been?¡±

    He clearly remembered that Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher and Jiang Yuanchi had started fighting when he had ordered the five evil gods to kill Luo Wanxiang.

    ¡°The more evenly matched the opponents are, the longer the battle,¡± Dn said seriously. ¡°It¡¯s probably because you were much stronger than Grand Monarch Ash Bone and Luo Wanxiang that your battles against them ended so quickly.¡±

    ¡°Does Jiang Yuanchi have any connection with you?¡± Nie Tian asked in a deep tone.

    Dn didn¡¯t deny it. ¡°He is not one of us, but we did share a tacit understanding and made some secret dealings.¡±

    ¡°He knew the wonders of the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Void World, the three outsider races¡¯ powers, and the Lightspirits¡¯ uncanniness because he had learned of that information from us. He had been bent on entering the Void World since he learned about the Lightspirits. He believed that great wondersy with them, ones that could help him reach thete God domain.

    ¡°And he seeded, not only reaching thete God domain, but also dominating the Lightspirits.

    ¡°Even we can¡¯t figure out how he did it. Now, he has done us a big favor by defeating Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils. Perhaps the other Devil grand monarchs will observe him carefully and dispatch more people to fight him, which will help take some pressure off of Dong Li and us.¡±

    Dn appeared to have great respect for Jiang Yuanchi.

    ¡°But when he learns that I have destroyed his foundation in the Mortal World, it¡¯s likely that he wille to kill me,¡± Nie Tian said, pursing his lips. ¡°Jiang Yuanchi is indeed ambitious and capable. He caused a major disaster in the Mortal World, and that Gupi he released destroyed numerous realms. I doubt that he even sees himself as a human anymore.¡±

    Dn thought for a moment and murmured, ¡°That¡¯s true. Since he heard of the Lightspirits in the Void World, he¡¯s been dying to go to the Void World. He doesn¡¯t seem to care about the Shadow Society or anything else. It¡¯s strange that the stubborn Lightspirits epted him and voted for him as their chief.¡±

    All of a sudden, the dark red crystal in front of his chest shone again.

    His expression changed as he hurried to speak, ¡°The location of the iers from the Mortal World has been confirmed. They have left the Domain of Devil Abyss and appeared in Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s territory. Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer has activated the Shadow Devil g and besieged all of them with the devilish power of the entire domain.¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang and the others were greatly frightened, and couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer!¡±

    ¡°The Shadow Devil g!¡±

    ¡°How can these guys be so daring and go to Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s Domain of Shadow Devil?¡± Feng Beiluo said, looking upset.

    He then exined to Nie Tian, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer is stronger than Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher even when she¡¯s not in the Domain of Shadow Devil. When she is there, perhaps only the top three experts in the Void World can match her in terms of fighting strength.

    ¡°That¡¯s because her territory, the Domain of Shadow Devil, and her devil tool, the Shadow Devil g, have be one with her. The devil power and devil Qi in all the realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil are the source of her strength. Unless all the realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil are destroyed and all the devil power in them is exhausted, she will always have power avable.¡±

    ¡°In her territory, the Shadow Devil g¡¯s power can be increased by several times!¡±

    With these words, Feng Beiluo sighed.

    ¡°Did you kill the Son of Darkness?¡± Dn asked Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°He was just a devil brat who didn¡¯t understand the immensity of heaven and earth.¡±

    ¡°The Son of Darkness came from Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s territory,¡± Dn said with a wry smile. ¡°Rumor has it that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer is an elder of his n. It¡¯s just that her darkness bloodline hasn¡¯t been awakened. Now that Dong Li has entered her territory, it¡¯s only natural that she¡¯ll face Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s full-force vengeance.¡±

    ¡°That woman is a lunatic for going there,¡± Jiang Qinghuang yelled.

    ¡°Take me there,¡± said Nie Tian.

    Dn aired his opinion. ¡°If I were in the Doomed Star Sea, I wouldn¡¯t be afraid of her, but in her own domain, I will likely be no match for her.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see how powerful the so-called Shadow Devil g is in her hands, and what¡¯s so special about the Domain of Shadow Devil,¡± Nie Tian spoke with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. My injuries are much better now.¡±

    ¡°Umm... alright then.¡±

 Chapter 1661: The Six Formidable Kingpins

    The Domain of Shadow Devil was filled with devil Qi and boundless darkness.

    Outside the domain, however, stars shone bright, along with suns and moons.

    At this moment, strong spatial fluctuations appeared.

    As soon as Grand Monarch Hell Demon saw Nie Tianing out of a spatial passage, he eximed happily, ¡°Young Master! I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine! I knew that you were only lightly injured by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, and that you would be fine given your powers!¡±

    Some Demons and Phantasms, as well as some hybrids and human Qi warriors, could be seen gathered around Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    They all seemed to obey Grand Monarch Hell Demon and see him as their leader.

    After Nie Tian appeared, they all bowed and saluted as Grand Monarch Hell Demon had done with great respect. ¡°Greetings, Young Master!¡±

    Nie Tian was a little surprised.

    The hundreds of them included Demons, Phantasms, humans, and hybrids. The weakest of them were at the eighth grade and the Void domain.

    All of them were wreathed in ferocious auras, with murderous cruelty in their eyes. One could tell at a single nce that they were rebellious and unkind people.

    Nie Tian examined them with his bloodline, and quickly found out that they were covered in murderous auras, which meant that all of their hands were covered in blood.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon chuckled and said, ¡°Young Master, they are all warriors of the Doomed Star Sea. They¡¯vee to the Void World with me. Last time, I went to the Spirit World alone. But this time, the mistress wants chaos in the Void World, so I brought them.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Dn, Jiang Qinghuang, and the others came through the spatial passage one by one.

    The experts of mixed races around Grand Monarch Hell Demon weren¡¯t deferential to Dn, Jiang Qinghuang, and those with them. They didn¡¯t even salute Dn.

    On the contrary, Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil seemed to know some of those with Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and greeted them with a smile.

    Nie Tian pondered and realized that those around Grand Monarch Hell Demon should be his subordinates.

    Just like Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Dn was also one of the six formidable kingpins in the Doomed Star Sea. The two of them were probablypetitors.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon, you got here fast,¡± Dn said with a smile. ¡°Unfortunately, the Shadow Devil g has been activated, and this is the Domain of Shadow Devil, her nest.¡±

    Nie Tian saw that the Domain of Shadow Devil was alreadypletely enveloped in a dark, cold, and flexible energy.

    Even his flesh aura and soul awareness couldn¡¯t prate it.

    With the help of the Shadow Devil g, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s power had gained control of the entire domain.

    As soon as anyone stepped into the Domain of Shadow Devil, she would immediately sense it andunch a storm of fierce attacks.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon spread his hand and handed thirteen Blood-condensing Pills to Nie Tian. With a broad smile, he said, ¡°Young Master, these are Blood-condensing Pills. I¡¯ve been gathering the Demons since you left for the Void World. I executed a group of Devils who refused to take orders, and I got these Blood-condensing Pills. One of them is refined from the power of several grand patriarchs. Please pay special attention to it.¡±

    He had witnessed Nie Tian fight in the Spirit World, and knew how strong Nie Tian was.

    He was probably the first formidable kingpin in the Doomed Star Sea who had epted Nie Tian. He felt that Nie Tian deserved the title of Young Master in both strength and identity. He approved of himpletely.

    Therefore, when he had heard that Nie Tian had been severely injured and gone missing in the Void World, he had asked toe here.

    Upon meeting again, he unreservedly gave Nie Tian the Blood-condensing Pills that he had gone to great lengths to condense, hoping that Nie Tian could recover quickly.

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Nie Tian said.

    His eyes lit up as he picked out a Blood-condensing Pill, which seemed ordinary but carried an extremely tremendous flesh aura. ¡°This one alone is almost enough.¡±

    As soon as the Blood-condensing Pill fell into his hand, it shrank rapidly with a harsh noise.

    After a while, it meltedpletely.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes instantly brightened. He nodded at Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and said, ¡°My wounds are almostpletely healed.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed. ¡°Great.¡±

    He didn¡¯t have an affected air and put away the remaining Blood-condensing Pills, then he said with a solemn expression, ¡°Young Master, those people from the Mortal World are being led by your fianc¨¦e. Their recent incursion into the Domain of Shadow Devil angered Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer. After she activated the Shadow Devil g and shut down the entire domain, no living creature has walked out of it.

    ¡°Some of my people have gone in, but none of them havee back, or sent a message. So I really don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on inside, and I didn¡¯t dare to go in there myself.¡±

    Suddenly, a piercing scream that could break heaven and earth rang out from the depths of the Domain of Shadow Devil. ¡°The Gilded Phoenix and Grand Monarch Hell Demon from the Doomed Star Sea!¡±

    Devil Qi billowed as a soft cold flesh aura morphed into a ferocious face in a sea of devilish clouds in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The ferocious face was like a round purple sun, emitting purple lightning and ck devilish fire, but its appearance couldn¡¯t be made out.

    Everyone from the Doomed Star Sea who had seen or fought this Devil grand monarch before either shouted loudly or eximed softly. ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer!¡±

    They all looked very grim.

    Nie Tian frowned.

    As soon as Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s ferocious face appeared, he had an uncanny feeling that she had be one with the entire Domain of Shadow Devil, and that the realms and stars were her viscera.

    It seemed she had refined the colossal Domain of Shadow Devil through her devil tool, the Shadow Devil g.

    The whole Domain of Shadow Devil seemed to have be a weird living being simr to a Star Behemoth. The core of every star was working hard to channel devil Qi from the surrounding starry sea to this domain.

    Relying on the Domain of Shadow Devil, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer refined her bloodline and strengthened herself.

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness spread, and he immediately realized that the Domain of Shadow Devil in front of him was a like colossal array or Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s inner domain, in which she was in her element. ¡°The Domain of Shadow Devil and the Shadow Devil g have be one. The g is controlling the entire domain.¡±

    Dn pondered, then said, ¡°She seems to be waiting for us. Where¡¯s Snow Devil? Have youmunicated with her?¡±

    ¡°She should be here any time now,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon replied and looked around subconsciously before he yelled in surprise, ¡°She¡¯s here!¡±

    Crystal-clear snowkes started falling in the starry river.

    The snowkes gave off a chilly power that made those outside the Domain of Shadow Devil feel like they were in an icy wondend.

    Each snowke was filled with cold power that gave Nie Tian a sense of familiarity. ¡°Snow Devil...¡±

    Before he had gone to meet Dn, Feng Beiluo had said that there were six formidable kingpins below Qin Yao in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Before Qin Yao hade along, all six of them had all been ambitious overlords in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Snow Devil, Dn, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon were just three of them.

    Although Snow Devil¡¯s title had the word ¡®devil¡¯ in it, she was, in fact, a pure human.

    Moreover, Snow Devil had been born in the Domain of Endless Snow in the Mortal World, and cultivated in the Heavenly Ice Sect.

    It was just that she had been expelled by the Heavenly Ice Sect. After drifting around for many years, she had identally stepped into the Doomed Star Sea and derived the true meaning of snow in an unusual coldnd. She had advanced to thete God domain step by step, and be a top expert in the Doomed Star Sea.

    A cold feminine voice came from the snowkes. ¡°Dn, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, help me control the situation. I¡¯ll take a shot at this Domain of Shadow Devil.¡±

    Then the countless snowkes that filled the void slowly sprinkled towards the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    BAM! CRACKLE!

    Upon contact, the snowkes exploded like ice crystals, while the devil light of the Domain of Shadow Devil sputtered in every direction before dissipating.

    An ultimate battle instantly broke out.

 Chapter 1662: Breaking And Entering!

    The snow spread out thinly throughout the starry river.

    Nie Tian gazed around, and discovered that snowkes were flying as far as the eye could see.

    Wherever he looked, the sparkling light of the snowkes grew denser and denser, as if it had started snowing in every corner of the vast Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Meanwhile, the starry river was enveloped in dead silence, with the Snow Devil nowhere to be seen.

    However, he had a strange feeling that she was everywhere, literally everywhere.

    After observing for a long while, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°This is amazing! I¡¯ve never seen or heard of a god domain like this!¡±

    ¡°Nothing can escape your eyes, young master,¡± Dn said, smiling.

    The snow and ice spells the Snow Devil, who had been expelled from the Heavenly Ice Sect in the Domain of Endless Snow, practiced were full of wonders.

    This was the first time that Nie Tian had seen someone¡¯s god domain spread out like this.

    The Snow Devil¡¯s god domain was made of countless snowkes, with each snowke being a fragment of her god domain. As they spread out through the starry river, so did the wonders of her god domain.

    Sparkling, crystal-clear snowkes could be seen exploding everywhere, giving rise to sharp, icy light.

    The icy light then condensed into ciers, icicles, hail, and various other forms, which seemed real, but were actually intangible condensations of cold power.

    As the Devils in the Domain of Shadow Devil looked skywards, they could see icicles and hailstones falling like a storm, and enormous ciers crashing into the realm barrier of their realms. Their collision with the tide of devil power filled the starry river with dazzling light.

    At the same time, they could see a purple g from every corner of every realm with great rity, as if that banner had be one with the realm barriers and was keeping the cold power from infiltrating their realms.

    The shes were glorious but deadly.

    The snowkes that had morphed from the Snow Devil¡¯s god domain manifested numerous profound truths of extreme coldness, but still failed to break the realm barrier of any realm.

    It was as if every bit of the cold power was devoured and neutralized by the Shadow Devil g, which seemed to be everywhere.

    An hour passed...

    The snowkes that had spread to every corner of the Domain of Shadow Devil started flying back.

    They wanted to withdraw from the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°Want to leave?¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s shrill cry echoed from the depths of the Domain of Shadow Devil. Immediately afterwards, numerous devilish beasts charged out, growling as they did.

    With hollow eyes, all of them emanated raging devil power, but not a single wisp of life power.

    Sitting astride them were Devils that were d in fine armor and holding pitch-ck long swords. Together, they morphed into a ck torrent that shed with the flying snowkes.

    Both the riders and the beasts were at the ninth grade, which wasn¡¯t impressive.

    However, the ck torrent they morphed into seemed to be controlled by some force. By making theirbined power coordinate with that of the entire Domain of Shadow Devil, that mysterious force gave a strong boost to their might.

    BOOM!

    The retreating snowkes exploded inrge numbers.

    Outside the Domain of Shadow Devil, Grand Monarch Hell Demon and Dn, the Gilded Phoenix, exchanged a nce with each other before shooting forth simultaneously.

    In a breath¡¯s time, they arrived in the border area of the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°Get the hell out of here!¡±

    Dn assumed his phoenix form, and cast clusters of golden mes that contained the power of nirvana towards the pitch-ck torrent.

    As the clusters of golden mes exploded, numerous devilish beasts and Devil riders that were d in suits of armor were reduced to mists of blood and mangled body parts.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Hell Demon let out a snort, took his Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir, and swung it towards the Domain of Shadow Devil with boundless might.

    ¡°The Demons in the Spirit World are the descendants of our holy race. It¡¯s one thing that you rebelled against us in the Spirit World. How dare youe to make waves in the Void World?!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s fierce cry shook the void. ¡°Hell Demon! You don¡¯t deserve to carry our bloodline!¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed coldly. ¡°It¡¯s not up to you to decide whether I deserve it or not.¡±

    He assumed his enormous demonic form, clutched the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir with his hands, and swung it repeatedly towards the Domain of Shadow Devil with full force.

    However, he felt as if he were hitting a colossal drum with it, giving rise to heaven-rending, earth-crushing sounds.

    He knew that it was actually the Shadow Devil g that took his every hit.

    While the Shadow Devil g showed incredible resilience and seemedpletely undamaged, Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s arms were torn open by the violent bacshes from the collision, with purple blood spewing out.

    After watching the Snow Devil, Dn, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon attack the Domain of Shadow Devil for a long while, using all sorts of magics, Nie Tian discovered that none of them could split it open or effectively infiltrate it with their spiritual power or flesh aura.

    However, all three of them were kingpins in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but say inwardly, ¡°Impressive. Having be one with the Domain of Shadow Devil, she¡¯s using the entire domain as her flesh aura sea. This Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer is special indeed. I wonder if I can tear open the barrier, which is reinforced by the Shadow Devil g, by having the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone activate its Domain Split bloodline talent.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The crimson bone was summoned.

    At the same time, his life bloodline, which had been undisyed for a long time, was activated.

    Jiang Qinghuang, along with the many hybrids and outsiders that had followed Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon here, were the first to sense the anomaly, and fix Nie Tian with astonished gazes.

    They watched Nie Tian expand to be nine thousand meters tall within seconds.

    Now, as his bloodline burst forth, all of them had a feeling that he was like an active volcano, erupting zing light and a raging flesh aura.

    Such an eruption of flesh power was far more terrifying than earlier when he had disyed Life Drain and absorbed those Blood-condensing Pills.

    ¡°Mmm!¡±

    The light of excitement shed across Nie Tian¡¯s eyes as he looked down at the bone, which was also expanding at a shocking rate as he infused it with his flesh power.

    He shrewdly sensed that brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains were being born within the green aura in his heart.

    His life bloodline, which had first been severely injured by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, and then healed through Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s residual flesh aura, the Blood-condensing Pills, and the Devils¡¯ flesh power, seemed to be ignited and advancing towards the tenth grade at an increased speed.

    Overjoyed, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°You¡¯ve got to break something in order to create something new. If I can really advance to the tenth grade soon, then the major setback I¡¯ve suffered recently will be worth it!¡±

    As his aura soared, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone morphed into a bolt of lightning. At the same time, the crimson flesh aura it released assumed the illusory form of the Rampage Behemoth.

    HOWL!

    The Rampage Behemoth let out a heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing howl.

    The bolt of lightning shot towards the Domain of Shadow Devil like a crimson pir that ended the chaos by separating heaven and earth.

    A bloodline talent that was unique to the Star Behemoths, which allowed them to tear through realm barriers and energy wards, was instantly activated.

    FIZZ!

    The sound of gauze being ripped echoed out.

    It was followed by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s scream.

    A brilliant tunnel seemed to be created in the dim starry river that stretched all the way to the depths of the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The crimson bolt of lightning vanished into the tunnel in the blink of an eye.

    The connection between Nie Tian and the Rampage Behemoth seemed to be suddenly severed, as he couldn¡¯t sense even the slightest wisp of its aura anymore.

    Meanwhile, Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon hesitated, looking at the opening that looked like a heavenly well.

    ¡°I¡¯m going in.¡± With these words, Nie Tian shot into the opening like a giant meteor. Passing through the Shadow Devil g, he entered the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°Umm...¡± Both Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon wrestled with dilemmas, looking at the opening in front of them.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was them or the Snow Devil. They had only made tentative attempts to enter the Domain of Shadow Devil with their tools and flesh power.

    In fact, they were reluctant to enter the domain themselves.

    After all, they knew that fighting Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer outside the Domain of Shadow Devil and fighting her inside the Domain of Shadow Devil werepletely different.

    All of the powerful experts in the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea had reached a consensus about not fighting Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer inside the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Now, however, Nie Tian had already plunged into the domain.

    WHOOSH!

    Countless snowkes reversed again and flew back into the Domain of Shadow Devil through the opening.

 Chapter 1663: The Dark Lady

    Nie Tian came to a wide clearing after passing through the Shadow Devil g, which was like a thick, dark sea of clouds.

    The Domain of Shadow Devil was finally presented before his eyes.

    Numerous realms could be seen shining with dazzling purple light.

    All of the purple light they emanated seemed to be channeled by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, and was flowing towards an area that was enveloped in utter darkness.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t have to give it much thought to know that thatnd of darkness was where Dong Li was.

    All of a sudden, his life bloodline detected something, and he realized that the ck tortoise was there too.

    Floating next to the darkness-enveloped area was a skinny female Devil who was wreathed in a torrential aura of hatred. Her expression was icy, but the look in her eyes was hard to make out.

    Behind her was a fleet of ancient starships and an army of fierce-looking Devils and devilish beasts.

    ¡°Hmm?¡± She jerked her head around to fix Nie Tian with a cold stare. ¡°It¡¯s you. Even you have the audacity to pass through my Shadow Devil g and enter my domain?¡±

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone was shooting towards the woman like a crimson bolt of lightning. However, the raging Devil Qi around her pushed it further and further away from her.

    Nie Tian beckoned with his hand. ¡°Come back.¡±

    With a whoosh, the bone flew back into his hand.

    At that moment, countless falling snowkes rapidly came together and condensed into a small woman dressed in a white gown above Nie Tian.

    She was attractive, but distant. With an expressionless face, she said, ¡°Greetings, young master.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re the Snow Devil?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    After a moment of hesitation, the woman nodded slowly and said, ¡°Actually, Bai is my surname.¡±

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from the same n as the White Rose, who¡¯s now your subordinate. In fact, I¡¯m her senior.¡± The Snow Devil said. ¡°Even though the Heavenly Ice Sect hurt me deeply by expelling me, I¡¯m from the Domain of Endless Snow after all. I own you one for saving the vast majority of the realms in the Domain of Endless Snow in that perilous moment.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback.

    Golden light sprayed from above, along with demonic light.

    Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon arrived by the Snow Devil¡¯s side, one on her left and the other on her right. They happened to catch what she had just said.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that you have such a special connection with the young master. No wonder you were so keen to help this time. You¡¯ve always acted with little enthusiasm toward the missions the master gives us, even less with those the mistress gives us. However, you asked to join this mission in the Void World. I knew there must be a reason.¡±

    Dn alsoughed. ¡°Who said that the Snow Devil is ruthless andpletely disengaged from her feelings?¡±

    The skinny female Devil suddenly said in a shrill voice, ¡°Good! Very good! The Snow Devil, the Gilded Phoenix, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon... Three kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea havee to my domain simultaneously. It doesn¡¯t get better than this.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, there?¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon pointed at the area enveloped in utter darkness.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A charming figure quietly manifested in the darkness.

    It was Dong Li, whose face was filled with tion. Dressed in ck, she seemed to have be one with the darkness, with the Dark Aureole hanging over her head and emanating rays of pure ck light that neutralized streak after streak of purple light that shot at her.

    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Dong Li gave him a stern look and said with a ming tone, yet a warmth filled her face. ¡°I¡¯m fine. This Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer is merely trying to wear me down bit by bit with the power she channels from this entire domain. Neither her Shadow Devil g nor her bloodline power can cause any real damage to me or the ck tortoise.¡±

    With these words, a light shed across her bright eyes, and a cunning smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. ¡°In fact, I¡¯m tempering my dark power with her and this domain.¡±

    Exasperated by her words, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer spat, ¡°Bitch, you stole our relics and killed the descendants of my n. And now, you¡¯vee to mess with me in the Domain of Shadow Devil. Do you really think you can do whatever you like without being punished?¡±

    ¡°What if I do?¡± Dong Li said provocatively.

    The Shadow Devil g that enveloped this entire region of the starry river gave a violent shake.

    Rivers of brilliant Devil Qi were then channeled from the nearby realms, and crashed towards Dong Li.

    With a derisiveugh, Dong Li slipped back into the darkness, where she drew the rivers of brilliant power that shot towards her like cannon fire into the depths of the darkness.

    Then, the rivers of torrential devil power vanished one after another, like rivers merging with the sea.

    As this happened, the darkness slowly spread to cover an evenrger area.

    ¡°Uhh...¡± Dn, the Gilded Phoenix, muttered with astonishment in his eyes. ¡°It seems that we¡¯ve made an unnecessary move. Who would have thought that she would create a forbiddennd of darkness inside the Domain of Shadow Devil that is sealed off by the Shadow Devil g?¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon chuckled. ¡°We went through all that trouble to tear through the Shadow Devil g, but it seems that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer has her own headache.¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly felt relieved as well.

    Now he realized that even with the power of the entire Domain of Shadow Devil, this Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer couldn¡¯t defeat that uncanny darkness of Dong Li¡¯s.

    Also, Dong Li and the ck tortoise were the only ones that were in there, which was probably by design.

    She probably wanted to enrage Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer so she would raise billows of raging Devil Qi to shatter the darkness and kill her.

    Then, she would be able to condense dark power from the rich Devil Qi in the Domain of Shadow Devil, and the Dark Aureole and the dark stones would be infused with more power

    All of this would help her make breakthroughs in her cultivation base and help the ck tortoise upgrade its bloodline.

    The Snow Devil frowned. ¡°We¡¯ve made unnecessary efforts indeed. Whether we made it in or not, the result would be the same.¡±

    ¡°I only haven¡¯t killed her yet because she has that Dark Aureole and those dark stones!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer yelled in fury. ¡°But it¡¯s a piece of cake to deal with you lot in my domain!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    As soon as she said those words, drops of Blood Essence flew out of her like a string of purple crystals.

    They split up and spread out across the starry river.

    The colossal g that enveloped the entire Domain of Shadow Devil suddenly released a sea of devilish clouds, putting a terrifying pressure that could crush heaven and earth on Nie Tian and the others.

    ¡°Mmm!¡±

    Nie Tian, who was nine thousand meters tall and erupting with flesh power like a volcano, gave a muffled groan.

    He looked up and saw a boundless sea of dark purple clouds falling upon him.

    He felt as if a mountain that was hundreds of thousands of meters high was weighing down on his body, which had barely recovered from his recent injuries. With tremendous pressure on his shoulders and back, he slowly sank down.

    He wasn¡¯t the only one who was affected.

    The Gilded Phoenix, who was enveloped in his golden flesh aura sea, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who was in his gigantic demonic form, also suffered a great deal from this overwhelming pressure, which seemed to be from the Devil Qi of the entire Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The Snow Devil was the only one who seemed unaffected, as her god domain split into countless snowkes again.

    The unique wonders of her god domain were the reason why she had dared to enter the Domain of Shadow Devil in the first ce.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer flickered herrge sleeve. ¡°Finish them!¡±

    The ancient starships, Devils, and devilish beasts swarmed towards them without hesitation.

    At the same time, swarms of Devils charged out of the nearby realms. They roared and made a kamikaze run towards Nie Tian and the others.

    ¡°Puny insects,¡± the Snow Devil¡¯s icy voice echoed out.

    Snowkes fell on tens of thousands of Devils and devilish beasts, instantly freezing them.

    In the next moment, they exploded like numerous ice sculptures.

    Just like that, several thousand Devils, devilish beasts, and insects perished.

 Chapter 1664: Light Shines Again

    Outside the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Jiang Qinghuang and the others stared at the gaping tunnel with crimson light in it.

    Thick devilish clouds surrounded the glowing opening, adding an extrayer of eeriness to it.

    Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan were waiting, along with the outsiders and cultivators that hade with Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    After all, they knew how terrifyingly powerful Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer was when she was inside the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Dn, the Snow Devil, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon were three kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea. Nie Tian seemed to possess unfathomable power. If even they couldn¡¯t get those from the Mortal World out of the Domain of Shadow Devil to safety, their joining them wouldn¡¯t change anything.

    Therefore, they wouldn¡¯t try anything without Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s instructions.

    After waiting in silence for a long time, Jiang Qinghuang turned to Feng Beiluo and asked, ¡°My father is going to be okay, right? Is that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer really as strong as they say she is?¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded. ¡°She¡¯s indeed much stronger when she¡¯s in the Domain of Shadow Devil.¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang started worrying.

    FIZZ!

    All of a sudden, a spatial rift split open in the starry river.

    Immediately afterwards, Ji Yuanquan, Ye Wenhan, Yin Xingtian, and the others streamed through the spatial rift with glorious light flowing inside.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and the others narrowed their eyes, and fixed Jiang Qinghuang and the outsiders and hybrids with cold, examining gazes.

    If Nie Tian were here, he would have noticed that Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, and all those with them had be considerably stronger than when they hadst met.

    Chu Rui had not only recovered from the injuries he had sustained from his battle against Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, but he also seemed to be in perfect shape. There were even signs that he might be making an advance in his cultivation soon.

    Both Ji Yuanquan and Ye Wenhan had broken through to the middle God domain.

    The others had also benefited from this trip, their strength greatly improved.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± Ye Wenhan asked sternly.

    ¡°We¡¯re...¡± Jiang Qinghuang was just about to answer when her face suddenly turned cold, and she asked instead, ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Seeing Yuan Jiuchuan and the Thunder Devil, Yin Xingtian pondered for a moment beforeing to a sudden realization. ¡°Did youe here with Nie Tian?¡±

    Feng Beiluo smiled, and quickly said with a calming tone, ¡°Yes, they¡¯re with the young master.¡±

    ¡°Young master?¡± Many newly-arrived cultivators from the four great sects exchanged confused nces with each other.

    ¡°By that, I mean Nie Tian,¡± Feng Beiluo said, giving Chu Rui a deep, meaningful look. ¡°We received word that Miss Dong and you were trapped in the Domain of Shadow Devil, so we traveled all the way here, hoping to rescue you from the Domain of Shadow Devil.¡±

    ¡°No one was trapped,¡± Chu Rui said. ¡°Despite our strong opposition, that girl left us and plunged into the Domain of Shadow Devil by herself. She insisted that we leave her alone and just do what we want to do. So we spent some time exploring the nearby domains, and now we¡¯ve returned to reconvene with her.¡±

    With these words, Chu Rui hesitated for a bit, and then said, ¡°So you¡¯re from the Doomed Star Sea. Is Qin...¡±

    Before he could finish his question, Feng Beiluo said with great respect, ¡°Qin Yao is our master.¡±

    Chu Rui¡¯s expression flickered drastically. ¡°Just as I expected. So Nie Tian is his...¡±

    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re right,¡± Feng Beiluo said.

    His words were like a stone that stirred a thousand waves.

    ¡°Qin Yao?!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is Qin Yao¡¯s son?!¡±

    ¡°My heavens! But Qin Yao is a human just like us!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that not only is Qin Yao still alive, but he¡¯s actually doing well in the Doomed Star Sea!¡±

    ¡°Qin Yao, that monster, was deadlier than any crooked cultivator! I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s father!¡±

    Many of the Qi warriors present were powerful experts from the older generation, who knew quite a lot about Qin Yao, the man who had outshone even Ji Cang once as the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s brightest star.

    However, most of them had never been to the Doomed Star Sea, and knew nothing about it.

    They didn¡¯t know about the existence of a secret force in the Doomed Star Sea, whose strength had long since surpassed any of the four great sects, and that their leader was Qin Yao, the man who they assumed to have died long ago. After all, there hadn¡¯t been any word of him for ages.

    Now, as they ran their eyes over the crowd of human cultivators behind Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil, they realized that they all practiced the secret incantations and spells of brutal killing.

    They realized that they were from the evil sects that they had attacked and assumed to have purgedpletely.

    Jiang Qinghuang and those around her shrewdly noticed the unpleasant looks on many of the experts from the Mortal World.

    Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Master Blood Spirit, and the others gathered together spontaneously, separating them from those from the Doomed Star Sea.

    Momentster, Yu Suying broke the ice by saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t we put our previous grudges aside for now? This is the Void World, and we¡¯re facing the Domain of Shadow Devil, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s territory. Shouldn¡¯t we break the spell that¡¯s sealing the domain and see if Nie Tian and Miss Dong are safe first?¡±

    ¡°If Nie Tian is Qin Yao¡¯s son, and these people refer to him as ¡®young master,¡¯ then he¡¯s evil as well!¡± A Saint domain expert said coldly. ¡°The way I see it, that Qin Yao is no different from the outsiders in the Void World. They¡¯ve allmitted unforgivable crimes!¡±

    Surprisingly, many agreed with him.

    The faces of Jiang Qinghuang, Feng Beiluo, and those with them grew grim.

    Intense mutual hostility filled the area of the starry river outside the Domain of Shadow Devil, as if a battle could break out at any moment.

    Inside the domain...

    Thousands of Devil warriors and devilish beasts were frozen and shattered like ss by the Snow Devil.

    The Shadow Devil g gathered Devil Qi from the entire domain to weigh down on Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and the Gilded Phoenix like lofty mountain peaks.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The flesh power of the Devils and devilish beasts swam into Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea like countless glowing fish, before being refined into brilliant streaks of essence that flowed to his every bone and muscle.

    CRUNCH!

    Crisp sounds came from Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s gigantic form as his flesh was torn open in many ces.

    The golden feathers of the Gilded Phoenix burst forth with blinding light as he went all-out to fight the pressure.

    In contrast, Nie Tian, whose bloodline hadn¡¯t even entered the early tenth grade yet, resisted the devil power the Shadow Devil g had gathered from the entire domain in his erged form, without any sign of his bones cracking or his meridians snapping.

    He only felt great pressure weighing down him. That was all.

    ¡°This is no lighter than that blow Grand Monarch Soul Capturer dealt me with the Nether River outside the Realm of Dark Souls. I can¡¯t believe that my body has be so much more resilient than before!¡± His eyes lit up as he discovered that his body had been further strengthened without him realizing it, and that its toughness was alreadyparable to that of ate tenth grade grand monarch.

    The pressure he was under right now wasn¡¯t any lighter than what he had suffered from the Nether River, yet he could manage this time.

    At the same time, the flesh power essence he refined from the Devils and devilish beasts that had been killed by the Snow Devil flitted through his body like lightning bolts, strengthening his bones, internal organs, and muscles.

    Not to mention that dense groups of brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains were being generated in his heart.

    ¡°Almost there!¡±

    After taking a deep breath, he assumed a tight grim on the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    Blinding crimson light instantly burst forth from the part where his hand touched the bone, glorious like a rainbow.

    ¡°Life Blend!¡±

    As soon as he shouted inwardly, his flesh aura merged with the power of the Rampage Behemoth perfectly.

    In that moment, he had a peculiar feeling that he had be the Rampage Behemoth as an unmatched overlord of this entire starry river.

    Flesh auras that belonged to him and the bone mixed together and gradually took the form of a colossal monster above him, before it fiercely tore at the descending sea of rolling clouds with its ws and teeth.

    FIZZ!

    The sea of raging devil power and the Shadow Devil g started falling apart.

    Countless Devils in the dark Domain of Shadow Devil saw rays of brilliant starlight falling from the heavens, like sunlight shining through thick leaves. The Domain of Shadow Devil saw light once again.

 Chapter 1665: Are You Out of Your Mind?

    The Domain of Shadow Devil, which had been veiled this whole time, finally manifested itself.

    It instantly caught the attention of Jiang Qinghuang, Feng Beiluo, Yin Xingtian, Chu Rui, and the others who were right outside the domain.

    With a single nce, they saw Nie Tian, who was close to ten thousand meters tall, release raging mes and torrential flesh power, which then condensed into a colossal horrifying shape that tore at the great barrier that enveloped the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Layer afteryer of dark purple energy and the pure ck Shadow Devil g were rapidly ripped to shreds.

    At the same time, Nie Tian looked like an ancient god in his erged form, throwing punches in every direction of the starry river with a cunningugh.

    Every time he threw a punch, a glorious streak of energy, which was a mixture of star, me, wood, flesh, and soul power, would st out like a surging river.

    If one examined them with rapt attention, they would see countless tiny sparks and wisps of light in those streaks of energy.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The great barrier of the Domain of Shadow Devil was soon riddled with holes by the streaks of energy.

    Those outside the domain saw glorious pirs of light sting through the dark sea of clouds and out of the domain.

    Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who were inside the domain, finally rxed, as they discovered that the overwhelming pressure from the Shadow Devil g, which seemed to be power drawn from the entire Domain of Shadow Devil, had suddenly vanished.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Nie Tian continued to punch with his fists.

    What sounded like the unyielding roars of titan ancestors seemed to travel from distant eras and echo through the River of Time to shake everyone¡¯s souls.

    Numerous realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil were hit by the streaks of energy.

    Through the realm barriers, one could see mountains copsing, rivers breaking off, and weak Devils and low-tier beasts and insects being annihted by the st waves of Nie Tian¡¯s furious punches in those realms.

    Magnificent devil pces toppled to the ground one after another, as if they were made of toy bricks.

    As he swung his fists repeatedly, countless devilish creatures in the realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil perished.

    Many realms had their internal structures destroyed. With their realm barriers failing, deadly impurities and energies in the starry river poured in and caused the deaths of more lives.

    HOWL!

    Nie Tian¡¯s roars that sounded like the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bloodthirsty howls made every Devil in the Domain of Shadow Devil tremble in fear, as if they heard the calls of Death.

    Wisps of flesh power rose from many realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The energy of flesh and blood, which should have gradually dissipated into the starry river, seemed to be channeled by a strong force, as it madly fused into Nie Tian as his source of fresh flesh power.

    ¡°Nie Tian! Even your death can¡¯t atone for your crime!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer of the Devilsshed out after a moment of bewilderment.

    She had been dumbstruck by Nie Tian¡¯s ability at first.

    By the time she hade to herself, the Shadow Devil g had already been torn to shreds, and Nie Tian¡¯s storm of attacks had taken over the entire Domain of Shadow Devil.

    With countless lives perishing in every corner of the domain that she had gone to great lengths to build, it was as if the god of destruction had brought doom to the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    No life would be spared!

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, right?¡± Nie Tian said with a nasty grin. ¡°To be honest, being able to channel power from the entire domain, you were quite hard to deal with before your Shadow Devil g broke. But now, hahaha, now you¡¯re nothing.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    With a single stride, he arrived in front of Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer.

    The crimson bone that had poked through the great barrier fell into his hand. Pointing it at Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, he said in an unrestrained manner, ¡°Even my death can¡¯t atone for my crime? Soe and kill me!¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer cried in a shrill voice.

    ¡°No?¡± Nie Tianughed wildly. ¡°If you don¡¯t kill me, then I¡¯ll kill you and destroy your domain! Every Devil in the Domain of Shadow Devil that serves your evil cause will die with you. It¡¯s about time you had a taste of the crimes you¡¯vemitted in the Mortal World.¡±

    With these words, he pointed with the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone a few times.

    Streaks of crimson divine light instantly shot out of it towards some nearby realms, where there were surviving ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    Seeing this, those Devil grand patriarchs hastily cast secret blood magics in attempts to escape at all costs.

    However, the streaks of crimson light caught up to the fleeing purple light they morphed into, and sted through their bodies.

    With bloodcurdling screams, they exploded and filled the starry river with vast purple blood mists.

    Outside the domain...

    The rogue cultivators, outsiders, and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea and the human experts from the Mortal World, who had been arguing with their swords drawn and bows bent (idiom: a state of mutual hostility) a moment ago, froze.

    Everyone fellpletely silent.

    After a long period of silence, the early God domain Dou Tianchen, who was a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, said with a confused expression, ¡°Um... Wasn¡¯t Nie Tian badly injured? Don¡¯t tell me that the information we obtained from the Devils was false. How could he be injured and still fight like that?¡±

    No one answered.

    With a cocky smile, Feng Beiluo turned to the elders that had been the most vocal and overbearing earlier, and said, ¡°That is our young master, the son of our master, Qin Yao. If you want to crusade against our master and us in the Doomed Star Sea, just bring it on.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, cast them a cold sideways nce and spat in their direction. ¡°Ignorant fools. None of you would be breathing now if the young master hadn¡¯t frustrated Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, killed Grand Monarch Ash Bone, and persuaded the Ripper Behemoth to join the battles!

    ¡°Now, you¡¯ve lost Ji Cang and all of your peak experts, and you still want to be our enemy?

    ¡°Are you out of your minds?¡±

    As a hybrid, Jiang Qinghuang also took the opportunity to squeeze in some taunts. ¡°The Mortal World would have fallen into our hands long ago if our master hadn¡¯t restrained us. A bunch of fools who don¡¯t understand the immensity of heaven and earth! If we hadn¡¯t fought the three major races of the Void World in the Doomed Star Sea for all these years, you would have been snuffed out long ago!¡±

    Apparently, she had truly approved of Nie Tian.

    After witnessing Nie Tian pierce through the Shadow Devil g and ughter Devils in numerous realms, she had finally woken up to a fact: even her father might not be able to match Nie Tian in battle, much less her.

    In most cases, two parties would only get serious and contend against each other when their strengths were evenly matched.

    If the gap between their strengths was simply too great, the weaker party would usually lose theirpetitiveness, and instead develop reverence towards the stronger party.

    At this point, the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea were taunting those from the Mortal World without scruples.

    They were so daring for two reasons. First of all, Nie Tian had disyed his unparalleled power. Second of all, with the sealing spell of the Domain of Shadow Devil broken, the Snow Devil, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and Dn were no longer trapped.

    Those three kingpins alone were strong enough to overpower all of the human experts from the Mortal World.

    Not to mention that some human experts like Yin Xingtian and Yu Suying, who were extremely hard to beat even though their cultivation bases hadn¡¯t peaked, were also on Nie Tian¡¯s side, and were spontaneously keeping their distance from them.

    Under such circumstances, what had given them the courage to be so noisy and overbearing?

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Snow Devil, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and Dn returned from the Domain of Shadow Devil, which had already been plunged into chaos, and arrived beside Jiang Qinghuang and the others.

    Eyes narrowed, Grand Monarch Hell Demon switched his gaze back and forth between Feng Beiluo, Chu Rui, and a few Saint domain old men, who had been the noisiest earlier, but quietly buried their heads deep now. ¡°What happened here? We¡¯vee to the Domain of Shadow Devil to save them. Even if they didn¡¯t appreciate our efforts, they wouldn¡¯t have abused you verbally, right?¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang snorted and said, ¡°It was our master who they verbally abused.¡±

    Upon hearing this, both Dn and the Snow Devil¡¯s faces dropped.

    The Snow Devil fixed her icy eyes on Chu Rui. ¡°Was it you? Do you think because you were a Son of the Stars as well, and you represent the legitimacy of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, you can belittle our master?¡±

    Chu Rui spread his hands and said bitterly, ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t me.¡±

 Chapter 1666: Death From A Thousand Cuts

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer has lost,¡± Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce said to Yin Xingtian with a gentle smile, as if she didn¡¯t see the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea publicly denouncing their fellow cultivators from the Mortal World at all. ¡°Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain have made us a promise. If things continue to develop in this direction, the Void World is bound to descend intosting turbulence.¡±

    Looking baffled, Yin Xingtian asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I wonder if the other peak experts of the four great sects that have gone missing are trapped in the Void World as Shao Tianyang was,¡± Yu Suying said, the ends of her eyebrows rising slightly. ¡°I heard that the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is only in a difficult situation, but he hasn¡¯t died.¡±

    Chu Rui and the others¡¯ eyes lit up.

    ¡°The three major races of the Void World have arge number of powerful grand monarchs. Considering their profound reserve power, it¡¯s going to be hard for either the forces from the Doomed Star Sea or the forces from the Mortal World to fight them alone in a prolonged war.¡± With these words, Yu Suying turned to Dn and the Snow Devil and said, ¡°The four great sects call the shots in the Mortal World. If they say something is not an issue, then it won¡¯t be an issue.¡±

    Chu Rui was the first to understand her, and thus quickly stated his position, ¡°I have no say in the issue regarding Nie Tian¡¯s status. Our sectmaster will represent us... if he¡¯s still alive.¡±

    After a moment of hesitation, he added, ¡°If you know about our sectmaster¡¯s current situation, please let us know.¡±

    Ye Wenhan and Ji Yuanquan exchanged a nce, then said simultaneously, ¡°The most important thing right now is for us to attack the Void World together!¡±

    No one from the Five Elements Sect said anything.

    Ji Yuanquan pondered in silence for a few seconds before asking with a forced smile, ¡°Our sectmaster has disappeared for a long time as well. You wouldn¡¯t know where he is, would you?¡±

    These experts had realized that their missing sectmasters might still be alive and trapped somewhere in the Void World as Shao Tianyang and the me dragon high chieftain had been.

    Since the Doomed Star Sea bordered the Void World, and these rogue forces had been fighting the outsiders from the Void World for ages, they might have valuable information.

    If they could find Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, Qu Yi, and the others...

    A faint smile appeared on Dn¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t say a word.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon, on the other hand, pointed at the few Saint domain old men and threatened, ¡°You! If I learn that you insulted our masters ever again, I won¡¯t be as polite as I am now!¡±

    Those old men didn¡¯t dare to say anything.

    They had realized that Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, and Ji Yuanquan were now pretending that they knew nothing about Qin Yao¡¯s past.

    Furthermore, Dn, the Snow Devil, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon were much stronger than them.

    Since they weren¡¯t strong enough to stand up against them, they had to stay humble.

    FIZZ!

    At this moment, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone rammed through a purple realm.

    As vast as the realm was, its core was instantly ripped to pieces by the blood-colored light surrounding the bone.

    As the realm copsed, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s heart-wrenching scream echoed out.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph. ¡°The Domain of Shadow Devil makes you both stronger and weaker!¡±

    Without stopping to fight Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, who was chasing him, his enormous form crashed into yet another devil realm like a cannonball. Upon entering, he started destroying the mountains and filling the seas.

    The devil realm was ravaged by his devastating power.

    WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods swirled out of the Spirit Pearl. After circling around Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, they flew around the Domain of Shadow Devil to harvest the souls of the dead.

    At the same time, the soul of the Spirit Pearl also steered the pearl to devour discarnate souls.

    Upon seeing a chance, they would also destroy mountains andkes, and tear down splendid pces and lofty pavilions in the devil realms.

    The damage Nie Tian and the five evil gods inflicted upon the Domain of Shadow Devil was being directly reflected on Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer.

    Even those outside the realm could see that Nie Tian had found Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s gate of vitality. (This is the area between the kidneys, generally regarded as the source of one¡¯s vitality)

    ¡°This guy...¡± Dong Li sighed with mixed feelings and emerged from the darkness. Watching the sea of surging Devil Qi clouds gradually dissipate, she seemed somewhat frustrated.

    She and the ck tortoise did their utmost to absorb the residual devil power as she muttered, ¡°I knew it. Even though fusing the Shadow Devil g with the Domain of Shadow Devil allows her to draw power from the entire domain, any damage to the domain will also be reflected in her. You get some, you lose some.¡±

    She had realized since the Shadow Devil g had been riddled with holes and torn to pieces by the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s Domain Split bloodline talent that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer had lost.

    As she had expected.

    Nie Tian did nothing but destroy the realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil with the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, and Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s flesh, meridians, and bones kept exploding.

    Her devilish form was badly damaged and covered in blood even before they could engage in a head-on battle.

    The drops of purple Blood Essence in her arms, legs, and abdomen seemed to correspond to the numerous realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil. As the realms perished, those drops of Blood Essence exploded as well, inflicting severe damage on her.

    The fusion of her bloodline and the Domain of Shadow Devil was a very unorthodox cultivation method, even for the Devils.

    She would suffer heavy blows if the realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil were attacked. Only after the domain slowly recovered its vitality would she be able to recoverpletely.

    Her frustrated, ear-piercing scream echoed from the depths of the domain.

    She, who was covered in blood and chasing after Nie Tian with the tattered Shadow Devil g in her hand, came to an abrupt stop in the void.

    Though in her Indestructible Form, she was considerably smaller than Nie Tian right now. More than half of her naturally-grown body armor had exploded, revealing her purple flesh, where severed meridians could be seen slithering like snakes. The mere sight of them would make anyone feel numb in the scalp.

    However, those severed meridians were growing back together tenaciously.

    It was just that every time Nie Tian cast Starshift to enter a new realm, and casually struck the earth with the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, more of her meridians would snap.

    Purple blood kept spewing from her gaping wounds.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer didn¡¯t seem to know pain, as if she had lost herself to mindless rage. Her entire body was exuding terrifying devil power, but she just couldn¡¯t catch Nie Tian and vent it on him.

    After all, Nie Tian didn¡¯t need to fight her head-on.

    All he did was destroy the Domain of Shadow Devil, which was achieving the result of damaging Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer.

    This was like cutting Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s flesh off piece by piece with a small knife.

    It was slow, but effective. Plus, he wouldn¡¯t be hurt during the process.

    While dealing her as much damage as possible, he got to reserve his strength.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s ear-piercing scream echoed out once again.

    In a visually bad shape, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer seemed to suddenly regain a sober mind. ring at Nie Tian, who had morphed into a streak of starlight and shot off into the distance once again, she snarled, ¡°You¡¯ll die! I¡¯ll make sure of it!¡±

    Then, surprisingly, she turned around and flew in the opposite direction despite her bodily wounds.

    As soon as she did, Dong Li, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, the Snow Devil, Dn, and the God domain human experts noticed it, and locked their gazes and auras on to her.

    All of them wanted to see her be slowly consumed and killed by Nie Tian.

    Of course they wouldn¡¯t allow her to escape.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer cast out a vessel with a drop of devil blood in it.

    The drop of devil blood shed the vessel and shone in the void like a purple star.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Raging Devil Qi suddenly started gathering towards it from numerous realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Momentster, a gigantic devilish god emerged from the converging Devil Qi. With casual moves of its hands, it drew power from the entire Domain of Shadow Devil and manifested shocking changes.

    The devilish god split in two. Then, two turned into four...

    Soon, those who intended to chase after Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer saw thousands of them.

    They then realized that they were facing a brand new enemy, one that they didn¡¯t have the confidence to beat. The suffocating feeling it gave them made them think it might be invincible.

 Chapter 1667: Devil Blood Incarnates

    The Devil Qi of the Domain of Shadow Devil fused with that drop of devil blood and split into thousands of devilish gods.

    Each and every one of them was tall enough to prop up heaven and earth. They either held giant hammers, wielded magical swords, manifested devil mes in their palms, or surrounded themselves with profound devil magics.

    Simply by looking at them, everyone felt deeply awed and uneasy.

    It was a strange, instinctive feeling that they were facing an enemy they couldn¡¯t possibly defeat.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The devilish gods suddenly burst forth with endless devil light that instantly enveloped and put everyone who attempted to pursue Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer in sore straits.

    Even Nie Tian was no exception.

    Countless rays of light that carried the purest devil power infiltrated his flesh aura sea and dashed about randomly,pletely ignoring the wonders of his life bloodline.

    He had to focus his attention in order to stop his flesh aura sea from going out of control.

    ¡°Mmm!¡±

    The Gilded Phoenix, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, the Snow Devil, Chu Rui, and the others all let out muffled groans with painful looks on their faces.

    Dn¡¯s golden flesh aura sea had numerous purple sparks added to it. With every spark that exploded, he let out a groan.

    Things were even worse for Grand Monarch Hell Demon. Not only was his Demon bloodlinepletely suppressed, but his meridians started bursting.

    Everyone who attempted to pursue Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer from both within the Domain of Shadow Devil and without suffered from the attacks of the duplicated devil gods, their faces filled with agony.

    Dong Li was the only exception.

    Over her head, the Dark Aureole emanated pure ck magical light like a dark sun.

    Those rays of dark light were contending against the power released by the devil gods, as if the wonders of two bloodlines were shing, giving rise to continuous buzzing sounds.

    ¡°Who is that?¡± Dong Li asked with a grim look in her eyes. Since she had entered the Void World, she hadn¡¯t encountered anyone that had made her feel the fear of being killed like she was feeling now.

    This enemy they were facing now was the first.

    The most terrifying part was that this enemy was only the incarnation of a drop of devil blood after being fused with Devil Qi!

    ¡°Who else can it be?¡± Dn said with a bitter and powerless look on his face. ¡°Of course it¡¯s Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, the current high chieftain of the Devils, and as far as we know, the strongest expert in the Void World.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    Dong Li¡¯s face grew even grimmer. ¡°Even so, he can stop all of us with a single drop of his blood?¡±

    She found this hard to believe.

    The rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea also fell silent after hearing this.

    Many of them had heard stories about Grand Monarch Heaven Devil since they had entered the Doomed Star Sea or had been born in the Doomed Star Sea.

    All of those stories associated Grand Monarch Heaven Devil with words like invincible, tough, overpowered, undefeated...

    He was like a lofty devil mountain in the Void World that no one could get past.

    Over the past millennia, no matter how hard Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had tried, how much stronger they had be, they hadn¡¯t been able to shake Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s status.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The giant duplicates of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil suddenly dispersed, and turned into thousands of ckish-violet clouds.

    Like giant swirls, the clouds rapidly floated to the different realms of the battle-stricken Domain of Shadow Devil, and sucked the surviving Devils, devilish beasts, and insects into themselves.

    It wasn¡¯t long before every surviving devilish creature in the Domain of Shadow Devil had been picked up.

    Then, all of the ckish-violet clouds flitted towards a gaping spatial tunnel in the void.

    Just like that, all of the devilish creatures that had been lucky enough to survive Nie Tian¡¯s attacks were taken away.

    Only after that did the devil power and devil light that were suppressing everyone¡¯s flesh aura seas, god domains, and saint domains dissipate with a boom.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil hadn¡¯t even presented himself. With only a drop of his devil blood, he had managed to channel Devil Qi from the entire Domain of Shadow Devil, thwart their pursuit, and take all of the surviving devilish creatures away.

    Such divine abilities!

    Looking at the realms that were nowpletely dark and lifeless after having even their Devil Qi channeled away, everyone fell silent.

    After a long awkward silence, Dou Tianchen from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce finally couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Nie Tian, how is this Devil high chieftainpared to Grand Monarch Soul Capturer?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s stronger,¡± Nie Tian answered honestly.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had controlled the Nether River to inflict severe damage on him.

    ording to the five evil gods, the reason why he could control the Nether River was because he had refined Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual power. By doing that, his power had already risen above that of regrte tenth grade grand monarchs, and bordered that of a paragon.

    That was how amazingly strong Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was.

    However, he had a feeling that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil was even stronger!

    Ye Wenhan sighed and said, ¡°The three major races of the Void World are incredibly mighty indeed.¡±

    The Snow Devil let out a loud harrumph. ¡°Of course! Otherwise, how would we have been suppressed for so many years, and only been able to fight them by relying on the dangerous environment in the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Pearl flew over, with the five evil gods¡¯ sinister forms vanishing into them one after another.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath, and his turbulent flesh aura sea shrank abruptly.

    As his flesh aura sea withdrew, the immense flesh power it had gathered also poured into him, and morphed into countless crimson lightning wisps that flew to his every muscle and bone.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    More brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains were densely produced within the green aura in his heart.

    After a violent shudder ran through him, Nie Tian¡¯s erged form somehow shrank instead of expanding.

    His eyes burst forth with dazzling light like crimson divine crystals.

    ¡°What?!¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon and Dn were the first to sense the changes in him, and fixed him with astonished gazes.

    After a moment of bewilderment, Dong Li eximed in ecstasy, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Gradually, the others were either tipped off by others or sensed the changes themselves.

    They all realized that Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline was about to enter the tenth grade!

    This great battle in the Domain of Shadow Devil and the flesh power he had condensed from the deaths of countless Devil warriors, beasts, and insects had finally pushed his bloodline forward!

    Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and the others spontaneously gathered to his side, and stood guard.

    Under the instructions of the three kingpins, the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea also spread out to form a circle around Nie Tian in order to make sure he wasn¡¯t disturbed.

    ¡°If the young master can advance to the tenth grade, then he may have a chance to fight against Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡± Feng Beiluo muttered with zing excitement and tion in his eyes. He was the first of them to have contact with Nie Tian. He had basically watched him grow stronger and stronger. He was also the one who had the highest hopes for him.

    To him, Nie Tian was a living miracle!

    All of the so-called chosen and prodigies in the Doomed Star Sea were outshone by his brilliance.

    ¡°It was the master¡¯s aspiration that he¡¯d be strong enough to contend against the top three experts in the Void World one day! But I¡¯m afraid even the master himself didn¡¯t expect that day toe so soon.¡±

    Meanwhile, in the depths of the Netherspirits¡¯ territory...

    The Chaos Behemoth was finally trapped by the joint efforts of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and many other Netherspirit experts.

    They had confined it to a dead star.

    On the dead star, numerous evil spirits and vicious souls morphed into giant soul symbols that slipped into the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s eyes.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer wove the Spirit Scepter with a calm expression, but his eyes were filled with anticipation.

    He was attempting to gain control of the Chaos Behemoth with his mightiest soul spell.

    All of a sudden, the Spirit Scepter in his hand burst forth with blinding cyan light.

    ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s you again!¡±

 Chapter 1668: Soul Detection

    BOOM!

    A grand seal that had been refined from countless evil spirits and vicious souls exploded and perished inside the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s mind.

    It was a Heavenly Spirit Seal that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had gone to great lengths to refine, with which he had attempted to gain control of the Chaos Behemoth!

    Heavenly Spirit Seal was the only spell in this starry river that could manipte the will of other beings and make them loyal to the spellcaster.

    Nie Tian had originally gained the allegiance of the five evil gods with Heavenly Spirit Seals.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had only grasped the subtleties of this mighty spell after seizing the Spirit Scepter. Then, after consuming a tremendous amount of reserved spiritual materials and evil spirits of his race, he had finally made this Heavenly Spirit Seal.

    The entire Netherspirit race had ced their hopes in it!

    They had looked forward to enving the Chaos Behemoth with it!

    Even at their prime, none of the three major races of the Void World had been able to tame a Star Behemoth and use it to their advantage.

    Even though the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s soul was not yetplete, it was still a Star Behemoth.

    Now, just as Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was about to make this unprecedented achievement, the seal exploded, rendering all of his previous efforts in vain.

    WHOOSH!

    Wisps of strange soul power flew out of the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s eyes as it howled with chaotic energy wreathing its colossal form.

    The magical soul symbols that had been forced into them were now expelled by the Chaos Behemoth like bright, sparkling pearls.

    The Spirit Scepter shook violently.

    Veins popped up on Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s Spirit Scepter-bearing hand. With a grim expression, he fixed his ghostly cyan eyes on the Spirit Scepter and felt the rebelling will within it. ¡°You want to break free from me and rejoin that Nie Tian? I¡¯m a Netherspirit. What I¡¯m doing is for the good of our race!

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that as our ancestor, not only do you refuse to help your people, but you¡¯re actually taking that human hybrid¡¯s side!

    ¡°Explode!¡±

    A stream of soul symbols flew out of the tip of his finger and into the pommel of the scepter, causing muffled explosions toe from within.

    Only after a long while did the Spirit Scepter be quiet again.

    However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer didn¡¯t stop being grim.

    Bitterness filled his heart.

    He had assumed now that he had obtained the Spirit Scepter through a series of ploys, his power was finally going to rise to a whole new level, and he could finally tame the Chaos Behemoth with the Heavenly Spirit Seal he had learned to refine.

    Who would have thought that the Spirit Scepter turned out to be more trouble than help, since it was much more difficult to refine it than the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls?

    Every now and then, the Spirit Scepter would try to break free, and it was usually at crucial moments when he had been dealing with the Chaos Behemoth.

    A few times, its rebellious behavior had nearly caused him to be injured by the Chaos Behemoth.

    Now, just as he had assumed that he had suppressed the Spirit Scepter¡¯s rebellion for the most part, and he could finally enve the Chaos Behemoth with the Heavenly Spirit Seal he had forged, the Spirit Scepter rebelled once again,pletely ruining his n to gain control of the Chaos Behemoth.

    This put him in a foul mood.

    A soul shadow of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits quietly manifested out of nothing and asked, ¡°Can you make another Heavenly Spirit Seal? There¡¯s no way we can tame this Star Behemoth without one.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer said in frustration.

    ¡°What happened earlier? Didn¡¯t you say that you can control the Spirit Scepter fully?¡± Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit asked.

    ¡°There was a mishap,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer said, his unfathomable eyes seeming to see through boundless space and focus on the Domain of Shadow Devil. ¡°Nie Tian is in the Devils¡¯ territory. I can feel that he has recovered from his injuries. I don¡¯t know why, but the Spirit Scepter seemed to suddenly sense something from him, and tried to rejoin him at all costs.¡±

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was bbergasted. ¡°How is that possible?!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d better talk to the Devils and urge them to do everything they can to kill him,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer said with a very grim face. ¡°I have a feeling that this Nie Tian might be an even greater threat to us than Qin Yao. He¡¯s rising at a speed much faster than Qin Yao did in the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°He¡¯s like aet that has suddenly appeared. Before we could react properly, he has grown so shockingly strong already.

    ¡°If we don¡¯t kill him now, I¡¯m afraid we soon won¡¯t be able to.¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was deadly serious as he said these words.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits took a deep look at him, pondered for a moment, then said, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll talk to the Devils and urge them to kill Nie Tian with everything within their power. Besides that, the Voidspirits have stirred up some trouble in our territory. Do we...?¡±

    ¡°Pei Yukong?¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturerughed coldly. ¡°What can a dying man do? Those Voidspirits might have been able to hang on to theirst breaths if they had stayed out of the conflicts between the three worlds and holed up in the space disruption zone as they did. But now that they insist on making trouble, their extinction is certain. Pei Yukong is nothing to be feared, but that girl with a Voidspirit bloodline requires your attention. I sense a bit of a threat from her.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    ...

    In the lifeless Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Nie Tian released his withdrawn flesh aura sea, which rapidly spread into his surroundings.

    FIZZ!

    Blood-colored light burst forth as various profound mysteries of his life bloodline manifested in his flesh aura sea, as if more of its wonders had been activated.

    However, the hybrids like Jiang Qinghuang and the pure-blood outsiders like Dn gasped with astonishment and quickly flew away from him.

    Only after there were thousands of kilometers between him and them did they attempt to stop. Gazing off at him, whose flesh aura was surging violently, they let out a sigh of relief.

    With a broadugh, Grand Monarch Hell Demon said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe that the young master can manifest such wonders before actually entering the tenth grade! Even my flesh aura grew restless, and almost surged out of control. Luckily, I left his surroundings quick enough. Otherwise, some of my flesh power would have definitely been channeled away by him.¡±

    Dn let out a sigh of admiration. ¡°His life bloodline is strangely powerful indeed.¡±

    Jiang Qinghuang and the other weaker ones were at a loss for words, their faces ghastly.

    Just now, as Nie Tian had released his flesh aura sea once again, all of their hearts had raced like crazy.

    At the same time, their flesh power had flowed uncontrobly towards him!

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Nie Tian making his bloodline upgrade in the Domain of Shadow Devil will shake the entire Void World,¡± Dn said, looking grim. ¡°I even have a feeling that the Devils, the Netherspirits, and the Bonedrudes will think up every possible method to kill him.¡±

    ...

    In his immense sea of flesh aura, Nie Tian¡¯s heart pounded heavily.

    Wisp after wisp of pure soul power that he had gathered from the Netherspirits fused into his sea of awareness like sweet nectar.

    If people could enter his sea of awareness at this moment, they would be able to see what seemed like nine suns emanating zing divine lights of different colors in it.

    They were his nine sub-souls!

    In contrast, his true soul seemed the least bright and eye-catching, hanging among the nine of them.

    All of a sudden, the most unimpressive-looking true soul started receiving the inflowing pure soul power.

    Like running spring water, the soul power fused into his true soul.

    The blurry true soul slowly grew solid and had a clear edge added to it. Countless mysterious soul symbols could even be seen flowing through its semi-transparent meridians.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the transformation of my soul has beaten the upgrade of my bloodline!¡±

    Greatly spirited, Nie Tian sensed that a mysterious bond seemed to suddenly bind him with something.

    The bond defied space.

    Immediately afterwards, he seemed to hear that thing cheer.

    After a moment of bewilderment, he suddenly realized what was happening. He was so overjoyed that he almost burst intoughter. ¡°The Spirit Scepter! I can¡¯t believe that scepter still hasn¡¯t been refined by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer! And it still recognizes me as its master!¡±

 Chapter 1669: Signs of Chaos

    Nie Tian was overjoyed.

    He had regretted and begrudged losing the Spirit Scepter this whole time.

    He had assumed that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who had managed to refine the Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls, would be able to refine the Spirit Scepter and sever his connection with it shortly after seizing it.

    Who would have thought that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had failed to do so?

    ¡°This is great!¡± His eyes lit up as he somehow sensed the exact location of the Spirit Scepter by relying on his subtle connection with it.

    Then, he realized that by doing this, he could locate Grand Monarch Soul Capturer at any time.

    However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer couldn¡¯t learn of his whereabouts through the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°Just wait for it. I¡¯ll pay Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and the Netherspirits a visit after my soul recovers and my bloodline upgrade isplete!¡±

    Then, he adjusted his breathing and focused on refining his true soul, which had been branded with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul wonders, with soul power he received from the Spirit Pearl.

    It urred to him that he needed to be at his peak state in order for his bloodline to finish its upgrade.

    Not only did his flesh aura need to be brimming, but his soul had to be ready as well.

    Earlier, Grand Monarch Life Wood¡¯s residual power, the Blood-condensing Pills, and the flesh power he had gathered from the Devil warriors, beasts, and insects in the Domain of Shadow Devil had only helped him recover from his bodily injuries.

    His true soul still had yet to recover.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods suddenly flew out of the Spirit Pearl one after another.

    Soul messages entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    ¡°Mmm!¡±

    From the soul messages, Nie Tian learned that they each had a signature tool, which had been sealed away in the Void World after their demise.

    Their connection with their tools had never been severed.

    Now that they had recovered some of the power they had lost in their defeat at the Realm of Dark Souls, they wished to retake the tools they had forged in their previous lives.

    Nie Tian granted their leave.

    Therefore, the five evil gods left by themselves under the baffled gazes of Yin Xingtian, Dn, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian didn¡¯t put the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone away.

    The crimson bone simply floated in the dark void under him, emanating blood-colored light and quietly devouring the wide variety of energies in the starry river.

    Star Behemoths could absorb all sorts of energies, no matter how odd they were.

    Also, it didn¡¯t matter whether they were in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, or the Void World.

    They might be the least picky ¡®eaters¡¯ throughout the three worlds.

    Time flew.

    Nie Tian continued to refine his true soul in the devastated Domain of Shadow Devil, so he could finish his bloodline upgrade when his soul reached its peak state.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that his existence had made every race in the Void World nervous.

    ...

    In a corner of the Void World.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer of the Netherspirits slowly turned the pages of a heavy, ancient book in his hand.

    Each and every page seemed to weigh more than a mountain.

    With every page he turned, a spatial shackle seemed to be added to this area of the starry river.

    He continued to cast his spell with intense focus on his face,pletely ignoring the Voidspirits that were being killed.

    A Bonedrude grand monarchughed wildly as he chased after the Voidspirits in this area of the starry river with many other Bonedrutes and Netherspirits.

    FIZZ!

    Lightning bolts kept shing across the void. However, they couldn¡¯t split the space open and get them to safety.

    ¡°Pei Yukong himself doesn¡¯t have much time left, yet you¡¯ve foolishlye to the Void World with him on this trip of death,¡± the Bonedrude grand monarch said with a hideous grin. ¡°You¡¯re no better than dead when you lose your ability to travel through space and have to fight in a confined area of the starry river. Now that you¡¯re trapped here, don¡¯t imagine you can leave in one piece!¡±

    With these words, mes of death spewed out from his mouth.

    Pale white mes that were vested with the profound truths of death power instantly engulfed the small force of Voidspirits that hade to the Void World with Pei Yukong, and turned them to ashes.

    ...

    In the area where the Netherspirits¡¯ territory bordered the Devils¡¯ territory, a Voidspirit elder turned to Pei Yukong and said, ¡°High Chieftain, one of our forces seems to have been trapped and eliminated. We¡¯ve taken advantage of the confusion in the Void World to kill quite a number of Netherspirits, but now we¡¯ve attracted their attention, and they¡¯ve started fighting back. Our forces are suffering casualties.¡±

    Several well-dressed Voidspirits stood respectfully around Pei Yukong, their faces grim.

    The Voidspirits had a much smaller poption than the Devils, the Netherspirits, and the Bonedrudes. Furthermore, when Voidspirits died, it was almost impossible to bring them back to life. They couldn¡¯t be resurrected through their Blood Essence or disembodied souls as the outsiders could.

    If they died, they died for good.

    ¡°I see. Dong Li¡¯s force is fighting the Devils in the Devils¡¯ territory. Those from the Doomed Star Sea are harassing the Bonedrudes in the Bonedrudes¡¯s territory. It¡¯s about time we called our operation off.¡± With these words, Pei Yukong let out a deep sigh. ¡°And she refused to see me.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, but there¡¯s nothing we can do about that,¡± the elder said with a helpless expression.

    The truth was that Pei Yukong had caught a wisp of Pei Qiqi¡¯s aura as soon as she and Nie Tian had broken free from the Bonedrudes¡¯ Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.

    However, the wisp of aura had vanished in a sh.

    That was how Pei Yukong had realized that she must have intentionally sealed her aura off with her Space Boundaries Crystal.

    ¡°Judging from the information we¡¯ve obtained, Miss Pei parted ways with Nie Tian and the others long ago,¡± the elder said, casting his gaze down. ¡°She thought that Nie Tian would be safe after joining those from the Doomed Star Sea, so she said that she wanted toe find us, and left by herself. However...¡±

    ¡°I know. It was my fault,¡± Pei Yukong said in deep sorrow.

    ¡°We¡¯re in trouble, high chieftain. Duru has been trapped by Grand Monarch Sharp Bones of the Bonedrudes. He can¡¯t seem to return to us using his bloodline magic!¡± Just then, a sharp cry echoed from within a spatial rift that split open in the void behind them.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    ...

    In a brilliant realm in the Lightspirits¡¯ territory.

    A splendid city that had been forged from divine crystals was emanating endless light.

    Any Lightspirit could strengthen their bloodlines, heal their wounds, and nourish their souls as long as they kept close to the city and stayed in that wondrous light.

    This was the City of Holy Light, the headquarters of the Lightspirit race.

    Jiang Yuanchi, who cultivated both light power and shadow power, was now the master of this legendary city. He had been recovering here with the power of the holy city since he had defeated Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher.

    ¡°Open!¡±

    In the great hall, Jiang Yuanchi and several Lightspirit elders created an illusory gate that was filled with glorious flowing light through their joint efforts. Images gradually manifested in the gate.

    It was an unknown area where the remains of an enormous, multicolored bug were scattered about.

    Jiang Yuanchi smiled and said, ¡°Hello, old friend. It¡¯s about time you rejoin me.¡±

    Streaks of mysterious light suddenly wrapped around the chunks of Gupi¡¯s body, carried them through the illusory gate to the City of Holy Light, and ced them before Jiang Yuanchi.

    ¡°From now on, it¡¯ll be the guardian beast of our race!¡± Laughing broadly, Jiang Yuanchi took out numerous precious treasures he had looted in the Void World, and fused them into Gupi¡¯s chopped-up body one after another.

    The chunks of flesh seemed to regain their vitality as they started squirming anding back together.

 Chapter 1670: The Fall of A Demon

    In the Realm of Middle Continent in the Spirit World.

    Torrents of energy started charging out of the vast underground space that was filled with immense energy to the realm¡¯s surface.

    Clusters of pure energy rose into the sky like suns and moons before slowly dispersing through the air, nourishing all things in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Two of the brilliant clusters rose into the air with two cultivators inside: You Qimiao and Han Qing.

    The two of them had been trapped in the depths of the earth, and had thus been practicing cultivation with the unusual power in the wondrous underground space. Now, for some reason, they were suddenly expelled and carried to the surface.

    They were at a loss. All they could think of was the burly giant in the depths of the earth, which had burst forth with blinding light and started spewing rivers of energy right before they had been expelled.

    At that moment, the star core of the Realm of Middle Continent seemed to start pounding heavily like a strong heart!

    BOOM!

    A loud sound suddenly rumbled in their minds.

    Immediately afterwards, the vast Realm of Middle Continent started moving like the floating continent.

    It started drifting in the direction of the Silent Star Sea.

    After a moment of bewilderment, You Qimiao and Han Qing gasped with astonishment, suddenly realizing what was happening. ¡°The realm is moving!¡±

    In a corner of the realm, the Tree of Life, which was growing rapidly by relying on the rich wood power in the Realm of Middle Continent, suddenly sensed the anomaly and issued a soul call.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims soon arrived in a streak of green light, andnded with a loud crash.

    The soul will of the third-generation Tree of Life poured directly into Grand Monarch Primal Wood¡¯s sea of awareness. ¡°Have there been any major changes in the Mortal Worldtely? Great changes are taking ce in the depths of this realm, where humanity was born. It¡¯s now moving towards the Silent Star Sea. From the look of it, it¡¯s hoping to cross the Silent Star Sea and enter the Void World.¡±

    With its divine abilities, its first-generation had kept the invaders from the Void World at bay.

    After the demise of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, even that Nether River had been contained by it.

    But now...

    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to have been any major changes in the Mortal World. In fact, arge number of God and Saint domain human experts have marched into the Void World through the Seven Stars Realm Sea recently.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood reported thetest news.

    ¡°It seems that Nie Tian, Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and many of their chosen ones have entered the Void World as well.

    ¡°Word came from the Doomed Star Sea, saying that Nie Tian went to the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and started a massacre upon arriving in the Void World. It appears that he¡¯s going to refine that Nether River in the Netherspirits¡¯ ancestralnd as well.

    ¡°Many powerful experts from the Mortal World believe that the Void World holds countless precious materials and treasures. Before, since the Seven Stars Realm Sea wasn¡¯t essible, they couldn¡¯t go to the Void World even if they wanted to. But now that the portal in the Seven Stars Realm Sea has been activated, aspiring experts were attracted across the Mortal World, and marched into the Void World at all risks.¡±

    Sensing the movement of the Realm of Middle Continent, the third-generation Tree of Life said, ¡°There must be great changes taking ce in the Void World then. I¡¯m afraid that the dead giant in the depths of the earth has a great secret too. Perhaps he has some sort of connection to some forbidden area of the Void World, which is probably the reason why it¡¯s moving towards the Void World now.¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood gasped. ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent is moving towards the Void World?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s elerating,¡± the Tree of Life said. ¡°Also, if it were to go there through the Silent Star Sea, then my first-generation self will have to make some changes.¡±

    ¡°Hmm? Those two trapped ones havee out of the depths of the earth.¡± It added, sounding somewhat surprised. ¡°Now go talk to them, and see if they¡¯ve discovered anything in the depths of the earth.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡±

    ...

    Almost at the same time.

    Under the control of the Ripper Behemoth, the floating continent, which had been drifting about in the Domain of Forbidden Heaven and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries after Nie Tian had left for the Void World, rammed through a series of power wards and charged into the Doomed Star Sea with an unstoppable momentum.

    Even though it looked like a heavy, superrge-scale ancient starship, it skillfully steered clear of the deadly areas in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Apparently, the floating continent, or to be urate, the Ripper Behemoth inside of it, was no stranger to the Doomed Star Sea.

    This Star Behemoth seemed to have traveled across the three worlds and visited all of their most dangerous areas in its seemingly endless life.

    News of the floating continent entering the Doomed Star Sea soon reached Nie Jin¡¯s ears.

    She said two words: grant ess.

    Therefore, all of the rogue forces in the Doomed Star Sea did everything they could to clear a path for the floating continent, so the Ripper Behemoth could steer the floating continent through the Doomed Star Sea without obstruction.

    Thanks to this, the Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t meet any of the strong obstacles and hardships Ji Cang, Chu Yuan, Qu Yi, and the other peak experts had met when they had crossed the Doomed Star Sea.

    ...

    In the Domain of Dark Marsh in the Mortal World.

    This domain, which belonged to the Feng n, had fallen shortly under the joint attack of the outsiders from the Void World and the Spirit World.

    As the result of the bloodbath created by the Devils and the Demons, the blood of the countless ughtered lives had turned the ocean in one of the realms red.

    After the Devils had retreated and the Demons had been captured, most of the realms in this domain had be deste and uninhabitable.

    At this moment, the dark red ocean in that realm suddenly started surging, as if the blood of billions of lives was somehow being refined and bing purer and purer.

    An enormous demonic figure was looming under the surface of the dark red ocean.

    FZZZ!

    A blinding pir of light suddenly shot straight down from the heavens, and split the vast blood sea in two.

    The pir of light was a condensation of pure spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, without the slightest bit of impurities.

    Its purity was uncanny.

    HOWL!

    A bloodcurdling cry echoed from the depths of the blood sea. ¡°Mo Heng! You¡¯re going too far! I¡¯ve already pulled myself from the conflicts between the three worlds. Why do you keeping after me and refuse to let me be?¡±

    ¡°You killed far too many lives in your previous life, and you spilled far too much blood in the Spirit World and the Mortal World after your resurrection.¡± Mo Heng¡¯s cold voice echoed from high above. ¡°Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, the crimes you¡¯vemitted are beyond forgivable.¡±

    FIZZ!

    Countless rays of zing light started interweaving in the blood sea, before the hidden demonic figure suddenly split up.

    ¡°Mo Heng! You can¡¯t kill me! Even though you¡¯ve entered thete God domain, you can¡¯t kill me by yourself!¡± Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory shouted as his demonic body, Blood Essence, and soul slowly separated.

    A wildugh somehow echoed from underneath the dark red blood sea. ¡°What if I add in my Limpid Cyan Sword?¡±

    In the next moment, heaven-rending sword light morphed into billions of fish that filled the blood sea.

    Numerous drops of purple Blood Essence exploded in the vast blood sea.

    WHOOSH!

    A dharma idol shed the realm barrier open from underneath the realm with a divine sword, and thrust the sword upwards.

    Thend of the realm instantly broke apart, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s flesh and blood that had merged with the blood sea was snuffed out by the sword light bit by bit.

    Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory¡¯s agonized shriek echoed from his every drop of Blood Essence and every wisp of soul. ¡°Mo Heng and Fan Tianze! Both of you have entered thete God domain, yet you sneak up on me while I¡¯m refining flesh power. How despicable!¡±

    Fan Tianze didn¡¯t seem to care as heughed broadly and said, ¡°You see us as despicable humans anyway.¡±

    On that day, Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, who had moved from ce to ce and hidden himself for a long time, died under Mo Heng and Fan Tianze¡¯s joint efforts.

    Not a drop of his Blood Essence was secured. Not a wisp of his discarnate soul escaped.

    Now, after You Qimiao, Luo Wanxiang, and Jiang Yuanchi, two more brilliantte God domain experts were born.

    The two of them had dwarfed all of the other middle God domain experts when they had been at the middle God domain.

    ¡°It¡¯s about time we headed to the Void World.¡±

 Chapter 1671: Gathering of The Strong

    Powerful experts from across the Mortal World, the Spirit World, the Silent Star Sea, and the Doomed Star Sea soon sensed the changes in the Void World and entered the Void World through various means.

    Some of them were grand monarchs and God domain experts that had been assumed to have died long ago.

    Some were strong individuals that had never made their names across the three worlds.

    ...

    At the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Jing Feiyang from the Divine Seal Sect and Yue Yanxi from the Divine me Sect were standing on a dead star and ncing down at the unfathomable azure sea below.

    Hua Mu was with them too.

    Most of the cultivators in the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of the Falling Stars withcking strength had been ordered to station themselves here instead of entering the Void World.

    ¡°So Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory is really dead?¡± Yue Yanxi asked.

    ¡°How can that be false news?¡± Jing Feiyang said, his face filled with respect. ¡°You saw it yourself that Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion dove into the Realm Sea and charged into the Void World together a few hours ago.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded. ¡°It¡¯s most likely true.¡±

    Both Mo Heng and Fan Tianze had entered thete God domain recently. When the two of them had arrived in the Seven Stars Realm Sea, their heaven-shaking, earth-shattering auras had scared many.

    ¡°Well...¡± Hua Mu said, looking hesitant. ¡°Now I¡¯m off to the Void World too.¡±

    Yue Yanxi was taken aback. ¡°What? You haven¡¯t even entered the Saint domain yet. What are you going to the Void World for?¡±

    Hua Mu was currently at thete Void domain.

    Even passing through the portal would be aborious task for him.

    ¡°I know that my cultivation base and strength arecking, but I have this,¡± Hua Mu said with a smile, but the look in his eyes were somewhat gloomy.

    With these words, he pointed at the spot between his eyebrows on his forehead, where a devilish vine slowly manifested itself.

    Both Jing Feiyang and Yue Yanxi¡¯s expressions flickered as soon as they saw the vine. ¡°That Heavenly Demonvine!¡±

    Even though the vine hadn¡¯t manifested fully yet, both of them already felt their states of mind being affected.

    They shrewdly sensed that even the water in the Seven Stars Realm Sea and the Devil Qi within it were being channeled somehow.

    ¡°It¡¯s been eager to possess me and rece me as the master of this shell,¡± Hua Mu exined. ¡°And I¡¯m losing the battle against it. If its full release can¡¯t be prevented, I¡¯m hoping that it¡¯ll happen in the Void World. There are a great number of powerful beings there. They should be able to contain it.

    ¡°Also, I¡¯ve learned from a Devil we¡¯ve imprisoned that there are things in the Void World that can be used to deal with it.¡±

    At that moment, another voice echoed out. ¡°I¡¯m going to the Void World too.¡±

    The new arrival was Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, who had two wondrous coexisting flowers growing inside of her. She flew over in a graceful manner, still wearing that veil. ¡°You and I both have outsider nts inside of us. Back when we were fighting the outsiders from the Void World, I released the coexisting flowers.

    ¡°Some Netherspirits recognized them and said that the same flowers grow in some forbidden area of the Void World.

    ¡°So I¡¯m going to the Void World to find out all about its secrets.¡±

    Hua Mu nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go together.¡±

    The two of them reached a mutual understanding.

    Without much preparation, the two of them dove into the azure sea, and entered the Void World through the portal at the bottom of the sea.

    After that, many Saint domain experts that had traveled great distances to this ce asked Jing Feiyang and Yue Yanxi for permission to enter the Realm Sea.

    Jing Feiyang granted all of them ess.

    The way he saw it, the more confusion the Void World was in, the better, because that way, Nie Tian, Dong Li, and the others would be under less pressure.

    ...

    In the depths of the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Nie Tian was refining his true soul, enveloped in his surging flesh aura sea.

    No one was allowed toe close to him.

    All those who carried outsider bloodlines had spontaneously withdrawn from his surroundings, so that their flesh power wouldn¡¯t be unconsciously absorbed by his flesh aura sea.

    Dong Li had ordered the human experts to pull back from his surroundings as well.

    Having lost Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s protection and with all of the surviving Devils carried away by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s power, the entire domain was enveloped in dead silence.

    Those who were standing guard for Nie Tian while he made his bloodline upgrade were scattered on nearby Devil realms that were bereft of any life force.

    The Realm of Shadow Devil, which had been named after the Shadow Devil g, was the ce where Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer had practiced cultivation.

    Instead of a sphere, the realm was a vast t ckish-violetnd, which resembled the Shadow Devil g when looked at from afar.

    The Realm of Shadow Devil had previously been wreathed in thick Devil Qi. But now, not only was its Devil Qi gone, but even its realm barrier had vanished.

    Without the protection of a realm barrier, all sorts of poisonous dross and deadly energies had found their way into the realm.

    However, for some reason, more poisonous dross and deadly energies had clearly gathered to the Realm of Shadow Devil than any other realm that had also lost their realm barriers.

    Because of this, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone that had been floating above Nie Tian sensed the rich mixed energies in the Realm of Shadow Devil, and took it upon itself to leave Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    With a whoosh, it arrived in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Like a crimson bolt of lightning, the bone came to a stop high in the heavens.

    The wide array of energies that had gathered to the Realm of Shadow Devil were channeled by the bone, and started flowing quietly into it.

    The bone recovered its strength in this way.

    The unique wonders of the Star Behemoths¡¯ bloodlines allowed them to absorb any type of energy and aura in the starry river and refine them into power that they could use.

    They could power themselves with flesh power, Devil Qi, Nether Qi, Spiritual Qi, acidic toxins, and strong winds, along with all sorts of powers that couldn¡¯t even be named.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon and his Demon subordinates were exploring the Realm of Shadow Devil with Feng Beiluo, the Thunder Devil, and their men.

    They were hoping to see if Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer had left any precious treasures behind.

    From the toppled Heaven Abhorrer Pce, they actually found some magical crystals and devilish nts that were hard to find.

    Among them, there was a Heavenly Demonsbane seed.

    Holding the seed with his fingers, Feng Beiluo said with the light of excitement in his eyes. ¡°We found seeds like this in the Demon realms in the Spirit World...¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt that the Heavenly Demonsbanes in the Spirit World came from the Void World,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon said.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, looked into a crystal sphere in his hand that had an eye-like seed inside, and said with a curious expression, ¡°And this seed... There¡¯s something strange about it. By merely looking at it, I feel... uneasy.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the seed of a Demon Eyes Flower,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon said.

    The Thunder Devil¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°A Demon Eyes Flower? The kind that ranks number one among the most deadly nts in the Spirit World?¡±

    With a faint smile, Grand Monarch Hell Demon said, ¡°It ranks number one in the Spirit World, but not here. Don¡¯t underestimate magical nts like it though. Think about it. That Tree of Life of the Floragrims is a good example. Its first-generation was so mighty that it managed to bring Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit down with it.¡±

    Everyone felt deep veneration upon hearing this.

    RUMBLE!

    Violent quaking suddenly came from somewhere in the mountains in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    As this happened, thousands of chains among the mountains that were condensations of pure devil light snapped and dissipated.

    The chains seemed to be part of a hidden grand spell formation.

    But now, with the Devil Qi and the realm barrier of the Realm of Shadow Devil gone, that grand spell formation seemed to have failed.

    Immediately afterwards, a dark, unfathomable abyss manifested in the heart of the mountains.

    ¡°The Dark Abyss!¡±

 Chapter 1672: The Real Forbidden Land!

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s eyes grew wide, with veins bulging on his forehead.

    Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan went nk for a moment before suddenly realizing what that name meant.

    ¡°The Dark Abyss!¡± the three of them eximed simultaneously, breathing heavily, as if they found this hard to believe.

    The Dark Abyss was a forbidden area of the Void World.

    Unlike the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, the Dark Abyss had formed naturally, and no one knew how long it had been here.

    In fact, the Dark Abyss was a forbidden area in the real sense!

    Both the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement and the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones were grand establishments built by living beings with traceable origins.

    Their creators were a distinguished Devil and a capable Bonedrude in their long histories.

    The Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement could be viewed as a huge prison the Devils had built to imprison powerful experts of other races. With its devilish mes, they burned their victims day and night, and harvested their power.

    The Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, on the other hand, was a superrge-scale burial ground of the Bonedrudes.

    Billions and billions of corpses had been tossed into it, so the death power they generated could help the Bondrudes grow stronger and upgrade their bloodlines.

    The Dark Abyss waspletely different.

    There were all kinds of rumors about it in the Void World.

    The word ¡®dark¡¯ in the Netherspirits¡¯ ¡®Dark Soul Ward,¡¯ the grand defensive spell formation they used to protect the Realm of Dark Souls, hade from the Dark Abyss.

    The word ¡®abyss¡¯ in the Devils¡¯ Domain of Devil Abyss also referred to the Dark Abyss.

    Peak experts from the Mortal World and the Spirit World hade to the Void World to explore its forbidden areas. However, the ce they had desired to explore the most wasn¡¯t the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement or the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones. It was the Dark Abyss.

    Rumor had it that it held the secret about transcending the limits and bing paragons.

    All three paragons in the Void World¡¯s long history, the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, had explored the Dark Abyss and returned alive.

    However, as powerful as the three major races in the Void World were, very few of their members had managed to enter the Dark Abyss.

    That was because even though the existence of the Dark Abyss had been well-established, the ess to it had been a secret.

    Many knew about the existence of the Dark Abyss and were strong enough, but just couldn¡¯t find ess to it.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon took a deep breath and said, ¡°I think I know why Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer merged the Shadow Devil g with the entire Domain of Shadow Devil now. This entrance to the Dark Abyss must be part of the reason. She must be responsible for guarding this entrance!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Chains of devil light flitted from this area of the mountains like icy purple lightning bolts.

    This entrance to the Dark Abyss seemed to stretch all the way down to the heart of the realm. However, strange lights could be seen swimming in it, along with strong currents of spatial power.

    Through the swimming lights and currents, strange shadows could be seen in the darkness.

    Feng Beiluo examined them with rapt attention, and discovered that they were actually strange-looking nts, with their exuberant branches and leaves swaying in an impudent manner.

    Even though he couldn¡¯t get a clear view of them, he believed that they were Heavenly Demonsbanes and Demon Eyes Flowers.

    Not only were they inrge numbers, but they were at high grades as well.

    ¡°Those Heavenly Demonsbane and Demon Eyes Flower seeds we found in Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s pce must havee from them,¡± Feng Beiluo said with a grim expression. ¡°If you look closely, you¡¯ll see that those dark areas are crawling with simr devilish nts.

    ¡°I suppose they only grow close to the entrance, or the surface.

    ¡°Even so, those devilish nts are sinister enough to make most ninth grade grand patriarchs drop the idea of entering. Grand monarchs might not fear them, but who knows what they¡¯ll encounter after passing through them and entering the depths of the Dark Abyss?¡±

    With a low chuckle, Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t concern me anyway, since I don¡¯t n on entering the Dark Abyss any time soon.¡±

    He hadn¡¯t spent much time in the Doomed Star Sea.

    However, from the information he had gathered, he had already learned that for ages, numerouste God domain experts from the Mortal World andte tenth grade grand monarchs from the Spirit World hade to explore the Dark Abyss in the Void World in order to transcend their limits and be paragons like the Dark King.

    However, it seemed that all of those mighty beings had entered and nevere back.

    Who knew how many brilliantte tenth grade grand monarchs the Void World had produced in its long history? However, only those three had entered the Dark Abyss and returned.

    Only those three had be paragonster in their lives.

    WHOOSH!

    The crimson bone that had been floating in the sky suddenly morphed into a bolt of lightning and pierced into the revealed entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    Before Feng Beiluo and the others could react, the crimson bolt of lightning shot into the dark areas that were densely crawling with devilish nts.

    ¡°Uhh...¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon went nk for a brief moment before he hastily sent out soul messages.

    Dn, the Snow Devil, Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and the others that were scattered on different devastated realms rapidly gathered to the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    However, Chu Rui and those from the four great sects had been intentionally left out, along with therge number of Saint domain experts from across the Mortal World.

    Upon arriving, Dong Li stared into the abyss that was surrounded by chapped mountains, and asked with an astonished expression, ¡°Is this a portal like the one in the Seven Stars Realm Sea? Wait, it¡¯s not. Even I can¡¯t see through the darkness in its depths.¡±

    The ck tortoise, which was with her and carried the Dark Behemoth¡¯s bloodline, suddenly let out low cries that only she could hear.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression instantly grew grim, and she said before anyone could exin the situation to her, ¡°It leads to the so-called real forbidden area of the Void World, doesn¡¯t it?¡±

    Dn, the Snow Devil, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon nodded slowly, their faces grim as well.

    ¡°It¡¯s different indeed,¡± Dong Li said with seriousness. ¡°I feel strong apprehension when I sense this entrance with my soul. I¡¯ve never felt that way since I entered the Devils¡¯ territory through the Seven Stars Realm Sea. Wherever I went in the Devils¡¯ territory, I had a sense of familiarity, as if I was at home.

    ¡°It didn¡¯t matter if it was the Domain of Devil Abyss, the Domain of Shadow Devil, or the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, which I destroyed. None of them made me feel uneasy or threatened.

    ¡°But this ce...¡±

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone suddenly burst forth with zing light.

    Illuminated by the light, the devilish nts in the darkness suddenly became unusually clear.

    ¡°Two Demon Eyes Flowers, six Heavenly Demonsbanes, and countless Ghost Grass! Three Spectre Trees! Nine Carrion Flowers...!¡± An exmation escaped Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s mouth. ¡°My Heavens! There are so much more than just devilish nts in there! There are a great number of legendary nts of the Bonedrudes and the Netherspirits as well!¡±

    The bone suddenly flew deeper and lit up another dark area.

    That area was also growing with all sorts of nts, but in their midst, the crowd of experts spotted a gigantic corpse that was lying face-up and facing towards them directly.

    The gigantic corpse was crawling with numerous sinister nts that seemed to be absorbing nourishment from it.

    It was a titan.

    In fact, it was the titan high chieftain who had disappeared for a long time, lying dead in the entrance to the Dark Abyss that had been guarded by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer.

 Chapter 1673: Soul Confusing

    Everyone was deeply shaken looking at the enormous dead titan that was having its residual flesh power drained by the devilish nts that had crawled all over it.

    They couldn¡¯t help but suck in breaths of cold air.

    That was the titans¡¯ current high chieftain, ate tenth grade grand monarch, for heaven¡¯s sake!

    Demon Eyes Flowers, Heavenly Demonsbane, Ghost Grass, Spectre Trees, and Carrion Flowers...

    All of them were legendary evil nts that had intelligence and the ability to upgrade themselves like living beings.

    Not just that, but these terrifying nts also needed to devour living being¡¯s flesh power as their nourishment.

    There was a long history of grand monarchs in the Void World being wrapped around and slowly digested by them.

    Some grand monarchs had even been possessed by these evil nts and lost their minds. With the sinister nts growing out of their bodies, they had to live the rest of their lives in a befuddled, non-human state.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid those evil nts are all at high grades.¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s eyes shone with the light of amazement as he signaled to the others to keep their distance, lest they get pulled in and end up suffering the same fate as the titan high chieftain.

    Those present didn¡¯t need his warnings to sense the threat from those nts. They all carefully backed away a bit.

    At that moment, the brilliant Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone suddenly grew dim.

    Everyone instantly lost their clear view of the evil nts and the enormous corpse.

    Even though they squinted to exert their sight, they could no longer see what other amazing things might be hidden in this dark entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    Yuan Jiuchuan scratched his nose with a dry smile, and slowly backed away. ¡°I¡¯m never going to enter this Dark Abyss anyway. I have a good idea of my own capabilities. I know that titan could have snuffed me out easily, but even he was killed by those sinister nts. My death will be practically guaranteed if I go in.¡±

    With these words, he left not only this area of the mountains, but the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    He seemed to be worried that unforeseen changes would take ce in the Realm of Shadow Devil, and suck all those who were observing into the entrance to the Dark Abyss, turning them into food for those evil nts.

    Yuan Jiuchuan went back to waiting for Nie Tian to awake.

    Dn, the Gilded Phoenix, said after remaining silent for a while, ¡°Keep this entrance a secret, and don¡¯t tell anyone about it. I¡¯ll inform the Doomed Star Sea of our findings.¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded slightly. ¡°Right, we should let the master decide what to do. He¡¯s more familiar with the Dark Abyss than all of us.¡±

    Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce was taken aback. ¡°What? He knows about the Dark Abyss? He hasn¡¯t been in there, has he?¡±

    A faint smile appeared on Feng Beiluo¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t give an answer.

    FIZZ!

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone suddenly stopped emanating light as it slowly flew through the dark areas that were crawling with all sorts of evil nts.

    Dn was surprised by the change. ¡°That bone didn¡¯t enter the Dark Abyss, did it?¡± However, he soon discovered that he had lost sight of the bone.

    He wondered whether it had entered the Dark Abyss or was still somewhere in this entrance, and he just couldn¡¯t see it.

    Yin Xingtian turned to Dong Li and asked, ¡°What do we do now?¡±

    Dong Li gave her answer. ¡°We¡¯ll wait for Nie Tian to finish his upgrade to the tenth grade and join the ranks of grand monarchs. I have a feeling that great changes are going to overtake the entire Void World. Now, just do your best to improve your strength and battle prowess. It won¡¯t be long before the entire Void World descends into chaos.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± Yin Xingtian answered. That was when the ends of his eyebrow suddenly rose.

    Numerous swords that glowed with glorious spiritual light spread out behind him like a tail of multicolored feathers.

    Even the three kingpins from the Doomed Star Sea that were present all felt a strong sense of danger, and jerked their heads towards him.

    They fixed their eyes on the Godspan Sword Formation that had taken him as its master.

    ¡°Someone from the Heaven Span Pavilion with profound attainments in the Dao of the sword just let out a soul call,¡± Yin Xingtian said with a frown. ¡°He¡¯s calling out to every divine sword with intelligence in the Void World. Many swords in my sword formation sensed it.¡±

    ¡°Who could it be?¡± Yu Suying asked curiously.

    ¡°It was either Chu Yuan or Fan Tianze,¡± Yin Xingtian said. However, after a moment of pondering, he added, ¡°I suspect it was Fan Tianze. He might havee to the Void World, and his cultivation base must have entered thete God domain.¡±

    Face icy, the Snow Devil said, ¡°I bet it was Fan Tianze. He¡¯s better than Chu Yuan in terms of cultivation talent. If he hadn¡¯t advocated for freedom and independence so much, he would have been the sectmaster of the Heaven Span Pavilion. Chu Yuan wouldn¡¯t have had a chance. In fact, I suspect that Chu Yuan has already died in the Void World.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed and said, ¡°Chu Yuan¡¯s talent is unimpressive indeed. I remember that he tried to fight us in the Doomed Star Sea, but couldn¡¯t even break your snow domain. Anyways, as long as it¡¯s not someone from the Void World. It¡¯s going to be a good thing for us if it¡¯s really Fan Tianze. He has a good reputation.¡±

    ...

    With the help of the pure soul power infused into his sea of awareness through the Spirit Pearl, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul slowly grew solid, and had clear edges restored to it.

    The connection between him and the five evil gods had never been severed.

    As wisps of soul power continued to flow in from the Spirit Pearl, cyan sparks suddenly appeared one after another in the misty space inside the Spirit Pearl, and started gathering towards its soul spontaneously.

    Each and every cyan spark carried a profound soul wonder.

    ¡°The Book of Spirits!¡± The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul let out an exmation in the internal space of the Spirit Pearl.

    The Book of Spirits had been written by a brilliant expert in the Phantasms¡¯ history, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    It was said that the great book recorded the profound enlightenment he had derived from the Nether River. He had written this book so that future generations would be able to cultivate by it.

    However, since Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s life had ended in a horrible way, the Book of Spirits had been questioned.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had entered Qi Deviation in histe years. It was said that he had killed many from his own n before he had exploded and died in the Nether River.

    After his death, all those who had practiced the Book of Spirits had died violent deaths as well. Eventually, it had been categorized as a forbidden book and kept somewhere safe. No one had been allowed to practice it ever since.

    Luo Wanxiang had been the only exception.

    By allowing him to learn from the Book of Spirits, the Phantasms had actually intended to lead him to a crooked path and get him killed.

    However, to their surprise, he had somehow managed to enter thete God domain with the help of what he had learned from the Book of Spirits and his gains from the Void World. In a way, he had been talented as well.

    The soul of the Spirit Pearl was the discarnate soul of a ninth grade Phantasm grand patriarch, who had never learned from the Book of Spirits.

    However, at this moment, the contents of the book were somehow manifesting themselves in the internal heaven and earth of the Spirit Pearl, and being fused into the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul by force.

    Numerous soul wonders that Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had derived back in the day were branded in the soul as its deepest memories.

    The soul started upgrading!

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the Spirit Pearl magically manifested in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness.

    A strange awareness had forcibly reced the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and be its new master, yet the misty cyan world inside the pearl didn¡¯t seem to reject it in the slightest.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± A grand, resonant sound echoed from the Spirit Pearl, causing Nie Tian¡¯s true soul to tremble nonstop.

    Nie Tian, who was focused on refining his soul, turned pale with astonishment. Staring at the Spirit Pearl that had appeared out of nowhere, he said, ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡±

 Chapter 1674: The Disappeared Truth!

    The Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul came out of the misty world inside the Spirit Pearl and appeared in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    It condensed at an amazingly fast speed before morphing into a sub-soul of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.

    Nie Tian suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his soul.

    The connection between him and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul that hadsted for many years seemed to have been cut off ruthlessly by a sword.

    He could no longer sense the aura of the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul. It appeared that the ninth grade grand patriarch¡¯s fragmentary soul and awareness had all been erased, leaving no trace.

    That was when he knew that the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was gone for good.

    All of a sudden, his heart overflowed with pain.

    Not long ago, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul had expressed its desire to take some fragmentary souls that he had captured and use them to help itself advance.

    In the Domain of Shadow Devil, he had indeed done so, and the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul hadn¡¯t disappointed him. In return, it had used the pure soul power it had refined to repay him and help him condense his soul.

    Now, all of a sudden, the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul was gone, and was reced by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul.

    ¡°This Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul has absorbed many Devils¡¯ fragmentary souls in the Domain of Shadow Devil, and has finally grown to the extent that it can amodate my will and be helpful,¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer talked to himself. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve been waiting for this for quite some time now. I thought you¡¯d die young and I wouldn¡¯t have to spend so much energy dealing with you myself.¡±

    The Spirit Pearl suddenly fell into his sub-soul¡¯s palm.

    BOOM!

    The Spirit Pearl burst forth with brilliant divine light in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness. The cyan sphere of light was like a realm of souls forming in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    Nie Tian¡¯s main soul and nine sub-souls all shook.

    At that moment, Nie Tian had a strange feeling that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer should be the Spirit Pearl¡¯s owner, not the soul it had reced.

    When the Spirit Pearl had been controlled by the soul, it couldn¡¯t have disyed such wonders.

    Nie Tian saw the Spirit Pearl be crystal clear as it emanated increasingly dazzling divine light.

    Thousands of brilliant cyan soul characters flowed on the surface of the crystal pearl, manifesting profound true meanings of the soul.

    When Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul held the Spirit Pearl, it seemed to be holding a world of its own.

    Rays of blinding light shot out of the pearl.

    Nie Tian felt unbearable pain as his main soul and nine sub-souls stared at the Spirit Pearl at the same time.

    SPLASH!

    A muddy, illusory Nether River showed up and surrounded the Spirit Pearl.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul pointed at the Spirit Pearl and the Nether River surrounding it, and asked Nie Tian, ¡°Does that look familiar to you?¡±

    Nie Tian was instantly taken aback. ¡°The Realm of Dark Souls!¡±

    The Spirit Pearl, which was now surrounded by the illusory Nether River, reminded him of the scene he had seen upon arriving at the Realm of Dark Souls through Pei Qiqi¡¯s spatial passage.

    The Realm of Dark Souls, which had been like a bright cyan ball surrounded by a Nether River, had once stunned him.

    At this moment, the Spirit Pearl surrounded by the illusory Nether River bore a great resemnce to it!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturerughed broadly and marveled, ¡°Ha ha ha, you¡¯re smart as I expected! There were three Spirit Pearls at the beginning. Thank you for finding them one by one and fusing them together.

    ¡°I¡¯m grateful for that, but now, you¡¯ll cough up all the refined soul power that you¡¯ve gotten from the Spirit Pearls over the years.¡±

    ¡°Great Soul-conjuring Spell!¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer eximed softly.

    The cyan light that the Spirit Pearl emitted shone on his main soul and nine sub-souls.

    Nie Tian let out a cry of pain. His main soul and nine sub-souls suddenly started emitting ¡°smoke.¡±

    That ¡°smoke¡± was refined soul power.

    Attracted by the Spirit Pearl, the ¡°smoke¡± naturally flew to it.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer held the Spirit Pearl as if he were holding a realm, a world that only belonged to him, and an unusual space simr to the Realm of Dark Souls.

    Nie Tian stared nkly at Grand Monarch Soul Capturer as thoughts shed through his mind.

    There was an unsurpassed genius named Grand Monarch Nether Spirit in the history of the Phantasms.

    He was the first grand monarch who had truly understood the true meaning of the Nether River and won its approval.

    It was he who had discovered that the Nether River in the Nether Realm had been transformed from a powerful Netherspirit¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    It was also him who had learned about the existence of the five evil gods, and refined and scattered the three Spirit Pearls to collect the five evil gods¡¯ fragmentary souls. Moreover, he hadn¡¯t made them one, preventing the five evil gods¡¯ fragmentary souls from getting together and thus preventing them from being fully revived.

    It was also he who had derived wonders of the soul from the Nether River and created the Book of Spirits, the forbidden scripture.

    His battle prowess and talent had surpassed all the other Phantasm grand monarchs. Even Grand Monarch Nether River, who had taken his position after him, was no match for him.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit was truly the most powerful expert in the history of the Phantasms.

    When he had been in his heyday, all the Ancientspirits of the Spirit World had avoided fighting him. He had even enjoyed a high level authority among the Demons, Fiends, and Bonebrutes.

    While he had been alive, the four great ancient sects had been defeated repeatedly in the Dead Star Sea and had suffered heavy blows.

    He had once stood at the peak of the entire Spirit World. His status in the Spirit World had beenparable to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Void World.

    Unfortunately, it seemed Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had suffered a Qi deviation at the end of his life, after he hadprehended the true meaning of the Nether River; he had taken many lives, regardless of whether they had been friends or enemies.

    In the end, this amazingly gifted grand monarch had exploded and died during cultivation, without being attacked by a strong enemy.

    ¡°The Netherspirits, the Spirit Pearl, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit... A grand monarch who is named after the Void World¡¯s Netherspirits, which is the origin of his bloodline. Even his tools are called Spirit Pearls!¡±

    A series of thoughts shed through the torrential memories of Nie Tian¡¯s main soul like lightning bolts.

    A light of enlightenment suddenly emerged.

    ¡°You¡¯re called Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in the Void World because the title ¡®Netherspirits¡¯ already existed in the Void World,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°You named yourself Grand Monarch Nether Spirit when you firstprehended the true meaning of the Nether River in the Spirit World. If you continued to call yourself Grand Monarch Nether Spirit aftering to the Void World, it¡¯d be far too impudent and arrogant.¡±

    ¡°I never expected that you woulde to the Void World and assume the identity of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer after you exploded and died in the Nether River.¡±

    Nie Tian seemed to understand instantly after seeing the unusual phenomenon disyed by the Spirit Pearl in Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s hands.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was, in fact, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit!

    The Spirit Pearl that he had mastered over these years had been refined by this very grand monarch in front of him!

    No wonder Luo Wanxiang could cultivate the Book of Spirits after secretly swearing his allegiance to the Netherspirits of the Void World and secretly colluding with the Phantasms in the Spirit World.

    The evil magics that the Book of Spirits had recorded allowed casters to sacrifice souls in order tomunicate with an ¡®evil spirit.¡¯ This so-called evil spirit was Grand Monarch Nether Spirit himself, who was also the Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in front of him!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer didn¡¯t try to deny this. ¡°Good, you¡¯ve finally figured it out, but there¡¯s one more thing you haven¡¯t figured out. It wasn¡¯t me who wanted to contaminate the Nether River. It was the Nether River, or Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s fragmentary soul, that tried to possess me. He tried toe back to life in my body!¡±

    The sub-soul looked Nie Tian¡¯s soul, which had ¡°smoke¡± rising from it, with a cold look. ¡°Otherwise, why do you think I would suffer a Qi deviation and die in the Nether River in the Nether Realm? Do you take Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit as a kind being? He tricked me, and I only survived by chance. When I refined the Nether River in the Void World, I was just retaliating.

    ¡°After his scheme against me failed, he chose you. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve beaten him to your body!¡±

 Chapter 1675: Possess!

    The Spirit Pearl couldn¡¯t be made the most of until it was held by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.

    Its light shone on Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and nine sub-souls, making him unable to fight back.

    Because the Great Soul-conjuring Spell had been disyed, strands of refined soul power kept flying out of them.

    The sub-soul that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had condensed with the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul gradually solidified.

    The Spirit Pearl shone brightly in its hand.

    The pain from his soul quickly spread all over Nie Tian¡¯s body, and the feeling of being powerless and stifled made him almost go mad.

    He felt deeply frustrated.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, or Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, might have long since sensed his existence and behavior through the Spirit Pearl.

    After Luo Wanxiang had cultivated the Book of Spirits, started a series of battles, umted numerous souls of hatred, and sacrificed them, he had managed to establishmunication with Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.

    As for him, he had fought battles and spilled blood in various realms as well.

    The Spirit Pearl had absorbed those fragmentary souls of hatred to enhance and erge the clear world in it, making it more real.

    Had Grand Monarch Soul Capturer been staring coldly at him from the Void World the whole time?

    Had all his behavior been under Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s watch?

    Had Grand Monarch Soul Capturer been secretly influencing his behavior and state of mind over the years through the Spirit Pearl?

    As his soul power was vaporized and absorbed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, various kinds of thoughts shed through his mind despite himself.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer sighed with regret and said. ¡°It¡¯s a bit unfortunate that I¡¯ve exposed myself too early. Otherwise, I would have been able to continue to use you to strengthen the Spirit Pearl until it was strong enough to control those five ancestors. After all, the Spirit Pearl was refined to fight against the five of them in the first ce.¡±

    ¡°The meaning of their existence is to firmly control them one day, as the Heavenly Spirit Seals can.

    ¡°You¡¯ve helped me do what I couldn¡¯t do, and you¡¯ve done it morepletely than I expected.

    ¡°No matter how hard I tried, I could only gather their fragmentary souls. When their souls wereplete, I could only bring them back to life by having them possess young Netherspirit bodies.

    ¡°But you directly gave them fleshly bodies, which was something that I couldn¡¯t do.¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer talked unceasingly, and didn¡¯t try to hide anything. Perhaps he thought the situation was unchangeable, and there was nothing Nie Tian could do to turn things around.

    Back when he hadprehended the true meaning of the Nether River, he had learned that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul awareness had still existed in the Nether River, and that the stone statues had been Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s five loyal followers.

    He had been plotting in secret since he had decided to get rid of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    As he had professed his loyalty to Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, absorbing various soul wonders from the Nether River, he had secretly forged the three Spirit Pearls to gather the five evil gods¡¯ fragmentary souls.

    Both he and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had their own evil ns. Finally, when Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had found that the fruit had be ripe, as he had be ate tenth grade grand monarch, he had made a move in an attempt to wipe out his soul awareness.

    However, as a result, he had detonated his own body, which Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had had his eye on.

    Through various arrangements, his refined soul, the true meaning that he hadprehended, and his connection to the Nether River and the River of Souls, he had sessfully broken free from the Spirit World and entered the Void World in the form of a soul.

    After his soul had flown into the Void World, he had possessed a young Netherspirit¡¯s body, reced him, and grown up rapidly.

    In a very short time, he had be a new star of the Netherspirits. His battle prowess had soon surpassed that of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, Grand Monarch Soul yer, and Grand Monarch Soul Converger, and he had be a super expert who was second only to Grand Monarch Heaven Devil throughout the Void World.

    Then he hadid his hands on the Nether River. He gradually corrupted the Nether River with all the foreign abominations, dregs, and toxins that could disturb Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s remaining soul awareness.

    The remaining soul awareness that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had left behind in the Nether River had been slowly melted away by him.

    He had learned all the secrets and soul spells of the Nether River, which became a sharp de in his hand.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturerughed darkly. ¡°Nie Tian, don¡¯t think he cares about you. What he only cares about is your peculiar body. He was the best in the three worlds in the cultivation of soul, but it¡¯s a pity that the Netherspirits¡¯ fleshly bodies are not as strong as those of the Bonedrudes and Fiends, which restricted him a little.

    ¡°In his eyes, you¡¯re a gem, a much more precious one than I was.

    ¡°In a sense, by being able to take on the form of the Nether River and spread his soul awareness in the three worlds, he¡¯s already beyond the definition of a living being. He can reincarnate by attaching himself to any race! In this case, the Netherspirits¡¯ bodies aren¡¯t the best choice.

    ¡°People who have boundless flesh auras, extremely tough bodies, and unlimited potential like the Ancientspirits and Devils are good choices.¡±

    ¡°Your presence, the outburst of your bloodline, and the many wonders that you¡¯ve disyed since have won him overpletely. Perhaps he feels that it¡¯s lucky that I exploded and died, otherwise he would have possessed me and been resurrected through my body, and regretted it.

    ¡°He will have no regrets only if he possesses you and is revived through your fleshly body.

    ¡°Haha, I hadn¡¯t realized this until I recently mastered the Spirit Scepter and fought his will. I have also recently learned of the wonders of your bloodline, which is why I¡¯m going to kill you with all my might!¡±

    Speaking up to this point, the light of greed suddenly appeared in the depths of the eyes of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul.

    ¡°Unlikest time, what I want to kill this time is only your soul! I don¡¯t want to destroy your wondrous body. I didn¡¯t expect Qin Yao to really create a perfect fleshly body. Strictly speaking, you, Nie Tian, are not a human. You¡¯re not even a hybrid.

    ¡°You are an epoch-making new unique living being!¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer eximed softly.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and nine sub-souls seemed to start burning violently.

    More ¡°smoke¡± rose from them, and was quickly absorbed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer with the Great Soul-conjuring Spell.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul slowly grew bright and semitransparent, like a phantom that would disappear at any moment.

    He was well-aware of how weak his soul was. The connection between him and the five evil gods was almost cut off, and he couldn¡¯t sense the presence of the Spirit Scepter.

    Moreover, having heard so much from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, he realized that both the Spirit Scepter and the true meaning of the Nether River he hadprehended came from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s remaining soul awareness.

    However, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was ill-disposed toward him.

    Was it true that the Heavenly Spirit Seals allowed him to control the five evil gods and the Spirit Scepter? Did they really work on Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit?

    ¡°Your soul will be gone, but your body will still exist. Do you know why I named myself Soul Capturer after arriving at the Void World? That¡¯s because the soul spells I study will allow me to perfectly absorb your memories ande back in your body!¡±

    ¡°Come back in my body!¡± Hearing this, Nie Tian¡¯s body shuddered with terror.

    He knew what Grand Monarch Soul Capturer meant!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer would melt all his memories and soul awareness! Then, he would be able to walk the starry river as Nie Tian, and the others wouldn¡¯t find out.

    He could even continue his cultivation, and make breakthroughs in his cultivation and bloodline.

    However, that Nie Tian would no longer be him.

    That would only be Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in Nie Tian¡¯s body!

    ¡°No!¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and nine sub-souls let out begrudging growls.

    His bloodline instantly burst forth!

 Chapter 1676: Father And Son

    THUD! THUD!

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart suddenly started beating violently.

    He suddenly felt three cold things in his chest.

    He looked down, and discovered that the three shiny fragmentary star marks that were engraved on his chest started emitting amazing light like brilliant stars.

    The many primordial symbols that recorded the Fragmentary Star Incantation burst forth with boundless power.

    The three fragmentary star marks were like eyes, staring at Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness. It was as if a god were gazing at the livings in the world from across an infinite sea of stars.

    In the next moment, the three fragmentary star marks that had merged into his fleshly body broke free from his chest, and fell into his sea of soul awareness like the three most dazzling stars in the myriad realms!

    WHOOSH!

    The three shiny fragmentary star marks floated in the form of a triangle above Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, his true soul and nine sub-souls, as well as Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul and the Spirit Pearl.

    Streaks of dazzling starlight suddenly burst out from the three fragmentary star marks. The light was mysterious and distant, as if it came from the depths of the starry river and contained the ultimate secrets of the starry river.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who had just sneered and given a long speech, shut up in an instant.

    In the next moment, he discovered that his Great Soul-conjuring Spell had failed.

    A sphere of starlight rapidly enveloped him.

    Nie Tian¡¯s nine sub-souls thatmunicated with his true soul burst forth with boundless divine light, and seemed to establish a mysterious rtionship with the three fragmentary star marks in an instant.

    BOOM!

    An overbearing, mighty will that filled the starry river flooded through the three fragmentary star marks.

    A cold snort echoed out from the three fragmentary star marks simultaneously.

    In a sh, countless rays of bright starry light flitted out of the three fragmentary star marks and flew directly into Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul instantly started burning like a lit oilmp as Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and sub-souls had.

    Wisps of soul power that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had condensed suddenly started pouring back into Nie Tian¡¯s soul.

    Nie Tian, who had been weakened to the point where he was gradually losing consciousness, felt as if a fountain of wisdom had been poured into his soul and instantly awakened him.

    When his head was clear again, he stared at his sea of soul awareness with astonishment.

    The first things he saw were the three shiny fragmentary star marks.

    The three fragmentary star marks, which had merged into his fleshly body in the Domain of the Falling Stars in those early years, were now hanging high above his sea of soul awareness like three zing suns!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul and the Spirit Pearl were like ice balls in the fierce sun, and started melting!

    ¡°Qin Yao!¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer eximed.

    Then with a dark grin, he grabbed the Spirit Pearl and aimed it at the three starlit fragmentary star marks. ¡°Soul-splitting Seal!¡±

    Three seals instantly rose from the Spirit Pearl and floated toward the three fragmentary star marks.

    As soon as the Soul-splitting Seals emerged, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and sub-souls had a feeling of terror, like they were about to split and explode.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Even his sea of soul awareness seemed unable to bear the three Soul-splitting Seals¡¯ power, and was about to break.

    However, what shocked Nie Tian the most wasn¡¯t the Soul-splitting Seals, but Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s scream of the name ¡®Qin Yao.¡¯

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s soul was shaken as he stared at the three fragmentary star marks in astonishment, sensing the overbearing willing from the starry river through the depths of the three fragmentary star marks.

    Was it really him?

    BAM!

    Streaks of dazzling starlight shot out of the three fragmentary star marks and shed with the Soul-splitting Seals that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had condensed, giving rise to violent sputtering soul power.

    POOH! POOH!

    Sitting quietly in his crimson flesh aura sea, Nie Tian, whose face was hard to make out, suddenly coughed blood.

    His eyes were closed, but blood flowed from the corners of his eyes like blood strings.

    However, those who were busy with the Dark Abyss didn¡¯t notice it.

    As far as Dong Li, Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon saw it, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline breakthrough didn¡¯t rely on external forces. As long as no enemy disturbed him, he would be able to advance smoothly.

    They didn¡¯t expect that someone unusual like Grand Monarch Soul Capturer would attack from within, starting with Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    ¡°I myself may be no match for Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in a soul battle, but now...¡± Nie Tian thought inwardly.

    His bright semi-transparent true soul stared darkly at Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul, the Spirit Pearl and the Nether River surrounding it.

    ¡°The soul wonders that I¡¯veprehended maye from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, or the River of Soul,¡± Nie Tian thought. ¡°Now, both Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer want to possess me. They both feel that my soul is not strong enough, and that they can walk all over me.¡±

    Anger rose little by little in his heart.

    ¡°I¡¯ve also reached the God domain! If Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was able to escape from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s control, I may be strong enough to do the same. Moreover, it¡¯s a mere sub-soul I¡¯m facing!¡±

    ¡°As for the Spirit Pearl, since it belongs to you, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, then...¡±

    SWISH!

    At this moment, his me power sub-soul, which was connected to his me domain and mastered the me power core, erupted like a volcano.

    Strands of fieryva-like soul power wildly surged out of the me power sub-soul.

    The soul power that contained the true meaning of me poured into the Spirit Pearl like boilingva.

    ¡°Melt!¡± Nie Tian shouted.

    As soon as he did, his me power sub-soul started absorbing me power from the spirit core like crazy!

    That me power contained the ultimate true meaning of me that could destroy all living beings.

    CRACKLE!

    The Spirit Pearl that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had used to condense the three Soul-splitting Seals was immediately engulfed in raging mes.

    ¡°Like I could refine the Spirit Pearl on the altar surrounded by eight me dragons in the Silent Star Sea, I can also burn this pearl that you made with my mes!¡±

    BANG!

    The three Soul-splitting Seals suddenly exploded.

    This was caused by two reasons. On the one hand, the impact from the starlight emanated by the Fragmentary star marks had been tremendous. On the other hand, the Spirit Pearl was being burnt by the fiery me power.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was a little surprised. ¡°Oh? Those mes carry the aura of the Divine me. No wonder they can burn my Spirit Pearl. However...¡±

    He had hardly finished the sentence when he suddenly squealed, because he saw that the Spirit Pearl was not only burning, but had also been filled with dense dots of starlight at some point.

    Those dots of starlight were what really scared him!

    The clear space inside the pearl that he had created seemed to have be a dazzling sea of stars, with densely-packed stars shining brightly.

    A mysterious and gorgeous starry river suddenly appeared in the Spirit Pearl out of thin air.

    In the boundless starlight, a vague colossal figure suddenly formed, which looked so awe-inspiring that it seemed as if it could dominate the three worlds.

    The figure pulled randomly with his hands inside the Spirit Pearl.

    Heaven exploded, and the earth cracked!

    The misty space had cost Grand Monarch Soul Capturer numerous energies to build and had been nurtured by the Spirit Pearl¡¯s soul and the five evil gods for ages. Now, the five regions that had been divided and given to the five evil gods, which, in fact, had been built to confine the five evil gods, were the first to copse.

    In a very short time, the copse spread and took over the whole space!

    Cracks appeared on the surface of the bright, semi-transparent Spirit Pearl.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer screamed crazily, ¡°Qin Yao, don¡¯t you dare!¡±

    However, another cold snort came from within the pearl. ¡°Break.¡±

    In a sh, the Spirit Pearl shattered and turned into a cloud of green light. The unusual space inside of it, which Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had created and gradually perfected over the years, shattered.

 Chapter 1677: Kill!

    ¡°Ahh!¡± Grand Monarch Soul Capturer screamed.

    His scream exploded in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness like thousands of sharp silver needles.

    Nie Tian¡¯s true soul said grimly, ¡°You deserve it!¡±

    The pieces of misty space from the shattered Spirit Pearl still shone with brilliant green light.

    ¡°Grand Soul Wringer!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    Then, a colossal wringer, which seemed to be able to crush all the living beings in the world, was formed by him with his soul awareness and soul power.

    As soon as the ancient heavy wringer was formed, soul symbols flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s true soul and fused into it.

    It started to rotate slowly.

    FIZZ!

    The pieces of misty space from the shattered Spirit Pearl looked like broken porcin, and were absorbed by the wringer. As the wringer rotated, they were ground to dust.

    In the dust, there were rays of broken light, which were broken soul strands that contained Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s soul awareness.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s scream became harsher and more ear-piercing. ¡°Qin Yao!¡±

    He had no time to pay attention to Nie Tian, but focused his attention on the three bright fragmentary star marks that were hanging high above him.

    Countless human ancient symbols suddenly fused into three rivers of starlight, and flew out of the three fragmentary star marks.

    The rivers, which were full of dazzling stars, charged at Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul that had manifested in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    SPLASH!

    Oddly enough, a loud sound of rushing waters came from the Nether River that Grand Monarch Soul Capture had condensed to surround the Spirit Pearl.

    Immediately afterwards, the Nether River disappeared.

    Now, both the Spirit Pearl and Nether River were gone.

    Only Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul remained in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness. As it was pierced by the rivers of starlight, many mysterious, ancient dazzling symbols ravaged Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer let out cries of pain that grew shriller and shriller.

    At the same time, Nie Tian was surprised to perceive that the soul power that had been taken from his true soul and sub-souls was flowing violently back into this space, which was his sea of soul awareness!

    Moreover, the soul power was also mixed with a tremendous amount of power that didn¡¯t belong to him.

    It appeared to be soul power that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had condensed and hidden in the Spirit Pearl and Nether River.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul gradually grew transparent, giving people a very illusory feeling that it looked like a reflection in water.

    FIZZ!

    The soul strings and soul symbols forming it were engulfed by the starlight and flooded into the river of stars.

    Suddenly, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s sub-soul vanishedpletely.

    The three shining rivers of starlight then returned to the three iparably wondrous fragmentary star marks.

    Nie Tian was just about to talk when the three fragmentary star marks flew directly out of his sea of soul awareness.

    They rested on his chest again.

    He sensed them with a strand of soul awareness, and saw that numerous soul symbols were now floating in the three fragmentary star marks. The soul symbols lined up neatly and morphed into three soul texts that recorded soul wonders.

    They were three texts in the Book of Spirits!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    His true soul and nine sub-souls regathered power in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness.

    A stronger soul power from the Spirit Pearl and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer wandered masterless in his sea of soul awareness and happened to be recklessly refined and engulfed by him.

    He recovered quickly.

    ...

    Somewhere in the Void World.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s true form clutched the Spirit Scepter tightly, his thin cheeks covered in blood, giving him a scary look.

    ¡°Qin Yao!¡± His earth-shattering shout shook space, emitting a loud crackle.

    A Voidspirit who wanted to escape with Void Travel was suddenly exposed.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer pointed the Spirit Scepter at him.

    Like a ball of mysterious light, the soul of the Voidspirit, who carried a ninth-grade bloodline, was instantly sucked out by the scepter and swallowed by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.

    He grunted as he chewed, as if he were savoring delicious food. The blood on his face gradually faded.

    Grand Monarch Soul yer and Grand Monarch Soul Converger simply stood next to him and said nothing.

    The Chaos Behemoth had been confined to a deste and lifeless realm in the distance with many restrictions.

    The restrictive power of the realm didn¡¯t seem to be strong enough to kill the Chaos Behemoth. Meanwhile, the Chaos Behemoth seemed to still have confidence in its strength, and showed no fear.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer brandished the Spirit Scepter in his hand and pointed it in the air repeatedly. ¡°Absorb!¡±

    Every time he pointed it at a ce, the void rippled with spatial power, and space cracked.

    Momentster, huge ferocious souls wreathed in raging soul power were forcibly pulled from the unknown ces where they were confined.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer suddenly opened his mouth.

    His mouth was like a blue abyss that engulfed all the ferocious souls.

    The ferocious souls wailed, pleaded in horror and struggled for their lives.

    Noticing Grand Monarch Soul yer and Grand Monarch Soul Converger, a few of them uttered shrills that the two grand monarchs could hear, begging them to put in some words for them.

    However, that changed nothing.

    All the souls drawn by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer disappeared into his mouth.

    The dim eyes of Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who was holding the Spirit Scepter, lit up again. Within a short time, his lost soul power had been restored with the help of those ferocious souls.

    However, Grand Monarch Soul yer and Grand Monarch Soul Converger¡¯s expressions flickered slightly. Then, they slowly bowed their heads.

    They knew some of the ferocious souls.

    There were not only the souls of dead grand monarchs from the Doomed Star Sea and Spirit World, but also the souls of dead Devils and Netherspirits.

    It was their style to kill the experts of the Doomed Star Sea and their enemies from the Spirit World and Mortal World, refine them into ferocious souls, and swallow them to make up for lost soul power at critical moments.

    However, the souls of dead Netherspirits... could be revived.

    Those souls of their nsmen had been obviouslyplete ones that could be revived through some young bodies. However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had taken that opportunity away from them by ruthlessly refining them into ferocious souls so that he could swallow them when he was weak.

    His behavior made both Grand Monarch Soul yer and Grand Monarch Soul Converger uneasy.

    Having regained most of his power, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer exined casually to the two grand monarchs, ¡°Those nsmen have betrayed our race by secretly associating with the people of the Doomed Star Sea. Those who have betrayed us don¡¯t deserve to be revived!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul yer and Grand Monarch Soul Converger nodded slowly to show that they understood.

    ...

    In the Devils¡¯ territory.

    The high chieftain of the me dragons, who had broken free from the Forbidden Land of Devil Refinement, showed up in a realm full of raging Devil Qi and wandered in the sky like a burning mountain range.

    The me dragon twisted in the air as its ws curled up like a ball and cast down balls of fire.

    Numerous Devils screamed and fled everywhere.

    Ninth grade grand patriarchs had barely flown into the sky before they were torn to pieces by the chieftain¡¯s ws.

    An early tenth grade devil beast growled and charged into the sky.

    However, before the ck, bull-like devil beast could reach him, it was ignited by a mouthful of fire from the chieftain.

    The chieftain smiled darkly. ¡°You¡¯re courting death! All of you are courting death!¡±

    The earthcore me that had been deeply buried in the realm was activated by his bloodline. Volcanoes spewed out deep purpleva and mes that reduced even more Devils into blood that merged into theva.

    All of a sudden, a terrifying colossal devil god came across the sky, grabbed the high chieftain of the me dragons as if he were a snake, and pulled with great power. ¡°You¡¯re courting death, too.¡±

    The chieftain¡¯s burning body, which was nearly ten thousand meters long and was as tough as iron, was torn apart!

    His blood, bones and flesh filled the sky and fell.

    ¡°Drink his blood,¡± the devil god said and immediately vanished.

    In the devil realm, all the devils fanatically searched for the chieftain¡¯s blood, bones, and flesh, and chowed down on them.

    Every drop of dragon blood and every fragment of the torn chieftain emitted purple ck devil light, as they were confined by devil power and thus lost any chance of revival.

 Chapter 1678: Like A Stray Dog

    In the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Nobody knew that Nie Tian had been attacked by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and almost died during his bloodline upgrade.

    Dong Li and the others were still observing the entrance to the Dark Abyss in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Yuan Jiuchuan was sitting quietly on a piece ofnd, breathing thunderbolts in and out.

    In front of him, in the dim starry sea, was the red flesh aura sea that Nie Tian had disyed. He could sense raging bloodline power emanating from it.

    All of a sudden, the space became as bright as a mirror in an area next to it.

    Terror filled Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s face.

    Then, he was surprised to see drops of pure blue blood manifesting out of nothing in the mirror-like space.

    BAM!

    The mirror-like space suddenly cracked, and blue light sputtered everywhere.

    Voidspirits that were blue-eyed and blue-haired flew out of the shattered space, bathed in blood.

    Pei Qiqi was one of them.

    ¡°Miss Pei!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan cried as his expression flickered. Ignoring all the Voidspirits, he took a step forward before he arrived before Pei Qiqi and asked with a grave expression, ¡°How are you?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay, but my father...¡± Pei Qiqi replied and shook her head, casting a mournful nce at Pei Yukong, who looked pale and distressed.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Strands of gray-white death power wreathed Pei Yukong, having clearly infiltrated his flesh and viscera.

    Even his sea of soul awareness was filled with rays of gray-white light.

    The refined death power that was engraved with profound magicalws was slowly eating away at his body and soul.

    ¡°Chief!¡± A Voidspirit who wore a gloomy expression spoke.

    The moment he opened his mouth, two streaks of light flew out of his mouth and vanished into the void like two tiny snow serpents.

    Silver Domain Snakes were wrapped around his naked arms.

    However, the space spirit beasts, which could split open space and wander freely in the depths of the space disruption zone, looked like silver ropes at the moment, without any vitality.

    The dozens of Silver Domain Snakes should all be dead.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry that I acted so rashly that I put you in trouble, Chief!¡± the gloomy Voidspirit named Duru said, clutching Pei Yukong¡¯s left hand as brilliant blue blood gushed out of his fingertip and poured continuously into Pei Yukong¡¯s body.

    ¡°Stop wasting your power,¡± Pei Yukong spoke with a depressed smile. ¡°I will die anyway. Even if I wasn¡¯t being corroded by the death power, I¡¯d die soon. It¡¯s just a matter of time.¡±

    All of a sudden, he realized something and looked around. ¡°Where¡¯s Nie Tian?¡±

    Soon, he saw Nie Tian, whose figure was blurred in his crimson flesh aura sea.

    ¡°You¡¯re Pei Yukong, aren¡¯t you?¡± The Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan asked with a snort. ¡°How dare you plot against our young master? Do you Voidspirits really think you can challenge the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    Pei Yukong smiled bitterly. ¡°I¡¯m here to apologize to Nie Tian in person.¡±

    ¡°Then you¡¯d better stay where you are, and not move,¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said with a cold face. ¡°You must be sensible. The current Domain of Shadow Devil won¡¯t allow the Voidspirits to make waves.¡±

    ¡°Make waves? What waves can we make now?¡± A Voidspirit elder said with a look of deep sorrow. ¡°We suffered a heavy loss in the Void World. Numerous nsmen were killed by the Netherspirits and Bonedrudes. Now, we¡¯vee to the Domain of Shadow Devil... to avoid cmity.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan was stunned. ¡°Avoid cmity?¡±

    ¡°The space disruption zone is no longer safe,¡± the elder said gloomily. ¡°Without Qin Yao¡¯s permission, we dare not step into the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    At this moment, Ji Yuanquan of the Void Spirit Society, Ye Wenhan, Chu Rui, and the others were the first to notice the unusual situation and gather quickly.

    As soon as they saw the Voidspirits, they asked Yuan Jiuchuan about the situation, and then naturally stood between them and Nie Tian.

    Only Ji Yuanquan and a few disciples of Void Spirit Society greeted Pei Qiqi with concern. ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    Soon, they learned that the Voidspirits had suffered a heavy blow from the Bonedrudes, and some of their members had been killed by the Netherspirits. Their losses had been tremendous.

    Later, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Snow Devil, Dn, Dong Li, and the others received word of their arrival, and also came over.

    Upon arriving, they surrounded the Voidspirits.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon red at the feeble Voidspirit chief and shouted, ¡°Pei Yukong, you dare to plot against our young master. Even death can¡¯t expiate your crime! Over these years, we have been at peace with your race. We¡¯ve asked you to forge a lot of spatial tools and paid you handsomely.

    ¡°But instead of being grateful, you tricked our young master and stole his Blood Essence. What a gang of rats you are!¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon spat.

    Snow Devil, Dn, and the others also looked angry.

    In the eyes of others, the Voidspirits might be mysterious and able to work magic, but there was nothing mysterious about them in the eyes of the kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea.

    To be honest, none of them, who dared to fight the three outsider races of the Void World, were afraid of the Voidspirits.

    After all, the Voidspirits had been expelled from the Void World and hunted down for many years because of their worsened rtions with the three outsider races.

    The elder exined with a wry smile, ¡°Well, we didn¡¯t know about Nie Tian¡¯s rtionship with the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    Grand Monarch Hell Demonughed wickedly and red at Pei Yukong. ¡°Dare you say you didn¡¯t know it?¡±

    Pei Yukong sighed. ¡°I know it was my fault, so I¡¯m here to apologize in person.¡±

    Yuan Jiuchuan jumped in and said, ¡°The truth is that they¡¯re here to avoid a cmity. They were attacked by Grand Monarch Sharp Bones of the Bonedrudes and the Netherspirits, and they¡¯re about to be homeless again.¡±

    Many people gloated as they looked at Pei Yukong and the others.

    Suddenly, the Gilded Phoenix Dn got a piece of news. ¡°Eeeh? Baptista, the high chieftain of the me dragons of the Ancientspirits, has been killed by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. Baptista¡¯s bones and blood were thrown into a devil realm and eaten up by the Devils, devil beasts, and insects.¡±

    Everyone¡¯s expressions changed as they stared at Dn in shock. ¡°What!?¡±

    Soon, Grand Monarch Hell Demon and the Snow Devil received the same news in the same way.

    ¡°Baptista was very unfriendly to me in the Spirit World in those days,¡± Dn said, lowering his head. ¡°But I don¡¯t hate him. In fact, I secretly met and opened my heart to him when he crossed the Doomed Star Sea. Who would have expected...¡±

    With that, he shook his head and sighed.

    SPLASH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s nine sub souls floated out of his glittering star domain in the depths of his rich red flesh aura sea.

    In an instant, everyone¡¯s attention was attracted.

    All of their eyes were fixed on the mysterious and gorgeous star domain in Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    After watching closely for a while, Snow Devil said in surprise, ¡°A breakthrough in the God Domain! It seems that the young master¡¯s cultivation has made great progress in such a short period of time. Strange.¡±

    ¡°To be exact, his true soul has been greatly improved,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon added.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he supposed to be condensing his bloodline and seeking a breakthrough in that?¡± Dong Li was also puzzled.

    WHOOSH!

    The Rampage Behemoth bone that had left and fallen into the entrance of the Dark Abyss suddenly returned from it.

 Chapter 1679: A Brilliant Star

    The crimson light the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone emanated was iparably bright.

    Many God domain human experts and outsider grand monarchs that were scattered in the vicinity subconsciously turned to look at it.

    They seemed to see a gigantic, bloodthirsty monster charging out of a dark pit.

    ¡°The Dark Abyss!¡± A somewhat timid exmation echoed from the distance.

    Surprised looks appeared on everyone¡¯s faces as soon as they heard these words.

    Chu Rui, Ye Wenhan, Ji Yuanquan, and the others had spent some time in the Void World now. Through the Devils and Netherspirits they had killed, they had already learned that the Dark Abyss was the one true forbidden area of the Void World.

    However, the entrance to the Dark Abyss was full of mysteries and extremely hard to find.

    Now, as soon as they heard someone calling out ¡®the Dark Abyss,¡¯ their eyes subconsciously started searching for the source of the voice.

    Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion instantly grew excited. ¡°Elder Fan!¡±

    ¡°Grand Elder!¡± Chu Rui also eximed with surprise.

    Their eyes turned to see Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion, Hua Mu, and Mu Biqiong, along with Huang Jinnan, Hou Chn and the other Divine Sons and Daughters of the Five Elements Sect, in the direction of the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    It was Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect who had eximed ¡®the Dark Abyss.¡¯

    They had traveled a great distance to this area through multiple Devil teleportation portals following the directions given by Hua Mu and Mu Biqiong.

    With a grim expression, Fan Tianze asked, ¡°Is the ce that bone just flew out of really the entrance to the Dark Abyss?¡±

    Mu Biqiong nodded. ¡°Yes, the coexisting flowers inside of me assured me. Those intelligent devilish flowers have been giving me directions since I entered the Void World.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s right. That hole below is none other than the entrance to the Dark Abyss.¡± With these words, Hua Mu ced a finger between his eyebrows, then a wisp of light instantly flew out of his fingertip into the Heavenly Demonsbane that was eager to manifest itself. ¡°While the coexisting flowers in her have grown active, this devilish vine that¡¯s been growing inside of me by absorbing my power has also been in rapture.

    ¡°If what I suspect is true, both my Heavenly Demonsbane and her coexisting flowers came from down there.¡±

    ¡°Elder Fan! Grand Elder!¡±

    Those from the four great sects were overjoyed at the sight of them, and hurried towards them.

    WHOOSH!

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone that had shot out of the entrance to the Dark Abyss happened to shoot past them like a crimson bolt of lightning.

    A shudder ran through them as it swept past.

    They felt as if the Rampage Behemoth had taken an unmeant nce at them with its fierce eyes as it shot past.

    All of the God andte Saint domain Qi warriors from the four great sects couldn¡¯t help but shiver.

    Immediately afterwards, they noticed that the bone shot into Nie Tian¡¯s brilliant star domain.

    Many of them were Saint domain experts from ns and sects across the Mortal World.

    They seemed to finally see their backers as they rushed over and shouted, ¡°Grand Elder, Senior Fan, you¡¯ve got to preside over justice. That Nie Tian is actually the son of that evil Qin Yao!¡±

    ¡°You know that countless humans died at Qin Yao¡¯s hands before he was forced to leave the Mortal World!¡±

    ¡°God knows how many talented ones were consumed by the outsider Blood Essence they were given and died at a young age because of his hybrid n!¡±

    ¡°If Nie Tian is his son, then he doesn¡¯t belong with us!¡±

    These old Saint domain experts who had restrained themselves under the pressure from Dong Li and those from the Doomed Star Sea desperately demanded that Mo Heng and Fan Tianze meet out justice.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Fan Tianze muttered, sliding Mo Heng a sideways nce.

    Mo Heng let out a cold harrumph and said indifferently, ¡°Ignorant fools.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Those Saint domain experts who didn¡¯t belong to the four great sects were bbergasted upon hearing Mo Heng¡¯s words.

    Chu Rui, Dou Tianchen, and the others were well-aware of the rtionship between Mo Heng and Qin Yao, and knew that the fact that he had gone missing for a period of time had something to do with the Doomed Star Sea as well. Now, seeing his attitude, they naturally understood what was going on.

    Huang Jinnan from the Five Elements Sect shook his head and let out a sigh. ¡°These people were lucky enough to survive the cmities in the Mortal World. What do they have against staying alive? Why do they have to court death by seeking trouble with Nie Tian?¡±

    Hou Chn nodded heavily in agreement. ¡°I guess they¡¯re just foolish due to old age.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Those old cultivators red at the two of them, attempting to berate them.

    ¡°Elder Fan?¡± Ye Wenhan called for Fan Tianze¡¯s attention.

    From across the dim void, Fan Tianze turned toy his eyes on Yin Xingtian in the distance and the Godspan Sword Formation behind him. ¡°Who would have thought that he would be the one to win the acknowledgment of the Godspan Sword Formation?¡±

    It was him who had triggered the unusual movements in the Godspan Sword Formation earlier.

    ¡°I thought I¡¯d be the one to resonate with the Godspan Sword Formation and win its allegiance after I entered thete God domain,¡± he continued with both regret and admiration. ¡°That old entric wears his learning lightly. It¡¯s amazing how sharply he rose based on his profound umtion. Upon entering the God domain, he seized the opportunity presented during that tribtion of the Realm of Heaven Span and won the acknowledgment of the Godspan Sword Formation. It was abination of good timing and favorable geographical and social conditions.¡±

    ¡°So our sword formation...?¡± Ye Wenhan asked.

    ¡°Generations of brilliant patriarchs of our sect, who mastered the Dao of the sword, branded each and every wisp of sword intent and sword light in that sword formation,¡± Fan Tianze said with deep veneration. ¡°If Yin Xingtian has won its acknowledgment, then it means he has won the acknowledgment of our ancestors.¡±

    Ye Wenhan was surprised at first, but then he cast his gaze down and whispered, ¡°I see.¡±

    Fan Tianze¡¯s words eradicated all of his begrudging thoughts.

    Before meeting Fan Tianze, he had fantasized about having Yin Xingtian cough up the Godspan Sword Formation so they could restore glory to the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Now, however, he had no more illusions about that.

    Fan Tianze let out a sigh and continued, ¡°I suppose the sectmaster has died, because if his soul awareness still existed, no matter how little, the Godspan Sword Formation wouldn¡¯t have acknowledged a new master so easily. Now, I just want to know who killed our sectmaster, and where.¡±

    The Qi warriors from the Heaven Span Pavilion gasped. ¡°What?! The sectmaster has died in the Void World?¡±

    ¡°Chu Yuan was killed by Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes,¡± Dn¡¯s voice echoed from the distance, ¡°or at least that¡¯s what we¡¯ve learned from the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s star domain floated towards them like a sea of dazzling stars with Nie Tian in it.

    WHOOSH!

    A magnificent banner that seemed to have enveloped the manifestations of all lives and matters in this starry river suddenly flew out of his star domain.

    Shining with starlight, the banner came to a stop over the Realm of Shadow Devil, and sucked the old Saint domain cultivators who had berated him with indignation into it one after another.

    After being sucked into the banner, those cultivators couldn¡¯t struggle free no matter how hard they tried, like flies caught by a spider web.

    People started shouting in astonishment.

    ¡°That¡¯s the All Manifestations Star Banner!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s even more powerful now than when Luo Wanxiang wielded it!¡±

    Mo Heng¡¯s eyes lit up as he looked up at the old Saint domain cultivators that had been trapped, but weren¡¯t in any real danger.

    ¡°I suppose Nie Tian has grown tired of their yapping,¡± he said expressionlessly.

    Fan Tianze nodded. ¡°Yeah, they didn¡¯t seem to know how to stop. Annoying yappers.¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Ji Yuanquan chimed in.

    Yu Suying examined Nie Tian¡¯s star domain closely. Watching the branches of the Heavenly Stars Flower swaying in the void, each leaf seeming to contain a sea of stars, she muttered, ¡°Nie Tian seems to have made another stride in his cultivation base.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°He¡¯s entered the middle God domain? Shouldn¡¯t he be upgrading his bloodline?¡±

    Meanwhile.

    Duru and the other injured Voidspirits with Pei Yukong as their leader looked up at Nie Tian with astonishment written all over their faces.

    Only after a while did Duru slowly withdraw his gaze and whispered to Pei Yukong, ¡°High Chieftain, that Nie Tian will be a good match for our Miss. Only a man like him deserves her.¡±

    Pei Yukong smiled bitterly.

 Chapter 1680: Magnetic Star Crystal

    ¡°From now on, if I hear you make another rude remark about me or my father, your sect or n will be eliminated from this starry river!¡± Nie Tian said, sitting in the lotus position in the middle of his dazzling star domain. The Heavenly Stars Flower was swaying gently behind him, channeling brilliant star power from the depths of the starry river, while the All Manifestations Star Banner spread above him like a curtain of starlight that enveloped all realms.

    At this moment, he looked like a god that ruled this entire starry river.

    The profound connection between his star power sub-soul and star domain seemed to allow him to hear the miserable wails of star coresing from every realm in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The entire Domain of Shadow Devil was on the verge of extinction due to Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s leaving.

    Almost every heaven and earth had suffered cmity, and was rapidly withering.

    Only the Realm of Shadow Devil gave him a feeling that it still had a cold, dark vigor hidden inside its star core.

    ¡°My breakthrough to the middle God domain...¡±

    A thought entered his mind as heid his eyes on the old Saint domain experts who had advocated setting all the human forces against him and Qin Yao again.

    He found some of them familiar.

    They were the ones who had demanded that he should give his Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir away in order to make more God domain experts that would create a strong resistance against the invaders from the Spirit World in the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    They were also the ones who had fantasized about entering the floating continent and seizing fortunes for themselves when the floating continent had opened up.

    Thanks to them, he hade to a deep understanding of the saying: a man who rests content with nothing is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

    Now, he had decided to stop showing mercy to these kinds of people.

    Furthermore, his current strength allowed him to deal with them the way he should have long ago.

    ¡°Starfall!¡±

    As soon as he flicked his sleeve, the All Manifestations Star Banner flicked as well, causing numerous fragmentary stars to fall out of it.

    The old Saint domain cultivators that had demanded Qin Yao and Nie Tian be held ountable earlier fell out of the banner along with the fragmentary Stars. Each and every one of them had a peculiar crystal floating before their chests.

    Those crystals were condensations of refined star power.

    Eyes narrowed, they examined them with rapt attention, and then discovered that the countless starlight sparks seemed to be manifesting the profound truths of star power and presenting the secrets of realms being born within the crystals.

    This was a divine ability they had never seen before. A chill rose in their hearts as they stared unblinkingly at the crystals.

    Mo Heng¡¯s eyes lit up as he eximed in astonishment, ¡°Fragmentary Stars! They¡¯re the essence of the Fragmentary Star Incantation. Fragmentary Stars are condensed from star cores. After being vested with the wonders of the Fragmentary Star Incantation, they can be refined into fragmentary star marks. Other than that, since they spontaneously gather star power from their surroundings, they can also be very helpful in battle.¡±

    Strong desire was written across their faces as Chu Rui, Dou Tianchen, and every other Qi warrior from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce stared unblinkingly at the Fragmentary Stars that had fallen out of the All Manifestations Star Banner, but were brimming with Nie Tian¡¯s spiritual aura.

    There were hundreds of Fragmentary Stars. All of them were the size of a fist, but their shape varied. Some were prismatic. Some were egg-like, while others were pyramidal.

    Their color varied as well. They were dark red, orange, and emerald.

    The one thing they all had inmon was that they all shone with dazzling light and contained rich star power and soul power.

    WHOOSH!

    The Fragmentary Stars suddenly flew from the chests of the Saint domain elders, who had been rendered speechless, and returned to the All Manifestations Star Banner.

    CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

    At that moment, people noticed that the crimson bone that belonged to the Rampage Behemoth seemed to be cutting a curious crystalline object above Nie Tian like a sharp de.

    As it did, Fragmentary Stars were being separated and falling off of it.

    Every time a Fragmentary Star broke off, Nie Tian would infuse it with his star and soul power with the method recorded in the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    As soon as his power fused into a Fragmentary Star, he would have a peculiar feeling that the Fragmentary Star was vested with life, which allowed it to spontaneously absorb starlight from the starry river, turn it into his source of power, and help him perceive changes in his surroundings.

    It was as if it were transformed into a wondrous star power core, only weaker.

    Then, he resorted to his connection with the fragmentary star marks, and found a brand new text about the refining method and magical use of Fragmentary Stars.

    ¡°Star Eyes, or Heaven Eyes, are like intangible eyes that can be used to detect spirits and explore hidden truths.

    ¡°Fragmentary Stars are made from the star core fragments that are collected from the starry river. They can spontaneously absorb star power from their surroundings, and fuse it into their master. Like special vessels, they can also release a shocking amount of star power in battle. If one is strong enough and capable of controlling more than one of them simultaneously, the spell formation they set up with them can generate iparably destructive power in battle.

    ¡°Star Eyes are intangible, but Fragmentary Stars are tangible...¡±

    Numerous wonders and exquisite uses of Fragmentary Stars manifested themselves with great rity within the third fragmentary star mark.

    Nie Tian did nothing more than take a quick nce at them, and they were permanently engraved in his mind.

    Shortly afterwards, Nie Tian awoke from the fragmentary star mark with a shudder. tion appeared at the corner of his mouth as he spotted Mo Heng. Bowing respectfully, he said, ¡°Grand Elder!¡±

    Only after that did he turn to Fan Tianze and said, ¡°Senior Fan.¡±

    As Mo Heng nodded slightly, Fan Tianzeughed and said, ¡°You¡¯re indeed full of surprises, kid. If what I suspect is correct...¡±

    He paused to fix his eyes on the wondrous crystal that was being cut by the behemoth bone. ¡°That¡¯s a Maic Star Crystal, right?¡±

    zing desire had long since filled the eyes of Chu Rui, Dou Tianchen, and many others.

    ¡°Umm, I honestly don¡¯t know,¡± Nie Tian said frankly.

    Pointing at the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone that was cutting the crystal, he added, ¡°That bone seems to have found it in the depths of the earth. It clung onto the bone, so the bone wrapped it in its flesh aura and carried it to the surface. What amazes me the most is that those tiny crystals that are attached to it are actually fragments from star cores.¡±

    Chu Rui took a deep breath and said with excitement, ¡°That¡¯s a Maic Star Crystal indeed! Nie Tian, Maic Star Crystals are a unique kind of maic object that are very precious and extremely hard to find. Unlike regr mas, they attract star cores. When realms explode, fragments of their star cores will drift through the starry river and crash into random ces along with the falling stars. As long as there¡¯s a Maic Star Crystal nearby, they¡¯ll be attracted and attach themselves to it.

    ¡°Back in the day, our sectmaster traveled through the Mortal World and the Doomed Star Sea just to find those legendary items.

    ¡°Unfortunately, in our sect¡¯s entire history, only one patriarch was able to find one in the Doomed Star Sea billions of years ago, and he failed to obtain it.

    ¡°To those of us who practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation, they¡¯re like divine objects!¡±

    The zing looks in the eyes of Dou Tianchen and the others grew even more intense.

    Having his horizons broadened, Nie Tian stared at the Maic Star Crystal, which wasn¡¯trge, but had numerous multicolored star core fragments attached to it, and said in surprise, ¡°I had no idea that it¡¯s actually so precious.¡±

    ¡°Where did ite from?¡± Chu Rui asked in a hurry.

    Nie Tian pointed down and said, ¡°There.¡±

    Everyone present seemed to have their desires sparked.

    ¡°The Dark Abyss!¡±

    ¡°The entrance to the Dark Abyss where the titan high chieftain¡¯s corpse lies!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps only a ce like the Dark Abyss can give birth to Maic Star Crystals.¡±

    ¡°What else could be in there, other than Maic Star Crystals?¡±

    At that moment, Dong Li approached Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Your bloodline... doesn¡¯t seem to have upgraded.¡±

    Nie Tian frowned slightly and said, ¡°There was a mishap, and I used the power somewhere else. It was Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of the Netherspirits. He nearly possessed me through the Spirit Pearl. Oh, right. The Grand Monarch Nether Spirit who ruled the Spirit World for a whole era is the Grand Monarch Soul Capturer today!¡±

    Mo Heng was bbergasted. ¡°What?!¡±

    The Snow Devil, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and Dn also stood aghast, their expressions flickering drastically.

 Chapter 1681: A Mystery Solved

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is Grand Monarch Nether Spirit from back in the day?!¡± Dn eximed. ¡°This is a significant discovery. I have to send word to the Doomed Star Sea immediately!¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°He already knows about it.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Dn asked, looking confused.

    After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian exined, ¡°Your master already knows that the Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of today is the reincarnated Grand Monarch Nether Spirit. His soul awareness traveled all the way from the Doomed Star Sea, and entered my sea of awareness through my three fragmentary star marks, where he helped me thwart Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s attempt to possess me.¡±

    ¡°Oh... that¡¯s great,¡± Dn said.

    However, the rest of the crowd still hadn¡¯t recovered from the astonishment this shocking news had put them in. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is in fact Grand Monarch Nether Spirit?!¡±

    The Snow Devil, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and the numerous powerful experts from the Doomed Star Sea, along with Chu Rui, Fan Tianze, and the others from the Mortal World all looked grave and worried.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Spirit! He explored the Doomed Star Sea before he exploded and died in the Nether Realm in the Spirit World,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon said with a grim expression. ¡°The situation was much moreplicated in the Doomed Star Sea before our master came along. During that era, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit entered the Doomed Star Sea and took countless lives.¡±

    Dn nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. There are many rumors about his atrocities in the Doomed Star Sea. I guess it¡¯s safe to say that he was the most feared god-like existence in the Doomed Star Sea before our era. Who would have thought that he¡¯s the Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of today!? No wonder the Netherspirits have shown a surprising familiarity with many areas of the Doomed Star Sea when fighting us there.¡±

    Face grim, Grand Monarch Hell Demon said, ¡°In his prime, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit gained the acknowledgment of the Ancientspirits, the Demons, the Fiends, and almost every race in the Spirit World. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call him the pride of the Spirit World. He knew the Spirit World, the Mortal World, and the Doomed Star Sea as well as the back of his hand.

    ¡°No wonder he could bewitch Luo Wanxiang and get the Demons, Phantasm, and Fiends of the Spirit World to reach a mutual understanding with the three races of the Void World so easily.¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, a violent shudder ran through him. ¡°Perhaps it was his scheme to lure Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, Grand Monarch Nether Channeler, Grand Monarch Crystal Bones, and the powerful grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits to cross the Doomed Star Sea and go explore the forbidden areas in the Void World.

    ¡°After all, none of them wanted to work with the Void World.

    ¡°If they still controlled the Spirit World, their coboration with the Void World and joint invasion of the Mortal World wouldn¡¯t have been possible.¡±

    Dn, the Snow Devil, and even Mo Heng were astonished after hearing these words.

    ¡°You may actually be right,¡± the Snow Devil said with a deep frown. ¡°All of thete tenth grade grand monarchs of the Spirit World and thete God domain experts of the Mortal World had received cryptic messages saying that the secrets of the forbidden areas in the Void World were going to burst forth soon. As long as they were there, they would most likely be able to gain the fortune they needed to enter the next level in their cultivation or bloodline.

    ¡°Thete tenth grade grand monarchs would be able to join the ranks of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, the Bone Emperor, and the Dark King as paragons, while thete God domain experts would be able to rise to unprecedented new heights as well.

    ¡°There were many theories regarding the source of that piece of information, which spread like weeds among the peak experts of the Spirit World and the Mortal World.¡±

    With a short pause, she continued, ¡°Some suspected that it was us in the Doomed Star Sea who spread it. However, I did a thorough investigation among ourselves, and determined that the information didn¡¯te from the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    ¡°That settles it then! It must have been Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s doing!¡± Dn eximed.

    After hearing this, many of the experts present chimed in and shared their thoughts.

    Nie Tian listened, and soon realized that the three kingpins from the Doomed Star Sea and human experts like Mo Heng, Fan Tianze, and Chu Rui had all harbored deep apprehensions about Grand Monarch Nether Spirit when he had been alive.

    Now that they had determined that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, more matters from the past were dug out.

    They reflected upon the major cmities and strange matters that had taken ce in the three worlds over the years. After linking him to them, they found that it answered many questions and solved many mysteries.

    Nie Tian also learned from these experts that as a transcendent existence in his era, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had practically brought the entire Spirit World to heel and overshadowed the four great human sects single-handedly.

    After the morous experts finally quieted down, Pei Yukong of the Voidspirits approached Nie Tian with his badly injured n members, and said apologetically, ¡°Nie Tian... I admit that I coveted your wondrous bloodline and did things that I shouldn¡¯t have. I¡¯m sorry.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯m being punished for my mistake, and I don¡¯t have much time left. This time, I¡¯vee to apologize to you in person.¡±

    Standing next to him, Pei Qiqi looked pale as well. She seemed to want to say something, but gave up on second thought.

    As soon as Pei Yukong made his apology, everyone stopped discussing, and started examining the Voidspirits with different looks on their faces.

    Nie Tian also frowned and ran his gaze over the Voidspirits. After spending a few seconds examining Pei Yukong carefully, he discovered that his bloodline was wreathed in a death aura that couldn¡¯t be neutralized.

    That death aura was the same kind that had gued the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    He had failed to discover it during their first meeting because his cultivation base and bloodline grade had beencking back then. But now, after a careful examination, he was able to see that countless sparkling gray strings were wrapped around Pei Yukong¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains and gnawing away at his life force day and night.

    That bone of the Rampage Behemoth had tried for who knew how many years to get rid of a simr death aura, and failed.

    Eventually, it was with the help of the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s power and his bloodline power that it had finally driven that death power out.

    However, as for Pei Yukong...

    Nie Tian pondered in silence for a long while before saying with a cold face, ¡°To give face to Senior Martial Sister Pei, I¡¯m going to give you another chance, but don¡¯t me me for my manners if something like this happens again.¡±

    ¡°I promise it won¡¯t happen again,¡± Pei Yukong said.

    ¡°So Nie Tian, about his injuries?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, as if she were begging with her eyes.

    Nie Tian shook his head slightly. ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know who had released those sparkling pale-gray strings that had infiltrated Pei Yukong¡¯s bloodline, but he knew that since he wasn¡¯t the Rampage Behemoth, there was no hope for him now that every single one of his Bloodline Crystal Chains had been wrapped around by that peculiar death power.

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, a streak of starlight shot over from the distant sky.

    It seemed to be heading towards somewhere else originally, but changed its direction and flew towards Nie Tian instead after being attracted by the Maic Star Crystal.

    BOOM!

    A crystal the size of a fist hit and attached itself to the Maic Star Crystal.

    The starlight wreathing it vanished.

    Then, more streaks of starlight shot over from the distant sky.

    However, since they didn¡¯t have star core fragments inside of them, they weren¡¯t affected by the Maic Star Crystal.

    Instead, they flew into the bottomless entrance to the Dark Abyss one after another.

    Watching the streaks of starlight flying into the entrance to the Dark Abyss, the experts from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce sensed them with rapt attention. Soon, surprised looks appeared on their faces. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    After observing for a while, Chu Rui was the first to say, ¡°It appears that those streaks of starlight are being sucked into the entrance to the Dark Abyss. If that Maic Star Crystal has already flown out and be your possession, why are those streaks of starlight still being sucked into it?¡±

    ¡°Someone in there, someone very weak, seems to be channeling and gathering star power.¡± With these words, Nie Tian beckoned with his hand. Then, the All Manifestations Star Banner wrapped around the Maic Star Crystal and flew into his hand. ¡°This star core fragment captured by the Maic Star Crystal should have flown down there as well.¡±

    ¡°Someone very weak?¡± Chu Rui took a moment to think before his expression suddenly flickered. ¡°It¡¯s the sectmaster!¡±

 Chapter 1682: Prying Into the Dark

    The sectmaster!

    Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, had been the strongest Qi warrior throughout the entire Mortal World.

    Before he had disappeared, no one else had been able to match him in battle, not Qu Yi, not Chu Yuan, not Shao Tianyang, not anyone.

    Rumor had it that Ji Cang¡¯s disappearance had been the result of Qin Yao¡¯s scheming. However, the kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea knew that wasn¡¯t true.

    Ji Cang had only spent a short period of time in the Doomed Star Sea before going off to the Void World.

    They knew that their master, Qin Yao, had had a private meeting with Ji Cang, but that was all.

    Even though they weren¡¯t sure if the two of them had engaged in battle, they were certain that Ji Cang had left the Doomed Star Sea after their meeting.

    After that, Ji Cang had been spotted in many different areas of the Void World. It was said that he had encountered and fought Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes, and a number of other grand monarchs of the Void World.

    ording to thetest news, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had joined hands with several powerful experts and surrounded Ji Cang. Even still, he had broken free.

    They hadn¡¯t received any word of him after that.

    No one knew where he had gone, or whether he was still alive.

    Now, Nie Tian had said that someone very weak was in the entrance of the Dark Abyss, making continuous efforts to channel streaks of starlight through profound magics.

    ¡°It has to be the sectmaster!¡± With these words, Chu Rui took a deep breath before suddenly shooting towards the Dark Abyss in the Realm of Shadow Devil like a streak of starlight.

    He covered hundreds of thousands of kilometers in a breath¡¯s time!

    FIZZ!

    It seemed as if he had created a tunnel that was filled with brilliant light in the dim starry river.

    ¡°The Dark Abyss is far too dangerous! You...!¡± Mo Heng eximed.

    However, now that he was convinced that Ji Cang was very weak and trapped in the Dark Abyss, Chu Rui turned a deaf ear to his warnings and shot downwards with unswayed determination.

    Mo Heng let out a sigh, but found his behavior understandable.

    After all, Chu Rui and Ji Cang had been close friends since they had been Sons of the Stars. After Ji Cang had risen to the position of sectmaster, he had put great trust in him, and helped him be the vice sectmaster.

    Chu Rui¡¯s friendship with Ji Cang was like his friendship with Qin Yao.

    ¡°Vice Sectmaster!¡± Dou Tianchen eximed.

    However, after he arrived, he found that the streak of starlight Chu Rui had morphed into had already disappeared into the depths of the entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    No one could sense a single wisp of his aura, or see a ray of light in the bottomless pit.

    It was like a stone being tossed into the sea.

    Seeing this, Yu Suying and the others muttered in low voices, saying that Nie Tian¡¯s peculiar bone had entered the pit earlier and emanated a tremendous amount of light, thanks to which they had been able to see the titan high chieftain¡¯s corpse, along with tons of devilish nts and sinister flowers.

    Upon hearing this, the expressions of Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, and the other Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce turned grim.

    Even Ji Cang, their sectmaster, was trapped in there and was in a feeble state. Even thatte tenth grade grand monarch titan high chieftain had been killed. Could Chu Rui, their vice sectmaster, really bring Ji Cang out to safety?

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Dn, and the Snow Devil, the three kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea, fixed their eyes on Nie Tian. ¡°Young Master.¡±

    They hurried to exin how terrifying and dangerous the Dark Abyss was, and tell him that the Dark Abyss had multiple entrances and that his father, Qin Yao, had a better understanding of this forbidden ce than anyone.

    They warned Nie Tian against making any rash moves and putting himself in danger for Chu Rui.

    Mo Heng, who was the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, didn¡¯t make any remarks after hearing their words.

    However, Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, and the others from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had fixed Nie Tian with anticipating gazes from the moment they had learned that the bone belonging to Nie Tian could light up the inside of that entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    They hoped that Nie Tian would send in that bone, or rescue Chu Rui and Ji Cang through some other miraculous means.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered the situation. ¡°The Dark Abyss, the forbidden ce that holds countless mysteries and where paragons were made...¡±

    Wisp after wisp of his star power and soul power flew into the fragments that had been separated from the Maic Star Crystal in his hand and refined into Fragmentary Stars. ¡°Perhaps I can pry into the darkness with the help of these Fragmentary Stars. Perhaps my Star Eyes will work too.¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Clusters of twinkling starlight flew from Nie Tian¡¯s eyes and descended towards those mountains in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Flying down with them were the Fragmentary Stars he had just forged and infused with his refined star power and soul power.

    Intangible and shapeless, Star Eyes could be used to detect souls. Fragmentary Stars, however, could be used to attack material objects. Both of them had profound connections to his star power sub-soul.

    ¡°Star Eyes!¡±

    Dou Tianchen¡¯s eyes lit up as he released his Star Eyes as Nie Tian had.

    The others saw them casting secret spells in attempts to pry into the Dark Abyss. After a moment of hesitation, they went into action as well.

    All sorts of glowing spheres, soul power-infused crystals, and spiritual tools with soul connections to them whizzed down towards the Dark Abyss.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    However, many of them burst like balloons before they could even reach the entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    The Star Eyes and Fragmentary Stars cast down by those from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the silver streak of Heaven-purging Divine Light released by Yu Suying, the void medium created by Ji Yuanquan, the cluster of corpse fire released by Feng Beiluo, and the golden feather cast down by Dn all exploded midway.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s Star Eyes burst and vanished.

    He let out a muffled groan, feeling as if someone had hammered his chest a few times.

    However, the Fragmentary Stars he had made by infusing the star core fragments he had separated from the Maic Star Crystal with his star and soul power were pulled by some power as they fell, and vanished into the dark pit.

    He immediately lost his connection to them.

    Even Fan Tianze¡¯s streak of refined sword light burst and perished midway.

    He, who had entered thete God domain ande to high attainments in the Dao of the sword, eximed in surprise. Then, countless streams of sword light that were running through his meridians suddenly gathered to his fingertip, which he then pointed at the darkness and let out a snort.

    WHOOSH!

    A streak of sword light that was even fiercer than thest one shot down, carrying a heaven-rending, earth-destroying will.

    All of a sudden, a brown branch stretched out of the true darkness beyond the flowing lights and pierced straight upwards.

    With a boom, Fan Tianze¡¯s streak of sword light exploded again.

    The sword light split into countless tiny sparks, all of which carried bits of fierce sword intent. However, they quickly died out like arge shoal of fish that were poisoned.

    At the same time, a hint of cyan quietly emerged on Fan Tianze¡¯s fingertip.

    Fan Tianze¡¯s expression flickered drastically as a torrential sword intent burst forth from within him. Everyone was surprised to see him activating his God domain and attacking that finger with numerous illusory swords.

    Only after a while did the cyan slowly fade from his fingertip.

    Fan Tianze took a deep breath and slowly recovered from his state of shock. ¡°That was close.¡±

    ¡°That was the Ghost Grass,¡± Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, said faintly. ¡°It¡¯s harder for spiritual and devilish nts to upgrade than living beings. Their upgrade requires more time and is more reliant on opportunities.

    ¡°It¡¯s said that the Ghost Grass was transformed from the discarnate soul of a deceased Netherspirit grand monarch, who referred to himself as Grand Monarch Ghostly Spirit. He lived in a time before Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. It appears that it was Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit who killed him.

    ¡°Only after his death did that Ghost Grass appear.¡±

    ¡°How do you know all that?¡± The Snow Devil asked in surprise.

    ¡°I have two coexisting flowers growing inside of me,¡± Mu Biqiong answered.

    ¡°Oh, I see.¡±

 Chapter 1683: Theyâ€™re Here!

    Mu Biqiong and Hua Mu gazed into the entrance to the Dark Abyss, but didn¡¯t dare to approach it.

    The goal of theming on this trip to the Void World was to figure out the secrets of the Heavenly Demonsbane and the coexisting flowers, so they could end their coexisting state.

    However, now that they had finally found the Dark Abyss, they started to have second thoughts.

    The more they learned about the Dark Abyss, the more afraid they became.

    Even mighty beings like the titan high chieftain and Ji Cang that had inspired fear across the starry river were either lying dead or trapped in it. Even Fan Tianze¡¯s torrential sword intent had been bested by a mere branch of the Ghost Grass.

    Countless condensations of prying spiritual power and soul power had been eliminated. All of these proved how deadly the Dark Abyss was.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether they were experts from the Doomed Star Sea or cultivators from the Mortal World. Right now, all of them were gathered outside the entrance of the Dark Abyss and hesitated about their next move.

    The three kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea warned the experts present against making any rash decisions.

    After seeing that Fan Tianze had nearly been injured by that branch of the Ghost Grass, the powerful experts from the Mortal World also stopped itching to enter.

    They discussed their options floating above the entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    However, no one dared to make any moves.

    There were also no signs of Chu Ruiing out.

    Time passed bit by bit.

    After an unknown period of time, Dong Li, who was dressed in ck garments, suddenly released her Dark Aureole with a charming smile. ¡°I¡¯ll go down there first.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered slightly. ¡°You?¡±

    Dong Li nodded slightly. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯ll be alright. The Dark Aureole will protect me. After all, this is the Domain of Shadow Devil, the ce where the Dark King was born.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Before Nie Tian could stop her, she dove into the pit holding the Dark Aureole and standing on the ck tortoise.

    As soon as she entered, countless beams of glorious light emerged in the dark entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    Many grand monarchs and God domain experts gasped.

    They shrewdly sensed the heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing power within those beams of gorgeous light.

    They doubt that even they themselves could survive those beams of light, much less Dong Li.

    BOOM!

    The Dark Aureole in Dong Li¡¯s hand released a ward that enveloped her like a huge pitch-ck umbre.

    The purest dark light burst forth from it, along with a mysterious, ancient aura, which protected her from all of the beams of light that shot across.

    Surprised, Mu Biqiong from the Bliss Mountain Sect said, ¡°This is strange... Those beams of light attacking her seem deadly, but Chu Rui didn¡¯t seem to be attacked when he went down earlier.¡±

    The others also saw the anomaly.

    Dong Li seemed to have triggered some terrifying defensive mechanism after entering with the Dark Aureole, and was being baptized by those beams of light. Earlier, Fan Tianze¡¯s sword light had also triggered the violent attack of the Ghost Grass.

    It seemed that people would be met with different challenges when they attempted to enter the Dark Abyss.

    With the Dark Aureole floating above her, Dong Li gradually disappeared into the darkness. Those devilish nts and sinister flowers she passed through didn¡¯t attack her.

    ¡°Dong Li seems to have entered the abyss.¡± Hua Mu, who hosted a Heavenly Demonsbane, said with narrowed eyes. ¡°I suppose she¡¯s safe for the time being.¡±

    Nie Tian let out a weak sigh of relief.

    After seeing Chu Rui and Dong Li make safe entrances, ate Saint domain old man from the Delicate Water Sect let out a longugh and shot straight down like a sword. ¡°Let me give it a try!¡±

    At the same time, he didn¡¯t forget to preach to the others, ¡°The way I see it, the defensive mechanisms won¡¯t be triggered as long as we enter in our fleshly form. Both Vice Sectmaster Chu and Miss Dong entered safely. But when we tried to send our powers and spirit tools in there earlier, they were met by all sorts of fierce attacks.¡±

    The eyes of many present lit up after they heard his theory.

    They had also seen that Chu Rui and Dong Li seemed to have triggered different defenses of the tunnel when they had entered. Even so, they had both passed through the tunnel into the darknd thaty beyond. By contrast, their Star Eyes and various condensations of powers had exploded midway.

    ¡°Perhaps he¡¯s right. Living beings may actually be exempt from certain harm.¡±

    They started to agree with the man.

    However, their fantasy burst in a brutal way in the next moment.

    BOOM!

    The misty water domain of thatte-stage Saint domain Qi warrior from the Delicate Water Sect suddenly exploded before it could even cover a third of the tunnel.

    The glorious streaks of light that had attacked Dong Li earlier but had been stopped by the Dark Aureole brutally ripped his water domain to shreds.

    His fleshly body was also torn to pieces under everyone¡¯s gazes.

    Upon losing his body, his soul immediately scrambled upwards in great fear and regret.

    However, an unidentified bolt of lightning shed across, and his soul was reduced to smoke that rapidly scattered.

    At that moment, a peculiar tree leaf stretched out of the darkness and rose in an ethereal manner.

    After wrapping around the man¡¯s scattering soul in a swift motion, the tree leaf seemed to smile cunningly as it retreated into the darkness.

    Floating in the sky in the Realm of Shadow Devil, the crowd of experts that had been itching to enter the tunnel sucked in a breath of cold air and immediately dropped the idea.

    Their hearts were still fluttering with fear as they pictured what would have happened if they had followed him into the tunnel. Then, they secretly celebrated the fact that they hadn¡¯t.

    Even though the Dark Abyss might hold the most precious treasures throughout the three worlds and the secrets to ultimate power, they had to weigh the pros and cons if there was a good chance that they would explode and die on their way in.

    After all, thatte Saint domain Qi warrior from the Delicate Water Sect had perished so easily before making very little resistance.

    If they made their own attempts, would they be able to pass through the tunnel safely, as Dong Li and Chu Rui had?

    It was well-established that the entrance to the Dark Abyss was filled with all sorts of devilish flowers and spirit nts. Would Chu Rui and Dong Li really find themselves in a safe environment on the other side?

    These thoughts calmed their restless souls.

    Even the Snow Devil¡¯s expression flickered as she said, ¡°That was the leaf of a Spectre Tree. It¡¯s said that every leaf of the Spectre Tree has its own soul awareness. And a Spectre Tree is abination of thousands of different soul awareness. Rumor has it that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits¡¯ secret cultivation method was inspired by Spectre Trees.

    ¡°There¡¯s another saying that Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had a Spectre Tree growing inside of him!

    ¡°Spectre Trees feed on souls and refine them into new leaves, which is how they grow and transform. The fact that they have to devour souls to grow makes them even more terrifying than Heavenly Demonsbanes. Any Netherspirit dreams about having a wondrous Spectre Tree of their own and practicing secret soul magics with its help.

    ¡°However, if there¡¯s a mishap, they themselves may end up food for the Spectre Tree.

    ¡°After all, Netherspirits are a delicious dish to Spectre Trees as well...¡±

    The Snow Devil had fought Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits a few times in the Doomed Star Sea, and had a deep impression of his secret soul-split incantation.

    She had always suspected that an iparably strong Spectre Tree was growing inside of him.

    She was sure of this even though she hadn¡¯t seen it with her own eyes. She also suspected that... perhaps Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had already been possessed by a Spectre Tree, and that Spectre Tree was walking this starry river in Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ body.

    Of course, these were only her spections. There hadn¡¯t been any proof.

    ¡°Mmm!¡±

    At that moment, the countless rays of pale-gray crystalline strings inside of Pei Yukong suddenly burst forth with devastating death power.

    His face grew even paler as life seemed to be drained from his eyes at an rming rate.

    His heartbeat gradually became too weak to be detected.

    Dn took a sideways nce at him and concluded with an expressionless face, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem that he¡¯ll make it.¡±

    Pei Qiqi cast her gaze down and clenched her fists as she muttered through gritted teeth, ¡°Grand Monarch Sharp Bones and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes!¡±

    ¡°Th-they are here!¡± Pei Yukong suddenly cried out. Like the final radiance of a setting sun, he nced around and screamed at the top of his lungs, ¡°Come on! Establish spatial tunnels and activate spell formations! I have a feeling that the Bonedrudes have sent all of their elite forces after us!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisp after wisp of smoke that looked like pale spirit snakes flew out of his nostrils, eyes, and ears, and shot towards the crowd.

 Chapter 1684: Ghostly Corpse Snake

    They caught everyone off guard!

    The pale spirit snakes seemed to have been spawned from Pei Yukong¡¯s vitality, but they contained strong death power.

    The several Voidspirit elders closest to Pei Yukong were the first to be attacked!

    Seeing the pale spirit snakes burrow deep into their bodies, the several scarred Voidspirit elders whose bloodlines were only at the eighth or ninth grades finally came to their senses.

    Unfortunately, it was toote.

    As soon as the pale spirit snakes entered their bodies, they ate away at their vitality crazily.

    The wickedughter of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes rang out from the pale spirit snakes.

    The expression of Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who was from the Doomed Star Sea, suddenly changed as he screamed, ¡°They¡¯re Ghostly Corpse Snakes! Stay away from the Voidspirits! Anyone who gets eaten by the Ghostly Corpse Snakes will give birth to more corpse snakes!¡±

    Nie Tian frowned.

    He saw the Voidspirit elders wail as their bodies were pierced by the so-called Ghostly Corpse Snakes and shriveled little by little.

    Meanwhile, the Ghostly Corpse Snakes expanded rapidly.

    The Voidspirit elders died with grudges within a few dozen seconds.

    SWISH!

    More pale spirit snakes flew out of their bodies.

    The rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea and the Qi warriors from the Mortal World cursed at Pei Yukong and the other Voidspirits as they were attacked by those Ghostly Corpse Snakes.

    ¡°Damn it! The Voidspirits are simply a disaster!¡±

    ¡°They were in trouble, but did they have toe to the Domain of Shadow Devil and bring the trouble to us?¡±

    Everyone was thrown into confusion.

    However, the Ghostly Corpse Snakes didn¡¯t attack Dn, Pei Qiqi, or a Voidspirit grand monarch who had reached the tenth grade.

    The Ghostly Corpse Snakes seemed to be intelligent enough to know who was easier to take down, whose fleshly bodies could be swallowed faster, and who they couldn¡¯t handle.

    Nie Tian, who was some distance away from the chaotic area, stretched out his hand and made a pinching motion.

    A pale Ghostly Corpse Snake was pulled over by his power.

    He pinched the so-called Ghostly Corpse Snake between his fingers, examined it with his life bloodline, and shrewdly sensed a soul strand which was faint but unusually frenzied.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bone Piercer!¡± he said with a snort as mes burned between his fingers.

    The Ghostly Corpse Snake that he was pinching was soon reduced to ashes in the crackling mes.

    He took a closer look, and soon found that the newly-born Ghostly Corpse Snakes were attacking the Saint domain humans and outsiders and hybrids with low grades from the Doomed Star Sea.

    He understood instantly. ¡°The Ghostly Corpse Snakes just want to create chaos.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I brought this to you and my own nsmen...¡± Pei Yukong murmured as his aura became weaker and weaker.

    He could feel thest remaining vitality inside him being gnawed away. He fixed Pei Qiqi with a guilty look and whispered, ¡°Take care of yourself.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He jerked around and dove into the Dark Abyss.

    Gorgeous unusual lights suddenly surged in the tunnel, tearing his thin body into fragments.

    The current chief of the Voidspirits perished.

    Then, fresh Ghostly Corpse Snakes emerged from his body, but were attacked by therge number of devil nts and spirit nts that grew in the entrance.

    The Ghostly Corpse Snakes were reduced to ashes one by one.

    Seeing the mess the Ghostly Corpse Snakes had made, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Mo Heng, Fan Tianze, and the other experts made a move.

    The Ghostly Corpse Snakes that were flying around in the sky and looking for easy targets were snuffed out one by one.

    ¡°Father...¡± Pei Qiqi murmured as she stared at Pei Yukong, who was fading in the passage filled with gorgeous lights.

    Her bright eyes were filled with grief before it was gradually reced by hatred. ¡°The Bonedrudes! Grand Monarch Bone Piercer and Grand Monarch Sharp Bones!¡±

    The Space Boundaries Crystal spun like a cold polyhedral drill.

    Blending with her bloodline power and unusual spatial power, numerous glowing spatial des wove into a magnificent, unusual image behind her.

    This was a profound magic she had derived when she had observed and studied the spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range.

    The densely-packed spatial rifts there contained infinite profound truths of spatial power. She hadn¡¯t been able toprehend their wonders and disy them with her bloodline power, spirit power and the Space Boundaries Crystal until she had made her recent, rapid advances in her bloodline.

    SWISH!

    Many glowing spatial des split the void open and created gaping spatial rifts.

    That area of the starry river was riddled with spatial rifts that seemed to connect to the end of the void and carry the true meaning of nothingness.

    As soon as she pointed at the Ghostly Corpse Snakes with her jade-like fingers, it looked as if their vital parts were pinched by an invisible force.

    Then, they were crammed into the many spatial rifts behind her and vanished in a sh.

    Within a very short time, all the Ghostly Corpse Snakes were taken care of.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    A ray of deep blue light obstinately flew out of the passage that connected to the Dark Abyss.

    The light was filled with Pei Yukong¡¯s reluctance, nostalgia, and guilt about hurting her.

    That was thest strand of his Blood Essence that he had left behind.

    It contained power that he had sealed away with a secret magic.

    The strand of deep blue light flew into Pei Qiqi¡¯s acupoints, suddenly making the worlds inside them vibrant, as if they were now able tomunicate with myriad realms.

    ¡°Father,¡± Pei Qiqi murmured and closed her eyes. Her soul awareness moved from acupoint to acupoint. It seemed that she could see Pei Yukong¡¯s image fading in the space inside every acupoint until he disappearedpletely.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Rays of sharp blue light surged out of her heart.

    Pei Qiqi, who was stunned, opened her eyes and immediately saw the Space Boundaries Crystal burst forth with countless rays of dazzling light, its every facet reflecting an area of the starry river around the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The expressions of the strong grand monarchs and God domain experts suddenly changed as soon as they noticed the changes within Pei Qiqi.

    They saw countless Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits on the facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal. They were marching towards the Domain of Shadow Devil, along with arge number of ancient starships, devil beasts, devil tools, and bone giants, like swarms of locusts.

    Besides that, they saw Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, Grand Monarch Sharp Bones, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, and Grand Monarch Soul yer, as well as Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, who had left previously.

    Among them, there was a terrifying devil figure that was like an ancient devil god hidden in billowing devil Qi.

    Although everyone only took a quick look at that devil figure, they felt their temples throbbing. It was as if after they only looked at him and called his name inwardly, he had sensed it and struck them with profound power that was vested with magicalws.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡± Even Grand Monarch Hell Demon let out a groan of pain and put his hands over his eyes, as if trying to erase what he had seen from his mind.

    It seemed only in this way could he prevent Grand Monarch Heaven Devil from noticing him and fixing his eyes on him.

    A loud mighty voice that was full of solemnity suddenly resounded through the infinite starry river in the Domain of Shadow Devil. ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon...¡±

    Blood trickled from between the fingers of Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who was covering his eyes with both hands.

    Nie Tian was greatly frightened. ¡°Is he really this strong?¡±

    After seeing Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s misery, all the others¡¯ faces turned very pale.

 Chapter 1685: Set Up A Net To Catch Fish

    The mighty devil voice traveled through the boundless space and echoed with a rhythm that contained magical principles and profound meanings.

    No one knew if it was because the voice bound and imprisoned Grand Monarch Hell Demon through his bloodline that he howled and screamed, and was forced to assume his Ancestral Awakening form in a split second.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s colossal body instantly appeared with the Heaven-shaking Demonic Pir on his back, and he shouted into the sky.

    FIZZ!

    His purplish-ck skin, which looked like the bark of an old tree, seemed to be cut with a sharp knife, and blood gushed out.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon screamed in pain and stopped covering his eyes with his hands.

    His wide-open eyes were like purple torches, with numerous rays of electric light surging out of them.

    Pei Qiqi, whose bloodline had experienced strange changes, was taken aback, and also jerked her head towards him.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡± cried the Snow Devil, her cold voice trembling with fear.

    ¡°The origin of Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s bloodline lies with the Devils,¡± Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect said with a gloomy expression, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil is the current high chieftain of the Devils, who carries the strongest Devil bloodline. He must have fundamentally suppressed Grand Monarch Hell Demon with some bloodline magic.¡±

    Nie Tian cried, ¡°Why can he so easily suppress Grand Monarch Hell Demon, who¡¯s also ate tenth grade grand monarch?¡±

    ¡°Those who share the same bloodline grade can have totally different battle prowesses,¡± Feng Beiluo answered with a sigh of frustration. ¡°We might be in trouble this time. I really didn¡¯t expect the three major races to send so many powerful experts to the Domain of Shadow Devil.¡±

    Panic spread quickly among the crowd.

    The images in the facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal spinning in Pei Qiqi¡¯s palm scared everyone present.

    Many of them had never seen so many outsider experts in their lives.

    Colossal ancient starships, numerous nsmen of the three outsider races, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, Grand Monarch Sharp Bones, Grand Monarch Soul Converger, numerous Devil beasts, bone giants, and Bone Shatter Cities...

    ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    ¡°Duru!¡±

    Mo Heng and Dn almost said simultaneously.

    They asked Pei Qiqi and Duru of the Voidspirits, who was badly wounded, to work together and try to open a spatial passage that directly connected to the Doomed Star Sea.

    Before Pei Qiqi and Duru could reply, everyone saw rays of purple blood light shooting out of Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s mountainous body.

    He roared and moved from ce to ce. Soon, he discovered that he could resist Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s overwhelming bloodline attack when he was near the entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    A light of enlightenment shed through his burning eyes as he gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Young Master, I have to step into the Dark Abyss, otherwise my bloodline will soon be burned out by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil with his devil weapon.¡±

    SWOOSH!

    His colossal body shot into the passage filled with dazzling lights, and plunged towards the dark depths.

    ZZZZZLA!

    In a split second, countless brilliant lights drowned him. Everyone could clearly see his devil body that was nearly ten thousand meters high break into hundreds of pieces of flesh, like a porcin jug that had fallen to the ground.

    Then the hundreds of pieces of flesh fell into the Dark Abyss.

    ¡°Is Grand Monarch Hell Demon dead or alive?¡± Jiang Qinghuang asked her father with a gloomy face. ¡°His body broke into pieces, but it seems to me that his soul... is still intact.¡±

    ¡°His fleshly body may be able to reunite in the entrance to the Dark Abyss, but what will happen is unclear,¡± Dn replied.

    Meanwhile, Duru of the Voidspirits said with a dejected expression, ¡°I, I don¡¯t have the ability to open a void passage to establish a connection to the Doomed Star Sea at this moment.¡±

    He cast his gaze down slightly, his gloomy face covered with grief.

    Pei Yukong was a hybrid, but he was his best friend. With his strong assistance, Pei Yukong had be the high chieftain of the Voidspirits, gathered all the nsmen who had lived in void rifts scattered across the three worlds, and built a home for the Voidspirits in the depths of the space disruption zone.

    Now, Pei Yukong had died, as had many of their elders and youngsters, in the Void World.

    The most mysterious race that had once walked the three worlds with their heads high was now in their weakest moment.

    This had dealt him a heavy blow.

    ¡°The Domain of Shadow Devil has been sealed off from the outside world,¡± Pei Qiqi, who was rtively calm, said. ¡°Great changes have taken ce in the space around us since the terrifying devil figure appeared and those Bonedrudes emerged inrge numbers. You may not be able to perceive it, but I know that the powers of those grand monarchs of the Void World have infiltrated everyyer of space in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just us who are affected. If they want toe here, they¡¯ll also need to cross the starry river.

    ¡°That¡¯s why they haven¡¯t gotten here yet even though their images have appeared in the Space Boundaries Crystal.¡±

    Upon hearing this, ate Saint domain old man shouted in despair, ¡°In that case, let¡¯s leave the Domain of Shadow Devil before they get here!¡±

    Many agreed with him.

    Many Qi warriors from the Mortal World that didn¡¯t belong to the four great ancient sects nodded repeatedly.

    Pei Yukong¡¯s miserable death, the Ghostly Corpse Snakes¡¯ rampage, and Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s blood being spilled had almost scared them out of their wits.

    Death permeated the air gradually, and they couldn¡¯t pay attention to the so-called wonders of the Dark Abyss anymore.

    At this time, they only hated themselves for being blinded by greed and recklesslying to the dangerous ce that was the Void World to seek the so-called precious treasures and the Dao for the ultimate breakthrough.

    Huang Jinnan pointed at them with a cold disgusted face. ¡°You!¡±

    SWISH! WHOOSH!

    Some people morphed into bolts of lightning, while others disyed their Saint domains and split up to flee the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    They were dying to get out before the three outsider races besieged the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The Domain of Shadow Devil covered an extremely vast area.

    No matter how many outsiders wereing after them, they couldn¡¯t catch everyone, so they felt they could definitely find an opportunity to flee the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The portal connected to the Seven Stars Realm Sea remained open. As long as they could leave the domain, they would be able to return to the Mortal World through the portal and hide in their sects with the help of their grand spell formations.

    ¡°I knew they were a bunch of unreliable rats,¡± Hou Chn of the wood element sect said as she found that seventy percent of the cultivators had disappeared within a short time.

    Then, she turned around and added, ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you chose to stay.¡±

    Thirty percent of the Saint domain experts that didn¡¯t belong to the four great ancient sects didn¡¯t leave. They forced a smile upon hearing this.

    Nie Tian knew several of them. They were people like Zhang Qiling and Li Wanfa, who were eager to befriend him and break through to the God domain with his help.

    The images of those who had fled appeared on the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s facets one after another.

    In those images, some of the fugitives were suddenly trapped by the chains of death, their fleshly bodies and vitality disappearing in the blink of an eye. Some saw gaps and flitted through them, but their bodies exploded and their saint domains perished as they did.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal then shook, and all the images disappeared.

    ¡°Almost all the fugitives had an ident when they fled,¡± Pei Qiqi said in a peaceful voice. ¡°On the fringes of the Domain of Shadow Devil, the three outsider races have set up sealings to catch them. I had a feeling that since the Dark Abyss has shown up, we have been like fish.¡±

 Chapter 1686: Sacrificial Offerings

    Yan Bin from the Domain of Red Sunglow said in a shaky voice, secretly congratting himself. ¡°Thankfully, thankfully I stopped myself from leaving with them.¡±

    There were no more pictures emerging on the Space Boundaries Crystal, but everyone knew that the experts of the three outsider races of the Void World were gathering slowly, and that they were well-prepared.

    Otherwise, those who had fled wouldn¡¯t have been killed with such precision.

    ¡°We should stop thinking about fleeing the Domain of Shadow Devil now,¡± Ye Wenhan of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce pondered for a moment, then said, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer is back. All of the devastated realms, remaining Devil Qi, and many spell formations in this domain are her eyes. Even the exposure of the Dark Abyss may be a trap set up by her.¡±

    ¡°All of us havee together in the Domain of Shadow Devil,¡± whispered the Snow Devil.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression changed.

    The experts of the four great ancient sects in the Mortal World, the surviving Voidspirits, the many crooked forces from the Doomed Star Sea, he himself, andter, Mo Heng and Fan Tianze.

    Driven by the situation, almost all those who had entered the Void World had gathered to the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Was there an invisible hand behind this?

    The high chieftain of the me dragons had been killed by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. Could it be possible that Shao Tianyang, the sect master of the fire element sect, had also had an ident?

    The Dark Abyss appeared in the Domain of Shadow Devil, and everyone arrived.

    Immediately afterwards, the experts of the three outsider races sailed ancient starships to the Domain of Shadow Devil, as if they had made an appointment.

    Nie Tian could hardly believe that this was all just a coincidence.

    ¡°Death Qi, Nether Qi, and Devil Qi have begun to fill the Domain of Shadow Devil,¡± Dn, the Gilded Phoenix, said after squinting his eyes and sensing with his bloodline for a moment. ¡°The three rich energies are slowly converging on the Realm of Shadow Devil. I suddenly have a feeling that...¡±

    SWISH!

    At this moment, several Saint domain Qi warriors who had left earlier came back.

    They said with dejected faces, ¡°Evil energies appeared in the starry river in the Domain of Shadow Devil, impeding our movement. When we flew in the starry river, our saint domains were being eroded, and we simply couldn¡¯t stand it. By contrast, the evil energies are thinner around the Realm of Shadow Devil.¡±

    The evil energies they were referring to were Death Qi, Nether Qi, and Devil Qi, which had a great influence on their saint domains.

    ¡°In my opinion, the word ¡®fishing¡¯ isn¡¯t urate,¡± Dn said with a wry smile on his lips. ¡°It looks like they¡¯re driving a group of sheep and getting them to go into the sheep pen.¡±

    ¡°If we are the sheep, where is the sheep pen?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°The Domain of Shadow Devil is the sheep pen,¡± Dn replied.

    ¡°No, I think the Dark Abyss is the sheep pen,¡± the Snow Devil said, lowering her head to look down at the gorgeous unusual lights, and the darkness thaty beyond. ¡°My senses tell me that the experts of the three outsider races of the Void World have deliberately made us gather at the Domain of Shadow Devil and discover this entrance to the Dark Abyss.

    ¡°Now, they¡¯re trying their best to get us to enter it.¡±

    Hearing this, everyone was at a loss.

    ¡°Why?¡± Fan Tianze asked, feeling puzzled. ¡°The top experts of the Spirit World and Mortal World thought up every possible way to enter the Dark Abyss. If the Dark Abyss holds priceless treasures and secrets that can help experts transcend their limits, the three outsider races should try and stop those who want to enter.¡±

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    The shattered saint domains of the human Qi warriors who had died miserably morphed into magnificent unusual lights that swarmed into the Dark Abyss, as if they were being pushed by some force.

    The fragments of their saint domains were assimted by the gorgeous lights in the passage, and joined them before they could reach the dark areas.

    The passage became more and more brilliant and magical.

    However, the faces of the people who were staring at the passage turned pale.

    The fusion of the dead experts¡¯ domain fragments and the unusual lights in the passage supported the Snow Devil¡¯s theory ¡ª the Dark Abyss was the sheep pen.

    ¡°That...¡± Mo Heng, the grand elder, hesitated for a moment, then said, ¡°your master knows the Dark Abyss quiet well. He had a wild guess.¡±

    ¡°What wild guess?¡± Fan Tianze asked in surprise.

    The Snow Devil, Dn, and many experts of the Doomed Star Sea fixed their eyes on him.

    Everyone knew that Mo Heng¡¯s following words might be the reason for the three outsider races¡¯ abnormal movements.

    ¡°He said there was more than one entrance to the Dark Abyss,¡± Mo Heng said as he no longer hid the secret. ¡°Some entrances are doomed to be dead ends, while others give those who enter a chance to survive. The entrances that are dead ends are easy to find, well-lit, and seemingly without many dangers.

    ¡°Those entrances are absolutely not like the one below, where there are countless devil nts and spirit nts that feed on intruders.

    ¡°Those usually look bright and safe, but once you step into it, you¡¯ll die beyond the shadow of a doubt.

    ¡°He said that numerous top experts of the three worlds have died in those entrances, but none of them even made it through the ¡®gate¡¯ to the Dark Abyss.¡±

    After a pause, he added, ¡°By contrast, the entrances that give those who enter a chance to survive and hold numerous wonders usually look very dangerous, and are guarded by unusual things.

    ¡°For example, all those Heavenly Demonsbanes, Ghost Grass, and Spectre Trees are the unusual things guarding the entrance in front of us. If you want to enter the Dark Abyss through it, you¡¯ll need arge number of sacrificial offerings.

    ¡°Only through blood sacrifices can one clear the entrance and open the so-called ¡®gate.¡¯

    ¡°The blood sacrifices either require many living beings, or many experts¡¯ bodies and domain fragments. The stronger the experts, the better.

    ¡°Was that clear?¡±

    Fan Tianze of the Heaven Span Pavilion stroked his nose and said in a grim voice, ¡°Yes. We are the sacrificial offerings for the blood sacrifice! It¡¯s like the phenomenon where outsiders or Ancientspirits threw sacrificial offerings into a deep sea or divine mountains to worship their ancestors in ancient times. Now, we are being used as sacrificial offerings by the three outsider races to make a blood sacrifice for the entrance to the Dark Abyss to open up.¡±

    Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent soared through the heavens as infinite fury burned in his eyes.

    However, most people¡¯s expressions flickered with fear.

    Ye Wenhan sighed. ¡°If Qin Yao¡¯s guess is true, we might be the sacrificial offerings this time. Most of the time, living sacrificial offerings are better than dead ones. If they fall into the darkness alive before their fleshly bodies are torn apart and their souls are eliminated, that should achieve the best effect.¡±

    ¡°Sacrificial offerings, sacrificial offerings...¡± Nie Tian murmured as he stared at the bright passage and kept recalling the picture where Dong Li had entered. ¡°Has she be a sacrificial offering too?¡±

    Like Fan Tianze, he felt an uncontroble outburst of rage, and an unwillingness to yield.

    His heart seemed to beat violently with rage. ¡°They consider us to be sacrificial offerings, and want to knock at the gates of the Dark Abyss with our deaths!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian, calm down,¡± Mo Heng eximed softly. ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of the Netherspirits probably didn¡¯t join this operation because he had to deal with the Chaos Behemoth. But with Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer around, it¡¯ll be very hard for us to win this battle. What¡¯s more, we¡¯re in the Domain of Shadow Devil of the Void World, which is their territory.¡±

    ¡°Grand elder, what shall we do?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Mo Heng looked at Dn and the Snow Devil and said, ¡°You... should have a way tomunicate with the people in the Doomed Star Sea. At this point, if we can¡¯t retreat to the Doomed Star Sea, then we need them to try their best. The other kingpins and Qin Yao must show up quickly so we can have a chance to live.¡±

    Dn shook his head and said with a wry smile, ¡°We tried immediately after Grand Monarch Hell Demon had that incident. It was useless. None of our soul messages and soul strands can get through.¡±

 Chapter 1687: A Cruel Sacrifice

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    The surging turbid energies built a seemingly real bridge in the sky in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    The bridge, which emanated cyan, ck, purple, and white light, seemed to form in the blink of an eye, and then stretch thousands of miles into the distant starry river.

    Looking at the bridge that had been formed out of thin air, the experts who were discussing things passionately looked astonished.

    Soon, something even more astonishing happened.

    Figures suddenly appeared on the bridge, like glowing spheres that were as small as grains of rice.

    The glowing spheres consisted of Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and members of the various minor races of the Void World.

    Their bloodlines were mostly at the eighth and ninth grades.

    There were only two early tenth grade grand monarchs among them.

    Nheless, enveloped in spheres that glowed with cyan, ck, and purple light, they were likembs that would be ughtered at any time, without the strength to fight back.

    They were still alive, but something in their faces and their eyes that seemed to say... that they had already died.

    Little by little, they flew over the bridge in the glowing spheres, and fell into the gorgeous passage leading to the Dark Abyss.

    BAM! BAM!

    The glowing spheres exploded one by one in the gorgeous passage.

    Blood of various colors that was mingled with broken bones and viscera was thrown down into the depths of the passage to nourish the spirit nts and devil nts like sweet dew. They served as sacrificial offerings for the gate to the forbiddennd.

    Staring at the bridge, Dn said with a dejected expression, ¡°They¡¯re grand monarchs and soldiers of the Seaspirits and Moonspirits. The bridge contains Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s flesh aura. I...¡±

    A cluster of golden mes shot from his fingertips.

    The glittering golden mes contained more than ten kinds of phoenix bloodlines, and a few drops of Blood Essence that were like golden diamonds.

    BAM!

    The golden mes exploded as soon as they touched the bridge of turbid energies.

    A cold snort seemed to sound across the infinite starry river.

    On the bridge, a ninth grade Moonspirit, who was wrapped in a blue glowing sphere and muddle-headed, seemed to suddenly sober up. She looked ahead and saw the Snow Devil, Dn, and the ferocious people of the Doomed Star Sea, but she... only smiled sadly, as if she knew that these people couldn¡¯t change their fate.

    The Moonspirits, Seaspirits, and the other second-tier races of the Void World who had previously disobeyed the orders of the three outsider races had been defeated almost the moment they had been attacked.

    After their home realms had fallen, all of their members had been imprisoned, their bloodline powers and soul awareness sealed.

    Then, they had been sent here one by one.

    ¡°A Blood Sacrifice...¡± she thought inwardly as her heart was filled with bitterness. The moment she saw the entrance to the Dark Abyss, she realized that the three outsider races had imprisoned them instead of killing them on the spot so they could take them here and use them as sacrificial offerings.

    WHOOSH!

    Finally, the glowing sphere that bound her fell into the Dark Abyss, and terrifying streaks of light instantly crushed her body and soul in the gorgeous passage.

    Right before her soul vanished, she seemed to find relief. ¡°It¡¯s finally over...¡±

    Many glowing spheres, which surrounded members of the Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and the other minor races of the Void World, fell into the passage filled with gorgeous streaks of light. The flesh and souls of the vast majority of them perished in an instant.

    A few of them whose bloodlines were not particrly strong weren¡¯t instantly torn to pieces somehow.

    No one knew if it was because they had special bloodlines, unusual treasures, or special souls.

    They had thought they would die as well, but they fell unharmed through the gorgeous passage, and descended smoothly into the darkness, where the ¡®gate¡¯ was.

    It was just that they were going to face countless devil nts and spirit beasts. It was not clear what their fate would be.

    After a long while of silence, Yu Suying of the Profound Purity Pce said quietly to Nie Tian, ¡°Looks like others are being sacrificed before us. However, it seems that not everyone dies distressingly. Some lucky ones can make it to the end of the passage.

    ¡°Those ones may have a chance to step into the Dark Abyss if they can survive the devil nts.¡±

    Hou Chn of the wood element sect sent out a strand of wood power, trying to save a Seaspirit girl.

    BANG!

    The green power exploded before Hou Chn let out a moan and her mouth was stained with blood.

    The Seaspirit girl, who had opened her beautiful eyes with a pleading look, still fell into the gorgeous passage and was instantly reduced to a cloud of blood mist.

    ¡°Ahem!¡± Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect coughed violently to attract everyone¡¯s attention.

    When everyone looked at him, he said in an extremely cruel air, ¡°Everyone, first, we¡¯re not strong enough to save those Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and members of the other minor races. Second, the wisest thing to do is just watch them... go in one by one. If what master said is true and the entrance to this Dark Abyss requires sacrificial offerings, then...

    ¡°It needs a certain number of sacrificial offerings. Maybe when their deaths reach a certain number and its need for offerings is met, it¡¯ll be much safer for us to enter.¡±

    A helpless expression appeared on his face as he continued, ¡°With our current strength, we can¡¯t possibly fight the three outsider races. What we can see from the Space Boundaries Crystal is that almost all the powerful experts of the three outsider races havee for us. Master can¡¯te. Even if he can, he might not be able to get all of us out of the Void World.

    ¡°So perhaps we ought to think about how to get through the gate at the end of this entrance to the Dark Abyss.¡±

    Hearing his words, everyone was silent.

    If they really had no choice, and they had to go through the terrifying passage with streaks of light and try to enter the darkness, would it be much safer for them to go when the Seaspirits and Moonspirits died out, and there were sufficient sacrificial offerings?

    Everyone had their own selfish motives.

    Thinking that the deaths of the outsider races like the Seaspirits and Moonspirits might be able to help them and reduce their risks, everyone hesitated.

    Then, they watched in silence as the Seaspirits and Moonspirits fell from the bridge into the Dark Abyss.

    Anyway, they didn¡¯t know them. Anyway, they were the outsiders from the Void World. Anyway, they didn¡¯t have friendly rtions with them. Maybe they had even been forced by the three outsider races to help them ughter humans before...

    Theyforted themselves in this way.

    Just then, the eyes of Mu Biqiong of the Bliss Mountain Sect burst forth with unusual light that didn¡¯t seem to belong to a human as she said, ¡°I, I can go down. I have a feeling that I can make it!¡±

    Under everyone¡¯s startled gazes, her graceful figure suddenly fell into the passage.

    The uncanny coexisting flowers suddenly appeared in the depths of her eyes.

    Without stirring up any changes or activating any dazzling attacks, she fell lightly into the darknd and merged into the darkness very smoothly.

    Then, a Heavenly Demonsbane manifested between Hua Mu¡¯s eyebrows. ¡°So can I.¡±

    Like Mu Biqiong, he also fell through the passage into the darknd with ease, without being attacked by a single streak of light.

    At the same time as they fell, a dozen Moonspirits and Seaspirits at the eighth and ninth grades exploded and died in the passage.

    Dong Li, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Hua Mu, and Mu Biqiong...

    Dong Li, who had been violently attacked, had seeded in crossing the passage and descending into the darkness with the help of the Dark Aureole.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon¡¯s fleshly body had exploded, but his soul hadn¡¯t disappeared. He had also fallen into the darkness, and would have the chance at condensing his body again.

    Hua Mu and Mu Biqiong hadn¡¯t encountered any danger.

    A number of lucky Moonspirits and Seaspirits also made it underground.

    This meant that falling through the passage wasn¡¯tpletely terrible, and there was still a chance to survive.

    However, if they fought Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, there would be no chance at all.

    As everyone pondered, all of the Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and members of the other outsider races were thrown into the passage, most of whom died.

    A cold, drifting voice echoed from afar. ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn. You should have figured out the truth by now, but let me make it clear. Opening the ¡®gate¡¯ requires a certain number of sacrificial offerings. When the number is met, those who enter the passage after that will be safe.

    ¡°We have no idea as to how many have to die to meet the number.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you can drive some of your own men into it first. When your followers are no longer attacked, that means the sacrificial offerings are enough, and you can go straight to the Dark Abyss, the ce you¡¯ve been dreaming of, to seek its fortune.¡±

    The cold voice was very bewitching, telling everyone vaguely that they could kill each other and fight for a chance at survival.

 Chapter 1688: Not Afraid Of Death

    Ancient starships of the three outsider races began to arrive one after another.

    The giant ships floated in the starry river outside the Realm of Shadow Devil. If one took a closer look, they could faintly see outsiders packed densely on the warships.

    Some grand monarchs were standing in the starry river, overlooking the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Right now, the Realm of Shadow Devil was surrounded by clouds of Nether Qi, devil Qi and death power.

    This area of the starry river had already be the three outsider races¡¯ paradise. Anyone who didn¡¯t carry a unique bloodline would be greatly restricted if they tried to move around in this area.

    At this stage, there was likely no way they could leave the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s devil form manifested among several other grand monarchs. Her eyes were full of smugness as she said with a cold smile, ¡°Did you think that by destroying my Shadow Devil g and taking over the Domain of Shadow Devil, you would win? Hehe, I¡¯ve been guarding the Domain of Shadow Devil to protect the entrance to the Dark Abyss and wait for it to open.¡±

    The other grand monarchs, many of whom didn¡¯t look familiar, alsoughed as they chatted with each other in a rxed manner.

    ¡°You only have yourselves to me for forcing your way in here.¡±

    ¡°With so many of you and those members of the small races like the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits, there should be enough offerings.¡±

    The other powerful members of the three outsider races alsoughed and talked amid the billowing energies outside the realm.

    ¡°As long as there are enough sacrificial offerings, the passage won¡¯t get violent. Haha, with those Seaspirits and Moonspirits being thrown in there, perhaps there are almost enough sacrificial offerings already.¡±

    ¡°If a few more people die inside, maybe the gate will open, and we¡¯ll be able to enter safely.¡±

    ¡°They might as well try their luck rather than get killed by us...¡±

    They seemed to have received orders, and weren¡¯t in a hurry to charge into the Realm of Shadow Devil to kill Nie Tian and the others.

    They wanted Nie Tian¡¯s force, those from the Doomed Star Sea, those from the Mortal World, and the Voidspirits to kill each other so that they could get into the Dark Abyss without bloodshed.

    Gathered near the glowing passage in the Realm of Shadow Devil, everyone¡¯s expressions kept changing due to their words.

    Some of them began to think about their suggestion.

    The gate would open as long as there were sufficient offerings.

    Then, they could enter the Dark Abyss. Since the Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and members of the other races had already entered, then...

    ¡°Grand Monarch Bone Piercer!¡± Duru of the Voidspirits suddenly shouted, and then shot into the sky under everyone¡¯s gaze.

    He charged towards Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, an expert who was sitting high on a bone throne.

    Sitting on his bone throne in the midst of many bone warships, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had cold, indifferent eyes. At first nce, he didn¡¯t even look like a living being, because he gave people a feeling that he was lifeless and inhuman.

    He didn¡¯t move a hair. Letting Duru charge toward him, he said casually, ¡°Let hime.¡±

    Hearing this, several Bonedrude experts, including Grand Monarch Sharp Bones, who had been ready to attack, quieted down.

    Many experts looked up, and saw Duru of the Voidspirits morph into a deep blue bolt of lightning made of countless glowing spatial des.

    The bolt of lightning split open the starry river and prated the seal made of Nether Qi, Devil Qi, and death power.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer rose to his feet. ¡°Puny insect.¡±

    Like a huge mountain of bones that was billions of meters high, the bone throne under his body suddenly flew out and shed with the deep blue electric light.

    Looking at the huge mountain transformed from the bone throne, Nie Tian shuddered with shock.

    He had once seen a mountain like it in that mysterious ce under the guidance of the Tree of Life.

    That mountain had been imprinted with countless death principles, overflowing with inexhaustible death power.

    Looking at the bone mountain transformed from the bone throne, Nie Tian suddenly realized that the high chieftain of the Bonedrudes had touched the ultimate source of death power.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Duru¡¯s deep blue bolt of lightning was crushed to pieces by the huge mountain transformed from the bone throne.

    His body almost instantly exploded into countless blue blood beads.

    The blue blood beads were instantly infiltrated by death power, and turned pale.

    Besides that, they gave birth to new Ghostly Corpse Snakes that would attack fleshly bodies under Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯smand.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer pped his giant hands from a great distance before hundreds of pale blood beads gathered to the bone throne, which had returned to its true form.

    WHOOSH!

    The throne of bones flew back, and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer descended on it steadily. Moving only his eyes, he looked down at the Voidspirits and said, ¡°Pei Yukong is dead, and Duru is dead. It¡¯s time for your so-called mysterious race to perish. We originally gave you a choice. As long as you were obedient, attached yourselves to us, and did our bidding, your existence would still have value. However...¡±

    He looked a little pitiful.

    BOOM!

    Just then, Pei Qiqi suddenly burst forth with halos made of blue light.

    A swift, ethereal flesh aura burst inside of her. Stimted by it, her Voidspirit bloodline somehow broke through to the tenth grade!

    While Duru died, a new grand monarch was born.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer couldn¡¯t help but look at Pei Qiqi for quite a while, then he nodded. ¡°You¡¯re a talented one with great potential. Unfortunately, you won¡¯t have a chance to grow.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll die either way, so I might as well give it a shot.¡± With these words, Fan Tianze of the Heaven Span Pavilion frowned and rushed into the sky like Duru.

    The light released by the Limpid Cyan Sword brightened the entire dim Realm of Shadow Devil, pierced through the Nether Qi, Devil Qi, and death power, and shot outside the realm like the most gorgeous light.

    ¡°My sword defies all principles! I dare to even kill a paragon with it!¡± Fan Tianze shouted with a wildugh.

    The Limpid Cyan Sword¡¯s sword light condensed into a limpid stream where there seemed to be strands of iparably sharp sword intent that swam like fishes, containing infinite profound truths.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The limpid stream shot out of the Realm of Shadow Devil and into the starry river outside the realm.

    Facing the limpid stream, many of the three outsider races had blood trickle from their eyes.

    CRACK!

    Several warships of the Devils and Bonedrudes were cut into pieces by the astonishing power that surged out of the sword light.

    Dozens of Devils and Bonedrudes died in an instant.

    Grand Monarch Sharp Bones of the Bonedrudes, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, and Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher of the Devils all rushed at Fan Tianze. ¡°How dare you!¡±

    Fan Tianzeughed fearlessly. ¡°I¡¯ve lived long enough. I don¡¯t care if I transcend the limits of the God domain to see a whole new world. I live to do whatever I want!¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    As his wrist turned, the Limpid Cyan Sword cut at Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s devil body. Wherever the word light flitted, it split the energies sealing the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The terrifying devil figure among the many Devils stared at Fan Tianze coldly and said, ¡°He¡¯s very brave... But that¡¯s all.¡±

    SWISH!

    At this time, Nie Tian also charged out of the Realm of Shadow Devil and into the starry river. His bloodline instantly burst forth.

    Another figure flew abreast of him, which turned out to be Mo Heng.

    Mo Heng gave him a somewhat unnatural smile. ¡°You¡¯ve finally grown up, kid. You didn¡¯t bring disgrace on your father.¡±

    ¡°Whatever happens, I¡¯ll have no regrets now that I¡¯ve finally seen you smile,¡± Nie Tian said.

 Chapter 1689: Endless Fight

    The terrifying devil figure, which transcended all of the other Devil grand monarchs in their Ancestral Awakening form, seemed to be a condensation of pure devil power.

    While he remained where he was, towering over the other Devils, his enormous devil hand seemed to defy space and press down from above Fan Tianze.

    The giant hand descended like a ckish-violet celestial curtain with innumerable rays of light interweaving in it, manifesting thousands of bloodline wonders that were unique to the Devils!

    At the same time, numerous devilish beasts and insects seemed to be born in the palm of the descending hand. Then, as time passed bit by bit, the strong ones devoured the weak ones, and grew even stronger.

    Fanatic looks filled the eyes of every Devil as they watched the enormous devil hand press down.

    While watching the wondrous changes within the descending ckish-violet palm, some of them, whose bloodlines were at low grades, even roared feverishly as their bloodlines seemed to be somehow stimted, and advanced to new heights.

    Some eighth grade Devils even managed to derive brand new bloodline magics from it. Ecstasy was written across their faces.

    All of the Devils and devilish creatures that knew what was happening stared unblinkingly at the enormous hand, lest they miss even the slightest changes, and therefore let this unearthly opportunity slip through their fingers!

    ¡°Great Devil Hand!¡±

    A deep voice sounded like a thunderp, and rumbled through the minds of everyone present.

    The glowing stream of limpid sword light from Fan Tianze¡¯s Limpid Cyan Sword was pressed down towards the Realm of Shadow Devil where it hade from by the gigantic ckish-violet hand.

    Numerous wisps of sword intent that were swimming swiftly in the limpid stream like fish perished one after another, giving rise to poofs.

    As this happened, countless wisps of sword light shot out of the limpid stream, but were quickly engulfed by the devil light that had filled that area of the starry river, the iparably fierce sword intent within them eliminated in an imperceptible manner.

    BOOM!

    Fan Tianze, in his dharma idol form, was pressed back to the Realm of Shadow Devil, as if the entire heavens had copsed on him.

    An illusory divine sword could be seen floating over the head of Fan Tianze¡¯s brilliant dharma idol. It was the Limpid Cyan Sword¡¯s soul manifested in the outside world. Right now, under the overwhelming pressure from the Great Devil Hand, it suddenly grew twisted, as if it was on the verge of exploding.

    At the same time, Fan Tianze¡¯s dharma idol seemed to be infiltrated by countless rays of sparkling purple light. With numerous purple fissures appearing in it, it looked like porcin ware that had been broken and put back together.

    BOOM!

    Purple bolts of lightning shot out of the widening cracks, and Fan Tianze¡¯s dharma idol exploded violently.

    Resuming his regr form, he let out a muffled groan and coughed up a mouthful of blood before falling towards the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°Senior Fan!¡±

    At that point, Nie Tian happened to charge out of the realm in his erged form, and instantly flew to his side.

    Nie Tian reached out, and Fan Tianze, who was covered in blood, fell into his enormous palm.

    FIZZ!

    Wisps of refined flesh power swirled out of Nie Tian¡¯s giant palm and disappeared into Fan Tianze¡¯s tiny body.

    The gashes that covered his whole body healed at a visible speed.

    Humans had the most fragile fleshly bodies. It didn¡¯t require much life power to heal their bodies. In contrast, the injuries they sustained to their souls and spiritual seas were much harder to heal.

    Sitting in Nie Tian¡¯s palm, Fan Tianze looked up at him. Brilliant light still shone in his eyes as he wiped the blood off his face with a quick move of his hand. ¡°Nie Tian, it was a mere doppelg?nger of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil that injured me. But as you can see, it¡¯s still stronger than any other Devil grand monarch you¡¯ve met.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I can still fight. All I need is a bit of recuperation.

    ¡°You should go help Mo Heng...¡±

    Before he could finish, a figure flew past Nie Tian and him and shot up against the ckish-violet Great Devil Hand.

    It was Yin Xingtian.

    SPLASH!

    The glorious, singr Godspan Sword Formation was released, spreading out like the glorious tail of a peacock.

    The divine sword formation he had obtained from the Heaven Span Pavilion shone with dazzling light as a dominant sword aura burst forth from within his god domain, as if to dere that his mastery of sword spells was unparalleled throughout this starry river.

    Everyone looked up and discovered that the boundless sword intent and countless sword lights within his god domain seemed to be suddenly vested with life. It was as if they were cheering, celebrating, and marveling at their newly-gained lives.

    Fan Tianze, who had sustained heavy injuries, stared nkly at Yin Xingtian, who had shot past him and Nie Tian like a cannonball, and muttered in amazement, ¡°The Godspan sword intent and sword lights have developed their own awareness...

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this old entric¡¯s profound umtion has nurtured such great potential!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    To his surprise, wisps of sword intent skipped with joy as they flew out of Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword domain and the glorious Godspan Sword Formation before fusing into Fan Tianze¡¯s body with endless wonders.

    Fan Tianze¡¯s eyes lit up as he felt his drained spiritual sea being rapidly infused with power.

    Also at that moment, the soul of the Limpid Cyan Sword pulled itself together and asked for permission to fight again.

    Gazing up at Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword domain and the glorious Godspan Sword Formation, Ye Wenhan, who was also from the Heaven Span Pavilion, let out an exmation, ¡°What the...?!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, under everyone¡¯s gazes, the sword intent released by Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword domain and the sword lights shooting out of the Godspan Sword Formation fused perfectly before piercing upwards together.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s Great Devil Hand, which he had brought down on Fan Tianze, was quickly riddled with holes.

    At the same time, Mo Heng, who had flown around the Great Devil Hand, charged towards Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, who had attempted to reap Fan Tianze¡¯s life while he was in bad shape. ¡°Get the hell out of my face!¡±

    As he thrust his palm forward repeatedly, brilliant spheres that contained extremely refined spiritual power shot towards Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer.

    Each and every one of them glowed with silver light.

    Innumerable wisps of spiritual power that contained endless wonders could be seen slithering within them like lightning bolts.

    BOOM!

    A spiritual energy ball exploded violently inside Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s dark purple flesh aura sea, sending out currents of spiritual power that instantly ripped her flesh aura sea apart.

    Then, as more spiritual energy balls exploded, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s agonized shriek filled the starry river.

    Her dark purple flesh aura sea was soon torn to countless pieces as her Shadow Devil g had been.

    Her flesh aura instantly withered.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer was infuriated after being bested in front of all the Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, and members of her own n. ¡°Dammit! If I hadn¡¯t been injured and lost my Shadow Devil g, how could someone like you injure me in the Domain of Shadow Devil?!

    ¡°Shadow Devil Star Change!¡±

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Devil Qi seemed to suddenly infiltrate the star cores of many realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    In the depths of those realms, where no one could see, their star cores rapidly turned ckish-violet.

    Inside of them, wisps of power gradually morphed into Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s form.

    It was as if Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer had split her soul into countless wisps and sent them into those realms to possess their star cores.

    Immediately afterwards, a gigantic sphere glowing with purple light flew from the distant starry river.

    After it flew closer, it turned out to be a realm of the Domain of Shadow Devil!

    She was going to crush Mo Heng with a realm!

 Chapter 1690: Advance Despite Difficulties!

    Mo Heng¡¯s dharma idol morphed into an enormous sphere that was filled with currents of pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    Manipted by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, the realm mmed directly into the sphere.

    BOOM!

    The sphere instantly scattered into countless currents of pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    The impact from the crashing realm shook even the starry river.

    As powerful as Mo Heng was, even he couldn¡¯t take it head-on.

    However, as he let out a cold snort, his scattered dharma idol came back together after the realm flew through.

    ¡°Again! Let¡¯s see how many hits your dharma idol can take!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer grinned with fury in her eyes as she wove her hands in midair. Wisps of her soulmunicated with the star cores of the realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil and possessed them through the devices she had nted in them ages ago.

    Then, a massive and peculiar scene presented itself.

    Numerous realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil started to move around.

    Furthermore, they no longer shone with brilliant light. Instead, they were enshrouded in ckish-violet Devil Qi, and moved in the starry river like colossal spheres of devil power.

    Not just the humans, but the grand monarchs from the Void World were also bbergasted by this scene.

    Even they hadn¡¯t expected Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer to still have such control over the Domain of Shadow Devil after she had lost her Shadow Devil g.

    However, they also came to a realization.

    What Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer was doing now was going to ruin the Domain of Shadow Devilpletely.

    Each and every realm whose star core was possessed by her had practically been sentenced to death.

    After their star cores withered, they would no longer be able to channel energies from the starry river and convert them into pure Devil Qi, which they relied on to nurture themselves.

    Hence, almost every realm of the Domain of Shadow Devil would suffer the fate of bing dead realms.

    Judging by the rapid thinning and dissipating of the realm barriers of the vast realms that were flying towards Mo Heng, one could tell that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer was definitely going to ruin those realms by using them this way.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The ancient starships of the three major races that were originally berthed together scattered spontaneously.

    They did this because they were worried that the iing realms that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer had channeled here would crush their starships and give rise to terrifying fluctuations in this area of the void.

    ¡°We can¡¯t just sit here and watch,¡± Ye Wenhan said with determination. ¡°Instead of dying in the entrance to the Dark Abyss as sacrificial offerings and fodder, we might as well take some of those of the three major races down with us, and let their blood be sacrificed to the life-devouring tunnel!¡±

    With these words, he let out a wildugh and charged out of the Realm of Shadow Devil like a shooting star.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The peculiar energy bridge reappeared in the starry river.

    Surprisingly, it carried the bodies of the Devils and Netherspirits that Fan Tianze had killed with his sword magic into the tunnel filled with glorious lights, as it had done with the Seaspirits and Moonspirits.

    It seemed that those of the three major races upheld a no-wasting principle, and sacrificed even the bodies of their own nsmen.

    ¡°Come on! Even if we die in this battle, we die with pride!¡±

    Numerous glowing spatial des spread from behind the back of Ji Yuanquan from the Void Spirit Society as he shot into the starry river after Ye Wenhan.

    After him, Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, Yu Suying, the Snow Devil, Dn, Feng Beiluo, the Thunder Devil, and the remaining Voidspirits also charged into the starry river.

    Almost all of the experts that were gathered above the glorious pit in the Realm of Shadow Devil rose to the challenge.

    Fan Tianze¡¯s rebellious nature, Mo Heng¡¯s unyielding spirit, Nie Tian¡¯s bravery, and Duru¡¯s death...

    All of those things inspired them. Even those who had been swayed by the three major races¡¯ instigation felt ashamed and shot skywards, cursing themselves inwardly for having those vicious thoughts as they did.

    Many Saint domain experts, like Yan Bin and Zhang Qiling, didn¡¯t belong to the four ancient great sects or the Doomed Star Sea.

    However, they still activated their saint domains, charged out of the Realm of Shadow Devil with unswerving determination on their faces, and engaged in fierce fights against the Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes in the starry river.

    ¡°Take care of yourself, senior. I¡¯ve got to go.¡± With these words, Nie Tian turned around.

    With a grin, he summoned the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone.

    WHOOSH!

    Luo Wanxiang¡¯s All Manifestations Star Banner fell on the back of his erged form like an enormous cape, and seemed to be a perfectlypatible part of his star domain.

    Numerous Fragmentary Stars could be seen in the All Manifestations Star Banner, along with that Maic Star Crystal.

    He sensed with great rity that the Fragmentary Stars were channeling star power from the Heavenly Stars Flower and the All Manifestations Star Banner continuously.

    This gave him a peculiar feeling that he wasn¡¯tpletely dependent on his star power spiritual core anymore.

    Because of this, he decided to release his star power first, but not his me power, wood power, or flesh power.

    ¡°I¡¯m Grand Monarch Sharp Bones of the Bonedrudes. I¡¯ll be the one to break your bloodline magics!¡±

    A gigantic Bonedrude slowly walked towards him in the tempestuous starry river.

    Countless wisps of white lightning slithered on the Unbreakable Form of this Bonebrute grand monarch before they gathered and condensed into a sharp bone tail at the end of his spine.

    FIZZ!

    The tail emanated terrifying death power fluctuations, giving rise to strange sounds.

    ¡°Starfall!¡±

    Nie Tian suddenly cast the iparably profound secret spell recorded in the Fragmentary Star Incantation.

    One Star Eye after another came to form, and immediately focused on the numerous realms that were attacking Mo Heng.

    BOOM!

    His star domain and All Manifestations Star Banner burst forth with mysterious starlight simultaneously.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower swayed gently, as if to generate a peculiar force that attracted those realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    At that moment, Nie Tian seemed to hear painful whines and begs from those realms through his Star Eyes.

    It was as if their star cores had sensed his existence, and were seeking his help with their fading awareness.

    It was as if he was a lord of the stars, who had the trust and acknowledgment of all stars.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer is possessing their star cores with her soul...¡± Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered as he came to a sudden realization. Immediately afterwards, countless soul strings started wiggling madly within his true soul.

    ¡°Soul-splitting Seals!¡±

    One seal after another was created by his true soul before they were nted in those realms through his star domain and Star Eyes.

    ¡°Soul Split!¡± Nie Tian cried.

    Inside the star cores of the realms that were being manipted by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, and had turned ckish-violet, Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s soul shadows suddenly broke apart.

    HOWL!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer let out a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling wail of pain.

    Her somewhat shriveled true form, which was surrounded by Devils, started shaking nonstop with purple blood and foaming out of her mouth, as if she was having an episode of epilepsy.

    The sub-souls she had fused into those star cores suffered heavy blows and were eliminated.

    This injury was just as severe as the time when her Shadow Devil g had been torn up, if not more!

    In agony, she bellowed, ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s that Nie Tian again!¡±

    She kept looking up in search of the terrifying devil figure, and begged, ¡°Help me, High Chieftain! I want to see that little bastard die in the Realm of Shadow Devil! I want him to die in front of me!¡±

 Chapter 1691: Stars Fight For Me!

    Stars changed their positions outside the Realm of Shadow Devil!

    Enormous realms in the shape of enormous spheres and tndmasses rotated at a high speed, giving rise to loud whooshes!

    Standing towering in the starry river with the All Manifestations Star Banner as his cape and the Heavenly Stars Flower swaying gently behind his back, Nie Tian, who was close to ten thousand meters tall after activating his bloodline, looked like a god that ruled all stars.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Dazzling starlight streaked across the starry river behind him like glorious shooting stars.

    Like bright mirrors, his eyes reflected numerous stars in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    Glowing spots of various shapes representing the star cores of different realms manifested in the depths of his pupils.

    He examined them with rapt attention, and saw ckish-violet smoke bursting and dissipating inside of those glowing spots.

    That smoke was Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s soul will, which she had nted into them, so she could possess them whenever she wanted.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s angry whines and agonized wails echoed through the starry river.

    However, the powerful experts of the three major races no longer had the time to answer her at this moment.

    ¡°Ah!¡±

    The shrieks of the fighting humans and outsiders filled the dim starry river.

    Every once in a while, the flesh aura seas and saint domains of some experts from the Void World, the Doomed Star Sea, and the Mortal World would explode and perish.

    The ancient starships of the three major races yed a significant role in this cruel, bloody interracial battle.

    Thousands of ancient starships were carved with spell formations and embedded with stones that contained devil power, crystals that containedher power, and bones that contained death power, which provided them with an almost endless power supply.

    After being amplified by the spell formations and magical engravings, these powers burst forth in devastating sts.

    sts of energy that were misty cyan, ckish-purple, and pale-gray could usually cause tremendous damage as they shot into the saint and god domains of the human experts.

    They could even destroy a saint domain directly!

    Furthermore, since those ancient starships were controlled by seventh and eighth grade outsiders, they turned out to be of great help in their battle against the human experts.

    All of the God domain experts like Mo Heng and Fan Tianze and the Saint domain experts like Yan Bin were caught up in their battles against the powerful experts of the three major races.

    Therefore, even though they knew perfectly well that the low-tier outsiders were dealing a tremendous amount of damage with the help of those ancient starships, they couldn¡¯t go and destroy them.

    This was the Domain of Shadow Devil in the Void World, the three powerful races¡¯ territory.

    Plus, the three major races had gathered more than half of their forces, along with numerous powerful grand monarchs...

    For these reasons, as much as they wanted to, they couldn¡¯t get rid of the ancient starships that kept releasing sts of energy from afar at unexpected moments.

    BOOM!

    A st of pale-gray death power bombarded Dn¡¯s golden flesh aura sea like a pir of lightning.

    At the heart of his flesh aura sea that was filled with raging golden mes, the Gilded Phoenix¡¯s gorgeous golden feathers were touched by bits of pale-gray light. Corroded by the death power, he started to move slightly sluggishly.

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s Devil Cloud Halberd pierced into his flesh aura sea with great force.

    Wreathed in terrifying Devil Qi, the Devil Cloud Halberd caused arge amount of the golden mes to explode and perish before it finally pierced into Dn¡¯s golden wings.

    The impact sent many golden feathers and many drops of Blood Essence flying from his body.

    He cried in pain.

    Jiang Qinghuang¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as she couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°Father!¡±

    Face icy, she red at a Bonedrude ancient starship that was dozens of kilometers away. She could see arge number of Bonedrudes carrying dried bones around on it, as if to gather death power tounch another attack against Dn.

    She charged towards it with unswerving determination.

    POOH!

    A beam of cyan light suddenly shot over, catching her off-guard.

    In the next moment, she found herself bleeding from a hole under her armpit.

    Letting out a low moan, she was forced to activate her bloodline power, and morphed into a pale-golden phoenix. With the phoenixes¡¯ superior healing ability, she tried to heal herself.

    Then, she found that beams of cyan and purple light that were even fiercer sted over from the Netherspirit and Devil ancient starships in the distance.

    Her phoenix form instantly suffered more heavy blows.

    She couldn¡¯t help but let out sad wails, as if she knew that she was about to be engulfed by the torrential cannon fire of those ancient starships and perish here.

    With a ninth grade bloodline and tremendous talent, she had a good chance at entering the God domain and bing a brilliant new star in the Doomed Star Sea.

    If this battle had taken ce in the Doomed Star Sea, they would have plenty of ancient starships of their own. If the outsiders didn¡¯t have an advantage in starships...

    However, that was too many ifs.

    ¡°Am I going to die?¡±

    Despair filled her heart as she gazed into the distance, and saw the Devil and Netherspirit starships slowly brightening as they gathered power tounch new sts.

    However, her eyes widened immediately afterwards.

    She was surprised to see a vastndmass that was countless timesrger than those ancient starships quietly appearing behind them!

    Those ancient starships were to that vastndmass as fish hatchlings were to a great white shark!

    Even though she couldn¡¯t hear the sounds of collision since she was too far away, she could see the Netherspirit and Devil starships exploding like glorious fireworks.

    One by one, they blew up in splendid clusters that were only the size of grains of rice, and vanished immediately afterwards.

    BOOM!

    While Jiang Qinghuang was at a loss, she felt her head spin, as if she had been pulled out of the hell by a giant hand.

    After her head was clear again, she discovered that she was floating in her phoenix form in front of Nie Tian, while the ce where she had been a moment ago was engulfed in devastatingher power and devil power cannon fire.

    Then, jerked her head to see a vast realm crushing one Bonedrude starship after another with an unstoppable, mountain-toppling, sea-draining momentum.

    An exmation escaped her mouth as she looked up at Nie Tian, who, in his erged form, was controlling numerous realms with his star power like an ancient god who ruled this entire starry river.

    ¡°None of the so-called chosen ones and hybrids in the Doomed Star Sea can match him.¡±

    With this thought, she cast her eyes down, before she quickly activated her bloodline power to break away from Nie Tian¡¯s protection and charge onto the battlefield again.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    Wreathed in brilliant starlight and numerous stars, Nie Tian looked high-spirited and vigorous as he wielded the realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil by relying on his profound connections with their star cores.

    The power that should have beenmanded by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer had be his mighty weapon!

    The three major races¡¯ ancient starships that were berthed dozens of kilometers away and firing unexpected energy sts were obliterated one after another.

    Their defenses were practically nonexistent facing impact from the crashing realms.

    They exploded one by one.

    Grand Monarch Sharp Bones let out shrill cries as he made repeated attempts to approach and stop him, yet he managed to avoid him every time using Starshift.

    Unlike Void Travel, Starshift only allowed him to shift from ce to ce within a rtively short range. Therefore, it was unaffected by the sealing spell that had been cast upon the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    The All Manifestations Star Banner, the Fragmentary Stars, and the Heavenly Stars Flower continued to infuse him with immense star power, allowing him to cast Starshift over and over.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Just as he cast Starshift once again, he felt as if he had mmed into a steel te!

    Starshift had failed for the first time!

    That was when a devil figurerge enough to prop up heaven and earth let out a cold snort and stepped towards him.

    BOOM!

    Heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing Devil Qi manifested and descended from above him like a boundless sea.

    Numerous streaks of starlight suddenly sputtered from his star domain, giving rise to strange sounds.

    At the same time, an ancient bellow echoed from within the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone in his hand as the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s giant illusory figure manifested with tenacity.

    The All Manifestations Star Banner, which he was wearing like a cape, was originally filled with brilliant stars.

    However, as the terrifying devil figure approached, those brilliant stars began to go out in groups, like stars fading away at dawn.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡±

 Chapter 1692: The Heaven Sha

    ¡°Watch out, young master!¡± Feng Beiluo, the Thunder Devil, and the Snow Devil yelled simultaneously.

    The Snow Devil even ended his battle against Grand Monarch Soul Converger of the Netherspirits, and sprang towards Nie Tian.

    Her face was filled with unswerving determination, as if she was going to help Nie Tian even at the cost of her own life.

    Her figure suddenly scattered into countless sparkling and crystal-clear snowkes that filled the void above Nie Tian¡¯s head.

    Each and every snowke carried the Snow Devil¡¯s aura, as they were micro-manifestations of her wondrous god domain.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s incrediblyrge and terrifying figure let out another cold harrumph, which immediately triggered great changes in the surging Devil Power Tide.

    BOOM!

    Clusters of devil power started to morph and show images of the histories of the devilish creatures. Low-tier devilish insects and beasts could be seen being born in ancient magical ponds, and immediately starting to fight and devour each other.

    ¡°The genesis of all devilish creatures!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s voice echoed, as if from a distant era that had been buried in the long history of the Void World.

    His magical voice seemed to carry profound truths as it delivered the origins of species.

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrunk. By relying on his life bloodline, he sensed that devilish insects and beasts were actually being born in those clusters of devil power. They seemed to be the product of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s wisps of soul awareness gathering devil power.

    He had the ability to create myriad devils with nothing but his soul awareness!

    In the next moment, he was astonished to discover that devilish micro-insects that were spawned by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s soul awareness started to appear in the crystal-clear snowkes.

    The Snow Devil¡¯s wondrous god domain was infiltrated just like that.

    Then, countless snowkes fell around Nie Tian.

    He could sense the Snow Devil¡¯s aura within them fading away, or in other words, being transformed...

    The snowkes gradually turned purple, but remained crystal-clear.

    However, the Snow Devil¡¯s unique quality, which was icy but bright like a mirror, was gone.

    It was reced by a shade of frenzied evil that was growing rapidly!

    The Snow Devil was on the verge of being turned into a devilish creature!

    ¡°Awaken!¡± An eye-catching, blood-colored symbol suddenly manifested in the sea of rolling devil power.

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian saw the terrifying devil figure let out an exmation of surprise.

    His incrediblyrge body seemed to be wrapped around by countless sticky and resilient strings, which made it difficult for him to even move just his fingers.

    Upon a closer look, he discovered that those sticky strings were actually condensations of qi and blood.

    The blood of titans, spirit beasts, dragons, Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and various other kinds of creatures seemed to have been mixed together to make those strings.

    He wondered who in this starry river could refine the blood of so many species and merge them together.

    Nie Tian was first astonished, but then felt a sense of familiarity.

    At the same time, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s blood domain burst forth with a tremendous amount of blood light.

    Eyes widened, he gazed off at Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and the sticky blood strings binding it, and muttered, ¡°That aura... is so familiar...¡±

    Nie Tian came to a sudden realization. ¡°That¡¯s the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s Blood Refining Incantation!¡±

    Only the disciples of the Blood Spirit Sect could refine and fuse the blood of different species into their domains to make themselves stronger.

    They wouldn¡¯t care what kind of essence or impurities the blood carried.

    This was what made their incantations so special.

    Dn, the Gilded Phoenix, also sensed an unexpected aura while fighting Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher, and eximed in ecstasy, ¡°The Heaven Sha! (The literal meaning of Sha: malevolent spirits) I can¡¯t believe you¡¯vee to help us!¡±

    All of the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea were thrilled upon hearing Dn¡¯s exmation, no matter who they were.

    ¡°The Heaven Sha! The Heaven Sha is here!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s terrific!¡±

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The devilish micro-insects within the countless snowkes falling around Nie Tian were crushed by sparks of blood-colored light that appeared out of nowhere.

    The snowkes quickly came together to take the Snow Devil¡¯s true form.

    Her face was ghastly, with purple lightning wisps being expelled from her eyes by her cold power. ¡°Thank you for saving me again, Heaven Sha.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wee.¡± A wild, husky voice echoed from in front of the terrifying devil figure. ¡°Even though this is only a doppelg?nger of his, it can wield thirty percent of his power, which makes it hard to deal with. Hopefully, we can hold on before the master gets here.¡±

    The sea of raging Devil Qi had long since been withdrawn from above Nie Tian.

    It appeared that the terrifying devil figure had shifted all of his attention to the Heaven Sha the moment he had arrived, even though he hadn¡¯t manifested his true form yet.

    The Heaven Sha was the strongest of the six kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea, whose battle prowess was second only to Qin Yao¡¯s!

    ¡°The Heaven Sha... that incantation he used...¡± Master Blood Spirit seemed to finally realize something as he asked in Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s direction, ¡°Are you a senior member of the Blood Spirit Sect?¡±

    The Heaven Sha snorted and said, ¡°Kid, if your master were still alive, he would have to call me ¡®martial uncle!¡¯¡±

    A shudder ran through Master Blood Spirit before his face quickly split into a wide smile. ¡°That¡¯s great... great, great... I¡¯m so relieved that you¡¯re a senior from my sect. It seems that the path I¡¯ve chosen is right! And I¡¯ll be able to reach your cultivation base and height one day!¡±

    The Heaven Sha let out another snort and said with a scolding tone, ¡°Save it. If it weren¡¯t for Nie Tian, you wouldn¡¯t even be at thete Saint domain now. What gave you the courage to say such big words? The only thing you¡¯ve done right is to continue the core teachings and doctrines of the Blood Spirit Sect in the Realm of me Heaven and pass on its legacies.¡±

    With a wry smile, Master Blood Spirit said, ¡°Right, right. You¡¯ve taught me a valuable lesson, senior.¡±

    Facing this mighty senior of the Blood Spirit Sect that he hadn¡¯t even heard of, he could only humble himself.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The sticky blood strings binding Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s doppelg?nger exploded, filling its surroundings with blood-colored light.

    Instead of being rattled, Grand Monarch Heaven Devilughed and said, ¡°Qin Yao hasn¡¯te here himself? He¡¯s being held off by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, isn¡¯t he? Grand Monarch Soul Capturer stopped Qin Yao, but let you slip through. However, that might be bad luck for you.¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer!¡± Nie Tian said, frowning.

    From what he had heard, he realized that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who had entered his sea of awareness and tried to kill him from another part of the starry river, might be engaged in a full-frontal battle against his father somewhere in the Void World or the Doomed Star Sea.

    He supposed that the Netherspirits had put the Chaos Behemoth aside for the time being.

    The fact that Qin Yao and two other kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea hadn¡¯t shown up here suggested that they must have been intercepted by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and other Netherspirit experts.

    Powerful experts from the Mortal World, rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea, and mighty grand monarchs from the Void World...

    Before he realized it, experts from across the three worlds had been dragged into this.

    This might be a long-premeditated war that was designed to overtake countless lives in the three worlds.

    This might be a war to influence a thousand generations toe. Since it involved the Dark Abyss, it might create paragons, but it might also cause many species to go extinct. Even the Star Behemoth bloodline might disappear forever.

    The stronger the species, the more likely they would be targeted and wiped out in this war.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    As his train of thought reached this point, his heart suddenly started pounding violently. The upgrade of his life bloodline was finally going to beplete.

 Chapter 1693: The Life-origin Form

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically.

    He had never expected his bloodline upgrade toplete at this moment!

    A hard-fought battle was taking ce in the starry river outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea, Voidspirits, experts from the Mortal World, and members of the three major races of the Void World... lives were perishing with every passing second.

    Grand patriarchs and Saint domain experts exploded like fireworks before their blood and mangled bodies fell like rain in the boundless void.

    The Heaven Sha, the arch kingpin of the Doomed Star Sea, had just started fighting against Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s doppelg?nger using the brutal power of the Blood Spirit Sect.

    This didn¡¯t seem to be a good time toplete his bloodline upgrade.

    While he was worried about the situation, his eyes suddenly lit up.

    He suddenly sensed that brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains that were as fine as hairs were being generated by the green aura at an rming rate in his madly-beating heart.

    BOOM!

    A flesh aura that contained raging life power erupted like a volcano. Along with it, brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains were transfused to every bone, internal organ, and muscle in his body through his veins and meridians.

    ¡°The Life-origin Form!¡±

    These words burst forth from within his Bloodline Crystal Chains and were branded in the depths of his soul.

    He suddenly realized that his erged form that he could assume by activating his life bloodline was actually called the Life-origin Form, and it was a product of his wondrous bloodline!

    It was simr to the Demons¡¯ Indestructible Form and the Bonebrutes¡¯ Unbreakable Form.

    At this point, it suddenly urred to him that the Floragrims¡¯ so-called Heavenly Wood Heal was merely a branch of the Life-origin Form.

    Now, after his life bloodline had entered the tenth grade, he had finally seen through the profound truths of the Life-origin Form.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Rich, intense life power was fused into his blood, bones, and internal organs by his newly-generated Bloodline Crystal Chains, causing crisp sounds toe from his bones, which were as hard as metal.

    His Life-origin Form started expanding rapidly once again.

    Only when it was nine thousand seven hundred meters tall did the expansion stop.

    His Life-origin Form was strengthened further after his bloodline reached the tenth grade!

    Nine thousand seven hundred meters seemed to be a threshold, a limit.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    In the next moment, he was surprised to discover that now that his Life-origin Form had undergone another round of flesh-forging, two of his bloodline talents, Life Drain and Potential Stimtion, activated themselves.

    He didn¡¯t try to stimte his bloodline or draw power from his flesh aura sea.

    It appeared that in his developed Life-origin Form, his body would activate these talents on its own, and spontaneously absorb and channel flesh power from various sources to strengthen and fix itself, and replenish its vital power.

    A fierce, bloody battle was raging over the starry river outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    The lingering flesh power of the dead Devils, Netherspirits, and the outsiders and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea that had died in battle started converging on him from different directions, like scraps of metal being attracted to a ma.

    His Life-origin Form took the flesh power in, refined it, gathered it in his heart, and fused it into his blood...

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    His heart thumped violently as he examined himself with narrowed eyes.

    ¡°The flow of my flesh aura has never been so smooth. Before, when I needed it, the flesh power that burst out first was usually the flesh power within my blood and muscles. If I wanted to tap into the power of my bloodline power in my heart, I¡¯d have to ignite my Blood Essence, which usually took time.

    ¡°But now, as soon as a thought enters my mind, the strong life power within my heart flows to every corner of my body like lightning bolts thanks to those newly-generated Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    ¡°Right now, my heart is like a core that contains immense, strong flesh power.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes grew brighter and brighter as he found out more and more about his Life-origin Form.

    Then, after waiting for a few seconds, he discovered that the speed at which new Bloodline Crystal Chains were being generated had decreased steeply after that green aura had manifested the wonders of the Life-origin Form.

    The generation of fresh Bloodline Crystal Chains usually meant the awakening of a brand new bloodline talent.

    Before, all of the new bloodline talents would burst forth and be branded in his mind the moment his bloodline finished its upgrade.

    However, that didn¡¯t seem to be the case this time.

    Perhaps it was because the amount of flesh power required to break through to the tenth grade was simply so great that his current flesh power didn¡¯t allow him to awaken all his new bloodline talents at the moment of breakthrough.

    ¡°It appears that the Life-origin Form is only the first one, and I need time to awaken the rest of my new bloodline talents. However, this old bloodline talent, Blood Essence Transcendence... Hmm?! Five thousand drops!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t help but let out a soft exmation.

    This Blood Essence Transcendence bloodline talent of his had been improving steadily over the years as his bloodline upgraded.

    When he had been at the seventh grade, Blood Essence Transcendence had allowed him to condense a total of fifty drops of Blood Essence, which had increased to three hundred after he had entered the eighth grade, and a thousand after he had entered the ninth grade.

    At this moment, he examined himself, and discovered that the limit of the amount of Blood Essence he could condense and hold had increased by five times!

    This meant that the total amount of flesh power he could reserve in his body had increased five times! Plus, he had a feeling that this wasn¡¯t his ultimate limit.

    Upon the thought of the origin of his life bloodline and the countless drops of blood in that Sea of Life, he knew that he could transcend that limit.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Elder Mo Heng¡¯s shout echoed out while he was absorbed in the newly-found wonders of his bloodline. ¡°What are you doing standing there?!¡±

    Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯s tail that was made of bones as sharp as des and looked like a scorpion¡¯s tail had whipped towards him before he knew it.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Rifts cracked open in the void as devastating death power shot out of the tail, reducing a few nearby disciples of the Nether Spirit Society, who hade from the Doomed Star Sea, to bloody mists. They howled in horror right before they exploded.

    Nie Tian snapped back to reality.

    Rich flesh power then flooded into his meridians through the newly-generated Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    BOOM!

    A cyan-red spherical ward that resembled a blood membrane suddenly formed around him.

    ¡°Lifeblood Shield!¡±

    A shudder ran through him the moment the blood membrane came to form, as he realized that this was a new defensive device that hade with the Life-origin Form.

    The cyan-red Lifeblood Shield seemed as soft as cotton, but turned out to be shockingly resilient.

    BOOM!

    Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯ enormous bone tail pped onto the Lifeblood Shield, the boundless blood-colored light released by the shield shing violently with death power Grand Monarch Sharp Bones had vested that bone tail with.

    Nie Tian let out a muffled groan. However, to his surprise, the Lifeblood Shield didn¡¯t break.

    All he had lost were the few dozen drops of Blood Essence that had vaporized in the split second of violent impact.

    He came to a sudden realization. ¡°The Lifeblood Shield runs on my Blood Essence! As long as my opponent isn¡¯t overwhelmingly stronger than me, my Lifeblood Shield can y an important role. By burning my Blood Essence, it can ward off extremely powerful attacks!¡±

    The thought of this greatly lifted his spirits.

    While Grand Monarch Sharp Bones stood aghast at what had just happened, Nie Tian suddenly shot forth.

    Canceling the Lifeblood Shield, he charged into Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯ death flesh aura sea in his Life-origin Form, which was nine thousand seven hundred meters tall. He raised the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone with both hands, and brought it down with enough power to sunder the heavens.

    FIZZ!

    A long river of blood-colored light shed Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯ death flesh aura sea in half.

    After breaking his death ward with Domain Split, Nie Tian drove the bone into his abdomen like a huge de, causing him to let out a painful scream.

 Chapter 1694: A Deadly Battlefield

    Blood-colored light and brilliant spiritual power filled the starry river outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Saint domains spewed raging mes and boilingva like erupting volcanoes.

    Flesh aura seas that looked like theher world swarmed with countless evil spirits and vicious souls that kept letting out ear-piercing shrieks and insidious cackles.

    Mighty tools burst forth with boundless divine light, while devil des shed across the void to let out devil light that engulfed beings in flesh form.

    Vast floating cities made of pale-white bones flew across the void to crash against god and saint domains.

    Grand monarchs pointed with their fingers, and terrifying flesh auras shot forth like mountain ranges that stretched through the nine heavens.

    Countless sword lights dashed through the void, searching for opportunities to pierce into the weakest points on the outsiders¡¯ enormous bodies in order to deal the fatal strike.

    If one observed from high above, one could see that all of the fragments and remains of the flesh aura seas, cultivators¡¯ domains, and dissipating souls that were created in this fierce battle were spontaneously gathering and falling into the tunnel leading to the Dark Abyss, as if they were attracted by some hidden power.

    Only a very small amount of the lingering flesh auras, which were in Nie Tian¡¯s surroundings, were absorbed by his Life-origin Form through Life Drain.

    Ny-nine percent of the remains disappeared into the tunnel that was filled with glorious but deadly lights. It didn¡¯t matter whether they were material fragments or discarnate souls.

    All of them seemed to serve one purpose: satisfy the appetite of that ¡®gate¡¯...

    The battle escted.

    Soon, Yan Bin was killed by the Netherspirits, along with a few other Saint domain human experts.

    After a while, Ye Wenhan from the Heaven Span Pavilion, who was at the middle God domain, had his domain blown up by a Bonedrude grand monarch and his disembodied soul annihted by a Netherspirit grand monarch.

    Then, Zu Guangyao from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had his sunlight domain ripped apart by the Devil Cloud Halberd.

    While powerful Saint domain and God domain human experts perished one after another, many senior members of the three major races of the Void World also suffered violent deaths.

    The heads of powerful species that represented the peak strength of the three worlds were gathered in this ce now.

    Even grand monarchs and God domain experts were dying in this fierce battle, with their remains falling into the Dark Abyss, not to mention the Saint domain experts and grand patriarchs.

    It looked as if the tunnel was expanding every few moments.

    The devilish nts and spiritual flowers hiding and looming in the dark areas in the depths of the tunnel seemed to be easier to see.

    Those fierce creatures that inspired fear across the three worlds swayed their branches and leaves, as if they were celebrating a feast where they were doing their utmost to devour power in order to make themselves grow faster.

    They seemed to have waited for this day for a very, very long time.

    ...

    In a silent area of the starry river that was countless kilometers away.

    A vast starship shining with brilliant light slowly came to a stop.

    In the shadow underneath the starship, Gupi¡¯s enormous body was squirming, its insidious eyes looking around restlessly, as if it was going to charge out at any time.

    If Nie Tian were here, he would have found that it had be evenrger than when Wu Ji had imprisoned and taken it away.

    The sea of acidic toxins it released seemed so deadly that it could reduce members of any species, even Star Behemoths, to blood and gore.

    Jiang Yuanchi, the Shadow Society¡¯s former sectmaster and the Lightspirits¡¯ current high chieftain, stood on the brilliant starship with all of the Lightspirit experts standing behind him.

    All of those powerful Lightspirits looked at him from behind with feverish looks in their eyes.

    It appeared that Jiang Yuanchi had won the heartfelt acknowledgement of the Lightspirits.

    Seeing that Jiang Yuanchi had remained silent for a long while after ordering to stop the starship, one of the Lightspirits couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°High Chieftain, do we sail for the Realm of Shadow Devil now? As you know, the gate to the Dark Abyss will only remain open for a short period of time. If we miss the time frame, we won¡¯t be able to make it in.¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi frowned and said with a berating tone, ¡°What¡¯s the rush? The gate hasn¡¯t opened yet. You have no idea how deadly the Realm of Shadow Devil is right now. If we barge into that area at this moment, I can¡¯t even guarantee that I¡¯ll be able to live long enough to see the gate open, much less you.¡±

    ¡°So...?¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi smiled. ¡°We wait. The battle taking ce over there is nearing its end. The situation in the three worlds is going to experience great changes after this battle. It¡¯ll set the tone for whether the three major races of the Void World will continue to rule the Void World, whether those from the Doomed Star Sea can march into the Void World, and whether the Spirit World and the Mortal World will copse and be conquered by the Void World.

    ¡°More importantly, it¡¯ll determine whether the Dark Abyss can actually make paragons.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to see what being a paragon feels like too. If I join the ranks of paragons, the Lightspirits will overpower the Devils, the Bonedrudes, and the Netherspirits, and be the overlords of the Void World!¡±

    The crowd of Lightspirits was greatly spirited after hearing these words.

    ¡°Hmm!¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi suddenly gasped with astonishment, gazing into the depths of the starry river.

    One of his eyes was as deep and dark as a frigidke, while the other shone with boundless divine light like the brightest celestial stone. ¡°The floating continent! I can¡¯t believe the floating continent has actually crossed the Doomed Star Sea and entered the Void World!¡±

    He could see that the floating continent was traveling at a high speed billions and billions of kilometers away.

    Hiding inside the floating continent was the Ripper Behemoth.

    Gupi let out a soul will that was filled with yearning.

    Jiang Yuanchi let out a cold snort and muttered, ¡°You¡¯d better keep it to yourself. I know that you yearn for Star Behemoth flesh and blood, but that Ripper Behemoth is much stronger than you are right now. If you want to devour its flesh, you¡¯ll have to be patient and wait for the right opportunity. You¡¯ll get your chance after it suffers severe injuries.¡±

    Gupi quieted down after hearing this.

    Jiang Yuanchi gasped once again. ¡°What the...?!¡±

    This time, he was even more astonished than he had been when he had discovered the arrival of the floating continent.

    He saw another vastndmass entering the Void World from another ce, a ce that should have been sealed!

    The Silent Star Sea!

    For millennia, the three major races of the Void World had made repeated attempts to explore this mysterious ce connecting to the Spirit World. However, all of their attempts had turned out to be futile.

    When the first-generation Tree of Life had withered and died, its heaven-changing, earth-altering power had sealed the Silent Star Sea, keeping the powerful beings of the Void World from entering the Spirit World.

    In the meantime, not a single living being had crossed it into the Void World either, not until this day.

    A vast azurendmass only slightly smaller than the floating continent had somehow crossed the Silent Star Sea into the Void World.

    He also sensed an aura that made even him uneasy from that azure realm.

    ¡°What on earth is hiding in it? How did something like this survive even after the entire Spirit World ran out of its energies of heaven and earth?¡± He contemted hard, but failed to find an answer.

    Having stayed in the Void World for a long time, he didn¡¯t know that Nie Tian and the others had found the origin of humanity in the Spirit World, which was the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Of course he didn¡¯t know that this realm flying from the Silent Star Sea at a high speed was none other than the Realm of Middle Continent, where the third-generation Tree of Life had taken root, and a giant almost asrge as a Star Behemoth was buried.

    ¡°Things keep getting more and moreplicated.¡±

    Jiang Yuanchi grabbed his hair with a confused expression, and repeatedly urged Gupi to stay low. Under no circumstances should it release its aura to provoke the iing realm.

    ¡°Start the starship and get out of here. We¡¯re in someone¡¯s way.¡± He ordered.

 Chapter 1695: The Bonedrude High Chieftain

    WHOOSH!

    Wreathed in raging mes and slithering lightning wisps, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone shed across the void and hacked onto Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯ tail, which was full of sharp bones.

    Fiery light sputtered everywhere!

    The sharp reverse hook-like bones in the tail of Grand Monarch Sharp Bones, whose battle prowess was ranked number five in the Void World, exploded one after another. The rich death power they contained perished along with them.

    Grand Monarch Sharp Bones let out a wail of pain.

    Immediately afterwards, he summoned a grayish-brown tomb made of nothing but bones from a vast bone starship.

    ¡°Gray Tomb!¡± Grand Monarch Sharp Bones roared furiously as clusters of pale-gray death power rose from the floating tomb.

    With crisp cracking sounds, the dry bones that made up the Gray Tomb suddenly split up into countless sharp bone des and bone spears that carried the profound truths of death power and exuded intense death power.

    Like a sea of bone weapons, they engulfed Nie Tian in the blink of an eye.

    POOH! POOH! POOH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Lifeblood Shield suffered from a storm of intense attacks. Dents kept appearing in the resilient blood membrane as the sounds of violent impacts echoed nonstop.

    The Blood Essence in his heart was burned up bit by bit.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t too bad...¡±

    He wasn¡¯t very anxious as he sensed the consumption of his Blood Essence. As long as the Lifeblood Shield didn¡¯t get prated right away, it meant that the attacks were still endurable.

    It was hard to believe that he managed to defend against the Gray Tomb, the Bonedrudes¡¯ mighty tool that Grand Monarch Sharp Bones had unleashed on him.

    While Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯ fierce attacks failed to break his blood shield, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone pierced easily into Grand Monarch Sharp Bones¡¯ body under his control thanks to the Domain Split bloodline talent.

    This gave him an edge in the battle, allowing him to take a look around at the battlefield.

    As soon as he did, his face fell, and his heart sank.

    The three major races of the Void World were so terrifyingly strong that even though he had destroyed many of their starships with Starfall earlier, it hadn¡¯t changed the course of the battle in their favor.

    Many human experts that he knew or didn¡¯t know, including Yan Bin, Ye Wenhan, and Zu Guangyao, had had their domains destroyed and their souls obliterated.

    However, the cultivators from the Mortal World weren¡¯t the ones that had suffered the heaviest casualties.

    The Voidspirits had already lost about thirty percent of their members in such a short time.

    The rogue forces and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea that had followed Dn and Grand Monarch Hell Demon here had suffered even greater losses. More than forty percent of their members had died beyond salvation.

    Even more had sustained severe injuries.

    As for the three major races of the Void World, thousands of eighth grade warriors had been bombarded to death, along with close to a hundred ninth grade grand patriarchs and a few tenth grade grand monarchs.

    The fierceness of this battle was simply astounding.

    He had a feeling that the mangled bodies and discarnate souls of the dead, along with the fragments from their exploded flesh aura seas, god domains, and saint domains, were all disappearing into the bottomless tunnel as sacrificial offerings for the gate to the Dark Abyss.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid such terrifying casualties are part of the n of the three major races represented by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer.¡±

    He had a strong feeling that the course of this battle was in another¡¯s control.

    It was as if someone was secretly observing the bloody battle with cold eyes and making sure this battle wouldst until the tunnel was filled with sacrificial offerings, and the gate to the Dark Abyss opened up.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    A wisp of the third-generation Tree of Life¡¯s aura suddenly came from the distant starry river.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian¡¯s body as he gazed nkly into the distance. ¡°You¡¯vee to the Void World as well? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in the Realm of Middle Continent?¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± A cry from Yu Suying from the Profound Purity Pce suddenly caught his ear.

    She was floating in the void, surrounded by countless rays of silver light.

    They were her Heaven-purging Divine Light.

    However, at this moment, the divine light was melting away at an rming rate, along with her god domain, which was shining with silver light!

    Intense, pure-ck mes were spewing from the nostrils of a Devil grand monarch, who looked like a raging bull in his Ancestral Awakening form.

    The devastating ck mes had engulfed Yu Suying¡¯s god domain, and burned her Heaven-purging Divine Light, the Immortal grade divine treasure of the Profound Purity Pce, to the point where it began to melt.

    Thiste tenth grade grand monarch, Grand Monarch ck mes of the Devils, wasn¡¯t even among the top ten grand monarchs in the Void World.

    However, he was ate tenth grade grand monarch nheless. Plus, this was the Domain of Shadow Devil, where there was abundant Devil Qi and a doppelg?nger of the mighty Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    ¡°Want to seek help?¡± Grand Monarch ck mes¡¯ face split into a nasty grin as he brought his ck hoof that weighed more than a thousand tons down towards Yu Suying.

    ¡°Power of Brutal Devil!¡±

    Complicated magical patterns manifested on the pitch-ck hoof as his bloodline burst forth.

    Numerous wondrous forbidden blood spells were conjured under the amplification of the brutal power, ck mes, and his seething devil blood.

    His enormous hoof came down with an unstoppable momentum.

    Yu Suying¡¯s face turned pale with fear.

    WHOOSH!

    A floatingndmass in the Domain of Shadow Devil flew over like a vastet streaking through the void.

    Grand Monarch ck mes¡¯ hoof fell on the realm that had been previously controlled by Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer and was bereft of a realm barrier.

    Thendmass that was almost asrge as the Realm of me Heaven cracked and exploded.

    Countless fragments shot in every direction, wreathed in ck mes and wisps of purple lightning.

    Its star core shattered as well.

    Grand Monarch ck mes let out a cold harrumph and jerked his head towards Nie Tian to fix him with a nasty stare.

    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Nie Tian spat.

    Then, he focused his soul will and said inwardly, ¡°Starfall.¡±

    As soon as he did, three vast realms flew over and bombarded Grand Monarch ck mes, distracting him so that he couldn¡¯t focus his power to deal Yu Suying a fatal strike.

    However, Yu Suying¡¯s Heaven-purging Divine Light continued to be melted by the ck mes.

    Even her dharma idol started to melt like ice cream, forcing her to resume her regr form.

    Just as she gave a bitter smile and was about to say something to Nie Tian, a giant pir of pale-gray light struck down on her like the light of judgment from Death.

    BOOM!

    Her body and her Heaven-purging Divine Light were instantly sent flying into the glorious tunnel leading to the Dark Abyss.

    Then, in a violent manner, they exploded into countless silver sparks that rapidly dissipated.

    ¡°Senior Yu!¡± Nie Tian let out a mad roar, his eyes wide and bloodshot. ¡°Grand Monarch Bone Piercer!¡±

    The Bonedrudes¡¯ current high chieftain was handling Mo Heng and Fan Tianze¡¯s torrential attacks sitting unwavering on his bone throne, yet he still had the time to respond to him. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. It seems that you weren¡¯t much affected by the deaths of those who died earlier. I guess they weren¡¯t very close to you. But the death of that woman seems to have finally stirred up some waves in your heart.¡±

    With these words, an illusory image of the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones gradually manifested above Grand Monarch Bone Piercer. Wisps of pure pale-gray death power started falling down like a pearl curtain.

    It appeared that this Bonedrude could continuously channel death power from the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones to aid him in battle.

    Mo Heng and Fan Tianze, who had abandoned their own opponents to team up against him, seemed to be at a loss after seeing this.

    Even so, they knew that they had to work together to keep Grand Monarch Bone Piercer from putting his attention on others.

    Otherwise, whoever he attacked would suffer instant death.

    This grand monarch was the strongest one on this battlefield, even stronger than the Devil high chieftain, who was caught up in a fight against the Heaven Sha.

    After all, he hade in his true form, while Grand Monarch Heaven Devil was only presenting himself through a doppelg?nger.

    With a dark smile, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer said, ¡°You went to the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones while I was gone, and harvested the residual power within that Floragrim high chieftain¡¯s corpse. I grew to realize that you are the disease in my vital organs. (Idiom: very serious hidden trouble)

    ¡°I can live with the trouble Qin Yao causes me. The Heaven Sha can¡¯t threaten me. Those like Ji Cang and Qu Yi can¡¯t hurt me fundamentally.

    ¡°But you! You¡¯re my greatest threat! You¡¯re the one scourge I have to get rid of with everything in my power for my people!¡±

    With these words, thousands of Ghostly Corpse Snakes spiraled out of the bone throne he sat towering on.

    Neither Fan Tianze nor Mo Heng could intercept them.

    The Ghostly Corpse Snakes let out sharp screeches as they swarmed directly towards Nie Tian, ignoring all the others they encountered midway. ¡°From now on, you¡¯ll be my primary target to kill.¡±

    Seeing this, Grand Monarch Sharp Bones immediately stepped down.

 Chapter 1696: Eternally Opposite Sides

    Life and death were eternally opposite.

    After living beings died, their life power would gradually perish, but death power would be spawned from their bodies.

    Death power happened to be what the Bonedrudes relied on to upgrade their bloodlines and make themselves stronger.

    The Bonedrudes were probably the most special species throughout this starry river.

    They were the outsiders of the outsiders.

    They only cast countless corpses into their Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones so their life power would gradually dissipate, and death power would be born and grow.

    The Bonebrutes¡¯ burial grounds worked in the same way.

    Only the deaths of living creatures could generate death power. The Bonedrudes and Bonebrutes were said to be the species that had been born from and lived on death power.

    To them, Nie Tian was a natural enemy.

    After all, his Life Drain bloodline talent allowed him to absorb life power from other living beings. He could also channel the residual flesh power in dead beings to himself.

    If that residual flesh power wasn¡¯t drained by him, the energies those beings had umted their whole lives would be returned to the starry river, following the profound truths of heaven and earth and the magicalws of reincarnation.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had only decided to make Nie Tian his primary target because he had discovered that not a single wisp of death power had been generated from those who had died around his Life-origin Form.

    The corpse of the Floragrim high chieftain had also turned into ashes because it had been rapidly drained of its residual flesh power.

    Perhaps Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had seen a potential future where Nie Tian became a paragon.

    Wherever he went, the corpses of powerful creatures were refined into pure flesh power and absorbed by him.

    Then, what would the Bonedrudes do?

    Without death power, wouldn¡¯t their entire race die out?

    If he took a trip to their Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones in his Life-origin Form, wouldn¡¯t the residual power in all of the corpses there be plundered by him?

    It was upon this realization that Grand Monarch Bone Piercer started to take this battle seriously.

    After leaving Mo Heng and Fan Tianze to Grand Monarch Sharp Bones and the powerful Devil experts, he himself shifted through the void and instantly arrived in front of Nie Tian, sitting on his bone throne.

    ¡°Watch out, Nie Tian!¡± Mo Heng and Fan Tianze eximed simultaneously.

    All of a sudden, the entire area was enveloped inplete silence.

    This area of the starry river where Nie Tian was seemed to be suddenly isted from the rest of the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    He could no longer see the fierce fights taking ce around him, hear the sounds of spiritual power and flesh auras shing, or sense the smell of blood spewing out.

    His connections to the realms of the Domain of Shadow Devil were relentlessly severed.

    Only clusters of death power condensed into crystals that floated around him like pale-white suns and moons.

    Upon a closer look, he saw that thoserge crystals were filled with countless pale bones.

    Who knew how many living beings had to die to make such arge number of pale bones?

    Nie Tian suddenly couldn¡¯t tell what was real and what wasn¡¯t anymore.

    The only thing he was certain of was that his life power was being plundered at an rming rate. For some reason, drop after drop of the Blood Essence in his heart burned away despite himself...

    He was confused. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    Holding the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, he couldn¡¯t find a target.

    He didn¡¯t know where Grand Monarch Bone Piercer was. His sea of awareness couldn¡¯t detect the enormous bone giant or the bone throne he sat on.

    However, he had a peculiar feeling that Death was getting closer and closer to him!

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer was among the top three peak experts in the Void World. Now that he had actually made a move to kill him, his terrifying powerpletely overwhelmed him. As much as he wanted to fight back, he couldn¡¯t even find a vent for his power, even though he had be a grand monarch himself.

    Both his bloodline talent Life Detection and his soul perception had failed.

    Since the Bonedrude high chieftain didn¡¯t have any signs of life to begin with, he was beyond the detective range of Life Detection.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t know that in the views of Mo Heng and Fan Tianze, he had been wrapped around by the Ghostly Corpse Snakes and pulled into the bone throne in an instant.

    Now, he was in an arcane realm of death inside the bone throne that was isted from the outside world.

    He didn¡¯t know that the Death Reign Zhao Shanling had forged ages ago with a Bonebrute relic he had found had actually simted the wondrous realm of death within that bone throne.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, who sat unwavering like a mountain on the bone throne, looked down and ced his pale-white, fleshless index finger on the throne.

    Wisps of sparkling death power essence instantly fused into it.

    Upon entering the world inside the bone throne, each wisp of death power morphed into a Ghostly Corpse Snake that was ten thousand meters long and even more robust than dragons.

    The several dozen of them slithered around ethereally in the clouds of pale-gray death power, and kept opening their mouths to breathe something in.

    What they breathed in was the life power Nie Tian exuded.

    The life power he lost was quickly converted into death power by the bone throne.

    It appeared that Grand Monarch Bone Piercer wanted to kill him with his bone throne, while not letting his life power go to waste.

    The fierce battle in the outside world continued like a raging fire.

    It wasn¡¯t long before Yin Xingtian struck down Grand Monarch Soul Converger of the Netherspirits with the Godspan Sword Formation, countless sword lights weaving into a that trapped and annihted his fleeing soul.

    Grand Monarch Soul Converger was also ate tenth grade grand monarch, yet he was killed by Yin Xingtian. This bbergasted the powerful experts of the three major races in the Void World.

    What shocked them even more was that his cultivation base advanced to the middle God domain with an inconceivable speed immediately after the kill.

    Unknown streams of sword lights seemed to be spawned from the Godspan Sword Formation, whichbined with his sword domain perfectly.

    Then, his cultivation base didn¡¯t be stagnant after the breakthrough. Instead, it continued to make steep advances!

    Clusters of mysterious light burst in the depths of his eyes, branding numerous profound truths regarding the Dao of the sword in his memories.

    FIZZ!

    With a casual swing of his Heavenbreaker, he even severed a devilish horn of Grand Monarch ck mes, who had activated Ancestral Awakening.

    Even Yin Xingtian himself seemed somewhat baffled. While trying to wrap his mind around what had happened to him, he continued to sh his sword. The mighty sword intent he released made the outsider grand monarchs from the Void World pull back one after another.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    The Heavenbreaker flew out of his hand and morphed into a limpid river that flowed across the void to the bone throne in a split second.

    Extremely raging, heaven-rending, earth-crushing sword intent, which was opposite to the Heavenbreaker¡¯s usual clear and pure sword intent, mmed into the bone throne and created a hole in it!

    A wisp of sword light shot through the hole into the arcane realm inside the bone throne.

    Like a light of wisdom, it suddenly lit up Nie Tian¡¯s muddled sea of awareness.

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°So I¡¯ve been trapped within the bone throne without knowing it! These enormous Ghostly Corpse Snakes are hovering around to harvest and convert my life power!¡±

    ¡°Domain Split!¡±

    His Blood Essence burned at a shocking rate as the mighty Star Behemoth soul burst forth from the bone in his hand, along with an unbending will to shatter all shackles and charge through the starry river.

    CRUNCH!

    Fissures appeared on the throne made of nothing but pale bones that Grand Monarch Bone Piercer sat on.

    Then, with a loud boom, the magnificent bone throne exploded into countless broken bones. Nie Tian instantly broke free and saw Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, who was fixing Yin Xingtian with an amazed gaze.

 Chapter 1697: The Azure Heaven Divine Emperor

    FIZZ!

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s wrist twisted, and the Heavenbreaker thrust directly towards Grand Monarch Bone Piercer.

    At the same time, changes happened to the Heavenbreaker!

    The Heavenbreaker, which looked like a flowing river, seemed to be erased of its makeup as blinding cyan light burst forth from within the de.

    DING!

    A sword nking sound that had been hidden for decades suddenly echoed out.

    The misty, cyan light surrounding the Heavenbreaker rapidly disappeared into the de, which then morphed into an unearthly divine sword that seemed to be forged from a whole mysterious, cyan crystal.

    ¡°The Azure Heaven Divine Sword!¡±

    ¡°The Azure Heaven Divine Emperor!¡±

    Mo Heng from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion eximed in astonishment.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword domain then morphed into a heaven and earth condensed from countless cyan sword lights, where there stood a divine mountain peak.

    Atop the mountain peak, a forest of spiritual swords had been nted into the ground.

    If one examined it with rapt attention, one would find that every sword light that made up the Godspan Sword Formation, which was now hovering around Nie Tian, corresponded to a spiritual sword atop that divine mountain peak.

    The sword lights of the Godspan Sword Formation let out low cheerful cries as they hovered, as if they were birds returning to their nests.

    Nie Tian, who had finally broken free from the bone throne, was deeply shaken.

    Watching Yin Xingtian thinking hard with a deep frown, he found him rather unfamiliar.

    ¡°Azure Heaven, Azure Heaven Divine Sword, Azure Heaven Divine Emperor...¡± As he muttered to himself in a low voice, the Heavenbreaker, which had withdrawn the cyan light into itself, suddenly released a waterfall of immense sword intent that crashed towards Grand Monarch Bone Piercer.

    BOOM!

    The bone throne that had just reformed under Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s bloodline power shattered once again, and became countless dry bones.

    Even the death formations that had been carved within the bones were severed one after another by the cyan sword light that shot across, giving rise to sharp whooshes.

    Instead of fear and anger, reverence appeared in Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s eyes as he asked, ¡°Who are you? You have to be someone special in human history!¡±

    ¡°I...¡± Yin Xingtian opened his mouth, but didn¡¯t know what to say.

    However, as the others examined him closely, they were surprised to discover that countless memory sparks seemed to be bursting in the depths of his eyes and fusing distant memories with his soul.

    ¡°Patriarch Azure Heaven!¡± A Saint domain Qi warrior from the Heaven Span Pavilion suddenly cried out. ¡°You... You¡¯re the creator of the Godspan Sword Formation, the most famous sword god in our sect¡¯s history: the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor!¡±

    Everyone immediately started discussing this while staring excitedly at Yin Xingtian, who had been the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor in his previous life.

    ¡°The Azure Heaven Divine Emperor! The most brilliant cultivator in the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s history!¡±

    ¡°Yes! It has to be him! It¡¯s said that he was the one in the history of the Heaven Span Pavilion to make the most rapid advances in cultivation. Pardon me, not just the history of the Heaven Span Pavilion, but the history of the entire human race!¡±

    ¡°The Azure Heaven Divine Emperor was the one who mastered the Dao of the sword and stepped into thete God domain in merely five hundred years!¡±

    ¡°However, his incredibly fast advances also made his cultivation base unsteady. Shortly after entering thete God domain, he made a bold attempt to take a step further, where he failed and died a violent death. ording to the Heaven Span Pavilion, even his soul perished, which eliminated his chance at rebirth.¡±

    ¡°It was thanks to his great vision that the Godspan Sword Formation was first established at the Heaven Span Pavilion¡¯s headquarters. After that, it was gradually modified and perfected by generations of disciples of the Heaven Span Pavilion, which allowed it to have today¡¯s glory.¡±

    ¡°No wonder Yin Xingtian was able to interact with the Godspan Sword Formation as soon as he entered the early God domain!¡±

    ¡°During the days when he cultivated in the Streamcloud Sword Sect, Yin Xingtian always tempered his cultivation base to the extreme before advancing to the next level. Among all the disciples of the Streamcloud Sword Sect, his advances in cultivation were the slowest, but also the steadiest. He spent so long perfecting his cultivation base at thete Saint domain that he nearly exhausted his lifespan before entering the early God domain.¡±

    ¡°He must have done this because he¡¯s been under the influence of the residual will from his previous life, where he was the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor!¡±

    ¡°He must have regretted having an unstable cultivation base in his previous life, so he chose to practice cultivation in the opposite way in this life, making sure that his every step in cultivation was steady and wless!¡±

    ¡°No wonder his cultivation base experienced an unexpected boom. His underlying awareness must have been awakened when he was under great pressure.¡±

    ¡°He practically peaked in sword cultivation in his previous life already. Then, in this life, he¡¯s spent so many years building up his knowledge about sword magics. I suppose no one in history can match his umtion in the Dao of the sword!¡±

    Yin Xingtian slowly lifted his lowered chin, and there were no more cyan sparks bursting in the depths of his eyes. ¡°I... am awake.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    In a split second, he shot across the void and arrived in front of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Heaven-defying sword intent rushed out of his god domain in an overwhelming manner, causing the Ghostly Corpse Snakes that were lurking in the dark around Grand Monarch Bone Piercer to explode one after another.

    A grave look filled Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s widened eyes.

    At this moment, he realized that an opponent who could match him had finally appeared.

    That opponent was none other than Yin Xingtian, who was wielding the Godspan Sword Formation with a steadily improving cultivation base and a soaring aura.

    CRUNCH!

    Dry bones collided with one another in the void.

    The Ghostly Corpse Snakes snapped by Yin Xingtian¡¯s sword intent seemed to be glued back together by Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s will and came back to life.

    At the same time, the shattered bone throne came back together underneath him with a loud bam.

    Immediately afterwards, Yin Xingtian¡¯s azure heaven god domain and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s realm of death crashed into each other, as if twopletely different heaven and earths were attempting to absorb each other.

    The innumerable sword lights and ethereal sword intent in Yin Xingtian¡¯s azure heaven god domain seemed to have their own awareness as they engaged in a fierce battle against the bright wisps of death power essence within Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s realm of death.

    Brand new spatial rifts were ripped open in the area of the starry river where their battle took ce.

    The seal that had been cast upon the space in the Domain of Shadow Devil couldn¡¯t withstand their devastating power, and failed the moment their battle broke out.

    Pei Qiqi was the one to shrewdly perceive these changes.

    WHOOSH!

    She appeared beside Nie Tian, who was lost in thought. Then, with the power of the Space Boundaries Crystal, she took him, in his Life-origin Form, out of the area where Yin Xingtian and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer were engaged in a fierce battle.

    ¡°The spatial seal on the Domain of Shadow Devil is gone. If you want to...¡± As she said these words, countless spatial rifts manifested in the void behind her, as if she had moved all of the interweaving spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range here.

    ¡°I can take everyone to the Doomed Star Sea!¡± She cried.

    However, everyone seemed to be consumed with fury and senseless killing.

    Not a single one responded to her. Even the Voidspirits had lost themselves in numbing, frenzied fights against the members of the three major races.

    ¡°It won¡¯t mean anything,¡± Nie Tian said grimly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid this battle is bound to sweep across the three worlds. We can¡¯t escape it.¡±

    He had already sensed the arrival of the Tree of Life and the aura of the Ripper Behemoth.

    The strongest experts from the three worlds had alle out of hiding to focus on the opening of the Dark Abyss.

    This was going to be a great tribtion for every being in this starry river. The weak wouldn¡¯t know it wasing, while the strong wouldn¡¯t be able to escape it.

 Chapter 1698: The Tribulation of the Three Worlds

    Great changes had taken ce, influencing all lives in this starry river.

    The Spirit World had exhausted its energies of heaven and earth. The Mortal World was battle-ridden. The Doomed Star Sea saw more violence than ever before. The races in the Void World were experiencing unprecedented changes...

    Many mighty ones that had been in hiding for millennia and were assumed to have died long ago awakened like fierce beastsing out of dormancy.

    All these were signs of a great tribtion looming.

    Rumors in the Doomed Star Sea said that a brand new era wasing. Many of the legends and heresies about doomsday that had spread in the Spirit World seemed to now be taking ce.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to go to the Doomed Star Sea now. If what I suspect is true, battles that are just as fierce are taking ce in the Doomed Star Sea as we speak. Grand Monarch Heaven Devil didn¡¯t present himself in his true form. We haven¡¯t seen Grand Monarch Soul Capturer or Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits. I doubt that the crisis in the Doomed Star Sea is any lighter than the one we¡¯re facing.¡±

    ¡°Then...?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps all the questions will be answered after the Dark Abyss opens up.¡±

    ¡°The Dark Abyss?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    BOOM!

    All of a sudden, the terrifying devil figure that was entangled in battle against the Heaven Sha suddenly burst forth with a mighty aura.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s wildugh echoed out.

    As soon as he reached out with hisrge hand, a few realms that even Nie Tian had failed to move with Starfall earlier had their remaining Devil Qi pulled out and condensed into glowing purple spheres.

    BOOM!

    The realms that had their star cores destroyed and their Devil Qi drained shook violently before crumbling.

    The purple spheres glowed dazzlingly as drops of purple Blood Essence manifested within them.

    Immediately afterwards, numerous crimson blood strings emerged within the purple spheres.

    The blood strings in each sphere rapidly condensed into a bald old man that was naked from the waist up.

    Wisps of lightning could be seen slithering on their muscr dark red upper bodies.

    They were the Heaven Sha.

    At this moment, he seemed to be split up and contained separately in a thousand glowing purple spheres.

    ¡°Snow Devil! This doppelg?nger of his is growing stronger and stronger.¡± The Heaven Sha¡¯s voice echoed from every glowing purple sphere. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to fight him by myself for much longer.¡±

    The Snow Devil, who was fighting Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer of the Devils, gasped upon hearing this.

    At this moment, the terrifying devil figure turned to stare at Dn, the Gilded Phoenix, a dark smile appearing on his face.

    HOWL!

    Dn, who was fluttering his golden feathered wings to release mighty golden mes, suddenly let out a screech.

    Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher¡¯s Devil Cloud Halberd was thrust at him at this moment.

    Dn¡¯s golden pupils suddenly exploded, two clusters of ck light breaking out from within his eyes.

    ¡°Devilish Soul Curse!¡± The terrifying devil figure that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil presented himself and let out a low cry.

    ¡°Phoenix Nirvana and Rebirth!¡± Dn eximed as his gigantic phoenix form suddenly morphed into a sea of golden mes.

    Then, he retook his phoenix form as his bones, flesh, and feathers grew back in the sea of golden mes at a shocking speed.

    As he was reborn, the wounds he had suffered from his battle against Grand Monarch Gloom Butcher seemed to have healed themselves.

    However, this rebirth seemed to have caused permanent damage to his soul and bloodline.

    The phoenixes of the Ancientbeasts possessed the Nirvana and Rebirth bloodline talent. However, it also had its limits. Every time it was activated, it would inflict incurable injuries on the phoenix.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The clusters of ck light were rapidly burned away in the sea of golden mes.

    That was the Devilish Soul Curse that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had nted in him without him finding out.

    It was a powerful spell Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had conjured in a unique way with a drop of his Blood Essence and a wisp of his soul will.

    It could be released in apletely undetectable manner, and burst forth at unexpected moments to erase souls and blow up fleshly bodies, eliminating the enemy¡¯s chance at rebirth.

    After realizing that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had cast this spell on him, Dn knew that only his Nirvana and Rebirth bloodline talent could save him. Therefore, he had activated it without hesitation.

    Thanks to his decisiveness, the Devilish Soul Curse was burned awaypletely, although his gilded phoenix form after the rebirth didn¡¯t shine as brightly as it had before, and was significantly smaller.

    ¡°Father!¡± Jiang Qinghuang cried out with grave concern.

    ¡°Do we stay and keep fighting?¡± Pei Qiqi shouted.

    Nie Tian nodded with determination. ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, he strode towards the area where the fight was the most intense, and the most members of the three races in the Void World were gathered.

    As he did, rich flesh power was naturally channeled into his body.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence was rapidly generated in his heart to replenish those that he had consumed previously.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    At that moment, his true soul perceived a series of strange calls.

    They were soul callsing from other beings!

    Pei Qiqi jerked her head to stare at the interweaving spatial rifts that had been split open by her Space Boundaries Crystal with surprise written all over her face.

    Then, under her gaze, five scary-looking evil creatures slowly crawled out, as if from some sealed forbidden ce like hell.

    They were none other than the five evil gods that were loyal to Nie Tian!

    As soon as the evil gods came out of the spatial rifts, they expanded to be more than nine thousand meters tall!

    Each one of them had a tool in their hands that exuded torrential evil auras and immense, surgingher power.

    The evil god of rage was holding a heavy, simple-looking battle drum. Every time he beat it, boundless rage would fly out of it in the form of cyan ghostly mes.

    The evil god of bloodlust was clutching a cyan trident, which released a killing aura that pierced a hole in the starry river.

    That hole seemed to connect to a sea of endless killing where the most dreadful monsters hid.

    Behind the evil god of fear floated a dark cyan curtain that looked like a huge, light-blocking pair of wings, from which endless fearful thoughts and terrified shrieks kept echoing out.

    The aura the dark cyan curtain exuded was even more horrifying than that of the Shadow Devil g.

    The evil god of despair was holding a hellish saber with a hideous grin.

    ckish-violet rivers of aura could be seen flowing on the surface of the de. Countless desperate faces seemed to lie at the bottom of the rivers.

    The evil god of hatred had nothing but an eye in his hand, a ghostly eye filled with torrential hatred!

    Upon arriving, the five evil gods spotted Nie Tian and eximed, ¡°Master!¡±

    They seemed to be full of vigor, their fighting spirit soaring through the heavens.

    They had finally recovered the weapons they had lost in the Void World after their deaths in their previous lives.

    Not only had the five weapons not rusted or tarnished over the years, but they had be even sharper and stronger than before!

    The moment they had regained them, they had been able to drawher power from them to strengthen themselves.

    Their battle prowess had practically returned to their peak state.

    The return of the five evil gods gave Nie Tian great confidence, and also put grave expressions on the numerous Netherspirits present, as they knew this was bad news for them.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and no longer held back. While going all-out to stimte his life bloodline, he pushed his three spiritual cores to their limits as well.

    Star, me, and wood domains manifested simultaneously, enveloping his Life-origin Form.

    ¡°Now,e again!¡±

 Chapter 1699: Grand Monarch Heaven Devilâ€™s True Form

    The Heaven Sha, the burly bald man with a bare upper body contained in the many spheres of purple light, eximed in surprise, ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    The next moment, the thousands of rays of scarlet light that the Heaven Sha had split into flew out of the glowing spheres.

    Hundreds of rays of blood light condensed into the Heaven Sha¡¯s blood domain in the deep sea of purplish-ck Devil Qi.

    The Heaven Sha¡¯s dharma idol stood inside like a towering mountain as all sorts of turbulent, disordered flesh auras merged into his blood domain, like a hotchpotch.

    It was just that his dharma idol was still weaker than the terrifying devil figure, even though it was just a doppelganger.

    BOOM!

    With a brilliant sea of stars over his head, Nie Tian stood on a greennd of rich life force. Surrounded and protected by the three god domains, his colossal Life-origin Form rushed valiantly into the purplish-ck deep sea of Devil Qi.

    FIZZ!

    The flesh aura of the terrifying devil figure Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had morphed into instantly started shing violently with the spiritual and flesh power Nie Tian¡¯s three domains and Life-origin Form naturally emitted.

    The purplish-ck spheres of light surrounding the terrifying devil figure looked like purple stars and realms.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s doppelganger looked like the ruler of the starry sea, a devil god who dominated the world. It seemed to even have the power to control the sun and the moon and break heaven and earth with only one hand.

    In a sh, hundreds of true bloodline meanings that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil hadprehended and many wonders of devil blood were cast upon Nie Tian, like chains of order and cages woven by rules.

    They were either in the form of purple lightning or ck devil fire.

    The All Manifestations Star Banner floating in Nie Tian¡¯s star domain fluttered violently as its soul wailed, and its star power disappeared like crazy.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower swayed and burst forth with dazzling light.

    However, its petals withered one by one.

    The dazzling fragmentary stars, the secret fragmentary star magics, and the spell arrays of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce in his star domain were all impacted by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s power.

    The luxuriant Godspirit Tree in Nie Tian¡¯s wood domain started to wither, with its branches and leaves falling off.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil blood gave birth to a decayed, silent aura that seemed to be from a remote world. Unexpectedly, the aura could copy the true meaning of death from the Bonedrudes specifically to suppress his wood domain.

    At the same time, ck devil mes suddenly condensed into blocks of ck ice.

    The blocks of ck ice also emitted extreme coldness that could directly pierce a person¡¯s marrow and were as frighteningly cold as the ck frigidke in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    They were all transformed from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil blood.

    His devil blood could morph into anything he wanted!

    Unexpectedly, the terrifying devil figure had formed different kinds of power that could be used against his domains of star, me, and wood with pure Devil Qi. Different powers secretly contained different kinds of magicalws and principles. It was as if three people who cultivated three different powers to the extreme had merged as one.

    At this moment, the Heaven Sha, who was a kingpin of the Doomed Star Sea, spoke, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s body has gathered the power of myriad Devils. His bloodline cultivation is totally different from the Dark King¡¯s. He has perfected the changes of his devil bloodline. The Devil bloodline was infinitely changeable to begin with, yet his devil body has been changing from the moment he was born.

    ¡°Change is the true meaning of his devilish Dao. If he bes a paragon, perhaps he will be even more terrifying than the Dark King!¡±

    With these words, he shouted, ¡°Blood Sha Spell of the Blood Spirit Sect!¡±

    SWISH!

    As the Heaven Sha¡¯s blood merged into his blood domain, he rapidly morphed into a horrifying blood monster.

    As soon as the blood monster came to form, his dharma idol quickly shriveled. The blood monster seemed to gobble up his blood domain before it continuously grew and became a weird monster that knew nothing but to fight, with its blood and the blood of all living beings as its source of power.

    While the Heaven Sha disappeared, the Blood Sha was born!

    The Blood Sha was another form of the Heaven Sha!

    It had a perfectbat body and its thoughts, awareness, experiences, and memories were all purely suitable for fierce battles.

    It had no extra thoughts and didn¡¯t pay attention to anything in the outside world. It didn¡¯t seem to even know Nie Tian anymore.

    There was only the terrifying devil figure in the depths of its scarlet eyes for that was its sworn enemy!

    ¡°Now, you¡¯re a little more interesting,¡± the terrifying devil figure said.

    It finally got serious. All of a sudden, the originally illusory body that seemed to be made of Devil Qi grew solid.

    Nie Tian clearly sensed that a tremendous amount of flesh power was instantly injected into the devil figure after passing through countlessyers of spatial restrictions.

    The flesh power was devil blood power from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s true form.

    The devil blood power directly enhanced the battle prowess of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s doppelganger, which showed that he had given the Heaven Sha great respect after he had transformed into the Blood Sha, which was a purelybat-oriented form.

    ¡°Bloodline, Life Drain!¡± Nie Tian eximed.

    In his Life-origin Form, he activated his bloodline talent with all his might and released his flesh aura sea, but he couldn¡¯t channel the slightest bit of flesh power from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s body.

    The devil blood that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had injected into the body was matchlessly solid, and firmly attached to his doppelganger.

    The devil power that was used to attack Nie Tian¡¯s god domain and flesh aura sea was all power that had been repeatedly refined by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s soul. It contained numerous manifestations of his devil blood that were able topletely suppress his life power.

    Of course he couldn¡¯t absorb this power.

    ¡°I can, to a great extent, guess the source of your bloodline,¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said.

    While facing the Blood Sha, another face seemed to appear at the back of his head, whose devilish eyes looked deeply into Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, and spoke, ¡°No wonder you are so favored by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit was a Netherspirit and was limited by his fleshly body, so he has been trying to change that.

    ¡°Your bloodline has infinite possibilities, so of course he fixed his eyes on you.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, or Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, has long been abandoned because he has acted against his will. The more youprehend his soul Dao, and the more skilled you be with his soul spells, the more likely that you will be in danger of being possessed.¡±

    ¡°What a pity...¡±

    He seemed to have long known that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who was only second to him in the rankings of the Void World, was, in fact, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit from the Spirit World. He even knew that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual awareness in the Nether River had tried to possess Grand Monarch Nether Spirit in the Spirit World back in the day.

    Before he could exin everything, he suddenly raised his giant devil hand and tried to press Nie Tian down with it. ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s time for you to go down there and join the others!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil yelled.

    Devilish light instantly fell toward Nie Tian like a dome, as if it contained the powers of a whole realm.

    The horrifying pressure it brought was only aimed at him!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil shouted, ¡°You are the real key to whether the gate can be opened or not! Now that your bloodline has reached the tenth grade, it should be enough!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s three domains and Life-origin Form were enveloped in a giant pir of purple light, which was thousands of meters wide and tens of thousands of meters high.

    BOOM!

    Carried by the purple pir, Nie Tian instantly fell to the Realm of Shadow Devil, and then to the brilliant passage.

    The change was so sudden that Mo Heng, Fan Tianze, Yin Xingtian, and the Heaven Sha all failed to stop it in time.

    In a sh, Nie Tian was dragged down to the gorgeous passage connecting to the Dark Abyss by the purple pir of light.

    ¡°Now, Blood Sha!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s terrifying devil figure was now in itsplete, solidified fleshly form.

    However, his colossal body kept writhing, with veins breaking out of it like giant pythons.

    His devil bones rattled and changed unceasingly. They morphed into devil beasts, devil insects, and the forms of various ancient devils, devil gods, and deceased top grand monarchs who had once existed in the history of the Devils.

    Suddenly, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil morphed into a devil god d in ink-ck armor, who then raised his hand to p towards the Blood Sha.

    Darkness instantly filled the air and imprisoned the Blood Sha¡¯sbat body.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    It was quickly cut into countless blood strings by dark power.

    If Dong Li were here, she would find that the devil god Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had morphed into was none other than the paragon in the history of the Devils.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had even copied and manifested the Dark King¡¯s dark power with his devil blood, so much so that it was difficult to distinguish it from the genuine article.

    Looking at Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, the Snow Devil of the Doomed Star Sea understood instantly, knowing that the strongest expert of the Void World had gathered all his strength here. ¡°His true form has descended.¡±

    At the moment, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil blood had all converged on this body of his.

    This way, it was no longer his doppelganger, but his true form.

 Chapter 1700: Sink

    THUD! THUD!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil hand pped over and over, shattering pieces of the starry river.

    The Blood Sha, the kingpin of the Doomed Star Sea who was in a condensed purebat form, exploded into a blood mist.

    The blood mist regathered and recondensed into the Blood Sha, who growled.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil kept pping the Blood Sha as he exploded into a blood mist again.

    This scene repeated itself again and again.

    After seven times, the Blood Sha, who had exploded into blood mist again, recovered at a speed half as fast as before.

    When the Blood Sha was finally condensed, he became the Heaven Sha again, a bald burly man with a naked upper body.

    His purebat form had be unsustainable before he could even disy his true strength.

    He was greatly shocked. ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s true form!¡±

    At this moment, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil no longer paid attention to the Heaven Sha.

    With a nasty grin, he suddenly morphed into the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s horrifying form. The tail of the giant scorpion from the Chaos Behemoth¡¯s form released chaotic, twisting power to beat the five evil gods until they were covered in blood.

    ¡°Sink!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil shouted loudly. His devil body changed again and morphed into a mighty devil made ofva who had been a transient figure in the Devils¡¯ history.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil growled andughed heartily. ¡°No matter how many changes are made, they share the same principle. No matter how many Devils are born, they share the same root. I am the root and beginning of all Devils!¡±

    It was as if he were the first Devil to be born in the Void World, shouting at all living beings to announce his arrival.

    Deep redva and fire gushed out of theva devil that he had morphed into.

    In an instant, the five evil gods were severely injured.

    Their sinister bodies fell into the gorgeous passage below after Nie Tian.

    Pei Qiqi, Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and Feng Beiluo all screamed, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    While fighting, they still paid close attention to Nie Tian as he fell.

    They were afraid that he would be instantly destroyed by the colorful lights and reduced to ashes, like the others before him.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    The moment Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form fell into the gorgeous passage, hundreds of beams of light popped up and tore at it like sharks that had smelled blood.

    The Lifeblood Shield that had been spontaneously condensed was shattered almost instantly.

    Then he felt stabbing pain that went all the way to his bones.

    Nie Tian instantly howled.

    His soul awareness was suddenly detached from his fleshly body to float independently.

    It looked as if his nine sub-souls and his true soul forcibly broke away from his body, wrapped in his sea of soul awareness.

    His disembodied true soul and nine sub-souls quickly sank into the dark areas in the depths of the passage.

    Through his soul awareness, he could see his Life-origin Form being torn apart by hundreds of streaks of light and reduced to pieces of mangled flesh.

    However, no blood spilled from it.

    Followed closely his true soul and sub-souls, the pieces of flesh that belonged to him sank into the darknd where Dong Li, Hua Mu, and Mu Biqiong were.

    The crooked forces from the Doomed Star Sea and the human experts who were fighting hard were in a daze, feeling depressed and regretful.

    ¡°Nie Tian is dead?¡±

    ¡°His body exploded. His souls brightened like stars for a moment, and then quickly faded.¡±

    ¡°Even he died in there?¡±

    Suddenly, an extremely grieved shriek came out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s mouth. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Her spotless eyes, which were as bright as gems, were full of tears.

    Her grief moved everyone.

    Even the deaths of her father Pei Yukong, Duru, and the Voidspirits hadn¡¯t made her so emotional.

    Maybe it was because she had been holding back and hiding her emotions.

    Nie Tian¡¯s broken body seemed to be thest straw that broke the camel¡¯s back and finally made her break down.

    ZZZZZLA! ZZZZZLA!

    Brilliant blue light surged out of her, like cold electric light piercing the starry dome. The light passed through the Space Boundaries Crystal and disappeared into the interwoven spatial rifts that she had torn open behind her.

    The many spatial rifts grew wide open and then began to float and move around, as if they were out of control.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, who was ranked in the top ten in the Void World and had manipted the Domain of Shadow Devil in an incredible way earlier, was forced to continuously gather devil Qi and retreat by the Snow Devil¡¯s Divine Snow Kingdom.

    She retreated into the interwoven spatial rifts by ident.

    The interwoven spatial rifts were like a huge and extremely sharp of light, which quickly cut Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s flesh aura sea, devil body, and devil soul into fragments.

    Her broken flesh, devil soul, and aura fell straight into the gorgeous passage.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s flesh and devil soul were suddenly reduced to minced flesh and soul strands, as if they had been tossed into a grinder. Then, they vanished into the dark areas in the depths of the passage, following in Nie Tian¡¯s footsteps.

    Seeing this, several Devil grand monarchs instantly turned very pale. With incredulous looks on their faces, they shouted, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer!¡±

    Pei Qiqi, who was still screaming in grief, was out of control. Her Voidspirit bloodline and Space Boundaries Crystal were changing in an astonishing way.

    In particr, the sharpness of the glowing, interwoven spatial rifts that she had torn open seemed to be unmatched!

    It seemed very easy for them to cut through the void and destroy stars.

    SPLASH!

    The interwoven spatial rifts suddenly appeared around Grand Monarch ck mes, whose devil horn had been chopped off by Yin Xingtian. He, who had killed Yu Suying, didn¡¯t have the ability to resist in the slightest, and was instantly drowned in the of light.

    Then, like Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer, he was reduced to a cloud of shredded flesh and broken limbs that fell into the gorgeous passage.

    Both Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer and Grand Monarch ck mes werete tenth grade grand monarchs of the Devils.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer¡¯s battle prowess was even ranked among the top ten in the Void World. Now, even though she was in the Domain of Shadow Devil, she was killed by the grief-stricken and out-of-control Pei Qiqi with her unusual spatial power.

    It was not only the Devils that turned pale; so did the Netherspirits and Bonedrudes, who were close to Pei Qiqi, and those from the Mortal World and Doomed Star Sea.

    Everyone could see that something strange had happened to the glowing of densely interwoven spatial rifts.

    No one knew if it was because Pei Qiqi, who had broken down, had no intention of controlling it or if she was just powerless to control it. In short, she didn¡¯t seem to be controlling it.

    At that moment, Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls and true soul suddenly shone in the darkness like stars.

    Countless devil nts and spirit nts were lit up.

    There were many nts that could devour souls. Their colossal flower buds reached towards Nie Tian¡¯s soul likerge umbres. It looked as if they wanted to catch Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls and true soul like a fish.

    Besides them, devil nts like the Heavenly Demonsbane and Demon Eyes Flower greedily gazed at his fallen pieces of broken flesh.

    The flesh belonged to Nie Tian.

    It contained the purest life power in the world, which was a mysterious power that could help them upgrade and even change the nature of their lives, allowing them to transform from a nt to a creature.

    However, to their surprise, the fallen flesh suddenly morphed into smaller Nie Tians midway.

    There were ten Nie Tians in total, who shared the same appearance, but the intensity of their auras and heights varied.

    His true soul and nine sub-souls suddenly fused with them.

    His Life-origin Form regenerated after having been divided.

 Chapter 1701: Foreign Abominations Pile Up

    BOOM!

    High above, the part of the tunnel that was filled with glorious interweaving lights suddenly exploded.

    From Nie Tian¡¯s point of view, the explosion seemed to create a huge hole in the heavens with sparkling bits of light.

    Immediately afterwards, one figure after another fell through the hole.

    There were Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes.

    Human experts, rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea, and the outsiders from the Spirit World also swarmed into the hole.

    CRACK! BOOM!

    A Floragrim starship exploded upon entering the huge hole.

    The few dozen Floragrims on it were reduced to green blood mists.

    ¡°Starships can¡¯t go through!¡± Someone screamed. ¡°Only beings in flesh form can enter the hole!¡±

    Many starships that were just about to enter with soldiers of different species on them came to sudden stops.

    Then, numerous figures abandoned their starships and dove into the huge hole.

    ¡°Nie Tian. Nie Tian.¡± Dong Li called out to Nie Tian twice, but didn¡¯t receive any response. Then, she activated her dark power to examine him with rapt attention.

    That was when she came to a startling discovery.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart had stopped!

    Just as she was about to cry out, the ck tortoise¡¯s soul message came through. ¡°He¡¯s trying to awaken a brand new bloodline talent. I can sense that the bloodline aura in his heart is going through some sort of change.¡±

    ¡°I was scared to death,¡± Dong Li said, cing her hand on her chest.

    Meanwhile, Ji Cang had been looking up with rapt attention the whole time.

    His expression grew grimmer and grimmer as he said, ¡°After entering the hole, they seem to be pulled by some power and scattered to distant areas. This is so strange...¡±

    Numerous powerful experts of various species scattered and disappeared in different directions after falling through the exploded tunnel.

    None of them remained in the void above Nie Tian and the others, or released any significant power after entering.

    They looked around, and couldn¡¯t see a single neer in their surroundings, dead or alive.

    ¡°Strange indeed,¡± Dong Li said, after being convinced that Nie Tian was fine.

    She hadn¡¯t used the Dark Aureole¡¯s power since the crisis with Void Spirits had been resolved. Now, after pondering for a moment, she eximed softly, ¡°Dark Eye: reflect!¡±

    The mysterious Dark Aureole floating above her suddenly gathered dark power to morph into a pitch-ck eyeball.

    Images started to emerge in it, as if it could reflect anything happening anywhere.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t look up at the dark eye because everything that was being reflected in it was also being reflected in her sea of awareness synchronously. She simply turned to Ji Cang and said, ¡°I can only cover a five hundred kilometer radius around me with it. You¡¯re right. No one seems to have fallen into our surroundings.¡±

    Ji Cang looked at the images presented by the dark eye carefully, and saw countless withered branches and dried remains of dead spirit nts and devil nts, skeletons of creatures that had died for who knew how long, and clusters of orange mes that were flying around to hunt Void Spirits and slowly building up their strength.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Ji Cang and Dong Li suddenly eximed simultaneously.

    They both saw a grayish-brown swamp looming in multicolored toxic miasma.

    A devilishly beautiful young woman could be seen in the depths of the swamp.

    The woman had her lower body in the swamp, and her exposed naked upper body was covered in strangely gorgeous tattoo-like patterns.

    The patterns started with her cheeks. They spread down her snow-white neck, to her ample breasts, and eventually to her t abdomen...

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Mu Biqiong!¡±

    Even she felt envious looking at her physique that was full of temptation and almost too perfect to exist. ¡°Wait. This woman from the Bliss Mountain Sect must have been...¡±

    In the images presented by the Dark Aureole, Mu Biqiong gave a gentle, charming smile and asked, ¡°Are you looking at me, big sister?¡±

    However, both Ji Cang and Dong Li were taken aback after seeing her eyes.

    Two devilish flowers could be seen in the depths of her eyes.

    They almost took up all of her pupils, making one eye enchanting and passionate, while the other eye was cold and merciless.

    It was as if two living beings with two souls had merged together.

    This gave her a very mysterious look.

    Since her lower body was in the swamp, no one could see her beautiful legs. However, they felt as if the roots of two devilish flowers had pierced deeply into the swamp to absorb nourishment from it.

    The swamp was drying up bit by bit, while the toxic miasma over her head was growing thinner and thinner.

    With a gentle smile, she reached out with a jade-like finger and pointed at Dong Li yfully. ¡°Why are you not talking to me, big sister?¡±

    BOOM!

    Wisps of dark power suddenly manifested to bite at the tip of her finger.

    After she let out a soft painful cry, the milky skin on her fingertip split open, and branches that were as fine as hairs flew out to pierce at Dong Li in a nasty manner.

    That was when the swamp suddenly disappeared, like the reflections in a pond that had a rock tossed into it.

    Feeling a stabbing pain in her mind, Dong Li let out a muffled groan, her expression flickering slightly.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s image could no longer be seen in the Dark Aureole. A grim look filled Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°She must have beenpletely possessed by those coexisting flowers. And those coexisting flowers must be very satisfied with her body, so they¡¯ve transferred all of their power into her.¡±

    All of the coexisting flower seeds that had been scattered to the three worlds had picked suitable hosts to live in.

    After they grew to a certain extent, they would bewitch their hosts toe to the Dark Abyss and join their main body.

    The ones inside of Mu Biqiong hade from two of the countless seeds that had been spread across the three worlds, yet the coexisting flowers¡¯ main body seemed to be very satisfied with this body of hers, and had fused all of its power into it.

    That was why the coexisting flowers¡¯ main body could present itself in Mu Biqiong¡¯s form.

    All of Mu Biqiong¡¯s memories and experiences had be a part of it as well.

    WHOOSH!

    Though Dong Li and Ji Cang couldn¡¯t see it, the swamp where the coexisting flowers had taken root was moving towards them at a high speed.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, a Devil grand patriarch and a ninth grade lightning dragon fell from the void above.

    The two of them had been fighting in the Realm of Shadow Devil. However, upon discovering that the tunnel had opened up, they had descended without hesitation.

    They had refrained from fighting each other on their way down. Their n was to resume their battle after entering this mysterious space.

    Now, the two of them spotted the devilishly beautiful naked woman in the swamp simultaneously.

    Even though they were a Devil and a lightning dragon, they werepletely dazzled by this female, which was clearly a human. They seemed to have lost themselves in her charms.

    ¡°Haha.¡±

    While the swamp under her was still moving, Mu Biqiong let out a soft chuckle, and pointed her palms towards the Devil and the lightning dragon from afar.

    Thick, sinister roots instantly shot out of her palms to entangle the Devil grand patriarch that was thousands of meters tall and the enormous dragon that was wreathed in lightning bolts.

    ¡°Come down here!¡±

    Mu Biqiong made a pulling motion with her hands, and the two of them were dragged down to the swamp.

    The Devil grand patriarch and the lightning dragon let out blood-curdling screams as they crashed into the swamp. However, even more terrifying roots rapidly reached out from underneath them, pierced into their bodies, and started draining their life force. Within seconds, they lost any signs of life.

    However, the two devilish flowers within Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes grew more and more distinct, one bright-colored, and the other dark-colored.

    ¡°Nie Tian, your body contains the power of life origin. I¡¯ve been drooling over it for a long time.¡± With these words, She licked her lips with desire written all over her unearthly gorgeous face. The memories of her failed attempts to possess Nie Tian¡¯s body in the Shatter Battlefield also came back to her. ¡°I won¡¯t fail again.¡±

 Chapter 1702: The Sectmaster

    There were many more who had been possessed by Heavenly Demonsbanes, like Hua Mu.

    When he took a closer look, Nie Tian realized that dozens of experts had been reduced to being the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s food.

    Its seeds were so widespread that they could be found across the three worlds.

    Soil made of the fleshly bodies of living beings would help the seeds grow until they found a chance to possess them.

    Some of the hosts had long known of the Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s existence in their bodies, while others didn¡¯t know until they died.

    The seeds of the Heavenly Demonsbanes had a clear spiritual connection with thergest Heavenly Demonsbane, which allowed them tomunicate from different worlds.

    As soon as the seeds grew up, they would bewitch them to find a way toe here and be a tribute to the colossal Heavenly Demonsbane.

    Among the many who had been possessed and engulfed, Hua Mu had been rtively weak.

    Nie Tian noticed that even grand monarchs of some unknown races, whose bloodlines had reached the tenth grade, had been entwined by the Heavenly Demonsbanes and had their blood essence and souls absorbed before they had died.

    The Heavenly Demonsbane¡¯s soul awareness sounded wantonly. ¡°What a pity! If I¡¯d nted a seed in your body when you were young, when it blossomed and bore fruit, it would have been very helpful to me. What a pure rich life aura you have!¡±

    The vines that had wrapped tightly around Nie Tian¡¯s true form were as cold and shiny as metal.

    The power that came from it was mighty enough to break most grand monarchs into pieces.

    THUD! THUD!

    Suddenly, the tips of the vines stabbed into his fleshly body like sharp des.

    The mouths on the vines were like giant pythons. They nibbled at Nie Tian¡¯s flesh and intended to drink his blood.

    ¡°What a crude method to extract flesh power,¡± Nie Tian said scornfully, as Bloodline Crystal Chains suddenly brightened in his heart.

    His true form burst forth with dazzling light, and his bloodline talent Life Drain suddenly burst forth.

    ZZZZZLA!

    His flesh aura shed violently with the gnawing powers from the vines.

    The Heavenly Demonsbane sensed danger.

    Thergest Heavenly Demonsbane stretched out its vines again. Instead of binding his flesh, the new vines pierced his true form like sharp spears, creating numerous bloody holes in him.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s nine doppelgangers finally came roaring and scattered to attack the smaller Heavenly Demonsbanes.

    Raging mes surged out from his me doppelg?nger. In an inconceivable manner, orange mes flew out of the unique arrays connecting to the me Land.

    Unexpectedly, Nie Tian sensed the aura of the Divine me, Nie Yan, and the me Land, even though they were currently separated by seemingly infinite space.

    A small Heavenly Demonsbane was touched by the orange mes.

    In an instant, it started burning violently.

    This also caused thergest Heavenly Demonsbane to let out a bitter soul cry, ¡°The aura in these mes... Ah!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The vines that wrapped around Nie Tian instantly released him and scrambled back.

    Then, the colossal Heavenly Demonsbane fled like crazy, as if it had seen a ghost.

    The small Heavenly Demonsbanes looked like its shadows as they hurried to follow the departing giant nt.

    The Heavenly Demonsbane had given up on nibbling at Nie Tian.

    It wasn¡¯t his bloodline that it feared, but the mes from his me doppelg?nger.

    Nie Tian was in a daze.

    While he was lost in thought, his fleshly body that had been pierced by the vines quickly healed.

    In the blink of an eye, he returned to his original state.

    At this time, all of his doppelgangers and sub-souls rushed into his true form and became part of it, like young swallows returning to their nest, which allowed his Life-origin Form to reappear.

    ¡°The me Land lies in the Domain of me¡¯s End in the Mortal World, while this is the entrance to the Dark Abyss in the Void World,¡± Nie Tian said, looking surprised. ¡°Why does it seem like my me domain can connect to the me Land directly?¡±

    He thought he sensed the Divine me¡¯s and Nie Yan¡¯s auras, and sensed their presence.

    However, this didn¡¯t make any sense.

    A cold voice and a charming, seductive voice sounded at the same time. ¡°Nie Tian, Nie Tian...¡±

    While one voice sounded in his ear, the other voice reverberated around his sea of soul awareness.

    Both voices came from Mu Biqiong, but they seemed to be from two sources.

    ¡°Coexisting flowers!¡± Nie Tian thought to himself.

    Recalling Hua Mu¡¯s death, he felt a chill in his heart, and guessed that Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, who had once almost gotten intimate with him, must be in a simr situation.

    Since there was such a colossal Heavenly Demonsbane here, there must be simr coexisting flowers.

    The colossal Heavenly Demonsbane was no less powerful than ate tenth grade grand monarch. As for the coexisting flowers, they would only be more powerful.

    Hua Mu¡¯s death had grieved him, but Mu Biqiong¡¯s death... wouldn¡¯t grieve him much.

    Suddenly, another voice came from a distant, dark area. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    The moment he heard this voice, his expression instantly changed. He desperately flew towards it as fast as he could.

    This new voice came from Dong Li, who sounded very weak.

    FIZZ!

    His Maic Star Crystal suddenly burst forth with bright starlight and flew away, as if it were attracted by something.

    Unexpectedly, it was heading in the same direction as Dong Li¡¯s cry.

    Nie Tian flew at his fastest speed possible.

    He deliberately disyed his me domain and filled his surroundings with the Divine me¡¯s aura. Many devil nts and spirit nts like Spectre Trees, small Ghost Spirit Grasses, and Carrion Flowers avoided him as he dashed past.

    In this entrance to the Dark Abyss, the Divine me¡¯s aura seemed to have a particrly strong deterrent effect.

    ming himself a bit, Nie Tian sped up again. ¡°If I¡¯d known this, I would have emitted the Divine me¡¯s aura immediately after I came down here!¡±

    Like a ming meteor, he darted through the darkness below, illuminating his surroundings.

    Many light balls that were like ghostly fire flickered in the darkness, like terrifying beasts and evil spirits watching the me meteor quietly, but they all remained restrained instead of acting rashly.

    Some abominations that had never traveled the three worlds didn¡¯t recognize Nie Tian, but were familiar with the mes¡¯ unique aura, so they remained silent and motionless.

    After a short, smooth journey, he finally found Dong Li and a haggard, scrawny old man in a cyan shirt.

    The old man was holding the Maic Star Crystal in his hand. He shook his head and sighed with a bitter smile on his face, ¡°It¡¯s toote, toote.¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± shouted Dong Li, who looked pale and was holding the Dark Aureole with both hands, trying to protect herself and the shrunken ck tortoise with dark light.

    Her eyes were full of wariness, as if something in the dark had been attacking her.

    The expression of the old man in the cyan shirt changed, and his eyes suddenly brightened. ¡°Is he Nie Tian? Is he a current Son of the Stars of my sect?¡±

    ¡°Yes, he is,¡± Dong Li replied proudly.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Nie Tian asked, feeling puzzled.

    ¡°Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce,¡± Dong Li said.

    Nie Tian was greatly shocked. ¡°Sectmaster!¡±

    Although he already had a hunch that he was Ji Cang, he was thrilled to see this legendary sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, who hadn¡¯t shown himself since he had joined the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    After all, he had been the strongest cultivator in the Mortal World for years!

 Chapter 1703: Void Spirit!

    The old man dressed in the cyan shirt was obviously Ji Cang.

    The Maic Star Crystal was glowing in his palm.

    Ji Cang must have been handsome when he was young, but he was now extremely haggard and gaunt, without any amazing star auraing out of his body.

    The weakness of his soul was also reflected in his eyes, which were dim.

    Taking a deep breath. Nie Tian bowed humbly to him. ¡°I¡¯m Nie Tian. Nice to meet you, sectmaster.¡±

    ¡°Do not call me sectmaster. Just call me uncle.¡± Ji Cang said with a smile. ¡°Everyone thinks I don¡¯t get along with your father, but Mo Heng and a few others know about my real rtionship with your father. Your father and I have never really had any bad blood.

    ¡°I¡¯ve secretly visited the Doomed Star Sea many times over the years, and I¡¯ve helped your father fight the races of the Void World.

    ¡°He and I have been guarding the Mortal World in covert and overt ways. As the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, I suppress the outsider races of the Spirit World, and make sure they don¡¯t march through the Dead Star Sea to invade us on arge scale. He, on the other hand, fights against the three outsider races of the Void World in the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°We¡¯ve always been in touch. Our connection has never ended.

    ¡°A Stargate manifesting in the Domain of the Falling Stars, you bing a Son of the Stars, and you going to the Domain of Forbidden Heaven. All these were our arrangements for you.¡±

    Ji Cang smiled and told Nie Tian that there was indeed a power behind the scenes that had helped him sessfully be a Son of the Stars.

    Nie Tian was astonished.

    He had thought it had been Qin Yao, his biological father, who had secretly arranged things to happen for him, but he hadn¡¯t expected Ji Cang to be involved.

    What made him more surprised was that Ji Cang and his father weren¡¯t sworn enemies as the rumors had said.

    Instead, they were bosom friends.

    ¡°You..?¡± Nie Tian wanted to ask something, but suddenly saw Dong Li¡¯s expression change, and the dark power of the Dark Aureole started to surge.

    The dark shield of light seemed to be hammered by a variety of invisible energies, causing huge dents to appear in it!

    The ck tortoise squeaked.

    ¡°Here ites again,¡± Ji Cang said with a sigh. ¡°The attacks will not stop until the gate of the Dark Abyss is opened.¡±

    He looked up and saw the gorgeous lights sealing the passage. Then he saw that broken bodies fell through and were reduced to blood mists, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too long...¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank as he fixed his eyes on Dong Li. ¡°What is it?¡±

    Speaking, he stepped forward and intended to plunge into Dong Li¡¯s dark shield of light.

    He was puzzled. He had been standing here for a while now, with Ji Cang next to him. However, neither he nor Ji Cang had been attacked. Why was Dong Li being attacked?

    What puzzled him even more was that he couldn¡¯t perceive the power that was attacking her with his soul or bloodline.

    This was very strange!

    He had never imagined that there were powers in the three worlds that his soul and bloodline couldn¡¯t perceive.

    Even if they were special energies that he had never seen before, as long as they existed and had attacked Dong Li, how could he not perceive them at all?

    Dong Li exhaled, her face rxing a little. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡±

    Nie Tian was even more puzzled. ¡°What on earth is it? Why didn¡¯t I feel anything? Sect... Uncle Ji and I didn¡¯t seem to be attacked!¡±

    Ji Cang answered for her. ¡°It¡¯s something that flies out of the Dark Abyss. It¡¯s called a Void Spirit, the same Void from the Void World. Void Spirits have nothing to do with the Voidspirits. They¡¯re from the Dark Abyss. Every time, before the gate opens, some of them will get out.

    ¡°You can¡¯t see or perceive them because they can hide themselves from you.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t attack you because you share the same aura as them.¡±

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°What? How is that possible?¡±

    Then, a sh of lightning seemed to streak across his sea of soul awareness. His eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°Is the Divine me of the Domain of me¡¯s End also a Void Spirit?¡±

    Ji Cang nodded. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re a smart one. The Divine mees from the Dark Abyss, and it is a Void Spirit, but more powerful and mysterious than the one that¡¯s been attacking Dong Li! Because you released its aura, when you flew here, all the devil nts and spirit nts avoided you.¡±

    Nie Tian hurried to ask. ¡°What on earth is a Void Spirit? What¡¯s so special about them?¡±

    He could see that Dong Li, who had been attacked by the Void Spirit, had used up too much of her dark power in a short time.

    Dong Li had mastered the Dark Aureole and merged with the dark stone. Plus, the ck tortoise that was at the tenth grade; her battle prowess should be no weaker than the Heaven Sha if she was in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    However, she didn¡¯t seem to be able to withstand the Void Spirit¡¯s repeated attacks in this darkness.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± Ji Cang answered with a wry smile. ¡°If I could enter the Dark Abyss, I¡¯d be able to fully understand the Void Spirits¡¯ origin, but...¡±

    He shook his head and sighed again. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t have a chance now.¡±

    ¡°Who injured you?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Ji Cang replied, ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Spirit and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits joined hands and mobilized all their nsmen to besiege me. I knew my own ability. When I was about to be defeated, I rushed to this ce. I might be even closer to death here, but it might also give me a chance to survive.¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you know that Grand Monarch Soul Capturer is actually Grand Monarch Nether Spirit!¡±

    Ji Cang nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not a secret. You can¡¯t threaten him with it. Qin Yao, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits all know about his identity. I first came to the Void World trying to figure out how Grand Monarch Nether Spirit died. I wanted to find the truth.

    ¡°I even went to the Phantasms¡¯ territory in the Spirit World.¡±

    Nie Tian was astonished. ¡°You¡¯ve been to the Spirit World? How did you get there?¡±

    ¡°I crossed the Dead Star Sea.¡± Ji Cang answered casually. ¡°Apart from this forbiddennd in the Void World, I have explored all of the Mortal World, Spirit World, Dead Star Sea, Doomed Star Sea, and Silent Star Sea.

    Nie Tian was shocked. ¡°Ah...¡±

    ¡°One of the things I¡¯ve wanted to figure out all this time is where Grand Monarch Nether Spirit went. I refused to believe he died so easily,¡± Ji Cang continued. ¡°Another thing is Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils, who is ranked number ten in the Void World.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil? He¡¯s only ranked tenth. Do you have to try so painstakingly to find him?¡±

    ¡°That Grand Monarch Lurking Devil is quite unusual,¡± Ji Cang answered with a solemn expression. ¡°I think he¡¯s not any less threatening than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. Based on my secret explorations, I havee to find that he has been active in the Mortal World and Spirit World this whole time. He has long passed through the Doomed Star Sea, and has been lurking in our world.¡±

    It surprised Nie Tian. ¡°What is his current identity?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Ji Cang said. ¡°The three outsider races of the Void World are clear about the changes in the Mortal World and Spirit World partly because of Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who is from the Spirit World. Another reason is Grand Monarch Lurking Devil.¡±

 Chapter 1704: The Fortune And Rules of Heaven And Earth

    In the starry river outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Numerous powerful experts from across the three worlds had either joined the battle or were observing the battle from the dark, as Jiang Yuanchi was.

    Broken limbs and mangled body parts of Saint domain experts and ninth grade grand patriarchs kept falling into the tunnel with glorious interweaving lights, where they were reduced to blood mists that quickly disappeared into the dark depths.

    RUMBLE!

    A realm that had been drifting in the vicinity after the death of Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer suddenly exploded.

    Gigantic broken pieces shot in every direction like countless burning meteors.

    From the midst of the shooting meteors, the floating continent suddenly emerged.

    It had crossed the Doomed Star Sea and taken a long journey through the stars to arrive here from the Mortal World.

    HOWL!

    The Ripper Behemoth let out an angry roar that shook the hearts of everyone present. Even many grand monarchs and God domain experts felt insecure and uneasy.

    ¡°The Ripper Behemoth?¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil didn¡¯t seem very surprised. Instead, he seemed to have long since predicted its arrival. ¡°Good. You¡¯re finally here.¡±

    In the next moment, he let out a cold snort, and his devil figure changed again.

    He morphed into a sea of thick, ckish-violet clouds that expanded to fill a vast area of the starry river, before surging towards the iing floating continent.

    It made contact with the pale-gray mists enveloping the floating continent that contained ripping power, which was like two worlds shing together!

    The Ripper Behemoth¡¯s mad roar instantly echoed from the heart of the floating continent, as if this Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Void World had made it, who had slumbered for so long, feel actually threatened for the first time.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s Devil Power Tide surged within the sea of devilish clouds, where countless ck mes and purple lightning bolts emerged and disappeared, giving rise to endless changes.

    Images of the birth, rise, and splendors of the Devil race seemed to unfurl in the sea of clouds like paintings, along with the wonders of their bloodline and the great battles they had fought.

    The ripping power surrounding the floating continent couldn¡¯t stop the intense devil power from entering.

    The internal world inside the floating continent, which was wreathed in rich spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, was slowly infiltrated by Devil Qi.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil was already using his power to influence and change the floating continent.

    Some spirit beasts and weaker creatures that lived on the floating continent suddenly felt pressure on their chest for some reason, and thus looked up at the sky.

    They then discovered that the sky was bing dark, as if it were being painted with purple and ck paint. They felt very uneasy.

    Many smallndmasses and broken pieces from the exploded top continent were floating high in the sky.

    At this moment, as Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil power poured in, cracking sounds came from many floatingndmasses, and they started to plummet towards the bottom continent.

    With a loud crash, a terrifying colossal creature that should exist only in dreams suddenly charged out of the pitch-ck sea with a torrential aura, as if it were going to mangle all lives and rip through the heavens.

    Almost at the same time, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil power fully infiltrated the floating continent, and his devil figure crashed into its internal world.

    Heading towards the Ripper Behemoth, he smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re far weaker than the Dark Behemoth and the Rampage Behemoth. Because you¡¯re living in the wrong era, you can never reach their heights. This opening of the Dark Abyss is a great opportunity for you. I knew you¡¯de.

    ¡°Unfortunately, you came too early. You should have waited.¡±

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Purple lightning bolts could be seen slithering in the thick devil clouds like huge dragons, each and every one of them so incredibly powerful that they could annihte grand monarchs.

    Surrounded by the lightning bolts, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil expanded at an rming rate.

    In the blink of an eye, he became three hundred thousand meters tall.

    Even so, he was still much smaller than the Ripper Behemoth, which had charged out of the ck sea.

    However, immense devil power exuded from his devil form, like numerous volcanoes erupting at the same time, which was every bit as strong as the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s.

    RUUUUMBLE!

    A battle that was bound to go down in history broke out.

    In the darkness in the depths of the tunnel, Nie Tian¡¯s heart pounded. A shudder ran through him as he jerked his head up to look at the distant top part of the tunnel that was filled with glorious lights. ¡°It appears that a battle has broken out between the strongest out there.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± Dong Li asked.

    ¡°If what I suspect is true, it should be Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and the Ripper Behemoth,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, let out a sigh and said, ¡°The Ripper Behemoth is no match for Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. Grand Monarch Heaven Devil is a peerless genius of the Devils. He¡¯s every bit as talented as the Dark King. All hecks is an opportunity to be a paragon.

    ¡°As for the Ripper Behemoth...¡± Ji Cang¡¯s brow knitted. ¡°It lives in a bad time. If this were the Primal Era, it would be able to grow stronger continuously and reach the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s height. Then, it¡¯d be able to defeat Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. However, this era we live in is far too harsh for Star Behemoths. Grand Monarch Heaven Devil will win, while it will either be severely injured or killed in battle.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°How can that be?¡±

    Ji Cang had tempered himself on the floating continent back when he had been a Son of the Stars. Therefore, his understanding of the Ripper Behemoth surpassed everyone else¡¯s.

    He had received the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s help in his early years.

    After bing the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, hismunication with the Ripper Behemoth had grown even more frequent.

    He had learned many profound mysteries and secrets of the three worlds, this starry river, and different eras from it.

    Then, after entering thete God domain, he had traveled to the Spirit World, the Dead Star Sea, the Doomed Star Sea, and the Silent Star Sea, and found out about more secrets that even the Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t know.

    Ji Cang took a deep breath and said, ¡°Great changes took ce and opened the Primal Era. At that time, there were very few living beings, but the starry river was rich in energies of heaven and earth. The mightiest creatures always need a tremendous amount of power to strengthen themselves. During the Primal Era, there were very few living beings, and the Star Behemoths were the overlords of the starry river, so they didn¡¯t have any rivals.

    ¡°They had quite arge poption at first. They even fought and killed each other. To make themselves stronger, they had to acquire power by devouring other beings or refining realms.

    ¡°The strongest Star Behemoths during that era could reach the level of the three paragons thatter appeared in the Void World.

    ¡°However, as times changed, more and more species popped out, such as the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts. In order to survive and grow stronger, the new species had to seize the energies of heaven and earth that the Star Behemoths originally had to themselves. Hence, they naturally became the Star Behemoths¡¯ enemies, and the Star Behemoths would hunt and feed on them.

    ¡°However, during this time, the new species grew stronger and more intelligent. They learned to hide themselves from the mighty Star Behemoths. From time to time, they would even seize opportunities to kill young Star Behemoths before they could grow stronger.

    ¡°It was extremely difficult for Star Behemoths to reproduce. Even though they had almost endless lifespans, they grew far too slowly.

    ¡°Gradually, these overlords of the starry river became unadapted to the ever-changing times, and were slowly reced by the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts. The three major races in the Void World also helped with their elimination. Eventually, thest remaining powerful Star Behemoths were killed one by one by the paragons of the Void World, and they were considered extinct.

    ¡°The Ripper Behemoth wasn¡¯t born in the Primal Era. When it grew stronger, the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts had already grown into powerful races. While the amount of the energies of heaven and earth in the starry river is finite, the energies mighty existences like the Rampage Behemoth need are boundless. Since the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts took arge chunk from the immense energies the Ripper Behemoth needed to make itself stronger, it would have to kill their numerous grand monarchs if it wanted to rise to new heights.

    ¡°The Void World is strong, right? Do you ever wonder why the three paragons lived in different eras?

    ¡°That¡¯s because it takes too great an amount of energies to make a paragon. The existence of a single paragon might be the limit of the Void World. It can¡¯t allow three paragons to exist at the same time.

    ¡°That¡¯s determined by the rules of heaven and earth.

    ¡°The Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit all secretly spread their power in the Spirit World at different times to create the Demons, the Phantasms, and the Bonebrutes. The reason behind this was because they wanted to make more paragons with the vast energies the Spirit World had to offer. They were well-aware that there were too many powerful experts in the Void World, so it didn¡¯t allow more paragons to appear.

    ¡°Back to this time we live in, the Void World had ten powerfulte tenth grade grand monarchs and many more early and middle tenth grade grand monarchs. Such arge number of grand monarchs have consumed tremendous amounts of the energy and fortune of the Void World to be the powerful experts they are today. Under such circumstances, it¡¯s impossible to make new paragons.

    ¡°They themselves have taken up far too much power and fortune.

    ¡°So some of them have to die.

    ¡°Some of the God domain experts and grand monarchs from the Mortal World and the Spirit World have to die as well.¡±

 Chapter 1705: Various Secrets

    Ji Cang exined the rise and fall of the living beings in the three worlds, the births of paragons, the rules of heaven and earth, and many other profound issues to Nie Tian.

    From him, Nie Tian learned that iparably vast amounts of energies were required in order for mighty existences like paragons and the Rampage Behemoth to be born.

    The three paragons in the history of the Void World lived in different times.

    Right now, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, the top three powerful experts in the Void World, all yearned to join the ranks of the paragons.

    The three of them had already reached a mutual understanding.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, who was previously known as Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, intended to draw power from the Spirit World and shoot for transcendence by relying on his profound understanding of soul power and the souls of countless beings that he had harvested.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, who had been born in the Void World, had started many wars, where he had watched many Devil grand monarchs die.

    He most likely wanted to see arge number of the grand monarchs in the Void World die in battle.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes was also pleased to see countless lives being dragged into fierce battles and perishing for good.

    The Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones was a ce that was specially designed to refine corpses and gather death power.

    Other than boundless energies, the Dark Abyss was also a key factor as to whether they could join the ranks of paragons.

    Tremendous sacrifices had to be made in order for the Dark Abyss to open.

    That was why so many powerful experts from the Spirit World, the Mortal World, and the Void World, along with the strong fighters from the Doomed Star Sea and the Voidspirits, were arranged to gather to the Realm of Shadow Devil and engage in a fierce battle.

    The three strongest grand monarchs in the Void World might have been nning this for a long time.

    There were secret strifes among the three of them as well.

    Other than them, Ji Cang, Qin Yao, the Ripper Behemoth, Jiang Yuanchi, and a number of other peak experts also had what it took to be paragons, given an opportunity.

    Therefore, they did everything within their power to suppress them, who might be theirpetition.

    As for their own n members and subordinates, almost all of them were kept in the dark.

    Perhaps they didn¡¯t even care about their lives.

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline suddenly stirred.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew over to him from different directions by following his aura in the darkness.

    Aside from them, Agaz also flew to him in the form of a zing me dragon.

    He had been knocked into the tunnel after suffering a heavy blow from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, then his fleshly body had been cut to pieces by the glorious lights. The same had happened to the five evil gods and Agaz after they had fallen into the tunnel.

    However, it turned out that any flesh form that was infused with his Blood Essence would gain the ability to regenerate themselves.

    After regenerating, they slowly found their way to his location by tracking his aura.

    ¡°Master...¡±

    The five evil gods and Agaz gathered to his side.

    Ji Cang¡¯s expression flickered. Staring at the five evil gods, he asked, ¡°Nie Tian, the five of them are loyal to you?¡±

    Dong Li hadn¡¯t told him everything about Nie Tian. All he knew was that Nie Tian was now a Son of the Stars, that he had learned about his rtionship with Qin Yao, and that he had made shockingly fast advances in his cultivation.

    There was still a lot about Nie Tian that he didn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Are your injuries curable, Sectmaster?¡± Nie Tian asked sincerely. ¡°What can I do to help you recover, or is there anything that can help you recover?¡±

    With a faint smile, Ji Cang said, ¡°If there is a chance for me to survive, then it must lie within the Dark Abyss. I¡¯ve got to enter after it opens.¡±

    Nie Tian turned to Dong Li and asked, ¡°Did you see Grand Monarch Hell Demon? Like me, his body also exploded and fell into the darkness.¡±

    Dong Li shook her head. ¡°No, I didn¡¯t.¡±

    As they spoke, blood and mangled bodies kept falling from above, where glorious lights shed across like des. More and more powerful experts were dying.

    With respect, Nie Tian asked Ji Cang many questions that he had had for ages. They were mainly about the background of his father Qin Yao, and why he had been evicted and considered the most crooked of all.

    Ji Cang told him that in order to change the humans¡¯ feeble bodies, Qin Yao had proposed a hybrid-breeding n.

    All of his experimental subjects had been talented youngsters.

    Since the path of hybrid-breeding had beenpletely new and unexplored, it was impossible to avoid failures in the early phases.

    If Qin Yao had seeded without many failures, he would definitely have been known as the greatest sage in human history!

    However, his sess hade toote. It hadn¡¯te until he had been banished to the Doomed Star Sea.

    The reason he had been banished was because hisst experiment... had gone out of control.

    Many experimental subjects had been eaten away by the bacshes and died.

    All of those dead subjects had been elite disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and talented youngsters chosen from subordinate ns and sects of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Many of their parents and grandparents had great influence. They had harbored high hopes when they had put their descendants in Qin Yao¡¯s hands.

    Qin Yao had promised them that even if the experiment failed, the participants wouldn¡¯t die.

    However, a tragedy had happened. Together, they had pressured Ji Cang and many elders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce to punish Qin Yao.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had been forced to stop Qin Yao from carrying on with his experiments and expel him from the sect.

    If they hadn¡¯t, the entire Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce would have been thrown into chaos.

    In fact, Qin Yao himself had shown signs of Qi deviation during that period of time. He had already seen the hope of sess in his hybrid-breeding research. Therefore, even after being punished, he had refused to give up his research and throw away his years of effort. That had angered even more people.

    As a result, the powerful Qi warriors of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had actually started hunting him.

    At that time, he had been focused on his research and ignored the improvement of his battle prowess and cultivation base, which had put him in a very bad position when he had been pursued.

    If Ji Cang hadn¡¯t secretly protected him and practically escorted him to the Doomed Star Sea, he would have been killed.

    After entering the Doomed Star Sea, he had thought many things through and found his direction. It was like a water dragon returning to the sea.

    The Doomed Star Sea had be his blessednd, where his hybrid-breeding research had been approved of by many.

    Soon, his new research had turned out to be a great sess. Numerous young hybrids like Jiang Qinghuang had been created.

    His sess in hybrid-breeding had also led to great improvements in his cultivation base, battle prowess, and temperament, which hadter helped him be the overlord of the Doomed Star Sea.

    Through leading the six kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea to fight against the Void World, his battle prowess and cultivation base had further improved, and he had gradually built up a force that was stronger than any of the four great sects in the Mortal World.

    ¡°What¡¯s with the three spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars that connect to the Demon realms?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°That force in the Doomed Star Sea had the Voidspirits build them,¡± Ji Cang exined. ¡°The goal was to pierce into the heart of the Spirit World and break the outsiders¡¯ defenses by starting with the Demons. Butter, I took a secret trip to the Spirit World by myself. There, I had a meeting with Grand Monarch Primal Demon, Grand Monarch Nether River, and Grand Monarch Dark Depths.

    ¡°I learned that they had long since learned about the existence of the three major races of the Void World, and their ambitions.

    ¡°Since it turned out we all had the same enemies, those spatial rifts in the Domain of the Falling Stars were abandoned and kept a secret.

    ¡°Unfortunately, the grievances between the Spirit World and the Mortal World have be so deep that the two sides can¡¯t get along in peace. Battles were still fought in the Dead Star Sea, but both sides had remained fairly restrained after that.

    ¡°Onlyter, after I left for the Void World, did the battles in the Dead Star Sea be fiercer.¡±

 Chapter 1706: The Fall of A Behemoth

    Through Ji Cang, Nie Tian learned many secrets that weren¡¯t known to others.

    The battle outside continued.

    Every second of every minute, new mangled bodies and discarnate souls fell into the bottomless tunnel, where they were reduced to blood mists that disappeared into the dark depths.

    Gradually, people on the outside started to notice that the dark areas in the depths of the tunnel appeared to be growing brighter and brighter.

    ¡°The Tree of Life!¡± Nie Tian, who was talking to Ji Cang, eximed as his heart suddenly started to pound.

    His Life Detection bloodline talent allowed him to detect that the Tree of Life, which had chosen to take root in the Realm of Middle Continent instead of the Silent Star Sea, had charged into the Domain of Shadow Devil after the Ripper Behemoth.

    Ji Cang¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°The Tree of Life?!¡±

    After Nie Tian nodded at him, he said, ¡°Finally, an existence that can threaten Grand Monarch Heaven Devil! Even though that Tree of Life in the Spirit World is already at its third generation, it¡¯s stronger than the Ripper Behemoth. After all, it has risen beyond its limits and be a transcendent existence in the real sense.

    ¡°Even Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit died killing its first generation. He was a paragon of the Void World, for heaven¡¯s sake.

    ¡°Also, its memories, talents, and wisdom are handed down generation after generation. All it loses after rebirth is power, which can be recovered through time.

    ¡°It¡¯s immortal in the real sense. And the new generations can very well return to its peak, and perhaps even rise beyond it!¡±

    Admiration and marvel filled Ji Cang¡¯s face as he talked about the Tree of Life.

    Judging by the look in his eye, it was as if even the three paragons of the Void World were no match for it.

    The Tree of Life had lived through many eras. Legends about it had spread far and wide almost throughout the entire history of the Spirit World.

    ¡°The Tree of Life was the truly transcendent existence and so-called paragon in the Spirit World,¡± Ji Cang continued. ¡°The Tree of Life¡¯s birth has been a mystery. Perhaps its origin even has some connection with the origin of the Star Behemoths. They might have been born in the same era. However, while the Rampage Behemoth and the Dark Behemoth, which once represented the peak power in this starry river, have long since perished, the Tree of Life has only withered and revived a few times, and remains the transcendent existence it is.

    ¡°I even have a feeling that the grand fortune and immense energies of heaven and earth in the Spirit World have been upied by the Tree of Life this whole time. And this is the reason why the Spirit World hasn¡¯t seen the birth of paragons like the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    ¡°Perhaps Grand Monarch Nether Spirit left the Spirit World because he knew that he¡¯d have no hope of bing a paragon if he stayed in the Spirit World.¡±

    Ji Cang appeared to find the Tree of Life full of mysteries, and had a very high opinion of it.

    ¡°Sectmaster, do you know about... the secrets of the Realm of Middle Continent?¡± Nie Tian asked after a moment of hesitation. ¡°A secret spatial tunnel connects it to the Realm of Unbounded Destion. Also, a giant is buried in the depths of the realm... a giant asrge as a Star Behemoth. I couldn¡¯t sense any flesh aura fluctuations from it, so I guess... it¡¯s a human.¡±

    Ji Cang stood aghast. ¡°A human?! Does the Tree of Life know about this?¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t.¡±

    Ji Cang was in even deeper astonishment. ¡°There are secrets in the Spirit World it doesn¡¯t know about? If even it doesn¡¯t know about it, how can I know about it? It has lived through many eras, and witnessed countless changes in thendscape of the Spirit World.

    ¡°It¡¯s both the keeper of the Spirit World and the hand that pushed it forward.¡±

    The astonishment on Ji Cang¡¯s face made Nie Tian realize that the giant in the depths of the Realm of Middle Continent, which might have some sort of connection to the origin of humanity, was something even he couldn¡¯t fathom.

    ¡°Together, can the Ripper Behemoth and the third-generation Tree of Life turn the situation around?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Just as Ji Cang was about to answer, Dong Li called out, ¡°Look!¡±

    A terrifying colossal figure seemed to be falling towards the tunnel. Looming beyond the glorious interweaving lights was a colossal centipede-like creature with countless sharp legs.

    bbergasted, Nie Tian eximed, ¡°The Ripper Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± Ji Cang said, taking a deep breath. ¡°It appears that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil drew it out from the floating continent, but it... lost much faster than I thought.¡±

    Wrapped in purple devil clouds, the Ripper Behemoth, which should have been asrge as realms, seemed to have shrunken a thousand times as it was forcibly stuffed into the tunnel filled with glorious lights.

    Its gigantic fleshly form was also cut up in the tunnel.

    All the others, including grand monarchs and God domain experts, had spilled blood that had fallen like rain when their bodies had been shredded.

    Now however, as the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s fleshly form was cut up, its blood poured down intensely like a rainstorm.

    From Nie Tian¡¯s point of view, it was as if a sea of blood was pouring down towards him.

    The immensity of its flesh aura was simply shocking!

    What was even more shocking was that the bodies, flesh aura seas, and domains of all the grand monarchs and God domain experts that had fallen into the tunnel previously had been shredded by the glorious lights, but that wasn¡¯t the case for the Ripper Behemoth.

    Its fleshly form basically remained together to keep its original shape.

    Even though its blood poured down like a rainstorm, its body only seemed to be covered in cracks, without shattering like the others.

    Soon, after the devil clouds wrapping around its body were ground down and vanished, its body seemed to expand to its original size. However, the strange thing was that it didn¡¯t seem to be taking up too much space in the tunnel.

    Then, Nie Tian watched it fall to a dark area that was very far away from where they were.

    Astonished, Dong Li asked, ¡°How vast is this ce? How can it contain something asrge as the Ripper Behemoth?¡±

    Before she had dived into the tunnel, she had been under the impression that this tunnel was somewhere in the depths of the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    However, howrge could the Realm of Shadow Devil be?

    That Ripper Behemoth should be about the same size of the entire Realm of Shadow Devil.

    If it had, in fact, fallen to a ce under the surface of the Realm of Shadow Devil, why hadn¡¯t the realm burst because of it?

    Looking surprised, Ji Cang said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you still think we¡¯re somewhere under the surface of the Realm of Shadow Devil. The truth is that we¡¯re in a whole other ce, a strange ce that I¡¯m not even sure is in the Void World. Just this darkness alone is vaster than we can imagine. As for the Dark Abyss... who knows what its inside is like?¡±

    Sensing something through his bloodline, Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. ¡°It¡¯s not dead! It¡¯s still alive!¡±

    After he activated his Life Detection bloodline talent, the dark area the Ripper Behemoth had fallen to became as bright as the rising sun in his senses!

    ¡°It¡¯s regathering flesh power! It won¡¯t be long before ites and finds me! It has sensed my existence as well!¡±

    At that moment, they all noticed that the darkness around them was rapidly bing brighter and brighter.

    A peculiar life aura slowly dispersed from the outside world.

    To his surprise, Nie Tian discovered that all of the coexisting flowers, Demon Eyes Flowers, Spectre Trees, and Carrion Flowers seemed to be rattled.

    The Heavenly Demonsbanes even curled up in fear upon sensing that aura.

    ¡°The Tree of Life is here,¡± Ji Cang said. ¡°Compared to it, all of the devil nts and spirit nts here aren¡¯t even worth mentioning.¡±

 Chapter 1707: Turning A New Leaf

    Nie Tian nodded to agree. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    He had seen the immensity of the first-generation Tree of Life in the Doomed Star Sea. Even though it had withered and died, the scene where its colossal branches had pierced through thousands of realms was something he couldn¡¯t even dream of.

    The first-generation Tree of Life was vaster than anything he had ever seen.

    Even Star Behemoths couldn¡¯t match its size.

    If there was one thing he had seen in his life that could be called a leviathan, then it had to be the Tree of Life.

    Compared to it, all of the spirit nts and devil nts in this starry river were likemon grass,pletely not worth mentioning.

    ¡°Now that it¡¯s here, the spirit nts and devil nts here can say goodbye to their morous days,¡± Ji Cang said, looking both expectant and a bit gloating. ¡°In fact, no matter how powerful these nts are, and how desperately they seek breakthroughs by absorbing flesh power and discarnate souls, their nature remains unchanged. However, the Tree of Life is different. In fact, it is the ultimate form they seek to be.¡±

    ...

    The floating continent floated quietly outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Having lost the Ripper Behemoth, it had lost all of its mysteries as a superrge-scale realm.

    The pale-gray mists that contained ripping power, which had served as the realm barrier of the floating continent, had vanishedpletely.

    Wisps of energies of heaven and earth kept rising from the floating continent to disperse into the starry river.

    Pieces of brokenndmasses from the shattered top continent kept drifting away from the floating continent.

    On the bottom continent, chasms had ripped through thends and mountains had toppled. Many ancient sites and relics, wondrous forests, and oceans seemed to be covered in a shade of gray.

    With thick Devil Qi pervading every part of the floating continent, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had gained control of it with his will.

    At this moment, the floating continent was slowly floating towards a distant territory that belonged to the Devils.

    The time when the Ripper Behemoth had controlled the floating continent was over. From the look of it, it might be shaped into a superrge-scale Devil realm, a paradise for devilish creatures, in a few millennia.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s terrifying figure, which was hundreds of thousands of meters tall, was hidden in a sea of rolling Devil Qi.

    The intense flesh power he exuded had filled up a vast area around him.

    Even the entire Domain of Shadow Devil seemed to be under the giant feet of his mighty form.

    It was as if he could smash realms and crush grand monarchs and God domain experts with mere flicks of his hand.

    His battle aura soared, his battle prowess unmatched.

    All of the surviving humans, including Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and the Heaven Sha, had witnessed Grand Monarch Heaven Devil forcing his way into the floating continent and knocking the Ripper Behemoth down into the tunnel, where it had been reduced to a rainstorm of blood. Their hearts sank horribly.

    The kind of power Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had disyed, the infinite changes he could manage, and hismand of devil energy was simply amazing.

    They were convinced that he was an unmatched force that was only a step away from bing a paragon, until...

    Master Blood Spirit, who had visited the Spirit World with Nie Tian before, eximed as he saw an azure realm flying from the distance like a colossal glowing sphere, ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent!¡±

    Many Qi warriors from the four great sects who hadn¡¯t been to the Spirit World were confused. ¡°The Realm of Middle Continent?¡±

    The Heaven Sha, who had recovered his true form, gasped in astonishment. Apparently, having lived in the Doomed Star Sea for a long time, he had long since learned about the Realm of Middle Continent. ¡°It¡¯s the ce where humanity was born! But how could it travel all the way here by itself?¡±

    Grand Monarch Primal Wood of the Floragrims suddenly flew out of the Realm of Middle Continent. ¡°The creator of my people is controlling the Realm of Middle Continent! Hmm, I see that you¡¯re quite busy!¡±

    Then, Chatvic the titan, the Golden-feathered Divine Finch, Scotte the lightning dragon, and many other Ancientspirits and Floragrims charged out of the Realm of Middle Continent as well.

    As soon as they did, they flew into battle against the members of the three major races of the Void World.

    Master Blood Spirit was shocked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be in the Silent Star Sea? Since it¡¯s being protected by the residual power of the first-generation Tree of Life, it should be the safest ce at this time. Why would you travel through the starry river to join the battles in the Void World?¡±

    He found this baffling.

    ¡°This turmoil is bound to sweep across the three worlds and involve every species there is. No one can run from it.¡± Grand Monarch Primal Wood said. ¡°The creator of my kind had a sense that many upheavals, including the energies of heaven and earth running out in the Spirit World, might have something to do with the Dark Abyss.

    ¡°So when the Realm of Middle Continent traveled past the Silent Star Sea, we answered its summons and joined its journey here.

    ¡°All of our weak and young are still safely in the Silent Star Sea. As long as the continuation of our kind is secured, we have nothing to be afraid of.

    ¡°Also, Grand Monarch Life Wood, our former high chieftain was killed by the Bonedrudes in the Void World. We had toe and avenge him.¡±

    As the spokesman for the Tree of Life, Grand Monarch Primal Wood sounded very confident as he made these statements.

    ¡°I killed Grand Monarch Life Wood,¡± Grand Monarch Bone Piercer said in a haughty manner sitting towering on his bone throne. ¡°I bet the Floragrims will go extinct in this heavenly tribtion. Then again, too many species have gone extinct in the history of this starry river. It¡¯s nothing umon.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the rich wood power in the green, exuberantly-vegetated area of the Realm of Middle Continent gathered together to take the form of a gigantic ancient tree.

    As soon as the illusory ancient tree came to form, many realms in the neighboring domains that were rich in wood power had their power drained at an rming rate.

    At the same time, people noticed that the devil nts and spirit nts in the brightening dark areas in the tunnel, such as the Demon Eyes Flowers, the Spectre Trees, and the coexisting flowers, were all trembling in fear.

    Streams of intense wood power started to rise out of those rare nts that were as powerful aste tenth grade grand monarchs and shoot straight up!

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The branches of many devil nts and spirit nts shattered. Wisps of green, cyan, and blue power flew out to join the rising wood power streams.

    Those streams rose through the glorious interweaving lights and out of the tunnel.

    Then, they kept going straight up. They sted out of the Realm of Shadow Devil and into the Realm of Middle Continent, where they disappeared into the third-generation Tree of Life!

    ¡°What...?!¡±

    Even Dong Li was bbergasted seeing many smaller Heavenly Demonsbanes, Spectre Trees, and coexisting flowers explode and turn into streams of pure wood power.

    This mysterious ce held the main bodies and origins of all Demon Eyes Flowers, Heavenly Demonsbanes, and coexisting flowers.

    Those smaller ones were their doppelg?ngers. Originally, they had been nothing but seeds that had been spread throughout the three worlds. Later, after they had grown stronger through devouring the life power of other creatures, they had returned to their main bodies.

    There were great differences between the main bodies and doppelg?ngers of powerful existences.

    Now, those doppelg?ngers, which had profound connections to their main bodies, exploded and had their power taken away by the Tree of Life!

    They were an important portion of the power of their main bodies!

    What surprised Dong Li even more was that even their main bodies were running and hiding.

    They didn¡¯t seem to have the slightest intent to fight back, like a flock of sheep running for their lives on the field after seeing giant eagles hovering above them.

    Somewhere in the Realm of Middle Continent, where none of the others could see, the third-generation Tree of Life grew at an astonishing speed as it absorbed the glowing streams of energy that poured in.

    Meanwhile...

    In the Silent Star Sea, the unfathomably huge form of the first-generation Tree of Life, which was as solid as iron, suddenly turned to ashes, like bones that had been corroded for tens of thousands of years.

    It simply turned to ashes and scattered in the wind.

    The power that had been sealed within it, power that people didn¡¯t know existed, traveled through boundless space to the Realm of Middle Continent, and joined its third-generation through some wondrous magic.

    That power boosted its growth further.

 Chapter 1708: The Divine Flame Arrives

    In the Silent Star Sea.

    Ancientspirits and Floragrims had settled in various different realms.

    Some titans had established themselves on the magicalnd that Nie Tian used to visit through the portal activated by the me Dragon Armor.

    At this moment, the titans on thisnd and the nearby ones were suddenly shocked to discover that the enormous branches that had pierced through thosends were rapidly turning to ashes that vanished in the wind.

    The same went for the dragons and Ancientbeasts on the other realms and tndmasses.

    Soon, all of the Ancientspirits and Floragrims that had moved from the Spirit World realized that the entire withered first-generation Tree of Life was disappearing, and along with the power it had used to seal the Silent Star Sea.

    From now on, the three major races of the Void World would be able to enter the Silent Star Sea without resistance, and cross the Silent Star Sea into the Spirit World.

    As this happened, the third-generation Tree of Life thrived in the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    It appeared that its expanding enormous branches were soon going to pierce out of the realm barrier of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer sat towering on the bone throne. The look in his eyes gradually grew grim as he opened his mouth to say, ¡°The protector of the Spirit World, the creator of the Floragrims, is beyond ordinary indeed. No wonder even Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit suffered fatal injuries from his battle against it in the Silent Star Sea.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He suddenly shot towards the Realm of Middle Continent, sitting on his bone throne.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils, however, remained in the depths of rolling Devil Qi, where he gazed at the Realm of Middle Continent in the distance with cold narrowed eyes and said, ¡°It¡¯s really not easy to make you leave the Spirit World ande here.¡±

    It didn¡¯t seem that he was going to join the fight.

    Withdrawing his gaze, he looked down into the tunnel. Watching the numerous devil nts and spirit nts in the brightening dark areas perish because of the third-generation Tree of Life, he muttered, ¡°Even the nts down there can¡¯t escape you.¡±

    Down in the tunnel...

    Ji Cang was taken aback. ¡°What? The Spirit World is losing its energies of heaven and earth at a shocking rate? And the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims have been forced to move to the Silent Star Sea?¡±

    He had just received this piece of information from Nie Tian.

    After a moment of astonishment, Ji Cang seemed toe to a sudden enlightenment as he said, ¡°Oh... No wonder...¡±

    ¡°No wonder what?¡± Nie Tian asked, looking confused.

    ¡°The Tree of Life has finished two life cycles, and its third-generation is still quite young,¡± Ji Cang exined. ¡°If it wants to return to its first-generation¡¯s height and regain its paragon-level power, it¡¯ll need a tremendously vast amount of energies. The fact that the Spirit World is losing all of its energies of heaven and earth has limited its growth.

    ¡°It must have realized that, in its current situation, the Spirit World most likely won¡¯t be able to help it return to its prime.

    ¡°Therefore, it chose to take root in the Realm of Middle Continent, sensing that it might be holding massive secrets. Now, after sensing the opening of the Dark Abyss, it has traveled billions of kilometers to this ce from the Spirit World. All it wants is to return to its peak state.¡±

    With these words, he frowned. ¡°It¡¯s just that we don¡¯t know how much power it has recovered so far...¡±

    As the Tree of Life engaged in a battle against Grand Monarch Bone Piercer in the Realm of Middle Continent, more and more spirit nts and devil nts perished in the dark areas in the bottomless tunnel.

    All of the strongest Demon Eyes Flowers, Spectre Trees, and coexisting flowers hid themselves.

    Because of this, the dark areas in the tunnel became much less dangerous than before.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Dong Li eximed once again.

    The Void Spirits hadunched a new round of attacks, as they struck her dark power shield in a frenzied manner.

    ¡°Void Spirits... Void Spirit...¡± Nie Tian took a deep breath and quickly released his me domain, where that inconceivably mysterious me formation slowly rotated and changed.

    He made a call in his heart.

    In the next moment, he was surprised to sense the Divine me¡¯s response!

    What was even more surprising was that some power in the darkness seemed to start interacting with it!

    All of a sudden, a small cluster of orange me flew out of the center of the me formation that was a down-scaled replica of the superrge-scale me formation in the me Land.

    It was the Divine me from the Domain of me¡¯s End!

    It seemed to have ignored the boundless space between the Mortal World and the Void World as it swiftly emerged from his me domain to enter this unique space.

    ¡°The Divine me!¡± Dong Li was eximed in astonishment.

    Ji Cang¡¯s expression also flickered with shock as he said, ¡°The origin of this Divine me lies with a kind of power simr to that of the Void Spirits in the Dark Abyss! It was born here! As for why it would leave here for the Domain of me¡¯s End, it¡¯s a puzzle that even I can¡¯t solve!¡±

    ¡°Could you do me a favor?¡± Nie Tian issued a request to the Divine me through his soul.

    He asked the Divine me to solve Dong Li¡¯s problem.

    He could tell that Dong Li was having difficulty shielding herself with the Dark Aureole.

    However, he couldn¡¯t see or detect the Void Spirits attacking her in any way. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know how to help her.

    ¡°Uhh...¡± He was dumbfounded immediately after he issued his request.

    Dents instantly stopped appearing on the dark power shield Dong Li had enveloped herself with.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In Dong Li¡¯s surroundings, things that he couldn¡¯t see appeared to be engulfed by small clusters of fire released by the Divine me, and started burning violently.

    He could vaguely hear what seemed to be the agonized shrieks of Void Spirits.

    What was even more amazing was that the clusters of fire didn¡¯t grow smaller as they burned, but becamerger andrger.

    Those clusters of fire the Divine me had separated from itself seemed to be refining those Void Spirits¡¯ power to make themselves stronger.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    More and more clusters of fire were separated from the Divine me to burn in the vicinity, giving rise to crackling sounds.

    They all grewrger as they burned!

    Somerge ones even split up to make more clusters of fire that burned and grew in the area.

    Numerous Void Spirits seemed to be lurking in the darkness.

    Now, after the arrival of the Divine me, they had suddenly be its prey, which it used to strengthen itself!

    The Divine me was clearly growing stronger and stronger.

    It also fluctuated cheerfully, as if it were d toe back here at this time.

    ¡°It seems to have waited for this moment for a very long time,¡± Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, said, fixing his eyes on the cluster of orange me. ¡°And it seems to carry a flesh aura, which is...¡±

    He jerked his head towards Nie Tian with an inquiring look in his eyes.

    ¡°I did make a transaction with it. It separated a me spark from itself and gave it to me,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°In return, I gave it three drops of my Blood Essence.¡±

    Amazement filled Ji Cang¡¯s face.

    Outside the Realm of Shadow Devil...

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils had been gazing down at the brightening tunnel the whole time, as if he was waiting for something.

    As soon as the Divine me flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s me domain, his eyes lit up like two zing purple suns, bursting forth with devastating light.

    With a broadugh, he said, ¡°Even you have found your way here. I should have known that you¡¯de, but it¡¯s really surprising that you¡¯de in this way.¡±

    He seemed to be thrilled by the Divine me¡¯s arrival somehow.

    BOOM!

    As he swatted with his enormous hand, many hybrids and rogue Qi warriors from the Doomed Star Sea were knocked flying into the tunnel filled with interweaving lights, like small rocks.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil suddenly started killing at a massive level, as if he didn¡¯t want to wait anymore now that the Divine me was here.

 Chapter 1709: Sufficient Sacrifices

    In the Realm of Middle Continent, the battle between Grand Monarch Bone Piercer and the third-generation Tree of Life gave rise to mighty life power and death power fluctuations.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had ended his battle against Yin Xingtian to fight the third-generation Tree of Life because he knew that Nie Tian and the Tree of Life were his natural enemies and the only ones that could end the Bonedrude bloodline.

    After his leaving, Yin Xingtian, who had awakened his memories and powers as the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, had be an unstoppable force.

    Numerous Bonedrudes and Bonedrude starships had been easily cut to pieces by him with his Azure Heaven Divine Sword, as if they were made of paper.

    Aside from Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, the Bonedrudes didn¡¯t have another grand monarch that could match Yin Xingtian¡¯s battle prowess.

    Even under the joint attacks of Grand Monarch Sharp Bones and several other Bonedrude grand monarchs, Yin Xingtian still seemed unchallenged.

    Meanwhile.

    Pei Qiqi, who had gone berserk, was also harvesting Bonedrude lives with the interweaving spatial rifts.

    She seemed to have lost herself in the frenzied killing.

    However, the aura, battle prowess, and mastery of spatial power she disyed had reached unprecedented heights.

    Also, with the Realm of Middle Continent arriving and a number of Ancientspirit and Floragrim grand monarchs joining the battle, the situation seemed to have turned.

    However, all of these changes and reinforcements had been rendered meaningless by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s outburst.

    CRACKLE!

    Lightning shed and thunder rolled in the sea of rolling Devil Qi, as if profound magicalws were being manifested in Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s flesh aura sea.

    His pupils, one pitch-ck and the other dark purple, looked like two mighty stars.

    ¡°Heaven Sha...¡± With a low chuckle, he brought his enormous devil hands down repeatedly.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Every time he did, his gigantic devil hand crushed down like andmass that weighed billions of tons.

    The Heaven Sha¡¯s murky blood domain made of the blood of all species exploded in a violent fashion.

    In the next moment, his shattered blood domain morphed into numerous blood pools.

    Each and every blood pool was filled with blood of a different color. Within the bubbles that kept rising in the blood pools, the Heaven Sha¡¯s face gradually emerged.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil let out a derisive snort and said, ¡°The Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s Grand Blood Pool Incantation. You¡¯ll serve as a superior sacrificial offering as well!¡±

    A total of ny-nine blood pools were scattered under the sea of rolling Devil Qi. Each of them took up several square kilometers, and contained the blood of different species.

    There was Devil blood, Netherspirit blood, Seaspirit blood, Moonspirit blood, Lightspirit blood, titan blood, dragon blood, Ancientbeast blood, and the blood of other outsider species.

    Some of the blood pools even contained blood that belonged to extinct species. It was a mystery how the Heaven Sha had managed to find it and refine it to his blood domain.

    ¡°Grand Blood Pool Incantation!¡± Master Blood Spirit eximed with wide eyes.

    Admiration filled his face as he looked around at the ny-nine blood pools. ¡°It¡¯s not hard to make one blood pool. However, to make ny-nine of them with the blood of grand patriarchs and grand monarchs of different species is extremely difficult. I¡¯d never thought that someone could actually master the legendary Grand Blood Pool Incantation of our sect!¡±

    However, Master Blood Spirit¡¯s face froze in the next moment.

    He saw a devil hand emerging in every bubble in every blood pool.

    Countless devil hands magically appeared in the bubbles in all ny-nine blood pools.

    The Heaven Sha¡¯s faces within them were suddenly grabbed by those devil hands, and then squeezed into bursting.

    POOH!

    As the bubbles burst one after another, the blood pools quickly fell into the tunnel like kites that had their lines severed, and were ground into blood mists by the glorious lights inside.

    No one knew whether the Heaven Sha survived.

    However, either way, he couldn¡¯t possibly be a threat to Grand Monarch Heaven Devil anymore.

    It was hard to believe that even the Heaven Sha, the strongest of the six kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea, was defeated by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and tossed into the deadly tunnel!

    ¡°My heavens!¡± Everyone¡¯s heart was filled with dread as they turned to look at Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    Then, under their gazes, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s flesh aura sea charged directly towards the Snow Devil.

    SPLASH!

    The Snow Devil¡¯s god domain instantly split into countless sparkling and crystal-clear snowkes that filled arge area of the void.

    However, the snowkes seemed to be infiltrated by devil power, and turned ckish-violet in the blink of an eye.

    The ckish-violet snowkes were no longer gorgeous and swift. Instead, they became iparably heavy as they quickly fell into the tunnel with interweaving lights, and perished.

    After the Heaven Sha, the Snow Devil was also brought down by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    Even Mo Heng was apprehensive after seeing Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s unstoppable momentum. ¡°It seems that only by working together can we fight for a chance at contending against him.¡±

    He had no choice but to turn to look at Yin Xingtian, who was standing unwavering while being attacked by a group of Bonedrude experts, and say, ¡°Well...¡±

    ¡°I got it,¡± Yin Xingtian, or the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, said with an expressionless face.

    As soon as he shed his sword with great force, even the void cracked and exploded. Grand Monarch Sharp Bones and the four other Bonedrude grand monarchs hastily backed away from his surroundings.

    A sh of sword light flew towards Grand Monarch Heaven Devil like a plow ploughing fields, leaving a shiny track behind it.

    Seeing this, Mo Heng joined him in attacking Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    ...

    In the dark areas in the tunnel.

    For some reason, the darkness was dissipating, allowing Nie Tian to get a clear view of arge area around him.

    He saw that the Divine me had been capturing and refining Void Spirits to strengthen itself since its arrival.

    Thanks to this, the Void Spirits were no longer a threat to Dong Li.

    ¡°Look!¡± Dong Li suddenly eximed, pointing up at the part of the tunnel that was filled with glorious interweaving lights.

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes, and saw that a Devil soldier had passed through without being ground into a blood mist.

    Disbelief filled the face of the eighth grade Devil soldier, who was bleeding from many cuts, as if he was also wondering why he was still alive after being attacked by a dragon and knocked into the tunnel.

    Soon, wounded soldiers of other species also fell through without being killed.

    The glorious life-reaping lights in the tunnel seemed to have grown stable.

    Ji Cang took a deep breath, and said looking both excited and nervous, ¡°I suspect that anyone can dive into these dark areas safely now. I¡¯m afraid that the battles will take ce in this mysterious space from now on, instead of in the Realm of Shadow Devil.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s about time we look around and see where that gate is.¡±

    Dong Li shuddered with surprise. ¡°Is the Dark Abyss finally going to open?¡±

    Ji Cang nodded. ¡°Enough sacrifices have been made. Arge number of grand monarchs have died up there. Besides, I believe just as many grand monarchs have died in another ce.¡±

    ¡°Are you saying...?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    Ji Cang let out a sigh and said, ¡°The ce where Qin Yao and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer are leading a battle.¡±

    All of the survivors outside shouted, ¡°We¡¯re good to go!¡±

    ¡°Enough sacrifices have been made!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s go in, and find the gate!¡±

    One after another, they shot down into the tunnel at the fastest speed possible.

    Nie Tian braced himself and reactivated his Life-origin Form. As his body expanded at a fast rate, he cried out, ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s see what on earth lies in this Dark Abyss!¡±

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The continuously-growing Bloodline Crystal Chains in his heart suddenly bound together to present him with a brand new bloodline talent.

 Chapter 1710: A Watering Mouth

    BOOM!

    High above, the part of the tunnel that was filled with glorious interweaving lights suddenly exploded.

    From Nie Tian¡¯s point of view, the explosion seemed to create a huge hole in the heavens with sparkling bits of light.

    Immediately afterwards, one figure after another fell through the hole.

    There were Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes.

    Human experts, rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea, and the outsiders from the Spirit World also swarmed into the hole.

    CRACK! BOOM!

    A Floragrim starship exploded upon entering the huge hole.

    The few dozen Floragrims on it were reduced to green blood mists.

    ¡°Starships can¡¯t go through!¡± Someone screamed. ¡°Only beings in flesh form can enter the hole!¡±

    Many starships that were just about to enter with soldiers of different species on them came to sudden stops.

    Then, numerous figures abandoned their starships and dove into the huge hole.

    ¡°Nie Tian. Nie Tian.¡± Dong Li called out to Nie Tian twice, but didn¡¯t receive any response. Then, she activated her dark power to examine him with rapt attention.

    That was when she came to a startling discovery.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart had stopped!

    Just as she was about to cry out, the ck tortoise¡¯s soul message came through. ¡°He¡¯s trying to awaken a brand new bloodline talent. I can sense that the bloodline aura in his heart is going through some sort of change.¡±

    ¡°I was scared to death,¡± Dong Li said, cing her hand on her chest.

    Meanwhile, Ji Cang had been looking up with rapt attention the whole time.

    His expression grew grimmer and grimmer as he said, ¡°After entering the hole, they seem to be pulled by some power and scattered to distant areas. This is so strange...¡±

    Numerous powerful experts of various species scattered and disappeared in different directions after falling through the exploded tunnel.

    None of them remained in the void above Nie Tian and the others, or released any significant power after entering.

    They looked around, and couldn¡¯t see a single neer in their surroundings, dead or alive.

    ¡°Strange indeed,¡± Dong Li said, after being convinced that Nie Tian was fine.

    She hadn¡¯t used the Dark Aureole¡¯s power since the crisis with Void Spirits had been resolved. Now, after pondering for a moment, she eximed softly, ¡°Dark Eye: reflect!¡±

    The mysterious Dark Aureole floating above her suddenly gathered dark power to morph into a pitch-ck eyeball.

    Images started to emerge in it, as if it could reflect anything happening anywhere.

    Dong Li didn¡¯t look up at the dark eye because everything that was being reflected in it was also being reflected in her sea of awareness synchronously. She simply turned to Ji Cang and said, ¡°I can only cover a five hundred kilometer radius around me with it. You¡¯re right. No one seems to have fallen into our surroundings.¡±

    Ji Cang looked at the images presented by the dark eye carefully, and saw countless withered branches and dried remains of dead spirit nts and devil nts, skeletons of creatures that had died for who knew how long, and clusters of orange mes that were flying around to hunt Void Spirits and slowly building up their strength.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Ji Cang and Dong Li suddenly eximed simultaneously.

    They both saw a grayish-brown swamp looming in multicolored toxic miasma.

    A devilishly beautiful young woman could be seen in the depths of the swamp.

    The woman had her lower body in the swamp, and her exposed naked upper body was covered in strangely gorgeous tattoo-like patterns.

    The patterns started with her cheeks. They spread down her snow-white neck, to her ample breasts, and eventually to her t abdomen...

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Mu Biqiong!¡±

    Even she felt envious looking at her physique that was full of temptation and almost too perfect to exist. ¡°Wait. This woman from the Bliss Mountain Sect must have been...¡±

    In the images presented by the Dark Aureole, Mu Biqiong gave a gentle, charming smile and asked, ¡°Are you looking at me, big sister?¡±

    However, both Ji Cang and Dong Li were taken aback after seeing her eyes.

    Two devilish flowers could be seen in the depths of her eyes.

    They almost took up all of her pupils, making one eye enchanting and passionate, while the other eye was cold and merciless.

    It was as if two living beings with two souls had merged together.

    This gave her a very mysterious look.

    Since her lower body was in the swamp, no one could see her beautiful legs. However, they felt as if the roots of two devilish flowers had pierced deeply into the swamp to absorb nourishment from it.

    The swamp was drying up bit by bit, while the toxic miasma over her head was growing thinner and thinner.

    With a gentle smile, she reached out with a jade-like finger and pointed at Dong Li yfully. ¡°Why are you not talking to me, big sister?¡±

    BOOM!

    Wisps of dark power suddenly manifested to bite at the tip of her finger.

    After she let out a soft painful cry, the milky skin on her fingertip split open, and branches that were as fine as hairs flew out to pierce at Dong Li in a nasty manner.

    That was when the swamp suddenly disappeared, like the reflections in a pond that had a rock tossed into it.

    Feeling a stabbing pain in her mind, Dong Li let out a muffled groan, her expression flickering slightly.

    Mu Biqiong¡¯s image could no longer be seen in the Dark Aureole. A grim look filled Dong Li¡¯s face as she said, ¡°She must have beenpletely possessed by those coexisting flowers. And those coexisting flowers must be very satisfied with her body, so they¡¯ve transferred all of their power into her.¡±

    All of the coexisting flower seeds that had been scattered to the three worlds had picked suitable hosts to live in.

    After they grew to a certain extent, they would bewitch their hosts toe to the Dark Abyss and join their main body.

    The ones inside of Mu Biqiong hade from two of the countless seeds that had been spread across the three worlds, yet the coexisting flowers¡¯ main body seemed to be very satisfied with this body of hers, and had fused all of its power into it.

    That was why the coexisting flowers¡¯ main body could present itself in Mu Biqiong¡¯s form.

    All of Mu Biqiong¡¯s memories and experiences had be a part of it as well.

    WHOOSH!

    Though Dong Li and Ji Cang couldn¡¯t see it, the swamp where the coexisting flowers had taken root was moving towards them at a high speed.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this moment, a Devil grand patriarch and a ninth grade lightning dragon fell from the void above.

    The two of them had been fighting in the Realm of Shadow Devil. However, upon discovering that the tunnel had opened up, they had descended without hesitation.

    They had refrained from fighting each other on their way down. Their n was to resume their battle after entering this mysterious space.

    Now, the two of them spotted the devilishly beautiful naked woman in the swamp simultaneously.

    Even though they were a Devil and a lightning dragon, they werepletely dazzled by this female, which was clearly a human. They seemed to have lost themselves in her charms.

    ¡°Haha.¡±

    While the swamp under her was still moving, Mu Biqiong let out a soft chuckle, and pointed her palms towards the Devil and the lightning dragon from afar.

    Thick, sinister roots instantly shot out of her palms to entangle the Devil grand patriarch that was thousands of meters tall and the enormous dragon that was wreathed in lightning bolts.

    ¡°Come down here!¡±

    Mu Biqiong made a pulling motion with her hands, and the two of them were dragged down to the swamp.

    The Devil grand patriarch and the lightning dragon let out blood-curdling screams as they crashed into the swamp. However, even more terrifying roots rapidly reached out from underneath them, pierced into their bodies, and started draining their life force. Within seconds, they lost any signs of life.

    However, the two devilish flowers within Mu Biqiong¡¯s eyes grew more and more distinct, one bright-colored, and the other dark-colored.

    ¡°Nie Tian, your body contains the power of life origin. I¡¯ve been drooling over it for a long time.¡± With these words, She licked her lips with desire written all over her unearthly gorgeous face. The memories of her failed attempts to possess Nie Tian¡¯s body in the Shatter Battlefield also came back to her. ¡°I won¡¯t fail again.¡±

 Chapter 1711: Going Mad!

    As numerous powerful experts fell like rain, subtle changes were happening to Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form.

    The crimson flesh aura sea around him started to emit a sweet odor somehow.

    The odor seemed to be tempting in some way.

    Both Dong Li and Ji Cang were amazed by it.

    After a moment of hesitation, Dong Li activated the Dark Aureole with her dark power once again.

    ¡°Dark Eye: reflect!¡±

    Not only did she go all-out to summon her own dark power, but she also drew power from the ck tortoise to fuse into the Dark Aureole in an attempt to manifest its might to the fullest.

    The reflecting range of the Dark Aureole kept expanding.

    More and more images emerged within it.

    Before long, she and Ji Cang saw an enormous Heavenly Demonsbane speeding through the air at a height several dozen meters from the ground, with its numerous vines flying around in the air. It seemed to be heading in their direction.

    Many Devils, Floragrims, and members of other species could be seen on its swaying vines.

    All of them seemed to have fallen into this space just now, and gotten entangled by its vines.

    Dong Li could see that they were still alive, but were rapidly shriveling and being drained of their power.

    Their eyes were dim and full of despair, their hearts filled with endless fear and sorrow.

    Soon, other images emerged in the Dark Aureole.

    An iparablyrge Demon Eyes Flower was hidden inside a dark cloud, its numerous blossoms spinning like eyes to scan its surroundings, get its bearings, and look for targets to attack.

    Those blossoms already had many living beings inside of them, along with an evenrger number of mangled body parts.

    At the same time, a huge, strange-looking tree could be seen flying like a spectre, exuding wisps of soul power as it did.

    The faces of begrudging spirits and scary ghosts manifested on its trunk from time to time.

    It was a Spectre Tree!

    A pale-white Carrion Flower that was wreathed in a foul smell was also speeding through the void, looking like a giant brain.

    A Spectre Tree, Ghost Spirit Grass, a Heavenly Demonsbane, a Carrion Flower, and a Demon Eyes Flower...

    All of these spirit nts and devil nts suddenly started scrambling in Nie Tian¡¯s direction, as if they had lost their minds.

    They seemed to be attracted by the peculiar sweet odor his Life-origin Form emitted.

    Since the third-generation Tree of Life was engaged in a fierce battle against Grand Monarch Bone Piercer in the Realm of Middle Continent, it wasn¡¯t focused on channeling power from these dark areas anymore.

    Because of this, these earliest spirit nt and devil nt ancestors finally had the courage toe out of hiding.

    Then, after they had seen the numerous powerful beings falling into the gradually-brightening dark areas, they had rushed into apetition for this ¡®food.¡¯

    If they hadn¡¯t sensed the irresistible aura Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form exuded, they would have continued to harvest those who fell from above.

    At this moment, all of them had a peculiar feeling that only Nie Tian¡¯s flesh could help them make that ultimate breakthrough and be transcendent existences like the Tree of Life.

    Therefore, they all rushed towards Nie Tian at the fastest possible speed.

    They would only catch and devour those who fell upon them on their way to Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    BOOM!

    The images in the Dark Aureole suddenly burst. Dong Li let out a muffled groan, then said with a grim expression, ¡°This is not good. Have those strange nts lost their minds? It seems that they¡¯re alling at us. What did we do to offend them?¡±

    She could tell that every one of those devil nts and spirit nts had the power ofte tenth grade grand monarchs andte God domain experts.

    Nie Tian was at a crucial moment of awakening brand new bloodline talents, while she had consumed a tremendous amount of power to defend herself against the Void Spirits. As for Ji Cang... he was too weak to even fight!

    Those five evil gods and Agaz the me dragon were only loyal to Nie Tian. They weren¡¯t hers tomand.

    Growing anxious, she asked, ¡°How about we run from them?¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t,¡± Ji Cang said. Even though he was too weak to fight, his wisdom and vision remained. ¡°Nie Tian is the reason why they¡¯re rushing towards us like feverish beasts, leaving everything behind. To be exact, they¡¯re rendered feverish by the sweet odor his flesh aura sea is releasing as he tries to awaken brand new bloodline talents.

    ¡°They can¡¯t resist that peculiar odor, no matter how hard they try.

    ¡°So we can¡¯t escape their pursuit, unless Nie Tian stops trying to awaken new bloodline talents, and that odor is gone.¡±

    What he said was the truth.

    Frustrated, Dong Li muttered, ¡°Then what should we do?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps we have to ce our hope in Nie Tian now,¡± Ji Cang said, his eyes glittering with anticipation. ¡°I have a feeling that the gate to the Dark Abyss is close to our location. And perhaps its final opening will have something to do with Nie Tian...¡±

    Finally, the coexisting flowers arrived first, along with that grayish-brown swamp and the gradually-thinning miasma.

    ¡°All I want is him, Big Sister,¡± Mu Biqiong said, her unearthly beautiful face filled with greed.

    She even seemed to be drooling as she pointed at Nie Tian. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted him since I first saw him in the Shatter Battlefield.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re after my man?¡± Dong Li said coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you are now, but if you want to steal my man, I¡¯ll kill you myself!¡±

    Face as cold as frost, she grabbed the Dark Aureole with a swift motion, and she was instantly enveloped in endless darkness.

    A cluster of extreme darkness that seemed to have existed since the beginning of time rapidly spread towards Mu Biqiong, who looked both icy and passionate.

    This brightened area soon became even darker than it had been when Dong Li had first arrived, bereft of even the slightest ray of light.

    A dark will that made beings despair and tremble in fear started to influence Mu Biqiong and the swamp.

    Mu Biqiong chuckled and said, ¡°Why bother? You can¡¯t protect him.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Spectre Tree, the Ghost Spirit Grass, the Demon Eyes Flower, and the Heavenly Demonsbane arrived one after another, their enormous nt forms filling heaven and earth.

    Obscure soul voices suddenly echoed out from the flowers and branches. ¡°He¡¯s mine!¡±

    ¡°No, he¡¯s mine!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll have him! You get lost!¡±

    All of these devil nts and spirit nts, which would devastate any realm that they were put in, charged towards Nie Tian.

    However, before they could reach him, their branches, leaves, and flowers started attacking each other, sending countless streaks of light into their surroundings.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The earth shook as they tangled up in a fierce, senseless struggle.

    It was as if they were all convinced that whoever got Nie Tian and devoured his flesh essence would be the second Tree of Life, and be immortal in a real sense!

    Astonishment filled Ji Cang¡¯s face.

    Then, he suddenly jerked his head around to discover that the auras of Agaz the me dragon, the five evil gods, the ck tortoise, and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone were all soaring through the sky.

    All of them had been fused with Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence at certain points.

 Chapter 1712: Destroy

    The battles between the devil nts and the spirit nts were cruel and ruthless.

    Branches and leaves were floating in the air both pathetically and beautifully.

    All sorts of auras surged around Nie Tian. Some had wood power, some had soul power, and some had... the smell of living beings¡¯ blood.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Violent, turbulent energy torrents churned in the perimeter, giving rise to lightning and thunder.

    Storms and whirlpools of various unusual chaotic and twisting powers were inexplicably formed.

    These devil nts and spirit nts were all living beings without fleshly bodies, but the battles between them were even fiercer than those between the grand monarchs.

    Their battles seemed to make the branches and leaves in the sky morph into wood domains and the figures of the living beings that they had devoured.

    They disyed the bloodline wonders of the Devils, the evil soul spells of the Netherspirits, and the wonders of the human race¡¯s god domains.

    Those branches and leaves all contained profound truths of heaven and earth, and the mysterious patterns on them seemed to manifest great Daos.

    The powers that they disyed and their knowledge of souls, wood aura, and flesh aura weren¡¯t any inferior to those of thete tenth grade grand monarchs of various races.

    They had also lived longer than almost all the grand monarchs in the dark areas and the Realm of Shadow Devil, because they had longer lifespans than those living beings with fleshly bodies.

    In order to devour Nie Tian and obtain the essence of his life, they weren¡¯t even afraid of the Divine me anymore. In fact, they seemed to have forgotten about their natural bane outside the Realm of Shadow Devil ¡ª the third generation Tree of Life.

    Ji Cang frowned, fixing his eyes on Nie Tian, whose flesh aura sea was giving off that sweet scent to attract all the devil nts and spirit nts. ¡°Nie Tian?¡±

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t respond.

    However, the five evil gods, Agaz of the me dragons, the ck tortoise, and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone all burst forth with luster and waves that contained unusual life power.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    The five evil gods instantly flew out to float above Nie Tian¡¯s head, like five ancient deities.

    The evil god of rage suddenly started to beat a war drum with great force.

    THUD! THUD!

    As soon as he did, matchlessly terrifying rage morphed into cyan ghostly fire that crackled and rushed out.

    In an instant, the soul awareness and many branches and leaves released by the Spectre Tree and the Ghost Spirit Grass exploded and perished.

    CRACKLE!

    Because of the drumbeat, the void seemed to be unable to bear the burden, and let out a crisp sound.

    Numerous cracks suddenly appeared on the Spectre Tree¡¯s trunk and roots.

    ZZZZZLA!

    The evil god of bloodlust thrust his sharp trident to emit a ray of cyan divine light before fine, sparkling, crystal-clear strands of light flew towards the Demon Eyes Flower.

    The Demon Eyes Flower¡¯s buds that were like demon eyes all turned gray and withered instantly.

    Then the evil gods of hatred, despair, and fear all made their moves.

    Before a winner could emerge from the battles between the devil nts and spirit nts, the five evil gods had growled and rushed out to separately fight the Carrion Flower, Spectre Tree, Ghost Spirit Grass, Heavenly Demonsbane, and Demon Eyes Flower.

    The ck tortoise, which carried the Dark Behemoth¡¯s bloodline, wheezed and struck out into the thick darkness that Dong Li had morphed into before its bloodline suddenly exploded.

    Dong Li¡¯s dark power, which was perfectlypatible with it, greatly increased her battle prowess.

    Driven by Dong Li, the Dark Aureole burst forth with iparably terrifying darkness like a dark sun.

    Mu Biqiong, or the coexisting flowers, waspletely enveloped by the darkness.

    Even the taupe swamp in which her naked body was rooted was infiltrated by the darkness and became as dark as ink.

    In an unseen part of the swamp, Dong Li¡¯s dark power condensed into extremely ck particles that contained the true meaning of darkness.

    Every ck particle disyed the Dark King¡¯sprehension of the darkness and the essence and wonders of the purest darkness. ¡°Darkness: Boundless Erosion.¡±

    The coexisting flowers, which had an unknown age and were much older than the three outsider races of the Void World, finally began to wither.

    Just then, Nie Tian opened his eyes.

    In his Life-origin Form, he held the Rampage Behemoth bone. In the depths of his eyes were reflections of the coexisting flowers, Spectre Tree, Ghost Spirit Grass, and the other devil and spirit nts that wanted to devour him and transcend their limits with his life origin.

    He grinned and started to chuckle.

    As soon as hisughter sounded, the devil nts and spirit nts which were entangled by Dong Li and the five evil gods struggled violently and fled madly. They fled at the risk of suffering heavy blows from Dong Li or the five evil gods. They didn¡¯t care if their branches would be broken, if their leaves would fall off, or if they would be injured for a short time.

    They just wanted to get away from Nie Tian right away!

    The sweet smell on Nie Tian¡¯s body, which had attracted them and made them greedy, had changed and be an aura that made them shudder with despair and feel more fear than they ever had from the Tree of Life!

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted me?¡± Nie Tian said with a soft smile. His deep eyes seemed to have pierced through the darkness andnded on Mu Biqiong.

    He waved and said, ¡°Come here.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Mu Biqiong cried, but the taupe swamp under her flew uncontrobly toward Nie Tian.

    In an instant, the swamp carried her out of the darkness.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered. ¡°You...¡±

    ¡°No! I¡¯m sorry! I was wrong. Forgive me. I dare not do it again.¡± Mu Biqiong entreated piteously and sadly, with tearful eyes.

    The images of the two devil flowers in the depths of her eyes seemed to be deliberately weakened. A part of Mu Biqiong¡¯s real fragmentary soul that had been swallowed and refined was forcibly pulled out.

    At this moment, part of her really became Mu Biqiong.

    ¡°You¡¯re not her,¡± Nie Tian shook his head and said grimly. ¡°Besides, even if you were her, she would have to suffer the consequences for betraying me.¡±

    All of a sudden, he stretched out his hand and made a snatching motion.

    The long fair neck of ¡°Mu Biqiong¡±, who had flown out of the taupe swamp, fell into Nie Tian¡¯s hands.

    As she flew away from the swamp, her thin fragile body suddenly swelled.

    Her lower body had morphed into two enormous roots, which looked like ferocious devil dragons that were covered in scary, sharp thorns.

    Nie Tian, who was enormous in his Life-origin Form, caught her by the neck.

    Her two horrifyingly root-like legs, which were still connected to the taupe swamp, were about ten thousand meters long and were still absorbing the unusual powers in the swamp.

    She had grown many timesrger. That was why Nie Tian was able to catch her neck like that.

    However, she shrank very quickly.

    As she shrank, her fair, clear skin grew dry and brown at a visible speed, and became patches of old bark that peeled away from her body.

    When they fell, they were reduced to flying ash and vanished.

    Atst, her outer skin waspletely removed. One could see dense branches twisted together like veins in her body, instead of flesh and viscera.

    Blood of various colors ran through the branches.

    So it had only borrowed Mu Biqiong¡¯s skin, but the content inside had long changed.

    ¡°Nie Tian, I, I didn¡¯t want to hurt you...¡± she said as her voice and her eyes suddenly became unusually tender and soft.

    At this moment, she was mostly herself.

    ¡°I know that. I¡¯m sorry,¡± Nie Tian sighed softly, and loosened his grip around her neck.

    She fell toward the taupe swamp, but before she could rejoin it, she dissipated, leaving no trace behind.

 Chapter 1713: Flying Ash!

    The coexisting flowers died first.

    Watching the ¡°Mu Biqiong¡± turn into ashes and vanish before she could rejoin that swamp, Nie Tian sighed with mixed emotions.

    However, he soon calmed himself.

    He smiled and pointed at the Heavenly Demonsbane, Spectre Tree, Demon Eyes Flower, Ghost Spirit Grass, and Carrion Flower. ¡°And you! You want to devour my life essence toplete your transformation? Go ahead!¡±

    The response he received was the desperate flight of the devil nts and spirit nts.

    The Demon Eyes Flower even exploded by itself, its buds flying in all directions.

    This approach, which was simr to the Blood Spirit Sect¡¯s Blood Escape Technique, would hurt it.

    However, it couldn¡¯t be bothered to care about that now.

    ¡°Bloodline, Life Shackle!¡± Nie Tian eximed as he raised an enormous hand. The lines on his palm morphed into crimson electric light and condensed into a mysterious symbol.

    The moment the symbol was formed, the fleeing Demon Eyes buds that were like the eyes of demons suddenly froze.

    Soon, the buds flew toward Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form, as if they were caught by an invisible hand. Then they merged into his body like tattoos on his skin.

    Nie Tian chuckled. ¡°Tastes good. For me, they¡¯re like medicinal pills and spiritual elixirs.¡±

    Ji Cang was amazed.

    In his eyes, both the coexisting flowers and the Demon Eyes Flower were equal tote tenth grade grand monarchs andte God domain experts.

    There were Earth Cultivated and Heaven Nourished spirit materials. The coexisting flowers and Demon Eyes Flower were definitely at the Heaven Nourished grade!

    These kinds of unusual treasures were hard to find across the three worlds!

    The moment Nie Tian opened his eyes, he got rid of the coexisting flowers and Demon Eyes Flower effortlessly, which was really amazing.

    The Demon Eyes Flower was the first devil nt in the ranking of the Devils.

    The coexisting flowers were ranked among the top spiritual materials of the Void World.

    The disappearance of these two unusual nts also shocked the other devil nts and spirit nts, making them more terrified.

    Unfortunately, Nie Tian, whose bloodline had further awakened, was already unstoppable.

    ¡°Do you really think you can eat me? Since you can¡¯t even see through the traps, you deserve to die here.¡± With these words, Nie Tian strode forward and pressed his big hand down. ¡°Life Shackle!¡±

    A new symbol appeared in his palm before dazzling blood light filled a vast area around him!

    Illuminated by the blood light, the remaining flying devil nts and spirit nts suddenly froze.

    Then, Nie Tian waved his big hand and grasped those devil nts and spirit nts that were famous for being feared by all living beings in the three worlds.

    After they fell in his hands, those devil nts and spiritual materials quickly withered and died, as if they had gone through a long life in a short time.

    In contrast, not only was Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura bing thicker and thicker, but his eyes were also bing brighter and brighter.

    Heughed, standing among the fallen leaves. ¡°The Spectre Tree and Ghost Spirit Grass provided abundant soul power! Great! Great!¡±

    Before the leaves could fall to the ground, his flesh aura sea crushed them to flying ash and powder that vanished.

    In a very short time, he finished off all the devil nts and spirit nts that had swarmed from every direction in the darknd, and didn¡¯t leave even behind a leaf.

    Dong Li and Ji Cang were taken aback.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m good now,¡± Nie Tian said with a broad smile, ¡°I have recovered from all my flesh and soul injuries. In fact, I¡¯ve never felt so good before! I think I can even fight Grand Monarch Heaven Devil now!¡±

    The Demon Eyes Flower, Coexisting Flowers, Spectre Tree, Ghost Spirit Grass, Heavenly Demonsbane, and Carrion Flower...

    Each of them was a miracle of heaven and earth, an unusual treasure that had inspired fear across the three worlds and countless eras.

    Their deaths provided Nie Tian with not only wood power, but also flesh power and soul power.

    Taking a deep breath, Nie Tian looked coldly into the sky and called with his true soul, ¡°Spirit Scepter! Return, return, return...¡±

    His will crossed infinite space to the other end of the starry river!

    ...

    In that unusual ce.

    A turbid cyclone was slowly turning. Tens of thousands of stars seemed to have fallen into it.

    A mysterious passage was opening inside the cyclone.

    The turbid cyclone was filled with the remains of many ancient starships of the Netherspirits and Phantasms, along with the corpses of Netherspirits, Phantasms, Demons, Fiends, titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts.

    A fierce battle was going on.

    The two sides of the battle were the Netherspirits, led by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, and the crooked forces from the Doomed Star Sea.

    The crooked forces were made up of various kinds of people like Ancientspirits and former rebels of the dragons, Ancientbeasts, and Fiends, as well as many hybrids.

    Grand Monarch Serene Fiend and Grand Monarch White Scales, two of the kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea, were also among them.

    Even Nie Jin, who was Nie Tian¡¯s mother, was among them, standing on the Rainbow Boat.

    The Heavenly Divine Rainbow Cannons fired together to bombard the Netherspirits¡¯ starships, causing them to explode one after another.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer was waving the Spirit Scepter to drive numerous ferocious souls and evil spirits to charge into and sh with countless bright stars.

    Among the many stars, an expert, whose amazing aura filled this area of the starry river, was standing unwavering like a rock that hadn¡¯t moved for millions of years.

    That was Qin Yao!

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelgangers traveled between different locations in a mysterious way, making many crooked Qi warriors of the Doomed Star Sea suffer greatly.

    Every once in a while, someone would be snuck up on and killed by his doppelgangers.

    Three of his doppelgangers suddenly became one and raised their hand to point at a Death Curse Sect Qi warrior. ¡°Soul Perish!¡±

    The soul of the middle Saint domain Qi warrior suddenly exploded, like a balloon that had been pricked by a needle.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits, however,ughed sinisterly as he morphed back into three doppelgangers and started looking for new targets.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Suddenly, all of Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits¡¯ doppelgangers turned to look at the depths of the cyclone.

    He was surprised to see the scepter, which was held tightly by Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and contained the will of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s fragmentary soul, shake violently.

    A figure vaguely appeared in the cyan gem at the top of the scepter.

    It wasn¡¯t a figure of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s remaining will, but a figure he was very familiar with.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits was shocked and screamed, his eyes full of disbelief. ¡°Impossible! This is impossible!¡±

    He could tell with a single nce that the figure was Nie Tian!

    He had suffered losses from Nie Tian in the Mortal World, so he was convinced that he wasn¡¯t mistaken!

    ¡°Impossible!¡± he cried. ¡°The Realm of Shadow Devil is very far away. You are not a Voidspirit. You should not be able to project your soul awareness onto the scepter! Moreover, the scepter is still in Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s hands!¡±

    However, the next moment, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits saw blood spurting from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s palm.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer seemed to feel stabbing pain, and was forced to let go of the scepter.

    In an instant, the Spirit Scepter escaped his control!

    Qin Yao, Nie Jin, and the crooked forces from the Doomed Star Sea all fixed their eyes on the soul shadow that was condensing in the gem of the Spirit Scepter.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Little Tian!¡±

    ¡°Young Master!¡±

 Chapter 1714: See

    The turbid cyclone rotated slowly.

    A mysterious passage inside it slowly opened like a flower bud.

    This passage also connected to the Dark Abyss.

    It could be another treasurednd that had infinite vitality and wonders, or a very dangerous ce where countless intruders were buried!

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits shrieked loudly, staring at the Spirit Scepter, which had escaped from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s grasp and was drifting away from the turbid cyclone.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s hand that had held the scepter was covered with blood.

    His face, which was thin, haggard, and strangely insidious, twitched suddenly.

    A new mark was about to form between his eyebrows.

    He wanted to recapture the Spirit Scepter with the soul wonders that he hadprehended.

    Dazzling starlight suddenly flitted out of Qin Yao¡¯s eyes as he stood proudly in the bright sea of stars. ¡°Eye of Stars!¡±

    An eye was condensed in his palm.

    The eye seemed to have been highly refined by power from the star cores of all the stars in this starry river.

    The stars vanished, the universe, time and space changed, and the four seasons took turns...

    All sorts of mystical wonders could be seen in the eye.

    It contained not only the secrets of the stars, but also many unknown wonders of the countless lives in the three worlds.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer only looked at it for a moment, and he was greatly shocked.

    SPLASH!

    Hundreds of millions of spirits floated out of his head. Those spirits shrieked and screeched, lining up to form a soul seal that was like a country of the dead.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Many stars shot towards him like a storm of crystals in the turbid cyclone.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s battle with Qin Yao broke out again in an instant.

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer could no longer hold onto the Spirit Scepter with his soul awareness.

    He could only watch the scepter float out of the turbid cyclone.

    Nie Jin, who stood quietly on the Rainbow Boat, looked up at the Spirit Scepter fascinatedly, and whispered dreamily. ¡°Little Tian... Is that you? Can you see me?¡±

    Seeing the Spirit Scepter fly away from the turbid cyclone, many Qi warriors who practiced evil spells were thrilled.

    ¡°Is that our young master¡¯s image in the Spirit Scepter?¡±

    ¡°It is indeed!¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve seen him from afar in the Domain of Endless Snow!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the young master has be so strong that he can take the Spirit Scepter away from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer now.¡±

    ¡°It was the young master who first gained control of the Spirit Scepter! Haha, since his soul awareness can be projected on it despite the space between us, it means that he at least has leisure in the Realm of Shadow Devil! Since he can do that, it proves that he can handle the battles there effortlessly!¡±

    ¡°Very good! Couldn¡¯t be better!¡±

    When it was in Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s hands, the Spirit Scepter could increase Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s battle prowess by at least 20 percent. However, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer hadn¡¯t gained full control of it.

    Otherwise, with the Spirit Scepter, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s battle prowess could be increased by 40 or even 50 percent!

    If he could manage that, he might be able to even surpass Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and be the strongest cultivator of the Void World!

    Because of Qin Yao¡¯s previous statement, everyone now knew that the Grand Monarch Soul Capturer in front of them was Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who had been iparably strong and only less well-known than the hidden Tree of Life in the history of the Spirit World.

    They had also found that when Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had held the Spirit Scepter and fought Qin Yao, they had been evenly matched, and couldn¡¯t defeat each other.

    But now...

    Since Grand Monarch Soul Capturer had lost the Spirit Scepter, they believed that Qin Yao would be at an advantage in their battle from now on!

    They were thrilled about that!

    Nie Tian¡¯s soul figure grew solid in the cyan gem on the Spirit Scepter little by little.

    It was not until his soul figure broke away from the turbid cyclone that it grew truly solid.

    He had aplished the true projection of his soul figure, through which he could see a colossal turbid cyclone beneath the scepter, thousands of bones of various races, the fragments of warships, and the ongoing battles.

    All of a sudden, he saw a small, female figure standing on an ancient starship that seemed to be made of multi-colored divine stones and bursting forth with boundless divine light.

    The figure was staring at him fondly, her eyes full of a solicitude that couldn¡¯t be melted...

    Even though his true form was far away in the darknd, as soon as he saw the look in her eyes through his soul shadow, he felt unspeakable sorrow. Even his soul started to shake violently. ¡°I-I...¡±

    SWOOSH!

    After flying out of the turbid cyclone, the Spirit Scepter suddenly burst forth with a bright light, which was so dazzling that everyone¡¯s eyes felt like they were about to explode.

    Time became jumbled, space was twisted, and the stars were reversed!

    In a split second,yers of spatial restrictions were mercilessly torn apart.

    The Spirit Scepter, which was in a whole other ce, suddenly appeared in the darknd where Nie Tian¡¯s true form was and floated between his eyebrows.

    His eyes widened as he saw his soul figure in the cyan gem disappear.

    His heart was so heavy with feelings that he couldn¡¯t help but clutch his chest as he said, ¡°I-I saw a battle that¡¯s just as fierce going on in another ce. I also saw a woman standing on an ancient colorful starship, looking at me and calling my name repeatedly.¡±

    ¡°If you saw her, you should know who she is,¡± Ji Cang whispered.

    Dong Li looked excited. ¡°Nie Tian, she... was the woman who gave me my gifts.¡±

    ¡°I-I know, I know...¡± Nie Tian looked down and murmured. He felt like bottles of condiment had spilled over in his heart (Idiom: have strong, mixed feelings), which made him somewhat overwhelmed. ¡°Many years have passed. I¡¯d imagined how wonderful it would be to finally meet her.¡±

    ¡°But I-I¡¯m a little afraid when I really see her.

    ¡°On the one hand, I fear that all of this is just an illusion. On the other hand, why did she, or they, leave me when I was a baby, and then secretly keep an eye on me?

    ¡°W-what am I worried about?¡±

    He kept whispering to himself.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Numerous clusters of orange Divine me were still scattered everywhere and burning furiously.

    More and more small fires engulfed the Void Spirits and grew little by little.

    After a long time, all the Void Spirits in the vicinity had been devoured by the Divine me, which then sent a message to Nie Tian: ¡°Come with me.¡±

    Nie Tian instantly came to his senses. ¡°Huh?¡±

    He turned to look at the cluster of Divine me nkly and asked, ¡°Come with you? Where to?¡±

    As soon as he said this, Ji Cang realized what was happening. He grew excited and hurried to shout, ¡°Go! Go with it! Ites from the Dark Abyss, and surely it knows how to get in!¡±

    Nie Tian also realized what was happening. ¡°The Dark Abyss!¡±

    The Divine me repeated its message: ¡°Come with me.¡±

    After that, it started drifting weightlessly in a certain direction.

    It was not very fast.

    Nie Tian hurried to follow it. Dong Li hesitated for a bit before she ordered the ck tortoise to carry Ji Cang on its back and follow along.

    The Divine me drifted in an unhurried manner. There were no more devil nts, spirit nts, or Void Spirits that attacked Dong Li along the way.

    Nie Tian looked up once in a while, and could see that arge number of experts were still falling.

    However, as soon as they fell, they were scattered to unknown ces in the darknd. As he tried to perceive his surroundings with his bloodline and explore with his soul, he could sense nothing.

    Thanks to the guidance of the Divine me, their journey was remarkably smooth, and they didn¡¯t encounter any danger.

    During this process, Nie Tian¡¯s aura, power, physical strength, and his Life-origin Form¡¯s height kept climbing rapidly!

 Chapter 1715: The Masterless Void Mirror

    Nie Tian stopped suddenly.

    The Divine me floating through the air also stopped quietly to look at him in puzzlement.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Dong Li asked curiously.

    The five evil gods also stopped one after another.

    Nie Tian looked at Ji Cang, who looked anxious sitting on the back of the ck tortoise, and asked, ¡°Sectmaster, do you know a ce where there is a vast turbid cyclone?¡±

    He gradually calmed down.

    Just then, it urred to him that his parents were still fighting the Netherspirits in another ce.

    The situation of their battle was unclear.

    Ji Cang immediately understood his thoughts. ¡°Do you want to give up the chance of going into the Dark Abyss and go help them?¡±

    He pondered for a while before he shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s unwise.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°The ce where they¡¯re fighting the Netherspirits is most likely another entrance to the Dark Abyss,¡± Ji Cang replied, weighing his words. ¡°ording to your father¡¯s guess, there is more than one gate to the Dark Abyss. The more dangerous the gate, the greater the chance to survive. The gate that they¡¯re at is most likely a dead end.

    ¡°But since your father knows the most about the Dark Abyss, he might have some other arrangements and methods to find a way in.¡±

    ¡°That is to say, if he defeats the Netherspirits, he¡¯ll most likely meet you in the Dark Abyss.¡±

    Nie Tian responded by asking, ¡°But what if he can¡¯t defeat the Netherspirits?¡±

    Ji Cang smiled brightly. ¡°Given his battle prowess, he can surely deal with Grand Monarch Soul Capturer now that he¡¯s lost the Spirit Scepter. At the very least, they¡¯ll be evenly matched. His life won¡¯t be in danger!

    ¡°From what I know of him, he must have a good n if he dares to approach that gate. You needn¡¯t worry.¡±

    Dong Li also tried tofort Nie Tian.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Suddenly, a sh of dazzling electric light struck down from above.

    The electric light condensed and morphed into a crystal-clear Space Boundaries Crystal. Then Pei Qiqi came out of one of the many facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    The moment she stepped out and saw Nie Tian in his Life-origin Form, her cold eyes grew moist. ¡°You... I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine.¡±

    It seemed to have taken such great strength to say just these words that even her shoulders quivered.

    She had found her way to him by relying on her subtle bloodline perception.

    When Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had been further awakened, and the auras of the ck tortoise, the five evil gods, the me Dragon Armor, and the Rampage Behemoth bone had suddenly soared, she had also benefited from it, because Nie Tian had spent his Blood Essence in helping her open her acupoints.

    She had noticed that the remaining strands of red blood aura in those opened acupoints had suddenly started cheering and helping her strengthen her Voidspirit bloodline again. This had let her know that Nie Tian was still alive.

    Then, she had regained consciousness from her frenzied state.

    After that, she had dived into the darknd and started searching with the help of the Space Boundaries Crystal and the strands of red flesh aura in her body, which had a keen sense of Nie Tian¡¯s location.

    Nie Tian heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing her. ¡°I¡¯m d that you¡¯re fine. That¡¯s what I wanted to say too.¡±

    Then, he suddenly thought of something and said hurriedly, ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, there¡¯s a turbid cyclone somewhere, with stars shining and many experts fighting inside. Do you know where that is?¡±

    Pei Qiqi looked puzzled.

    ¡°I summoned the Spirit Scepter back to me from there,¡± he continued, and waved the scepter to show her. ¡°Does that mean that the two areas are not far apart?¡±

    He hadn¡¯t given up on the idea of going to his parents¡¯ aid.

    Pei Qiqi had a strange look on her face. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that the darknd we¡¯re in isn¡¯t really in the Void World? The passage in the Realm of Shadow Devil is just a window. If you jump out of the window and enter here, you are entering a strange andpletely unknown world. In this area, I can¡¯t even sense the situation in the Realm of Shadow Devil.¡±

    She frowned deeply. ¡°Even my Voidspirit bloodline and the spatial power that I¡¯ve mastered are very limited here.

    ¡°The fact that the Spirit Scepter was actually able toe straight here from another ce... To tell you the truth, I find that hard to believe. At least, I wouldn¡¯t have the ability to manage that with the Space Boundaries Crystal.¡±

    Hearing her words, Nie Tian finally gave up. ¡°Forget it. It seems impossible for me to get there to help.¡±

    Just then, he heard the Divine me¡¯s urging message that only he could hear.

    It pressed him to keep up so they could go into the real Dark Abyss.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± he agreed, and kept marching with resignation.

    ¡°Huh?¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly eximed softly. The Space Boundaries Crystal that she held suddenly glowed, and the image of a mirror emerged in one of its facets.

    The mirror was lying on the ground.

    However, groups of strange beings seemed to be swimming in it.

    ¡°The Void Mirror! My master¡¯s Void Mirror!¡± Pei Qiqi screamed, before a drop of her pure blue blood fell on the Space Boundaries Crystal. ¡°Bloodline, Void Link!¡±

    BAM!

    A mysterious passage that only Pei Qiqi could sense with her bloodline was mysteriously formed.

    As soon as it formed, Pei Qiqi looked at Nie Tian apologetically and said, ¡°Nie Tian, I have to go take a look. It¡¯s not far from here. I¡¯ll be right back.¡±

    At this moment, a message came through from the Divine me.

    Immediately afterwards, it floated away, following Pei Qiqi.

    Surprised and confused, Ji Cang asked, ¡°Why is the Divine me going with her?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes widened before he answered with a slightly strange look on his face, ¡°Because those beings swimming in the Void Mirror are Void Spirits. And since the Divine me can strengthen itself through Void Spirits, it wants to go with her.¡±

    ¡°If it¡¯s not far from here, it won¡¯t hurt to go take a look, but...¡± Ji Cang sighed. ¡°If the Void Mirror is here, Brother Qu may have also sunk into this darknd.¡±

    ¡°You were here, too. Haven¡¯t you seen him?¡± Nie Tian asked curiously.

    Ji Cang shook his head. ¡°No. The darknd is too vast, and I was too weak to look around.¡±

    ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go.¡± Nie Tian said nothing more.

    Soon he followed the Divine me to the ce where the Void Mirror was.

    The Divine me hovered around the Void Mirror, as if it wanted to swallow the Void Spirits in it, but couldn¡¯t find a way to do so for the time being.

    Sensing the Divine me¡¯s arrival, the Void Spirits in the Void Mirror were clearly terrified, and started swimming much faster, as if they were trying to hide.

    SPLASH!

    The Maic Star Crystal that had been briefly possessed by Nie Tian before flying into Ji Cang¡¯s palm suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.

    The Void Mirror also shone brightly.

    Nie Tian froze for a few seconds before his face suddenly became extremely dark and gloomy. ¡°The Maic Star Crystal¡¯s star power is in the Void Mirror! Did you kill Qu Yi of the Void Spirit Society, sectmaster?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Ji Cang, looking puzzled.

    SWISH!

    In a sh, Dong Li flew to Nie Tian with the Dark Aureole above her head, before she looked coldly at Ji Cang and shouted, ¡°Come back!¡±

    She was calling the ck tortoise.

    Pei Qiqi reached out and grabbed the Void Mirror. After using a wisp of her spatial spiritual power to enter and perceive it, she red at Ji Cang with hatred. ¡°It was you!¡±

    The ck tortoise squeaked, violently shaking its shell, but couldn¡¯t get rid of Ji Cang.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li could see fear creeping into its small eyes.

    It was obviously afraid of Ji Cang.

 Chapter 1716: True Or False

    There was very obvious star power in the Void Mirror.

    The star power came from the Maic Star Crystal, which had clearly been refined by Ji Cang long ago.

    Otherwise, the Maic Star Crystals that had fallen into Nie Tian¡¯s hand wouldn¡¯t have returned to Ji Cang.

    Ji Cang had been saying that he had been fatally injured, but he had been holding onto the Maic Star Crystal.

    Why didn¡¯t he hand over the Maic Star Crystal that was useless to him to Nie Tian?

    All the Void Spirits that had attacked Dong Li had shunned Nie Tian because his me domain had emitted the Divine me¡¯s aura.

    Ji Cang was so weak that he was dying, but why had the Void Spirits ignored him and never attacked him?

    In addition, Ji Cang had been emphasizing that he needed to go into the Dark Abyss, as if entering the Dark Abyss was his real purpose.

    When Nie Tian had expressed his intention to abandon this action to go help his parents, Ji Cang had persuaded him not to.

    All he wanted was to use Nie Tian and the Divine me to find the so-called ¡°gate¡± so that he could step into the Dark Abyss!

    He didn¡¯t care about anything else.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Pei Qiqi held the Void Mirror, and felt its broken soul slowly regathering in the mirror because of the infusion of her unusual spatial power. Then, she said, ¡°My master was killed here, and even the Void Mirror¡¯s soul was attacked and exploded. Every wisp of its dissipating soul contains star power that is eating away at its soul awareness.

    ¡°Members of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce are proficient in star power. Given my master¡¯s cultivation base and status in the Mortal World, I can¡¯t think of anyone who could kill him but you.¡±

    The hatred in her eyes grew stronger and stronger. ¡°Why?!¡±

    Nie Tian and Dong Li also looked extremely grave.

    Ji Cang was the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the strongest cultivator in the Mortal World!

    Why on earth would this legendary figure kill Qu Yi?

    BOOM!

    The ck tortoise squeaked softly as it even disyed its colossal body.

    Its shell was like a pitch-darknd, with many dark patterns that looked like interwoven ck lightning bolts on it, looking vigorous and lively.

    Several of its amazing bloodline talents were instantly activated.

    A cloud of dense darkness rose from the tortoise¡¯s shell and engulfed Ji Cang.

    Ji Cang¡¯s thin body first vanished in the darkness.

    Secondster, however, he reappeared.

    His dim eyes grew brighter and brighter, like the brightest stars in the night sky!

    The light in his eyes pierced through the darkness and illuminated a vast area of the darknd as he said, ¡°Nie Tian, I¡¯m the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, and you¡¯re a Son of the Stars. Qu Yi is just a stranger. The Mortal World may have enough energies to allow a paragon to emerge, but only one!

    ¡°Like me, Qu Yi was also eager to be a paragon, so he could surpass me.¡± He exined with a sincere expression, ¡°after stepping into the darknd, he suddenly attacked me. I was forced to fight back. After my battle with him, I was seriously injured and could hardly recover, so I ced my hopes in the Dark Abyss, wanting to step into it. I¡¯m sorry for his death, but I had no choice.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t believe him,¡± Pei Qiqi said icily. ¡°My master¡¯s soul has vanished, but the Void Mirror¡¯s soul is regathering slowly. I believe that with the help of my power, it will wake up eventually. As soon as it does, we¡¯ll know the authenticity of his statements.¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t need to wait for the soul to wake up,¡± Dong Li spoke as the Dark Aureole above her head released darkness. ¡°He overpowered the ck tortoise, which shows that he still has power, and his hidden power is extremely strong. He has been pretending since I met him. He clearly harbors malicious intentions.¡±

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and said, ¡°I met Senior Qu Yi once in the Shatter Battlefield. I found him trustworthy. So...

    ¡°The problem is with you!¡± he snapped.

    Suddenly, he started to question everything that Ji Cang had said, whether it was about the Doomed Star Sea, his father Qin Yao, or the mysteries of the Dark Abyss and the three worlds.

    He even began to wonder if this Ji Cang in front of him... really was the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    ording to Mo Heng and Chu Rui as well as the rumors in the Mortal World, as the strongest cultivator in the Mortal World, Ji Cang was nothing like this man in front of him!

    However, this man was holding the Maic Star Crystal, and the lighting from his pupils was pure, condensed starlight.

    ¡°Nie Tian! You are a member of my sect!¡± shouted Ji Cang. ¡°Qu Yi and the girl are strangers! Are you going to hurt me for them?¡±

    ¡°Senior Qu and Senior Martial Sister Pei are no strangers to me,¡± Nie Tian answered with a grave expression. ¡°As for the so-called sect, hehe, are you trying to intimidate me with your identity as the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce? You¡¯ve probably been away for too long to know the current situation in the Mortal World, not to mention that you may not even be the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    Speaking up to this point, a thought shed through his mind.

    He red at Ji Cang and eximed, ¡°Didn¡¯t you once say that Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, who¡¯s one of the top ten grand monarchs in the Void World, is a real threat to the Mortal World? Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re him.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    The Spirit Scepter suddenly floated out, and a mysterious soul magic that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit hadprehended was immediately cast by Nie Tian. ¡°Soul Source Manifestation!¡±

    The cyan gem at the top of the scepter suddenly burst forth with dazzling cyan light, and stared at Ji Cang like an eye.

    Pulled by some magical principle and great Dao, Ji Cang¡¯s figure suddenly emerged in the Spirit Scepter.

    BAM!

    Ji Cang¡¯s figure inside the cyan gem dissipated before Nie Tian could continue to cast spells to study the source of his soul.

    Holding the Maic Star Crystal, Ji Cang frowned and said, ¡°How stubborn!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s not waste our breath!¡± Dong Li yelled, two dark stones emerging from her palms.

    Strong dark energies flew out of the dark stones. Combined with her dark spiritual power, they merged into her Dark Aureole. ¡°Dark Storm! Go!¡±

    The Dark Aureole flew out, rushing towards the ck tortoise like a dark storm that could sweep over heaven and earth.

    The ck tortoise cheered as its bloodline burst forth. It cooperated with the storm condensed by the Dark Aureole to put pressure on Ji Cang.

    Pei Qiqi held the Space Boundaries Crystal with one hand and grasped the Void Mirror with the other. ¡°You wait. I must concentrate my strength and deal with this murderer who killed my master myself!¡±

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Bright and dazzling spatial des shed at Ji Cang, like huge long narrow knives wielded by a Ninth Heaven deity.

    Each spatial de was so sharp and piercing that crackling sounds started toe from the sky of the darknd, as if it were about to crack under the great pressure.

    Dong Li and Pei Qiqi attacked together. At this moment, the two women¡¯s strength was no weaker than that of so-calledte God domain experts.

    Nie Tian even thought that even if it were Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes, he might be overwhelmed by theirbined strength.

    However, in the face of their violent attacks, Ji Cang showed no fear. There was only a pitiful look on his face.

    He felt pitiful that he would have to waste his strength in this conflict that had broken out before they could enter the Dark Abyss.

 Chapter 1717: The Strongest Cultivator

    Ji Cang let out a deep sigh. ¡°I¡¯ve no intention to hurt you. All I want is to enter the Dark Abyss.¡±

    Numerous spatial des that were blindingly bright and extremely fierce interwove in the air!

    The might of the Voidspirit bloodline talent seemed to be pushed to the limit by the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Even if Pei Yukong came back to life, he wouldn¡¯t be able to manifest power greater than this by activating his bloodline.

    WHOOSH!

    The interweaving spatial des came at Ji Cang like countless pairs of scissors, hoping to cut him to shreds.

    Each and every spatial de had mysterious light sparkling inside of them, with the profound spatial wonders they carried fully activated.

    ¡°Why do you have to do this?¡±

    Ji Cang did nothing but lift his hand, and the heaven and earth between him, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li started spinning. He didn¡¯t even activate his dharma idol.

    BOOM!

    Countless sparks suddenly burst forth with blinding starlight from within the Maic Star Crystal in his hand.

    Ji Cang¡¯s aura surged to an incredible level in the blink of an eye!

    It was as if the Maic Star Crystal was a small, peculiar space that had devoured countless stars, or a crystal that had been gathering star power for eons.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Dazzling sparks of starlight flew out into the brilliant Pei Qiqi had woven with countless spatial des.

    It looked as if numerous fish that glowed with silver light were caught by the.

    However, those fish suddenly manifested a terrifying brute force, and broke free from the. The spatial des tried to stop them by cutting at them, but failed.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s face instantly turned pale.

    At that moment, Ji Cang lowered his gaze slightly and eximed in a soft voice, ¡°Stars Shine Through Myriad Realms!¡±

    SPLASH!

    Brilliant starlight burst forth from andpletely overtook the storm of darkness jointly released by Dong Li and the ck tortoise.

    Her secret dark magic was instantly broken.

    Dong Li, who had consumed a tremendous amount of power dealing with the Void Spirits, let out a muffled groan, a wisp of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.

    Nie Tian gasped. ¡°His... His star power core has merged with the Maic Star Crystal!¡±

    He finally understood why Ji Cang looked so weak, but was able to burst forth with such terrifying power.

    ¡°Stop, the two of you!¡± he cried out.

    In his Life-origin Form, he took a step forward, and arrived in the midst of the sputtering spatial des and fading storm of darkness.

    WHOOSH!

    His star domain unfurled like a mysterious, boundless painting of the starry river, glittering with gorgeous starlight.

    Both the All Manifestations Star Banner and the Heavenly Stars Flower manifested in it.

    Numerous sparks of starlight that Ji Cang had released were about to fall into his star domain. However, they changed directions and flitted away upon sensing danger from it.

    ¡°So the reason why you looked so weak was because you didn¡¯t activate your source of power,¡± Nie Tian said, staring at the Maic Star Crystal in Ji Cang¡¯s hand. ¡°This is truly remarkable. You fused your star power core with the Maic Star Crystal and refined itpletely. Then, it was part of your n that the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone carried it out of this darknd.¡±

    Meteors had been falling into the darknd from outside the Realm of Shadow Devil, being channeled by the Maic Star Crystal.

    If what he suspected was true, Ji Cang must have been harvesting and fusing the star core power they carried into the Maic Star Crystal.

    ¡°It¡¯s truly remarkable that he can do that. I doubt anyone else could do it. I never would have imagined that the Maic Star Crystal I seized had long since be a whole with his star power core.

    ¡°Luckily, I didn¡¯t try to refine and fuse it with my star power core when I was up there in the Realm of Shadow Devil. Otherwise...¡±

    The mere thought of this sent a chill down his spine.

    Chu Rui and the others had viewed the Maic Star Crystal as a unique wondrous treasure for those who cultivated star power. If he had tried to refine it when it had already be a part of Ji Cang¡¯s star power core, what would the consequences have been?

    Both his star power core and star domain would have unraveled and vanished into the Maic Star Crystal, bing Ji Cang¡¯s source of power!

    Ji Cang nodded slightly. ¡°You¡¯re very smart. But as a smart young man, you should know how powerful this Maic Star Crystal can be when I wield it, especially against people like you and your father Qin Yao, who practice the Fragmentary Star Incantation!¡±

    With these words, Ji Cang pressed the Maic Star Crystal against his abdomen.

    It fused in with a sh.

    In the next moment, Ji Cang released his god domain, which looked like a glorious, boundless sea with billions of dazzling stars inside!

    He sat in the lotus position at the heart of it, like the one and only god of a vast starry river!

    He smiled faintly at Nie Tian and asked, ¡°Do you feel it?¡±

    Inside the Maic Star Crystal was his star power core, which was the only source of power for human Qi warriors other than their souls.

    What was even more shocking was that Ji Cang had sealed his soul power and soul will within the Maic Star Crystal as well, using some secret magic!

    That was why Nie Tian had been under the impression that he was very weak.

    Both his soul power and spiritual power had been almost undetectable, and he couldn¡¯t find a reason for it.

    Perhaps the reason was that he had been nothing but an empty shell at that time, with ny-nine percent of his soul power and soul will sealed away in the Maic Star Crystal...

    All that had remained in his fleshly body had been a wisp of soul awareness; even his spiritual sea had beenpletely empty.

    However, the moment the Maic Star Crystal had entered his spiritual sea in his dantian region, all of his star power, soul power, and soul awareness had rushed back, allowing him to release his god domain and assume his dharma idol form.

    Only at this moment was he the Ji Cang people knew: the strongest cultivator in the Mortal World!

    What made him even more terrifying was that the core of his boundless star domain was that Maic Star Crystal, which had been spontaneously channeling star core fragments from its surroundings to harvest star power and precious star treasures from them since it had been born!

    Nie Tian smiled bitterly. ¡°I do...¡±

    The All Manifestations Star Banner in his star domain, along with all of the Fragmentary Stars he had gathered previously, were attracted to Ji Cang¡¯s star domain. Before he could do anything, those Fragmentary Stars flew out to join Ji Cang¡¯s star domain.

    Thanks to the Heavenly Spirit Seal inside of it, the All Manifestations Star Banner¡¯s soul was still doing everything it could to resist.

    The only thing in his star domain that wasn¡¯t influenced by the Maic Star Crystal was the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t the Heavenly Stars Flower, another invaluable treasure that should have only existed in the legends that have been passed on for generations in our sect,¡± Ji Cang said with a marveling tone. ¡°I guess only your unique bloodline can give birth to a Heavenly Stars Flower. That Heavenly Stars Flower is the core of your god domain, while mine is the Maic Star Crystal.¡±

    ¡°Are you... really Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce?¡± Nie Tian asked aloud.

    He was still questioning the identity of this Ji Cang in front of him. He wondered if he was someone else who had possessed Ji Cang, as those evil nts had possessed Hua Mu and Mu Biqiong.

    However, this person before him had managed to refine the Maic Star Crystal and fuse his star power core into it, along with his soul power and soul will.

    This was far beyond what a possessor should be able to do.

    Also, Ji Cang was the strongest cultivator throughout the entire Mortal World, held in high esteem by the four great sects. How could he be so easily possessed?

    Ji Cang smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll have to find the answer to that question by yourself.

    ¡°Even I haven¡¯t figured out the wonders of Heavenly Stars Flowers, but you¡¯ve already made one. I¡¯m d that you have. And I wonder if fusing both my Maic Star Crystal and your Heavenly Stars Flower with my domain will help me join the ranks of paragons.¡±

    With these words, he suddenly charged forward!

 Chapter 1718: Sudden Leaving

    Ji Cang¡¯s star domain mmed into Nie Tian¡¯s star domain with devastating force!

    WHOOSH!

    A vast streak of dazzling starlight flew out of Ji Cang¡¯s star domain and rushed into Nie Tian¡¯s star domain like a broad river.

    It flew around with an unstoppable momentum, giving rise to loud whooshes.

    Numerous sparks of starlight that Nie Tian had condensed with pure star power were swept away by it.

    Even the All Manifestations Star Banner that had formerly belonged to Luo Wanxiang started shaking uncontrobly, as if it were going to join the streak of starlight.

    ¡°Of all the stars in this starry river, I am the lord!¡± Ji Cang¡¯s mighty voice rumbled out, shaking heaven and earth so violently that they seemed to be on the verge of shattering.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was Pei Qiqi or Dong Li. Every ray of starlight they saw carried Ji Cang¡¯s aura.

    Even Nie Tian¡¯s star domain was being gnawed away by Ji Cang¡¯s will, as if it would soon be a part of his star domain.

    The Maic Star Crystal was the core of Ji Cang¡¯s star domain, and its greatest wonder was that it could attract and absorb star cores.

    If it could attract and absorb even star cores, what was star power?

    ¡°So you¡¯re after my star domain?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form suddenly burst forth with dazzling blood-colored light, his extremely raging flesh aura sea spreading into his surroundings.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget that I have much more to offer other than my star domain!¡±

    His flesh aura sea, which brimmed with life power, instantly fused with his star domain.

    In the blink of an eye, his glorious, shining star domain became infused with power, as if by a spring of life.

    His wood domain also moved and morphed to ovep with his star domain.

    This gave rise to infinite changes in his star domain, instantly making it alive and full of vigor.

    Receiving nourishment from his flesh aura sea and wood domain, the Heavenly Stars Flower became so much stronger that it started to show some resemnce to the Tree of Life!

    Its numerous blossoms burst forth with brilliant divine light like countless stars.

    ¡°Freeze!¡± Nie Tian called out in a deep voice.

    Ji Cang¡¯s streak of starlight that was ying havoc on his star domain came to a sudden stop.

    SPLASH!

    Wisp after wisp of sparkling starlight was separated from the streak of starlight.

    Even the All Manifestations Star Banner flew out of the streak of starlight, and rejoined Nie Tian¡¯s star domain.

    The unusual power of the Heavenly Stars Flower shone in every corner of Nie Tian¡¯s star domain.

    Like the eyes of a Demon Eyes Flower, its numerous sparkling and crystal-clear blossoms stared unblinkingly at the streak of starlight, and the shadow of Ji Cang¡¯s soul will within it.

    ¡°Impressive.¡± Ji Cang¡¯s voice echoed from within the streak of starlight.

    In the next moment, his star domain suddenly rose high into the sky.

    WHOOSH!

    That streak of starlight also flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s god domain and returned to Ji Cang¡¯s star domain, where it disappeared into a brilliant crystal.

    That crystal was none other than the Maic Star Crystal, the core of Ji Cang¡¯s star domain.

    Ji Cang¡¯s faintugh echoed from his rising star domain. ¡°Forget it. I¡¯m not ying with you anymore. I¡¯d rather save my strength and make preparations for entering the Dark Abyss.¡±

    In his star domain, he frowned as he nced at the numerous orange me sparks in his surroundings.

    They were the Divine me.

    When he and Nie Tian had started fighting, the Divine me had split into numerous me sparks that had spread out to surround him.

    At this moment, the aura he sensed from them made even him apprehensive.

    He didn¡¯t want to engage in a fierce battle against Nie Tian and the Divine me, where both sides would suffer severe injuries, before entering the Dark Abyss. Therefore, he had decided that he might as well leave and wait for a better opportunity.

    As soon as he left, the ck tortoise was freed from his restrictive spell. The enormous tortoise copsed to the ground, looking exhausted.

    ¡°He just left?¡± Nie Tian muttered with a grim expression, discovering that his opponent had left just as he was about to go all-out in their battle.

    His leaving was strangely sudden and without warning.

    As soon as he left his view, Nie Tian could no longer sense his existence with his soul or life bloodline.

    ¡°Is he really the sectmaster of your sect?¡± Dong Li coughed and asked, looking a bit pale. ¡°He¡¯s nothing like what I¡¯ve heard.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, even now, I¡¯m not sure,¡± Nie Tian said, frowning. ¡°But his understanding of star power is way above mine. That Maic Star Crystal is also full of wonders. If it weren¡¯t for my unique bloodline and the fact that I could boost the power of my god domain with my newly-awakened bloodline talent, he would have possessed my star domain already.¡±

    Ji Cang was every bit as mighty as the top three grand monarchs in the Void World.

    ¡°If he can absorb your star domain...¡± Dong Li said before her expression suddenly flickered. ¡°Then he might haveid his murderous hands on Chu Rui, the vice sectmaster of your sect, as well after he dove into this darknd!¡±

    Upon hearing this, Nie Tian gasped with astonishment. ¡°That¡¯s actually quite possible! He only left because he discovered that my Heavenly Stars Flower could resist his Maic Star Crystal¡¯s attraction after being nourished by my flesh aura sea. If Chu Rui had run into him in this darknd, his god domain might very well have been absorbed by his Maic Star Crystal.¡±

    ¡°But Chu Rui rushed down here to help him!¡± Dong Li said.

    Pei Qiqi jumped in at his moment and said, ¡°Even if he really is Ji Cang, he¡¯s not the man in the legends we heard anymore.¡±

    Her Space Boundaries Crystal suddenly burst forth with sparkling light.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of sparkling light flew into the Void Mirror.

    The light revealed the Void Spirits inside the mirror before the power of the Space Boundaries Crystal drove them out with force.

    The numerous me sparks that the Divine me had split into swarmed in.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    They rapidly burned and refined the Void Spirits that had been driven out of the Void Mirror.

    After the Void Spirits were gone, the speed at which the Void Mirror¡¯s broken soul regathered improved significantly.

    ¡°My master captured and put those Void Spirits in the Void Mirror. He had been thinking about how to deal with those Void Spirits and explore their secrets the whole time.¡±

    As she spoke, Pei Qiqi gently ced her fingers on the Void Mirror.

    Wisps of soul will rose from the Void Mirror and fused into her fingers.

    The soul of the Void Mirror seemed to want to tell her something...

    ¡°Ji Cang learned everything he knows about the Void Spirits from my master,¡± Pei Qiqi said to Nie Tian, while sensing and sorting through the broken memories the Void Spirit¡¯s soul conveyed to her. ¡°It¡¯d be almost impossible for the Void Mirror¡¯s shattered soul to regather if I didn¡¯t drive those Void Spirits out. They had been contending against the Void Mirror¡¯s soul inside the mirror.¡±

    As she spoke, an extremely faint shadow suddenly shed across the Void Mirror.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Wait!¡±

    ¡°Qiqi...¡± A very weak voice echoed from within the mirror.

    Nie Tian shuddered and stared at the Void Mirror with amazement written all over his face. ¡°Senior Qu! Is that you?¡±

    ¡°Master!¡± Pei Qiqi was so surprised and overjoyed that she burst into tears.

    She held the Void Mirror with both hands, and tiny wisps of azure light kept flying out from the depths of her bright eyes.

    Her spiritual power fused into the Void Mirror continuously.

    The wisp of Qu Yi¡¯s soul seemed to have ovee great difficulty to travel from another space and manifest in the Void Mirror.

    Nie Tian was ted.

    The arrival of that wisp of soul meant that Qu Yi hadn¡¯t perished, at least not beyond salvation.

 Chapter 1719: Tremendous Changes

    Qu Yi was the sectmaster of the Void Spirit Society. His understanding and mastery of spatial power was unmatched throughout the Mortal World.

    The Void Mirror he wielded allowed him to go anywhere at any time in the Mortal World.

    As long as he wanted, he could travel from one domain to another in a split second.

    Because of that, he was considered the one human that was the most difficult to kill.

    Even if his enemy had a superior cultivation base than his, even if he was surrounded by mighty experts, he could escape as long as he wanted to.

    Given his abilities, even if the top three grand monarchs in the Void World had teamed up against him, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to trap him, as long as the battle had taken ce in the Mortal World.

    How had Ji Cang managed to destroy his fleshly body, leaving only a wisp of his soul behind?

    ¡°Qiqi...¡± Qu Yi¡¯s soul voice seemed to being from another space.

    His soul shadow started to emerge in the mirror.

    However, changes suddenly took ce!

    A very tiny Fragmentary Star suddenly manifested in the Void Mirror, bursting forth with blinding starlight!

    POOH!

    Qu Yi¡¯s emerging soul shadow was immediately annihted like a wisp of smoke!

    ¡°No!!¡± Pei Qiqi screamed like a mad person before hastily fusing wisps of azure light into the mirror in an attempt to salvage him.

    However, her effort was futile.

    Face very grim, Nie Tian bellowed, ¡°Ji Cang!¡±

    ¡°Sorry, he knows too much. I can¡¯t let him live.¡± Ji Cang¡¯s ethereal voice echoed out from the distance.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods flew out one after another, and started searching around by relying on their keen soul perception.

    WHOOSH!

    Even the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone that Nie Tian had strengthened with his life bloodline flew out under Nie Tian¡¯smand to capture Ji Cang¡¯s life aura and determine his whereabouts.

    Nie Tian himself, who was in fury, also activated his Life Detection bloodline talent and soul detection.

    Meanwhile, Ji Cang¡¯s ethereal voice was still echoing in the air. ¡°Qu Yi escaped to another space with a wisp of his soul essence through the Void Mirror. He thought I didn¡¯t know. Hehe, I hid a Fragmentary Star in the Void Mirror after shattering its soul just to wait for his wisp of soul essence to return.

    ¡°In a manner of speaking, I have to thank Miss Pei. If he hadn¡¯t sensed your aura and if you hadn¡¯t tried to fix the Void Mirror¡¯s soul, his wisp of soul essence wouldn¡¯t have had the audacity to return so quickly through the Void Mirror.

    ¡°Of course, he did it because he wanted to tell you something, and he wanted you to help him find an opportunity to be reincarnated through that wisp of soul essence. However...¡±

    Ji Cang¡¯s voice finally became too faint to hear.

    However, that exploded Fragmentary Star sputtered out small but terrifyingly mighty wisps of refined star power.

    Like tiny swords made of starlight, they shed and annihted the residual fragments of the Void Mirror¡¯s soul.

    As this happened, numerous fissures ripped through the surface of the invaluable spatial treasure of the Void Spirit Society, the Immortal grade divine tool that had helped Qu Yi earn his name.

    Even the mirror itself was damaged as its soul suffered another heavy blow, probably beyond salvation, from the starlight created by the explosion of the Fragmentary Star.

    The five evil gods and the crimson bone conducted a thorough scan of a five hundred kilometer radius around them, but failed to find Ji Cang.

    Pei Qiqi held the Void Mirror with both hands, tears filling her eyes. ¡°He... He died because of me...¡±

    Dong Li sighed and said, ¡°You have nothing to do with it. That sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce is such a scary figure. He set you up long ago. Once your master failed to resist the temptation to talk to you, and his escaped wisp of soul essence returned to the Void Mirror from another space, he would know about it, and that Fragmentary Star would be detonated...

    ¡°He¡¯s the strongest cultivator in the Mortal World, for heaven¡¯s sake. Why did he have to fight his own kind instead of the outsiders in the Void World?

    ¡°Given his powers and ruthlessness, even Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer would have had a headache if he had been bent on fighting the three major races of the Void World.

    ¡°Why did he have to do this?¡±

    Dong Li couldn¡¯t figure out an answer.

    Pei Qiqi was still in great pain, regretting her decisions and holding the Void Mirror in front of her.

    Nie Tian tried everything in his power, but still failed to locate Ji Cang. Neither his soul nor his life bloodline could detect him.

    BOOM!

    Great changes suddenly took ce in the heavens of the darknd.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, the Tree of Life, and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer dove into the darknds, along with experts like Yin Xingtian and Mo Heng, who represented the top power in the Mortal World, the Spirit World, and the Void World.

    It seemed that they had finally seen the opportunity they had waited for for so long.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li had to drop the incident with Qu Yi¡¯s death and look up with astonishment.

    Surprisingly, the most powerful grand monarchs and God domain cultivators from the three worlds seemed to be forcibly broken apart and scattered to different distant areas as soon as they fell from the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°Is that Gupi with Jiang Yuanchi?!¡± Dong Li eximed with wide eyes. ¡°Didn¡¯t it die already?¡±

    After all of the powerful experts had descended to the darknd, Jiang Yuanchi manifested in his dharma idol like a god of light in the sky, and descended standing on Gupi, which was wreathed in toxic miasma.

    Gupi could be seen with great rity, like a fat, multicolored maggot that was ten thousand meters long.

    Jiang Yuanchi was followed by many Lightspirits, who fluttered their holy white-feathered wings as they also descended to the darknd.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted.

    He wasn¡¯t surprised that Jiang Yuanchi would enter the darknd as the high chieftain of the Lightspirits.

    However, hadn¡¯t his master taken Gupi away with the River of Time?

    He had even seen Gupi¡¯s chopped-up remains!

    ¡°This is so odd, truly odd... I can¡¯t believe Gupi came back to life! What¡¯s even more baffling is how Jiang Yuanchi managed to find it...¡± Questions filled Nie Tian¡¯s mind. It seemed that the opening of the Dark Abyss had shaken all three worlds, and shone light on many hidden mysteries.

    WHOOSH!

    The divided Divine me suddenly came back as one.

    It urged Nie Tian once again.

    Immediately afterwards, it took the lead to fly towards the area where it sensed the gate was.

    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Dong Li moved lightly, grabbed Pei Qiqi, and dragged her onto the ck tortoise¡¯s back.

    Nie Tian alsonded on the iparably broad back of the ck tortoise, which had activated its bloodline.

    Outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    All of the powerful experts from the three worlds had either died in battle or dove into the tunnel after the interweaving lights had be stable.

    Even the Tree of Life, which had been fighting Grand Monarch Bone Piercer in the Realm of Middle Continent, had left the ce where it had taken root, and flown down the tunnel in the form of a colossal tree with lush branches and leaves.

    Only the Realm of Middle Continent remained motionless in the starry river outside the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    Small numbers of experts of different minor races in the Void World continued to arrive and sneak into the darknd after Jiang Yuanchi.

    All of them belonged to races that were even weaker than the Lightspirits, the Seaspirits, and the Moonspirits.

    ...

    In the vast space in the depths of the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Murky currents suddenly started converging and fusing into the magnificent giant that was lying face-up like a mountain range that stretched for thousands of kilometers.

    Those currents and energies of heaven and earth had dispersed from his body to fill this vast underground space in the first ce.

    Now, however, they started pouring back into him like reverse rivers for some reason.

 Chapter 1720: The Same Destination

    In an unknown area in the Void World.

    Netherspirit forces and the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea were engaged in a fierce battle.

    The mysterious tunnel inside the colossal turbid cyclone slowly opened up.

    Numerous rifts could be seen gaping along the outermost areas of the rotating cyclone.

    A wide array of energies of heaven and earth were pouring out of the rifts. Among them there were Devil Qi, Phantasm Qi, toxic miasma, death power, and spiritual power of various attributes.

    All of these energies wereing from... the Spirit World!

    This cyclone was the reason why the Spirit World was withering and dying, its numerous domains running out of energies of heaven and earth!

    This cyclone contained another tunnel that connected to the Dark Abyss.

    Like the one in the Realm of Shadow Devil, entry to this tunnel would also be granted only after enough sacrifices were made.

    The entrance in the Realm of Shadow Devil required the flesh auras, souls, and bodies of living beings as sacrificial offerings.

    This entrance, however, needed various energies from domains and realms. In fact, it had started channeling energies from the Spirit World a long time ago.

    HOWL!

    An enormous monster that looked like a giant scorpion seemed to have gone mad as it charged towards the cyclone with an unstoppable momentum.

    The rogue Qi warriors and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea, as well as the Netherspirits, were bbergasted. ¡°The Chaos Behemoth!¡±

    Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had worked together to trap the Chaos Behemoth in a dead realm of the Netherspirits. Their original n was to tame it after finishing with their battles.

    Who would have thought that this Star Behemoth, which Feng Beiluo had revived and awakened from the depths of the Shatter Battlefield, had actually broken free and traveled all the way here by tracking Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s soul fluctuations?

    Upon arriving, it seemed to go berserk.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Peculiar currents swirled out of its enormous body to infiltrate the minds of the fighting Netherspirits and the rogue cultivators, hybrids, and outsiders from the Doomed Star Sea.

    The chaotic power within them could derange intelligent beings, and make them lose their minds.

    Members of different races screamed to rm their friends.

    ¡°Damn it! Something seems to have provoked it!¡±

    ¡°Watch out! Be careful around the chaotic power it releases!¡±

    However, the chaotic currents released by the frenzied Star Behemoth still engulfed many of the Netherspirits and those from the Doomed Star Sea.

    Anyone influenced by the chaotic power lost their minds immediately.

    Not only did they attack their opponents, but they even started trying to kill those who they had been fighting alongside!

    There wasn¡¯t any sanity left in them.

    Then, when the fights were the messiest, this Star Behemoth that had emerged abruptly headed towards that gaping mysterious tunnel under Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Qin Yao¡¯s gazes.

    BOOM!

    Countless streaks of glorious light burst forth as soon as its enormous body, which looked like a colossal scorpion, squeezed into the tunnel.

    Its natural hard shell resisted the storm of attacks from the lights. As blood started to ssh, its giant form suddenly vanished.

    Unexpectedly, the Chaos Behemoth had be the first to pass through this mysterious tunnel.

    Everyone saw with great rity that even though it had been hurt, it had indeed passed through the tunnel alive.

    ¡°We¡¯re good to go!¡± Someone screamed.

    Immediately afterwards, it didn¡¯t matter if it was the Netherspirits or the rogue Qi warriors and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea. They all started swarming into the tunnel.

    However, many exploded into blood mists in the next moment!

    The majority of those who rushed into the tunnel suffered immediate, violent deaths.

    Only a few passed through without being killed. It could be their luck or something else that had let them survive.

    This was simr to what the tunnel in the Realm of Shadow Devil had been like before enough sacrifices had been made, full of danger and allowing only a few entrants to pass.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect and Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, finally descended after being convinced that enough sacrifices had been made.

    However, they were at a loss after their descent.

    They didn¡¯t know how to find the so-called Dark Abyss from where they were.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Feng Beiluo as he looked up and saw an enormous scorpion-like creature in the heavens, quickly plummeting towards the earth.

    He couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°The Chaos Behemoth! Wait! From the information we¡¯ve obtained, shouldn¡¯t it be trapped in a dead realm by the Netherspirits? We saw the Ripper Behemoth, the Tree of Life, and many other special creatures beforeing down here, but the Chaos Behemoth was surely not one of them!¡±

    Almost at the same time, Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, saw an acquaintance falling from the heavens.

    The man happened to fall to an area that was close to where they were.

    Yuan Jiuchuan morphed into a bolt of lightning and flew over without dy. Feng Beiluo followed along.

    It wasn¡¯t long before they found thete Saint domain cultivator who practiced the Nether Spirit Society¡¯s unorthodox incantations. From him, they learned the truth.

    ¡°So that mysterious tunnel in the turbid cyclone connects to this darknd as well?!¡± The Thunder Devil eximed in shock. ¡°And that cyclone is rotating endlessly to channel all sorts of energies from the Spirit World?! This is unbelievable!¡±

    Feng Beiluo then said, ¡°It seems that we¡¯re in the right ce. The gate to the Dark Abyss must be here! It won¡¯t be long before we meet the master and the mistress in this darknd!¡±

    The Thunder Devil let out a sigh. ¡°It¡¯s just that we don¡¯t know where the young master is.¡±

    ¡°The young master...¡± Feng Beiluo muttered with a deep frown. His heart grew heavy as he remembered the scene where Nie Tian had been torn to pieces after being knocked into the tunnel by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. ¡°I think he¡¯s still alive. The wonders of his life bloodline are simply unheard-of. He wouldn¡¯t die so easily, right?¡±

    ¡°Of course he wouldn¡¯t!¡± the Thunder Devil said, full of confidence.

    The rogue Qi warrior from the Nether Spirit Society contributed to the topic. ¡°We saw the young master¡¯s soul shadow projected in Grand Monarch Soul Capturer¡¯s Spirit Scepter in that other ce. Then, the Spirit Scepter magically disappeared. This happened not very long ago.¡±

    Both Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil gasped. ¡°What?!¡±

    After asking the man about the details, the two of them burst intoughter.

    ¡°Who would have thought that even when he was in this darknd, the young master could stir up waves out there and retake the Spirit Scepter from Grand Monarch Soul Capturer?!¡±

    ¡°I knew that even though he exploded on his way down, the young master would be able to rebuild his body!¡±

    ...

    The Divine me came to a sudden stop.

    Pei Qiqi held both the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal towards the area in front of them.

    Numerous ghostly shadows slowly manifested in the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    ¡°It¡¯s the Void Spirits. The open area in front of us is full of them.¡± Pei Qiqi said with a grim expression. ¡°I briefly studied the profound spatial knowledge the Void Mirror¡¯s broken soul presented to me, and derived a wonder that allows the Void Mirror to reveal Void Spirits. Then, with it, I vested my Space Boundaries Crystal with the same ability.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian turned to fix the Divine me with a surprised gaze. ¡°Even though we can¡¯t see those Void Spirits with our eyes, the Divine me can.¡±

    The Divine me, which had been eager to strengthen itself by devouring Void Spirits and was perhaps the strongest Void Spirit itself, didn¡¯t do anything this time.

    It appeared that it had found itself in a tricky situation for the first time.

 Chapter 1721: The Same Kind

    These Void Spirits reflected in the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal seemed to be much stronger than the ones they had met before.

    Even the Divine me seemed to feel threatened, and wanted topromise in some way.

    Nie Tianmunicated with it, and immediately learned that this area filled with Void Spirits was the only path to the ce they were heading: the Dark Abyss!

    ¡°Watch out!¡± As soon as Pei Qiqi eximed, the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal burst forth with brilliant light together to form special wards that enveloped Nie Tian and Dong Li.

    Nie Tian was instantly struck by a peculiar feeling that he was traveling between different spaces.

    Even his senses of this darknd and his bond with the five evil gods and the me Dragon Armor became unstable and intermittent.

    It was as if they were all shuttling back and forth between different spaces and unable to find their way to the one they belonged to.

    However, he could still see Pei Qiqi and Dong Li to his left and right. He could see numerous Void Spirits whizzing by in Pei Qiqi¡¯s Void Mirror and Space Boundaries Crystal, as if they had alreadyunched attacks against them, and were rapidly approaching.

    From this, he realized that those Void Spirits must have suddenly diminished the space between them through some sort of magic.

    Pei Qiqi had no choice but to cast a secret spatial magic, Void Drift, to protect them from the Void Spirits¡¯ attacks, since she feared that he and Dong Li would be clueless as to how to deal with these untraceable creatures.

    ¡°My me Dragon Armor and the evil gods are all out there,¡± Nie Tian said with a frown. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, why can these Void Spirits be reflected by the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal, but Dong Li and I can¡¯t see them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because they¡¯re in a simr state to ours right now,¡± Pei Qiqi answered.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Dong Li, however, instantly understood what she meant. ¡°Are you saying that these Void Spirits are traveling back and forth between different spaces like we¡¯re doing right now? And they¡¯ll onlye out of hiding the moment they attack, which is why we can only detect them for a very brief moment?¡±

    The truth was that she had long since discovered that she could sense the existence of the Void Spirits in the very brief moment they attacked her dark power shield.

    However, the power they shot into her dark power shield would vanishpletely after a split second.

    It was as if they had fallen from this space into another.

    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Pei Qiqi said. ¡°These Void Spirits before us give me a very ethereal feeling. I even suspect that what we see in the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal are only their reflections, and their true forms are in the Dark Abyss!¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°So were the ones that the Divine me trapped and refined earlier reflections as well?¡±

    If they were indeed mere reflections, then it meant they didn¡¯t actually exist, like reflections in water.

    Pei Qiqi nodded. ¡°I suppose so. However, even their reflections carry wondrous powers. And those powers don¡¯t belong to any of the categories we know. Only the Divine me can burn and refine them. If we were to deal with them ourselves, even if we knew that they were floating in our surroundings, we wouldn¡¯t be able to fight them.

    ¡°Oh, wait...

    ¡°Spatial treasures like the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal can be used to confine them.¡±

    With these words, an exmation escaped her mouth. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    BOOM!

    The spatial wards protecting Nie Tian and Dong Li suddenly failed.

    Clusters of dark green, silver-white, dark red, and gold light and lights of many other colors manifested with great rity in front of them.

    Some seemed to be infused with life force. Some seemed to be zing. Some seemed to be bone-piercingly cold. Some seemed to be iparably sharp...

    ¡°Void Spirits! They¡¯re Void Spirits in true form!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed and stopped mobilizing the power of the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal. ¡°These are not reflections anymore. These are what they¡¯re really like!¡±

    Nie Tian now realized why the Divine me was so nervous this time, like it was facing formidable foes.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the ones that had attacked Dong Li, the ones that had been scattered around, or the ones that had been driven out of the Void Mirror. All of the Void Spirits the Divine me had faced before had been mere reflections.

    It was only natural that Void Spirits like them had been no match for it, and ended up being engulfed and refined by it.

    However, things were different this time.

    Those clusters of light and mes that carried auras with different attributes were actual existences just like it.

    Perhaps none of them could defeat it in battle single-handedly.

    However, they were here inrge numbers. With a brief headcount, Nie Tian counted more than a dozen of them!

    There were more than a dozen Void Spirits that were just as real as it, popping out simultaneously to eye it like lions eye their prey. Of course it would have a headache over the situation.

    CHIRP! CHIRP!

    TWIT! TWIT!

    SQUEEK! SQUEEK!

    ...

    Strange, sharp voices that one could only hear with their souls rang out.

    Immediately afterwards, the numerous Void Spirits that looked like clusters of light and mes of various colors flew over and surrounded the Divine me, as if to interrogate it with questions like why it had left, where it had been all these years, and what had happened to it.

    It was as if they were a board of elders, berating and questioning a rebel.

    ¡°Can¡¯t you make out what they¡¯re saying?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    Both Dong Li and Pei Qiqi shook their heads, looking dumbfounded.

    They could hear the numerous Void Spirit projecting soul voices as if they were some kind ofnguage. However, they couldn¡¯t figure out what they meant. They could only sense their anger, agitation, and discontent with the Divine me through those sharp, loud voices.

    Dong Li narrowed her eyes and examined the Void Spirits with rapt attention. However, all she could tell was that they all had their unique attributes and soul fluctuations, but were bereft of any flesh aura. ¡°What a bunch of strange existences! It seems that they don¡¯t have fleshly bodies, and are made of nothing but energy. Can they be called intelligent beings?¡±

    ¡°No, not all of them are bereft of fleshly bodies and flesh auras,¡± Pei Qiqi quickly said. ¡°The Divine me carries a flesh aura. In a sense, it has already be a living creature with a soul and a fleshly body!¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±

    Dong Li didn¡¯t carry a special bloodline. Therefore, she wasn¡¯t very sensitive to the Divine me¡¯s aura, which it was deliberately hiding.

    Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi were hybrids. Naturally, they could sense the Divine me¡¯s aura, the unique auraing from the core of the cluster of orange me.

    Both of them found the aura very familiar.

    That familiarity came from the three drops of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence that the Divine me had traded for from him!

    Those three drops of Blood Essence had gotten Nie Tian a me spark, which hadter been nourished into Nie Yan, the first Ifrit that was currently in the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    One might say that Nie Tian and the Divine me had created Nie Yan and the Ifrits together.

    ¡°Hmm? Why do I suddenly have a feeling that something is wrong?¡± Nie Tian felt a jolt in his heart as he was struck by a peculiar feeling that all of the Void Spirits had set their eyes on him!

    Immediately afterwards, his expression changed.

    From the Divine me, he learned that all of these Void Spirits, which had manifested in their true form, yearned for his Blood Essence and couldn¡¯t wait to have flesh auras and fleshly bodies of their own as the Divine me did!

 Chapter 1722: The Void Spiritâ€™s Desire!

    The Divine me was a Void Spirit as well.

    A very long time ago, it had left the darknd for the Domain of me¡¯s End.

    It had nted its me sparks in every realm in the Domain of me¡¯s End, which had been a deste, uninhabited domain back then.

    Those me sparks had channeled me power from the starry river to strengthen themselves, and had eventually turned the realms in the Domain of me¡¯s End into zing fiery realms.

    Numerous human Qi warriors and other creatures that practiced me incantations had moved to the Domain of me¡¯s End, where they had rapidly improved their spiritual power and bloodline power.

    Then, one day, the Divine me had returned to harvest the fruits that were the me sparks that had grown ripe.

    As a result, countless lives in the Domain of me¡¯s End had been incinerated by torrential mes.

    The Divine me, however, had be stronger.

    This was its unique method of upgrading itself.

    Just like this, the Divine me had gradually grown into a uniquely powerful fiery being after leaving the Dark Abyss. It had even built its own flesh aura and early-stage body with the three drops of Blood Essence it had obtained from Nie Tian.

    More unexpectedly, that me spark it had given to Nie Yan had been nourished into Nie Yan, a creature with a heart and a soul, the first of a brand new species!

    It was to Nie Yan as the Tree of Life was to the Floragrims. It was his creator!

    If it was a Void Spirit, then...

    These Void Spirits they were facing also came from the Dark Abyss. Some of them looked like clusters of light, while others looked like balls of me. Either way, they were all in pure energy form.

    The only major difference was their attributes. Some were zing hot. Some were bone-piercingly cold. Some were razor-sharp, while others emanated lightning wisps.

    If they had left as the Divine me had, they could also have upgraded themselves continuously by nting seeds in various realms and changing their core structures.

    If they had also obtained Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence and developed their own flesh auras and life force, could they have created brand new species as the Divine me had?

    Could that bone-piercingly cold Void Spirit have created a species of ice-attributed creatures?

    Could the other Void Spirits have created species of lightning-attributed and metal-attributed creatures?

    A shudder ran through Nie Tian as he realized what those Void Spirit yearned for and why, which was the reason why they had stopped focusing on the Divine me, and fixed their attention on him instead.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph and said, ¡°You want my Blood Essence, right? Do you want to trade or take it by force?¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of the Void Spirits shot towards his heart like more than a dozen streaks of light and mes.

    From the look of it, they clearly intended to force their way into his heart and seize his life power-infused Blood Essence without the slightest intent to make trades or negotiate with him.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The orange Divine me split into numerous me sparks that flew out to stop those Void Spirits.

    However, these Void Spirits were no longer the reflections they had been before. Instead, each one of them was the result of an extreme concentration of a certain power, and was vested with the ultimate attribute of that power of heaven and earth!

    Facing the Divine me¡¯s attack with those zing me sparks, they showed no fear.

    A cluster of silver-white, bone-piercingly frigid me even froze the me sparking at it, and shot towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest like a beam of icy light.

    It intended to pierce into his heart directly!

    Nie Tian let out a coldugh. ¡°So you don¡¯t want to y by the rules. You little things must have gotten one thing wrong. When you only presented your reflections, since you were in a different space, and I¡¯m not skilled in spatial power, I couldn¡¯t locate you through my soul or bloodline perception. But now, you¡¯re here in your true form!

    ¡°Your true forms are not only ultimate forms of condensed power, but they¡¯re also the vessels for your souls and wits!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian assumed a tight grip of the Spirit Scepter and pointed it at the iing streak of icy light.

    ¡°Soul Prison!¡±

    A misty cyan, soul-confining ward was released from the Spirit Scepter.

    Like a cage, it caught the streak of icy light in an instant.

    Trapped inside the ward, the icy light froze the ward to the point where it gave rise to cracking sounds. However, the soul awareness at the core of the icy light was also wrapped around by numerous strands of soul power through a secret soul-sealing incantation derived by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    The ice-attributed Void Spirit could only inch forward, as if it were wading through mud.

    At that moment, the five evil gods charged out simultaneously.

    Well-versed in the Netherspirits¡¯ various soul spells, they summoned waves of negative emotions, including rage, bloodlust, despair, fear, and hatred, and instantly created tremendous obstacles for the Void Spirits by influencing their souls and states of mind.

    ¡°Hehe.¡± Dong Li let out a derisiveugh. ¡°These Void Spirits aren¡¯t the most dangerous when they present themselves in their true form. They¡¯re only a huge threat when they hide themselves in the Dark Abyss and attack us with their reflections, because that way, they¡¯re undetectable and unpredictable.¡±

    She had noticed that Nie Tian was dealing with the Void Spirits skillfully with the help of the Spirit Scepter and the five evil gods.

    She was convinced that even she would do a good job fighting them now by starting with their souls since she could see them in their true form.

    What had made them dreadful before was that she hadn¡¯t been able to see or detect them in any way. She hadn¡¯t even known what they were.

    This was what made an enemy the scariest.

    ¡°It seems that their growth has been slow because they¡¯ve never left the Dark Abyss,¡± Pei Qiqi whispered. ¡°If they had grown into powerful spirits like the Divine me that can mobilize the me power in an entire domain, they would be much harder to deal with.¡±

    Hearing her words, Dong Li pondered briefly and nodded. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right.¡±

    The Divine me was clearly stronger than those Void Spirits.

    Even so, it couldn¡¯t inflict many restrictions or damage on those fleshless Void Spirits.

    However, if its enemies had been her and Pei Qiqi, then it would have been a disaster for them.

    All of a sudden, excited shouts echoed from high above, and rapidly grew closer.

    ¡°Void Spirits!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Such arge number of Void Spirits. What a load of unique treasures!¡±

    ¡°The gate to the Dark Abyss must be this way! The fact that so many Void Spirits are gathered here is clear proof!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s expression turned grave. ¡°Outsiders from the Void World! Nie Tian is being attacked by the Void Spirits. We¡¯ve got to do something to help him!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to tell me what to do,¡± Dong Li said coldly.

    While bickering, the two of them flew skywards to kill the outsiders from the Void World that were lucky enough to find their way to this area.

    However, as they rose into the sky and looked around with rapt attention, they witnessed the violent deaths of the several arriving Netherspirits and Devils, two of whom had been ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    Mighty starlight sparks blew up their bodies and annihted their souls.

    Pei Qiqi and Dong Li¡¯s pupils shrank as soon as they saw those starlight sparks. ¡°Ji Cang!¡±

    They couldn¡¯t believe that he was still lurking in the vicinity!

    However, if he had turned against the Mortal World and killed Qu Yi, shouldn¡¯t he be in collusion with the Void World? Why would he kill those Netherspirits and Devils?

 Chapter 1723: Blood Domain Surge!

    ¡°Bloodline: Blood Domain Surge!¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence was ignited in Nie Tian, bursting forth with intense, immense flesh power.

    HOWL!

    The five evil gods, the me Dragon Armor, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, and even the ck tortoise, seemed to be infused with rich life force, and instantly gained seemingly infinite power.

    Even the spirits and souls in the five evil gods¡¯ misty, cyan flesh aura seas grew significantly stronger.

    The might of the profound soul magics they cast with all sorts of exquisite soul seals and soul strands was boosted as well.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone emanated crimson light so bright that it hurt others¡¯ eyes.

    Even the Divine me¡¯s power surged.

    As the spellcaster, Nie Tian experienced changes as well. His flesh aura sea merged with his star domain and wood domain once again.

    Inside his star domain, the All Manifestations Star Banner fluttered violently as sparks of refined star powerbined as dazzling Fragmentary Stars that flew out to attack the Void Spirits.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower emanated a mysterious starlight aura, as if it were the lord of that gorgeous sea of stars.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes burst forth with awe-inspiring light as he shouted, ¡°Ji Cang!¡±

    As he spoke, even the enormous Godspirit Tree and the forest of sky-reaching ancient trees on the greennd under his feet, which had transformed from his wood domain, exuded a fierce aura.

    He looked very formidable now, having activated this brand new bloodline talent he had awakened after his bloodline had advanced to the tenth grade.

    Ji Cang, however, let out a soft chuckle, as if he didn¡¯t feel threatened at all. ¡°I¡¯m only helping you. Don¡¯te after me.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you focus your energy on those Void Spirits and finding the gate to the Dark Abyss as soon as possible?¡±

    Ji Cang¡¯s voice faded, but he was still nowhere to be seen.

    Pei Qiqi tried to locate him with the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal as Dong Li cast the Dark Eye spell for the same purpose. However, they both failed.

    Meanwhile, the Void Spirits were gradually overpowered by the five evil gods, the me Dragon Armor, and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, all of which had their power magnified by Nie Tian¡¯s brand new bloodline talent: Blood Domain Surge.

    What this bloodline talent helped magnify were two things: Blood and Domain.

    Blood meant the flesh aura seas of any outsiders or beings that carried special bloodlines, while Domain meant the void, saint, and god domains that human Qi warriors learned to forge after their cultivation bases rose to certain levels.

    This Blood Domain Surge bloodline talent allowed Nie Tian to stimte and improve the power of outsiders¡¯ flesh aura seas, as well as humans¡¯ domains!

    The reason why the five evil gods, the me Dragon Armor, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, the ck tortoise, and even Pei Qiqi had benefited from it the moment he had activated this bloodline talent was because all of them had received his life power-infused Blood Essence.

    That meant he could use it to boost the might of his three domains, but he could also use it to help those who had been nourished by his Blood Essence.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The evil god of rage thundered his battle drum, shaking a Void Spirit that looked like a brilliant streak of light until it broke into countless fragments of light.

    Thanks to Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Domain Surge, the might of his flesh aura sea and his ability to infiltrate souls were greatly improved, allowing him to manifest power he hadn¡¯t possessed even in his previous life.

    By syncing his drumbeat with the heartbeat and soul fluctuations of other creatures, he seemed to be able to pound ming rage into their hearts and souls directly.

    The same went for the other evil gods.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, which had morphed into a crimson divine spear, also burst forth with power thatpletely amazed Dong Li and Pei Qiqi.

    As it shot across like a crimson bolt of lightning, a scary, illusory shape of the Rampage Behemoth seemed to tear its way out of it.

    Even the Void Spirits were uneasy and fearful facing the gigantic, horrifying shape.

    These Void Spirits had never left this vicinity to temper themselves through difficulties in the three worlds as the Divine me had. Therefore, the power they had umted was far from enough.

    Now, after they had presented themselves in their true form to pursue Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, they had lost all of their advantages.

    The five evil gods, the bone, and Nie Tian himself were no longer just handling them skillfully, but they had started to consider whether they wanted to capture or kill them already.

    ¡°Well...¡± A wisp of Nie Tian¡¯s soul will was passed through to the Divine me. ¡°Can you persuade them to stop? They¡¯re the same kind as you after all. By standing in our way, they put me in a difficult position. I¡¯m thinking that if they still refuse to see reason, then I¡¯ll make an example with one of them.¡±

    His killing intent was conveyed.

    ¡°You can¡¯t kill them!¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly cried out to Nie Tian. ¡°These things...¡±

    She seemed to have derived some new information from the broken soul in the Void Mirror in her hand. ¡°These Void Spirits can be fused into god domains! Afterward, they¡¯ll bring fundamental changes to any god domain they fuse with! ording to the message my master left me in the Void Mirror, they¡¯re even more valuable and helpful than Heaven Nourished grade treasures!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°What?!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as well. ¡°How is that possible?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s not possible?¡± Pei Qiqi said with a baffled expression, looking into Dong Li¡¯s eyes. ¡°Do you know that the Dark King of the Devils only ascended to the throne and became a paragon because he obtained a Void Spirit with a pure dark attribute? He nurtured and tamed that Void Spirit. Then, as it grew stronger and stronger, he let it turn many Devil realms in the Void World intonds of eternal darkness, through which that Dark Spirit gradually upgraded and transformed.

    ¡°Eventually, that dark-attributed Void Spiritpletely merged with the Dark King and became a part of his flesh aura sea. Only after that did he make the grand achievement of bing a paragon!¡±

    Pei Qiqi said these words with absolute certainty and confidence.

    Nie Tian and Dong Li, however, had doubts about it. Shock and disbelief were written across their faces.

    Nie Tian was absorbed in thought for a while before he decided to ask the Divine me through his soul will. ¡°Is what she said true? Did the Dark King be a paragon because he obtained a Void Spirit with a pure dark attribute that was called the Dark Spirit?¡±

    The Divine me responded with a positive answer immediately.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°I can¡¯t believe that actually contributed to his transcendence to arge extent!¡±

    ording to the Divine me, a Void Spirit made of pure dark power that was called the Dark Spirit had indeed yed a significant role in the Dark King defeating the Dark Behemoth and bing a paragon.

    Before he could recover from the astonishment this put him in, another message came through from the Divine me.

    ¡°What? Even the transcendence of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes had a great deal to do with a cluster of me that was filled with the profound truths of death power? And it was a Void Spirit in another form, which Grand Monarch Bone Piercer found, nurtured into the Death Spirit at the price of the deaths of countless beings, and eventually fused with himself?

    ¡°The evil spirit within Ophelia¡¯s Doom de is also a Void Spirit? And it¡¯s called the Doom Spirit?

    ¡°Ophelia!¡±

    Even though the young Demon girl had long since died, the Doom Spirit hadn¡¯t been eliminated. It appeared to have gone to hide itself in the Demons¡¯ territory.

    As soon as this thought entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind, his eyes lit up.

    He nced around at the more than a dozen Void Spirits with different auras that were either in the form of streaks of light or clusters of mes. ¡°They¡¯re like babies that have never left their home. If they were captured, nurtured into powerful existence, and refined by the right ones, wouldn¡¯t they help them transcend as paragons?¡±

 Chapter 1724: The Paragon Seeds!

    Meanwhile...

    Ji Cang had hidden every single wisp of his power, with only the brilliant Maic Star Crystal shown in his abdomen.

    All of his soul awareness and star power were temporarily sealed away in the Maic Star Crystal. With secret star magics, he shielded it from any sort of perception.

    WHOOSH!

    A ckish-violet cloud of Devil Qi suddenly flew over.

    At the heart of the cloud was Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, who had shrunken a thousand times. After arriving, his face slowly emerged from the ckish-violet cloud. ¡°What are you still waiting for?¡±

    He was asking Ji Cang!

    With a softugh, Ji Cang said, ¡°So you¡¯re here. Don¡¯t lose your patience. We¡¯ve waited for so many years. What¡¯s a few more hours?¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil frowned. ¡°All of those Void Spirits are paragon seeds. Are you just going to let Nie Tian catch them all?¡±

    ¡°Paragon seeds?¡± Ji Cang said, fixing him with a surprised look. ¡°Paragon seeds guarantee nothing. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be guaranteed to be a paragon if you obtain a paragon seed. We know very well how many have obtained paragon seeds over millennia. However, how many of them have actually sprouted, upgraded, and transformed those seeds and eventually joined the ranks of paragons?¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil pondered in silence for a few seconds before his furrowed brow rxed, and he said, ¡°Good point.¡±

    ¡°You have nothing to worry about,¡± Ji Cang said withposure. ¡°What if Nie Tian obtains those paragon seeds? Obtaining paragon seeds isn¡¯t all to one¡¯s transcendence. We still need him to enter the Dark Abyss. We¡¯ll figure out what to do with him after we enter.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been stressing that he¡¯s the key to the opening of and us entering the Dark Abyss,¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said slowly. ¡°Is it just because of the unique bloodline he carries? Also, did he really get his bloodline from Qin Yao? Qin Yao is from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. He¡¯s clearly a human! Where did he get the Blood Essence that made him?¡±

    Ji Cang spread his hands and said rascally, ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. I¡¯ve only connected the dots ande to the conclusion that he¡¯s the key to the Dark Abyss. If you want to know the answer to that question, you should go ask Qin Yao, not me.¡±

    ¡°Soul Capturer can¡¯t stop Qin Yao,¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said.

    With a casual smile, Ji Cang said, ¡°Of course I know that, but why do we have to stop him? The battle taking ce at that other entrance, all that killing, is a mere preparation for the opening of the Dark Abyss. In the long history of this boundless starry river, how many brilliant grand monarchs have lived before us? And how many wonders have they made happen?

    ¡°However, how many of them have achieved soul immortality?

    ¡°If Qin Yao somehow manages to join their ranks, then it¡¯d be his luck. However, with you and me here, I doubt that he¡¯ll have that kind of luck. Instead, he¡¯ll probably be one of thergest stepping stones we need to pave our way to the Dark Abyss.

    ¡°So why don¡¯t we just let hime?¡±

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    At that moment, numerous souls scattered in the sky over the darknd as brilliant Fragmentary Stars plummeted through it.

    Both Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Ji Cang looked up, and smiles appeared on their faces.

    They hadn¡¯t expected Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Qin Yao to descend at this moment.

    Ji Cang took a moment to think before saying to Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, ¡°You may release word of the rtionship between Void Spirits and the making of paragons now, and the fact that Nie Tian was here, capturing Void Spirits.

    ¡°I suppose anyone will grow feverish after learning that Void Spirits can make paragons, and that many of them are currently whizzing about in this area.¡±

    With an unfathomable look in his eyes, he added, ¡°All lives are greedy by nature. Even you and I can¡¯t resist the temptation of bing paragons, not to mention them.¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±

    Many purple lightning wisps that were even finer than hairs scattered and disappeared in different directions.

    Soon, not only the members of the three major races of the Void World, but also the humans from the Mortal World, the Ancientspirits, and the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea also learned about the significance of Void Spirits, and the fact that they could help make paragons through various sources.

    Even the current location of the Void Spirits was revealed.

    Peculiar maps were resolved by souls in different areas, maps that Ji Cang had inscribed of the darknd with Nie Tian and the Void Spirits¡¯ location marked out.

    Before long, all that had entered the darknd and survived seethed with excitement.

    ¡°Void Spirits, also known as Spirits of Heaven and Earth, are wondrous existences with various attributes that were born even before the three worlds came into existence, when the entire universe was in a chaotic state!¡±

    ¡°The Dark King and the Bone Emperor joined the ranks of paragons after obtaining Void Spirits of dark and death power attributes.¡±

    ¡°Every time the Dark Abyss opens, Void Spirits will slip out to wander in the darknd. Even if we don¡¯t get to enter the Dark Abyss this time, as long as we can capture them and take them back to ournds, where we make them stronger and nurture them into transformation, we¡¯ll be able toe back here with their help and continue to seek our chance at bing paragons!¡±

    ¡°All of the Void Spirits are in this marked location now!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian is there, trying to capture them all! He wants to take all of those so-called Spirits of Heaven and Earth with various attributes for himself! If he does, then he¡¯ll have a chance to make more than a dozen paragons!¡±

    ...

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian, Pei Qiqi, and Dong Li stared at the Void Spirits, their eyes glittering. ¡°Void Spirits!¡±

    The way they looked at these Void Spirits before them had changed since they had learned from the Void Mirror and the Divine me that they could be fused into flesh aura seas and god domains andy the foundations for experts to be paragons, if they could capture them and take them out of this darknd to make them grow and transform with the energies of the realms in the three worlds.

    ¡°They can¡¯t be killed in the darknd!¡± Pei Qiqi eximed as she seemed to obtain more new information. ¡°Nie Tian! Why don¡¯t you ask the Divine me how to capture and tame them? If we can do that, then we may be able to make paragons with them in the future!¡±

    Dong Li, who was still trying to find and reflect Ji Cang with her Dark Aureole, suddenly eximed, her expression flickering slightly. ¡°Wait! I just detected a wave of very strong devil power fluctuations. However, I can¡¯t locate the source with my Dark Aureole. Right now, I can think of only one Devil grand monarch who can generate such terrifying devil power fluctuations.¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡± Dong Li said, sucking in a breath of cold air. ¡°Trust me. He¡¯s here, and he¡¯s not far from here!¡±

    Both Nie Tian and Pei Qiqi¡¯s expressions flickered drastically after they heard the name. ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The Void Spirits that were fighting the five evil gods, the me Dragon Armor, and Nie Tian suddenly stopped and flew away at a fast speed.

    They seemed to have sensed some sort of danger that even overcame their desire for Nie Tian¡¯s life power-infused Blood Essence.

    As soon as they pulled themselves out of their fight against the five evil gods, the me Dragon Armor, and Nie Tian, they copsed into sparks and vanished under everyone¡¯s gazes, without leaving even the slightest traces or auras.

    ¡°What just happened?¡± Nie Tian asked with a tremendous sense of frustration, as if he had precious gems right in front of him, but they all vanished the moment he touched them. ¡°Did they leave in a hurry because you warned them? Are there any among them that can help me be a paragon?¡± He asked the Divine me, looking rather anxious.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The cluster of orange-red me called back and absorbed all of the me sparks it had released.

    A petite fleshly figure manifested at its core that seemed to be looking at Nie Tian with aplicated expression and pondering something.

    ¡°You can be a paragon without them.¡± A clear soul message came through from the petite figure in the Divine me.

 Chapter 1725: The Giant Corpse Falls

    Nie Tian was baffled. ¡°What? Isn¡¯t refining and making a Void Spirit transform a necessary step to be a paragon? How do I make myself a paragon without a Void Spirit?¡±

    ¡°No, they¡¯re not necessary for you,¡± The Divine me answered.

    When he hadmunicated with the Divine me before, he would have to derive what it wanted to convey from the soul fluctuations it sent him.

    Now, however, the Divine me¡¯s soul message was being conveyed to him in a clear, precisenguage.

    It was as if the Divine me¡¯s power, intelligence, and wisdom had grown significantly after it had devoured and refined the numerous reflections of the other Void Spirits in the darknd.

    ¡°Hey, Pei, are those Void Spirits really gone?¡± Dong Li asked aloud.

    She was still excited by the knowledge that Void Spirits were so-called paragon seeds.

    ¡°They¡¯re gone.¡± As Pei Qiqi spun the Space Boundaries Crystal, wisps of spatial power flew out of it and fused into the Void Mirror.

    However, neither the Space Boundaries Crystal nor the Void Mirror reflected the Void Spirits¡¯ image.

    This meant that not only had the Void Spirits left, but their so-called reflections were gone as well.

    Dong Li kept ncing around, dark power swirling out of the depths of her ink-ck pupils and into the Dark Aureole to aid her perception of her surroundings. ¡°Did they flee back to the Dark Abyss? If that¡¯s the case, the gate to the Dark Abyss must be nearby, right?¡±

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t give a response.

    Nie Tian was stillmunicating with the Divine me, nodding in agreement and frowning in confusion from time to time. ¡°Hmm... So even though you don¡¯t know why, you know that I don¡¯t have to tame and refine a Void Spirit to make myself a paragon? If that¡¯s true, then I suppose something special about me can achieve the same effect...¡±

    He tried to sort through this thought.

    As he did, all of the surviving beings from the three worlds that had fallen into the darknd were flying towards their location, following the indications on the maps Ji Cang had made.

    They all shared the same goal: obtain a Void Spirit, which was considered a paragon seed.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment as their movements were reflected in the Dark Aureole hanging over her head.

    The images of numerous members of the three major races of the Void World, hybrids and rogue Qi warriors from the Doomed Star Sea, and experts from the Mortal World and the Spirit World appeared in the Dark Aureole.

    Each and every one of them was traveling at a fast speed, their eyes brimming with desire and greed.

    ¡°It appears that they¡¯re alling towards our location,¡± she muttered.

    Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline and soul sensed stirs as well.

    The fact that he couldn¡¯t sense and locate Ji Cang didn¡¯t mean that his bloodline and soul perception was failing. It was only because Ji Cang was exceedingly powerful and highly skilled at hiding himself.

    No other people or beings of any species could escape his perception as he did.

    FIZZ!

    A beam of chilly sword light seemed to cross boundless space, and suddenly arrived.

    It was vested with a wisp of Yin Xingtian¡¯s soul will.

    Nie Tian sensed it with his soul, and his face dropped immediately. ¡°It was a secret that Void Spirits are considered paragon seeds. I can¡¯t believe everyone knows about it now! And our location has been marked out in maps engraved in all sorts of soul stones and magical runes. Now, the survivors from the three worlds are all rushing here to fight for the Void Spirits!¡±

    ¡°This must be Ji Cang¡¯s doing!¡± Pei Qiqi said coldly.

    Dong Li gasped with astonishment. ¡°Who the hell is he? How does he have the power and ability to spread the secret of the Void Spirits and the fact that we¡¯re fighting them here to all those who have descended to this darknd within such a short time?¡±

    She took a deep breath and continued, ¡°I guess I understand that he somehow managed to inform those from the Void World, but howe those from the Doomed Star Sea, the Mortal World, and the Spirit World received information from him as well?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he has people working for him in all the forces from the Mortal World, the Spirit World, the Void World, and the Doomed Star Sea! Only that can exin why he could spread the word, directly or indirectly, to all of the powerful experts in this darknd within such a short time!¡±

    A coldness rose from the bottom of Pei Qiqi¡¯s heart as she said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then he¡¯ll be an enemy even more formidable than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil! How could there be someone like him in this era?¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°It appears that we¡¯ve be the primary target for many. If we stay here, powerful outsiders from the Void World and perhaps even some human experts wille after us for the Void Spirits they yearn for so much. And since those Void Spirits happen to be gone now, they¡¯ll probably assume that we¡¯ve collected them.¡±

    The thought of this gave him a headache.

    People¡¯s nature was hard to assess. How many could resist the temptation of bing paragons?

    Dong Li pondered for a while, then said, ¡°This must be part of Ji Cang¡¯s n too. Whatever he says or does, the thing he wants the most is to enter the Dark Abyss through you as quickly as possible. It seems that he¡¯ll be pleased as long as you find the gate and a way to enter.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Now, I see that too.¡±

    Immediately afterwards, hemunicated with the Divine me. ¡°How on earth can I enter the Dark Abyss?¡±

    At that very moment, he was struck by an overwhelming, soul-piercing sense of danger, which made his heart pound violently!

    Hismunication with the Divine me was instantly cut off.

    He couldn¡¯t help but tremble slightly, as if his body was telling him that something horrifying was about to arrive.

    ¡°Who or what could it be?¡± Nie Tian cried inwardly as he nced around in confusion. ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil? Grand Monarch Bone Piercer? Or Grand Monarch Soul Capturer? Even if they¡¯re actually here, I shouldn¡¯t be feeling such unease!¡±

    He couldn¡¯t figure out what was happening.

    ¡°Look!¡± Dong Li and Pei Qiqi suddenly eximed together, looking up into the sky.

    At this moment, every survivor in the darknd, including the God domain experts, grand monarchs of various species, gigantic creatures, and even the Tree of Life looked up into the sky with utter astonishment on their faces.

    High above, beyond the entrance to this darknd, a magnificent half-naked body that stretched as long as a mountain range manifested out of nothing, surrounded by mighty lightning bolts, and started to descend slowly.

    A shiny, golden piece of armor, a heart-protector, could be seen on his chest, with streaks of golden divine light that seemed to contain profound truths flying out of it.

    At his Adam¡¯s apple, a gem was emanating an extremely frigid aura.

    Those on the ground couldn¡¯t stop shivering by simply looking at it, as if even their souls were being frozen.

    As his enormous body descended towards the darknd, the survivors could vaguely see that the heavens were breaking and the earth was toppling in the Realm of Shadow Devil beyond, as if it were going to copse under the pressure from him.

    Size-wise, he was smaller than the Chaos Behemoth. However, the pressure everyone was feeling from him now, as he descended, was much greater than what the Chaos Behemoth could ever give them!

    bbergasted voices echoed in different parts of the darknd, most of whom didn¡¯t even know where the giant being came from.

    ¡°Is that... a human?¡±

    ¡°How can a human be thatrge? Even titans that carry special bloodlines can¡¯t grow to his size!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the mysterious giant corpse in the depths of the Realm of Middle Continent!¡±

    Only a handful of Nie Tian¡¯s subordinates, who had been to the Realm of Middle Continent and heard Nie Tian talk about it, knew where it came from.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be in that mysterious underground space in the depths of the Realm of Middle Continent? None of us could even enter that space. How did it suddenly show up here?¡±

    ¡°Most importantly, is he dead, or does he still have life force?¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s dead, then how did he get out of the Realm of Middle Continent, and how did he know to descend to this darknd?¡±

 Chapter 1726: Heâ€™s Coming Towards Me!

    RUUUUMBLE!

    The Realm of Shadow Devil copsed like a castle made of sand that was destroyed by a giant beast on the rampage.

    The Devil realm perished within moments.

    The Realm of Middle Continent was the only thing that still existed beyond the heavens in the darknd.

    Even the realms in the Domain of Shadow Devil that Grand Monarch Heaven Abhorrer and Nie Tian had pulled to the vicinity fell apart and perished.

    If Nie Tian could charge out of the darknd to take a look around now, he would find arge area of the starry river around the Realm of Shadow Devil in devastation, as if he were in the middle of the Doomed Star Sea or the Domain of Forbidden Heaven.

    Numerous realms had exploded, filling the starry river with countless gigantic meteors of various shapes.

    Coldness, silence, and destion were all there was left.

    It was hard to believe that a vast part of the Domain of Shadow Devil had been reduced to ruins in such a strange way.

    ...

    The mountainous being turned over from time to time as it slowly descended from the heavens.

    Every time it turned, it seemed to cause violent stirs of the energy of heaven and earth. Lightning bolts filled the sky as spiritual power of various attributes poured down like rain.

    HOWL!

    For some reason, a devilish, pitch-ck serpent that was at the ninth grade suddenly charged up towards the giant being.

    The devilish serpent was seven thousand meters long, its pitch-ck body wreathed in fine lightning wisps.

    It seemed to be after the mighty lightning bolts that were wrapped around the giant being like chains.

    FIZZ!

    As the lightning-attributed devilish creature approached the giant corpse, one of the lightning chains suddenly whipped out and struck it.

    The enormous devilish serpent was instantly reduced to a blood mist.

    Fine lightning wisps burst forth from the depths of Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s eyes as he stared unblinkingly at the numerous lightning bolts that were slithering around the giant being. ¡°My heavens! By merely looking at those lightning bolts and examining the way they move about, I can derive many profound truths of lightning and thunder. What on earth is that giant being? It seems to be a human to me.¡±

    With these words, he suddenly jerked his head towards Feng Beiluo. ¡°Are there any records about him in the Doomed Star Sea?¡±

    Feng Beiluo, who was also bbergasted, answered, ¡°No, not even the slightest! I don¡¯t know anything about him either! But if hees from the Realm of Middle Continent, the birthce of humanity, does it mean that he has some sort of connection with us?¡±

    Upon hearing this, a Qi warrior from the Doomed Star Sea, who was a disciple of the Nether Spirit Society, cried out, ¡°How is that possible? If we had powerful ancestors like him, how could all the outsider races in the Spirit World ride roughshod over us as a people?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    At that moment, a Saint domain Qi warrior from the Mortal World, who was well-versed in ice power, shot skywards.

    As he did, he spread his ice domain, which had a cold pce made of countless ice crystals inside of it, and stared at the gem at the giant being¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple, which was exuding frigid ice power, with zing desire in his eyes.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    Strange cracking sounds came from the frigid pces within his ice domain as he charged towards the giant being at full speed.

    The frosty currents circting in his ice domain suddenly went out of control.

    The ice-cold pce was instantly reduced to countless ice shards and dust that filled the sky, along with his shattered saint domain and broken soul. Within seconds, they all vanished without leaving a trace behind.

    ¡°That¡¯s an invaluable metal power treasure!¡±

    A disciple of the Five Elements Sect looked up feverishly at the piece of armor on the giant¡¯s chest that emanated dazzling golden light that filled its surroundings, and couldn¡¯t help but fly towards it.

    He was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find the giant being again after it fell into the dark areas.

    WHOOSH!

    A beam of golden light shot out of the piece of armor and annihted the greedy disciple of the Five Elements Sect with power sharp enough to pierce through the three worlds and split any realm that it came across.

    However, their deaths didn¡¯t seem to stop the experts from the three worlds, who had their greed sparked, from making more attempts.

    One figure after another shot skywards from different areas of the darknd.

    Numerous human Qi warriors, members of the three major races in the Void World, rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea, and experts from the Spirit World set their yearning eyes on the lightning bolts that were wrapped around the giant being, the piece of golden armor on his chest, and the frosty gem at his Adam¡¯s apple.

    Not only did Saint domain Qi warriors and ninth grade grand patriarchs charge into the sky one after another, but even God domain Qi warriors and tenth grade grand monarchs joined the action as well.

    Bolts of lightning slithered from the giant being. Beams of golden divine light sted out. Streaks of ice power poured down like waterfalls...

    As a result, bodies exploded one after another, filling the sky with mists of blood and mangled flesh.

    All of them, who considered the giant a lifeless corpse and deemed those lightning chains, that piece of armor, and that gem to be unimed treasures, were killed in brutal ways.

    Even two outsider grand monarchs exploded and died as an early God domain cultivator from the Doomed Star Sea was snuffed out by a st of golden light.

    The giant being continued to descend to the darknd at a surprisingly slow speed.

    He didn¡¯t make any movements or emanate any flesh aura or soul aura fluctuations during the process. However, dozens had been obliterated by the lightning bolts, golden lights, and icy currents from him.

    ¡°What should we do, Nie Tian?¡± Dong Li asked in a soft voice.

    Themunication between Nie Tian and the Divine me had ended from the moment of the giant being¡¯s arrival.

    The fact that Nie Tian had been staring unblinkingly at the giant being, while the Divine me had been rising slowly, suggested that both of them had been focusing their attention on it.

    ¡°The appearance of this giant human-like being seems to have disrupted someone¡¯s ns.¡± Pei Qiqi seemed to see a series of images in the Space Boundaries Crystal as she spun it. ¡°The powerful experts from the three worlds that should have beening after us are all focused on that giant being now.¡±

    After a short pause, she added, ¡°And the speed at which he descends is simply too slow...¡±

    The Chaos Behemoth, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and the Tree of Life were very powerful creatures as well. However, all of them had fallen at a speed much faster than this.

    The giant being was the only one that had descended at such a slow speed.

    It was as if he were doing this intentionally to attract the attention of every powerful expert in every corner of the darknd and give them the impression that he was well within their reach.

    After all, he was sorge, and the lightning chains, the heart-protecting armor, and the frosty gem on him were so eye-catching...

    It was almost like he was afraid that those here wouldn¡¯t know that he was dead and covered in priceless treasures, as if he were saying, ¡°Come and take them.¡±

    This was really strange.

    ¡°Even though he¡¯s falling at a very slow speed, he¡¯s been falling towards me,¡± Nie Tian suddenly said with a heavy tone and a grave expression. ¡°If he¡¯s stopped by no one, he¡¯ll eventuallynd exactly where we are. I don¡¯t know why, but I have a feeling that I¡¯m like his beacon light.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Pei Qiqi eximed in shock. ¡°He¡¯sing towards you?¡±

    Dong Li joined the conversation. ¡°Is it possible that you¡¯re mistaken? After all, the three of us are here, and the Divine me... Right! Is it attracted to the Divine me?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s me,¡± Nie Tian said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron.

    ¡°It seems that you¡¯d bettermunicate with the Divine me and find a way to enter the Dark Abyss as quickly as possible,¡± Dong Li said, looking worried about him. ¡°The thing with the Void Spirits has already made us themon target for many. Now that giant being¡¯s here, which I¡¯m afraid will put us in even more trouble. Most importantly, we still don¡¯t know what he is and what he¡¯s doing here.¡±

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    Nie Tian, in his Life-origin Form, suddenly felt his heart begin to pound. Gradually, his heartbeat became as deafeningly resounding as the sounds of giant bells!

    By merely listening to his heartbeat, both Dong Li and Pei Qiqi felt great pressure on their chests.

    Nie Tian suddenly held his chest, his face turning red as a beet, as if his heart was going to explode.

 Chapter 1727: Paragon!

    The falling giant being didn¡¯t emanate even the slightest soul fluctuations.

    Also, he wasn¡¯t wreathed in a strong flesh aura, which meant he most likely wasn¡¯t an outsider.

    However, his magnificent, mountainous body brimmed with energy: the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth!

    Only humans could take the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth into the spiritual seas in their dantian region, form spiritual cores, and use them as the source of their power.

    This was the fundamental difference between humans and outsiders.

    The spiritual Qi of heaven and earth was indeed the giant being¡¯s source of power. However, the cultivation system he had adopted was clearly different from that of most human Qi warriors.

    Rich spiritual Qi of heaven and earth filled his whole body!

    His acupoints, meridians, bones, flesh, and blood all brimmed with pure, refined spiritual power!

    This was very different from the four great sects¡¯ so-called orthodox cultivation system, where cultivators only channeled spiritual power into the spiritual sea in their dantian region, andrgely ignored their body refinement.

    The mainstream cultivation method mandated that Qi warriors cultivate their spiritual seas at early stages, and then move on to the cultivation of their souls, until they couldpletely discard their fleshly bodies.

    Since humans were born with feeble bodies, which could never grow to be as strong as the outsiders¡¯ and spirit beasts¡¯ flesh aura-wreathed bodies, they had always upheld the principle of ying to their strengths and avoiding their shorings. They believed that this was the Dao of human cultivation.

    All those who refined their fleshly bodies with secret magics, like Yin Yanan, were considered to be on the wrong path.

    Some of the so-called crooked Qi warriors in the Doomed Star Sea also emphasized body refinement.

    However, people like them had always been considered crooked and excluded from the mainstream world.

    As for the slowly-descending giant being, his muscles, blood, bones, meridians, and internal organs all contained copious amounts of spiritual power, not to mention the spiritual sea in his dantian region. This suggested that he had attached great importance to the refinement of his body.

    Perhaps that was why his body still exuded rich life force, and was without the slightest signs of corrosion countless years after his demise.

    ¡°His body still contains terrifyingly strong energies of heaven and earth!¡± Nie Tian said. His perception seemed to have grown even keener after his heart had started thumping wildly. ¡°Those lightning bolts wrapping around him, that frosty gem on his neck, and that shiny golden te on his chest... They seem to correspond to his internal spiritual energies, which means he had probably mastered the profound truths of lightning power, ice power, and metal power.

    ¡°Aside from these, even his pure spiritual power alone is far more immense than that of the grand elder.

    ¡°And this is only the spiritual power scattered all over his body. I can¡¯t even sense or fathom the spiritual power in his spiritual sea.

    ¡°If...¡±

    He suddenly froze as his train of thought reached this point.

    ¡°What?¡± Dong Li asked.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered drastically as he cried out in astonishment, ¡°Paragon! He must have been a paragon before he died! A mighty, fear-inspiring paragon who had refined his body to the extreme, made the cultivation of pure spiritual power the core of his cultivation, and at the same time, mastered the profound truths of metal, ice, and lightning power!¡±

    He uttered these words with absolute certainty.

    Even though he didn¡¯t have any proof, he was fully convinced that the giant being was a dead paragon, a human paragon!

    Dong Li was bbergasted. ¡°How... how is that impossible?! Our ancestors were oppressed and trodden on by the powerful races in the Spirit World for many eras after humanity was born in the Realm of Middle Continent. The Ancientspirits and outsiders in the Spirit World treated humans like animals, and ughtered them inrge numbers at sacrificial rites. Back then, humans didn¡¯t even know how to channel the energies of heaven and earth to practice cultivation.

    ¡°Everyone knows that humanity rose to prominence in the Mortal World.

    ¡°If such a human paragon was actually born in the Spirit World, the rise of humanity would have happened much earlier.

    ¡°Besides, there are no records about him in the history of the Mortal World or the Spirit World...¡±

    Pei Qiqi also muttered something in a low voice with a disbelieving look on her face.

    No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t wrap their minds around the fact that the descending giant being was a human, and a paragon no less!

    If he was indeed a human paragon, and had created a time of glory in the Spirit World, howe there hadn¡¯t been any records about him?

    Not just them, even Nie Tian himself found this hard to believe. ¡°The Tree of Life is the guardian of the Spirit World. Its three generations have covered almost the entire history of the Spirit World. Its first-generation self even stopped Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, who was a paragon, from entering the Spirit World.

    ¡°And its memories are passed down from one generation to another. If even it ims to know nothing of the enormous being in the depths of the Realm of Middle Continent, does it mean that it has lost some of its memories?

    ¡°Or is there another reason?¡±

    With these thoughts, Nie Tian forced himself to withdraw his gaze from the giant being and did his best to adjust his flesh aura cirction in order to slow down his heartbeat.

    Then, he activated his Life Detection bloodline talent in an attempt to sense the existence of the Tree of Life.

    He was convinced that he could sense the Tree of Life¡¯s vast, mighty maic field in this darknd as long as it was within a certain distance from him.

    As for entering the Dark Abyss, he decided to put it on hold until he found the answers to the many questions he had.

    ¡°Nie Tian. Nie Tian...¡±

    After a while, he heard the Tree of Life¡¯s soul call indeed, and learned that it wasing towards him at full speed.

    At that moment, the giant being suddenly started to descend at an elerated speed!

    It was as if he was set off by something the moment he established a connection with the Tree of Life!

    Both the giant being and the third-generation Tree of Life approached him at their fastest possible speed.

    The lush third-generation Tree of Life, which had grown dozens of timesrger than when he had first seen it, suddenly flew into the sky from another area of the darknd, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    ¡°The Tree of Life!¡± Many human and outsider experts eximed in astonishment.

    Wisps of light green wood power hovered around the emerald branches and leaves of the Tree of Life. It seemed to be growing even as it charged into the sky.

    Meanwhile, rich life force spread into its surroundings, as if to nourish this darknd.

    However, numerous minor Spectre Trees, Ghost Spirit Grasses, and Heavenly Demonsbanes rapidly withered, even though they were hiding themselves in remote areas and in the depths of the earth.

    Now, after Nie Tian had killed the strongest main bodies of these spirit nts and devil nts, their escaped descendants were wiped out as well.

    Not a single one of them was spared.

    FIZZ!

    Beams of dazzling golden divine light suddenly shot out of the piece of armor on the giant being¡¯s chest.

    Their target was none other than the third-generation Tree of Life, despite the fact that it was far away and wasn¡¯t even charging towards him!

    WHOOSH!

    An emerald green branch flew out of the third-generation Tree of Life and shot towards the giant being like an emerald bolt of lightning.

    Immediately afterwards, thousands of green branches shot towards him like a storm of emerald lightning bolts.

    The frosty gem at the giant¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple lit up, instantly turning a vast area around him into a world of ice and snow.

    The branches shooting over like divine lightning bolts exploded one after another uponing within a ten thousand meter radius around him.

    The explosions sent fragments of the branches flying in every direction.

    Many nearby humans and Bonedrudes were pierced through by the darting fragments, and died before they could even scream.

    Just like that, a fierce, yet confusing, conflict broke out between the descending giant being and the third-generation Tree of Life.

    Nie Tian¡¯s face turned very grim. ¡°It appears that they¡¯re fighting for me! I wonder if both of them harbor ill intentions towards me, or just one of them!¡± He suddenly started wondering if the Tree of Life was actually as kind as it had always appeared to be.

 Chapter 1728: Spiritual Power And Flesh Aura

    Nie Tian had too many questions.

    The colossal being buried in the Realm of Middle Continent was a human paragon. Was it true that the Tree of Life knew nothing of this?

    The Spirit World had been a ce where the Tree of Life had been rooted, and had been protecting since ancient times.

    Had it really not learned that this colossal being was in the Realm of Middle Continent of the Spirit World, and was a paragon?

    If it had learned that the colossal being was indeed rted to the human race, then...

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Tiny wisps of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth quietly flew out of Dong Li¡¯s spiritual sea in her dantian region and toward the sky where the ancient colossal being was.

    There were multiple spiritual cores without attributes and one spiritual core with a dark attribute in her spiritual sea.

    What flew out of her was from the spiritual cores that had been condensed by pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    They were in an extremely tiny amount.

    It seemed to Dong Li that the lost spiritual Qi was negligible. As soon as she intervened with her soul awareness, the loss of spiritual Qi ceased.

    Compared to her, Nie Tian¡¯s and Pei Qiqi¡¯s spiritual power didn¡¯t leak at all.

    However, fine strands of Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura were leaving him.

    The lost flesh aura that contained life power seemed to be flowing to the Tree of Life.

    Nie Tian¡¯s awareness spread and cut off the loss of his flesh aura.

    He frowned and thought to himself, ¡°A small part of her spiritual Qi flowed to the colossal being, while my flesh aura went to the Tree of Life.¡±

    Meanwhile, he kept watching the battle between the Tree of Life and the colossal being that was taking ce above in the sky.

    Soon afterward, Yin Xingtian, who had awakened his memories and power as the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, was the first to arrive.

    Hended and said, ¡°Why are you still here, Nie Tian? It¡¯s clear that you got my message. Why didn¡¯t you rush into the Dark Abyss?¡±

    After his awakening, he started to call Nie Tian directly by his name, but his concern for him didn¡¯t change.

    Nie Tian was stunned. ¡°Umm... Some of the spiritual power in your body has also vanished?¡±

    ¡°Oh, my spiritual power?¡± Yin Xingtian said, then nodded, pointing to the colossal being above his head. ¡°Yes, I lost some spiritual power after his appearance, but it was negligible to me, so I didn¡¯t really care. I even let it leave my body because I wanted to see where it would go.¡±

    ¡°It went to him,¡± Yin Xingtian continued. ¡°If you had my cultivation base, you would be able to feel something. To tell you the truth, I think even the birth of the human race might have had something to do with him!¡±

    ¡°You mean that colossal being...?¡± Dong Li eximed softly.

    Yin Xingtian nodded. ¡°Yes. Do you feel the same way?¡±

    Pei Qiqi joined the conversation and asked, ¡°Why is the Tree of Life... fighting him in the sky?¡±

    Yin Xingtian shook his head. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know about that. But on my way here, I saw many fellow cultivators¡¯ spiritual power flowing toward him, no matter what their cultivation bases were.¡±

    ¡°Mine didn¡¯t,¡± Nie Tian spoke.

    Yin Xingtian pondered and said. ¡°You¡¯re different. You¡¯re a hybrid. I also saw a few hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea. Just like you, their spiritual Qi didn¡¯t leave them either. However, a little bit of their flesh auras flew out of their bodies and seemed to fly toward the Tree of Life.

    ¡°The same happened to the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims!¡±

    Hearing this, Nie Tian¡¯s brow knitted.

    His bloodline and spiritual power perception instantly spread out to verify Yin Xingtian¡¯s statement.

    Because many approaching humans and outsiders had already entered his perception range, he could sense the changes of their auras without them finding out.

    After a while, he nodded with a strange look on his face. ¡°You¡¯re right!¡±

    The humans¡¯ strands of spiritual power flowed to the colossal being, while the flesh auras of the hybrids, the outsiders, and the Ancientspirits flowed to the Tree of Life.

    However, the members of the three outsider races of the Void World, as well as the Fiends, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes from the Doomed Star Sea, remained unaffected.

    None of the outsiders whose bloodlines were from the Void World were affected by the colossal being or the Tree of Life.

    What did that mean?

    The fierce battle between the colossal being and the third generation of Tree of Life had attracted the attention of all those in the darknd. Many had also sensed the anomaly, and stared fixedly into the sky.

    There still weren¡¯t any soul movements in the colossal being, who was bursting forth with golden divine light, and protecting himself with the frigid gem and lightning bolts that slithered all over him.

    He seemed to be fighting the Tree of Life with the help of these unusual treasures alone.

    The third generation of Tree of Life had originallye for Nie Tian, but now it had changed directions halfway and constantly stretched out green branches and leaves in an attempt to prate and split the colossal being.

    The third generation of Tree of Life kept rapidly increasing in strength and growing in battle.

    Even Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes lurked in the dark, not daring to make a move.

    ¡°It¡¯s growing and recovering its strength incredibly quickly,¡± Grand Monarch Bone Piercer said, sitting on the bone throne, followed by several Bonedrudes around him who were flying to the ce where Nie Tian was. ¡°When it first appeared in the Realm of Shadow Devil, I could fight it, but now I can¡¯t. After all, it is an ancient existence which has dominated the Spirit World for hundreds of millions of years, killed Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, and frustrated our race¡¯s invasions again and again.¡±

    All of a sudden, an earth-shattering howl sounded. ¡°Qin Yao!¡±

    The howl came from Ji Cang, sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    In the next moment, Ji Cang who seemed to be standing in a mysterious sea of stars, suddenly flew out. Sensing the Maic Star Crystal, he quickly flew toward an area of the darknd.

    A dazzling sea of stars also shed in that area.

    Ji Cang¡¯s angry roar seemed to be mighty enough to shatter heaven and earth. ¡°Traitor! For the so-called hybrid path that you have explored with your own strength, you¡¯ve almost ruined the entire human race! You knew that someone was behind your so-called new path, yet you refused to stop!

    ¡°You are the sinner of our whole human race!¡±

    Ji Cang¡¯s mighty voice seemed to reverberate through every corner of the darknd. Even those who were hiding themselves heard it very clearly.

    ¡°Ji Cang! It¡¯s Ji Cang of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!¡±

    ¡°The strongest cultivator of our race! The strongest human!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s still alive, and he¡¯s in the darknd!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s not just alive, but he¡¯s so strong!¡±

    All of the experts of the four great ancient sects and the rogue cultivators of the Mortal World were thrilled to hear Ji Cang¡¯s name and see him denounce Qin Yao publicly for his crimes.

    Ji Cang¡¯s influence surpassed Qu Yi¡¯s and Chu Yuan¡¯s in the human race and he was as expected of the strongest cultivator!

    Nie Tian charged into the sky in his Life-origin Form, looked at the dazzling sea of stars where Ji Cang was, and shouted, ¡°Ji Cang! You backstabbed Qu Yi in this darknd and secretly plotted against me! And now, you¡¯re talking nonsense! Who on earth are you?¡±

    Ji Cangughed, wild and heroic. ¡°Hahaha! What do you know, brat? As a hybrid, a seed of a conspiracy against our human race, how are you qualified to speak to me? Yes, I killed Qu Yi, but that was because he deserved it! He approved of the so-called hybrid path, and even took in Pei Qiqi as his disciple!

    ¡°Qu Yi, Qin Yao, and the hybrids of the Doomed Star Sea all deserve to die!¡±

 Chapter 1729: Cognition Overturned!

    In the sky, apart from the colossal corpse and the Tree of Life, the star domain that Ji Cang had disyed was also very eye-catching!

    Many eyes were caught by Ji Cang¡¯s appearance.

    Ji Cang was the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce and the strongest cultivator of the human race!

    Under his leadership, the human race had once thrived and almost crossed the Dead Star Sea into the Spirit World.

    He had once suppressed the Ancientspirits, Demons, Phantasms, Fiends, and Bonebrutes so badly that they had joined forces to resist the human race.

    Ji Cang had made great contributions to the human race¡¯s prosperity!

    No one could surpass his reputation in the human race, and he acted as expected of the strongest cultivator!

    Hence, as soon as he appeared, all the humans fixed their eyes on him and listened attentively, whether they were from the four great ancient sects or other sects from various human domains.

    Now, after hearing his conversation with Nie Tian, the Void Spirit Society disciples were taken aback.

    ¡°What? He murdered our sectmaster?¡±

    ¡°Ji Cang killed our sectmaster Qu Yi?¡±

    ¡°Ji Cang!¡±

    At that moment, Ji Cang¡¯s voice rumbled through the entire darknd. ¡°All pure humans from the Mortal World and the Doomed Star Sea, listen to me!¡±

    ¡°That,¡± he pointed to the colossal corpse, which was fiercely fighting the third generation Tree of Life with his lightning bolts, golden divine light, and frigid power, ¡°is the founder and ancestor of our human race!¡±

    Hearing his words, the humans scattered everywhere were lost in deep thought.

    Those like Yin Xingtian, whose cultivation bases had reached certain levels, had already vaguely sensed their rtionship with the colossal corpse, and guessed something by tracking the flow of the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    ¡°Our race had a glorious history in the Spirit World before the Mortal World was discovered and explored!¡± Ji Cang shouted. ¡°He created us, while the births of the Ancientspirits, the Floragrims, the Birdmen, the ckscales, and the others who have special bloodlines in the Spirit World were mostly associated with the Tree of Life.

    ¡°The Tree of Life has had three generations. The first generation secretly enabled the births of the titans, the dragons, and the Ancientbeasts. The second generation created the outsider races like the Floragrims, the ckscales, and the Birdmen. All those races that were born with strong flesh auras and whose source of strength is flesh power are inextricably linked to the Tree of Life.

    ¡°The battle between him and the Tree of Life was a struggle for the fortunes and energies the Spirit World had to offer, which led to a battle between our human race and the various races in the Spirit World.

    ¡°We were a strong race back then!

    ¡°But in the end, we lost. Because of our failure, as our founder, he was defeated by the Tree of Life! He could only seal his corpse deep in the center of the Realm of Middle Continent. With his remaining power, he formedyers of barriers to prevent the Tree of Life frompletely destroying him.

    ¡°His failure resulted in theplete marginalization of our race in the Spirit World.

    ¡°The history of our past prosperity was erased by the Tree of Life. The humans lost even the way he taught them to practice cultivation with the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

    ¡°Humans were gradually reduced to cattle in the Spirit World, and were enved by the Ancientspirits, Birdmen, ckscales, Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends. They lived very sad and miserable lives.

    ¡°Every time there was a sacrifice to heaven and earth, humans would be the sacrificial offerings that were ughtered in batches. They worked for their masters all their lives, and lost the possibility of personal advancement.

    ¡°It was not until we were taken to work in the Mortal World that we reacquired the way of cultivating the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth by ident.

    ¡°Then, our race rose again in the Mortal World and expelled all the outsiders!¡±

    ¡°Now, since his residual will still exists, and his corpse hasn¡¯t perished, the prosperity of our human race will feed him in return! As long as we are strong enough, he, who used to be a paragon, will be able to be revived and guide us again!

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know this at first either. So, all that I have been doing has been to make the human race more powerful and prosperous, so we can overpower the creatures with flesh auras in the Spirit World, enter their world, and arrive at the Realm of Middle Continent to help him reappear in the world! But this will only happen if we¡¯re strong enough.

    ¡°The Tree of Life needs the Ancientspirits, Floragrims, Birdmen, ckscales, and other races it has created directly or indirectly to be powerful and prosperous, and to undergo metamorphoses and advance from generation to generation.

    ¡°The battle between the human race and the races of the Spirit World can be regarded as his unfinished battle with the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Having seen the human race rise rapidly and inexorably, the Tree of Life realized that it could no longer contain the human race only by the powers of the Ancientspirits and Floragrims in the Spirit World. Because it was afraid that he would be resurrected, it thought of an evil n.

    ¡°That is, to divide us from within! That is Qin Yao¡¯s so-called hybrid n!

    ¡°The hybrid n that Qin Yao proposed in his early years matched the Tree of Life¡¯s scheme perfectly! Before the Tree of Life found Qin Yao, his so-called hybrid n had been failing without much in the way of progress. And it was at around that time that I found out the truth by quietly traveling through the Spirit World, searching for the erased histories of various races.

    ¡°That was also when I learned of him and his battles with the Tree of Life.

    ¡°So I went to stop Qin Yao, and told him that what he was doing would harm the whole human race, indirectly help the Tree of Life, and hurt the ancestor of the human race. But it was a pity that Qin Yao had already suffered a Qi deviation, and couldn¡¯t be persuaded at all.

    ¡°Everyone knows what happened after that. I expelled him and sent disciples of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after him to get rid of this ck sheep of the human race.

    ¡°But at the critical moment, the Tree of Life appeared and helped him escape into the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°It was with its help that the hybrid n finally seeded in the Doomed Star Sea, and arge number of hybrids started to show up. Hybrids are a disaster for the human race! Human hybrids are no longer pure humans, and will not do any good to the resurrection of our creator. Even their hybrid blood may be power for the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Qin Yao, Nie Tian, and the hybrids are a poison to the human race! Their spread and development have been harming our entire race, and our creator!

    ¡°Pei Qiqi, the disciple whom Qu Yi had taken in, is also a hybrid. Qu Yi had been corrupted by evil ideas, so he deserved to die too!

    ¡°All of the so-called hybrid projects of the human race over the years, including the ones sponsored by the four great ancient sects, have been a ruse of Qin Yao and the Doomed Star Sea. In other words, they are part of the n of the third generation of Tree of Life!

    ¡°Everyone, our race¡¯s prosperity can nurture our creator in return. Qin Yao, Nie Tian, and the so-called hybrids are moles and rebels of the human race, and need to be eradicated.¡±

    Ji Cang threw out such a new theory with righteousness and power.

    He was the strongest cultivator of the human race and the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce. Everyone had to take what he said seriously.

    Meanwhile, any human who cultivated the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth could indeed feel wisps of spiritual Qi leaving their bodies and flowing to the colossal corpse.

    ¡°The creator of our race! In the distant past, our race... had glory once!¡±

    ¡°After our defeat, our glorious history waspletely erased by the Tree of Life?¡±

    ¡°Was it the Tree of Life that erased any traces of the human race¡¯s prosperity, made the humans lose their cultivation method, and caused them to be enved by the outsiders and ughtered like cattle?¡±

    ¡°The Tree of Life is our sworn enemy?¡±

    All of the human survivors were in shock.

    Some human experts who had been hostile to Nie Tian and the Doomed Star Sea made up their minds almost instantly. Then, they shouted.

    ¡°Qin Yao, Nie Tian, and all the hybrids deserve to die!¡±

    ¡°It is they who have contaminated our race¡¯s blood, and are stopping our creator from awakening!¡±

    ¡°They must die!¡±

 Chapter 1730: His Mindset Collapses

    Nie Tian was dumbfounded.

    He was rather conspicuous in his Life-origin Form, enveloped in a dazzling sea of stars.

    He had charged into the sky originally because he had wanted to denounce Ji Cang, hoping that the experts of the four great ancient sects like Mo Heng and Fan Tianze would learn how cruel and ruthless he was and raise their guard against him.

    However, he hadn¡¯t expected that the situation would change dramatically after Ji Cang¡¯s impassioned defense and revtion.

    He and Qin Yao, who was his father, had be themon enemies and the so-called moles of the human race that were working for the Tree of Life.

    What Ji Cang had said made sense.

    All the humans were meditating on whether Ji Cang¡¯s words were true.

    Nie Tian froze in midair, wanting to refute Ji Cang.

    However, he knew nothing of the lost history of the human race.

    He couldn¡¯t defend his father and himself.

    Even he himself suspected that the third of Tree of Life had made secret efforts to erase the heyday history of the human race!

    The lightning bolts wrapping around the colossal being, the armor on his chest, and the frigid gem around his neck were clearly Immortal grade divine tools.

    What was flowing in his body was pure spiritual Qi of heaven and earth instead of flesh aura.

    The colossal being had clearly been under the ground of the Realm of Middle Continent, but the Tree of Life had imed that it knew nothing about it. Instead, it had constantly urged him to break the seal of that underground space.

    As the guardian of the Spirit World, had the Tree of Life truly known nothing about the existence of the colossal being and the birth of the human race?

    Was it because of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s arrival that the Tree of Life had failed to eradicate the colossal being? Was it because the first generation of Tree of Life had died with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit that it had had no power to break into the underground seal that the colossal being had condensed with hisst breath?

    The births of the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons were rted to the first generation of Tree of Life. All of them used flesh auras as the source of their strength.

    The births of the Floragrims, Birdmen, ckscales, and several smaller races of the Spirit World that had disappeared were associated with the second generation of Tree of Life.

    The Floragrims could help the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons regain their strength as quickly as possible, like they were made to aid those sharp weapons of war.

    No matter whether it was the Ancientspirits or the Floragrims, Birdmen, and ckscales, no one had been able to stop the human race from rising and developing step by step.

    In this process, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had created the Phantasms in the Spirit World, the Dark King had created the Demons, and the Bone Emperor had created the Bonebrutes, which also seemed to restrict the Tree of Life.

    Seeing the human race gradually prospering, the third generation Tree of Life had found another way: unravel the humans from within.

    As a result, Nie Tian and the numerous hybrids of the Doomed Star Sea had appeared.

    Those from the Doomed Star Sea had been talking about the beginning of a new era of hybrids.

    However, the breeding of hybrids might disrupt the normal evolution of the human race and result in fewer and fewer pure humans in the future.

    In this way, the colossal being¡¯s strength would be greatly weakened, making the possibility of his resurrection even less likely.

    If that was true, then Ji Cang was right to say that Nie Tian was a mole in the human race, that the hybrids were spreading toxins, and that his father was a rebel.

    SWOOSH!

    He began to descend from the sky with an unreadable expression as he suddenly felt low-spirited. ¡°Is what Ji Cang said true or false?¡±

    He was dazed.

    He had always believed that what he had done was right, that he had been defending the human race against the outsiders of the Spirit World and the three outsider races of the Void World, and that he had righteousness and orthodoxy on his side.

    Now, however, Ji Cang suddenly told him and everyone that he and his father Qin Yao were the cause of the human race¡¯s disaster.

    Hybrid breeding defied the will of the ancestor of the human race, and was the main reason why their creator hadn¡¯t been revived for so long.

    In this way, he became the wrong party instead. What he had done was not only meaningless, but also seemed to have be a joke.

    Ji Cang¡¯s words had greatly influenced his mindset.

    The copse of his mindset directly undermined his confidence. Losing his sense of righteousness made him question many things. He wondered if he had been instigated by the Tree of Life to do things for it before.

    ording to Ji Cang, he and the other hybrids had been created by the third generation Tree of Life¡¯s will and his father¡¯s hand, so it was natural that the Tree of Life and the Floragrims were close to Nie Tian.

    In addition, it also exined why he had been able toprehend the titans¡¯ magics in the magicalnd, subdue Agaz the me dragon, and see through the wonders of lives.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Dong Li eximed softly, ¡°Are you alright? Ji Cang was just talking nonsense. He also gave a long speech before we exposed him. He also said that he and your father were close friends, and that he helped your father escape to the Doomed Star Sea.

    ¡°He¡¯s a liar. Don¡¯t throw yourself into confusion because of what he says!¡±

    Pei Qiqi chimed in, ¡°What Ji Cang said is not necessarily true. The Tree of Life may be able to exin itself and tell us the truth, but it can¡¯t now because it¡¯s caught up in a battle against the colossal being.¡±

    Nie Tian was still very puzzled, and didn¡¯t have any answers in his heart.

    Because of Ji Cang¡¯s words, Yin Xingtian, the awakened Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, suddenly fell silent.

    Ji Cang¡¯s words influenced all the humans in the darknd.

    The God and Saint domain experts of the four great ancient sects like Fan Tianze and Dou Tianchen had originally stood on Nie Tian¡¯s side.

    However, now Ji Cang told them that the hybrids like Nie Tian were seeds that the third generation of the Tree of Life had created after the Ancientspirits and Floragrims, and that their purpose was to ruin the normal development and evolution of the human race and make it decline!

    Hence, they had to give serious consideration to the matter.

    The influence of Ji Cang¡¯s words was especially significant on those from the Doomed Star Sea!

    The Doomed Star Sea¡¯s forces, which were made up of hybrids, humans, and outsiders of the Spirit World, were torn apart by Ji Cang¡¯s mere words.

    The so-called crooked forces that had been expelled from the Mortal World were, after all, humans.

    Now that they learned that Qin Yao, their leader, had actually been instigated by the Tree of Life to create hybrids to endanger the whole human race, ideas naturally arose in their minds.

    Ji Cang hade out before them, and before even showing his divine power, his words alone hadpletely changed the situation in the darknd.

    The Ancientspirits of the Spirit World, the humans from the Mortal World, and the hybrids and rebels of various races from the Doomed Star Sea, whose alliance had originally been irond, suddenly started to distrust each other.

    Some even started to regard each other as enemies.

    The consequences and impact were far greater than the deterrence that Ji Cang¡¯s battle prowess could bring.

    At this moment, Qin Yao¡¯s calm, rational voice sounded, ¡°You are not even Ji Cang. How dare you even talk nonsense to divide us? Do you think that you¡¯re the real Ji Cang now that you¡¯ve possessed his body, refined his soul, mastered the Fragmentary Star Incantation of our sect, and obtained the Maic Star Crystal by chance?¡±

    Qin Yao¡¯s retorts left everyone aghast.

    ¡°What? He, he¡¯s not Ji Cang!¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s not Ji Cang, who is he?¡±

    ¡°The strongest cultivator of our race has been possessed?¡±

    How could the strongest cultivator of the human race possibly be possessed and perfectly upied by another being¡¯s soul?

    Who had such power and means in this starry river?

 Chapter 1731: Reverse!

    Everyone was greatly shocked!

    The strongest cultivator of the human race had long been possessed and stopped being himself?

    Who on earth... or what on earth had possessed him?

    At this time, the Divine me that had been floating motionlessly by Nie Tian¡¯s side suddenly sent him a clear message. ¡°He¡¯s the same as me, but at the same time, different.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°He?¡±

    ¡°That,¡± the Divine me showed him with its soul. What it was referring to was obviously... Ji Cang!

    ¡°I felt a strange sense of familiarity with him, but I wasn¡¯t sure until now,¡± the Divine me exined, as if its wisdom was evolving and advancing. ¡°Something has merged with his soul, so it isn¡¯t pure anymore. But essentially, he, those Void Spirits, and I are the same, as we alle from the same ce.¡±

    Finally, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but shout in shock, ¡°Void Spirit!¡±

    Yin Xingtian, Pei Qiqi and Dong Li all stared at him nkly.

    ¡°Ji Cang has been possessed by a Void Spirit!¡± Nie Tian cried out. ¡°That¡¯s the Divine me¡¯s judgment! No matter how he changes, he¡¯s essentially a Void Spirit now! No wonder, no wonder he dared to wander about in the darknd even when he was weak and without his Maic Star Crystal.

    ¡°No wonder those Void Spirits attacked you instead of him.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got the Divine me¡¯s aura in me, so many weak devil nts and spirit nts avoided me. However, just like how they avoided me, they instinctively kept away from him as well.

    ¡°All of this is because he¡¯s essentially a Void Spirit!¡±

    Standing in the sky with stars shining around him, Qin Yao said coldly, as if to confirm Nie Tian¡¯s statement, ¡°By chance, Ji Cang found you, a Void Spirit that secretly contained a star attribute! A seed... that could help him be a paragon! He felt as if he had found a treasure. He was so happy, and he told me about it.

    ¡°At the time, he and I were close friends, and he supported what I did.

    ¡°But after taking you to various domains to nourish you and help you transform, he failed to refine you and make you a part of him at thest step.

    ¡°Instead, you ended up controlling his body! You possessed him and acquired all his memories. Your soul has taken his ce as the master of his body.

    ¡°You were originally a Void Spirit fitting into the great Dao of stars, so you were able to master the Fragmentary Star Incantation, the wonders of his God domain, and the many secret magics of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce after you saw them. You even surpassed Ji Cang and all the ancestors and founders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce!

    ¡°It was hard for Ji Cang to obtain priceless weapons like the Maic Star Crystal, but for you, it wasn¡¯t hard at all.

    ¡°You are a Spirit of Heaven and Earth, an unusual existence that was magically born when this starry river came into existence. You can acquire most of the priceless star treasures we know of.

    ¡°Then, you possessed Ji Cang, which is why he became so different. You must have killed Chu Rui, who fell in here before, and absorbed his power into your god domain. But before him, many who cultivated the Fragmentary Star Incantation must have died at your hands already.

    ¡°I suppose Luo Wanxiang also defected to collude with the Phantasms and secretly contact the Netherspirits because he had sensed you were plotting against him and wanted to kill him to achieve your goal.

    ¡°Poor Chu Rui had been regarding you to be the previous Ji Cang and trusted youpletely, which finally led to his death!

    ¡°How dare you, a Void Spirit that wanders in the three worlds in my nsman¡¯s body, scold me?¡±

    Qin Yao snorted coldly and charged into the sky.

    They didn¡¯t quarrel anymore. Instead, the sea of stars that Ji Cang disyed and Qin Yao¡¯s splendid star domain suddenly crashed in the sky.

    Everyone looked up, and instantly saw billions of stars hanging high in the sky.

    The whole sky of the darknd seemed to be a vast sea of bright, shining diamonds.

    Numerous stars shot through the sky, crashing and bursting forth with extremely sharp and terrifying starlight that either plummeted into the darknd or sputtered out of this mysterious ce.

    Both Ji Cang and Qin Yao seemed to have morphed into countless stars and streaks of starlight.

    Their incantations, power, and the Dao that they hadprehended were of the same origin, but weren¡¯t quite the same.

    What Ji Cang disyed were pure star incantations. He had blended the various wonders of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce¡¯s secret incantations with even more profound truths of the stars.

    The star power that Qin Yao used was veryplicated and all-embracing. With starlight, he disyed various mysteries like the changes of stars, the alternations of the sun and the moon, and the cycle of the seasons with starlight.

    No one could see their true form, as everyone could only see the meeting of countless rays of starlight, the collisions of stars, and countless other wondrous scenes.

    Their battle was even more magnificent, mighty, and remarkable than that between the third generation of Tree of Life and the colossal being!

    The humans were puzzled again.

    ¡°A Void Spirit?!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that Ji Cang has been possessed by a Void Spirit fitting into the profound truths of the stars!¡±

    ¡°Instead of refining the Void Spirit, he was possessed by the Void Spirit, which erased his will, and acquired all of his memories and experiences. With Ji Cang¡¯s body, aura, and star power, the Void Spirit walked in the three words, dug out the Maic Star Crystal, obtained all kinds of priceless star treasures, and killed Chu Rui to strengthen its own god domain.¡±

    ¡°Is that true?¡±

    ¡°If he¡¯s indeed a Void Spirit, are his previous remarks and his usations against Qin Yao, the Tree of Life¡¯s struggle with the colossal being, and the rtionship between our human race and the colossal being true or false?¡±

    There had been many twists and turns since they had stepped into the darknd.

    Their cognition had been constantly overturned, which was very confusing. They had a feeling that what they had heard here was even more shocking than the information that they had acquired in the past thousands of years they had lived in the Mortal World.

    FIZZ!

    In the sky, the colossal human-like being that stretched like mountains was pierced by the emerald green branches of the Tree of Life, which had grown to be unprecedentedlyrge.

    The golden divine light protecting the colossal being exploded into broken light that sputtered all over the sky. Even many ice crystals formed by cold power burst into fragments.

    The colossal being, which was thousands of meters long, slowly sank from the sky.

    As he did, many stray rays of starlight, star currents, and star sparks caused by the fierce battle between Ji Cang and Qin Yao were crushed into broken lights by his physical form.

    All of a sudden, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s sneer came from somewhere in the darknd. ¡°He is the creator of the human race and the foundation of its existence. If he explodes and dies thoroughly, there¡¯s no telling what the consequence will be. Hmm, perhaps all the humans will be weakened, or perhaps you¡¯ll even all die because of his disappearance.

    ¡°Of course, this is just a guess. No one knows what will happen.

    ¡°Likewise, if the Tree of Life diespletely, the Floragrims will likely disappear. The Ancientspirits may be a little better, but will decline as well, and perhaps no new offspring will be born...¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils was surprisingly talkative at this moment.

    No one knew whether his words were rmist or not, but he seemed to have a point.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer of the Netherspirits, and a few mighty grand monarchs had already gathered at his side without anyone noticing.

    Dong Li¡¯s expression flickered as she suddenly pointed to an area very close to them. ¡°There! They¡¯re too close. If they want to, they can get to us in a split second!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, the Divine me became illusory and blurred.

 Chapter 1732: All Beings Are Burning Coals

    That cluster of Divine me suddenly became illusory, as if it were about to disappear, like the Void Spirits that had suddenly vanished before.

    Dong Li and Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t notice the Divine me¡¯s oddity, but Nie Tian could see it clearly.

    Ignoring Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, and Grand Monarch Nether Spirit who were nearby, he stared at the Divine me and asked loudly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    The Divine me¡¯s soul awareness was breaking up. ¡°I-I¡¯m going back to where I was born.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯re many projections of Void Spirits!¡± Pei Qiqi shouted as many shadows appeared in the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal in her hands. They were the Void Spirits that had vanished before.

    The true forms of the many Void Spirits were nowhere to be seen. Only wisps of shadow were projected.

    Only the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal could shine on these wisps of shadow, which couldn¡¯t be seen with the naked eye.

    Nie Tian suddenly had a feeling that the Void Spirits¡¯ many projected shadows on the Void Mirror were staring at him in silence with wide eyes...

    The awkwardness of being peered at from the dark made him very ufortable, as he felt as if something was going to happen...

    SWOOSH!

    In the sky, Fan Tianze of the Heaven Span Pavilion suddenly charged into the sky, roaring.

    His sword intent pierced through the sky and rose like a glittering reverse waterfall!

    A low chant came from the depths of the sword intent, as if the sword spirits had suddenly been vested with life and wisdom.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A green current surged out of the thick roots of the third generation of Tree of Life and shot down.

    The green current, which contained endless vitality and the profound truths of wood, intercepted Fan Tianze¡¯s sword intent.

    It was clear that the third generation of Tree of Life had found that Fan Tianze was attacking it.

    Fan Tianze had made such a decision because of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s words.

    He was determined to defend the colossal being against the third generation Tree of Life.

    He feared that the human race would decline and his body would die after the colossal being exploded and diedpletely.

    Following Fan Tianze, the human experts of the four great ancient sects charged into the sky one after another.

    Many divine tools, violent balls of lightning, zing meteors, and cold currents that could freeze the sky flew towards the Tree of Life.

    Around the Tree of Life, thousands of energies that had developed from the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth exploded. Numerous Immortal grade divine tools and priceless psychic treasures bit vividly at the Tree of Life like bloodthirsty fish, ferocious dragons, and angry dragons.

    The terrifying tides of energies were powerful enough to wipe out many domains in the Mortal World, Spirit World, and Void World!

    The shockwaves of the explosions could destroy heaven and earth, cause the void to copse, and turn the universe upside down.

    However, the darknd somehow managed to withstand it, and didn¡¯t copse.

    There were also densely interwoven spatial rifts, like a man-eating fish¡¯s sharp mouth digesting the sputtering energies.

    Pei Qiqi was shocked to see the interwoven spatial rifts that suddenly appeared by themselves in the darknd. ¡°They... It¡¯s strange that they¡¯re in ord with the spatial mysteries that I haveprehended in the Void Illusion Mountain Range. They¡¯re different from those of the Void Spirit Society and the Voidspirit bloodline.¡±

    She fixed her eyes on the spatial rifts.

    They were very simr to the ones in the Void Illusion Mountain Range, which contained another kind of great Dao and space¡¯s true meaning.

    The interwoven spatial rifts eradicated, or swallowed, the terrifying stray lights and unusual powers caused by the fierce fight between the humans and the Tree of Life, the Tree of Life and the colossal being, and Qin Yao and Ji Cang.

    After the human experts joined the battle, the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims also flew into the sky one by one.

    The outsiders of the Spirit World, who were rich in flesh auras, had also been affected by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s words, believing that the birth of their descendants and the continuance of their races were linked to the Tree of Life.

    They would never allow it to be destroyed by the human race or crushed by the colossal being.

    Thus, a new, bloodier, and fiercer war began.

    The pure humans, outsiders, and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea also joined the war, quarreling as they did.

    Mo Heng, the grand elder, stood in a dark corner of the darknd, looking sad.

    He held Qin Yao in high esteem. It was thanks to him that he was who he was today.

    However, he was a pure human too.

    He could shrewdly sense that the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in his body was flowing towards the ancient being.

    He only cultivated the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, and so lost more spiritual Qi than anyone else, which was why he had a deeper perception of it. He was sure that the colossal being which was sinking slowly under the attacks of the Tree of Life definitely had something to do with the human race.

    He believed most of what Ji Cang had said, even if he wasn¡¯t the real Ji Cang.

    Now, a war had broken out. Should he help the humans fight as a pure human, or repay Qin Yao¡¯s kindness by standing with him and Nie Tian?

    He was in a dilemma, without any answers in his mind.

    After a while, he thought of an answer. ¡°If I can¡¯t choose either side, I might as well go fight the three outsider races of the Void World. The Void World is not rted to the Mortal World or Spirit World, so I can fight without any burdens!¡±

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer made a move almost as soon as the Divine me became illusory and blurred.

    Nie Tian, Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi all sensed the horrifying Devil Qi, Nether Qi and death aura rushing towards them like a surging sea.

    The auras that the top three outsider grand monarchs of the Void World emitted made them feel great pressure on their chests.

    BOOM!

    At this very moment, Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form suddenly started expanding!

    In the invisible ce where the Divine me was, a boundless sea of the most refined and purest flesh power seemed to be erupting violently.

    He could only perceive it through his heart and bloodline.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian let out an earth-shaking growl.

    As he did, all those who had bloodline rtions with him or who had been given his blood essence discovered that their strength and battle prowess were rising at an incredible rate!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer flew over with a mighty momentum.

    ¡°Here ites.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s finally happening.¡±

    ¡°Has it begun yet?¡±

    Watching Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form expanding sharply and feeling the incredibly strong and violent power erupting from him, they were both apprehensive and excited.

    They seemed to have been waiting for this moment!

    BOOM!

    Nie Tian threw a casual punch at Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, who he was instinctively disgusted with and was sitting on the bone throne. ¡°Titan¡¯s Wrath!¡±

    It was as if many tenth-grade titans growled in unison as they added their bloodline power and brute power to the punch.

    The punch was like an unstoppable torrent, mingled with the powers of star, me, wood, and soul power, his flesh aura, and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s aura.

    Countless electric currents, gorgeous lights, and crystalline sparks sputtered in the torrent.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s eyes widened as he suddenly flew up, crying, ¡°Bone Walls!¡±

    The bone throne underneath him ttered and piled up into colossal white shields and barriers between him and Nie Tian.

    The torrent of energies that the Titan¡¯s Wrath had morphed into mmed into them.

    BAM!

    The shields and barriers that the bone throne had transformed into were instantly reduced to broken bones, bone shards, and clouds of ash.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer screamed loudly. The light in his eyes dimmed as thousands of the Ghostly Corpse Snakes surrounding him were killed by the shockwaves.

 Chapter 1733: A Misty Cyan Heaven And Heaven

    BAM! BAM! BAM!

    Numerous Ghostly Corpse Snakes were sted into ashes by the Titan¡¯s Wrath cast by Nie Tian.

    The bleak, white light in Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s eyes suddenly darkened to arge extent.

    These Ghostly Corpse Snakes were vested with the profound truths of his death bloodline.

    In fact, he had created each and every one of them by vesting a drop of his death power-infused Blood Essence with a wisp of his soul will.

    Their perishing dealt a heavy blow to Grand Monarch Bone Piercer.

    After all, for outsider grand monarchs, their core strengthy with their Blood Essence and soul will.

    ¡°Bone Piercer!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils gasped with astonishment, as if he hadn¡¯t expected this Titan¡¯s Wrath of Nie Tian¡¯s to be able to st through the bone shields transformed from Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s bone throne, and obliterate so many of his Ghostly Corpse Snakes.

    Nie Tian let out a derisive snort. ¡°People call this Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes the God of Death?¡± In the next moment, his rapidly-expanding Life-origin Form, which had transcended the limits of ten thousand meters, blurred into action, and suddenly arrived in the air above the Bonedrude high chieftain.

    He pressed his enormous hand down towards him.

    Countless sparks of starlight quickly condensed in his palm like dazzling stars.

    A wondrous star formation formed in an instant, and then started falling towards Grand Monarch Bone Piercer like a boundless, mysterious sea of stars.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer gasped with astonishment.

    WHOOSH!

    The dry, pale-gray bones from the shattered bone throne were channeled by his bloodline power, and spread like a peacock tail above his head.

    It looked very much like Yin Xingtian¡¯s Godspan Sword Formation!

    As soon as the fan-shaped bone formation took form, sparkling white currents of death power slithered through and bonded with the bones. Immediately afterwards, a profound connection seemed to be established between them and the Bonedrudes¡¯ Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, allowing a copious amount of death power to pour into the bones.

    A brand new unusual defensive ward of death power instantly came to form.

    However, it was meaningless.

    WHOOSH!

    The dazzling sea of stars falling from Nie Tian¡¯s palm was vested with the mysterious power of the highest heavens and the vast starry river. His immense flesh aura also multiplied its might.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil cried out.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    The death power ward cracked and shattered violently.

    Countless dry bones were reduced to clouds of bone ashes and bone shards. The bits of refined life power in the starlight crushed and dissolved the death power in them like fatal particles.

    OWW!

    The Bonedrude high chieftain couldn¡¯t help but let out a pained cry.

    Sparks of starlight that were branded with the essence of life cascaded on his giant bone body, which was almost ten thousand meters tall, and burned his skull like a strong acid.

    It pained him to the point where he wanted to die.

    ¡°Heaven Devil! Nether Spirit!¡±

    He floated away to put as much space between him and Nie Tian as possible. As he did, his gigantic, glittering, jade-like bone form seemed to morph into a magnificent mountain of bone where the ultimate secrets of deathsy.

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank, and he said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve touched the core of the Dao of death. With one more step, you¡¯ll be able to reach the Bone Emperor¡¯s height and be a paragon!¡±

    With the help of the Tree of Life, he had had the privilege to rise out of the endless blood sea that was the Blood Realm of Life for a brief moment.

    In that chaotic, mystical dimension, he had seen a giant mountain made of nothing but white bones.

    Just like that endless blood sea was the origin of all life power, that bone mountain was the origin of all death power!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As the five evil gods spun their weapons, which had been sealed away for millions of years, they burst forth with terrifying cyan light that created a misty, cyan realm where Grand Monarch Heaven Devil was.

    It was called the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth.

    The Spirit Scepter, which had returned to Nie Tian, was its core.

    Even Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s soul was stranded by this unearthly grand soul formation created by the joint efforts of the five evil gods and their signature tools.

    The five evil gods¡¯ power surged with every passing second.

    As Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s right-hand men, they seemed to have reached a perfect cooperative state with the Spirit Scepter to bring the deceased Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s lost Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth soul formation to this world.

    ¡°Nether Spirit!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil cried out, his enormous devil form wreathed in magenta Devil Qi.

    Every time he attempted to break out of the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth, he felt that his soul was going to be stripped from his body.

    Once his soul was separated from his body, he wouldn¡¯t be able to cast many of his profound bloodline magics, which would cause his battle prowess to drop significantly.

    ¡°Nether Spirit!¡±

    In another location, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer was also crying for help.

    It was hard to believe that the top three grand monarchs of the three major races of the Void World were being suppressed by Nie Tian at this moment.

    This was utterly unbelievable!

    The five evil gods, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, the ck tortoise, the me Dragon Armor, Pei Qiqi, and Nie Tian himself...

    All those who had been given his Blood Essence were growing stronger at an rming rate.

    Even though the others couldn¡¯t make sense of their soaring strength and battle prowess, Nie Tian knew this was happening for a reason.

    When the Divine me had grown blurry and disappeared, and the Void Spirits had appeared in the form of projections to observe what had been happening here, a profound connection had been established between his life bloodline and its origin, that endless blood sea.

    It was a connection that he could tell actually existed, unlike when he made a breakthrough in his bloodline, and a wisp of his soul awareness would leave to roam his blood realm.

    The endless blood sea was made of innumerable drops of life power-infused Blood Essence that were as gorgeous as crimson diamonds.

    He felt as if a bridge had been built to link his heart and that endless blood sea.

    Now, he could draw inexhaustible life power from it!

    Furthermore, this was life power he could use directly. No purging or conversion was needed.

    It was as if he were floating right in the middle of that blood sea, which allowed him to draw as much life power as he desired and fight till the end of time, when all the domains in this starry river perished.

    This feeling of growing stronger in an incredible manner and possessing endless power made him think that even these top three grand monarchs of the Void World before him might not be unbeatable.

    ¡°me!¡± As soon as he eximed softly, the spell formation in his me domain that connected to the me Land started operating, giving rise to loud rumbles.

    mes that were multiplied by his intense life power and carried the Divine me¡¯s unique aura poured out of the ¡®eye¡¯ of the spell formation to engulf and burn Grand Monarch Bone Piercer.

    The Bonedrude high chieftain¡¯s cries grew more and more desperate.

    This mighty grand monarch of the Void World who had inspired fear across the starry river for many millennia seemed so powerless at this moment.

    Life and death were on eternally opposite sides. The thriving of one would diminish the other in a swift and violent manner.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer finally felt despair facing this Nie Tian, who could somehow channel inexhaustible life power directly from the endless blood sea.

 Chapter 1734: Bones Melting

    Yin Xingtian stood there, motionless.

    Before, he had been motionless because he had been torn by dilemmas after hearing Ji Cang¡¯s words. After all, he was a human.

    Now, he stood there, motionless, because the surging of Nie Tian¡¯s power was simply astounding.

    He didn¡¯t know what had happened to Nie Tian.

    All he knew was that even he, who didn¡¯t have a single wisp of bloodline power, had a feeling that Nie Tian had be a boundless sea of blood and flesh power.

    His aura had already risen above that of the top three grand monarchs of the Void World!

    Changes seemed to have happened in an instant.

    By the time the three mighty grand monarchs had arrived before Nie Tian, he had already be incredibly powerful. Even the strength of the five evil gods, Pei Qiqi, the me Dragon Armor, and the ck tortoise seemed to have climbed to whole new levels.

    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± He found this baffling.

    ...

    In the endless blood sea, which was also known as the Sea of Life.

    Any beings that entered it with wisps of their soul essence like Nie Tian and the Tree of Life would be able to sense that the endless flesh aura within this Blood Realm had somehow be even more immense.

    It was as if all of the experts from the three worlds that had perished earlier, all those blood mists, had been refined and fused into it.

    The Sea of Life was slowly expanding as the flesh aura it had umted was condensed into drops of crimson essence of blood.

    In another ce in this mysterious dimension, that immeasurably lofty Mountain of Death seemed to be shrinking bit by bit.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    WHOOSH!

    The remaining dry bones came together to form a down-sized bone throne.

    Spatial power suddenly emerged within it, as if a gate connecting to the Bonedrude¡¯s Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones was suddenly opened.

    Numerous cracks could be seen on Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s giant form, which was made of jade-like bones now, which made him look like an exquisite porcin ware that had been broken and glued back together.

    It was hard to describe the strange feeling he gave others now.

    After a brief soulmunication with Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, he attempted to fly into the bone throne.

    However, at that moment, Pei Qiqi, who had remained silent for a long while, suddenly cast the Space Boundaries Crystal out. In the blink of an eye, it shot into the bone throne like a streak of icy, mysterious light, causing the spatial power within the bone throne to go through peculiar changes.

    Crimson sparks emerged in the depths of Nie Tian¡¯s eyes before they soon filled his pupils.

    He suddenly jerked his head towards the bone throne, and a mumble no one could make out came from his throat.

    WHOOSH!

    Streams of life power essence that contained the most mysterious life power erupted from his chest, and fused directly into the bone throne. From there, they poured into another part of the starry river.

    ...

    In the Bonedrude¡¯s Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.

    A heavenly gate seemed to open above the vast expanse of forbiddennd, before streams of intense life power started flooding in.

    The exceedingly vast forbiddennd that had been built by many generations of Bonedrudes seemed like a frozen heaven and earth being suddenly shone upon by countless suns.

    Numerous white currents of rich death Qi melted like snow.

    Billions of corpses of a wide variety of species from across the three worlds were gathered here, releasing death auras with every passing moment.

    Now, however, arge number of them vaporized upon contact with the torrential life power.

    It was as if they had gone through millions of years in a split second, and became bereft of any power, whether it be death or any other kind.

    If one could look down at the entirety of this Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones now, they would be able to see torrents of life power ravaging it like evil dragons that were thousands of kilometers long.

    Wherever the torrents of life power flew, corpses vaporized, and rich death power dissipated.

    After all, unlike the Dark Abyss, the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones hadn¡¯t formed naturally.

    This forbiddennd that had taken the Bonedrudes endless time and energy to build was gradually vanishing like a gigantic block of melting ice.

    Every Bonedrude, even those who were far away in the Spirit World and the Mortal World, felt uneasy and weak for some reason.

    They didn¡¯t know what was causing this, but they were convinced that something terrible was about to happen, or was already ongoing.

    Like Grand Monarch Bone Piercer in the darknd, they all felt deeply fearful and powerless.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that from this day forward, Bonedrudes and Bonebrutes are going to decline or even... move towards extinction?¡±

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s giant bone form, which was covered in deep cracks, was no longer translucent like jade. Instead, all of his bones had be lifeless, pale-gray, and bereft of any luster, like the countless skeletons and bones it had refined.

    He had a feeling that even the source of his bloodline was growing weak.

    This concerned all Bonedrudes and Bonebrutes.

    ¡°No... It shouldn¡¯t be like this...¡± As he muttered these words,pletely overwhelmed by what was happening, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone was suddenly shoved into his chest.

    Numerous profound truths of life poured into his heart of death through the bone.

    His heart instantly burst into mes. The raging, dark red mes incinerated his heart before he could even put up any resistance.

    Just like this, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, one of the mightiest grand monarchs in the Void World, perished before he could even see what the so-called Dark Abyss really was.

    A bolt of lightning shot from the distance and morphed into Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil. Eyes widened, he watched the Bonedrude high chieftain¡¯s gigantic bone form fall apart, giving rise to cracking sounds. ¡°Nie Tian! You...¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Feng Beiluo also flew over, and then stared at the crumbling Grand Monarch Bone Piercer with his mouth open.

    Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s heart was still burning.

    However, all of the Bloodline Crystal Chains within it had already snapped and perished.

    Meanwhile, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils was still stranded in a cyan misty heaven and earth the evil gods had created with the help of their signature tools and the Spirit Scepter. The look in his eyes was darker and more gruesome than ever, yet he just couldn¡¯t break free.

    Pei Qiqi was holding the Void Mirror towards Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who had taken the name Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, while utter darkness was spreading like weeds from under his feet.

    The ck tortoise had be considerablyrger than before. Dark flesh aura exuded from its shell, condensed into a ck storm, and joined Dong Li and Pei Qiqi in their battle with Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    Only Yin Xingtian, the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, stood there with nothing to do other than nce around.

    In farther locations, some grand monarchs from the Void World seemed to be attacked by some unknown force, and started fleeing in fear.

    Some were wailing in agony and crying for help.

    Attacking them were the Void Spirit¡¯s projections. Without the Void Mirror and the Space Boundaries Crystal, they couldn¡¯t see or touch them. Therefore, they could only flee under their attacks.

    The current situation was so strange that Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan didn¡¯t even believe their own eyes.

    WHOOSH!

    A bolt of crimson light suddenly struck down from the sky, and stopped among Yin Xingtian, Feng Beiluo, and the Thunder Devil.

    It was Master Blood Spirit, who¡¯s battle prowess had also soared through the ceiling because of Nie Tian¡¯s stimtion of his life bloodline!

    His blood aura was so vigorous and rich that it was as if numerous blood cisterns were boiling inside of him!

    ¡°You¡¯re human. I know that. I¡¯m a human too. But if you dare to make a move against Nie Tian, then I¡¯ll kill you without blinking!¡± He said with a frantically fierce look in his eyes.

 Chapter 1735: God of Light

    Master Blood Spirit exuded strong killing intent.

    He red at Yin Xingtian, Feng Beiluo, and the Thunder Devil in a way that seemed to say that he would kill them without hesitation if they said the wrong thing.

    Yuan Jiuchuan grinned and said, ¡°Rx. We¡¯re not stupid. We just saw the young master kill the Bonedrude high chieftain. How could we have the audacity to attack him?¡±

    Feng Beiluo nodded slightly and chimed in, ¡°We¡¯re not like those from the four great sects, who will look at the bigger picture. We don¡¯t care about the future of humanity. Selfish ones like us only know our own interests. We won¡¯t burden ourselves with others¡¯.¡±

    He paused and took a sideways nce at Yin Xingtian. ¡°Even if you want to watch out for attackers, it shouldn¡¯t be us.¡±

    Master Blood Spirit went nk for a brief moment before quickly turning towards Yin Xingtian with a grim look on his face.

    After his recent awakening, Yin Xingtian had be shockingly strong. The Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, his previous life self, had been a brilliant patriarch of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Therefore, in a sense, he could be viewed as a member of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion had been affected by Ji Cang¡¯s words, and was already attacking the Tree of Life for the fortune of humanity. This meant he had already chosen to fight alongside Ji Cang and join the opposite side of them.

    How would Yin Xingtian choose?

    ¡°I¡¯m no match for him,¡± Yin Xingtian said casually, and then went back to observing Nie Tian smashing at Grand Monarch Bone Piercer¡¯s body and the scattered bones from the bone throne with the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bone, and sensing torrents of life power pouring into the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones with narrowed eyes.

    It suddenly struck him that the Bonedrudes might decline rapidly as a race after this battle.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath. His Life-origin Form, which was already more than ten thousand meters tall, was still expanding its limits.

    ¡°Now, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.¡±

    He took a step forward and charged into the area enveloped in utter darkness.

    Dong Li and the ck tortoise¡¯s dark power and dark aura had pervaded the entire area.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who hadposed the Book of Spirits and defeated Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s ploy by faking his death and leaving the Spirit World, let out a cold harrumph in the darkness. ¡°Nie Tian, the fact that you could defeat Grand Monarch Bone Piercer doesn¡¯t prove how strong you really are. You won because your bloodline origin has suppressed the Bonedrudes¡¯ bloodline origin since the Bone Emperor¡¯s demise.

    ¡°Life and death stand on opposite sides. The fight between you, the Tree of Life, and the Bonedrudes and Bonebrutes is, by nature, a struggle between your bloodline origins, which hassted for eons.

    ¡°It¡¯s true that you¡¯ve gained the upper hand, and the Sea of Life has overpowered the Mountain of Death. However, isn¡¯t that because of the countless lives in flesh and blood that we¡¯ve sacrificed for the opening of the Dark Abyss?

    ¡°Bone Piercer shouldn¡¯t have lost his patience...¡±

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit spoke without the slightest fear in the utter darkness, as if he was waiting for something.

    On the contrary, Nie Tian was enlightened and deeply shaken by his words.

    ¡°A struggle between our bloodline origins, the Sea of Life and the Mountain of Death?¡± It was also at this moment that he suddenly sensed that the flesh auras in the endless blood sea, which was the bloodline origin he shared with the Tree of Life, had indeed be much denser than before. Then, he thought about the blood sacrifices that had been made...

    SPLASH!

    A cluster of zing light suddenly descended from high above.

    Bright like a sun, it fell into the area of utter darkness created by Dong Li and the ck tortoise, and started expelling the darkness without being challenged.

    It was Jiang Yuanchi!

    In fact, the light wasing from a cluster of blinding light in his god domain.

    A Void Spirit!

    The Void Spirit that had existed in the Void World for countless millennia and created the Lightspirits! A Void Spirit like the Divine me!

    This Void Spirit, which carried the profound truths of light, was the great fortune Jiang Yuanchi had found in the Void World!

    It was also the reason why all the Lightspirits were willing to make him their new high chieftain and be loyal to him.

    Since even their creator had decided to fuse with him and help him be a paragon, how would they dare to oppose him?

    If Jiang Yuanchi could actually join the ranks of paragons with the help of the Void Spirit of Light, then they would instantly rise to prominence and be a race that was as strong as the three major races in the Void World.

    ¡°Nether Spirit. Heaven Devil.¡± Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s soft voice echoed from within the realm of light he had created around himself. ¡°Now that the Bonedrudes have declined, do you have a problem with us Lightspirits rising to take their ce as one of the three strongest races in the Void World?¡±

    Both Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Grand Monarch Nether River said, ¡°No, we don¡¯t.¡±

    A mutual understanding was reached instantly.

    Jiang Yuanchi grinned, as if the Void Spirit in his god domain, which could light up even the darkest night, were doing the same. ¡°Good. I¡¯ll expel the darkness released by Grand Monarch Utter Darkness¡¯s relics.¡±

    With these words, he turned toy his gaze on Dong Li and the ck tortoise, who were exposed as the darkness faded. His grin grew even wider.

    Smoke started rising from both Dong Li and the ck tortoise¡¯s bodies in the divine light emanated by Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain.

    Having entered thete God domain and merged with the Void Spirit of Light, Jiang Yuanchi had already be one of the mightiest experts in the three worlds. Even Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and Grand Monarch Nether Spirit didn¡¯t dare to underestimate him.

    With a derisiveugh, Nie Tian said, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi? What a meddler! Do you really think that you can do whatever you want now that you¡¯re the Lightspirits¡¯ high chieftain?¡±

    ¡°I also have them,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said, smiling.

    As he said these words, the giant Gupi flew out from behind him. Standing on it were Lightspirit elders with snow-white feathered wings that were emanating brilliant light.

    All of their wings faced Nie Tian like mirrors under a zing sun.

    They seemed to be collecting light from the sun-like Void Spirit in Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain, amplifying it, and then shining it towards Nie Tian.

    Numerous beams of zing light instantly focused on Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form.

    The light was as sharp as des!

    CLANK!

    Metallic nking sounds echoed out as sparks sputtered off his skin, which was as hard as iron.

    WHOOSH!

    Gupi spewed a vast cloud of multicolored deadly miasma out of its mouth.

    Drops of acidic, toxic liquid fell from the miasma like rain.

    After falling on Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form, they corroded even this toughest body among the countless species throughout the three words.

    Bloody smoke started rising from his skin as the Lifeblood Shield protecting it was melted away by the acidic, toxic liquid. Losing his natural flesh aura protection, he finally felt pain from the divine light that was focused on him.

    Wounds started to appear on his skin.

    However, not a single drop of blood flowed from them.

    ¡°Someone favored by the Blood Realm of Life, impressive indeed,¡± Jiang Yuanchi said, not looking surprised. As soon as he stomped his foot, thousands of prisms manifested out of nothing in his light domain like heavenly gates facing the ck tortoise.

    The divine light from the Void Spirit of Light was amplified once again.

    Being shone upon by countless beams of light from the prisms, the ck tortoise let out agonized shrieks, as if it were being punished by a god of light.

    Dong Li¡¯s dark domain, which she had formed with the Dark Aureole, was also pierced through by numerous beams of divine light like celestial swords.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi! You¡¯re courting death!¡± With a grim expression, Nie Tian instantly rose up and flew over to block the light for Dong Li and the ck tortoise.

    Countless beams of piercing light shot into the front of his body.

    Despite that, he clenched his fist and threw a punch towards Gupi, which was charging ferociously towards him with bared fangs.

 Chapter 1736: Head Explodes!

    <h4>Chapter 1736: Head Explodes!</h4>

    Trantor: Alcohol Sword Immortal a.k.a. Beerde

    Editor: GNE, Zach

    Gupi¡¯s birth remained a mystery. However, it appeared to be the origin of all that was toxic in this starry river.

    Now, thanks to the help of Jiang Yuanchi and the Lightspirits, it seemed to have be stronger than ever before, even though it had died once.

    Multicolored light surrounded it like rainbows.

    Drops of multicolored liquid rained from its body and the toxic miasma it had released as it slithered swiftly through the void, looking even more winding and sturdier than a tenth grade dragon.

    All of a sudden, it spewed out a mouthful of a foul-smelling mist.

    As a condensation of its flesh aura essence, it contained billions of drops of multicolored liquid, each of which contained fatal toxins.

    The mouthful of mist sprayed directly towards Nie Tian like a gorgeous stream.

    At this moment, Nie Tian let out a loud harrumph, and swung his fist towards Gupi.

    Energy that was mighty enough to break time and pierce through heaven and earth sted out with an unstoppable momentum.

    It was as if all the gods in this starry river let out a furious roar at this moment, vesting the st of energy with the unbending will of the mightiest grand monarch of the titan race to fight against the heavens!

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The flesh aura essence Gupi had spewed out of its mouth was instantly scattered, and the overwhelming st of energy hit its fat, gooey head.

    POOH!

    Like a huge bag of water, its head suddenly exploded, sending multicolored liquid flying in every direction.

    Within seconds, a foul smell pervaded a vast area around it, making all the experts that were fighting in that area of heaven and earth want to vomit.

    Even Grand Monarch Nether Spirit was forced to hold his attacks against Nie Tian and escape from the spray of toxic liquid.

    As soon as the liquid, which appeared to be Gupi¡¯s brains, made contact with the invisible soul shadows he had released into his surroundings, they suffered from fizzing corrosion and started to lose soul power.

    This ident caused his perfect opportunity to join hands with Jiang Yuanchi to go down the drain.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, control that abomination you awakened!¡± Grand Monarch Nether Spirit said with his face filled with disgust, before flying off to Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. His eyes lit up as he saw the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth that had been built by the joint efforts of the Spirit Scepter and the five evil gods. ¡°Let me help you, Heaven Devil.¡±

    Surrounded by rolling Devil Qi, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said with an expressionless face, ¡°Whatever.¡±

    Even though the Devil high chieftain was stranded by this preeminent soul formation of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, he didn¡¯t seem worried at all, as if he hadn¡¯t brought out his trump card yet.

    ¡°Burn!¡± As soon as Nie Tian eximed softly, drops of his Blood Essence were ignited and amplified the orange-red mes that poured out of his me domain to engulf Gupi.

    Gupi instantly caught fire. In fierce crackling sounds, its toxic liquid was rapidly reduced to toxic gas that dissipated in the air.

    This was inflicting even greater damage on it than the time when it had been cut to pieces.

    This time, Nie Tian was trying to make use of the Divine me¡¯s incinerating aura to burn it to ashes, and finally put an end to its existence.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± Nie Tianughed wildly as his Life-origin Form, which was exposed in the mighty divine light, was suddenly enveloped in a crimson bloody mist.

    The cuts and burns on his skin instantly healed, as if they had never existed.

    Being able to draw an endless stream of flesh aura from the Sea of Life, this Life-origin Form of his was almost in an eternally indestructible and immortal state.

    As long as he wasn¡¯t vaporized by a single strike, and as long as he still had a piece of flesh left, he would be able to recover within a short time.

    ¡°Rampage Behemoth, storm away!¡±

    Millions of crimson rays of bloodline power instantly pierced into the crimson bone.

    The bone rapidly multiplied and even developed meridians, veins, internal organs, a skull, limbs...

    HOWL!

    The Rampage Behemoth, which had dominated the three worlds countless millennia ago, shockingly reappeared in this darknd!

    Not just that, but it charged into Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain before even assuming itsplete form, while its body was still rapidly expanding.

    ¡°The Rampage Behemoth!¡±

    ¡°The Rampage Behemoth that died in a mutually destructive battle with the Bone Emperor hase back to life!¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a Star Behemoth, for heaven¡¯s sake!¡±

    Disbelief filled the faces of Master Blood Spirit, Feng Beiluo, and the Thunder Devil, since they had never expected Nie Tian to reanimate this behemoth, which had inspired fear and despised all lives throughout the three worlds, in such a manner at this time.

    What they didn¡¯t know was how much Blood Essence Nie Tian had fused into that bone over the years to make this happen.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s Bloodline Crystal Chains had long since been regenerated in the bone, so its awareness had been awakened.

    All it hadcked to be reanimated was flesh power, flesh power so immense that even Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been able to give it as a tenth grade grand monarch.

    This was why the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s chance ating back to walk this starry river had been slim to none.

    Now, however, after Nie Tian had arrived here and gained the ability to draw power from the endless blood sea, this so-called impossible task had be possible.

    The Rampage Behemoth had actuallye back to life!

    It, which had gone to mutual destruction with the Bone Emperor, rammed about in Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain like a frenzied beast that had just broken free from its prison. Beams of blood-colored light kept shooting out of its humongous form.

    Vested with the most violent and refined flesh power, they easily pierced through and shattered the numerous prisms in Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain.

    The divine light it had amplified and focused on Nie Tian through them was instantly weakened.

    Nie Tian lifted his hand to point at the ck tortoise, which was covered in burns and cuts. ¡°And you. You were born because of me. The blood running through your veins carries the wonders of life I gave you. As long as I¡¯m here, you won¡¯t die!¡±

    WHOOSH!

    Streaks of crimson flesh auras spiraled into the ck tortoise¡¯s vast shell, allowing this spirit tortoise, which carried the Dark Behemoth¡¯s bloodline, to recover at a visible speed. Momentster, no serious wounds could be seen on it anymore.

    ¡°The Lightspirit elders...¡±

    As soon as Nie Tian let out a derisiveugh, sparkling and crystal-clear branches of the Heavenly Stars Flower shot out of his star domain.

    The Lightspirit elders, who had snow-white feathered wings growing out of their backs, were pierced through by the branches before they could even react.

    BOOM!

    Their bodies exploded, their golden blood and bones flying everywhere.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian thought to himself, ¡°Golden blood and bones... The Void Spirit of Light created the Lightspirits? But how did it manage that? Was that as difficult as the creation of the Ifrits?¡±

    The first Ifrit, Nie Yan, had been born because Nie Yan had given him a body he had built with his Blood Essence, and the Divine me had vested him with Bloodline Crystal Chains and a soul.

    The Lightspirits had probably been created by the Void Spirit of Light and another powerful creature as well.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi has fused with the Void Spirit of Light. A Void Spirit that carries the wonders of stars has devoured Ji Cang¡¯s soul and refined his memories...¡± he muttered inwardly. ¡°And the Dark Abyss is the ce that spawned the Void Spirits. Ji Cang, Jiang Yuanchi, and the Divine me are all eager to enter the Dark Abyss. Why do I find their behavior simr to that of the Heavenly Demonsbanes, the coexisting flowers, and the other devilish nts doing everything they could toe to this darknd to fuse into their main body?¡±

    He suddenly had a bold guess.

    ¡°Could there be something else in that wondrous dimension other than the Sea of Life, the Mountain of Death, the River of Souls, and the Origin of Darkness? Could the Void Spirits of different attributes be from ces that are simr to the Sea of Life and the Mountain of Death? Is it possible that after being created in those ces, they were sent out to the three worlds on some sort of mission?¡±

 Chapter 1737: You Finally Got What You Deserve!

    Soon, all of the Lightspirit elders were pierced through and killed by the branches of the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    In the midst of crackling sounds, Gupi was also slowly being burned to ashes by the raging mes.

    For peculiar, powerful creatures like Gupi, they might not be truly dead even if they were cut to many pieces.

    Outsider grand monarchs could be revived from nothing but a single drop of their Blood Essence. Creatures like Gupi had the same ability.

    Therefore, refining them would be the most effective way to wipe them out.

    Watching Gupi¡¯s toxic liquid vaporizing and its deadly miasma dissipating in the raging mes, Nie Tian put his heart at ease, and said, ¡°Jiang Yuanchi, Lightspirits, and Gupi, you¡¯re nothing but a joke in my eyes.¡±

    With a derisiveugh, heid his eyes on the Rampage Behemoth, which was expanding unceasingly in Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain. ¡°The fact that you chose to join hands with the Devils and Netherspirits in the Void World suggests that you have a small ambition.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s icy voice echoed out from within the dazzling divine light that had enveloped a vast area.

    A blindingly bright shape could be seen at the core of therge amount of dazzling light.

    It was probably the soul of the Void Spirit of Light.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian said with a taunting tone, ¡°If you had chosen to side with me, as the new high chieftain of the Lightspirits, you might have had a chance at overtaking the Devils and the Netherspirits, and making the Lightspirits the number one race in the Void World, which is a height the Lightspirits have never reached before. But instead, you¡¯d settle for ruling the Void World together with them.¡±

    ¡°You...¡± Jiang Yuanchi said through gritted teeth from within his brilliant light domain, but was then at a loss for words.

    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that you can¡¯t go back in time to change your decision.¡± After saying these words, Nie Tian didn¡¯t spare Jiang Yuanchi another nce. With a loud whoosh, he charged into the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth, and shouted, ¡°Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡±

    The Devil high chieftain¡¯s terrifying figure loomed in the depths of a sea of rolling Devil Qi, while a wondrous scene could be seen in the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth that had been created by the joint efforts of the Spirit Scepter, the five evil gods, and their signature tools.

    A total of seven illusory Nether Rivers crisscrossed high in the heavens in the misty, cyan realm.

    They seemed to have woven into a gorgeous, wondrous talisman that contained the ultimate secret of souls, which was putting great pressure on Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s soul.

    Even the eyes of the Devil high chieftain, the number one expert in the Void World, looked dull under the effect of the mighty soul talisman.

    Nie Tian sensed a boundless will of destruction from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil as soon as he charged into the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth.

    ¡°Your aura!¡± he cried out in astonishment. ¡°That... that¡¯s the aura of the Doom Spirit!¡±

    At that moment, clusters of dark purple devil mes appeared in the depths of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s eyes.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    For some reason, the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth created by the Spirit Scepter and the five evil gods started burning as well.

    Surrounded by rolling Devil Qi, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil looked like a magnificent devil god, which was abination of power, fierceness, wisdom, and immortality.

    A mysterious shade of pure darkness seemed to be hiding behind the dark purple devil mes that were burning in his eyes.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil shook his head andughed. ¡°Nie Tian, Nie Tian, Nie Tian...¡±

    Hisughter soon grew ethereal and remote, as if it wereing from another dimension.

    Then, like the Divine me, his figure quickly grew illusory and blurry before eventually vanishing from this darknd.

    While the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth was still burning fiercely, he was gone. Not a single wisp of his flesh aura or soul awareness was left.

    Nie Tian was bbergasted, overwhelmed by his new discovery. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he obtained Ophelia¡¯s Doom Spirit and has been hiding it in the depths of his eyes! And like the Divine me and the Void Spirit of Light, the Doom Spirit is a Void Spirit too! One that¡¯s infused with a terrifying will of destruction!

    ¡°Also, there seems to be something else in the depths of his eyes other than it.

    ¡°And now, he vanished as the Divine me did...¡±

    As his train of thought came to this point, his expression suddenly flickered drastically, and he almost cried out, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that he entered the Dark Abyss as the Divine me did!¡±

    He looked around, straining his sight, soul perception, and flesh aura perception.

    However, all he could sense was the endless blood sea that had a profound connection to his life bloodline, nothing more.

    At that moment, a wisp of the Divine me¡¯s soul awareness came through to him, although it was unknown whether it had been left here or conveyed through a secret magic. ¡°You... have actually entered the Dark Abyss. You did the moment that special connection formed between your bloodline and the endless blood sea. If you didn¡¯t, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to draw inexhaustible life power from the endless blood sea.¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± Nie Tian eximed inwardly, as if a bolt of lightning shed across his dark, muddled mind. ¡°I¡¯ve entered the Dark Abyss through my bloodline already?!¡±

    In the next moment, a wisp of his soul awareness flew into his heart.

    As soon as it did, another Nie Tian seemed to enter the endless blood sea.

    Numerous beams of crimson light rose from the depths of the sea to shoot by or through that Nie Tian.

    Each and every beam of it recorded a profound truth of life, a secret life magic, or a trick to using his life bloodline.

    In his senses, the vibrating maic field of life in the depths of the blood sea seemed to be well within his reach, and it seemed to be calling him, urging him toe to it.

    He also had a peculiar, warm feeling that he was home.

    This was something he had never felt before by entering and roaming the endless blood sea with a wisp of his soul awareness to derive new bloodline magics after his every bloodline upgrade.

    At this moment, he felt as if his soul had been separated from his body.

    While his soul roamed the endless blood sea in search of the profound truths of life and approached the origin of all lives, his body was in a daze in the darknd in his Life-origin Form.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Young Lord!¡±

    Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, Feng Beiluo, and Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s cries suddenly echoed from afar.

    They saw the Cyan Nether Heaven and Earth that Nie Tian was in be ripped to shreds like a cyan piece of cloth, and the Spirit Scepter float weightlessly towards him.

    Like an eye, the cyan gem on the top of the scepter seemed to be fixing him with a dark, gruesome stare.

    All of a sudden, the scepter pierced towards the spot between his eyebrows with its pointy end like a spear.

    By the time Dong Li and the others noticed this, it was already very close to Nie Tian, and there was no time for them to stop it themselves anymore.

    They could only hope that their loud cries would wake Nie Tian from his daze.

    None of them knew why Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had vanished, or that Nie Tian was in a daze because his soul had left his body for another space.

    ¡°Soul Disturbance, Soul Disturbance...¡±

    A soul voice that only Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Nether Spirit could hear kepting from the cyan gem at the top of the Spirit Scepter.

    As that happened, the Heavenly Spirit Seals between the five evil gods¡¯ eyebrows suddenly burst forth with suffocating cyan light, causing a violent disturbance to the souls and hearts of the evil gods.

    ¡°You finally got what you deserve,¡± Grand Monarch Nether Spirit said with a coldugh.

 Chapter 1738: Killing The Hope

    This was a bacsh from Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual will!

    This was his attempt toe back to life, just like the time when he had attempted to wipe out Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s awareness and possess his body permanently in the Spirit World.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who was now known as Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, was aware of what was happening as soon as he saw the cyan gem on the Spirit Scepter bursting forth with dazzling light and heard the soul echo ¡®Soul Disturbance.¡¯

    An old trick was being yed!

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit shook his head and muttered, ¡°Nie Tian, Nie Tian...¡±

    Then, he suddenly split into numerous soul shadows that floated ethereally in Dong Li and Pei Qiqi¡¯s surroundings.

    Each and every one of them kept a close watch on Nie Tian and the Spirit Scepter and waited eagerly for the result of their confrontation.

    Meanwhile, the five evil gods floated motionlessly in the air, as if they werepletely fettered by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s power.

    Even though they would probably acknowledge him as their former master, Nie Tian was their master, who had given them brand new fleshly bodies.

    To eliminate the possibility of mishaps, he had confined them with his power.

    As the sharp end of the Spirit Scepter was about to pierce into the spot between Nie Tian¡¯s eyebrows, a downscaled Nether River that was even tinier than a hair flew out of the tip of the scepter.

    Surprisingly, even though this Nether River was so tiny that it was hard to see, it wasn¡¯t illusory like all the others!

    Instead, it was the crystallization of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯sst remaining soul awareness and soul power!

    It could even be said that this tiny, sparkling Nether River was what was left of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!

    At this point, a deep sigh echoed out directly from Nie Tian¡¯s chest, from his heart.

    The sigh was filled with disappointment.

    In the next moment, the Spirit Scepter started shaking violently. An extremely light shade of blood-red spread quietly from the heart of that cyan gem, and devoured the cyan in the gem at an rming rate!

    The tiny, sparkling Nether River immediately started fleeing, as if it had its own awareness.

    It appeared to be eager to escape from Nie Tian, the Spirit Scepter, and this darknd!

    The zed look in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes was suddenly reced by an icy, ruthless look. ¡°Why do you have to do this?¡±

    Then, in a split second, his Life-origin Form, which was more than ten thousands meters tall, shrank to the size of a thumb.

    In a swift motion, he caught the tiny, sparkling Nether River with two fingers. ¡°I thought you could be refined into a loyal soul for the Spirit Scepter. But apparently, your residual will doesn¡¯t allow you to be someone else¡¯s tool.

    ¡°You finally gave in to the temptation, thinking that you could possess me while my soul was away in the endless blood sea.

    ¡°Too bad you failed.¡±

    Nie Tian shook his head slightly, and iparably dazzling light burst forth from between his fingers.

    Flesh aura essence, fiery light, sparks of star power, and soul storms seemed to pour madly into the tiny, sparkling Nether River through his fingers.

    If this Nether River, which carried Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s residual awareness, was put under a microscope, one would be able to see numerous soul symbols exploding within it like countless realms in a vast starry river.

    Arge number of soul strings that were used to script profound soul spells and record truths of soul power were burned to ashes like gigantic dragons, along with Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s memories that they contained.

    Countless cyan sparks at the bottom of the Nether River were wrapped around by cyan flesh auras and melted away.

    This tiny bit of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯sst remaining soul essence had hidden itself all this time in the Nether Rivers in the three worlds and the Spirit Scepter, and had almost never exposed itself.

    Even Nie Tian only knew that it hadn¡¯t perished after his physical demise.

    However, all of his efforts to dig it out had failed.

    All he had been able to do was wait for it to lose its patience ande out by itself.

    Now, the time had finallye for him to snuff out this wisp of Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s soul essence and rid this starry river of his influence.

    As soon as the tiny Nether River vanished, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s awareness perished.

    With the cyan gem on its pommel turning blood-red, this mighty soul tool that had inspired fear in powerful experts from across the three words temporarily lost its radiance.

    However, Nie Tian knew that it would have its wonders back after it was vested with a new soul, and that soul mastered the soul spells Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had left in that cyan gem.

    ...

    The Nether River in the Realm of Dark Souls in the Void World, which had been polluted by Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, suddenly faded, and vanished within moments.

    All the Netherspirits in the Realm of Dark Souls looked up and witnessed the dissipation of the Nether River. A terrifying sense of the ending took them over.

    Many old Netherspirits even wailed that the future of their race was lost.

    After the Bonedrudes¡¯ Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, this Nether River, which had protected the Netherspirits for countless years, was gone for good as well.

    ...

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s numerous soul shadows suddenly scattered and flew away.

    Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and a few other Netherspirit grand monarchs, who were being attacked by the Void Spirits¡¯ projections in another location, saw the soul shadows flying towards them.

    ¡°Soul Capturer!¡± Just as they eximed, the soul shadows of Grand Monarch Nether Spirit pierced into their seas of awareness.

    In the next moment, they let out long, bloodcurdling cries as cyan blood flowed from the corners of their eyes, giving them horrifying looks.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian squinted, and saw that all those Netherspirit grand monarchs, including Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits and Grand Monarch Soul yer, had their bodies crushed by the Void Spirits¡¯ projections.

    At the same time, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s soul shadows could be seen in the depths of their eyes.

    Apparently, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit was strengthening himself with the souls of his own kind again.

    However, he didn¡¯t care anymore.

    ¡°It¡¯s your turn now, Jiang Yuanchi.¡±

    Driven by Pei Qiqi¡¯s Space Boundaries Crystal, numerous interweaving spatial des flew into Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s badly-torn light domain.

    The Rampage Behemoth stepped down.

    Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain exploded under the violent attack of the brilliant spatial des.

    The Void Spirit of Light flew out and vanished in the blink of an eye, as if it had returned to the Dark Abyss as well.

    Up in the sky, Saint and God domain human experts were still fighting outsider grand patriarchs and grand monarchs. Fresh lives were lost from time to time.

    This war that was happening around the confrontation between the giant human and the Tree of Life hade to its fiercest point.

    The battle between Ji Cang and Qin Yao had filled the sky with billions of fragmentary stars and streaks of starlight, turning the heavens in the darknd into a mysterious, gorgeous, vast painting of stars.

    As Nie Tian looked up and around, his eyes seemed to ignore the space between them and see the fierce fights that were taking ce in the heavens and in every corner of the darknd.

    Then, he turned to look at Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who was building up his soul power by sacrificing other Netherspirit grand monarchs.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi cried out in astonishment once again.

    ¡°Young master!¡± Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil also called out, looking shocked.

    Like the Divine me and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Nie Tian was growing illusory and blurry, as if he was slowly squeezing into another dimension.

 Chapter 1739: Grand Monarch Lurking Devil

    Nie Tian finally vanished.

    Neither the Space Boundaries Crystal nor the Void Mirror could lock onto him.

    Pei Qiqi also activated her bloodline in an attempt to capture his aura by relying on the life aura he had left inside of her.

    However, all of her efforts turned out to be futile.

    Like the disappearance of the Divine me and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Nie Tian¡¯s disappearance wasplete.

    Dong Li had noticed the confused look on his face when he had vanished.

    It was as if even he himself didn¡¯t know what had caused this, and it wasn¡¯t his intention that this happened.

    As soon as he disappeared, the reanimated Rampage Behemoth¡¯s rapid growth came to a stop.

    Even though it hade back to life, it was still far from recovering its peak state.

    Right now, it was slightlyrger than the ck tortoise in its awakened form, but was still considerably smaller than the Ripper Behemoth.

    Star Behemoths¡¯ strength was usually reflected in their size. Even though the Rampage Behemoth had finallye back to life, it still had a long way ahead of it.

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    After the Void Spirit of Light vanished, Jiang Yuanchi¡¯s light domain exploded into countless brilliant sparks that emanated zing light.

    However, the immense, holy, and magnificent feeling it had given people waspletely gone. By the time he presented himself in his dharma idol form again, he looked rather depleted.

    ¡°W-where¡¯s the holy spirit of light?¡± he muttered in a low voice.

    At that moment, the Rampage Behemoth let out a furious bellow, before it pounced on and started tearing at his dharma idol with its teeth and ws once again.

    In the sky, the giant being that Ji Cang referred to as the creator of humanity started falling with an increased momentum.

    Many human experts had died protecting him from the Tree of Life, the Floragrims, and the Ancientspirits. Even more had suffered injuries.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Yin Xingtian suddenly gasped with astonishment, his widened eyes fixed on the descending giant being.

    The giant being was plummeting towards him and many other human experts!

    However, to his surprise, just as they were about to be crushed, the giant being that stretched as long as a mountain range suddenly grew illusory and blurry, and vanished in the same bizarre manner as Nie Tian had.

    The third-generation Tree of Life continued to float high above the darknd, and release greenness to its heart¡¯s content.

    The countless wisps of emerald green aura seemed to nourish any creature and spirit nt they touched, and were a nurturing life force in this ice-cold, silent darknd.

    Everyone could see that the Tree of Life had be significantly vaster than before, its numerous branches giving off divine green light.

    Some Saint and God domain human experts were unwilling to give up the fight, and continued to attack it from different directions. However, they all had their domains riddled with holes, and they fell to different parts of the darknd like angels with broken wings.

    Standing on the ck tortoise, Dong Li was holding the Dark Aureole like a ck sun and using it to release pure ck light.

    Seeing this, she eximed, ¡°He¡¯s gone too! Pei Qiqi! You carry a Voidspirit bloodline and wield those divine spatial tools! The Divine me, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Nie Tian, and now that giant have all vanished from this ce!

    ¡°The gate to the Dark Abyss must be here. Howe you can¡¯t sense its existence?¡±

    Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil also turned to fix her with baffled looks.

    In the distance, the members of the three major races in the Void World were in a muddle.

    Because Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had attacked his own nsmen, many Devils, Netherspirits, and Bonedrudes that were loyal to the three top grand monarchs panicked.

    The Void Spirits¡¯ projections seized the opportunity andunched fierce attacks. Many of the powerful experts of the three races perished before realizing what had struck them.

    FIZZ!

    A st of pale-gray light suddenly shot from the distant sky.

    Inside of it was the Ripper Behemoth, which had shrunken to be only a few dozen meters tall.

    It hadn¡¯t shown itself for a long time after it had been badly cut and injured falling through the tunnel in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    However, it had decided toe out now.

    ¡°This is the ce.¡± An ethereal voice that many human experts found both familiar and unfamiliar suddenly echoed out.

    In the next moment, a figure manifested out of thin air, holding the Voidspirit Pagoda.

    ¡°Zhao Shanling!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan, Dong Li, and Pei Qiqi eximed in astonishment.

    The second person in the Domain of the Falling Stars to have entered the Saint domain after Wu Ji, an expert in spatial power, and the man who had disappeared from everyone¡¯s sight for a long time reappeared at this moment.

    Furthermore, he was now at the early God domain!

    He hadn¡¯t been there when powerful experts from across the Mortal World had gathered and marched into the Void World.

    He had been focused on his advances in cultivation before.

    It was a tremendous surprise to everyone that he had not only entered the Void World by himself, but that he had found his way into this darknd and magically emerged at this ¡®gate¡¯ to the Dark Abyss.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s pupils suddenly shrank as her expression turned icy. ¡°T-there¡¯s something off with your aura.¡±

    With a casual smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It hasn¡¯t been long since I returned to the Void World and refined Devil Qi into my body. Apparently, this human body of mine isn¡¯t strong enough to bear the awakening of my devil soul.¡±

    Other than spiritual power, Zhao Shanling clearly had devil power running inside of him as well.

    Confused, Dong Li asked, ¡°Your devil soul?¡±

    However, immediately afterwards, her expression flickered with astonishment, and she cried out, ¡°You... You¡¯re a Devil?!¡±

    ¡°I was.¡± Zhao Shanling admitted frankly. ¡°But I have a stronger sense of belonging with my identity as a human now.¡±

    Dong Li came to a shocking realization. ¡°Y-you¡¯re Grand Monarch Lurking Devil! This is unbelievable! ording to Ji Cang, Grand Monarch Lurking Devil is one of the top ten grand monarchs in the Void World, and he¡¯s an even greater threat to humanity than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.¡±

    ¡°I guess you can say that I was a threat to humanity, but I am no more, not after my death,¡± Zhao Shanling said, looking calm andposed. ¡°Rx, girl. I¡¯m still me. I¡¯m still Zhao Shanling. The Grand Monarch Lurking Devil that gued the Mortal World died long ago. Even though I was him in my previous life, I am Zhao Shanling in this life.¡±

    A skeptical expression filled Dong Li¡¯s face.

    Yin Xingtian and all of the other human experts stared at Zhao Shanling vigntly, as if he were a formidable foe.

    Even though this Zhao Shanling in front of them was only at the early God domain, he gave them a feeling of an unfathomable dark pit, that they didn¡¯t know what was hiding in it.

    Also, as opposed to before, when he had always been cold and distant, he had a warm, faint smile on his face now, as if he had be a different person.

    ¡°I¡¯m here to tell you how to enter the Dark Abyss,¡± he said. ¡°Yin Xingtian, even though you were the mighty Azure Heaven Divine Emperor in your previous life, you don¡¯t qualify to enter the Dark Abyss.¡±

    With these words, he pointed at the Ripper Behemoth, which had been flitting about, but couldn¡¯t find its way into the Dark Abyss, and said, ¡°Neither do you.

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that you were born in the wrong era. The three worlds have only a limited number of fortunes. The Void World has already produced three paragons in session. That giant one and the Tree of Life hogged the fortunes of the Spirit World.

    ¡°You spent a long time drifting around on the floating continent before you finally arrived in the Mortal World, thinking that you could transcend your limits with the fortunes of the Mortal World.

    ¡°However...¡± he shook his head with a pitiful look on his face. ¡°Someone else has long since set their mind on this newest fertilend. So even if you find the gate to the Dark Abyss, you won¡¯t be able to enter it. You might as well leave now.¡±

    This came as a great surprise to everyone. He was actually advising the Ripper Behemoth to leave right away.

    However, the Ripper Behemoth didn¡¯t show even the slightest intention to leave. Instead, it continued to fly around, looking for a way to enter the Dark Abyss.

    All of a sudden, the Rampage Behemoth that Nie Tian had reanimated swooped down from the heavens with a terrifying momentum, and swallowed the Ripper Behemoth in a swift motion.

 Chapter 1740: A Brutal Truth

    <h4>Chapter 1740: A Brutal Truth</h4>

    Trantor: Alcohol Sword Immortal a.k.a. Beerde

    ¡°Ow!¡± the Ripper Behemoth growled.

    Its growl was earth-shattering, and waves of tearing force ripped the Rampage Behemoth¡¯srge bloody mouth.

    Many of the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s jagged sharp teeth were shattered.

    However, the pale beam of light was still crushed little by little by strands of crimson Blood Essence from the Rampage Behemoth.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s Blood Essence secretly contained life power¡¯s unique ability to swallow and absorb flesh power. Although it was impacted by the Ripper Behemoth¡¯s residual strength, it still gnawed at the Ripper Behemoth.

    Having been nourished by Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, it seemed to have inherited part of his bloodline power and talents.

    This also enabled it to quickly get an overwhelming advantage in its battle against the Ripper Behemoth!

    In the ancient Primal Era, the Star Behemoths had been well-deserved overlords, but they had actually fought each other constantly.

    Because the Ripper Behemoth had been born near the end of the Primal Era, it had missed that bloody period, and the mutual annihtion in its memory was so faint that it might have forgotten what it meant to meet one of its own kind when it was weak and badly injured.

    The Rampage Behemoth was different. It was a Star Behemoth that had survived the cruelest era.

    It was its instinct to kill its own kind and use them to strengthen itself and restore its flesh aura¡­

    Therefore, faced with the Ripper Behemoth that had been severely injured flying into the darknd, itunched an attack without even the slightest hesitation.

    In the pale beam of light, the Ripper Behemoth whose Blood Essence was extremely condensed changed from furious snarling to agonized howling.

    At this moment, it seemed to regret that it hadn¡¯t listened to Zhao Shanling¡¯s words and hadn¡¯t left in time.

    Watching the Rampage Behemoth suddenly rush out and swallow the Ripper Behemoth that had shrunk hundreds of millions of times over, Yin Xingtian and all the others felt cold in their hearts.

    Yin Xingtian disyed his Godspan Sword Formation, while Master Blood Spirit, Feng Beiluo, and the others also braced themselves, as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

    They carefully guarded against the Rampage Behemoth, lest it, which Nie Tian had revived with boundless flesh aura from a mere bone, should kill them as well.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Zhao Shanling said, ncing at them. ¡°Apart from Master Blood Spirit, who has a mixed flesh aura inside his body, it won¡¯t have any interest in any of you. But Master Blood Spirit¡¯s flesh aura contains Nie Tian¡¯s aura, so it won¡¯t kill him either. So rest assured, you are not its target.¡±

    Dong Li seemed a little uneasy. ¡°We¡¯d better be careful. As far as I know, when it was in the floating continent, the Ripper Behemoth helped Nie Tian remove the profound truths of death that the Bone Emperor has left in that bone. But what¡¯s happening now? This recently-resurrected Rampage Behemoth didn¡¯t even spare the one that once helped it.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­¡± Zhao Shanling, who felt slightly awkward, said, ¡°I don¡¯t know about that, but what I do know is that Jiang Yuanchi is probably going to die.¡±

    The Rampage Behemoth, which had swallowed the Ripper Behemoth, seemed to follow Nie Tian¡¯s will to hunt down and kill Jiang Yuanchi, which forced the sectmaster of the Shadow Society, who had found fortune in the Void World many times, to hide his light power.

    His domain quickly morphed into a shadow domain that could only be partially seen around him.

    Jiang Yuanchi seemed to know that he was no match for the Rampage Behemoth. However, he was unwilling to leave, so he took a roundabout route to see if he could luckily step into the Dark Abyss.

    Zhao Shanling sneered. ¡°How can you enter without the Void Spirit of Light?¡±

    Dong Li was shocked. ¡°Is a Void Spirit necessary if one wants to enter?¡±

    ¡°A Void Spirit is a kind of key,¡± exined Zhao Shanling. ¡°The treasures you¡¯ve obtainede from the Dark King and contain the ultimate Dao of darkness. Even if the Dark King is dead, the Dao of darkness that heprehended canmunicate with that ultimate darkness. So, as the one to obtain his legacies, you can get in.¡±

    Hearing this, Master Blood Spirit shouted, ¡°What about me?¡±

    Feng Beiluo and Thunder Devil also shouted in unison, ¡°What about me?¡±

    Zhao Shanling pointed his chin at Master Blood Spirit and then Feng Beiluo. ¡°You can¡¯t. Neither can you.¡±

    Then, he turned to the Thunder Devil. ¡°You¡­ have a chance, but I don¡¯t know exactly how to make it happen.¡±

    The Thunder Devil¡¯s eyes lit up.

    ¡°What about me?¡± asked Pei Qiqi.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression became veryplicated and unreadable because of her question.

    ¡°You¡­¡± he said with a stutter. ¡°There¡¯s something special about you. I can¡¯t see through it for the time being.¡±

    It was clear that he knew something, but wasn¡¯t willing to exin.

    ¡°Qiqi, do you feel that your power has been improving in this ce?¡± he suddenly asked.

    Pei Qiqi was shocked. ¡°Yes. My acupoints were opened by Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence. Like me, the five evil gods, the ck tortoise and the others are all rapidly gaining strength with the awakening of Nie Tian¡¯s new bloodline talent.

    Nie Tian had told her that earlier.

    Zhao Shanling nodded and said, ¡°Yes, the awakening of Nie Tian¡¯s new bloodline talent did enhance your flesh auras, but in addition to the strengthening of your flesh aura and your fleshly body, your spiritual power and Voidspirit bloodline are in fact also quickly improving. Nie Tian didn¡¯t give you that.¡±

    Pei Qiqi exined, ¡°Before he died, my father also passed his Blood Essence and the Voidspirits¡¯ secret magics to me.¡±

    Zhao Shanling forced a smile and said, ¡°That wasn¡¯t enough to keep you getting stronger. Do you know what my identity in my pre previous life was? I was also from the Void Spirit Society. Even your master Qu Yi was a few generations younger than me.¡±

    Speaking up to this point, he gave the Void Mirror a look.

    The Void Mirror that Pei Qiqi was holding firmly abruptly flew out and fell into his palm.

    The Voidspirit Pagoda that he had mastered took the opportunity to merge into the Void Mirror.

    Then, the soul of the Voidspirit Pagoda that he had refined immediately started swimming around in the Void Mirror to refine andplete its soul that had been mutted by the Void Spirit and Ji Cang.

    In his hand, the Void Mirror gleamed. Even the cracks on its surface were gently erased.

    Pei Qiqi understood instantly. ¡°Was the Void Mirror made by you?¡±

    With a smile, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Yes. I was the one who made this immortal grade divine tool of the Void Spirit Society. In my previous life, I was able to hide in the human race because my devil soul had be proficient in spatial power.¡±

    Yin Xingtian was appalled. ¡°So it was you! You lived in the era before me! You were the Void Mirror¡¯s creator, the famous Voidspirit Shadow Devil in the Mortal World! Shadow Devil, Lurking Devil!

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect it to be you. The havoc you caused almost destroyed the Mortal World! So¡­ you are indeed Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils in the Void World! If your devil soul can live in a human form generation after generation, then you must be¡­ even older than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled. ¡°All the current members of the Devil ns are indeed my descendants, including Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, who has entered the Dark Abyss.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care who you were,¡± Pei Qiqi shouted coldly. ¡°I just want to know what¡¯s wrong with me!¡±

    After thinking for a while, Zhao Shanling finally said, ¡°Your bloodline is from the Voidspirits, and you¡¯re a hybrid of human and Voidspirit. However, your soul wasn¡¯t born naturally¡­¡±

    Pei Qiqi was stunned. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Your soul is actually a Void Spirit,¡± Zhao Shanling dropped a bombshell. ¡°The whole Voidspirit race was born because of you. Pei Yukong recreated you for the prosperity of the Voidspirits. Why else do you think you could win the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s favor so easily in the Shatter Battlefield?

    ¡°Perhaps it was because your master Qu Yi saw this that he cultivated and shaped you at all costs.

    ¡°Do you think he did that because he cherished your genius?¡±

    Hearing this, Pei Qiqi froze, as if she had been struck by lightning.

    ¡°He only made the Void Spirit in you grow, undergo a metamorphosis, and continue to advance so he could refine and merge it with his god domain to acquire a paragon seed, andy the foundation for his entry into the Dark Abyss,¡± Zhao Shanling continued to exin in a soft voice. ¡°Pei Yukong did that for the betterment of the Voidspirit race, while Qu Yi was possibly motivated by self-interest. Both of them cared about you, but only they know how much they actually cared about you.¡±

    Hearing his words, everyone present looked at Pei Qiqi with pity.

 Chapter 1741: The Voidspirit Mother Goddess

    Zhao Shanling sighed with mixed feelings. ¡°Some Void Spirits know what they are, while some are so muddled that they don¡¯t even know that. The Divine me is a Void Spirit, and so is Ji Cang... now. However, because of your special situation, you never truly awakened. But you should have a vague feeling that you are different from Pei Yukong and the Voidspirits.¡±

    He continued to speak softly, as if by doing this, he wanted topletely awaken Pei Qiqi¡¯s Void Spirit soul.

    ¡°At the beginning, it was presumably because you have the soul of a Void Spirit that he condescended to reach out to you and personally took you to the Void Spirit Society. He must have intended to refine you into his god domain after you underwent a metamorphosis and woke up. But in the end, he changed his mind and came here alone.¡±

    Speaking up to this point, Zhao Shanling paused for a moment.

    Then he continued, ¡°Your master must havee to really care about you after being with you for a period of time. It made him betray his original will to refine you into his god domain in the end.¡±

    ZZZZZLA!

    Countless sharp, brilliant spatial des surged out of Pei Qiqi¡¯s bloodline and acupoints.

    They interwove into a dense behind her.

    The nodes where the spatial des intersected were bright and dazzling, with extremely obvious spatial fluctuationsing out of them, as if they connected to many parts of the starry river.

    Sparks of bright light suddenly flew out of those nodes.

    The sparks were imprinted with dustden memories and the profound truths of spatial wonders.

    The bright sparks fell into Pei Qiqi¡¯s sea of soul awareness like rain of light, and merged into her soul.

    She suddenly remembered that she hade from a spherical crystal.

    The spherical crystal had been made up of countless pieces that were the size of a fingernail. There might be hundreds of millions of such crystals, as if they had corresponded to numerous starry realms of the three worlds.

    She had flown out of it after being born in the spherical crystal.

    The first ce where she had arrived was this darknd.

    After entering the darknd in the form of a wisp of awareness, she had rapidly undergone a metamorphosis and developed intelligence.

    Then, she had wandered about in the darknd, gathering her thoughts. Her familiarity with spatial power had helped her break through the spatial barriers of the darknd and get into the Void World.

    She had shuttled through every spatial rift in the Void World, absorbing the unusual spatial power to strengthen herself.

    However, she hadn¡¯t had a fleshly body, but had just been a mass of spatial power with its own awareness.

    One day, she had flown into the space disruption zone.

    She had found many unusual creatures with fleshly bodies like Silver Domain Snakes.

    Their fleshly bodies had also contained unusual spatial power.

    However, those creatures didn¡¯t have intelligence, and couldn¡¯t use their spatial power as expertly as her. Without a system, their understanding of spatial power was in fact extremely rough and simple.

    Then, from them, she had found a sort of blue unusual bug that was very small and also fed on unusual spatial power. They had been undergoing a metamorphosis and advancing as a species.

    Without intervention, it might have taken this kind of bug with blue blood billions of years to transform intorge creatures like Silver Domain Snakes, and they wouldn¡¯t necessarily even have developed remarkable intelligence by them.

    She had intervened.

    She had flown into thergest unusual bug. With her awareness and intelligence, she had helped the unusual bug speed up its metamorphosis, permanently branded her unique mark in its blood, and helped it refine and absorb spatial power at an increased rate, and fight the other spatial creatures like the Silver Domain Snakes in the space disruption zone.

    The moment she had flown into it, the bug hadn¡¯t been the same as the other bugs, as it had begun to grow and change at an incredible rate.

    The bug had multiplied as it had grown stronger and stronger. All of the new bugs had bloodline connections with her, and through her they could indirectly sense the spherical crystal in the ce where she had been born.

    Sessive generations of these bugs became more powerful, advanced, changed, and eventually evolved into the Voidspirits.

    The Voidspirits became the sole masters of the space disruption zone and honored her as their Mother Goddess, Goddess of the Void.

    Because of her, the Voidspirits had be a novel race of life that had fleshly bodies, and the masters of the space disruption zone, independent of the three worlds.

    However, she had still been a mass of awareness and spatial energy that had had only intelligence and soul, but not a fleshly body.

    As she had traveled through the three worlds, she had found that almost all the intelligent creatures had fleshly bodies, which had made her yearn for one of her own.

    After that, she had begun to search for a body that could hold her soul awareness.

    Even if she had to give up those spatial energies that she had condensed for many years, she wouldn¡¯t hesitate.

    Her first choice, of course, had been the Voidspirits, because their bloodlines had matched hers to begin with.

    However, for some reason, she had always failed in her attempts to merge with them. Besides, the newly-born Voidspirits had already had souls, so their bodies couldn¡¯t merge with her awareness.

    She had tried many ways. She had even secretly facilitated the births of human-Voidspirit hybrids, because she had learned that the human race of the Spirit World didn¡¯t have any special bloodlines, and as such were the mostpatible with other races.

    Hence, she had quietly created Pei Yukong, and silently waited for him to marry a human. She had snuck her soul in when the two of them had made a baby.

    This time, she had given up everything in order to seed and get what she wanted.

    She had secretly sealed up all her memories, her perception and understanding of spatial power as well as the spatial power that she had umted for countless years, leaving only a touch of her soul essence.

    Eventually, she had seeded, but she had also lost much.

    She had seeded because she had obtained a fleshly body.

    However, she had lost her original memories, her understanding of spatial power, and the spatial power she had umted into this new body, which was the same as starting a new life with another independent awareness, as if she had been born again.

    She had forgotten everything in the past, including who she had really been. She had just regarded herself as Pei Qiqi.

    It wasn¡¯t until now that she was finally awakened by Zhao Shanling¡¯s words.

    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t expect...¡± she murmured.

    Her sealed spatial energies, memories, and cognition of spatial power came roaring through the nodes of the densely-interwoven of spatial rifts behind her.

    She was bing stronger and stronger at a speed that was beyondparison.

    Soon, the auraing from her body made everyone present feel shocked and suffocated with terror.

    ¡°Jiang Yuanchi!¡± As soon as she eximed softly, Jiang Yuanchi and his light domain were broken into thousands of fragments.

    Everyst fragment was sucked into the spatial rifts.

    Just like that, the sectmaster of the Shadow Society and the current high chieftain of the Lightspirits disappeared.

    Even the Rampage Behemoth, which had just swallowed the Ripper Behemoth, was instinctively uneasy and backed away from her as she made her move.

    In the distance, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who was strengthening his soul with the souls of his own nsmen, also felt a strong jolt to his soul. ¡°Damn it! Another monster has awakened!¡±

 Chapter 1742: Generations of Lurking Devil

    Everyone could see that Pei Qiqi began to change dramatically at this point.

    She seemed to have gained control of the countless spatial rifts that had previously split open in the darknd.

    The Rampage Behemoth had attacked Jiang Yuanchi, the high chieftain of the Lightspirits, for a long time, but had failed to kill him.

    Now, however, she had crushed Jiang Yuanchi and his light domain with a single move.

    SWISH!

    In the distance, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit suddenly split into thousands of shadows that disappeared.

    He even left behind the fragmentary souls of his nsmen.

    Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, and the others all looked grim. The way they looked at Pei Qiqi changed.

    They had no idea what Pei Qiqi would do now that she knew that she was a Void Spirit, and the Voidspirits¡¯ mother goddess.

    Was she going to live on as a human like Zhao Shanling, or...?

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fine wisps of rainbow light constantly sputtered from the Void Mirror that Zhao Shanling had now mastered.

    Even he quietly condensed spatial power, as if he were facing a formidable enemy.

    He also secretly activated the devil power he had absorbed, preparing himself for what might happen.

    In fact, he somewhat regretted revealing Pei Qiqi¡¯s identity. If he hadn¡¯t done that, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to gather her sealed power, memories, and knowledge so easily and quickly.

    He also had no idea what Pei Qiqi would do after recovering her lost memories.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, you yed a vital role in the Voidspirits being expelled from the Void World by the three outsider races, didn¡¯t you?¡± Pei Qiqi asked, her eyes suddenly turning cold and indifferent. ¡°When the Voidspirits declined in the Void World and were forced to return to the space disruption zone and hide, that seems to be exactly the period when you made your name among the Devils.¡±

    Zhao Shanling smiled and said leisurely, ¡°It was a decisive role, instead of a vital one, that I¡¯ve yed in expelling the Voidspirits! You could say that I made the whole thing happen. In that era, the Voidspirits came out of the space disruption zone and ran amok in the Void World.

    ¡°They were conceited and thought they could do whatever they liked because they could teleport from realm to realm. You were intent on acquiring a fleshly body at that time, and didn¡¯t pay attention to the Voirspirtis¡¯ internal affairs for a long time. Or maybe you thought the Voidspirits were unbeatable in the three worlds.

    ¡°It was because I wanted to deal with the Voidspirits that I started studying spatial power. In addition to me, members of the other races also began toprehend the mysteries of spatial power in various ways, because the Voidspirits were too arrogant and unreasonable at that time!

    ¡°It waster proven that the Voidspirits only had a natural advantage in the use and absorption of spatial power. However, members of the other races could also master the wonders of spatial power if they worked hard. In terms of perception, we were the same, except you.

    ¡°When the Voidspirits were the most arrogant, high-handed, and domineering in the three worlds, I persuaded the Netherspirits and the Bonedrudes of the Void World to join us in fighting them. You may not know it, but the Voidspirits scared the Netherspirits and the Bonedrudes so badly that they didn¡¯t dare to fight them at that time.

    ¡°However, after I sealed space, and the experts of the Devils, the Netherspirits and the Bonedrudes joined the action, we almost killed all the Voidspirit experts in that era. We also made everyone see that the Voidspirits might be best in the art of escaping, but when the space around them is sealed, their battle prowess isn¡¯t as strong as that of the Devils and the Bonedrudes.¡±

    Zhao Shanling talked eloquently about the past.

    He frankly revealed the fact that even the three outsider races of the Void World had been eclipsed by and apprehensive about the Voidspirits when they had been in their heyday.

    It was he who had studied the mysteries of spatial power in order to deal with the Voidspirits.

    It was also he who had almost single-handedly knocked the Voidspirits from their pedestal when they had been the most powerful!

    He had forced them to escape into the space disruption zone, wander in the Mortal World and the Spirit World, but no longer dare to go to the Void World and do whatever they wanted.

    The information he revealed was very different from what Pei Qiqi had learned.

    What Pei Qiqi had learned was that the three outsider races had asked the Voidspirits to open the passages that connected to the Spirit World and the Mortal World. However, they had gone back on their promises, betrayed, and tried to kill the Voidspirits.

    ¡°It seems that when the Voidspirits were in their heyday, they were really...¡± Pei Qiqi murmured with her head low. All of a sudden, she agreed more with the answer given by Zhao Shanling in front of her.

    ¡°Since Pei Yukong is only my father in name, most of the Voidspirit experts have been sacrificed, and my master was also killed here, then... I have nothing to miss, and I think I know what to do.¡±

    Hearing her words, everyone was instantly nervous.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi had a very sharp momentum. The spatial fluctuations from the Space Boundaries Crystal that she had mastered had exceeded those of the Void Mirror, making it the most powerful spatial divine tool in the three worlds.

    Plus, she was the Goddess of the Void. After her awakening, she had regained her memories, her understanding of spatial power... and the spatial energies she had umted for countless years!

    She had be one of the most terrifying beings in the darknd now.

    ¡°What?¡± eximed Dong Li. ¡°You, you¡¯re also...¡±

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Pei Qiqi¡¯s beautiful figure became more and more blurred and illusory.

    Their past experience told them that Pei Qiqi must have figured out how to enter the Dark Abyss after her identity and memories as a Void spirit were awakened.

    She had decided to go.

    As Pei Qiqi¡¯s figure faded away, a taunting smile curved her lips. ¡°The only person with whom I am still connected, and whose blood has made my fleshly body strong and perfect, is in there. I¡¯m the one who should and can be with him.¡±

    ¡°You!¡± Dong Li yelled as her face turned cold. Anger filled her heart, but she couldn¡¯t vent her anger because Pei Qiqi had disappeared.

    WHOOSH!

    Zhao Shanling exhaled. His nervous face suddenly rxed. ¡°Luckily, it went as I expected. Revived people like me and her may not be the same person as we were in our previous lives, and may not still miss and hold on to the past. The things that we experience in current lives always leave the deepest marks, and have the greatest impact on our souls.¡±

    When it came to this, it was likely that no one felt more deeply than he did in the three worlds.

    Almost no one knew that the ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil¡± of the Devils actually had experienced almost the entire history of the Devils, as he had existed throughout most of their history.

    His bloodline talent was the most mysterious, and allowed him to be reincarnated again and again with his devil soul. Also, he could be reincarnated as any living creature, such as a devil, a human, or an Ancientspirit...

    Even though he had been reincarnated many times, and he had been the mysterious Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils in every life, his soul had been quite different because of his different experiences in his different lives.

    Because of that, he could be very capricious sometimes, and would do all sorts of things that vited his hidden identity.

    There were times that he hadn¡¯t even regarded himself as Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils, and undermined the Devils¡¯ ns.

    It was thanks to his personal experiences that he had believed even if Pei Qiqi woke up and learned who she was, she wouldn¡¯t change her attitude towards Nie Tian and the people around her, because she had known Nie Tian with her identity of ¡°Pei Qiqi¡±.

    The part of her memory that belonged to Pei Qiqi would perhaps outmatch her soul as a Void Spirit.

    Zhao Shanlingughed. ¡°I gambled right.¡±

    ...

    At the same time.

    Nie Tian was floating nkly in the vast sea of blood. He looked around, and gradually came to his senses.

    This time, he wasn¡¯t here as a wisp of his soul. Instead, he had descended in his true form!

 Chapter 1743: The Four Great Origins

    Nie Tian, floating in his Life-origin Form in the endless blood sea, gradually regained his awareness. When he saw the scene around him, he couldn¡¯t stop screaming, ¡°The Blood Realm of Life!¡±

    All he could see were countless drops of red, diamond-like blood.

    Some drops were huge, some were small as dust, some were like red balls of light, and some were just little traces in the vast sea of red blood.

    His body was covered with boundless flesh aura, which was as thick and sticky as spiritual liquid.

    His clothes had been reduced to ashes without him knowing it.

    He floated naked in the boundless blood sea, his heart pounding.

    His heartbeat seemed to have a strange resonance with the vibrations of the origin of life in the depths of the endless blood sea.

    Nie Tian was still a little confused. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I ended up here. Could the so-called Dark Abyss be this Blood Realm, the origin of all living beings¡¯ bloodlines? Are the Divine me and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils also here? All those Void Spirits with different attributes came from here, and then evolved in various ways after leaving?

    ¡°So what exactly are the Void Spirits? What kind of responsibility do they bear? And what about paragons?¡±

    A series of doubts flooded his sea of soul awareness, making him confused.

    All of a sudden, wonderful connections were made in his mind. ¡°Huh?¡±

    The me power sub-soul in his sea of soul awareness sensed the existence of an aura, from which he was feeling a closeness.

    It wasn¡¯t in this endless blood sea, the origin of his bloodline.

    However, that aura, which seemed to belong to the Divine me, was in this mysterious dimension.

    ¡°The Divine me is a Void Spirit. It¡¯s likely that the origin of all me power is also in this ce. What I feel close to is most likely a cluster of strong, eternally burning me!¡± as he thought of this, his true soul was suddenly shaken again.

    There was another deep cyan aura giving him a close feeling somehow...

    ¡°The River of Souls!¡± he yelled.

    He had once been temporarily pulled out of the endless blood sea by the power of the Tree of Life, and thus he had seen a long cyan river, which was the River of Souls.

    The so-called Nether Rivers emerging in the three worlds were mere projections of that river.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had disyed them aftermunicating with the River of Souls with his fragmentary soul and residual strength through secret magics.

    ¡°The wonders and the Dao of souls that I derived when my true soul refined and merged the Nether Rivers one after another are from the River of Souls. After I wiped out all traces of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s existence, I reced him as the being that¡¯s nearest to the River of Souls.

    ¡°So as soon as I arrived here, the River of Souls offered me an olive branch.

    ¡°Hmm? There¡¯s something else.¡± The star power sub-soul in his sea of soul awareness seemed to detect a speck of starlight.

    Since he hadn¡¯t disyed his star domain, the Heavenly Stars Flower was rooted in the star power core in his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    At this moment, the Heavenly Stars Flower, which was perfectlypatible with his star power sub-soul, became very excited.

    It seemed to urge him to get out of this endless blood sea, find that speck of starlight, and merge with it.

    Nie Tian suddenly felt that the starlight must be in this wondrous dimension as well, representing the origin of all star wonders.

    The Void Spirit that had possessed Ji Cang must be from that speck of starlight.

    Since he was still in the endless blood sea, he wasn¡¯t really impressed by it, and only felt that it was a speck of starlight.

    If he walked out of the endless blood sea, perhaps he would know that the starlight in fact carried profound meaning and endless wonders.

    ¡°Strange, really strange...¡± he murmured, feeling that his heartbeat and his bloodline were echoing the fluctuations of the origin of life in the depths of the blood sea.

    However, his true soul, me power sub-soul, and star power sub-soul were being tempted by three other origins: the River of Souls, the origin of mes, and the origin of stars.

    He carefully pondered, and gradually came to a very mysterious feeling...

    He felt as if he could break through to be a so-called paragon with any of his life bloodline, true soul, me power sub-soul, and star power sub-soul!

    If he followed the guidance of his bloodline and found the origin of life in the endless blood sea, he might be able to be a paragon somewhat simr to the Tree of Life with its help.

    If he left the endless blood sea and entered the River of Souls, he could be favored by the River of Souls because of the power of his true soul, and then he could be an existence like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    Or he could go to the origin of me where the Divine me was, or merge with the starlight. Those options would also give him a great chance at bing a paragon.

    He was surprised to find that upon entering the endless blood sea, he had be a treasure that was acknowledged and wanted by four origins together.

    ¡°Paragon, paragon...¡± he lowered his head and murmured. ¡°Is it true that I can only choose only one of the four origins to help me be a paragon? Which origin is the best? The origin of me already has the Divine me. As for the origin of the stars... Ji Cang and Qin Yao, who is my father, are vying for the chance at bing a paragon.¡±

    ¡°With Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit out of the picture, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit should be the contender for the chance at bing a paragon with the help of the River of Souls. Will I have to fight Grand Monarch Nether Spirit if I enter the River of Souls?

    ¡°As for the origin of life, hasn¡¯t the third generation of Tree of Life beaten me to it? Will I have to contend with the Tree of Life for its acknowledgment? ording to Ji Cang, it¡¯s via the strategy of the Tree of Life that I was created.¡±

    At that moment, he suddenly became hesitant and confused again.

    Suddenly, he sensed a wisp of life aura that belonged to him. ¡°Mmm!¡±

    He sensed Pei Qiqi in the endless blood sea through the drops of Blood Essence he had given her. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

    With his surprised scream, a gorgeous light emerged suddenly in front of him.

    The light quickly morphed into the graceful, distant Pei Qiqi.

    It was just that the way she looked at him was very strange and different from before.

    She looked around with a curious expression, and said in amazement, ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m in the blood sea.

    ¡°Before, I just knew this ce existed, but never had a chance toe in here to take a look. I never expected I¡¯d end up here when I came back.¡±

    With that, she syed her hands and looked at her palm.

    A drop of blue blood split her skin and came to float in her palm.

    It was like a crystal-clear sapphire, containing rays of fine light that manifested the profound meanings of space.

    ¡°Hmm, what do you know? Greatpatibility...¡± she murmured.

    Then, she fixed her eyes on the bbergasted Nie Tian again, and burst intoughter. ¡±You¡¯re quite cute when you look confused.¡±

    Nie Tian was still taken aback. ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei, have you been here before?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Pei Qiqi replied and pointed above. ¡°I¡¯ve been there. Something up there gave birth to my awareness. But it was only after I left this ce and flew into the Void World that I quickly gained intelligence.

    ¡°That¡¯s right. Like Ji Cang, I am also a Void Spirit, or a Spirit of Chaos.¡±

 Chapter 1744: Ancient Arch-devil

    ¡°Void Spirits, or Spirits of Chaos, were born in the Dark Abyss,¡± Zhao Shanling continued to exin to Dong Li and the others in the darknd. ¡°The Dark Abyss is also known by many names. The so-called Blood Realms, which are the origins of all species in this starry river, are only a part of it.¡±

    The fact that Nie Tian, the Divine me, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and Pei Qiqi had vanished and entered the Dark Abyss one after another put only one thought in everyone¡¯s minds: they needed to enter the Dark Abyss themselves.

    As the Devil race¡¯s most mysterious Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, who had witnessed almost their entire history, Zhao Shanling hadn¡¯t made them his enemies as they had expected him to after he had awakened his memories from his previous lives.

    On the contrary, he exined the secrets of the Dark Abyss, the Void Spirits, and the so-called paragon seeds to them with great patience.

    WHOOSH!

    The Tree of Life, which had be unimaginably vast, plummeted towards the ce where Zhao Shanling and the others were with an unstoppable momentum after defeating the giant human being.

    It looked magnificent and exuded exuberant greenness, with numerous rivers of green energy surrounding it like gorgeous ribbons.

    Most of the human experts with inferior cultivation bases that had attacked it had been killed.

    Even without the Ancientspirits to protect it, it was now an unmatched force in the darknd.

    Staring at the colossal tree, Zhao Shanling¡¯s pupils shrank as he said, ¡°The Tree of Life hase to its third generation. Who knows how many beings with prospects of bing paragons it has strangled?

    ¡°Because of its existence, the Spirit World hasn¡¯t witnessed the birth of a single paragon. Many eras have passed, but it lives on.

    ¡°This doesn¡¯t agree with the Dao of the Heavens. The fact that the energy of heaven and earth in the Spirit World has been flowing into the Dark Abyss is a sign.

    ¡°That indicates that its time ising to an end.¡±

    Everyone suddenly sensed a fighting spirit in Zhao Shanling as he said these words.

    The Tree of Life was clearly the target of his soaring fighting spirit.

    The expressions of Feng Beiluo, the Thunder Devil, and the others flickered as they saw the Void Mirror in Zhao Shanling¡¯s hand suddenly light up. ¡°You... You want to fight it?¡± Feng Beiluo eximed.

    ording to Ji Cang, it was the Tree of Life that had instructed Qin Yao, their leader, to create Nie Tian.

    If that was true, then it must have a profound connection with Nie Tian and Qin Yao.

    If Zhao Shanling wanted to fight it now, didn¡¯t that mean he stood on their opposite side?

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and a gruesome smile appeared on his face. ¡°Only one being is needed to resonate with the origin of life in that endless blood sea in the Dark Abyss. There¡¯s only going to be one paragon. It¡¯s either it or Nie Tian.¡±

    With these words, He turned to look Feng Beiluo and the Thunder Devil in the eye. ¡°Which do you want it to be?¡±

    ¡°How can we trust you?¡± the Thunder Devil asked.

    Dong Li also fixed him with a suspicious look.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to trust me,¡± Zhao Shanling said casually and started walking in the air towards the descending Tree of Life. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything. In fact, other than the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, none of you can do much.¡±

    BOOM!

    Billions of rays of spatial light suddenly burst forth and gathered into a beam of blinding light. It shot skywards with a momentum even greater and fiercer than that of Yin Xingtian¡¯s Heavenbreaker.

    At the same time, the rich, rolling Devil Qi in the sky poured down like waterfalls, and fused into Zhao Shanling.

    In the blink of an eye, he morphed into a gigantic ancient devil god that viewed suns and moons as mud pellets, and the starry river as his bathtub.

    To everyone¡¯s astonishment, he turned into a gigantic devil that was even more magnificent and formidable than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and with an aura even more torrential.

    He had ckish-violet skin and two giant bent horns growing out of his forehead. His pupils, one ck, the other purple, emanated terrifying light like two suns of different colors.

    The moment heid his eyes on the colossal Tree of Life, which was descending with an unstoppable momentum, it came to an abrupt stop in the air.

    Everyone could tell that the Tree of Life treated the gigantic devil with solemnity, as if it had finally seen a worthy opponent.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Countless purple lightning bolts emerged and started slithering all over the sinister devil god Zhao Shanling had transformed into, as if this form of his contained the Devils¡¯ boundless territory.

    However, the aura he released didn¡¯t contain even the slightest flesh aura.

    Rather, it was a mixture of devil power, spiritual power, and spatial power.

    It appeared that this form of his was still human by nature. It appeared that this sinister gigantic devil was... his dharma idol!

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s dharma idol was an enormous devil!

    How rare this was!

    ¡°Why do I have a feeling that this enormous devil Zhao Shanling has transformed into has a lot inmon with that giant human being?¡± Dong Li asked with a charming frown. ¡°Zhao Shanling appears to be practicing the Devils¡¯ secret magics with his human body! And he¡¯s well-versed in spatial power! What a freak!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    As the Tree of Life¡¯s innumerable branches and leaves swayed violently, a voice echoed in everyone¡¯s souls. ¡°It¡¯s you again, Ancient Arch-devil. I knew that you wouldn¡¯t just give up. Generation after generation, you live on in the form of Devils, Netherspirits, dragons, and Ancientbeasts.

    ¡°Who would have thought that in the end, you found that humans were your favorite, and revived yourself repeatedly in human bodies.¡±

    As the Tree of Life released distinct soul fluctuations, it continued to growrger andrger, so much so that it even started to have the magnificence of its first generation, which could easily pierce through realms with its branches.

    The Thunder Devil was dumbstruck for a brief moment before saying, ¡°I can¡¯t believe the Tree of Life can actuallymunicate with us now.¡±

    Then, he saw countless branches of the Tree of Life filling his view as they stretched wildly towards Zhao Shanling¡¯s enormous devil-like dharma idol.

    ¡°You killed Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit,¡± Zhao Shanling said in a soft voice. ¡°And I died at your hands several times as well. You¡¯ve strangled more lives that had the potential to be paragons than I can count. Many of them were even your creations. But you were just afraid that they¡¯d take your fortune and cause you to wither and die, right?¡±

    The Tree of Life didn¡¯t respond with words.

    The response it gave was for the countless, sky-filling branches to burst forth with blindingly bright green divine light.

    The green light shone upon the Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into like a cage that was used to bind deities.

    Within seconds, the Ancient Arch-devil¡¯s skin became shriveled as his bulging muscles shrank, as if they were losing their moisture.

    It appeared that even Zhao Shanling¡¯s life potential was being drained from this Ancient Arch-devil form.

    If Nie Tian were here, he would be able to tell at first nce that the Tree of Life was using Life Erosion, the bloodline talent he had awakened when his bloodline had entered the seventh grade.

    It was hard to believe how mighty this bloodline talent was when the Tree of Life used it.

    Not only the Ancient Arch-devil, but every being that was looking at the Tree of Life at this point, human or outsider, was struck by a terrifying feeling that they were losing their life force, or having their lifespans shortened.

 Chapter 1745: Path to Becoming A Paragon

    The Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into and the third-generation Tree of Life engaged in a fierce battle in the darknd.

    At the same time, Nie Tian somehow felt changes in the endless blood sea, the origin of his life bloodline.

    He had a feeling that new drops of blood were being condensed and added to this endless blood sea he was in, enriching the flesh auras in this wondrous sea that represented the origin of all lives.

    Subtle changes even happened to the maic field of life in the depths of the sea.

    ¡°A battle has broken out between Zhao Shanling and the third-generation Tree of Life,¡± Pei Qiqi eximed softly. ¡°Zhao Shanling is actually Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, the Ancient Arch-devil of the Devils. He was born almost around the same time as the Void World came into existence. His uniqueness allowed him to live many lives in the bodies of various species across the three worlds.¡±

    Pei Qiqi seemed to have be a different person now that her lost memories had been awakened.

    ¡°Void Spirits, Spirits of Chaos...¡± At this point, Nie Tian was still trying to digest the information she had dropped on him earlier. As soon as he heard her words, his eyes lit up once again. ¡°What?! Zhao Shanling is the Grand Monarch Lurking Devil who, ording to Ji Cang, is a great threat to humanity?¡±

    Simply too many aspects of his recognition of this universe were being overturned.

    ¡°Why would he fight the Tree of Life?¡± he asked with a frown.

    ¡°Perhaps instead of it, he prefers that you be a paragon.¡± With these words, she looked around at the sparkling, crystal-clear drops of blood that made the endless blood sea, and added, ¡°Come on. It¡¯s about time you went and saw what the so-called origin of life really is.¡±

    Before Nie Tian could say anything, she grabbed his hand with her jade-like, slightly chilly, thin hand.

    Nie Tian went nk the moment their hands were tightly bound together.

    He hadn¡¯t canceled his Life-origin Form yet. If he had been in a regr realm, he would have beenparable to a lofty mountain peak.

    However, Pei Qiqi was standing shoulder to shoulder with him at this moment.

    This made him realize that this Pei Qiqi in front of him might be different from the senior martial sister Pei he knew.

    ¡°I can give you a ride,¡± Pei Qiqi said, looking casual and calm. ¡°Because you helped me expand my acupoints and purge the impurities from my fleshly body with your Blood Essence, I can move around in this blood sea now. However, the surging origin of life in the depths of this blood sea will never acknowledge me. And I can never reach it.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    A mysterious connection suddenly formed between Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form and the part of her flesh aura that had been nurtured by Nie Tian¡¯s life force-infused Blood Essence.

    Nie Tian looked down, and discovered that numerous wisps of her flesh aura that were finer than hairs seemed to quickly tangle together with the flesh aura he exuded naturally.

    Immediately afterwards, the two of them started flying in the blood sea like one brilliant streak of light.

    Countless glorious beams of crimson light kept shooting from the depths of the blood sea.

    Some of them, which recorded certain wonders, hit Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form.

    However, he had a different feeling from before, when he had roamed this blood sea as a soul shadow.

    Ages ago, he hade here and derived secret life magics in soul form.

    When those beams of light had hit him, they passed through him and left secret magics in him in the form of soul imprints and runes.

    Those beams of light had continued to shoot forward like bolts of lightning.

    This time, however, as he had arrived here in true form, the beams of crimson light vanished upon hitting him.

    Immediately afterwards, brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains were generated in the bloodline aura in his heart.

    Not just that, but subtle changes happened to his Life-origin Form as well, before he realized it.

    His meridians, bones, muscles, and even the positions of his internal organs all experienced minor changes.

    These changes made this body of his even more fit for battle, and the releasing of his bloodline talents and secret magics...

    This made him realize that the iing beams of light were tempering him and trying to fix thest remaining ws in his body within a short time.

    As this happened, not a single beam of light hit Pei Qiqi.

    Most of the beams of light that missed him recorded wonders or secret magics that he had already mastered.

    All of these beams of lighting from the maic field where the origin of lifey seemed to have their own awareness.

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t tell whether a long time had passed, or it had only been a moment, when Pei Qiqi came to an abrupt stop.

    He stopped as well with a zed look in his eyes. Crimson sparks that were the size of grains of rice could be seen bursting in a gorgeous fashion in the depths of his eyes, as if numerous profound truths and wonders of life were being sorted and realigned.

    At the same time, crackling sounds came from within his Life-origin Form, as if the power of those beams of light was still fixing his fleshly body from within with great perseverance.

    ¡°This is it,¡± Pei Qiqi said softly. ¡°I can only get you this far. I can¡¯t even move an inch forward. Of the myriad beings in the three worlds, you and the Tree of Life are the only ones that can go further from here. But right now, I suppose it¡¯s being held off by Zhao Shanling and the others in the darknd.

    ¡°So you¡¯re in the lead on this path to bing a paragon.¡±

    With these words, she gazed off behind her, her charming eyes gradually lighting up. ¡°My path doesn¡¯t lie here. Now that you¡¯ve found your path, it¡¯s about time I left and looked for mine.¡±

    BOOM!

    Countless brilliant sparks seemed to suddenly explode in the depths of his sea of awareness.

    A violent soul storm seemed to instantly overtake his true soul and nine sub-souls, causing them to start rotating madly like ten giant whirlpools.

    Brand new imprints were born and stimted in the newly-generated Bloodline Crystal Chains in his heart.

    The stimted imprints flew from his heart into his sea of awareness like a rain of knowledge, and fused into his true soul. Then, his true soul and sub-souls worked together to channel them and derive the knowledge that was branded in his mind, as a permanent part of his memories.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Pei Qiqi suddenly let out an exmation. ¡°You have to hurry now! I have a feeling that the immense life power in this endless blood sea is being drawn away!¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯re here, it must be the third-generation Tree of Life that¡¯s channeling essence from this Blood Realm.

    ¡°The pressure it¡¯s receiving from the Ancient Arch-devil must have helped awaken its bloodline talents. It once stood atop the three worlds. If it has regained the ability to channel power from this Blood Realm, it¡¯ll be able to return to its peak within a short time. Both of us have seen how grand and formidable its withered first-generation is. We can imagine how much power it can wield.

    ¡°You have to be a paragon if you want to contend against it!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s words turned into cries.

    ¡°It transcended and became a paragon in its first generation,¡± Nie Tian said. ¡°What it¡¯s after must be more than that. I suppose it¡¯s hoping to absorb this entire blood sea!¡±

    Only after sorting through the knowledge and information the beams of crimson light had left in him did hee to a shocking realization.

    All of these pieces of knowledge and information were gifts from the maic field of life in the depths of this endless blood sea, or the origin of life.

    However, even the origin of life was being extra careful as it passed memories, knowledge, and information on to him.

    It was being careful because it didn¡¯t want the Tree of Life to find out!

    It was hard to believe that even the origin of his and the Tree of Life¡¯s bloodline had strong apprehension towards the Tree of Life!

 Chapter 1746: Who To Believe?

    In the darknd.

    Each and every branch of the colossal Tree of Life brimmed with life power.

    They released brilliant emerald green light like a green sea of energy.

    All those who were enveloped in it were losing their life force and lifespan, whether it was the Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into, Yin Xingtian the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, Dong Li, Feng Beiluo, or the other human experts.

    ROAR!

    As the Ancient Arch-devil roared in an ancient devilnguage, his words seemed to morph into runes shooting out of his gigantic devil form.

    Numerous pure ck and dark purple devil symbols and runes that recorded the birth, rise, and prosperity of the Devil race in the Void World rose from his devil form, and exploded in the space between him and the Tree of Life, as if to defend against its terrifying power.

    ¡°Devil Soul Shakes the Heavens!¡±

    A pir of cyan soul power sted out of the forehead of the Ancient Arch-devil.

    Like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s Nether River, the pir of soul power seemed to be made of innumerable tiny soul symbols, and carried numerous profound pieces of knowledge about souls that the Netherspirits wouldn¡¯t impart to others.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± The five evil gods, who were scattered in different areas and weren¡¯t doing anything due to Nie Tian¡¯s sudden disappearance, eximed simultaneously.

    They had been at a loss for what to do after Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯sst remaining awareness had been wiped out and Nie Tian had entered the Dark Abyss.

    The Tree of Life¡¯s aura had a lot inmon with the aura of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence, which he had infused and built their bodies with. This made them lean towards the Tree of Life.

    However, Zhao Shanling and Nie Tian had known each other for a very long time, and his earlier remarks had been rather persuasive.

    Was the Tree of Life really Nie Tian¡¯s enemy?

    Since they couldn¡¯t find the answer to that, they had decided to exercise restraint and pull away from the fierce battle between Zhao Shanling and the Tree of Life.

    However, at this moment, they shrewdly sensed that the Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into was casting the Netherspirits¡¯ profound soul spells.

    A wondrous prismatic mark seemed to be condensed by Zhao Shanling with soul power, and manifested between his eyebrows. ¡°I lived a life as a Netherspirit.

    ¡°I gave guidance to Heavenly Spirit once, before he became a grand monarch. So I guess I made a little contribution to histe transcendence as a paragon. I wonder if he ever mentioned a senior named Yama Soul to you.¡±

    The five evil gods, who had been Netherspirits in their previous lives, gasped. Their eyes were filled with astonishment and surprise as they stared at Zhao Shanling. ¡°Yama Spirit?!¡±

    They had heard Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit mention a senior named Grand Monarch Yama Spirit quite a few times during the many ages they had served him as his right-hand men.

    However, they had never heard others talk about him.

    Also, they hadn¡¯t found any records about him anywhere, as if this grand monarch had never existed in the history of the Netherspirits...

    Even so, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had said more than once that the Grand Monarch Yama Soul who had given him guidance was the most mysteriously powerful senior at that time.

    Even after he had transcended and be a paragon, he had still referred to that Grand Monarch Yama Spirit as his master...

    The Tree of Life¡¯s soul will suddenly surged. ¡°So you yed a part in Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit bing a paragon and crossing the boundless Realm Sea to fight me as well. You made your ns carefully, and then carried them out through generations using different identities. How patient of you!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    All of a sudden, thousands of streaks of green light shot out of the roots of the Tree of Life towards Zhao Shanling¡¯s Ancient Arch-devil form.

    The pir of soul power that looked like a Nether River exploded instantly, countless soul symbols spraying over a vast area like a rain of glowing spots.

    The Ancient Arch-devil let out a muffled groan, and then shouted, ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re waiting for! But let me tell you. If you don¡¯t try to stop it, it¡¯ll cost Nie Tian his chance at bing a paragon!¡±

    Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, and the others shuddered violently upon hearing this. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    One fierce gaze after another rapidly fixed on the third-generation Tree of Life.

    Could Zhao Shanling be trusted?

    If the Tree of Life was in fact humanity¡¯s arch-enemy and a great threat to Nie Tian, then why would Qin Yao, Nie Tian¡¯s father, fight Ji Cang?

    Shouldn¡¯t the rogue cultivators, hybrids, and outsiders from the Doomed Star Sea be focusing on fighting the Tree of Life?

    ...

    In the Blood Realm of Life.

    After parting ways with Pei Qiqi, Nie Tian continued his journey to find the origin of life in the depths of the blood sea alone.

    Arge number of patterns and runes were still being analyzed and sorted by his true soul and nine sub-souls.

    From the ones he was finished with, he had learned that the origin of life not only had its own awareness, but it was also deeply apprehensive about the Tree of Life and dreaded itsing.

    It appeared that the origin of life favored him...

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    His heart pounded harder and harder as he approached the origin of life.

    Beams of crimson light were shing by like glorious shooting stars.

    However, not a single one of them hit him anymore.

    As he went deeper, the beams of crimson light even vanished.

    That was when he saw something that shouldn¡¯t be in this wondrous ce.

    That giant human being!

    The giant, half-naked human being was floating motionlessly in the depths of the blood sea like a mountain range!

    It appeared that drops of crimson blood that contained immense life power were attracted to and gathered densely around him.

    Gorgeous beams of blood-colored light shooting from the origin of life continued to disappear into him.

    Meanwhile, he remainedpletely still. The piece of golden armor on his chest, the frosty gem on his Adam¡¯s apple, and the lightning chains that wrapped around him had all stopped giving off divine light.

    However, his heart, which had been silent for countless years, seemed to be absorbing fine wisps of life power from his surroundings.

    An extremely tiny aura, so tiny that no being in this starry river other than him and the Tree of Life could perceive it, was growing in the giant human being¡¯s heart.

    Nie Tian was so overwhelmed that he even stuttered. ¡°The... the creator of humanity?¡±

    Weren¡¯t humans born without special bloodlines?

    If that was true, then why would this giant human being, who Ji Cang had referred to as the creator of humanity, end up in the Sea of Life as he did after entering the Dark Abyss?

    And so close to the origin of life no less?

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that like me, he¡¯s also favored by the origin of life and belongs here?¡±

    Disbelief was written all over Nie Tian¡¯s face as he looked at this giant human being, which he didn¡¯t believe should be here, and sensed the faint flesh aura growing slowly in his heart.

    He believed that if even Pei Qiqi, who had awakened her memories on a full scale, were here, she wouldn¡¯t expect this giant human being to be in the depths of the Sea of Life.

    He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to see more details.

    Then, his gaze seemed to pierce through the giant human being¡¯s chest, allowing him to see that his gigantic heart was gathering and condensing life power, which was everywhere, into a crystalline wisp of light.

    Meanwhile, numerous gorgeous beams of crimson light shot into the crystalline wisp of light, which was not red, but green.

    It was a green aura!

 Chapter 1747: Source of Bloodline

    The manifestation of a life bloodline in the heart was a green aura!

    The aura in Nie Tian¡¯s heart, which had been formed by countless Bloodline Crystal Chains braiding together, was green as well!

    What was growing in the enormous heart of the alleged creator of humanity was evidently a green aura just like the one in his heart!

    The green aura also contained all sorts of wonders of a life bloodline!

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank as he conducted a more thorough examination. Then, he realized that the origin of life in this endless blood sea was helping the green aura grow with beams of light that carried the profound truths of life and the highly-refined essence of life power.

    In other words, it was helping the giant human being regenerate his bloodline aura.

    As soon as his train of thought came to this point, both his mind and heart were shaken violently.

    Beams of spiritual light seemed to burst forth and ignite his thoughts at this very moment, bringing light to many things that he hadn¡¯t been able to see before.

    ¡°Like the Tree of Life and I, he also won the acknowledgment of the endless blood sea at some time, and he also possessed a life bloodline!

    ¡°It¡¯s just that he lost it for some reason!

    ¡°Did he end up in such a state after losing his battle against the Tree of Life?

    ¡°Are the endless blood sea and the origin of life helping him reforge his life bloodline now?¡±

    Nie Tian thought hard, recalling Ji Cang¡¯s words, Pei Qiqi¡¯s words, and his own memories regarding the legacies of the origin of life.

    ¡°ording to Ji Cang, the Tree of Life helped my father Qin Yao make me a hybrid by vesting me with a life mark, or a seed of life. If my father is a pure human, then it must be thanks to the Tree of Life¡¯s efforts that I carry a life bloodline. However, the aura of the Tree of Life has more inmon with that of my wood domain and the Godspirit Tree, because the path it has taken belongs to the branch of life power that was wood power.

    ¡°I¡¯ve long since learned that life power is divided into two branches: flesh power and wood power.

    ¡°Both of these powers share the same origin: the Sea of Life. The Tree of Life represents wood power. It can not only absorb wood power from spirit nts and vegetation, but also nourish them and help their wood power grow. The Floragrims it created carry bloodlines that are based on wood power. All of their bloodline talents and magics are wood power-rted.

    ¡°Flesh power is another form of life power. In fact, my bloodline leans towards flesh power. It¡¯s just that I started cultivating wood power first. I gradually condensed a wood power core and mastered it with the humans¡¯ cultivation method. It wasn¡¯t untilter that I discovered that wood power and flesh power share the same origin...

    ¡°If my life bloodline didn¡¯te from the Tree of Life, then...?¡±

    He suddenly jerked his head towards the giant human being.

    His expression flickered drastically as he eximed, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that my life bloodline came from him! Is it possible that the Tree of Life took his life mark, which contained his wondrous life bloodline, after defeating him? Then, it found my father and fused the life mark, or life bloodline, with me using his blood-mixing technique?

    ¡°Back when I was in the Realm of Middle Continent, the Tree of Life asked me over and over to enter the underground space where he was.

    ¡°Is it possible that not only is the Tree of Life not the source of my bloodline, but it¡¯s actually my enemy?

    ¡°Instead, the source of my bloodline lies with this giant human being who had his soul eliminated?¡±

    BOOM!

    His true soul and nine sub-souls shook violently, as if a storm was going on inside his sea of awareness.

    The runes that had shot from the origin of life and been branded inside of him were broken into countless soul symbols and realigned.

    In this process, he was hit by a peculiar feeling that he was being spied on.

    He felt as if a set of eyes, or a cluster of awareness, were looking at him, examining him closely.

    However, he didn¡¯t care about that now. All he wanted was to learn the truth and find the path he should take from now on.

    He couldn¡¯t wait to know what the rtionships between the Tree of Life, the giant human being, and the origin of life were, and how he should deal with them.

    He was convinced that if he could find the answers to these questions, he would be able to solve the mysteries of the Blood Realms, the Void Spirits, and the Dark Abyss, and know what to do next.

    He was absorbed in decoding the runes and symbols he had received from the origin of life.

    As he did, the enormous, mountainous human being continued to have beams of light shoot into him, receive life power irrigation, generate new Bloodline Crystal Chains, and grow his bloodline aura.

    ...

    POOH! POOH!

    Beams of brilliant green light pierced through the Ancient Arch-devil¡¯s body, causing mists of dark purple, pure ck, light cyan, and bright red blood to burst forth all over his magnificent devil form like colorful flowers.

    It was just that the scene was more dismal than aesthetic.

    Even though Zhao Shanling had gathered Devil Qi, Nether Qi, Spiritual Qi, and all sorts of energies to strengthen his Ancient Arch-devil form, he was still losing in his battle against the Tree of Life.

    At this moment, the Tree of Life seemed to be emanating heaven-shaking, earth-toppling life power fluctuations from the boundless chaos.

    Everyone was deeply shaken, seeing that even though Zhao Shanling had awakened his abilities as Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, brought out the power he had umted over many lives, and disyed battle prowess that could easily wipe out entire domains, he was still no match for the Tree of Life.

    All those who had been to the Silent Star Sea and witnessed the splendors of the first-generation Tree of Life, where its colossal branches had pierced through realms like fruits on sticks, were overtaken by a feeling:

    The Tree of Life that had in Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had returned!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The branches of the Tree of Life extended madly in different directions, piercing through the heavenly barrier that enveloped the darknd.

    Everyone suddenly had a feeling that as vast the darknd was, it was going to fail to contain the expanding size and soaring power of the Tree of Life, and burst.

    At this point, every expert that had descended to the darknd could see the Tree of Life with great rity, no matter where they were, because it was simply too vast!

    Before they could realize it, it had already surpassed the size of any Star Behemoth or realm, and attracted the attention of every being in the darknd.

    All those who were fighting, including humans, hybrids, Ancientspirits, outsiders from the Void World, and members of various other races, had a terrifying feeling of doomsday befalling them.

    Other than Ji Cang and Qin Yao, who were still fighting each other through various means, all of the rest started gathering together.

    Like a multicolored cloud, Grand Monarch Serene Fiend, who was one of the six kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea, looked up at the Tree of Life, which was still expanding, and whispered, ¡°Mistress! Is what Ji Cang said to be trusted?¡±

    ¡°Part of it, yeah,¡± Nie Jin said, looking overwhelmed.

    ¡°So who should we help now?¡± Grand Monarch Serene Fiend asked.

    ¡°Little Tian, of course.¡±

    ¡°But he¡¯s not here.¡±

    ¡°He will return.¡±

 Chapter 1748: Bloodline Instructions

    POOH! POOH!

    Feng Beiluo from the Heavenly Corpse Sect, who had spent a long time looking at the Tree of Life, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

    He hastily drew corpse power from his spiritual cores to heal himself.

    However, beams of sparkling, green light suddenly struck down from the Tree of Life that were unbelievably vast and enveloped in the boundless chaos.

    The beams of light easily pierced through his god domain, which was filled with swirling corpse auras!

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Violent explosions started taking ce everywhere in his god domain, causing him to let out agonized shrieks.

    On the ground, the experts who had been torn with dilemmas were dumbfounded.

    They couldn¡¯t believe that the third-generation Tree of Life had actuallyunched an attack against Feng Beiluo in the middle of its battle against the Ancient Arch-devil!

    It might have been an ident when it had caused them to lose their life force and have their lifespan shortened by activating Life Erosion earlier. It might have been a result of its Life Erosion¡¯s overly vast range of influence.

    But what was this about?

    If what Ji Cang had said had been true, and Qin Yao actually served it, then the rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea and those who were loyal to Nie Tian should have been under its protection.

    After all, ording to Ji Cang, it had created Nie Tian to help it fight against the giant being that had created humanity.

    Since Feng Beiluo had been helping Nie Tian the whole time, it should have considered him to be on its side.

    Could it be that just because Feng Beiluo cultivated corpse power, which was close to death power, he had to be eliminated?

    ¡°Damn you!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, bellowed with reddened eyes upon seeing Feng Beiluo being attacked. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you are. You did this first!¡±

    He shot skywards like a cannonball.

    As he did, dazzling enormous thunderballs were conjured, with vast thunder pools that he had condensed in the Doomed Star Sea within them. Each and every one of them was vested with the profound truths of thunder and lightning.

    Even after they flew out, they continued to gather lighting power from this darknd to boost their might.

    However...

    The enemy he was facing was the Tree of Life, the mighty existence that had ruled the Spirit World since ancient times and thwarted numerous attempts the three major races of the Void World had made to invade the Spirit World.

    Green, fresh leaves fell from the heavens.

    Every single one of them was full of wonders and engraved with the myths of the births of lives. They emanated light so bright that they lit up the entire darknd.

    One of the tree leaves touched a thunderball.

    The seemingly-weightless leaf suddenly became as heavy as a continent, instantly crushing the thunderball and causing it to explode.

    At the same time, rays of mysterious light shot out from within the leaf, instantly piercing through the scattering lightning runes and erasing every wisp of lightning power.

    More tree leaves fell weightlessly into the Thunder Devil¡¯s god domain.

    Within seconds, his wondrous god domain, which had raging lightning bolts slithering about in it like giant serpents, broke apart.

    Like Feng Beiluo, he was also severely injured seconds after he was attacked.

    At the same time, his hair and eyebrows were turning gray, as if he was aging at an increased speed.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The five evil gods shot towards the Tree of Life from different directions. They appeared to have received Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline message and suddenly had a target: the Tree of Life.

    Dong Li gasped. ¡°You?¡±

    She was bbergasted to see the five evil gods, who had been loyal to Nie Tian since he had helped forge their fleshly bodies, rushing over to join the fight against the Tree of Life.

    Surrounded by all sorts of chaotic auras and lights, the Tree of Life suddenly released streaks of green and cyan light.

    The divine light fell like the light of punishment that the most ancient god used to strike down upon those who dared to defy him.

    In the next moment, gashes appeared on the sinister flesh forms of the five evil gods. These gashes couldn¡¯t be healed within a short time by flesh power.

    Within seconds, the five evil gods were covered in bloody wounds.

    The Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into let out a longugh, even though his blood was also spilling like blooming flowers. ¡°You see it too, don¡¯t you? Nie Tian forged your bodies, but you can¡¯t sense any closeness to it, which proves that he doesn¡¯t have any actual connections to it!¡±

    At that moment, Dong Li received a soul message from the ck tortoise.

    She gasped. ¡°What? Nie Tian just gave you instructions from the Dark Abyss by relying on your bloodline connection?¡±

    However, a secondter, she came to a realization.

    ¡°If this is the case, then the Tree of Life is probably going to fight Nie Tian for the sole paragon slot as Zhao Shanling said. If only one paragon can be born to wield the profound wonders of life, it has to be Nie Tian!¡±

    With these words, she jerked her head to look at Feng Beiluo and Yuan Jiuchuan. ¡°It must have realized that Nie Tian has learned the truth and decided to fight it, so it has now ripped its mask off and started with Feng Beiluo, who makes it feel the most ufortable.¡±

    Having reached this point in her train of thought, she finally had it all figured out. Then, she growled, ¡°Darkness: Call of the Origin!¡±

    Torrential dark power poured out of her dark power core and two dark stones, and fused into the Dark Aureole as she activated a secret magic with her soul.

    In a split second, the Dark Aureole floating over her head seemed to turn into a ck hole that connected to a different dimension... where the origin of ultimate darknessy!

    However, at this point, her figure, which looked stunning in a long ck dress, suddenly grew blurry and illusory, as if she was going to enter the Dark Abyss as the Divine me, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and Nie Tian had.

    However, she made herself stay where she was by force.

    Instead of disappearing into the Dark Aureole that was floating over her head, she used it to summon the purest ultimate dark power.

    In the next moment, ultimate darkness poured out and engulfed the Dark Aureole, her, and the ck tortoise.

    Then, the vast cloud of darkness rose towards the Tree of Life.

    ROAR!

    The Rampage Behemoth, which had withdrawn to a distant area, also returned at this moment, as if to answer Nie Tian¡¯s summons.

    It was because Nie Tian had fused drop after drop of his Blood Essence into that bone that it had been awakened from the dead.

    Eventually, after Nie Tian had established a connection to the Sea of Life and gained ess to endless flesh power, he had reforged its fleshly body with boundless flesh power.

    This was why it had also heard Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline instructions.

    Nie Jin raised her hand and pointed at the cloud of darkness Dong Li and the ck tortoise had morphed into. ¡°Look! That cloud of darkness!

    ¡°Her target is the same as that of the evil gods and the Rampage Behemoth.¡±

    Grand Monarch Serene Fiend¡¯s face turned pale with astonishment. ¡°It¡¯s the Tree of Life! Why are they doing this? What¡¯s happening?¡±

    ording to Ji Cang, the Tree of Life was the reason why Nie Tian had been created.

    Their leader, Qin Yao, had only survived the pursuit of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce because it had prized and helped him. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have lived to be the overlord of the Doomed Star Sea.

    Therefore, shouldn¡¯t they stand by the Tree of Life?

    Nie Jin frowned and said with a profound look in her eyes, ¡°That Ji Cang isn¡¯t the man he was now. Of course we can¡¯t trust everything he says. Also, even my husband doesn¡¯t know everything.

    ¡°Like us, he¡¯s also looking for the truth. We can¡¯t know the truth until all of thises to an end.¡± She took a short pause. ¡°But from the look of it, the truth is emerging.¡±

    ¡°Got it. The Tree of Life is the enemy!¡± Grand Monarch Serene Fiend cried.

 Chapter 1749: Colossus

    The Tree of Life, which stood tall in the sky, was still growing every minute and every second.

    Some of its branches pierced through the barriers of the darknd and extended into unknown ces, as if they were disturbing nature¡¯s mysteries.

    Some stretched out to the end of the darknd, andid magical principles and great Dao in even the most remote corners.

    Some pierced into the earth of the darknd, and connected to the deepest depths of thend.

    At this moment, the Tree of Life had be such a colossus that even Star Behemoths at their peak couldn¡¯t rival it.

    This also caused it to be visible to all the creatures that had survived and descended on the darknd.

    After all, its branches were going to be everywhere soon.

    Some of the experts from the three worlds floated in the air, while others stood on the earth.

    They were all amazed to see the Tree of Life¡¯s branches show up around them.

    ¡°Jeez! Is this the real Tree of Life? Before it came here, it was in the Realm of Middle Continent, which had been able to amodate it. But now it¡¯s be muchrger than the Realm of Middle Continent!¡±

    ¡°It was rumored that the first generation of the Tree of Life was thergest existence throughout the three worlds. It¡¯s regained its strength now, hasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Such a Tree of Life is almost as vast as a domain. What in the universe can rival it in size?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s inconceivable that it can grow so dramaticallyrge after entering the darknd!¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Grand Monarch Heaven Devil? Where are the three grand monarchs of the Void World? Can the three of them cut down this enormous tree together?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡±

    All of the enormous branches were connected to the Tree of Life¡¯s colossal body. The enormous tree seemed to be slowly taking root in the earth.

    All the experts who stared at it were so shocked by its magnificence, the same way Nie Tian had been when he had first seen it in the Silent Star Sea.

    Even in their dreams, they couldn¡¯t imagine something so vast and terrifying.

    At this moment, the three outsider races of the Void World as well as the experts of the Mortal World and the Doomed Star Sea felt that even the top three grand monarchs of the Void World might not be able to defeat the Tree of Life now if they joined hands.

    That was because the Tree of Life was about to return to its peak.

    The first generation of the Tree of Life was a monstrous existence that had killed Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer hadn¡¯t be paragons yet. How could they possibly contend with the Tree of Life in its current state?

    Some of the outsiders still didn¡¯t know that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had entered the Dark Abyss, that Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who now went by the name Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, had decided to temporarily avoid the Tree of Life, and worst of all, that Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes had been killed by Nie Tian.

    In the depths of the darknd.

    The Rampage Behemoth, Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, the five evil gods and many other experts were joining hands to attack the Tree of Life, which had taken root in the darknd, from different directions.

    Brilliant cyan and green light, which was mixed with all kinds of strange energies, enveloped the colossal tree, forming wondrous shields to protect its roots and main body.

    ZZZZZLA! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The storm of darkness, intelligent sword intent, the five evil gods¡¯ seas of negative emotions, and the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s raging flesh aura morphed into various kinds of colorful glowing spheres that exploded in the shields made of cyan or green auras.

    The branches that the Tree of Life stretched out broke now and then.

    However, their breaking seemedpletely unimportant to the Tree of Life.

    As long as its roots existed and its main body wasn¡¯t damaged, it could spawn more branches in an instant!

    Covered and permeated by its power, thend where it had taken root had turned deep green, as if it were generating life force and breeding brand new spirit nts and devil nts.

    However, for the other living beings, thend was bing more and more dangerous.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Divine green lightning bolts streaked across the sky every now and then, like brilliant rainbows.

    Wherever they appeared, a long green river of rich and vigorous wood energies would be left in the sky.

    Soon, many green rivers emerged in the sky of the darknd before anyone knew it.

    Even Ji Cang and Qin Yao, whose god domains had morphed into seas of bright stars that filled up the sky, were influenced by them in their fight.

    Greenness gradually spread across the sky, causing the stars high in the starry sky of the darknd to suddenly go dim one after another.

    At the same time, the flitting divine green lightning prated Yin Xingtian¡¯s god domain and made the shell of the ck tortoise in the extreme darkness explode in different ces every once in a while, even though, with its bloodline fully activated, its shells had be even stronger than divine iron.

    Yin Xingtian, Dong Li, and Mo Heng, who had also joined the action, were all attacking the Tree of Life with everything in their power.

    In this area, the raging lightning, rolling thunder, terrifying energies, and vibrating flesh auras were mighty enough to annihte grand patriarchs and Saint domain experts before they could put up a fight.

    The surging unusual powers and strong bloody wind spread far into the distance, and frightened some of those who came to join the fight.

    However, as fierce as their attacks were, the great Dao and mysteries as well as the bloodline talents that they hadprehended and hurled at the Tree of Life didn¡¯t seem to cause it any obvious damage.

    Instead...

    SWISH!

    A green branch that was as thick as a huge dragon suddenly shot into the waist of the evil god of hatred. The green branch then instantly spawned numerous sharp thorns, and activated the Heavenly Wood Thorns that Nie Tian was familiar with!

    Weird thorns that were sharp as swords suddenly shot out of the evil god of hatred¡¯s waist and belly!

    His body, which was thousands of meters high, rapidly became extremely dry and shriveled. The flesh aura in his viscera seemed to be nourishment to make even more branches and thorns.

    He let out a shrill, bloodcurdling shriek.

    However, he couldn¡¯t stop his vitality from withering in an irreversible way.

    Then, a weird unusual flower that was full of thorns and fed on his flesh, meridians, and viscera bloomed in a glorious fashion, before it broke free from his waist and flew toward the Tree of Life.

    Upon being touched by Yin Xingtian¡¯s and the others¡¯ spiritual power vibrations, the evil god of hatred was reduced to ashes.

    Not a single wisp of his soul awareness or a single soul imprint escaped.

    The evil god of hatred, who had been born among the Netherspirits and had once been well-known across the Void World, was really dead this time.

    Even his chance at regathering his soul fragments and reappearing in the world was gone.

    The four remaining evil gods cried and shrieked in grief as they attacked the Tree of Life even more violently and desperately.

    ...

    ¡°O-one died,¡± Nie Tian murmured in the depths of the endless blood sea as countless streaks of light fled from his wandering eyes.

    A thin crystal-like chain in the green aura in his heart suddenly exploded.

    Then, he instantly realized that the Tree of Life had killed the evil god of hatred, who he had reforged with his Blood Essence.

    He knew this was just the beginning.

    More experts and more people who were rted to him would die like the evil god of hatred.

    Looking at the half-naked giant being, he pondered for a moment, and then suddenly walked toward the so-called origin of life step by step.

 Chapter 1750: The Origin Of Life

    THUD!

    Another crystal-like chain exploded in the depths of his bloodline aura.

    Nie Tian frowned as his face looked gloomier. ¡°It¡¯s the evil god of rage.¡±

    Now, two of the evil gods who had served him, and whose fleshly bodies had been remade, had died.

    He could no longer sense any existence of the evil gods of hatred and rage through their connections to his flesh aura.

    Both their bodies and souls had perished.

    He quickened his pace as his huge Life-origin Form walked through countless drops of blood, like a ball of burning red blood.

    THUD! THUD!

    His heart beat violently, as if it would explode at any time.

    Then, a marvelous spectacle appeared!

    An enormous, crimson heart was beating violently in the countless drops of blood.

    The heart was covered with countless Bloodline Crystal Chains!

    Those Bloodline Crystal Chains, which were as thick as pythons and spirit snakes, gave him a feeling that they were full of explosive and shocking powers.

    THUD! THUD!

    Its heartbeat rumbled in his mind. He examined it carefully, and found that his own heart was beating at exactly the same rate as the gigantic heart.

    Then he noticed that every time the heart vibrated, many blood beads that secretly contained life energies sputtered from it.

    The newly sputtered blood drops caused the existing ones to be naturally pushed outward, as if the endless blood sea that was filled with blood beads hade from the heart.

    The heart seemed to be the origin of all the blood beads, and the core of the endless blood sea.

    With each heartbeat, beams of crimson blood light radiated in all directions, like rosy glows and streaks of rainbow light.

    The beams of blood light were exactly the key for his soul to obtain new bloodline magics from this wondrous ce.

    Before each beam of blood light flew out of the heart, the many Bloodline Crystal Chains of the gigantic heart would suddenly be gorgeously brilliant, as if they wanted to imprint some mysteries of life on the blood light in this way.

    As long as the heart and those thick Bloodline Crystal Chains existed, endless beams of blood light would surge from the vibrating heart.

    Of course, some of the beams of blood light were imprinted with the same mysteries of life.

    ¡°The origin of life is a heart, a gigantic heart!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form had already surpassed 10,000 meters. However, he appeared extremely tiny in front of the heart, like a mosquito flying beside a colossal elephant.

    The entirety of the boundless rich flesh aura in the Blood Realm of Life, which was as immense as a deep sea, seemed to being from this heart.

    It looked as if the heart had been here, vibrating without end since ancient times.

    Looking at the heart, Nie Tian suddenly had a feeling that if the heart stopped beating, he would die immediately, and his Life-origin Form would lose all its flesh aura, copse, and die.

    His life and death would be affected by that heart!

    He frowned. ¡°Grand Monarch Heavenly Spiritprehended the River of Souls. The Dark King channeled the origin of darkness. The Bone Emperor became a paragon with the Mountain of Death¡¯s help...

    ¡°They are all wonders of the world that are condensed from magical principles and profound meanings. And they all have their own awareness. But I just can¡¯t believe that the origin of their bloodlines is a heart!¡±

    How did this hearte to exist?

    Who did it belong to?

    ZZZZZLA!

    Soul light flew from the depths of the soul vortexes of his true soul and nine sub-souls.

    He made great efforts to distinguish and derive information from the marksing from his bloodline aura in his heart.

    However, he only found marks that carried information about the Tree of Life and the strong giant human being. None of them recorded the origin of the colossal heart.

    THUD! THUD!

    As the heart vibrated, spatial fluctuations seemed to be generated inside of it.

    Nie Tian squinted his eyes to take a closer look. He saw flesh auras with various kinds of colors suddenly appear in the depths of the heart before they were instantly purified and turned into pure flesh power.

    ¡°Life Purification!¡± he screamed subconsciously.

    The heart was constantly purifying various kinds of flesh auras, which belonged to the Devils, the Netherspirits, the humans, the Ancientspirits, and many other races in the Void World, such as the Seaspirits and the Moonspirits that he had had little contact with!

    He was in a daze. ¡°This is...¡±

    Soon, he came to a realization.

    Many experts of various races had been reduced to blood rain and died miserably, flying through the glorious passage in the Realm of Shadow Devil. Others had died in thend, but their bodies had vanished somehow. All their vanished bodies and scattered blood had flown to the heart in some unknown way, and had been turned into pure flesh power.

    Then, with the beating of the heart, they morphed into drops of blood that were as red as diamonds, filling the endless blood sea, so that it continued to spread and be vaster and vaster.

    Nie Tian understood. ¡°So all those sacrificial offerings have been offered to the heart!¡±

    He also understood why Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had waited for his arrival now.

    Various races had gathered in the Realm of Shadow Devil. A fierce bloody battle had caused many experts¡¯ deaths.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had directed all this without caring about the life or death of his nsmen. He must have known that the Dark Abyss wouldn¡¯t open unless a number of nsmen of the three outsider races of the Void World died.

    The Sea of Life was the key to opening the Dark Abyss!

    Because his bloodline and his heart were deeply connected to the gigantic one before him, he had been crucial to the opening of the Dark Abyss.

    BOOM!

    A violent aura suddenly burst forth from behind him.

    He looked over his shoulder. Columns of crimson blood light seemed to rush out of the giant being.

    Blood that was as hot as magma seemed to surge in the depths of the crimson blood columns. The energies that they contained were astonishingly powerful.

    Seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade...

    The giant being had been defeated by the Tree of Life, and had his bloodline imprints stripped. Now, with the help of the heart, which was the origin of life, the giant being¡¯s bloodline was growing crazily after the regeneration of his Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    As a paragon-level existence, he had spent countless years solving and uncovering the mysteries and secrets of this life bloodline.

    This enabled him to only need flesh power to break through his bloodline.

    This was the Sea of Life, the ce with the most immense flesh power.

    Nie Tian floated there and murmured, with a solemn face, ¡°Are you trying topete with me?¡±

    He could see countless drops of blood raining down on the giant being that stretched for thousands of miles.

    Upon contact, the drops of blood disappeared into him, like water dissolving into the sea.

    They all became streams of blood in his dry heart, helping him break through the barriers of his bloodline.

    He was like an enormous sponge, absorbing blood from the blood sea!

    The heart, which was the origin of the Sea of Life, allowed him to do so.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly changed. ¡°Tenth grade!¡±

 Chapter 1751: The Hardest Way To Become A Paragon!

    From nonexistence to existence, from first to tenth!

    Relying on the boundless flesh power, the giant being of the human race advanced so quickly after his bloodline was recondensed that it seemed inconceivable.

    Nie Tian had just seen the heart. Before he couldprehend its mysteries, he had found that the giant being was regaining strength at an astonishing speed.

    He looked back in horror, and couldn¡¯t help but think in his mind: Can the giant being regather his soul?

    If he was a mere fleshly body without intelligence and awareness, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t need to be afraid of him even if his regained bloodline advanced to or even beyond the tenth grade.

    However, if the giant being could get his soul back... then he would definitely be able to return to his peak with the help of the heart, which was the origin of life!

    He was originally a paragon, while the Tree of Life, which was a rare miracle in the three worlds, also wanted to recover its strength as a paragon. Then, which of the three of them would be able to win the fortunes of the Blood Realm of Life?

    SNAP!

    At this moment, another Bloodline Crystal Chain in his flesh aura exploded and perished.

    He instantly eximed. ¡°Fear!¡±

    The evil god of fear, who was one of the five evil gods, was dead. The attacks from the Tree of Life had erased his soul and reduced his fleshly body to ashes.

    Nie Tian keenly sensed that as the giant being grew in the Sea of Life, the third generation of the Tree of Life was feeling an intense sense of crisis.

    The Tree of Life wasn¡¯t so scared of him. It hadn¡¯t been anxious because he had entered the Blood Realm of Life.

    Now, however, the third generation of the Tree of Life obviously sensed it as the giant being started crazily absorbing flesh power in the endless blood sea to improve his bloodline.

    He felt that the Tree of Life had suddenly be anxious.

    Dong Li was still out there in the darknd with Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and all the others.

    The power of the Tree of Life was improving tremendously with every passing moment, as it wanted to regain its strength to its peak through the endless blood sea.

    Who could stop a Tree of Life like that?

    How many more experts... would have to die?

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form once again morphed into a ball of crimson blood light that rushed towards the gigantic heart, the so-called origin of life.

    ZZZZZLA!!

    Suddenly, hundreds of millions of crimson Bloodline Crystal Chains surged from the heart.

    They were like ferocious pythons and huge dragons that were carved out of blood crystals. Almost in a sh, they twined around his gigantic fleshly body, before they suddenly dispersed and morphed into countless tiny rays of blood light that prated into his flesh and miraculously connected to his meridians.

    His expression flickered with astonishment. ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    At this moment, he sensed that flesh power that contained the mysteries of the origin of life and the most essential secrets of life was pouring into him from the gigantic heart like torrents of blood!

    All of a sudden, numerous sparks of crimson light emerged in his heart like bright red stars, before they morphed into the most miraculous unusual flesh power and merged into the heart¡¯s blood vessels and walls. They were remaking his heart in a bid to drive him to be a paragon. ¡°My heart is being tempered again!¡±

    He quickly concentrated, got rid of any distracting thoughts, focused on his heart, and started actively helping with the tempering of his heart.

    The sparks of crimson light were imprinted with the ultimate mysteries of life, the secrets of the creation of species, and the wonders of all living beings¡¯ origins.

    This made him realize that he was on his way to being a paragon!

    In the process, however, his true soul, me power sub-soul, and star power sub-soul seemed to hear criesing from other sources.

    As he decided to break through to be a paragon through his life bloodline, the River of Souls, the origin of the Divine me, and the origin of stars seemed to call out to him simultaneously.

    The three origins, the River of Souls, and the bright stars seemed to be trying hard to sway him.

    It was as if as long as he broke from this endless blood sea and casually walked into the River of Souls or the bright stars, he would be able to advance to be a paragon with their help.

    However, he had already made his choice.

    ...

    In a corner of the darknd.

    Thousands of floating ghosts gathered one by one before they morphed into Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    At the moment, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s aura was every bit as strong as that of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils.

    This was because of the numerous Netherspirit souls he had reaped and absorbed.

    A touch of surprise suddenly appeared in the depths of his deep cyan eyes, ¡°Hmm?! I can¡¯t believe that Nie Tian has forsaken the River of Souls¡¯ call and chosen to fight the Tree of Life and that giant being for the recognition from the origin of life. To be a paragon through his bloodline? That¡¯s the hardest!¡±

    However, a smile appeared on his face the next moment.

    Nie Tian, who had obtained recognition from the Spirit Scepter and the Nether River and hadprehended and refined Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul magics, had been originally regarded as his strongest enemy, and a man who would vie with him for recognition from the River of Souls and the chance of bing a paragon.

    Seeing that Nie Tian had ignored the River of Souls¡¯ call, answered the gigantic heart in the depths of the endless blood sea, and prepared to be a paragon with the Sea of Life¡¯s help, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit suddenly got excited.

    Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯sst remaining soul imprints had been erased by Nie Tian, who had chosen not respond to the River of Souls¡¯ call. If...

    If the River of Souls had to choose someone, who but Grand Monarch Nether Spirit could be its choice?

    If he wanted to be a paragon like Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, wouldn¡¯t he have no opponent?

    ¡°So it seems that Nie Tian is no longer my enemy,¡± Grand Monarch Nether Spirit murmured, staring at a green branch stretching in midair. ¡°If Nie Tian wants to take the roughest path, I don¡¯t mind giving him a hand when I can.¡±

    As he spoke, he reached out and pointed at the giant green branch in the air.

    Beams of bright cyan light mixed with dark coldher power and soul power shot into the branch.

    CRACKLE!

    The thick, strangely long branch instantly snapped.

    His power seemed to reach even the Tree of Life¡¯s main body, which made the Tree of Life that was being attacked by so many experts sense danger, and shake its branches and leaves violently.

    In an instant, arge number of members of various races who were attacking the Tree of Life noticed leaves flying out of the enormous Tree of Life.

    The falling leaves were all wreathed in bright cyan Nether Qi. Before they could fall to the ground, they were reduced to flying ashes.

    Judging from the Nether Qi alone, many smart people guessed that Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who had been hiding in the dark, hadunched a sudden attack against the Tree of Life.

    Then, the bright vast sea of stars in the sky of the darknd suddenly split in two.

    No one knew if this was because Ji Cang and Qin Yao had fought it out or because of some other reason, but they had actually stopped fighting.

    In a sea of stars, the Maic Star Crystal and Ji Cang¡¯s spiritual cores gathered stars and morphed into Ji Cang¡¯s form. He went nk for a moment before saying, ¡°Nie Tian has ignored its call and chosen to vie with the Tree of Life and that other one?

    ¡°If this is the case, then you and I...¡±

    He looked at Qin Yao, who also withdrew his divine dharma idol and manifested in his true form.

    Qin Yao was silent for a moment before he spoke with aplicated expression. ¡°I won¡¯t fight you for it. I thought he would choose the stars, so I was going to stop you at all costs. But now, he¡¯s taking the hardest road.¡±

    Ji Cang¡¯s eyes brightened gradually. ¡°If so...¡±

 Chapter 1752: The Tree Of Doom

    The evil gods of hatred, rage, and fear had exploded into blood rain and sparks that scattered all over the sky one after another. Their souls hadpletely vanished.

    The Tree of Life, which had taken root in the darknd, and whose branches had pierced the barrier in the sky, burst forth with extremely strong divine light.

    Wherever the bright light stretched, mighty creatures were terrified.

    The god domain of Feng Beiluo of the Heavenly Corpse Sect was permeated by the brilliant light and started to melt.

    Feng Beiluo¡¯s dharma idol, fleshly body and sea of soul awareness were bathed in the brilliant light released by the Tree of Life and quickly evaporated, like mist exposed to the burning sun.

    Feng Beiluo was pained to the point where he no longer wanted to live.

    Suddenly, a mild cry came from the distant sky. ¡°Soul Return!¡±

    The next moment, Feng Beiluo saw a ghostly iron pot flying through the gaps between the Tree of Life¡¯s branches.

    The iron pot was very rusty, as if it had been corroded for countless years. Ghost and spirit carvings could be vaguely seen on its surface, but most of them were covered by rust and hard to make out.

    ¡°Got it,¡± Feng Beiluo bowed his head, sighed, and flew with resignation toward the iron pot.

    Finally, his dharma idol morphed into a phantom and suddenly disappeared like a reflection in water.

    A wisp of his soul gathered all his memories and the Heavenly Corpse Sect¡¯s secret incantations that he hadprehended, and fell into the iron pot.

    As soon as it did, the iron pot brightened.

    Many of the ghost and spirit carvings on the pot suddenly lit up at this moment.

    Nie Jin quietly showed up, and her fair hands made a grabbing motion before the iron pot obediently fell into her palm. She promised Feng Beiluo¡¯s fragmentary soul. ¡°Rest assured. I will choose a new body for you so that you can be reincarnated.¡±

    ¡°Mistress!¡± the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan shouted.

    Illuminated by the light released by the Tree of Life, the thunder pools that he had forged and refined in the Doomed Star Sea exploded one after another, spluttering tiny sparks of lightning.

    He lost his lightning power at an rming rate.

    He recognized at first nce that the iron pot was none other than the evil divine tool Spirit Containment Pot that the Nether Spirit Society had passed down through generations.

    This evil divine tool could contain God domain experts¡¯ souls and refine them into the strongest evil souls and ferocious spirits. It had originally been forged by the first sectmaster of the Nether Spirit Society, and had been used to take numerous lives in the Mortal World. Rumor had it that it had been destroyed by the joint efforts of the five sectmasters of the Five Elements Sect.

    Who would have expected it to be in Nie Jin¡¯s hands?

    Yuan Jiuchuan knew that she didn¡¯t catch Feng Beiluo¡¯s soul with it because she wanted to refine it. She must want to prevent Feng Beiluo¡¯s soul imprints from being wiped out by the Tree of Life, like what it had done to the three evil gods.

    However, he still felt sad.

    Separating his soul from his body meant that Feng Beiluo knew that he couldn¡¯t be saved, so he had taken the initiative to fly into the Spirit Containment Pot to wait for his next life.

    Dong Li, who had establishedmunication with the origin of darkness and enveloped the ck tortoise and herself in a vast cloud of darkness, was shocked by this. She couldn¡¯t help eximing, ¡°It... it¡¯s you...¡±

    ¡°If you¡¯re convinced that you are going to die in your fight against the Tree of Life, you may take the initiative to condense the essence of your soul and fly into the Spirit Containment Pot,¡± Nie Jin said with a solemn expression. Her voice seemed to have a convincing magic. ¡°I promise that I will not refine the essence of your souls. I will release them one by one after I leave the darknd, so you may find new bodies by yourselves and live again.¡±

    She was addressing everyone.

    At this moment, many powerful experts of the Spirit World, the Void World, the Mortal World, and the Doomed Star Sea were gathered around and attacking the roots of the third generation of the Tree of Life.

    There were humans, Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and hybrids...

    Yin Xingtian, Mo Heng, Fan Tianze and many of the remaining experts as well as the Rampage Behemoth and Dong Li had allunched attacks toward the Tree of Life.

    The Tree of Life, which hade from the Spirit World, was under attack on all sides.

    However, it wasn¡¯t afraid at all.

    Even though it was facing bombardment from various races and attacks from various divine tools, devil des, and other treasures, the steady stream of flesh power it had gained from the endless blood sea seemed to be enough to let it fight to the end of the three worlds.

    All of a sudden, someone shouted, ¡°Up in the sky!¡±

    The two seas of stars separated in a clear-cut fashion, one belonging to Ji Cang and the other belonging to Qin Yao. The fight between the two men finally stopped.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Suddenly, cyan and green currents shot out of the Tree of Life¡¯s branches that had stretched all the way out of this darknd, and rushed outrageously into the two starry seas, targeting Ji Cang and Qin Yao, who were discussing in secret and were about to reach a consensus.

    Experts of various races were shocked to see this.

    ¡°What? Qin Yao, the leader of the Doomed Star Sea, is being attacked too?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it because of its instigation and help that Qin Yao created Nie Tian?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the renowned Tree of Life the protector of the Spirit World? Why did it suddenly start to ughter and attack all sides aftering to this darknd?¡±

    ¡°The Tree of Life is named the Tree of Doom by the three outsider races of the Void World! It has always been evil in the eyes of all the living beings in the Void World!¡±

    ¡°The Tree of Life? In my opinion, it is the evilest ancient tree in this starry river! None of the Demon Eyes Flower, the Spectre Tree, the Ghost Spirit Grass, the Carrion Flower, or the Heavenly Demonsbane can match it.¡±

    ¡°It is the most evil tree, and it always has been!¡±

    ZZZZZLA! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    The leaves of the colossal Tree of Life swayed, bursting forth with brilliant and terrifying light that attacked the moring experts of various races.

    In a sh, many Saint domain cultivators and ninth grade outsiders were badly mutted and exploded into blood rain.

    Bathed in the blood rain, the leaves of the Tree of Life grew even greener.

    Thispletely changed the way many looked at it.

    This colossal tree, which had left many myths and legends in the Spirit World, the Void World, and the Mortal World, seemed to be building up an evil terrifying intent as it was smeared by the blood rain!

    Everyone suddenly knew that it had finally lost its patience.

    At that moment, the Ancient Arch-devil who Zhao Shanling had morphed into began to speak in a voice which sounded vast, melodious, and quaint.

    He spoke in variousnguages. It was sometimes the devilnguage, sometimes an ancientnguage of the Spirit World, and sometimes in the humannguage, as if he wanted to be understood by all living beings in this darknd.

    Even his Ancient Arch-devil form kept changing ordingly. Sometimes he was a Devil, sometimes an Ancientbeast, and sometimes a human.

    All of them were forms he had taken in his previous lives.

    ¡°The Tree of Life is able to channel flesh aura from the endless blood sea. The creatures it kills will disappear from the darknd, and naturally fuse into the origin of life in the endless blood sea, which will produce and condense more life power. As long as the Sea of Life is not exhausted, it¡¯ll never have to worry about ack of energy, and it can fight forever.

    ¡°But now it¡¯s anxious.

    ¡°It¡¯s anxious because the giant being is crazily gathering flesh power in the Sea of Life.

    ¡°It¡¯s anxious because Nie Tian hasmunicated with the origin of life, and is about to advance to a paragon.

    ¡°Those two are both vying for the life power in the Sea of Life. Whether it¡¯s the creator of the human race or Nie Tian, they both need immense life power at present. This can cause it to have no power to use for a short period of time.

    ¡°This is our chance!¡±

 Chapter 1753: Wandering In The Chaos

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s cadenced voice reverberated through the darknd like arge bell.

    His voice drifted about like devil symbols with wings.

    Every living thing could hear him, no matter what race they were from.

    Instigated by Zhao Shanling, all the living beings¡¯ attitude towards the Tree of Life changed quietly.

    Even the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims of the Spirit World were bewildered.

    ¡°The Tree of Life!¡±

    ¡°The Tree of Doom!¡±

    ¡°The most wicked and evilest tree!¡±

    ording to Ji Cang, the birth of the Ancientspirits was inextricably linked with the first generation of the Tree of Life.

    The Floragrims had been created by the Tree of Life on its own.

    The Tree of Life had also yed a secret role in the birth of the Stonemen and the ckscales. Therefore, they also had bloodline connections to the Tree of Life.

    The Tree of Life¡¯s traces could be found in all the native races of the Spirit World!

    Nheless, as Zhao Shanling¡¯s words now spread, even the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims couldn¡¯t help but think carefully.

    The Titans, the dragons, the Ancientbeasts, and the Floragrims had produced many powerful peak tenth grade experts. However, there hadn¡¯t been a single paragon like the Dark King, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, and the Bone Emperor in the history of the Spirit World.

    There seemed to be an invisible hand in the dark that had killed their hopes of bing paragons.

    The Tree of Life was the only being that had lived through the entire history of the Spirit World.

    ¡°Is that really its doing?¡± This idea haunted the minds of the grand monarchs of the Ancientspirits and the Floragrims.

    At the thought that the dead kingpins of their races had reached thete tenth grade and struggled hard to pursue their dreams of bing a paragon, but inexplicably vanished, their chances of being reincarnated stifled, all the experts of the Spirit World who had previously helped the Tree of Life fight the humans were perplexed.

    They were all silent as they gazed up at the Tree of Life that filled the whole darknd.

    Before this, they had all flown valiantly to the Tree of Life¡¯s main body, trying to fight alongside it and besiege the ancient gigantic devil that Zhao Shanling had morphed into.

    Standing between several Floragrims, Grand Monarch Primal Wood tried to use a wisp of his soul awareness tomunicate with the Tree of Life, ¡°Do you have anything to say? Grand Monarch Heavenly Wood, the first peak tenth grade expert in the history of our race, died inexplicably. Was he killed by you? After him, several grand monarchs also reached thete tenth grade, but they also died suddenly. Were they also...¡±

    The Tree of Life didn¡¯t respond.

    Having taken root in the depths of the darknd, it was being attacked by the experts of various races at the moment, so much so that it seemed to have forgotten the Floragrims, who it had created, and Grand Monarch Primal Wood, who it had instructed to fight for it.

    After a moment of internal struggle, Grand Monarch Primal Wood ordered his nsmen that were gathered around him to stay their hands.

    After deliberation, the powerful experts of the titans, the dragons, and the Ancientbeasts he had brought from the Silent Star Sea also slowly stood down.

    Quietly, they watched the Tree of Life battle the other living beings in various ways, but didn¡¯t join in.

    ...

    THUD! THUD!

    The gigantic heart in the depths of the Blood Realm of Life was beating violently.

    Bloodline Crystal Chains that were as thick as ferocious dragons and huge pythons twined around Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form before splitting into millions of thin rays of blood light that connected to Nie Tian¡¯s blood vessels.

    Flesh power that was imprinted with the mysteries of the origin of life and the profound truths of life poured into Nie Tian¡¯s heart to temper it further.

    Meanwhile, magnificent pictures entered Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    He saw that the whole universe had been chaos at first, and then a sudden explosion had taken ce somehow.

    That major explosion had caused billions of streams of broken light to shoot out of the chaos.

    The broken light had gathered dust in the dry, cold void, and morphed into stars that scattered on all sides.

    It seemed that the broken light had been the origin of all the realms in the three worlds.

    Streams of light had been everywhere as well, but they had slowly dispersed and be a variety of energies of heaven and earth.

    Unusual things had also been born from the grand explosion in a miraculous manner.

    A blood sea, a River of Time, a River of Souls, a cluster of mes, a ball of shining stars, a Mountain of Death, a thunder pool, a cluster of darkness, and all kinds of amazing spectacles...

    After these unusual things had been created during the explosion, they had mysteriously developed intelligence, and begun to have early-stage awareness.

    They were the so-called origins.

    They had been born in the depths of the chaos, a ce that was now known as the Dark Abyss or the Blood Realm.

    Originally, living beings hadn¡¯t existed in the Void World, the Spirit World or the Mortal World.

    After eons of changes, the origins in the chaos had be more intelligent, and their awareness had be more and more condensed. Suddenly, they had felt that if the whole universe was eternally deste, and if they were the only ones that had wisdom and awareness, life would be too lonely and boring.

    They had wanted to break away from the chaos and soar through the universe, but they had been confined to the depths of the chaos, and it had been difficult for them to move themselves.

    It seemed that they could only exist eternally in the chaos.

    If they broke free from the chaos, it seemed they would lose everything, such as their wisdom, awareness, and the principles and Dao about themselves that they hadprehended for hundreds of millions of years.

    They couldn¡¯t forsake all that. They hadn¡¯t known how to, and also had not dared try.

    Later, when they had tried to release a strand of their awareness, they had found that the awareness they had separated from them could easily break away from the chaos and wander freely in the outside world.

    The wisps of awareness had been Void Spirits.

    However, as soon as the Void Spirits had walked out of the chaos, they had be independent selves in the outside world.

    The Void Spirits had connections with them, which allowed them to see everything through them, as if they were their eyes.

    However, the Void Spirits were influenced by so many factors in the outside world that their awareness mixed with other things. It became less pure, and they had stopped beingpletely obedient.

    Even though they had released the Void Spirits to wander in the outside world, the vast starry river had seemed boring.

    The universe had only them and the Void Spirits, which were their eyes. Nothing else.

    During that period of time, the Sea of Life had found a way to create new creatures with its blood imprints, using its flesh aura as a starter.

    Then, all the origins had started creating creatures with the Blood Essence from the Sea of Life by branding the creatures with their own imprints, and spreading them with the help of the Void Spirits who had been released outside.

    The Devils, the Netherspirits, the Seaspirits, the Moonspirits, and the Lightspirits of the Void World had been born in this way.

    Only the Bonedrudes had been different, as they were a race made from white bones by the Void Spirit of Death that had flown out of the Mountain of Death.

    The origin of life had also obtained the other origins¡¯ imprints when it had given them its Blood Essence imprints.

    This was the exchange.

    As for the origin of life, it had created living beings in the Spirit World through the two Void Spirits that it had released. The Titans, the dragons, the Ancientbeasts, and the Floragrims had all been created by the two Void Spirits under themand of the origin of life.

    The two Void Spirits had been none other than the first generation of the Tree of Life, and that majestic giant being.

 Chapter 1754: The Origins, The Void Spirits, and The Various Species

    Both the Tree of Life and the giant human being were Void Spirits that had been separated from the origin of life.

    One carried the wonders of fleshly beings, while the other carried the mysteries of vegetative beings.

    Both of them had been born in the Sea of Life, and could be regarded as part of the origin of life.

    The origin of life had obtained imprints from almost all the major origins in the chaos from their exchanges.

    Because of this, the beings it had created carried bloodlines with different attributes.

    Just dragons alone could be divided into me dragons, lightning dragons, frost dragons, ck dragons, etc.

    Titans and Ancientbeasts also carried various types of bloodlines, as opposed to the single type of bloodlines of the Moonspirits, Seaspirits, and Netherspirits.

    However, the exchange of imprints between the origin of life and the other origins had been the foundation of the creation of all the species in this universe.

    Creatures¡¯ flesh power-infused hearts and bloodlines were the embodiment of the imprints of different origins.

    Nie Tian was only able to drain flesh power from Devils, Netherspirits, Ancientspirits, Floragrims, Seaspirits, ckscales, and the other outsider species with the help of his life bloodline because all those species hade to existence after the origin of life had mixed the imprints from the other origins with its own imprints and flesh power, and forged them into bloodlines and hearts.

    ...

    In the depths of the endless blood sea.

    With a connection established between his vessels and the colossal heart, Nie Tian had been receiving information on the secrets of the creation of various species.

    Image after image manifested in his mind.

    From them, he had learned that the creation of all the species in the three worlds, except the Bonedrudes and the Bonebrutes, had the origin of life to thank.

    That was also why he could rely on his life bloodline to absorb and refine the flesh power of beings of various species.

    As for Void Spirits, they were wisps of awareness that had been separated from their origins.

    Once they left their origins and the chaos, they would develop and grow.

    They shouldered the responsibility of making new species.

    The three major races in the Void World, along with the Seaspirits, the Moonspirits, the Lightspirits, and the Voidspirits, had been created by the Void Spirits sent out by different origins, using the imprints of their origins, life imprints, and flesh auras.

    The fact that he had been able to trade three drops of his Blood Essence for a me spark from the Divine me was because the Divine me had seen the possibility of creating a new species with his Blood Essence.

    The exchange he had made with the Divine me was simr to the ones the origin of life had made with the various other origins in the Dark Abyss.

    Before the birth of the Ifrits, other fire-attributed outsider species had been made in the three worlds by other Void Spirits of me. It was just that they had gone extinct for different reasons.

    The Divine me was a Void Spirit the origin of fire had separated from itself after many others had failed their purpose.

    It was actually very consuming for the origins to separate awareness from themselves to make Void Spirits. They themselves would grow weaker with every Void Spirit they made.

    Many fire-attributed species had perished, along with the Void Spirits that had created them, which was why the origin of fire had no choice but to create and release the Divine me.

    The origin of fire had been weakened so much that it hadn¡¯t even had the imprints to trade for life imprints and Blood Essence from the origin of life.

    Therefore, after the Divine me had left the chaos, even though it hadn¡¯t stopped growing stronger, it hadn¡¯t been able to create new species as the origin of fire had instructed it to.

    This had changed when it had met Nie Tian. After recognizing Nie Tian¡¯s uniqueness, it had asked to make a trade with him for the life power-infused Blood Essence in his heart.

    The transaction hadter turned out to be a great sess. The Divine me had developed an early-stage fleshly form with the three drops of Blood Essence, and the me spark and me imprints it had provided had helped Nie Tian create Nie Yan, the first Ifrit.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the origin of fire has been through, but it¡¯s in a very weak state now.

    ¡°Luckily, I didn¡¯t choose it earlier when it called out to me. If I did, then even if it had helped me be a paragon, I definitely wouldn¡¯t be as strong as the paragon made by the Sea of Life.

    ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t have been able to uncover so many secrets...¡±

    Nie Tian looked back on the path he had taken while obtaining imprints from the origin of life.

    New images and knowledge kept pouring into his mind.

    He suddenly came to learn a new fact.

    The Void Spirit the origins had separated from them could perish in the outside world, which would cause damage to the origins.

    However, the origins wouldn¡¯t be affected if their Void Spirits were absorbed and refined by the creatures they had created.

    For instance, the Void Spirit that the River of Souls had separated from itself and sent out to the worlds had created Netherspirits, but eventually, it had been refined by Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and helped him be a paragon. This wouldn¡¯t undermine the River of Souls.

    However, if the species they created through their Void Spirits were wiped out, the origins would suffer tremendous blows.

    For instance, the origin of fire had created fire-attributed species through the Void Spirits it had released. It had been greatly weakened when those species had died out in battles.

    Simrly, the stronger a species became, and the more grand monarchs it produced, the stronger their origin would be in the chaos.

    Therefore, the struggles among the various species in the three worlds actually yed an important part in the rise and decline of the origins.

    One could even say that the battles among the species were in fact the battles among the origins!

    When a species rose to prominence, their bloodline origins would definitely shine like a brilliant star in the chaos, in the Dark Abyss!

    Back when Nie Tian had been carried out of the endless blood sea by the third-generation Tree of Life, the fact that he had been able to see the River of Souls, the Mountain of Death, and the Origin of Darkness was because those three origins had been very strong at the time.

    They corresponded to the three major races in the Void World. The Demons, Phantasms, and Bonebrutes in the Spirit World had also thrived for some time.

    He hadn¡¯t seen the fire, the lightning, or the cier in the chaos because those origins had been much weaker inparison.

    This was reflected in the extinction or decline of the species they had created in the outside world.

    That was why they had been hard to see in the chaos.

    Furthermore, if the Void Spirits returned to their origins, it would also help lift the power of their origins to a great extent.

    The stronger the Void Spirits became on their journeys, the greater boosts they would give to their origins upon their return.

    For instance, if the Divine me or Pei Qiqi fused into the origin of fire or the origin of space, they would make their origins significantly stronger.

    Therefore, most of the origins would have a weing attitude towards the return of their Void Spirits.

    However, there were exceptions.

    The Tree of Life was the best example!

    As a Void Spirit the origin of life had separated from itself, the Tree of Life had umted power through many generations and countless battles, and had grown to be so powerful that even the origin of life was apprehensive about it.

    A Void Spirit like it could even rece its origin!

    If the Tree of Life returned to the endless blood sea now, it might very well erase the awareness of the origin of life and rece it with its own.

    Having lived for who knew how long, the Tree of Life had long since developed its own independent will.

    That was why even the origin of life feared it.

 Chapter 1755: The Blood Father of the Spirit World!

    ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect it to be the one you¡¯re apprehensive about,¡± Nie Tian muttered inwardly as many things finally came to light.

    The origin of life had only helped the giant being reforge its life bloodline and helped him temper his heart and passed the profound knowledge of the origin of species on to him because it wanted to prevent the arrival of the Tree of Life.

    It was afraid that its awareness would be erased by it.

    After all, the Tree of Life had already done something like it...

    Back in the day, the giant being, who was regarded as the creator of humanity, and the Tree of Life had left to create lives in the Spirit World ording to the instructions of the origin of life.

    Both of them served the origin of life as its preachers.

    At the beginning, the Tree of Life had been in charge of creating life force in realms with its wood power.

    Thanks to its efforts, all sorts of devil nts, spirit nts, grass, and flowers had been spawned, covering numerous realms in lush vegetation.

    This had created soil for creatures to live on.

    The Tree of Life was the creature of all spirit flowers and devil grass.

    For this reason, none of the spirit nts and devil nts like the Heavenly Demonsbanes, Demon Eyes Flowers, and coexisting flowers had been able to put up a fight when facing it. It had practically reaped them without effort, and strengthened itself with their essential wood power.

    However, the Tree of Life couldn¡¯t create fleshly beings, even though it could create Heaven Nourished grade nts like the Heaven-equal Vine and the Godspirit Tree.

    The origin of life had given the task of creating creatures with flesh and blood to the other Void Spirit, the so-called creator of humanity, who had been known as the Blood Father of the Spirit World in the ancient records of the Spirit World that had been deliberately erased!

    He had created the titans, the Ancientbeasts, and the dragons.

    The births of a wide variety of unintelligent beasts, insects, and fowl in the Spirit World had him to thank.

    The Tree of Life had nothing to do with it.

    Originally, the fleshly creatures and the vegetative beings had lived together in peace in the realms of the Spirit World.

    However, powerful creatures like titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts would ughter and devour members of the weaker species, and even weaker members of their own kind.

    The powerful species would also wage wars among themselves, which would damage realms and reduce forests with exuberant life force to ashes, while the weakest and youngest creatures still lived on tree leaves, grass, and flowers.

    The Tree of Life had gone to great lengths to create the lush forests and all the vegetation.

    Seeing the fruits of its efforts being damaged and destroyed due to the rise of the powerful creatures, it had finally attacked in rage.

    Its target had been the Blood Father who had created all the fleshly beings in the Spirit World!

    Even the so-called creator of fleshly beings hadn¡¯t expected it to be so mighty then, and had been amazed by the fact that all of the forests and vegetative beings in the entire Spirit World could be used as its source of power.

    Eventually, the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been defeated by the Tree of Life. With his soul scattered and his life imprints and life wonders stolen from him, he had been reduced to a soulless corpse. Luckily, he had sealed himself in the depths of the earth in the Realm of Middle Continent with hisst breath.

    By ughtering its own kind, the Tree of Life had finally mastered the wonders and secrets of creating fleshly beings. Then, the Floragrims had been created.

    Later, it had also created the Stonemen, the Fiends, and the ckscales.

    After seizing the life imprints of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, the Tree of Life had reced him as the one to guide the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons.

    Since it had carried those life imprints, generations of Ancientspirits had developed a natural sense of closeness to it, treated it as the guardian of the Spirit World, and taken orders from it.

    As for the Blood Father of the Spirit World, it had long since erased any signs of its existence.

    Every fleshly being and vegetative being had then be its weapons in war and source of power.

    After that, it had started reaching its hands into the Void World and the Mortal World.

    A wide array of devil nts like Demon Eyes Flowers and Heavenly Demonsbanes had been spawned in the Void World.

    In the Netherspirits¡¯ territory, it had turned Grand Monarch Ghost Spirit¡¯s discarnate soul into Ghost Spirit Grass, and created Spectre Trees through secret magics.

    In the Bonedrudes¡¯ territory, it had made Carrion Flowers...

    After being spawned in the Void World, these fiendish nts had lived on the bodies and souls of the creatures of the various species in the Void World.

    Even the three major races had suffered from them for a long time.

    Some of the minor races that had been created by weaker origins had even gone extinct because of them.

    Only after the learned members of the three major races had conductedprehensive investigations had they discovered that that tree in the Spirit World had been behind the emergence of those devil nts and spirit nts.

    Therefore, in the early days, they had referred to it as the Tree of Doom, or the Tree of Evil in the Void World.

    Meanwhile, in the Mortal World, the origins of ice, metal, fire, lightning, etc, had created numerous species such as Icespirits, Metalspirits, Firespirits, and Lightningspirits with the life imprints they had obtained from the origin of life.

    However, they had been raided and wiped out by the titans, dragons, Ancientbeasts, and powerful spirit nts like Godspirit Trees and Heaven-equal Vines.

    Because of that, those species that had been created by many origins in the chaos had been erased from the Mortal World, as if they had never existed.

    The origins of ice, metal, lightning, and fire had also suffered heavy blows after this tremendous setback.

    Then, with all the native beings in the Mortal World eliminated, all sorts of spirit nts and devil nts had started growing and spreading in the Mortal World. The Mortal World had begun to slowly recover its life force.

    As the Mortal World had needed time to revitalize, its realms had also needed time to absorb energies of heaven and earth toy the groundwork for the emergence of new lives.

    During that time, the Tree of Life had forbidden members of the Ancientspirits from intervening in the revitalization of the Mortal World.

    At that point, it had be so powerful that even the origin of life hadn¡¯t been able tomand it anymore.

    In the meantime, the origins that had created Icespirits, Metalspirits, Firespirits, and Lightningspirits had been greatly weakened by the eradication of their creations, and had thus been unable to trade with the origin of life and have Void Spirits create more new species.

    Therefore, those origins had joined together, and made tremendous efforts to have their Void Spirits find the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who had lost his life imprints and sealed himself in the depths of the earth in the Realm of Middle Continent.

    Those Void Spirits had helped the Blood Father of the Spirit World regather his scattered awareness.

    Their goal was to use him to contend against the unmatched Tree of Life.

    However, having lost his life imprints and the recognition of the Ancientspirits, the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been aware that he would not be able to win a head-on battle against it.

    He had been well-aware that its power originated from those devil nts and spirit grasses, and the allegiance of the Ancientspirits and Floragrims.

    New species had to be created if he wanted to suppress its massive forces and defeat it.

    At that time, the Tree of Life had already be so powerful that it had been able to perceive every move the origin of life had made in the chaos.

    Hence, even though the origin of life had been discontent with it, it hadn¡¯t been able to work with the other origins to overthrow it.

    For that reason, the only choice of the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been to create humanity with his residual power and the assistance of the other origins.

    Since he hadn¡¯t been able to bless them with life imprints, humans had been born without special bloodlines, which had made them the intelligent beings with the weakest fleshly bodies.

    Even so, they shouldered the hopes of the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the various origins to fight against the Tree of Life!

 Chapter 1756: The Extinction of Star Behemoths

    At first, the Tree of Life hadn¡¯t paid any attention to the humans, since they didn¡¯t carry any significant flesh auras.

    It had even assumed that the humans were the result of a failed creation of the origins in the Spirit World. Their existence had been nothing but a joke to it.

    After all, since the origins and the Blood Father of the Spirit World hadn¡¯t been able to find a way to make humanity stronger over a long period of time, they had lived lives even worse than livestock.

    Even though they had been blessed with remarkable intelligence, they hadn¡¯t been able to escape the fate of being enved by the powerful species.

    Even so, this species, which had been widely regarded as the weakest species that had ever been created, had been the only hope of the origins that had suffered a crushing defeat in the Mortal World.

    They had done everything in their power to fuse humans with their imprints, which had allowed them to develop many different attributes.

    For instance, some humans were born with an affinity for fire incantations, while others were born with an affinity for ice incantations...

    As a result of their tireless exploration and guidance, humanity had finally found a way to practice cultivation by relying on their spiritual seas in their dantian regions, instead of bloodlines, which was a brand new self-strengthening method.

    After that, humanity had rapidly risen to prominence and burst forth with terrifying power despite their limited lifespans, forcing the Tree of Life to pay attention to them.

    By that time, the Tree of Life had already realized that the creation of humanity had been a joint effort against it.

    However, it had been toote.

    After their rise in the Mortal World, the humans had turned the tide and expelled the Ancientspirits and outsiders from the Spirit World!

    Due to the influence of the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the origins, the humans had been bent on fighting their way back to the Spirit World.

    Meanwhile, the wide variety of devil nts and spirit herbs in the Mortal World happened to be spiritual materials that could help human cultivators be stronger!

    They needed them to make breakthroughs in their cultivation and forge their Void, Saint, and God domains!

    Upon deep analysis, one would see that the entire human cultivation system seemed to be built to undermine the Tree of Life.

    Because of the humans¡¯ tremendous need for cultivation materials, countless rare flowers and precious grasses had been harvested and refined. Some of the mighty vegetative beings the Tree of Life had created and nurtured in the Mortal World, such as Godspirit Trees and Heaven-equal Vines, had even been driven to the verge of extinction.

    That, in fact, had been consuming the power and influence of the Tree of Life.

    Humanity¡¯s unstoppable rising momentum had finally made the Tree of Life anxious.

    After learning that this new species didn¡¯t rely on flesh power to strengthen themselves, and that they could make themselves stronger by simply obtaining the spiritual energies of heaven and earth and refining all sorts of precious materials, it hade to realize that it would be its end if they didn¡¯t die out.

    Therefore, as ¡®Ji Cang¡¯ had said, it had found Qin Yao, who had been consumed with his hybrid research, and helped him make Nie Tian with the most precious thing it had stolen from the Blood Father of the Spirit World: the life bloodline.

    Most of the other hybrids had been made from crossbreeding between humans and titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts.

    Since the life imprints that had been used to create Ancientspirits, Floragrims, and the other outsider species in the Spirit World had been in its control, those hybrids had been born with strong bloodline connections to it. Their thriving would make it stronger.

    The goal of the entire hybrid-breeding project had been to defeat the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the weaker origins in the chaos.

    As long as the hybrids had focused on strengthening their bloodlines, the Tree of Life would be stronger and stronger.

    Even though the hybrids might be distracted by the cultivation of their spiritual seas and their human half, they could be used to divide the humans from within.

    In the future, when human hybrids made up the majority of the human poption, it would make other arrangements to get rid of their spiritual seas and their cultivation system, which was based on the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth.

    Then, the hybrids would gradually forget their cultivation method as humans, and begin to strengthen themselves by devouring other creatures as the Ancientspirits did.

    By that time, pure humans would die out, leaving only hybrids that were loyal to it as the Ancientspirits were.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian, who was focused on receiving legacies from the origin of life, felt a sudden pain in his chest. Then, he sensed that several Bloodline Crystal Chains had snapped in his heart.

    ¡°The Rampage Behemoth!¡±

    As soon as a thought entered his mind, his bloodline connection to the Rampage Behemoth, which he had brought back to life by infusing arge amount of his Blood Essence and boundless flesh aura from the endless blood sea into it, allowed him to learn that the third-generation Tree of Life was inflicting severe damage upon it in the darknd.

    He could almost hear the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s painful wails.

    He could feel its bone-deep hatred towards the Tree of Life!

    It wasn¡¯t a hatred that could build up in a day.

    Rather, it was something that had been branded on the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bloodline and soul, which was making it attack the Tree of Life at the risk of its life.

    Because of this, the Tree of Life had to focus most of its power on dealing with it.

    However, the Rampage Behemoth was much stronger than the five evil gods. Despite the severe damage, it was striving to fight back and pass his torrential hatred towards it to him through their bloodline connection.

    ¡°Howe the Rampage Behemoth hates it so much?¡±

    As soon as the question entered his mind, brand new information came through from the colossal pumping heart.

    Then, the mystery of the births of Star Behemoths was unraveled.

    Star Behemoths hade into existence in the Primal Era.

    The so-called Primal Era referred to the period of time after the great explosion, when the origins in the chaos had separated Void Spirits from themselves to explore the three worlds.

    The behemoths that had been unbeatable and unmatched throughout the three worlds during the Primal Era, such as the Rampage Behemoth, the Dark Behemoth, and the Chaos Behemoth, were actually Void Spirits that had rebelled against their origins and ¡®created¡¯ themselves in the three worlds with imprints from the endless blood sea.

    They had used the imprints to give themselves fleshly bodies, instead of creating new species like the Devils and the Netherspirits.

    Every Star Behemoth was a Void Spirit that had gone out of control in the earliest era!

    The purpose of the origins trading imprints with the origin of life had been to have the Void Spirit create new species, not to have them use those imprints on themselves.

    However, Void Spirits would develop their own awareness and independent will once they left the chaos.

    Some of the Void Spirits had chosen to go against their origins¡¯ will and slowly refine the flesh aura essence their origins had obtained from the endless blood sea, which should have been used to create new species, themselves.

    It was thebination of Void Spirits and the flesh aura essence that could be used to create new species that had made the overlords of the Primal Era!

    As Void Spirits that had gone rogue, the Star Behemoths had been transcendent and invincible at that time.

    However, since the origins had been unable to leave the chaos, they could only watch the rebellious Star Behemoths cause havoc throughout the three worlds and strengthen themselves further by devouring the species created by other Void Spirits.

    While their souls were Void Spirits that had been separated from the origins directly, the fleshly bodies they had forged for themselves had been extremely strong. Hence, their only opponents had been their own kind before theter rise of the major species in the three worlds.

    Because of their mutinous behavior, the origins in the chaos had viewed them as traitors and thorns in their flesh.

    Their eventual extinction had been the joint effort of almost every origin in the chaos.

    The Tree of Life, however, had yed a very important role in their extinction.

 Chapter 1757: The Source of Evil

    Technically speaking, the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life could be viewed as Star Behemoths as well.

    After all, they were both Void Spirits that had developed fleshly bodies.

    Void Spirits were wisps of awareness that had been separated from the origins. They werebinations of energy and magical principles.

    At the beginning, Void Spirits hadn¡¯t been vested with fleshly bodies.

    After they left the chaos ording to the instructions of the origins, they would fuse their own imprints, energy, and the flesh aura essence their origins had obtained from the origin of life through trade, and create new species such as the Devils and the Netherspirits.

    Void Spirits were merely a medium.

    However, if they used the flesh aura essence and imprints on themselves, they would make themselves Star Behemoths.

    Since the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life were Void Spirits that had been separated from the Sea of Life, the flesh aura essence and imprints the Sea of Life had provided for them understandably exceeded those it had provided for the other Void Spirits.

    For that reason, the two of them had developed fleshly bodies as soon as they had left the chaos.

    Neither the Blood Father of the Spirit World nor the Tree of Life had gone against the will of the origin of life at first. They had followed its every instruction to create new species and spread lives through the realms in the Spirit World.

    The Star Behemoths, however, were infamous ones that had turned against their origins from the start of the Primal Era. They had not only fed on titans and dragons, but consumed realms to provide themselves with power. It was only natural that they had be enemies to the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life.

    Later, as the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts had grown stronger, the three major races in the Void World had risen to prominence, and the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life had umted more power, most of the Star Behemoths that had terrorized the three worlds had been killed.

    The Star Behemoths¡¯ decline at the end of the Primal Era had been a joint effort.

    The three major races in the Void World, the Ancientspirits in the Spirit World, and the Icespirits, Firespirits, and Lightningspirits in the Mortal World had all made their contribution.

    Only by joining together had these forces, which represented different origins in the chaos, finally eradicated the traitors.

    After the extinction of the Star Behemoths, these species had stepped into the spotlight and be the masters of the three worlds.

    That marked the beginning of the Deste Antiquity Era.

    The conflicts between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life and that attack the Tree of Life hadunched against the Blood Father of the Spirit World had taken ce in this era that hade after the Primal Era.

    While the majority of the Star Behemoths had perished, a few of them had masked their flesh auras and survived in areas where the three worlds bordered one another, like the Doomed Star Sea, the Dead Star Sea, the Silent Star Sea, and other secluded areas in the starry river.

    They were represented by the Chaos Behemoth, the Dark Behemoth, and the Rampage Behemoth.

    Eventually, the Tree of Life had won its battle against the Blood Father of the Spirit World in the Deste Antiquity Era.

    However, the Tree of Life had sustained severe injuries, and hadn¡¯t been able to refine the life imprints it had taken from the Blood Father of the Spirit World immediately after its victory. This had made it weak for a long period of time.

    During that time, the Bone Emperor, the Dark King, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had emerged in the Void World sessively. They hadunched multiple invasions from the Void World while the Tree of Life had been in recovery.

    With its Life Detection bloodline talent, the Tree of Life had found the dormant Rampage Behemoth, the Dark Behemoth, and the Chaos Behemoth sessively in the border regions between the three worlds and other secluded regions. It had promised them that as long as they helped it defend against the paragons from the Void World, they would have a ce to themselves in the Spirit World.

    The Rampage Behemoth was the first to be persuaded. Awaking from its slumber, it had gone to fend off the Bone Emperor, who had been in his prime.

    Both of them had sustained fatal injuries in battle, and died soon afterwards.

    The Tree of Life, who had grasped the profound truths of life, had promised that even if the Rampage Behemoth died, it would be able to resurrect it.

    However, the Tree of Life had not only gone back on its word, but it had also taken away the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s residual power with Life Drain.

    By doing this, it hadrgely recovered the power it had consumed in its battle against the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Later, when the Dark King of the Devils had invaded the Spirit World, the Tree of Life had persuaded the Dark Behemoth to go stop him. However, the Dark King had in the Dark Behemoth, and transcended with its death. Then, as a mighty paragon, he had marched into the Spirit World once again.

    That time, the Tree of Life had persuaded the Chaos Behemoth with the same ploy.

    By joining together, it and the Chaos Behemoth had annihted the Dark King.

    However, the Chaos Behemoth had also been reduced to a colossal corpse in the depths of the Shatter Battlefield that had never awoken again.

    It had only ended so miserably for it because the Tree of Life had taken away its immense life force when it had been weak, as it had done with the Rampage Behemoth.

    By the time Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit of the Netherspirits had be a paragon and invaded the Spirit World, it had not only recovered from its battle against the Blood Father of the Spirit World, but it had also umted a tremendous amount of flesh power from the Rampage Behemoth, the Chaos Behemoth, and the Dark Behemoth, and be the strongest existence the three worlds had ever seen!

    As the result of its battle against Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had died while it had only withered for a short period of time, beforeing back as its second-generation self.

    That marked the arrival of its reign in the Deste Antiquity Era.

    With all three paragons from the Void World and the Star Behemoths that had been hiding in secluded areas in the three worlds dead because of its ploys, there wasn¡¯t anyone that had posed a threat to it anymore.

    Therefore, it had reached its hands to the Mortal World. Eliminating the Icespirits, the Firespirits, and the Lightningspirits, it had quickly upied the Mortal World.

    As for the Void World, the existence of arge number of devil nts and spirit nts had thrown the lives of the three major races into disorder.

    Because of that, the three major races had entered a prolonged decline, where they hadn¡¯t seen another paragon rise again to lead the Void World back to its glory.

    If the weaker origins hadn¡¯t worked together to restore the awareness of the Blood Father of the Spirit World and created humanity, it would have ruled the three worlds and determined the fates of all lives as a transcendent existence to this day.

    The Rampage Behemoth had awakened its soul imprints after Nie Tian had reanimated it. It was only natural that it hated it to the bone.

    It had made tempting promises to have the Rampage Behemothe out of its dormancy and fight the Bone Emperor, who had been at the peak of his strength. Eventually, it had died killing the Bone Emperor.

    However, not only had the Tree of Life broken its promise to bring it back to life, but it had even taken away its residual flesh power and refined its exploded remains.

    How could it not hate it like poison?

    ...

    In the darknd.

    Thick, emerald green branches of the Tree of Life pierced into the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s body like divine thorns and heavenly lightning bolts.

    BLUB! BLUB!

    Like numerous pumps, the emerald green branches started channeling thick blood from the Rampage Behemoth at an rming rate.

    As powerful as the Rampage Behemoth was, it was on the verge of breaking.

    It let out one agonized wail after another.

    Seeing the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s enormous form shrivel bit by bit, the experts of various species that were attacking the Tree of Life together made attempts to sever those gigantic branches.

    At the same time, the ck tortoise, who carried the Dark Behemoth¡¯s bloodline, was saddened by what was happening to the Rampage Behemoth, knowing that its ancestor had died at the hands of the Tree of Life as well.

    At this moment, Dong Li, who was wielding the Dark Aureole and two dark stones, also learned from the legacies that had been passed onto her that both the Dark King and the Dark Behemoth had died because of the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Now I see it. This hideous tree is the cause of all disasters, and the source of all evil.¡±

 Chapter 1758: Time Travels Back

    Enveloped in vast chaotic currents, the Tree of Life emanated a tremendous amount of divine light like a god that had ruled the three worlds since the beginning of time.

    The Devils and Netherspirits from the Void World, the humans from the Mortal World, and the rogue forces and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea were all attacking it at this point.

    As for the Floragrims and the Ancientspirits, they were surprisingly quiet.

    All of them and the members of the minor races from the Spirit World that hade from the Silent Star Sea were standing in ce and observing with cold eyes.

    Before it could realize it, it had already be themon enemy of the three worlds.

    However, instead of being anxious as it had been earlier, it seemed to gradually be calm and patient again...

    It was as if it had a new n...

    Now, other than the sparkling wood power, there was even thick blood running through its emerald green branches now!

    The blood trickled through its every branch and every root like tiny rivers.

    Misty bloody auras started rising from its myriad leaves, soon forming a shield of flesh aura that helped it fend off the attacks of the experts of various species like a flesh aura sea would.

    Every once in a while, powerful experts of different species would be pierced through by its branches and killed by its bloodline talents.

    Their mangled bodies, bones, and blood would fall from the heavens like rain of different colors, but vanish the second they touched the ground, like raindrops falling into ake.

    Experts of various species from the three worlds perished one after another, without leaving even a trace behind.

    The Tree of Life, however, continued to grow at a fast rate.

    Like gigantic thorns, its branches had stretched to every corner of the darknd.

    Not a single being that had descended to the darknd could avoid dealing with them.

    In the sky.

    Enormous branches pierced into the two seas of stars that were Qin Yao and Ji Cang¡¯s star domains with an unstoppable momentum.

    Divine power that contained the endless wonders of life stirred up storms in the two seas of stars at the same time, causing numerous brilliant fragmentary stars to explode to dust.

    Both Ji Cang and Qin Yao had be its targets.

    ¡°It must have gone mad!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s attacking every human, outsider, and hybrid. What the hell is it doing?¡±

    ¡°The Ancientspirits and Floragrims are the only ones that haven¡¯t been attacked yet. All of the others that are here have be its targets to kill. What can it get by killing all of us?¡±

    ¡°Even its origin, the origin of life, can¡¯t contain it now, can it?¡±

    No one in the darknd understood why the situation had gradually developed to this point.

    Only the Ancient Arch-devil shrank and morphed back into Zhao Shanling¡¯s true form. Emanating strong spatial fluctuations, he exined to the confused experts, ¡°It¡¯s hoping to gather a tremendous amount of flesh power and bring its power to new heights by killing all of us. In the Sea of Life, the origin of life is transfusing its life power to that giant human being and Nie Tian in an attempt to revive the giant human being and make Nie Tian a paragon.

    ¡°Without any choices, the origin of life has already cut it off, and enraged it.

    ¡°Now, it¡¯s even made the origin of life its enemy!¡±

    In the depths of the earth in the darknd, where no one could see, the enormous roots of the Tree of Life were slithering furiously back and forth like heavenly dragons and earthly serpents.

    Deafening rumbles echoed through the depths of the earth.

    Countless huge tunnels and caves had been created by its roots in a way thatposed an extremelyplicated and mysterious spell formation that contained endless truths of life.

    Flesh power and wood power that was crimson, cyan, and green filled every tunnel and cave.

    If Nie Tian were here, he would be able to see that therge number of power-infused tunnels in the depths of the earth and the numerous winding branches in the sky looked very much like the countless Bloodline Crystal Chains in the colossal heart in the depths of the endless blood sea.

    It appeared that the Tree of Life was creating another endless blood sea in the darknd by copying the unfathomable wonders of the origin of life!

    Throughout this entire universe, it, which had lived through the history of the Spirit World, be a paragon many times, and mastered the profound truths of the origin of life, might be the only one that could carry out such a crazy n in the darknd!

    As the amazing grand spell formation came to form, it itself seemed to be that colossal heart, the origin of life.

    Its countless branches filling the sky and countless roots slithering in the depths of the ground were like its Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    From now on, for every being that died in the darknd, their residual power would no longer flow towards the origin of life, but be its source of power, whether they were humans, outsiders, spirit nts, devil grass, or even Star Behemoths.

    Their deaths would help it be the most terrifying existence the three worlds had ever seen.

    Furthermore, it had be something between a fleshly being and a vegetative being.

    It had be even more wondrous than the origin of life, which was abination of pure flesh power and awareness that couldn¡¯t break free from the chaos.

    Now, it was hoping to surpass its origin, dominate its origin, and even annihte and absorb its origin!

    In the endless blood sea, the colossal heart was still beating violently. However, the blood beads and cleansed flesh aura it pumped out were bing fewer and fewer.

    After all, the power that should have flowed towards it was now being intercepted by the Tree of Life.

    This was a great change that would go down in history, an upheaval that would make all lives in the three worlds tremble in fear!

    Now, in the darknd, it had taken the ce of the origin of life!

    Standing towering in the middle of the darknd, Zhao Shanling sensed the world-shaking changes and saw the Tree of Life thriving on the deaths of experts of various species. He seemed to finally lose it as he roared at the top of his lungs, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to stop it?¡±

    No one knew who he was roaring at.

    Qin Yao and Ji Cang had clearly been infiltrated by the power of the Tree of Life. Right now, they were even having difficulty moving around, as if they were stranded in a bog.

    Their fragmentary stars exploded from time to time.

    This meant that both of them were beingpletely suppressed by the soaring power of the Tree of Life.

    Severely injured, the Rampage Behemoth had already lost its ability to fight.

    The vast cloud of darkness Dong Li and the ck tortoises had condensed together had been cut to pieces by the flesh aura-infused branches, with light beaming through the gaps.

    At this moment, who was strong enough to fight it head-on?

    Nie Tian? Grand Monarch Heaven Devil?

    While everyone was deeply confused and suffocating under the tremendous pressure from the Tree of Life, glorious light emerged in the area where the Divine me, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Nie Tian, and Pei Qiqi had vanished.

    The glorious light gradually morphed into a flowing river.

    It was a wondrous river that recorded the histories of the three worlds, along with the births, rise, decline, and extinction of every species in them.

    In the river, the confused experts seemed to see the births of the three major races in the Void World, the rise of the Ancientspirits, and the whole process from the time the Icespirits, Lightningspirits, and Firespirits had been created in the Mortal World to the time they had been wiped out.

    They also saw the uncharacteristically fierce battle between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life, which had determined the fate of the three worlds.

    Even the vicious ploys of the Tree of Life, and the causes of the deaths of the Rampage Behemoth, the Chaos Behemoth, and the Dark Behemoth, manifested with great rity within the river.

    ¡°The River of Time!¡±

    ¡°Wu Ji!¡±

 Chapter 1759: The Seal of Time!

    The glorious River of Time manifested out of nothing.

    Countless brilliant imprints within the river morphed into a series of distinct images.

    Most of the images were of the history of the Tree of Life and the births, prosperity, and extinction of various species.

    Through the River of Time, those who couldn¡¯t enter the endless blood sea to receive legacies from the origin of life actually saw the crimes the Tree of Life hadmitted.

    Thanks to it, the races from the Void World finally knew that all of their three paragons had perished because of it.

    The Ancientspirits came to realize that their creator was actually the Blood Father of the Spirit World, the giant human corpse that had been bereft of any flesh aura.

    They only felt a natural sense of closeness towards the Tree of Life and were willing to take orders from it because it had refined and absorbed the life imprints of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    All of the humans, hybrids, and experts of other races burst into a mor.

    ¡°The River of Time! It¡¯s Nie Tian¡¯s master, Wu Ji!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s the one the Ancient Arch-devil has been waiting for!¡±

    ¡°Are those images of the Tree of Life in the River of Time really what have happened? Is the Tree of Life really the origin of all that is evil in the three worlds? Is it really the hand that wiped the Icespirits, the Lightningspirits, and the Firespirits from the Mortal World?¡±

    ¡°Is it true that the Heavenly Demonsbanes, the Demon Eyes Flowers, and all the other devil nts and spirit nts that emerged inrge numbers in the Void World were actually its tentacles that it used to contain the three major races in the Void World?¡±

    The River of Time, which was flowing with glorious light, suddenly morphed again.

    Wu Ji, who had disappeared for a long time, manifested in what seemed to be his dharma idol, which was somehow simr to the Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into.

    It was just that his dharma idol flowed with glorious light.

    Even Yin Xingtian, who had awakened as the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor, couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°The power of time!¡±

    FIZZ!

    Streaks of gorgeous light sprayed from Wu Ji¡¯s brilliant dharma idol and plunged into the earth.

    The streaks of gorgeous light were vested with profound time power that seemed to be able to reverse the flow of time.

    In the depths of the earth where no one could see, the life power that filled the countless tunnels the enormous roots of the Tree of Life had created seemed to be flowing back to its roots under the effect of time power.

    Screams of astonishment suddenly echoed out. ¡°What the...?!¡±

    Some Devil experts were bbergasted to see the bloody gashes on their devil forms being erased, as if by an invisible force.

    It was as if they had returned to the time before they had suffered heavy blows from the Tree of Life...

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Strange cracking sounds even came from the space in the darknd.

    ¡°Time...¡± A voice came from the main body of the Tree of Life, and echoed in the depths of everyone¡¯s souls.

    Even though the Tree of Life was in the form of a colossal tree, everyone had a peculiar feeling that it was fixing its eyes on Wu Ji at this moment.

    Its lush branches and leaves, which were starting to move with difficulty in the sky, gave a slight shake.

    Then, countless brilliant sparks that were green and cyan flew from its branches and leaves.

    Thick bloody auras burst forth from its enormous roots, causing the earth to quake in a blood-chilling way.

    BOOM!

    The entirety of the darknd gave a violent shake, as if a vast prisoner¡¯s cage were shattered from within.

    As soon as that happened, cries echoed out in different areas once again. The healed ones looked down at themselves with baffled expressions as the healed gashes were ripped open once again, feeling as if they were in a dream.

    Even the grand monarchs and God domain experts were dumbfounded.

    Wu Ji¡¯s dharma idol let out a soft cry. ¡°Time Freeze!¡±

    All of a sudden, countless streaks of glorious light flowed out of his brilliant dharma idol.

    A small boat could be seen sailing in the midst of the streaks of light, emanating endless light.

    It was as if the small boat were drifting along the River of Time.

    As soon as this happened, the wind seemed to suddenly stop. The branches and leaves of the Tree of Life and the experts of various species that had been attacking it from different directions also froze, each maintaining their fighting postures. Even the sword light they had unleashed stopped moving forward...

    Time seemed to be still in this heaven and earth.

    Only a handful of peak experts were still able to think and see. They knew that this was Wu Ji manifesting the might of the River of Time once again.

    ¡°Now that a seal of time has taken effect, let me add a seal of space!¡± As soon as Zhao Shanling muttered inwardly, the Void Mirror that was floating high in the sky turned towards the Tree of Life.

    The moment the reflection of the Tree of Life appeared in the mirror, a profound seal of space was cast on it to cooperate with Wu Ji¡¯s Time Freeze.

    Time power and space power, the two most mysterious types of power in this starry river, were manifested by Wu Ji and Zhao Shanling¡¯s joint efforts.

    Their sole goal was to defeat the Tree of Life.

    Zhao Shanling looked up at Wu Ji and let out a broadugh. ¡°The Domain of the Falling Stars is a magicalnd indeed. The fact that I chose to be reborn there and start another life as a human is probably because I sensed anomalies in the time and the space there. If I hadn¡¯t awakened the memories of my previous lives, I doubt that I¡¯d have been able to tell that you were right here.¡±

    It was surprising that he could still speak.

    At this moment, the majority of the experts were unable to move a single hair. Only the powerful ones could still see and think.

    Under the doubled effect of the time and space seals, even the Tree of Life was silent and motionless, like a locust in amber.

    ...

    In the depths of the blood sea, Nie Tian sensed the sudden freezing of the Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, and the evil gods by relying on his bloodline connections to them, and immediately realized that only time power could achieve such a divine result.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    He had known that his master, who had established a profound connection to the mysterious River of Time and cut Gupi to pieces, must have been somewhere in the starry river this whole time.

    He had suspected that he would show himself at some point, and had looked forward to his reappearance.

    As he had expected, Wu Ji came out of the dark at the most critical moment, and joined Zhao Shanling in his effort to imprison the Tree of Life.

    However...

    From the legacies he had received from the origin of life, he now knew how powerful the Tree of Life had be. Even the strongest origin in the chaos, the origin of life, couldn¡¯t defeat it now. Could Wu Ji and Zhao Shanling really seed?

    Or were they simply buying time for him?

    Or for the Blood Father of the Spirit World?

    BOOM!

    Heaven-shaking, earth-shattering flesh aura fluctuations suddenly burst forth from within the Blood Father of the Spirit World. Countless wisps of blood-colored light started slithering all over the majestic form of this mighty existence, who had been recondensing his life bloodline with innumerable blood drops and the help of the origin of life from the moment he had entered the endless blood sea.

    Nie Tian jerked his head towards the Blood Father of the Spirit World, and was astonished to see him start rising at an incredible speed.

    He seemed to be trying to rise out of the endless blood sea to the space where the Tree of Life had once taken Nie Tian to have a peek at the chaos and the other major origins.

    Meanwhile, he remained in the depths of the blood sea, unable to see the changes in the chaos.

    However, he knew that by attempting to charge out of the Sea of Life, the Blood Father of the Spirit World must have regained some of his awareness.

    Then, he vaguely saw the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was surrounded by streaking chaotic lights, start bing illusory and blurry.

    ¡°He... He¡¯s going to leave the chaos!¡±

 Chapter 1760: The Blood Father Returns

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World finally vanished from his senses.

    As he continued to be transfused with knowledge and power from the origin of life, he could perceive even the slightest changes in the Sea of Life.

    Therefore, he was convinced that the Blood Father of the Spirit World had charged out of the Sea of Life.

    Also, before he did, his life bloodline had been reforged, and his majestic body had been infused with immense flesh power.

    He had even regained some of his awareness.

    It seemed to him that the Blood Father of the Spirit World had be very powerful.

    However...

    His face grew grim as he looked down, and watched countless rays of blood-colored light fusing into him from the Bloodline Crystal Chains of the colossal heart.

    He had a feeling that even though the Blood Father of the Spirit World had regained part of his strength, he was still no match for the Tree of Life.

    He also knew that the ¡®seal of time and space¡¯ created by the joint efforts of his master, Wu Ji, and the Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into wouldn¡¯t be able to keep the Tree of Life contained for long.

    That was because the profound knowledge and mysteries of life he continued to receive made him gradually realize how unprecedentedly mighty the Tree of Life had be!

    He also learned that the Tree of Life had made secret arrangements many millennia ago to ensure that the darknd would be the ce where it fought a great battle against experts of all species.

    One could even say that everything about the darknd had close connections to the Tree of Life.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    All of a sudden, crisp bone-cracking sounds came from different parts of his body.

    Stimted by the boundless life power, his Life-origin Form had started growing again!

    ¡°This transformation must have been triggered by the changes to my heart!¡±

    He instantly realized that because the origin of life had been using its power to refine his heart further, his heart could hold more essence of life power now, which allowed his body and bloodline to advance towards a brand new level: the paragon level!

    BOOM!

    Billions of rays of crimson light shot madly out of the pores all over his body to devour the drops of Blood Essence floating in his surroundings like vicious dragons and greedy serpents.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence was rapidly converted into pure flesh power and transfused to his internal organs, bones, and muscles as wisps of blood-colored light.

    His Life-origin Form continued expanding.

    His pupils shone with scary blood-colored light. Observed from afar, they looked like two scarlet suns.

    ¡°Almost there... This body of mine already contains more power than that of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and the Ripper Behemoth. It won¡¯t be long before it bes as strong as that of the Rampage Behemoth!¡± Nie Tian roared inwardly as seemingly endless flesh power poured madly into his body.

    ¡°But this is still not enough! I need more!¡± He conveyed his will to the origin of life. ¡°If I want to fight the Tree of Life and stop it from recing you, I¡¯ll need more power!¡±

    Even though his soul awareness stirred up huge waves, the look in his eyes remained surprisingly calm.

    Quiet and calm, he fixed his gaze on the colossal crimson heart that was the origin of life.

    He sensed a hint of hesitation from it...

    The look in his eyes suddenly changed, and his face dropped. ¡°You¡¯re reluctant to give me the power I need? You¡¯re hesitating?¡±

    His surging soul fluctuations rapidly quieted down. ¡°I know the flesh power you¡¯ve gathered isn¡¯t as boundless as it seems to be. However, since you helped him reforge his shattered life bloodline and restore power to his body, you should do the same for me.

    ¡°Do you think he¡¯s your hope to defeat the Tree of Life? Do you think he can do it alone?

    ¡°I have a feeling in my guts...¡±

    With these words, he suddenly stopped conveying his soul will to the origin of life.

    He was absorbed in thought again.

    Soon, he sensed that there wasn¡¯t a single drop of blood around him that could be taken into his Life-origin Form anymore.

    The rays of blood-colored light he had released with Life Drain couldn¡¯t extend very far into his surroundings.

    No more fresh blood was condensed around him or pulled into his surroundings by the thumping origin of life.

    This meant that he hade to a temporary stop on his way to bing a paragon...

    However, his expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest, calm as always.

    He only fixed the colossal heart with a deep, thoughtful gaze, without saying another word or making another demand through soulmunication.

    He seemed to be waiting for something.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    In scarlet light that looked like waterfalls of blood, the vanished Blood Father of the Spirit World reappeared in heaven and earth!

    The moment his enormous form manifested, Wu Ji and Zhao Shanling, who was in his Ancient Arch-devil form, exchanged a nce,plicated expressions appearing on their faces.

    Zhao Shanling remembered a saying: Only paragons can leave the chaos.

    Wu Ji sighed inwardly, with exhaustion written across his face. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have returned at this point. Your timing couldn¡¯t have been worse. Do you think you can defeat it without our seal of time and space?¡±

    BOOM!

    A blood-colored hurricane seemed to form in the flesh aura sea the Blood Father of the Spirit World activated around him, before spreading into his surroundings, sweeping heaven and earth like a vast sea of blood.

    As soon as that happened, a crisp snap echoed in Zhao Shanling and Wu Ji¡¯s minds simultaneously.

    The two of them instantly realized that the seal of time and space they had created together was broken.

    The power that had sted through the endless barriers between the chaos and the three worlds contained the most primal force from the chaos, which allowed it to shatter even the seal of time and space.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t good.¡± Zhao Shanling said, looking frustrated. ¡°I thought we could trap it a bit longer and buy Nie Tian more time while he seeks his way to be a paragon. Why would you be so eager to return? Is it because you haven¡¯t regained your awareness and you¡¯re acting instinctively? Will you regret your rash behavior after you regain your awareness fully?¡±

    The moment the seal of time and space that had been created by Wu Ji and Zhao Shanling¡¯s joint efforts was broken, the experts of various species in the darknd burst into a great mor.

    ¡°What the...?!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I perceive or sense anything just now?¡±

    ¡°Howe he¡¯s back all of sudden?!¡±

    Wu Ji and Zhao Shanling, however, had pasty looks on their faces. Both of them had lost a tremendous amount of power due to their spell being broken by the untimely return of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Fissures even appeared in Zhao Shanling¡¯s Void Mirror.

    After he looked at it, his expression grew even grimmer.

    However, everyone noticed a hint of spirit and vigor in the originally zed, hollow eyes of the Blood Father of the Spirit World upon his return to the darknd.

    Then, under everyone¡¯s watch, his face split into a strange grin.

    It was a grin that was full of brutality and cruelty.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streaks of blood-colored light poured out of his abdomen like magnificent waterfalls.

    In the blink of an eye, they pierced through the Devils, Seaspirits, and experts of other races in his surroundings, and drained their exuberant flesh power.

    WHOOSH!

    He, who had filled almost the entire space between heaven and earth after standing straight, suddenly lunged forward and rammed towards the Ancient Arch-devil Zhao Shanling had transformed into.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression flickered as he hastily cast a spatial magic to vanish into thin air.

    Then, by following his fighting instincts, the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who hadn¡¯t fully regained his awareness yet, stepped towards the colossal Tree of Life.

    However, he didn¡¯t forget his bloodline talents.

    He relentlessly attacked any being he came across or perceived along the way.

    Many beings that didn¡¯t share bloodline connections to him, such as Devils, Netherspirits, and Seaspirits, were brutally attacked.

 Chapter 1761: Jackals from the Same Lair

    At this moment, the soul awareness of the Blood Father of the Spirit World was still fragmentary and iplete.

    Given his current situation, he could only act by instinct.

    He couldn¡¯t weigh the pros and cons or consider whether his decision would benefit or harm others.

    However, this was a truthful reflection of what he was.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    The streaks of blood-colored light flying out of him pierced through the Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, and Moonspirits, and drained their flesh power one after another.

    Even though he wasn¡¯t attacking the humans and the Ancientspirits, Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and the other human experts started looking at him in a different way.

    ¡°They¡¯re jackals from the sameir,¡± a female Moonspirit spat, holding a dead male Moonspirit in her arms. Hatred filled her icy eyes as he looked down at his shriveled body, which was bereft of any flesh aura.

    Her hatred was towards the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    At this moment, everyone from the Void World was feeling the same way as her.

    They had assumed that after this Blood Father of the Spirit World had regained his awareness and charged out of the chaos, he would focus all of his power and energy on helping them fight the Tree of Life.

    Upon his return, they had seen him as the greatest help they could get.

    Now, however...

    Zhao Shanling, who was in his Ancient Arch-devil form, was full of apprehension as he looked at the Blood Father of the Spirit World. ¡°Like the Tree of Life, he alsoes from the Sea of Life. He¡¯spletely different from what you may think of him. Back in the day, the things he had ordered the Ancientspirits to do in the Spirit World aren¡¯t much different from what the Tree of Life had done.¡±

    Everyone was bbergasted to hear this.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The blood-colored storm spread madly into the surroundings of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, sweeping everyone and everything it came across.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    As soon as the blood-colored storm made contact with the branches and leaves of the Tree of Life, heaven-destroying, earth-extinguishing energy fluctuations burst forth.

    As the Blood Father of the Spirit World opened and closed his eyes, blood-colored light shot out of his pupils like lightning bolts.

    The scarlet lightning bolts pierced through the realm barrier of the darknd and left for unknown areas.

    However, they returned shortly afterwards and slipped back into his pupils.

    Then, his hollow, zed eyes gradually brightened up.

    He was gathering fragments of his lost memories and awareness!

    However, at the same time, he didn¡¯t stop ughtering the Devils, Netherspirits, and Seaspirits that were close to him.

    The brutal, cruel aura his flesh aura sea gave off scared everyone even more than the Tree of Life did, which meant this Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was regaining his awareness, couldn¡¯t have been a peaceful soul before he had died.

    When he had been in his prime, the Ancientspirits he had created in the Spirit World must have been as extreme as him under hismand.

    A rogue Qi warrior from the Doomed Star Sea ran his gaze over the numerous shriveled outsider corpses that were scattered around the Blood Father of the Spirit World and let out a cold snort. ¡°I suppose it wasn¡¯t a bad thing that someone like him was attacked and killed by the Tree of Life. I can¡¯t tell which of these two Void Spirits that the Sea of Life sent out to create lives in the Spirit World is more... evil!¡±

    ¡°But the Sea of Life is the origin of our young master¡¯s bloodline as well,¡± another Qi warrior said.

    ¡°The young master...¡± The first one fell silent, an awkward expression appearing on his face.

    A beam of blood-colored light shot straight out of the chest of the Blood Father of the Spirit World into the dazzling seas of stars that were Ji Cang and Qin Yao.

    Within the two seas of stars, many giant branches and wood power-infused leaves of the Tree of Life were crushed and reduced to scattering cyan and green sparks by the beam of blood-colored light.

    The seas of stars rapidly morphed into Ji Cang and Qin Yao.

    Confusion filled their faces as they silently shifted their gazes between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the unbelievably powerful Tree of Life.

    HOWL!

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s roar suddenly echoed out.

    Everyone jerked their heads to see what was happening, only to find that the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was originally charging towards the Tree of Life, suddenly changed directions and pounced towards the Rampage Behemoth.

    In his flesh aura perception, the Rampage Behemoth was like a giant ball of immense flesh power. By devouring it, he would be much stronger than he was now.

    Its flesh power might help improve his odds of defeating the Tree of Life, his arch enemy, by as much as twenty percent.

    Therefore, heunched attacks without the slightest hesitation.

    The Rampage Behemoth had already suffered heavy blows from the Tree of Life. Upon seeing himing after it, it roared and fled.

    WHISTLE! WHISTLE!

    The Tree of Life gently swayed its branches and leaves without making any soul voice.

    However, the experts of various races that looked at it received the message it wanted to convey: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you thought he was a saint.¡±

    Apparently, it was referring to the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    ¡°This is their battle,¡± Zhao Shanling called out. ¡°Those who are not rted better get away from them, as far as you can.¡±

    Having witnessed everything that had happened, who would be foolish enough to stay?

    Even Dong Li instructed the ck tortoise to fly far away from the main body of the Tree of Life and the returned Blood Father of the Spirit World, enveloped in thick darkness.

    The escaped Rampage Behemoth hid itself quietly.

    Within moments, there wasn¡¯t a single being between or near the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life.

    Everyone was silent.

    RUUUUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

    Deafening rumbles kepting from the depths of the earth and the dark clouds in the sky, where crimson light shed with green light over ten thousand times in every second.

    Bright sparks poured down like heavy rain from the sky, but vanished before even touching the ground.

    Every once in a while, the branches of the Tree of Life would break and turn to ashes, as if by themselves.

    Before everyone could realize it, a fierce battle had already broken out between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life in heaven and earth.

    ...

    In the endless blood sea.

    Gazing at the colossal heart silently with narrowed eyes, Nie Tian finally spoke. ¡°If you chose him long ago, why did you pass those memories of the past on to me? Why did you help temper my heart with your power and set me on the path to be a paragon?¡±

    He could see that arge amount of the flesh power-infused blood in this endless blood sea had vanished.

    He knew that it must have been channeled away by the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    The third-generation Tree of Life hadn¡¯t been able to channel flesh power from the endless blood sea anymore the moment countless fine Bloodline Crystal Chains were regenerated and reforged to recreate the life bloodline of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    It was the reason why the Tree of Life had taken a different approach, and turned the entirety of the darknd into another endless blood sea.

    By doing that, it had intercepted the flesh power of the creatures that had died in the darknd before their flesh aura could flow to the Sea of Life.

    That was the moment when it had officially andpletely broken up with the origin of life.

    Apparently, the origin of life had chosen the Blood Father of the Spirit World to deal with it.

    What did that make him?

    With a cunning smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°It seems to me that you still find them the strongest and most trustworthy. After all, even though they¡¯ve developed their independent selves, you separated them from yourself. In a sense, they¡¯re still you.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re parts of you that are gued by evil thoughts.¡±

    ¡°If that¡¯s the case...¡± Nie Tian dragged his voice.

    BOOM!

    His Life-origin Form suddenly exploded and split into many Nie Tians.

    One of them shone with brilliant starlight, with a Heavenly Stars Flower pattern between his eyebrows.

    Another seemed to have a river of souls running through the depths of his eyes.

    A third was enveloped in raging mes.

    Immediately after the split, the three of them charged upwards and leaped out of the endless blood sea.

    Then, they simultaneously sensed calls from the River of Souls, the cluster of me, and the first star that had ever existed.

 Chapter 1762: My Choice!

    He split up by himself!

    The three Nie Tians that were made of flesh and blood and several thousand meters tall charged out of the Sea of Life directly.

    However, his true form remained in the depths of the endless blood sea.

    It was just that the division made his true form, which had transcended the limits of ten thousand meters, significantly smaller.

    Most surprising of all was that even his true soul left the endless blood sea in one of the doppelg?ngers.

    As soon as that happened, Nie Tian was struck by a peculiar feeling.

    His wood power sub-soul seemed to rece his true soul as the foundation of his true form.

    His wood power sub-soul also studied the profound truths of life. It was just that it belonged to the same subfield as the Tree of Life.

    Luckily, all of the core mysteries of his life bloodliney within the green aura in the depths of his heart.

    Even if his true soul left his true form, his life bloodline wouldn¡¯t be undermined.

    His decisiveness shocked the origin of life.

    However, the numerous Bloodline Crystal Chains that had stretched from the colossal heart were still connected to his true form, even though they had already stopped infusing him with flesh power.

    With doppelg?ngers separated from his true form, it would be even harder for him to transcend by relying on his true form.

    At this point, if the origin of life wanted to help him finish his transcendence, it would have to consume even more flesh power essence.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian felt fury from the origin of life.

    With a cold smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°Since you¡¯ve chosen the Blood Father of the Spirit World and have scruples about me bing a paragon... why can¡¯t I make my own choice?

    ¡°Aside from you, three other major origins in the chaos have held out olive branches to me. Why can¡¯t I separate parts of myself to see how things go with them?

    ¡°You don¡¯t think we¡¯re exclusive. Of course I wouldn¡¯t consider you as my only choice!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    After charging out of the endless blood sea, his three doppelg?ngers floated in the chaos.

    Unlike before, when he had entered the chaos in the form of a soul shadow, he presented himself in flesh and blood this time.

    The River of Souls was the first to hold out an olive branch to him!

    In the chaos, the River of Souls manifested in the same form as a Nether River. However, as opposed to the other, illusory Nether Rivers, this one actually existed.

    The doppelg?nger that had fused with his true soul looked up at the River of Souls in aposed manner. A smile appeared on his face as he asked, ¡°So this is my true soul in one of my doppelg?ngers... Do you think you can help me be a paragon?¡±

    The River of Souls responded without any hesitation.

    It didn¡¯t respond with words or soul will, but rather a kind of fluctuation.

    However, Nie Tian instantly received the message it was trying to convey: ¡°I can!¡±

    ¡°Great.¡± This doppelg?nger of his nodded and flew towards the River of Souls, which had also started floating towards him.

    Immediately afterwards, he heard an extremely begrudging and furious shriek. ¡°Nie Tian! How dare you steal my fortune and chance to be a paragon!¡±

    The shrill voice was faint and breaking off, yet he could tell that it was Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    He gave a cold harrumph and ignored it.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that while the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life were in the middle of a fierce battle, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had already snuck into the area in the darknd that connected to the Dark Abyss and establishedmunication with the River of Souls.

    At this moment, his figure had be illusory and blurry, and he was only a step away from crossing into the River of Souls, yet he was ruthlessly abandoned.

    By relying on his connection to the River of Souls, he sensed that the River of Souls had given up on him as soon as that doppelg?nger of Nie Tian had charged out of the endless blood sea. There hadn¡¯t been the slightest hesitation.

    He had been on the verge of bing the second paragon after Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit in the history of the Phantasms and Netherspirits. However, all his efforts were destroyed by Nie Tian at thest minute.

    He was so enraged that his soul nearly exploded.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    His wrathful, begrudging howl caught the ears of all the experts that were gathered in the middle of the darknd and paying close attention to the battle between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life.

    Only then did they find that Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had snuck into the area without them noticing, and that his illusory form was gradually growing solid.

    Looking down at him, Wu Ji, who hid himself in the glorious River of Time like a faint shadow, said softly, ¡°The origins have the right to make their choices.¡±

    However, he doubted that Grand Monarch Nether Spirit could hear him.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Another furious, fierce howl echoed out from high above.

    Everyone looked up into the sky, and saw the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce tremble in fury. ¡°It¡¯s Ji Cang!¡±

    As he was ovee with anger, fragmentary stars that were the size of fists fell out of his sleeves onto the incredibly vast Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who were in the middle of a fierce battle.

    Bombarded by the fragmentary stars, even the two transcendent beings who had mastered the profound truths of life suffered a great deal, with gashes ripping through their fleshly and vegetative forms, and countless sparks of starlight and flesh aura sputtering off their bodies.

    With his brightening eyes, the Blood Father of the Spirit World cast Ji Cang a nasty nce, as if to warn him: ¡°I¡¯ll kill you first if you dare to mess with me!¡±

    However, Ji Cang didn¡¯t see the nasty look the Blood Father of the Spirit World was giving him at all. He only red at the lord of the Doomed Star Sea, who was enveloped in brilliant starlight, and spat, ¡°Damn you, Qin Yao!

    ¡°Liar! You¡¯re all liars! Your hybrid son went to the First Star! He already entered the Sea of Life, yet he still reached his greedy hands into my territory! How dare he!¡±

    Perhaps he would have felt better if Nie Tian had chosen the origin of stars immediately after entering the chaos.

    Now, he had already answered the calls of the origin of life, and sunk into the depths of the endless blood sea. The origin of life had even infused him with power and set him on the path to bing a paragon. Why was he still unsatisfied?

    Furthermore, he had separated doppelg?ngers from himself to issue requests to three other origins simultaneously.

    Was he nning on having the origins of fire, stars, and souls help him transcend while his true form continued to receive legacies from the origin of life?

    How impudent!

    No one had ever been so greedy in the history of the origins in the chaos selecting paragons!

    What Ji Cang found the most uneptable was that the River of Souls, the First Star, and that cluster of fire actually epted him simultaneously!

    How could sub-souls and doppelg?ngers be paragons?

    Ji Cang was even more wrathful than Grand Monarch Nether Spirit. He even stopped caring about the result of the battle between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life.

    Instead, he just glowered at Qin Yao, as if he were going to make him pay for what his son had done.

    Qin Yao went nk for a brief moment before suddenly realizing what had happened. Then, with a faint smile, he said, ¡°The First Star? Aren¡¯t you a part of it? You must have agreed for it to call to him. Otherwise, how could he go to it now?¡±

    After saying these words, Qin Yao roared inwardly, ¡°Well done, my son! I can¡¯t believe all of the four great origins have their eyes on you!¡±

    Ji Cang was taken aback. ¡°Me?¡±

    Qin Yao grinned like a cunning fox. ¡°You¡¯re a wisp of awareness from the First Star. That means you¡¯re a part of it. Don¡¯t tell me that you don¡¯t know that.¡±

    Ji Cang shook his head repeatedly. ¡°Ie from it, but I¡¯m not it! No! I won¡¯t allow this!¡±

    Qin Yao¡¯s expression turned cold. ¡°The First Star has already chosen him. Can you still get in?¡±

    ¡°I can if I separate my soul from my body and be a Void Spirit again.¡± With these words, Ji Cang looked down at his human body, a hint of reluctance appearing on his face. ¡°By climbing to the peak of the God domain in this fragile human form, I¡¯ve already reached my limits. But if I abandon it...¡±

    He grew hesitant.

 Chapter 1763: Who Is Right? Who Is Wrong?

    Nie Tian¡¯s three doppelgangers rushed into the three different origins in the chaos.

    As soon as one of his doppelgangers went into the depths of the River of Souls, his true soul was the first to react.

    BOOM!

    Soul strands that were invisible to the naked eye quickly permeated his true soul.

    All of a sudden,plicated thoughts, which recorded the knowledge and mysteries of souls, were forcefully stuffed into his soul.

    As the origin of life needed to change hearts, the River of Souls needed to change souls!

    It wanted Nie Tian to advance to a paragon using his soul as a base!

    It appeared that if he wanted to be a paragon with the River of Souls¡¯ help, he wouldn¡¯t have to rely on the strength of his fleshly body!

    This waspletely different from the origin of life.

    Of the many outsider races in the three worlds, the Netherspirits and the Phantasms weren¡¯t known for their strong bodies.

    They attached great importance to the refinement and cultivation of their souls, which was what made them strong!

    ...

    In another area, Nie Tian¡¯s star doppelganger sank into the origin of stars, which was the First Star that Ji Cang and Qin Yao had talked about.

    The interior of the origin of stars was filled with countless rays of bright starlight that had been condensed into substantial fragmentary stars, like a sea of glittering stars.

    The fragmentary stars that scattered everywhere seemed to... correspond to the stars in the three worlds.

    He naturally disyed his star domain, and the Heavenly Stars Flower showed itself.

    Then, the Heavenly Stars Flower began to lead him, allowing his star domain tomunicate with the starry sea inside the First Star and feel the vastness of the starry river and the changes of the realms.

    Soon, he eximed, ¡°Ah!¡±

    He keenly sensed that the many fragmentary stars and specks of starlight within the First Star were exploding and disappearing.

    As soon as he sensed this, the First Star imprinted many profound meanings in his soul.

    The vanishing fragmentary stars and specks of starlight he sensed were in fact the realms that had been destroyed and broken by the wars and battles between experts in the three worlds!

    Nie Tian couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Geez!¡±

    He didn¡¯t expect the inconspicuous origin of stars, the seemingly insignificant First Star, to hide such wonders. Whenever a star core condensed in the three worlds, a corresponding fragmentary star would appear in the First Star.

    If a realm was destroyed and its star core exploded, a fragmentary star would disappear in the First Star.

    ¡°All the starse from it and correspond to it!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly realized how mysterious and powerful the Dao that Ji Cang and the sectmasters of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had pursued really was.

    Nie Tian was instantly absorbed inprehending these mysteries.

    At the very beginning, bits of light that had sputtered out of the explosion of the chaos had gathered dust and slowly be realms.

    Once the realms bred a star core, a cluster of starlight, a fragmentary star, would appear in the origin of stars, carrying its faint awareness.

    Originally, it had been very eye-catching and powerful in the chaos.

    However, as all the origins and the Sea of Life hadter joined forces and dispatched Void Spirits to breed many races of life in the three worlds, as the Star Behemoths had been born and run amuck, and as the other races had fought the Star Behemoths, realms that had taken billions of years to form had been destroyed, their star cores exploded.

    Countless lively stars had gradually been reduced to dead ones.

    Wars had even reduced the Dead Star Sea between the Mortal World and the Spirit World to a tomb of stars.

    When the stars had been destroyed and the star cores had died, they had diminished the power of the origin of stars.

    It had once traded with the Sea of Life and dispatched Void Spirits to create the Starspirits.

    What the Starspirits had done was to coordinate the races, do everything they could to avoid the battles between races of life, and stop the grand monarchs or God domain experts from engaging in duels that could result in the destruction of realms.

    The Starspirits had hoped that these battles or duels would only take ce in vast empty areas in the starry river, so they wouldn¡¯t damage the realms.

    Another task of theirs had been to kill the Star Behemoths and make them go extinct.

    The Starspirits had yearned for peace among all the races. They had wanted more realms to be born, and fewer realms to die.

    They used to be the strangest race in the three worlds.

    Unfortunately, the Starspirits it had created had been powerless to stop bloody battles from breaking out among the races.

    Instead, they had been the first to be wiped out.

    The Starspirits had been created in the Mortal World. Like the Icespirits, Thunderspirits and Goldspirits, they had been eliminated by the Tree of Life.

    Therefore, after Blood Father of the Spirit World and the origins had worked together to create the human race, the origin of stars had also integrated the mysteries of the stars into the cultivation system of the human race.

    The Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce only existed because of that.

    Ji Cang was a Void Spirit, a piece of its awareness, that it hadter split from itself...

    It had released it hoping that it would restore peace to the three worlds as it had wished the Starspirits would do, and that all the living beings in the three worlds would cease their endless wars and battles.

    However, after flying out of the chaos, the Void Spirit had gradually be more and more self-aware.

    After making itself Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, it had thought that the so-called path of peace among all the races was simply impractical.

    As Ji Cang, he had deemed that it would benefit the origin of stars the most if all the living beings in the three worlds suffered a bloody war, and the grand patriarchs, grand monarchs, Saint domain and God domain experts of all the races died, because they were the main forces and the culprits that had been destroying the realms!

    He also knew that the darknd was an unusual ce that could bear the deaths of many grand patriarchs and grand monarchs.

    He had considered the darknd as a ughterhouse where experts of all races should be ughtered.

    He and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils had reached an agreement and stirred up trouble between the human race, the outsider races of the Spirit World, and the Tree of Life. Their goal was to make all these powerful experts die in the darknd.

    He had done what he thought was right for the First Star and himself.

    His action wasn¡¯t the origin of stars¡¯ original intention, but was for the sake of the origin of stars.

    Knowing the truth and the intention of Ji Cang¡¯s behavior, Nie Tian¡¯s star power sub-soul was at a loss. ¡°Who is right? Who is wrong?¡±

    ...

    In another area, his me doppelganger flew into a zing hot sea of fire.

    The moment his me domain was disyed, the me spell formation that had been copied from the me Land began working automatically.

    Suddenly, he sensed another aura in the origin of fire.

    To his surprise, he saw a cluster of orange me flying towards him from somewhere in the sea of fire.

    It was the Divine me!

    He had seen nothing else in the River of Souls. Ji Cang, who had flown away from the origin of stars, had yet to return.

    However, besides Nie Tian, the Divine me was also in the origin of fire!

    The Divine me had once condensed a small fleshly body for itself with his Blood Essence and created Nie Yan, the ancestor of the Ifrits, with the me spark and his Blood Essence.

    Because of this, he had a tremendously deep connection with the Divine me. Now, he had rushed in when it was already in the origin of fire...

    In the burning origin of fire, his me doppelganger was slightly embarrassed. ¡°It... it was just that I had a grudge against the endless blood sea below, so I rushed up in a rage. I have no intention ofpeting with you for the origin of fire. It belongs to you to begin with, and it is the ce you¡¯ve been trying to enter.¡±

    He gave up spontaneously.

    A wisp of soul will came from the depths of the orange me that was the Divine me, ¡°I am it. I am the origin. Though I have been separated from it, I have never changed. Our awareness is consistent and unified. With your help, I¡¯ve made the Ifrits appear in the Domain of me¡¯s End, and havepleted the mission it has given to me.

    ¡°Now, I¡¯ve returned to my roots, and I may soon be a part of it again.¡±

 Chapter 1764: From The Ancient Times To The Current Era

    In the darknd.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life, who were old enemies, were having a fierce conflict both in the sky and in the depths of the earth with their boundless flesh auras.

    The sky was filled with bright energies that fell like rain.

    Wu Ji, who had mastered the mysteries of time, withdrew all his time power and observed the distant battle between the two experts in a quiet, indifferent manner.

    Dong Li, the ck tortoise, the Rampage Behemoth, Yin Xingtian, Mo Heng and the others quietly gathered around him.

    Most of the humans and those people who were close to Nie Tian chose to do what Wu Ji did.

    In another area, Zhao Shanling had also canceled his Ancient Arch-devil form.

    Gathered around him, the experts of all the races in the Void World were all waiting in solemn silence as well.

    Even the Netherspirits had chosen to believe him and obey his orders after learning of his identity as ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil.¡±

    As for Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, who was also known as Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, he had been cast aside by the Netherspirits.

    That was because he had killed his nsmen before trying to rush into the chaos and be a paragon with the River of Souls¡¯ help.

    In the distance, under the grey sky, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s roar was still loud and harsh. ¡°Nie Tian! Damn you!¡±

    Everyone could see a ball of deep cyan blue light, which contained many ferocious souls and evil spirits, flying around, roaring and taking the opportunity to engulf the fragmentary souls of the experts of different races that the Blood Father of the Spirit World had wiped out.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit was still doing his best to gather soul power.

    However, in everyone¡¯s eyes, as a person who had lost the favor of the River of Souls and had been expelled from the chaos halfway, he would never have a hope to take that step forward.

    His way to be a paragon had most likely ended.

    Nie Jin flew over, stopped in front of Wu Ji, bowed slightly and said in a very sincere voice, ¡°Senior... Thanks for taking care of Little Tian for us for so many years. If you hadn¡¯t introduced him to the Cloudsoaring Sect, he wouldn¡¯t be what he is today.¡±

    Many Qi warriors of the crooked forces and outsider experts who were from the Spirit World and the Mortal World followed Nie Jin.

    ¡°It was fate that I met him in the Cloudsoaring Sect,¡± Wu Ji said with a calm expression as time seemed to flow in the depths of his eyes. ¡°I even think it¡¯s because of him that I was in the Realm of me Heaven in the Domain of the Falling Stars.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, thank you very much,¡± Nie Jin said softly.

    Had it not been for Wu Ji, who had asked for Nie Tian to be admitted into the Cloudsoaring Sect and methodically embarked on his cultivation career, she and Qin Yao would not have been able to focus on the reforms in the Doomed Star Sea.

    During that time, the Doomed Star Sea had had various inner conflicts, and had always been in conflict with the three outsider races of the Void World.

    The nsmen of the three outsider races had even directly invaded the Doomed Star Sea at that time.

    Before his bloodline had awakened, Nie Tian¡¯s cultivation base had been so weak that he hadn¡¯t been strong enough to establish himself in the Doomed Star Sea.

    They had also felt that Nie Tian would be safer in the Mortal World than in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Later on, when Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline had awakened and he had advanced rapidly in cultivation, they had found to their surprise that he had developed very deep connections with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, the Five Elements Sect, and the Void Spirit Society.

    Nie Tian had not only been able to take care of himself, but he had even grown stronger by leaps and bounds.

    This had made them think that if they had reunited with Nie Tian at that time, they would have had a negative effect on his fame, as they were leaders of the crooked forces in the Doomed Star Sea.

    Therefore, they had repressed their desire to see him until now, after Nie Tian had be a God domain expert.

    Nie Jin sincerely consulted him. ¡°Senior, what should we... do next? You¡¯re so strong that you can see into the ancient times as well as the current era. I hope you can guide us.¡±

    Not only her, but the human survivors like Yin Xingtian and Mo Heng also fixed their eyes on him.

    Wu Ji, who had imprisoned the Tree of Life with the power of time and space through joining hands with Zhao Shanling, was obviously a mainstay in everyone¡¯s eyes.

    From the images manifested in the River of Time, they had also learned about the feud between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life, and the secret of the human race¡¯s birth.

    Besides, Wu Ji¡¯s mysterious aura made everyone present feel that he had remarkable battle prowess.

    A variety of factors made Dong Li, Nie Jin, and the other human survivors stand by him and attach importance to his opinion.

    ¡°Nie Tian is trying to be a paragon in the chaos,¡± Wu Ji spoke. ¡°Plus, his true form and three doppelgangers are all trying to transcend at the same time. This is unprecedented in the history of the chaos. I¡¯m not sure if he¡¯ll seed. It¡¯s unpredictable.

    ¡°So there¡¯s nothing we can do but wait.

    ¡°Besides...¡± he hesitated, and then said, ¡°we can just stand by as the Blood Father of the Spirit World fights the third generation of the Tree of Life. The winner will most likely be our enemy, no matter who it is.¡±

    Dong Li was taken aback. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Will the Blood Father of the Spirit World be our enemy if he wins?¡± Yin Xingtian asked in surprise. ¡°Isn¡¯t he the creator of humanity? When he charged at the Tree of Life, he only killed the outsiders of the Void World he came across along the way. We and the Ancientspirits of the Spirit World weren¡¯t his targets.¡±

    The survivors of the four great ancient sects also looked quizzically at Wu Ji with slight frowns of doubt.

    Most doubtful of all was Fan Tianze of the Heaven Span Pavilion.

    ¡°He is our creator. ording to Ji Cang, our lives are tied to him!¡± he said with a grim look in his eyes. ¡°If he died, what good would it do us? If he died, wouldn¡¯t it hurt us? Besides...¡±

    After a short pause, added in a raised voice, ¡°You¡¯re an expert in time power, and Zhao Shanling is proficient in spatial power. Zhao Shanling is Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils of the Void World. He can be reincarnated with his soul from generation to generation. If he can do that, it¡¯s possible that you¡¯re not a human either!¡±

    Hearing this, many people of the four great ancient sects were puzzled.

    They all suspected that Wu Ji was also an outsider of the Void World, and that he had taken on human form through a reincarnation spell, and had evil intentions towards them.

    ¡°Ji Cang, er, no,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°The Void Spirit that has taken Ji Cang¡¯s form has nned this for years. What he wants is for all the experts of the three worlds to die. We can¡¯t trust what he sayspletely. The human race doesn¡¯t rely on bloodlines. Even though the Blood Father of the Spirit World created the human race, he can¡¯t control or influence our rise and decline, or our death.

    ¡°He only hasn¡¯t targeted you because you have no flesh aura, so you aren¡¯t helpful in his fight.¡±

    SPLASH!

    As he spoke, he casually waved his hand.

    Inspired by his time power, countless grains of quicksand rapidly gathered into a picture in the River of Time.

    In that picture, everyone could see ¡°Ji Cang¡± secretlymunicating and meticulously nning with Grand Monarch Heaven Devil after crossing the Doomed Star Sea.

    They could also see ¡°Ji Cang¡± go into the darknd in advance, sneak up on, and kill Qu Yi.

    They also saw the joy on Ji Cang¡¯s face as he looked up from time to time in the darknd when the experts of various races of the three worlds were reduced to blood rain in the gorgeous passage of the Realm of Shadow Devil.

    ¡°These are things that have actually happened,¡± Wu Ji said. ¡°As a matter of fact, what that Ji Cang wants agrees with what the Tree of Life wants now.

    ¡°They both want every God domain expert and every grand monarch of every race to die.¡±

 Chapter 1765: The Epoch-making Human Race!

    Wu Ji spoke eloquently.

    What he said corresponded with the manifestations in the River of Time, so it was highly credible.

    Listening to his words and watching the scenes emerging in the River of Time, many of the people who were gathered here gradually came to believe him.

    Fan Tianze, however, remained doubtful.

    ¡°If it¡¯s because our flesh power can¡¯t help him that the Blood Father of the Spirit World didn¡¯t attack us, what about the Ancientspirits?¡± he asked. ¡°Why didn¡¯t he attack the Ancientspirits?¡±

    ¡°The Ancientspirits are what he really cares about, not us,¡± Wu Ji said.

    Many were taken aback.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t the Ancientspirits and our human race all made by him?¡±

    Without sorting out their thoughts and figuring out the truth, they didn¡¯t know which side they should take.

    Wu Ji fell silent for a moment.

    Then, he gave Zhao Shanling, who was standing in the form of a human among the many outsiders of the Void World, a meaningful nce from afar.

    Zhao Shanling hesitated before he said, ¡°Come with me.¡±

    He flew into the distance at a fast speed, as if he wanted to put a significant distance between him and Wu Ji.

    Due to their previous battles with the human race, the Ancientspirits of the Spirit World were now scattered everywhere in the darknd instead of this ce.

    Gathered around Wu Ji were only humans and the crooked forces, outsiders and hybrids from the Doomed Star Sea.

    Wu Ji nced at Nie Jin and said, ¡°Humans, stay. The others, please leave for now. There¡¯s something that only the humans can know...¡±

    Nie Jin was stunned, and immediately realized that what Wu Ji was going to say could be earth-shaking, and overturn their previous thinking.

    She was a little nervous, and hurried to say, ¡°Those who follow us are trustworthy, I...¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head.

    The rebels who had been expelled from the Spirit World and the hybrids who had been born in the Doomed Star Sea were sensible enough to leave on their own.

    ¡°Mistress, we¡¯ll give you some time alone.¡±

    ¡°We won¡¯t put you in an awkward situation, mistress.¡±

    Soon, there were only pure humans around Wu Ji.

    No matter whether it was the experts of the four great ancient sects, the minor sects of the Mortal World, or the crooked cultivators from the Doomed Star Sea, they were all humans.

    ¡°Humans are the creatures that the Blood Father of the Spirit World was forced to create when he wasn¡¯t able to make bloodline creatures, after he was deprived of his life imprints,¡± Wu Ji finally spoke. ¡°Deep down, he considers humanity a failed creation! Before the human race, all the races in the three worlds cultivated and grew stronger by relying on their bloodlines, whether they were outsiders, Ancientspirits, or spirit beasts.¡±

    Everyone looked confused.

    Wu Ji then exined in detail, ¡°There¡¯s something you should know. No matter whether it¡¯s the three outsider races of the Void World, the Ancientspirits of the Spirit World, or the Icespirits, the Thunderspirits, and the Starspirits that previously existed in the Mortal World, or even the Star Behemoths, they all have bloodlines.

    ¡°Do you know what it means to have a bloodline?

    ¡°It means that these races of life all carry the imprints of the Sea of Life! They all exist because the origins had their Void Spirits create them by merging different imprints with the essence of life from the Sea of Life.

    ¡°Therefore, whether it¡¯s the Ancientspirits in the Spirit World, the outsider races in the Void World, or those extinct outsider races in the Mortal World, they all have traces of the origin of life in them.

    ¡°Their ups and downs are of course rted to their respective origins, but they¡¯re also rted to the origin of life.

    ¡°As long as a race of life carries a bloodline, no matter who created it, the origin of life will benefit from it. Therefore, the strengthening of the Star Behemoths, the rise of the three outsider races in the Void World, the prosperity of the Ancientspirits in the Spirit World, and the birth of various races in the Mortal World all silently nurtured the origin of life in return.

    ¡°All the origins in the chaos are well-aware of this, but weren¡¯t able to change it... until the human race was born!

    ¡°The human race is a failed product that the Blood Father of the Spirit World created in frustration. At first, this failed product wasn¡¯t recognized or valued by him. After all, there had never been a race that didn¡¯t rely on bloodlines to strengthen itself. Also, when the humans first appeared, they were indeed incredibly weak, and couldn¡¯t possibly make any waves.

    ¡°At first, because the Icespirits, the Thunderspirits, the Goldspirits, and the Firespirits were destroyed by the Tree of Life, and their corresponding Void Spirits exploded, various origins suffered sound defeats in the Mortal World, and were unable to trade with the origin of life to create new races, so they ced their hopes on the human race.

    ¡°As a result, they actually found a way. They were surprised to find that this so-called failed creation could strengthen themselves and improve their cultivation bases by refining the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth without relying on flesh auras or bloodlines, andprehend their mysteries through different means.

    ¡°For those origins, the fact that the human race could cultivate with spiritual Qi without relying on flesh auras was of epoch-making significance!

    ¡°This allowed them to discover that through the rise of the human race, they could finally stop relying on the origin of life and escape its clutches!

    ¡°In the beginning, they traded with the origin of life to create various races in the Void World and Mortal World and give birth to the Star Behemoths.

    ¡°They didn¡¯t know that all races¡¯ bloodlines depended on their Blood Essence, which was condensed by the origin of life, and that this would result in thetter bing the most powerful origin in the chaos.

    ¡°And this origin also arranged for the Blood Father of the Spirit World to create the Ancientspirits in the Spirit World with the power and mysteries the other origins had given to it through trade.

    ¡°The bloodlines of the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons varied, but they all came from them.¡±

    ¡°The prosperity of the Ancientspirits would strengthen the origin of life to the greatest extent, but the other races would also indirectly strengthen it.

    ¡°Under such circumstances, all the origins in the chaos were destined to be suppressed by the origin of life and would have been suppressed forever.

    ¡°But humanity was the real hope they saw!

    ¡°You don¡¯t have significant flesh auras, don¡¯t rely on bloodlines, but can make rapid advances in cultivation, and are perfectlypatible with the power of different origins! The human race isn¡¯t under the control of the origin of life at all. No matter how strong you get, you won¡¯t nurture the origin of life in return. When humans with various attributes break through and strengthen themselves step by step, it¡¯s the corresponding origins that will be nurtured!

    ¡°The human race had only the cultivation attributes of mes, ice and, lightning at the beginning, because only these origins approved of the human race at first.

    ¡°Later on, humans were able to practice star power,prehend spatial power, and understand the mysteries of souls, which means that the origins of stars, space, and souls also offered olive branches to them.

    ¡°Today, almost all the origins in the chaos have secretly imparted profound knowledge to the human race.

    ¡°Now do you understand what the human race means to them?¡±

    Speaking up to this point, Wu Ji paused.

    All the listeners were struck dumb, and silently digested the meaning of his words.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils, who is also Zhao Shanling now, has reincarnated as a human for several generations to study and practice the human race¡¯s systems with spiritual seas just to be freed from the fetters of his bloodline,¡± Wu Ji continued. ¡°Even if he can¡¯t get rid of itpletely, he hopes that by doing this, he¡¯ll at least have other options.

    ¡°I think he has long since understood this and received guidance from the darkness corresponding to the Devils.

    ¡°In the chaos, all the origins have been silently watching the human race and considering it with hope. In addition to the races that directly correspond to them, they all secretly ce great hope in the human race as well.

    ¡°No matter how the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life fight each other, both of them are from the blood sea. The rise of the human race and the deaths of other races will do them and the blood sea no good!

    ¡°As soon as their duel ends, the human race will be the first one that they will want to exterminate.¡±

 Chapter 1766: Threat

    After flying into the three origins, Nie Tian¡¯s three doppelgangers quickly acquired the information Wu Ji had told the humans.

    The three origins of mes, stars, and souls fed him all that they knew.

    When he had received flesh power and legacies from the origin of life earlier, he hadn¡¯t received anything about the rtionship between the human race and the other races, or thepetition between the various other origins and the origin of life.

    This showed that the origin of life in the endless blood sea had deliberately avoided them.

    It believed that Nie Tian would never break away from the endless blood sea, and would only rely on it to be a paragon.

    After all, it was the strongest of all the origins in the chaos. Also, Nie Tian carried a life bloodline. Wasn¡¯t it reasonable that he would rely on it to break through and advance to a paragon?

    Nie Tian¡¯s true form stared at the colossal heart and felt its vibration in the depths of the blood sea. Squinting, the look in his eyes as sharp as swords, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect there to be such a reason. Is it because I¡¯m a human... that you hesitated and chose the Blood Father of the Spirit World to stop the Tree of Life instead of helping me be a paragon immediately?

    ¡°To you, the human race is your biggest concern to begin with, right?

    ¡°If I were a titan, an Ancientbeast, a dragon, or a Floragrim that bears your life bloodline, instead of a hybrid, you wouldn¡¯t have been so hesitant.

    ¡°You¡¯re only treating me as a backup n.

    ¡°If the Blood Father of the Spirit World wins, you won¡¯t need me anymore, and you¡¯ll forcefully stop me from bing a paragon, right?

    In the chaos, his sub-souls received information and knowledge from the three origins, which enabled Nie Tian to learn of the strife among the origins as Dong Li, Yin Xingtian, and the others had.

    He also learned that to the Blood Father of the Spirit World, the Tree of Life, and the origin of life, the human race... was the outsider, and the biggest hidden trouble!

    ZZZZZLA!

    The numerous rays of crimson blood light that linked to Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form instantly withdrew and flew back to the colossal heart.

    Not a drop of blood floated around him anymore. Even as the heart beat, blood light no longer spurted from it, and no more Blood Essence was condensed.

    Because of what Nie Tian had said, the origin of life had broken its connection with his Life-origin Form.

    By doing this, it seemed to be telling Nie Tian that it was discontented.

    Nie Tian¡¯s lips twitched as he gave a cold smile. ¡°You are discontent with me? Do you think I have no choice other than you? Hehehe, great, that actually works for the best!¡±

    SWISH!

    His true form immediately flew upwards, trying to leave the origin of life like his three doppelgangers.

    After learning about the truth and the origin of life¡¯s thoughts, he was disheartened, and made up his mind.

    He decided to give up on advancing to a paragon through the Sea of Life.

    He was also aware that because of his identity as a human hybrid, it was extremely difficult for him to be trusted by the origin of life truly and unconditionally.

    He might as well make other arrangements.

    However, just as he was about to leave the Sea of Life, the colossal heart started pounding violently in the depths of the blood sea.

    THUD! THUD! THUD!

    The heart started beating at a strange rate that directly affected Nie Tian!

    BOOM!

    He suddenly felt excruciating pain in his heart, and found that the countless tiny Bloodline Crystal Chains in the green aura in his heart seemed to have instantly morphed into chains that wrapped around him.

    He examined himself with his soul, and then saw countless Bloodline Crystal Chains fly out of the green aura, shining brilliantly and bursting forth with restrictive power.

    They rapidly wrapped around his naked body and tightened like ferocious, writhing dragons.

    His momentum to leave the endless blood sea instantly stopped, and he couldn¡¯t move an inch further!

    Then, his body started sinking back toward the colossal heart in the depths of the blood sea little by little...

    The origin of life didn¡¯t make any sounds or send out any soul awareness. With the change of its heartbeat alone, it let Nie Tian know everything that it wanted to say ¡ª his body, which contained a life bloodline, couldn¡¯t break away from it!

    ¡°You won¡¯t let me go?¡±

    Lowering his head, Nie Tian watched his Life-origin Form be slowly dragged back to the colossal heart by his own bloodline. ¡°Because of my human background, you didn¡¯t see me as your first choice and weren¡¯t willing to help me be a paragon quickly. But when I tried to leave, you stopped me through my bloodline...

    ¡°Do you want to strip me of my life bloodline? I know you can do that. If I am stripped of my bloodline and my flesh aura, I¡¯ll be a pure human and have nothing to do with you anymore.

    ¡°Are you sure that¡¯s what you want to do?¡±

    The origin of life didn¡¯t respond.

    It only stopped Nie Tian from leaving, letting Nie Tian know that it didn¡¯t agree with his leaving, that he would have to stay in the blood sea and wait for the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life to finish their duel.

    It didn¡¯t seem to care whether the other three origins could make his three doppelgangers paragons.

    Perhaps it thought that the three origins of souls, stars, and fire didn¡¯t have what it took to make Nie Tian a paragon. Perhaps it thought that even if they were fortunate enough to seed, he wouldn¡¯t be as strong as it could have made him.

    Nie Tian looked down at his violently beating heart andughed. ¡°I never expected that my bloodline, which has made me stand out and surpass my peers, and has helped me escape death several times, would be the power that eventually imprisons me.¡±

    Hisugh grew more and more weird. ¡°I don¡¯t like this!¡±

    The colossal heart emanated a bloody light, which somehow gave it a cold look.

    It seemed to be saying: Even if you don¡¯t like it, what can you do about it?

    This was its world, where it was the ruler!

    It was also the strongest origin in the chaos!

    No origin could shake its supremacy in the chaos or the three worlds!

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Pulled by its power, drops of blood beads, which were like crimson diamonds, suddenly flew over from the edge of the endless blood sea.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s image emerged in one of them.

    She was looking around in confusion inside a crystal. Suddenly, a bitter look appeared on her face before she stared at her acupoints, feeling that the acupoints that Nie Tian had once helped expand with his Blood Essence were about to explode and vanish.

    If her acupoints exploded, she would lose her fleshy body and return to being a disembodied Void Spirit.

    Nie Tian¡¯sughter instantly stopped. His face changed, and he looked coldly at the heart. ¡°Are you using her to threaten me? Are you showing me this scene to tell me that the power she used to expand her acupoints came from my bloodline, that is, from you? Do you want to tell me you¡¯re able to destroy her body with life power in the chaos?

    ¡°And she will die if I refuse to obey you?¡±

    The Sea of Life responded with vibrations: Yes.

 Chapter 1767: If I Canâ€™t Choose Life, I Will Choose Death!

    Nie Tian was furious!

    He had never imagined that the bloodline that had apanied him all his life and had helped him achieve greatness would be his prison!

    He didn¡¯t expect that the origin of life that he was eager to step into and he had thought highly of would threaten him with Pei Qiqi¡¯s life!

    The feeling of being abandoned and betrayed was terrible.

    It seemed to him that the colossal red beating heart had be the coldest and most pitiless abomination in the world at this moment.

    However, this abomination had affected all living beings in the three worlds for hundreds of millions of years, and no living creature with a bloodline could escape its clutches.

    ¡°No wonder the Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World that havee out of you ended up like that,¡± Nie Tian murmured. ¡°You must have been too greedy, wanting to dominate everything. You want all the origins in the chaos and all the beings of the three worlds to act ording to your will!¡±

    The Sea of Life responded.

    The images of his three doppelgangers simultaneously emerged in three drops of Blood Essence that looked like crimson diamonds.

    The three doppelgangers, which had been separated from his Life-origin Form and condensed from rich flesh auras, were still being controlled by the Sea of Life.

    They gave a simr cry of pain in the different origins. All of them felt great pain that came from their fleshly bodies!

    It was as if sharp knives were cutting their meridians and viscera in their fleshly bodies, which made them suffer agonizing pain.

    In a sh, the sharp pain was gone.

    Then, his three doppelgangers all had a new feeling ¡ª their bodies started shrinking!

    The shrinkage of their body meant that the flesh auras that had formed his doppelgangers were rapidly disappearing, making his three doppelgangers weak and... human.

    The disappearing flesh auras inexplicably wreathed his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    It seemed that his me power core, star power core, and pure spiritual power core were being wrapped and sealed, along with his sea of soul awareness. Neither his spiritual power nor soul awareness worked smoothly anymore.

    This would make his three doppelgangers¡¯ path to bing paragons much more difficult.

    ¡°Are you doing this to teach me and the three origins a lesson?¡± Nie Tian asked in the depths of the blood sea, his face looking very gloomy. ¡°Are you trying to tell me that you can destroy my transcendence in the chaos, and that even though my three doppelgangers are separated from my true form, you can still limit them?¡±

    The Sea of Life didn¡¯t respond, but Nie Tian knew that that was exactly what it was trying to tell him.

    Since Pei Qiqi and his three doppelgangers all carried his flesh aura, they would be affected by it as long as they were in the chaos.

    In this chaos, it was the strongest, and it... could do whatever it wanted.

    THUD! THUD!

    Two drops of Blood Essence emerged, respectively mirroring the Divine me and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, who had vanished for a long time.

    The Divine me¡¯s small blurred fleshly body emerged in one of the drops of Blood Essence.

    In another drop of crimson blood, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil kept changing and growling, as if he were in an extremely unstable state.

    That drop of Blood Essence was filled with darkness. However, in the depths of the darkness, there were various kinds of extremely weird terrifying auras that exuded destruction, violence, and bloodlust.

    Those auras were interacting with Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, as if they were feeding him knowledge and trying to help him be another paragon after the Dark King.

    Looking at the auras the darkness had spawned, Nie Tian immediately realized that the darkness was the core of the Devils.

    The darkness was the root of all Devil power, but it had endless changes. Since it could make the Dark King, it could use the same method to make other paragons with dark power as their foundation.

    Now, however, the origin of darkness met an ident while a new paragon was being made.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil of the Devils, who had been chosen by the darkness, had a fleshly body that also carried imprints from the Sea of Life!

    As soon as the Sea of Life intervened, countless dangers appeared out of thin air in Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s path.

    It was as if the Dark King and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had only seeded because they had gotten its permission and acquiescence.

    It could deny any outsider expert who carried a bloodline their chance at bing a paragon!

    It was just that it hadn¡¯t done that before, but had acquiesced in their bing paragons.

    However, it felt provoked now because the origins had offered olive branches to Nie Tian¡¯s three doppelgangers. Therefore, it responded with such actions.

    None of the living beings of the three worlds and the various origins in the universe were allowed to go against its will!

    It was domineering and overbearing!

    The Divine me¡¯s fleshly body being stripped from it, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s abnormal advancement, and the oddities of Nie Tian¡¯s three doppelgangers and Pei Qiqi were all its reprimand and warning for all the origins in the chaos.

    In this way, it was telling all the other origins in the chaos that it was their one and only leader!

    ...

    Outside the chaos, the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life were still fighting fiercely.

    Thanks to Wu Ji, the human experts had learned the truth. Now, as they watched their fight, their expressions werepletely different from before.

    They became indifferent, refusing to help either side. They just wanted to wait for the oue of their battle from afar.

    Deep down, they believed Wu Ji¡¯s words that whoever won would be the enemy of the human race!

    Wu Ji suddenly sighed and said with a frown, ¡°Damn it. It has made a move in the chaos.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Mo Heng eximed.

    ¡°It has forcibly interfered with everyone¡¯s paths to bing a paragon,¡± Wu Ji spoke. He was in the darknd, but he seemed to know everything that was happening in the chaos. ¡°Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, Pei Qiqi, and the mysterious Divine me are all affected by it. Now, it¡¯s keeping Nie Tian in the blood sea and waiting for the result of this duel.¡±

    Dong Li was stunned. ¡°By ¡®it,¡¯ are you referring to the origin of life?¡±

    Wu Ji nodded gently, gazing off at Zhao Shanling in the distance, and Ji Cang and Qin Yao in the sky. ¡°Sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing. Nie Tian understood the truth too early, so now, it¡¯s suspicious and guarded against him. But it¡¯s almost impossible for him to be a paragon when it obstructs on purpose instead of providing assistance.¡±

    In another area, Zhao Shanling also looked gloomy. ¡°How many years has it been? Are the living beings of the three worlds still unable to escape its clutches, and the influence of those two it created?¡±

    ...

    In the depths of the River of Souls.

    Nie Tian¡¯s doppelganger suddenly walked out, and then resolutely walked step by step towards a shrunken bone mountain in the chaos ¡ª the Mountain of Death.

    BOOM!

    His doppelganger suddenlynded with a loud crash atop the Mountain of Death.

    The moment it did, the rich flesh aura that had formed this doppelganger of his started leaving him at an rming rate.

    Even his eyes seemed to be veiled by ayer of gray, an unswerving death aura. ¡°If I can¡¯t choose life, I¡¯ll choose death instead!¡±

    At that moment, the endless crimson Sea of Life below suddenly stirred up violent waves.

    The origin of life was enraged.

 Chapter 1768: Paragons And Origins

    Wu Ji sighed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid their paths to bing paragons havee to an end.

    ¡°If Nie Tian doesn¡¯t be a paragon, and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil doesn¡¯t be a paragon, even if the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life fight to the point where only one of them is left, we¡¯ll still find ourselves in a difficult situation...¡±

    ¡°Only paragons can contend against the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life?¡± Yin Xingtian asked.

    Wu Ji nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s because only paragons canmunicate with and draw power from their origins from outside the chaos!¡±

    Dong Li went nk for a brief moment before asking, ¡°Have you been to the chaos yourself, Senior Wu? Do you have the abilities of a paragon?¡±

    Wu Ji shook his head, smiling bitterly.

    With a serious expression, Nie Jin from the Doomed Star Sea said in a soft voice, ¡°Qin Yao told me about paragons¡¯ divine abilities. He said that there are fundamental differences between paragons and even the strongest grand monarchs and God domain experts. Mister Wu, are paragons really as mighty and wondrous as he says they are?¡±

    Her words sparked everyone¡¯s interest.

    After all, they and all the grand monarchs from the Spirit World and Void World had only entered this darknd at the risk of their lives to find their way into the Dark Abyss and be paragons.

    Everyone knew how mighty the Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit had been in their prime.

    However, since it had been far too long since a paragon had been born in the three worlds, people were fuzzy on what wondrous abilities paragons actually had.

    Since Wu Ji couldmunicate with the River of Time, wield time power, and see into the past whenever he wanted, he was most certainly familiar with the paragons¡¯ secrets.

    This made everyone fix him with curious, anticipating gazes.

    Wu Ji opened his mouth and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether they¡¯re the Devils, the Bonedrudes, or the Netherspirits in the Void World, or the titans, the dragons, or the Ancientbeasts in the Spirit World. They all have limited lifespans, however long they may be. Even if humans advance to thete God domain, they can still die of old age.

    ¡°However, paragons are immortal. As long as their origins still exist, they won¡¯t die of old age.

    ¡°The Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit all died of unnatural causes. Because they had greater pursuits, and their origins had instructed them to fight the Star Behemoths and the Tree of Life, who were also mighty, paragon-level beings, they were killed in their prolonged battles against them.

    ¡°Immortality is the paragons¡¯ most wondrous feature.

    ¡°Other than that, they can also draw power from their origins whenever they want while they¡¯re in the three worlds.

    ¡°For instance, after the Dark King became a paragon, he could draw the purest dark power from the origin of darkness, no matter who he fought or where he was. Compared to the so-called primary devil power that Devil grand monarchs wield, the dark power that paragons can channel from their origins is more advanced.

    ¡°Let me draw an analogy. Devils absorb Devil Qi into their bodies, refine it over and over, and turn it into devil power. Then, devil power can be used to strengthen their bodies and bloodlines.

    ¡°They have devil power coursing through their bodies and flesh aura seas.

    ¡°However, after Devils advance to the tenth grade and be grand monarchs, they¡¯ll be able to refine their devil power ten times more than before. They call such refined devil power primary devil power, or devil power from the roots. Primary devil power is much purer and mightier than regr devil power. Many of the Devils¡¯ secret bloodline magics rely on primary devil power to activate.

    ¡°It¡¯s almost impossible for Devils under the tenth grade to master primary devil power. Even grand monarchs thate from poor backgrounds and talent would have a hard time refining primary devil power.

    ¡°As for the original devil power, it can be construed as devil power extracted from the origin of darkness, which is tens of times more refined than primary devil power.

    ¡°Original devil power dominates primary devil power, and far exceeds regr devil power!

    ¡°Throughout the history of the Devils, the Dark King was the only one who became a paragon and mastered original devil power. Wherever he was, he could obtain original devil power from the origin of darkness to improve his battle prowess.

    ¡°The same went for Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit and the Bone Emperor.

    ¡°They could also draw power from their respective origins in the chaos.¡±

    Wu Ji¡¯s words were powerful and resonating.

    Longing expressions appeared on the faces of many that were listening. Some quietly clenched their fists. Some widened their eyes, while others nced around, all eager to win the origins¡¯ favor.

    After all, who wouldn¡¯t want to achieve immortality and wield ultimate power from the origins?

    ¡°No wonder all powerful beings throughout the three worlds yearn to transcend their limits and be paragons,¡± Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion said softly.

    ¡°In order to be a paragon, one would have to refine a Void Spirit first. They¡¯re the ¡®keys¡¯ to entering the chaos.¡± Wu Ji added. ¡°After we enter the chaos, we¡¯ll also have to win the acknowledgment of our origins. For origins, making paragons is a matter of great significance that¡¯ll affect them for countless years toe.

    ¡°They¡¯ll have to help the ones they choose to refine their bodies and souls further, so they¡¯ll be able tomunicate with it and draw original power from it outside the chaos. In order to do this, the origins will have to consume power that they¡¯ve spent eons umting.

    ¡°Therefore, making paragons is usually a very consuming task.

    ¡°Then, after the paragons are made and go out to the three worlds, they can nurture their origins in return by honoring their deals with them and helping the species that have bloodline connections to their origins rise to prominence. If they do this, their origins will slowly recover, and even be stronger than before.

    ¡°However, if the paragons refuse to lead the rted species to prosperity, but draw power from their origins immoderately to spill blood everywhere, the origins will be hurt further. Sometimes they may be hurt so badly that they would never recover again.

    ¡°Therefore, making paragons is a double-edged sword for the origins.

    ¡°The origin of darkness made the Dark King a paragon, and the Devils became the strongest species at that time. The Dark King also followed its instructions and snuck into the Spirit World, where he created the Demons by fusing local species with dark bloodlines, so they¡¯d gradually gnaw at the power of the Sea of Life.

    ¡°The Bone Emperor created the Bonebrutes. Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit created the Phantasms. Both of them did that to corrode and unravel the power of the Sea of Life from within the Spirit World.

    ¡°They did that because the origin of life has been far too domineering, and has long since provoked discontent across the chaos.

    ¡°As you can see now, the numerous species in the Void World have various origins at their back.

    ¡°It used to be the same with the species in the Mortal World. However, those species were all wiped out by the Tree of Life eventually.

    ¡°As for the Ancientspirits, Floragrims, Birdmen, ckscales, and the other species in the Spirit World, they were all created by the will of the origin of life.

    ¡°While all the other origins in the chaos shared the Void World and the Mortal World, the origin of life had the Spirit World, which used to be the most fertilend, all to itself. This is enough proof of its transcendent status in the chaos.

    ¡°It was only natural that the origin of life became the other origins¡¯mon enemy.

    ¡°However, as much effort as the other origins have made to overthrow the origin of life, they seem to be suppressed by it to this day. Even the candidates they¡¯ve chosen are suffering from its intervention on their path to bing paragons.

    ¡°Nie Tian, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, the Divine me, and Pei Qiqi are all stuck at this moment.¡±

 Chapter 1769: You Should Be Afraid of Me Too!

    The Mountain of Death in the depths of the chaos was a very special existence.

    It was undoubtedly the origin of death.

    From the day it had developed intelligence and gained its own awareness, it had realized that it and the origin of life were natural enemies that couldn¡¯t fuse with each other.

    When the other origins in the chaos had traded with the origin of life and sent out Void Spirits to create brand new species in the three worlds, it was the only one that hadn¡¯t made a single transaction with the origin of life.

    Death power and the life essence from the Sea of Life were naturally ipatible with each other.

    Therefore, it was impossible for it to create beings with fleshly bodies that carried death power.

    The other origins had created Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and numerous other species thanks to their transactions and fusion with the origin of life.

    Even their rebellious Void Spirits had turned themselves into Star Behemoths by taking the life essence for themselves.

    Even though the Star Behemoths had fallen out with the origins, they had made the origin of life stronger by growing stronger themselves.

    In the chaos, the origin of death had watched the origin of life grow from a blood pond into a bloodke, and then into a blood sea...

    Eonster, it had turned into a boundless blood sea that took up almost the entire chaos, with all of the other origins upying a small space above it!

    The rapid expansion of the origin of life had made it seem weaker and weaker...

    However, since it hadn¡¯t been able to change the situation, it could only watch the space belonging to it grow smaller and smaller.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the Star Behemoths, the Netherspirits, the Devils, or the Ancientspirits from the Spirit World. They all had exceptionally long lifespans.

    Whenever living beings died of natural causes, and their flesh aura started to dissipate into heaven and earth, it would sense it, and absorb some death power from them to make itself stronger.

    Technically speaking, it should have be a mighty origin in the chaos as the Sea of Life had thrived.

    However, the majority of the powerful creatures that had been created from the fusion of life essence from the Sea of Life and imprints from the other origins died unnaturally.

    Most of them were killed by their enemies, or their own kind.

    For example, low-tier devil beasts and devil insects would usually fight among themselves. The winners would devour the losers.

    As for high-tier Devils, their approach would be less primal. Their winners would refine the losers¡¯ flesh auras.

    By fusing the losers¡¯ flesh auras into themselves, they could make themselves stronger and achieve higher bloodline upgrades.

    For those who died in these ways, they had their flesh power refined directly, without generating any death power.

    Therefore, the origin of death couldn¡¯t benefit from their deaths.

    For powerful beings with fleshly bodies like Star Behemoths, Devils, and Netherspirits, when they were killed, their remains would be made full use of.

    They would either be devoured whole, sealed away somewhere, or forged into powerful tools.

    However, they would be dealt with so their remains wouldn¡¯t be left to rot while their rich flesh power slowly transformed into death power.

    Therefore, even though more and more living beings had been born in the three worlds, and wars had broken out more and more often, causing many to die, the origin of death hadn¡¯t thrived as the origin of life had.

    Instead, the deaths in battle had created stronger experts with fleshly bodies, which had nurtured the origin of life in return.

    It couldn¡¯t get a single piece of the action.

    Finally, after expending tremendous time and effort, it had created the Bonedrudes in the Void World without any help from the origin of life.

    They were a peculiar species that thrived on death power, and corresponded to it and it only.

    They were like a war it hadunched against the Sea of Life.

    The stronger the Bonedrudes became as a species, the more they had to go around and start wars among the other species, and they would also have to keep the dead from being devoured or refined by members of the other species.

    That was why the Bonedrudes¡¯ Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones had been a ce where the bodies of countless powerful experts had been tossed and left to generate death power.

    As a matter of fact, the Bonebrutes¡¯ so-called burial grounds were replicas of the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones.

    Its resolution to fight against the Sea of Life had soon gained the support of the other origins in the chaos.

    The River of Souls, the origin of darkness, and many other origins had helped it secretly.

    Under its guidance, the Bone Emperor had risen to power.

    In his prime, the Bone Emperor had been the greatest threat to the Spirit World, as he had dealt a heavy blow to the Sea of Life by obliterating countless lives in the Spirit World.

    Unfortunately, he had eventually been killed by the Tree of Life.

    After the demise of the Bone Emperor, the Bonedrudes, the Bonebrutes, and even the origin of death itself had spent a very long time recovering from the loss.

    It had been saving up strength until it had chosen and ced its hope in Grand Monarch Bone Piercer. This time, he had nned on tempering and making Grand Monarch Bone Piercer a new paragon, who it would then rely on tounch another war against the Sea of Life.

    Sadly, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had died at the hands of Nie Tian, another inheritor of the life bloodline, in the darknd before he could even enter the chaos.

    The death of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had hurt the foundation of the Bonedrude race and the Bonebrute race terribly. Even their Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones had fallen apart.

    In return, these incidents had hurt it further.

    It was well-aware that it had suffered another crushing defeat from the Sea of Life.

    The death of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had cost it the chance to make a new paragon. If the Bonedrudes and Bonebrutes, which had direct connections to it, were targeted in the outside world, it would suffer even more. Perhaps it would even lose its awareness and fall into a slumber.

    If that happened, it would be a long time before it could even consider changing the situation in the three worlds again.

    It knew that its part in thispetition in the chaos and the darknd hade to an end. Therefore, it was prepared to admit defeat and wait for the next era.

    Who would have thought that the man who had killed Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, inflicted heavy damage upon the Bonedrudes and the Bonebrutes, and destroyed the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones would charge out of the River of Souls andnd in its territory at this moment?

    It found this extremely baffling.

    Then, it heard the man¡¯s mutter.

    ¡°I want to die. I hope you¡¯ll corrode my fleshly body with your endless death power.¡±

    Surprised and astonished, it secretlymunicated with the River of Souls. As soon as it received a positive response, it infused Nie Tian¡¯s body with the most refined death power.

    The life force in Nie Tian¡¯s body was rapidly gnawed away, along with the flesh power it contained.

    The Sea of Life started surging as this happened.

    That colossal heart even emanated fluctuations of fury, allowing every other origin in the chaos to feel that it was truly angered now.

    Ironically, the one who had angered it was Nie Tian, who carried its life bloodline and entered the chaos because it had chosen him!

    Nie Tian, who had been shackled and dragged back to the colossal heart by his own bloodline, suddenly let out a ferociousugh facing the heart. ¡°You¡¯re afraid that the third-generation Tree of Life will rece you as the master of this endless blood sea.

    ¡°Actually, you should be afraid of me too.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Crimson crystalline chains shot out of the origin of life one after another like numerous icy arrows.

    They all targeted Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    It appeared that the origin of life was going to retake the life bloodline that had been given to him, along with his every drop of Blood Essence, and return him to his true self: a human.

 Chapter 1770: Struggle

    It was horrifying to hang between life and death.

    Atop the Mountain of Death, Nie Tian felt heart-wrenching pain as the origin of death infused his doppelg?nger with the purest, most refined death power.

    He felt as if he were being stir-fried in arge pan!

    All of a sudden, he realized how agonizing it must have been for Grand Monarch Bone Piercer when his heart had been infused with his life power.

    It was a pain that could pierce all the way into one¡¯s origin through their bloodline!

    ROAR!

    Nie Tian let out wails of anguish and fury, standing atop the Mountain of Death.

    Even though this was only a doppelg?nger that had been separated from his Life-origin Form, it was forged from qi and blood that contained rich life power.

    It was surprising that this overwhelming pain was spreading to his true form, despite the distance between them!

    Then, through his true form, the pain was acting on the origin of his bloodline: that colossal heart!

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The incredibly vast crimson heart pounded violently.

    The numerous crystalline chains that were flying towards Nie Tian in an attempt to deprive him of his life bloodline were originally as straight as arrows. Now, however, they suddenly became wavy.

    At the same time, gray spots started appearing on them, gradually filling these Bloodline Crystal Chains shooting madly from the origin of life...

    It was hard to believe that the origin of death was actually spreading its death power to the origin of life, using Nie Tian¡¯s doppelg?nger and true form as a medium!

    Now, its death power was actually attacking the Bloodline Crystal Chains the origin of life had shot at Nie Tian!

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes opened wide.

    With great rity, he saw the Bloodline Crystal Chains seem to rot at an rming rate as more and more gray spots appeared on them.

    They looked like emerald tree branches that had gone through ten thousand years in a breath¡¯s time!

    A single gust of air would reduce them to ashes that scattered into the wind.

    WHOOSH!

    The Bloodline Crystal Chains suddenly turned to dust that scattered with countless pale-gray sparks.

    The pale-gray sparks were a crystallization of refined death power that carried the profound truths of death. It was hard to believe that they actually came to shine in this crimson blood sea!

    For eons, no matter how the origin of death had tried, it had never been able to send its crystallized death power through theyers of restrictions into this blood sea.

    It should have been an impossible task.

    However, who could have known that Nie Tian would rebel against the Sea of Life? By voluntarily joining the Mountain of Death and opening himself up to let death power pour into his doppelg?nger, he sessfully helped the crystallized death power enter the origin of life for the first time through the connection between his doppelg?nger and true form.

    At this moment, pale-gray death power had already filled every muscle and every meridian of his doppelg?nger that was standing atop the Mountain of Death.

    His heart, bones, and every organ that should have brimmed with life power had been infiltrated by the power of the origin of death.

    Death power had already reced life power as the master of this doppelg?nger of his.

    However, the true soul in his sea of awareness remained sober.

    In fact, he had never felt so sober and clear-headed before.

    He grinned and said, ¡°Let me be the belt that connects life and death. Even if my life bloodline is taken away, and I be a pure human, it might not be a bad thing.¡±

    He knew that the origin of life waspletely and utterly enraged this time.

    Even more thick Bloodline Crystal Chains shot out of the origin of life, braiding like numerous fierce dragons and vicious serpents.

    Once again, they wrapped tightly around him.

    However,st time, the Bloodline Crystal Chains from the origin of life had wrapped around him to infuse him with life power, temper his heart, and pass the secrets of the other origins and the evilness of the Tree of Life to him.

    What the origin of life was trying to do this time was quite the opposite.

    He looked down. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    A numb look appeared in his eyes as he watched wisp after wisp of flesh power be drawn from his muscles and internal organs and absorbed by the Bloodline Crystal Chains binding him.

    ¡°Life Drain...¡±

    A bitter feeling filled his heart. Since he had awakened his life bloodline, he had been the one to cast Life Drain on spirit beasts and outsiders to drain and refine their flesh power into himself.

    He had never known how it felt to be the one to have Life Drain cast on him.

    ¡°So this is how it feels to be drained of flesh power and slowly grow weak.¡±

    He suddenly had a feeling that no matter what he did, since this was the origin of his life bloodline and that green aura in his heart belonged to this endless blood sea, he could not stop this.

    He could only watch the Blood Essence he had gone to great lengths to condense disappear from his heart one drop after another.

    At the same time, he could see the pale-gray sparks surrounding his Life-origin Form being rapidly turned into pale-gray smoke, and vanishing.

    This made him realize that even though the origin of death was transfusing refined death power to this blood sea unceasingly by relying on the connection between his doppelg?nger and true form, the origin of life was simply too much stronger than it.

    Even though it had managed to infiltrate the origin of life with its death power through him, its attack would be soon snuffed out now that the origin of life had noticed what was happening and raised its guard.

    He could sense his Life-origin Form growing weaker and weaker as his flesh power left him.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    A shudder suddenly ran through his body.

    He gasped with astonishment as he saw a few Bloodline Crystal Chains in the depths of the green aura in his heart bursting forth with dazzling emerald light!

    That was a peculiar kind of wood power that was extremely tenacious and resilient!

    The wood power seemed to instantly establish a connection with his wood power sub-soul and started modifying the other Bloodline Crystal Chains in the green aura!

    The same emerald crystalline chains started manifesting among the countless Bloodline Crystal Chains that bound together to form the green aura.

    It appeared that they had been hiding in the deepest part of the green aura the whole time, and had thus escaped his perception.

    Now, however, they revealed themselves and burst forth with light so brilliant and divine that he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at it!

    Then, he sensed power that didn¡¯t belong to him or the origin of life pouring out of those bright emerald crystalline chains.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Countless Bloodline Crystal Chains started slithering and weaving in the green aura in his heart like lightning bolts.

    The color of the aura started changing from green to a brighter, emerald color.

    Countless green sparks within the Bloodline Crystal Chains exploded and were reced by emerald ones.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    As more and more green sparks vanished from his bloodline aura, he shrewdly sensed that the imprints that the origin of life had branded his life bloodline with, which it could use to suppress him, were being erased!

    The strange feeling that he was being restrained by his own life bloodline and Bloodline Crystal Chains soon disappeared!

    He felt a lightness he had never felt before, as if he had finally broken free from all his shackles.

    He also realized what the emergence of those emerald crystalline chains in the depths of his bloodline aura meant.

    At this moment, he feltpletely clear and burden-free.

 Chapter 1771: No More Restraint

    In front of the colossal heart, Nie Tian somehow sensed the Tree of Life...

    He grinned. ¡°Curious. This is so very curious.¡±

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The green and emerald sparks shed with each other in his bloodline aura in a violent manner.

    His feeling of being restrained by the origin of life was suddenly gone!

    ¡°Now,e back!¡± He let out an explosive roar while loosening his shoulders and arms.

    WHOOSH! A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering flesh aura burst forth from within him!

    In the next moment, the Bloodline Crystal Chains that had shot from the origin of life to wrap tightly around him shook violently as the blood-colored light that was flowing through them was instantly reversed!

    It started flowing back into him at a fast speed!

    The flesh power that had been taken from him now returned to him!

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    One crimson lightning bolt after another shot out of him to brutally sever the crystalline chains that wrapped around his body and connected to the colossal heart.

    Nie Tian took a deep breath and let out a longugh facing the origin of life, the exhaustion and frustration in his eyespletely gone.

    WHOOSH!

    Atop the Mountain of Death, his true soul suddenly broke free from his doppelg?nger, which was now bereft of any life force.

    As it rose into the void, the River of Souls flowed over from the distance and received it.

    ¡°Engrave!¡± His true soul eximed together with his Life-origin Form, which was in the Sea of Life.

    Immediately afterwards, the numerous green and emerald sparks and Bloodline Crystal Chains in his heart experienced new changes.

    Refined crimson flesh power started pouring madly into his heart from his internal organs, muscles, and bones.

    The crystalline chains that made up his bloodline aura, which now were a mixture of green and emerald, started turning crimson!

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Crisp cracking sounds came from his bones all over as his Life-origin Form started shrinking.

    However, the wondrous aura in his heart that embodied his life bloodline slowly changed to match the color of his heart, which was crimson.

    Green was the color of the Blood Father of the Spirit World. Emerald was the color of the Tree of Life.

    Crimson was his own color!

    It was also the color of the Sea of Life, the color of the origin of life!

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    In the depths of the blood sea, Nie Tianughed so hard that tears wereing out of his eyes.

    He pointed at the colossal heart in front of him and said, ¡°The imprints you gave the Blood Father of the Spirit World were green. He¡¯s the one who takes your every order and enforces your will without asking any questions. So you assumed that since my bloodline aura was green, it meant that I inherited my life bloodline from him, and I¡¯d be subject to your maniption.¡±

    ¡°Then, you know that it was the Tree of Life that had me created. I suppose that¡¯srgely the reason why you wouldn¡¯t make me your first choice, right?

    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s true that the Tree of Life stole the wonders of life regarding fleshly beings from the Blood Father of the Spirit World, which you bestowed upon him. However, it also made a contingency n when I was created.

    ¡°Those emerald crystalline chains that have been hidden so well over the years that even I didn¡¯t perceive their existence were its ultimate countermeasure!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian realized why he had been able to condense his wood power spiritual core and embark on his journey of wood power cultivation so smoothly after he had awakened his life bloodline.

    He also realized the underlying reason why the Floragrims felt naturally close to him.

    The fact that he was able to learn and use the Floragrims¡¯ Heavenly Wood Heal and Wood Thriving Formation and nourish his wood power spiritual core with his flesh aura was all because of the wonders the Tree of Life had hidden in the deepest part of his life bloodline.

    It was just that he hadn¡¯t really thought about the reasons behind this, and the hidden power hadn¡¯t manifested before.

    ¡°The truth is that it has guarded against me from the beginning. It¡¯s aware that you or the Blood Father of the Spirit World might turn me against it one day.

    ¡°If I didn¡¯t know better, and went to fight it after or with the Blood Father of the Spirit World under yourmand, those emerald crystalline chains would be activated, inflicting fatal damage on me.

    ¡°Hahaha. But who would have thought that I¡¯d set myself against you as it did?

    ¡°The contingency n that it was going to use to kill me as itsst resort is now being used to help me break your restraints and be free in a real sense!¡±

    The imprints from the Blood Father of the Spirit World that were branded in the depths of the green crystalline chains could be manipted by the origin of life.

    The imprints in the emerald crystalline chains could be channeled by the Tree of Life.

    Now, both the green and emerald crystalline chains were reced by crimson ones, which were condensations of Nie Tian¡¯s own flesh power and essence of soul.

    Even though he still carried a life bloodline, it was no longer subject to the maniption of the Sea of Life or the Tree of Life.

    This new, crimson life bloodline was a bloodline that truly belonged to him!

    ¡°Crimson is the true color of my bloodline, and represents power that only belongs to me.¡±

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian swung his arms casually to sever the Bloodline Crystal Chains from the colossal heart, before suddenly charging towards the surface of the endless blood sea.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Numerous rays of blood-colored light shot from the colossal heart, but couldn¡¯t catch up to him.

    The drops of blood that the origin of life had condensed in a special way to show reflections of the Divine me, Pei Qiqi, his doppelg?ngers, and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil still existed.

    However, Nie Tian made a grabbing motion as he charged upwards, and they quickly vanished into his palm.

    They fused with him upon contact.

    Soon, there was a significant distance between Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form and the colossal heart.

    Whenever he came across floating drops of life essence, he would activate Life Drain to absorb them.

    As he did, his Life-origin Form started expanding and growing stronger again.

    The colossal heart beat furiously in the depths of the blood sea. It even started moving for the first time, as if it were going to do everything in its power to kill him before he could leave this blood sea.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei and the Divine me have my bloodline power inside of them.

    ¡°If I¡¯m free now, they must be free too!

    ¡°And you can no longer influence my doppelg?ngers either!¡±

    Nie Tian continued to devour drops of blood as he charged towards the surface of the blood sea.

    From time to time, he would also see the drops of blood he set his eyes on suddenly vanish by themselves.

    He instantly realized that the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was fighting the Tree of Life in the darknd, was also drawing power from this blood sea.

    ¡°If you help me now, you¡¯ll be helping yourself,¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    By seizing drop after drop of blood in the blood sea, he was consuming the power of the origin of life and indirectly weakening the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Suddenly, he reached a mutual understanding with the Tree of Life.

    The two of them would attack the origin of life together, one from within and the other from without.

    This was a situation he had never imagined would happen before entering the chaos.

    As drop after drop of Blood Essence was absorbed and fused into him, his Life-origin Form rapidly returned to being more ten thousand meters tall, and was still expanding.

    By tempering and refining his heart, the origin of life had actually prepared him for his transcendence andid a solid foundation for him toplete his advance to bing a paragon.

    After an unknown period of time...

    BOOM!

    Iparably violent, heaven shaking, earth-shattering flesh aura fluctuations burst forth from within Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    ¡°Paragon!¡±

 Chapter 1772: A Endless Climb

    In the darknd, Wu Ji eximed in soaring spirits, ¡°Paragon!¡±

    The experts of various races that were gathered in the area had baffled expressions on their faces.

    Hadn¡¯t Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s advance to bing paragons been interrupted by the origin of life?

    What was making Wu Ji so excited?

    Who had resumed their path to bing a paragon?

    ¡°Is it Grand Monarch Heaven Devil?¡± Mo Heng asked with a grim expression. ¡°He¡¯s the strongest one among all the species in the three worlds. If he seeds and bes a paragon, he¡¯ll fight the Tree of Life too, right?¡±

    ¡°I bet it¡¯s him,¡± Fan Tianze chimed in.

    The two of them had teamed up against Grand Monarch Heaven Devil before. Therefore, they were well-aware of his terrifying power.

    ¡°Even if Grand Monarch Heaven Devil bes a paragon and defeats the Tree of Life by chance, it won¡¯t be good news for us,¡± Yin Xingtian said with a deep frown. ¡°Eventually, he¡¯ll unite the three major races in the Void World and march their forces into our world.¡±

    As far as these experts saw it, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had always been a great threat to humanity. The mere thought of him bing a paragon would put heavy pressure on them.

    Dong Li let out a sigh, a hint of bitterness appearing at the corner of her mouth. ¡°The origin of darkness can help only one candidate transcend and be a paragon...

    ¡°Even though I¡¯ve obtained its legacies, I¡¯m still far from being ready to be a paragon. I can feel that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil is the one it¡¯s leaning towards.¡±

    Not only had she won the acknowledgment of the origin of darkness, but the ck tortoise carried the Dark Behemoth¡¯s bloodline.

    The Dark Behemoth came from that vast cloud of darkness. However, it had rebelled against the darkness and refused to create dark species as it had been instructed to.

    Eventually, the darkness had had to separate another Void Spirit to create the Devils in the Void World.

    Later, the brilliant Dark King had refined that Void Spirit of Darkness and gained the power to y the Dark Behemoth. After he had grown mightier and mightier, he had won the favor of the origin of darkness, along with the chance to be a paragon.

    Dong Li had had her chance to enter the chaos and meet the origin of darkness in person.

    However, due to the existence of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, the origin of darkness had made her its second choice.

    This had hit her hard.

    Now, after hearing Wu Ji put it this way, she agreed, and assumed that it was Grand Monarch Heaven Devil who had resumed his path to bing the second paragon in the history of the Devils.

    ¡°It¡¯s not Grand Monarch Heaven Devil,¡± Wu Ji said, time power flying in the depths of his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s Nie Tian! He broke the shackles the origin of life inflicted on him, and is now on a fast track to be a paragon in that blood sea!¡±

    ¡°What?!¡± everyone eximed in shock, and quickly went on to ask him what had happened.

    Wu Ji turned toy his gaze on the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was fighting the Tree of Life in the distance. ¡°Have you noticed that the Blood Father of the Spirit World is getting anxious?¡±

    Hearing this, everyone gazed off with rapt attention, and found that the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who had returned from the Dark Abyss, seemed eager to break away from his battle against the Tree of Life.

    However, the Tree of Life was keeping him from leaving with its myriad branches and countless streaks of emerald light.

    He was being suppressed!

    Wu Ji closed his eyes, as if to sense with his soul. ¡°Nie Tian had a direct conflict with the origin of life in the endless blood sea. Right now, he¡¯s building up his strength in the blood sea at a shocking rate! He appears to be transforming rapidly. However, the origin of life doesn¡¯t seem to be able to stop him.

    ¡°If there aren¡¯t any mishaps, he should be able to finish his transcendence and be a paragon within a short time!¡±

    ...

    In the vast blood sea, Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form had already grown to be thirty thousand meters tall!

    Like an enormous blood-colored storm, he swept across the endless blood sea and engulfed crimson drops of Blood Essence that had taken eons to condense.

    The colossal heart had left the depths of the blood sea, and was chasing after him persistently.

    However, it wasn¡¯t built for fighting.

    Since the imprints in Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline that allowed it to control him had been removed, it couldn¡¯t suppress or bind him with the mysteries of life anymore.

    Besides that, it had paved the way for Nie Tian to be a paragon by conducting a thorough refinement of his heart!

    Together, these things had resulted in its inability to contain and restrict Nie Tian through his life bloodline as before.

    Nie Tian, however, could devour and refine the life power in this blood sea, which it had spent eons umting, to his heart¡¯s content.

    Nie Tian had be the third mighty being to have ever been able to make use of the power in the Sea of Life to strengthen themselves after the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life.

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t been in the chaos, it would have been able to cut off his connection to the blood sea as it had done to the Tree of Life.

    Now, the Tree of Life could no longer draw power from the blood sea to improve its battle prowess.

    However, the problem was that Nie Tian was inside the blood sea, inside the chaos.

    Momentster, Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form expanded to be fifty thousand meters tall, making him look like a majestic mountain of flesh and blood!

    Blood-colored pirs of light shot straight up from his giant form and pierced deep into the void!

    All of the other origins in the chaos saw the wide pirs piercing out of the boundless blood sea, no matter how distant they were.

    Both the Mountain of Death and the cloud of darkness quietly moved towards the area from which the blood-colored light had shot out.

    The River of Souls flowed above the boundless blood sea, with Nie Tian¡¯s true soul floating in it and quietly observing the blood-colored pirs of light shooting out from the blood sea.

    The mysterious, glorious River of Time magically recorded the wondrous scene in the innumerable grains of sand that were flowing in it.

    At this moment, all of the origins in the chaos paid close attention to the endless blood sea, and sensed that a brand new paragon was going to be born in the vast Sea of Life.

    It was just that this new paragon seemed to have set himself against the origin of life, and the origin of life seemed to be trying to stop him from finishing his transcendence.

    No origins had ever tried to stop their chosen ones that had received their legacies from bing paragons before. This was the first time this had happened.

    Soon, Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form, which was absorbing life essence without ceasing, expanded to be a hundred thousand meters tall, so tall that even the vast blood sea seemed to be unable to contain him anymore!

    All of the origins in the chaos could see a colossus slowly rising from the blood sea, like a red sun rising from the blood sea¡¯s surface!

    As Wu Ji showed the incredible changes that were taking ce in the chaos in the wondrous river he had manifested using time power, every observer couldn¡¯t help but let out sighs of amazement.

    ¡°Is that...?!¡±

    ¡°Is that Nie Tian? Howe he¡¯s almost asrge as the Blood Father of the Spirit World now?¡±

    ¡°My heavens!¡±

    All of them could see a colossal human being emanating a dazzling divine light as he slowly rose from the surface of a boundless blood sea like the ancient god that had created the universe.

    BOOM!

    The river that flowed through the sky in the darknd suddenly burst and dissipated like sand. Wu Ji let out a muffled groan as fine grains of golden sand flowed from his nostrils, the corner of his mouth, and his eyes.

    Even though he looked weary, he said in high spirits, ¡°This is all I can show you now. However, I suppose this is enough. Nie Tian has finished his transcendence and be a paragon!¡±

    ¡°He has?!¡± Dong Li eximed in astonishment.

    Smiling, Wu Ji said, ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s a paragon now.¡±

 Chapter 1773: Paragon!

    Nie Tian slowly rose from the vast expanse of the blood sea like a dawning sun.

    Then, his colossal Life-origin Form floated above the sea¡¯s surface like a magnificent divine mountain standing in a sea of red clouds.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The thick crimson flesh auras under his feet quickly morphed into a gigantic vortex.

    The vortex started spinning and devouring the flesh power in the Sea of Life below that had taken eons to condense like a gruesome bloody mouth.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence that looked like blood diamonds could be seen vaporizing and rising from the sea as clusters of blood mist.

    The refined flesh power within them rapidly fused into the giant vortex, and then Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    At this moment, he had broken free from the origin of lifepletely.

    Like an immortal god, he looked down at the boundless blood sea underneath him.

    His face remained expressionless and numb, as if he still had yet to awaken from the great changes that had just happened to his body.

    His gaze pierced through manyyers of blood mist into the depths of the blood sea.

    He locked his eyes on that colossal heart...

    ¡°Paragon?¡± He suddenly muttered softly, a hint of smile slowly appearing at the corner of his mouth.

    The smile slowly spread on his numb face like ripples spreading through a quietke.

    Within moments, the numbing look on his face was wiped out and reced by a hearty smile!

    He let out a wildugh. ¡°Paragon! So this is how it feels to be a paragon!¡±

    Then, he raised his huge, bridge-like arm to point at the mysterious cluster of fire in the distance. ¡°My me doppelg?nger!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, his me doppelg?nger manifested in the origin of fire!

    Raging fire seemed to be flying out of its every single pore as the extremely wondrous me spell formation that was a downscaled version of the one in the me Land floated over its head.

    ¡°Blood Essence Infusion!¡±

    Crimson Blood Essence started surging within Nie Tian¡¯s raised arm like boilingva.

    The giant flesh aura vortex under his feet started spinning madly to draw the purest and most refined original life power from the Sea of Life.

    Then, the power rushed directly towards his me doppelg?nger through the flesh aura connection between his true form and his doppelg?nger.

    WHOOSH!

    A long river of flesh aura shot out of his palm into the origin of fire in the blink of an eye.

    In the origin of fire, his me doppelg?nger seemed to be nourished by timely rain and divine dew, as every single one of its pore suddenly opened up, allowing even more fire to enter and exit it.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    His me doppelg?nger burned furiously, like a piece of iron that was being hammered in raging fire.

    At that moment, Nie Tian raised his other hand and pointed at the First Star that was shining brilliantly in the chaos.

    It was the origin of stars.

    Another long river of flesh aura sted out of his palm like a roaring blood dragon and rushed towards the star that was emanating icy starlight.

    Billions of tiny sparks existed in the heaven and earth inside the star, corresponding to every single realm in the three worlds.

    His star doppelg?nger was originally trembling slightly due to the suppression of the Sea of Life.

    However, at this moment, the eyes of his star doppelg?nger burst forth with wondrous light as every single one of its acupoints emanated brilliant starlight, as if to light up every corner of the starry river.

    Numerous buds appeared and immediately went into full bloom on the Heavenly Stars Flower that was perfectlypatible with his star domain and helpful when he wanted tomunicate with the origin of stars.

    Bits of gorgeous starlight dotted every blossom.

    WHOOSH!

    A streak of original life power that would help his star doppelg?nger transform poured down into it through the top of its head.

    It was a gift from his true form!

    HOWL!

    Eyes icy and brilliant, Nie Tian¡¯s star doppelg?nger suddenly reached out its arms, as if to embrace this wondrous heaven and earth.

    Then, countless wisps of light that were either bright or dim shot from the billions of glittering sparks in this heaven and earth, and fused into his star domain, his body, and his sea of awareness.

    They were the imprints of the origin of stars that carried the most profound mysteries of the starry river!

    As the mysterious Heavenly Stars Flower swayed in a graceful manner, it also released wisps of starlight that converged on him and pierced into his star power sub-soul.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He let out a soft exmation, and instantly realized that this Heavenly Stars Flower, which had gradually upgraded and transformed into a Heavenly Stars Flower, came from the origin of stars.

    It had been a Void Spirit!

    Originally, the Starspirits had worshiped the mysterious Heavenly Stars Flower.

    ording to their ancient legends, the birth of their species had a great deal to do with it.

    However, as the Starspirits had gone extinct, the Heavenly Stars Flower had also exploded and vanished in the starry river in the Mortal World. No one had ever seen it again.

    Even the Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce had no idea that the Nine Stars Flowers, which many of them had refined into their star power spiritual cores, were a brand new species that the Heavenly Stars Flower had evolved into in the Mortal World after its destruction.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Nine Stars Flower had only reappeared in its ultimate form, as the Heavenly Stars Flower, after having been nourished by a tremendous amount of star power and stimted by Nie Tian¡¯s wood power essence!

    After its rebirth, it had naturally regathered its soul fragments, which were the soul fragments of a Void Spirit.

    However,pared to the second-generation Void Spirit of Star, Ji Cang, the Heavenly Stars Flower was considered a failure.

    ¡°Void Spirits are the key to entering the chaos and bing paragons.

    ¡°The Heavenly Stars Flower has long since fused with my star domain, taken root in my wood power spiritual core, and be a part of me. No wonder I was able to hear the calls of the First Star in the chaos!

    ¡°And this is probably why Ji Cang couldn¡¯tpletely suppress the Heavenly Stars Flower even with the help of his Maic Star Crystal!

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that Ji Cang did everything in his power to stop me because he was afraid that I¡¯d enter the chaos with the help of the Heavenly Stars Flower and seek my path to be a paragon through the origin of stars...¡±

    Many mysteries were unraveled at this moment, when he suddenly sensed indignation and fury from Ji Cang, who was all the way in the darknd.

    However, he simply ignored it.

    ¡°Fire, star, and soul...¡±

    In his Life-origin Form, he slowly ran his gaze over the origin of fire, the origin of stars, and the River of Souls, before his gaze finallynded on the Mountain of Death.

    One of his doppelg?ngers was atop the Mountain of Death.

    It was just that that doppelg?nger was now wreathed in pale-gray death power, and bereft of any life force.

    The faint connection between his true form and that doppelg?nger was making him very ufortable.

    WHOOSH!

    The Mountain of Death seemed to sense his gaze, and hastily flew away, as if it was going to vanish into the depths of the chaos, where it would sever thest-remaining connections between that death power-infused doppelg?nger and Nie Tian, and take it as its own.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°You want that soulless doppelg?nger of mine? Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re hoping to create another species like the Bonedrudes with it.¡±

    An unreadable look appeared in his eyes.

    After a moment of silent pondering, he suddenly reached his hand towards the blood-colored vortex below and made a grabbing motion.

    Streaks of blood-colored light were then pulled out of the vortex like mud fish.

    Each and every one of them contained immense flesh power that originated from the Sea of Life.

    ¡°Go!¡± he let out a soft cry and cast the streaks of blood-colored light into the distance.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    The streaks of blood-colored light suddenly manifested out of nowhere and slithered into the Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, the evil gods, and Master Blood Spirit.

    As soon as the streaks of blood-colored light fused into them, they started going through changes under everyone¡¯s gazes.

 Chapter 1774: Ji Cangâ€™s Dao

    ROAR!

    The Rampage Behemoth threw its head back and roared.

    As soon as the streaks of blood-colored light fused into this behemoth that had existed since the Primal Era, hard scales started growing all over its gigantic form.

    Its eyes turned blood red, its raging aura soaring through the heavens.

    It jerked its head towards the Blood Father of the Spirit World and stared at him.

    Almost at the same time, the beast that was enshrouded in darkness, the ck tortoise, seemed to receive a blood instruction as well, and quietly fixed its pitch-ck eyes on the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    All of the human experts were taken aback, and didn¡¯t understand why both the Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise suddenly showed such hatred toward the Blood Father of the Spirit World who had returned from the Dark Abyss.

    ¡°The Blood Father of the Spirit World?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the one who¡¯s truly loyal to the origin of life and follows its every order.¡±

    At this moment, Zhao Shanling, who had canceled his Ancient Arch-devil form and returned to his human form, left the members of the three major races in the Void World, and flew over from the distance.

    ¡°Nie Tian has be a paragon already?¡± he asked, looking at Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji curled his lips and said with a somewhat wry smile, ¡°That¡¯s right. He has joined the ranks of paragons by making use of the power of the Sea of Life. But he hasn¡¯t returned from the chaos, because once he does, his connection with that blood sea will be severed by the origin of life...¡± With these words, he pointed at the colossal tree that had taken up the entire darknd. ¡°Just as it had done with it.¡±

    Everyone could see that the third-generation Tree of Life had been able to grow in a frenzied manner upon arriving here because it had drawn power from the Sea of Life.

    However, as soon as the Blood Father of the Spirit World had returned, it had been kept from being able to draw endless life power from that blood sea.

    It was at that moment that the origin of life had officially fallen out with it and set itself against it.

    Using the darknd as a base, it had reversed the flow of life power and turned thisnd where it had taken root into another endless blood sea. By doing this, it had stopped the flesh power of those who perished in the darknd from flowing to the origin of life in the chaos.

    ¡°Nie Tian can continue to draw power from that blood sea and use it to make himself stronger if he remains there?¡± Zhao Shanling asked.

    Wu Ji took a breath and said with a light tone, ¡°Not just that, but he can make his doppelg?ngers transform as well by infusing them with life essence. The path to bing a paragon is full of obstacles. With the help of his true form, perhaps his doppelg?ngers can actually break the rules and make more paragons!¡±

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. ¡°Are you serious?¡±

    ¡°Even though things like that haven¡¯t happened before, that doesn¡¯t mean that they can¡¯t happen now,¡± Wu Ji answered.

    WHOOSH!

    A brilliant star suddenly streaked through the dark sky in the darknd and flew over like a falling star.

    The expressions of many human experts flickered as they watched the dazzling star fly from the distant sky.

    ¡°Ji Cang!¡±

    ¡°The Void Spirit of the First Star!¡±

    They reached the conclusion that what was flying towards them was Ji Cang by spotting the Maic Star Crystal in the streaking star.

    ¡°Open the gate, and let me in!¡± Ji Cang¡¯s bellow seemed to being from all directions as numerous clusters of starlight exploded in the area where the human experts were gathered.

    Even the enormous branches of the Tree of Life that had stretched into the area were bombarded and reduced to shreds.

    The dazzling streaking star came to a sudden stop, and morphed into Ji Cang¡¯s form.

    ¡°Let me in! Now!¡± he bellowed again.

    Everyone narrowed their eyes and examined him with rapt attention. Then, they saw countless wisps of spatial power that were even tinier than hairs slithering through his skin like wondrous lightning wisps.

    His unfathomable eyes looked like two frosty stars.

    Everyone had a peculiar feeling that they weren¡¯t looking at a creature made of flesh and blood, but rather a frosty star in the silent, boundless starry river.

    At this moment, everyone was convinced that this Ji Cang in front of them wasn¡¯t the renowned sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce, but rather the Void Spirit that had been separated from the First Star and possessed Ji Cang.

    Wu Ji let out a disdainful snort.

    The River of Time that was floating in the sky suddenlyshed out at Ji Cang like a long whip that ran through the three words.

    Time power flowed inside the river, giving rise to sshing sounds.

    Imprisoned by time power, the clusters of starlight in the area stopped exploding and no longer emanated dazzling light.

    Even the fine wisps of peculiar spatial power stopped slithering on Ji Cang¡¯s skin, and became silent and still.

    ¡°You¡¯re being prevented from entering the chaos, aren¡¯t you?¡± Wu Ji asked, looking distant and calm as he usually did. ¡°Your own origin denied your entrance. You know what that means, right? I bet it¡¯s not your origin¡¯s intention to have every peak expert from the three worlds fight each other and die, but it¡¯s rather the ¡®Dao¡¯ you¡¯ve derived by yourself.¡±

    ¡°What if it is?¡± Ji Cang said with an icy expression. ¡°How many realms have died and how many stars have stopped shining since the Star Behemoths appeared, the Ancientspirits came to existence, the three major races in the Void World rose to power, and the races in the Mortal World entered their prime?

    ¡°My origin is that First Star in the chaos! Only if the stars thrive and shine bright will it grow stronger and stronger.

    ¡°It¡¯s those who represent the peak power in the three worlds that have been destroying the realms in the three worlds. If they don¡¯t exist anymore, no realm will die!

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this Dao I¡¯ve derived?¡±

    As he questioned Wu Ji, all of the other experts fell silent and pondered what he had said.

    By taking his point of view, they found that his thinking and doing were indeed for the better of the First Star, the origin of stars. It appeared that his actions were actually justified.

    WHOOSH!

    Another star streaked across the sky andnded in the area with a loud crash.

    Nie Jin¡¯s eyes lit up, and she quietly went to stand beside Qin Yao, who had just arrived like a falling star.

    ¡°Qin Yao!¡±

    Many human experts jerked their heads towards him and looked at him with mixed feelings in their eyes.

    This man in front of them was the lord of the Doomed Star Sea, Nie Tian¡¯s father, the advocator and enforcer of hybrid breeding, and the greatest rebel of the human race...

    However, before he had left the Mortal World, he had also been a Son of the Stars of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    He had even outshone Ji Cang once upon a time!

    If he had focused on seeking the Dao of stars instead of being infatuated with hybrid breeding, perhaps he would have long since be the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    Now, many yearster, he stood in front of the experts from the Mortal World once again.

    Was he on humanity¡¯s side... or was he on their opposite side?

    No one knew.

    ¡°Long time no see.¡± Qin Yao greeted Fan Tianze and a few other acquaintances with a smile.

    Then, he bowed towards Wu Ji and said, ¡°Thank you, sage.¡±

    Wu Ji waved his hand casually, signaling him not to stand on ceremony.

    Just as he was about to continue, his expression suddenly flickered, as if he had sensed something surprising.

    After a moment of hesitation, he gave Ji Cang a deep look, and asked, ¡°It¡¯s been a while since you couldmunicate with the origin of stars, right?¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    At that moment, countless beams of starlight suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the area where they were gathered.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, the beams of starlight rapidly wove into a wondrous nt: the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower that had be one with Nie Tian¡¯s star domain had left the chaos and reappeared in the darknd!

    Everyone present could sense Nie Tian¡¯s aura from it!

 Chapter 1775: The Blood Father Speaks

    Nie Tian stood quietly in the void above the vast blood sea.

    He had stopped grabbing streaks of flesh aura from below and using them to nourish those in the darknd who had blood connections to him.

    Instead, he fixed his eyes on the brilliant star in the distance.

    The star seemed to sense his gaze and started flying towards him.

    As it flew closer and closer, Nie Tian was surprised to find that the so-called First Star, the origin of stars, was actually even vaster than his Life-origin Form, which hade to be a hundred thousand meters tall.

    In fact, it was about the same size as the colossal heart in the depths of the endless blood sea below.

    It was just that...

    He nced down at the origin of life in the depths of the sea, and said, ¡°It¡¯s just that eons of umtion of life power has made you stronger.

    ¡°However, now that I¡¯ve finished my advance to bing a paragon, you¡¯d better stay out of my way from now on.¡±

    As soon as he said these words, profound connections seemed to form between his true soul and three sub-souls.

    Inside the origin of stars, a wisp of his soul essence flew out to fuse with the Heavenly Stars Flower, which then gained the permission of the origin of stars, and crossed the barriers of the chaos into the darknd.

    Even though his true form was still floating above the endless blood sea, his perception range had already extended into the darknd through his blood connections to the Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, and the evil gods.

    All of them had be his eyes.

    However, before now, he had only been able to see what was happening in the darknd through their eyes and convey his will to them.

    He hadn¡¯t been able tomunicate with the others directly.

    Now, after the Heavenly Stars Flower manifested in the darknd by virtue of the power of the origin of stars, he could express every thought he had through it.

    Hence, everyone in the darknd saw shadows that looked like reflections in water quietly emerging in the numerous blossoms of the spectacr Heavenly Stars Flower.

    Wu Ji, Dong Li, Nie Jin, and many others eximed subconsciously upon seeing the shadows.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Little Tian!"

    ¡°Young Lord!¡±

    Qin Yao¡¯s fierce eyes, which resembled those of a tiger, lit up as he swiftly grabbed Nie Jin¡¯s slender hand with hisrge, brawny hand. He didn¡¯t want her to lose control and rush to the Heavenly Stars Flower, and end up being seized by Ji Cang as leverage he could use against Nie Tian.

    ¡°Little Tian..." Nie Jin called in a low voice, looking longingly at the shadows in the blossoms. She wanted to scream the bitterness and helplessness that had been buried in her heart for many years, but somehowcked the courage to do so.

    ¡°Nie Tian!!¡± Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s hysterical shriek suddenly echoed out in the far distance.

    In the next moment, he burst forth with torrential cyan soul power. Despite the fierce battle between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life, he charged through extending tree branches and flying emerald auras towards the Heavenly Stars Flower. ¡°Nie Tian! You took my chance at bing a paragon!¡±

    Wu Ji, Yin Xingtian, Qin Yao, and the others frowned slightly upon seeing Grand Monarch Nether Spirit charge furiously towards them.

    Zhao Shanling shook his head, his face filled with disgust. ¡°You must have a death wish. Failing to take the big picture into consideration, you can¡¯t shoulder great responsibilities.¡±

    The numerous enormous lightning chains that wrapped around the Blood Father of the Spirit World suddenly shot out.

    Each and every one of them carried the profound truths of lightning and thunder to begin with. Then, the moment they flew out, the Blood Father of the Spirit World infused them with rich flesh auras, turning them into frenzied lightning dragons.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    They rapidly caught up to Grand Monarch Nether Spirit, and started tearing at his body with their teeth and ws.

    In the blink of an eye, chunks of flesh were torn from his body, which wasn¡¯t as tough as that of the evil gods, revealing his pale-gray bones.

    Before he could even charge through the area where the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life were fighting, his fleshly body was ripped apart and gobbled down by the lightning dragons.

    Just like that, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit lost his body, even though he had strengthened himself by reaping the souls of his own people.

    Nie Tian¡¯s shadows in the Heavenly Stars Flower watched as this happened to the flustered and exasperated Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    ¡°How rash!¡±

    He thought to himself.

    ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to enter!¡±

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World, who seemed tall enough to prop up heaven and earth and had the courage to fight the Tree of Life, suddenly spoke.

    Every word he said carried great weight, and caused heaven and earth to shake and rumble nonstop.

    Many observed with rapt attention, and could even see his flesh power condense into the most ancient, rough script of the words in the sky, which seemed to be full of mysteries.

    RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

    The three magical characters suddenly morphed into three huge thunderballs.

    They seemed to carry the most devastating lightning power essence, as if they were the most deadly lightning purgatories in the Mortal World, Void World, and Spirit World.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Every human, hybrid, and outsider that carried lightning bloodlines or practiced lightning incantations eximed in astonishment.

    Myriad wisps of lightning power flew uncontrobly out of their bodies and lightning domains to fuse into the three mighty thunderballs.

    The thunderballs, however, suddenly exploded, releasing zing power that could easily destroy heaven and extinguish earth in the ce where Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s fleshly body had been consumed.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s dark cyan sea of souls, which had been exposed after he had lost his body, was instantly filled with myriad bolts of lightning.

    Wisps of cyan smoke quickly rose up and dissipated.

    At the same time, the ferocious lightning dragons that had wolfed down Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s flesh power returned to the Blood Father of the Spirit World to fuel his power.

    All of the experts from the three worlds were amazed by the fact that the Blood Father of the Spirit World had actually started speaking.

    ¡°He started talking!¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe his words are like heaven¡¯s judgment that can trigger changes in heaven and earth!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯s regained his awareness and memories in his battle against the Tree of Life.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s the speaker of the origin of life and the enforcer of its will!¡±

    Apparently, Grand Monarch Nether Spirit had failed to consider what the Blood Father of the Spirit World was capable of doing. Overtaken by anger, he had rashly charged towards Nie Tian in a hysterical manner, and had ended up being attacked midway.

    Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s battle prowess was only second to that of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil in the Void World.

    He had been the strongest expert in the history of the Phantasms before he had left the Spirit World. Then, after escaping from the clutches of Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, he had snuck into the Void World and continued to make waves.

    He had even set Nie Tian up, seized the Spirit Scepter, and nearly gotten Nie Tian killed.

    However, such a powerful expert was annihted by the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s raging lightning power in such an effortless manner!

    At this moment, everyone shifted their gazes from the Heavenly Stars Flower and Nie Tian¡¯s shadows to the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    They found that the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was tall enough to prop up heaven and earth, didn¡¯t further expand as they expected after killing Grand Monarch Nether Spirit.

    However, his eyes looked more alive than before.

    Raging mes seemed to be burning in the depths of his pupils.

    After observing for a brief moment, Wu Ji said softly, ¡°Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s death is helping his soul recover. He¡¯s the enforcer of the will of the origin of life. In the chaos, the origin of life has traded with all the other origins, which allowed it to master the profound truths of all sorts of power to arge extent.

    ¡°It has passed all that it has gained from its trades on to the Blood Father of the Spirit World, including the profound secrets of souls it has received from the River of Souls.¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian¡¯s soul fluctuations rippled from his shadows in the Heavenly Stars Flower.

    Every living being in its surroundings heard him loud and clear with their souls, and received every message he conveyed.

    ¡°If the Blood Father of the Spirit World returns to his peak state, and draws endless power from the Sea of Life, I¡¯m afraid that even the Tree of Life won¡¯t be able to match him in battle.¡±

 Chapter 1776: Stars Live And Die As Well

    From the legacies he had received from the origin of life, Nie Tian had learned that the Tree of Life had defeated the Blood Father of the Spirit World back in the day by surprising him.

    One could even say that it had snuck up on him and stolen the victory.

    If it had attacked the Blood Father of the Spirit World when he had been at his best, instead ofunching a full-force attack when the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been in a weak moment, it probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to win.

    After all, the Blood Father of the Spirit World had not only obtained the secrets of the creation and thriving of fleshly beings when it had been separated from the origin of life, but he had also dipped into the profound mysteries of the other origins in the chaos thanks to the trades between them and the origin of life.

    For instance, he now refined Grand Monarch Nether Spirit¡¯s residual soul power and soul awareness with the mysterious secret magics that were engraved in the depths of the River of Souls.

    By doing this, he cleansed his soul, strengthened his awareness, and even regained his lost memories bit by bit.

    The lightning bolts that hovered around him were branded with the profound truths of lightning and thunder.

    The golden heart-protecting te on his chest was a gift from the origin of metal.

    The frosty gem at his Adam¡¯s apple was a treasure that the origin of ice had had the Void Spirit of Ice condense for him back in the day in order to keep his body from rotting and preserve his ability to contend against the Tree of Life.

    Now, as he gradually regained his awareness, many lost memories of the profound mysteries of the other origins gradually came back to him.

    He was none other than the transcendent creature the origin of life had created with every resource at its disposal, whose purpose was to suppress all the lives in the three worlds that had been created by the other origins.

    He was the one that the origin of life truly relied on.

    This was why it had such high hopes for him and believed that he was his best chance at defeating the rebellious Tree of Life, not Nie Tian.

    Nie Tian¡¯s shadows in the Heavenly Stars Flower took a deep look at Ji Cang.

    Staring at him, Ji Cang asked, ¡°D-did it really choose you?¡±

    ¡°The Dao you pursue has deviated from its intention,¡± Nie Tian said in a soul voice. ¡°Over the years, you¡¯ve gradually grown apart, so much so that you can¡¯t evenmunicate with it or draw star power from it anymore. The reason is because it no longer trusts you. As a matter of fact, you went against your origin¡¯s will as the Star Behemoths did.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit! I¡¯m doing everything for its benefit!¡± Ji Cang retorted, flushed with indignation.

    ¡°For the origin of stars, only after the star cores of the stars in the three worlds develop vague awareness and be star souls can they sense its existence, correspond to it, and repay it with star power,¡± Nie Tian exined. ¡°Star cores can be viewed as seeds that it spread when the grand explosion happened and created this universe.

    ¡°Only if the seeds grow and turn into star souls will this be meaningful, and can the stars absorb all kinds of energy from the boundless starry river to nurture themselves.

    ¡°Otherwise, the stars will be lifeless and unable to establish any sort of connection with it.¡±

    With an icy expression, Ji Cang let out a snort and said, ¡°Do I need you to tell me this?¡±

    ¡°Okay, but do you know that certain conditions have to be met for star cores to turn into star souls with faint awareness?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°What conditions?¡±

    ¡°Only if peak experts perish, and their souls dissipate in the starry river, can star cores be activated,¡± Nie Tian said with a stern tone. ¡°Then, after absorbing and collecting the soul strands for a long time, the star cores will transform into star souls that possess primal consciousness.

    ¡°Before the Starspirits went extinct, they had made tremendous efforts to stop the peak experts of different species from fighting within the realms.

    ¡°Their hope was for them to take their battles to the boundless, open starry river. If they did that, the disembodied souls of the peak experts that died in battle would turn into soul strands that wandered through the starry river as the most special of the various kinds of energy in the universe, as long as the souls of the dead weren¡¯t captured by Netherspirits.

    ¡°Those soul strands of peak experts were the nourishment the star cores needed to transform into star souls.

    ¡°However, what you¡¯ve been trying to do is to have all of the peak experts from the three worlds fight and die in the darknd or some other ce. If you seed, then no more stars will be destroyed in battles that break out between peak experts. The stars will exist eternally.

    ¡°But do you think this is best for the origin of stars? Do you think this will allow it to preserve its power to the greatest extent?

    ¡°You have to know that stars also have lifespans.

    ¡°After their star cores turn into star souls and develop faint awareness, they¡¯ll also experience infancy, maturity, and senility, before they eventually die. All realms, except superrge-scale realms like the floating continent and the Shatter Battlefield, will live and die.

    ¡°If all of the grand patriarchs, grand monarchs, and Saint domain and God domain cultivators die because of your scheme, and no more peak experts appear for a long time, then it means no more star cores will awaken and transform into star souls.

    ¡°This is definitely something the origin of stars doesn¡¯t want to see.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s shadows stared at Ji Cang as he conveyed all that he wanted to say with subtle soul fluctuations.

    Many Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce felt greatly enlightened after hearing his words, as if they had learned about the deepest secrets of the stars and renewed their understanding of the magicalws of this starry river.

    His words also plunged Ji Cang into silence.

    He didn¡¯t speak for a long time.

    At this moment, with the fire of wisdom burning in his eyes, the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who had in Grand Monarch Nether Spirit just now, suddenly grabbed the golden piece of armor on his chest and ripped it off.

    Huang Jinnan stared unblinkingly at it, and sensed metal power stronger than he had ever sensed before.

    Quickly, under his gaze, the golden te morphed into a gigantic axe that shone with golden light.

    In the hand of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, the axe seemed to be evenrger than Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form and mighty enough to sever heaven and earth.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s face split into a nasty grin. The cruelty and ruthlessness in his eyes made every living being that looked at him tremble with fear.

    A wide river of golden light flew out as he shed the golden axe towards the Tree of Life.

    In the golden river of light, countless golden crystals and blood-colored sparks simultaneously burst forth with power violent enough to shatter the entire darknd.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Branches that looked like emerald dragons exploded one after another under the devastating might of the golden axe.

    Immediately afterwards, the river of golden light crashed into the chaotic currents that hovered around the Tree of Life¡¯s main body, sending billions of blindingly bright green, emerald, crimson, and golden sparks flying in every direction.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World let out a derisive chuckle.

    The green, emerald, crimson, and golden sparks that filled up the entire sky seemed to be under hismand, as they suddenly rained down towards Nie Tian and the others.

    ¡°Watch out!¡± Qin Yao and Wu Ji cried out at the same time.

    FIZZ!

    However, some golden sparks had already pierced into the domains, bodies, and even souls of some Saint and God domain cultivators like the sharpest des!

    In the distance, the multicolored sparks rained down on the outsiders as well, giving rise to explosions that sounded like rolling thunder.

    The intense flesh aura seas of some Devil and Netherspirit grand patriarchs were even detonated by the brilliant ¡®raindrops,¡¯ and exploded, their scattered flesh power naturally swirling up into the sky.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was level with the heavens, opened his giant mouth, and gulped down the rich flesh power like sweet dew and fine wine.

    The experts from across the three worlds wailed in agony.

 Chapter 1777: The Subservient Origins

    Both the Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World who had been revived came from the Sea of Life.

    In their eyes, all the living beings of the three worlds that had entered the darknd could be swallowed or killed, except for those who had bloodline rtions with them.

    In this way, they were like the Ancientspirits of the Spirit World, who had recklessly targeted the human race in earlier years, treating humans as livestock and food.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World opened his mouth and inhaled.

    WHOOSH!

    All the Devils, Netherspirits, Seaspirits, and Moonspirits that were killed by the light rain were condensed into rivers of different colors that disappeared into his mouth.

    Meanwhile, streaks of golden light, beams of lightning, and blocks of ice flew away from the dead humans¡¯ bodies.

    They flew into the golden axe in his hands and the lightning chains winding around him, as well as the cold stone at his Adam¡¯s Apple.

    These pure, refined powers came from the Qi warriors who had cultivated metal, thunder, and ice power.

    POOH! POOH!

    Wu Ji raised his hand, and the River of Time that had been condensed out of thin air absorbed the gold, blue, and red rain of light.

    The huge sparks of light burned like balls of fire at the bottom of the River of Time, and were eventually exhausted by the sand of time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s shadows emerging in the Heavenly Stars Flower¡¯s buds frowned and stared at the Blood Father of the Spirit World with a solemn expression.

    He was keenly aware that the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who could absorb flesh power from the Sea of Life in this darknd, was rapidly recovering his strength.

    He and the Tree of Life were regarded by the Blood Father of the Spirit World as the targets that he most needed to kill.

    The light rain all over the sky seemed to be falling on the human race and the outsiders where Zhao Shanling used to be, but the densest and most condensed light rain was in facting at Nie Tian.

    This Nie Tian was merely a wisp of soul awareness. It wasn¡¯t his true form or even a sub-soul.

    If it weren¡¯t for Wu Ji, who had used the power of the River of Time to envelop him like a giant umbre, his soul awareness would have vanished upon being bombarded by the thunderous green light.

    If that happened, it would have hurt his soul somewhat and slowed down his transformation.

    Nie Tian¡¯s shadows fluctuated violently and directly expressed his rage and dissatisfaction. ¡°I¡¯ve warned you not to provoke me or hinder me again!¡±

    His rage and dissatisfaction appeared a littleughable in the darknd.

    However, his true form in the chaos roared at the same time!

    Having broken away from the vast blood sea, his true form stared coldly at the gigantic heart in the depths of the sea. ¡°You and I both know that the Blood Father of the Spirit World is at your beck and call. Since you wanted him to hurt me in the darknd...¡±

    His 100,000-metre-high Life-origin Form crashed into an area that was full of drops of Blood Essence in the vast blood sea.

    ¡°Refine!¡±

    Thousands of wisps of crimson flesh auras came roaring out of his body, pursued, and greedily engulfed the Blood Essence, as if they had their own awareness.

    Nie Tian spread out his hands and watched the crimson flesh auras flying from his body and engulfing the drops of Blood Essence in the origin of life. ¡°I¡¯ve be a paragon because of this blood sea and because of you.

    ¡°So long as I don¡¯t leave the chaos, I can refine the flesh auras here for my own use! Although my fleshly body, which has reached a paragon¡¯s level, may still have a limited capacity and cannot absorb flesh power as infinitely as you can, I can give the refined flesh power to others, such as my other two doppelgangers!¡±

    SWISH!

    Streams of crimson flesh auras refined the Blood Essence, and twisted together into blood waterfalls that shot up into the void.

    The two blood waterfalls rushed at the origin of fire and the origin of stars to help his me doppelganger and his star doppelganger reach the height of a paragon.

    As for the doppelganger with the Mountain of Death, he had nned to give it up, since it had been intentionally used against the origin of life and was filled with death power now.

    FIZZ!

    Suddenly, a beam of dazzling golden divine light shot straight out of the depths of the chaos.

    The golden divine light cut the doppelganger that was wreathed in death power on the summit of the Mountain of Death in half, like a sword splitting the sky.

    Many rays of sharp golden light wandered in the corpse and quickly reduced it to pale-gray smoke.

    In the blink of an eye, the doppelganger, which had separated from the River of Souls and Nie Tian¡¯s main soul, was wiped out.

    Nie Tian was enjoying refining flesh power and focusing on channeling it to the origin of stars and the origin of fire. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he looked up into the depths of the chaos, ¡°Who is it?¡±

    ROAR!

    A golden unicorn with enormous hoofs that seemed to be made of gold emerged slowly from the distant void and growled.

    ¡°A Gold Horn Beast!¡± Nie Tian eximed softly.

    The Gold Horn Beast in front of him was even bigger than the ck tortoise, and was asrge as the Rampage Behemoth.

    It breathed heavily as currents of golden light gushed from its nostrils. Its eyes turned to look at the origin of fire. Immediately afterwards, it charged toward the origin of fire like a beam of golden light.

    WHOOSH!

    A cluster of orange divine me suddenly flew out of the depths of the origin of fire and unleashed clusters of mes to fight a fierce battle against the gigantic Gold Horn Beast in the chaos.

    BOOM!

    A thunderous explosion sound suddenly rang out from another direction.

    The next moment, a Thunder-devouring Whale, which was supposed to be extinct, emerged unexpectedly.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale was hundreds of thousands of meters long, its silvery scales emanating dazzling electric light. As it flicked its tail and swam in the chaos, countless thunderbolts that slithered around it condensed into balls.

    It hade for the River of Souls.

    Like condensations of lightning, its eyes were fixed on Nie Tian¡¯s main soul in the river.

    Almost at the same time, an Ice Liger suddenly appeared in the same way the others had.

    The Ice Liger, which was as crystalline as an ice sculpture and as gigantic as a mountain, headed for the origin of stars.

    WHEEZE!

    Streaks of icy light suddenly shot out of the Ice Liger when it was still a significant distance from the origin of stars.

    The flesh aurasing from Nie Tian in the Sea of Life and shooting towards the origin of stars like an upstream waterfall were bombarded by the ice light spat out by the Ice Liger.

    Surprisingly, the upstream blood-colored flesh auras were frozen in the void by the frigid ice light.

    Cold power even flowed through the flesh auras to Nie Tian¡¯s true form.

    Nie Tian, who was in the Sea of Life, had tiny ice crystals appear on his chest that were like thousands of finger-sized Ice Ligers, trying desperately to get into his heart!

    ¡°A Thunder-devouring Whale, a Gold Horn Beast, and an Ice Liger!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face darkened as he looked into some invisible zones in the depths of the chaos, and gave himself a casual pat on the chest.

    All the finger-sized Ice Ligers were instantly smashed into exploding bits of ice.

    ¡°There seem to be some origins that are subservient and loyal to you. Who would have thought?¡±

    The Thunder-devouring Whale, the Golden Horn Beast, and the Ice Liger were all Ancientbeasts. The Blood Father of the Spirit World had created them under the orders of the origin of life in earlier years.

    These three unusual beasts lurking in the depths of the chaos reminded Nie Tian of the lightning chains around the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s body, the heart-protecting armor on his chest, and the cold stone at his Adam¡¯s Apple.

 Chapter 1778: A Fierce Battle

    There were many origins in the chaos.

    Having grown stronger over eons of time, the origin of life stood out among the many origins of the chaos, and now it was worthy of the title of a colossus.

    It was the strongest among all the origins!

    Many origins like the river of souls, the mountain of death, and the origin of darkness had been dissatisfied with the origin of life, and had tried hard to fight against it.

    There were also origins that remained silent in the chaos.

    However, some other origins were bewitched because they were afraid of the strong origin of life, or they had suffered too much. They had finally chosen to surrender and swear their allegiance to it.

    The origins of thunder, metal, and ice had once created the Icespirits, Thunderspirits, and Goldspirits in the Mortal World. After the three races had been destroyed by the Tree of Life, they had ced their hope in the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was directly corresponding to the origin of life, and was the enforcer of the origin of life¡¯s will.

    Perhaps they had submitted themselves to the rule of the origin of life since then.

    They had probably created the Thunder-devouring Whale, the Golden Horn Beast, and the Ice Liger with flesh auras they had borrowed from the origin of life.

    These three unusual beasts had been at the peak tenth grade to begin with. Then, after being refined by the three origins and the Sea of Life, they were almost half-paragons now!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and the Tree of Life most likely weren¡¯t even aware of the three beasts¡¯ existence. They were likely the Sea of Life¡¯s contingency n.

    ¡°The three worlds have limited luck, and the number of paragons they can support is limited,¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true form said, looking coldly at the three unusual beasts. ¡°It seems that you had a premeditation! You chose the origins of thunder, metal, and ice to create paragons because they were loyal to you.

    ¡°You intended to exclude Grand Monarch Heaven Devil and the other grand monarchs from the beginning.

    The colossal heart shook violently.

    BOOM!

    The silvery scales of the gigantic Thunder-devouring Whale burst forth with zing lightning power.

    The balls of lightning and thunder were condensed by the flesh aura that it released. Each thunderball carried power mighty enough to destroy a realm, and contained the destructive intent of the origin of thunder.

    There were thousands of cyan lightning crystals that were imprinted with the charm of doom in the depths of the dazzling thunderball.

    Any souls that didn¡¯t have a fleshly body would be annihted if they were bombarded by the destructive thunderbolt power this Thunder-devouring Whale released.

    Even the River of Souls would be badly injured if it was bombarded by the Thunder-devouring Whale so furiously. After all, the origin of thunder naturally suppressed the River of Souls in the chaos.

    ¡°So you were prepared for this,¡± Nie Tian said before his Life-origin Form suddenly rushed into the void and stood upright in front of the River of Souls, watching the Thunder-devouring Whale rushing at him, along with thunderballs and entwined lightning bolts that filled his view.

    Across countless thunderballs and dense shes of lightning, the Thunder-devouring Whale growled at Nie Tian in a very disdainful manner, as if it were looking down on all living beings.

    ¡°No one can go against its will!

    ¡°It is the foundation that enables all races of life to be born!

    ¡°If it dries up, all living beings will die, and all races¡¯ bloodlines will disappear!¡±

    ¡°You must have been a Thunder-devouring Whale that was very strong in ancient times,¡± Nie Tian said with a calm smile. ¡°I guess you were revived by the origin of thunder with a drop of Blood Essence, but you have no idea that many things have changed as eras have developed generation after generation.¡±

    His great hands tugged and pulled.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    He forcefully grabbed streaks of blood light in waterfalls from the Sea of Life.

    With them, he built a blood-red wall between him and the iing thunderballs and lightning. Many blood imprints bloomed like flowers on the wall.

    BOOM! ZZZZZLA!

    The Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s thunderballs and dense lightning smashed into the blood-red wall.

    The power of thunder and lightning could kill souls, but it wasn¡¯t lethal to fleshly bodies.

    Nie Tian, who was a paragon now, could freely use the power of the Sea of Life in the chaos. Even if he was injured, he could recover in a breath.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale, which had been created by the origin of thunder with the blood sea¡¯s flesh power, was only half a paragon. Therefore, it was no match for him.

    All the thunderballs and lightning disappeared one by one.

    After the blood-colored flowers blooming in the blood-red wall exploded, they reappeared in a twinkling of an eye.

    Nie Tian grinned wickedly and said, ¡°The origins don¡¯t have fleshly bodies, so they cannot fight directly and must rely on their creations. Since the origin of life is the strongest in the chaos. I, who have be a paragon with its help, should be invincible in this chaos at present.¡±

    SPLASH!

    He raised his hand and casually grabbed towards the blood-red wall before it condensed into a long spear.

    The long spear was the same as the one transformed from the Rage Behemoth bone, and was imprinted with its violent blood power. It shot at the Thunder-devouring Whale in a sh.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale flew upward in terror.

    POOH!

    The crimson spear streaked across the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s belly, bringing out deep blue blood and triggering explosions from many thunderballs.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale screamed in pain, terrified of Nie Tian. It growled in thenguage of the Ancientspirits. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the Golden Horn Beast and the Ice Liger! Your other doppelgangers will be killed! And when Blood Father of the Spirit World cuts down the Tree of Life and returns, you¡¯ll also die!¡±

    It knew that it could not defeat Nie Tian in the chaos, who could mobilize the blood sea¡¯s infinite flesh power.

    After Nie Tian became a paragon, he had only two opponents who were equally matched with him ¡ª the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life, who both came from the same origin: the Sea of Life.

    In another location in the chaos, the Golden Horn Beast and the Ice Liger let out an earth-shattering roar, as if to respond to him.

    In the midst of the orange mes, golden blood could be seen flowing in the eyes of the Gold Horn Beast, as if by burning drops of gold Blood Essence, it was trying desperately to break through the me power that could burn all the living beings and rush into the origin of fire, where it hoped to kill Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelg?nger.

    As for the Ice Liger, it had killed the streaks of blood light sent out by Nie Tian¡¯s true form, and reached the origin of stars.

    Upon entering the First Star, it found itself in the depths of a world that was filled with stars.

    However, because the origin of stars was hiding Nie Tian¡¯s star doppelganger deliberately, it failed to find it, and it was about to advance.

    WHOOSH!

    The Ice Liger¡¯s enormous frozen body shook violently in the origin of stars.

    Frigid ice des morphed into ice storms, spreading in every direction with the Ice Liger at their center.

    CRACK!

    In the origin of stars, countless small star particles were the embodiment of the cores of the stars in the starry river. Cut by those ice des, many of them were broken into smaller pieces.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    The starlit Heavenly Stars Flower and Nie Tian¡¯s shadows that had been talking with Ji Cang suddenly disappeared into thin air.

    Even Ji Cang sensed that the origin of stars was being attacked in the chaos.

    ¡°Receive me!¡± snapped Ji Cang.

    BAM!

    Many wisps of star power swam all over him.

    Like the Heavenly Stars Flower and Nie Tian¡¯s shadows, he became fuzzy first, and then quickly disappeared.

 Chapter 1779: Boundless Flesh Power

    In the darknd...

    Suddenly, balls of blood light exploded in the depths of the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s scarlet eyes as it growled!

    The Rampage Behemoth, which had been born in the Primal Era and had once run amuck in the three worlds, suddenly charged at the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Dong Li, who had mastered the Dark Aureole, screamed in shock!

    Even the ck tortoise stared surprisedly at the irascible Rampage Behemoth.

    WHEEZE! WHEEZE!

    The blood aura spurting from the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s nostrils sshed with ck and purple electric light. There was even a hint of darkness in the scarlet blood light in the behemoth¡¯s eyes!

    Zhao Shanling, who was no longer presenting himself in his Ancient Arch-devil form, was shocked.

    Then, many Devils and Demons who hade from the Spirit World sensed something through their bloodlines at the same time.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that the origin of the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s bloodline is actually that darkness!¡± Dong Li¡¯s face looked incredulous as she shouted loudly.

    The Rampage Behemoth¡¯s huge body continued to expand, gradually bing like a winding pitch-ck mountain range.

    ¡°Hey,¡± the Blood Father of the Spirit World said. He turned his head around and struck his empty hand towards the Rampage Behemoth. As soon as he did, thunder and lightning filled the void and rained down onto the Rampage Behemoth.

    BOOM!

    The sky of the whole darknd shook violently.

    Because of the conflict between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Rampage Behemoth, the sky seemed unable to bear the pressure. Dense spatial rifts cracked open.

    Hundreds of lightning waterfalls that were as thick as dragons and serpents bombarded the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s mountainous body.

    The Rampage Behemoth bared its teeth and let out growls. Its eyes were like deep dark wells, exuding endless rage and madness.

    WHOOSH!

    Stirred by the eruption of the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s flesh aura, the Dark Aureole that had belonged to the Dark King suddenly escaped from Dong Li¡¯s clutches and flew out.

    Then, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s erupting flesh aura instantly merged into the Dark Aureole.

    Like a weird sun, the Dark Aureole was sometimes crimson, sometimes deep purple, and sometimes pitch ck. It burned violently as it crashed towards the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    After the Dark Aureole flew over, the thick wide lightning waterfalls disappeared one after another with loud crackles.

    In a sh, the weird Dark Aureole appeared in front of the chest of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    ¡°You take orders from that darkness...¡± the Blood Father of the Spirit World muttered as he looked down at the Dark Aureole. Then, he lifted the giant golden axe that was condensed from his heart-protecting armor and brought it down with great force.

    Heaven and earth seemed to be split by the axe.

    ZZZZZLA!!

    A brilliant light passage cracked open in the space of the darknd.

    Some sharp-eyed experts looked at the light passage, and caught a glimpse of Nie Tian¡¯s true form, which was a hundred thousand meters tall now, and a Thunder-devouring Whale that was of the size of the Rampage Behemoth floating in a sea of countless thunderballs and electric currents.

    Anyone who saw that could tell that the Thunder-devouring Whale was in fact very terrified and uneasy.

    Many Ancientspirits that were hiding in the dark gawked at the Thunder-devouring Whale that had appeared only for a brief moment, and suddenly yelled, ¡°Our strongest ancestor, the one in our legends!¡±

    ¡°Thunder Ancestor!

    ¡°A Thunder-devouring Whale!¡±

    BAM!

    The giant axe of the Blood Father of the Spirit World fell on the Dark Aureole.

    The whole darknd suddenly shook!

    Then, crimson and gold light and billions of dark crystal particles flew out from the chest of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, where the collision had taken ce.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Streaks of brilliant light somehow emerged in the remote, marginal regions of the seemingly sealed darknd.

    The streaks of brilliant light began to wander through the darknd like disorderly thunderbolts.

    Plenty of titans were in hiding and refused to show their faces. Many dragons and Ancientbeasts thought they could stay out of trouble. However, at this moment, they were all ferreted out and attacked by those streaks of brilliant light.

    The streaks of brilliant light crushed their bodies and reduced them to broken limbs and flesh that were cast to the earth.

    The surface of the earth swallowed up the broken limbs and flesh, as if they had invisible mouths.

    The branches and leaves of the third generation of the Tree of Life grew greener and greener. It seemed to have eyes that were indifferently and expectantly watching the Rampage Behemoth attack the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    SWISH!

    Suddenly, thorny branches pierced out from the depths of the earth.

    The branches, which were like sharp knives and spikeweed, cut and badly mutted the feet of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, which were as wide as seas.

    Stimted by the Tree of Life, the tenacious branches continued to grow. Heavenly Wood Thorns, which Nie Tian had mastered, erupted in the feet of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World sensed agonizing pain for the first time, and became more and more irritable.

    He threw a punch at the Rampage Behemoth with his huge hand.

    His flesh aura, golden light currents, lightning bolts, ice shards, and wisps of soul awareness all converged into the punch.

    Some people who were familiar with it couldn¡¯t help but scream as they saw the huge fist that gathered so many streaks of energy growingrger andrger and being filled with unspeakably terrifying power.

    ¡°The Titan¡¯s Wrath that Nie Tian once disyed!¡±

    ¡°He must have learned it from him!¡±

    BOOM!

    The punch that could break even the starry sky hit the head of the Rampage Behemoth that had almost been restored to its peak because of Nie Tian¡¯s Life Grant, and made it drop heavily towards the earth like a cannonball.

    Its mountainous body crushed countless branches before its fall slowed slightly.

    That allowed the people of various races that were under its huge body to escape.

    If it weren¡¯t for that, they would have been crushed to death or badly injured.

    Zhao Shanling took a deep breath and suddenly looked up into the sky in the darknd. ¡°Kill the Blood Father of the Spirit World first.¡±

    Suddenly, a ray of white light flew out of his eyes.

    The white light pierced the dome of the darknd. It seemed to instantly extend to the Domain of Shadow Devil of the Devils in the Void World, and reach the most mysterious and ancient forbiddennd of the Devils from there.

    The white light soon returned.

    As it did, deep purple Devil Qi could be seen condensing in it and turning into pure Devil power. As it fell into Zhao Shanling¡¯s body, another force from the origin fused into him as well.

    Zhao Shanling growled and transformed again into an Ancient Arch-devil.

    Holding the Void Mirror with one hand and carrying a ck devilish saber in the other, he strode towards the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    After seeing that even Zhao Shanling had joined the fight, Qin Yao, the lord of the Doomed Star Sea, hesitated and asked Wu Ji for advice. ¡°Senior Wu?¡±

    Wu Ji nodded softly. ¡°Now, the Blood Father of the Spirit World seems to be the greater threat. Besides, he must never go back to the chaos, or Nie Tian might be overwhelmed there.¡±

    Qin Yao knew at once what he should do. ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t wait any longer.¡±

    He pointed at the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    After a moment of hesitation, all those from the Doomed Star Sea, whether they were crooked cultivators or rebels from the Spirit World, pointed their weapons at the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was holding the giant axe and exuding an aura dominating enough to break the heavens.

    The fiercest battles broke out simultaneously in the chaos and the darknd.

    A blue shadow suddenly appeared in front of the origin of fire.

    ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

 Chapter 1780: Strip!

    Pei Qiqi stood in front of the origin of fire.

    All the facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal shone and showed the fierce battle that was taking ce in the darknd.

    What one could see was mostly the battle between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Rampage Behemoth. Bombarded by the Blood Father of the Spirit World with Titan¡¯s Wrath, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s mountainous body fell heavily from the sky.

    There were also beams of brilliant light that wandered around and murdered the Ancientbeasts on those facets.

    At this moment, Pei Qiqi¡¯s hands that were like white jade suddenly reached into the Space Boundaries Crystal¡¯s facets.

    In the darknd.

    A ninth-grade frost dragon was frightenedly looking at a beam of deadly brilliant light.

    Suddenly, a hand that was like white jade seemed to suddenlye out of interweavingyers of space.

    The beam of brilliant light that contained sharp spatial power was suddenly seized by the jade-like hand.

    It seemed as if the light were caught by the throat like a white snake, and it no longer moved.

    In a sh, the beam of terrifying brilliant light that had killed the frost dragon¡¯s friends vanished before its eyes.

    Likewise, some simr beams of brilliant light were also suddenly snatched away in remote marginal regions of the darknd.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    From the facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi snapped over ten streaks of spatial light that had flown out of the spatial rifts split open by the fierce battle in the darknd.

    Hearing Nie Tian¡¯s cry, her cold eyes showed a hint of warmth.

    It seemed that after hearing him call her ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei,¡± she returned from her inhumane Void Spirit form.

    She cast a nce at Nie Tian as a very light smile yed on her lips. Then she pointed her jade finger at the Golden Horn Beast.

    The streaks of spatial light she had snapped out of the darknd through her Space Boundaries Crystal instantly morphed into des that could shatter grand monarchs and split god domain cultivators.

    CRACKLE!

    Wounds appeared on the solid gold body of the Golden Horn Beast, which had been revived and reared by the origin of metal and the Sea of Life with a drop of Blood Essence.

    Drops of golden blood that were able to prate even the hardest metal were separated and flew out from the Golden Horn Beast¡¯s fleshly body.

    The small Divine me in the depths of the sea of orange mes let out a joyful scream.

    SWOOSH!

    Violently-burning buds that carried imprints fierce enough to burn and destroy all living beings suddenly wrapped the Golden Horn Beast¡¯s drops of golden blood.

    The Golden Horn Beast immediately let out a bitter roar.

    Because its Blood Essence had been burned, the unusual beast that had promoted its low bloodline to the extreme was badly injured in an instant, rming the origin of metal, which had regarded it as its inheritor and a candidate for a paragon.

    It would be difficult for it to carry out the orders of the origin of metal and the origin of life anymore.

    It was already very close to the origin of fire and Nie Tian¡¯s me doppelganger, but it couldn¡¯t get an inch closer.

    In the origin of stars.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower and Ji Cang emerged at almost the same time.

    They left the darknd and flew into the chaos in the blink of an eye!

    Upon arriving, Ji Cang looked intoxicated, his eyes sparkling. However, before he could have time to feel his surroundings, he saw the Ice Liger burst forth with countless rays of icy light in an attempt to destroy the starry sea corresponding to the stars of the three worlds.

    Ji Cang¡¯s eyes instantly went cold. ¡°The origin of ice, an Ice Liger!¡±

    As he shouted, countless splinters of starlight started flying at once.

    He disyed his star domain, and turned himself into a vast curtain of stars that suddenly enveloped the Ice Liger, ¡°The Icespirits were destroyed by the Tree of Life. I understand that as the origin of ice, you reached a tacit understanding with the Blood Father of the Spirit World to fight and retaliate against the Tree of Life!

    ¡°But have you forgotten that the imbnce between all the origins and the blood sea is the real cause of the extinction of the Icespirits, the Goldspirits, and the Thunderspirits?

    ¡°Without the Tree of Life, after the Blood Father of the Spirit World has the Ancientspirits get rid of the races in the Void World, you¡¯ll be next!

    ¡°Pitiful fools! You¡¯re well-aware of this, but you have been beaten up so much that you¡¯re scared, and you¡¯re willing to serve that blood sea as its loyal dogs.

    ¡°How pathetic!¡±

    He mocked it without restraint.

    He knew that the origin of ice hiding in the chaos must be able to hear all his words through this Ice Liger.

    Now, the Golden Horn Beast was stopped by the Divine me and Pei Qiqi. After Ji Cang broke into the chaos, the Ice Liger could no longer damage or threaten the origin of stars either.

    As for the Thunder-devouring Whale... prated by many crimson blood spears condensed from Nie Tian¡¯s true form, the strongest Thunder-devouring Whale in history was now riddled with wounds.

    The silvery scales on the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s colossal body exploded one after another, leaving hundreds of bloody holes in its body.

    Blood gushed out of the bloody holes.

    zing thunder balls, which could burst realms and wipe out even the souls of Netherspirit grand monarchs, were shattered by Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form as if he were bursting balloons.

    Nie Tian¡¯s towering 100,000-meter bodynded on the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s head.

    ¡°Bloodline, Profound Truths Crystallization!¡±

    His thick flesh aura sea enveloped the Thunder-devouring Whale.

    Wisps of flesh power that contained the profound truths of life permeated into the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s body.

    The Thunder-devouring Whale struggled madly as its internal organs burst like pools of lightning and thunder.

    Nie Tian, however, stood motionless.

    The bloodline talent that he had awakened in the origin of life and contained the true essence of life engulfed the Thunder-devouring Whale, just as he had done before.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Bloodline Crystal Chains actually flew from the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s silver heart, which weighed countless pounds.

    The Bloodline Crystal Chains were separated by Nie Tian¡¯s Profound Truths Crystallization.

    The flesh aura of the holy beast of the Ancientspirits that the origin of thunder had refined and ced high hopes on quickly dried up, like a rubber ball filled with blood that had its blood drained.

    A long time ago, he had also separated the mysteries of thunder from a Thunder-devouring Whale and turned them into a Profound Truths Crystal, which he had given to Mo Qianfan to help him break through to the God domain.

    Now, because of his Profound Truths Crystallization bloodline talent, the Thunder-devouring Whale morphed into a thunder ball made of condensed electric light in his palm.

    ¡°The Thunder-devouring Whale has the Ancientspirits¡¯ bloodline and was created by the Blood Father of the Spirit World. The blood sea got the original lightning bloodline from the origin of thunder during their trade, and then gave it to the Blood Father of the Spirit World.¡±

    Looking at the Profound Truths Crystallization in his palm that was wreathed in electric light, Nie Tian knew that it was the very thing the origin of life had obtained from the origin of thunder, and then passed on to the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    All that his Profound Truths Crystallization had done was strip it from the heart of the living being!

    Nie Tian bent his finger and flicked. ¡°Go!¡±

    The Profound Truths Crystal, which contained the mysteries of the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline and corresponded to the origin of thunder, morphed into a ball of light and suddenly flew away without leaving a trace.

    In the darknd.

    The Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan, who stood next to Nie Jin and wore a surly, sullen face, fixed his eyes on the scene where Qin Yao attacked the Blood Father of the Spirit World by working together with the crooked forces of the Doomed Star Sea and the Ancient Arch-devil that Zhao Shanling had morphed into.

    The order he had received was to protect Nie Jin.

    Suddenly, he saw a bright thunder ball appear out of nowhere. ¡°Ah!¡±

    The thunder ball seemed to have eyes, and quickly flew towards him.

    Before he could realize what was happening, the thunder ball entered the spiritual sea in his dantian region where it interacted wonderfully with his lightning power spiritual core.

    Then, his soul seemed to hear Nie Tian¡¯s voice.

    In an instant, he was thrilled. ¡°Young Master!¡±

 Chapter 1781: A Gift From A Paragon!

    SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

    Three thunderbolts flew out of the chaos in session after the thunder ball that was the Profound Truths Crystal.

    All three thunderbolts charged at the Thunder Devil as well.

    The Thunder Devil was stunned for a moment, and immediately disyed his thunder domain.

    The zing thunder in his thunder domain rapidly gathered into thunder pools.

    Upon entering his thunder domain, the three thunderbolts from the chaos made the thunder pools shake violently.

    The Thunder Devil squinted as he gazed fixedly at them.

    ording to his soul perception, the three thunderbolts were at the peak tenth grade, and had been condensed from a Thunder-devouring Whale that was full of thunder essense and only half a step away from bing a paragon.

    Each thunderbolt¡¯s power was equal to the total amount of the thunder power of ate God domain expert who cultivated thunder power!

    The Dao of thunder that the Thunder Devil studied was originally to devour and refine all the humans and outsiders who cultivated thunder in heaven and earth.

    He was more sensitive than anyone else in that respect!

    ¡°Three thunderbolts, each of which is equal to ate God domain expert!¡±

    Frightening light shot out of his eyes, as if he were a vicious and bloodthirsty beast that had been starving for millions of years and suddenly spotted something that he could hunt.

    ¡°Before or after my reincarnation, I have never encountered such boundless, surging thunder power!¡±

    Feeling the pores all over his body open, he let out a frightening, horrifyingugh. ¡°Hahaha! Thank you! Thank you very much!¡±

    BOOM!

    Beams of dazzling light suddenly burst from the thunder pools in his god domain.

    His thunder domain slowly refined the three thunderbolts, which were in the form of colossal whales, as he perceived them with his soul, like a giant serpent swallowing whales.

    His thunder domain had been badly damaged earlier, and his thunder pools were about to dry up.

    However, in a very short period of time, his thunder domain expanded more than ten times!

    His thunder domain seemed to be overflowing with violent thunder and flitting lightning!

    This was a strange phenomenon that he had never experienced before during his cultivation!

    ¡°This is great!¡± he yelled.

    Inside his body, his spiritual core merged into the Profound Truths Crystal, and was imprinted with many profound truths from the origin of thunder in the depths of the chaos by countless rays of crystalline light flying out of the crystal.

    Therefore, within a short period of time, the Thunder Devil¡¯s cultivation base soared crazily, and his battle prowess skyrocketed!

    Many people who also cultivated thunder incantations all sensed something, and looked at him in horror.

    In their eyes, the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan¡¯s thunder domain seemed to have morphed into a wonderfulnd that was the most capable of gathering thunder and lightning power. When they gazed at thend full of thunder and lightning, they somehow had the illusion that he was perceiving the origin with his soul.

    Nie Jin couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Late God domain! Thunder Devil, you...¡±

    She didn¡¯t know what was going on, but she saw the Thunder Devil¡¯s battle prowess and cultivation base change in an impossible way.

    ¡°Mistress, it¡¯s the young master!¡± the Thunder Devil took a deep breath and said in a world of thunder and lightning. ¡°He killed that Thunder-devouring Whale in the chaos! He stripped the power in the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline and gave it to me!¡±

    Nie Jin was stunned.

    Hearing his exnation, many human experts were also shocked.

    Was Nie Tian so strong already?

    He could even plunder the true meaning that the origin of thunder had passed down to the Thunder-devouring Whale and give it to the Thunder Devil?

    He was helping the Thunder Devil be a paragon!

    CRACKLING!

    The Thunder Devil chuckled strangely as his dharma idol suddenly changed. It sometimes morphed into a giant in thunder and lightning, and sometimes a Thunder-devouring Whale that breathed thunder pools in and out.

    Mo Qianfan, who had also refined a Profound Truths Crystal, looked up at the Thunder Devil and felt a little bitter in his heart.

    At this moment, after swallowing the Profound Truths Crystal that contained the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s bloodline, the Thunder Devil had be the one who was the closest to the origin of thunder in the three worlds.

    If the Thunder Devil made a determined effort to kill him, it would be easy.

    Mo Qianfan was able to advance to the God domain because he had also gotten help from the Profound Truths Crystal of a Thunder-devouring Whale.

    However,pared to the Thunder Devil, his Profound Truths Crystal was far weaker. They weren¡¯t at the same level at all.

    Mo Qianfan sighed inwardly with mixed feelings. ¡°Nie Tian gave the Thunder Devil the Profound Truths Crystal not only because he is loyal and unselfish, but also because his talent is so much better than mine. Only he can bring out the full power of that Profound Truths Crystal.¡±

    He didn¡¯t know that even the origin of thunder, which was hiding in the chaos, shared a tacit understanding with the Sea of Life and was willing to cooperate with Blood Father of the Spirit World, but now it was letting out helpless sighs.

    Instead of the Thunder-devouring Whale, it had to rely on the Thunder Devil Yuan Jiuchuan now.

    However, it wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything unless it could convince the Thunder Devil to be aspletely obedient as the Thunder-devouring Whale.

    Since the Primal Era, there had been plenty of Void Spirits that had gone against their origins, let alone the Thunder Devil, who came topletely understand the true meaning of its origin through a gift from someone else.

    The Thunder Devil¡¯s dharma idol was constantly changing. He actually sensed the awareness of the origin of thunder as he used his small spiritual core to melt the Profound Truths Crystal.

    ¡°I got the inheritance because of Young Master instead of your choice!¡± he responded in a tough manner.

    ...

    In front of the River of Souls, Nie Tian looked at the Thunder-devouring Whale whose bloodline mysteries had been pulled out and whose thunder power had been refined and fused into the Thunder Devil¡¯s body after being killed by him. ¡°My efforts and help didn¡¯t go to waste.¡±

    Then he sneered softly, ¡°I can¡¯t believe that you wanted to destroy my soul!¡±

    His true soul, which had sunk into the River of Souls, suddenly flew out.

    It morphed into a cyanherworld that enveloped the Thunder-devouring Whale¡¯s corpse.

    HISS!

    Thousands of fist-sized Thunder-devouring Whales rushed out of the corpse¡¯s head.

    Electric currents shed in them as they tried to escape.

    But soon, the Thunder-devouring Whale realized that all of its thousands of fragmentary souls had been locked down by Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    ¡°Great Soul-conjuring Spell,¡± Nie Tian¡¯s true soul called.

    The cyanherworld instantly generated suction force!

    The Thunder-devouring Whales flew into the cyanherworld one after another, like metal being attracted to a ma.

    Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form suddenly stepped out of the chaos and bellowed, ¡°Golden Horn Beast!¡±

    In a breath¡¯s time, he reappeared before the origin of fire.

    As soon as it saw Nie Tian, the Golden Horn Beast that Pei Qiqi and the Divine me had worked together to suppress let out shrill, weird screams, while its golden Blood Essence continued to be stripped little by little and its body continued to be burned by the surging mes.

    It called to the origin of metal and the origin of life for help.

    ¡°The origins are nothing but the crystallization of principles and mysteries. Even if they have intelligence, they don¡¯t have fleshly bodies and can¡¯t fight directly,¡± Nie Tian said with a gruesome smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m the first to advance to a paragon, so I¡¯m the strongest, and invincible in this chaos.¡±

    He cast his Profound Truths Crystallization again.

    Soon, the Golden Horn Beast, which shared the same grade with the Thunder-devouring Whale and had been bombarded and badly injured by the Divine me and Pei Qiqi in session, was turned into a golden ball of light in Nie Tian¡¯s palm.

    ¡°The origin of metal... I wonder if Huang Jinnan can handle it,¡± Nie Tian muttered. ¡°Whatever. Since he¡¯s the Divine Son chosen by the metal element sect, he should be capable enough!¡±

 Chapter 1782: The Divine Flame Shapes Its Body

    Huang Jinnan from the Five Elements Sect looked longingly at the giant golden axe that the Blood Father of the Spirit World clutched in his hand.

    It seemed to be vested with the profound truths of metal power by the origin of metal that was hiding in the depths of the chaos.

    As far as Huang Jinnan saw it, if he could obtain that golden axe, his cultivation base would undoubtedly soar through the heavens.

    WHOOSH!

    A sphere of golden light that was only the size of a fist, but brilliant like a sun, manifested out of thin air in front of Huang Jinnan¡¯s chest.

    Huang Jinnan¡¯s expression flickered with astonishment.

    In the next moment, the brilliant sphere of golden light sucked Huang Jinnan into it before he could realize what was happening.

    ¡°Divine Son!¡±

    Many Saint domain Qi warriors from the metal element sect were scared out of their minds.

    However, Master Blood Spirit, who was loyal to Nie Tian and exuding a booming flesh aura, learned what was happening from Nie Tian¡¯s soul will that was conveyed to him through their blood connection.

    ¡°That¡¯s a tremendous fortune for him!¡± he yelled. ¡°You need to get away from him now!¡±

    Upon hearing this, the Qi warriors from the metal element sect found that Huang Jinnan was actually vigorous and spirited in the internal space inside that glowing golden sphere.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Several streaks of divine golden light shot out from the chaos.

    They quietly infiltrated Huang Jinnan¡¯s body and started making changes to his spiritual cores, domain, and sea of awareness.

    As this happened, Huang Jinnan shrewdly sensed the aura of the origin of metal.

    However, he was aware that the ¡®Profound Truths Crystal¡¯ he received now had been condensed from a unique metal-attributed beast Nie Tian had in in the chaos. This was simr to what had happened to Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil.

    Many elders, Divine Sons, and Divine Daughters of the Five Elements Sect that were gathered near Huang Jinnan couldn¡¯t help but marvel, ¡°Such avish gift!¡±

    After obtaining such a tremendous fortune, Huang Jinnan was bound to gain an unstoppable momentum in his future cultivation even after he advanced to the God domain!

    If there weren¡¯t any mishaps, he would be the strongest expert of the entire Five Elements Sect within a short time.

    There was no doubt that he would be able to reach thete God domain and surpass his master!

    After all, that ¡®Profound Truths Crystal¡¯ he had been given contained the Dao of metal power from the origin of metal.

    Every Qi warrior from the Five Elements Sect could see that Huang Jinnan¡¯s golden spear, golden lotus, and all of his metal-attributed spiritual tools were breaking through their original levels.

    Soaring along with them was his cultivation base!

    ...

    Nie Tian let out a soft chuckle and said to Pei Qiqi, ¡°There¡¯s one more, that Ice Liger. It won¡¯t take long, Senior Martial Sister.¡±

    Then, after a moment of hesitation, he turned to the orange-red Divine me and said, ¡°Well... This is for you.¡±

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence flew out of him to join the Divine me like loose crystalline beads from a gorgeous bead curtain.

    Surrounded by fire, the Divine me¡¯s petite, delicate figure swayed slowly, somehow looking feminine and charming.

    If they were stimted by life essence from the origin of life, Void Spirits could transform into fleshly existences like Star Behemoths.

    They could also collect life essence and use it to create species corresponding to their origins.

    The Divine me had already created Nie Yan, the first Ifrit, with the Blood Essence it had obtained from Nie Tian in exchange for a me spark it had separated from itself.

    It had already finished the task the origin of fire had charged it with.

    Because of that, it could use these drops of Blood Essence it received from Nie Tian on itself now, and make itself transform into a more advanced, higher being.

    It would be its choice whether it wanted to be a being like a Star Behemoth, or something else.

    At this moment, it seemed to be gazing quietly at Nie Tian from the depths of a cluster of fire.

    ¡°Go ahead,¡± Pei Qiqi said.

    As a Void Spirit herself, she had an uneasy feeling as she sensed the changes the Divine me was experiencing after receiving Nie Tian¡¯s gift.

    Nie Tianughed in an unrestrained manner, then flew towards the origin of stars.

    As soon as he left, the Divine me in the cluster of orange-red fire rapidly refined the Blood Essence Nie Tian had given it as a gift into itself, and started forging and shaping its body ording to its likings.

    In the Primal Era, Star Behemoths¡¯ iparably immense flesh power had made them the mightiest and scariest forces in battle.

    At that time, not many other intelligent higher species had been created. Therefore, the Void Spirits¡¯ concept of them had been rather shallow.

    In this era, however, the Void Spirits got to see many powerful species such as Devils, Netherspirits, and humans aftering out of the chaos. This changed their perspective.

    Therefore, the Divine me decided to shape itself into an unearthly beautiful, curvaceous young woman with long red hair cascading to her shoulders.

    Soon, it finished her transformation and manifested in the fire with great rity.

    Upon seeing its new form in the fire, even Pei Qiqi marveled inwardly, knowing that the Divine me must have put all that made a female human charming and desirable into this new form of its. It was simply perfect.

    Ifpared, she, Dong Li, Hou Chn, and all the other so-called beauties from the human domains would be outshone by this young woman in the fire.

    She frowned slightly, a cold look appearing in her eyes. Then, she said with a somewhat hostile tone, ¡°Why would you waste such precious original life power on modifying your looks? You could have used it to make your new form even stronger and more adapted forbat.¡±

    ¡°I think if I look like this, he¡¯ll like me more,¡± The Divine me said in a slow, dulcet voice.

    After that, she giggled, which was as sweet as the sound of a silver bell.

    Seeing this, Pei Qiqi frowned even deeper.

    ...

    The origin of stars.

    Suppressed by Ji Cang, who had finally returned from the darknd, the Ice Liger was forced to escape.

    By the time Nie Tian arrived, it had already left the First Star, and was fleeing towards the origin of ice in the depths of the chaos.

    Anger filled Ji Cang¡¯s heart as he stared at Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form and remembered that his star doppleganger was still receiving legacies inside the origin of stars. ¡°What are you doing here? Don¡¯t imagine that I¡¯ll resign myself to fate just because of the lecture you gave earlier.¡±

    Looking at him, Nie Tian said, ¡°I suppose you¡¯ve changed, since it summoned you back and let you deal with the Ice Liger. Don¡¯t forget that you came from it. It can sense your thoughts even if you¡¯re out there, and it¡¯s in the chaos. I bet you¡¯ve epted what I said to you earlier.¡±

    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t!¡± With these words, Ji Cang¡¯s face dropped, and he prepared to go chase after that Ice Liger.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Nie Tian said casually. ¡°As long as the Blood Father of the Spirit World doesn¡¯t return, I¡¯ll be unmatched in the chaos.¡±

    WHOOSH!

    He suddenly morphed into a streak of blood-colored light and shot off after the fleeing Ice Liger with a speed and a momentum that even Ji Cang couldn¡¯t match.

    Ji Cang could only watch him disappear into the distant void and sigh.

    Momentster.

    Nie Tian returned with an icy sphere and several sparkling ice power-infused stones in his hand. He stopped in front of Ji Cang.

    Everyst wisp of the Ice Liger¡¯s aura had disappeared from the chaos.

    With a forceful fling, he cast the Profound Truths Crystal that contained the wonders of the origin of ice outside the chaos.

    As for the icy stones, he hesitated for a brief moment before flicking his finger.

    The icy stones then shot towards the colossal heart in the endless blood sea.

    Midway, the icy stones morphed into ice shards that were iparably sharp and exuded frosty auras.

    A derisiveugh escaped Ji Cang¡¯s mouth. ¡°Who would have thought that you¡¯d turn around and attack the Sea of Life moments after you became a paragon with its power, just as the Tree of Life did. I find all of you who carry a life bloodline quite funny. First, it was the Tree of Life. Now, it¡¯s you. Not only would you rebel against your own origin, but you would actually go so far in your rebellion!

    ¡°Even the Star Behemoths in the Primal Era only went against their origin¡¯s will, and chose to soar through the three worlds as free spirits.

    ¡°None of them thought up every possible method to return to the chaos and kill their own origins.¡±

 Chapter 1783: Unprecedented!

    The Star Behemoths and the Tree of Life had either refused to take orders from their origins, or aspired to rece their origin.

    However, what Nie Tian was trying to do now was to kill his origin!

    It had been eons since the great explosion had created this universe. However, there hadn¡¯t been a single precedent where creations had tried to kill their own origins.

    That was because no one knew what would happen to those who had received legacies from it if an origin perished.

    Even though there were arge number of origins in the chaos, the conflicts between them usually happened in the three worlds.

    The origins themselves weren¡¯t built to fight.

    Meanwhile, the chaos was considered a forbiddennd for the beings they created.

    Incidents like Nie Tian fighting and killing the Thunder-devouring Whale, the Gold Horn Beast, and the Ice Liger had rarely happened in the chaos.

    Almost all of the conflicts between the origins happened in the three worlds, between the species they had created.

    After all, the decline and extinction of species would greatly affect their correspondent origins.

    The origins of ice, thunder, and metal had suffered heavy blows from the extinction of the Icespirits, Lightningspirits, and Metalspirits.

    Other than the Tree of Life, there hadn¡¯t been another being that had attempted to enter the chaos and rece its own origin.

    Technically speaking, the Tree of Life was a part of the origin of life.

    It was a Void Spirit that had been separated from the origin of life, and hadter developed its own awareness and independent will.

    Therefore, it seemed to make sense if it wanted to rece the will of the origin of life with its own.

    After all, the origin of life would still exist if that happened.

    However, what about what Nie Tian was trying to do now?

    If he slew the origin of life, and the blood sea dried up, would his life bloodline still exist?

    Would he still be a paragon?

    If even the foundation of life was gone, how would the Ancientspirits and the other species it had created with its life essence continue to thrive in the starry river?

    Would the outsider species in the Spirit World and the Void World that relied on their flesh power to be stronger really be unaffected?

    No one could answer these questions, as no one had ever tried to do such a thing in the many eras before.

    In front of the origin of stars, Ji Cang stared at him and shouted, ¡°Are you crazy?! You have no idea what you¡¯re doing! No one can tell what will happen to the countless lives in the three worlds if that heart explodes! That heart and that boundless blood sea are the foundation on which countless lives have been created!

    ¡°If it¡¯s destroyed, all thates from it might copse and cease to exist!¡±

    However, Nie Tian turned a deaf ear to his shouting.

    The sharp ice shards condensed from the Ice Liger¡¯s ice power plunged into the vast blood sea one after another, aimed at that colossal heart.

    THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

    The heart started thumping violently.

    Under its channeling, crimson drops of blood that were the size of baby fists came to form in a split second.

    They all shot towards the iing ice shards.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Upon contact with the crimson drops of blood, the ice shards that looked like pirs of frigid ice were smashed and reduced to countless rays of icy light and tiny icy des shooting towards every part of the Sea of Life.

    As this happened, an ice mountain suddenly flew over from the depths of the chaos.

    Then, the countless rays of icy light and tiny icy des flew out of the Sea of Life and disappeared into the ice mountain.

    ¡°Origin of ice!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, casting a dark sideways nce towards the ice mountain.

    A shudder seemed to run through the ice mountain before it hastily fled from Nie Tian¡¯s sight, as if it had only revealed itself briefly to retake the ice shards that Nie Tian had condensed with the ice power he had stripped from the Ice Liger, lest that colossal heart in the endless blood sea misunderstand.

    However, it also held great apprehension towards Nie Tian, who had transcended and be a paragon through the Sea of Life.

    As Nie Tian fixed it with a hostile stare, all it could think to do was run, like a frightened child.

    Even though the origins had developed intelligence, many of them were still rather simple and childlike.

    Inparison, the Void Spirits that had been separated from them could be sneaky, insidious, and calcting. The longer they were tainted by the impure energies in the three worlds, the moreplicated they might be.

    As far as Nie Tian saw it, the origin of ice, for example, was extremely timid and cowardly.

    It was scared of both him and the origin of life. It even seemed to him that it had only released the Ice Liger because the origin of life had forced it to. It simply couldn¡¯t summon enough courage to fight against it.

    However, the River of Souls, the Mountain of Death, and the origin of darkness fell into another category, as they refused to yield and would do everything in their power to fight back.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian examined the ice mountain, which was flying farther and farther away, with rapt attention, and noticed that a faint shade suddenly manifested on its smooth, mirror-like surface.

    The shade appeared to be slowly condensing in the falling snow.

    His expression flickered. ¡°Snow Devil? Whatever. I¡¯ll let you go this time.¡±

    He let the origin of ice disappear into the distant void.

    ...

    At the same time, an icy sphere spun as it flew towards a remote area in the darknd.

    Many Qi warriors were excited at the sight of it. ¡°That icy sphere!¡±

    However, it seemed to have its own awareness, and was avoiding all those who pursued it.

    Soon, it plunged into some mountains that were very distant from the center of the darknd.

    Heavy snow started falling in the area.

    All of the snowkes converged on the spinning icy sphere, rapidly turning it into a frigid spiritual core. Then, the spiritual core morphed into a god domain.

    As soon as the god domain came to form, the Snow Devil, who had been bombarded to death by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, quietly manifested.

    Master Blood Spirit, who had a blood connection with Nie Tian, was deeply amazed as he sensed the wondrous process through which the Profound Truths Crystal reanimated the Snow Devil. ¡°This is the choice of the origin of ice. From the look of it, the origin of ice has long since found a candidate it wants. It¡¯s just that it had to choose the Ice Liger because of the pressure it received from the blood sea.¡±

    The Snow Devil was a pure human. Unlike the extinct Icespirits, she didn¡¯t carry an ice bloodline.

    If the origin of ice had bestowed fortunes upon her and let her enter the chaos to pursue her path to bing a paragon, the Sea of Life wouldn¡¯t have been able to benefit from it at all.

    Therefore, even though it had always believed that the Snow Devil would be a better candidate to receive its legacies, it had chosen the Ice Liger because it hadn¡¯t dared to disobey the Sea of Life.

    However, it had made its choice in its heart long ago.

    Even though he was in the chaos, Nie Tian could see what was happening in the outside world perfectly through the eyes of the evil gods. ¡°How pathetic. It couldn¡¯t even choose its own inheritor.¡±

    As he let out a soft cry, his Life-origin Form plunged back into the blood sea.

    The blood drops that could easily crush the ice shard couldn¡¯t hurt him.

    The origin of life also understood that it would be like attacking a dog by throwing a meat-stuffed bun at it if it tried to attack Nie Tian with the blood drops condensed from pure life essence.

    In a sh, his Life-origin Form came to a stop in front of the colossal heart.

    This time, he wasn¡¯t here to receive legacies from the origin of life. Instead, he was here to question it, and take vengeance!

 Chapter 1784: The First of A Brand New Species

    ¡°Why?¡± Nie Tian asked grimly, looking at the beating heart in the depths of the blood sea.

    The origin of life didn¡¯t give an answer.

    After the Thunder-devouring Whale, the Gold Horn Beast, and the Ice Liger had died sessively at Nie Tian¡¯s hands and been refined into Profound Truths Crystals, it didn¡¯t seem to have a better way to deal with him now.

    However, there wasn¡¯t much Nie Tian could do to it in the blood sea either.

    All he could do was try his best to draw flesh power from this boundless blood sea.

    By doing this, he aimed to weaken the ability of the Blood Father of the Spirit World to draw flesh power endlessly from the blood sea and recover speedily in his battle.

    However, apparently, this vast blood sea held far more flesh power than he had expected.

    In fact, he had long since realized that the amount of power it had used to revive the Blood Father of the Spirit World andy the groundwork for his transcendence as a paragon was nothingpared to what it had.

    Since this universe hade to exist, it had been creating species with various bloodlines and umting flesh power through them to build up this blood sea.

    As the strongest origin in the chaos, it had gathered an astronomical amount of flesh power through eons of time.

    It wasn¡¯t something he or the Blood Father of the Spirit World could exhaust within a short time.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils suddenly shrank as he came to a shocking discovery.

    A wisp of golden aura, a wisp of cyan aura, and a wisp of silver aura somehow appeared in the crimson bloodline aura in his heart!

    Compared to his bloodline aura, they were very tiny and hard to discover.

    They were even finer than the Bloodline Crystal Chains in his bloodline aura.

    However, they clearly didn¡¯t belong to him, or share the same origin as his life bloodline!

    He examined them with rapt attention, and sensed the auras of the Gold Horn Beast, the Thunder-devouring Whale, and the Ice Liger from them!

    To be exact, he sensed the existence of their bloodlines in his own bloodline!

    Upon this shocking discovery, he shuddered and eximed, ¡°How is this possible?¡±

    After ying the Thunder-devouring Whale, the Gold Horn Beast, and the Ice Liger, he had refined their hearts into three Profound Truths Crystals and cast them into the darknd.

    He had only channeled a very small amount of flesh power from them to make up for his consumption.

    That was because he was in the chaos. As long as the blood sea existed, he would be able to channel flesh power from it whenever he wanted. Therefore, it had been unnecessary for him to plunder the Thunder-devouring Whale, the Gold Horn Beast, and the Ice Liger of their flesh power.

    However, the tiny amount of flesh power he had taken from them had somehow condensed into three wisps of flesh aura of metal, ice, and thunder attributes in the crimson bloodline aura in his heart.

    This was unbelievable!

    Before, his Life Drain bloodline talent had only allowed him to draw flesh power from outsider species!

    He had never been able to absorb their bloodlines with it!

    Neither had he dreamed or imagined that he would be able to absorb even the bloodlines of his enemies and make them part of his own.

    If he actually developed such a divine ability, wouldn¡¯t he be able to acquire a Devil bloodline by refining a Devil grand monarch?

    Would he be able to lift his Devil bloodline to the ninth or even tenth grade?

    Would he be able to purify his Devil bloodline by simply refining more Devils?

    Would he be able to acquire the bloodlines of the Netherspirits, titans, dragons, Ancientbeasts, Fiends, and Lightspirits by using Life Drain on them?

    If so, how many bloodlines would he be able to acquire?

    Would he be able to add every bloodline he could find in the three worlds, except the Bonedrudes¡¯ death bloodline, to his life bloodline?

    What would that mean?

    At that moment, the colossal heart suddenly started pounding heavily.

    As soon as it did, Nie Tian perceived the message the origin of life was trying to convey.

    A momentter, he took a deep breath and said, staring at the colossal heart, ¡°So you have a greater n.¡±

    He was a hybrid the Tree of Life had had Qin Yao make under his hybrid-breeding n with the life imprints it had taken from the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    However, even the Tree of Life didn¡¯t know that the origin of life had taken part in the process.

    The creation of Nie Tian had actually carried the ambition of the origin of life to forge a brand new species from the human form: Divinespirits!

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World had created the Ancientspirits and vested them with various bloodlines. However, none of them carried the most wondrous life bloodline.

    The Tree of Life had created the Floragrims, who carried wood and vegetative bloodlines, instead of the essential life bloodline of the origin of life.

    Nie Tian, and only Nie Tian, had been vested with the essence of the origin of life, a life bloodline.

    This was proved by the fact that he could draw flesh power from the outsiders in the three worlds with Life Drain as the Blood Father of the Spirit World could.

    However, the truth was that his bloodline contained even greater wonders.

    The origin of life had actually ced high hopes in him, as it had deemed him as the most suited one to carry out his grand ns!

    As a matter of fact, the origin of life had secretly referred to him as the starter of a new era, and the first of a brand new species: Divinespirits.

    From the day he had been born, the origin of life had never viewed him as a human, but rather a masterpiece it had gone to great length to create, the first Divinespirit.

    All of Nie Tian¡¯s descendants that inherited his bloodline would be Divinespirits!

    Every one of them would be born with a life bloodline.

    Since the most important feature of the life bloodline was allowing those who carried it to strengthen themselves by channeling flesh power from the beings of various species through Life Drain, this new species was bound to be the strongest throughout the three worlds.

    Furthermore, after Nie Tian had be a paragon, his life bloodline had experienced fundamental changes. Now, he could even fuse the bloodlines of other beings into his own.

    In the future, his descendants would inherit this wondrous feature from him as well.

    In fact, the origin of life had been inspired while it had pondered how humans had developed their spiritual seas and channeled the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into them to form spiritual cores of various attributes. Then, after expending endless time and energy and making countless tests, it had finally found this new ability.

    It was something only the origin of life could find as the mightiest origin that had made trades with every origin in the chaos.

    To Divinespirits, their life bloodline would be their foundation, just as the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth was to humans. Then, their life bloodline would be able to absorb the bloodlines of other species, just as humans could fuse power of various attributes into their cultivation.

    This godly ability would allow the Divinespirits to plunder bloodline wonders by simply killing beings of different species. Given time, they would definitely develop into an invincible force throughout the three worlds.

    With such an upgraded version of the life bloodline, the Divinespirits would be able to give up their human cultivation system.

    After all, their cultivation method of absorbing flesh power and looting bloodlines from other species was already overwhelmingly superior to the cultivation method of the humans and any other outsider species!

    As the life bloodline would be the Divinespirits¡¯ one and only foundation, they would correspond only to the origin of life .

    They would be able to bring all of the species the other origins had created in the Void World, the Spirit World, and the Mortal World to heel.

    This was its grand n.

    ¡°So the reason why you were hesitant about making me a paragon wasn¡¯t because I¡¯m a human hybrid, but because even you were feeling apprehension about what I¡¯d be capable of, right?¡±

 Chapter 1785: Overthrow

    In the chaos, many origins had joined up to fight against the origin of life.

    The origin of life had long since been aware of this.

    Before humanity hade to exist, the various species in the Void World, the Icespirits, Lightningspirits, and Firespirits in the Mortal World, and the Star Behemoths had all belonged to the bloodline cultivation system.

    As long as that didn¡¯t change, no matter how powerful they became, the status of the origin of life as the strongest origin in the chaos would remain unchanged.

    After all, all beings that relied on their bloodlines to make themselves stronger were naturally bound to it.

    Later, humanity had been born and developed their unique cultivation system. With the secret guidance of many origins in the chaos, humans had learned to channel power of various attributes into their spiritual seas in their dantian regions.

    Not just that, but they had also explored their seas of awareness and developed the ability to refine their souls, as the Netherspirits and the Phantasms had.

    How could it not know that each attribute that humanity had mastered had an origin behind it, and why all those origins had put so much effort into making humanity strong?

    Therefore, when the Tree of Life had decided to create Nie Tian with Qin Yao¡¯s help, it had snuck in without anyone noticing.

    As far as it was concerned, Nie Tian would be the first of a brilliant new species that could help it defeat humanity, break the old system, and create a new era where it ruled over all three worlds.

    However, after Nie Tian had entered the blood sea, and it had helpedy the groundwork for his advance to bing a paragon by purging his body and tempering his heart, it had grown hesitant.

    What had happened to the Tree of Life was a lesson to it. Even till this day, it was still a major threat to it.

    It feared that it wouldn¡¯t be able to control Nie Tian, and knew how overwhelmingly powerful this new talent it had found after countless years of study would make him after he became a paragon.

    It knew that given time, Nie Tian¡¯s power and talent would rise to heights that even the Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World wouldn¡¯t be able to match.

    Therefore, it had decided to wait for the result of the battle between the Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World before deciding what it wanted to do with Nie Tian.

    However, Nie Tian had misunderstood its intentions.

    Then, as a force that had been unchallenged in the chaos for eons, it had been angered so much that it had attempted to threaten him with Pei Qiqi and the Divine me¡¯s lives.

    By doing that, it had finally driven Nie Tian to its opposite side.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡± Nie Tian suddenly eximed softly in the depths of the blood sea.

    He jerked his head up to look at the River of Souls, the brilliant First Star, and the cluster of fire that were floating in the void above the Sea of Life.

    WHOOSH!

    His true soul flew out of the River of Souls.

    The water in the wondrous river was stirring. Clearly, it was angered by something.

    His true soul was expelled!

    Before this, the river had been transfusing the wonders of souls it had derived through eons of time to his true soul in its own way.

    It had been eager to make his true soul its new paragon as the recement for Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Immediately afterwards, Nie Tian¡¯s star doppelg?nger and me doppelg?nger were expelled by the origins of star and fire in session.

    Floating in front of the First Star, Ji Cang fixed Nie Tian¡¯s star doppelg?nger with a fierce, cold look. ¡°Liar! You¡¯ve been working with the blood sea the whole time! You tricked my origin into making you its paragon!¡±

    The curvaceously, gorgeous young woman at the heat of the Divine me was also exasperated.

    Pei Qiqi, however, frowned slightly and secretlymunicated with the origin of space in an attempt to figure out the truth.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s voice suddenly echoed from within the cluster of ultimate darkness.

    His scary-looking gigantic form slowly rose from the darkness, and turned out to be evenrger than Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form. ¡°Now you carry the auras of the Gold Horn Beast, the Ice Liger, and the Thunder-devouring Whale! Those are the unique auras of their bloodlines! How can you absorb their bloodlines into your own?!¡±

    Each bloodline corresponded to an origin.

    Naturally, the bloodlines of the Gold Horn Beast, the Ice Liger, and the Thunder-devouring Whale came from the origins of metal, ice, and thunder.

    The fact that Nie Tian could take their bloodlines and fuse them into his own seemed to be an omen, an omen for the blood sea to absorb all the other bloodlines in the three worlds through Nie Tian, and leave and their corresponding origins to wither!

    Tens of thousands of yearster, there would be arge number of Divinespirits in the three worlds.

    Each and every one of them would carry a life bloodline, and hunt members of the other races to make themselves stronger. In the process, all of those races¡¯ bloodlines would be refined into their life bloodlines and be a part of them.

    All of the beings that the origins in the chaos had created wouldn¡¯t be able to fight them. They would descend to the lives of ves or be reared as a source of flesh power.

    If that happened, their origin, the origin of life, would naturally be even stronger.

    Then, what would happen to the other origins in the chaos?

    Nie Tian looked down at the colossal heart. ¡°It¡¯s you. While telling me those things via your unique vibrations, you also made sure that all of the other origins in the chaos heard them. You revealed your grand n just to make the other origins view me as their enemy, didn¡¯t you?¡±

    The fact that his true soul and two doppelg?ngers had been evicted by the River of Souls, the First Star, and the origin of fire was proof of this.

    Every origin in the chaos that was intelligent and conscious had suddenly realized that Nie Tian was the sharpest knife the origin of life had forged against them!

    If Nie Tian could steal and absorb even other beings¡¯ bloodlines, what would be the point of them making paragons out of his doppelg?ngers?

    Would they create them just so that Nie Tian¡¯s true form could devour and absorb them?

    Also, there were natural connections between his true form and his doppelg?ngers to begin with.

    At that moment, Pei Qiqi seemed to figure out the truth. A veryplicated look filled her bright eyes as she murmured, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.

    ¡°Who would have thought that you¡¯re the source of all evil that the Sea of Life created. You only exist because the origin of life aspires to create a new species called the Divinespirits and use them to rule over the three worlds.

    ¡°All intelligent species will have to bend to its will if they want to live.

    ¡°You only exist to overthrow humanity and absorb all the outsider species.

    ¡°The human cultivation system will bepletely erased, along with all signs that humanity has ever existed...¡±

    Meanwhile.

    In the darknd, Wu Ji, who controlled the River of Time, sensed the turn of events that had happened in the chaos.

    He, who thought himself to be learned and well-informed, felt lost for the first time. ¡°How can this be? The origin of life created Nie Tian so his Divinespirit descendents can help it eliminate humanity and dominate all other species in the three worlds?¡±

    He represented the River of Time.

    Like the River of Souls, the Mountain of Death, and that cluster of darkness, the River of Time was also determined to end the tyranny of the Sea of Life, and had ced high hopes in humanity.

    He had assumed that Nie Tian would be the key to humanity fighting against the Sea of Life.

    Now, however, he realized that Nie Tian was the first Divinespirit.

    All of his descendants would carry his life bloodline and have the overpowering ability to take bloodlines from outsider species and fuse into their own.

    Who would be able to contend against such a paragon and such a new species?

    FIZZ! FIZZ! FIZZ!

    In the blood sea, three streaks of light that were golden, cyan, and silver suddenly shot out of Nie Tian¡¯s chest towards the colossal heart.

    They each carried power from the origin of metal, the origin of thunder, and the origin of ice!

    Many origins in the chaos were astonished by this.

    The colossal heart beat violently, as if it were stamping with fury.

 Chapter 1786: Attitude Is Whatâ€™s The Most Important

    The three streaks of light contained metal, lightning, and ice power.

    However, the amount of power they contained was actually so little that they couldn¡¯t even scrape the colossal heart.

    An attack like that couldn¡¯t possibly inflict any noticeable damage on the origin of life.

    There was still a considerable distance between the three streaks of light and the heart when they exploded under the counterattack from the thick blood mist surrounding the heart like a flesh aura sea, and vanished.

    Even so, all of the other origins in the chaos were shocked.

    They were shocked by the message he wanted to convey through this attack: he would fight against the origin of life no matter what!

    It didn¡¯t matter that the origin of life had told him that his transcended bloodline would allow him to stand at the peak of the three worlds as long as he left the chaos, or that he would be able to popte all worlds with Divinespirits and bring all the beings in the three worlds to heel as the Divine King!

    By telling him this, not only did the origin of life want the other origins to hold scruples against him, but it also hoped to fix the rtionship between it and him.

    One step, and he would rise to the peak. Why would he refuse such an offer?

    The origin of life found this hard to understand. Therefore, it grew more and more furious, and vibrated more and more violently.

    Even the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was all the way in the darknd, grew more ferocious and ruthless because of its fury. With a nasty grin, he bellowed, ¡°The little bastard doesn¡¯t know how to appreciate favors!¡±

    BOOM!

    He brought the golden axe down with great force, sending out dazzling light that shattered numerous lushly-grown branches of the Tree of Life.

    ¡°Scram!¡± he bellowed.

    Lightning bolts that were as thick as dragons struck the Ancient Arch-devil that Zhao Shanling had transformed into, and charred patches appeared on his mountainous form.

    Immediately afterwards, a fist strike that packed endless rage and a wide array of energies came at him.

    As the one who had created Titan¡¯s Wrath, the Blood Father of the Spirit World manifested terrifying might as he cast it.

    The fist strike that could destroy heaven and extinguish earth mmed into Zhao Shanling¡¯s magnificent devilish form, bursting forth with billows of energy.

    Hundreds of thousands of ck magical symbols and purple lightning bolts, along with a ckish purple blood rain, sshed from the Ancient Arch-devil¡¯s chest where it was hit. He clutched the Dark Aureole and fled to the forbidden domain of darkness created by Dong Li and the ck tortoise¡¯s joint efforts. Only by doing that did he escape the pursuit of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World let out nastyughs as pieces of frigid ice fused with clusters of his blood and morphed into ice giants that were thousands of meters tall.

    As they spread out to kill the experts from the three worlds, he opened his mouth. A streak of bloody light flew out to fuse with the power from the golden axe, which rapidly morphed into a gigantic golden dragon.

    Like him, the golden dragon¡¯s eyes also exuded endless bloodlust. Apparently, he had taken his Blood Essence and fused it with the metal power he had received from the origin of metal to condense it.

    ROAR!

    The golden dragon let out a wrathful roar, and every dragon from the Spirit World couldn¡¯t help but tremble in fear.

    Not only did they suffer bloodline suppression from it, but their bloodlines seemed to be subject to its control.

    Momentster, all of the dragons turned around and joined the golden dragon in attacking the Floragrims, who were also from the Spirit World.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit Worldughed more and more wildly.

    At the same time, his Blood Essence fused with the lightning chains wreathing him and created numerous Thunder Beasts and Thunder-devouring Whales, all of which were at the ninth or tenth grade.

    All of them were lightning-attributed beasts controlled by his soul awareness, instead of living creatures with independent will and awareness.

    In the meantime, the Blood Father of the Spirit World himself continued to channel endless power from the origin of life to improve his battle prowess.

    Even the Tree of Life was gradually at a disadvantage in its battle against him.

    If Zhao Shanling, Qin Yao, and Wu Ji hadn¡¯t ordered the humans, the races from the Void World, and the experts from the Doomed Star Sea to attack the Blood Father of the Spirit World together, it would have found itself in an even worse position.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World, who had the favor of the origin of life, burst forth with unheard-of power now that it was fully awakened.

    ...

    In the blood sea, Nie Tian was absorbed in thought as he stared at the dissipating golden, cyan, and silver wisps.

    He didn¡¯t pay any attention to the violent vibration of the origin of life, or what the other origins in the chaos were thinking.

    Soon, it came to him that if he wanted to deal with the colossal heart, he would have to rely on power other than the power generated from his life bloodline.

    Even though the three streaks of power he had used to attack the origin of life earlier had been very weak, the origin of life had had to eliminate them with its life power.

    What would happen if they were magnified to a certain extent?

    Eyes narrowed, he suddenly said, ¡°It seems that you only hesitated about making me a paragon because you knew that I¡¯d be an even greater threat than the Tree of Life if I turned against you.¡±

    Both the Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World came from it. Their power came from it as well.

    Therefore, it would be impossible for them to eliminate it with the life power it had vested them with.

    Only power from the other origins could be used to inflict real damage on it, on this endless blood sea.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have enough of these powers.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form left the depths of the blood sea, and charged into the void.

    The other origins in the chaos seemed to have be quiet since he had attacked the origin of life with those three streaks of power.

    In the cluster of darkness, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had also silently fixed his purple sun-like eyes on him for a long time, as if he were pondering something.

    ¡°Could this be a ploy of Nie Tian and the origin of life?

    ¡°Did he attack the origin of life with power that couldn¡¯t possibly hurt it in order to win back the other origins¡¯ trust, so they would resume passing their legacies on to his doppelg?ngers and helping them be paragons?

    ¡°Then, he¡¯d fuse his doppelg?ngers into his true form and make himself an unprecedented wonder.

    ¡°After that, he¡¯d charge out of the chaos as the paragon and king of the new era, and make all beings in the three worlds kneel before him? He¡¯d make a great number of Divinespirits to lift the influence of the Sea of Life to heights it has never reached.

    ¡°Then, the origin of life would be the overlord in the chaos for countless years toe, while Nie Tian and his Divinespirits would enve all of the other species in the three worlds!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s eyes were clouded by these questions. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t find answers to them.

    Nie Tian suddenly jerked his head towards him and asked, ¡°Do you want to be a paragon?¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil went nk for a second before saying, ¡°Of course.¡±

    Pointing at the blood sea below, Nie Tian said, ¡°You can¡¯t if it doesn¡¯t allow it. Do you understand?¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil fell silent.

    He had long since been convinced that he was the one the origin of darkness had chosen.

    Plus, the origin of darkness had indeed showered him with dark legacies and helped him move in the direction of bing a paragon earlier.

    It was just that his advance seemed to have been suddenly interrupted by some force, and hade to a halt.

    He had found that baffling, and had asked the origin of darkness what the problem was.

    However, the origin of darkness hadn¡¯t given him an answer, but only told him toe out and prepare to fight.

    Now, thanks to Nie Tian, he knew that the problem was with the blood sea below.

    ¡°I-it can prevent the other origins from making their own paragons?¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said with a stutter.

    Nie Tian nodded.

    Strong disappointment appeared in Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s eyes as his lips twisted into a smile of frustration.

    ¡°But I can help you,¡± Nie Tian added.

    ¡°What?!¡±

 Chapter 1787: Luring The Darkness

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s gigantic form slowly rose from the darkness like an ancient devil god emerging from the pitch-ckke to dominate heaven and earth!

    For hundreds of thousands of years, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s battle prowess had ranked number one among all the grand monarchs in the Void World.

    As far as many Devil sages saw it, his talent even surpassed that of the Dark King.

    His courage, resourcefulness, and strong mind were also what made him the pride of the Devils.

    The entire Devil race had held him in high esteem!

    As strong as Grand Monarch Nether Spirit and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer had been, they hadn¡¯t been able to challenge his status as the strongest grand monarch throughout the Void World.

    Every powerful expert in the Void World believed that he would be the next paragon!

    They also believed that if he ascended as a paragon, his achievements would even surpass those of the Dark King, Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit, and the Bone Emperor!

    All of the races in the Void World thought that he would be the one to lead them in their fight against the Tree of Life and march their forces into the Spirit World.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil stood towering like a scary mountain peak. As his devilish eyes opened and closed, wisps of destructive purple light flew out from them.

    Those wisps of power seemed to interact with the origin of darkness, allowing it to manifest the ultimate truths of evil.

    As this happened, the cluster of darkness suddenly stirred, and started thrumming with auras of bloodlust, destruction, and frenzy.

    The darkness held numerous profound secrets that even the Dark King hadn¡¯t been able to solve.

    However, as Grand Monarch Heaven Devil stood towering above the cluster of darkness, he exuded an aura that was based on dark power, but also manifested many different truths of evil.

    It appeared that his devil bloodline had already merged with the darkness.

    As strong as Nie Tian was now, his expression grew grim as he examined this Grand Monarch Heaven Devil before his eyes and sensed the strange power fluctuations he emanated.

    ¡°He¡¯s only a step away from transcendence...¡±

    The keen perception of his life bloodline allowed him to see that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil was close to sess.

    The origin of darkness was the origin whose strength was second only to the origin of life in the chaos.

    The origins of metal, thunder, ice, fire, and stars... none of them were as strong as the origin of darkness.

    Only the River of Souls and the River of Time were somewhatparable to it.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil took a deep breath and quickly calmed himself. ¡°Can you really help me be a paragon?

    ¡°Also, there¡¯s something I need to say. Ji Cang, Nether Spirit, Bone Piercer, and I only worked together to get all of the powerful experts from the three worlds to the Domain of Shadow Devil to enter the darknd and open the gate to the chaos. The darknd was the bridge connecting the chaos and the three worlds.

    ¡°However, it¡¯d be nothing but an illusory bridge without the nourishment of the flesh auras of powerful beings.

    ¡°Only the deaths of strong beings can make it congeal and essible.

    ¡°Only that way can the experts of the three worlds step into the chaos.

    ¡°Just as many members of my race died in that tunnel of glorious lights, so yours did. Countless Netherspirits, Bonedrudes, Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and Lightspirits also lost their lives in that tunnel.¡±

    A profound, mysterious look filled his eyes as he said these words to Nie Tian in a fairly soft voice.

    In the three worlds, he had been an overbearing monarch who would attach importance to no one other than a handful of peak experts. Now, he only seemed so mild because he was in the chaos, and had run into trouble in his advance to bing a paragon, while Nie Tian had seeded.

    With a faint smile, Nie Tian said, ¡°I obtained its legacies. Now that I¡¯m a paragon, what it could do, I can do too.¡±

    After a short pause, he added, ¡°Since you¡¯re a Devil, your heart has to be tempered and transformed as well if you want to finish your transcendence. Only after the transformation of your heart isplete can your Devil bloodline hold the much more refined original devil power the origin of darkness vests in you! Part of the power the origin of darkness passed on to you to help you transcend came from the origin of life.

    ¡°In the chaos, any life power thates from it answers its calls and is subject to its maniption.¡±

    Nie Tian actually couldn¡¯t see anything in the utter darkness.

    However, he somehow knew that there were thousands of wisps of life power in it that had originally been used by the origin of darkness to temper Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s chest walls and meridians.

    However, as soon as the origin of life had interfered with its awareness, the wisps of life power had escaped the control of the origin of darkness.

    Even so, the origin of darkness wasn¡¯t one to be trifled with. It had managed to trap the wisps of life power with its dark power so they couldn¡¯t move or break away.

    It had done this because the way it saw it, those wisps of life power were rightfully its own, as it had paid a great price to trade for them from the Sea of Life.

    Therefore, it was a shameless breach for the origin of life to interfere with what it did with them.

    Nie Tian slowly strode towards the origin of darkness.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil eximed in a grim voice.

    ¡°Helping you,¡± Nie Tian said, looking calm andposed. ¡°I can¡¯t do it from the outside. I have to enter the darkness and make those wisps of life power behave.¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil grew hesitant.

    He sensed that the cluster of darkness was struggling as well.

    Like him, it couldn¡¯t tell whether Nie Tian was being honest or deceitful.

    Just as Nie Tian was about to enter the darkness in his Life-origin Form, he came to a sudden stop.

    He frowned and said right in front of the darkness, ¡°You... don¡¯t trust me?¡±

    The darkness stirred, as if to respond to him.

    Nie Tian, who was a paragon now, could be a tremendous threat to the other origins if he used the power of the blood sea against them.

    All origins created paragons to enforce their will and fight their battles!

    If Nie Tian¡¯s rebellion was all just a ruse, what if he attacked it with those wisps of life power upon entering?

    Would Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, its candidate for a paragon, be able to stop him?

    It wasn¡¯t confident about that at all.

    Therefore, the cluster of utter darkness stirred and flew away from Nie Tian right before he entered.

    It decided that it didn¡¯t want Nie Tian inside of it.

    After a moment of pondering, Nie Tian said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I have another proposal. I know that you¡¯ve chosen Grand Monarch Heaven Devil because, and hope that he¡¯ll prove to be a greater paragon than the Dark King and finish what the Dark King failed to do: conquer the Spirit World.¡±

    ¡°If I be a paragon, consider it done!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil called out, full of confidence.

    However, Nie Tian didn¡¯t spare him a single nce. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the darkness and said, ¡°Have you ever considered making a paragon out of a pure human? Even though humanity hasn¡¯t produced any paragons before, that doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s impossible. Think about this: humans don¡¯t carry bloodlines or rely on their hearts to be stronger. They only need the dark spiritual core in their spiritual sea in their dantian region.

    ¡°That dark spiritual core will agree with your dark power a hundred percent, as it doesn¡¯t contain even the slightest life power from the blood sea.

    ¡°If you use your ultimate dark power to help a pure human be a paragon, it¡¯ll have absolutely nothing to do with the origin of life. It won¡¯t be able to stop you, and it won¡¯t be able to interfere with your future efforts.

    ¡°You¡¯re the second strongest origin in the chaos. If you make a sincere effort, you can definitely do this!

    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to give it a shot?

    ¡°Also, if you make her your paragon, I won¡¯t make any trouble. In fact, I¡¯ll do everything in my power to help. Once she bes a paragon, you¡¯ll be my ally!¡±

    Nie Tian made a list of reasons why it should agree to this proposal.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil roared in fury.

    The cluster of darkness, however, stirred in a strange manner.

    Momentster, a charming figure arrived in the depths of the darkness.

    It was Dong Li.

 Chapter 1788: Dark Paragon!

    Dong Li nced around, looking lost. ¡°Where am I?¡±

    Suddenly, she caught sight of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, who was standing towering above the darkness like a magnificent mountain peak. After going nk for a brief moment, she realized what had happened. ¡°This is the Dark Abyss!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, she noticed another figure, and cried in ecstasy, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form, which was more than a hundred thousand meters tall and floating outside the darkness, couldn¡¯t be more eye-catching.

    A hearty smile filled Nie Tian¡¯s face as he looked down at Dong Li, who was puny in the face of him, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and the cluster of darkness. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you didn¡¯t sense the resonance between that dark spiritual core in your spiritual sea and this darkness you¡¯re in.¡±

    Upon hearing this, Dong Li¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°This is the origin of darkness?!¡±

    ¡°Exactly,¡± Nie Tian said, smiling.

    Just as Dong Li was about to speak, she suddenly discovered that the darkness around her started to forcibly fuse pure original dark power into her.

    Like torrential ck rivers, the power poured directly into the spiritual sea in her dantian region.

    Her dark spiritual core had long since merged perfectly with the two dark stones, and be what looked like a small realm of darkness.

    At this moment, its internal heaven and earth was being washed by tides of dark power.

    With a smile of tion, Nie Tian said, ¡°Great. She is the better choice. Even though her cultivation talent may not be as outstanding as Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s, she has nothing to do with the Sea of Life. You made the Dark King and the Dark Behemoth. You should know that beings that rely on their bloodlines to be stronger can also be suppressed by their bloodlines.

    ¡°After all, the birth of any bloodline must have something to do with the origin of life.¡±

    He was still trying to tell the origin of darkness that it had made a wise decision.

    He was well-aware that the origin of darkness was the second most powerful origin in the chaos.

    In the depths of that darkness, there were the magicalws and mysteries of destruction, brutality, bloodlust, and frenzy. All of these wonders were spawned from dark power, but had various changes.

    The origin of darkness had only chosen Grand Monarch Heaven Devil because he had seen through the truths of this.

    He could create myriad changes with dark power by awakening and stimting the most evil powers in the depths of the darkness.

    This was something even the Dark King hadn¡¯t been able to do.

    Therefore, it had firmly made Grand Monarch Heaven Devil its first choice, instead of Dong Li, the ck tortoise, or any other Devil grand monarch.

    However, the interference it had suffered from the Sea of Life and Nie Tian¡¯s words had eventually changed its mind.

    Since it had already fallen out with the Sea of Life, and those wisps of life power couldn¡¯t be used to help Grand Monarch Heaven Devil be a paragon unless it gained the permission of the Sea of Life or relied on Nie Tian¡¯s assistance, it could only give him up.

    Furthermore, it had long since learned about the rtionship between Dong Li and Nie Tian.

    If it made Dong Li a paragon, then...

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression suddenly flickered. ¡°What the...?¡±

    The darkness started surging like a deep ocean, with waves of brutal, bleak, and frenzied will rising from the depths.

    It was the will of the origin of darkness!

    Countless wisps of crimson light that were even finer than hairs suddenly started flitting in the darkness like tiny lightning bolts.

    They came from a sphere of blood-colored light that the origin of darkness had traded for from the origin of life.

    As its first move, the origin of darkness had given a part of it to the Void Spirit of Darkness, who had gone rogue and be the Dark Behemoth.

    Then, it had taken another part of it for another Void Spirit of Darkness to create the Devils.

    After that, it had consumed some of it to help the Dark King be a paragon.

    Eventually, when it had been using thest remaining life essence to temper Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s heart and help him finish the transcendence, the glowing blood-colored sphere had suddenly exploded into countless wisps of blood-colored light that it could no longer control.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s path to bing a paragon had thus been obstructed.

    However, at this moment, the wisps of crimson light that were flitting in the depths of the darkness suddenly came together to form a blood-colored ball of light.

    Then, the ball of light quickly broke free from the darkness and enveloped Grand Monarch Heaven Devil like a slimy blood membrane.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil instantly turned into a giant blood-colored cocoon!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Beams of ck light that exuded destructive, bleak, and cruel auras shot out of the darkness like the arms of the origin of darkness, with which it attempted to rip through the blood cocoon and pull Grand Monarch Heaven Devil out.

    The blood cocoon was helping him finish his transcendence!

    The blood cocoon was a condensation of the remaining life essence, which was subject to the maniption of the origin of life.

    Such maniption had been stopped before. However, now that the origin of darkness had been persuaded by Nie Tian, and Dong Li had arrived, it had burst out again.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s nastyugh suddenly rumbled out from within the blood cocoon. Dong Li felt as if her ear drums were going to explode.

    ¡°I worked hundreds of thousands of years for this opportunity to be a paragon,¡± Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said with a sinister, cunning smile. ¡°After I establishedmunication with you, I did everything I could to win your approval and favor. Why? What did I do wrong? Just because of a young human girl and the words of a junior, you decided to abandon me and make her a paragon?

    ¡°I refuse to ept this!¡±

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s furious roars caught the attention of all the other origins in the chaos, along with the unique Void Spirits like the Divine me, Ji Cang, and Pei Qiqi.

    They all turned their eyes and flew over to the area.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± Nie Tian muttered as he sprang towards the gigantic blood cocoon without hesitation.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯sugh grew wilder and wilder. ¡°I¡¯m copying you! You turned your back against the origin of life, why can¡¯t I turn against the origin of darkness? Also, it gave up on me first! If it doesn¡¯t want me anymore, I¡¯ll find another that does! Actually, I¡¯ve obtained most of its dark legacies already.

    ¡°All I need now is the infusion of life essence, then I¡¯ll finish thest step of my transcendence.¡±

    With these words, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil looked down, his gazing piercing through the darkness andnding on the boundless blood sea. ¡°If you help me be a paragon, I¡¯ll help you y Nie Tian, who betrayed you. With the Blood Father caught up in its battle against that giant tree in the darknd, you need another sharp de in the chaos.

    ¡°And I¡¯m willing to be that de.¡±

    All of a sudden, countless crimson lightning bolts that only he could perceive with his soul manifested in the blood cocoon and pierced into his heart.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡±

    Heughed in apletely unbridled manner.

    He knew that he had now finished that onest step with the help of the Sea of Life.

    A brand new dark paragon was born!

    Like Nie Tian, this new paragon had also turned against his origin.

    The blood cocoon peeled off from the top, slowly revealing Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. One of his eyes was ck, while the other was purple. Like a pitch-ckke and a purple sun, they exuded endless hatred.

    ¡°Nie Tian! It¡¯s you who made me betray the origin of darkness, who I¡¯ve served loyally for hundreds of thousands of years!¡±

 Chapter 1789: Devil Blood Resonance

    In the Void World, the Spirit World, the Mortal World, and the darknd...

    All of the powerful Devils, Demons, devilish beasts, and devilish insects let out wild howls and screeches!

    All living beings whose bloodlines originated from the origin of darkness sensed a strong bloodline resonance at this moment.

    Many devilish statues that stood towering in the Devils¡¯ forbidden areas in the Void World suddenly became very lifelike, as if they were suddenly vested with life and awareness.

    It was said that statues of tenth grade Devil grand monarchs carved with their primal devil power could be used as their eyes. With them, they could watch over the various devil realms.

    At this moment, the statues Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had carved and ced in different parts of the Devils¡¯ territory suddenly became more than just his eyes.

    There was a deep well in the Devils¡¯ birthce.

    The mouth of the well was rather narrow. However, the deeper it went, the wider it became.

    The bottom of the well was filled with ckish-violet liquidized devil power. The wall of the well was riddled with holes that were used to enshrine the Devils¡¯ deceased ancestors.

    The remains of many powerful devilish beasts and insects in the history of the Devils had also been put into those spacious holes after their deaths.

    Some of the holes held purple ssware that contained drops of devil blood.

    Those drops of devil blood morphed constantly. In one moment, they were tiny devilish insects, but in another, they became mini Devils. They howled and screeched from time to time even though their howls and screeches couldn¡¯t go beyond their containers. By doing this, they seemed to be asking their n members to gather rich flesh power for them in order to restore their original form.

    A giant statue of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil stood towering at the mouth of the well like an evil god, as if to keep what was in the well froming out.

    In early days, the statue at the mouth of the well had been one of the Dark King.

    This devil well was the most mysterious ce of the Devils in the Void World.

    All of the devil blood, devilish insects, devilish beasts, and Devil ancestors in it were famous characters in the history of the Devils.

    Almost all of them were tenth grade grand monarchs and terrifying devilish creatures that had reached the peak of power.

    Most importantly, the devil blood, devilish insects, and devilish beasts were still emanating faint, but very conspicuous soul fluctuations.

    This proved that they hadn¡¯t diedpletely, and could soar through the three worlds again if they had their bodies reforged.

    All they needed was vast amounts of rich flesh power.

    As long as they were infused with enough flesh power, as the Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise had been, they would be able to reanimate and dominate different parts of the Void World again.

    However, even the Devils¡¯ profound reserve power didn¡¯t allow them to reforge their bodies for them.

    Furthermore, to Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, these ancestors who had died in battle were losers.

    Even if they were given the chance to live another life, they would suffer the same fates.

    Not to mention that the Devils were never short of talented young members. Through cruel battles, they would grow into mighty grand patriarchs and grand monarchs, and divide the fortune the Void World could offer.

    The fortune of the Void World wasn¡¯t even enough for these new grand monarchs to share. How would they have any left for their deceased ancestors?

    At this moment, the thick ckish-violet devil power at the bottom of the well suddenly stirred, ripples appearing on the surface.

    The giant statue of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil at the mouth of the well seemed to be even taller and more gruesome, like the one and only god in the darkness.

    SHEW!

    The statue opened its mouth, and the rich ckish-violet devil power essence was sucked from the bottom of the well into the statue¡¯s mouth.

    All of the devilish creatures in the well were astonished.

    ¡°Another member of our race has be a paragon!¡±

    ¡°Heaven Devil made it!¡±

    Countless wisps of awareness cheered in the well.

    Outside, many powerful Devil experts also let out howls in different parts of the Void World.

    In their howls, they were gradually ovee with excitement, and became frenzied.

    Even the Netherspirits and the Bonedrudes were thrilled and shocked by the news.

    ¡°The high chieftain transcended!¡±

    ¡°He did it! I can¡¯t believe he did it!¡±

    ¡°How long has it been since the Void Worldst saw the birth of a paragon? We finally did it again!¡±

    Throughout the Void World, every realm that was wreathed in Devil Qi experienced changes because of this. The Devil Qi started surging rapidly.

    Some Devils that were stuck in their bloodline advancement suddenly broke through and entered new grades without knowing why.

    Some bloodthirsty devilish beasts suddenly became quiet. Their monstrous eyes started to shine with the light of intelligence.

    At the same time, all of the Devils that had bloodline connections to Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, no matter how remote, shrewdly sensed the changes that were happening to the tiny Bloodline Crystal Chains in their hearts.

    Such changes would push even the limits of their bloodlines, allowing them to reach heights they shouldn¡¯t have been able to reach.

    The Devils and the Demons were all deeply shaken by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s transcendence. Even the magicalws of their bloodlines experienced subtle changes, which in return seemed to be influencing him.

    ...

    In the darknd, Zhao Shanling, who had assumed his Ancient Arch-devil form, was astonished. ¡°Heaven Devil... I can¡¯t believe he actually transcended!¡±

    However, he suddenly noticed the strange reaction of the Rampage Behemoth, who had been suppressed and pounded to the ground by the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    To his surprise, it seemed to be very irritated, as if it was upset by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s transcendence.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhao Shanling instantly asked in his devilish soul voice. ¡°You, me, and him share the same bloodline origin. Now that he¡¯s a paragon, that cluster of darkness our bloodlines resonate with has a powerful weapon in its hand. It won¡¯t matter whether the Blood Father of the Spirit World wins or the Tree of Life does. With him there, our bloodline origin will have a fighting chance!

    ¡°We should be happy about this. Why are you...?¡±

    ROAR!

    The Rampage Behemoth responded to him with a furious roar.

    Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t understand. However, just as he was about to ask again, Wu Ji caught his attention.

    At this moment, Wu Ji was also wearing a very grim expression. It appeared that he was trying to figure out what had happened in the chaos with the power of the River of Time.

    What was even more surprising was that the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life stopped fighting each other at this moment.

    With a casual swing of his huge golden axe, the Blood Father of the Spirit World created a shield of golden light that shielded off all the attacks of the humans experts and the experts of the three major races in the Void World.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World also had a grim look on his face as he seemed tomunicate with the origin of life.

    Wu Ji suddenly raised his hand and brought it across the air.

    WHOOSH!

    A glorious River of Time magically manifested as he moved his hand.

    Even though it only existed for a split second, those who were sharp-eyed, like Zhao Shanling, Qin Yao, and Mo Heng, caught a fleeting glimpse of the image in the River of Time.

    Nie Tian, who was now a hundred thousand meters tall, was engaged in a fierce battle against Grand Monarch Heaven Devil!

    A battle between two paragons!

    What baffled them the most was that the crimson blood sea seemed to be vesting Grand Monarch Heaven Devil with flesh power, while the cluster of utter darkness seemed to be at Nie Tian¡¯s back and supporting him!

    What was this about?

 Chapter 1790: Dark Bloodline

    Heaven and earth resonated as this new paragon was born.

    All lives that corresponded to the origin of darkness sensed it as Grand Monarch Heaven Devil transcended as a dark paragon.

    Inparison, Nie Tian¡¯s transcendence had seemed much quieter.

    In the chaos.

    Pei Qiqi, Ji Cang, and the petite gorgeous figure in the orange-red mes all paid close attention to the battle between Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    WHOOSH!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s body expanded at an rming rate. As he turned his gigantic devil hands, the magicalws of dark power manifested as shing ck lightning bolts and rolling thunder.

    With his bloodline, he channeled dark power and dug the wonders of evil, frenzy, brutality, and ruthlessness from the depths of the origin of darkness, and unleashed them on Nie Tian.

    Countless ck and purple beams of bloodline power shot from his body.

    Each and every one of them was a condensation of original dark power, and could inflict severe damage on any grand monarch or God domain expert in the three worlds in a split second.

    PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

    Numerous beams of bloodline power pierced into Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form, riddling it with holes.

    Inside the bloody holes, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s soul awareness bound the power from the origin of darkness to itself, and started drilling into his muscles and meridians like hideous frenzied dragons.

    Nie Tian examined his wounds with his soul, and found that wherever the dark power spread, his bright red flesh and blood turned ck, as if they were dyed by ink.

    Meanwhile, countless fragmented ck particles could be seen in the ckened parts.

    Those ck particles were condensations of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s soul will and the dark power from the origin of darkness. They were spreading through him like a gue, trying to assimte his entire body.

    As they did, they also did their utmost to sever the resilient meridians in his Life-origin Form.

    Each of his acupoints was a small heaven and earth, shining with blood-colored light. At this moment, they were being infiltrated by the dark particles as well.

    At first nce, those crimson spaces seemed to be stuffed with thousands of small ck suns.

    Every single ck sun emanated ck light, filling the blood-colored heaven and earth inside his acupoints with auras that were bleak, brutal, and horrifying.

    ¡°Hehe!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a cunningugh.

    BOOM!

    Countless wisps crimson light poured into his veins and ran through his body like zing meteors.

    In the next moment, numerous wisps of crimson light entered all of his acupoints.

    With great precision and speed, they found the ck particles. Then, they gnawed at them, devoured them, and ground them to nothing.

    It was just that he also felt tremendous pain and couldn¡¯t stop trembling in the process.

    ¡°Go!¡±

    With a fling of his hands, raging blood-colored light sted towards Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    While traveling through the void, the blood-colored light morphed into strange-looking intertwining thorns, which then pierced into Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s abdomen and started growing at a terrifying speed.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil also let out howls of pain.

    At this moment, Nie Tian examined himself carefully with his soul, and came to a sudden realization. ¡°The evil gods of fear, bloodlust, rage, despair, and hatred didn¡¯t get their negative, evil power from the River of Souls, but rather... The origin of darkness and the River of Souls are allies, just as the Devils and the Netherspirits are. That¡¯s why the evil gods could wield all that power.¡±

    Then, as soon as he let out a cold harrumph, a gravitational force was generated in the spinning crimson vortex below.

    Drop after drop of Blood Essence that the Sea of Life had deliberately hidden in secluded, marginal areas suddenly rose into the void.

    After fusing into the crimson vortex, they were processed into wisps of flesh power that flew into Nie Tian, instantly healing the bloody holes Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had riddled him with, as if they had never existed.

    ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Just as Nie Tian was ted by his rapid recovery, he found that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil who had been pierced through by the sinister thorns was also healing at a shocking speed.

    It was mostly his devil power that was healing him. However, the wisps of life essence that had helped himplete his transcendence were also ying an important part.

    Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian activated his life bloodline to examine Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    He noticed a spark of blood-colored light that was the size of a grain of rice inside his heart.

    It came from a trade the origin of darkness had made with the origin of life back in the day.

    After multiple consumptions, what used to be a sphere of blood-colored light had shrunk to a spark that was only the size of a grain of rice.

    Normally, such a tiny bit of life essence shouldn¡¯t be able to provide Grand Monarch Heaven Devil with any significant flesh power.

    However, under the effort of the Sea of Life, it now served as a special bond between him and the blood sea. Therefore, not only had it not shrunk further, but it had even started expanding gradually.

    This discovery put a grave expression on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Obviously, the Sea of Life had not only helped Grand Monarch Heaven Devil be a paragon, but it was still quietly providing him with assistance.

    Meanwhile, the origin of darkness was focused on fusing dark essence into Dong Li, directing it to her spiritual core and dark stones.

    Hence, it couldn¡¯t do much to limit Grand Monarch Heaven Devil or provide Nie Tian with assistance.

    At this moment, Ji Cang suddenly spoke. ¡°Nie Tian, If you want Dong Li to be a paragon, you have a major obstacle in front of you: Grand Monarch Heaven Devil is still alive.

    ¡°There¡¯s something I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re aware of.

    ¡°Only the origin of life, which is stronger than any other origin in the chaos, can have two or more paragons of its own at the same time. None of the other origins can, not even the origin of darkness.

    ¡°So simply put, Dong Li won¡¯t be able to finish her transcendence if Grand Monarch Heaven Devil doesn¡¯t perish.¡±

    Surprised and doubtful, Nie Tian turned to look at Pei Qiqi and the enchanting figure inside the Divine me.

    By the expressions on their faces, he realized that Ji Cang was telling the truth.

    Heaven Devil had to die in order for Dong Li to transcend.

    Nie Tian cast his gaze down, blood-colored light zing in the depths of his pupils.

    With a nastyugh, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil said, ¡°Nie Tian, you can channel life essence from the blood sea without getting the consent of the origin of life. I can¡¯t do that, but who would have thought that it would infuse me with its life essence so keenly? I couldn¡¯t refuse even if I wanted to. Since the darkness has abandoned me, I have to choose from the rest. Hehe. That blood sea is the strongest origin in the chaos. With it at my back, so what if you¡¯re a paragon?

    ¡°You want that girl to rece me as the dark paragon? Does she have what it takes?

    ¡°Do you know that it¡¯s extremely consuming for the darkness to dredge out ultimate dark legacies from its core to help someone be a paragon? My body and soul now carry the original devil power it vested me with. If I don¡¯t die, and that power doesn¡¯t return to the darkness, how can it make another paragon?¡±

    With these words, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil let out a long wildugh.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°I see. You¡¯ll have to die first.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Wisps of blood-colored light suddenly shot forth from the crimson bloodline aura in his heart.

    They coursed through his meridians, entered his acupoints, and gnawed away at the dark particles.

    Then, in a very strange way, a string of ck light slowly condensed in his crimson bloodline aura. It gradually turned from illusory to solid, and started to emanate devil light.

    Even though the ck string was in a simr form to the cyan, golden, and silver strings, it was significantly thicker than them the moment it took form.

    Without any dy, Nie Tian¡¯s soul awareness flew into it.

    An iparably profound feeling instantly took him over.

    A connection was built between him and the origin of darkness through the ck string!

    He couldmunicate with the origin of darkness directly now!

 Chapter 1791: Devil Blood Surges Rapidly!

    Nie Tian hadn¡¯t felt any major changes when the ice, thunder, and metal bloodline strings had first formed in his heart, not to mention being able to sense the existence of those three origins.

    This time, however, was different.

    The origin of darkness took the initiative to establishmunication with him the moment his dark bloodline came to form!

    Now, he was able tomunicate with it through that ck string!

    This was something he couldn¡¯t even achieve with the origin of life.

    Perhaps it was technically achievable, but he hadn¡¯t been able to because the origin of life had been resisting him...

    WHOOSH!

    Wisps of ink-ck power shot from the depths of the ultimate darkness. In a sh, they pierced into his body and joined the ck string in his bloodline aura.

    Immediately afterwards, the ck string started growing at an amazing rate.

    Numerous crystalline chains that were even finer than hairs rapidly condensed.

    PUFF!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil thrust his giant hand towards his chest like a devil¡¯s w.

    Upon first nce, the hand looked as if it had been carved from a piece of amethyst, without any skin, muscle fibers, or blood visible, as if it was a crystallization of devil power.

    Then, the devil power and flesh power it contained suddenly exploded!

    Millions of tons of explosives seemed to be detonated on Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    The explosions of raging devil power tore Nie Tian¡¯s chest open, making it a bloody mess.

    After that, more than a dozen tiny versions of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil started dashing around inside of him, carrying the auras of destruction, rampage, hatred, bloodlust, etc.

    Like little devils, they let out cunningughs as they wrecked havoc within his Life-origin Form.

    ¡°Nie Tian, with the Sea of Life providing me with the flesh power I need, how can you defeat me?¡±

    ¡°After the Blood Father of the Spirit World takes care of the Tree of Life and eradicates the humans from the Doomed Star Sea and the Mortal World, he¡¯ll surely return to the chaos. What hope will you have then?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re bound to die in the chaos!¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re done for, Nie Tian!¡±

    Each of them spoke in a differentnguage as they tore at Nie Tian¡¯s meridians and veins.

    The sharp pain gave Nie Tian the urge to scream.

    However, the look in his eyes was surprisingly calm, as if he were letting the tiny versions of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, which had been condensed from dark Blood Essence, cause damage to his body.

    All he did was create a blood-colored shield around his heart with life essence.

    As for the rest of him, he didn¡¯t seem to care if it was injured.

    BAM! BAM!

    His meridians burst under the mad wing of the tiny Grand Monarch Heaven Devils one after another.

    His internal organs, such as his stomach, kidney, and spleen, were also riddled with holes, and started to look like hos¡¯ nests.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Pei Qiqi saw bulges appearing on different parts of his giant form, which was a hundred thousand meters tall, as exploding sounds kepting from within him. She saw tiny Grand Monarch Heaven Devils ripping his skin open from within to receive more dark power from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s sneering true form.

    She assumed a tight grip on the Space Boundaries Crystal, ready to strike.

    ¡°You¡¯d better wait and see how the situation will develop,¡± Ji Cang suddenly said with an indifferent tone. ¡°A battle between paragons isn¡¯t for you to join. Also, has your origin thought this through? You have to know that Nie Tian and Grand Monarch Heaven Devil represent the blood sea and that darkness, the top two forces in the chaos.¡±

    As soon as she heard this, Pei Qiqi¡¯s eyes shone with dazzling light.

    In a split second, the dazzling light in her eyes morphed into a gorgeous prismatic crystal with many facets.

    It bore a great resemnce to the Space Boundaries Crystal, but they weren¡¯t the same. As soon as it emerged in her pupils, she seemed to grow befuddled, as if she was being suppressed by another awareness.

    At the same time, the Divine me that had carved out her own fleshly form with life essence it had received from Nie Tian seemed to bemunicating with the origin of fire as well, surrounded by fluctuating orange-red mes.

    ¡°Has yours made up its mind?¡± Ji Cang asked, looking at her.

    ¡°Yes, since my origin chose his doppelg?nger to inherit his me legacies, it¡¯s prepared to go to war with the blood sea.¡± With these words, the Divine me slowly walked towards Nie Tian.

    ¡°You¡¯re far too weak. At least you are at this point.¡± Ji Cang tried to talk her out of it. ¡°Also, you have to understand something: Nie Tian finished his transcendence first, and the origin of his bloodline is that endless blood sea. Do you really think he¡¯s weaker than Grand Monarch Heaven Devil?¡±

    ¡°But he didn¡¯t cause any heaven-shaking stirs when he transcended,¡± The Divine me said.

    Ji Cang let out a cold snort and said, ¡°Do you mean all of the Devils, Demons, devilish beasts, and devilish insects that carry dark bloodlines being able to sense Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s transcendence? When Nie Tian transcended, only two beings throughout this universe were able to sense it: the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life.

    ¡°That¡¯s because they¡¯re the only ones that have inherited bloodline wonders from the Sea of Life.

    ¡°Also, Nie Tian is the first of a brand new species and the creator of a new era. Since he doesn¡¯t have any descendants yet, it¡¯s only natural that no one in the three worlds could resonate with his bloodline.

    ¡°Do you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡±

    His detailed exnation put the Divine me into deep thought.

    While she was absorbed in thought, Nie Tian¡¯s sub-souls suddenly left his sea of awareness and plunged into his fleshly body.

    He had a total of nine sub-souls that corresponded to star power, me power, wood power, the Rampage Behemoth, and the five evil gods respectively.

    Flying out of his sea of awareness at this moment was the sub-soul corresponding to the Rampage Behemoth and the five sub-souls that were wreathed in bloodlust, rage, hatred, fear, and despair.

    Upon entering Nie Tian¡¯s fleshly body, they morphed into six Nie Tians with flesh and blood, each exuding an aura!

    Immediately afterwards, the six of them spread out to hunt and ughter the numerous tiny Grand Monarch Heaven Devils that were ying havoc inside of him.

    Those tiny Grand Monarch Heaven Devils were dumbstruck upon seeing the six Nie Tians that had appeared out of nowhere.

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°This... this is impossible!¡±

    ¡°So you must have formed some kind of rtionship with the darkness long ago!¡±

    ¡°When did you reach a mutual understanding with it?!¡±

    The numerous tiny Grand Monarch Heaven Devils yelled inside of Nie Tian, not daring to believe what they were seeing.

    These Nie Tians were wreathed in auras of bloodlust, rage, hatred, despair, and fear, which contained wonders that originated from the depths of that ultimate darkness. Their level of purity was also incredible.

    Even he himself didn¡¯t have such a deep understanding of the variations of those types of dark power.

    Secondster, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil came to a sudden realization. ¡°Did he get them from the five evil gods of the Netherspirits?¡±

    However, at this moment, all of the tiny versions of himself that he had condensed from original dark power and sent into Nie Tian¡¯s body were already caught and devoured by the six Nie Tians.

    After that, the six Nie Tians gradually expanded as they charged into his heart.

    They fused into that ck string one after another.

    The Bloodline Crystal Chains in the ck string madly grew and multiplied.

    Ji Cang¡¯s eyes widened with astonishment as he sensed Nie Tian¡¯s soaring aura. He couldn¡¯t help but exim, ¡°Seventh... eighth... ninth... tenth grade! No way! Even if he¡¯s gained the acknowledgment of the origin of darkness, such growth is still too fast!¡±

 Chapter 1792: The Endless Changes of Darkness

    Nie Tian¡¯s dark aura soared through the heavens and reached a grand monarch¡¯s level in the blink of an eye.

    All of this happened right before Ji Cang and the Divine me.

    It took an amazingly short time for his dark bloodline to develop from nothing to the tenth grade.

    Who knew how many years and how much tempering it would take for a Devil that was born with the noblest bloodline to advance to the tenth grade?

    It would be viewed as a miracle if one could finish their bloodline upgrade and join the ranks of grand monarchs in a hundred millennia!

    However, how long had Nie Tian taken?

    If he hadn¡¯t seen it with his own eyes, Ji Cang wouldn¡¯t even have been able to imagine any creature being able to finish their bloodline upgrade within such a short time.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    The ultimate darkness surged with dark power, as if to resonate with Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline.

    All of the ninth and tenth grade experts in the three worlds and the darknd that carried dark bloodlines, along with some devilish beasts and insects with special bloodlines, howled and screeched as their dark bloodlines suddenly went into rapture.

    This meant another overpowering existence of their kind had won the acknowledgment of the origin of darkness.

    Many Devils were deeply thrilled.

    ¡°Who was it?¡±

    ¡°Who could it be? Heaven Devil has already transcended. Who in our race could have triggered this dark resonance?¡±

    ¡°God bless us!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re destined to thrive as a people!¡±

    In the chaos, Nie Tian let out a broadugh. ¡°Heaven Devil, your original dark power doesn¡¯t seem to work on me.¡±

    As he sucked in a breath of air, wisps of dark power that surrounded Grand Monarch Heaven Devil were somehow channeled by him, and started pouring towards his opened mouth.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s expression flickered slightly before he quickly pressed his devilish hand down towards Nie Tian.

    Countless devilish symbols then fell like a storm, emanating dark power fluctuations that could suppress all lives and hold even devil gods in fear.

    The wisps of dark power flying down towards Nie Tian suddenly froze.

    However, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s expression grew even graver as he said, ¡°Nie Tian, you...¡±

    A faint smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face. ¡°Surprised, aren¡¯t you? I was too. To be honest, I¡¯ve had a medium in my sea of awareness that allows me tomunicate with the darkness for a long time. I just didn¡¯t realize it. The Dao of evil the five evil gods seek originates from the origin of darkness. It¡¯s just that they¡¯re Netherspirits and don¡¯t carry dark bloodlines.

    ¡°That¡¯s also the reason why they haven¡¯t been able to transcend the limits of their bloodlines.

    ¡°However, what they can¡¯t do, I can. The moment my dark bloodline came to form, the profound truths they have derived over hundreds of thousands of years naturally became a part of my dark bloodline.

    ¡°Not to mention that the Rampage Behemoth is a mighty existence created by the origin of darkness as well.¡±

    As he spoke, changes started to happen to his Life-origin Form, which was a hundred thousand meters all. Numerous mysterious devil markings started emerging on his crimson skin as his dark bloodline erupted.

    The devilish markings were ck and purple, and contained the greatest secrets of dark power.

    The color of his pupils kept switching between crimson, ck, and purple.

    BOOM!

    He leapt forward, and appeared in front of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    ¡°Darkness Coil!¡±

    As soon as he eximed, his dark power and flesh power blended together and condensed into numerous scary-looking vines that suddenly shot out from Nie Tian¡¯s chest and wrapped around Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    Dark power and life power seemed to form a wondrous union in Nie Tian¡¯s hands. Also, this spell he had just cast was his own invention.

    The moment the vines bound Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, raging power burst forth and pierced into Grand Monarch Heaven Devil like sharp swords.

    In a sh, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s skin was torn open, drop after drop of devil blood rising into the void from his open wounds.

    Each and every one of them seemed to have a devil god figure inside of it.

    ROOOOAR! HOOOOWL!

    The devil god figures within the blood drops let out heaven-shaking, earth-toppling roars.

    As this happened, every Devil expert in the three worlds felt stabbing pain in their soul.

    In the devil well, the pitch-ck liquidized devil power at the bottom suddenly shot up to fuse into the devil ancestors that had been enshrined for eons.

    Immediately afterwards, the figures within the blood drops that had risen from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s torn flesh seemed toe back to life.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil let out a wildugh as he sensed the rich flesh power pouring into him from the Sea of Life through that crimson sphere of light in his heart. ¡°Many thanks!¡±

    With his secret bloodline magics, he stimted those figures with the flesh power from the Sea of Life and his devil blood, turning them into an army of powerful Devil experts, sinister devilish beasts, and scary devilish insects.

    All of these deceased experts and devilish creatures seemed to be temporarily vested with power and awareness.

    Under Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯smand, they each cast their most skilled bloodline magics to w, bite, and sh their weapons at the dark vines Nie Tian had used to bind him.

    Nie Tian let out a cold harrumph, and cried out with a derisive expression, ¡°Let me give you a taste of Origin Resonance!¡±

    BZZZ! BZZZ!

    Strange ear-piercing sounds starteding from the satanic vines, as if they were the shrill berating of the origin of darkness.

    All of the downsized Devil experts, devilish beasts, and devilish insects immediately started cowering.

    Just as they hesitated and asked Grand Monarch Heaven Devil for help, Nie Tian whispered, ¡°Life Drain.¡±

    The vines were instantly infused with life power, and transformed into bloodthirsty serpents that swiftly pounced on the devilish beasts, devilish insects, and Devil elders and started gnawing.

    As they did, brand new Bloodline Crystal Chains came to form in the dark bloodline in Nie Tian¡¯s heart.

    Because of that, numerous bloodline magics that were different from those of Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, the evil gods, or the Rampage Behemoth were added to his skill set. They also helped deepen his understanding of the evil truths in the depths of the origin of darkness, like giving a tiger a pair of wings.

    The darkness had countless variations.

    Most of the Devil ancestors and devilish creatures had derived only one profound truth of dark power in their whole life. Only by spending hundreds of thousands of years testing and studying it had they managed to lift their bloodline to the tenth grade.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil had mastered the essence of the infinite variations. However, he hadn¡¯t studied any of them to the extreme.

    Unlike him, many brilliant grand monarchs in the Devils¡¯ history, the five evil gods, and the Rampage Behemoth had gone very far in their cultivation of only one variation.

    At this moment, as more and more Bloodline Crystal Chains condensed in Nie Tian¡¯s dark bloodline, his understanding of the variations grew deeper and deeper.

    Momentster, all of the Devil experts and devilish creatures vanished into Nie Tian¡¯s body.

    Wisps of ck mist started rising from him and spreading into his surroundings.

    Driven by his crimson flesh aura sea, the ck mist rapidly pervaded the area and engulfed Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    Then, Ji Cang, the Divine me, and Pei Qiqi, who had juste back to her senses, saw Grand Monarch Heaven Devil overtaken by fear as he desperately tried to break free from the ck mist.

    However, he couldn¡¯t.

    In the darknd, Zhao Shanling narrowed his eyes in his Ancient Arch-devil form, as if he was trying to sense something. Then, he muttered, ¡°I can¡¯t believe the aura of the dark paragon is declining sharply.

    ¡°How long has it been since his transcendence? Don¡¯t tell me that he¡¯s going to be such a transient paragon.¡±

    ¡°The most transient, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Wu Ji said with an expressionless face.

 Chapter 1793: Nip A Paragon In The Bud!

    There were endless variations in the depths of the darkness.

    Those variations were the profound truths that lurked deep in the origin of darkness.

    Since ancient times, the Devil race had produced hundreds of grand monarchs and tenth-grade devil beasts and devil insects.

    As long as they cultivated one or several variations derived from the darkness to the extreme, they could be grand monarchs.

    Or, like the Dark King, those who had been favored by the origins could be made a paragon directly.

    However, only Grand Monarch Heaven Devil could see through the variations of the origin of darkness in the real sense, hold fast to his conscience, and achieve his great Dao with the help of the variations of darkness.

    Originally, he had been the darkness¡¯s favorite, the chosen one.

    With his gift, his abilities, and his foundation for bing a paragon, he would be able to see through the endless variations that were derived from the darkness as long as he was given enough time!

    He had been able to see through all the variations that had urred in the Devils¡¯ history, such as darkness, destruction, rage, resentment, despair, and fear.

    It was because paragons, like their origins, couldn¡¯t die naturally.

    Therefore, they were almost eternal.

    However, he had lost his patience.

    He was facing Nie Tian, who had joined the ranks of paragons with the help of the Sea of Life and awakened appalling bloodline talents that allowed him to even swallow and refine other beings¡¯ bloodline mysteries!

    All the Devil experts, devil beasts, and devil insects that he had used to attack Nie Tian had been powerful and famous tenth grade members in the Devils¡¯ history.

    The variations of darkness that they hadprehended had been engraved in devil statues fused into the drops of devil blood.

    Stimted by Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, they had been instantly revived with the help of the Blood Essence that the Sea of Life had given him. The true meanings of darkness they had studied for hundreds of thousands of years had also been activated, and had been vividly disyed.

    Then... they were devoured by Nie Tian with Life Drain, leaving no trace of them.

    This directly caused the dark bloodline in Nie Tian¡¯s heart to generate hundreds of dense Bloodline Crystal Chains, which were many times thinner than strands of hair.

    All the Bloodline Crystal Chains were branded with brand-new bloodline talents and magics corresponding to the darkness.

    It could be said that Nie Tian hadbined the strengths of hundreds of grand monarchs in the Devils¡¯ history.

    The core of all these strengths, however, was the profound Dao that Grand Monarch Heaven Devil hadprehended ¡ª variations, because his darkness bloodline had originallye from Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    Such a Nie Tian had also gotten the acknowledgment of the origin of darkness. When added to the true meaning of evil that the five evil gods hadprehended, the Rampage Behemoth¡¯s devastating evil power, and the bloodline talents of many Devil grand monarchs, tenth-grade devil beasts, and devil insects, Nie Tian had be the most terrifying oddity in the chaos!

    ROAR!

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil let out sad, shrill howls in the ck devil mist.

    Drops of devil blood sputtered from his lofty, mountainous body. Each drop of devil blood split into hundreds or thousands of devil characters and devil symbols.

    Many bloodline talents started resonating with his heart in the form of words, devil patterns, and sounds.

    BOOM! BOOM!

    The storm around his devil body that could destroy heaven and earth became more and more turbulent.

    The horrifying rippling devil power made Ji Cang, the Divine me, who had taken a wait-and-see attitude, and Pei Qiqi, who had just regained her awareness, subconsciously avoid them.

    For most grand monarchs and God domain experts in the three worlds, if they dared to approach Grand Monarch Heaven Devil at this moment, they would be crushed by his dark devil power andpletely vanish.

    Such power reminded Ji Cang and the Divine me of the grand explosion that had destroyed everything and created everything in this universe at the beginning of time.

    However, to their surprise, no matter how hard Grand Monarch Heaven Devil struggled, and no matter how desperately he tried, the ck devil mist kept firmly wrapping him in it.

    When they took a closer look, they found that the ck mist kept changing, sometimes morphing into a fighting devil god who was even more ferocious-looking and sinister than Zhao Shanling¡¯s Ancient Arch-devil form.

    Giant purple lumps grew in the devil god¡¯s head, like devilish fruits that seemed to secretly contain endless devil power.

    The devil god had hundreds of devil eyes. His swollen body was covered with cold ck des. His huge hooves and hands were like giant maces that could easily break a domain and destroy all the realms in it.

    Then, the devil god morphed into an elegant noble Devil with a handsome face, looking at Grand Monarch Heaven Devil in a cold,manding manner like a god without feelings.

    After that, the noble Devil morphed into a giant bug that had ck fetid liquid flowing on it. Its purple, slippery, and sticky tongue seemed to wrap around Grand Monarch Heaven Devil.

    The giant bug changed again, and became a devil god who stood towering in the depths of the darkness, his dark aura covering the three worlds. It was the departed Dark King...

    Just like this, the devil mist sometimes expanded, sometimes shrank, morphing into horrifying figures who had dominated the three worlds.

    The core talents, the bloodline mysteries, and the devil Dao that they hadprehended were manifested in the devil mist one after another. They attacked Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, cut at his fleshly body, and nibbled away at his devil blood.

    Grand Monarch Heaven Devil¡¯s devil body, which was evenrger than Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form, gradually shrank in the devil mist binding it.

    As this happened, he clearly felt that his energies, devil power, and the dark imprints in his bloodline were being swallowed, melted, and erased...

    Fear gradually filled his heart and every strand of devil power and essence in him.

    He knew that fear came from the depths of the darkness. With his status as a paragon and his knowledge of darkness, he shouldn¡¯t be feeling fear.

    Only he could make others fearful. How could he be fearful himself?

    Even though had long since known that the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life were devastatingly mighty, he had never felt any fear of them.

    As for Qin Yao of the Doomed Star Sea, he only regarded him as an opponent worth fighting, but he was convinced that he could defeat him.

    Both Grand Monarch Soul Capturer and Grand Monarch Bone Piercer viewed him as their leader.

    There were countless grand monarchs and God domain experts in the three worlds, but who could make him fearful?

    Even when he had faced the origin of darkness, he had only been very respectful to it.

    After observing his own heart for a while, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil gradually figured out why he felt fear. ¡°Yes, the disappearing strength, bloodline, and darkness imprints...¡±

    It was because he was getting weaker...

    When he had been strong and confident, he had been fearless.

    However, now that he was getting weaker, so weak that anyone could kill him now, it was only natural that he felt fear.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that as fear filled his heart, the Sea of Life below forsook him, and stopped providing him with life power through the little blood-red ball of light in his heart.

    This made it difficult for him to heal the wound of his fleshly body at a lightning speed as Nie Tian could.

    Soon, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil shrank to be so small in the ck devil mist that Ji Cang, the Divine me, and Pei Qiqi gradually failed to see him clearly.

    SPLASH! SPLASH!

    Sparks of dark crystalline light the size of a grain of rice flew out of the ck devil mist.

    They flew into the origin of darkness, which then refined and fused them into the darkness spiritual core within Dong Li¡¯s spiritual sea.

    Before she knew it, pitch dark energies filled her spiritual sea, and even made her non-attribute spiritual cores turn ck.

    SWOOSH!

    The ck devil mist gathered and condensed before it morphed into Nie Tian once again.

    Nie Tian gazed down at the blood sea below, grinned, and said, ¡°Your hope is that the Blood Father of the Spirit World will get rid of the Tree of Life and the irrelevant living beings and then tackle me.

    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll give you what you wish for.¡±

    As he spoke, he gradually became illusory in the chaos before hepletely disappeared!

 Chapter 1794: King Of Devils!

    Pei Qiqi and the Divine me eximed at the same time.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Ji Cang, who was greatly shocked, shouted, ¡°How dare he break away from the chaos?!¡±

    As long as he was still in the chaos, no matter if the origin of life was willing or not, Nie Tian could extract flesh power from the blood sea for his own use.

    He could be invincible here.

    He could never be threatened unless the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was as strong as him and shared the same origin with him, returned from the darknd.

    Once he walked out of the chaos, the blood sea would keep him from getting flesh power from it, just as it had done to the Tree of Life.

    Moreover, even paragons needed approval from their origins if they wanted to step into the chaos.

    For example, if the Tree of Life wanted to enter the chaos after its falling-out with the blood sea, it would have to see if the blood sea agreed.

    Nie Tian had broken up with the blood sea.

    If he left, it would likely be difficult for him to return the chaos.

    Why would he do this?

    Ji Cang couldn¡¯t understand.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    The three outsider races of the Void World, the crooked forces of the Doomed Star Sea, and many humans were working with the Tree of Life to fight the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Zhao Shanling, Qin Yao, Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and the Rampage Behemoth were the main forces.

    Wu Ji had repeatedly used time power. His consumption was so tremendous that he could no longer impose a time restriction on the Blood Father of the Spirit World or the Tree of Life.

    He was silent and motionless as wisps of unusual light slipped from the corners of his eyes from time to time.

    The unusual light, which was like some sort of blood or tears, was his leaking power.

    ZZZZZLA!

    A sh of lightning struck Fan Tianze¡¯s sword domain.

    Because of the lightning, wisps of brilliant sword light suddenly faded, their spiritual power gone.

    The twitching lightning bolt cut and annihted numerous strands of refined soul awareness in Fan Tianze¡¯s god domain, making this powerful expert from the Heaven Span Pavilion shriek miserably.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Frozen by cold power, Mo Heng¡¯s divine dharma idol was frosted over.

    A ray of blood light shot from the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s eyes, pierced through the waist of Mo Heng¡¯s divine dharma idol, and caused the divine dharma idol to fall and break into brilliant spiritual power filling the air, like ss falling to the ground.

    Then, the Blood Father of the Spirit World wielded his golden axe.

    Bright broken stars were annihted by a sea of golden light, making loud noises.

    Each broken star was Qin Yao¡¯s star and soul power. As they were annihted one by one, it felt like a sharp de was cutting pieces of flesh from his body.

    WHOOSH!

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World opened his mouth and breathed in.

    Emerald leaves, which had been floating in the air after they were severed from the Tree of Life, were sucked into his giant mouth, like a gigantic whale taking water into its mouth.

    He chewed only a few times before swallowing them down.

    Life power immediately erupted in his body. The wood power of the leaves nourished him like sweet dew, rapidly healing the slight wounds he had suffered in battle.

    Gradually, the lush branches of the Tree of Life, which had been emanating brilliant sparkling divine light, began to dim.

    Because of its secret arrangements, this darknd could have reced the blood sea in the chaos and gathered the flesh power of the experts that died here. However, undermined by Wu Ji and Zhao Shanling and suppressed by the joint efforts of the origin of life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World, the flesh power that it could obtain kept diminishing.

    Besides, it couldn¡¯t extract life power from the origins for its own use.

    The long fighting had gradually tired it out.

    If it weren¡¯t for experts like the Rampage Behemoth, the evil gods, Qin Yao, Zhao Shanling, and Mo Heng, who had taken pressure off of it, its branches and roots would have been severed and broken by the golden axe already.

    BAM!

    All of a sudden, it sensed an unusual movement.

    ¡°Ah!¡± Wu Ji, who had been motionless, suddenly screamed, his expression shocked.

    The many humans and experts of the Doomed Star Sea who were besieging the Blood Father of the Spirit World, also shrieked, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Young Master!¡±

    ¡°Little Tian!¡±

    All of a sudden, they saw a giant godlike being, whose crimson skin was covered with devilish markings and patterns and whose strangely fierce aura gave them endless pressure, manifested out of thin air.

    Judging by its face, it was clearly Nie Tian, who had disappeared for a long time and had be one of the paragons!

    As the Devils of the Void World looked up at the giant god, who was only a little shorter than the Blood Father of the Spirit World, their devil blood started boiling.

    Almost all the Devil experts and the devil beasts and devil insects they had brought stared at this new Nie Tian and somehow had a peculiar feeling that they were worshipping their ancestors. They couldn¡¯t help discussing this among themselves.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t he a human hybrid?¡±

    ¡°Why does he have...¡±

    They even felt that Nie Tian was the progenitor of their race, and that they themselves were his descendants.

    They didn¡¯t know that the many little Devil elders, devil insects, and devil beasts that Nie Tian had refined and merged into his dark bloodline had really been the strongest experts in the history of the Devils!

    As powerful as Zhao Shanling was, looking at Nie Tian now, he felt dwarfed.

    This feeling of being dwarfed was both real and mental.

    Even when the Dark King had be a paragon, Zhao Shanling hadn¡¯t felt so dwarfed by him when he had examined him from the dark.

    Zhao Shanling lowered his head slowly and spoke in a voice that only he himself could hear. ¡°When I look at him, it feels like I¡¯m looking at all the outstanding nsmen in the history of the Devils. If that one was called the Dark King, I feel Nie Tian should be called the King of All Devils now. He is the king that all the Devils, devil beasts, devil insects, Demons, and the people with darkness bloodlines want to worship.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just that...¡± he added, frowning, ¡°shouldn¡¯t it be Dong Li who has been received by the darkness and reced Grand Monarch Heaven Devil?¡±

    He couldn¡¯t understand it.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you have the audacity to return from the chaos,¡± the Blood Father of the Spirit World growled. His growl shook the whole darknd so greatly that many spatial cracks appeared in it, as if it were a ball that was about to burst.

    He stared at Nie Tian with his red, bloodthirsty eyes.

    His tyrannical and cruel aura condensed into columns of blood-red light that broke through the dome of the darknd and shot into unknown ces.

    The moment Nie Tian appeared, he no longer had any other rivals in his eyes.

    Even the Tree of Life was now regarded as the second trouble that he wanted to wipe out.

    Nie Tian was the first!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Clusters of shadows could be seen hovering around Nie Tian, as if they were chattering and cheering.

    Some with keen perception saw the shadows, and couldn¡¯t but help scream, ¡°Void Spirits!¡±

    Indeed, those shadows were the Void Spirits that the origins in the chaos had separated from themselves and sent out on different missions.

    They had attacked Dong Li and caused many living beings¡¯ unexined deaths before.

    However, they now cheered for Nie Tian¡¯s return with delight.

    This was because they had learned from their own origins that Nie Tian, on whom the Sea of Life had ced high hopes, had broken off from the blood sea in the chaos and be its enemy.

    To the Void Spirits and their corresponding origins, the blood sea was the most heinous vin.

    Now that Nie Tian had broken up with it, he was their ally and hope!

 Chapter 1795: Escape From The Dark Land

    The Void Spirits chattered like joyous birds.

    They were no longer invisible as they morphed into clusters of brightly-colored balls of light dancing around Nie Tian.

    However, the Void Spirits were far too smallpared to the size of his giant body that they were almost like flies.

    Nie Tian squinted slightly to carefully examine one of the light balls. It seemed he saw the Void Spirit¡¯s awareness flowing like a blue river inside.

    ¡°The Void Spirit of water...¡± he muttered, his eyes wandering around the darknd before he saw a Seaspirit who was staring at the blue light ball with eyes zing with desire.

    The bloodline of the Seaspirits had a strong reaction, so they knew that the blue light ball was the Void Spirit derived from the origin which their bloodline corresponded to.

    If they could refine it and merge it with their bloodline, they would have a chance to be a paragon in the future.

    The eyes of the Moonspirits, the Lightspirits, and a few other races from the Void World also followed the light balls that flew around Nie Tian.

    They were their hope of bing paragons.

    ¡°Pity,¡± Nie Tian said, shaking his head slightly and looking calmly at the Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was growling at him.

    He knew that the Blood Father of the Spirit World was the key to whether or not he could dominate the world.

    The golden, cyan, and silver-white bloodlines in his body, which were from the Gold Horn Beast, the Thunder-devouring Whale, and the Ice Liger, shivered like small creatures facing giant beasts.

    It was the aura of the Blood Father of the Spirit World that they were afraid of.

    They feared the thunderbolts encircling him, the great golden axe that he wielded, and the cold stone at his Adam¡¯s apple.

    Those three things corresponded directly to their origins.

    ROAR!

    The Rampage Behemoth shot up from the farnd into the sky and flew to Nie Tian¡¯s location in almost an instant.

    It felt closer to Nie Tian now.

    Nie Tian smiled, and purple devil clouds emerged under his feet like lotus flowers.

    He strode across the sky and suddenly mounted the Rampage Behemoth.

    SWOOSH!

    The devil lotus flowers, which were tens of acres across, flew out towards the Blood Father of the Spirit World like spinning sharp round discs.

    A few Devils who had a profound knowledge of their history couldn¡¯t help but scream as soon as they saw the devil lotus flowers. ¡°It¡¯s Grand Monarch Devil Lotus of our race, who once was very powerful in the Bone Emperor¡¯s era! Grand Monarch Devil Lotus¡¯s bloodline talent allowed his devil lotus flowers to fly all over the sky, cutting down all the living beings that stood in his way.¡±

    POOH! POOH!

    The devil lotus flowers struck the rib cage of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, split his flesh, and cut into his bones.

    However, that was it.

    The Blood Father¡¯s face showed no sign of pain. He gave those huge devil lotus flowers a look, chuckled, and casually patted them a few times before the giant devil flowers exploded into countless rays of devil light.

    The wounds in his chest were instantly restored, leaving no traces of injury.

    Nie Tian roared, ¡°Go!¡±

    The Rampage Behemoth that he sat astride growled as boundless devil power and flesh auras surged out of its body. Stimted by his bloodline, its strength increased threefold.

    ¡°Bring it on!¡± the Blood Father of the Spirit World spat with a grim smile before golden light shone so dazzlingly that all those around him couldn¡¯t open their eyes.

    The golden light was from the giant golden axe in his hand.

    In a sh, the area where he and Nie Tian were was engulfed by a sea of golden light.

    Whoever was close to the area was suppressed by their bloodlines.

    Rays of golden light sshed in every direction. Each of them contained the true meaning of metal power, and was sharp enough to pierce all fleshly bodies and realms.

    Even Zhao Shanling, who had morphed into the Ancient Arch-devil, had no choice but to use spatial magics to shift between different spaces.

    All of a sudden, the many experts in the darknd found that, after Nie Tian¡¯s return, the Blood Father of the Spirit World seemed to finally let himself go and start disying his battle prowess to the extreme.

    SWOOSH!

    Qin Yao and the others quietly retreated to the ce where Wu Ji was, which was far from Nie Tian and the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Nie Jin said, looking anxious, ¡°Senior Ji? Why are there boundless devil mes in Nie Tian¡¯s aura? Hasn¡¯t he advanced to be a paragon with the help of the Sea of Life in the chaos?¡±

    She noticed that all the Devils and devil creatures from the Void World had changed their attitudes when they looked at Nie Tian, as if they were looking at their ancestors...

    They hadn¡¯t even looked at Grand Monarch Heaven Devil like that before.

    ¡°It¡¯s tooplicated to exin,¡± Wu Ji spoke with a difficult tone. ¡°All I can say is that although Nie Tian failed to be a dark paragon, he does have a bloodline in his body that resonates with the origin of darkness. Moreover, the bloodline is very strange, as it contains the myriad changes and endless mysteries of the Devils.¡±

    Nie Jin was puzzled. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Why is Nie Tian fighting the Blood Father of the Spirit World with the Devils¡¯ bloodline and fighting style?¡± Qin Yao asked with a grave expression.

    Wu Ji couldn¡¯t exin, so he said, ¡°Even if he can¡¯t be a dark paragon, he is a unique being.¡±

    SWISH!

    Zhao Shanling flew over in his Ancient Arch-devil form, and rapidly shrank into his human form.

    As soon as he arrived, he dropped a bombshell. ¡°The darknd is about to fall apart! As far as I can tell, it¡¯s unlikely that any new paragons will be born. Winning the Void Spirits¡¯ acknowledgment is the best we can do now. If those who are weak continue to stay in the darknd, they will die in vain, which will be meaningless.¡±

    As he spoke, everyone saw members of the three outsider races in the Void World looking around for cracked spatial rifts.

    As soon as they saw familiar scenes in some of the spatial rifts, their eyes lit up before they flew into them without hesitation.

    Some of them thought that they had seen a ray of dawn. However, the moment they flew in, they let out miserable shrieks because the position of the glistening spatial rift had changed in an instant.

    They were thus killed beyond salvation.

    Even so, the Void World survivors began to evacuate because of Zhao Shanling¡¯s warning.

    Zhao Shanling, however, ignored them, and wielded the Void Mirror in his human form to open stable rifts that lead to the outside world.

    Originally, it would have been hard for him to get even himself out of here with the help of the Void Mirror.

    However, the darknd couldn¡¯t bear the duel between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and Nie Tian, so the ¡®cage¡¯ was broken, and he was able to find a chance.

    At this moment, a blue shadow suddenly manifested out of nothing.

    Upon seeing it, the Void Spirit Society disciples eximed in surprise, ¡°Miss Pei!¡±

    Qin Yao, Nie Jin, those from the Doomed Star Sea, and Mo Heng all looked at Pei Qiqi with surprise.

    Expressionless, Pei Qiqi nodded to greet Qin Yao, Nie Jin, and Wu Ji, then she spoke, ¡°Zhao Shanling is right. You can¡¯t stay in the darknd anymore. I¡¯m here to help.¡±

    The Space Boundaries Crystal flew out of her hands and hung high over the heads of the others.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    A multitude of brilliant streaks of light shot out of the facets of the Space Boundaries Crystal.

    Each streak of light split open a spatial rift like a sharp de.

    It seemed that some of the spatial rifts led to the Realm of Split Void, some led to the Shatter Battlefield, and some led to the Realm of Maelstrom in the Domain of Heaven Python.

 Chapter 1796: The Land Breaks

    Zhao Shanling had pointed the way for the races of the Void World, suggesting that they should leave as soon as possible.

    Pei Qiqi had specially returned from the chaos and activated her Space Boundaries Crystal to open rifts, helping all the survivors escape as safely as possible.

    They were both experts in spatial power.

    They knew that the walls of the darknd were unstable, and that because of the fierce battles that had taken ce, the assaults of the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life, and Nie Tian¡¯s return, the unusualnd would likely break soon.

    Even if it didn¡¯t, how many could survive a top duel between paragons?

    The experts like Qin Yao, Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and the others went to consult Wu Ji.

    Wu Ji nodded gently.

    After they got his positive answer, many human experts and crooked forces from the Doomed Star Sea immediately received orders ¡ª those who weren¡¯tte grand monarchs orte God domain experts must leave as soon as possible.

    As soon as the orders were issued, streaks of light could be seen flying into thin spatial rifts in different parts of the riftden darknd.

    Those streaks of light were either Saint domain experts or grand patriarchs.

    Even the weak early God domain expert and the early grand monarchs from the Doomed Star Sea sensed the earth-shattering quakes caused by the duel between the Blood Father of the Spirit World and Nie Tian, and left with resignation.

    Only a few with special abilities ventured to stay even though they weren¡¯tte grand monarchs orte God domain experts.

    The battle zone of the Blood Father of the Spirit World and Nie Tian moved to the middle of the darknd where... the roots of the Tree of Life were.

    Everyone took a closer look and saw countless shes of lightning swimming in the sky like giant pythons and dragons.

    Cold crystals came together to form winding ice mountains that floated in the air, but would suddenly explode into deadly icicles and ice des at some point.

    In the sea of golden light, crimson blood light flitted about.

    Branches and green leaves burst forth with clear divine light, drifting and morphing into a different ancient Wood Thriving Formation.

    However, the original dark power Nie Tian unleashed was the most eye-catching among all the divine light and blood light.

    His dark purple and inky flesh auras kept changing, morphing into many brilliant experts in the history of the Devils, and disying various peculiar bloodlines and magics with the help of the Rampage Behemoth.

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    Strange voices kept sounding in the world.

    Soon, most of the living beings that had swarmed into the darknd had left.

    Those who dared to stay were all bigshots and kingpins.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on in the chaos?¡± Mo Heng asked, looking deeply at Pei Qiqi. ¡°I feel that this Nie Tian is iplete.¡±

    Hearing this, everyone¡¯s expressions changed.

    Iplete? What did that mean?

    After hesitating for a while, Pei Qiqi said in a soft voice, ¡°Nie Tian¡¯s main soul is still in the chaos, in the River of Souls. And two of his doppelgangers are still in the origins of stars and fire.¡±

    Mo Heng was shocked. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The origins decided to make paragons out of his doppelgangers,¡± Pei Qiqi exined. ¡°Then something happened. The origins were angered and stopped. Then, Nie Tian broke away from the blood sea and proved himself again, so the origins forgave him.¡±

    Her words made everyone muddled and puzzled.

    Wu Ji, who understood her words, said softly, ¡°You only need to know that this Nie Tian, who¡¯s fighting the Blood Father of the Spirit World, isn¡¯t in his strongest form. He can continue to grow stronger, if his main soul and his two doppelgangers make substantial breakthroughs with the help of the three origins in the chaos.¡±

    Then, Yin Xingtian and Qin Yao asked respectively.

    ¡°What about Dong Li?¡±

    ¡°What about Ji Cang?¡±

    Pei Qiqi frowned and answered, ¡°Ji Cang was summoned by the origin of stars. He may rejoin the origin, or he may be exiled again. As for Dong Li, the origin of darkness is helping her to see if she can be the first pure human paragon without a bloodline. The origin of darkness is now very close to Nie Tian. But if Nie Tian¡¯s battle with the Blood Father of the Spirit World consumes too much of its energy, it may not be able to seed.¡±

    Many present didn¡¯t know anything about the chaos, the origins, or the making of paragons.

    They had no idea how the darknd was connected to the chaos.

    Pei Qiqi gave a brief exnation of the rtionship between the origins and the paragons, and the role that the Sea of Life yed in the chaos.

    Then, she went on to talk about the darknd and the so-called Dark Abyss.

    ¡°The darknd isn¡¯t within the three worlds, but in the depths of the space disruption zone,¡± she whispered. ¡°The darknd didn¡¯t form naturally. Its existence was designed, and made from many superrge realms that were shattered by the Star Behemoths in the Primal Era.

    ¡°The fragments of those broken superrge realms were collected and condensed into the darknd in the space disruption zone.

    ¡°It may break every time it can¡¯t bear the horrifying impact from a battle between paragons.

    ¡°And, of course, after it breaks, its broken fragments will still exist, so it can be reforged.

    ¡°It¡¯s generally the newly-made paragon who is responsible for bringing the broken darknd back together. The Dark King, the Bone Emperor, and Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit have all done so. Of course, the Tree of Life has done it the most times. Both the first and second generations of the Tree of Life have gathered fragments to reforge the darknd in their heyday.

    ¡°Even so, the darknd is the best ce for super experts to fight.

    ¡°Long ago, the origin of life and the other origins came to a mutual understanding that they would arrange for the beings they had sent out to create the darknd, and establish a connection between the chaos and the darknd. They made the darknd a tform, adder, for those who want to be paragons.

    ¡°There aren¡¯t any direct connections between the chaos and the Mortal World, the Void World, the Spirit World, or the Doomed Star Sea. Hence, only by essing the darknd, obtaining the Void Spirits, which are the keys, and receiving the origins¡¯ summons can one enter the chaos and receive the origins¡¯ examination. Only after gaining the origins¡¯ recognition can they be a paragon with their help.

    ¡°If the origins don¡¯t give them their final approval after they enter the chaos, the Void Spirits will return to their origins. The bloodline power they have umted for hundreds of thousands of years will be forcefully deprived of them by the origins.

    ¡°Therefore, not all those who enter the chaos can be paragons. They might be reduced to flying ashes andpletely disappear, leaving nothing behind.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡± Mo Heng asked.

    ¡°A paragon is closely rted to the origins and the fortune of the three worlds, so such a decision can¡¯t be made rashly,¡± Pei Qiqi replied. ¡°A paragon and their origin are in a senseplementary and equal. Also, paragons don¡¯t die of natural causes. They have infinite lifespans, as their origins do.

    ¡°So the origins have to be most careful with this.

    ¡°If they create another rebel like the Star Behemoths or another malicious Tree of Life, it would be a fatal blow to them. How can they not be prudent?¡±

    CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

    The vast darknd gradually broke apart.

 Chapter 1797: Received By The Darkness

    The copse of the darknd came sooner than everyone had imagined.

    A beam of silvery light streaked across a roaring Heaven me Beast.

    POOH!

    The Heaven me Beast, which was at the ninth grade and wreathed in a fiery glow, was cut into two.

    The bright silver light was a sharp spatial de that was wandering about uncontrobly.

    Unlike the cracked rifts, these spatial des were constantly moving and harvesting lives like the scythe of Death.

    The Heaven me Beast had the bloodline of the Ancientbeasts. It had been arranged by the Tree of Life toe from the Spirit World.

    Now, the Ancientbeasts, dragons, and titans were in the most awkward position in the darknd.

    Zhao Shanling gave them no guidance, and Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t care about their lives.

    The most awkward part was that they didn¡¯t even know who they were supposed to follow now.

    Was it the Tree of Life, who had led them into the darknd, or the Blood Father of the Spirit World?

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s return from the chaos had made all the Ancientspirits realize that he was their true creator, and that the Tree of Life had only posed as their creator.

    At first, they had helped the Tree of Life fight the human race, as the Floragrims had.

    After the Blood Father of the Spirit World had returned, he had attacked the Tree of Life. At the same time, they had sensed that the Blood Father of the Spirit World was their true bloodline origin.

    Therefore, they had to wait and observe the situation for a long time.

    During this process, the deadly spatial des that appeared on the edge of the darknd took a heavy toll on them.

    They knew nothing about the darknd, and they had no idea that the darknd was about to break.

    They were still holding their ground.

    However, more and more of their members died. As the earth shook and the space split, a horrifying feeling that doomsday wasing and all living beings would die haunted their hearts. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t get rid of it.

    RUMBLE!

    Deep ravines ripped through the earth. An emerald vine wrapped tightly around a giant dragon wound by lightning, like an evil serpent breaking out of purgatory.

    The thunder dragon, whose bloodline was at the ninth grade, was dragged into the earth by the vine.

    In the process, the thunder dragon¡¯s flesh aura was quickly drained away.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    More and more emerald vines and branches flew out from the depths of the earth.

    All the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons suffered.

    Facing the branches and vines that suddenly flew out, many Ancientspirits were caught off-guard as they were wrapped up and dragged into the gaping earth.

    From the depths of the earth came the creepy sound of bones being crushed.

    More and more titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons were destroyed by the branches that suddenly flew out. Blood flowed like streams in the gaping crevices of the earth.

    Riding the Rampage Behemoth, Nie Tian, who was wreathed in dark auras and whose eyes were scarlet red, fought fiercely against the Blood Father of the Spirit World wielding Bloodline Crystal Chains in the central area of the darknd.

    CRACKLE!

    Gold, deep purple, and dark glints that were imprinted with dark principles, life mysteries, and the unusual power of the origins of metal, thunder, and ice repeatedly shed with each other.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World kept grinning.

    While fighting, Nie Tian cast a nce at the branches and vines that were secretly killing the Ancientbeasts, dragons, and titans, and immediately knew that the Tree of Life was behind it.

    When the Blood Father of the Spirit World had returned from the chaos, the Ancientspirits had traced the origin of their bloodlines and realized that he was their real creator.

    This had made the Tree of Life aware that it could no longer drive the Ancientspirits to fight for it.

    Besides, it was possible that the Ancientspirits would join the Blood Father of the Spirit World in fighting it.

    Therefore, it hadunched a preemptive strike.

    Also, it indeed needed the Ancientspirits¡¯ strong flesh auras to help it regain its battle prowess so that it could participate in the fight between Nie Tian and the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Not only the Ancientspirits, but also some of those from the Void World were attacked by the Tree of Life as well, while the Blood Father of the Spirit World was fighting fiercely Nie Tian.

    An early devil grand monarch was engulfed by a gigantic enchanting flower in one go.

    The flower squirmed. The bones of the early devil grand monarch cracked, and he soon fell silent.

    Then, the enchanting flower shrank stealthily into the earth, as if to return to the roots of the Tree of Life.

    As long as the Tree of Life got a chance, it would attack the Netherspirits, Seaspirits, Moonspirits, and Lightspirits as well.

    Its sudden attacks provoked the beings from the three worlds and made them furious.

    Not long ago, urged by Zhao Shanling and Wu Ji, they had joined up to attack the Blood Father of the Spirit World to buy it time when it had shown signs of fatigue.

    None of them had expected that the Tree of Life would suddenly turn against them.

    ¡°Like the blood sea in the chaos,¡± Wu Ji said with a deep look in his eyes, ¡°neither the Blood Father of the Spirit World nor the Tree of Life take the living beings¡¯ lives seriously. Except for the races that they have made and that have bloodline rtions with them, all other living beings are considered food.¡±

    After all, the Blood Father of the Spirit World didn¡¯t directly attack the Ancientspirits. The Tree of Life¡¯s attacks avoided the Floragrims.

    The ughter continued.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    As his battle against the Blood Father of the Spirit World continued, the dark bloodline in Nie Tian¡¯s heart gave birth to many new crystal chains.

    However, as he healed his wounds and stimted his dark power, more and more of his flesh power was consumed.

    Now that he had broken away from the chaos, he was disconnected from the Sea of Life.

    He could no longer freely channel endless flesh power from the Sea of Life.

    ¡°You feel it?¡± the Blood Father of the Spirit World asked,ughing. ¡°You are weakening slowly, because it will not give you flesh power. You and that tree who secretly attacked me have both been abandoned. What can you rely on to fight against me without the inexhaustible supply of flesh power it provides? Now, the darkness is about to explode, and that tree can¡¯t gain power from the dead through the darknd anymore. I will kill you both!¡±

    The first and second generations of the Tree of Life had reforged the darknd after it had been shattered, and had secretly set up an unusual spell formation in it.

    The presence of the life formation allowed all the strong living beings that had died in the darknd to merge directly into the Tree of Life so their flesh auras didn¡¯t go to the chaos.

    This had been the reason why the Tree of Life had been able to confidently fall out with the origin of life and want to rece it.

    However, undermined by Zhao Shanling and Wu Ji and impacted by the fierce battle between Nie Tian and the Blood Father of the Spirit World, the unusual life formation was no longer effective. Therefore, when the Tree of Life had seen that the Ancientspirits were up to no good, it had immediatelyunched attacks, killing them with vines and branches to restore its strength.

    If it didn¡¯t do that, it wouldn¡¯t be able topensate for its consumption as the battle continued.

    Like it, Nie Tian was also in trouble.

    The dark power that Nie Tian had previously used was stimted by the violent flesh power that he had gathered in the chaos.

    However, he had consumed a significant amount of flesh power after fighting for just a while.

    ¡°I dare toe back because I have something else to rely on,¡± Nie Tian said.

    In the next moment, Nie Tian, who was fighting the Blood Father of the Spirit World, mysteriously disappeared.

    He returned to the chaos!

    This time, it wasn¡¯t the Sea of Life that received him; it was the darkness!

    With the help of his new darkness bloodline and through that origin¡¯s call, he reentered the chaos.

    SWISH!

    He plunged into the vast Sea of Life. Not being afraid to enrage the heart, he said with a smile, ¡°You didn¡¯t expect that I would be able to return under the guidance of the origin of darkness, did you?¡±

    WHOOSH!

    His flesh aura sea erupted. His Life Drain was activated to the extreme as he wantonly absorbed the flesh power in the blood sea.

 Chapter 1798: A Paragonâ€™s Summons

    Nie Tian¡¯s consumed flesh power was replenished within a very short time.

    He returned to his peak state!

    The colossal heart in the depths of the blood sea thumped violently.

    Every origin in the chaos could sense its rage.

    The origins of metal, ice, and thunder felt uneasy, and quietly flew away from it...

    The cluster of darkness, however, continued to float over the blood sea like a vast pitch-ck cloud.

    Even though the cluster of darkness was still much smaller than the blood sea, it was significantly vaster than the other origins. It took up a major area and quietly faced the blood sea.

    In the depths of the darkness, dark power surged unceasingly around Dong Li, who looked like a rising ck sun.

    Withyers of utter darkness wrapped around her like devilish veils, no one could see her appearance anymore.

    This gave her a look that was more and more simr to the Dark King in the history of the Devils.

    Ji Cang hadn¡¯t returned to the darknd after flying out of the First Star. Instead, he and the Divine me had been paying close attention to the darkness.

    The origin of fire, the origin of stars, and the River of Souls quietly spread out around the darkness, as if they had formed an alliance with it.

    If one examined them with rapt attention, they would be able to see that there was a Nie Tian in the origin of fire and the origin of stars.

    Meanwhile, in the wondrous river that held the ultimate wonders of souls, Nie Tian¡¯s true soul quietly dispersed into countless tiny currents.

    It seemed to have merged with the riverpletely.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± the gorgeous, enchanting figure in the orange-red Divine me called softly.

    Nie Tian, who had recovered his flesh power loss in the blood sea, jerked his head towards her, a surprised look appearing on his face.

    With a single nce at her, he realized that she was the fleshly form the Divine me had forged for itself with the Blood Essence he had given it as a gift, which was simr to how the Star Behemoths had forged their fleshly forms.

    A profound blood connection existed between him and her.

    The moment he locked his eyes on her, he parsed out arge amount of new information from her.

    It was beyond the power of the origin of fire to help his me doppelg?nger be a paragon now.

    Back when the Firespirits had been wiped out, the Void Spirit it had separated from itself to create them had been destroyed as well. This had dealt a heavy blow to the origin of fire, which was why it didn¡¯t have enough power to help Nie Tian¡¯s doppelg?nger transform on a fundamental level.

    The same went for the origin of stars.

    They could only provide a possibility for his me and star doppelg?ngers to transcend...

    After pondering for a brief moment, Nie Tian realized that both the origin of stars and the origin of fire were cing their hope in him.

    SHEW!

    Pei Qiqi suddenly manifested out of nothing.

    Upon arriving, she found that Nie Tian had replenished his flesh power through the Sea of Life, and had recovered his exceeding battle prowess.

    However, little tion could be seen on her face.

    ¡°Nie Tian, the darknd is on the verge of falling apart,¡± she said anxiously. ¡°Once it does, entering and exiting the chaos will be very difficult. One has to pass through the darknd to enter the chaos. It¡¯s the same if they want to leave. If you don¡¯t leave soon, you won¡¯t be able to after the darknd shatters!

    ¡°If that happens, the only way you¡¯ll be able to leave is if a paragon collects the fragments of the darknd and rebuilds it.

    ¡°Right now, the only ones who can do that are the Tree of Life and the Blood Father of the Spirit World, and they...¡±

    Pei Qiqi didn¡¯t finish his sentence.

    ¡°I see,¡± Nie Tian said.

    If he left the chaos, he wouldn¡¯t be able to channel endless power from the Sea of Life. However, the Blood Father of the Spirit World could.

    As long as the darknd didn¡¯t explode, and the passage remained, he would be able to return to the chaos under the summons of the darkness.

    However, he would lose this privilege once the darknd was destroyed.

    The reason why the Blood Father of the Spirit World had focused all of his energy on fighting him as soon as he returned to the darknd had been because the Blood Father wanted to destroy the passage to the chaos, so that no more paragons would be made.

    ¡°Now that I¡¯m a paragon, can I...¡±

    Floating in the blood sea, Nie Tian suddenly closed his eyes and listened carefully to his own heartbeat.

    As he did, his soul awareness seemed to enter his life bloodline, and then activated his Life Detection bloodline talent!

    Right now, his wood power sub-soul yed the role of his true soul in this Life-origin Form of his.

    He examined it quietly.

    Two clusters of light suddenly emerged in his sea of awareness.

    One was emerald, the other green.

    The green cluster of light represented the Blood Father of the Spirit World, while the emerald cluster of light, which was slightly smaller, represented the Tree of Life.

    Then, tiny sparks emerged, like numerous grains of rice.

    They represented the evil gods, the Rampage Behemoth, Master Blood Spirit, and all those who had blood connections to him.

    Now, as he activated Life Detection, they all manifested in the depths of his soul.

    This reminded him of the innumerable fragmentary stars in the origin of stars that corresponded to the myriad realms in the three worlds.

    His expression flickered.

    Immediately afterwards, all of his awareness was focused on the emerald cluster of light.

    What he didn¡¯t know was that as he did this, his Life-origin Form kept shivering, and he lost his soul power at an rming rate.

    All of a sudden, the River of Souls stirred!

    Numerous fine currents rapidly came together at the bottom of the river, and morphed into Nie Tian¡¯s true soul.

    This illusory, soul-form version of Nie Tian suddenly looked down at his other self that was rising from the blood sea.

    ¡°True soul returns.¡±

    The illusory Nie Tian in the River of Souls quietly rose from the wondrous river and struck down like a cyan bolt of lightning.

    In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the top of his head.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes snapped open, bursting forth with terrifying divine light!

    Upon the return of his true soul, his perception improved dozens of times over!

    Then, he once again focused his soul awareness on the emerald cluster of light in the depths of his soul. Almost as soon as did that, a soul connection was established between him and the Tree of Life.

    ¡°It¡¯s you...¡± An iparably clear soul message came through from the Tree of Life.

    Immediately afterwards, the Tree of Life seemed to suddenly grow excited, and sent out a series of soul messages. ¡°Now help me! Help me enter the chaos! Summon me and make our soul connection stronger!¡±

    ¡°As you wish.¡±

    Like a bottomless abyss, Nie Tian¡¯s madly-dting pupils seemed to absorb countless rays of light from his surroundings.

    Because of his soul fluctuations, the River of Souls started flowing quietly around him.

    As it did, wondrous soul patterns manifested in it from time to time. All of them bore Nie Tian¡¯s appearance.

    Nie Tian¡¯s eyes sank quickly.

    His soul power left him like an unclogged sink.

    All of the origins, Ji Cang, Pei Qiqi, and the Divine me watched him quietly.

    They all knew who he was trying to summon at the risk of draining his soul power.

    Shortly afterwards, Nie Tian held his head in his hands and shouted in pain, ¡°Return!¡±

    Then, countless rays of dazzling light filled the empty void in front of him. A colossal view-filling tree seemed to break numerous space barriers, shatter countless restrictions, and defy the magicalws of heaven and earth, and manifested in an overwhelming manner!

    The vast blood sea started surging violently due to the arrival of the Tree of Life.

    Every origin in the chaos could tell that the blood sea was deeply shaken.

 Chapter 1799: Assimilation Of The Origin Of Life

    Summoned by Nie Tian, the Tree of Life entered the chaos from the darknd in the blink of an eye!

    For thousands of millennia, the Tree of Life had been trying to enter the chaos and return to that blood sea.

    It had originallye from it.

    However, that blood sea, which was the origin of life, had been resisting it the whole time.

    It seemed to know that it had grown so powerful that it was no longer under its control, and that it had been yearning to assimte it and rece its awareness with its own.

    Therefore, it had denied it any chance to return.

    The Tree of Life also knew that it was being resisted by the blood sea, which was why it had taken root in the darknd and secretly built a grand spell formation that contained the profound truths of life and could be used to intercept the flesh power that should flow to the blood sea.

    It could have taken its time to carry out its grand n.

    However, it hadn¡¯t expected that mishaps would happen to allow the Blood Father of the Spirit World to return to the chaos, reforge his life bloodline, ande back to shatter its grand n with the highest battle prowess in this universe.

    It had assumed that it was bound to suffer a sound defeat and have its roots severed by the Blood Father of the Spirit World this time...

    Then, after Nie Tian had been summoned by the origin of darkness and returned to the chaos, he had managed to break the space barriers of the chaos with the help of the River of Souls and his own power as a paragon. To its astonishment, it had sensed the opening of a peculiar passage, and sessfully returned to the birthce it had been dreaming to revisit.

    The Tree of Life was very excited.

    Its widespread branches and leaves swayed as it floated above the Sea of Life.

    The significant consumption of the battles it had fought had reduced its size several times.

    However, at this moment, its thick roots suddenly pierced down into the blood sea.

    Drop after drop of life essence was attracted by it and fused into those roots. Then, under the gazes of the many origins in the chaos, it started expanding and growing at an incredible rate.

    Within moments, it returned to its original size!

    BLOP! BLOP!

    Emerald divine light flowed through its every branch and leaf, containing enough life power to nourish and turn any realm in the three worlds into another main realm of the Floragrims.

    Nie Tian¡¯s pupils shrank slightly as he watched its roots turn the rich life essence in the blood sea into the purest possible wood power.

    Its existence filled the entire area over the blood sea with emerald green.

    Extremely refined wood power could be seen coursing gently through its branches and leaves like tiny streams.

    However, such power could be transformed into rays of divine light to pierce through the hardest metal and rocks, and allow its branches to extend infinitely and be as sharp as swords.

    ¡°Many thanks...¡± Its leaves rustled.

    BOOM!

    Its every branch and leaf released dazzling emerald light.

    Its soul will shed through its roots like electric currents.

    A shocked expression filled Nie Tian¡¯s face!

    He saw a wide beam of murky emerald light sting out from the roots of the Tree of Life and into the colossal heart in the depths of the blood sea, the origin of life!

    Like a passage, the beam of emerald light seemed to connect the roots of the Tree of Life and that colossal heart!

    The heart thumped more violently than ever before.

    Nie Tian sensed with great rity that the origin of life was wailing, howling, and bellowing!

    It seemed to be struggling to resist the emerald light that was fusing into it, as it was the awareness of the Tree of Life, the wisdom it had developed after standing towering in the Spirit World for eons, its desires, and its grand aspirations!

    It was the most special existence, even throughout the history of this starry river and among the countless living beings in the three worlds.

    Not only did it have a lengthy lifespan, but also unlike the Star Behemoths, it hadn¡¯t fallen into prolonged dormancy after the Primal Era.

    Rather, it had quietly dominated the Spirit World and observed the Void World and the Mortal World.

    Through the eras, its awareness had never stopped changing. Its wisdom had been growing. Its enlightenment and experience had built up and be a permanent part of its soul.

    Perhaps its battle prowess was surpassed by the Blood Father of the Spirit World now. However, its wisdom and experience were high above his!

    Meanwhile, it was a wisp of awareness that had been separated from that colossal heart to begin with...

    Therefore, its fusing into it seemed very well-based and natural!

    What Nie Tian could not achieve, it seemed to be able to achieve effortlessly.

    Now, it was trying to influence, change, and assimte the origin of life!

    Nie Tian observed in silence.

    The same went for all the other origins in the chaos.

    The colossal heart was originally crimson. Now, however, as the awareness of the Tree of Life continued to fuse into it, a shade of emerald green was added to it, and the green was increasing rapidly.

    If the origin of life was a deep crimson sea, then the awareness of the Tree of Life would be an emerald river.

    If enough water from the emerald river poured into the crimson sea, it would turn the crimson sea more and more emerald...

    This was what the Tree of Life was doing.

    By infusing the colossal heart with the emerald light, it was trying to assimte the origin of life, alter its way of thinking, and bring heaven-shaking, earth-toppling changes to it.

    A possible result of those changes was that the origin of life would still exist.

    However, the awareness of the Tree of Life would gain control of it!

    In front of the darkness, Ji Cang, who was from the First Star, said with a difficult tone after observing for a long while, ¡°Nie Tian, you... you really think that you made the right move?¡±

    Nie Tian was taken aback, then asked, ¡°Is there a problem with it?¡±

    Neither his awareness nor his soul had been separated from the origin of life.

    For this reason, he couldn¡¯t assimte and rece it as the Tree of Life could.

    If he couldn¡¯t do it, why couldn¡¯t he summon the Tree of Life, who had also set itself against the origin of life, to help him deal with it?

    With a bitter smile, Ji Cang said, ¡°The Tree of Lifees from it. If its awareness reces it, then it¡¯ll be the origin. If that happens, then the Blood Father of the Spirit World will naturally acknowledge allegiance to it. What other choices will he have once it gains control of the power of the origin of life?

    ¡°Do you think that you won¡¯t be his enemy after it bes the origin?

    ¡°Also, before it arrived, the origin of life didn¡¯t have a form that was built to fight, so it couldn¡¯t attack you. Instead, it could only instigate Grand Monarch Heaven Devil. However, once the Tree of Life seeds, its colossal tree form will be a sharp weapon it can use to fight against you!

    ¡°With it inside the chaos and the Blood Father of the Spirit World outside, you¡¯re actually creating more terrifying opponents for yourself by doing this to the origin of life!¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression flickered.

    In the next moment, numerous branches and leaves of the void-filling tree extended over at lightning speed, and wrapped Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form in manyyers.

 Chapter 1800: The New Replaces The Old

    What the origin of life had been afraid of the whole time was that ancient tree.

    If Nie Tian continued to fight against it, he would be a great threat to it as well.

    However, that wasn¡¯t going to happen anytime soon.

    After all, the Divinespirits hadn¡¯t developed into a force yet. Before that, Nie Tian wouldn¡¯t be able to threaten its existence.

    However, the Tree of Life was different.

    Since it could assimte and dissolve its awareness and change its way of thinking, it was the greater threat at hand!

    Originally, as long as the Tree of Life couldn¡¯t enter the chaos, it wouldn¡¯t be able to affect or assimte it.

    This had been its source of confidence.

    However, who would have thought that after his transcendence, Nie Tian would be able to sense the existence of the Tree of Life with Life Detection, defy numerous spatial barriers to establish a connection to it, and summon it with his elevated true soul and the help of the River of Souls.

    As soon as the soul bond came to form, both Nie Tian and the Tree of Life exerted themselves and magically broke the shackles of the chaos, allowing it to ovee the restrictions and manifest out of nothing.

    The moment it emerged in the chaos, the origin of life had a presentiment of disaster... and it was right.

    FIZZ! FIZZ! PUFF! PUFF!

    Wrapped in multipleyers of green power, Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form was pierced by one tree branch after another.

    They cut through his flesh into the gaps between his meridians and bones.

    It pained him to the point where he wanted to die.

    Every branch and every bit of wood power was branded with the will of the Tree of Life, or the will of the new origin of life...

    However, the awareness of the origin of life, the one that had devised many schemes against him, was driven into a corner of the blood sea, where it continued to be nibbled at and assimted by the awareness of the Tree of Life.

    It seemed to be staring Nie Tian with rage, hatred, and ridicule, and saying, ¡°Did you think that you¡¯d win by bringing it in to rece me?

    ¡°Did you think that it¡¯d see you as its ally after it reced me?

    ¡°You¡¯re soughable and foolish! You¡¯ve not only brought cmity upon me, but you¡¯ve brought cmity upon yourself too!¡±

    The awareness of the origin of life that came through to him grew weaker and weaker, as if it was going to perish soon.

    It seemed extremely begrudging and furious.

    All Void Spirits that were sent outside the chaos would develop their own awareness and be independent souls.

    However, none of them could go through myriad tribtions and still stand unwavering at the top of the Spirit World like the Tree of Life.

    Therefore, its wisdom was unmatched, as its awareness was incredibly strong.

    Now that it had made its way back to the chaos, it was like a flood dragon that had returned to the sea.

    Even its origin couldn¡¯t suppress it anymore!

    The origin of life had never been afraid of the Blood Father of the Spirit World because it knew that he had spent a long time in dormancy. Without experiencing eras of turbulence and surviving countless tribtions, it couldn¡¯t grow into an independent soul that was as strong as the Tree of Life.

    It was confident that he would follow its orders and pose no threat to it forever.

    After all, it had created him as a mere weapon of war in the first ce.

    The Tree of Life, on the other hand, hadn¡¯t been built for battle. However, its countless experiences had greatly tempered its awareness and improved its wisdom, and had given it the ability to change and even rece the origin of life.

    It had always been aware of this, and had been doing everything it could to prevent this from happening.

    However, it had failed.

    Its awareness was slowly vanishing.

    Soon, Nie Tian, who was wrapped around by the Tree of Life, could no longer sense the fury, hatred, and ridicule of the origin of life.

    Instead, another awareness seemed to fix him with a cold,pletely motionless gaze from the Sea of Life, as if it was looking at an object rather than a living being with flesh and blood.

    Nie Tian knew that was the Tree of Life.

    The Tree of Life finally absorbed itpletely and became the new master of this boundless blood sea.

    Since it came from this blood sea, it was familiar with everything about it. It had even raised him from the blood sea to have a full view of the chaos once.

    ¡°Thank you for helping me get what I wanted.¡± Its awareness came from every emerald branch that had pierced into his body, with unprecedented rity.

    Bound by it, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t move a hair. His flesh power rapidly flowed into the branches that impaled him, allowing more and more tiny branches to grow from them.

    This was the ultimate version of Heavenly Wood Thorns.

    PUFF!

    Within moments, sharp branches split Nie Tian¡¯s skin and stuck out from underneath it.

    Meanwhile...

    The darknd continued to fall apart. Lands shook and mountains rocked. Numerous spatial rifts filled the sky, along with brilliant spatial des that shed across from time to time.

    However, the Blood Father of the Spirit World still stood towering like an ancient god, looking lost.

    Originally, he had been brandishing his huge golden axe to fight Nie Tian and the Tree of Life.

    When the Tree of Life had vanished, he had intended to charge into the chaos to y it and Nie Tian.

    However, before he could do that, he froze.

    A confused look filled his eyes as he sensed great changes in the origin of life that had been giving him orders, guiding him, and infusing him with life power.

    As its aura gradually faded, he lost his purpose.

    He felt numb ncing around at the copsing heaven and earth, the fleeing lives from the three worlds, the Ancientspirits that were fixing him with worshipping gazes, and the few experts like Zhao Shanling and Qin Yao, who had chosen to stay and were clearly harboring ill intentions towards him.

    He had long since grown used to receiving orders and doing its bidding.

    Now that it was gone, he seemed to lose his meaning and will to fight.

    After a while, the Blood Father of the Spirit World could sense its soul will again.

    However, he instinctively knew that it wasn¡¯t itself anymore.

    He looked up and around, feeling more lost than ever. ¡°Now what should I do?¡±

    For the first time in his life, he started to think about the meaning of his existence, and ponder whether he should ept this new origin of life or be himself now that the origin of life he knew was gone.

    All those who had chosen to stay in the darknd spontaneously gathered by Zhao Shanling and Wu Ji¡¯s side.

    In a soft voice, Nie Jin asked Wu Ji, ¡°What happened?¡±

    All of them saw the strange behavior of the Blood Father of the Spirit World. However, they didn¡¯t know what heaven-shaking changes had happened in the chaos.

    ¡°The Tree of Life imprisoned Nie Tian and filled that blood sea with its own awareness,¡± Wu Ji said with his head down.

    No one could see that he was bleeding from the corners of his eyes now.

    He had overburdened himself by wielding time power repeatedly to peek into the chaos.

    Keeping his head low, Wu Ji said in a low voice, ¡°Now, the Blood Father of the Spirit World has sensed that something is off, and learned that his old master is gone. He¡¯s pondering the meaning of his existence. If he decides to be himself from now on, he¡¯ll be the mightiest Star Behemoth and rebel this universe has ever seen.

    ¡°Technically, he can¡¯t be called a rebel, because his loyalty hasn¡¯t changed. It¡¯s just that the origin he was loyal to no longer exists.¡±

    After giving such an obscure speech to the crowd, he told everyone to pay close attention to the changes of the Blood Father of the Spirit World, and then decide what to do next.

 Chapter 1801: The Spacetime Blade!

    The darknd broke piece by piece.

    However, countless rays of emerald wood power suddenly burst forth from the depths of the earth in its central area.

    As this happened, the area somehow became as solid as arge piece of divine metal, and didn¡¯t shatter as the other parts of the darknd did.

    This central area was the key to entering and exiting the chaos.

    ¡°This is the power of the Tree of Life.¡± Zhao Shanling looked down with a deep look in his eyes, and saw roots that the Tree of Life had left in the depths of the cracking earth.

    At this moment, all of those roots were emanating brilliant emerald light, as if they were brimming with refined divine power.

    These very roots were what were binding this central area of the darknd like celestial chains while heaven rent and the earth exploded in the other areas.

    At this point, very few were still bold enough to remain here.

    Clutching his gigantic golden axe, the Blood Father of the Spirit World stood in the void that was riddled with spatial rifts, with spatial des shing across from time to time, as if he was still pondering and trying to untie a knot in his mind.

    No one dared to provoke him at this moment.

    ¡°I can¡¯t peek into the chaos anymore,¡± Wu Ji said weakly. ¡°All you can do now is wait for things between him, Nie Tian, and the Tree of Life to take a new turn.¡±

    With these words, he lifted his chin.

    ¡°Mister Wu!¡± Nie Jin eximed in shock.

    ¡°Senior Wu!¡± Everyone present was surprised to find Wu Ji¡¯s eyes spiritless, empty, and bereft of any brilliance, as if they were fake.

    Slender cuts could be seen on his eyelids, from which he was bleeding not blood, but something that seemed like the sands of time.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see Nie Tian or what¡¯s happening in the chaos anymore. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be helpful in your future battles.¡±

    With these words, he seemed to be wrapped around and pulled into the River of Time by time power.

    BOOM!

    Suddenly, he exploded into thousands of glorious sparks like a disintegrated cluster of awareness, and dispersed into the River of Time.

    Zhao Shanling let out a deep sigh. ¡°He returned to the River of Time. Perhaps we¡¯ll have to wait hundreds or even thousands of millennia before another being emerges in the three worlds with the ability tomunicate with the River of Time, light up its imprints, pick up the lost memories, and manifest its wonders in our worlds again.¡±

    The fact that he said these words meant that Wu Ji had passed away.

    Even though the crowd didn¡¯t really understand the rtionship between him and the River of Time, his words made them realize that Wu Ji, who had guided and helped them repeatedly and practically raised Nie Tian to his current heights, no longer existed.

    Perhaps he hadn¡¯t perished in a real sense. However, who knew how many millennia it would be before he was awakened again.

    ...

    In the chaos.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    From her Space Boundaries Crystal, Pei Qiqi pulled out spatial des that were even fiercer than the ones in the darknd, and shed them at the branches and leaves of the Tree of Life that were wrapped around Nie Tian.

    CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

    One enormous branch after another was severed by her erupting spatial power.

    However, the power of the Tree of Life had already be immeasurable now that it had returned to the chaos and reced the origin of life.

    Infused with rich life power, its branches and leaves would reform and recover their original state immediately after being severed and shattered.

    No matter how hard Pei Qiqi tried, she could only cut through the outermostyers of branches. Her power couldn¡¯t reach the innermostyers at all.

    Even Ji Cang, who had plotted against Nie Tian on many asions, suddenly bellowed, ¡°Let¡¯s kill it together!¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Nine streaks of starlight flew out of Ji Cang¡¯s star domain one after another like nine brilliant dragons. Carrying the wonders of the myriad stars in the universe, they bombarded the branches of the Tree of Life that bound Nie Tian.

    The Divine me didn¡¯t just sit back and look either. It conjured clusters of fire that could easily incinerate realms and cast them towards the Tree of Life.

    Each and every one of them was carved with ultimate fire spell formations that connected to the origin of fire.

    Pei Qiqi, Ji Cang, and the Divine me made a joint effort to free Nie Tian from the Tree of Life.

    However, rich emerald and crimson auras rose from the innumerable leaves of the Tree of Life. The mysterious markings on them seemed to be bloodline patterns that contained the bloodline secrets and wonders of all of the species in the three worlds.

    Within seconds, the auras formed what looked like thousands of giant umbres.

    Ji Cang, Pei Qiqi, and the Divine me¡¯s attacks were all intercepted by them and reduced to tiny sparks of light that flew in different directions.

    WHOOSH!

    At the same time, thick, emerald branches extended from the main body of the colossal tree like all-conquering divine spears.

    They shot towards the First Star, the origin of fire, and thatrge prismatic crystal.

    The expressions of Ji Cang, Pei Qiqi, and the Divine me flickered drastically as they hastily ceased their attacks and charged towards their respective origins in an attempt to get them out of this area of trouble.

    The origins couldn¡¯t fight each other directly in the chaos.

    They had to rely on mediums.

    The Void Spirits they separated from themselves, the species they had created in the three worlds, and the brilliant grand monarchs they summoned into the chaos could all be viewed as their mediums.

    To fight for them, the mediums had to be in material form and able to carry their power.

    Under such rules, no matter how mighty the origin of life was, it couldn¡¯t annihte the other origins without a suitable medium in the chaos.

    It could only weaken them by wiping out the Void Spirits they had sent out and the species they had created in the three worlds.

    However, things were different now.

    The awareness of the Tree of Life had reced that of the origin of life, while it also had a material body that could carry its endless power.

    Naturally, it couldy its murderous hand on the other origins.

    Ji Cang, Pei Qiqi, and the Divine me belonged to the origins of stars, space, and fire. If they had the audacity to attack it, of course it would teach them a lesson... by attacking their origins!

    The origins of stars and fire still had Nie Tian¡¯s two doppelg?ngers in them. These two origins, which had been consumed with the idea of making paragons out of Nie Tian¡¯s doppelg?ngers, were at their weakest moments.

    If they suffered heavy blows now, would they vanish?

    How could Ji Cang and the Divine me not be nervous?

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Just as Ji Cang, the Divine me, and Pei Qiqi left in a hurry, more branches extended from the main body of the Tree of Life and thrust towards the cluster of darkness.

    Each and every one of them was thousands of kilometers long and exuded cold auras, their tips as sharp as awls!

    These branches were vested with the most terrifying power of the Tree of Life.

    They were its mightiest weapon, not the previous ones.

    Apparently, that cluster of darkness was its primary target!

    POOH! POOH! POOH! POOH!

    The branches seemed to rip through numerous dark shields and pierce towards the heart of the darkness.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    Dong Li¡¯s shrill cry echoed out from the heart of the darkness.

    Immediately afterwards, the Dark Aureole flew out to spin in the area above the darkness, severing the terrifying branches one after another.

    At this moment, a violent shudder ran through Nie Tian, who was bound and enveloped in the branches and leaves of the Tree of Life.

    He was surprised to find that streams of mysterious, glorious light seemed to suddenly pour into his eight extraordinary meridians.

    Those streams of light contained time power!

    A few secondster, another wondrous power poured into him as well: spatial power!

    Time power and spatial power coursed through his eight extraordinary meridians before gathering to his left and right palm.

    Under the miraculous effect of time power, his body that was impaled by the branches healed as his drained flesh power was replenished.

    His hands regained their mobility.

    Inside his heart, two extremely fine wisps of light manifested out of nowhere, seemingly corresponding to time and space.

    Then, as he slowly brought his hands together, time and spatial power condensed into a brilliant de in his hands.

    It was a de that was vested with the profound truths of time and space, a de that never should have been made: the Spacetime de!

    He assumed a tight grip of the de and made a casual swing with it. As soon as he did, he felt all of the Blood Essence inside of him burning out in a split second.

    The de light created by the sh easily cut through the branches and leaves wrapping around him and reduced them to emerald sparks that fell into the blood sea like rain.

    bbergasted, Nie Tian quickly activated Life Drain to channel life power from the blood sea to condense Blood Essence.

    Afterwards, he swung the wondrous Spacetime de once again, but this time with full force.

    Then, under his gaze, the colossal Tree of Life, which had dominated the three worlds and made all lives tremble in fear, was shed and exploded into countless fragmentary emerald sparks over the blood sea.

    Even though its awareness still existed in the origin of life, its material body was obliterated by the Spacetime de!

 Chapter 1802: The Number One Divine Tool!

    Emerald light rain flew all over the area above the blood sea.

    Each raindrop was an energy crystallization of the Tree of Life and contained abundant wood power.

    There were tiny tree shadows swaying vaguely within the raindrops, as if they were consciously wanting to gather together.

    It seemed that as long as all the raindrops gathered together, the Tree of Life would emerge again.

    However, time power and spatial power filled each raindrop, and prevented the drops of energy from the Tree of Life from gathering together.

    In the end, the raindrops fell into the blood sea.

    As soon as they entered the blood sea, they were dyed by the crimson blood sea, turning from emerald to red and bing drops of Blood Essence in the vast blood sea.

    However, those drops of Blood Essence were pulled by the new origin¡¯s awareness and instantly sank to the bottom of the blood sea, where they were quietly hidden.

    Obviously, it did this to guard against Nie Tian.

    It feared that Nie Tian would use his power as a paragon and Life Drain to refine the scattered crystalline drops.

    They carried its deepest imprints.

    Nie Tian, however, floated above the blood sea and did nothing.

    He just stared at the wondrous, sharp de.

    It wasn¡¯t condensed from pure spatial power or time power. It was heavy and cold, but it could be connected to his flesh aura when he held it.

    Compared to the Rage Behemoth bone, which he had found the handiest before, this sharp de was connected to his soul and flesh aura at an even deeper level.

    It seemed to fit him perfectly and be specially made for him.

    Streaks of brilliant time power and spatial power flowed on the surface and filled the inside of the sharp de. However, he found its material and texture quite familiar.

    Besides, he detected a familiar aura on it...

    He thought hard, and tried to figure out how the sharp de had been made, while temporarily putting aside the sharpness of the de, which seemed to allow it to cut through everything in the three worlds.

    ¡°What, what on earth happened?¡± he muttered to himself, feeling that there were too many mysteries hidden within the sharp de, which had named itself and made him feel connected the moment he had held it.

    Suddenly, Dong Li emerged from the depths of the darkness with the Dark Aureole spinning over her head.

    The dark aura from her body was very pure and rich.

    She seemed to be only a step away from bing a paragon and rivaling the Dark King.

    SWISH!

    Ji Cang and the Divine me, who had left earlier, returned.

    The gigantic heart in the depths of the blood sea was still shaking, but not violently.

    Even after its tree body had disappeared, the will of the new origin of life remained calm.

    This new origin of life, which was dominated by the Tree of Life¡¯s awareness, seemed even more difficult to deal with than the old one.

    ¡°That sharp light de...¡± Ji Cang murmured and frowned.

    Looking at the Spacetime de in Nie Tian¡¯s hand that was condensed from numerous streaks of brilliant light, he whispered in shock, ¡°How can he be so strong now?¡±

    When the Spacetime de had formed and Nie Tian had wielded it to cut the branches of the Tree of Life, their origins had no longer been in danger.

    After Ji Cang had helped the origin of stars leave the area, he had turned around to take a look, and then noticed that the Spacetime de had cut the Tree of Life into a light rain that filled the sky.

    That was the Tree of Life, for heaven¡¯s sake!

    It had dominated the Spirit World for numerous years, killed three paragons of the Void World, forced the Blood Father of the Spirit World to seal himself in the Realm of Middle Continent, and returned to the chaos to rece the origin of life. Shouldn¡¯t it be invincible?

    However, Nie Tian had actually cut its tree body apart with a sharp de that had seeminglye out of nowhere, and had a weird aura.

    How could Ji Cang possibly not be shocked?

    This was also the reason why he returned.

    The same went for the Divine me.

    Only Pei Qiqi was missing...

    Exuding a dark aura, Dong Li Looked at Nie Tian, who seemed to be in a daze and had not yete to his senses, and said softly, ¡°The body of that sharp de is made from the Space Boundaries Crystal. Nie Tian, she... is inside the de.¡±

    Upon hearing these words, both Ji Cang and the Divine me were bbergasted.

    At this moment, Nie Tian also sensed Pei Qiqi¡¯s faint awareness in the Spacetime de.

    ¡°Master, Senior Martial Sister Pei...¡± Nie Tian muttered, his voice hoarse.

    He understood everything immediately after he perceived Pei Qiqi¡¯s awareness from the Spacetime de.

    His master, Wu Ji, had seen his crisis before he had returned to the River of Time.

    Wu Ji had secretlymunicated with Pei Qiqi through the River of Time. At that time, Pei Qiqi had been rushing anxiously towards the origin of space, wanting to help it get rid of the attacks from the Tree of Life.

    It was Wu Ji who had made time stop for a short time and thuse to a tacit agreement with Pei Qiqi and the origin of space.

    They had agreed to try tobine time power and spatial power to create a miracle in order to fight against the origin of life.

    The origins of time and space had always been the two most mysterious origins in the chaos.

    The origin of space had given birth to the Voidspirits. Their space bloodlines still existed in the universe. However, there had never been a precedent that time inheritance or time bloodlines had appeared on arge scale.

    Originally, it had been impossible for the two origins to appear in the same body.

    However, after Nie Tian became a paragon with the help of the origin of life, his bloodline had the foundation for embracing everything.

    The formation of his bloodlines of metal, thunder, ice, and darkness suggested a possibility that time and space might be able to unite in him.

    With the proposal of Wu Ji¡¯s remaining awareness and Pei Qiqi¡¯s permission, the River of Time and the origin of space were forced to make an attempt after seeing that the chaos had gone out of control because of the Tree of Life¡¯s arrival.

    This attempt was that the origins of time and space would infuse Nie Tian with their imprints so that streaks of time power and spatial power could flow through his body.

    When the time power and spatial power had flowed from his left and right hands, the Space Boundaries Crystal had traveled through space and instantly arrived.

    At that time, Pei Qiqi¡¯s flesh aura and awareness hadpletely absorbed and melted the original soul of the Space Boundaries Crystal before she had be its new soul.

    The Space Boundaries Crystal had been fundamentally changed and upgraded because of the infusion of her flesh aura and soul awareness.

    Because Pei Qiqi had been continuously given Blood Essence by Nie Tian, and she was a Space Voidspirit¡¯s soul to begin with, she could merge with the Space Boundaries Crystal and make it undergo a metamorphosis before it became the Spacetime de that was able to bear the time power that hadter poured into it.

    As the founder of The Voidspirits, she had returned to the chaos. She could have merged into the origin of space to strengthen it.

    She could have also disobeyed the origin¡¯s order and be a different kind of space behemoth.

    She could have also left the chaos to make the Voidspirits strong again, or to create other races of life that carried space bloodlines.

    Or, she could have just lost all her burdens and gone to do whatever she wanted in the three worlds.

    In the end, however, she had decided to merge her flesh aura, awareness, and the Space Boundaries Crystal that had found her and chosen her in the Shatter Battlefield into one,pletely changing and upgrading the Space Boundaries Crystal into a peerless divine tool that could carry time power and space power at the same time, one this universe had never before seen ¡ª the Spacetime de.

    Only Nie Tian would be able to wield this sharp de and disy its horrifying power!

    After a long time, Nie Tian, who firmly held the Spacetime de, let out a hoarse, mournful yell . ¡°Senior Martial Sister Pei!¡±

 Chapter 1803: Kill The Blood Father!

    In the chaos, the origins were watching Nie Tian closely.

    The origins of time and space had flown away quietly.

    They couldn¡¯t be seen around the blood sea anymore; it seemed that they had hidden at the edges of the chaos.

    Some powerful origins such as the River of Souls and the origin of darkness sensed that the origins of time and space had be weak somehow.

    The two mysterious origins seemed to have consumed a tremendous amount of energies to create the Spacetime de.

    However, after the Spacetime de was formed, no origins dared to underestimate the origins of time and space anymore.

    The might of the Spacetime de was simply incredible!

    The Tree of Life¡¯s body had been destroyed by the Spacetime de and couldn¡¯t be revived with the blood sea¡¯s power.

    What in the world could stop this de?

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul murmur sounded in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness, quietlyforting him. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    Hearing her voice, Nie Tian who was still sad, gradually calmed down.

    He was dazed, understanding another form ofpanionship that Pei Qiqi had mentioned...

    She would keep himpany in the form of a divine tool forever.

    SPLASH!

    Suddenly, streaks of gorgeous light shed across the surface of the Spacetime de.

    Then a very clear image showed up.

    In the image, the Blood Father of the Spirit World was roaring and swinging his giant golden axe at the ce where Zhao Shanling, Qin Yao, and Master Blood Spirit were in the darknd.

    Nie Tian jerked his head down to fix the blood sea below with a cold look.

    The blood sea was calm, and the gigantic heart was beating at a normal rate.

    Perceiving it with his bloodline, Nie Tian knew that the movements of the Blood Father of the Spirit World in the darknd weren¡¯t inspired by the blood sea.

    He carefully checked the fluctuations in the blood sea and gazed at the heart before he suddenly realized that the Tree of Life that had lost its body had called the Blood Father of the Spirit World to fight in the chaos at the first moment.

    After bing the new origin, the Tree of Life had been able to restrict the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    It could cut off the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s flesh power supply, and stop him from gaining unlimited flesh power when he was outside the chaos.

    Besides, the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been used to obeying the blood sea.

    However, this time...

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World didn¡¯t answer the summons of the blood sea to go into the chaos to help it kill Nie Tian.

    Instead, the Blood Father of the Spirit World started killing in the darknd once again. Brilliant golden light showered thends as shes of lightning and thunderbolts prated the earth.

    They infiltrated the vines and branches buried in the darknd that had been left by the Tree of Life.

    The vines and branches, which were full of green vitality and as strong as steel bars, were preventing the central area of the darknd from breaking, so that paragons could still return from the chaos.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World seemed to be attacking Zhao Shanling, Qin Yao, Yin Xingtian, and the others, but most of his power was in fact focused on attacking the depths of the earth.

    He wanted to destroy all that the Tree of Life had left and crush the darknd!

    Once the darknd broke apart, no creatures would be able to step into the chaos.

    If Nie Tian lost the darknd, which was adder, returning to the three worlds would be very difficult.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World was doing this because he wanted Nie Tian to stay in the chaos.

    As for the tremendous changes or conflicts that would ur between Nie Tian and the origin of life in the chaos, he didn¡¯t care.

    By doing this, he was clearly going against the new origin¡¯s will.

    BOOM!

    Earth-shattering sounds came from the depths of the earth, as if a dragon was turning over.

    Streaks of green electric light, thin long branches, and numerous leaves shot out from the deep rifts in the ground.

    As soon as these unusual things flew out, the Blood Father of the Spirit World wielded his giant axe to destroy them with the powers of ice, thunder, and metal.

    He was well-aware that the current origin of life bore the will of the Tree of Life.

    The Tree of Life, which had gained control of the origin, could infuse power into each branch. If he attacked the tree with only his flesh aura, it wouldn¡¯t be effective. Therefore, he might as well rely on the other origins¡¯ powers.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Zhao Shanling, Qin Yao, and the others frowned and kept dodging the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s attacks.

    They also came to realize that they weren¡¯t his real target.

    He seemed to be trying to destroy the darknd and make it explode.

    They were confused. ¡°Why is he doing this?¡±

    After Wu Ji returned into the River of Time, they could no longer learn of the changes in the chaos, so they didn¡¯t know about Nie Tian¡¯s current situation.

    They wondered what they should do with the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    The Rampage Behemoth suddenly roared, enveloped in thick darkness.

    Master Blood Spirit and the remaining evil gods shuddered.

    All at once, the experts who still stayed in the darknd looked at one ce where countless brilliant spatial des seemed to condense into a heavenly gate.

    BOOM!

    In the next moment, Nie Tian squeezed his way into the darknd.

    All those who knew him screamed, howled, and screeched, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    At this moment, Nie Tian was still shorter than the Blood Father of the Spirit World, but the aura he exuded gave people a feeling that he outmatched the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    More surprisingly, the Blood Father of the Spirit World was clearly in awe of Nie Tian when thetter appeared.

    It was the first time that apprehension had emerged on the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s face.

    Everyone still firmly remembered his unstoppable momentum when he had badly injured the Rampage Behemoth, suppressed the Tree of Life, and killed many God domain experts and grand monarchs of different species.

    In their hearts, he was the strongest in the three worlds.

    However, now that Nie Tian came back, he unexpectedly showed fear of him.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been loyal to your origin the whole time. You were before, and you are now,¡± Nie Tian said suddenly. ¡°You know that the new origin is no longer itself. That¡¯s why you resisted it. You want to break away from it and live freely in the three worlds as the most special Star Behemoth since ancient times...¡±

    Looking deeply at the Blood Father of the Spirit World, Nie Tian paused, and then added, ¡°But I don¡¯t agree.¡±

    He swung the Spacetime de.

    No one could describe how gorgeous and magnificent the streak of light was as the Spacetime de was shed at the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Everyone only knew that as Nie Tian wielded the Spacetime de, all the spatial des in the darknd converged and fused into one gorgeous, magnificent streak of light.

    Then, everyone suddenly felt that time and space were confused. They felt as if they were wandering in the past in one moment, but saw their vague future selves in the next.

    The world seemed to be spinning. Space and time seemed to be copsing. The earth seemed to be shattering. The stars seemed to be perishing.

    The gorgeous streak of light shot toward the Blood Father of the Spirit World with an unstoppable momentum.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World, who was holding the giant golden axe, opened his mouth. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but in the end, no sound came out of his mouth.

    His towering giant body was engulfed in the gorgeous streak of light and soon dissolved into countless tiny light spots that fell into the numerous gaping ravines in the darknd.

 Chapter 1804: Everything Is Unknown

    Light rain fell from the cracking sky.

    Crimson blood light wandered in the depths of the earth, binding together the central part of the darknd that was about to explode.

    Looking at the bright light spots all over the sky, all the experts who were gathered here seemed to hear the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s begrudging wail.

    Naturally, their eyes turned to fix on Nie Tian.

    In their eyes and their hearts, the current Nie Tian, who was obviously shorter than earlier and a little dispirited, looked like a giant god who could break heaven and earth when he wielded the Spacetime de.

    It was hard to believe that the Blood Father of the Spirit World had vanishedpletely after Nie Tian had shed his de at him!

    WHOOSH!

    Soul imprints flew out of Nie Tian¡¯s pupils one after another.

    The cyan soul imprints flitted about in the broken darknd. As soon as they captured a little dim light that was invisible to the naked eye, they engulfed and refined it.

    The dim light was the Blood Father of the Spirit World¡¯s remaining soul will.

    If he didn¡¯t swallow and refine it, his soul awareness would be able to regather and reemerge.

    POOF!

    The invisible dim light was quickly captured and annihted by the many soul imprints.

    Soon, those who stayed in the darknd found that they could no longer feel the begrudging wailing of the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    All traces of his existence seemed to have been erased mercilessly.

    ¡°Nie Tian...¡± Zhao Shanling, who had taken his human form, eximed softly as he looked at the Spacetime de in Nie Tian¡¯s hand with mixed feelings. ¡°Where¡¯s Pei?¡±

    He had sensed Pei Qiqi¡¯s aura from the Spacetime de.

    Nie Tian, who didn¡¯t know how to answer, remained silent.

    Squinting and sensing for a while, Zhao Shanling suddenly said, ¡°I see.¡±

    Then, the evil gods, Master Blood Spirit, Mo Heng, and the others shouted with different expressions.

    ¡°Master!¡±

    ¡°Young Master!¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    ¡°Little Tian...¡± Nie Jin called Nie Tian in a soft, timid manner, her face filled with guilt. It seemed that she wanted to exin herself.

    Nie Tian, who appeared in his Life-origin Form, looked down upon everyone like a god, his eyes scanning through them.

    As soon as he saw Nie Jin, his expression grew much softer as he nodded slightly at her and gave her a gentle andforting look.

    In an instant, Nie Jin knew what he was thinking, and what he wanted to express.

    Nie Jin¡¯s shoulders trembled slightly. Her eyes were filled with tears, but a reassuring smile yed on her lips.

    She knew that Nie Tian had understood the guilt and hardships she had suffered over the years...

    In the crowd, Qin Yao¡¯s eyes were shining brightly. His face was calm, but his heart was full of pride.

    Holding Nie Jin¡¯s hand tightly, he said nothing.

    At that moment, Nie Tian said, ¡°You should leave the darknd now.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s going on inside the chaos?¡± Mo Heng asked.

    All the menaces in the darknd no longer existed after the Blood Father of the Spirit World disappeared.

    However, what about the chaos?

    ¡°The Tree of Life¡¯s awareness is one with the origin of life, but its body has perished,¡± Nie Tian replied.

    Then he raised his hand to p it towards the ground.

    Turbulent devil power surged and thick devil clouds seemed toe out of his palm to cover the entire earth.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Thousands of streaks of electric light filled with devil power destroyed the branches and green leaves in the depths of the earth.

    They were reced by the crimson blood light that had fallen when the Blood Father of the Spirit World had exploded.

    The branches and leaves were still connected to the Tree of Life. As long as abundant flesh power was infused into them, they might start growing again.

    In that case, its main awareness, which now existed in the origin of life, would be able to separate wisps of awareness to make the branches grow into a whole new generation of the Tree of Life, which could be even more powerful than the old one.

    What Nie Tian had to do now was to eradicate this hidden threat.

    CRACKLE!

    The many branches and leaves were wiped out by the electric light that contained destruction power.

    After the Blood Father of the Spirit World exploded, the scattered crimson blood light had filled the darknd, keeping this specialnd from shattering.

    After this was done, Nie Tian pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°The upheaval in the darknd is mostly over.¡±

    Hearing this, some asked in amazement.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Ji Cang?¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s Pei from our sect?¡±

    Nie Tian gave Zhao Shanling a look.

    In an instant, Zhao Shanling sensed that a message in the ancient devilnguage had reached the depths of his soul.

    After thinking about it for a moment, Zhao Shanling knew what had happened, and what Nie Tian wanted to do next.

    He hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Nie Tian was gradually growing vague and was about to return to the chaos, he hurried to speak, ¡°You have to think about it carefully. No one in the world knows what disaster will ur if something happens to the origin, especially when it¡¯s the cornerstone of all the living beings¡¯ bloodlines and the main reason why all living beings were born!

    ¡°If it¡¯s destroyed...¡± Zhao Shanling didn¡¯t continue.

    Nie Tian disappeared once again.

    All the people who didn¡¯t know what was going on gathered around Zhao Shanling to ask loudly for information.

    Taking a deep aura, Zhao Shanling said, ¡°Nie Tian wants to go to the blood sea in the chaos to fight the origin of life. The origin of life is the foundation upon which all living beings are formed. In particr, it is vital to all the outsiders who have bloodlines. Also, Nie Tian became a paragon with its help. If something happens to it, no one can predict the consequences.¡±

    ¡°Then why does Nie Tian want to fight the origin of life?¡± someone asked.

    ¡°Because the origin of life controls everything. Now, the will of the origin of life is the will of the Tree of Life, the culprit that has brought disaster to the three worlds!¡± Zhao Shanling replied.

    Everyone couldn¡¯t help but scream, ¡°What?!¡±

    Hearing Zhao Shanling¡¯s exnation, some grand monarchs of the Void World panicked even more.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, will anything happen to our bloodlines if he attacks the origin of life?¡± a devil grand monarch asked loudly.

    Zhao Shanling thought for a while before shaking his head and answering, ¡°Everything is unknown.¡±

    Hearing his words, all the outsider experts who had bloodlines in their bodies became more uneasy and fearful.

    However, they couldn¡¯t rush into the chaos to stop Nie Tian.

    Even if they could enter it, who would be able to stop the current Nie Tian?

    ...

    Nie Tian reappeared in the chaos.

    As long as the origins of darkness, souls, space, or time called upon him, he could return to the chaos without the origin of life¡¯s help.

    Ji Cang and the Divine me shouted together. ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Dong Li watched him quietly from the dark.

    The three of them had already known the fact that he had returned to the darknd and in the Blood Father of the Spirit World with the Spacetime de.

    Nie Tian slowly sank into the depths of the blood sea as he looked up at Dong Li and said, ¡°I think you should leave now.¡±

    He couldn¡¯t predict the consequences of what he was going to do.

    Now that all threats had been removed, Dong Li was strong enough to dominate the three worlds with her current strength even if she didn¡¯t be a paragon.

    Hence, to be safe, he wanted her to leave.

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving,¡± she said with determination.

 Chapter 1805: The Fierce Battle Between The Origins!

    Dong Li refused to leave.

    Ji Cang and the Divine me were silent for a while before they both advised him against making any rash moves such as attacking the origin of life.

    No one in the world knew if all the living beings would perish along with it once the origin of life had an ident.

    The Blood Father of the Spirit World had created both the human race and the outsider races.

    The human race had no bloodlines because the Tree of Life had deprived the Blood Father of the Spirit World of his core life imprints, but there must be traces of the origin of life in the humans¡¯ bodies, even if they might be very few.

    For example, Ji Cang and the Divine me had fleshly bodies. Wasn¡¯t that because of the blood sea?

    If the blood sea was exhausted and the heart representing the origin was destroyed, what consequences would there be?

    Nobody knew!

    SWOOSH!

    Nie Tian sank slowly toward the Sea of Life where the gigantic hearty.

    The heart was still beating.

    Drops of blood that looked like blood jades drifted around the heart.

    One could vaguely see a tree¡¯s small shadow in the depths of each blood drop.

    It was the remaining awareness of the Tree of Life, whose body Nie Tian had destroyed.

    This awareness was connected with the origin, just as Nie Tian¡¯s main soul was connected with his sub-souls.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Streaks of crimson light sputtered from the heart. All of them were imprinted with the true meaning of life power and a profound truth of life.

    Clear awareness came through from every drop of blood as a soul voice echoed out. ¡°Nie Tian...¡±

    Nie Tian instantly froze.

    Standing right in front of the heart in the depths of the blood sea, he could see the heart surrounded by crystal-clear blood drops, and feel the Tree of Life¡¯s awareness everywhere.

    His face looked solemn. However, the Spacetime de in his hand gave him boundless confidence.

    Strands of flesh power converged from all directions and fused into him.

    Drop after drop of brand-new Blood Essence was condensed at his heart as life power surged in his limbs and insides.

    The flesh power he had consumed when he had wielded the Spacetime de to kill the Blood Father of the Spirit World was instantly restored.

    Looking at the beating heart, he grinned and said, ¡°You¡¯re finally uneasy, aren¡¯t you? Recing the original origin was your pursuit to begin with, and you¡¯ve achieved your goal. Too bad the Blood Father of the Spirit World didn¡¯t obey you. Of course, even if he followed your orders and returned to the chaos, what could he have done?¡±

    With that, he raised his Spacetime de.

    Streaks of time light and space light fused with his flesh power and poured into the sharp de.

    The shining light that the Spacetime de burst forth with seemed to even make the vast Sea of Life surge and boil, before crimson, bloody storms and tides formed somehow in distant areas.

    SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

    As the storms and tides roared and morphed into a cluster of chaos, many unusual ancient creatures came riding the storms and waves.

    They were all controlled by the origin.

    The origin¡¯s will in them was very obvious.

    Nie Tian chuckled and asked, ¡°Want to strip the powers in me that don¡¯t belong to my life bloodline? I became a paragon with the help of this blood sea¡¯s power. The bloodline eruption that came with my transcendence gave me the ability to absorb and condense other bloodlines. That was the reason why I became the ancestor of the Divinespirits and developed such a unique ability. Now that you¡¯ve reced it, you want to erase everything about it?

    ¡°Are you sure you can do that?¡±

    Sneering, he swung the Spacetime de.

    SWISH! SWISH!

    Streaks of time light and space light morphed into weird torrents of energies that shed and exploded the storms and tides that had gathered at the edge of the blood sea before they could reach him.

    The streaks of time light and space light plowed forward, leaving long narrow rivers of light in the crimson blood sea.

    They shot from Nie Tian, broke away from the blood sea, and stretched into infinity.

    They flowed with the power of time and space, ck devil power, cyan soul power, as well as the power of thunder, ice, and metal.

    Soon, the power of the other origins magically emerged in the Sea of Life.

    The rivers of light were wrapped in ayer of spatial and time power.

    That was what allowed them to streak across the void.

    The inneryers were powers that originated from Nie Tian¡¯s bloodlines of darkness, metal, thunder, and ice.

    Ji Cang, who was floating above the blood sea and beneath the darkness, suddenly eximed, ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    From his perspective, he could see numerous rivers of light in the vast blood sea below that obviously didn¡¯t belong to the blood sea. He saw the rivers of light that prated outwards from the depths of the blood sea.

    Those rivers of light seemed to be able to interact with the other origins!

    The origins of time, space, darkness, souls, metal, thunder, and ice seemed to be able to infiltrate their influence and will into the blood sea through the rivers of light.

    This had never happened before!

    Nie Tian used himself as a medium to summon or attract these origins to infiltrate the Sea of Life.

    Provoked by Nie Tian, the new origin of life in the blood sea could no longer keep calm. ¡°Traitor!¡±

    As a paragon created by the origin of life and the future ancestor of the Divinespirits, who it had ced high hopes on, Nie Tian actuallymunicated with other powers in the depths of the origin and guided them to infiltrate the Sea of Life. This was nothing short of treason and a mortal sin.

    All of a sudden, horrifying turbulent waves surged in the sea of blood, impacting the rivers of light.

    Impacted by the violent flesh auras, every river of light exploded in a split second.

    It seemed the origins of thunder, metal, and ice in the distance shivered because of this. Then, scared and uneasy, they subconsciously flew further away from it.

    The Goldspirits, Thunderspirits, and Icespirits of the Mortal World that the three origins had respectively corresponded to had been wiped out because of the Tree of Life.

    They had only chosen to obey the original origin because they wanted the Tree of Life to die.

    However, instead of dying, the Tree of Life had reced the origin of life and tried to enve them.

    In fear, they had pretended to be obedient, but as soon as battle had broken out, they had quietly slipped away.

    They had secretly done their best to help the Blood Father of the Spirit World, and pinned their hopes on him.

    However, the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been killed by Nie Tian.

    Meanwhile, after Nie Tian had killed the Thunder-devouring Whale, Gold Horn Beast, and Ice Liger, and had added tiny bloodlines to his life bloodline, profound connections had formed between them and Nie Tian.

    Then, when Nie Tian had attacked the new origin of life, they had chosen to join him and fight against the Tree of Life!

    With Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline as a bridge, they had poured their power into the Sea of Life, intending to influence it with their will.

    However, as soon as the infuriated Sea of Lifeunched a counterattack, they were badly injured and lost their spirit.

    Even the origin of darkness and the River of Souls had been tremendously weakened by its counterattack.

    At this moment, Dong Li suddenly screamed in the depths of the darkness, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    She was shocked to find a cluster of dark red aura appearing in the ultimate darkness.

    From it, she sensed an aura that didn¡¯t belong to the darkness.

    Then, she sensed fear and uneasiness in the origin of darkness!

 Chapter 1806: The Counterattack of the Origin of Life!

    It wasn¡¯t just the origin of darkness. Dark red auras also emerged in the depths of the River of Souls, as well as the origins of time and space!

    The origins of metal, thunder, and ice, which had fled far away, shivered and even began to beg for forgiveness.

    Nheless, more and more red auras gradually appeared in the three origins.

    Ji Cang¡¯s and the Divine me¡¯s expressions both instantly changed.

    Their origins hadn¡¯t been involved when Nie Tian had attacked the origin of life.

    This was because Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form hadn¡¯t condensed bloodlines of stars and fire.

    Without his bloodline as the medium, the power of the origins of stars and fire couldn¡¯t infiltrate the Sea of Life.

    Moreover, the origins of stars and fire mainly focused on helping Nie Tian¡¯s doppelgangers so that they would have the possibility of bing paragons.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Ji Cang shouted with fear. ¡°You¡¯d better get out now! You can¡¯t stay in that blood sea for long!¡±

    As an outsider, he had seen through everything.

    He suddenly realized that when Nie Tian had entered the depths of the blood sea and wanted to use powers that were different from his life bloodline to attack the Sea of Life, the Sea of Life had actually been able to respond.

    With the help of Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline, the origins of souls, darkness, and thunder had infiltrated their powers and influence into the Sea of Life in a bid to help Nie Tian put pressure on the gigantic heart.

    However, they had no idea that when they had done that, they had also put themselves in danger.

    Since they had been able to infiltrate their own influence and power into the Sea of Life through Nie Tian, who had acted as a medium, the origin of life that had helped Nie Tian transcend and join the ranks of paragons could also erode them with its will and power through Nie Tian!

    The dark red aura appearing in the darkness and the River of Souls was exactly the origin of life¡¯s counterattack!

    If Nie Tian hadn¡¯t entered the blood sea and hadn¡¯t used his dark bloodline and bloodlines of thunder, metal, and ice in his heart to channel the other origins, the Sea of Life couldn¡¯t have been able to infiltrate its own powers into any of the origins, no matter how mighty it was.

    This was the rule in the chaos since ancient times: head-on, direct battles couldn¡¯t break out between the origins.

    Battles between the origins had to rely on external forces, such as paragons they had created, races they had created, and the Star Behemoths that had transformed from the Void Spirits they had separated from themselves.

    Dong Li shouted loudly in the depths of the darkness to warn Nie Tian, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    She was able tomunicate with the origin of darkness. At the moment, she sensed more and more fear and uneasiness in the origin of darkness, which made her realize that the origin of darkness was losing its confidence in fighting against the Sea of Life below.

    The dark red aura turned crimson in the depths of darkness.

    Crimson was flesh aura¡¯s true color!

    THUMP! THUMP!

    The heartbeat of the origin of life in the depths of the blood sea suddenly elerated.

    Holding the Spacetime de in his hand, Nie Tian looked at the gigantic beating heart with a solemn expression, and said, ¡°Is it your n or its to attack the other origins, using the newly-condensed bloodlines in my heart that correspond to them as the medium?¡±

    Nie Tian had woken up to the truth.

    Since he was able to use other origins to attack this blood sea, it could use him to fight back against them.

    He even realized that it had been the origin of life¡¯s intention to use him as a medium to attack or threaten these origins!

    His life bloodline had been upgraded after he had be a paragon. Now, he was able to absorb and refine the unique bloodline of any race into his own bloodline with Life Drain.

    This new, unusual ability was clearly designed to be used against the other origins.

    At the thought of this, he charged upwards in an attempt to leave the Sea of Life.

    However, from the beating heart came a cold, heartless will. ¡°Don¡¯t go...¡±

    Countless drops of crystal-clear blood suddenly flew over from the edges of the blood sea before they instantly appeared above Nie Tian¡¯s head and morphed into crimson crystal branches that blocked Nie Tian¡¯s way like a wall of dense thorns.

    The crimson crystal branches secretly contained the aura of the Tree of Life that had been destroyed, but the aura seemed to be different.

    Before, the Tree of Life¡¯s abundant power had been refined wood power.

    At the moment, however, the power flowing in the crimson crystal branches was a mixture of flesh and wood power, which was the most direct embodiment of the power of the Sea of Life!

    BAM!

    Nie Tian, who was rushing upward, hit the crimson crystal branches and was instantly pricked and badly mutted, as if his heart were pierced by thousands of swords.

    ¡°Do you think you can stop me with this?¡± Nie Tian said and snorted, wielding the Spacetime de in his palm again.

    The Spacetime de, which had been used to sh the Tree of Life and destroy the Blood Father of the Spirit World, made him believe that nothing in the world could be sharper than this de.

    However, his face suddenly changed after he wielded the Spacetime de.

    He seemed to hear the origin of life¡¯s sneer.

    Drops of Blood Essence in his body and in his heart were burning, but streaks of gorgeous time light and space light didn¡¯t join them and pour into the de as he had expected...

    The origins of time and space didn¡¯t respond to him or give him sufficient support.

    Then, even his connection with the origins of darkness and souls became fitful at this moment.

    ZZZZZLA!

    Crimson electric light shot from the crimson crystal branches to wander all over his body and affect his flesh aura cirction.

    His face grew grave.

    He realized that he had overlooked an important matter.

    Because the Sea of Life had attacked the origins of time and space with Nie Tian as a medium, the origins of time and space were now subject to the influence of the blood sea.

    The blood sea¡¯s will distorted the origins of time and space so that these two origins couldn¡¯t respond to him in time.

    If the streaks of time and space power couldn¡¯t pour uniformly into the Spacetime de, the peerless divine tool¡¯s power couldn¡¯t be disyed in full.

    How could he possibly outmatch the blood sea with his life bloodline alone if he lost the Spacetime de, and his darkness bloodline and the River of Souls were suppressed?

    He immediately realized that he was at an absolute disadvantage.

    Now that he couldn¡¯t walk out of the Sea of Life, the bloodlines in his heart that connected to the other origins allowed the origin of life¡¯s power and influence to continue to infiltrate them.

    The power that the vast Sea of Life had umted over countless years was beyond imagination.

    Now that all the other origins that had been repeatedly damaged, its timing to fight back couldn¡¯t be better.

    Above the blood sea, Ji Cang suddenly shouted with a cold face, ¡°Nie Tian! Did you already know that the blood sea would fight back and kill the other origins by relying on the bloodlines that have condensed in your body?

    ¡°Did you deliberately work with it to set up a trap to kill the other origins?¡±

    Even the Divine me had an incredulous look on her face.

 Chapter 1807: A Helping Hand

    Nie Tian had channeled the other origins in an attempt to destroy the origin of life after sinking into the Sea of Life.

    However, as the result, the blood sea remained safe and sound, while all of the origins that had joined him in attacking the blood sea suffered from the counterattacks of the blood sea.

    At this moment, all of those origins were being madly attacked by the Sea of blood due to the fact that Nie Tian was currently in the blood sea and they shared bloodline connections with him.

    Even the strongest among them, the River of Souls and that cluster of darkness, were being weakened continuously.

    Surrounded by darkness, Dong Li seemed to hear the wails of the origin of darkness.

    Also, floating in the void, Ji Cang and the Divine me saw crimson auras emerging and gradually spreading in the depths of the darkness...

    Dong Li suddenly flew out from the depths of the darkness and shot towards the Sea of Life like a ck lightning bolt, eximing, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Both Ji Cang and the Divine me were bbergasted, and hastily yelled in an attempt to stop her.

    Dong Li hadn¡¯t joined the ranks of paragons yet. Perhaps the origin of life couldn¡¯t really hurt her as long as she didn¡¯t enter the blood sea.

    However, once she did, she would most likely suffer storms of attacks from it immediately.

    It was also a possibility that this new origin of life would use her to deal with Nie Tian.

    ¡°Don¡¯te close!¡± Nie Tian, who was impaled by the crimson crystal branches and stranded in depths of the blood sea, shouted upon seeing her plunging towards him.

    Deep down, he also deemed that it wouldn¡¯t be helpful if she entered the blood sea.

    After all, he was well-aware of how terrifyingly mighty this blood sea was.

    If she entered the blood sea as he had, it would only end even more badly for her.

    His core bloodline came from the Sea of Life. It was the reason why he had been able to transcend and be a paragon. It was also because of this that it had to go through great trouble if it wanted to destroy him.

    That wasn¡¯t the case with Dong Li.

    It wouldn¡¯t be difficult at all for it to kill Dong Li, who had yet to finish her transcendence.

    ¡°Darkness: Eversilence!¡±

    As she let out a melodious cry, the Dark Aureole that had been floating over her head the whole time plunged into the blood sea first, like a ck sun.

    The impact created thousands of waves.

    As soon as the Dark Aureole entered the crimson blood sea, the rich dark aura it emanated rapidly spread in the sea like a ck mist.

    At the same time, Dong Li suddenly vanished into thin air.

    Darkness gradually pervaded the blood sea.

    ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    Nie Tian let out a soft exmation as he was shocked to find that the sparks of dark power that her Dark Aureole emanated seemed to find their way into that colossal heart!

    They seemed to make the awareness of the origin of life somewhat confused.

    Suddenly, Nie Tian was able to sense the existence of the origins of time and space again.

    WHOOSH!

    Glorious streaks of light that contained time and spatial power poured into his Spacetime de without meeting any resistance.

    The wondrous de burst forth with dazzling light in the depths of the blood sea!

    Then, numerous drops of his Blood Essence burned out in an instant as he swung the brilliant de with full force.

    Dazzling light shot straight up from the mightiest divine tool in the universe to the end of the chaos like a brilliant river.

    All of the crimson crystal branches that were in its way exploded in a breath¡¯s time.

    Nie Tian¡¯s flesh aura seemed to morph into heavenly dragons that tore up and devoured the crimson sparks from the shattered branches, and used them to strengthen his body.

    BOOM!

    Within a short time, he expanded to be as tall as the Blood Father of the Spirit World had been.

    His head prated the ward created by the crimson crystal branches and rose from the surface of the blood sea.

    At the same time, a long tunnel rose from the blood sea and extended deep into the distance.

    It was a tunnel made by the brilliant light from the Spacetime de.

    Nie Tian wove his empty hand around in a casual manner, and the remaining fragments of the crimson crystal branches exploded one after another.

    All of the sparks created by the explosions vanishing into his palm. Not a single one escaped.

    Every time a broken branch exploded and vanished, he grew a bit taller.

    Given this growth rate, he might soon be able to match the size of the first-generation Tree of Life.

    All of a sudden, a brilliant star manifested, along with a cluster of raging fire.

    They were the First Star and the origin of fire.

    The star that had existed since the grand explosion had created this universe floated right above his shoulder, while the origin of fire floated behind his back.

    The River of Souls flowed over his head, and establishedmunication with his sea of awareness once again.

    As for the Sea of Life, it only reached his waist now, giving him the look of a lofty divine mountain peak that towered over the blood sea.

    Most surprising of all, the Spacetime de in his hand had grown with him, and was incrediblyrge now.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Streaks of crimson light flew from the blood sea, wrapped around his waist like lightning bolts, and attempted to pierce into his chest.

    He shrewdly sensed that since his chest was above the surface of the blood sea now, its awareness and power couldn¡¯t affect him anymore, nor could they infuse into the other origins.

    Those streaks of crimson light were like the tentacles of the Sea of Life.

    If they pierced into his chest and entered his heart, bridges would be rebuilt, and the power of the Sea of Life would be able to reach those origins again.

    A cold smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    He suddenly grabbed them with his empty hand.

    Like ck lightning bolts, devil light burst forth from his fingers, causing the streaks of crimson light to explode one after another.

    Then, cyan soul seals manifested in the depths of his pupils, glinting like stars.

    Tiny tree shadows existed in the exploding crimson light, representing the awareness of the origin of life.

    However, as soon as the cyan soul seals emerged in Nie Tian¡¯s eyes, the tree shadows seemed to be vaporized.

    As that happened, Nie Tian heard a clear bellow from the origin of life.

    WHOOSH!

    Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form grew even taller, with the blood sea reaching only his knees now.

    At this moment, Dong Li showed herself. Floating over Nie Tian¡¯s left shoulder with Ji Cang and the Divine me, she eximed, ¡°My Dark Aureole!¡±

    She hadn¡¯t really entered the blood sea.

    Nie Tian looked down, and instantly found that the ck mist was being quickly gnawed away by the crimson light in the blood sea.

    There was almost none of it left in the blood sea now.

    It wouldn¡¯t be long before the ck spot transformed from the Dark Aureole was engulfed and had any signs of its existence erased by the Sea of Life.

    ¡°Leave it to me.¡±

    With these words, Nie Tian bent down like a giant unparalleled god trying to scoop something from a shallow blood-colored swamp.

    He tried to keep his chest as far away from the blood sea as possible while his hand groped in the blood sea.

    At the same time, his pupils turned ck.

    His dark bloodline was activated to help him locate the Dark Aureole.

    Before long, he cried, ¡°Got it!¡±

    In his gigantic palm, the Dark Aureole looked like a grain of ck rice.

    With a casual flick of his hand, the Dark Aureole flew towards Dong Li.

 Chapter 1808: The Fourth Generation!

    Nie Tian scooped the Dark Aureole out of the Sea of Life like a pebble.

    It floated over Dong Li¡¯s head once again.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Streak after streak of crimson light exploded on their way flying towards Nie Tian¡¯s chest.

    The red color in the depths of the ultimate darkness that represented the influence of the origin of life gradually faded.

    In further areas, the origins of thunder, ice, metal, time, and space were also gradually rid of the corrosive power of the origin of life now that he had broken free from the blood sea.

    As long as his chest, or his heart, wasn¡¯t immersed in the blood sea, the tentacles of the origin of life wouldn¡¯t be able to reach them through him. Therefore, it wouldn¡¯t be able to pressure them continuously.

    Then, naturally and gradually, these origins would escape its influence and guing, and regain themselves.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Huge waves rose and took over the entire blood sea. The colossal heart in the depths of the sea beat so violently that all powerful beings with bloodlines sensed anomalies in different parts of the starry river.

    Several Netherspirit and Devil grand monarchs in the Devils¡¯ Domain of Shadow Devil suddenly felt insecure and uneasy for some reason.

    In the darknd, the evil gods and the Rampage Behemoth felt the hairs all over their body prickling.

    Even Zhao Shanling, who had taken his human form, looked especially grim as he said with a heavy tone, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m feeling very uneasy. I have a bloodline connection to the Devils¡¯ holynd, that devil well. Now, for some reason, I¡¯m sensing tremendous fear from it.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s happening?" Mo Heng asked, looking baffled.

    The Snow Devil from the Doomed Star Sea had obtained profound legacies from the origin of ice. Now, she seemed to have epted Nie Tianpletely as she said with a frown, ¡°The young master could even y the Blood Father of the Spirit World and shatter the remains of the Tree of Life. Who could pose a threat to him after he returns to the chaos with such devastating power? However, I did sense that something was off with the origin of ice earlier.¡±

    ¡°What was it?¡± Zhao Shanling asked loudly.

    The origin of darkness had chosen Grand Monarch Heaven Devil first, but hadter switched to Dong Li because of Nie Tian.

    Even Zhao Shanling, the Ancient Arch-devil, hadn¡¯t been able tomunicate with the origin of darkness to learn about it.

    The Snow Devil, however, managed to establishmunication with the origin of ice.

    With a thoughtful expression, she said, ¡°Just now, I couldn¡¯tmunicate with the origin of ice for a while. I sensed regret and fear from it. And intense life power fluctuations seemed to be spreading in the depths of the origin of ice. But it onlysted a short while before everything returned to normal. However, the origin of ice seemed to be weakened after that. Even my connection with it became fitful.¡±

    ¡°I felt the same thing!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan eximed.

    Zhao Shanling was bbergasted.

    Only after a while did hee to a sudden realization. ¡°The other origins must haveunched a joint attack against the origin of life through Nie Tian! However, the origin of life is the one and only colossus in the chaos. Even if the other origins joined up, they might not be able to match its power. If you say that the origins of thunder and ice were weakened...

    ¡°Then, I guess those origins met strong counterattacks and suffered heavy blows.¡±

    Looking grave and stern, Qin Yao asked, ¡°Is there really nothing we can do to help?¡±

    Zhao Shanling took a moment to think, but then shook his head and said, ¡°We can¡¯t join the battles taking ce in the chaos unless we join the ranks of paragons.¡±

    Upon hearing this, everyone seemed rather dispirited.

    All of them were renowned experts in the three worlds. Who would have thought that they would find themselves unqualified to even join the battles at the most crucial moment?

    ¡°However, if you can win the Void Spirits¡¯ acknowledgement and refine them into yourselves, you¡¯ll have the key to entering the chaos,¡± Zhao Shanling added.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as they heard this.

    There were still quite a few Void Spirits wandering in the broken darknd.

    They corresponded to different origins in the chaos and served as their eyes.

    They were also the keys to entering the chaos, and bore people¡¯s hope of bing paragons.

    ¡°Let¡¯s give it a shot!¡±

    The powerful experts that had been waiting for a long time suddenly started shuttling across the darknd that was on the verge of perishing. They threaded through the deadly spatial rifts in the air and used their unique means to locate the Void Spirits that agreed with their cultivation attributes. Then, they attempted to capture them and refine them into themselves, so they would be able to enter the chaos.

    ...

    In the chaos.

    Nie Tian¡¯s magnificent body towered over the blood sea.

    The Spacetime de in his hand burst forth with dazzling divine light once again!

    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

    The colossal heart in the depths of the blood sea pounded so hard that it seemed to be splitting up.

    For some reason, Nie Tian felt insecure and uneasy as he sensed the vibration of the origin of life.

    He noticed that billowing waves had risen in every part of the vast blood sea.

    Countless wisps of blood-colored light were flying everywhere as the life power stirred out of order, as if some magicalws were going to be broken.

    Momentster, he eximed in shock, ¡°Hmm?!¡±

    He discovered that extremely tiny and thin Bloodline Crystal Chains were suddenly generated in the crimson bloodline aura in his heart.

    They flew out one after another like fine lightning wisps, and pierced into his heart from the inside.

    As this happened, a brilliant spark manifested out of nothing in his heart, like a seed that was going to sprout.

    The aura it exuded clearly belonged to the Tree of Life!

    Nie Tian was dumbstruck for a few seconds before a shudder ran through his body. ¡°A seed of the Tree of Life... the beginning of its fourth generation!¡±

    Strong fear rose in his heart in an insuppressible manner.

    ording to the legends, every generation of the Tree of Life would generate a seed every time its life reached its end.

    The seed would carry all of the memories, power, and wisdom of the previous generations. Given time, it would manifest brilliance that even its previous generations didn¡¯t have.

    This was how the Tree of Life lived on immortally, and became more and more powerful through the generations.

    The new generation of the Tree of Life was only vulnerable when it was sprouting.

    Once it passed that phase, it would be able to infuse itself with wood power and quickly surpass its previous generations with the help of the knowledge and imprints from its previous generations.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it has chosen to take root in my heart and begin its fourth generation!

    ¡°This is just like its third generation taking root in the eye of a titan, absorbing enough nourishment to take root, sprout, and ride out the initial and most dangerous phase!

    ¡°If it lives through the first stage and grows into a sapling, wouldn¡¯t it be able to return to its peak state within a short time with the boundless power in the Sea of Life?

    ¡°Also, its fourth generation would no longer be a pure vegetative being!

    ¡°Instead, it would be something between a fleshly being and a vegetative being, a brand new super-strong species that haspletely fused flesh power with wood power!

    ¡°Is cultivating its next generation in my heart part of its n too?¡±

    A series of thoughts shed across Nie Tian¡¯s mind.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice now!¡±

    He took a deep breath, the look in his eyes turning cold and ruthless.

    Then, he pointed the Spacetime de at the depths of the blood sea, and made a forceful sh.

 Chapter 1809: My Heart Is the Battleground!

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Drop after drop of Nie Tian¡¯s Blood Essence burned in his heart to release thick flesh power.

    However, this flesh power, which was intended to stimte the power of the Spacetime de, suddenly went out of control.

    Like wisps of brilliant blood-colored light, they fused into the seed of the fourth-generation Tree of Life instead!

    Like a super-powerful ma, the seed was attracting every single wisp of flesh power that Nie Tian generated in his heart by burning his Blood Essence.

    The tiny seed started to expand rapidly like a cluster of light.

    It started changing quietly.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Time and spatial power were separated from each other like two parallel rivers in the Spacetime de even though Nie Tian had swung it with full force.

    Their fusion in the de seemed to be broken!

    Failing to send a dazzling, all-conquering de light into the depths of the blood sea, Nie Tian didn¡¯t manifest even the slightest might of the Spacetime de.

    At the same time, Nie Tian¡¯s incrediblyrge Life-origin Form somehow started to shrink down bit by bit.

    Ji Cang, Dong Li, and the Divine me all realized that something had gone wrong with Nie Tian.

    ¡°I...¡±

    Clutching the Spacetime de, Nie Tian was just about to say something when Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

    He instantly realized that he had to use his flesh power to fuse the time power and spatial power in order to bring out the transcendent might of this wondrous weapon.

    However, the refined flesh power he had exerted just now tounch this attack against the origin of life had been intercepted by the Tree of Life.

    As a result, the fusion of time power and spatial power hadn¡¯t been achieved.

    A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering strike had been stifled.

    ¡°Watch out for that tree!¡±

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul voice burst out in Nie Tian¡¯s sea of awareness like a thunderp.

    Nie Tian was instantly pulled out of his thoughts.

    He examined himself with his soul awareness, and discovered that the seed was nourishing itself with his flesh power and growing rapidly in his heart.

    ¡°Every generation of the Tree of Life will form a seed when it perishes in order to be reborn? From the look of it, I made a huge mistake by letting those sparks fall into the blood sea after I destroyed your physical form with a sh of the de. I should have snuffed them out, every single one of them...¡±

    Sensing his rapid flesh power loss, Nie Tian broke himself away from the blood sea.

    No part of him was in the blood sea anymore.

    However, floating above the blood sea, his body continued to be drained of its power...

    The tiny seed in his heart was like a bottomless hole that madly harvested the flesh power that belonged to him.

    He seemed to have be its food.

    ¡°This is interesting.¡±

    As soon as a thought entered his mind, the metal, thunder, ice, and dark bloodlines in his heart answered his call and burst forth with power simultaneously.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Streaks of power that were of a variety of colors shot towards the seed together, the ck ones being the fiercest.

    BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

    Streaks of dark, thunder, ice, and metal power exploded and vanished upon hitting the seed.

    However, the tiny seed only shook slightly before moving on to devour even more of his flesh power to replenish its consumption and repair its damage.

    It started its transformation into a tree sapling.

    At this moment, Nie Tian had a feeling that if he let it transform into a sapling and take root in his heart, all that he had now would be taken away by it.

    Then, when it grew into the fourth-generation Tree of Life, he would be reduced to ashes and perish for good.

    All signs of his existence would be erased, while the fourth-generation Tree of Life would be the strongest being this universe had ever seen!

    It would surpass the Blood Father of the Spirit World, its third-generation self, and all of the Star Behemoths and paragons that had lived!

    It would be number one in this universe in a real sense!

    ¡°You think you can reanimate through me? Wishful thinking!¡±

    With these words, he pierced his left index finger towards his chest like a narrow sword.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    zing light rapidly gathered at the tip of the finger.

    The light was a mixture of dark, metal, thunder, ice, and soul power.

    This was the Titan¡¯s Wrath he had inherited from the Blood Father of the Spirit World!

    As soon as a beam of light sted through his flesh and entered his chest, the dark, ice, and thunder bloodlines in his heart infused it with their power.

    Beams of their power shot into it one after another with great precision.

    CRUNCH!

    Fissures suddenly appeared on the tiny seed, the furious roars of the Tree of Life rumbling out from within.

    The blood sea seemed to start seething as this happened!

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    At this very moment, Nie Tian¡¯s star and me doppelg?ngers flew out of the First Star and the origin of fire.

    They morphed into streaks of ethereal light that instantly fused into his Life-origin Form.

    In the next moment, two tiny bloodlines came to form in his heart, a star bloodline and a fire bloodline.

    Bloodline connections were instantly established between him and the origins of stars and fire.

    Hence, countless sparks of starlight and fire emerged in every part of his Life-origin Form, and swooped towards the slowly-splitting seed in his heart like myriad moths.

    Then, he saw even more sparks emerging and converging on his heart from different parts of his body.

    Upon a closer look, he could see that there were tiny sparks of darkness, rays of golden light, ice shards, lightning bolts, and spatial des.

    This body of his seemed to have be the battleground where the origins fought each other.

    The origins that had established connections to him saw the splitting seed as something they had to eliminate!

    Therefore, after he had broken away from the blood sea, they had thought up every possible method to fuse their power into his body in order to attack that seed.

    At this moment, the tiny seed had to contend against the power of many origins with his flesh power.

    This made him look like he had fallen into a state of Qi deviation. His face grew distorted as he kept howling and shaking in the chaos.

    Deeply anxious, Dong Li didn¡¯t know what to do other than call out to him, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    It seemed to her that Nie Tian¡¯s aura was a mess, while wisps of power that corresponded to different origins kept flying from his pores.

    Even the wisps of power seemed to be fighting each other.

    A ward of blood-colored aura would form around Nie Tian, only to burst in the next moment.

    In Nie Tian¡¯s widened eyes, she could also see the shadows of the Tree of Life every once in a while. However, they would only exist for a moment before being devoured by thousands of soul seals.

    Momentster, Nie Tian threw his head back and roared, ¡°Break!¡±

    BOOM!

    Endless dazzling light erupted from within his chest.

    CRACK! CRACK!

    Sounds like walnuts cracking echoed out.

    Nie Tian assumed a tight grip of the Spacetime de and swung it once again. As soon as he did, rivers of spatial and time power fused within the de and sted forth in a beam of divine light that seemed to run through heaven and earth as it pierced into the depths of the blood sea.

    The wide beam of light bombarded the colossal beating heart that represented the origin of life.

    Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

    All of the powerful beings felt lost.

 Chapter 1810: Outsidersâ€™ Bloodline Upheaval

    In the Void World, the Spirit World, the Mortal World, the Doomed Star Sea, and the Silent Star Sea...

    Almost every ninth and tenth grade outsider expert gazed up into the sky with confused looks on their faces.

    At this moment, all of them were suffering heart-wrenching pain that came suddenly and without a reason.

    A feeling of the world ending took them over.

    ¡°Ahh!¡±

    An ice phoenix that was flying gracefully in a frigid realm in the Silent Star Sea suddenly fell out of the sky, screeching as she did.

    Afternding with a loud crash, her silver feathered wings strangely burst forth with beams of icy light.

    ¡°Ste!¡± another Ancientbeast cried as this happened.

    Ste, who was ate ninth grade ice phoenix, trembled on the ground that was covered in ice.

    Nothing seemed to happen to the seventh and eighth grade Ancientbeasts that hastily gathered to her side.

    However, soon, they heard roarsing from the distance.

    They had selected this realm in the Silent Star Sea and migrated from the Spirit World.

    Most of their ninth and tenth grade grand patriarchs and grand monarchs had answered the summons of the Tree of Life and left for the darknd.

    Most of them had died, while the survivors hadn¡¯t returned yet.

    Even though the majority of these Ancientbeasts that had stayed behind in the Silent Star Sea were at low grades, all of their ninth grade members like Ste were wailing in agony at this moment.

    None of them knew what was happening.

    Ste, who was trembling on the icy ground, her feathered wings emanating beams of icy light, slowly shrank into her human form.

    She sat on the icy ground, embracing her knees. Her face was ghastly while her tender shoulders shivered nonstop, as if she were suffering great pain.

    She felt as if her heart was being pierced by countless needles, as if something was majorly wrong with her bloodline.

    An eighth grade Ice Ligernded with a loud crash, his enormous feet leaving deep holes in the icy ground. ¡°What happened to you, Lady Ste?¡±

    The Ice Liger was hundreds of meters tall like a small mountain of ice, and awe-inspiring like a loyal guard.

    In her human form, Ste looked like a small piece of ice sitting in front of an elephant, which could smash her with its feet effortlessly.

    However, at this moment, he was looking at her with nothing but fear and reverence in his eyes.

    A Thunder Beast flew over from the distance,nded behind the Ice Liger, and said in the Ancientbeasts¡¯nguage, ¡°Lord Dark Crystal! Lady Ste isn¡¯t the only one. The other ninth grade lords seem to be in distress as well!¡±

    Ste, who was still in great pain, jerked her head up, astonishment and confusion flowing in the depths of her silver pupils. ¡°What? What in the world is happening? Why am I feeling such pain in my chest? Why are the other ninth grade members afflicted in the same way as me?

    The eighth grade Ice Liger that had been referred to as Dark Crystal didn¡¯t have an answer.

    All of a sudden, a ne made of bells around the Ice Liger¡¯s neck started ringing fiercely.

    The eighth grade Ice Liger puffed out frosty mist as he said under Ste¡¯s grave gaze, ¡°Lady Ste, it¡¯s not only here; the same thing is happening in all of the other realms we¡¯ve selected in the Silent Star Sea. Also, all of the titans and dragons that have reached the ninth grade are suffering the same situation as you.¡±

    Ste gasped with astonishment. ¡°All of them?!¡±

    ¡°Yes, all of them!¡±

    ...

    In the Domain of Shadow Devil in the Void World.

    The Netherspirits and Devils that had fled the darknd through the gaping spatial rifts suddenly started howling madly, as if they had suffered heavy blows to their bodies.

    Their raging, chaotic flesh power shot in every direction.

    Even arge piece from a broken realm in their surroundings exploded upon being hit by their flitting flesh auras.

    Meanwhile, nothing seemed to be happening to the Bonedrudes that had fled the darknd with them.

    The Bonedrudes had taken a major hit after the destruction of the Forbidden Land of Myriad Bones, the death of Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, and the substantial weakening of the Mountain of Death. Originally, it was considered that they would most likely enter a prolonged decline after this series of setbacks.

    However, they weren¡¯t in distress now while all the other species were.

    Holding a giant bone sword, a ninth grade Bonedrude grand patriarch looked at a Devil grand patriarch with whom he had fought many battles in the Doomed Star Sea, and asked with a pungent tone, ¡°What¡¯s happening to you, Chuck?

    ¡°We¡¯re out of the darknd now. The Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life can¡¯t affect you with their power despite the space between you, right?¡±

    Covered in gray hair and thousands of meters tall, Chuck looked like a devilish gray ape in his Ancestral Awakening form. His ferocious face and sharp fangs gave him a very scary look.

    At this moment, he thumped his own chest with his giant, hammer-like fist, and howled. ¡°My chest hurts like hell! It feels like my heart is going to explode!¡±

    Immediately afterwards, many Netherspirits and Devils responded to him, howling in pain.

    ¡°Me too! It¡¯s as if my heart is being pierced by sharp des!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s like my heart is burning!¡±

    ¡°My heart is shriveling!¡±

    Completely baffled, the Bonedrudes subconsciously turned to look in the direction of the spatial rifts through which they had escaped the darknd, and muttered inwardly, ¡°What is happening in the darknd right now? Don¡¯t tell me that something happened to the origins of souls and darkness.¡±

    ...

    In some extremely remote areas in the Mortal World, barren realms that the four great sects didn¡¯t even care to govern, Demon, Phantasm, and Fiend survivors suddenly let out agonized wails.

    All of them were ninth grade grand patriarchs.

    Originally, they had joined the three major races of the Void World and wreaked havoc in the Mortal World.

    After the death of Grand Monarch Eternal Purgatory, these defeated outsider experts from the Spirit World hadn¡¯t even been able to return to their homes in the Spirit World.

    Instead, they could only hide in remote corners of the Mortal World, deste ces that even the humans didn¡¯t care to take into their domains.

    These realms were bereft of any spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth, and had harsh environments.

    They could barely survive in them by relying on their outstandingly strong bodies, and wait for a silver lining.

    Their hope was to be rescued by the three major races in the Void World and enter the Void World.

    Now, however, their strongest members suddenly felt as if their hearts were being sliced by a thousand knives. The paining from their bloodlines was so great that they wished to die.

    They didn¡¯t know what was happening, and only thought this was a secret ploy of the humans.

    This put them in deep fear.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    It didn¡¯t matter whether they were outsiders like Grand Monarch Serene Fiend or hybrids. As long as their bloodlines had reached the ninth grade, they were now screaming in agony.

    Even the evil gods, the Rampage Behemoth, and the ck tortoise were roaring and howling.

    In contrast, Zhao Shanling, who was Grand Monarch Lurking Devil reanimated as a human, wasn¡¯t feeling any anomalies.

    He was only baffled by what was happening.

    Nie Jin, Qin Yao, Yin Xingtian, and all the human experts turned to him for an answer.

    He spread out his hands and said with a helpless expression, ¡°Don¡¯t ask me.¡±

    Clearly, the answery within the chaos, where a battle between the origins was taking ce. However, they knew that they couldn¡¯t enter the chaos to see what was really going on.

 Chapter 1811: From A God to A Man

    In the depths of the blood sea at the center of the chaos.

    A wide, glorious beam of light connected Nie Tian and the origin of life like a dazzling bridge.

    It started from Nie Tian¡¯s Spacetime de and stretched all the way to that colossal heart in the blood sea.

    It flowed with time and spatial power.

    Through it, sparks of starlight, bolts of lightning, ice crystals, sparks of golden light, and clusters of fire poured deep into the heart, along with power that belonged to Nie Tian.

    Upon a closer look at the crimson heart that represented the origin of life, one would be able to see that the infusion of various types of power had caused fissures to appear on it, with tiny blood-colored chains snapping everywhere.

    Apparently, the heart was suffering damage, which was expanding and gradually causing it to beat in an extremely strange manner.

    At this moment, the originally-surging blood sea had suddenly gone tranquil, so much so that it made those who were observing uneasy.

    It was as if time had stopped.

    The other origins that were in the vicinity were enveloped in silence as well.

    Floating motionlessly under the cluster of utter darkness, Dong Li, Ji Cang, and the Divine me were all at a loss, not knowing what to do.

    The only thing that was changing was Nie Tian¡¯s Life-origin Form.

    It, which was originally vast enough to prop up heaven and earth, was somehow shrinking down bit by bit.

    Within moments, it shrank from being a hundred thousand meters tall to only being ten thousand meters tall, and the shrinking didn¡¯t stop.

    It was as if he was being weakened as the various types of power that corresponded to his lightning, metal, me, and star bloodlines continued to pour into that colossal heart through that brilliant ¡®¡¯bridge,¡¯ and his declining flesh aura could no longer maintain his enormous divine form.

    The crimson flesh aura sea that had been protecting his body like a shield vanished.

    His awareness gradually grew blurred.

    A surprised look appeared on his face as he looked down at this chest and felt a subtle pain...

    He had a feeling that he was losing something that was very important to him.

    It was something that had apanied him since he had been born.

    It had helped him grow and acquire all that he had today. It was like his strongest, most cherished, and most reliable partner.

    However, for some reason, it was leaving him now.

    Suddenly, he felt sad and wanted to keep it from leaving.

    Subconsciously, he started loosening his hand that was gripping the Spacetime de.

    All of a sudden, he sensed the criesing from the other origins.

    ¡°No!¡±

    ¡°Stop!¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡±

    They woke him from his daze.

    At this moment, he finally realized what had just happened and what was happening now. ¡°My life bloodline!¡±

    His life bloodline was leaving him!

    He was losing it because that colossal heart was suffering from the joint attack of him and the other origins!

    This boundless blood sea, the origin of life, was the reason why he had been able to transcend and be a paragon.

    Now, as it sustained damage, he, as its paragon, was the first to be affected.

    It was only being damaged now, and he was being deprived of his life bloodline and his status as a paragon.

    What if it was destroyed...?

    He was well-aware that his life bloodline had helped him make countless incredible achievements. Without it, he couldn¡¯t have survived so many tribtions. In fact, he might have died long ago.

    However, this very thing that had helped him climb to the top of the Mortal World and be a paragon in the chaos was leaving him now because of what he was doing...

    A voice seemed to echo in his head and his vanishing life bloodline. ¡°Is this really what you want?¡±

    He examined his heart with his soul awareness.

    He saw that within the crimson bloodline aura, numerous tiny, interweaving Bloodline Crystal Chains were snapping and copsing like lofty mansions.

    Some of his memories and knowledge about life power that he had gone to great lengths to derive and had long since imprinted in his heart started to grow blurry.

    He couldn¡¯t even remember them anymore.

    He knew that this was because the Bloodline Crystal Chains that bore them had snapped and vanished.

    However, unlike the ninth and tenth grade grand patriarchs and grand monarchs in the three worlds, he wasn¡¯t in great pain. All he felt was sorrow and reluctance.

    ¡°I...¡± he whispered, looking nkly at the colossal beating heart that represented the origin of life.

    He felt himself weakening.

    The power with different attributes that was pouring into the heart was part of the reason why he had been exceedingly powerful.

    Now, it was attacking the origin of life, which had yed a crucial role in his transcendence and was key to the wonders of his life bloodline.

    It seemed what he was doing now was attacking and hurting himself.

    If this battle continued, his body, strength, and flesh aura would grow weaker and weaker... Perhaps he could even lose his life bloodline, along with everything that came with it, and be reduced to a mortal human being.

    ¡°Is that... really what you want?¡± The soul voice of the origin of life was somewhat vague and exhausted as it came from his crimson bloodline aura with vanishing Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    This made him realize that it was just as weak as he was.

    He didn¡¯t know what would happen to it if this didn¡¯t stop, nor did anyone in this universe.

    All he knew was that he had already fallen from being a paragon to being a grand monarch...

    As the Bloodline Crystal Chains in the crimson bloodline aura continued to snap and vanish, he could no longer use the bloodline talents and magics he had previously derived and been able to use skillfully before.

    Then, he started falling from the tenth grade towards the ninth grade...

    Meanwhile, changes were happening to the tiny dark, metal, thunder, ice, star, and me bloodlines in his heart as well.

    They were bing tinier and tinier, and illusory like flowers in a mirror and moon in water.

    ¡°My life bloodline is the foundation. If it disappears, all of my other bloodlines will perish as well.¡±

    He suddenly realized what was happening inside of him.

    All of his bloodlines were melting!

    First, his life bloodline would degrade gradually until it vanished.

    Then, his other bloodlines that had condensed in his heart for the purpose of fighting the origin of life would fade as well.

    After that, he would be a pure human that was bereft of any bloodline.

    He would finish the transformation from a godlike existence to a mortal human being.

    ¡°Being a human...¡± he muttered, a smile of mixed feelings appearing at the corner of his mouth. ¡°Ah, might as well.¡±

    He didn¡¯t stop the changes.

    Hence, his Life-origin Form continued to shrink as his aura suffered a drastic decline, and all of his bloodlines slowly melted away.

 Chapter 1812: Bloodlines Cut Off!

    Thick blood-colored clouds started to rise from the Sea of Life and spread in the chaos.

    They were made of the flesh power in the blood sea.

    This vast blood sea only existed as a condensation of flesh power because of the will of the origin of life.

    Now that the will of the origin of life was on the verge of copsing, it was only natural that the tremendous amount of flesh power it had gathered started dispersing into its surroundings.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Cluster after cluster of blood-colored clouds drifted away from the blood sea to different corners of the chaos.

    Some origins that had been dormant the whole time suddenly came out of their slumber.

    There was a cluster of brilliant light, a sea of azure water, and a dry yellowndmass...

    They seemed to have smelled a great opportunity as they started flying across the void in an attempt to capture the clouds that had floated from the blood sea.

    Meanwhile, the origins of souls, metal, thunder, stars, and fire were still giving that colossal heart pressure through Nie Tian.

    Various types of power were still pouring into the heart through the river of glorious light shooting out of the Spacetime de.

    Nie Tian, however, continued to shrink.

    Tenth grade, ninth grade, eighth grade...

    His life bloodline kept degrading as he grew smaller.

    The other bloodlines that had recently formed in his heart were also degrading. However, his connection to those origins endured.

    Shortly afterwards, his star and fire bloodlines suddenly vanished from his heart, putting him in shock.

    However, immediately afterwards, he came to another shocking discovery.

    He found that even though his star and fire bloodlines were gone, the star power spiritual core and me power spiritual core in his spiritual sea burst forth with amazing power, which allowed him tomunicate with the origins of stars and fire through them.

    A new path was found!

    ¡°Even if I lose all my bloodlines, I can still resort to the human cultivation system to refine the spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth into my spiritual cores in order to maintainmunication with the other origins!¡±

    His eyes lit up as he grew more and more determined.

    Even if he gave up his life bloodline and all the other bloodlines, he wouldn¡¯t lose hope, as long as he still had his spiritual sea and spiritual cores.

    Even if he couldn¡¯t be a grand monarch anymore, he could still be a God domain cultivator!

    He would still be able to secure part of his battle prowess!

    However, he didn¡¯t know what heaven-shaking, earth-toppling upheavals were taking ce in the three worlds as this happened to him.

    First, all of the ninth and tenth grade outsiders experienced anomalies with their hearts. Like him, their bloodline grades started to plummet as that colossal heart continued to sustain severe damage.

    Then, after his life bloodline dropped to the eighth grade and started slipping towards the seventh grade, all of the outsiders, titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts in the three worlds that carried bloodlines that had reached the eighth grade started slipping towards the seventh grade as well, even though they had no idea what was happening.

    Some of the powerful outsiders that had been born with eighth grade bloodlines even lost their bloodlines directly!

    Losing their bloodlines meant forever losing their unique bloodline talents and magics, and the opportunity to enter the chaos with their soul awareness tomunicate with their origins.

    All species that carried bloodlines trembled in fear and lived in a constant state of anxiety.

    However, the changes continued until Nie Tian¡¯s life bloodline finally vanishedpletely!

    As soon as that happened, all of the other bloodlines that had condensed in his heart to fight against it vanished as well.

    Everything seemed to return to peace and silence.

    He seemed to hear the origin of life letting out a deep sigh of frustration and regret.

    It seemed to regret failing to achieve what it had pursued wholeheartedly, and failing to carry out its grand n before perishing itself...

    Its old self had chosen and vested Nie Tian with a life bloodline, assuming that after he became a paragon and his life bloodline transformed, he would walk out of the chaos as the first Divinespirit, spread descendants that could absorb the bloodlines of the other species as he could, and eventually help it rule over the three worlds in a brand new manner.

    All of the Divinespirits would carry life bloodlines and correspond to it directly.

    Its new self had nned on using Nie Tian to nourish that seed into its fourth-generation form in the chaos. After it grew into an invincible force throughout the universe, it would be able to bring all of the other origins to heel.

    They had devised different ns, but both of them had intended to achieve their goal through Nie Tian.

    Now, however, all their nning had no meaning now, with its awareness vanishing.

    The colossal heart stopped beating. Like a withered flower or a dead tree, it became extremely dry and shriveled.

    Eventually, the impact from the wide glorious beam of light reduced it to a cluster of crimson smoke that dissipated as its awareness did.

    Also, at that moment, all of the outsiders and Ancientspirits in the three worlds, and even the Rampage Behemoth, came to a shocking realization that their bloodlines were gone.

    It was as if experts with mighty bloodlines no longer existed in this starry river.

    Not a single outsider couldmunicate with their origins through their bloodlines, activate bloodline talents, or cast bloodline magics anymore.

    Even though their bodies were still exceptionally robust, they lost their bloodlines, which they had relied on to make themselves strong, gain lengthy lifespans, and survive harsh environments.

    In the darknd, the Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, the surviving evil gods, and all the hybrids shrank down because of this.

    The evil gods became the same size as humans.

    The Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise also shrank hundreds of times over and be only several meters long.

    All of the hybrids lost their bloodlines and became humans that had to rely on the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth to practice cultivation.

    The outsider experts from the Void World and the Ancientspirits from the Spirit World lost their bloodlines as well. Eyes zed, they looked at the area that connected to the chaos, and muttered soullessly.

    ¡°Why? Why were we deprived of our bloodlines?¡±

    ¡°Without our bloodlines, all we have left is our physical strength. How can we fight the humans from now on?¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t sense the existence of our origin anymore.¡±

    ¡°What in the world happened in the chaos?¡±

    Nie Jin, Qin Yao, Yin Xingtian, and all the other human experts turned to fix their eyes on Zhao Shanling, hoping to get an answer from him.

    ¡°I suppose... Nie Tian seeded,¡± Zhao Shanling said softly.

    Mo Heng was taken aback. ¡°Seeded?¡±

    Zhao Shanling cast his gaze down, and said, ¡°The origin of life is the foundation of all bloodlines. Once it perishes, all beings that carry bloodlines will naturally lose their bloodlines. The reason why I chose to reincarnate as a human was because I knew that humans were the only species that didn¡¯t carry any bloodlines, and couldpletely break free from its clutches.¡±

    ...

    In the chaos, the boundless Sea of Life had dissipated into clusters of blood-colored smoke.

    The wide beam of glorious light was already gone.

    Nie Tian, who was holding the Spacetime de, could still sense Pei Qiqi¡¯s existence.

    However, he couldn¡¯t summon time power or spatial power anymore.

    Meanwhile, spiritual cores of time and spatial attributes didn¡¯t form in his spiritual sea in his dantian region.

    After all, they were unfamiliar grounds to him to begin with.

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Clusters of blood-colored smoke that were bereft of the awareness of the origin of life drifted to different areas.

    Seeing this, the other origins rapidly flew out and scrambled for the unimed power they contained.

 Chapter 1813: The Upheaval of the Landscape of the Three Worlds

    As the awareness of the origin of life vanished, the boundless blood sea couldn¡¯t stay in its condensed state anymore.

    The blood sea scattered into clusters of blood-colored smoke that drifted about in the chaos.

    This was the result of Nie Tian sacrificing himself and abandoning his status as a paragon and his life bloodline.

    With him as the medium, the other origins in the chaos had been able to deal the origin of life, which had been the one and only overlord for countless years, a destructive blow.

    Now, the origin of life finally perished.

    However, the other origins in the chaos seemed to be driven mad by greed, and started chasing after the drifting blood-colored smoke and devouring the power it contained.

    Meanwhile, Nie Tian had returned to his human form.

    He no longer had his exceptional size.

    In his hand, he was still holding the Spacetime de, which had shrunk as he had. Now, it was only the length of his arm, flowing with brilliant sparkling light.

    However, now that his life bloodline was gone, he had a sense of unfamiliarity holding it.

    He realized that he couldn¡¯tmunicate with the origins of time and space anymore.

    Nor could his human body bear the infusion of time and spatial power anymore.

    Even his connection to Pei Qiqi seemed to have be somewhat illusory...

    Because he had lost his life bloodline and be a pure human, this mightiest divine tool in the history of this universe couldn¡¯t manifest its terrifying might anymore.

    Then, he discovered that he no longer had blood connections to the evil gods, the ck tortoise, or Master Blood Spirit.

    All of this was because he had lost his life bloodline.

    He examined his heart with his soul awareness. He couldn¡¯t find a single drop of Blood Essence or that bloodline aura that contained countless Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    The dark, thunder, ice, and metal bloodlines couldn¡¯t be found either.

    However, this body of his, which had been tempered a thousand times over, was still strong and sturdy.

    It was just that he couldn¡¯t cast his various bloodline talents and divine magics anymore.

    Also, he couldn¡¯t turn into a giant that was ten thousand meters tall in the blink of an eye, or unleash a surging flesh aura sea anymore.

    A bitter smile appeared on his face as a sense of frustration filled his heart.

    With the time freeze broken, Dong Li fell from the void above him, yelling, ¡°Nie Tian! Why aren¡¯t you trying to absorb the dispersing clusters of rich life power?¡±

    Floating high in the void, Ji Cang and the Divine me also fixed him with confused looks.

    Ji Cang looked the same as before.

    However, the Divine me...

    The delicate fleshly form it had spent plenty of thought forging for itself was gone.

    Instead, it had resumed its non-physical form as a cluster of orange-red fire.

    Nie Tian looked up at the Divine me, and realized that its fleshly form hade from the Blood Essence he had given it.

    Now that his life bloodline no longer existed, its newly-acquired fleshly form had perished as well.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said in a soft voice.

    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. Actually, you made the right choice. You were willing to make such great sacrifices. How could I find fault with you?¡± The soul message from the Divine me was exceptionally clear.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Dong Li called out again, looking somewhat anxious. ¡°Don¡¯t you want that scattering power?¡±

    ¡°Without my life bloodline, I can¡¯t absorb that unimed flesh power anymore,¡± Nie Tian said with a bitter expression. ¡°I was able to absorb and refine flesh power into myself because of my Life Drain bloodline talent. Now, no matter what I do, I won¡¯t be able to make use of that flesh power.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Ji Cang chimed in. ¡°Only beings with powerful bloodlines can refine that power into themselves and put it to use.

    ¡°However, not a single bloodline can be found in the three worlds now, not to mention in the chaos.¡±

    Dong Li went nk for a moment before suddenly asking, ¡°Then why are those origins scrambling for those clusters of flesh power?¡±

    Ji Cang pondered in silence for a while before answering with a suspecting tone, ¡°Perhaps they hope to save it up and have Void Spirits like us create new species that correspond to them in the three worlds in the future. If they seed, perhaps those new species will be born with unique bloodlines, or perhaps not.¡±

    His eyebrows were knitted, as if he didn¡¯t really have an answer either.

    ¡°With the origin of life gone, everything is unknown now. Even if they can procure those clusters of flesh power, no one can tell whether they will be able to make brand new species of living beings with them.¡±

    After a short pause, he turned to Nie Tian.

    His expression became somewhatplicated as he fixed his eyes on Nie Tian, as if he admired him, but at the same time, found him foolish. ¡°I really didn¡¯t expect you to be able to make such a decision... I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d give up your life bloodline and your status as a paragon. By destroying the origin of life with your own hands, you practically gave up all that you had.

    ¡°I was skeptical about you before. I¡¯m sorry about that.

    ¡°Also, please allow me to thank you on behalf of the First Star.

    ¡°Without your sacrifice, all of the other origins would have be its ves. If you ruled over the three worlds as its paragon, while it dominated the chaos... if an era like that started, there would be only one voice left throughout this universe: its voice.

    ¡°All of the other origins would slowly decline and lose the ability to contend against it.

    ¡°You prevented that from happening.¡±

    Solemn respect gradually filled Ji Cang¡¯s eyes as he spoke.

    Taken aback, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Are you saying that all outsiders have lost their bloodlines?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Ji Cang said. ¡°The titans, the Star Behemoths, the various outsider races from the Void World and the Spirit World... all of them have lost their bloodlines. Now,pared to humans, they¡¯re onlyrger and stronger physically. But once human cultivators summon spiritual power from their spiritual seas, they¡¯ll bembs waiting to be ughtered.

    ¡°Their time hase to an end. You¡¯ve helped humanity be the ruler of the three worlds.¡±

    A violent shudder ran through Nie Tian. ¡°Humanity? Ruler of the three worlds?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Ji Cang said. ¡°Humanity is the only species that hasn¡¯t been affected by this upheaval. Their Saint and God domain experts endure. As far as humans are concerned, with their bloodlines gone, all of the experts of the other species are nothing but physically-strong beasts with developed intelligence now. Now, under such circumstances, don¡¯t you think that humanity will rule the three worlds?¡±

    ¡°This is unbelievable...¡± Nie Tian bowed his head, absorbed in thought.

    At this moment, the other origins in the chaos were still tirelessly scrambling for the drifting clusters of blood-colored smoke.

    The area below Nie Tian was empty now.

    The crimson blood sea that had once stretched as far as the eye could see was gone.

    However, a cluster of crimson light slowly emerged in the flitting darkness.

    A cluster of crimson light appeared inside the dazzling First Star as well.

    Life power could also be seen gathering in the depths of the zing origin of fire.

    Unlike before, the crimson light emerging in the origins was under control. They didn¡¯t willfully attack them or make them suffer.

    ¡°Humanity will rule the starry river?!¡± Dong Li said in high spirits.

    Nie Tian, however, remained expressionless.

 Chapter 1814: Reshuffle

    All outsiders were plunged into panic by the loss of their bloodlines.

    They lived in such a cruel world. How could they survive without their bloodlines?

    Back in the day, humans had suffered the fate of being enved by the outsider races in the Spirit World before deriving their cultivation method of channeling the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth into the spiritual sea in their dantian region.

    Now, the outsiders had lost their bloodlines. Would they follow the humans¡¯ footsteps?

    The Doomed Star Sea was the ce where rogue forces from different corners of the starry river were gathered.

    Large numbers of outsiders, hybrids, humans, and Ancientbeasts lived under the same roof there, and took Qin Yao as their leader.

    After the upheaval, they were the first to sense the anomalies.

    Disciples of the Heavenly Corpse Sect and the Death Curse Sect discovered that their outsiderpanions, who they had fought countless battles with, had suddenly lost their bloodlines.

    This made them wonder if the same thing had happened to the outsiders in the Void World.

    If the three powerful races in the Void World had lost their bloodlines as well, wouldn¡¯t it be a great opportunity for them to sack the Void World?

    As soon as this thought came to them, theymunicated with their informants in the Void World in secret.

    Soon, they received reports.

    Other than the Bonedrudes, all of the Netherspirits, Devils, Moonspirits, Lightspirits, Seaspirits, and even the devilish beasts and insects had lost the bloodlines that they had relied on to be powerful!

    Upon receiving such information, those in the Doomed Star Sea made a move.

    All of their powerful experts that hadn¡¯t followed Qin Yao into the darknd started their ancient starships and marched into the Void World in formidable arrays.

    They didn¡¯t know that experts of different species had once joined hands and fought the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life together in the darknd.

    There was longstanding hatred and enmity between the Void World and the Doomed Star Sea. Now that they had seen an opportunity to have their revenge, how could they give it up?

    Soon, fierce battles broke out.

    ...

    In the Mortal World.

    The humans were holding a considerable number of Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends in captivity for Nie Tian to deal with after he returned.

    Now, as outsiders everywhere lost their bloodlines, they suffered the same fate.

    After the Doomed Star Sea, the Mortal World soon realized that major changes had happened as well.

    Then, powerful sects like the Ice Soul Divine Sect, the Streamcloud Sword Sect, and the Profound Purity Pce started discussing exploring the Spirit World.

    Some even proposed that they should march into the Void World through the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Now that the outsiders were bereft of their bloodlines, what did they have to be afraid of?

    Hence, humans that had suffered early in their history gathered Saint and Void domain experts from various sects and ns, and headed out to the Spirit World and the Void World.

    As soon as they arrived in the Void World through the Seven Stars Realm Sea and discovered that the outsiders in the Void World had actually lost their bloodlines, they were overtaken by excitement.

    Rumor had it that the Void World held countless wondrous treasures like the Soul-cleansing Origin Elixir, along with secrets to advance to the God domain and enter the ultimate level.

    Before, they had been afraid of the three powerful races in the Void World. Now, the Bonedrudes were the only race left that still had their bloodlines. Even they had suffered heavy blows in the darknd and lost many grand monarchs. What did they have to be afraid of now?

    Major changes and turbulence quickly took over the three worlds!

    As the outsiders were bereft of their bloodlines, the bnce between the three worlds was broken.

    The various races in the Void World and the Ancientspirits, Demons, and Phantasms that had fled back to the Spirit World suddenly lost the ability to fight. Now, facing the humans¡¯ attacks, they were likembs waiting to be ughtered.

    The humans started sweeping across the three worlds.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    Many of the top experts from the three worlds were still gathered here.

    It was just that now that the grand monarchs from the Void World and the Spirit World had lost their bloodlines, they found themselves in a very unfavorable situation, like pieces of meat sitting on a carving board.

    What chance was there of them surviving the attacks of experts like Qin Yao, Yin Xingtian, and Mo Heng?

    At the same time, without their bloodlines, even leaving through the gaping spatial rifts had be extremely risky.

    ¡°Umm...¡± Yin Xingtian said, looking at the shrunken Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, and the evil god of bloodlust. ¡°Your bloodlines...¡±

    ¡°Our connection with the master ceased to exist the moment our bloodlines disappeared,¡± the evil god of bloodlust said in deep frustration. ¡°Great changes must have taken ce in the chaos. Not only us; all beings that carried bloodlines were deprived of their bloodlines.¡±

    ¡°Lord Lurking Devil!¡± a Devil expert called out in the distance.

    It was an early tenth grade Devil grand monarch. However, now that he had lost his bloodline, he seemed very insecure and uneasy. Since he didn¡¯t know how to leave the darknd, seeing that Zhao Shanling was respected by the humans despite his identity, he decided to ask if he would help them get out of here.

    Zhao Shanling lifted his chin and looked in his direction, aplicated look appearing in his eyes.

    He was a human in this life.

    In fact, he had lived many lives as a human now. The reason why he had done this was because he had wanted to free himself from the clutches of the origin of life and seek a direct path to the origin of darkness by relying on the humans¡¯ cultivation system.

    He had made tremendous efforts for this goal, without expecting that all outsiders would lose their bloodlines one day.

    After many reincarnations, he had indeed found a way to channel rich devil power from that devil well in the Devils¡¯ holynd without relying on his devil bloodline, use the power to refine his body, and condense a dark power spiritual core in his spiritual sea.

    A wry smile appeared on his lips as he muttered to himself, ¡°Who would have thought that this would actually happen? After traveling the three worlds with a human form and a devil soul for many lives, I¡¯ve long since found a way to channel devil Qi and practice cultivation without relying on my devil bloodline, but they...¡±

    He suddenly raised his voice. ¡°Time for you to get out of here.¡±

    Then, he turned to Qin Yao, Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and the other human experts, and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the recent changes have already thrown the three worlds into turmoil. Now, we don¡¯t know if Nie Tian is still alive, nor have Dong Li or Ji Cange out of the chaos. But we can¡¯t just stay here and wait forever. If we do, I fear that humans will be the only race left in the three worlds when we walk out of here.¡±

    WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

    Cluster after cluster of ckish-violet Devil Qi flew out of his sleeves.

    They found each and every Devil expert with great precision.

    ¡°Open!¡±

    Holding the Void Mirror high, Zhao Shanling forcibly widened a gaping spatial rift.

    Then, under his control, the cluster of Devil Qi enveloped the Devil experts and took them away to the Domain of Shadow Devil.

    After escaping the dangerous environment, they suddenly discovered that the clusters of Devil Qi wrapping around them started fusing into every corner of their bodies, and gradually showed them a method to mobilize Devil Qi through their meridians.

    ¡°This is a brand new method to navigate Devil Qi!¡± the one who had asked for Zhao Shanling¡¯s help earlier screamed in ecstasy, realizing that Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, the most mysterious grand monarch in the history of their race, had long since mastered a method that allowed them to navigate and channel Devil Qi without relying on their bloodlines.

    This was a brand new cultivation system simr to that of the humans, but it was cut out for the Devils.

    As long as the Devil race could ride out this tribtion, and put this new cultivation system into practice, they would still have a ce in this starry river even though they had lost their bloodlines.

    Their race would have a chance to continue.

 Chapter 1815: Genocide Plan

    While turbulence took over the three worlds, Nie Tian and Dong Li, who were still in the chaos, started to have a feeling of being stranded.

    All of the other origins were greedily chasing after the drifting blood-colored smoke.

    Having separated herself from the origin of darkness, Dong Li stood by Nie Tian¡¯s side. Fixing her pitch-ck pupils in the darkness, she whispered, ¡°It¡¯s consumed with the desire for those clusters of power from the blood sea.¡±

    Nie Tian nodded slowly.

    He was well-aware that the origins in the chaos were only scrambling for those clusters of blood-colored smoke because they hoped to have their Void Spirits create brand new species in the three worlds with them.

    If they could do that, those new species would correspond to them, and only them.

    If those species thrived, they would thrive. If those species withered, they would wither.

    The origin of life would be out of the picture.

    In contrast, they hadn¡¯t been the only ones to benefit from the prosperity of the outsider species from before.

    For instance, the creation of the Devils had relied on life power and life imprints from the origin of life.

    In return, the prosperity of the Devils would not only reward the origin of darkness, but it would also allow that boundless blood sea to expand further.

    All of the outsider species from before had close connections to the origin of life, which was the reason why that blood sea had grown to be the colossus and the greatest power in the chaos.

    Now, with the blood sea dissipated, the other origins finally saw the opportunities they had been waiting for. It was only natural that they would fight for those clusters of blood-colored smoke.

    In his human form, Ji Cang watched the madness of the origins. After a moment of hesitation, he said, ¡°It seems about time you thought about how to walk out of the chaos and return to your world.¡±

    With these words, he morphed into a streak of starlight and shot towards the First Star.

    By returning to the First Star, he could help the origin of stars seize more clusters of blood-colored smoke.

    After all, he had drifted about in the outside world for many years. His intelligence and horizons outmatched that of the First Star.

    After brieflymunicating with Nie Tian, the Divine me flew off as well.

    It decided to go to aid the origin of fire.

    All of a sudden, Nie Tian and Dong Li were the only ones left in this vast area.

    All of the origins had chased the clusters of life power into distant areas.

    Frowning, Nie Tian said, ¡°We would have to be either Void Spirits or paragons if we want to walk out of the chaos.¡±

    A hint of bitterness appeared on Dong Li¡¯s gorgeous face as she said, ¡°So we¡¯re trapped here...¡±

    ¡°Unless we break the cultivation barriers and transcend again,¡± Nie Tian said.

    Dong Li suddenly beamed as she flew lightly over to put her arm around his. Tilting her chin up to look at him, she said, ¡°I guess it won¡¯t be the worst thing if we¡¯re trapped here. You¡¯ve eliminated the greatest threat in the chaos anyway. If the two of us can be together in this boundless void, so what if we can¡¯t get out?¡±

    For a long time after she had met and fallen for Nie Tian, the two of them had been less together than apart.

    Nie Tian had spent most of his time away, fighting battles, while she had stayed behind in their headquarters, managing the Domain of the Falling Stars, the Domain of Heaven Python, and the Domain of Heaven¡¯s Boundaries for him.

    Also, she had not only been worried about Nie Tian¡¯s safety, but also his rtionship with Pei Qiqi.

    They had had far too little time for just themselves.

    If they could spend day and night in this ce that hade into existence before everything else in this universe, wouldn¡¯t it be something to look forward to as well?

    With these thoughts, she put her head against Nie Tian¡¯s shoulder and said in a low, sweet voice, ¡°Even if we¡¯re facing a heaven-rending flood, I won¡¯t be afraid as long as you¡¯re by my side.¡±

    FIZZ!

    The shrunken Spacetime de in Nie Tian¡¯s hand suddenly flickered with glorious light.

    Dong Li¡¯s face instantly dropped. She let out a snort and said, ¡°Pei Qiqi, you voluntarily fused into this de as its soul. What right do you have to be discontented with us?¡±

    An awkward expression appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face.

    Holding the Spacetime de, he sensed Pei Qiqi¡¯s discontent as soon as it flickered.

    Immediately afterwards, images quietly emerged on its de, as if this was intended to ruin the moment for him and Dong Li.

    The images kept switching between scenes in the Void World, the Mortal World, and the Spirit World.

    However, each and every one of them was filled with killing... or ughter.

    The humans were madly oppressing and ughtering the races in the Spirit World and the Void World!

    Even the titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts that were hiding in the Silent Star Sea were ferreted out by Qi warriors from the major human sects and ns.

    The images showed dragons having their horns cut off and their meridians yanked out, along with Ancientbeasts having their skin yed and their flesh carved out.

    Bereft of their bloodlines, those Ancientspirits couldn¡¯t evenst a minute facing the bombardment of Saint and Void domain human Qi warriors with their various spiritual tools.

    Blood flowed like rivers in many realms in the depths of the Silent Star Sea.

    The same thing could be seen in the territory of the Seaspirits, the Moonspirits, and the Lightspirits in the Void World.

    Some weak races in the Void World were wiped out like bugs.

    The way many Qi warriors from the secondary sects and ns in the Mortal World treated those outsiders was shockingly brutal and barbaric, perhaps even more so than how the outsiders had treated humans back in the day.

    Even though Nie Tian and Dong Li couldn¡¯t hear any sounds from the images, they could tell what those Qi warriors were saying to arge part by reading their lips.

    They learned that they had swarmed into the outsiders¡¯ territory and ughtered them so ruthlessly because they didn¡¯t know if they would regain their bloodlines at some point.

    They were worried that the loss of their bloodlines was only temporary.

    If that were the case, of course they would have to take this golden opportunity to ughter as many outsider experts as they could. That way, the outsiders wouldn¡¯t have a chance to fight back even if the survivors regained their bloodlines, and humanity would get to keep its transcendent position.

    Even the four great sects had given tacit consent to their actions.

    Nie Tian¡¯s expression gradually grew ice-cold. ¡°Who would have thought that they¡¯d reveal such hideous features as soon as the tables were turned.¡±

    It was one thing to kill the outsiders from the Void World, but they were even ughtering the titans, dragons, Ancientbeasts, and Floragrims who had fought alongside them in the Mortal World not long ago.

    He had persuaded those foreign races to join forces with the humans to fight off the invading Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends together.

    How could the humans turn against their former allies so fast?

    Even if they felt the need to suppress them, they didn¡¯t have to be so ruthless, did they?

    If this was their attitude towards those who used to have bloodlines, weren¡¯t they going to kill the Rampage Behemoth, the evil gods, Agaz the me dragon, and the ck tortoise as well?

    Having reached this point in his train of thought, he felt even more upset.

    After a while, he took a deep breath. Gazing off at the origins that were still scrambling for the clusters of blood-colored smoke, he said, ¡°It appears that we¡¯ll have to find a way to leave the chaos.

    ¡°What do those species mean to them now that they¡¯ve lost their bloodlines? Have they given up on the beings they created with the imprints from the origin of life?

    ¡°Are they doing this in preparation for the creation of new species?¡±

    ¡°If they can¡¯t have new species created, they¡¯ll enter apetition for worshipers among the humans,¡± Dong Li said. ¡°At least, that¡¯s what the origin of darkness nned to do. If it can¡¯t have a new dark species created, it¡¯ll do everything in its power to spread the profound truths of dark power among humans. And I will be its enforcer, or preacher.

    ¡°However, that¡¯s if I can get out of here.¡±

 Chapter 1816: Turn Your Back On Me?

    ording to Dong Li, the outsiders, who had lost their bloodlines in the three worlds, had been abandoned.

    Regardless of whether the origins in the chaos would be able to create new races of life, they were the past.

    The titans, the Ancientbeasts, the dragons, the Floragrims, and even the Star Behemoths would alle to an end.

    So would all the outsider races of the Void World.

    ¡°I never expected the situation in the three worlds to be like this,¡± Nie Tian murmured in a trance.

    His brow knitted. The thought of the brutal killings being shown to him in the Spacetime de made him ufortable.

    He wanted to stop it.

    He examined the spiritual sea in his dantian region with his soul awareness, and saw that his star power core, me power core, and spiritual cores without attributes were all extremely refined.

    All of a sudden, he softly eximed, ¡°Eeeh!¡±

    Another spiritual core in his vast spiritual sea caught his attention.

    That was his wood power core!

    The wood power core was shriveled and shrunken like a small walnut without wood power flowing in it. The withered Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two branches, which were as slender as strands of hair, could be seen in it.

    Like the Godspirit Tree, those branches seemed to have long withered.

    At this moment, Nie Tian couldn¡¯t sense any power from the wood power core or make it morph into the exuberantnd that was his wood domain.

    However, the fact that that spiritual core still existed was a big surprise to him.

    He had long since understood that his wood power core had been condensed in the way of human cultivation with the Tree of Life¡¯s wood power that had fused into him.

    Both the Godspirit Tree and the seventy-two branches were closely rted to the Tree of Life.

    Now, the Tree of Life had vanished together with its origin.

    All of the Floragrims, which had been born because of the Tree of Life, and whose bloodlines had been condensed from the various types of wood power in heaven and earth, had lost their bloodlines. However, why hadn¡¯t the spiritual core inside his body that had practically condensed because of the Tree of Life vanished?

    While thinking deeply, he made another startling discovery.

    He didn¡¯t carry a Netherspirit bloodline, but the soul awareness and soul power flowing in his true soul were imprinted with numerous mysterious soul characters and soul imprints.

    Strands of meridian-like soul awareness could be seen flowing in his true soul like the River of Souls, only tens of millions of times smaller.

    Nie Tian understood instantly. ¡°There is still a close connection between my true soul and the River of Souls!¡±

    He found that Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit¡¯s soul magics that he hadprehended and mastered, along with the River of Souls¡¯ mysteries that he had understood, were still imprinted in his true soul; they hadn¡¯t been eliminated.

    What he had lost was his life bloodline and all that hade with it.

    The powers from the origins of metal, thunder, and ice had also left him, along with the profound meanings of time and space.

    However, it wasn¡¯t any bloodline that the true meaning of souls had merged into. Instead, it had merged perfectly with his true soul, and could never be separated.

    This lifted his spirits slightly. ¡°It seems that I¡¯ve lost only part of it! Not all of it!¡±

    As he examined his spiritual sea again, he found a Heavenly Stars Flower rooted in the gorgeous interior of his star power core.

    The Heavenly Stars Flower was still there!

    A thought entered his mind.

    SPLASH!

    His star domain suddenly spread out. His star power core materialized, morphing into a glittering starry river above his head and a curtain of starlight behind his back.

    The gigantic Heavenly Stars Flower also manifested. The mysterious star patterns on the leaves were studded with diamond-like spots of light.

    ¡°Manifest!¡± he shouted.

    Simrly, his me domain manifested from his me power core, with theplex wonderful giant me array corresponding to the me Land distinctly visible in it.

    It vaguely interacted with the origin of fire.

    ¡°The River of Souls, the origin of stars and the origin of fire...¡± he murmured.

    After stimting his power, he suddenly felt connections to the three origins, which were far away from him at the moment.

    The three origins were allpeting for and devouring the blood-colored smoke.

    ¡°Apart from the Sea of Life, these three origins have offered me olive branches after I entered the chaos as well,¡± Nie Tian murmured. ¡°Now, while they still approve of me and want to maintainmunication with me, the blood sea that actually made me seed and helped me temporarily be a paragon is gone...¡±

    All of a sudden, his attention was attracted by the wood power core that was now the size of a walnut.

    No matter how hard he tried, this spiritual core was unresponsive. It couldn¡¯t morph into a wood domain or absorb the wood power in the chaos to regain its vitality.

    ¡°I need to be a paragon again!¡± he roared with his soul.

    His roar was passed on to the River of Souls, the origin of stars, and the origin of fire.

    All three of them had tried to help him be a paragon.

    He wanted to be a paragon again, so he could step out of the chaos and end the turmoil outside.

    At the very least, he could tell the human race that the outsider races of the Void World and the Spirit World had lost their bloodlines permanently and weren¡¯t threats to them anymore, so they didn¡¯t have to exterminate them.

    In the darknd.

    Qin Yao, Mo Heng, Yin Xingtian, and the other experts were moring.

    The humans were having a dispute.

    ¡°I advocate taking the opportunity to exterminate those outsider races, especially the Devils of the Void World!¡± Fan Tianze of the Heaven Span Pavilion said with a solemn expression. ¡°You just heard that Zhao Shanling wants to protect the Devils. As Grand Monarch Lurking Devil of the Devils, he has clearly mastered a method of condensing devil power cores that allow Devils to refine devil power without relying on bloodlines!

    ¡°The other outsider races may not pose a threat to us anymore, but under his protection, as long as the Devils master his cultivation method, they will rise again! In the future, they will be our greatest threat!¡±

    Many experts of the four great ancient sects agreed.

    They all thought that there was no hurry to kill the titans, Ancientbeasts, and dragons of the Spirit World, but they had to make a quick decision and exterminate the Devils of the Void World first.

    ¡°But Zhao Shanling has always taken our side before, trying hard to help us,¡± Nie Jin said with a troubled look on her face. ¡°Besides, we don¡¯t know whether Little Tian is dead in the chaos or not. He and Zhao Shanling are close. Why don¡¯t we take a bit more time to think? Perhaps there¡¯s another way.¡±

    ¡°This is very important. We must decide as soon as possible!¡± shouted Fan Tianze.

    Some humans turned to look at the evil gods, the Rampage Behemoth, and the ck tortoise that had lost their bloodlines, but they didn¡¯t have the fear and awe that had been present in their eyes before.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± Mo Heng asked softly.

    He was asking Qin Yao for his opinion.

    Many people fixed their eyes on Qin Yao in an instant, their expressionsplicated.

    The power of the Doomed Star Sea that Qin Yao ruled had be almost decisive now that manyte God domain human experts from the Mortal World had died in the Void World.

    Moreover, Qin Yao could also indirectly influence Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Mo Qianfan and the others who attached themselves to Nie Tian.

    No one mentioned Qin Yao¡¯s past feud with the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce anymore.

    Nor did anyone call him the head of the crooked forces anymore.

    Many experts like Grand Monarch Serene Fiend, who had attached themselves to Qin Yao and had lost their outsider bloodlines, cried softly, ¡°Your Excellency!¡±

 Chapter 1817: Abandonment

    All the grand monarchs from the Doomed Star Sea who hadn¡¯t left before the upheaval looked eagerly at Qin Yao.

    They had lost their strong bloodlines.

    Their current battle prowess had been tremendously reduced. It was impossible for them to change the overall situation of the three worlds.

    All they wanted was for the humans to give them and their nsmen a chance to survive.

    Even though they were regarded as traitors by their own nsmen, they didn¡¯t want them to be exterminated.

    Nie Jin shook her head at Qin Yao with pity on her face. ¡°Husband.¡±

    Fan Tianze sighed. ¡°We can defer dealing with the other races, but we must get rid of the Devils as soon as possible. Zhao Shanling has a very powerful cultivation base and can cultivate in his human form by channeling Devil Qi. His presence will make the Devils continue to be strong. Those Devil grand monarchs and grand patriarchs are not stupid. Once theyprehend this whole new cultivation method and condense devil power cores, they will cause us endless trouble.¡±

    Many human experts from various sects in the Mortal World and the crooked Qi warriors from the Doomed Star Sea also tried to persuade Qin Yao.

    ¡°Yes! Mr. Qin, please decide as soon as possible!¡±

    ¡°The human race has the opportunity to dominate the three worlds now. We cannot let go of this opportunity!¡±

    ¡°Your Excellency, we¡¯ve been fighting in the Doomed Star Sea against the invaders from the Void World for years. Haven¡¯t we been waiting for an opportunity to sweep across the Void World and wipe out the outsiders that have been eyeing the Mortal World so covetously?¡±

    They were well-aware that Qin Yao¡¯s attitude was crucial.

    At this moment, a slow voice rang out untimely. ¡°Whatever you decide to do, we¡¯ll wait for Nie Tian toe out.¡±

    The speaker was Yin Xingtian of the Streamcloud Sword Sect, who had once been the Azure Heaven Divine Emperor.

    Fan Tianze from the Heaven Span Pavilion was taken aback. ¡°Weren¡¯t you a senior of our sect?¡±

    Yin Xingtian controlled the Godspan Sword Formation. Shouldn¡¯t he return to the sect and reinvigorate the Heaven Span Pavilion after his soul awakened?

    ¡°It was, but things are different now,¡± Yin Xingtian said with a calm expression. ¡°Whatever choice you make, please don¡¯t count us in. We don¡¯t care about the battles out there or the outsiders¡¯ fate.¡±

    As soon as he spoke, everyone who was closely rted to Nie Tian nodded coldly, as if to dere their independence.

    ...

    In the depths of the chaos.

    Pursuing the blood-colored smoke, the origins had disappeared into the remote secluded border area.

    Only Nie Tian and Dong Li stood alone in the central area.

    After crying out the words ¡°I want to be a paragon again¡± with his soul, Nie Tian, who had disyed his star domain and me domain, fell silent, his eyes darkened.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Dong Li asked in a low voice.

    Nie Tian shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    The three origins, which had favored him, invited him, and called upon him, hadn¡¯t responded to him.

    No one knew whether it was because they were too busy swallowing and refining the blood-colored smoke or because of some other reason, but none of them responded to him. They didn¡¯t make any moves, or show any intention to approach him.

    Dong Li raised an eyebrow and spoke softly, ¡°That darkness is calling upon me!¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Nie Tian asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s calling me to merge into it. It¡¯s telling me to approach it of my own ord.¡±

    ¡°Just you?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s face grew darker and darker.

    ¡°Are they destroying the bridge after crossing the river?¡± (Idiom: abandon one¡¯s benefactor upon achieving one¡¯s goal) he said with a derisive snort. ¡°They used me and got me to use my sword against the origin of life, who had helped me be a paragon. Am I worthless after the origin of life has dissipated? Since I¡¯m not a paragon anymore, I can¡¯t walk out of the chaos. I¡¯m stranded here forever. Isn¡¯t this imprisonment?

    ¡°Or will they discuss how to deal with me after they finish dividing and devouring the blood-colored smoke?¡±

    Squinting, he concentrated on his senses.

    The star domain and me domain that he disyed were consuming his powers of star and me, but he couldn¡¯t replenish either of these kinds of powers in the chaos now that the First Star and the origin of fire had flown away.

    The chaos was empty and enveloped in dead silence; there wasn¡¯t any spiritual Qi of heaven and earth avable.

    At the thought of this, he changed his mind and canceled his domains, condensing them into spiritual cores again.

    He was suddenly in a very bad mood as he had a feeling of being betrayed...

    The origins in the chaos had been hisrades before,municating with him, supporting him, and using him as a medium to fight against the origin of life.

    Now, after they lost theirmon enemy, Nie Tian suddenly seemed to have been abandoned.

    The wonderful feeling that he had had before seemed like an illusion that had never actually existed.

    He didn¡¯t know whether to cry orugh, feeling that he was a clown who had been fooled.

    Suddenly, from the Spacetime de came Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul awareness. ¡°They¡¯re all scared of you.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°You were born because of the origin of life. It made you a unique existence. Even though you have lost your life bloodline and be a human, they are still worried.¡±

    ¡°Worried about what?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re worried that one day your life bloodline wille back. If you regain your bloodline, and the power of the Divinespirits reappears, the races of life that they n on creating will be your food like the others. Their flesh auras will be absorbed by you. Even their bloodlines will be stolen by you.

    ¡°They don¡¯t want such things to happen. They don¡¯t want the Divinespirits that the origin of life had designed to rule the three worlds to be born.¡±

    Nie Tian was puzzled. ¡°The origin of life has been annihted, and all the living beings¡¯ bloodlines have been broken. How could I possibly have a bloodline?¡±

    ¡°Because they are scared, they want to eliminate all possibilities. I think they never want you to step out of the chaos. They even hope that you will vanish here without leaving a trace, as the origin of life did.

    ¡°Perhaps even the power you have now will soon be stripped from you.

    ¡°Also, it¡¯s highly likely that Ji Cang wille back to kill you under the orders of the origin of stars.¡±

    All of a sudden, Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul awareness broke off.

    The connection between Nie Tian and her disappeared in an instant.

    It was as if some force had suddenly intervened in themunication between them and disrupted her soul awareness, making it difficult for her to make her voice heard.

    Who in the chaos was capable of this?

    The origin of space!

    The Spacetime de in Nie Tian¡¯s palm abruptly broke free from him like a runaway wild horse.

    Streaks of time and spatial power no longer poured into the sharp de, which was perhaps the most wondrous weapon in the universe. Pulled by some power, it suddenly flew away into the distance.

    Nie Tian could only watch as it left.

    Inside of it was Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul.

    Dong Li opened her mouth. ¡°Nie Tian, I...¡±

    Before she could finish the sentence, she was forcibly pulled away by some dark power and dragged elsewhere.

    As she flew farther and farther away, her eyes widened. They were pitch dark and full of indifference, cruelty, and destruction, as if another will had suddenly poured into her soul.

    Nie Tian¡¯s heart was filled with tremendous helplessness and sorrow.

    The two most important women in his life were both forced to leave him.

    Suddenly, he had a strange sensation of being watched by strands of awareness.

    He knew at once that those origins were secretly observing him and watching him in the dark, although he couldn¡¯t see them. ¡°So, you¡¯ve all been watching me.¡±

 Chapter 1818: All Power Deprived

    Pulled by some power, wisp after wisp of me power and starlight flew away from his body.

    He could see the fire power core and star power core flickering in the depths of his spiritual sea, their light fading.

    This was the chaos, and he had no opponents in front of him.

    Technically speaking, the mes and starlight wouldn¡¯t leave him as long as he didn¡¯t mobilize them with his awareness.

    Unless...

    He realized that the origins of fire and stars must be behind this.

    He sneered, feeling that this was very ridiculous.

    Back when the Sea of Life had been around, the origins of stars and fire had desperately called to him and expressed their intention to help him be a paragon in the chaos.

    They had imprinted him with marvelous profound principles of stars and fire.

    However, it turned out that these were all false, or that they all had ulterior motives.

    They had only wanted to use him against the origin of life.

    As soon as the origin of life was destroyed, he was useless to the other origins in the chaos. Moreover, because he had been created by the origin of life, there was some possibility that his bloodline would reform, which would be a great trouble to them.

    Any trouble and hidden threat must be dealt with.

    FIZZ! FIZZ!

    Fire and starlight that looked like countless fireflies flew from his dantian and spiritual sea and drifted towards the distant ces where the origins of fire and stars were.

    Then...

    His solidified true soul quietly became illusory.

    This meant that his soul power was leaving him as well.

    All the origins in the chaos seemed to have made a tacit agreement to deprive him of all the powers that he had now, leaving him with an empty God domain cultivation base without any powers avable.

    Now, after his wood power core had withered, the same thing was happening to his star and fire power cores.

    The soul power inside his sea of soul awareness, which could refine and strengthen his true soul, was also being channeled away by the River of Souls.

    He was weakening on all sides.

    First, the two most important women in his life were pulled away from him. Then, his power was channeled away by the origins.

    He floated alone in the void of the chaos, face up and motionless.

    Tremendous emptiness and sadness began to overwhelm him.

    He found that there was nothing he could do to prevent those origins from depriving him of his me power and star power, or prevent his soul power from disappearing.

    He seemedpletely numb and confused, not even knowing who he was anymore.

    Deep inside, there seemed to be another him who kept asking whether he had done the right thing.

    He had given up and sacrificed so much, but what did he get?

    Outside, the human race wasunching attacks against the outsider races and killing them brutally.

    Inside, the origins were attacking him, depriving him of all his powers.

    Was this the result he had worked so hard for?

    He was utterly disheartened and disappointed with this world and the so-called origins in the chaos.

    ...

    In the darknd.

    Qin Yao, the lord of the Doomed Star Sea, still hadn¡¯t made up his mind. He had waited for a long time, but still couldn¡¯t see Nie Tiane out of the chaos.

    The outside world was so turbulent that he chose to leave for now.

    Nie Jin insisted on staying and waiting.

    The minutes ticked away.

    Seeing that their possibility of bing paragons no longer existed, the human experts of various sects who had chosen to stay didn¡¯t want to wait anymore, so they left one by one.

    Responding to Fan Tianze¡¯s call, they went to attack the Devils of the Void World in a reckless way.

    The Devils became their primary target.

    At the moment, most of the powerful titans, Ancientbeasts and dragons in the Silent Star Sea had been killed, while the other races like the Fiends and ckscales had almost been exterminated.

    In the face of the humans who were being driven by a crazed bloodlust, the remaining outsider races of the Spirit World no longer had the power to fight. They wandered along the borders between the three worlds on their starships, as they dared not stay in any ce for a long time.

    The Devils and the Netherspirits of the Void World were ruthlessly ughtered. Those powerful human experts didn¡¯t show mercy for Zhao Shanling¡¯s sake.

    In a deste territory of the Bonebrutes.

    Several Bonebrute experts as well as the Netherspirits and the Devils were waiting nervously, ready to fight.

    The Bonebrutes were the only race in the three worlds that hadn¡¯t lost their bloodlines due to the dissipation of the Sea of Life.

    However, they had suffered heavy blows repeatedly, and lost almost all of their experts.

    Nheless, because their bloodlines hadn¡¯t disappeared, and they still had many ninth-grade grand monarchs who could fight, they became thest outsider race in the three worlds that could fight against the humans.

    Space suddenly split open, and Zhao Shanling jumped out.

    At the sight of him, all the Devils almost burst into tears and called out emotionally, their voices full of anger, sadness, irritability, and helplessness.

    ¡°Grand Monarch Lurking Devil!¡±

    ¡°Your Excellency, please lead your people out of this cmity!¡±

    ¡°Your Excellency, do you still regard us as your nsmen?¡±

    The surviving experts of the Netherspirits and the Bonebrutes also looked eagerly at him.

    After losing manyte grand monarchs, such as Grand Monarch Bone Piercer, Grand Monarch Heaven Devil, and Grand Monarch Soul Capturer, Zhao Shanling, who had imed to be the mysterious Grand Monarch Lurking Devil, had obviously be theirst hope.

    The three outsider races of the Void World had been monolithic for ages.

    At this critical moment, they were naturally united again.

    Zhao Shanling looked deeply at them, his eyes gloomy.

    ¡°How are things now?¡± he asked.

    ¡°The humans are concentrating on transferring their experts who have swept across the Silent Star Sea and the Doomed Star Sea to the Void World,¡± a Devil replied. ¡°From the look of it, their main target is us.¡±

    Another devil chimed in, ¡°That¡¯s right. The outsider races of the Spirit World are unable to resist. Most of their ninth-grade and tenth-grade experts have been killed.

    ¡°Many Demons and Phantasms who have a deep connection with us have been imprisoned or killed.

    ¡°The human race originally kept them for Nie Tian to decide their fate, but he has entered the chaos, and hasn¡¯t returned for a long time. It¡¯s likely he¡¯s dead, so the four great ancient sects didn¡¯t want to keep them anymore.¡±

    Zhao Shanling frowned. ¡°Have youprehended the new cultivation method of circting Devil Qi that I¡¯ve taught you?¡±

    ¡°Your Excellency, it takes time,¡± a third Devil replied with a bitter face, ¡°The cultivation method you¡¯ve taught us is feasible, but it isn¡¯t easy to channel devil power into our bodies and condense devil power cores. Even though we¡¯re trying very hard, we won¡¯t be able to fight the human race head-on without having decades or even centuries to practice.¡±

    All the outsiders sighed.

    In the current Void World, the humans¡¯ ancient starships were wandering about, while small races like the Seaspirits and Moonspirits had nearly been wiped out.

    The Devils and Netherspirits had also suffered heavy casualties.

    Because the Bonebrutes still had some battle prowess, all of the other races had moved their important nsmen into their territory, hoping that the barriers the Bonebrutes had set up with death power would ward off the humans.

    However, they all knew that when the humans assembled, they would eventually break their defenses, and it wouldn¡¯t take long.

 Chapter 1819: Rebirth!

    All the blood-colored smoke that the Sea of Life had morphed into was nipped away without leaving a mark.

    The origins were all quietly going through marvelous changes.

    There was a cluster of crimson aura growing thicker and thicker in the depths of the River of Souls, the darkness, the First Star, and the origin of fire.

    The crimson aura was a condensation of flesh power.

    It was far more refined and thicker than what the origins had received from their trade with the origin of life.

    At this very moment, many origins were trying to melt those flesh auras and merge them into themselves!

    They were trying to see if they could build a fleshly vessel for their own awareness in the chaos.

    The origins actually wanted to possess physical forms in the chaos!

    This had never happened in the chaos, and was a major event.

    A long time ago, the flesh power that the origins had obtained had been brought out of the chaos by their Void Spirits to create species in the three worlds whose bloodlines corresponded to them.

    When those species had be powerful, the origins had also be powerful correspondingly. However, their prosperity had also benefited the blood sea, making it even vaster.

    They had seen some Void spirits rebel and form their own fleshly bodies with that flesh power, and morph into Star Behemoths.

    In their eyes, that flesh power had contained the origin of life¡¯s evil malicious will.

    Therefore, although they had their own ideas, they had never dared to apply that flesh power to themselves or forge fleshly bodies for themselves in the chaos.

    They had simply been too scared that it would backfire, and that they would be controlled by the origin of life or influenced by its will.

    Now, the Sea of Life didn¡¯t exist any longer. They had seen the origin of life¡¯s awareness and that heart vanishpletely.

    What did they have to be afraid of anymore?

    Hence, they had set about attempting to absorb and refine the scattered flesh power and apply it to themselves after snatching it.

    As for Nie Tian...

    He floated face up in the center of the lonely silent chaos, feelingpletely dispirited.

    His star, me, and soul power werepletely gone.

    His spiritual sea had be empty. His star power core and me power core werepletely silent and withered like date pits. They seemed dead, just as his wood power core did.

    He had no power to use now.

    His soul power had been taken from him and his sea of soul awareness had been exhausted, so his ability to perceive was significantly weakened.

    He could no longer sense the origins¡¯ existence.

    He was in a trance. The only thing he could feel was that his vitality seemed to be slipping away as well, which meant that he was slowly approaching his death.

    Deprived of all of his power, he was helpless. It seemed that he could do nothing but to wait for death.

    The minutes ticked by.

    No one knew how long it had been. It could have been a blink of an eye or a thousand years.

    Suddenly, he felt pain in his chest...

    At first, he was able to bear the pain, but soon it became a piercing pain that made him feel like he was living in hell.

    He awoke from his state of waiting for death, and his wandering awareness regathered. When he concentrated on examining himself, he realized that the pain wasing from his heart.

    THUD! THUD!

    His heart was beating fitfully, looking more dead than alive.

    Then, his heartbeat suddenly became unusually rapid!

    He froze. ¡°Hmm?¡±

    Looking around with puzzlement, he found that there was nothing abnormal around him, so he focused all his awareness on examining himself.

    In an instant, he saw that all the blood vessels in his heart were filled with streaks of brilliant glittering light!

    Like his blood vessels, the glittering light was crimson as well. It... contained the most refined and pure flesh power.

    ¡°Ah!¡± he screamed, suddenly sitting up straight in the void.

    He looked solemn, and a little puzzled. Then, he began to realize what his pain was.

    It was because Bloodline Crystal Chains had suddenly formed in his blood vessels that he was feeling piercing pain!

    Also, the Bloodline Crystal Chains seemed to be channeling something, and bringing in flesh power that almost made his blood vessels burst!

    The flesh power pouring into his heart was simply far too violent and powerful!

    An idea suddenly came to his mind. ¡°Heavenly Wood Heal: Internal Organ Nourishing.¡±

    In a sh, he saw flesh power pouring out of the Bloodline Crystal Chains to quickly refine the blood vessels in his heart.

    The blood vessels and his whole heart were instantly enveloped in boundless blood-colored light.

    Boundless, magnificent flesh power erupted in his heart and started refining his heart, meridians, body, and blood again as soon as the thought entered his mind.

    The Heavenly Wood Heal¡¯s five steps were carried out in his body once again.

    He was astonished to find that his lost life bloodline had reappeared in his body in a different form.

    The crimson bloodline aura was gone, but countless Bloodline Crystal Chains had formed in the vessels in his heart. His bloodline had transformed from being a crimson aura to being a part of his heart!

    It seemed that back when he had seen the degrading and disappearance of his life bloodline, it had only meant his bloodline¡¯s transfer, reconstruction, and world-shaking metamorphosis!

    The crimson flesh aura, which represented his life bloodline, was now an inseparable part of his heart!

    ¡°This kind of feeling, this kind of feeling...¡±

    Trembling, he straightened up. Then, he found that even though he hadn¡¯t activated Life Drain, as soon as a thought entered his mind, the purest flesh power would surge out of the Bloodline Crystal Chains in his heart.

    Back when he had been a paragon, whenever he had wanted to obtain flesh power, he would have to channel it from the blood sea with Life Drain.

    However, he didn¡¯t have to do that now.

    As long as he thought about it, flesh power would emerge from his Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    He didn¡¯t have tomunicate with or rely on anything anymore, because all the flesh power in the chaos belonged to him to begin with.

    Since it was his, it would naturally show up as soon as he summoned it. Why would he need to rely on others?

    THUD! THUD! THUD!

    His heart beat harder and harder, sometimes sputtering with streaks of crimson light that dispersed into his whole body. The streaks of light burst forth with numerous profound meanings of life, talents, and secret spells.

    His human body, which had shrunk to the size of a normal human, erged as soon as a thought entered his mind.

    His Life-origin Form reappeared naturally.

    Then, he suddenly had a very marvelous feeling that he existed everywhere...

    He was in the River of Souls, which was very far away.

    He was in the depths of the darkness.

    He was inside the First Star.

    He even existed in the center of the burning mes.

    It was as if he had split into numerous doppelgangers that appeared in various ces in the chaos. As his awareness became clearer and clearer, he could even control the power of those origins now.

    ¡°Haha!!¡± Heughed heartily, pointing at the beating heart in his chest. ¡°This... is the new origin of life!¡±

 Chapter 1820: Iâ€™m Back!

    A slight wisp of emotion that was a mixture of sadness and relief dissipated.

    It didn¡¯t belong to him.

    It belonged to the original origin of life, the one that the Tree of Life had reced.

    It was a wisp of pure emotion, not awareness.

    At this moment, Nie Tian suddenly stopped his wildughter and became quiet.

    He lowered his head and carefully sorted out his situation.

    He knew that his heart had reced the origin of life he had destroyed with the Spacetime de, and had be the origin of all flesh power.

    How did this happen?

    It was the backup n that the original origin of life had devised and secretly nted into him when he had been created.

    Originally, it had done that to get a route of retreat in case the Tree of Life stepped into the chaos, merged into it, and reced it.

    His heart had a lot inmon with the colossal heart.

    When the colossal heart had purged and refined him in the chaos, enabling him to have the foundation to be a paragon, it had also given him the possibility of recing it and ruling the Sea of Life.

    The grade of his life bloodline had only plummeted and the crimson bloodline aura had only disappeared because his bloodline had hidden itself in the veins of his heart.

    Then, it had merged into his heart little by little andpleted the transformation.

    The new transformation was to make him be the new origin of life, after the other origins devoured and refined all the scattered blood-colored smoke without being rmed.

    The cluster of crimson aura inside the River of Souls suddenly stirred!

    The cyan river twisted and shivered like a long cyan snake that was being stamped on.

    Nie Tian¡¯s will suddenly appeared in the crimson aura at the bottom of the river.

    The crimson aura started spreading rapidly in an unstoppable manner.

    It had merged into the river and engulfed the awareness of the origin of souls, so that Nie Tian could perceive everything of it.

    A very soft whisper sounded from the bottom of the river. ¡°Soul...¡±

    Then, the brilliant cyan glow in the river started disappearing.

    The water in the river started vanishing. The river seemed to be drying up.

    On the contrary, Nie Tian¡¯s sea of soul awareness was quickly filled with cyan soul water, and became vast and boundless. His true soul was like a towering giant in soul form floating over his sea of soul awareness and crazily absorbing the overflowing soul water to cleanse his soul again.

    Soon, he keenly sensed that his will had overridden that of the origin of souls!

    The first origin that he had taken over and dominated was the River of Souls.

    His soul was the most important thing.

    With abundant soul power, his soul awareness could nibble away at all the other origins through the blood-colored power in them.

    All of a sudden, his awareness formed inside the clusters of blood-colored power that the origins had eagerly snatched and merged with themselves!

    All the origins started surging and trembling in the chaos.

    They struggled frantically, trying to free their awareness from and remove the blood-colored power they had swallowed and refined.

    They knew something was wrong.

    Because of Nie Tian¡¯s awareness that poured into them, the blood-colored power that they had franticallypeted for seemed to suddenly be a horrifying bloody tumor that kept spreading in them, nibbling away at their awareness and dragging them toward a bloody abyss. It wanted to control them with his awareness.

    The eyes of Ji Cang, who was in the origin of stars, were bulging as he screamed loudly, ¡°Damn that Nie Tian!¡±

    Many fragmentary starlight spots shone like stars. Among them, a spark of crystal light was the most brilliant.

    The crystal light was the core of the origin of stars and the condensation of its awareness.

    Now, the crystal light had turned totally crimson. The light that it emitted was also crimson.

    Ji Cang could sense the fear of the origin of stars, as if it were shivering, wailing, and calling for help.

    Since their souls were connected, he naturally realized that some awareness had suddenly erupted inside the blood-colored power, quickly grew strong, and started gnawing at the origin of stars from within.

    An awareness emerged from within the crystal light. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me.¡±

    Nie Tian¡¯s shadow seemed to quietly manifest in the crystal light.

    A boundless bloody aura suddenly came flooding out from within the blood-colored light.

    Ji Cang was greatly frightened because he suddenly found himself engulfed by the bloody aura, and he couldn¡¯t mobilize the star power of the origin of stars anymore.

    The bloody aura, which was like a virus, was mixed with the origin of stars¡¯ awareness.

    Even the origin of stars had been influenced and eroded; how could Ji Cang possibly resist it?

    In the depth of the mes.

    A cluster of orange Divine me seemed different and independent from the other mes.

    The other crimson mes danced and started emitting a strong smell of blood before another awareness suddenly forced its way in.

    The orange Divine me immediately felt a sense of familiarity.

    A voice sounded in the depths of the Divine me¡¯s soul. ¡°You... will rece it...¡±

    Immediately afterwards, a bloody aura flooded in as countless brilliant spots of memories, which had been imprinted with everything from the origin of fire, abruptly bumped into the Divine me and became its memories, merging into it in a wondrous manner.

    Like the Tree of Life that had reced the original origin of life, the Divine me had reced the original origin of fire as well...

    In the darkness.

    Driven and bound by the dark energy in her body, Dong Li, who looked deeply sad, flew toward the darkness despite herself.

    Her empty eyes stared nkly in the area that she was leaving.

    That was where Nie Tian was floating.

    She was just about to merge into the darkness when her body came to a sudden stop. ¡°Eeeh?¡±

    She wasn¡¯t forced to fly into the darkness anymore.

    The darkness began surging, giving rise to terrifying tides of destruction, violence, bloodlust, and madness, emotions that the darkness had spawned.

    Nheless, she could clearly feel that the origin in the depths of the darkness was beingpletely suppressed by another power and will that she found very familiar.

    The origin of darkness was fearful and uneasy, violently stirring up billowing waves.

    The depths of the darkness flickered with crimson light from time to time.

    The crimson light was spreading in the depths of the darkness and swallowing something.

    The origin of darkness no longer struggled, as if it had resigned itself to fate.

    Dong Li was dazed. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±

    She focused and sent her soul awareness into her dark power spiritual core tomunicate with the origin of darkness.

    The origin of darkness waspletely silent.

    After a while, it finally responded. A voice slowly sounded inside her dark power spiritual core. ¡°It¡¯s me...¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± screamed Dong Li.

    ...

    The Spacetime de flitted in the chaos like a dashing meteor.

    There was an independent, gorgeous little space inside the de.

    This was where Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul was imprisoned.

    This little space was isted from everything, independent of the chaos and the three worlds. Time remained still forever.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul and even her thoughts and emotions were still.

    Suddenly, numerous bloody lightning bolts showed up, like giant serpents and heavenly dragons.

    The magical space instantly copsed.

    Pei Qiqi¡¯s soul was freed.

    Then, she immediately sensed Nie Tian¡¯s presence and heard his voice. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I¡¯m back.¡±

 Chapter 1821: Walking Out Of The Chaos!

    In the depths of the space disruption zone.

    Suddenly pulled by some power, fragments that had broken from the darknd gathered towards the darknd like meteors.

    The darknd, which had fallen apart because of the battles that had taken ce within it, was rebuilt from pieces like toy blocks.

    Its missing fragments came back together to restore thend to its original state.

    Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, Yu Suying, and other human experts, along with the ck tortoise, the Rampage Behemoth, and the evil gods who had lost their bloodlines and be countless times smaller, were gathered at the center of the darknd, the area that connected to the chaos.

    They had waited silently for Nie Tian to return. Seeing the unusual changes in the darknd, they were greatly astonished. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±

    Master Blood Spirit looked around. With his soul perception, he found that streaks of light were flying out from the perimeters of the darknd, and then the wholend seemed to be reconnected.

    Yin Xingtian, who was also disturbed by the changes, eximed softly, ¡°It¡¯s said that only a paragon can restore the darknd to its original state after it¡¯s broken.

    ¡°But there aren¡¯t any paragons in the three worlds now.

    ¡°This is very strange.¡±

    There seemed to be streaks of crimson light rising from the depths of the earth.

    A power suddenly poured into a drop of deep purple devil blood on the ground.

    The devil blood quickly swelled and morphed. It took the form of a newborn baby, and then started growing at a very fast speed.

    Brilliant spots of soul awareness, which were invisible to the naked eye, seemed to fly from the depths of the earth and somewhere in the space disruption zone before they gathered together and swarmed into the drop of devil blood.

    Soon, the devil blood morphed into a burly man.

    WHOOSH!

    The burly man, who had appeared out of nowhere, seemed muddle-headed as he asked, ¡°Where am I? Didn¡¯t I... die?¡±

    Looking at Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and the others in the distance, who were also confused, he felt his chest with his hands, and gradually remembered what had happened. Suddenly, he shouted, ¡°Wait! Didn¡¯t I die in that gorgeous passage?¡±

    Then, both Master Blood Spirit and Yin Xingtian eximed, ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon!¡±

    ¡°Grand Monarch Hell Demon of the Doomed Star Sea!¡±

    ¡°I should be dead now,¡± Grand Monarch Hell Demon murmured, looking at himself. ¡°How, how did Ie back to life? Strange, strange indeed!¡±

    Suddenly, the evil god of bloodlust cried out in ecstasy, ¡°Master!¡±

    In a sh, a figure appeared in front of everyone.

    It was Nie Tian!

    In everyone¡¯s eyes, the current Nie Tian¡¯s aura was extremely strange. Looking at him, they had a feeling that he wasn¡¯t a human anymore.

    ¡°Your devil blood was on this ground,¡± Nie Tian said and smiled brightly at Grand Monarch Hell Demon, ¡°so I was able to help youe back to life.¡±

    Yin Xingtian and the others shouted loudly, ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Nie Tian smiled and made a grabbing motion towards the air.

    Many magical principles seemed to evolve into true meanings in his palm. Then, he seemed to grab wisps of cyan light from somewhere in the space disruption zone and rubbed them together.

    WHOOSH!

    Blood-colored light poured into the cyan light in his hand.

    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, the fleshly bodies of the evil gods of hatred, fear, and rage were remade and their soul imprints were rekindled before they came back to life like Grand Monarch Hell Demon.

    What a miracle!

    Yin Xingtian was startled. ¡°How is that possible?! When they died, I clearly saw their souls vanish. How could they be revived after that?¡±

    Seeing Nie Tian bring the evil gods back to life, Grand Monarch Hell Demon felt that everything he had known waspletely overturned. ¡°Young Master, wh-what happened to you?¡±

    He had died too early, so he knew nothing about the series of great changes and heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battles in the darknd.

    ¡°All deaths that happen in the darknd can be fixed,¡± Nie Tian exined with a smile before he said to the evil gods, who were still in a trance, ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    Staring at Nie Tian, the evil gods, who had just been revived, were at a loss.

    After a while, the evil god of rage replied, ¡°Wh-why is the origin that I can sense filled with your aura?¡±

    Almost at the same time, the Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise roared as they sensed changes in themselves.

    New bloodlines had quietly condensed in their hearts after Nie Tian¡¯s return. It was just that they had failed to sense them until now.

    However, their new bloodline auras had some crimson Bloodline Crystal Chains in them, which was different from before.

    Those crimson Bloodline Crystal Chains were mixed together with their original dark Bloodline Crystal Chains.

    As the Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise tried to sense the origin of darkness, they discovered that what they sensed was the aura and will of Nie Tian in front of them.

    This discovery waspletely beyond theirprehension. Even with their wisdom and knowledge, they couldn¡¯t understand what was going on.

    Nie Tian didn¡¯t give them an exnation. Instead, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on out there in the three worlds?¡±

    ¡°It seems that the human race wants to attack the remaining outsider races in the Void World and kill all their experts to establish their supremacy,¡± Yin Xingtian responded.

    Nie Tian narrowed his eyes, nodded slightly, and spoke. ¡°I see. Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Suddenly, a sharp de manifested in his hand.

    Master Blood Spirit was excited. ¡°That¡¯s the de you used to kill Blood Father of the Spirit World!¡±

    His eyes, which were glued to the Spacetime de, were full of fanaticism.

    Not many people knew the Spacetime de¡¯s story or secrets, but after Nie Tian had killed the Blood Father of the Spirit World with it, it was recognized as the number one divine tool in the three worlds.

    ¡°Follow me,¡± Nie Tian said and shed the de.

    The de broke through the spatial barrier of the darknd and established an incredibly stable spatial passage.

    ¡°You¡¯lle outter,¡± he said to Dong Li in the depths of the darkness in the chaos, and led the people present into the passage.

    In the Bonedrude¡¯s territory in the Void World.

    Starships made of bones exploded and fell like ming balls. Numerous dead Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits floated in the cold lonely starry river.

    A fierce battle was going on...

    Most of the human experts were gathered here, wielding their weapons to ughter the outsiders.

    Zhao Shanling, who was both a human and Grand Monarch Lurking Devil¡¯s soul reincarnation, was besieged by powerful experts from different sects in the vast, open starry river.

    Their main forces were God domain experts, such as Fan Tianze, You Qimiao, Mo Heng, and Han Qing.

    Many of them were trying to persuade Zhao Shanling to give up resistance.

    ¡°Mr. Zhao, you are already a human being. Why do you care about your old identity and these Devils¡¯ lives?¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zhao, we hope you can stand down.¡±

    ¡°Mr. Zhao, you¡¯ve given us a lot of guidance in the darknd. We don¡¯t want to hurt you. Please leave. You¡¯re proficient in spatial power. If you want to go, no one can stop you. Why do you have to do this?¡±

    Zhao Shanling remained unmoved. He said nothing, but continued to do his utmost to shield his dying nsmen with his Devil Qi.

 Chapter 1822: I Disagree

    Numerous spatial rifts filled the ice-cold, silent starry river.

    Brilliant light could be seen flowing inside the spatial rifts that connected to unknown areas.

    All of these spatial rifts had been split open by Zhao Shanling.

    However, not many members of the three major races in the Void World had left through them.

    After all, where could they go now?

    As vast as the starry river might be, the humans were now everywhere. Would they want to wander in the marginal areas like the outsiders from the Spirit World, and spend the rest of their lives running away from the humans?

    Instead of living the rest of their lives in fear, they might as well stay here in the Void World and fight to the death.

    As warlike races, the Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits decided to make use of their ancient starships and defend against the humans as a whole.

    The Bonedrudes still had their battle prowess.

    The Netherspirits were well-versed in soul spells. Though they had lost their bloodlines, some of their strong experts could still fight by relying on their profound soul power.

    It was just that their battle prowess had dropped significantly.

    Zhao Shanling¡¯s expression was very grim as he watched the humans that hadid siege to the area and the members of three major races in the Void World dying one after another.

    However, his battle prowess had also been greatly influenced by the dissipation of the blood sea. He could no longer channel flesh power from the Devils¡¯ territory to assume his Ancient Arch-devil form.

    Splitting open the spatial rifts had cost him a tremendous amount of power.

    Plus, the opponents he was now facing were all experts with divine abilities, such as Mo Heng, You Qimiao, and Fan Tianze.

    Luckily, instead of going all-out to kill him, Mo Heng and the others had only besieged him on ount of what he had done for the humans.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Qin Yao?¡± Zhao Shanling suddenly called out. ¡°He¡¯s the lord of the Doomed Star Sea and Nie Tian¡¯s father. I¡¯d like to talk to him!¡±

    In today¡¯s world, Qin Yao, who controlled the Doomed Star Sea, had great power and influence.

    If he agreed to speak for them, perhaps the three major races in the Void World would still have a slim chance of survival.

    FIZZ!

    A sphere of zing lightning charged out from one of the spatial rifts he had split open.

    Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, could be seen in the depths of the sphere of lightning. He had entered thete God domain!

    He had only made such rapid advances in his cultivation because of the Profound Truths Crystal he had received from Nie Tian. That Profound Truths Crystal was vested with the profound wonders of the origin of thunder. After he had fused it with his soul and lightning domain, he felt as if he had been reborn.

    The expressions of many human experts changed upon seeing the changes in him. ¡°Thunder Devil!¡±

    Within a short time, Yuan Jiuchuan, the Thunder Devil, had be a new kingpin in the Doomed Star Sea.

    While Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Grand Monarch Serene Fiend, Grand Monarch White Scales, and Dn had either died in battle or lost their bloodlines, he had risen to prominence in an unstoppable manner.

    Now, he had not only be one of the most powerful experts in the Doomed Star Sea, but within the entire human race as well.

    ¡°Our lord said...¡± Yuan Jiuchuan said, looking somewhat ill at ease, ¡°That the Bonedrudes, Devils, and Netherspirits who were at the seventh grade and lower before the upheaval can live. However, those who were at the eighth, ninth, and tenth grade have to be exterminated. Experts like them possess outstanding cultivation talent. If we let them live, they may adopt new cultivation methods and rise to power again.

    ¡°This is the opinion of the Doomed Star Sea.¡±

    As long as their top experts were eliminated, the Devils wouldn¡¯t be able to possess the power to contend against the humans in the near future, even if they received Zhao Shanling¡¯s help and switched to cultivating dark power by condensing dark power cores.

    In the meantime, the humans would have more than enough time to contain and enve them.

    Hence, the policy the Doomed Star Sea had devised was to spare the lives of the weak outsiders, but keep them subdued forever, as a favor to Zhao Shanling.

    This policy also applied to the outsider races in the Spirit World and the Mortal World.

    Simr to how the Ancientspirits, Demons, Phantasms, and Fiends had treated the humans back in the day, they wanted to keep them as ves.

    ¡°You want them and all their future generations to spend their lives as ves?¡± Zhao Shanling red up.

    Yuan Jiuchuan nodded. ¡°Sorry, but our lord hosted a meeting in the Doomed Star Sea and came to the conclusion that this is the only way. He¡¯s well-aware of how formidable the three major races in the Void World were. Even though they¡¯ve lost their bloodlines, given the chance to find another cultivation method, they still might possess the power to rise up against us in a few thousand years.

    ¡°This is for the future of humanity.¡±

    With these words, he turned to You Qimiao, Fan Tianze, Han Qing, and the others. ¡°So this is our opinion. What do you and the four great sects think?¡±

    ¡°It sounds like a feasible n,¡± Mo Heng said, representing the Ancient Fragmentary Star Pce.

    You Qimiao nodded. ¡°I agree.¡±

    ¡°Sure,¡± Han Qing said.

    Only Fan Tianze hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and saying, ¡°If you all agree, I do too.¡±

    He knew that almost all of the powerful outsiders in the Mortal World and the Spirit World had been killed at this point. It was hard to find even seventh grade titans, dragons, and Ancientbeasts now.

    Some weaker races had already been wiped out.

    The outsiders in the Void World were now the only ones that could pose a threat to the humans.

    As for the surviving outsiders in the Spirit World, the Mortal World, and the marginal regions, even if they were left alone, they wouldn¡¯t be able to stir up any waves anymore.

    If the humans could take this opportunity to eliminate the eighth, ninth, and tenth grade outsiders in the Void World, the foundation for humanity to rule over the three worlds would be established.

    Soon, the experts present reached a consensus.

    Then, Fan Tianze said as their representative, ¡°We¡¯ve made ourpromise, Mr. Zhao. So please stop standing in the way of this new era. You¡¯re a human now. Stand down, will you?¡±

    All of the members of the three races that had chosen to stay here and fight were at the eighth grade or higher, therefore falling into the category that needed to be exterminated. Now, upon hearing the humans¡¯ decision, they all turned to look at Zhao Shanling, their eyes reddened and widened. ¡°Grand Monarch!¡±

    ¡°Lord Lurking Devil!¡±

    ¡°Are you going to abandon us?¡±

    With a profound look in his eyes, Zhao Shanling ran his gaze over their faces.

    Pain and bitterness filled his heart as he said, ¡°What can I do?¡±

    FIZZ!

    A brand new spatial rift split open.

    Familiar figures streamed through it, including Yin Xingtian, Master Blood Spirit, and Yu Suying...

    More importantly, there were the Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, Grand Monarch Hell Demon, and all five evil gods!

    Many powerful experts from the three worlds that were gathered here eximed in shock, ¡°What the...?!¡±

    ¡°Weren¡¯t those three evil gods destroyed in body and mind? Why are they here?¡±

    ¡°Hell Demon?! Didn¡¯t you die?¡±

    ¡°That Rampage Behemoth and that tortoise still carry the aura of bloodlines!¡±

    None of them knew what was happening.

    ¡°I disagree with your n.¡± A calm voice suddenly echoed out from the shadow between the Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise.

    Everyone looked over and was bbergasted.

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± they cried out at the same time.

    Their voices became the only sounds that echoed through this area of the starry river, which was filled with bodies from the recent battles.

 Chapter 1823: Worlds Sealed for A Hundred Thousand Years! (END)

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡±

    Countless gazes focused on him.

    Many of the top experts in the three worlds couldn¡¯t help but exim in astonishment, ¡°What on earth...?!¡±

    By merely looking at this Nie Tian in front of them, they felt piercing pain in their eyes and went light-headed, as if they were trying toprehend some profound truths that were simply beyond their capacity.

    Gazing at Nie Tian, they felt as if they were looking up at and worshiping the embodiment of the Dao.

    It was an iparably strange feeling.

    The dark pupils of Zhao Shanling, who was currently stranded, suddenly sank like two ck holes.

    A pure ck spark lit up in the depths of his pupils, but vanished in the next moment!

    A violent shudder ran through his body, and he cried out in shock, ¡°It¡¯s the power of the origin of darkness!¡±

    Having awakened his soul imprints and channeled Devil Qi into his dantian region to form devil power cores, he could sense the aura of the origin of darkness even without a dark bloodline now.

    Right now, Nie Tian¡¯s bloodline and soul were clearly exuding the aura of the origin of darkness.

    This gave him the wrong impression. ¡°Nie Tian, did you be a paragon again after it passed the Dao of darkness on to you?¡±

    Standing beside Nie Tian, the ck tortoise, the Rampage Behemoth, and even the five evil gods were exuding dark auras now.

    Also, their original bloodlines had corresponded to the origin of darkness.

    Therefore, Zhao Shanling had mistakenly assumed that the origin of darkness had abandoned Dong Li and made Nie Tian the next Dark King.

    As soon as a faint smile appeared on Nie Tian¡¯s face, the aura he exuded changed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take another look?¡±

    In one moment, he was surrounded by starlight. In the next, he shone with golden light. He exuded frigid coldness in one moment. Time seemed to flow through his body in the next...

    These were changes that even Grand Monarch Heaven Devil hadn¡¯t been able to manifest.

    All of the human experts looked nkly at him,pletely dumbfounded.

    Among them, there were experts like Yuan Jiuchuan, who practiced lightning power, experts like You Qimiao, who practiced fire and ice power, and experts like Zu Guangyao, who practiced star power.

    However, at this moment, all of them were sensing the Dao they had spent their whole lives pursuing on Nie Tian!

    It was as if he was the embodiment of all of the profound truths they pursued.

    Many Saint and God domain experts muttered, lookingpletely confused, ¡°Why? How can this be?

    ¡°No way! It¡¯s impossible for one person to carry so many different auras at the same time. Plus, each of them corresponds to an origin and is as strong as it can possibly be!¡±

    ¡°This must be an illusion!¡±

    ¡°Young Lord!¡± Yuan Jiuchuan eximed with a zing look in his eyes, ¡°I am at my current position thanks to you. If you disagree with the lord¡¯s proposal, what do you think we should do?¡±

    His words seemed to pull everyone present back to reality.

    They forced themselves to stop thinking about the enlightenment they had derived by simply looking at Nie Tian.

    Killing the outsiders that used to be at the eighth grade or higher and sparing the rest to ensure humanity¡¯s supremacy was the proposal of the Doomed Star Sea. Qin Yao had weighed the pros and cons before deciding to adopt this policy. Was Nie Tian really going to overturn it?

    ¡°All humans will return to the Mortal World, which is where they belong, and shall not enter the Void World or the Spirit World for a hundred thousand years,¡± Nie Tian said expressionlessly.

    Many powerful experts from the four great sects mored upon hearing this. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡±

    Fan Tianze almost lost control of himself. However, after seeing Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, Master Blood Spirit, the Rampage Behemoth, the ck tortoise, and the five evil gods that were standing behind Nie Tian, he forced himself to calm down.

    Yuan Jiuchuan was bbergasted as well. ¡°Young Lord...¡±

    ¡°Nie Tian!¡± Zhao Shanling couldn¡¯t mask his tion. ¡°Why did you make such a decision?¡±

    The Devils, Bonedrudes, and Netherspirits were also baffled.

    ¡°This is the new rule, whether you agree or not,¡± Nie Tian answered, looking surprisingly calm.

    As soon as he said these words, great changes took ce throughout the starry river!

    The Qi warriors from the secondary human sects and ns that had swarmed into the Void World to wreak havoc and plunder spiritual materials suddenly lost control of themselves.

    Like marites, they seemed to be possessed, and plunged into spatial rifts that split open in the void.

    It didn¡¯t matter what cultivation base they were at. None of them were able to fight it.

    Meanwhile, in the Mortal World, human cultivators were tossed out of the gaping spatial rifts in the Void Illusion Mountain Range in the Domain of the Falling Stars.

    All of them were cultivators who had marched into the Void World, the Spirit World, the Doomed Star Sea, and the Dead Star Sea not long ago.

    ...

    In the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    Saint domain experts from the Divine me Sect and the Beast-controlling Sect who were watching over the realm sea suddenly discovered that the portal in the depths of the sea exploded, filling the sea with brilliant sparks.

    At the same time, some de light suddenly appeared and condensed into rivers of brilliant light in the Dead Star Sea and the Doomed Star Sea, the areas where the Mortal World bordered the Spirit World and the Void World.

    The rivers flowed with time and spatial power.

    Like heavenly barriers, theypletely separated the Mortal World from the Spirit World and the Void World.

    Some experts with divine abilities were able to see that the de light hade from the Bonedrudes¡¯ territory in the Void World. It seemed to have traveled through boundless space before arriving in those two areas.

    In the Doomed Star Sea.

    Qin Yao and Nie Jin were just about to enter the Void World on the Rainbow Boat.

    de light that carried time and spatial power suddenly morphed into a glorious river of light before them, blocking their path to the Void World.

    Staring at the brilliant river, the Snow Devil sensed the power in it, and eximed softly, ¡°My lord, This... this appears to be power released by the young lord!¡±

    ¡°Little Tian is back!¡± Nie Jin cried tears of joy.

    Sparks of starlight flew from the depths of Qin Yao¡¯s widened eyes as he examined the river before him that even he didn¡¯t dare to cross. He made a secret attempt tomunicate with the origin of stars with his soul.

    Soon, he received a response.

    He gave a violent shudder before starlight started streaming down his body like sand.

    He stood in silence for a while before nodding slightly and whispering, ¡°I hear you.¡±

    Then, he beckoned for his followers to turn the Rainbow Boat around, and ordered, ¡°The Void World and the Spirit World will be sealed for the next hundred thousand years. We will not enter the two worlds during that time.¡±

    The rogue forces from the Doomed Star Sea burst into a huge mor. Clearly, they found this hard to understand. ¡°Why, my lord?¡±

    ¡°Even if we don¡¯t wipe out the outsiders, we have to upy the Void World and the Spirit World, right?!¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    However, Qin Yao didn¡¯t give them an exnation.

    ...

    In the depths of the Dead Star Sea, a number of surviving titans and Ancientbeasts were traveling from ce to ce on their starships to hide from the pursuing humans.

    Time and space seemed to change in an iprehensible manner, and they suddenly found themselves in the area where the Spirit World met the Dead Star Sea.

    Before them was a glorious river of light, which they were certain hadn¡¯t been there before.

    As a condensation of time and spatial power, this river seemed to be able to ward off any powerful beings that were under the paragon level.

    Standing on a dpidated starship that was made of huge beast bones, Ste the ice phoenix suddenly heard a familiar voice, which seemed to be echoing in her soul.

    After listening for a while, she turned to let out a screech in the direction of the Silent Star Sea.

    The Silent Star Sea was where the Spirit World met the Void World. It hadn¡¯t seemed to be sealed, as if an invisible hand was intentionally allowingmunication between the two worlds.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Lord Ice Phoenix?¡±

    ¡°We don¡¯t have to hide anymore. Tell our people that we¡¯re going home!¡±

    ¡°How can we go home, my lord?¡±

    ¡°From now on, humans won¡¯t be able to enter our worlds anymore. Those who did have been sent back to the Mortal World. Even the energies of heaven and earth the Spirit World has lost will be gradually restored.¡±

    Glistening tears could be seen in Ste¡¯s silver eyes as she said inwardly, ¡°Thank you! Thank you, Nie Tian!¡±

    ...

    In the Void World.

    Fan Tianze and the other human experts watched Nie Tian pull out the Spacetime de, which he had used to y the Blood Father of the Spirit World, and sh it twice.

    The de light traveled to the Doomed Star Sea and the Dead Star Sea respectively to form unbridgeable, world-separating barriers.

    The power Nie Tian had disyed with the two shes was far more wondrous and terrifying than what he had unleashed in the darknd to kill the Blood Father of the Spirit World.

    Even that weaker sh had destroyed the paragon-level Blood Father in body and soul. How could anyone in the three worlds survive a sh that was even mightier?

    Seeing this, those who had wanted Nie Tian to give them an exnation sealed their lips.

    ¡°Those of you who don¡¯t have any business here can leave now,¡± Nie Tian said, waving his hand, as if to whisk off flies.

    Then, the Saint domain experts, whether they were from the four great sects or not, flew into the spatial rifts one after another.

    Those spatial rifts split open by Zhao Shanling originally connected to remote areas in the Void World.

    However, as soon as the human experts entered them, they experienced wondrous changes, which allowed the human experts to return to the Mortal World without essing the Doomed Star Sea or the Seven Stars Realm Sea.

    It was as if Nie Tian could ignore the spatial boundaries between the three worlds with a simple flick of his finger.

    Even Zhao Shanling, who had forged the Void Mirror with his transcendent knowledge of spatial power, didn¡¯t have such a divine ability. Even the strongest high chieftain in the Voidspirits¡¯ history wouldn¡¯t have been able to work such wonders.

    However, it couldn¡¯t be easier for Nie Tian.

    After those cultivators were sent back to the Mortal World, all that were left were peak human experts like the Thunder Devil and You Qimiao, the decision-makers of the four great sects, Zhao Shanling, and thest remaining grand monarchs of the three major races in the Void World.

    No one made a sound.

    They were utterly astounded by the power Nie Tian had disyed, which was much more dominant and awe-inspiring than the power the Blood Father of the Spirit World and the Tree of Life had disyed before.

    Looking at him from afar, all of them felt an urge to kneel and kowtow to him.

    Even thete God domain cultivators and grand monarchs had to fight the urge by relying on their exceptional willpower.

    What was happening?

    Who in the history of this universe could reach such heights?

    They all yearned for an answer. However, none of them dared to say a word.

    ¡°Watch carefully.¡± With these words, Nie Tian suddenly lifted the Spacetime de and shed it a third time. de light instantly morphed into a wondrous river that seemed to connect to the future.

    The most mysterious time power flowed in the river, though it also contained the auras of the other origins.

    Soon, images started manifesting in the river.

    They seemed to be presenting a future, one that Nie Tian had deduced.

    In that future, the outsiders that had lost their bloodlines became ves after all of their powerful experts were in. They were no longer a threat to humanity¡¯s status as the overlord of the three worlds anymore.

    All those who aspired to find new cultivation methods to make their race strong again were ughtered.

    Eventually, all of the outsiders with remarkable intelligence were exterminated, leaving only senseless beasts that were used forbor.

    The humans, however, flourished in the Void World and the Spirit World. After losing their natural enemies, their reproductive capacity erupted.

    The humans¡¯ poption grewrger andrger. Soon, they could be found in every corner of the vast starry river.

    Like locusts, they filled up every realm that wasn¡¯t a dead realm in the starry river.

    They channeled energies of heaven and earth into themselves and dug up every precious material they could find in the three worlds. As a result, the spiritual veins that had taken countless years to form were exhausted, and vibrant realms were reduced to dead realms.

    Losing their natural enemies, humans reproduced in a frenzied manner, and spread through the three worlds like a deadly virus.

    Eventually, all realms in the three worlds became lifeless dead realms.

    However, the internal fights had never ceased among the humans. As a matter of fact, they were even fiercer and bloodier than this cleansing operation against the outsiders.

    After destroying the myriad realms in the three worlds, they themselves were destroyed as well.

    In the end, the images showed heaven and earths that were gray and dead silent.

    After a long while, while everyone was still silent and overwhelmed, Nie Tian asked, ¡°Do you see it now?¡±

    Yin Xingtian pulled hispels slightly closer together and whispered, ¡°That starry river where all the stars went dark and silent... that lifeless cold future... is horrible.¡±

    Mo Heng nodded slightly. ¡°I see.¡±

    Even Fan Tianze¡¯s expression grew grave as he said, ¡°Is that what would have happened?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what the future would have been like if I didn¡¯t interfere,¡± Nie Tian said with a serious face. ¡°If humanity took over all three worlds, the result would be thousands of times more devastating than what the outsiders in the Void World were capable of. Without any natural enemies, they will destroy everything in this universe.¡±

    Everyone fell silent again.

    ¡°You may go now,¡± Nie Tian said softly.

    Hearing this, though somewhat reluctant, Fan Tianze, You Qimiao, and many other peak human experts flew into the gaping spatial rifts and disappeared one after another.

    Nie Tian turned to Zhao Shanling and asked, ¡°Are you a human or a Devil? The choice is yours. However, once you make your decision, you can¡¯t turn back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stay in the Void World,¡± Zhao Shanling answered, knowing that this was a decision of great importance.

    Nie Tian nodded. ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°What are you now?¡± Mo Heng asked, looking at Nie Tian.

    Yin Xingtian and Zhao Shanling also fixed their eyes on him.

    Nie Tian was taken aback. ¡°What am I? I don¡¯t know either, perhaps the ultimate rule-maker, the embodiment of all origins... I¡¯m looking for the answer to that myself.¡±

    ¡°Time to leave.¡±

    After he said these words, Yin Xingtian, Yu Suying, and all of the remaining human experts returned to the Mortal World.

    The five evil gods stayed in the Void World.

    Grand Monarch Hell Demon and Agaz the me dragon left for the Spirit World.

    The Rampage Behemoth and the ck tortoise went to the Doomed Star Sea and the Dead Star Sea respectively.

    Nie Tian, however, went to the Spirit World.

    As soon as he arrived in the Floragrims¡¯ main realm, all of the withered spirit flowers, grass, and trees miraculously started sprouting new leaves and buds.

    Life was restored to the realm because of his arrival.

    At the same time, a wide array of energies started forming in the boundless starry river, as if the flow of time were reversed.

    Thanks to the return of the energies of heaven and earth, the realms started to revive, their vitality rekindled.

    In a voice that all of the surviving outsider experts and human God domain experts could hear, no matter where they were, Nie Tian said softly, ¡°I hope you¡¯ll start anew, and possess the power to stand up to the humans in a hundred thousand years, because that¡¯s when I¡¯ll end my world-sealing spell.¡±

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